.
''I appreciate your help.'' says Dolomite.
''With the Vile and the Dark Empire combining forces the
Crystal Fighters wont stand a chance.'' the grim smile reveals
the pearl white teeth that have tasted blood on many
occasions.
Dolomite laughs and Brakis continues to grin as his master
plan for the Dark Empire to conquer the Universes rolls into
effect.
THE LAB
''Do it,'' rumbles Ganthet. ''It matters not if I die, so long
as I die for a just cause.''
''Okay. Hit it.'' Pyro throws down a big lever and
electricity begins flaring from all around. The plugs
attatched to Ganthlet begin to fill his body with power. He
can feel the power pulsating within him. ''Give me level
10!'' UA shouts.
''10?! That may kill him!'' Pyro shouts.
''That may be our best shot!'' UA shouts. Pyro hesitates.
Though he knows UA knows probably more than he does about
this stuff, psionics still is an unknown field to all
scientists. He finally turns the dial to 10. After a few
more minutes, Pyro throws the switch again. UA checks a
clipboard and checks things off with a pen.
Energy can be seen swirling around inside Ganthlet's crystal
body.
''Now, Ganthlet, before you speak, remember your vibrations
are practically tripled in intensity. You use those
vibrations to speak. If you try to talk normally, it may
have destructive results. So for now, I want you to do your
equivalent to a human whisper. Try it.''
''...How's that?'' Ganthlet asks.
''Good. Try to refrain from yelling or battle calls until
you fully adjust.'' He nods. ''Now, the test. Kyle!'' Kyle
walks in, grumbling.
''Yeah...boss?''
''Hit Ganthlet here with your most powerful shot. I mean
100% psionic energy. No holding back. I want your end of
the world, destruction of all life as we know it shot.''
''I got it, I got it.'' Ganthlet sits up and UA and Pyro walk
behind a protective shield errected.
''Go!'' Kyle steps back to the wall and braces himself. His
eyes begin to glow a brighter yellow than ever, and then--a
bright white light appears. UA and Pyro shield their eyes. Then,
it's gone. Kyle falls to his knees, his clothes ripped and
blown off in various places. He pants and wipes blood from
his mouth. But across the room stands Ganthlet in front of
destroyed machinery. He examines himself. No damage what
so ever. UA and Pyro step out and examine him. UA looks
more shocked than anyone.
''It--it worked! IT WORKED! SON OF A GUN, IT WORKED! YEAH!
ALRIGHT!'' He starts to dance around. Kyle walks over to
Pyro.
''W-what's with him?''
''Oh, he just has a touch of the NOBEL PRIZE bug scientists
tend to get.'' Pyro says. Finally calming down (but not
much), UA walks over to Ganthlet.
''Now, I want you to head to the practice room I built in the
sub-basement and practice focusing your energy outward.''
MEANWHILE
''What we need to do is to figure out how my other will try
to beat our new alliance.'' UA says to Phyllite.
''Any ideas?''
''Not a one.'' Lady Darkness walks in.
''Dolomite wants to see you, UA.''
''Right.'' UA heads out to meet their new partner.
THE CASTLE
Maia glances to Eme.
''Where's Zelda...? And everyone else? I was looking around
for them..I guess I still don't know the castle well
enough.''
Eme sighs having another distraction. ''I don't know...maybe
she went with others to where UA sent them. I wasn't paying
attention.'' and with that she bursts into a run, so she doesn't
get distracted again and hopefully makes it to her
bedroom this time. ~Who cares about the office.~ She thinks.
THE LAB
Entropy arrives at the tower, noticing the destruction and
Kyle's condition. ''What the hell happened here?'' Pyro
suddenly notices his entrance.
''You! You sonava &^)&*(%^&*%^&%!!!!!!!!!!!!'' It takes
the efforts of both UA and Ganthet to hold him back.
Entropy backs up against the far wall, as far away from Pyro
as possible. ''I just came to tell you, I know another way
for us to fight Kyle, that is, the other Kyle.'' He then
looks back at Kyle, still in a lump at another wall. ''Or,
defiance providing, this one.'' He suddenly pulls off a
globule of his matter, shaping it into a huge cannon. ''I
was thinking, since I'm a fluidic being, and unaffected by
psionics, that a weapon either coated with my material or
made from it would essentially be lethal to him. Pyro, I
thought you could use this on one of your battle rigs or
whatever you call them. I already gave Tala a dagger with
my blood on it, that and what just happened should be plenty
to deal with either Kyle.'' Also, I was looking through what
all's been happening while I was gone. UA, you know that
staff Phyllite had in the alternate universe?''
