AUTHOR'S NOTE: Please forgive the delay between these two chapters coming out, as all of you know, a lot has happened in the past few months. I know it's cliche at this point to say this, but in these certain times we need to work together to ensure a brighter future. Never forget, no matter how dark the world may appear, so long as there is light there is hope. With that being said, please enjoy these new chapters of Jayd Re:Rolled. Stay safe, stay creative.
3rd Revolution: Departure! The World's Greatest Fighter?
The next morning, Trey stood outside facing his house with a bag on his back and two suitcases at both his sides. Owen faced him with a grin on his face and Jill clinging to his leg with her eyes to the ground. Just a few feet down the street stood Syd and Eli, glancing every so often to the family only half a block away from them.
"You be careful out there, okay?" Owen said as he patted his son firmly on the shoulders, "and be sure to call often."
"I would but.." Trey blushed, scratching the back of his head, "I kinda broke my when I tossed it at the wall."
"I know, Syd told me," Owen laughed, handing the boy a new phone, "that's why I went out and got you this."
Trey's eyes widened, smiling as he took the phone. "Thanks dad," he said as he shoved the phone in the pocket of his backpack.
Owen and Trey then both looked to Jill. "Well?..." Owen nudged his daughter with his hand, "Anything you want to say to your brother before he leaves?"
Jill gulped, taking a step forward before throwing her arms around her brothers legs and holding him tight.
"If you get hurt out there…" Jill whimpered, "I'll kick your whole butt."
"I know you will," Trey smiled, hugging his sister back. "You keep slaying monsters while I'm gone, okay?"
"Saber doesn't slay monsters," Jill sniffled, "she fights magical beasts."
"Well, the next one you do fight," Trey said, leaning down to give his sister a small kiss on the top of her forehead, "give 'em an extra jab for your big brother. Kay?"
Jill looked up to him, wiping her eyes before nodding to Trey. "Kay," she said, donning a grin of her own.
With a wave of his hand, Trey picked up his bags and headed down the road to meet up with Syd and Eli. Jill stood there alongside her father, clutching his hand as she watched her brother disappear over the horizon.
"You're gonna miss him," Owen smiled at her, "aren't you?"
Jill blushed hard, shaking her head as she avoided looking her father in the eye. "I am not…" she fibbed, "I just.. why can't Saber go on an adventure like that?"
"I'm sure you will some day," Owen told her, a black dog with a red bandana catching Jill's eye for a moment as it stood staring at her from across the street, "just you wait Ms Saber."
Moments later, Trey was walking close behind Syd as she and Eli drew close to an alleyway marked with a green x.
"You get everything in order?" she asked curiously.
Trey nodded, "I told my folks I was going on a camping trip with a friend of mine."
"Good, then I'd say it's about high time we got moving," she turned around and pulled up the garage door, she bowed to him, "ladies first."
Trey ignored the remark and stepped inside the pitch black garage, "I'm guessing you still have a bit of packing to do?"
"Not exactly," she pulled on a lever as a million bright lights switched on revealing a chrome interior that gave the impression of a dome, a control panel sat in the center of the room.
The interior was sleek yet gave the impression that it was fairly worn out, with several exposed wires jutting out from busted wall panels that made up the room. The twin swords, crossbow, daggers and staff that Jayd had used in battle hung in glass cases along the wall on one side.
Syd stood next to him and placed her hands on her hips, "Welcome to the Annex Trey."
"The Annex…" Trey stood in awe of his new surroundings, "so… this is where you guys live?"
"For the most part," Eli called out from the gem on Syd's gauntlet, "The Annex acts as our base of operations and safe heaven. It's reinforced so that no Gate Keeper can enter no matter how strong they are."
"It's our mobile fortress," Jayd said as a small chirping sound erupted from a pile of broken panels as a mechanical owl-like creature flew up from the clutter and dashed over to Syd. Syd laughed a little, "Hi there Torchwick, you miss us?"
The owl made small clicking noises and nodded, "Yes! Yes!"
Syd smiled, "We missed you too."
Trey jumped back, "GAH! The heck is that?!"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," she held the robotic owl up to Trey, "This is Torchwick, he acts as the anchor and operator for the Annex."
"I see…" Trey looked around for a moment then turned back to Syd, "So… how exactly does this thing move?"
