Double Helix -- Day One
Xtreme
by Ryan Carroll
***Author's Notes: This trilogy takes place immediately following Merge, but it's really its own little story arc. This is why I didn't include it with the rest of the Beyond the Legend chapters. Each story in the trilogy takes place in the course of one day, which means only three days will have passed in the storyline between Merge and Dark vs. Light, the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation to follow. Each Day in the trilogy is crucial to the storyline, as all three introduce new twists to my continuity. (Like it's not twisted enough as it is, right?) Oh, and in case anyone finds the intro a bit confusing, CJ's conscience is recapping. When the narrative switches to past tense, that's when CJ's recollection starts up.***
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Waking up from getting knocked out in NOT pleasant. Waking up from getting knocked out to find a sharp sword aimed at your throat is even less so.
To explain my current situation, I need to backtrack to yesterday. Remember the dimensional merge? Well of course you do, it only happened a day ago. Well, in all the confusion, reconfiguration, and general mayhem, several dimensional rifts happened. That's when VIKI was split away from Chris, and when Indy and Pixel vanished on us. Well, I couldn't track VIKI, but I managed to get a reading on Indy and Pixel, and I trailed them here, to the Hyrule dimension. I've been keeping in touch with Chris and Slasher through a wireless headset attached to my D-Comm, a fancy term I use for my interdimensional cell phone. Well, no sooner did I get here than I hear a sound, then feel something big and heavy connect with my cranium.
Now I'm waking up to find a nice, sharp blade pointed right at my voicebox. Lovely. Well, time to kick in conscious thought...
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"Hey, point that thing somewhere else!" I griped, shoving the blade away from my adam's apple and rubbing the back of my head.
I wasn't surprised to find the sword back at my throat a split-second later. I looked at the face of my attacker, surprised to find that I knew of this person. He had to be Link. Great. The name "Hyrule" finally connected. I was in yet ANOTHER game-related dimension. Why, oh WHY, did I always manage to do that?
"You will come with me to the Master," the voice of the sword's bearer monotoned, breaking my internal dialogue.
"Over my dead body," I shot back, rubbing my shoulder and returning my hand to my side, gripping a small object hidden in my palm...
"That can be arranged," the deadpan voice countered.
"You know," I sighed, sounding defeated, "I guess going with you is the smart thing to do..." A twitch of my thumb activated my power staff, which telescoped right into Link's wrist, knocking his sword from his hand and well away from the clearing. I swept my leg across the ground, catching his ankles and sending him down. In the same movement I stood, pivoted, caught my staff, and had one end of it to Link's chest.
"But then again, I haven't always been known for doing the smart thing," I finished.
"You will come with me to the Master," my assailant replied.
"All right, Mr. Broken Record..." I trailed off as I noticed a blinking light off to the side of his head. Planting my foot on his chest, I bent down to take a closer look. It appeared to be a sophisticated little electronic device.
Well, whatever it was, there was no WAY it was your run-of-the-mill, local Hyrulian technology. And it appeared to be attached to the side of his head just over his ear, like an older-style hearing aid. I prodded it a bit with my staff and it fell right off. Link groaned, and the glazed look in his eyes abruptly cleared. "Huh? Hey, what the--? Get offa me, ya big lug!"
Must have been mind control. Speech patterns don't change THAT abruptly without good reason. "Look, kid, lemme explain some things before you get up," I ordered, shoving him back down to the ground when he tried to get up. "You've been under mind control for the past who knows how long, and you just attacked me, whether you remember it or not. I need your help."
"Mind control? What, like some sort of magic?" Link inquired as I offered him a hand to help him up.
I picked up the mind control device and studied it. "I suppose you could say that."
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While Link went to retrieve his sword, I dialed up Slasher and told her what was going on. "You think Robotnik has anything to do with this?"
"Hmmm. Mind control's not really his style. He prefers brute force to get the job done."
"So you have any idea who could be behind this? I KNOW that this is way too anachronistic for this dimension."
"I really don't... Wait a minute."
"What?"
"Ohhhhh, shoot. Hang on, Ryan, Chris and I are coming ASAP."
"Who what huh?"
"If it's who I think it is, you're going to need as much backup as possible."
