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Post by destructin on Nov 23, 2010 20:43:51 GMT -5
Powerfull stuff
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Post by Zarth on Nov 24, 2010 12:50:32 GMT -5
did... did you cry or something?  and thanks. |
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Post by destructin on Nov 24, 2010 12:52:56 GMT -5
did... did you cry or something? and thanks. No, I was more like: "Oh shiiit son." good story. |
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Post by The Omnipresence on Nov 24, 2010 14:03:50 GMT -5
Ruby and wires be dead yo, I'd feel for them if they actually did anything. Oh well! Let's move on! |
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Post by Zarth on Nov 24, 2010 14:20:44 GMT -5
Ruby and wires be dead yo, I'd feel for them if they actually did anything. Oh well! Let's move on! Actually it's just Ruby thats dead right now. Reason for Editing: spoilerzzzzz |
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Post by Balto-Boy on Nov 27, 2010 1:55:53 GMT -5
Ruby and wires be dead yo, I'd feel for them if they actually did anything. Oh well! Let's move on! Actually it's just Ruby thats dead right now. Oh, well now there's no point in me reading this... Reason for Editing: BETTER NATE THAN LEVER |
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Post by Gront on Nov 27, 2010 2:18:00 GMT -5
Actually it's just Ruby thats dead right now. Oh, well now there's no point in me reading this... This was actually spoiled for me by that post, too. You guys should refrain from putting spoilers on new pages from now on. |
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Post by The Omnipresence on Nov 27, 2010 11:44:49 GMT -5
Ha, mien bad. I forgot people tend to actually read my post.
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Post by Gront on Nov 27, 2010 11:55:54 GMT -5
Eh, yours wasn't so bad. First of all, you were technically wrong, and I thought you were speaking figuratively anyways. I was a little surprised that Zarth ruined that whole illusion of figurative speech.
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Post by Zarth on Nov 27, 2010 12:21:32 GMT -5
 next time i wont reply to posts like that. |
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Post by Zarth on Nov 28, 2010 11:58:34 GMT -5
A short chapter to help push things along.
Edited by grim.
Chapter 6: Web of lies
John sat beside Balto and the Chain Twins along the catwalk, ducked down behind a wall, watching as a massive amount of soldiers fell in formation. Helix Strikers overhead stopped their patrols to listen in on the announcement. Terra fixed a microphone-like device around her ear, which looked much like a bluetooth headset. She looked around as the faint echoes of running engines slowly faded away. The workers within the factory all stopped to listen in on their COMS. A large portion of the base surrounding Terra had gone dead silent.
“Alright, you lazy lot!” Terra announced, her voice stretching to the far reaches of one of the many massive bases on the planet they were on. “SG Zekain has informed me that a few high priority prisoners have broken out of Prison Station #32 and have made their way into our lovely little home.”
She folded her arms behind her back and began to slowly pace back and forth along the long line of soldiers in front of her, as if she were some kind of drill sergeant. “These prisoners aren’t like anything any of you have ever seen. . .well. Unless you took part in that attack on World #11352- or as their natives call it, the White Void," she said sarcastically, making quotation marks with her fingers, getting a chuckle out of the group of soldiers.
“As most of you should know, I am from there.” She said, smiling, from behind her red helmet. She looked up and noticed some movement in an open window on the third floor of a factory. She saw Balto and John peering over, trying to be stealthy.
Balto and John ducked down as soon as she made eye contact with them.
“Shit, I think she saw us!” John whispered, biting his lower lip hoping he was wrong.
Terra grinned, happy to see that they were alright, but then refocused her attention on the soldiers in front of her.
“The prisoners serial numbers are as such,” She said as a robotic hand in her pack popped out, reaching over her shoulder and holding a rectangular object with a touchpad screen that resembled an iPad. “Target #003; Balto-Boy. Target #015 John12346. . .or just John for short, And Targets #133 and #134, the Chain Twins. Now that you have their numbers, look them up on in the directory in your HUDs. You’ll need all the information you can get.” She announced, giving a long pause for her men to have a quick look at the profiles in their HUDs.
“Now then; this is a search and arrest mission, they’re somewhere around here and I want them found before they cause any sort of trouble. Is that clear!?” she asked, raising her voice over the PA system that was streaming from her mic.
“Ma’am yes ma'am!” Every soldier shouted just before running off to search for the Brawlers.
“Ha, shit. Looks like they’re on to us. . .” John whispered as he crouched back, away from the window.
“What should we do?” The Chain Twins said in unison.
John rubbed his eyes, trying to relieve the stress while thinking up a plan of what to do next “Alright. . .We need to somehow get to Terra and find out what she’s doing here.” he answered.
John stood up, taking in a deep breath and exhaling once he was up straight. He looked around in the factory for another way out near the catwalk he was running along. Before being called back, he noticed what seemed to have been an opening that was previously closed off before. Outside of that door was a long, wide open bridge that led to a heavy armaments factory used to build heavy vehicles, or aircraft that were larger then a Helix Striker.
“This way.” John whispered as he ran along the catwalk, crouched over, trying to stay out of sight. Balto and the Chain Twins followed suit, hardly making a sound. Just below them were a group of soldiers that had come in to inspect the area. Once they made it over to the opening, John stood up against the wall, the light from the outside reflecting off of the shiny metal catwalk; particles of dust could be seen gently flowing through the beam of light. John quickly took a peek down the bridge then brought his head back behind the door. He looked over to Balto and whispered, “The coast is clear. But we need to be careful; we could be spotted easily up there."
“So what do you suppose we do then?” Balto asked, cocking his head to the right slightly.
John pondered for a brief moment. He looked around and spotted a large crate just a little further down the catwalk. He quickly dashed over to it, passing the door and sliding over to the crate and inspecting it for a moment. The crate itself had a set of eight small, dirty wheels along its undercarriage. Along the top were a set of two doors that opened up much like a dumpster would. In fact, it was a dumpster.
John hopped up on the small ledge that extended out just above the wheels. He opened one of the lids. The joints that held the lids hadn’t been oiled in quite some time and therefore gave off a loud screech, but was drowned out by other sounds within the plant. He looked in to see what it contained; it was partially full of feces and other waste products that were extracted from some of the pipes within the plant. John looked back over to the other Brawlers and beckoned them to come over. Balto looked out onto the bridge one last time to see if there was anyone there then dashed over along with the Chain Twins.
“Okay. . .here’s the plan, you three get in here.” John said, as he held the lid open. Balto walked over and looked inside; the smell of the waste nearly scorched his nose off. He backed up with both hands on his nose.
“Arrgg! You’re kidding right?! I can’t go in there!” Balto protested, fearing that he would never get the smell out of his fur.
“C’mon, Balto, We don’t have time for this, they’ll find us at any moment if you don’t.” John said, becoming irritated with Balto.
“Ugh, fine! But is the last time I’m doing something like this for you.” He argued as he hesitantly crawled into the dumpster. The Chain Twins carelessly hopped in after Balto, nearly crushing him.
“Haa! Watch it will ya!?” Balto yelled just as John let go of the lid for it to fall back and close off the dumpster. Balto popped out of the opposite lid gasping for breath and to ask John a question.
“Wait, so if we’re going to ride in this thing, what are you going to do?” He asked, trying to catch his breath from the horrific stench within.
“I thought it was clear; I’m going to be pushing you guys. If you haven’t already noticed, I am wearing the same armor as the other soldiers. Just a little beat up.” He explained as he showed him the armor he wore. “They’d spot you almost immediately, but with me, they’ll second guess themselves before taking action, heck they might think I’m some sort of recruit.” John explained, shrugging his shoulders.
“Ugh, fine. Just hurry up, the air in here is un-breathable!” Balto complained as he sat back down in the dumpster.
John jostled the dumpster around, loosening the wheels underneath and breaking the rust that held them in place. He slowly started to pull it out in front of the doorway. He turned and started to pull it out onto the bridge, and then he let go, ran over behind, and began to push it instead. Below the bridge was a parking lot full of different styled advanced types of tanks and other smaller vehicles. Above, three Helix Strikers flew over, seemingly paying no attention to John pushing the dumpster across the bridge. John tried as hard as he could to hide his face, and sweat started to drip down his forehead.
Suddenly, a loud bang erupted high above the base that caught Johns’ attention. He looked up to see a massive ship, larger than any other he had seen before. Along the side of the ship was its name, ODIN. Zekain's warship. Sudden multiple other bangs followed suit. An armada led by this ship had warped in, and thousands of different classes blanketed the sky.
“They must be getting ready for something. . .” John thought. He was nearly across the bridge when Balto cautiously lifted the lid. Only his eyes could be seen through the small crack under the lid.
“What’s all the commotion for, John?” Balto whispered.
“I don’t know, but a huge fleet seems to have entered orbit just above us. So stay down.” John replied, closing the lid and forcing Balto back down into the dumpster.
