I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.
Tank
We all hold our breath, staring toward the elevator. Gunfire echoes down the hallway instantly. We sprint to the armory, Hawkeye meeting me at the door, tossing me my Tavor, already loaded with my special mag. Then, he and Rookie step into the hallway, raising M4s.
"Hello Hawkeye," Daniela smirks, stepping up beside us, eyes glowing slightly.
"Cool it Medusa," Hawkeye grins. "Let us have some fun first."
Mogadorians suddenly begin to sprint around the corner and I open fire with Hawkeye and Rookie. It's a bit difficult for me to use the Tavor on full auto while creating ammo with my mind, so I stick with semi auto for now. Mogadorians explode into ash as they round the corner, but they just keep coming.
"So many," Hawkeye growls, reloading, Rookie doing the same a moment later.
"Yup," I nod. Just as the two raise their rifles again, something else steps around the corner.
It's not a normal Mogadorian. Its legs are normal sized but its torso is about five times normal size, the skin split open in places from stretching too far. Its neck muscles are bulging so much they've deformed the head, which had a fanged underbite, its lower jaw jutting out painfully. The Mogadorian looks like he's in pain, and isn't happy about it.
"It's...it's a Tank!" Hawkeye gapes.
"Tank?" Nigel asks.
"Left4Dead," Rookie says. "We're nerds."
"Well, you're right about your description," Daniela nods. "Can you shoot it now?"
Both shoot the Mogadorian in the chest but the Mogadorian just looks down, barely, then back up before roaring. I lower my rifle, firing a force field bullet from my fingers. However, just before it hits, the Mogadorian's arm swipes up, his claws smashing the bullet.
"Okay," I say. "New plan. Run!"
We all turn, sprinting away from the thing which charges after us. I fire several force field disks back at it and it smashes each. Then, I smash the ground ahead of us with a barrage of force field bullets. Ran instantly collects a dozen or so chunks of stone and charges them then hurls them over her shoulder. The explosions rock the hallway, the Mogadorian freak roaring in pain. I break a bigger chunk free, giving it to Ran and pointing at the floor. She nods, charging it then dropping it as we run. A moment later, the explosion throws us all and the Mogadorian roars as he falls into the hole created. Gunfire echoes up from below us instantly, followed by screams, and I run back to the hole.
"Hey!" Daniela shouts. "You can't abandon us!"
"Keep them safe!" I shout. "I'll be back!"
I drop through the hole, landing among a dozen corpses. As soon as I land, I spin, ducking under a clawed hand as the Mogadorian freak slashes at me. I leap back, narrowly avoiding a second then take a defensive stance, gulping.
"Well, so much for not needing to be healed again now that I have Legacies," I growl. "Hurry home Marina. Actually, stay away, Marina. Hurry home John."
The creature lunges at me, swiping and I flip over him, forming a force field dagger and slashing his shoulder. The knife shatters and the creature spins, backhanding me down the hallway. I bounce and roll along, thanking God that my ribs are only bruised, not that it's that much less painful. I push myself up, watching the creature as it crouches, hands moving to the floor, ready to charge. I really hate that thing. and the only way to go is through it. Literally. It's a dead end behind me. Corpses that have literally been torn apart are piled against the wall.
"Well, looks like this is it then," I sigh. "I have no choice left."
I coat my hands in force fields, like I did when fighting Nine, then do the same for my feet. I can't run from the thing, but I can sure as hell at least get behind it and run for my life. Just have to distract it first.
The freak sprints forward, swiping at me with his claws. I jump, driving my right fist into its face, making it stagger back. The force field holds, but the freak takes the impact better than I hoped. It swipes at me again and I duck under it before hitting it in the abdomen with a side kick. It staggers back again and I jump, spinning and kicking it in the side of the head. It crashes sideways into the wall and I land, leaping forward and zipping along on a cushion of Telekinetic energy. The Mogadorian charges after me, easily running at fifteen miles an hour, almost keeping up with me. I zip around corners, passing corpses and piles of ash everywhere, though mostly corpses, until finally flipping and landing on my feet at a fork. Down one path, the lights are out. On the other, there's a line of Mogadorians aiming at me. just before they can fire, a glowing shell casing lands in the middle of them and explodes, blasting the group. Then, a glowing energy beam shoots out of the ceiling, turning the rest to stone. The human Garde land among the statues and I spin as the massive Mogadorian rounds the corner, charging at me.
