FanFic: A Change In Perspective (Chapter 10: Project Entra)

[Sunblast]

Hey guys! I've started another fanfic, and hopefully this one's a lot better tha my first one. One of my main goals with this one is to make it so people who haven't played PSO can still understand it. That's why there will be a lot of explanations along the way.
Also, I'm going to be trying one or two types of writing that I'm not skilled with, so make sure to give me lots of constructive criticism so I can improve. If things don't flow well, or it gets repetitive and boring, make sure to tell me!
Unfortunately, since I've been working so slowly on this, it might take a while to get the new chapters done, so please be patient! Also, if anyone knows how to get indentations to work here, I could really use those.
Anyway, without more of my ranting, here's chapter 1!

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A Change in Perspective

Chapter 1: Saved for a Rainy Day

The year is AUW 3085. The commotion caused by Dark Falz and Olga Flow has now passed, and the star-faring vessel known as Pioneer 2 has not yet landed. However, the planet Ragol is still filled with dangers as well as the prospect of treasure. It is both of these things that lure the hunters of Pioneer 2 to its surface. Many meet their ends at the hands of the native creatures there, but those that survive become stronger, wealthier, and more infamous. This is a story of one such hunter.
It was the middle of the afternoon when he came down to the planet, searching for foes. Now it was just starting to get dark. The rain fell relentlessly, creating a soothing pitter-patter sound. He was sitting on a box, catching his breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was in the area of Ragol commonly called "The Forest." However, he was in the area that was normally restricted from hunters.
In this area, the animals have evolved far past their brethren. They were bigger, stronger, and smarter. The area itself looked different, as well. Instead of looking like a forest, it looked more like a tropical jungle. Still, the name "Forest" seemed to stick.
He was in this area because he had received permission by the Principal Government. Only the strongest hunters were allowed there. Otherwise, every newly registered HUmar would come to this are and get torn to ribbons. But this hunter had worked to get here, and the fact is, he was almost too strong to be here, now.
But that's an almost.
He is known as a RAmar, which is the name given to male human rangers. Those of his class are known for their expert marksmanship with every type of fire arm. Their accuracy also carries over to melee weapons, such as sabers, but RAmars are too physically weak to cause any real damage with those kinds of weapons. So he sticks to guns.
He was wearing his RAmar armor. It was pretty mix-matched, but it still gave him protection from his enemies' attacks. It was colored mostly dark-purple, but it also had some black parts on it. It consisted of normal pants and a shirt, but the part that catches the eyes of observers is the chest armor. It sticks out quite a bit, making him look buffed-up. Over his heart is a glowing purple symbol, called a Section ID. There are ten different symbols, and all hunters are assigned one when they register. He has the purple one, known as PURPLENUM. The reason for these symbols isn't very clear, but he believes it's just another way for the government to put people into neat little groups. If the army ever had to hold a draft, they'd probably pick people by their Section IDs, like some sort of lottery, deciding your fate.
He had always been proud of his outfit, as purple is his favorite color. It was by pure luck that he received the PURPLENUM Section ID, and he felt it suited him well. His hair was purple as well. He dyed it every day to make sure he kept his appearance of pure purple. He kept his hair in spikes, pointing out in whichever way they felt like. Some of those spikes were falling apart, now, as the rain dissolved the gel holding them together, but he didn't mind. After all, he loved the rain.
Over his face, he wore a mask. It was a simple, black ski mask. It goes from his neck all the way up to a headband, which was part of his armor. The mask covered his entire face, excluding two holes for his eyes. His eyes were still covered, however, by one-way transparent goggles. They were yellow in color, and they were shaped like large eyes. It gave him an evil and inhuman look, but that's exactly what he was going for.
But countering that evil look was his adorable mag. Mags are floating creatures that seem to be both organic and artificial at the same time. They assist their owners in anyway they can, such as making them stronger, protecting them from harm, or even summoning forth great beings of pure photon to smite the hunter's enemies. This particular mag was a Sato-type named Tails. His metal body, which resembled a deformed cat, was dark yellow, and his eyes were lime green. Currently, he was floating over the RAmar's right shoulder while upside-down, and he was waiting for his master to catch his breath.
The RAmar was sitting on a box, resting his arms on his knees. In his right, gloved hand, he gripped his favorite weapon. It's a pistol called a Varista. It's a bit bigger than the normal handgun, and it's much stronger. It is powered by photon, the universal power source. Photon is used in everything from vehicles to clocks, lights to weapons. Even some of the creatures on Ragol use photon to make their attacks hurt considerably more. Now, handguns usually have the "clip," or the photon ammunition, on the top of the gun, but the Varista actually has it on the bottom. It doesn't really make a difference, but it's worth noting.
He had had this weapon for what seems like forever. He had found it in one of the caves under the surface of Ragol. A monster had "dropped" it, a slang term used by hunters to describe weapons, armor, or other items that appear when a monster is slain. He didn't know why he liked it. He probably just felt nostalgic. Luckily, it still did have its uses.
The RAmar shook his head, trying to wake back up. He looked around at his surroundings. He was still in the forest, specifically the area around the Central Dome.
The Central Dome was the main complex of the city that used to be here. It was built by the people of Pioneer 1. While all the other buildings disappeared in a mysterious explosion, this one remained. He was so close to it now that if he leaned back on his box, he could touch the wall of the dome itself. All the doors into the building were disabled, and have been for some time. The only way into the dome is a teleportation device on the opposite side of the Central Dome. The RAmar had discovered long ago that the dome is no longer a place for people. The entire inside of it resembled a large cave. There resides a large dragon, like the kind from fairy tales.
Except this one hurts.
However, he had no intention of going into the dome. He was on the opposite side, after all. He was planning on using the teleporter on his side. Looking to his right, he could see it. It had a square-shaped base, and from that base, it emitted red, square-shaped beams, leading up to the "ceiling" of the teleporter. It didn't lead to the inside of the Central Dome. The RAmar knew this from experience. It leads to a place far up north, in the polar icecap. There resides another dragon.
Two dragons, the RAmar thought, on the same planet? What were the odds?
However, this dragon is different from the other one. While the first is the stereotypical fire-breathing dragon that all the children feared, this one was known as a Silver Dragon, or Sil Dragon as hunters called it. He jokingly called it the Silly Dragon. It gets its name from its shiny white and light-blue scales. Instead of exhaling flames, it breathed out icy winds. The creature probably stored liquid Freon in a sac or gland in its mouth. He had fought the dragon many times before, but it always retreated before he could finish it off. He didn't really know why he still fought it. Probably for the thrill, as well as the treasure the dragon always had hidden around the place.
Still, here he was again, about to enter the dragon's icy den.
Maybe I'll find some new weapons, he thought, hopefully. And if I find stuff I already have, I could always sell it.
He pushed himself up from the box. He walked a few feet away from it, then turned back towards it and quickly shot it with his Varista. The box collapsed, revealing a little, yellow, diamond shaped box. It contained meseta, which was the currency on Pioneer 2. He picked it up, and pressed it against the armband on his left wrist. The box dissolved on contact, and the money was transferred to his account.
"Cha-ching," he said to himself in his loud voice.
He turned from the shattered remains of the box and approached the large teleporter, sidestepping the blood on the ground from earlier battles. When he got close to the field of red beams, he ran his hand through them. He couldn't feel them, but it was still quite a sight to behold. He wondered if the beams go around his hand or through it. He chuckled to himself, then he stepped into the field marked by the beams. He touched his wristband, giving the teleporter the command to send him to his destination, which was the icy arena of the Sil Dragon. In a flash of light, he disappeared from the forest.
Ready or not, he thought to himself, here I come.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2005-02-04 15:38 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2005-03-19 13:22 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2005-05-24 09:46 ]</font>

[Sagasu]

Hmm..

One of the few that explain Ult. mode http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Something that kinds bugs me though. Photons are light particles correct? In weapons I could see it as feasable, but for some everyday appliances it just doesn't make sense. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_nono.gif

Great start, can't wait for more http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[Sunblast]

On 2004-05-23 09:40, Sarunakai wrote:
Something that kinds bugs me though. Photons are light particles correct? In weapons I could see it as feasable, but for some everyday appliances it just doesn't make sense. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_nono.gif

LOL, I guess you got me there. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_lol.gif I'm glad you like it so far, though. I certainly enjoyed writing it. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Sagasu]

So when can we expect another chapter? http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Sunblast]

Well, I already have it done, but I really should wait a little while, you know? If I get really impatient, I'll probably post it tomorrow at 6:00 AM EST (@500 Beats). Does that sound OK? I mean, I really wanna post all that I have right now, but I'm supposed to be patient. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_mad.gif

[Sagasu]

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_yes.gif

Yeah, wait for some more people to gather. Tommorow at 6 pm sounds good, I actually should be active around that time. We shall see.

[MQuantum]

I thought you said you couldn't write? http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

You sure seem to be doing a quite excelent job now. I look forward to the next you have to offer us, whenever you decide to post it. Work on your own schedule, and don't worry too much about time.

[Sunblast]

Well, I just really hope I don't slow down too badly. I've gotta keep working on this. Anyway, here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2: A Cold Reception

