AN- Okay, mostly made up here, but, YOU WILL GET TO READ RED GOING BEAST MODE IN THIS CHAPA! ONWARDS! ...That IS a word, right? Spoiler: Red is going to hurt Zongazonga. BAD.
Chapter Fifty-One-Capture
The first thing I'm aware of is that I'm being held up by two strong hands, clasped firmly to my upper arms. I crack open my eyes to see lights appear, then disappear. I try to move my hands, only to realize I'm bound to something. I get my wits, and realize I'm on the elevator platform going up to Joe's Office, and that Terry and Kent have hand cuffed me to them. I start to struggle when I feel something against my arm.
"Don't struggle." Stella tells me. It's the barrel of the K.O. Blaster against my arm. I sigh, and Terry and Kent just stand there, their faces hard.
"...Where's Todd?" I ask.
"Don't worry." Terry tells me. "He's fine."
"I don't believe you." I tell him. "You have me, just let him go."
"Can't do it little dude." Kent tells me. "He helped you, so he has to pay for his crimes as well."
"Just don't hurt him." I say. "But look, you guy need to listen to me. The Joe Wildwest you're taking me to right now is an imposter that wants to take over the world."
"We know the real Joe Wildwest when we see him." Stella tells me coldly.
"Look," I tell her looking over my shoulder at her. "I know you guys aren't going to believe me, but-" The elevator dings, and the panel slides open. We rise up into Joe's Office, and there stands Zongazonga, his eyes looking straight through me. It's darker outside the windows, and I manage to look at my watch to see it's almost seven. Terry and Kent force me forward, holding my arms behind my back, while Stella keeps the K.O. Blaster aimed at me. I look down at the floor, refusing to look Zongazonga in the eye.
"Well," Zongazonga says, his voice irritated and rumbling like an avalanche. "look who we have here. The 'champion' we all know and love." He bends over to my eye level. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"..." I say nothing.
"Well?"
"..." I mumble something.
"What?" Zongazonga asks. I mumble it again. "Whatever you're saying, spit it out already!" I suddenly look up at him, and spit right in his eye. "GAH!" He exclaims jumping backwards and clapping a hand over that eye. Before anyone can react, I suddenly cross my arms to form and X, making Terry and Kent's head smash together. I chomp through the handcuffs, then whirl around and round house kick Stella in the side, sending her flying. I tear the rest of the hand cuffs off with my teeth and spit out the metal, then whirl back and duck as Zongazonga throws a book at me, which instead flies over head and across the room, which then hits the window, breaking it, making shards of glass fall and gasps of shock and confusion come from the people outside. I look up, and Zongazonga punches me, causing me to fall over. He grabs me by my collar, but I kick his leg, making him let go of me and grab his leg. I jump up and run to the right side of the room, hear to pile of rubble, and Zongazonga suddenly tackles me.
We fall to the ground, him on top of me, and his arms around me, making me unable to move them. He keeps me pinned down, while I squirm and struggle. He gets his arm around my neck in an attempt to stop me, but I slam the back of my head into his face, making him jump off of me. I scramble to my feet, running away from him, then look back to see him holding his nose, which has some blood coming out of it. He takes his hand off, to show he healed it, and it has stopped bleeding. He charges at me with his crazed, angry eyes piercing straight through me, and I jump out of the way and trip him, making him do a face grind on the floor. I kick him the gut again, but he rolls out of the way and onto his feet, then swings his fist at me, only to have me block it.
He swings at me again, but I duck and punch him in the stomach, making him stagger back, then round house him in the side, making him fly a couple of feet before hitting the ground and skidding. He stops with his head and shoulders hanging out of the window that just broke when he threw the book at me. He looks over his shoulder at the ground and people below, and I jump on him, and grab his collar.
"Where's Todd?" I growl.
"Is he all you're worried about?" Zongazonga asks his smooth voice with a smug look on his face. I punch him as hard as I can, then grab his jaw and force him to look back at my face, which is rock hard with anger.
"WHERE IS HE?" I roar at him.
