Brutus grabbed me and pulled threw me to into the cave. He grabbed Goliath
also, and hefted him over his shoulder. I heard thunderous, pounding
footsteps from above the cave. I watched as the silent, black cloaked
troops of NME jumped down and spun, firing into the cave and upon us. My
anger rose. We hadn't done anything! They had no right to attack us! I had
to get moving. I reached inside and pulled the trigger. this time, I was
going to let go.
"Brutus!" I struggled to shout. "Stay out of my way!" And the world hazed from red to black . . . and I fell into the power well of the fury.
The fight lasted full on for over and hour . . . Magnum fought with madness, taking down everyone who opposed him. A little ways into the fight, the attackers were fighting both for their lives and to get out of his path. Brutus had nothing to do but take down any one who Magnum didn't get to . . . even then, the job was a small one. In the back of the cave, Goliath rolled over and groaned, unable to move. Loki got closer, and sniffed him. He recognized Goliath's features, and yelped shrilly. He ran to the corner to hide, and spent the battle there.
Outside of the cave, blood was flying in a heavy mist through the air, as Magnum hacked and slashed. His sword was an invisible menace, and as he flew from the ground, his legs and head-butts broke bones and cracked skulls. He was a machine: a fast and efficient killer. He paused for a scant second over one of the fallen soldiers. The man looked up at him, and pleaded for his life. He got about half way through his appeal before he was separated from his head. Eventually, the fight began to wind down. Magnum had killed everyone, and was breathing hard. His face covered in a red mist, and his blank golden eyes glowing, he looked like a demon out of an ancient Cappy textile. Magnum's eyes fell upon Brutus.
Brutus sucked in a panicked breath, and held still. Magnum raised his sword, and suddenly collapsed to the ground. He was physically spent, and the berzerker had no where to go. In little more than 60 minutes, Magnum had single handedly decimated troop #23 of NME's army: a group composed of over 200 well-trained warriors.
I opened my eyes, and for the second time found that Brutus was holding me up. He leaned me against the cave wall, and handed me a bit of bread. I nibbled on it, and felt my face go warm with embarrassment. Did he have to stare at me like that? Loki bounced over to me, and dug his muzzle into my side. He curled up and fell asleep in that position. I peered across the cave. Brutus was now taking care of Goliath. I felt a knot grow in my stomach.
"Is he OK?" I asked tentatively. Brutus turned back to me. "Ye may no' believe i', bu' the shot tha' man gave 'im missed all O' 'is vital organs. i' wen' throu' 'is shoulder though. . . 'ee's gonna 'ave a 'ell o' a time tryin' to use 'is arm later on." I nodded sadly, and looked out side. I winced at the sight of the carnage I had caused. Brutus had apparently piled up the bodies, and they lied in piles 5, even 6 bodies high. The space outside of the cave was crowded with them.
Goliath rubbed his head with his good arm. "Wha' 'appened?" He asked. He looked up at Brutus again, who smiled uncertainly. "Are ye . . . my pater?" (Father, that is . . . mater is mother.) Brutus looked relieved that Goliath had started the talk. "I'm 'orrible sorry, bu' I'm no' ye pater. Wa' 'ee by any chance thou', named Grang?" Goliath looked shocked. "Aye, tha' 'ee wa'! Bu' 'ow did ye know?" I leaned forward to hear. Brutus nodded steadily. "Aye, I thought' the like. . . ye 'ave 'is eyes. I woul' suppose tha' i' woul' mean tha' I be ye uncle thou'." Goliath leaned back, and closed his eyes.
"I never knew I 'ad an uncle. . . why no'?" Brutus looked out side, and stared at the sky. "I ran off one nigh', years ago. Ye pater tried to sto' me, bu' I kep' on goin'. I joined a travelin' pack o' salvagers tha' 'ad landed fo' the nigh', and away I wen'. . . I aven' been on thi' planet fo' years. Ye be my on'y attatchmen' to the place."
I knew that Goliath had to be a little confused, but this explained a lot for me. I petted Loki, who woke up suddenly. He saw Goliath and scrambled against me to get behind my back and away from Goliath. I looked at him strangely, and turned to Goliath.
"What did you do to him?" I asked. Goliath opened his eyes. "Eh?" He murmured. "To Loki! The puppy! Why is he afraid of you?" Goliath looked down guiltily. "Wher' di' ye pick 'im up?" He asked. I told him about the cave, and he looked away.
"Aye, tha's the place. I 'ad to kill 'is paren's when they attacked me. I put the bodies back, but too' som' o' the meat fo' foo'. I didn' know they 'ad a chil'. 'onest!" I wasn't sure, but I believed him. What did he have to gain by lying? I got up, with Loki in my arms. I sat down out side, and looked around. I had killed so many . . . I couldn't get comfterbale with their dead gazes upon me. I got up, and found the trail. I sat down on a rock, and stayed there. Loki grumbled with happiness as I scratched under his chin, and then over his back. "OUCH!" I cried, and drew back my hand. What pricked me?
