Legend of The Master Hunter: The Saga Continues

[whizkid7]

Due to a request, I'll be writing a sequel to my original fanfic, which is buried somewhere in the back pages. This time, however, I'll have help from another writer, so we'll see how it works out. Anyway, on with the story:

Prolouge

It has been three months since Vanderbilt and his friends defeated Dark Falz. Pioneer 2 has landed, and a city has been established around the Central Dome. This city has been named Ragol City, as it is the first city built on Ragol. Vanderbilt and Leona live together in the city, helping the local community and protecting it from the roaming monsters. Spyhunter and Emy have also come down to the city, and do quests offered by the populace to keep their skills sharpened. Life seems peaceful...until one day, when Vanderbilt gets a mysterious call...

Chapter 1

*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!*

"Groan...what now?" a male voice said groggily.

"Oh, just ignore it, dear. We can deal with it later." the woman beside him said.

"I can't. The only reason why they'd call me on my personal BEE is if it was something important."

The man crawled out of bed, and the light shone on his face, revealing him to be Vanderbilt, the HUmar who had defeated Dark Falz. He wiped sleep from his eyes, and reached for his BEE. He flicked it on, and read the message.

"Hmmm...Interesting." he said.

"What is it?" Leona the FOneweral, his wife, said from behind him.

"It's from the Lab. They want us along with Spyhunter and Emy to head down there. Seems they have a special request for us."

"At this hour? What are they, crazy?"

"Who knows. But we'd better check it out anyway."

"Oh...alright." Leona sighed as she climbed out of the bed.

"I'll call up Spyhunter and Emy, while you get dressed." Vanderbilt told her as he put on his own clothes. He fit his green armor over his black bodysuit, and strapped his weapon, the fabled J Sword, to his waist. Leona came out of the bathroom with her red clothes on and her Twinkle Star in her hand.

"Let's go." she told him. Vanderbilt quickly messaged Spyhunter and Emy, telling them to meet them in the Lab, and together they headed down to the Lab...

Some time later, the four companions met up outside. Spyhunter was holding his Bringer's Rifle over his shoulder, and didn't look happy about being woken up early. "This had better be important..." the RAmar grumbled.

"They would not call us if they did not need us, Spyhunter." Emy the RAcaseal replied. Her Photon Launcher was held by her side, and she seemed wide awake.

"Come on, let's get this over with." Vanderbilt said, and the four walked up to Chief Milrose, the head of the Lab.

"I appreciate your quick response, Hunter Vanderbilt. I'm glad you're here." she said to them.

"Okay, now you had best tell me why you disturbed us so early, and it had better be a good reason." Vanderbilt stated, arms crossed.

"Oh, you will find this most interesting. You see, we've discovered an island, previously uncharted. It's right off the coastline here." Noticing Vanderbilt and his friends uninterested expressioons, she continued. "But what makes this interesting is that there are buildings there, which look to have been built by Pioneer 1."

"Really? Ok, now you've got my interest. Go on." Vanderbilt replied.

"Another thing, and this is the real reason I called you: We recieved a message, originating from this island. The message is from Former General Raganom."

"What???" the four cried in disbelief. Raganom, the man who had caused the death of the people of Pioneer 1, and the person that Vanderbilt had defeated before their battle with Falz, was somehow still alive.

"This can't be..." Vanderbilt said.

"I'm afraid it is. Which is why we want to explore the island." Chief Milrose replied.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Spyhunter said.

"But...before you go, we must ask one thing of you." The Chief said. "You see, the monsters on this island are completely unlike any we have ever seen. So, in order to make sure you can handle it, we are going to put you thru the Hunter's exam in the VR."

"You gotta be kiddin..." Vanderbilt said.

"After all we've done??? I can't believe this!" Leona cried out.

"It is for the best." the Chief stated.

"I belive that if we are to truly know if this message is from Raganom, we must do as they ask." Emy said matter-of-factly.

"I hate to say it...but Emy's right. Ok, Chief, we'll do it." Vanderbilt sighed.

"Good! The VR is down the ramp to the left. Oh, by the way, there's another group of hunters already in the VR. If you run across them be sure to cooperate." the Chief said.

"Yeah, yeah..." Spyhunter muttered as the four of them walked away. "What are we getting ourselves into?" he said to Vanderbilt.

"I don't know. But we'll find out..." Vanderbilt said to him.

Together, the four stepped into the VR warp, and prepared to face the virtual world and it myriad of monsters...

[Caecilius]

I'm Whizkid7's "other writer" in case anyone asks.

--------------------
Chapter 2

"Dammit Manny, get a grip and open the door already!" the HUcast obviously wasn't in a good mood today. "Storm's gonna come back soon, and he expects this door breached and open!"
"Pffff. Relax and have some anti-stress oil," replied the FOnewm. His Pinkal ID plaque shone in the artificial sunlight, and his Guard Wave hummed with arcane energy. Manny's warped sense of humour had landed him in trouble with his team several times in the past.
"I'm warning you, Force, any more jokes like that and you are as good as dead," Nightmare growled as he brandished his Dragon Slayer. Manny shrank back in fear and went back to work on the door as Nightmare's Flame Garment blazed into unholy life.


Three Arlans dead, thought Clank900. Three Arlans and not a single distress signal. Pretty good so far, he mused as another shell flew from the Belra Cannon and tore through yet another Arlan, forming a black gash in its distorted stomach. But the giant RAcast knew he was surrounded, as more beasts warped into the courtyard. "Hurry up with that door, Manny!!" he called over his shoulder as a fifth titanic shell from his cannon blew a Hildelt's arm off and ploughed into another Arlan.
"I'm going as fast as I... wait, there it goes," Manny replied as the door wound back on its ancient mechanisms. Clank bounded backwards and ran through the door, the Hildelt hot on his heels as the door began to close.
The last thing the Hildelt saw before it was crushed by the closing door was the flashing Skyly ID on Clank's Luminous Field.


"What do you mean, no more Photon generators??" cried the yellow-clad RAmar. A Viridia plaque shone on his ornate DF Field.
"I'm sorry sir, but the last generator was taken three days ago by a HUcaseal that required a new power supply," replied the shop assistant.
Call this a tool shop, thought Stormhawk. Nearly every tool shop on the ship was out of Photon generators. There was only one other tool shop that might have one, the tool shop in the Armoury District, but usually that only sold rifle parts. Still, it was worth a try, and who knows what you might find if you look hard enough?


Manny's Sorceror Cane speared another Ob Lily through the toxin gland.
"Damn Manny, I never knew you were this good," exclaimed Nightmare as his Dragon Slayer's flame charge detonated within the chest cavity of a Crimson Assassin, incinerating its frail organic components.
"Well, it all depends -" Manny sent a Barta through the next Ob Lily "- on if you know -" the Barta stream froze "-where to strike," Manny explained as the Barta shattered. Manny's skill with techniques was tremendous, and his techniques had all reached level 30.
"I never know where to strike," Clank900 added as small lumps of ice rained down around him. "I just stand back and shoot, usually killing if I hit." Clank had a point; the Belra Cannon's heavy shells were able to pulverise nearly any target with a single shot, save possibly one of the Dal Ra Lie's offspring. Clank dismissed the idea and fired again.


Stormhawk activated his BEE unit and sent a message to his team.
"Storm here. I've retrieved a Photon generator for my Maser Beam, and I will return to the VR Field shortly. Send me a Telepipe." No sooner had he sent the message than he saw a circle of red streaks appear on the ground before him. He stepped into the circle and activated his Teleport Homing Device...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 3

Vanderbilt and the others stepped out of the teleporter to find themselves in a large temple.

"Huh...Interesting. This looks incredibly real." Vanderbilt said.

"Hey, look over there!" Leona said, and she pointed to a small device floating near a door.

The four of them walked up to it, and it crackled to life. From the machine, the voice of Chief Milrose came out.

"Good, you made it in. Okay, this is the VR Temple. You will have to fight your way thru here to reach the final area, where you will face a large monster. All the monsters in here are based on data we gained from the hunters who explored Ragol. Be careful, and good luck." With that, the machine clicked off.

"Well, let's get going." Vanderbilt said, as he pulled the J Sword from its sheath and walking into the room. Instantly, a small cluster of Arlans popped up and screeched at the newcomers. In one quick slice, Vanderbilt killed all three of them. But more monsters soon appeared, including two Ob Lilies and an Indi Belra. Leona launched a Rabarta attack, freezing the two lilies in place, leaving them as easy picking for Spyhunter and Emy's guns. The Indi Belra fired off its arms incredibly quick, but Vanderbilt used them like platforms and hopped to the Belra. He split the Belra in half, and the doors opened.

In this fashion, the four continued thru the Temple. They came across more of the deadly lilies, as well as numerous Crimson Assasins and Indi Belras. The Arlans and their brethren also tried to stop the advancing team, but Vanderbilt's sword, Leona's magic, and Spyhunter and Emy's guns proved more than the monsters could handle.

Vanderbilt walked into the next room, and looked around in surprise.

"What the...?" was all he could say as he surveyed the place. Bodies of dead monsters were strewn about, and the smell of blood and decaying flesh was quite pungent.

"Ewwww...This place stinks!" Leona cried, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Weird...looks like someone already came thru here." Spyhunter said from behind.

"It must be that other group of hunters the Chief mentioned." Vanderbilt mused. "From the looks of it, I'd say there was at least one Hunter, one Force, and two Rangers."

"How is it that you can tell?" Emy asked Vanderbilt.

"Well, if you look, you'll notice that there are sword marks on the walls, which has to have come from a Hunter. No other class can put a gash that deep in a wall. Secondly, there are neat, round holes in some of these bodies which leads me to belive that there was a Ranger on the team. Also, there are large, messy holes, similar to the ones your Photon Launcher causes. This means that there was a Ranger with a heavy weapon on the team. Lastly, many of these bodies are burnt to a crisp, which could only come from a Rafoie, and a very strong one which means a Force."

"Wow, Vanderbilt, you sure know your stuff." Spyhunter said, amazed at Vanderbilt's accurate deductions.

"That's because he's got me around to teach him about this sort of thing" Leona smiled.

The others burst out laughing at Vanderbilt's reddening face.

"Leona!!!" he cried.

"Oh, come on, we're just teasing you." she said as she went over to him.

"Well...whatever. Let's just get this over with." he turned on his heels and continued onward. The others followed behind him, and found themselves at the warp to the next area. Without hesitation, the four walked into the teleporter, and were sent on there way to continue thru the Temple...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 4

Stormhawk mopped his drenched brow. The artificial sunset didn't matter, but the fact that the team had not rested since they entered made Stormhawk feel a little guilty about not stopping before.
"Okay, after we clear this room we stop and rest," he called to his team.
"May as well make the most of the killing before we stop," added Nightmare. He sheathed his Dragon Slayer and tapped a code into his Teleport Homing Device. A burning pole appeared on the ground with a burst of green light.
"Since when did you get that Twin Blaze? I always thought you used your Dragon Slayer," asked a very puzzled Manny as he returned through the dead-end door. A glowing red switch shone through the open door.
"Some fool traded it with me back on Pioneer," replied Nightmare. "All he wanted was some shield, I can't remember exactly which one but he said he needed it."
"Must have been a pretty big fool then," Stormhawk replied as he increased the voltage output on his Maser Beam and charged back across the bridge.


Clank900 shouldered his Belra Cannon. His internal power source needed recharging, and quickly. He finally caught up with Stormhawk and the others just as Nightmare retrieved his Twin Blaze from the floor where it appeared.
"Hey Clanky, what took you so long?" was the last thing he heard before he shut down and crashed to the floor.


When Clank had regained sufficient power to move again, he saw three faces staring at him.
"What the hell happened?" was all he could manage.
"You shut down just as you found us. Nightmare shut himself down soon after, and I decided to set up camp here," Stormhawk explained.
"Which is why I set fire to a piece of Hildelt meat and used it as a campfire," Manny added. "It's hard to tell the time with the constant sunset appearance here, but I looked at my nav-guide and saw that it was past midnight."
"What's the time now?" Clank asked as he looked blankly at the sky.
"About 5am," Stormhawk glanced at his nav-guide. "Which is why we'd better wake up Nightmare befo- " Storm's BEE unit started flashing.


"Adrian J. Stormhawk here, and who the hell are you?" barked Stormhawk.
"This is Chief Milrose here. I just wanted to say that the other group of hunters passed through this area two hours before your RAcast reained consciousness. They are currently in the final maze room and are combatting several Dark creatures."
"Ah crap. We're behind schedule," moaned Nightmare.
"And I never knew your first name was Adrian, Stormhawk," joked Manny as he got up and ran into the maze.


"If we're going to make up on lost time, I'm gonna dive into the river, follow the channel east and emerge at the warp to the next area," explained Stormhawk as he closed his nav-guide. "Most of my weapons are Photon-based or mechanical, though, so they'll simply short out and die, but my Agito won't do that as it doesn't use Photons or machinery."
"I'll take care of your Maser," offered Clank.
"No thanks Clank, I'll send them to my stock room and reclaim them at the warp." Stormhawk typed six codes into his Teleport Homing Device and watched as his weapons were spirited away, first his Maser Beam, then his Red Mechguns, then his Delsaber's Buster. Next went his Tripolic Shield, then his Delsaber's Shield, and finally his DF Field (none of the team used Mags). All Stormhawk kept was his limited knowledge of the Zonde technique and his Agito (AUW 1977), plus his black bodysuit and waterproof nav system. He braced himself as he leapt into the channel.
"I'll send a Telepipe when I'm out!!" he called.


"May as well go back to Pioneer for a drink," Clank mused. "I need more alcohol to keep running, plus it recharges my fuel cell so I can go for longer."
"We need to keep fighting," explained Nightmare. "We came back to the VR to train, since we already passed the exam. We need to get better in combat," he added just as Clank popped a Telepipe capsule.
"We need to return to the ship anyway," argued Clank. "We have to take Storm's pipe leading to the VR Final." Suddenly Nightmare's BEE buzzed and crackled.


"Yes, this is Nightmare. What do you need?"
"Night! Thank God you're there. I've run into a broken door, type Sigma," Manny gasped over the intercom. "I need to get the repair technique sorted, or I'm not gonna get past!"
"One second..." Nightmare replied as memories of door repair flooded back. Type Beta... type Epsilon... come on, load up already!!...Type Mu...Type Sigma!!
"Okay, meatbag, here's the instrctions..."

[whizkid7]

Chapter 5

Two hours earlier...

"Phew! This is getting tough." Leona said as she fried another Del-D with a blast of Foie. The blackened carcass fell to the floor and the doors unlocked.

"Yeah, I've been getting the stuffing beat out of me." Spyhunter replied as he wiped sweat from his head with the back of his hand.

"Perhaps we need better weapons?" Emy asked.

"Hmm...No, I think I know what we need. Leona, could you open up a telepipe for me. please?" Vanderbilt said.

"Okay...but I don't see why..." and she cast Ryuker.

The red warp appeared, and Vanderbilt disappeared into it. He returned a few minutes later with some items in his hands.

"This armor should help us out. A Smoking Plate for Leona, a Secure Feet for Spyhunter, and an Electro Frame for Emy." he said as he handed the armors to his friends.

"Wow! I didn't know you had all this..." Leona said as she equipped the Plate. Smoke began to issue forth from the plate.

"They've been sitting in my bank for ages. I figure this way they'll get some usage." Vanderbilt answered. As he said this, he equipped the armor he had brought for himself: A Brightness Circle. Small photons of light surrounded him.

"Nice Circle, Vanderbilt." Spyhunter said as he put on the Secure Feet.

"Thank you for the armor, Vanderbilt." the android Ranger said as she equipped the Electro Frame. Sparks of purple electricity shot forth from the armor.

"Don't worry about it. Now let's get going." Vanderbilt said, and together they marched off into the second area of the Temple...

The present...

"Yahhhh!!!" Vanderbilt cried as he sliced a Del-D in half, the pieces of it's body disintegrating into dust as they hit the floor. He and his friends had been fighting their way thru the Temple for the past two hours, battling against the seemingly endless flood of monsters.

Leona said in between attacks, "Where"-she fired a Gibarta-"are all these"-the Gibarta turned the Arlans to ice-"monsters"-she smashed them with her Twinkle Star-"coming from?"

"Who knows? But just keep killing!" Spyhunter cried as he unloaded a few shots from his Bringer's Rifle into a group of Lilies and Merlans, punching holes in chests and slicing lilies off their stems.

"The monsters seem heavily concentrated here. I belive this must be the last room before the boss of this area." Emy called out as her Photon Launcher blew a few Del-D's heads off.

"I think you're right, Emy. So let's get thru here, and then we'll rest!" Vanderbilt called back, as he took an Arlan's arm off with the J Sword. He kicked it down, then stabbed it in the face, and went back to attacking more monsters.

The monsters kept coming at the four, and they found themselves surrounded.

"Not good..." Vanderbilt growled.

"Vanderbilt, what do we do?" Leona asked him worriedly.

"I'll handle it. Just get down!"

"What are you-"

"Just DO it!"

Leona and the others complied, and they hit the floor.

"Let's see how you guys like the taste of this!" Vanderbilt cried, and he unleashed the J Sword's dome attack. The wave of energy tore thru the large group of monsters, incinerating most of them, and weakening the ones remaining enough for the others to quickly kill.

"I forgot the J Sword could do that..." Spyhunter said as he stepped over an Arlan's body.

"Yeah, I haven't used it that much, have I?" Vanderbilt answered.

"Vanderbilt! Behind you!!!" Leona cried in surprise.

Vanderbilt turned around to receive an armored fist to the chest, which sent him flying into a wall. He opened his eyes despite the pain to see himself face to face with a Hildetorr, the much rarer and more deadly version of a Hildelt.

"Great...just what we need..." he growled as he rose up and charged at the beast. The Hildetorr spat its Megid breath at him, but he jumped out of the way and attacked. His sword bit deep into the monster's shoulder, and it cried in anger. It reached a hand up and grabbed Vanderbilt in its mighty grip.

"No!" Leona cried, watching helplessly as the Hildetorr began to squeeze the life out of Vanderbilt.

"Quick, Leona! Hit it with Gibarta!" Spyhunter yelled to her.

"Right!" She launched the attack and ended up freezing the Hildetorr's upper body. Spyhunter then dived at the beast and delivered a kick to it's midsection, shattering the beast to pieces. Vanderbilt collapsed to the floor, wheezing and gasping.

"Vanderbilt!" Leona raced over to him, and cast Resta on him. As she did so, she asked him, "Are you okay, honey?"

"I'll...be fine...soon as that Resta kicks in..." he answered, and smiled up at her. She smiled back, and helped him to his feet.

"That is all of the monsters." Emy said.

"Yeah...Huh? What's that?" Vanderbilt said, staring over at the remains of the Hildetorr. Lying on the ground was some kind of gun. He picked it up, and examined it. "What's this?"

