The Last Warrior

Chapter 6: Kane's Fortress

Date:2/15/05

Written by Daniel Graffio

"Slade," said Page's voice through the intercom, "Are you ready?"

"Ready." Slade said as he looked around the training room. It was built very wide with high walls, and every inch was covered in thick padding. Slade had found the base to full of surprises like this. He had asked Eve how they been able to build this, much less keep it running. She only replied,

"You'd be surprised how many different kinds of people want to see Kane fall."

Slade was then jerked out of this memory by a small door opening in the far wall. A small figure walked out, and as it got nearer, Slade saw that it was a small humanoid robot, about a head smaller than him.

"Slade," came Page's voice again, "Meet Zenith, our sparring robot. He will be your opponent."

Slade almost laughed at this, but decided not to offend Page. He surveyed the robot in front of him while stretching his calves.

"You're not gonna be mad if I break this guy will you?" He asked.

"I wouldn't worry about it Slade." came Glenn's voice, "If Page had a dollar for every time he had to fix or rebuild that thing, he'd be richer than Kane right now."

Slade laughed a bit at this, and then shut his eyes in concentration.

"Whenever you're ready Slade." Said Eve's voice.

"Go ahead," Slade said, his eyes still tightly shut.

Up in a small control booth observing the room, Page pushed a few buttons and Zenith launched into action. He came at Slade with a surprising speed and engaged him in combat. The robot launched attack after attack, punching and kicking furiously with his metal limbs. Slade dodged every attack effortlessly, with his eyes still shut. Zenith then seemed to throw all his strength into his next punch, aimed right between Slade's shut eyes. Slade, to everyone's surprise, caught the robot's arm, opened his eyes, and kicked it right in the gut. Zenith almost collided with the far wall before stopping itself. Slade was immediately upon him, attacking like a madman, a crooked half-smile growing on his face.

"Would you look at him?" Ena said, "He's enjoying this."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Most of them, including Eve, found they couldn't voice how impressed they were, they're mouths hanging open in amazement.

Slade, meanwhile, was definitely enjoying himself. His half-smile was even more pronounced as he kicked Zenith in the back, spun around, punched him in the face, and grabbed his arms again.

"Time to end this." he said, throwing Zenith in the air.

Eve it seemed found her ability to speak.

"What's his power at right now?"

"Looks like it's about 50" said Page, working the control panel.

"50? This guy thinks he can take Kane on with that?" said Aiden indignantly.

Almost as if in response to this, the reading began to skyrocket. Everyone looked down at Slade. He had a blue aura glowing around his body, and his hands were down at his side and together at the wrists. A ball of bright glowing energy was forming between his hands.

"What is this?" Page said dumbfounded. "5000...10000...100000!"

"What the hell?" Aiden yelled. Then they all heard Slade yelling something,

"KAAAAAAAMMMMEEEEEEEEE-"

"What is that!" yelled Una as the power level went up past the 300000 mark.

"-HAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE-"

The entire room began to shake with Slade's power. The reading was at 500000

"-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Slade yelled as he threw his hands out in front of him. The ball of light erupted and shot out at the robot which had finally begun to descend. The blast turned Zenith into dust, and ripped a hole in the ceiling. Slade walked out of the room and made his way to the control station. Upon entering, he saw everyone's eyes opened in amazement at him. Slade smiled embarrassedly,

"Uh...sorry about your robot, and the roof. I got a little carried away there."

"Don't worry about it," Page finally managed to say. "If there's one thing I love, it's something to fix."

Slade smiled at went back to his room. Not a minute later, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Said Slade.

It was Eve. She walked into the room, still wearing an expression of amazement.

"Slade?" she asked, "What was that back there?"

"Oh, it's called The Kamehameha Wave." said Slade, "It's one of the more difficult moves I know."

"Wow." Was all Eve could say for a few minutes. Then she regained her composure. "Slade I think we're ready."

"Ready for what?" Slade asked.

"Ready for a full on attack on Kane's palace." said Eve, clearly excited.

"Really?" Slade said, not really believing her.

"Yeah, we've been planning this for a long time, but it never seemed really possible. But I think with your help we might just be able to take that tyrant down." Eve's eyes were shining with the possibility.

"Hmmm." said Slade, "How far is it from here?"

"About 10 miles." said Eve.

"10 miles?" Slade exclaimed. "Wow, I must have been traveling for longer than I thought."

"How come you never just flew there?" Eve asked.

Slade smiled a bit at this.

"Kane probably would have noticed me. I wanted to keep the element of surprise on my side." he said, and then continued, "Besides, I needed to become stronger. I figured going on a journey would help that." The young fighter stared at the floor for awhile, until Eve spoke again.

"Well Slade, are you in?"

Slade looked up in her eyes, and smiled his half-smile.

"Hell yeah!" he said.

The next day, Slade found himself looking down from a cliff at the lair of Kane. It was a building designed like many of Kane's government buildings in the various cities he had visited in his travels. The only difference was, this one was colored and ominous black. They were hiding behind a group of rocks, next to the ship that had carried them there. Eve was relaying the plan.

"We're gonna blast that door open, and then split up once inside. Page is gonna stay behind with the ship for a quick exit. Some of us are gonna make sure the guards are distracted, while the rest of us make our way to the main chamber and destroy Kane."

"Go in with guns blazing eh?" said Aiden, "Sounds good to me, but what's he gonna be doing?" He jerked his thumb in Slade's direction.

"What do you think I meant by 'destroy Kane'?" Eve said with a smirk.

She looked over to Slade with a smile, which disappeared the instant she saw the look on his face. He was staring at the castle with a frightening look in his eyes. His teeth were gritted and grinding together, and his fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles had gone white and his palms were bleeding.

"Slade?" Eve asked, "Are you ok?"

He didn't answer, he just kept staring down at the castle, his eyes squinted in anger. Finally he said,

"I'll clear a path for you." Then he flew off.

"Hey wait!" Eve called after him, but he was already to far gone.

The enraged young man flew over the heads of the outer guards, continually firing blasts below him. The guards were caught completely by surprise as the explosions enveloped them. Eve and the rest of them ran after Slade, splitting up inside as planned. Slade was charging right through, ignoring everything and everyone. He wasn't even really looking where he was going, but he could feel the one he sought getting closer and closer.

"Get Kane." was the only thought running through his head.

Then he stopped inside a large chamber. It was dark, but Slade knew he had reached his destination. He looked towards the far wall; where on top of a high stoop sat a throne. Two men were there, one sitting, one standing. Slade knew them both. One was the man who had recently handed him a defeat, Zenyu the general. The other was the one Slade knew and hated the most. The one he had seen in both his dreams and his nightmares for years. The one he had come for.

Kane.