The price of a soul
ive been writing a fan fic based off the pso characters that my friends and i use. its still in progress, but i hope its at least a little enjoyable. ive also kept the weapon variation down to the very first level. we all carry high level versions of whats listed, but that doesnt matter too much, does it? please read, review, and comment!
CHAPTER ONE
“im telling you, hero, this is out of your league!” protested jenny, the orange haired, dark skinned hu-newearl that doubled as a black market quest dealer. Black market quests were for those hunters that were bored with the mundane tasks of missing people and retrieving lost objects. These quests were dangerous, exciting things like assasinations, dangerous experiments, and private army assignments. “just give me the job. Im OVER-qualified for this, anyways.” Jenny looked hero up and down slowly, then said with definite finality “you cant pull this off alone, but ill give it to you. if you can assemble a team. At least five members, including yourself. And, ill join you, so you only need to find three people to help you put your fool neck on the line AGAIN.” Hero sighed heavily and walked back out the door, his mind silently dreading having to ask for help for a quest he would rather handle on his own. Then, after his pride was under control once more, he began to make the small list of people he could trust.
Chapter 2
“sure!” happily chirped marlon, the almost annoyingly sunny fo-newm that shared an apartment with hero over the phone and, after receiving this confirmation, hero slammed his phone closed with relish, happy to be free of the mind piercing glee that seemed to eminate from marlon. This was the first one who actually accepted his invitation to join his almost-party as of yet. Bernie, the taciturn and mysterious ra-mar was, of course, out in the field; sue, the highly talkative and yet mysterious hu-newearl was nowhere to be found; dr. mongomory, the mysterious (hero began to see a pattern forming in his acquaintences) fo-newm scientist was, as usual, busy with an experiment, and noted he’d rather avoid anything illegal, as he was under almost constant government surveilence. The good dr.’s assistant, elanor, the mildly less mysterious than dr. montgomory, yet still slightly mysterious ra-caseal, was, in the natural course of things, assisting dr. montgomory. That left a very odd pair that hero had to convince, at all costs, or else face eternal boredom on this god-forsaken ship. His ex-partner, link (hu-mar), his ex-girlfriend, sara (hu-newearl). As hero stalked off into the shadows sulkily, he mumbled to himself “I love my job, I just hate everyone else that has it.”
Chapter three
Hero’s fist clanged noisily against the door of his former partner, link’s apartment. After a few moments, there was still no sign of life from within. Heros hand dropped to his side as he mumbled “if he isnt here, im gonna – “ he was cut off by a flash of light and the door opening. When the fog of adrenaline faded, links dual wielded sabers were millimeters away from heros neck, and heros gun barrel was snug up against the base of links skull, both of them grinning at each other happily. Later, After explaining the situation to a comfortably lounging link, link smiled from ear to ear and said happily “why didn’t you ask me earlier?” later, on his way to where sara was staying, he fingered the trimate in his pocket and remembered that, as he was leaving, link had handed it to him with the message “if that’s where youre going, then you MIGHT need this.” The evil grin that accompanied this message did absolutely nothing to help heros confidence as he breathed in the evening air and marched onwards.
Chp. 4
It felt like the alcove in which the door to sara lay was the mouth of a ravenous monster, waiting for someone foolish enough to step inside it. Instantly regretting this analogy, hero swallowed the growing lump in his throat and stepped forward, as he did so, a zonde bolt flew out of the sky and slammed into heros shoulder, throwing him backwards and creating a large burn mark on his armor. Reacting quickly, heros pistol flew out of his holster and his body dropped into a ready position, looking for the responsible party. The door opened, and in a reflexive motion, heros pistol leveled itself with the persons forehead. Unfortunately, however, that is exactly what the one who opened the door wanted, suddenly screaming out for help in a voice that truly sounded frantic. Hero was losing his cool and nearly tackled the figure in the doorway as he pushed him inside, hoping to use the house as cover, his hand grabbing the figures shirt collar and his pistol pressing itself between their eyes. Hero akwardly hopped inside, kicking the door shut and then slamming the person against the back of a couch, holding them steady while trying to identify the person. And, as the light made their identity clear, hero hated his life, for there, in the warm light of the house, lay a blonde fo-mar, smirking up at hero confidently. Heros pupils had just enough time to dialate to a surprised smallness and his lips just enough time to mouth a certain stream of expletives when he heard the slicer fire up behind him.
Chap. 5
Hero let the pistol clatter to the floor next to him, raising his arms above his head and stepping away from saras new boyfriend slowly. Feeling the blade of the slicer touch his armor lightly, just past the base of the neck. He cringed, not only in anticipation of the coming blow but also to avoid watching that all-too-smug smile on the fo-mar’s face. Hero waited, but there was no blow. “turn around” a voice commanded, and, being at their mercy, hero did as he was told, turning to look right into the bright, clear eyes of a hu-newearl he knew as sara. This would have been a picturesque moment, had there not been a mix up involving, breaking and entering, assault with a deadly weapon, etc, etc. hero shivered as an oily voice slithered, uninvited into his conciousness. “that maniac attacked me! We should turn him in!” hero angered at the accusation, but stayed quiet, what with the threat of imminent death looming inches away. “hes crazy! We should kill him right now and call it – AGH!!!” hero suddenly found himself with saras blade at her side and her knee pressed tightly into the little fo-mars ribs. “do you think im stupid?” she yelled angrily. “what?” the fo-mar whimpered in a small, frightened voice, “what do you mean? He attacked me! Hurt him!” sara then reached calmly down by hero’s feet and plucked his handgun from the floor, leveling it at her boyfriends head calmly. “allow me to explain.” She said evenly.
Chapter six
The fo-mar squirmed uncomfortably on the couch, the sights of the handgun pointed squarely at his underdeveloped abdomen, an almost smirk passing over saras lips, watching her man so uncomfortable under her thumb. Just as it seemed the pathetic little force was about to faint, sara flicked the gun to the side, pulling up the ammo/charge display on the side of the gun, after checking that out and giving an affirmative grunt, she reached over and roughly grabbed blondies arm, looking at his hp/tp display on the armored gauntlet that all hunters wore. After her eyes raked this, she nodded and kicked the force in the solarplexis, causing him to fall heavily onto the couch once more, saras eyes seemed to burn as she pointed accusingly and authoritively at her boyfriend yelling “you launched that zonde that caused hero to panic like an amateur and then opened the door and started to scream so he would attack you and I would beat him up and you could get your sick little jollies off, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?!?!?!” the force was so terrified, that it was all he could do to squeak in the affirmative and not wet himself. She then turned to hero and smiled sweetly as she said “ now, what was it you were here for?” hero, who was still fuming over being called an amateur, took a moment to realize she was talking to him, suddenly stuttered akwardly over his request to have her accompany him on his quest. Sara’s smile increased slightly as she told hero that she couldn’t wait, because she hadnt had any real action in a while. At this, hero stifled a snicker, looking at the almost child like force beginning to regain his composure on the couch. He thanked her and gave her the information on when and where the quest was to take place, and then started to leave, when he felt her hand land on his shoulder lightly. “wait a moment, would you?” she asked, and when hero had turned around, waiting for whatever she had to say gave a questioning grunt, her fist collided with his cheek.
