【73 - Cataclysmic Ambition: a Way to Escape Fate!?】
I'm not sure how much this changes. But finally, we have a third chosen who is truly with us.
Heidi watched Kanoa walk up to Sinan. Hillary and Jayden drifted around him too, smiling. They patted him on the shoulder and back while Sinan smiled awkwardly. Heidi visualized that forked path. The New Age parasites buzzed at the edges of her mind but could do nothing. Heidi felt like she was back on the proper road.
"You were right about kidnapping Sinan," Engyo was at her side, "I think we became his rehab."
Heidi said nothing and Tsukumo gave a heavy sigh from her other side, "I know I told you to let me know when you felt ready… but you're just going to keep losing duels with that amputated deck. So please…" He was offering her Dokindam X and this time Heidi took it.
99,999 power. Way stronger than even Apollonius. This was power with a purpose though: to defeat Urobach and save what was left of Aurellia.
"I better learn how to control this card like Kanoa can with his finisher," Heidi agreed.
Sinan walked over to her with the others following, "Whether you face Zeron or Dormageddon, stopping Amira will be difficult."
"That's fine. She wants to come after me? Well I want to battle her too," Heidi slid Dokindam on top of her deck, "And next time we'll be using our best cards."
The atmosphere was hopeful. They could all dare to smile. Somehow, somebody had rescued Natsu and she was out of harm's way. They all relaxed as the stress of the last twenty-four hours seeped away.
Jayden led them down the tunnel, "Come on. I'll show you guys around."
The tunnel led to a sealed garage space, but before that was a hatch. They climbed down metal laddering, a long way underground, getting off at an elevated section. It overlooked many old computers and there was a huge screen on the wall. This was the command centre. It was dusty, and based on the technology it'd been built the better half of a century ago. On the roof was the Aurellian government's crest.
"Apart from Solvus City, the whole planet was unified two hundred years ago…" Heidi walked to a bannister and brushed it, "So what was this built for?"
"It was in case we were ever invaded by the creature dimension," Jayden slipped his hands in his pockets. "Organisations like the Dawn of the Phoenix knew about the prophecy that said if the world was at risk, five heroes would be chosen. As we know, the threat didn't come from the creature dimension but another one completely."
He walked down the curved staircase on the right and they followed, "I know of two other bunkers like this that were built. This one became obsolete, unused, and eventually something I could buy."
They drifted apart at the bottom, looking over the various equipment.
"There's bathrooms this way!" Sinan called in delight.
Everyone was able to relieve and wash themselves in communal bathrooms. They had mint coloured tiles, and were segregated for the male and female soldiers. It took some minutes for the water to heat up and most of them didn't bother waiting. After towelling off they noticed fluffy gowns on hooks, more were folded up in a store cupboard. Sinan walked out last wearing one of the gowns, pulling at the sleeve. He'd been dawdling, standing around and processing things slowly. He'd barely slept in the van and he was dying to lay down on a bed.
Sinan looked around at everyone else. Jayden stood comfortably in one of the shower robes too, red hair frizzled from drying. Hillary wore one, sitting on a swivel chair with wet hair over her shoulder. Most everyone was back in the normal clothes they'd left in, but not Henka who was also in white, wandering away from everyone. She found a big switch and pulled it. The room came alive with more lights and humming, the big screen went blue and slowly loaded.
"I think it's time I posed the most pertinent question," Engyo began after a few seconds. "What happens when Urobach realises we're alive and sets the whole might of the military on breaking inside?"
"There's none of those flying saucers in here, I'm afraid." Jayden explained, "but there's other exits, one connects to a chain of underground caves - the largest ever discovered. We have aircrafts, though nothing fast enough to escape a modern jet. But what I'm most excited about: fast-travelling motorhome tanks for ground expeditions, designed for hostile environments!"
"That sounds like just what we need," Tsukumo admitted.
Kanoa looked up the stairs to where they'd left their bags in a heap, "What about food supplies?"
"Nothing stocked here would still be edible after sixty years," Jayden frowned. "I never stocked food. Guess I wasn't paranoid enough."
"Then I'll make a count of what we have and ration accordingly," Engyo stated.
"Until we find another town that isn't nuked or poisoned and we can stock back up…" Tsukumo said.
