The Chase is Back On!:
The Kruna Yura stood outside the auto workshop as Max, Lewis, and Petey rolled out in Jetsetter karts. Before the three got to pull off and leave Crescent Moon Village, Daisy came up and put a fist down on Max's hood to stop them and grab their attention.
"Maybe now, you guys can get a chance to rethink your lives," said Daisy. "At least try to stay out of trouble. And don't go looking for any more Crystal Tears."
"Sorry there, ya redheaded psycho," said Lewis. "But there's plenty of other crystals like those out there that we can take! Those can't be the only four in the world!"
"So get your grubby earth wielder clawsoff my hood before you scratch the paint, dirt woman, and get out of the way!" yelled Max.
Daisy shrugged and stepped aside from Max's kart. "Suit yourself. But just know that if you find any at all, we'll be right back on your tail. And we'll just take them from you again."
Lewis jerked in his seat and trembled a bit at her response. Likewise, Petey felt a nervous sweat bead on his head and grunted with irritation.
"If we sees ya again, you're dead!" hissed Max. He, Lewis, and Petey then hit the gas on their karts and sped down the Crescent Moon Village streets. Just as they drove away, Ramona handed Athelstan the empty metal case she had emptied the four Crystal Tears out of. The Kruna of Stone then wound up and threw the metal case at the fleeing karts, adding a little elemental influence to give it more distance. When Petey felt the case hit him in his helmet, he looked back, scowled, and stuck up one of his leaf arms at the Kruna.
"Oh, you better hope y'all don't see me again!" Petey shouted back. "You gonna get it! I ain't playing with y'all, ya hear? I ain't playing with y'all!" He, Max, and Lewis then rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.
"Wow," mumbled Marut. "Easiest mission ever. I feel like we barely did anything here!"
"Because we didn't, really," said Warra.
The Kruna marched out of the northwestern gate of Crescent Moon Village and headed out into the fields. With no Crystal Tears left in the region, Bowser and Warra had signaled for the Koopa Cruiser shortly after Max, Lewis, and Petey fled the village. They expected the airship to arrive somewhere in the northern fields soon.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting really sleepy," said Ramona.
"It's probably because we've been out here for much of the night," said Andrew.
"Rainbow City's got to be well into the morning hours right about now," said Bowser. His breathing had become noticeably heavy and strained. His lagging movements showed similar signs of fatigue. No, not now... the koopa thought. I had done so well up 'til now! And we were almost out of here too...
"Jet lag sure sucks, doesn't it?" asked Athelstan, giving Bowser a light jab in the arm.
"Yeah, it sure does," Bowser uneasily replied. "Jet lag..."
"But as soon as we get back up there, we'll have some time off," said Daisy. "Maybe ten or twenty minutes from now, we'll be in the clear, and-"
She stopped talking and froze in her tracks to listen in to the loud, low sounds now thumping her eardrums. The others started hearing it too. Daisy then glanced at the sky and wondered if that was the Koopa Cruiser coming down, but she didn't see any airship.
No, the Koopa Cruiser never sounded like this, Daisy thought as the thuds increased in volume.
"Something dark is coming up from behind," said Bowser. "It's glowing red too-"
A thick red laser then shot through and struck the ground behind the Kruna, the shock from the ensuing explosion scattering the eight of them. Scrambling to their feet, the Kruna peered in the direction of the attack and saw their aggressor lurching towards them from over some distant hills; the Dark Sentinel, a mechanized abomination they had not encountered since they had left Sarasaland. The monstrous, 24-foot tall, crab-clawed, red-shining black scorpion robot trudged at the Kruna with increasing speed.
"Oh boy; looks like Marissa found out we're here!" said Andrew.
"We're gonna need to make a run for it!" Daisy yelled as the Dark sentinel charged another bright red laser from its pulsating eye.
The Kruna took off and sprinted away the moment the robot let its superpowered energy blast loose. The laser smashed and blew apart the very spot they formerly stood in and sprayed debris in all directions. Without a hitch or hesitation, the Dark Sentinel altered its course and marched straight at the fleeing Kruna.
"So King Boo wasn't bluffing after all," Marissa said as she stood on the top balcony of her castle. Through her Malocchio Eye, she viewed the scene developing in the northern Crescent Moon Village outskirts. Her whole body twitched and quivered with simultaneous exhilaration, and fury.
"Oh, goodee!" Marissa cheered, jumping up and down in a giddy fashion. "Finally, something exciting is happening on this forsaken rock! But damn it – why won't you eight just die already?! I feel like I've already killed you all at least twice by now! I mean really!"
