Mutants Misplaced
Chapter 48
Clash of the Titans
Taking its first steps for possibly ages, the possessed automaton forced the team to run away to avoid its massive feet.
"Yes, scatter before my might!" the spirit within the machine bellowed. "After all these years, trapped within that wretched sentry's body, kept away from the relics in this vault, I am finally free to exact my vengeance on this realm!"
Trying to stomp the team, they just barely avoided it, the force of the foot hitting the floor showing away Donnie, Mikey and Tyroth.
Leo lunged at the foot joint, slashing at it with his swords, sending sparks flying with every hit. But while that tactic had worked against similar opponents in the past, the Juggernaut was to big and the metal too compact for the attacks to have any effect. That didn't stop the blue-masked turtle, he continued to attack again and again, because he knew that they wouldn't leave the vault alive unless they were able to defeat their enemy, and he couldn't stand the thought of all the suffering the world would suffer because of them unknowingly releasing such an evil creature.
Getting thrown back by the foot moving again, Leo landed effortlessly after doing a back-flip. Moving around to be a more difficult target, he wasn't the only one that fought back, as arrows, ice-spears and shurikens bombarded the construct's joints from all directions. But the entity merely laughed as it drew one of the giant swords from its back and swung it at the group. While it didn't reach anyone, the wind alone swept away their projectiles like snowflakes.
"Man, what are we gonna do?! What are we gonna do?!" Mikey panicked. "Hey, Tyroth, can't you do that power-up thing again? We really need it right about now!"
"Ain't got the mana for it, I almost used up all I had last time. And we don't have the time to wait for me to recover."
"Well, it's been fun knowing you, big guy."
"We're not dead yet, shellhead!" said Raph. "Get your shelled ass back in the fight, and let's show this hunk of junk what we're made of!"
Dashing towards the giant mech, he dived under the massive sword, feeling the strong wind from its swing, but continuing towards the mech. Jumping up to its knee, he drove his sais into the joint, and tried to do as much damage to it as possible. And while the sais hindered the movement, Raph wasn't able hold on for long as the machine shook him off.
A pair of explosions struck the chest of the machine, leaving a few scorch marks on the thick metal, but little else, much to Sephie's irritation. The attack did catch the attention of the robot, drawing it from Raph's attempt to stop it. Stream of fire engulfed the face of the ancient robot, as Tyroth flew past it and slashed with his sword against the arms. He might have all but exhausted his mana, but he still had his physical strength and fire to fight with.
Seemingly angered by the teams constant attacks, the Juggernaut unleashed a new attack against them. The large crystal on its right wrist began crackling with electricity that surged through the gauntlet-like hand and a spray of lighting shot out of the palm. Though it didn't hit anyone, not that it wasn't close, it was more like a form of warning, showing them what power the spirit now possessed.
But the team was undeterred and continued their attacks, once again striking at the joints with steel and ice. Sephie kept firing her explosive arrows at the weak spots, and there they actually seemed to do some form of damage, if only a little.
Another swipe with the massive blade came at the team, cutting deep into the floor and sending shards of rock flying everywhere as the team all jumped away to avoid the attack and following shrapnel. Being airborne, Tyroth had it a lot easier to avoid the blow and was the first one to resume attacking the colossus, delivering a mighty slash across its face. But the attack didn't do anything of worth to the machine, instead, Tyroth had placed himself in a bad position, and was swatted away like a fly by the Juggernaut, crashing into the floor violently.
"Tyroth! No!" Sephie screamed, fearing that he was seriously injured. Seeing him try to get back on his feet, she was relieved that he seemed to be okay, even if he clearly was in a lot of pain, and furiously she continued to bombard the mech with the last of her explosive arrows. When she ran out of them, she traded her bow for her dragon daggers, slashing at the foot joint and cutting deeper into the metal than anyone else had done.
With Sephie's attacks actually doing damage, she quickly became their enemy's prime target, and the giant machine fired a swarm of lightning bolts at her. She did see the attack coming and avoided it with little trouble, but she wasn't quick enough to avoid being grabbed by the massive hand. Struggling to get free, she was unable to move, being held like she was the damsel in distress in the hand of King Kong, only her head being visible to the others.
She felt how the grip tightened around her, slowly squeezing her more and more, but that was not all. The crystal once again crackled with electricity, which soon surged through Sephie's body, causing her such extreme pain that she screamed loudly. Her friends couldn't do anything but watch in anguish as Sephie was tortured, since nothing they had tried had worked.
