I don't like this chapter much but it's gotta be posted. It's going to be 3 parts by the way. ------------------------------------------------ Chapter 15: The 3 E's. Escape, Espionage and Essential. Part 1 Risana's Viewpoint Zaln easily carried Matt, while I struggled with Karl. It wasn't like Karl was heavy or anything, and I was strong but I didn't want to hurt his arm. I had drawn out the dart and wrapped a piece of cloth that I had ripped from Karl's shirt around his arm. Now he had two injured arms. Just great. I eventually just heaved him over my shoulder with his head and arms drooping over my back. Karl muttered something from time to time but he was mostly silent. Matt didn't show any sign of life other than his pulse. "Do you know how Jay, Evaline, Karl and Keir got into the building?" Zaln asked "Yeah, they opened a window and slipped in." I said "We should try and find the window, I don't think we can get to the roof." Zaln told me I nodded and led the way trying to remember what Evaline had told me. We entered the room that was called the house of representatives. Through the back book. Down the hallway. Through another door. Into a dark dusty storage room. I silently pointed at the open window. Zaln drew one of his laser guns out and climbed out carefully. I unsheathed my Tantō then climbed out after him. As I climbed out Zaln grabbed my arm and dragged me behind a Orchid tree. "Careful." he whispered and pointed at the guards patrolling the building. "How are we going to get out?" I asked quietly. "I don't know..." Zaln answered and sat down. I sighed and stuck my Tantō into the tree by accident instead of the ground. "Darn..." I muttered I put Karl down on the ground and gripped the Tantō's hilt to pull it out. It took me five tries to get it out. "There!" I said triumphantly as I drew it out. Suddenly the sound of gears turning reached my ears. Zaln jumped up as a large square of ground next to the tree disappeared revealing a tunnel. We stood there for several seconds in surprise. Then the sound of feet came closer. A patrol. "Go!" Zaln hissed and grabbing Matt his disappeared into the tunnel. I carefully slid Karl into the tunnel and followed Zaln. Once in the tunnel, the sound of gears once again sounded and we were put into darkness. I only hoped we weren't walking into a trap. 10 minutes later The tunnel had been dark and stuffy. It was hard to carry Matt and Karl with their heads scrapping the tunnel ceiling but I guess it didn't make much a difference as they were unconscious. Zaln handed me one of his laser guns so it would be easier to attack in the tunnel. "There's a light up ahead." Zaln reported destroying the quietness. "Good..." I grumbled "Be alert." Zaln added. Over Zaln shoulder I could see a light. Now or never. Zaln paused at the end of the tunnel and quickly stuck his head out. Ducking back in he said "A bunch of plants are in front of the tunnel. It's where we buried out gear too but the guards are swarming everywhere." I grimaced. "No problem, remember when me and Matt go you out if the prison? We took some uniforms. Dig them up and put Matt's on. I'll try to shoot two other guards who stray from the group for Matt and Karl." Zaln nodded and slipped out, digging out of gear. Soon we were disguised. I had shot two guards who were going to the bathroom. We walked out to the teleport freely and no one questioned us. Like that, we were out of Atlantric and swimming as fast as possible to the subs.
Authors message: -If you can't remember what the submarine interior looks like again please refer to Chapter 8 Part 2. TIP: Chapter 8 Part 2 is on page 2 of this thread. -I started putting in " " with italics so it's easier to see when Zaln and Evaline are talking telepathically. -If you guys have wondered why no one is tired or hungry yet, then the answer is in this chapter!(Not a distinct answer but vague) ------------------------------- Chapter 15: The 3 E's. Escape, Espionage and Essential. Part 2 Risana's Viewpoint I felt my limbs getting tired from carrying Karl. Where is that submarine?!?! I wanted a bed to sleep on and food to eat. I hadn't felt anything until I had exited Atlantric. I had a feeling Zaln felt the same way. Zaln tapped my shoulder and pointed at a garden of marks erratically scattered on the sea bed. Zaln quickly swam behind one of them. I followed hoping the submarine was still there. We swam around the rock and behold the submarine was there. For the other squad that is. I guess my squad would have to teleport to our submarine. Zaln had already gone through the teleport when I got to it. Hoping that this whole mission would be over soon I teleported into the submarine. The inside of the submarine was identical to the other one. I dumped Karl onto the floor next to Matt in the change rooms and took off my gear. Once everything was off I walked into the kitchen, grabbed some bread and went to the control area. Zaln was already there with his gear off. He was bending over three bodies on the ground of the room. I got closer and realized it was Jay, Seth, and a girl that looked kinda like Tammy. "Zaln?" I asked "Unconscious but no injury except Jay looks dirty. I think Tammy reincarnated too." Zaln answered. "What's that glowing ball in Jays hands?" I asked getting on my knees. "Hmm...looks like an orb..." Zaln muttered I reached out and touched the orb to see what it was made of. As soon as my finger made contact Jay's eyes flew open. They looked wild for a second then calmed. "Jay! What happened?" Zaln asked urgently. Turning to Zaln I said "Calm down, give her a few minutes. She just woke up, it's only logical." Zaln closed his mouth. I helped Jay up to her feet and sat her down in one of the control room chairs. She looked slightly shaken. "Are you alright?" I asked "Yea-yeah" Jay said quietly. Jay eyes suddenly grew round. "Where's Tammy and Seth?!" Jay asked I pointed at them still on the floor. Jay calmed down. "So...what happened?" Zaln asked again. Jay took a breath and quickly explained everything. How they got stuck in the basement, the hole, the monster, the light, the cave and the orb. "When we left the cave I felt dreamy. I think we floated for awhile and the Orb was flooding my brain with so much information...and..." Jay cut off. "What kind of information?" I asked Suddenly a moan came from the changing room. Jay looked startled. "Matt probably. I bring him in here and Karl too." Zaln quickly left. I turned back to Jay. "...It helped me look into the future kind of...and...I found out how to destroy the machine in Atlantric." Jay said slowly. ------------------------------- Evaline's Viewpoint Outside it was pitch black, probably midnight by now was my rough guess. They had turned out most of the street lights. Me, Drake and Keir were running around the top floor searching everywhere. We had found three more testing facilities: one fore Hypnosis, one for Telepathy and one for Reincarnation. No Polterghiest testing facilities though. It was easier now that Keir could control his poltergeist spirit because the spirit was much faster than a regular human. It's funny how I didn't feel hungry or sleepy. Maybe tired but nothing severe. Did being under the sea change things? It was also shocking how my world could change in just a few days. Several days ago I was on dry land, now I was under the sea. Several days ago I hadn't been running for my life, now I was. Sighing I pushed the couch I was searching back against the wall. The room I had been searching was ornately decorated. Gold frames, dozens of paintings, velvet couches, a large fireplace and hundreds of miscellaneous objects. As I stood up a wave of dizziness hit me. My hand grabbed the couch to steady myself. After a few seconds I felt better. "EVALINE?" I heard Keir call "HERE!" I called back There was no point in being quiet now, we had been here for hours and hadn't seen a soul. Keir and Drake walked into the room. Keir let out a whistle when he saw the room. "Anything?" Drake asked quietly I shook my head negative. Drake sighed. "Hey are you guys tired or hungry?" I asked They both looked surprised. "Nope." "No." "Interesting..." I said "Are you?" Drake asked me. "No..." I answered. "That's just WEIRD." Keir said "Did you guys find anything?" I asked changing the subject. "Nothing." They both said. "Well then there is no poi-" I started to say but then I felt something pricking my mind. "Evaline? Can you hear me?" It was Zaln! Telepathy was so useful sometimes. "Yeah! Where are you guys?" I asked telepathically. "At my squads submarine. Jay, Seth and Tammy showed up. They got teleported there." Zaln told me. "Wait Can you tell me everything? From the beginning?" "Too long of a story. Are you guys still in Atlantric?" "Yeah, me Drake and Keir but we haven't found anything yet." "Evaline? Are you alright?" Drake asked. "Get out of Atlantric ASAP! Jay found an Orb that told her how to destroy the machine that's causing the problems." "Great! We're going now and how is Karl and Matt?" I asked. "OK but Karl's looking a bit pale. BTW guards are everywhere, there's a secret passage out of Atlantric. It's near this orchid tree. Take the same out the same way you got in, through the window. Stick a sword or something into one of the orchid tree and a passage will open up." Zaln said "Which Orchid? There are hundreds!" Not sure, it should already have a sword mark in it though because Risana stuck her Tantō in it. "Ok, see you soon. I shut my mind off. I looked up to see Drake and Keir staring at me with queer expressions on their faces. I raised an eyebrow. "Were you talking with Zaln telepathically?" Keir asked I nodded. They relaxed. "Thought you went mute." Drake said. "No. Now we have to get out of Atlantric. Jay found it." I ordered. "YES!!" Keir yelled happily and jumped around doing fist pumps in the air. "Keep it down!" Me and Drake whispered at the same time. Keir stopped jumping but grinned like a maniac. "Let's go!" Keir said happily. "Window exit I told him." Keir nodded. I restrung my bow just in case. Checking my GPSard; I had completely forgotten about it; it still worked but seemed a bit slow. Keir took out his long dagger and Drake checked his armor. Then we left, but as many would say: It's easy to get in, but hard to get out. "HALT!" A unknown voice yelled.