"Waluigi! Toadette!" Warra said into his radio transmitter. "Do not come down here – I repeat, do NOT come down here!"
"What? Well how do you guys expect to get back up then?" asked Toadette.
"It's the Dark Sentinel," Warra replied, looking back as the Kruna ran. "It's chasing us. So don't try to pick us up, or else you could get spotted, or even shot down!"
A laser flew by overhead, just barely missing the Kruna as they scooted down a small hill. The Dark Sentinel kept up the chase and increased its tracking speed, readying another laser to fire. Bowser twisted around and got his Pyro Scimitar up to block and deflect just as the robot shot off its blast. The shock that resulted from swinging at such a potent laser almost knocked the Kruna of Fire over.
"How did we get found out?" Warra wondered aloud. "How did she know we were here?"
"It had to have been when I transformed," said Daisy. "I must've gave out too strong of an energy signature. But I didn't stay in Nova Form much longer than a handful of minutes!"
"I don't get it," Marut said to Daisy. "She didn't know we were still alive before when you were in Nova Form..."
"Well for one, we all were weakened at that point," said Bowser. "Our powers were too faint to pick up in the first place. But now, that disturbance from her Nova Form was like putting up a flashing neon sign pointing right at us in a desert!"
"But Nova Form doesn't produce that large of a spike," muttered Daisy. "I should know! That can't be it."
"What are the odds of her just spotting us by chance?" asked Warra. "I don't know what would make her want to suddenly decide to look for us when under the belief that we're dead."
"Hey, what's that big red light shaking on you?" Marut asked Daisy.
"It turned on a targeting sight!" exclaimed Andrew.
"Huh?" Daisy grunted. She immediately cut away from the group on reflex. Just seconds after she split, two lasers shot at the ground only inches away from her. Andrew whipped around and pushed a sphere of dark energy at the Dark Sentinel paired with a light burst from Ramona, but neither attack managed any damage or effect on the robot.
Bowser and Marut tried to rain down fire and slashing winds on the Dark Sentinel, only to find their attacks ineffective as well. Daisy cracked her body around and threw a punch at the ground to jolt parts of the grassy terrain up in front of the Dark Sentinel with the intent to damage, but all she did was slow it up some. That didn't even help much, for the robot charged and fired off another laser while it got around the protrusions. Marut leapt into the air to avoid the blast aimed at him and sustained his flight through his Alkemei Furaito.
Neva backpedaled and fired off a string of ice arrows at the Dark Sentinel's glowing eye and would've struck it had the robot not moved its tail and claws in to block. The fact that the Dark Sentinel actually bothered to block this time gave Bowser a hint on where to attack. That hint then morphed into an idea that could get them around the Dark Sentinel's blocking appendages.
Just as Andrew went on one foot to setup another turnaround blast, his landlocked foot carried into a dip in the ground and threw him off balance. The stumble made him pull his shadow orb way off to the side, missing the Dark Sentinel altogether. As he hit the ground, the Dark Sentinel powered-up a laser from its eye and let it loose on the defenseless shadow wielder.
Ramona jumped in front of Andrew in counter stance and caught the laser with the blade of her Luster Swordstaff just in time. Her arms up and her blade down, she shifted her tool from her left to the right side of her body and slashed to redirect the laser's wave back at the Dark Sentinel. Unfortunately, even the laser didn't do any damage at all when it made contact with the Dark Sentinel's body.
"Warra, the eye!" Bowser yelled at the Kruna of Water.
Warra nodded and stopped running. His Alkemei glowed, and he went invisible and disappeared just moments later.
As Ramona helped Andrew back up, he said to her, "Why are you always saving me?"
"Because you need to be saved fairly often," Ramona replied as they backpedaled away from the incoming Dark Sentinel.
"Whaaaaa-tever," Andrew said, getting his hands up to ready another shadow orb. "Now, where was I..."
Suddenly, the Kruna heard a grunt coming from the Dark Sentinel. The elemental wielders stopped their movement and turned around to look. The robot had just swiped with one of its claws at something, but no one could tell what until Warra reappeared at a point far off to the side.
"The invisibility didn't work?" Bowser exclaimed.
"The robot must have thermal sensing and picked out Warra's body heat," said Athelstan.
"That wasn't the case back in Sarasaland!" exclaimed Daisy. "Does that mean Marissa upgraded it?!"
Marut looped in the air to pick up a burst of descending speed on his way to Warra. He snatched the Kruna of Water out of the way of the Dark Sentinel before the robot got to him and turned around to fly back to the other Kruna, who proceeded to continue running. Again, the Dark Sentinel followed in pursuit.
