"As soon as I get my hands on that little organic, he'll wish he never pushed himself out of that egg of his." General Balcus growled, as Lucia continued the repairs on the right side of his face.
"For now, you need to hold still." She simply responded, sealing up the remaining cracks. "You'll have a hard time getting your revenge if I can't fix this correctly, and you go into your next battle cock-eyed." Logia simply nodded in agreement as he watched her work.
"This has been a most disappointing day…" The Neo Organism said in an almost mournful tone, floating above the screen again. "Doras destroyed, and Viras in rebellion against me." He looked to the three Impactors and shook his head. "I give you my assistance, I give you my creations, and I even help to create two new belts for you, in the hopes that you'd be able to retrieve the suits for me…and what do you have to show for it?…hm?"
"Well, maybe if you're creations weren't so defective…" Logia calmly spoke up. "…we'd have received better assistance, and might have been able to defeat enemies, that frankly, need an entire battalion of Impactors to take down…we trusted you, because we thought we could do this without having to divert so many of our forces from the home world…in my view, it is you that failed to live up to your end of the partnership."
The Neo Organism gave him a stern look. "You dare to call my methods and abilities into question?"
"What are you going to do about it?" Logia shot back. "You no longer have either of your abominations to push us around. The way I see it, we can do anything we want with you now…" He walked over to one of the consoles in the room.
"What are you doing, Commander?" The Neo Organism asked, as Logia began to press some of the buttons.
"What are you doing?" He now shouted!
"I don't work with a computer without learning some of the nuances of the system first…" Logia spoke as he typed. "I'm going to access your primary intelligence network, and simply delete most of the memory files in there."
The Neo-Organism was livid. "No! You'll disrupt the awareness I've achieved! You'll turn me into a vegetable!"
Logia nodded. "Mm-hm…that's the idea…"
Lucia quickly came over. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"We got we needed from this thing…" Logia responded as he typed. "And he's got no other creatures that we'd have to waste our energy on…"
"You are making a very rash decision commander!" The Neo-Organism shouted. "Without me, you won't make any progress in obtaining those suits!"
Logia looked back as he pressed some more buttons. "On the contrary…we'll make much more progress doing this ourselves, than standing around, waiting for some computer to give us orders."
"Idiotic commander!…you're taking the power away from a unique being!…One that has never existed before!…" The Neo-Organism began to get desperate."…One with the power to research and restore your lost organic components!…"
Logia stopped right there at the terminal, before turning and facing the living computer in the center screen…he walked slowly to the Neo Organsim and looked the green screen image right in the eyes…
"What in the world would possibly make you think I would want to give this life up?…" He sneered under his helmet and walked back to the terminal, Lucia looking on as she wanted to interject, but knew deep down that his mind was made up, and wouldn't go back…he was one tenacious creature.
"You…you foolish half-breed!" The Neo-organism shouted.
"Name-call all you want…"Logia typed away. "It's not going to save you now…"
The Creature on the computer screen looked on at Logia, and the others, as it's image began to break up. "You…you've just made the biggest mistake in your miserable lives!…remember this moment, when you're all laying on your backs in defeat, and moments from your imminent demise! You've all made a grievous error, and for it the impactors shall fall!…FALL!"
"Thank you! That will be enough!" Logia shouted, as he pressed one final button…the Neo Organism doubled over in agony, howling as it's image finally vanished…within moments, a spray of greenish liquid suddenly shot through the screen, pouring all over the middle of the room!
Logia walked over to the middle of the room as the drains opened, and the liquid left the room…
"Dear creator, Logia, I sure hope you made the right decision here…" General Balcus spoke up.
Logia nodded. "Trust me, Balcus…our bickering with this thing was only slowing us down…and now that it is simply a mindless computer once more, we can stay focused on our primary goals…The professor has created some amazing weapons, and when this all over, they're going to belong to us…and once we've figured out how to use them, the Paxerians, and all the other organics will be the ones groveling for mercy for a change."
He walked out, as Lucia sighed softly.
"What is it?" Balcus asked her. "Usually you're quite supportive in his decisions…."
Lucia nodded. "Yes…But I hope he doesn't discover it…"
"Discover what?"
"Information…" Lucia responded. "…data that I had the neo-organism repress in exchange for data on Impactor weaponry…and if Logia finds that data, I fear it might lead him to do something very rash…"
Balcus shook his head and walked off. "That pet monster of yours certainly excels in causing trouble, doesn't he?…"
Lucia simply stood in the middle of the room, meditating…
Littlefoot slowly woke up to the sound of running water…he opened his eyes as everything was a blur at first.