Oh, THAT made me feel good. I turned to Link, who was just reentering the clearing, sword sheathed. "I have some friends coming to help. They'll get here--"
The familiar sound and light of a dimensional tunnel cut off the rest of my sentence. "Right about now," I finished, shouting above the roar of the tunnel.
Chris stepped out first, and I gave her a quick hug. "Anything yet?" she asked.
"Not yet," I replied. "I was here for about five seconds before I got a new dent in my skull," I added, smiling.
Link looked about ready to apologize for that (it wasn't really necessary; he hadn't been himself when he'd done it, after all...) when Slasher came through the portal, sealing it behind her. Link's apology turned to a scream as he leaped behind some bushes.
"What, is it my breath?" the raptor quipped.
"Just leave me alone! Whassamatter, didn't have enough fun last time you jumped me?"
Slasher and I exchanged a glance. THIS was interesting.
"Hey, kid, relax, I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I just got here."
"Huh?" Link poked his head out of the bushes momentarily. Slasher stood there nonthreateningly (well, as much so a raptor possibly CAN) while the young hero looked her over. "Well, I guess you do look different... The other one looked like it was wearing armor or something."
Slasher flinched ever so slightly, but I caught it anyway. "Why don't you come on out and tell me what this other creature looked like?"
Link complied, brushing himself off as best he could. "The thing looked a lot like you, only it had metal in a lot of places, and a big collar with a setting, like for a huge gem or something. He looked pretty beat up, though." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, I never got your names. I'm Link."
We introduced ourselves, and when we'd finished, I held up a picture of Indy and Pixel. "Listen, the reason why I'm here is I was looking for these two. Have you seen them?"
"Hmmm. Nope, sorry."
"I wonder where they could be..." Chris pondered.
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At that exact moment, Indy and Pixel were sitting in a cage that was hanging from a rope suspended over a lava pool.
"Don't suppose you can email for help," Indy quipped.
"I can't do that unless I'm hooked into a network, you know that."
"Silence!" a voice roared from across the cavern. Both chao jumped, turning their attention to the source of the ferocious command.
A robotic velociraptor limped into view. Sparking wiring showed through gaping wounds in the biotic's synthetic flesh. Hate burned in its visual sensors.
"Who are you?" Indy ventured.
The bot glared menacingly at the little chao. "I am Mecha-Bot Five. Also known as Leviathan."
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"Leviathan?"
"I never told you about him?" Slasher inquired. We were running full tilt toward Hyrule Castle, Chris and I using our stones' abilities, Indy holding Slasher in a death grip to keep from falling off.
"Not to my recollection," I replied.
"He's Mecha-Bot Five. Worse than Mecha and Robo Knux put together."
"Okay, that's bad. And you say mind control is his specialty."
"Yep. Explains the little head gizmo. I'd love to know where he got the materials for that thing, especially around here."
"So if Leviathan was destroyed in the Lava Reef overflow, how did he get here?" Chris asked.
"More than likely the same way Indy and Pixel did. That zipper effect Ryan told us about probably warped him here before he could be totally destroyed."
"Wonderful. So now we have to find Indy and Pixel AND dispatch a Mecha-Bot. Some week THIS is turning out to be."
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We arrived at the castle, but had a hard time getting in. The gate guards kept babbling something about a "monster".
Slasher finally had to get in the poor guy's face. "Look, pal, either you let me and my friends in or the whole countryside will know I'm here, and you'll be short a pair of eardrums. Your choice."
Five minutes later found us in the private chambers of Princess Zelda. "Link, it's good to see you have returned." She seemed unfazed by Slasher's presence.
For good reason. The monotone voice and flashing light told me everything. I pulled out my staff and extended it.
"Ryan, what are you doing?!?" Link hissed at me.
"How dare you draw a weapon in the presence of royalty," Zelda added, sounding bored.
I gently prodded the mind control device off the side of her head, then quickly returned my staff to its proper place.
"What? What happened? What's going on?" Her eyes locked onto Slasher. "Oh! What is this?"
"My name is Slasher, your highness. We are looking for a couple of small creatures that came from our homeland. There is also a dangerous beast on the loose, and we plan to take it out."
Royal poise must have run in the family. "Well... It's good to hear that."
"I don't know whether you realize this or not, your highness," I added, "but you've been under mind control for some time."
"What?!?"