Far north of the Central Dome there is a number of great glaciers. Upon one rests a stadium of ice. It is here that the RAmar appeared in a pillar of bright white light. Upon his appearance, he drew his favorite melee weapon, as guns rarely pierce the thick scales of his foe. He drew his Stag Cutlery, which is known as a double saber. This type of weapon appears to be two sabers attached at the handle. He held it in front of him with a steady hand and ignited it, one read beam pointing to his right, the other to his left.
Tails began to spin around and around, making speedy barrel rolls. As he did, he released photon around his master. Yellow rings of energy rose from his feet and went up and around his body. These rings could protect him from any and all harm, but they're temporary.
He surveyed the surroundings. The area was very wide and open. The ground was pure ice, possibly to an endless depth. Around the big circle of ice was a wall at least twice his height, also made of ice. Above him, the stars were truly beautiful. He could see a spiral galaxy and an aurora, among other things. However, he saw no trace of the Silver Dragon. He lowered his weapon and walked forward a few steps.
"Where is he?" he wondered aloud.
He looked forward and saw a box. He started towards it, but stopped for a moment to think.
Wait a minute, he pondered. He would never leave treasure in plain sight like that. He treasures his wealth like… treasure.
He drew from his inventory a small handgun. He flung it at the box, causing only a small dent. Disappointed, he started towards it, but he stopped when the ground began to shake. He looked at his feet, trying to stay standing. That's when he saw it.
Deep below the surface, a large dark spot began to rise, fast. It reached the surface, revealing the beast he was after all along. The dragon's head burst through the ice from directly below the box, catching both it and the handgun in its maw. The rest of its body followed, and it quickly chewed up and swallowed the box and gun. Realizing that it had a metallic taste different from that of blood, it quickly turned to find the intruder.
"Ha!" he exclaimed. "Did you really think you could get me that easily? Pathetic!"
The dragon let loose a piercing roar, making the ice below the RAmar shake and crack. Behind the protective yellow goggles, his eyes went wide.
"Note to self," he muttered. "Don't taunt anything ten times bigger than you."
Tails voiced his agreement with beeps sounding like, "Mmmhmm!"
The dragon started towards him, and he matched its actions. While he was still running towards it, it stopped and opened its mouth to breathe freezing death at him. The freezing wind parted around his yellow shield of photon, never touching him. He laughed at the dragon's attempt to beat his mag's defensive barrier. Once he got close to the dragon, he rushed for its front-right leg. He swung his Stag Cutlery, hacking at its ankle. It roared in pain and jumped into the air, gliding through the wintry air on its wings. It circled around him, glaring at him as he glared back. It slowed to a stop, but it continued flapping to stay in the air.
It reared back its head, taking in a deep breath. As it did this, the RAmar's yellow barrier dissipated. The dragon fired a ball of ice at him with deadly accuracy. Shocked by the loss of his greatest defense, he raised his arms to try to protect himself. His left arm blocked most of the ice, but not without consequence. From his wrist to his elbow, his left arm was surrounded in a layer of ice.
He brought his double saber up to the ice to try to melt it off, just as the dragon flew in and landed. Only half of his arm was defrosted by the time the dragon had reached him. It took in another deep breath and let it loose on him. He tried to call out, but his voice was squelched by the loud hiss of the wind.
He could feel the cold enveloping him. It started on his chest, almost directly on his Section ID. It crept down to cover his legs, and at the same time, the ice was joining the ice left on his left arm from the previous attack. He tried to swing around his Stag Cutlery, not sure what to do. Then his right arm, along with his weapon, froze over. He couldn't feel his limbs anymore, and he could only look at his foe. Time seemed to slow down around him. The dragon was still breathing on him, but the flakes of snow it expelled were moving slowly enough for him to look at each one, and to look at their intricate designs.
Then his left eye closed, all on its own accord. He tried to open it, but he couldn't open it, or even feel it for that matter. The dragon was still moving in slow motion when his right eye followed suit. He couldn't see what was going on. All he could see was darkness, and all he could feel was cold. He was stuck like that for what felt like a hundred beats. Then he saw light. Pure, clean, white light. His vision returned, revealing the dragon standing over him. He looked over his body to find there was no longer any ice. He moved his arm, free of restrictions, and hit the dragon's ankle with his double saber. It roared at him, then its ankle faltered, causing it to fall down, directly on top of the RAmar.
Before it landed on him, he raised one end of his Stag Cutlery and aimed it up at the dragon's head. The weight of its head caused the photon blade to pierce right through its chin and into his brain. It let out a gurgling sound, and it thrashed for a bit before succumbing to his deadly strike. He slowly backed out from under the head, pulling out his weapon with him. He stood upright, looking at his kill. To his right, he could see Tails floating upside down and staring at him.
He tried to wave at Tails, but his hand wouldn't stop moving. He was shaking violently. He tried to hold it still, but he couldn't stop the shivering.
"What's going on?" he said, his voice stricken with fear. He looked back at his mag, which was right in front of his face. "Tails," he cried. "I don't know what's wrong with me. What do I do?!"
The mag looked directly into his eyes. As he looked at Tails, he saw that its beady little eyes were now pulsing red.
"Tails?" he asked. It replied with a laugh. A laugh so evil it caused him to shudder even more. The mag floated towards his face, opening its normally welded-shut mouth to reveal a full row of teeth with his name on them. Literally.
He tried to cry out, but he could not make any sound. He backed away from Tails, and he noticed his reflection in the ice beneath his feet. His face mask had changed. It didn't look like fabric anymore, nor did his yellow eyes look like goggles. His mask looked like black scales. He reached up to pull off his mask, but he felt pain as he tugged at it. It was then that he realized the frightening truth.
His mask, the thing that kept him at a distance from all the other people in his life, had become his face. He kept trying to pull off his face, hoping that it would go back to being a mask. Then he felt his whole body rising in temperature.
As the heat increased, the world around him darkened, and he could hear muffled voices. He could feel himself getting warmer and warmer. Then he felt a hand touching his right arm. He felt it pulling him somewhere.
His vision returned, revealing his view of the icy arena. But things had changed. The dragon was in the air circling around him. Occasionally, a bolt of photon flew up, but each one missed.
Oh, he realized. It was just a dream. But what's really going on, then? He looked at the person grasping his arm.
It was another RAmar. He had dusty blonde hair, and he wore a blue and white suit. In his other hand he had a large gun, which he recognized as the Burning Visit, a very powerful flamethrower. He could also see a RAmarl, which is a female human ranger, and a HUcast, which is a male android hunter. The RAmarl was the source of the photon bolts he saw earlier, firing scorching beams towards the flying dragon with a generic looking rifle. The HUcast wasn't doing anything at the moment. He just watched the dragon, tracking its path through the darkened sky. In his hands, the HUcast held some kind of dagger weapons. They looked almost like spiked knuckles, made completely out of yellow photon. The HUcast continued to watch the skies with total alertness.
"Are you alright?" the blonde RAmar asked him.
He could only nod his answer as he tried to figure out who was asking him. His thoughts slowly returned to him, along with names.
"Bernie?" he said to the blonde RAmar. "Wha… what are you doing here?"
"Saving your hide," he said with a grin. "Now, get up. I can't carry you back to Pioneer 2."
Obeying Bernie, he got his feet under him and stood back up. He looked at the other two hunters, and he recognized the RAmarl as his cousin, Zero, but he couldn't tell who the HUcast was. He had a cyan paint job, and he had a single, large horn on top of his head. His Section ID was SKYLY, which is a bright, light blue. It matched his armor nicely.
Zero, the RAmarl, called out to him, "Hey, Sunblast! Nice to have you back with us! Looks like you were frozen for a wee bit too long."
Sunblast, the purple RAmar, looked over to her. "Uhh, thanks guys. I mean, I'm sure I could have handled it, but…"
"Yeah, yeah," she retorted. "Just don't forget about this. You owe us big!"
"Excuse me," the large, blue android said. "I believe you may want to advert your attention from each other for a moment."
"What is it, Yavangel?" asked Bernie.
Yavangel, thought Sunblast. Ah, the android. I'll have to remember that.
"Well," said Yavangel in his artificial voice. "It appears the Sil Dragon may be returning."
All three of the humans looked up at the sky simultaneously to see the dragon diving towards them. Each one readied their weapons; Bernie with his Burning Visit, Sunblast with his Stag Cutlery, Yavangel with his spiky daggers, and Zero with a rifle.
"Heh, well look at that, guys," said Sunblast. "He wants some more."

[Sunblast]

OK, this one's kinda short, but here it is anyway!

Chapter 3: Round Two

The dragon let out a fierce roar as it flew towards the group of hunters. It didn't bother to move evasively anymore, as Zero's shots practically reflected off of him. Still, he was aimed specifically at her. It then stopped flapping its wings and went straight into a dive, with his gaze set on the young RAmarl.
"Uh, guys," she stuttered. "A little help?!"
Bernie ran over to Zero and brought his Burning Visit to bear, taking aim at the rapidly falling dragon. He pulled the trigger, letting loose a ball of flames at the beast. It collided with the dragon's maw, causing it to screech in pain. It opened wide its wings and flapped with sufficient force to stop its decent just above the ground. The forceful wind from the icy fiend knocked down Zero and Bernie. It landed its talons on the icy surface in front of the two, then looked down at them with contempt.
Zero tried to back away while still on the ground, but the slippery ground prevented her from escaping the gargantuan reptile. She grabbed onto Bernie's blue armor and tried to hide her face from the monster. Bernie's jaw went slack, but he jumped when he saw the form of Yavangel running at the dragon from behind.
The android, wielding his twin yellow daggers, dodged the dragon's swinging tail and ran underneath it. Running at full speed, he hacked at each of the dragon's ankles, causing it to collapse. Yavangel, just barely escaping the weight of the beast, started swinging his photon blades at its head. It growled as each hit dug deeper into its head. Bernie pulled Zero back to her feet, and they both opened fire on the dragon's skull. Sunblast, Stag Cutlery in hand, dashed towards the other hunters and the fallen monster. Before he could assist them, the silver dragon began to lift itself back up.
"Oh, no you don't!" yelled Sunblast as he spun his double saber, swinging the blades through the giant's front-right claw. It roared before falling back down, and the hunters did not delay in assaulting the dragon's head, slashing it with blades and blasting it with large firearms. With each passing hit, it's growling got fainter, its cries more muffled. Its tail stopped moving, and its chest ceased to rise. The group of hunters lowered their weapons and breathed a sigh of relief.
Bernie turned towards Zero and asked, "Are you okay?"
She grinned and threw back a few of her dark, almost-black green braids.
"I think I'll live," she replied with a big smile on her pale face.
They stood there, looking at each other until Sunblast touched Bernie's shoulder, breaking his stare.
"Nice work, guys!" Sunblast yelled. "I've been trying to beat that fool for months. And look! Presents!"
Sunblast pointed to all the crates appearing around them. They each split up and began breaking open the boxes, taking anything they might need. Sunblast was happy to find large amounts of meseta as well as some expensive armor he could sell.
"Check it out, Tails," he said to the mag floating over his shoulder. "We're eatin' fancy tonight." The mag beeped inquiringly, and Sunblast nodded. "That's right! Hot Pockets!"
Bernie raised an eyebrow at the purple RAmar, then turned back to his findings. He kneeled down next to the assortment of items. As he sorted through the boxes, Zero snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder, causing him to jump.
"Find anything?" she asked.
He smiled when he saw her and said, "Naw, just junk."
Zero still smiled a little. "Well, it looks like Sunny B got what he wanted," she said, jerking her thumb at Sunblast, who was now dancing around with his mag.
"Yeah, but it doesn't take much to make him happy."
"Yeah," she said with a sigh.
Bernie stood up and looked down at her, since he was a bit taller than she was.
"Hey, I've got some meseta poking a hole through my pocket," he said to her. "Would you like to, oh, I don't know, go out to a nice Gaulian restaurant with me? I'll buy, of course," he finished with a nervous smile.
Zero's eyes lit up. "Oh, of course I would! Thank you, Ber-"
Sunblast ran up and said, 'Gaulian? Alright! That'd be awesome!"
Bernie looked down at his feet, and Zero turned towards Sunblast with a scowl, and she put her hands on her hips. .
"I thought you said you were eating Hot Pockets tonight?" she demanded.
"Well, yeah, but those can wait! Besides, Bernie's buying! And I-" He noticed the look on Zero's normally pale face, which was now flush with anger and embarrassment. "Oh, on second thought, Hot Pockets would be good…" He slowly backed away from the two other hunters and ran into Yavangel. He turned and looked up to the big android.
"Hey, man! Thanks for the help!" He extended his hand, and Yavangel took it with an iron grip.
"It was my pleasure," he said in his cold, synthetic voice. "The reward for such a quest is quite high."
"Oh," Sunblast said, disappointed. "You did it for the money, eh?"
"That, and an ally of mine suggested I take it."
Sunblast blinked behind his yellow goggles, then asked, "Someone told you to take it? Who?"
Yavangel shook his head. "I cannot tell you. I was told to keep it confidential."
"Argh, fine. That's cool." He turned back to the other two, who seemed to be in the middle of a staring contest. "C'mon, guys! We're heading out!"
They both looked up, then back at each other, and then they walked towards the exit teleporter, which had appeared with the boxes. All four entered the beams of light, one at a time, and returned to Pioneer 2.

[Shake]

I'm impressed. Things are going smoothly and your interpretation of Yavangel was top-notch.

[Sunblast]

*Sunblast bows to Shake.

I aim to please, man. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Sunblast]

I haven't posted in a while, but that's because I've been REALLY stuck on chapter 5. Anyway, here's chapter 4.

