CF#30

Destiny’s Child Part 2

Parallax Contingent

Led by Pyro

 

 

                                               

            Kevin hadn't eaten for days.  Every waking moment was spent in Pyro's training room, trying to get better. He focused all his time in learning not only how to fight, but to control his own life. Blasting another training dummy, he couldn't help but wonder why the last week had gone so smoothly. Lots of strange things had happened only a week prior but now... it seemed so ordinary. 

The CFs had all fallen into a semi-normal routine. Most of the time was spent repairing the castle and trying to cover the signs of the battle. For the first time in 3 days, Kevin walked out of the training room.  Going straight to his room, he took a shower and headed for the kitchen.  After eating as much as he could, he had plans to work in Pyro's Workshop for a short time. After all, someone had to take over for him.  A distance away, an armored warrior stood on top of a hill, able to see the castle.

"They have no idea how much power they have in that castle. Nor do they realize what I will do to get it."

Underneath his armor, the man couldn't help but smile. He would get the power, and with it, he would destroy anyone who got in his way.                

 

            Doctor Tachyon had already set himself up in a laboratory, adjacent to the ones used by UA and the late Pyro. He had discovered that, only to a small amount of regret, that he was irrevocably stuck in this world of giants. Little matter, he had everything he needed here: friends, adventure, and acceptance.  He was worried though. Everything about this planet was only an incredible recreation, a reproduction. Should someone manage to alter or damage the controls.... 

 

"Explain this to me one more time, Dakey," Grey Wolfe said. He'd been given the task of watching Dakey, Deyja, and Rupay. 

"Ok," the small dwarven boy said, "I throw the disk, you catch it and bring it back." 

"It's called a frisbee, Dakey!" Rupay corrected. 

Deyja was in a tree. On a branch, in a tree, trying very hard not to laugh at the dwarf and the do... er, Grey Wolfe. He fell backwards off the branch, landing on his feet at the base of the tree.

"I'm going to go... do something." he said. Then, without waiting for Grey Wolfe to answer, he turned and ran into the brush.  As much as the Tyger protested that he wasn't a doggie, he sure acted like one sometimes.  The kids didn’t exactly help the situation.

 

 

Ganthet's blade sliced through the air. He was in the courtyard, going through his regular practicing. He had to work much harder to keep this body in shape. His crystal body was unchanging, but chemical processes and a natural tendency to grow soft if not constantly pushed ruled this one. In short, his life stunk sometimes. He'd tried explaining all his feelings to Zelda once, someone he could talk to without fear of being embarrassed or laughed at. But all she'd been able to do was comment that at least he was alive and could offer 'sisterly' advice. But he definitely didn't need that.

 

            Entropy simply sat in the Azrael, in a small parlor he had found off to one side of the ship. He sighed, his thoughts weighing heavily on his mind as he kept remembering...what might have been. He looked at a ring... "Tala" was inscribed on the band with a diamond in the center. Slowly placing it into a case, he looked to another he had on, one that Tala had given him...Gods, he missed her. Bitter and alone, he sulked in the darkness, reflecting shadows of his imagination. 

 

Zelda was walking around, fairly aimlessly, because, for once, she didn't have babysitting duty. Grey was taking care of the kids. Not that she minded watching the children, but it was nice to have a little time to herself. Besides, she had things to think about. She didn't dare check on Entropy just yet, he needed time with himself before he could come out and talk to his friends. They'd support him of course, but he did need his time. Then, as always, there was K. Plus, G was having trouble adjusting. He *was* trying, but ...she shrugged, it was probably just the whole transfer of bodies thing, hard to get used to. But, she didn't completely understand why he wasn't just happy about being *alive.* 

~We've lost too many already.~

She had already lost track of the amount of times she'd thought that. Despite how hard she tried, and how she promised to herself that they would loose no more, still more died. That brought her to the doubles. It had been shocking to see them all in the flesh again, she had been unconscious while most were killed but the others had told her about it. She wished they hadn't. 

She sighed and continued on through the shadowy forest, breathing deeply of the earthly, alive scent. It was so much nicer than the processed air of the ship. It was still strange to think that they really were on a ship--Destiny’s Child--a planet inside of a ship. Crystalia inside of the ship. She stopped for a moment and leaned against a tree, did that mean...? Could they bring Eme's people back here? To live like they had before? But..on a ship still.. and with their Vile magnetism...it might be too dangerous. She sighed again and sat down on the mossy ground, maybe...maybe they should give this reborn planet to the original inhabitants.  CFs didn't belong here, the death that followed them didn't belong in such a splendid place. She closed her eyes, letting the reality of the place wash of her. The sounds...the life..

"Ah Goddess..to--" she stopped the thought. To be able to go back to their old lives. She shook her head, no. She had already made her decision. She was a CF as long as her Crystal held and she was alive. She had even forsaken her own home and family for this life. The rest of the universes were more important, she couldn't be sidetracked, couldn't have yet another weakness. 

                                               

            Kevin was trying to figure out the wiring of one of Pyro's old battle suits, and wasn't having a good time.

"Was he drunk when he wired this?" He yelled at the wires, though it did no good. Finally finding the wires he was looking for, he tried to cut the line.  This caused the suit to explode and send Kevin through the door into the hallway. 

"I forgot, Pyro liked being blown up." Kevin said to himself as he focused on the pain in his back.  Metal blast doors hurt when you go through one and end up leaving the next one dented.  Kevin got up and went back in, he'd worry about the door later. Now he had to get at least one suit working, without blowing the castle up in the process.

 

Grey Wolfe sighed. Children. They were nuts sometimes. Dakey and Rupay were well behaved enough, but Deyja was trouble. He should go after him, but the lad seemed more than capable of taking care of himself. He always acted like he was much older. 

 

Tachyon walked inside the computer core and adjusted the microchip manually. He admitted that at this size it was easier to repair and see what was wrong with computers and machines. He used his boot jets and propelled himself out and landed on the keyboard. He tapped a few keys and the screen flashed to life. A model of Crystalia appeared, and then was skimmed down to make the core visible.

"Energy readings good, terraforming machines holding, radiation within tolerance levels.... This planet should be stable. The original flaws in the core which Pyro and UA were worried about are corrected." 

 

Ganthet walked back into the castle, heading to the dining hall. This body's tastes were so different than his. It seemed to practically run on coffee, for one thing. He rummaged through the kitchen, finally coming out with his coffee and a ham sandwich. And, unlike with his crystalline body, he had to actually watch what he ate. Feh, bodies that were dependent on so much.... He was glad he'd used to be a silicon-based creature, not a being of carbon. 

 

            "I thought I told you to stay at the castle," The voice interrupted Zelda's thoughts as this alternate reality Razis floated down through the trees. 

"What!?" Zelda asked. 

Was he trying to run her life? She had noticed how different he was from the Razis of her reality. 

"You heard me." 

"You’re not my commander." 

"The hell I'm not, I have a mission to keep you safe and when I tell you to do something, you better damn well do it!!!" Razis yelled getting in Zelda's face. 

"You’re nothing like the Razis I knew." Zelda started to tear up, "But you look so much like him that its hard, I was just finally coming to accept the death of Nity when you showed up and..." 

"Nity!?!?!" Razis looked astonished, "I destroyed that pantywaste loser's persona as soon as I bonded with him." 

"You what!?!" 

Razis laughed, "I only needed that body to transfer myself, the rest of him was a useless sack of shi..."

*WHACK*

Razis reeled back from Zelda's slap.  Razis shook away the shock as Zelda raced off through the woods. 

Nity killed by the jerk Razis.                          

                       

            Zelda ran deep into the woods, so far that she lost her way, but she didn't care. How could he *do* that?! Angrily she wiped tears from her eyes, she was still thinking of him as the Razis she knew from what seemed so long ago. She pulled the Book of Jerium Prime from her sack and held it tightly, remembering that last day. The last time she had ever seen him and the last thing she had besides memories.

~Ah Goddess.....why???~

She stopped by a stream and stared at her wavering image in the softly flowing water. Why....why everything? Why did the one that came back have to be him...and act like *that*? She shook her head slowly, she just had to see past the appearance. He wasn't really Nity, Razis rather. Either one. Normally she didn't get caught like that, of course she could see past..with her second sight. Yet...in a way he still *was* the same...and she had tried to ignore the subtle..and some not so subtle..differences between what she remembered and what was in front of her. She sighed, what a stupid thing to do, despite all her effort she had actually tried to believe that he was alive again.                                  

                                               

"Argh." Razis exclaimed.

~This one is just as bad as the one from my reality, but this one is even worse because she is also a damned emotional crybaby.~

"Sentinei if you weren’t already dead, I would kill you for putting this damned curse of protection on me!!!" he shouted to the heavens then raced after Zelda.

Rupay let out a small squeal.

"Zellie! Something’s wrong! I can tell!"

"Wha!?" Dakey asked.

Grey Wolfe sniffed the air.

"She's in the forest. Why don't you children go find her... I'll....be back." He watched them go off, the headed towards where he'd smelled Zelda's scent originating. He found Razis.

"What," he said with his fangs showing, "did you do to Zelda? She's been edgy around you since we got here."

"Oh go eat some kibbles poochie!!!" Razis sneered then flew back towards the castle.

