Dawn of a New Era
Chapter 7: Not a Ghost of a Chance
Jasmine's Point of View:
When I woke the next day, it was only five in the morning. No one would be up at this time, except Annabel I think, unless she gets up a little later. I sighed at the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore and got up and got on some work clothes for the day and headed down to the kitchen with my sketch pad. I placed down my sketch pad on the table and made myself a pot of hot water to make some raspberry tea with.
Once I had my tea all set up and made in a mug, I sat down at the table and looked over my sketches of the Skeleton Queen again and her formless minions. Her form, it just stood out to me, like I knew her from somewhere or it might not have been me, but the power primate that responded to her presence. It knew something, but what?
I knew that I wouldn't be able to find out the answer without any help so I placed the thought into the back of my head and focused on something else, getting stronger so we could face her. But with the team still sleeping at this hour of the morning, its best not to wake them up right now, I can always train later anyway.
I got up from the table and felt hungry as I walked away from the kitchen. Odd. I don't usually feel hungry when I get up in the morning like this. I shrugged at it, Annabel must be right, and this must be the consequence of not eating when you get up. I made my way over to the stove and turned it on and started to cook two slices of an English muffin and added cheese, ham, and pepperoni to make a spicy breakfast sandwich, I took in the first few bites and realized how much I missed my spicy breakfasts.
When I had finished my breakfast, it was nearly six. Why not make the team breakfast since they did for me yesterday? I looked into the fridge and found some sausage, smoked and regular. I pulled out both packages and set them next to the pan while I looked for anything else to make. I found some chocolate chips and some blue berries in the fridge and some more pancake mix in the cupboard. I guess its different kinds of pancakes and sausage this morning. I cooked the sausage in one pan and the different pancakes in another. I might just have to take a chocolate chip pancake and some smoked sausage myself, it's just a craving of mine to have spice with sugary.
"Looks good kid." I turned around from the breakfast I was cooking and saw Rover leaning in the doorway. "It smells good too; I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of the team was up soon for all of this."
"Thanks Rover, did you take care of that problem last night?" I asked.
"I did kid. She accepted the apology and she took the picture too, before I left I saw her hang up the picture in her room, behind one of the other pictures she has in there so that Rose won't find it."
"So tell me how it went?"
"Well kid, it started off like this…"
Rover's Memory (Also His Point of View):
After the kid had given me that picture I ran strait to Gab, who I remembered was with Annabel in the command center, discussing some things about that woman we saw a little while ago.
I hurried into the room and the two of them stopped to look at me as I breathed deeply from all this running, I really need to start working out more.
"Is something wrong Rover?" Annabel asked me. Gabriella didn't even offer me a glance. She stared at her hands while she fiddled with this. This may be harder then I thought.
"Gab, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked her. She looked up at me before she turned to Annabel with a fear stricken face. Annabel looked back her with understanding eyes, but that was all she could give her.
"I guess I can spare a minute or so." Gabriella said softly. She stood up slowly and walked over to me at a snails pace. When she got to my side, I looked back at Annabel who just stood there. She understood my silent look as to leave and left Gabriella and I in peace.
"What is it Rover? I have things I have to do, so this better be good." She didn't even look at me when she spoke; she stared anywhere but at me and her voice felt almost dead when I listened to her talk. I even saw in her eyes a tear to two form. The kid was right, I messed up big time.
"Gab, I'm so, so sorry." I said, feeling a pinch of the pain get of my chest. "I was an ass this morning the way I acted, and I didn't mean it the way it came out."
"Then what did you mean?" She cried, literally. The tears were streaming down her face and with every one of them that fell, it added on to how miserable I felt.
"Gab, I was trying to protect you from Rose. You know how my sister can get when she blackmails you. While the kid had that picture, you could have been secretly harassed for the next year or more, and I so desperately didn't want that to happen that I tried to get the picture to hide it far away from my sister. I didn't mean that I wanted to get rid of it, because when that picture was made, that night was the best night of my life, that dance with you, it was the first dance I ever was apart of, and I'm glad I got to spend that moment with you." I pulled Gabriella into my arms and used my tail to hold her even closer. "I was so caught up in protecting you, that I didn't even realize that I was hurting you myself."