Chapter 4: Heart Trouble

High above the atmosphere of the planet of Ragol, the star-faring vessel known as Pioneer 2 floats, still awaiting the day when it can safely land on the surface. Onboard this ship is the area commonly called the Hunter District. It's called this because it has everything a hunter could need in convenient proximity. These things include the Hunter's Guild, a hospital, a bank and storage center, weapons, tools, armor, and a tekker, which is a person skilled in appraising some of the mysterious weapons found on Ragol. Also in the hunter's district is a teleporter that hunters use to reach the surface. This is where the group of four hunters appeared.
After they materialized, they all put away their various weapons before walking out into the streets. Bernie and Zero said their farewells before departing together, then Yavangel announced that he, too, would be going his separate way.
"Hey, where ya going?" inquired Sunblast. "I mean, if you're not busy, we could always hang out for a while."
The big android simply shook his horned head and said, "No thank you. I have no need of your assistance," he said with a dismissive gesture. "I must go to the Hunter's Guild. I'm sure there are plenty of other helpless people that need rescued." He turned his back to Sunblast and began walking towards the automated door to the Hunter's Guild. "Good day," he called back over his shoulder.
Sunblast stood there for a moment with his arms crossed, thinking to himself, Wow, there's something weird about that one, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Sunblast has known his fair share of blunt androids, but this one seemed different to him.
His train of thought was interrupted by Tails pulling on his hair.
"Oww!" he yelled, jumping back from the cat-like mag. "Jeez, man! Alright, we're going home. You must be really hungry."
The little mag nodded, then took his place over Sunblast's shoulder. Sunblast started down the street in the direction of his apartment, looking up at all the skyscrapers and aircraft above him. The city onboard Pioneer 2 had grown immensely since they reached Ragol. Buildings constantly gain new stories as the need for more living space increases. But the situation wasn't as bad as it was back on their home planet, Coral.
There, overcrowding was rampant, as well as pollution. That's why the Pioneer project was started. They knew it wasn't much longer before their home world would be destroyed, so they sent out probes to find a suitable planet to live on. Once they found it, Pioneer 1 was sent to colonize the planet. It took seven years for Pioneer 2 to arrive at Ragol with the main wave of refugees. When Central Dome was in sight, the people of Pioneer 2 celebrated, knowing they'd finally have their new home. Central Dome then emitted a bright beam to contact Pioneer 2, which quickly followed suit. But as the beams crossed paths, and the communication lines opened something went horribly wrong. A large explosion erupted and shook the entire planet, destroying nearly everything man-made. The Central Dome, however, is still completely intact. Strangely enough, all the vegetation and landscape was untouched, too. The wildlife seemed fine, but all the animals had become crazed, and when Pioneer 2 sent people to investigate, the creatures attacked them. Still, despite all the problems with Ragol, most people, including Sunblast, have made themselves at home on Pioneer 2. It matters not where one lives, as long as one lives happily.
As Sunblast continued to walk, he started to feel sharp pains in his chest. He stopped to hold himself, and his mag chirped his concern.
"No, don't worry," he reassured the little robot. "I'll be just fine." He straightened up and started to walk again, but was brought to his knees by another spasm of pain. "Argh! Crap! I guess I got hit harder than I thought..."
He grabbed onto a hand rail and slowly rose to his feet with Tails beeping incoherently. He turned around and started heading to the hospital next to the teleporter through which he came. As he stumbled through the automatic dual sliding doors of the infirmary, one of the many perky, pink-wearing Newman nurses greeted him.
He stopped to look at her for a moment. It seemed like practically every nurse there was a Newman. He didn't know very much about their race. They have long, pointed ears which usually stick out to the sides. They're often physically weak, but they're quite capable, mentally. They commonly dress quite eccentrically, with bright colored clothes, platform shoes, and often bizarre hairstyles. Still, with all their differences from Humans, they're still quite pleasant to be around. Sunblast approached the Newman girl at the front desk.
"Hello, sir. How may I help?" she asked in her enthusiastic and friendly, but still uncaring voice.
"I... I need to see a doctor," he coughed.
"Alright, I'll call him," she said indifferently as she started typing on the keyboard on her desk. "May I ask what the problem is?"
He shook a little before replying. "I don't really know. My chest just really hurts. I think I may have some broken ribs or something."
She nodded, then motioned for one of the other nurses. "Sheila?" said the one at the desk. "Could you take this man to see Dr. Lindquist?"
The other nurse nodded, then motioned for Sunblast to follow her down a sterile white corridor. As he left the waiting room, Tails chirped at him once more before going to look at magazines in the empty waiting room.
After passing by many doors, most closed but some open and with moaning patients inside, they reached a door. The nurse opened it and gestured for Sunblast to go in, then she went back towards the front of the hospital. He staggered through the door and into a standard room. There was a single white bed with a few stools next to it, a door which undoubtedly led to a small bathroom, some cabinets and shelves, and a few odd machines that he knew nothing about. He slowly made his way to the bed and sat down on the end of it. It wasn't long before the doctor entered the room, along with another nurse.
Sunblast acknowledged him with a weak nod, but then he noticed the nurse, as she looked very different from the others. Her hair wasn't pink or red like the other nurses. Instead, she had cyan blue colored hair, twisted into two braids that reached down the length of her neck. She had big, brown eyes, which were always darting about. She was talking a lot, which is different from the other nurses, as they seem friendly, but somewhat indifferent. The doctor had a rather annoyed look as he listened to her chatter on about different things, none of which had to do with medical work.
Sunblast continued to watch her until his gaze was interrupted by the doctor approaching him.
"Well, welcome back, Sunblast," said Dr. Lindquist. "I haven't seen you in a while. Have you been staying out of trouble?"
Sunblast snorted and replied sarcastically "Who, me? Heh, yeah right."
The doctor chuckled, the he looked over some papers he had on a clipboard. "I see you're experiencing some chest pains, then? Well do you know how that happened?"
The ranger shook his head and replied, "No, not really. I got smacked by pretty much every species on Ragol today."
"Heh, so I can see," he said, inspecting the different cuts in Sunblast's outfit. However, beneath each tear or scrape, his flesh is unharmed. "At least you've been keeping yourself intact with Resta."
Sunblast smirked at the comment. Resta is a "technique." Techniques are skills that people can master with the proper training. They can then use their mental energy to cause these techniques. Resta is a healing technique, which seals up wounds and recovers strength with a glowing, warm light from the hand of the one casting it. It is the only technique that Sunblast really makes use of, though he does have many others. In fact, there is an entire class of hunters who use techniques instead of traditional weapons, many of which are Newmans, due to their increased mental strength. They're powerful, but often weaken quickly as their mental energies run out. For Sunblast, however, Resta is his favorite technique, and it keeps him fit for combat.
The doctor jumped a little as a pager on his belt started beeping. He checked it, then gave out an exasperated sigh.
"Ugh, some poor guy just got impaled by a monster. I have to help him right away," he said, already halfway out the door. "Nara," he said to the blue-haired Newman nurse, "Could you please tend to him for me?"
The nurse's already large eyes went wide. "But, I don't know what to do!" she said.
The doctor sighed and hurriedly replied, "You'll be fine, so don't worry. Just help him feel better. Now, I've really got to go, so you're in charge, okay?" he said, already leaving.
"Umm okay," said the nurse, Nara. She turned to Sunblast, noticing his mask and yellow eyes. "Umm, okay, I guess the first thing to do is take off that mask of yours," she said, already reaching for it. Sunblast quickly pushed her hand aside and scooted further back on the bed.
"I don't think you need to do that," he said in a threatening tone.
"Well, no, I don't have to, but it helps to see the face of the person I'm working with. How am I supposed to know that you're not an android under there?"
"How about I just tell you that I'm not, and leave it at that?"
She crossed her arms, pursed her lips, and said, "Oh come on! The doctor said I'm in charge, and you'd listen to him, right? So take it off!"
Sunblast mumbled for a second, then he reached up and removed his metal headgear first. After that, he pulled off his mask, leaving his yellow goggles on. Nara gave him a look, then motioned at his goggles. He grumbled some more, then he took them off as well, looking up at her with his more natural blue eyes.
Nara's expression changed when she saw his eyes. "Wow," she said. "Yours eyes are really pretty."
Sunblast blushed and turned away. It's for just that reason that he had started wearing those goggles. People used to always tell him how lucky he was to have eyes like those, but he would always just get embarrassed and deny it. Of course, once he started wearing goggles, those comments stopped. At first he was happy, but then he started to miss the compliments. By then, he had become a Ranger, and the goggles and mask were part of his "look," so he didn't want to take them off. However, now the mask was off, and he felt naked without it.
The nurse moved closer to him and said, "I mean it. They really are nice." She smiled at him, then reached over to touch his shoulder. "Lets take care of that wound now, shall we?"
He nodded, then pulled off his chest armor. Then he pulled his purple shirt just far enough to reveal discolored skin on his stomach.
"Oh, my!" she said, reaching out to touch the injury. He grunted in pain, and she quickly retracted her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She fidgeted for a moment. "I promise I'll be more careful," she said. She slowly reached out and just barely touched his skin. She closed her eyes and focused, as light started to glow in her fingers. She carefully caressed the wound with her glowing hand, but there was no effect. "Oh, shoot. I thought that'd work."
Sunblast shook his head and said, "Nah, I've been using Resta a lot today. I don't think it can heal this."
She sat there and looked at him for a moment before saying, "Well, it looks like you have a couple of broken ribs, but don't worry. I can fix that." She stood up and went to a cabinet and removed some bandages. "So, you're a hunter, then?" she asked him. She walked back over to him and kneeled down to start wrapping the bandages tightly around his chest.
"Yes," he answered. "I'm a ranger, to be more specific." He occasionally flinched as she passed the roll of bandages around him, making sure to keep it tight.
"Oh? What's the difference?"
"Well, hunters are skilled with sabers, daggers, and swords while rangers are better with handguns, rifles, and machine guns. It's really just a matter of preference, I guess." When she had completely covered his stomach, she cut the bandage and tied the ends together. Sunblast pulled down his shirt and donned his armor as she rose to her feet and started to store the equipment back in the cabinet.
"Well, I've always wanted to become a hunter," she said, smiling. "And I'm going to be one real soon. Dr. Lindquist doesn't believe me, but I finally almost have my Hunter's License. Oooh, I can't wait. It'll be so exciting!"
Sunblast stood up from the bed and looked down at Nara, who was just a bit shorter than he was. "It's not all fun and games. It's very dangerous, very expensive, and very lonely."
She tilted her head up to look into his eyes. "I know, I know, but I really want to be a hunter. And I'll be really careful. I'll make some friends, and we'll go on quests together."
Sunblast's gaze turned hard as he said, "Nothing lasts forever. I've lost some of my friends on that damn planet. Good friends, too. And I miss them."
Nara's eyes went wide once more, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know..."
Sunblast slowly shook his head. "No, it's alright." He closed his eyes. "They gave their lives for causes they believed in. I... I just wish they were still here, you know?"
"I know," she said. "I know." She reached her arms around him and pressed her head against his chest until she felt him flinch. "Sorry! I forgot about your..."
"Shhh," he whispered. "That's alright." She still looked apologetic. "Don't worry. I'll be alright." He then wrapped his arms around her and returned her hug, ignoring the pains in his chest. They stayed together for a moment.
Nara whispered, "You'd better get to bed. You'll need your rest." She looked up at him. "And no ranger work for awhile, got it? I don't want to see you back here too soon." She bit her lower lip, then said, "But I wouldn't mind seeing you somewhere else."
Sunblast looked surprised, and though his mouth was open, he didn't say anything for a moment. Finally, he said, "Well, I'm planning on cooking some Hot Pockets tonight, if you'd care to join me."
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Umm, Hot Pockets? Oh, well, those are nice, but I was thinking something a bit more, umm..." She hesitated. "Tell you what, how about we go to a restaurant?"
"Oh, heh. Well, umm, okay then. Tonight?"
Nara giggled. "No, not tonight! What did I just tell you about rest?" She laughed softly a few more times, then said, "How about I call you? Actually, here's your B-mail address," she said, picking up a sheet of paper with patient information on it. She looked at it closely, then she looked back at Sunblast with a confused look.
He chuckled and said, "Yes, that really is my B-mail address."
"Oh my," she exclaimed. "Well, that's certainly, umm, different. Well, I guess I find a way to contact you then, kay?" Sunblast just smiled and nodded. "Alright, then! I'll talk to you soon."
"Heh, okay," he said with a grin. He started towards the door, smiling like an idiot, when Nara called to him.
"Sunblast! Aren't you forgetting something?" She pointed to his mask, goggles, and headband, which were still on the bed. Sunblast looked at her sheepishly. She grabbed the items and tossed them to him. "Sheesh, don't expect me to pick up after you," she said with a wink. He started to put on the goggles, but then he stopped. Instead, he put on the headband first, then he put the goggles on his head, pushed up into his hair. He put the mask in his pocket and smiled at Nara before departing. He found his way to the waiting room where Tails was floating around. Tails rushed at Sunblast and attached himself to Sunblast's face.
"Hey! Get off of me! I need to breathe!" he yelled. The mag floated over to his shoulder and they walked out and started heading home. Tails chirped and beeped about an article he had read about proper mag care, but Sunblast didn't listen. He couldn't seem to take his mind off of the energetic nurse he had just talked to. He was thinking so intently that he almost missed his house. He walked up to the door and pressed a button next to the doorbell. A little slot opened up, and a bright laser emitted from it. It scanned his Section ID, confirming his identity. The door slid open, and Sunblast was home at last.