John had successfully made it across the bridge without being spotted. As he pushed the dumpster into the armaments factory, it became apparent that the place was closed off for internal renovations. The construction team had gone on their lunch break so John was able to let the others out safely.
“Gaaaaaaaahhhh!” Balto gasped as John lifted the lid open. He grounded himself by hanging onto the edge of the dumpster, but slipped due to some kind of slick substance on it, causing Balto to fall out and land on his back in front of John. The Chain Twins hopped out, seemingly unharmed by the foul smell in the dumpster. Balto looked around the large area. He noticed several scaffolds along the walls, as well as piles of metal plates, beams, tools, and drapes on the floor.
“Where. . .Where are we?” Balto asked, confused.
“Apparently they're doing some renovations. . .” John said as he glanced around to make sure they were alone.
“So,” Balto said as he stood back up, “How do you suppose we get to Terra?” He asked with a questioning look.
“Find a navigation port, that’ll tell us where she’s staying, there should be one around here somewhere. . .” he replied without looking back at Balto.
“I see. And what do these navigation ports look like?” he asked, placing his hands on his waist and leaning back, stretching his spine.
“They look like small computers that are built into the sides of walls. They usually place two to three of them in each building.” John said just as he spotted an object across the room covered by a white drape. “Ha, there's one.” he said as he walked over to the drape. He then grabbed a part of the drape and lifted it off to reveal a short, thin computer with a small monitor in the middle accompanied by multiple buttons on its sides and a keyboard just below it. John reached around to its left side and felt a power button just below the layout of all the buttons. He pressed the button, and the monitor along with a few lights along the top illuminated to life.
“Alright, Terra. Where are you. . . ?” He quietly said to himself as he began to surf through a map of the base section they were in.
Terra had made her way into a barracks-like building. Inside was a long wall with multiple doors to different soldiers’ quarters. She walked down the hall and headed for a double doorway. The hall itself was rectangular and tall, and adjacent the walls were support beams that stretched up to hold the roof in place. Placed on the ceiling were what looked like florescent lights. The place was kept quite clean and sanitary. A few soldiers in the hall saluted Terra as she walked by them.
Once in front of the doors, she pushed them open which revealed a rather large area. The ceiling extended seventy meters high, and multiple circular walkways wrapped around the walls, still leaving an exposed area for a sunroof to let in natural light on all floors. A set of three pairs of elevators were placed along the sides of the building. At each floor were five other halls that led to different areas into the building, some leading to other barracks, others leading to hangers or mess halls, and a few led to offices. Terra walked over to one of the elevators on her left that were closest to her and pressed a button on a pad that signaled the elevator to come down. A slight hum from its descend gently vibrated the metal doors which kept the area for the elevator closed off.
After a moment of waiting, the door opened. Terra stepped inside and pressed the number four button on the inner pad within the elevator. The door closed in response and began to lift itself up to the fourth floor. After yet another moment of waiting, the door slid open to the fourth floor. Terra strolled along the walkway and headed for another door opposite of the hall she came through, back down on the first floor.
She pushed the door open which led out into the side of a large, winding hall filled with partially completed vehicles and crates; the sound of power tools echoed and bounced off the metal walls. Terra went down the hall, passing by a few freighters and barges that were being worked on. She came up to a single-person blast door thirty meters away from the area she had just come from. Along the wall was a pad that had the shape of a hand on it. Terra took off her left glove and placed her hand on the pad. The pad emitted a blue light that streamed up and down on the pad, then flickered off. A second later, the blast door lifted itself open, revealing a slanted hall containing yet another blast door.
Terra headed up the hall and towards the blast door, but this door lifted itself open as terra was caught in a motion sensor along the roof. Through the door was a large room filled with computers and massive monitors that showed different areas all throughout the base they were in, and a few areas back on the White Void. One monitor showed both Inferno and Bolt fending off the massive swarm of drones that had attacked them.
Terra walked over to a dominant computer that overlooked all the others on a raised area in the center of the room. She pressed a single yellow button which brought down another monitor that showed the Grandkade symbol. Suddenly the picture flickered to the person who blew John, Balto and the Chain Twins out of the prison station.
“You rang, Zekain?” Terra said jokingly.
“I’m not calling to play your little games” Zekain replied sternly.
“Okay, fine you don’t have to be so rude about it.” Terra said, shaking her head.
“The targets have accessed a nav-point in Sector 7765 and appear to be looking for you. They most likely saw your little announcement and want to find out what you’re doing here.”
“Really? How do you know all this?” Terra asked, raising one eyebrow at what Zekain had just said.
“We have them bugged. We know exactly where they are, what they’re doing, and how they’re going to do it. Any other questions?” Zekain asked rudely.
“No no, carry on.” Terra replied with a sincere, almost mocking kind of tone.
“When they find you, you are to let them escape. Give them a drop ship and have them head for Jump Point #68g. You are also to tell them that I am coming for them and I know exactly where they are. Once they’ve gotten out of the base, you’ll accompany me on a false chase to put pressure on their escape.” Zekain explained, the tone of his voice staying the same throughout the briefing.
“I-I don’t understand. Why are we letting them go?” Terra asked, confused about the mission at hand.
Zekain grinned viciously. “Psychological war play. Make them feel like they’re home free when they really aren’t."
“I assume you’ll have someone waiting for them on the other side?” Terra asked, folding her arms in front of her chest.
“Oh yes; a CMD cannon (Catalyst Mass-Drive Cannon) escorted by the GK EAR (Grandkade Elite Assault Raiders.) I’ll also be broadcasting their deaths all over New Brawl City. Make all those who think they can hide from us to see how little hope they really have.” Zekain explained as he turned around to show another monitor behind him that had a picture of the massive fleet that waited for them.
Terra hummed under her own breath, scared for the others.
“Is there a problem, Terra?” Zekain asked, waiting for her reply.
“N-no. There’s no problem, sir. . .” Terra said back, trying to not look suspicious.
“Good. Now all we do is play the waiting game. Let’s see how long it takes them to get to you.” Zekain finished. He then pressed a button on the side of his monitor which shut off the connection, then pressed another button that switched the frequency to another channel where a person wearing green, spiky alien armor stood waiting. He was surrounded by light from multiple monitors that showed images of other wars going on all over the galaxy.
“So, your plan has been put to action I hear?” The man asked, his voices distorted by the helmet he wore.
“Yes, now all we have to do is wait for her to betray us and send them to another jump point. She’ll most likely tell them about the briefing and what I have planned for them. But little does she know that I’ve rerouted every jump point except the one I told her about to the fleet waiting for them.” Zekain said to the person on the other side of the transmission.
“Hmm, I see. And where do you have that jump point routed to?” He asked, curious to what Zekain's answer would be.
“To you, Zarth.” Zekain answered with a grin.
“Really now? Hmm. It’ll be interesting to see which way they decide to go.”
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Post by Gront on Nov 29, 2010 13:58:14 GMT -5
This is one of the most complex Xanatos gambits I've seen, yet it's fairly reasonable. Can't wait to see how it plays out.
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Post by Zarth on Dec 4, 2010 19:52:00 GMT -5
Edited by Grim.
Chapter 7 Family affairs & a Long-Distance Call
Bolt and Inferno were beginning to feel the exhausted from all the fighting; they had taken down nearly half of the swarm that attacked them. They were covered in cuts and bruises from the droids trying slash at them with their claws, and patches of Bolt’s skin were blistered or chapped from burns caused by the droids' lasers. There were scorch marks along his sword from him using it like a shield. They both panted heavily, trying to catch their breath as the remaining mob encircled them both like vultures. Bolt eyed each one, deciding on which to attack next, Inferno did the same.
The ship that released the drones originally loomed overhead, blocking out the sun. Small blue lights flashed along the rim of its hull, outlining the shape of the ship.
“If we keep this up, we won’t last for much longer, heh.” Bolt commented, wiping a drip of blood off from under his mouth.
“They just keep coming, don’t they?!” Inferno said, amazed at their relentless attacks.
Bolt looked up to the ship overhead and noticed that the hanger bay that the drones came out of was still open.
“There! We can end this right now, we just have board that hunk of flying metal!” Bolt yelled, gaining the motivation to keep going.
Electric energy began to accumulate under his feet for one last jump. He eyed the hanger bay, making sure this leap would count. Inferno formed a ball of flame under his feet as well.
“You ready, bro?” Bolt asked, keeping his eyes locked on the hanger.
“Always. . .” he replied with a manic look in his eyes. Suddenly a blast of both flame and lighting exploded under their feet, propelling the brothers towards the hanger at an immense speed. The pressure of air that rushed by them prevented them from breathing. All the droids that left below quickly readjusted and began to chase the two down as they closed in on the hanger.
“Damnit!” Permafrost cursed, slamming his fist on the table. “I wish I could be there to help them!”
“It’s alright, calm down, man. I’m sure they’ll do fine.” Cobb assured the younger boy as he watched the TV while the media cam struggled to keep both the Brawlers and the droids in frame.
