A/N: Le gasp! What have we here? ANOTHER series? Well this series was here far before SPB and Mythic Knights were conceived. Years ago I created three characters: Kayden, Leyla, and Bastion. They were originally going to be a team of dimension crossing heroes for hire that teamed up with Sonic, Shadow, Mario, and Luigi to save their planet and that turned into Xtreme Heroes Episode 1 and the unfinished episode 2. Let's just say that I could do much better. I then made the Wolf Paladin and that was intended to be a prequel to Xtreme Heroes, giving the three their backstory. A LOT has changed in the past few years and now that Mythic Knights and Space Patrol Beta are working, I thought to myself: Let's see if we can bring back my three characters to where they properly belong. One day these three series shall meet and it WILL be epic. The black font indicates Kayden's point of view.
PROJECT FLARESTORM
EPISODE 1: The Lost Falconite Part 1
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY ZAK KAYES
Every night…I have dreams. But for every dream we share…an equally chilling nightmare awaits in the shadows…
Even when he was sure of himself, Kayden was still unsure to fall asleep. Darkness would last for a few moments and then slowly the sounds would begin to enter his ears. The intoxicating smell entered his nostrils and it was usually the first to make him open his eyes. A wolf, aged eighteen, found himself on the ground. That was all his eyes could see for the moment before he moved his arms and planted his palms into the ground to help get himself to his feet. His chest was covered by a black tank top and matching black jeans. His boots looked old as his fingerless gloves. At his belt was a holster for a weird looking blaster with the shape of a wolf head at the end. His hair was fluffy with little red streaks at the end that fluffed out in the back.
The wolf's dull and nearly faded black fur seemed to glow amongst the glow of the flames around him. Flames, he wondered? His head moved with his eyes to his surroundings but his eyes did not widen out of surprise. It was if he had seen this all before. Huts and houses, lit aflame with the charred, mutilated remains of several townsfolk; all the same. Kayden briefly turned around to see what was behind him and it was what he had expected: the same thing. His eyes turned to the hill in the distance with a grand castle perched on top. Wandering eyes pierced through the smoke to see a massive creature by the castle, proceeding to break through its force field. Wasting no time, Kayden began to race along the ground towards the hill.
He found himself momentarily stopped and he skidded for a second. There were strange silhouettes roaming around, even snaking on the charred remains of some townsfolk. They turned to notice Kayden and roared at him. The wolf was quick to pull the blaster from his holster and press a button on the side. He swung the blaster and a blade extended from the head of it. The roars stopped and Kayden got into a stance.
"Just try me." he said with a confident smirk.
The three creatures charged and Kayden moved in quickly. From the palm of his raised hand, a fireball shot out and struck one of the creatures, making it explode into smoke. Kayden sliced through the second beast before side stepping the third's attacks. He dodged and overhead swipe and his slice connected, making the third explode as well. The wolf looked behind him before continuing his pace towards the hill. It didn't take him very long to reach the castle courtyard and for his eyes to notice the corpses of the royal guards. Though it pained him, he raced through the courtyard and up the stairs to the door that had been blasted open. He could hear the roar of the beast trying to break the castle and realized he had little time. Navigating his way through corridors and falling rubble, he finally made it to the top of the castle roof to see the large beast break through the force field. The creature was massive, nearly towering over him, devoid of any color. Its hands were burly and it's arms burly. Fear was replaced by adrenaline as Kayden stood his ground, wielding his weapon.
"Whoever you are, you're going right back where you belong!" yelled Kayden.
The beast chuckled lowly before raising both of its massive hands to try and smash the wolf. The wolf quickly evaded and shot out a blast of fire at its hands. Kayden did his best in dealing strong slices into the arm but couldn't seem to break past its rock-hard skin. The creature backhanded Kayden into one of the pillars and aimed a fist at the wolf. Kayden was barely able to dodge and used his roll to shoot out another burst of flame that connected with the creature's arm. Kayden looked to see the titan open its mouth and launch black fireballs at him which were sliced seconds later by the wolf's weapon. Now was the time, he thought. He jumped onto the creature's arm and raced up it, keeping his balance and evading the other fist. Now onto the massive shoulder, he dodged more flames from the mouth and deflected them back, stunning the titan. Wasting no time, Kayden began slicing as quick as he could into the head, finally breaking past some of the armor. He doused the exposed skin with fire and then pressed the trigger on the gun part of his weapon, making the blade glow green. He made one strong cleave with the blade and shattered the head armor off the beast.
