Across
town, at that very hour, Andrew McAnirlin was tossing and turning in his
sleep, locked in a cross between a nightmare and night horrors. He awoke
in a cold sweat, sensing that there was something indeed wrong with the
cosmic balance. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked at his Orion
pen to see that the glow had dimmed greatly.
"This is a bad omen," he said, since it was
Alex who had helped him to turn over a new leaf and be one of the good
guys instead of always being possessed by the evil powers that be.
A nearby picture of him and Alex fell from its perch, the glass over Alex
shattering. He picked this up and said, "That is definitely a bad omen,
and I don't need a third to know that I need to be wherever he is, and
FAST!"
He quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed
a flashlight, and exited his room, running towards campus and the Gables
as quickly as he could. As he ran he activated the hidden microphone in
the head of the pen and turned on the transmitter.
"This is the Great Hunter calling any warriors
and sailor soldiers in the area. We have a warrior down. Repeat, we have
a warrior down!"
"This is the Twin Tornadoes. We read you Great
Hunter. Who's down and where are they?"
Andrew breathed a sigh of relief to hear Alison's and Alyssa's
voices in unison. "The Pyro Prince is down.... or so my suspicion says."
"This is Time Prince. Don't you mean Catboy
the Mighty? He stopped using the Pyro Prince handle ages ago."
"I wouldn't be too sure of that one, Time
Prince. However I need everyone who can be there to get there as quickly
as possible."
Several people yawned before Derek asked,
"Do you have any idea what time it is?"
The clock on T-hall chose that moment to chime
the hour. Once, twice, three times the bell tolled before an other worldly
scream filled the air, sending chills up and down the backs of whoever
heard it. Everyone on the other end of the transmission chose that moment
to log off and recoil under the covers. Andrew sighed, closed the transmitter,
and continued his breathless run across the campus.
As he reached the large parking lot that separated
the university from the Gables apartments, three forms caught up to him.
One turned out to be Darren, a second one Adderson, and the third a very
tired and somewhat cranky Cassi.
"This had better be damned important, McAnirlin!"
Cassi growled, brushing some of her fire engine red hair from her face,
"Because if it's not then I'm going to summon a Ragna blade and shove it
so far up your ass you won't be able to sit for a week. Either that or
I'll give you two black eyes and a high heel up the behind!"
"Don't mind her," Darren said as he restrained
Cassi from tearing Andrew apart, "You woke her out of a dream with Kevin
and AJ of the Backstreet Boys."
"And I'm damned pissed off about it!" Cassi
growled as she struggled to free herself, "They were proposing to me on
the French Riviera, and both in tuxedos!"
"I think this is more important than your
dream that will make Heather and Dawn drool," Adderson said as he took
his Universe pen from his pocket, "do we transform here and go charging
in, or wait to see what's going on to transform?"
A scream tore through the silence of the night
air, this one coming from the Gables, which was enough to answer any other
questions as the four leapt down the stairs to the parking lot below and
took off at a dead run to reach the apartments and the fields behind them.
As they reached the end of the parking lot
they saw four people who seemed to be experiencing a phase shift, since
there were ghostly outlines of other types of clothing around them. The
hum of electricity filled the air from a protective dome around the group,
and the glow of a flow break in the field which was rapidly undergoing
breakdown. Rifle reports echoed through the air from the ghostly occupants
of the flow break.
"We should transform before we go into battle,"
Cassi said as she held her transformation wand aloft, "Cassiopia Star Power....
Make UP!"
Ribbons erupted from her pen, wrapping around
her body like liquid fire. The liquid solidified into blood red carapace
armor with a brilliant white under suit. She also wore mid calf high blood
red boots and bracers of a similar color with glowing white stones. The
blood red shifted to a deep forest green, the stones and her under suit
changing to a pale blue to offset the fiery color to her hair.
"That was certainly an interesting transformation,"
Darren said as Cassiopia adjusted the band in her hair.
"No time to chit chat," Cassiopia said as
she summoned her spear, "Darren, you may want to transform. McAnirlin and
Martin, I know that the two of you possess great powers even without transforming,
so you might want to go and help those others."
