Legacies
A Sequel to
Crossing of the Paths
By MMM/AJ
A/N: Hoorah! I've been returning to my better grades now! Things are improving vastly, and due to that I am now able to present you with the next chunk already! And it's an outstanding 18 pages, a new chunk length record for me! I hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter XXVII – T7
After what felt like an eternity sitting inside the bomb shelter in the basement of Ashley's father's house, Tanis finally lost control of an urge to ask a burning question. It had hit him as soon as he had seen Ashley's father, and suppressing it up till then had been a hard battle.
"Your name is Ash, correct?" Tanis asked, preparing to ask his real, more embarrassing question.
"Yeah." Ash said, holding his face in his hands.
"Well, I've been wondering something. Let me explain to you the discrepancy that has been bothering me. When I was growing to maturity inside my tube, my father Mewtwo left me recorded messages of tales from his life. He told me of the time he had met you when you were still a trainer, traveling the land as a teen much as Ashley is now. But he also told me that those events happened almost 90 years ago when he left those messages, which was ten years ago. You should be almost 130 years old, but you stand here before me a middle aged man. How is this so?"
A bomb exploded extremely close by, its sound barely made it through the thick shelter walls as Ash spoke. "I'm sure you're familiar with Purity Canyon, you must have heard your father tell you about how he had hidden the canyon underground to protect its healing springs from human intrusion. Well, when I was almost seventy years old and getting ready to write up my will, Misty convinced me that we should go visit Purity Canyon for old times sake. We went and found that the spring had returned, Mewtwo had returned it as a gift for humanity, with something a little more. We found a new spring hidden away in the very center of the Crater, underneath the small island. I drank from it, and it returned me to my twenties, and then Misty drank some of it as well. We were given a new lease on life, and we decided to put it to better use and have children."
Tanis nodded. It made sense to him now except for one thing. He didn't doubt his father's ability to create such a spring, but he couldn't comprehend why he hadn't used it himself in order to survive long enough to meet his own son in person. Perhaps it only worked on humans? He would have to check that theory later, as right now he felt he needed to do something about the problem hovering above their heads. It seemed that they hadn't fired their main cannon yet, and he wondered why.
"Everyone stay here, I need to go up and check something out." Tanis said abruptly.
Ashley stood up with a face that looked as if it were carved from steel. "We've been shot at by their men together, chased by their speeders together, and even been through a tornado together. There's nothing you can say to keep me here while you go and get yourself killed." Ashley's voice was just as steely as her expression.
Tanis could only chuckle and acquiesce. "As you wish. Just know that we could be vaporized should they fire while we're exposed.
"I'm very well aware." Ashley said staunchly.
"Now wait just a minute young lady!" Misty said, having to get in her say. "I've been worrying about you during your Pokemon Journey for the past six years, and I think it reasonable for you to respect my feelings about your safety for once!"
"You and Ash had just as much adventuring and danger during your Pokemon journeys! I bet you never thought of your mother when you quested with ash and faced down Team Rocket!" Ashley said calmly and venomously.
"That's enough!" Ash said sternly. "Though I am worried about your safety Ashley, I've been through much in my life, including a physical beating from Mewtwo himself, and I trust in your ability and judgment. You're a Ketchum, and you can do anything you want!"
Tanis cranked the bomb shelter door open and stepped into the house's basement. Ashley thanked her father profusely, reassured her mother, and followed Tanis out. Ashley and Tanis climbed up out of the basement and cautiously entered the garage. The got down onto their stomachs and climbed under the tarps. They poked their heads out and looked out the open garage doors and into the sky. The ship was hovering far overhead, casting its ominous shadow down onto them. Its bottom was still firmly closed, and fighters and gunships whizzed and shrieked overhead.
"What are they doing? Aren't they going to flatten the city?" Ashley wondered aloud.
Tanis put his paw over Ashley's mouth and she was suddenly silent. He crawled back under the tarps again and Ashley followed.
"What are you going to do?" Ashley now whispered.
"Does your father have any devices for amplifying vision?" Tanis asked.
Ashley scratched her head for a moment. "If you mean binoculars, I think he has a pair in here somewhere.
Ashley and Tanis began ruffling through the tool shelves and cabinets that lined the garage's walls. Tanis vaguely wondered why Ash had put all these tarps up in his garage. He knew it was a tidbit he would probably end up asking once he and Ashley had returned to the shelter. The plastic was slippery under his feet and it smelled of off-gassing.
"Found it!" Ashley said triumphantly.
"Shh!" Tanis said, wincing.
Ashley winced in reply and they both got back down on their stomachs and emerged from the other side of the tarp.
"Let me see through them." Tanis said, his seemingly loud psychic voice making no real sound.
Ashley removed the lens caps from the jet black binoculars, indicated which end to look through for Tanis, and then handed them to him. Tanis peered through them and up at the underbelly of the ship. It was thickly plated with even armor that had no visible cracks or seams. There were shallow, blackened craters in it where the UN jets had shot their missiles. The craters hadn't even penetrated an inch into the armor. He could not locate the seams where the bottom opened up for the super weapon, and he knew he didn't want it to open and show him.
