Awoken from the Fires IV
"No luck, I take it?" Creed queried, seeing the grave look on the scientist's face.
Diggins looked up at her and sighed. "Whatever that Imperva-Ray did to the fossil is a mystery to me. There's nothing like it in the world. I'm…" he fumbled with his words slightly, "I'm not sure how to go about breaking it down, but we may as well start with the obvious…" a glance back at the fossil. "Let's take a crack at cleaning it."
Creed nodded and picked up her tools.
Several minutes and several broken tools later Diggins finally conceded to defeat and told Creed to stop. Dark fingers ran through cyan hair as the scientist groaned in exasperation.
"I didn't really think it would be that simple." He eyed the ruined tools and exhaled sharply. "What to do? What to do?"
"Do not worry any longer."
Duna!
Disguised again as a human, the girl walked up to the revival chamber and studied the fossil for a moment.
"Stand back." She cautioned, pulling out her ray gun. Creed hastily grabbed Diggin's elbow and dragged him out of the danger zone.
A series of ring-shaped energy beams left the gun, phasing through the glass and engulfing the fossil. Face determined, Duna held her aim for several long moments until—
Crack!
The bronze, allegedly unbreakable, shell shattered apart to reveal the burnt amber coloration once more.
"It is done." Duna holstered the gun again.
Creed studied the alien girl intensely. As if sensing her gaze, Duna glanced at her.
"You appear confused, Creed." She noted. "You saved my life. I have repaid the favor." A pause, and she turned away. "It is as simple as that."
Satisfied, somewhat, Creed dipped her head. "Thank you, Duna."
Duna cocked her head curiously before walking out of the cleaning room.
"Who was that?" Diggins asked, confused. A pause, and then he spun back to the fossil. "And more importantly, what's happened to the Ignosaurus fossil rock?" He peered in through the glass and inhaled sharply. "Wait, it's back to normal! Creed!" Excited eyes turned to the Fighter. "That means we can clean and revive it now!"
/\/\
Sleet and ice shattered against durable glass.
"That despicable Bullwort!" Diggins swore, looking out the window of the Fossil Center. "Vivosaur Town looks like the ice age!"
"No good, kidnapping town-freezer!" Rosie growled, standing next to him with narrowed eyes.
"Dr. Diggins, we've confirmed the reports…" Wendy walked up, face grave, "Frigi is on its way here!"
"Don't worry! We've got a secret weapon!" Rosie said with a fierce grin, spinning around. "Creed! Is Igno ready?"
Creed didn't respond, likely didn't even hear the question. Standing atop the fossil, she meticulously hammered away at the amber shell, regularly switching between her hammer and drill.
A moment of silence, only broken by the chipping of rock and the whir of the drill, and then—
"Make way for my Super Drill!" Rosie bellowed, swinging the large tool around like a spear.
Diggins quickly caught her by the shoulders and confiscated the tool/possibly-lethal-weapon. "Relax, Rosie." He scolded, "The better the fossil is cleaned, the more powerful the vivosaur will be." A smile. "And Creed is the best cleaner on the island."
"She knows what she's doing." Richmond walked up, watching Creed work. "She keeps a cool head, even in an emergency."
Everything suddenly went dark.
"We lost power?" Rosie yelped.
"What happened?" Diggins spun to Wendy.
"The cold is interfering with the generator!" A sharp gasp. "And Frigi is approaching." Pale, she turned to the doctor. "It's roughly three hundred yards from the center and closing."
"No…" Diggins clenched his fists. "This is bad."
"What happened to the lights?"
Everyone started and spun around. Somewhat dusty, Creed looked at them questioningly, cleaned skull fossil gleaming in the dim light behind her.
"The blizzard interfered with the generator!" Rosie cried. "We can't use the revival chamber to revive Igno!"
A faint rumble sounded over the howling winds coming from outside. Aquamarine eyes glanced out the window.
"That isn't a problem. I can get the power needed." Creed said flatly.
"How?"
"Do you have a lightning rod?"
"Here!" Wendy pulled out a long metal pole with a long extension cord attached to one end.
Creed took it. "How long is the cord?"
"Long enough to wrap around Vivosaur Town twice."
A smirk. "Good."
Diggins stepped forward. "What are you-?"
Wind roared. Snow swirled. A loud craw was heard over the noise as something large dived out the door.
Creed forced the door shut again, grunting from the effort.
The pieces slid into place and Diggins' eyes widened. "You want Mistral to take the rod and generate power that way?"
A nod. "She can do it."
"Impossible!" Wendy argued. "The fossil will be destroyed!"
"Lightning sparks fire." Creed shrugged. "And Ignosaurus is the incarnation of fire. It will survive."
