Chapter 39: Walls of the Worlds
In Perim, Heptadd and Jiggorex were looking out at the view from Ravanaugh Ridge. "This view is amazing. I've never seen such views in the UnderWorld. Are the views in the OverWorld always so spectacular?" Jiggorex asked. "Only when there's danger brewing." Heptadd said. "What kind of danger, Heptadd?" Jiggorex asked. "I don't know yet. But we must find out." Heptadd said, bringing out a Generic Mugic. "The Song of Futuresight. You think it'll help?" Jiggorex asked. "Let's hope so." Heptadd said. The Mugic floated into the air. Heptadd released a Mugician and it inserted into the Mugic. "Song of Futuresight, show me the peril that lies ahead." The Mugic activated and beamed onto Heptadd. His eyes glowed as he was shown a vision of the future.
[Vision]
The UnderWorlders were constructing some kind of machine out in Frozen Fire. It was draining the tribal energy from Verlina and 3 other Creatures. "Now, we move to conquer Earth!" Skithia said.
[Vision End]
Heptadd panted as the vision ended. "What did you see, Heptadd? What's happening?" Jiggorex asked. "Something that'll destroy the dimensional barriers between Perim and Earth…forever." Heptadd said.
(Intro)
In Chaotic, Nika was battling in the Amzen Drome. She was battling as Somnort. Her opponent was battling as Yokkis. They were battling in The Cliffs. Somnort was knocked down one of the Cliffs. He tumbled down until he finally hit the sandy ground. 'Whoa! Lucky for me, Somnort's got a pretty tough shell to break his falls.' Nika thought. Just then, Yokkis came down the Cliffs, armed with a Liquilizer. "Torrent of Water!" He fired Torrent of Water from the BattleGear. But Somnort seemed unaffected. "Thanks for the bath, buddy. Hydro Balls!" Somnort fired Hydro Balls from his eyes, hitting Yokkis and knocking the Liquilizer loose. "Should've done your homework. Somnort's basically related to the common turtle. They really enjoy the water." Somnort said. Yokkis grunted as he got up. "Alright, smarty. Let's see if you like wet slime!" He tossed a ball of slime at Somnort's face. As Somnort tugged at the slime with disgust, Yokkis kicked him with great force towards the edge of another nearby Cliff. "Hey, Nika. That's slime hat's actually a good look for you. And it'll look even more good when you go splat over the edge." Yokkis said. But Somnort had a trap set. "Torrents combined!" He shouted, firing both Torrents of Flame and Water at Yokkis. As they hit the OverWorld jokester, the combined power did just enough damage to code Yokkis.
Nika exited to meet up with the others. "Well, how'd I do?" She asked. "You were a 'torrent' of skill, Nika." Robbie punned, making the girls snicker. "Good one, Rob. But I do my best." Nika said. But then she noticed that Sidney wasn't around. "Hey, where's the Major queen? She's still not at-" "Yep. Ravanaugh Ridge." Gisele said. "Ever since she heard that Heptadd's been hanging out there, she said she wasn't leaving until she gets a scan of him." Krista explained. "A major waste of time, Majorina. Heptadd's the most rarest and hardest Creature in Perim to scan." Nika said. "Come on, guys. Let's grab some food at the Port Court, port out to Ravanaugh Ridge and see how Sid's doing." Minnie said. "Great idea. I'll order her very favorite spicy Perim Pizza with extra hot sauce for her." Gisele said. That made Nika and Krista make a face. "Spicy pizza with hot sauce?!" Krista asked. "Sid's family has talent for weirdness. You'll get used to it." Nika said.
In the forest outside Ravanaugh Ridge, Sidney sat in her campsite, looking for Heptadd with her scanner. "I know you're around here, Heptadd. And you gotta come out soon." She said. Just then, she heard a rustle. "Who's there?!" She asked, arming herself with a skillet. "Just your 5 best friends." Minnie said as she and the others came out. "Hey. What're you guys doing here?" Sidney asked. "We thought you could use some company." Nika said. "And some food. Brought your favorite." Gisele said, handing Sidney a pizza box. "Oh, good old sweet and spicy!" Sidney squealed as she took a slice and took a bite, savoring the spicy taste. "Sid, how do you know Heptadd's even here? Have you seen him?" Krista asked. "No. But I've seen tons of Creatures come and go. And I know it's only a matter of time." Sidney said.