I didn't want to make it too long so I put it in Officer's Derale's viewpoint. Recap: Officer Derale was sent in Parliament to find Derrick Kingsburg Aka. Zaln's older brother and a traitor. ------------------------------- Chapter 15: The 3 E's. Escape, Espionage and Essential. Part 3 Officer Derale's Viewpoint "HALT!" I yelled at a group of three teenagers running down the hall of the top floor. They were armed and looked suspicious, I was sure they were who we had been looking for. We had found the body of Mr.Kingsburg in the Pyro testing room. He had been shot in the head by his own gun. He was sure it was those kids fault, he didn't known how they did but he was certain they had done it. He was glad Mr.Kingsburg had not been a spy, now if he killed these kids he could get a promoted! The teens had stopped running and turned around slowly. One girl and two boys. The girl seemed to be the leader though. How odd... "Who are you? What are you doing here?" I asked raising my weapon. The girl exchanged a glance with the two boys and said "That's for me to know and you to find out." I opened my mouth to yell at them and planned to kill them right there but then the girl's arm moved to her back. "What are yo-" I gasped as I felt an arrow impale itself into my chest. I could feel blood rushing through my head as I toppled backwards. -blackout- ------------------------------- Evaline's Viewpoint I had released my arrow as soon as that dumb officer or guard or whatever he was opened his mouth. My aim was flawless. As he toppled backwards to his death the guards accompanying him took one look and charged at us. "Keir can you?..." I asked. They nodded quickly. "Drake I don't want you lighting anything on fire because we don't want any alarms going off." I said. I let more arrows fly, each one hitting it's target. Drake made a bit of fire appear on the guards feet to flow them down. Keir took a long time to release his poltergeist spirit. By the time it was released 6 guards remained. His spirit bust from him. This time is wasn't invisible. It was dark and black. It looked like a ghoul but I had a feeling Keir was just making it look like that. The guards stopped running and dropped there weapons in fear. He made the spirit crack to of the guards head's. Blood poured from them. I took the time to hit 2 more guards. Then the spirit disappear and Keir fell to his knees from tiredness. We had only choice. "Set them on fire Drake then run!" I said. Drake closed his eyes and waved a hand. The screams of the guards were pitiful as we ran away. I almost felt bad for them. Becoming a human barbecue wasn't fun. I quickly traced our steps back to the dusty storage room. We slipped out the window. Zaln was right. Guards were everywhere! Fortunately they all carried lanterns. I could barely see my hand, it was so dark! How are we going to find that orchid? At least it'll be easier to hide. "Run your hands over the trunk of each orchid tree. Find one with a sword slit in it." I whispered to Drake and Keir. We set off running over hands down the trunk of each orchid. After 2 minutes of getting used to the darkness: "Found it!" Drake hissed 5 minutes later. Me and Keir ran over to where Drake was. Keir took out his dagger stuck it into the tree trunk then pulled it out. Immediately the sound of gears turning were heard. Slowly a square of ground disappeared revealing...a tunnel? It was a bit hard to make out. "Did you hear that? It sounded like gears." A nearby guard asked a fellow guard in his patrol. "Yeah..." his fellow guard responded. "Go go go!" I hissed. Keir sheathed his dagger and Drake and Keir slid into the tunnel. I followed them. It was already dark so I didn't notice the ground covering the hole until I heard the gears turning again. We went as fast as possible in such a cramped space but it still took maybe 7 minutes to finally get to the end of the tunnel. I could barely make out the outer dome in all the darkness. Some plants were covering the tunnel. "Hey this is where we hid our gear!" I whispered. "Yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to get out though. Since it's so dark." Drake said Easier said than done, as usual. We quickly put on our gear and exited the dome. It took forever. We didn't want to get caught so we went slowly and took detours when patrols got too close. "Zaln?!" I tried telepathy. "Evaline! Are you guys out?" He answered. "Yeah, floating around in the water right now. Trying to avoid squads. Where's your submarine?" I asked. Zaln instructed me where it was. It took nearly an hour of detours and close calls until we found the submarine. By then we suffered from cramps, hunger pains, and exhaustion. As soon as we had exited Atlantric we had felt the effects of no food or sleep but while we were in Atlantric we hadn't. It must be some kind of magic I thought as I teleported into the submarine. Once I was inside I nearly collapsed. Risana was waiting for me. She caught me and helped me take my gear off. She silently pointed at the jar where Diane's ashes were. I nodded my thanks. Drake and Keir weren't any better. First thing we did was eat but we couldn't sleep yet. Jay had some news that I needed to hear but Risana delivered the worst news. After we finished eating we went into the control room. Matt was up and looked fine but Karl was still unconscious and very very pale. I looked at everyone wanting an answer. Risana took a deep breath and said one word. "Poison."
First full part from Jerad's viewpoint! This is more of an information chapter. ------------------------------- Chapter 15: The 3 E's. Escape, Espionage and Essential. Part 4. Jerad's Viewpoint Darkness had fallen. Well it was always dark in Atlantric but we had turned out most of the lights during night to give the illusion of night and day. I eventually sent the army back but I kept the squads around. Not around Parliament. No I sensed they had escaped. How they accomplished it, I did not know. I had retreated back to my rooms, and sent for dinner. The fish fillet and beans did not look appetizing but I ate it anyway. I would need my strength if I was to pull off what I planned. We had discovered where one submarine was but it was empty. Perhaps they had camped outside? It was a crazy idea...or maybe there was a second submarine?...that was more likely... "Sir? Do you like the fillet?" A servant asked. I jerked my head up. "Yes. Of course, splendid as always." I waved a hand for the servant to leave. After the servant left, I got up and paced. I missed my father. He always knew what to do. Some tears escaped my eyes and slid down my cheeks, I quickly wiped them away. I had no time for this. I was the president. Tomorrow the plan WILL work. It will not fail. It is flawless. Wherever they are, they will feel the effects. I drank the rest of my carbonated water and decided to go visit the crew and see if everything was ready. I strode out of my room and down the carpeted hallways that led to the exit of my home. My chauffeur drove me to the outer dome. Getting out I walked to a camouflaged structure. This structure housed my secret submarine. At the door there was a metal panel, a touch screen and a slot. I slid a keycard into the slot. Then pressed my hand against the touch screen. It scanned my hand. -Access Granted- Appeared on the screen as I removed my hand. The door slid upwards and I walked inside. Once inside the door hissed as it slid back down. It was merely a garage but in the centre was my submarine. Very few knew about it and those few were related to me. It was a one person submarine, painted black and green. Two headlights and two backlights, four emergency lights, two power boosters, two exhausts, one defensive system and a back up energy source. This submarine ran on gas and air. The back up energy source was the air. It was equipped with a defensive system, auto drive, and an offensive system. I opened the door and ducked inside. I had stocked the submarine with food, water and diving gear. All were just for precaution. The control panel was simple, a steering wheel, booster button, headset, touch screen navigator and an upper screen that could be toggled to show maps and the surrounding area. I sat down, and closed the door. I put the headset that hung by the door on. I started up the submarine, as it hummed to life I spoke on my headset and gave an order to the automated system to turn on the teleport. The top screen turned on and showed this message: -Teleport on- Next thing I knew I was in the water. "Headlight on." I commanded through my headset. It turned on. Taking the wheel a drove towards our cities greatest invention. Fifteen minutes later I arrived at the secret base. I went to another camouflaged garage identical to the one in the city. I entered another teleport and was in the garage. Hanging up my headset, I went outside. The base was plain. All guards saluted me as I walked by. An Admiral came up to me. "Sir! We were not expecting you!" He said. I ignored his statement. "Is everything set?" "Yes Sir." "No problems?" "No Sir." "Lead me to it." I ordered. I followed the Admiral to the centre of the base. He used a keycard and hand scan to enter. Due to the bases secret location and because we were underwater security wasn't too tight. Except for the guards of course. We entered the room. It was all grey with white tiled floors. In the centre was our greatest invention. I felt slightly weak. "Well done. I will be leaving now. Tomorrow is the day. Do not fail me." I said quickly. The Admiral bowed. "Yes Sir! I will make the preparations!" "Good." With that I walked out and felt my strength return. It was a strong invention. My father would be pleased. I thought. I went back to my submarine and traveled back to the city.
