nightelf37: I decided to talk here too, but only for this chapter. Hopefully. And by the way, Sorry for the long delay; i had Final Exams at school.
Chapter 10: Unsung Heroes
With Genaolu, a new comrade, she, Carl, and I teleported to Terror Mountain, after a thought-message from Casandia was sent to the chimera. The exact location, however, was a certain Neohome that belonged to a certain Faerie. (If you saw the comics in the "Hannah and the Ice Caves" plot, where the Bori was introduced, you'd know this.) In that house, near the fireplace, were a familiar Blue Nimmo who had a 'water rifle', a Yellow Chia with a bazooka that launches water balloons. and a Baby Shoyru with some 'living marbles'. We looked at each other for a minute or so, then a familiar voice spoke up from behind us. When we turned around, it was Messerole.
"Nice to meet you again, Rael and Carl.", he said, waving his hand, then put out a hand in kind gesture of indication to our new Xweetok friend. (Pointing would be nasty)
"My name is Genaolu.", our new friend said, holding out a hand.
"Hello there.", Messerole replied, shaking Genaolu's hand. "My name is Messerole, a 'pet' of Rael here."
"Huh?" Genaolu was confused. "Pet? But isn't he one as well?"
"Didn't you hear the news?"
"Sorry.", Genaolu apologized, rubbing the back of her head with her right hand.
"Okay. I'll brief you onto our situation here."
From beginning to end, he explained to her my transformation, our report to Queen Fyora—
"Who is she?", Genaolu asked.
"I can't believe you don't know her!", I gasped, flabbergasted by her 'outdated' knowledge.
"All right.", Messerole complained. "I'll brief you in later." He then introduced the Nimmo as Lumi (The very same onefrom the "Usul Suspects"), the Chia as Geoffrey (from "Chia Bomber"), and the Shoyru as Barry (from "Attack of the Marblemen").
Fearfully, I asked Barry, "Aren't those Marblemen dangerous?"
"Don't worry.", said Barry, much to Genaolu's surprise (I wonder why). "Ever since finally containing their threat on my own, I tamed them to follow my command."
"How is that baby able to talk?", Genaolu said.
"Baby's just my color.", Barry retorted. "You are SO outdated."
"Yeah.", Lumi agreed. "Have you been living under a rock? You never heard any sort of news at all?!"
"I'm afraid not.", Genaolu apologized.
Sheesh!, said Carl. You have a lot to learn. The chimera then placed his hands on Genaolu's head, and transmitted lots of information of Neopia to her. At least that's what I think he did since she cringed in pain from the "information overload". (A/N: Remember; if you have looked up my lookup, or Mrfipp's, who is the 'owner' of Carl, you will see that Carl knows everything, but cannot speak orally.)
After giving her the information, which is, practically everything in Neopia that she missed, and my adventure so far, Carl fell into a heap.
Didn't know I could do that., he remarked to himself.
Just then, a rumble was heard.
"Sheesh!", Messerole swore. "I forgot to tell you guys that Terror Montain is under siege."
Another rumble was heard.
"We gotta defend this 'base' and then get outta here when the going gets tough.", Geoffrey told us.
I went to the window, looked outside, and saw Sniperwild Heartless, Green Chia Bombers (whose cannons had mud balls on them), and one Green Tyrannian Chia whom Geoffrey identified later as Grackle.
"I'm afraid it a bit late for that Geoffrey.", I said to the Chia.
"Grackle!", he said, looking out the same window I was at.
(A/N: Told you so.)
"Who?", Barry asked.
"He's my sworn ememy ever since his tribe invaded my home and after I had shamed him in front of his kin in a duel."
"Why weren't there Heartless in Kiko Lake?", I wondered to myself, not part of the conversation.
Genaolu noticed and explained, "Before we encountered you guys, my dad and I were battling black ant-like creatures at Kiko Lake."
"That was them!"
Suddenly, we heard something go down; the door. When we turned to it, which was a good distance away from the window we were looking out at, Grackle and a couple of Sniperwilds were ready to strike. Knowing 'mud overpowers electricity', I readied my gun and shield. At the same time, Lumi did so as well with her rifle, Geoffrey with his bazooka, Barry with his Marblemen, Carl with his guns, and Genaolu with her sword. A standoff.
"Attack!", Grackle commanded and all **** went loose; there was a series of firing mud ball, bullets, Marblemen, you get the picture. In this hallway onslaught, Genaolu and I were at the front, shielding our comrades behind us. In an instant, Carl teleported behind the enemy, wiped out the Sniperwilds and soon had Grackle at gun point.
Not a very wise decision to lead the scouting force, eh?, Carl taunted.
"Correct. Because I'm not Grackle."
"What?!", Geoffrey gasped, who happened to know Grackle's details head to toe.
"He knew this would happen, so he had an attack on two fronts."
Crap., said Carl.