Meanwhile, Heptadd was getting ready to leave. "I still wish you'd let me tag along. I hardly hang out with anyone other than Khybon anymore." Jiggorex said. "There's no time, Jiggorex. And I doubt I may make it in time myself." Heptadd said. "Best of luck then, Heptadd." Jiggorex said. Heptadd nodded and prepared to leap off.
Back at the camp, Robbie and Gisele prepared to roast some marshmallows they brought while Sidney, Minnie, Nika and Krista watched the sky. "Must be quite the view from up in those mountains." Minnie said. "What's that?" Krista asked, seeing a blurry figure hop away from the mountains. "Heptadd! He's heading west!" Sidney said. She brought up her scanner, looking through her Location deck. "I have another scan of this forest a couple of miles out that way." "Wait. You're gonna try to follow him?!" Nika asked. "Just wait for him to come back, girlfriend." Gisele said. "Who knows when that'll be?! I've got lots of scans of the OverWorld. I'll track him across Perim if I have to! But I'm scanning Heptadd like my father scanned Najarin!" Sidney said, porting away. "I hope she knows what she's doing." Gisele said, taking a marshmallow and eating it. "Because these are some really good marshmallows!"
Sidney appeared back in the forest, seeing Heptadd from the distance. "Heptadd's still heading straight west. Gotta find a Location west of this place." She said, looking through her Locations until she got to the one closest to the forest. "Rock River Canyon." She ported away. Heptadd continued on his way, but noticed Sidney porting away, now knowing that he was being tracked.
Sidney reappeared in Rock River Canyon, looking for any signal of Heptadd. But nothing. "Maybe this is crazy." She said. But then her scanner picked up something coming towards her. She looked up and saw Heptadd standing on top of the canyon wall. He leapt down and landed right in front of her. "Heptadd! I've been waiting for-" She started to say, but then Heptadd snagged her scanner with Vinesnare and pulled it into his hand. "I had a feeling it was you, Sidney." He said. Sidney was confused. "I saw your camp from the mountains at the ridge. And now you're tracking my movements with your scanner?! Why?!" Heptadd asked angrily. "I was trying to get a scan of you for Chaotic." Sidney said. Heptadd tossed her scanner back to her and then got in her face. "Let's get something straight. While it's true that some players have scans of me, I will never let any Chaotic player scan me willingly!" He said. Sidney began to understand. "You hold secrets. Like Najarin." She deduced. "Yes. Like Najarin, I hold far too great of secrets. If you scan me and tap into my memories, you could know them too. That could be dangerous…for both our worlds." Heptadd explained. "But you can trust me. I'm MajorTom's daughter, a trusted friend to the Tribal Alliance. When Chaor attacked Kiru City with the Eye of the Ember Giant, I helped. Remember? And I've probably helped the Alliance more times than I can remember since coming here." Sidney said. Heptadd started to think. "What if we needed your help once again? Would you be willing with no promise of reward?" He asked. "Anything. Name it and I'll do it." Sidney said.
Heptadd and Sidney walked as they talked. "The Alliance council received word of UnderWorld activity going on in Frozen Fire. Maxxor has sent Verlina and a team there to investigate." Heptadd explained. "I have to deliver an urgent message to them. But I fear that I may not make it to them in time. But you probably can."
In Frozen Fire, Verlina, Magmon, Vinta and Mallash were looking for any signs of the UnderWorlders. Magmon looked around the Location, feeling uneasy. "I never did like this Location. Gives me the creeps." He said. "No doubt. This is a perfect spot for an ambush." Vinta said. "We have nothing to fear in this place, Vinta. Don't forget, we have some friends here in Frozen Fire. But even our enemies wouldn't dare try to ambush us. Whatever it is the UnderWorlders are building out here could possibly put all of Perim at stake." Verlina said. Just then, Mallash's antennae sensed something. "Wait." He said. "What is it, Mallash?" Magmon asked. "Someone's following us." Mallash said. "Go check it out." Vinta said. Mallash nodded, readied his Liquilizer and headed out. "We'll wait here until he reports back." Vinta said. Verlina looked out with worry.