It all slowly came back to him…the fight with Logia, the destruction of Doras…and the revelation about Viras!…
He raised his head as he was lying on his side by a pond, out of his suit. He tried to move more, but felt pain, as he looked down and saw the wound on his chest from where Logia had shot him. Luckily, the wound was healing, thanks to the powers afforded by his suit, albeit rather slowly.
It was then that he heard footsteps, and looked over to see Viras walking towards him slowly. He was stunned a bit, but only at first, as what he learned about her slowly crept back into his conscious.
"Mother?…" he softly spoke up.
Viras purred a little, as she walked closer. Her appearance was still as the hideous creation of the neo-organism, but deep down there was clearly a sense of warmth and benevolence coming through. She slowly opened her large hands, and dropped a few nice "tree-stars" near Littlefoot.
Littlefoot lifted himself a little and looked over the leaves, which were just the right size and thickness. "You always knew what I liked…" he smiled some, as he leaned over gently to eat them.
Viras looked on. She wasn't able to smile in this form to well, but she did the best she could, watching the adolescent longneck obtain his nourishment. Littlefoot winced a little as he tried to settle down on the ground, his chest wound still stinging quite a bit. She walked over slowly, and kneeled down next to him. Littlefoot just stared as she leaned over and opened her mouth, extracting her large tongue as she began to slowly clean the wound.
It felt odd to him, but she knew she was just trying to help him, as he let her do it. He smiled some as happy memories of being with her mother, the way she used to be, began to come to his mind.
"He's a WHAT?" a dumbstruck Cera exclaimed. Ali and Shorty had just recently returned to the valley, and had explained what went on to everyone, having just come to Logia.
"He's a longneck…" Ali re-iterated. "I saw it with my own eyes, when I shot off his helmet."
Takumi shook his head. "Unbelievable…I knew the Impactors had tried, and failed to convert Paxerians using the same methods, but I never knew they had attempted the same thing with creatures outside of their system. And I know I've never seen another Impactor bleed before, so Logia must be their only successful conversion so far."
As this was going on, Bron and Grandpa were both moving as fast as they could to the group, looking right at Ali and Shorty, Bron in particular looking anxious.
"Shorty!" Bron called out. "Is it true what they're saying?...About Ayla?"
Shorty nodded some, with a sympathetic look. He knew a lot about Littlefoot's Mother, as Bron used to talk fondly about her on a lot of different nights. "She's not exactly the same as she was when you knew her…but yes. She's returned."
The revelation hit Bron like a ton of falling boulders. He stood there, as the realization of all this set in. He then lowered his head, and did something Shorty had never seen him do before. Bron began to cry a little, but with a smile on his face, as a tear streaked down his face.
"She's alive…she's alive…" was all that he could manage to say, as Grandpa went to comfort him. Shorty walked over slowly. Had this come along when he was younger, it would have made him insecure, like it did when Littlefoot first came along. But time had passed, and he had felt more and more like part of the family. He came over and helped comfort his guardian, and only father figure.
"Yes, her consciousness somehow managed to carry over into this new form when the neo-organism created her." Takumi spoke up. "If I can convince her to come to my ship, I might be able to figure out what exactly the neo-organism did…then I'll have to see if I can reverse it, and completely restore her original form."
"Can you?" Shorty looked back at Takumi.
Takumi shook his head. "I don't know…it looks like fairly advanced work that was done to her, but I'll try."
As this conversation was taking place, Ozzy was watching from another section, hidden behind some bushes as he carried the Psyga gear.
"Together, those leaf-eaters are far too tough…" he thought to himself. "But taken down one at a time…that's definitely something to consider…." He smiled a bit as he kept himself hidden, waiting for the right moment.
Back on the ship, General Balcus, now completely repaired, walked to the exit of the ship formerly controlled by the neo-organism.
"Where are you headed, General?" Lucia called out to him.
Balcus turned to her. "I've been thinking…if we can get a hold of a living specimen created by the neo-organism, such as the turncoat Viras, then we might be able to learn more from the neo-organism's unique way of combining organic matter with technology…consequently…"
Lucia continued. "…We'd be able to learn a better way of converting certain organics into Impactors, such as Paxerians…"
"Correct…"
Lucia looked up at Balcus again. "Have you told Logia about this?…"
"Of course not!" he scoffed. "He'd much rather see Viras blown to smithereens. It's much better for the future of all Impactors that he NOT know about this plan."