 

Laina placed the small bowl in front of her, eyeing the water. On either side of the bowl, sat small burners. She lit them both, leaning back as the scented smoke began to fill the small space in front of her.

She had recalled seeing her father do this many times, but usually with a Shaman's help. Or, very rarely.. by himself.

"Spirits are fickle, Laina. They can either help or hurt.. depending on the wind that day. Always be careful, when seeking their help."

"And what if I need to seek your help, someday.. Father?"

"I will always help you child, always. You are my flesh."

Laina closed her eyes, fighting against the pain that was threatening to engulf her. To loose so many in a short time, then come here..

Her eyes snapped open as the water began to take shape, floating above the bowl, it's features slowly formed together, till she was looking at her father.

"Well, sooner then I expected, Laina. What do you seek?"

"I need to know if one is there with you."

"Ahh.. but you need more then that. You wish to gain help from one who has too much pain to move on.."

Laina blinked. How could he know?

"I promised to always be with you, and I am. And besides, we just know."

Laina chuckled slightly.

"Yes.. Father.. I need that as well. But more important, is there one called Tala with you?"

"Tala?" Her father chuckled. "I wonder if she is kin somehow. But no.. none by that name here."

He looked around, seeing others she couldn't, and nodding to whatever they were saying.

"No.. none by that name here. Wait.. a minute.."

Laina waited, and crossed her fingers. If she could find her...

"You seek the one named Tala Nokomis.."

He seemed to be repeating someone's words.

"She is under the control of her darker half.. They joined, but at a great price to herself. You can free her, and gain the help you seek. Tell the boy."

"Who do you speak to, Father?"

"Her grandmother..."

He turned back to her.

"Go find him now, tell him he bears a piece of her.. and so.. can find her."

Laina nodded, then rose.

"Thank you, Father.. I love you.."

The watery figure smiled, then slowly melted back into the bowl as Laina left, in search of Entropy...

 

"Interesting," Grey Wolfe growls. "I shall keep my eyes on him. He is not, evidently, as much of a duplicate as we first believed. ....And unlike myself or Zelda, his transformation appears to be of a different personality."

   

Entropy grumbled again as he finally left the parlor, leaving Tala's ring and her necklace locked up in a safe in the wall. He continued exploring the ship, wondering slightly if he should just leave the CFs for a while, just be alone for a few weeks...or months...it wouldn't matter, he was sure. Yeah, just go wandering for a while...Maybe...No, he couldn't do that, as much as he wanted to with that...that...abomination here. He started to the main hatch, and as it opened....

"Well lo and behold, it's you again. Didn't you get it through your head the FIRST time I tried to kill you, I don't wanna talk with you?" He said as Laina looked up at him, slightly out of breath.

"If it was my choice, I would avoid you till my dying day. But I have news for you."

He crosses his arms over his chest, waiting.

"The one you love.. is alive."

His eyes widened, and she knew what was coming, so she held up a hand.

"I'll even give you proof. I know that she gave you something.. a 'piece of her'. And if you wish not to believe me, fine. But if you try to strike me again..."

Her words lowered in a semi-growl.

"I will kill you this time, High-One.. I care not who.. nor what you are.. I saved your life, so you owe me that, at least."

With that, she turned. If he followed.. good.. if not, she didn't care.

 

"Zellie, whats wrong?" Rupay asked as she and Dakey ran up to her. "Is it Razis..I don't like him." 

Zelda winced slightly, Rupay was Rupay. Even without that mental power she knew the girl had, she couldn't give her..ahh..creative truth telling. She turned away from the others and took the girl's hand.

"I...guess." she said softly, "He's not who I...had hoped he'd be." She gave them a half smile, "Well, since we're all here...we may as well get back to base together." She couldn't quite call it by what it really was, not yet. It still didn't feel right.  This place had been destroyed. She knew she was just being silly about it, but she didn't exactly care at the moment. She was still a little tired and would rather react than analyze at the moment.

            "She means he's a jerk." Deyja said as he strolled past, after his mysteries trip into the forest.

            "Deyja!" Zelda exclaimed in a partial scold, though, to be honest, the assessment was about right. She frowned.

~Just because he's a little different doesn't mean he's no good, and he has a Crystal after all...doesn't he? Unless...they work differently in whatever dimension he came from..~

She shook her head slightly and began walking back to the castle.

Grey Wolfe ran up to her.

"Did he harm you in any way, Zelda?" he asked. "If he threatens you again.... Tell me, and I'll rip his throat out."

Razis, he stood in the doorway staring down Zelda who had not yet noticed him as she was answering Grey.

Suddenly she got a jolt, she could feel the eyes prying at her but when she looked up the eyes' owner was already gone.

"Grey..I don't think that's really necessary.." Zelda said, though glad of the support, before spinning around at a sharp...something. But, by the time she had turned around it was gone.

 

Entropy thought for a moment. She....ugh. How? How could Tala...He couldn't believe it, and if it were some false hope...she'd pay. Ooh, how she'd pay. But...but he couldn't take that chance. He needed her, there wasn't any way around it. And if he could have her back....He'd even stand the abomination's company. He followed, slowly, the Griever hovering along behind him as Azrael's hatch closed after.

 

From one of the labs, a large amount of swearing could be heard. Doc Tachyon. He fired his boots jets and inserted a plug. He flipped a switch, and connected a relay.

"Ok," he said to himself, "I've got my suit ready to convert the energy if it backfires this time.... Which it shouldn't!" He landed on a button to press it.

"YES! We have electricity in the entire castle now. No more antique lamps that run on fuel.... ....Now I need to figure out how to get cable."

 

Laina continued walking till they reached the room she had sat in just a few minutes ago. She opened the door, turning slightly to see if Entropy had followed. He had, and so; she ushered him in.

"Sit. Don't say anything."

He looked ready to argue, so she finally snapped.

"Just sit down! I know you hate me, and I hate you.. but I think you can work with me, can't you? Or are you so bitter over your loss, that you'd destroy a chance at getting her back?"

He sat.

Laina muttered something under her breath, asking her gods to preserve her. And hopefully, help her not kill him.

"Now.. focus on her. Oh, well.. hells.. you've been doing that all day anyway, haven't you? Just continue to do so. Oh, and close your eyes. It won't work if you're looking."

He closed his eyes, biting back the comment that had arisen at her words. She was his only chance for this.

Laina moved over, lightly touching his forehead, and Entropy's hand grabbed her wrist, hard. At the same time, his eyes snapped open.

"Don't touch me."

Laina growled, jerking her arm away.. or trying to. His grip remained, and she stopped, not wanting to bruise herself.

"I already got the location, you. can. let. go. Now."

He released her wrist, and she moved away, rubbing the red spot that formed.

"It appears she is trapped on another planet. Think you can get us there, Hunter?"

She had turned around, kneeling down to pick up one of the burners. As she rose, she turned back to face him, and he was already standing, waiting for her.

"I assume that's a yes. Oh, and next time you decide to call me something.. say it to my face.. so I can take out your tongue."

By now, Entropy looked ready to explode.

 

Kevin reached over to the com system.

"We need to have a little meeting, decide where were gonna..."

Suddenly sirens went off across the lab. He flipped off the com and turned on the external cameras. He stood in awe when he saw what set off the alarms.  An armored man was simply walking through the heavy fire of the automated defenses. The man walked to the front gate and with a swing of his axe, it fell into pieces.

Kevin teleported there as fast as he could think.

"Ah, just the one I was looking for." The man said.

Kevin said nothing, trying to get a focus on who the person inside the armor was, but he couldn't get through.

Before Kevin could react, the man brought his axe up and slashed Kevin across his chest. The wound seemed to glow green, though it was hard to notice through all the blood. Kevin couldn't move, the pain was too much.

"Give me the nexus and you can live, otherwise, goodbye." The man turned and a portal opened, which he walked through.

Kevin tried to summon an energy bolt to hit him.  The energy built up but fizzled out immediately, the wound suddenly seemed to hurt all the more. Kevin could do nothing more then black out.

 

The comm came to life and the next thing Zelda knew was that a siren was blaring through the PA. She frowned, she couldn't sense Kevin like the others as he didn't have a Crystal, but she still did have a bit of psi for normal things. She gave a confused look to Grey Wolfe who appeared considerably worried by this point.

"Zelda?"

Her eyes unfocused as she tried to concentrate on it. She grit her teeth, yet again all she could figure out was that something was seriously wrong. Was there ever a time when something was *not* wrong? She shrugged and began down the hall, the Tyger already ahead of her. He had guessed something was wrong as soon as Kevin had been interrupted over the loud speaker. They sped up as they came closer to Kevin.

"AH GODDESS!" Zelda cried out at the sight when they came into the room. She staggered back, face white,

"Kevin.." she gasped out.

"Zelda, pull yourself together, he needs *help*!" Grey exclaimed, trying not to be too harsh. As soon as she began to calm down enough to work up a spell and such, he began summoning the others.

Kevin was already unconscious from the pain so she didn't bother easing it, instead she worked on staunching the blood. She took out a thick wrapping, almost towel-like, that was covered with a congealer. She wrapped it carefully and tightly around the wound, at the same time working her magic inside him. He began glowing as she sweated out the work.