I bent down and picked up the miniature device and showed it to her. "Why, that's that dream recorder that merchant sold me!"
"Dream recorder?" I inquired skeptically.
"Yes! He told me if I put it on at night, it would record my dreams so I could see them again and not forget them!"
"Uh, Princess? I think we both fell for that one," Link replied.
I explained, "Link was wearing one when I met him. He exhibited all the signs of hypnotism. As soon as I removed this little thing, he was back to normal."
"Oh dear. I put that on two nights ago. Who knows what I commands I may have made in that time?"
"Is there a court record?" Slasher inquired.
"I'm afraid not. The royal family has always been known for their excellent memories. Apparently this was never figured into the equation."
"What did this merchant look like?" I asked the princess.
"Rather large, but with a massive cloak. The shadows were such that I couldn't see his face."
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"Yes, that's right. I've been using my own circuitry to create mind control devices to subjugate the people. But now that I've caught YOU two... I have more important things to take care of."
"Like what?" Pixel asked.
"Revenge."
The biotic strode over to the rock where the rope suspending the cage was tied. "It was your kind-- others like you-- that nearly brought about my demise. I want to ensure that won't happen again."
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"Did he say which way he was headed?"
"He said he was heading through the mountains to the west. I tried to warn him about the volcanic activity in that range, but--"
"Volcano? Did you say volcano?" Slasher interrupted.
"Yes, that entire mountain range is full of lava rivers and such. It seemed like a strange route for a travelling merchant to be taking."
"He's setting up a new base."
"Are you sure?"
"It's Magmatar all over again. I'm sure of it. We need to head out there immediately. Indy and Pixel will have to wait for now."
"Link, will you come with us?" I inquired.
"Absolutely. I have something that might help us out."
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"SomeTHING?" I asked, looking at the huge bag of stuff Link had thrown over his shoulder.
"Hey, this stuff comes in really handy sometimes. You'd be surprised the combinations I've come up with."
"You're probably right. So, we all ready to go?"
"Let's hit the road," Chris replied.
It took less than a day, with the three of us (Link rode on Slasher's back again) moving at full speed through the woods that bordered the rocky terrain. We soon stood at the mouth of a cave.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Link inquired, looking around.
"It had the most distinctive trail. All the other paths looked like they hadn't been used in forever," Slasher told him.
"Okay, so now what? We've got oppressive heat and an endless maze of tunnels to deal with."
"Well, it just so happens I have some things that will help," Link replied, rummaging through his bag. He pulled out a parchment, a compass, and a short wand.
I looked at the parchment. "You just happened to have a map of this place."
"I've been here before. Not that big of a deal. Now, we use the compass with the map, and presto!" An X appeared in a corner of the map.
"I'm not even going to ASK how you did that."
"Good. Now about the lava..."
"Lemme guess. An ice rod?"
"Hey, you're good."
"I've played the game before."
"Huh?"
I rolled my eyes innocently. "Oh, nothing. Come on, let's go kill a freak."
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With the map as a guide, it was actually pretty easy to find Leviathan's location. What we didn't bargain on was finding Indy and Pixel at the same time.
Indy saw us first as Chris and I peered over a rock into the vast cavern. Link and Slasher were in the process of surreptitiously finding a safe path to the ledge the biotic raptor was pacing back and forth on as he railed against anything and everything that came to mind.
"If I had succeeded, the world would have been perfect! One mind, one consciousness! No more illogical behavior! No more bad sitcoms! Hot dog buns would come in packages of ten!"
"Boy, is he losing it," Slasher commented to Link. They found a path that would work, then came back and reported its whereabouts.
"Great," I commented. "Here's how we're going to work it..."
I detailed the plan, and everyone agreed that it would work. We just needed to time it right...
Bingo. Leviathan was heading towards the rope suspending the cage.
"But I failed. Because of creatures like you!" The biotic moved to cut the rope. "And so I think no one else deserves to suffer as greatly as you do..."
The rope was cut, and the cage fell, striking the surface of the lava...
...and bouncing off the frozen shell of what used to be molten rock. Link pocketed his ice rod and drew his sword. Slasher swooped down to retrieve the chao, while I did a low-gravity jump across the cavern and landed on the other side of Leviathan.
"Hey, ugly!" I yelled. "Pick on someone your own size!"
