The Stem of the Rose
Chapter 1 - Prisoners
A helicopter moved towards a dark and foreboding Island, the island had a complex built on it with high walls, unaccompanied by a glorious palace and then a mansion on the top of a hill.
Searchlights scanned the ground for intruders and there were bunkers made of logs for people to stay in.
The helicopter landed on the pad in the middle of the night, some lights were on scanning the ground and the purple-like night sky. To prisoners with bags around their heads got out in the swirling sea mist. They were led down into the underground, prison cells.
They were each shoved into the same cell and their bags removed, one showing long golden hair and an Echidna's body and the other showing long black hair and an echidna's body.
"You're identification numbers are 345 and 964, welcome to your new home!" said a soldier as he untied Chaos and Stef's hands. He then lived his gun and hit them, full pelt over the back of the head with his weapon.
Stef and Chaos fell to the floor and lost consciousness, they recalled how they had been captured…
Stef and Chaos belted down a corridor of a high-rise office block, the guards were shooting at them. Bullets hit the wall and they kept missing, there were five guards after them.
They ran into a room, they had infiltrated the complex to find Thorn, she had been captured in a search and destroy mission on Draydox, one of the UMSS's most productive oil refineries.
Chaos dragged Stef into another corridor and they jumped down the stairs into a much larger room. There was human guard at the bottom of the stairs, Chaos jumped on his back and put a bullet into the back of his head.
Then they stopped, looking dead in front of them, a tank pointed a gun at them, they had to land in the tank yard. The guards told them to surrender and drop there weapons. Then the soldier knocked both of them out and now they were alone.
Stef regained consciousness in what he conceived to prison, steel bars were what separated him from the gun on the table which a guard was sat at. They would come for them but there had to be a thousand planets they could have been on. Chaos groaned and got up beside him, she looked down at him and smiled.
"Nice to see that you're alive." She said with a grin, Stef laughed to himself. "Now where are we?"
Stef looked around the room, there was a long corridor with about twenty prison cells either side and right at the end was a guard, he looked young and spotty but he also had a 12 gauge shotgun in his hands, he sat a desk with the only source of light coming from an electric table lamp.
"We have to get out of here and find away off this place" said Stef, staring at the guards shotgun. "Chaos can you use some charm?"
Chaos winked, she knew exactly what she had to do to get them out of this prison.
"Um….excuse me" she said in a low and sexy voice to the guard, who came walking up to bars. He looked at her, puzzled or just gawking. "Could you please undo my dress here cos it's a little tight?"
The guard looked at her as if his dreams had come true, Chaos turned around and the guard began to pull her dresses zip down.
Chaos was as quick as lightning, she kicked him in the bullocks and as he crouched in pain, bashed his head against the metal bars.
"Pervert" she said as he fell to the floor and Chaos took the keys opening the gate.
"O……….K" said Stef, surprised. "Rather unorthodox but it did work"
Chaos smiled and picked up the shotgun, they then proceeded up the corridor when the light of the electric light went out.
"Somebody's cut the power" said Chaos, she look concerned, Stef sighed.
"Or somebody needs a new light-bulb" he said, sighing.
Chapter 2 – The Search
"I'm sorry, I have not seen them"
Flex sat back in her chair in the ready-room of the Erika, outside, through the glass she could see the green/blue of Zelna. She was growing increasing worried for Stef and Chaos, they had gone to find Thorn and had not comeback for three weeks. Lin strode into the ready-room, she put her fists down on the table and looked at Flex.
"So how did the meeting with President Orianas of Kelvina V go?" she asked, her eyes full of hope, by this time her bully was quite big with the presence of the baby. Flex tossed a small book onto the sofa which was on the other side of the room.
"He hasn't seen them but he did scan a ship with two Echidna lifesigns heading toward Tiranaus but I doubt they are there, Tiranaus is an uninhabited planet"
Lin sighed, she sat down letting her pregnant belly go down with her. "For fucks sake!" she said in anger "Why the hell has nobody seen them?"
"I don't know but I think we should take the Erika out to Tiranaus with the cloaking device and have a look" ordered Flex
Lin nodded; she knew that they would have to go looking for them.
