CRYSTAL FIGHTERS #17
“UNIVERSAL FLAME”
CHAPTER 1
The Cf's were hanging around in the castle. Zealen had just
recieved his new body. He was out on a patrol, as Eme had
told them to do once every three hours ever scince the Zerg had
attacked the castle. Just as Krakken was coming out for his
shift, a large noise was heard. Zealen was knocked to the
ground backwards, supporting himself with his arms. The
large sound continued and a crack appeared before Krakken
and Zealen. It continued and Zealen was falling into the
aybss that had just formed as a large chunck of land
dissapeared. Zelda came runing outside as Krakken was
trying to help Zealen up. A loud noise filled the air as
Zealen's kicking legs were turning the stone into gravel. As a large
electric shock riddled his arms knocking the power in his suite out
and then was falling into the pit.
His secondary arms flailed about and caught Zelda, bringing
her into the Pit. Just before Zealen and Zelda dissapeard into the abyss,
he projected a psi-message to Krakken, it told him to get the other CFs and
try to find the staff of Jerium Prime.
SOMEPLACE
Zealen and Zelda had slipped through some sort of reality
shift. "Time and Space must have been ripped somehow."
Zealen said outload. "Space\Time Six must have been shifted
somehow"
"Space\Time Six?"asked Zelda. "It's where Space Three and Time Three
meet." What do you mean, Zealen?" "Well, just think of it
this way. Dolphins live in salt water, that being Space\Time
Six, if they move to fresh water, Space\Time Three, they would
die. All beings can't exist in another Space\Time. If this
shift continues, our universe will contract."
"Then why are we here, and how are we existing?"
"I believe that we are still in Space\Time, but where, I don’t know"...
THE CASTLE
The other CF's were still in the castle dazed by what Krakken told them
of Zealen and Zelda falling into the huge crevis. The PSI Message ran
through his head he knew the CFs newest adventure was about to begin.
SOMEWHERE
As Zealen and Zelda try and get their bearings, a dark
figure suddenly comes out of nowhere, grabbing Zelda from
behind and putting a gun to her head. The figure sneers
just a bit, then looks at them both. "All right, I want
answers or this clone buys it! Who are you, what is this
place, and what designation are you? Now, dammit!" He
reiterattes by hitting a button on the gun, and they hear a
low humming noise as if it were being charged up.
CRYSTALLIA
“Zealen also said before he dissapeared that we need to
find a staff or something” Krakken said to the others.
"Um... Krakken by any chance was this the a Staff of
Jerium Prime" asked Nity. Nity still felt uneasy around Krakken
after he had been in his berserker rage. Since there final battle with the Queen Zerg
Kyle had run some test on Krakken and found that his madness
had been caused by the poisen Krakken had recieved in one of
the traps in the old Vile lair that Nity and Krakken had
traveled to to look for surviving civilians.
"Um yeah that is what Zealen said, how did you know" asked
Krakken.
"Hold on" Nity rushed upstairs and returned shortly with a
book in hand.
"What is that" asked Maia.
"I recovered this when Krakken and I were in the destroyed
Vile lair, apperantly this is there sacred item that we
almost got killed for and Krakken ended up losing his mind
for it"
"You mean that was the sacred item, a book!!!!" yelled
Krakken. "I was afraid I had missed something important when
I went onconcious but I guess not"
"Yeah well what does the book have to do with anything" asks
Pyro.
"Well when I got the book I recognized the symbols in it
from a book Zealen had been reading, I ment to ask him about
it but I forgot about it when we went to Entropy's homeworld
and then when the worlds ripped apart and stuff"replied Nity
"So you dont know what is written in it" asks Kisutsu.
"Well when Zealen was recooperating from the battle with the
Zerg a barrowed his Ancient Argamma Language Translation
book, that is what I recognized the symbols from, well
anyways I was able to decode the cover which says Ancient
Artifact of Jerium Prime and inside the book I was able to
figure out some stuff, it said something about a staff
reparing the world, I am guessing this staff is the Ancient Artifact
of Jerium Prime" Nity finished.
"Why would we need the staff, could it bring back Zealen and
Zelda" asked Tala.
"Know I think he meant as a way to repair my world" Eme said
stepping into the crowd "Crystallia is dieing"
CHAPTER 2
Zealen's Suit suddenly turned it's self back on, leaving
Zealen breathing normaly instead of gasping for the precious
nitrogen in the atmosphere. It knocked the gun out of the person’s
handwitha quick lazer shot and he turned around and grabbed him.
