Chapter 12: Two Minds in One
(Intro) (Battle Force 10 updated with Iguanarox)
It's been several weeks since BF10 saved Chinese New Year from the Tourist Hell. The team sat in the kitchen as Rayona served them breakfast. "This is really good. I never had anything this good on Vandal." Iguanarox said as he ate his omelet. "Thank you, Iguanarox." Rayona said. "Vert, Olivia, could you tell us about your friendship with this Maxwell McGrath and his quintuplet cousins?" Agura asked as everyone ate. "Well, where do we begin? They, along with Eli and Harley Shane, were the best friends we ever had." Vert said.
[Flashback]
Forge Ferrus had entered the garage. But suddenly, a water balloon hit him in the face, covering him in motor oil. "KIDS!" He shouted. Vert, Olivia, Eli, Harley, Max and the Ferrus Quintuplets, as children, laughed as they ran out of the garage.
"They were the best of friends we ever had. We did everything together." The kids were fishing by the creek with little Bella curled up on Eli's lap. Max caught something on his line and reeled it in, revealing it to be a catfish. But then Bella snatched the fish and ran off. "Bella! Come back with my fish!" Max exclaimed as they chased after her.
"And we'll never forget the time we got trapped during an earthquake." The kids were all trapped under a huge pile of rubble. They all huddled up around each other to protect each other. "We were trapped in there for 2 days until they found us." After 2 days of starvation and thirst, a miracle happened. The rubble was cleared from the top, revealing a team of firemen. The kids smiled with tears of joy at the sight for their sore eyes and reunited with their families who were so relieved for having them back as they embraced them.
[Flashback End]
"We've thought about those moments every day ever since for the last 10 years after we moved here." Olivia finished. The team was happy to hear that Vert and Olivia had such great memories with such great friends. "You know, this Max kid sounds like a lucky guy to have quintuplets for cousins. Multiple births are really rare." Spinner said. "Yeah. Spinner and I are twins." Sherman said. "And the Lewis siblings, Zeke's grandkids, are septuplets." Olivia added. "Multiple births are wonderful because the newborns develop closeness, forming a strong bond when they grow up together." Talia said. "Actually, not all multiple births end well." Stanford suddenly said. "Because some mothers would die after giving birth to multiple children. Newborns who were just born have a few hours to live before some of them pass away as they didn't make it. It's a tragic loss and the most difficult to survive." "Wow. I actually agree. I once heard of a mother that gave birth to octuplets once. Unfortunately, 4 of the babies passed away as the other 4 survived, making them quadruplets." Sherman said. "Yeah. The mother was devastated over the loss of her 4 children and had a difficult time moving on after the loss." Spinner added. That made the team sad.
Just then, before anyone could say anything, the Hub's alarm blared. "Alert! Stormshock opening!" Sage called over the P.A. system. "5 clicks out into the Salt Flats!" TRINA called. BF10 quickly headed off to the deployment station, hopped in their vehicles and drove off towards the Salt Flats. They approached the Stormshock. "You ready for this, Iguanarox?" Vert said to the former Vandal Warlord. "You know it, Vert." Iguanarox said. The team drove into the Stormshock and through the portal.
As they passed through the portal, they entered the Battle Zone. It looked like a rocky-like desert with large rocks, stones and others all over the place. "Wow. Lawrence of Arabia would feel right at home in this Battle Zone." Rayona said. "Who's Lawrence of Arabia?" Iguanarox curiously asked. "A British archeologist who served in the Arab Revolt back in the early 1910s." Sherman said. "Alright, team. Let's start looking for that Battle Key." Vert said. The team started driving along a sandy path. After 30 minutes of searching for the key, Zoom looked around from the sky as the Chopper glided around until he spotted something ahead. "Guys, I think I got a 20 on the Battle Key. Sending you the coordinates." He said. The Battle Key was surrounded by what appeared to be giant statues. "Good work, Zoom. We'll meet you there." Vert said.
As the team met up with Zoom, they parked in the middle of the statues and under the Battle Key. "Alright, team. Let's get that key and lock down this zone." Vert said. Suddenly, the sound of motorcycles reached the team's ears. "Uh-oh. I know that sound all too well." Olivia said venomously. Just then, Sauron and the Dwellers rode towards the team and the statues. "Charge, my Dwellers! Destroy Battle Force 10 and secure the Battle Key!" Sauron ordered. "Figures they would show up and spoil our fun." Ivan said. "Battle Force 10, don't let them get the key!" Vert exclaimed. The team drove towards the Dwellers and started to fight. Fidget cackled as he drove up next to Agura. "You find something funny?" Agura asked. "Girls have no place in battle." Fidget said. "Is that right?" Agura asked slyly. Fidget's smile turned to a look of worry. The Tangler raised its front left tire and swatted Fidget aside.
Krongo drove up next to Talia. "Oh, eager for another smashing, Krongo?" Talia asked mockingly. "This time, Krongo smash you!" Krongo exclaimed. He leapt off his Bonesteed onto the Pom-Pom Pouncer and started smashing the vehicle with his club. "Seriously? I just had the Pouncer waxed, you know." Talia said. The Pouncer's right spiked pom-pom whacked Krongo in the head and sent him flying.
Stanford fired his sonic blasts as Fury as he drove along the sand. But the werewolf managed to dodge every single blast. "Slippery little mutt, aren't you." Stanford said. Suddenly, as one of the blasts hit one of the statues in the leg, the eyes started to glow. "That can't be good." He said with worry.