"Rover…" I felt her tears coming faster, but these ones weren't the same, they weren't as hot and fiery as they had been before, when she was upset. These ones were more relived and cooler, I guess that meant she wasn't upset anymore, or at least not as much as before. "But.. you have.. to promise.. me.. that.. you'll never.. pull this bullshit again! Or I won't care.. even if you're sorry!" The tears poured form her eyes as she pounded my chest every time she started to talk, and the hardest blow when she was done and moved back into my arms.
"I promise Gab." I chuckled. "Oh and that reminds me, I had to kiss up to the kid like crazy to get you this." I pulled out the picture that the kid gave me and handed it to her. She gasped and let her fingers trail over the pictures features of the dance that we shared that night. From the angle the kid drew us; we weren't near the bon fire the town had blazing next to the team. It seams we were more under the moonlight because all I could see was the moon reflecting off her eyes that night, and how beautiful she looked under the starry sky. And if the kid ever breaths a word of this to anyone, especially Gab before I'm ready to tell, I'll kill her.
She was speechless as my words and the picture sunk in. She wordlessly kept running her fingers over the picture, the picture of the two of us. I let go of her and she looked up at me in confusion.
"I better get going now Gab, I know you have a lot to do with Annabel with planning so I'll get going. But I'll see you in the morning, after I make sure the kid isn't going to kill me!" I yelled; running back to my room, and getting into bed. Falling asleep was so easy that night; I almost thought I had drifted off to heaven.
Jasmine's Point of View (After Rover's Memory):
Rover and I now were sitting at the table, eating the breakfast I made, and I felt a few pounds of pressure off my chest now that Gab and Rover were ok.
"I still can't believe how stupid I was, thinking that I was protecting her and I hurt her at the same time." He told me, sighing.
"It hard to understand the opposite sex at times Rover. You guys try your best to show no emotion so we girls don't know how you feel, and us girls at times can be so emotional you guys don't know how to handle it. But in time it becomes easier, when you spend more time with us girls and when we spend more time with you." I told him. "So how was the breakfast I made?"
"I'm eating it, aren't I?" I couldn't help but laugh at his response. He swallowed the large lump of food in his mouth before he joined me in laughter.
"What are you two laughing at?" Rover and I quieted our laughter and looked over to see Olivia and Rose standing at the door of the kitchen.
"Hey guys, get enough sleep?" I asked.
"Yeah, but don't chance the subject, what were you laughing about?" Rose questioned.
"Nothing you need to know about Rosie." Rover said, ignoring her and continuing to eat his breakfast again.
"Don't call me that!" Rose growled, her body shaking in anger. I knew she was going to attack her brother any second. I stepped away form the table and moved all the food off it too back onto the kitchen counter. I held a plate of pancakes and sausage in one hand which I took over to Olivia, along with a bottle of syrup in my other hand.
"Breakfast before the disaster?" I asked her.
"Sure, let's get this stuff outside first thought before Rose jumps him." I nodded to Olivia and we grabbed the rest of the food and headed out of the kitchen before I heard Rose scream and a large crash. I didn't dare to look back as Olivia and I headed back into the other room with the food we had in our hands.
"What's going on?" I heard Gabriella call from the other side of the room with Annabel, just running in after hearing the crash.
"Just Rose angry at Rover, nothing serious." I said calmly. I held up the platters of food in my hands. "Breakfast anyone?"
"Breakfast doesn't sound half bad right now after running here; I'll take a couple of those, thank you." Annabel said, ignoring the fight in the kitchen.
"What happened to start the fight?" Gabriella asked, grabbing her own bit of food from the patter.
"Rover and I were laughing this morning about something, and he wouldn't tell Rose. Just like normal." I said.
"What something?" She questioned further.
I sighed. "He made a joke after we talked about what happened last night Gab." Her eyes widen at that and the others looked at us. "Any other questions Gab?"
