Disclaimer:
Captain N was produced by Nintendo and DIC Entertainment. Infamous was produced by Sucker Punch and Uncharted was produced by Naughty Dog. This story uses reference material from them.
New Captain N: Warp Zone
By: RB3
Rival Teams 04: Second Son
The next day, Eleanor met Jasper in the Dark Sanctum infirmary. Thanks to prompt medical attention from Mandy, Jasper had survived his wound. Although cleared to leave, he still needed to wear gauze and bandages over the wound. "My wound is still sensitive. The doctor says I'll need to take it easy for a week before I'm back to 100%."
"We were lucky they found us when they did," said Eleanor. "I almost lost you. I..."
"Your Majesty," said Mandy from the door to the infirmary's lobby. "You have to, like, come right away. There's someone who wants to see you."
"Who is it?" asked Eleanor.
"She said her name is Theresa. She said you'd know who she was," replied Mandy.
"Lead the way," said Eleanor.
Eleanor followed Mandy to the clearing used by Delta Squad to launch their helicopter. The rest of the squad was there, including John-117, Mike, Marcus, and Anya. They were watching the projection of a woman in a brown dress who kept her face hidden behind her hood. "It's good to see you, Hero Queen. It's been so long since we've last met," said Theresa.
"Quite long," replied Eleanor. "Last I saw you, I had just fought the Crawler."
"Yes, but more evils lurk beyond the borders of Albion," said Theresa.
"That's why I formed an alliance with the UEG," said Eleanor. "I see that it was a wise decision."
"Yes, but the Covenant is not the only danger," said Theresa. "Generations before, the Power family kept the warps sealed, isolating the other worlds and their dangers. Today, the warps have become too numerous to contain. A mere seal will not suffice. Each world must move forward and prepare to face this new reality."
"We're getting ready," said John-117. "As noted, we have alliances with Sera and Albion."
"Indeed... Continue to expand this alliance and special team. Fortunately, the 'Dudebro' has joined you. With the power of 'Shooter Arsenal,' he can collect metal and shape it into weapons."
"So, you mean me," said Mike.
"Yes," replied Theresa. "Another came with you, one known as the 'Dragon Mage,' who can wield Thedasian magic, yet was not born on Thedas."
"You mean me," said Mandy.
"Yes," replied Theresa. "With your allies, you are the 'PC Elite,' the champions for your peoples. You will meet many people, but be warned. There are certain people you must never face in battle. Two of these individuals are the Game Master and the Human Priestess. If your powers oppose each other, you will cause a calamity never before seen in any world."
"Very well, we'll watch for them," said John-117.
"Hero Queen, join the PC Elite and defend your lands," said Theresa.
"Of course," said Eleanor. "Looks like I'll be staying with you just a little longer."
Theresa turned to address the PC Elite in their entirety. "I see two others who would join you. One is the Second Son of his family, who mourns the sacrifice the first had made for him. The other is a man named Drake, who explores uncharted lands. Both are moving towards the world of Terca Lumireis, through the warp marked by the star of Brave Vesperia. This warp can be found in the Hole, in the monorail tunnels."
"Of course, we'll find them and invite to join," said Mike.
"Godspeed," said Theresa, who vanished without a trace.
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Far from the world of Albion was the Conduit Lands. The Conduit Lands gained its name from its "Conduits," individuals with superhuman abilities. Some of these individuals helped their communities and society, becoming regarded as superheroes. Others used their powers to terrorize their society, becoming like supervillains from comic books. They had been subject to persecution by the government after catastrophic events in Empire City and New Marais.
One Conduit had exposed government corruption, which caused outcry and opposition from the people. He was Delsin Rowe of the Akomish tribe of Native Americans. The young graffiti artist stood before his masterpiece, a mural with the words "In loving memory of Reggie Rowe." At the mural's left was Reggie, smiling with his arm around Delsin in a brotherly embrace. The right had a second portrait of Reggie. His police badge was positioned behind his head so as to resemble an angelic halo.
