(Plays Legend of Zelda chest-opening theme)
Bwum-bwum-bwum-BWUM!
-You found a new chapter! And this one won't burn if fire touches it!-
... Where did that burning part come from? :/ It could totally burn if someone really wanted it to.
Anyway, more reviewing thanky-ness!
HarmonicShadows: LOL, glad you were enjoying the marshmallows. (Bad Shadarus! I would've given you a separate bag had you asked!) Also glad to hear you like female Guren, too! :) (Now be quick and hide this bag of imaginary marshmallows! *Hands over bag secretively*)
Animelover4: I'm going, I'm going! (*Holds up hands up play-defensively*) Heh heh, I'm not really sure how the other three knights are going to discover Guren's gender… My muse can't seem to decide on one of a few options, where some are funny, others are a bit serious, and the rest are a mixture of both. (*Scratches head*) But I do think the end result will be the same, regardless.
Take those awesome marshmallows, you awesome reviewers! (*Tosses bags*)
And people reading this story are awesome too! :D
Now ONWARDS TO VICTORY! Or in other words, enjoy! :) (Man, I love making smileys.)
'Thank goodness Tuesdays start at nine.' Guren thought thankfully as she sat distracted in class. The girl had slept in that morning, panicking until her father notified his daughter before leaving, that school didn't begin at eight that day. He'd have woken her if it did anyway, she eventually realized, since he did have to wake as early, if not earlier, than she did.
Turning her head, the girl found that once again, Ceylan was just as distracted as she was, fiddling with his pencil by trying to balance it on the rubbed down eraser. Every time it fell over, the utensil hitting his wooden desk would make a small 'click' sound. It wasn't helping Guren to focus any, but she didn't know how to tell him to stop without making some sort of disruption.
While pondering, her gaze landed on the pocket of the blue-haired teen's pants. There was a bulge that she could only guess was his brick.
She frowned in half-surprise half-thought. 'Funny. I brought mine too.' Lifting a hand to rest it on her own pocket where the white brick was, she wondered if he did so for the sake of it or, if like her, felt it was necessary for some reason. Well, PE was next, she could always ask him then.
Click
Of course, the dual-haired teen would have to put up with that constant sound for a while first. The girl sighed as she turned her attention back to the board where her teacher was teaching different mathematics.
Click
…
Click
…
Click
The sudden idea of smacking her head on the desk felt very nice. It was going to be a long lesson Guren realized, sighing in annoyance.
Click
The bell couldn't ring soon enough to Guren. As soon as it did, the clicking ended and she could hear herself think. Of course, the girl didn't get a chance to ask the other teen about his brick or tell him of her dream before he had already left class (she'd been so absent minded, she forgot to move for a few moments) to prepare for the gym.
So she simply went to the locker rooms, changed into her red shorts and white shirt (boys were separated with blue shorts, so the girl did wonder if her friend would realize her gender that day), then came out into the gym. Luckily, both she and Ceylan were put into running around the track, giving a prime chance to talk (although they could barely hear themselves over the rantings of their coach.)
Either fortunately or unfortunately, the blue-haired teen didn't give a second glance to the color of his friend's shorts, so he didn't notice the opposite gender from what he thought she was. But at the very least he did wait patiently as she told her story of how she'd had the dream of her fighting as if she was the bot she owned, against another larger, stronger, and presumably evil bot of black and red coloration.
"You see, it was like I was my robot while fighting, and I could even feel the pain from getting hit by the evil guy. Or at least I think he was evil-" Guren yelped suddenly, stopping mid-sentence as she collided into her friend's back, blinking a couple of times and rubbing her nose when she backed away. "Why'd you stop?"
Rather than answering her question, Ceylan whipped around and gripped Guren's shoulders tightly.
"You had weird dreams too?" He nearly shouted. "Where this big robot guy you apparently know is winning, and that's all that happens before you wake up, feeling like you took all the hits?"
Gasping in surprise that he knew exactly what she was talking about, the dual-haired girl nodded silently. Ceylan looked as if about to ask more questions, but the he was interrupted rather suddenly.
"JONES! NEW KID! You can chat on your own time!" Their gym teacher bellowed, having noticed the friends stopping dead center on the track. The two jumped slightly, the peers caught up behind them sniggering when they began running again.
They'd be finishing the conversation later, that much was clear, though they didn't get a chance to even try until the school day was over. After which, Ceylan pulled his dual-haired friend off to the side of the school building to an area that was concealed by bushes and trees. He then demanded the entire dream in as much detail as Guren could manage, the girl complying as far to even mention she'd had the dream twice (though now, she suspected three.)
"But why is it such a big deal to you?" Guren questioned once she was done, already guessing she knew the answer. The blue-haired teen, who had already been fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket nervously while he'd waited for his friend to finish, began to tap his foot in a panicked fashion.
"Why? Why!? Because I had the exact same dream! Well I didn't fight in a canyon and I was my robot, but that's not the point!" He explained, pulling his brick-formed bot out of his back pocket. "These things are messing with our heads, or something! And I don't really enjoy waking up feeling like I've been run over by a truck, thank-you very much."
Guren could see where her friend's concerns were lying. And she had to admit, it was rather odd to have the same dream on the exact same night, after having gained such similar brick-bots. Pulling said item out of her pocket, the female teen gazed at the white block in suspicion. "I think we should head back to the shop." She said after a few moments of thought.
Even though he looked as if the mere idea frightened him, Ceylan nodded in agreement. Although right after he did, his stomach growled. "Eh-heh… Maybe after a snack?" The blue-haired teen joked as he rubbed his head sheepishly, to which Guren smiled with a small laugh, and nodded.
