(A/N 'Allo, mates! Jolly good to see you all, this lovely evening/morning/afternoon! I must say, I am quite pleased by this chapter and I hope you enjoy reading it, chap! On that cheery note, I do declare I am late on this update, and I'm sorry. My weekend was bang-up busy, so I couldn't find the time.)
Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets.
Defenders of Neopia 2: Brotherhood chapter 10: The plot thickens.
Jeffory had gone straight for Tom, locking blades with the older male. Tom looked as if he couldn't comprehend that this little nobody would actually attack him, but shook it off, his usual smug look returning. With a cry, he broke their swords' connection and dropped to the ground, sweeping his legs out from under him.
"Oof!" Jeffory yelped as he face-planted on the ground. Tom raised his sword, preparing to strike, but Jeffory rolled out of the way. Tom growled in frustration as his sword sank into the dirt, while Jeffory scrambled to his feet. Jeffory swung at him, but Tom took one hand off of his sword and caught the blade, wrenching it from the kyrii's hands.
Jeffory's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and the gasps from the spectators told him he wasn't the only one that was taken aback. Tom took advantage of Jeffory's shock and kicked him the gut, sending him flying backwards.
Meanwhile, Jack was shooting at Scott, who was soaring over the group, shooting down fireballs at his opponents. "Hold still, so I can hit you!" the Mycni groaned as yet another bullet missed its target. Scott chuckled. "Sorry, buddy! But I wanna win this one!" he responded, with a grin.
Jack returned the grin. "Keep dreaming!" he shot back, letting loose another slew of bullets. Scott dodged most of them with ease, but his grin lessened when one grazed his wing. He hissed in pain, but took a deep breath and belched out a stream of fire.
"Aw, sh-!" Jack yelped as he dove to the side.
Hunter had joined the fight with Tom, covering the still downed Jeffory. Tom swiped at him, but Hunter ducked under it, clawing at his leg. Tom winced but continued fighting, aiming a kick at Hunter. The kougra took it straight to the face, and he was knocked to the ground. Tom raised his sword over his head, only to be kicked in the ribs by Jeffory, who had crept up on him.
"Gah!" he cried out, falling to the ground. Jeffory helped Hunter to his feet, but kept an eye on his opponent. "You okay?" he glanced at Hunter, who nodded. "Well, my jaw feels as heavy as Altadorian ore, but I'll be fine." Jeffory smirked at his friend, then ran at Tom who had gotten to his feet, continuing the battle.
Kendra was facing off against Ryan. He, unlike Scott, who preferred to fly above the battlefield, stayed on the ground. He used the sharp tips of his wings to slice at her, a tactic she thought was unorthodox. A part of her wondered why he wasn't going all-out like his teammates.
"What are you doing?" Kendra questioned, jabbing at him with her jagged horn. He met it with his wing-tip, knocking her back and giving her one hell of a headache.
"I don't hit girls, y'know?" he responded simply. Admirable... Kendra thought, holding her aching cranium. She yelped in pain when he brought a swift kick to her mid-section. "But I didn't say anything about kicking!" he responded with a sly grin. She smiled. Now it may actually be a fair fight she thought, confidently.
Jack was still trying to get a shot on his opponent, but to no avail. To his left, he saw Jeffory and Hunter struggling to stand their ground against Tom, who was growing more and more aggressive, and Jack's frustration reached its peak. "Oh, COME! ON!" he snarled, letting out a slew of bullets once again. "Jack!" Jeffory shouted, ducking under a blow from his adversary, and kicking him in the gut.
"Concentr-!" he yelled, only to be cut off by a punch square to the jaw.
Jack thought he either said "Concentrate" or "constipate", but went with the former. He took a deep breath, and instead of firing where Scott was, he fired where he was going to be.
Scott yelped as the bullet hit his already-wounded wing and he plummeted to the ground.
The crowd cheered as Scott landed with a thud. "All right, all right... I surrender..." he groaned, rolling over, and holding his wing. Jack helped him to his feet, putting the gun to his head in a hostage scenario. "Dude, I said 'I surrender'!" he sighed. Jack shushed him, poking his head with the gun. "I know; I just always wanted to get to do something like this!" he said with a goofy grin.
While this was happening, Jeffory got to his feet, taking advantage of Tom's momentary shock; he couldn't believe that Scott had gotten taken down by Jack. That rotten mycni, of all people! Jeffory swung his sword, causing blood to fly from Tom's side. Jeffory brought a fist into Tom's gut a moment later, and, in one fluid motion, turned his sword around and used the handle to whack Tom in the face. He tumbled backwards, but used his katana to stop his roll and leaped at Jeffory.
Jeffory also jumped at him, sword poised for the winning blow.
BOOM!
Jeffory and Tom were both blown backwards by a large blast of energy that exploded between them.
Jeffory rolled across the ground, landing face-down on the dirt. He looked up, wiping the dust off of his face and gasped; the area they had just been in had been completely... "Crystal...?" he uttered, dumbfounded.
There was no doubt; the area they had just been in had been turned to crystal completely! Several sharp spires had risen from the glimmering ground, and Jeffory was glad he wasn't there long enough to be impaled by them. He would take a face-full of dirt over a crystal through his gut.
The crowd had fallen completely silent; so silent in fact, that you could have heard a pin drop.
Then, it all went to hell.
Deafening booms sounded through the arena, as many areas were turned to crystal just like the middle of the arena. The onlookers screamed in terror as many of the spires that began springing from the ground missed them by several inches and within seconds, the entire room was in utter chaos.
