Okay back to the standard party, I haven't done anything at all confusing this time, but this is getting towards the end of the dragon chapter, still a character or two I need to put in, E? This is the chapter your brother has been waiting for. Tell me what he thinks
A twig snapped causing Crimson to jump slightly and point his sniper in the direction that the noise came from, it was another false alarm
"Crimson, you're too on edge" Alice reprimanded, "This is a wide path, an ambush is very unlikely"
"I know Alice, but we're coming up on the dome, and you know that place is dangerous"
"I've only heard stories" Alice admitted "But we are prepared for a fight, we've come this far, nothing is going to stop us now"
"Except being ripped to tiny pieces by monsters" Tatsu added gloomily
Ryzada kicked Tatsu sharply in the ankle "Thank you for the morale boost Tatsu, but I think we can do just fine without you predicting our horrible bloody end"
Tatsu hopped around in mock pain while the rest of the party continued their march towards the now closer than ever telepad to the central dome, this was going to be it, the final test of their skills, could they do it? Could they do what no hunter had done for the past year? They would, they had to, nothing could stop them from entering the dome, except maybe the native creatures, beasts such as they do not take intrusion lightly.
The party stopped, they were here, this telepad would take them to a spot just outside the dome, from there all they had to do was fight their way through countless monsters, step on another telepad and capture a live dragon, this promised to be fun.
"Crimson?"
Crimson turned round "Yes Ryzada what is it?"
"I'm scared, there is something, very dangerous near here, something evil"
Crimson smiled reassuringly, why did he still do that? "It's just nerves Ryz, everybody gets scared when they do things like this"
"Not me" said Tatsu bravely, trying to hide the shaking in his hands
"No I really mean it, there is something there, its not good and it doesn't like us" Ryzada was obviously distressed
"We can't quit now" said Alice "We fought through hell to get here and it would be the same on the way back, so either we fight ahead or we fight backwards, I know which I would rather do, now what's your choice?" For all her girlish looks and innocence, Alice was very often the most sensible of the four. Wisdom seemed to be deeply ingrained into forces.
"Well I'm fighting on," said Crimson stepping forwards
"I'll fight too" Ryzada stood next to Crimson
Tatsu was left standing alone "Before we decide, could you please answer me one question Crimson"
"What's that Tatsu?"
"If you die, can I have your boots?" With a grin Tatsu stepped forwards, all four hunters were decided, no matter what was on the other side, they were going to face it together, weapons drawn. Crimson was the last to speak before they activated the telepad "You can have my boots Tatsu, but don't you touch my weapons"
It was eerily silent as the team warped in, they were in fighting stance, but there were no enemies in sight, at least no live ones, large numbers of boomas lay dead, limbs severed and mangled, here and there a mutilated rag rappy was placed amongst the gore, chunks of other monsters littered the area, Alice turned away covering her eyes and Ryzada held tightly to Crimsons arm, Tatsu's back was also turned and the sounds of retching could be heard. Crimson seemed unaffected by the scene, he noticed a lone android standing at the gate.
"MERY" Crimson called out "Where are Raven and the others"
The android turned to face them "They are investigating an interesting article up ahead, I am here on guard in case any monsters arrive"
"What are they investigating?" Crimson was perplexed, the area had been thoroughly explored ages ago
"I am not allowed to say, Raven has instructed me to keep you idiots away from the dome"
Idiots? So much for mutual respect between hunters, Crimsons party advanced to the gate, Tatsu stepping forwards to open it, Mery looked at Tatsu down the barrel of his gun
"I can't let you pass, I will shoot you if I must"
With an idle flick of his wrist Tatsu accurately threw a slicer blade that struck Mery directly in the forehead "The doors open" Tatsu said sounding sick, his face pale. The party walked through.
Raven, Magus and Mei Lung were gathered around one of the most disturbing sights in Crimsons memory, A hildebear, Its ribs open like a cage door was pinned crucifixion style to the wall, the pooled blood was unclotted, this meant it could not have been long ago that the beast was killed
"Raven? Did you do this?" Tatsu asked, his mind numbed
Raven shook his head "And we didn't do any of that out there either"
"You didn't?" Crimson was again confused there were no other hunters in these woods, were there?