Chaos and Stef walked out onto the prison's main courtyard, they were surrounded by bunkers of other prisoners but this was strange, no guards!?
Chaos cautiously walked forward, the searchlights were off and at the other end of the complex was a palace.
"Freeze!" shouted a man as Stef emerged from behind a bunker, he was terrified, his gun was shaking, he looked confused"
"No you freeze, asshole" said Chaos as she came up behind him pointing the gun at his head. Stef took the guards handgun and pushed him down on the floor.
"Where are we?" said Chaos, she bent down to him still pointing the shotgun at him.
"Sa…….Serena Island, o……n Tiranaus" said the guard, his voice trembled in fear.
The wind from the sea blew in Chaos's face, a cool sea breeze.
"And who is the Commander of the facility?" asked Stef, the guard was frozen still.
"Sh……She's called……Andrea, she hasn't got a second name. UMSS have just appointed her, she is supposed to be a sorcerer."
Chaos pointed the gun away from the guard and turned round why the guard scuttled down into the stairs that they had just come out from.
"We need to talk to this Andrea, I'm sure she'll listen if we make her" said Chaos, she smiled with her shotgun. She loved these babies's!
Stef and Chaos than begin to walk to the large, gold-encrusted doors of the palace, they touched the cold handle and pulled the door open. Into the terror that awaited them.
Stef and Chaos walked into a large hall. It was massive with wide stairs that spread out in front of them. The floor was made from marble, which shone as the light bounced of it.
There were several doors in this place, two doors either side of them on the ground floor and two on the upper level.
"Welcome!" said a voice from the balcony that was in front the stairs, the stairs protruded backwards so that someone could walk on the small balcony in front of them.
The voice was all too familiar, who they were searching for.
Stef looked, there standing in a black dress, the same long red hair, the same slim figure but now she had a sinister smile.
"Thorn!" said Chaos with delight "We have been lookin' for you a long time!"
Thorn smiled at them, but it was not a comforting smile, it had something strange about it.
"I'm not Thorn" said the woman with red hair. "My name is Andrea and you are trespassing in my facility!"
Chaos frowned at her, she was Thorn. What had the military done to her? Infected her? Poisoned her mind? Cloned her? What?
Thorn then walked of the balcony of the top of stairs. She continued to look at Stef and Chaos.
"No! This body may have belonged to Captain Thorn Loveheart but I have changed"
Stef looked up hopelessly, no! All this way to save Thorn and they failed her.
Thorn then began to walk down the marble stairs with a red carpet draped down it. She changed, her skin became bluer, he body changed and long claws came out of her hands, her clothes burnt off as she turned into a fire ball, her arms changed colour and grew more powerful.
"No!" said Chaos, she pointed the shotgun at Thorn but Stef pushed it down.
"Do you see the ultimate power of the S-Andrea Virus, based on extracts from several different plants and animals, chiefly aquatic? I have been able to create this ultimate virus."
She shot out her hands and a wall of fire, ten meters high surrounded Stef and Chaos, the ring of fire.
Chapter 3 – New Power
Thorn/Andrea looked at Stef and Chaos, she would now kill them, in revenge, for hurting her in that military base five weeks ago. She would make them pay.
Stef looked beside Chaos, he put his handgun in the holster and drew his sword, he would not let himself kill this thing because Thorn was in there somewhere. Chaos knew as well what Stef was doing, she threw the shotgun aside and drew her long rapier-like blade.
Andrea stumbled. Was she confused? No! Her lips were moving, she was talking to herself.
"You kill them and I'll kill you, you bitch, you may have control of my body but you will never have my mind….."
"Shut up and do my bidding!"
Stef moved in quickly, he wanted to knock Thorn out before she could hurt them but Thorn lifted her hand up and smacked Stef, making him somersault backwards and land on his back, allowing his sword to imbed itself in the ground.
Chaos watched in horror, the precision which had knocked out Stef, she stared back at the mutated Thorn, she was talking to herself again until she shot her hands out and a tentacle flew out and grabbed Chaos. Chaos felt herself whirl round and come closer to Thorn, she stared her right up to the face.
"Bitch" said Chaos and Thorn hit her, knocking her into darkness.
The Erika moved into orbit around Tiranaus, the planet was nearly entirely blue and looked peaceful against the blackness of space.