~I wish Eme was here..~ her thoughts wandered briefly before she schooled them back to the exacting task at hand. Slowly, she worked the few fractured bones back together. There were traces of something else, but she couldn't figure it out. She didn't want to completely dismiss it as it might be pertinent to her struggle for his life, but still, she didn't know what it was.

 

~Damn her....Damn her and all her kind to hell and back!~

Entropy grumbled to himself, good GOD he hated her. But...but he had to get Tala back...if he lost his chance now, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

"...Azrael can get us out of here. Come with me." as they entered the main area, Entropy barely reacted as he noticed Zelda and Kevin. Casting a sideways glance, he kept walking.

"Over here." he said simply. "Hurry up, I wanna get this over with."

Laina paused for a moment at the sight of so much blood, but knowing that Entropy would very likely leave without her, she kept going. As they entered the ship, Laina frowned thoughtfully, looking around. A 'peice of her' .. well, he wasn't anything of hers, so far as she could tell. Perhaps he had it hidden away somewhere.

"Do you have any of her jewelry? Or perhaps something she gave to you? I'll need it to track her."

"I thought you said.."

"I know where she is, but I'll need that to find her there. Unless you plan on accosting every black haired woman.. and then chopping their heads off if they aren't her."

His fingers tightened, and she noticed, then smirked.

"You must really hate me. Oh, well. You aren't hurting my feelings, that's for sure."

~Ahh.. such a cool facade, if I can kept this up, maybe I'll believe it. I wanted to fit in here.. but I was wrong. I can never fit in, anywhere.~

"Well? I'll just need to hold it for a second, then I'll hand it right back to you. And, I'll let you know where she is."

 

Entropy growled. How dare she...Dammit!! He hated it, hated her smug demure, hated HER. But he had to get Tala back.

"Wait here." he snarled, and returned to the parlor, lovingly taking Tala's necklace, the one with her Crystal on it...and went back to the bridge of Azrael, where Laina waited.

"Here. If it's damaged, don't think I won't get you back for it."

"What, you'll kill me? And lose any chance of finding her?"

"No. I won't kill you. I won't be so merciful." He handed over the necklace. "One broken bone for every scratch you put on it."

 

Grey Wolfe just gave Zelda space to work. He was limited in his ability to help and work sometimes, by his non-humanoid configuration.

He was worried about Zelda. She was becoming increasingly more withdrawn and depressed.

 

Ganthet had run to operate the security system when the alarm went off. After that brief attack, it was clear. How had someone found them HERE? In the heart of a starship, on a terraformed planet?!

"All clear," he says over the comm system, "Kevin is injured.... Will require assistance."

 

Doctor Taychon terminated the link between the main computer and his helmet. He'd heard the alarm and was going to help. By use of cybernetic relays, he'd been able to directly guide a hover strecher from the medical wing. He sent it out to Zelda and the others, so they could bring Kevin in for an accurate examination with their high-tech medical technology.

 

Laina snorted, accepting the necklace. It was fashioned much like her own, she noticed. A plain band, wide, and made of silver? No.. it wasn't silver.. it was platinum. Interesting. Perhaps she was a highborn. She turned it over, looking at the crystal. It was mostly light colored, except for the one dark spot. She frowned thoughtfully at it, and then looked at Entropy. He just glowered at her, and she shook her head slightly then ran a finger over the stone. As she did so, a name stood out foremost, along with a chill that ran straight down her spine. She stiffened, and Entropy thought she was going to drop the necklace, as he stepped forward.

She just looked at him, like one would look at a insect, and then handed the necklace too him.

"I got her.. if I was in wolf form, I could have pinpointed exactly where.. but this will do. You'll have her.. soon."

He checked it over. No scratches, no dents.. no smudges. Nothing.

He looked at her, knowing she had touched it. She smiled slightly.

"I'm known for having a light hand."

The smile faded, as she motioned to what she hopped the control room area was..

"Shall we go?"

 

Entropy went back to the parlor, replacing the necklace and locking it away. He then returned to the bridge, sitting in the command chair and pulling out the griever. Sliding it into the control slot between the two front command chairs, he made a quick hand motion that pulled up a screen. "Azrael. Full prep, lift off. Ascend to maximum elevation above planet, prepare to set course." Laina had just entered when the Azrael shot up, the entire ship shuddering as it shot off into the exterior of the Destiny. Laina was quickly knocked to the floor, then slid back across it and slammed into the back wall. She growled as she heard him chuckling, jumping to her feet.

"Why didn't you tell me we were lifting off?!"

"Must've slipped my mind." he smirked. "Now, tell Griever where this place is. And make sure you sound nice, the sword doesn't like people with harsh tones."

 

Note:  This side-plot continued in Wayward Souls.

 

Zelda sat back tiredly, frustrated that she always seemed to be overextending herself. Not that she had a choice of course, the injury had been so....she shuddered, hoping that she had done enough to at least keep him alive. She pulled one last thing out of her bag, a bottle of painkillers. Not that they'd help much as he was still unconscious, but when he awoke they would. She leaned against the wall, trying to ignore her pounding headache and strained eyes. In moments she was asleep, the bottle fell out of her hand and rolled across the floor, stopping when it bumped into Kevin's arm.

Kevin woke up slowly. The pain was still unbearable. He tried to focus on where he was. But everything seemed dull, lifeless. He tried to get up but even the slightest movement was unbearable. He then tried to teleport, float or do something.  As he focused the pain seemed to be worse. Finally getting enough energy, he tried to make the portal to his room.  In response, the wounds across his chest glowed brighter and he passed out again.

 

Zelda leaned forward, brought out of her doze by the magical 'noise' of the spell attempted. She groaned as he fell back into the dark depths of unconsciousness.

"*What* is with the stupidity of patients?!" she exclaimed with the energy that she managed to muster. She frowned at the bottle and set it up straight so that it didn't roll away again.

"Didn't even notice...it says *painkillers* on the side.." she grumbled to herself, "as in...they *stop* pain and are normally used when you are *in* pain..." She was so tired she barely noticed the green glowing, or at least, didn't register it until Grey pointed out that it didn't exactly seem normal. She nodded and stared at Kevin blankly for a few seconds. Her slow train of thought was interrupted by Kaliana bursting through the door.

"What a mess!" she exclaimed, "He's alright?" she questioned next. Medicine had never been any specialty to her, but the guy...Kevin, wasn't it?...looked alive..if..a bit green, literally, and the blood wasn't all on the outside anyway. Red blood. Strange. Well, at least that's what she guessed the smeared stuff was. It was all over that strange red-haired girl, Zelna or something, too.

"Well?" Kaliana raised an eyebrow at the silence. Zelda sighed. She was sitting down,

arms around her knees and head laid across them.

"I guess." she mumbled. The green light was still troubling her but... She wasn't completely sure, but it had seemed to have had some kind of effect on those spells Kevin had tried to cast.. Inadvertently, she drew on the

energy of those nearby to lift her own energy level so she could actually stay awake.

 

Tachyon, meanwhile, had plugged back into the central computer, which was linked to the one that controlled the ship.

"Interesting....," he mused, "I can't locate our 'guest' anywhere. He's not on the planet, or the ship." He terminated the link, feeling suddenly heavy and senseless in his body, rather than cyberspace.

"Gotta stop using the direct link. It's not good for me."

 

Ganthet sat at the consol that controlled all the castle's security functions, with a slightly worried look about the future. They'd left UA, Kyle, Evil UA, and T on Faia, and Pyro was dead. Dead....he'd hardly been the best of friends with Pyro, they were too different, but it was the loss of one of them. Their only scientist was the newcomer, Dr. Tachyon.

And that was something else. Doctor Tachyon, Laina, Kaliana, Grey Wolfe, and Deyja were all untested and inexperienced.... Yet they'd integrated so easily.

Zelda was growing more depressed and depressing everyday. Razis was not their lost friend Nity.

Entropy had accepted the mantle of the leader, but he was haunted by Tala's death.

Krakken was, as ever, Krakken.

Rupay and Dakey were but children.

Even Lark had her share of problems.

And he, he was alive again. But, not in his own form. He had only his fighting skills and minimal psi-powers to keep himself a threat in battle. He felt like the weak-link.

He slammed his fist against the wall. It just wasn't right! Everything he'd ever had had been taken from him! He'd even learned, while dead, that his world had been destroyed just after they left it.

As his rage built, beams of golden energy shot from his eyes, blasting a hole in the wall with incredible force.

"What?!" he asked in surprise. That was a force blast...like telekinetics... Did he have more power that he thought? He'd have to get Tachyon to run some tests. 

 

Out on the hill, the armored man seemed quiet. He had the boy pegged, easy to find at any time... or even with a thought he could end his life, but no... This boy was too useful a bargaining chip. He could hold the boy in his grip until he got the Nexus... then he'd wipe them all out.

 

The Med-Lab:

 

Tachyon looked at the monitor that was a full six inches taller than him.

"Kevin's vital signs are stable. He'll live," he said. "Superficial wounds, thanks to what Zelda did."

 

"But you, Ganthet, present a more interesting issue."

 

"How so, Doctor?" Ganthet asked.

