Chapter 8: Crawling in the Dark

The first thing Brio noticed when he woke was a terrible headache, ringing in his ears and pounding hard at his skull. Before he even opened his eyes he was already grasping his throbbing head in pain, completely forgetting about any other injuries he already had.

He opened his eyes slowly, seeing nothing around him save for the blurry colors: black, gray, perhaps a tiny yellow sliver of light. As his eyes began to focus he found himself to be in a small dark room, gray metal covering the walls, floor and ceiling, and a small door on the other end. The door had no window, and the only way Brio knew it was a door was from the yellow light that leaked in around the edges.

He found himself lying, nearly paralyzed on the dusty floor. No bed, no table, nothing in the room. He simply lay there, not yet comprehending, only absorbing what his senses took in. No noise, no smell. Just the pitch black room and thin ray of light, the cold feeling of the rusty metal floor, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth and nausea lurching up his throat.

Then nothing.

Where am I? He thought to himself, still in too much pain to really remember what had happened.

He quieted his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching from outside. Suddenly, the door was thrown open with a noisy creaking sound, and a small figure appeared silhouetted in the bright yellow light. Brio groaned and shielded his sensitive eyes from the burning light, having been in the darkness too long.

The figure stepped forward, now visibly Mojo Jojo, and walked dangerously close the Brio's fallen form.

The old Brio could have easily jumped up and made quick work of beating up Mojo, but his body was so completely drained that he could barely think. To say that Brio is this drained is the same as saying he is nearly dead. Only several extremely powerful shocks from antidote X rays could achieve this kind of energy loss. Once by Quasi, again when rescuing the girls, and once again, point-blank by one of the droids. Being fueled purely by life energy, when so much of it has gone from Brio's body like this there is only so much time he has to live.

Mojo Jojo grinned and began speaking to Brio.

"I have some news that you might like," he said.

Brio closed his eyes, let out a long, painful sigh, then half opened one eye to signal he was mostly paying attention.

"And some you may not like," Mojo turned and faced towards the doorway.

Brio laid his head back again, not caring of anything more but sleep and easing the pain in his head.

"The good news is that your sisters got away,"Mojo said, a bitter tone in his voice.

"The bad news is, they fled. Out of radar, far away," He sneered as he looked back towards Brio, who appeared to be asleep until he opened one eye again, "But it doesn't matter. There's nothing they can do. In no time, my army of droids will cover the globe, and there's no place they can hide."

Brio closed his eyes again, sighed, and then attempted to stand. He fell to his knees and grunted, while Mojo continued speaking.

"We'll find them soon enough. We'll take their chemical X, and then we'll kill them."

Brio raised his icy gaze up towards Mojo, his glassy eyes now empty and colorless. He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could manage to do was mouth, "never."

Mojo grinned and continued.

"Next I'll kill the Professor, and then I'll kill you, Brio," he sneered, "and you know what the best part is?"

Brio's stare remained steadfast.

"Your sisters have deserted you, both you and the Professor. They've left you to die here. They've betrayed you both, like the weak cowards that they are. You can't save yourself, and they won't come to save you, because they'll be dead within twenty-four hours."

Brio closed his eyes again, too weak to say or do anything else, but inside he was snickering.

"So enjoy your last hours, Brio. Enjoy thinking about your worthless life, your pathetic sisters. But don't be too upset, the pain will be over very soon."

Brio fell back to the ground again, his thoughts still too cloudy to think straight. Mojo Jojo simply turned to leave without another word, and he slammed the door behind him, once again covering the room in a blanket of darkness.

Beautiful, tree-covered islands scattered the crystal blue Tyrrhenian sea. Blossom remembered from memorizing her many geography books that these were the Aeolian islands, and she must be close to the coast of Italy. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the cool, sea breeze as it washed over her face.

After a few minutes of these scattered Italian islands and blue waters she finally crossed over a sandy beach and onto the mainland. She looked wide-eyed down below, watching the beaches turn into beautiful landscapes and then into busy villages and cities. The small, red-roofed buildings separated by narrow, stone roads seemed endless within these flourishing towns.

She smiled as she watched the people walking along, working, going about their daily lives. Some gasped and pointed at the strange pink lightning bolt in the sky, but other than that, Blossom's presence did no harm.

She looked up and gaped at the lush, green forests and mountains that stretched across the horizon. She then glared and turned her attention once again towards her mission that was driving her to go deeper into the unknown.

She suddenly felt the urge to turn sharply to the right and fly alongside these mountains. She let her instincts take over, and in no time was flying among many more of these Italian cities, sandwiched between the coastline and the hills on the horizon.

For some inexplicable reason, her instincts seemed to draw her closer to the city of Pompeii on its own and towards her awaiting power. Miles and miles flew beneath her in a flash, and in no time she had reached a large, ancient, deserted city.

Blossom landed and walked throughout the dead city in awe, gazing in amazement at the giant Roman ruins. She stopped in the middle of what was once the forum, or gathering marketplace for the ancient civilization. She took in the astounding stone structures around her, some still standing triumphantly while others were partially collapsed.

She felt a sudden surge of power and twisted her head towards it quickly, eyes wide in fear. She found herself looking towards a majestic volcano, the only decoration on the empty horizon of this far removed city. Unlike the other mountains she had seen, this volcano was brown and muddy, surely a result of dried lava, ash, and dirt.

Blossom hovered in the air to get a better view, and in an instant she knew this was her destination. She scowled and shot in its direction without hesitation, that same invisible force pulling her there automatically.

She landed at the base of the mountain and began a rapid search for anything of interest. She slowly cycled higher and higher up on the volcano until she came across a small opening lined with polished stones about halfway up.

Blossom peered inside, and saw complete darkness save for a strange, faint red glow in the distance. Curiously enough the opening was small enough to fit her size exactly, hairbow and all. She looked in either direction before walking inside cautiously, unknowing of where she was headed, and what she was going to find.

Buttercup shivered and hugged herself as she flew further and further south. The temperature dropped rapidly by the second, but thanks to her superpowers she could withstand the frigid cold winds just as she is able to withstand the intense heat of lava.

She sighed in relief as she finally came across the white, icy and snow-covered land after miles of traveling over an empty blue sea. The blizzards blazed with forceful winds that stung her eyes as she flew, but nevertheless she continued southward, looking for a particular mountain in the middle of an icy wasteland.

How on earth am I supposed to find this Mount Erebus place! Antarctica is massive.. It could be anywhere! She shivered harder and grumbled to herself.

She stopped in midair, sighed and tried to calm down.

Just..slow down. Think.. She slowly looked around her in all directions, trying to decide which way she should start looking, because there was no other way for her to know besides simple trial and error.

She made a mental note of which way led to deeper inland and which way led to water, and closed her eyes in thought. She, like Blossom, completely let her instincts take over and pointed in the direction that her mind led her to. She began flying seemingly aimlessly, eyes still closed, letting her thoughts and instincts guide where she would go next.

It's a shot in the dark... but that's what I'm looking for anyway.. She laughed at her own stupid pun, and continued on from there, searching.