Suddenly, Eli's gem began blinking. "Syd, we have another mission," he told her.
Syd smirked, looking to Trey, "Perfect, then we'll be able to show this curious cat how this puppy rolls."
"Wait," Trey blinked, eyeing the floor, "this thing rolls?"
Syd shook her head then snapped her fingers and pointed to the terminal in the center of the room, "Right over there," she said hopping over to the control board grabbing a large lever. She looked back to Trey, "You might want to hold onto something."
Trey raised an eyebrow, "Wait, why?"
Eli spoke out, "Turbulence."
Syd shrugged then smirked, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
She flipped the lever down resulting in the entire room shaking knocking Trey off his feet and onto the floor. The primary lights of the Annex shut off as dull neon green ones took their place as a drowning electronic whine filled the room.
"Oh, almost forgot," Syd spoke up pulling the lever back up bringing the Annex to a halt, the lighting remaining the same, "there's something I want to show you." she said, jumping over to a small hatch on the wall.
Trey picked himself up off the ground and made his way over to the hatch. Without saying a word Syd opened the hatch revealing a glass window that looked out to a neon green void filled with what looked like cables made of neon light of various colors.
Trey's jaw dropped, "What is this?"
"This is the network, my world," Syd smiled, "network riders such as myself use this subspace to travel all across the world to get to where they need to be. Oh, there goes one now!" she called out pointing to an orb of light traveling down a violet colored path at a speed that was almost impossible to see.
"Whoa!" Trey jumped back, "You can get halfway across the world in a matter of seconds from here?"
"Yup," Syd returned leaning against a wall, "Beautiful isn't it? Such a shame that you can only see it for an instant… though most good things in this world rarely last forever."
Trey looked at her, "Syd… who exactly are you?"
She looked back at him and smiled, "I'm just a wandering network rider," she said poking him on the nose, "that's all you need to know."
{Insert Opening Theme - "Rinbu Revolution" by Chihara Minori}
Deep within the Gate Keeper's domain, Selias stared down to a pit where several beast gate keepers brawled. The monsters, too many to count, clawed at one another and ripped each other to pieces until only two remained. The first, a large minotaur with a broken horn and scarred eye and the second a humanoid chimera with the head and body of a lion, the wings of a bat and the cloven hooves of a goat. Its tail was a snake, which hissed at the minotaur as the lion head atop the neck of the main body stared down the same foe as did a goat's head atop the chimera's left shoulder.
Selias, watching this from above, leaned in closely with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed upon the two remaining gate keepers.
"Worry not Grak'nar…" she muttered, "the victor shall be my champion."
The beasts snarled, the minotaur charging towards the chimera with a powerful roar before grabbing the other beast with its powerful claws and pinning it to the wall of the pit. The chimera wailed for a moment, only for the minotaur to plunge its horns into the other beast's gut seconds later.
The minotaur panted heavily, its grasp on its foe loosening slightly as it looked up above to Selias with a smirk on its face. The smirk the minotaur wore was not one to laugh however, as it was wiped from its face the second it locked eyes with the stone cold glare of it's lord.
"What's the face for?!" the minotaur barked, "LORD SELIAS I WON!"
"Hardly…" Selias muttered under her breath.
This single word went unheard by the minotaur, as by the time it reached the beast's ears the claws of the chimera dug themselves into the minotaur's head. Gripping the head of it's foe tightly, the chimera decapitated the opposing beast with a single twist of its talons.
With a steady breath and firm stance, the chimera looked up to Selias as the headless body of the minotaur fell lifelessly into the pile of other mangled bodies.
"One hundred strong gate keepers entered this pit, and now only you remain," Selias said in a commanding tone. "State your name."
"We are Ashura," the beast spoke with the echo of three voices, placing its hand over its chest, "of Many Faces."
Back in the human world, the sun was setting over a middle school in London England. In the football field outside, a dark skinned boy stood with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily as he stared at the round black and white ball that lay on the grass in front of him. He wore a simple white t-shirt and pale blue shorts along with knee high socks and size seven cleats.
"COME ON WILL!" Cheered a light skinned girl about his age with blond hair done up in pigtails, "YOU CAN DO IT!" She stood off to the side, in white button up shirt and green dress pants with black shoes.