Leviathan glanced at me, then flew at Slasher in a fit of rage. "Oops," I muttered.
"Way to go, Ryan," Slasher shot at me while sidestepping the biotic's attack.
"Okay, everyone get out of here!" I shouted. "New plan! I distract, you guys get far away!"
"Better idea," Chris replied. "You kill him, then we all go home!"
"That works," I admitted, jumping out of the way as Leviathan charged at me. Slasher, Link, and Chris (who was carrying the cage now) got clear of the area, leaving only me and the biotic in the cavern.
Glaring at me, the robot gestured with his head. I didn't know what was going on until two goons with mind control devices grabbed me. I couldn't break free.
At this point I started to panic. Leviathan paced slowly towards me. "You will NOT stand in my way. All those who stand in my way... shall suffer the consequences!" He moved to strike...
Without warning, Indy jumped in the way.
"Indy, what are you doing?!?"
"Leave him alone." This was addressed not to me, but to Leviathan.
"Pitiful creature. What makes you think you can stop me?"
"Leave him alone."
"Indy, get outta here!"
"Small, pathetic fool."
"INDY!"
"Leave him alone!"
Swipe.
... ... ...
I stood there in shock as a small hat, a miniature fedora, floated to the ground.
"INDYYYYYY!!!" I shot bolts of lightning through the two goons holding me, loosening their grip and freeing me enough to break away and stumble to where Indy lay gasping for breath.
"Ryan..." he said to me, "I'm sorry... for being underfoot... all the time..."
All that I could think was that this could NOT be happening. Indy's eyes closed, and his lungs stopped.
... ... ...
"Well, now that that's out of the way, you're next," Leviathan commented.
The tears came, and then the scream.
When I became aware of my surroundings again, the biotic was at my feet, in pieces, dripping red oil. I looked and saw that my hands were dripping with the slimy fluid, red as blood.
Slasher picked up Indy's egg with one hand and put her other arm around my shoulder. "Come on, let's go."
I have never recalled what happened back in that cavern. And after what Chris and Slasher told me, I don't think I ever want to.
We got home safely. I'll leave it at that.
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From the diary of Christine Monroe...
I've read Ryan's account of what happened. Even after Slasher and I told him what he had done, he still left it out. I can't figure him sometimes.
Slasher said it started with the scent of Indy's blood. The same thing had happened to her when Chalcon had sacrificed himself to save her, she told me. There's still something that freaks her out about what happened next, but she won't tell me. It's weird.
Anyway, when Ryan screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!", it shook the whole cavern. As we watched, his eyes started glowing with this weird light. He suddenly calmed down, looked at Leviathan, and started speaking in this weird language. I've heard Slasher speak in that tongue before, and she translated for me and Link. You know, now that I think about it, maybe that's what freaked her out. There was no way Ryan was speaking English, yet Slasher understood him. Weird.
You will pay, Ryan growled.
"Oh, please," Leviathan shot back, psychosis creeping into his voice. "He was hardly worth the waste of resources."
It struck me as strange that the robot could understand the language, but then again, he was designed as a raptor. It was probably part of his programming.
You have slaughtered millions.
"A small price to pay for world domination."
And yet you think one more is no great thing.
"What's one small creature in the grand scheme of things?"
He was a life. Precious in the sight of God.
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you believe all that Supreme Creator bit. No one is THAT powerful."
You wished to become so.
"Who doesn't?"
You have taken countless lives. Even more, you have taken the life of an innocent. For this, your life is forfeit.
"And just what are you going to do about it?"
I shall exact payment.
With that a shaft of light shot straight up from where he stood, and Ryan underwent the most amazing transformation. His entire skin turned metallic, just like his hand already was. His entire body was covered with multicolored armor-- I think it might have been made from the Element Stones.
Then he tore into the robot. Bare-handed. I guess the way Leviathan was built, he was designed to appear more natural or something, because something that looked like blood started flying. We all turned away from the spectacle until the robot's screams died out. When we gathered enough courage to look, Ryan was back to normal.
He hasn't been the same in the past few hours, even after we got back and Slasher explained that Indy would hatch again soon. I hope tomorrow brings something better for Ryan. I hate to see him like this.
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Two "days" before all heck breaks loose. Dark vs. Light coming soon.
