Journey to the Island of Halastia
Chapter 11: The Battles Begin
Hours had gone by since Neteru and the others began to climb the volcano to face Glabrezu. Each of them used different methods to reach the top. Moonbeam used a Spider Climb spell which enabled her to climb up the volcano like Spider-Man. Mara and Neteru used Leaping spells which enabled them to leap from cliff to cliff. And Terra used a simple levitation power.
"Are we there yet?" whined Moonbeam as she scaled the tall volcano.
"I'm sure you can figure that out for yourself." said Terra as she levitated higher up the volcano. What they didn't realize as they climbed up the volcano was that Glabrezu was up above them watching them climb the volcano. He leaned over the edge of the volcano, hidden amongst the rocks, watching Neteru and the others climbing up the volcano. Glabrezu grinned as a sinister plan developed in his head.
"So they think they could climb up here and stop me." said Glabrezu. "Well I have a few surprises for him." He picked up a clay jar that he had carried with him to the volcano's edge. Glabrezu pulled off the cork that was on top and immediately, a black cloud began to spew from the jar.
"Yoack ma lozen dookya nayana." said Glabrezu and immediately after he had said the incantation, the cloud began to shape and form into four devilish creatures. The four demons were tall and gangly with deep lavender skin and skeletal thin bodies. They stood hunched over (since they couldn't stand erect) with overly large hands hanging below. They had long hooked noses and huge bat wings.
"I have summoned you four here to the Material Plane because you must serve me." said Glabrezu. "I want you to go down there and attack the four interlopers who are climbing up here. Bring them to me alive and unspoiled." Obeying Glabrezu's commands, they opened their wings and hurled themselves over the edge of the volcano, descending towards Neteru.
Moonbeam was just about to whine again about how tired she was of climbing the volcano when she looked up and noticed the demons heading towards her.
"Look out." she cried but before anyone could do something, one of the demons swooped down and grabbed Moonbeam off the side of the volcano and then flew off with her in its arms.
"Let go of me, you creep." shouted Moonbeam as she dangled from her waist from where the demon held her. Moonbeam held up her staff and said, "Calla..." But before Moonbeam could finish her incantation, the demon immediately covered her mouth with its huge claw. Neteru, Mara, and Terra wanted to help Moonbeam but they were having troubles of their own now that the remaining three demons were attacking them. They clung dangerously to the side of the volcano, fighting off the demons with their magic.
"Shufflock." shouted Neteru and a bolt of lightening fired from his paw and it struck one of the demons in the chest but the lightening had no effect on the demon. Terra used her telekinetics to fight off the demons but they seemed immune to her attacks.
"What kind of creatures could be this invincible?" thought Terra to herself. The demons were getting frustrated with the fight so too resorted to magic. From the claws of one of the demons, a beam of energy fired and struck the side of the volcano over Neteru's head, causing huge pieces of debris to fall off.
"Neteru, look out." cried Mara but it was too late. The rocks struck Neteru in the head and he slipped into unconsciousness.
When Neteru finally regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was intense heat. It was like he was inside an oven and he sweated all over because of it.
"Ouchichi, what happened?" asked Neteru to himself as he suddenly felt the intense headache he got from getting hit with the rocks. He opened his eyes and saw that that the heat came from the huge lake of lava that was nearby. He quickly realized that he was on top of a volcano and what he was looking at was the lava from the volcano. He tried to sit up but he soon realized that he was bounded by wrist and ankle clamps that held him down onto a table of some kind.
"Heke, what is this?" asked Neteru. In an attempt to make more sense out of his current position, he turned his head away from the lava and saw Terra, Moonbeam, and Mara locked in a cage and guarded by those four demons that Glabrezu had summoned. When Mara realized that Neteru was awake, she stood up and said to him. "Neteru, are you all right?"
"Other than this bruise on my head, I'm fine." said Neteru.
"But you wont be for long." said Glabrezu as he came out of nowhere and walked up to Neteru. Neteru turned his head towards Glabrezu to face him. "As you can see, these bonds are absolutely unbreakable and you can't escaped with nothing but your bare paws. As for your friends, they can't help you because they have been placed with an anti-magic field that disables their powers while they are in the field and even that psychic hedgehog is affected. " Neteru turned his head around and noticed the hockey puck-shaped object that lay in front of the entrance to the cage that held the girls. The object looked like a bull's eye with black and yellow rings. Neteru instantly recognized the artifact as an Anti-Magic Field generator, one of the artifacts from Ankorbak. Next to the cage, Neteru also noticed the magic stone, the white one they had been searching for in order to revert the town back to normal. Knowing he will have to escape and grab the stone later, he turned his head back to Glabrezu once he started talking so Neteru wouldn't arouse any suspicions that he was up to something.
