Hello again to you all! It's me, SirGecko, with chapter five, the revised version. Hopefully, this will be better than the previous chapter five, for I have removed some cheesy lines, some overreactions, and other miscellaneous things.
This chapter is the first battle between Karst, Agatio, Alex, and Isaac and company. It's almost all Psynergy. It's 6 ½ pages long, so it's rather short. But, I hope you enjoy it anyway. It should be a little more bearable, at least.
Okay then, I think that is all. Enjoy chapter 5!
Chapter 5: New Enemies Tested
It was Karst. She stepped out of the shadows, trailing Alex and Agatio behind her. She looked triumphant about something.
"Oh, aren't you Hell's little angels," snarled Garet.
"How dare you," said the soft, even voice of Alex. "We're kind enough to wait for you, and all you can do in return is call us names?"
At this, both Mia and Lunora glanced at him for a moment, their expressions not natural. Isaac didn't have time to figure them out before he heard voices in the background.
Further back, on the other side of the aerie, Jenna and Sheba watched Isaac and company and then Karst's group start to talk. Jenna and Sheba started to talk amongst themselves.
"Look, there's Isaac and his friends," said Jenna. "They look pretty tough. Do think they could take on Agatio, Karst, and Alex if they got into a fight?"
"Yeah, I do," Sheba agreed. "I don't know who'd win, but it'd be a good fight. Tell me who's who again." Jenna pointed Isaac's friends out. "Okay then. Who are those other two people traveling with them?" Sheba asked.
Jenna looked over, and saw that indeed there were two people standing with Isaac's friends that she had never seen before. Her eyes stalled on the man with the red cape and the long sword strapped to his back. But through the talk that followed, they found out their names.
"Please, Karst, let me kill them now," said Agatio.
"No, we must make them watch the lighting of the Jupiter Beacon first," replied Karst, smirking at Isaac. "You little brats are going pay for the death of my sister."
"All of you, not just Isaac," said Agatio. "So . . ."
His voice trailed off. He was looking at someone in Isaac's group. Isaac followed Agatio's gaze, and it met Solaris. Solaris was wearing an expression not seen before by Isaac and the rest. There was hot fury erupting in Solaris's face.
"Well, we meet again, Solaris," said Agatio, rather pleasantly. He then turned to Lunora. "And just who the Hell are you?"
"It's Lunora," said Lunora curtly.
"I see," said Agatio. He turned back to Solaris. "I do hope you're not here to avenge your brother's death."
"As a matter of fact, I am," Solaris snarled. Isaac looked at him in surprise.
"You seem surprised, my dear," said Karst. "You see, as dishonorable to Solaris as Saturos's intentions were, he was still his brother, and he loved him no matter what he did. He's not like us. As you're about to find out, he cannot simply discard someone he has no use for, as we have done."
"NO! You haven't hurt Jenna have you?" shouted Garet. At this, Jenna smiled slightly, finding out that Garet still had a crush on her.
"Jenna?" said Alex. "How could you think of such treachery? It is a sin to destroy a thing of beauty. No, we haven't touched her. But, I'm sorry to say, you won't be seeing Grandpa again."
"Grandpa? . . . What?! You killed Kraden?" yelled Isaac.
"No, not at all, we just conveniently misled him into the center of a pitfall. He was unable to hold on," said Karst.
Isaac drew his sword. He was starting to feel some of Solaris's fury well up within himself. Garet, Ivan and drew their weapons too. They saw Lunora and Mia do the same, their eves locked on Alex. Isaac still couldn't figure out the reasoning behind this.
"I presume that they wish to challenge us," said Alex. "Six on three. I hardly call this a fair fight, but even with your six people you'll be no match for our power. Felix!"
A dark-haired man stepped out of the shadows at Alex's words. He walked over to where Alex, Karst, and Agatio were standing.
"Before we dispose of the followers, take the star and light the lighthouse!" Alex commanded.
"No!" Isaac rushed up to stop him, but Agatio, Karst, and Alex raised their palms.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Karst, smirking, her hand starting to blaze.
Isaac and the others were helpless. They all wanted to just leap after Felix, tackle him, and take the star, but then they'd be too vulnerable, and might get seriously injured, or killed, by the others. So, they had no choice but to obey Karst's command.