Chapter 16: The Orb's Message Evaline's Viewpoint Poison. The single word echoed in my brain. Usually I could think of something to do but for once my mind was blank. "I should've known my brother would do something like this...he always liked poisons..." Zaln muttered. "None of us would've been able to do anything about it anyway." Keir said. We all stared at him. "What?!" He asked "Did I say something wrong?" I shook my head. I felt despair and failure. These feelings were ones I hadn't felt in a long time. "Evaline!" Risana poked me in the arm. "What is it?" I asked tiredly. "Have you forgotten? Karl has the ability to reincarnate!" "Oh...I'm sorry...I'm just...so tired..." I muttered. I could feel my face burning. I was so scatter brained. Suddenly a body I hadn't noticed on the floor earlier moved. "Tammy's waking." Drake said quietly. "Tammy?" I had completely forgotten about her! "She looks different?..." I said frowning. "She reincarnated." Jay told me. I must have looked confused because Jay added "Long story. I'll explain later." Tammy had light brown curly hair rather than dark brown and her face was more rounded. She looked older too. Tammy slowly sat up rubbing her eyes. When she opened her eyes she stared at all of us confused. Her eyes were the same colour though. "Tammy?" I asked my voice cracking slightly. Tammys eyes widened. "E-Evaline!" She yelled. Then she gave me a huge hug. "Uhh..." Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you remember everything?" Seth asked once Tammy stopped hugging me. Tammy nodded. "Good." Jay said softly. I had a feeling Jay felt it was her fault that Tammy had died and reincarnated. Staring at Karl's barely lifeless body laying on the ground, I said, "Well I guess we have to wait until...um...Karl...Uh...reincarnates...so..." I didn't want to use the word Die. "Why don't you guys tell us what happened?" Drake finished for me. Everyone looked at Jay. She paled slightly but started to tell me what had happened. When she finished, I was full of questions. "A monster that never dies...an orb that speaks...and a weird teleport....?" I muttered, talking to myself. I stared at the ceiling of the submarine, my mind busy. No one said anything. Turning to Jay, "So the Orb told you where and how to destroy this...machine?" I asked "Yes." Jay answered. I shot a glance at Karl's body. Nothing. I sighed. "Tell us." Jay stared down at the glowing Orb in her hands. Suddenly her eyes started to glow the same cyan blue as the Orb. Then I felt a presence entering my mind. Looking around, everyone else probably had the same queer face like me. Then in a telepathic form the Orb spoke to me: Underwater, hidden away. A single bubble in the deep, is what you seek. To the place where you can destroy the machine. The first step is to obtain the maps, then to the bubble to face. Get inside and use the scared way. For that is the key to destroy the machine. Then the presence in my mind left as Jays eyes returned to normal. I was wide eyed. "Riddles?! Why???" Keir whined. "Be quiet Keir!" Risana snapped. Risana's forehead was creased. Looking around Jay looked exhausted, Keir was pouting, Matt had his head in his hands, and the rest of us except Karl where in deep thought. "I don't like this anymore!!!" Kier whined again. Anger flared in Risana's eyes. Tammy noticed this too. "Guys! Chill! We can't be at eachothers necks at this time!" "Yeah." I echoed. "A bubble..." Zaln muttered. Nine pairs of eyes stared at him. "Like...those domes right? So the machine is in another dome nit around here!" Zaln said excitedly. I rolled my eyes. "Zaln...We already KNOW where the machine is! We were given electronic maps preset into the submarines before we left!" "Huh?" Zaln looked stumped. "Oh...I guess I forgot to tell you guys..." I sighed. "Ok so we know how to get there. We just need to figure out what the 'scared way' is." Risana said. No one said anything. "Let's get some sleep and food. We'll figure out the rest tomorrow." my voice cut through the silence. Everyone nodded. Keir started to head to the teleport. I glanced at Zaln. He shook his head. "Guys. We're all stating here. We don't know if they did something to the other submarine." I added. "Oh..." Keir stoped walking. "I got an idea. We'll switch sleeping hours. Evaline's squad will sleep first while my squad will keep watch. Then we'll switch in maybe 4-5 hours." Zaln said taking charge. "Um what about Seth?" I asked. "Oh...er...he'll be part of my squad..." Zaln said quickly. "If Karl reincarnates I'll wake you up." Zaln told me telepathically. "Ok Thanks." I told Zaln. Seth nodded his thanks to me. I pasted on a smile and walked towards where the beds were. Both me and Zaln knew why Seth was in his squad, because Diane, had been in his squad. This way it would be balanced again. I felt tears prick my eyes again. I had to get a grip of myself! I couldn't afford to let my emotions run wild! With those thoughts, I claimed a bed and closed my eyes. "Hey...Evaline! Wake up!" A voice hissed into my ear. I jumped up, hitting my head on the ceiling in the process. My fault for choosing a top bunk. I rubbed my eyes. Opening them I saw the rest of my squad getting up as well. Zaln was waiting for me to get down. "Sorry." I muttered. Then I quickly climbing down. Zaln climbed up and fell asleep. I left the sleeping area and went to the girls bathrooms. After a shower and burshing my teeth I felt much better. I left the bathrooms and went to the kitchen. Risana, Keir and Matt were already there. "Where's Jay?" I asked while grabbing some toast and orange juice. "She went back to the bathrooms." Risana answered. Sitting down, I ate ravenously. Everyone else did likewise. Jay came into the kitchen. She looked tired despite the rest. "Are you ok?" I asked after I finished my toast. Jay nodded. I put my plate and cup away. "Join me in the control room when you're all done." I told them, then I walked away. The control only had one light on. Karl was still slumped against the wall. I went over to him and felt his wrist for a pulse. It was still there but barely. I walked over to one of the control seats and sat down. I pulled up a few maps of the area that other Academy students had gathered. To be truthful, I couldn't read them at all. "Can't read maps huh?" Risana's voice said from behind me. "Yeah." I stood up and gave my seat to her. While Risana muttered and pointed at the maps on the screen, Keir and Jay took Karl and talked. I wondered where Matt was. Probably the kitchen. I left the control room and went into the kitchen. As I had thought Matt was there. He was drinking coffee. I grabbed a seat across from him at the wooden table in the kitchen. "Hey." I said. "Hey." Matt echoed. "You OK?" I asked "I guess..." He answered. We sat in silence a little longer. "How long have you known Risana?" Matt suddenly asked. "Uh...I don't know. Not long but we're friends." I answered surprised. "Do you thi-..." "GUYS!!!! EVALINE!!!" Matt got cut off by Keir yelling. I jumped up from my seat and ran to the control room. I slammed into Keir who was running down the same hall. "Ow!" I yelped. "Evaline!!" Keir said jumping to his feet. "What's going on?!" I asked rubbing my forehead. "Karl! It's getting weird back there!" Keir said unhelpfully then ran to the bedroom yelling like a maniac. Matt stepped into the hall and helped me up. "What's happening?" he asked me. "I don't know." I answered and ran to the control room, Matt following me. I flung open the door of the control room and was greeted by a blast of blueish green light. "What the...!" Matt yelled. "Somethings different...!" Jay yelled. I shielded my face with my hands. Then suddenly the eye sore light disappeared at once. My hands fell to my sides as I entered the control room. Jay and Risana were on the ground against the wall. "What's going on?!?!" Zaln asked worriedly from behind Matt. The rest of the group was crowed behind Zaln. I didn't say anything. My mouth open in shock. Karl was no where to be seen. Instead we had some...brown...furry animal...where Karl had last been. "A wombat?" Drake muttered.
Chapter 17: The Solution to a Tricky Situation "A what?" Keir asked loudly from behind Zaln. "A wombat." Drake repeated. "What is a wombat?!" Keir pushed me, Zaln and Matt out of the way and walked right up to the animal. Drake followed Keirs lead. "Why is there an animal in here?" Tammy asked poking her head into the control room. I didn't have an answer but a slight suspicion lurked in the back of my mind. Risana, Zaln and Matt were stunned into silence like me. Jay was staring at the wombat in horror. "It's Karl. During his reincarnation something...went wrong. This kinda thing...isn't supposed to happen..." Seth muttered. "What?! Hows that possible?!..." Tammy trailed off her eyes wide. Seth walked into the control room and placed a comforting arm around Jay. "I don't know." was all Seth said. "OW!!!!!" Keir suddenly yelped. "It bit me!!!" Keir sucked on his finger where he had apparently been bitten. "Keir..." I warned. "Annoying little...!" Keir started. Then he raised his leg to stomp on the wombat. I quickly grabbed Keir's arms and pulled them behind his back. This allowed me make him off balance, and thus not enabling him to stomp on the wombat. Unfortunately this made Keir topple backwards, sending both of us to the ground. "HEY!!! What?!!?!..." Keir yelled. "Risana..." I begged turning to her. Risana jumped to feet. She went in front of Keir and put a finger on his forehead. After a few seconds Keir slumped forward, asleep. "Thanks." I said pushing Keir off me. I propped him up against the wall. "He should wake up in an hour." Risana told me. "You hypnotized him?" Zaln asked. Risana rolled her eyes. "What do you think?" "Are you sure it's Karl?" Jay whispered. "Who else could it be?" Seth answered. How could this have happened? I wondered. "At least he turned into a wombat. Wombats can swim." Drake said. All of us just looked at him in silence. We had to get back on track. "Guys! We need a plan and we need to figure out what to do about...Karl!" I burst out. "Karl should be fine. He still might act human." Seth said. "How do you know so much?" Tammy asked Seth. "Uh...I've gone through a lot..." Seth muttered halfheartedly. Jay suddenly pushed Seth away. "I'm going to keep look out." Jay said and walked out. Me and Zaln looked at eachother. "Leave her be I guess." I told Zaln telepathically. Zaln shrugged. "Seth can you watch over Karl? Try to see if he kept any human traits." I said Seth got up, picked up Karl and left without a word. "Tammy I want you to look over maps and plot out a route to get to the dome we're looking for." Tammy nodded and went to the screen with all the maps displayed. "Me, Zaln and Risana will create a battle plan. Matt, Drake...I want you guys to go over the weapons, get some supplies, put packs together...and um..." I couldn't think of anything else. "And see if you guys can find I way to use your pyro ability underwater." Zaln finished for me. "Ok cool." Drake said and left. Matt didn't say anything and followed Drake out. I frowned. "Somethings bothering him." Zaln suddenly said telepathically. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Can't you tell?" "No." "Anyway. Let's get a plan together." I said out loud and sat down on the floor. "I give up..." Zaln muttered with a laugh. Risana just looked at us. I guess she decided she would never find out what we had said so she pulled out some paper and pencils. "How are we going to do it?" Risana asked. Another thought suddenly occurred to me. Turning around, "Tammy? Could you get that guy...Uh..what's his name?...Dr.Gordon...we need to talk to him." I ordered. "Ok." Tammy went to another screen and turned it on. "We? Don't you mean you?" Zaln joked. I ignored him. "Hello Academy students." Dr.Gordon's face suddenly appeared on the screen. "Dr.Gordon we need information on the dome where the machine is. How many guards? Is it high security?" I asked Dr.Gordon ruffled through some sheets of paper. "Ah...here...There aren't too many guards. Perhaps 50. The security is high tech but there isn't much. We discovered recently that this machine has the ability to drain life. If you are to destroy it, it must be done quickly." My mouth dropped open. "Now I must go. Good luck students." The screen went black. "Drain life?" Risana asked. "That's..crazy..." Tammy said. "Maybe but it exists." Zaln put in. "Tammy get back to the maps. Put the route on GPS." I said and got up from my seat on the floor. "Since there aren't many guards we can probably sneak in." I said. "Disguises?" Risana suggested. "No. We don't know if they have different uniforms and we can't raise any alarm." I decided. "Ok so, we sneak in, get rid of the machine ASAP then sneak out?" Zaln asked. "Well I can't think of anything else." I sighed. "So we go with a shoddy, half thought plan because you can't think of anything?" Zaln asked. "Do you guys have any other ideas?" I asked. "No bu-" "Evaline! Zaln! Risana!!" Jays voice called. Jay came running into the control room. She looked kind of pale. "Jay? What's wrong?" I asked. "I figured it out!" she said breathless. "Figured what out?" Risana asked irritated. "The Scared way!" "Can you just say it all instead of one sentence after a sentence?!" Risana yelled losing her temper. "Sorry." Jay apologized. "Go on." I told her. "I realized I still had one of the books from the basement of Parliament. For some reason though its changed languages, to english. I was reading it while Seth kept watch with Karl. It mentioned what the scared way was. It's basically a mixture of telepathy, hypnosis and the pyro abilities. Somehow the telepathic person is able to combine the abilities, then the hypnotic person can control it and use it as a weapon. The pyro sorta keeps the telepathic and hypnotic people alive somehow. It's really weird and pretty dangerous but it can destroy anything!" Jay said happily. "What exactly does it do once the abilities are combined?" I asked carefully. "I'm not sure, all I know is that it's destructive and few people survive mostly because it's a strain on the mind and body. Plus many things can go wrong." Jay explained. "We got nothing else and nothing to lose. If we go back to Illuminate without destroying it we would all die anyway." Zaln said. "Happy thoughts." Risana muttered. "Jay can you give us the book? I want to read it." I said. Jay nodded and handed me a leather cover book. "Guys the GPS is set!" Tammy exclaimed. "Shall we do it tonight or tomorrow?" Zaln asked. "Tomorrow. We need to prepare." I answered. Risana and Zaln nodded. "Jay go find Matt and Drake. Explain it to them. Tammy go help them with the packing." I said. Jay and Tammy left. "I'm going to check on Seth and Karl. You guys put the rest of the details together ok?" I asked. "We'll do it." Risana said. Zaln just groaned. "Be quiet." Risana hissed at Zaln. I laughed and went to find Seth.