"Normally I would kill you right now but I'm afraid you're death will have to wait because I need you for the final sacrifice of my spell." said Glabrezu.
"What spell?" asked Neteru.
"Since you are about to be apart of it, I guess I might as well let you know." said Glabrezu. "You see those five pillars over there?" Neteru turned his gaze towards the direction Neteru was pointing and noticed five pillars neatly placed around the mouth of the volcano. Each pillar had an odd symbol on it. The symbol on each of the pillars looked like a single vertical line with a triangle on one side. Neteru recognized the symbol as a rune symbol and the symbol itself means "gateway."
"In case you haven't figured it out, this is part of a ritual to open a portal into Hell itself." explained Glabrezu. "The top of this volcano has a direct portal to Hell but the portal is closed. This spell will open the portal and with the portal open, I could summon an invincible army in the name of my master, Bocka."
"Well, you're just wasting your time because there is no mortal magic that can open a portal to Hell, even by you're powers." said Neteru.
"That is correct." said Glabrezu. "I don't have the power but Bocka does because he is a deity."
"A deity?" asked Neteru. "But wait, if Bocka is a god, how come I've never heard of him?"
"Neanna has done a good job of covering up his existence but Bocka is very much alive and through his power, I can tar a portal into Hell. I've been a loyal priest to Bocka ever since the day he had unleashed me and Ulzogga to this world."
"Ulzogga?" said Mara in horror. Moonbeam was also shocked. Terra was the only one who didn't understand.
"Who's Ulzogga?" asked Terra. Mara breathed in a shaky breath. She didn't like to talk about Ulzogga but she knew she had to.
"Not long ago, I was controlled by an evil demon that took over my body." said Mara. "When he controlled me, he forced me to do horrible things."
"And he even killed my family." said Moonbeam. "All so he could steal the Giga Stone."
"Indeed, Ulzogga was supposed to obtain the Giga Stone for Bocka but Ulzogga betrayed my master and instead sought the stone for himself." said Glabrezu. "Before Bocka and Neanna were banished from this world, Bocka summoned us from Hell and hired me and Ulzogga to help fulfill his goal to eradicate the human race."
"You can't just destroy the human race." said Neteru.
"And why not?" said Glabrezu in a challenging manor. "Those disgusting primates are the undoing of this planet. They crush anyone and anything that's even remotely less powerful then them and with their lack of respect for nature, they will no doubt destroy the world as we know it. This world rightfully belongs to the ham-hams, not the humans who like to lock us up like slaves. Once Bocka is freed, he will grant our wish."
"But the human race isn't that bad." insisted Neteru. "They help us and we help them. Humans and ham-hams are meant for each other."
"Lies!" shouted Glabrezu. "If you are fighting for the human race then you are weak and no more better than the humans themselves. I'm going to tar open a portal and the army I will unleash will grant Bocka destructive power. Once we have the army and the Giga Stone, Bocka will have all he needs to conquer the world. As for you, Neteru, you're going to contribute to this ritual. In order to keep the portal open, I need to sacrifice someone who is pure of heart. I was going to go out and find someone for the sacrifice but since you have gone through the trouble of coming here, I might as well use you." There was a gasp from Mara and Moonbeam as Glabrezu said this but Neteru gave no reaction. Glabrezu said nothing more as he walked over to the volcano, about to start the ritual.
Glabrezu walked over to the edge of the lava pool to cast the incantation. He lifted both of his arms and shouted, "By the power of Lord Bocka, I command the fabric of our universe to rip and open. With Bocka's magic flowing through me, the power of these runes shall tar the portal and soon, the forces of Hell shall be plagued down onto this world. Hocknaga amada zaulious." With that said, the five rune symbols on the five pillars began to glow brightly in a reddish glow. Suddenly, a red line began to form on top of one of the pillars and it connected to another pillar then the same line turned and contacted to another pillar. This pattern continued until the line reached the spot it had stared from and then a single circle was drawn around the lines, forming an ancient symbol. Neteru immediately recognized the symbol as an upside down pentacle, a symbol of evil forces.