"I guess I feel a bit hungry, too." She admitted, putting an empty hand to her own stomach. "Feel up for a trip to the sandwich shop again?" Her friend instantly grinned.
"Or how about something even better?" He offered. The dual-haired teen suddenly felt more hungry.
"Like what?"
Her blue-haired friend smiled in a knowing way.
"You'll see."
The place they went, turned out to be a classic family-run diner. And after Ceylan had interrupted Guren before she could order a chocolate sundae (well, there was always the next time), he had ordered them both a lime parfait each.
Admittedly, it was a very good dessert that was apparently one of the greatest dishes at the restaurant, right next to their meatloaf. Guren also learned that when you brought Ceylan lime parfait, he turned into a total pushover. The boy was in heaven the whole time, hardly hearing anything she said to him when they were eating and agreeing to everything, more or less.
Well, it could always be used as a bargaining chip if necessary, the girl decided as they finished and paid the older teen that served as the waitress. The two then left for Mr. White's shop with the determination to figure out what the deal was with their bricks.
When they did finally find themselves standing outside the antique store, both could feel hesitation pulling at their hearts.
Ceylan coughed nervously.
"You know, it's pretty late… Maybe he's closed for the day?" He asked more hopefully than anything, being backed by the setting sun, which cast an orange aura around everything. Guren, in response, pointed to the white "Open" sign which hung above the store and walked towards the door, reaching for the handle.
"C'mon Ceylan, if we don't do this we may never know what the heck is going on with our bricks." She chastised. "Besides, where's your sense of adventure?" The girl said the second part almost excitedly, and her friend cringed at it as he followed her inside.
"I- I left it in my other pants," was his smart reply.
The inside of the store was empty, similarly to the first time they came there. "Hello?" Guren called, looking up at the upstairs area, wondering if the store's owner was there. "Hello, Mr. White?"
Still no reply came (once again), so both the dual-haired girl and her friend gazed around the shop wondering where the owner could be. She frowned, and Ceylan commented,
"Not very big on security, is he?" Causing his friend to make a small smile. Maybe joking around wasn't that bad an idea.
"Maybe Mr. White was something else we dreamed up?" She said to try lightening the mood herself, and her friend smiled as well. "Yeah right." He replied.
And as he did, Guren's eyes landed upon a door which was on the back wall. She began to walk towards it, wondering if perhaps, the store owner was in his basement, or something other…
"Oh please don't tell me that you're thinking what I-" Ceylan murmured, then inwardly smacked his forehead. "Guren!" He hissed, as the girl's hand reached for the handle and he rushed over to her. She was going to shave years off of his life if she kept doing this. With Guren swinging the door open in a quick fluid movement, the two friends stared down the staircase which had been behind it.
"Think maybe he's downstairs?" Guren asked, both she and Ceylan feeling themselves beginning to become incredibly nervous. The dual-haired teen also vaguely noted the giddy feeling in her stomach had returned, somewhat.
The sound of her friend gulping pulled Guren away from her thoughts about the odd feeling in her gut. "Or maybe there's something else down there…" The blue-haired teen said shakily. Yet somehow, the girl found herself ignoring this, and she took a step down the stairs and continued on.
'No point stopping here.' She thought, determined, yet also frightened. But if she chose to stop searching just because of some dimly lit (there was still no indoor lighting; all there was happened to be the sunlight which hardly helped at all) stairs, what would her father think? He'd always raised her to not be afraid, and even though she was often nervous around strangers, given any other situation she'd be all over conquering her fears. Heck, she would happily take any given path to get over her inexplicable shyness, too. It was just, the girl had yet to find one.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, both teens were met with a long hallway of books. While Guren almost instantly felt half of the tension she'd been carrying leave, Ceylan made a scrunched up face. He wasn't one for books, not then, not ever. (He was at least thankful it wasn't something worse, though.)
Walking towards the end of the hall and coming to a wall covered in organized cracks, the two looked at the tall part of the building, and Guren frowned. Her gut instincts told her something wasn't quite right here, but her friend let out a relieved sigh.
"Well, looks like a dead end." He shrugged, about to turn around. "I guess we'll have to go back and-"
The blue-haired teen was interrupted by the sound of hissing and whirs, and as both teens jumped, the wall parted to reveal a steel door, which had its giant screws upon it turn, and that parted as well.
Gasping in surprise, Guren took a tentative step forward and for once, it was Ceylan who rushed inside the room that had been hidden moments before. The interior of this room was simple, it didn't have anything decorating its steel green-ish walls, which shone from the light being emitted from the strange device standing in the middle of the room.
Gazing in awe at the large, futuristic machine, the two walked cautiously at it before stopping a few yards away.
"Wow…" Ceylan breathed, his eyes unable to blink suddenly. "He keeps the best junk in the basement!"
Viiiir
Viiiir
A sudden ringing-like sound was coming from both Guren and Ceylan's pockets, and the two reached into them to pull out their bricks… Which happened to be glowing. Though while Ceylan's had done so in the same color as it was, that being blue, the girl's had taken on a red shine. Guren frowned at it, and looked at the towering machine. The color seemed a bit trivial at the time, especially when the thing in front of them suddenly began to make sounds (they both jumped once again, each wondering when the surprises would end), and different parts of it expanded.
"Eeeh…" The only sound which escaped Guren's mouth as the large clunks and hisses of the machine kept her captivated, until it let out a large hiss of steam.
"Do you think we made it angry?" Ceylan nearly whimpered, gazing fearfully at the device. His friend took a quick tentative step forward. "We did something." She analyzed, happy to find the machine did nothing more than stand there. But it was a short-lived relief, as a loud-
CLUNK
CLUNK
Shook the ground, and both teens whipped around to find a looming glowing robot walking at them, slowly.