Sure enough, there was 'ransackery' going on in the house and while we dealt with the team in front of us, including the decoy Chia Bomber, we reached the open door, where Sniperwilds and other Chia Bombers got ready to attack. A minute later from defending against the outside threat, Barry's Marblemen were tired, Lumi's arms were aching, and Geoffrey's bazooka was getting heavy on him. As Carl, Messerole (in Portal Mode), Genaolu, and I still stood, the real Grackle appeared at the hallway with some Chia Bombers.
"Looks like you have no way out this time, fools.", he taunted, then commanded to his troops. "All right, men. Eliminate everyone but the Kacheek, who is to be taken in."
"Not a chance!"
Messerole opened up a portal in front of Grackle and out of it emerged a bunch of balls, both mud and Sniperwild. As this knocked out most of Grackle's comrades, Grackle himself charged and fired his mud cannon, but Messerole opened up a portal right in front of him and he crossed it all the way to his troops outside, who had fired another volley. This took him down, then Carl teleported all over the place, firing at the remainder of the troops. Once they were gone, Geoffrey, now recovered, walked towards Grackle and cuffed him, sending him away.
(A/N: I seem to be saying this too many times.)
Once that was taken care of, Geoffrey turned to us and said, "Let's get outta here."
"What was that?", I asked, since I was rubbing snow in my eyes.
"This place is no longer safe. Besides, I wouldn't want to be around when Taelia comes back."
"Who?", Genaolu asked.
Carl looked at her and said, Looks like you've got a lot to learn about the outside world.
-------------------------------------
We were now at the Ice Caves, which was abandoned like the peak, where we've last been.
"Who should we meet next?", Barry asked.
"Since we're in the Ice Caves, I wonder if the Snowager is on the loose?", I thought to myself. "Or is he still guarding his horde of stuff?"
Suddenly, we heard voices in the Negg Faerie's cave. Then,.in another direction, we heard the Snowager's cry.
"Into the cave!", Lumi ordered and we all followed. Inside, we saw row after row of Neggs (this was beyond the 'reception' desk), tempting us to get them. However, we somehow resisted the temptation as we saw the Negg Faerie herself bound and gagged. Behind her was an ugly Green Grarrl with a red horn on its snout.
"Gargarex!", Geoffrey gasped.
"Looks like I can call up for a ransom, eh?"
"As if!", Messerole retorted.
"This Faerie for that Kacheek. Deal?"
"What about… we fight for her?"
"Sounds good to me."
We all got into battle stances, then Gargarex charged at us, after kicking the Negg Faerie out of harm's way. Despite our firing at the Grarrl, he kept going and bowled over Geoffrey, Genaolu, and Barry, knocking them out as the rest of us jumped out of the way. As Carl had jumped over, he flipped upside down and fired at Gargarex's back. This made him stop and turn around. As Carl landed, Lumi and I fired water and laser at the Grarrl, shotting at different parts as to avoid steam. Messerole, on the other hand, carried the others away as we held off Gargarex.
Meanwhile, we were gaining the upper hand as we fended off the Grarrl. Keeping our distance, and circling from three sides, Gargarex couldn't stand and soon enough, he had enough and surrendered.
"All right. Take her."
Knowing that we've won, we untied the ropes on Negg Faerie and Lumi cuffed Gargarex.
"Aww, man.", Messerole suddenly complained. "When will I get my first Battle Gear?"
Apparently, someone had told him about it as we went down into the Ice Caves, I thought. I stared at Carl, who hung his head in admission.
"Well, anyway, let's get going.", Lumi said. "Down to Happy Valley we go!"
-------------------------------------
As expected, since this is a time of chaos from the Heartless, the Happy Valley isn't a happy place at the moment. Instead, there were Sniperwild, Soldier, and Blue Rhapsody Heartless all over the place. Within the bunch was a Tyrannian Buzz, who seemed to be the commander of this horde.
"Tyragh!", Geoffrey exclaimed.
Suddenly, everyone in the Valley, including Tyragh and the Heartless stopped and looked at us. Also, I noticed a giant burlap sack over the Buzz's shoulders moving. Apparently, whatever was inside it didn't want to be inside it.
"Let your hostage go!", Lumi demanded.
"Not a chance, fools.", Tyragh responded. "You better come down here and fight me and my horde to get her back."
"Her?", Messerole gasped.
"That's right. The Snow Faerie herself is in this here anti-ice bag."
"All right! That's it!", Genaolu shouted. "You're not getting away with this while I have anything to say about it!"
She then quickly descended the hillside and charged at the Heartless. A second later, we all followed.
Slashing and blocking, Genaolu easily made it through the horde until a stray ice attack from a Blue Rhapsody froze her right leg in place, forcing her to defend herself in place.
Meanwhile, the rest of us, with a row of Marblemen in front of us, fired with everything we've got (Messerole used his Bubble Blaster). With a combination of bubbles, water balloons, Marblemen, purple crystals (Carl), and light, the Heartless horde eventually disappeared, leaving Tyragh and the hostage Taelia.