“What happened to that robot dude, and that girl?” Drychris asked. Confused as to why the media wasn’t focusing on them.
“Maybe they got away. . .” Took Man answered with a shrug.
Weapons along the ship’s hull came to life, until they swung around and aimed for the Brawlers, firing a storm of plasma bolts, on a collision course. But before any of them could hit, Bolt jerked his sword in front of him to guard himself from the bolts, as did Inferno. The shots pelted their swords and heated up the blades to a nearly untouchable temperature.
They were at an arm’s length away from the hanger before gravity had regained its grasp on the two began to pull them back down.
“No! Not yet!” Bolt yelled as he reached up with his right arm and dug his blade into the hull of the ship. Inferno grabbed hold of Bolt's leg.
“Get us in there!” Bolt screamed as he wrenched his neck around to see the drones closed in on them from behind. Bolt began to swing back and forth until he was able to take his other hand and dig it into the hull as well, to gain a better grip. Inferno took his sword and threw it at the hull, a few inches away from Bolt's hand. The special ability of his sword caused chunk of the hull to melt off. Inferno jumped off of Bolt and towards the hole that he made, grabbing the ledge and struggling to pull himself in.
Once inside, Bolt did another swinging motion and swung into the hole like an acrobat. Just as his head entered through the hole, a rain of energy blasts pelted the ship where they were moments earlier.
The hanger they were in was utterly massive; the ceiling was around two hundred and fifty meters high. Attack fighters that were stored and waiting for combat were held in large racks across the roof. Each rack held seven fighters. Bright light fixtures just above those lit up the entire area, along with florescent-like tubes along the walls that were shielded in an oval glass plate within the walls. Crates littered the edges of the hanger, some open and exposing equipment that needed repair. Bulky support beams ran along the walls right up to the roof. A huge barrier covered the hanger entrance, creating pressure in the area. The echoes of power tools and PA announcements within the ship bounced off the large metal walls.
“Come on, we can’t stop moving, they probably already know that we're in here.” Bolt said as he stood up and ran for one of the doors.
“Uggh, always on the run. . .” Inferno commented to himself as he got up to follow Bolt.
“Did they actually get inside the ship!?” Glace asked, amazed at how they were able to do such a thing.
“Looks like it.” McJesus replied, still sitting at Angelface's bedside as she rested.
“I hope they’ll be ok.” Permafrost said, worried about his brothers.
“I sure they’ll be juuuust fine, you guys are a tough bunch.” Cobb assured.
“So we're not going to go out and help them?” Shackles asked, feeling as if he was betraying the two even though he had never met them.
“No, not yet anyway. That’s what they want. They want us to come out of hiding so they can pick us off. Just like during the war.” Took Man replied, keeping his eyes on the TV as the media droid watched the ship, as it wasn’t authorized to enter it.
“It just doesn’t seem right. . .” Drychris whispered to himself.
“What was that?” Cobb asked.
“I said that it just isn’t right.” He said again but louder this time.
“I know, but there isn’t much else we can do right now," Cobb stated firmly, "Getting over here was dangerous enough, and we can't risk ourselves so soon. We have to trust them to take care of themselves."
Bolt and Inferno sprinted down hall after hall, making turns and heading flights of stairs in random directions of the ship as they beat down any soldier or crewman that got in their way. They were lost within the confines of the massive ship. All the halls looked the same: gray steel walls and doors, with red lights in the middle of the ceiling.
Inferno was beyond irriated. “Damn it, where are we!? It's like we're just going in circles!”
“Come on, the core can’t be that hard to find!” Bolt encouraged his sibling.
“They’re down here!” a soldier yelled as a group of them turned a corner and immediately began to fire on the brothers.
“Damnit! Where are they all coming from!?” Bolt cursed as he quickly back out of the hall they were in, using his sword as a shield to block the energy bolts that were shot at them.
“Bolt!” Inferno snapped when he suddenly noticed a sign on the side of the wall beside a doorway in the hall that they were in.
“What?” Bolt replied, trying to keep his huge sword steady in order to give them full coverage.
“This door, I think it may be an elevator. It leads to the bridge!” Inferno announced while staying behind Bolt as he fended off the energy bolts.
“Well, cut it open!” Bolt ordered. Inferno took his sword and slashed through the door, melting his way through. Behind the door was a wide oval-shaped shaft that led up to the bridge. Inferno hopped into the shaft for cover. Bolt took his sword and did a slashing motion towards the soldiers down the hall, creating a powerful lightning bolt that ripped the hall apart and killed the soldiers. Bolt fell to his knees due to exhaustion, sweat dripped down his face. He gasped for air as he tried to catch his breath.
“Damn. . .these bastards are really wearing me out. . .” Bolt commented jokingly. “Hey bro, go up there without me and tear the place apart. . .I need to take a breather. . .Don’t worry, I’ll be fine down here.”
“You sure?” Inferno asked. Hesitation was rare for him, but it was his brother.
“Yeah. . .Go on, don’t let me suck the fun out of this for you, heh. . .” Bolt said as he sat up against the wall opposite of the elevator.
“Alright fine. I won’t be long.” Inferno said as he turned around and readied a ball of flame under his feet for the long jump up to the bridge.
Once he hit the right amount of pressure, the ball of flames exploded, throwing Inferno up the elevator shaft at an alarming speed. As he closed in onto the bottom of the elevator which was stationed at bridge level, he engulfed himself in a ball of flame which literally ripped a huge hole in the elevator. All the crewmen on the bridge turned over to face the elevator as the sound of a powerful explosion roared up. Inferno took his sword and slashed the elevator in an diagonal motion twice, in the shape of an x. He then promptly kicked the door in, sending all four pieces flying into the bridge.
“Who’s up for a barbeque!?” Inferno announced cockily as he rushed the area. The few security guards that were in the bridge pulled out their concealed pistols and began to fire at Inferno but were too terrified to get an accurate shot on him. Inferno slammed the blade of his sword to the floor of the bridge which released a tidal wave of flame that quickly engulfed the entire area. The pressure became so great that the reinforced windows along the front of the bridge blew out. Seconds later, the entire ship started to lose control: the tip of the ship's nose began to dip towards the city, lights down almost every hall within the ship began to flicker, and an emergency siren began to sound off.
Crewmen and women ran down the hall Bolt was in, paying no attention to him as he sat there by the wall regaining his strength. He slowly staggered to his feet, keeping his back against the wall for balance. Bolt finally took his sword and strapped it back onto his back, just as Inferno jumped to the bottom of the elevator shaft.
“Ready to go?” Bolt asked as he stretched his arms back.
“Yeah, let’s get off this dump.” Inferno replied.
“Alright then, stand back!” Bolt ordered as he faced the wall with his left shoulder pointed at it as if he were getting ready to tackle it.
“Oh, you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do, are you?” Inferno asked while taking a step back.
“I’m afraid so.” Bolt answered as he inhaled deeply and took a step back for some running room. He then closed his eyes and took another deep breath.
“Here we go!” Bolt yelled as he opened his eyes and dashed towards the wall. With his over-the-top strength he was able to tear a hole right through the walls of the ship. Inferno sprinted after him, trying to keep up. One wall after another, Bolt ran straight through the ship without stopping, even managing to trample a few crew members that were either trying to escape or restore control over the ship. Bolt hit the edge of the ship, blowing out the side of it and falling to the surface. Inferno jumped down after him.
The media cam that had watched the whole thing happening from outside shifted its view to them as they fell.
“Well would you look at that!” Cobb grinned sharply. “Told you so."
Bolt impacted another small store near the battle zone, which had been closed down and evacuated minutes before the ship had arrived. He penetrated the roof, shattering shingles and wiring within. Shelves that were stocked with a variety of different goods were thrown around as the shelves under Bolt collapsed under his weight. He hit the floor on his back, and his sword was thrown across the store and down one of the aisles.
Inferno landed on top of the store near the hole Bolt created. He peeked in to see Bolt slowly getting back onto his feet, while the ship above them sank to the surface, explosions erupting through windows and out of the major hanger bay. Escape pods along the sides of the ship shot out, flying all over the city in random directions.
“Arrg my back. . .That was quite a fall. . .” Bolt complained as he slowly stood up.
“You should really see this, it’s quite a sight.” Inferno said as he took in the view of watching the ship tear itself apart.
Bolt looked around for his sword. Once he spotted it, he limped over and picked it up then headed for the exit. The sliding glass doors were locked, so Bolt kicked them down and made his way out.
Just as he went out onto the walkway in front of the store, the ship let out one massive explosion which originated from the core. The blast was so large and bright that it engulfed most of what was left of the ship. Shrapnel and other debris shot out in every direction, and the roar of the blast echoed all throughout the city, shattering the windows of buildings that were near it.
