Chapter 5
The team was awoken by the sound of thunder. Immediately, they all thought of the cause. It was sure to be Weathervane. They all ran outside and gasped at what they saw. Weathervane's army had reached them. The battle was not going well for the rebels. Weathervane had created winds and tossed the rebels aside. "She's not taking over this base," Jasper said, and spread his wings and flew up. He reached the spot were Weathervane was hovering and attacked with an energy wail. Weathervane fell from the sky. She recovered easily and launched a lightning bolt at Jasper, who became intangible. The streak of lightning passed through him harmlessly, and he became tangible again with a smirk. Weathervane threw two more lightning bolts, one passed through Jasper. The other hit him and sent a jolt of electricity straight through him. He fell from the sky and was rescued by Amber and Jade. Jade created platforms with her force fields, and Amber became a cheetah. Amber raced up and snagged him by a wing. "Ouch! My wing is: one, not a chicken wing. Two, not a chew toy, Amber," Jasper said. "Just trying to help, Jasper," Amber said through a mouthful of Jasper's wing, as she leaped gracefully down to the ground. "Alright, let's show Weathervane what we new and old recruits can do," Kate said, and unleashed her ice vision. The beam hit Weathervane and froze part of her, but she simply destroyed it with some lightning. Jade threw her force fields as projectiles, and managed to push Weathervane back a little, but she countered with a blast of hail. George launched some plasma spheres and they exploded against Weathervane, but she hurled him away with wind. Kate tried to attack again with her super scream but Weathervane pushed her off her feet with another blast of wind. Jasper tried to attack with an energy wail, but Weathervane threw another lightning bolt and electrocuted him. He collapsed. As they got back up, Weathervane laughed. "As you can see, I have improved in my usage of my powers," Weathervane said. "Hmmm. We can't get through her defenses if we attack separately, but in two teams, we could take her by surprise," Kate said. "Right, so we'll need a decoy," Amber said. Everyone looked at Jasper. "Oh no, I'm not flying up there and distracting Weathervane," Jasper said as he backed up. "We'll give you a wire so the current goes into the ground," Jade offered. "No. I can still get electrocuted," Jasper replied. "Let me put it this way. Lizards lose their tails when something attacks them right? I'll make sure your tail falls off if you don't get up there," Amber said menacingly. Jasper didn't even bother replying to that. "If I help you, will you be the decoy?" Kate asked. Jasper finally relented. "Fine. Wait, how are you going to get up there with me?" Jasper said. "I'll try to balance myself on your back," Kate replied.
Kate got on to Jasper without too much complaining from Jasper. "Ouch!" Jasper exclaimed as one of Kate's boots dug into his side. "I just want you to know that this is just as awkward for me as it is for you. Anyway, all set?" Jasper asked. "That depends. Does being very uncomfortable and not really ready count?" Kate replied. "Close enough," Jasper said, and opened his wings to their full wingspan of 16 feet total (Most of the time, Jasper only expands them somewhere from 6 to 10 feet total). Jasper flexed his mighty wings, gave a few powerful flaps, and then he and Kate were airborne. "I've never flown anyone like this. Usually, I carry them with my hands or feet," Jasper said as he glided on a convenient upwards moving draft. He circled a few times to gain altitude. "You're doing fine. Just make sure I don't fall," Kate said as she dug her feet even more into Jasper's sides. Jasper winced. "I'm not a horse," he said as he reached Weathervane's altitude.
Weathervane was just about to continue the destruction of the rebel base when she heard somebody say, "Hey Weathervane." Something rammed into her at an incredible speed, and for a moment, Weathervane lost control and fell. But she recovered and looked at what had hit her. There was Jasper, hovering off to her left. On his back was Kate. As Weathervane watched, Kate attacked with a blast of her ice vision. Weathervane easily destroyed the ice with lightning, and then attacked back with more lightning. Jasper fought back with an energy wail, and Weathervane countered with a blast of wind. Jasper simply used the gust of wind to his advantage, gliding on it. Weathervane shot several pieces of hail at Jasper, who dodged most of them. But not all of them. A particularly large piece of hail hurtled at Jasper, who tried to dodge it. But the piece of hail simply tore through his wing like it was made of paper. Unable to fly anymore, Jasper plummeted, just as Jade, Amber and George arrived with several attacks at once. "Jasper!" George cried as Jasper and Kate fell. "Kate!" Jade cried. Jade turned to help, but it was too late. Jasper and Kate had already fallen too far for Jade to help them recover.
"I've got an idea. It'll save one of us at least," Jasper said as he held Kate to keep her from falling even more. "Which one?" Kate asked. "You. Now, create a sort of ice slide with your ice vision," Jasper answered. Kate created a sort of slide. "Now, we only have one shot at this. What I'm about to do will guarantee your survival, but not mine," Jasper said. As they fell towards the slide, Jasper shifted so that he could throw Kate if necessary. When they reached the slide, Jasper shoved Kate so she slid down the ice. Jasper wasn't so lucky. He hit a bad part of the slide and Kate heard a sickening crack. As Kate slid to a stop, she saw Jasper's body go limp and fall. She ran over to him and checked his pulse. Kate felt one tiny beat, then nothing. "No, you can't die now Jasper. You survived a full on attack from Blue Inferno and survived. You can't die now," Kate said. She checked his pulse again. This time, she felt a small beat. She saw his back rise and fall slightly as he breathed. "Don't worry, Jasper. I'm going to get a medic," Kate said, and ran off to find a Klong doctor.
A/N: I've noticed that this is how many people write Author's Note. Anyway, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm working on a new Loonatics DU story called Body of Flesh, Heart of Steel. It's a Tech and Amber mostly story, and the first chapter should be up next week.