DUST AND THE SWEEPER
Chapter 15 - The Super (Nim)Bat Nest
The pleasing sound of natural running water awakens Dust. He hangs from his arms by the chains bounding him and Haley together; both trying to process their surroundings in the orange dungeon. Ginger is tied to Fale beside them, and Blinx and Fidget are nowhere to be seen.
"You guys alright," Dust asked.
"I've felt better," Haley answered back.
Ginger slurs, "So have I… Still trying not to panic and save my strength."
"Wherever we are, someone at least had the courtesy of quenchin' our thirst," said Fale.
Outside the gate, Blinx casually walks by, spotting his friends imprisoned in their cell.
"Oh hey, sportsy!"
"Blinx," Dust wondered. "You fell to the heat too…?"
"Nah," Blinx said. "Someone went an' jumped me. I fended fo' a while till I figured he'd take us somewhere other than nature's oven. So I let him grab me an' the rest of us."
"Who's he," asked Ginger.
That'd be me.
Beside Blinx from down the hall, Gareth, the titanic Nimbat, arrives in front of the group, younger yet still bulky like an enlarged version of Fidget.
"Gareth," Dust shouted surprised!
"Right," Blinx said. "This is sports- I mean Dust, Ginga', Fale, an' Haley. Dere Fidget's squad."
"I see," Gareth replied. "But how do I know you're telling the truth?"
With a shrug, the Time Sweeper says, "Well I ain't lie to ya before, and I see no reason why I'd do it now."
"You said you all come from the future and that Nimbat's my daughter."
"Yeah."
"…And you expect me to believe that?"
"Look at me, Garry. I'm wearin' duds that don't even exist on this planet yet. Plus the vacuum that you went an' put in yer drawer."
Gareth quickly gets defensive. "Noooo. It's not in my drawer."
"You just told me not ta lie an' here you go yourself."
"Wait, I'm confused," said Dust. "What exactly is the problem here?"
"He thinks you're intruders and that Fidget's a stray. That an' I'm pretty sure he likes shiny things like the swords cause there's a bunch'a valuables in 'ere."
"Eh, she did warn us about it."
"I've got zero clue what you're talking about, but plain and simple…you're gonna have to prove yourselves if you want your swords back," said Gareth. "Then I'll be more inclined to believe you."
"Wait, can't ya just ask Fidget fo' confirmation," asked Fale.
"She's unconscious and I don't expect her to think properly from being in the sun too long."
"Then how do you expect us to fight when we're delirious," barked Ginger.
Gareth points with a smile, "AHA! So you admit it!"
"N-no! That's not what I…"
"Let the games begin!"
While the Nimbat unlocks the door, Ginger says to herself, "Note to self: Learn to shut up next time..."
The team's escorted by two more gigantic Nimbats into an open, somewhat organic arena, surrounded by practical armies of Fidget's species crowding like a swarm.
"Woah," Dust and Fale said in awe at the sight. No sign of Fidget or the Blades of Elysium though.
"I know Nimbats are common, but I didn't know they live in bee hives," Dust quipped!
"Makes me wish I could walk around and see it all," said Haley. "And how come you get to walk around unchained, Blinx?"
"Cause I kept slippin' through the cuffs," he smirked.
The two guard Nimbats holding the chains together lock them at the center of the arena, keeping all besides Blinx in place. Evidently preparing for a show.
One of them announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a couple'a stompers walkin' in our turf! You know what we do to intruders!"
The crowd goes wild, lighting up like a storm of multicolored Fidgets all across the stands!
"Stompers," Ginger asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's old slang for folks who're taller than Nimbats," Haley said. "Plus our foot size."
Gareth faces the group and adds, "You claim you come from the future, right? Well why don't you show us some new flashy moves from then?"
"Yeah, show us yo moves," barked the other guardian!
"Hold up," Blinx stopped. "We don't wanna have ta hurt anyone! One slip up and it could seriously mess up the timeline! Then again, you already looked pretty scarred when we last saw ya, so then that means somethin' else is supposed ta…"
Gareth interrupts, "Blah blah blah! Start throwin' hands!"
He straightens his arms to his sides and summons two blades made of flames from his wrists! Another one generates two balls of fire from his palms, while the third guardian flies aboveground with an ablaze chained mace.