"Sure thing," Adderson said as he bounded
over to the dome, which parted to just form a shield before the group.
"I'll wait here for you guys," Andrew said
as he summoned a large spear of light to his hand.
"If you insist," Darren said as he hoisted
his right hand to the sky, "Night Aura Power... TRANSFORM!"
<music: Dancin’ Doll>
A red aura swept about Darren's body, dissolving
his clothes and turning his body into energy. A star formed above his head,
waves of gas coming from it to form bolts of cloth that wrapped about his
body, waves of light washing up his legs to solidify the cloth into his
pants, then continuing up his chest to form his shirt and bracers. From
the star came a discharge of cosmic dust, which swirled down and wrapped
around his chest, forming his armor and his sword. He finished his transformation
with one arm behind his back, the other pointing towards his opponent.
"Hurry up and get over here," Adderson cried
as the flow break shattered, rifle bullets tearing through the air. Cassiopia
was instantly at the front of the group, a sphere of blue energy forming
between her palms. She held this above her head and cried, "Light Shield!"
a dome of blue - white energy forming around them.
"What's the status of the patient?" she asked,
dropping to a crouch near where Alex lay.
"We managed to stop some of the bleeding,"
Alorianna said, indicating the torn pieces of cloth which bound the bullet
holes, "unfortunately none of us have the instruments to extract the shrapnel
or the power to renew his energy."
"Leave that part to me. Oh goddess of light
who sits and watches from the stars, please come before us and deliver
our friend from the brink of chaos."
As she spoke the incantation her hands glowed
a brilliant, if not blinding shade of white. The glow washed over Alex's
body, teleporting the shrapnel out of his body, healing his wounds, and
giving him renewed energy.
"What in the nine hells?" he asked as he sat
up, his vision still slightly blurred and shaky from the shock of the fall
and the blood loss.
"You were wounded, and I fixed you," Cassiopia
said, kissing him lightly on the forehead, "you might want to transform,
though, since you're sort of, well, not completely dressed."
Alex looked down at the ribbons and blushed
crimson. Amaya and Alorianna pointed and laughed.
"You're doing it AGAIN!" Amaya said, snickering,
"And this time nobody said anything really embarrassing or mentioned women's
underwear."
"Can we discuss this later?!" Tina asked as
the ghosts began to make themselves very visible, showing that they weren't
just the townspeople who had been murdered back in the Durham massacre,
but were also soldiers and Indians left over from the war time. All were
in various states of disrepair and decay, but they all had some sort of
firearm or another, and all were leveled at the group inside of Cassiopia's
dome.
<music: 'Love Dragnet' from Debutante Detective Corp.>
"My dome will hold long enough for some quick
and dramatic costume changes," Cassiopia said as she finished healing Erin's
wound, "As soon as that dome drops, though, we're going to need to perform
an all out attack on them."
"Leave the first line of offensive to the
heavy hitters," Night said, "Isn't that right Orion?"
Andrew gave him a puzzled glance, but when
he saw that Night knew of his connection to Alex he nodded. "Right. Leave
it to me, Adderson, and Alex. Second string will consist of Night, Delwynndwn,
and Cassiopia."
"What about us?" Alorianna asked, "We're not
useless in a fight."
"Which is why we're leaving you for the third
string," Adderson said, "I don't know what your fighting styles are, or
what spell types you can use, but I have faith that you can protect the
fair Lady Natasha Dela Florencia."
"WHO?!" everyone said in unison.
"I'm Natasha Dela Florencia," Erin said, her
outfit changing to a flowing green satin gown with emerald green for the
bodice and varying shades of green going down to the hem around her ankles.
"I'm one of the people they really wish to get revenge upon, since I can
grant them salvation, but they won't believe me."
"Then now is the time to kick ass and take
names," Delwynndwn said as his clothing shimmered.