A plump, elderly Akomish woman entered the roof from the nearby door. "Oh, here you are Delsin!" said the woman.
"Oh, hi Betty," replied Delsin, turning to see her.
"You've been here a lot lately," said Betty.
"Yeah," said Delsin.
"We all miss Reggie," said Betty.
"He was a hero," replied Delsin.
"Yes, surely he is with our ancestors," said Betty.
"Tell me about our tribe's founder again," said Delsin.
"Of course," replied Betty. "Akomish departed from his homeland on a quest to connect with the spirits, which led him to our lands. Our land held a passage to the spirit world, but was overrun by terrible beasts and demons. Akomish slew the demons and cleansed our lands. He sealed the doorway to the spirit world and founded our village."
"So, that's why we perform the dance by the mountain?" asked Delsin.
"Yes," replied Betty. "The entrance to the spirit world is in the mountain. We dance to honour great Akomish and his deeds. We also honour our ancestors, who join Akomish in the afterlife."
"I hope Reggie is pleased with our dance," said Delsin.
"I'm sure he is," said Betty. "Let's go dear. Our fishermen caught a large haul on their last trip. We're having a big feast tonight!"
"Mmm, I can't wait!" said Delsin.
When night fell, the Akomish tribesmen gathered in their main meeting hall for the feast. All of the main courses were fish-based accompanied by locally grown vegetables such as corn and carrots. It was a delicious meal which Delsin enjoyed immensely. The next day, on a whim, Delsin went to visit the mountains Betty had mentioned in her story. He found the cave entrance where his tribe performed the ceremonies to honour the spirits in the afterlife.
The interior of the cave was dark and moist. Delsin formed a cluster of embers in the palm of his hand. Under the orangey light, the cave consisted of segmented granite. It was originally a pathway for magma when the mountain was an active volcano. When he descended a slight incline, he found only a dead end. The wall consisted of loose rock which had fallen from a cave-in many years in the past. Delsin had a gut feeling that something was hidden behind this wall.
He stood back and hurled a massive fireball at the wall. It burst open with a loud boom and blanketed the area with dust. When he absorbed the dust, he came face to face with a hexagonal room of granite. Unlike the cave, this room was clearly artificial, the work of an unknown group of ancient people. At the other end was a glowing blue rift. In the rift, he could make out what appeared to be another room much like the one he was in. Above, the word "Sony" was carved onto a granite plate.
"So the legend was true..." remarked Delsin softly. "This must be the path to the spirit world."
Gathering courage, Delsin stepped through. He found himself in the room's counterpart on the other side. There were other rifts like the one he had passed, which lit the area with a bluish tint. He looked back and up at the plate marking the doorway. It was marked with the icon of an electrified hand. "Hmm, that's the way home. Good thing I checked the top..." he said to himself mentally upon seeing it.
As Delsin explored, he found that this structure had numerous hexagonal cells arranged like a honeycomb. Most of these cells were arranged in clusters of seven with a central "hub" cell leading to the other six on the sides. Each of the outer cells had a group of rifts of their own, all of which were marked by plates. On a whim, Delsin entered a rift marked with a map of the Earth. "Okay, where am I now?" Delsin asked himself.
Delsin found himself in yet another hexagonal chamber. He passed through an earthen tunnel and came upon a stone chamber. The walls had carvings depicting people sitting in meditation. Delsin recognized these carvings as being of Hindu origin. He was likely somewhere in India, or at least a nearby country. Some time after exploring, Delsin heard what sounded like voices coming from behind him.
Delsin hid around a corner. The voices were coming from the direction of the hexagonal room. A group of people noticed the hexagonal room and stopped to examine it. "Now, this is something you don't see every day..." said the first voice, belonging to a roguish older man with short grey hair and a moustache.
"What is this place?" asked a lovely blonde woman.
