Chapter eleven. this is worse than the last one. i hope you haven't run out of tissues yet.
I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine. Echo belongs exclusively to Kawaii Stella and her story Picking up the Broken Glass. I should probably also mention that Lok is not mine. Also, the visual of Max on a crucifix is by no means meant to be biblical. The fact I have referred to her as "Defender of Cyberspace" and "Savior" a couple of times has nothing to do with my choice in how these chapters played out.
Chapter Eleven
Rescue Party
For the next several minutes after disconnecting from Master Pi, Lok began preparing for his mission. He was in a hurry but he worked at an acceptable pace so he wouldn't forget anything.
First, he stripped out of his Shangrinese uniform, folded it up, and laid it on his bed. Then, he shrugged into a pair of comfortable blue jeans, and a black v-neck t-shirt. After jamming his feet into socks and tennis shoes, Lok opened his small treasure chest and began choosing Titans; taking care to slip them into the pockets of his fabric arm-warmers for easy access.
"Let's see. He said to use Cavalier or Icarus to get across Cyberspace. I think Cavalier would be better suited for that. Gareon is small, he can sit on my shoulder. Definitely going to take Bulregard for land tracking. I could use the Scarabese to infiltrate, couldn't I?"
"Shouldn't you infiltrate the hideout yourself? Just like Master Pi said." Cherit asked.
"I'm pretty sure that was a suggestion." Lok said, slipping the Scarabese amulet into an arm-warmer pocket. He sifted through his other amulets, thinking about how useful they would be and which Titans worked well with another. When his fingers brushed one amulet in particular, Cherit grabbed his hand.
"Don't take that one, Lok." Said the cyber-titan.
"King Basilisk, why?" Lok asked.
"Because you don't want to stone the wrong person." Cherit said.
Lok knew he meant Max. Although Cherit had been programmed to obey and advise Lok, there was that connection between creator and created. Cherit was grateful to Max for bringing him to life. He didn't have to say it. Lok knew he cared about her.
"Okay, Cherit." Lok said. He picked up King Basilisk's amulet and put it back in the box. Then, while his familiar wasn't looking, he slipped it into the pocket of his jeans.
After choosing his Titans, Lok slipped his arm-warmer on and picked up a small device. It looked like an amulet, but by no means contained a Titan. He tucked it inside a pocket close to his wrist. Then, he found his backpack and zipped in a bundle of clothes.
Cherit flew to Lok's shoulder and perched there; golden eyes bright with the expectations of a new adventure. Knowing what his familiar was thinking, Lok reached up and removed Cherit.
"Sorry, boy. You can't come with me, this time." He said, his eyes sad as he said this.
"Lok, how will you infiltrate the enemy's camp without me? You should not go alone." Cherit said.
"I won't be alone." Lok said, patting his arm-warmers. "I've got other Titans. Don't worry, Cherit. I'll send for you. Tell Motherboard to have the Cybersquad ready to move once I activate the tracking device. And tell her to drop everyone off as far from my signal as she can. I'll have Titans waiting for them. I need you to help them identify that that Titans are mine."
Cherit understood. "Will do, Lok. You just be careful."
"I will." Lok said.
He went to Max's room and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for; an article of clothing. Bulregard and Gareon would be better able to identify Max this way. Then, after patting Cherit on the head, Lok left Control Central.
Waving his hand, Lok only muttered two names, Gareon and Cavalier. In a flash of light, both Titans appeared; Gareon, a two-foot long lizard, and Cavalier, the armored, fire-sword carrying fighter. Lok held the shirt out to Gareon who took a whiff, then crawled up onto the young Seeker's shoulder.
"Find Max." Lok said to Gareon as he climbed onto Cavalier's back. "And let's be quick about it."
Cavalier nodded, and opened his great wings. With a push form his legs, Cavalier flew out the open bay doors. Gareon slithered won Lok's arm and came to rest on Cavalier's head. His reptilian head turning this way and that as his nostrils flared, taking in the scents of Cyberspace. Through his bond, Lok felt Gareon pick up Max's sent and Lok carefully directed Cavalier in the direction Gareon's head was pointing.
While Cavalier flew through Cyberspace, Lok settled on the big Titan's back and attempted the sight-share again. He managed to find max's cord but it was too difficult to hang on to and when he did grab it, he felt nothing but pain.
We're running out of time. He thought, his eyes opening.
He poured as much energy as he could spare into Cavalier. But he knew he couldn't rush the Titan. Gareon, with his limited sense of smell could only help so much, too. But all his other scout Titans were either too large or two small to be of much use.
Just then, Gareon let out a growl and rushed to stand on Cavalier's head. Lok leaned forward and placed a hand on Cavalier's neck. "What is it, Gareon? Do you sense her?"