Raven shook his head again "We found it like this, this is like nothing I've ever seen before"
Mei climbed to her feet "We were all ready to fight, and we had a big plan and everything, and when we got here, they were all dead, all of them, cut in half and bleeding, arms and legs missing, blood, blood was everywhere" She started to cry
Magus put a reassuring hand on Mei's shoulder but when he talked he was addressing Crimson "Raven is against the idea but I think our teams should work together for a while, If whatever did this is still around, we need to stay together." Raven stayed silent
"No" said Ryzada "Whatever did this, is going away, it's getting more distant"
When Magus didn't speak Raven asked the question "What makes you think that?"
"I don't think, I know," said Ryzada "Its hard to explain, but I can feel this.., thing, its just an evil presence, but its getting fainter"
"Whatever" Raven replied "Seeing as it's safe to go on, team Valiant has a job to be doing" With that he started moving towards the telepad to the domes interior then he stopped "What did you do with our android anyway?"
"Oh, well, he's a little dead right now," said Tatsu guiltily
Magus sighed, "I'll go fix him" he then disappeared out of the gate to retrieve the fallen android, he returned shortly afterwards dragging the mechanoid behind him.
"Why are you going to the dome anyway? What do you want with the dragons?" Alice spoke for the first time in a while
"Who said anything about dragons?" Raven replied honestly confused
"I know you think we are idiots, but the only important thing about the central dome is its dragons" Alice answered
"Down the stairs and turn left, through the door and into the caves, past the minefield and the monsters, I'll be waiting, don't be late" said Mery
"SHUT HIM UP" yelled Raven, with a deft jab of a screwdriver Magus deactivated Merys vocal subroutines, effectively silencing the robot
"Raven, we don't care about your mission, its obviously something shady or you wouldn't be bringing a murderer and a non-registered android with you" Crimson said matter of factly
"It's assassin and I haven't murdered anybody," muttered Magus, but he kept his head down and continued his repairs on Mery. Raven blinked, so they had recognized Magus? Oh well no matter
"Well if you don't care then why are you interfering?" asked Raven
"We aren't interfering, we're on our way to fight a dragon, so that we can bring it back for the arena fights" Crimson answered hotly
"Well then I wish you all the best with your suicide, team Valiant is moving out" Raven turned his back on them again and Magus dragged the newly repaired Mery to his feet, as they began walking they noticed that Mei Lung hadn't moved at all,
"Come on Mei, I said we're moving out" Raven said impatiently
Mei shook her head "Crimson saved me when I was being attacked, so I'm going to help him fight this dragon"
"Mei Lung!" shouted Raven "I order you to come with the team"
Mei shook her head again more emphatically this time her hair falling in front of her eyes, she brushed it back into place with her hand "He saved my life Raven, I owe him my support"
Raven looked at the ground defeated, Mei wasn't going to change her mind "Fine Mei, but if you don't catch up with us before the mission ends, you won't be getting your cut of the reward"
"I don't care," said Mei, with that, all 8 hunters stepped on the telepad to the inside of the dome
Raven Magus and Mery broke into a run as soon as they entered the vast cavern, hurrying down a staircase before the beasts that resided in the dome noticed their presence. The remaining 5 readied themselves for a fight. They stood alert for a minute, but there was nothing there. Tatsu stepped forwards
"COME ON! FIGHT US YOU BASTARD DRAGON!" He yelled his challenge into the empty air "WE DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY FOR NOTHING! FIGHT US!" Tatsu's cry echoed through out the cavern.
"Looks like there is nobody home" said Ryzada quietly just then a thousand sets of eyes snapped open in the darkness, each one red and menacing
"Well done Tatsu" said Crimson readying his sniper "Looks like you woke them up" He squeezed the trigger and one set of eyes was extinguished, the unknown beast falling with a roar, this seemed to signal a charge amongst the creatures as they advanced on the doomed party, Crimson took 3 more down with expert sharp shooting, but it was 3 of a sea of monsters that was about to hit them like a tidal wave, Tatsu was also firing wildly into the dark, striking a few targets, the first monster crossed the line between light and dark, it was a horrible creature with a pointed face and bladed limbs, its eyes devoid of anything except malice, a blast of photon energy streaked through the air blasting a hole the size of a mans fist through what passed as the creatures face, It fell to the floor defeated but 3 more appeared behind its still falling corpse.
"This is hopeless" cried Tatsu "There's too many of them, and what the hell are the sharks doing up here anyway?"
