Thanks to: Meg (don't worry, I think fanfiction has unbollocksed itself, for now at least), Kira (wait and see my friend) and Spongey (don't worry, the cliffies are almost over... almost), and the 40000 Gasheads who came to Cardiff last weekend (we rule! Such a shame our team doesn't)
Random Quote: I'm so gorgeous, there's a six month waiting list for birds to suddenly appear, every time I am near! (Cat, from Red Dwarf)
Just a little side-note before we begin - just like the last time, the events of this chapter are happening similtaneously with the last two.
Meanwhile, back in the circular chamber, the boys were also having some problems of their own against the fearsome Ankylocephadon.
Major problems, of the 'barely-making-a-dent-in-this-thing' variety.
Having seen that the fairies' magic had had no effect on the beast, they had decided to fall back on that favourite tactic - brute force. But no matter how many swipes and swings they took at it, they're weapons were barely registering on the monster's thick bony hide. Coupled with the fact that it wouldn't stay still long enough for the boys to take a clean shot, and it all added up to one frustrating battle.
To add to their woes, running away wasn't an option too - both of the doorways were blocked by rubble felled by the lumbering beast's impacts against the walls, and it jealously guarded the exit through which Tegryn and the girls had narrowly escaped. As far it was concerned, it was bad enough that they got away, and there was no way these boys were going to slip through.
It stood, staring at the six boys who had more-or-less circled it with its blood-red eyes. It surveyed them in turn, each one standing en guarde, weapon drawn, breathing heavily. It was clear they scared of it - after all, they had seen the damage it had done to Bloom's body without even touching her.
As it swivelled its head to look at Jason, who was stood at one end of their line, Brandon suddenly leapt onto its domed back.
"Bro, what are you doing?" Sky yelled.
"Trying a different approach." he shouted as he struggled to keep his footing while searching for any kind of join between the monster's bony plate armour. "We've tried taking wild swipes at this thing - now it's time for a targetted strike!"
With that, he raised his blade above his head with the tip pointing downwards, and thrust it as hard as he could in a stabbing motion... but instead of plunging into the monster's hide, it just glanced off, jarring Brandon's wrists as it did so. He tried again, but with the same result. Growling in frustration, he tried once more, but this time his sword flew out of his hands and he lost his footing, landing in a heap on the floor right under the murderous gaze of the Ankylocephadon.
With a deafening roar, it readed itself up so it stood on its hind legs, before sending his massive front feet crashing back down to the ground with the express purpose of squishing Stella's little snookums. Brandon looked up in terror as the monster's feet bore down on him, then grunted as he was swifted yanked out of the way to safety. Blinking, he looked up to see Helia looking back at him with his laser string glove fully drawn.
"Nice one Helia!"
"No problem." the mild-mannered Specialist replied as he cast a glance at the monster. "It seems obvious that our aggressive tactics aren't working here. We need another different approach."
"But what can we do? We've tried everything, right?"
"I don't know." Sky said as he helped his friend up. "That thing must have a weakness - it must have a soft spot somewhere. Perhaps..."
Sky's musings was quickly broken by Timmy. "A soft spot! That's it. I know exactly what to do!" he said almost excitedly as he pulled out his laser pistol.
"What are you doing?" Sky asked.
"I'm setting this to Concussion Blaster mode." Timmy explained, "But I need to get side-on for this to work."
"Right! One distraction coming up! Here monsty monsty monsty!" Riven yelled as he drew his bolo and struck the creature on the head. Riven's idea went according to plan, and the Ankylocephadon started to approach him with a hungry look in its eyes. Brandon, Sky, Jason and Helia joined their colleague, waving their arms and whooping loudly so that the beast didn't see Timmy skirting over to one side.
Timmy stopped. He was in position, some twenty or thirty yards to the creature's side. Quietly, he took aim... not at the creature itself, but underneath it, at the small gap between its belly and the floor. He squeezed the trigger.
Perfect. The shot was right on target.
Or at least it was until the creature heard the noise from his pistol and turned to face him. The concussion blast impacted on the floor beside the beast, sending it staggering a few yards to the side before it regained its footing. With a loud bellowing roar, the Ankylocephadon charged straight at Timmy, picking up amazing speed for such a bulky beast.
But Timmy didn't budge. There was only time for one more shot and he was determined to take it. Again, he took careful aim and fired.
Success!