"Liz, don't encourage him," chuckled a boy much larger than Will with buzzed brown hair in a red t-shirt and black shorts with the same style of socks and shoes as Will, "no way your boyfriend is making a single goal, let alone try outs." The boy crossed his arms while standing in front of a large net.
"Oh bite me Ronnie!" Liz rolled her eyes at him before grinning at Will and giving him a double thumbs up before blowing a kiss to him.
Will smirked, blowing a kiss back to Liz before narrowing his gaze upon Ronnie. Will then took in a deep breath, then exhaled.
"Just one goal…" he muttered to himself before kicking the ball forward, running towards the goal shortly after while continuing to kick the ball.
As Will drew closer, Ronnie widened his stance and raised his open hands up in front of him. The two boys locked eyes with one another, Will's gaze darting to the right corner of the net before kicking the ball into that same corner. Ronnie caught on instantly however, the goalie simply stepping to the side and smacking the ball back at Will before it even touched the steel frame of the net.
"Ehnt!" Ronnie shook his head, mimicking the cry of a buzzer.
This didn't dissuade Will one bit however, going for the ball again and traveling with it back up to the crease of the net. His breath getting ever so heavier, he kicked the ball again this time it going to the top of the net.
Ronnie watched the path of the ball, letting out a tiny sigh as he jumped up before head butting the ball back at Will before buzzing once again, "Ehnt!"
Will caught the ball with a bump of his chest, his breathing even heavier than before as the ball landed at his feet. "Next shot… next shot.." he muttered to himself.
"One last shot Will," Ronnie let out a yawn of boredom, looking at will with the same cocky grin he had from the start, "then that's all the time I've got to entertain your delusions."
"Ronnie stop it!" Liz barked at him, giving the goalie a grin, "why do you have to be like this?"
"I'm captain of the team aren't I?" Ronnie shrugged, keeping his eyes on Will, "I can't let just anyone make it to try outs."
Liz huffed, crossing her arms as she maintained her glare on Ronnie, "Just give Will a fare shot, okay?"
Ronnie laughed, punching the palm of his open hand with his fist as his smirk widened upon Will, "What do you think I've been doing?"
Will's gaze remained fixed upon Ronnie, kicking the ball around with his foot before darting forward towards the goal once again. Seeing Will fall back to the same tactics, Ronnie shook his head.
"He never learns does he?" He asked himself, raising both his hands to catch the ball.
He was fully relaxed, until Will came to a sudden stop and wound his foot back before rocketing it forward into a powerful kick which shot the ball directly at Ronnie's face. The surprising force of the ball wiped the smug grin off Ronnie's face, forcing his hands up to catch the ball. The strength of the kick alone was enough to force Ronnie back two steps.
Will smirked, a sense of accomplishment filling his heart at the sight of getting Ronnie to move back. Ronnie on the other hand gritted his teeth, let out a snarl before whipping the ball back at Will while aiming at the same spot he had just defended on his own person.
Will and Liz both gasped, Will blocking the ball by catching it with his hands before allowing it to fall back to the ground. He placed his foot on top of the ball, "One more!" He thought to himself.
"EHNT!" Ronnie buzzed, shooting a glare at Will before pointing at him, "hand ball."
Liz and Will both blinked in both shock and confusion. "You threw it at my face!" Will barked back at Ronnie.
"Then you should've blocked it with your bloody forearms, that thick head of yours or dodge it," Ronnie told him, getting out from the net as he picked up his bag. "Getting hit like that is just part of the game."
Will, gritting his teeth, picked up the ball and chucked it at Ronnie. Ronnie glare at Will, simply back handing the ball into the net before letting a tired huff.
"Do the team favor Will," Ronnie said, slinging his bag over his shoulder, "don't bother showing up for tryouts."
With that, Ronnie made his way out of the football field and left the school grounds out of a gate on the far end of the courtyard. Quietly, and with his head hung low, Will went to the net and picked up the ball before going back to the edge of the crease.
Liz let out a small sigh, managing a sigh as she walked up to Will as he dropped the ball back onto the ground.
"Sweety?" She called out to Will, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Let's get out of here. I'll buy you supper from that nice caff down the way."
"Liz…" Will looked at her with tired empty eyes, "Could I maybe meet up with you later?"
Liz's grin faded for a moment as she felt her heart sink, but she quickly regained it after a hard gulp.
"Okay.." she muttered, kissing him on the cheek, "don't stay out too late, kay love?"