"I don't know" Replied Alice panicking "I've never even seen these things before" streak after streak of barta piercing the enemy lines.
"They must have found the stairs and moved upwards" Yelled Crimson firing as fast as he could, the monsters were closing fast, the death of their fellows meaning nothing to them, they would fight until the last one bit the dust, out of the corner of her eye Alice noticed that Mei wasn't casting anything
"Mei! Use your Techniques, its our best hope for killing these things" Alice's voice showed signs of fatigue, all this casting took a lot of effort.
"Umm okay" Mei was obviously not used to acting as a force " umm FOIE!" she yelled, mistake, use of a technique only required thought, yelling it?
Mei Lung was propelled backwards as a huge ball of fire erupted from the end of her hammer, she struck the floor hard, but the technique worked, the flaming projectile sped into the darkness illuminating the area with an orange glow, then it struck a group of sharks, exploding on impact showering flaming embers on the monsters igniting them like torches, by the light of these grotesque candles the team could see the true number of their foes. Sharks breeding at an unbelievable rate, untouched by predators or disease, months of this had produced the vast army that the hunters faced, Tatsu for once was right, they were doomed, but as they had all agreed earlier that same day, they would keep fighting onwards.
The sharks had closed to within 10 feet, almost within striking distance, thank god for their slow gait, swifter creatures would have torn the party to shreds within moments, Crimson fired two more shots into the enemy lines, then with a mental command to Madhu he switched to his saber, if he was to die this day, he would make the bastards bleed first, Tatsu and Ryzada also switched to close combat weapons, Tatsu his brand and Ryzada her daggers, Alice and Mei gripped their staffs tightly, they too were ready to participate in the melee, as one four of the five ran forwards, Alice stayed back, ready to support with techniques, quickly swallowing a difluid she was ready to go.
Crimson lost awareness of his comrades, his every brain cell focused on the enemies before him, he lost himself to the red mist, instincts taking over when conscious thought would have failed him, every swing of his weapon was planned, every movement calculated, all towards the end of keeping him alive, then pain ripped through his body, a bladed forelimb had sliced across the back of his exposed neck, almost instantly a green aura surrounded him healing the wound, Crimson smiled and stabbed backwards dispatching the enemy behind him, during this moment of lucid thought Crimson drew a hand gun, firing as he slashed through the un-ending sea of monsters before him, he could no longer see his friends, his attack had swept him away from them, but he hoped against hope that they were okay.
Tatsu struggled with his opponent, his brand was caught by the handle, knowing that standing still would cost him his life Tatsu ducked beneath the limb swung at him, stepping forwards he summoned another brand to his right hand, twisting around he pulled both blades across severing the sharks head, in a blur of motion and aided by his dual weapon style Tatsu sliced around him, creating a ring of corpses, but this safety was only temporary as more sharks took the place of their fallen allies, Tatsu continued to fight, ignoring the aching in his arms he swung again and again, taking down enemies through the advantage of reach, but he was alone, he may as well have been standing against the hordes without his friends, and then it happened, a shark progressed past his deadly blades it was in too close, this was it, then a flash of lightning lit the area and the shark collapsed to its knees, thank god somebody was still watching over him.
Mei and Ryzada had managed to stay together, each supporting the other, Ryzada's cat like grace and lethal weapons dispatching any foe that made it past the beautiful but deadly twirling hammer of Mei lung, the two worked in perfect tandem, until the inevitable happened, Mei once again dropped her weapon, losing amongst the bodies of fallen opponents, Mei panicked and used the last option available to her, spinning like a ballerina she extended her arms, palms out flat she began chanting to herself quietly
"foie, foie, foie, foie, foie, foie, foie, zonde zonde zonde zonde gifoie rafoie rabarta MEGID!" shouting the last at the top of her lungs Mei fell unconscious, every shark within a wide radius lay dead, Crimson and Tatsu blinked as their foes collapsed, hurrying over to where Ryzada stood the hunters gathered, Alice included.