"Oh, this is too funny!" Marissa hollered as she continued using her Remote Viewing on the chase. "Run, run, little Kruna!"
In the midst of her laughing, something other than the Kruna and the Dark Sentinel came into her mindsight view. As soon as she noticed it, her laughing slowly came to a scowling, confused stop. What she saw, she had never seen before at any point in time.
What is that thing suspended in the air? Marissa wondered.
"I hate how this robot seems so impervious to attack!" Daisy yelled.
"The weak spot has to be the eye," said Bowser. "That's the only point on its body that it made any concerted effort to block and protect."
Warra dropped out of Marut's hold and pulled out his Tidal Swordstaff in a midair Iaido swing. The growing water slash headed for the Dark Sentinel in line with its eye; but again, it blocked with its claws. The Dark Sentinel recoiled out of the defense with a quick laser shot at the middle of the fleeing Kruna. With no time to spare, Ramona jumped and countered the counter blast with another deflection off her swordstaff.
Daisy backflipped to the rear of the group and got a fist up and focused with earth power upon landing. When the Dark Sentinel got close enough, she slammed her fist down on the ground to send up a frontal Crystal Smash. Much to everyone's surprise, the attack that normally pierced and shredded targets did nothing to the Dark Sentinel. In fact, the crystals themselves broke and fractured when they hit the robot's body. The only positive from the move was in Dark Sentinel getting stuck in the crystalline mess, buying time for Daisy to return to the group and for the group to increase their distance before Dark Sentinel eventually broke free.
"We can't attack it, because it just keeps defending," said Neva. "So we just gotta keep running!"
"Don't remind me that that's what we're doing," muttered Daisy.
"They can't be serious!" Bowser grunted, looking up.
The other Kruna glanced up as well and saw the faint silhouette of the Koopa Cruiser descending through the air. It shined lights down on the ground to look for the eight elemental wielders in the dark night. The airship steered and aligned itself with the Kruna as it descended, but it didn't get a chance to come too far down. The Kruna found themselves heading into an area with more trees and hills. Despite the Koopa Cruiser's presence, the Dark Sentinel paid it no mind and kept its focus on the Kruna. As it chased the Kruna through the field with increasing amounts of scattered trees, the Dark Sentinel slowed up just enough to knock over and bulldoze through any and all trees in its way.
"There's another stretch of open plains past this small forest," Toadette said through Bowser and Warra's transmitters. "If you can get out into the clearing fast enough, we can come down and open the hatch for you while the Dark Sentinel's stuck in the trees!"
"You heard her – let's go!" Daisy yelled.
The Kruna picked up the pace and cut under and around the trees in the area to get to the open field as quickly as they could. Finally, they had an advantage working for them in being able to slip by the trees where the massive robot chasing them could not. Once the Kruna burst through the densest portion of the grouping of trees, they exploded out into the open field and saw the Koopa Cruiser coming closer and closer to ground level.
The Dark Sentinel got held up trying to mow through the last bunch of trees, giving the Kruna some extra breathing room. With a window of opportunity to make an escape, the Koopa Cruiser got down to a point just off the ground and decreased its speed only enough to allow the Kruna to catch up. Once within several yards of the Kruna, the airship opened its hatch and extended part of its platform out from under the open doorway as a bright flash flared behind the elemental wielders. Bowser saw through his Alkemei Kracielle the explosion and fire engulfing the trees back behind them as a result of the latest Dark Sentinel laser blast.
"Make a jump for it!" shouted Daisy. She sped up and made a long jump onto the platform with the entrance into the Koopa Cruiser. One by one, the other Kruna leapt and got into the airship. Marut flew in as the last one once everyone else had made it on, and Athelstan closed the hatch behind him.
"We're all in," Warra said through the transmitter. "Head up! Head up!"
The Koopa Cruiser began to ascend and increase its speed just seconds before a laser grazed by underneath it. The distance between the airship and the Dark Sentinel made for some lag and prevented the robot from getting a more accurate shot as it fired off another laser, but that didn't stop it from continuing the chase. Much like it did with the Kruna at the Bloodfalls, the Dark Sentinel hovered off the ground with magical power and turned its legs into propellers to attempt taking the pursuit into the air.
So that's their ship, Marissa thought. Kind of interesting that it just comes out of nowhere. Real suspicious... But if they think they can get away, they are sorely mistaken! Dark Sentinel will track them anywhere underneath my grand cloud barrier. They have nowhere to hide.
The Kruna Yura came out from the elevator and entered the hub cockpit of the Koopa Cruiser. They split and checked the back windows, the central map, and the radars up near Waluigi and Toadette. Though hard to tell, especially considering how well it blended in with the dark environment, the Dark sentinel tailed them; its red glow the only thing making it conspicuous.
