Troubled Rescue

"I retain the power of Hydades, yet I am cursed by Filgaia. . ." lamented Leehalt, "I need cleansing by the Panakeia Fluid. In the eyes of Filgaia, we seem to be alien elements creeping inside its body. Are we one day destined to be expelled. . .? NOOOOO! I will not allow that to happen!"

With that, the mad scientist fired a strange arrow strait at the leader of his enemies, Virginia Maxwell. The boy next to her, called Jet Enduro by his friends, watched the horror on the girl's face. She was too scared to move, so she wouldn't be able to avoid the blow when it came. If this arrow contained a deadly poison or something to that extend, she might not survive after getting hit.

Jet didn't want to see that happen. He jumped at her, pushing her out of harm's way. But the arrow penetrated his arm instead. The boy fell to the floor, in obvious pain.


"Jet! Oh Guardians let him be ok. He took that hit to save me. I never asked him to do such a selfless thing for me. He deserves to live, so save his life, please," Virginia begged.

Jet began moaning, "Virginia, please don't worry. As long as nothing happened to you, I can die easily. Just keep on moving forward. You're the only one who can stop the Prophets."

Leehalt listened to their conversation. 'She calls the boy "Jet". That's the same name as Elliot's son. Foolish boy that kid, just as foolish as his father. Ironic I run into another boy with the same name. He even kind of looks the same, wait a minute. Could it be, the Filgaia Sample? If it is, then we have an even bigger problem on our hands. I wonder how the nanomachines will affect him though?'

Leehalt didn't have to wait too long for confirmation. For soon after, Jet got back up. But there was something different about him. For one thing, he had pulled Virginia close to him, as if to shield her from any attack. Granted, he'd saved her before, but never had he protected her like this.

"No harm will come to Virginia," Jet stated, quite frankly, "If you try to lay one finger on her, you are going to regret the day you were born. So I'd suggest you surrender now, or die."

'What has happened to him? He usually isn't this nice. Have I done something to change him, or does it have something to do with that vessel Leehalt launched at me?' she pondered.

Gallows Caradine, the Baskar Priest, asked the boy, "Is there something wrong with you Jet? You're not acting like yourself. What happened to the 'I don't like babysitting' attitude you give her?"


Jet looked at him. "But I do like to take care of her. This woman, she means more to me than life itself. No one will take her away from me, even if I have to fight to keep it like this."


"Maybe you should lie down Jet," Clive Winslett, a sniper, comments, "Gallows is right, this is a side of you that we've never seen before. I think whatever was in that canister got to you in some way."

"Foolish Drifter, how long did it take you to figure that out. That canister was loaded with precious nanomachines, meant to force the body into respiratory paralysis. Meaning, a normal human being would have fallen to the ground, convulsing from their shortness of breaths. But this boy hasn't done so. I have no confirmation on why it is so, but I have a good idea that I would like to test. Boy, come here. If you come with me, I will do no harm to that girl. Stay, and I might kill her," Leehalt threatened.

At that moment, two gunshots fired off at Leehalt. A voice from the shadows called out, "Those empty threats will do nothing to him. His desire is to be with her, and he will fight to the death if anyone tries to separate them. You will not be able to get him to come, unless you take her. But he will not allow you to take her in the first place, so you're back at square one anyway."

In came Werner Maxwell, Virginia's long lost father. He has his duel pistols aimed right at Leehalt, who isn't too happy to see his old colleague at the moment. Heck, he wouldn't be happy to see Werner at any moment, a direct result of a love triangle back when they were much younger. That story, as well as many others, were a part of Virginia's history that she was never told about.

Leehalt glared at his old rival. "Werner Maxwell, so you too survived the Yggdrasil accident. But what business could you have here? My theory as to who the boy is must be correct, and I gather that you must be the reason that he was rescued from certain death before his birth."

"Leave him alone," Virginia screamed, "I don't know what you know about Jet's origins, but he doesn't need you to tease him about them. No matter what I find out, Jet will always be Jet to me."

"Foolish sentiment, it will only get you killed, girl. After the boy is taken out, I will be free to rip you to shreds. You should feel honored though, a future ruler is going to take you out," Leehalt said.

Werner told him, "And I would like you to leave my daughter alone. As well as her bodyguard. They don't need you annoying them. If you try anything Leehalt, I will shoot you dead here and now."

Leehalt was surprised. "Daughter?! You mean this little brat is your child? I can see the resemblance between the two of you, right down to being a thorn in my side."

"Temper Leehalt," Werner replied, "Remember, you are greatly outnumbered."


Leehalt could see the logic in that. So he fled, leaving behind his servant, Balzas. The little demon fought with the four Drifters, but was no match for them. Soon, he was defeated.

"Daddy, what has happened to Jet? You know who he really is, yet you keep it from him. Why don't you tell him the truth? Is there anything we can do to help him?" Virginia asked.

Werner informed her, "The truth might make you all a little distressed at the moment. But there is something we can do. He needs to just wait for his body to circulate out all of the nanomachines inside of it. Once that happens, the link to his other persona will close, and he'll be himself again. For the time being, let's all go to my cabin. You can rest there, and plan your strategies."

So they all left Nidhogg Pass, and arrived at a place they never would dream had existed. It was a world full of lush forests, with a lake in the middle. It was an amazement to the others in the party, but Jet acted as if he saw such a sight every day since he had been born.

- - - -

Teefa's Last Words…

This came from a conversation with my cousin one night. I asked her what would happen, and she replied that his powers would help him to dispel the nanomachines. After all, they shut down both the Yggdrasil and Deus Ex Machina, and gave Leehalt a really painful end. But then again, Lu was half asleep when I asked her.