Disclaimer: Same stuff. Don't own GK. Never did, never will. It all belongs to GONZO. To them be the glory. All I own are my original characters and this damn computer. I also own Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation as a fictional location. If it happens to be the name of any such organization or anything related to it, it is just pure coincidence.
AN: This is kinda stupid, the idea popped into my head a few days ago. Excuse my side comments I just can't help it! Also, this is just a one shot and was only meant for the benefit of placing circumstances in the major parts of the story. Also, Mica Avaltero is by far the most pitiful OC (Original Character) in my story.
Chapter 3: Italy: Victories and LossesAEGIS Mediterranean HQ, Rome Italy, Jan. 10, 1971…
The Commander of AEGIS Mediterranean (Whatever the hell his name is, coz I don't give a damn) gawked shocked and wide-eyed at the monitor. The whole map of Italy mainland was a blinding red. Just like Nippon, he thought as he activated the intercom. "Miss De Gasperi? Are you still there?"
"Yes, sir." Replied a female voice.
"Listen, we have lost contact with AEGIS United and I don't think that reinforcements will be sent to us."
"I understand."
"We've also lost all signals with the Gatekeeper from abroad, Agent Avaltero." His voice was grave, just right for this situation. Silence was all that answered him, "Agent De Gasperi? Come in!" Still nothing, "Dammit!"
Finally, with a slight flicker of the sound of static and gunfire erupting in the background, she was able to regain contact, though it was barely audible, "In…ders …ave …br…ched our a…ea! C…n't …old …em off …uch l…ger!" The last thing he heard was a loud, ear-piercing scream before the line returned to disturbing, spine-chilling serenity.
He eased back into his chair, knowing that his time had come. He had served many years as a loyal soldier in the army, calmly moved up in the ranks until finally, he reached the position of Commander. He fought the Nazis with every single bit of courage he had left. Surviving the Second World War, he was very grateful and was by that time truly convinced that there was a God. That was when AEGIS United discovered his leadership potential and recruited him to be the Commander of AEGIS Mediterranean. However, all those years of hard work assigning people to do their jobs right was put to waste at last. It was over, for him and all of the other protectors of their jurisdiction, and the Home of the Pope. All was going to end; it was just a matter of how and when.
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The Coliseum, Rome…
Mica Avaltero, the Gatekeeper of the Sky, slowly walked around the audience booth (whatever you call it. You know! The place where the audience sits) and surveyed what was in the center ring, her long brown hair swaying behind her. A tall, black machine stood there, faintly resembling a Gate Robot, although it was crafted to look more devilish than appealing. A high-pitched sound was flowing out of the damned thing, probably signaling invaders to do its owner's bidding.
"Just like Japan," she mumbled as she stepped into the arena area to get a closer look at the dark figure. It certainly looked like Shadow's Gate Robot, except the fact that there was no pair of invader brass trapped inside. She was taking time. An element that this country did not have much of left save she did something.
She approached the mechanical beast and removing the gem from her Seal Ring, cried out, "Gate! Open!" She was desperate, desperate to the point of opening her Gate and unleashing the massive destructive forces of weather upon this insignificant little pebble. Although she was a Templar Gatekeeper and did not have any permission to open the Gate, she knew she had to. Drastic times call for drastic measures, she thought, this is one of them. Her eyes were illuminated by the presence of a trio of grayish, purple rings cueing her to shout, "Weather Titan! Blizzard Dragon!"
The Weather Titans were mystical beasts that represented different forces of the weather. Because of their Sky bound powers, they were considered closer to being gods than any other magic creatures. (Even if you count in the four gods. Why? It's because the sacred beasts only represented the four gods. Just some trivia!) Unfortunately, they dwelled within another dimension. The only way they were to enter this universe was to choose a human as a medium; a bridge to a gap if you prefer. Because they were extremely grateful creatures, the lucky person they chose to be medium got even luckier, because of the fact that he or she would become their master as long as he or she lived.