"No." She said softly, smiling. She looked away from me and I saw a tint of red in her blue fur. I couldn't help but smile, I can't wait to see them together. Thankfully, Annabel and Olivia didn't ask anymore about this subject, knowing it was private and continued to eat their breakfast.
I was then thought that we heard the alarm go off. The team and I sighed as we set down our plates and ran over to the screen to see the problem. Rose and Rover even ended their fight to join us. When we got to the screen, a planet showed up on radar, no message came threw, just a distress signal. Looking at the planet from the distance, there seamed to have no towns, cities, or any sign of life.
"What do we have?" I asked the others. Gabriella ran up to the computer panel and sorted threw the information we had.
"It seams to be that the signal is coming from a remote place in the middle of the planets northern mountain range. Large energy areas are detected. I don't believe we are dealing with anything normal here." Gabriella explained to the team.
"When do we ever deal with anything normal?" Rose said. "I mean, come on, we're not exactly normal, robotic monkeys that don't like bananas with a human leader and travel around the universe protecting people."
"We really aren't that normal, are we?" Olivia asked.
"Who wants to be normal?" I asked them. "I would rather be the most un-normal person in the universe then be normal, its no fun, and I was normal before I met you guys, and you know how that was." My team looked sadly at me after I made that remark and then we all turned back to the computer screen. "Let's get going team. Hyper Force, Go!"
I felt the power surge threw me as I changed into my Hyper Form and we ran to our positions and flew down to this planet's surface. As we landed in the city though, we received a massive blow in our faces. The alarm went off at a faster pace and I looked threw the computer screen to see the same creatures that we faced on Swaton, but even more of them, along with some of the Skeleton Queen's formless.
"Disengage and move out of the city, we'll regroup there!" I yelled. The team nodded and we all split up into our individual vehicles and raced for the outskirts of the city. We looked behind us and saw that the formless and creatures stopped at the edge of the city and let us be. The team and I let out a sigh of relief.
"Is everyone alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Rose said.
"Why were those formless and creatures out there at the city?" Gabriella asked.
"Uh guys," Rover called. "I think we're about to find out!" The rest of us looked to where he was looking and saw some ghosts come out at us. I heard Rover scream and then his communication went out.
"Rover! Come in, are you alright?" I heard Gabriella call before I also heard Olivia scream and she went down too.
"Olivia!" Rose called. It was then Gabriella's scream and she was gone.
"What's happening?" I yelled. I then heard over the intercom Rose and Annabel's screams and then nothing. I looked around carefully and ran from my seat and hid behind it. But it didn't help. The ghosts came in and one reached for me, I couldn't help but scream when its cold hand touched me. I felt it send electrical shocks up into my body and I felt myself drift into the darkness.
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When I felt myself coming to, the first thing I noticed was that my team was all out unconscious around me. I hurried over to them and brought them close to me. It was as I set them down next to me that I saw Rover slightly moving, I rushed over to him.
"Rover, are you awake?" I asked him. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me.
"I think so kid, unless we're both having the same dream right now." Looking around the two of us, I saw that we were not alone.
"This is no dream Rover." I whispered as I watched in this little field that we had been placed in inside a cave, we were quickly surrounded by the ghosts that captured us. "The others still aren't awake yet; protect them for now until we can get to safety." Rover nodded to me and transformed his hands and stood by me as we readied to face the ghosts.
"Wait!" We heard a voice call from behind the ghosts. "Their not our enemies!" It was then that the ghosts backed off and a young girl, a couple years younger them myself came running toward us. Rover and I lowered our hands, but for the moment, didn't lower our guard.
The girl skidded to a stop next to us and leaded over to catch her breath. She had long, dark black hair and was very skinny, probably hadn't eaten much in a while now, and she had a double bladed sword on her back along with a thin armor that covered most of her body. When she looked up at us, I saw that she had a set of piercing green eyes that looked into my blue eyes. "Please forgive the ghosts, they have a hard time telling who is an enemy and who is an ally. My name is June, are you alright?" She said to us.