Lin walked into her quarters; she had been commanded to get some rest, for the baby's sake. She was now eight weeks gone, so the baby was expected soon. She wondered what it would be like to give birth to a little cross-breed of Echidna and Fox.
She wondered where Stef was, he could already be dead. Dammit! Why didn't he come back to her? She missed him, she loved him. It was not fair, she would search the galaxy for him but was it all in vain.
She pictured him and Chaos lying dead in a ditch, his last wish to see his baby. No! She would not believe that! Not when she had gone so far.
"Captain to Admiral O'Connor" said Flex's voice over the intercom. "We have approached Tiranaus and we are reading Echidna and human lifesigns but also strange energy readings coming from a prison. That's where Stef and Chaos are being held."
Suddenly a green tentacle pierced through the ship, the panic klaxon sounded the ship shook violent, Lin grabbed hold of the wall. The ship was losing its ability to fly! The entire of the Erika plunged down into the planets atmosphere. It hurtled at such a speed the g-forces of the crash was enough to pin most of the crew to the ceiling.
On the bridge Flex was on the floor, she had just fallen over and as she climbed to her feet, a feet that was impossible for this moment, she watched on the screen the Erika break through the clouds and into the sea. She looked at the glistening sea, it was early morning on this planet, the Erika was going to crash….into the sea….that would kill everyone onboard.
"Activating levitation thrusters!" said Kiska, speaking against the deafening sound of the ship plunging to the sea. The ship slowed and narrowly missed the sea, just above them was a huge rocky island, the prison complex. Kiska put the ship over the ground of the rocky island and then cut power to the thrusters, there was barely any power left.
"Damage report!" said Flex, her hair was all out of place and her head was cut.
"Helm controls are offline" said Kiska
"No engines, weapons or shields" said another officer.
Flex walked down to Kiska's console she tried to tap a few buttons but the console had exploded and there was no power going to the console.
Chaos opened her eyes; she was laying upright on a table. There were about four scientists around her but they were working on something else. They were not looking at her, she still felt the knife that she had taken off a guard, she had a heard a mighty crash on the ground above, as if something had crashed on top of this room.
She took the knife and began to cut at the leather straps that were pinning her down, she felt the straps pressed down on her.
The straps flew back as she cut them and she climbed down of the table, this was a large room with several scientists looking at a large canister. One turned around and saw Chaos, she through the knife, getting him right in the neck, she jumped into the middle of the bewildered scientists, she kicked one back into the tube causing it to fracture and leak gas, she smacked another one in the face and broke the others neck. They all landed one floor with Chaos standing among them.
Chapter 4 – Unnatural Mutation
Something began to bang against the tube, not another bio-weapon, another virus?
Chaos walked back as a fist shot through a tube, but it wasn't a weapon that climbed through the tube, it was Stef.
He wandered about the room, he was falling about, disorientated. She caught Stef. He looked at Chaos and fell down.
"Never thought I'd go the same………..way as Slash…." said Stef gently.
"No!" said Chaos, she looked at him. Suddenly she felt something she had never felt before.
Stef fell back and closed his eyes, with Chaos franticly shaking his body.
"Stef!" said Chaos, she began to cry. "No! Don't leave me alone!"
She bent over him and kissed him, she touched his skin. Him and her were never meant to be but Lin now had to look after their baby alone.
Stef began to move, he rose to his feet, his skin changed, he grew bigger, spikes flew out of his back, his hair still stayed. He had been infected with a virus. So that was it.
"Ugh!" said the monster Stef, Stef managed to break through to her. "Chaos RUN!!"
Chaos picked herself up and ran out of the lab into a large corridor with long double doors at the end. Stef picked up his sword with his large hands and ran up after Chaos, taking swipes for her. The door closed and a tentacle shot through the room and grabbed Chaos, she was there helpless. Leaving her to die.
Stef came up to her raised his sword and bought it crashing down………
Through the tentacle, it withed in pain and retracted through the wall. Stef began to change, he shrunk, his body became more and more his usual.
"Stef!" shouted Chaos, she flung her arms around him. "What happened!?"
Stef looked at her bewildered.