As the blasted faded away and the smoke cleared, they noticed that that blasts had torn the ship in half. Smoldering fires from within the confines of the shop could be seen as loose, smoldering chunks of metal fell to the surface. The EMP caused by the blast killed off all the remaining drones that attacked them before they infiltrated the ship. The media drone that the other Brawlers watched from also died from the EMP.
“Haha! What a way to end the day, don’t you agree, bro?” Bolt cheered.
“Oooh yeah, it was fun while it lasted.” Inferno replied as he took his sword and wiped the blood off of the blade.
“Alright well, I guess we should call Handy and get him to take us back to DC.” Bolt said as he took a phone-like device that was shaped like a gloved hand. He lifted up the middle finger of the glove and stretched out the thumb. He then pressed a series of buttons on the palm. The device began to hum like any phone would for a moment.
“Hello, what is it?” A voice said over the hand phone.
“Hey it’s Bolt. Is this Mr. Handy?” Bolt asked making sure he was talking to the right person.
“Yes this is handy, who else do you think it would have been?!” Handy replied mockingly.
“Yeah yeah. Hey, can you get us a ride back to Dare Ci-” Bolt suddenly halted his sentence when he spotted a single drop ship flying through the city with its sides open; There was a soldier with fairly unique armor that seemed to be holding Element's blade. Behind that ship appeared to be a cargo ship that had Wires hooked up to it, similar to the way a helicopter would do when rescuing someone. Bolt noticed that Wires had a hole blown right through him. Looking back up at the drop ship, he could also see that the soldier was looking right back at them as the drop ship flew away.
“That doesn’t look good.” Bolt muttered.
“What? What doesn’t look good? Dammit Bolt, say something!” Mr. Handy yelled over the phone.
“Hey. . .sorry, dude. Something just came up, we have to go. Call the others and see if you can get them to DC. We’ll meet up with you guys soon.” Bolt said as pressed a button on the palm of the hand to stop the call.
“Inferno. . .you saw that, right?” Bolt asked to make sure he wasn’t just going crazy.
“Yeah. I saw him. . .” Inferno replied as he jumped down from the roof of the store.
“Let’s go find out where he’s heading.” Bold said as he ran in the direction where the drop ship flew too, jumping from walkway to walkway and eventually making their way up to the top of the tall skyscrapers that made up most of the city.
“Aww, come on, why did the media drone have to die!?” Glace complained, shaking his head in disappointment.
“Don’t worry about it. We know that they’re ok, so we don’t need to watch this crap anymore." Tookman replied as he took the remote and switched off the TV.
Cobb looked over to the Magic School Bus. “This has been on my mind for a while now. Well, ever since we got here that is.” Cobb said while eyeing the bus.
“What’s that?” Suzy asked in a very cheerful tone.
“We're up against this massive, extremely advanced empire. These guys seem to be able to track us down so easy, that they act like it's a sport.” Cobb explained as he stood up and walked over to the bus.
“Yeah?” McJesus said while waiting to hear what else Cobb had to say.
“Wouldn’t they have been able to spot us traveling through Old Brawl City and out into the Void in this thing? I mean, look at it! It sticks out like a sore thumb.” Cobb blurted while gesturing his hand towards the bus.
“Yeah. . .it wasn’t really one of my smartest ideas was it?” Took Man said shamefully.
“No, it really wasn’t. But what I want to know is, why haven’t they attacked us yet?” Cobb asked.
“M-maybe they thought we traveled in that thing on purpose to make them think that we wanted them to attack us?” Glace said, stuttering slightly.
Pulse ignored their conversation and looked around the room. He shuffled through some open wrappers and things that the others were to lazy to throw into a trash can beside the tables, until he heard a very faint ringing sound buried under a pile of mattresses and things across from him. He walked around the table and over to the pile, digging through it until the ringing became loud enough to catch the attention of the other Brawlers. Pulse reached into the pile and pulled out an old, dusty radio that seemingly hadn’t been used since the war five years ago.
Pulse examined it for a moment then tossed it over to Permafrost unexpectedly. Permafrost jostled it around as he tried to grab hold of it, but Shackles snatched it out of the air just before Permafrost could get a good grip on it. He then began to fiddle with a nozzle on the side which altered the transmission.
“He….o….. i………… anyone…………..ere?…………… th……………… s………ba…….. I…….. rep… at…… is… an……there?..........is……….. i…….nan…..” A voice called out, heavily broken up by the static.
“Uh, I have no idea who this is.” Shackles admitted with an embarrassed grin as he handed the radio over to Cobb.
“Hello? This is Cobb, who is this? You’re breaking up!” Cobb yelled over the radio hoping for a reply.
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Post by Zarth on Dec 11, 2010 2:33:57 GMT -5
Edited by grim.
Chapter 8 Emperor's Doorstep
“There!” John announced as he pointed to a spot on a map that illuminated from the small screen. “This is where she’s staying. It’s not far from here, we just have to find a safe way to get to her.” He explained as Balto casually walked over to take a look at the map.
“Hmmm. That’s a rather large building. How will we find her in there?” Balto questioned, raising one eyebrow as he examined the map.
“Ummm. . .We could always have a little talk with one of the occupants in there.” John replied, using his hands to make quotation marks at the word 'talk'.
“Yeah. . .I suppose so. . .” Balto agreed, hesitantly.
A sudden clatter of loose metal echoed through the building. The Brawlers quickly turned around to see where it came from.
“Shit! Find somewhere to hide!” John whispered as he ran over to a few stacked crates by a wall. Balto frantically looked around for a hiding spot but could only see the dumpster.
“Aww!” Balto moaned as he ran to the dumpster and jumped back in. The Chain Twins took a few drapes off the ground and covered themselves with it, standing still like statues.
Three soldiers walked in along with a few small drones that merely looked like bulky, floating security cameras. They curiously glanced around the room, lenses shifting in and out as they zoomed and focused on certain objects in the room. They began to slowly float around the room, their antigravity systems humming as they adjusted the drones’ altitude.
“Has anyone checked this area yet?” one of the soldiers asked as he looked around the room, holding his rifle by his waist, ready to fire.
“I’m not sure. I was getting mixed messages from other groups about this place. The place looks clear, let’s have a look around. Just to be safe.” another soldier answered as he walked down a flight of stairs to the Brawlers’ level. John slowly slid his head out from behind the crates. Then he began to hear a hum just above his head.
John looked up to see one of the drones right above him, staring at an object on the wall opposite him. He hunched down quickly, hoping it wouldn’t see him. After it finished, it simply turned around and headed back over to the group of soldiers.
One of the soldiers stood by the drape that covered the Chain Twins, they were as still as stone. He examined it and the unusual shaped object under it, slowly reaching over to the drape with his right hand.
But just before he could touch it, a loud horn rang through the base and caught the attention of all the soldiers in the factory.
“Looks like we’re heading out, we should move before they leave without us!” one of the soldiers said loudly. “Let’s head out!” he finished as he ran back for the flight of stairs and back out the exit while the others followed him. Once they all left, the door they went through slammed shut.
Balto slowly lifted open the lid to the dumpster and peeked out.
“Looks like they’re gone. . .” Balto muttered while he pushed open the lid and hopped out.
John walked out from behind the crates and back to the center of the room where the dumpster was placed. The Chain Twins threw off the drape and joined them.
“So, that was close.” Balto said, letting out a sigh of relief. “How do we get to Terra?” he asked.
John walked over to one the drapes that had a rectangular spt of light behind it. He pulled back the drape to reveal a window, and he looked out to see all the soldiers outside emptying out of the streets and heading towards multiple large carrier ships hovering just above ground level right outside of the base.
“Well that’s convenient. . .” John thought to himself as he looked around for the building where Terra was staying.
“There it is!” John announced when he spotted the building. Balto walked over beside John to take a look.
“Geez, that’s a big building.” Balto said, amazed at the sheer size of it.
“Alright, so here’s what we’re going to do. We're just going to wing and run to the front entrance.” John said.
“Wait. . .that’s your plan? Run across the road with who knows how many enemies out there, and just knock on the door to see if they’ll let us in? Are you out of your mind!?” Balto protested, his voice echoing through the factory.
“Well I was going for more blasting the door rather then knocking. But if you want to knock, then that’s fine by me.” John replied sarcastically. “Besides, most of the soldiers out there are getting ready to board those carriers just over there,” John pointed to the large ships that looked like massive, metallic whales “to go somewhere else. And if we don’t hurry, Terra might be getting on those ships as well. . .” John said as he walked over to the exit where the soldiers had went out of moments earlier. He pressed his hand on the door's cold steel frame. A pool of blue energy began to spill out of his hand and carpeted the door. John then began to push the door in a way which that allowed the energy to blow the door away from him.
“There’s no turning back now guys, come on!” John announced as he ran outside.
“Ugh, let's go.” Balto moaned as he reluctantly ran out after John. The Chain Twins looked at one another, confused, and hopped up onto the area where the door was and ran out with them.