Chapter seven
“that’s for attacking my boyfriend!” sara said, feeling very satisfied with her choice of punishment. Hero recoiled then looked back at her with a confused look, saying “but hes the one who attacked me! – “ hero was cut off by a smiling sara who slapped him in the same spot that she punched him. “don’t talk back! I love both of you to death, but just do what I say!” sara helped hero to his feet and hugged him tightly, whispering in his ear “youre gonna enjoy this…” she kept her arms around his shoulders as she turned to the blonde force glaring at hero and said “ and THIS, is YOUR punishment.” Sara then kissed hero full on the lips, pulling him against her, for a full thirty seconds before she pulled back and grinned up at hero, blushing. “well, sweetie, I havent even started dinner yet, and I know I need to go prepare for the quest, so, heres some money. Order a pizza or something.” Sara said happily, walking to her room to gather her things that she needed, then walked back, passing a table where she lay some meseta and grabbed hero’s hand and led him out the door, into the falling night.
Chp 8
Heros eyes began to close once more, his arms, which were loaded with things sara had decided to buy, began to droop and hes head, which was tiredly enjoying the looks on peoples faces as an overly excited, nymph like hu-newearl called sara was zipping from stand to stand, picking up and examining almost everything with a childlike zeal. Just as hero started to really nod off, getting some much needed rest, saras voice pierced the delicate veil of sleep. “hero! Pick up the slack!” opening his reddened eyes, hero stumbled after the quick-moving girl, barely avoiding the easily aggrivated crowd of late night hunter shoppers. Boy, was that a mouthful, hero thought to himself. Suddenly, hero found himself falling through the air, tripped by a particularly mean looking android. Hero waited for the collision with the ground, but it never came. He suddenly realized that he had been caught, by none other than sara. How she was able to so easily lift his heavily armored frame, hero never knew. But, he knew the familiar blush coming to rest on his cheeks as sara set him upright and began to rearrange the things in his arms, when suddenly, saras arms froze a look of shock and complete anger moving across her features. Hero looked over saras shoulder, and, for reasons unknown, knew that a random hunter had just slapped saras rear. “this, is NOT acceptable.” She said. Turning to the crowd, her slicer flicked to her hand as she grinned evilly at the group of cornered hunters, as sara was standing close enough to the doorway to the marketplace that none could get by her without her noticing. “whodunnit?” she said quietly, her slicer turning itself around in her hand. No answer. “whodunnit?!” she said a little louder, her slice activating, the glowing energy forming a blade of immesurable sharpness. No answer. “WHOFREAKINDUNNIT?!?!?!?!?!?!” she yelled, the slicer moving into the ready position, targeting nearly every single hunter in the room when a very pretty and very annoyed fo-marl kicked one particularly disgusting hunter forward. “don’t know if it’s the same one, but he just smacked my bum as well.” The whole crowd seemed to flow forward, converging upon the frightened pervert hunter like a school of starving pihranas converging on a wounded platypus. Sara eventually emerged from the raucous mob, a tuft of bloody, greasy looking hair still in her grasp. Sara threw the hair aside and rearranged her purchases in heros arms, brushing against him multiple times, causing his blush to reappear, deeper than before. After satisfying herself that her purchases were secure, sara looked up and saw heros face, causing her to blush a bit of her own. “….er… c’mon, we’ll get you fixed up so you wont be falling asleep during our exciting quest.” stuttered sara, taking hero by the hand again and leading him out once more into the night.
Chapter nine
Hero, a bit more awake after the incident in the marketplace, obediently followed sara across the different levels of pioneer two until they had reached the hunter deck. The hunter deck was small, not enough to hold all the hunters, if they all somehow showed up at the same time, but it had all the recources most hunters needed. This, fortunateley for most, included a medical center. At the aforementioned medical center, for the small price of ten meseta, one could be completely healed to the height of health. Hero didn’t understand why he was being brought here, but he trusted sara to know something he didn’t. after sara had talked to the nurse for a little bit, hero was led to one of the examining rooms, as the door opened, hero immediately took note of the oddly shaped chair that presided over the room. And, of course, it was to this chair that hero was ordered to sit. Hero, mildly suspicious, reluctantly sat in the chair, and as he did, restraints immediately flicked out over his wrists and ankles, holding him fast to the chair. He had opened his mouth in protest when the doctor plunged a needle into his arm, expertly finding the vein. Heros vision began to blur, and his speech began to become impaired. Was he betrayed? Was he going to die? the door slid open once more, and hero was able to catch a glimpse of the blue, high boots that obviously belonged to sara.
Chapter ten
“wow, “ thought a recently-drugged hero, “she sure keeps those boots shiny.” Hero was just about to comment on her skin tone when he hear other voices in the room. “you sure that this will knock him out completely? And he wont remember anything?” that was sara. “Man, shes hot…” thought hero before the doctor said “he’ll wake up completely refreshed, but he wont remember anything for the past hour almost, so he’ll be quite disoriented.” Sara thanked him, and as the old, pudgy doctor left the room, hero thought “and man, is he not…” this amazingly intelligent reverie was broken by the sudden touch of someone else. It was sara, climbing into his lap, she held his face in her hands and said “youre still a very handsome man, hero. I do miss you… I hope you still care about me somewhere in that infuriatingly complex maze you call your heart.” She finished with a well executed sarcastic overtone. Sara snuggled up against hero’s chest, her head resting on his shoulder. Hero thought “this aint so bad….” Then passed out.
Chp. 11
Hero came to slowly, his eyes remaining blurry for a good portion of a minute, then remembered the last thing he felt and saw. “sara” he mouthed through dry, gummed lips looking down, he found his lap as bare as it could be while he was still wearing clothes. Was it a dream? Hero wasn’t sure anymore… it felt so real…. Suddenly the computer next to him bleeped in acknoledgement of his revival and released the restraints on the chair. Hero stood, and checked his pockets. All in one piece, nothing missing. Hero, hit the door on the side of the button. Then he realized his mistake and hit the button on the side of the door. The door swished open with a click, woosh and a thump. Which made hero wonder why he thought the door swished open. Wandering out of the medical center, hero made his way to the check room and prepared his quest equipment, his varista, nice, shiny, and deliciously powerful, of course. And with his trusty saber on his left, and his varista on his right, hero stepped into the morning light and walked to the meeting spot he had set with the other party members. Hero was the first one there. He waited silently in the quiet of the morning until he heard approaching footsteps. Looking up, sara approached sleepily and nearly ran into hero as she came to a stop in front of him, holding a cup in her hand and her eyes half closed. “mabye youre the one who needed sleep.” Hero said jokingly. Sara shook her head and said “unh-uh. I just need my coffee.” Sipping from the cup, sara leaned against hero the same way he remembered her doing in the medical center. Before hero could say something, marlons voice, still annoyingly cheerful for this early in the morning, pierced the still air with words that hero did NOT feel like hearing at this moment. “so, youre saying that hero went out late last night to find sara and never came home? Ooh, that’s a fun fact!” marlon laughed “you know, they were into some weird stuff when they were – “ even marlons chirping and links smug chuckling fell silent when they came upon a refreshed looking hero with a sleepy looking sara leaning heavily against him. Marlon just smiled brightly and sat on a nearby ledge, and link stared at hero steadily for a few moments then pointed at the mark on heros face where sara had slugged him. “do I even want to know?” link said with an evil grin, and hero was just about to start tearing link a new one when saras fist flew out and punched links chest, knocking him back a step. After link had spent a minute or so nursing his wound sulkily, jenny showed up, her large, unavtivated sword dwarfing her small frame almost comically. “is everyone here?” jenny asked. After making a head count, jenny passed out the quest info disks. After reading their quest objectives and details, the group set out to the teleporters and their quest –
MISSION : MYSTERIOUS NEW MONSTER, EVALUATE, CAPTURE OR DESTROY.
