Chapter 9: Knuckle Up!
The hiss of melting solder sizzled on the far side of the garage, where Abi sat, attaching a computer chip to a circuit board, soldering on the wires that connected a three-button control and joystick assembly.
"What've you been working on for the past few days, Abi? Your new mech is gonna get rusty," Called Checky, tossing his heavy overcoat on the arm of their worn-out couch.
"I've been working on something that will totally blow your mind." She said, tugging on the wires to ensure the connection was solid.
"Oh? And what is it that will blow my mind so much?" Checky asked with interest, looking over her shoulder. Abi blew away the smoke and screwed on a small LCD screen to the assembly, grinning while sliding the whole assembly onto her forearm and tightening the straps.
"This: I'll be able to control and summon my mech remotely," Abi said proudly, nodding toward her mech a hundred feet away in the docking clamps. She pushed the first button, instantly powering on her mech, which picked its weight up and walked over to them.
"How did you manage that?" Checky asked, looking over the contraption on her arm.
"Oh, it was easy; all I had to do was install a separate circuit that used a combination of the holographic targeting system and radar to map out topographical area so it wouldn't fall over and locate me. After that, I programmed a subroutine in the walking sub-system so it could walk independently and respond to the things it saw while on its way to me." Abi replied matter-of-factly. Checky could only shake his head in amazement that she could mention everything she did as though it were mere child's play.
"So what does the Joystick do?" Checky asked, pointing to it.
"That's the fun part! I can control the Mech without even being in it. Of course, it's a lot more difficult since you're not piloting it, but you can walk around and even shoot, watch." She pushed the second button, and the LCD screen came on as though viewing from the Holographic targeting system. Abi's mech lumbered to the training grounds with a push of the joystick directing its movements. Once there, Abi pressed and held the third button, making the arms of the mech swing straight out, and the miniguns from inside the forearms rise and fire.
"Wow, Abi, I never would have thought of that," Checky complimented, clapping a hand on her shoulder.
"Bring it with you; The Resistance is returning to the mines to find what else has been going on there."
"What for? The mines were just that. Nothing but Rue Ore came out of that place." Abi Protested, putting her mech into standby mode.
"Our Scouts say otherwise. We move out in 4 hours," Checky called, walking off to perform final checks on his mech. Abi jumped into her mech excitedly and returned to the docking clamps, reloading the mini-guns, tightening bolts, and topping off fluids. Today was going to be one of the days she made a difference! Today, she would fight!
"COME ON! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" Jack screamed, slamming his fists into the ground, chasing after Jenny as she continued to back away and avoid his deadly punches.
"How about this!" Lillianne shrieked, swinging her halberd parallel to the ground, mana erupting in a spray shaped like a polar bear's paw. Jack disappeared in a streak of dust while Matthew appeared in his stead with Spartan Sword in hand. He met Lillianne's Bear's Charge with his shield, his feet digging through the ground.
Helen waved her staff in the shape of a flaming star, from which a fireball roared, scorching the grass as it screamed towards Jenny. Olsen ran to her, pulling up his cloak to block the flames, hurling a set of shuriken in return. Helen rained down ice from the air to guard herself while Jenny grabbed her crossbow and fired a bolt into the ground, bursting from under Olsen's cloak. As she sprinted away, Jenny summoned a dummy in her place to absorb the volley of slashes Olsen unleashed at her. Olsen vanished as the ground erupted into a wall of arrows under him, tossing dirt slabs into the air.
Helen readied to launch another spell at Matthew when she felt the barrel of Jack's gun stick to her back. She glared at him from over her shoulder as her body glowed with golden light, deflecting the bullet that thundered from Jack's gun. She teleported a short distance away, holding up her hand as orbs of fizzing power came to life beside her, reaching out crooked fingers of lightning with blinding speed. Before the lightning was to hit, spikes of ice screamed between them and absorbed the attack, making Jack turn his attention to Lillianne.
Jenny lifted her palm skyward, shooting a mana beam that pierced through the sky, summoning a phoenix to her side. The majestic bird flew high into the air before folding its wings and streaking like a comet to the ground, encircling Jack, Matthew, and Helen. Above the tearing flames, a roar split the air, Matthew's Dragon's Roar blowing out the inferno. Lillianne moved like a streak, swinging hard at Matthew, who dropped his Spartan and drew the Sawtooth from his back. The two weapons slammed together with such force that the ensuing shockwave pushed the others back.
Olsen ran like a streak, tossing blood-covered coins around them. Matthew and Lillianne saw the coins, but no one could react fast enough as the explosion threw them all in different directions. Jack and Matthew tried to right themselves until they both felt Olsen's warm double knife pressed to their necks. Matthew planted his foot, turned hard, and swung the Sawtooth behind him at Olsen's neck level. The blade passed through his doppelganger, but Olsen flinched in pain as though it had hit him. Jack buried his elbow into Olsen's gut, giving him the room to turn and hurl his left fist.