The smoldering sand that had been baking all day burned their bare feet as they made their way across the road. The Chain Twins hopped around, happy that they were finally out in the open once again.
“Argh. I really need to invest in some shoes.” Balto complained as he tip-toed across the sand.
Conveniently, the place was deserted as all the troops gathered by the carriers just outside the base. John ran up to the front entrance of the building that Terra was in, placing his back against the wall and surveying the area for any hostiles as the others made their way over. Once they all joined back up, John quickly blew the door in like the other one before. But this time an alarm sounded off.
“Wasn’t expecting that!” John stated.
“You planned on blowing the door in and weren’t planning on it being rigged with some kind of an alarm?!” Balto growled accusingly, becoming irritated with John's sudden lack of caution.
“Well, let’s not just stand here, guys.” The Chain Twins said simultaneously as they pushed Balto and John in.
“So many doors!” Balto yelled as they ran down the first level of barracks. “Terra could be in any one of these!”
“Nonsense, if she were, we would have run into her by now.” John said as they closed in on the double doors. Balto and John tackled open the doors and ran into a large, tall oval room containting the elevators.
“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better.” Balto thought to himself. “So which floor do you want to start on first?"
John scanned each floor, trying to pick the best possible place to start when he saw Terra standing, looking down at them from the fifth floor.
“There she is!” John announced as he shot two green lasers at the ground, propelling him up to the fifth floor. Balto did the same with his glove, while the Chain Twins began to swing from level to level like a pair of monkeys. Terra turned around and ran back through the door she came, purposely leading them to her control room.
John landed on the walkway on the fifth floor and ran ahead, Balto landed on the walkway a second later along with the Chain Twins, and they both joined John in his pursuit. Terra had made her way into the winding hall that was full of broken down vehicles that were being worked on. She waited by a half built tank to see if they were still coming when the door they were coming through blew open as they sprinted through.
“Shit, they really want a piece of me.” Terra thought as she turned around and continued to run towards her control room.
“Dammit! Terra, Stop!” John ordered as he shot a laser at the ground by her feet as a warning shot. Terra ignored the laser and pulled a sharp turn through the door of her control room, not bothering to lock the doors. Once in, she ran up to the front of the room where most of the computers and other equipment were stationed. She waited as they barged their way in.
Once they made it up to the doors Terra had gone through, the group quickly noticed that it wasn’t locked. John slowed down to a cautious walk along with the others.
“There could be a trap on at the end of this hall.” John whispered as he readied a laser in his right hand. Balto nodded and charged up his glove as they slowly walked up to the door.
Terra casually inspected her nails, wondering why it was taking them to make their way in. Suddenly the door slid open. Terra stood up as she watched them walk into the room. She took in a deep breath, getting ready to explain everything to them; hoping that they would believe her.
“Terra!” John yelled as he powered down the laser in his hand. “What the hell is going on around here, why are you working for the enemy?” John demanded.
“Look! We don’t have time for this!” Terra replied, catching the Brawlers off guard. “Zekain is going to be here any minute, he knows that you guys are here and where you all were the entire time.” Terra explained. Her words struck a sensation of terror in the Brawlers.
“W-what do you mean?” John asked, as he looked around for cameras of any kind but couldn’t find any.
“Your armor, it’s been bugged. But that’s not the biggest problem we have right now!” Terra went on.
“My armor!? God, I-I feel so violated. . .” John said as he looked down at his armor.
“How do we know that you aren’t just lying to us!?” Balto accused loudly.
“Why would I even be lying to you? If I were, you’d all be dead by now after I spotted the three of you in the waste processing plant!” Terra argued. “I’m still on your side, I never switched. I just thought that we needed someone on the inside to see what all their plans are for the Void. So I stepped up to the responsibility." Terra continued. “I’m literally the only one keeping all of you safe from harm. If it weren’t from me, all of the Brawlers would have died off by now. I’m just trying to keep you guys safe. But there’s a problem. . .” Terra finished as she turned around to face the computer.
“And what’s that?” John asked.
“I’ve seen Zekain execute this sort of strategy before. . .He wants you guys to escape. He also wanted me to tell you four to steal a drop ship and head for jump point #68g, and to lie about saying that it’s the only way back to the White Void. But really he has an armada waiting for you four specifically.” Terra said with a worrisome look.
“What about the other jump points?” John asked, wondering why he didn’t tell her anything about them.
“Like I said before, I’ve seen him do this before, but with a rebel leader. He had all of the jump points rerouted to the same fleet, and actually had the one he told him about lead him to empty space where he could escape back home without any hassle.” She explained as she brought up the battle reports for that particular mission on the computer.
“Do you think he’s done the same thing for us?” Balto asked, hoping that she would say yes.
“I. . .I don’t know.” Terra answered. “I think he’s onto me and my ruse. He might have lied to me about the whole thing. . .Fuck. This is so stressful!” Terra cursed out loud. “It could lead you back to the Void. But are guys willing to take that chance?” Terra asked, worriedly running a hand through her hair.
Balto and John looked at one another, then to the Chain Twins who stood behind them. They nodded in agreement.
“Looks like we are.” John answered hesitantly.
“. . .Alright. . .I have a few drop ships still in dock just outside and down the hall to the right; you guys will see a door that’ll lead you to a hanger.” She explained as clearly as she could.
“Okey-doke." Balto said as he turned to walk out the door, the others did the same.
“Wait!” Terra snapped.
“Yeah, what is it?” John asked.
“I’ve been ordered to help pursue you when you attempt to escape, so don’t be surprised if you see me tailing you guys.” She explained. “Oh also, try to make it look as real as you can. There’s no telling what he’s planning, if he picks up that I told you guys, he may really try to shoot you down.” She finally finished, looking very stressed out about the whole ordeal.
“Alright, we’ll do our best.” John replied. The Brawlers followed Terra’s instructions to the hanger. The door was left wide open, leading to the hanger, which was extremely spacious. Unmanned drop ships were parked in their own lots along the sides of the hanger. A few engineers and pilots were in the hanger and hadn’t noticed that the Brawlers had casually waltzed inside.
“Sooooo. . .” Balto sighed. “Which one are we going to take? And do you even know how to drive one of these things, John?” Balto asked casually.
“A little. Like I said before, I was just a prison guard, not a soldier on the field.” John answered as he eyed each ship, deciding on which one to take out for a spin. “Let’s take that one.” John said as he pointed at the drop ship nearest to them.
“Alrighty then, let’s go.” Balto said as began to swiftly sneak his way towards the drop ship. The others followed him, making their way up a flight of wide stairs that led into the slot that held the drop ship. John walked up to the side of the ship and examined it for a moment. He took his right index finger and generated a thin sliver of yellow energy on the tip of his finger, just above where his nail would be. He pressed the sliver of energy against the side of the ship where the side would normally open up and began to slowly run it down the side. The energy began to heat up and boil away the metal, creating a long hole through it. John kept this up until he formed a five feet tall rectangle for them to crawl through.
Once he finished, the slab of metal that was once attached to the side of the ship plummeted to the floor, creating a loud bang when it hit. All the engineers and pilots looked over to where the sound came from and spotted the Brawlers just about to make their way into the drop ship. The Brawlers looked over to see all of them staring back at them.
“Shit, get in get in get in!” John commanded frantically while an engineer ran for an emergency button on the side of the wall. John ran into the cockpit of the drop ship and pressed a button which brought the ship to life. It slowly started to lift off of the platform it rested on, the antigravity emitters underneath giving off a hum. Along the keyboard were a number of different buttons and controls to show how the ship was doing. In front of John were a set of controls that actually flew that ship, which looked much like what the pilots in passenger planes used, but much smaller and easier to handle.
John took hold of the control and accidentally pressed a button on the front of it, activating a set of primary energy cannons that fired two blasts against the opposite wall.
“What was that!?” Balto yelled as he braced himself for the worst ride of his life.
“N-nothing, don’t worry about it.” John said as he rethought what he was doing. He then took the controls once again and pushed them forward, which in return threw the ship ahead. He then pulled the control to the right which shifted the ship to the right, facing the hanger doors. He pushed forward, once again, as hard as he could. The drop ship shot out like a bullet, nearly hitting a fighter jet that looked different from all the others.
In the cockpit of that jet was Zekain. He pulled his fighter around, which was able to hover like the drop ships, and realigned it so that it faced the drop ship that had just left.
“Looks like it’s time to play our little game.” Zekain said to himself as he pressed the flat of his foot down on a peddle in his cockpit which caused the engines in his fighter to explode to life. The fighter bolted towards the Brawlers at nearly twice the speed they were going.
Zekain pressed a button which opened up a COM channel to Terra.
“Terra, it’s time to put our plan into action. How long will it take you to catch up?” Zekain said over the COM as he focused most of his attention of the drop ship ahead of him.