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Richmond asked. "Reviving Igno?"
Everyone turned to him. The older man fixed Diggins with a hard look. "You remember the T-Rex."
Diggins froze, going pale. "I hadn't thought about that." Unease crossed his face. "Ignosaurus is even stronger than T-Rex, Creed—"
"There is no choice." Creed said flatly, face hard.
"Creed, what's wrong? What about the T-Rex? Do you know something we don't?" Rosie asked, looking between them nervously.
"Frigi was only partially awake when I fought it last time." Creed explained. "Only a fraction of its power was used." She fixed them with a hard look. "Bullwort is weaker than the owner of T-Rex."
Diggins swallowed, realizing the implication.
"What does that mean, Creed?" Rosie was the only one who didn't know the story.
"If I don't stop it with Igno, then Bullwort will die, along with everyone else on this island." A pause, Creed glanced up at the ceiling. "Mistral's ready."
Suddenly, the lights turned on again. The revival chamber lit up with energy as the Ignosaurus skull was revived. The light blocked the fossil from sight, almost blinding the room inhabitance.
And just as abruptly, the lights died again and the sound of a medal clattering against metal sounded. Creed strode forward and paused as she eyed the dark gray medal in the slot. And then she reached out and touched it—
—and the current dragged her down.
/\/\
A warm flow, a gentle caress. Faint glimmers of reds. Come with me.
Creed drifted along unresistingly.
A steady pulse, like a fiery heart beat. Dark reds danced.
A faint image of Bullwort flashed in her mind's eye.
The warm flow strengthened into a current. Dark reds intensified. A threat?
Flames engulfed the image.
Tempting, but... a slight frown. That's not—
Fire roared, a blazing inferno swirling around molten reds. A threat must be dealt with, a threat must burn.
A threat…Bullwort is a threat. A threat to be bur—No! She recognized this. Digging in, she tore away—
—and immediately regretted it.
Fire roared up, winding tightly together into a roaring tornado of scorching flames, air was drawn in leaving only a vacuum in its wake. A raging abyss of burning reds.
This was nothing like with Glyph. The flames wouldn't let her work her way out. Tongues of heat lashed out at her, searing her. It hurt to resist, like trying to rip out hooked barbs, only to have them sink deeper into skin and muscle.
The inferno flared violently as the reds grew hotter and hotter until they were white.
Grip loosened, and Creed was pulled back into the current.
The tornado encircled her, a scorching wall of white-tinged blue at the edge of her awareness, inside hot currents of coaxing yellow-orange tugged at her. I am strong, come with me, let me lead you.
If she stopped resisting it'd stop hurting. The flames wrapped around her, squeezing like a giant burning snake, threatening to burn her to ashes. If she let the inferno carry her, if she stopped resisting, it'd stop hurting.
Static crackled at the edge of her consciousness. Someone, help me, please…
Everything was fading to white—
An anchor, a grasping hand gripping hers before the inferno could engulf her, like strong protective arms. "You aren't alone." It seemed to promise. "Trust me. I watch out for all my children."
Then the voice was gone.
What was…who was that?
Then a familiar touch against her mind-
A faint whisper of wind, all but drowned out in the firestorm, faint flickers of terrified dark greens. Creed, don't give up!
And then it was gone, torn away by the raging inferno.
Aero… Creed forced herself to dig in again, to fight the pull. This time, she tore free of the current, out of reach of the lashing tongues of fire, though not out of range of the blistering heat. This was not something she could reason with, like she had Glyph. Destruction and roaring fire given form, it was nothing but raw instinct. It could not be tamed. But…perhaps—
You feed off the air to grow. You drag it along as a helpless victim. Creed thought, bracing. But air cannot be tamed either, it erodes rock, it forms the currents of the water—
—and steals the heat from a fire's blaze.
She clamped down viciously on the ancient power, encircling it with an allusion of wind, a tornado. Forcing it down, forcing it under control. It fought her unrelentingly. Like with a geyser of water there was simply too much pressure, too much force behind it to simply close a valve. Water would have to be split, over and over until it became a harmless trickle.
But this was not water, it was fire, and like all fire, it could be banked. It could be cut off from its source of fuel!
Gritting her teeth, Creed forced the tornado to increase, to make a vacuum, compressing and suffocating the power as she built metaphorical walls around it, to keep it contained. Like a furnace. Through sheer force-of-will she succeeded, banking the flames of power to more manageable levels.
It felt like pressing down a giant spring, just barely crunching it down enough to block it behind a seemingly insignificant catch. Such a small thing to restrain such power, such force. But so long as it held, it would not fail.