"Doesn't look like we're out of the woods yet," said Warra. "Dark Sentinel is still trying to follow us from behind."
"Marissa might be watching us," said Daisy. "Turn on the cloaking device."
"Let's get a little higher first," said Waluigi. "And we need to get further away from that robot anyways!"
"Use the boost!" exclaimed Toadette.
A red flash flared out the back windows, paired with a strong jolt of the Koopa Cruiser. Toadette and Waluigi had to yank on their control yokes to keep the airship on track. Ramona and Neva looked out the rear windows and saw the Dark Sentinel putting its laser to work again. It charged another burst and fired, hitting the ship a second time.
"Increase power to the G-Diffuser and the electromagnetic shields," Waluigi said to Toadette.
"It's gonna keep firing at us until we get away," Toadette said to the Kruna. "We need two of you in the rear gunner units!"
Marut and Athelstan ran past the elevator and went straight for the ladder in the room opposite the diving hatch. They slid own onto the lower level and dashed to the end of the main middle hallway. They split there at the divergence; Athelstan to the left and Marut to the right. Each of them bolted into the respective gunner cockpit at the end of their side of the hallways and activated the units.
Marut and Athelstan each got their headsets on from their respective booths and buckled into their seats as another laser blast hit the Koopa Cruiser. The rear gunner booths sat in the feet of the airship's legs just underneath and offset the rockets and outer engines connected to and branching off of either koopa leg. Designed to deal with enemies on the sides and behind the Koopa Cruiser, the rear gunner booths had a clear shot at the Dark Sentinel.
"It's never easy, is it?" said Athelstan as he pulled the levers of his joysticks.
"Sure isn't!" Marut replied, pulling a lever on both of his own joysticks.
A slot in each of the cruiser's feet opened up through which short cannons extended out from. The two Kruna jerked their joysticks to line up the sights of their booths with the Dark Sentinel just as the robot got ready to attack.
"Don't wait for me to say anything!" Athelstan noted as he jammed his thumb on the top buttons of his joysticks. "If it's in your cross hairs, just fire!"
Green shells shot out of the cannons in burst fire, one at a time, four shells a second, traveling at a rate of nine hundred feet per second. The shells peppered the Dark Sentinel; and though they shattered on contact and didn't seem to harm the all but invincible robot, they slowed it down and disrupted its laser blast. When the Dark Sentinel fired, it missed the Koopa Cruiser by a notable margin.
"If we can keep hitting it, it'll be out of range in no time!" said Athelstan. "Just gotta keep shaking it up!"
"Hold on, bro; it's shifting around now!" replied Marut.
The Dark Sentinel dipped under the line of green shell fire and careened in a barrel roll alongside the incoming projectiles. Evening out its pace with the airship, the Dark Sentinel kept maneuvering around Marut and Athelstan's fire as they tried to adjust their aim. Despite its awkward looking movement, the Dark Sentinel proved to have superior aerial mobility.
"We can't crossover the cannon's aim too far past the ship's tail!" said Athelstan. "If it gets on your side, I can't fire at it, Marut! Same thing the other way! So contain it if you can!"
"I'm gonna try a homing missile to see if it can stun it long enough," said Marut.
"Good idea – but don't waste 'em!" replied the Kruna of Stone.
Both of the gunner booth cannons retracted back into their slots and slid inwards to make way for the glowing second canons that took their place. Once secured, Marut and Athelstan turned on their targeting screens to lock on to the Dark Sentinel. It took a moment for them to key in on the robot because of its now erratic movement, but they fired at it as soon as they did. The canons shot a larger, slightly slower red shell rocket each and then went on standby to reload.
Unable to evade the homing red shells, the Dark Sentinel took the hits as it came out of a tight barrel roll and jerked in a violent twitch. Its power and flight malfunctioned and shut off, causing it to lose speed and drift down in height. The robot's disabled state was only temporary, and it revved right back up to its previous altitude as soon as it got its power flow restored; but not before the Koopa Cruiser got much further away.
As soon as the red shell cannons reloaded, Marut and Athelstan fired them again. The glow from the Dark Sentinel had become barely visible as the Koopa Cruiser increased its distance from the monstrous robot. The Dark Sentinel got off one more laser blast before the red shells hit it and stunned it again, only for its shot to miss. In a matter of moments, Dark Sentinel had disappeared from view.
"I tell ya what – Toad's a mad man!" exclaimed Athelstan. "He swore this would work; and damn it, it worked!"
"Right on!" Marut hollered. "Got out of that one!"