"That is a Yasimokinov 9000M. It is a powerful weapon, but old, as it does not use Photons, but rather real bullets." Emy said.

"I've heard of it...Well, it's no use to me. Here, Emy, you hang onto it." The hunter handed over the weapon.

"Thank you." she replied as she stored it away.

"Okay, a quick rest, and then we gon onto the boss." Vanderbilt said, as he and his friends settled down to take a break from all the fighting...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 6

"Hold on a sec!" Manny's voice was not the usual jokey voice Nightmare usually heard, but a serious, angry voice usually used by Nightmare himself. "Attach the blue cable with the three crosses to the red port with the what?" Nightmare sighed and repeated his instruction.
"The cable attaches to the red port with the broken circle symbol. Just connect the cable, and the controls for the autosensor should become accessible."
"Okay, they're open. Now what do I do?"
"Count the switches and the lights, there should be seven of each. Now make sure all switches are UP. Hit the first switch so that it is DOWN."


Stormhawk drifted into an open area of the channel and checked his nav-guide. He was still on course for the VR Final warp, and only had a few hundred meters left to swim. Suddenly a Merlan from the courtyard far above hurled itself into the channel and swam towards Stormhawk like a shark swimming towards its prey. Stormhawk thrusted his Agito through the water, impaling the Merlan's right arm and destroying it in a flash of crimson light and black ichor. The Merlan was uncaring that its arm had been destroyed, though, as it held its left arm out like a lance, cutting through the water and colliding with the Agito's blade with such bestial force that the katana snapped in half.
"Talk about lousy workmanship," growled Stormhawk as he hurled the remnants of the weapon at the Merlan.


Clank900 paced the floor impatiently. Surely there had to be a quicker route than through the channel. He fired a round from his Belra Cannon through the fallen rockrete slab to the east in order to get a better view. Surprisingly, the wall held even after the heavy shell smashed into it. Clank was confused. He fired again and again.
"Break, you stupid slab!!" he cried just as the last round blew the slab to pieces and opened a new pathway. The two-meter-long shell span and landed with a great splash in the water below, followed by a sickening crunch of bone. Clank dashed forward to get a closer look when he saw blood staining the sea and the ancient rock of the Temple. He thought he had accidentally killed something, and he was right.


"Okay, I'm through," came Manny's voice through the intercom just as Nightmare's BEE hummed into life.
"Hello? Nightmare answering."
"This is Chief Milrose here. I was unable to hail Stormhawk, so I contacted you instead. You should realise that the other team of Hunters is being swarmed by Arlans, Lilies and Crimson Assassins, so you will have some time to catch up to them, but there won't be much of a chance."
"Copy that. Nightmare out." The BEE shut itself off. "Hey Clank, Whatcha doing?" Nightmare called through the hole in the wall.
"Blood..." was the reply. Nightmare ran over, scorching the rocks with his Flame Garment. Clank was right; blood had been spilt in the ocean.
RED blood.


The katana span through the air and the water, eventually spearing the Merlan through its black heart. It burst apart in a cloud of dark vapour just as the leering form of a Hildetorr leapt down on Stormhawk.
It never got the chance to land.
Stormhawk's limited knowledge of the Zonde technique was sufficient to summon a bolt of lightning from the clouds and through the Hildelt's thick skull, pulverising its tiny brain and killing it instantly before it hit the water. Before Stormhawk had a chance to breathe again, though, a Belra's arm smashed through the stone slab to the west and smashed into the water, narrowly missing Storm by a few inches and blasting the Hildetorr's dead body apart in a wash of red blood and violet Megid plasma. Storm recognised the arm as a shell from Clank's heavy cannon, and decided to swim as fast as he could towards the temple's final warp.


Manny darted across a stone bridge and caught sight of a giant blue corona of energy. He stopped so suddenly he tumbled over backwards. Reaching for his Photonoculars, he trained his vision on the door nearest to the blue wave. Sure enough, a green-clad HUmar bolted out of the door, clutching a giant version of the Agito that Stormhawk used.
"Why hadn't I thought of that before? Here was Vanderbilt, the legendary Hunter that defeated Dark Falz!! Wielding the J-sword, no less!" he mused. He was about to look closer when he saw Stormhawk rise up from the ocean in front of him. Manny dropped his Photonoculars and saw Storm vault over the low wall, silver hair dripping and murder in his eyes.
"If I ever find out what you were..." Stormhawk never finished his sentence as Manny pointed a finger at the Hunter with the J-sword before falling over backwards again. Stormhawk looked round and saw the green HUmar heft the J-sword over his shoulder before turning and walking into the large warp transport generator.
"Damn you, Manny!!!" he cursed and charged through the door, stopping a few meters short of the door to the transporter to open a Telepipe and retrieve his items.
"Get down here now, guys! NOW!!!" he screamed into his BEE as he heard the transporter activate.
Stormhawk's heart dropped like a stone as the glow from the transporter faded.

[whizkid7]

Chapter 7

"Get down here guys, NOW!!!"

Vanderbilt heard this as he was stepping in to the teleporter, and was turning around to locate the source of the words, when the teleporter activated and he and his friends were whisked into the final area of the Temple.

"Something wrong?" Leona looked at his puzzled face.

"I think I heard a voice out there. It might have been that other team of hunters. Maybe we should have waited for them..."

"Forget it, if they're too slow to catch up, then there's no need for them." Spyhunter grumbled as he took a look around at where they had been warped. "This looks kind of familiar..."

"I am registering a large being in the water to our side." Emy said.

The four turned as a giant creature rose out of the water. It screeched at them, and then dived under.

"What the...that looked like Dal Ra Lie!" Vanderbilt cried.

"According to this VR readout, it is known as Barba Ray. It is similar to the creature called Dal Ra Lie." Emy told them.

"Well then, I'll just have to kill it the same way!"

"Vanderbilt, look! It's coming up!" Leona told him.

The Hunter looked over as the creature shot out of the water and latched itself onto the raft. Its four tentacle like appendages began hitting into the raft, trying to impale the four. Vanderbilt sliced one off with his sword, while Spyhunter and Emy shot at the beast's face.

"This thing's got some kind of mask on!" Spyhunter called.

"You'll have to break thru it in order to hurt the thing!" the HUmar cried out as he blocked another one of the tentacles.

The Barba Ray released itself from the raft and dove under the water. Then, a bunch of small little monsters popped up on the side, and launched themselves at the four of them.

"This is new..." Vanderbilt mused as he stabbed one thru the head. It made a quiet screech and died.

"What are these things? It's like little versions of him! AGHH!" Leona cried out as one of them ran her over.

"Leona!" Vanderbilt raced over and knelt beside her. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, but watch out, there's more of them!" she pointed behind him, and more of the little things shot at them.

After a third line of the creatures, which Emy told them were Pig Rays, things seemed quiet. Vanderbilt looked down to see something twinkling under his feet.

"What the...YOW!!!" he cried as a tentacle shot up and carved a gash in his Brightness Circle. "Ah...don't stand still, that thing's punching it's tentacles thru the raft!" he told his friends. The others ran away from the rising tentacles. Vanderbilt began to rise, but found himself weakened. "Poison...I've been poisoned..." he spat thru clenched teeth.

"Leona! I think Vanderbilt's hurt!" Spyhunter called as he jumped out of the way of another tentacle.

"Vanderbilt? Vanderbilt!" she cried as she saw him sink to the ground. "What's wrong?"

"I think...it poisoned me..." he managed to say weakly.

"Hang on, just hang on!" she cried, and she muttered the incantation for the Anti technique.

Then the Barba Ray shot in front of the raft, and stared them down. It seemed to do nothing but float in front of the raft.

"Oh...no...Hurry, it's going to launch...a beam attack!" Vanderbilt croaked.

The others gasped as a giant laser of energy fired out from the monster's mouth, aimed straight for them. Spyhunter grabbed both Vanderbilt and Leona and jumped out of the way, just as the beam struck where they had been.

"Hurry up with that spell, Leona!" he told her as he fired at the beast, hoping to knock the beam off balance.

But the creature seemed more interested in Emy, who was standing stock still. It looked at her, then began to charge up its beam.

Vanderbilt, now healed by Leona, jumped up, racing toward Emy and cried, "Emy, watch out!!!"

Emy suddenly smapped to, and pulled out the Yasimokinov 9000M that Vanderbilt had given her. She fired round after round into the Barba Ray's face. The monstrous thing's mask broke apart, and it screeched in pain. Its beam attack shot in the air, and it dived underwater.

"Wow...Nice shot, Emy." Vanderbilt told her.

"Thank you." She said as she ejected the weapon's spent clip, and proceeded to put a new one in.

"Uh...Emy? What are you doing?" Her friends were staring at what she was doing.

"Reloading this weapon. It uses real bullets, not Photons, therefore it requires that I reload the bullets." she answered.

"Oh..." The others seemed to not understand.

Then the Barba Ray showed up next to the raft.

"Ok, this guy's dead!" Vanderbilt cried. He jumped from the raft onto the Barba Ray.

"Be careful, Vanderbilt!" Leona cried.

"YAHHHHH!!!" he cried as he plunged the J Sword into the head of the creature. "Try a taste of this!" And with that, he let loose with the dome attack. The cascade of energy tore the monster's head apart and sent pieces of it flying. The body spasmed and crashed onto the raft.

"Got him!" Vanderbilt said as he stepped off the dead body and onto the raft."

"You did it!" Leona cried as she ran over and hugged him.

"Well, guess we're done here." Spyhunter said as the raft slowed to a stop outside a teleporter. The four walked into it to find themselves in the Lab. They walked up to Chief Milrose.

"Hmmm...most impressive. You did well. Now we'll see how well you fare in the VR Spaceship." she told them.

"Can I ask you something, Chief?" Vanderbilt said.

"Ask away, Hunter Vanderbilt."

"Who are the other hunters that are in there?"

"Well, I only know the name of one of them, the leader. I believe he is called Stormhawk."

"Stormhawk, eh? Well, thanks. We'll be back soon." And with that, he turned and headed to meet his friends in the teleporter. They all walked in, and the teleporter sent them on their way, to the next VR field...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 8

"That has to be the worst Telepipe experience I've ever suffered," groaned Clank900 as Nightmare joined them. "I've been hit with less dangerous Razondes, and that was after Manny misfired."
"Speaking of Manny..." Stormhawk flipped his BEE open and dialled the med-center. "Can you send somebody down for Manny?" he asked before closing the BEE. The warm glow of the transporter blazed back into life.
"Let's go!!" called Stormhawk as he charged through the door.


The raft was eerily quiet.
Too quiet.
Were it not for the other team of hunters, Stormhawk would be happily frying Barba Ray's puny behind. Yet the Ray was perched eerily on the side of the raft, its head blown away. The remaining crater blazed with an electric blue light. Stormhawk reopened his BEE, this time opening a link to the Lab.
"Can you reset the VR Final for us? And give us a bit of a challenge at the very least."
No sooner had Stormhawk spoken these words than the VR slid in and out of focus, finally returning to the raft with no sign of the carcass. In fact, the "carcass" was swimming quite happily beneath the raft, head re-attached and no damage suffered in the slightest. It leapt out of the water beside the raft and released a terrifying howl that echoed throughout the entire Temple.
If only there was something left alive to hear it...


"Stand back and don't come near me if you want to live," called Nightmare as he equipped his Twin Blaze. His Flame Garment blazed into life as he charged at the Barba Ray, the special Gifoie charges ripping through the Ray's armoured exoskeleton and tearing through flesh. The Ray let out another howl, this time in pain, as it expelled bolts of energy from vents on its side. Three of these bolts hammered into Nightmare, while a further four smashed into Clank900, bowling him over and nearly forcing him off the raft. Stormhawk remained unharmed, as his DF Field blazed with unholy green light that deflected the bolts that approached him, and he increased the power output on his Maser as the Barba leapt onto the raft, knocking Clank over again and sweeping the heavy Belra Cannon out of his hands. The massive gun landed barely inches away from Stormhawk's crouching position, who was constantly firing electric death into the Barba Ray and the Pig Rays that had also leapt onto the raft.


"I have you now," growled Stormhawk as another bolt of electricity hammered into the Barba's flank as it unlatched itself from the raft. Suddenly a golden Pig Ray, which Nightmare described as an Ul Ray, leapt onto the raft and forced Clank into the channel before scything into Nightmare and scrambling his circuits with a Confusion charge. Nightmare recovered quickly, though, and skewered the beast with a downward stab of his Twin Blaze. The Barba swam under the raft and stabbed the raft from underneath with its tentacles. Several times they missed but one got lucky and speared Nightmare through the chest. Nightmare dropped to his knees, coolant fluid fountaining everywhere as the tentacle struck again, this time through Nightmare's vox-unit. His entire body was overcome by shock and electric streaks coursing through his system. Nightmare went offline.


Stormhawk let out a roar of defiance as Nightmare's smoking form vanished from the VR. He activated the custom Beam Amplifier that he had fitted himself, unleashing blast after terrifying blast that blew off chunks of the creature's foul armour. The Barba Ray howled again, coming in behind the raft to let off its own wide blasts of energy. Stormhawk dodged one burst and somersaulted over another, but the third could not be evaded. Suddenly the DF Field blazed with power again, forming a protective green barrier around Stormhawk that blocked the beam. The Barba, confused, let out another, deadlier beam, but again the green barrier blocked the beam. The intensity of the beam eventually penetrated the barrier, though, but as one part of the field caved in another bulged out just above the beam. As the beam pierced the field and tore into Stormhawk, a wave of green plasma shot from the bulge and severed the Barba's head from its body. The head lande on the raft, and by some forsaken dark power the head was still alive! Stormhawk had been severely wounded, but he raised his Maser Beam and committed himself into one last action.
"Fell beast! Back to the pit that you crawled from!!!" he roared as he pulled the trigger. He blacked out as his beam smashed into the Barba's roaring head and incinerated it in a corona of plasma and electricity.


When Stormhawk came round an hour later he was lying face down in front of Chief Milrose. Her face showed a look of deep concern and worry.
"Uhhh... did I kill it?" was all he could manage.
"That display was excellent, Ranger Stormhawk. I've never seen a DF Field create such a barrier as yours did." Chief Milrose seemed genuinely astonished. Stormhawk sprang to his feet as he ran to the Stock Room to retrieve his Maser Beam. On his way he ran into his team, all looking very pleased to see him. All the team were holding different weapons to their usual choices; Clank900 held a Yasminkov 7000V (though he assured Stormhawk that the Belra Cannon had been collected from the VR), Nightmare carried a Last Survivor ("I preferred big swords anyway!") and Manny removed a Technical Crozier from his stock room ("Have to be more alert for broken doors next time," he told Nightmare, who merely grunted in response).
"Well, shall we go?" asked Stormhawk. "I want to taste combat again." The four ran into the warp that would take them to the VR Spaceship...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 9

Vanderbilt and his friends arrived within the VR Spaceship's first area. They took a look around, and immediately noticed that this place was much larger than the VR Temple.

"I have a feeling it'll take us longer to get thru here then it did the Temple." Vanderbilt said.

"Well then, we had better get started!" Leona said, and she cast her Shifta and Deband upon the group.

The four advanced into the first room, and were jumped by a group of Gulguses. But Emy blew them apart in a quick barrage from her Photon Launcher. They continued forth into a long oval shaped room.

"Great...Gillchichs..." Vanderbilt muttered as the crazed machines appeared before them. He charged at a group of them and tore them into scrap with a quick swing of his sword. One of the surviving ones launched a laser at him, but his Brightness Circle reflected the shot. Leona turned the rest of them into fried circuitry with her Gizonde. Then a pair of Delsabers appeared and jumped at the group.

"Delsabers!" Spyhunter cried as he blew the sword arm off of one of them with his Bringer's Rifle. It tried to swat him with its shield arm, but thanks to the Ranger's Secure Feet, he easily dodged and blew a hole in the back of the thing's head. Vanderbilt quickly dispatched the other Delsaber, and they continued forth.

They managed to get thru most of the first area with little problems, but towards the end of the first area, things became more challenging.

"Man, there's no end to these Gillchichs..." Vanderbilt muttered as he skewered another one on his sword, then shoved it into a batch of its brethren. It exploded violently, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the others in its group.

"They seem endless." Emy said flatly as she cooly took a group of them down using the Yasimokinov 9000M.

"I don't know if I can keep this up much longer..." Leona panted as she launched another Gizonde attack, destroying the rest of the Gillchichs.

"This is really gettin hard...Watch out, more Delsabers!" Spyhunter told his friends as the Delsabers materialized before them. Leona found herself attacked by two of them, and in her already weakened state, she was unable to hold her own, and was being backed up against a wall.

"Hang on, Leona!" Vanderbilt cried as he dispatched the Delsaber he was fighting, and jumped in front of Leona. "Back off, uglies! Nobody messes with her!" he yelled to the Delsabers.

The Delsabers seemed to hesitate, unsure as to whether to attack this new creature or not. But their hesitation ended, and they swiftly swung their swords at Vanderbilt. He parried their blows, and gave one a swift kick in the chest region, causing it to back up a few steps. This gave Vanderbilt the precious seconds he needed to destroy one of the Delsabers with a well-aimed stab. But the other Delsaber recovered much quickler than he expected, and it jumped at him. He turned in time to see the creature burst into flames and drop to the floor in front of him. Behind him, he heard a soft cry, and looked to see Leona falling to the floor.

"Leona!!!!"

Leona awoke a few hours later to find herself lying on the floor, with her friends nearby.

"What...happened?" she asked.

"You exhausted yourself using all that magic, and you fell unconcious." Vanderbilt said as he sat down next to her. "Don't worry me like that, honey. I thought something terrible had happened to you."

"I'm okay. I've just never used so much magic in such a short time."

"Don't you have any fluids on you?"

"I do, but that won't help my exhaustion. That would only help keep my magic reserves high."

"Oh...then here, take this Dimate. It'll make you feel better."

He handed the capsule to her, and she drank it down. Instantly, she felt much better, and she stood up.

"Thanks. I feel much better!" she grinned.

"You sure you're okay?" Spyhunter asked.

"I'm fine, really! Now come on, let's get thru here!" she told them.

"The teleporter is not far away." Emy said.

"Good. Let's go." Then Vanderbilt's BEE began beeping, and he answered it. "Vanderbilt here. Something wrong?"

"Chief Milroe, Vanderbilt. I just felt I should let you know that the other group of hunters entered the second area of the Spaceship about an hour ago. They're still there, but you might want to hurry."

"Thanks, Chief. Vanderbilt, out." He closed down the BEE and said, "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's move it!"

He and his friends ran off to the teleporter, and into the second area of the VR Spaceship...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 10

Stormhawk blasted another Gillchich into oblivion with his Maser Beam. He had encountered periods of relative calm until he entered the second area of the Spaceship. For some reason the interior resembled that of his own four-man light frigate (a Guardian class gunship known as the Crusader). Stormhawk brushed aside the idea and activated the Beam Amplifier, incinerating a Delsaber with one blast from the modified gun.