The pained screams reached Tyroth, and his heart hurt. He felt so helpless, not being able to protect the woman he loved, having failed not only her, but his friends as well. They were so close to getting home, and he couldn't get them the last stretch, he couldn't even protect them. His body might have been in pain, but it was his spirit that hurt the most. He felt afraid, tired, sad and useless, angry with himself. Then something within him broke.
He began to shake as his eyes started to glow red, the glow spread across his body like wild fire as his muscles grew larger and he started frothing at the mouth. All the feelings he had felt were gone, there was no pain, no sadness, no fatigue, only one overwhelming emotion that he gave in completely to, that took over. Pure primal rage. Stronger than ever before.
Rising to his feet, Tyroth stared at the machine and unleashed such a primitive and loud roar that no-one would ever have thought that it came from something sentient. The team looked in fear at their dragon friend, knowing what had happened, Tyroth was going berserk! The mutants had seen it after Tyroth had been subjected to the cruel and twisted torture of doctor Arden of the Foot, and Devina had seen plenty of warriors do the same in battle over the centuries, but this, was something different. They could almost feel the hate and rage emanating from Tyroth, it was even enough to catch the attention of the mighty war-machine, who halted its torture of Sephie.
The glow around Tyroth grew more intense, drawing more power from the large quantity of magical energies in the area. Growing larger by the second, the mana aura lifted Tyroth into the air, taking his shape and solidifying. In the end, all that one could see of Tyroth was a silhouette in the chest of a massive mana form of him, matching the size of the Juggernaut. He roared again, shaking the room as he did so, before tackling the mech hard, causing it to loose its grip on Sephie and drop her. Luckily, Mikey was close enough, after they had avoided the raging dragon, to be able to catch her.
"Gotcha!" he said and quickly carried her to safety. "Are you okay?"
"...not sure… think so… but, Tyroth…?" she answered weakly.
"I think the big guy got this covered." said Raph. "But just how strong can he get? This is insane!"
As the rest of the team tried to get to safety, the two titans were fighting like there was no tomorrow. Tyroth delivered a wickedly strong punch that managed to dent the thick metal, with a thundering clang echoing from it. He then proceeded to slash the machine with his claws, leaving gashes all over the torso. But he wouldn't be able to keep attacking uninterrupted, as the Juggernaut countered with a spray of lightning to the mana construct's face and a kick to the stomach, forcing him backwards. Drawing its second sword, the Juggernaut tried to go on the offensive, but was forced to parry Tyroth's attacks, as the dragon was already up close again.
Sparks flew all over the immediate area as mana claws and swords struck each other. A storm of fire erupted from the magic form's mouth, engulfing most of the mech, leaving its smaller parts red-hot. Despite the intense heat from the flames, the robot wasn't really damaged by them more than on the surface. Swinging one of its massive blades, it hit Tyroth in his side, cutting deep into the solidified mana. But, it wasn't flesh, and while Tyroth noticed the hit, no real damage was done, and the 'wound' closed itself instantly.
Continuing to exchange blows, neither of the colossal fighters backed down, but slowly the dragon seemed to be gaining the upper hand, as every hit only seemed to anger him further. As the robot continued to attack, Tyroth caught both arms and held them with grips so strong that the metal started to creak and buckle as he forced the machine backwards. Both of the crystals on the robot's wrists shone with a bright light and unleashed powerful surges into the magic dragon, causing him to release the grip. But Tyroth retaliated by lunging straight at the mech again, sinking his teeth into the shoulder, actually piercing the thick metal.
With the dragon too close for the swords, the ancient machine kicked him away, sending him onto his back, the teeth ripping off pieces of metal. Seeing the opportunity, the mech didn't waste any time in attacking its foe in his vulnerable state. Swinging one of the swords, it struck only rock as Tyroth rolled away, got back on his feet and attacked again, throwing himself savagely at the Juggernaut. Not able to avoid the might mutant, the mech was knocked back, dropping one of the blades, but retaliated with the other, striking Tyroth across the face with the flat side.
But that didn't stop the raging mutant, not in the slightest. After the blade had hit him, he caught it with his mouth, biting so hard that the metal started to crack and eventually shatter. With the mech unarmed, the dragon took a strong grip on the left arm and started to pull on it. In an attempt to stop the dragon, the spirit within the machine unleashed massive amounts of electricity from the crystals to force him to let go. Yet he only growled loudly as he picked up the massive machine and threw it against the wall with a loud bang.