Xtreme
by Ryan Carroll
***Author's Notes: This trilogy takes place immediately following Merge, but it's really its own little story arc. This is why I didn't include it with the rest of the Beyond the Legend chapters. Each story in the trilogy takes place in the course of one day, which means only three days will have passed in the storyline between Merge and Dark vs. Light, the Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation to follow. Each Day in the trilogy is crucial to the storyline, as all three introduce new twists to my continuity. (Like it's not twisted enough as it is, right?) Oh, and in case anyone finds the intro a bit confusing, CJ's conscience is recapping. When the narrative switches to past tense, that's when CJ's recollection starts up.***
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Waking up from getting knocked out in NOT pleasant. Waking up from getting knocked out to find a sharp sword aimed at your throat is even less so.
To explain my current situation, I need to backtrack to yesterday. Remember the dimensional merge? Well of course you do, it only happened a day ago. Well, in all the confusion, reconfiguration, and general mayhem, several dimensional rifts happened. That's when VIKI was split away from Chris, and when Indy and Pixel vanished on us. Well, I couldn't track VIKI, but I managed to get a reading on Indy and Pixel, and I trailed them here, to the Hyrule dimension. I've been keeping in touch with Chris and Slasher through a wireless headset attached to my D-Comm, a fancy term I use for my interdimensional cell phone. Well, no sooner did I get here than I hear a sound, then feel something big and heavy connect with my cranium.
Now I'm waking up to find a nice, sharp blade pointed right at my voicebox. Lovely. Well, time to kick in conscious thought...
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"Hey, point that thing somewhere else!" I griped, shoving the blade away from my adam's apple and rubbing the back of my head.
I wasn't surprised to find the sword back at my throat a split-second later. I looked at the face of my attacker, surprised to find that I knew of this person. He had to be Link. Great. The name "Hyrule" finally connected. I was in yet ANOTHER game-related dimension. Why, oh WHY, did I always manage to do that?
"You will come with me to the Master," the voice of the sword's bearer monotoned, breaking my internal dialogue.
"Over my dead body," I shot back, rubbing my shoulder and returning my hand to my side, gripping a small object hidden in my palm...
"That can be arranged," the deadpan voice countered.
"You know," I sighed, sounding defeated, "I guess going with you is the smart thing to do..." A twitch of my thumb activated my power staff, which telescoped right into Link's wrist, knocking his sword from his hand and well away from the clearing. I swept my leg across the ground, catching his ankles and sending him down. In the same movement I stood, pivoted, caught my staff, and had one end of it to Link's chest.
"But then again, I haven't always been known for doing the smart thing," I finished.
"You will come with me to the Master," my assailant replied.
"All right, Mr. Broken Record..." I trailed off as I noticed a blinking light off to the side of his head. Planting my foot on his chest, I bent down to take a closer look. It appeared to be a sophisticated little electronic device.
Well, whatever it was, there was no WAY it was your run-of-the-mill, local Hyrulian technology. And it appeared to be attached to the side of his head just over his ear, like an older-style hearing aid. I prodded it a bit with my staff and it fell right off. Link groaned, and the glazed look in his eyes abruptly cleared. "Huh? Hey, what the--? Get offa me, ya big lug!"
Must have been mind control. Speech patterns don't change THAT abruptly without good reason. "Look, kid, lemme explain some things before you get up," I ordered, shoving him back down to the ground when he tried to get up. "You've been under mind control for the past who knows how long, and you just attacked me, whether you remember it or not. I need your help."
"Mind control? What, like some sort of magic?" Link inquired as I offered him a hand to help him up.
I picked up the mind control device and studied it. "I suppose you could say that."
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While Link went to retrieve his sword, I dialed up Slasher and told her what was going on. "You think Robotnik has anything to do with this?"
"Hmmm. Mind control's not really his style. He prefers brute force to get the job done."
"So you have any idea who could be behind this? I KNOW that this is way too anachronistic for this dimension."
"I really don't... Wait a minute."
"What?"
"Ohhhhh, shoot. Hang on, Ryan, Chris and I are coming ASAP."
"Who what huh?"
"If it's who I think it is, you're going to need as much backup as possible."