Clank900 pumped bullet after bullet into the hard carapace of the Pan Arms. Each iron bullet pierced the monster's hide easily. Manny and Nightmare were busy breaking heads in the bowels of the ship's engine reactor, while Stormhawk was fighting his way towards the ship's bridge. Clank couldn't believe there weren't enough of Stormhawk's handmade grapple guns for him.
"Stupid grapple guns..." he growled as the Pan Arms spat a beam of red light past Clank and into a Gulgus' armoured hide. The Gulgus reeled from the unexpected attack and bowled into the Pan Arms just as a blue spray of plasma issued forth from the Pan Arms' blue vents, vapourising the Gulgus before it hit. Clank, confused, blasted a hole through the Pan Arms' vents and killed it just as a door opened behind him...


Nightmare and Manny were destroying Gillchichs like a scythe cuts wheat. Manny sliced through five at once with a single Rabarta, while Nightmare hacked and slashed with his Last Survivor sword, halving three Gillchichs with every sweep of the blade.
"Couldn't kill these things faster, could you?" joked Manny. In response, Nightmare leapt down onto the next floor down and whirled the sword around him, slaying over twelve Gillchichs at once. Nightmare suddenly realised that the sword was not strong enough to fulfill the power requirements he demanded from all weapons, and he hurled the blade into the wall of the spaceship.
Little did he know that he had just pierced the reactor.
Manny fell backwards in shock and fear as plasma spewed from the hole in the reactor. Nightmare scrambled up onto the ledge as the stream of plasma melted the Gillchichs where they stood and overran the fleeing Delsabers as Manny and Nightmare bolted for the exit door.


Stormhawk suddenly realised why there were so few monsters on the higher levels. The majority were fighting Clank, Manny and Nightmare on the lower decks, leaving Stormhawk with very few obstructions. Two Baranz teleported in, the fiercest enemies Stormhawk had faced in the entire Spaceship. Even they were no match for a blast of Zonde and three short bursts from the Maser. Stormhawk re-checked his map as the door hissed open before his eyes...


Nightmare hauled himself to safety on the higher decks as the dying reactor block disappeared in a sea of fire and plasma. Manny was waiting at the nearest door, and so was Clank!
"What took you so damn long??" whined Manny as Nightmare ignited his Flame Garment. "We were thinking you'd died in the reactor block."
"A well-built HUcast always survives, Force," retorted Nightmare as the reactor block toppled and fell. "And is this the middle deck?" Nightmare caught sight of Clank and realised that one of the team had to stay behind due to the lack of grapple guns.
"Correct, this is the middle deck," Clank chimed in. "I've been fighting here for ages, and there's no denying that there's a level above and a level below."
"Plus, Clanky had the luck of finding the warp to the Gol Dragon's lair," added Manny. "I wonder whether Stormhawk found the warp to the bridge yet?"
"Knowing him, probably yes!" laughed Clank.


Stormhawk had inded fond the warp to the bridge, in fact he could see a map of the entire ship and control panels for directing the ship itself within the bridge. He was just about to vox his comrades with the comm system when -
"What the?" Stormhawk's body was suddenly assailed by numerous bolts of light, forming a shining aura. His DF Field activated just in time, for no sooner had it done so than the aura exploded into a golden firestorm that vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. A Gran Sorceror materialised in front of Stormhawk's astonished form. The crystals around it rose into the air, and the Gran Sorceror launched a crackling purple sphere from its iridescent blue staff. Stormhawk dodged the sphere and blasted the Sorceror out of the air with a Zonde spell. The Sorceror landed on the floor without making a sound. Stormhawk pinned the creature to the floor with his foot and levelled his weapon at the Sorceror's head.
"Burn in hell, fiend," he growled as he pulled the trigger. The Sorceror was racked with electric pain for a brief second before it burst apart in a wash of purple ichor. Stormhawk darted over to the comm system and voxxed his team as he saw them warp into the Gol Dragon's dome.
"Save some for me!!" he called through the comm system as he barrelled through the window and onto the dome.

[whizkid7]

Chapter 11

Vanderbilt and the others entered into the second area of the VR spaceship and immediately noticed something was amiss.

"Hey...do you smell that?" Leona asked.

"Yeah...what IS that smell?" Spyhunter asked. "It smells like..."

"Plasma..." Vanderbilt said and he raced over to a nearby viewscreen and looked down at the lower deck. Sure enough, the entire lower deck was covered in glowing plasma. Vanderbilt gaped as he saw a Delsaber fall in and melt away into nothingness.

"Someone must have hit the plasma reactor down there..." he mused.

"Do you think it was that other team of hunters?" Leona asked him.

"Hmmm...I don't think-" That's when he noticed a sword sticking out of the wall where the plasma was coming from. It was a Dragon Slayer, and Vanderbilt knew that only a Hunter could have thrown that sword with enough force to punch a hole into the reactor.
"Yes, it must have been them."

"Well, we certainly can't go down there, now can we?" the grumpy RAmar muttered. So how are we supposed to get to the Final Area?"

"I can scan for the teleporter's signal, and we can get to it that way." Emy replied.

"Do it." And she did. She pointed north, thru a nearby door, and they headed forth.

They came across some Gillchichs and Delsabers as they made their way thru the middle deck, but it was far less monsters then they expected.

"I guess those other guys got thru here before we did..." Vanderbilt mused, as he turned another Gillchich into scrap.

In seemingly no time at all, they were nearing the end of the second area. Then they came across a locked door.

"The teleporter is just beyond this door." Emy said.

"But it's locked...How do we get in?" Leona wondered.

"The switch would be on the bridge. The bridge is on the upper deck."

"I'll go." The HUmar turned on his heel and began to walk away.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Leona cried as she ran to catch up to him.

"No, I want you and the others to stay here. If the door's locked, it means those other hunters haven't gotten here yet. So, when they show up, you guys will be here, and be able to find out who they are. Besides, it won't take me long." Vanderbilt said to her.

"Well...alright...just, be careful, okay?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He turned around and walked off.

"I hope so..." she said after him.

Vanderbilt found his way up to the upper deck, and began to fight his way thru to the bridge. "This reminds me of when I was alone in the Mines...there appears to be a lot more enemies up here then there were down below. I guess they figured on guarding the bridge." he mused as he tore thru Gillchichs by the dozen.

Then, a pair of Baranzes came lumbering out, and thier missiles launched right toward the hunter. But he jumped behind a group of Delsabers, and they were incinerated by the incoming missiles. Then Vanderbilt pulled out his only other weapon: a Varista. "I haven't used this in a while..." he said to himself. He tool aim and shot one of the missiles right before it exited the chamber. The resulting explosion tore apart the Baranz, and knocked the other one off balance, allowing him to tear it apart with his sword.

Finally, he managed to reach the bridge. He looked down and saw his three friends standing by the door. Then he looked over to another side, and noticed a RAmar standing there, holding a Maser Beam. "That must be one of the other hunters...I wonder if that's the Stormhawk guy..." he said aloud. Then he saw the Ranger walk thru the door, and as it closed, he got a glimpse of a teleporter. "Oh no! They're going to get there before we do!" he cried. He turned on the switch, and was about to go back the way he came, when a Gran Sorceror appeared.

"Uh-oh..." was his reply.

The Gran Sorceror chraged up its Megid, ready to strike down the Master Hunter where he stood.

"There's only one other way..." and with that, Vanderbilt jumped thru the window, and fell in a cascade of shards, the Megid attack barely missing him. He landed in front of his friends.

"Vanderbilt! What the..." Spyhunter said as the HUmar rose to his feett.

"No time to talk, get thru that door before-" The door opened, and the transporter was not on.

"Dammit!" he cried, and punched the wall.

"But how?" Leona asked.

"There's tow entrances to the Final area. I saw the other group of hunters get there first." Vanderbitl said sullenly.

"What does this mean?" Emy asked.

"It means we're stuck here. Until the transporter turns back on." Spyhunter said.

[Caecilius]

Chapter 12

The blade had been reformed by the destructive powers of the plasma. As the ruptured reactor gushed out yet more plasma, the sword flew out of the gash and spiralled towards the ship's bridge section, plasma flying off the newly-reformed sword as it span.


Uncaring that seven hunters could see him, Stormhawk barrelled into the window, shattering it. He landed on top of the Gol Dragon's dome where his teammates were fighting the fell beast. His scanner registered ten lifeforms, yet Stormhawk could only see nine; himself, his team, the other team staring at him, and the dragon.
So where was the tenth?
"What the..." Stormhawk was surprised. Suddenly the tenth lifeform became apparent; the Gran Sorceror that he had "killed" earlier materialised on top of the dome, barely inches from Stormhawk.
"Holy shit!" swore Stormhawk, uncaring that the hunters below could hear him all too well. The damage dealt to the monster had been horrendous; its abdomen and right arm had been incinerated, its head had been badly burned yet shielded from annihilation by a glowing red barrier, and its crystals had been shattered, save one. Immediately the crystal flew high into the air, spinning wildly. Mere seconds later and the Sorceror would have slain Stormhawk with a Megid spell, yet Stormhawk drew a hidden dagger from his belt and plunged it into the Sorceror's already-crippled head section. The Sorceror exploded in a violent blast of glowing blood, and the crystal fell lifeless into Stormhawk's outstretched hand.
"Need to remember that dagger's there," grinned Stormhawk as he sheathed his glowing dagger and slotted the crystal into the generator of the Maser Beam, replacing the now-dying crystal. The gun had been customised to use Sorceror's crystals, and the reload had fitted perfectly.
"Time to kick some dragon ass," muttered Stormhawk as he hurled the old crystal through the dome and leapt down.


"Geez, there's just no stopping this thing!" Manny called as he concentrated another Gizonde. "I've never seen anything quite as tough as this!"
"What about the Barba Ray?" chuckled Clank.
"What ABOUT the Barba Ray? I didn't fight it!"
"Well, we did, and Storm blacked out just as he killed it," laughed Clank. "Night got holes punched through his stomach and we had to put his head onto an identical android body!" Clank sidestepped a bolt of flame as the Gol Dragon belched and spewed fire across the battlefield. Suddenly a small object thudded into the creature's thick skull and bounced off harmlessly. Stormhawk followed suit, landing on the Gol Dragon's head and leaping off just as Manny sent three massive streaks of lightning from his palm into the Gol Dragon, who screeched in pain and shock. Yet the dragon would feel pain greater than that...


The glowing blade span towards the Gol Dragon's dome. It shattered the roof of the dome and created a second, bigger breach as it cut into the ground in front of Nightmare.
"Hmm!?" Nightmare recognised the blade as the Last Survivor that he had hurled into the plasma reactor, but the plasma had transformed it into a Dragon Slayer. Never mind, thought Nightmare, I have far too many Last Survivors and Dragon Slayers anyway. He activated his Teleport Homing Device and summoned the Dragon Slayer he had used in the Temple. Now Nightmare fought with two swords!
Nightmare should have been called Bladewind, thought Clank as he ejected another ammunition cartridge from his rifle. He looks like a tornado with his Asuka blades, and he seems unstoppable with two Dragon Slayers.
"Get a load of this!" roared Nightmare as his Flame Garment blazed with immense flames threatening to consume him. The HUcast span violently, leaping under the Gol Dragon's wing and shearing it off in a wash of blood and flame. Nightmare continued his furious assault, slicing into the Gol Dragon's leg and bowling it over. The unstoppable tornado of fire and steel smashed into the Gol Dragon yet again, tearing its other wing off and scoring its ancient hide with blazing scars from the Flame charges within the blades. Nightmare released his grip on the swords one after the other, both swords flying into the dragon's armoured neck and almost decapitating it. Nightmare collapsed soon after from exhaustion and teleported from the VR.


The Gol Dragon's death-throes rocked the whole Spaceship, it seemed, as eighty tons of dragon crashed into the ground time and time again. Clank was hurled into the air, Manny flew out of the breach in the roof and Stormhawk landed on top of the Gol Dragon itself. Stormhawk swore as he was crushed between dragon and floor. His Maser skittered across the floor before bouncing into Stormhawk's hand as he was hurled upwards by the dragon. He activated his Beam Amplifier and fired a beam that cut the Dragon's head from its shoulders before Stormhawk landed like a cat on the now-steady floor. He entered the warp with his team and returned to the real world.


Manny, who was in midair, activated his Teleport Homing Device and transported himself into the Lab just as his comrades walked through the door. Chief Milrose greeted them as they exited the VR.
"Well done. You defeated the Gol Dragon, and you earned a better pass mark than when you actually took the exam," she said as Nightmare darted to the Stock Room to fetch a new weapon. "Now hear this; you will recieve a new mission. On Ragol there is a cluster of islands known as Gal Da Val. These islands were used as a test site for biological experiments carried out on Pioneer 1. We want you to investigate the source of a call from these islands, coming from General Raganom of the military, and Deputy Commander Heathcliff Flowen, also from the military."
Stormhawk looked intrigued by this. Chief Milrose went on: "Both of these men were reported dead recently, yet we intercepted a radio message from them not too long ago. There is said to be a secret research facility under the islands. This is rumoured to be the source of the message. Please investigate."
Stormhawk started to walk towards the transporter, but the Chief had not finished. "We will send another team of hunters to assist you, should you wish." Stormhawk agreed to this before bolting for the Crusader.


Nightmare heard that the two Dragon Slayer blades had been retrieved from the VR. He took them from the lady behind the Stock Room counter, who had not put them in Nightmare's locker as she was sure that he would return for them. No sooner had he retrieved them than he darted for Pioneer 2's hangar, entering the Crusader and manning the rear Photon Blaster near the engine. Clank removed the safety on the main Fusion Cannon, Manny buckled himself into the copilot seat, and Stormhawk guided the ship out of Pioneer 2 and into space...

[whizkid7]

Vanderbilt and the others sat, waiting for the doors to open. After only a few short minutes, the doors hissed open, and the four ran into the teleporter.

What they found was the blody aftermath of a battle. The stench of death permeated the air, and the Gol Dragon lay in pieces at the center of it.

"Oh, yuck! This stench is nauseating!" Leona cried, covering her nose.

"Man, look at what they did to the Gol Dragon...That's incredible..." Vanderbilt said.

Just then, a loud roar caused them all to turn. Rising from the ground was another Gol Dragon.

"What the??? There's two of them!" Spyhunter said.

"I heard that the Gol Dragon could make copies of itself...This must be one of them!" Vanderbilt mused. "Ok, guys! Let's clip his wings!"

The four charged into battle, as the Dragon spat electric breath at them. Vanderbilt rolled under the attack and stabbed his sword into the beast's stomach. Leona, meanwhile, launched her powerful Foie attack, burning the Dragon's scaly skin and exposing his vulnerable flesh. Spyhunter and Emy concentrated their attacks upon these areas, causing major damage to the Dragon. It cried out in rage, and tried to fly away, but Vanderbilt was too fast for it, and cleaved its wing in two. Then he ended the fight with a stab to the beast's head, killing it.

"Well, that was easy." He said.

"The teleporter out of here is right there." Emy gestured.

"Let's get out of this place. The smell of TWO dead dragons might kill me." Spyhunter muttered.

The four warped back to the Lab and met with the Chief.

"Good job, all of you. Now I can permit you to go to Gal Da Val Island." she told them.

"What about the other hunters, Chief?" Vanderbilt asked.

"They're already on their way there. They left a few minutes ago."

"Great, now we're playing catch-up." the irate RAmar muttered.

"Stow it, Spyhunter. Can you get us down there?" The HUmar asked the Chief.

"There's a transport for the four of you waiting. Hurry and you might be able to catch up to the others."

"Emy, you can pilot it, right?"

"Yes, I can pilot anything built by Pioneer 1 or 2."

"Good. Get yourselves ready and meet me by the transport in five minutes." With that, Vanderbilt turned towards his Deposit Room.

He entered his lockbox, and took out the one weapon he never thought he'd use again: the Orotiagito.

"My father's sword...Time to put it to use..." and he sheathed it and headed back to the transport.

His friends were already waiting for him, and together they got inside. Emy took the controls, and off they went, down to the surface of Ragol.

They arrived at Gal Da Val Island, and found themselves in front of a large gate.

"Hmmm...looks locked to me." Leona said.

"I will see how to unlock it." The RAcaseal went up to the door, and after a few minutes came back. "The island is in security mode. We need to deactivate this mode in three areas before this door will open. That teleporter will take us to them." She gestured.

"Okay, here's the deal: Emy and I will take the first one. Spyhunter, Leona, you to take the second area. After we're done, we'll meet up back here and continue from there." Vanderbilt stated.

"I don't like leaving you...but okay." Leona said.

"Alright, let's go." Vanderbilt and Emy warped to the area labeled Jungle, and Spyhunter and Leona headed to the Mountain Area...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 14

"Fire!!" cried Stormhawk. Immediately a beam of pure heat flew from the Crusader's main gun and incinerated the guard satellite. The satellites had been affected by the virus too, thought Stormhawk, otherwise they wouldn't be shooting at us. Another blast from the Fusion Cannon melted two more satellites and shorted their propulsion drives. The two flaming wrecks hammered into the mountainside.


Nightmare and Clank had been able to fire with pinpoint accuracy despite the "restricted" views. In fact, their headsets included a hardwired link to the guns' target systems, and could therefore "see" out of the targetters on the guns. Nightmare's rear gun provided excellent cover against hostile targets attacking from behind, and he used it to impale three satellites on lances of Photon energy. He growled "Die!" as another satellite was struck by Photon energy. Clank, on the other hand, blasted another satellite into tiny shards of burning shrapnel with a single fiery bolt from his turret.
"Bagged another one!!" he whooped.


"I register two pairs of Hunters on the surface, one pair on the Mountain and one in the Jungle," barked Manny. His skills as a Force had allowed him to scan for lifeforms while Stormhawk weaved between satellites that fired their guns as the Crusader shot by.
"Better land on the island they haven't accessed," replied Stormhawk as he fired the autoblasters mounted in the Crusader's "nose". Three Photon lasers blasted a satellite from the sky as it turned its guns on the Crusader's side wings. Shots ricocheted harmlessly from the thick quadanium plating on all four wings, two at the front and a larger pair near Nightmare's turret. The satellites were left behind as Stormhawk guided the Crusader onto the sandy surface of the island.


Clank conducted a 360 degree scan of the area by swivelling the turret. The lack of a dorsal wing allowed Clank a better perspective, but it also allowed the Crusader to maintain a sleek, torpedo-like appearance. The mighty ship landed and was instantly swarmed by thousands of Gee, insects with poisonous javelin-like stingers. Clank fried over a hundred with the Fusion Cannon, while Nightmare slew insects by the dozen, yet still they came. Stormhawk sighed and slammed the trigger on the autoblasters as he took off again. The Gee were scythed down in their hundreds, yet still they came.
"Not usually this many insects," chuckled Manny as he closed his eyes and focussed. Three Rafoie detonations tore holes in the Gee swarm, and the remainder of the swarm flew off as if in retreat.


