Oh boy this one was a doozie. Well I got it done. I hope you enjoy it. I'm tired.
"Ah yes, you've returned once more!" The Chronicler rejoiced at the sight of your presence. "For the longest time I thought you were getting tired of listening to an old soul such as myself run his gums off." The Chronicler chuckled.
He returned from an odd section of his massive library, one where only one book occupied the space. It had the picture of a Thrush on the cover.
The Chronicler took a seat back at his desk, quickly reclaiming 'Zen and Intent' from where it lay. Thanks to the foresight of leaving a bookmark, The Chronicler quickly flipped the pages to where he last left off.
"So after checking the eighth possible location for Kuki and Wally…"
With only an hour left on the clock, the crew of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 was getting restless. After searching eight of ten possible sights, and coming up empty handed, things were looking rather bleak.
"Why couldn't we have split up for this?" Olive asked aloud as she and the others gathered around to decide of which of the two remaining locations to hit next.
"We're dealing with an unknown individual with bombs." Nigel said, recalling his firsthand experience in the parking lot of his employment. "There was no way we were going to risk hundreds of us. No leader can make that choice soundly."
"Splitting up would've also been detrimental." Abby said as she manned the communications array. "With only this small a team, any of us would be easy pickings all by our lonesome."
"So, we've got less than sixty minutes before the bomb goes off." Crystal asked from where she sat, beside Kayla and Nolan. "Which of the two sights do we hit next?"
Doug reached into his pocket, producing a quarter. "What're you doing?" Gwen asked, raising a brow at her boyfriend's actions.
"Heads we proceed to the ninth point on our map. Tails we skip right to the tenth." Doug said before flipping the coin upwards. "Call it."
"Tails." Gwen said as the coin slammed against the ceiling and then fell back to the metal floor. It clattered, it clanged, and then the coin came to a final stop, landing on the tail end of the quarter.
"Looks like we're skipping to the end." Doug muttered coolly as he reclaimed his coin.
"Alright everyone, strap in!" Hoagie shouted from the cockpit. "I'm kicking this thing into high gear. We have no time to waste!"
And in the blink of the eye, the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 shot across the sky, almost vanishing from sight. Across the globe the crew raced, from where they had originally been in East London, they soon found themselves in California of all places.
The S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 arrived in Los Angeles of all places. They passed over the point on their map, a large rundown factory. It had once produced cars, but now it appeared to be gathering dust, waiting for the next real-estate developer to come on by and make something out of it.
"That look like an evil lair to anyone?" Crystal asked aloud as she looked out one of the 2x4 ship's windows.
"Give it another round, Numbuh 2." Nigel called up to the cockpit. "Thermal imaging is picking up some heat signatures."
"How many?" Totally Not Dib Membrane asked, leaning forward in his seat.
Nigel was about to answer Not-Dib with a definite answer, until his computer display went wonky. "Somethings wrong." Nigel declared as thermal imaging was mucked up with what appeared to be thermal clouds. "I had it and I lost it."
"That doesn't just happen out of nowhere." Nolan spoke up. "This is the place."
"Agreed." Nigel nodded. "Bring us down for a landing, Numbuh 2!"
"Aye, Aye Captain!" Hoagie saluted before bring the ship into a slow descent.
Down below on the surface, on the roof of the foundry, The Figure stood hidden in the shadow of a massive smoke stack. The motorcycle gear wearing teen just watched as the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. landed at the base of the building.
The Figure reached for a switch on the side of his helmet, activating his communicator. "They're here."
Nigel stepped out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. first, flanked by Nolan and Abby to his left and right. Soon the others piled out, leaving only Hoagie behind with the ship. "Bring the ship back up. I want air cover incase things get dicey." Nigel ordered.
"Copy that!" Hoagie shouted before pulling the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. mk2 back into the air.
"Alright, let's move inside." Nigel said, quickly taking command. The teams produced their various weapons and began to move inside.