"I wouldn't be worrying about him if I were you." Zongazonga tells me. He grabs my shoulders, and rolls over, pinning me down with him on top of me.
"Well too bad I'm not you." I tell him. "I have a heart."
"Bold words you're saying to the one on top, hm?" Zongazonga asks getting an inch away from my face, with lazy eyes and faint smile.
This guys is sickening. I think. "You BETTER not hurt Todd." I growl.
"And...if I do?" He asks moving his head closer some. My eyes narrow.
"I'll kill you." I tell him. He chuckles, amused.
"While I'm in your pitiful hero's body?" He asks, amused. "You are SO adorably amusing."
"No, after I force you out." I tell him.
"Too bad for you," He tells me. "I'll be taking over your body."
"No." I growl. He grins evilly, showing his longer, sharper than normal teeth. He leans forward more, barely brushing his lips against mine, much to my disgust. I lean my head back, and look over my shoulder, to see the people in the square below. Despite how small they are, I can still tell they have shock on their faces.
"Surrender." Zongazonga growls in my ear, making a shiver run down my spine.
"No." I growl. His face hardens, and his grip on my shoulders strengthens, making them hurt some.
"SURRENDER." He growls again.
"NO!" I yell. I kick him off of me, causing him to fall out the window. I quickly roll over, get on my hands and knees, and look out, to see he's hanging onto a ledge with one hand, and Joe's hat in the other. I let out a sigh of relief, then he looks up at me with angry, terrifying eyes that make me jump back.
"You're in some BIG trouble Red..." I hear Terry growl. I whirl around to see him standing there with Stella and Kent, him and Kent having bruises on their foreheads and Stella holing her side where I kicked her. Terry and Kent charge at me, and I jump up in the air, making them slam into each other. I land, and Stella charges at me, swinging her fist which I sidestep, then punch her, causing her to fall back onto the floor.
"ENOUGH!" I look, and Zongazonga grabs me by my collar with both hands, and lifts me up off the ground, my feet dangling two feet above it due to Joe's height of six feet. My hands are clasped around his wrists, and I'm trying to pry his hands off on my collar but to no avail. "Give up."
"Never." I growl. "I'm going to stop you, and you can't do anything about it. His grip tightens.
"SURRENDER." He tells me, his voice full of anger and hate.
"NO." I tell him, my voice serious.
"GIVE UP!" Zongazonga roars at me.
"MAKE ME!" I roar back. I pull my leg back as far as I can, swing it forward as fast as possible, and kick him as hard as I can.
There's a faint, almost inaudible, squinch.
Zongazonga suddenly bares his teeth, his eyes get huge, one of them half closed with pain, and he drops me. I fall on my back, and push myself up, to see Zongazonga on his side, hands between his legs, and curled up into a very tight ball, tears streaming from his eyes which are squeezed shut so tight, I'm surprised that the tears can get out.
"THAT...HURT..." He squeaks in a very high-pitched, painful voice. My mind registers where I just kicked him, and the almost inaudible noise.
"...OW..." I say, pressing my knees together and looking away. I look back at the staff leaders, to see They must've seen and heard what I did, since Terry and Kent have their knees pressed together, and are looking at me with fear and horror, while Stella just sits there, shocked.
"..." We all just sit there for a second, the elevator suddenly dings, and the panel opens up to show two staff members with K.O. Blasters. They see Zongazonga, then look at me with wide eyes. I jump up, and dash up the stairs to Joe's Living Quarters.
"You two help Joe!" I hear Stella tell them as I run up the stairs. "We'll get Red!" I come up into a kitchen with navy blue accents, the stove, sink, refrigerator counters and cabinets on the far wall, a white table with six navy blue chairs, and an archway on the left wall leading into another room. I keep going up the spiraling stairs, not stopping, and come to a door. I throw it open, and run out to see I'm on the roof of Wildwest Tower. The wind up here howls in my ears and pulls at my hair and clothes. I start to reach for my pouch to get Water Logged, but the door flies open and the staff leader run out, K.O. Blasters in hand.