<music: Iczelion theme, a.k.a.. Dancin’ Doll>
Lightning bolts began to spark around his body
as a blinding white karate gi with gold trim formed around his body. A
long headband of gold and white formed around his head, the ends blowing
dramatically in the breeze. Bolts of cloth formed around his hands, also
of gold and white. A scabbard containing a katana blade formed on his hip,
and he drew the sword, the blade glowing a blinding white.
"No time like the present for a wardrobe change,"
Amaya said, her clothes glowing as well. Lightning bolts swirled around
her body like bolts of cloth, dressing her in a long silk Chinese style
dress of silver with golden decorations. Her hair also turned silver, and
silver tattoos formed beneath her eyes. A pair of silver sais formed in
the belt of her dress, and these she took in hand, the blades glowing silvery
as she struck a dramatic stance.
"I'm in full agreement," Tina said as he clothes
shimmered and changed, shadows wrapping around her body to form a lacy
black dress which showed off way too much and left little to the imagination.
Added to her outfit was a very skimpy black sweater, lacy black gloves,
and ankle high boots with four inch heels. Around her neck formed a black
velvet choker, and her hair was pulled back by a large black bow. A black
leather whip lay coiled against her left hip, and this she unslung before
laughing maniacally. A shudder ran down Andrew's back, since that was how
Tira used to laugh when she took on her hunter form.
"And don't forget about saving the best for
last," Alorianna said as her clothing glowed. Blue rose petals swirled
around her body, dressing her in a gown of the softest blue satin mixed
with deep blue here and there. Her hair changed to sea blue, and was held
back from her face by a band of a lighter shade of blue. She wore deep
blue gloves, a large golden ring with a blue gem on her right hand, a bracelet
of gold with blue gems around her left wrist. She also wore a cloak of
navy blue with a lining of a royal blue. In her hand formed a staff with
a large blue gem in the head.
"Well, I guess I need to be better attired
for this conflict," Alex said as he held his right hand skyward, "Saturn
Cosmic Power.... TRANSFORM!"
Angel wings unfolded from his back, wrapping
around his body as it turned to energy. Feathers swirled around hid body,
forming his outfit and armor. The angel wings folded up behind his back,
taking on a technological theme as he finished his transformation in a
battle stance.
<music: Crono's theme from Chrono Trigger>
"There are only nine of us versus an army of them,"
Andrew said as his clothes glimmered for a minute, his outfit becoming
what he wore in his time with the sorcerer hunters. "I like those odds."
"Then let's fight on and protect the fair
lady behind us!" Adderson shouted, driving them onward to battle.
Rifle shots rang through the air as the three
front liners spread out, moving faster than the naked eye could see or
comprehend. Three flashes of light cut through the middle of the army,
leaving a wide swath of ghosts to disintegrate. At the outer ring of the
army stood the three front liners, their weapons glowing brilliantly as
they struck dramatic poses. The ghosts turned their attention from those
in the parking lot to those among them, firing round after round of ammo
at them.
“Bugger,” Alex said as he flattened himself
to the ground, “this wasn’t the smartest thing that I did today. I should
have calculated things better.”
“Grim Reaper!”
A wave of darkness tore through the army,
decimating some, wounding many. Any living thing that was struck by the
wave was instantly drained of life. Alex turned his gaze towards the parking
lot to see the gem in the head of Alorianna’s staff glowing blue - white,
a ghostly blade streaming from it.
“Figured you could use some assistance,” she
called, winking at them. When the ghosts turned towards her she added,
“Now hurry and find the source of these spirits!”
“What about you guys?” Adderson called as
he and Andrew joined Alex.
“We’ll be fine,” Amaya replied as she leapt
skyward, her tattoos glowing. A globe of electricity sparked into existence
between her palms. She hurled this at the army while shouting, “Lightning
Barrage!”, the globe exploding into large bolts of lightning that struck
aid the army and destroyed a small patch of them.
“They can handle themselves,” Andrew said,
catching the glint in Alex’s eye as they watched the others switch between
offensive and defensive. “Right now we need to find the source.”
‘The source,’ ran through Alex’s mind
as he stood, “The source... where the hell is the bleedin’ source?!”
