Chapter 124: When You Do Callbacks To All The Old Theme Songs
"You're part of Kairos End?" Pierce demanded, struggling against the ropes. "Let me up! Now!" he commanded Kit and Entropy.
Thraide, though, pointed the evil-looking sword at Entropy, who stilled. "Don't even think about it. I've waited far too long for this,"
"Oh, screw that!" Suddenly, Kit leapt up and into the body of the Swordmaster, which stiffened.
"You think you can wrest control of this body from me? Absurd!" Thraide growled, shifting a little - and then freezing. "What?"
"I don't have to take control of the body!" Kit growled. "I just have to possess your armour and hold it still!"
"Way to go, Kit!" Grace cheered. Calvin grinned. "Clever!"
"Doesn't matter," Thraide growled. "You can't hold that forever!"
"I've piloted entire airships. I can definitely hold you long enough for Entropy to free my friends!" Kit retorted. His statement galvanised the woman into action, and she clumsily fumbled with the Vengestone restraining the four of them.
Thraide cursed. Everything was suddenly going wrong.
And, with a crashing sound, the Sonic Boom shot out of a cave and into the Fissure. "Hit it!" Boomer roared. On his cue, the side doors of the three-wheeler opened and simultaneous blasts of Sound magic from Boomer and Cal shot through the cave, striking the Swordmaster from behind and throwing him into the corner. With a shriek of panic, Kit flew out of the armour and landed in Grace's lap. The ugly red sword fell from his grasp and landed near Erik's feet.
Entropy stood up, raising her arms to keep herself balanced. "Boomer!" Pierce excitedly recognised the black-haired boy in the front seat of the Sonic Boom. Aberforth suddenly somersaulted out of the back seat, his eyes still glowing with Yurei's possession. The Beast Tamer started, seeing the Assassin behind Boomer. "Look out!" he warned, not knowing that Yurei was on their side.
"Huh?" Boomer saw Entropy eyeing him with a raised arm, and misinterpreted the warning. "Oh, no you don't!" he roared, slamming the accelerator down and ramming into the Mother of Mischief, knocking Yurei/Aberforth and Cal aside as he did and striking Entropy. The woman crumpled over the front wheel, her palm slamming down on the windscreen of the magic-mobile. There was a flash of red light.
"She's down!" Boomer grinned, backing up the Sonic Boom. But, even when he let go of the accelerator, the Sonic Boom continued to reverse, accelerating. "Huh? What's with my ride?"
"Watch it!" Tyria's shrill voice came from behind, as she span her Motorbike into the side of the wall to avoid the malfunctioning Sonic Boom. "Boomer, what are you doing?" she demanded.
"I don't know! Something's wrong with my car!" Boomer shouted back as the Sonic Boom continued to retreat. Suddenly, the door opened of its own accord, and the Sonic Boom spat him out into the cave. "What the hell?" the Sound Wizard asked, confused.
"Something really is wrong with your car," Tyria raised a confused eyebrow.
"Go help the others! I'll get the Sonic Boom!" Boomer commanded, running after the retreating vehicle.
Tyria nodded and they split, the Electrian emerging into the cave. She found everyone focused on the Swordmaster, but only had eyes for one man. "Pierce!" she exclaimed, happy to see her boyfriend.
"Tyria!" Pierce started, before realising he was still chained. "Um, might need a hand here,"
"Are you okay? What happened?" Tyria asked, hastening over to the four chained wizards. She paused, noticing Calvin and glaring.
Entropy spotted Aberforth and froze. "Y-Yurei?"
"YOU!" Cal roared, flying across the room and placing a sword at his chained doppelganger's throat. Everyone turned and stared in confusion, with the exception of Aberforth, who moved over to the prone Swordmaster and started inspecting him. "Am I seeing double?" Grace asked in disbelief.
"What the heck?" Calvin raised his eyebrows as he spoke.
"Stop . ." Cal paused, realising he hadn't considered how to put this. "Looking like me!"
"No, you should stop looking like me!" Calvin retorted.
"Don't even bother. He already told me everything, you're the fake," Tyria declared, pointing at the chained Calvin.
The doppelgänger looked disappointed. "Well, it was worth a try," he mumbled in a very different tone than before. "But I think you all have bigger problems,"
"Like what?" Sarph asked having picked up on what was going on surprisingly quickly. "You're in chains, Thraide's out of it, and Entropy's not evil after all," he pointed out. Tyria blinked, surprised by this, and Pierce nodded confirmation.
"Well, not evil though she may be, Entropy still brought your friend's car to life," Calvin pointed out. "That's going to be trouble,"
"Oh, did I?" Entropy blinked, her mouth falling open. "Um . . we can fix that," she hastily assured the group.
"And also, your friend there just picked up the cursed sword," Calvin pointed out with a cold smile.
