By Final Fantasy GX
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase. It belongs to PBS Kids, among others.
Summary: Will the returned Crimson Blade, altered but still as evil as ever, achieve his ultimate goal? Who will become tangled in his dark designs? And, most of all, who will survive his vicious onslaught? New allies, new threats, and old enemies combine to make the Cybersquad's desperate fight against Crimson harder than ever…
Rating: PG-13 (minimal gore, death, violence)
Author's Note/s: Don't you just lurve cliffhangers? Slider is one of my fave characters, so I thought I might put him in at one point. Hope y'all like this chapter; the action gets more intense here.
Re-edit: Again, I say "meep". This chapter didn't really need any editing, but I needed to update the summary 'n all that.
Chapter 9: Our Next Meeting
Scythe had been about to tell them his decision when Slider had called Matt; now, however, with the red-haired boy hurrying towards the now-defined exit (Scythe had told Inez when Matt had been talking with Jackie and Digit), he grabbed Inez's arm and said quickly, "I'm coming with you."
Over his shoulder he yelled, "Dasariah! Vil! Guard this place and do not leave!"
Jackie took hold of Inez's arm, yanked hard and said, "Come on, Inez!" The remaining three, with Scythe at their side, ran out of the cavern after Matt.
As soon as they caught up to the eleven-year-old, the black-haired teenager took the lead. "We have to hurry!" Matt said urgently. "Slider could be in deep trouble!"
"Oh, so you actually don't mind him now," Jackie teased. She was quickly rebuked, however, when Matt yelled, perhaps to cover that fact that what she said was true, "This is no time for jokes, Jax! I know what Blade is like! If we don't get there in time, a lot of innocent people might be killed!"
The African-American didn't bother to answer as they stopped at a dead end. "Oh, man," she groaned. "A dead end."
Scythe shook his head. "Indeed, not." Stepping right up to the blank wall of compacted dirt, he pressed his hand on some hidden space, and steps began to appear.
In a few minutes, they were back on the surface, squinting at the sun, which was slowly inching its way down the sky. Not far away stood Hacker's hangar – which was now empty due to their expedition to R-Fair City.
"Maybe there's something in there that we can use to get to R-Fair City," Jackie said, pointing at the hangar.
"It's the only chance we've got," replied Inez. "I don't think Buzz and Delete would be there; at least, I hope not, anyway."
The group walked into the hangar, carefully looking around for any signs of Buzz, Delete – or any other person, for that matter. When it was apparent that no one was there, Matt ran over to a small coupe parked into the corner.
"Hacker's emergency coupe," he explained. "Buzz and Delete use it sometimes, remember?"
Inez nodded. "It's going to be a tight fit, however," she said thoughtfully, staring at the rather small-looking coupe. "But it won't matter, as long as we save Slider."
Climbing into the front of the cyber-coupe, Matt waved his hand at the remaining seats. "Hurry up!" Scythe slumped in the furthest corner of the back seat, while Inez sat next to him and Jackie went in the front with Matt. Digit squeezed into the back seat, trying not to jab Inez with his beak.
"Ow," she yelped suddenly; Digit shrugged and looked sheepish. "Sorry, Inez." She rubbed her arm and patted his beak apologetically. "That's okay."
"Uh… I don't really know how to fly this thing," Matt said nervously, glancing at the numerous controls.
"Push the green button," Scythe muttered from the back seat. He stared out the window, the surroundings outside reflecting in his glasses.
"Thanks." Slamming his hand down on the green button and taking hold of the controls, the red-haired boy didn't bother to ask how Scythe knew how to fly Hacker's coupe. "Okay, so which way to R-Fair City?"
Digit pointed in the correct direction. "There you go, Mattie." Gripping the controls as hard as he could and concentrating equally as much, Matt lifted the coupe off and they shot towards R-Fair City.
-
"Insubordination!" Crimson Blade screamed. "How DARE you try to stop me from destroying this clone catcher, who in turn has destroyed myself!"
"I don't understand - " Slider began to say, but before he could continue, Blade dropped the knife at his feet and grabbed the teenager around the throat.
"You're going to pay for what you've done…" the creature hissed maliciously, glowing eyes staring into his. "Oh, yes… you're going to pay, all right…" And his grip began to tighten.
"I have no need for knives when I have this!" Blade held up his other arm. "My strength… You see, now I understand why I was given another chance."
"Another chance for what…?" Slider forced out from beneath Crimson's stranglehold; hopefully he would be able to keep this creature talking until the Cybersquad arrived, as it seemed that Blade tended to stray from the point.
