Chapter 4: Deletum
Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months. Water that was dripping off of a stalactite could be heard for miles underground. A cold chill crept through the tunnels, not phasing Mike as he walked through the caves that lay beneath the heart of Mikeland. After what had turned out to be hours of trekking, he saw a minty green glow resonate throughout the tunnels in the direction that he was heading. A grin slowly appeared on his face as he approached the end of the tunnel. A warm gust of air enveloped him as he walked into the Inner Aura of the Amethyst. He then made it to the true center of Mikeland. Deep underground lay a big chamber with walls lined with shards of Amethystic Dew.
"Hm, they've appeared to have grown," Mike said to himself, his voice echoing throughout the tunnels despite how quiet he was, "Looks like I'll have to leave sooner than I thought."
"To do what, hm?" A high voice echoed throughout the chamber along with Mike's. He immediately looked ahead at another tunnel, "Face it, you blunt idiot. The Amethyst is doomed either way."
"Who the hell are you?" Mike exclaimed, his voice mixed with both confidence and fear. His fists clenched, his teeth appearing to grind together. The man across the Chamber laughed lightly.
"You're so pathetic," the man exclaimed, raising his hand. A stone bridge appeared, sprouting from the wall. He walked out onto it, becoming lit by the light green light of the Amethyst. "Face reality."
"You're part of Solis Ruberis, aren't you?"
"Oh ho, so you knew?" The man had long, dark hair that reached his shoulders. One of his arms had a cyborg-like appearance. It was a metallic gray and appeared to have many thin tubes that contained a glowing red liquid. "Did that idiotic recruit give us away?"
"You bet he did," Mike said, beginning to float a bit, "I'm surprised that someone of your nature was able to come even close to this Chamber."
"Your Element is one that is unique, isn't it, Mikhail?" The man grinned evilly as Mike winced at the sound of his old name. Only his fellow sorcerers knew of his Element...
"Spez," Mike then laughed, "Oh, I remember you. We always made fun of your name. And even now. Even though it derives from the word meaning Hope, you clearly carry quite some devilish magic."
"It also means Expectation, you fool," Spez grimaced, then looked towards the Amethyst, "That was the past."
"Expectation of anything," Mike said, landing on the stone bridge. "Could mean failure." Mike then flexed, opening his hands. A blue spark appeared out of both hands, a blue glow around his hands coming into existence. Spez slouched.
"Must we really, Mikhail?" He said, lazily, "I was hoping to just get this over with."
"You were always a lazy son of a bitch, weren't you," Mike said, complete seriousness in his voice. Spez scoffed.
"Believe in what you wish," Spez turned to look at the Amethyst, "It's beautiful, I will admit. But imagine the Red Sun? You should see it, Mikhail."
"You wouldn't know true beauty if it was right in front of your face."
"That hurts, you know," He then outstretched his arms, perpendicular to his body, "Do you honestly think your Light will shine through THIS darkness?" After saying this, he also flexed, closing his hands into fists. The Amethystic Dew then disappeared, darkening the Chamber to the point where only the Amethyst grew dimly. Mike then launched himself at Spez, as he launched himself towards Mike. As Light and Darkness clashed, the fate of Mikeland was sealed.
The SPG had made astounding progress with their training. They had made their trips home once to pack up their belongings. Lossius explained everything to Eve and then told her that he had to stay in the heart of Mikeland until the threat had been removed.
"So, is there an actual date for this, Relinquo?" Lossius asked, stretching as they readied for yet another hot day in the desert. It was only Lossius, Halo, and Von in the desert now. Mick decided to take French to a lake far away for testing his Water abilities. Jacko, a fulfilled master of Fire, agreed to teaching Magpie how to manipulate Fire. Yes. They had gotten far in only a few months.
"Well, if I had thought to check out any documents in the vision," Relinquo joked, "I would have found out when. But sadly, visions don't consist of any concrete information like that."
"It shouldn't be hard to focus though, right?"
"It's like being fixed in a position in a deep sleep state," Relinquo explained, "Kind of difficult if you ask m-" The ground shook, interrupting Relinquo's speech. The Grande Hotel shook violently, only for a few moments. After it stopped, concern suddenly grew on Relinquo's face.
"What was that?" Lossius exclaimed, hanging onto the bedpost of his bed. Relinquo shook his head slowly to his thoughts. "Relinquo, throw me a lifeline here. What's going on?"
"Get outside, NOW." Relinquo ordered, pushing Lossius. They both ran downstairs. As they ran, the earthquakes began again, more violent. People were panicking, running in various directions. Revan, a fellow Builder, was yelling at people to get outside with Doodle. Anoh was at the door, assuring that people make it through the doorway okay.
"Get away from the flying platforms!" Turest yelled out, standing on the stairway that led to the Mike Shop.
"Is this..." Lossius' words then stopped as he, along with everyone else, watched the nightmare become confirmed before their very eyes.
Mike raised an arm after landing on the ground after a few clashes. His Light wasn't going to go near Spez. It was like Spez's arm had a repellent of some sort.
"That's an interesting weapon you have there," Mike said, panting already. Spez landed back, his metallic arm gripping the ground, absorbing the impact.
"Come on, Mikhail, I thought you were better than this."