“Probably down in the woods,” Adderson answered,
pointing towards the pathway that led deeper into the woods on the fringe
of the clearing. A sweat drop formed on Alex’s head. A faint glow came
from the pathway, indicating spiritual activity in that direction.
“Why are all of you just standing around?!”
Cassiopia asked as she landed near them, “Get going!!"
“We’ll back you up,” Del added as he landed
near them on the other side.
“We’ll see you when you return,” Night said
as he landed behind them.
The three front liners glanced at each other,
nodded, and took off towards the opening to the woods. Bullets sang past
them as they ran, and ghosts tried to block their way on several occasions.
Several light spears impaled these ghosts, sending them screaming into
the nexus of the two worlds. Light globes blinked into existence around
Alex as they entered the darkness, and he sent some of these ahead to illuminate
their path.
As they leapt over a stream Alex skidded to
a halt, the other two nearly plowing him over as they tried to stop. He
shivered as several consecutive cold chills ran down his spine, a prickly
feeling creeping around the top of his head. He extended his right arm,
pointing in front of his body, the end of his index finger glowing. He
braced his right arm with his left hand and concentrated, the glow increasing
in brilliance.
“What’s up?” Adderson asked, straining to
feel what his friend sensed, looking from shadow to shadow.
“I’m sensing a strong force,” Alex replied,
“and it’s most definitely evil in nature.”
A wave of darkness struck them, throwing Andrew
and Adderson from their feet, gliding around Alex like he was a rock in
a wave on the ocean. Several more force waves buffeted them, all cutting
around Alex, the other two feeling the full, if not multiplied and intensified,
force of the blasts.
“Alex, I don’t know what the hell you’re trying
to do,” Andrew said as he tried to extend his AT Field, “but you need to
hurry up!”
“HOLY LIGHT!”
A magic circle formed beneath a large shadowy
figure, rays of light and runes encircling them before flames of pure white
engulfed them. A blinding flash of light filled the area moments before
something large crashed through the brush in front of them.
“After it!” Alex cried as he took off after
the creature he had just struck with a holy elemental attack.
“Hold up,” Adderson called as Alex ran off
ahead of him and Andrew. He sighed, putting his fingers to his temples.
“That boy is going to get himself killed one of these days by doing that.”
“Let Star worry about that,” Andrew said as
he helped Adderson to his feet, “right now we need to lend him a hand.
I sensed what he sensed, and it’s damned powerful.”
“Eruption!”
A geyser of magma burst from the ground, igniting
some things around it and illuminating things in the area. The running
form skidded to a halt and turned around to face the figure that was outlined
in flames.
“From the silent star, Saturn, a warrior
to protect the light. A silent angel, a soldier of death and rebirth, Warrior
Saturn.”
“You are a fool,” the creature said, “I almost
have the spirit gate open, and once it is then your world and ours will
be as one!”
“You’re the fool,” a female voice said from
the branches of a nearby tree. “The queen of the stars who rules the sky,
Warrior Cassiopia.”
“Also from the stars, the horn of the hunt
calls for thee and calls for me, Warrior Orion,” came from another tree.
“A warrior of light born glittering in the
darkness, Warrior Night,” came from the shadows across the clearing.
“Around since the beginning of time, and here
until the end, a warrior of the stars, Warrior Universe,” came from behind
Alex.
“Just how many of you survived that fight?”
the creature asked as the flames leapt up around them, illuminating the
forms hidden in shadow. When it saw the people who were awaiting a battle
it turned tail and charged deeper into the woods, crushing whatever got
in its path.
“What the hell is up with that thing?” Cassi
asked as she landed next to Alex. “You don’t think we scared it off, do
you?”
“I have no idea what to think any more,” Alex
sighed, “but it mentioned a spirit gate and something about combining the
two worlds when it opens the entire way.”
“Sounds like trouble,” Night said as he joined
up with them. Alex looked at him and arched an eyebrow. “What?”
“Where are the others?” Alex asked, fire flashing
in his eyes. Night and Cassi caught a glimpse of this and shuddered, since
they knew what usually accompanied that look.