They all watched Felix stride over to the well in the center of the lighthouse, and drop the star in. Instantly, the lighthouse started to shake. A beam of glowing purple energy shot up through the well. There was an exploding sound within the core of the lighthouse, and then the great ball of swirling Jupiter energy shot through the well, illuminating the lighthouse aerie more brightly, and dulling up the red all over the stone.
"Now that that is taken care of," said Agatio, "we can get rid of you! All with Psynergy!" And so the battle began.
Agatio cast Meteor Blow on Isaac and company. Isaac and the others braced themselves. The meteor exploded in front of them. The heat from the impact seared all of them to the point where their armor turned black. Garet and Solaris got up first.
Solaris attacked with his Sol Blade. He was lucky. It unleashed Sol's Fury. Agatio was bombarded by the same beads of energy that had incinerated the Gargoyles hours before. Agatio looked Ashen-faced, having lost a lot of health and power, but he was ready for when his turn came.
"Diamond Berg!" Alex yelled. The berg came crashing down on Garet. Alex started crushing the berg into tiny pieces, Garet being encased in the berg. Garet was bruised and bloody, and significantly drained on health, but he countered.
"Pyroclasm!" he roared. Four searing heat volcanoes erupted below Karst, Agatio, and Alex, Alex being the main target. All three took damage, Karst and Agatio Minimal. Alex, on the other hand, was scorched. Alex looked like he had just about had it. But he was still in the fight. Karst raised her palm.
"Supernova!" she shouted triumphantly. The air around Isaac and company heated up, compressed, and exploded all over them. Just like the heat from Agatio's attack, it seared them all. Ivan looked particularly weak, but he got to his feet and raised his palm.
"Spark Plasma!" he shouted. Towering thunderbolts shot down from nowhere and exploded all over Alex, Karst, and Agatio. Karst took the heaviest damage. Even so, all were left standing. Isaac raised his palm.
"Odyssey!" he shouted. Suddenly, Agatio and Alex disappeared from Isaac's sight. He had only one mind-set. Attack Karst. Give Karst pain. Two long, thin, blue scimitars struck Karst. Then, Isaac's sword started to flash, and he charged forward. A HUGE sword followed him, and thrust itself into Karst. She took serious damage. Her chest was bleeding. She fell to the ground, twitching and moaning in agony.
"You downed Karst," snarled Agatio. You'll pay for that soon!" Then, Mia raised her palm.
"Glacier!" she screeched. Instantly, shards of ice the size of boulders appeared out of thin air. They surrounded Agatio and Alex and began to crash down around them. Merging into one another, they froze Agatio and Alex briefly in a wall of ice. Agatio looked severely shaken, cuts and bruises lining his face, but Alex looked even more menacing than before, despite the little health that had been taken away from him by the Freeze Prism. He had been the main target in the attack.
Finally, Lunora raised her palm. All watched to see what kind of Psynergy she would wield. "I summon Io!" she called. Instantly all party members and enemies were warped to a distant moon, a moon turning itself inside out with volcanic eruptions. Alex and Agatio, not having encountered this magic, didn't know what to do. The moon emitted a few embers, and they flew at Agatio and Alex. When they hit the ground, they erupted. They erupted so forcefully, that it made Garet's Pyroclasm look like a mere campfire. Wave after wave of volcanic lava erupted over Agatio and Alex. All of a sudden they were warped back to the top of Jupiter Lighthouse.
Even though Agatio was a member of the Fire Clan, he took heavy damage. Alex had had it. "You should be the one to finish this battle," he said weakly to Agatio. "To avenge the falling of Karst."
"You've got it," sneered Agatio at the group, as Alex staggered away. "I will finish this. Time for round two!"
However, this time, Solaris was faster than his brother's master. He attacked once again. This time, he wasn't so lucky. His blade didn't unleash Sol's Fury, and Agatio dodged his blow. It was Agatio's turn.
"Rising Dragon!" he roared. There was a slight pause as he thought. 'This is a one-opponent attack. I have to choose which person to use it on. Ah, but of course, it's too simple.' He thrust his palm at Isaac.
