Earthbound Omega: Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Georg formed a grin inside of his large, billowing hood. All anyone else could see though was the eerie red glow.
"You!" Kayla shrieked.
"Ah, and you," Georg acknowledged, "I see you're still kicking after our last encounter. Too bad."
"What have you done with Michael?!" Kayla demanded.
"He's in good hands," Georg answered with a laugh.
"Ooooooh!" Kayla screamed and tried to run at Georg.
"Kayla, no!" Angela gasped as she held Kayla back.
"Yes, do keep her at bay," Georg said, "We wouldnt' want any... accidents to happen."
Brian and Pokey stood up and kept their eyes on Georg.
Georg turned to Pokey. "So you're the cyborg pulling all the strings."
"That would be me," Pokey replied.
His cybernetic eye worked furiously at scanning Georg.
Georg cocked his head. "Are you trying to get a look inside? See what I'm made of?"
Pokey was taken aback and didn't know what to say.
"I can show you," Georg offered, and in the blink of an eye he was in front of Pokey and swung his fist.
Pokey sailed through the air and landed in a pile of bushes. He didn't get back up.
"Don't see why Elder Mook had such a problem with him," Georg mentioned.
Mako slowly moved closer to Brian and Angela.
"We may have to make a quick exit," he whispered to them, "But we have to try and get all of us together so that I can teleport us away."
Angela and Kayla nodded in response.
Georg turned and walked towards Paula and Christian who were still crouched over Ness.
"The fallen hero," Georg mused, "And the doting family."
"Stay away from us, you monster!" Paula yelled.
Georg stood over Paula and stared intently at her. He felt his heart pounding and his fingers were trembling.
"Be careful," Georg growled, "Be very careful how you speak to me."
"Get... away!" Paula shouted and suddenly Georg was picked up and flung several feet backwards.
He landed on his side and rolled over a few times before springing to his feet.
"Foolish," Georg spat.
He turned to Brian, Mako, Angela, and Kayla who were inching closer together.
"Yes, preparing for a teleportation?" Georg mused, "A much wiser move. Paula could learn from you lot."
"What do you want with us?" Mako asked.
"It's very simple," Georg answered, "Just submit to my master's wishes. Stop resisting and cooperate. The end will be much easier for everyone involved."
"And we're supposed to just listen to you?" Angela piped up, "Look what you've done to Ness!"
"And it'll be no different if you continue down this suicidal path of yours," Georg shot back, "I'm afraid you all haven't comprehended what you've gotten yourselves into."
"No, you haven't comprehended what you've gotten yourself into," Mako stated.
"Such little fools," Georg grumbled, "You have no idea, but you will soon."
Georg spread his legs a bit and extended his arms out.
The air around him began circulating upwards. Small rocks on the ground around him began floating.
Brian gasped as his mind seemed to pick up on something.
"What's... happening," Brian murmured.
Unnaturally warm air began blowing outward from Georg's position. The area around him began crackling with red electrical bolts. Georg began laughing as he brought his arms together.
As he clasped his hands together, the wind coming from his spot increased dramatically. Brian, Angela, Kayla, and Mako struggled to stand up.
"Mommy!" Christian gasped.
He huddled down between Paula and the motionless Ness as various debris began hurtling towards them.
"PSI Shield Epsilon!" Paula gasped.
A bluish shield encircled Paula and her family, and the debris flying at them bounced off as it hit the shield.
Pokey slowly rose his head. His circuitry began shorting out from the electrical energy in the air.
"Astounding," he breathed.
Slowly, the wind died down. A red glow seemed to be radiating from Georg, and every now and then, red sparks would go off from his aura.
"So, as you can see," Georg said, "Any efforts you would make against me would be futile."
"He's so powerful," Mako gasped, "We would never be able to present a challenge."
Brian backed up a couple steps. This was way worse than the fear he experienced while fighting Senior Mook. Senior Mook was nothing compared to what Georg was. He couldn't fathom how he would ever be able to deal with a being like Georg, let alone his master.
Paula squinted her eyes as she looked at Georg. The tears had stopped falling and the sniffling was gone.
