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#Post#: 42--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:21 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 37
DJ sat bolt upright as the alarm blared throughout the room.
"WARNING. WARNING. INTRUDER ALARM ACTIVATED. ALL PERSONNEL AT
ARMS".
DJ pulled on his trousers and grabbed his sword.
Sparkle was out of bed too on the other side of the room, as was
Mr. N, who had been awake the entire time on his laptop.
Twi had given them a special guest room in the main building.
"What's going on?" yelled DJ over the alarm.
"Sounds like an intruder," relpied Sparkle.
"I though this place was inpenetrable?" said DJ.
The he turned round and noticed Sask's empty bed.
"Where's Sask?" he asked.
Mr. N suddenly looked back down at his laptop.
"Hey," he said.
"Someone's hacked into the central server in the coomand
room...and they're looking at the Arc mission brief".
"What are they doing with it?" asked DJ.
Mr. N typed something in and looked back up at DJ, his face
suddenly fearful.
"They're copying it," he said.
DJ's eyes widened in subtle horror.
"Gostalt," he whispered.
He dashed out the door, sheeth in hand.
"DJ, wait!" yelled Sparkle, chasing after him, followed by Mr.
N.
DJ dashed down the metal corridors, moving past technicians and
soldiers with guns in hand.
He was aimlessly taking every corner, not knowing which
direction to go in.
As he approached a corner, he bashed into someone, almost
falling over.
It was Saltybob, wearing a dark green shirt and combat trousers,
a G5 handgun in hand.
"Saltybob!" DJ said.
"Where's the command room from here?!"
"Down there," said Saltybob.
"Why? what's-"
Before he could finish, DJ was already charging up the corridor
in the direction Saltybob had pointed, closely followed by
Sparkle and Mr. N.
As DJ approached the large door that lead into the command room,
he noticed the blast doors were slowly closing inwards.
He heard gunfire from within.
Sask.
He ran at full pelt down the corridor, turned and ducked under
the door before it closed down.
Sparkle slid in after him.
Saltybob and Mr. N didn't make it in time, yelling at DJ and
Sparkle as the door closed.
DJ turned to see what was going on.
SamuriFerret was leaping through the air towards him, sword
brandished and ready to strike down.
There wasn't time for DJ to fumble with his sheeth to get his
sword out.
There wasn't even time for him to brace himself.
And then there was a bright, firey flash before him as
PsychoPikmin emerged from flames and blocked SamuriFerret's
strike.
SamuriFerret grinned.
"Observer," he snarled.
PsychoPikmin shoved him away.
"I'd get a decent reward for killing you," SamuriFerret
chuckled.
"Mainly that fire spirit of yours".
PsychoPikmin dashed forwards.
"Don't play with fire," he mumbled.
As SamuriFerret and PsychoPikmin clashed on the far side of the
room, DJ looked across to find Sask.
She was at the other end of the room, dodging punches and kukri
slashes from a tall, bulky man in a long coat.
He ran forwards to help his sister.
Sparkle then noticed Swixer, hastily commencing the download of
the mission brief.
Their eyes met.
Rage appeared on Sparkle's face. She wasn't going to let him
succeed this time, even if she couldn't...
Needles appeared in the air around her as she leapt at him.
He drew his katana and they sparred, Sparkle's needles launching
at him and being smashed by his blade.
And then one of the wide windows overlooking the base exploded
in a shower of glass shards as a green blast of energy flew into
the room.
D-Mash climbed through the window, hoisting himself up, his arm
cannon smoking after firing the shot.
"Am I late for the party?" he said, grinning.
Zero brandished her wristblades and swung at him.
He ducked down and rushed at her, knocking her back.
Unfortunately, D-Mash's entrance hadn't distracted Meta, who had
blocked DJ's attack and was holding him by his throat against
the wall.
The cyborg raised a fist at DJ as he scrambled against Meta's
powerful grip, air barely making it into his lungs.
A bullet plowed into Meta's hand, causing it to open.
DJ fell.
Meta's other fist slammed into the wall where DJ's head had
been, making a huge dent in the metal.
DJ looked to see where Sask was.
To his surprise, Mariofan, who DJ swore he killed, had attacked
Sask, firing bolts of red lightning at at her, barely missing
Sask.
The room had become an arena, bullets, energy blasts, and red
lightning striking the walls, floors, windows and consoles.
One console exploded as D-Mash ducked behind it and a shotgun
blast from Zero plowed through it.
But DJ had his own battle to fight.
Meta grabbed the back of his shirt and lobbed him across the
room.
DJ managed to make a well timed landing against the wall by his
feet and he charged through the air back towards Meta.
But the cyborg raised pulled a hefty combat knife from his coat
and swiped at the oncoming DJ.
DJ managed to roll in middair and avoid the blade, hitting into
Meta's shoulder.
Meta grabbed his shirt again and through him across the room
once more.
DJ couldn't stick the landing this time and hit a computer
monitor, knocking it off the edge of the table.
He hit the floor painfully and groaned in pain.
As he tried to get up, he instantly ducked back down as Meta
fired an entire magazine from a machine gun in DJ's direction.
DJ hadn't seen the machine gun before, which was when DJ
realised that his opponent was cybernetic.
PsychoPikmin had barely survived against Zero. How was he
surposed to beat Meta?
Then DJ looked up.
HelloSkitty's unconscious body was lying before him.
Before he could wonder what she was doing there, he noticed the
ACR assault rifle next to her.
He grabbed it and leapt up, emptying the entire magazine in
Meta's direction, while remembering everything Autumn Unit had
taught him earlier that day.
The bullets slowed Meta down, but they didn't seem to damage
him, until one stray bullet flew into his eye.
He suddenly stopped and stepped back, yelling in pain.
DJ dashed forward and swung the ACR round, smashing Meta round
the face.
The cyborg stumbled, DJ's powerful swing damaging his robotic
neck.
Meta was completely defenceless now.
DJ moved in for the kill.
But then he realised something.
What if Meta hadn't wanted to be like this?
What he'd been abducted and forced to be cyberficated?
PsychoPikmin had spoken about how Zero would eventually become a
real, if shaken, person again.
What if that could be done with Meta?
"Kill me," said Meta all of a sudden, looking round at DJ, blood
substitute pouring from his ruined eye.
"I've lost this fight...let me die with honour".
DJ blinked.
Did cyborgs have honour?
"Kill me," said Meta again.
"Do it. Please".
DJ grimaced and thrust hs sword into Meta's neck.
The cyborg seemed to grin.
DJ pulled his blade round with incredible strength.
Meta's head came clean of his neck and fell to the ground.
The cyborg's head fell to its knees and hit the floor as blood
substitute formed a puddle around it.
There were wires and sparks coming out of his neck.
It was strange and frightening to look at, like a black hole.
DJ looked round the room.
Most of the fighting had ceased.
Mariofan had defeated Sask, who was unconscious nearby against
the wall.
PsychoPikmin and SamuriFerret had outmatched each other and
where on opposite sides of the room, on their knees and panting.
D-Mash was slumped under a desk, mumbling something while Zero
stood on the far end of the room near SamuriFerret, a deep slash
in her fron revealing her robot innards.
But one battle still raged on.
Sparkle and Swixer continued to duel in the centre of the room.
SamuriFerret stood up and grinned.
"How sweet," he said sadistically.
"They're holding back. They don't want to hurt each other".
DJ noticed this.
The two of them weren't really attacking each other: everything
they threw at one another was weak or badly aimed, while the
defence was also lacking.
"Why?" said DJ, watching the weird battle with confused
curiousity.
SamuriFerret laughed.
"Because they still love each other," he said.
DJ tilted his head.
"They...still love each other?" he said.
"They were getting married," said Mariofan.
"But it all broke down...yet now they still love one-another".
That's why she couldn't stop him at the flag final, thought DJ,
remembering the horrified look on her face as she'd seen Swixer
with the launcher.
"Sparkle..." he whispered.
Everyone watched as they continued to weakly strike one another
with swords and needles.
"Goddammit," said SamuriFerret.
He swung up his sword and dashed forwards.
He shoved passed Swixer and swiped an X shape at Sparkle, who
yelled in pain.
She fell back, a red X swiped through her shirt.
PsychoPikmin stood up and fired his his crossbow at
SamuriFerret, who dodged the dart and aimed his ranger shotgun
at Sparkle.
The room was still, the intruder alarm was now shiut off.
Sparkle lay on the floor, tears of pain swelling up in her eyes.
SamuriFerret was grinning at PsychoPikmin, who's crossbow was
still aimed at him.
"Leave my daughter alone," PsychoPikmin said slowly.
"It's not me who you should be saying that to," SamuriFerret
chuckled.
He looked round at Swixer, who stould nearby, katana still in
hand.
"Kill her, Swixer," SamuriFerret said.
Swixer looked at SamuriFerret and down at Sparkle, who fearfully
looked back.
The tension was getting to DJ.
He watched the situation feeling completely useless.
"Do it, Swixer," said SamuriFerret again, his crazy smile
changing to anger.
The ranger in his hand moved from aiming at Sparkle to Swixer's
head.
"Or die".
As SamuriFerret reaimed, D-Mash climbed out from under the desk
and was aiming his arm cannon at him.
In turn, Zero aimed her shotgun at D-Mash, Sask sat up and aimed
her USP at Zero, Mariofan raised her arm at Sask as red sparks
danced across her gloved hand and PsychoPikmin turned his
crossbow to Mariofan.
DJ was the one person in the room who wasn't aiming or being
aimed at.
He decided to help as much as possible and pulled a shuriken at
his pocket, also aiming at Mariofan, who scowled at him.
The air was thick with tension, like a strangling mist.
"Swixer," said SamuriFerret.
"You told me that you were loyal to the Emperor. Proove that now
and shoot her".
Swixer did nothing.
SamuriFerret shook his head in annoyance.
"You know what the Emperor is capable of Swixer. If you were to
force me to kill you, you know that he would find your soul and
rip it to pieces. But that won't happen if you take out one of
your pistols and kill her".
The tension thickened.
Swixer stared down at Sparkle, who stared back.
"Swixer..." she whispered.
"Please don't...I...I..."
There was a pause through the room.
"I love you," she said.
Swixer gulped.
He pulled one of his M9 handguns from his belt.
DJ turned to him, shuriken held high.
This unfazed Swixer.
He pointed the M9 at Sparkle, who shook her head furiously,
tears flying around her.
DJ's stomach felt like a tiger was shredding it from within.
"Do it, Swixer," said SamuriFerret.
DJ glanced at PsychoPikmin, who was trembling slightly, his eyes
darting around the room.
Sparkle closed her eyes as she realised she was about to die,
tears streaking her cheeks.
Swixer sighed.
"Psych," he mumbled.
He swiftly raised his M9 and fired a single shot at the power
console before him. The power console controlled the elctricity
in the base.
The console sparked.
The lights in the room went out.
There were several loud bangs as gunshots went off and thuds as
people dove to the floor to avoid them.
There were several yells and scuffles.
Then the lights switched back on.
SamuriFerret had dashed across the room and was now right next
to DJ.
His face was a mask of pure rage.
He noticed DJ nad thrust his sword forwards, straight towards
DJ's stomach, yelling in anger.
DJ braced himself, thinking that this was the end.