"I hear these titans're rare," Fale explained. "They usually guard their tribes."
"And they're ginormous," Ginger worried. "We can't fight them like this! Can we…?"
"First thing's first," her brother said. "Blinx, you're fast. Try and distract them!"
"With what," he asked. "I ain't got a weapon, man!"
He says less when a mace comes crashing next to him, just barely missing his foot! The Cat-Sith runs off, unarmed, completely vulnerable to the elements.
"You're goin' down, pipsqueak," said the third titan!
The other two lob fireballs at the chained ones and slash at Dust and Haley, who hop, duck, and weave from the sabers and small explosions surprisingly well together while Ginger and Fale struggle to keep up. Fale himself is cut in the arm by shrapnel from an unused lock bursting from a blast from the flamethrowing creature! His hat catches on fire, forcing him to drop it when the flames pick up!
"Great! Now I know how you feel about your hat, Dust!"
The Mithrarin grinned, "Oh, that's right!"
Unknown to the gladiators, Dust remembers his hat's extra function. He takes it and tosses it like a frisbee into the locks hoping the metal inside would at the very least crack it. It's just in time too before Gareth can come over to lunge at him and Haley, using his hat like a shield that snaps in half from the flame swords!
Dust whines, "Aaaagh! Not again…!"
It isn't entirely hopeless since he now has a makeshift weapon to use against the two titans coming after him. Haley borrows the other half of the shield slicing a fireball coming towards her, then hands it over to Fale to halve another aimed at Ginger, who's trying her best to stay away from the action despite her limited distance. Blinx, meanwhile, keeps his distance sprinting back toward the chains when one of the mace's misses his legs. The last strike he hops to the side from smashes against the locks, breaking them and freeing everyone!
"Oops," said the titan before he's smacked in the nose by a chained whip from Haley! "YOW!"
In unison, Dust and Haley knee both titans coming for them in the jaw! They use their chains to tangle the mace-thrower by the neck and slam his chin in the ground, much to the roars of the audience! These cheers awake Fidget in one of the caves close to the arena where she's perched on a tree branch near the drawer containing the blades.
"Ugh…" What happened," she wondered.
"Fidget," Ahrah said from the cabinet. "This drawer is magically infused! I cannot be summoned until it's unlocked!"
"Guess I'll find the key."
Back in the pit, Haley continues to impress her husband, bobbing from the flurry of sword slashes till Gareth gets close enough to kick in the snout!
"GAH," he grunted! "Not bad… But not good enough."
Both her and Dust are suddenly electrified by their cuffs as Gareth's energy powers take full effect, turning their bonds into torture devices! Fale intervenes, punching him in the cheek, but he's smacked into a wall and stunned!
"Agh," Fale moaned as he shook his head. He's lifted up by Blinx with a reach of his hand when the Time Sweeper reaches out with his other palm to nowhere, straining his face in concentration.
"Whaddya doin'?"
"I'm usin' the Force," said the Cat-Sith.
BOOM!
Ahrah and Fafnir come flying from the balcony into his hands, then Aquaritus hovers into the grip of Blinx's tail wrapping around its hilt!
"HA! I knew I could do it! Go long, sportsy!"
He tosses Ahrah towards Dust, snapping the chains to free him and Haley from the static! Gareth then realizes...
"That sword… Someone unlocked my drawer!"
He twirls, whacking the rabbit and wolf back from him and lobs a fireball towards Blinx, doused from a splash of water by the Aquaritus blade! Fale sprays the titan, distracting him from Dust preparing a Whirlwind straight to the face! The Nimbat's sent flying into the walls! All the attendees cheer even louder now, enough that it keeps the gang from hearing the third titan return to attack Blinx. He barely avoids the fireballs coming at him when he takes Fafnir and blows fire to shield him and Ginger nearby. One of the next fireballs, however, knocks him onto his butt and singes his jacket!
"Noooo, not the jacket," he shouts!
Ginger gets down and barely helps the Sweeper up.
"Hold on Blinx," she said. "You can't fight fire with fire. We need..."
GUUUK
Not realizing the flaming titan got behind her, Ginger's gut punched so hard she flies across the arena, landing face first into the sand!