"The style of this architecture doesn't match the rest of Angkor Wat," mumbled a brown-haired man in his thirties. He was a handsome, roguish man and seemed to be the most prominent member of his group. He and his companions started to examine the hexagonal room. "There are some Greco-Roman influences, but we're far from the Mediterranean."
"Is this what Drake tried to hide?" asked an exotic, brown-skinned woman.
The old man approached the rift. "Sony," he muttered, reading the plate above. "Well kid, want to take the plunge?"
The exotic woman suddenly glanced around the room. Delsin quickly retreated around corner to avoid being spotted. Unfortunately, the woman noticed him. She pulled out a gun and pointed it in his direction. "I know you're there. Come out with you hands up!" said the woman.
Delsin complied with the woman's orders. "Look, I don't mean any harm," he said as he left his hiding spot.
"Who are you?" asked the old man.
"I'm Delsin Rowe."
"What are you doing here?" asked the old man.
"Just exploring," replied Delsin. "I came through that glowing door thingy a bit before you guys showed up. Listen, I'm not here to hurt you. Please put away the guns, and we can talk about this like grown ups?"
"I don't think he's with Mason," said the blonde woman.
"I just want answers," said Delsin. "I wandered into who knows where because I..."
"Over there!" cried a voice from deeper in Angkor Wat, interrupting Delsin.
"Oh shit!" said the brown-haired man. "It's Mason!"
"I see them!" cried a thug in a suit coming from a distant tunnel. He started to shoot at the group.
"Just great," said the brown-haired man, who took cover by the door frame to return fire. Delsin turned into a mass of smoke and embers and dashed out of the room. He passed through the first thug, causing him to fall over coughing and gagging on soot. "What the..."
"Did he just turn into smoke?" asked the blonde.
More of Mason's men swarmed the distant tunnel and fired at the group from behind the door frame. The exotic woman peeked out to fire a few rounds. She hit one of Mason's men, causing him to fall. However, another returned fire, scoring a hit to her chest. While the wound was away from her heart, it was bleeding heavily. The exotic woman gasped and collapsed. "They got Chloe!" cried the blonde over the gunshots as she dragged Chloe out harm's way. The blonde tried to cover the wound with her hand, which was bleeding fairly heavily.
Delsin had reformed on a ledge overlooking the chamber with carvings. Some of Mason's men were at the door he came from, shooting at the other group in the hexagonal room. Others were looking for him, puzzled by where he disappeared to. Delsin hurled an ember ball. It exploded upon hitting the ground and flattened three men. The resulting smoke spread through the area and caused the remaining men to cough uncontrollably.
Delsin pelted these men until all were felled. Delsin ran back and found Chloe on the ground. "Let me help her," said Delsin.
Delsin made a lifting gesture to the fallen Chloe. Glowing embers surrounded Chloe. Her gunshot wound healed until it disappeared completely. "How did you do that?" asked the blonde woman.
"Long story short, where I come from, some people have 'superpowers,' like comic book characters. They call us Conduits," replied Delsin.
"Delsin," said Chloe. "Thank you."
"Say that again?" asked Delsin, feigning as though he had misheard her.
"I said thank you for saving me," said Chloe.
"You're welcome," said Delsin. "I hope you realize now that I'm not here to hurt you."
"Okay, okay, we get the message," said the old man. "The name's Sullivan. Victor Sullivan."
"I'm Chloe Frazer," said the once wounded exotic woman.
"I'm Elena Fisher," said the blonde.
"Nathan Drake," said the younger roguish man.
"Nice to meet you all," said Delsin. "What were you guys doing here?"
"We were following the trail left for us by Sir Francis Drake," replied Drake. "He visited Angkor Wat, but never recorded anything about it. We want to know why."
"I see... He probably didn't want his queen to find out about that," said Delsin, pointing to the rift.
"Where does it lead?" asked Elaine.
Delsin told Elaine's group about his passage through the strange complex beyond the rift. "Doorways to other worlds?" asked Sullivan.