The skies darkened, and above the clouds, an ominous snake-like figure swam in a wave-like motion, emitting loud and disturbing shrieks as it plunged downward and began to spiral. It appeared in the air just above the coliseum, it being long enough to span a sizeable fraction of the city and its body's width several meters thick. Finally, its features were completely revealed. It had a glass-transparent body resembling that of a serpent, a head of a dragon, of course, minus the whiskers. Its eyes were a brilliant pale blue, and had an icy and chilling aura to it. This was one of Mica's Weather Titans, the Blizzard Dragon. "I doth be at your service, me lady," it spoke in a low tone that resembled rumbling earth.
Mica knew her pets far too well to make use of weak attacks, "Create a Blizzard unlike any you've made before! Halt or at least slow down the enemy's movement. I need more time to destroy this abomination."
"How large dost thou wanteth this Snowstorm to be?"
"Big enough to cover the entire country."
"As thou wouldst will, me lady." It replied as it floated away. Moments later, snow began to fall, strong and hard, signaling Mica that her Dragon was doing its job.
"I hope this (the Blizzard) will help those Italian people," she focused her attention once more upon the Black Gate Robot. "Weather Titan! Rainstorm Tiger!" in the distance, a loud growl could be heard. Soon, a pair of intensely focused green eyes was spotted in the darkness of the tunnel across Mica's current position. Slowly, the two emerald orbs approached the grinning lass until their owner's features came into view. It was at least five times the size of a normal tiger, and had a hazy-gray pelt color instead of orange with pale silver stripes that contrasted its hide perfectly. Its tail was swaying lazily behind it.
A few feet from her, it stopped and sat down, like an expectant puppy, its tail still swinging. "And whatest thou wanteth this humble servant to do for ye, me lady?"
"Go forth and impede the invaders' advancement towards AEGIS Mediterranean's base! It is located beneath the Bertolucci Health Foods Corp.'s Headquarters." She commanded. Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation was one of the most highly favored of its kind by the public. Founded in 1853, no other company has surpassed its quality in making health foods. Why AEGIS Mediterranean was built under a Food Factory? It was to keep suspicions to a minimum.
"Thy will be done, me lady." It continued in the direction it was going, passing Mica, disappearing as mysteriously as it came. She was trying to buy time for AEGIS Mediterranean and the entire country; perhaps they could tear down several miles worth of frozen invaders to clear the way for evacuation? Not in this weather though.
"Weather Titan! Hurricane Wolf!" A long and ominous howl responded to her call, and in the midst of the darkness, rain, and snow, soft and stealthy footsteps echoed in the silent and eerie distance. A few moments later, a chilling breeze hit Mica from the left, accompanied by the sound of thump, thump, thump. It was then, that she turned to the direction of the quiet noise, and found a great white wolf, its brown eyes reflecting the faint light.
"Whatest may I do in favor of me lady?"
"I do humbly request, my dear friend, that you lend me your powers once more." Hurricane Wolf was the first Weather Titan Mica was able to summon, and they have been close friends since the day they first met. Being inexperienced with controlling the Weather Titans during that time, she thought that she needed to borrow their powers in order to utilize them. It was later, when she had first summoned Blizzard Dragon, that she was told by the clear serpent-like beast that she did not have to borrow their strengths, just to command them to do her bidding instead. She learned after the latter incident however, that when she used their powers, it magnified to a much greater level of destructive power. On the negative side, however, the respective Weather Titan who lent her its powers would lose them for the duration of her possession of the said abilities. Furthermore, after returning the mighty energies to their owners, she herself would be drained of strength and drop unconscious. She has developed a countermeasure for this, though, by training on how to master the flow of power. The reason to all this weakness and loss, she believed, was that the power was returned to the creature so rapidly that in its wake, grasped a hold of and towed away most of Mica's original energies. By training hard and meditating day and night, she successfully was able to slow down the process when using their powers, thus preventing the fledging energy to drain her own.
"As thou wouldst wish." Its eyes widened just before greenish light shot out of them, entering Mica's own orbs, thus granting her the power of the mighty hurricane. She opened her arms in a hugging manner as powerful currents of air lifted her. She slowly floated downward, a pale green aura surrounding her.