"I think you have some explaining to do, human." Zealen pounded
him into the ground and Zelda Pinned him. "What do you mean,
clone?" He pointed at Zelda. "How dare you pretend to be the
grand Zelda, goddess of all beings! Espicially on the day of
her arrival!" Zealen said to Zelda. "Looks like you got
yourself quite a title! I remember when I was supposes to be
god..." Thoughts filled his mind as the days arrived to his
head
FLASHBACK
The Large Yellow\Blue Protoss Carrier hovered above the
ground, launching the probes to attack the Zealots. He
remembered how fast the Protoss\Zerg hybrid leaped on the
ship and tore it apart into shreds! He fell into the sea,
and the large pieces of Titanium Alloy crashing in after
him. He remembered how the hybrid tore into the
Almost-Industructible alloy that protected the soft flesh of
the protoss. He remembered how he engaged in his self
propelled Nalium-Rockets to escape, leaving his warriors to
die.
PRESENT
"Excuse me?" Zelda asked looking in surpise at the person
that had threatened her, "Umm...I'm not a clone I'm me and I
think I'd know if I were a goddess which I don't think I am.
I think we're kind of lost too...umm..who are you anyway?"
she said politly, trying not to get confused. +How could
anyone mistake me for a diety? Well..I don't know what one
looks like, but still..+
The man's form suddenly melts out of Zelda's hands,
reforming into another form, this one of a man wearing a
pirate-esque outfit and sporting a tied-back ponytail of
white hair. He has a sword sheathed at his side, but the
main focus is that of the gun, back in his hands and
pointing straight at the both of them. "Don't even try that
trick with me again. You did this ploy already when I got
here, trying to be my friends. HOW DARE YOU!!!" He aims
for Zelda and fires, but Zealen quickly moves in front and
takes the blast, his armor absorbing the energy. "Fine
then, I always preferred beating my opponnents the way of my
fellow bounty hunters." He suddenly holsters the gun and
draws out a long, lean and straight sword with a strange
crystal in the hilt and points it at them. "...Brutally!
Mortuum!" A bolt of black energy fires from the blade,
splitting the air in its path.
“That sounded like something Entropy'd say...what is it..in
Latin or something?” Zelda said to Zealen, quickly dodging the
black energy, "Wait! What do you mean we came before?! We
just got here! We're not even from here? By the way..where
IS here??"
"My calculations are not complete," said Zealen dodging from
the black cloud. "Zelda, do me a favor! Since that crystal
probably would damage my suit, say "Order Me, Obey me in
your so called, pig latin. They maybe some holy words."
Zelda looked at Zealen in confusion for a moment, then
remembered something..who was it? just on the edge of her
thoughts...anyway, some guy from earth said something about
it.. "umm...I'll ~try~...rderoay emay bey
oay emay..I think... umm, holy words? I don't think I really
know any...uhh..let's see...how about In Vas Mani?"
CRYSTILLIA
Tala stood silent for a moment, thinking over everything
that had happened over the past few weeks (..days? heh).
Sighing sightly, she looked around, checking to see if the
pit was still there. If it was, she wanted to go look for
Zelda. She felt that something was going on down there,
something was nagging her. She waited then, knowing that she
would most likely have to ask Kyle or Nity if she could
go, before she decided to head off on her own.
SOMEWHERE
"Don't even try it, clones, you know I haven't the slightest
idea about here. Mortuum!" Another black bolt of energy
pierces the air, and Zelda barely avoids it before he
charges at her, grabbing Zelda yet again and this time
holding the blade to her throat. "Now, where are you
holding my pendant? Tell me or she dies!"
"Right Here" Zealen pulled out a pendant and gave it to him.
"Great!" Just then the pendant transformed into a laser
cage. "Okay, tell us now!"
PYRO’S LAB
Pyro was retrofitting his arm, trying to get it alittle
more controlled. when his eyes caught the momentary flash on
his sensor screen. "What th'?'" Pyro reached over and
replayed the last few minuets. The flash oocured again.
"Not good" He located the momentary flash and read the scan
"Quantum Flux? Could be a teleport" He would have thought
nothing of it but realized the energy scanned was far to
big for a teleport. "This is NOT good" Pyro pinpointed the
location and got some scanning equipment. "gotta find out
what happened."
Ganthet was just weirded out by the entire experience. In
fact, he'd been weirded out every since he joined the CFs.
He understood almost nothing of magic, and absolutely
nothing of technoligy. His world was a simpel one, clans
of warrior roamed the desert-like wastleland that was his
homeworld. There were 3 clans of warriors: The crystal
men, like himself; the lava men from the south regions.
There were also Obsidiians and Jade men. The clans made
war often, and warriors were in demand. That was what he
understood, battle. He'd simply leave the thinking to the
others.
Tala moved closer to where the pit was, skirting the edge
just enough so she could glance into it. The others seemed
to be busy talking about a staff of some sort, which she
supposed, was important enough. However..she was more
worried about her friends that were down there, then the
staff at the moment. If the staff could get them, all the
better.
She kneeled down beside the edge, leaning over to get a
better view of how deep it could be. And it looked endless.
Tala stayed that way for a few moments, lost in thought. she
slipped a hand into her pocket, drawing out the pendent that
had fallen by her feet after they had gone to Entropy's home
world. She just had this odd sense that it was a part of
this somehow. She ran her fingers over the words enscribed
on it, then looked up and over at the other CF's, waiting to
see what the plan was, before she decided to do
anything..for now, anyway.