"I guess. I went through one and now I'm here," said Delsin.
"Now, I'm curious as to where they can take us. To think, we'll be the first people to set foot on another world. We're going to make first contact with an alien race," said Drake. "Let's go. I'm eager to see what's out there."
After logging everything he had seen, Drake and company group entered the rift, which brought them to the honeycomb-like complex. They explored the complex, making note of the different doorways and the labelling plates above them. They discovered that the complex was divided into two wings. Both had hallways leading to a single cell at their centre. One hallway was marked "Sony" and contained the rifts to Delsin's home and Drake's home.
The other was marked by the word "Microsoft." However, that hallway was covered by collapsed rubble and rendered inaccessible. "Let's head back," said Drake.
Drake's group approached a warp marked with a helmet resembling a dragon's head. "Let's start with this one," said Drake.
They entered a hexagonal room which had a second rift to the right. It was marked by an emblem which resembled an RPG statistics screen. The group decided to enter this rift and came across another hub full of rifts. "There are so many. It's like we're at the centre of the universe," said Elaine in astonishment.
"So many places, so little time," said Sullivan.
"Why not go into this one?" asked Drake, pointing to a rift marked with a star. "I have a feeling about this one."
"Well, we'll have to pick one eventually, might as well be this one," said Sullivan.
Drake's group entered the rift and found themselves in a small stone room of unknown origin. The opposite wall had an exit hole, but it was blocked by fallen rubble from its roof. "I can blast that hole open. Stand back," said Delsin.
He fired a cinder missile at the rubble. It exploded with violent force and knocked the hole open. Delsin absorbed all of the smoke to clear the air and reload. The room was connected to an area of mezzanines which overlooked a large underground pond. Light from the sun came down from a fissure above. The light reflected off the water, which gave the chamber its bluish, watery tint. A small splashing waterfall nearby made the only sound in the chamber.
They travelled through this ruins, eventually finding a staircase up to the surface. Along the way, Drake took in this new architecture and the paintings on its walls. This style of art was not from any known culture that he knew of. They left the ruins and followed the mountains westward. On the way, they heard squawking from what sounded like a bird. The squawks came from the leader of a half dozen turkey-like birds with beaks like axe blades.
The alpha bird puffed itself up and squawked at the group. "As if Mason's men weren't enough," said Drake.
The axe beaks charged the group, who responded by drawing guns and returning fire. Despite taking several of Elena's bullets, her bird continued to advance. She narrowly sidestepped the massive beak before it embedded into the ground. Delsin charged in and blasted the bird with numerous ember shots. The bird toppled over and Delsin killed it with a well-placed shot to the head. "Thanks Delsin," said Elena.
Sullivan fired continuously, yet despite his shots, his target continued to advance. He backed away just before the beak came down and sank into the ground. As he fled, he kept firing. One of the bullets struck its head, felling it. The others continued to shoot until all of them were felled. "Well, at least we weren't bird food," remarked Drake, kicking a dead axe beak with his foot.
"It's a good thing," said Chloe. "After all this fighting, I'm running low on ammo. If we get attacked again, we're in trouble."
"I don't need a gun to fight, so I can cover you for awhile," said Delsin.
Drake's group continued westward until they found a town under construction. Numerous buildings were being erected amidst the sound of saws grinding against wood and hammers striking nails. The environment was dusty as a result of all this construction being performed in such a localized area. The rising town had a Gothic style to its architecture and numerous street lights lining the roads.
From asking the citizens, they learned that this town was New Aspio, which housed the scholars of the Zaphian Empire. Old Aspio was once located underground, within the mountains to the north. Being underground, it was dark and perpetually lit by street lamps. Despite asking at the arms shop, the dealer didn't carry proper ammunition for their weapons. Apparently, firearms were very rare, or even non-existent in this world, which was called Terca Lumereis.
