Der Exorzist
Maria sat in the driver's seat of the monorail and began looking over the controls, trying to figure out how to start it. She has had two years of learning the Drakel language, but there were a few things she was still a little rusty. "Start" and "Accelerate" happened to be the two words she didn't even know. She studied the console, trying to use process of elimination to figure out which ones not to push. Soon, the choices were narrowed the choices down to three. Since two were big and red with white 'X's on them, she decided not to push them. Frustrated and sweating, Maria slammed her open hand down on one of the buttons, and the tram jerked to life. There was a toggle on one side, which had "Speed" written under it. She slammed the switch all the way to the other side, and the monorail shot from the station with blinding speed. Bracing herself, Maria sat in the seat and heaved a heavy sigh of releif. He thoughts began to drift to a certain Guardian friend of hers...
Her thoughts exploded at the sound of a DrakZombie growling somewhere behind her. She looked back, quickly snapping the Tube Launcher around to the same direction. Nothing. She stood and jogged towards the back window and stared into the darkness. The sign she just passed read "10-BFE", she must be getting close. Out of nowhere, more specifically from the top of the Tram, a DrakZombie threw it's entire body weight against the back window, shattering it in one hit. Startled by the sudden action, Maria fell to the ground, landing hard on her rear, and in one quick motion, she fired once at the Zombie, blowing it's head, and half it's shoulders clean off. After the shock subsided, she stood and went once more to the window. From the dark track which was speeding off into the distance, she saw a small blue object running at very high speeds her way.
Her eyes grew larger as the object did. A Popper! She thought, leveling the weapon and firing, the Popper exploding, taking out a large section of the track behind. Then, the hisses and snarls returned from the abyss, letting her know the DrakZombies were on to her. With a silent swearword, she tucked the gun tight into her shoulder and stared through the sight.
"Bring it, motherfuckers." She whispered to herself.
Sure as silk, the walls began to crawl, to run, hiss and snarl as they passed. She watched them crawl over themselves as they tried to reach the solitary Guardian. As they began to get closer, Maria let them all taste the sweet, sweet flavor of Drakel gunpowder.
The five round clip seemed so small when faced with so many DrakZombies. To her, every time she reloaded, it seemed the clip was suddenly empty, and it made no noticeable dent in the Zombies. She used to reloading on the fly, pulling the spent clip out and slapping a new one in, all under three seconds. It was unreal how many there were. She couldn't even see the wall past all the bodies scuttling across it. She caught a glimpse of one of the section signs as it passed. 9-BFF Almost there. Only three sections left, and not a moment too soon. Her ammo bag was becoming scarily light with all the DrakZombies she'd been killing. One pounced from the ceiling, landing on all fours on the sill of the rear window. It screeched loud in the Guardian's face, which was answered by a quick uppercut, which sent it up and back, landing invisibly amongst the others. Unphazed, Maria began firing again dropping more Zombies. 1-BFG was the next sign. Maria sighed relieved as the Zombies began to back off. With a sigh, and a certain, unknown satisfaction, Maria returned to the front seat, just to see two Poppers land on the track, and begin to change shape. Just as the monorail reached the Poppers, they exploded, sending the train hurdling into the air, and into a downward spiral down into the darkness.
There came the sound of metal screeching, followed by a female scream piercing the silence. To Maria, everything went a hue of black, and she could hear nothing, except the beating of her own heart, which was slowing.
Some Unknown Amount of Time Later.
"Maria, wake up! You've got to get up! Those things are going to kill you!" A familiar voice called to her in her sleep. She managed to open an eye just wide enough to see the legs of a DrakZombie standing before her. She remained as calm as she possibly could. Slowly she clenched her right hand into a fist, expecting to feel her Tube Launcher. It wasn't there, instead it was some five feet away, strapped to a wall by some hard sticky viscous liquid. She shut her eyes, trying to pray to the Earth Lord for some way out. Suddenly, she felt a great pain in her back, something was ripping her skin, she felt blood pour down her side and pool beside her. Then, one of the DrakZombies screeched, and all recoiled away from her. She could have sworn she heard on hiss "Deeeeeeeeemon! Deeeeeeeeemon!" to the others. Pushing with all of her might on her hands, she managed to come to a stand. The Zombies recoiled farther back. Confused, Maria looked about. She had a throbbing headache, and the pain in her back didn't help.