When Stormhawk and Manny set foot on the planet (Clank and Manny had gone to search the area) the two were greeted with the true beauty of their surroundings. Yet the beauty was spoiled by the arrival of Merillia and Meriltas, plant-like beings with a taste for flesh (or so Manny said, for more surfaced from the sand as soon as one slashed him with a barbed tentacle). "Damn, what the hell are these things doing here?" inquired Manny.
"Less talking, more killing!" spat Stormhawk as he fried three Merillia.
"Killing? Aye, killing it is then," Manny concentrated a Rafoie and blew the hideous Merillia nest apart with a great explosion of sand and flame. The heat of the Rafoie fused the sand to glass, which shattered as Stormhawk turned his Maser Beam on it.


"Taste steel!" Nightmare roared as he cut an Ul Gibbon to shreds with his two Dragon Slayers. His Flame Garment blazed red now, like blood from a wound. The fires of the Garment fried another Ul Gibbon and boiled a Meriltas in its own juices as it spat liquid venom at Nightmare. The heat of his armour evaporated the venom as it landed harmlessly on his metal skull.
"Raaaaaarrrgh!!" Nightmare was fuelled now by a blood-rage that granted him power.
Power that, one day, would consume him.
His swords cut down trees and carved deep gashes in the rocks, leaving a scene of terror as he passed.


Clank gunned another Merillia down in a storm of lead and iron. He was getting much better in combat, regardless of his somewhat cowardly disposition. He grinned inwardly as he blasted bloody holes in the Gibbons and toxic holes in the Merillia. Still, Clank felt an aura of discomfort as he saw Nightmare's shadow hack and slash its way along the rocky wall. Sudenly, he noticed scars in the wall. He ran over to investigate, and barrelled straight into Nightmare. The two robots collided in a tangle of metal.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you fool?!" roared Nightmare. Clank cowered in fear as Nightmare's giant form dwarfed the crouching RAcast. "You almost threw me off balance, plus you just impaled your arm on my sword!!" Clank looked at the glowing blade protruding horribly from his left arm and felt an electric charge flow through his body. The sword in his arm was no other than the Dragon Slayer that had been expelled from the plasma reactor, and Clank felt a greater surge flow throughout his body as Nightmare retrieved his blade. Yet this surge was not just electricity...


Stormhawk and Manny came across a room filled with purple Puffspores. Suddenly a great form blotted out the sunlight; a monstrous Gi Gue floated down into the cavern.
"Watch out!" Stormhawk shouted just as the giant insect spat a glowing projectile that slammed into him with enough force to unbalance lesser mortals, yet Stormhawk unbelievably warded off the bolt with his DF Field. Stormhawk suddenly realised that the DF Field could be activated by mind-impulse, and raised his guard just in time to prevent another bolt from penetrating his defences.
"Whoa. Nice bubble, Storm," joked Manny as the Gi Gue turned his attentions to the FOnewm. Suddenly Manny raised his arm and formed three giant icicles from the air, hurling the highly concentrated Gibarta magic into the hovering form of the Gi Gue. The first icicle speared through the Gi Gue's abdomen, and the other two impaled its thorax. The giant insect fell to the ground as the icicles broke apart.


Clank's new fury coursed through his mechanical veins. He suddenly realised that Nightmare had caused the gouges in the rock, and aimed a punch at Nightmare's head. The HUcast raised his sword to deflect the blow, but the mighty RAcast's fist threw the blade out of Nightmare's hand. Nightmare reclaimed his Dragon Slayer as Clank aimed another punch. Nightmare used both swords to shield himself this time, but again Clank broke Nightmare's defences. The punch jarred Nightmare's shoulders and forced him to his knees, and he released his grip on the swords.
"What are you doing, Clank? We're teammates!" pleaded Nightmare as Clank's foot landed on one of the Dragon Slayers, snapping the blade in half and invigorating Clank with sublime energy as more power coursed through him. Clank thundered into Nightmare's prone form, shattering the other blade and severely damaging Nightmare's body in a wash of electricity and oil. The HUcast was defeated, and he fell unconscious to the ground.


Clank was astonished at what he'd just done. He had disabled a friend and let a berserk fury overcome his powerful form. He carried his friend's mangled body back to the Crusader just as he saw Stormhawk approach.
"What the... Nightmare!?" Stormhawk was astonished.
"Monsters... too many..." gasped Clank as he saw a glowing terminal on his left. He pressed the acti-switch on it and saw that he had disabled the security on the island, and that the entire complex was unprotected.. Immediately a satellite crashed into the water near the Crusader.
"We'd best get out of this sty!" yelled Manny. The three boarded the gunship and made headway towards the central area...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 15

Vanderbilt and Emy had battled their way into the second area of the Jungle.

"Man, these plants are really annoying.." Vanderbilt said as he sliced another Merillia in two with the Orotiagito.

"They are coming from that large, steeped area over there." Emy said, her Yasimokinov 9000M punching holes in a group of Meriltas.

The large area was made of a rock formation that resembled steps, with water flowing down them. More of the toxic plants appeared here, and Vanderbilt cut a swath thru them. He turned to look back at Emy, when a large shadow loomed over him. He rolled away just as a large scythe slammed itself into the spot where he had been standing. In front of him was Mericarol, a very large and very nasty plant.

The Mericarol stared down at him and spat a blob of-something-at him. He jumped out of the way and attacked, his Orotiagito glinting in the light. The blade severed an arm from the monster.

"Now, Emy!" he called.

Emy responded by pulling out her Photon Launcher and blowing the Mericarol's head off in a blast of burning photon. The remains of the giant plant sagged to the floor, and the two of them found themselves near a teleporter.

"Hey, look." Vanderbilt approached the security console, and deactivated the security. "That takes care of here. I wonder how Leona and Spyhunter are doing..." he said as he and Emy stepped into the teleporter, heading back to the central area...

A few minutes earlier...

A sharp blast of Razonde sent another batch of Ul Gibbons scurrying into the bushes. Leona was beginning to grow tired from having to deal with all of these monkeys, as well as the poisonous plants and annoying bugs.

"You okay, Leona?" Spyhunter askes as his Bringer's Rifle let loose another round, taking out a Gee.

"I'm starting to get tired...We should hurry on thru here." she said, the Foie in her hands launching out ot incinerate another Ul Gibbon.

"Then let's keep moving." said the Ranger, as they fought they way onward.

They managed to reach a small, enclosed area, where there was a large group of Ul and Zol Gibbons. Suddenly, the ground shook as a Gibbles dropped from the sky. It bellowed and began smashing its fists into the ground, trying to crush Leona and Spyhunter.

Spyhunter let loos with his Bringer's Rifle, but it seemed to only annot the creature. it backhanded him into a wall, and he slumped down, unconcious.

"Oh no! Leona cried, as she watched Spyhunter get swatted like a bug. She focused her energy and let loose a powerful blast of Grants into the Gibbles. The hundreds of beams of light pierced the giant ape's skin, and it roared in pain. She hit it again and again with Grants until it finallt crashed to the ground and died. She finished off the rest of the monkeys, then ran to Spyhunter.

He was hurt badly, but Leona was sure her Resta could heal him. She concentrated as the life-giving energy flowed from her outstreched hand and into Spyhunter's body. After a few minutes, the spell faded, and Spyhunter groaned and climbed shakily to his feet.

"I feel like I just got clotheslined." he muttered.

"Almost. You should really be more careful, you know." the Force said to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Now come on, let's go." he began to walk slowly towards the teleporter nearby.

The two reached it, and found the security station there. They deactivated it, and walked into the teleporter, heading to meet Vanderbilt and Emy at the central area...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 16

The Crusader came in across the treetops of the Jungle as it came around for another pass. Stormhawk cycled the autoblasters as the Gi Gue swarm bombarded the ship's quadanium hull with energy bolts. The giant hornet-like insects were scythed down by the hail of Photon bullets. Clank burned three insects with the Fusion Cannon's rippling beam of pure heat, and Nightmare had recovered enough to fire occasional bursts from the rear gun. The gunship flew through the swarm before turning again, giving Nightmare a short chance to frag two or three Gi Gues. Autoblaster fire peppered the Gi Gues' hides as one decided to launch a fire bomb from its abdomen.
BIG mistake.
A stray Photon detonated the bomb and immolated half the swarm, giving the team the opportunity to approach the main complex.


"That was fun," breathed Manny as the Crusader evaded the blazing swarm. "I was beginning to think we were gonna be -"
"Cram it, Manny," barked Clank from his position in the Fusion Cannon. "We're perfectly fine, and Nightmare just recovered completely."
"No thanks to you, rustbucket," called Nightmare from the ship's rear. "If I recall correctly, you crippled my body after you impaled your own arm!"
"Shut the hell up," Clank shouted. "I have a full memory of the event, and you backed into a Puffspore after it sprayed!" Clank had a point; Puffspore gas can alter the memory of androids, but this was no means of clouding the truth.
"Puffspore!? What the hell are you -"
"Alright you two, back off," sighed Stormhawk. The two androids ceased bickering. "We're approaching the Gal Da Val Central Complex, so be on your guard!"


"Oh great. MORE stuff to fight."
"I told you to cram it, Force."
"SHUT UP!!!" Stormhawk roared. "We've got some more stuff to shoot into bloody chunks, big deal. This ship has a strong capital ship weapon, so don't worry."
"I doubt it's possible for these to -"
"CRAM IT!"
"Geez, Clank's been acting strange lately," Manny whispered into Stormhawk's ear as the autoblasters blew one of the new enemies apart; at least thirty Sinow Berills were congregating outside a ship that looked like one from Pioneer 2. What the Sinows were doing, Stormhawk could not say, but it looked like they were piloting it as the ship suddenly lurched into the air and trained a light autoblaster onto the torpedo-like Crusader. The shots missed every time. In return, Clank hammered the trigger on the Fusion Cannon and vaporised the transport and most of the Sinows.
"Someone's not gonna be happy when they see that their ship has gone," laughed Clank.
"Shut your face, Clank!" bellowed Nightmare as the Crusader landed.


Stormhawk stepped onto the platform as a new shape emerged from the shadows. A black-clad HUmar with white hair greeted Stormhawk.
"Adrian J. Stormhawk of the world Mantis Prime, I hereby greet you in the name of the Pioneer Project." The new arrival spoke clearly and quickly, and a Whitill ID plaque glinted on his chest.
"Who the hell are you, and how do you know my name?!"
"I am General Raganom of the Pioneer Military, and I know of your purpose. You came to find the man Heathcliff Flowen, also of our Military. I can tell you now that he is lying beneath us, not dead but in a death-like stasis until the power within him manifests. I can lead you to him."
"Shut up." Stormhawk spat at the General. He had always harboured a deep hatred of the military, and he always looked up to Hunters, who could carry out jobs more quickly and efficiently, and with little difficulty or hassle. He charged his Maser as Raganom showed his face; a death-mask covered with horrendous scars and burns.
"Why should I? Two of your allies have already been afflicted with a blood-rage that will be cured at the dawn of my master's glorious manifestation." Stormhawk grew cold as he realised exactly who he meant.


Clank and Nightmare had battled each other previously.
Raganom strode over to them, his eyes full of savage glee. Nightmare's Flame Garment blazed black now, black like Raganom's dark armour, while Clank readied his Yasminkov 7000V.
"You wish to fight me rather than surrender to the greater cause? So be it," Raganom hissed as he drew his weapon, a Chain Sawd. Nightmare released a blood-curdling howl as he leapt at Raganom in a terrifying fury. The General, surprised by this sudden onslaught, was caught off-guard and recieved a flying kick in the chest. Raganom slashed at Nightmare, each hit scoring the HUcast's metal body and sending sparks flying. Clank unloaded bullets into Raganom, but all were deflected by the dark armour protecting him. The armour seemed to writhe and squirm as if it was somehow alive. Raganom sheared Nightmare's arm off with a well-timed sweep of his blade. Clank, now angry at the severe injury of a friend and rival, hurled his rifle at Raganom. The ancient gun bounced off the General's living armour and landed next to Stormhawk, who could only watch in horror.


"You shall die here!!" cried Raganom as he sliced off Nightmare's other arm. "I gave you the chance to help my cause," he growled, "yet you -" the growl was starting to grow "- can only find -" Raganom's fury grew "- death at the end of this!!!" The enraged HUmar released a burst of flames from his palm, striking Nightmare in the chest. The injured machine fell backwards, and Raganom stepped in to deliver the coup de gras. He drove his Chain Sawd through Nightmare's chest, shredding the internal components and tearing into the platform. Raganom removed his blade and plunged into the HUcast again. The weapon vibrated in the General's hands, and smoke began to issue forth from the blade's motor as Raganom continued to drive further. With an almighty crack of metal the motor detonated, rendering the weapon useless, yet the General had achieved his objective. Raganom activated his Teleport Homing Device and retreated as four other figures appeared on the platform. Stormhawk dropped to his knees and let out a powerful roar of defiance, but it was no use.
Nightmare was gone.

[whizkid7]

Chapter 17

Vanderbilt and the others arrived back at the main door just in time to see Raganom destroy the HUcast and teleport away.

"No..." Vanderbilt breathed.

He looked over to the remaining three standing there. The RAmar was on his kness, howling in rage. The FOnewm and RAcsat behind him were staring in shokc at the destoryed machine.

"So he really is alive..." Leona said.

The other three hunters whirled to face Vanderbilt and his friends. The RAmar came forward, his Maser Beam pointed at Vanderbilt's chest. "Who are you?" he spat.

"Easy now, we're here to help." Vanderbilt said. He made no sudden move to draw his sword, as he knew the Ranger could probably shoot him in an instant. "You wouldn't happen to be Stormhawk, would you?"

The RAmar lowered his gun slighty at this question, and answered, "That would be me. Now who are you, and why are you here?"

The Force piped up at this. "Hey, Storm, can't you tell who that is? Just look at his face!"

"Manny, what are you talking about?" Stormhawk grumbled as he peered closer at the green-clad HUmar. "Step into the light so I can see you clearly, Hunter. And no funny buisness."

Vanderbilt stepped forward, the light from the teleporter splashing onto his face. The three hunters before him gasped as they recognized who he was.

"See? Just like I thought! He's Vanderbilt, the Master Hunter and the guy who killed Falz!" Manny said.

"And your friends behind you, they must be Leona, Spyhunter and Emy?" the hulking RAcast inquired.

"That's us." Leona said as she stepped forward.

"Who are the other two with, Stormhawk?" Spyhunter asked.

"This is Manny, our resident Force. That's Clank900, and...down there is...Nightmare..."

Vanderbilt looked down to see the remains of the HUcast's body shooting off sparks.

"Should've gotten here sooner..." he said to himself. "Damn that Raganom, why isn't he dead???" he screamed.

"You know that guy???" Clank900 cried.

"Unfortunately, yes. He used to be my best friend, until he made a pact with Falz. He is the one responsible for the death of all of the people of Pioneer 1, as well as my family. I thought he was killed when I defeated him right before we battled Falz, but apparently not." Vanderbilt said, his eyes narrowing as he remembered what had happened.

"So then do you know why he's here?" Stormhawk asked, his eyes boring lasers into the HUmar's skull.

"No. But knowing him as he is now, it's not good at all."

"I don't care what he's doing, he's going to pay for what he did to Nightmare." Stormhawk clenched his fist in anger.

"Emy, is there anything you can do for Nightmare?" Leona asked.

"I do not know...But I will see." She strode over to the battered form, and pulled a wire from the back of head. She connected it to the HUcast's head, and closed her eyes.

"What's she-" Clank900 began to say.

"Shh..." Leona answered.

Emy opened her eyes, and looked up to the others, the wire retracting into her head. "I am sorry. He has sustained too much damage for any sort of repair to fix. Even his memory and personality banks have been too badly damaged."

"Raganom always was thourough..." Vanderbilt growled. "Don't worry, when we find him, I'll take care of him. He escaped me once, but he won't again..."

"It seems we have the same goals..." Stormhawk said. "So we might as well work together on this one."

"I agree. With all of us together, we'll find Raganom, and I'll make him pay." Vanderbilt held out his hand, and Stormhawk shook it.

Many strode up to Leona and smiled at her. "Hey there, lovely lady. How ya doin?"

Leona looked uteerly repulsed while blushing at the same time "Umm...excuse me?"

WHACK! SMACK! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/twak.gif

Vanderbilt grabbed Manny after beating him in the head and picked him up. "Listen Force, let's get something straight: One, don't hit on my wife. Two: if you do hit on her, I will personally see to it that you suffer the longest-" he unsheathed the Orotiagito and placed it upon Manny's neck "-and most painful day of your life. Got it?"

Manny took one look at the gleaming sword, gulped, and said, "Yes, sir."

"Good." He dropped Manny on the ground. "Leona, telepipe, please. I have a feeling I'll need the J Sword."

Leona placed the telepipe down, and he stepped into it. Meanwhile, Manny was climbing to his feet as Stormhawk and Clank900 snickered. "Nice going, Manny."

"Oh, shut up." For once the Force had no witty retort.

Vanderbilt returned shortly, carrying the J Sword in his hand. "Ok, let's get going."

Together, Stormhawk's group, minus one, and Vanderbilt's group advanced thru the door and entered into the Central Control Area...

[Sagasu]

WOW... that took a while to read....

Its GREAT! and to think you guys have gotten this far without comments or compliments =]

Its great to see writers that dont give up...

Keep up the good work!

[Caecilius]

Chapter 18

Clank was furious at the death of his comrade. He had taken the personal liberty of giving Nightmare a decent funeral; it was the least Clank could do. Nightmare's body was cast out to sea. Clank had turned away before the body sank to the bottom of the sea. He shouldered his rifle and walked off after Stormhawk.


"So we take the Towers while you take the Cliffs. Nice plan," Stormhawk told Vanderbilt. "I'm the pilot of the rocket-like gunship you saw near the door, and a full frontal assault on the towers would be excellent for Clank to get the trauma out of his system, but we need a new Android rear gunner..."
"Sorry, but Emy stays with us," Vanderbilt stated. "We need her to provide tech support, but I can allow her to assist you after we've scoured the Cliffs for traces of the facility."
"No problem there, Vanderbilt. We can search the computers in the Towers for details," Stormhawk explained. "Maybe we can find Raganom too and end this once and for all."
"I'll vox you when we've finished," the HUmar replied.


"Come on guys, we've got Towers to burn," Stormhawk called. Manny and Clank filed onto the Crusader, and Stormhawk leapt into the pilot's seat. The gunship shot into the air and swerved towards the eastern tower. Stormhawk primed the autoblasters as the East Tower came into view.
"Okay Clank, now's your chance to rip the Tower's roof to pieces," barked Stormhawk.
"Copy that. Charging Fusion Cannon," Clank called as the gunship angled down towards the roof. The main gun expelled a fiery spear of energy that tore the roof from the rest of the Tower.
"Commence planetary assault. Ready, Manny?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," Manny called from the personnel warp transport generator.