For a moment Crystal took the lead. There was a small flicker of excitement in her gut. But her excitement opened her up to the jump scare of a lifetime. Crystal walked face first into the back of a staff wielding man, causing her to yelp.
"Ah!" Crystal jumped backwards, causing everyone to instantly pull their weapons in the direction of the noise.
"Ah, there you all are." Jagar King, the Ghost of Time, waved at the assembled teenagers with a cheerful smile. "You're late."
"Jagar?!" The assembled group of teens lowered their weapons, still puzzled with the boy standing before them.
"Oh wait am I late?" Jagar's smiled faded, replaced with a look of worry. "This time business is a little on the confusing side. We're looking for Kuki and Wally still right? I didn't pop in a month later again did I?"
"We're looking for Kuki and Wally, yes." Nolan spoke up for the group.
"Ah yes, good." Jagar said with his pleasant attitude returning. "Well then let's crack on shall we?"
The group then resumed entering the foundry, with Jagar joining them, walking beside Yuki. They entered a large room filled with out of use equipment, left behind to rust and gather dust. But over in the corner, something caught Abby's eye.
"There they are." Abby pointed to the very center of the room.
There they were, Kuki and Wally, terribly beaten, but by the looks of it still breathing. Tied to a large bomb, the team hesitantly approached, lest it go off. The countdown, however, begged to differ. They had time by the looks of it.
"Cut them loose." Nigel ordered, pointing for Gwen and Doug to rush over to their side.
Gwen produced a pair of wire cutters and snapped through the rope that bound their friends to the bomb. Pulling them away from the bomb, all were caught unaware the stunning ring of a gunshot. Everyone looked around, their eyes widening at the realization that Jagar had been shot.
"Medic!" Yuki shouted as he cradled his childhood friend.
"Ah!" Jagar screamed out as he bled.
"Huh. I actually thought he was a ghost. All eyes turned to see The Figure stepping out of darkness, a smoking gun in hand. "Oh well. That's just one less of you for me to worry about."
"I've been waiting for a rematch." Nigel cracked his knuckles.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a streak of fire swept through the team, separating Nigel from the others. Out of the shadows beside The Figure stepped a large hulking man wearing flame retardant armor with a fuel pack on his back and a flamethrower in hand.
"I apologize. But your fight is with me." The man spoke menacingly. Rack and Ruin's eyes widened, recognizing the man. Having heard the twins' gasps, the man gave a hearty laugh. "Yes. It is I malformed children. Clarence."
"Alright, if he's here where's the other one?" Nolan glared at The Figure.
Up above amongst the scaffolding. A man in a white hoodie with a robot arm and a sniper rifle revealed himself. Without warning, the man began to rain down sniper fire at the team below. The man's shots were calculated, striking a nearby propane tank and knocking Midna into machinery, knocking out the firstborn, as well as tapping out Olive, essentially taking out the teams more powerful members.
"Ghost." Nolan sneered at the man above.
"Take cover!" Josh shouted as he and most of the other Rhode Island crew members ran from the oncoming sniper fire. Catherine and Abby busied themselves with pulling Kuki and Wally behind cover, while Kami pulled Jagar off to the corner to remove the bullet in his chest and halt his bleeding.
The oncoming weapons fire separated Gwen rom the others, leaving her beside the still active bomb. "Oh crap!" Gwen shouted as The Figure pulled out a remote control, causing the countdown to skip down to ten minutes.
Nigel stared up at the man, Ghost and prepared to fly upwards and knock him down onto equal footing. But the man with the flamethrower launched a wave of flammable gel, aiming to coat and set the bald brit ablaze. Nigel leapt back, avoiding a rather terrible demise.
Nigel prepared for a counter attack, only for Ghost to shoot another nearby propane tank, throwing Nigel through a wall, separating him further from the others. Clarence then sauntered off, following Nigel to another room.
"Hello there." The Figure addressed Nolan.
"The Figure died years ago." Nolan said as he faced The Figure. "Who are you?"
The Figure just laughed mockingly in response. The helmeted teen leapt from where he was perched up above, landing before the Rhode Island crew. "It doesn't matter who I am." The Figure said, maintain his mocking tone. "Does it?"