This time, nobody was going to save him and block the swipe or
push him out of the way.
He closed his eyes and waited.
No pain shot through his body.
No numbness.
No flow of blood seeping out of his stomach.
He opened his eyes.
SamuriFerret's sword was millimetres from his stomach.
It was red with blood.
DJ looked up.
Someone had blocked the strike.
But not with a weapon.
With their body.
Just as SamuriFerret's face had been a mask of fury, DJ's face
became a face of fear and horror.
Sask stood before him, SamuriFerret's sword stabbed straight
through her stomach.
Blood was seeping into her shirt and coat, and was coming from
her mouth.
"No..." whispered DJ.
Sask put her hand on SamuriFerret's shoulder and shoved him
away, pulling the sword out of her.
SamuriFerret ran across the room, grabbed the USB stick that
Swixer had put into the console and headed for the window,
leaping out into the night before anyone could fire at him.
Mariofan and Zero followed him.
#Post#: 43--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:23 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 38
Sask's legs were trembling slightly.
She fell to her knees.
DJ tried to help her up.
"No, no, no..." he said.
"Come on, sis".
Sask put a hand to the wound and were her shirt was becoming red
and wet with her own blood.
"That...really stings," she said.
The chuckled and suddenly fell backwards.
Sparkle was suddenly next to her as well.
"What did he do?" she asked.
"He...impaled her," said DJ, not looking up.
He put his hand on the wound and tried to apply pressure, but
Sask suddenly yelled in pain.
Tears were starting to appear in DJ's eyes.
"What...what do we do," he said.
Sask reached up and grabbed his arm.
Her eyelids were slowly getting closer and closer together.
"Don't let them...don't let them get away with...with the
coordinates," she stuttered.
DJ looked down helplessy at his dying sister.
"Dammit, Sask!" he yelled.
"Don't die on me! DON'T YOU FRICKIN' DARE!"
Sask grinned.
"I'm sorry, bro," she said quietly.
"Just...don't let them get the feathers..."
She closed her eyes.
DJ stared wide-eyed at her, the tears present but not coming
down his face, like water behind a dam.
Sparkle looked down at Sask and then at DJ.
"I'm...I'm so sorry," she said.
DJ said nothing.
This wasn't happening.
This couldn't be happening.
"No..." he whispered again.
He was lost for words.
Sparkle put her fingers to Sask's pale neck.
"There's still a faint pulse," she said.
DJ didn't care.
He couldn't care because he knew what happened next.
She would die.
DJ's mind jumped through every piece of knowledge in his head in
attempt to find some kind of sanctuary in what had happened.
There was no sanctuary.
DJ looked up at Sparkle.
His eyes had turned dark and angry.
His breathing had become slow and heavy and his shoulders heaved
up and down.
Sparkle looked at him in confusion.
DJ grabbed Sask's USP from her limp hand and checked the
magazine.
Then he leapt up and dashed towards the window.
"SAMURIFERRET!!" he yelled.
"No, DJ!" yelled D-Mash.
"You can't take them all!"
It was too late.
DJ had already jumped out of the window and was running down the
sloping metal roof below the wide windows.
D-Mash and PsychoPikmin went after him, with Sparkle in tow.
DJ leapt off the sloping metal and onto the a lower section.
He looked down and saw SamuriFerret, Mariofan and Zero dashing
across the base.
DJ jumped own, systematically leaping from jutting roof section
to jutting roof section until he reached the ground.
He raised the USP and fired clumsy, angry shots at the three
assailants before him.
Mariofan looked round as she heard the bangs of the handgun and
as a bulet whizzed past her head.
"SamuriFerret," she said.
"Where are the others?!"
SamuriFerret grabbed a walkie-talkie from his coat.
"Darkman!" he yelled.
"We have the coordinates! Now get your ass over here now,
dammit!"
DJ continued to dash towards, them now throwing shurikens in
their direction, Sask's USP still in his hand.
Mariofan raised a hand and fired blasts of red lightning at DJ.
They all missed.
SamuriFerret looked round as he suddenly heard several sounds
getting louder and louder.
Five Snowhare quadbikes were zooming towards them from the far
side of the base, accompanied by a Rhino.
"Crap," he said.
"The entire base is about to come down on us".
Mariofan turned to him.
"Shall I?" she said, her maniacal grin returning once more.
SamuriFerret nodded.
Then he noticed Zero.
She looked edgy. Nervous.
"Malfunctioning?" he joked.
"...yes," said Zero.
"I think so".
This wasn't right. None of this right, she thought.
She shouldn't be doing this, especially now that she knew what
the Emperor was palnning to do with the feathers.
And now she was really cold.
She couldn't do this. She made her decision.
Her body shifted into the metal panther and she dashed across
the base towards the fence.
She leapt straight over it and disappeared into the night.
SamuriFerret watched her go, shaking his head slowly.
He turned back to Mariofan.
"Hurry up," he said, as DJ and the quadbikes got closer and
closer.
Mariofan grinned.
In her body's current state, she didn't have to wait around for
so long while trying to summon the demon within.
She held up her hands an red lightning began cluster above her
head.
DJ realised what she was doing, but rage distorted his mind.
He thought he could make it to her before she changed.
He was wrong.
Mariofan's body was engulfed with red lightning.
The lightning around her began to expand.
Great, reptillian arms and legs began to form, as did a pair of
giant, draconian wings.
The head came out on a bulky neck, with a short snout and small
spined on either side of the head.
Then there was a great shockwave as the vagueness of the red
lightning disappeared.
DJ was knocked off his feet.
Before him, stood a monster in Mariofan's place.
It was red with black lightning striken across its body, and
scales that sparked every few seconds.
It had long talons and claws with lightning arcing between them,
as though they were electrodes. It stood tall at 15 feet.
It spread its wings and roared.
Shikokyrion had risen.
By this point, the quadbikes and the Rhino had pulled up, and
soldiers were clmibing out and opening fire.
The bullets simply pinged off of the demon's steel-like scales.
Shikokyrion stepped forwards and stomped own with one foot,
crushing the Rhino into a metal pancake.
It kicked out, knocking the soldiers across the concrete.
Then it turned and noticed DJ, scrambling backwards.
It roared and stepped towards him.
DJ managed to jump out of the way as one of its claws slammed
down onto the ground in an attempt to crush him.
Shikokyrion was about to try and squash him again when a
Dragonfly helicoptor whirred past it.
The demon was distracted by the vehicle as two missiles soared
down from it and exploded of Shikokyrion's shoulders.
It was knocked back slightly, but by no means hurt.
Shikokyrion leapt up and grabbed the Dragonfly in one claw.
It crushed the helicoptor into a crumpled scrap of metal and
lobbed it across the base.
It hit one part of the main building and smashed through it.
Then the demon turned its attention back to DJ, who was back on
his feet, but slowly moving backwards.
Shikokyrion roared and spread its wings.
A massive bolt of red lightning struck the ground nearby DJ,
causing the concrete to burst upwards, knocking him over again.
Shikokyrion advanced on him again, but suddenly recoiled as a
green blast of energy hit it in the head.
DJ looked round.
D-Mash, Sparkle and PsychoPikmin were rushing towards him and
the demon.
PsychoPikmin leapt towards the demon and was suddenly surrounded
by flames, just as Mariofan ahd been surrounded by red sparks.
In his place, a huge body of arcing fire swept into the air.
It took on the form of a serpentine dragon, with long, flaming
tail and wings as big as Shikokyrion's. The fire covering its
body gave way to armour-like scales, allowing its inner flames
to burst out at certain points.
PsychoPikmin had become Falnaxus, the great fire spirit that
existed within his body.
The air became very warm as Falnaxus launched through the air
and slammed into Shikokyrion's chest, knocking it backwards and
into its back.
Falnaxus wheeled skywards and circled overhead, roaring in
tirumph.
Shikokyrion got back up and leapt upwards, grabbing outwards to
try and grasp Falnaxus' snake-like body, but missed as the firey
creature dodged it and shunted into Shikokyrion's chest again.
The lightning demon hit the tarmac with an almighty crash.
DJ, Sparkle and D-Mash watched as the two giants clashed before
them.
Then DJ noticed SamuriFerret running to the far end of the base.
A helicoptor had appeared out of the night sky and was slowly
moving lower and lower to the ground, lit up by the floodlights.
There was a single figure visible on board.
By the messy half-afro of black hair, DJ recognised him as
KrikenKing.
He set off, sword in hand, after SamuriFerret, running round the
outside of the battling beasts as Falnaxus sat on top of
Shikokyrion and blasted a massive burst of flame into the
demon's face.
On the helicoptor, KrikenKing looked up and noticed DJ dashing
towards SamuriFerret.
"There's a bug on your tail!" he yelled down to SamuriFerret, he
turned to see what KrikenKing was talking about.
"Deal with him!" SamuriFerret yelled back.
KrikenKing pulled roud his G36C assault rifle and opened fire in
DJ's direction.
None of the shots hit.
"Son of a bitch," muttered KrikenKing.
He grabbed three of the small metal spheres from his belt and
threw them into the air.
The andymck v7s burst out of their metal shells and hovered
quickly through the air towards DJ, their little machine guns
ready to shred him to pieces.
But before they could open fire, DJ had leapt up and slashed
through all three of them in one brutal swipe.
He landed as the pieces of andymck hit the ground and exploded.
He looked up darkly at SamuriFerret, who glared back, drawing
his blade.
They rushed at each other, DJ's face covered in rage,
SamuriFerret's a grin of sadistic happiness for battle.
Their blades clashed just as they had at the flag final.
Except this time, they weren't limited to fighting on a walkway.
DJ ducked and rolled and leapt overhead in an attempt to
overpower SamuriFerret, his rage and sadness giving him new
strength.
He thought he'dmanaged to feint SamuriFerret into submission,
but as he landed behind him, SamuriFerret's tail swept round and
bashed into the side of his face.
Behind them, Shikokyrion and Falnaxus continued their fight,
with Falnaxus currently coming out on top.
The serpentine dragon and wrapped itself around Shikokyrion and
was blasting it with fire and constricting its movement at the
same time.
The demon stumbled around, trying to pull the flaming serpant
off of it.
Soldiers were taking cover behind temporary barricades, unsure
which giant to shoot.
Sparkle was smiling as she watched her dad.
"Come on!" she yelled.
"Burn the bacon out of her!"
But in contradiction to her words, Shikokyrion grabbed Falnaxus'
throat and yanked it forcably off of its body.
Falnaxus tried to struggle its way out of the demon's grip, but
Shikokyrion grabbed its tail with a second claw and restricted
its movement even more.
Shikokyrion bit down on Falnaxus with its might jaws that
chomped own like crashes of thunder.
Falnaxus roared in pain.
Shikokyrion was thrown off by a massive blast of fire from
Falnaxus, which wheeled upwards in attempt to get some breathin
room.
But Shikokyrion wasn't giving up yet.
The lightning demon grabbed the fire spirit's tail and slammed
it against the ground.
Falnaxus roared in pain as Shikokyrion's foot crashed down of
Falnaxus' throat and its lower body, one of its claws grabbing
the rest of Shikokyrion's tail.
Falnaxus was trapped.
Shikokyrion roared and raised its free claw, which sparked
fantastically with lightning.
