Chapter 9: Release of the Titans
Phantom didn't bother to turn around to see what was going and threw himself forward in a desperate bid to escape the first lunge. The terrified echidnas saw him leap straight at them and then suddenly the reborn creature's head lashing out for a taste of chimera blood. Many screamed. Just when they had thought they were safe, he was back from the dead again. Phantom landed on his hands, then his chest and knees in the dust, which he soon began to cough up. The screeching of HT-4 was still ever-present. Phantom looked up and outstretched his hand at the stone creature's gaping maw. The green pellets fired rapidly into its jaws with the power of Terras, making it cry out in more pain. Then it jumped up and landed right next to Phantom, trying to pierce his ears with its roaring cry. He stayed put and tried to waft that awful smell from his nose. He would not show fear. He blew this thing up once…he could do it again if it tried the same tactics…what he had to watch out for is anything that would knock him unconcious. There was nothing to do now but run. The creature tried to figure out whether to gnaw on some echidnas when it realized its prey was getting away…not so easily. Minimaniac ducked behind the glass-less window ;pane in case the huge creature saw him as first its prize and then HT-4 itself ran past screeching horrendously. KawaiiKitsune was standing next to him armed with the usual. When the creature was no longer looking, she pulled out an arrow, watching HT-4 run, roaring, kicking up red dust, after its rival, its enemy. Then, as soon as the clear shot arose…twang! The arrow shot past, scraping the back of HT-4's neck. It turned around and glared at the window from which it had been attacked, but there appeared to be no-one there. "Good shot." Whispered Mini. "With a neck that thin…" Then HT-4 activated his thermal vision. Instant targets. Mini's eyes widened as the creature reared up for the strike. They could not escape. KawaiiKitsune stood straight up and twanged off another arrow that hit the creature on the inside of its jaw. It stopped mid-lunge and collapsed almost spontaneously. KawaiiKitsune shook all over. Was that this creature's true weakness? Its jawbone? Minimaniac peeked up, as did Phantom as he turned around and saw its limp form, the dark blood dripping from its cruel maw. It couldn't be dead…it just couldn't be. But it certainly appeared so, he had never seen so much blood coming from one of these creatures before, even after its head was split open. Phantom approached it with caution, almost tripping over a deceased echidna and its pool of blood…HT-4 gave a gurgling growl, and then went 100% limp as far as Phantom could see…he nudged its head with his unwilling hand, and tangled with the jaw-arrow a little, ripping it from its place with a painful-sounding slurp. Suddenly its black claws leaped out from underneath it…Phantom was just in time to give it a retaliating stab in the hand with his arm blades. It screeched in pain as it rose to its feet again, its dripping mouth and hand a bloodied mess despite what had been a layer of solid rock. Its red eyes glared menacingly as KawaiiKitsune and Minimaniac hid themselves again. SamaDaMana watched from above on a rooftop which he had just reached. Then it seemed to be communicating with Phantom… "You know you can't beat me." It snarled gleefully in the chimeran tongue. "I am impossible to destroy…I am a titan!"
Phantom met its gaze with determination. "I'm damn well gonna try!"
Suddenly Phantom was gone. He was over there now-no, over-over there! Over-HT-4 couldn't keep up either until Phantom brought a fist up through the hole in HT-4's jaw, scratching its chin with his arm blade, then he was gone again. "Yo! Up here!" It looked and was instantly leaping up to get him for his victories. But he was gone again…suddenly, as the beast was ready to land back on the ground a pillar of earth shot up, throwing HT-4 into the air and filling the hole in his chin with dust. Phantom appeared in the air right next to him and grabbed him by the neck, pushing back on his legs to flip him over backwards and slam his head to the ground…then another pillar shot up, sending it into the air…and for the coup de grace, Phantom outstretched both of his hands, joining his palms…then there was the huge green beam which would push HT-4 a looong way from home.