'Held' being the operative word, she was not oblivious to the risks of this. The strain would great, constantly testing her, a heavy pressure inside her chest like an expanding lead weight. A strain that would, at any hint of a flaw, at any hint of a weakness, would burst out in a fiery vengeance and engulf her. Then, it would engulf everything around.
A pained gasp, sweat dripping down her face as strong arms braced her shoulders.
When…did I get on the floor?
Her body shook from the strain of suppressing the power, of keeping it contained. Like a growing pressure, a constant pounding inside her chest. She gripped Igno's Dino Medal hard enough for the edges to bite into her skin. Even now it strained against the walls she had built up. Even behind the restraints the blinding reds and whites, the burning heat radiated through almost unbearably.
"Creed!"
She didn't have the energy to even twitch.
"Talk to me! Are you alright?"
Another gasp, trying to form words through the haze of shimmering heat in her mind.
"Fine." She rasped. "Igno…doesn't want to be restrained. It just wants to burn."
She clenched her eyes shut and steeled herself before forcing herself up. Standing straight, she swayed a moment before managing to find her balance.
"Stay here. You don't want to get caught in the backlash."
I don't want to get caught in the backlash. She thought. Oh, Hoinigen, if that is anything to what Frigi gives off…Bullwort wouldn't have had a chance. Swept up in the avalanche of power…and he probably doesn't even realize it.
Suddenly, she pitied the BB Boss.
/\
Ankles sunk into at least a foot of slush, icy wind sent daggers of pain through any visible skin and flailing hail and snow made seeing almost impossible. It was so cold that her breath almost condensed with each exhale and it hurt to breathe in.
Creed steeled herself, feeling Igno's power as she brought out his medal. Even in the medal his power leaked through, melting all the snow in a three foot radius, sending much needed warmth through almost frozen limbs.
I haven't even been out here a minute, and I nearly froze. Creed thought. Is Bullwort even conscious? What about everyone else caught up in this?
She looked at the medal, felt the power straining against the barriers. I hope this works, she thought, and then summoned the ancient vivosaur.
The power lurched, violently, but before it could tear apart the barriers, Creed released a single side of the wall, directly in front of her.
Time seemed to slow down. The raging winds suddenly ceased, all the ice and snow was suddenly repelled outwards, evaporating into hissing steam. As the cloak of ice dispersed, Frigi became fully visible for the first time. It was titanic, Creed couldn't even begin to estimate just how big it was.
Then everything sped up again.
The titan of fire hadn't even fully materialized before it was charging down the street, any lingering ice and snow evaporating in his wake.
"Burning Bite!" Creed bellowed from atop Igno's head.
Fire swirled as reds and blues lurched forward.
Frigi, caught by surprise at the sudden appearance of Igno, could do no more than whip its head around as the ignosaurus bit down hard on the base of its neck and then flung it back. The titan of ice crashed heavily on its back as Igno roared loudly.
At the clash of extreme heat and extreme cold canceled out the majority of the blizzard. Now hissing steam and fog spiraled around them in a great dome.
This is far from over. Creed thought grimly as Frigi picked itself back. She blinked. Huh?
"Ignosaurus!" Bullwort snarled from where he clung on Frigi's neck. "There isn't enough room in this world for both Frigisaurus and Ignosaurus! Subzero Stomp!"
Frigi reared back on its hind legs before slamming down hard on the ground. A wave of ice shot out like a tsunami.
"Burning Bite!" Creed yelled again as Igno reared up and then shot forward at the wave, blazing teeth melting all the ice directly in front of them, leaving them untouched.
Stoking a blaze of ever warming reds.
He's still not at full power yet. Creed realized with dread. Neither of them are.
"Subzero Stomp!"
"Volcanic Combo!"
The fire titan lunged forward again as Frigi reared back a second time. His head whipped out in a horizontal arc, cutting frozen hide with blazing teeth before the fire around Igno flared up and he slammed a broad shoulder into Frigi's exposed underbelly.
Creed cringed as Igno's powers slammed against the restraining walls, like sandpaper being dragged through her insides.
Fire surged forward in the aftermath of the blow, coating the sauropod in a blanket of dancing flames as it was flung back again in a cloud of steam.
Was…was that it? Creed thought when there was no immediate response.
The steam began dispersing and insane black eyes glittered maliciously.
"Ice Age!"
Oh, Huere—
The world dissolved into white static.
Ow…
She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. Everything was numb. And then, deep in her mind, there was a crack.
Fire surged, and ice exploded.
Like letting a draft of air into a closed furnace, the fire almost literally exploded, snapping through Creed's meager walls in compressed bursts like countless geysers. She didn't have a chance to brace before she was yanked along by the power's current.