Chapter twelve
The monster had last been sighted in the forest, so that was were the group headed first. It started out like any run through the forest, some wild creatures, and the mysteriously placed crates containing supplies. But, after they had trekked a certain distance twoards the central dome, things started to get weird. There were less beasts, and those they did see had terrible wounds, and would have been better off dead. There werent any remains that gave clues to where the wildlife had gone, but there were telltale smears of blood that indicated fierce battle, but still no sign of the monster. At the central dome, there were blast marks on the walls, and, by the angle of the shots, they were shooting from the teleporter that takes you into the dome.the teleporter was almost completely destroyed. The heavy metal top had been brought down and there was an arm dangling out from underneath in a drying pool of blood. In the arms hand, one mechgun still thrummed with life and energy. There was more blood seeping out from under the crushed teleporter at other points, but they decided not to investigate, for morales sake. The party turned to find another way into the dome, when they saw that the door to the dome, which had been sealed permanently since before pioneer two had even landed, had been torn open. Moving to enter, the party noticed a splatter that was different then the others. It was human blood. A pool of human blood with bits of crumpled armor among it. The monster had been here, but he wasn’t here anymore.
Chapter thirteen
The inside of the dome was like a portrait of hell. The corpse of the dragon was along the side, and its innards were splattered around the dome. Its severed head lay in the middle, its teeth stained with blood, both human and its own. A sword blade pierced the neck of the dragon, and on further inspection, there was a corpse inside of a hu-mar who had almost no wounds. There was a single wound, a hole streight through the middle of his chest, it was clean, and there was a lot of blood. There was a tunnel leading down to the caves, and at the entrance, there was a force’s staff, and a set of fingernail marks filled with blood leading down into the tunnel and into the caves. The tunnel was the only course forward. As if on cue, everyones weapons began to hum with deadly life in preperation of this obviously and immensly deadly enemy that they knew absolutely nothing about.
Chapter fourteen
The caves were much of the same, slaughtered creatures, demolished doors and technology, and the occasional gruesome body, or bloody smear. One room in particular caught their attention. There was another body, but this one felt different than before. Kneeling to examine it, marlon shouted frantically to the rest of the group “shes still alive! Shes still alive!” rushing over, the group watched as the force tried to awaken the fallen fo-marl. After a few nudges, the girl stirred, looking up with weary eyes at the group around her. “w-who are you people?” she asked in a weak voice. Jenny stepped forward and in an authorative voice that no one seemed to be able to match, said “we are hunters, like yourself, after the monster that likely did this to you.” She looked at them for a few moments then said “I wont be of much help, but I will accompany you, for now. Here. A token of our meeting. A glimpse of the evil we must face.” Out of her bag, she pulled the head of a hu-cast. The group blanched for a moment at the still slightly active head. “one of my fallen comrades” she explained. With a few deft movements, the fo-marl had a projection up on the wall near her. The group leaned in to get a look at this fearsome beast. The projection showed shaky footage, the group must have already been on a run to escape the rampageing beast. The group with the hu-cast got through the transporter before it had collapsed, and had waited fearfully inside the dome. Of course, it was not a very tense wait, as they also had the dragon to contend with. They were well on their way to dealing with the dragon when the doors of the dome tore themselves of their hinges. The beast was framed by sunlight, so only a silhouette was visible. It was about eight feet high, an ape like frame, with its head low on its shoulders. Its arms dangled lankily at its side, a series of sharp looking appendages leading off each end the shoulders were spiked, as was much of the head. One of the wierdest parts visible at this point was its four, insectoid like legs, carrying its bulk swiftly and steadily across the ground. The hu-mar of the group charged, his sword waving in the air, when the beast reached out with one of its massive arms, which didn’t seem to bend at any specific joint, but as a whole unit, and seemed to suddenly tug on an invisible cord. The result was instentaious and horrendus. The hu-mars chest seemed to expand for one awestruck moment before a piece of his chest seemed to rip itself away from his body in a bloody splatter. The flying gore seemed to dissipate into a glowing orb that went streight into the mouth of the monster. The hu-mar was just starting to collapse when the dragon, seeing its opponent in a position of weakness took the oppourtounity to swoop in and swallow the hunter whole, the hunters sword piercing the dragons neck from the inside. The dragon howled and swung its head from side to side, in a fit of rage. When the dragons head fell low near the monster, it reached out and pierced through the dragons eye with its claws. The dragon reared away, staggering, as the monster, with horrendous strength, tore the dragons head away from its body, throwing the the head far into the dome. The dragons body staggered to the side, crashing into the wall, and knocking out the lighting system. In the fearful, dangerous darkness, with a monster framed at the only way out, the hunters panicked.
Chapter fifteen
The silence of indecision hung in the air, only broken by the sparking of the damaged dome lighting and the pulsing of the hunters photon weapons. It was as if the entire planet of ragol had suddenly held its breath for a moment. Then a ra-mar broke. Suddenly drawing his rifle to his shoulder, he began putting as many shots as he could into the monster, to no avail. The beast raised its arm, the shots rebounding harmlessly off its arm. The monster sped forwards and into the ra-mar, throwing him backwards into the darkness. the beast was visible in the black of the dome only by a series of glowing lines traversing its body, and is eyes, which seemed to burn like coals. The recording hu-cast broke into a frantic run for the teleporter that led to the caves, his hands clutching his partisan in front of him front of him hard enough that you could hear his internal motors straining. Reaching the teleporter, the hu-cast found a ra-marl already at work on forcing its activation. Standing next to her, the hu-cast observed the unfolding carnage within the dome. In the darkness, only the eerie lights on the beast and the hunters photon weapons marked the greusome events. Each hunter was reacting differently to the strain of facing this fearsome beast. Several charged twoards it, their screams indicating their doom, their weapons falling to the floor, never to rise again. A few attempted to run, their escape cut short by the beasts clawed arms, razor teeth, and unbelievable speed. The sound of the dying and the continuing, stomach turning noises of more of their comrades meeting their fate was too much for some. One hunter turned his weapon on himself, never even coming near the monster, and another, a young sounding girl, fell to her knees and began sobbing hysterically, that is, until the beast moved to her, and one, particularly fearful sob was cut short. Powering down his weapon, the hu-cast remained as still as he could, listening to the ragged breathing of the dying, the footsteps of someone running, and the panicked ra-marl who was still tinkering with the teleporters innards. The beast had stopped, at least momentarily, as it stooped over what the frightened android could only assume was a corpse. Closing his eyes, the hunter tried to tune everything around him out, especially the wet, crunching noises comeing from the beasts direction. After a few moments, the feeding noises stopped. The hunter looked up in time to see the ra-marl stand up before she was skewered through her chest by a set of sharp, bloodstained spikes, the beast looming just behind her, grinning.