The blast shot just below the monster's belly and sent it flying upwards and over onto its back. Timmy leapt out of the way just in time as the beast, now spinning uncontrollably on its hard rounded armour-plated back, shot past him at high speed and straight into a wall. It tried desperately to right itself, but the large spikes which lined its sides prevented it from getting back onto its feet.
"Now's our chance! Get it!" Sky yelled.
"We're on it!" Jason shouted in reply as he brandished his twin katanas and sprinted over to where the monster lay helpless with its legs flailing pathetically in the air, its soft underbelly vulnerable and exposed. Being the quickest of the Specialists, Jason reached the target first. He leapt up onto the creature and plunged the blades deep into its chest. The Ankylocephadon let out a loud unearthly cry as it started to glow a bright white.
"Jase, get away from there!" Riven shouted. Jason did as he was told, withdrawing his weapons and preparing to climb down, but not quickly enough as the monster, in its final death throes, suddenly exploded in a ball of brilliant light. Jason was hurled into the air, and landed unceremoniously in Riven's arms. Naturally, Riven wasted no time in dumping him onto the floor.
As the light quickly died down, a small shape could be seen emerging. It was Kerborg, back to his old bat self and flapping away unsteadily to make his escape... until he was expertly shot down by Timmy. The boys looked on with great satisfaction as Darkar's pet slowly fell to the floor in a gentle shower of black ash. They took a moment or two to reflect on their little victory before Sky got them back on their feet.
"Come on guys, let's go find the others."
They went over to the blocked exit and made short work of the rubble, quickly clearing a path through the debris and into the passageways. They crept along warily, not knowing what nasties might be lurking within.
"Man, I hope the girls are okay." Sky said eventually. The others nodded in agreement, except for Riven.
"I'm not worried."
"What? You're not worried about Charlotte? Don't you love her?"
"Of course I do."
"So why aren't you worried about her?"
"You kidding? If she can kick seven shades of brown out of an indestructible demon, Darkar's gonna be child's play!"
The others didn't dispute it. They would've done, but they didn't get the chance, for right at that very moment, a horrifying sound made itself heard in the distance ahead of them - it was a blood-curdling scream of pure agony that would haunt them for many days afterwards.
"Oh man, I didn't like the sound of that one bit! C'mon, let's hurry."
They ran through the passageways as fast as they could go, but eventually they found their way blocked.
"It's a dead end!"
"Dammit! They must've gone another way!" Riven snarled in frustration.
"No" said Timmy calmly as he examined his wrist-comp. "They're on the other side."
"Right, then we need to get through. Timmy, would you do the honours?"
The others stood back a safe distance while Timmy once again took out his trusty laser pistol. Taking care to aim where the stone blocks appeared to be joined, he fired a volley of shots, then tutted despondantly. All those blasts had left just a few small pockmarks in the door. He took aim once more, but just at that very moment, a loud BOOM from the other side shook the walls of the passageway, sending a sprinkling of light brown dust onto their heads.
"We have to get through, now!" Sky said, his anxiety clear for everyone to see.
"Leave it to me," said Brandon as he stepped forward, pulled a small device from his belt and attached it to the doorway.
"Is that a..."
"A limpet mine? Yes, and it'll blow in about ten seconds time, so I suggest we leg it right NOW!"
They didn't need telling twice as they sprinted back the way they came and hurled themselves to the floor just as the tiny bomb did its thing with a loud bang. After a few seconds, the dust had settled and they stepped through into the room to be greeted by a scene of utter devastation. Large chunks of stone and ice lay all over the place, and the floor on the far side of the room was completely soaked with water. The girls were gathered near the centre, looking at something in shocked silence.
"What happened here?" Sky asked as the boys carefully tip-toed around Darcy, who was curled up fast asleep on the floor and appeared to be sucking her thumb.
Flora, who had been standing at the edge of the group, turned around and, upon seeing Helia, ran over to him and hugged him tight, sobbing.
"Flora? What is it? What's going on?" he asked calmly as he stroked her hair.
"Oh, it's awful. It's... it's..." was all her sweet honeyed voice could manage to say before she broke down into tears.
The others walked on, along the path that Cornelia had cleared through the large chunks of ice, so they could finally see just what it was that had upset Flora so much. Except it wasn't just Flora who was upset. All of the girls wore sullen expressions on their faces, some of them in tears. Eventually, they were able to see for themselves what had happened.
They stopped, and gasped in horror at the terrible sight that lay before them...
Gasp! So just what is this terrible sight? I know you're all dying to find out, so don't worry - all will be revealed in the next chapter. I warn you - it ain't pretty. In fact, the next chapter may need to have an M rating.