(a/n) heres a chapter Ive been wanting to do for a long time now, Rushs origin story. be prepared to not believe it... muhahaha!
Chapter 9: Pride's Escape
"This is crazy, Rush! You're one of the good guys!" Dojo yelled from inside his cage. Rush sat on the ground next to Dojo as he watched Sloth's robots make final preparations for the machine Dojo was supposed to be connected to.
"I was once, Dojo." Rush said. "But I'm not anymore… I'm a Sin, one of Pride's puppets… I'm one of humanity's ultimate mistakes… I am Envy."
Dojo just glared at him for a bit before turning away. "So, you sold your soul to the devil… I guess I'll just have to come to terms with that. But what I want to know now is why."
Rush turned his gaze to the tiny dragon in the cage. "You want to know why?" he questioned. "Fine… but it's a long story." Dojo turned back to him and Rush also turned his body to the dragon to make eye contact. "It all started about a year ago… back when I was still home… in Kenya…"
KENYA, ONE YEAR EARLIER
"I'm sorry, boys, but you are not yet old enough to go hunting with the others." Chief said to the two young men before him. "You'll have to wait until you are fifteen, like everyone else." Zofu and his friend Rush, as he liked to call himself, had always been impatient boys. Rush was about a head taller than the Chief and had short curly hair. Zofu was actually the tallest person in their village despite being so young and had no hair because he shaved his head. Today the boys had come into the Chiefs hut and asked to go hunting with the other men for the day. Unfortunately for them the Chief had a strict age policy when it came to hunting, you had to be fifteen or you were out of luck.
"Oh come on!" Zofu argued. "What about my brother? He got to go when he was three years younger than I am now."
"A rare exception." Chief said. "Have you forgotten that it was also your brother that single handedly saved out village from a pride of lions?"
"No sir…" the boys groaned.
"Good. Now go have fun while you can." Chief said, grinning. "Being grown up isn't all it's cracked up to be. I should know, I've been grown up for over fifteen hundred years!"
"Please, he can't be over sixty." Rush whispered to Zofu once they were safely outside of the Chief's hut. They made their way back to Rush's family hut. The inside was decorated with many animal skins and bones. There were some pots sitting around filled with various berries and nuts and water. And then, of course, there were the spears hung up on the wall which Rush's father used for hunting before he died.
Rush splashed some water on his face and then lied down on the lion skin he used for a bed. "Who does that old guy think he is anyway, telling us what we can and can't do like that." he complained.
"He thinks he's the Chief." Zofu said sarcastically. "And you really need to respect him more. You may disagree on stuff, but he really does know what's best for us… especially you, considering that both your parents are dead."
"Ok, so he's been like a father to me ever since the lion attack a few years ago." Rush said. "He's still just an old crone."
"Bad mouthing the Chief again, are we?"
Rush and Zofu both looked over to the entrance to find another friend of theirs walking in. It was Raven, another youngster that Chief had taken under his wing after the lion attack as well as, as Zofu subtly pointed out as often as possible (much to Rush's annoyance), Rush's long time crush.
"Hey, Raven. What's going on?" Zofu asked.
"Chief just asked me to keep an eye on you two… make sure you don't do anything foolish." Raven explained.
"You're kidding, right?" the boys asked.
"Am I ever?"
"I thought you were supposed to be our friend." Rush joked.
"I am. And as your friend I'm supposed to make sure you don't do anything stupid or foolish like, say, go hunting even though Chief said no." Raven retorted.
"Besides, you've always wanted her to be more than a friend anyway, Rush." Zofu said nonchalantly with a mouth full of berries.
"Zofu, I swear, if you don't shut up I'll…"
"Oh, calm down, Rush." Raven broke in. "We both know he's just joking."
"She said casually despite knowing that it was all true." Zofu added, earning him a glare from both of his friends.
"Can I kick his ass now?" Rush asked.
"I'll join you." Raven said.
Half and hour later, after chasing Zofu around the village with spears fifteen times, the three returned to Rush's hut to get some rest. "You guys… are both crazy." Zofu panted as he sat down. Rush didn't seem to have the energy to reply and just plopped down on his lion skin bed, falling asleep almost instantly. By the time Raven was there Zofu had fallen asleep as well. Raven just shook her head and lied down in between them, soon sleeping as well.
Raven awoke some time later at the sound of a woman screaming in the distance. It was dark out now. She sat up and glanced around franticly. Rush and Zofu were gone… and so were the spears on the wall.
"Raven! There you are." She turned to the door to Find Chief standing there with his spear in hand.
"Chief, what's going on?" Raven asked. "Where are Rush and Zofu?"
"Lions are attacking the village again." Chief explained. "The Boys are out fighting with the other men as we speak. Just stay here and keep quiet and you should be safe." Raven nodded and then Chief left to join the fight.
Raven remained in Rush's hut for hours, listening to the battle outside. The screaming of the women, the battle cries of the men, the roars of the lions, and the sound of spears and claws stabbing into flesh. It was horrifying. She could barely stand to hear it and she was more than thankful she didn't have to see it. Raven just wasn't a fighter, plain and simple. And it wasn't just because girls didn't learn how to wield a spear in their tribe, she just didn't have the heart to take a life or even watch a life being taken.