Oh, THAT made me feel good. I turned to Link, who was just reentering the clearing, sword sheathed. "I have some friends coming to help. They'll get here--"
The familiar sound and light of a dimensional tunnel cut off the rest of my sentence. "Right about now," I finished, shouting above the roar of the tunnel.
Chris stepped out first, and I gave her a quick hug. "Anything yet?" she asked.
"Not yet," I replied. "I was here for about five seconds before I got a new dent in my skull," I added, smiling.
Link looked about ready to apologize for that (it wasn't really necessary; he hadn't been himself when he'd done it, after all...) when Slasher came through the portal, sealing it behind her. Link's apology turned to a scream as he leaped behind some bushes.
"What, is it my breath?" the raptor quipped.
"Just leave me alone! Whassamatter, didn't have enough fun last time you jumped me?"
Slasher and I exchanged a glance. THIS was interesting.
"Hey, kid, relax, I'm not here to hurt you. In fact, I just got here."
"Huh?" Link poked his head out of the bushes momentarily. Slasher stood there nonthreateningly (well, as much so a raptor possibly CAN) while the young hero looked her over. "Well, I guess you do look different... The other one looked like it was wearing armor or something."
Slasher flinched ever so slightly, but I caught it anyway. "Why don't you come on out and tell me what this other creature looked like?"
Link complied, brushing himself off as best he could. "The thing looked a lot like you, only it had metal in a lot of places, and a big collar with a setting, like for a huge gem or something. He looked pretty beat up, though." A thought occurred to him. "Hey, I never got your names. I'm Link."
We introduced ourselves, and when we'd finished, I held up a picture of Indy and Pixel. "Listen, the reason why I'm here is I was looking for these two. Have you seen them?"
"Hmmm. Nope, sorry."
"I wonder where they could be..." Chris pondered.
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At that exact moment, Indy and Pixel were sitting in a cage that was hanging from a rope suspended over a lava pool.
"Don't suppose you can email for help," Indy quipped.
"I can't do that unless I'm hooked into a network, you know that."
"Silence!" a voice roared from across the cavern. Both chao jumped, turning their attention to the source of the ferocious command.
A robotic velociraptor limped into view. Sparking wiring showed through gaping wounds in the biotic's synthetic flesh. Hate burned in its visual sensors.
"Who are you?" Indy ventured.
The bot glared menacingly at the little chao. "I am Mecha-Bot Five. Also known as Leviathan."
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"Leviathan?"
"I never told you about him?" Slasher inquired. We were running full tilt toward Hyrule Castle, Chris and I using our stones' abilities, Indy holding Slasher in a death grip to keep from falling off.
"Not to my recollection," I replied.
"He's Mecha-Bot Five. Worse than Mecha and Robo Knux put together."
"Okay, that's bad. And you say mind control is his specialty."
"Yep. Explains the little head gizmo. I'd love to know where he got the materials for that thing, especially around here."
"So if Leviathan was destroyed in the Lava Reef overflow, how did he get here?" Chris asked.
"More than likely the same way Indy and Pixel did. That zipper effect Ryan told us about probably warped him here before he could be totally destroyed."
"Wonderful. So now we have to find Indy and Pixel AND dispatch a Mecha-Bot. Some week THIS is turning out to be."
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We arrived at the castle, but had a hard time getting in. The gate guards kept babbling something about a "monster".
Slasher finally had to get in the poor guy's face. "Look, pal, either you let me and my friends in or the whole countryside will know I'm here, and you'll be short a pair of eardrums. Your choice."
Five minutes later found us in the private chambers of Princess Zelda. "Link, it's good to see you have returned." She seemed unfazed by Slasher's presence.
For good reason. The monotone voice and flashing light told me everything. I pulled out my staff and extended it.
"Ryan, what are you doing?!?" Link hissed at me.
"How dare you draw a weapon in the presence of royalty," Zelda added, sounding bored.
I gently prodded the mind control device off the side of her head, then quickly returned my staff to its proper place.
"What? What happened? What's going on?" Her eyes locked onto Slasher. "Oh! What is this?"
"My name is Slasher, your highness. We are looking for a couple of small creatures that came from our homeland. There is also a dangerous beast on the loose, and we plan to take it out."
Royal poise must have run in the family. "Well... It's good to hear that."
"I don't know whether you realize this or not, your highness," I added, "but you've been under mind control for some time."
"What?!?"