Jeffory rolled to his side, getting to his feet and dodging a spire that sprung up right where he had been and he saw his teammates and opponents doing the same thing. "What the-?!" Jeffory choked out as he twisted his ankle in a failed attempt to avoid another spire. He spread his legs as another rose out of the ground, almost impaling his manhood.
When he got to his feet once again, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. Out of the corner he saw Kendra lowering her fin, finishing a curing spell. He nodded her his silent thanks, and groaned when another threat revealed itself; Now, there were crystalline knives materializing in midair and raining down on the room's occupants.
"In the name of all that's holy!" he growled, raising his sword and blocking several that almost impaled him. He saw Richard, the skeith, and several teachers evacuating the students but Larx was nowhere to be seen. Could he have gotten away through the elevator while everyone screamed and ran around?
"Damn coward..." Jeffory snarled, as the crystalline rain finally ceased.
As was the trend of today, however, yet another threat emerged.
Standing on a pillar that had risen in the arena was the same kyrii that Jeffory had seen earlier. He had light blue fur but his "hair" was a much darker shade, almost navy blue. It was styled in a very odd way; It was straight and his bangs parted to either side of his face, flaring out at the tips slightly. The hair on the top of his head was styled in so that it looked like a trident. He wore a black, sleeveless shirt that revealed toned, muscular arms, and black pants that had the bottom of them stuffed into grey combat boots. On his hands he wore a pair of brass knuckles that were red around the edges.
Among all of this, two things about stuck out to Jeffory about this mysterious intruder: number one being that he wore the same emblem that represented Kass on his right pant leg, and number two being that he had bright red eyes, with very small, almost demonic, black pupils. His lip curled upwards slightly when he saw Jeffory's eyes widen.
"You-" Jeffory was cut off by by the appearence of Jack who ran to his side. "You're the guy that saved me!" the mynci shouted, bewildered. "Back on Mt. Legend!" he continued, pointing an accusatory finger at the smirking intruder. The kyrii made an innocent "Who, me?" expression, but replaced it with a wicked grin not even a second later..
With grace like that of a dancer, he jumped off of his mount and landed silently on the crystalline ground. He crossed his arms, brass knuckles glinting from the light. "Well," he finally said in a wicked voice that made Jeffory's skin crawl. "you're smarter than you look, huh? I thought you were unconscious when I saved your sorry ass from the dragon," he said, giving Jack a look.
"You're the only person I've ever met that can do something like this!" Jack exclaimed, gesturing to the now-crystal ground. The intruder's grin became a complete smile and he popped his neck muscles as if preparing for a fight.
Hunter and Kendra came to Jeffory and Jack's side, prepared to fight if need be. "So, Trident," Hunter said, addressing the yrii. "why would you save one of our own if you were just going to try and kill him later?" the kougra asked, the question everyone was thinking.
"It was simply orders, nothing more..." Trident responded, barely higher than a whisper.
Jeffory heard him just fine. "From Kass?!" he demanded, sword poised to charge. Trident nodded. "Yeah, something like that." He made it clear that that was all he would say on the subject.
Jeffory absently noticed Scott's team joining his own, as if they knew they would need as much help as they could get. Trident's evil eyes flashed when he saw them. "You're all insects!" he snarled. Jack made the first move, running right at him. Trident barely batted a lash and side-stepped the mynci, who had gone in for a punch. Trident roundhouse kicked the mynci in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.
Before Jeffory knew it, Trident had disappeared from his sight. When Jeffory blinked, Trident had somehow taken out everybody around him. Within seconds, they had all flown across the room in different directions... It was like time had stopped, giving Trident the upper hand in the battle.
Trident appeared in front of Jeffory, smiling psychotically. As his grin grew wider, his eyes grew redder and his pupils shrank. What is he?! Jeffory asked in his mind, feeling chills run down his spine. It felt as if cold, slimy hands were being dragged along him. Trident raised his fist, preparing for a punch, but Jeffory was ready.
He raised Arrow of Life at the instant Trident punched at him, blocking it. What he wasn't ready for, however, was the surge that coursed through his body.
It was just like when he met the Nightmare in the Void. The powerful dark energy that radiated from Trident, strangling Jeffory's very spirit. Trident seemed to feel Jeffory's terror as his grin grew even wider. It was so wide, Jeffory couldn't help but think it would go around his head once or twice. "Too... slow..." Trident hissed, before letting out a feral roar. Purple mist surrounded him, just like with Kass, and sent Jeffory soaring across the arena, right into the wall. His sword fell to the ground with a "clang".
"Ugh!" Jeffory groaned, sliding down the wall and landing in a heap. As his cloudy vision returned to normal, he looked up to see Trident looming over him.
"Seriously?" he asked, sounding appalled.
"This was my mission? Eliminate this little loser?" The tall kyrii questioned, shaking his head. He looked down at Jeffory with a look of disdain. He reached down, grabbing Jeffory by the throat and raising him up so they were face-to-face. "You're not even worth my time!" he snarled, slamming Jeffory into the wall once again.
Jeffory cried out in pain; This guy was way too powerful! There was no way he could win, not like this! Trident reared back his fist, prepared to slam it into Jeffory's jaw. But, for some reason, he hesitated. He stared at Jeffory with as much malice as he could muster, but he didn't strike.
With a growl, he dropped the smaller Neopian to the ground, stepping back.
"Wha-?" Jeffory gasped, confused beyond words. Trident held up his hand, silencing him. "Next time, give me more of a challenge," he said. To Jeffory's surprise, he vanished; The only trace of him ever being there was the crystallized room.
"Next... time?" Then everything went black.
(A/N So, I really enjoyed writing that one! Naturally, I hope you enjoyed reading it! Not much to say here, other then please leave a review! I'll see you all next week.)LaDude.