"Gotcha!" said Kayden before yelping as he was tossed off.
The wolf landed with a thud on the roof of the castle as the titan roared in pain. It looked down at Kayden and dealt a hard punch that sent Kayden crashing through a pillar. Kayden got to his feet and held his ribs for a moment, aware of his injuries. He was ready to strike again until the titan stopped moving and looked up. Kayden looked up as well and this time his eyes DID widen at the site. It was an even LARGER version of the titan he was facing, nearly as big as the whole planet. Its piercing roar rocked the earth and Kayden held his head, trying to block the sound. He grunted as he nearly dropped to the ground but shook it off and looked up to see the creature in the sky's fist descend and slam into the ground miles away. The roaring had stopped and when the fist had collided, the entire planet shook. Kayden dropped back with a thud and grunted. The earth itself began to crack and the tremors tore through. Looking up, the mouth of the titan opened and began to suck up chunks of the earth. Kayden looked to the creature on the ground and watched as it moved up into the air, seemingly vanish into the other creature's mouth. Kayden quickly made a run for one of the pillars and grabbed onto it, holding on for dear life.
He couldn't hold on for long. The wolf's scream was silenced within moments as he vanished into the mouth, becoming engulfed with darkness and vanishing from the shattering world.
Every night…I have dreams and it's the same thing, every night. I can't escape it. I can't think of anything else and I have no idea what it means. What is true in this nightmare and what isn't? I just don't-…I don't understand. I can't even remember the last few years of my life. It's a glaring gap in my timeline that I come so close to finding and yet fail every time. Fate played its best hand for me and it saw that I never return to the life I once had. One second seems like an eternity, hours turn into seconds, and memories flow like a river through my mind. They're never in the right order…so how am I supposed to know what these little flashes here and there mean? Are they even real? Maybe I ask too many questions but can you really blame me? All these questions I face as, day by day, I can feel the darkness lurking closer and closer to consume me. Only through the actions of a friend and a serum am I able to combat it. I feel though that I am only delaying the inevitable. So now I ask myself: Where does my story end? Where does this tale of a tragic hero begin and where does it show the link to MY past? I'd know it…if the person who I knew and loved was alive to tell me. In life there are no happy endings. No one rides off victoriously into the sunset and no one lives happily ever after. Call it what you will, but it is still what it is: Reality. I don't know why I was forced down this path nor do I remember the turmoil or the pain I went through to get me here. Maybe, for the best, I shouldn't know. My story is not for the faint of heart. It is not a book that can simply be opened to explore. It is not a vast lake of pure water to dive into.
The wolf suddenly jolted up, letting out a startled gasp, awakening from his sleep. He panted for a few moments before taking a breath and slowly laying back down on the bed.
My name is Kayden Seyak and my story has yet to be told.
~!~!~!~
The sound of knocking came from the other side of the room the wolf resided in.
"Yeah?" he yelled.
"It's Leyla!" said a female voice from the door. There was a hint of a British accent to it. "Wakey, wakey, sleepy wolfie!"
The wolf's amber eyes slowly awoke before removing the covers of his bare fur to sit up. His head tilted down as his arms crossed over his legs. His tail swayed on the covers as he brought his arms to the back of his head to ruffle his hair, causing a small yawn. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dimly lit room. A bed was placed against the wall with a window following adjacent. Below was a table with a chair, a few pieces of machinery, and a small blue book. Across from the bed was a small closet holding the wolf's clothes, keepsakes, and a small gray box.
"Come on in." he said.