Kanoa realised, "If there's any soil and seeds I can use Jupiter's power to grow us food."
Something clicked behind Jayden's eyes and he left quickly to investigate.
"Jayden," Heidi called and he stopped at a door, "How long can we stay here?"
They all watched him lower his gaze and think.
"Urobach will probably be heavy on us within the week… One of the exits follows a tunnel out two kilometres east. Hopefully we can give him the slip," Jayden continued out and Kanoa followed after him.
"I'm going to look for a bed. Who's with me?" Sinan asked.
Aside from Engyo, everyone present was keen for a proper sleep.
"I'm going to do a food count first, I'll follow after in a bit," Engyo sighed after crinking his body upright out of a chair.
The doors led to metal corridors and rooms that were orderly and basic. It didn't take long for them to find the sleeping quarters: a series of bunk beds that were white and neat, also designed for soldiers. They all chose beds quickly, dragged themselves under covers and soon slept.
Sinan slept more comfortably than he had in weeks. He woke up with no aches or kinks and almost cried in relief. The bed was smaller and far from the level of comfort his bed back home had provided. Back with his parents, in their secure and luxurious skyscraper, they had three levels to themselves. Sinan's round bed was bigger than the prison cell they'd kept him in beneath that sandy tomb. Its thread count was heavenly, it moulded perfectly to one's shape. Often times when Sinan would lie back, intending to stay there just a second, he'd find himself unwilling to move.
Wealth and possessions were nice things but Sinan had believed they were gifts from Solvus that one had to be cautious about, greed being a sin. Not only that but every pleasurable thing is a possible distraction from what should be central to one's life: God.
It had taken some years for Sinan to learn that he shouldn't be defensive over what poor people said about the upper class. After all, they had much less. Still, the one reproach that always bothered him was that rich people were weak and lacked fortitude. Generally that didn't matter, as having money meant there was less likelihood of struggling. But when it came to Sinan being abducted and imprisoned - and not having a bed at all - then his fortitude was truly put to the test as he fought to hold onto his faith.
He'd always thought that if someone held a gun to his head and told him to renounce Solvus he wouldn't do it. Better he die right there than potentially spend an eternity in hellfire. Of course, in this case nobody had held a gun to his head, but he'd been trapped for weeks and his omnipotent God refused to rescue him. Sinan had known, and said out loud that he was reaching his limit.
Maybe Sinan simply lacked fortitude. He never wanted to sleep on a hard surface again if he could help it. Whether it was because he'd been raised in a wealthy home and that made him pampered and weak, he didn't know.
Sinan sat up as he then thought about his parents. He'd inwardly criticised them for not being more devout, but they were good people. They would've become increasingly anxious when no ransom note came. Sinan could imagine authorities and hired investigators searching Solvus City and the nearby settlements for any word about him. They wouldn't find anything, and of course these days everyone had enough to worry about. If Sinan's father was distraught then Jaakuma industries could be suffering. He hoped his parents would be okay.
These people had kidnapped Sinan because he was supposed to be a defender of the world. And if Solvus wasn't what he'd pretended to be then the danger was very real. It wasn't about divine will, it was an outcome completely dependent on the actions they took.
Sinan's deck started glowing from a little table and it distracted him. Venus had been listening through their mental link. He could feel her harmonious call and felt encouraged. Sinan smiled, reached for his deck and finally got out of bed.
Most of the others were still asleep. Sinan walked barefoot down the hall, which was lit by roof and floor lights. He continued along to the control room and found Engyo.
"Ah, good morning. Need something to eat?" Engyo turned in his chair.
"Thank you, I'm starving."
Engyo frowned, "This is all I can give you, I'm afraid." He reached into the bags by his feet and broke half a bar of muesli. He handed it to Sinan who eyed the pitiful portion. "We don't know for sure when we'll find food again."
Sinan bit into it and started eating.
"Seeing that the others aren't up yet, perhaps there's some way I can help you."
Sinan swallowed, "How?"
"By imparting my duel expertise, most likely."
"You've only had access to the newer sets for the same amount of time as me, five months?" Sinan took another bite.
"If you can show me I have nothing to teach you, then I have nothing to worry about."