Mallash scoped out the Location, Liquilizer ready. But he found no sign of trouble. But then, he got ambushed by a barrage of fire attacks. He tried to fight back, but he was blasted and knocked unconscious. Then Skithia, Krekk, Shadlocke, Sonnur and Zalmog appeared from behind the icebergs, wearing Scout's Monoculars. "One Creature down, 3 to go." Skithia said, cackling with the rest of her comrades.
Verlina became really worried as she, Magmon and Vinta continued to wait for Mallash. "Mallash should've been back by now." She said. "Then maybe we should go look for him." Vinta suggested. "No. We have to keep looking for that machine." Magmon said. Verlina didn't like leaving Mallash out there alone. But Vinta put a hand on her shoulder, assuring her that Mallash would be fine. Verlina sighed and continued on with Magmon and Vinta.
Meanwhile, Sidney had just arrived at Frozen Fire and began to use her scanner to look for Verlina's group. But so far, she couldn't find anyone. 'Finding Verlina in a Location like this could be tougher than I thought.' She thought. Just then, she got a call on her scanner. "Hello?" She said, answering the call. "Did you find Heptadd and scan him yet?" Minnie asked. "Yes. And no. In that order." Sidney said. "Where are you, Sid? Isn't that Frozen Fire?" Nika asked, recognizing the background. "Uh, what the heck are you doing out there?" Gisele asked. "I can't get into that right now." Sidney said. "Why not?" Gisele asked. "Does it have something to do with Hepta-" Minnie tried to ask, but Sidney ended the call.
Sidney continued on into Frozen Fire, looking for any signs of Verlina or her team. Suddenly, her arm was put into a lock. Vinta dropped his invisibility, revealing to be her captor. "Sid? What are you doing here?" Verlina asked as she and Magmon came out into view. "Verlina! I have a message for you from Heptadd!" Sidney explained. "The UnderWorlders! They're planning to ambush you and use your Tribal energy to power their machine!" "Heptadd sent you to tell us this?" Magmon asked. "Yes. He used the Song of Futuresight and saw everything." Sidney said as Vinta released her. "So, they are building a machine out here." Vinta said. "But why do they need our Tribal energy to power it? What can that machine even do?" Magmon asked. But suddenly, he got blasted in the back by a Lavalanche, knocking him down. "You will soon find out." A voice cackled in the air. Vinta prepared to attack, but he got knocked down by Inferno Gust. Sidney and Verlina looked up to see Shadlocke and Zalmog on top of a couple glaciers. Verlina ensnared them with Coil Crush, squeezing them tightly. "Let them go, Verlina!" Sonnur called. Verlina turned to see him, standing over Vinta with a Flame Orb ready. Verlina sighed in defeat and let Shadlocke and Zalmog go. Then Skithia and Krekk dropped in. "Perfect. Now, we move to conquer Earth!" Skithia said. Sidney went for her scanner, but Krekk grabbed her. "Don't try it, kid. Or it'll give me a good excuse to give you some payback for interfering with my past missions." Shadlocke warned.
Later, the UnderWorlders brought their captured to their machine and hooked Verlina, Magmon, Vinta and Mallash to it. "Excellent. Once our machine starts syphoning their Tribal energy, it will generate and create a portal strong enough to break through the barriers between Perim and Earth." Skithia said. "I still think we should've destroyed them and syphon the energy from their corpses." Zalmog said. "Don't worry. Once the Alliance hears about what we've accomplished here today, these fools will wish they were destroyed." Skithia said, making the others laugh. Sidney, who was tied up in vines, crawled over to where they put her scanner. She then started to dial in a call with her nose.