The door opened and he turned his head to see a young vixen in the door frame. She walked to him with her braided tail swishing lazily behind her. She was about Kayden's size and age with yellow fur and orange accents. Her body was well toned and muscular from her intense training as she wore a simple cyan tube top and brown vest to show. Her dark brown eyes glowed lightly with a hint of yellow and she moved her long hair away from her eyes. On her wrist were a detachable keypad communicator and various other gadgets Kayden hadn't bothered to count.
"You alright?" she asked, walking over to him.
"Yeah. Kinda just woke up."
"It's almost eleven. You don't usually wake up this late."
There was an awkward silence. "…bad dream."
"You better take your serum then." the vixen advised.
The wolf slid off the bed slowly to an upright position before opening the closet door and picking up the gray box. Placing it on the table, Kayden slowly turned the light up to get a better view of what he was doing. The boxes contents, when opened, showed several vials of black liquid, each marked in code. In his right hand was an injector device with a knob on the front and on the top a place to hold the vials. The vial on the far right was picked and tilted down into the top which clicked into place. Flipping it over, Kayden closed his eyes and placed the knob near his bicep before pulling the button on the bottom, injecting the vial's contents into his bloodstream.
"Nngghhh!" the wolf exclaimed as he gripped his arm in pain.
Leyla watched, her expression changing for a split second before it returned to a blank expression.
"At least now you're not on the floor biting into a belt." she remarked, patting his shoulder.
He panted heavily, waiting for the pain to subside before putting everything back and taking clothes out from his closet.
I've been living on this desert planet for only a few months now. This fort on a god forsaken battlefield stands little chance but apparently Hunter thinks I have some potential. Day by day the Shadows keep increasing and they get stronger each time. Instead of just the soldiers, we've had to deal with the brutes, flyers, snakes, and the occasional invasion every day. They have no leader but seem to act on their own poisoned agenda. Slaves to the schedule. This just makes finding the artifacts during the sandstorms much harder. That's usually how the day goes by. Wake up, get a mission, head out to the desert, retrieve artifacts, fight off Shadows, defend the fort, test out something for Leyla, and then go back to sleep. But hey, at least it offers SOME variety.
Sitting on the edge of the bed he slipped on black pants and a black sleeveless shirt. Reaching for the door, he took off the jacket hanging from the wall and then grabbed his belt from the edge of the bed, snapping it quickly onto his waist. He took a moment to look around before pressing a button on the back of the desk, opening a compartment on the side which held a blaster with a wolf symbol on the side and a wolf head for the front.
"How's your Defender?" she asked.
"It needs a little more tweaking. The super-charge function drains it's battery a little too quickly."
"Well we have self-sustaining energy crystals now. Thanks to you."
Kayden grabbed his communicator and pocketed before looking in the mirror. He blinked and then looked around for a moment and turned to Leyla who had goggles dangling from her finger.
"Looking for these?" she teased.
Kayden made a grab for them but she moved her finger away and looked the wolf in the eyes before placing them on his forehead. She flicked his nose before turning around to walk out the door.
Even in these dark times, Leyla's humor seems to be the only thing that keeps my "confidence" up. I met her when I was first brought here and she took a liking to me. She's one of the most skilled mechanics I've ever met and on the field, she's a deadly opponent. I wouldn't blame myself for thinking's she's the total package. She designed my arsenal and the Fort's defense system, including the Protoseries GX Battle Suits. While she might throw you off with the technical jargon explanation, they are basically suits that can enhance the wearer's abilities. I haven't had the chance to test one out yet. There's still much I don't know about her but I feel I know enough.
The two of them started walking together down the corridor. There were many other rooms for the higher ranking soldiers. Out of the corridor they went and down the steps to the main area of the fort. Many other soldiers surrounded the area, training, working, talking, and living their lives in a medium-sized environment.
"I needed the rest." said Kayden. "I'm not a 24/7 defender like you."
Leyla giggled at the comment. "Did you sleep alright last night?"
"Like a baby." He retorted. "I take it that explosion last night was you?"