Will gave her a kiss back, on the lips this time as he manages to regain his smile ever so slightly, "I won't, don't worry."
High atop the London Eye on the other side of the city, Trey stood at the edge of the gondola with his hands on the glass. The boy's eyes were open wide in both awe and excitement as he stared down at the bustling lake side city around him.
"I can't believe I'm actually here right now…" he muttered, grinning ear to ear as he looked over to Syd who sat over his shoulder munching down on a grape flavor ice pop, "Syd! Are you seeing this?!"
Syd glanced towards him and shrugged, "I've seen it all before.." she told him, looking towards the gem on her bracelet, "how many times have we landed here again Eli?"
"This would make our fourth time in London England," Eli spoke. "I must say Trey, your ability to keep pace with the time change is impressive."
Trey blushed, his head sinking into his hoodie a bit as his eyes fell off Syd and Eli. "I just… I've never been outside my home town before," he laughed nervously. He then scratched the back of his head, "It's exciting.. but also a bit scary to be honest."
"And you should not feel ashamed to admit that, Fledgling Trey," Eli told him in a comforting tone of voice. "Syd and I are here on a mission, but you can talk to us about anything that crosses your mind. You are aware of that, correct?"
"Thanks Eli, I'll keep that in mind," Trey managed a grin, taking a seat across from Syd as he looked at the duo in front of him, "speaking of.. there's something I have been meaning to ask."
"Well then Fledgling Trey," Eli said, "shoot."
As Eli spoke, Syd pulled a silver vial off her belt and cracked it open, pouring a drop of the green fluid held within onto her ice pop before continuing to eat it. Trey took note of this then looked back to Eli's gem on Syd's wrist.
"Well, just what am I going to do while I'm traveling with you two?" Trey asked. "Sure, I'm looking to find out more about my mother but… how exactly do I go about that?"
"The information you seek is something only a Network Rider is able to get," Eli told him, "and you are a fledgling, one with great potential at that. The means of becoming a Network Rider for you at this point is simply gaining the approval of our commander."
"Well yeah, that I know…" Trey's grin faded as he let out a small sigh, "I'm still not sure if that's something I want."
These words made Syd turn her attention from her frozen treat to the boy in front of her.
"Then you should consider yourself lucky that you are being given a choice at all," Syd told him. "Not many recruits are granted such a luxury."
Trey stared at Syd for a moment in silence, then after a second or two, "H-How did you become one?" he muttered, "If you don't mind me asking."
Syd's eyes widened ever so slightly at the question. "I…" she lowered her ice pop, looking down at the floor as she pondered on how to respond, "I don't know…"
Trey blinked, "You don't remember?"
Syd shook her head. "The earliest thing I know is that one day I just woke up like this…" she said before closing her eyes. "Eli was there on my wrist, and the commander was at my bedside informing me of what was to come."
"That's all you know?" Trey asked, his heart sinking into the bottom of his stomach, "nothing else?"
"Well… not entirely," a smile came to Syd's face, "I remember the image of an old man with my hair color.. and a girl with dark skin and curly hair, its color was like the feathers of a raven."
"Your family?" Trey questioned.
"Something like that…" Syd told him, opening her eyes back up as she looked back to Trey, "all I know is they aren't around anymore, but they were most likely very important to who I was."
"I.. I'm sorry to hear that…" Trey muttered, hanging his heart and allowing his gaze to hit the floor.
Staring at Trey, Syd raised a brow at him. "Hey now, it's okay," she reached out her free hand and pinched his cheek. "I don't even know their names, and sure it stings a bit when I think about it… but if anything, that sense of loss is my reason to do what I do."
Trey looked at her, "How so?"
"Like, feeling that I've lost someone, makes me want to protect people that much more." Syd smirked at him, pulling on his cheek before releasing it, "Like you my young intern!"
"OW!" Trey yelled, holding his cheek where Syd had pinched him before glaring at her. "Your hands are very cold, you know that?"
Syd shrugged, holding up her ice pop as she maintained her smirk, "Oh gosh, I wonder why."
"Fair," Trey smirked, managing a laugh. He eyed the ice pop in Syd's hand, taking note of the green speckles that were sewn throughout it. "Say… that stuff you put on that.. is that-"
"Gate Keeper blood?" Syd finished his question, raising a brow at him. Trey nodded, causing Syd's grin to widden, "Eyup, but we call it Jaydite." She took another bit of her ice pop, swallowing hard as she let out a gasp of delight before falling back into her seat. "Has a bit a kick to it, but it's perfect for recharging my batteries."