I nodded. "Yeah, we're fine, but what's going on here? We received a signal from this planet along with large energy areas that were nearly off the charts. We had no choice but to investigate."
June sighed. "Those purple creatures have been here for a while now, ever since that black ship came by and dropped them off here. Then it came back just last night and dropped off those black soldiers. They drove us out of our city a few weeks ago and now the city's people we hide out here in the caves where the soldiers never look. We're running low on food and if we can't get the city back, we'll starve to death."
"What do you have for soldiers?" I asked.
"Besides myself, only about twenty, mostly men."
I turned to my warrior of the team. "What do you think Rover?"
"I think that we should work together to defeat them." He said. "With the few numbers we have, but the more training. We can all take out quiet a few of them. That's what I think kid." I nodded.
"Reactivate your friends and follow one of these ghosts back to camp once they know what's going on." June said. "I'll take your leader now and we'll start getting prepared for battle, which will take place in the mist of night." I nodded to her and turned back to my team member.
"I'll see you soon Rover and the others too." He nodded to me and moved toward the others and started to reactivate them as I followed June out of that area and into the backs of the caves.
As I followed June, we walked by some of the city people that had made little camps in this cave, trying to feed their children and the elderly with the little food themselves, before there was only a crumb left for them. I watched them sigh, and looked up hopefully at me as I walked by.
It wasn't long after we passed by many more tents like that, that we reached our destination, the largest tent in the caves, which contained soldiers and leaders of the city inside. As June had said, there were few women as soldiers and mostly men within this tent.
"June." One of the men said calmly. "Who did you bring here, an ally or an enemy?"
"Ally, father. This girl and her team have faced creatures like the ones I our city before and are going to help us get our city back, by killing those creatures and giving us back our city." She told him, the others around us looked at me with questioning eyes.
"Slow down there June," I told her. "We have to come up with a plan first, before we can even think about getting back your city." I saw the old man smile at my words.
"You are intelligent for your age, my dear. Maybe you can help us win this war yet." He sighed. "For we are in need of help, and we have for a long time now."
I nodded to him and gave him a smile before I got to work finding out all the information these people had on the whereabouts of the creatures and formless. Then, I had June pull out a map of the city and had them draw out a map where the cave led to in the city or how close to the city it could get. When I saw that the cave came up onto the edges of the city in many places, it would be easy to spilt up into smaller groups and take back the city piece by piece. From the information these people had, there was only about forty creatures and formless together in the city, but enough to wipe out the city if given the chance.
"I believe I have I plan of action." I said allowed to the group of people around me.
"What is that you have come up with child?" The man, June's father asked.
"Yeah, enlighten us kid." I turned away from my work to see all of my team standing at the door, smiles on their faces.
"How long have you guys been there?" I asked them.
"Just long enough to watch you guys pulling out the maps and you studying them, not much longer then that." Rose said.
"Well, we start this plan by sending the ghosts toward the city in the direction that the creatures and formless believe that you guys may have your camp. By sending them at the creatures and formless, it will keep them distracted long enough for our small groups to come in from behind and start taking out the groups at the back and sides. Although, the ones coming into the city from the west and east should wait a bit before entering the battle, to have focus on the forces at the south and the north, one of our groups and the ghosts. Rover, you and I will lead the small group of eight including ourselves from the north, since it would be best to put a hole in their defense, and who better the one to do it then the one who can always get threw any defense?" He chuckled at me. "Annabel, you and Rose will lead the group of seven coming form the west, and Gabriella, and you'll take the group of seven at the east with Olivia. Any questions?" No one seamed to argue with my plans and started getting suited up for battle. Being already in my Hyper Form I moved away from the group here and let them get prepared for battle. I saw my team follow after me and we sat around the fire that was outside the tent of the soldiers.
"Not bad kid, not bad at all." Rover complemented.
"Indeed." Annabel said. "But who will go in each group?"
"Most likely the ones who can't wait to fight will end up in the group with me and Rover. Others who can wait will probably end up in the other two groups."