"You know what, I take it back. The security's pretty tight!" Ceylan squeaked as the large robot kept slowly clunking towards them.
Guren swallowed in fear. 'Just like the horror movie.' She thought worriedly, as she shouted, "Run!" To her friend as she turned to the opposite direction of that of the large robot and began to do so.
"Way ahead of you!" Ceylan was right next to Guren, as the two ran beneath the arch of the towering machine, to try and escape the even larger bot.
The girl began to panic. 'Okay, what now!?' She worried to herself, looking around for an escape route. The blue-haired teen next to her pointed at the robot, tall and glowing, then asked, "What is that thing!?" Causing Guren to wonder how on Earth he thought she would know, voicing her opinion with that exact statement.
And when the two both thought it couldn't get any stranger, the universe decided to prove them wrong. Standing beneath the machine seemed to trigger something, and before they could process what was going on, a strange spinning light had enveloped both teens. A small podium of sorts, then shot out of the ground next to Guren and Ceylan, and they turned at it on the opposite sides they stood upon. In it were four slots, tucked together in an 'x' like shape, the slots themselves being rectangular.
"I know I've done some stupid stuff in my life, but I don't think any of those things warrant this!" Ceylan insisted in his own panic, wondering where he had gone so very wrong. Guren was panicking as well, yet curiosity ate away at her in the few seconds that they stood there her mind quickly investigating the podium. The shapes looked oddly familiar…
As if to confirm the girl that she was onto something, the two glowing bricks each had been holding, forgotten until that moment, suddenly decided to make their presences known once more, by jumping from the worried teens hand's and into a couple of the slots. The podium sank back down, the speed of the swirling light sped up, and suddenly, the two were struck with the oddest feeling of change.
As they both watched one another get "eaten up" by little red (for Guren) and blue (for Ceylan) pixels, each let out sounds of worry.
Then all faded to black.
"Activating initial system sequence…"
Bzzt!
"Activation confirmed."
When Guren began to stir, it was to the sound of a ringing noise, that was getting louder by the second. She groaned, opening her eyes to blurred vision, which eventually cleared to show that she was in… A room. A very unfamiliar room she didn't remember ever coming to, before the strange things had happened, nor before that even.
"Where- Where am I?" She asked blearily.
"Tenkai Knight. Your current location is at Villius's fortress. Planet, Quarton."
Well that certainly helped… To confuse the teen even more.
"Wha- What? Where?" She asked again, looking around and wondering where the accented male voice was coming from. "Who said that?"
A small diamond filled with colorful blinking, ever changing squares and a familiar spinning head appeared in the corner of Guren's vision.
"I am your sentient, AI guidance system. Your Tenkai energy is at 73 percent."
A feeling of frustration overcame the odd feeling teen. That was seriously not helping at all! Tenkai what!?
"Oh-ho-ho. That sure explains everything… NOT!" The girl called out at the annoying AI thing. She groaned. "I must be dreaming again."
That would explain it! Yeah, she was just asleep and… As the girl began to pang at her head, which somehow made resonating clanging sounds, it wasn't working to wake her up. Okay, if Guren wasn't panicking before, she sure was now!
"Unexplainable behavior." The voice thing stated. "Please clarify."
Clarify? Clarify!? Oh, this thing was just ASKING to be slapped upside its apparently non-existent head! (And Guren was normally very patient with almost anyone.)
As she became aware of her sort-of surroundings, Guren leaned forward inside a strange pod. It was so odd. She was outside, yet she was in as well. Her eyes saw both the black lines lining the reddish walls around her, yet also the blue metal ones "outside." She was also aware that she had this, 'armor' on. And… Oh gosh, she was wearing tight clothing that clung to her form in the exact way she disliked, to which the girl blushed. Yep, definitely had to be a dream now!
"Will you just shut up?" She said in a frustrated tone to the voice. "I'm trying to wake up!"
"I can assure you, that you are 100 percent conscious and fully functional."
Guren was beginning to hate this know-it-all voice more and more, yet she couldn't help to admit it, as much as she disliked to (her father said that was a part of becoming a teen), that she did feel very awake. Not that the girl was about to let the voice thing know that. (Her father also said that being naturally argumentative was another side effect to teendom.)
"Don't be silly. If I weren't asleep, how else could I have ended up inside this armor?" Guren shot at it. It apparently had a response to everything, though.
"This is not armor, and you are not inside it." The voice stated. "You are the armor."
Well that would explain the odd way the dual-haired teen felt, being both inside and out at the same time. "Let me get this straight… You're saying I'm not dreaming and that I've been turned into- Oh man, what happened to my HANDS!?" The girl had lifted the "outside" ones to find, they were white and blocky, not holding a single finger on either one (every small thing suddenly seemed to be worth panicking over.) "Where'd my thumbs go!?"
The voice continued as if it hadn't heard her (which honestly, Guren didn't think it did.)
"You have been chosen to become Bravenwolf, Tenkai Knight and hero of the Corekai." The little diamond brought up two pictures, a side view and a frontal one, of a very, very familiar knight-like robot. Guren gasped at it. That was her robot, and as confusing as the "Corekai" part of the voice's statement was, the name Bravenwolf was very familiar as well.
'Didn't I hear it in my dream…?' The girl wondered. But before she could get very far in her musings, the screen changed to multiple images of Ceylan.
"Your associate Ceylan Jones was also transmitted here. Chosen by the Guardians to become the Tenkai Knight, Tributon." Okay then… Guren was still confused as the thing spouted more and more unfamiliar information.
"Huh?" Was all she could really say anymore.
"However, unlike you, Tributon is trapped in core mode, held captive by Villius's army." It continued.
Being trapped was bad.
