Chapter 13

I hate auto-correct...

I returned to Shulk, Reyn and Sharla. They were just starting to wake up.

"Andrew!" called Shulk. I walked over to him. "Mind talking me what that was about?" he asked quietly.

"Really complicated things," I responded. "Come on, let's just go." The weight of my sword had also increased with its length, and thus, I was having a bit of trouble finding my balance.

If I'm this powerful... I thought. Then will the game adjust to make things more difficult? Crap, I may have killed every character in this game! I thought. If I find out who did this to me, I am going to stab that person in the goddamn gut...

Shulk sighed. "Alright, fine. Reyn!" he spoke. "Sharla! Time to go into the Ether Mine, right?"

Sharma arose with a yawn. "Ugh... yes," she spoke. "Remember what I said? The front entrance is probably too heavily protected by Mechon to go that way."

"Yeah, I remember," replied Shulk. He shook his head, groaning. "Ugh..." He staggered for a brief moment. "Whoa..."

I looked at my hands. I would say that life cannot get any more complicated, but the moment I think that thought everything's going to go to hell, isn't it, I thought. Wait a second...

A loud mechanical sound came from a nearby location, and a bunch of Mechon stormed outwards.

I jinxed the hell out of us! I thought, drawing my sword. "Well, this is an interesting start," I spoke.

"That's one way to put it," responded Reyn. "Shulk! Can you enhance our weapons with the Monado?"

"Uh... yeah, just give me a second." He drew the blade, light pulsing from it. "HAH!" He swung outwards as the aura turned purple, the symbol for Enchant appearing on the blade. "There! Let's go!"

I blinked as the other three rushed forward. Powers... and what Simon gave me... what did he mean?! I thought, grunting as a Mechon with a claw swiped at me. I dodged the attack, ducking. "Whoa..." With Stab Strike, the Mechon started let out a whirl, dying.

Shulk slid back from an attack. "Ugh..." He slumped for a moment, before using Light Heal on himself. "These Mechon... they're..." He let out a grunt as another rushed at him, blocking with the Monado.

What was he going to say? I wondered, using Time Slower as a Mechon rushed at me. Time Slower is a dumb name, I thought. I'll call it Time Slow instead! Yes, best difference ever. I used Stab Strike. "Hah-RAH!" My form morphed, and I felt energy flood my body. "RAAAAH!" I let out a roar, slashing. The Mechon was cut in half.

"What is that, Andrew?" gasped Shulk, amazement in his voice as my Time Slow ability expired. Then I saw a Mechon behind him. It was quite small, but it was charging up a laser.

"RAR!" I lunged, as the purple aura from Enchant wore off. But I kept going, and I swung. The Mechon shattered from the sheer force of my attack. "Yeah!" I reverted to normal, exhaustion flooding me. "Never mind. Not feelin' so good."

"Andrew... he destroyed that Mechon even though his weapon wasn't under the effect of Monado Enchant!" exclaimed Reyn.

Learn something every day, I thought, as Shulk touched something on the Monado. A kanji flashed on it and a purple aura surrounded it. That looks like Buster from Smash Bros., I noted.

"Shulk... what is that?" asked Reyn, shielding Sharla from a furious barrage of attacks.

"A new way to use the Monado's power," he replied. "With Buster, I can compress the length the beam would usually take with the Art to be more... passive." He swung as a Mechon neared him, and it exploded as he moved away.

"Now, my attacks are a lot more destructive then before. Plus..." He swung the mystical sword outwards, causing a purple aura to surround all of our weapons again. "This way, I can have an active Art and a passive Art affecting just me."

What, can he use the Jump Art too, now?! I thought, my Slide Edge letting me onto a Mechon. "Hah!" I took the Mechon out, leaping away as another rushed a claw at me. "That's not nice!" I smirked, using Whip Slash to destroy the Mechon. "That it?"

"Nearly," mused Reyn. "Andrew... what was with that transformation earlier?" he asked, amazement in his voice.

"Yeah," replied Shulk, using his Back Slash attack to take down a massive Mechon in comparison to the rest of us. "That... dark form. Did you use Ether somehow as an armour? Ooh, I wonder if the rest of us could..."

I forget that this guy was a bit of a nerd, I thought. "Nah." Huh... Devil Trigger is kinda like Jak's Dark Eco form, actually... I shrugged, and Sharla spoke.

"While there's no Mechon at the moment, we should try and enter," she spoke tightly.

"Alright, fine," replied Shulk. "We can rescue Juju! Let's go!" He withdrew his blade and ran off, leaving the rest of us to chase after him.

"Hm... those Mechon were a bunch of jokers!" laughed Reyn as we ran off.

Sharla and I were silent. "No? Anyone?" Reyn looked mildly down now. "Aw, man..."

I would've swore on my life Sharla smiled then.

...

"So this is the side entrance, huh?" mused Shulk. "Kinda dusty. Well, let's go!" He charged in, though the rest of us kept up this time.

This place looks like a puzzle and platforming room, I noticed. WHY?! THE TWO GAMING GENRES I AM THE WORST AT! WHY?!

"This looks like a room in a game I played once!" declared Shulk. "Let's go this way!"

With the guidance of a young man wielding an awesome sword and wanting vengeance, we met it to a couple of Nopon.

"This mine very complicated," a Nopon told Shulk. "It very easy to get lost."

And without Shulk's guidance, no doubt would I be here at the moment, I thought, a bit sheepish.

"But you no have to worry!" the Nopon declared. "Just follow glows and you no get lost!"

"Thanks," spoke Shulk. "Ooh, this Nopon's selling things. You guys need anything? I mean, I have some Gold right now..."

The three of us shook our heads, though Shulk got himself some snazzy (and not cracked) googles, which he didn't place over his eyes, but over his forehead.

"Onward!" he declared, and the four of us moved forward, into a large room.

"Guys!" spoke Sharla, eyes beginning to flare up with alarm. "Kill the noise."

The three of us males stopped moving as she crouched. Down the stairs led to a tunnel, and a Mechon slowly moved away.

"A Mechon," growled Shulk, though his voice was thankfully low.

"I can't believe they've taken the mine too!" spoke the sniper, frustration in her voice.

Then her voice held traces of horror. "That means... the Defense Force and everyone else are..." She stood slowly. "Juju..."

"It's alright, Sharla!" spoke Reyn. "Don't panic. It'll be fine."

She turned to face him. "Reyn..."

Though I could see Reyn start to speak, I tuned him out. Cutscene time I don't care for... I thought.

Within half a minute everyone was down the stairs, and I leapt after them.

We ventured deeper into the tunnels. Suddenly, Shulk gave a gasp and headed down south.

"Shulk!" called Reyn as the Monado user began to run. "Where are you going?!" We chased after him.

When we finally caught up, he was before a lake. "I can feel the power..." he spoke. "It's indescribable, but... it's like being at this lake is filling me with power..." He drew the Monado. "HAH!"

The beam pulsed outwards, a green kanji glowing on the blade as a green aura surrounded his feet.

"This symbol..." he breathed. "A symbol for... 'Jump'." He jumped, nearly touching the roof. "Whoa!" As he descended he flipped over, leaping again.

"Cool!" he spoke, as the symbol faded away. Then he turned to face us again, a slight smile forming on his face.

"Let's go."

Thanks for reading!

(And please don't ask when Chapter 14 will be up, because I have no clue...)