"No." Nolan muttered as he drew his gas gun. "Guess it doesn't."
Without warning, The Figure leapt into the air, one arm outstretch with a gun in hand, firing rapidly at the group while another fished into one of his pockets. The team dispersed, moving for cover. The Figure then produced a grenade and pulled the pin, tossing it in Danika's direction.
"Danika!" Nolan shouted in fear.
The grenade landed beside Danika's feet. Using her shadow veil, Danika managed to whisk herself away from harm as the grenade went off. Appearing behind Figure, Danika drew her twin daggers, aiming to stab the villain in the back.
The Figure quickly spun around, catching Danika by the wrist by his free hand. The teen villain then aimed to shoot the shadowbender in the gut, only for the intervention of a sniper shot to shatter the gun her held. Danika glanced out of the corner of her eye, spotting Kayla taking a moment away from her firefight with Ghost to come to her aid.
"Don't think that got you in my good graces." Danika murmured before kicking herself loose from The Figure's grasp.
"How the heck do I disarm this?!" Gwen shouted frantically as the bomb before her continued to count down.
"Cut the blue wire!" Doug shouted from behind cover while Kami did her best to halt Jagar's bleeding.
"What was that?!" Gwen held up to her ear as the loud explosions and gunfire overtook Doug's words. "Cut the what?!"
"Blue!" Doug screamed just before ducking behind cover once more as sniper shots struck the machine he hid behind. "Blue Wire! Blue Wire!"
"Dammit!" Kami cursed as a stray bullet struck the ground beside her. She then shook her head, not letting distractions get the better of her, Kami pushed on to save Jagar's life.
Nigel continued his fire battle on the other side of the foundry. The larger Clarence was as agile as the Demon Prince and wore a fire protective suit, which meant they were practically on equal footing. But that didn't mean they were. Seeing his opportunity arising, Nigel quickly dashed and slid under a conveyer belt.
Clarence spewed fire from his flamethrower after Nigel, but the younger teen was quicker than he. Nigel ran circles around Clarence. The bald brit picked up a small piece of scrap on the ground and quickly got behind the flamethrower wielding man. With all his might, Nigel chucked the scrap, piercing Clarence's fuel canister.
The leaking liquid soon caught fire. Quickly, Clarence detached the canister from his back and flung it with all his might. The subsequent explosion shook the entire foundry. Weaponless, Clarence was now just another villain. And Nigel had practice fighting them all.
Nigel ran in, his fists engulfed in flames. He jumped up and aimed to slam one good punch against Clarence's helmeted head. But Clarence's much larger hand caught Nigel's punch. The hulking Clarence stared down Nigel and scoffed.
Clarence then locked his hand on Nigel's and then slammed the bald teen onto the concrete surface. The armored man then began to race though the flame soaked foundry, running Nigel through all the discarded scrap and blazes he could.
The shootout with Ghost was taking a turn for the worst. Pinned down by sniper fire, Kayla couldn't get the angle she needed to make a difference. Any and all attempts to run out were shut down by the man up above with the sniper rifle. Garret had tried and now the poor teen was cradling his flesh wound behind a large apparatus.
"How's it going with the bomb?!" Kayla inquired. The whole lot of them were still pinned down with Gwen on bomb disarming duty.
"Blue right?!" Gwen asked for final confirmation as the bomb drew nearer to zero.
"YES!" The entire assembled group, including the wounded Jagar, Kuki and Wally shouted angrily.
"Alright!" Gwen sweated as she brought up the wire cutters once more. "Here goes nothing." She shut her eye before cutting the blue wire. As she hadn't blown up, Gwen opened one eye, finding the time had stalled at one minute and thirty two seconds to spare. "Whoo!" Gwen jumped to her feet and celebrated. A bullet from Ghost struck the ground beside her, causing Gwen to jump back behind the bomb.
"Oh come on!" Gwen shouted angrily as she now found herself using the bomb for cover. "This is the worst situation ever!"