"God, my head..." She muttered, moving her hands to her head, she felt something soft, yet pointy. She investigate farther into what was on her head. Cat ears. She instinctively stuck one hand into her mouth, her fingers getting impaled on something sharp and long. Teeth. It was happening again. Either it was some deep hatred she was experiencing, but couldn't quite control, or it was some frenzied state which had brought it out, but whichever way you slice it, there was no doubt. Her X-Boost had activated. The earlier pain in her back, she now came to realize, was her wings forming. With no cape to use, the wings had to grow from her own bone, needless to say, a very painful process. She looked herself over, staring at herself. Her physical form was no different then she last remembered, however she felt different, something was writhing inside her, moving, growing. Speaking to her. It was whispering softly into her ears, saying nice things, enticing things...naughty things. It told her to kill. Kill everything.
Something small, another voice inside her told Maria to ignore this voice, however, the other was too great, too tempting for her to just ignore on the fly like that. In accordance to it's will, she lashed out at the nearest DrakZombie, grabbing it's right arm and popping it off at the joint in one flick of her wrist. She then proceeded to play golf with the Zombie's head for the next swing, the arm sending its skull into the next Zombie. Her expression never changed. She kept the same straight face on her at all times as she proceeded to rip the nearest DrakZombie limb from limb with skill and ease. She did this for ten minutes, and in that time, she had killed five hundred and some odd Zombies. She simply leaped one to the other and killed it systematically and with frightening efficiency. As quickly as it began, it was over. The Zombies had ran from her, and were now hiding. She fell to her knees holding her stomach, growling with pain. She was hungry. She felt that something writing inside her again. It was something slippery and disgusting. As she stood, she surveyed the area, looking for more victims. Then, she saw them. Four of them behind glass, one was ferociously pushing buttons on the console before it, while the others hung over the firsts shoulder, watching. However, before she attacked them, she saw a door. It was a large Drakel Blast Door, designed to withstand enough of an explosion that anything could generate within the walls. She entered the door.
It led into a corridor with the same motif which was decorating the wall her Tube Launcher was stuck to. Growling, she crouched down on all fours and dashed down the hall, her hair and wings beating against the wind. Through some of the gunk, she could make out the words "Reactor Core" followed by an arrow pointed down the direction she was traveling. If her initial calculations were correct, if she could damage or destroy the reactor, it would send the entire city into the Ethereal Realm and all of those infernal DrakZombies with it.
After around three minutes of constant running, she finally came across the Reactor Core. A smile crossed her demonic visage as she reared up to beat the door in. With a crashing right hook from her clawed hand, the door buckled, falling to the ground.
"Welcome Maria Despair, Creature of neither the Living nor the Dead." An eerie voice spoke to her. She entered, undaunted, her clawed feet tapping on the metal plate floor. She had grown more demonic in appearance, growing a tail, claws on both her hand and feet, as well as sprouting a second and third pair of wings, each less painful in forming then the first. "I see you have made it this far. I applaud you. I must admit, while I didn't quite expect you to last quite this long, you have exceeded my initial expectation of human survivability." The voice, which she could now distinguish as Drakel finished.
"I know you're in here, Drakel Demon. Show yourself, so I can kill you for the suffering you have caused." Maria said into the air, sniffing for the Drakel's location.
"Ah, so I see my secret is not so much anymore. How did you come across it?"
"Nothing is a secret, when it's a secret to everybody." Maria retorted, circle-strafing the Reactor Core. She was watching the ceiling, looking for the voices owner. "Where are you? Who are you?" She growled.
"Here! Let me show you who I am!" Something in the back of Maria's mind twitched. That slight inconsistency caused her to spin around on the heel of her foot and crouch. Just as she did so, a Drakel dropped from the Reactor supports, trying to kick her head off. "Excellent reactions. A side-effect of my serum, no doubt." The Drakel spoke, strafing around her. At first glance, he appeared to be a normal Drakel. Except for the fact that his left arm was made completely of ice, and he had three ruby-red eyes staring unceasing at her. He was shrouded in shadow.
"And just who are you, monster?" Maria barked, her voice slipping from human to draconic. The other erupted into a laugh.
"Monster! I am the monster! Ho, no, Mrs. Despair! I am not a monster. I am...the FUTURE! You're future. One, unfortunately for myself, you shall not live to see." The Drakel stepped out into the light, showing himself fully. His frame was that of a Drakel, however, his skin was pale blue. Four squirming whiskers hung from hims mouth, and his left leg was made completely of a gold metal. Maria's eyes widened. "Ah, I can see it in your eyes. Shock! Surprise! Horror. You knew this is what I appeared, yet you still stare in disbelief. Why? Is my face so horrifying, that it would stop your body dead? No. It's something else. What is it, little Guardian?" He spread his arms out, a smile crossing his face. Maria brought herself sane again.