"Hide!" I say. "I've got a plan!"
I fire several force field bullets at the thing and it smashes them before chasing me down the darkened hallway. For about ten seconds, I think I'm okay. Then, Mogadorians begin to step out of the shadows, firing at me. I avoid and block what I can, several shots scoring burns on my limbs, then, I leap forward, shooting down the hallway again. I whip around a corner in time to see Sam sprinting past up ahead. I swing down his path, grabbing him and putting him on my back and he grabs my shoulders, shouting in fear.
"What's going on?" He asks just as the mammoth freak of a Mogadorian crashes through the wall just behind us, narrowly missing us. "Never mind!"
I zip down another side passage, heading toward the one room where I know we'll be able to find help.
"Where are we going?" Sam asks.
"Five's cell!" I say.
"That's the other way!" Sam shouts.
"We're taking the long way to lose this thing!" I say.
After a moment I flip, grabbing Sam and wincing.
"Sorry!" I slow enough to not kill him then hurl him down a side passage in a force field before continuing.
The landing will hurt a bit, but he'll live. And the freak chases me, ignoring him, so he's safe, for now. I hold my hand out, force fields blasting through the floor, dropping it in between a squad of humans and Mogadorians. I growl in annoyance, creating a force field to protect the humans, who instantly flee. The freak leaps at me from behind and I flip, kicking off a second force field and barely avoid getting grabbed. The freak crashes down on the other Mogadorians and I continue down the hallway. In truth, I don't know where I'm going. I just have to keep the freak busy. Finally, I reach the infirmary and swing down a side passage, heading toward the elevator shaft. As I do, I land, sprinting along and sprint forward. After several minutes, I reach an area where dozens of Mogadorians are frozen in stone. I grin. Daniela is off to the side, massaging her head.
"Don't overuse it," I say. "It hurts."
Already I can feel a headache of my own. Flying around and creating so many force fields isn't easy.
"I know," Daniela says.
I look around. The human Garde are all present, as are Hawkeye and Rookie, but both Hawkeye and Rookie are unconscious with several large, violet icicles impaling them, the icicles melting.
"How..."
"Some Mogadorian launched them at the others while she had these weird tentacles impaling John," Daniela says. "Hawkeye and Rookie saved Bertrand and Fleur, but they got hurt."
"John's caught?" I ask. "Is he alive?"
"I think so," Daniela nods. "
"James!" a familiar voice shouts.
I spin as Sam, John, Walker, Caleb, and General Lawson hurry toward us, John bleeding badly but slowly starting to heal, black ooze leaking from his wounds.
"What happened?" I ask.
"Phiri Dun-Ra," John replies.
I punch a statue, careful to create a force field so I break the statue instead of my hand. I doubt John's in any condition to clean up my stupid mistakes right now. Just as John and the others reach us, the ground suddenly lurches, massive cracks spreading from a single point where the floor is suddenly raised.
"This thing's ridiculous!" I gape. "Just go away!"
It smashes into the ground again, chunks of floor starting to fall away. I step past the others, forming a sword out of my force fields. This time, however, unlike any time before, I charge the sword with a painful amount of repulsive Telekinetic energy, enough that it's blowing my clothes away from it like wind. I hold it at my side, waiting. Then, the creature blasts up through the ground, landing in front of it. I sprint forward, twisting my hand and slashing at the creature. It leaps backward over the hole, avoiding the slash. So it can hurt him. Good. I create a force field over the floor, chasing the creature for a change. It slashes at me with its claws and I duck under them, spinning and slashing it across the stomach. The blade blasts the slash into a gaping wound, making the thing stagger back. Then, it lunges, swiping at me. I remove its hand, the severed appendage getting embedded in the wall. Then, I spin, slashing at the creature again. My sword blasts it open again. Then, its other hand tears several gashes across my front, making my sword shatter and slamming me into the wall.
"James!" Daniela shouts.