CHAPTER 3
"I'm not a clone." Zelda whispered, though her thoughts
traveled in another direction as she started to become
unsure as to her own existence and her gaze turned inward.
The man just looks at them, a sneer on his face. "So I see.
No brand on your neck. Good to see you again, Zelda." As
the others draw questioning looks, he suddenly melts and
flows out of the cage, assuming a strange, birdlike form not
unfamilliar to the CFs. "Ring any bells?" He then shrinks
back to the last form. "I'm not dead."
Zelda was startled out of her reverie as she noticed who he
was, "Entropy? But..how? What happened? Wait..weren't you
evil? How come you didn't recognize me, or Zealen? And who's
this goddess you were talking about?" she took a breath
after her string of questions, lately realizing that it
might be hard for him to answer all her questions at once.
Entropy gives a sigh, then looks back at them. "The whole
reason why I was working for the Vile was because they
pulled a dump truck full of gems up to my ship. The crew
beat me by popular vote, and we agreed to work for 'em.
All I had to do was relay inside info. to them about you.
Fully legal contract. But they stiffed me when they gave me
as Master Vile food, so I helped you guys escape and sent a
message to my crew to get outta there. As for how I got
here, it must've had something to do with my shapeshifting
into a phoenix with the master vile energy. Also, I didn't
recognise you because this particular area is full of clones
of everyone who's ever been here, which is basically anyone
who's ever been born. The clones call this place Embrya.
I think it's basically where souls are made. Also, the
clones tried to kill me when I got here. Only clones are
allowed to exist in this plane. They all have some sort of
brand; it differs from clone to clone; on the back of their
neck. The clones of UA, Ganthet, and Zarina I was able to
kill, but the others are still out there, and probably
watching us. As for goddesses, It was talking a joke but only
a clone would get it. Also, I think they've got my pendant. I can't let
them have it, it's too important. But we can save this for
later. I have someplace we can hide," He says, suddenly
shifting forms and melding into a giant eagle. "Hop on."
"Okay." Zelda agreed, doing as he asked, amazed that he was
actually able to answer all those questions.
Entropy flew into a large mesa cave.
It was straight on the side, so it was impossible to
get into unless flown in, or climbing down.He landed and
they got off. +I wonder how the others are doing, and I
wonder if they got the staff." Zealen thought. "Well,
hopefully they did, Crystallia is dying and
it's my own fault, my disturbance on your reality caused
this. It wasn't for that long, only when I first got there.
I will have to break off a shard of my crystal to prevent
again.+
"Oh, that
pendent? Could it be...well, Tala picked one up a while
back..." Zelda asks.
Entropy looks suprised as he melts back into human shape.
"What? Tala's got it?" He breathes a deep sigh of relief.
"At least it's in good hands." When the two of them look at
him rather strangely, he regains his cold outer shell.
"It's...a family heirloom." He then guides them through the
cave, which is small, but well-sized enough for the two.
Entropy shows them the one large sleeping area, and Zelda
gives a confused look. "Where are you going to sleep?"
"First and foremost, I gotta cover the cave up." With
that, he pulls off a small piece of matter from his arm, and
gloms it up against the cave opening. it stretches and
expands, forming an exact duplicate of a rock wall both
inside and out. "Secondarily, I get small." With that, he
shrinks down until he measures only a mere 3 inches in
height. "There's an old mouse hole in here, how a mouse can
chew through rock is beyond me. I'll sleep in there."
CRYSTALLIA
"So if this Staff of Jerium Prime can repair Crystallia then
we need to get it right away" says Pyro.
"But how do we get there" asks Nity.
"I guess we would have to teleport as usual" says Maia.
"Only one problem, I have no idea where this friggin place
is" reports Kyle.
"I am sure UA knows he has been around a lot of dimensions,
where is he anyways I havent seen him since I got back" says
Zarina.
"Hunh" they all say.
"Who is that" asks Nity suddenly an image of a man in a
magneta suite flashes in his mind for a split second.
"You know are all mighty leader" says Zarina.
Kyle snaps his fingers and Zarina dissapears.
"What did you do to her?!" demands Ryliann.
"Just had her take a little swim to wash these crazy
thoughts from her mind" says Kyle.
Then Zarina bursts through the door sopping wet from the
lake.
"May I ask who UA is" says Kyle.
"What UA who is that" asks Zarina.
+Good it worked+ Kyle says to himself in his mind.
CHAPTER 4
Tala heads back over to the group, knowing that whatever
had been bothering her..was gone now. She pocketed the
pendent once again, listening to the others as they spoke,
then looked at Kyle, furrowing her brows for just a second.
Hadn't he done a teleport sort of thing when they had
gone to Entropy's home world? She cleared her throat softly,
then spoke up, still slightly nervous when addressing a
group..she always had been.
"I don't know who this UA is that you speak of..", or did
she? However, she continued on, "..but didn't Kyle open a
teleport for Entropy?"
