Little something I had to do, Chapter 4 of my PS All-Stars Battle Royale fanfic series (I take a long ass time doing this, you people have to wait a lot, I know, I'll tell you about my thought process later).
After reaching some good terms with their new companions, the group had agreed to let a part of the team venture to the other side of the portal to make sure it wasn't a trap. So, Nathan, Cole, Kratos and Raiden went head first into the potential dangers while the others stayed behind.
"Don't mind me asking but how were your lives before all of this started?" Nate asked while exploring the land they discovered through the portal. "Not just before they snatched us but I mean before you got doing what you do now?"
"Why do you care?" Raiden questioned.
"I like to know the people I work with to a certain extent. Besides, I just feel like talking. You told us what you do for a living, just not how it began."
"I have been a soldier since I was a kid, after losing my parents. Served in Africa, other than my brothers in arms I had no family back then. Now I have a wife and a child but I don't see them often lately. They're still waiting for me to go home when I finish my job. Seems like that will take even longer than I thought."
"I can relate. Have a wife and daughter waiting for me too." Nate said, thinking of the loved ones he had waiting for him.
"What about your powers?" Cole asked Raiden, joining the conversation.
"Enhancements, a little gift from my superiors. What about yours?"
"I'm what we call a conduit. Just didn't know it until that damn day came. I was working as a bike courier, I was a college drop out so I had to do something for a living. One day I get a special package. I was offered a lot of money. Didn't think there would be any problem. How wrong was I. I get a call after reaching the spot, telling me to open the package. That was all it took for it to blow up. The explosion killed thousands but it activated the special gene in me. Next thing I knew, I had powers and was deemed a terrorist. I fought others like me who were tearing the city apart and abusing their powers. It was bad but it got worse. Then I lost the woman I loved. All the powers I had yet I couldn't save her." Cole then let out a deep sigh, before continuing. "Turns out the man behind all that was myself from the future, preparing me for a beast and a plague that would destroy mankind. In the end all conduits like me had to die in order for humans to be saved, so I took a choice and died with them. Or so I thought. Now here I am, fighting to survive with you." When he cocluded, the other three could really start pitying him a little. Unlike them, he didn't get much of a choice in life. He was an unfortunate one, not unlike them but still remarkably unlucky.
"Really deep, man. I'm sorry. Sad to hear things went like that for you but at least you got another chance." Said Nate trying to cheer him up.
"A chance at what?" Cole asked, curious. Nate just replied happily.
"Life." This word just made Cole feel a little better. Nate then turned to Kratos. "How about you, big guy?"
"I suggest you mind your own business. My story is one of mostly revenge and death." He replied without much content.
"Was it always like that?"
"No. I was once a proud general of the spartan army. I had a beloved wife, Lyssandra, and sn adored daughter, Calliope. I did not stay with them for too long because of my work, but now I wish I had let go of it and stayed with them. One day, I led the army against the hordes of the barbarians. Despite my best attempt, I was overwhelmed by the enemy. When death was inminent I took the only chance I had left. I sold my soul to the god of war, the very same god who took my dear brother away from me as a child and damned him to a life of imprisonment; Ares, in exchange for the power to slay my enemies. He would go on to use me as a hound of war, against his oppositors. But it was never enough. In an attempt to turn me into a blind killing beast without hesitation, he did the unthinkable. He sent my wife and daughter to die from my blind rampage." The others couldn't help it but feel true sadness and pity. What he described was horrifying and made their skin crawl a little. As a husband and father, Raiden really felt that deep inside. To lose his family would have been a terrible fate that he would never allow himself to experience.
"I was cursed to carry their ashes on my skin and see them in my worst nightmares, every day for the rest of my days. That took me to the edge. I spent years planning to get my revenge, serving the gods under the pretense that they would take the pain away after I had dealt with Ares. But even after I had my revenge against Ares, becoming the new god of war, they told me that could not happen, that I would stay like that forever. I thought that was the end until Zeus himself betrayed me and left me to die. He turned out to be my father, an absent and hateful one. In response, I waged war against all of the Olympus, the whole pantheon, for setting me up. I killed most of them but knowing all the pain I had brought upon the world, I ended my own life thinking it would all be over. But it was not."
"It never is." Cole stated, knowing all too well how it felt, how he felt.
"Sorry about your family, man. My condolences." Said Nate with a serious look. Kratos just sighed a little before resuming his usual stoic look.
"And how about you, Nathan." Raiden asked resuming the talk.
