The Quest for the Gearmaster
Chapter 3
The Shadow Arts Tribe
Morning had come. Elyot took two body guards with him, and both had steel blades and iron shields. They traveled past their borders, and into the forest. The forest was seemingly at peace at the moment.
"To get to the S.A. Tribe, we need to sneak through a human town. Be careful not to be seen. Humans love to "capture" Pokemon, especially lucario since we're such formidable fighters." The trees began to thin. As they walked, the town came into view.
"Something's off." Guard 1 said.
"Off how?" Elyot asked.
"I haven't seen anyone move in the town, let alone anything move. They made it into town. It seemed like the plague struck, or aliens came and harvested them all. Not a soul was in sight. A few doors hung open, creaking back and forth. Some glass windows were shattered.
"What happened here?" Guard 2 asked. A newspaper glided in the wind. Elyot caught it.
"I thought that learning to read English would come in handy one day." The headline read:
UNKNOWN TERROR!
Has man's quest for smarter machines become too deadly? Or is this not a man made terror like we were told? We sought out new technical advances, like cars that parallel park themselves, but war machines that can think for themselves? But we have to wonder, where did they come from? No one has claimed credit for this or demanded a ransom. If these are indeed man made machines like we all were told, we're doomed. If not, who can stop them, and who can save us?~
"Where happened to all of the Pokemon and humans?" Guard 1 asked.
"Humans are weak. Their race will wither, and us Pokemon will be left to clean up their mess. Let's go. It's not wise to wonder." The three left the deserted town, and soon it was on the back of Elyot's mind.
"Soon. Soon I will have vengeance." He thought. "Lu and his friends will pay dearly for going against us. It's only a matter of time." They continued to walk till nightfall came.
The city was burning. People fled to the streets, panicking. The culprits took lives here and there. Several broke into a mansion. An old man stood outside a door, blocking it.
"Out of the way, old man!" one said.
"No! Please don't go in there!" he begged. The attacker drew a sword, and ran it through the old man.
"NOOOO!" Max sat up. He looked around, and realized that he was dreaming. He wiped his forehead.
His small campfire had went out. Max wasn't in a burning city, he was only in the forest. He turned over to his side, and tried to go back to sleep. "Sigh. I wish I could have gotten to know you father." Max laid there for a few more minutes, and dozed off.
They stood at the edge of a forest. The four were silent.
"Is this the Forest of Legends?" Lu asked.
"Yes, it is. Gearmaster lives deep inside this place." They moved into the forest. It seemed...peaceful. The was absence though. They had not heard nor seen any other creature since they entered. Silence was the forest's tongue. As they walked, a stream trickled by. Many trees, old and new, took root inside this forest.
"I wonder how old this forest is." Zoroark asked. Excalibur chuckled.
"Excellent question! I was around when many of the mighty oaks here were just saplings. Gearmaster himself planted them. This forest is about 400 years old."
"Four hundred?" The other three yelled.
"Fool! Yes, 400!" Something ahead of them moved.
"What was that?" Nestis said sharply.
"Someone! We have to follow them now!" Lu shouted. The four charged off towards the place the unknown adversary went to. They followed with Lu in the lead. The person was a good distance away from them. They eventually entered a clearing in the forest. The person stood there.
"Alright, who are you?" Lu shouted.
"Isn't it quite obvious?" Excalibur said.
"What do you mean?" Nestis asked.
"FOOL! He's Gearmaster!" The person turned around.
"You are correct, wise one. I am the Gearmaster."
Pain. Suffering. Loss. Horrid thoughts kept floating into Max's head. He tried to stop them, but he couldn't. The town he awoke in for the first time was wrought with disaster. It was ten years ago. He awoke to these words:"No! Please don't go in there!" Max knew that these were the last words of his "father". He calls him that because he has no memory of his ten years before his transformation. The people that killed his father broke into the room to find a small boy, Max. He was cowering in fear.
"We found it! Let's get it and go!" One tried to grab Max, but his left arm changed into a twin barrel gun, the Dual Barrel auto 79-1.21. He killed the people in the room. Max thought that he was built to kill, to cause pain. But after a few years, he made friends. They showed him that he could use his abilities to save and defend people. And that's what Max did.
"I'm alone here. No one I know dwells here, only strange beings." He walked, but not in a certain direction. He wandered though the forest, wondering if he'd ever get out. He then heard movement ahead of him. Not coming towards, but across his path. "The hell?" Max quietly ran to the sounds. When he came to a good vantage point, he saw them. Shadow Arts Tribe lucarios along with bone clan lucarios marching through the forest. "Where did they come from?" Max asked himself. He decided to stalk the marching forces to see where their destination was.
"So, we've found you." Lu said. Gearmaster nodded. He wasn't very skinny, but not very fat either. For the age of at least 400, he seemed in good shape, physically and mentally. Be had blue tinted hair, and a series of gear systems reinforcing his leg
"Sorry, sir, but what is my purpose?" Nestis asked. Gearmaster looked at him.
"Purpose? You and the rest of the suits were failed experiments. Sure, you have good tactical advantages, but not what I had hoped for. You are nothing but a failed experiment to me."
"How could you say that?" Zoroark shouted. Gearmaster laughed.
"Because I can. I wonder, though, what would you all do in the event that I'm hostile?" The other four jumped at this remark. "Ah! So you haven't given it any thought! Did you find the prophecy inside the castle?" Lu nodded. "Good. So you're the mighty one, and Excalibur is the holy one. What do you think madness is?" Gearmaster asked.
"The torture of life?" Nestis asked.
"No."
" The Bone clan thing over us?" Zoroark said.
"Wrong answer."
"Do you know?" Excalibur asked. Gearmaster laughed again.
"Not only do I know it, it's a person."
"Who?" Lu demanded.
"You foolish child, can't you see it? Madness is me. I am you sworn mortal enemy. Give it your best shot to take me down, but I'm quite sure that it won't help you in the slightest bit."