“Right beside you, sir.” Terra replied as she flew up beside his fighter. She was riding something that looked like a motorcycle, but a lot sleeker and covered in a frame of smooth blue steel. The engines were refitted with one of the same engines on the attack fighters, allowing her to travel at or nearly at the same speed as them. On the side of her bike were a set of cannons similar to the ones that the drones back in New Brawl City used.
“Good, let’s have some fun, shall we?” Zekain said with a bloodthirsty grin just as he switched off the COM.
The hunters and the hunted bolted across the base and back over the large desert that the Brawlers landed in earlier. Within a matter of seconds, the base they were at was out of view. The sky was clear, no sandstorms or clouds to be seen. Zekain pressed a button on his dashboard while keeping his controls steady. The button lowered a set of machine guns just under the cockpit. He then pressed another button on the top of his control deck, which triggered the machine cannons to release a steady stream of super-heated energy bolts towards the drop ship ahead of them. Most of the shots missed, but five of them hit and penetrated the back of the drop ship, passing right by Balto's head.
“I thought they weren’t trying to kill us yet!” Balto yelled, shaken up by nearly being hit.
“Arrghhhh. Hold on, I’m bringing one of the turrets on top of this thing online!” John yelled back as he seemingly pressing random buttons. A moment later, the turret on top came to life and quickly took aim at their pursuers, beginning to fire back.
Being an excellent pilot, Zekain managed to dodge the shots as they came at him. Terra simply countered by releasing a pair of energy blasts from the side of her bike, purposely missing each time.
“Now you’re in for it!” Zekain said as he opened up two missile pods on each side of his fighter’s wings. Terra noticed this and reopened the COM signal.
“What are you doing, we’re letting them go, remember?” Terra snarled, hoping that he would listen to anger.
“Relax. I’m making it seem real.” He replied just as he released seven missiles towards the drop ship, each one leaving a long smoke trail behind them.
“Brace yourselves, we have incoming!” John announced as he frantically reconfigured the gun to shoot down as many of the missiles as he could. Balto and the Chain Twins held onto a set of beams along the center of the passenger area, hoping that they would live. John was able to shoot down five of the missiles the other two flew up beside the drop ship and detonated once it was in their proximity. The blast jostled them around, throwing Balto off of the support beam and slamming against the side.
“Okay, we’ve reached a momentum high enough now to get us into space and out of here without too much trouble. Are you guys ready!?” John announced as he began to tilt the controls upward to pull the drop ship higher into the air.
“We’re good!” the Chain Twins said as they waited for the ship to start slanting as it traveled towards the atmosphere.
“Oh no. . .” Balto said as he slid to the back of the ship.
In response to the sudden change in altitude, the ship automatically toggled one two different functions. One was an artificial gravity system to keep its occupants safe from being thrown around as the ship moved, and a thin energy shield that enveloped it much like an extra layer of skin. The shield sealed up the holes that were shot into the ship by Zekian, and the large hole that John cut out in order for them to get into the drop ship.
Zekain slowed down his fighter and watched them climb their way up to the atmosphere. Terra did the same.
“And there they go. . .heh. So which jump point did you send them too?” Zekain asked as he watched them vanish from view.
“The one that was supposed to lead them to the White Void, but really doesn’t.”
“Oh, interesting. So they’re going to go visit Zarth then.” Zekain said casually as he pulled his ship around and headed back to the base.
“. . .Wait what?!" Terra yelled over the COM, terrified to think that she may have just sent them to their deaths.
“Come on, Terra. We have a carrier to catch that’s heading back to your home world.” Zekain said, seemingly ignoring Terra’s outburst.
“Alright here we go. We’re approaching the jump point now.” John said as he aligned the drop ship just right with the jump point. What made up the jump point was a massive space station, larger than any warship. In the center of this station was circular hole that looked like a massive gate. As the drop ship approached, dozens of lights along the gate lit up just as the tip of their ship passed the event horizon of the gate. The drop ship was enveloped in a bright white light, and then suddenly they shot off into deep space.
John leaned back and sighed, amazed that they actually got out of their alive. He flipped on an auto-pilot system and walked out of the cockpit and into the passenger area, where Balto sat up against the back. The Chain Twins were peering out of the hole that John cut open. Balto looked over to what the Chain Twins were doing and noticed the large hole, and how thin that the shielding of the ship actually was.
“Hey, John. . .Would you mind temporarily patching this rust bucket up a bit? Just in case that shielding fails.”
“Yeah sure, no problem.” John replied as he created a set of different sized dark blue energy blocks that would fit into the hole on the side of the ship and the bullet holes along the back where Zekain’s shots pierced the drop ship's thick, steel frame. He motioned his hands around to manipulate the energy so that the blocks would fit perfectly within the holes. And they did. As soon as he finished, he sat down to take a break.
“Do you guys really think that this jump will takes us back home?" The Chain Twins said, sounding slightly worried about what Terra had said earlier.
“I hope so.” John replied as he rubbed his eyebrows to relieve some of the stress he had been under. “I would really like to get out of this armor since, now that I know it’s bugged, and they’re probably tracking us because of it. And I would really like to see everyone again. I’ve gotten quite homesick over these years.” John said while looking down at his battered armor.
“Same.” Balto said. “I miss the others. It’s been so long. . .I would really like to know if they’re all okay.” Balto went on as he looked at the ceiling of the drop ships passenger area, sounding slightly depressed from being separated from everyone for so long.
A dull, but loud beeping alarm started to sound off from the cockpit, along with the flashing of a small red light just above the front window. John looked over to see what was going on. He stood up and walked back into the cockpit. He pressed a few buttons which brought up the words "Now entering normal space" in bright yellow text.
“Well, that was fast.” John commented as he sat back down in the pilot’s seat. He readied the ship as it came out of warp. Stars and other things in space that weren’t able to be seen during the jump began to gradually reappear.
“Hey guys, get ready, we're coming out of the jump now.” John announced.
Right after he said that, a super massive machine-like planet suddenly appeared and took up the view of the front visor. From where they were, it looked like an immense, flying city. But it couldn’t have been just a city, it was far too large.
There were lights along each and every tower. The tallest one which was situated in the center had green lights, which separated it from the rest. Though, all of these towers seemed to be rather tiny due to the distance of the ship from the planet. Along its equator were thousands of massive hangers that could have held an uncountable amount of Grandkade warships. But those were just the main hanger areas, as there were many more built in many different areas all over. Below this equator was an almost mirror image of the northern hemisphere. Finally, surrounding this beast, was the largest and most powerful armada in the Grandkade Empire, guarding it with their lives. Millions of ships could be seen orbiting all around.
John's jaw dropped at the mere sight. Balto walked in wondering why John had suddenly gone quiet when he saw it too.
“J-John. . .What am I looking at here?” Balto asked calmly, in complete and utter shock.
“I-I think i-it’s the Ultras. . .” John replied, his voice trembling from wondering why they were brought here of all places.
“Ultras. . .? What's that, John?” Balto asked again, still in a very calm manner.
“My ship.” A distorted voice replied from out of nowhere. Suddenly, a window much like one you would see in an internet browser appeared within the frontal window of the drop ship; in the window was Zarth, staring right back at them. Balto and John jerked back from the random reply.
“Who are you?!” Balto demanded.
“He’s the emperor. . .” John said quietly.
“Yes. . .and I’ve been waiting for you four. Welcome to the Ultras. It’s time we had a little talk.” Zarth said darkly, just as he switched off the channel to their drop ship.
Suddenly the drop ship began to jostled around as a dull, yellow beam shot out and grabbed hold of them.
“What’s going on?!” the Chain Twins yelled as they tried to regain their balance.
“It’s a tractor beam, they’re pulling us in! I can’t break free!” John yelled out as he struggled with the controls to no avail.
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Post by Zarth on Dec 13, 2010 12:54:14 GMT -5
Are you guys even reading this anymore?
Edited by Grim.
Chapter 9 Into the Caverns
“There’s too much interference, is there any way we could clear up the transmission?” Cobb asked the others with a desperate look.
“We could go outside. . .” Glace mentioned, eyeing the closed off entrance to the bunker they were in.
Cobb looked over to the entrance, then quickly over to Took Man. “Oi, open it! Quick, before we lose the signal!” Cobb ordered as he ran over to the closed off entrance. Took Man reached for the remote that controlled the TV and pointed it towards the entrance and pressing green a button near the ON button for the TV. In response from the signal from the remote, the large entrance to the bunker rumbled and began to slowly lift open, causing plumes of white sand from outside to fall down its sides from being disturbed. Cobb ran out of the bunker as fast as he could, hoping that the signal would gain some strength, and it did. The voice on the other side slowly became less noisy.
“Is anyo……… there?…..thi….. is…..Ban....... I repeat! I….. Anyone there? T..is is Banana!” The voice called out in desperation.
“Hello!? We hear you, this is Cobb. Where are you?!” Cobb replied, talking as loudly and clearly as he possibly could.
