Chapter 5: From Seeing the Rough Wave
Planet Ragol: Caves: Underground Channel
The raft the three hunters were standing on suddenly activated, startling them. There was a giant splash from behind, and the friends turned in unison. A gigantic worm swam up beside the raft, its tentacles waving in the air behind it.
"I think we found that monster Rico was talking about," Jaden said weakly. De Rol Le jumped out of the water, sending purple spheres of energy at the hunters. The spheres impacted against the hunters' shields, but did not harm them. Danielle took out her Bravace, Jaden drew her Justy 23ST, and Dras quickly went through his inventory, searching for his Custom Ray ver. 00.
"I can't find my pistol!" he cried. Danielle was busy with De Rol Le, so Jaden turned to her friend. She drew a Custom Ray and tossed it to him.
"Next time, remember to get your weapons from me," she told him as she turned back to the giant worm. It fell back behind the raft, then leaped into the air and landed on it. Dras was knocked off balance, and he fell to the floor. The raft tilted, and water spilled aboard. De Rol Le's armored carapace protected it from their attacks, but the armor weakened with every blow. That was when one of the tentacles shot out and nearly pierced Draslushee.
"Ah! I don't want to know what would have happened if that hit me!" he yelled as he scrambled to his feet. Another tentacle came down, this time aimed at Danielle. She dodged the first one by backing up, then deflected the second one with her shield. Jaden was already moving by the time the fourth tentacle struck. De Rol Le, frustrated by its failed attempt to pierce them, released the raft and sank back into the water.
The lights blinked off and on, until they went out, plunging the hunters into darkness. They could hear De Rol Le's splashing sounds, but could not see it. The worm leaped out of the water, sending the energy spheres at the humans again. Once more, they were deflected by the shields. De Rol Le swam behind the raft, then lifted itself out of the water. The hunters could see its silhouette, and decided to keep moving in case of any attack. A large, purple energy beam shot out from the mutant's mouth and very nearly hit Jaden. Another beam shot out, this time aimed at Dras. He cursed and rolled to the left, bringing up his Custom Ray and firing. The mask covering De Rol Le's face shattered, but it was too dark to see anything. Instead of firing another beam, the monster dove back into the water. The lights flickered, and then came back on.
The hunters raised their weapons and opened fire on De Rol Le's uncovered head. The bullets impacted the flesh, and the mutant screeched in pain. It latched onto the raft again, and the hunters got a look at its true face. It had one large eye, and many smaller eyes running in a line on the side of its head. Its mouth was nothing more than a hole with teeth inside. Draslushee took out his Kameko Blade and charged forward. The blade changed into a partisan, and he impaled it through De Rol Le's eye. The mutant released the raft, and sank into the water. When it reared up behind the raft, the hunters braced for an attack. De Rol Le screamed in pain before falling into the water.
"Do you think it's dead?" Danielle asked, eyeing the water wearily. Her fellow Ranger shrugged and turned toward the front of the raft. It went through a gate and began to slow down. They pulled up to a smaller dock, and stopped completely. The hunters got off and walked over to the dock's door. It was locked with a keypad, and they didn't know the code. Dras sighed.
"We have no way to get through, unless someone happens to be a computer expert." To his surprise, Danielle smiled.
"Allow me." She walked up to the keypad, and took off the cover. Her friends watched with interest as she hacked into the system and unlocked the door. They went through and entered a human-made area.
"Let's get back to Pioneer 2," the younger RAmarl suggested. "We should rest before continuing on. I don't know about you, but I am dead tired." Dras and Jaden nodded in agreement, and the HUmar dropped a Telepipe. They stepped into it and returned home.
Pioneer 2: Yellowboze Sector
Draslushee and Jaden talked with Danielle all the way to her house, catching up on what had happened since graduation. Jaden and Dras had begun to date just this year, and things were going well. When Danielle was asked if she had a boyfriend, she laughed and shook her head.