"Of course with a proper scanning, we could easily pinpoint the reason for this anoma-
The voice was interrupted by a sudden blaring sound, and Guren groaned, searching her mostly blank room, area- thing. "What is it now?" She asked in annoyance. Every time she turned around, something else seemed to be shoving itself in her face.
"The activation of Bravenwolf's core has become known to the Corrupted, your enemies."
She had enemies?
"Their forces are fast approaching, to 'suspend' your functions."
That sounded very bad. Especially the way the irritating voice said 'suspend.'
"To suspend my functions? Why does that sound bad?" Guren questioned, the dual-haired girl suspecting she already knew the general idea of the voice's answer.
"In your terms, I suppose that would mean to 'destroy'." It supplied. Well that was a nice translation. When did she sign up for this again?
"Great, so uh, how can I avoid having my 'functions suspended?' I'd really enjoy not doing that." The girl said, gazing about the room for some form of an exit.
"Perhaps you would like to find an alternate route away from the impending threat."
"What?"
"In Earth terms, this translates to, 'escaping'."
Yep. This thing definitely needed a very hard slap. Guren randomly wondered if this "AI" was simply messing with her. "You are being serious, right?" She questioned.
"I am always serious." The voice didn't even sound amused, and the alarms were blaring even more loudly than before.
"You know what, I don't even care anymore." Guren said as she somehow instinctively willed her armor-self to jump off the little spot she'd been standing, running over to the crack covered wall she guessed was a door. "I'm finding Ceylan, leaving, and then pretending none of this ever happened."
Searching the wall-that-was-probably-a-door, the girl was frustrated to find that there wasn't any form of a button, lever, or anything to open the door with.
"Do you know of the Eighteenth Alpha Exodus Decimal Code?" The AI voice suddenly asked. Guren quit searching the door for a moment in confusion.
"What?"
"I believe that it will help in your, 'escaping.' Do you know of it?"
"Uh…" Nope, she was at a far loss.
"Pull back your fist, and thrust it forward with all your might." It explained.
Resisting the urge to facepalm, the girl groaned instead.
"You could have just said to punch it ya know!" She growled, curling her hand into a fist, the other one responding and she punched the door down, happy to see the metal crumple and even go flying.
'Sweet. I've got super strength here.' Guren thought happily, but her investigations of her now appreciated white hand were interrupted by the AI.
"Your associate will be found to the right." It stated. The dual-haired girl gone robot nodded, then went running off in the direction it had instructed, through the metal black halls. The distinct sound of clunking was following close behind her, which wasn't all too reassuring.
It took a large amount of running, but Guren eventually reached her destination when the AI told her to stop in front of a spot that looked similar to the door that was on her room.
"I think that the best solution to your current predicament would be to reuse the Eighteenth Alpa-"
"Yeah yeah, that alpha-decimal-whatever-thing." Guren cut it off, as she quickly busted down the door, the large, dented piece of metal lying in a corner afterwards.
On a small podium-like structure sat a large block, colored blue and sitting underneath a light.
"Ceylan?" Guren asked, hesitantly reaching out at the brick, being unsure of what to do or if the block was even her friend. Although all doubt was erased when she heard a familiar yet metallic voice call out to her.
"Guren! Is that you!?" It asked, sounding nervous and afraid. "If it is, then please help me! I feel funny, I don't know what's happening, and I WANNA GO HOME!" It yelled, confirming that it was indeed, Ceylan, to the girl.
"Uh, right!" Guren gazed around, trying to find anything that could help her to free the boy from his prison. "I uh, don't know, um… Hey voice guide thingy, got any ideas?"
"To free your comrade, extend your right arm and fire a Tenkai Energy cable." It said. Guren nodded internally, hoping that it would come instinctively to her as had the usage of her robotic limbs. She lifted the instructed arm, and a small block popped out.
"Um, like this…?" Guren asked, willing the block thing to do something. It obliged, firing a fairly thick black cable, which latched onto a cylindrical case that apparently surrounded Ceylan's block invisibly.
"Hey Guren, what're you doing? What's with that funny sounding voice?" Ceylan questioned nervously. The girl sighed, as her poor friend was probably trying his best to hide the same terror that she had felt when waking up to discover she was a robot. But at the very least, she'd had the voice to sort-of explain things and guide her, and apparently it had either neglected, or not been sent to the other teen.
"Don't worry Ceylan, I'm getting you outta there! How does this thing work?" She directed the question towards the AI, unknowingly confusing her friend for a moment.
"To activate the Tenkai energy cable, simply say 'Initiate Tenkai Energy Infusion'."
"Er, alright then. Initiate, Tenkai Energy Infusion!" Guren called out, and was slightly shocked (both literally and figuratively), when she saw her entire body glow blue, and a small jolt passed through her as the blue traveled up her cord and onto the casing around her friend. It seeped through, trickling into the block which began to shine the same color and lift into the air. The next thing she knew, Guren was staring at a larger form of the blue robot that Ceylan had gained from the shop, instantly breaking free of his confines.
Investigating himself, flexing his fingerless hands and looking over his square body, the boy grunted.
"So I've turned into my robot and you've turned into yours?" He said. "Are we sure we're not suddenly just completely insane?"
"I already tried suggesting that I was dreaming. But that know-it-all voice disproved that idea, I guess." Guren shrugged, secretly glad they couldn't see into each others little compartment areas. The last thing she needed was her friend freaking out over two things rather than one.
Ceylan's bot head tilted in what was probably confusion. "What know-it-all voi-"
"So it's true!" A sudden voice behind the two interrupted the blue bot before he could ask his question, and both turned to find a large amount of black and red robots behind them.
"Uh, hi?" Guren said shyly, giving a small wave. The one who had spoken ignored her.