[Nara]

WOW! THAT IS SOOO AWESOME!!! I'll have to print off a copy for myself!! Your story is awsome, your signature is awesome, and your awsome!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/panda.gif

[Sunblast]

Well, I'm glad you like it, Nara, but keep in mind that you might be just a wee bit biased. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: A Job

As Sunblast stepped into his home, he breathed a sigh of relief. This was one of the few places he ever felt truly safe. Automatically, the lights turned on, and the stereo started to play a song from his favorite band from back on Coral. Tails floated into the room and decided to lie upside down on the couch. Sunblast took off his hunting gear, putting it away in a closet.
Next, he moved into the kitchen and took out two boxes of Hot Pockets from the freezer. He opened them up, put them on plates, and popped them into the microwave. As they started to warm up, he sat down at his desk and turned on the computer. Full of hope, he went online to check his B-mail, but only found junk mail. Sometimes, he really wondered how they got his B-mail address.
From the kitchen, he heard the microwave beeping. Tail heard it, too, and he leapt off of the couch and flew straight for the microwave. Sunblast turned off the monitor of his computer and rose from his seat. When he reached the kitchen, he found Tails with his face pressed against the window of the microwave. He knew Tails couldn't open it, due to a lack of thumbs.
He pried the mag off of the microwave, then opened it and retrieved their food.
"Alright, little guy," he said. "Dinner time! Meatball and mozzarella for me, Star Atomizer for you." As soon as he set it down on the small kitchen table, Tails drove his face into it. As the boiling liquid splashed onto the mag's face, it slowly absorbed through Tails' permanently closed mouth and he squealed with delight. Sunblast used a fork to cut his open and let the steam escape. He had started to lean back to wait for it to cool down when he heard a noise come from his computer. He darted from his chair to check the computer, hoping he had truly received new mail. He turned the monitor back on and sat down, growing impatient as the screen slowly started to return.
As soon as he could see, he checked to see who the new message was from. He read the B-mail address aloud to himself. "[email protected]? And I thought mine was weird." Still, he clicked on it and looked at the mail, which contained a simple text message. Leaning forward, he read it.



DEAR RAMAR SUNBLAST:

I HAVE A SPECIAL MISSION FOR YOU. YOU ARE NEEDED FOR A DATA COLLECTION MISSION WITHIN THE RUINS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, GO TO THE HUNTER'S GUILD, ALONE. TELL YOUR NAME TO THE WOMAN AT THE COUNTER, AND SHE WILL GIVE YOU YOUR MISSION. YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREAT.

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE.

Sunblast sat back in his chair and thought over the message for a moment. The ruins? he thought. I wonder what they could want down there?
The ruins extend for miles underneath Ragol. They aren?t really ruins, though, as the ruins are actually a giant spacecraft that had crashed a very long time ago. They are the origin of the mysterious explosion that occurred when Pioneer 2 arrived. In fact, Sunblast had been in the crater the explosion had left behind inside the ship. As best as he could tell, the ship was actually meant to be a prison for the evil entity known as Dark Falz. Throughout the ruins are strange creatures of darkness known as D-Cellular lifeforms. These monsters are far more dangerous than any creature native to Ragol. At first it was thought that they were the army for the dark entity, but some now think that they are actually there to discourage adventurers from releasing Dark Falz. Unfortunately, they couldn?t keep one person from getting in.
She was Rico Tyrell, a leader, scientist, and possibly the most famous hunter ever known. It was partially thanks to her that Sunblast survived Ragol, because as she explored the forest, caves, underground mines, and even the ruins, she left behind message capsules with recordings of her voice, leaving advice for the hunters yet to come. She discovered mysterious monuments with inscriptions on them, and once she deciphered them, she understood the danger that Dark Falz posed. She found her way into the ruins, breaking the seal that contained Dark Falz and setting it free to destroy the entire universe.
Fortunately, hunters came to the rescue. Dark Falz, a giant deformed monster, was defeated in combat by none other than Sunblast. He had two friends with him the first time he met Dark Falz, but they were all nearly killed. Only the auto-teleport functions in their armor frames got them home. Sunblast, the strongest of the three, healed quickly and returned to face Dark Falz once more, alone this time. The beast had laughed at him for coming alone, but he knew what to expect this time, and using his Varista, which has an affinity for hurting those creatures that seem made of darkness, he was able to slay the monstrosity.
Many other hunters claim to have done the same, and they would be right. It seems that Dark Falz still lives deep within the ruins, but he is no longer a threat. Besides the fact that he cannot leave his now resealed chamber, he is also beaten almost daily by challenge seeking hunters. Still, he is there, along with the D-cellular lifeforms, and apparently the person who sent him this message wants him to brave the dark being down there to get something.
I don?t really feel like going back there any time soon, he thought. They did mention a reward, however. Sunblast had become rather rich during his adventures on Ragol, from doing quests for individuals and organizations as well as by finding rare and powerful items to sell to the highest bidder. Still, getting a big reward is always nice, even if you are loaded. And they never said how much they would give him.
It could be all the money on Pioneer 2, for all I know, he thought to himself, grinning at his fantasy. I've still got time tonight. I'll go check it out after dinner. He rose from the chair to go eat with Tails. After they both finished their food, Sunblast suited back up and put on his mask and goggles to head over to the Hunter's Guild. Tails, still tired from a long day, stayed home to rest. As Sunblast stepped out the door, he smiled at the little mag as it started to snore on the couch.
He walked out the door and took a deep breath. Though the air onboard Pioneer 2 is recycled, it still felt cool and refreshing, as though it was night time. Looking around, he realized just how large the city on Pioneer 2 had become. It was ever expanding, as the demand for more residential and commercial areas arose. The ship itself was massive, bigger than any ship before it. In fact, it was so huge that they could keep expanding the city for quite a while before any real space problems arose.
He continued walking at a somewhat slow pace to keep from hurting his chest any further, and after a few minutes, reached the Hunter's Guild. When he got in, he approached the woman at the counter. She was a human female with blonde hair, and she wore the standard super low-cut uniform with a matching blue cap.
She smiled at the approaching ranger and said, "Enrich your life! This is the Hunter's Guild, welcome!"
He returned the smile, though his mask hid it. "I understand that there's a special mission for me."
"We can assist you in finding a job if you're registered."
"I am Sunblast, the pur--"
"Thank you," she interrupted. She clicked a button on her desk, and an invisible laser scanned Sunblast's Section I.D. to confirm his claim. She typed into her computer for a moment, then she looked back up at him. "Alright, I have one here for you. Shall I load it to your wrist unit?"
He nodded to her, then checked his wristband to make sure it was active. She sent the download to his wrist unit, then said, "Good luck! Please come again. The Hunter's Guild helps to enrich your life!"
He turned from her, then looked down at his wrist. It was a standard device for all hunters. It held maps, quest information, and items. It also had a spot where he could attach shields and barriers. Right now, he had a rather powerful model called a Spiritual Shield. Right now, the function he needed to use was its BEE messaging system, or B-mail. The device on his wrist announced that it had received a new quest, and opened it immediately. Once it loaded, the details were displayed on the screen.

Client: ???
Quest: I HAVE A SPECIAL MISSION FOR YOU. YOU ARE NEEDED FOR A DATA COLLECTION MISSION WITHIN THE RUINS. HOWEVER, DUE TO THE SENSATIVITY OF THE INFORMATION, YOU MUST GO ALONE. YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREAT.
Reward: ??? Meseta

He quirked a brow at the message and thought it over for a moment. Still no clue on how much this quest is worth, he thought skeptically. As he stood there, still thinking it over, he felt a hand grab onto the metal headband that covered his ears. Before he could react, the part over the ears was pulled up, and he felt incredible pain as someone started pulling his ear.
"What are you doing here?" a female voice demanded. "I told you that you need rest, and I find you getting a job?"
Sunblast's eyes went wide when he recognized the voice. The nurse from the hospital, he recalled. But what is she doing here?
"But Nara," he said, pleadingly. "I just got a B-mail about a special quest that they need me for, and I-- Ahhh!" he yelled as she pulled harder.
"No quests while you're hurt, especially not special ones," she replied, starting to lead Sunblast out of the Hunter's Guild. "Come on, I'm taking you home," she said, looking around. "Umm, where do you live?" She released his ear so he could stand up straight. He pointed his gloved finger down a street, and she started towards it.
She stopped after a moment to see he was still adjusting his headband, and then he started walking as well. When he got closer, she held her hand out to him. He looked confused for a moment, but then he took her hand and they walked down the street together.
After a moment of walking in silence, Sunblast looked at Nara, who was still wearing her pink nurse uniform, and asked, "So, how did you know I'd be at the Hunter's Guild.
She snickered a little, then replied, "Well, first I dropped by your house to check on you, but you weren't home. Luckily," she said with a smile. "Your mag was able to let me in."
Sunblast looked surprised. "What? Tails let you in? But he won't even open the door for me when I'm carrying groceries!"
"Tails, huh? Well, maybe he just likes me more." She looked up at him and made a face at him. "Anyway, Once I got in, I saw the B-mail on your computer, so I figured you'd be over here." Her face turned serious. "Personally, I don't like the looks of it. If I were you, I'd turn down that particular job."
Sunblast nodded. "Yeah, I don't like it either, but I figured it would at least be worth checking out."
"Well, yeah, but?" she started. "But I really don't like it. It looks too suspicious. Besides, you're still hurt," she said, poking him lightly in the chest. "So there's no way you're taking that quest."
He thought it over for a moment with a curious grin on his face, then said, "Alright, I won't take it." They walked in silence for a moment before he said, "Wait a minute, you've been in my house?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but just for a minute. What's the big deal?"
"Well, just a moment ago, you asked me which way my house is."
She looked a little offended. "Well, sorry, but I'm a little scatter-brained. It's not like I'm all that familiar with this part of the ship, anyway."
"Yeah, I guess so, since we just passed my house a moment ago."
She stopped and looked back down the street. "Oh! Oops!" She pulled Sunblast with her as she walked back a bit. "Which one is it?" He pointed it out of the row of small homes, and they approached the doorstep. They stopped, and she turned to look up at him.
"Hey, umm, just so you know, I'm going to go take my hunter's exam tomorrow." She looked at his eyes, which were covered by his goggles, and smiled. "Also, I spoke to a friend who needs an easy hunter job done, so if I pass, I'll get to try out my skills tomorrow!"
She jumped forward to hug Sunblast, catching him off guard. After a moment, he returned the embrace and said, "Well, I wish you the best of luck on your exam. It wasn't too hard for me, so you should do fine. As soon as you have your license, I'd love to show you the ropes."
She looked at him for a moment, then she pressed her hand against his side. "No, no, you still need to rest for at least one more day. I'll be fine tomorrow. I mean, it's just a little errand. Tell you what, the day after tomorrow, we can go see Ragol together, and you can show me all the cool stuff down there. But you have to take it easy tomorrow, okay?"
He nodded his agreement. She smiled and said, "Alright, see you then! Bye!" She hopped off of the doorstep and headed down the street, waving to Sunblast as she went. He waved back to her before turning around and walking through his door.

***

In a shadowed alley, not far from Sunblast's house, a man wearing an ample cloak pressed some buttons on his wristband. Once he entered the correct information, he raised it to his mouth and spoke into the receiver.
"The target isn't taking the bait. I repeat, the target has refused the quest. Getting to him might be more difficult than we predicted. However," he said, his wicked smile just barely visible from under his hood. "I think there's a young, new hunter that could help us out. Just leave it to me."
He lowered his wrist and chuckled to himself. Then he backed slowly into the darkest shadows, disappearing from sight.


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Anyone else want to comment?


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2004-07-27 16:03 ]</font>

[Nara]

YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!! This chapter is one to the best you have ever written! I hope more people respond to your story this time. You are such a good writer!!
http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/panda.gif

[TheOneHero]

...

...

...Dude...thats awesome can't wait to read more. and in the words of shredder from TMNT, "You write well, in the new style."

http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif keep up the great work!

[Sunblast]

Thanks for the support, guys! I'll tryto get off my bum and write some more soon. I'm glad you guys like it. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Eihwaz]

Very good fic, I suppose even people who've never played PSO at all would be able to read, understand, and enjoy this. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wink.gif

And I liked your description of Ultimate. I, too, always assumed that the Ultimate style enemies were just more D-Cell infected. Also, Tails is possibly the cutest Sato EVAR. No thumbs? XD

Very good fic, it has lots of PSO ties, but also has some unique twists to make it original.