Chapter sixteen
Blood gushed noisily from the pierced hunter as she stared in astonishment at the spikes protruding from her torso. One of her hands raised shakily as she felt them, confused, as if she didn’t understand what had happened. She looked up at the hu-cast with a look that could only be described as “pleading”, then the three clawed appendages that surrounded the spikes closed on her, tearing her apart. The android stepped back in horror, and in the corner of his eye, the beasts other arm lashed out, and the recording turned to static. It took hero a few moments to recover enough to even look at the rest of the group to see their reactions. They were much of the same. Jenny and link looked sick, a sheen of sickly sweat on their faces. Marlon was shaking on his knees, his eyes full of tears. Those didn’t worry hero because if he had gotten the chance to think about what effect the video would have had on them, the reactions given are the same as the reactions predicted. However when hero turned to sara, he felt like his heart stopped. Sara was still staring at the wall where the projection had been, her face devoid of emotion. “sara?” hero called, getting no response. He stepped closer, leaning down close to her face to look into her eyes. “…sara?” she wasn’t breathing. Hero panicked, calling her name again, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. As soon as heros hand came in contact with saras shoulder, her knees gave out underneath her, heros arms catching her mid-fall. Wrapping her arms around heros, she looked up at him, her eyes full of tears and emotion. The fear and sadness that all of them felt personified in her at that moment. Hero pulled sara to him softly, holding her close and saying soothing things as the solemn group quietly mourned the fallen.
Chapter 17
The group slowly recovered from the shock and sadness that had overcome them as the video had played, readjusting their equipment and preparing to begin the hunt for this fearsome beast once more. The group moved quickly from room to room, averting their eyes from much of the remains and wreckage they passed, lest they be once more seized by the debilitating feelings that had stopped them before. Suddenly, as a door slid open, the group was suddenly faced by the beast, sitting complacently among tha mauled corpses of many dimenians, as if waiting for them. As the beast stood, grinning a beastial grin, the hunters weapons came to life, humming with deadly energy. All the hunters stepped into battle positions but ot one. Sara stood, frozen as the beast stared into her eyes, emitting a soft noise something like a gurgle that grated on the ears. “you… come… mine…” saras knees began to tremble as an otherworldly voice rang through her head. “you… mine…” sara was frozen, her slicer half drawn. “sara?” hero glanced at her over his weapon. “you… YOU! YOU ARE MINE!!!” screamed the voice in saras head. Saras hands fell limply to her side as her knees gave out underneath her, dropping her to the floor. “sara!” the group exclaimed as the creature raised its spiney arm, pointing at her. Hero dropped down on his knees between her and the creature, shaking her shoulders and asking frantic questions, but sara couldn’t answer from under the weight of the beasts mental assault. Suddenly, the beasts talons closed, as if about an invisible string, then the world seemed to move in slow motion, as the beast drew its arm backwards. Hero screamed, the beast continued to grin its demonic grin, and then heros back exploded.
Chapter 18
Hero collapsed into saras arms, blood streaming down his body in torrents. In a well practiced movement, link and jenny moved forward to occupy the monster while marlon stepped up to hero and sara to heal hero. Sara watched hero, tears streaming down her grief strickent face. “hero? Hero?! Please, wake up!” she shook him frantically while marlon chanted his healing spells. “why isn’t he waking up?!” sara demanded of marlon. “heal him, dammit!!” she screamed. “my spells aren’t working!! He needs more experienced medical attention then what I can give him! He needs to-“ marlon cut off as hero opened his eyes and turned his head to look at sara, calmly looking at her eyes. Sara stared back at him, unable to speak. Heros hand shakily felt its way up to stroke saras cheek. “please, don’t cry…” his hand slid down to hers, squeezing it lightly. “just… smile for me… one last time.” Hero closed his eyes and hes hand began to shake violently. Sara leaned in close, checking his breath, then she heard him whisper “I always… loved y…” then hero stopped breathing. “sara! We need to get him to pioneer 2! They can still-“ marlon was again cut off, but this time by sara. “SHUT UP!” she screamed. “I know!” saras body began to shake as sobs racked her body, her arms clinging hero to her. She looked up at marlon, her face full of incomprehensible sadness. “im sorry…” she managed between sobs as the radiant light of her telepipe began to surround her as she faded away, reappearing on the space station that seemed so far away. Jenny and link were holding their own in the losing battle against the beast, scoring small cuts on its less protected lower body, on its distended belly, in particular. Marlon suddenly saw something. The beasts skin around its stomach was semi-transparent, and beneath it there was a peculiar glow. It was the same glow as the lighted orb that had been ripped out of the hunter under the dome, and out of hero. It then dawned on marlon. The glowing orbs stolen from the poor hunters were the same as those seen leaving hunters who ran out of health. The same as the physical form of their souls. “don’t cut the stomach!” marlon cried in horror. “hero’s… SOUL is in there…” “then how do we hurt it?!” link yelled as he dodged a swinging arm. “I don’t know! We need to regroup! Get to the telepipe! Ill hold it off!” link and jenny knew the signal to get out of the way when marlon was about to unleash his mighty offensive spells. Marlon filled the room with cold, deep darkness, then a blinding, searing light. The creature squealed and shielded its eyes, and in the ensuing chaos as it thrashed about in confusion, the hunters slipped into the telepipe, to assess their losses, lick their wounds, and come up with a new plan. A plan without hero.
