Double digits! hey I'm back! Sorry it took me so long. Last week we had testing so I could only add so much to this chapter every now and then. But testing is over now and I have the entire week off! Yay! And I'm so excited because this is the tenth chapter and I couldn't have made it this far without all of you guys and your much needed support! Thank you all so much for your reviews and follows and favorites. I must warn you though, I think this chapter is really long. I hope you enjoy despite it being so long. And I hope you guys like the little surprise on the bad guys side...
Chiro's POV
This just had to be the work of Kanna and Ekoms. I don't know how the hell they pulled this off, but I won't let them get away with this. "Gibson, find out where they're going." I ordered. He began typing away at the computer, pinpointing the location where some of the first citizens were staggering through fields.
"It seems they are headed toward the outskirts of the city, east." he replied.
Should we follow them? I thought to myself. They are most likely heading toward Kanna's and Ekoms hideout. I pressed the button on my communicator and my white and orange uniform appeared over the clothes I was sleeping in. Remembering the other communicators for the rest of the team, I reached into my pocket and pulled them out.
"We're gonna need these, in case something unexpected happens." I informed, as I began to hand out the small device to everyone.
"This is obviously Kanna and Ekoms doing." Antuari voiced my previous thoughts.
"So Nova, wasn't the only one Ekoms bit." Gibson concluded. "Something else happened when Ekoms bit Nova, not only was a paralysis substance embedded into her system, but also something I couldn't identify. Maybe, some form of magic was involved?"
"What should we do Chiro?" Jinmay asked.
"I'm not sure." I told her softly. "At all cost we have to save the citizens, but we need a plan." I did have an idea on how to deal with the situation, but I needed a full-fledged plan. I wanted to follow the citizens into the enemy's lair, but the possibility that they are expecting us, am I willing to risk it? The idea was to sneak in, free the citizens, and get anymore important information. Although, my team wasn't exactly as prepared as we wanted to be.
I handed two communicators to Sparx, who was still holding down and trying to reason with Nova. "Keep an eye on her." I told him. "Don't let her run off." He pinned one on himself and the other on Nova, who for the most part, didn't squirm as much.
Sparx gave me one of his cocky smirks. "Yeah, like i'd let that happen."
"So the reason Nova and the citizens are acting all brainless, is because of whatever was in Ekoms bite?" Otto asked.
"It's a bit difficult to comprehend Otto, but yes. However I don't understand how their magic was transfered through to Ekoms mouth. For, from what we have encountered with them, Ekoms uses smoke magic and Kanna is able to enflict certain effects on his opponent through his eyes. It's not very logical, and doesn't correspond with their abilities." Gibson determined. "And from their varied ability, how were they able to control the citizens minds?"
"Why would they want to?" Jinmay asked. "What do they want with them?"
"This is probably the way Kanna and Ekoms plan to 'conquer' Shugazoom, by abducting them. Its a step to reaching that goal." I inferred. What I wanted to know was why. Why did they want Shugazoom so much? "Whatever they're up to, we have to put a stop to it." What was hurting my team the most was the lack of information we had about our enemy.
"But I don't get it." Otto spoke up holding his chin in thought. "Kanna gave us advice to protect Nova, but if he wanted this, then why would he give us that heads up? Wouldn't you think he would really, really, really want Nova with him?"
I don't think Otto was trying to rile Sparx up, but if he was it worked because Sparx shot up from his kneeling position, releasing the mind controlled Nova in the process. "What the hell would you know Otto! The bastard was probably feeling cocky as usual, and wanted the whole team to go up against."
I noticed Nova had got up and began walking again. "Sparx, get Nova!" I shouted, although it seemed she was a bit hesitant and might have been coming out of her trance.
He turned around and rushed over to her, gripping onto her arms. "Damn it Nova!" He cursed. "What about the mindless Nova over here?"
I noticed Nova's dead and distant eyes, began to come back to life. The others noticed as well, as she let out a soft groan and strated to blink rapidly.
"Nova? Are you okay?" I asked. She held a hand to her head and shut her eyes.
"Mmmhmm, s-she's gonna do something horrible to them." I wasn't expecting that to be her reply. 'She' who is 'she'? Was Nova referring to Ekoms?
"You sure you're alright there, baby." Sparx joked, still holding her in his arms. "Who are you talking about? Who's 'she'?"
"I know what I heard Sparx," Nova shot back, shoving the cocky red head away from her. "And I know what I saw. I was following this voice, it was so...beautiful."
"What was the voice saying?" Jinmay asked.