There was a sudden explosion, one that rocked the ship and blared in both their ears. Tanis lowered the binoculars and looked more broadly into the sky. He saw an orange ball of flame at the rear end of the massive ship, and beyond it was another ship that had just appeared. Suddenly, all the fighters and gunships in the air dropped what they were doing and charged at this other ship. Tanis raised the binoculars again and looked out to see the new ship.
The new ship was uniformly olive drab and grey, and two letters were painted over it in true white; "UN" It was using the most advanced hover drives and propulsion systems that humans had designed up to this date, and appeared to be as big as the first ship that was still hovering over Saffron city. As Tanis watched, grey colored fighters poured off of the UN ship and began with the red colored fighters. Suddenly explosions dotted the sky again, and both sides began losing numbers relatively quickly. It seemed that the UN fighters exploded quickly after launching, but not before firing their own missiles and taking down equal numbers of the red fighters and gunships. The front of the UN carrier ship then began to open, and Tanis felt himself cross two of his three fingers.
From the opening in the front of the UN ship a great blue glow poured forth, not sickly and menacing like that which had came from the last red carrier, but almost heavenly and pure to Tanis' eyes. The energy collected until it was almost blindingly bright, and Tanis was about to look away until it fired.
Tanis found himself cursing openly and freely, and Ashley did as well when they both saw the red carrier above them suddenly fly North at a great speed, avoiding the beam. Sunlight now streamed down over them as the giant ship no longer blocked it. It stopped a few miles to the North, and now Tanis could see the whole thing in the binoculars. Slots were opening up all over its side, and missiles the size of human buses were unleashed. Each one could probably take out several square city blocks. The UN ship moved a lot slower than its opponent had, the missiles found their target easily and the proud olive carrier began spouting spoke and wobbling in the sky as it was pockmarked with orange explosions. Its front began to glow again, and gathered charge a lot quicker than it had before. Tanis held his breath as the beam fired, and didn't know whether to curse of shout in glee when the beam glanced the red ship's starboard side as it tried to move out of the way.
Hundreds of decks were visible where the beam had cut right through the red ship's side. Smoke poured out of it like it was a giant fog machine that was malfunctioning. It tottered in the air, spinning like a car that had lost a wheel. The UN ship still looked proud, almost gloating over its victory. A few more missiles struck it however, and it fell out of the sky. The shockwave took a little while to reach Tanis, the ground shook like during an Earthquake and he heard items falling off of Ash's shelving in the garage behind them. The UN ship had been sacrificed, but it had done well, it had crippled the red ship most effectively.
Chapter XXVIII – R8
"You should consider yourself lucky that I let you come along for this." Kalana whispered to Ruru.
The two Gerudo leaders were standing amongst a clot of Gorons, Zoras, and other Gerudos at the heart of their hastily organized attack force. The troops milled around them like a swarm of idle bees, preparing to lay siege to Hyrule Castle. The Hylians had all retreated inside, and there were no signs of the Iresians as of yet. The catapults were being rolled into position by muscle-bound Gorons, the Zoras held great bulging water skins around their waists. The bows and scimitars of the Gerudo people were at the ready, the assault would begin soon. Morale was already high among them, the Hylians were looking down at them from the tops of the walls like scared puppies as they grouped just outside of arrow range.
"The Zoras have been meditating to increase their magic power for the battle. Give the word and we will start casting." Iona said.
"The Catapults are being pulled into position and anchored, the rest of my people are ready for blood." Dregar said.
"The Gerudos are prepared as well. All we need is a way into the castle and the Hylians will mourn the loss of their necks." Kalana said, pushing Ruru away with her leg.
Abaim looked at his allies, smiling for the first time that any of them could remember. "It is good to know that despite Sirpala's treachery, all of the old alliances have held. I am honored that you all would fight for me and my people."
"Let me first say that you are quite welcomed my friend, but I don't think that these kinds of situations should have even erupted in the first place." Dregar said.
"Yes, these are sad times for Hyrule when leaders would throw away their promises for the sake of a hollow trend." Iona said, not realizing her own irony after having declared neutrality to Sirpala's face.
The massive wooden catapults squeaked into place, they were large enough for even a team of eight Gorons to have a hard time pulling. Their arms were several tree trunks tied together with the strongest enchanted rope. They were attached to wheels which were circular segments of tree trunks, most likely of the same type of trees that were used for the catapult arms. As they were slowly rolled into place, Gorons drove anchoring trunks into the ground with great stone hammers. The Hylians still only watched like roosting birds on the tops of the high outer walls.