The demon plowed the claw into Falnaxus.
The fire spirit roared and yelped in pain, unable to break free
of Shikokyrion's prolonged strike.
Sparkle and D-Mash watched helplessly as the serpant's body went
limp.
"Dad!" yelled Sparkle.
Shikokyrion grabbed Falnaxus' tail and lobbed it across the
base.
The creature smashed into several parked Carnifex jets and fell
still.
The firey serpant disappered, and PsychoPikmin lay still in its
place, several cuts and slash marks across his face.
Sparkle looked on in horror, uncertain whether PsychoPikmin was
dead or unconscious.
Shikokyrion roared in victory, spreading its wings and roaring
at the sky.
Suddenly something struck down out of the sky and exploded on
Shikokyrion's face.
The demon rored in surprise and pain, clutching its face.
Another object, a rocket drone, landed on its back.
Falnaxus' attacks must have weakened it greatly, as the drone
plowed straight through Shikokyrion's chest and exploded on the
ground in front of it.
The demon fell to its knees and began to shrink, once more
becoming Mariofan, a deep, bloody hole plowed through her chest.
Sparkle followed the drone's smoke trail to its source.
There, on the window that they had jumped from, was Swixer, the
modified portable JAVELIN in his hands.
Sparkle smiled.
Then she heard the clashing of swords and looked to DJ on the
floor, overpowered by SamuriFerret.
"D-Mash!" she yelled, pointing at SamuriFerret as he advanced
towards DJ.
D-Mash noticed them and raised his arm cannon.
Another green blast soared across the base.
It clipped SamuriFerret's shoulder and he yelled in agony.
He noticed them and glowered, retreating towards the helicoptor.
More soldiers were coming now, opening fire in his direction.
Andymcks defended the helicoptor, exploding as they dropped like
flies.
A couple of them used small, retractable claws to carry
Mariofan's body to the chopper.
DJ could only watch from the verge of unconsciousness as
SamuriFerret was helped into the helicoptor.
He looked back at DJ, his face an angry snarl.
Their eyes met and symbollically attacked one another like
sparring ghosts.
SamuriFerret continued to look down on him as the helicoptor
flew away into the night sky.
Tears fell from DJ's eyes onto the tarmac.
The helicoptor disappeared.
There was stillness, until medics rushed towards them to heal
the fallen soldiers.
DJ slowly stood back up.
D-Mash ran over to help him.
"You alright?" he asked.
DJ said nothing and turned away, back towards the main building.
Sparkle had run over to where PsychoPikmin had fallen and had
managed to revive him somehow and was helping him up.
They watched DJ as he solumnly walked to the main building.
He walked through the corridors, which were full of people
running outside to see what had happened.
Some stopped to watch him and wonder about his fresh wounds.
He went up the elevator to the command room.
As he entered, a recovered HelloSkitty, Saltybob, Toonix, Yinga,
Sheikah (on crutches), Mr. N, PixelF, Hammer Bro and Rai13
watched him walk in.
Twi was knelt next to Sask's body, opposite a medic.
Swixer was on his knees with hands tied behind him, a soldier
holding an ACR to his head.
DJ slowly walked across the room, past the ruined consoles and
smashed monitors.
He stopped next to Twi, who looked up at him, guilty grief in
his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said.
The medic looked up.
"The sword she was stabbed with must have had curse marks
enscribed on the blade...there's no way of reviving her".
There was a grieving silence in the room, just as Sparkle and
D-Mash walked in, supporting a limping PsychoPikmin.
DJ stared down at his sister's pale face.
The last smile she'd given him was martyred on her face.
He fell to his knees.
Then the tears came, forming deathly rivers down his face.
Twi and the medic moved away.
DJ lifted Sask's head and upper body and cradled her, quietly
crying.
Sparkle rushed forwards, causing PsychoPikmin to nearly fall,
just before he grabbed the doorway to support himself.
She crouched next to him.
"Come on," she whispered and hugged him.
Everyone watched on in silence.
#Post#: 44--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:25 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 39
Several days had passed since Gostalt had broken into Stoccatae.
By now, every small military outpost and town in the south of
GNC had lost radio contact. The ghosts were getting closer.
Fortunately, GNC was the second largest country in ONM, so most
of the soldiers reckoned that it would still take them another
couple of days to reach Stoccatae.
But there was no real way of knowing.
Not much of the ghosts' technology had been properly looked at
and researched, as every army that went up against them had been
brutally destroyed.
The only things that where set in stone about the ghosts was
that the infantry always used small, accurate machine guns and
had the ability to freeze opponents to death with the large
claws on their left hands.
They vanished into thin air when shot at to kill. What was
considered a standard ghost trooper took a lot of hits before
vanishing.
For all most soldiers knew, the ghosts didn't even die when they
vanished. In terms of vehicles, the ghosts only seemed to use
two types: one for ground assault and one for aerial fighting.
The ground vehicle, named officially as a Mantis, was a large,
lumbering machine that stood on six legs, with a raised metal
head-like section.
It had large missile silos on either side of its body and was
surprisingly agile for its size.
The ghost air vehicle was called a razorbeak. The thing was, it
wasn't a vehicle. It was an actual creature. It was dark,
ominous bird-like creature with a long tail and wide, hooked
wings, which was strange considering they looked more like birds
than bats or dragons. Their name came from their incredibly
sharp feathers. A Thundercloud aerial warship had returned
barely intact to an airbase in northern GNC. Massive holes had
been smashed straight through the hull. These holes hadn't been
made by cannons or missiles: they'd been made by razorbeaks
flying straight through the armour, their feathers tearing the
metal like a knife through paper. The razorbeaks had highly
skilled riders who controlled the razorbeaks as though they were
fighter jets. The giant birds also had the painfully annoying
ability to use their hooked wings to latch onto other vehicles
and rip them to pieces, as well as torch them with powerful
soulfire breath, which jetted from their mouths in plumes of
purple fire.
There was also the humongous creatures that had been encountered
in Music Country that looked like giant suits of strange armour.
These were hardest to kill, considering they could smash up most
things that opposed it and was practically immune to almost all
form of weaponry. If you could get something to explode within
the armour, then it would start to weaken, but this was no easy
feat.
But the one piece of technology that everyone was worried the
most about was the unknown weapon of mass destruction that had
destroyed the Epitaph base. From a distance, a massive, red
mushroom cloud had been seen on the skyline. Nobody knew what
this weapon looked like or how it was implemented. But judging
by what scientists had said about the size of the explosion, it
was as strong, if not stronger, than a nuclear weapon.
Worse still, every UAV sent to southern GNC had seen the fringes
of massive ghost hordes. From then on, every UAV had lost
contact, most likely destroyed. This lead to one fearful truth:
the ghosts were definatly heading towards Stoccatae.
At this point in time, DJ wasn't amazingly bothered about the
fearfully apparent threat of a ghost attack.
He had spent a lot of time on his own since Gostalt had broken
into Stoccatae and SamuriFerret had...
He didn't like thinking about it.
There were three things that dominated his thoughts right now.
The first was how Gostalt now had the coordinates for the Arc
and the location of the Sacred Chickens. Twi had reassured him
that the mission brief that thay had been set within was heavily
encrypted and had several built-in firewalls. But DJ doubted
this would stop Gostalt. They would find their way around it.
They always seemed to win.
The second thing that was on his mind was how the thundrafang
had not yet arrived at the base. The day they had arrived, Twi
had sent an immediate request to the superfoundry in Quiz
Country to the east. They had replied, saying that the
thundrafang was now their key priority. But their shipment of
necessary components for a thundrafang had not yet arrived, no
doubt destroyed by ghosts. The two weeks that had been given to
DJ by Nitengo on the Jeptu ship were almost up. There were 4
days left. If they didn't hurry up and activate the Arc, the
Jeptu would presume they had failed and destroy ONM to stop the
ghosts from setting their sights on other worlds.
The third and final thing on his mind was...Sask. Not only had
she been DJ's sister, but she had been his best friend. Back on
the Off Topic Islands, they had done everything together as
children, from play capture the flag to making dodgily created
gifts for their parents on their birthdays.
And now she was gone. Her body had been stored in cryo upon Dj's
own request, like an unburned effigy with a smile on her pale
face.
It was apparent to everyone else that he was upset.
He spent a lot of time in the outdoor firing range, practicing
with a desert eagle handgun. He was now a much better aim.
At dinner, he'd take a bread roll and eat it outside, sitting on
a pile of crates and watch the sun go down at dinner.
Sparkle was obviously worried the most about him.
Often, she would appear at his side during these evening periods
and sit by him. She spent a lot of time down in the security
with Swixer. He'd been put there by Twi as a precaution,
considered to be an affiliate of Gostalt.
He and Sparkle had obviously set about rekindling their old
relationship and were spending a lot of time together.
When DJ had been sitting and chewing his bread roll, she'd told
him about what everyone else was doing. The pirates had
beenallowed out of their cell after they'd helped with the
renovations on the base. D-Mash and his crew had spent an entire
day reinstalling new computers in the command room and clearing
away the debris. They were now assigned to helping soldiers and
technicians move crates around the base.
Mr. N was now helping in the science and communications
department, showing off his own UAV, which was far more useful
and agile than the other recon planes on the base. He'd also
been showing the base's scientists his research on the kirbilots
in Rules. They also had some less detailed notes on kirbilots
and where keen to know what Mr. N had managed to learn on his
speaking terms meetings with them.
PsychoPikmin was rarely seen around the base.
Occasionally, he was seen with Sparkle, talking about things
she'd been doing while he had been "observing". He still seemed
to be deep in thought over Zero, often looking up when someone
mentioned something about robotics.
But now wasn't one of the moments where Sparkle would talk to
him and he would listen.
It was almost midday.
DJ was in the indoors firing range, which was empty.
He fired several well aimed shots down the lane and hit the
bullseye twice.
He swapped the magazine and took off the earguards that shielded
him from the noise of the gunshots.
He took a swig from the water bottle next to him.
"Desert eagle," said a voice from the far end of the room by the
entrance.
DJ looked round.
Major Twi was leaning against the wall, grinning. He wore the
same grey camo and the same blue beret.
He started walking over to DJ.
"Fifteen inches long and two kilograms heavy, possibly the
strongest handgun that isn't as light as a G5".
DJ raised an eyebrow as the Major continued towards him.
"Quite a weapon if I say so myself"
"You want something Major?" DJ asked solumnly.
"I came to talk," said Twi, leaning against the wall.
He seemed very casual for what DJ expected a Major to be like.
"About?" asked DJ, replacing the magazine in the desert eagle
and standing up to fire at the target board again, not bothering
to replace his earplugs.
"Not much," said Twi.
"History mainly...you ever met a Metal Knight before?" he asked.
DJ lowered the weapon, remembering his run-in with a group of
Metal Knights after he'd been chased across the rooftops in
Music Country.
"Yeah," he said.
"Amazing organisation," said Twi cheerily.
"So small, yet so effective at their job...although we did get
help once or twice".
DJ fired off a single shot at the target board.
"There was one guy who helped us who used to be a good friend of
mine".
Twi looked at DJ.
"Name was Teeboy".
DJ instinctively pulled the trigger on hearing that name.
He turned to face the Major, a curious look in his eyes.
"...Teeboy?" he asked.