"Bravenwolf and Tributon have returned, after all! Pity they must be destroyed." The male-sounding bot said, to which Ceylan gulped.
"What's he talkin' about? Tributon? Bravenwolf?" The blue bot questioned. Guren shrugged her robotic arms.
"Long story short, that would be, us." She explained quickly, happy that the bots were waiting to attack them, for whatever reasons. As expected Ceylan reacted as one would justify.
"We're gonna be destroyed!?" He yelped, and with that the red and black bot cried "Fire!" And the group began to fire a barrage of lasers upon the two. Guren did her best to dodge them all alongside Ceylan, feeling as if she were being forced into dance class. (Again.)
Many of them hit both, and Guren felt that burning pain of draining energy once more, even if at a lesser grade.
"Would you like me to activate your defensive shields?" The AI randomly spoke up, and Guren nearly deadpanned. It had to ask if they wanted help which they clearly needed?
"YES!" Both she and Ceylan called out simultaneously, feeling relieved when the blasts dissipated into the round glowing energy barriers which instantly appeared in front of them.
"Thank-you." Guren said, annoyed. She was sure that Ceylan was most likely making a face at the voice within his own robot. "But really, why didn't you just do this before?"
"I received no such request."
If her friend wasn't already upset at the voice before, he was surely now.
"Is this thing serious, or does it like to mess with people stuck in robot suits that have no idea what the heck is going on?" He asked, to which Guren shrugged. "I have no clue." She answered.
"At current energy levels, the shields will, unfortunately, not remain effective for long." The AI cut in.
"Well alright voice, then what would be effective!?" Ceylan practically squeaked out. The voice answered, "Summoning your Tenkai weapons would be very useful in this situation. Would you like to-"
"Yes, please!" Guren interrupted it, knowing it was only asking once again.
"Very well. Tenkai shields, bow and sword, activated."
Above the two, four groups of fizzles appeared, quickly forming into two weapons and shields, which dropped into the two panicking teen-bot's hands. Even though she only got a momentary glimpse at her own weapon, Guren was highly impressed by the red sword. She supposed that Ceylan had gained the bow which was mentioned.
As they blocked the unending attacks which came from the doorway, their 'guidance' system randomly announced that their energy had dropped to sixty-three percent, and that there were even more foes coming from the south, whichever way that happened to be. (It had a way with timing, did it not?) So therefore, they needed to discover a way out, ASAP. So Ceylan did the smart thing.
He fired an energy arrow right into the middle of the attacking enemies.
Practically all exploded into floating and quickly disappearing glowing orange cubes, leaving a clear exit.
"Wow, Ceylan. How did you know to hit them there?" Guren asked as they began to run down the halls. A nervous laugh came from closely behind her.
"I uh, didn't. It's one of those things that just turned out right." He said. Feeling the urge to facepalm become even stronger ever since becoming a robot, Guren sighed.
'Well, at least it helped us get out of there.' She admitted to herself. Suddenly, the two were barraged by three dog-like robots, barking and growling menacingly as they charged. Ready by instinct, Guren raised her sword, swinging it in an effective arc that cut through one dog-bot, and then the other two as they came along.
"Man! How'd you know how to do that!?" Ceylan said, as the two continued to run through the maze of halls, stopping occasionally to try and pinpoint the way out (with one narrow-run in with a tall gray wall of bricks which turned out to be more of the other robots.)
"I dunno. My gut told me, I guess." The girl answered, gazing about during one of their quick stops. "Let's try this way." She said, running down a hall so long, Guren couldn't see where it ended.
"So, do you think we'll be stuck like this forever?" Ceylan suddenly questioned. "I mean, sure we've got these cool powers and neato weapons, but I still can't enjoy a lime parfait from in heeeerrreTHEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US!"
Clunk clunk clunk
The sound of the enemy bots was most certainly, right behind them and Guren could feel herself tensing as her stress levels spiked once again. There was really no escape from that day…
"Well, run faster!" She shouted, quickening her pace as the end of the hall began to come into view. "We can lose them at the next… turn… Darn it!" Guren cursed. There wasn't another turn, after all. Instead, the hall ended in an abrupt halt. The two skidded to a stop in front of it.
"Great… What now?" Ceylan whimpered. The clunking sound was getting edgily closer, in a menacing fearful manner. (Well, to the two teens, anyway.) Guren gazed around, nothing in particular catching her eye. There were no ways out and she was short on brilliant ideas, but there was still another they could turn to.
"I don't know." She said. "But the AI might know something! Well Mr. Guidance-Voice-Thingy, what have you got?"
"The wall in front of you leads to the outside. A large enough explosion should give a satisfiable exit."
Suddenly not sounding so panicked at the prospect of a way out, Ceylan was probably grinning beneath the layers of his robotic armored self.
"One exit, comin' right up!" He said, pointing his bow at the wall as the arrow upon it began to glow bright blue. The laser that fired caused such a flurry of smoke, that the two escaping teens-gone-bot couldn't see what lay outside. Yet the sudden cry of "HALT!" And a flurry of lasers rushed off any reasoning of looking before they leapt, so that was exactly what they did.
That was how they ended up falling from at least six stories high, flailing and kicking.
"YOU CALL THIS SATISFIABLE!?" Ceylan shouted as they twirled in the sky, coming closer and closer to the brown lands below.
"A satisfiable exit does not mean a safe exit." Was the smart reply.
'Are we sure this thing isn't messing around?' Guren wondered to herself as she decided that surely there must be some way to not become metallic pancakes.
"Ah, activate, Tenkai jet-packs!" She shouted the first floating thing which came to mind and inserted the word everyone else appeared to be using in front of it.
"No such function exists."
"Um, Tenkai parachutes?"
"No such function exists."