A mystical dragon came out of the floor of the lighthouse, mouth open. It swallowed Isaac, and continued upward, reaching for the sky. After getting about 100 feet into the air, the dragon exploded. Isaac took a significant amount of damage, not only from the dragon, but from his fall back to the lighthouse aerie. He lay there, motionless. A thin red line came streaking out from under his head.
"Isaac!" Mia yelled, starting to rush over to him.
"No, don't do it, Mia!" Garet shouted.
"Ivan, how could you say something like that? He's your best friend, my . . .!" she shrieked, starting to dissolve into tears.
"I know that!" Garet. "That's why I'm telling you not to do this!"
Mia looked questioningly up at him, streaks running down from her eyes.
"If we help Isaac, and let down our guard, Agatio will defeat all of us, and there'll be none of us left to cure Isaac. Now let's battle!" roared Garet. He whispered to Ivan, "Defend. You need to. Besides, this is a personal issue between me and Mia."
"Lover's quarrel?" jeered Agatio.
"Oh, go to Hell," sneered Garet. He was ready.
Garet cast Liquefier. Mars energy gathered at his fingertips, and then exploded out into nothing. Then all of a sudden, rods of energy shot up under Agatio. Being a Mars Adept, this did little damage. However, Agatio was showing signs of fatigue. It was up to Mia to finish him off.
"Ice Missile!" she shouted. Shards of piercing ice, one after another, fell on Agatio. The wave lasted for at least five seconds (that's a long time if you're weak to that particular type of Psynergy). After the shards of ice ceased, they got a good look at Agatio.
He had small holes all over his body from where the shards of ice pierced him. Blood was oozing from each opening. Both he and Garet, Ivan, and Mia knew that he could fight no more. He retreated to where Alex was sitting, gasping and wheezing.
Solaris stepped forward, Sol blade in his hand. He twirled it around in his hand once, and raised it above Agatio's heart.
"Go ahead, kill me," whispered Agatio menacingly. "Saturos was a worthless apprentice anyway."
"You want me to kill you?" said Solaris softly. And then Garet saw the boiling anger erupt once again in his face. "With pleasure!!!" Solaris roared.
Solaris brought down the sword with great speed. But someone's speed was greater. Another weapon intercepted the Sol Blade, knocking it off course. Solaris was clearly not expecting this, for the Sol Blade shot out of his hands. It skidded across the roof of the lighthouse. It was about to fall off the lighthouse entirely, but Garet lunged forward and grabbed the hilt just in time. Solaris looked over to see who had foiled his attempt to destroy Agatio.
It was Karst. She looked weaker than ever, her chest and armor bloody. "Nice try . . . Solaris," she rasped triumphantly. Alex had removed Karst from the thick of battle, and revived her. He then fully healed both her and Agatio.
"You won," said Alex. "Though I hardly call that battle a fair fight."
"That's not our fault!" said Ivan defiantly. "Who were the ones who thought they were so high and mighty that they could beat us?" Agatio, Alex, and Karst didn't answer. "And now look at you," said Ivan, smirking. "We beat you into the ground!"
"I'd watch your mouth, you nasty little kid," snarled Karst. "Didn't that Master Hammock guy, or whatever his name was, teach you any manners? Anyway, it doesn't matter. If you want to get personal about it, then we can fight here and now, just the two of us! Come on!"
"That's not a very wise decision," said Lunora, stepping in front of Ivan. "Even though Alex has healed you, you have not fully recovered from that fight. Therefore, you would lose."
"I really hate to say it, but for once, Lenarda has a point," said Agatio. Both Lunora and Karst scowled at him.
"So be it," said Alex. "We shall take our leave now. But keep this in mind. While you may have won the battle, you still failed in your initial goal. Until we meet again, atop the Luna Lighthouse!" With that, he, Karst, and Agatio and Felix, Sheba, and Jenna teleported away.
"Well, that's that," said Garet happily, despite the lingering feeling in the back of his mind that told him that Alex had made a good point. "We beat the hotheaded fools until they ran away! How about that, Ivan?" Ivan nodded happily. "Huh Mia? . . .Mia?" Garet looked around for Mia. He saw her standing over Isaac, healing him, or at least, trying to.
"Come on, Isaac," she said, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Don't die on me! Please, wake up!" She put the last of her Psynergy into Isaac, tears streaming down her face. "Please, Lunora, help me!"