“We’re right behind you,” Amaya’s voice said
as she and the troop of others were bathed in a blinding white light, courtesy
of Alorianna. “You didn’t think a few rampaging, bullet shooting, axe wielding,
malicious spirits were going to stop us now, did you?”
“I never should doubt the power which you
guys possess.”
“I’m getting heavy duty readings to our right,”
Darren said, his computer visor glowing, “Man, that must be where the spirit
gate is located, whatever that is.”
“We should approach this problem in style,”
Natasha said, stepping towards the front of the group. She crouched down
and pressed her hand to the ground, a magical glow forming around it. A
moment later two parallel strings of light formed, creating a walkway for
them to follow. She stood and turned to the others before saying, “This
will lead us most of the way. However, even my power has its limits.”
“You are just sooooo modest, aren’t you,”
Delwynndwn sighed, smacking his forehead.
“Yes I am,” Natasha said, pulling his hand
from his forehead before kissing where he slapped. Del blushed crimson.
“Can you two flirt a little later,” Cassi
grumbled, grabbing Del and forcibly dragging him down the pathway. “Gods,
you’re worse than Heather and Dawn.”
“Or you when you’re drooling over some gorgeous
hunk of man,” Darren teased as he kept pace with Cassi. Cassi turned crimson
with embarrassment, uttering a few curses under her breath in high elven.
Delwynndwn blushed when he heard this, his
eyebrows about ready to ignite. “Umm.... Cassi, I hate to tell you this,
but you just made that reflexive,” he said, “so, in essence, you just insulted
your mother, your grandmother, your great grandmother, and the rest of
your relatives on back to your first ancestors.”
“Enough fooling around,” Adderson said from
the front of the group, which had stopped before a large body of water
that glistened in the outer perimeter of their light. He closed his eyes
and pointed his blade at the pond, chanting a mantra of some sort under
his breath. The blade glowed golden as a ray of light passed around the
area before zeroing in on the pond. “Our target objective is there.”
“So right you are,” an evil sounding voice
said from the shadows, “and you are our lucky guests who will be the first
to meet their ends by the forces of the nether realm.”
The energy level in the area suddenly went
off the scale, causing the hair on everyone’s necks to stand on end and
tingle. Alex glanced about, his head itching from the amount of raw psychic
energy in the area, his senses telling him that something big was about
to happen. “Just relax and enjoy the ride,” the voice said as a dome formed
around the area, “you can’t leave, and nobody can enter until what has
been started is finished.”
“Just what the hell are we up against?!” Tina
asked as the area was suddenly awash in a deathly black violet light.
“Something that is pure evil,” Natasha said,
glancing around in an attempt to pinpoint something. “We must perform a
spell of sealing to keep it from returning to our plane and save the world.”
“You do what you need to do,” Alex said as
he summoned a large quantity of dark power into his hand, “We’ll buy you
the time.”
From the violet light came an army of spirits
much like those they had battled on the main field, some equipped with
guns, some with swords, and still others with bows and arrows. A dome of
light formed around Natasha, Cassi, and Tina as the others leapt into the
fray, weapons glowing with mystic power as they met their attackers head
on.
<music: You’re the best Partner - Iczelion>
“Just how many of these things are there?!” Amaya
demanded as she thrust her sais into a pair of spirits and unleashed a
concentrated pulse of electricity.
“More than can be imagined,” Delwynndwn said
as he mowed through a concentrated patch of spirits, spinning his swords
like a set of glowing saw blades. “Ugh, there’s no end to them, is there?!”
“We need more time,” Tina called from the
dome, which was taking a beating from the constant barrage of bullets and
whatnot. “Natasha has just barely finished drawing the outline for the
circle and the inside areas for the spell.”
“What do you still need to do?” Alex called
as he slashed a swath through the spirits with a Ragna Blade.
“Runes in the colors of the six elements in
circular patterns,” Natasha called back, “I require an Air, a Fire, a Water,
an Earth, and a Light and a Dark!”