''Yeah. What about it?''
''It's called the staff of Jerium prime. She may have it
here.''
''What?!'' Ganthet asks, struggling to keep his voice to
a whisper.
''That staff's essential to healing this planet. It's
dying, UA. And it will unless we can get that staff. If
Phyllite has it...''
''Then we gotta go get it back.'' UA says.
''Back when I was working for her, I memorized the floor
plan. I may be able to get in, find Phyllite, get the
staff, and get out, so long as a distraction is provided.''
''And I'm guessing that's where we come in?''
''Yep.''
''Ter freakin' riffic.'' UA grumbles. ''Get Eme. I need to
talk to her. Ganthlet, get down to the room. Pyro, come
with me.''
''Right.'' They all go their ways. Pyro and UA follow
Entropy out of the tower, Pyro cursing under his breath.
''What's everyone so sore about?'' UA asks in a whisper.
''I'll tell you what! That little ##$@#_)* dragged us to his
homeworld only to betray us to the Vile.''
''Ah. Well, we've had our share of adventures getting here.
He's back on our side for sure.''
''I don't think so.'' They walk into the castle.
Finding Eme not in her office Entropy checks
her bedroom and finds her. Sighing Eme complies and follows
him to UA.
THE COURTYARD
Nity tosses everyone a jousting stick and tells them to pick
a partner and begin excerciseing.
Zelda looked at the jousting stick, ''What in the universes
~is~ this and what do we do with it?'' she asked in
confusion. ''Can I just practice my magic or something? Rupay
would you like to pratice together?''
''Actually Zelda, jousting would be better to practice
because we don't always have our powers, depending on the
situation. And it would be could for me on training my ears
for physical battle. Don't go easy on me. Jousting is when
you fight with sticks and not swords. You use both hands.''
Rupay does a solo demonstration. ''Got it?''
''Umm..I guess so..'' Zelda says a bit nervously, trying to get
a feel for the balance in her own stick.
ELSEWHERE
''What's up?'' Eme asks as she walks in.
''We may have a slight situation on our hands. I need you to
get all the Crystalians on stand-by. They can teleport off
the planet, right? So I want them ready to go at a moments
notice. That also goes for you.''
''What's this situation?''
''Nothing important. Just...want to be ready if my idea
doesn't work against that new Kyle.'' UA says.
''I'll send messengers out now.'' She leaves. The other two
turn to UA.
''Why didn't you tell her?'' Entropy asks.
''No sense worrying yet. We have to investigate this matter
further before we start a global panic.''
''I got it.'' Pyro says. ''But doesn't she have a right to
know?''
''Not yet. Trust me on this. If UA finds out what's going
on, he may want to utilize it to his advantage. That's why
I need you to head to the catacombs found in the woods.
They lead to the center of the planet. Take some readings.''
''Right.'' He heads out.
''What about the rest of us?'' Entropy asks.
''Get the CFs in the main hall. I think it's time we finally
make a first strike.''
As they're walking Pyro looks at UA and comments ''All I know,
is that Kyle's gonna get a good dose of what this arm can
do,'' Pyro lifts the cybernetic arm, ''And if I have the
slightest reason to, Entropy gets it too.''
''Will you give it a rest!'' Entropy snaps, scowling at
Pyro. ''I betrayed you, I admit that. At least be glad I'm
helping you now, or UA never would have gotten back! You
have your own problems to deal with. Let me deal with
mine.'' Sufficiently silenced, Pyro grumbles and heads off
towards the others, all of which are similarly suspicious.
EME'S OFFICE
Eme doesn't send messangers out but does what she did last
time, and telepathicaly tells the Crystallians about going
through the portal to Earth and to change their forms to
humans. Remembering
what UA said about herself going she says to herself. ''HA!
If he thinks I'm going to desert my planet and the CFs just
because he says so and I love him....he has another thing
coming to him.''
ELSEWHERE
Later Entropy rushes about, gathering all the CFs and
getting them to the assembly. However, UA and Eme are not
to be found. ''Just as well, I guess.'' Entropy says quietly
to himself, then rises from his seat and calls the attention
of the others. ''Ok, folks. I know you don't trust me, and
I know you can't forgive what I've done. But even so,
listen to me. I looked through what's been happening while
UA and I were gone, and I found your entries on the staff of
Jerium prime, how you couldn't find it on the planet. I may
know why.''
