CHAPTER 2 The Legacy of Aven and Ultra By Solar II

On Pioneer 2...

A trope of worried soldiers, scientists, and political figures sat mutely inside the assembly hall of Pioneer 2 Square. The principal, who had never been called by his real name (Eugene Tyrell) since his appointment to office, was standing at the dais of city hall, addressing the problem on Ragol to the people (and some Xentastuigma aliens... go figure). He spoke with hidden dread, trying desperately to cover up the evident concern in his voice by making it unnecessarily loud even with the microphone, "As you see on this graph," His lackey tugged a giant screen by a old rope to the center of the stage, "Volcanic activity was greatly increased in the area of the Central Dome, and was the cause of all the death and destruction, ect..." "BULL#$%&!" Alex "Ultra" Ulysses suddenly busted though the huge front door, an enraged expression on his 5-o'-clock shadow. He power walked straight up to the podium and shoved the principal off... of course; none of his body guards stopped the hunter. They to knew how it really happened, but didn't have the balls to do anything about it. "I had a dream!" The purple haired man started, "That I was falling off a cliff! But that's besides the point... I was there, at the Central Dome, and I know what really happened!" Everyone gasped, and Eugene grumbled. "My partner, Aven, and I were both there! Everyone was already dead, but we made it out, and stopped the cause! This was no natural phenomena, ladies and gentlemen!" He paused, and then continued when he decided that there wouldn't be any more gasping, "There was a creature there that was killing and destroying.... A dragon! This mon--" The crowd gasped and interrupted him. Ultra cursed quietly, and continued, "This monster was a giant red dragon, if you really want to know... in fact, it didn't have any arms, so you should probably just call it a drake... isn't that what you call dragons without arms? But it did breathe fire, you know... I wonder if drakes breathe fire... Yeay, I had a brother named drake once, but he died in a fire. Ironic isn't it? I mean, he died in a fire, and drakes breathe fire... Don't they? They probably just..." The people (and Xentastuigmazians) started to 'boo'. Ultra drew his weapons, and started shooting at the ceiling. "Shut the heck up, you jackasses!!" The jackasses shut the heck up. "That's what I thought..." He squinted evilly at the mob of people. "Now, let me continue," He said, "This Dragon, or drake if you prefer, was awakened when we, as in Pioneer 2, started investigating the surface. Something we did woke it, and it was apparently grumpy as %$&*. Not a morning dragon, I guess. Anywho, he obviously didn't like us, and eliminated the bother. But, we, as in Aven and I, eliminated him. I would say that the problem is gone now, though, so you all should stop worrying your little heads and go back to your everyday lives. And for you that lost family, you can just stop your wining. I lost a brother in a fire, you know, but I didn't cry about it. Now, I will put the principal back on so he can explain why he just had to lie to you good people." And he left. Meanwhile, all the citizens glared at the principal with spiteful looks, indicating their endless confusion and irritation towards Eugene's treachery. "Um..." Mr. Tyrell soon understood that if he wanted out of the place alive, he would have to spill the truth. I mean, his lazy-butt guards aren't going to do crap. "You see, the only reason I lied was because..." He paused, "Well, it was in this cities best intentions to hide the truth, because if there was one giant monster that we aggravated, there's most likely another. Our scientists have found multiple intimidating life forms underneath the soil of Ragol. Many colonies of unknown and oversized creatures were detected on the planet from our field investigators. "Although these organisms were first perceived as harmless because of their location in the deep mantle, but they have started to grow, multiply, and," The tub-o'-lard sighed, "of course, they have started to come to the surface. Therefore, our immigration to Ragol is virtually impossible, due to the sheer numbers of hostile creatures. On top of that, we have an insufficient supply of... well, supplies. Food, water, electricity, and oxygen are all dangerously low on board Pioneer 2." The crowd gasped, and started to rabble amongst themselves. "But, do not fret!" The principal continued, with a powerfully reinsuring voice, "The Earth Government has sent our sister ship, Pioneer 3, to bring our necessities here. We will continue o a near-by planet, called Regna, which I hear has some lovely tropical scenery--" "THAT'S ALSO BULL#$%&!!" Aven Phoenix suddenly busted though the huge front door, an enraged expression on his completely hairless chin. He (yes, HE) walked straight up to the podium and tried to shove the mass of saturated fat off the stand, but failed. Aven mumbled some curse, and then grabbed the microphone away from the principal, and stood next to him, "It's a lie I tell you! Regna does NOT have great tropical scenery!" Crickets. "Um... and... uh... this was all a government conspiracy... Yeay..." GASP!!! "Yes, ladies and gents! According to my accurate," He cursed under his breath again, "and expensive sources, the government was using Pioneer 2 as a recovery ship to find the important files lost on Pioneer 1, which crashed here about ten years ago in an 'unexplained' explosion. Tch... Yeay right." Suddenly, a mass of shouts and yells splashed forth from the mob of angry government pawns. Some men in red uniforms came on the stage and pulled Eugene down just as a beer bottle flew over his head. Aven laughed, feeling pretty damn good for himself about the whole situation, although his Hunter's License may very well be removed. He looked around with a smile, his eyes landing on a pair of black-clad agents pushing a path through the crowd towards him. They had Auto guns on their belt, and looked ready enough to draw them at any moment. He decided it was time to leave, and quickly jumped out a nearby window. He landed on soft, artificial grass and rolled to his feet, running off full speed though busy hover-traffic. On the other side, Phoenix looked back to make sure no one was following him. He saw nothing at first, but then Aven's eyes cracked open in horror as he laid his blue eyes on his one only fear in the whole world... and ran like a bat out of a horribly fiery pit of eternal damnation.

* * *

"This is what we must do." The blond force loaded an energy clip into his cane, and snapped it shut with irritation. "Really?" Ultra also re-loaded his already loaded Mechguns, just to look cool when he talked, "The government can do it themselves! They don't need some hunters like us to go down to Ragol and help look for these darned files..." "That's not just it," Aven argued, "My informant also mentioned labs and stations set up in the underground caverns to research some native animal. Maybe the animal was the one who made the explosion and shot Pioneer 1 down, and that's why we're really here. Even the secret that I told the citizens was a lie. But, you see, you must lie in a day and age already packed with lies in order to achieve the truth." He sighed, "Or some crap like that." "Damnation," The purple haired warrior slammed his fist against his lap, "Stupid government pigs! Always using the weak, and betraying the strong. This creature you speak of... it's so important that they could put many lives in danger?" "Must be." Alex grumbled, "Fudge. I feel like such a pawn." "You are a pawn, Ultra," Phoenix smirked, "We're all pawns."