Chapter nineteen
The station was still in a buzz from the emergency medical team which, as Marlon and the others arrived, had just completed escorting hero into their emergency room. Sara was in there with them; they couldn’t force her to be separated, was the word among the crowd. “Wow, she must be kinda upset, huh?” link said, nonchalant. Jenny beat link over the head with her deactivated sword, screaming “of course she’s upset, you IDIOT!!! And you should be too! Hero could die!” link, being an idiot, rose to the challenge, one hand nursing his head and the other pointing accusingly at jenny “you and hero haven’t seen each other in months! He’s been in worse scrapes than this and has turned out fine. He’s too tough to be taken out by this!” jenny was about to retaliate when Marlon, who had heard the whole thing, lost his cool. “Shut the HELL up!” link and jenny stared, dumbfounded. “they took his SOUL!” they continued to stare, this information sinking in. after a few moments, Marlon stormed off towards the medical center, leaving the other three sitting in shock until the fo-marl silently shuffled after Marlon, towards the medical center. “The bars are open, I think” jenny managed. Link grunted in agreement, and they went to toast to their friends health. Then get wasted. Marlon found Sara in the lobby, her head in her hands and her tears run dry. After a few minutes of trying to comfort her, one of the doctors came out with a solemn look on his face. The doctor hesitated for a moment at the anxious, desperate look on their faces before finally saying “he’s alive, but that’s all. His body isn’t even trying to keep him alive. It’s like his body has lost its spark of life. And, unless something changes, he’s doomed.” There was a moment of silence before Sara cried “he’s… he’s still… alive?” the doctor nodded and said “but, something is missing. Something we haven’t encountered before.” Sara and Marlon exchanged glances, and then Sara stood up, resolution shining in her eyes. “We have to go.” She and Marlon said simultaneously. But, before they could walk out the door, the doctor stopped them. “Before you leave, you need to collect his possessions for safekeeping. This way.” In another section of the medical center, Sara stood at a window, talked to a bored attendee, filled out paperwork, and waited until finally, a plastic bin was pushed out of a slot by the window which contained the disgruntled medical employee. Sara sifted through hero’s possessions, sifting through the various mates, fluids and atomizers, coming across hero’s varista, still in its holster. Sliding her hand across it, she set it on the counter next to her. Sara sighed, saying to Marlon “just standard hunter equipment. I don’t know what I was really looking fo-“ a small box at the bottom of the bin caught her eye; it was obviously out of place. She pulled it out, running her fingers over the red velvet on the outside. “What is this?” opening the box, Sara gasped, staring at the ring inside. It was a simple band with two gems, one deep blue, and the other a dark green. They were shaped as if they were melding into one another. “It’s… beautiful.” Sara mumbled as she pulled it out of the box and turned it around in her hands, noticing a small inscription on the inside of the band. “Forever” Sara gasped again, a tear slipping from her eyes. She slipped the rest of the contents of the bin into her bag, slipped the ring onto her finger and locked hero’s varista into place on her hips, marching to the door. “What’s up?” Marlon asked curiously. “We’ve got a monster to kill.” Sara stated simply.
Chapter twenty
About this time, link and jenny were dancing drunkenly on the counter at the bar, much to the enjoyment of the other patrons as they cheered happily and enjoyed the sense of community. Link turned to jenny, stumbling over his words. “je- jenny, I needs you to lishten to me. Are you lishtening? I… I mish hero... and im is gettin, kinda… freaked out, jenny. Cuz I, I luff yo-“ link was then bashed in the side of the face by an over excited, drunken, mug-wielding jenny as she twirled around, spraying drinks over everyone, much to their enjoyment. Link, who had fallen over from the blow, lay his head back on the bar, looking back away from the crowd and towards the entrance; and, as his eyes focused enough to keep the room from spinning, he noticed Sara, looming above him, a beer mug poised high over her head. The mug fell, and link blacked out. Link woke up to find himself tied next to jenny on a small chair. “what were you thinking getting so wasted when we still have a quest to accomplish?” Sara growled, though all link heard was a garbled series of noises coming from a funny little blue thing in front of him. “Marlon?” Sara said, a sinister grin coming on her face, “do your worst.” Marlon stepped up, a charge of magic swirling around his fingers. “Hey, Marlon. How ya doin?” link slurred. Marlon flashed a grin similar to Sara's as he held his hand out and cried “Barta!” a series of icy blasts flew from his hand and covered link and jenny in snow and ice. ”yeeek!” jenny squealed in her high, feminine voice. Although, it was difficult to distinguish that from links own cry. “again.” Sara said, amusement filling her voice. This continued until both jenny and link were completely and totally sober. “Now,” Sara said through her lingering smile as she and Marlon undid jenny and links bindings, “are you ready to come with us and finish this quest?” link rubbed where the ropes had pressed against him, whining “I don’t know, I mean, this whole quest was for hero’s sake. And, now that he’s out of commission, I don’t see any reason to do it again. I mean, it’s not like I need the money.” Sara turned, looking him straight in the eyes. ”it was for hero’s sake.” She said flatly, “and it still is. Let’s go.”
Chapter 21
Most of the group was now gathered together again, except for hero, who was incapacitated, and the mysterious force woman, who had seemingly vanished. After a half hearted search, sara said “we don’t have time for this! Lets just go. She may find us on her own.” This sentiment was well received by the group, and they moved back to the telepipe they had used to make their escape, discussing battle strategies. “keep moving and keep your distance. This thing has already demonstrated enormous speed and strength, and though its shown a few of its abilities, it may have others. We don’t know what – the hell is this?!” sara ended as she found their telepipe cordoned off by a military detachment, led by none other than the fo-marl from before! “im sorry, maam, but due to unforeseeable circumstances, no hunters are allowed access to this telepipe until the situation is under control.” Said a young looking soldier as he ushered them back from the cordon. “hey! Whats going on here?” jenny shouted at the fo-marl. The women looked at them for a moment, then back to her work, no recognition visible at all. Sara stood there fuming for a few moments then turned and asked jenny “how much trouble would we be in for going through the telepipe anyways?” “a whole lot.” Jenny said matter-of-factly. “and how much trouble is hero in if we don’t help him?” sara asked through a smile. “a whole hell of a lot.” Jenny said, starting a grin of her own. “ready, boys?” sara asked as jenny hefted her deactivated sword onto her shoulder, planting both hands firmly on its handle. “for what?” marlon said, somewhat warily. “lets roll!” shouted jenny happily with a maniacal grin as she swung her sword, clonking the guarding soldier on the head, then running for the telepipe, sara hot on her heels. Marlon stood there, locked in indecision over which path to follow, until suddenly he heard link screaming in his ear through an excited grin “just go!” as he scooped marlon up by the back of his jacket, jumping around the recovering guard, throwing marlon to the other girls over the heads of the other soldiers, and, weaving in between the soldiers weapons, finally jumping off a soldiers face, leaving a nice boot print, and landing happily in the telepipe as he and the others vanished in a flash of light, outstretched tongues, and extended middle fingers.
Chapter 22
“that wasn’t fair, link! I should have been able to make the decision on my own! Marlon whined. “if I had left the decision to you, you would have taken a week of indecision, a day of therapy, and 40 of your fruity little cans of tea, and then we still wouldn’t have a decision!” link countered. “but what we did made us look like villans! Aren’t we supposed to be good guys, like hero?” marlon queried. “pffft. Good guys like hero. Good guys. Hero. Classic.” Link commented, causing marlon to blush, embarrassed. “besides,” link continued, “hero told me once he saw himself as more of an anti-hero.” “heh. What a nerd.” Jenny chuckled. “exactly.” Link said. The ground team that had been working in the room when they arrived had surprisingly let them go without any fuss, seemingly too busy with gathering data from what leavings the beast had made to bother with a few random hunters wandering through. The group had restarted the hunt, wandering from room to room, traveling deep into the ruins abandoned hallways, to no avail. They walked into a particularly large and foreboding room when the lights went out. The search for someone to reengage the lighting circuit had just started before the lights turned on again, as if of their own accord, and with the lights came ominous footsteps coming towards them. “I think it’s a hunter!” jenny said as she peered across the gargantuan room, when saras BEE messenger system went off, alerting her to a message. Sara checked her message as jenny continued to watch the mysterious figure approach. “no way… youll never guess who that looks like to me…” jenny started, but sara cut in “guys! Heros body! Its-“ “here.” Jenny finished for her. The group turned, and sure enough, a hunter with heros build was hobbling towards them with te speed of one who is severely injured, as they all knew hero to be. “hero!” sara cried concernedly, running to him. “what are you doing here? Aren’t you……*” the words died in saras throat as she stopped within a few feet of the figure, her whole frame tensing. The figure hunched over, its arms hanging limply, and its back began to heave, emitting a gutteral grunting noise, like a chant, continuing to rise in speed and volume until it was like every breath was a howling scream. Then, it threw its head back, raised its arms, and emitted a howl like something from a nightmare, its voice, if you can call it such, echoing throughout the room. “okay, I don’t think that’s hero anymore.” Link said.