Gareon raised a claw and pointed down at a Cybersite below. Lok looked down and saw a small, one-seater cybercoop. The same cybercoop Max left in earlier that day. And it was on Cybersite Nowhere, which was nowhere near Shangri-La.
"Cavalier, land on that site." Lok said, laying flat across Cavalier's back with his fingers tucked into his Titan's armored collar. Gareon fastened himself onto Lok's t-shirt and hung on.
Cavalier nodded in understanding and started to descend. Once on the site, Lok invoked Bulregard and showed him Max's shirt. The barrel-chested Gaia-Titan scout snuffled about, sniffing around the cybercoop. At one point, he stopped and concentrated on one spot. Lok shut his eyes and concentrated. He could smell it, too. A strange scent that wasn't at all like Max. Bulregard sniffed around the coop some more. In the scout's mind, a map of the events took place and reflected back to Lok. Max's scent was mixed with the stranger's. Then, it ended about three yards from Max's coop. A new, nose-clogging scent invaded their olfactory senses. Lok covered his nose with a hand.
"Gah. Gareon, can you track it?" Lok asked, looking at the lizard on his shoulder.
The little Yama-Titan scout nodded.
"Okay." Lok said. He waved his hand at Bulregard and the larger scout vanished back inside his amulet. "Cavalier, I require your services."
Cavalier nodded and approached. Lok jumped onto his back and hung on tightly as the Draco-titan warrior took off; Gareon pointing the way.
The smokey odor was foul and heavy. Lok could only guess it was an old, rusty coop with an exhaust leak somewhere. Obviously whoever took Max wasn't counting on a Seeker with a scout-type Titans under his thumb. Or maybe they weren't expecting anyone to come to Max's rescue. It irritated Lok by how ignorant this person seemed to be. How . . . pompous they were. Lok began making dark promises under his breath. If whoever took Max hurt her, he would bring the pain much harder on them.
And he had just the Titan to do that.
Lok's hand closed around the bulge in his pants pocket. In one way, he kind of wished he hadn't brought this particular Titan. It would take a lot of energy to invoke him. And depending on how many titans he had to invoke, the result would ultimately drain him.
Lok shook his head and realized they were heading north. Lok's coolant froze. He knew where they were going. To the one place in Cyberspace where bad things were known for happening: The Northern Frontier.
Lok knew about the Northern Frontier. He also knew about Max's ordeal at Hacker's hands, both before and after becoming a gargoyle. But what Lok couldn't understand why someone bring her all the way out her. The Northern Frontier was Hacker's safe-haven. It was the place he returned to when he failed in his attempts at controlling Cyberspace. As far as Lok knew, the Site was completely uninhabited. Only the hangar where the Grimm Wreaker once stood.
Lok got his answer when Cavalier landed on a rise near the hangar. With a wave of his hand, the two Titans were joined back with their amulets and Lok stood and looked around.
The hangar looked mostly empty. But a closer look told him everything was not as they appeared. The windows were blackened, not from disuse, but because they had been covered over. Lok knew he had best check it out.
"Scarabese." He said.
Five beams of light shot out of the amulet and five beetles appeared. The one-eyed black ones moved off toward the hangar while the slit-eyed golden one crawled up Lok's arm and latched onto his face, a hatch opened on its back and Lok could see. But not only could he see, he could see what the other Scarabese were seeing.
It was a moment for Lok's brain to organize the images he was seeing. The effect of seeing from four eyes was disorienting, particularly when the Scarabese were looking at four different objects at once. It took intense concentration just to figure out which image came from which Scarabese.
Lok squatted and waited, closing his right eye to lessen the confusion. One Scarabese circled the building, another climbed up the building, and the other two went inside. One Scarabese inspected a various part of the building; scanning objects that obstructed their way. The last one headed straight toward the back of the room. And Lok gasped.
Max was there, but she didn't look right. She hung motionless from a cross-like steel structure. Her access panel was missing, steam and smoke issued from the opening. Hollow plastic tubes were forced into her sides and a greenish liquid poured into her system. Lok began to wonder if Max was even in pain. The large computer screen behind her told him she was, indeed, in pain, but was too far out of it to even notice.
Having gotten everything he needed, Lok began to recall the Scarabese when something caught the center scout's eye. A tall, slight figure with red hair and a pointy hat was moving around the crucifix, wrapping a heavy polymer strap around Max's body. The strap went around her waist, across her chest, and around her shoulders. Then, after driving a nail through the ends of the strap, the figure pulled the strap tight and nailed it to the top of the cross. Then, after unzipping her sleeves and pulling them down, and with a peg and a small mallet, the figure popped out the cottering pin in Max's arm hinges, untied her wrists, and cut the wires holding the arms to the rest of her shoulders.