"First we will fire four rounds of Gorons into their inner city to cause sufficient chaos. Then we will bring in the platforms and place them over the moat and cross to the wall. From there we use ladders to get over the wall. Gorons will smash the wooden drawbridge door and open it for use of the rest of us. At this point, we should expect the Iresians to attack and our contingencies from the forest will attack them to drive them out. Then all we will need to do is fight to the inner Castle itself, breach the inner walls, capture the keep and take Sirpala prisoner." Kalana said.
"We will make her regret bringing war on us!" Dregar said, roaring with laughter.
A Goron messenger ran up to them, panting heavily, and said "The catapults are ready and the ranks are formed. We are awaiting the order to begin."
"We will show Sirpala she cannot control all of Hyrule with mere words. Let the Siege begin." Abaim said, relishing every word.
The ranks of Gorons and Gerudos shifted and began moving. The Hylian soldiers on the walls watched in confusion at the absurd shuffling the Kalana and Iona had choreographed. The ranks were moving back and forth among themselves, successfully confusing the Hylians and preventing them from noticing that the moat-platforms were being brought in and the catapults were about to fire. Gorons climbed into the catapult cups and curled up. The catapults lobbed them skyward in artistic arcs, they sailed through the air like birds and plummeted into the Hylian city. Wooden crashes filled the air as the curled out, stone-like Gorons smashed through shops and houses, crushing and collapsing them like balsa-wood. The soldiers on top of the wall turned to see thirty Gorons emerging from the wreckage. These Goron Commandoes then went on a spree of destruction. With their powerful arms and gigantic hands, they simply tore buildings apart piece by piece. One particularly innovative Goron found the support beam to a four storied Inn and ripped it out with his bare hands. The whole thing crumpled into itself like a collapsing cake in an oven. One of them found a lit lantern and a fire was already blazing in the city by the time the soldiers had climbed down from the top of the wall.
The Gorons met them head on, beating them senseless and tossing them about like rag dolls. The spears that the Hylians carried were ineffective for the most part, only scratching the rock-like Goron skin. One of the Hylians finally found his sense and stabbed one of them in the face, the Goron could only scream and stumble around, trying to pull it out. The other Hylians picked up that cue and followed the strategy, effectively wiping out the interloping Gorons. Then there was a dull thwump outside the wall, and thirty more of the thick-muscled warriors crashed into the city. More buildings crumpled and collapsed, and thick black smoke plumed up into the sky as the closely huddled city went up in an increasingly large chain fire.
Outside the walls the platforms had been successfully placed over the moat and ladders were being brought to the front. With all the soldiers down inside the city fighting the Gorons, there was no-one there to see the hordes of Gerudos and Zoras about to scale the wall as ladders swung up to the top. Gorons carried an immense battering ram up to the drawbridge door and began pounding on it steadily. So far, things were going perfectly as planned, and there was no sight nor word of the Iresians. The sun was hanging hotly at the top of the sky as the clouds of thick smoke rose from the city.
Inside the city, the Hylian army had just finished dealing with a fourth group of Goron attackers when they were ambushed by hordes of Gerudos from every direction. Gerudos that had scaled the wall crept out of every alley, down from every rooftop, and out of every sewer. They had quietly snuck into the cross weaved grid of the city and then emerged to attack. The Hylians didn't even see them until a substantial portion of their men had been shot dead by arrows from the rooftops. They answered back with their bows and more Gerudos emerged and charged with scimitars. Pandemonium filled the city streets as fierce urban melee filled every building that was left standing. A tremendous crashing filled the air momentarily as the main drawbridge was crushed inward, and soon Gorons were pouring through it and into the melee as well. Zora mages quickly doused the dangerous fire with water spells and then turned their attention to the rapidly dwindling Hylian army. The ice bolts flew in torrential waves, cutting down any Hylians in their way. Gorons hunted down stragglers and crushed them to pulp under their mighty fists.
There was a lull in the battle as the few remaining Hylian soldiers rapidly retreated to the inner keep. The besieging forces secured what was left of the city relatively quickly, it had been emptied of civilians totally. Most likely all of their people were inside the keep and in the lower dungeons. A few sputtering fires were found and doused, and the siege forces gathered eagerly around the great stone doors of the inner keep. These would not break as easily.
The catapults were too large to be towed into the city to fire on the keep, it would need to be taken by manpower alone. A few moments of peace passed before Hylian archers suddenly appeared at the Castle's windows and began firing down into the gathered force. The Gerudos and Zoras were forced into buildings of the city, and the Gorons simply curled up to show their stony backs. The arrows stopped coming, even after the Gorons uncurled and stood. The Hylians knew they needn't waste arrows just for a suppressive fire on the Gorons that would be ineffectual anyway.
Inside one of Hyrule's largest Inn's, the leaders of the Siege gathered where a makeshift hospital had been setup. The wounded were being hauled in over the shoulders of the Gorons and treated by the healing magics of the Zoras. The siege leaders were busy congratulating themselves and wondering what had happened to the Iresians when a cry was suddenly heard.