Chapter 23
Hero’s former body began to twist and distort, his eyes beginning to glow like fire, and his lips being drawn back into a ghastly imitation of a smile. With a sickening crunching and cracking noise, hero’s legs bent backwards, and claws burst forth from under his fingers, hero beginning to look more like an animal than a man. Sara staggered backwards as quickly as her shocked body would allow her. The hero-beasts nightmarish transformation still in progress. Suddenly, sara stopped retreating, her slicer blazing brightly in her hand. “no! no more!” she screamed, charging the beast as barbed spines burst up from its back and arms. Sara and hero lunged at each other, both swinging viciously. With animalistic swiftness, hero swung a spined arm, knocking saras slicer across the room and leaving several deep gashes along her arm as well. As heros other arm positioned itself for the finishing blow, a brilliant bolt of lightning cracked through the air, slamming into heros chest, sending him sailing across the room away from sara. The group collectively gasped, turning to address the four newcomers, at the head of which stood lance, saras boyfriend, electricity still crackling around his fingers. Behind lance stood a white haired fo-mar dressed in blue who was casually observing the situation. Lance ran over and began to work on healing sara, occasionally glancing over his shoulder at the hero-creature which was still twitching from the voltage that passed through his body. “why weren’t you more careful?” he asked sara as his healing magic flowed, gently sealing the wounds on her arms. “what would I have done if I had lost you?” he choked out. Sara closed lance gently into her arms, crooning “its alright. Im okay. You saved me.” While sara and lance enjoyed their reunion, the white haired fo-mar walked casually over to the rest of the group. Holding out his hand politely, he began “im yugo. Nice to meet you. This loveable hu-newearl here,” he motioned to a particularly uninterested looking hunter who didn’t even seem to register him addressing her. “is Claire. Tall, dark and metal here,” motioning to a hu-cast next to him, “is raizack. Lance called in some favors with us, so, long story short, we are fully obligated to help you to the best of our ability until you accomplish your quest, or we die!” he finished, laughing oddly. “great! We welcome your help!” jenny said excitedly “I’m-“ jenny started, but was cut off by yugo. “jenny. I know. We got a lengthy briefing on our way here. Oh! Lance seems to have finished playing doctor. Here he comes.” As sara led lance back to the group, fending off his worried attempts to heal already healed wounds, the rest caught the tail end of their conversation. “how did you find us, anyways?” sara queried. Lance reached out and brushed saras earring lightly. “I had those earrings specially made. They were ridiculously expensive, but they just paid for themselves.” He said, just above a whisper. “you tracked me?!…” sara caught herself in the middle of her outburst, her tone changing dramatically. “… thank you… for saving me…” she mumbled embarrassedly. “I would have done it even if you told me not to. Youre precious to me.” He said with finality, staring directly into her eyes. “OI!” yugo yelled at the couple “are you going to make out, or are we going to hunt some monsters?” brought back to reality, they joined the group as they gathered around the recovering hero-beast, contemplating their options. “we could capture it and send it back to pioneer 2…” sara suggested. “too risky.” Yugo decided. “it could spread the infection in pioneer 2, and we don’t have any idea how to restrain it.” “not to mention the fact that it’s a psycho death machine.” Commented klaire. “we could kill it.” Raizack said hopefully. “no.” sara said humorlessly. “yugo, is there any way to paralyze or incapacitate him for an extended period of time?” “not without risking permanent damage.” Yugo said solemnly. “guys, its recovering, make a decision.” Klaire said, passing saras slicer back to her from the floor. “we could kill it.” Raizack suggested more emphatically. “NO!” the rest of the group replied in unison. “its gonna get up…” klaire groaned, worry creeping into her melancholy voice. “sara! Make the call. This is on you.” Yugo said, turning his head with the rest of the group to look at her face, waiting for her decision. However, because they turned their heads, no one but sara saw the hero-beast leap to its feet and launch itself at her, snarling. Sara screamed, lashing out with her slicer instinctively, falling backwards. The moment she hit the ground, everything turned to black.
Chapter 24
Sara felt warm. There was a soft warmth enveloping much of her body. A warm cushion under her head, a roaming warmth, like many hands, touching, spreading warmth and good feeling, and a fading wet warmth, like something splattered on her skin. A voice began to distinguish itself in her mind. She suddenly found herself on an empty pioneer 2, standing in front of hero, alive and well. “Hero!” she cried elatedly, hugging him tightly, saying, “I knew you were okay! What happened?” hero chuckled, smiling as he said, “we can talk about that later. Right now we should worry about you. You okay?” “Yeah…” Sara said, surprised. “In fact, I feel great! I thought I would have been hurt pretty badly when I … fell.” She said, falling silent as she remembered being attacked by hero’s twisted body. Hero smiled again, with a hint of sadness this time. “Everyone healed you. Under lance’s supervision, of course.” He chuckled again. “Now look,” hero said, his voice becoming serious. “This monster we were chasing is wreaking too much havoc. The big wigs here have decided to help you bring it down.” Hero held up his hand offering Sara his Varista pistol. “Check it out. Now that thing has the power to take the monster out.” Hero motioned. Sara took the gun, and saw that there was a particular glow among the photon energy that powered the weapon. “But why don’t you take it? You’re so good with your guns that it seems kind of counter-intuitive to give it to me. Weren’t you the first one to want to take down the monster anyways?” Sara said, offering the weapon back to hero, but he shook his head, smiling again. “I would, but I don’t seem to have time for such things anymore. Now, I think its time for you to wake up.” Before Sara could say anything, hero pressed his palm to her forehead and pushed, sending her falling back again, when Sara hit the ground, her eyes flew open, and now she found herself surrounded by her quest mates on the floor of the room that the hero creature had attacked he in. she sat up, ignoring those around her and their concerned queries, and in some cases, metallic insults. She reached to her belt and drew hero’s Varista, and checked its photon charge, but there was no odd glow. Had Sara imagined that whole episode? She reached up and felt her forehead, where she found a slightly warm spot, the size of hero’s palm, her hand went to the back of her head, finding a layer of dried blood over a sensitive spot of skin. Sara stood up, supported by lance and Yugo as she regained her balance. There was blood splattered across her armor, but she couldn’t find any wounds to explain its presence. Remembering hero’s twisted form, she turned, and there was hero’s body, as normal as the day she met him, though he was obscured from mid-chest and up in deep shadows. Sara strained her eyes, taking a step forward to see it better, but was blocked by lance. “We need to move on.” He said. “But what about-“ Sara began, before being quickly cut off by lance. “Your blow… stunned him. And, while you were unconscious, we… restrained him. He changed back. We’ll help him later.” Sara was a little suspicious at his phrasing, but she was quickly being ushered out of the room. With one more sidelong glance, something in the corner of the shadows caught her eye. A mass of hair, swept back the way hero always wore his.