Chapter 18: A little bit of luck I checked the kitchen first, then the bedrooms. They weren't there. I finally checked the observation room. There they were; Seth sat on on of the chairs facing a porthole with Karl on his lap speaking to him quietly. As I walked in I blinked a few times because of the sudden change of light. I hadn't actually been inside the observation room before other than when I had peeked in at the beginning of the mission. This room was filled with florescent light. Not the same dim lightning of the control room. "Hey Seth." I said and took a seat in front of him. I sat sideways so I could talk to him. "Hey." he answered. "So...?" I prompted. "I found out a lot." He paused. "Karl still has a human way of thinking, and he can understand what we are saying but he can't respond because he can't speak. He can't use the headsets either. I'm not sure if he still has he personality and memory since I don't know him well." Seth continued. "We should get Zaln to speak to Karl. They're best friends I think." I said thoughtfully. "The only problem is the swimming issue. Drake said wombats are usually good swimmers but i don't think they cant swim in deep water like this. Since we can't test it right now, I've just assumed that Karl can't use an oxygen tank." Seth told me. I frowned. I hadn't thought about that yet. This would be tricky. "I'll contact Illuminate. Maybe they can get us a mini oxygen tank or something for Karl. Weapons too, if he has human thinking like you've concluded." I muttered. "Test it yourself." Seth said and handed me Karl. Karl was pretty heavy. It was having mini boulder sitting on your lap. I realized he was about a meter long. "By the way Seth. What kind of wombat is Karl?" I asked. "I don't know. I thought there was only one type of wombat?" he answered. I shrugged. "Shake his hand." Seth told me. I stuck out my hand. Miraculously, Karl stuck out his paw and more or less shook my hand. "Well..." I wasn't really sure what to make out of this. "Pretty cool." a voice said. Turning around I realized Tammy was standing in the doorway. "Are you guys done?" I asked trying to keep Karl in control. He started to go a bit crazy once he saw Tammy. "Kinda. Matt and Drake and trying to figure out the best way to hold the pack with our oxygen tanks. Jay went to sleep." Tammy said while walking over to Karl and taking him in her arms. "Whoa, you're heavy." Tammy commented and Karl nestled in her arms. "Is he ok?" Tammy asked me and Seth quietly. "He still has human thinking. Not sure as far as memory and personality go's. I was planning on getting Zaln to look into that. " I answered. "That's great though." Tammy said. "Hey Tammy could you call Illuminate offices and see if they can send us some specially desinlgned oxygen tanks and weapons for Karl?" I asked. "We aren't sure if he can swim in deep water and we need as many people or animals to help us." I added after a moment. "Sure." Tammy put Karl on Seth's lap. "Oh and get Drake in here. I want to know what type of wombat Karl is." I added as Tammy stood up. "Got it." With that Tammy jogged out. "I'm going back to the control room. When Drake gets here explain it to him and tell me later what type of wombat Karl is." I said standing up too. "And Seth?" I added. "Yes?" "Thanks for helping us." I said sincerely. Seth grinned. "You guys helped me." I nodded and left. ------------------------------- Jerad's viewpoint "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?" I yelled. The solider trembled as he spoke to me. "We-We're s-sorry s-s-sir! It h-has t-to b-e de-de-layed..." He stuttered. I was sputtering. "Delayed?!? Why?!" I was so angry. Why did this have to happen now? It was hard to keep calm under the circumstances. "T-there was a m-malfunction..." "GO! LEAVE! FIX THIS...THIS MALFUNCTION!" I screamed. The solider bowed and ran out of my room. "I can't believe this." I muttered. 24 hours. The plan would have to wait 24 hours! I couldn't keep getting angry. There were things I needed to get done in the city today. I would focus on that for now. I strode out of my room and into the hall.
Bump Sorry I haven't posted, I have some written out already but I need to make it longer so please wait one more day thanks! -Storallelite
Authors note: -Gpsard and Hearding devices are re-introduced in this chapter. You probably are already familiar with the functions of the Exardite. If you're still confused after this chapter please refer back to the earlier chapters of this story.(Chapter 5) -I was going to make one chapter with no parts but then I realized it would be too long if I did that so this chapter is split in half. Part 1(Boring planning) and Part 2(The Machine Unvieled). ------------------------------ Chapter 19: Boring Planning and The Machine Unveiled Part 1 Evaline's Viewpoint I walked back down the corridor, back to the control room. Even before I entered I could hear Zaln grumbling away. If I knew Risana well; I stood in front of the door bracing myself. "CAN'T YOU STOP COMPLAINING?!?!" Risana yelled ferociously. I grinned, yes I knew Risana well. I opened the door of the control room and poked my head in as Zaln was making a retort. "Well you guys are getting a lot done." I commented with a laugh. Risana and Zaln's heads swung towards me. "It's not funny." Risana growled, her eyes murderous. "Yeah, Miss Pessimistic is at her limit." Zaln said darkly putting emphasis on pessimistic. "It's called realistic, Mr Humorous." Risana shot back. "Both of you guys cool down!" I said stepping in. "What have you got together?" I asked. "What about Karl?" Zaln asked me. "He's OK, despite being a wombat. He has retained his memory and is still somewhat human." I answered tiredly. I didn't feel like giving a full analysis. Zaln nodded. "Anyway...?" I prompted. "We got the basics. Sneak in, destroy, escape. Nothing more we can really do, but since there are guards we've decided to give everyone roles just in case." Risana said. "I don't like it." Zaln said. Risana ignored him and continued. "Matt, Evaline, Jay and me will do offense. In other words, we're in charge of destroying the machine. Everyone else; Tammy, Zaln, Drake, Karl, Seth and Keir will be defense. They will be clearing the way, keeping guards away from wherever the machine is, scouting, killing guards and distracting guards, if it comes to that. Zaln and you will lead each group." "Why more defense than offense?" I asked. "We're trying to attack them, shouldn't we have more offense?" "No, you, Matt and me should the that scared way. It makes sense, and Jay has read it. So she will be telling us what to do." Risana explained. "I don't like it." I said. "See Evaline thinks so too." Zaln said. Risen rolled her eyes. "Fine! What do you want to do? How else can we destroy it?" "Physically. If we can tear it apart..." I started. "It probably won't work." Risen cut in. "It should." Zaln helped. "No." "Yes." "No!" "Stop!" I cut in. "Lets just try it Risana. That scared way is dangerous. If it comes that destroying it physically won't work we'll try the scared way." Risana paused. "Ok...but I don't like it." "Look who's say I don't like it now." Zaln muttered. Risana sent Zaln one of her death glares. "Either way, the groups are good but what are we going to do about the sub? Hide it? I'd rather someone stay here and guard it." I said. "But we need everyone." Risana protested. "Risana is kinda right there...but the sub is our getaway car. How about Seth stays here?" Zaln suggested. "No. I don't trust Seth that much. Plus he takes care of Karl. Risana said. "Obviosly, everyone on offense can't stay. I wouldn't trust Keir driving this, Karl can't do it, Zaln is a leader, Drake is a pyro. He would be really useful if by any chance Matt can't do it. So only Tammy then." I said. "Tammy has a Hearding though, Heardings are pretty useful." Zaln put in. "She can protect the sub then and if we need help she can jump in." Risana defended. "Ok. So Tammy will stay." Zaln said. "Good, I guess Tammy will drive tomorrow too since she has to get used to driving it. Now I'm going to check on Drake, Matt and Jay. Risana go find Tammy, tell her and ask about the stuff for Karl. I asked her to call Illuminate offices and see if we could get weapons and oxygen tanks for Karl. Zaln go to the observation room, Seth and Karl should be there. Both of you explain the plan to them, ok?" I asked. "Yeah." "Sure." I walked into the changing room. Drake was on the floor with 10 brown sling packs spread out. They were open and half stuffed. From what I could see each had a mini first aid kit, a knife, a pair of gloves, a pick lock, a flashlight and a pair of weird looking glasses. "Oh hey Evaline." Drake said looking up. "Where'd you get all this?" I asked. "We found them strapped under the bunk beds. Three per bed. We just took ten of them. Matt when to the kitchen to get food for each pack. We also went over all our weapons and reloaded and sharpened them." Drake answered. "What about your pyro abilities?" "It doesn't work underwater, but I'm betting that the machine just isn't smack down in the middle of the ocean. There's probably another dome." "Ok. I should explain our plan." I said. I quickly gave Drake the plan. He looked disappointed to be on defense but accepted it. As I walked out to find Matt, Drake starting putting extra weapons in the packs. Matt was in the kitchen. He had more or less taken everything out of the fridge and cupboards. there where two piles of food. Non-perishable and fruit. "We don't need this much." I said as I walked in. "Huh?" Matt looked up. "Oh Evaline...yeah..I guess." "Just take the crackers and an apple for everyone or something like that." I suggested. "Yeah." Matt said shortly. I started to feel slightly awkward. "Um, we came up with the plan. You'll be on offense with me, Risana, Jay. Basically we'll be taking the machine down. We will be trying to physically tear it apart, then if that doesn't work we'll use the scared way." I explained quickly. "So Jay will tell us what to do?" Matt asked. "Yeah." "Got it." Then Matt started gathering up crackers and apples. "See you later." I said and left. I leaned against the wall in the corridor and sat down. Would it work? How many of us would be left alive? "Only time will tell...." I answered myself. Getting up I walked back to the control room. 15 hours later My eyes fluttered open. "Oww..." My back was stiff. I suddenly realized I had be sleeping in the control. No one had been ready to go even after preparing for another 3 hours. Everyone was too tired. Zaln's group got the beds, so my group had to sleep somewhere else. I had opted for the control room. I looked around the control room. Risana was slumped in the seat next to me snoring away and Jay was curled up in the corner, leaning against the wall. None of them looked like they were going to wake up any time soon. I frowned and tried to remember what Matt and Keir had chosen. The kitchen! I got up and stretched my limbs. I quietly cracked the door open a bit. Dead silence. I shut the door and went back to my seat. I sat for a few seconds then another wave of sleepiness came over me and I feel asleep again. 