"Christian," she said firmly, "I need you to stay here with your father. Do not move. Understand?"
Christian couldn't remember his mother sounding like she did just then, but he could tell now wasn't a time to argue. "Yes, mommy."
Paula got to her feet and walked quickly towards Georg.
Georg spotted her out of the corner of his eye and raised his eyebrows.
Paula walked around him and stood in front of him.
"I'll be your challenge," Paula stated.
Georg's heart began to race again and his fingers trembled.

The trek back towards Stonehenge was certainly easier this time than last time due to the lack of snow on the ground.
Robert moved swiftly and quiety through the trees. At times he had to climb over some fallen trees, no doubt blown over by the strong winds.
Robert was glad he was on his own this time. He definitely would have taken longer if Jeff was with him.
Plus he wasn't sure if he entirely liked Jeff or not. He seemed overly critical of Robert for whatever reason, and Robert felt like Jeff knew more about him than he let on.
After climbing over a particularly large tree, Robert saw the end of the forest. The first thing he spotted was the familiar sight on Stonehenge.
"So it's still standing," Robert noted aloud.
He was glad about this. Despite the evil it represented, there were still innocents inside Stonehenge, including Michael. Robert was determined to make sure he lived up to the promise he made to Michael.
Find Kayla Monotoli
Robert recalled the name now from some history books. Monotoli was the name of the famous, or infamous, tycoon from Fourside who became involved in the war against the alien Giygas twenty years ago.
Robert wasn't sure what a Monotoli would do to help him now, but he was pretty sure Michael wouldn't have used the few seconds he had to give him useless information.
As Robert got closer to Stonehenge, he was finally able to spot the source of the explosion. Robert couldn't help but to stop in his tracks and let out a gasp.
The mountain behind Stonehenge looked like it had simply collapsed. All that was left was a giant pile of rocks, snow, and twigs.
"What happened here?" Robert mumbled.
It was then that something else clicked in his mind.
During his training, Robert was schooled in all the details of the war with Giygas, and he recalled now what was hidden in the mountains behind Stonehenge.
The Rainy Circle.
One of the sanctuaries that helped defeat Giygas.
There's no way it survived that, Robert thought, But a sanctuary destroyed? What... does that mean?
He decided that nothing else could be figured out from here. Jeff may not be 100 likeable, but he was very knowledgeable in all this.
Robert turned around to hurry back towards the lab. He had to tell Jeff what he saw, and they had to get to Onett as soon as possible. This was definitely a job for the Chosen Four.

Far in the east, further even than Dalaam, lay this small village named Mandua.
Mandua didn't really interact much with the rest of the world. The people lived in seclusion.
They grew their own crops. Killed their own food. Governed their own ways.
In truth, very few places around the world even knew of its existence.
The village was run by a council of shamans, each posessing the art of PSI, and the council was protected by... those on horses.
Nearby the village rested a smaller village of peaceful folk.
Peace, however, was hard to come by recently, and even though the location of these places remained hidden to most of the rest of the world, that didn't apply to those not of this world.
Slithering, hissing, with tentacles lashing about.
The mooks stormed into the small village and began terrifying the inhabitants. They lashed out and tore down houses with their tentacles.
They scorched the crops and burned the stables with fiery hot beams shooting from their eyes.
Within Mandua, the gates to the council's headquarters opened, and five horses galloped out.
They slowly picked up the pace until they were running at full force towards the small village.
Atop each horse sat a rider, each wearing billowing cloaks and hoods.
As they neared the battle, each unsheathed a weapon.
One withdrew a majestic longbow.
Another unveiled a ferocious pike.
The third pulled out a sleek kitana.
The fourth unleashed a glowering war axe.
The one in the lead unsheathed a mighty longblade.
The mooks took notice of the five approaching horsemen, and quickly charged at them in glee.
The horseman in the lead raised his longblade up high, and the other four followed suit with their weapons.
An electrical charge seemed to form between the five weapons, and then a massive electrical and colorful attack was unleashed forward towards the mooks.