"Megamolluk daucanock." said Glabrezu as he began the incantation.
Meanwhile, Neteru turned his head towards the demons and realized that there was a clay jar next to the cage along with the magic stone. Neteru recognized the jar as a summoning jar and knew that if he could only destroy the jar, the demons will be sent back to the plane they were summoned from but in order to do that, Neteru must first escape. Trying his best to turn his head so he could look around, he managed to notice their staffs lying next to what appeared to be an alter with several satanic tools and objects decorating its surface. Upon the alter, Neteru could see what looked to be a set of keys.
"I wonder if that anti-magic field that Glabrezu had conjured is wide enough to reach me from here?" thought Neteru to himself. Since the anti-magic field has a range limitation, the cylinder sustaining the field could be too far away to affect him. To test out the theory, Neteru crossed his fingers and said a spell, "Teta moda." With that, the keys were telekinetically lifted off the alter and then flew over to Neteru's paw. Neteru feared that the demons would have noticed Neteru performing a spell but they were too busy eyeing the others and Glabrezu was too busy chanting.
Neteru quickly unlocked the restraint that held Neteru's paw that held the keys. Once that paw was freed, he then unlocked the other restraints. After he unlocked the remaining restraints, one of the demons noticed Neteru escaping. The demon opened its wings and then flew over to Neteru in a charge. Neteru saw the demon coming and immediately dodged out of the way by rolling off the side of the table and landing onto his feet. He then made a run for the cage with the demon heading close behind him, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran. The demon was just about to grab Neteru when Neteru ducked, causing the demon to sail harmlessly past Neteru. Neteru got back onto his feet and continued to run towards the jar but the other three demons were also heading towards him as well. Mara, Terra, and Moonbeam all watched in anticipation as Neteru was chased by the demons. Neteru managed to grab the jar but it was knocked out of Neteru's paws when the demons quickly pinned him to the ground. The jar rolled across the ground towards the cage where the girls were held. Mara watched in horror as three of the demons held Neteru to the ground and the fourth demon picked up a nearby sword, ready to drive the sword through Neteru's back. Realizing how close the jar was, Mara quickly picked it up and then smashed it to the ground, shattering the jar into pieces. With the magic broken, the demons immediately vanished just before the sword went through Neteru.
"Neteru, are you all right?" asked Mara.
"Yeah, I'm fine." said Neteru as he got back onto his feet. He ran over to the door of the cage and using the keys he had obtained to free himself, he freed the girls, receiving a few "thank you" kisses in return. Neteru picked up the magical stone nearby as the girls ran over to get their staffs. Once they managed to obtain their staffs and the stone, they were met with a bright red light that began to form from the center of the conjured pentacle.
"...shaw mazz lyaw getta bara..." said Glabrezu as he continued the incantation.
"He's opening a portal into Hell." said Moonbeam.
"What are we going to do?" asked Terra.
"We're going to stop him and I know just how to do it." said Neteru. With that said, he held out his staff and shouted, "Baraka buana nu nu dego bah doh gogi heta vea." From his staff, a sky blue beam of energy shot fourth and then struck one of the pillars, destroying it entirely in a huge explosion. Without that pillar, the pentacle could no longer be sustained and it was dispelled instantly but the small portal that was opened still remained.
"You idiots." shouted Glabrezu in anger. "Without that pentacle to sustain and control the portal's power, the portal will implode, taking this whole island with it. Neteru, you will pay for this." With that said, Glabrezu teleported away.
Met with fear, Mara asked, "You don't think he really meant what he said, do you?" As the portal began to grow bigger, the answer to Mara's question became perfectly clear.
"Oh yeah, we better get out of here." said Neteru. The four of them ran towards the edge of the volcano, repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran, while holding their staffs and the magic stone in their arms. In the mean time, the portal expanded in size and the lava below it began to grow hot and bubbly, causing the ground to shake.
"We'll never make it back to the zeppelin in time." said Terra as she ran.
"Then we're going to have to use our powers to get out of this mess." said Neteru. "Go to the edge of the volcano and we will be able to see the zeppelin and teleport down to it." Following Neteru's advice, they ran up to the volcano's edge and looked frantically for the zeppelin over it but they couldn't see it.
"Where is it?" shouted Mara.