"Yup," said Twi, grinning again. "I knew I recognised your face
from somewhere. You look just like that bastard!"
Teeboy was the name of DJ's grandfather, the one who'd set out
to find the Sacred Chickens before him.
"...you knew my granddad?" DJ asked, lowering the weapon to his
side.
"He helped me and my unit fight off a troll infestation," said
Twi, nodding.
"Yeah," said DJ, a reminiscent smile appearing on his face as he
remembered the stories he and Sask had been told as children by
their grandfather about his travels across ONM.
"He talked about fighting trolls with Metal Knights," DJ said.
"I can't remember their names..."
"Did he have a double-barrelled shotgun?" asked Twi.
"Yes!" said DJ.
He remembered the old double barrelled shotgun that Teeboy had
kept above his mantlepiece.
Once, he and Sask had managed to climb up and get it down.
After watching countless action movies, Sask had known how to
load it and had found a single round under Teeboy's couch.
Their father had walked in on them, and in surprise, Sask had
pulled the trigger and shattered a vase belonging to their
grandma.
"He made you guys sound like heroes," DJ said to Twi.
"He was the hero," Twi said.
"Teeboy saved my life. Five more seconds and my guts would have
been all over the floor...funnily enough I remember him saying
how he was looking for them birds, the ones you're after".
"Did you not believe him then?" DJ asked.
"Nope," replied Twi.
"I thought he was as insane as an icefrog with a cigarette
lighter and a can of deoderant...but now you're here. And I
didn't think insanity was hereditary, so it must mean
something".
"He did find the birds you know," said DJ.
"Really?" said Twi.
"And what did he wish for?" Twi asked, chuckling.
"He wished that the local shop would shut," he said.
Twi raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked.
"So that he would have an excuse to go to a fruit stall," said
DJ.
"My grandma's fruit stall".
Twi furrowed his brow and smiled.
"He always seemed shy," he said.
"But still, he was a great friend...he kicked ass".
"He was my hero," said DJ. "Our hero..."
"I can imagine why," said Twi. "He was the only living thing
I've ever seen fight off trollspawn".
DJ looked up in surprise.
"Seriously?" asked DJ.
Twi nodded. "Yup," he said. "He always knew how to fight...I
haven't seen him in ages...will have...you know...when the
ghosts-"
"No," said DJ. "He died last year. Lag disease".
Twi grimaced. "I'm sorry".
"Don't be," said DJ. "The doctors gave him two months...he lived
another two years".
Lag disease was a rare illness for which there was currently no
cure.
Those who contracted the disease were affected within the
nervous system. The disease slowed down the speed at which
physical actions took place in the body. After a while, movement
would take so long to occur that it wouldn't happen altogether.
Eventually, brain activity would also be affected, and
eventually, the contractor would die.
It was overall a very unpleasent experience.
"Was it...painful?" asked Twi.
"I don't know," said DJ. "He seemed cheerier than usual,
actually..."
"Sounds like Teeboy," said Twi, grinning again.
"He always enjoyed life. Never gave up".
This hit DJ.
If Teeboy had gone up against everything he'd faced when looking
for the Scared Chickens...then why couldn't he?
Besides: he had a cause.
Sask.
But not only Sask. For everyone who'd died: those who'd died in
the invasion.
He had to find the feathers.
That's when DJ suddenly felt better. All of a sudden, the
daunting task ahead didn't seem so intimidating. The thoughts of
Teeboy gave him hope.
Hope.
He hadn't thought of that word for a long time.
He smiled.
Twi didn't notice his sudden grin and looked at his watch to
check the time.
"Alright," he said.
"I have things to do...just came to check on you. You seemed
shaken".
"Yeah," said DJ, reloading the desert eagle.
Twi got up and left.
DJ stood up and turned to the target.
He chuckled.
He fired at the targets.
#Post#: 45--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:25 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 40
It was raining in Rules.
The sky was a deep grey and a thick mist - bordering on fog,
shifted through the tall grass.
Thunder rumbled in the distance like a snoring behemoth, with
howls of kirbilots echoing in its wake.
PsychoPikmin trudged through the tall grass, beanie cap pulled
down and coat zipped up, his crossbow strapped to his back.
His black jeans were darkened further with the wetness of the
surrounding grass.
As it had been noticed, PsychoPikmin had not often been seen
around Stoccatae. He had been keeping to his own shadowy agenda.
What was noticable was how he walked.
PsychoPikmin's movement was slightly stiff and his breathing
seemed minutely irregular.
During his duel with SamuriFerret, the Gostalt mercenary had
stricken PsychoPikmin with his sword, slashing across the front
of his body in an X shape.
Beneath his clothing, there was an X shaped scar swipped into
his skin.
SamuriFerret's sword had had curse marks enscribed on the blade.
This meant that those who were hit by a slash would most likely
succumb to a soul sickness. On the night of Gostalt's
infiltration, only himself and Sparkle had been swiped by
SamuriFerret's X-shaped cursed slash.
Fortunately, there was a very low chance that either of them
would be severely mamed.
Sparkle, being a Moderator who's soul had been ritualistically
entwined with the the natural flow of life in ONM, would feel no
effect from a curse from a sword.
PsychoPikmin was slightly less lucky. He wouldn't feel much pain
from the curse, thanks to the power of Falnaxus. But he felt
colder than usual, and his breathing was indeed rather strange.
But he had things to do.
He stepped out into a large clearing.
The mist was still thick and grey.
PsychoPikmin looked round. The rain dripped from the end of his
beanie cap.
There was a certain tension in the air, as though the calm
before the storm had somehow managed to occur within the storm
itself.
There was another rumble of thunder.
PsychoPikmin heard a rustle in the grass behind him.
He turned and ducked down as a kirbilot leapt from the tall
grass with its teeth and claws brandished.
It landed on the other side of the clearing and turned to face
him.
Its blue fur was soaking and hung down with rain.
The creature growled at him.
PsychoPikmin and the kirbilot stood their ground, silent in
confrontation, the rain creating a noisy veil around them.
Slowly, PsychoPikmin pulled round his crossbow and held it in
one hand to his side.
The kirbilot continued to snarl.
It barked at him as he took a step forward.
"I know you can speak," said PsychoPikmin.
The kirbilot reluctantly stepped back, its wild brutality
challenged.
"I know you speak," said PsychoPikmin slowly.
"I don't want to fight".
The kirbilot stopped snarling, but didn't shift back any
further.
Then it wheeled its head round, barking.
PsychoPikmin looked up.
A figure stood on the far side of the clearing, wearing a dark
coat.
Zero.
PsychoPikmin narrowed his eyes.
Her hair was soaking, plastered to her forehead.
Her jaw was also quivering.
She was cold.
"You should've brought a hood," said PsychoPikmin.
Zero said nothing. Even though she was obviously envirnomentally
challenged, she still stood tall.
The kirbilot sensed the new tension and edged to one side,
observing the two standing in the rain before it.
PsychoPikmin raised the crossbow.
"I left them," said Zero.
"I left them...and I feel...lonely".
She looked down
PsychoPikmin paused.
He lowered the crossbow slightly.
"I feel now," Zero continued.
"Since the fight where the jet chased me away...I
feel...properly".
"What do you feel?" asked PsychoPikmin.
"Cold," said Zero.
"And I...see things...I see..."
She looked up.
"You...and a little brown-haired girl".
PsychoPikmin said nothing.
"Who are you?" asked Zero.
Again, PsychoPikmin said nothing.
The kirbilot continued to watch from afar.
Serated blades suddenly appeard from Zero's coat sleeves.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked again.
PsychoPikmin lowered the crossbow to his side.
Zero's face changed to an angry, frustrated snarl and she dashed
forwards.
PsychoPikmin raised his crossbow as it changed into a sword.
The two of them sparred briefly, locking blades and parrying,
like a pair of praying mantei in the rain.
They eventually came to a standstill, sword and wristblade
clashed together.
"Tell me," said Zero again, her eyes ablaze with angry passion.
"Now".
PsychoPikmin pushed her away.
"I can't," he said.
Zero shook her head, cradling it in her hands, the wristblades
retracting back into her sleeve.
"It's not because I don't want to," said PsychoPikmin.
Zero put her arms down.
"Oh no?" she said, sarcastically.
"And why is that?"
"Because you would die," said PsychoPikmin.
"I'm frickin' indestructable!" yelled Zero, arms held wide.
"No," said PsychoPikmin. "No you aren't".
Zero lowered her arms so that they clapped against her sides.
She shivered.
"What's happening to me...?" she mumbled, folding her arms.
"You're becoming a real person again," said PsychoPikmin,
placing the crossbow back in its holster on his back.
"In our last fight I removed the neural inhibitor chip in your
neck...all the emotions and memories from before your
cyberfication are returning to you".
Zero turned away.
"So...I do know you," she said.
"Yes..." said PsychoPikmin breathing out deeply.
"Yes you do..."
Zero turned back.
"Then why can't you tell me?" she said.
PSychoPikmin shook his head.
"If I were to tell you," he said.
"The sudden burst of returning thoughts and memories would cause
your brain to irritate the artificial nerves attached to it. The
nerves would be removed from the brain...and you'd die".
Zero said nothing to this.
"I'm sorry," said PsychoPikmin.
There was another pause, the rain being the only breaker of
silence.
The kirbilot was still there, watching them in silence.
"But...I can't...keep going on like this," said Zero.
"It hurts...it seriously hurts".
"Told you you weren't indestructable," said PsychoPikmin.
"I'm too cold," said Zero.
"I feel like...I'm going to freeze. I just...can't..."
She turned back to him.
"WHO ARE YOU?!!" she screamed.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! AND WHO AM I?!!"
There was silence again.
"...who are we to each other," she asked.
PsychoPikmin wore a conflicted expression.
Zero stepped forward and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him
backwards and forwards.
"Please tell me!" she said.
It was impossible for her to cry: her tear ducts would have been
removed during the cyberfication process.
But combined with the look on her face and the pouring rain, it
was hard to believe that she wasn't crying.
PsychoPikmin just looked down at her grievingly.
She stopped and lowered her arms.
There was more silence - bar the rain.
The kirbilot continued to watch them with untold fascination,
like it was watching a film.
"You're my daughter," mumbled PsychoPikmin.
Zero stepped back.
"My eldest daughter".
Zero stared back at him, unrelenting confusion in her face.
"You went off to fight in the Graphics Civil War," said
PsychoPikmin.
"We'd fallen out...we never saw you again".
Another thunderclap rumbled in the distance, again followed by
yelps of kirbilots, except the one watching PsychoPikmin and
Zero, who spoke up.
"'We' being?" she asked.
"Me and your sister," PsychoPikmin replied.
"Sparkle...the little girl you're getting visions of".
Zero had stopped shivering.
"Didn't she...recognise me?" she asked.
"No," said PsychoPikmn. "Not that I can tell".
"Every situation you two have both been in, you amazingly
haven't seen each other properly. When we fought on the road,
she never really saw you. When we were fighting in Stoccatae,
she had a mercenary band pinning her to the floor".
Zero took this all in.
"So...what do we do now...?" she asked.
"You've given me information and I'm not dead...surely I can
have more?"
"No," said PsychoPikmin. "I'm pushing it already...but you need
to leave".