"Me? I go all the way back to a poor orphanage with my brother. We took the name Drake after an ancient explorer, Sir Francis Drake. We even pretended to be his descendants. As you can imagine, there's hardly any work opportunities for a couple of naughty dog boys like us, so we sticked to what we were good at, stealing for a living. But one day, we had to split, go our own ways. Not ideal for a pair of brothers. I meet this guy, Sully, he would go on to teach me all I needed to know to survive and I do to this day. He was the father I never had, a good man. After becoming something of a tomb raider, I met this wonderful woman, Elena. We would have our bad times but I loved her, still do. And then after lots of crazy adventures together, we got married. And what do you, I reunited with my brother, not in a very nice scenario but we got over it. I became a father too. Everything was going fine, we all lived happily ever after, at least until this happened. But I'll get back there. I know I have to." Said Nate, going through his personal story.
"At least you have something to get back too." Kratos told him.
"Yeah. That's what worries me." Nate replied, thinking of how worried his family had to be. He did have something to lose.
All four of them kept exploring the small forest until they found a village. From the hills they managed to see a bunch of small one eyed black creatures armed with spears, trying to fight off a swarm of beasts similar to the polygons they fought last night.
"Should we do something about that?" Asked Nate, to which Cole answered.
"Like storm in and fight them off?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"I like that plan." Raiden said before jumping into the fight. Kratos didn't stay back either and went on to engage.
"I'll probably get to like them more, you know. If they don't get us killed." Nate remarked as he drew a weapon and went ahead to help them.
"Oh, what the hell." Cole then charged in too.
In the village, the locals mounted a barricade against the polygons but they could only last for so long.
Suddenly a boulder fell down on their attackers, thrown by Kratos. Cole created an ice barrier to keep the incoming creatures at bay but they were slowly breaking through as these creatuees were bigger than the ones they fought previously.
The team could see that their shape was different too as they pounded against the ice. They resembled lizards with a shell composed by purple shards sprouting from most of their bodies. They stood in four legs and had extended jaws full of diamond-like teeth. Their attacks were quick and wild.
"Ready?" Cole asked as the barrier started cracking.
"Sure thing." Raiden said, holding his sword. The little villager creatures aimed their spears too.
Before the ice could break, Cole shot a napalm strike against the beasts, scorching them and melting the ice on them. Once the water spread, he shot a massive surge of lighting, shocking and electrocuting them in place. The villagers threw their spears and rocks against the beasts, hitting some of their eyes but they still rushed through. That was until Raiden slashed their legs viciously to stop their advance while Nate provided cover fire. To finish, Kratos leaped on top of their skulls and stabbed through them one by one with Cole launching continuous shockwaves too, before landing on the ground
This bought them some time but more beasts were on their way to attack.
"What the hell are those things made of?" Nate asked as he reloaded a gun he borrowed from Ratchet, staring at the shape of the incoming monsters.
"We are about to find out." Kratos said, getting in position to battle. The villagers gathered some catapults and used them throw boulders at the beasts in the distance, slowing them down but one came running at high speed despite the attacks. Kratos then shot forwards with his nemean cestus on his fists and punched the incoming crawler in the head, getting in a power struggle to force it back. Raiden took the opportunity to leap on the creature's head and bury his sword on it before it could open it's mouth to shot a blazing beam
Nate checked if he had any explosives left before feeling something odd wrap around him. Before Nate knew, he was being pulled towards a crawler's mouth.
"Oh shit!" He cursed as it dragged him closer.
"Hang in there!" Yelled Cole as he grabbed one of his arms and pulled back with the villagers grabbing his legs too to put more weight.
"I'm trying to!" Nate yelled as he struggled, before getting an idea. He then used his free arm to reach for an explosive. Once the beast's jaw was wide open, he threw the package into the monster's mouth and shot it in the air while Cole aimed and threw a lightning grenade next to it to heighten the damage. The explosion made the crawler's tongue fall off as part of it's head exploded. Nate fell to the ground next to Cole and the villagers.
"Okay, now this is just plain gross." He said as he removed the giant tongue from himself.
"Are you alright?" Cole asked as he helped Nate back to his feet.
"Yeah and I'll be better when we wipe those shiny suckers out."
"That's the spirit, pal."
A crawler raised it's front legs in attempt to smash Raiden but he quickly slid under the legs to reach it's tail. Now grabbing it, in a huge display of strength, Raiden pulled and started spinning the beast around. After two spins he let go, launching it against the others who were about to attack. Once they fell, Cole charged his lightning and pierced two of them with his bolts.