"Gah, just activate Tenkai something-to-keep-us-from-falling-to-our-deaths!" Ceylan cried unhappily.
"You are becoming quite close to the ground at a very high rate of speed."
It hadn't noticed?
"Would you like to engage your Tenkai Thrusters?"
"YES!" Both cried once again at the AI they had found they'd grown tired of, rather quickly.
Feeling a rush of energy exit something strapped to their backs, the two were suddenly righted and fell far more slowly and gracefully down the last few yards left between them and the ground. Letting out a sigh of relief, Guren felt most of the tension that had been buried deep in her form leave.
"So… Now what?" Ceylan questioned, gazing around at their barren, completely brown and rocky surroundings. It appeared to be the middle of the day, wherever they had landed, rather than evening as it had been back home. The blue-bot boy's question seemed to answer itself, as a large mass of gray bricks suddenly came rushing from over the side of the tall fortress they had apparently been in, and turned into the robots and dogs that they had been running from while inside as they touched the ground.
"Man, more running? I should have brought my running shoes!" Ceylan said, as the two once again began to charge away from the ones who were interested in destroying them. Guren decided that since it was pretty obvious there wasn't a possible way to even make a use of shoes in their current forms, that the cracks must have been a way for Ceylan to cope with the unending fear that kept barraging them both. And considering how often the joking was getting, she supposed that her friend was getting more terrified by the unknown dangers by the second.
Not that she wasn't afraid either, yet she suspected that fear of the unknown had dulled considerably on her since she moved about so much, and had grown used to seeing newer surroundings rather often. It was only the fact that she and her friend were being hunted down for unsure reasons which had Guren on her toes. Ceylan was more likely used to knowing where he was and how things worked in said area. (At the very least, it was debatable that was how he felt.)
Taking a moment to look behind herself after jumping a small cliff, Guren paled as she saw the massive amount of robots were catching up, rather quickly. She turned her head forward again, willing her tiring legs to run faster. A thicket of trees suddenly came into view, and the girl's heart leapt.
'We can try to lose them in the trees!' She thought, and Ceylan appeared to be thinking the same thing as she saw his pace quicken rapidly in peripheral vision. Then again, the hiding within a forest plan didn't seem so great an idea, when many glowing bricks came up from behind the trees, causing more panic in the two teens for a moment, only for it to die as quickly as it had come when the bricks began to smother the bots they'd been running from with large explosions. They had been aimed at them, not the two running away.
'Or at least, I hope that's what it is.' Guren thought, apprehensive as she stared behind her, both the girl and Ceylan having stopped. The sound of more approaching from the opposite side caused them to whip around, only to be greeted by one of the most colorful robots they had ever seen come running at them in an excited manner, waving what resembled a spear in the air as if waving.
"Can it be!? Bravenwolf! And Tributon!" The cheesily deep voice called out, making Guren snort in laughter at it. She heard her friend stifle a chuckle as well. "My legendary heroes, you have returned!"
'It's official- I have no idea what's happening at all anymore.' Guren decided internally, as the bot rambled on about how great they were and singing random praises for whatever reasons, introducing himself as Beag, current commander of the Corekai armies. He told them that they were fighting Villius of the Corrupted armies, and apparently, the Corekai had been hoping that they, the Tenkai Knights ("Heroes of Quarton," the colorful bot added), would return one day. And now, they had done so, according to Beag.
"Such a brilliant and cunning plan, my heroes!" He said suddenly, pulling the girl out of her half-listening state as she tried to process the large load of slightly helpful information. (Beag was leaving a far better impression than the AI, that much was certain.)
"Uh…" Plan? What plan? All they had done was escape with absolutely no clue what they were doing, then run like heck for a long time, making Guren feel as if she was losing all of her energy at a rapid rate. Which she probably was.
"Leading the Corrupted out into the open, for an opportune moment to strike them with our trap we had set!" The bot shouted happily, others of separate red, blue, green and yellow colors behind him cheered loudly as well. "Wonderfully brilliant!"
Not exactly sure if it was a good idea to tell the happy Beag that they had only been trying to escape, Guren simply chose to roll with it. After all, it'd be rude to crush his spirits so suddenly with the millions of questions that she and (most likely) her friend had.
"O-oh, that plan!" She stuttered out, nudging Ceylan who quickly nodded. "Yeah, we uh…"
"Tenkai energy levels at one percent. Initiating recharge mode. Tenkai portal, engaged." The AI randomly interrupted, and once again, both Guren and Ceylan were struck with a familiar feeling as they saw themselves glow, then with a big flash, disappeared from the dusty planet.
And behind them, they left a confused Beag, who simply gazed at the sky wondering where his glorious heroes could be rushing off to so suddenly.
Probably something important, he reasoned as he turned around to reassure his troops that they'd be back once again.
When Guren landed alongside Ceylan back underneath what was apparently a portal, she wasn't sure what she wanted to do.
Collapse from exhaustion, run home and never leave her room again, or to walk off with Ceylan and act like this place didn't exist, get rid of her little robot-brick (which was sitting in her closed hand, though she couldn't remember grabbing it), then go on with ordinary life.
Instead, she stood in a wavering stupor, her blue-haired friend acting similarly.
"Dude, was that… real?" He eventually questioned, looking at the dual-haired girl for insurance. Feeling unable to do anything more, she simply nodded.
"I'm not really sure how, but yeah. That was too real for it not to be." She said, touching her chest where she could still feel tingling sensations coming from the spot where she could clearly remember getting struck with a laser. A grunt came from Ceylan.
"So do we pretend it wasn't, or think that it's pretty awesome that we turned into super-robot heroes?" He asked, looking upwards distantly. Guren looked up alongside him thoughtfully.
