Chapter 13

Tartarus

"Step away from the Beta." GrimLock demanded Tartarus.

"Now, why shouldn't I just kill her now, instead?" Tartarus taunted as he switched the gun-point from GrimLock to Nymph's head.

"Because, if she dies, you have nothing to prevent me from tearing you limb from limb." GrimLock took a small step closer.

Everything was silent, except for the pouring rain outside.

"You dare challenge me, Proto? I was built to destroy things five times stronger than myself! You think i'm weak, but you're dead wrong. I am the 'Terror Scythe', the 'Killer in the Nightfall'! I am death itself!" Tartarus raised his hands as if he was praying.

GrimLock used this opening. He rushed Tartarus, jumped in the air, and kneed Tartarus right under the chin, sending him sprawling.

Grim quickly scooped up Nymph in his hands, cradling her, as he barreled to the stormy outside. Astraea, Ikaros, and Chaos were close behind him.

"Nymph, you're safe now." GrimLock said. He grabbed the chains that bound Nymph and tried to break them. They wouldn't budge.

"Proto… Thank you for saving me…" Nymph smiled meekly.

"Nymph, listen. I need to know how to break these chains." GrimLock whispered. "Please, tell me how to break them."

Nymph's smiling ceased. "The only thing that can break them…" Nymph coughed.. "Is the scythe Tartarus wields. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. We'll be right back, okay?" GrimLock stood up. As soon as he did, a gunshot was fired. The bullet hit GrimLock in the back of the shoulder.

GrimLock roared in agony and rage.

"My bullets are made of Chrysanium, the most powerful element ever!" Tartarus taunted from a distance. He fired once again.

The bullet hit Grim in the left thigh. Grim fell to his knees.

Tartarus walked to the fallen GrimLock.

"So much for being a hero." Tartarus said. He pointed the gun straight at Grim's head.

Ikaros jumped to the rescue. She fired several Artemis missiles at Tartarus, all of them making their mark. Tartarus struggled to dodge them. Astraea quickly joined in and slashed Tartarus with Chrysaor, sending him flying in the other direction.

"Get up. This is not how you go down." Chaos commanded GrimLock. "I didn't think a few celestial bullets would be your death…"

"They won't be." GrimLock stood up weakly, and leaped towards Tartarus.

GrimLock landed a superman punch directly to Tartarus's face, making him swing around. However, he quickly retaliated with a quick slash of his scythe.

GrimLock luckily ducked and the scythe did no damage.

Tartarus spun around and shot at GrimLock once again. GrimLock jumped out of the way of the bullet and low-kicked Tartarus in the right shin and grabbed him by the arm.

Grim swung Tartarus around and slammed him into the ground.

Once Tartarus staggered back to his feet, GrimLock uppercutted him. Tartarus regained himself in the air and landed on his feet.

By then, Ikaros, Chaos, and Astraea recuperated and stood at GrimLock's side.

Tartarus started to laugh. He charged the group with his scythe raised in hand.

GrimLock and the others did likewise. Before they made contact, GrimLock shouted, "Grab the scythe!"

Grim led the onslaught, starting with a quick jab. Ikaros sent down a rain of Artemis missiles. Astraea hacked and slashed with Chrysaor. Though he dodged and blocked all the attacks, they left Tartarus overwhelmed. Chaos grabbed the scythe with several tendrils and grappled for control for several seconds before Ikaros made the decisive lunge.

She raised the scythe with extreme power and quickly flew to Nymph to free her.

"No!" Was all Tartarus could shout before Grim, Astraea, and Chaos dog-piled him to the ground.

Ikaros landed with force, for the weight of the scythe was great.

"A-Alpha... " Nymph laid her head back down on the wet ground.

Ikaros patted her head. "It will be okay, Nymph. Just relax. Master and the others are safe."

Ikaros raised the scythe and swiped the chain, breaking it. Nymph had been set free. Ikaros picked up Nymph like a baby and set her under a tree. Ikaros left Nymph there.

"No, I can't leave them to fight my battles, even if i'm not strong like they are..." Nymph thought to herself.

Tartarus continued to stave off Grim, Astraea, and Chaos. By the time he had a chance at retaliation, Ikaros hurled the scythe at him, forcing him to catch it.

In this time, Grim uppercutted Tartarus in the stomach, sending him backwards. Tartarus landed on his feet.

"Now I have my weapon back!" Tartarus taunted.

Right after saying this, a rainbow-colored beam blasted Tartarus with full force, propelling him back a few hundred yards. Grim, Astraea, and Chaos turned around to see a wobbly Nymph.

"Hah! I got him!" Nymph shouted. "That'll teach him!"

"Nymph, get back! You're still weak, you need rest!" GrimLock ran to Nymph.

A lone gunshot rang out. GrimLock stopped dead in his tracks. His red visor slowly turned black, as if turning off. Black oil-like ichor flowed out of the back of his head.

"NOOOO!" Nymph shrieked as she watched GrimLock fall face forward and not get up. He had been shot in the back of the head.

Tartarus stood a few hundred yards away with the muzzle of the gun smoking from the killing shot.. "This is the price to pay for insubordination! Now, face your deaths with dignity!"