She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "Yyyyyyeahh...hehe...I accidentally cross wired the frequency junction box wires with the light calibrator and one twist here, one click there..." She made a boom gesture with her hands.
"You woke up a lot of people."
"Well sorry, I was on a deadline. Hunter wanted the shield systems fixed before dawn and I tried something new."
Kayden shook his head with a light smirk. "What did you do this time?"
They crossed over a bridge, leading to the inner part of the fort which passed by Leyla's workshop.
"Well last night, I decided to add a new matrix code into the system, just to make it last longer and reserve energy for the turrets. So I took some of the crystals from the Shadows we took out a few weeks ago that almost got through the shields and grinded them into a powder. I added them to a polymolta stone that I had fixed and decided to boost the shields up for a test."
Most of the stuff went right over his head. "And then?"
"...one little miscalculation. I threw the stone at the wall, thinking it would break the shield down...but instead it got deflected and blew up in the air."
"Uh huh...when's the last time you slept?" The wolf continued, keeping his regular pace next to Leyla.
"Three days ago and you know, it would have helped to, say, watch my six while we were out there last time."
Kayden shrugged. "Not my fault the rookie can't use a stick shift."
"He's not a rookie!" laughed Leyla. "Come on, Rodney has skills."
The wolf looked back at her.
"Ok, bad choice of words." She rubbed the back of her head. "But he's learning. I thought Hunter gave him to you as your responsibility to train since he couldn't."
And sometimes I wonder WHY he didn't want to train him. Hunter is the leader of this fort and has built a considerable reputation as a desert warrior. I've learned a lot from him in terms of fighting techniques. Ever since he took me under his wing, I've felt some connection to him. Some sense of actual belonging. Do I admire him? Yes. Do I trust him? With my life. And he would do the same for me or for anyone in this fort. He's a voice to the soldiers here and that's a voice that keeps us all going when the odds are heavily not in our favor. His son, Rodney, is one of the most headstrong guys I've ever met. Since Hunter trained me, he said that I "owed" him. This was not what I was expecting.
"The kid has barely any actual talent." remarked Kayden. "He doesn't carry any of Hunter's abilities. I don't see why I have to train him."
"Well because you're the best Hunter has, right?" questioned Leyla, arms crossed neatly across her chest. "I mean, why didn't he choose me?"
"I'm not sure. Honestly, I don't know what he sees in me."
Kayden came to a makeshift elevator and the person at the top activated the lift.
"Well I see a handsome, daring, courageous wolf that has more heart than anyone else I've ever known." She giggled and nudged him. "But maybe if you stop practicing the whole 'brooding bad boy' thing in the mirror every morning then I'd probably say more."
"Brooding bad boy? That's original."
~!~!~!~
As the elevator arrived at the top, a small corridor led to a door guarded by two soldiers. They nodded and opened the door to let both Leyla and Kayden through to the Observatory. Standing at the end by the main window was a robed figure. His long panther tail hung silently from the black and blue trims at the bottom of his robe. As the vixen and wolf approached, he turned around to face them. His sword sheath, hanging loosely from his waist, barely moved. His robe was open to reveal nothing but his bare chest and cross necklace. His hair was long, wavy, and blue like his fur. Age and war had taken the toll on his face as if it was carved from cold rock. Kayden and Leyla bowed before the panther.
"You asked for us, Hunter?" asked Leyla.
The panther nodded. "I've received word that an entrance leading down into the mountains was uncovered during last week's sandstorm. You brought the laptop right, Leyla?"
She nodded and set it up on the table. "Energy mass spectrometers detected a large energy reading from within the cave before but today…it's stronger than usual."
Kayden crossed his arms. "Let me guess. You want me to go down there and check it out?"
"Not just you and Leyla but Rodney as well." replied Hunter. "Who knows? We might be able to find something useful down there."
"That doesn't give us a lot of time." Kayden pointed at the computer grid. "There's a sandstorm coming in from the Dunes with high particle levels. Wind speed is at 50 nanos."
"50?" questioned the panther.