Sinan thought and then popped in the last of his breakfast, frowning as he realised it was all gone. He sucked off the grains on his fingers. "Okay, so you mean a duel? Sure."
"The first thing I have to tell you is that: while you should absolutely keep Venus with you, she should no longer be a part of your deck. The phoenixes are too old from a meta perspective, you need to use newer finishers."
Sinan understood the reasoning, and it felt like Venus did too. He fished out his deck and started taking out her evo baits, replacing them with copies of newer stuff.
"The hanger downstairs is big enough," Engyo went on to say, "it's also sturdy enough to handle a duel."
They went back down the corridor together, meeting Heidi and Kanoa along the way.
"We're gonna duel," Sinan told them.
With curiosity roused, they followed. The four descended in a clear tube elevator. The metal floor of the lower level was mostly empty, with just a few military vehicles sitting under covers. Sinan and Engyo took their marks while Heidi and Kanoa watched from the side.
Sinan's table shone yellow and blue as he charged first. Then Engyo's table shined three colours: red, blue and green.
"I never saw Engyo duel at the academy," Heidi admitted.
"Me neither," Kanoa said.
Heidi expected Engyo's style to be similar to Tsukumo's. However it wasn't quite the same as his light, fire and water deck. Sinan charged another rainbow card and this time Engyo charged dark, light and fire, surprising those watching.
"I cast Justice Shaper!" Sinan announced, extending his arm while the card shone blue.
Engyo squinted to see the cards that revealed themselves, "Miraculous Snare - a good addition. Also Dragon's Sign and Kirazeus Savark." Engyo leaned back and began, "I cast Faerie Miracle! Since I have all five civilizations in my mana I can boost two cards."
"I cast Rainbow Spark! Even if you have no creatures I can still draw 2 from mana arms!"
"I summon Deddam, Disaster!" A creature of dark crystals appeared, being nature, water and dark. Three cards floated up and Engyo studied them, "I'll take this to hand, then these two Dragon's Signs go to my mana and graveyard. Turn end."
Sinan paused before drawing, "That's a good spell you just tossed away. I'll show you! I cast Dragon's Sign to summon Kirazeus Savark and send Deddam onto one of your shields!" It blew back and flattened as the gold dragon stretched its wings.
Engyo gazed neutrally at the threat before cracking a smile.
"Dragon's Sign is a good card… I summon Disi Choice!" A distas creature of blue crystals appeared, the same civilizations as Deddam. "I can now use a shield trigger card in my mana for free! I cast Dragon's Sign! Come out! Glenmalt, Final Dragon Edge!"
"Glenmalt?" Heidi gasped from the sidelines, seeing the tri-coloured draguner that was also featured in her deck.
"He can bring out dragheart weapons at the start of my turns and when he's summoned! I choose Gaiohburn, Head General Sword!" Electric chains pulled open a portal, causing a jagged sword to fall into the hero's grip and ignite. "Now he has 12,000 power and battles Kirazeus!"
"I burn off Deddam and Kirazeus survives," Sinan swept his arm.
Glenmalt pointed the sword and fire streamed, making Kirazeus guard with its wing and tense up. The dragon resisted it and the gold hieroglyph dusted away.
Engyo pointed, "Now for your attack, triple break!"
It flew and sliced away three shields.
Sinan grit his teeth, holding his ground as glass rolled through the air.
"Shield trigger, Arcadia Spark sends Glenmalt into your deck and you draw one!"
"I can remove a dragheart weapon to keep Glenmalt in the battle zone…" Engyo said and the sword was pulled from its grip.
"My move!" Sinan pulled. "I cast Miraculous Snare and Glenmalt becomes a new shield!" It shone and the creature rotated into a panel that lined up with the others. "Next, Kirazeus attacks and rev changes into Miradante Super, Future Pope!" The gleaming pegasus arrived. "Final Revolution! Dragon's Sign again and Kirazeus Savark is back, sending Disi Choice onto your shields!" The light from Sinan's zone had the others covering their eyes. "Miradante Super triple breaks!"
Conversely, three shields now broke on Engyo's side except he didn't receive any triggers.
"Good work, Sinan. You make good assessments of your options and it doesn't take you long to come up with good plays. But if you really want to impress me you'll have to beat me."