Manny landed within the main complex of the Tower. He walked nervously... he could hear mechanical breathing. He burned a Mericarol with his Rafoie, yet that couldn't possibly be the source of the breathing. He crossed several empty floors effortlessly until he came to Floor Seven. He finally met the source of the breathing.


Ill Gill, the dread Reaper of Sanity.
Ill Gill, the evil Prophet of Darkness.
Ill Gill, the feared Bringer of Death.


Manny screamed as the Ill Gill bore down on him. It moved with swift grace and fluid skill that belied its solid appearance. He darted away from its scythe as it hummed with energy, tearing into the walls and leaving the taste of electricity in the air. It came crashing down on Manny again, slicing through the ferrocrete floor like a knife through hot butter. Manny knew he couldn't keep dodging forever, and the Ill Gill slashed again, this time fuelling his blade with death-energies. Manny attempted a Grants spell, but the scythe struck before the Ill Gill suffered the full force of the Grants.
Amazingly the FOnewm was not cut down.
Manny looked at the Ill Gill as the scythe was turned away by a searing white inferno that was now spreading from the blade to the Ill Gill's quaking form. In a flash of blinding light the Ill Gill was vapourised by the Grants.


Manny encountered the Epsilon on Floor Ten. This monster was immune to even the blaze of the Grants. It suddenly detached the four pods on its bloated steel form, and the pods emanated strange coronas of energy in different shades of violet. Manny watched in abstract horror as the floor around the pods was ripped away by the coronas and was atomised as it touched the pods. Manny backed away as the coronas expanded and overlapped one another. He launched spell after spell, but each was turned aside by the Epsilon's dark vortices.
"A little assistance, Clank!" he cried into his BEE. The shadowy form of the Crusader flew overhead and turned upside-down to get a clear shot. The Fusion Cannon fired just as the coronas approached Manny. The machine was almost invincible with the coronas, Manny thought.
Almost.


The fiery lance immolated the Epsilon as the coronas nearly touched Manny. The death of the Epsilon also shorted out the coronas, allowing Manny to inch over to the monolith.
"Code Alpha? This must be those Sinow things... Code Beta looks like the Mericarols... Code Gamma looks like the Ill Gill... What's this?" Code Delta resembled a Human female with a bionic eye. The hologram span on the screen and Manny could only gape in awe. The image vanished, and the Epsilon appeared. "Code Epsilon." The data terminal abruptly shut itself down. Manny attempted to access more data, but all he could get was the code groups. He sighed and warped back to the Crusader.


"Okay, all I found was code lists referring to the different parts of the Pioneer Project," Manny sighed. "Wanna blow this joint?"
"If by joint you mean weed, no way," retorted Stormhawk. "If, on the other hand you mean the East Tower -" Manny nodded his head "- Clank, blow this joint!"
"I don't smoke, so why the hell do you expect me to have your spliff?" Clank yelled from his turret.
"I meant the tower, you idiot!!"
"Oh..."


The East Tower was reduced to a smoking ruin within seconds. Clank's shot accidentally melted the Tower's power generator, which subsequently detonated and set a chain reaction through the entire tower.
"Next stop, the West Tower!!" whooped Clank.
"Maybe it would be a good idea if I just warp straight into the top floor?" pleaded Manny.
"Alright then, your choice," replied Stormhawk as he warped Manny into the top of the West Tower...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 19

Vanderbilt and the others were busy fighting their way to the Cliffs of Gal Da Val.

"Man, these stupid plants are evrerywhere!" Vanderbilt muttered as he turned a group of Merillas into fertilizer with the J Sword.

"And let's not forget about these dang monkey, either! Die, you dumb ape!" Spyhunter cried as he blew another Zol Gibbon to pieces.

"Well, they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves..." Leona sighed as she Razonded a group of Gibbons.

"I fail to understand how doing this could be enjoyable." Emy said matter-of-factly, her Yasimokinov 9000M blazing in the darkened area.

"It's probably a guy thing." the FOneweral giggled.

"Hey! Knock off the psychoanalysis, will you, dear?" Vanderbilt said as a bunch of Meriltas spat their cloud of poison at him. He jumped in the air, pulled out his Varista, and blew their heads off with a few precision shots.

"Wow, nice shooting. You must have been practicing, Vanderbilt." Leona said, another Razonde unleashing from her hand.

"Oh, just some target practice in the off time, that's all." he smirked as he sliced his way thru some Gibbons.

"I think that's all of them." Spyhunter said when the last Gibbon died.

Vanderbilt was about to agree, when he thought he saw something moving in the darkness. It was almost as if the background was being distorted, in one small spot.

"What the..." he said.

Just then, Emy cried, "Vanderbilt, duck!" She let loose a round from her guns.

Vanderbilt hit the floor, and heard the bullets punching into metal. He turned around to see a large robot collapse to the floor and explode.

"A Sinow Berril!" he cried. "They must have some kind of camoflauge! Guys, hit anything that looks like a distortion in the background." As he said this, he looked around to see that there were alot of these distortions around them.

"We're surrounded!" Leona cried.

"Hang on, I'll be right back!" Spyhunter cried, and he disappeared into a telepipe.

"What??? Where's he going!" Vanderbilt cried as he fought against a Sinow.

They destroyed Sinow after Sinow, but more kept coming. They wer quickly backed into a corner, with no way out.

"This is not good..." Emy said.

"That Spyhunter...I'll kill him!" Vanderbilt said.

"This is it..." Leona said.

But yet it wasn't.

The sky grew dark, and tearing thru the clouds came bolts of energy. They pierced into the many Sinows surrounding Vanderbilt and the others, tearing their internal components to shreds and blowing them apart.

Vanderbilt and the others looked over to the telepipe. Standing there was Spyhunter, holding a small handgun.

"I said I'd be back." he told them smugly.

"A Heaven's Punisher??? I didn't know you had that!" Vanderbilt cried.

"I found it on one of the quests Emy and I took. I had a feeling it might be useful. Sorry I left right in the middle, though. Should've gotten it sooner." the RAmar replied, as he clipped the Heaven's Punisher to his belt and pulled out his Bringer's Rifle.

"Well, it looks like the way to the cliffs is clear now. Let's go see what's there." Leona said.

The four of them headed to the teleporter that would send them to the Cliffs of Gal Da Val. As he was stepping in, Vanderbilt said to himself, "I wonder how Stormhawk and the others are doing..."

[Sagasu]

Yay! its continuing nicely, u 2 work together in nice symbios."Harmony"

[Caecilius]

Chapter 20

"The data in here explains a link with the Seabed," Manny rapped out over the BEE. "According to this, the Seabed operated a monorail system that connected the facility to the Towers. The monorail appears to have been in a state of disuse since the explosion. My only... Hmm!?" More data flashed onto the screen. "According to the new data that just appeared, the facility has a warp network located in the rock of the Cliffs. Unfortunately a giant monster coded Beta630 lives there... oh no..." Manny turned pale as the next set of data flashed onto the screen. "The warp panel that Vanderbilt and his team want to access leads straight to the network, but Beta630 has set up a nest there too..."
"Nest?" Stormhawk's voice crackled.
"Beta630 has been called the Gal Gryphon, much like Beta772 was called the Dal Ra Lie, and its hatchlings were called De Rol Le..." Manny cut off suddenly as yet more data appeared. "There were several other projects, like Gamma119 and Alpha483, but those remained stable. Beta630 was unstable, and now it spits tornados and generates thunderstorms within its feathery hide. The thunderstorms can be expelled as electric streaks from its mouth and wings, and the monster is said to be able to kill almost anything it comes across..."


"Is that it, Manny?" called Clank as he checked the Fusion Cannon's energy cell. More than half full. Perfect.
"This is all the data offered by the West Tower's network," stated Manny.
"Get out of there then so Clank can blow it sky-high then!" shouted Stormhawk. Almost immediately Manny homed onto the deck in the seat next to Stormhawk.
"Teleport Homing Device," he explained as Stormhawk gaped in wonder. "I used a Telepipe and set the frequency to the Crusader, so I didn't end up on Pioneer again."
"O...okay," Stormhawk stuttered before calling to Clank.


"Ready to fry?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," was Clank's reply. The Fusion Cannon released a searing blast into the base of the Tower. The Tower collapsed under the heat before the beam ruptured the Tower's generators. Both towers have suffered the same thought, thought Stormhawk. The BEE flashed again, this time with a message from Vanderbilt.
"I'm at the warp to the Cliffs, what did you find?"
"The Cliffs are home to a warp network leading to the Seabed facility, but also to a giant monster named Beta630, so be extra careful!"
"Will do. Vanderbilt out."


Stormhawk gunned the Crusader's engines towards the Cliffs as Manny registered Vanderbilt's team using the warp to the Cliffs. He circled high above the Cliffs like a bird of prey, waiting for Beta630 to show its face. A crack of thunder illuminated the Cliffs and Stormhawk could see a giant winged beast land on a pillar of stone. The beast seemed to roar before slamming into the pillar. The pillar crumbled like sand as the winged beast took flight, hovering in midair above the platform that Vanderbilt's team stood on. Stormhawk fired a short volley from the autoblasters. The hail of bullets slammed into the creature's feathery hide and sent it reeling. The Gryphon exhaled a green bolt of energy that detonated on a nearby pillar and created a tornado.
"Watch out!" cried Manny as Stormhawk guided the ship away from the tornado, spiralling up before hurtling straight for the tornado.
"Okay Clank, aim for the rock!" The familiar spear of fiery heat sliced through the rocky pillar occupied by the tornado. The heat dissipated the tornado and melted the top of the pillar, turning it into a glowing mess.


The Gal Gryphon landed on Vanderbilt's platform, charging head-on into the RAcaseal Emy and sent her flying. Pity, Stormhawk thought. Pity she didn't notice the peril she was in.
"Commencing landing procedures," Stormhawk barked as the Gal Gryphon stopped running and stood still. The Crusader landed on another flat spire of rock and powered down. Stormhawk got out to get a better view as the Gal Gryphon reared and gathered electrical energy. Stormhawk watched, horrified, as the Gal Gryphon expelled a wide laser of electricity from its tusks. Small arcs of lightning shot out of the Gal Gryphon's front and sides. Stormhawk was transfixed with fear as the electric laser vitrified the rock that touched it. He could see Spyhunter unloading orange blasts into the beast with his Bringer's Rifle, burning holes in the creature's coat of feathers. He could see Emy rising and unleashing a deadly scythe of iron bullets that slashed across the monster's hide, spilling blood and disrupting the laser. He saw Leona tracing arcane sigils in the air, willing her Shifta and Deband spells to charge faster. He saw Vanderbilt leap out of the Gal Gryphon's way as it released another vitrifying laser, taking the opportunity to aim a deadly blow with the J sword.


Stormhawk unclipped a Tempest Sawcer from his belt and activated his BEE unit, calling for Vanderbilt to move out of the way. He threw the Slicer's bolt with all his might and sheared off the Gal Gryphon's wings. The wingless Gal Gryphon howled in pain and pulverised the ground with its mighty hooves. Stormhawk didn't wait to see the damage, instead he vaulted into the cockpit and powered up the engines as he called up to Clank's turret.
"Charge the Fusion Cannon, and target the monster's head!" he bellowed over the hum of the engines.

[whizkid7]

Chapter 21

Vanderbilt was growing tired. This gigantic beast, whic Stormhawk had told him was called Gal Gryphon, was rather hardy, and too stubborn to die. He jumped out of the way as the Gryphon charged at him again. He looked over to see Stormhawk's ship, the Crusader rising up, and a large cannon aiming itself towards the Gryphon.

"So, he's going to use the Fusion Cannon...Then we'll have to keep that thing in one place long enough for him to nail it." he said. "Leona! Try and freeze that thing to the ground!"

"Ok!" The Force called, and she fired off four rapid bursts of Barta. They struck the Gryphon's legs, incasing them in ice, and trapping it where it was. The beast screeched a cry of rage, and let loose another barrage of thunder bolts, trying to shock he two Rangers who were standing behind it.

"Everbody get away from that thing, NOW!" Vanderbilt yelled, his voice carried by the wind. He and his friends bolted away from the Gryphon, and he yelled into his BEE, "You can shoot anytime now, fellas!!!"

"Clank, now's your chance! Blast that sucker!" Stormhawk yelled to Clank900.

"With pleasure..." was the RAcast's reply, and he fired the Fusion Cannon.

The blast from the Fusion Cannon incinerated the beast's head. Feathers, skin, and bone burned away to ash as the powerful bolt of energy tore thru the beast like tissue paper. Its body crashed to the ground, soundlessly, and Vanderbilt and the others regrouped by the teleporter.

"That wasn't fun at all..." Spyhunter grumbled.

"Emy, you okay? That thing ran you over!" Vanderbilt turned to the RAcaseal.

"I am *KRZZZT* damaged, but the damage is *BRZZZT* repairable." she said, swaying on her feet.

The four turned as the Crusader landed, and Stormhawk stepped out.

"You four look like you need a rest." the RAmar said to them.


"A quick stop off at the Med Center should be all we need." Vanderbilt answered him.

"Get on the ship. We'll take you there." Stormhawk beckoned them onto the Crusader. Vanderbilt and his friends walked in, and the ship took off, returning to Pioneer 2 for a stop...

Some hours later, after grabbing some sleep, some food, and a quick stop to the Med Center, the 7 hunters regrouped in the Crusader's hangar.

"So, now we head to the Seabed..." Vanderbilt said to the group.

"That's were the teleporter on the cliffs leads. And it's probably where we'll find Raganom." Stormhawk said.

Clank900 tensed at the mention of that name. The memory of Nightmare's destruction was still too fresh in his mind, and he was determined to get his revenge.

"Easy, Clank." Vanderbilt put his hand on the RAcast's shoulder. "We'll get Raganom."

"What do you know?" he snapped, tossing Vanderbilt's arm off him. "You probably don't know what it's like to lose a friend."

"I know what that's like far more than you'll ever know, Clank." Vanderbilt said, and walked away.

"What did he mean by that?" Clank asked his friends.

"You idiot, weren't you listening when we first met him?" Stormhawk said. "Raganom was his best friend, until he made a pact with Falz."

"Raganom killed Vanderbilt's whole family." Manny chimed in.

"Oh...right..." Clank said, remembering now.

"If anyone has the right to seek revenge, it's him." Stormhawk said, watching Vanderbilt's retreating form.

"Alright, enough talk. let's get going." Spyhunter walked up behind them.

"He's right, let's move." Stormhawk commanded, and they marched onto the Crusader.

The Crusader left the hangar and cruised its way down to the cliffs. There the 7 of them left the ship, and entered the teleporter, not knowing the dangers that lie ahead...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 22

Deputy Commander Heathcliff Flowen had no idea of what he would become as he hung from the ceiling of his cell. He had already received four other DNA samples, all as unpleasant as the others. First was the D-type cellular infection from Dark Falz's foul spirit, then came a dose of "Gael", causing him to sprout two small worm-like growths from his shoulders. Next was a shot of the hideous Flow gene, which had also (rather ironically) given Raganom his infamous Dark Flow sword. That weapon had long since snapped in half, though, posing no further danger to anyone. Finally was a small jab of "Merge" that had transformed his skin into a semi-permeable membrane. He had already fused with his own military uniform, and he was beginning to become part of the very shackles he was bound to. What next, he thought as Raganom's familiar face stared up at him.


"What do you want this time?" spat Flowen. His watery skin flushed red.
"Now, Flowen, there's no need to be bitter," taunted Raganom as he pulled a small handgun - a Bravace - from his belt. "I want to end your suffering."
"Not by shooting me in the head, you won't." Flowen turned a deep shade of silver as his words hit Raganom like a sharp slap.
"Of course not, Flowen. I simply wish to grant you a better life." Raganom aimed his Bravace at the shackles that were melting into Flowen's wrists. Flowen dropped like a stone onto the dusty floor and spat blood. Raganom's eyes sparkled with mad glee as he hauled Flowen to his feet and led him to a large, dome-like chamber. Flowen glimpsed biochemical apparatus lining the walls; one side was decked with syringes and test tubes, while the other held large water-filled jars containing what looked like animal organs.


Raganom walked over to these jars and extracted something shaped like a human heart, then strode confidently to the syringes and jabbed the organ with all his might. Flowen had seen that organ before; the Flow gland, present in all D-cellular organisms. A small drop of the black Flow gene fell into a waiting test-tube filled with a glowing brown liquid and turned it dark. Raganom picked up the tube and filled the syringe with it. He walked back to Flowen and presented the organ.


"Eat this," Raganom commanded. Flowen looked at the glistening organ distastefully, though he had not eaten for days and snatched the meat from Raganom's grasp, wolfing it down as Raganom watched with bizarre fascination. Raganom walked over to the back of the room and entered the door leading to the cellar. The General emerged moments later holding a Deldepth. The Deldepth split into two so that it could escape, but Raganom seized both creatures, hurling one into a pressure cage and dragging the second Deldepth back into the cellar. When Raganom reemerged he drew his Bravace and put a Photon through the caged Deldepth's brain. Hauling the corpse from the cage, he hurled it onto the floor in front of Flowen, who instantly fell upon the fresh meat. Raganom tore the Flow gland from his captive's meal and dunked it into the empty jar.


Raganom took the syringe and replaced the jar on the rack.
"Do not worry, Flowen. The meat you just consumed will provide additional growth. Now hold these for me." Raganom dropped a sword and a shotgun on the floor. Flowen took the sword and the shotgun, as Raganom had instructed. Their green Photons shone as he picked them up, reflecting off Flowen's face. Raganom strode over and altered Flowen's grip on the weapons slightly, so the sword was held between Flowen's fingers like part of his hand, and the shotgun was held with one hand, facing forwards like the sword. Raganom plunged the syringe into the scar across Flowen's chest, where Dark Falz had struck. Flowen showed no pain though, instead asking Raganom a question as his skin darkened.
"Tell me... what happened to Doctor Osto?"
"I thought you knew. He was killed after Beta630 escaped, right after you were injected with that "Gael" fluid, you notice the snakes on your shoulder? Those are the Gael snakes. We injected you with the Gael snake's embryos."
"And Doctors Mome and Montague?"
"They both survived, in fact both of them are on Pioneer 2."
"That's good... Give me some more meat."
Raganom indicated the remains of the Deldepth. "You never finished eating it. You need to finish the whole creature before you become greater."


Flowen had devoured all the visible meat and organs on the Deldepth when Raganom cracked its skull open with a well-placed kick. The brain, the last organ, spilled out onto the floor.
"Leave the bones," Raganom instructed. "You only need to ingest the organs of the Dark creature for your new body to be made. The bones are unimportant. We learned this when we turned a Savage Wolf into a Delbiter."
Flowen had barely finished eating the fresh meat when he felt new power surging through him. Raganom backed out into the cellar stairwell clutching the jars of animal organs as Flowen began to change.
"Use all of your concentration to direct Dark Falz's energy!" Raganom cried as Flowen's body grew.


