GALE THE HEDGEHOG: ADVENTURES OF THE DEAD SEA
Pokemon © Nintendo
Chapter Six: Proving Within, Part 2
The scene cuts to Riolu. Like Gale and the others, he had taken a different path that would lead him to an unknown destination. Or as what Gale said, it was suppose to be a trial that Craven had set up for our heroes. Riolu's path lead him to a room that was sized like a circle, with two lit torches hanging on the wall in opposite directions. Riolu saw that there was an extra pathway in front of him, but something wasn't right. To him, it felt like there was a strange prescense lurking in this room.
"I guess this is suppose to be where somebody is suppose to jump at my back when I at least expect it." Riolu said to himself.
Riolu looked around the room to see his new surroundings looked big. At least, that's what first impressions are. Riolu thought that the room seemed kind of small, and would seem like a trap. Something obvious. But then again, this is Craven that he was thinking about. He obviously wouldn't come up with the oldest trick in the book to use against Riolu. Besides, it wouldn't be really much of a test anyway. He noticed that there was also no pathway in front of him.
"This must be a dead end." Riolu thought to himself. "I better go back the way I came and join up with Gale. It would take longer, but at least it will be better than staying here."
Before he could leave, however, the ground beneath him started to spur. Several weird creatures started to pop out of the ground as if they were rising from the dead. Riolu got a good look at these strange figures. The first one was a tall white monster warrior. It had green eyes glowing eyes, red swirly lines across it's torso, a red armored samurai helmet, red armor across it's chest, red sharp claws along with red armored wrists, red metal boots, and a red cape that had the symbol of a Dead Stone.
The second figure was also a monster warrior, only it was green. It's head had fin-like features on the side with red glowing eyes. The creature's attire consisted of metal bands that were attached to it's wrists and shins, along with gold metallic armor all over it's upper body. It wore good metallic boots. It's shield on it's back was it's only defense, but wielded no other weapon than that.
And the third figure was a slightly smaller than the other two creatures. It's body was thin, and it had long jet black hair. This was obviously a female creature. She possessed long black claws from her fingers, glowing purple eyes, red ink painted across her arms, She wore tattered torn slacks, green tattered shoes. And her attire consisted of light blue metallic armor on her body, which seemed to be very light armor, so it wasn't heavy at all.
Riolu noticed the three new creatures that had jumped in front of him. "I'm guessing these guys are not really party guests. That, or I guess this is suppose to be a welcome party."
"You almost seem to have the same sense of humor as Gale." The red armored monster said.
Riolu raised an eyebrow when he mentioned Gale. "How do you know about him?"
"Through our master: Craven." The gold armored monster answered. "And you must be his friend: Riolu."
"No surprises there." Riolu muttered to himself. "What about you? What are you suppose to be?"
"We had been revived thanks to the power of Dead Stone by Craven." The female replied with an aquatic voice. "He had detailed us about your trial."
"You must defeat all three of us in order to pass your trial." The red armored monster explained.
"And just to show you we have honor, we shall give out our names." The gold armored monster said. "I am Torus."
"My name is Nurdas." The red armored replied.
"And I am Trasika." The female bowed slightly.
"Now that we have given our names, it is time for you to face us!" Nurdas told him.
Riolu watched as the three slowly started surround him in a circle. The dog-like creature had to keep his guard up at all times if he wanted to survive this. Nurdas was in front of him, Torus was at the side and Trasika was nearing behind him, almost as if she was planning a sneak attack. Riolu thought they would probably triple team him, and knowing Craven's mind, he would most certainly plan that.
Torus quickly pulled out his shield and threw it at Riolu when he wasn't looking. Riolu acted on instinct as he quickly jumped in the air with swift movement, just barely avoiding the shield, as the spinning projectile flew back towards Torus as he caught it with one hand, while Riolu landed on back on the ground.
Nurdas charged at him head-on as he threw his fist at Riolu's head. Riolu ducked underneath it as he countered with a kick to Nurdas' stomach, sending him back a step. Nurdas' claws extracted to a longer height as he swinged it at Riolu. Riolu quickly jumped backwards as the claws missed their target. However, Trasika was in close range from behind Riolu as she spin-kicked Riolu in the back of the head, sending him flying forwards towards the the ground.
Riolu groaned a little as he got back to his feet. He looked around at three monsters. "Don't you think three on one is a little unfair?"
"It is what you must overcome." Torus said. "Defeating all three of us is the only you can pass you trial."
Riolu didn't like this at first, but he decided to just play along and go through with this. He turned around and got into stance as he created a dark orb in his hand.
"Shadow Ball!" Riolu shouted as he sent the dark orb flying towards Trasika. Seeing the dark orb, Trasika jumped out of the way as the Shadow Ball passed right by her. That's when Riolu quickly charged at Trasika and slammed his aura fist into Trasika's stomach, sending her hovering backwards towards the wall, sending her crashing her back against the hard rubble.