 

"It's like you said. The energy waveform's your Crystal gives off doesn't match the old record. And, there is the definite presence of additional energy. When Solara's crystal merged with yours a few months ago, it may have energized your Crystal to new levels. You may have access to untapped power."

 

"Interesting indeed, Doc."

 

Zelda sighed in relief at the news that Kevin was going to survive, then she relaxed back on one of the medical beds half listening to the conversation. Something about photonic somethingorother whatever that was. And power. More power. She wasn't quite sure if this was a good or bad thing. Types of power killed. Killed their friends. She shuddered slightly with a frown and turned on her side.

 

Kevin wasn’t sure if he was conscious or not, he couldn’t sense anything around him and it seemed so quiet he couldn't help but wonder why opening the portal back fired like it did... or more importantly, who this armored goon was.

 

"The shock?" Tachyon said. "Shouldn't be doing that. Not good. My armor's systems were untouched though...."

Ganthet turned to answer Zelda.

 "A last little gift from my little friend Solara. Before she died, her Crystal merged with mine. And from the eye blasts I demonstrated earlier...it looks like she may have left me some of her power. .....rather she was here though. Never meant to betray us... She meant a lot to me. More than I told her."

"Solara.." Zelda whispered in remembrance and then gave him a little smile, "Maybe she did know, without a spoken word."

 

Tachyon stared at the various computers, tied into the security mainframe.

"I'm sorry Doctor," the voice of the computer said sounding exactly like Pyro. And well it should, for the diminutive doctor had based the artificial intelligence’s program matrix on Pyro's brain patterns. "But I cannot trace the individual who attacked Kevin. Even after he linked to our mainframe, I can find nothing."

Tachyon swore.

"Ok Pyro," he said, "Let me suit up and I'll try cyberspace access."

 

 

Ganthet stood in the training room, blasting targets with telekinetic force. Tachyon had done something, tapped into the energies in his Crystal. He'd brought out his telekinetic powers, making them stronger. All it had cost him was his limited telepathic ones. He'd have lots of abilities now: force blasts, force shield projection, flight, and stronger telekinetics.

 

But he was more useful to the team now. He'd gotten some power and his confidence back.

 

Grey Wolfe ran back into the courtyard. An hour of tracking and he'd found no scent. He activated the comm head piece he'd been fitted with.

"Pyro," he said to the computer, "Please inform Tachyon that I found nothing."

 

"As you wish, Grey Wolfe."

 

For the armored man, it was all too easy.  They couldn't find him and even if they could, they couldn't stop him.  To prove his point he teleported back on top of the hill. Sensing a location he threw his ax, which slammed through a wall and destroyed a monitor, stood there for all to see and returned to its master.

 

"What in the universes was *that*?!" Zelda exclaimed, a little more awake now as the screen she had been looking at suddenly went blank.

"The shock?!" Tachyon cried out. He activated the castle's comm system.

"I'm tracking the ax... Going to follow. Ganthet, Grey Wolfe, Krakken, you're with me. Zelda, Lark, and Kaliana, stay and guard the children." With Entropy and Laina gone who knows where, Tachyon had stepped into a roll he was excelling in. Second-in-command, a de facto leader when E wasn't there.

The four CFs quickly ran up the hill, meeting the man. Ganthet's eyes began to glow as he prepared to fire his eyebeams. Tachyon powered up his pulse blasters. Krakken began to chant, calling up the winds.

Grey Wolfe affected a transformation.

"Grey Wolfe transform to Were-Gabu!" He assumed humanoid and bigger form.

"Were-Gabu transform to Lunar Wolf!" He dropped back down onto all fours, becoming a larger, star-field tattooed wolf-like creature. This was his most powerful form.

"Celestial Void!" he cried out. Jagged, lightning-like bolts of star-field leap from his body, striking the man and forming a thick coat of ice around him. He tensed, ready to strike again.

 

"Good work Grey," Tachyon said. "Now if that holds..."

 

 Though his attackers couldn't see it, under his armor the warrior merely grinned. A simple thought and the ice was shattered.

"You stand no chance against me." He said as he grabbed Grey and threw him off the hill.

"Take one step further, and the boy inside dies." The blade of the ax glowed an eerie green and inside, Kevin started going into convulsions.

"Back away, or its all over."

 

Zelda was rocking back and forth with Rupay on her lap as she hummed some soft song. Kaliana, on the other hand, was pacing across the room in frustration. She couldn't *stand* being stuck here. She calmed down a little bit as she realized she *still* didn't have much of a plan. She was here now after all and she could finally get something done.

Rupay smiled and checked to make sure Dakey wasn't within hearing range.

"Zelda...guess what. I'm gonna marry Dakey someday." She said matter of factly.

 

Tachyon grimaced under his helmet. The sensors were linked to LEDs, and the readings they were giving him were off the scale and really unclassifiable.

"We don't have your shockin' Nexus! We don't even know what that IS!" he said.

 

Krakken was the only one whose power was totally invisible. With a small finger gesture, the air around the armored man scattered, leaving him in a vacuum.

 

Ganthet made sure Grey was ok. The Tyger had reverted back to his basic form and was just unconscious.

 

Zelda laughed a little, then sobered, hoping Rupay *would* get that chance. But, with everything happening... She shook her head slowly, this was no place for kids, though she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. They had Crystals...but...should that really be the be-all end-all? The others had had Crystals...but that didn't mean Destiny had set them aside...free from death... Suddenly, she glanced up, spying Clopheara not too far from her. Poor girl...thrown into all this. Yet another set aside but not saved.. Through everything that had happened, she hadn't really had a chance to get to know the new CF. Zelda offered a little smile towards her.

Clopheara stood quietly off to the side, she had followed Zelda here. She could have helped heal the man Kevin, but she had feared that her skills did not measure up to Zelda's own. So she had remained still and silent. The sound of the alarms still rung in her sensitive ears, she had heard no sound like that on her old world. The blood that she had seen did not disturb her though, she had seen enough of it. Though most of her memory was swirled and foggy from sadness and fatigue she had seen many hurt and had many die when her healing fell short. Her skills in magical healing were quite good and only failed when she was exhausted. Clopheara did not realize the connection though, she only remembered their sad eyes while they died in her arms.

The castle though haunted her, the worn stone walls and long corridors all heavy gray. The cold hard floors that whispered at the passing of live things and an outward face that stared darkly across the white frozen plains. It reminded her of the nights on Theremate when the icy winds tore through the abandoned palaces they slept in. The halls howled hollowly all around while they slept. Every night it sounded like the wailing beasts of Ilin had returned from the darkness of deep space to devour the small amount of warmth that had remained. Her dark, gold-flecked eyes were distant as she remembered the cold.

She shook the memories away to look around the room again. She felt useless and invisible here. Better to let the frozen touch of her past life consume her. Her orb crystal over her shoulder flickered softly as though it were trying to comfort her, she didn't notice though as her head lowered again. It suddenly flashed brightly and she raised her head sharply as though something had just occurred to her. She still hadn't noticed the flickering orb.

"Lady Zelda?" She risked raising her voice a touch to be heard. "Should we be preparing to fight the creature that caused Kevin's injury?"

 

 

Krakken's vacuum had no apparent effect on the armored man, other than to make him mad. A bolt of energy erupted from his ax and struck the blue-skinned CF. He collapsed to the ground, with little bits of smoke coming off his body.

What the invader hadn't counted on, however, was a blast of telekinetic force. Ganthet turned his eyebeams on him, blasting him into a tree.

 

Tachyon activated his comm system.

"Guys...we're fighting him now. Krakken is down, suffering from great injuries. We need help and fast. Everyone but Clopheara home in on our location. Clopheara, stay with the children. This is too dangerous for them. ....Blast, where are Entropy and Laina when we need them?"

 

Grey Wolfe transformed back into his Were-Gabu aspect. With a shout of "Mega Claw!" he flung a sphere of blazing blue energy at the armored man.

 

Tachyon concentrated on something else. He'd gotten a good analysis of this invader's energy. While he couldn't do too much, he understood how he teleported. He was cyberneticly modifying his own armor to produce a field that would counter it and keep this guy here.

 

Suddenly, Zelda's face went blank, and then pained..

"K..ah goddess...Krakken..." she whispered while Tachyon made the announcement over the comm. She sagged slightly, already sitting down, and finally looked up.

"Mommy?" Rupay asked softly, still using the endearment though Zelda had tried, if half-heartedly, to get her to just call her Zelda. She took the girl up on her lap while Kaliana looked on.

"Zel's not quite recovered yet..." she warned Tachyon, "New or not, I'm bringing Clo with me." With that she took Clopheara's hand and almost dragged her out of the castle, toward the fight, not long later, they had arrived.

   

            Clopheara didn't have time to respond to Zelda or even protest as she was shuffled out the door of the sick room. Her white and iridescent hair shimmered in blues and pale pinks as she was hurried towards the battle.

Kaliana, who had been leading Clopheara, released her arm as they arrived. Without breaking her pace she leapt over Krakken's still form and shouted. She landed and gestured in the air. An explosion jolted the armored man's sword arm enough to halt a strike he had been aiming at Grey. The armored face turned towards Kaliana, Ganthet gave a battle cry and swung again at the metal covered man while he was turned.