Zero raised an eyebrow.
"What? Why?!"
"I've seen all this," PsychoPikmin said.
"And something changed...I believe that this was you..,you are
the enigma that has changed the flow of time".
Zero looked back at him in confusion.
"What does...that mean...?" she asked.
"That you can't be involved anymore," replied PsychoPikmin.
"You've already changed the future once. We can't risk it
changing again".
"I don't understand," exclaimed Zero.
"How did I change the future".
"Just go," said PsychoPikmin.
"Hide, run, do whatever. Just stay away from the ghosts and
anyone else. Gostalt, your sister, me. If it all goes to plan,
then...then we will most likely meet again".
Zero stared back at him.
PsychoPikmin looked own and shook his head.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm more sorry than I ever have been..."
He turned away from her and headed for the grass.
"Dad!" she called to him.
He stopped and looked back at her.
"...bye," she said, smiling slightly.
PsychoPikmin paused...and then smiled back.
"Goodbye," he said.
He walked away silently and disappeared into the grass.
Zero looked at the space where her new-found father had been.
Then she looked over at the kirbilot.
The creature made a small, gruff bark and also wandered away
into the grass, its supposed entertainment no longer in place.
Zero stood in the rain.
She shivered again.
#Post#: 46--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:27 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 41
"Your dad scares me," said Swixer.
"Why's that?" Sparkle asked.
"The whole fire thing," Swixer replied.
Sparkle and Swixer were in Swixer's security cell, with
transparent carbon fibre walls, with air holes at the front.
After Gostalt's infiltration and the fight that followed, Swixer
had been arrested as an accomplice of the enemy.
While he had managed to subdue Shikokyrion after the demon had
knocked out Falnaxus and PsychoPikmin, Twi believed that he
could not be trusted and had put him in the cell, using Swixer's
take down of Shikokyrion as an excuse not to shoot him through
the head there and then.
Every day since the infiltration, Sparkle had visited Swixer in
his cell.
In her mind, she truly knew why she'd spent hours with him for
the past several days. Yet for some reason, she didn't want to
admit it to herself.
She also knew that everyone else knew, even though they never
said anything.
But for now, she was just thankful Swixer had not shot her after
SamuriFerret had threatened him.
"I'm just glad he didn't hunt me down and burn me," Swixer
continued.
"He wouldn't be able to," said Sparkle.
"He's...tied down. He can't appear unless something occurs that
screws around the flow of time or something".
"That kinda sucks," said Swixer.
"It's the law," said Sparkle. "He's an Observer...with those
spirits inside them, they're not allowed out of the space
between dimensions".
Swixer twitched his mouth.
"And I suppose something's come along then?" he said.
"That's mucked up the flow of time?"
"The ghosts I bet," said Sparkle.
She turned to Swixer.
"You shouldn't be scared of him," she said.
"He might be a pyromaniac but he won't torch you out of anger".
"He's a pyromaniac?" he asked.
"Apparently," said Sparkle.
"Although it is slightly surprising that he didn't torch
you...it's pretty obvious that he dislikes the ghosts".
Swixer said nothing.
There was a silence.
"Were you actually considering shooting me?" Sparkle asked him.
Again, Swixer said nothing.
Sparkle just watched him.
"If you were," she said. "Was it because you are still part of
Gostalt?"
"No," he said.
"It was SamuriFerret's threat...about the Emperor".
"Can he really do that?" Sparkle asked. "I mean...torture dead
souls?"
"I don't know," replied Swixer quietly. "But the Emperor is
definately capable of...dark stuff..."
There was silence again.
"Is that why you joined Gostalt?" Sparkle asked.
"Where you threatened into it?"
"No," said Swixer.
"I joined them...to be part of a cause...I used to believe in
the Emperor's ideas".
"Why?" Sparkle asked.
"Come to think of it, why did you even join Gostalt?"
Swixer shuffled slightly.
"After you and I broke up, I had nowhere to go. All my family is
dead - you know that. I was depressed...and those assholes at my
old job kept taking the p**s...so I attacked them. Broke one
guy's leg. Then I got fired. I couldn't find a job anywhere
else...so I had only one place to go".
"Where was that?" Sparkle asked.
"The TV Country mafia," said Swixer.
"They took me in...fed me...gave me weapons training...and I
worked for them".
"Doing what?" Sparkle asked again.
"Mostly bank robberies," Swixer replied.
"And then one night after a job, the guys I was working with
beat me up and left me to die in a back alley. They'd shot me in
the leg and I was too deep in an alley to yell for help...and
then he showed up...SamuriFerret".
Sparkle raised an eyebrow.
"He...saved you?" she asked.
"I know it seems weird," said Swixer. "But he saved my life. He
healed my wounds, gave me food..."
"Let me guess," said Sparkle. "He wanted something in return".
"Yup," replied Swixer.
"I told him what had happened and who I was...about you at one
point".
Sparkle said nothing.
"He said that my skills could be put to better use...so he
trained me".
"Trianed you?" Sparkle asked. "In what?"
"Mainly weapons stuff," Swixer replied.
"And hand-to-hand...he turned me into an assassin...and I was
thankful".
Sparkle listened in silence, her eyes glimmering in slight
disturbance.
"Then he gave me a proper mission...steal something: a jetpack".
Sparkle nodded.
"The same jetpack I was chasing for six months".
"And then I met the rest of them...Gostalt. Some of the
craziest, sadistic basterds I've ever met...and I didn't care,"
Swixer continued, staring forward in sad reminiscense.
"And I also met our leader...the Emperor...a demon with a war
hero's face".
Barely noticable to the eye, Sparkle shivered slightly as she
remembered meeting the Emperor in Music Country and the feeling
of absolute fear that accompanied him everywhere, like an icy
hound, baying for blood.
"And then I learnt of our cause," Swixer continued.
"Destroy ONM".
"And you went with that?" asked Sparkle.
"...at first," said Swixer.
"The kind of things I'd been made to do; theft, assassination -
it changed me. They were routine...and now so was this".
He turned his head to her.
"But then it sank in".
She stared back, expression unreadable.
"Capturing Helmaroc was easy enough - morally anyway. But
everything else was...hard to get around. I was about to help
with the invasion and annihilation of ONM. I couldn't do that.
But..."
He turned away.
"What?" asked Sparkle.
"The fear," said Swixer. "You met the Emperor. He has that
effect on people, with his...powers. He can literally exert raw
fear".
"I know what he mean," mumbled Sparkle.
"And that fear is what kept me serving him," continued Swixer.
"And I didn't want to. I felt it would be easy to just...leave.
But SamuriFerret suspected me...after I tried to kill Flash7
when he was about to talk about Gostalt to DJ and Sask and then
you showed up...he asked me where my loyalties lay. I told him
with the Empire...but after you appeared, I started...you know".
There was an awkward silence as Swixer stared ahead bleakely and
Sparkle sat next to him, trying to read his expression.
"And then I was told to pull the trigger," said Swixer. "To
start the war...it's my fault...half the world is dead and it's
my fault".
He said nothing more.
Sparkle's eyes were flickering brightly, her tongue in her cheek
in thought.
"...then come with us to the Arc," she said.
Swixer looked at her.
"You can do something to end the war," said Sparkle.
"If we succeed at the Arc, you'll help bring everyone back and
help send the ghosts away".
Swixer paused, then nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "I could...redeem myself. I can help stop the
Emperor".
A smile appeared on his face, the knife of the hopeful future
piercing the shadowy blanket of his past.
"Thanks," he said.
"You're welcome," Sparkle chuckled.
And then they stopped, eyes locked.
There was a long, drawn-out silence.
The kissed, slowly, then passionately.
Swixer fell back, Sparkle on top of him, neither of them caring
about anything anymore.
And they lay there, consumed in each other's happiness.
#Post#: 47--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:29 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 42
It was Wednesday. Less than two days remained until the Jeptu's
time limit was set to end.
Even worse, no radio signals where avaible south of GNC.
Nothing at all.
This meant that ONM's entire southern hemisphere had fallen to
the Ghost Empire.
And now Stoccatae was seemingly the last defence, with no other
large military bases anywhre to the north.
The mood was very tense.
Twi had raised the alert level to DEFCON 1, which represented
the expectation of certain attack on the base.
Most soldiers around Stoccatae sat on their beds in the
barracks, most of them silent, like rows of perched birds,
awaiting for the alarm to sound.
But there was one, slight ray of hope.
The thundrafang had arrived from the Quiz Country foundry.
DJ, Sparkle, PsychoPikmin, Swixer, Mr.N and the pirates were all
preparing to head for the Arc.
Swixer had been allowed to come on the condition that he was
watched and incapacitated on first sign of betrayal. Twi wasn't
that worried about th chances of Swixer turning against them.
PsychoPikmin would most likely torch him if he did.
Swixer had however been allowed to take all his gear that had
been confiscated from him after Gostalt's infiltration: his M9
handguns, the modified portable JAVELIN launcher, his
night-vision goggles and - surprisingly, the jetpack.
DJ felt a lot better now as well.
He felt as though they would definately succeed, especially
since D-Mash had assured him that KD King would reach the Arc
before the end of the day.
But they still had to take precautions.
Gostalt - therefore the Emperor, had the Arc's coordinates. For
all DJ knew they might already be heading towards the Arc, so
they had no time to lose.
Right now, he was just inside the aircraft hangar, strapping up
his boots.
He sheethed his sword, and placed a desert eagle handgun into a
holster on his belt.
He thought of Sask as he did so.
Don't worry, sis, he thought. We'll bring you back.
He breathed out deeply.
He thought of what Twi had told him about his granddad.
He grinned, picking up a pair of sunglasses and putting them on.
Striding out of the hangar, DJ approached KD King, surrounded by
everyone about to leave.
The sun had come out in the past few days, and even though it
had not improved the mood around the base, it did give DJ some
kind of weird hope.
Sparkle noticed him and smiled, a slight wind blowing her hair
around.
"Ready?" she asked.
DJ nodded.
"Are we going yet?"
D-Mash heard him and climbed down from KD.
"We're about there," he said.
"Damn right!" piped up KD's synthesized voice, emnating from the
great, metal chicken.
"I've been sitting round here for ages now and my metal butt is
numb!"
"Calm down, brother," laughed D-Mash.
"We're leaving now".
Toonix shook his head.
"That's the coolest chicken I've ever seen," he said.
"Amen," said Yinga, nodding.
As DJ passed by, they greeted him and wished him luck.
"Kick some ass," said Saltybob.
"I'll try," said Dj.
"And thanks...you guys have been awesome".
"What, were you expecting us not to be awesome?" said Sheikah, a
crutch under one of his arms.
PsychoPikmin was sitting on a nearby crate, threading darts into
his crossbow, his eyes hidden behind the rim of his beanie cap.
Swixer stood on the other side of the crate, wary of the
Observer.
He nticed DJ and stepped forwards.
"Er...DJ," he said.
DJ looke dup at him. He was still uncertain how he should look
at Swixer.
"Yeah?" he said.
"I never said before," said Swixer. "But I'm...sorry about your
sister".
Neither of them noticed PsychoPikmin glance up at them.
DJ said nothing.
His apology was genuine, his voice sincere.
"...thanks," said DJ.
Swixer smiled slightly.
DJ walked up the ramp and into KD.