"Huh…" Trey blinked, "what does it taste like?"
Syd smirked, flipping her ice pop over to the side she hadn't eaten before holding it out to him, "Why don't you sample and find out?"
Trey leaned forward and bit into the ice pop, munching into it. "Huh," he continued to chew, "kinda bitter…"
Syd laughed, "why do you think I mix it with ice cream?"
Trey raised a brow and thought about it, then nodded his head in agreement. As the ice in his mouth began to melt, the jaydite was allowed to make unfiltered contact with his tongue. The moment this happened, his eyes shot open as the inside of his mouth suddenly felt like it was on fire.
"AHHH!" He yelped, Syd handing him a bottle of water which he quickly grabbed and downed in a single gulped. "HOLY HELL!" he breathed, falling back in his seat.
Syd let out a hearty chuckle, crossing her legs as she continued to eat her frozen treat, "I warned ya about the kick didn't I?"
"YA! But I was expecting a slight kick, not a kick to nads!" He barked at her, spitting violently onto the floor of the gondola before brushing off his tongue with his hands. "How do you even eat that stuff?!"
"There's a very simple explanation for that actually," Syd looked at him with a grin.
Suddenly, Eli's gem flashed bright red. "Syd!" Her navigator shouted, "A Gate Keeper has emerged!"
Back at the school yard, Will kicked the football into the net once again with the ball flying in with a clean swish of the netting.
Letting out a huff, Will slumped over to the net and scooped up the ball before heading back to the crease and dropping the ball back onto the grass between him and the net.
Winding his foot back, he delivered yet another powerful kick onto the ball sending it hurling through the air towards the net once again. As it soar, the orange evening sky suddenly shifted to a blood red hue. The claw of a lion reached out from the net, catching the ball as Ashura of Many Faces emerged with a snarl.
He glared at the boy, crushing the ball within his claw as all three of his heads fixed their gaze upon Will, "Fledgling…"
{End of Part A}
{Start of Part B}
Down town, Liz skipped out of a bakery with a white box in her hands and a blissful smile on her face. Turning on her heel to end down the street, she was stopped by the sudden call of a familiar voice over her shoulder.
"Something to help Will feel better when he flubs up tryouts tomorrow?" The voice asked.
Liz let out a frustrated huff, "Just drop it already Ronnie," she said as she shot a glare over her shoulder to the boy with a smug grin on his face. "Why must you live to make his life miserable in the first place?"
"Cause weak players have no place on my team," Ronnie said as he stepped forward and closed the gap between him and Liz. "And, to make sure he gets the message."
Suddenly, Ronnie raised his hand to the bottom of the box and flipped it out of Liz's hands. With a gasp, Liz jabbed Ronnie in the gut as she watched the box flip and turn in the air. "JERK!" she barked at the boy as he fell to his knees.
Ronnie breathed in, holding his gut as he caught his breath, "Sticks and stones mate."
Liz reached her arms out to catch the box, only to have it just barely slip out of her finger tips. She felt her heart plummet into her stomach, closing her eyes and clenching her empty hands tight as she anticipated the heartbreaking slap she knew was coming.
She stood there, frozen silent. She didn't hear a splat, instead hearing a rapid pitter patter of footsteps followed by a skid on the ground which was concluded by a loud clap and a sigh of relief.
Liz opened her eyes, seeing Trey picking himself off the ground with the box intact within his grasp.
"Phew," Trey breathed with a grin as he held it out to her, "close one, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, thanks" she managed a laugh and a grin of her own as she took the box from him. "Lucky for me someone like you was passing through, ya?"
Ronnie's smug grin quickly faded into a long scowl. The boy then quietly picked himself up off the ground and slumped away. It was then that Trey caught Syd in the air, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the same direction he had been running.
Looking back at Liz, he patted the girl firmly on the shoulder and said, "Don't mention it, gotta run!" before hurrying after Syd.
"WAIT!" Liz called out to him, causing Trey to stop and look back to her over his shoulder. "You… kinda saved my arse back there," she told him, tightly gripping the box in her hands, "surely there's some way I can pay you back."