As both teams continued fighting, the entire place started shaking, causing them to stop on notice. "What's happening?" Ivan asked. Suddenly, there was a loud groan. Everyone turned around to see as the statue started moving, revealing itself to be a golem. "What…the…" Horace started to say. The golem let out a loud roar and the rest of the golems started waking up upon hearing the roar. They let out their own loud roars. "Move!" Vert exclaimed. Both teams started driving off as the golems started trying to stomp on them or smash them with their giant stone hands. "What are these things? More Guardians?" Zoom said as he avoided one of the golem's stone foot, nearly getting stomped by it. "And I thought the Giant Snakes, Giant Man-Eating Plants and Junkyard Dog were hard enough." Stanford said with worry. "Sherman, Spinner, get the Battle Key and get us back home before we get crushed!" Vert ordered.
"Hold on to your seat, big bro. It's about to get rough." Sherman said as he slammed his foot on the gas and drove the Buster into the commotion. "I got a lock on the key." Spinner said, spotting the key. The Buster drove over to the key and snatched it. "Vert, we got the key." Sherman said into the com-link. But he and Spinner failed to notice a giant foot coming at them from behind. It kicked the Buster high into the air. "SHERMAN! SPINNER!" Olivia cried in horror. The Buster landed very hard on a nearby boulder. The impact knocked Sherman and Spinner out. Sauron drove up to the Buster and snatched the Battle Key. "Dwellers! The Battle Key is ours! Forward to the Earth Portal!" He ordered. "Battle Force 10, don't let them reach the portal!" Vert exclaimed. They started to drive after the Dwellers while trying to avoid being crushed by the golems.
Meanwhile, as Sherman and Spinner lay unconscious, as their slugs tried to wake them up, they started having a shared dream.
[Dream]
Sherman and Spinner found themselves standing in a colosseum. "Uh, Sherm, do you have any idea where we are?" Spinner asked. "Not sure, big bro. I would've remembered seeing a colosseum in a desert." Sherman said. "Well, if we can't figure out where we are, why are we here?" Spinner asked. "I think we can answer that." A voice said from behind. "It's what we're here for." Another voice said. Sherman and Spinner turned around to see 2 men that looked like them, except they were in gladiator armors. "Who are you 2?" Spinner asked. "We are the Gemini Twins. I'm Castor and this is my brother, Pollux." Castor introduced. "In other words, we are your past lives." Pollux added. Sherman and Spinner were in awe. "It's an honor to meet you. But why are we here?" Spinner asked. "It is time for you both to wake up and embrace the power of Gemini." Castor said. "We just know you both will work well together, just like Castor and I did before we died." Pollux added. Just then, Sherman and Spinner were shown a vision.
[Vision]
The Gemini Twins were fighting against dark forces with powerful strength, combat and shared brotherly teamwork. Castor lifted up a giant hooded humanoid creature and tossed it towards Pollux, who gave it and powerful dropkick.
[Vision End]
As the vision ended, the Cortez brothers remembered their past lives as the Gemini symbols appeared on their foreheads, glowing cyan. "You ready, bro?" Spinner asked. "You know it, bro." Sherman said. They fist-bumped, releasing an energy wave.
[Dream End]
Sherman and Spinner regained consciousness and looked outside the window as they saw the golems still trying to smash the team and the Dwellers. "You ready to turn these golems to rubble, big bro?" Sherman asked. "You know it, Sherm. Let's smash." Spinner said, pounding his fist as the Cortez Twins got out of the Buster. They charged towards the fight. "Vert, Sherman and Spinner are coming our way!" Zoom exclaimed in the com-link. "Perfect timing." Vert said. "Uh, but they didn't bring the Buster." Zoom said. "Wait. They're coming to us…ON FOOT?!" Olivia exclaimed in shock. "I think that crash knocked their heads off a few brains." Horace said.
Just then, Sherman leapt up and punched one of the golems with a powerful punch, completely destroying it. Spinner leapt up and destroyed another golem with an equally powerful punch. Everyone stared in awe as the brothers destroyed every last golem. "Dwellers, to the Earth portal!" Sauron exclaimed. "Not today, Sauron!" Sherman exclaimed. He picked up a giant boulder and threw it at Sauron, surprising him. Sauron leapt off his motorcycle before the boulder crushed it and caused the Battle Key to be sent flying towards the team. Sherman caught the key in his hand. "Great catch, little bro!" Spinner cheered. "Alright, team, let's head home and lock down this zone." Vert said. After Sherman and Spinner returned to the Buster, the team returned to Earth through their portal. The Dwellers quivered in fear as the remaining golems prepared to crush them.
Afterwards, with their mission complete, the team decided to take a break for the rest of the day until nightfall. They sat outside the garage, stargazing up at the starry sky. "Man, the stars are always so beautiful every night, ever since we were kids." Olivia said. The team agreed as they used to stargaze in their childhood. "Whenever we look up at the stars and stare at them for a long time, it feels like we belong to them." Vert said. "I reckon that those feelings could be an instinct since our past lives are based of the 13 signs of the Zodiac." Zoom said. "He's right. We do belong to the stars because of our past lives." Stanford said. The team looked at each other, knowing that Stanford was right. They were destined to protect Earth and the Multiverse from any threat. The stars gleamed throughout the night, along with all 13 Zodiac constellations.
Wow! Wasn't that amazing? While battling the Dwellers and Stone Golems, Sherman and Spinner awaken their past lives as the Gemini Twins and use their new powers to defeat their enemies and secure another Battle Zone. But what other powers will the Cortez Twins uncover? What other Battle Zones will the rest of the team unlock their past lives? Leave a review if you want.