Chapter 25
The beast seemed to be growing, both physically and mentally. The tracks were larger, the destruction grander, and the horrors greater. Some hallways were completely changed, having been widened out to allow the beasts enormous girth through, and runic messages mixed with bits of English scrawled on the walls in what served the creatures of the ruins for blood. Everyone in the group was affected in their own way. Sara steeled herself as best she could, and prepared for a final confrontation, link was being perpetually grumpy for reasons that the others couldn’t explain. Raizack was so excited that he was fidgeting incessantly, handling his weapon constantly. Yugo was studious, documenting and attempting to translate the worrisome messages along the walls, followed by Klaire, who kept her distance from anything related to the beast, her hand gripping her blade tightly. Her knuckles turning white. Lance was absorbed in his thoughts and equipment, constantly stealing glances at Sara, his eyes blazing with his obvious desire to protect her. Jenny tried to get link to talk to her, to no avail, while Marlon tried to lighten the mood, his nervous jests falling flat. Finally, there was nowhere to go but the ludicrous meadow with the false blue sky that contained the dark courage of Ragol, dark falz, sealed in an enormous obelisk in spaces unknown. They filed into the teleporter, drawing their weapons and tensing for action before they let the machine transfer their particles to their destined space. They arrived, spotting the now massive beast easily, but Sara held up her hand, stopping their charge. “Something’s wrong,” she whispered, “what’s it doing?” and, indeed, the beast seemed to be locked in a violent struggle with tendrils of radiant energy emanating from dark falz’s obelisk. The beast clamped its teeth down on one of the strands, the earth beneath them groaning and creaking as if crying out in response to the assault. The group watched in terrible fascination as the beast slowly overcame dark falz, merging their energies together, and the appearance of the creature becoming even more twisted and horrific. “I think I see a way to stop it, if its current movements stay consistent,” Yugo said thoughtfully. “Any plan is better than none.” Jenny said bemusedly. The party set to preparing their plan for action as the beast continued to devour the massive energy of dark falz. As the entity known as dark falz ceased to be, its vital energies fueling the monstrosity that had truly vanquished it, the party of hunters sat hidden, awaiting the signal to put their plan into action. At the crack of lance’s lightning bolt, five hunters leaped out from hiding towards the beast, they danced quickly around it, lashing out with their blades in passing, while not daring to linger for fear of the beasts deadly arm finding its mark in their bodies. The beast, angered by their attack, swung its arms angrily, yet with uncanny precision as its spikes struck deep into the ground, frighteningly close to the hunters. Link blanched as one blow missed him by inches, burrowing itself deep into the ground, getting stuck in the process. “Barta!” three voices cried out in unison, ice forming swiftly from the ground up the beasts arm, freezing it in place. “Now the next one!” Yugo yelled. “Right!” responded the hunters, moving boldly into the beasts’ line of fire, trying to trap its arm. They dodged and weaved, but the beast wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice, pulling back before the forces could freeze it down. Suddenly, Raizack stood still, staring into the beasts' eyes, staring it down. “Move!” lance yelled, but the beast’s arm was already lashing out, and the group prepared to hear the rending noise of tearing metal that would signify the end of their friend. Raizacks time in this life was not at an end, and, as the spikes that were to kill him were mere inches away, Raizack leaped to the side, landing with his life, but his arm had been torn away in his brush with death incarnate. “Lets see a human do that!” he boasted as the forces swiftly froze the beast’s arm to the ground. Then, for safeties sake, they froze the beast’s legs, too. It seemed that the unstoppable beast was no longer as unstoppable as they thought it to be. Also, with a casualty of only a single androids arm, the price for holding the beast was better than any of them had dared to hope! Everyone gathered themselves and moved to look at the creature, preparing for the finishing blow. Marlon's eyes fearfully avoided looking directly at the beast at first, but curiosity finally made him stare directly into the beasts burning stare. Suddenly, marlon's pupils dilated dramatically, eclipsing his iris completely, and his arms fell limply to his side. “Come closer… everyone.” Marlon said in an odd monotone. “Come… over here.”
Chapter twenty-six
Yugo, followed closely by Klaire, were the first to reach Marlon, and they waited for him to extrapolate on his reasons for summoning them instead of preparing for the finishing blow. However, they didn’t feel rushed, as the ice seemed to be holding steady, trapping the beast, enlarged as it was, securely to the ground. Marlon suddenly started to groan at a low pitch, like holding a bass note that was out of his vocal range. “Marlon? You got a stomach ache or something?” Yugo asked, bordering on amusement. When Marlon didn’t answer, they began to worry, asking more questions that also received no answer, that worry turned to cold fear when their ears picked up the beast moaning at a pitch to match marlon’s. “Move!” link screamed, jumping away. Lance jumped away with Sara, moving protectively in front of her. Jenny slipped back with Raizack, taking any semblance of cover they could find. Yugo and Klaire spun on their heels to run, but within an instant, as the familiar noise signaled the release of a magicians technique sounded as the unusually large amounts of sparkling, magical energy that had been flowing from Marlon burst into superheated flames, spreading outward in a wide arc. Yugo dove, throwing himself protectively over Klaire as the flames engulfed them both. As the flames died off, two things became visible in the aftermath. Klaire, burned and sobbing, was trying to revive an unresponsive Yugo, and out of the epicenter came a small, diminutive figure, staggering along pathetically. So horribly disfigured by the flames that still continued to eat away at his body, it was nearly impossible to identify the figure as Marlon had you not already known. Steam rose from where eyes should be as emptying tear glands met the searing fire on the surface. The figure crumpled, its end at hand, a few meters away from where it had emerged. Raizack ran forwards, taking the initiative to finish the beast before it could cause more damage. Klaire cried out, a scream ending in a cough. As fearful eyes turned, links now dead looking eyes stared unblinkingly as he kicked Klaire clear from where he had impaled her on his saber. Link leaped fluidly at jenny, one of his dual sabers clashing noisily with jenny’s enormous sword. Jenny struggled to hold her defense against the beast-possessed link, but failed to see that she was only blocking one saber. Links second saber bit deep into jenny’s ribs, dropping her arm and thereby halting her defense. Links first saber swung around, sinking into jenny’s shoulder as she crumpled to the ground. Before the others could even react to this, the beast’s cruel control had turned links sabers on himself as he too, came to lie lifelessly on the ground. The remaining three looked on at what could very well be he cause of their own deaths as the beast rasped it unearthly chuckle in welcome.