"I'm not sure... I followed without think about what might have been instored for me at the end." She said with what seemed like disappointment. Like she was ashamed with herself.
"I'm greatful, all of you and the Alchemist were there to rescue me..."
"The Alchemist Nova?" Gibson asked, a hint of sorrow in his tone. Nova nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. "He pulled me away from her. She looked evil." Nova shuddered referring to 'she' again. "...Pure evil."
"Like, worse than the Skeleton King?" Otto asked. I felt this conversation took a turn for the worse, as old conflicts collided with new conflicts, making everyone ache inside, well at least me.
"Maybe..." Nova sighed.
"Lets not dwell in the past Nova, you're here now with us, in reality. I promise we'll handle this ordeal later." Antuari placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Shugazoom's people are in trouble."
"Kanna hypnotized them, they're marching to his hideout as we speak." Otto announced. "Who knows, what he plans to do with them."
"Something terrible probably, but I think someone else is behind this too." Nova said, referring to that 'she'.
"Now I'm confused, who else is there?" I asked.
"I don't know her name, or what she really looks like, but I'm sure she's real." Nova confirmed.
"We need to find out more about Kanna, Ekoms, and whoever else is involved in this." I decided. I was sick of not knowing much about them, that disadvantage makes them two steps ahead of us.
"So what did you have in mind, Chiro?" Antuari asked. I thought for a moment. Maybe he was expecting us. We couldn't just bust in with the Super Robot, that would cause more problems that we would want to avoid. And it would be risky if all just went into their territory together.
"Sparx, Antuari and I will follow the citizens to Kanna's headquarters. If we can, we'll help as many of them as possible. On the other hand, we need to focus on getting any information or clues that can be of use to us. I don't have a well thought out plan yet but that's only because we don't know much about our enemy and their ambitions. I need the rest of you guys to stay here and we will contact you if anything goes wrong or if we found anything useful." I informed. We need to know more about our new enemy, from the many encounters with them, they have been very unpredictable.
Antuari and Sparx nodded in agreement. "We're going stealth." I said, pressing a different button on my communicator and my white shirt and pants changed to the same grayish color my boots were. Otto and I thought this would come in handy.
"I'm coming too." Nova said.
"But you're just recovering from-" Gibson began to protest.
"I want to see what this girl looks like." She stated simply. Once Nova had made her mind up, there was no use in arguing with her. After gearing up with the tools or weapons we might need, Nova, Sparx, Antuari, and I drove the motorcycle to catch up with the citizens.
.
"Excellent! Everything is falling into place." Nilla sang happily. She watched as mindless people stumbled into the pit, and made their way into cells. Now she was one step closer to her true objective. What would the people of Drashalo see her as now? A threat? Or the impossible threat? Everything she ever wanted was almost in her grasp. Absolutely nothing could fail now. Soon, the planets' heroes would follow the trail of helpless people, thus entering her domain, and then she will use her magic on them. Conquering this planet was just too easy. It was such a shame that it was almost for nothing...
"Huh, where am I? H-how did I get here? What's going on? Get me out of here! Monkey team help!" Screamed a man with a white shirt and gray apron. He was terrified. One minute he was closing up shop for The Hoverburger, then the next minute he is in some cage with scrapes and bruises that weren't there before, just getting there must have been rough. Nilla growled under her breath. How could she get so easily distracted.
"Someone shut that man up!" She demanded. Ekoms, being the closest, rushed over to the man, who was convincing himself that the Hyper Force would come, used her smoke magic to clog his throat, making him temporarily mute. Ekoms took the commandment too literally.
Kanna who was leaning against a wall as usual, had noticed and comprehended what had happened. Nilla had got lost in her thoughts while using her magic, something that rarely occurred, and made her lose her concentration. He didn't think much of it, although the idea he could use that to his advantage did briefly take place in his mind. What really plagued his thoughts was the fact that hundreds of innocent people were now going to be slaves. Really, they we're going to suffer for someone else.
Kanna looked at Nilla, she was too busy to try and seep her way into his mind, so it was safe to have such thoughts, but he would still keep his guard up. After about an hour or so, the majority of the city were in cells with regained senses, either trying to contemplate how they ended up in such a place or calling for help.
"Now the fun part beings." Nilla smirked evily. "Ekoms, make a few replicas of your smoke minions, and give them this command." Nilla whispered into Ekoms ear her specific instructions, causing a mischievous grin appear on Ekoms lips. Now Ekoms was excited, she thrusted her arms out in front of her and swirled them in circular motions. In each and every cell an average size smoke minion appeared, causing its prisoners to scream out in terror. Screams of terror then turned into screams of pain as the smoke minions began to torture them.