NARGH! I think. I can't get him out now! They'll shoot him and knock him out! They all point the K.O. Blasters at me, and my mind races. An idea comes to my mind. I'm either VERY crazy, or VERY desperate. "WAIT!" I tell them holding my hands up. "Can I just say one thing first?" They stop, look at each other with slight confusion, then back at me.
"What is it little dude?" Kent asks me. I facepalm.
"MAN, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ABOUT TO DO THIS!" I whirl around, sprit towards the railing, and jump clear over it, off of the roof of the building, pulling my goggles over my eyes in the process. I fall with myself flattened out, and with my limbs spread apart to slow my fall. I throw Water Logged's medal in front of me, and he comes out. I get on his back, and he angles himself upward, making us gain altitude. I look back at the roof of Wildwest Tower to see that the staff leaders have shock on their faces. I look back forward, and Water Logged sets coarse for the Jungle Labyrinth.
A few minutes later...
I jump off of Water Logged to the ground, pushing my goggles back up onto my head. He landed in the deepest part of the jungle, and I catch his medal as he goes into it. I put it into my pouch, then look around I see a funny looking bush, and go over to it. I easily push it out of my way, making it reveal an over grown path that probably hasn't been used in thousands of years. There's a fresh set of foot prints, over what looks like indentions of someone tripping and falling, then rolling down the decline, then there's a set of foot prints coming back, which is undoubtedly Zongazonga in Joe's body, and rounded V's slightly digging into the ground, which must have been Joe coming back. I walk down the path, which declines some, then hear running water after a bit. The sun continues to sink below the horizon, making the jungle get much darker much faster. I take out my flashlight, wind it, and flash it around. I come to a rope bridge over a wide creek, which has some vines growing over the bridge. I walk across it, and shine my flash light up, and see it.
The Stone Pyramid.
It's made of sandy-gold bricks, worn gray from age and vegetation growing all over it. I make my way through the thick foliage at my feet, ducking under some tree roots, and com up to it. I walk up the steps, and through the arch way into it. I come in, and temperature suddenly drops some, making me shiver and get chill bumps. I walk down a hallway, which is made from mirror smooth bricks, and is lit with torches, that have eerie, gray flames, whitewashing the hallway, and the murals painted on the walls.
I look at them, and fear and horror ebbs into me. It has life-like images of the horrible things Zongazonga did, dinosaurs fighting, and Zongazonga taking over new bodies. I walk down the long hallway, looking at the murals which grow worse and worse, each one more terrible than the last. Then, it shows a short person in fire armor, holding a hammer shaped object. I look at the words beneath the mural, unable to read them. All of the murals had writing, but in the Caliostenise language.
I look back at it, and continue on. They show the short person, no doubt the rebel leader, standing up to Zongazonga on several occasions. After a few, it shows a man standing in front of the rebel leader, pointing at Zongazonga, who by how he's standing, is apparently shocked. The next one shows the man carrying the rebel leader away, Zongazonga angry. I come to one, which shows Zongazonga trying to take over the rebels leaders body. His skull is hitting the rebel leader on the forehead, but unlike all the other images of him taking over bodies, there's no light around the rebel leader's head.
That's what he meant! I realize as I think back to the dream I had. Zongazonga couldn't force his skull into her! I continue, and it shows images of people foraging armor, and the rebel leader making the hammer. There's some images of the war starting, the rebels fighting Zongazonga's army, then a picture of the rebel leader jumping in the air towards a horrifying monster, which I'm guessing is Zongazonga. The next one, shows people making the Stone Pyramid, and sealing away Zongazonga's skull, then them holding a festival to celebrate. That's the last mural.
I look in front of me to see another archway. An ice wind blows from it, and I hear a faint, hollow moan. "Joe? When you first came here, did all of this scare you some?" I ask.
"It gave me the heebie-jeebies, I'll give it that much." He tells me, looking out of my backpack. "An' it still does. What 'bout you, pard?"
"It's creepy. I'm somehow used to this stuff, yet is still sends a shiver down my spine." I tell him as I walk down the hallway. Joe hops out and rides on the top of my pack.