"No problem," Sinan stated with confidence.
Engyo smirked, "I summon Primal Giant," It was a one-cost long-armed creature that couldn't attack players. "Also, I summon another Glenmalt, Final Dragon Edge! Gaiohburn returns and I battle Kirazeus once more!"
"I burn off Disi Choice and it stays," Sinan spoke through the torrent of flame.
"Now the final break!" It flew and cleared the last of Sinan's shields - no triggers.
"I summon another Kirazeus Savark and send Glenmalt to your shields!" Now Miradante Super was flanked by two gold dragons.
"I send away Gaiohburn once more and it stays," Engyo resisted.
"Kirazeus attacks Glenmalt!" Its metallic tail whipped its target away. "Miradante Super triple breaks your last shields!" It charged and fired a yellow blast from its horn.
"Shield trigger! Assault, Onifuda Kingdom!" The darkness-fire spell shimmered between his fingers, "Since Onitime is active I destroy Miradante Super and revive Glenmalt Final! He gets Gaiohburn once more and destroys your untapped Kirazeus Savark!"
A vicious downward slice; ghostly oni hands pulled Miradante into its grave. Sinan had lost both creatures.
"Damn... I didn't expect you to have Onifuda Kingdom cards."
"My move, and Glenmalt equips itself with another dragheart weapon. This time it's Boaroaxe, Evil Tomohawk!"
"Boaroaxe?" This time Kanoa spoke up, remembering his old finisher.
"I bring out Deddam, Disaster from my mana! This to my hand, Primal Giant to mana and Glenmalt Final to my graveyard. Now for turn start," he drew and added mana. "I summon Grateful Ven, Connected Breaker Horror! EX life: I shieldify my top deck. My graveyard is added to my mana zone tapped."
"Fifteen mana…" Sinan's eyes widened.
"And I can summon from my mana zone once per turn. And, if it's a distas I can summon it for free! I summon Disi Choice once more! With it, I activate Dragon's Sign and bring out Glenmalt Final, this time with Gaiheart, Galaxy Sword!"
Sinan, Heidi and Kanoa watched their old principal with impressed silence. He used all civilizations. Also, mixing Dragon's Sign, Boaroaxe and Glenmalt made it seem like he'd mixed all three of their decks too.
The starry sword fell into the second Glenmalt's hand and he took a battle stance.
"First Glenmalt destroys Kirazeus just to be safe." It jumped with the fire sword in one hand and the nature axe in the other. "And I bring out another Deddam, Disaster." He checked his top three cards and allocated them while Kirazeus was disposed of. "I don't suppose you have any means to stop me, Sinan?"
"No…"
Heidi spoke up: "And even if he did, Gaiginga would dragsolution and if he gets chosen Engyo gets another turn."
Kanoa added: "That would also mean Boaroaxe would dragsolution twice into Verokiboaros."
"I've been bested," Sinan was forced to admit. "I didn't expect you to be so strong."
"Pfft, what are you talking about?" They'd not heard the elevator. They all turned and saw Tsukumo stepping out. "Of course he's a strong duelist. Why else would I make him my mentor when I was already called the best?"
Engyo just smiled, "I'll take it as a complement. Thank you, Sinan."
The players swept their cards together and the creatures vanished.
"Anyway, you all better come back upstairs," Tsukumo said. "We got another message from the water chosen. They want to talk to all of us."
It turned out the computers were all connected to an intranet mainframe and the primary one could issue commands like unlocking sections of the bunker. Everyone had eaten their portioned meal, which seemed like just enough food to stay functional. After scouring the base Jayden and Kanoa had found no dirt, but they did find corn kernels among rotten waste that couldn't be eaten though could possibly be grown with Jupiter's power. The map was out and they were making plans with M-006's insight when beeping drew their attention.
A dialogue box opened on the big screen and they heard a distorted voice: "Testing… can you hear me?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd reach out to us again," Engyo stepped up with hands on his sides.
"I'm glad you all made it. Good job so far."
Heidi pushed herself to the front, looking up at the screen, "What happened to Natsu? Was that you?"
"Not me. Your other sister Tailee saved her."
"How?"