It was done. HT-4 wasn't going to face Phantom again for a while…not for a few months, while in the meantime it licked its wounds. It wanted to beat him, and to do that it would have to be at absolute full strength, plus a few extra powers as long as Phantom had the ball on his side. Minimaniac and KawaiiKitsune watched the skies for a few minutes before daring to leave their position. Sama jumped straight down to Phantom. "You did good." He said praisingly.
"The radiation from the Incire Globe must be helping your brainpower, Sama!" Phantom laughed.
"Help Hawk now! Tell him it safe!"
*****
"He's retreating now, sir. PH-1 is too powerful for him."
"Not the desired outcome. Either way! We attack again now! They must be growing weary by now!"
*****
It was that humming sound of the chimera ship again. "They're back! They're back because I defeated the-"
Sama ran for it with all of his strength, straight toward the 'burned down' house that had once been his, but was now the hidden entrance to the Incire chamber. The explosions began as bombs dropped upon the last survivors of the cataclysm, the bravest that remained-which basically consisted of Phantom and his allies. Sama dropped through the seemingly endless earthy shaft, the light getting weaker and weaker, then stronger until he landed and bent over, tipping himself for a roll. Bluehawk was still there, pushing out as much power as he could, combining the chaos emerald's strength with that of his own power. "Hawk! Let me take over!" Sama called.
Hawk let go and stood normally.
"I'll take it from here! It's mine for now!" Sama ran past Hawk and picked up the red, glowing orb. Bluehawk stood there, waiting for him to take it. He placed his hands on it, and pulled it straight out. "Hahaha! Right under your very nose!" He cried manaically.
Hawk stood there, stunned for a second as Sama turned around.
"I have it! Master will have it soon and control…EVERYTHING!"
Hawk stood there in shock, unable to take it in. But then the purple cloud appeared, and the cloaked figure with it.
"Hahaha…I will explain it all to you…" He cackled as Hawk looked up at Sama's grin in disbelief. "When your window was smashed, I broke in through the window and deposited…this clone…"
Hawk stood there, stunned. This couldn't be happening.
"He was created from the real Sama's DNA, strong with Incire power and not lacking in brain. DNA doesn't carry injuries such as scars. The real Sama is at your destination!"
This explained a lot, Hawk realized. The power that Sama was suddenly starting to gain. How he was a lot smarter than normal during this quest. The way he had seemed a lot stupider than normal after the apartment was broken into-he wasn't entirely sure how to act. Suddenly Hawk felt pain in his chest…like that of his ribs, but he was holding the emerald…then he saw. A glowing purple orb was flowing out of him like a ghost. The…the Pesnah Sphere? He had all along been its keeper and guardian!?
"But the one who claimed to be his clone was a lot smarter as well!" He cried as he fell to the ground, panting.
"Only in short bursts, like always." The cloaked one cackled as he took the Incire Globe from the evil Sama's hand, the Pesnah sphere from the air, and in turn, the yellow Terras Ball from out of the earth above him..
"No! Stop!" the chaos energy of Bluehawk's anger struck at both of them, hitting only the wall as they disappeared. A small inscription was in the pedestal that this echidna had just desecrated.
Many parties of evil seek control;
Some more witting than others
But through the power they unleash
Light shines on a bird of blue.
What the heck did this mean? Wait…could it be the titan that…suddenly Hawk remembered…when one is taken, its rival flourishes…The desert was about to be encased in ice!
"Phantom!" He cried as he emerged into the light. "Mini! KayKay! LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!"
*****
Lirash finally finished falling and landed with a crouch, followed only by another, very short chimera, General Upid the midget, who had uneven green streaks. They both walked forward slowly, their hearts thumping with the joy at the power that was awaiting them…wait, was this the end of the cave? Surely not, this pedestal was empty! Unless… "GRAAAAAGH! GET OUT NOW!"
