1-6: Fangs
What would you do if you could hardly stand?
(((-6-)))
The shaking was getting worse. Odd seemed to have the best footing, but even he couldn't stand very well. He grabbed Aelita's arm as she was about to fall off the platform. There was no way they would be able to fight any monsters under these conditions.
"Jeremy, there is no possible way we're going to be able to reach the Tower!" Ulrich cried in exasperation. "We can hardly balance!" He leaned against a boulder and nearly fell on his face as another pulsation wave rocked the ground.
"I can't help if I don't know exactly what's going on in there. Oh no! Hornets at 12 o'clock!"
"We can't fight them!" Ulrich yelled, falling to his knees.
"You don't have any choice!" Jeremy yelled back.
The bugs swarmed toward them, stingers aimed, when suddenly three throwing stars took them all out! Everyone looked up as Janika let out a whoop. They had thought she was right behind them.
"The trees don't shake. I thought you might like to know before you fell into that oblivion down there." She dropped to the ground and gave each of them a pair of stars or shurikens, retrieving the ones she had thrown. They looked at her without a word and started climbing.
Janika hadn't lied. Only a little ways above the floor, the trees stopped shaking. They seemed to have roots in some other place that kept them stationary. The shurikens worked well, and soon all four found themselves above the leaves. A strange network of branches made clear paths through the treetops and Aelita spotted the malfunctioning Tower instantly.
"There it is. I have to get inside."
Odd wondered about the place. "Did you know about this, Aelita?"
"Yes, but I had nothing to climb with, so it was very difficult to get here," she answered practically.
They ran along the interwoven paths toward the Tower's spire. A giant Megatank appeared suddenly and started barreling straight at them along the trail!
"Whoa!" Odd understated. "How did that thing get up here?"
"Who cares? It's ready to blast!"
(V)
Jeremy rubbed his temples. Not a Megatank! He began typing away at the keys, oblivious to everything around him, which was a bad move. Something seized his leg and bit down hard. He yelped and jumped away from the computer. There in front of him was a snake!
It had gray, metallic scales and the stripe along its back bore a striking resemblance to the outer cover of Janika's laptop. Its mouth opened wide, revealing two deadly fangs. Jeremy tried to run, but he couldn't feel his left leg. It collapsed under his weight and dragged him down. The snake slithered stealthily toward him, hissing with pleasure.
Suddenly the door opened. Yumi came inside and looked up. She took everything in with a glance before grabbing a conveniently-placed metal bar off to one side and charging at the snake with a yell. The creature tried to flee, but the bar caught it squarely on the side, throwing it into the elevator shaft. It disappeared into the darkness.
Yumi ran to Jeremy. "Are you all right? I wasn't sure, but I thought you would be X.A.N.A.'s logical choice to get to first."
The blonde boy opened his eyes, clearly trying to mask the pain. "I guess X.A.N.A. has a few tricks I didn't expect. I think it poisoned me. My leg won't move."
The title kinda gave the ending away, but I enjoyed making Jeremy flinch.