"Well!" said Thorn, she was standing by the door. "I never thought I would meet someone who has natural immunity to this virus. So does Chaos, you mutate for a while and then revert to your usual state. Amazing!"
At that she walked through the door and disappeared.
"STEF!" said a familiar voice, it was Lin. She ran up to him and kissed him, the passion flowed into it. Stef put his hand on her belly.
"What are you doing here?" said Stef, Lin looked at him while she held him.
"We came to find you, Chaos, Stef, I'm glad you're OK. We did have the Erika but it crashed and the engines were destroyed so that means that we are stuck here." said Flex as she walked into this room. "Look's like we're gonna have to get back."
The sun began to rise over the crashed wreckage of the Erika, the sunlight scattered along the hull. The Erika did not appear to be that badly damaged, she had been in worse shape before and they had still managed to get back to Zelna.
On the slightly slanted bridge, Flex was underneath a console working that circuitry that linked it. She pulled two wires and moved them together; it sparked and caught her hand.
"Shit" she said out loud but there was nobody on the bridge. Flex wore something different, a blue top and shorts, a strange, unearthly prettiness emerged from her. "Come on baby, you work for me and I'll give ya a nice overhaul when we get back". She then tried connecting the wires again and this time it worked, she knew the ship was not really reacting to her but the thought was there.
Chaos walked onto the bridge via climbing up through the hole in the floor as the life was not working, the lights in the room were out and the entire room was barely lit, only by Flex's lanterns which were placed around the bridge.
"You look tired" said Chaos, she had now recovered and was wearing her newest battle costume, and it was a grey t-shirt and blue jeans.
"I'm fine!" said Flex, almost snappily, she looked at Chaos. "Unfortunately I can't say the same for my ship. We might need some more Tridyriam to get back up into space."
Chaos walked over to Flex and sat down beside her, she was looking at the control console, it was beeping, aha! Flex had done it, the whole bridge began to light up, the lighting on the ceiling came online as power was returning to the rest of the ship.
"I did it, I replaced those bloody relays and done it!" said Flex, she sprang up and walked over to the pilots console. Her face changed when she read the fuel meter, there was none, no Tridyriam left, it had all vaporised when they arrived.
"We need more Tridyriam or we are not gonna get off this rock!" said Flex, as the crew began to pour back onto the bridge. Kiska went and sat down in her usual place.
Chapter 6 - Findings
A breeze shot through the island as a small party moved through the empty prison, where were all the prisoners? This was prison wasn't it?
The team consisted of Stef, Chaos, Flex and two security officers. One of the security officers were bulky looking woman. She had short black hair and looked like she could tackle any situation.
Stef and Chaos approached the palace door, this was where the energy readings were coming from and where Thorn was. They had to rescue her as well. Flex drew her gun and slid by the side of the door, the doors were large encrusted with gold. A beautiful palace in a prison. Not really an ideal selling location. In the distance, Chaos could her the rising and crashing of waves but what were they, echoes. Something big was about to happen.
"Haven't you finished yet?" said Thorn, drumming on her desk. She was in the central control room of the palace, where they monitored things. The display monitors at the front of the room, showed hundreds of former people which Andrea/Thorn had experimented on. She was looking for a way to create a perfect physical manifestation for herself but so far she had been unsuccessful.
"No, mistress" said a scientist working at the console in front of her, he was frantically pressing buttons. Trying to keep her happy.
"Then get on and do it or you will be that latest experiment!" said Thorn impatiently. She wouldn't wait no much longer. The scientist began to sweat and his hands became clammy. He was scared. Petrified even.
Stef, Chaos and Flex crept into the main hall of the palace. It was exactly how Stef and Chaos had seen it before. Flex crept up the stairs, the sound of her boots echoed on the carpeted stairs. She reached the door at the top of the stairs and crouched beside it. It looked safe enough. She pressed it open.
Suddenly the whole floor collapsed into nothingness and Flex slid down a long tube which took the place of the door.
"Flex!" shouted Chaos, standing helplessly at the bottom of the stairs. She watched Flex disappear! No!
"Ugh!" said Stef and he stumbled behind her, slumping on the floor.
"Stef!" said Chaos, going to his side. "Are you OK?"
Stef looked up and smiled, she was a little surprised by this, Stef didn't usually give out evil grins.