Rai13, PixelF and Hammer Bro were already inside, as well as Mr.
N, sitting to the far side of KD's familiar, metal inside, an
MA2000 on his lap.
"So what is this place we're going to exactly?" Hammer Bro
asked.
"It's an ancient rock," said PixelF. "SSends ghosts away
apparently".
Next to PIxelF, was a long, metal object with a pointed end, a
triangular prism running round its edges.
This was the thundrafang, the mining tool that they'd be using
to make the Arc into a giant slab or pure awesomotanium.
When activated, the traingular prism opened up and several other
points would extend into the surface it was jammed into. The
device would then release a high-powered electrical charge
through the surface, allowing for electrolysis to occur without
need for water.
DJ just hoped it would work.
Then Sparkle, PychoPikmin, Swixer and D-Mash boarded KD.
"Let's roll, brother," said D-Mash, banging the metal wall
twice.
"Next stop: our last hope, ladies and gentlmen..."
The ramp at the back of KD moved upwards, closing as the
propellors and singular jet engine began to roar.
DJ looked out of the large viewing window.
Saltybob, HelloSkitty, Yinga, Toonix and Sheikah waved to them
as KD rose away from the ground, their hair billowing behind
them.
DJ smiled down at them and then looked up at the rest of the
base.
Very clearly, he could see Twi standing at one of the repaired,
wide windows of the command room.
He nodded slightly, like a lion addressing its cub.
And then KD quickly soared away from Stoccatae, over the grassy
plains and heading north towards the thin stretch of mountains
on the northern horizon.
DJ sat back and breathed out.
Here we go, he thought.
Private Kieranshere had not been in the ONM military for long.
He'd always dreamed of being a war hero, with scrapbooks at home
of pictures of the likes of Chandra and Jonowev.
He was only eighteen, with two months at Stoccatae and very
little combat training.
And then this whole ghost invasion had struck like wildfire.
Luckily, his parents and little sister lived in the north, in
Poke Country. But now Kieranshere reckoned that the short and
devastating war was not only his chance to somehow become
recognized amongst the military ranks, but he truly felt that
this war affected each and every person throughout ONM and
needed to be fought by each and every person throughout ONM.
And usually, these thoughts in his head would have made him
protest against sitting at the top of a watchtower out in the
middle of the GNC grasslands. But now that the situation had
been raised to DEFCON 1, he didn't not only feel no need to
protest, but also felt incredibly scared.
He was posted on top of a tall, metal ,watchtower, overlooking
much of the GNC grasslands, which he looked out upon, wearing a
thick coat to protect him from the spring winds. The towr stood
on the edge of a thick forest, one of the few large ones across
the rest of the nation.
This part of GNC was much cloudier and and less sunny than the
brighter north around Stoccatae.
Dark clouds plumed overhead, thunder rumbling in the distance.
Great, thought Kieranshere. War's coming and it's going to rain.
A shivering wind blew past the tower.
Kieranshere checked his watch. 15:36.
He sighed and went into the indoor section of the top of the
tower.
A kettle was whistling on a stove.
Kieranshere moodily poured hot water into a mug and added a
teabag and milk, then sturred it with a spoon, watching the
mixture swirl into tea.
He picked up the mug and a biscuit from a nearby packet and
walked back out, continuing to look out over the horizon.
There was a rushing crash somehwhere in the distant sky.
Kieranshere looked up.
There was something in the dark clouds - an even darker object,
getting larger and larger.
He squinted.
The object meteored into the plains before him, with a fantastic
crash and boom, sending dirt and debris high into the air.
The watchtower shuddered: Kieranshere dropped his mug, which
smashed on the metal floor, the tea seeping through the small
grating.
Kieranshere looked stunned, staring at the fifty foot burst of
dirt that had been launched upwards.
He knew what this was. He'd read the recon reports.
He dashed into the indoor section and grabbed the radio.
"Hello?! This is Watchtower Bravo, over! We have a-"
He was cut off as another huge boom rocked the tower.
He looked out of the indoor section.
Another massive dust cloud had reared upwards.
And there were more meteoric objects on the horizon, hurtling
towards the plains.
"God dammit! This is Watchtower Bravo! Someone answer me!"
A synthesized voice sounded out over a small telecom.
"Seismic precautions activated. Evacuation is advised. Stay away
from tall objects".
The tower had activated its seismic activity guards in response
to the tremors caused by the crashing objects.
Kieranshere looked out of the window. The objects were smashing
into the plains at incredible velocity.
"This is Stoccatae, over," said a voice on the radio.
"They're here!!" Kieranshere yelled.
"Say again, Watchtower Bravo," said the voice.
"THE GHOSTS ARE HERE, DAMMIT!! I NEED TO SPEAK TO MAJOR TWI,
NOW!!"
At Stoccatae, a worried-looking technician dashed into the
nearly-repaired command room.
Twi was sitting in a new chair, similar to his old one that
SamuriFerret had slashed to pieces, looking annoyed.
"Sir," said the technician, rushing up to Twi.
"They're here".
"Say again?" said Twi, looking up after adjusting the arm rests
on the chair.
"The ghosts, sir. They're here, beyond the forest. We were
contacted by Watchtower Bravo".
Twi's faced changed from frustrated to serious.
"Are we still in contact with that watchtower?" he asked
urgently.
"Yes, sir. On frequency 9," the technician replied.
Twi moved quickly to the closest console and patched into
frequency 9.
"This is Major Twi," he said.
He was met with a panicked voice.
"Sir! They're here!"
"Calm down, dammit...! Now tell me your rank and name, soldier".
People in the room had stopped working to listen.
"Kieranshere, sir...Private 2nd class".
"Okay, Private," said Twi sincerely.
"I need you to tell me what's going on".
"There are large objects ploughing into the plains, sir," said
Kieranshere, trying to stay calm, yet panic still seeped into
his voice.
"From what I saw on recon reports, this seems like the
battlefield entry protocal for-"
He was interupted as a loud, bass hum emnated across the plains.
At the tower, Kieranshere looked at of the window again.
Something was climbing out of one of the craters created by
meteoric objects. It was metal, standing on six legs that
allowed it to tower upwards. A metal neck reared up, a head-like
moudule on the end with a single, white light on the front.
"...a Mantis," finished Kiranshere.
Twi looked at of one of the wide windows from his end of the
radio.
There was dark green strip on the horizon.
"Can you tell how many there are, Private?" he asked.
"I don't know, sir," said Kieranshere. "They just keep falling
and...wait, there's something else".
From the crater around the Mantis, there was movement.
Pale, spindly figures skulked towards the tower from around the
machine, eyeless, all of them holding small machine guns in one
hand; their other hand a huge, three-pronged claw.
Ghosts.
Then, as more Mantei climbed from their respective craters, more
of them appeared, not marching in a formation but merely
skulking forwards with intent to destroy.
"There's enemy infantry, sir," said Kieranshere.
"How many?" Twi asked.
"I can't tell... there's a group of about twenty ghosts to every
Mantis...I think about...400 so far, with more incoming".
Stoccatae's soldiers were highly trained, but there were only
about 500 of them available to fight. If the enemy forces kept
growing like this, then...
"Listen Private. You have to get out of there now. Do you here
me? NOW. Do you have any form of transport".
"Er...yeah," replied Kieranshere, staring at the massive force
of ghosts moving towards his watchtower.
"There's a Dragonfly downsta-".
He stopped, staring in panic and awe.
Missile pods had unfolded from the sides of the closest Mantis.
"Private?" asked Twi's voice over the radio.
One of the missiles launched from the Mantis and twisted through
the air towards the watchtower.
"Private?!" said Twi's voice again.
The missile hit the tower, exploding against the side.
The watchtower crumpled, moaned and collapsed downwards into the
ground.
"Private?!" yelled Twi on his end of the radio.
No reply.
Twi stood up straight and looked own at the radio.
Everyone in the room had fallen silent and was watching him.
Twi blinked, then turned to a man to his left, wearing a camo
jumpsuit.
"Leautenant," he said.
"Mobilize everything and everyone for immediate action".
"Yes, sir," said the Leautenat.
Across the base, the alert alarm sounded, whining in the ears of
every man and woman.
Saltybob and the rest of Autumn Unit prepared their weapons and
strapped up their boots in the barracks.
Saltybob remembered what they had faced in Music Country and how
tough the enemy was. And now they had a full-scale battle on
their hands.
He turned to th rest of his team: HelloSkitty, Yinga Toonix.
"You ready?" he asked them.
None of them wore their helmets yet.
Their eyes were all full of some kind of sad determination: as
though they all knew that they would never return alive.
Yet they all nodded.
Saltybob pulled on his helmet and raised his MA2000.
"Let's move," he said.
The four of them ran out of the barracks and towards a nearby
Dragonfly.
Other soldier were doing likewise, and Carnifexes lifted off the
ground and sped off in the direction of the forest.
Centurion tanks and Rhinos rolled towards the open gates,
soldiers holding onto the sides to catch a ride to the
battlefield, followed by the large, bipedal Tyranno mechs,
striding along like dinosaurs.
"Let's roll, pilot," Saltybob said as he climbed into the
Dragonfly.
"Yes, sir," the pilot replied.
Saltybob recognized the voice.
"Sheikah?" he said.
The pilot turned round and pulled off his helmet.
"Yes, sir?" he said, grinning.
Yinga shook his head.
"Why are coming? Shouldn't you be off with your leg and all?"
"I ain't letting a damn fleshwound stop me from kicking some
ghost ass," Sheikah replied.
"Besides, I'm only providing air support".
The Dragonfly's propellors started up.
Sheikah put his helmet back on.
"Let's boogie!" he yelled.
The Dragonfly lifted into the air and joined the stream of other
helicoptors whirring in the direction of the forest.
They were at war.
#Post#: 48--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:30 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 43
The sky was dark with deep, grey clouds, no sunlight showing
through, bar a shining orange strip on the horizon.
The mountains of the Northern GNC Range towered towards the sky,
some taller than others. Their shadows were cast over the vast
forests that lined the bases of the mountains and climbed their
sides.
Snow was visible on the taller mountains, left over from the
winter storms like leftovers left on the table after a meal.
Many of these mountains had huge holes and cavernous tunnels
ploughed through them, created by miners long ago when looking
for gold or awesomotanium.
KD King whirred past the and inbetween the mountains, like a fly
braving its way between guests at a party.
"This is one of the oldest places in ONM," said Mr. N from
within the metal chicken.
"There's nothing here...no towns, no cities, nothing...just the
Arc, it seems".
DJ raised his eyebrow. His head was slumped against the metal
wall behind him. They'd been flying for several hours now.
Frantic air traffic leaving northern cities had slowed them down
considerably. D-Mash had thought it best not to startle the no
doubt already frustrated police in GNC Central.
And now they weren't far from the Arc, where DJ's long-winded
quest would end and he could rest easy.
And then they'd recieved a radio message from Twi, saying the
the ghosts had reached Stoccatae and outnumbered them greatly.
The chances were that Stoccatae would not survive the night, so
if the Arc and the Sacred Chickens were the solution, then they
had to move with haste.
"The coordinates say...24, 18, 45," said PixelF, looking at KD
King's GPS readout.
"Not far, ladies," said D-Mash.