Keep up the good work. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Eihwaz on 2004-07-27 10:50 ]</font>

[Sunblast]

Chapter 6: Day of Rest
The next day started out relatively uneventful. As tempted as he was to go down to Ragol, Sunblast followed Nara's advice and stayed home. As soon as he woke from his bed, he got up and transferred to the couch. He dug the remote control out from between the cushions and flicked on the holovision set. He surfed through the different channels until he reached the cartoons. Tails, who had slept on the couch last night, woke up and squealed in delight when he saw one of his favorite shows. Sunblast smiled at the little mag. He got himself comfortable, only halfway paying attention to the projection. After a few minutes, his mind faded, and he slowly drifted into dreams...

He found himself in a large cavern. He looked around, taking in all the sights. The walls looked as though made of rock, but on closer inspection, it became clear that they were made of some kind of metal. Looking up, Sunblast could just barely make out a ceiling far above him. Through his mask, he could feel a faint mist in the air. Turning around, he could see a great waterfall, and near it he saw a large crater. It was the very crater created by the massive explosion that rocked the planet over a year ago.
The ruins, he brooded. The last place I want to be.
Behind him, he heard sounds, and when he turned to face them, he looked upon hordes of enemies, simply appearing out of thin air. He recognized dimeniens, the infantry of the ruins. Their crystalline bodies were black like the shadows, and they had blue, purple, and yellow neon lights glowing on them. They turned their sickle-shaped heads towards Sunblast, looking at him without eyes. They raised their bladed arms and howled, then started towards Sunblast.
He started to back away fearfully, but then he looked down and found his Varista in his hand. He raised it shakily and took aim at the closest dimenien. He squeezed the trigger, and a yellow bolt erupted from the pistol. It coruscanted across the room and ripped apart the creature. It cried out as it fell to the ground, spilling purple ichor across the floor. Its form disappeared, leaving only the indigo fluid behind, as more dimenians walked over the remains.
He looked down at the weapon in his hand, remembering its special photons. The energy in this gun was more destructive to dark creatures than most weapons. Realizing his obvious advantage, he fried off more shots at the other monsters, dropping each one with only one shot. The group began to thin out as more and more of them perished, until there were none left.
Sunblast grinned in satisfaction, but he jumped a little when some more appeared, this time with friends. Floating right above the dimenians were gray creatures, somewhat resembling fish. That is, if all fish had three large talons at the mouth.
Claws, he remembered. They're weak, but they fly in groups.
Once again, he raised his gun and took aim at each creature, indiscriminately killing off dimeniens and claws. Soon, there were only a few left, but he hesitated when he heard noise behind him. He turned to find a claw, with it's three talons spread apart, right in front of his face. He stepped back and brought up his arm to protect himself. As the claw jumped forward, hoping to plunge its talons into his eyes, it was pushed back by waves of energy coming from his arm. The spiritual shield had activated, keeping Sunblast from his untimely demise. He reacted quickly, raising the pistol and pointing the end into the claw's mouth. He pulled the trigger, blowing photons out through the back of the creature.
He spun back around to face his other attackers. Even as the monsters fell, one by one, they marched towards him. Soon, the last one fell, and Sunblast yelled out triumphantly.
"Creatures of the ruins," he called out. "Fear me! For I am Sunblast, the purple RAmar! With my Varista, I can cleanse this world of your stench!" He laughed, listening to the echo of his voice. He stopped short when he heard another creature appearing. He looked to face it, but as soon as the light from its teleportation faded, his eyes went wide. His new foe had a humanoid body, but in many ways it looked alien.
Like the dimeniens, its skin was black, but it had neon lights across its body. Its right arm was that of a photon saber, giving off a glow of its own. Its left arm ended with an oversized claw, tipped with frightful looking nails. Its legs were very thin, and they looked fast. Sprouting from his shoulders were black blades that pointed towards his back. His face was quite possibly the most disturbing part of it, as it had small, glowing yellow eyes. It looked directly at him, and although it didn't seem to have a mouth, Sunblast could almost swear it was smiling. In the back of his mind, behind the fear that was beginning to swell up, he recalled the name of the foul creature standing a few meters from him.
A delsaber, he thought. The sadistic and deadly beasts that everyone loves to hate.
Unlike Sunblast, it wasted no time in rushing forward. He brought up his pistol and squeezed off a shot. The bolt flew towards it, destined for the creatures gut, but with incredibly grace, it sidestepped the shot. Sunblast cursed the creature and fired at it again. Once again, it dodged, only barely slowing down to do so. He fired again and again, and the creature dodged the shots effortlessly.
In no time, it was upon him. He jumped back as it swung its right arm diagonally, only barely missing. It didn't stop there, however, as it brought its arm around for another slash in the opposite direction. Sunblast barely dodged it again, but then he fell to the ground as it swung a third time. His armor made a loud clank as he collided with the floor. He looked up, seeing the creature raising its left hand. He pushed himself back with his hands just as it brought down its big claw. The tips of its claw raked his chest, drawing forth blood. As it withdrew its hand, the crimson liquid coming from his chest floated up to the delsaber, attracted to the hand that had caused the wound. It absorbed into the back of the claw, causing a glow of red energy to appear there. It looked with satisfaction at the little orb of power it had growing on its claw.
Sunblast groaned with pain as he picked himself up. As soon as he was on his feet, he turned and ran for the nearest door. For a moment, he thought he would make it, but the delsaber appeared in front of him, having jumped from across the room. He skidded to a stop and once again found himself at the feet of his tormentor. It looked down at him with its mouthless grin and raised its saber. Before Sunblast could possibly raise his shield to defend himself, it brought the blade down at his neck, like a photon guillotine. He closed his eyes and screamed, just as...

He awoke with a start, almost falling off of the couch. He looked around the room, realizing he was just dreaming. As he looked around, he noticed his faithful mag on the floor. It continued to watch the holovision program with its head resting on the remote control. It hadn't even noticed Sunblast's nightmare as it was too entranced with the commercial it was watching.
"These photon knives can cut through almost anything, fulfilling your every culinary desire," the man said. "And we're practically giving them away! Call now, and we'll cut the price even more!"
"Ooooooh!" Tails squealed. He clapped his fingerless paws together in delight. Sunblast sat up and rubbed his head, trying to forget his nightmare. Groggily, he looked at the clock on the holovision set.
Wow, he thought. I was out for a good while.
He stood up from the couch and moved sleepily over to the freezer. He opened it and looked over the many boxes of Hot Pockets before picking out a breakfast Hot Pocket. Technically, it was the afternoon, but he still felt like it was in the morning. He popped it in the microwave, and soon he was biting into it, savoring the cheesy liquid inside. He munched on it thoughtfully, listening to Tails' cheering in the other room.
Once he finished his meal, he hopped on the computer and checked his B-mail. As usual, he had plenty of junk mail, but he was surprised to see he had another message from [email protected]. He clicked on it to open it and read it as soon as it loaded.

DEAR RAMAR SUNBLAST:

I HAVE YOUR FRIEND, THE HUNEWEARL. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, GO TO THE RUINS, ALONE. DO NOT GO TO THE AUTHORITIES. IF YOU DON'T DO AS YOU'RE TOLD, SHE WILL DIE.

WE ARE WATCHING YOU.

Upon reading the message, he jumped out of his seat and just stared at the screen disbelievingly. After a moment, he blinked and shook his head before reading through it again, just to be sure of what he had seen. Slowly, he came to his senses and moved for the door. He donned his equipment, pulling his armor over his bandaged chest. He grabbed his weapons and tools, along with a struggling mag. Keeping his Varista at the ready, he stalked through the door.
As soon as he was on the street, he looked at the people around him. Any of them could be watching him, tracking him, but there was no way for him to know who was an enemy and who was just an innocent passerby. He started walking at a brisk pace towards the teleporter. As he passed through the gate that kept regular civilians from using the teleporter, the two military guards on duty nodded to him. However, Sunblast was too distracted to notice. With one hand on the hilt of his Varista, he quickly punched in the coordinates for the teleporter inside the ruins. He was bathed in bright light as he disappeared from the safety of Pioneer 2.

***

Not far from the teleporter, a dark figure peered out from the shadows. As soon as Sunblast had completely disappeared, a large, blue android stepped out into the light. Making his way through the street, he too passed the guards and entered the teleporter, destined for the ruins.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2004-08-29 11:11 ]</font>

[TheOneHero]

Another great chapter Sunblast! The description of the delsaber was pretty good and you seemed to take me in the world of the ruins. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Keep writing, I'm looking forward to chapter 7.

[Nara]

::Yoink:: ::copies:: spactacular, simlply wonderful, as always Sunblast you ROCK!! http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/panda.gif

[Sunblast]

Sorry for my slow reply, but the network sucks(I'm on my mom's computer, now. X() I'm glad you guys liked it. I had a wee bit of trouble with the Ruins description, I'm afraid. Still, things should get interesting if I can get working on it again.

[PS2_Master0]

SUNBLAST WHERE IS NEXT CHAPTER???

i...must read...this amazing fanfic....cannot be denied my ability to read it.....


hurry up!

i love how Tails actually has a personality, rather than just a plain old mag. the tv thing was awesome!

[Sunblast]

Alright, I finally got around to writing when I was home from school (I was sick. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif), and I got bored out of my mind. I really don't have an excuse for not working on it in such a long time, and I'm sorry for anyone who tried to wait patiently for the next chapter. If you're still interested in this story, then I hope you'll like this, because here's chapter 7!

Chapter 7: Belly of the Beast
On the surface of Ragol, a storm was taking place over the forest area. A fresh, clean smell prevailed over the stench left behind by the carcasses of countless natives. Drops landed on every large fern, continuing onward to drip down onto the moist soil of the paths carved out my hunters long ago. In the river that bisects the forest, countless ripples form in the crystal clear water. Just underneath the surface, the mole-like creatures known as boomas lie in wait for the careless footfalls of the next hapless hunter.
Bursting up from the ground, these creatures will attack their prey in groups. Nearly seven feet tall and with a roar most mighty, they hope to frighten the intruder into carelessness, but their bark is far worse than their bite. However, they have elongated claws which they use to shred their opponents. As fearsome as these creatures are, they are nothing compared to the dangers that reside deeper under the surface.
Miles underground, there's a massive alien starship. So massive, in fact, that one would just as soon call it a city. The interior consists of large caverns and minor chambers, narrow corridors and arched bridges. It's a maze of dead-ends and traps, and for most hunters, it is their final resting place.
Sunblast was just beginning to materialize within the ruins. Once he had fully appeared, he took his first few steps away from the teleporter before realizing something was wrong. The ruins had changed.
This area of the Ruins looked much older than the rest. The walls showed signs of erosion, as they were worn with small pits in them. The air hung heavy with a yellow fog, which could quite possibly be poisonous. However, as he breathed, he detected nothing wrong with the atmosphere, and he made his way through the miasma towards the door across the room from him.
Where am I? he wondered. He passed through the first door to find a long, narrow corridor. He walked to the end of it, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. When he reached the door at the end of the hallway, he could hear sounds coming through he other side. Sunblast approached the automatic door, and as it opened up, it revealed a scene of chaos.
It was a medium sized room, and it had five strange-looking monsters in it, monsters which Sunblast had never seen the likes of before. They were crystalline in structure, with large fork-like claws. The arms seemed to be detached from the rest of the body at the torso, seemingly floating alongside each other. The creatures had no heads, though the large spikes at their shoulders seemed to give it somewhat of a face. Three of them were green while the other two were violet. The creatures had formed a circle around a young Newman.
From his appearance, Sunblast could tell the man was clearly a force, though he seemed to be wielding a saber. The blade itself seemed to be made of glowing runes that the Newman swung at the closest attacker, severing one of its claws. He turned to the next one and stabbed it, impaling it through its midsection with the radiant blade. As one approached the force, he spun around to face it, then he simply pointed the sword at the monster. Instantly, a ball of flame jumped from the tip of the weapon, searing through the creature. For the remaining two beasts, he drew a strange looking yellow pistol. He pointed the weapon's long barrel at the creatures and squeezed off two shots, taking each creature down with a single hit. As their bodies dropped to the floor, they began to dissolve into purple slime until the corpses had disappeared.
The man stayed very still, breathing heavily. After a moment, he holstered his pistol and turned towards the doorway where Sunblast had watched the fight from. The Newman nearly ran into the purple ranger before looking up, clearly startled. He looked Sunblast up and down as Sunblast did the same.
The Newman was dressed in a black jester outfit with yellow highlights. He wore a hat with two tails coming out the back, each tipped with a yellow puffball. Sticking out from under the cap, Sunblast could see locks of ruffled blonde hair, some of which came down in front of his big, green eyes. He wore yellow goggles, pushed up above his eyes. He wore platform shoes, but even with the added height he was still a little shorter than Sunblast.
He quickly regained his composure and waved to Sunblast before saying, "Umm hey! Didn't expect to see anyone else down here." He smiled and reached out his hand to Sunblast. "I'm Eihwaz, but everyone calls me Wazzy."
Sunblast shook his hand and said, "I'm Sunblast. Everyone calls me… Well, Sunblast." Upon seeing Eihwaz's reaction, he added, "No, really, they do."
Eihwaz smirked at Sunblast and replied, "Umm, yeah. Anyway, I'm trying to find a very rare item. It's called a Morning Glory, and rumor has it that it's around these parts somewhere." He crossed his arms and continued, "I'm a master at searching for items, so it should show up pretty soon. What are you looking for?"
Sunblast lowered his gaze and replied, "I'm looking for a Newman girl. She's supposed to be here, too."
Eihwaz perked right up. "A Newman Girl? Alright! Mind if I come, too? Maybe there'll be two…"
Sunblast shook his head. "Nope, just the one. You can come if you want, but please be careful. She may already be hurt, and I don't want to endanger her anymore than I already have."
"Oh, that sucks. Sorry to hear that, man," he said, placing a hand on Sunblast's shoulder, which was the same height as his head. "Hey, I know this place pretty well. I can help you find her."
Sunblast nodded and said, "Alright, but he have to start moving now. The sooner we start the search, the sooner we find her."
Sunblast started walking towards a door on the other side of the room as Eihwaz hustled to catch up. As they passed through the door, a human Hunter dressed in black fell from the ceiling and landed gracefully on his feet. He looked at the door Sunblast and Wazzy had gone through, then he pulled out a small communicator.
"Sir, the Ramar is here. They're heading towards Section 22, and they should arrive shortly. I'll stall them for just a little bit longer."
A crackling voice came through the tiny speaker and said, "Good. That should give us enough time to get ready. I'll inform the commander and get the prisoner ready. Move out, soldier."
The Hunter put away his communicator and gazed at a point high up on the wall. He dashed towards it and jumped at the wall. He pulled out two daggers and pushed them deep into the wall, then started to climb with them. He reached the point he had noted earlier and pressed his hand against it, causing a small passageway to open itself to him. He clambered in and closed the door behind him as he started crawling through the vents high above Sunblast and Eihwaz, watching them.