"Many thanks once more, my friend," she raised her palm at the Mechanical menace and shouted, "Elder Hurricane!" a vortex could be seen materializing in the air just above the Coliseum, and growing! The by this time large thick funnel began to descend until the Dark Gate Robot was consumed, and hurled up several meters upward. She maneuvered her hand as though conducting orchestra, gracefully, yet forcefully, and the hurricane followed suit, moving the part of its mass (can I call it mass?) that encaged the steel phantom harshly in the direction of her hand's movement, throwing the robot at various parts of the coliseum with incredible force, thus causing great damage to it. This continued for a few minutes, until she decided finally, I've had enough playtime, the invaders have probably defrosted by now, so I'd better end this quick.
She allowed the hurricane to continue thrashing about, the black entity in its tow, while she called yet another of her mystical beasts, "Weather Titan! Hail Scorpion!" No fancy entrances this time, a large five-foot scorpion slowly unburied its way out of the ground, and stood there, watching the girl, with the powerful gust whipping the mech around like a rag doll, until it broke the silence.
"Me lady, I doth be prepared to serve thee."
"Very well, Scorpion," she paused, "I need to borrow you power."
"Me strength be at your command." It replied, its large beady eyes emitting twin rays of blue energy that she absorbed. Her eyes glowed blue as she silently thanked the creature in a slight whisper.
"And now for my grand finale! Climax Hailstorm!" A single drop of condensed water vapor fell from the sky until it stopped a few inches from her open palm. It began to attract more condensed droplets and began to grow to that point that it was the size of her fist. That was when it slowly froze into a snowball. It continued to attract more water, in the form of snowflakes until it grew to the size of a computer monitor, at which point it hardened into a hailstone. She slightly lifted her palm and the ball rose up to the point that it was at the same altitude as Mica's 'rag doll' being tossed around by the mighty twister. There, it continued to grow until it was the size of your average ten-wheel truck. It then broke into two, and separated as if it had a mind of its own. The two pieces grew as well, until they were the same size of their predecessor. They split up too, making four. They grew. The process continued until there were at least two dozen floating hailstones the size of ten-wheelers. She conjured a shy grin as she said, "Now for the fun part." The twister tossed the robot up in one final effort and abruptly vanished. As it began to drop, Mica's eyes widened as she shouted, "End Compactor!" The hailstones simultaneously hurled themselves at the falling entity, crushing it in several megatons' worth of pressure. They burst and dissipated no more than a second later, leaving a heap of twisted scrap metal to hit the earth.
She kicked it, just to make sure it was broken, and looked back at her companions. "Thank you—" she was cut off as her eyes widened in disbelief at what she saw. Her two friends, their bodies sprawled on the ground, lifeless; not bleeding, though. The bastard who did this probably knew of this weakness and executed the two while she was making use of their abilities. The scum. The sound of halfhearted clapping from her right interrupted her plain of thought. She glared at the direction of its source to find everybody's favorite Reiji Kageyama posed casually, still clapping.
He finished his annoying charade and said, "Bravo! Bravo! That was an excellent display of power, my friend. You have great potential!"
"What in the hell are you doing here, Shadow!?" she retorted.
"Isn't it obvious? I came to collect my robot. When I got here however, I found you flinging it around with such power. I realized at that point that you were one of those Templar Gatekeepers that Hans has been warning me about. It turns out that you weren't as powerful as I expected you to be." He let out an arrogant "humph."
She snarled at him enraged, obviously insulted at his remark, "You'll pay for this, Shadow!"
"Pay for what? Mocking you? Or for killing these – pets of yours? It's not like I care about animals. They're a much lower class of insect than specks of bugs such as you." He took a piece of leftover Tobleron chocolate treats from his pocket and tossed it into his mouth, savoring the rich goodness that only milk chocolate could offer.
"They were more than pets, you bastard!" tears began to well up in her eyes, "They were my friends!"
"Friends? Ha!" he scoffed, "How could a human talk to mindless animals? Are you a retard or something?" He let out a sinister chuckle that evolved into an insane demonic laugh.
"That shows how little you know about us." Mica regained her composure (at least some of it, anyway).
"And what do you mean by that?"