DJ smiled slightly and turned away, staring down at the dark
forests below from KD's large window a solumn look on his face.
Sparkle touched his shoulder.
He looked up.
"You'll see her soon, DJ," she whispered, smiling.
DJ nodded slightly.
There was a sudden flicker of movement on the edge of his
vision.
He looked towards it.
Something was approaching KD from behind...very quickly, fire
jetting from one end.
"PULL UP, KD!!" he yelled.
"Eh?" the metal chicken said.
"ROCKET DRONE!!" DJ yelled.
"Where?!" KD blarted out, panic suddenly appearing in everyone's
eyes. He might have a human personality, but his raar systems
where still quite primitive.
"FRICKIN' PULL UP!!" DJ yelled again.
Everyone fell towards the closed loading ramp at the back of KD
as the metal chicken swiftly moved upwards.
The rocket drone whipped past below them, continued on for
several hundred metres and suddenly did a majestic turn and
began back towards them.
"Oh...that rocket drone," KD hummed stupidly.
"Get out of its way, brother!" yelled D-Mash.
"Everybody hold onto something!" Hammer Bro yelled.
DJ, Sparkle and Swixer all grabbed onto a handle bar jutting
from the wall and held on for dear life as KD dived downwards to
avoid the drone, which cascaded after him.
KD flew low over the dark trees, tipping sideways and allowing
his metal wings to slice across the treetops, sending pieces of
wood and branches into the path of the drone in an attempt to
knock off course.
This failed as the drone swept upwards out of the way of chunks
of wood.
"Brother!" D-Mash yelled.
"Blow that thing up!"
"I'm trying!" the chicken yelped back. "Then try harder!"
replied Rai13.
On KD's sides, small missile pods extended outwards, swivelling
round to face the drone.
Six missiles launched towards the drone, circling around each
other in an extending wheel of fire.
The drone suddenly jetted forwards, barrel-rolling as it went,
straight through the wheel of missiles, which closed in and
exploded behind the drone which continued to pursue KD
unscathed.
"Dammit..." mumbled KD. "Damn thing's smart".
"Just get rid of it!" yelled Sparkle.
KD banked sharply to the left, the drone determindly following
him.
Mr. N, Hammer Bro and Rai13 let go of the handle bars they were
holding onto and slammed into the opposite wall.
As he approached a mountain, KD swiftly began upwards.
"Fire more missiles!" yelled D-Mash.
As with before, another wheel of missiles danced towards the
drone, which once again swept around them.
"If I could get behind it, I could shoot it down," grumbled KD.
"Or I could," said Swixer. "I have a jetpack...you could drop me
out and I'll shoot it down".
"You have a jetpack?" piped Hammer Bro, rubbing his head.
"Swixer, you sure?" Sparkle asked, looking slightly concerned.
"I flew away from you didn't I?" Swixer said, grinning.
"Well if you're going to try," said KD. "Then everyone hold onto
something, 'coz I'm opening the hatch in ten".
Hammer Bro, Rai13 and Mr. N grabbed onto another handle bar.
The ramp at the back opened up, the dark, rocky terrain speeding
past.
The drone was getting closer.
Swixer kissed Sparkle.
"Don't die," Sparkle said.
Swixer smiled and let go of the handlebar, falling through the
open hatch.
He pulled himself into a pencil shape and rocketed downwards.
He passed the drone at several hundred miles an hour from a
distance of about 10 centimetres.
Swixer pushed the accelerate switch in his right hand.
The jetpack flared into life and made his flight more stable.
He swiped round in one swift movement and began pursuing the
drone and KD King.
He pulled out his M9s and fired at the drone.
It was hard to fire straight with the wind rushing against his
face, making his eyes go dry and forcing him to constantly
blink.
The shots occasionally pinged off the sides of the drone, but
never hit properly.
He needed something with stronger firepower. And worse, they
were starting to climb to an unbearable height. The fuel cell in
the jetpack would short out from the low temperature.
He put away his M9s and reached to his belt, pulling off a
small, metal object.
It was one of KrikenKing's little creations.
He pressed a button.
The object twisted and folded and extended, a gun barrell, a
magazine, a trigger and handle and a hand grip appearing.
It was a highly-portable submachine gun.
Swixer raised the SMG and readied to fired a volley of shots.
But then he stopped.
If he fired from this range, the drone would explode and kill
him. Yet if he moved further away, there was no way of hitting
the drone, seeing as the SMG only had a limited accuracy.
He swore.
He had to do something before the drone followed KD high enough.
There was only one thing he could think of doing and he didn't
like it.
And then he thought of Sparkle, clinging to the handlebar inside
the metal chicken that would be blown to smithereens if he
didn't...
He gulped.
He clasped the accelerate switch and soared close to the drone.
In an act of nauseating recklessness, Swixer grabbed onto the
drone and held on for his life.
He pulled at, the thrust from his own jetpack giving him
strength over the drone's jets.
The drone stuttered from its course but kept heading after KD
King.
Swixer crushed the accelerate switch with all his strength.
"PULL AWAY, DAMMIT!!" he yelled.
"PULL AWAY, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!"
The jetpack roared as its full thrust was activated.
The drone was dragged out of its course afer KD.
Then the drone accelerated in a different direction, arcing and
whirling and rolling, its intelligent microcomputer systems
trying to shake off the hitchhiker.
Swixer couldn't let go, not yet anyway.
He had to find away of getting off it, blowing it up and not
dying, all at once.
On board KD - who had levelled out, everyone peered out the
window at Swixer as he corralled the drone crazily across the
sky.
"What the hell is he doing?" said PixelF.
"He's trying to pull it away from us," said PsychoPikmin.
Sparkle had both hands against the window as she watched on with
horror.
"Let go!" she yelled, banging the glass. "LET GO!"
"That's far enough," said Mr. N suddenly.
"What?" said DJ.
"I could shoot it down from this far," he said, grabbing his
bolt-action rifle.
"We just need Swixer to let go of it".
"I can do that," said PsychoPikmin. "I can shift to the drone
and help him".
Sparkle looked round at him, about to protest, but her father
was already up and the back ramp was lowering to give Mr. N a
vantage point at D-Mash's order to KD.
"Hurry up," said PsychoPikmin to Mr. N. "It'll come back round
for us once Swixer's let go".
Mr. N nodded.
There was a brief but intense wave of heat as PsychoPikmin
vanished in a veil of fire.
Several hundred metres away, he reappeared in another burst of
fire, falling.
In once swift movement, he grabbed Swixer and flung him to one
side as the drone passed by.
This took about two seconds.
On KD, Mr. N perched on the ramp, the window billowing his coat
as he peered down his scope and jerkidly aimed at the drone.
"Hold it steady..." he shouted over the wind to KD King.
"I'm trying," the metal chicken piped back. "It's freezing up
here..."
Still falling in the distance, PsychoPikmin watched the drone
make a wide turn and head back towards KD.
"Pull the damn trigger," her mumbled, before vanishing in a
firey flash again.
DJ was thinking the same thing, glancing from the approaching
silouhette of the drone and at Mr. N.
"Gotcha," the Graphican said, pulling the trigger on his rifle,
which went of with a massive bang.
The drone was suddenly engulfed in a ball of flame as it
exploded, Mr. N's heavy round ploughing straight through its
hull.
"It's gone!" D-Mash yelled, just as PsychoPikmin reappeared,
followed by another wave of heat.
They all cheered as KD's ramp closed and they flew off to
rendevous with Swixer.
But the air inside the chicken airship soon became more solumn.
Somebody had just tried to kill them and everyone could easily
assume who had launched the drone.
Fear crept back into DJ's thoughts.
Had that been a long-range drone or were there ghosts prowling
these mountains...
His heartbeat began to speed up as though he was about to take
part in a final round of capture the flag.
They had to hurry up.
And then, as Swixer rejoined them - accompanied by a cheer from
everyone else and massive hug from Sparkle, KD King shook as
something exploded outside.
Everyone rushed to the window to see what.
Another explosion went off further away and something loomed
into view from around a relatively close mountain: an huge,
black airship, with raised, pointed bow and jagged wings with
dozens of missile turrets and missile silos lining the sides.
"What the hell..." began D-Mash.
"That thing's massive," squeaked Hammer Bro as the airship came
into view.
DJ noticed Swixer, who's face was dark with recognition.
"That's his airship," he said.
"...son of a...biscuit," growled D-Mash.
#Post#: 49--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:31 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 44
Everyone silently watched the huge airship as it moved towards
them, coming to a stop above KD King and casting a great shadow
over them.
The airship could easily blow them away.
We're screwed, thought DJ.
"Well...what now?" asked Hammer Bro.
Then the lights started to flicker and eventually switched off.
"Brother? What's happening with the lights?" asked D-Mash,
looking up at the ceiling. KD King did not reply.
"Brother?" asked D-Mash again.
Then the temperature dropped drastically.
"Woah..." said Rai13. "What the hell...? Why is it so cold?"
DJ wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
He knew who was coming. What was coming.
Then the fear creapt into his mind, like a dark cloud.
He looked to Sparkle for reassurance. Tears were streaking down
her face. The same kinds of tears that had run down her face on
the night that they had been captured by Gostalt.
"It's like a frickin' fridge in here!" said PixelF, teeth
chattering.
The cold ran fast through DJ's body, down his spine and through
his hands.
Then there was a massive burst of freezing air, moving out from
the centre of the chamber.
Everyone was knocked backwards as a dark shape materialised
before them.
The shape stayed still for a few seconds, then grew upwards,
into the shape of a person, a man.
And then two draconian wings expanded outwards and folded back
in again from the figure back. Dark, liquid shadows dripped from
the wings and pattered against the floor.
Then the figure fully materialised, a tall man with a pale,
grinning face with a goatee beard and black, spiked hair with
red tips.
The Emperor, with Chandra's face stood before DJ once again.
Except this time, he no longer wore a dark, ancient cloak; the
Emperor was donned in a black pin-striped suit, with a black
shirt and tie. He looked more like a threatening businessman
than the ruler of an ancient other-dimensional empire.
He looked round at those aboard KD, still grinning maniacally.
"Well," he said cooly.
"It's good to see you all again...I see you got away from
KrikenKing's drone".
He turned to Swixer. "Your handiwork I understand".
Swixer said nothing.
"Krikenking isn't happy," Chandra said. "He says you owe him a
new drone...and he wants all his tech back...".
DJ glanced at Sparkle. She had her legs clasped tightly before
her, looking very small and vulnerable.
"I don't care what Krikenking says," Swixer mumbled. He hoisted
himself to his feet, trying to stand at equal to the Emperor,
the shivering hindering his efforts.
"I'm not your puppet anymore".
Chandra raised an eyebrow. His mere gaze seemed to have a
crippling effect on Swixer, who was having trouble standing up
straight and who's left eye was blinking rapidly.
"And from what I understand..." said the Emperor, turning to one
side.
"You've betrayed me for a woman".
He looked down at Sparkle, who tried to shy even further back
into the darkness, her eyes fixed to Chandra's in pure fear and
horror.
The Emperor knelt down to her level.
"You're his ex, I believe?" he said. "You were there that night
with Helmaroc".
Sparkle said nothing.
The Emperor chuckled.
"You're a frail little thing aren't you?" he said, stroking
Sparkle's cheek lightly with the back of his hand.