EDIT: Fixed those blasted ?s. Thanks for the heads up, Eihwaz!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sunblast on 2005-02-02 13:22 ]</font>

[Eihwaz]

This is excellent writing, but you need to fix the formatting. What I mean by that is, you should go in and replace all the ?'s with the proper marks.

I suppose you used something like Microsoft Works Word Processor to make this, and it makes fancy symbols from things like ", ..., and so on. You should use a simpler program, like WordPad, to make these up, so it doesn't get all funky when you copy and paste it.

But, despite all of that, this is an excellent chapter. And no, I'm not saying that just because I'm in it. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif I look foward to the next chapter.

[Sunblast]

On 2005-02-01 14:16, Eihwaz wrote:
What I mean by that is, you should go in and replace all the ?'s with the proper marks.

Shoot! I forgot about those! Sorry, Wazzy! I use word, which has autocorrect. In the past, I had turned off all the non-PSOW compatible things, but I recently reinstalled windows. D'oh! Well, that's fixed now. Thanks for telling me, and I'll edit the post to fix them there, too.
Glad you enhjoyed the chapter. I'm still going pretty slowly on these, but mabye I'll finally finish this. ^_^

[shadowvincent]

Hmm, good work!
I actually recognised Wazzy before you named him. ^_^

[Sunblast]

On 2005-02-02 16:01, shadowvincent wrote:
I actually recognised Wazzy before you named him. ^_^

Ha! Sweet! Ya hear that, Wazzy? Everyone can recognize you just from your big butt. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif
Glad you liked it. I should probably get writing a little today, but my gf's Valentine's Day card needs work, and I've been putting that off lately.

[Sunblast]

Chapter 8: Prisoner Transfer
In another section of the Ruins, a blue-haired Newman by the name of Nara was sitting on a stone bench in a small cell. Through the bars, she could only see a corridor that leads off into darkness. She hadn't been in that cell for long, but she couldn't remember how she got there. Every time she tried to think about it, she could only come up with a blank.
"This doesn't make sense," she said to herself, her voice echoing off of the stone walls. "One minute I'm in the forest, the next thing I know I'm in here." She sighed. "I guess I failed my first quest, then. I hope that kid's alright," she said, recalling the young Hunter named Ash who she had rescued from a pack of savage wolves.
It was a difficult fight, but she had some help. Her employer, recognizing her as being new to the trade, told her she had to take along a very imposing purple android named Kireek. The android was a HUcast, a Hunter. He was very tall, and he used a frightening looking scythe. In fact, the only thing that worried her more than his weapon was his eyes, which were empty, even for a robot. Luckily for her, he was a great fighter, and he helped teach her how to fight the creatures they came up against.
The last thing she could remember was defeating the last of the savage wolves, then hearing Kireek say, "I'll take this boy with me. Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets home." Then she got the idea that her nursing skills could be used to heal Ash, but as she started to turn around, she blacked out and woke up here.
"This doesn't make sense," she said again. "Why don't I remember coming here?"
"That's simple," A voice called from down the shadowy corridor. "You were rendered unconscious so you'd be easier to transport. Then we just had to carry you here."
Nara jumped at the sound of the voice and yelled, "Who's there? What do you want?"
The stranger chuckled. "Don't worry, my dear girl. I do not wish to hurt you. However, if you don't cooperate, I won't have a choice."
Nara squinted, trying to see her visitor through the shadows. "You didn't answer my question."
"That's correct. Heh, I guess I shouldn't keep you waiting any longer. Allow me to introduce myself," he said as he stepped forth from the shadows. "My name is Landon, and I'll be your captor this evening."
Nara looked long and hard at the figure, but there wasn't much to see. He wore a long, dark cloak that obscured any details worth noting. The only other thing she could see was his crooked smile as he spoke to her.
"I'm here to take you to my master. He has plans for you."
Nara moved back from the bars. "Plans? What plans?"
"Oh, it's quite simple, really. Whether you realize it or not, you have befriended a rather powerful Ranger recently--"
Nara jerked to attention. "Sunblast!"
The man paused for a moment. "Sunblast? Yes, I think that's his name. I heard my master mention his name once or twice, but my memory's a bit poor. Anyway, where was--"
"Your master?" Nara interrupted.
He sighed before answering her. "Yes, my master. I believe you would know him as Leo."
Nara shook her head. "Nope, sorry. Doesn't ring any bells."
He crossed his arms, obviously a little perturbed. "Well, I am fairly certain that your ranger friend will recognize him. He ruined master Leo's greatest plans, and my master has sworn revenge."
Nara's curiosity took over once more. "What do you mean? What happened?"
The man leaned against the wall of the corridor as he began the story. "My master, Leo, was a high-ranking officer in WORKS." Seeing the confused look on Nara's face, he said, "The Galactic Mobile Infantry 32nd Squadron, or WORKS, was the most elite military group on Coral. Most of their best soldiers were lost during the Pioneer 1 tragedy, but nothing could bring down my master.
"His plans were finally realized when he became aware of a very special android. What made it so special was that its creator, one Dr. Jean Carlo Montague, had implanted a special device within its body. I'm not important enough to be told what that device was, but my master needed it dearly. However, Montague was too selfish to give up the technology, so my master had to take the android away from him."
Nara raised an eyebrow at the cloaked man. "He kidnapped it? Does he do that sort of thing often? I mean, just look at my situation."
Landon's grin turned serious. "He liberated the technology from a foolish man who did not understand it's full potential. Montague would have squandered it on one of his foolish experiments. My master was wise to take it from Montague."
His grin returned as he continued. "Well, as I was saying, my master captured the android, but Montague found out and, like a coward, went to the Hunter's Guild for help. That's where your Ranger comes in. That fool ruined everything! He broke into our restricted areas and slaughtered anything that stood in his way. He destroyed all that we had worked to achieve, and he's the reason the android was ultimately lost. My master has not forgotten this disgrace, and now the ranger must pay for what he has done."
"Sounds to me like your master got what he deserved."
"I'm not surprised that you say that. I can not expect one such as yourself to understand my master's goals. However, whether you understand them or not is irrelevant. You will help master Leo get his revenge."
The cloaked man approached her cell and unlocked the barred door, swinging it wide open. He drew a military-grade handgun from his cloak and aimed it directly at Nara's head, it's laser pointer showing up as a red dot between her eyes. She went stiff with fear, realizing the danger she was in.
"Come with me. Now." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her from her cell. Keeping his weapon aimed at her, he said, "OK, now start walking. Just do as I say and you won't be harmed."
Nara reluctantly obeyed, starting down the long, dark corridor. The man followed just a few feet behind her, keeping his gun trained on her head. After passing through many intersections and doorways, they reached a large, dark room. The cloaked man pressed a switch, activating the lighting. As soon as she could see, Nara's eyes darted around the room.
It was a pretty empty room except for a few crates and a platform like those used by public speakers. From the door behind the platform came three men. Two of them were guards, wearing standard issue military uniforms, but the one in the middle was dressed like a Hunter. He wore a black HUmar suit, which sported a VIRIDIA Section ID. He had a long ponytail of dark green hair, with a few locks coming down in front of his right eye. As for the part of his face that was uncovered, she could see marks that looked like burns of some sort.
He walked towards her with an evil grin like that of the cloaked man. "Well, it's about time we met. My name is Leo. And you are?"
Nara crossed her arms and replied, "None of your business."
Leo chuckled to himself. "My my, aren't you a spunky little Newman?" He reached his hand out to brush her face, but he never touched her. With lightening reflexes, she grabbed his wrist with her left hand and gave him a smack across his face with the other.
"Spunky is right," she said, pushing him away from her. "Try to touch me again and I'll hit you where it counts."
The two guards snickered from behind Leo as his face turned red from both the attack and from his own embarrassment. He raised a hand threateningly above his head, but before he could bring it down upon Nara, he calmed down, lowering his hand back down.
"I don't want to have to hurt you," he said, still flushed. "But if you try anything else stupid like that, I'll have no choice but to eliminate you."
Nara crossed her arms again and said, "Just try it, you sleaze! Sunblast will kick your butt once he gets here."
"Yeah, I'll bet. Speaking of which," he said, looking down at a screen on his wrist that was currently displaying what looked like radar. "He should be arriving any moment now." He motioned to the guards, and they moved next to the door that Nara and Landon had come through.
Nara, realizing the trap Leo had set for Sunblast, tried to call out. "Sunblast! Sunblast, don't come in! It's a--"
She was silenced as Landon covered her mouth with a gloved hand. "Ugh, thank you," said Leo. "Put her in that corner and keep her quiet. I need to concentrate."
As the cloaked man took Nara into the shadowy corner, Leo drew his weapon, a long, metal katana. He sliced it through the air a few times, testing it in preparation for the upcoming battle. Finally, he thought to himself. Finally, I will have my revenge. He'll regret the day he crossed me. He pressed his hand to his face, feeling his burned flesh. He did this to me. He caused that explosion, and now I'm going to make him pay.