"Over there, to the right." said Moonbeam as she pointed down in the direction of the zeppelin. Their gaze was directed towards the zeppelin that still sat at the edge of the island off in the distance.
"Now that we can see our target, we can easily teleport to it." said Neteru.
"But I don't know how to teleport." said Moonbeam.
"Don't worry, I can carry you along." said Terra.
"Thank you, Terra." said Moonbeam. Terra wrapped her arms around Moonbeam and with Terra's psychic abilities, they both teleported and then reappeared next to the zeppelin, shocking Daruth and Sabu as they appeared.
"Whow, don't surprise use like that." said Daruth.. Before Terra could explain, Neteru and Mara also appeared nearby through the use of teleportation.
"Less talking, more walking." said Neteru. "Sabu, get that zeppelin moving." Following instructions, Sabu ran to the fire generator and started it up immediately. As they all got onto the zeppelin, the portal on top of the volcano began to expand and (as Glabrezu had said) the portal was beginning to implode on itself and the island was beginning to come along with it like dirt being sucked up into a vacuum. Frantically, Sabu got the zeppelin flying into the air but it wasn't moving fast enough.
"We're not going to make it." said Moonbeam.
"Oh yes we will." said Neteru. He then lifted up his staff and shouted, "Medla vana." Everyone almost fell off their feet as the spell caused the zeppelin to propel itself forwards like an air plane, accelerating themselves away rom the island.
Just when they were at a safe distance, the portal sucked up the entire island like a vacuum cleaner and then the portal was destroyed in a huge explosion. By the time the explosion had cleared, the crew on the zeppelin cheered with delight, knowing that they had just cheated death and defeated evil. During the celebration, Mara said to Neteru, "You were amazing back there. Thanks for saving us." The two hugged each other, saying "Schmubby-Wubby" affectionately as they did. When they noticed that the others were staring, they quickly separated. Neteru picked up the small stone and said, "Now that we have the stone, we can now revert the humans in the town back to normal."
"Yay, I get to see Jake again." said Moonbeam.
"And all of our other friends." said Mara. There were cheers of celebration coming from the zeppelin as it sailed off towards the setting sun in the distance.
Three hours later, night time came to Rokugon as the city began to became stagnate and quite for the night. The Rokugon museum was also quite and still with no one inside except for a few wax statues and paintings. But that silence was disturbed as someone tried to break into the building. Spat was just over the roof of the museum and using his pitch fork, he cast a spell that enabled him to use the pitch fork to cut through the ceiling. From the middle prong on his pitch fork, a beam of red light shot from it like a laser cutter. With it, Spat cut a neat hole into the ceiling and once it was finished, the piece fell to the ground and crumbled into pieces upon hitting the floor. Spat pulled out a long rope from his back pack and then tied it to a nearby pole. He shimmied down the rope and then sneaked through the dark halls of the museum. Just like the night before, Spat quietly snuck through the museum, slowly repeating "Wasa-Wasa" as he walked, until he reached the display that held the Caidoz piece. He was surprised to see that the piece was gone and in its place, a box was placed in front of the podium. Curious, Spat walked over to the small brown cardboard box and then opened it. As he had expected, the Caidoz piece was right inside the box, lying on top of a lavender colored cloth.
"What's it doing inside this box?" asked Spat to himself. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Now that I have it, I can bring it to Glabrezu."
Spat quickly ran back to the hole he had made, repeating "Badda-Badda" along the way. He climbed back up the rope until he reached the roof. From there, he pulled out the Caidoz piece from the box and then he walked over to his nearby back pack and then pulled out from the back pack the Caidoz piece he had stolen from Daruth.
"Now that I have two of the pieces, I can put them together." said Spat. Spat placed the pieces together but they did not connect. Confused, he repeatedly struck the two pieces together but they would not connect. As he began to wonder why they weren't connecting, he suddenly realized that the pieces' symbols were missing.
"Of-course." said Spat. "When their symbol is missing, the power of the Caidoz pieces is suppressed and without their power, they cannot come together. If I remember correctly, there is supposed to be some kind of ritual used for revealing the symbol on the Caidoz piece." Spat placed his paw onto the top of the piece and then he began to say a poem he had learned from Glabrezu: "I am the sun, I am the moon. I am the clear blue sea. A gift from the stars, a gift to all. May this piece show it's sign to me." But after the poem was said, the piece did nothing. Confused, Spat spoke the poem again but nothing happened. Spat scratched his head in confusion.