The battle with The Figure went uninterrupted. Danika would pop in behind the helmeted Teen every once in a while, trying to get in close and stab the guy, but every time she did, it was as if he had eyes in the back of his head. The Figure would counter and send her flying, only for her to regroup with the others.
"Change of plans." Nolan said as Crystal, Danika, Yuki and Not-Dib rallied behind him. "Yuki, ice slide behind him. Danika to the ceiling. Crystal, Not-Dib, we're rushing from the front." Nolan relayed commands.
The assembled teens nodded and got to work. Back into the shadows Danika went. Her shadowy form dashed across the surface, followed by The Figure's merciless gaze. Soon, Yuki shot out of cover, creating an ice surface to slide on. And then shot out Nolan, Crystal and Not-Dib behind the icebender, rushing down the middle.
Yuki encircled The Figure, launching icicles at the teen. Danika emerged out of the ceiling, directly above The Figure and leapt down. Crystal leapt forward and swung her staff, launching a pulse of energy at the teen.
The Figure rotated slightly, dodging every one of Yuki's strikes. Danika slashed at the teen, chipping off a piece of his armor with his daggers. Before The Figure could return fire on the sahdowbender, Danika was gone, zipping across the floor. Crystal's energy strike heading straight at him. But The Figure dodged, now he was exactly where Nolan wanted him.
Nolan charged at him, engaging The Figure in hand to hand combat, causing him to drop his pistol. Using the techniques Wesley Dodds had taught him, Nolan aimed to overpower The Figure with quick punches, just to get him off balance. But The Figure maintained control of the situation, fighting back.
"Now!" Crystal shouted.
The Figure recoiled at the sight of a smirking Nolan. Not-Dib had gotten between the two and now was in close proximity of The Figure. His shock gloves charged, Not-Dib reached out and grabbed a hold of The Figure and electrocuted him. It should have taken only a light tap to knock The Figure out, hundreds of volts ran and through the gloves.
Not-Dib's victorious smirk was soon trounced by the unwavering resolve of The Figure. His polarized visor pierced into his soul and slowly the teen reached up and tapped Not-Dib on the chin. Lighting sprang out of The Figure's fingertip, shooting Not-Dib across the room.
Nolan just looked on, eyes wide at what The Figure had just done. "You're a lightning bender?"
"Does it matter?" The Figure muttered as electricity danced around his clenched fists.
Clarence tossed Nigel through rusted out equipment. The bald brit just picked himself up and glared at his opponent. But something was odd about his vision. The bald brit had realized he'd lost his sunglasses in all the commotion.
"Looking for these?" Clarence asked aloud, revealing Nigel's sunglasses were now in the palm of his hand. Clarence folded his hand, smashing Nigel's glasses to pieces.
"Oh you just goofed." Nigel muttered darkly. His whole body caught fire. Nigel sprouted inferno wings and shot at Clarence. He picked up the much larger Clarence and shot through the roof of the foundry.
Clarence's screams fell on deaf ears as a voice in Nigel's head implored that he murder the man. But Nigel shook his head of the idea. Seeing the moment of distraction in Nigel's eyes. Clarence pulled out a grenade and pulled the pin. After the explosion, one could see the two men falling back down to the Earth below.
"Danika hit him hard!" Yuki shouted as he dodged a bolt of lightning.
Danika took center stage as she called on her ultimate attack, her final smash. "Okay, Cheshire, time to eat." She muttered darkly. Cheshire, Danika's shadow sprang up out of the ground, taking on an enormous shaped.
Cheshire's wicked smile shown bright as it slammed down on The Figure, devouring him. But within Cheshire, right before the shadow could turn him into just another smudge on the floor, The Figure pressed his palms together, creating a shining electric sphere. The energy collapsed on itself, creating a shockwave of light that ripped Cheshire apart.
"Cheshire! No!" Danika shouted, feeling her shadows pain. Cheshire recoiled back to Danika, licking its wounds.
There still stood The Figure. Still ready to fight.