"How are we going to fight if we have no ammunition?" asked Elena. "Delsin's got super powers, so he'll be okay, but what do we do?"
"If we can't get ammo, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way," said Sullivan.
"Well, that takes money and I doubt the dealer takes dollars," said Drake.
"You're in luck," said Chloe. "I found some gold coins while rummaging through the dead birds."
Chloe produced several dozen gold coins coated in stomach juices and blood from a small pouch. "Chloe, you've done it again, but yuck!" said Drake, grimacing in disgust.
"We should get that stuff cleaned, maybe we can find a well nearby," said Sullivan, looking around town.
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The PC Elite found themselves in a dark, underground chamber. It was lit by sunlight which came through a fissure in the roof and reflected off of the water below the mezzanines. After they reached the surface, the PC Elite made their way westward and took in the scenery. However, Mike found the colourful, animated landscape of Terca Lumereis to be revolting. When the PC Elite approached New Aspio, he got a good look at the people and grew even more disgusted.
"Oh great, weeaboo shit!" said Mike. "Let's just find Drake and the Second Son and get out of here."
"Do you know who Drake and the Second Son are?" asked John.
"My guess would be Nathan Drake and Delsin Rowe," replied Mike. "Drake is from Uncharted and Delsin is from Infamous Second Son, both games I love."
"How will we recognize them?" asked Marcus.
"They'll look more like me and Mandy than these weeaboos," said Mike.
"So dressed like a civvie from back home, gotcha," said Marcus. "We'll case the town for anyone with such a description. Baird, Cole, and Carmine, we're casing the north side."
"We've got the south. We'll report back to this location two hours later," said John-117.
Marcus' squadmates followed their commanding officer as they scanned the town for anyone who looked or dressed differently from the New Aspio townsfolk. Mike, Mandy, and Eleanor split from John-117 and began to search the south. Mike and Mandy travelled to the local stores, which sold basic necessities such as food and medicine. Mandy decided to check out the local clothing store for the latest in fashions. She ended up dragging Mike into the shop to browse.
"Eew, this stuff's totally lame!" said Mandy, putting a white priestly robe back onto a rack.
"We should be looking for Delsin and Drake," said Mike.
"Okay, okay!" said Mandy.
Mike and Mandy left the clothing shop. Mike looked around and noticed a Native American man in black jeans, sneakers, and a red tuque. The man was busy looking at the menu board outside of a restaurant. When he turned around, Mike caught a firm glimpse of his face. "Hey, that's Delsin!" said Mike, pointing out the man at the restaurant. "Hey!"
Delsin bolted the other way, prompting Mike and Mandy to give chase. Delsin ducked behind a small group of people and moved closer to the side of a building. He leapt for the ledge of a second floor window and pulled himself up. With another hop, he reached the roof and scurried up. Mike and Mandy followed Delsin from the street below as he ran all the way across the rooftops. The two reached an alleyway and squeezed in between buildings to continue pursuit.
Along the way, Mike informed the others on the radio. "We can't assist. We're chasing someone we believe to be Drake," replied Marcus.
"This is John-117," replied John. "I can see you and Delsin from the rooftops. I'm going on ahead to try to corner him."
John ran along the rooftops of New Aspio. He stayed out of Delsin's main field of vision, tailing Delsin from his blind spot. John suddenly emerged at the top of a ladder at the opposite side of the building Delsin had leapt to. Delsin was about to turn and run the other way when Mike and Mandy blocked off the other building. Delsin looked for a third way out and saw Eleanor emerge onto the roof. The only other way out was to jump across the street to the next building, but he wasn't sure if he could cross the full length.
Mike held up his empty hands to calm Delsin down. "Easy man, calm down. We aren't here to hurt you. We've been told you could help us," said Mike.
"Help you?" asked Delsin.
"Yeah," replied Mike.
Mike told Delsin about who he was and why he needed Delsin. "So let me get this straight, you're saying I'm a video game character and that we're all supposed to team up to fight a bad guy?" asked Delsin.