She assumed Kyle nodded, for he was glancing her way now.
"So, why don't we just have him open another one....
If he can."
She finished her words while looking directly at Kyle..
almost as if she doubted that he could.
“Well maybe since I don’t know where the hell Jerium Prime is!!!”
Kyle screamed, he really was starting to regret getting on this team.
"I may be able to find this place, we can use the Dragon Star to
get there, and I think I know how to get there." Pyro
fought his own inclinations to tell them about the strang
half-destroied computer, with the strange Dimentional
Navigation Charts and This D-Jump system he then built into
the Dragon Star.
"How?" Kyle asked.
"It don't matter" Pyro shrugged it off and left.
EMBRYA
Zelda shrugged as Entropy left, guessing they'd work on
their problems tomorrow..or whenever, it was hard to tell
whether it was night or even the middle of the day down in
this cave. "Well, good night..or whatever.." she said and
fell alseep on the cave floor, using her bag of reagents as
a pillow.
Entropy grows back to his full height, looking back at
the two of them. "Anyway, when we get back, I get to kill
Kyle. After what he did to me, not to mention UA, I want
him to suffer, and he's gonna be begging for me to kill him
once I get done."
Zelda woke to the sound of Entropy's voice, she looked up,
and when he was done said, "Kill him? Isn't that...a little
serious? Can't you give him another chance? Please?"
CRYSTALLIA
"Okay, people. Whatever we're gonna do, we're gonna do it
now. Nity, suggestions?" asked Kyle, he was getting annoyed
he didn’t feel like going on some damned goose chase for some
kind of staff. He Knew he could take the topic off their minds
with a mere psi-tampering, he kept that in mind.
"I say we go with Pyro's plan it is probably are only chance
sense you dont know where to set a portal to" Nity replies.
“What is Pyro’s plan?”
“I don’t know I guess he will tell us when he gets back...Pyro?”
"Good. You all do that. Me, I found a nice--ladies bar, if
y'know what I mean. Nity, you take th' point. Me, I'm
gonna party!" Kyle flies off into some direction, leaving
the CFs in Nity's command.
"Okay bye Kyle have a good time while we work are butts off"
Nity yells to Kyle with a smile even though he knows he
should be mad at Kyle for some reason Nity just cant be
along with the rest of the CFs.
"Are you just going to let that jerk leave, he is supposed
to be leader" says Ryliann somewhat confuzed at the way the
CFs act towards Kyle. There is something wrong with all of
this she thinks.
"Oh that Kyle he is a swell guy isnt he" says Ganthet.
"What does this guy have some spell cast on you guys or is
he blackmailing you somehow" asks Ryliann.
"Oh Kyle would never do anything to hurt us or be mean to
us" replies Nity.
+Maybe I need to investigate deeper into this+ Thinks
Ryliann.
Pyro came back with the downloaded odd star charts, “Everybody
start packing your bags, I’m going to go get the Dragon Star ready.”
CHAPTER 5
Zealen looked and saw Zelda sleeping on the floor. "I Don't
need sleep now, I only need to sleep once per human year."
He placed his hands on his temples, and then walked out of
the cave entrance. His six Robotic arms acted like secondary
support as he climbed down. His sensors picked up a few
lifeforms earlier, and he decided to investigate. He saw a
crack in the cliff and ripped it open. There he saw a large
Zerg Ultralisk, looking right back at him. "Oh crap"It
rammed into him, knocking him back, his robotic arms barely
keeping him supported. He climbed up wicked fast and entered
the cave again. He stuck his head outside and saw the
Ultralisk climbing up. "UM, GUYS! This isn't a NATURAL CAVE!
IT'S A ZERG NEST!" Zelda stood up and started getting her
stuff together. "And thats not a mouse hole, thats a Larva
Cave!" One of his robotic arms reached in and pulled out
Entropy. He Grabbed Zelda, and engaged his Feet placed
Rockets, and flew out. The Ultralisk, in surprise, let go and fell into
the water below.
Just as Zealen landed on the other side cliff, large Zerg
Tentacals wrapped up the whole cliff, as it slipped into the
cave.
CRYSTALLIA
“Okay we will meet you there at 0900 hours” Nity said
as Pyro ran off.
Krakken rose slowly to his feet, brushing dust off of
his knees, "I have something that I have to do. If I don't
come back, just... go without me, or something."
"Look, I said 0900 hours. Exactly what do you think is
that important?"
Krakken shook his head like a boar trying to shake off
gnats, "It's okay. You don't have to come along."
"You could at least tell-- dammit! Don't do this.
Don't try to be the lone wolf, it gets you nowhere."
Nity was right, there was no reason why the others
shouldn't be in on it. But pride and shame governed Krakken
too harshly; there was no turning back now, "I'm going
alone, thank you."
The mammoth crystal man simply nods. All warriors had their
own private battles to be fought, and now was Kraken's time.