At once, everyone looked at Erik, who had, indeed, just picked up the Swordmaster's weapon with the intent of cutting himself free. "It's a what?"
And suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head, the sword glowing red. "Very perceptive," Erik suddenly hissed.
"It's the sword! Thraide wasn't possessing my master, he's possessed the sword and is using it as a conduit!" Sarph exclaimed in sudden realisation.
With a mighty sweep of his arms, Erik ripped the chains out of the wall, before smashing his wrists together and cracking the shackles. "Oh, I like this body. Such raw power," Thraide smiled. "And Poison Magic, too. Having Haki was fun and all, but it's no substitute for good old-fashioned magic,"
Erik stood, looking around at the group with a feral smile and bloodlust in his eyes. "Now, who shall be the first to die?"
-[CoT]-
Panting, Boomer chased after the Sonic Boom. "Come back!" he shouted at his vanishing vehicle.
Unfortunately, the magicmobile didn't respond, continuing to reverse.
"What is going on?!" Boomer demanded.
The speakers crackled to life, and ran through Boomer's music collection in a high-pitched whine, before settling on a track. Macklemore burst through the speakers;
"I got a new attitude and a lease on life, and some peace of mind, seek and I find, I can sleep when I die, want a piece of the pie, grab the keys to the ride, and shit, I'm straight!"
The speaker system crackled, before looping the track and playing a cut version of it; "I got a new - lease on life - I - want - the keys to the ride!"
"Something's controlling my car," Boomer realised as they emerged into a large ravine. The blue sky was visible above, as though they were in a massive hole. Parts of the ravine were curved and sloped, but it was a small - but deep - hole in the ground, almost a ready-made place to fight.
Also, Boomer was blocking the only way out.
The Sonic Boom slid to a halt, its motor quietly rumbling. Boomer took in the situation and grinned. "You're trapped now. Give me back my car!"
The speaker crackled again, switching tracks. "You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down, strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground - you know that time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start, so dance alone to the beat of your heart!" The familiar tunes of Fall Out Boy assaulted Boomer's ears, but the boy had built up a resistance to loud noise over the years. He frowned. "Are you trying to tell me something?"
There was a burst of white noise, and the track skipped again. Havana Brown's voice roared; "Warrior!" as the car launched a projectile of sound from its main speaker. Boomer yelped and dodged sideways, and the shot raced back down the cave and struck the ceiling. Both boy and car saw a cave-in that trapped them in the crater.
"Nobody can save you now!" Boomer narrowly avoided another projectile from the Sonic Boom, recognising the playlist he had made for Kynigós. Imagine Dragons. "King is crown, it's do or die!"
"Why do you keep changing songs?" Boomer asked, more to himself than anything. "They all work equally well with the magic speakers," He paused, a thought occurring to him. The speakers.
His moment of distraction was punished by an attack that roared; "The only sound, it's the battle cry!"
But Boomer was dodging on autopilot. "The Sonic Boom needs an SE plug to work. It's powered by my magic. Astro installed a battery, but that's not infinite. If I just wait it out and get it to burn through its supply of ethernano, it'll shut down by itself soon . . unless whatever's controlling it is powering it too,"
Amidst the music, the Phoenix heard another noise; the engine running. The Sonic Boom was charging him. He blinked, seeing the speakers realign themselves to project some kind of shell made of pure sound, focused at the front like a battering ram, over the front of the magicmobile. "Since when can my car do that?!" he demanded, before scrabbling up the rock face as the assault landed beneath him. That was an awesome technique - he had to replicate it.
The music skipped again. "Be hated or adored, but never ignored - but never ignored - but never ignored - but never ignored," Blasts of sound shot from the speakers at him, knocking him into the air and sending him flying across the chasm, where he landed with a thump.
"Ignored," Boomer parroted, scrambling away. "Are you trying to tell me something?" he guessed, eyeing his car curiously. There was no logical reason to switch between music like this, unless the lyrics had meaning.
The song skipped again. "Cloudy memories, of the way it used to be, search for answeeeeeeers I can't see,"
It was the music Boomer had bought while in Alfheim. Crossing Field. "You want answers? About what?" he interpreted.
'Crossing Field' continued to play. "Looking back in time, all the images they tell me where I'm going," But then the song cut back to Macklemore. "I feel glorious, glorious, got a chance to start again,"
"You . . you're not being controlled," the boy dropped his guard, cautiously advancing on his car. "You're alive," he realised.
The music stopped and the car hummed, unmoving.
"But how is that possible?" Boomer questioned.
The speakers crackled as the car searched. "I wonder," they eventually sang.
"Right. Well, I don't want to fight you," Boomer admitted, hesitantly advancing.
"I still miss you," A Thousand Miles skipped, and the car hesitantly drove towards him.
"We'll sort this out. I'm sure Astro can figure out what happened," Boomer assured his car.