A small scream escaped Raven's lips as she hears a roar coming from behind her. She turned around to make sure nothing was there but she was disappointed when she saw the shadow of a man with a spear stabbed through a lions head. She shuddered and turned back to the doorway only to freeze at what she saw.
Where Chief had stood only hours before a lioness now stood, gazing at her with hunger in its eyes.
Raven and the lioness just sat there staring at each other, Raven's jaw quivering and the lioness licking its lips. Raven knew this wasn't going to end well and she started to back away slowly, making sure not to make any sudden moves. Then her back hit the wall and she suddenly realized that she was trapped. The lioness took a single step forward and Raven's life suddenly started flashing before her eyes. She saw the day she was born, the first time she met Rush and Zofu, the lion attack a few years ago when her parents were killed, the day Chief took her in like a daughter, and she even relived these last few horrifying minutes with the lioness glaring at her.
Raven snapped out of her trance to find the lioness lying before her, dead, with a bloody spear sticking out of its side. She looked up to find Rush standing in the doorway. "Raven, are you all right?" he asked. She nodded and he helped her to her feet, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're safe." He whispered.
"Hey, guys." Zofu said as he stuck his head in the door. "You've got to see this!" Rush and Raven both nodded and followed their friend outside. All around the village the living lions running away. A hero had arrived at the village… a pale skinned, golden haired girl with the ability to wield lightning.
"My people," Chief called out to the village with the blond standing next to him. "I give you the hero who drove the beasts from out village!" The people of the tribe cheered for her, chanting her name, Saya, over and over again. "Saya has traveled far from the east. And to show our gratitude to her she will stay with us for a time. Please, welcome her with open arms and treat her as one of our own."
Everyone watched as Chief and Saya made their way into Chief's hut, but once they were out of sight the entire tribe scattered to their own homes. Rush had made it half way back to his own hut when he was suddenly pulled to the side. Raven had pulled him in between two random huts for some reason but when he tried to ask why she simply shook her head, smiled and pulled him into a hug. She just smiled and stared at him for a while, seeming to confuse Rush, but then she closed her eyes and leaned in, pressing her lips lightly against his. They remained there for a while, kissing in the moonlight, completely unaware of anybody passing by (which coincidentally included Zofu). And some time later they separated, resting their foreheads against the others and smiling.
Raven then tried to say something, but only succeeded to mouth the words. Rush just looked at her, confused, and Raven got the same look. "What was that? I couldn't hear you." Rush said. Raven tried speaking again, but again she could only mouth the words. She let go of Rush and took a few steps back, pressing her fingers to her throat and shaking her head. She opened her mouth and tried screaming as loud as she could but again there was no sound. "This is bad…" Rush said. He then grabbed Raven's hand and pulled her back out into the main street. "C'mon. Chief will know what's wrong."
They quickly ran to Chief's ten and barged in, unaware that Chief and Saya were having a conversation. "Chief! We have a problem!" Rush said urgently.
Chief nodded to them and turned back to Saya. "Would you mind stepping outside, please?"
"Not at all." Saya agreed before leaving the hut.
"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Chief asked them.
Raven stepped forward and lowered her head. "It's Raven." Rush explained. "She can't speak for some reason. She really can't make any sound at all. She even tries screaming, but nothing happened."
"So, she is mute?" Chief asked. Raven nodded. "I see… something traumatic must've happened to you recently, for there appears to be no physical harm to her."
"I saved her from a lion earlier." Rush explained.
"Was that it, young one?" Chief questioned. "Did you have a brush with the angel of death…? Did the reaper take your ability to speak?" Raven just turned away from him as tears started running down her cheeks. Chief sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. Only an equally traumatic experience can bring back her voice… she may never talk again."
THE NEXT DAY
"Hey, Rush. I saw you and Raven last night. Congratulations, my friend." Zofu said enthusiastically to his friend as they wandered aimlessly through the village.
"Not now, man. I'm kind of depressed right now." Rush sighed, looking up at the cloudless sky.
"What's wrong?"
Rush just sighed and looked at his friend sadly. "Well… after the lion attack last night… Raven lost her voice. She's mute now."
"Whoa… that's a bummer… Is there anything you could do?"
Rush shook his head. "Chief says that it would take an equally traumatic experience to bring her voice back… either that or some kind of magic, and that's obviously out of the question… Or is it?"
"Rush, you're getting that look in your eye again." Zofu warned.
"We've all heard the legends." Rush said, turning around and facing the mountain that watched over their village. "A long time ago Chief and a group of others sealed a great mystical entity at the summit of that mountain. Chief was charged with guarding it and he has for fifteen hundred years now… forbidding his own people from going there and refusing to allow outsiders up there."
"Rush, I don't like it when you talk like this." Zofu said.
"If we could sneak up there, there might be a genie or something. It must be powerful if Chief won't let anyone up there. If I could hold that power I could bring back Ravens voice and do who knows what else."
"Rush, think about what you're saying." Zofu warned. "If we go up there and get caught we're as good as banished. We don't know anything about the outside world! Out there we're as good as dead."