Lok knew right then that Max really was out of it. If anyone did that while she was still conscious, she would have been screaming bloody murder. Lok knew he had to act fast. With one hand, he found the tracking device and pushed the button.
0
Wicked couldn't believe her luck. First, she captured her enemy and now she got to play with her a little. Of course, Wicked was also a little annoyed at that little prick, Ledge, for his rules. Wicked wanted to scrap Max while she was still alive, but Ledge was adamant this was better. Frankly, Wicked couldn't see why this was better. Having her incapacitated while the program replayed all of Max's worst moments stored in her ROM and using Hydrofluoric acid to make melt her internal circuits wasn't Wicked's idea for fun. The acid was destroying everything and when the acid destroyed everything, they couldn't get more money out of the parts.
Wicked leaned against the table and looked at the pathetic excuse for a Shield-maiden. She couldn't help but scoff. So, this is the kid who murdered my Hackey-poo? What a joke!
She stood up and when to Max, binding her to the cross before taking her arms. Much to Wicked's disappointment, Max didn't scream, nor did she give any indication that she knew was missing something.
This is no fun! Wicked thought. Damn that Ledge and his decision to be merciful.
She put the arms down and started to locate Ledge when something caught her eye. A black beetle with one eye. Wicked was no expert on Seekers and quickly decided it was a spy device. She knew Ledge wouldn't dare spy on her, though, and immediately narrowed it down to an intruder.
Wicked's eyes narrowed and centered on the three henchmen who were supposed to be standing guard, but God knows what they were really up to.
"Oh Buzzy!" Wicked said in her sweetest of voices.
The small, round-bodied bot waddled into Wicked's view. "Yes, Miss Wicked?" He said.
"Did you know there's a beetle in my equipment? Did you?"
Buzz nodded, but the confusion was there. Wicked wasn't convinced.
"Did you?"
Buzz nodded again. Wicked still wasn't convinced.
"Did you?"
Buzz shook his head.
"THERE'S A BEETLE IN MY EQUIPMENT!" Wicked shrieked and Buzz covered his head with both hands. Wicked grabbed Buzz by the antenna. "Now you quit fooling around and do your job you empty-headed twit!"1 She let him drop and watched him scuttle away.
1
Lok had seen everything he needed to. After calling the black Scrabese back, the young Seeker plucked the golden Scarabese off his eye. Then, from the pack he had slung over his shoulder, he removed the bundle, and tossed it onto the round. He was a little nervous as this was the first time he actually used Anubian in a fight.
The sound of a portal opening in the distance told Lok the Cybersquad had arrived. He invoked Kipperin, Sorcerell, and Icarus and sent them to retrieve the Cybersquad. Then, he waited.
0
The Cybersquad wasn't sure what to do expect when Motherboard yanked them out of their lives on Earth and spat them out on the Northern Frontier. The fact they were on the Northern Frontier was, in itself, creepy. They hadn't expected to return to this place since Hacker's death. Yet, here they were. The kids stood up and dusted themselves off while they took a look around.
"Whoa!" Matt said, noticing Cherit for the first time. "Who are you?"
"This is Cherit." Digit said. "He's Lok's familiar."
"You mean Max's apprentice?" Inez asked.
"Yes." Cherit said, settling on the grass next to Digit. "Lok left me behind so I could help you."
"He's not used to being separated from his master this long." Digit said.
"Okay, guys. Where do we go from here?" Jackie asked.
"We're supposed to wait for Lok to send his Titans to us." Cherit said.
"Titans?" Matt asked. "What are – hey! What are those guys?"
From over the hill came three flying figures: a four-winged, green skinned insect; a woman wearing a cape, armor, and a winged helmet; and a glue-skinned man with wings where his arms should be. Cherit waited until the figures got closer before introducing them.
"These are three of Lok's Titans. Sorcerell, Kipperin, and Icarus. They're here to take yo to Lok."
"Cool!" Matt said. "Which one is mine?"
Cherit gestured with a paw. "Pick one." He said, indifferently.
"Okay. I choose, Icarus." Inez said. The winged man nodded and turned his back to Inez so the teen could climb aboard.
"I choose Kipperin." Matt said. Then, as an afterthought, "Wait, are we sure he can hold me?"
"He picks Lok up all the time." Digit said. "Believe me, he's stronger than he looks."
Before Matt could protest, Kipperin wrapped his tentacle-like legs around Matt's waist and shoulders.
"I guess that leaves me with Sorcerell." Jackie said. "Not that I'm complaining. She looks cool."
Sorcerell smiled and picked Jackie up in both arms. The fifteen-year-old girl wrapped her arms around Sorcerell's neck. At that moment, Cherit grabbed Digit and pulled him up into the air.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Digit protested.
"Lok's orders. I fly faster than you, anyway." Cherit said.
