Chapter 6: "Traitor!"

"By the Power, Taryn? Is that you?" The voice over the communicator responded back. "Thank the Power you're alright!"

"Rez, is that you?" Taryn said back.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm here with your mom and dad. They've..." Rez got cut off.

"Where have you been, young man! I've been worried sick! Are you alright?" A lady's voice screamed over the communicator.

"I'm fine, mom. I got a little help from a new friend." He looked at Gadget, which caused her to blush. "Can I talk to dad?"

There was silence on the line for a moment, and then the line picked up again. "Hey, son. What's up?"

"Not much. Just blew up a few days ago is all." Taryn heard a loud thud in the background. "What was that?"

"You just made your mom faint."

"Are you guys on monitor?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Hold on." Taryn turned to Gadget. "Do you have a monitor around here?"

"There's one right over here." Gadget pulled out a small watch TV. "Will this do?"

Taryn took the headset off. He opened a small panel on the side and pulled out two wires. "You think you can hook these up to it?"

"Give me a jiffy." She said as she opened up the cover of the watch. She made a few connections with a small makeshift soldering gun. She turned the watch on. "All done."

"You're amazing, you know that?" Taryn said as he set the headset down in front of the watch.

The watch came on, and on the screen was a man. In the background was another man, tending to a fainted woman.

"Dad, you getting us?" Taryn asked.

The small speakers on the watch cracked a little, and then cleared up "Loud and clear. Who's that?" Ty asked, looking to Gadget.

"This is my little help."

"Gadget Hackwrench, pleased to meet you Mr. Corin-Johnston." Gadget said, giving a little bow.

"Please, call me Ty. Any friend of my son is a friend of mine." Ty turned back to his son. "I didn't want to mention this, but do you know you're a squirrel?" Just as he said that, Kendal looked up at the screen, and upon seeing her son, fainted again.

"Oh dear." Rez, the man at her side said.

"I noticed. That reminds me. A couple of days ago, the D-controller exploded, and, as you plainly stated, I got turned into a squirrel. What happened?"

"TIPA got attacked." Ty said gravely. "The mainframe and the archways all got bombed. We've got nothing."

"Do you know who?" Taryn asked.

"We caught a few lackeys that got left behind. They told us everything. The boss is a man by the name of William DeMorue, otherwise known as Lightneton."

"I thought Uncle Mike took care of him!" Taryn looked puzzled.

"We all thought so."

"But how did he get in? TIPA's a fortress."

"They had an insider."

"Who?"

Ty stood there silent. Then looked up with a shocked look on his face.

"It was me." A familiar voice sounded behind Taryn and Gadget.

"Chief?" Taryn turned to see the crow standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, ME, kid." The Chief said, a little cocky. Then, he looked to the screen and Ty. "Hey there, traitor! Surprised?"

"A little." Ty finally managed to say. "I guess I could call you the same thing, right Bastion?"

"NO! I AM NOT THE TRAITOR! I STAYED TRUE TO OUR MASTERS; YOU BETRAYED YOUR BROTHERS TO JOIN THOSE WEAKLINGS OF THE LWC." Bastion yelled, scaring Gadget. "You prefer to protect these meaningless mortals." He said, directing his attention to Gadget.

"YOU TOUCH HER, AND I'LL BREAK YOUR ARMS OFF AND BEAT YOU WITH THEM!" Taryn said, stepping between Gadget and Bastion.

"Don't let your father poison your mind, Taryn. We are superior. And these creatures are only here to serve us." Bastion said.

"You're wrong! We all have the right to live our lives." Taryn said, digging in his heals. "And my father isn't the poison, you are."

"Listen Taryn. Ever since the day I say you kill that attendant, I knew you had the potential to do great things." Bastion said. Gadget looked up at Taryn in a mix of shock and pity. Taryn closed his eyes and put his head down. "You could strike fear into the hearts of mortal men. But your father has taught you morality, and has clouded your mind from your true destiny. Join us, and I will teach you how to use your power to its fullest potential."

"SHUT UP!" Taryn screamed. "I WILL NEVER JOIN THE SIDE OF EVIL." He looked back up at Bastion. "As long as I'm still breathing, I will forever protect innocent creatures from destruction at the hands of morons like you and your master!"

"That look in your eyes. It's the same look your father had the day he betrayed our leader. It appears that there is no getting through to you. Oh well, I guess I'll have to take you out."

"You can try." Taryn got into a battle stance and prepared himself to fight.

"So be it." Bastion charged toward Taryn, screaming.

They locked up, neither one giving an inch. Taryn looked over his shoulder to Gadget. "GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

Gadget got up, grabbed the communicator and the watch ran for the door. Bastion watched her leave. "So, you do have feelings under that tough skin of yours. It's a weakness. I because of it, you will fall!" Bastion threw Taryn through a window in the front of the plane, and followed him out. Taryn sailed through the air for a few seconds before falling to the ground.

I still don't have my powers. How can I fight him? Taryn thought. I'll have to coax him into going hand-to-hand. He pulled out his staff and extended it to full length. "I bet you can't beat me without your powers!" He yelled to the charging Bastion.

"I can beat you without one of my hands." Bastion placed left wing behind his back. He swung at Taryn with his right fist, to have it immediately deflected by Taryn's staff. "But why risk it." Bastion swung his left fist around and landed a clean left hook to the jaw. Taryn flew across the small opening they were in and slammed into a vertical aircraft wing. The wing teetered a little, but remained vertical.