I picked through his fur, expecting to find a burr, or picker. Instead, I found a small, golden spike protruding from his skin. The spikes grew all the way from the back of his head, to midway down his tail. I wondered about them. As I pondered the growth of these little, sharp spikes, another memory came to me . . .
I flew on my warpstar, dodging the lighting. A lightning bolt came at me at a speed so fast; I had no time to move. I swallowed it, and felt the power course through my body. I changed slightly, and felt my power rise. A sword materialized in my hand, and I looked up to do battle with my assaulted. His single eye tracked me, and I watched as electricity sparked up and down the gigantic golden spikes that protruded from his sides. One name came to me: KRACKO!
I shook my head in confusion. This was another event I couldn't ever remember going through, but I could almost feel the wind against me as I flew to the fight . . . As I stared down at Loki, another, much briefer memory came to mind.
A huge mouth, and huge eyes. The magenta hair of my enemy bristled in anger, and he struck out with his claws. I remembered hearing Meta Knight speak of this monster . . . WolfWrath was my opponent today.
I ricocheted back to reality. Loki . . . maybe . . . the wolves that had attacked me earlier . . . now that I thought about it, they had had big golden spikes too. So, what did it mean? WolfWrath and Kracko: some how, Loki was related to both of them, along with the rest of his kind. Wolf- Kracko, Kracko-Wrath? What?
I lost my train of thought though, when I heard a noise in the bushes in front of me. I stood up, and reached for my sword. Gone! I looked back, and saw it stuck in the chest of a soldier more than 80 feet away. I went into my defensive position instead. Masadona tumbled out of the brush, followed by Cinsta and Garther. I fell back to my seat in surprise, and Masadona sat next to me: she then collapsed with her head in my lap. Garther plunked down on my other side, and sighed heavily. I noticed that most of his body was back to normal now, but he still wore his head armor and both his left leg and right arm were still metal plated. Cinsta showed a similar case. All three were exhausted. "Where have you been?" I asked imploringly. Cinsta cocked his head at me, and replied:
"We would ask you the same question . . ." he looked over at the enormous amount of bodies, and continued. "But I have a feeling we don't want to know." I sighed, and looked down at Masadona. She had fallen asleep with a smile, but it looked as though she had seen some pretty bad days during the past year. I looked at Garther.
"Why didn't you guys head back to the ship?" I asked. Cinsta answered for Garther. "Those guys, yeah, the dead ones . . . troop 23 I think it was, kept stopping us. Masadona's been taking care of us, and making sure that we never got caught. Plus, she refused to go back until she found you." I sighed, and absorbed the information feeling slightly guilty. If I hadn't run off, my friends wouldn't have had to do this. Garther suddenly jumped up and shouted in alarm. "Where did you come from?!" he yelled. Meta Knight had been standing next to him. I started to ask how he managed to get here so quickly, but shut my mouth. Why bother? He wouldn't tell me anyway.
Meta Knight looked with interest at Loki, who was now asleep at my feet. "You've tamed a hybrid?" He asked. I looked up at him. "Is that what he's called?" I asked. Meta Knight shrugged. "They have many names . . . that is simply what I choose to call them." I waited for him to continue.
"I've finally found out where they came from," He said, and leaned against a nearby tree. "I watched one of the camps, and found that NME set up a special machine: similar to the device he used to send monsters to King Dedede." He paused, and started to explain. "That's OK, you can tell the others later," I said, and pondered briefly on the memory of a throne room full of machines and monsters.
Meta Knight seemed slightly taken aback, but continued on. "Anyway, he used the machine to splice together DNA from two of his most powerful fallen monsters: WolfWrath and Kracko. A while ago, NME lost a few of the wolves. This was about 3 or 4 months back. He decided to let them roam free, and spread wild. I do believe though that he didn't consider the factor that some one might tame one of the hybrids . . . like you did, Magnum." Now I understood. The others seemed a little confused, but now I knew what the monsters were and where they were from.
Meta Knight continued. "Also, this is something important to all of you . . ." He said quite ominously. We all leaned in to hear him better. "While I spied on the camp, I heard talk from one of the soldiers. He was discussing how a friend of his in another troop helped capture about 30 or so lost kids. He said that one of them, "A big one" he described him as, escaped. I peered back at the cave. That had to mean Goliath! But that meant . . . Garther spoke up.
"You mean that NME captured all of our friends?" He choked. Meta Knight lifted his eyes to look sadly at the sky. His look of unhappiness was quickly replaced by his usual blank look. "Yes. The last thing the soldier said was that the kids were lead by a grown man. He didn't know what the other troop did to him." I sucked in my breath. Dad!