The villagers covered their eyes and screamed in shock.
When the noises died down, the villagers slowly opened their eyes. Dust and debris covered the area in front of their village.
As the dust cleared, the five horsemen emerged and galloped on past the village.
No sign of the mooks could be seen.

Georg widened his stance slightly.
"You may want to reconsider, my dear lady," he spoke menacingly.
"I've seen your kind before," Paula replied, "I've fought them many times over. I think it is you who wants to reconsider."
"I am not so easily intimidated," Georg spat and in an instant a fierce wave of wind rocketed from him towards Paula.
Just as fast, a bluish aura surrounded Paula, and Georg's attack ricocheted off it and snapped a high branch of a tree, sending it to the ground.
"Excellent speed," Georg complimented, "Now can you evenly match that with enough power?"
Georg held his hand out and spoke, "Breaker Gamma."
An arrow-shaped bluish figure raced through the air towards Paula.
She once again deflected it with her shield and answered, "PSI Thunder Omega!"
Four bolts of lightning struck down at Georg. He dodged two and knocked the other two away.
"PSI Fire Omega!" Paula yelled.
"Freeze Omega!" Georg answered.
Their two attacks collided and turned into a vast cloud of steam.
"Thunder Gamma! Wave Gamma! Fire Omega!" Georg shouted.
Paula and everyone gasped as three lightning bolts struck along with strong waves of water and a wall of fire.
"PSI Shield Omega!" Paula gasped.
The one lightning bolt that headed for her bounced off the shield. The water weakened it, but eventually splashed aside. Paula saw her shield cracking as the Fire Omega beared down on it and she threw herself aside, feeling the fiery embers scrape past her.
"Mommy!" Christian gasped.
"Stay!" Paula answered fiercely.
"How did he do that?" Kayla demanded, "He pretty much executed all those attacks at the same time. I didn't know that was possible."
"It isn't," Mako said quietly, "The mind requires a certain amount of time to recover after focusing so much energy on a single attack. To try and execute multiple PSI attacks at once would damage the mind beyone repair."
"Well, that doesn't seem to be a problem for him," Brian whispered.
"No," Mako agreed, "No, it doesn't."
"So what does that mean?" Angela asked.
Mako stared hard at Georg and said, "It means whoever this guy is, he's beyond all of us. We must get away. Anyone left here will be killed."
'I agree, Mako,' Paula's voice spoke in his head.
'Paula?' Mako answered.
'We must find a way to get us all to safety,' Paula said, 'At the very least, all of you and my son must get away.'
'You must flee too,' Mako urged, 'He's as much a threat to you as he is to us all.'
'But I am the only one who can stall him long enough,' Paula pointed out, 'And I need to get him further from the town. There's too many innocents around to--'
"Yes," Georg piped up, "I agree."
"Hmm?" Paula gasped.
"There are alot of people around here," Georg continued, "It's true they may... get in the way of our battle."
Georg raised a hand in the air, "Allow me to take care of that problem."
A ball of energy formed above Georg's hand, and suddenly beams fired out of it and all around where they stood. They tore through the trees and into neighborhoods and the downtown area. Screams were heard from people rushing to get out of the path of destruction as cars exploded, windows shattered, and the very ground torn up.
"Noooooooooo!" Paula screamed.
She raced towards Georg at a supernatural speed, held out her hand in which the Holy Frying Pan appeared, said a quick prayer that caused the pan to glow, and then swung forward.
The pan connected with the side of Georg's face. His head jerked back and his whole body began to fall to the side. He quickly moved his foot out and caught himself from falling.
He stood for a moment with his head pointed towards the ground then slowly looked back at Paula.
His hood had come off due to the blow.
Paula knew now was the time to attack again, while Georg was off guard, but she couldn't help but to stare in wonderment.
His face was shaped like a human's.
His eyes though were red with eerily green pupils.
His head though.
It was bald, and it looked as though the back of his head was swollen. It portruded out with veins running through it.
"My God..." Paula breathed.
"Not quite," Georg said with a smile, "But almost."