"Looks like I gotta handle this myself.", said Tyragh as he put his sack aside.
He then charged at us with a one-two-three combo with his club, but Genaolu was in front, she defended the attack. He then tossed a Fireball, but Carl deflected it with one of his own (two, actually). He followed with a Spark, but Carl shot it again. Tyragh then leaped upon his club in such a way that his feet were in the air, then he went down and actually slid towards us, but we jumped over him just in time. He then did a Water Jet, but Barry countered with a Lava Spit, and both attacks collided into steam. The Buzz then ran towards us and was about to heave down his club, but Barry summoned a Marbleman to bite on the weapon, holding him off. As he swung his club around, finally killing the Marbleman, I launched a K-Bomb Garin gave me after its attack with "The Seeker Of Darkness", but Tyragh simply maneuvered around us and the K-bomb followed like a missile (so that's why they always hit), bowling over us without exploding.
"Geez!", I said. "That didn't happen when I used them last time."
Tyragh then was about to summon a Stone Legion, but Lumi acted fast and fired strategically at his hands, cancelling the spell. After a couple more attacks on him on all sides with the help of Messerole's 'portal' Power, Tyragh was about to drain Genaolu's health, but one of Barry's Marblemen got in the way as Lumi conked him on the head with a 'baby bottle', which exploded in his face.
After doing a couple more attacks on him, he pulled out a boomerang and tossed it. It flew like a missile and struck each of us before being stopped by a 'stray' bullet from Carl. Immediately following was a Fire Spit, but Messerole shot a sonic wave from his antennae (Grundo Blast) against it. Geoffrey proceeded to shoot a ball of water but Tyragh tossed a dart, which made it burst and the water fell short of his face. As we saw the Buzz use a Scorchstone, Genaolu pulled out one too and cured us all. Then as one, we opened fire at him with water, Marbleman, crystal, magic (Genaolu hid it until now), and laser. However, Tyragh had a trick up his sleeve.
"DARKNESS!", he screamed and he was enveloped in black tendrils and when they went away, he was covered in black 'animal skin' and more ferocious than ever. The next thing we knew, he zipped around the field and beat us down brutally one by one. He started with Lumi, then Geoffrey; Carl was next, then Genaolu. Before Tyragh was able to proceed with me, I heard Messerole invoke an incantation. When I looked at where he was (Tyragh followed suit out of curiosity thus pausing his attack on me), I saw him surrounded in a white digital-styled sphere.
"By Jos'toreo! Grant me Full Armor!"
Out of the sky, I saw pieces of metal fly towards the sphere and surround it, spinning and circling it as they went. Then there was an explosion from that sphere, sending scrap metal flying. When the dust settled, there stood Messerole equipped with "Full Grundo Armor" and "Grundo Communications Helmet". He then held out his right hand forward and in a flash, the "Grundo Sword of Justice" appeared.
Barry and Genaolu, who didn't become targets (yet), quickly stood by his side and prepared their weapons (Barry's is a Marbleman). Since I saw Messerole from behind Tyragh, I held my position and had my blaster and shield ready.
Then, Tyragh moved… to where I was, where I whacked his back with the shield, pushed him forward and fired at his back. At the same time, a Marbleman from Barry held him in place as Messerole and Genaolu charged with their swords. As they were about to slash at Tyragh, I did a headshot at the Buzz for good measure. Both sword-wielding Neopets attacked the Buzz together and followed through in between me. Tyragh turned around and, weakly, tried to charge another ball of darkness. Both sword-wielding Neopets struck again, this time at that ball, then at Tyragh, bringing him down.
"You were a real pain, y'know.", I said, cuffing Tyragh, which sent him away.
"Glad that's over.", sighed Messerole in relief as he returned to normal Yellow. Lumi and Genaolu gut busy untying the rope on the burlap sack, and freeing the Snow Faerie.
"Thank you, all of you for freeing Terror Mountain of the Heartless.", she commended to all of us.
All in a day's work., smirked Carl.
"You really look exhausted from you battle. It's my turn to help you."
"Thanks, ma'am, but—", Genaolu began to say, but Taelia already began. We were covered by a soft blizzard, and when it stopped, we were covered by a thin veil of snow. Naturally, we shook it off and the moment we did, we felt refrashed and rejuvenated.
"Wow!", gasped the Xweetok. "That was a great spell!"
Suddenly, Messerole's talisman rang and in the form of a hologram, Nightsteed's face appeared.
"Nightsteed!", I gasped.
"Rael, Carl, Genaolu, get going to Tyrannia. It's been frozen over by Lady Frostbite."
"They're on it!", said Msserole, then he said to the three commanded by Nightsteed, "Go! We'll clean up the mess."
"Yeah!", agreed Geoffrey. "Tyrannia is that way!"
The Chia Bomber pointed to a road sign that clearly stated it. The three of us then walked down the path to the 'prehistoric' realm.