"Nolan!" Kayla shouted from behind cover as Ghost continued to keep them pinned.
"Danika." Nolan looked over to his girlfriend. "Fetch Not-Dib, get him to Kami, then aid the others with Ghost."
"But I can still help!" Danika protested.
"This guy's countering your bending. I'm sorry but the others need you more than us right now."
"Fine." Danika grumbled before submerging into her shadow. She then moved to collect Not-Dib and whisk the downed boy to Kami for medical attention.
"What's the plan now Boss?" Crystal asked as she spun her staff in her hands.
"Hit him hard." Nolan cracked his knuckles before the trio of heroes ran at The Figure.
Danika handed the unconscious Not-Dib over to Kami, who placed him beside the unconscious forms of Midna, Abby and Olive. Jagar's current state, along with Kuki and Wally's took priority. Not-Dib was just going to have to wait.
"How're we doing?" Danika asked as she crept up beside Kayla.
"That pendejo has us pinned." Kayla deadpanned. "Any chance you can pop up behind him and kick him off his perch?"
"I can do that." Danika smiled wickedly before using her shadow veil to zip over to Ghost's position.
Out of the ground popped Danika, who took Ghost by surprised. Knocking the sniper off his perch, Kayla and the others could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"We've got him now!" Doug shouted as Josh leapt out from cover and charged at the hooded sniper.
Ghost quickly caught his bearings in order to dodge Josh's attack. The former Prospector had swung with his prosthetic harpoon and sliced the sniper's rifle in two. But despite being without his weapon, Ghost was far from defenseless. The mercenary flexed his own prosthetic arm and gave the mohawk sporting teen a good look.
"Bet mine beats yours." Ghost spoke quietly.
"Oh shut up." Josh gritted before charging at Ghost.
Danika joined in the attack, followed by Kayla, Doug and Gwen who all ran out of over to lend a hand. Ghost dodged Josh's attack and delivered a bone cracking punch to the man's ribs. Josh fell over in pain, but was not out of the fight. He quickly took aim and launched his harpoon, striking Ghost in the shoulder. With the flick of a switch, Ghost was electrocuted.
Danika ran in and delivered a swift kick against the mercenary's head knocking him further off balance. This then put Ghost in the position to be fired upon by the combined efforts of Gwen, Doug and Kayla. Ghost fell over, with some of them unsure if the man was even still alive.
"Like I care." Josh grunted before removing his harpoon from the man's chest.
Yuki ran at The Figure, producing a pair of icicles on the fly to use as melee weapons. The Figure countered by producing a lightning sword. Yuki swung with his icicles, only to be blocked by The Figure's makeshift sword. Yuki was zapped backwards, landing in a pile of broken scrap.
The Figure took a moment to admire his work, only to be caught by surprise as Nolan delivered a series of blows that cracked his visor. The Figure reeled back his hand and then unleashed a furry of lighting that blasted Nolan and Crystal back.
"Get him!" Rack and Ruin shouted as they charged at The Figure.
The Figure brought his arms in close to his chest, building up energy and unleashing it outward, creating a shockwave that not only knocked out Rack and Ruin, but also struck Gwen, Doug, Catherine, Danika, Josh and Abby. Standing over the fallen operatives, The Figure declared victory.
"Not over yet." Nolan muttered as he struggled to his feet.
"Huh." The Figure laughed. "Of course you'd be the last one standing. You're everything Brain said you'd be Ferior."
Nolan's eyes widened at being called by the Sith name The Brain had given him all those years ago. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"You don't know me. But I know you." The Figure laughed mockingly. "You, the great Nolan York. The boy who had the world in his hands but threw it all away! The Brain gave you everything! And you betrayed him."
"You'll never get away with this." Nolan said defiantly. "Others will stop you."
"Others? What others." The Figure laughed once more. "What do you think I had to achieve by kidnapping your friends or attacking your golden boy?" The Figure said as he began to unwind.
"This the part where you reveal your master plan?"