For now, he had rituals to perform. before every battle of
great importnace, certain things had to be done. The rescue
of one's friends feel into that catigory. He'd pray to the
Warrior Gods, and ask for success on this mission. "I," he
rumbles, "will not be available for the next two hours, do not
disturb me then. I have certain reituals to perform, that
must not be interupted. To do so, would bring the wrath of
the Warrior Gods."
Unknown to them, UA (evil) watches from a distance as they all
separate to their own ways.
~I missed most of it, but it looks as if at 0900 hours
they'll be doing something that may be worth MY while. And
my wimpy other is no where to be seen. Guess they finally
got smart. Either way, I'm coming with them. And when I
do, I'll be sure to kill them all.~
EMBRYA
"Ok, quick transit out, incoming!" Entropy shifts around
again, his form flowing around the two of them and forming a
small aircraft. Entropy's face appears out of a computer
screen. "This should get us somewhere safe, but I can't
stay in any form longer than 8 hours. And it'd make sense
why they're here, this place probably has clones from all
across the universe. Anyway, where to? I can give you as
much advice as possible, and I might be able to protect us
from the Zerg. I can't promise anything, though."
"Where to? Hey..do you think you can get us back to
Crystalia and the rest of the CFs or is that too much to
hope for?" Zelda asked Entropy.
"Well, um, lemme think for a second. I could probably use a
piece of me to make a UA-esque teleportal, but I might not
be able to recover it." Suddenly, a mechanical hand reaches
out and pulls a button from the control panel. "Ah, what's
a button." Shifting back into his original form as they set
down, Entropy takes the button, now a small sphere of
puttylike substance, and throws it to the ground. It
instantly turns into a teleportal on contact with the
ground. "This might work, and if it does, I'm sure every
intergalactic religion will regard this as a miracle. Also,
when we get back, I'll tag along, but don't let anyone,
especially Kyle or Tala, know I'm there. It's important."
With that, he jumps up on Zealen's back, immediately
shapeshifting into the back of his suit. Finally, the three
jump in.
CHAPTER 6
Breathing raggedly, Krakken ran, ignoring the pain in
his side. He could use his wind powers to heighten his
speed, but his body could only take the stress for so long.
'The ruins. I'm sure I saw it in there, when they... it
has to be in there.'
A mid-sized teleportal opens, and out are thrown Zelda and Zealen.
Entropy, as a small module on Zealen's back armor, suddenly beeps. As
Zealen takes the panel off, a message is displayed on its
screen:
Remember, don't blow my cover! Just try and plant me in
Tala's room and I think I can handle the rest. If Kyle
shows up, try and let me know so I can set him up well
enough. Thanks.
EMBRYA
A shadowy fgure watches as the Originals jump through the
teleportal.
By the code of the Clones he knows he must kill the
Originals. He sprints and leaps through the portal just as
it closes. Before he can make it through the portal it
collapses around him and he finds himself thrown into the
crossecting dimension where all dimensions meet and run into
each other. He plummets from the sky towards New York City.
(Continued in Crystal Fighter Story Special #1: The Journey Home)
CRYSTALLIA
Tala is seated within a circle of green and red candles,
preparing herself for whatever they are to face this time.
Nobody has come up yet, to say that everyone is ready, so
she waits. Her eyes are closed, and she can hear her father
speaking to her, telling her about a certain spell that his
crystal can preform. Hopefully it will be of help. A slight
noise catches her attention, and her eyelids flicker open.
Tala glances to the door, her father's voice fading from
her mind. She sees nothing though, and her brows furrow in
thought.
After Zelda and Zealen read the panel, Zelda asked for it.
No one was around, they must all be in there rooms she figured.
Oh..where's Tala? I'd like to go talk to her.." she said and
then walked to Tala's room "Tala? Are you there?" she asked
after knocking .
Tala hears the knocking on her door, and guesses that someone was
finally coming to get her. She opens the door, then blinks
in shock and surprise as she sees Zelda.
"Wha..how..why..How'd you get back!"
Gives her a quick hug, then checks her over, thinking she's
dreaming. Then grins wryly. "I missed something, didn't I?"
Suddenly, the small hand-held computer screen Entropy
currently is beeps again. Zelda quickly pulls it out,
reading it to herself:
Ok, now that you've probably got her attention, just try
and get her to hang onto me for a while. That should give
me enough time. I'm going to erase this the second you let
go of me, so good luck.
"What's that?" Tala asks.
"Actually..it was all so fast..I'm not sure where I was...I
think someone brought us back..but maybe Zealen..." she
shook her head, "I really don't know. Oh..by the way..could
you keep this safe? Not in a hiding place though..just keep
it with you, okay? I'm not quite sure what it is.." Zelda
said, wondering how much Entropy wanted her to reveal to
Tala, she hoped she wouldn't have to lie..the few times she
had it was very obvious. So far she really had told the
truth. She left to find the others.
Krakken ran to the mouth of the ruins he and Nity had
discovered. He shivered, cold and fear wracking his body.