"I never did like this place." He tells me. "'Specially them murals. I've been in Aztec structure like this, but I never saw anythin' like those murals when I was in them."
"Didn't they write on the walls with blood and have human skulls on racks?" I ask him.
"It's hard to tell which was worse." Joe tells me. "Those murals here, or the smell in an Aztec ruin."
"Probably the smell." I tell him. "After all, something like that makes a person throw up, no matter how strong there stomach is."
"Which is why I ran outta there an' didn't go back in till I got a gas mask to block out the smell."
"I don't blame you." I tell him. I keep walking, Joe riding on top of my pack in silence. I come to a large room with high ceilings, narrow windows which let faint moonlight into the room, and has some steps leading up to a higher area in the room, which has a row of the gray-fire torches, and a large stone chest in the middle whit the lid behind it, and a strange arch at the back of the room.
Despite how eerie the room is, and how I feel like some kind of ghost monster is going to jump out and attack me, I can't help but admire the architecture of the room. The ancient Caliosteans were no slouches when it came to that. I see Prof. Scatterly up next to the stone chest, having removed his mask, and examine the chest.
"Professor!" I say hurrying up to him. He looks up, and sees me.
"Oh! Hello my friend!" He tells me. "It seems you decided to follow me here, eh wot?"
"Yes sir." I tell him nodding.
"Well, what took so long?" He asks me, confused. "You should've gotten here sooner."
"Oh, nothing I wasn't able to handle." I tell him.
Meanwhile, in Joe's Office...
"He's too smart." Stella tells Zongazonga, who she saw as Joe, who was sitting in the desk chair, head on the top of the desk, with his hands still between his legs. "There's no sign of him anywhere."
"FIND. HIM." Zongazonga growls.
"Yes sir." Terry says. They walk towards the elevator.
"One more thing..." Zongazonga says. They look at him. "Send Todd up here." They nod, and ride down the elevator. Zongazonga gets up, perfectly fine from healing his wounds. He looks out the window behind the desk, clasps his hands over the small of his back, and looks at the midnight blue sky, which had stars beginning to appear as the moon rose. Where are you? What are you planning? He wonders.
Everything suddenly goes black.
"What?" Zongazonga gasps opening his eyes to see himself on top of a grey plateau surrounded by a black sky. He looks at himself to find himself a foot taller, with short black hair, a dark royal purple robe with a gold belt, gold around the ends of the long sleeves and the end of the robe which brushed against the ground, and around the low cut, V-neck collar, and a cloak as black as a starless night billowing from his shoulders. "..." He slowly looks up, and turns around. On the other side of the plateau, is a figure about four feet tall, and wearing a black cloak with the hood pulled over their head, hiding their face. "There's only one person who knows what I used to look like..."
"Before you took over the cowboy?" The hooded person asks. "Yes...It's me." They lift their head up some to show their mouth, which was curved into a smug, triumphant, faint smile. "The Majestic Vassal who you could not take."
"You cursed child..." Zongazonga growls. "I should have known you would not leave me be."
"Yes, especially after I came to the islands." The hooded person tells him. "And told you that if you tried to rise again, I would stop you. But, it seems I don't. The boy, Red, he will stop you." Zongazonga scoffs.
"How can you put faith in that simple minded child?" He asks the hooded person. Their smile widens some.
"You mean, the simple minded child that has escaped you twice, and has kicked you in the place that no man should be kicked so hard, there was a faint 'squinch'?" They ask. Zongazonga's face hardens and turns red.
"How dare you!" He says. "And it hurts worse than you could ever know! But he IS simple minded! The only reason he got away is because of dumb luck!"
"Red Ranger does not have dumb luck." The hooded person tells Zongazonga. "He has a heart, a mind, and capability."
"I don't care what-" Zongazonga stops for a second. "...Red Ranger? I've learned from my time in this cowboy that he stopped some kind of planet eating monster, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then what does he have to do with this?" Zongazonga asks. The hooded person chuckles.