"Let me show you," Kageyama jumped backwards, expecting Mica to attack as she extended her right arm at the sky, calling out the fifth Weather Titan she had at her disposal, "Lightning Hawk!" A bright spark of lightning illuminated that blackened sky, followed by an eardrum-breaking crack of thunder; a second later, what could be described as the cry of a mighty bird of prey was heard as a huge winged entity flew downward until it perched itself on the far side of the top of the coliseum. It was as large as a small building, with golden feathers mixed with silver ones, its eye sockets containing piercing red orbs that focused their attention on an already smiling Mica Avaltero.
"Thou dost call upon my power, my lady?" It inquired of its master.
"It spoke!" Kageyama could not believe his eyes, or his ears for that matter, "How did it do that!?"
Mica ignored the amazed enemy and told it, "Show this simpleton the power you hold!" she had grown a smirk at Kageyama's reaction to the Juggernaut's actions.
"As thou wouldst wish." Its eyes changed from red to a blinding royal blue as it answered its mistress, and began to flap its large wings. Surprisingly, after a few powerful gusts, the wind stopped. The bird had stopped flapping; it was looking Reiji straight in the eye. Its peepers widened and powerful strokes of lightning began dropping from the sky, scorching the earth surrounding it. The holocaust continued for a couple of minutes, and Kageyama's sight was glued to the scene. The great jolts finally subsided and the Hawk's eyes returned to normal. "I have done as thou hast commanded."
"Very good, Hawk. Now destroy the adversary!" She pointed at Kageyama.
"By thy will, me lady." The same ritual began again and this time, a destructive bolt of lightning struck the dumbstruck Shadow, really giving him the shocks.
"So, you think that your little pets can kill me, eh? Ha!" Reiji swiped his right arm and regained his cool, "I'll be seeing you later, Templar!" His Gate opened beneath him and he slowly sank into the dark rings until he completely vanished, the Gate closing.
Mica took one final glimpses at her befallen friends, "You'll pay for this Shadow, I swear it!" She muttered under her breath, "Return to your land, Lightning Hawk."
"So be it, me lady." The huge bird darted upward and vanished.
Mica then realized that a huge black tear in the time-space continuum had generated in the sky, pulling what appeared to be large chunks of fleas frozen in blocks of ice into itself. "This Robot is really trashed," she kicked the black shrapnel once more, "Blizzard Dragon and Rainstorm Tiger! I summon you!"
The two beasts appeared once more, "What is thy bidding me lady," they stated simultaneously.
"You have done your jobs well. Return to your land and celebrate for jobs well done, and grieve; for Hurricane Wolf and Hail Scorpion have fallen."
"Alas me lady, we cannot accomplish thy latter commands, for all our fallen associates require to live once more is for thou to return thy borrowed strength to them." Blizzard Dragon replied.
"Now?"
"Thou hast to wait several days for their wounds to heal completely. During that period, their power doth be at thy disposal." Rainstorm Tiger answered.
"We shalt be watching thee from our home." They continued as they vanished as suddenly as they appeared.
"Good." She used her wind power to lift the two bodies as she slowly walked outward, the couple in tow. Her communicator bleeped. "Yes?"
"Agent Avaltero, what's your status?" It was Bates.
"Mission accomplished, Commander. Shadow was behind it all."
"Good. I need you back here ASAP."
"Why?"
"Agent Donnehue and the others are having serious problems in Japan. They need your help."
"Roger that, AEGIS!" She saluted.
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AEGIS Mediterranean, Rome Italy, Under the Bertolucci Health Foods Corporation…
The commander could not believe what he saw; the red began to rapidly recede until not a trace was left. "A miracle!" he did the sign of the cross and thanked God that they made it… most of them actually; he had work to do. Besides repairing the penetrated areas of the base, he had to find out if Agent De Gasperi was still alive.
Suddenly and surprisingly, the door burst open, with De Gasperi trying to balance herself on the entrance input device, her clothes somewhat torn, "We made it, sir!" she shouted. The commander greatly brightened at this second miracle. There was no doubt about it now; there is a God.
Hope you liked that! Just put that last scene there to show the results of Blizzard's and Rainstorm's efforts. Don't worry! I changed my mind, I'll include Mica in some other parts of the story. Well, gotta go! I'm Working on a Vandread AU, then I got my assignments to do. Chow!