It was a fair question, yet Guren couldn't really come up with an answer. Yes, they turned out to be very important people (or robots) on some other world, but being chased and nearly destroyed was frightening and not to mention, daunting. She wanted to say that they should leave and never return. She desperately wished that this would all turn out as a strange dream. And if she did say that, what of the Corekai?
The way Beag had been talking, it sounded as if they were facing an enemy and losing thoroughly. Leaving them was like walking past someone in need, which honestly, the army was. Only the Corekai contained far more than just one being, making Guren feel more wary of simply abandoning them.
Finally, she made her decision.
"We came here to ask Mr. White about our bricks. I think that now, we have even more to ask him about." The dual-haired girl said to her friend, gripping the little white brick in her hand even more tightly.
It wasn't an answer, but a more or less solution. It was Mr. White's shop, he had given them the bricks, and he was probably the owner of the strange portal-device. If anything, that was too many coincidences that directly pointed at Mr. White and shouted: "Hey! Ask this guy and all shall be answered!"
After looking at her thoughtfully for a moment, Ceylan smiled gently and nodded. It was a reasonable way to go about what to do next, which he was agreeable to.
The two were about to take a step forward, however, when something suddenly felt off to both. A sudden imbalance they could both feel in their guts, and the teens were downright shocked when a corner of the room fizzled in a pixelized matter, spreading across the room and leaving a trail of what looked like outer space behind it. As both looked up, they could see among the stars and galaxies, a square planet that looked identical to Earth.
And just as quickly as it happened, the pixelation swept over once more, and all that was left was the strange room with a strange device in it.
"Well... That was unnerving." Ceylan announced with wide eyes as he shook his head, trying to pull his head back to Earth. Guren blinked a couple of times, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things that seemed to be happening that day.
"Let's go find Mr. White before something else happens." She said quickly, briskly walking towards the stair that led out of the basement. The blue-haired teen followed behind her suite, as the two half-ran up the stairs.
Then, as it turned out when both opened the door to the shop, Mr. White was waiting patiently. He didn't even jump as they jumped at him with their flood of questions, only for his answer to be:
"Now now, we expected questions and you shall have your answers." Along with a couple of gestures that told the two to calm down. Instead, the two backed off due to his choice wording of 'we.'
"We? What do you mean 'we'?" Ceylan asked, his forehead creasing in his confusion. Mr. White started up the stairs in the shop and gestured for them to follow him.
"I'll brew us a nice soothing tea, and explain everything to you." He said as the teens reluctantly followed the one with the answers they seeked. "I'm sure that you both have had quite the ordeal."
Guren had never really been a fan of tea- Not any more than she was of coffee. And she hated the taste of the caffeinated hot drink. So to put it simply, the dual-haired girl was only staring at her drink rather than actually consuming it. Ceylan acted in a similar manner, setting his cup on the table and not even touching it after.
"So. I believe you were seeking answers?" Mr. White asked them, reaching into his long overcoat and pulling something from it. He then set the item down on the short table that sat between the elderly man and the two teens.
Seeing that he had set down yet another brick of silver color, Guren gasped, thinking about what it implied. Ceylan only frowned at it. "Another one of those thingies." He stated flatly. "Nice."
As if insulted by the boy's statement, the brick began to glow brightly, startling the two teens out of their seats as it flared, then directing the shine into a single spot next to them and it formed into a smaller version of the robot which had chased them earlier that day.
Both jumped and backed away slightly, fearing the being would give chase once again.
"I really hope that I didn't just tick off that robot dude." Ceylan said, tensing even more visibly than before. Mr. White gave him a confused look, which faded into one of understanding.
"Robot? No, for you see, this is Boreas, the Guardian of the portal you both used." He explained getting up and walking over to it, sticking his hand through it. "Well, a Tenkai holographic projection, of Boreas."
At the word 'holographic,' the two teens were instantly pacified, and walked up next to the glowing image.
"So, not such a big deal, eh?" Ceylan cockily stated, poking his finger through the hologram. "Nope, nothin' at all."
It sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else to Guren, and he most certainly did not sound so 'unscared' as the visored area on the hologram glowed a threatening red, gazing down threateningly at the teen who was poking through it.
Instantly, he jumped back as did the dual-haired girl when the red glow covered them, she shut her eyes tightly.
Eventually the glow faded and the girl once again opened them, gazing about the completely black surroundings, only finding her friend who was standing next to her. He gazed warily at Guren, as he scanned his surroundings quickly.
"At least we're still alive?" He reasoned, smiling sheepishly. The girl was about to reprimand the boy for being reckless about messing with unknown forces, when she was interrupted by a large image playing around them, leaving them with the idea that they were floating.
It was the scenes of a vicious war between the black and red bots, and the Corekai. The Corekai were losing easily, small bot after bot getting disintegrated.
"In ancient times, my planet, Quarton, was the scene of a great war, between the Corekai, and the Corrupted." An image for the head of Boreas appeared and told them. "It raged on for century after century, until a member of the Corrupted was foolish enough to wake the great power of the Tenkai Dragon."
Below the two teens, the illusionary ground they floated above cracked, creating a ravine that glowed purple and the silhouette of a dragon-like creature flew out, roaring viciously as it began to attack anything and everything in sight.
"Unable to control its strength, both the Corrupted and Corekai were nearly wiped out by its force. Eventually, the four legendary Tenkai Knights stepped up, using their combined strength to break the dragon down into multiple pieces, which scattered across Quarton." Boreas explained. "Neither the beast nor the heroes have been sighted since."
Guren was thoughtful for a moment.
This didn't exactly explain what she needed to have explained, such as the 'Villius' character she remembered from her dream, or the reasoning why she and Ceylan were able to become robots. But it did explain the reasoning behind Beag's excitement, as well as why the Corrupted would want them destroyed.