*****
There were no echidnas left to witness their fair desert's fall. The shining blue-ish white first showed throughout the town of the Incire Globe, then spread like a disease, or pancake mix on a lumpy pan, across the desert, covering all as Bluehawk and his friends made their escape on gliders stolen from chimeras in a hurry. They would never have reason to return here, it seemed, as the chimera ship made its escape in the same direction. Eastward. In the direction of where the ice orb had been taken from what seemed like years ago.
*****
The first destination was Graim's, where they had left the Squall that was now finished repairs by a friend of Graim's going by the design manual, and Bluehawk's two chao were happily greeting him. "You guys may be of some slight use in the next few days…" Hawk smiled grimly. There they explained the situation a few times and realized it was time to check out what the inscriptions were at the site of the Pesnah grabbing. Bluehawk wanted to go alone.
It looked just as he had seen it last, the city upon the tower, or ruins upon the tower more like, which had once been surrounded by whirlwind. The plane was difficult to land (the controls were slightly different now too, it felt like) because of the rocky ground, but it was managed on the edge of the tower. Bluehawk treaded the ruins, jumping at every slight motion as if it could attack him. The city, now that he was up here, almost seemed to span further than this tower, now that he realized that this couldn't possibly be a city, and the rocks down there weren't natural. But, like he expected, he soon came upon the hole in the ground which marked the chamber and dropped down. It was just like the Incire chamber. In fact, exactly like it, the pedestal was in the same place and all…the inscription contained the strangest message of all.
The flame of day.
The ice of night.
The woods of old
The shocking truth of new
Hawk didn't take much thinking to know what it meant. The flame of day…Incire represented day. The ice of night…the Ice element represented night. The woods of old…woods sprang from the earthy itself. Terras. And the 'shocking' truths and surprises were Pesnah. His power. He had been the keeper of Pesnah all of this time and not known it. The keeper of the future? Interesting idea. Suddenly a strange old rhyme came to mind…Future. Past. Day. Night….and then to the center of all…what was it? He had heard someone say it before! He knew it! It was even more vague than the beach house scene, where his parents died. And then to the center of all…
He was back at Graim's by mid-afternoon to pick up Phantom, leaving Minimaniac and KawaiiKitsune where they were. This was extremely important, but the plane couldn't even seat two, so it was better that no more than one person rested on the wing if necessary. They had to head South…to the centre, where perhaps more answers could be found. The cloaked one had claimed that he would gain ultimate power…what did that mean? According to the map Hawk picked up at SoaH city, they were close when they passed mortality rock, which looked much like a human male in extreme pain, he was posed almost like HT-4 when his jaw was pierced. Phantom knew he was running low on power from the Terras Ball and so conserved it, using just enough to prevent his teleportation from the plane. They landed when they knew they must be close, right on the start of dusk. Bluehawk ran forward, suddenly realizing something he had once heard about a floating island with a huge chaos emerald powering it which had once been nearby…and suddenly he stopped as he reached a huge downward hill…a crater almost, although it was more like a bottomed funnel. Perhaps this was the-he lifted out his map as phantom caught up. "According to this map, this be the place." He stated. Phantom ran down toward the center where a large rock lay…that was one flat surface. And sure enough, it was inscribed.
When evil collects the greatest fourHope doesn't seem to remain
The champions and titans
Will cause ultimate cataclysm.
Ultimate cataclysm? What the heck? That couldn't be good. Then Bluehawk suddenly realized a strange smell in the air. Purple haze… "SHIT! PHANTOM!"
Phantom noticed as well. The purple smoke which could only mean the cloaked one teleporting in a whole mass of beings. Bluehawk grabbed Phantom and ran for it up a tree, and just in time they found a nice mass of leaves as the cloaked figure apparated, the clone of Sama next to him…and appearing all around the two were the black figures. The red eyes. The shadow humanoids. They littered the whole crater in their hundreds, all walking slowly inward. Bluehawk could hear the cloak's voice easily.
"We have done it. Soon, the titans will be at my command!"