Flowen, still holding his weapons, cast his arms to the ceiling as new life coursed through his veins. The power of Dark Falz entered Flowen's blood and began reshaping Flowen's body as black light poured from his eyes.
Flowen's body was enveloped in floods of black light as the weapons he held grew and transformed, melting into his hands and becoming part of Flowen himself. Flowen's legs were replaced with those of a scorpion, and his head took the form of a Dragon as the Gael snakes burst clear of his shoulders. A long tail erupted from Flowen's backside and began lashing spasmodically around the room. His skin became metallic and his eyes burned like fire as the last of Dark Falz's energy drained away. Flowen let out a deafening bellow that shook the very earth itself.


Raganom glanced at the monster he had made and grinned as Flowen's new form fired a great bombardment of energy from the bio-shotgun and blasted gaping craters in the ceiling. Flowen's sword arm resembled the Dark Flow, Raganom thought as the dark blade tore a great gouge in the wall and wreathed the whole chamber in flickering, golden hellfire.
Flowen had teleported from the room by the time the flames had died. Raganom used his bioscanner to check Flowen's position.
The Test Subject Disposal Area? But why?
No sooner had the bewildered General asked himself than the twin elevators outside shattered as the loss of heat suddenly attacked them.
Raganom activated his Teleport Homing Device and followed the creature registered as Olga Flow...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 23

Vanderbilt, Leona, Spyhunter, Emy, Stormhawk, Clank900 and Manny entered into the Seabed's upper level. The first thing that they noticed was that they were standing in a pool of water.

"It looks like this place has sprung a few leaks..." Clank said disdainfully. He disliked water, as it slowed him down and could make him rust.

"Relax, Clank, you big sissy. The water's only at your feet, so you'll be fine." Manny told him.

"This coming from a guy who wears high heels and has a giant butt..." Clank said.

The others all burst out laughing as Manny blushed. "Hey! My butt's not big, it's just my clothes!" he burst out.

"Enough, you two!" Stormhawk's anger surprised them. "This is no time for jokes! We're going to find Raganom and make him pay for what he did to Nightmare!"

"Stormhawk's right. No more joking, let's get serious. Now come on." Vanderbilt strode forward. The door opened, and he noticed the laser fence there. "Hmm...security must still be running down here..." he mused. He warned the others to not trip the beams, and walked carefully around it.

The 7 of them emerged into a large room. A large, knee-deep pool of water separated the entrance and the exit. As they headed to the door, a group of tentacled creatures appeared, whihc Emy identified as Dolmdarls. The mutated octopi whipped their blade tipped tentacles at the group, and the battle began.

Vanderbilt tore thru a group of them, shearing off body parts with his J Sword. Manny and Leona were launching their Rafoies into another group, burning the creatures to ash. Stormhawk ran into another group, pulled out his Agito, and began to slice into the creatures. Emy, Spyhunter, and Clank stayed back, blazing away with their guns: Emy with her Photon Launcher, Spyhunter and his Heaven's Punisher, and Clank with his Yasimokinov 7000V.

More and more of the Dolmdarls, along with their advanced forms, the Dolmolms, spawned in the room. A few Sinow Zoas also began to harass the group, but even with their ability to freeze, they were no match for the powerful Zonde attacks of the two Forces. Finally, after the last Sinow was destroyed, the door opened.

"There were an awful lot of enemies here..." Stormhawk said.

"I estimate that there will just as many, if not more, enemies as we continue on." Emy said.

"I get that same feeling, Emy. We'll have to be extra careful from now on." Vanderbilt said, and with that, he continued on, leading the group deeper into the Seabed.

Emy's prophecy seemed to be all too true, as the waves of monsters seemed to never cease in the continuing rooms. Recoboxes, with their protectors the Recons, began to appear on the walls, the floor, the ceiling, everywhere. They continuously diverted the two sword weilders while the Sinow Zoas went after the Forces. Manny and Leona found themselves under heavy attack in almost every room, as most of the monsters ould converge upon them. Luckily, Clank, Emy, and Spyhunter were able to protect the Forces throughout most of the arduous battles. However, they wer not always able to stop a punch or two from getting in, and Leona and Manny found themselves hurting, and tired.

It became even worse as they continued, tired as they were. New Dark creatures, known as Deldepths, appeared. Their freezing power was strong, and they could also shoot Megid. They were deadly, and Stormhawk and Vanderbilt made it a point to take care of them first. But that was not the only fearsome creature to appear. The Delbiter, a giant four legged creature with incrediblr strength, made things especially hard, whenever the group ran across them.

Vanderbilt stabbed his J Sword into another Deldepth as it tried to flee. It died and melted away into nothing. Then, he heard Emy call out, "I am registering the teleporter to the next level jut beyond this room!"

"Alright! Come on, everyone! We're almost there!" Stormhawk yelled as his Agito cut another Sinow Zoa to ribbons.

"Look out!" Leona and Manny cried simultaneously.

A Delbiter came charging at Vanderbilt and Stormhawk. Vanderbilt jumped out of the way, avoiding the beast.

Stormhawk was not so lucky.

The Delbiter's charge rammed the RAmar into a wall, and it pressed its foot down upon his chest. Stormhawk felt his ribs giving way, and tried to reach his Agito. The Delbiter roared, anticipating fresh meat. It pushed harder, and harder on the Ranger's chest.

The pressure seemed too great, and Stormhawk felt like his body was going to pop. It seemed too much-

And then the pressure stopped.

He looked up, and thru the Delbiter's head was the J Sword. Vanderbilt had thrown it like a javelin and speared the beast.

The creature dissapated into dust, and Stormhawk managed to climb to his feet.

"You okay, Storm?" Clank asked.

"A little *COUGHCOUGH* Resta wouldn't hurt..." he groaned.

Manny cast his Resta to heal the group, and Stormhawk retreived his Agito.

"Thanks for the save." Stormhawk told the HUmar.

Vanderbilt chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I have to save people all the time. I'm used to it."

"Yeah, I guess you would be..." Stormhawk muttered.

"Come on guys, the teleporter's here!" Spyhunter called, and indeed, in front of him was a teleporter.

"Looks like it leads down to the lower levels of the Seabed facility." Clank900 told them.

"Well then, let's go!" Leona chimed.

Together, the 7 of them entered the teleporter, and were transported down to the lower levels...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 24

"Hey Stormo, I thought your Agito snapped inside that Merlan," remarked Manny as his gaze fell upon the katana.
"Didn't I tell you that I bought three?" Stormhawk asked. "I knew that the 1977 brand was powerful, while still being usable by a Ranger, so I got three from this arms merchant called Dominic DeSalvo. He was the guy who I bought your Sorceror's Cane from," he added as his mind slipped back into the past.


"Whoo. Pretty ancient," gasped Leona as the team entered the lower levels. "I can't imagine this being used in a long time."
"Better not get too far inclined into such ideas," Spyhunter said with a slight hint of worry. "I can see lights flashing over there."
"That's no light, that's another Recobox," Stormhawk sprinted over to the metal spawning unit and drove his Agito through the box's reactor drive. Immediately the Recobox crackled with electric energies and shorted out. Manny finished the machine with a sharp shot of Foie. The attacks seemed less like fireballs and more like actual gouts of flame from a flamethrower with each passing Foie that Manny had conjured.
"Let's go that way," Clank's voice grated with an unnatural tone of malice as he aimed his gun at the lock and fired, shattering the lock and winding the door back on its hinges. The team filed through the door as new horrors greeted them...


The walls of the immense chamber were decked with massive X-like runes that shone with evil power.
"What the hell are these things? They seem to be breathing!" Vanderbilt spat as the X-shaped runes began to peel from the wall.
"Scanning... Scan complete." Emy stated blankly. "Subject Alpha identified as Clank900 of Pio-"
"Not my ass, you dumb RAcaseal!!" Clank bellowed as more and more X runes emerged from the walls.
"Reckon you can do better, then?" Vanderbilt retorted. The J-sword was held menacingly, ready to cut an X out of midair.
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Clank cried as he gunned the nearest X down. "They're called Morfos, and they -" Clank ducked awkwardly to evade a green laser of Photon "- use laser attacks to incapacitate their prey before devouring the prey with twin mouth-whips!"
"That's nice," mocked Stormhawk as he impaled one before it extracted itself from the wall.


Swords bloodied and guns smoking, the team came across a broken, ravaged chamber riddled with shards of glass. Two tubes that were once elevators ran down through the floor, and a shattered canopy allowed a view into the room below.
"Hey, look!" Vanderbilt called the team over to the edge of the canopy. A billowing golden inferno blazed through the room, and Stormhawk caught sight of a door in the back of the lower room.
"Wonder what's down there!!!!" he yelled as he leapt down. Sighing, Manny and Clank followed suit, Clank splitting the floor as he landed heavily.
"Catch you guys later!" Stormhawk called as he vanished through the door.


"How spooky!" Manny exclaimed as his vision rested on a slug-like object in a sealed glass canister. It was a human pancreas, albeit warped beyond recognition. Similar sights greeted the three companions as they bolted through another door and into a long tunnel. Leering faces loomed out of the walls and floor.
"Better hurry!" Stormhawk shouted as he drew his Agito. His gaze met the flickering yellow Photon of a small pistol, discarded on the warped floor. A Bravace, he thought as he retrieved the small gun. Holding the Agito in his left hand and the Bravace in his right, Stormhawk ran through the corridor, blasting craters where mocking faces had once stared.


Spyhunter lanced a Dolmdarl like a pus-filled boil with purple bolts from the Heaven's Punisher. "How many more of these things are there?" he cried as an electric aura surrounded three more writhing squids.
"About five," remarked Emy as the auras became swords of light thrust down into the carapaces of the squids.
"Good. I'm getting sick of them," spluttered Vanderbilt as he landed head-first in the water, tripped by a flailing appendage from the Dolmdarls. He lashed out with the J-sword, noticing its crackling blue energy field flare stronger than usual. The weapon had only done this once before, in the presence of an ages-old entity hell-bent on universal eradication. Vanderbilt shuddered as he remembered the conflict with Dark Falz.
"I hope the others found a safer road," sighed Leona as she consumed a Dimate before letting loose two shots of Barta, freezing the water solid where the blasts of icy gas touched it.


General Raganom had found the creature Olga Flow. He stood at the warp transport generator leading to the Test Subject Disposal Area's main control room. That shaft was one used only in dire circumstances, and Raganom wondered as he gazed into the warp why Olga Flow would choose to go there. Raganom turned and cast down another Morfos, stopping to devour the soft meat as he remembered his pact with Dark Falz and saw it fitting that the master should have more power than the slave. The shards of his long-lost Dark Flow suddenly materialised on the ground before him, and Raganom watched astonished as the sword was reformed, embedded in the ferrocrete floor. Raganom gulped down the last of the meat and grabbed the Dark Flow by the hilt as the power of Change wracked his body.


Stormhawk, Clank and Manny barrelled through the next door and saw two other exits; the one on the left was open but the right was still locked. Stormhawk looked through the viewport on the right and saw Vanderbilt's team battling unstoppable hordes. His face turned white as he saw the team being mauled by six Delbiters. Stormhawk fitted his lifelong pride and joy, his Maser Beam, with a small capsule that had been summoned with the Teleport Homing Device.
"What the..." breathed Clank as Stormhawk was wrapped in glittering electric light. Stormhawk held his weapon out as the light exploded in a flash of white Photons. Stormhawk now held the Power Maser, a gun capable of electrifying at least ten targets at once. Stormhawk pulled the Bravace from its clip on his belt, fried the lock and joined the fight.


Vanderbilt was fighting a losing battle. He was being attacked by six impossibly heavy Delbiters. Spyhunter was lying wounded on the floor, Emy had been disabled and Leona had expired her magic reserves yet again. Suddenly the door burst open in a flood of lightning. The Delbiters turned to face the new threat as Stormhawk's Maser utterly destroyed them.
"I owe you one," Vanderbilt coughed through bloodied jaws as he set about revitalising his comrades. Stormhawk handed Emy a new gun ("My Red Mechguns never let ME down," he told her) and gave the Agito to Leona, saying just "You need to multitask yourself a bit more". Leona was puzzled as to what he meant. Spyhunter recieved Stormhawk's Tripolic Shield, yet Vanderbilt got nothing.
"I saved your life, didn't I?" Stormhawk growled as Vanderbilt tried to protest. Stormhawk, Manny, Clank, Leona, Spyhunter, Emy and Vanderbilt bolted through the final door...


Stormhawk outpaced the whole team and thundered down an access ramp to see Raganom struggling against himself in the last chamber. The evil General seemed to be exploding from the inside, finally ceasing the struggle when the dark channels leaking from his eyes and mouth exhausted their sources, but not before Raganom had absorbed Dark Falz's unholy energies. His armor was now swarming with the deadly Lafuteria virus, and it seemed to be convulsing and spiralling with every passing second. Raganom locked his glimmering eyes with Stormhawk's as the rest of the team barged into the room...



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Caecilius on 2003-09-13 01:05 ]</font>

[whizkid7]

Chapter 25

The two teams stood there, facing Raganom as he stared down at Stormhawk.

"So, you followed me..." he said menacingly.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Nightmare!" Stormhawk bellowed.

"HAHAHAHAHAH!" Booming laughter echoed about the shaft. "Fool. As if you could beat me."

"Raganom!"

The others turned to see Vanderbilt stride up to the front and face his mortal enemy once again.

"YOU!!!" The hatred in Raganom's voice was unmistakeable. "How can you be here?"

"You should be dead, Raganom. And yet you have returned to haunt me once again." Vanderbilt spat, the J Sword held out in front of him. "This time, I'll make sure you're dead!"

"Hmph. As much as I would love to crush you, I'm not going to fight you. Instead, my latest creation will." The General smilied evilly.

"What's he talking about?" Leona asked.

Her question was soon answered by a large beast shooting down towards them. It floated off the platform, with four legs, almost like a spider. It's right hand was a large sword, similar to the Dark Flow. It's left hand was a gigantic energy bow, with gas from the stored Photon energy emanating from it. It cried out an mixed jumble of some language.

"What IS that thing???" Manny cried.

"Him? That's Heathcliff Flowen. Only now, he's been transformed. Now he is-Olga Flow! And he will destroy you and feast on your dead flesh! MUHUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Raganom laughed histerically as he jumped atop Olga Flow.

"He's mad!" Clank900 said as him and the others steeled themselves for battle. Leona pulled out her Twinkle Star, Emy her Yasimonkinov 9000M, Spyhunter his Bringer's Rifle, Clank his Belra Cannon, Stormhawk his Power Maser, Manny his Sorceror's Cane, and Vanderbilt the J Sword.

"Let's go..." Vanderbilt growled, and the battle began.

The floor they were standing on shook, and began to shoot downward.

"What the???" Spyhunter cried. "We're in an elevator shaft!"

"Who cares? Let's just destroy that thing!" Stormhawk cried, and to prove his point, he fired at the beast with his Power Maser. The powerful weapon hit into the monster's skin, but it seemed to barely faze it.

"Man, that thing must be really strong..." The RAmar muttered.

As if to prove his point, the monster launched burning arrows of Photon energy from its right hand. Stormhawk's DF Field blazed to life, and tried to reflect the blasts. Three hit him in quick successsion, and one managed to get thru his armor's protective shield.

He was knocked back to the ground as Olga stabbed its sword forward, launching an energy wave from it, knocking Emy and Clank near the edge.

"Our attacks don't seem to be affecting it!" Leona cried, healing her comrades.

"We've got to do something!" Manny yelled.

That's when they noticed Vanderbilt standing seemingly unscathed in the middle of the platform. He launched himself into the air, meeting the flying Olga Flow midway. He stabbed the J Sword into its face.

Olga cried in pain and tore itself away from the J Sword.

"It looks like I'm the only one who can put a dent in that thing..." Vanderbilt muttered.

"Okay guy, new plan!" Stormhawk yelled. "Distract that thing so Vanderbilt can get his shots in!"

"Right!" were the simultaneous replies of Stormhawk's two companions.

Olga then began to charge energy into it's right hand, and a large beam shot out across the platform. The 7 hunters managed to avoid getting struck by this energy attack, and then Olga flew above the platform. It began stabbing its sword into the platform, causing large gashes to appear in the platform.

Meanwhile, Raganom remained standing upon Olga Flow laughing manaically.

"That does it, time to shut him up!" Vanderbilt growled. He once again drove his sword into Olga Flow, but this time he unleashed the J Sword's energy wave from within the monster, just like he had done to the Barba Ray.

Olga Flow cried in pain, and it began crashing into walls. Then it spun widly and fell to the bottom of the shaft, its cry echoing back up.

The elevator landed in the bottom of the shatf, which was knee deep in water. Olga's body lie there, with a small glowing orb floating around it.

"Ha-ha! We got it!" Spyhunter said with glee.

"But where's Raganom?" Leona asked.

"Hmm...something's not right here..." Vanderbilt muttered.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking: That was too easy." Stormhawk said, approaching from behind.

"Yeah...I don't think it's over..."

Clank and Manny, meanwhile, was heading towards the floating orb.

"I wonder what this is?" Manny muttered.

"Dunno. Let's see." Clank said, stretching his arm towards it.

Emy, who had been scanning the orb, suddenly cried out, "No! Don't touch the orb!"

But it was too late, as Clank's hand touched the orb...

[Naclosagc]

I just discovered this yesterday. I am enjoying this fanfic more than any other I have read. Keep up the good work.

[Caecilius]

Chapter 26

"And the one thing that RAcaseal told you NOT to do was...?" Manny's voice hit Clank's armoured shell like a slap.


The glimmering orb vanished from view. A great red corona flared around Olga Flow as the monster hovered from the ground. Its legs and tail sloughed off and crashed to the ground as the daemonic energies of Dark Falz coursed through Heathcliff Flowen's titanic form once again. A pair of humanoid legs, possibly Flowen's own, grew and replaced the former spidery legs. Olga Flow's once-magnificent chest lay open, six flaps of ferrocrete-like skin barely concealing the horrendous wound formerly opened by the Master Hunter. Olga Flow's magnificent sword-arm was wreathed in golden flames, and the hunters could see Olga Flow in all its hellish glory as the red corona faded. Olga Flow released a tremendous bellow that shattered the very walls around the combatants.
"I am NOT gonna survive this..." Stormhawk moaned as he took a good look at Olga's sword-arm.