"The moment every villain dreams of." The Figure chuckled. "I've been planning this since the day you betrayed the Brotherhood, Nolan. It was on that day Evil should've won. But you just had to switch sides. You got too fraggin' soft."
"So, I decided to save the Brotherhood, to change history. But how do I change history?" The Figure asked rhetorically. "Well, I'd need a timebender for that. But how do I get a timebender? I threaten his or her friends." The Figure jotted a thumb over his shoulder at the unconscious forms of Olive and the barley conscious Jagar whom Kami had managed to halt his bleeding before getting knocked out by the shockwave.
"There's no way you could've known Jagar would show up." Nolan muttered, suddenly having difficulties breathing.
"I wasn't planning on him." The Figure admitted. "I was going to kidnap the one that showed up, the other one. I have a set up somewhere else, somewhere you'll never find. I was going to steal your friends powers."
"Were?" Nolan raised a brow at the wording.
"Were being the operative word." The Figure shrugged. "But you brought The Ghost of Time. And his Chrono Staff. With that I can now go whenever I want. Such as that day years ago, when you and the heroes fought the brotherhood."
"You're gonna have to go through me to do it." Nolan said, raising his fists for one last fight.
"Correction." Kayla spoke up, quickly raising her rifle and shooting The Figure in the back. "Through us."
The Figure staggered forward into a punch from Nolan. Kayla picked herself up and walked to Nolan's side. The pair exchanged a nod and set and ran at the villain. Finding his bearings, The Figure lashed out at the duo with lighting whips. Nolan and Kayla dodged, with the latter exchanging weapons fire while Nolan got in close.
The pair of former KND operatives got in close, engaging in close quarters combat. Nolan punched The Figure across his helmet and leapt back, allowing Kayla to reach in and smack him with the butt of her gun. Their moves were synchronized, unyielding and fluid. They didn't let up, there was more at stake than their lives.
Nolan ran in for a punch, followed by Kayla running in to get in a shot. The Figure tried to retaliate, aiming to fry Kayla, only for Nolan to pull the sniper out of the villain's crosshairs and kick his arm up. Kayla flipped over Nolan and shot The Figure in the face, busting his visor completely.
Danika regained consciousness briefly, spotting Nolan and Kayla's teamwork. She gritted her teeth and glared at the curly haired Latina. "Oh…you bitch…" Danika grumbled before losing consciousness once more.
The onslaught combo of Nolan and Kayla continued, striking at The Figure, slowly but surely they were wearing the man down. There was a flicker of hope, they could do it, they could win. They could beat The Figure. But as Nolan reeled back from punching The Figure, the young man's left arm went completely numb.
Nolan froze immediately, his legs going numb as well. There was a sudden pain in his chest, a piercing pain that felt like he'd just been stabbed in the back. But in reality, Nolan was suffering from a heart attack. Kayla's eyes went wide as she saw her comrade fall over, unmoving.
"Nolan!" Kayla cried out, quickly racing to his side.
"Ugh." The Figure removed his helmet slightly in order to spit out blood. The Figure then turned his eyes on Nolan and Kayla. He raised his hand and shot out lightning once more, electrocuting the pair. "Jerks." He muttered.
The Figure then staggered off, aiming to claim Jagar's Chrono Staff. Crystal picked herself up, catching sight of The Figure.
"Time to make things right." The Figure raised the staff. Soon, The Figure became enveloped by chronol energy.
"Oh no you don't!" Crystal shouted before running at The Figure screaming.
"Take me back five years." The Figure commanded.
The Figure was about to dissipated into the time stream, only for Crystal to tackle the teen. "Get off me!" The Figure shouted. But Crystal refused to let go and then the pair, the hero and the villain were taken into time itself, leaving behind everyone in their wake.
From the very beginning of Zen and Intent, I wanted it to be a time travel story. Where its basically just Crystal running around interacting with the world Gamewizard set up. She took a backseat for the most part of the chapter, but next chapter is all her. The stuff with Nolan falling seemingly dead of a heart attack is a plot point I'm going to explore later. But that's for later.