2 hours later "OW!" I yelped. My eyes sprang open. Risana was looking at me. Jay was sitting up now and rubbing her forehead. "Wake up! We overslept!" Risana said. "How long?" I croaked. "seventeen hours." Risana answered unhappily. I jumped up. "seventeen hours?!" "uh huh." "We have to get ready and get moving!" I jogged to the bathroom. 17 hours! What was I thinking? After a shower I grabbed some toast and went back to the control room. Everyone else was up too and running around. I yelled out directions as I passed people. Zaln and Tammy had joined Risana in the control room. "Where's Jay?" I asked hurriedly. "She went to get breakfast." Risana answered. Zaln had a piece of toast in his mouth and Tammy was eating cereal. Risana had her weapon on her and was suited up. I guessed she already had breakfast. "Karl?" I asked. "Seth is taking care of him. We also got the weapon and oxygen tank for Karl while we were asleep." Tammy answered. "Ok good." I said. "Once everyone is ready we'll leave." "Ok. I'll get the maps up." Tammy said and took a seat. "No, let Risana do it since she is already ready. Tammy, you're ok with staying behind right?" I asked. "Yeah, I wanna go too but I guess someones gotta do it." Tamny answered. "Ok thanks so much! Now, you and Zaln come with me. We'll get our weapons on, check our gear then come back." Tammy stood up and gave her seat to Risana. I jogged down the corridor with Zaln and Tammy at my heels. When we got to the change rooms, Drake and Matt were there already there slipping their weapons on. "Once you guys are ready, Matt I need you in the control room and Drake go to the observation room." I told them. They nodded. I turned towards my weapons and a pack were laid on the bench. My bow and arrows looked like new. My gpsard looked much better than before and miraculously, I still had that laser pointer. I stuffed the laser pointer into the pocket my water proof pants, slipped the gpsard around my wrist and picked the the bow and arrows. I dug out the knife in the pack and slipped it in my pocket as well. Turning around, Tammy was adjusting her Hearding. Zaln had strapped on both his guns and was now putting his arm armor in place. Matt and Drake had already left. "Both of you guys go to the control room when you're done." I said. "Ok." they answered at the same time. I quickly made my exit. The control room was the last door at the end of the corridor. I peeped into the observation room before going to the control room. Drake was there, along with Jay, Seth and Karl. Karl was happily chewing some lettuce on Seth's lap. "Morning or good afternoon, whichever one it is." Seth greeted. "Hello to you." I replied. "Everyone ready? When it's time we leave right away." I asked. Everyone nodded except Karl. "Do wombats eat lettuce?" I asked Seth. "I don't really know, but he's eating it." Seth said. "Well ok." I said. "Put on your headsets guys, we're getting a move on soon. Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious." More nods. I left it at that. As I opened the door to the control room I was surprised to see Keir messing with the controls. Risana and Matt were inside too trying to get Keir to leave. "Keir GET OUT!" I ordered. "Go to the control room." Keir stuck his tounge out at me and left. "I can't believe he can mess around even now." Matt muttered. "Yeah." I agreed. Zaln and Tammy walked in. "Keir messing around again?" Tammy asked. "Yup." I answered. "Ok Tammy take the wheel. Risana right seat, navigation. Zaln left seat, main controls. Me and Matt will stand and help out. Let's get going." Everyone took a seat while me and Matt remained standing. "Do I have to stand?" Matt asked me making a pleading face. I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Yeah you do." I answered. Zaln pressed a few buttons and the sub turned on. Zaln, Risana and Tammy slipped headsets on. "Time to go." Zaln said outloud and into his headset. "Yay." Risana said halfheartedly. The sub jerked to a start as Tammy started driving. Risana tapped her screen a few times and on the large TV screen above the monitors turned on showing a large underwater map. The pre-planned route was shown with a broken line. The large X was our destination and a green circle was us. While they worked away, I stared outside through the darkened glass. The headlights were bright and showed an empty sea floor. It was too deep for fish or any life at all. "How long should it take?" I asked. "Maybe an hour...or two..." Tammy answered slowly. I let out a quiet sigh. Matt heard it and grinned. "Can't stand that long?" He asked evilly. "Ask yourself that." I shot back and turned my attention back to the window of glass at the front. I could only wonder if things would be the same after this.
Chapter 19: Boring Planning and The Machine Unveiled Part 2 Jerad's Viewpoint I crushed the status report with my right hand. "Internal Errors? What kind of excuse is that." I asked out loud. 4 hours before they could get the machine running to full power. No one knew what had gone wrong, the mechanics suspected possible overheating which may have broken the weaker parts of the machine. I hoped that meddling group from Illuminate had left, they had already caused enough problems. Hopefully some of them had been killed on the way out. I moaned as a headache struck me. My hand moved to massage my forehead. I hadn't gotten much sleep after the initial report. "Running a city isn't as easy as it looked." I groaned, falling onto my bed. No wonder my father hadn't had much time for me after he had created the machine. The door clicked open and out of the corner of my eye I saw a maid pop her head in. "Sir? Your breakfast is here." She said holding up a tray with a plate piled with fruit, a bagel, jam, and scrambled eggs. "Leave it over there." I said lazily, waving a hand towards the small glass table I had in my room. "Yes Sir." the maid put the plate and a cup of juice down then left. I laid on my bed for a few more minutes then got up and sat at the table my head pounding. ------------------------------- Evaline's Viewpoint 2 hours later I sat on the ground my back against the wall, my eyes transfixed on the large LED screen showing our progress. Matt sat next to me staring at the same screen. We were almost there. I got up. Ignoring my stiff limbs, I peered over Risana's shoulder to look at her screen. "How close?" I asked her. "Very close. A good 50 kilometers. We should stop at 1 kilometers." Risana answered. "Great...another 49 kilometers...my back is stiff..." Matt complained. "Be quiet Matt. We're getting to the dangerous part of this mission." Risana snapped. "Yeah, I'd expect Keir to complain, not you Matt." Zaln echoed. "Don't turn into Keir number two Matt!" Tammy said jokingly. "Yeah, yeah." Matt said. "Tammy, Zaln, use the booster. I don't want to wait any longer." I said. Risana raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure Evaline?" Zaln asked uncertainly. "Yeah. The longer we take, the more time they have to use the machine." I answered. I wasn't totally confident about using the booster to speed the submarine up but I didn't like the idea of waiting longer. "Use it. It's only 49 kilometers. It'll only drain the booster by about half." I added. "Ok." Zaln said. Then he started tapping at the touch screen in front if him. "Tammy, put the sub in auto drive." Zaln ordered. "I'm going to get ready. Risana let the others know in the observation room. Matt come with me." I said and left as Risana nodded. "Wow...I didn't realize how stiff I was." Matt said stretching as we walked down the corridor. "Yeah. We'd better hu-" I got cut off as the sub suddenly jerked forward sending me and Matt flying back down the corridor. I crashed against the door of the control room. "Oww..." I muttered. I stood up on shaking legs rubbing my skull. "We're going pretty fast..." Matt said half heartedly as he stood up rubbing his arm. Suddenly the door to my right burst open. "WHOA!!" Keir yelled coming out of the observation room. "That was FAST!" "Yeah..." I said darkly. "Are you guys alright?" Jay asked coming out into the corridor as well. "Fine, just a little beat up." Matt answered. "You guys better get ready. We should be there soon." Seth said poking his head out. Seth was already geared up along with Karl on the ground. "Oh yeah, that reminds me. Seth? If Karl can't swim then he's staying with Tammy." I told Seth. "Yup, got it." Seth said. "Okay, let's move." I ordered. I slipped my oxygen tank on and the rest of my diving gear except for the wet suit. We wouldn't need it this time either since our clothes were water proof. I already had my arrows and my pack on. The strap was under the oxygen tank. I had also put my arrows into my pack so I didn't need to carry two things. I turned my gpsard on and picked up my bow. I let my mask hang from my neck and hurried back to the control room. "Zaln? Risana? You guys go get ready." I told them. They hurried out. I leaned over towards Zaln's screen and put the functions of the main controls and navigator onto