"You are SO adorably amusing in you ignorance." They tell him. Zongazonga's eyes widen. "Just what you told me, those thousands of years ago. I see that you remember, too. But, I see that you are far less observant than you thought yourself to be. You've gone into his mind, but you didn't look at his memories. You've seen a picture of him no doubt, but you do not look beyond his features. You do not recognize his eyes and hair. The Red that is going to stop you, is Red Ranger, the boy who saved the world." Zongazonga's eyes widen even more and his jaw drops some.
"What?" He asks. "You-! You've gone into his mind and looked at his memories!"
"You are half correct." The hooded figure tells him. "I have appeared in a dream to him once before, but that was not my doing. I have gone into his mind right after you did, and told him to run, but he did not listen. I appeared to him again, and told him he was too late. He had set in course the actions that have occurred in the past few hours, and he will win this day. He will stop you, for I have done it, and so can he." Zongazonga stands there in disbelief.
"How-? How can you touch his mind when you do not possess the powers I have?" He asks.
"It is quite simple when you think about it." The hooded figure tells him. "If a person can transport a radio wave, a light wave, a sound wave, then doesn't it stand to reason, that with the proper equipment, you could do the same with a brain wave? How do you think I am here before you right now?"
"..." Zongazonga stands there, thinking. "Well played..." He grins evilly. "You always were incredibly smart..." The hooded person scowls.
"You sicken me..." They tells him. "Frankly, I was glad when Jacob took me out of the castle. I hated it there, and I hated you especially..." They lower their head some. "I hated you even more after what you tried to do to me..."
"Can I help it?" Zongazonga asks. "I did find you quite beautiful."
"You knew my true age." They tell him. "That we were only a few years apart. But did everyone else? No... They saw my age as what I appeared to look like. When they found out what you tried to do, they only hated you more." Zongazonga's face hardens.
"You smashed a glass water pitcher in my face." He growls. "Is that enough for you?"
"Apparently not." They tell him. "After all, I did engulf your head in a torrent of flames during the battle, yes?"
"Don't remind me." Zongazonga growls.
"You had better just give up now, vile demon." They tell him. "Red will defeat you, and there is nothing you can do to stop him."
Zongazonga opens his eyes, to find himself in the cowboy's body, looking out the window in his office. "We'll see about that." He says. The elevator dings, and he turns to see a staff member with Todd, whose hands are handcuffed behind him. The staff member pushes Todd off the elevator platform, which then goes back down, leaving Todd alone with Zongazonga.
"I'll never talk!" Todd tells Zongazonga bravely. "I don't care what you do to me! Red's my brother, and I'll never help you to hurt or capture him!" Zongazonga chuckles amused.
"How amusing." He says. "I'm not going to make you talk."
"...You're not?" Todd asks, confused.
"Why would I make you talk when I can get what I want without forcing you to tell me?" Zongazonga asks, walking towards him.
"...I...don't know." Todd tells him.
"Of course you don't." Zongazonga tells Todd, looking down at him. He smacks Todd's helmet off his head.
"My helmet!" Todd exclaims looking at it as it flies to the left side of the room. Zongazonga grabs Todd's head, and forces him to his knees, while Todd grunts painfully.
"Now...Let's see what I can find in here." Zongazonga says, closing his eyes and probing Todd's mind. He grunts with pain as Zongazonga claws through his mind, seizing memory after memory and thought after thought. He tosses one aside, and claws for another one, then stops, He grabs the previous memory, which was Todd watching on of Red's battles. "Well now, what's this?"
"Get...out...of...THERE..." Todd groans as Zongazonga goes through what Todd really felt while he watched Red's battles.
"Why?" Zongazonga asks in his smooth voice. "This is JUST what I need..." He finds another memory, seizes it, and begins to twist it. Todd moans with pain as Zongazonga continues to twist and change it...
"Todd's so useless." Red said. "I've never really liked him. Honestly, I wish I could feed him to one of my vivosaurs or something. I only let him follow me because he thinks I'm awesome."
"Red never said that!" Todd says. Zongazonga tightens his grip on Todd's head, making him let out an exclamation of pain.
"Oh really?" Zongazonga asks as he twists another memory...