"Let's just say that it can rip armor." continued the wolf. "The entrance is only a few miles from our base so if we make it to the cave before the sandstorm hits, we should be safe."
"Glad to see you're catching on, hun." grinned Leyla, looking up at Kayden.
"Well you make things interesting." he remarked. "Better than some of the other bots at least."
"Good," Hunter cut on. "Then I suggest both you check it out soon."
"Yes sir. Right away." Leyla saluted for a moment then nudged the wolf with her tail before walking away.
"Can't keep your eyes off her, can you?" remarked Hunter, turning away to go back to the window.
Kayden scoffed. "Her? Sir, with all due respect, she's your mechanic."
"Ah I'd say she's yours."
"As is your son for the moment."
Hunter chuckled lightly. "I figured you were staying behind to say something about him rather than small talk."
"It's not that, sir." Kayden joined Hunter's side. "I have trained him for a month now; he's nowhere near as good as you are. He's not willing to listen to much that I have to say. Are you sure you want ME to train him?"
"I'm certain Kayden. " the panther's eyes turn to Kayden's eyes. "You may not see something, but despite that, I believe he is ready for Series Blue."
The Protoseries GX are given color names for their abilities: Red Turbo, Blue Timer, Black Toro, Green Tele, and Yellow Particle. Their codes are VERY specific and only accept one person's DNA just in case someone else tries to use it. Once the user wears it, their DNA code is imprinted onto it and it can't be erased, as far as I know. Now she tried each of the suits out and Red works with Hunter, Yellow for her. What really gets me is that despite my requests for Series Black, no one has been able to handle how powerful-
"Something on your mind, Kayden?" asked Hunter.
"Hmm?" he turned his head to look at the panther. "I trust what you think, Hunter. I'm sorry for doubting."
"It's fine. Loosen up a little, pup."
The wolf had half turned before looking back. "Don't call me pup."
~!~!~!~
The elevator stopped down at the ground floor, nearby the walls surrounding the town. Kayden and Leyla emerged walking over to the large garage area. Various vehicles were parked in the corners of the room including hovercrafts, jet cycles, hyper ATVs, hover boards, digging vehicles, a lot of machinery none the less. Leaning against one of the hovercrafts was a young panther, similar to Hunter. Dew rag on his head, dark green hoody with the sleeves cut off, long cargo pants that matched his tape wrapped hands, and a cocky smile. Just your average, getting ready for action, still kinda wet behind the ears, rookie.
"Didn't think you'd guys show up at all." remarked Rodney.
Leyla grinned and went over to her hovercraft. "Well we won't want to miss a big, scary, underground cavern entrance would we?"
The panther laughed. "True dat!"
Rodney followed while Kayden walked over to his motorcycle: The Turbo Cycle. The wheels had been taken off and there were two pads; one being on both areas where the wheels would be. The seat was slanted for faster speed. The wolf ran his hand along the seat before sitting in it and pressing his hand against a small compartment. A mechanical click was heard and the engine roared to life. Leyla's own engine came to life shortly after.
"Dude, we totally trashed all of those Shadows last time!" laughed the young panther. "I was like-"
Kayden shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Save it, kid. We got a job today."
"As always." said Rodney. "You don't gotta be so straight to the point, mister serious. I'm just trying to bring some excitement to all of this."
The cycle's engine revved up, causing the Turbo Cycle to levitate off the ground. Kayden took his goggles and slipped them down onto his face before rocketing out of the garage into the desert. The hovercraft quickly followed behind him.
The desert is always dangerous at this time of day. This ocean of fire, a barren torn battleground with arms wide open to swallow the dead, becomes a perilous labyrinth. Sandstorms sweep over the ground, revealing anew and destroying the old, and with only hours in between, to go into the desert then would be suicide. But hey, somebody's got to do it and that leaves us. I never quite understood why Hunter tells us to go out to the desert during these crucial hours. These artifacts, some weapons while others are merely priceless objects, meant a lot to the city's history. So in a way, we're doing something good. But these storms keep getting worse and worse and the last one almost ripped the metal off of my Turbo Cycle. We've only covered a fraction of this desert. Both Hunter and I are hoping we can get all the artifacts before the desert swallows them up. Something tells me though things are gonna be a little different.