Torus pulled out his shield and threw it towards Riolu again. Once again, Riolu turned at the right time and created another Shadow Ball to counter it by throwing it at Torus' shield. The two attacks connected, however, it ended as the shield went flying back to it's owner: Torus. Torus charged after Riolu with his fist, however, Riolu noticed this as he ducked underneath the blow and punched him, sending him backwards a step. Riolu went for another punch, but Torus caught the arm and sent him flying towards the wall.
Riolu saw what he was heading towards, so he used his feet in the wall's direction as he springed off the wall and make himself fly back towards Torus at high speed, all while charging up his Shadow Ball.
Torus was in disbelief at what he saw. "What? How did...?
"Didn't expect that, did you?" Riolu asked. "I bet you didn't expect this, as well!"
Torus saw that Riolu was going to collide with him with his Shadow Ball at close range. Thinking quickly, Torus pulled out his shield in order to defend himself from the attack. His face conveyed of some doubt, for unknown reasons. Riolu collided with Torus' shield, as the energy exploded on contact. The shield cracked itself for a second before exploding into little pieces, as both Riolu and Torus went flying backwards from the explosion, with both of them gaining back their ground.
"Damn! And I thought that would take him down." Riolu thought to himself.
Torus glared at Riolu, almost surprised that someone like Riolu almost defeated him. What's worse is now that he had lost his shield. "You will regret breaking my shield!"
"That's what you think, Torus!" Riolu replied back as he charged at Torus again. "I'm only just beginning!"
Torus growled as Riolu ran at him with his aura fist again. Torus defended himself as Riolu's fist attacked his stomach. Torus retaliated by jabbing Riolu right back with his own fist, but Riolu was able to dodge to the side before getting hit. Riolu quickly spinned his foot to try and sweep Torus off his feet, but Torus jumped, despite all the armor he was wearing. Torus used his fist again to swing it at Riolu's face, but Riolu quickly dodged underneath the blow and return it by thrusting his palms at Torus' armored chest. But Torus was able to grab both of his arms and swing him around in a circle. As this was going on, Riolu thought he was going to get sick from all of this, but he quickly had an idea as he was able to find the strength by swinging himself below Torus and flip him inside out onto his back.
Riolu landed himself upright as he saw the opportunity to end this fight. He charged up another Shadow Ball in his hands as Torus got himself to his feet. When he came to his senses, he turned around and saw that Riolu had charged up a larger Shadow Ball than ever, much to the surprise of Torus.
"This can't be happening!" Torus shouted in disbelief.
"Sure it can, Torus! Let's see you handle this!" Riolu said back, as he fired the Shadow Ball at Torus. Before Torus could react, the Shadow Ball made contact with Torus' chest armor. The force of the attack was more than enough to break Torus' armor and make him yell out in agony as the dark energy took it's toll on him. Torus was able to look back at Riolu for a moment longer before falling back to his death.
"You have defeated the mighty Torus. But just know that you still have two more monsters to defeat before passing your trial..." Torus said in a voice of agony. "And I shall...be avenged..."
Torus let out on more groan of agony before falling face-first towards the ground where he melted back into the ground until the last of his remains were gone.
"Well...that can't be very good for business." Riolu said to himself, after seeing the dead carcass of Torus melting like that.
"Now that you have taken out Torus, it is time for us to take you on!" Nurdas shouted at him.
"But why didn't you do that when I was taking on Torus?" Riolu asked.
"Torus always claimed honor in himself and always preferred to take on his opponent in a one on one duel." Trasika answered. "But now that he is gone, we can finish the job in what he failed to do!"
Riolu meant that this battle wasn't going to be as flowing as his battle with Torus. Nurdas and Trasika each covered an opposite side from each other so that they could surround Riolu. The dog-like creature looked in each direction, wondering if he should attack first or wait for one of them to attack him.
That desicion was soon made as Nurdas was the first one to attack Riolu head-on. Riolu saw this coming, as he quickly thrusted his palm into Nurdas' stomach, making him stagger backwards a couple of steps. Trasika went to attack him next as she used her claws to swipe at Riolu, but Riolu quickly ducked underneath it and used an aura punch to send her backwards as well. But she quickly regained her footing and used her knee to attack Riolu's stomach, making him grasp it in pain as Nurdas created a jolt of green energy in his hand, as he dashed towards Riolu and smashed him in the face, making him fall backwards on his back.
Riolu wiped a little bit of blood of his face before getting back to his feet a little slowly. "At this rate, taking them on one at a time isn't really going to help me anymore. If only there was a way to take them both out at once..."
Thinking about that now wasn't going to help him as Trasika went for the attack. Riolu fought her off as they both reversed each other's punches. Trasika went for a kick, but Riolu side-stepped to avoid it as he used an aura punch to Trasika's side, making her stagger a bit but still staying on her feet. Trasika created dose of bright red energy in her hands and went for a punch to Riolu's face. Not wanting to fall for it a second time, Riolu ducked underneath the punch as Trasika missed her target as he followed it up with a kick to her back, sending her stumbling towards a wall.