Taryn got up and looked at Bastion. He then looked at Gadget, who was watching as she hid behind another piece of airplane scrap. Bastion started to follow Taryn's gaze. Crap! I gotta keep his attention! "Hey! You've still got me to worry about." He charged Bastion and swung his staff, only to miss. Bastion retaliated by drawing his own weapon. It was a simple short sword. He swung, and his shot was deflected again by Taryn's staff. He followed that with another punch to Taryn's face, sending him, again, flying into the wing, which moved a little more, but again maintained its vertical stance.

"Gadget! What's going on?" Ty's voice rang out from the communicator.

"Taryn's in trouble. He doesn't have his powers! He's getting thrashed." She looked up, scared. "And now Bastion's coming for me!" Gadget responded as she struggle to pick up the equipment to run again.

Suddenly, a shot rang out from behind Bastion. It hit him in the shoulder, and he let out a cry of pain. He turned around, grabbing his shoulder. "How dare you! Shooting me in the back!"

"How dare you, pick on a defenseless little mouse." Taryn stood there, pointing his Thunder Blaster at Bastion, using hit staff to stand.

"I knew that decision would come back to haunt me." Bastion reflected. "But you of all people. Mister 'Never again!'?" He said mockingly.

"Well, I guess I lied."

"Well, prepare to be punished." Bastion charged up an energy shot, and before Taryn could even move, he fired. "THUNDER BLAST!" The shot left his hand and hit Taryn square on his chest, which caused him to drop his staff and blaster. The blast sent him back into the wing, which this time was hit with enough force to cause it to collapse and fall on top of Taryn. The crashing wing created a dust cloud that covered the entire fighting field.

Bastion walked up to the destroyed wing. "No sense in taking chances." He charged up another shot. Then he felt something hit his head. He recoiled a little, but immediately recovered and turned to his attacker. To his surprise he saw Gadget standing there with Taryn's staff in her hands.

"You leave him alone!" She said with a slight trembling in her voice.

"You know, you've got spunk!" Bastion reared up his hand and swung a mighty backhand which hit Gadget in the face, sending her flying across the field. "I hate spunk! Well, I guess I'll take care of you first." He approached a terrified Gadget.

"PURIFYING SHADOWS!" A voice cried out from behind Bastion. The shadow of night could not compete with the shadows that surrounded the busted up pile of wing. The shadow lingered for a few seconds, and then disappeared. The pile shook a little before it completely exploded. Shards of wing flew everywhere. A few hit Bastion, to which he started to defend himself against the onslaught. One headed toward Gadget. She cringed, but felt herself being picked up and moved quickly away.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Taryn placing her back on her feet. "You OK?" He said, looking at the bruise on her face.

"I'll be fine. How did you do that? I thought you lost your powers?" She asked.

"I did…well…sorta. It would appear that the explosion caused a total drain of my powers, rendering them useless. When Bastion hit me with his shot, at the last minute, I absorbed the energy." He danced a few sparks in his hand. He then placed his hand on the ground in front of Gadget. "LIGHTNING BARRIER!" He yelled, and a glowing shield grew around them. "You stay here. I have to finish this." Taryn left the shield, and charged Bastion.

Bastion turned to find Taryn charging. He immediately shot a few energy shots at Taryn, but Taryn dodged them easily. Taryn hauled up and hit Bastion with an uppercut, which sent Bastion skyward. Taryn flew up and followed Bastion.

"Golly, he really can fly!" Gadget commented at the spectacle. "YOU GET HIM, TARYN!"

Taryn shot a quick salute back at Gadget. He then turned his attention back to his foe. He got above Bastion, and crossed his arms in and X formation in front of his chest. Energy began to form in his arms, causing them to glow. "X-DIVE TACKLE!" He yelled as he turned down toward Bastion and started his descent. He made contact with Bastion halfway down, and drove himself and Bastion into the ground! A large dust cloud formed. Gadget watch with horror. Was her big brother alright?

A figure began to approach from within the cloud. As the smoke cleared, she could see it was Taryn. He gave her a quick thumbs up. She ran from the shield, and ran up to Taryn. She gave him a big hug. "You did it! You beat him."

"Yeah, I guess I did!" Taryn said, as he calmed down from combat mode.

As the smoke continued to clear, another figure stood in the crater. "We aren't done yet!" Bastion had survived the onslaught. He picked up his sword, and charged Taryn. Taryn turned around and charged Bastion. As he approached his enemy, Taryn slid between Bastion's legs. Bastion swung and missed, lodging his sword into the ground. As he tried to remove it, Taryn turned toward him, pointing his right arm at Bastion. "CAPTURE!" He activated the digimetric capture device. The light net encompassed Bastion, who, in horror, fought it off to his best ability. But it wasn't enough.

As he got sucked into the device, he let out, "I will have my revenge!" And he was gone into the device's internal tank. It shook for a few seconds as he struggle to escape, but it wasn't enough. The device ceased movement.

"Checkmate!" Taryn said to the device. Gadget approached a little concerned. "It's alright now. He's gone."

"What'll happen to him?" She asked, concerned all the more.

"When I go back, he'll face justice." He said, looking at the device. "I can't believe it. My mentor…my godfather…my friend…a traitor!"

"He had his own agenda." She said, looking at the device herself.

"But, he was right." Taryn said, putting his head down.

"How so?" Gadget asked, puzzled.

"When he was asking me to join him…back in the plane…a part of me wanted to."

Gadget approached Taryn, reaching up to square his eyes with hers. "Some people are truly evil. Not because of the impulses inside of them, but how they respond to them." She poked a finger into his chest, at his heart. "You are not evil. You have control over your impulses and do what is good. That makes you good."

"Thank you." Taryn said.

"Hey, what's going on?" A female voice demanded from afar.

"Uh oh. Mom's gonna kill me." Taryn said. "Where'd you leave the communicator?"

"Over here. Come on." Gadget ran toward where she left the communicator. Taryn followed.

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