"Excuse me, Jasmine?" My team and I turned around from each other to see June standing behind us.
"What is it June?" I asked her. "Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem at all. I was just wondering if I could be apart of your group that's coming from the north, I wanted to be in frontal attack." She told me. "I want to end those creatures and take back what belongs to my people, and I don't want us all to end any time soon." She looked away from my and stared down at her feet.
I got up from my spot and placed my hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to worry about that; we don't plan on letting anyone of you end here. We're all going to succeed in freeing your home, and win it back for you." She looked up at me, a smile on her face and her sadness gone in her eyes.
"Thank you Jasmine, you really know how to cheer a person up." I chuckled at her and nodded my head.
"That's good to hear June, now find out who is going to be going into each group, the ones that are heading out to the north have to get going in a few minutes since we have the longest distance to travel." She laughed.
"That will be about every person in there, everyone wants a chance to pull apart those things in town." I sighed.
"Well, I'll only need five more, since we already got you aboard. Pick who you think might be the best to attack first and send them out, the rest will be put into Annabel and Gabriella's groups."
"Yes Ma'am!" She said proudly, saluting me in the process and running back into the tent.
"Is this wise Jasmine?" Gabriella asked me.
"June knows her people better then we do." I told her. Gabriella nodded and we all turned to look at the tent door and watched as three bulky men and one tall thin woman came out of the tent. June walked up to me from behind them.
"I chose these guys because they will make the biggest impact on the army, and they were just about ready to smash the camp to go off and fight." June explained.
"You guys can take orders, right." Rover asked them.
"I don't know about these men, but I will follow any orders, so long as my family will soon be in its own home once again." The woman said.
"We will also follow your orders." One of the three one said while the other two nodded next to him.
"You know I will Jasmine." June said in front of the woman.
"Alright, Rover lets go. North team, we're heading out." The seven of them nodded and we set off into the tunnels.
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When we had gotten to our destination point at the cave entrance from the north, we had Rover head out (being the smallest of us all) and scouting for us and making sure we were safe from being caught. The small group I had brought out with me was now seated in the entrance tunnel of the cave, waiting for their orders so they could take back their city and destroy some formless.
While we waited for Rover to come back with news, I talked with June about the people she had chosen to come with us. The first of the men was Cyrus, and the other two were Derek and Austin. All of their names meant 'power' and they all carried on them a large hammer and axe that they used to smash and slice their opponents. The woman was June's mother, Jade. Her weapon that she used was a double bladed sword. June had the same kind of weapon as her mother, but it was of a smaller size due to her younger status.
"Jazz!" Rover called as he came back into the cave. "The others have all sent signals saying their in place and have just let the ghosts go back at camp; they should be at the southern end of town any minute!"
"Alright you guys, get ready to fight, and give it all you got." My group behind me got out from the cave entrance and all spread out to get better ground. Rover and I got up in front of them and we watched for the ghosts.
I then saw them, rushing toward the town. They herded themselves toward the formless at the front lines and began to take them out, one by one. I feel the tension behind me as my group waited for my signal for them to go, to attack. But I had to wait just a little longer, just a few more seconds.
"Now! Attack!" I yelled. Jade took off like a bullet with her daughter down the hill with Rover and myself behind them, the three men behind us with their weapons in the air. The creatures notice as we came from behind the town and raced toward us to fight, all of them, that if we didn't have our reinforcements, we would die.
Jade and June cut us a path threw the creatures as they swung their double bladed swords at any enemy that came in their way. With Rover and I following close behind, joined into the fight. Calling upon the power primate within me, I fired several 'Monkey Fu's' form my hands which turned the soldiers of the Skeleton Queen back into ooze. We then felt the earth shake as Cyrus, Derek, and Austin charged down at the creatures and formless, they were crushed instantly, but many more swarmed in their place. We were soon out numbered, until we heard the other two parties cry out from the caves and rush forward to our aid. Crashing into the sides of the battle, the others caught the servants of the Skeleton Queen in surprise, knocking most of them out cold and into the ooze they were made from.