"Then we won't get caught."
That night Rush and Zofu silently slipped out of their huts and made their way to the mountain. As always two guards were stationed at the beginning of the mountain path, but the boys knew that they could easily out smart those two. But then again maybe they didn't need to. The boys crouched down in the tall grass and each picked up a decent sized rock. Zofu quickly chucked his at one of the two guards, knocking him in the head and causing him to faint.
The other guard noticed this immediately and turned to the first guard's direction, clutching his spear tightly. "Who goes there?" he demanded. But before he got an answer Rush threw his rock and nailed him in the head and knocked him unconscious.
"Let's go." Rush whispered.
And so they started on their way up the path, honestly not knowing what to expect once they reached the peak. All they knew was that if Chief had forbidden anyone from going up there for more than fifteen hundred years then it must be powerful. Who knows what it could've been. A weapon with power beyond all imagining; a magic to powerful for humanity to control; or it could possibly have been a psychopathic mystical being with a god complex that was bent on complete world domination… no, probably not that last one. All they knew was that it was their best chance to bring back Raven's voice and Rush would do anything to get it.
They were close to the summit now, so close that they could see it. "Are you sure you want to do this, Rush? We're already in deep trouble for making it this far."
"Why go this far if we're not going all the way?" Rush questioned.
They made their way to the summit. There they found two odd statues; one in the shape of an oddly dressed man and the other in the shape of an oddly dressed woman. "Congratulations Rush." Zofu said sarcastically. "We broke our tribe's biggest taboo to find rocks. It was really worth it."
"Shut it, Zofu." Rush snapped. "Nobody hides statues like these without a purpose." He walked forward and began studying the statue of the man. He quickly noted every detail and it wasn't long before he noticed that the round stone in the statues hand was separate from the statue itself. "Hello, what's this." He grabbed onto the stone and gave it a tug. It moved slightly but was still stuck firmly in the statues hand. He pulled again but this time it didn't budge at all.
"What're you doing?" Zofu demanded. "If you break that thing we'll be caught for sure!"
"Zofu, no one's been up here in fifteen hundred years." Rush explained. "What're the odds of someone coming up here just to check on statues that no one even knows are here?"
"Well…"
Rush just ignored Zofu and continued pulling on the stone. He could feel it trying to move but it was wedged in there pretty tight. "All right… one more try." He grabbed it with both hands and pulled on it as hard as he could. And sure enough, the stone cracked in half and flew out of the statues hand, both halves landing at its base.
Rush stumbled back as an ominous laugh began to fill the air. The two boys looked around, trying to find who was laughing, but there was no one there. Soon the air around them grew cold and a neon green aura appeared around the statue.
I… am…
Then, out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning was hurled down from the sky and struck Zofu, incinerating him to nothing more than a skeleton. It was over quickly and Zofu's corpse fell to the ground. Just as suddenly a green fire surrounded the mountain top and the aura around the statue grew until the entire stone man was consumed in the light.
"What have you done?" Rush swung around to find Chief charging at him, with a look of pure rage in his eye. "You idiot, you've doomed us all!"
"What? What's going on?" Rush questioned.
I… am… PRIDE!
A colossal bird made of blazing green fire shot up from the statue and with an ear splitting cry flew off into the darkness of the night sky. The green fire disappeared and the air returned to its normal temperature. Now it was only Rush and Chief left on that mountain.
"Was it worth it?" Chief questioned. "You've broken our tribe's biggest taboo, killed your best friend, and Raven still can't speak… well… WAS IT WORTH IT?"
Rush simply lowered his head in shame, not wanting Chief to see the tears running down his cheeks. "No."
"I hope you remember this feeling for the rest of your life… Now get out of my sight! I don't want to see you anywhere near this village ever again."
LOCATION UNKNOWN, PRESENT
"So you're the one who brought all of this on us!" Dojo shouted.
"Not like it matters." Rush said, standing up and picking up Dojo's cage. "In less than a year this world is going to end and Pride will raise a new world in its place. I, along with the other Sins, will become a god… even though that is what I never wanted."
"Then why'd you agree to become Envy?" Dojo demanded. "I would've rather died that agree to that!"
"That's the difference between us, Dojo… I'm not ready to die… not yet." Rush then handed Dojo over to one of Sloths many robots and the disappeared, leaving them to do whatever they wanted with the dragon.
The robot ripped open the cage and pulled Dojo out. It flew over to the machine and placed latched Dojo in, with shackles around his wrists, tail, and neck. The Dragon then felt electricity surge through his body and he changed size against his will. Dojo grew to his flying size and then fell limp, now fully a part of the machine.
A voice suddenly sounded throughout the chamber. "Virtue Detector Unit now operational."
(a/n) yes, its Rush fault that Pride was even relased in the first place. its all his fault! get your torches and pitch forks ready, people. were going on a man hunt! but seriously, I loved writing this chapter. its the whole reason why this is even happening and Im honestly a sucker for an origin story. so, now that thats out of the way I hope your all anxious for the next chapter... lets just say things are going to get a bit crowded.