''Oh, how'd you find out this information? Talk with some
old friends?'' Pyro says, adding an extra barb to the last
phrase.
''I think Phyllite may have it.'' Almost instantly,
choruses of ''What?'' ''How?'' and ''Damn it!'' echoed through
the hall. ''Listen, everyone. I may not know what UA's plan
is, but I think we may have to split up into 3 groups. The
first will be a combat force, to go to the Vile castle and
attack them, while I get in and find Phyllite. If she
doesn't have the staff, then the second group, a search
party, will go back to Jerium prime and continue looking.
The third group will defend the castle should the Vile take
advantage of us being spread so thin.''
''And who appointed the traitor to lead?'' Pyro interjects
again. Entropy says nothing. He simply walks up to Pyro,
sighs, and punches him in the jaw, knocking him to the
floor. ''I am getting really SICK of EVERYONE calling me
that!!'' He sneers again. ''I'm a shapeshifter, remember?
All I would have to do is shift into your weaknesses to kill
you all a long time ago. I'm trying to leave this in the
past. The least you could do is try it yourselves.''
''Entropy, Pyro! Calm down, please! It's in the past, okay?
We need all the help we can get! Besides, his Crystal hasn't
rejected him so he is still officially a Crystal Fighter.''
Zelda said, trying to get something down without any more
arguing.
THE LAB
UA grabs a few things from what's left of his lab when he
runs into Kyle.
''Aren't you supposed to be in the hall with the others?'' he
asks.
''Listen up, bub, I may be th' newest guy here, but I'm also
th' toughest. I c'n wipe you out with a thought. So, don't
cross me, bub.'' Kyle sneers.
''Listen, bub, I've been meaning to talk to you about your--
immense power.'' He heads over to a computer and accesses
the tower lab computer. Data tables come up.
Kyle skims a paragraph. ''When you super blasted Ganthlet, I read
something strange on your brain wave patters from the
automatic medical monitors.'' He types in a key code with
one hand and up comes a human body scale with the brain
highlighted. A few more key strokes brings up a magnified
view of the upper cerebellum. While the brain is in yellow,
there's a spot in black.
''What th' hell?''
''Psi-potent people can utilize more parts of their brain
than a normal human in your case. But sometimes, they have
more power than can be maintained by their body or brains--''
''Get t'th' point!''
''You're dying, Kyle. The more you use your full power, the
faster you go.''
''W-what....'' He plops on a chair.
''You have too much power. You're too young to fully control
it. It's eating you alive. If you keep your abilities to
low level telepathy and telekinetic feats, you should be
able to prolong your life, but it won't stop the ingestion
of your brain. In fact, all the recent events contributed
to shortening your life span.''
''How long?''
''If you keep using your full power, I say about 23. If you
stick to low level, you'll be well passed middle age.''
Kyle, for once, is speachless. ''I'm sorry. Look, you can
sit this mission out if you want.''
''I-I'll be right there.'' UA nods and walks out while
putting a hand on his shoulder. He leaves Kyle to his
thoughts.
LATER
In the hallway, UA bumps into Eme.
''Er, hi, Eme.''
''UA.''
''We're holding a meeting. You coming?''
''I'll walk with you.''
''Great.'' They start down the hall in silence. Eme decides
to break it.
''UA, we need to talk...about us.''
''Eme, now's not the time.''
''When is the time?!''
''Look, right now, my only concern is beating UA to the punch
for once. For the time, there is no 'US'. And if I don't
beat this new Kyle, then there will never be an 'US'.'' They
walk into the hall. Eme takes her chair at the head of the
table, while UA walks to the empty space. He puts down some
machinery.
''This is a variation of the compass I had made before I came
here. (remember that whole Vampire fiasco?) I think we can
most definately throw the Vile's Kyle back to his own
dimension, or limbo, by using this, our Kyle's knowledge of
dimension classifications, and this.'' UA opens a teleportal
and pulls out the Crystal of Balance. ''This is a smaller,
dimensional version of the Crystal that started my whole
dimensional predicament. I got this from a guy named Gorgon
with the help of Entropy. By using this, I can transcend
dimensions and send that Kyle, and possibly UA packing. Did
you get that, Ganthlet?'' UA asks to the intercom. From the
training room, he answers.
''I heard it.''
''Good. Now, what we'll need to do is break up into three
groups. One will have to be the strike force that destracts
the Vile and bigger baddies. One will search the Vile lair
for Phyllite who possibly possesses a staff we need for an
experiment, and another will--why is everyone laughing?'' He
looks around as everyone but Eme laughs.