"Aurellian tech. It was developed by studying the vortex that is still open above our planet. Also, by tech from the creature world's water civ. And also, by me."
The group stood quietly as they processed that.
"Listen, I know you all have questions but I'm the most informed. You have to let me direct the talking from here."
"I still want to know why you're not here with us!" Heidi persisted, her voice was harsh but level. "And I want to know where my sisters are! What was Tailee saying about Summer?"
"Your three sisters are together and safe. But you all won't be. Urobach plans to betray his masters, completely destroy Aurellia and escape. I hope I have your attention now."
Heidi lowered her arms.
"Go on…" Engyo urged.
"The atom bomb is a scientific invention, but there's smaller particles that are even more destructive. A science base in a tiny settlement called Dahron has a particle accelerator-collider - a kind of giant tube that goes about twenty-five kilometres in circumference. It's designed to create material that is too extreme to form naturally in our solar system."
"What is this material?" Engyo's voice held new gravity.
"Theorists have called it nuclear pasta. I'm assuming you all know that black holes are the most extreme things in space? Well neutron stars come second. They're so dense that firstly, atoms start to merge. An atom is mostly empty space. But the deeper you go into the star, even the protons, neutrons and electrons inside them are forced together. In the centre all you're left with is a sea of quarks, which is the stuff inside those other particles. This new material is called Strange Matter."
"So what does it do?"
"It's perfectly dense and perfectly stable. So much that it transforms everything it comes into contact with into more Strange Matter. If any of that so much as touched our atmosphere, the whole planet would condense to the size of a city, almost instantly."
"Killing everyone on Aurellia… along with Gatekeeper Pluto?" Heidi murmured, "Can that guy even be killed?"
Everyone else was breathless at what the water chosen described. After Heidi posed her question the reality of it caught up to her. It was something even harder to grasp than half the planet now being uninhabitable.
"The atom bombs were hard enough to understand," Hillary spoke up, "But something that can destroy a planet?"
"It actually happens all the time," Henka explained somberly. "97% of the mass of this solar system is your sun, but it would have to be ten times more massive to become a neutron star. There's not enough 'stuff' in this neck of the galaxy to create the conditions for Strange Matter, but the principles behind it is just science."
"You know about this stuff, Henka?" Engyo asked her.
"Yeah... but I never thought Urobach would go so far as to destroy this planet just to be away from the Gatekeeper."
"Urobach seems to think there's a chance Pluto already knows everything, and is just waiting to sabotage his rebellion at the last moment. For some reason he's willing to take the gamble anyway."
"He's had enough of being controlled…" Sinan said, recalling Pluto's appearance at the end of their duel.
"How does Urobach plan to survive this?" Kanoa asked.
"He's going to commandeer the moon. After Aurellia condenses it will still have the same mass, but after firing it with Strange Matter from space the trajectory will send it into the vortex, and once out of the solar system the moon will slingshot out of orbit and Urobach will pilot the moon outside the solar system and into interstellar space."
"He's going to create his own asteroid colony," Henka realised, "With this planet's moon… To escape if other Gatekeepers show up."
"And how do we stop him?" Heidi asked the big question.
"He's set to launch dozens of rockets to the moon and set up his new base there, in one week. Go to Dahron, destroy the primary transport - his new mission control - and he'll lose everything."
They all looked around into each other's faces. The objective was clear. They were all determined.
"...unfortunately, not only is this mission highly dangerous, but nobody else is in a position to join your team. Not Tailee and her group. I can only help from my end by blocking their surveillance cameras and getting you past doors. But a mission like this, some or all of you might die."
"But sabotaging Urobach is essential to save Aurellia," Tsukumo looked up with leaderly determination, "We'll do it."
"Thank you… anyway, that was the main thing I had to tell you. There's more." New boxes appeared on the screen, camera footage and it shook them further. "Urobach has started rounding up townships, some tried banding together and fighting back, but they never stood a chance against his new soldiers…"
"Ay caramba…" M-006 watched as an army of robots like him, but built more impressive knocked over vehicles, marched through flames and tossed civilians through the air.
Their heads also had screens for faces, but theirs were slimmer. The displays of which flickered between neutral emoticons to intimidating, red-eyed glares. Kaijudo flames of different colours blazed inside their chests.