"I wish I could," said Lunora sadly. "That Io summon drained all of my Psynergy. I assure that I'd help you if I could."
Garet was sitting on the steps leading up to the well where the Jupiter light was glowing brightly. He was looking at Mia and Isaac. He was resting his head in his hands, watching apprehensively. Solaris came up to him.
"It'll be okay, pal," he said, sitting down next to him.
"I only wish we could do more to help him," said Garet miserably. "You don't think he'll die, do you?"
"No, of course not," said Solaris reassuringly. He clapped Garet on the back. "Mia's a good healer. I can sense it. She'll get him back."
Mia was trying to find any last bit of Psynergy she could use to help Isaac, but she couldn't use any more. Isaac still hadn't moved. She laid her head down on Isaac's neck, sobbing. She didn't care that her face was stained red by this time . . .
*******
Isaac opened his eyes, his vision bleary. It was totally dark all around him. "Where am I?" asked Isaac, his voice echoing strangely. No answer came to him. "I demand that I know where I am!" he shouted, voice still echoing. Still no answer.
Isaac got up with great difficulty from where he was lying, and began to walk, very slowly, around. He was looking for some familiar sign, hopefully Garet, Ivan, Mia, Solaris, and Lunora. He could see nothing. His eyes soon became accustomed to the dark and he finally started to notice his surroundings.
He was standing on a large platform in a black room, however the platform was lit up slightly. He could not see anything two feet outside of the beam of light. On all sides of the platform, he could see a bottomless pit. All of a sudden, he saw something stir in the shadows, or rather, he sensed it.
"Wh-Who's there?" he stammered. And then, without warning, something huge, smoky, and menacing barreled out of the blackness, and it was heading straight for him.
"Aaughh!" he screamed. He ducked, and by lucky chance, the shadow overpassed him. The shadow halted, and turned around. Isaac got a good view of the shadow. It looked like the Grim Reaper.
Isaac knew somehow, as the Reaper Shadow made to charge at him again, that this time, no matter what he tried to do, that shadow would sweep through him and steal his life energy away. As the shadow came around for a second sweep, Isaac dived into the bottomless pit . . .
*******
"No, Isaac! Please, don't be dead! Wake up!"
Mia was still pleading into his neck. Isaac groaned. Mia stopped crying, and looked up. Isaac still hadn't moved, and his eyes were still closed.
'No,' she thought. 'I must have imagined it.' However, she watched, holding her breath. Isaac groaned again, and this time, she knew it was real.
"Isaac! Thank the gods! I thought you had died!" Mia started sobbing again, this time with tears of happiness.
"Oh Mars," said Garet. "He's alive. Solaris, he's alive!"
Solaris grinned at him. "See? What did I tell you?"
Isaac sat up, groaning with the pain he felt in his muscles, unaware of what was going on. Then, he saw Mia, kneeling next to him. Her eyes were flowing with tears. He managed a small smile, and joked, "Remember when I said never to scare me like that? Looks like I have no room to talk now. What I put you through was an understatement to scary."
Mia flung her arms around him, sobbing. "Now, really," said Isaac, looking quite surprised. "I'm just fine."
"Don't kid yourself," said Garet. "You look like Hell."
"Garet!" snapped Lunora, while Solaris snickered.
"What? I know he's trying to make Mia feel better, but he does look bad," said Garet defensively.
"Well, and Garet's right too," said Isaac, groaning as he sat himself up. "I bet I do look like Hell."
It took Isaac a while to calm Mia down, but eventually, she was okay again, though still very shaken.
"I'm glad everything turned out all right, even if this lighthouse did scare each of us," she said, kissing him.
Isaac felt a lot better after that kiss. It was as if that were a different type of Psynergy, one that did not require power. Behind her back, Garet stuck his finger down his throat, and made a gagging noise that Isaac and Mia could not hear. Solaris snickered silently.
"Me too," said Isaac, after he was free to talk again. "Well, let's Retreat."
************************
Well, Isaac's okay, and that's good. So, the first battle was okay, I hope . . . I mean, for being all psynergy.
Now, review, or you may just get an icicle through the heart, complements of my Gecko. Heh . . . that oughta get you all to review, eh?