"I don't get it, Glabrezu said that the poem can reveal the piece's symbol." said Spat. "Hamgoof. I guess I need to ask for his help again."
Spat walked over to his back pack and placed the two pieces into it. He was about to put on his back pack when suddenly, a shuriken struck the side of the back pack. Startled, Spat dropped the back pack and then looked up to see Harmony, Topaz, Soshi, and Nin-Ham (who was the one who threw the shuriken) standing before him.
"What? How did you find me?" asked Spat.
"Easy, we knew you were going to come back for that piece so we placed a homing device inside the box." explained Topaz.
"Now you're going to hand over the Caidoz piece nicely or we will have to take it from you." said Soshi.
"And what is a samurai going to do?" asked Spat mockingly. Soshi glared at Spat as she pulled out her katana and wakizashi (one in each paw) and held out the two weapons in prayer. Soshi was using an ancient samurai practice known as daisho. This magical power enabled Soshi to draw on the power of her ancestors and infuse her swords with their power. Spat gawked at the sight of Soshi's swords as they glowed red with power. With a heroic war cry, Soshi charged towards Spat. Spat raised his pitch fork in defense and their weapons connected but the brute force that came from Soshi's swords was so intense that the force nearly knocked the pitch fork out of Spat's paws. What followed after that was a series of swings and blows from Soshi's katana and wakizashi, forcing Spat to bat her attacks off with his pitch fork. Infused with the power of daisho, Soshi moved with such incredible speed and accuracy that Spat had a hard time resisting her power. Realizing that he was at a disadvantage, Spat spread out his wings and then took off into the air.
As he hovered over head, he raised his pitch fork and said, "Gea modara." The spell caused a ring-shaped circle of energy to fire from the tip of his pitch fork and the ring struck Soshi's armor, knocking her onto her back. Nin-Ham then steps in and pulls out a chakram (a large ring with sharp edges) and then he threw the chakram at Spat like a Frisbee. Spat saw the chakram coming and immediately, he cut the chakram in two with the power of his pitch fork. Topaz then used his telekinetic to grab Spat and pull him to the ground. Spat tried to resist the pull but it was too strong and he fell to the ground.
"Heckneck godock." shouted Spat and from his pitch fork, he fired a fire ball at Topaz. Topaz saw the fire ball coming and he immediately jumped out of the way as it sailed by, breaking his concentration in the process.
"Don't think you can challenge me, too." said Harmony. "Eshaba gondara." From her wand, Harmony fired a beam of blue energy that completely wrapped itself around Spat like a rope. Spat struggled against the rope but it wouldn't budge. Soshi then charged at Spat with her glowing swords gleaming in the night. Since Spat could not reach his pitch fork, Spat had to resort to dodging Soshi's swords but it wasn't easy considering how fast she was going. Nin-Ham picked up another chakram from his belt and immediately, he through it at Spat. Spat tried to dodge out of the way but the chakram cut into his arm as it sailed by.
"Ouchichi." cried Spat in pain. Silver colored blood oozed from his injury. Then Topaz took the opportunity to use his telekinetic to continuously pound Spat. The telekinetic punches were like being hit with thousands of invisible fists, that were constantly striking Spat everywhere. Spat fell to the ground, groaning in pain once Topaz stopped the relentless punches. Realizing how vulnerable Spat was, Harmony lifted her wand and shouted, "Vulk dew bodanana." A golden beam of light fired from her wand and the force threw Spat into the air, broke the magical restraints that bound him, and tossed him off the edge of the museum. At first, Soshi, Topaz, and Nin-Ham thought they were rid of Spat but then Spat proved them wrong by flying off into the air over their heads.
"You may have won this time, Harmony, but one day your luck will run out." shouted Spat. "Bocka will prevail and when he is freed, he will destroy you." Spat flew off into the distance and disappeared into the night sky.
As Spat flew away, Soshi quickly noticed the back pack Spat had left behind.
"Hey look." said Soshi. She picked up the back pack and looked inside it. Sure enough, there were two Caidoz pieces inside. "It's the Caidoz pieces.
"Great, lets show the pieces to the Ham-Hams." said Nin-Ham. They all turned around and headed towards the exit, repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran. All the while, Harmony thought to herself, "If Spat and Glabrezu really were to obtain the Caidoz pieces, they could free Bocka. I can't let that happen. The fate of all humanity depends on it."