Wild ARMs: Last Ignition
Chapter 12: Back In The Day
Bryce smiled as he lit a cigarette "I was in my thirties" he said "I was in Lohan digging up a lead for my next job…when all hell broke loose in the middle of the daily market…three rookie Rangers had stared a fire fight with the guy they were tracking"
Lohan: 35 years earlier
The streets were full of people in town shopping.
But the sounds of conversation were broken by gunshots. And replaced with the commotion of screaming people running from the sounds.
At one end of the market three people pushed their way through the throng of people, two men and a woman.
The first man was roughly 18, standing at six feet, with unruly aquamarine hair, and gold eyes, wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, a dark tan suede jacket with short sleeves, and a pair of black fingerless gloves, and strapped to his belt, was a three foot long black Katana in a black scabbard.
The second man was in his mid twenties, stood at five feet nine, with dark brown hair, tanned skin, wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a grey button down shirt, a blue denim waistcoat, a black thigh length overcoat, and a black ten gallon hat. With a heavy silver Revolver ARM in his hand, and a sleek black riffle strapped to his side.
The woman, stood at five and a half feet with long black hair braided down her back, wearing black combats and a white sleeveless t-shirt, she had a pair of silver handgun style ARMs in her hands, a pair of holsters strapped to her thighs, and a three foot long silver Damascus style Katana strapped across her back.
The woman raised the ARM in her right hand and aimed across the market, tracking her target.
She waited until he was in clear sight, climbing a ladder into the higher areas of the town, then she fired, putting an entire ten round clip into the ladder sections above the targets hand.
The wood cracked loudly before the wood gave way, and the ladder carried the man perched on it ten feet to the market floor.
"Was that really called for?" the second man asked as he adjusted his hat, the noon sunlight glinting off the silver star pinned to his waistcoat.
The woman groaned as she holstered her ARMS "Gimme a break Alen" she said "He's down isn't he? That's what we're being paid to do…incapacitate him and make sure he stays alive long enough to stand trial in Fort Wolf"
"We aren't being paid to damage property Sara" the first man said as he walked through the throng of bystanders
"Not you too Zeig" Sara whined "You guys are no fun…he only fell ten feet, and it was his own fault…he shouldn't have shot back in the middle of a crowded street"
Zeig smiled as he pushed through the crowd surrounding the fallen man.
But just as he broke through the man pushed the ladder off himself and leapt to his feet going for the revolver tucked into his belt.
He was about to aim at Zeig, who was drawing his Katana when a loud cannon like boom resonated through the streets and the barrel of the revolver was destroyed.
Zeig looked from the man to the source of the blast in shock.
On a building two hundred metres above street level stood a man, in his thirties, wearing a long black overcoat, grey combat pants, a white button up shirt, a tan waistcoat, and a pair of tan walking boots, dark brown hair cropped short, a revolver strapped to his right leg, and in his hands, was a massive black cannon like sniper riffle.
"I would advise against that my friend" the man yelled as he leapt to the roof of another building below, then down to street level, almost the entire time keeping the riffle trained on the fallen man.
Zeig nodded to the man as Sara and Alen broke through the crowd, "Thanks for the assistance"
"Don't mention it" the man replied as he rested the riffle against his shoulder while Zeig pulled the man to his feet and then decked him clean across the jaw, knocking him out.
"We've been chasing this guy for three days" Sara said as she ejected the clips from her ARMs and reloaded them.
"What's the charge?" the man asked as Zeig and Alen hoisted the unconscious figure to his feet and handcuffed him.
Zeig thought for a moment as Sara tried to disperse the crowd and said "Uhhh…Theft, attempted Murder and a few other things…Minister Cyan from Neo Adlehyde wants his head on a pike but…"
"But your orders are to bring him to Fort Wolf for Trial" the man answered
Alen nodded as he holstered his ARM and looked the man over, trying to figure out if he recognised him.
The man noticed the boy's frown and said "I doubt you would know me Marshal…I don't do this job for the reputation…just the adventure…my name is Bryce…Marcus Bryce…my friends just call me Bryce"
Alen nodded as he shook Bryce's hand "Alen Quartermane…Marshal and Ranger" the he motioned to Zeig and Sara and said "These are Zeig Cyrus and Sara Leone, my partners"
Bryce nodded as he shouldered his riffle "Care to join me for a drink before we head for Fort Wolf?"
"We?" Zeig asked
"Oh don't worry" Bryce said "I don't want share of the bounty…I'm headed to Fort Wolf to see if I can get any decent jobs"
We had a drink and then dragged the poor sucker all the way along the four day trip back to FortWolf for trial. His swearing was rather colourful.