''Did we miss somthing?'' She asks.
''Uh, UA, Entropy gave us the same plan.'' Nity says, holding
back a laugh.
''Really?'' UA asks, looking at Entropy.
''I guess that leader stuff rubs off on you after a few
adventures together.'' Entropy put in grinning a little nervously.
''Well, that saves some time. Now, people, we have two
weapons against the Vile now. The compass and Ganthlet.
Pyro, I want your ship ready to fly in an hour. You will
take the majority of the CFs. Nity, Ganthlet, Entropy, Kyle
and T.I.M. will come with me in the Rebel Jet--Hey, where is
T.I.M.?''
''Right here.'' T.I.M. says, floating in. ''I had a slight
system problem, but I'm fine now.''
''Okay, good. In the meantime, I want the rest of you ready
to go. Dismissed.'' The CFs head off to prep themselves and
UA turns off the intercom. UA gathers his things when he
sees Eme still sitiing in her chair, looking at him and
twiddling her thumbs.
''Still not time, Eme.''
''When will it be time, UA?'' She asks, slamming her hands on
the table as she gets up. ''You've been avoiding me since
that day on the island. You have barely said a word to me.
Now, after being gone for weeks, you STILL have the nerve
not to talk to me?''
''Listen, I've got a job to do. You may be queen of this
planet or dimension or whatever the hell Crystalia is, but
you do NOT rule me. You said so yourself when we first met.
So don't presume to order me around because it's your world
I'm saving. I don't even need to be here! I've had plenty
of opportunities to go home.''
''So, why didn't you?''
''Because I'm an idiot, that's why. I'm a selfless,
over-caring, do-gooding IDIOT! And if I knew I'd have to go
through all this pressure with you, I'd never come back!''
''Fine. Maybe you shouldn't have.'' Eme storms out. UA
stares at the table for a while.
~Now, do you mean that?~ UA hears his head say. ~Do you
REALLY mean that?~
Of course not. I have a job to do. I probably couldn't
leave if I wanted to. I have tried.
~Wrenchler, are you sure all this pent-up agression and
anxiety isn't because of UA and the new Kyle, but because of
the face you may actually have feelings for Eme and are too
chicken to pursue them, or is it maybe because you don't
know how~
No, it's because of Kyle and UA.
~Now you're lying to YOURSELF. The past is past. Time to
move on.~
Maybe. But sometimes the past has lessons to teach. And
'tis better to learn the lessons than repeat the past.
~Touche`~
MEANWHILE
''Why do you always wait for him to find a way to beat you?''
Dolomite asks UA. ''Why not strike now?''
''Because I have a spy in the castle. And I like to give
them false hope. Especially since this time, they WILL
lose.'' UA says with a smile.
''They better, or else...''
''You'll just have to let me try again. Let's face it, you
need me.''
''We'll see about that. We'll see.''
Entropy sighs as he sits back down. ''Anyway, that's just
my plan for all this. Anyone else got any bright ideas?''
As the CFs walk away to go get ready Nity stops Zelda and
Krakken.
''Hey you guys I am going to appoinent you two as the
captians of the distraction mission.'' both of them nod ''Now
don't try anything fancy just keep them busy along enough for
the others to get there mission done. Just make sure no one
gets killed and you will do fine''
Zelda and Krakken both nod again and Nity gives them a
thumbs up then walks back to the assembly hall. Eme storms by.
~I wonder what's wrong with her..~ Nity thinks.
He walks up to UA who has his head on the table.
''You okay?''
''Uh yeah whats up?'' asks UA.
''Well since I didn't really get a chance before I wanted to
tell you I am glad to see you back, and to see Kyle with his
tail between his legs because of it.'' Nity and UA shake
hands.
''Just one thing--Do you think you can control Kyle or even
trust him at all especially with a misson like this?''
''Nity, though his intentions were off, believe it or not
Kyle is on our side. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
You, of all people, should know that. You were a
disgruntled hermit when we first met. The difference
between us and the Vile? We accept people for who they are,
not what they do. He and Entropy are both heroes.''
''Ah. And you're sure of this?''
''Nity, let me tell you a tale...'' He grabs his stuff, puts
one arm around Nity and they walk out. ''...a tale of heroes
and idiots who've been doing this stuff too long...''
After he finished speaking, they had made it back to the assembly hall, where
Entropy waited. ''Now get the hell down to the training hall
already.'' UA says, jokingly.