Well out into the desert, Kayden drove his cycle closer to Leyla.
"How far are we from the cave entrance!" he yelled above the engines.
"Not far! I think we're getting close to it now!"
Kayden nodded and sped ahead of Leyla's hovercraft. Rodney watched and leaned back on the seat.
"I still don't get why he has to be such a hard-ass with me sometimes." he said.
"Well you get on his nerves." she replied, focusing on the desert ahead. "His patience is wearing out for you."
The young panther shook his head and slouched back, having his arm hang out the side. "Well excccuuuuuuuuussseeeee me! Sorry if he can't see the awesome potential that my father knows I have. I can take on any of these Shadows!"
Leyla turned her head to him. "You see?" She pointed at him. "That right there. That right there is why Kayden doesn't like you. You think you're everything but pretty soon, that ego is gonna be cut down to size faster than a short circuit."
Rodney didn't have much time to respond before Leyla's scanner started beeping. "Speak of the devil."
Quickly looking down, Leyla brought out her communicator. "Kay! We got company!"
Black mist appeared behind them, right on their heels. The hovercraft and Turbo Cycle stopped nearby the cave entrance. Several different black creatures in armor materialized, surrounding the outer area of the cave. They looked like humans only grotesquely mutated. The area behind them turned to white and a barrier formed. The wolf powered down his cycle before dismounting it, removing his jacket and pushing up his goggles.
"They just never quit, do they?" remarked the panther.
Leyla and Rodney got out of the hovercraft, Leyla flipping open her wrist mounted device. "Nah, they probably just miss us."
"Then let's welcome them back," The wolf drew his Wolf Defender and got into a stance. "Properly."
"I hear that." laughed the vixen, punching in a code on her device before detaching it, spinning it in her hand. "HENSHIN!" She yelled, sliding the device's bottom disc down her arm.
A hologram shield came out from the scanner port. She placed her hands at her side as the shield passed through her, covering her body in dark yellow and black armor. A helmet opened from the top of the suit and closed around her head, lights shining from the top of her visor.
"This time, try and keep these guys off my back!" she yelled, her voice altered through the suit's helmet.
The wolf nodded and turned back to Rodney. "Let's go rookie."
Rodney grumbled before retrieving two tanfa from the backseat, activating the energy blades on the end. "I'll show HIM rookie..."
The shadows came in fast from the left and right. Although outnumbered at first, the trio was far from outmatched. One Shadow made a wild leap for the vixen and was given a swift uppercut that sent it flying into the air, de-materializing. She ran forward and leaped over a Shadow, grabbing his head and slamming it down into the ground. Behind her, another Shadow was ready to leap out. As it did, Leyla pressed a button on her wrist, causing a bo staff to materialize in her hands. And that poor Shadow never saw it coming. While other Shadows attempted to attack, Leyla's arsenal of gadgets did only the best. Shock mines and electron pulse blasters combined with her deadly precision with her bo staff and electromagnetic powers, Shadows were being taken down by the second.
Rodney wasn't having as much luck. His attacks were countered and he was being tossed around wildly like a rag doll; an explosion slamming him hard into the wall.
"RGGGH! COME ON ALREADY! THINK DAMN IT!"
Kayden's own battle was getting his attention. Remembering some of what he had learned, Rodney mounted an offense, attacking from the air. Shadows leaped in the air, Rodney sliced through their armor and landed on the ground, running forward to block a slash followed with a spin strike. It was slow but still, it was effective.
The wolf stood his ground with a large chunk of the Shadows. He pressed a button on the side of his Wolf Defender, the wolf head opening and he swung the blaster, activating the blade. He flipped forward on his hands and drove both of his feet into one Shadow sending it crashing into the others. One tried to restrain Kayden but the wolf grabbed the Shadow's arm, flinging it forward easily, slicing it in half. In the process, Kayden landed on the ground.