He threw his hands into the air, releasing the four orbs from his cloak, each moving in a different compass direction from him…the purple light of the Pesnah Sphere drifted to the north, lighting the shadow men with a violet glow. The yellow-green glow of the Terras Ball hovered to the South end of the crater, striking the humanoids with an eerie yellow essence. The red-orange luminance of the Incire Globe floated toward the west, striking the red-eyes with the red glow. And the whitish-blue essence of the Akise Orb drifted east, making the shadows look like they were already frozen solid. The globes lowered into the ground and burrowed downward into it, looking spectral and ghostly. And then they all froze to their positions, simply staring at the cloaked one, even the Sama clone, who seemed even more bewildered than the shadows.
"In a few hours…they will all be released upon the world at my command. When the gem of yin-yang is in position."
Bluehawk and Phantom both wiped sweat from their foreheads as they got back to the plane in their hurry to get back to Graim's. They were going to destroy or take over (or something) the world…but using what? It wasn't long before they got back to Graim's in a total rush of the need to get going. They had to combat whatever this threat was. Bluehawk's first stop was the phone.
*****
The secretary of the SoaH City Hall sat down again after showing Nambuk to the city council meeting room doors, and suddenly the phone was ringing.
"Can I help you?"
"Patch me through to the mayor! This is urgent!"
"What kind of urgent?"
"Like THE WORLD IS ENDING URGENT!!"
The secretary rolled her eyes and went to go interrupt the meeting. "URGENT call for Mayor Neon Chaos."
"Excuse me." The green echidna-like creature walked slowly to the phone in his office, wondering what the heck was going on. "Yes?"
"Sir! Gather EVERY FIGHTER AND MAGE IN SOAH CITY and send them directly North West to the crater near Mortality Rock! I don't know exactly what we're facing here, but if this battle fails the world could be doomed!"
Neon barely reacted.
"And SoaH City will be first to go!!"
Suddenly his eyes widened. "Okay. I'll do it."
*****
It was nearly in place. The huge floating lump of rock, right on dawn, was going to be perfectly in place. Angel Island and its Master Emerald, the gem that combined all of the elements, was slowly moving toward the small army of black shadows, and the cloaked one with the yellow echidna. It was in place…and suddenly everyone was blown backwards by a forceful wind and a wave of heat. The energies were combining and the seal deep below was finally being unlocked.
*****
A huge, hulking creature made entirely of flame climbed slowly out of his hiding place deep within the volcano that destroyed the towns of Ekasn, and on the other side of the mountain, the town of furries of which no-one knew the name but its occupants. The signal was there on the horizon. That white glowing pillar of light. It was time to go and thwart the seal and become immense in size…finally, the seal was truly breaking.
*****
An immense bird of blue and white looked up to the sky, and as expected the pillar of light had come right on time. Its movement would be free now…and it was time to leave this now frozen wasteland and prevent the other titans from doing more damage!
*****
The huge armadillo-turtle creature looked up from its enormous burrow. Since that little blue thing had hurt it, it had powered down slightly…but the seal was breaking, judging by that pillar of light reaching into the clouds. The time for destruction was come.
*****
The cloaked figure let down his arms as he stood in the centre of the tower of light, freezing the strange island in place. The shadow men stood further back, as did the echidna clone. And the light began to fade…but the pounding sound didn't. The titans were coming, getting closer, getting bigger now that their power was no longer restricted. They now had control over everything of their elements. And they were coming for their command. Before long each could be seen upon the horizon, except for the bright blue bird. They all stopped at the edges of the crater according to their respective directions, and looked down to the figure in the middle as if to say 'what is our command?' the cloaked figure looked back up to them, thinking. What should the first target be? There was a strange buzzing in the air at this point…what could that be coming from? The titans looked around, and their eyes all seemed to fix on one place that the cloaked one could not see from down in the crater. The shadow men all started running out to where they were looking…but it seemed they could not see anything either. Whatever it was was being hidden by the lack of light on the plain. Wait…not plain. Plane. It was a plane flying around. A small one. And coming from the South East was a mass of movement and colour. All of the fighters from SoaH City had gathered to take on this massive threat.