"Fine." Digit said with exasperation.
With that, the eight of them flew across the Northern Frontier, coming to a stop at the hillock where Lok was still squatting. And he wasn't alone. A big Titan wearing the garb of an Egyptian Pharaoh, it's face insect like and its hands and feet each had an eye and six fingers or toes.
"What is that thing?" Jackie asked Lok.
"Anubian." Lok said, simply. I just used his individual components to scout out the area. Trust me, we'll need him." He withdrew some amulets, returned Icarus and Sorcerell to their amulets, and had Kipperin tie himself to him. "We'll need these guys, too. Breaker, Megataur, Kopesh, Sekhmet, Thornment, Fenris, Wolf Knight!"
Seven Titans appeared: a four-armed bear with tribal tattoos running down his body; a minotaur with broken chains encircling his neck, arms, and ankles; a pink-haired woman carrying a sword and waring armor and a horned helmet with the visor covering most of her face; a jackal-headed man; a panther-headed woman; and two armored wolves.
Lok promptly slipped the amulets back into his arm-warmers.
"Let's go." He said. "You guys try to free Max. I'll keep the others busy. Be careful how you handle her."
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Inez asked.
"You'll see soon enough." Lok said. "Let's go."
With his seven Titans and five friends in tow, the young Seeker made his way across to the hangar. With one hand, he sent a Boltflare spell at the door, blasting it open. With the other, he invoked Venadek and Impet; sending them to keep the henchmen occupied – Venadek to Delete, Impet to Buzz, and Cherit to Baskerville.
"Hey look, Buzzy. It's so cute!" Delete said.
Buzz didn't think so, but it was cuter than the Titan guarding him.
No sooner had the team rushed in than Wicked shrieked and fired off a few spells: Boltflare, Augerfrost, and Kindlestrike. Lok protected them all with Armorbrand and sent his fighters in to work against Wicked.
"Find Max!" He shouted.
They found her, but they didn't like what they were seeing.
"Max." Inez said, covering her mouth with both hands as her eyes welled up with tears. "What have they done to you?"
Matt reached up and tilted Max's head back; stunned when he saw the vacant stare and slack jaw. He was so captivated that he barely noticed the heat coming off her forehead until it burned him.
"What the hell are you waiting for? Grab her!" Lok shouted.
"We can't! She's too hot!" Matt yelled back.
"Shit." Lok muttered. He found a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall and flipped it to them. "Here! Spray this inside her circuits. It should keep her cool."
Jackie caught the extinguisher, pulled the pin, aimed, and sprayed. White foam coated the entirety of her circuits. With Max cooled down, the Cybersquad attempted to free her, but ran into a roadblock. The nail didn't want to budge. Lok noticed and raised his left hand.
"Springer!"
A two-tailed fox appeared. It scrambled up the crucifix and pried the nail loose. While Inez and Jackie untied her, Matt reached out to pull the tubes out.
"Wait!" Digit said. "Careful how you pull that out. That's an acid. If it has enough power to melt her circuits like that, it also has the power to hurt you, too."
"So, what do we do?" Jackie asked.
Digit saw the solution. A button which said ACTIVATE. Digit punched it and the acid stopped flowing. "Okay. Pull them out, but make sure the ends are pointing up."
Matt grabbed a tube and pulled. The pointed tip parted with max's skin. Matt grabbed the other tube and pulled. "Okay! We're free." He announced.
"But she's still too hot to handle!" Jackie said.
"Shit." Lok said again. He raised his right hand. "Lindorm!"
A Titan that resembled a cross between a snake and a dog appeared. The creature gathered Max up in his paws and tucked her close to his shoulder; the teen borg nearly vanishing in the greyish-black pelt.
"Wait." Inez said. She reached up, seized the dongle, and pulled it out.
Behind the crucifix, the screen – which had been black – lit up. ROM ACCESS: INTERRUPTED.
"What does that mean?" Matt asked. He spotted a pair of arms laying on a bench and tossed them into his backpack along with two cottering pins.
"No time." Lok said. He sent Knight Wolf, Fenris, and Breaker in to grab the Squad while he revoked the remaining Titans. "We've got to get out of here." He touched the tracking device again.
"NO!" Wicked shrieked, wand in hand. "She must die! She must pay for what she did to my Hackey-poo! I won't let you take her!"
Outside, a portal opened and everyone ran toward it. Except for Lok. The boy reached inside his pocket and took out the amulet.
"This is for Max." He said. "King Basilisk!"
Wicked, not knowing the meaning behind the name, met the gaze of a red-eyed demon.
Lok had Kipperin turn toward the Portal, revoked King Basilisk, and jumped in, his energy now nearly gone.
1 These ten lines are from Rescuers Down Under; edited by Tari J Dieter