Olsen held out his hand as a giant four-pointed star formed, dropping into the ground and absorbing Jack's punch, ringing like a bell while the energy from the punch defused into the air as threads of spent mana.
All six stopped, preparing different stances as they caught their breath. All five of Matthew's Warrior's Overcharge orbs circled his wrist, Jack's stored Power Charge buzzed, and Lillianne's Swing Charge crackled as ice climbed its fingers up the axe head.
Lillianne looked around at her situation, slowing her breathing when Jenny appeared behind Matthew: emerald Power flared from her body like a bonfire, pulling up her crossbow and aiming at Matthew's back. Matthew's body flared with Ruby Power as his cloak shield burst into existence and blocked the incoming arrow. Jack's body flared hard with crimson flames, followed by Olsen in a burst of hot pink fire, while Helen held her arms wide, her body engulfed by violet flames, each of their hair rippling as though it were water. Lillianne backed away from the circle of her friends, her legs itching and her shoulders stiff, wanting to join the battle and continue to train with them.
But now that they were using Crystal Power, she couldn't keep up with them. If anything, she just may end up getting herself hurt or, worse, killed. For a moment, the five of them hurtled through the air like comets of color, spells, and weapons clashing, igniting the grass around. But the fire didn't last long as the wind from their attacks blew it out. In another blur, The five stood in a circle around Lillianne as they put away their crystal power and returned to normal.
"I'm so jealous of you guys. You can leave me in the dust with a snap of your fingers once your mana runs out and use Crystal Power," Lillianne called, walking over to Matthew as he picked up his Spartan sword and put his Gaia back into its cloak form.
"In all honesty, it's not that much of a blessing. Yes, it does empower us far beyond what we are normally capable of, but in the end, our bodies are nearly at their limit once our Mana has run dry. Using crystal power is only useful as long as we have the energy to use it," Olsen called as he wiped the sweat from his face. Still, Lillianne couldn't help but feel that she was becoming more of a burden to her friends since she would never be as powerful as them.
"I still believe you're a great warrior, Lillianne. Your friends, the Guardians, are learning to hone their skills to greater heights because of you. Never underestimate yourself," Josephine softly said as she walked with Lilin to bring them a jug of cool lemonade and a letter with a wax seal.
"Who's the letter for?" Asked Jenny, gulping down a mouthful of the tart liquid as Jack walked beside her.
"It's addressed to all of you from Spiegelmann. He opened a new Theme park called Training Safari and would like you six to come and experience it as his honored guests for its Inaugural Opening."
"Who is Spiegalmann?" Helen asked as she leaned against Olsen.
"Spiegalmann is the wealthiest man in all of Ossyria! How can you not know who he is, Helen?" Lillianne exclaimed.
"You must remember that I and my friends are not from this world, so names of the wealthy or famous may sometimes not be recognized," Helen answered as Olsen shifted behind her and put an arm around her waist.
"Well then, what are we doing here? We've got a grand opening to go to!" Jack called happily, taking the bandana from his sweat-soaked hair and allowing it to dry in the breeze. Josephine smiled, watching how the six of them interacted with each other. This was their family; this is what it was to become part of a greater existence. As Josephine let the thought simmer in her mind, she felt a stab of magic shoot through her like a needle: she knew that power, and it wasn't a feeling she liked. Excusing herself, she ran into the tree line and followed that feeling until she found Lord Dragon and Mistress Eleanor standing near a fallen tree.
"Are you adjusting to life among humans?" Eleanor asked smoothly, though Josephine noticed a slight softness in her voice instead of the usual seductive hum. Despite that, Josephine only scowled back at them in anger and disappointment.
"What do you want?" She asked, wanting them gone from her life. Dragon sighed, swallowing and looking at her with what almost appeared to be pity. Almost.
"Is your life crystal keeping your body working well? Have you experienced any issues?" he asked. Josephine clenched her fists tightly, remembering the power within her pendant was the only thing keeping her alive and that its power was finite.
"I am well aware of my short life." She finally answered, reflecting on the previous month of experiences with the guardians, their students, and the village's children. To have all of those memories disappear was something that she wasn't willing to let go of, wanting to make even more memories with them. Dragon broke her thoughts with a sigh and a quiet chuckle until Eleanor spoke.
"You are ordered to join the Guardians in going to Speiglamann's grand opening." Josephine snapped her gaze to her, realizing what going with them meant.
"But what about all the people that will be there?" Dragon breathed a long breath as if thinking hard.
"Eleanor and I will dispatch a detachment of disguised Black Wings to help guide the crowds away once the chaos begins."
You think that makes it better?" Josephine shot back, realizing how loudly she had answered, and covered her mouth.
"Do you want the Black Mage to take what life you have left away from you?" Dragon asked with a hiss, and his brow set low over his eyes as though saddened. Josephine reached for the pendant and gripped it, already feeling how much it had depleted.