"Looks like that hole in his chest is his weak point!" Leona called as she released a searing bolt of Rafoie. Olga, however, came out with not so much as a scratch.
"He still seems invincible!!" she cried as her Twinkle Star shone.
"Not for much longer," Clank aimed the one weapon he knew he could trust; his Belra Cannon unleashed a heavy shot that tore into Olga's metallic hide. The shell struck Olga before rebounding into the giant sword-arm as it hung at Olga's right side. The giant shell was atomised as it collided with the dark Photons, and purple ichor rained down on the combatants. Olga seemed to be impervious to such pinpricks as he raised his crossbow-like gun arm. Green bolts of Photon smashed into Clank and Leona, who fell backwards as the dark energies bowled into them. Olga let out another roar as it began to move.


"Watch out!" Stormhawk called as Olga's monstrous foot crushed its own former tail. He dived out of the titan's path as it span round to face Manny, who was currently firing blasts of Gizonde at the two Gael snakes that had detached from Olga's shoulders. One was obliterated by lightning, but the other spat three spherical replicas of its own head. They detonated, spewing poisonous gases at Manny, who promptly cured himself with an Anti as Clank's servos struggled to give the RAcast a new footing. Clank retrieved his cannon and pulverised the other Gael with a single shot.


"What were those things!?" Manny asked as the Anti cleansed his body of poison. He immediately felt like a burden had been removed from him.
"Registered as Giel bombs," Emy rapped out as she drew her Yasminkov 9000M mechguns and fired a deadly hail of fire that struck Olga's knee. Olga reeled but did not retaliate, still concentrating on Manny. With a sharp green flash Olga began charging his weapon. Another green flash signalled the release of a concentrated laser of Dark energy, cutting through the remnants of Olga's former legs and slicing towards Manny. The Force attempted to dive out of the beam's path, like Stormhawk had done.
He was not so lucky.
The beam impacted with his Sorceror's Cane and shorted out the weapon's Photon crystal.
"Stupid Photons!!" Manny pocketed the fizzing weapon, igniting a Foie blast as he locked eyes with Olga Flow. The gout of flame speared through the air and seared Olga's bastion-like head with a sound like thunder. Olga plunged his blade down towards Manny, but the Force was too agile and the fiery sword struck a boulder on the floor, incinerating it instantly.

Spyhunter took careful aim with his Bringer's Rifle.
"I have you now!" he growled through clenched teeth. The gun's incandescent streaks of energy impacted on Olga's chest as he pulled the trigger two, three, four times, each shot landing dead-centre within Olga's punctured chest cavity. Bright orange light spewed from Olga's chest with each shot. Olga cried in pain, a sound that shook the bowels of the earth. Without further adieu the titan unleashed the blazing golden flames that coruscated around its sword, the inferno washing over the whole battlefield and immolating rocky debris. Spyhunter was hit by the fire, as was Stormhawk, who flew backwards into the wall but rose effortlessly.
"You alright?" Spyhunter's concern sounded genuine.
"Don't worry about me, worry about Vanderbilt!" Stormhawk spat as he activated his Beam Amplifier.
"Now to finish this monster..." he growled as he fired. Five simultaneous tendrils of raw electricity slashed the beast's leg like whips, but Olga did not topple that easily, slamming its foot into the ground to brace itself.


Vanderbilt did indeed require a great deal of worry. He was attempting to duel with a titan, pole-vaulting through the air with the J-sword to deliver powerful slashes that scored Olga's hide. Fat sparks flew from the blade where it struck this new entity of Dark Falz, and Vanderbilt felt as though the blade he held was impossibly light, slicing into his target with blinding speed and power.
"Ha! Try and get me, beast!" Vanderbilt laughed as his blade bit again. Suddenly Olga turned its attention onto Vanderbilt, batting the HUmar aside with the flat of its sword. Vanderbilt landed in a heap on the ground.
"Uuugh... Die, you foul creature!!" he screamed as he rose. He focussed his hatred of Dark Falz into a single blazing point, and drew on this power to send six arcs of blue light into Olga Flow's chest cavity. Each bolt struck the wound with impeccable accuracy and sheared Olga's chest open. The wound was now open, yet Olga had not given up yet. Bellowing a savage warcry, it called upon the power of Dark Falz, its host, and summoned violet spears of dark energy that rained down on the team in a hail of destruction.


Only two hunters emerged from Olga's daemonic fury; Vanderbilt and Stormhawk, both severely wounded. Vanderbilt staggered towards Olga, feigned a fall and leapt up with a new vigour that filled his body with sublime energy. So this is what anger fuels you with, he mused as he plunged his blade into Olga's chest wound and activated the dome attack. The blue corona tore through Olga's system, but incredibly the foul creature survived! Vanderbilt leapt clear as the fell beast staggered, wounded but alive. Stormhawk bounded forward and took aim with his amplified Power Maser. "This one's for Nightmare!!" he cried, firing the instant Vanderbilt summoned the dome again. The twin energies fused into one, encircling Olga Flow's nuclear heart before crushing it in a spectacular pyrotechnic implosion that finally slew the beast.


With the death of Olga Flow, the soul of Heathcliff Flowen appeared in front of Vanderbilt and Stormhawk, saluting them before vanishing in a streak of red light. The others had regained consciousness, and gazed in awe at the dead beast. Yet this was not the end.
General Raganom suddenly emerged from Olga Flow's chest cavity.
"Well, I must say I'm impressed," he exclaimed. "You slew my servant, and now you must face the servant's master!" Raganom drew his weapon.
"H-How? I thought I destroyed your Dark Flow!?" Vanderbilt nearly dropped the J-sword in astonishment as his gaze rested on the reformed weapon. It appeared to have been freshly pressed from a forge, and had suffered no damage whatsoever.
"That you did, Vanderbilt, and the power of my master has remade it," Raganom continued. "The power of Dark Falz is infinite, and he rewards and saves those who serve him."
"Well, he won't save you THIS time!" Vanderbilt roared as he darted towards Raganom, the J-sword held high...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 27

The two stood, facing one other, their faces a stony mask of determination.

Once friends, they were now mortal enemies.

Strangely enough, they were both rather similar. Both weilded swords of unimaginable power, and both were well skilled in their usage.

But the similarites ended there. One was driven by revenge, and the other driven by the lust for power. One battled for the good of all things, and the other, the evil. The two seemed to be the embodiments of good and evil...

There, deep within the bowels of the Seabed facility, the age-old battle between good and evil would be waged once agin...

"...Let's end this." The Master Hunter spat.

"Agreed..." the evil General replied.

Stormhawk and the others backed away, so as to avoid was would surely be a most immense fight.

Silence reigned.

And then it was split by the simultaneous cries of rage emanating from both hunters. Their swords held high, they charged at each other with blinding speed. Their swords clashed, and the whole area shook from the force of their blows.

Stormhawk and the others had to dive out of the way as chunks of the ceiling came crashing down.

"If they keep this up, this whole place will collapse..." Stormhawk mused.

Yet neither of the combatants knew nor cared what he was thinking. They were focused on thier enemy, and nothing else mattered to them-except to defeat their enemy.

Domes of blue energy and waves of golden energy flashed across the floor, striking each man down, and giving their faces almost ghoulish looks.

They continued to battle, oblivious to the rocks and pieces of mortar that crashed around them. Their mighty swords clashed again and again, the sound ringing out throughout the area.

The J Sword sliced its way into the General's thigh, and he hissed in pain. but he reataliated with slamming the hilt of his blade into the Master Hunter's stomach.

But neither was willing to give in to pain, and give up just yet.

So the battle raged, energy waves crashing into and against each other, the blades constantly ringing from blocked blows, and the two men consumed with the desire to win.

Just when it seemed the battle would rage forever, Raganom lunged forward, trying to impale Vanderbilt on the Dark Flow. But in doing so, he left himself wide open for when Vanderbilt ducked.

His eyes flashed with the recognition of his chance, while his opponent's eyes flashed with the recognition of his blunder.

The J Sword plunged thru Raganom's stomach, and the General jerked in pain and surprise.

"This time you die..." Vanderbilt growled.

But before he could pull the J Sword from Raganom's body, large boulders came crashing down. They buried Raganom under them, and trapped Vanderbilt. it was only then he realized that the ceiling was breaking apart, and he had little time. He struggled to free himself, as Leona came running over.

"Hang on, I'll get you out!" she cried.

"Leona, the teleporter's here! We gotta get out of here!" Spyhunter cried.

"I'm not leaving without Vanderbilt!" she answered.

"Leona, go! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" Vanderbilt yelled at her.

"I'm...not...LEAVING!" she yelled back.

Vanderbilt was about to protest, when he saw a huge chunk of the ceiling dislodge itself and fall towards the transporter where his friends waited.

"They'll be crushed if they don't leave now!" He thought to himself.

There was only one choice.

He shoved with all his might, causing Leona to stumble backwards into the teleporter. Her hand slapped the warp controls, and the teleporter activated...

Leona and the others found themselves standing on the cliffs of Gal Da Val, where the Seabed teleporter was. Behind them, the teleporter gave off a large jolt, and shut down.

"Wha???" Manny muttered.

"What happened? Where's Vanderbilt???" Leona cried histerically.

That was when he felt herself gripping something in her palms. She looked down, afraid of what it might be.

In her hands was the J Sword.

"No..." she gasped, realizing what it meant. "He'd never give up this sword unless...Unless..." She sank to her knees.

"He...gave his sword to her?" Spyhunter said, amazed.

"Before the transporter activated, I registered a large object falling toward it. The most probablt conclusion is that is was part of the ceiling." Emy stated flatly.

"So that's it...That's why he pushed Leona away...so that we wouldn't be killed..." Stormhawk muttered.

"He saved all of us from death, but in doing so...sacrificed himself..." Clank900 said with sadness.

"Noooo...." Leona moaned, tears flowing from her eyes, and splashing onto the blade of her beloved husband.

She lifted her head back as the rains began to fall, and cried out to the winds. "VANDERBILTTTTTT!!!!!"

Her cry of anguish and despair echoed off the cliffs...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 28

Rain lashed at the cliffs as Leona put the J-sword to rest. Fitting that the skies should be so overcast on an unhappy day like this, Stormhawk thought as his eyes scanned over the memorial marker once more.

"May the soul of the Master Hunter rest in peace."

Stormhawk was forcing back tears of sadness and anger as he immediately thought of Vanderbilt's last moment. The Master Hunter had slain Raganom, but at the cost of his own life. Stormhawk could not help but wonder what happens when somebody dies. Does the soul stay on this earth or does that person go to "a better place"? Stormhawk had heard the legends on Mantis Prime about the famous warrior Eilakar, who had died fighting his mortal enemy in the ruins of a burning city. Stormhawk's memory was fuzzy but he thought the legends mentioned Eilakar's soul still fighting that enemy within the ghostly ruins of that city.


"You know, Leona, maybe Vanderbilt really HAS gone to a better place," Storm said as he walked over to the kneeling FOnewearl. "Maybe he's waiting for you on the other side, in a land of peace and harmony."
"That's what they all say," moaned Leona as she wept in front of her departed husband's memorial. "It's never true!"
"Maybe... maybe it is true, yet you don't realise it..." Storm continued as the rain hissed as it hit the magnifier on his Maser.
Leona fell silent as Stormhawk's words somehow pierced the wall of her grief. Stormhawk continued. "Besides, I think what he would really want would be for you to honour the good aspects of his life, rather than collapse upon his passing."


After Manny had cast Ryuker, the six companions warped onto the Crusader. The last person on board was Leona, as she had decided to say her last farewell to Vanderbilt before leaving.
"You strapped in back there, Emy?" Stormhawk called from his seat.
"Affirmative. Rear turret operational," Emy replied.
"Great. We'll return to Pioneer shortly. Strap yourselves in, passengers!" Stormhawk addressed Leona and Spyhunter as Manny conducted an area scan.
"Clear for takeoff, Stormboy!"
"Let's go!"


When the six companions got back to Pioneer, Stormhawk started to move towards the Stock Room.
"Better be careful," Stormhawk said as he gave his wargear to the lady behind the counter. "Store these in a new locker, doll."
Turning back to his teammates, he immediately addressed Emy. "Didn't you say you were imprisoned at one time?"
"It was about three months ago," replied Emy. "We had been arrested by the General and an entourage of HUcast soldiers. Our weapons had been taken from us. Why do you ask?"
"I just feel as though we didn't finish something off fully... that something, or perhaps multiple things, are still alive..."
"Can't be too careful. We don't want that to happen again," added Spyhunter as he handed his equipment to the lady. "Put those with that guy's stuff for me, please," he said to her.
Pretty soon the others had followed suit, claiming less valuable or mass-produced weapons to replace the more precious ones: Stormhawk kept his Bravace, Manny held a Club of Laconium, Clank grabbed a Crush Bullet, and the other three purchased new weapons from the Arms shop. Not that they would be needing them, though...
"May as well report our progress," Spyhunter said as he tested the grip on the rifle he had just bought. Two green Photon crystals hummed at the barrel's base. Emy decided to buy a pair of mechguns while Leona bought a wand to act as a temporary replacement to her Twinkle Star.
"Agreed. Keep your weapons equipped," Stormhawk replied as he stepped into the warp to the Lab.


"And are you sure that Raganom was killed with Vanderbilt?!" The team could hear Principal Tyrell talking to Chief Milrose about the events on Ragol.
"Correct. There was reported to be an earthquake followed by a rock fall... Ah, here are our two teams! Missing a member each!" Chief Milrose's pleasure at seeing the six companions was obviously apparent to Tyrell, and the old man turned to look.
"So what happened on Ragol?" Tyrell spoke to the whole group, and Leona was the first to speak.
"We killed the creature that was Heathcliff Flowen, and we killed Raganom too, but..." Leona never summoned enough courage to finish.
"But?" Tyrell seemed to be pressuring her.
"BUT, her husband was killed too! You of all people should respect that!" Stormhawk spat in the Principal's face, saying only "You cold bastard..." as he turned away.
"Ah... aside from that, where is your HUcast? Nightmare?" Chief Milrose seemed anxious to hear of Nightmare's fate.
"I'll answer that question," came a steely voice from behind the teams. Even Stormhawk, used to seeing death, was stunned by this newcomer's appearance.


Still more dead than alive, it was only through the power of Dark Falz that General Raganom survived Vanderbilt's death-blow.
"I killed him, and my master's power resurrected him," Raganom continued as everyone else stared; some at Raganom's horrific wound, some at his electric blue eyes, and some at the hulking HUcast behind Raganom.
"I'd like you to meet my new second-in-command," Raganom ushered the HUcast forward. Red flames burst into life on the machine's form as Stormhawk drew his Bravace.
"Raganom!!" he screamed. "What the hell have you done!?"
"He already explained that one, traitor." The HUcast's cold voice contrasted with his fiery armour.
"Yes, traitor, this was your friend Nightmare. Now he is my loyal second-in-command," Raganom explained.


This mental and psychological torment was too much for Stormhawk to bear.
"You're gonna pay for this!!" He pulled the trigger and unloaded three Photon bullets into Raganom's hideous undead form. Raganom calmly raised his hand and tendrils of black light enveloped the bullets and tightened as Raganom clenched his fist. The tendrils vanished with a sharp crack. The General leered as more tendrils lashed out and bound the Lab's eight occupants, including the Principal and the Chief.
"Take them to the prison cells," Raganom instructed as he slashed his remaining hand diagonally, tearing the veil separating reality and the darkest voids. An entire legion of Delsabers leapt from the gouge and grabbed the prisoners. "And destroy their weapons," Raganom glanced down at the green Photons produced by three of the weapons as the Delsabers snatched the various guns and staves, shearing them into various components with their blades.
Storm spat at Nightmare as the HUcast strode past confidently. "I pity you, Nightmare, and I shall mourn for the Nightmare I knew, as I now understand that he is lost forever."


Stormhawk was thrust into a cell with Clank, who was shaking with rage.
"It isn't over just yet, Clank. We may be trapped, but I have a small surprise," Storm explained as Clank bunched his fists.
"You're wrong!" Clank shouted. "We can't get out at all! That bastard Raganom put an anti-trap field around this quad!"
"Anti-TRAP, but not anti-MAGIC," Storm's eyes gleamed.
"He put an anti-magic field around the whole block!" Clank howled. "Not a single escape route!"
"Yes there is!" Storm shot up from his sitting position. "Try busting us out of here, you're nearly as physically strong as Nightmare, you can easily get us out!"
"I can't smash a petrifanium cell door!"
"Just try, you never know what you can do if you try hard enough."
"If you say so..." Clank smashed his fist into the prison door and shattered the locking mechanism completely. The door hissed open as red warning lights activated.
"Well, Storm, you're boned," sighed Clank as four Delsabers flew down the stairwell, landing in front of the four prison cells.
"No way could we take on four Delsabers on our own," moaned Stormhawk.
"Whoever said WE?" Clank slammed his elbow into the nearest Delsaber and pulped its poor excuse for a brain with little effort.
Stormhawk chuckled and set about unlocking his friend's doors while Clank tore the Delsabers to bloody rags decorating the floor. More Delsabers began to fly down the stairs as Clank completed his gory duty...

[whizkid7]

Chapter 29

Deep in the bowels of the Seabed, within the Waste Disposal Shaft...

The signs of battle still loom, as piles of rubble, slices in the walls, and scorched sections still remain. It appears that there is no living thing still here...

Yet that is not the case.

A large pile of rubble begins to shake, and rocks slide off. A hand clad in black raises itself up, and shoves more rocks off, exposing the person behind it.

Vanderbilt slowly manages to crawl out from underneath the rocks, and slides onto the floor. "So...much pain..." he groaned. His wounds from his fight with Raganom and the rocks falling on him were all too fresh, and he felt every one of them.

"Gotta...get...outta here..." he growled, and shakily climbed to his feet. He limped over to where the transporter had been crushed, and pushed with all his might to get the rock off.

"I hope I can...get this thing working..." he said to himself, as he crossed wires and fiddled with knobs. His randomness worked, when the transporter blinked back to life. He stepped thru, and found himself on the Cliffs, in a rainstorm.

"The others must have left...Wait, what's that?" He looked closely, and discovered the grave marker, with his J Sword embedded in the ground.

"Oh no...They think...I'm dead...Poor Leona..." he murmured. He closed his eyes tightly, then opened them with a snap. "Gotta make it...back to...Pioneer 2..." he moaned. He pulled the J Sword from the ground and climbed down the cliffs.

Vanderbilt found his way down the cliffs, and into a large stretch of land, most likely unexplored. He set off in the direction of Ragol City, figuring he could get to Pioneer 2 from there. He walked on and on, for hours, not stopping, his pain growing greater.

"Wha...?" He looked ahead, and saw a small village, with farmlan around it. "These must be...the villages that...cropped up..." he said thru gritted teeth.

He slowly approached, and called out to the first person he saw, and said, "Hey! can you help me?"

The farmer had a look of utter fright, and ran screaming, "They're coming!!! They're coming!!"

Vanderbilt limped into town, hoping to find some help, but all he found were locked doors and barred windows. The streets were empty, and noone was in sight.