Ruru and Kalana rushed up onto the Inn's roof where a watchman had made the cry. The Zora man was holding one hand to shade his eyes from the sun and was pointing into the Western horizon with his other. Ruru's gaze followed his finned hand and saw dots, many flying dots appearing in the distance. More Gerudos followed by Abaim emerged onto the roof, and they watched the dots continued to multiply as their appeared within vision range. Word was spread quickly, something was coming. As they watched, the dots grew into winged forms that resembled birds from their distance. Then it became clear that they were not birds at all, but giant shadowy dragons beating their way across the skies toward the castle. Kalana immediately grabbed the alarm horn off of her waist and blew on it as hard as she could.
The dragons filled the sky suddenly, terrifying all below. Their scales were vivid, crimson read and their fleshy wings stretched over fifteen feet, flapping laboriously in the still air. Hundreds of them circled over the castle, then thousands. Thousands and thousands more, until there was an immense cloud of them filling the sky. They began to descend, most of them down toward Hyrule Field outside the Castle walls. A scant few of them drifted straight down into the city, coming to a stop directly outside the occupied in.
Seen closer, Ruru saw they were ridden by men of the exact same appearance and build as the Iresians who had visited the Gerudo Great hall. They had not-quite Gerudo dark skin, burning red hair, and deep purple eyes. They wore simple crimson plate mail over their bodies, but no helms or gauntlets around their hands that carried grand lances. Three of them had landed in front of the Inn, only one of them was wearing a helm, and it was adorned with jewels, as well as ghastly spines that jutted toward the sky. One of the other men Ruru distinctly recognized as Anmor himself, and the other was unknown.
"Abaim! Dregar! Kalana! Iona! Come out!" The Iresian diplomat shouted from the back of his dragon.
"Stay here!" Kalana hissed at Ruru, and then leapt down off the roof.
Kalana fell five stories and landed on the cobblestone street with grace and precision only a Gerudo could muster. Dregar smashed down onto the stones next to her, his feet creating two miniature craters in the cobblestones. Iona floated down from the roof, using her magic to fly her like a feather. Abaim burst through the Inn's doors, a deep purple cloak trailing behind him and wrist blades at the ready.
"Well well well, the alliance is all here." Anmor said, a sickening evil grin on his face. "Did you think we were lying? Did you think we wouldn't come?" Anmor's tone was mocking and condescending, he talked to them as if they were drooling babies.
"Well guess what, we're all here, all thirty thousand of us!" Anmor cried, laughing madly. "We've bred these blood-dragons for this specific purpose, to fly the vast sea and to bring your doom to you! Your people don't stand a chance! Even if we did not have these majestic beasts at our sides, you would still all die horridly against our numbers alone. Each one of our dragons alone has the power to wipe out hundreds of your people!"
"Is there a point to this, are you going to kill us any time soon or are you just going to brag about it?" Abaim shouted, grinding his wrist blades together.
"Oh no, there's someone I'd like you to meet before you meet your demise." Anmor said, licking his lips like a predator anticipating its kill. "Someone that, out of all your people, only Sirpala has ever met face to face; the grand leader of the Empire of Iress, King Rirsh!" Anmor cried.
Anmor and the other nameless Iresian officer raised their arms toward the one in the crowned helm and bowed their heads to him. Rirsh's dragon stepped forward until it was only a few feet away from the four leaders. He regarded them from his seat upon the dragon's back.
"I've heard much about you four." Rirsh said, his voice a slithering horror that sounded like it had only barely forced its way out of his throat. There was a brief moment of silence as Rirsh waited a moment for some kind of response. The lines of rubies on his helm glinted in the sunlight.
"I've studied your people from afar for years," Rirsh said, his voice like that of a crypt depressurizing. "Are any of you familiar with the Ancient Hylian Dialect?"
No-one spoke yet again. "The name by which my servant has just introduced me is the name of the Ancient Hylian God of War, Rirscht the Annihilator. I saw it fit to find a name for myself that some of you might recognize, for I have been called many names by many people.
Rirsh suddenly reached up his hands in a quick smooth movement and removed his helmet. A gasp of sheer shock and terror came from Kalana and Ruru at the same time. What sight met their eyes was the head of their old friend Mewtwo, only with twisted horns and blood red with eyes that sparkled with hatred and destruction, along with a single golden emblem on his forehead in the shape of a circle with spines jutting up and down.
"But for now, you may call me Ares." The King finished, and grinned to reveal sharpened, bloodstained teeth.
Chapter XXVIX – J2
"There've been some pretty scary rumors flyin' around as of late," The Madran Innkeeper whispered, leaning over the counter at Jenna.
"Can they wait for a moment, I need eight rooms for a few nights." Jenna said. "My party is going to be staying here for four or five days.
Felix came up beside Jenna and set his bag of money on the counter. "How much?" He asked in a down-to-business tone.
"Well, our rate's sittin' at seventy coins a night right now, seein' as the prices have been dropping as more people's homes are being finished with repairs. Just don't count on the rates bein' the same tomorrow or any other day." The mustachioed Inkeeper said.