"Dragon and I will try to minimize the collateral, but your orders are to go with them and ensure they train the crystals further." Josephine nodded slowly, turning away as Dragon and Eleanor disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Walking back, she came to a scene perfectly framed by the trees: the morning sun sprawling over a group of kids playing tag with the Guardians training in the background. The sight made her chest feel heavy; Josephine did not want to be the monster she was created to be.
"Wait, the cover story is what?" Abi asked as she bumped along, laying down in her mech on the sled pulled by Checky's mech.
"We're bringing in a new type of Mech that needs beta testing at the mine front before it goes into production."
"And why can't I march in with you?" she asked as Checky sighed over the com.
"Abi, you're on the Black Wings' wanted list. You mowed down two Majors, ten soldiers and injured a general: do you really think going in with your face open to them is the best idea?"
"But they're going to want to look at my mech to get through security." She argued.
"No, they won't. This new mech has an A.I. system in standby. The tarp is made of a special material to keep the mech immobile. If the tarp is removed before I say, it will get up and start drilling at the first wall it sees." Abi blew away locks of hair that drooped over her eyes with an agitated huff and crossed her arms as Daren's voice crackled over the com.
"Quiet, we're nearing the mine." The sled hittered to a stop while Checky talked to the mine marshal for a bit before the sled lurched into motion, and the light from outside the tarp became steadily darker. Ten minutes passed before the sled stopped again, and Checky pulled off the tarp from over Abi's Mech.
"Alright, Abs, you know this mine better than any of us, so lead the way." Once her mech had fully powered up, she pointed them down a hall where the miner's barracks were as two other mechs clomped off.
"Down this tunnel is where the main digging face is, and over there is the officer's quarters. It's a nicer area with all the best equipment and ventilation." Abi explained, looking down at her HUD for any unfriendly visitors while Checky began explaining orders.
"Daren, you take your mages to the barracks with the Blue unit and see who needs medical attention the most. I'll set up the portal back to the garage. Belle, you and the other hunters are with Abi; you're going to the dig face and getting as many as we can out of here." Belle and the other hunters nodded as they dismounted the sled from cubby holes around where Abi lay, following Abi as she guided them through the maze of tunnels. It wasn't easy to remain quiet, especially with the mech's clunky steps and the engines humming louder than they wanted.
Another few minutes passed as they walked further into the mines, sometimes seeing something that resembled stiff androids walking through the tunnels while truckloads of catatonic or dazed people drove in the opposite direction.
"What happened to those people?" Abi wondered as she continued to walk down into the dark; the sound of machinery became louder as they neared the mining face. Abi impatiently activated the minigun on her left arm when she saw one of the guards shove a small group of people tending to the drilling and scooping mechs.
"Take it easy, Abi. If you open fire here, you'll do more damage than good; the bullets will ricochet everywhere," Belle warned. Abi growled and retracted the minigun, seething at the sight of the guard continuing to push the people around.
"I know you want to jump to their rescue, but not yet," Belle commanded, curing her radio.
"Are you guys in place yet?" she radioed.
"Ten seconds, Whiskey leader," one of the wilder hunters replied as the other hunters sneaked through the dark of the tunnels.
"Whiskey Commander here: we're in position."
"Roger that: Abi, stick to your hands and keep the fighting as short as possible. Whiskeys, keep anybody else we don't see off our backs." The forearms on Abi's mech clicked and transformed, locking together as she raised them over his head.
"HEY BLACK ANT! REMEMBER ME?!" Abi yelled through his outside com, slamming the jet-powered fists into the ground.
It was as if they were royalty: 'The Six' were greeted with such a roar from the crowd that they had to look around to see if the Empress was there.
"Guardians! Welcome to Spiegalmann's Training Safari! I am your host, Marcus Spiegalmann!" a short, tubby man shouted as the crowd once again shouted loud enough to echo through the mountains in the distance.
"To commemorate the opening of the Safari, I would like the Guardians to be the first group to enter this fine facility. How does that sound?" The crowd once again cheered as they waded through the sea of people toward the stage, where the staff directed them to stand before one of three gates.
Josephine wished them all good luck, weaving into the crowd to watch. Jenny squared her shoulder, knocking an arrow while waiting for the gates to open. Wind curled around her bow and arms while bright light ignited all around her. Josephine weaved to the back of the crowd and looked to the ground, knowing what was about to happen.
"I'm sorry, my friends." She thought, looking around at the joyous and oblivious crowd before her. A loud buzzer cut her thoughts short as the six charged through the gates. A mob of mana creations from the lowest levels of the Ludibrum Clock Tower met them as soon as they entered, pushing the mob away with ease. When the gates closed, giant plasma screens showed their progress as they cut, punched, shot, and hurled each creature.
Jack appeared to lead the first stage, gathering the monsters into one corner, while Matthew or Jenny tired the creatures. Helen, Olsen, or Lillianne would finish off the mob with just a few strikes.