As fast as lightning, DJ's katana was suddenly at his pale
throat.
"Leave her alone," he said.
Chandra looked round at him.
"Ah yes," he muttered darkly. "You were there too...and so was
your sister".
He grinned.
"Not anymore".
#Post#: 50--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:32 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 45
KD jerked suddenly.
A large, red sphere rocketed from the cannon that had extended
from the metal beak, pulsing and flashing as it cascaded through
the air, towards the giant airship.
The sphere smashed into the airships base, creating an ugly in
the hull and sending red sparks dancing across it.
Everyone looked up in awe as the sparks covered the ship
entirely...then disappeared.
"...did anything happen?" asked Sparkle.
DJ looked up at the hole, frowning.
"Yeah," he said. "Surely that did something...right?"
He turned and looked up at D-Mash, who was also staring up at
the ship.
Then there was a great booming noise. Something had exploded.
"What the-" began PixelF, before another tremendous bang
sounded.
The great airship above them shifted as great cracks darted
across its hull.
Its bow dipped downwards and the entire thing began to move
downwards.
"MOVE, KD!!" Hammer Bro yelled.
The metal chicken quickly zoomed backwards from beneath the
ship.
Everyone watched as it began to fall downwards towards the dark
forests below.
Huge fires were spreading across its top, chunks of metal
falling away.
"Good old threadlocker," said D-Mash.
DJ tore his eyes away from the dying ship and looked at the
pirate astoundedly.
"That was really a threadlocker?" he asked. "Because it seemed a
crapload more powerful than the rocket you used on that squid
before".
"Indeed," said D-Mash. "It's a modified, supersized
threadlocker".
There was a groan as the airship suddenly tore in two below
them, its halves rolling and exploding in middair.
Everyone cheered as the halves hit the forest, collapsing into
the trees.
But the feelings of mutual joy were short-lived.
DJ squinted as he saw something move below, a dark silhouette
against the fires surrounding the airship's remains.
His heartbeat sped up again.
"D-Mash," he said.
"We have to get to the Arc, now".
"What's the rush?" asked PixelF.
"We just killed the Emperor! Caught them totally off guard!".
He high-fived Rai13 and cheered.
"He's right," said PsychoPikmin.
Everyone quietened down and looked at the Observer, the pirates
all harbouring a slight, silent annoyance that he seemed to be
agreeing with a supposed killjoy.
"That won't stop them," he said darkly.
"Looks like it did," said Hammer Bro, pointing down at the two
great pieces of airship blazing below them.
Then KD jerked again. Something else had exploded outside the
window.
"Aw, crap!" said Hammer Bro.
"Told you..." muttered PsychoPikmin.
DJ scrambled up and checked the window again.
Something was climbing into the sky, only just visible against
the dark mountains before it rose above them and arced round
against the setting-sunlit sky like a bird of prey.
It was a jet. A large jet, unlike other fighter planes, with
inverted wings.
D-Mash peered out next to DJ, eyes widening.
"Brother! Get to the coordinates now!!"
"Hold onto something!" said KD's synthetic voice.
DJ barely managed to grab a handlebar on the wall before the
great metal chicken suddenly roared forwards.
"SON OF A BIIIIITCH!!" yelled PixelF.
Outside, missiles from the jet streaked past KD, barely missing
on several occasions.
"Plan an evasive route, brother!" yelled D-Mash.
KD suddenly dipped downwards abd everything inside went upwards.
The jet followed, switching to a machine gun weapon, spraying
streams of heavy rounds in KD's direction.
"I'm gonna go through the mined out tunnels!" piped KD,
referring to the giant tunnels in the mountains that had
resulted from years of digging decades before.
"Just don't get us full of holes!" Mr. N yelled back.
KD zoomed down into one of the great caverns on the side of the
closest mountain, activating powerful front lights in doing so.
"Why doesn't this thing have seatbelts?" hollered Swixer.
KD twisted and turned through the tunnels, making very close
turns.
The jet continued to pursue them, machine gun rounds
occasionally flying past the window or pinging off KD's side.
DJ held on for dear life as the metal chicken spun, lurched,
turned and shook as bullets peppered across it.
"Whoever's flying that thing's a half-decent pilot," said
Sparkle nervously.
"Yeah, well I'm better," piped KD, "we're closing in on the
coordinates!"
Then everything shook.
DJ was forced off the handlebar and flew across the inner
chamber, banging his head against the the metal wall on the
other side.
There was and immense ringing in his ears and his field of
vision vibrated.
Then he flew forwards crashing into another wall before lifting
off again.
He hit something, someone - D-Mash.
"Hold on, kid," he growled.
"What happened?!" yelled Mr. N.
"We hit a wall!" said KD's voice, the sound quality not as clear
as before.
More machine gun rounds scattered past the window.
DJ was having trouble seeing properly.
Every now and again, two of everything would appear and
everything he heard became bassy mumbles.
He could only barely make out people's voices.
"Can't lose them!" KD said.
"How long until you reach the surface?" asked PsychoPikmin, just
before reaching out and grabbing Sparkle as she was pulled loose
of a handlebar.
"Not long!" rang KD's voice, "we just-"
The was a deafening screech as KD hit another wall, simultaneous
with the ping of the jet's rounds smashing into the hull.
The lights went out.
DJ could make out fuzzy figures before him accompanied by
another harsh ring in his ears and the sound of his heartbeat.
He wanted to stop.
He wanted to stop and give up.
He wanted to stop and give up and not be here.
And there was light.
Not artificial light.
Almost blinding.
He felt things shaking.
And then he saw it.
A great, dark looming object before KD.
He knew what it was.
He reached forwards and blacked out.
#Post#: 51--------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
DIR By: PsychoPikmin
Date: October 23, 2014, 6:33 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 46
The first thing DJ was aware of was an inner warmth. His insides
felt tingly and pleasent.
And then the warmth went away.
DJ was now very cold.
He could feel a chilling breeze coming at him from one side and
the ground he was laying on felt like ice.
Then he heard muffled sounds.
He tried opening his eyes. Everything was blurred.
There was something moving above him.
Slowly, he began to become less disorintated.
The muffled noises became voices and words.
"...roun...akin...elp...this...jay! ...DJ!! Come on!!"
He recognised the voice as Sparkle's.
Then his vision improved.
Sparkle was crouched next to him, nudging his shoulder - the
feeling of which was only just returning to him.
And then Swixer was there, standing over them.
"DJ?" Sparkle asked again.
DJ blinked.
"What hit me?" he asked dumbly.
"You banged your head," said the voice of D-Mash, whom DJ
couldn't see.
"Are you hurt?" Sparkle asked, looking up and down DJ's body
looking for wounds.
"I...don't think so..." DJ mumbled. "Help me up..."
He sat up slowly and Sparkle helped him.
He looked at his hands and then around him.
His eyes widened in awe.
They were in a huge cavern that towered up around them. DJ
couldn't even see the ceiling.
The walls and floors were covered in etched lines, running in
all directions like veins, but never crossing over one another.
Close by, KD sat, slightly tilted.
The metal chickens sides were streaked with large gashes and
many bullet holes decorated the hull.
The other pirates stood around it, accompanied by PsychoPikmin
and Mr. N.
Beyond KD was a an opening from which the wind came, with a
magnificent view, the dark mountains towering around them, the
strip of orange light on the horizon being the only source of
light.
"Where are we?" DJ asked as Sparkle and Swixer helped him to his
feet.
Sparkle suddenly grinned.
"The Arc," she said.
DJ's eyes widened again and he glanced round in all directions.
"Seriously?!" he asked.
"But what about that jet? The one that chased us through the
tunnels?"
"KD came out at the Arc," explained D-Mash.
"He was damaged, but he made his way towards it. We practically
crash-landed straight into this area. After that, the jet
disappeared".
"It's probably still out there," said Swixer darkly.
"We all know it was Gostalt," said Sparkle, "but hey! Now we're
here! Now we can get the feathers and activate the thundrafang!"
DJ suddenly felt a light readiness.
They were here; they had almost done what they had come here to
do.
The others acknowledged DJ as he helped over to them with nods.
"Well now that we're all here," said D-Mash, "I think we should
decide what to do here".
"I'm finding the feathers," said DJ instantly.
"I haven't come this far to not finish".
"Same," said Sparkle. "I'm going with DJ".
"And I go where she goes," said Swixer, putting his hand on
Sparkle's shoulder.
DJ looked over at PsychoPikmin.
The Observer silently stepped forwards before anything was said.
"Anyone else?" DJ asked.
"Someone has to help with KD," said D-Mash.
"I'm good with machines," said Mr. N, raising his hand.
"But I'll need people to help me".
"That'd be us," said Hammer Bro, referring to himself, Rai13 and
PixelF, who both nodded.
"You go with them, Captain," said Rai13.
"We'll look after KD".
"Thank you," D-Mash grunted, "we'll be in and out before you
know it".
DJ turned to D-Mash.
"And how exactly do we get 'in'?" he asked, "We don't even know
where the Chickens are?"
"As they're birds, I'm betting the Chickens will be roosting
somewhere close to the top of the Arc's structure," said
PsychoPikmin.
"I could flamewarp us to them. Usually, I need to be able to
know or see where I'm going but I might be able to reach them by
just visualising Ho-Oh or Helmaroc.
"Sounds good," said D-Mash, picking up the thundrafang that had
been sitting on the ground and strapping it to his back.
"Can you really warp yourself and four other people, Dad?"
Sparkle asked.
"Won't know until I've tried," the Observer replied.
DJ didn't like the sound of PsychoPikmin's subtle reliance on
luck.
"Stand close to me," PsychoPikmin said.
"Sorry if this burns".
"We shouldn't be long, ladies," D-Mash said to his crew.
"Look after brother for me".
Hammer Bro saluted.
DJ grinned.
PsychoPikmin suddenly breathed in sharply.
Flames appeared around the five of them, above and below and
left and right.
There was immense heat, but it wasn't a burning heat.
DJ looked round him and the flames disappeared.
He was standing on the same kind of dark, etched floor as
before, only this time, it was strewn with feathers, both of
dark, purple-b lue and vibrant reds and yellows.
It was another huge carvern, only this time, shining spires rose
ot of the floor. Above DJ was the sky, the clouds ominous and
dark.
He looked behind him.
The other four were strewn out across the wide, open floor of
the cavern.
"Well...that went better than I'd planned," said PsychoPikmin.
"Look at all the feathers!!" said Sparkle excitedly.
"This is was easy!" said Swixer.
There was suddenly a great roar of jet engines.
Everyone looked upwards.
The great jet that had chased KD rocketed past the hole in the
ceiling.
"Son of a biscuit..." mumbled D-Mash, metal hand changing into
an arm cannon.
Above them, the jet climbed higher and higher above the Arc.
And then its shape began to change.
Its shape changed from that of a plane as two robotic legs
appeared and retracted outwards, a huge minigun appearing above
what was now its body.
It fell towards the hole in the Arc's ceiling, its now
rearranged jet engines slowing its fall.
Even still, the great, hulking machine still slammed heavily
onto the ground.
The plane had transformed into a bipedal mech, now with a
robotic mouth, which opened and let out a bass roar.
DJ drew his sword.
*****************************************************
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