Shadow Raiders - Episode 3.7:

THE BEAST REVEALED

By: Elektra

"Jewelia! Sternum!! Answer me!!" Graveheart shouted into the comm. All he received back was static. He tried tweaking the controls, but to no avail.

"They are GONE, Graveheart, " he heard Jade's voice through the speakers.

"But..." Graveheart started, then stared out his view screen, "LOOK OUT!!" he shouted as a wave of null matter headed towards the Alliance, "Evasive maneuvers!!"

"I suggest we STOP concerning ourselves with Jewelia and Sternum. There will be time to mourn AFTER we have defeated the Beast!" Cryos spoke through his monitor.

Everyone understood all too well. They watched solemnly as the pieces of the shuttles that had not evaded the last Beast attack floated dead in space.

***

"Sternum to Alliance! Come in Alliance!" Sternum tried to get the comm system in Jewelia's shuttle to work, "It's no use..." he said, "the shields around the Beast Planet are too strong. Nothing is getting through..."

"Who CARES!!" Jewelia shouted. "We have to find the Beast!"

"Jewelia... do you honestly think that YOU could harm it after all our weapons proved utterly useless?"

"I HAVE to find it!! It will PAY for what it did to my PLANET!" She snapped as she pulled a gun out of the Arrowhead's supply bags. She threw one to Sternum, who quickly caught it.

Before Sternum could protest Jewelia's plans, a door about 10 feet away slid open. The door lead to a dark corridor - an escape from the current chamber the two were in, "Well..." Sternum began, "Looks like it heard you..."

***

Lamprey looked through her view screen as she saw the Bone man and the Crystal woman make their way through the open door, "One last survivor of Planet Crystal. The Beast will make a snack out of you!"

***

"We had better think of something, and fast!" Jade shouted to her Quarriors and whoever else would listen, "We are loosing too many fighters!"

"All the pieces must fit into place. Only then will the Monster machine be destroyed!" Tekla said through the speakers, "Quick!! Bring the Planets in line with one another!"

"Are you crazy, Tekla?? The gravitational pull of each planet will..." Jade began.

"TRUST me, highness!! I KNOW what I'm doing!" Tekla insisted.

"Listen to her..." a voice entered everyone's head.

"ZUMA!" Jade said, "You can hear her?? But aren't you on Planet Sand?"

"That we may be, Rock Queen... but we are very aware of what is going on around us. Please... do what she says. The kindred understand what Tekla is getting at..."

"I hope they DO, Zuma... or else all our planets will be destroyed!" Jade replied. She sent the order down to Planet Rock to align itself beside Planet Ice.

King Cryos followed Jade's example, as did Zuma, and Femur.

Slowly, each planet began to align...

***

Another door opened in front of Sternum and Jewelia, and they hesitantly went through it. "I have a feeling we are walking into a trap, Jewelia!"

"Then we'll turn the tables! The Beast won't know what hit it!"

Sternum looked at Jewelia, and shook his head, "I have a feeling SHE won't know what hit HER before this is over!"

***

As Ice, Sand, Rock, and Bone began to align, a strange light could be seen emanating from each planet. It was as if an extra shield had appeared out of nowhere. "What is going on?" Jade asked, not really expecting to get an answer.

Suddenly, the extra shield surrounding the planets stretched outward and engulfed the planet beside it. It was almost as if all the planets were slowly becoming one.

"By the great Glacier!" Cryos gasped through the speakers, "What on ICE is going on?!?"

"I don't know, King Cryos... but I hope it works!!" Pyrus replied on the comm.

Fermur's voice became serious for a moment, "So do I, kid... so do I!"

***

One more door opened in front of Sternum and Jewelia... and they went through.

"Where ARE we??" Sternum asked as he looked around.

A painfully bright light illuminated the room Sternum and Jewelia had just entered. The walls were covered with wires, the floor a cold metal. The room seemed to go on forever.

"You have entered the chamber of the BEAST!" a voice said, followed by a laugh.

"Who is THAT?" Sternum asked.

Lamprey took form in front of her visitors, "I am Lamprey, loyal servant of the Beast!"

"I have heard of you, Lamprey!" Sternum said, "My friends filled me in on everything the Beast has been up to lately!"

"Your friends?? That pathetic Alliance?" Lamprey laughed, "We will be rid of them soon enough!"

No sooner did Lamprey say that, then the room shook. Or was it just the room?

"What was THAT?" Sternum gasped.

Lamprey looked frightened for a moment, "No! They couldn't have!!" she gasped.

"Where is the Beast?!" Jewelia demanded, aiming her gun at Lamprey.

The room shook once again, and the wires along the walls began to smoke.

Lamprey turned to Jewelia, and looked at the gun, "That won't work on me, Crystal woman! Try it!"

Jewelia did so... only to see the gun's energy sucked INTO Lamprey. Jewelia swore angrily.

Lamprey laughed, "You want to see the Beast?? I will take you to it! It will be the LAST thing you see!"

***

The Alliance watched, eyes wide, as the energy surrounding their planets joined and sent a blue wave towards the Beast Planet. It shook the Monster machine and caused visible damage.

"If only we had all the pieces..." Tekla said. "It would have been destroyed!"

"At least it's damaged," Graveheart answered. "But... can we EVER destroy it?"

***

Lamprey lead her prisoners to a large door, "Go right in. I am sure the Beast would love to meet you!"

Slowly, Sternum opened the door. The room was barely lit. As he walked in, he could see an object at the other end.

The object was the size of a large building. It was covered with metal, and Sternum noticed the glow of exposed wire snaking up and around it. "A building within the planet?!" he gasped.

Lamprey laughed, "THIS, Bone man, is THE BEAST!"

It was only then that Sternum saw the alleged building MOVE.

Suddenly, a harsh sound assaulted his ears. It was like static... and voices. Many many voices. At first, he thought it was simply noise - then realized that IT was SPEAKING.

"Servant..." it said, "Why are we falling prey to Alliance fire?"

Lamprey humbled herself before the speaking object, "I do not know, Master! I do not know what possible weapon the Alliance could have that is capable of damaging us!"

Before the Beast could respond, Jewelia screamed... and charged at it - firing her gun. Again, the room shook. The PLANET shook. "You destroyed my PEOPLE!" Jewelia shouted, not seeming to be aware of anything going on around her, "I will now destroy YOU!" She fired at the exposed wires covering the Beast. Sparks spewed forth.

Lamprey went after Jewelia, but she was no match for Jewelia's wrath. Lamprey was knocked out by the butt of the gun.

"What are you doing? CRAZY WOMAN! Do you not SEE what you are trying to FIGHT?!" Sternum asked.

"See???" Jewelia replied, "Then let there be light!" She fired the gun against the wall, hitting more wires. The sparks lit up the room... and for once they got a good look at the Beast.

Yes. It was as large as a building. But there was more. It had hands. It had a face. It had legs.

Sternum remembered the descriptions of the Earth people given to him by Zuma after she had tapped into Earth's tragic history. Looking at the Beast, Sternum realized the most tragic thing of all. The Earth people had NOT been destroyed by a faceless monster created by other machines... but by a monster created in their own form.

The Earth had been destroyed ... by its grand-child.

EPISODE EIGHT

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