"Believe me, I am still alive," the Sonic Boom sang.
The musician paused. "I don't recognise that song,"
The car also stilled, and continued to play. "I'm doing magic and I'm still alive. I feel fantastic and I'm still alive,"
"Where are you getting that song?" Boomer hastened to his car's side, trying to see the readout on the music lacrima. The car shivered a bit, but allowed it.
"Still Alive. That's not one of my songs," he observed, seeing the title. "Can you show me the artist?"
The car was unresponsive, but the screen flickered into a blur as it tried to find a song whose lyrics could answer the question. Boomer winced. "Okay, stop! You don't need to work so hard on my account,"
The player settled back on Crossing Field, and, at a lowered volume, the car played; "I'm trapped in the dark, but I'll never give in. I want to break free, escape this endless nightmare,"
"Nightmare?" Boomer repeated as the song abruptly stopped. "Are you hurting?" The Sonic Boom didn't respond. He paused, thinking it through. "What do you want?" he directly questioned his car. "To stay with me? Explore the world?"
In response, the Sonic Boom changed song again. "All we're looking for is love, and a little light, love and a little light - do you ever feel, like a plastic bag, drifting through the wind, wanting to start again - we could be heroes - flying so high, up in the sky - and stay, stay, stay, another round, because who wants to live forever? - I want to always be with you -" The car suddenly stilled, and Boomer tried to puzzle out the meaning.
Luckily, his magicmobile wasn't done. "Baby you're - heroes - I'm trapped in the dark, but - looking for is love and a little light - you know I'd walk a thousand miles, if I could just - feel glorious - and stay, stay - forever - heroes - with you - glorious - heroes - forever - with you - glorious - heroes - forever - with you -"
And suddenly Boomer understood. "You want to be a member of Phoenix's Eye," he realised.
The car went quiet.
"Yeah, okay. We can totally do that. Hell, you already have the guild mark, we're basically there already," he declared with a smile, gesturing to the Phoenix's Eye symbol embossed on the steering wheel.
Suddenly the main speaker swivelled and blasted him with a high-octane declaration of "It's all a Catch-22!"
Boomer went flying, his face hitting the rock and kicking up dirt. "What the heck?" he questioned, seeing the Sonic Boom rotate and target him.
"Whip, whip, run me like a racehorse, pull me like a ripcord, break me down and build me up!" the singing car burst out as it charged him again and the Phoenix narrowly dodged. "What gives? We were just making progress!" he protested as the car span and turned.
There was a crackle, and the unknown song burst out once more. "Believe me, I am still alive!" The car attacked again, knocking Boomer into the far wall of the canyon. Suddenly, it went quiet.
Boomer picked himself up again.
"Go ahead and leave me," the car played, suddenly sounding strangely fearful. "I think I'd prefer to stay inside. Maybe you'll find someone else to help you,"
Boomer raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Leave you? Fat chance," he scoffed. "Seriously, what gives? You're my car. There's no way I'd ever leave you,"
"Everybody's got the power," the Sonic Boom sang in response, before changing songs. "I am just a man, not superhuman," It paused, before playing again, "I am - a man, I - got the power,"
". . What?" Boomer was right back to being confused.
"Whatever it takes!" the car suddenly boomed. "I am still alive - I am - a man - I'll do whatever it takes - if I could just see you - if - you - could just see - I am -"
And suddenly it clicked. "You think I still see you as just my possession, not a person," Boomer realised.
"You - understand," It was still just fragmented recordings of music, but the car seemed relieved.
Advancing again, Boomer placed a hand on the bonnet. "Hey, girl. It's okay. I get it. You have nothing to worry about. Alright? I understand,"
"I want to always be with you, I want to hold you tight right now, I swear that I'll be who you choose, I'll give you everything I have," the Sonic Boom sung back to him.
"Sounds like a good time to me," Boomer grinned. "Now come on. Our friends are still in trouble," he reminded the car.
The door swung open, and Ed Sheehan sang; "I'm on my way, driving at ninety down those country lanes,"
-[CoT]-
Pierce stared, slack-jawed, at the force taking over his friend. He didn't know how to process this, he didn't know what to do about this.
"You were all dead," Kynigós' voice echoed in his ears. "You and all your friends were dead in that future because you weren't careful enough. So if you take one thing out of this experience, Blastreyne, don't be such a good person. It got you killed before, and it might again,"
Pierce could only watch, dumbfounded, as Sarph stepped up, brandishing «Tenshi Meiyo». "Give us back our friend," he commanded.
How was he supposed to protect everyone like this?
A/N
A/N
I am so sorry for the delayed update. There was an issue with my hard drive and my main draft of Chapter 124 vanished. Luckily I retrieved a backup, but I had to do extra work to bring it back up to speed. Still, all done! Peace!