The villagers jumped from their high spots, landing on a crawler. They tried to pierce it's hide to no avail while the others threw a chain to wrap the legs. Then they ran around them and pulled as hard as they could, making it trip. Raiden went for the head now that it was down and sliced it off in a swing. Every defeated enemy left behind a series of white static orbs that were absorbed by the fighters upon contact giving them a boost in energy.
"Nice." Said Cole as he felt his power increase. Hitting the ground with the amp he caused an electric surge that electrified the crawler's legs, making them lose control.
But the fight was far from over. Chaos spread through the way as the crawler's then shot beams of energy that threatened to get the heroes down.
"Take cover!" Kratos yelled as he rolled out of the beam's way.
Cole gathered the villagers and Nate behind him before launching a thunder strike to clash with the beam back. After focusing his rays, he managed to push back and obliterate the creature's head. They fell back and jumped behind some rocks piled by the villagers to shield from the blasts but they were falling everywhere.
"Any tricks up your sleeves, guys?" Asked Nate, covering his ears for the constant boom. Kratos replied, getting up.
"I have some." He then went running at full speef towards the monsters as they fired at him. When the first strike came, he absorbed the power of the blast using the golden fleece and then shot back at the beasts, stunning them and leaving them open for attack. One of them came running at him Intending to devour him but Kratos wore the boots of Hermes and ran forwards, going through the jaws of the beast. It tried to keep firing at the others but then it stopped cold and crashed down on the ground. Kratos came out of the back with his swords out, victorious. He then summoned the spirits of numerous undead fiends and warriors with the claws of Hades to gang up on the remaining attackers.
"Hold on to something!" Cole yelled as he used the power he had gained and gathered his forces to form a tornado that sucked up the crawlers. As they were suspended in the air, he blasted them all with an enormous lightning storm. Kratos and Raiden buried their swords on the ground while the others grabbed onto them to avoid being sucked in.
After a short moment and making sure the crawlers were disposed of, the tornado faded away and Cole could put his hands down to rest. He then turned to the villagers as did his fellows.
"It's okay, we're only here to help." To his surprise, they all started communicating too in their very own way. However, only Cole could tell what they were trying to say.
"Do you even understand a word of what they're saying?" Raiden asked Cole from behind.
"A little. Did you know the brain produces and works based around a certain amount of electricity? That's the reason why I can read some of their thoughts. It's like catching a signal on a radio."
"So now we've got an universal translator, neat." Nate said jokingly but realizing this would help them.
"What do they say now?" Asked Kratos.
"They wanted to thank us for helping them. They're called Patapons. They say these creatures have preyed on them for a week now. They're coming from the south."
"Then we know where we are heading to." Raiden said. "If they came from there, there's the chance that another portal waits for us there."
"So they say. They know the way but it's a long trip." Cole confirmed for him.
"We have the time for it. Nothing else to do." Kratos stated.
"We should tell the others about this. I just hope they're fine." Nate said, wishfully.
"They should be. I will stay here to protect the village, just hurry up and go get them." Said Cole, earning nods from the others as they got on the way back to the portal.
Meanwhile the rest of the crew awaited around a campfire on the other side.
"Do you think they're okay?" Asked Dante as he laid on the ground with his eyes on the stars above.
"Yeah. We are counting on it." Said Jak, sitting between Ratchet and Sly, still looking at the portal as if waiting patiently.
Then they saw Nate greet them through the portal, alongside Raiden and Kratos.
"Is everything alright?" Asked Nate, noticing that the rest of the crew was looking pretty quiet.
"So far so good." Said Ratchet. "Is it clear?"
"Now it is." Raiden answered.
"Let's go then." Said Dante as he and the others prepared to go into the next location.
"By the way, you guys are gonna love the neighborhood. I think you will get along with the locals, some really nice folks." Nate pointed out.
Far away, the Polygon Man just kept looking at the warriors' prowess and exploits, while preparing more hazards for the next fights.
"You know, as much as I like to use my imagination, I think it's time I set them up against some familiar faces. Their welcome wouldn't be complete without some old fellas."
He then floated towards his newest companions to proceed with the games. A mad robot scientist, a young man in a blue coat wielding an unique sword and a grimmly mechanic owl, among oma few others, all listening to his words.
"You know the sitch. Go do your thing, boys. That's why you're here."