"What's...with these people??" He moaned. He could go on no further, and collapsed unconcious in the street...

The first thing he sensed was a cold cloth on his forehead, and his body seemed lighter. he bolted upright, startling the old lady sitting next to him.

"Land sakes, boy! Don't give an old woman a fright like that!" she cried.

"Huh? Where am I?" vanderbilt muttered. He looked down to notice that his chest armor was off, and there were bandages encircling his waist. He saw his J Sword and armor propped up against the far wall.

"Calm down, son. You're in Red Village, named after Red Ring Rico. You were hurt, and I took you in and fixed you up." the lady smiled, her wrinkles growing deeper.

"Oh...Thank you very much. I don't know how to pay you back..." Vanderbilt told her.

"Oh, psh-shaw! Don't worry bout payin me back! Just having someone famous like you is good enough for me."

"Ah...Wait, famous? You know who I am then?"

"Of course! Everyone knows about Vanderbilt, the Master Hunter! I knew it was you when I saw that sword of yours!"

"Oh...Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Why did the people run from me?"

"Oh..." Her eyes narrowed, and she sighed. "A while back, some hunters caused some major trouble for this village. Did a lot of destruction. Since then, the people are afraid of hunters, and run from them."

"I see...Well, thanks, but I need to get to Ragol City so I can go to Pioneer 2." He began to climb out of bed, but winced as pain shot thru his chest.

"Now hold your horses! You need rest, first off. And secondly, you're in luck. The supply truck from Pioneer 2 stops here tomorrow. You can hitch a ride back then."

"Really? That's great!" He beamed.

"Now relax. You'll need your strength, especially since that Raganom guy showed up and took things over."

"What???? Raganom's still alive???" Vanderbilt smashed his fist into the wall. "Dammit! He should be dead...Why does he keep coming back to haunt me?" He flopped down again and groaned. "I really am going to need my rest now..." And with that, he closed his eyes and dreamt...

The next morning, he strapped on his armor and sword, thanked the old lady, and hopped on the supply truck. It flew on back to Pioneer 2, and Vanderbilt jumped off.

"Thanks!" he called to the driver as he ran out. "Now where would Raganom be?" he murmured. "Yeah, the old military complex. I bet my friends are there too..." he murmured, and ran off.

He found a pair of Delsabers guarding the entrance. "Delsabers? How'd they get here?" he wondered. He quietly slipped aroung the side and went in thru an air duct.

He landed in the main lobby, and accessed a computer. "Let's see...I thought so, he has my friends, as well as the Principal and Chief Milrose locked up. Time to come to the rescue..." And he dashed off down the hallway.

Meanwhile, in the cell, Stormhawk and the others had been defeated when they tried to escape. They were loacked together in one cell.

"Man, this stinks..." Manny muttered.

"Stop whining, Manny. It's grinding my servos." Clank said back.

"I can't believe it...How'd he repair Nightmare?" Stormhawk said, then balled his fists. "He'll pay..."

"There's nothing we can do, Raganom's too strong for us." Spyhunter said glumly.

"The only one who was able to defeat Raganom was...Vanderbilt..." Emy said sadly.

At the mention of his name, the five of them looked over at Leona. She sat on a cot, legs pulled up to her shoulders, face buried in her legs. She seemed to be somewhere else, not even aware of her surroundings anymore.

"I feel so sorry for her...Look at her, it's like her soul is gone." Stormhawk muttered.

"You don't know how close they were...To her, life has no meaning anymore..." Spyhunter answered.

Just then, they heard a commotion outside. They heard the Delsabers outside voice surprose, the shing of a sword, and the sound of the Delsabers burning away to dust. Then the door was sliced in half, kicked inward, and a voice called out, "You guys alright?"

"I don't belive it..." Spyhunter said in disbelief.

"It's...It's..." Manny stuttered.

"Vanderbilt!!!" They all cried in unison.

"Hey guys, miss me?" The HUmar smiled as he sliced open the lock.

"How did you survive???" Clank asked him.

"Long story, I'll tell you later. Right now let's get out of here. Hey...where's Leona?" He asked.

They pointed over to her, and Vanderbilt knelt down in front of her. "Leona? Leona, it's me, honey..."

Her whole body seemed to jolt at the sound of his voice, and slowly, ever so slowly, her head raised up. Her eyes opened wide as she recognized him, and then she dove into him, kissing him harder than ever before.

"Wow, that woke her up..." Manny chortled. Clank and Stormhawk punched him in the head.

Leona let go and finally gasped out, "You're...alive!"

"Come on, you think a little old thing like a ceiling caving in would get rid of me?" he smiled back at her. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."

She smiled, wiped her face dry, and said, "You're right, let's go. Oh, we'll need to get our weapons from the check room."

"All right then, let's go!" And with that, the seven of them dashed out of the cell...

[Caecilius]

Chapter 30

"So what you're saying is..." Leona was trying to comprehend Vanderbilt's description of Ragol.
"Damn right. Villages and towns everywhere." The HUmar felt a mix of elation and doubt. "On the plus side, we now have a homeworld. However, there have been reported monster attacks every day, and the military are stalking the streets."
"We've gotta concentrate on the monsters in here first, then outside," Spyhunter said with a rising temper.
"Speaking of which, what the hell happened to the Delsabers?" Leona asked as she noticed the calm within the previously bloody corridors.
That question was already answered as the team turned a corner.
Five Delsabers were impaled against the wall. Shining out of the bodies was none other than the J-sword.
"Wondered what I'd done with it," Vanderbilt chuckled as he withdrew his blade. The corpses fell to the floor in a smoking heap.


After escaping from the jail sector, the teams made a dash for the Stock Room. Stormhawk took all of his belongings from the network.
"Follow suit, you two," he motioned to Clank and Manny. "We're not coming back for a long time."
Stormhawk set his last Telepipe capsule and warped onto the Crusader, dumping most of his belongings within his modified storage unit and equipping the rest. Next came Clank, who also dumped and equipped his items. Manny, though, came on with an unusually large pile of weaponry.
"What's so bad about keeping treasured possessions?" he blurted out before Stormhawk kicked him in the shins.


"You done?" asked Spyhunter as Stormhawk warped back onto Pioneer.
"Done as I'll ever be," came Stormhawk's reply. "We have a few scores to settle, right guys?"
"Agreed. Let us take the fight to the enemy," Emy added as Stormhawk glared at her.
"I said GUYS..." the RAmar growled as he took the warp to the Common Plaza. Vanderbilt chuckled as he stepped in.


"I nearly got killed here," sighed Vanderbilt as he took a glance at the golden podium in the centre of the plaza, now swarming with Delsabers.
"No time to reminisce. We've got stuff to burn," snapped Clank as a well-aimed round from his Yasminkov 7000V clipped the knee joint of a Delsaber and forced it to the floor. Clank crushed its glowing head under his immense weight, firing again and again. Three more Delsabers disintegrated, their chests pierced by the storm of bullets. Spyhunter and Emy were dealing equal punishment to the Delsabers as the monsters advanced relentlessly.
"Even so!" Vanderbilt retorted as he skewered six monsters on his J-sword. "I nearly died there, Clank! Just because you... oh no." Four Delbiters materialised in front of the hunters.
"Not these again..." Stormhawk spat as two Delbiters barrelled into him. He held on to one of the Delbiters' legs as it ran, tripping the beast and sending the RAmar flying. Stormhawk remained calm, though, and drew his Power Maser, firing the instant he reached the apex of his flight.
"See how YOU like it!" he roared as he fired. The bolts of electricity lashed the Delbiters' hides and left them lifeless on the floor.


"Well, no sign of Raganom or Nightmare yet," Stormhawk grunted as he landed heavily on the floor. He checked the crystal in his Maser; it still bore a bright orange glow.
"I know two places where they might be: the Lab or the military HQ," Spyhunter suggested.
"Or the toilet," Manny added before being punched in the face again.
"It seems logical to storm the Lab first," Emy rapped out as she processed the possible outcomes.
"We've got to find a passage there, first," Leona pointed out. "No real route there aside from through the Civilian Quarters or the military HQ."
"May as well go for the HQ then," Manny replied. Storm had to admit that this was the best idea Manny had come up with that month.
"Scanning... Scan complete. 83% success rate." Emy's voice was, as usual, monotonous.


The military HQ was surprisingly deserted.
"Evidently the military is on Ragol," Emy stated, "otherwise we would be encountering fierce resistance."
"Yeah, what happened to the military anyway? Not like them to abandon their HQ," responded Clank.
"Doesn't sound like they're here, at any rate..." Vanderbilt observed.
"The military isn't here, but still be cautious," Stormhawk cut in.
The teams reached the central war-room effortlessly. Now Stormhawk and Vanderbilt could see the main reason for their absence.
Flashing on the rear videoviewer were the words "MOP UP OPERATION IN PROGRESS". Standing next to the videoviewer was none other than...


"I'm surprised you survived the attack from our hunter-killer units," Nightmare's mechanical voice grated as Stormhawk brandished his Maser. The HUcast's voice showed no signs of alliance to the teams, nor did the HUcast himself make any movement towards Stormhawk.
"Who cares about your precious Delbiters," Clank growled as he hefted his Belra Cannon.
"The creature Olga Flow was also acting as a hunter-killer, I'll have you know," Nightmare retorted. The android would have spat if he could. "I was given knowledge about Olga Flow after General Raganom kindly used his power to repair me, and his master is not one to be taken lightly."
"No excuse for what he did to the Nightmare we knew," Stormhawk's voice was filled with hate for Raganom and Nightmare.
"You never knew the truth behind me!" Nightmare's Flame Garment erupted with red flames as the HUcast's anger became apparent.
"Then the Nightmare I thought I knew really is dead," Stormhawk aimed his Maser at Nightmare. The advanced target lock zoomed on Nightmare's head, then his torso, then each of his limbs. Stormhawk knew he would destroy Nightmare if he had to.
"Damn the Nightmare I see now..." he spat onto the metallic floor.
"That happened a long time ago, human." Nightmare drew his own weapon; a brass tube that Stormhawk recognised as a Partisan of Lightning. Two yellow blades, crackling with electricity, materialised from the ends of the tube as Nightmare began his attack.


Stormhawk and Clank both fired as Nightmare lunged at them. Six bolts of lightning hammered into Nightmare's metal body and shorted the servos in his legs, while the giant shell from the Belra Cannon severed Nightmare's left arm. Questing tendrils of black energy sought to reattach the arm, but Clank fired again and shattered the arm into a thousand pieces. Manny and Vanderbilt joined the fray, while Spyhunter and Emy took careful aim with their guns. Stormhawk was thrust backwards by Nightmare's furious assault, and Leona had to cast Resta to heal a vicious gouge along the RAmar's side.
"Is that the best you've got to throw at me?" taunted Nightmare as his servos regained mobility.
"Not quite," Manny retorted, recieving a flaming metal fist in the face. Manny, however, kept fighting, and his eyes blazed with black coronas of barely contained power as blood poured from his nose and mouth.


"I know that look! He's going to use the forbidden technique!" cried Leona as she paused to look at Manny. The FOnewm held a glowing purple sphere in his hand, growing with every passing second.
"What?" shouted Spyhunter as he fired a blistering orange spear from the Bringer's Rifle at Nightmare, impacting on the HUcast's glowing blade.
"Subject technique identified as Megid," Emy stated as she coolly launched three green balls of Photon, each one slamming into Nightmare's black shell. The HUcast grunted in pain as he span to look at Emy - and was distracted by Manny's Megid.
Manny bowled the sphere of Megid at the HUcast's hulking form, too surprised to defend himself.
Nightmare fell to the floor as the bolt found its target, his chest spitting black sparks as he fell. Suddenly a purple glow filled the room, and Nightmare rose to his feet.
"What the..." gasped Manny.
"No second chances, Night!" screamed Clank as his cannon fired again. The heavy shell tore the HUcast's head from his shoulders.
"You fools..." were Nightmare's last words as Stormhawk's Maser obliterated the rolling head.

[whizkid7]

Chapter 31

As what was left of Nightmare burned away, the group of hunters stood there, facing the gravity of what had happened.

"Nightmare..." Despite his robotic body, Clank still managed to give off an air of immense sadness.

Stormhawk was not too happy either. "I'll kill that General Raganom. He's gonna regret what he did..."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked to see Vanderbilt looking at him, a sad expression on his face. "I know how you feel. Raganom has stolen people I cared for as well. But this is not your fight, however much you think it may be."

"What do you mean???" Stormhawk was surprised.

"Raganom seeks revenge...against me. That's the whole reason he's done all this. He knew all along that I would come, that I would be there at the Seabed. He wanted me to come, because he cannot face the fact that I am a better Hunter than him. He has done everything in order to grow stronger to defeat me."

"Wow...Talk about holding a grudge." Manny muttered. Clank punched him in the gut to silence him.

"I must end this...I must end it now. The rest of you stay here. I will go on alone." Vanderbilt turned to continue forth.

"No way! We're your friends, Vanderbilt! We're not going to stand idly by while you go off and fight for your life! We're coming, and that's final!" Spyunter yelled out.

"Heh...That's what I thought. Come on, let's go." And with that, they moved forward to the center of the HQ, where they were sure Raganom awaited...

In the center chamber, they found Raganom, staring at viewscreens. Splashed across them were pictures of the military attacking helpless innocents and inexperienced hunters, slaughtering them without mercy.

"My god...It's horrible..." Leona gasped.

"So this is what he meant when he told me he'd purge everything..." Vanderbilt muttered.

Raganom slowly turned around to face them. "Hehehehe...You see? They are all weak! I have possessed the military, and they follow me without question, doing as I say with no regrets! My glorious day as ruler of this pathetic planet is at hand! And none of you fools can stop me, especially since that foolish Vanderbilt killed himself back in the Seabed!" He threw back his head and laughed evilly.

"Think so, 'old friend'?" Vanderbilt spat as he stepped forward.

"ErrrrrAAAAAAAA!!!!!" The cry of intense rage shook the room. "How can you still be alive???? You should be DEAD!"

"So should you. But no, you refuse to let go of your evil desires. Give it up, Raganom. I will always be better than you, and I will always stop you."

"Why can't you just die!!!!" The General screamed, and black tendrils of energy shot forward from his palm aiming at Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt, totally surprised at this new power, held up his own hand, in a vain effort to ward off the speedy tendrils-and found white tendrils bursting forth from his own hand, batting away the evil energies.

"Heh...It figures...Light and darkness always cancel out." Vanderbilt smiled.

"AHHHH! I'll destroy you with my own hands! This time, you WILL die!!!" Raganom screamned, his Dark Flow appearing from the blackness.

"This ends NOW!!!" Vanderbilt retorted, as he drew the J Sword and met Raganom head on.

The ancient battle of good and evil was about to play out, and only one side would succeed...

"This is intense...Even more so than the Seabed battle..." Clank muttered.

"They are both equal. The winner will be determined by sheer willpower." Emy stated flatly.

Vanderbilt and Raganom danced around each other, blades twirling in the air, flashing in the artificial light. The ringing of metal against metal shook the room as their swords clashed again and again.

Vanderbilt ducked a swing, and lunged in, scoring a slash across Raganom's chest. But the black tendrils sealed up the wound, and he smiled.

"You see? I am invincible!" and he stabbed his sword into Vanderbilt's leg.

White tendrils drifted from the wound, and sealed up his own wound. "Look, Raganom! I got the same trick!"

"Always with your ceaseless pestering of me! Why can't I shut you up!!!" Raganom screamed, unleashing the Dark Flow's wave of energy, accompanied by a rolling black wave behind it.

Vanderbilt countered with the J Sword's dome attack, and a wave of white following it.

The two attacks hammered together, and for what seemed like hours, but was only mere minutes, the entire area was bathed in a blinding glow.

When the glow faded, Raganom and Vanderbilt stood, panting heavily, wounds and scrapes across their bodies. The room's walls and ceiling had been torn apart, and the cold night rain poured into the room.

"I didn't know it was night..." Spyhunter muttered.

"We must have been in there longer than we thought..." mused Stormhawk.

Vanderbilt sighed, and said flatly, "It looks like we truly are even, Raganom."

"Yes, that is what it appears to be, Vanderbilt." was the reply.

The two stood, staring at each other, as the rain poured down around them, thunder rolling across the room, and lightning illuminating their hardened expressions.

As if they were one, both screamed out, and their swords gave off intense glows.

"It's an all or nothing attack!" Manny cried.

"They're giving everything they have in this last blow..." Leona said in awe.

As one, the two Hunters charged each other, screams erupting from their throat.

Hatred, revenge, desire...All could be seen in their eyes as they charged one another.

The time had come for their long feud to end...As well as their friendship.

The two swords stabbed forward, and once again, the area was bathed in glowing light.

Amidst the light, the shattering of a sword was heard, and the scream of a man. The thump of a body crashing to the floor and the clattering of a sword hitting the ground was heard.

Finally, the glow faded...

There stood Vanderbilt, lookiong down at Raganom's body. Raganom lifted his head, and looked at his long lost friend.

There, in the dead of night, the evil died within him, and his true self appeared in his eyes.

He mouthed, "Thank you..." and slumped to the floor, dead.

Vanderbilt knelt down, and said softly, "You're welcome...Buddy."

[whizkid7]

Epilouge

With Raganom dead, the military regained their senses, and stopped the senseless slaughter. Vanderbilt and his friends were once again praised as heroes, and Stormhawk and the others were treated to great adulation. A huge festival was made in their honor, and it was a joyous night indeed.

The next day...

"So you're really leaving?" Vanderbilt said.

"Yeah...It's nice and all here, but I just have to keep exploring, you know?" Stormhawk answered back.

"Well then..." Vanderbilt shook Stormhawk's hand. "The best of luck to you, my friend."

"And to you...Master Hunter."

"Come back and visit sometime, okay?" Leona said to Manny.

"You bet we will!" Manny grinned.

"Clank, I wish you luck." Spyhunter shook hands with the large RAcast.

"As do I, Spyhunter." Clank answered.

"Goodbye to all of you. I will not forget you." Emy said to them.

"All right guys, let's go." Stormhawk and the others turned to climb into the Crusader.

Stormhawk turned, and looked back at his new friends. "Hey, Vanderbilt. If you ever need help, give us a ring, okay? It might be fun to go on another adventure together."

"Yes, it probably will be." Vanderbilt smiled. "So long, Stormhawk."

The RAmar smiled, and walked up into the ship.

Vanderbilt, Leona, Spyhunter, and Emy stood on the launch pad, watching the Crusader lift off, and fly away to destination unknown...

THE END

[whizkid7]

*Phew!* Well, that took a long time, but it was well worth it. So, what do you people think of our work? Come on...You know you wanna tell us!

[Caecilius]

Yeah people, this was basically my first fanfic at all (let alone joint fanfic), come on and congratulate us!

[whizkid7]

It's been over a day and not a SINGLE person has said anything??? What happened to all you guys who were complimenting us earlier???