The CFs had cleaned the place out, of course, if just for
the sake of safety. But still...
Trying not to slip on the moss-covered floor, Krakken
searched for the room where he had discovered it. He had...
seen... it when he had the poison flowing through his veins;
at the time thinking it was a hallucination. But now,
with all of this Jerium Prime stuff going on...
'Damn, I almost missed it! Focus, Krakken, focus!'
Krakken crawled gingerly through a niche in the stone wall,
fearful of the rough edges. The last time, his sides were
scraped so badly... 'No! That wasn't me, it was some sort
of halluccination. I'm not even sure if it's real.'
Dropping softly to the floor, he found himself in a small,
dimly lit room... just like it had been while the poison
burned away...
A grin lighted Krakken's careworn features, "The box!
There it is!"
Zelda returned back downstairs to find everyone else gatherd with Zealen
who had just finished telling them what happened as best he could without
mentioning Zealen.
“It’s great to see your okay” Nity said and hugged Zelda.
"I have to keep it with me?" musement laces Tala’s tone.
"I wonder what this is called.." She frowns thoughtfully,
studying it, then shrugs, slipping it into a pocket.
She follows Zelda down stairs.
Just after Zelda and the others have left, Entropy(Still a
panel) beeps. Tala takes it our, taking a look at it.
"Just what is this thing, anyway?" she says. Immediately,
it flows out of her hand, reverting to a liquid state. It
then reforms into Entropy's normal human-like form. "Hello,
Tala."
Tala takes a step back, blinking slightly at seeing Entropy stand
before her. And from a panel..thing..she furrows her brows
slightly. "Entropy...", she cants her head.
This was a new one. What to say to someone that you assumed
was dead? Then she figured why he was here. She reached into
her pocket again, and pulled out the pendent, and then held
it out to him.
"I..I'm guessing you're here for this?"
"Damn straight, he is." Kyle says, flying in and levitating
the pendent into his hand. "But don't mean he's gettin' it.
Turncoats aren't welcome here, bub."
"Hey, that's Tala's!" Zelda said defensivly as she came back to
check on Tala, +Sort of anyway.+ she added mentally and for Entropy
she said, "At least give him time to explain."
Tala frowns slightly.
"I don't believe I invited you into *my* room. Leader or
not, you have no right...to just bardge in."
Glances to Zelda as she speaks, then looks back at Kyle,
and holds out her hand for the pendent.
"Now, if you please..I would like it back."
"Forget it, toots! I should get rid o' ya just like I did
U--er, yer friend here. 'Sides, I knew he'd come t'you.
Dunno why, an' I don't care. Let's go, traitor. You an'
me!"
"Fine!" Entropy pulls his sword and charges at Kyle. Kyle
knocks him back with a TK blast. He lands on the dresser,
destroying it. He tries again, but this time Kyle nabs him
in a mind chain.
"Time t'erase yer mind."
"NO!" Tala shouts. She punches Kyle accross the face. He
looses his hold. He grabs her arm and pulls her close.
"We're gonna have a talk later, you an' me. 'Bout RESPECT!"
He flings her onto the bed, snapping its legs. Entropy
jumps at him again. This time Kyle opens a portal. Entropy
falls in.
"So-long, loser."
"KYLE!" Zelda shouts.
"Shaddap. Y'got no right t'be mad with me. 'Cause ~this
never happened~." Zelda and Tala looked dazed.
"W-what happened?" Tala asks.
"I'm not sure. Sounded like a fight, an' when I came
t'help, everything was as it is."
"Weird." Zelda says. She and Tala leave.
"I agree." Kyle says, following with an evil grin.
The mammoth crystal man, Ganthet, had seen all of this. It only
confirmed what he believed: Kyle was not their rightful
leader. But he remembered no other...or did he? He was
over 1400 years old, that gave him immence retention. And
Kyle did not act like a leader should....he had no honor.
He couldn't believe he'd follow such a man.
“Zealen” Nity says to their returned member.
“What Nitpick?”
“We need to know more about this Jerium Prime, with this place falling
apart it may be are only hope”
Zealen looks confused at that “I don’t know what your talking about”
“But..but you told Krakken, and the book was in your language”
“I have been gone I could’nt have told him anything”
“No, it was just as you were falling you sent a psi-projection into
his mind!”
“Well I wasn’t the messenger Nity”
“Well then who the hell was!?!?!?”
Tala walks out ahead, wondering who had been fighting. Not
her and Zelda, she knew that much. Besides, her arm was
beginning to hurt, and she knew that Zelda wouldn't have
done that to her. So it left one person. Kyle. Even he
hadn't done it. She knew that he had something..didn't he?
She glanced sideways, and saw a pendent. For some reason,
she felt that it was important..although she had no idea who
it belonged to. So she slowed down a bit, and waited a
second, blocking Kyle from moving forward. As he looked at
her, crossly..or maybe, he just looked at her, she grinded
the heel of her boot onto his toe. He yelped in pain, and
his hold on the pendent broke. She snatched it, then took
off down the hallway, brushing by Zelda. She took a few
turns, having no idea where she was. Oh god, how she hoped
she was right in thinking this thing was hers. Or else, she
was gonna pay. And pay big.