Felix untied the knot on the sack and poured out the glimmering gold alloyed coins. He counted out seventy of the tiny little discs and the Innkeeper swept them off of the counter and into a jar.
"Enjoy your stay folks, dinner'll be served in a couple hours."
Felix and the rest of the party shoved through the door and into the cozy confines of the Inn, but Jenna stayed behind to ask the Innkeeper about the rumors he'd heard. The keeper waited until the rest of the party had disappeared down the halls and into their rooms.
"People've been talkin' about a Venus adept who's been travelin' to the four corners of Weyward and buildin' some kinda army up in Northern Gondowan. Apparently some authority type folks from Central Angara approached him and confronted him about this whole crazy army-buildin' business, and they havn't been seen since." The Innkeeper said quietly.
Jenna nodded gravely. "I see. Do you know any specific details about this?"
"Nay, sorry lass. But I do believe the bartender down at the pub knows a bit more, he's the one who done told me the tale." The Innkeeper said, sitting back in his chair and tweaking his moustache.
"Right, if my friends ask, tell them I'm at the pub then." Jenna said and turned toward the door.
"Righto fair lass, if'n ya need anythin' more, feel free to ask!" The Innkeeper shouted after her as she walked out the door.
Jenna walked through the streets of the city of Madra, twilight dwindling on the horizon and few people lingering in the streets. Turning a few corners she saw the pub, which was obviously packed. Lights shone out the grimy glass windows, a piano chimed a merry tune from inside, and many loud, raucous voices streamed from the swinging doors. Jenna entered and no-one noticed, they were either busy playing cards or swilling beer. She walked up to the bar and regarded the bartender.
"What can I get you?" The bartender asked hoarsely, his long beard almost blending in with the scuzz on his apron.
"Tell me, what do you know about a wandering Venus adept in Gondowan these days?" Jenna asked, not feeling like drinking anything alcoholic.
"Why don't you have a beer and we'll talk?" The bartender asked, pulling a dirty glass mug off of the shelf behind him.
"No thank you, I just need to know all you know." Jenna said flatly.
The bartender looked disappointed, but decided not to bother her. He saw from her mage's staff that she was an adept of some kind, and he knew unfortunate things happened to people who bothered adepts, friendly or otherwise.
"Well, I've heard many travelers talking about it as of late. People who have came down from Gondowan and stayed in Madra for a few days. They say that some young Venus adept has been gathering native monsters and raiding villages. He's been intimidating people into serving him and slowly raising an army. Most recent folks been passing through have said that recently a band of soldiers came from Angara to disperse the force, but they've been killed or some other horrible fate. No-one who I've overheard has known for sure. But they've all sounded very shaken over the whole idea, if an army conquers Gondowan it could mean extremely high passage tariffs for the traders, or possibly a complete cessation of trade with all of Gondowan and Angara." The bartender said, stroking his beard compulsively. Jenna noted the odd obsessions with facial hair that businessmen here in Madra seemed to have.
"What else do you know?" Jenna asked, careful not to speak to loudly as to attract the attention from one of the barflies.
"Not much else except that a few people have caught word of a counter-force being assembled in Angara to combat the Gondowan army. There could be a full scale war within the next two or three months, they say."
"Nothing about the Venus adept who started it all?" Jenna asked on the verge of disappointment.
"Not a lot, except that he's extremely young and has spiky sandy hair. They say he also possesses a huge number of those little elemental spirits that adepts seem so fond of these days." The bartender replied thoughtfully.
"You mean Djinni?" Jenna asked eagerly.
"Yeah, that's what they're called. One guy said that the Venus adept's got over fifty of them."
"Thanks, that's all I need to know." Jenna said, and dropped a handful of coins onto the table.
Jenna stood to leave, only to find herself face to face with a drunken, stubble covered barfly. The beer reeked upon his breath as he got right into her face, studying her features with his woozy, drunken eyes.
"You're a mighty fine little lady to be found in a right dump like this." The drunk man said, suddenly putting his arm on Jenna's shoulder. "Why don't you come with me over to the Inn and we get a room?"
Jenna merely plucked the man's hand off of her shoulder and walked around him, saying "I'm sorry, I've already got a room for myself and I don't need any boozing slobs to keep me company."
"Why you little-" The man slurred the curse word he had intended to use and took a feeble swing at the back of Jenna's head. Jenna swiveled on her heels, caught the man's fist, beat him over the head with her staff twice, and threw him to the floor in one liquid motion.
The bar fell utterly silent as the rest of the drinkers and card players stared at Jenna. The man at the piano looked up at her over the wooden piano's lid. The bartender repressed a chuckle, knowing that was what happened when someone messed with an adept. Jenna scowled at the rest of the men in the bar and swiftly turned and left, the drunken man laid on the floor unconscious where she had left him.
Jenna found Sheba and Piers waiting for her in the dining hall back at the Inn. She promptly told them all of what she had heard, and they frowned with worry.