Trey grinned warmly at her, then shook his head. "Pay it forward kid," he said with a wave before turning his back to her and continuing on down the road.
Liz stood there with wide eyes. "Pay it forward…" she repeated to herself.
The longer Trey ran down the road, the heavier his breath became. "MAN!" he panted, looking up to Syd upon the rooftops, "How is she even able to run like that?!"
Trey blinked, finding Syd staring back at him upon reopening his eyes. "We'll work on that later!" She told him, scoping him up in her arms bridal style before leaping back up to the rooftops, "Right now we gotta hustle!"
In about three minutes of leaping from roof to roof, Syd took one final leap off the roof at the end of the current line of buildings and landed one a sidewalk. From there, she skipped over the road and arrived at her destination, the gate that led into the field of a middle school.
"Alright!" Trey shouted with anticipation, climbing out from Syd's arms and bolting to the gate, "Let's hurry with this!"
Just as Trey was about to place his hand on the handle of the gate, Syd suddenly grabbed him by the hood of his sweater and pulled him back before tossing him to the ground.
"Ow!" Trey exclaimed as he landed flat on his ass, looking up to Syd, "why'd you-"
"You would've lost that arm if I hadn't," Syd said coldly, picking up a small stone and coiling it up in her hand. "You may have entered the Gate Keeper's plain just fine before, but that's because you weren't aiming to… now that you are however," She chucked the stone at the gate, the small rock shattering to dust with a spark of red energy the moment it so much as touched the gate.
Trey sat there for a second, staring in shock at the bits of stone that now lay at his feet. "Well, thats just great isn't it?" He said, picking himself back up off the ground. Once he stood up, he looked over to Syd, "So how do we get in there?"
Syd smirked and pulled out her buckle, "That's where we come in."
"You may wish to stand back Fledgling Trey," Eli told him as Syd slapped her buckle onto her waist, a pair of belt straps shooting out from it and wrapping around her.
"GAME START!" Shouted the buckle as Trey took a few steps away from Syd while keeping his eyes on her. Syd pulled out her green Striker die then slapped it into her buckle.
Syd then pulled up her hood before giving the dial on her buckle a hard spin which caused the die to spin along with it. "STRIKER!" roared the buckle as Jayd's green striker mode formed around Syd and Eli in a whirlwind of green energy, "Piercing sabers! Carve the Path!"
Drawing their swords from their back, Jayd slashed at the gate causing a rip in reality to open. On the other side was the field just as they saw it, only with a blood red sky, dead grey grass and trees made of bones and withered skulls.
The moment the rip was open, Trey balled his hands into a pair of tight fists and darted through it.
"Well, he certainly has the right spirit doesn't he?" Eli's voice echoed from the gem on Jayd's gauntlet that was Syd's bracelet before transforming. "He'd make a fine network rider one day."
"If he's lucky enough to live that long," Jayd echoed back as she hurried through the rip after Trey.
Within the desolate field that lay under the blood red sky, Ashura clung to the trunk of the tallest tree made of bones with his left claw, his right flared out in a battle ready position as it lay at his side. The three headed beast snarled, sniffing the air as his lion head shifted from one side of the barren field to the other.
Will, who was coiled up in the snake that formed Ashura's tail, trembled and shook within the beast's grasp.
"W-What the hell is going on?!" Will screamed at the beast as he squirmed in his grasp, "What ARE you?!"
"Keep quiet boy!" Hissed the snake head in a tiny child-like voice from where it sat at the top of the beast's tail, tightening its constriction around Will as it narrowed its blood red eyes upon him, "or the next word you say will be the last."
"HAHAHA! Laughed the goat's head on the beast's left shoulder in the shrieking voice of an elderly woman, "Don't tease him like that son, or he'll believe he'll get out this painlessly."
"SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" Roared the lion, tightening its hold on the tree as he raised his claw to the horizon where Jayd and Trey were steadily approaching, "Our prey has finally arrived."
Trey darted up to the base of the tree, stumbling to a halt before resting his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath. Jayd meanwhile stopped right in front of the tree and raised her swords to the beast while staring it down.
"Bad kitty!" Jayd barked at Ashura, "Put him down!"
"As you wish…" Ashura sneered, raising Will with his tail. With a crack of his snake tail, Ashura released Will and sent him hurling at Jayd through the air.
"TREY!" Jayd called out.