The others walked out to listen to the conversation. Angelface hung on McJesus' shoulder, still being quite too weak to walk on her own.
A loud explosion accompanied with screams could be heard in the background of the transmission.
“Shit, they fo…. Us! Cobb… How man… is there any one els…. With yo….?” Banana asked.
Cobb looked around at the other Brawlers with him and counting each one in his head.
“There are ten of us, including me. Where are you, and what’s going on!?” Cobb demanded, worried about those screams he heard in the background.
“We’re in….. D…. City…. And we ne..d…. help! They’re ever…ere!…… How lo…. Can it take you guys to get here?!” Banana asked, while the transmission became more clear as it gained in strength.
“Sorry, where are you?” Cobb asked again, listening in more closely to make out the transmission.
“We’re in Dare city, and we need help!” Banana repeated clearly for a brief moment before the static returned.
Cobb looked at the others to see if someone would come up with a decision
“Well? Should we go all the down there to see what’s going on? It sounds like they’re in a lot of trouble.” Cobb said.
“We can’t stay here. They asked for help, and who knows, we could have been the only one who actually heard that call, unless,” Permafrost paused, he turned around to gaze at New Brawl City far off into the horizon, “Unless they heard it too.” Permafrost finished with a hint of disgust in his voice.
“Hey. . .How close are we to the caverns?” Glace asked out of the blue.
“Um, I think it’s just a few miles to the south of where we are now. Give or take. It’s been a while since any of us have actually been down there.” McJesus replied as he pointed in the direction to the Caverns.
“Caverns? What’s that place like?” Dry Chris asked, intrigued.
“Oh it’s a huge labyrinth-like cave system, goes all throughout the underground. A lot of it hasn’t been explored, most adventurers don't make it out alive.” Took Man explained casually, seeing if he could scare Dry Chris.
“Why do you ask, Glace?” McJesus questioned, with his huge left eyebrow raised.
“Well, I was thinking maybe we could use the Caverns as a shortcut to Dare City. There is one known path to Dare City that nearly touches the Negasphere.” Glace explained, hoping the others would agree with him.
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that path. Some Brawlers back in the war used it to transport refugees from Brawl City to Dare City. . .I think. It was so long ago. . .” Took Man trailed off while rubbing his chin with his left hand, trying to remember the details about that particular route.
“Yeah, but was a dangerous one at that.” Cobb warned as he turned off the radio that he held onto. “Last time I heard, that route was home to the rape tentacles.” Every Brawler except for Shackles and Dry Chris shivered at the mention of them.
“The what!?” Shackles blurted out, confused and just a little bit disturbed.
Permafrost leaned over to whisper into Shackle’s ear. As he explained, the color of Shackle’s face turned to a deathly pale white.
“Well, we should get going. If we stay here out in the open for too long, they’ll surely find us and then we won't get anywhere at all.” Cobb decided, in an irritated tone. He walked back into the bunker, approaching the Magic School Bus.
“Wait, Cobb. We’re not going to use that rust bucket to get there.” Took Man announced, his voice echoing back down into the bunker.
Cobb turned around, surprised. “Then what are we using?”
Took Man walked out into the open, away from everyone else and stretched out his left arm. His fingers hand tensed up as if he were trying to shoot some sort of beam. A cloud sparks began to form around an area five meters from him, and seconds later, that cloud started to thicken. White sand within the area was kicked up by the energy emanating from the cloud of sparks. Soon the cloud had thickened so much that one could not see through it any longer.
Thin streams of lightning bolts generated within the cloud from the static electricity that had built up from when Took Man began. The cloud was thirteen meters long, six meters high, and around nine meters wide. The shape of something smooth and rounded along the top of the cloud came into view. It was the same color of the white sand that covered the White Void.
Took Man let his hand go limp as he pulled away from the cloud. In response to Took Man’s action, the cloud blew up, dispersing the energy that had developed in every direction.
The object that was placed before the Brawlers had a massive, white, scaled shell that looked much like that of an armadillo. It had eight pairs of huge tractor wheels, all of which were brand new. On the front was the cockpit of the huge vehicle, which had a rounded, bullet proof windshield to protect the driver. A dashboard was just under the wind shield, along with a steering wheel and a comfortable leather chair in front of it. On the side facing towards the Brawlers was a large metal door that led into the armadillo-shaped vehicle.
Took Man wobbled around and reached into his pocket to pull out a remote similar to one that would be used to lock or unlock a car’s doors from a distance. He pointed it towards the vehicle and pressed a green button which triggered the door on the side to suddenly swing open. Took Man suddenly fell to his knees from a lack in energy. His severed right arm stung immensely with an unbearable pain. He gripped onto his elbow to try and dull the pain.
“Took Man, you alright?” Permafrost asked, “I’ve never seen you struggle with spawning something like this before. . .“ He said in a very worried tone.
“Yeah, what was with the light show? Something’s up with you.” Cobb asked bluntly.
“I’m fine, don’t. . .don’t worry about me, it’s just the pain in my arm that’s getting to me, let’s just get going.” Took Man replied as he staggered back to his feet. He limped over to Cobb and handed him the keys to the large vehicle. Cobb took the keys but kept his eye on Took Man as he limped back over to the vehicle and climbed inside.
“I don’t understand why he just doesn’t bother to spawn himself a new arm. . .” Cobb mentioned as he began to walk over to the large vehicle.
“A few years back I asked him that same question.” Permafrost answered. Cobb stopped and turned around to listen what he had to say. “He told me that spawning himself new limbs like that is some kind of taboo or something.” He finished with a shrug.
“Oh, is that so? Huh. Well come on guys, we really need to get moving now.” Cobb said as he turned back around to walk towards the vehicle.
As the others joined in making their way to the vehicle, Cobb climbed inside. The interior of the armadillo-like vehicle looked much like a high class bus, with well-designed seats made from leather. Shaded windows along every pair of seats blended in perfectly with the armored wall outside, while a line of yellow florescent light fixtures ran along the center of the ceiling, giving the passenger area a golden, warm glow. The floor was a dark brown and treaded for maximum grip when walking along it with shoes on, and at the bottom of each seat were multiple shock absorbers that kept the seats still in case of rough terrain.
Took Man sat at the very back seat and laid up against the window as he began to wrap a sling around his neck to support his right arm.
“Wow, nice ride, Took." Cobb commented as he admired the interior of the vehicle.
“Thank, I guess. . .” Took Man replied awkwardly. Cobb then left the passenger area and walked over to the driver's seat. He examined the dashboard for a moment and realized that it wasn’t that much different from the bus he drove earlier. Right after the others began to load into the bus one by one, they all sat in their preferred seats within the passenger area. Once everyone one was in, Cobb started the engine in his new ride, adjusting both the steering wheel and his seat before driving.
Shackles and Dry Chris sat in the second seat from the back, in front of Took Man. He looked at them with a peculiar look as if he had been meaning to ask them a question. He sat up and stretched out his back, then leaned over slightly.
“Hey, guys.” He asked catching their attention and making them turn around.
“Yeah?” Shackles replied with an innocent look.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you this. . .But where are you two from anyway?” Took Man asked with an interested look. Shackles and Dry Chris looked at one another, then back at Took Man.
“Well you see, it’s like this. We came from a dimension that was home to a planet called Imaginary Earth.” Shackles said in a serious tone.
“Okay, wait. Let me stop you for a second. You guys came from a planet called Imaginary Earth?” Took Man asked mockingly.
“Yeah. . .is that a problem?” Shackles replied, showing faint signs of being insulted by Took Man’s remark.
“No, no. It’s just an odd name is all. Go on.” Took Man quickly replied as he leaned back in his seat to keep his distance from the boy
“Yeah well anyway. We lived in a floating city that was rightfully named Sky City. One day, right when I was attending my first day of school in the new year, this was my seventh year, by the way, there was a school shooting.” Shackles said with a somber look as he remembered that one fateful day.
“Was anyone hurt?” Took Man asked hopefully.
“I was.” Shackles whispered. “I was killed that day.” Shackles explained, with a shiver, remembering how it felt to have all his life drained out of him.
“Wait, what?” Took Man said, confused as to how that could be possible if he were sitting in front of him right now.
“I know I know, it’s confusing at first. But you see, I was able to fight my way out of hell and back up to the surface.” Shackles explained.
“Because he’s a badass like that.” Dry Chris interrupted suddenly.
“Yeah. Anyway. When I got out, I wasn’t quit my normal self. . .” Shackles said while shaking his head to what he did in the past.
“Oh, what happened?” Took Man asked naively.
Shackles just stared at his feet shamefully. “I-well, went on a killing spree and. . .And killed my parents.” Shackles whispered.
“But you’re fine now, right?” Took Man asked cautiously.
“Y-yeah. . .I’m my old self, and have been for quite a while now.” Shackles assured.
“After a while I came across Dry Chris here, the leader of a part of Sky City.” Shackles explained as he gestured his head over to Dry Chris.
