Shadow Raiders - Episode 3.2:

HAUNTED BY THE PAST

By: Elektra

PLANET ICE

"Just step a bit closer, little girl..." Jewelia said quietly as she crouched behind a wall. She aimed her laser weapon, and fingered the trigger.

"Jewel! Come play tag!"

Jewelia jumped up, "What...?" she looked around. Where did that voice come from?

"Come play tag, Jewel! Please?"

Jewelia spun around, "Who's there?" She said to the voice "Who are you?!"

"You promised Mommy you'd play tag with me! Stop flirting with Nickelous!"

"No..." Jewelia said quietly, "It can't be...!" Jewelia shook her head and gathered her wits about her. She focused once more on her target. Zera.

"You told Mommy you'd watch me! You told Mommy you'd play tag with me! But you wanted to play tag with Nickelous instead!"

"SHUT UP!!" Jewelia screamed, "SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" She closed her eyes for a moment and steadied herself. Then, she smiled. A cold, wicked smile, "You want to play? We'll play!" She heard the familiar sound of energy discharge from the weapon she held, "TAG! YOU'RE IT!"

***

Zera could sense someone watching her. She figured it had to be Jewelia. Who else would be hiding in the corridors of the prison? Her feeling proved correct when she heard Jewelia screaming something. The sound of laser fire soon followed.

Zera quickly jumped out of the way when she saw the energy headed towards her. Luckily, Jewelia's aim had been off as well.

The Ice guards quickly arrived, only to see Jewelia staring off into space, "It got her...!" she shouted, "It got her!" She began to laugh for no apparent reason.

The guards dragged Jewelia back to her cell with little resistance.

***

"You promised Mommy you'd play tag with me! Stop flirting with Nickelous!"

"Big sister can't play now! When you get a boyfriend you'll understand! I'll play with you later!" Jewelia said, her angry voice echoing in the cell. Her thoughts took a dark turn as she remembered that day.

If only she hadn't been wasting her time with Nickelous! If only she had been watching Zirconia like her mother had told her to do. If only.

After a while, she had grown tired of Nickelous, and had decided it was only fair to join her sister in a game of tag. Too little, too late. Her sister had already found someone else to play with. A Beast drone. And the Beast drone was winning.

She would never forget her sister's scream as the Beast drone caught up with her.

TAG! YOU'RE IT!

Jewelia covered her face as tears flowed freely from her eyes.

***

"I am glad to find that you have restrained Jewelia once again..." Sternum said to Cryos. "She is a great danger... both to herself and others!"

"You seem to know quite a bit about her, Sternum. Would you care to explain WHY?" Cryos asked.

Sternum sighed, "I once followed her," he shook his head. "It is a long story, Ice King. I will tell you later. Right now, I must make sure Jewelia is secure."

***

Sternum stood outside Jewelia's cell. He hated what she had become! Or perhaps she had always been like that, and he had never noticed.

Sternum shook his head. He had cared for the woman locked up in front of him - once. He only wished he knew what was going through her mind! Right now, she seemed to be hiding her face.

"She was killed right in front of me..." Jewelia began, to no one in particular. "I couldn't save her!" Jewelia wiped the tears from her cheek, "But then, I realized how beautiful such a death was!" She straightened up and finally noticed her visitor. She smiled, "And it CAN be beautiful, Sternum!! You could never see that!"

"I do not WISH to see what you would consider 'beautiful', Jewelia!" Sternum answered.

Jewelia raised an eyebrow, "But you did... once!"

"That was before I realized how truly psychotic you were!"

"Psychotic? Really, Sternum? I'm hardly psychotic!"

"How many men did you send to their deaths on your home planet?!" Sternum asked, "How many fell victim to your madness, Jewelia?!"

Jewelia looked at him, eyes narrowed angrily, "You know NOTHING of what happened!" she shouted, "NOTHING! Don't pretend to! They betrayed ME! I repaid them!"

***

The Beast drones had attacked Planet Crystal. Jewelia fought back. It had been a few months since Zirconia's death, and she had embraced violence as one would embrace a soul mate. She had gathered a small group of men to aid her in the battle against the Beast. Together, they fired on the drones. The Beast Drones exploded in a flash of beautiful light.

As she took aim at another drone, a woman ran in front, blinded with fear. Jewelia couldn't stop herself. The rush was too strong! She had to fire! Jewelia's own weapon struck down the woman with a flash of energy. It would serve the woman right for getting in the way... but a few moments later, Jewelia realized who she had struck down.

