PSU "A Daring Rescue" Part 4
Damien knelt down, examining the remnants of Chase's presence. The room was small and on the side next to its only entrance were pieces of unwrapped portable food rations, a fully activated photon dagger and a broken radio earpiece, all scattered disorderly in a corner. Signs of rest interrupted.
The beast did not know whether to cheer at the signs of life or to lament his instincts that took into account the potential that their friend was attacked. Damien still has not forgotten the scream that echoed throughout the corridors; a voice of pain and one that he was sure belonged to Chase.
"Um…Damien…" Nanami's voice nervously reached him.
Damien looked over to his right and in the distance he could see Nanami and Oddo standing in front of a massive hole on the side of the wall. The beast walked toward the two as Oddo moved his lighting rod around its edges to examine.
"The debris is on our side of the wall…something broke through," Oddo whispered.
Damien followed the newman's rod as it lit the circumference of the gap revealing a yellow liquid dripping from it. The three moved their heads closer to examine the discovery.
"It looks like acid…like something weakening the wall by melting it, then breaking through…" Nanami said.
Something. The word did not rest well beneath Damien's skin. The beast reached into the pocket of his black, feathered vest and pulled out a small black shaft. He pushed a button on the side and the shaft extended to five times its size with the blue light of photon energy illuminating on its edges. Damien was once again reminded that something did not fit the air.
He stepped closer and tried to maneuver his head into the gap without coming into contact with the acid. He peaked inside and noticed a cold breeze coming from below. The darkness was overwhelming however and no visible signs could be seen.
"Looks like there's another room down there! I'll go find a way arou—." The beast's words were interrupted by a thunderous sound in the distance, followed by a strong tremor that almost shook the three off their feet. The sound came from outside the room, in the direction of their arrival.
Damien and Nanami looked at each other in shock. Both were now sure that there was an unseen force at work. The two caught Oddo looking back for a second, and then returned his gaze uncaringly toward the hole.
"What the hell?! That sounded like an explosion!" Nanami yelled out.
Both reached for their earpieces and activated the communicators resting in their left ears.
"Fletcher?! Fletcher! Do you read me?" Damien screamed, as nothing but the static of an empty air responded.
He continued to scream, switching channels on the radio to try and catch a word from anyone. Just then, another, more jarring sound filled the air of the room, followed by a gripping quake that seemed to almost push down the blue metal walls. This time however, the Guardians were swept to the ground. The three pinpointed the source to the other side of the gap as they struggled to regain their footing.
"That one was no explosion…" Nanami said, as she, eyes widen, stared nervously in the darkness of the hole. It did not take long for the human female to draw her double saber as Damien did.
Another sound filled the room. One thunderous sound that mixed a shocking boom with an angry, animalistic roar. More tremors followed, then a recognizable, deafening shriek invaded the air. The three fell back once again and raced to cover their ears. Almost instantly, the Guardians recognized the same sound as the one that permeated the final minutes of Mackenzie's recording.
The sonic barrage stopped suddenly however, as Damien immediately stood up and flashed his blue weapon, ready for an attack.
"What the hell…" the beast whispered, almost hearing himself as the abrupt, deathly howl of silence spread through the air.
Nanami pulled herself to her feet and readied her own weapon. Oddo used his rod to hold himself up, his ears still reeling from the shriek.
The two fighters ran toward the gap on the wall and held their double sabers high, poised for an attack. The silence went on. Their eyes rested in the darkness, sensing an invisible foe within. There were a few moments of time halted then the attack finally came. Six thick and purple whip-like tentacles lashed themselves from within the hall and snapped at the two. Damien and Nanami dodged left and right but were soon caught in the monster's undying grip.
"Damien!" Nanami screamed as the tentacle that held both of her feet, dragged her down into the dark abyss.
The beast chased after the human but soon felt the crushing squeeze of a limb wrapped around his neck. His weapon hand motioned for a swing but another tentacle snapped and snatched his arm before any more movement could occur. Damien felt the stiffening of his neck. He was suffocating as the monster was slowly inching him into the gap where Nanami fell.
In the corner of his eye, he could see Oddo running toward him, pointing his red shining rod at his body's captor. The newman came to within a few feet of his besieged companion when another tentacle grabbed his waist and pulled backward. Damien fell back finally in the same direction, his vision enveloped in darkness. He could still feel the pain being inflicted upon his body. The monster waved him freely in the air as the beast was taken deep inside the gap.
"Foei!" a voiced screamed.
Damien felt the searing heat of a flaming wave, only inches from his face. The fire pierced through the tentacles holding him as a loud howl of pain shot to his ears. The monster was forced to let go. The beast was falling now, to a height or place that he could not see.
Nanami felt the stabbing pain running through her body. The monster had all but her head completely wrapped with its thick, scaly tentacles. The light of a new room shined forth in her eyes. Her vision slowly followed the tentacle to its source and as soon as the path came to its end, her spine went cold and her countenance froze. The abomination that held them was in full glory, illuminated by the myriad of torches lining the walls of a new blue room. The SEED-Vitace, shaped like a flower of doom, had a long stem like body that stretched to more than sixty feet, its roots were strong whipping lashers and its head was an immense dome lined by a mane of spikes.
Nanami's sight locked toward its skull. Within the blue, transparent head, she could make out the outline of a person sprawled inside, with its back toward her.
Within the shade of indigo, the human could see the small glow of Chase's yellow-winged armor.
-end chapter-