"Wow, folks: The Guardians are easily powering through the first stage! I can't believe my eyes!" Speiglamann shouted over the loudspeaker. The Six could hear the crowd roar from outside the arena as they finished, passing into the next stage where even more monsters waited for them. As The Guardians fought the monsters inside, Josephine couldn't help but feel like a monster. She watched in saddened fear as The Six inside seemed to enjoy cutting through the creatures, hanging her head. She could only guess what they would do to her if they found out what she was.
She wanted to cheer them on but kept silent, telling herself she had no right. Her pendant began to glow, making her grab it. Panic-stricken, she looked for a bathroom, a booth, anything to hide so that she wouldn't put so many innocent lives in danger. Someone grabbed her arm as she searched and leaned in next to her.
"You're Josephine, right?" the girl asked. Josephine tried to pull away in panic when the girl turned over the collar of her shirt to reveal her Black Wings pin.
"Lord Dragon and Mistress Eleanor sent my unit to help direct the crowd away. Do what you need; we'll keep them safe," the girl smiled, disappearing into the throng as Josephine pushed through the crowd, feeling pressure building in her chest. She ran past the guards, trying to hide within bushes and trees planted around the arena.
The Mage smiled as he watched Josephine run in vain to hide through his crystal ball, staring with fear-filled eyes, looking down at the crystal in her hand. She had no choice on whether or not she wanted this; his creation would be the portal he created her to be. And no matter where she ran or how she squirmed, there was nothing she could do to stop it. Mana swirled from his palm and disappeared into the crystal ball, intensifying the pendant's glow.
There was the matter of that Acolyte being part of an effort to guide the crowd away, a matter he would need to confront Dragon and Eleanor about soon. In the same breath, The Black Mage grinned, letting out a breath to chuckle. He didn't need to confront his two highest officers: those two hadn't disrupted his creation's purpose, and guiding the throng away from danger didn't hinder his goal. He would leave it alone for the moment. But he would keep a closer eye on his subordinates.
Josephine closed her eyes and wrapped her hand around the crystal harder, trying to suppress the shine.
"Please, you don't have to do this!" She begged, but the crystal steadily became hotter until it burnt her hand, making her drop it around her neck once more.
"There you are. You can't be here." Shouted one of the guards as Josephine looked up in horror.
"No! Please stay away!" she called, struggling to her feet as the pressure within her chest built.
"You are in a restricted area. Only employees… Are you alright, miss?" The guard asked when he saw her fall to the ground, curling up into a ball. The guard was about to come closer when someone called to him.
"HELP! Someone is starting a fight!" the person called, instantly grabbing the guard's attention.
"Don't worry, miss. I'll send help." the guard said, running after the person back to the crowd. Light from the crystal began to leave it and open a portal. The chosen creature began pushing through the portal, making Josephine scream out in pain as if her ribs were being ripped from her chest.
Jenny pulled her bow tight as she ran out of mana while flames ignited around it. Helen faced her palms toward the fearful Thanatos Guard as her Wings of Light formed on her back. The sharp feathers rained onto it, pinning him against the door while Jenny's arrow slammed into his chest, cracking the armor around his aura-like form. Lillianne streaked past them with a battle step, releasing the energy around her halberd in a beam, hitting the arrow and driving it through his armor. The armor shattered while a hissing roar and its form faded into the aether, followed by the crowd's far-off roar.
"Are… you guys… okay?" Lillianne huffed as the others tried to catch their breath.
"Yeah. I'm gonna… need a nap… after this," Jack panted, holstering his gun as Matthew rolled his neck.
"All in all… I think… this will… offer us a better… training grounds than… fighting against… ourselves. We'll have to… come back here… sometime," the warrior panted, sheathing his Spartan sword and walking to the gate. He pushed it open to the crowd that pressed to them even though the security guards did their best to hold them back to let them exit the grounds. As they waved to the crowd, Helen unexpectedly felt a disturbance. It felt like a summoning spell, but it was warped, almost as if it were incomplete. Olsen noted her change in demeanor and leaned close to her.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"It may be nothing, but I have felt a warped summoning spell somewhere…" A colossal form began to grow in a bright green light beside the park, its screeching roar shattering the windows of every building there when the light broke away, revealing a towering Manon dragon. Instantly, the crowd began screaming in panic, running in all directions until the guard and a few of the crowd directed them away from the area. The Dragon slammed onto its forefeet, lifting its massive wings into the air as it drew in its breath, belching out a flood of fire.
Olsen slid before it, holding up his cloak as the blast of flames thundered from its mouth, deflecting it into the air. Helen and Lillianne helped to herd the people out of the park while Matthew tried starting the Mana Overdrive sequence. As he began syncing with Lillianne, his mana ran dry, breaking his concentration.
"Matt! What happened?!" Lillianne called as she knelt next to him, panting on the ground.