Clopheara dropped to her knees to help Krakken. His blood was pouring everywhere. In his middle there was a green glowing line following the stroke line of the axe. She paused holding her hands a little above the wound. A magical wound, she knew that much, but needed more time before she could decipher the cross magicks of this one. Forgetting the rest of the fight she placed her hands in the wound. The warm blood of Krakken continued to seep between her fingers and to the floor.

She concentrated on the weapon's spells first. It was a knot of spells, spell reversal, aggravated wounding spell, spell of disguising, and an enchantment to keep the spells on the weapon. The spell reversal was what had hurt Kevin, it turned the energies back on the caster, and the aggravated wounding spell to make sure the wounded didn't heal quickly. But spell disguising?... She had been thinking all this while she unraveled the green knot of spells. When she came to the spell of disguising, what happened to an outside observer was difficult to understand.

Clopheara who had been leaning over Krakken in concentration suddenly sat upright, stiff-spined. Her Crystal, which had been glowing bright white with her efforts to heal, was snuffed black. The disguise spell had hidden the under lying dominant spell.

The man in armor laughed. The Crystal flickered violently, the battle for dominance over Clopheara was being fought through the Crystal. The Crystal won suddenly in a bright flash of light that surprised the armored man just enough to allow Grey another strike.

Meanwhile, Clopheara continued healing. How had Zelda gotten around that one, she thought dizzily as she worked to undo the magicks then heal Krakken. When she finished, Krakken was still covered in his own blood but the wound was sealed. Clo fell, shaking, to one side. She remained there as the Ganthet, Kaliana, Grey, and Tachyon fought on. Her Crystal floated still above her, pulsing as ever and though she didn't realize it, the orb was helping her recover quicker so she could return to the fight.

 

            Kaliana gave the armored man a black look and then her Crystal began to glow lightly as Grey launched his attack. She frowned both in anger and concentration and reached out towards the spatial body not far from her and ripped her energeries at it, savagely trying to pull it apart from the molecular level--explosion. Something *did* explode, but angrily she realized it hadn't been the man attacking them, something near him..attached to him.. part of the armor maybe, or a weapon or two. She waited impatiently for the pieces to finish flying with their own momentum.

 

Zelda tried to take her mind off the battle, which she could partially sense through her Crystal, by talking quietly with Rupay.

"So," she grinned a little, "Do I get to come to the wedding? What are you planning for it?"

 

 

Tachyon looked up briefly as the Azrel flew overhead. Good. Entropy and Laina would be back. They kept up the fight, as the battle was quickly joined.

Entropy and Laina were back, along with a woman the diminutive scientist didn't recognize.

 

But now, the armored intruder had nearly the total membership to deal with.

 

Clopheara called up a barrage of ice and snow.

 

Entropy used a blast of decay power from his sword.

 

Ganthet fired his eyebeams.

 

Grey Wolfe, in his Were-Gabu form, used his mega-claw.

 

Kaliana used something that looked like it was ripped from the heart of a star.

 

A semi-recovered Krakken used the wind to pelt him with rocks.

 

Lark let loose a blast of lightning from her sword.

 

Tachyon fired packets of phased plasma particles from his gauntlets.

 

Tala let loose a blast of magical energy.

 

This was such a massive amount of power the CFs had not unleashed for sometime. Even without Deyja, Rupay, Dakey, Kevin, and Zelda. The intruder became so bombarded with energy that he became indistinguishable under a cocoon of light.

 

"Ok....stop!" Tachyon yelled, using his suit's microphone to amplify his voice. They stopped, and the man stood there weakly, little bits of smoke coming off his body.

 

MED-LAB

 

"Of course you get to come!" Rupay acted as if that was a no-brainer.

"You're going to give me away." She nodded at that and smiled.

"It's going to be outside, somewhere pretty and I'm going to wear a dress I saw in one of Eme's dreams. She designed clothes, did you know that? Everything she wore she designed herself. And many of the clothes her people wore too. She loved surprising her people at their homes with clothes."

"What wedding?"

Dakey came into the room rubbing his eyes, he had just woken from a short non-consenting nap. This life was exhausting on a normal healthy adult, on a child so young, unexpected naps were expected.

Rupay flushed brightly and Zelda giggled.

Rupay turned back to Zelda to bury her embarrassed face into Zelda's chest when she gasped at the red eyes shinning from behind the vent inches above Zelda's head, then one eye weakened and Zelda's protector retreated to a more classified location of observation.

            "Nothing," Zelda said teasingly with a grin, though she was a little surprised at Rupay's second reaction..like she had seen something... Zelda gave her a questioning look, but the little girl just shrugged, the blush starting to fade, a little anyway.

 "I didn't like that remark about it being too dangerous for us to fight...I'm Crystal Fighter! Its my job to protect." As Rupay said this she held tighter to Zelda as if that action protected her more.

 

THE HILL

 

Entropy watched the smoke as it cleared away from the intruder's form, keeping Griever at the ready. God, if it wasn't one jerk, it was another. Half the time it seemed like everyone out there had some reason to try and kill them. He kept Tala behind him...didn't know why she had come along, she should have been recovering...But then, how exactly was he supposed to stop her?   He charged the Griever with power, an aura of black energies surrounding the blade.

"CFs, hold your ground...get ready for anything. Most importantly, watch your backs."

 

Tala nodded slightly, taking a step back. It had felt good to release some of the pent up energy inside of her. Instead of feeling weak.. she felt..  Laina came up beside her.

"He is worried."

Tala blinked. She still couldn't get over how they looked so alike.. except for certain features. When she had first seen her, she had nearly lashed out.. thinking Nokomis had come back to haunt her.

"He isn't the only one..."

Laina smiled slightly at that, and they both looked over at the man again. Tala pondered for a moment.. perhaps she could use a mental attack next.. he seemed to be able to handle the physical ones... so far...

 

MED-LAB

 

"I know, I know." Zelda said softly, wishing it wasn't true, "But, it does make sense that not all of us go, after all, if everyone gets captured or something, someone's got to rescue them, right?"

"I guess if you put it that way..." Rupay shrugged. Her face looked serious as she pondered the suggestion. Then she nodded as if she deemed it a good enough excuse.

"You're right."

 

Seeing that the man had not moved for several minutes, Tachyon activated a special device in his armor's chest plate. A net of energy shot out and wrapped around the intruder.

"There," the scientist said.

"What'd you do?" Entropy asked.

 

"Energy dampener. It'll keep his suit from working."

 

They took him back to the castle. They're all happy to see that Tala had returned to them. The intruder was stripped of his armor and ax, and locked in the dungeon. Ganthet and Grey Wolfe stood guard over him, while Zelda tried to probe his mind. Kaliana watched over Kevin and Krakken in the med-lab, while Lark kept and eye on the kids.

 

 

"Ok, shrimp," Entropy said, "explain to me why I'm here, when I was just reunited with Tala and should be with her. And talk fast."

 

Tachyon gulped, walked across the table, and removed his helmet.

"Because, his weapons and armor are like nothing I've ever seen. And without UA, and Pyro, Xvyn rest his soul, you and I are the closest thing to a technical crew. And since you've got more experience with other races's technology than I do...."

 

"THIS COULDN'T WAIT?!"

 

"No... If this is a danger to us, we need to know now, or we could all be lost."

 

The new leader of the CFs sighed, and looked at the technical readout.

 

"I'll tell you why this isn't like anything you've seen Doctor: It's not science at all. It's magic."

 

"Impossible."

 

"Excuse me? What do Zelda and Tala use....what are the Crystals?"

 

"Manipulation of energy, the basis of science on an advanced level."

 

"Look, either way, it's beyond our current science. ...Let's get Tala and Laiana down here. With Zelda busy, we need our magic experts."

 

Tala and Laina look upwards as Entropy's voice came over the intercom. Laina sighed, then rose, making her way to lab.

~Jeez.. whatever it was.. I didn't do it.~

Tala got there a bit quicker, having just phased through the walls. She became tangible the moment she stepped inside the lab, and headed over to Tachyon and Entropy.

 

"What's going on?"

"We'll wait for Laina. Best to explain this once."

She nodded, looking over at the armor. Was this the problem? It looked like any normal suit to her.. Hmm.. wait.. there was something different..

The doors opened, and Laina walked in, shaking her head.

"Sorry, I'm still getting slightly lost."

She went over to where the three of them stand, following Tala's gaze to the table, then back to Entropy.

"I thought you were the weapon's expert? You won't need my help for that."

Tala chuckled slightly.

"I think they need us to look Laina..."

"Oh.." Shrug. "Alright."

They both looked at Tachyon, waiting.

 

"Ya know, one of these days I have to figure out a way to make me as big as you guys....," Tachyon said, straining his neck to look up.

"Anyway, the armor and ax are 'magical' in nature. We need to know in what manner, and if they pose any threat on their own, and if our prisoner can make use of them even this far separated. Quite simply, we need to know what kind of threat we're dealing with."

 

DUNGEON

 

"It's no use," Zelda said, "his mind is like a wall. He has powerful mental blocks in there. I've tried pounding for so long...I've got a terrible headache."

 

"You did your best Zelda," Grey Wolfe told her. "You tried. That's all we asked. ....I don't like him at all though. He has no scent."