"I had to save him since he didn't have a backbone." Red told Pauleen. "Sometimes I STILL wonder why I did. I guess it was because I just felt so bad for the weakling. Honestly, you're MUCH better off with me."
"I guess, digadig..." Pauleen said. Red wraps his arm around her, pulls her close and holds her chin.
"Now, that's what I like to hear..."
"He-! He wouldn't do that!" Todd objects. "He-! I-!"
"Perhaps you need to think about it." Zongazonga says, seizing another memory and twisting it...
"Frankly, I don't see how he thought he could beat me." Red said. "He's just SO pathetic. I mean, losing Round 1? How sad can you get? He could win a Fossil Battle against a person who wasn't even a Fossil Fighter!"
"But...He..." Todd whimpers. Zongazonga takes hold of another memory...
"He just won't shut up about Joe Wildwest." Red said. "He's always 'Joe Wildwest this!' or 'Joe Wildwest that!' He's such a fan girl! However Joe could pay any attention to the guy is beyond me."
And another memory...
"Ugh. Todd never lets me get any sleep." Red said. "He's always sawing logs. It's like having a lumber mill right outside my window. Not to mention he sleeps with a stuffed Stego named Stan, or Steve or something stupid like that. On top of it all, he even sleeps with his dumb helmet on. Really? Is he THAT worried that an acorn is going to fall on his head and shatter his skull or something? Pfffft. Talk about a wimp..."
And another memory...
"He says my cooking is amazing." Red said. "So? He telling me something I already know. He keeps telling me I could open a restaurant. That's so stupid though. If I wanted people to taste my food, why not just give it to them? The next time I give him some food, I'm just going to throw it in his face."
And another memory...
"He caught a cold." Red said. "A cold. Really? I was there, and he caught a cold, while I'm perfectly fine. The guys white blood cells aren't even strong enough to move."
"He...He hates me?" Todd asks, heartbroken. "I...I thought..."
"We all thought he cared for you too, Todd." Zongazonga says gently patting him on the shoulder.
"He...knew I liked Pauleen...And...and he..."
"I'm afraid he did..." Zongazonga says removing the handcuffs on Todd. Todd grabs the floor in front of him, while his head hangs, and tears drip from his eyes which are squeezed shut.
"I came back to save him, but he..." Todd says, anger edging into his voice as Zongazonga wraps an arm around Todd's shoulders.
"He doesn't deserve to have you as a friend." Zongazonga whispers in his ear. "You're so far above him, and yet he said all of that behind your back..."
"That... That LIER..." Todd growls, his hands turning into fists.
"You should have won the Cup, not him." Zongazonga whispers. "You deserve the park...The glory...The fame...But no...He won instead...What should you do?"
"...I'll tell you..." Todd growls looking up at Zongazonga with angry eyes. "I'm going to wait for him to come, then crush him in battle." Zongazonga smiles evilly.
"Perfect..." He says. "Go wait on the upper deck of the Lobby. I have a feeling Red will show up there soon..."
"GOOD." Todd growls getting up. He gets onto the elevator platform and rides down. Zongazonga smiles, gets up, and retrieves Todd's helmet from where it landed. He mutters something, causing the helmet to be surrounded by a black substance, which diffuses into small particles, and disappears.
"When it arrives..." Zongazonga says. "I have a feeling Red is going to be here sooner than I thought..." He grins evilly. "You cursed child...If you believe that boy can stop me, then the hundreds of thousands of years you have been alive have taught you nothing."
AN-Oh boy. Things are going down in Caliosteo. What will happen next? And where exactly did Todd's helmet go? Find out in the next chapa. Until then, LEAVE A REVIEW!
Ninja of Night: YAYZ! I was starting to worry that you were dead. But, I'm afraid I haz no fluffy robes to spare. :3
Guest: Yush... I just love mah cliffhangers~ :D
Graywing44: Is it still killing you? If it is, please sign this contract stating that I am not responsible for your death.
Guests: Igno? Well, SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER because SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER and so SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER and then SPOILERSPOILERSPOILER. Now, did you get all of that?
