A/N- Sorry I haven't updated this in For-Ev-Er! I have been suffering a major case of writers block when it came to this story. . I know, that ubber sucks, does it not? Well, the good news is, I haven't back up and running, the bad news is, I haven't quite come out of my case of writers block yet, so feel free to shoot me if you think this sucks.
Chapter Twelve: Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire.
Bahamut slammed against the wall, and a sickening crack filled the air when he fell back to the ground. He let out a hiss and closed his eyes tightly, pain flooding his mind. Jerking his head back up, he saw the figure he was fighting start to turn away.
Where do you think you're going? Bahamut hissed to the male, struggling to stand up, balancing his weight on his left leg, we're not finished here!
"I've got better things to do," the male said causally, not even casting a glance at Bahamut.
The dragon stared in silence, not knowing the other had the ability to talk before. Anger burned with in him, and with out thinking, he lunged forward, large black wings sprouting from his back, claws sprouting through his hands like Wolverine's from the X-Men.
The male turned around and with a loud clank of metal, and a swift kick, Bahamut was thrown backwards- almost. The dragon had taken the opportunity to leap in the air, but the incident had put to much pressure on his leg, and he hissed in pain.
"You are a fool," the male noted, "trying to beat me."
So what exactly are you here for, Sephiroth, world domination? Bahamut scowled at this comment.
A faint smile passed over the platinum haired male's face, and Bahamut froze, knowing just how serious this had just become. And he cursed himself for not realizing Sephiroth wasn't the kind of person to play Mr. Murderer.
In that case, I can let you go no further, Bahamut said, holding his arms over his chest in an 'X', his claws catching the fading light from outside.
"Since when does the mighty dragon Bahamut work to protect humans?" Sephiroth asked, narrowing his eyes.
I don't protect them just this place.
"I see..."
With a flap of his wings, Bahamut lunged at Sephiroth again, dodged the blade by flying up, and attacking from behind. A smirk passed over the dragons face as his claws dug into Sephiroth's back, but quickly faded as he saw no blood.
And the next thing he remembered was being shot in the stomach with a fireball, and sent flying into a nearby wall, and darkness flooding his mind.
XOXOXOX
"Has he woken back up yet?" John asked holding Jintoh's hand, while Halling kneeled by his son's side, lost in prayer.
"No, like I said, he only woke for a second," Aerith shook her head sadly.
Her and Carson agreed it would probably be better to leave out the fact that Jintoh had woken long enough to say he was sorry to Beckett--- at least until they were able to figure out what the curious message meant.
Carson half knew what the message meant, as he was fingering the black orb in his pocket, tracing the edges of the smooth black crystal like surface. He felt a strange power surge through his body whenever he held the strange sphere, and had to admit he liked the feeling.
Aerith sent him a weird glance every time the sphere gave a pulse, but he would stare blankly ahead of him, acting as if it never happened. But they hadn't yet had a chance to talk about it, as a soon as Jintoh passed out, Eris had come back, panting, with John, Weir and McKay.
"Um, I said what is that strange burning scent?" McKay asked, looking around confused.
"It's not coming from in here..." John noted, looking around the room, "So I wonder where..."
And the ring he wore around his ring finger lit up, showing a 3D version of the city, and after a moment, the jumperbay lit up the air, fires burning brightly, smoke filing out of the ceiling.
"Is that what I think it is?" Weir asked, eyes wide and voice confused.
Neo Bahamut leaped up from his spot on the desk, startling Eris and causing her to fall to the floor, and tackling McKay out of the way and pointing frantically at something in the corner.
"What is he saying Carson," Weir asked, looking at the doctor.
"I don't know, I only speak to Baha, none of the others," Carson shrugged, "I'm sorry."
"Others?"
"Summons, there are many more," Aerith explained, "not most are evil, but some are."
"But why is there a fire in our jumperbay?" Weir asked, worried.
"An evil spirit most likely, probably the one that caused the fire," Carson nodded.
"How many spirits are here?"
"Baha, Neo... Any more Aer?"
"Not that I know of, we would have felt it's summoning."
"Well, for now let's put out the fire," Weir said.
XOXOXOX
The small group stood at the end of the hall leading to the jumperbay, it completely lost in flames. The heat was intense, and sweat trickled down their arms and foreheads. Nothing seemed that it could obviously be done, and that worried the good leader
Doctor.
"It's so large..." Aerith said quietly, and heard Rodney mumbled something about pointing out the obvious.
Car...son...
"What?"
"What did you say doctor?" John asked, turning to look at Carson.
Only, something wasn't right. His eyes were blank, and something in the back of his mind was calling out to him. He began to shiver, and the chills seemed to take over him. A sudden weakness took over him, and he was ready to collapse.
Car...!
"Neo, let's go!" Carson gasped, grabbing the dragon's wrist and running towards the flaming hallway.
The dragon pulled loose from the human's grip, and followed, wings ripping from his back and gliding through the thick flames.
"Car-son!"
Whoever had called his name, the Scottish doctor wasn't quite sure, as he was too worried about whatever was in the flame's that called his name. After he had got too the end of the hall, the flames were so intense and the smoke so thick, it almost became impossible to breath.
Car...son... Hell...p... me...