"Come on! We have to find Flex!"
Flex landed in a small room, that held instruments that were obviously for torture of "extracting" information. Flex loaded her gun that was in her pocket. It was more likely that she would have to fight her way out. She looked for a door. There was none!
She heard shuffling over in the corner.
"Who's there?" she shouted, pulling her gun to that side. She gasped and set back in horror.
In front of her was a 4 foot beast, it had reptilian skin, piecing red eyes and massive claws.
The room was like a cold castle dungeon, there was a small vent on the wall behind the monster. That was her target.
"Welcome Captain" said a speaker in the room. Flex looked up, there was box on the other side of the room which the sound was coming from. "Consider this a playground for you, please don't die too quickly. I want to enjoy this!"
It was Thorn's voice, Flex had remembered about the possessed Thorn. She pointed her gun at the creature which swung for her, she dodged the creature and shot it in the head. The creature did not stop. Was she doomed.
Flex looked up at the ceiling and saw the spikes on a chain hanging right above the monsters. She leapt back, kicked the monster back and shot at the ceiling. The spikes of the torture chamber ceiling came crashing down, impaling the monster to the floor.
Flex smiled but she could not stay her, she made a dash for the air vent and climbed inside.
Chapter 7 – Stef's warp
Stef and Chaos entered a highly decorated bedroom; this must have belonged to Andrea. It was read with an oak chest of drawers and a gold four poster bed. An old gramophone lay on a table at the other end of room. A book was lying open on the bed.
"This is interesting!" said Chaos, she took the book of the bed. "Listen to this. To Dearest Alexis – I have tried to correct the gap that is between us but my success with the new type of Serenity Virus is still not enough to bring you back into this domain, well, as a thinking being. I have tried but it has failed so far. Oh Alexis, I miss you. I love you.
Andrea."
Chaos put the book down as she realised what this new strain of virus was originally. Andrea had created this version of the Serenity Virus to try and resurrect her dead lover and obviously Challenger had betrayed her by using her as a test subject but Andrea could not remember this because of the virus's effect on human memory. It was sad and Challenger should die for all the misery he had caused the people of all the different planets in the UMSS.
"Interesting" said Stef, he walked up behind her and put his hand on her back. Chaos turned around and looked into her blue eyes. There was something not quite right. He moved forward.
"Oh Chaos, do you like me?" he said, drifting towards her. Chaos looked back at him.
"Eh……" said Chaos finding it difficult to speak. He drifted towards Chaos and then kissed her on the lips slightly. Chaos felt rather bewildered but happy, she grabbed him into a more passionate kiss. This was wrong! Chaos knew it was wrong, she pushed Stef off her.
"You have Lin!" she said, but it had become evident that she had enjoyed the kiss, she looked happy.
"I still do" said Stef, suddenly he drew his sword. "That was a goodbye kiss for now I shall kill you!"
Stef charged for Chaos, at that moment Chaos knew that Andrea was controlling Stef. Chaos spun out her sword and blocked every slash made by Stef. She was skilled in melee weapons, such as swords and always found that they were very elegant. Chaos swung it back smashing the gramophone in pieces. She then flipped over behind Stef and bashed him over the head. Stef fell to the floor, he opened his eyes, his true eyes.
"Chaos?" asked Stef as he got up, bewildered. "What happened?"
Chaos looked back, he would never remember that kiss, the significance that it had to her.
"You were possessed, Andrea." She said, slightly saddened by the thought of Stef not remembering the kiss.
"Oh that bitch is gonna pay!" said Stef, he looked out to the door. The handle was turning; somebody was coming into the room. Stef pointed his handgun at the door, Chaos did the same.
"Flex!" shouted Chaos, she ran to give her friend and captain a hug. "We thought you were dead, but we did not give up looking for you."
Flex seemed a little out of sort, her hair was in a mess and she had slime on her back.
"Look what I found" she said and showed them the Tridyriam. A small crystal that glowed, a purple light. She had a back-pack full of it.
"Great!" said Chaos, she looked across to Stef. "Let's go!"
Chapter 8 – Andrea's fight
The three ran into the main entrance hall, the security officers waited near the door. Chaos could not believe it. Another escape. Why did this always happen to her?