Warm…she thought in a daze in a sea of gray. I feel…warm. Indeed, the lethal chill that had locked up her limbs was gone, relaxing the tension from her frame, aided by wisps of green tinted blue.
Ice is just…the absence of heat. She realized dazedly. It can only get so cold. But heat on the other hand…fire has no such limitations. It just kept growing, devouring everything it touched—
A chill that had nothing to do with the cold lanced through her. Her eyes widened as she yanked. The sea of gray dissolved into burning reds and yellows as for the third time she tore out of the center of the current. With her resistance, wave upon wave of pressure slammed down on her, both internally and externally. The power fought against her attempt at suppressing it again, tearing down any hint of binding walls with no effort.
Everything felt taunt, tendons stretched to the point of snapping, muscles burning from strain, and blood boiling as it carried vital air to the aforementioned locations.
She was hanging over an abyss of a raging inferno by the skin of her fingernails, barely clinging onto sanity. Creed braced, and pulled towards the edge of the current. It fought, it flailed, it brushed her off as if she was nothing, but she did not stop. She could not stop.
It can't be suppressed! She realized in dismay, and then she stopped. No, not suppress, but maybe it could be—
Stop bracing, relax, gather up the power flow, direct it…
"Volcanic Combo!"
…and fire!
The world snapped back into focus, though remained in a continuous red haze.
Igno clamped down on Frigi, gapping maw now a dancing wreath of fire.
"This isn't over yet!" Bullwort bellowed. "Ice Age, again!"
The world turned to static once more, but this time Creed was ready. "Roaring fire!"
Like stoking a hearth, the fire roared, but this time, it did not burn, instead it protected them from Frigi's blizzard. As waves of ice arched outward from the epicenter that was the clashing titans, time seemed to slow yet again.
This has to stop. Creed thought as stood solemnly on Igno's blazing head. Everyone will die unless this stops now. But how? They can't overpower each other…they're too…evenly…matched… her eyes widened. That's it!
"Roaring Fire!" she yelled again. This time, the blazing aura that surrounded Igno shrank as it suddenly compressed, intensifying in incandescence. Any lone flame was drawn to the raging inferno that was the ancient vivosaur.
At her urgings, Igno clasped Frigi in a twisted embrace, filling the air with steam. Fire and ice both compressed and clashed fiercely, extreme currents of hot and cold formed a raging whirlwind around them.
Time to finish this. "Inferno Breath!"
Igno opened his maw again and a fireball shot out, colliding with Frigi's icy torso at point blank range.
An explosion of fire, red maelstrom melting to blinding white.
The power expanded outward, no longer a single-minded current, and threatened to tear Creed apart from the inside out. And to think, this was simply the backlash of the collision!
She screamed, a sound echoed by…Bullwort?
Have to…get out of here…or will be torn apart. She thought on an almost detached level from the pain.
In response to that realization, her body moved of its own accord and the pain seemed to drop off her sense of awareness.
Step, step, brace, jump!
She was in the air between Igno and Frigi as the turbulence of clashing power continued to increase. Her fist swung out, striking home on Bullwort's icy cheek. The force knocked him from his perch on Frigi's neck, and a sudden air current swept them away from the clashing titans and high into the sky with the spiraling debris.
Bleary eyes watched as, through the increasing steam cloud, the two ancient vivosaurs grappled, bodies glowing white from the power at their command.
An unearthly wail sounded as the white increased to an agonizing level. The two titans, still locked in mortal combat, suddenly dissolved.
The pain, the pressure, all the power that had been threatening to rip her asunder, was suddenly gone, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. All of a sudden, Creed felt hollow, frail, burned out. But, at the same time, she felt accomplished, satisfied, as if an elder was smiling proudly down at her. "You did what was right."
Hard earth rushed up to meet the two humans.
A surge of wind tore through panicked greens. Creed!
Wind whistled as world broke apart into static again, and then faded to black.
"Creed…"
A sharp crackle, a worried green landscape dashed with angry red. Don't fade.
"C'mon Creed, you have to wake up! Please wake up!"
Sand shifted, sad blues backed an ascending spiral of supporting pale greens and yellows. Just rest, you're safe now.
"Get her to the infirmary, she's in shock!"
A soft breeze caressed serene yellows and faint flashes of worried green. Don't give up, Creed.
/\/\
Two figures watched the commotion following the climax of the titanic battle.
A soft hiss of annoyance. "Why would you involve yourself in such…trivial matters?" a masculine tone demanded.
Duna said nothing, just staring intently as Creed's fallen form was rushed away. Her partner glanced down at her, mildly concerned, before he snorted.
"No matter." Arms folded, tail slowly swished back and forth. "All four components are assembled. It will soon be time to collect them."