Back at the camp near Ravanaugh Ridge, the girls had all turned in to their sleeping bags while Robbie stayed awake. Then he got the call on his scanner. "About bloody time." He muttered, answering his scanner. "Rob, I'm at Frozen Fire, where we all scanned that icy Location with the cool sunsets last week. Port there with the others immediately. It's an emergency!" Sidney whispered. "Roger that." Robbie said, going to wake the girls as he ended the call.
Meanwhile later, the machine had already started draining most of the Tribal energy from Verlina's team. Just then, Sidney popped out, surprising the UnderWorlders. "You didn't think I'd let you get away with this that easy, did you?" She asked. Skithia attacked with Blazing Claw, but Sidney ported away. "Hey, Zalmog! Remember me from Ulmar's Castle? Well, you appear to have gotten uglier since then it seems." Gisele said, mockingly. Zalmog snarled angrily and fired Ash Torrent, but Gisele ported away. "Oh, boys!" Nika called, getting Shadlocke and Sonnur's attention with Robbie. "Sup, blokes?" Robbie greeted. The 2 UnderWorlders charged at Nika and Robbie, but they ported away, causing them to crash into each other.
As Skithia looked around, Sidney and Minnie nodded to each other. "Skithia!" Minnie called, getting Skithia's attention. With her distracted, Sidney hurried over to Verlina and unhooked her from the machine. Skithia noticed this with shock. Verlina got most of her strength back and managed to get away. Sidney was about to port, but Skithia swatted her scanner to the ground and backed her into a corner with anger. "Are you going to get Verlina back?!" She asked. "I can't! I would never!" Sidney shouted. Skithia prepared to attack, but then she got blasted back by a Cyclone Slam. Heptadd had arrived. Skithia Krekk, Shadlocke, Sonnur and Zalmog all attacked with fire attacks, but Heptadd blocked them all with a water shield and blasted the UnderWorlders down with Apoc-Eclipse. "Man, am I happy to see you, Heptadd." Sidney said as Heptadd landed next to her. "Collect your scanner! We have to hurry!" Heptadd exclaimed. "Right. Where are we going?" Sidney asked as she grabbed her scanner. "To find Verlina and free her team! We have to destroy that machine before it can tear open the barriers between Earth and Perim!" Heptadd explained. "Right!" Sidney said. As soon as they left, Skithia growled as she recovered.
Meanwhile, Sidney's friends all gathered at the machine. They wanted to try and free Magmon, Vinta and Mallash, but were hesitant to what the machine would do to them if they tampered with it. "Where are they? And why isn't Sid answering her scanner?" Nika asked. Krista looked at the machine. "I've never seen a machine like this before. Do you guys think it could really open a portal between Earth and Perim?" She asked. "If it can, then it's bad news. Interfering with the laws of time and space can lead to devastating aftermaths." Minnie said.
"Guys!" Sidney called. The group turned to see her, Verlina and Heptadd coming up to them. "You made it!" Gisele said. "Yeah. But so did they!" Nika called, pointing to the UnderWorlders coming. "Free the others! We'll handle this!" Verlina said. Sidney nodded. Verlina and Heptadd charged towards the UnderWorlders, attacking with 2 Riptides and knocking them back. Sidney's group successfully unhooked Magmon, Vinta and Mallash from the machine. "You guys okay?" Minnie asked. "Yeah. We're good." Vinta said, getting his strength back. "We would've been sucked dry if not for you, kids." Mallash said. "And I say it's time for some payback." Magmon suggested. Vinta and Mallash smiled at that suggestion.
Verlina and Heptadd were having trouble against the UnderWorlders as they attacked, dodged and blocked attacks. But then Magmon, Vinta and Mallash charged in and joined the fight. Magmon tackled Zalmog. Krekk and Shadlocke fired Torrent of Flame at Vinta, but he used his invisibility to dodge the attacks. Mallash attacked with Earth Pulse, but Skithia dodged the attack and gave a Flashkick to the Danian.