Lucia understood the logic behind this, and nodded once more. "All right…go on your mission then. I'll do my best not to let Logia know about it until you've succeeded."
"Thank you Lieutenant." Balcus responded, walking slowly out of the front hatch, and then teleporting.
Meanwhile, Slick was out on his own, in another part of the valley as he dove in and swam in a refreshing stream nearby. He looked to his right and left as he saw himself in water that was cleaner than he had ever been in, thinking that he could definitely live in a place like this.
He then suddenly sensed something, as he quickly swam to his left, just in time for the blaster shot to miss him, coming from behind!
He looked over and saw a familiar figure, Psyga, looking down, his arm outstretched with his gun!
"You again!" Slick yelled, as he jumped out of the stream.
"Show me everything you've got, leaf eater…" Psyga simply stated, as Slick willingly obliged, transforming into Garren, and immediately whipping out his gun, firing. Pysga quickly jumped out of the way and fired with his own gun, the shots smacking into Garren's armor as he clutched his chest and grunted, running and firing again as Psyga dodged as best he could, reaching and pulling out his batons as he rushed in and smashed Garren across the face! Garren stumbled, but soon responded by grabbing Psyga, and shooting him right in the chest plate.
Psyga fell back, and then grunted as he rushed over and scooped up his weapons, hitting the enter button on his driver as an "Exceed charge" was heard, energy flowing down to his batons as they glowed blue, getting ready to strike as he deflected each shot Garren took at him, and then lunging in for the kill!
He swung his arms up, crossing his batons as he quickly brought them down, only to find Garren blocking him with his gun and arm! The two clashed for what seemed like an eternity as sparks flew! Eventually, Garren was able to throw him off, but the energy discharged still from Psyga as he felt it rush through him!
Psyga rolled off to the side as Garren grunted, and yelled out in pain as his armor sparked and sputtered…the Psi symbol flashed over him, but not fully there, as Garren soon lost consciousness and fell onto his front.
Psyga wasn't sure if Garren was dead, but he didn't want to waste any more energy, as he soon fled the scene.
Garren soon shifted back to Slick as he lay on the ground, badly bruised and burned in a few spots. Ducky was nearby, coming near the same stream, and gasping as she saw his unconscious form, and running over to his side.
"Slick!…Slick!" she called out, trying to get his attention as she lightly slapped his face a few times.
Slick coughed a few times and opened his eyes. "Ducky…"
"What in the world happened?" She exclaimed.
"That guy…the one who attacked us last time…" he managed to speak "He ambushed me…"
"Ozzy?…but why? Why you?"
Slick turned a bit and grunted. "I have no clue…maybe he's trying to take all of us down one at a time…and I was first on his list…"
As Ducky was tending to Slick, Psyga was quickly trying to make his way out of the valley, before coming out of some bushes, and finding something pointed at his chest plate…it was the staff of Rock, who had just turned into Leangle.
"Going somewhere?…"
Psyga grunted, and tried to kick his staff out of the way, only to have Leangle quickly regain control, and slam it down across his chest, making Psyga fall back as he twirled it.
"How…did you know?…" Psyga sputtered
"I've always made it a point to know where Slick is at all times, since we practically grew up together…" Leangle spoke. "I may not have showed up in time to keep you from beating him up, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let you do it to anyone else…"
Leangle readied his staff as Psyga reached for his batons…
"Rock!" A voice suddenly called out, as Leangle and Psyga looked over to see Ducky walking toward them, the Delta gear around her waist.
"Slick needs help, Rock…take him to Takumi's ship immediately…."
Leangle tilted his head. "But, what about this guy?"
"Just do it, Rock!" she snapped, "I'll take care of him…"
Psyga scoffed as Leangle nodded, and ran off to retrieve Slick.
"So…the little girl likes to play with deadly weapons, eh?" Psyga chuckled.
Ducky just kept walking as she pulled out the Delta Driver. "It's just not enough for you, is it…you tried to break up my family all those years ago, just to feed yourself, and now you come back to do more damage to our kind…Dinosaurs like you…you're scum…" She shivered, never thinking she'd hear herself say that, as she entered the code, 333, into the driver…STANDING BY…
"Now, now now…" Psyga responded as he withdrew his blue batons once more. "There's no need to be unladylike about this…Despite what you think, I abhor violence against females… But, if you insist on being an insufferable thorn in my side, not to mention causing a great deal of bodily distress to me earlier, then I have no choice but to reduce you to a bloody pulp, do I?…"
Ducky just stared in absolute focus as she held the microphone on the driver to her mouth…"Henshin"…she slipped it into the side of her gear…COMPLETE…the white photon streams shot out once more, transforming her into Delta as she stood and faced down her opponent, While Psyga moved around a little with his batons, getting ready to strike.