"You were the leader of a city? How could that even be? You must have to be like an eighteen year old or something?” Took Man protested.
“I’m actually ten billion years old. . .” Dry Chris corrected him casually. “At least, only back in our own dimension, anyway.”
“Yeah. . .Sure. . .” Took Man replied in disbelief.
“Well when he found me, he wanted to clone me for a project. It went well. About seven clones were created from my DNA.” Shackles explained.
“Oh really? And where are they now? Did any of them come with you?” Took Man asked curiously.
“Yeah, about three of mine and one of Dry Chris’s traveled with us to this place. . .But. . .We were separated when a strange surge of energy pulsed through the vortex we used to get here.” Shackles said, his voice shaking slightly.
Dry Chris took over, sensing Shackles' uneasiness. “Our ride here was shattered by a bolt of energy which sent us all flying in different direction. Shackles and I were lucky enough to stay together. But the others, I don’t really know what’s happened to them, or where they are.”
“That doesn’t sound too good.” Took Man muttered to himself.
“Plus we don’t know if they arrived here but in a different area at a different time, or in some other dimension.” Shackles said. “I hope they’re ok.”
Suddenly, a dull humming sound began thunder overhead, growing louder with every passing second. Cobb slowed down and leaned over to look out the front window, trying to spot where the sound was coming from. Glace got out of his seat and walked over to the driver's area to see what he was looking for.
“Hey Cobb. What’s up? Something above us?” Glace asked, curious as to where that sound was coming from.
“Shh!” Cobb hissed as he peered out the window. Overhead, he spotted a drop ship that was heading in the same path they were going, and behind that he saw a freighter following the drop ship. Cobb’s heart sank when he saw Wires hanging lifelessly under the freighter, being dragged along by cables that were attached to his wires.
“Holy shit. . .” Cobb swore under his breath. “Guys, guys!” Cobb yelled frantically.
“What is it?” McJesus quickly asked as he made his way over to the drivers’ area. Glace was accidentally pushed back by him.
“No. . .no, it can’t be!” McJesus exclaimed in horror.
“What is it?!” Krten asked as he stood up from his seat. McJesus turned around to announce the bad news.
“Th-they got Wires. . .I don’t know about Ruby though, there’s no sign of her.” He said in shock.
“What!?” Permafrost asked, alarmed, as he walked up to the driver's seat and squeezed inbetween McJesus and Cobb. He immediately spotted two other figures on the back of the freighter as it flew by.
“Wait. . .I see two others on that thing.” Permafrost said as he squinted to make out the other figures.
“It can’t be. But it is! It’s Bolt and Inferno!” Permafrost said happily as he pointed towards them. Pulse’s head lifted up from hear his brothers’ names. He slowly walked over to the already crowded driver's area. Permafrost moved out of the way for Pulse to see. Once he spotted them, he just gave a slight nod and walked back to his seat.
“What do you think they’re doing on that thing?” Permafrost asked as they faded out of view.
“Maybe they’re going to try and rescue Wires. . .if he’s still alive that is.” Cobb replied quietly. “Alright, guys. Go sit back down, I can’t drive with all of you up here!” Cobb ordered as he pushed everyone back with his third arm.
“Okay okay! You don’t have to be so pushy.” Permafrost commented bitterly as he turned around and walked back to his seat, as did the others.
After thirty minutes of driving through the vastness of the White Void, they had finally arrived to one of the many entrances to the Caverns that were scattered all across the land. Topside, it just looked like a large mound of dirt and rock that stood up from the flat white earth. But on one side, the side the Brawlers were on, there was a cove-like opening that had an old, worn out flight of stairs that lead deep within the Caverns.
Further out into the nothingness of the Void were hundreds of jagged mountains that looked like swiss cheese from where the others were, due to the thousands of other cave systems that made up the Caverns. This area made up the dead center, the nexus of the Caverns, and the most confusing area for anyone to ever travel through. Far to the south of the Caverns was a massive black cloudline. Lightning bolted across the clouds, but the loud clapping of air caused by each bolt echoed and softened as it diluted into the atmosphere.
All of the Brawlers unloaded out of the white armored vehicle one by one. They huddled up into a group on the left side of the vehicle, preparing themselves to venture into the underground. Suzy broke away from the group and preformed a jump that was supported by her wings to give her an extra boost, jumping up on top of the vehicle to get a better look at the cloudline. She stared at it for a minute, trying to figure out what was going on over there.
“Hey, daddy?” Suzy asked while quickly glancing at McJesus, then back to the clouds.
“Yes, sweetie?” McJesus replied as he walked over to the side of the vehicle.
“What’s that?!” Suzy asked loudly as she pointed towards the clouds. McJesus looked over but couldn’t see much, so he jumped up on top of the vehicle to join Suzy to see what she was talking about. He stared at the clouds, trying to make out what was going on over there to give his daughter an answer, but he couldn’t come up with anything.
“I-I don’t know. Last time I was down here that was never there.” McJesus answered as he pondered to himself as to what might be going on down there. “Well, we’ll find out soon enough, we have to head down that way anyway.” He explained as he jumped off the vehicle.
“Oh. . .Okay!” Suzy replied both excited and scared as to what might be going on down there. She then hopped off the vehicle to rejoin the group.
“Alright everyone, we ready to head in?” Krten asked as he loaded his trusty P90.
“Looks like it.” Glace said with a shrug.
“Alright. Keep Suzy, Angel, and the two new guys close, they’re prime targets.” Krten said as he began to walk into the entrance to the Caverns. As time went on, they all traveled deeper and all outside light had faded away, so the only source of light was a set of torches that Took Man had spawned. The sound of dripping water echoed all throughout the cave systems of the Caverns. Stalactites hung from ceiling, soaked in mineral water. The Brawlers came across large chasms every now and again, as if something had dug its way through the cave.
They soon came across a few rather large holes in the ceiling of the Caverns that led out to the surface. The dark black clouds were now right over their heads. Dirty lightning thundered above them and loosened plumes of soil out from the ceiling, causing it to fall to the ground.
“What is going on out there?” Took Man pondered as he stood there to take an extra long look at the clouds while the others walked on ahead. He then took his focus off of the clouds and jogged towards the others to catch up when suddenly everyone heard several different slithering sounds coming from every direction.
“Everyone stop!” Glace warned as he listened in on where the sounds were originating from. Shackles and Dry Chris were literally on the verge of freaking out. He frantically looked around in every possible direction to try to find out where the sounds were coming from. The others stood still and just listened as they also tried to pinpoint where the sound came from.
“They’re all around us. . .” Took Man whispered.
Suzy held onto her mom's shirt and hid her face, while Angelface stayed by McJesus as he readied an explosive fire ball in his left hand.
“Damn it! Where are they!?” Permafrost snapped as he gripped onto his massive ice sword’s hilt, while Pulse stayed calm but ready as the shards from his sword orbited around him.
Suddenly a slimy, scaly, dark green tentacle sprouted up from the center of the group, thrusting itself to the ceiling and separating the Brawlers from one another. Dry Chris was thrown to the cave wall, and the first to open his eyes to the immediate threat.
“Oh why god! You guys never told us that they had scales!” He panicked as he tried to back away from the tentacle. Seconds later, two more sprouted out of the ground, one orange and the other blue. They gave off eerie, pulsating roars that thundered through the cave systems. The green tentacle spotted Dry Chris as he tried to slowly escape. Its tip looked at him seductively as green, gooey slime dripped from the tip.
“Oh nooooooo! Stay awa!” He warned it, putting his hand out in front of him in a desperate attempt that the tentacle would spare him. The tentacle thrust towards him at a lighting speed.
“DC!” Shackles yelled in terror. But before the tentacle could even get close to Dry Chris, the floor underneath all of the Brawlers collapsed from the holes that the tentacles created via penetration, causing it to collapse under its own weight.
“Can this get any worse!?” Glace yelled as he tried to gain his footing on the unstable ground as it fell out from under his feet. Unfortunately, he jinxed everything due to the fact that there was a nest of rape tentacle in the cave system under them, all of them ready to feast on the Brawlers as they hurdled towards them.
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Post by Icebrigade on Dec 13, 2010 14:55:22 GMT -5
I'm reading it, and so far I'm enjoying it, I just haven't commented on all the updates.
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Post by destructin on Dec 13, 2010 17:02:08 GMT -5
Comments mean nothing.
You guys who write fanfics should check out the views before you post a chapter, and then check out the views after a while so you can see who read it and stuff.
THEN YOU CAN SAY PEOPLE AREN'T READING YOUR FANFICS IF THE VIEWS STAY TOO LOW.
To check out views of a thread you can look at the top of the thread.
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Post by llllllllllll on Jan 13, 2011 11:02:49 GMT -5
Oh sweet god Zarth this is incredible. Ergh can't wait for the next chapter keep it up man!
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