[Eihwaz]

Wow, cool stuff. Interesting turn of events. I like the direction you're taking with this - expanding on and filling in the story of PSO with your own ideas. That's the mark of a great PSO fanfic, IMO. http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

[hitokirimast]

wow the continuation rocked.the story good as always.it was cool that wazzy was included in it too.cant wait for the rest.http://pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Sunblast]

Chapter 9: A Valiant Attempt At A Rescue

Sunblast and Eihwaz continued their trek through the ruins. Most of the monsters here were abominations that barely resembled their counterparts in the ruins Sunblast was familiar with. His weapons were strong enough to knock back the monsters, but it was Eihwaz who defeated the enemies they faced.
"Don't sweat it," said Eihwaz after they had cleared another room of creatures. "These monsters are a lot stronger than the ones you're used to. They're just out of your league." Even with his mask, Sunblast looked annoyed by Eihwaz's comment. "Err, what I mean is, they're stronger."
Sunblast sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just wish I had a weapon that could actually hurt them."
"Nah, don't worry about it. I got these guys covered. You just keep an eye out for that girl you're looking for." Eihwaz took a second to check himself for wounds to find that he had several bruises where he'd been hit by the blunt fists of a giant creature they had been fighting only a minute ago. "Oww, that's smarts."
Sunblast pointed a palm at him and said, "I got it. Just hold still." Light started to emanate from Sunblast's body until he was a bright white flash. Then, the same light enveloped Eihwaz, covering his wounds. The pain from his injuries quickly subsided, then the light dissipated from both of them. Eihwaz stretched his back with a satisfied groan.
"Wow, that felt good. I didn't know Rangers could cast Resta like that."
Sunblast simply shrugged and walked towards the next unlocked door. "Shall we?" he asked. Eihwaz hustled over to him and nodded. They walked through the door into a small room with a couple of metal crates in the corner. They each burst open a few and looked over the items they received. Tails, who had been napping in Sunblast's inventory, awoke and sniffed the air, inhaling deeply. He smelled the Star Atomizer that Sunblast had found, and began begging for it. Sunblast sighed and surrendered the delicious morsel. He and Eihwaz laughed at the little mag as it devoured the item in a single bite, obviously satisfied with itself.
Unbeknownst to them, a hunter was watching them from the ceiling. He deftly punched in some numbers on his wrist unit and started to crawl into the next room, where Leo had set up his trap. His wrist unit sent in the command codes he had entered and activated the trap he had laid for them to buy his master time.
Sunblast and Eihwaz were just about to walk to the next door when they both heard the sound of a monster appearing behind them. Tails screeched and dove into some of the debris from the boxes. Sunblast turned with his Varista, Eihwaz with his runic-looking saber. Both of them jumped just a little bit when they saw the source of the sound.
A delsaber stood not two meters away, and already it had started to close the distance between them. Sunblast opened fire on the approaching menace while Eihwaz dashed to face it head on. When he was only a couple feet away, Eihwaz raised his saber above his head and swung the sword once his target was upon him. However, he yelled out when he realized he had thrown his saber, and it was now stuck in the far wall. His eyes went wide as the delsaber swung his bladed arm at Eihwaz, but it was knocked back by a precise shot from Sunblast's pistol.
Eihwaz took this chance to dash around the delsaber and make a break for his sword. He reached it and started pulling on it, but it wouldn't budge. Hearing Sunblast yell something behind him, he turned and asked, "What?" As he said this, he had to duck to avoid the deslaber's lightning fast strike aimed at his neck. He gave up trying to free his sword and dove between the delsaber's legs before taking off again.
Eihwaz continued to run around the room, occasionally turning to make a counterattack only to find he had to dodge again. Sunblast kept firing away at the beast, but it was too fast. "Wazzy," he yelled. "Keep him still!"
"Oh, sure," Eihwaz yelled back. "Easy for you to say!" He jumped over some debris and turned to see the delsaber about to make its own jump. Eihwaz took this opportunity to use a technique called Foie, launching a fireball at his opponent. The attack found its mark, and the delsaber was taken aback by the power of Eihwaz's attack. Still taking hits from Sunblast's Varista, it jumped high into the air, only to come back down on top of Eihwaz, giving him a heavy hit to the head.
Eihwaz was knocked off his feet and hit the ground with a thud. He looked up to see the deslaber taking deliberate aim at his head. Just as it was about to strike, it was hit by one out of many bolts of photon that seared through the air. The blast knocked the delsaber off of Eihwaz and forced it against the wall. Eihwaz hopped back up to his feet and let loose another fiery attack called Rafoie, a much stronger version of Foie. The delsaber, trying to hold its own body together, burst into flames as an incendiary sphere exploded directly on top of him. The delsaber screeched in pain and dropped to the ground, smoking. Eihwaz ran to the smoldering corpse and inspected it. He suddenly leaped high into the air, shouting victoriously.
"I found it! I found it! Whoo hoo!" He picked up a red box and opened it, causing a long claw to form on his right wrist. It had three blades, each one long and sleek enough to be a small katana on its own. He pumped it into the air and shouted, "The Morning Glory! It's mine! Whoo hoo!"
As he danced around, Sunblast lowered the gun he had used to blast the delsaber across the room. It was a large, shotgun-type weapon with a special function that could cause enemies to become confused and attack their own allies. He walked over to the wall and yanked Eihwaz's sword out of the wall. He walked over and handed it to Eihwaz, careful not to get stabbed by his newly found rare weapon.
"Oh, man! This thing is cooler than I imagined! I can't wait to--" His words were cut off as he was struck by a blast from a photon pistol. It hit him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and cutting right through his Force costume. He dropped to the ground in pain as Sunblast looked to see where the shot had come from. Standing at the door, a black-clad Hunter stood with a smoking handgun. As soon as Sunblast raised his own gun to return fire, the Hunter ran through the door and out of sight.
Sunblast turned back to Eihwaz and said, "Crap, are you alright?"
Eihwaz coughed a couple of times before replying." Yeah, I'll make it. I think I need to get back to the hospital, though. Can you make me a portal back to Pioneer 2?"
Sunblast nodded and waved his hand to cast Ryuker, a technique that opens a small rift that leads directly to the Hunter's District onboard Pioneer 2. He helped Eihwaz into the bright, shifting light of the portal. Right before he passed through it, he said, "Good luck finding the girl. I'll come back for you as soon as I can." Then he disappeared through the gateway to return to safety.
As soon as Eihwaz was on his way, Sunblast sprinted for the door. It opened to reveal a very large room, but before he could look around, he was met by a big, metallic fist. He fell to the ground, dazed by the force of the strike. He held his head, which felt like it was spinning. Somewhere in the room, he could hear someone laughing.
"Well, well. If it isn't Sunblast, my arch nemesis."
Sunblast looked up, trying to discern where the voice was coming from. There were two men in military uniforms, a large, purple android, the hunter with the handgun that had shot Eihwaz, and another HUmar in black standing on a platform in the middle of the room. He looked at the HUmar across the room and squinted at him. "Leo? Leo from WORKS? Is that really you?" He tried to stand up, nearly toppling over again. Once he was on his feet, he said, "Wait, arch nemesis? You must be joking, right?"
Leo shook his head. "This is most certainly not a joke. You've been brought here to--"
"I mean, I could understand enemies," Sunblast interrupted. "But arch nemesis?"
Leo lost his tempter and shouted, "Hey! I'm not through here! I have brought you here to seek my vengeance after what you did to me!" Leo raised his katana threateningly. "Time to die."
Sunblast jumped into action. He drew his Varista and fired off a shot at each of the military-clad guards, downing each. He activated his Varista's special function, turned, and fired point blank into the face of the purple android that had punched him. The android was much to strong to be beaten that easily, but he found he could no longer move due to the paralyzing shot from the Varista. Sunblast dropped to his knee in time to avoid the shot that came from the pistol-wielding Hunter, then he fired off three shots, each one hitting their target in a different location. The man moaned before he too dropped to the ground. Sunblast then turned his sights on Leo, but he had hidden behind a pile of crates.
"Come out and face me, you coward!" Sunblast yelled while walking towards Leo's hiding place.
"Don't take another step," Leo yelled back. "Or she gets it."
As Leo said this, Landon stepped out of the shadows with Nara still in his grasp.
"No! Nara!" gasped Sunblast, dashing to save her. He stopped dead in his tracks when Landon drew a small photon knife and placed it on Nara's throat. Nara's eyes went wide, and she tried to scream, but her mouth was still covered by Landon's gloved head. Her captor shook his head, then flashed a wicked looking smile.
"Stand down," said Landon. "Or I will slit her throat right here." Sunblast hesitated, so Landon pressed the knife closer to her throat. Sunblast stepped back and dropped his Varista. "That's a good lad. Just don't try anything, and the girl will live, got it?" Sunblast gulped and nodded.
Leo climbed out from his hiding place and advanced on Sunblast. "Ha! Did you really think I wasn't ready for one of your brash attacks?" he gloated. By now, the purple android was free of his paralysis; he came up behind Sunblast, cuffed him across the back of the head, and kicked his feet out from under him, forcing him onto his knees. The robot kicked away Sunblast's Varista, sending it sliding to the room's entrance. "Thank you, Kireek," said Leo. The big android acknowledged him with a nod.
Sunblast lowered his head to the floor, trying to keep from looking at Nara's frightened face. Slowly, he reached his hand over to his wrist unit, secretly tapping a few buttons. Silently, he sent a distress call to Eihwaz, who was most likely at the hospital. As soon as the message was away, he looked back up at Leo, who was brandishing his katana.
"I've been waiting for this moment for quite some time," he said, starting to pace. "If it wasn't for you, I would have surely been promoted to general of Pioneer 2's armed forces. I would have discovered the ultimate weapon! But no, you had to help that meddling Montague. I'm lucky to still be alive," he said, caressing his facial burns. "The entire area collapsed on me after the android girl detonated. I had to dig my way out, and I just barely survived."
"Sorry to hear that," Sunblast said. "The surviving part, I mean."
Kireek hit Sunblast again, and Leo continued his speech. "Once I got out of there, I was dishonorably discharged from WORKS. Montague had already manipulated them with a sap story about his droid. They wouldn't even listen to a word I said!" Leo clenched a fist and his face flushed with anger. "I was outcast by the entire government! They made me into a criminal!"
He slowly unclenched his fist and lowered his voice. "I knew I had to do something. I had to try to get it all back, to show them I was a hero. That's when I remembered you," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Sunblast. I knew that the first thing I had to do was redeem myself by defeating you. Unfortunately, I had already been stripped of my command, and I needed help. That's when I turned to Black Paper for help, and they were all to eager to be rid of you."
Sunblast cursed. Black paper, he brooded. So they're behind this. Black Paper is the biggest criminal organization onboard Pioneer 2. They were originally on Coral, but when the Pioneer Project was started, they saw it as a way to increase their resources and expand across the galaxy. They snuck stowaways onto the first and second Pioneers, pulling strings in the government to get their agents onboard. Now they had expanded their operations to Ragol, smuggling the planets artifacts to sell on the black market. Sunblast had had run-ins with them before, and he had even assisted in the capture of their appointed leader. Unfortunately, Black Paper is a serpent that cannot be killed by simply removing the head.
"They were so eager, in fact, that they gave me some of their finest soldiers to help," he said, looking at the corpses on the ground. "They certainly weren't very helpful, but they also sent Kireek here. He's rather high up in their organization. What do they call you, again?"
"Black Hound," Kireek replied emotionlessly.
"Ah, yes, that's right," Leo said. "Well, anyway, I'm certainly glad they sent him. He's practically the only one that pulls his weight around here."
From across the room, Landon cleared his throat. "Oh, yes," said Leo. "I'm sorry, I had forgotten you were here. Speaking of which, we have what we wanted," he said, gesturing to Sunblast. "You may kill the girl now."
Landon gasped. "What? But you said she could live!"
"Did I say that?" Leo shrugged and said, "Well, I've changed my mind. Kill her."
Landon shook his head. "No. No, I won't do that. I promised her--"
Leo turned to glare at Landon, who shrunk behind Nara to avoid his gaze. "What did you say? Did you say, 'No?'" He stepped towards Landon and Nara, raising a fist threateningly. "I am your commanding officer, and I gave you an order. Now, kill the girl immediately!"
Landon began to quake. "Y-yes, master. I am sorry, master." He turned his gaze to the blue-haired Newman he was holding captive. "I... I am sorry." He brought the knife up to her neck and closed his eyes, preparing to do the deed. Nara, acting out of fear and desperation, grabbed his hand off of her mouth and stuck it right back in, biting deep into his gloved hand. The glove was hardly thick enough to provide any protection, and Landon yelled out, dropping the knife. She broke free from his grasp, elbowed him in the stomach, and made a break for the door.
"Damn it, Landon!" yelled Leo. "Stop her!"
Landon bent down to pick up his knife, but as he reached for it, all he saw was a yellow blur and it was gone. He looked around, confused, until he saw a small, cat-like mag making off with the knife in its paws. Upon reaching a safe height, Tails turned around and made a sound like that of an electronic raspberry. Leo scowled and made his way towards the door, shouting, "You won't get out of here alive, girl! There's no escape!"
When Nara reached the door, she bent down and scooped up Sunblast's Varista, then turned it on Leo. "I don't plan on escaping."
Leo skidded to a stop and began to back away. Sunblast hid a smile beneath his mask. As he grinned at Nara's intuitive move, he felt his wrist unit vibrate. He looked down and read the message that appeared on it.