"Now, it will be much more easier to make them obey me." Nilla yawned.
"So now what?" Kanna asked, he grimaced at the sound of flesh ripping and blood splaterng onto walls.
"All that's left is to enslave the rest of the planet." Nilla informed as if it was the easiest task to do. "But that's going to take sometime so don't worry about it until we are ready. These people still need to learn who there new ruler is. I suppose that can wait until morning though, I'm exhausted." She yawn once more.
"What about the heroes?" Ekoms asked.
"Oh yes, they still have yet to come. They should be here any minute and when they do, they will receive a very special greeting."
"The rest of the planet?" Kanna questioned her previous statement. "I'm not too sure, this world has any other inhabitants."
"Well, in due time we'll set out on a journey, conquering everything we come across." Nilla clenched her fist in the air.
"How do you plan on getting around? And even if you did have away, don't you think that would take even more time?" Kanna asked trying to find a flaw in her plan.
Nilla let out an irritated sigh. "If you'd just be patient, Kanna you'd understand that these things do take time." Nilla turned around. "Besides, we'll just wait until Yon gets back. It won't be long before everything is in place Kanna. Until then, enjoy the pain these people will endure, and if that's not enough for you...don't worry, I have much more in stored for them." She grinned wickedly before walking toward a small passage, then disappearing into its darkness.
Still leaning on a wall with his arms crossed, Kanna narrowed his eyes as he stared intently at the ground.
Kanna never did like Nillas mind, sometimes it could be cruel and twisted, even before she got hurt... It's because she got hurt these innocent civilians were suffering. In actuality, Kanna didn't want them to, not under these circumstances, but he'd be lieing if he said it didn't bring him a little satisfaction. Kanna knew it wasn't right to enslave these people, to torture them, and to make them beg for mercy, but he couldn't help but feel a bit pleasured by their cries of pain. Why? Because he was hurt too. In more ways than one. Throughout his entire life he did nothing but suffer. Maybe, it was knowing that they weren't the only ones hurting that satisfied him...
"Yo Kanna! I'm back!" Shouted a different mans voice. Already annoyed by the mans presence, Kanna looked up to find a tall well built man with maroon shoulder length hair, and brown eyes. He wore a plain brown shirt that was torn in some places at the edges, white pants, stained with dirt here and there, a black belt and boots. When the four first arrived here, Yon had told Kanna and Ekoms that he was going to adventure the planet, thinking he was doing so of his own free will, Kanna didn't mind. However now he knew it was a commandment from Nilla. Just another pillar in her plan. Kanna didn't enjoy being left out on important matters, he was not the equivalent to Ekoms. Although he did enjoy the time spent without the obnoxious brute.
"Yon! You're back!" Ekoms exclaimed, beaming up at him with wide admiring eyes. "We were just talking about you!"
Actually from the moment the man took off, not a word was spoken about him until the thought of needing him came up. Not an ounce of concern for him plagued the three.
"Did ya miss me?" He grinned.
"Yes! It's been very boring here without you." Ekoms complained.
Yon let out a soft chuckle and ruffled up Ekoms black locks with his massive hand. "Well I would love to play Cigarette, but we have work to do." He said making Ekoms blush at hearing her old nickname. "Care to fill me in?" He asked both Kanna and Ekoms.
"We're suppose to keep an eye out for the heroes that should be arriving any moment." Ekoms informed.
Kanna furrowed his eyebrows, focusing on the ground trying to ignore the deafening screams. "Technically that instruction was never given, but so far they've managed to get most of this city's inhabitants enslaved."
"That sorta explains the screams of torture." Yon joked making Kanna grimace. "Go on."
"Right now, the objective is to capture the planets heroes, thus making whatever the rest of Nilla's plan easier from here on." Kanna said with slight tinge of bitterness. Yon took notice of this and sighed.
"Look Kanna," Yon placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're not to happy about not being in full detail on Nillas' plan, and I have no clue why she doesn't tell you, but just know it will all workout in the end." Kanna rolled his eyes at Yon's pitiful efforts at trying to sympathize with him.
"So what do these heroes look like? " Yon asked moving away from Kanna.
"Well most of them did look like robotic monkeys before I creatively transformed them into humans." Ekoms bragged, pointing a thumb proudly at herself.
"Getting more advanced with your smoke manipulations, are we Cigarette?" Yon praised, making her giggle, and Kanna sigh in annoyance. Now things will be more irritating than usual.