“Del, Andrew, and Adderson, go and help them
with the circle. Alorianna and Cassi...”
“I’m just a bit tied up right now,” Cassi
grumbled as she strained to maintain her barrier, “so whatever it is....”
“You can do. I’ll take over for you,” Darren
offered, setting up an Aura barrier around the group as he moved in next
to her, “you help with the runes for light.”
“Alex, your powers focus mainly on darkness
so you get over here,” Tina shouted, “leave the fighting to the others.”
Alex dispelled his Ragna Blade and made a
strategic retreat into the circle, where Natasha was instructing the group
on how to draw the runes of their respective element with energy beams
focused through their weapons.
“Earth, air, water, fire, light, and darkness,”
Natasha said as the others set about their tasks, “picture the runes in
your mind, then focus it through your weapon and into the energy pattern.”
“Water is almost complete,” Del said, the
aura around one of his swords a flickering blue.
“Air is complete,” Adderson said as he sat
down to rest, “Man, that takes a lot out of you.”
“Fire’s done,” Andrew said, sheathing his
sword, “now what?”
“Earth is complete as well,” Alorianna said,
a green glow leaving the end of her staff.
“Which leaves light and dark,” Natasha said,
“the two polar opposites...”
“Are done,” Alex and Cassi said in unison,
the glows leaving their weapons.
“You are all fools,” the head demon said as
it emerged from the shadows and the water before them. The group gasped
since it was a larger and uglier version of what they had confronted earlier.
“You cannot hope to defeat me! I am invincible!!”
“Queen who sits in the heaven’s night’s sky,
sword of light and holiness, free yourself from hell’s bonds,” Cassi chanted,
the runes around her glowing a blinding white, “unite with my body, unite
with my power, and let us walk the road to justice together. Power to split
apart the sky and cleave open the heavens...”
“Source of all power, crimson fire burning
bright,” Andrew chanted, the runes around his feet glowing flame red, “gather
in my hand and become an inferno!”
“Mother who nurtures all life,” Alorianna
chanted, the circle of runes around her glowing a brilliant green, “let
thy power gather in my hand...”
“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond
blood that flows,” Alex chanted, the runes around him glowing an eerie
violet black, “buried in the stream of time is where your power grows.
I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the mighty gift
bestowed in my unworthy hands. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed
by the power you and I possess....”
“Source of all power,” Adderson chanted, the
runes around his feet glowing a pale blue white, “wind which sweeps across
sky and earth. Gather in my hand and give me strength.”
“You who crosses between sky and earth,” Delwynndwn
chanted, the runes around his feet glowing a deep ice blue, “raging water,
gather in my hand and give me power.”
A wave of pure, raw, unbridled astral power
ripped through the area, striking Darren’s barrier with enough force to
throw the young warrior onto his ass. Tina and Amaya hoisted him to his
feet by the armpits before helping to reinforce the barrier.
“Natasha, recite the spell of sealing,” Tina
shouted over her shoulder.
“You are all fools!” their adversary shouted
as his army moved in around them, crashing into the barrier to weaken it.
“You will never be able to use that spell. I won’t allow it!”
“Natasha, do it!” Darren cried as his palms
began to smoke, “Give him his just desserts!”
‘I hope this works,’ Natasha thought
as she assumed the stance dictated by the ancient text she had read for
this type of spell. “Mother of light who fights the darkness, she who protects
all she bore, we call upon you in our hour of need.”
“Natasha, hurry up girl!” Amaya shouted over
her shoulder and almost directly into Darren’s right ear, “The barrier’s
about to fail!!”
“Earth to Air, Air to Water, Water to Fire,
Fire back to Earth in an endless circle. Each element has a positive and
a negative, and we call upon these to send our enemy screeching into the
void between the two worlds. Mother goddess, grant us your eternal power.”
The circle around Natasha began to pulse and
glow in rainbow colors as the other six circles increased in brilliance.
She held her hands above her head, a wind blowing up around her, billowing
her hair out. She thrust her hands before her body, making a few arcane
signs with her hands before she shouted, “HOLY BLESS!!”