Chapter 27
A one armed android, a fiercely protective mage, and a softhearted elf were all that stood in the way of the mysterious beast; whose rampage could very well wipe out all life not only on Ragol, but above it as well. All of the remaining fighters were dumbfounded, however, in the aftermath of the beast turning their comrades against each other so suddenly. Taking the lives of those who they had fought with, explored with, and shared emotions on a deeper level than most will ever know. They had been comrades in arms, and now they were dead, taken by the beast. The beast, who had come to be so loathsome, to be hated so vehemently, that there were no more emotions towards it left than the burning hate that consumed all else. Raizack leaped at the beast, raising his scythe on high, his mechanical voice roaring out into space. Raizack's artificial soul was overtaken by his hate and outrage, his blade clashing against the beast’s armored skin as quickly as his remaining arm would allow him. Sara and lance watched in awe as the android rampaged until they saw the beast arms begin to flex. The ice, already weakened by marlon’s firestorm, began to strain, and then minuscule cracks began to appear across its glassy surface. When Raizack could not, by mere strength and force of will, break through the creature’s armor, he instead moved into a stabbing motion. With a vicious stab at the creatures eternally open grin, Raizack found his arm stopped. There was a field surrounding the beasts mouth, pulsing as it pushed the tip of raizack's blade back to outside its razored concave. Then the field pulsed, sending a wave of energy through raizack’s weapon and up his arm. The energy source for raizack’s blade overloaded, spewing smoke and sparks, canceling his blade. The servos in his arm combusted, his arm practically getting blown off. Raizack just stood there, his computer mind at a loss from this new attack, as the beast gave a final pull, tearing its arms, still encased in large chunks of ice, free from the ground. The beast raised its arms high over raizack’s head.
Chapter twenty-eight
There wasn’t much of Raizack left. Despite lance firing an array of magical blasts at the beast, it had shrugged the attacks off, and proceeded to clean its arms of the ice, using Raizack like a gagged, metal pick. Finally, the beast dropped what was left of the unfortunate android and focused its attention on lance, still standing protectively in front of Sara. Lance pushed Sara gently behind a rock. “I got this.” He said, seriousness permeating his voice. “Stay here. I’ve got this. Ill give my all to protect you. Just, no matter what, don’t die, okay?” “Lance, I-“ Sara started, “promise me.” Lance interjected “but i've got-“ she started again, only to be interrupted once more. “Promise Me!” “I promise…” Sara said quietly. “I wont die.” Lance stepped forward, stretching his arms outward, challenging the beast. He raised his arms, as a cobra, about to strike. Just as he reached the pinnacle of his movement, he broke into a low sweeping gesture, leading into an odd type of dance, particles of magical energy beginning to form and float about him like nature sprites. More and more began to gather, until there was a crowd about him that emanated a powerful aura. Just as suddenly as the dance had begun, so it ended, lance coming to face the beast head on. The beast raised its arms and roared, seeing its prey was ready for battle. Lance began to roar as well, muscles all across his body tensing tightly in preparation for the fight. Lance reacted first, swinging his arms in a wide arc. The energy to his left burst into flames, creating a pillar of fire that crashed against the beast. As the flames continued to steadily burn, lance’s arm thrust to the side, and the energy on his right crackled to life with electricity, darting through the air to slam into the beast alongside the flames. With a half turn and a swing of the arms, the energy in front of him condensed into ice, crawling along the ground like crystalline snakes, their fangs reaching up to bite into the beast along with its elemental brethren. Lances body snapped to attention and his arms went above his head, the uppermost energy forming a sun of the most pure light. With a final twist of his body, the last of the energy faded out of sight, only of the shadows around the beast to rise up its tendrils against the creature. The attack raged across the beasts bulk until lance could sustain it no more. Shadows fell, lightning echoed, light faded, ice melted, and fire died, revealing the beasts from, twisted and scarred by the elemental onslaught. Lance prepared for what he hoped was the final blow, but he made one fatal mistake. He blinked.
Chapter twenty-nine
It was like something in reality snapped. The colors across the landscape reversed, as did its physical aspect. What was in became out, and vice versa, leaving the fighters on a freakish plateau, surrounded by even more disturbing plains that curved off into nothingness. The beast picked itself up, showing the scarring that lances attack had caused, scar tissue covered much of its exposed body. Its scarred face still smiled, though slowly at first, but with gaining speed, the planet itself fed up particles, sealing what wounds were still open, and correcting the damage that would impede the beasts physical abilities. Its face, still scarred, smiled a little wider as lance’s eyes widened in fear of an enemy that could not be struck down by anything short of a god. Lance, however, had no time to rely on deities, almost no magical energy left, and only a mages sparse physical strength to fight this monstrosity. As the beast recovered, so did lance, downing his last “fluid” to restore some magical energy. Casting two spells on himself, “shifta”, which increased his physical prowess immensely, and “deband” which fortified his body against attacks, lance stared the beast down. Lance shifted his weight, causing the ground to rustle as he and the beast became locked in showdown once more. Lance charged, leaping across the ground as quickly as his legs would carry him. Gripping his wand like a blade, he swung it above his head to strike the beast. Sara ran out from behind the rock where she had been hidden, realizing what lance intended to do. When they reached striking distance, it happened. The beast’s arm swung, colliding with lance, flinging his now shattered body against the rocks in a limp mass. Sara dropped to the ground, falling back against a rock. She was stricken with the image of lance, her last ally and love, falling dead burning in her mind. The beast slowly encroached on Sara, savoring the impending kill. Sara’s hand moved of its own accord, drawing the varista on her hip and leveling it with the beasts bulk. As she pulled the trigger, the guns photon battery blazed with blinding white light. The trigger clicked into place, and the light drained from the battery, leaving it a dull, dead gray. The very moment the last visible ember of light died, a brilliant missile of white light threw itself from the barrel with impossible quickness, disappearing into the beast’s chest. The beast’s impossible armor began to crack all over, white light blazing out from underneath. The beast would have collapsed, but the explosion happened before it could even hit the ground.
Chapter 30
Ragol still wasn’t full. Floating in the cold, empty void of space, Ragol had grown hungry. Even when it encountered an object filled with shadow life, it could not reach inside to satiate its hunger. Then came another object, full of warmth, and spread its warmth across the surface. Out in the open. It would have eaten them immediately, but they began to draw another cluster of warmth towards them. Just before they came close enough, the shadowed power within the old object ate the first group of warmth and retreated back into its protective shell. With the first warm group vanished, the second hung away from the planet, out in the void. A few from the second group came down and did what Ragol could not. Puncturing the shadow life’s protective shell, they drew them out to combat each other. Taking advantage of this, Ragol brought all its energies together, creating a life form on their scale to gather their nutritious souls. Ragol was clever however, for it knew that in creating life on such a small scale there was an inherent weakness. Death. To counter this, a secret last resort was integrated into ragol's new life. Ragol’s beast was all but immune to the weapons and efforts of the life on its surface, but something outside ragol’s scope of perception intervened, from another plane of existence came a new weapon. When this weapon damaged ragol’s beast beyond repair, it was forced to use its secondary measure. A bomb. When it detonated, blue flames that didn’t burn the body, but the soul raged across ragol’s surface. Within an instant, all the life on, under, and even above Ragol was ripped from its host, condensed, and fed directly into ragol’s stomach; or its equivalent. It was all a bit much to swallow at once, but Ragol managed. As the now lifeless object above the planet crashed down to the surface in flames, Ragol slipped into sleep once more, to await its next meal.
End.
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Originally Posted by Tessu
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