"Not yet. I doubt I will any time soon, either." At the door to her house, she said good-bye to her friends and watched them walk out of sight. The RAmarl opened her door, and gasped when she saw Amanda's body on the floor. Danielle dropped to her knees and felt for her friend's pulse. She turned Amanda over, and saw the timer to a bomb slowly tick down the last five seconds.
"Oh, shoot," she muttered.
Dras and Jaden were walking down the street when they were thrown to the ground by a sudden wave of heat and pressure. They looked back, and saw smoke coming from the direction of Danielle's house. Sirens sounded throughout the air as the police came to investigate. The two hunters got to their feet and ran to the burning house, calling their friend's name. Pieces of debris scattered the area, but there was no sign of their friend.
A purple and white HUcast, holding the Soul Eater, was standing over someone. Dras immediately recognized the form on the ground as Danielle. The HUmar took out his Custom Ray and shot the android, who was about to bring down his scythe. The bullets slammed into his armor, and he muttered a curse. The HUcast took a step back, then turned around and ran away. Jaden ran over to Danielle and checked on her, while Dras chased the android. But the android had managed to get away, and there was no way to find out who he was. Draslushee ran over to his girlfriend and Danielle.
"Is she okay?" Jaden nodded, but she still had a worried look on her face.
"I can heal her with Resta, but she will still have a few scars." The RAmarl concentrated on using the technique she had learned, and healed the injuries. Firefighters had arrived on the scene, and were struggling to put out the blaze. Danielle moaned, and opened her eyes.
"What just happened?" she mumbled.
"Somebody tried to take you out," Dras said. "I think it may have been Black Paper." Black Paper was a criminal organization that was feared by all. They traded stolen weapons, parts, and even humans on the black market. Danielle sat up, wincing at the pain in her body. She stared at the burning remains of her house, remembering her friend and mentor that had been murdered.
"Amanda…" she whispered. Jaden and Dras helped her to her feet, and they walked away.
Pioneer 2: Principal Tyrell's Office
Principal Tyrell sat at his desk, massaging his temple tiredly. He was going over the latest data received from Danielle and her team, when he got in a report that there was an explosion in the Yellowboze sector. He read the address at which the explosion occurred, and his blood ran cold. Danielle's house had been destroyed by an explosion, and there was no sign of the Ranger. While the ones responsible for this were unknown, Tyrell knew that it was Black Paper. After all, Danielle's father had arrested the most members of Black Paper, and had foiled just about every one of their plans. He had decided to go aboard Pioneer 1, leaving his daughter and son with his wife. Max Sterling was a great hunter, and a good friend of the Tyrells. The day before Pioneer 1's launch, Max had spoken with Tyrell in private.
"If anything happens to my wife, please watch after Danielle and Alex for me."
Then, the year before Pioneer 2 was slated to launch, Max's wife was killed, along with his son. Since Tyrell was going to be on Pioneer 2, he arranged to have Danielle aboard the ship and attending a school. It was on that day that they had discovered the mysterious virus in her body. If anything had happened to her now, when they were so close to actually developing a cure, he would never forgive himself.
A few hours later, someone entered his office. It was Danielle. Tyrell was relieved to see her alive, and a smile spread across his face. The RAmarl walked up to his desk, a worried look on her own face.
"Principal Tyrell, sir. I am going to go to the mines we discovered now. If Draslushee and Jaden ask you where I am, don't tell them." The Principal was surprised.
"Do you mind telling me why you want to do this? It is going to be dangerous, you know. We have no clue as to what is in those mines, and you may need help."
"I have a bad feeling about this. Something is calling me to the underground, I can feel it. I don't want to put my friends in danger. Please, try to understand."
Tyrell thought for a moment. "I will not tell them. But please, come back alive." Danielle nodded and turned away. The Principal watched her go and sighed. It would be hard to lie to his most trusted hunters, but it had to be done. He looked at the picture on his desk. It was he and Rico at a picnic. His heart ached at the thought of his daughter, lost somewhere on the planet.
"Be safe, Rico. I don't know what I would do if I lost you…"
Author's Note: Okay, so this isn't exactly one of my best chapters, but I really tried to make this interesting when writing it. Hope you like it, anyway.