Your parents were very accomplished fighters for them to be their age Glenn
Outside the Marshals Office Zeig and Bryce nodded to each other while Alen and Sara dragged their bounty kicking and swearing into the office.
"Thanks for the help" Zeig said as he brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes
"Don't mention it" Bryce said as he shouldered his riffle and walked away "I'll be in town for about two days…if your in the mood for a good job then look me up"
"Thanks" Zeig replied as he walked into the Marshal's office.
"Zeig did take me up on the offer" Bryce said "And several others…over the next nine years we went on dozens of different missions across the world…even took a few jobs for the King of Neo Adlehyde"
"Did you ever meet mom's younger brother Ryan?" Glenn asked
"Met him?" Bryce asked "I taught Ryan Leone almost everything he knows about ARMs and the Bayonet"
Glenn nodded as he reached into his backpack and opened his mother's journal at a marked page, then handed it to Bryce "What do you know about this mission?"
Bryce almost had a heart attack when he read the entries. But restrained his emotions and said "25 years ago, your Uncle was on his first solo job, your parents had been married for about a year and a half, they were living here in Adlehyde, when a Minister from the Castle came to see them"
"About tracking down the guy who was dabbling in the Dark Arts…in Demon Summoning" Glenn said
"Right" Bryce said "The guy they were after was the king's former Science Advisor…anything involving Magic or Science; the king went to Garret Xander"
"What changed?" Zack asked
"Zander was also an Archaeologist…" Bryce replied "He had begun doing research into Demons"
"Which ones?" Glenn asked "The Metal Demons? The Blaze of Disaster? Or the Dream Demon Beatrice?"
"All of them" Bryce said "He was searching for information spanning four millennia of Filgaia's history"
Glenn sighed as he leaned forward onto his elbows "So I'm assuming that somewhere along the road he lost the plot?"
"From what your father told me when we liked up on the way North yes" Bryce answered "He was halfway some kind of Ritual when Zeig, Sara, Alen and myself attacked"
25 years ago
Zeig crouched down near the opening into the cavern, feeling the wind rustle his clothes, he was ten years older, and his appearance was proof of the fact. His muscles were more defined than in his teens, he wore a pair of grey pants, a black t-shirt, a set of black body armour consisting of a breast and back plate, and a pair of shoulder guards, all connected by black straps, with white bandages wrapped around his forearms, and wearing a dark brown suede overcoat with the sleeves ripped, with a light brown trim and shoulder pads, with his Katana strapped to his belt.
Sara was much the same as in her teens, except she looked a little older.
Alen had changed little, except that the star pinned to his coat was gold instead of silver, and he had grown a beard.
Bryce was much the same, bar his hair was slightly grey.
Zeig quickly looked around the corner and drew his sword.
Out past the opening was a drop into a large cavern a hundred feet below. The floor of the lower level was covered by a large circular white runic symbol Zeig didn't recognise.
Resting at the centre were two large grey monoliths with glowing white runic symbols rising up its length. And standing before them, was a man, with long unkempt black hair, and pale skin, wearing black and silver robes.
Around him were several soldiers, a woman in tight black clothing. And a man wearing a black body suit and a black overcoat, with a black mask. Zeig could sense that the man would be a dangerous adversary.
He couldn't make out what the woman and the man in the robes were saying but he saw the man hand the woman something and then kiss her, then he nodded to the second man, who led the woman out of the cavern and through another exit.
"Damn" Zeig muttered as the man in the mask walk away
"What?" Alen whispered
"I was hoping to take a shot at that guy" Zeig whispered
"Zeig you are impossible" Sara sighed
"Games later, work now" Bryce said "We need to stop that ritual before Xander opens a doorway to hell and sends the entire planet into the darkness"
Alen nodded as he drew his riffle "What would happen if we destroyed those Monoliths?"
"He would loose control of the evocation" Bryce replied as he raised his riffle
"Then we blow the suckers away" Sara said
"Yeah" Alen replied as he raised his riffle to his shoulder.
Down below the symbols on the Monolith, and the giant symbol on the ground seemed to glow brighter as Garret Xander's chant's reached their peak, the air between the monoliths seemed to ripple and distort.
At the same time the ten soldiers surrounding Xander were consumed in smoke, they began to double over in pain, then screams of agony began to echo through the cavern.