"Another chance to gain revenge. I chose this. I chose this body… this fate..." For a few moments, the large eyes went slightly glazed as he remembered the words he had spoken to Matt, not so long ago…
"You know, I could go on about how many times I was killed by you. But none of them involved of this body. Oh no. This is my final body. My last chance for revenge. My body specifically designed to kill Matt. And I'm not even going to go into how hard I worked to get it. But don't worry. I didn't harm anyone in order to get it."
Matt was thoroughly spooked, but in a last-minute attempt to sound tough, shouted, "Oh yeah? Well, it looks like you lost the instructions trying to put yourself together!"
The figure smiled. "Yes, joke while you are still capable of doing so. But I shall have the last laugh, once I avenge all the lives you killed."
"I remember… I remember all the torture he put me through…" Blade whispered, almost inaudibly. "Though it wasn't my final body. I rose again because I needed to complete my task… my purpose."
"Your purpose?" The brown-haired teenager gagged once as the hand that had him around the throat clenched considerably; Crimson Blade had snapped back to reality.
"Yes. You see, I fulfilled my main purpose not long ago. My purpose was to kill Matt. And now that is done…I will destroy all others who have put me through so much pain."
Slider was about to open his mouth to inform Crimson Blade that Matt was, in fact, quite alive, but the would-be murderer bared his teeth. "Enough questions!" he snarled viciously. "It is time for you to die, weak mortal."
"Stop right there."
The familiar voice rang in Crimson Blade's ears; not believing, refusing to, he snatched his hand away from Slider's throat as if it was burning hot, and the teenager stumbled backwards from him.
Everything seemed to slow down as the misshapen Blade whirled around to face to source of the voice. His hideous face twitched as he saw Matt standing there, arms folded, scowling fiercely. Cy Clone had disappeared into the crowd, which had parted to let the Cybersquad through.
"No…" Crimson murmured, disbelieving, unable to accept what had occurred. "Please… no…" It seemed as if his world had suddenly come crashing down upon his head; his piercing gaze dropped to the ground as he struggled to pull himself together.
Once he had calmed down a little, Blade's gaze snapped back up to Matt. "I killed you!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I KILLED you!"
"You're wrong," the boy responded coolly. "You didn't. I survived – barely – and now, I've come to stop you!"
"No... no..." the creature muttered, clutching at his head, trying to comprehend what was happening. "You were dead... you were good and dead..." He choked upon the last word.
It was fortunate that he hadn't caught sight of the others yet, otherwise he would have totally broken down at that moment. Before Matt could say anything else, however, Crimson Blade let loose with a scream that made everyone in earshot wince and cover his or her ears. It was pain-filled, conveyed every feeling of fury and rage he had ever experienced, terrifying, emotional; it went on and on, until finally his voice cracked and it faded into silence.
Everybody thought that Blade wasn't going to say anything more as he struggled with himself; however, his face split into a grin, twitching as he fought to control the insane anger that was threatening to overwhelm him. He began to speak again.
"Do you remember? Do you remember when we first met? I saw you without that collected mask hiding your true feelings, I saw what I could do to manipulate you! And yet I judged you wrong but for two things: Your weaknesses lie in the people you love..."
Blade paused, that gruesome smile now fading.
"And you still remain, even now, a hopeless, wretched LOSER!" He screamed the last word at Matt, practically spitting with rage.
Matt really had no idea what to do with him, as Crimson's words had little to no effect on him, but he maintained his collected state so as to confuse Crimson Blade even more than he was at that current moment.
Suddenly, Blade straightened from his half-bent state of mental agony and looked Matt right in the eye.
"It doesn't matter anymore," he said, in a hollow voice. "It doesn't matter about the others…because I'm GOING TO KILL YOU!" Another shriek escaped his throat, so loud it almost tore, and he leapt for Matt nimbly, aiming straight for his neck, pointed teeth bared and ready for action.
It seemed as though he intended to rip the red-haired boy's throat open, but instead he ducked low and launched a kick straight across Matt's legs as if to sweep his feet from under him. The crowd that was gathered gasped, but the boy jumped backwards, and Blade immediately jerked upright, spitting out a vicious curse.
After a pause, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if weighing his chances, Crimson finally snarled, "You know that you will never escape from me, Matthew?"
"I escaped from you once, and I can do it again," the boy replied. The crimson eyes flicked behind him to his friends, fortunately not seeing Scythe, as the teenager was at the back of the group with Slider.
"I see you fools escaped as well," Blade said matter-of-factly. "Never mind, I will assuredly kill you this time around!"
And clenching his fists once more, he sprang again for Matt's throat, knocking the boy over backwards and pinning him down with an iron-like grip. Crimson then bared his teeth for a final time and with a deep, low growl of anger, prepared to sink them into Matt's neck and rip out his throat…