"I'm out of mana." Lillianne reached into her bag and pulled a Mana restorative, pulling the cork off and spitting it out.
"This should restore enough that we can at least do some damage before you run out again." Matthew nodded, not wanting to use a potion, but the situation called for action. Matthew downed the entire bottle, making his body glow a bright blue as the potion restored some of his mana. With a swing, Matthew activated the overdrive as he launched forward, bringing his Sawtooth down hard on the dragon.
It cut through its scales, allowing Jenny to fire her Spine Arrow and Helen, her Sacred Arrow, both passing straight through its body. Jack and Lillianne ran under the snarling beast; Lillianne swung her halberd up, launching the Manon with a wave of ice. Jack used the growing ice as a springboard, slamming his fist into its soft belly and pushing it further into the air. Olsen used his jumping seals to propel him into the sky as the Manon's ascent slowed, spreading its wings. Before the dragon could fly away, Olsen slammed his glowing green fist into its face while a bright green ghost sank into its body.
As the Manon descended, Olsen disappeared in a blur. His dagger rang with each cut around the dragon as deep wounds appeared on its skin. The ninja skidded across the ground to a stop just as the Mana Overdrive broke when Matthew's mana ran out. Jack slammed his fist into one of the dragon's legs, making the Manon slam into the ground, its massive body crushing buildings and its wings extinguishing the fires.
"Did we get him?" Jenny asked as she reached for another arrow.
"We better have; I'm not drinking another one of those Mana potions. I feel like I'm about to hurl," Matthew panted, leaning against the Sawtooth like a walking stick. Josephine came running out from behind one of the buildings with part of her face, left arm, and right hand burnt, sobbing hard.
"Josephine! What happened?" Lillianne questioned as Helen created a cube of ice to cool her burning skin.
"I don't really know. I went to find a bathroom when this Manon appeared from nowhere and tried to hit me with its flames. He got my arm and hand, but I couldn't move out of the way fast enough." Josephine sobbed. Helen felt sorry for her, reaching for her Amethyst power as her hair and eyes shimmered as the mage's healing spell repaired the damage instantaneously.
Olsen's senses tingled, rushing for Lillianne and Josephine. He pulled them away in an explosion of pink flames. Helen teleported away while Jack, Jenny, and Matthew ran back as the jaws of the Manon slammed into the ground where they had been a moment before.
"I guess we didn't get it. Then there's no choice." Jack mumbled, pushing what little mana he had aside and reaching for the Ruby power. It flared around his body as his cloak materialized around his fists in the Hammer Fist form. Matthew did the same, his Sawtooth hissing from each of its connection points with a bright red steam. Jenny drew her bow as it flared bright green while a spine arrow hummed to life in her hands, making her cloak reform on her bow as the tension arms.
Olsen's cloak snapped to his claw as a blade made of fire, pale pink flames roaring around his body while his eyes glowed with a hot pink light. He threw his arm down, forcing the power into the shuriken, making it grow three times its size. It began spinning on his fingers so fast that it whistled in a high-pitched scream. Helen turned to the beast as giant wings of violet light spread from her back, sweltering fire igniting on her staff.
"This ends here! Machine of Ignus!" She growled, holding her staff parallel to the ground as gears formed around them. Fire roared between their teeth as they clanked, caging the Dragon. The Manon began to try to back away when the gears pulled his tail through a cog set and cut off. It turned its eyes to the sky and launched into the air until Jack slammed his heavy fist into the dragon's back, driving it back down to the ground.
Olsen leaped into the air and spun parallel to the ground, launching the massive star through the dragon's skin down its side from chest to tail like a saw blade, returning to Olsen's hand to make another pass on the opposite side. The Manon turned to attack the star but was met by Jenny's bomb arrow against its chest, knocking it back as a hurricane of green wind gathered into her bow as tribal-designed light gathered around the weapon.
Helen began to levitate and cast her Wings of Light, the spell spreading wide from her back as Jenny released the churning wind arrow. A hailstorm of feathers followed, raining down on the dragon from above, shaking the ground and pinning its wings while the wind arrow burrowed through its body and exploded out of its back. Matthew unhooked each section of his Sawtooth, wrapping it around the dragon's neck. He threw it to the ground in one hard haul, jamming the hilt into the dirt to hold down the mighty dragon. Matthew's steps sizzled on the ground as he approached the dragon's neck at his shoulders, his Spartan sword engulfed with bright golden light, humming with ruby power.
He raised his sword to unleash a Solar Scythe, but the dragon pulled free of his restraints, breaking the mana connections, and reached for him with harrowing speed. Jack was vigilant enough to run in, pulling Matthew out of the way. The dragon's claws tore the ground to shreds where he had been standing a moment before, and Olsen clenched his jaw.
"Alright then," the ninja sneered. "Jack! When I say now, I want you to hit the ground as hard as you can right next to that dragon!" Olsen commanded. Jack nodded and began pummeling the dragon as hard as he could, gathering energy around him in a sphere.