When she was out of the way, Riolu focused his attention on Nurdas. The red-armored monster quickly jabbed Riolu in the stomach, making Riolu grasp it in pain. Nurdas followed it up by a spin kick to Riolu's back, sending Riolu falling towards the ground. Riolu spinned around to see that Nurdas was about to smash his foot into him, so he quickly rolled out of the way as Nurdas made impact on the ground. Riolu springed back to his feet and charged up his Shadow Ball again while Nurdas was distracted.
As Riolu was charging up energy, he heard someting from behind him. Trasika was going to attack him from behind again, but Riolu was ready this time, as he simple side-stepped and used his foot to trip Trasika, which made her stumble and trip all the way towards Nurdas, making her crash into him, and making them both fall towards the ground.
Riolu smiled playfully. "I figured that kinda trick would work for me sooner or later. I just didn't expect it to work in a place like this."
The two monsters got back managed to get back to their feet. But something interesting happened when Nurdas shoved her back, much to Trasika's surprise.
"What was that for?" Trasika asked angrily.
"You knocked me down!" Nurdas shouted at her.
"Knocked you down? I was tripped over by that fool!" Trasika argued.
"Then maybe you should've watched where you were attacking before you made a move!" Nurdas told her.
Trasika shoved Nurdas back a step in anger. "Don't tell me how to fight! I've always known to fight by my own occord!"
"It's for your own good!" Nurdas shouted. "You act so rassive and don't always think before you act!"
"How dare you insult me!" Trasika narrowed her eyes at him. "You will pay for that!"
Riolu watched as the two started to fight each other. Needless to say, things between these two weren't going as well as they had planned. Torus didn't seem to have any problems, even if he was fighting by himself. These two didn't seem to have any connection with each other. Well, at least for a while after Torus was gone. Maybe it was because they had a lot of loyalty towards him. They did say that Torus always wanted to fight his enemy one on one, so maybe that was why they never wanted to get involved when Torus was in a fight.
Nurdas and Trasika's fight was a little more aggressive than usual, as Nurdas' armor started to crack thanks to Trasika's claws. And even Trasika's armor was already starting to take some damage thanks to Nurdas' fighting abilities. At first, Riolu thought he should just let them take each other out, but he decided not to wait and decided to end it here and now.
Trasika and Nurdas stared down each other in hatred, eyes glowing brightly as they were ready to go at it again, despite the damage they have done to each other.
"You really have a lot of nerve blaming something on me, just because I accidentally tripped." Trasika said to Nurdas.
"That's not my problem." Nurdas replied. "Unlike you, I know what I am doing because I always look before I attack."
Trasika growled angrily at him. "How dare you insult my intelligence! Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Your intelligence isn't the problem! It's how your mind works!" Nurdas said.
"So you are saying I'm stupid! Perhaps you should be careful, or I will make you sure yoy go back into the grave you came from!"
"If that is the case, then I'm taking you down with me!" Nurdas told her.
"Hey!"
Nurdas and Trasika stopped arguing for a moment and turned to see Riolu, whom had two fully charged Shadow Balls in each hand. He then combined the two Shadow Balls together, forming up one large energy ball that was almost twice the size as Nurdas and Trasika.
"What the?" Nurdas said in shock. "How did he do that?"
"Idiot! Don't you know? He must've charged up his energy attack while we were arguing!" Trasika told him.
"Why didn't you warn me about this?" He asked.
"Because you wouldn't stop arguing with me!" Trasika yelled at him.
"Uh..." This time, Nurdas was out of words to say. He looked over at Riolu, whom currently had a smirk on his face.
"How about I end your bickering right now? Shadow Ball!" Riolu shouted as he threw the large Shadow Ball at Nurdas and Trasika.
The two were about to move, but were too late as the Shadow Ball had hit them both at the same time, seeing as how they were both close together. Both of them yelled out in agony before exploding back into skeleton bones. The bones soon melted away until they were out of sight.
Riolu sighed in relief, now that he had finished off the last two monsters. "And here I thought Vanilla's anger towards Gale was bad." Suddenly, his body started to flash brightly. "What the...? What is this? Why is my body glowing...?"
Another flash of light shined as a passageway opened in front of him, revealing to an unknown destination. Riolu looked on, as the glowing around his body disappeared.
"What just happened?" Riolu asked himself. "Just now, for a moment, I felt my energy getting stronger than ever before. Maybe..." Riolu had a thought in his mind, but wasn't sure what it was. "I'll think about it later. Right now, I need to reunite with Gale and the others." He said, as he took off in the unknown passage where he disappeared into darkness.
True abilities can only be unlocked from deep within. What was the glowing light that had surrounded Riolu? Is it a sign of a curse? Or will it help Riolu when the time is right? Find out on the next Gale the Hedgehog: Adventures of the Dead Sea!
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