Without thinking, Trey barreled in front of Jayd and caught the boy. Landing with both feet on the ground, he then hopped out of the way as Ashura lunged from the tree at Jayd.
Gritting her teeth, Jayd raised her swords in an x formation to block the on coming attack from Ashura's claws. The beast, however, simply smirked as the moment his claws reached the point where Jayd's swords met, the talons of Ashura simply coiled around the blades and tore through them like mere sheets of paper.
Jayd gasped, checking Ashura in the gut with her shoulder and forearm before rolling back into a defensive stance.
"Syd!" Eli called to the rider as she cast aside the hilts of her broken swords, "Close quarters is out of the question with this one!"
Jayd slammed her fist down on the top of her buckle, ejecting the green striker die as the hilts of her broken swords dissolved into code. "Working on it," Jayd told her as she pulled out her orange hunter die and slammed it into the slot on her buckle.
Jayd gave her buckle a hard spin. "HUNTER!" roared the buckle as her coat turned bright orange, her quiver appearing on her right shoulder and crossbow in her left hand, "BURNING ARROW! FLY FREE!"
Jayd aimed her crossbow at Ashura then, pulling back on the trigger, fired a barrage of burning arrows upon the beast. With a slight yelp and a roar from both the snake and goat heads of the chimera, Ashura was pushed back from the force of the arrows and pinned to the tree behind him. Once violently pinned, the fire from the arrows began to burn the beasts fur and flesh.
Trey watched this, stunned speechless as the goat and snake heads writhed in agony. The lion that made up the beast's core however did not, snarling just as it did before as he narrowed his gaze upon Jayd.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Cried Will in Trey's arms.
"It's a long story," Trey told him, catching his breath as he eyed the rip he had entered from. "We gotta get you out of here."
"Not yet," Jayd told him, causing Trey and Will to look back at her. "If the fledgling leaving the plain will close, and we'll lose the gate keeper along with it."
Trey gulped then nodded in understanding. "You can take this one, right?"
Jayd smirked under her mask, "In theory."
With an inward flex of his biceps and upper forarms, the chimera pulled himself from the tree. The beast snarled, stepping forward before flexing his arms outward and thrusting out his chest causing the arrows to fire out from his body and rain down around Jayd, Trey and Will.
Will clung to Trey while Trey simply relaxed as the arrows came towards him, only to be shoved back by Jayd's free hand. Trey gasped as the arrows struck the ground, causing a boom beneath his feet with each hit.
"Watch yourself kid," Jayd told him, keeping her eyes fixed on Ashura.
Trey looked to Jayd, "But I thought-"
"Only spells phase through you," Jayd informed him, "physical projectiles still hurt."
"Right, got it," Trey nodded.
With a snarl, Ashura lunged towards Jayd with his claws flared out to either side of him. Jayd dashed to the right of the beast, unleashing arrow after arrow at him only for them to simply borrow into his skin without so much of a flinch from Ashura himself. Jayd aimed between the beast's eyes as the lion headed chimera adjusted its course to remain fixed upon Jayd as she dashed further and further from Will and Trey.
Firing one last shot, Jayd's arrow whistled through the air towards Ashura's head only for the beast's neck to crack and contort to allow his jaw to open wide and bite down on the arrow. With his tongue, he flipped the arrow around in his maw before firing it back at Jayd fast than she had initially shot it.
With a gasp, Jayd raised her crossbow to block the shot, feeling only the slightest kick backwards as the arrow drove itself into the metal plating of her crossbow. Lowering her bow, she was greeted with the face of Ashura who was mere inches away from her. The beast threw one of his claws at her, Jayd blocking the beast's claws with her crossbow once again only for it to be knocked from her hand by a violent swipe of Ashura's second claw.
Using the moment that Jayd's form was open, Ashura hurled his first claw at her gut in an uppercut only for the network rider to catch it at the last possible second.
"That lays my theory to rest…" Jayd smirked under her mask, turning to look Ashura in the eye. "You aren't after the fledgling, are you?"
The lion head snarled, the snake head hissing as it tilted its head to the side in confusion. "What makes you believe something like that?" the goat's head laughed, "Of course we seek the fledgling! You are simply in our way!"
"Then why cast him aside?" Eli asked, "and why target us exclusively, when we provided the perfect opening to claim him."