SUNBLAST:
IT'S WAZZY. I'M OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, AND I GOT YOUR MESSAGE. I'LL BE THERE AS SOON AS I CAN, BUT I'M GOING TO GET HELP.

Sunblast silently acknowledged the message, the turned back to the scene before him. Nara had Sunblast's Varista trained on Leo, who was trying to calm her down, while Kireek sat perfectly still. Sunblast rose to his feet and quickly backpedaled to get away from the android.
"Sunblast, are you alright?" called Nara, still watching Leo.
He nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. That was some stunt you pulled just a moment ago, and I'm really glad you did it. I'd have to say this is the best first date I've ever had."
Nara shook her head, still aiming the gun at Leo. "Nuh uh. This is so not a date. You still owe me a trip to that fancy restaurant."
He chuckled. "OK, you got me. We'll go there as soon as we're done here. Speaking of which," he turned his attention back to their foes, who had been waiting for them to finish. "What should we do about these guys?"
Nara grinned, looking a little wicked herself. "I say we take them in and--" the weapon in her hands suddenly fired, sending a scorching bolt of photon harmlessly into a wall. "Shoot! Sorry!" But it was too late. Leo started to sprint for her, readying his weapon for the kill.
"Nara!" yelled Sunblast. "No!" He tried to run to her, but it was too late. Leo was moving in fast, and there was nothing he could do. Nara fried the Varista helplessly a few more times, the kick-back being too much for her. Leo was upon her in seconds, preparing to swing his sword, but he never got the chance. From high in the ceiling, a being of metal dropped down and stood in the path between Nara and her onrushing opponent. It was a HUcast, big and powerful. It drew dual daggers and stood ready for Leo's assault. As soon as he reached the android, it was already over. With two quick diagonal slashes, Leo dropped to the ground covered in his own blood. He wasn't even able to speak as he simply gurgled, slowly drifting into death. The android stood tall and spoke in his artificial voice, "Hello Sunblast. I assume you'll want to thank me now."
Sunblast was astonished to see Yavangel standing before him, wielding his twin yellow daggers. Nara started backing away from the imposing robot, who simply glanced her way before walking towards Kireek, who had drawn his frightening looking scythe.
As the two prepared to face off, Sunblast ran to Nara and hugged her tightly, speaking softly to comfort her while discreetly taking back his Varista. As the androids began dueling one another, a very quiet Landon hid in the shadows with his communicator.
He hit the transmit button and whispered into it. "The commander has failed. I repeat, Leo is dead. But this is no time to give up. Initiate project Entra. Hurry." As he finished, he pressed up against the wall and, without a trace, passed through it into a hidden and camouflaged passage.

[Sunblast]

Chapter 10: Project Entra

The two androids seemed like they could continue fighting forever, continuously blocking and countering each other's attacks, but in an instant, Kireek disengaged and retreated for the door furthest from them. Yavangel made no attempt to follow him, but merely turned around to face Sunblast, Nara, and Tails. Just as Sunblast started to thank Yavangel, the Ruins shook with loud explosions from somewhere not too far off.
As soon as Sunblast regained his balance, he shouted, "What the heck was that?!"
Yavangel looked about quickly before calmly saying, "We have to get out of here. Now."
"Well, duh," retorted Sunblast. "This whole place could come down on us at any minute!"
Yavangel shook his single-horned head and said, "No, the structural integrity of this section of the ruins is in no danger, despite those explosions." He turned back, looking at the door Kireek had used to get away. "We have to run now, or risk being overwhelmed."
Sunblast tilted his head slightly, making a confused face through his mask. "Overwhelmed? By what?"
As he finished his sentence, a huge, strange-looking claw burst through the wall opposite of them, followed by another. A few more pierced through the structure of the wall, causing it to collapse. As soon as the dust settled, scores of ruins monsters of every type came charging through the rubble. Yavangel stepped forward, readying his twin weapons. He turned his back towards them and said, "Run now, or I won't be able to hold them off long enough."
Sunblast started to shake his head in protest as the door behind him opened, and Eihwaz stepped through. "Hey Sunblast, I'm back. I thought you-- Holy crap!" he exclaimed as he saw the horde of monsters rapidly making their way across the immense room. "Shoot, I wasn't expecting this! It's a good thing I brought friends."
As he said this, he stood away from the doorway, allowing an onrush of fellow hunters to run into the room. As soon as the lead hunters spotted their foes, they drew their weapons and rushed the ranks of creatures. Hunter weapons clashed with those of the monsters while rangers stood back and let loose volleys of photon energy. The forces, though few in number, caused groups of monsters to fall at once with their devastating techniques.
Sunblast turned to Eihwaz and asked, "How'd you get all of these guys to come on such short notice?"
Eihwaz just shrugged and said, "Ah, it was nothing. All I had to do was ask the people at the Hunter's Guild for help. It seems your pretty popular," he said, gesturing to the next group of hunters entering the room.
In the lead was Bernie with Zero right behind him. Next in line was a force in a dark green dress, who turned to run upon seeing the monsters. However, the big red HUcast behind the force pushed him back into the room, gently "encouraging" him. They were followed by a chubby hunter with dark sunglasses and a white afro, a very short, very well endowed Newman girl in a skimpy green outfit, and a dark clothed human with a black ponytail and a yellow section ID known as YELLOWBOOZE.
Sunblast, who knew them all as his friends, nodded to them as they rushed in to face the ever-shrinking swarm of monsters. Yavangel let them pass, then approached Sunblast and Nara, grabbing them by the arms and forcing them towards the door.
"We can handle the threat here, but it's still too dangerous for you to be here," he said as he ushered them out of the room. Once they reached the adjoining area, he removed a small object from his belt, activated it, then dropped it on the ground. It burst, creating a pillar of light. Yavangel gestured to the newly-formed portal, which would lead them directly to the Hunter's district of Pioneer 2. "I'll see to the safety of your... friends."
Sunblast gestured for Nara to pass through first. Once she was safely out of the ruins, Sunblast nodded to Yavangel, then stepped through himself. They both appeared in the hunter's district, safe and sound. She looked at him and said, "Well, that was fun. Now, how about that date?"
Sunblast removed his head gear and mask, flashing her a smile. "Alright, I guess tonight would be nice." He took a step forward, then stopped and looked back at her. "Wait a beat, are you sure you're up for that? I mean, you were a prisoner to a deranged idiot not too long ago."
She put her hands on her hips and said, "Hey, I'm pretty tough, you know. I've got more than enough energy to go out tonight." She started to walk away from Sunblast towards her home. Over her shoulder, she shouted, "Meet me at the hospital in 100 beats. You do know where that is, don’t ya?" she said with a wink.
Sunblast stood there with a stupid grin on his face for a good while before turning to look at his mag, whom was still holding onto a photon knife.
"Hey," he scolded. "Give me that." He held out his hand and took the weapon from Tails. The mag drooped down and made a sad little sound. Sunblast kept a tight grip on it, in case of a mag mutiny, and made his way home. When he got there, he opened the door and entered the first room.
He put the knife in a drawer, one that takes thumbs to open, and started to take off his armor and stash away his weapons. He headed to his clothes drawers and picked out a purple shirt with shoulder pads, which made it look almost like he was still armored. He combed his hair, then put on his yellow goggles, pushing them above his eyebrows.
Once he was finished getting dressed, his wrist unit beeped at him. He checked it to see that someone wanted to speak with him. He sat down on the couch and activated it. A holographic image of Bernie's face was projected in front of him. Behind Bernie, Sunblast could see a trio of hunters searching a massive pile of boxes for anything of use while a few others passed by in the back ground, obviously looking for more enemies.
Bernie cleared his throat and spoke up. "Hey Sunblast. How's the girl?" Before Sunblast could respond, Bernie continued. "Anyway, we've got all the monsters taken care of. There could still be a few around here, but they're pretty much done for. We found where those guys had made base at," he said, gesturing to the area behind him. Besides the boxes, there were plenty of desks, consoles, and a big glass tube which had been broken, apparently from the inside. Bernie grabbed a packet of documents off of a desk and held it up for Sunblast to see. It was rather thick, and it was bound by three rings with the words Project Entra printed on the cover page.
"Apparently," Bernie continued. "They were scheming something down here that they called Project Entra. They have been creating monsters down here and storing them over there," he said, pointing to a large, gaping hole in the wall. There was rubble all around the hole, and the edges had been burned. "That one guy, Yavangel, I think, said that you guys heard explosions. We're pretty sure this is where they came from, and the creatures just poured out through that hole." Bernie flipped through the packet in his hand before continuing.
"Apparently, the plan was to send all those monsters through a portal they had built and swarm Pioneer 2. Once the whole ship is destroyed, they were going to break out all the weapons in this cache they stored down here," he said, as Eihwaz tore through the weapons storage like it was a wrapped present. "With that many weapons, they could have easily taken over every military installation on Ragol and claimed the whole planet for Black Paper." Bernie sighed, then continued. "I guess it's a good thing you stumbled upon them when you did. They hadn't finished making all the monsters they needed; not by a long shot."
He chuckled to himself, then said, "Actually, they hadn't even made any delsabers yet, though it looks like they were going to start real soon. They have tons of data collected on how delsabers are made. Apparently, they've been doing more experiments on them than any other species, but I have no idea why." Bernie shrugged, then looked behind him only to jump in surprise. "Oh, no. Oh, no no no."
Sunblast jumped up and demanded, "What? What is it?"
Bernie flashed a worried face at Sunblast and said, "It's Joe," he said, referring to the chubby HUmar with a big, white afro. "He's hitting on Chesty Laroo. I'd better put a stop to this."
"Wait," said Sunblast. "Could you tell me where that Gaulian restaurant is at? You know, that one you and Zero went to?"
"Oh, umm, sure," he said, obviously anxious to stop Joe before he gets hurt. "I'll send you the coordinates through B-mail. Catch ya later!" As Bernie left the hologram, Sunblast could still here voices in the background.
"Why so angry, doll?" a male voice said.
"Hey, don't call me doll!" a squeaky voice replied.
"Well, you're certainly short enough to be a doll."
A brief silence occurred, followed by the sounds of photon weapons activating and lots of shouting. Sunblast turned off the wrist unit and got up off of the couch. He took one last look in the mirror, then headed out the door, leaving Tails behind to entertain himself.

***

Shortly after his encounter with Chesty Laroo, Joe decided to try his luck again. He spied the person left to guard the portal built by Black Paper. That person, named Mriswith, had been put in charge of guarding the portal for the next 100 beats. He was a Force, clad in a long, green dress complete with a headdress, a veil, and an ambiguous sexuality. Joe, covered in cuts, bruises, and broken sunglasses, decided to go for it. He stuck a comb in his hair to cover up the now missing part of his afro, then walked up to the Force.
"Hey there beautiful, how about coming back to my place when this is all done?" Mriswith gasped in disgust and ran off to find Chesty. "You don't know what you're missing!" Joe called after him. He shook his head and leaned against the wall near the portal, muttering something about Forces.
A metallic sound coming from the shadows made him jump to attention. He took off his sunglasses and looked in the direction of the sound, but could find nothing. Hearing another sound in a different direction, he turned to check there, but again found nothing.
"Chesty?" he called out. "Chesty, is that you? I swear, I didn't know she was a friend of yours!" No one responded to him, so he dismissed it. Then, he heard another sound. It came from right above him. He looked up, but saw only darkness. He suddenly went limp as a photon weapon hit him in the back of the head. He dropped, smashing his afro into the floor.
A dark figure appeared where the hit had originated from. The figure cackled in a distorted voice, then turned to the portal, activating it. As soon as it reached full power, it opened a rift to somewhere onboard Pioneer 2. The dark figure stepped through the portal and left the ruins, making sure to disable the portal on the way out.