"Hey, looks like you still haven't learnt how to take the battlefield into account," Mike said, laughing. He then stretched his arms outwards as if he was holding ropes in both hands. He then pulled back. Ropes of Light appeared. They were attached to the stone above Spez. He pulled as hard as he could, causing the rock to fall onto Spez. Spez then fell back, pushing his metallic arm outward.
"Repello!" A red, circular opening in his arm emitted a red light, causing the rocks to become suspended in mid air. Mike acted fast, jumped ahead, a javelin of Light in his hands. Spez rolled to the left, falling off the stone bridge. The rocks then began to fall again. Mike's javelin met the ground, causing the bridge to break. Spez landed below, laughing maniacally.
"Nice try there, Mikhail!" He yelled out, throwing his arms forward. Bolts of concentrated darkness jetted forward towards Mike. Mike dodged it, running along the wall and jumping towards Spez, kicking him in the face. Spez slid sideways, then lost balance. He landed underneath the Amethyst. Mike then landed on the ground, absorbing the impact. His hands glowed with a blue aura as he walked towards Spez.
"Perfect," Spez said, grinning. Mike stopped, looking at him from above. Spez then spit his blood up at Mike. "I was meant to die here anyway." Mike shook his head slowly, spawning his javelin of Light.
"Tell the gatekeeper when you reach Hell," Mike said, "that Mike sent you." He then stabbed downwards.
Spez's metallic arm, with amazing speed, stopped the blade in its tracks. He then laughed maniacally. Mike struggled, attempting to press down.
"We are aware of the power required to destroy the Amethyst," Spez claimed, his arm keeping the javelin still. "I hate to say this, but yes, your power is nearly impossible to duplicate. Bringing all of Solis Ruberis down here would be too difficult. My sole presence in this land seemed to have disturbed the fortune tellers, hm?"
"What?"
"We know everything, Mikhail," Spez yelled, as if he was claiming victory, "the Red Sun will rise!" He then pointed his hand towards the Amethyst as Light began to pass through his body. Then, he flexed his arm, a jet of Light mixed with Darkness erupting from his palm. Mike looked up at the Amethyst as the jet of energy hit. The Amethyst absorbed it. At first, nothing occurred. Mike merely looked up, absolutely frozen. His energy was gone. He was drained. All of a sudden, the Amethyst burst with green light. Sound failed to reach Mike's ears as he collapsed. Spez's body disappeared as it was drained.
It was as if all sound failed to exist. It all happened within seconds. The center of Mikeland; the road made of diamond, gold, and iron, lit up with a green glow. Then, out of nowhere, a green cylinder of light energy burst violently from the ground, ripping up the area around it. Everyone was blasted backwards at insane speeds, smashing into the wall of stone behind them. Lossius managed to retain consciousness, looking ahead at the blinding light. Winds ripped at the surrounding buildings, causing destruction everywhere.
Then, it all stopped.
Rocks were flung everywhere. The light disappeared into the sky. No one had realized, but the sky was now a dark, crimson red. Dark clouds rolled in, surrounding the area that the Amethyst's energy flew towards. In the centre of Mikeland laid a deep hole that lead to bedrock. Lossius looked to the left, then right, confirming everyone's status. Although it was all misty because of the particles in the air, he saw some people were moaning in pain whilst others were silent yet alive. Relinquo stood up, staggering a bit. Lossius immediately ran to him and supported him before he fell.
"Relinquo, are you all right?" Lossius asked, a few tears from fear were in his eyes. Relinquo grinned slightly.
"Appears I've broken a few ribs..." He clung to his right side. Lossius laid him down on the stairs that were now wrecked and ruined. They were ripped by the air. Lossius looked around again, his heart racing. The walls looked as if blades of air slashed into them.
A gunshot sounded throughout the air. Lossius looked up at the stone wall that had a (now ruined) golden Damo sign. There was Mick and Jacko. They jumped down and landed silently. Lossius stood up and ran towards the hole. The heat was insane.
"Lossius!" Mick yelled, as he and Jacko ran to Lossius, "What happened?" Lossius tried to lower his heart rate by breathing more slowly.
"Um... well..." He coughed, then cleared his throat, "The Amethyst..."
"We felt a big tremor out at Port Strange and saw the light," Jacko explained, "so we jumped here as fast as we could."
"Mike usually checks the Amethyst around this time every week," Mick explained as well, "so we assumed it was the Amethyst..."
"Mike!" Avariella's voice could be heard. They turned around, looking at Avariella. She had arrived with Lexa. They were both peering down into the hole. "Mike is down there!" Mick ran to the edge along with Jacko. They looked at each other, then nodded. Together, they jumped off the edge and landed at the bottom of the hole.
"Mike..." Mick went to him. Mike was barely conscious and laid there, dazed. Mick then placed his hands underneath him, about to pick him up.
"It..." Mike said, his voice slightly raspy, "Solis Ruberis..."
"Do not speak, Mike," Mick said, picking him up. He then began jumping up the rock with Jacko, and they landed in front of Lossius and a few new people that arrived. Lossius looked at Mike along with everyone else. All of them gasped.
"What the..." Lossius said, trailing off as Mick began to carry Mike to the Mike Shop building. Everyone watched in silence as their leader was carried away.