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now you must wait! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But don't worry . . . I'll try to update soon. Later. Maybe. )
"Brutus!" I struggled to shout. "Stay out of my way!" And the world hazed from red to black . . . and I fell into the power well of the fury.
The fight lasted full on for over and hour . . . Magnum fought with madness, taking down everyone who opposed him. A little ways into the fight, the attackers were fighting both for their lives and to get out of his path. Brutus had nothing to do but take down any one who Magnum didn't get to . . . even then, the job was a small one. In the back of the cave, Goliath rolled over and groaned, unable to move. Loki got closer, and sniffed him. He recognized Goliath's features, and yelped shrilly. He ran to the corner to hide, and spent the battle there.
Outside of the cave, blood was flying in a heavy mist through the air, as Magnum hacked and slashed. His sword was an invisible menace, and as he flew from the ground, his legs and head-butts broke bones and cracked skulls. He was a machine: a fast and efficient killer. He paused for a scant second over one of the fallen soldiers. The man looked up at him, and pleaded for his life. He got about half way through his appeal before he was separated from his head. Eventually, the fight began to wind down. Magnum had killed everyone, and was breathing hard. His face covered in a red mist, and his blank golden eyes glowing, he looked like a demon out of an ancient Cappy textile. Magnum's eyes fell upon Brutus.
Brutus sucked in a panicked breath, and held still. Magnum raised his sword, and suddenly collapsed to the ground. He was physically spent, and the berzerker had no where to go. In little more than 60 minutes, Magnum had single handedly decimated troop #23 of NME's army: a group composed of over 200 well-trained warriors.
I opened my eyes, and for the second time found that Brutus was holding me up. He leaned me against the cave wall, and handed me a bit of bread. I nibbled on it, and felt my face go warm with embarrassment. Did he have to stare at me like that? Loki bounced over to me, and dug his muzzle into my side. He curled up and fell asleep in that position. I peered across the cave. Brutus was now taking care of Goliath. I felt a knot grow in my stomach.
"Is he OK?" I asked tentatively. Brutus turned back to me. "Ye may no' believe i', bu' the shot tha' man gave 'im missed all O' 'is vital organs. i' wen' throu' 'is shoulder though. . . 'ee's gonna 'ave a 'ell o' a time tryin' to use 'is arm later on." I nodded sadly, and looked out side. I winced at the sight of the carnage I had caused. Brutus had apparently piled up the bodies, and they lied in piles 5, even 6 bodies high. The space outside of the cave was crowded with them.
Goliath rubbed his head with his good arm. "Wha' 'appened?" He asked. He looked up at Brutus again, who smiled uncertainly. "Are ye . . . my pater?" (Father, that is . . . mater is mother.) Brutus looked relieved that Goliath had started the talk. "I'm 'orrible sorry, bu' I'm no' ye pater. Wa' 'ee by any chance thou', named Grang?" Goliath looked shocked. "Aye, tha' 'ee wa'! Bu' 'ow did ye know?" I leaned forward to hear. Brutus nodded steadily. "Aye, I thought' the like. . . ye 'ave 'is eyes. I woul' suppose tha' i' woul' mean tha' I be ye uncle thou'." Goliath leaned back, and closed his eyes.
"I never knew I 'ad an uncle. . . why no'?" Brutus looked out side, and stared at the sky. "I ran off one nigh', years ago. Ye pater tried to sto' me, bu' I kep' on goin'. I joined a travelin' pack o' salvagers tha' 'ad landed fo' the nigh', and away I wen'. . . I aven' been on thi' planet fo' years. Ye be my on'y attatchmen' to the place."
I knew that Goliath had to be a little confused, but this explained a lot for me. I petted Loki, who woke up suddenly. He saw Goliath and scrambled against me to get behind my back and away from Goliath. I looked at him strangely, and turned to Goliath.
"What did you do to him?" I asked. Goliath opened his eyes. "Eh?" He murmured. "To Loki! The puppy! Why is he afraid of you?" Goliath looked down guiltily. "Wher' di' ye pick 'im up?" He asked. I told him about the cave, and he looked away.
"Aye, tha's the place. I 'ad to kill 'is paren's when they attacked me. I put the bodies back, but too' som' o' the meat fo' foo'. I didn' know they 'ad a chil'. 'onest!" I wasn't sure, but I believed him. What did he have to gain by lying? I got up, with Loki in my arms. I sat down out side, and looked around. I had killed so many . . . I couldn't get comfterbale with their dead gazes upon me. I got up, and found the trail. I sat down on a rock, and stayed there. Loki grumbled with happiness as I scratched under his chin, and then over his back. "OUCH!" I cried, and drew back my hand. What pricked me?