"NOW!" Olsen roared. With a mighty Thunder Punch, the ground caved under the weight of Jack's punch, leaving the dragon hanging in the air. Olsen drew his dragger and spare kunai, disappearing in a streak of dust. Matthew grabbed his Sawtooth hilt, pulling the blade sections together while Helen teleported under the Manon.
With one brutal swing, a shockwave split the air in a rush towards the dragon while Helen mixed a poisonous flame into the center of the shockwave, amplifying it a hundredfold. Jack drew his pistol, using the kickback to launch himself out of the bowl the dragon was falling into. Finally, Jenny aimed her bow at the sky, shooting a powerful arrow that split and rained down a thousand arrows from above while Jack created a gargantuan grenade the size of a beach ball, pulled the pin, and tossed it into the pit.
Olsen appeared on the far side of the crater, both of his knives dripping with the bluish-purple blood. The entire underbelly of the beast split open as his innards spilled out in a wet mess. Matthew and Helen's attack hit, forcing itself down the dragon's throat. The flames broke through the flesh as though it were cracking. Jack's grenade and Jenny's arrows hit at the same time. What remained of the beast became engulfed in a wall of flames, glassing the ground and erupting straight into the air. The explosion sent tremors through the ground, a sound wave rippling through the tree tops.
All five stood and watched as embers and ash fell from the sky like snow, covering the ground like a blanket. They breathed a long sigh, subsiding the crystal power as their hair returned to normal. Josephine shivered, inspired and terrified of the power they displayed as Lillianne attended to the missed burns before Helen had to re-engage the Manon.
"That was interesting. We're near the El Nath Mountains, and Leafre is across the Nihal Desert; what is a Manon dragon doing here?" Olsen asked as he knelt next to Josephine and helped bandage her wounds. Josephine tried to hide the crystal hanging around her neck, still having a slight glow.
"It doesn't matter how it got here. What's important is that everyone is safe," Matthew interjected as Lillianne and Olsen helped Josephine to her feet.
"What about you guys? Are you alright?" Josephine asked, looking around at everyone feeling frightened by them; they could no doubt tear her apart if they ever found out who she was. Helen smiled warmly, placing a hand on her unburned shoulder, squeezing gently to add reassurance.
"We are uninjured, Josephine. I, at least, am glad you were not injured further." Josephine looked around at the others, who all nodded in agreement, making her break out into an unexpected smile. Inwardly, she still shuddered at what her true purpose had yet to bring.
"CALL THE MARSHAL! WE HAVE A BREECH OF SECUR…" The officer's shout was cut short when a rocket-powered fist slammed into the wall next to him and collapsed it, burying him under rocks the size of a truck. The fist of Abi's mech pulled back into the forearm and clamped into place, refilling with fuel and reconnecting the synthetic nerves.
"Checky, we need to get outta her now! The whole thing is about to come down on us." Abi shouted over the radio.
"How many people are left?" Checky Radioed back.
"I've got a couple dozen people in total."
"Then get your ten-ton butt in gear and get them over to the portal!" Check commanded. Abi growled, no longer caring about what would happen if she used her guns, leading the scared miners through the tunnels to where Checky waited.
"Is that everyone?!" Checky called, cueing his radio.
"Bravo Mike here; all our people are out."
"Whiskey Hotel Alpha, What about you?"
"All gems and whiskeys accounted. We're just waiting on you and Abi." Belle radioed. Checky looked up and held up his arm, firing at a wall of approaching Black Wings Officers.
"GET THE REST OUT OF HERE!" Checky screamed as he reached out again and fired, covering the hunters as they sprinted past the tunnel for the portal. Before the last few could get through, an exploding fireball from a Black Wings mage caused a loose boulder to fall on the portal, breaking the pad in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.
"Great! What do we do about the ones here with us, Checky?" Abi asked as she activated the miniguns in her mech, opening fire on the officers swarming behind them. Checky looked back at the 15 people with them and opened his hatch, kneeling to their level.
"Do any of you know how to drive a drill mech?" he asked as three people reluctantly raised their hands. Checky looked around and saw a few drill mechs standing silently at a nearby mining face.
"Alright! The three of you that can drive get to those mechs and bring them back! We're going to be making a run through those mages! GO, GO, GO!" A smoldering ball of flames slammed into Checky's shoulder, melting through the joint and fusing it, making him reach over in pain. He turned with his good arm and fired into the coming group of mages. The motion leveled a few before hiding behind a wall, cradling his shoulder like the fire hit his flesh instead.
"Oh, Man. That's a downside to those nanites; you feel everything! Urg! Computer, disconnect the right arm and redistribute power." The computer beeped momentarily before his arm felt better, making him sigh in relief.
"HOW ARE THOSE MECHS COMING?!" Checky shouted as he periodically turned and fired on the group of black wings officers closing in.