"What the hell was that?" Crimson yelled
"I don't know" Alice replied "But I had no idea Mei was that powerful"
"Umm delightful though this conversation is, I don't think we're safe just yet" Tatsu interupted
There were still plenty of sharks, but the small group had some thinking time, healing wounds and restoring their stamina, the hunters prepared themselves for the remaining sharks, a full quarter of them lay slain, leaving only a thousand or so alive, it was hopeless as they all knew from the start, they should have fled down the stairs before the way was blocked, but now it was too late, as the relentless lines of malicious enemies bore down upon them the hunters faced death with brave faces, and then they were saved by a miracle. There was a sound much like that of a muffled explosion and a figure shrouded in celestial light appeared in the center of the cavern, his long robes flowing the figure turned to the party and spoke
"Don't panic" with that the mysterious person turned his attention to the sharks, just as they turned their attention to him, the figure raised a hand and drew from his sleeve what appeared to be a deck of cards, the sharks encircled him and for a moment it seemed that he would be immediately overwhelmed by adversaries, then he was a blur of motion his hands deftly launching cards, each shark that was struck went down with a piteous cry, once a sizable area had been cleared the force threw both hands up to the skies and brought them down, there was a crash of thunder and lightning rent the air itself electrocuting any enemy foolish enough to be close, bringing his arms towards his chest then extending them again the man erupted in a fiery conflagration, globes of flame spiraling outwards from his body, passing directly through the surrounding sharks, the luckless creatures exploding as their vital juices achieved boiling point, one last group of sharks remained in a far corner of the room, a frown marred the mans brow as he concentrated on them, the distant sharks shone with a brilliant radiance that hurt the eyes to behold, as the illumination dimmed, there was no sign of the sharks left, the awesome energies involved had disintegrated the beasts. The light surrounding the mysterious and obviously powerful stranger vanished and he walked towards them, Tatsu was the first to break out of the dumbstruck coma
"I understand" he said his voice full of awe "You're an angel of god sent to save us" the man expressed extreme amusement at the idea
"Not quite Tatsu, close maybe but I'm no angel"
"Matherson" said Ryzada quietly "Wolf Matherson"
"You're quite right Ryzada, I am indeed Wolf Matherson"
"Why did you save us?" asked Ryzada "I thought you decided it was best if you no longer interfered with the world?"
"I did" agreed Matherson "But I'm not about to let my nephew and niece die in a place like this am I?"
Sudden comprehension struck Tatsu "You? You're uncle Matherson?"
Matherson winced at the honorific, "Please just Matherson, I had nothing to do with your Aunt" "But why are you really here?" asked Ryzada "I don't believe you broke your vow of separatism just for us"
This time Matherson openly laughed "You always were a sharp one Ryzada, the reason I'm here is her" he indicated the sleeping form of Mei Lung "I don't know if you noticed or not, but that much power in a force is not normal"
"But uncle Matherson, you just proved that you are at least ten times more powerful than her" Tatsu objected
"Did I ever say I was normal?" the force smiled enigmatically "And stop calling me uncle"
"Yes uncle Matherson"
Matherson ignored this and walked over to where Mei lay prone, he passed his hands over her face and muttered a few words that were just below audible levels, even to Alice's sensitive ears.
"She'll be alright" Matherson said "But you watch over her, I don't know if she will ever be the same again"
"What do you mean Matherson?" asked Crimson
"All those techniques took more mental strength that she actually had, a weaker mind would have broken under the strain, hers I think, just bent a little" With these words Matherson was once again illuminated and he began to float
"Wait uncle Matherson" Cried Tatsu, "Don't you have any advice, any words of wisdom?"
"Yes" called Matherson's rising silhouette "Duck" with the same muffled bang that he arrived with Wolf Matherson disappeared.
"Duck?" said Tatsu annoyed, "Years spent in solitude contemplating the mysteries of life and his best advice is duck? What a" Tatsu's words were cut short as a large rock impacted upon the back of his head and the rest of his body was showered with gravel, part of the caverns wall had exploded, and standing in the middle of the newly made entrance was a fearsome beast much steeped in myth and legend, they beheld a dragon in all its reptilian glory. Tatsu climbed to his feet muttering under his breath
"Duck, goddamn duck."
The dragon roared and the very earth trembled. The hunters readied weapons once more, this was fast becoming a very long day
AN: and a long chapter! More than 3500 words in this one, umm sorry about that folks, but chapters will be about this long in future too, well maybe a little shorter, if you're reading this whole fic in one sitting, then congrats you are one hell of a dedicated reader, the next chapter ends the dragon chapter of my fic, which means the real plot can begin!