auto. Auto was that great since it was controlled by computers but it would help Tammy. "Everythings set." I told Tammy. "Ok. Thanks Evaline." She said. "Once you move the sub somewhere safe, get your gear on and be ready on a seconds notice." I explained. "Yup I know." "Great. I'm going now. By the way, Karl might stay here if he can't swim." I added. Tammy nodded. "Put Karl out now, we're already here. If he can't swim send him here." "Got it." I answered. Then I jogged back to the change room. Everyone was ready to go. "Seth, go outside with Karl. If he can't swim send him back in." I told Seth. Seth nodded and picked up Karl then disappeared into the teleport. We waited a few minutes. "Keir, Zaln, Drake. You guys go now." I said. They disappeared through the teleport. I waited a few seconds then reached Zaln telepathically. "How's Karl?" I asked. "Good! It's pretty funny but Karl can swim like a human." Zaln answered. Then he sent me a thought picture showing Karl. I giggled when I got the picture. "Is Karl good?" Risana asked me seriously. "Yup." I told her. "Do you see anything strange from outside Zaln?" I asked. "Nope, can't see a thing. We're taking out the flashlights." He told me. "Okay....Tell me when you guys get there." I said. "Then we'll start." "Alright, but do we have to swim 1 kilometer??" Zaln asked. "Yes. It's necessary. Unless you want to get caught?" I said putting stress onto the word yes. "Fine fine. We're going now." Then Zaln cut our telepathic conversation. Risana, Jay and Matt looked at me expectedly. "They're going." I said. I rummaged through my pack and pulled out my flashlight. I wondered if these clothes kept body heat together or if the water was just warm. Last time we had swum little but the water seem warm. I hoped it was the water, if it was the clothes we'd all be freezing and tired by the end. "Might as well chill." I said and sat down. One hour later I jolted awake as I felt a presence in my mind. "Hey Evaline! We're here!" Zaln voice came into my head. I suddenly realized I had been napping along with the others. "What took so long?" I asked. "We stopped quite a alot because of Karl." He answered. "What do you see?" I asked Zaln. "Quite a lot. There's one covered dome with a smaller dome that looks camouflaged attached to it. There's something like a runway platform leading to the entrance. Guards are actually pretty scarce. Only about 5 of them outside. There's probably more inside. We could take the ones outside down though." Zaln informed me. "Ok. Your job it get rid of them without drawing attention. Clear the way basically. If there are any cameras, get rid of them." I told him. "Got it but i don't think there are many electronics here. You guys better get here quick, we start in 15 minutes." Zaln said. "We'll be there." And I cut off the conversation. "Guys! Let's go! We gotta get there in a half hour." I yelled waking Risana, Zaln and Jay. They quickly went into the teleport and disappeared. I ran to the control room and quickly let Tammy know we were leaving then ran back. I got my mask on then I slipped into the teleport and once again felt the feeling of traveling quickly then found myself in the water. I took a deep breath, and gave Risana my flashlight. Risana flicked it on lighting a faint path. I motioned my hands to tell them to get swimming. Risana led, followed by Matt, Jay then me. 15 minutes later Note: Jerad's machine timer= 45 minutes left. Evaline's Viewpoint The darkness was scary but the water was warm. I was glad we weren't swimming in cold water. My arms and legs ached from swimming. I wasn't out of shape but I wasn't fit either. Risana and Matt seemed fine, Jay was really lagging though. Zaln had sent me an update on the situation 5 minutes ago. They had cleared the guards and were heading in. No security cameras to be seen. In fact security wasn't too bad outside. I accidentally bumped into Jay because she had stopped swimming. Jay looked up, I couldn't see well but she was definitely tired. "Keep going Jay." I told her telepathically. I hoped she could her it. Jay nodded and started swimming again. I shook my limbs out a bit and started to swim again. Suddenly something red flashed past me. I instantly spun around and fitted an arrow into my bow. Jay turned on her Exardite. A shield of energy lighted up the area even more and I caught sight of a figure a few meters away. Matt pulled out his sniper and we shot at the same time except I put my arrow more to the left. I hoped the person would move left, my arrow was slower than the laser so whoever it was would be surprised. Sudden thuds echoed and a rise of sand from the sea floor. Risana swam where the sand was with her flashlight. Now I could see two bodies, one with an arrow through it. She bent over and dragged the bodies over. Amazingly it was a clean shot. Right through the heart. Matt's laser had also taken it's toll on the second body. Seemed like the water a had moved my arrow to the right even though I shot it left, but I was more shocked by the uniforms. It was the same as those from Atlantric. This raised many questions. Zaln had said there weren't many guards outside. Unless there was an army. "Keep going guys" I sent this message to Jay, Risana -and Matt. They nodded and kept there weapons loaded, Risana drew her Tantō. It was hard swimming like this but necessary. I cast one more look at the bodies and sent a telepathic message to Zaln. "We found two Atlantric guards. Not sure what's happening. Be careful." I said and started swimming again. The darkness was scarier now. We didn't see any other guards or any armies but I felt cautious. My eyes slid all over the place as we swam. Suddenly Jay tugged on my arm and pointed into the distance. There was the dome the Zaln had described, except now there were no guards. There were lights at the dome so Risana shut off the flashlight and handed it back to me. I stuffed it into my pack and motioned for everyone to start swimming towards the dome. I looked all over for any sign of ambush but there was nothing. Why were there two guards all out in the open? This question bothered me. I felt like I was missing something, something was going happen, but what? We quickly swam down the runway like platform leading to the entrance. I noticed a dead body on the sea floor near the entrance. I winced as I noticed his arm chopped off. Keir's work most likely. I couldn't help noticing the uniform was slightly different. There was a broken padlock on the door and a busted looking hand scanner next to it. Risana tried the door open. It opened easily. As soon as we entered and the door shut I felt the same way I felt when I was going through a teleport. Next thing I knew, I was inside the dome along with Jay, Risana and Matt. I pulled my mask off and let it hang around my neck. The others followed my example. Blood stained the white marble floor but no bodies to be seen. The walls were high and a sandy colour. Shell shaped wall scones lighted the three halls that led away from this room. One hallway had several broken ones. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling. "Zaln? We're in!" I said telepathically. "Great timing! We took the left hall. You guys should choose the right or the middle one. We've already found three guards in here." Zaln said. "Ok." I answered. "Let's go." I said softly to my group. I pointed to the hallway straight ahead. We quickly ran down the hall. It seemed to forever. Suddenly a door opened and a sleepy looking guard came out. I shot him down before he could even realize what he was seeing. I dragged him back into what I believed to be his bedroom and shut the door. "I guess this is where the guards sleep." Matt said quietly. "Most likely." I answered. "Hey! You kids!" A guard was running towards us. "Wha-!" The guard collapsed as Matt shot him in the chest. "Run! Fast!" I hissed. Our feet now desperate. I hoped no one woke up or we would be in quite a lot of danger. The hallway curved right then we hit a dead end with a single metal door in front of us. A hand scanner and a key card slot were next to the door. "How are we...?" I asked leaving my question unfinished. Matt stepped forward and started fiddling. "What are you doing?" Risana hissed. "Getting this door open." Matt replied simply. "How do you know?" Jay asked. "Let's just say I've had experience." Matt answered as he took out a knife. I glance with Risana, she shook her head with a grin. I bet she remembered when we first met Matt, he had been causing trouble at the gate with his friends. "Now...just slid this here..." Matt muttered. *Beep* The door slid open. "Wow." Jay said in awe, moving forward. "Wait." I said. I drew an arrow and tossed it through the door. Halfway midair a red laser beam appeared blocking the entrance and sizzling the arrow. I gave Matt a look. "Ah...I guess that's what the key card slot is for..." He said embarrassed and started fiddling with the slot. Past the laser beam I could see a huge chunk of metal. A square metal block on a platform. Florescent spotlights shined on the block of metal. A runway like the one outside ran in a circle around the platfor, across the room to the right, up a ramp, to a large metal teleport against the wall. The walls were white and made me it hard to look at. The block of metal seemed to almost radiate something. Suddenly I felt slightly faint. I looked at Risana and Jay. Using my telepathy I could see that they had felt the same. Matt didn't seem affected, maybe because he was behind the wall fitting away. This was definitely the machine. Through my concentration of telepathy I could suddenly a stronger wave of something come from the machine. It hit all of us and I felt weaker than before. My knees threatened to buckle. The machine seemed to have an odd aura around it. A mix of yellow, black and red. This was bad. Really bad. "What's...going on?!" Jay asked worriedly. "I don't know...." I said. Truthfully, I did know but I didn't want to believe it. Then another wave of something from the machine crashed into us. My head throbbed. No denying it now. The machine was turning on.