Another Shadow tried to stomp him but Kayden knipped up, side stepping one of their kicks and grabbing the leg. Kayden simply shook his head and smashed his elbow down on the leg, throwing the Shadow into the others. He dealt a leg sweep to another Shadow and stabbed it, making it vanish. Kayden quickly leaped back and pressed a button on top of the Defender. He held the defender like a rifle and stood back as an energy ball charged up on the front of the blaster.
"SPECTRE BLAST!"
The ball shot out of the Defender like thunder, tearing through the Shadows with ease. Leyla and Rodney leaped next to Kayden and they fought off the remainder of the Shadows. But just as they finished, even more appeared.
"Damn it! They just keep coming!" She yelled as she twisted a button on her staff, making a blade come out from the tip.
"Any bright ideas?!" asked Rodney.
"Always." She replied. "Let's see how they like THIS!"
The bottom of her boots charged up and propelled her into the air. Her armor began to gather electricity and small bombs began flying out, landing in the crowd of Shadows. Kayden quickly grabbed Rodney and took shelter behind a boulder.
"What the hell now?!" Rodney yelled, covering his head.
The battlesuit began to whir and she began to spin at a furious speed. The vixen's gathering electricity gathered inside the blade as the spinning and whirring increased.
"FULL POWER!" she yelled, suddenly diving down to the ground. "MAELSTORM!"
The blade jabbed into the ground and lightning erupted from the staff, triggering the bombs that exploded throughout the swarm, exploding around her. The ground trembled at the power as a blinding light eclipsed the area. As the light died down, only the vixen stood standing. The panther's hair stood up on its end as he and Kayden emerged from behind the boulder.
"Power down." She said, causing the suit to turn into pixels, coming back into the device. She dropped down onto her knee, clutching her chest breathing heavily. "...Whew...that's a rush."
"You ok?" asked Rodney.
She nodded slowly before taking a few deep breaths, looking down at her Trigger. "I didn't know there would be so much kickback this time. I programmed my Trigger to unleash Maelstorm when enough electrons were gathered. Series Yellow's electromagnetic kinetic particle disruptor can only charge up a certain amount of electrons before it short circuits." She took a few breaths. "Electricity is very hard to control, guys."
"Trust me, we know." replied the panther, pointing to his hair.
Kayden holstered his Wolf Defender. "Shouldn't we be checking out the cave?"
Leyla nodded and headed back to the hovercraft, retrieving some gear. "I agree, the sandstorm could hit any minute now."'
~!~!~!~
Time seemed to stop the moment the crew stepped through the entrance. The walls were stained from erosion by the menacing velocity of the sandstorms. A thick, pungent smell lined the air inside as the trio slowly entered into the cave. Rodney was quick to cover his nose and step back.
"YEEESHH! Who dropped the stink bomb in here?"
Leyla rolled her eyes, opening her Trigger and slowly sweeping it across the room. "Hmm...no vapors...no airborn toxins...nothing to worry about so far." She went to one of the walls and scrapped some of the substance off, scanning it with her Trigger. "Walls are a little unstable due to erosion. There are traces of sulfur...cheap granite...diatomaceous earth..." She sniffed nearby it. "...And it all smells REALLY bad."
Kayden was the next to walk in. "I checked the comp; the sandstorm will be arriving in 20 minutes."
"Right." she said. "Then let's take some samples first for the lab-RODNEY!"
Rodney withdrew his hand.
"Don't. Touch. ANYTHING."
"Sorry...might as well wait at the craft then..." he mumbled, walking out of the cave.
Kayden contemplated for a moment before going back to Leyla, sitting down on a rock. He looked back to make sure nobody was listening.
"How is the serum working?" she asked.
"The pain seems to have died down a bit." He reached his arm forward, sliding the jacket sleeve up to show the very faint dark purple pulsing under his fur. "But it's getting harder to control. How much longer until that antidote?"
She sighed before taking the last sample. "Chemistry is not one of my best subjects. I've been trying to develop some sort of counter isotope that could kill the Shadow genes."