One minute Bahamut! Just give me one more minute! Carson screamed in his mind, hoping the dragon wouldn't give up on him.
Holding an arm up over his eyes like he was blocking the sun, he slowly continued through the flames, ignoring the sweat trickling down his forehead, and the flames licking at his legs.
None of that mattered anymore. All that really mattered was that he saved Bahamut from this fiery tomb.
And after awhile he finally made it to the door, and it gleamed up at him innocently behind its burned silver material. But it was locked, and he had no way to get in to help his dragon-gone-human friend.
"Neo-"Carson gasped, choking on the smoke, "-help?"
The red dragon looked at him, and nodded casually. Stepping forward he placed his palms on the door, almost as if he couldn't feel the intense heat surging through it and a moment later, the door was blown backwards with a loud bang, and crashed into a wall on the far side of the Jumperbay.
Carson smiled weakly, and the two continued into the room, ignoring the flames licking at them evilly. He narrowed his eyes, and looked through the flames as best he could and a felt an energy pulse to his right. He turned around quickly, Neo Bahamut having felt it also. The two hurried in the direction of the pulse, and winced when they saw what had emitted said pulse.
Bahamut lay on the ground like a dirty rag that had been tossed aside, his right leg bent in a way that it should never had been able to do normally. Large wings were spread out, to protect him from the fire, but it didn't appear to be working so well. But what sickened the doctor the most was a large cut tracing from the dragons left shoulder, all the way to right above his right hip.
The Dragon looked up weakly, and let out a soft whimper, before closing his eyes and shifting his wings slightly. Both Neo and Carson knelt by him, and tried to think of how they could move him, but it seemed impossible under the circumstances.
Suddenly, a large image of a shard of ice flooded the doctor's mind, and he looked at Neo who pointed to his brother's leg. The two looked at each other for a moment, before Carson nodded, as if deciding it might work.
They both put a hand over the leg with the shattered bone, and focused all their energy, hoping to create a large block of ice. The energy wavered, and didn't seem to want to stick to the dragon's leg to freeze it over.
Car...Son...
The Scottish man looked at the dragon sadly, unable to bear hearing the normally arrogant dragon whimper in such pain. He put one hand on the others forehead, and the chill of his icy palm seemed to relax the dragon slightly. Dr. Beckett's other hand strayed to his burnt lab coat, where a soft black sphere brushed up against his fingers.
It only took a second for the energy to pulse through his body, when a new idea came to him. Squeezing it tightly, he put his other hand over Bahamut's leg, and it was frozen over in a second, and a shiny pink protective barrier appeared over that. Beckett looked at Neo and nodded to the dragon, who nodded in turn despite his utmost confusion.
A moment later Bahamut was held piggyback style by his brother, and he clutched tightly, not wanting to be left with the flames. Carson led the way, and as he walked by the flames, a sheet of water would fall on them and put them out, as if they hadn't been there a moment before.
XOXOXOX
"Carson? Carson!"
He opened his eyes weakly, to stare up at the bright white ceiling of the hospital room. He touched his forehead gently, only to remove it upon feeling the burnt skin and the pain that spread through his body.
What happened?
The question floated in his mind as he searched his memory for what on Earth could have happened to make this happen. He remembered a fire, and sensing Bahamut was somewhere in there...
But what happened after that?
He let out a soft moan, and squinted his eyes shut. He began searching desperately through his mind again for what on Earth- pardon, Atlantis- could have done him so much damage.
He had to have been in the fire, which would explain the burns, but how had he got out alive? And why did he feel suddenly weak? He brushed his fingers against his side, and found that he still had his coat on, though much of it was burnt away, and in his pocket was the black orb...
He squeezed it gently, and felt a strange energy pulse through him as he opened his eyes and everything became a faint green colour. A soft gasp came from his left, and he immediately dropped the orb and looked over to see Aerith standing by his side with a white coat over her pink dress.
"Carson? What just happened?" She asked quietly.
"I don't know," he replied, rubbing his forehead to feel smooth skin once more, "I just suddenly felt all this energy..."
Aerith didn't reply, but stroked his cheek gently with a soft smile on her lips. She pulled back and sat in a chair, looking like a princess from one of those old fashioned movies he used to watch.
He pushed himself up in a sitting position and swung his legs over the side of the bed, feeling as good as he had before this whole Chosen One incident had started. Aerith eyed him carefully, but said nothing.
"What happened?" He asked finally.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Aerith said sadly, "We know nothing that happened after you and Neo Bahamut ran off into the flames. You see, after that happened a large wall of flame shot up, caging you in."
"I remember the fire..." Carson nodded, glad to know that much, "And Neo blew open the door so we could go inside and help Bahamut... Bahamut! Where is he!?"
Aerith looked at her feet sadly and Carson's heart dropped to his stomach. He reached over and grabbed her shoulder with shaky hands, before using the other to force her to look at him, his eyes demanding to know what happened.
A/N- just as things might have been going good, this happens! Well, I'd just like to say this mystery orb is almost over, and that the real trouble has just begun. Isn't this sweet? ::smirks:: How much more damage can Atlantis take? Where is the Wraith? And what happened to Bahamut? Tune in next time for more "The Promised Land", coming to a computer screen near you! ;)
-Cailean