"What the hell is going on down there?" Zeig asked
"I don't know and I don't care" Bryce said as he adjusted the scope on the top of his riffle "But I intend to stop it before things get worse" then he nodded to Alen and they both fired at once, striking the base of the two Monoliths, causing them to fall to the floor with a smash.
Almost immediately the effects were seen, the distortion in the air seemed to explode outwards in a flash of lightning and energy.
Xander was knocked off his feet by the release.
The look on his face had gone from madness to terror as the grey skinned creatures that used to be his soldiers began to make their way slowly towards him, hunger and fury gleaming in their soulless black eyes.
But before they could reach him the winds created by the energy distortion began to reverse, pulling him closer.
"NO" he yelled as he tried to fight against the winds.
But it was no good. The winds were too strong. The creatures, and Garret Xander were pulled into the distortion, which disappeared shortly after.
Zeig starred at the centre of the symbol on the floor for a few moments.
Beside him Sara said "What happened to him?"
"I'd assume he lost control of the portal and it sucked him in" Bryce said as he shouldered his riffle.
"It doesn't matter" Alen said as he adjusted his hat "Garret Xander is gone…our mission is complete…let's go back to Neo Adlehyde and get our money"
Zeig and Sara nodded as they sheathed their weapons and walked out of the cavern
"But what about those other two?" Bryce asked
"We'll tell Cyan and let hi deal with it" Alen said "I have to get back to Fort Wolf, my wife is due any day"
"Tell her we'll drop by some time" Zeig said with a small smile as the first rays of moonlight came into view.
"We never saw either the woman or the guy in the suit again" Bryce said "The only one not happy about it was Zeig…he was always looking for a challenge"
"Then fifteen years ago the woman resurfaced" Glenn said
"I don't know" Bryce answered "Your father just got some reports of some weird things going on up north…they matched the reports we got of incidents similar to what happened in the first place"
"Did my parents come back here after they left me in Cyprus Springs?" Glenn asked
"No" Bryce said "I haven't seen your parents since the night they left here with you"
Glenn nodded as he sat back "Thanks for the help Bryce"
The former Ranger nodded as he stood up "I'm glad I could help" then he looked at Glenn and said "What do you intend to do now?"
"I'm in town for the Ruins Festival" Glenn said "After that…I don't know"
"Let the West Wind be your guide your father always said" Bryce murmured with a smile.
Glenn nodded as he looked at the clock on the wall, it was 1:30 "I'm starving" he muttered as he stood up and took his mother's journal from Bryce "I'm headed out for something to eat"
Bryce nodded as he pushed himself to his feet "I haven't eaten out in a while…I'll come with you and we can get wasted at the tavern down town"
"You can get wasted" Glenn said as the others followed "I don't drink heavily…hangovers interfere with my morning training"
"Your father was the same" Bryce said "Never touched a third bottle of beer or a fourth glass of whiskey at night…and always managed to get up even if he did have a hangover"
Glenn smiled as he walked out the door.
Four hours and several plates of food later Glenn walked up the stairs sighing contently as he entered his parents room, the jacket he had on his back was too small so Bryce had suggested he check his father's room for something.
Glenn smiled as he stepped into the room. Many a time when he was a kid he would have come into the room in the middle of the night after a bad dream.
He sighed as he walked towards the wardrobe. It was a better time.
Glenn took a deep breath as he opened the doors.
The wardrobe wasn't as packed as Glenn was expecting. Just a few coats, and a wooden chest on the floor.
Glenn scanned the coats on the rack, mostly jackets, and overcoats.
But at the end he spotted a perfect jacket. Black suede, with short sleeves, with a pale tan trim along the collar, sleeves and bottom.
Glenn smiled as he took the jacket from the rack and tried it on.
It fit like a glove. And off to his left hanging on the wall was a mirror. He turned to face it just as a voice said "It looks good on you"
Glenn didn't bother to look behind him as he said "Thanks Bryce" then picked up his old jacket and walked out of the room.
The next morning a small smile graced Glenn's face as he pulled on a pair of denim blue jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, rolled up to the elbows, the jacket he found the night before, a pair of dark brown walking boots, with a dark brown bandana wrapped around his neck, a black glove with the fingers cut off on his right hand and a black glove with a brown arm guard strapped to his left arm. His two boomerangs strapped to his back, and the Black Feral hanging from his left side.
He adjusted the straps of his arm guard as he made his way down the stairs. Bryce and the others were waiting in the den for him.
"Ready?" Alex asked
"Yup" Glenn said with a smile "It's time to get my pay" then he left the house, headed for the Ruins Festival.
Authors Note: Done
Next time the real party begins.