"What are you? What have you done to yourself? And in what name?" Maria shouted, clenching her fists before her. The Drakel laughed.
"What name? Why, my own of course! Soon, the Elemental Lords, with their power sapped, shall perish from Lore. Magic will fade as people's belief in it dwindles. There will be but one replacement. Science! Drakel Magiscience shall conquer Lore! And I shall unite it under one banner! MINE! The Banner of Makkisar!" He threw his hands up, erupting into an evil, echoing belly laugh. Maria, after a bit of a pause, joined him. She threw her head back, laughing louder and deeper then Makkisar. "What are you laughing at, murderer?" Maria stopped.
"Monster..." She began, never re-centering her head. There came a long pause.
"Come again?" Makkisar questioned.
"Murderer..." She muttered softly, her fists coming to a rest
"What are you getting at, wench?"
"Hypocrite..." She spoke again, her voice in a calm rage. Makkisar stared at her
"Why, yes you are." He chuckled.
"Coward..."
"I've never know an enemy coward I didn't like."
"Take your pick of my label, Makkisar, just do NOT make the same mistake the Mage of Despair made."
"And what was that?" He asked.
"CALL ME BY THE SAME LABEL YOU YOURSELF WEAR!" She shouted, centering her head, gripping her fists around nothing. Suddenly, the air became very cold. There came a flash of light and a high-pitched screech. Makkisar recoiled, trying to escape the sound. As the light began to fade and the sound die, Makkisar opened his eyes, still partially shielded with his iced hand. As he looked at the Guardian, he saw a weapon of great size in her hand. However, it had an unusual luster to it, almost as if it were from a different dimension. Or maybe, he hazarded a guess, a weapon from the Ethereal Realm. Something fell from the blade, and landed on the floor, sizzling. "You've made a powerful foe this day, Makkisar. Prepare to die." Maria hissed, lunging Makkisar with scary fast speed. He barely had the time to dodge.
The battle was sort. Makkisar was on the defensive the whole time, trying to dodge Maria's blade. A sword he now recognized as the fearsome Blade of Insight. Once the Drakel abomination realized he was no match for an angry, supercharged, and extremely quick X-Guardian, he began to engage plan B.
"ENOUGH!" He shouted, throwing his head forward, a red beam blasting out from his third eye, striking Maria on the chest. She feel to one knee, immobilized. "I can see this approach shall get me nowhere. So, I'll just have to use my back-up." He strode to a panel and pressed a series of buttons. After turning to laugh, Makkisar fled away as the door opened. Standing beyond the heavy plate portal was a RazorClaw, however it had the same deformations as Makkisar. "This is my newest creation. I call it, the Carnis Minor. It's relatively weak for now, but I assure you, Mrs. Despair, it's more then strong enough to destroy you in your current...condition. However, should you, by some miracle, manage to destroy this, I can assure you that I shall make them stronger. Better. I shall make different strains of Carnax Hybrids! The world of Lore SHALL bow before me. Be it today, tomorrow or ONE THOUSAND YEARS FROM NOW! Oh..." Makkisar said to himself. "That sounds like a very good idea. Try to conquer the world a thousand years from now... I know as a fact the Human body cannot live for that long. You will be long dead, as will be anyone who could destroy me. I shall then unleash my creations on Lore, and gain control! AND NO ONE CAN STOP ME!" He began laughing maniacally as he walked towards a separate door.
"So, this is how it ends, huh, Makkisar? You leave, knowing full well that I can, and will chase you until your dying breath. What are you going to do?" Maria smiled.
"Freeze myself." Makkisar replied, opening the door. "I plan to cryogenically freeze myself and bury the pod deep under Lore. I shall set the timer for one thousand years, and in that time, I shall awaken, and I will not know the difference, as it will all pass in a second for me. Au revoir, Mrs. Despair!" Without another word, he stepped into the pod, pressed some buttons within and smiled as the door began closing. Maria began to look around for some way to beat the Canis Minor he unleashed after her. After leaving her hand, the summoned Blade of Insight disintegrated into nothing. With no weapon, Maria began to attempt a stand up.
Makkisar's magic was the only thing holding her down, and with the link broken, the X-Guardian could stand. The transmuted RazorClaw began to strafe around her, hissing and snarling.
"What do you want, you ugly little motherfu-" She trailed off, grabbing a near-by pipe and swinging as hard as she could at the things head. The Carnis flew from the impact into the light-blue cylinder at the center of the room, crashing through the casing and getting incinerated inside. Maria smiled, but it was short lived.
"Warning, warning. Reactor-Core: Overload. Estimated time until detonation: Two minutes and thirty three seconds."
"Ah, hell..."Maria muttered.