They reached the gold door, suddenly two tentacles shot out of the ground, impaling both security guards. There blood spattered around hall and over Stef and Flex.
A person suddenly blasted through the floor, her long red hair, her black clothes. Thorn!
"I will dispose of this body!" said Andrea, suddenly her spirit, a blue mist with her face shot out of Thorn making her collapse on the floor. Flex ran and grabbed her to pull her back.
Bits of bio-matter shot through the walls and joined together to make Andrea's new body. She was a massive creature, her massive tentacles at the end of her hands. Bats shot through the glass ceiling and circled around Andrea's head as her black, bat-like wings grew. She grabbed a massive axe that came up through the floor. She was about nine feet tall!
"Oh shit!" said Flex, she only had three shots in her gun. She looked at Thorn and she became to come round.
"Fl…e…x" said Thorn weakly. She looked back at the others and called with all her strength. "RUN!"
"No!" said Stef, he drew his sword and pointed it at the more powerful Andrea. "Not this time, you are going to pay for everything you have done!"
Andrea let out a massive laugh, that shook the building.
"This body, is unbeatable! I will never be defeated. THIS IS THE TRUE POWER OF SERENITY "ANDREA" VIRUS!"
"Oh really! Bitch!" said a voice from behind them, it was Lin, she had run into room with a sub-machine gun. She was not going to let the fact that she was pregnant interfere with helping her friends. She let out a barrage of shots from her gun and Andrea did not even flinch. It was not working, she was bullet proof.
Andrea made a swipe for Flex but she avoided the axe, just. Stef knew what he could do to kill her. He brought his sword to his face.
"Sword of Masters, come to me.
Release the power
Let the three goddesses be with me
And the spirits guide me!"
His sword grew longer and more powerful, the handle was blue and had a gold gem in the middle, the blade shone as if it was knew. Chaos and Lin changed. This was going to be difficult with only two goddesses.
Chaos said the words.
"I call on the power, greater than anything conceived
To guide us to victory
To the power of the Emeralds
Let the energy shine through"
Chaos put her hands together and a massive beam of green energy shot out of her hands, into the gem of Stef's sword. She only hoped it was enough. Lin did the same and blue energy shot into Stef's new, Sword of Masters.
Stef pointed the sword at Andrea and wielded round and round.
"RELEASE AND DISPELL"
A bright light shot out of the end of the sword and towards Andrea, chains of light wrapped around her, Chaos closed her eyes raised her hands and released a great beam of sunlight which came through the roof of the hall. Andrea whaled in pain.
Lin used her power and a huge thunderbolt stuck Andrea. Andrea's body began to shrink, she was helpless.
"You're power of the new virus, is nothing compared to divine power!" shouted Lin.
Stef jump onto of Andrea and brought his sword crashing down into her head, she lay there, dead. Finally.
Chapter 9 – Take Off
Lin and Flex, who were carrying Thorn rushed up the steps into the Erika, they had to hurry. The sooner they were off this death-trap the better. Flex climbed into the Captain's Chair while Chaos and Stef put the Tridyriam into the core.
The ship blazed to life.
"Kiska" said Flex. "Get us out of here!"
Kiska nodded and the UMSS Erika began to move back out of the ground that it had crashed in and moved up through the purple clouds of Tiranaus. Time to leave.
"Right!" said Lin, as she walked onto the bridge with her pregnant belly still showing through her loose clothing. "Let's get back to Vagresso, the fleet are waiting to attack Earth and stop Challenger once and for all."
"Understood" said Flex and she sat back in the chair. "Vagresso! Engage!"
The Erika then passed Tiranaus's sun and moved towards its moon and then shot off in a green flash.
Authors Apology
I sorry to all expecting the conclusion to the war but I am starting a new and different project with the same characters but in a different, parallel word. In…..
The Vision of Serenita
Starring
Captain Flex Wildcat
Queen Chaotica (Chaos)
Verne Kemp (Stef)
Amaya the Snowfox (Lin)
Orion Loveheart (Thorn)
All these characters appear in "The Vision of Serenita", these are the characters alter-egos in a different world of magic and not much technology. Almost like a world from Zelda.
However I WILL be doing the final chapter in the great war against the UMSS. So I will make sure you all don't miss that.