A breeze blew through the area as a gateway
opened behind the spirit master, catching the attacking ghosts in a vacuum
that sucked them into a nexus that would eventually free them from an eternity
of suffering and torture.
“Now is the time to strike!” Darren said as
he detonated the shield, blasting the surrounding spirits into another
dimension. He then crossed his arms before his body, a generous amount
of energy being gathered into his bracers. He flung his arms forward a
moment later while shouting, “Galaxia Gun!!”
A wave of raw energy burst from his hands,
tearing through the area and mowing through the spirits like a hot knife
through butter. The wave struck the spirit master, weakening him a little
bit. A moment later, though, the spirit master gazed upon Darren and blasted
him with an amplified sampling of the Galaxia Gun attack.
When the other six saw one of their friends
fall they increased the energy they were putting into their spells, the
output increasing exponentially and giving added strength to the Holy Bless
that Natasha was casting. When they felt the time was right they leapt
from their places within the circle and fired off their spells.
“Goddess Blade!”
“Burst Flare!”
“Vlave Howl!”
“Dragon... SLAVE!”
“Digger Volt!”
“Demona... Crystal!!”
Several puffs of smoke came from the hands
of the spell casters as they tried to fire off their spells. Each stared
in awe at their hands, wondering what was happening. The spirit master
laughed maniacally when he saw this, a wide grin crossing his face.
“You are all fools. Did you really think your
puny powers could defeat me?”
“Our powers are locked,” Amaya said as she
summoned a globe of electricity into her hands, which promptly dispersed
into the air, “or there’s a dampening field around us.”
“That could be what the barrier is,” Andrew
and Adderson said in unison. They looked at each other and sighed before
saying, “Or something like that.”
‘Use the matrix my son,’ an aged voice
said directly into Alex’s mind, ‘only then can you achieve victory.’
“Old man, unless you get more specific I can’t
do anything,” Alex grumbled.
‘You’re the scientific genius who can’t
figure out a simple sentence like ‘Use the matrix’? Boy, the world
really *is* doomed if we’re all hoping for you.’
Alex grumbled something under his breath,
a crimson red aura forming around his body. “Listen up you old fart, I’m
tired, I’m cranky, and I’ve had about enough of this crap! Either tell
me what I need to know or else I’ll track you down and shove a Ragna Blade
so far up your ass that....”
“Alex, calm down,” Delwynndwn said, resting
a hand on Alex’s shoulder. When he felt the amount of energy that the warrior
was gathering he backed off. “Oh man.... oh man.... we’re all fucked.”
‘Good, get good and angry. That’s how you
access the spell matrix. Your powers work on another wave length than the
dampening field when you’re good and angry,’ the aged voice said in
all their minds, not just Alex’s, ‘Find something you’re angry at or
about and draw upon that anger to unlock the powers of the matrix.’
“Wasn’t that...” Darren asked. Tina and Natasha
nodded. “Then that means....” Tina and Natasha nodded again. “Oh man...
remind me to thank that old timer when we get out of this.”
“Hey tall, dark, and ugly, prepare to get
the ass whooping of a lifetime,” Cassi shouted as she unwound her whip
and began to lash it around her head in a circle. Flames leapt from the
end of her whip, forming a circle of flames above her head. She lashed
her whip through the flames while shouting, “Cosmic Fire STRIKE!”, sending
an intertwining column of fire at the spirit master. Their adversary blinked
a split second before the attack struck him in the chest, drilling into
his body.
“How.... how are you able to use your abilities
and powers? I had a dampening field up.”
“You made the mistake of underestimating us,”
Delwynndwn grumbled, a massive amount of power building up within his body.
He leapt skyward, lighting crackling around him and focusing around his
right fist. He flipped through the air and dove at the spirit master, rearing
his hand back to strike. As he punched forward he shouted, “Heaven’s Strike!”,
an explosion rivaling the Dragon Slave tearing through the area, the epicenter
being the spirit master. A moment later Delwynndwn landed back with the
group, slightly shaken from the encounter.