Before the Juggernaut could get back up, Tyroth was already upon it again, continuing to pull on the left arm. With a metallic scrunch, the arm was ripped out of its socket and thrown away, and Tyroth began beating and clawing the machine savagely, every hit crushing and cutting the thick metal, gradually turning the construct into scrap. With every strike, components within the ancient weapon started to break and cease to function, and the spirit possessing it, now bound to the machine, felt Tyroth's powerful magic with every blow. If the mechanical body was destroyed, the spirit would suffer the same fate, and for the first time in aeons, it felt fear.
Picking up the mech by the neck, Tyroth continued punching it hard several times more before pulling back his fist. Powerful flames erupted around the fist before the punch was thrown, taking the form of a dragon almost as big as Tyroth was, as it sped towards the helpless target. Striking the chest, the fiery dragon exploded into the machine, ripping through everything within and leaving a gaping hole, sending red-hot shrapnel into the air.
Dropping the lifeless machine onto the floor, the berserker dragon kept beating it relentlessly for several minutes before he began show any signs of slowing down. Standing over the remains, he roared triumphantly. With his enemy destroyed and the threat to his friends gone, he started calm down and the mana form began to shrink and dissipate. Soon, all that was left of the giant magic dragon, were the signs of the battle, and the unconscious form of Tyroth laying on the floor.
"Is he…?" Leo asked as he and the others cautiously approached their friend.
"He's alive, just unconscious." said Donnie after a quick examination. "He should be fine once he's gotten some sleep."
"How the shell did he pull that off? He said he was almost out of mana, so where did all that come from?" asked Mikey.
"I have to agree with Mikey, what we just saw doesn't even seem possible." said Raph.
"Actually, I think it is. Remember, this world has a lot more magic than our, especially this area, and he did absorb another dragon's soul, those two factors have strengthened Tyroth's magic considerably. And magic is also a power of will, and Tyroth's will is indeed strong, especially when enraged, when his rage fuels his magic."
"So, he's like… magic Hulk?" said Mikey.
"… In a sense, yes. The angrier he gets, the stronger his magic gets."
"Better make sure to stay on his good side then." said Devina.
"Wise words." said Mona. "If he's going to be okay, we should try and get that talisman, so we can get back home."
"You do that, I want to stay here with Tyroth." said Sephie. She had still not recovered completely from her own injuries, but she didn't want to leave his side, not when he was so vulnerable.
It took a long time, but after a lot of tinkering and process of elimination, Donnie was able to unlock the correct room. It was just by pure luck that the control-panel had remained unharmed throughout the colossal fight, though they had to dig it out from underneath some of the remains of the mech.
They were very careful when retrieving the talisman, not wanting a repeat of what happened the last time. After wrapping it in cloth, they placed it in a backpack. But, as they prepared to be able to leave when Tyroth awoke, they realised that they weren't even sure if they could get out the same way they got in. And since the sentry that had guided them seemed to have been destroyed together with the spirit, they were on their own.
"Falion said that Dwemer cities often had several entrances, but that there was only one here. Or only one known at least." said Mona. "Do you think there is another one?"
"After seeing that Juggernaut, I am certain that that must be the case. It was far too big to fit through the rest of the ruin, even some of its parts were on the border to too big, and even if they somehow were able to get it all down here, the equipment required to assemble the Juggernaut would also be too big, and-"
"We get it, Donnie, we get it!" Raph interrupted. "Let's search for a hidden switch or something, again."
Much like before, they had to search the area, but while the room was huge, there still weren't many areas where one could hide a switch, since the walls seemed to be far too solid. Yet, luck smiled upon them when Leo walked around the small platform and found a deep indention. Carefully feeling around inside it, he located a button of some kind.
"I think I found something." he said, pressing it.
The entire room shook and rumbled, and the wall in the back was lowered into the floor, revealing a huge elevator.
"Wow! That's the biggest elevator I've ever seen!" said Mikey.
"And our way out, but I wonder where it leads." said Mona. "Once Tyroth wakes up, and we have rested a bit, I say that we leave this place behind."
Whoa, that was intense! Better not mess with the dragon. And now the team finally got the talisman, all they have to do now is to get it back to High Hrothgar.
This is the final stretch, people. Though it might take a while, just like this chapter did, but I got a good reason for it.
You see, on the 20th of July, 2015, I'm getting married! No kidding! There has been a lot to prepare, so that's the reason.
Well, by the time the next, and possibly final chapter is done, I might very well be a married man. See you then. :D