I bent down and picked up the miniature device and showed it to her. "Why, that's that dream recorder that merchant sold me!"
"Dream recorder?" I inquired skeptically.
"Yes! He told me if I put it on at night, it would record my dreams so I could see them again and not forget them!"
"Uh, Princess? I think we both fell for that one," Link replied.
I explained, "Link was wearing one when I met him. He exhibited all the signs of hypnotism. As soon as I removed this little thing, he was back to normal."
"Oh dear. I put that on two nights ago. Who knows what I commands I may have made in that time?"
"Is there a court record?" Slasher inquired.
"I'm afraid not. The royal family has always been known for their excellent memories. Apparently this was never figured into the equation."
"What did this merchant look like?" I asked the princess.
"Rather large, but with a massive cloak. The shadows were such that I couldn't see his face."
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"Yes, that's right. I've been using my own circuitry to create mind control devices to subjugate the people. But now that I've caught YOU two... I have more important things to take care of."
"Like what?" Pixel asked.
"Revenge."
The biotic strode over to the rock where the rope suspending the cage was tied. "It was your kind-- others like you-- that nearly brought about my demise. I want to ensure that won't happen again."
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"Did he say which way he was headed?"
"He said he was heading through the mountains to the west. I tried to warn him about the volcanic activity in that range, but--"
"Volcano? Did you say volcano?" Slasher interrupted.
"Yes, that entire mountain range is full of lava rivers and such. It seemed like a strange route for a travelling merchant to be taking."
"He's setting up a new base."
"Are you sure?"
"It's Magmatar all over again. I'm sure of it. We need to head out there immediately. Indy and Pixel will have to wait for now."
"Link, will you come with us?" I inquired.
"Absolutely. I have something that might help us out."
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"SomeTHING?" I asked, looking at the huge bag of stuff Link had thrown over his shoulder.
"Hey, this stuff comes in really handy sometimes. You'd be surprised the combinations I've come up with."
"You're probably right. So, we all ready to go?"
"Let's hit the road," Chris replied.
It took less than a day, with the three of us (Link rode on Slasher's back again) moving at full speed through the woods that bordered the rocky terrain. We soon stood at the mouth of a cave.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Link inquired, looking around.
"It had the most distinctive trail. All the other paths looked like they hadn't been used in forever," Slasher told him.
"Okay, so now what? We've got oppressive heat and an endless maze of tunnels to deal with."
"Well, it just so happens I have some things that will help," Link replied, rummaging through his bag. He pulled out a parchment, a compass, and a short wand.
I looked at the parchment. "You just happened to have a map of this place."
"I've been here before. Not that big of a deal. Now, we use the compass with the map, and presto!" An X appeared in a corner of the map.
"I'm not even going to ASK how you did that."
"Good. Now about the lava..."
"Lemme guess. An ice rod?"
"Hey, you're good."
"I've played the game before."
"Huh?"
I rolled my eyes innocently. "Oh, nothing. Come on, let's go kill a freak."
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With the map as a guide, it was actually pretty easy to find Leviathan's location. What we didn't bargain on was finding Indy and Pixel at the same time.
Indy saw us first as Chris and I peered over a rock into the vast cavern. Link and Slasher were in the process of surreptitiously finding a safe path to the ledge the biotic raptor was pacing back and forth on as he railed against anything and everything that came to mind.
"If I had succeeded, the world would have been perfect! One mind, one consciousness! No more illogical behavior! No more bad sitcoms! Hot dog buns would come in packages of ten!"
"Boy, is he losing it," Slasher commented to Link. They found a path that would work, then came back and reported its whereabouts.
"Great," I commented. "Here's how we're going to work it..."
I detailed the plan, and everyone agreed that it would work. We just needed to time it right...
Bingo. Leviathan was heading towards the rope suspending the cage.
"But I failed. Because of creatures like you!" The biotic moved to cut the rope. "And so I think no one else deserves to suffer as greatly as you do..."
The rope was cut, and the cage fell, striking the surface of the lava...
...and bouncing off the frozen shell of what used to be molten rock. Link pocketed his ice rod and drew his sword. Slasher swooped down to retrieve the chao, while I did a low-gravity jump across the cavern and landed on the other side of Leviathan.
"Hey, ugly!" I yelled. "Pick on someone your own size!"