Delta moved first, moving in quickly to punch Psyga, only to have Psyga quickly move and knee her in the belly in response, kicking her off to the side as she knocked into a tree. She spun out of the way as he extracted the blades on his weapons and moved in for the kill, making him miss and take a chunk out of the tree instead…she then quickly spun on the tree to the opposite side, grabbing a branch as she kicked Psyga in the chest hard, sending him flying now as she moved in and smashed him in the helmet with a hard right hand…
Psyga quickly regrouped and began swinging with his batons some more, making Delta duck and weave carefully as she moved and caught both of his upper arms under her arms, quickly striking his helmet with a head butt before moving back and jumping, spin-kicking the batons right out of Psyga's hands as he stumbled.
Delta tried to punch him again, only to find her wrist caught by Psyga's powerful hand. He kicked her once, and again in the side, before he used her arm to toss her off to the side. Delta rolled back to her feet quickly as Psyga attempted to nail her with a quick jump kick, only to have Delta grab his leg and throw him off.
Psyga stumbled as he fell and rolled onto the ground, then suddenly found himself tumbling down a rocky hill into a very shallow stream. He got back onto his own feet before looking up and seeing Delta diving down towards him. He tried to move, but was too, late, as Delta tackled him, sending them both into the water, as Psyga countered by kicking her off him.
Delta quickly got on her feet once more, as Psyga made another rushing attack, finding it hard to do it with the water sloshing around his boots. Delta however could maneuver quickly in the water, having the know-how to do so, as she leapt before he made the attack, making him stumble on a rock in the water he didn't see, before she ran in and punched him right in the lower back section of his armor.
Psyga collapsed to his knees as she grabbed his shoulder and punched him three times in the helmet, before he regrouped and suddenly reached to grab Delta up from behind him, using his strength to flip her over so she was in front of him, grabbing her from behind around the neck with one arm, as he applied a chokehold to her in the water.
Psyga grunted and growled, intent on choking the life out of Delta, as she sputtered and struggled, before she relaxed for a moment, letting the water get her armor nice and slick, and then using a quick burst of energy to actually slip down out of his grip! And before he could realize it, Psyga soon saw a boot come up from under the water as she slipped down, and smack him hard in the head through his helmet!
Psyga completely relented on his grip as this hit him, before stumbling back to his feet, while Delta quickly leapt back up to face her adversary.
Fatigued, Psyga tried to make a move, as Delta quickly stopped it with a quick spin kick to his mid-section, and then smacked him in the chest with a well placed punch, and then yet another quick kick from her other foot, moving smoothly and quickly as Psyga was quickly knocked back, rolling in the water…
Psyga then decided to finally pull out his gun, firing as he stood back up. Delta saw this coming however, as she pulled out her own gun and fell back as she saw the blasts heading towards her, firing….each shot flew and hit Psyga repeatedly in his chest plate, as sparks began to fly!
Psyga cried out in pain as the sparks burned him, the force of the shots throwing him a few feet as he fell back into the water, the impact of the rocks below jarring his driver loose, as he changed back into Ozzy.
Delta readied her gun for another shot, as Ozzy pulled himself back onto the land, sputtering and coughing as he groaned at the sight of the burns on his chest and back.
She mulled over the thought of killing him, wondering if she could actually bring herself to do it…but before she could come to a decision, something hit her hard from behind!
Delta yelled in pain as she fell over, looking to see Lucia standing behind her with her blade at the ready, as she looked over at Ozzy.
"Why must I continually drop everything to come and assist you Ozzy?…Did I make a mistake in selecting you for the Psyga gear?"
She shook her head and walked over as Ozzy coughed, unable to respond at the moment as she picked him up and teleported off with him, while Delta simply got up and changed back into Ducky, watching them.
Meanwhile, Littlefoot, now completely recovered from his wounds, walked a bit with Viras, as she placidly looked around at the scenery, just like his mother used too…of course, back in those days, they weren't in the picturesque scenery of the valley, but she still tried to find some nice scenery nonetheless.
Littlefoot thought to himself before addressing her. "Ummm…listen…" Viras turned her head to him attentively. "I already know the truth about you, obviously…but now there's something else that's been bugging me…before I passed out from my wounds, I thought I saw Ali shoot Logia's head off…only he had another head on underneath…and it looked like the head of a longneck my own age…was I imagining that?"