I picked through his fur, expecting to find a burr, or picker. Instead, I found a small, golden spike protruding from his skin. The spikes grew all the way from the back of his head, to midway down his tail. I wondered about them. As I pondered the growth of these little, sharp spikes, another memory came to me . . .
I flew on my warpstar, dodging the lighting. A lightning bolt came at me at a speed so fast; I had no time to move. I swallowed it, and felt the power course through my body. I changed slightly, and felt my power rise. A sword materialized in my hand, and I looked up to do battle with my assaulted. His single eye tracked me, and I watched as electricity sparked up and down the gigantic golden spikes that protruded from his sides. One name came to me: KRACKO!
I shook my head in confusion. This was another event I couldn't ever remember going through, but I could almost feel the wind against me as I flew to the fight . . . As I stared down at Loki, another, much briefer memory came to mind.
A huge mouth, and huge eyes. The magenta hair of my enemy bristled in anger, and he struck out with his claws. I remembered hearing Meta Knight speak of this monster . . . WolfWrath was my opponent today.
I ricocheted back to reality. Loki . . . maybe . . . the wolves that had attacked me earlier . . . now that I thought about it, they had had big golden spikes too. So, what did it mean? WolfWrath and Kracko: some how, Loki was related to both of them, along with the rest of his kind. Wolf- Kracko, Kracko-Wrath? What?
I lost my train of thought though, when I heard a noise in the bushes in front of me. I stood up, and reached for my sword. Gone! I looked back, and saw it stuck in the chest of a soldier more than 80 feet away. I went into my defensive position instead. Masadona tumbled out of the brush, followed by Cinsta and Garther. I fell back to my seat in surprise, and Masadona sat next to me: she then collapsed with her head in my lap. Garther plunked down on my other side, and sighed heavily. I noticed that most of his body was back to normal now, but he still wore his head armor and both his left leg and right arm were still metal plated. Cinsta showed a similar case. All three were exhausted. "Where have you been?" I asked imploringly. Cinsta cocked his head at me, and replied:
"We would ask you the same question . . ." he looked over at the enormous amount of bodies, and continued. "But I have a feeling we don't want to know." I sighed, and looked down at Masadona. She had fallen asleep with a smile, but it looked as though she had seen some pretty bad days during the past year. I looked at Garther.
"Why didn't you guys head back to the ship?" I asked. Cinsta answered for Garther. "Those guys, yeah, the dead ones . . . troop 23 I think it was, kept stopping us. Masadona's been taking care of us, and making sure that we never got caught. Plus, she refused to go back until she found you." I sighed, and absorbed the information feeling slightly guilty. If I hadn't run off, my friends wouldn't have had to do this. Garther suddenly jumped up and shouted in alarm. "Where did you come from?!" he yelled. Meta Knight had been standing next to him. I started to ask how he managed to get here so quickly, but shut my mouth. Why bother? He wouldn't tell me anyway.
Meta Knight looked with interest at Loki, who was now asleep at my feet. "You've tamed a hybrid?" He asked. I looked up at him. "Is that what he's called?" I asked. Meta Knight shrugged. "They have many names . . . that is simply what I choose to call them." I waited for him to continue.
"I've finally found out where they came from," He said, and leaned against a nearby tree. "I watched one of the camps, and found that NME set up a special machine: similar to the device he used to send monsters to King Dedede." He paused, and started to explain. "That's OK, you can tell the others later," I said, and pondered briefly on the memory of a throne room full of machines and monsters.
Meta Knight seemed slightly taken aback, but continued on. "Anyway, he used the machine to splice together DNA from two of his most powerful fallen monsters: WolfWrath and Kracko. A while ago, NME lost a few of the wolves. This was about 3 or 4 months back. He decided to let them roam free, and spread wild. I do believe though that he didn't consider the factor that some one might tame one of the hybrids . . . like you did, Magnum." Now I understood. The others seemed a little confused, but now I knew what the monsters were and where they were from.
Meta Knight continued. "Also, this is something important to all of you . . ." He said quite ominously. We all leaned in to hear him better. "While I spied on the camp, I heard talk from one of the soldiers. He was discussing how a friend of his in another troop helped capture about 30 or so lost kids. He said that one of them, "A big one" he described him as, escaped. I peered back at the cave. That had to mean Goliath! But that meant . . . Garther spoke up.
"You mean that NME captured all of our friends?" He choked. Meta Knight lifted his eyes to look sadly at the sky. His look of unhappiness was quickly replaced by his usual blank look. "Yes. The last thing the soldier said was that the kids were lead by a grown man. He didn't know what the other troop did to him." I sucked in my breath. Dad!
(HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now you must wait! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But don't worry . . . I'll try to update soon. Later. Maybe. )