''Okay, okay, I'm going.'' As he leaves, UA turns to Nity and
gives him a look.
''Okay, okay. I got it. Geeze.''
THE LAB
Pyro had finshed the check of the DragonStar and was back
in his lab retrofitting his arm. ''This new 'blast' is gonna
work well.''
THE DINING HALL
''Well Krakken, do you have any ideas for this
distraction thing?'' Zelda asked.
''Okay, so we've got to find a way to attack/distract the
Vile and Phyllite at their lair? We need something without Crystal
power..Phyllite
somehow found a way to nullify that way back.. what about
holligrams or whatever those things are, though Phyllite and
Dolomite tend to use those a lot..they may have a way to
tell..hmm...''
''Hey Rupay..since you're from the dreamworld do you have any
ideas..maybe...is there some way to make part of the
Dreamworld visable on this plane? We'd have to use a pretty
small..hehe..oops..size doesn't matter too much there..
Well...a selected area so that we could focus it to appear
to them the same as we want it to appear to us..am I making
any sense? Is that even ~possible~? Or Krakken do you have
any ideas?''
Krakken pulled a small, rusted-shut box out of his
pocket, ''I think I have an idea.''
THE ASSEMBLY HALL
''Look boss, I may know more about the Vile than most of
you, but I'm not a 1-man army. I'll need 2 people to go
with me.'' Entropy said to UA after Nity left.
''Like who?''
''For one, Krakken. He's probably the fastest one here,
and speed is going to be essential to all this.''
''Okay, I'll check it with him. Who else?''
''Tala. Her crystals give her a good variety of powers,
and I don't know what kinds of modifications the Vile made
to their security systems since I was there. Not only that,
but she's good at negotiating. I'm guessing the Vile have a
good store of prisoners in there, and they may be desperate
once we free them.''
''What? You were just going to get the staff.''
''And let the castle go down in flames while innocent
people are in there? Come on, I'm not that grim.''
''Assuming it does go down in flames.''
''We have our technology and our tactics. It'll go down.''
''Okay then, I'll speak with her too.'' Entropy glances over
UA's shoulder for a second, as Eme leaves the hall. ''What
happened out there? I could hear someone yelling.''
''Don't worry about that. We need to prepare for all this.
''Gotcha, boss.'' With that, Entropy draws out his sword,
prominently displaying the thin black crystal hooked into
the pommel. It crackles with energy as he shows it to UA.
''What the...''
''Little gizmo I whipped up with the pendant. I call it an
auger crystal. It links up to any of our crystals and makes
them more powerful. Phyllite's definitely going to be
seeing stars if I hit her with anything, now.''
''Keep your ego down, for now. We still have to get there
unscathed.''
''Oh, I don't know, maybe...these could help...'' He then
digs into his pocket, pulling out a small handfull of auger
crystals. ''Admit it, I'm good for screwing up so much.''
''Not bad, I must say.''
''Even so, don't hook in more than one at a time. more
than one per crystal per person can start corrrupting the
crystals.''
''Corrupting them?''
''The Crystal will start turning black. Once it's
completely dark, it'll rot.''
''I didn't think inanimate objects could rot.''
''If you plug more'n one of these in, you will.'' He then
passes the augers off to UA. ''Distribute these among the
troops. Which reminds me, how are the what, 12 of us going
to do against the entire Vile army?'' He smirks a second. ''I
mean, do we nuke the place or just ask for an act of God?''
Tala leans against the wall, watching the two men speak quietly.
She is careful to make herself semi-solid, it would be a
problem if she fell into the wall and they saw her. Not
quite the best thing to do in front of one's leader.
She studied the auger crystals with interest. Those should
hopefully prove helpful for the others, who had to be the
distraction. As for herself, she wasn't worried. She moves from
her spot, so that way they know she's there before she
speaks.
''Hm?'' Entropy says, turning around. ''Oh, Tala. UA and I
were just discussing the plan. The thing is, you, me and
Krakken will be infiltrating the base, freeing the
prisoners, getting the staff and getting the hell out of
there hopefully before attracting too much attention.
''I heard.'' Tala states.
''Ok, then hook this up to one of your Crystals.'' Entropy
replies, handing her one of the augers. ''As we'll be in the
inner sanctum of the Vile lair, we'll need all the firepower
we can get.''
THE DINING HALL
''I'm a little confused at what you are asking Zelda.'' Rupay
says.
Main Island
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