Chapter 20: Fight against time I clenched my fists by my sides. This thing was so powerful. The choice was inevitable. I let my head fall forward called out to Zaln using telepathy while fighting another wave of faintness. "We've found the machine. You better get here. Be careful it's stronger than we expected..." "Evaline? Risana? Jay? Is something wrong?" Matt asked. I looked up. Matt was standing in front of us giving us weird looks. "You guys...Is something wrong?" He asked. Matt put his hand to my forehead. My fatigue disappeared istantly. "No fever." Matt said jokingly and removed his hand. I peered around him, the laser beam was gone. The machine was still emitting those weird waves but Matt didn't seem to be effected. Unlike me, Jay and Risana, when I looked at Matt his colour was turquoise. "Matt...are you tired or dizzy?" I asked. "No?" Matt answered. "Maybe...pyros aren't effected...?" Risana mused. "That makes sense." Jay muttered. "What are you guys talking about? We have to hurry? Did you forget we're sitting in the hallway of the enemies base?" Matt said impatiently. "Oh yeah right..." I muttered and dragged my knife out from my pack. "I think, I understand now..." Jay said to herself. We stared at Jay. "Pyros...aren't affected, so they can help the hypnotist and the telepathist stay alive while they destroy the machine." Jay told us with wide eyes. "We have to do it that way!" I opened my mouth to refuse. "Evaline...Jay is right. I don't think we can destroy it physically." Risana said. I turned to Matt. "It makes sense, agree with Risana." He said. I sighed. "Fine. Change of plans, we'll attempt the scared way." "Nice, so I'm invincible." Matt grinned. Matt led the way inside. As we got closer the waves became stronger. I looked at the others. Risana was holding Matt's hand and Jay gripped his arm. I shook my head to try to lose the weariness. Suddenly a hand closed around my wrist. Matt grinned at me. "Try to stay awake." he said. I nodded. We were in front of the machine now. "Hey! Who ar-" A man yelled suddenly cut off with a thud. We turned around. Keir stood there at the doorway with a bloody ashandarei and a bleeding body. "Hurry up guys!" Keir yelled as sirens filled the air and the sound of running feet. "Yeah we'll take care of it!" Zaln said poking his head into the doorway with his guns drawn. "That thing is powerful...let's go Keir." Zaln said and dragged Keir out of the doorway. "Jay." I said. Jay nodded. "Matt hold onto both Risana and Evaline...Now both of you touch the machine." I placed my hand on the machine. I gasped as something like a shock of electricity went up my arm. My arm felt numb, like it wasn't there anymore. Matt squeezed my hand and I could feel my arm again. "Next?" I asked Jay. "Concentrate and try to reach out and mix your ability of telepathy with Risana's hypnosis." I sighed, that was vague but I had a slight idea...perhaps... I closed my eyes and thought hard on what I wanted to see. My vision changed and I could see without opening my eyes. Everyone was colored based by their power. Risana purple, Matt red, Jay blue, myself yellow. A glowing ball of light inside everyone at different places. The centre of the persons power. I stared at Risana, her centre was her right elbow. Mine was at my left shoulder. My vision flickered as I heard sounds of fighting and yells. I had to keep my concentration! I looked at the glowing light on Risana and imagined my own centre joining with Risana's. Slowly Risana's light started to grow brighter and took a slight yellow glow mixed with purple. I could feel a headache coming. I vaguely heard Jay give instructions to Matt. My right hand suddenly felt warm. I looked down and saw flames flickering around mine and Risana's hands that were connected to Matt. Matt had two centers of power, one at each hand. I knew what I had to do. I transferred some of Matt's power to Risana, giving her center a red, yellow and purple glow. It started to shine brightly and my vision snapped off. I opened my eyes quickly. Fire was creeping up my arm but it didn't burn. Looking up, Risana had let go of Matt's hand. In her cupped hands was a brightly shinning ball of light of purple, red and yellow. "It worked Evaline!" Jay said happily. I grinned. "Evaline watch out!" Zaln's voice came from somewhere. I ducked pulling Matt and Jay down with me as something smoldering flashed over my head and rammed into the machine leaving only a meer dent. I looked around. Fighting was now in the room itself. "Risana hurry up!" Drake yelled as he sparked fire into a guards face. I turned to Risana. She moved the light to the machine. "Guys we have to move!" Matt hissed and dragged me and Jay off to the side as the light made contact with the machine. I watched stunned as the ball of light collided with the machine and took a life of it's own. Risana stumbled away as the ball of light grew covering the machine whole. The light swirled around the machine creating a strong wind, making my hair fly. All the fighting had stopped, all eyes on the destruction waiting to happen. We didn't wait long. The light started to grow larger and brighter around the machine. *BOOM* I was blown off my feet and sent flying backwards. I squeezed my eyes shut. A sudden wave of water crashed into me. I realized that the whole building must have been destroyed and I was flying through water, not air. I crashed into the soft sandy sea floor on my side as I fumbled for my mask. I put it on my face and took desperate gasps for oxygen. Opening my eyes, they stung from the water. Dust and sand flew around like a storm. I couldn't see at all. As it cleared I saw Jay next to me with her mask on coughing. The other were scattered around farther away. In front of me was an annilated building. Only dust and rubble was all that was left. The machine was gone. Gone forever. A small bit of happiness rose in me. Suddenly a click of a gun next to my ear. I froze and turned slowly. An cold, smiling face held a gun next to my head. He had short brown hair and an oval face. His mask covered most of his features but he was probably only a year older than me. "Evaline!! That's Jeard! He's the president of Atlantric!! Get away quick!!" Zaln's frantic voice echoed in my mind as I stared into his dark blue eyes. Our mission wasn't finished yet.
Chapter 21: Risk worth taking I felt my blood run cold as I stared into Jerad's dark blue eyes. What was I going to do? Better question yet was, what could I do? It was obvious Jerad was intelligent. It wouldn't be easy to out smart him. Looking away from his eyes I saw several lines of Atlantric guards behind him. I turned back to Jerad in shock. We killed all the guards didn't we? How could they have gotten wind of this so quickly....? Questions bubbled in my head, overflowing my brain. Turning back to Jerad his eyes suddenly started to give off a dim glow. I felt my arm got numb and against my will, my hand dropped my bow. My eyes widened. What power was this?! The glow in Jerad's eyes got brighter and I found that I couldn't move at all. I couldn't feel anything anymore. Jerad lowered his gun and drew out some rope. His grabbed my wrists and tied them to my ankles. The glow in his eyes disappeared and I could feel my own limbs again. What was this? "Zaln!" I called out in telepathically. "Telekinesis. Looks like Jerad found out how to control it." Zaln told me bitterly. A guard stepped forward and easily picked me up like a sack. I struggled violently trying to get the guard to drop me. This guard was too strong for me. I turned to see how Jay was. Jerad had walked over to her. Defiance sparked in Jay's eyes as she turned her Exardite on. Jerad just smiled and his eyes glowed again. Jay turned her Exardite off. We couldn't fight him. It wouldn't work. Our only hope was that Tammy got here soon. The other guards moved forward picking up everyone else. I craned my head around to see if everyone was alive. Risana looked beat up but she was alive. Zaln was fine, oddly he wasn't struggling at all. Had he given up? Matt, Keir and Drake were giving the guards who were trying to tie them up a hard time but since Matt and Drake couldn't use their pyro abilities they were tied up rather quickly. Seth seemed to be the only one who was getting tied up in chains rather than rope. That's everyone I thought glumly. Wait! Where is Karl? Unfortunately I wasn't an owl, so I couldn't do the whole 270 degree head turn. As the rest of the guards who went to tie everyone up came back, I noticed something bloody and furry hanging from a guards shoulder who was carrying a very vicious and angry Keir. As the guard got closer I could make out it's form better. It was definitely a wombat. A dead one. As I struggled to get a closer look the guard who was carrying me suddenly tightened his grip and a blindfold was tied over my eyes. Just great. Tied up like a chicken and blindfolded. I could tell we were moving, probably back to Atlantric. After everything we went through to get out, I didn't want to be trapped back inside again. That's when I felt an emotion I should of felt earlier. Fear. Jerad's Viewpoint We caught them but, It wasn't until they had finished destroying the machine. I clenched my hand. Years of work down the drain. I was going to make them pay. We were somewhat swimming-walking back to Atlantric, hostages in tow. I decided to leave my men to take care of the girls, while I'd beat those boys to death. I had hoped the girls wouldn't be pretty, I got shy around girls. Despite everything, I couldn't kill these ones. I glared at one of our prisoners. He had messy red brown hair and brown eyes. His weapon, some odd looking spear, had been broken in half. He also seemed to be extremely childish, struggling and fussing like a baby. Does he know how powerful I am? Just last night I had finally managed to harness the full extent of my telekinetic powers. Everything. I even found out I had a special technique, something so powerful I could say I was afraid of myself. Hmm...that boy with black green tinted hair. Zaln...is his name. We had caught him before along with another girl and boy in this group. He was telepathic. That would be troublesome. I'd have to show him the full extent of my power. He would give up easily after that most likely. That other girl...I hadn't seen her before. Red streaked hair and purple eyes. She was exceptionally pretty. Rather shocked me when I stuck a gun to her head. I wonder what her ability is. Well I'll find out soon enough. I looked ahead and smiled happily as my city came into view. Evaline's Viewpoint I was starting to feel stiff tied up the way I was. I guessed we were heading back to Atlantric. We didn't have much time. I didn't want to give up, even though Jerad was strong I bet he would fall if all of us attacked at the same time. We just had to pick the right moment, when the others were off guard. Karl would probably reincarnate, hopefully back to a human, and help us out. Now to get Zaln to agree. "Zaln? I've got an idea." I said in telepathy. "Idea? What for?" Zaln responded in a depressed way. "What do you mean?! We have to get away!" I said forcefully. Had Zaln given up?! "Useless...He's too powerful." Zaln told me. "Not if all of us attack him! We just need to pick the right moment then go for it!" "If you haven't noticed Evaline...we're tied up!" "We can untie them. To be truthful these knots aren't tight." "You're crazy, we'll get killed." "We'll get killed if we don't do anything! Don't give up on this Zaln!!" I pretty much yelled telepathically that last bit. A second passed. "Alright...Sorry..." Zaln said. "Good, Tell everyone to work on the knots without the guards noticing. When the right moment comes just shout it out telepathically to everyone. I can't see so I'll have to wait. You aren't blindfolded are you?" I asked. "Nope, you're the only one." "That's weird. Anyway keep a look out." "Sure." I couldn't believe Zaln had almost given up. Jerad might demonstrate his Telekinesis, I hope Zaln wouldn't give up. I hope I hadn't underestimated Jerad. If I had, we were doomed, Unless of course Tammy got here, but how long would it take? She would go to the site where the machine used to be, then she would have to go to Atlantric and somehow get inside by herself. Overall, the chances of us getting out of here alive this were pretty bleak. Suddenly I felt the blindfold lifted away from my eyes. We were in the outer dome. It was surprisingly empty. No guards at all except the ones with us. The guard carrying me put me on the ground. Looking around everyone was on the ground too. Jerad slipped his gear off and strode towards Zaln. A guard came up to me and slashed my bonds. Huh? What was going on? Then he pointed his gun at me. It was happening to the others too. I turned back to Jerad and Zaln. "I think it's best if you all take your gear off." Jerad said. His voice was loud and smooth. Somewhat soothing. "President! What happened?!" A man asked running up to Jerad. "Nothing!" Jerad snapped. "Go take these troops to Parliament except for the 10 guards who were carrying the prisoners." The man looked shaken but nodded and bowed, then gave an order to follow. Most of the guards left. Now there were only 10 plus Jerad. This was our chance! I made eye contact with Zaln. "NOW!" Zaln yelled telepathically. I made my move. I kicked the gun out of the guards hands, jumping to my feet I aimed another kick at his legs sending him to the ground. Then I stomped on his face and sent my heel crashing onto his nose. I heard a crack. I probably broke it. The guard collapsed covering his face. I didn't stay to watch the blood streaming down from his nose. I spun towards Zaln and ran to help him with Jerad. Out of the corner of my eye everyone else seemed to be OK. Now to take care of Jerad. I aimed a somewhat unbalanced flying side kick at his stomach. Jerad seemed to smile, I only wondered if this risk was worth taking.