It was then that the servants of the Skeleton Queen realized that they weren't going to win and began to retreated, but the soldiers of the city weren't about to let them get away. Jade and June rushed forward with that blinding speed they had and cut the leading soldiers of the retreated in half, the others had their paths blocked by Jade and June. When they rushed forward at them, June and Jade knocked them back or sliced them back into their puddles of ooze. Soon though they were beginning to be over run by all the servants that were trying to escape. The rest of my team and I got together and attacked them and joined June and Jade in their fight to keep them from leave alive.
"Thanks." June called.
"No problem." I yelled after I caught up with her, the team racing up behind me, and ending the escaping troops that had come our way. With the remains of the army of servants gone, we were victorious.
The soldiers cheered as the ooze of their once opponents disappeared into the sky, flying back to the Second Citadel of Bone. Most of my team cheered with them as they all brought us to the center of the city, once there, some of the men picked us up and placed us on their shoulders and paraded us threw the city. More and more people began to show up as the ones who hid in the caves came to the surface again, feeling endless joy for freedom and their city free.
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"So you really have to leave now." June asked me sadly. It had been a couple hours since we had won the battle against the servants of the Skeleton Queen. Our robot was now put back together and working properly again, thanks to the ghosts not messing with our systems anymore. We were making our final good-byes to the people here, and June was having a hard time letting us go.
"Yeah June, we have get out there and help other people that need help, just like you and your city did." I told her. "But I think you might like this." I handed not only one of our communicators that belong to only teammates, but I also handed her a webcam installed laptop. "So you can email or web chat with us as much as you want when we not busy." I watched the tears start to slip from her eyes as she captured me into her arms in the tightest hug I've ever been in.
"Thank you so much Jasmine. I'm sorry I'm crying so much, I'm just too emotional." She let go of my and placed her hands on my shoulders. "I want you to tell me about all the adventures you've had when you get the free chance to call or email, and I want to see plenty of pictures too, not only from your adventures, but from your team too, especially those two." She pointed over at Rover and Gabriella who were sitting together on a rock, looking up at the sunrise. I could help but chuckle.
"Don't worry, when I finally get those two together, you and the team will be the first to know." She nodded her head as she whipped away her tears on her sleeve. "Now we gotta get going, but one day, we'll be back and maybe then you can see my home planet one day."
"I'll look forward to that Jasmine." She hugged me one last time before she let me go and I called the team to head back to the robot. We got to the command center and Rose started up the robot, powered up the engines and prepared to take off. I looked back at the screen where I saw June waving up to us. I ran over to the controls and had the robot wave back at her before Rose took off into space. We passed out of the stratus sphere and into space before Rose set the robot on auto pilot again and the team and I gather in front of the controls.
"Well that was a fun day." I said.
"I wouldn't exactly say that." Gabriella mumbled. "If I could have a entire day to just work in my lab and chat with a friend or two for a while, that would please me just fine, much more then going on a dangerous mission like that of today."
"Please! Gabriella you practically suck the life out of anything fun!" Rose exclaimed. "I mean come on, just hang out in your lab all day, BORING!"
"Well at least my idea is safe, the kind of fun you would enjoy would get us all killed!"
"But what's the 'fun' is 'safe'?" It was then that I saw the two attack each other and rolled out of sight.
I rolled my eyes and turned away from the team. "I'm going to bed. See you guys in the morning!" I heard the rest of my team shout their goodnights to me as I ran down top my room. I laughed as I thought of Rose and Gabriella fighting before I got into bed, changed into my pajamas now, and smiled as I felt myself drift to sleep.
Witch's Note:
Wow, was that a long chapter! Took me a while to write it took, I have got to start paying more attention to writing rather then always listening to music! Anyway guys, hope you enjoyed it and please Review!
Question of the Chapter: What is your favorite holiday?
My Answer to the Question: I love Halloween! (Hence my name (Hint: Halloween Witch))
Remember to Review!
Halloween Witch