"GINGER," Blinx and Dust screamed! But at that moment, the Warmblood quietly gets back up, cracks her neck and shoulders, then summons Fafnir out of the Cat-Sith's hands.
"We need muscle."
"Oh poop," the flamethrower muttered right when he's struck down by a gust of fire from Fafnir! Ginger figures out how to leap higher bounds with the jets from her sword and slashes at the giant faster than even Dust can process while in mid-air!
"Ok," said the Mithrarin. "I did not know sis could do that. But I'm not too surprised about it."
Ginger continues to attack the titans with a flurry of heat-based abilities, some of which Blinx hadn't considered during his fight with Cassius. She burns the chains from the mace-wielder, singing his hands while turning the sand under their feet into glass! The giants can't take it. Gareth shoots up to the skies in perfect view of the sun, looking as if he's holding it with both hands, ready to toss it down. He instead throws a ball of fire at the Warmblood, who with a combination of Fafnir, Ahrah from Dust, and Aquaritus from Fale, completely atomizes it before it even hits the ground!
"And just when I hoped I was wrong," Gareth snarked before he descends back to ground level. "Evidently, it looks like you really are from the future."
"Toldja," Blinx smirked. "Although we didn't know about Ginga's power."
She loses her concentration, lowering her guard now that Gareth and the other titans have calmed down. "I didn't either."
In their recuperation, Fidget flies over from the balcony down to the pit, still tired but relieved to see everyone in one piece.
"Phew," sighed Fidget. "There you are. Hope I'm not too late."
"Actually, you're right on que," Dust nodded. "Fafnir just came to Ginger and your Dad's convinced we're from the future."
"DAD," she darted!
"You're really my daughter," Gareth asked.
"Yeah! I wished you had asked me instead of putting my friends in a gladiator arena and not telling me about it!"
"We're so sorry, Fidget," said all the titans!
"It's all water under the bridge," exclaimed the second titan.
"I guess not all stompers are bad if they've befriended you, huh," asked her father.
Fidget joked, "Ooooh, yeah, in the future we mainly use that term for people with huge paws like you and Ginger there."
"Will you all quit messing with my foot size already," barked Ginger! "It's making me think you have a fetish or something!"
"Haha," Dust laughed. "Well, I guess since we're on good terms, we might as well ask, are there any Time Crystals around here?"
"Time crystals," asked the mace thrower.
"They're like regular crystals, but they give ya a sense of déjà vu whenever you're near one," said Blinx.
"I thought that's what that Moonblood took from one of our towns earlier," the fireball titan mentioned.
"There's this guy who visited our place to grab a city decoration," Gareth explained. "Didn't seem that special, so we let him take it."
"Any idea where it is," Blinx asked.
"Same way I found you guys but further out. We'll take you since, well…it's the desert."
"Sweet," Fidget smiled! "Wonder what the chicken-legged guy looks like."
Later as the gang along with the three titans soar over the red hot desert, they look out for a familiar place. What was several hours of aimless walking turned into a few minutes in flight. Especially for the giants carrying everyone, as well as the Sweeper.
"Right here," said Gareth pointing forward. "Last I saw him, he left the crystal by that rock over there."
"All this sand and you've managed to find the right spot," said Ginger in astonishment.
"We just have good sense of direction," answered one of the large Nimbats.
They come to a halt and land near a boulder oddly recognizable to Blinx and Dust. They pat the surface of it, opening an entrance from the ground where the stairs lead into a cave.
Amazed, Blinx widened his eyes, "This place again…?!"
"Who's there," asked a familiar voice downstairs.
"It's me," Gareth replied. "There's a few guys I found who wanted to see you."
"I'll be right out!"
In moments, another towering being, a Moonblood with regular legs and long dark hair, steps out the entrance to greet everyone. The first thing that comes to mind is how broad his bare chest is, shining right in their faces from the sunlight.
"Hello," he smiled.
"Gosh, everyone's so buff out here," Haley blushed.
"H-hi sir," Dust greeted trying to hide his blush. "So, you're not gonna believe this, but…"
"You're from the future."
"…How did you know?"
"Because I was just getting ready to forge that sword in your hand."
Stunned, everyone pauses before Ahrah breaks the silence.
"Gray Eyes…!"