Zelda looked at the retreating form of Tala quizzically,
+Why in the world did she....?+ "Umm...I'm going to go after
Tala..if that's all right?" Zelda asked Kyle as she started
after Tala, for some reason her consience told her Tala was
right, why, she didn't know, she also had no idea what she
could do about it, probably nothing.
Krakken lifted the small metal box in his hand an
examined it. It was, or rather "would have been", green
with a tiny clasp. At first glance, it wasn't locked, but
it was so rusted shut that it didn't really matter.
Tightening the muscles in his blue fingers, Krakken tried to
open it...
CHAPTER 7
Tala, assuming that someone is following her, she phases into
the wall to the left of her, then half-turns, watching the
hallway, looking to see if anyone is coming. Not seeing
anyone for the moment, she looks to the pendent she holds so
tightly. "You are going to get me into some trouble, I bet.
I just hope you, or whoever you belong to..is worth it."
Hearing footsteps, she falls silent, then spots Zelda
hurrying down the hallway. Just as she is about to pass her
by, she steps out of the wall, hoping she didn't scare her.
"Is Kyle any where around?"
After asking, she places a small spell around the pendent,
cloaking it in such a way, that it cannot be taken from her
by any form. No one can get it, except who is the proper
owner, and perhaps, not even then.
She waits a moment, then sighs.
"Zelda..if I've gotten us into any trouble..I'm sorry ahead
of time."
"That's all right Tala...I don't know, but that felt
right...though I think we may have created a bit of a
problem..." she said, then she winced, "Was that mutiney?
Umm..I have no idea what we're going to do..Though under the
circumstances I think we might need to get out of here,
before Kyle comes...though where can we possibly go?
Dissonance..I sure wish I could create a Moongate..."
Rupay forms out of Zelda's mind. ''I know of a place, and Im
sure Eme wouldnt mind me telling you two. No one else knows
of it and its impossible to find unless you know how
to...there arent any documents that tell of the place
either.'' After getting their attention. ''There is a
seperate secret passageway in the castle. And it leads to a
comfy room where Eme hides her most valuable of things and
herself if need be....If you promise not to speak a word of
this to anyone, Ill tell you.''
“All right Rupay, lead the way.” Zelda said thankfully.
Pyro comes out of his lab, getting a seriously bad feeling
about what was going on. "Kyle," Was the only thing that
came to mind. He started thinking as he looked for the
others "That guy is so obnoxious. Anyone else I'd have
ripped his face off, but for some reason I can't even think
about attacking him. That's way too weird. Maybe it's time
we learned more about our 'friend' Kyle"
Eme looked up from her papers once again, getting the same
strange feeling she got before. This time, she decided to
act on it and left her office.
After Zelda and Tala promised not to speak, and try not
to even think, of where Rupay took them, Rupay led them
toward the secret passage.
Suddenly Zelda halted Rupay and Tala, "Wait lets go get Zealen he can
help us".
"Where is he"
"He went back to his room when we got back" replied Zelda.
"Well okay but lets hurry I got a real bad feeling about all
this" says Tala.
The three run through the castle finally arriveing at
Zealen's room.
They go in to find Zealen siting at a desk reading.
"Come on you need to come with us" says Tala.
"Wait I have to figure this out" replies Zealen.
"There is no time"
"Are lives depend on it"
"What are you talking about" asks Zelda.
"I am trying to figure out why my psi powers are destroying
Crystallia" Zealen said with a hint of shame in his voice.
"You are the cause of Crystallia falling apart" asks Tala in
a whisper.
"I am afraid so, for some reason my psi powers are affecting
Crystallia but I cant figure out why it is like they are
being manipulated"
"You cant just contain your psi powers?" asks Rupay.
"It’s just not that easy"
Suddenly a figure shimmers into existence in front of them,
it is Sentinei.
The four CFs jump back slightly startled.
"It is okay, it is I Sentinei the Demi-God of Protection" he says in a
monotone voice "I have sent a psi projection to speak with
you, maybe for the last time"
"What is it" asked Zelda.
"Well Zealen is right his psi powers are being manipulated"
"By who" Zealen says furiously.
"By the Ealians, they have taken control of your psi powers
to create chaos, they are also the ones who manipulated the
Zerg powers earlier and tore your world apart".
"But why" asks Zelda confused, they hadn’t done anything to
these Ealians.
"For chaos, they live off it just like the Vile"
"How do we stop them" asks Zealen.
"You cant they are in the heavens, I must battle them, but
you can help. The Ealians get there strength from chaos,
they have lived off the Vile's chaos but since you have
depleted there numbers they have begun to lose their power
therefore they have started createing their own chaos"
"But how do we help" asks Rupay.