“Heart’s Bane Rose!”
“Soul Reaver!”
“Lightning Barrage!”
A blue rose of energy passed through the spirit
master’s body, taking some of his life energy with it. A globe of blood
red also passed through his body, having the same effect of the rose. Thousands
of bolts of lightning struck him a moment later, courtesy of Amaya, whose
tattoos were glowing bright enough to illuminate her face in the darkness.
“And now to finish it,” Alex and Adderson
said in unison, both grinning evilly at the spirit master. A globe of darkness
formed around Adderson’s right fist as a globe of violet black formed between
Alex’s palms.
“Oh crap,” Darren said as he felt the amount
of power the two were packing, “Everybody, get behind me and Cassi.”
“Why?” Cassi asked, arching an eyebrow at
her friend, “What are they going to do?”
“Trust him hon,” Natasha said as she formed
a defensive barrier around them, “that’s going to be one big boom that
those two are going to be packing.”
“Dragon.... SLAVE!”
The familiar beam of dark energy struck the
spirit master, drilling through his body and leaving him weakened. Alex
grinned evilly as he leapt into the defensive barrier as Adderson smashed
his fist into the ground and shouted, “Forever.... ZERO!!”
The area went from the woods to a starlit
skyscape, a globe of dark power crackling between Adderson and the spirit
master. The area began to spin as energy crackled around the globe, striking
out towards the spirit master with each spin. A moment later there was
a blinding flash of light, which was followed by darkness as everything
was reduced to absolute nothingness.
From the darkness came a cry of, “Ultra Nova!!”,
view screens appearing in space to show the spirit master taking a one
way trip into a galaxy where the star was about to undergo an explosion
one step higher than Super Nova. There was an explosion that utterly eradicated
the galaxy and solar system around the star, as well as their adversary.
A light spell blinked into existence a moment later, illuminating those
who were fighting back the darkness.
“Were we victorious?” Alorianna asked as she
looked at her friends, “Did we win?”
“I think we won,” Natasha said as the stars
and moon were once again visible in the sky, “I don’t feel the darkness
or the evil any more.”
“Then we sent the spirits to their eternal
rest,” Amaya said, a little stunned by what they had done, “we put the
ghosties to bed.”
The group remained silent for a few moments
longer before bursting into loud and excited cheering. People embraced
and bounced about happily as they realized the monumental task which they
had accomplished and how they managed to come out of it in once piece.
A few seconds later Alex shouted, “WAIT!!”
“What’s wrong now?” Amaya asked, her tattoos
beginning to glow.
“Are you guys angry with me for giving you
back your pasts?” Alex asked quietly, awaiting a lightning barrage to fry
him to a cinder. Instead he found himself being hugged by Amaya and Alorianna.
“Are you kidding?” Alorianna said, “Dude,
this is the coolest!! I now have actual powers to use in the name of justice...”
“If you call blowing Guitar boy and our bitch
RA into next year justice,” Amaya added, chuckling.
“Hey, I resent that remark!”
“No, you represent that remark! I mean, I’ve
wanted to do the same thing, now we can.”
“Looks like it was all in a night’s work,”
Cassi sighed as she leaned against Darren and listened to the two argue,
“now I can finally go back to bed and finish that dream.”
“Yes, bed,” Andrew yawned, “but first we should
leave this area.”
“How long were we fighting anyway?” Adderson
asked as he reversed his transformation. He received his answer in the
form of a ray of sunlight and a lightening of the sky. “Oh man.... it’s
dawn all ready.”
“That means....” Tina began to say.
“That we were out all night!” Natasha and
Alex finished in unison. “Nooooo!!”
“At least the Gables will be a quieter place,”
Andrew said as birds began to sing in the trees. The others glared at him
with evil eyes. “Oh boy.
As Andrew ran off ahead of the others Alex
shouted, “Andrew McAnirlin, you get back here and let us pound you!!!”
Cassi’s cry of, “Alex, wait up!” echoed across
the land as a new day began for the population of the university.
The End.
back to fanfiction?
return to the insanity?