"Crap…" Heidi muttered.
"I'll give you all time to let everything sink in, then you can continue your planning. Driving the RV tank out the east tunnel and then making your way to Dahron sounds like our best plan right now. You should make it there before the launch date. I'll keep in contact as much as I can over the coming days."
"Alright. Thank you," Engyo was standing very still.
The display boxes were wiped from the screen.
Heidi turned to Kanoa, "Still... for the water chosen to know so much about us means they've been spying somehow, this whole time. I don't like it."
"Agreed…" Kanoa said.
And so the preparations continued.
Jayden left to get one of the RV tanks ready for their exit, Hillary went to lend him a hand. Engyo and Tsukumo leant over the map and discussed quietly amongst themselves, once more taking on the role of organisers. Frequently they'd ask M-006 questions and he'd answer between beeps, helping them with decision-making. Henka had been sitting close and just watching before she got up and crossed the room to the three chosens who were sitting together.
"Heidi, I think I disagree with your sister."
"What do you mean?"
"I told you guys about our origins, but I have no other use to you now. I'm no secret weapon. It would've been better if I'd jumped out before instead of Natsu." Henka looked very troubled as she gave this confession, her brow was furrowed and she didn't meet their eyes.
The three chosens looked between each other.
"Maybe there will be a moment you can help and maybe there won't," Kanoa spoke up. "But you deserve to be here. You're not just a tool, you're a friend."
Henka was shocked before smiling, "Thanks… so what are you guys doing?"
"I wanted to ask Kanoa something, seeing that Hillary isn't around right now," Heidi said.
"I'm just… sitting here until I can think of a way to help," Sinan admitted with a shrug.
Heidi thought, "Last time I was involved in a sabotage mission we rigged explosives to a building. This used to be a military base. Maybe you both should look around for an armoury? There might be like, grenades we can use?"
"Alright!" Henka was very bright and excited. "Come on, Sinan! Let's go!" She held out her hand.
Sinan remained quietly dazed, which had been his default emotion since they left Darbyshire. "Uhh, okay." He gave her his hand and she pulled him from his seat and away.
They watched them go before Kanoa turned to Heidi, "What is it?"
"If we both have this weird, static energy around us how come you were able to carry M-006 without him shutting down again? When I got close to him on the ship he blacked out."
"Oh…" Kanoa thought. "I did that exercise Hillary taught us: imagining ourselves protected in white light. Hillary said she still had her psychic powers, and those 'angels' were trying to jam them. I wasn't really thinking, I just tried it out."
"A barrier to keep negativity out, but it also keeps them from acting out through us and affecting our surroundings…" Heidi mused. She'd not done any kind of spiritual practice since learning the New Age religion was bogus. Heidi closed her eyes and imagined the light around her. She started to feel a bit better, not like the static was completely gone, but mostly.
Heidi opened her eyes again, "I don't think we can use the manifesty stuff to fix all this. But maybe staying positive will help?"
"Maybe," Kanoa replied.
"Do you think… that time when you meditated on Jupiter and communicated with the other phoenixes, that was some kind of soul travel, right?" Heidi asked.
"Soul or mind travel. Something like that," Kanoa agreed.
"Maybe we could try it again and make these parasites back off? Show them that we refuse to be the actors in their stupid play?" Heidi proposed.
Kanoa considered it, "It might work. But it might also be dangerous..."
"We have to be stronger than they are. That's why they had to lie to us in the first place," Heidi was determined.
"Okay… we can try something," Kanoa looked around, "But let's go sit in the corner. Away from M-006 and the computers."
They moved and sat on the floor, cross-legged and facing each other with Jupiter's card between them. After quieting their minds the card began to shine softly green and grow brighter. Others noticed but they all left them to do whatever they thought was best.
『AN: Reviews from Acuma and Shuriken! Unfortunately I can't really control when the updates come. It wasn't a writer's block at all, just a whole lot of assignments and uni stuff I had to do, and when that was over I started catching up on other people's fics instead of working on mine. With another batch of assignments coming I'm not sure when I can update again, but I do know that I should next be free within three weeks. For now, we can start to imagine what the closing of this arc is going to resemble with Urobach's wild plan of escape revealed!』
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