"Five males and two females." Kanna clarified.
"Females?" Yon smirked knowingly. "Can't wait to meet them."
"Hey Yon, how did you find this pit, I didn't even know it was here, and I've been around this place longer than you." Ekoms asked.
"Are you forgetting I'm able to manipulate any planets surface? Hell, I'm the one that built this place before I left. Or did you forget just how awesome I am?" He teased.
"Really? I didn't know that." Ekoms admitted. "So Yon, how was your journey? What did you see?"
Kanna had not been paying much attention to their small conversation, but questions about his journey, perked his curiosity.
"Ah it wasn't all that fun, I did get a good feel of this planets soil and vegetation." He answered.
So that was the pillar. Now Kanna knew why Nilla had sent Yon away. It was to scout out the rest of the planet and to get used to wielding and manipulating it.
"Did you come across any other inhabitants?" Kanna asked.
"Surprisingly, I did." Yon answered. "There was this small tribe of people somewhere in the depths of the jungle parts of the planet. I didn't interact with them, just observed them for a while, especially their women. I think they knew I was there and a possible threat, so I didn't stick around to long. That reminds me, I gotta go report back in with Nilla, we'll catch up later." And at that he headed down the same passage way Nilla had went through.
Kanna frowned, the more innocent people got involved, the more clear him decision came to be.
.
Chiro, Antuari, Sparx, and Nova had finally caught up with the citizens, and the last of them were entering the pit. They hid behind a few rocks to make sure they weren't seen and peered down into it.
Sparx let out a low whistle. "That's pretty deep, isn't it?"
Chiro turned to his team. "So we go in and retrieve any information we can get without being seen. We can't free the citizens but we should let them know everything will be ok."
"If they've come back to their senses." Nova mentioned. Suddenly deafening screams were heared.
"Looks like they have come back to their senses." Sparx stated the obvious.
"What do you think they're doing to them?" Nova asked her voice full of concern.
"If I had to guess. Torturing them." Antuari said although he did not like the thought.
"What!" Sparx snapped, not believing what he just heard. "You don't really think that, do you Antuari? They could just be really freaked out."
"I'd like to believe that too, Sparx. But something tells me Antuari's right." Chiro stood up and clenched his fist and scrunched his nose, already smelling the blood of the innocent. "Damn it! What the hell did these people do, to deserve this?"
"Not a damn thing!" Sparx stood up as well, ready just as much as Chiro was, to charge into the pit and put a stop to this madness.
"Calm down you guys. We can't just barge in there." Nova reasoned.
"Nova's right, we need to follow through with our plan." Antuari aided.
"It's not even that good of a plan." Chiro said. "Do you know how unpredictable these people are?"
"You said it yourself Chiro, we don't know much about them." Nova stated, knowing Chiro was underestimating his plan.
"And this is the only way we can find out more. We don't have very many options Chiro." Antuari informed. "If we want to save Shugazoom and it's people we have to make all the right moves."
"Then from here on out, we can't afford any mistakes. When we get inside we split up into two groups, be discreet and gather any information you can wheather it's from the citizens or from the enemy themselves." Chiro instructed as he began to descend down a steep pathway with the others right behind him.
Once at the end of the path, the screams became louder as well as the gruesome sounds of torture. Chiro narrowed his eyes, they have never had to deal with something as heartbreaking as this. Nova had to fight back tears as her heart ached for them. Antuari longed for the power to end their suffering. And Sparx had to resist the urge to yell out in frustration.
"Nova you come with me." Chiro began. "Meet back here in twenty minutes. Look for any special rooms. If anything goes wrong, depending on the situation, contact the others at the Super Robot."
"Got it kid." Sparx replied. "Let's go Antuari."
"Be careful you two." Antuari warned.
"Same goes for you guys." Chiro said then started down the passage with Nova behind him. Sparx and Antuari then headed in the opposite direction.
Chiro and Nova ran past the many cells, trying to block out the images and sounds of the peoples suffering.
"Why would they do such a thing to them?" Nova asked. "What could they possibly gain?"
"They want to conquer Shugazoom, we know that, but what we don't know is why." Chiro replied. "Hypnotizing and abducting the citizens is all apart of their plan to take over Shugazoom. In order to beat them we need to know more about their abilities, the power they posses. Maybe some hidden books or scrolls they have could help us, or even finding out where they came from can be of some use."
"Wait Chiro, stop." Nova halted in front of a cell where one of the citizens was being mercilessly beaten by a smoke minion. "That thing doesn't even notice us. Its one of Ekoms minions, maybe they don't act on their on."