"You can help by stopping the chaos, there is going to be a
war on Crystallia, a big one envolving the Vile, the
Darkens, and you Crystal Fighters. I need you to try and
deplete their numbers before the war begins. The Vile are
strong but they lack in numbers. The Darkens are weak and
there are not many, but their new leader is very powerful.
Maybe more then McTorn, you have faced this person before
and defeated him but don’t get cocky, I will try to send to
you the one person who has defeated the Darken's new leader.
And if I fail then you must reach Jerium Prime as
has been said and recover the staff to restore Crystallia before it
will have been destroyed" then the psi projection dissapears.
The four of them look at each other and cycle the
information through their heads.
"I sense Kyle nearing" says Tala.
"Get us to the secret passage way Rupay" Zelda says.
CHAPTER 8
'No. Not now, it's not right.' Krakken stopped
opening the box, slipping it smoothly into his pocket. I
just need to get this back to the castle safely.
Rupay leads them through the castle, into the basement
and into the dark down there, going even further down and then
up a winding stair case and eventually leads them to a
furnished living room. ''Here we are.''
ISLE OF MYST
Zaria sighed as she looked out across her isle, the isle of
Myst, or as the undereducated called it, the Isle of the
Mists. She would soon have to leave here, maybe to never
return. She was not ready for the end, her business was
still unfinished, all of it. It seemed something new came
up everytime she was about ready to end this life of work.
Despite how she outwardly felt, inside she wouldn't trade
her life for anything, if she had been able to she never
would have gotten this far. Zaria stared into the milky-red
depths of the liquid flowing around inside the cup in front
of her. +Well..here I go..+ she thought as she drank it.
After that she scrutinized the space atop a hill near
the waterfall for a few seconds. Then, with a thought, a
blue spark appeared, it spun and expanded for a few seconds
until finally it formed an oval shaped whirling blue vortex,
a Moongate. She timed it so that the Moongate would vanish
within a few seconds of its making, so hurriedly she walked
through it.
A Moongate formed next to Sentinei just after he spoke with
Tala and the others, "I felt something was up." she said,
knowing he'd need no more explanation than that, higher
mystics (including demi-gods) were like that, "Would you by
chance like some company for this venture?"
"Witches. Better hope y'miss th' fun." Kyle mutters,
finishing wrapping up his broken toe. He heads to his room
and slams the door.
"Bye Ryliann, I'll be back in a bit!" Zarina said, rushing
out of the room while Ryliann was explaining something to
her. Ryliann sighed, by now accustomed, but still annoyed at
Zarina's ways. Zarina had spontaniously (or maybe not)
decided to go see some of the CFs, but as she walked through
the halls she saw no one. Well, not exactly no one, she
caught a glimse of Kyle muttering to himself about something
She stayed out of his way, she had the oddest
feeling about him that pestered her every once in a while.
Tala glances around the secret room, thankful that she hadn't had to get
here on her own. She would have been lost within a few
minutes. Frowns thoughtfully, then glances to Zelda.
"So, what do we do from here?"
THE WOODS
The rest of the CF's were in the secret part of the woods
where Pyro kept the DragonStar hidden. It seemed as they had
been there for hours. Some sat in the ship some sat outside
and some past back and forth and Kisutsu actually slept
while Pyro worked feverishly with the ships computer to
locate Jerium Prime and to get information on it. Nity sat
at his side assisting Pyro as much as he could.
Then the red light started to beat and flash.
"*($&" said Pyro.
"The distress signal from the castle!!" says Nity.
"Come on CF's lets book it back to the Castle" yells Nity
takeing command.
Stumbling in his haste, Krakken rushed into the
clearing, finding only the Dragonstar. Where *were* they?
CHAPTER 9
The CFs finally arrive at what seems to be a deserted
castle.
"Where is everyone" asks Maia.
"I don’t know keep your eyes open" says Nity.
"There is probably someone in the control room that is where
they can activate the distress call" suggest Pyro.
"Lets go then"
They arrive in the control room but no one is to be found.
The distress signal flashes on the equipment.
"Dammit who turned this on" says Nity.
"I dont know the only ones that were still here when we left
were Tala and Eme"
Suddenly another light begins to bleep on an electronic map
of Crystalia.
"Whats that?" asks Nity.
Pyro walks over to the map "There is a ship approaching"
"Who is it"
Pyro begins to push buttons and type in something when there
is a hum and the whole system shuts down.
"What the heck?" asks Maia.
"&*($( there some kinda *(^&&*%^ power outage" says Pyro
"now we wont know who the hell is in that ship"
"It could be help" says Kisutsu.
"Yeah and it could be an enemy" says Nity "just encase, get
ready to fight"
TO BE CONTINUED......
Next: What ship is approaching. Is it friend or foe. What
shall become of Kyle. And what about Sentinei's fight in the
heavens. And the CFs welcome back an old friend. All in "Dissention Within"
Places you can float to...
- Back to the main Island
-
- Next Story
- CF #18: Dissention Within