Leviathan glanced at me, then flew at Slasher in a fit of rage. "Oops," I muttered.
"Way to go, Ryan," Slasher shot at me while sidestepping the biotic's attack.
"Okay, everyone get out of here!" I shouted. "New plan! I distract, you guys get far away!"
"Better idea," Chris replied. "You kill him, then we all go home!"
"That works," I admitted, jumping out of the way as Leviathan charged at me. Slasher, Link, and Chris (who was carrying the cage now) got clear of the area, leaving only me and the biotic in the cavern.
Glaring at me, the robot gestured with his head. I didn't know what was going on until two goons with mind control devices grabbed me. I couldn't break free.
At this point I started to panic. Leviathan paced slowly towards me. "You will NOT stand in my way. All those who stand in my way... shall suffer the consequences!" He moved to strike...
Without warning, Indy jumped in the way.
"Indy, what are you doing?!?"
"Leave him alone." This was addressed not to me, but to Leviathan.
"Pitiful creature. What makes you think you can stop me?"
"Leave him alone."
"Indy, get outta here!"
"Small, pathetic fool."
"INDY!"
"Leave him alone!"
Swipe.
... ... ...
I stood there in shock as a small hat, a miniature fedora, floated to the ground.
"INDYYYYYY!!!" I shot bolts of lightning through the two goons holding me, loosening their grip and freeing me enough to break away and stumble to where Indy lay gasping for breath.
"Ryan..." he said to me, "I'm sorry... for being underfoot... all the time..."
All that I could think was that this could NOT be happening. Indy's eyes closed, and his lungs stopped.
... ... ...
"Well, now that that's out of the way, you're next," Leviathan commented.
The tears came, and then the scream.
When I became aware of my surroundings again, the biotic was at my feet, in pieces, dripping red oil. I looked and saw that my hands were dripping with the slimy fluid, red as blood.
Slasher picked up Indy's egg with one hand and put her other arm around my shoulder. "Come on, let's go."
I have never recalled what happened back in that cavern. And after what Chris and Slasher told me, I don't think I ever want to.
We got home safely. I'll leave it at that.
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From the diary of Christine Monroe...
I've read Ryan's account of what happened. Even after Slasher and I told him what he had done, he still left it out. I can't figure him sometimes.
Slasher said it started with the scent of Indy's blood. The same thing had happened to her when Chalcon had sacrificed himself to save her, she told me. There's still something that freaks her out about what happened next, but she won't tell me. It's weird.
Anyway, when Ryan screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!", it shook the whole cavern. As we watched, his eyes started glowing with this weird light. He suddenly calmed down, looked at Leviathan, and started speaking in this weird language. I've heard Slasher speak in that tongue before, and she translated for me and Link. You know, now that I think about it, maybe that's what freaked her out. There was no way Ryan was speaking English, yet Slasher understood him. Weird.
You will pay, Ryan growled.
"Oh, please," Leviathan shot back, psychosis creeping into his voice. "He was hardly worth the waste of resources."
It struck me as strange that the robot could understand the language, but then again, he was designed as a raptor. It was probably part of his programming.
You have slaughtered millions.
"A small price to pay for world domination."
And yet you think one more is no great thing.
"What's one small creature in the grand scheme of things?"
He was a life. Precious in the sight of God.
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you believe all that Supreme Creator bit. No one is THAT powerful."
You wished to become so.
"Who doesn't?"
You have taken countless lives. Even more, you have taken the life of an innocent. For this, your life is forfeit.
"And just what are you going to do about it?"
I shall exact payment.
With that a shaft of light shot straight up from where he stood, and Ryan underwent the most amazing transformation. His entire skin turned metallic, just like his hand already was. His entire body was covered with multicolored armor-- I think it might have been made from the Element Stones.
Then he tore into the robot. Bare-handed. I guess the way Leviathan was built, he was designed to appear more natural or something, because something that looked like blood started flying. We all turned away from the spectacle until the robot's screams died out. When we gathered enough courage to look, Ryan was back to normal.
He hasn't been the same in the past few hours, even after we got back and Slasher explained that Indy would hatch again soon. I hope tomorrow brings something better for Ryan. I hate to see him like this.
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Two "days" before all heck breaks loose. Dark vs. Light coming soon.