But just then, the machine started glowing, making the group gasp. "The machine! It must've syphoned enough of our Tribal energy to start generating the portal!" Verlina deduced. "We have to destroy it!" Heptadd exclaimed. "But how?! Judging by the power this machine's giving off, if it explodes, it could probably take us all with it!" Minnie exclaimed. Sidney started to think. Then she noticed a big crevice in the ice. "There! That crevice! If we can push the machine into it, when it explodes from the impact with the bottom, no one will get caught in the blast!" She explained. "Good thinking, Sidney!" Verlina said. The group all started pushing the machine together.
Skithia dodged a Lavalanche and hit Mallash with Inferno Gust. Then she noticed the group pushing the machine towards the crevice. "Get away from my MACHINE!" She shouted, racing towards them. Heptadd saw her coming. "Get the machine to the crevice! I'll handle her!" He called. The group continued with their mission as Heptadd turned to face Skithia, who had just blasted him with Megaroar, sending him into a glacier. As she passed, Heptadd managed to trip her with Vine Snare. But then Skithia launched Skeletal Strike at Heptadd, keeping him busy while she goes after the group.
The group was halfway to the crevice. But then, Verlina saw Skithia coming. "Keep going. I'll take care of this." She said, pulling away. Skithia was halfway there when Verlina stopped her in her tracks. The 2 glared at each other for a minute. Then Verlina attacked with Flood Force, sending Skithia flying.
Just then, the machine began to glow brighter. "We gotta hurry! It's almost done powering up!" Nika called. In no time, they made it to the crevice. "Alright, guys! One more big push!" Sidney called. The group nodded. "NOW!" Sidney cried. They pushed as hard as they could together and sent the machine down the crevice. There was a loud boom when the machine hit the bottom. "Get clear!" Sidney yelled. The group leapt for cover as the blast burst through the crevice and into the air. Magmon, Vinta and Mallash saw this from afar. They then looked back to Krekk, Shadlocke, Sonnur and Zalmog retreating and roared at them. "What about Skithia? Aren't we gonna look for her?" Krekk asked, concerned for Skithia. "You can if you want! But we're not sticking around to get our butts handed to us!" Zalmog shouted. Krekk peeled off as Shadlocke, Sonnur and Zalmog left.
Sidney's group panted with relief after all that. "That was *pant* without a *pant* doubt, the hardest *pant* workout I've ever had." Minnie panted. "Me too. But it was worth it to help Sidney save the day again." Nika said, making the others laughed. They then looked to Sidney, Verlina and Heptadd. "Once again, your assistance was proven invaluable, Sidney." Heptadd said. "Yeah. You really saved us and both our worlds this time, Sid." Verlina said. "Glad I could help. Well, I'll see you guys around, I guess." Sidney said with sadness. "Sidney, aren't you forgetting something?" Heptadd asked, pointing to Sidney's scanner. Sidney couldn't believe it was she was hearing. "You mean it?!" She asked excitedly. "Yes. I have decided to give you the same opportunity Najarin gave your father." Heptadd said. Sidney prepared to scan, but Heptadd stopped her for a second. "However, if you do reveal any of my secrets, I will be very displeased." Heptadd warned. "You can count on Sidney, Heptadd. Her family is the most trusting bunch there ever was." Verlina assured. "She's right, Heptadd. I won't let you down." Sidney said, scanning Heptadd.
"Guys! Now's our chance! We can get Heptadd scans too!" Gisele whispered excitedly. "Uh, Gisele? I don't think that's a good idea." Nika whispered. Heptadd, noticing Gisele getting her scanner, released a Vine Snare, snagging her ankle and hanging her up from a glacier. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Gisele cried. As soon as Sidney's scan finished, Heptadd began to take off. "Farewell, my friends!" He called as he left. Verlina walked up to Sidney and put an arm around her. "You are such a lucky girl, Sid." Verlina said. "Yeah. I guess luck kinda runs in the family." Sidney said. "Hey! Heptadd! Come back! Still hanging on a vine here! I feel my blood pouring in my head! Hello?!" Gisele cried to Heptadd with no avail as the others laughed.