"They're up!" Abi called, holding out her hands to the people there and helping three of them into her cockpit while the other mech drivers did the same.
"Is that it?!" Checky asked as the other mechs loaded the remaining people.
"I think so," Abi called as her cab hissed shut and re-activated into battle mode.
"No! There's still one more boy! He might be in the officer's quarters: he was taken there for discipline!" one of the miners screamed. Checky shook his head and smacked the top of his cab down, syncing up with the communications of the Drill Mechs.
"Alright, you three go with Abi back to town. I'm going for the boy; follow her instructions to the letter! You deviate in the slightest, and I will kill you myself, do you understand?!" The three pilots nodded and ran after Abi as she plowed through the line of soldiers, running back for town. Once Abi and the others were on their way, he began stomping through the mines, following the rough directions given to him by Abi.
The mine quickly became unstable from all the fighting, and officers were closing in. When he found the office, he put the mech on standby and jumped out, calling for the child. He ran through the rows of desks until he heard a young voice calling for someone. He found the child to be a young girl with short hair looking up at him with thankful eyes. For a brief moment, Checky's memory flashed back to when he was a child and saw the face of his youngest sister, Ellee until the girl wrapped her arms around him. The motion shook him out of his trance, running back through the sea of desks when something on one of them caught his eye. As he ran, he reached out and grabbed the photo from off the desk while jumping up into his mech.
"Stand-by disengage, safety belt override One Charlie Alpha Two Zulu." He shouted, not taking the time to put on his belts: he needed to get out of there now! As fast as he could, he ran back to the mine entrance while rocks began falling. Boulders crashed around him, making it increasingly difficult to leap over piles of rock, boulders, and abandoned machinery, especially with one bum arm.
"Are we gonna make it?" the little girl asked as she sat in the crook of Checky's arm, but Checky didn't answer, trying to run as fast as he could and use every last ounce of concentration on getting to the exit quickly coming up. The daylight shone in like a bright beacon. But just as he was about to get out, a rock from around the entrance fell and blocked off his means to get out. In one swift motion, he fired his left fist into the rocks only to have it ricochet back into the knee joint of the mech, the force breaking it and throwing him to the ground. Once his fist had retracted, he slammed it down, making the rock crack under his fist.
"I'm not giving up just yet, Ellee! Computer, disconnect left leg and redistribute power."
"Cannot complete command, disengagement servo damaged." The computer called back. Checky growled. Even though his leg felt like it was on fire, he pulled the wounded mech forward, beginning to dig through the rubble in front of him. As he dug, a large rock fell from the roof and smashed through the remaining arm, breaking it at the elbow and stretching the shoulder joint beyond function, making Checky grit his teeth when his shoulder and arm burned with pain.
"Engage standby," Checky screamed through his teeth. Once the standby activated, the pain ceased, and the rest of the mech slumped, quickly buried under tons of earth and rock. When the shaking stopped and silence hung in the air all around them, the girl in his arm looked up with a whimper.
"We aren't getting out of here, are we?" she said with a crack in her voice. Checky hung his head before shaking it sadly.
"No, we aren't. I'm so sorry." The two of them stayed still within the cab for a few moments, red lights pulsing on the various displays showing the damaged parts of the Mech. The girl re-situated within the cab and looked Checky in the eyes, wrapping her arms around her knees.
"Who is Ellee?" she asked innocently, making Checky look up and smile with a soft chuckle.
"She was my youngest sister."
"Is she still alive?"
"I don't know. The last time I saw her was when she was a little girl, no older than yourself. Our entire family had come down with a bad sickness. Ellee had gone all the way to Leafre to get some medicine, but our entire family died before she got back. I thought I was going to die myself, and for a little while, I thought I had died until the medicine she had brought and poured into my mouth kicked in. When I woke up, Ellee was gone. I searched for a week but didn't find anything, and when I returned, all of their bodies had been freshly buried. Since then, I've always accepted that she was dead."
"Then why did you grab this?" the girl asked, picking up the picture from the floor of the mech and holding it up so he could see it within the light of the LCD screens inside the cockpit. Checky took the photo and held it up to one of the screens, trying to use his imagination to filter out the distortion and managed to 'see' the detail of a woman's face. She had what appeared to be shoulder-length white hair, full dark lips, and alluring features. But as he stared at it, he began to recognize the woman.
"It can't be! That's..." But his thought was cut short when the rock piled up in front of the mine was pulled away by a massive hand. The hand then pushed into the ground under the mech and lifted it through the ground. When Checky looked up, Abi beamed with a huge smile, her mech connected to the SG-88 external armor, using it to dig him out from the rubble.
"You are one tough cookie, you know that?" Abi laughed as she turned around and set him down while the others came over, pulled off the roof to the mech, and pulled out the girl. Abi deactivated the SG-88 and hopped out of her mech over to Checky.