Tartarus rushed to the Angeloids. He quickly swiped his scythe at Ikaros, cutting her wing. She nose-dived to the ground, too injured to move. Astraea attacked Tartarus, but was cut in a similar fashion to Ikaros. Chaos attacked with her tendrils, but was not strong enough. Tartarus opened part of his robes and slender tentacles like Chaos's rose from the crevice.

Ikaros, Astraea, and Chaos laid on the ground, to weak to fight. Tartarus stood over them.

Nymph stood over GrimLock. She was crying hard.

"Proto, please forgive me! I was foolish! I should have stayed away… I'm sorry…" Nymph fell to her knees, putting her face on her hands, sobbing.

It stopped raining and a bit of sunshine glimmered behind the gray clouds.

"You fought with honor. I respect that. Your deaths will come quickly." Tartarus raised his gun to Ikaros's head. Before he fired the killing shot, a large rumble came from the Earth.

A shockwave rang through the ground. The epicenter seemed to be GrimLock's lifeless body.

Somehow, GrimLock's arm lifted his right arm, then his left.

Tartarus was astonished. "T-That's impossible! No one can survive a shot from Diabolos!"

Grim was standing by this point. "You forget that i'm not an ordinary Angeloid. I am the firstborn, created to protect those I care about. Nothing can stop me, not even your bullets of death."

Tartarus moved backwards slowly.

GrimLock started changing form. A blood red halo appeared over his head, devil's horns sprouted from his temples, black wings grew from his shoulders, his feet slowly transformed into cloven hooves, and he wouldn't stop growing.

The 36 foot GrimLock towered over the buildings. At a leisurely pace, he walked towards Tartarus.

Tartarus screeched. With a stray tentacle, he picked up a car and hurled it at GrimLock. Grim caught it with one car, crushing it within his palm.

"Tartarus. Have you ever felt pain? Or remorse? Sorrow?" GrimLock hissed.

Tartarus attempted to escape. Before he could get anywhere, GrimLock leaped right in front of him, cracking the pavement

"I will show you what true terror is." GrimLock whispered. He picked up Tartarus by his face with one hand and flew up into the sky.

Astraea, Chaos, Ikaros, and Nymph had regrouped.

"Where do you think Onii-Chan is gonna do to him?" Chaos wondered.

"Probably gonna beat the crap out of em'!" Astraea exclaimed.

All four of them looked up at the jet-stream GrimLock left from his supersonic speed.

GrimLock and Tartarus rose over the clouds. It became much colder.

"Proto, what are you doing! We weren't built to take the extreme cold of the cosmos! You'll kill us both!" Tartarus struggled, but Grim continued to rise.

They were out of the atmosphere. Grim and Tartarus had gotten into orbit with the Earth. Grim did a flip and plummeted back down to Earth.

They re-entered the atmosphere face first. The after burn kicked in, setting GrimLock's wings on fire. Still he plummeted to the Earth's surface.

Grim headed towards the ocean.

"NOOO! PROTO, STOP!" Tartarus screamed. It was too late. GrimLock released Tartarus and veered to the side.

Tartarus made a landing in the ocean half a mile away from the shore. The splash was gigantic, creating a massive tidal wave.

Grim landed less hard, still generating a large splash. However, Grim swam to shore, coming on land with wobbly knees. Astraea, Ikaros, Nymph, and Chaos were waiting for him. He changed into his normal form.

Ikaros put her arm around Grim, to help him remain up.

Shortly after, Tartarus surfaced, blubbering like a fish.

Astraea and Chaos dragged him to shore and dropped him immediately.

Grim stood over Tartarus with a steely look on his face.

He held out a hand to Tartarus, as if to help him up. Tartarus reluctantly accepted.

Once Tartarus was up, Grim smacked Tartarus with a hard backhand slap. Tartarus went down with no fight.

When Tartarus hit the ground, he changed into a small boy who looked about 12. He was wearing a white T-shirt and purple shorts. He had purple hair as well.

"Well, do you mind helping me get this low life bastard to Daedalus?" Grim asked.

The Angeloids slowly nodded. Ikaros picked up the boy Tartarus and slung his limp body over her shoulder.

All the Angeloids walked together back home.

Tomoki, Sugata, Mikako, and Sohara were waiting for them. Chaos turned Tartarus over to Daedalus, who would take care of him like she did Chaos before.

Everyone was bandaged. Grim had a head wrap and other bandages. Ikaros, Chaos, and Astraea all had assorted bandages and wraps on their wings, from Tartarus's cuts.

"GrimLock, I think I know the secret to your Pandora transformations." Sugata spoke to Grim later in the night, after dinner.

"And what's the secret?" Grim wanted to know badly.

"I think it has to do with your stress levels. You were stressed out the first transformation, right?" Sugata inquired.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I was." Grim answered.

"Daedalus allowed us to watch the battle from her monitor. I watched you get shot. I still can't believe you just rose from the dead like that."

A bandaged Nymph joined in the conversation. "Pandora not only evolves the Angeloid, but repairs all systems as well, even dead ones."

"You must have been in the process of transforming when you got shot." Sugata said. "As I was saying, I think if you are under high stress, you can use that stress to pre-evolve. If you can learn to control your anger or stress, you may be able to transform at will."

Nymph looked at Grim with expectant eyes.

"Well, let's just hope I won't have to." Was all Grim said before he walked upstairs for a well deserved rest.