The thing picks me up and I pry my hand loose, pointing a finger gun at its face.
"Just die!" I shout, firing a force field bullet.
The bullet drills through its left eye, blasting out through the creature's back and then smashing into the floor, shattering but making a crater. The creature drops me, staggering back before collapsing, dissolving into ash. I groan, holding a hand over my wound before sighing.
"Thank God that's over," I sigh. "Hey John, how long till you can heal me?"
"A little bit," John replies.
I nod, pushing myself up and limping toward the others. Then, I sit against a petrified Mogadorian and groan.
"I think I'll sit out the search for survivors," I say. "Phiri Dun-Ra has probably retreated by now. And she'll have taken the rest of the Mogadorians with her. But they'll be back."
John nods, also sitting down, and Daniela sighs.
"Me and Ran will go find survivors," she says. "Sam, you come too. The rest of you stay here."
I nod, not feeling like arguing. Though, I do feel like pointing our I'm not just being lazy. But, before I can, the three of them head to the elevator and head down to the bottom level where Sam says his father should be. After a few minutes, I'm starting to feel light headed from blood loss but John is finally starting to be able to move again. He still won't be able to heal me, but he says the others have finally returned. I sigh in relief. That's good. That means that John will have told Ella to send Marina. Which means that she should be here within another minute. I look down at my side, wincing when I see pieces of muscle and even my intestines poking out through my shredded side. Good thing I didn't try to move.
"James!" Marina shrieks as she steps out of the elevator, seeing me on the floor, coated in my own blood, again.
She sprints over, instantly healing me and I smile.
"Thanks," I smile. "That was starting to be a bit uncomfortable."
She glares at me a second before sighing and hugging me.
"Why do you always have to play the hero?" she sighs.
"But I'm so good at it," I smile. "Suppose you can help John with his neck?"
Marina looks back at John and gasps. She hurries over, quickly finishing sealing up his stab wounds but when she tries to heal his neck, nothing happens.
"Voron noose," John says.
I recall the vision of Setrákus Ra and Pittacus Lore's past, specifically Pittacus using a noose from some kind of plant called Voron that couldn't be healed by Legacies to execute Setrákus Ra. Unfortunately, Pittacus hadn't been able to do it in the end, and had let Setrákus Ra go, leading to the present day problems.
"I could try and get my healing Legacy working," I say. "I was able to restore Marina's arm when she couldn't. It might work on your neck too."
John shrugs as Ella steps out of the elevator with Sarah. Sarah gasps in surprise and fear, sprinting over. She's got a few scraps and burns as well, along with blood from other people all over, but she's alright. I kneel down in front of John, placing my hands over his wound. I close my eyes, focusing and trying to activate the Legacy, however, as when I had tried before after accidentally healing Marina, nothing happens.
"No good," I sigh. "I don't know how to get it to work."
"Maybe it activates automatically when you put your hand on an amputated limb," Marina says.
"I could try using my Telepathy to figure it out using your memory of healing Marina," Ella offers. "Maybe it's tied to something specific to what was happening then."
I nod and feel the tickle of her probing my mind. I let the memory of healing Marina fill my mind. For a moment, it's hazy, until Ella begins to focus her Telepathy on it.
"Maybe it's your emotions," Ella suggests. "I could force you to recreate them. Well, any that aren't tied to your feelings for Marina."
I nod and a moment later, guilt and sympathy flood through me, the same as I had felt when Marina had been in tears from not having her arm. A moment later, my hand begins to glow and John's neck begins to slowly seal itself. I blink in surprise, then focus on the emotions again. As the wound finishes healing, my hand's glow fades and John reaches up, feeling his newly healed neck.
"Wow," he says. "And here I thought it couldn't be healed. How did yours work?"
"It's a new Legacy," Ella says. "Voron was resistant to all of the Legacies on Lorien. James' was never on Lorien."
"Wow," I blink. "So, would he be able to copy it?"
"Perhaps," Ella nods.
"Guys," Sam suddenly says, stepping around the corner. "You better come see this."
I glance at Hawkeye and Rookie who Marina's healing.
"We'll catch up," Marina says. "You guys better go."
I nod and turn, following Sam with the others.
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