"Great job, you two!" Toadette's voice said through their headsets. "We've gotten close to the Nirvana Barrier base layer. Activating the cloaking device now!"
"HUH?!" Marissa screamed. "Where did they go?!"
The demon witch stood in utter befuddlement. Not only did the airship in her Remote Viewing fend off her Dark Sentinel, but not more than a few moments after it did, it warped and disappeared in its entirety. The airship left nothing behind and no trace whatsoever.
"How? How?!" cried Marissa. "They just vanished into thin air! Okay – what just happened?!"
Marissa scowled in a crazed fit of shocked fury. She could have sworn she had the eight Kruna right where she wanted them. And yet, they got away. The next thing she knew, her Malocchio Eye saw her Dark Sentinel flying around in an aimless fashion with no distinct sense of direction. The robot had no sight at all of the Kruna's airship and did not know where to go.
"I'll get my number one hunter on the job to track them down with Dark Sentinel," said Marissa as she attempted to initiate a telepathic link with one of her archfiends. If they think they're home free with their meager moral victory, they'd best think again!... Dark Marauder! Listen up! I need you to track down eight RECAAAAALCITRAANNNNNT...elemental wielders. I don't know if you came across them yet, so I will project their likenesses into your mind. Don't worry about capturing them if you just so happen to kill them on the spot.
Marissa got no response.
Dark Marauder?! I am talking to you! Listen to me! You can't not hear me when I'm speaking directly to your mind!
Marissa still received no response. She waited a little longer, but still...nothing.
DARK MARAUDER!
After a short wait, Marissa gave up on trying to contact the archfiend. She growled as her hands and shoulders twitched while she began to refocus her Malocchio Eye's Remote Viewing down to the Sunset Wilds. No...don't tell me! Marissa said in thought. Did they destroy Dark Marauder too? If that is the case, then they likely are the ones responsible for Dark Summoner's fate, if not Kokoro. But how?! Those miserable plebeians were reduced to but a mere fraction of their powers the last time I saw them!
A minute or two later, she got the Sunset Wilds in her view and searched over and through the desert, plains, and mountains that made up the region. She scanned as much as she could see, but she failed to find anything resembling her archfiend for much longer than she expected. Eventually, she saw the decaying, mottled corpse of Dark Marauder abandoned in the desert's mesas.
How long have those eight been slithering around without me noticing? Marissa thought, cutting off her Remote Viewing. It's unthinkable! I should be able to see everywhere on the planet! The Dark Sentinel deactivated after I saw it blast them into the Bloodfall's abyss! And then King Boo tips me off and I reactivate the robot, and what do you know – it goes homing in right on them as soon as it detected their signatures in Delight City!
Marissa turned around to enter her castle and leave its top balcony, her brain already trying to formulate ideas on how to deal with the confirmed, revived threat to her hold on the planet. But stealing her focus even more than that, figuring out how they survived – and by extension, how they bested and outlasted three of her archfiends – wracked her mind to no end.
Where have you been hiding all this time? Marissa wondered in a deep frown. Not that I should be worried. Your fates were sealed the moment you popped out of my Chronos Aeon portal into this time. You're just prolonging your end, elemental fools.
Marissa then eased into a slight grin. Although, more archfiends certainly aren't out of the question... Or even better yet, perhaps someone other than ghouls and demons...
The Koopa Cruiser climbed out from within the Nirvana Barrier and emerged into the free sky above. Under the clear, calm moonlight, the airship flew on track for a return to Rainbow City. Within the cruiser, Marut and Athelstan had already rejoined the others in the cockpit room; and every last one of them looked tired and worn out.
"My gosh," mumbled Daisy. "How are we ever gonna beat that thing?"
"Maybe it's unbeatable," said Ramona. "And all we can really do is just avoid it or hold it off?"
"Nothing is unbeatable," said Andrew. "Like Bowser already pointed out – its eye might be the weak spot we need to target should we cross paths with it again. Right, Bowser?"
The Kruna of Fire didn't say anything. He fell over just as the others looked at him. With a loud thud, Bowser flopped face down on the floor and didn't move.
"Bowser!" Ramona screamed, running over to try and get him up. The other Kruna stared in shock as he failed to show any semblance of consciousness.
"What happened?!" asked Warra. "Did anyone see anything hit him?"
"There's no one else aboard but us!" exclaimed Toadette, looking back at the Kruna. "No one could've snuck on!"
Ramona kept nudging Bowser, but the koopa would not get up. He had gone limp and had no sense or perception of the world around him. Waluigi and Toadette kicked up the speed of the Koopa Cruiser and added the power of the airship's boost to their flight to hurry back to Rainbow City as fast as possible.