"What about my DNA? Shouldn't mine have the isotype you need?"
The vixen shook her head. "I wish it was that simple. But it's not strong enough. I've looked up practically every medical journal, log, record, you name it. But no matter how many different DNA Shadow strand combinations I use, I can't find a way to suppress the Shadow genes in you long enough to take the virus out permanently."
Kayden knelt down and looked at her. "Sorry if there's too much pressure. It's just...all the serum is doing is keeping it from entering my bloodstream. I stop taking this that virus gets in me and the secret is out. I'm a Shadow for life."
"I know, I know...the only other thing i can think of is that journal. You know, the one on Shadow Mutuation that Professor Francis Geno wrote. Now, if I had that, this would be much easier."
Kayden went a little deeper into the cave, shining a light down the dark corridor. At the end laid a giant stone door with faintly glowing inscriptions symbols.
"Hey Ley."
The vixen turned to the door and paused before slowly standing up. "Woah...is this what I think it is?" She walked next to Kayden and scanned the wall with her Trigger. "It's in Falconi...I thought that language was dead for a long time now."
"Can you translate it?"
Leyla's Trigger continued to sweep over the inscriptions, the symbols being shown on the front screen. Her eyes attended to the device and door but her ears were solely focused on Kayden.
"Well...I can scan the rest of this and take it back to base. But I don't know if the next sandstorm will cover this up again."
Kayden scoffed. "So? We put a marker here and we dig it up again."
The Trigger beeped and Leyla stood up, finally bringing her eyes to his. "Kayden, I'm not willing to take that chance. You've seen how vicious the storms have been getting. This whole cave is unstable because of the erosion. The next storm could collapse it and then this place would be lost."
"You've got a better idea then? I don't think either one of us want to be ripped apart if we just stand here and argue. We should get back to base with the door's data and then compare it to any of the inscriptions on the artifacts."
A silence fell on the cave for a moment before she broke eye contact and smirked. "Sometimes you amaze even me..." She walked past him and began making her way to the cave entrance.
Kayden followed but his ear twitched to an unknown sound. The wolf looked up and noticed a faint glimmer in the sky, getting bigger as it descended down past them. The large mass tore through the sky with screeching velocity set ablaze by the entrance to the planet. Flying over the hill nearby them, it crashed into the side of the mountain. The tremor shook the cave's foundation emitting roars from deep within the cave, sending sand flying everywhere. Both Kayden and Leyla rushed out to the vehicles, Rodney already covering his face.
"The storm is getting worse!" yelled Rodney. "We only have 5 minutes!"
Leyla's Trigger started beeping, showing a face of Hunter.
"I take it you saw the meteorite." said Hunter.
"No duh!" yelled Rodney. "That thing was friggin' huge!"
"You don't have any time to check it out. The storm's strength is already up to Level 3. Get out of there now and get back to base."
"But-" protested Leyla.
"If you stay out there any longer, you'll be easy fodder for the Shadows. I'm not asking you Leyla. That is an order."
Leyla sighed. "Yes, sir..."
The device clicked off, she stood there for a minute unsure of what to do. Kayden was the first to move, heading to his vehicle.
"Where do you think you're going?" she said.
"That didn't look like a meteorite or a Shadow Spire, Leyla. It was a ship. There could be people."
"Are you out of your mind!? Didn't you even hear what Hunter said? So what if it was a ship? You're insane! You go there; you'll be dead within minutes! And even if you could get to them, where the hell are you going to stay?"
"I'll head back to the cave and stay there till the storm dies down." He sighed. "Listen, please, don't argue. Just go back with Rodney. Once the storm is over, you'll know where to find me. I can handle this."
She crossed her arms. "Then give me one good reason why I should let you risk your life for something you know nothing about?"
Kayden simply stared at the vixen. "Because you did the same thing for me."
A silence fell once again on them until Leyla nodded, going to her friend, hugging him and then running back to the hovercraft. "You know me too well hun."
Kayden leapt onto his Turbo Cycle and revved the engine, heading out into the dangerous storm.