The goat's eyes shot open, turning to Jayd as it began to shake, "I… I uh, well you see we-" The lion's head grabbed the goat by the throat and tightened its grasp around her, "D-Darling…" the goat head choked in the hold of the beast's claws, "I can't breath…"
"Your voice…" snarled the lion, "it angers me."
"S-Sorry my love," the goat's head managed a grin, "I promise, I won't speak out of turn again!"
The lion glared at the goat, "I know you won't."
The lion crushed the goat's throat in his claw, then tore the head clean from his body and hurled it to the floor. Will and Trey, Jayd and Eli, even the snake head. All parties gasped in horror as the goat head hit the ground, dissolving to ash as it fell as limp as a deboned fish.
"It's true, the fledgling was no more than a trivial bonus," the lion head told Jayd as he stood up straight and loomed over her. "The true prize in this venture of mine… is you, network rider."
"Me?" Jayd questioned, "Why?"
"I heard you were strong," Ashura answered, "and I've been looking for a worthy opponent for a very long time." He snarled, raising his claw to Jayd. "However, you have thus far been no more than fodder. So very disappointing."
"Maybe I am today.." Jayd looked him in the eye, "but I won't be tomorrow."
Ashura halted his claw, drawing it back an inch before raising a brow at Jayd, "What was that?"
"Leave this field today, and return tomorrow," Jayd explained, "by then I'll be able to give you a challenge you will not forget."
Ashura laughed, looking Jayd up and down from head to toe, "Are you serious network rider?"
"Dead…" Jayd held her hand out to Ashura, "so, is that a deal or not?"
Ashura sneered from ear to ear then tightly gripped Jayd's hand, "Deal."
Upon a withered stage made of rotten wood and human bones, the Jester of the Court danced to a sad lullaby that was being played by an orchestra of merinet puppets dressed in maid outfits with the same pair of black bunny ears and shoulder length chestnut colored hair. From a seat near the back of the ruined auditorium, Maestro watched the previous scene through the reflection in the goblet of wine he sipped from.
Soon after the network rider and the beast shook hands, Ashura turned away from her and opened a rift back into the Gate Keeper's domain with the field returning to normal upon the beast's departure.
Seeing this, Maestro raised a brow, "The Emissary's champion retreated?" He smirked, downing the rest of his wine before casting the glass over his shoulder. "How amusing."
The glass shattered on the floor behind him, Maestro not realizing as a blue succubus with long raven hair and soul piercing yellow eyes emerged from the shadow behind him. "You enjoy watching as the other spires fail, brother?" the succubus asked, placing her cold hand upon Maestro's shoulder.
Maestro shuttered at the succubus' cold touch. "Not at all," he regained his grin as he looked up to the succubus before placing a delicate kiss upon her hand, "I was simply not expecting the embodiment of desire herself to grace me with her presence this day."
"I figured it was time I rejoin the fold," the succubus told him, "it's become so dull since my pet project concluded."
"Oh?" Maestro raised a brow at her, "so does this mean what I believe it does?"
"Of course brother," the succubus stretched out her wings, "Deseray the Temptress has finally come home."
Back in the football field, Trey placed Will down on the ground as Jayd approached the two males. Ejected her die from her buckle, she powered down and reverted to Syd before pulling down her hood.
"Syd!" Trey let out a breath of air as he ran up to her, "are you alright?"
"He knocked me around a bit," Syd grinned at Trey, patting him on the head, "but I'll live."
"H-HEY!" Will called out from the side, pointing a figure at the pair, "I need you two to explain what the hell is going on here!"
A sad look came to Syd's face, the network rider turning to face the boy and slowly but surely walking towards him.
"Of course, little one," she said as she knelt down in front of the boy and took hold of his hand, "what's your name?"
"Will…" he told her.
"I'm going to explain everything that's currently happening Will," Syd told him, "but first you need to tell me one thing."
Will, with a tremble, nodded to Syd, "Okay."
"What do you have…" syd spoke, "that makes you angry?"
Will blinked, "I'm not.. angry.." he muttered.
"You don't need to lie to me," Syd told him. "The fact that a beast like that came after you proves there is something that angers you, and there's no shame in admitting it." She stood up and placed her firm yet comforting hands upon the boy. "Now please tell me Will, what is it?"
To be continued
{Insert Ending Theme - "Again" by Beverly}