"We did a lot today, Checky. But this is only one mine out of 20; we still have a lot of work to do." Checky laughed and slapped her on the back with a thankful hand.
"Go on and get her back to town and take my mech with you." Abi grinned and jumped back into her mech, throwing Checky's mech over her mech's shoulder and walking back into town with a heavy cadence. As they left, Checky reached into his back pocket and pulled out the picture he had grabbed earlier, staring at the writing on the bottom he missed the first time that read 'My Sweet Eleanor.'
"Eleanor? How can that be Eleanor, the Black Witch? That's my youngest sister Ellee! She's alive!" his mind screamed, tightening his grip on the photo until Abi called back.
"You coming or what, boss?" Checky jumped, sticking the photo in his pocket and jogging after them, wondering if he should reveal his discovery to the Resistance.
"General, your presence is requested." A soldier said. The young girl held up her fingers and blew off the fingernail dust after filing them to a perfectly round shape. She tossed one of the long pigtails over her shoulder while reaching for her hat. She still felt weak after being awakened from her long suspended animation nap.
"This had better be good." She muttered as she levitated out of her office and followed the two highest-ranking officers under her to a mining face. All the miners backed away as she came into their area, revealing the remains of a marshal and a few of his soldiers.
"This? This is what you called me out for? You called me out to see a few dead bodies?!"
"Forgive my interruption, General, but our security footage shows it was the…"
"I don't care WHAT it said! Calling me out here to see something like this does not interest me!" the girl shouted. One of the officer's badges began glowing, making him mumble something into it and then nod to one of the lower-ranking officers. He escorted the miners away from the face while the girl turned and floated after them.
"General Orca, where are you going?"
"I'm going back to my desk. Calling me out here just to see some weak officer's bodies is not something that I find worthy of my…" A commanding hiss made her stop mid-stride, cutting off her frustrated rant. She turned around with a pale white face, instantly bowing her head and crossing her hand over her chest in respect.
"Master," She said, vastly subdued from her usually stuck-up attitude. The Black Mage questioned what had been found as he walked over to the bodies, narrowing his eyes while hovering his hand over one of them.
"We aren't sure yet, Master, but our security cameras say it was the doing of the resistance faction who destroyed Mine 4." The Black Mage instructed the soldiers to take the bodies to Gelimer and find out if he could put the corpses to some use. The commander nodded and helped load them onto a truck while The Black Mage watched. Orca noticed the change in his attitude while seeing how he watched the truck leave, then turned his eyes towards the digging face, narrowing his eyes further.
"Master?" Orca asked. She followed his line of sight, not seeing anything particular until she began concentrating, feeling for anything unusual. She turned to her master for a moment, noting how he narrowed his eyes even further until she felt a tinge of something. She knew that power but couldn't remember where she had felt it.
As usual, The Six were swarmed by children of the village begging and prodding for stories of their adventures. Some pulled on their arms, asking to play 'Last Battle' with them again, a game they never seemed to tire of, no matter how many times they played it. As they entered the heart of the village, the Masters stood all in a row, each having a scroll with their names printed in fine calligraphy across the side.
"Hey guys, what are those?" Jack asked as Kyrin walked up to him and held out the scroll.
"These scrolls are invitations from the High Elders themselves. They have heard about your exploits throughout Ossyria and have asked to teach you the Fourth Degree of your discipline. For you, Jack, High Elder Samuel shall be the one to teach you all that you need. As a teenager, I too learned from him to become the Pirate I am today." Jack reverently slid the ribbon and gold seal from around the scroll and read the finely printed writing.
Sir Jack,
I, High Elder Samuel of Ossyria, want to offer my regards to you as the Guardian Pirate of Ossyria. I never dreamed I would see such a day as this when the Black Mage would be defeated once and for all. Your heart is strong, and your will is unbendable. However, there are yet some things I must teach you and make you aware of as your responsibility to Ossyria becomes greater with this training. Come to the Priest's Forest in Leafre two days from now. I await your arrival, Jack.
Samuel
Jack could hardly contain himself as he read over the words within the scroll, stomping around like a little boy before beginning to dance around in a wide circle.
"Jack, you know you will have to show much more respect when you see the High Elder, don't you?" Aran asked seriously. Jack nodded with a laugh as he looked over the letter again, not noticing Grendal step forward to speak.
"Samuel, Hellin, Harmonia, Legor, and Gritto: These five individuals are said to have been here since the beginning of Ossyria and were taught by Minerva and Corus. This is where you can learn the Genesis Light properly, Helen, and many other powerful spells. Don't let their demeanor discourage you; they may seem stern, but they take their art very seriously and expect those trained to this degree also to take their art seriously." He explained as the others read over their letters. Jin stepped forward and requested their attention, motioning back to five mannequins.
"Before you leave for their forest, let me reveal these to you. The newest of your armor before you receive the armor of legend. I present to you the Timeless Armor!"