"MOTHER!" Jewelia shouted, staring blankly at the woman lying on the ground. After a moment, a small smiled played on her lips, "To go out in a blaze of glory like that! Everyone should have that kind of death". She turned to the men fighting beside her, "Now ADVANCE on them!! Make this battle glorious!" She looked to the Beast drones, and continued her attack.

"They are too powerful!!" one of her men shouted, "We cannot beat them!"

"DO IT!" Jewelia shouted. "FIGHT! KILL THEM ALL!" A few others began to follow the first man's lead, and started to back down from the Beast Drones. Jewelia glared at them, "Where are you going?! DON'T LEAVE ME TO FIGHT THEM ALONE!" She screamed, then she grew angry, "BETRAYERS!! If you won't FOLLOW me, then you'll DIE for me!" She shouted, and fired on her own men.

Planet Crystal sentenced Jewelia to life ... and the BEAST sentenced Planet Crystal to death.

***

"You KNEW about the Beast?" Sternum asked.

"It destroyed my sister! It destroyed my Mother... and it destroyed my PLANET!" Jewelia answered.

"I know nothing of your sister, but your own blind rage destroyed your Mother, Jewelia!" Sternum answered. "Your lust for violence destroyed your mother!"

Jewelia ran up to the bars and grabbed them, "SHUT UP! You know NOTHING of my Mother's death! I didn't MEAN to kill her!" She screamed... then slowly fell to her knees. Her voice became soft, "I didn't mean to kill her..." She looked up at Sternum angrily, eyes wet with unshed tears, "It was the BEAST'S fault!! It made me do it!"

Sternum nodded his head sadly, "Yes, Jewelia. You keep telling yourself that. Perhaps it is the only thing that keeps you from destroying yourself..."

***

"Cryos," Sternum began as he entered the Ice throne room, "We must gather the alliance together. It is time I told you about the Prison planet!"

After a few hours, Pyrus, Femur and Graveheart joined Cryos. Jade was on the view screen, "Go ahead, Sternum. Begin." She said.

"It was Jewelia that orchestrated the break out on the Prison Planet," he began, "We were sick of being tortured, beaten, locked up. I joined her and fought off the guards that tried to stop us. I believed in her ideal... at first," Sternum sighed, "I was once a ruler, and I was willing to do ANYTHING to get my glory back! Jewelia and I were... close. I saw in her a spirit. A fire. Something that I longed for in a companion..." Sternum turned to Jade for a moment, then quickly brought his attention back to the others, "But what I did not see was her madness."

"Sternum, tell us the real reason Jewelia was imprisoned on the planet," Graveheart said.

"I knew she had killed others. I did not know the whole story - until a few moments ago. Jewelia has known about the Beast for quite some time. Her planet had been under attack. She fought back. In doing so, she gathered others to aid her. At first, they fought back as well... but when they began to fear for their lives, Jewelia killed them. THAT is why she was sent to the planet." He shook his head, "I am guessing her planet became victim to the Beast soon after ..."

"And... what else happened on the prison planet?" Cryos asked.

"We had to get away from the guards. My idea was to simply lock them up as WE had been locked up. Jewelia wanted to kill them. She said if anyone disagreed with her, then they would die too..." Sternum frowned, "I gathered those that would agree with me. We thought if we could talk to Jewelia, she would understand. But Jewelia did not want to talk. Jewelia wanted to fight..." He shook his head, "The guards were killed shortly after. We haven't stopped fighting since."

"And then we arrived on the scene." Graveheart said.

Sternum nodded, "You fell victim to Jewelia. She is a very persuasive woman! She knows how to get people to bow to her whim. Those who do not bow are quickly destroyed. I am only grateful you saw that... before YOU were destroyed."

***

Jewelia sat in her cell. No one was around. She was grateful. She thought of the Beast. Of their power. The Beast may have cost her her family and her planet... but she admired them. They lived by the same rules she did. If you can't rule them, KILL them!

***

BEAST PLANET

Lamprey had been punished by The Beast for her failure. How DARE she allow the small alliance to slip through her fingers! Blokk had failed, and had died for it. She wasn't going to suffer the same fate. She would give the Beast the planet cluster, if it was the last thing she did.

EPISODE THREE

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