If the robots they had become could take down this dragon, what was stopping them from doing the same to the Corrupted? Well, not that Guren knew much about her robotic form, but still.
The recently faded back to black scene changed to an image of a large imposing black and red robot standing on a cliff overlooking a war that the Corrupted were winning.
"Villius, the formerly defeated warlord of the Corrupted, has recently returned. He seeks to once again release the Tenkai Dragon, using it to claim dominion over Quarton… And beyond."
The last part of Boreas' explanation was said almost threateningly, and Guren didn't like his suggestive tone. Was he implying that Villius wouldn't be satisfied with Quarton alone? Her answer came in the form of Boreas confirming the fact that if the dark bot were to manage conquer Quarton, the portal to Earth would be under his control. That didn't need any more explanation to both teens, yet the head continued on that Villius could even directly move his planet closer to Earth, downright jeopardizing both of the planets with an unhealthy close encounter. Which was even worse.
"If Villius is not stopped, not only will the Corekai and Quarton itself fall, but the Earth is sure to follow in those footsteps." Boreas stated. "You have been chosen for this reason; to search for the five fragments of the Dragon and obtain them before he can. A responsibility, that only the Tenkai Knights can take."
And with that, the Boreas head fizzled away after becoming far too close for Guren to feel comfortable with. She also heard Ceylan sigh gratefully and mutter about it being gone. Yet the girl still found herself reaching out, hoping that she could come back into contact with the robot hologram- She still had questions that needed answering.
It was too late and the darkness fizzled back to Mr. White's lounge. Blinking a couple of times, Guren looked around in slight surprise. The man himself reached down and picked up the then seemingly normal brick, setting it carefully in his jacket once more.
"Fear not. Boreas' Tenkai energy is simply limited." Mr. White explained to the shocked teens. "All your answers will come in good time."
Whereas Guren sucked in a relieved breath, she could hear Ceylan let out a frustrated snort. The girl supposed that she could see where her friend was coming from. Instead of suggesting that the two had a choice, he was practically demanding that they must become the Tenkai Knights to stop Villius; a dangerous duty that could get them killed. But still there was the side of the Corekai. They were living creatures as well, with thoughts and feelings of their own. Guren was still apprehensive about simply abandoning them, and now the Earth was being pulled into the mix as well. Who was she to stand by and leave it all?
Although the girl still wanted some time to make her final decision. She was caring, not crazy.
"So, about the chances of being blown to pieces?" Ceylan demanded harshly, pulling Guren away from her thoughts with his hard tone. Mr. White reacted with an 'Oh, busted,' reaction, smiling nervously at the blue-haired boy.
"Ah yes, about that…" He began, but was interrupted by a Ceylan who was becoming increasingly maddened.
"And what's with all this responsibility? Or the fact that we have to do this?" He snapped. "I didn't ask to be turned into a super-robot that can help answer the problems of two entire worlds!"
He began to march towards the door that led out. "I'm going to go get a milkshake, my nerves are still buzzing!" He said, with Mr. White trying to stutter out a proper response to prevent the boy from leaving.
"Ceylan, wait-"
"And a burger, and some fries!" He shouted. "Find someone else to be your special hero, because I quit!"
And with that, he slammed the door behind him, leaving a disappointed Mr. White and a half-shocked half-confused Guren who was wondering how you quit something you never started. The girl looked up at the elderly man, with a solemn expression.
"There isn't anyone else that can take up his place, is there." She stated more than questioned. Mr. White sighed and shook his head.
"You were both chosen for a reason, not randomly picked out of people who passed by." He said, looking down at her with questioning eyes. "You understand this, don't you?"
The girl sucked in a breath and let it out, looking down slightly. "I'm not sure if I really want to take up this kind of responsibility. It sounds dangerous for both us, and two worlds if we fail." She met his eyes directly. "I'd like some time to think this over, please. It's kind of a big deal."
A relieved smile played across Mr. White's face who nodded. "Take the time you need, and please do try to talk some sense into your friend? I know that Boreas seemed a bit demanding, but this is his home we're talking about." He said. "And he cares for it deeply, just as Ceylan probably cares deeply for Earth."
It suddenly clicked what Mr. White was trying to tell her, and the girl grinned as she gave him a quick, "Sure!" And rushed out the door as she waved goodbye.
She had a friend that needed to understand the stakes of what he was doing.
Boo, to the action-y parts! They're hard to write!
Well this took me more than long enough. But that's why I don't make scheduling promises! Since I have the attention span of- (*Looks out window*) Hey, a butterfly!
… What was I saying? Oh yeah. Well, my attention span isn't too great and I have a wide variety of interests that catch me at different times, such as my enjoyment of drawing and writing other things (like a picture-theme Tenkai Knights fanfiction series I started on my Deviant Art page. It's an MLP crossover! :D) So I both physically and mentally can't just stick to this 24/7.
Anyway, looking back at the episodes, it seems to me that Guren was almost too easily swayed into becoming Bravenwolf. Here, I try to give the female one a bit more reasoning behind this. She cares for others and is willing to be self-sacrificial in order to help them. But she doesn't exactly just jump on board either; it's life and death stuff, and she needs a little bit of time to sleep on it to make sure that she truly is willing to take on the weight of two worlds. Ceylan, well, you're gonna have to wait for his reasoning! I don't want to set out any spoilers, although I will commend anyone who can guess what it is (not that you have to try if you don't want to.)
Bleh, I talk too much! Anyway, happy early Easter!~ I don't know if I'll be able to post by then or anytime sooner, so I'm going to go ahead and do it here.
And please remember to review! This time, I'll give imaginary marshmallow-filled chocolate eggs to keep the Easter stuff in mind! :D
See y'all later! :)