 

"I'd help Zell," Ganthet added, "if I still had my psi-powers. But I gave those up when Tachyon amplified my light powers."

 

"I know Grey....but I just feel so useless," Zelda replied. "I've still been so drained lately...I've been the weak link."

 

"No, you haven't." Ganthet says. "None of us is a weak link. We all bring something to this fight, we are all important."

 

"Thanks you two...," Zelda said, starting to smile.

 

"Why can't I help?" Rupay asked at the door.

"After all, I am stronger telepathically even when you aren't weak Zellie..."

 

LAB

 

Tala nodded, as did Laina.

"I have some slight experience with magical weapons. A king on my world had one made. He could use his mind to make it attack, even if he was a few feet away from it."

She went over to the table, studying them slightly.

"However.. this one is new to me. I've never seen something like this."

Tala walked over then, frowning at the axe.

"Look there.. it seems to have a different aura on the blade. Wasn't there a problem healing Kevin.. or one who had gotten hit by it?"

She glanced back over at Tachyon. Laina shook her head slightly.

"I don't think he can use these from a distance. It looks as if the armor and weapons are linked."

"Perhaps he has to be wearing them to use the magic."

"Hopefully. Unless he's a high level mage. If so, he could use and discard at will. I would warn anyone who's by him to be careful."

Laina stepped away while Tala remained, studying the weapons. She went back to Tachyon, crouch down slightly so he wouldn't have to crane his neck back.

"This is probably going to take some time. Is there anyone else here who uses magic?"

            "Zelda," Tachyon says. "She was trying to probe our invader's mind, but may be of better use here. I'll call her."

"Does that mean Tala and I can go now, Doctor Shrimp?" Entropy asked.

 

"Tachyon. Or Doc. I am not a shrimp. Relatively speaking, I was as big as you in microworld. It's just here that I'm small. But yes, you can go. We can discuss the results when we have a chance to get everyone together."

 

DUNGEON

 

"Rupay?" Zelda asked, "Shouldn't Lark be watching you?"

 

"I knew you needed help Zellie, so I came."

 

Zelda smiled. "I don't see why you shouldn't try... You might be the only one to succeed."

 

The castles comm system crackled to life.

 

"Zelda....," Tachyon said, "We could use you in the lab. We may need your magic."

 

"I'd better see what the doctor wants," Zelda said. She turned to leave.

 

"Be careful Rupay...there's a lot of darkness in his mind... Don't get lost in there."

 

LAB

 

Laina nodded, having walked back over to the table. She was studying the weapons with interest now.. wondering..

Could this have been made by a mage? It was possible, unless the man had commissioned the weapons. And then he was the one they would have to watch.. because he was the mage.

Sighing, she reached carefully to place her hand just scant centimeters above the blade.

~Well? I know one of you will answer me.. Hopefully.~

~You knew there was magic already. Just look for the mark.~

Laina nodded slightly, to herself, and peered down at the spot she was nearly touching. Aha. There it was.

She turned, looking back at Tachyon.

"It was created by magic."

A pause.

"There's a mark on it, usually anything made from magic has one. Runes, or the like. To help the power of the weapon. The only thing is.. this more then likely means that the man using.. can cast spells of his own."

She shrugged slightly.

"At least, that's the way it was. Perhaps from this man's homeworld.. he doesn't need to know magic to use it. But all the same.."

She trailed off, Tala looked at Entropy.

"Don't you have some of those dampeners still? Perhaps we should put him in one, before he decides to wreck any more havoc."

 

            Entropy looked down the hallway, the realization hitting him.

"Bloody hell!" he swore, suddenly taking off towards the brig. Tala, concerned, sprinted after him.

"What? What's the problem?"

"I don't have any of the dampeners, I lost them with Omicron. That cell doesn't have anything in it either."

Tala's eyes widened.

"Then that means..."

"He's probably gotten out already."

"Shock! Shock! Shock!" Tachyon swore as he raced down the hall with Entropy, Tala, and Laina. With his boot jets, he was the fastest of the group.

It was a bad sceen.

Ganthet was knocked against the wall, bleeding freely from burnt flesh along his stomach. Rupay was safe, Grey Wolfe had protected her with his body. Zelda, who'd been just about to leave, was buried under a pile of rubble.

 

"Not good....not good," Entropy said. "Why didn't I think about this!? Of course, given my luck, the power's in him and not the weapons."

 

Tachyon activated his comm badge. "Get the med-lab ready! Ganthet, Zelda, and Grey Wolfe are hurt...bad!" He stopped for a second, "Umm...he's probably headed to the lab...to get his weapons... And then probably after Kevin."

 

He tapped into the castle's security system.

 

"Shock. He doesn't show up on any of the scans..."

 

"All right, that tears it." Entropy said, pulling out the Griever. "We've got a confirmed intruder loose in these hallways. Tala, doc, get our wounded to the sickbay and try and fortify the place. Laina, you're with me."

"To do what?"

"There isn't a way in hell I'm letting something this bad happen on my first real day on the job. We're gonna hunt the rat-bastard down and -maybe- capture him."

"What do you mean, maybe?"

"Hey, I'm gonna stop him. What condition he's in when we're done, I take no responsibility for."

"Understood." Tachyon replied, as a medical gurney hovered in.

"Tala?" Entropy said, looking to her.

"What is it?"

"Be careful. I don't want you risking your life, I just got you back and I don't wanna have to go through all that again." Smirking a bit, he took off, with Laina close behind.

 

Tachyon and Tala raced into the med-lab with the injured trio, and Rupay on their heals.

"What happened?!" Kaliana, who'd been watching over Kevin and Krakken, asked in surprise.

"He...he escaped," Tachyon gasped. "Get the med-beds ready. Ganthet has severe burns, Zelda has broken bones and a concussion, and Grey has broken ribs and organ damage from a concussion beam."

 

Tala activated the med-beds.

 

"One elf, one Tyger, one elf/human hybrid... Good thing we entered Grey's medical data into these things already, he's too new to have been in the old records."

 

They placed the injured on the beds, with Rupay refusing to leave their sides. She was crying.

"Zellie....," she wept. "And Grey...he saved me!"

"If only Eme were here! She'd heal Mommy and Grey!" Rupay cried out to Tala.

 

ELSEWHERE

 

"Stand back you, or my sword will rend your head from your body," Lark said in a deadly voice. The intruder had run into her and the children. She had to protect them.

 

"Dakey...Deyja...run now."

 

"You're funny girl," the intruder said, green power crackling along his hands and arms. "You can't stop me."

 

The kids didn't run. Using their respective chants and activation words, they fired bolts of white-hot flame. Either the invader was too strong, or their powers were too weak, because it had no effect.

 

"This isn't good..." Lark said under her breath.

 

"Everybody...he's loose. Heading toward the lab. Be on guard."  Entropy said over the comm. to warn those who didn’t already know.  They rounded the corner, following the sounds of battle. Lark was fighting the intruder, but she was loosing. She bled freely from numerous small wounds, and her sword was partially broken. Deyja and Dakey had fled.

Entropy powered up Griever and sent a blast of purple fire at the nameless invader. He staggered, then turned around, firing a bolt of green power.

"Foolish mortals.... My weapons only focused my power. Now I am even more dangerous, a fury uncontrolled! Give me the Nexus, or DIE!"

 

"We don't know what that is!" Laina said. Her hands moved quickly as she called up magical power, ready to unleash a blast.

 

~Blast it,~ Entropy thought, ~we can't fight him in the castle. It's too crowded; no room to fight. Too many of our powers rely on open space and maneuverability!~

 

"Ok." Entropy thought aloud. "Time to follow the old hunter's codebook."

"Which is?" Laina asked, sword raised defensively as the intruder glowered over them.

"Improvise!" Entropy turned to the nearby wall, cleaving it open with a single slash from the Griever. He turned back to the intruder.

"HEY! ASSHOLE!"

The man growled slightly.

Not stopping for a moment, Entropy flung the Griever at him, and as the intruder easily caught it in mid-air, Entropy jumped up, leapt off the wall and gave the man a resounding kick across the jaw, grabbing his sword back on the way and launching back off to the floor as the man toppled out the hole in the wall, dropping two stories to land in the courtyard below. Entropy quickly followed, jumping out and landing gracefully at the other end of the courtyard.

"Laina, get Lark and the kids out of here. I'll keep Captain Tightass here busy."

"But-"

"Dammit, don't argue with me! Go!" Entropy refocused his concentration on the intruder, now getting to his feet with a none-too-happy expression on his face.

"Gods, I hate it when I try to be a hero." He whispered as he fell into a defensive stance. "Heaven help me."

 

Clopheara was lost on her way back to the med-lab and unluckily ran right into the battle. The intruder blasted her with a power bolt, sending her flying.

Energy crackled from his eyes.

"They were weak," he said. "Now I'll deal with you."

 

"Go to...AUGH!" Entropy started to say, but he was interrupted by a blast of energy. It actually caused the decay-powered, liquid CF to loose control of his form, splattering him against the walls. He pulled himself back together with great pain.

 

"Stand down liquid. I'll deal with this monster," a voice said. The tone was one that could turn steel into ash. Razis. "For what he did to Zelda....he will burn."

 

Razis stepped towards the monster/man and prepared to shoot off a nova blast.