"It looks as if Isaac has paused from his quest for the Master Psynergies for now. What he plans to do in Gondowan is beyond me though, I seriously doubt he wants to just beat up a few traveling merchants." Piers said.
"Obviously something there has stopped him, something that promises as much power, if not more power than would be granted to him by mastering all forms of Psynergy. What kind of spell or artifact that could be, I haven't the faintest." Sheba said, rubbing her hands together as the cold started to seep into the Inn.
"We should probably consult Kraden on this, he should know something about such a powerful force hidden away in Gondowan." Jenna said wisely.
"No, Kraden is already fast asleep. The strain of these travels have been taking their toll on his ancient body, I'm surprised his arthritis hasn't caused him to keel over by now. He is still dwarfed in years compared to us Lemurians, but for a human he is extremely old." Piers said.
"Very well, we will wait until tomorrow morning to ask him. For now I believe it would be a good idea for us to rest as well. It is still a long trip by wagon to get to Osenia Cliffs, and beyond that hundreds more miles to Air's Rock." Jenna said.
"Yes, I can feel sleep coming on now anyway, best for us to be more awake in the morning." Sheba agreed.
The three of them stood from the table and made their way to their own separate rooms. Jenna's room smelled distinctly of parsley, an odd smell to be mixed with the native musty odor and the smell of burning oak logs. It was as if someone had been cooking over a fire in this room not an hour ago. She saw no trace of it, and there was certainly no fireplace in the room, so she shrugged it off as smells drifting in from the Inn's kitchen. She settled down into the bed and fell into a nightmare torn sleep.
Chapter XXX – A8
"I wonder, why didn't they fire their main gun down into the city while they had the chance?" Ashley mumbled.
She and Tanis were sitting obscured under the tarp in her father's garage, looking up at the smoking, wounded red hulk hanging in the air north of the city. The beam hat cut a cross-section out of its side, and thin lines of decks were visible where thick black smoke was not spewing out. It was now drooping at a lopsided angle in the sky, like a marionette with a few of its support strings cut. All of its smaller ships had retreated back to it and landed on its top flight deck or inside fighter bays. Saffron city was now eerily silent, smoke rose in columns from the commercial skyline at several places where once majestic skyscrapers had collapsed. The blackened hull of the UN ship had landed not too far from the city limits, it too was disgorging a thick jet black tower of sickly smoke as fires ravaged its crushed innards.
"I cannot guess, but something tells me we will find out one way or another." Tanis said calmly, still studying the ship through Ashley's father's binoculars.
"Wait, hold on a second." Tanis said, his voice sounding alarmed. "Look at that." He said, suddenly pointing far north off into the horizon. He handed Ashley the binoculars.
Ashley peered through the lenses following Tanis' direction. At first she could only see dots on the horizon, and a tight wire of anticipation tightened around her gut. They could be enemy or UN ships for all she could tell at this distance. She steadily watched them grow and realized that they were neither.
"Oh my god." Ashley whispered. "This is impossible."
Ashley saw in the distance, another carrier ship of equal size and proportion, only this one wais painted sky blue with a giant "A" splayed over it, the official sign of Team Aqua. Ashley had no clue that they were such a powerful syndicate to have constructed a ship of this magnitude. She handed the binoculars back to Tanis.
"Apparently, someone else wants a piece of the action as well." Tanis observed in a manner that made him sound less than intelligent.
Seeing the Team Aqua ship appearing over the horizon suddenly made something click in Ashley's head. She realized that red was the official color of the Team Magma syndicate, the exact same color as the ships that had attacked the city. But as soon as she came across this thought she tossed it aside, remembering the emblems that were painted on these red ships. Team Magma vehicles would have the standard "M" for Magma on their sides, these ships had bloody swords in a three barred X-like cross. She could only guess as to who controlled these ships.
The red ship slowly began to turn, it wobbled and weaved, its remaining engines laboriously taking the strain. It turned to face the oncoming Aqua ship, portholes opened in its sides to fire more of its deadly missiles the size of Greyhound buses. The Aqua ship, still a good distance away, decided to not let this stand. A flash of light stung Ashley's eyes and she saw a beam of sky blue energy sizzle past the red ship, missing it by what looked like inches. The red ship's missiles roared to life and screamed through the air at the Aqua ship. The Aqua ship answered by launching smaller crafts, manned fighters, which then went kamikaze right into the oncoming projectiles. Ashley gasped in mild horror and shock at what the Aqua members were willing to do for their team.
The Aqua ship advanced rapidly, it came up alongside the red ship with stunning speed. The red ship protested with the rest of its complement of missiles, but the Aqua fighters were more than eager to sacrifice themselves for their team's cause. The Aqua ship lined itself up alongside the red ship and a clang reverberated through the air. Giant arms had reached out of the Aqua ship and clamped down onto the red ship in a vice grip. The red ship's thrusters flared as it tried to pull away, but it had lost most of its thrusting power when the UN ship had blown off its side. The Aqua ship pulled them together until their sides were touching, both hovering in the air in a deadly embrace.