Viras sighed a bit before slowly shaking her head. She had heard Logia relating much of his tale to General Balcus on the ship, as she growled and held out both of her hands, making each one into an oval shape, like an egg…
Littlefoot looked on curiously. "What?…What are you trying to say?"
Viras growled a little more as she moved her hands to herself, and then out to Littlefoot again, still in the same egg shape, holding one to Littlefoot, and one closer to herself, before balling that hand up into a fist, trying to make it look like a head, a young longneck's head.
"Wait…" Littlefoot spoke up. "Are you trying to say that he IS really a longneck?"
Viras nodded yes, growling as she then took her fist, and gently touched it to Littlefoot, and then to herself.
"Whoa, wait a minute…" Littlefoot's eyes had gone wide now. "Now you're saying he's related to us somehow?"
Viras nodded again, touching his chest again for emphasis.
"You're saying…He's my brother?"
Littlefoot looked on in disbelief. But before Viras could confirm this fact with a nod, She suddenly sensed something, as she turned and suddenly fired behind her!
Littlefoot looked over to see General Balcus leaping away from the shot!
"You!" Littlefoot shouted, as Viras roared in anger.
Balcus slowly got back to his feet. "That creature you have is a very valuable one, earth creature. Hand her over to me, and I'll see that she gets proper care on my ship."
Littlefoot quickly went out in front of Viras as the Agito belt appeared on his middle, getting ready to transform him. "You're not gonna lay one finger on my mother! I'll die before I see that happen!"
"Mother?…" Balcus tilted his head for a moment, before shrugging it off and chuckling. "Well, it doesn't matter what delusion caused you to believe this…this creature is going right back to where she belongs…"
Littlefoot quickly changed to Agito, in his red form, taking out his sword and charging Balcus, as the general held out his shield and fired the hidden lasers in it. Agito ducked and rolled out of the way of each blast, as he came up, and clashed blades with Balcus.
They stood there trying to gain an advantage over each other, before Viras finally sent out a laser blast from her shoulder, which hit Balcus right in his sword arm. He grunted as the force made him throw his sword, while Agito kicked Balcus' shield away, and scored hits all along his side and chest with the sword, sending sparks everywhere!
Agito tried to go for a killing stroke on Balcus, before the general saw an opening, and grabbed him right around the throat!
Agito dropped his sword and choked, as Balcus slowly lifted him up by the throat, getting ready to snap his neck. "That's the problem with you vertebrates…too big of a weak spot running all the way down your back…"
Balcus slowly moved his fingers, but before he could make his move, Viras once again let loose with a precision laser, smacking Balcus right in the hand as he howled and dropped Agito. Viras then quickly flew in and tackled the impactor before he could recover. They tumbled a good distance from Littlefoot, before Balcus finally grabbed her by her own throat.
"Throwing yourself at an adversary is hardly ever a good idea, creature…" Balcus growled, before getting a hold of his shield and shooting her in the stomach with the laser, making her yowl in pain as he smashed her in the face with the shield, making her fall off of him.
"Mother!" Agito yelled, as he charged in to fight Balcus, only to receive a direct blow to the helmet from his shield laser!
Agito grunted and fell back, clutching his head as Balcus grabbed a hold of the weakened Viras, and transported away with her.
"Mother…mother…" Agito whimpered, as he changed back into Littlefoot. At the same time, Ali, now in the form of Chalice, drove up in her bike, having just tracked him down.
"Littlefoot?…What's going on?" She enquired, as she got off her vehicle and ran over to Littlefoot.
"Mother…" Littlefoot looked down. "They got mother…they took her away, and it's my fault…after all that time she protected me, and I couldn't protect her…" a single tear rolled down his cheek, as Chalice gave him a sympathetic look under her helmet and changed back into Ali, giving him a gentle nuzzle to comfort him.
Back on the ship, Logia was hard at work, doing research on all the data from what was formerly known as the neo-organism. His eyes were glazed over from all the work, until he came upon some very interesting data. He looked over it, again and again, making sure he wasn't imagining things.
"How can this be?…" he muttered to himself. "Why didn't the damn computer tell me this earlier?…And reason did it have not to…"
He was so engulfed in this discovery, that he didn't see what was going in the main room. The space in the middle that had once held the physical manifestation of the Neo-Organism began to glow on and off…but this time the light was white, instead of green…