"Razis Nova ...!

 

Within the castle walls, in the medical room Zelda lay on her gurney.  She had been stabilized or so they thought. Suddenly the heart monitor screamed loudly as her heart rate was coming slowly to a stop.

 

"Razis Nova ...! GAH!" Razis screamed clasping his chest and falling to his knees. He strained to breath and the blood vessels sprouted around his neck.

"Zelda!" he choked then slipped into a deathly unconsciousness as his heart rate came slowly to a stop.

 

MED-LAB

 

"Z--zelda?!?!" Rupay exclaimed suddenly as the psi waves coming from Zelda started to get a bit crazy.

"What happened now?" Kaliana queried angrily, she was annoyed enough that she had been left here, with no medical expertise, to tend the wounded. She could have easily helped in the battle, surely someone more qualified could have stayed and now *this*? What was going on anyway? The little kid was fairly distraught..but then, didn't kids cry over the smallest things?

"Well?" she asked in frustraction as she neared the two.

            Doctor Tachyon gulped.

"Shock...shock....shock!" he swore as he flew over to Zelda. "Not good... I'm not an MD. I have no clue how to handle this! Zelda was our healer.... We're falling apart."

The comm crackled to life, it was Entropy.

"Guys.. <Caugh!> Razis is out here. He tried to stop him....but he's having a heart attack!"

 

"Entropy?!" Tala cried out. "If that monster hurt him...." There's pure fury in her voice.

 

"But I think I can save Zelda....," Tachyon said. He removed her Crystal from her bag and set in on her stomach. Cables extended from his armor and attached to the crystal. Slowly, ice began to form around Zelda, until in a large block had frozen her solid.

 

"What'd you do to Mommy!" Rupay demanded.

 

"I...I," Tachyon replied, "used her Crystal by linking its energies to the Crystal that makes up my armor. I put her into cryogenic suspension. She'll be alive...but her system will function at a much slower level...and her heart will be ok. Now. Tala, Kaliana, get out there ASAP and render assistance. I'll be there shortly."

 

He flew with all his power toward the lab. There, was the prototype suit he and Pyro had been working on just before the man had died. Made of a near indestructible metal and equipped with weapons that drew plasma straight from the heart of stars, and colored deep crimson, it would have made an incredible weapon. He flew into the mainframe in the chest piece and linked his system to it. He knew the risks. This could kill him. But if he saved his friends... He started the suit up and ran towards the gates.

 

ELSEWHERE

 

"Dammit..." Entropy grumbled. "Stalling time."

He looked to Razis.

"I sure's hell hope he gets up soon..."

He walked slowly towards the intruder, Griever held out before him.

"All right....You gone and done it now..."

Power radiated through the griever.

"Now....now I'm PISSED."

The intruder looked unimpressed.

"I don't happen to care. Either give me the Nexus...or you'll die here and now."

Entropy didn't acknowledge the comment. He scowled a bit, and got ready to fight again...  

 

Tala appeared by Entropy's side, and Laina popped up a few minutes later, having gotten the others away from the hallway.

"I warned everyone else that I saw.."

Her words trailed off as she frowned thoughtfully at Entropy. Then she looked at the unnamed man, and scowled.

"Why do you want this nexus so badly? What is it?"

"Who cares what it is, we have to.."

"But why? Don't you ant to know why he wants it?"

Laina and Tala looked at each other, then Tala just shook her head. Laina looked at him again.

"Well, why do you want it?"

 

~Much better.~ Kaliana thought with something akin to a smirk as she headed toward the battle.

~Just..one? Why haven't they taken him out yet?~ she wondered, then frowned, this development could be good or bad.. maybe he was just too powerful..either way.. She came upon them in the middle of the nexus conversation.

~Know your enemy..~ she grinned to herself and listened while warming up her Crystal.

 

Razis suddenly pulled in a sharp gasp of air and shot up.

"Welcome back." Entropy said.

Razis paid him no intention but thought aloud.

"She is still alive!"

"Who?"

"Zelda!" Razis shouted, annoyed.

"Why wouldn't she be?"

"Because she had a heart attack"

"How do you kn..."

"You idiot, because what happens to her happens to me and vise versa, if she had died I wouldn't be here now." Razis felt his pulse, it was extremely slow.

 "She is in trouble though." he stumbled away weakly.

"Wait you have to help..." Entropy ordered.

"I have to get back to Zelda, I never should have left her side!"

 

Lark stared down at her broken sword. It had lost it's powerful glow and she felt extremely weak. Her knees were going to give way and she was going to hit the ground. She closed her eyes, feeling strange. Her power was growing and fast. In a flash of light she felt her sword getting heavier, larger, and she balanced her mind, focusing on what she was there to do.

 

IN THE MED LAB

 

A small vortex opened and a small girl clutching a cat falls on top of someone. The cat jumped out of her arms and she pushed herself to her feet noticing how her cat was tapping at Zelda. She blinked.

"Butterbee, NO!!" The cat jumped into her arms.

    

What CFs remained to fight were not doing well. The intruder had downed Laina and Tala with blasts of pure energy. Entropy had been hit by some other kind of energy; he couldn't control his form and was reduced to a puddle of liquid goo. Lark was hanging limply against a bulkhead. Kaliana was imprisoned in a bubble of solid energy, her own power threatening to bounce back at her.

 

"Stop right there," Tachyon said, his voice filtered through the systems of the suit he and Pyro had worked on. He fired the cannons, letting loose plasma directly drawn from the heart of the sun.

 

The man countered with a blast of his own power, dispersing the ball of super-heat.

 

"You're the small one, aren't you?" he asks. "I should've crushed you."

 

"Not gonna get the chance."

 

"And what makes you think you can stop me?"

 

"Nothing much, just..."

 

"What? Tell me and I might not kill you."

 

"I can tap into the terraforming computer from here. Can't do much, but... Well, I can at least affect the weather."

 

At that, the sky darkened as clouds gathered. A massive electrical charge built up, until every cloud erupted with massive bolts of lightening. The man screamed as trillions of volts ripped into his body. Tachyon activated another of the suits weapons and fired a small disk at the man's head. It stuck there.

 

"Good...," Tachyon said, "That should disable all his voluntary motor functions, and keep him dormant by suppressing his higher brain functions. Pyro...you were a genius."

 

A warning light comes on in the helmet. He'd taxed this suits energy stores. He quickly flew out the helmet, as its plasma turned inward, vaporizing it. He looks at the downed CFs. They'd won...., he guessed. But at what cost? They were all injured... He really should do something with the invader too. Might be best to kill him...

 

The scientist shuddered at that. He didn't like to kill. Vile was one thing...., but people were another. And yet, he was almost too dangerous to live...

 

MED-LAB

 

Razis raced in and saw the girl and the cat.

 

"Who are you?" he demanded in a snarl. "Get away from Zelda NOW." Fire crackled in his hands.

 

"Don't!" Rupay shouted as she came out of the corner where she was hiding. "I don't think she's a bad person!"

 

The girl blinked. The grabbed her cat, and moved away from Zelda.

 

"Please don't hurt me. I didn't mean to do harm. But me and Butterbee got sucked into this...thing. And I dunno what I'm doing here! By the way. I'm Abigail."

 

 

ELSEWHERE

 

 Deyja, Dakey, and Little Flame looked out the window.

 

"Everybody's hurt," Dakey said. "But they got 'im!"

 

"We coulda helped!" Deyja complained. "Maybe they wouldn'ta gotten so hurt!"

 

THE BATTLE

 

Tala was up quickly, and she headed over to Entropy first. Laina stood groggily, shaking her head. Her father had been a big believer in trying to reason first, fight second. She had found that many things could be talked through.. but with this man.. it hadn't been the case. Oh, well.

She went around, eyeing the others, trying to see if anyone had gotten seriously injured, and would need help getting back.

            With a powerful effort, Kaliana took the nova energy, still flaring and crackling around her, back into her Crystal. It seemed to almost stretch out to take in the energy, being pushed to its limits. Normally the energy was condensed into a tight little ball, or taken from nearby sources--putting the depressurized form back into the Crystal was a tough matter. Kaliana let out a harsh curse, sweating from the work of wrestling her new "magic" or whatever it was back where it originated from. Finally, she had it sealed in the Crystal, just tight enough not to crack apart. It was still glowing fiercely, ready to let it back out at the next moment, it made her head buzz slightly in a strange tingling way. While she was struggling with it, she had seen Tachyon get...whoever it was.

"What do we do with him?" she asked the nearest CF. On her planet, no prisoners of war had ever been taken, battles were always to the death. But...these people, some of them at least, were different. For some strange reason she had a feeling some would object to such a thing.

"I don't know," Doctor Tachyon admitted. "I was asking myself the same question."

Tala glanced at the unconscious invader with a stare that could melt ice.

"I vote when Entropy gets back together, we let him turn this guy to ash. After everything he did to us..."

 

MED-LAB

 

It was at that moment that Grey Wolfe, Ganthet, and Krakken woke up. Kevin remained unconscious, his injuries still too bad. With a warrior's critical eye, Ganthet took stock of the situation. His eyes began to glow as he prepared to either protect the girl with a force field, or blast Razis.