Suddenly Tanis crawled out from underneath the tarps and stood.
"Ashley, something insidious is happening here. I'm going to stop it." Tanis said resolutely.
"What do you think is going on?" Ashley shouted, wondering if Tanis had a death wish. "And whatever you're going to do, I'm going with you!"
Tanis sighed and shook his head. "The people in the blue ship, I sense power lust and malevolence from them. Either they are going to kill those inside that crimson carrier, or the two of them are going to negotiate an alliance. The only acceptable outcome is if both of them were destroyed. I tend to help them along in destroying one another. I hope you know, it will be extremely dangerous. I'm not going to keep you from coming with me, but you should know that we both might be killed."
"Don't you think it would be wise to wait and watch?" Ashley asked.
"No, because whoever wins will destroy the city. I want to stop both of them before they can." Tanis said, nobility ringing in his voice.
Ashley nodded. "All right, I'm coming with you."
"There's one thing I need to do before we go," Tanis said calmly, sounding as if he were psyching himself up.
Tanis suddenly grabbed his mechanical arm with his real arm. Ashley watched in terror and fascination as Tanis strained, his face darkening with concentration and tears of pain welling in his eyes. The lights on his mechanical arm suddenly flickered and went out, it twitched once and fell still. Tanis suddenly let out a blood curdling scream of pain as the mechanical arm suddenly separated from his body entirely. Blood poured from his open shoulder, torn ligaments and nerves hung out limply. Tanis' face was streaked with tears of sheer agony, he was grinding his small teeth madly. His body began to glow as he utilized a large amount of his powers, and the blood stopped flowing. Out of nowhere, the hanging tendons and ligaments shuddered into motion. A spear of bone jutted out of the shoulder joint and muscles extended out and wrapped around it. The tendons disappeared into the newly formed tissue. Another bone burst outward from the newly formed elbow suddenly, and more muscles and ligaments climbed over it. Skin began crawling down over the bicep muscles, and small finger bones appeared at the hand joints. Tanis moaned from the pain all the way through until his new organic arm had completely formed.
"That was amazing." Ashley whispered.
"That was my father's recover ability taken to its highest form, beyond any limits he had set for it previously." Tanis panted, letting the stress slowly pump through his system to dissipate. "I finally had enough power to do it."
"Are you all right? You look as if you could pass out!" Ashley urged.
"No, it is only the shock from the pain and stress in my system, it will pass soon."
An explosion rocked the sky and both of them suddenly looked up. The rear end of the red ship had detonated in a gigantic fireball. It lost all lift to its hover drives and fell, cumbersome in the giant gripping hands of the Aqua ship. Gunships and fighters that had been resting on top of the red ship now skittered and fell off, crashing and exploding on the plains north of Saffron. The Aqua ship now tottered in the air, its engines were under great strain supporting its own weight and that of the red ship, barely keeping the both of them aloft.
"It looks like they'll both destroy themselves anyway; they can't float like that for very long." Ashley said, still staring up at the two ships in death's embrace.
"No, even if the ships crash, many of both sides will still survive."
Ashley looked down at Tanis, whose eyes were closed. A serene look covered his face, his whole head seemed to be glowing slightly. "I can see shades of what will be…"
"Your power is that strong already?" Ashley asked, now thoroughly amazed at Tanis' abilities.
"Those aboard the blue ships, Team Aqua as you name them, they are seeking great power. This power lies inside the red ship, where there many who are like me." Tanis said calmly.
"You mean others of your species?" Ashley asked, almost gasping.
"Yes, they serve Ares. The Aqua ones wish to capture their power. We must prevent it." Tanis said, opening his eyes suddenly. "We have little time, grab my arm."
Ashley did as told and felt her weight being lifted by a familiar invisible force. Tanis flew them through the air toward the two ships, gaining incredible velocity with every passing moment. The two intertwined ships multiplied in size, perspective bloating them as Ashley and Tanis rocketed up toward them. Tanis found a gash in the red ship's hull and flew them inside.
What awaited inside was absolute chaos, the floor was now no longer where it should be. Since both ships were hanging in the air on their sides, Ashley and Tanis walked on the walls of the passageway, the floor and ceiling to their right and left. It was a disorienting and almost sickening experience for Ashley to walk like that, and the both of them had to hunch, as the passageway had not been built as wide as it had been built tall. They only had a few scant feet of space. The passageway itself was in total disarray. Bullet holes scarred the red metal walls in every direction. It seemed ever surface was covered with them like some deadly festering pox. Dead bodies lay on the floor, men and women wearing blue uniforms with white A's on them. Among them were the all too familiar black-clad, ninja-like men. There were no traces of the blood acolytes that were replicas of Ares.
Tanis and Ashley raced through the cramped, littered halls aimlessly, looking for any signs of life. Ashley made sure to grab an assault rifle up off of the carnage strewn floor as they ran. Turning a corner, Ashley heard gunfire and Tanis suddenly turned toward it and ran for it like mad. The turned another corner to see flashes of gunfire blinking wildly from inside a doorway. Tanis crept up to that doorway and looked around the corner, Ashley did the same.