"Maybe we should test that theory." He replied taking a step back.
"Chiro Spearo!" He threw the lighting bolt at the smoke being and it dispersed into the air, releasing the man that fell to the ground. He groaned in pain and pushed himself off the ground. His blood oozing from his mouth, nose and the side of his head.
"Mr. Gackslapper!" Chiro exclaimed.
"Chiro, I knew you would come." He replied limping to the bars of the cell. "How are you gonna get us out of here?"
Chiro hung is head. "I'm sorry. We can't right now." Mr. Gackslapper had a look of disbelief on his face. "My team and I aren't prepared. We can't free you all, them put up a fight to protect you. I'm sorry. But I promise we will come back for you."
Mr. Gackslapper placed a hand on Chiro shoulder. "I understand Chiro. Shugazoom would be doomed if you got captured too. I'll give you as much information as I can, those villains are at the bottom of this pit, but that's all I know. I have faith that you will come back for us. Do what you have to do. I'll encourage everyone here to keep face."
"I promise I'll come back."
"I believe you, now go, we'll be ok." Chiro nodded and took off down to the first level with Nova right behind him.
Meanwhile Sparx and Antuari had found a passage, away from the cells, they followed it until they came to a dead end.
"Great, now where do we go?" Sparx complained.
"Back the way we came." Antuari replied.
"We can't be in this place to long Antuari, we gotta find some information on the enemy quick before we run into them."
"To late." Came Kannas' voice. He stepped out of the shadows blocking their only exit. Antuari and Sparx both got into a fighting stance.
"I'm not gonna fight you." Kanna informed.
"How do we know you're not bluffin'?" Sparx replied. "You have two swords, on either side of you."
Kanna sighed and withdrew his sword, throwing them out in front of him. "Look, I can't give you much information because I barely know anything myself, but Nilla was expecting you and your team."
"Nilla? Who the hell is Nilla?" Sparx asked.
"Oh right. You don't know about her or Yon either. Just know they're other enemies of yours. Nilla is basically the master mind behind all of this bullshit."
"It sounds like you're not proud of all of your bad deeds." Antuari noticed letting his stance drop.
"To be honest no." Kanna admitted. "I'm not your enemy anymore, but I'm not your friend either. Just listen to what I have to tell you, then do with it what you will."
"So you're helping us?" Sparx asked.
"Sort of. Just listen." Kanna began to get a little impatient. "We were expecting for the band of heroes to arrive, then capture them, but I'm assuming you didn't bring your entire team."
Antuari and Sparx shook their heads. "Good, now Nilla is planning to travel all over this world and enslaving any other inhabitants this planet has."
"Shugazoom doesn't have any other signs of life any where else besides Shugazoom city." Antuari informed.
"That's what I thought. You have to find them and protect them from her. That's the only way you're going to stop her. That's all I'm going to tell you, get your other team mates and get out of here." Kanna began to turn around to leave.
"Wait!" Antuari shouted. "Why are you trying to conquer Shugazoom in the first place?"
Kanna smirked and turned around to face them. "It was quite a selfish reason really. It was to get back at our on planet."
"Well that's just plain stupid." Sparx replied. "What's the name of your planet?"
"Drashalo, if you knew the way that planet functions then you would understand. But I never wanted it this way. Find your team mates and get out, before you get caught." Kanna was going to leave again but was again stopped by Antuari.
"Kanna, come with us."
"What! Hell no Antuari, you're not thinking about letting this jackass come with us back to the robot, are you?"
"Whatever, I would turn it down anyway." Kanna reassured.
"You obviously want to escape from this way of life, come with us had help us put a stop to it."
Kanna looked intently at the ground, pondering the thought for a moment. He had made a promise, but he did not want to start to fufill this promise under these circumstances. He just wanted to leave it behind. "No, I can't. I can't start now."
"Yeah, that's right. Come on Antuari let's go find Nova and Chiro." Sparx said dragging Antuari behind him.
"Wait." This time it was Kanna who stopped them. "Did you say Nova was here?"
"Why do you care so much?" Sparx snapped.
"We have to find them quick, before Nilla does." Kanna picked up his swords and placed them in their sheaths. "Nova was the one that got bit. Now, Nilla will be able to sense her, and if she finds her... She won't show mercy."
yay I'm done! Ok so towards the end I kinda rushed through it. sorry for any mistakes. Please review and if you have any questions feel free to ask. I'm off this week so if I add more to the next chapter each day... the next chapter should be up soon! Thanks you guys!