"Yeah," replied Mike. "That's it in a nutshell. Look, I know this sounds farfetched, but you..."
Before Mike could finish his sentence, a loud buzzing filled the air. A swarm of giant, bee-like monsters descended upon the town of New Aspio. They began to fire stingers at the citizens, who scattered in terror. One of the bees fired a stinger at Mike, who dove away. The stinger embedded itself into a shingle, jutting out dangerously. Mike materialized a shotgun and blasted the bee out of the sky.
Three more bees descended on the group. John-117 drew his assault rifle and fired at one. The gigantic insect tumbled out of the sky and sprawled on the ground. Delsin hurled ember bolts at the second, bumping it around until a final hit knocked it to the ground. Eleanor evaded the third's stinger. In retaliation, she hurled ball lightning which wracked the bee with convulsions. It tumbled dead onto the ground.
"Are these the bad guys you're trying to fight?" asked Delsin.
"Maybe," replied Mike.
"Let's regroup with the others," said John-117.
Meanwhile, Marcus' group fired at the seemingly endless waves of bees. Their Lancer rifles blazed as they spewed countless bullets. With them were the members of Drake's team. "Come on! We need to rejoin the others. We can't take them alone!" said Marcus.
"You don't have to tell us," said Sullivan as he kept his head down.
Marcus' squad moved down the street as Baird and Carmine gave covering fire from around the corner of a cafe. The bees suffered many casualties from return fire, yet there were always more to carry the fight. They separated from the swarm to give chase. "Marcus, this way!" cried John from the roof of a grocery store.
"You heard him!" cried Marcus, whose team fled down the nearby street.
When the bees followed Marcus' group, John fired at them to draw their attention. When the bees were distracted with the Master Chief, a fireball ascended into the sky and exploded. All of the bees were set ablaze. Their wings burned away and they tumbled out of the sky one after the other. With this surprise attack, Mandy had killed the last of the bees which were attacking the town. As the Imperial guards started to restore order to New Aspio, Drake's team reunited with each other and the other PC Elite.
"So, here's where you've been, Delsin," said Drake.
"Yeah, had to swat a few bees. You know how allergic I am to being stung," replied Delsin.
"Just what were those things?" asked Sullivan. "I've never seen bees that large."
"I have. They're from an old arcade game I used to play at the pizza store. It was called 'Galaga,' if I remember right," said Mike.
"Galaga?" asked Drake.
"Yeah," replied Mike. "You control a space ship and shoot down a swarm of alien bugs."
"So they're space bugs?" asked Chloe.
"Yep," replied Mike.
"What do they want and how did they get here in the first place?" asked Chloe.
"They probably got here the same way we got here, through a warp," replied Marcus. "As for what they want? Food, I guess... They're bugs."
"I'm worried about my kingdom. The warp we came from leads back to Albion," said Eleanor. "We were lucky that we stopped them before they reached the warp."
"Yeah, I'm recommending that we set up a bulwark here to my CO," said John. "As for the rest of you, what will you do now? Will you follow us or will you go your own way?"
"My tribe is back that way. I can't let these bugs get to them, so I'll cooperate," said Delsin.
"What about you, Drake?" asked John.
"If I stay with you, I'm sure I'll visit more of these strange worlds," replied Drake.
"You're going with them?" asked Elena.
"Sure, they seem like nice enough people. It's nice to have tough guys on our side for once," replied Drake. "I've never explored an alien world, until now. Think of how many worlds are out there."
"Kid's got a point," said Sullivan. "Opportunities like this don't come often. If it slips away, we may not get another chance."
"Yeah, think of all the stories you could break about these worlds," said Drake. "People will be chomping at the bit to read your articles."
"Alright, alright, you talked me into it," said Elena.
"Okay, I'm in too," said Chloe. "Can't let you hog all the treasure you know."
END OF CHAPTER