The room that they saw was without a doubt the bridge of the red ship. A great command deck was elevated in the center of the room, surrounded on all sides by several lower platforms that housed blinking holographic displays. Team Aqua members were crouching in and under these smaller platforms, firing their assault weapons up at the main platform. The black-clad men were firing back down at them, and bodies fell everywhere. Ashley held back a gasp, seeing one of the insidious Blood Acolytes standing in the center of the top platform among the black-clad men. It's horns were curved, almost helix shaped spines instead of Tanis' traditional stubby ones. It was wearing the same traditional crimson robes, only its head uncovered. It was hissing orders at the black-clad men, as well as taking time to form energy swords and toss them down into the mobs of Team Aqua members.
"Wait." Tanis whispered into Ashley's mind. Nobody else heard him except the Blood Acolyte, whose head suddenly jerked around and looked straight at them. No doubt it had easily picked up Tanis' psychic words.
A bullet popped through the Blood Acolyte's shoulder in the moment that it was looking at Ashley and Tanis, and it turned its attention back to the more pressing battle at hand. It hurled an energy sword through the man who had shot him and crouched down low to avoid more projectiles. His strategy clearly suggested that he was trying to conserve his own psychic energy as much as possible by not forming a shield. The battle raged on, neither side effectively damaging the other too much.
Tanis suddenly twisted around and looked down the corridor behind them. He grabbed Ashley's wrist and pulled her with him down the hall and around a different corner. Ashley could not hear anything over the ear-splitting gun fire, but she knew that someone had come through the hall where they had been to join the firefight. A few seconds pass and Tanis crept back around the corner and back down the hall. Ashley followed and they both looked into the bridge again.
Inside, a new gaggle of Aqua members had appeared and were setting up an odd machine near the doorway where Ashley and Tanis were watching. They bolted the machine to the floor, it looked like a four foot orb of steel with a single crease. They pressed a button on the control panel on the device's back and the crease opened, revealing a small dish-like structure. One of the members attending the machine whistled harshly, and another member in the midst of the crossfire suddenly lobbed some small object onto the command platform. A concussive thud slammed through the room and the black-clad men were tossed off of the platform like rag dolls, many of them ripped open and bleeding everywhere. The explosion tossed the Blood Acolyte down from the platform as well, he was unharmed with his blood red shield up.
The machine attendant tapped a series of buttons and the device emitted an electronic hum. The dish structure turned to face the Blood Acolyte and emitted a beam of colorless, grey energy at him. The demonic looking creature attempted to jump to one side, but the beam caught him and paralyzed him. The grey energy formed an imprisoning orb around him and he jerked taut like he was being crucified.
"We did it! The boss is going to pay us an assload of cash!" The member at the machine whooped.
"No he won't!" Tanis suddenly shouted, stepping out from around the corner.
The men gawked, and Tanis suddenly ran forward and efficiently ended their lives with energy blades. Gunfire barked from all around the bridge, the Aqua members that were dug into the platforms all opened up on Tanis with their assault rifles. An orange bubble of energy formed around Tanis and the bullets sparked and pinged off harmlessly. Tanis clutched his own head, concentrated, and let fly a series of psychic attacks that roasted the brains of every Aqua member in the room. The guns fell silent as their owners simply fell to the floor limply.
Tanis walked past the imprisonment machine and right up to the Blood Acolyte. The red skinned copy of him sneered and spat, the glob of stuff simply sizzled and evaporated inside the containment sphere. Tanis formed a two-handed energy sword and stabbed it through the sphere and into the Blood Acolyte's head. It jerked frantically and fell limp inside the sphere, and a suddenly rumble shuddered through the walls of the red ship around them. Sets of yellow and orange lights suddenly strobed from all of the bridge's control panels. The ship shuddered violently, the floor shifted under Ashley and she nearly fell over.
"We've got serious problems." Tanis said, striding over to Ashley and helping her up. "The first problem is a combination of two. The ship we're on is about to fall out of the Aqua ship's grip, it will crush and explode when it hits the ground. The second part of the problem is that when the Acolyte died, a chip in his head sent a signal to override this ship's reactor safeties. Should the ship explode, a thermonuclear detonation will evaporate all of Saffron City. The second major problem is that Ares is sending reinforcements here, and Team Aqua is as well. Team Magma has also decided that they want a piece of the pie as well. Another fleet of human military ships will be arriving soon, the airspace of this city is about to be turned into a massive war zone. And if we don't find a way to lock down this ship's reactors before it plummets, the city is doomed."
Ashley only shook her head and sighed. "Go figure, that's life." She said in a surrendering tone.
A/N: Now you've got to admit that this chunk kicked ass. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you've had a blast reading it. Reviews have gone a long way to help me keep up the good work, so keep them coming!