 

"Leave the girl alone Razis... And get out of here."

 

"I won't have you around Zelda," Grey Wolfe says. "She doesn't like you...she's afraid of you."

 

BATTLEGROUND

 

Entropy slowly reformed, twitching a bit.

 

"Oww....Somebody damn well better tell me we won...I've lost all feeling in this arm..." He laid still on the ground, barely moving.

 

"Dammit...none in the other one either. Or the legs. God, I hate it when this happens."

 

As Tala looked over him, he finally opened his eyes.

 

"Am I dead?"

 

"No...We won, don't worry. Are you all right?"

 

"Ahm...Not sure. I can't exactly move. That guy clocked me better than I thought." He smiled a bit.

 

"Don't worry though...just need some time and I'll be back up to speed. What I'm worried about is you. Are you hurt or anything?"

 

"Suprising, coming from a man who can't move." Tachyon said, hovering over to them.

 

"Tala, you stay here, keep an eye on him. We'll take care of the intruder."

 

Tala took his hand, nodding at Tachyon's words.

 

"I'm fine. It takes more then some idiot running around in a tin can to hurt me. But you.. I'm worried about you."

 

Laina walked over to the fallen man, crouching down slightly. She frowned thoughtfully, eying him. Then she sniffed the air, once. Shaking her head, she looked back at the doctor.

 

"High level.. strong air around him. I suggest you do what needs to be done.. quickly... and then kill him."

 

Kaliana was vaguely surprised at the reaction, though she told herself she shouldn't be. After all they had done..let happen.. It made perfect sense. She brushed a finger against her Crystal, letting some of the excess energy dissipate into the air. Then, she nodded in agreement with Tala and Laina, though she added.

"I suggest we extract some information from him before that becomes impossible."

She took a step forward and brushed a lock of blue hair behind her ear.

 "It could have it's uses, right?"

 

Entropy groaned, finally pulling himself to a sitting position.

"Ugh...God, I wish this worked faster." He looked over to the others. "Hold on. Nobody's doing anything with him until we, number one, get him in a max security cell, and number two, get our wounded taken care of. That's our priority." He looked up to Tala.

"Don't worry...Nothing permanently damaged." he said quietly to her. "I should be fine in a while."

 

Tachyon made sure that THIS time, their foe would remain imprisoned. He'd tapped into the terraforming circuits again, turning a room in the castle into a void of nothingness, pure white empty space. He'd not be able to do anything there.

Then, they went to the med-lab. Razis was laying unconscious on the floor, partly through the wall.

 

"What happened...?" Entropy asked.

 

"He came in here, aggressive, threatening this little girl," Ganthet said, waving a hand towards their 'guest', "My telekinetic eyebeams took care of him."

 

"Good," Entropy replied. "I want him in a security cell too..."

 

"How's Kevin?" Kaliana asked.

 

"As bad as he was before," Krakken told her, studying a monitor.

 

Kaliana nodded, she had expected as much. As for the newly wounded..

 

"I hope you have some other medically skilled personel..hidden talents maybe?" she said with a pointed look at Zelda who was still incased in Crystal. She looked between her and Razis with an odd look on her face. It almost seemed as if they were even breathing at the same time.

 

~Strange.~ she thought, dismissing it from her main thoughts. Then she gave Razis an appraising look.

 

~I wonder..~ She had noticed the air warming and swirling faintly around the exuding energy of her Crystal. She pulled it outward, energizing the molecules of air around and beneath Razis. He began to float a few inches off the ground, albeit unsteadily, but it was a lot easier than carrying him to the cell.

 

"Any particular cell or restraints?" she asked generally. Personally, she thought it would be a good idea to keep him out as long as possible. There was something about this one. "And how long is he supposed to be unconscious?"

 

"We'll set him up in the same kind of 'empty' cell I put our intruder in," Tachyon responded. He was sitting on a monitor, his armor sitting beside him. His black body suit was slightly torn. "Man do I ache..."

 

"Don't know how long he'll be out," Ganthet said. "I hit 'im with enough force to shatter a door."

 

"Should we try melting Zelda out?" Grey Wolfe asked.

 

Lark checked the monitor. She had an arm in a sling. "Her sign's are stable. Go ahead."

 

Grey complied, melting the ice with controlled shots of his 'howling blaster'.

 

"We need better security," Laina said. She had a bandage across her forehead.

 

"Definitely. Get to work on that Doc," Entropy added. He appeared the same as earlier, except for the fact that his skin was crawling. He still had a slightly tweaky control over his form.

 

Tala glanced around silently. She was taking stock of everyone, and Tachyon seemed busy enough here.. with some hurt, Zelda out, and another new person.

"I can work on the security."

 

Laina and Entropy both just looked at her. She shrugged slightly, looking at Tachyon.

 

"It'll be easy for me.. I can just set up a sort of shadow barrier around the.. castle."

She paused.

"It'll work just this way. We can move about freely, but nothing else can. Or, if you guys prefer, I can make a few guards for us. This way, everyone will have a chance to heal before we set out making duties and the like."

 

ZELDA'S MIND

 

Zelda wandered through her mind, trying to find her way back to the surface. Suddenly someone stood in front of her but they were shrouded in darkness.  Suddenly, beneath this person’s feet, spread outwardly the landscape of the new Crystalia, the clone world, enclosed in the Destiny ship, or what ever it might be they were still unsure.

She moved closer to the dark figure and suddenly a bright light shined down upon his face now revealing it.

"Dakey. . ." No, not Dakey.  The face was more mature and distinguished.

"Nity?"

He didn't say a word, he simply looked upward toward the light that shown upon him, the sun he looked at it intently, Zelda grabbed him by the shoulder but his gaze towards the sun never faltered. Zelda turned to look at it when she suddenly felt the noise and sights of the medical room come flooding back to her.  She woke from her unconsciousness.

 

Razis awoke suddenly and swiftly grabbed Kaliana by the neck. The rest of the present CFs moved to her side quickly.  Ganthet struck Razis with the butt of his sword and Razis released his grasp. Ganthet held the sword to Razis' neck.

"You wouldn't risk Zelda, I already know that, fool!"

Ganthet sneered, "It seems that you two are only linked internally, the effects to you externally have no baring on the other..." Ganthet moved his sword so the tip touched the crotch of Razis' pants.

Razis gave a laugh, it might have been a nervous one but the others were unsure.

"No need to go that far, look I want to be here even less then you want me to, I have been cursed to protect Zelda and there is nothing I can do about it, so we are going to have to work together here."

Ganthet just stared and pushed Razis towards the cell. Razis quietly entered and waited for the door to close and lock.

"You’re making a big mistake." he smiled.

"Ske.." Kaliana muttered, glad Razis was now in the cell, though that last look.. She nodded as she noticed Ganthet doubling the security of the cell, smart. At least some of these CFs had sense.

 

MED-LAB

 

Zelda winced as the light stabbed at her eyes when she began to open them. Traces of..memories...or..a dream? washed away from her. She reached out towards them..there was something familiar...some kind of explanation.. But, she couldn't get to them, all she could find was the mental block of Adlez.

 

~She *would* interfere.~ She grumbled to herself as she sat up on the medical bed.

 

"What did I miss?" she asked, eyes widening at everyone's condition.

 

Kaliana, who had returned from the dungeons, glanced back at her.

 

"Oh, we captured the bad guy--what's his name anyway?--he and Razis are locked up at the moment."

 

"Razis too?!" Zelda exclaimed, sure, he hadn't been the most pleasant companion all in all. But, he *was* still a CF....wasn't he?

 

Tachyon breathed a sigh of relief, all the excitement had momentarily come to halt.  Is this the life he would hold as a CF, constant danger? Though he couldn’t complain about the adventure that came with that danger.

 

*BLEEP BLEEP*

 

The main computer consol blipped, and with a flashing red light which indicated Faia. Tachyon pressed the button and a transmission was displayed.  Apparently, it had been sent a while ago.

 

UA's face appeared behind a haze of static.

 

"Crystal Fighters I have called in warning, Wizzrobe and his Vile troops are active, apparently he has sent a distraction your way, some guy with a bunch a power. It doesn't matter who this guy is-- just get back here.  Kyle, T, and the magnificent me can't hold a whole damn Vile assault alone, UA out."

 

The screen went blank.

 

Tachyon quickly checked the logs, the transmission was sent over an hour before precisely the time the mysterious attacker had appeared, Wizzrobe was playing the CFs as fools.

 

And their foolishness may have cost their comrades their lives.

 

"*&^#&*!" Entropy cursed, "How do we get back?  Pyro redesigned the Omricron into the Dragonstar and he never gave us a lesson on flying the damned thing!"

 

"What about your new ship?" asked Dakey.

 

"No good kid, only seats four at best."

 

"Don't worry comrades, I took this all into account and have created a solution, I used the same program of Pyro's mind that I inserted in the main computer here, into the Dragonstar as well, essentially, the ship can fly itself."

 

"Good work," Entropy nodded to the miniature man. "Now lets get moving, some friends need our help"

 

DUNGEON

 

"The fools honestly think they can trap me in here?" The "intruder" laughed, "After all, you can't jail the jailer."

 

He touched the wall and vanished from view, not even setting off an alarm.

 

END.

 

   

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