Chapter 22: The Trouble of Telekinesis Time sped up. Jerad lifted an arm and deflected my kick. My left leg wobbled and I fell off to the side. My head collided with the ground. A wave of dizziness followed. I shook it off quickly. I sat up and got to my feet. I was covered in dirt already but for once I didn't mind. Zaln was rapidly punching Jerad but Jerad kept blocking. Then I remembered I had a knife. I opened my pack and rummaged around for my knife. "Where is it?!" I muttered furiously. "Evaline! Watch out!" A male voice screamed. I turn around. "Wha-!" I found myself facing an armed guard for a second then suddenly a person threw themselves at the guard with a dagger. Both of them crashing to the ground. My brain couldn't think that fast. I blinked a few times trying to process what just happened. The boy who had toppled the guard to the ground got up. "Are you ok Evaline?" He asked. I was vaguely aware that more guards for coming out of the city but his voice struck an odd chord. That voice was very familiar. His eyes were a deep chocolate brown, his short hair was light brown with blond highlights. Could it be...? I turned back to where I had last seem Karl in his wombat form. No furry body. I looked everywhere then back at the boy in front of me. "Karl....?" I asked slowly. The boy grinned. "Yeah." Perhaps his personality changed a bit, his appearance sure had. Karl held a laser gun and a bloody dagger. Karl handed me the dagger. "Took them off a guard. You and Zaln worry about Jerad we'll take care of the rest." He said and ran off to help Jay, who I just realized, was on the brink of getting killed. My hand tightened around the dagger. Turning around I faced Zaln and Jerad. Zaln was loosing ground, he wouldn't hold much longer. I broke into a run and aimed a stab at Jerad's unprotected side. Jerad must've heard my steps, he turned his attention to me. His eyes glowed and he held a hand out at me. I froze immediately, my arm raised. I couldn't move at all. Zaln took advantage of this and punched the left side of Jerad's face. Jerad's arm dropped and he lost his concentration. I stumbled a bit as Jerad's hold over me disappeared. Jerad glared at Zaln. Zaln glared back. If looks could kill, both of them would be dead already. I came to a conclusion. "Zaln, We can't fight Jerad like this." I told him telepathically while walking to stand next to him. "Yeah. Time for a battle of abilities." He answered. "Just how powerful is he..." I wondered. "No better time like the present to find out." Zaln commented. Jeered smirked. "I bet you're both telepathists. You've been rather quiet." "Let's go. Don't hold back." I told Zaln. "Got it." he responded. Zaln drew his two laser guns. I looked at Zaln in surprise. "Can't hurt to use a few weapons." He said telepathically. I nodded. My arrows wouldn't be fast enough so I cast them aside as well as my bow. My gpsard was on, though I doubted it would help much. All I was left with was a bloody dagger and a laser pointer. "Let's see how good you are huh?" Zaln said to Jerad. "Be my guest." Jerad responded. I closed my eyes, then reopened them. Colors, everywhere. Jerad was brown. I guess he's confident. I blinked a few times and my special vision went back to regular vision. Zaln fired five rapid shots, but with a wave of his hand Jerad redirected them. "Is that all you've got telepathy boy?" Jeered sneered. Jerad's eyes glowed and before we could react Zaln was flung backwards. I quickly sent my most powerful mind blast to Jerad. I got results. Jerad lost concentration and stumbled backwards griping his temples. "Looks like you're a bit better than telepathy boy." Jerad muttered. I took the chance to run at Jerad and gave him a nice cut in the stomach. Jerad glared at me. "Is that all you can do? Looks don't kill you know." I taunted. A few more laser bullets came at Jerad but he redirected them. Jerad punched me in the face. My cheek stung, I quickly decided I wasn't cut out to become a boxer. I aimed side kick at Jerad's legs. He stumbled again. "Stop playing around." Jerad growled at me. Jerad drew a sword out of his scabbard. It was beautiful in it's own way. The metal was tinged blue and the sword itself has a wavy pattern. The sword started to glow. That's when I knew I was in trouble. I backed up quickly. Jeered swung his sword at Zaln but even though it didn't touch Zaln he flew backwards. A sword that channeled Jerad's telekinesis! Fortunately I suppose, Zaln crashed into Matt who managed to keep his footing and help Zaln up. I was cautious of all the fighting around me. Matt and Drake were mostly using there pyro abilities at this point, frying anyone in their path. Jay and Karl were teamed up, defense and attack. Risana and Seth seemed to be fine working together. Keir was having maybe a bit too much fun scaring guards with his poltergeist spirit then killing them with his ashandarei. This made me think just how useless the telepathic ability was, other than communication there wasn't much else, except a few advanced attacks that were possible. Suddenly I was flying backwards, this sent me out of my thoughts. My head crashed into a rock. I felt a slight trickle of blood going down my forehead. I swore at myself for letting my guard down. My head was ringing. I sat up hesitantly. Zaln was at Jerad again and was somehow able to keep Jerad distracted enough to keep him from using his Telekinesis. I watched for a few seconds my vision threatening to disappear on me. I was suddenly aware that Jerad's eyes were glowing, he raised a hand. A few nails from a nearby guard tower unscrewed themselves and like bullets flew at Zaln. I got up quickly. I wobled a bit, my head was spinning. Zaln was in trouble. I ran at Jerad, taking him by surprise. The nails dropped in mid-air but one of them impaled itself into Zaln's arm and another in his left leg. Zaln's yell of pain just made me angry. Me and Jerad fell to the ground. I gritted my teeth and grabbed Jerad's arm trying to break it. "Fool." Jerad hissed at me. Before I knew it I was frozen. Jerad's eyes started to glow, much brighter than before. "You really think telepathy is a match for Telekinesis?" He asked coldly. I had to do something. I picked up a few of Jerad's thoughts. What i heard scared me, looks like I was about to become annihilated. What to do...Advanced telepathy...what was it again...yes...that should work! I thought. I could die myself but I was going to die anyway if I didn't try. I closed my eyes. I had a bit of time, Jerad needed time to gather up the energy to blast me to bits. Once again I could see without opening my eyes. Everyone was colored with their power centers showing. Looking down at myself with my eyes closed, I was yellow. My power centers glowing brightly at my shoulder. Now or never. I put all my energy in my power center. Like draining my life away. My power center grew and glowed. Soon enough I was encased in glowing yellow light. "What the...?!" Jerad's eyes were still glowing but he'd lost his concentration. His eyes were wide staring at me. I knew I was glowing, Professer Retnos had shown me once before how to do it. Now to aim all this energy at Jerad. I focused on him and let all the pressure of the energy go. *BOOM* My body felt like it had been blasted to bits but a part of my concience told me I was still intact. I was tired and sore all over. I could sleep forever... I suddenly aware I was flying through the air. My eyes closed. Water. My eyes flew open, only to be greeted by dust, debris and water. I shut my eyes and fumbled to put my mask on. My arms felt heavy. Once my mask was on I was grateful for the oxygen and was glad I hadnt taken my oxygen tank off. I let myself drift. I was too tired to swim. I could care less right now. Two hands grabbed me by the arms and dragged me in some direction. I didn't fight it. I was too tired. Next thing I knew I wasn't in the water anymore. I could tell. No pressure. I slowly opened my eyes and quickly regretted it. Bright florescent lights were above hurting my eyes and causing a headache. I drew my mask off tiredly. My vision was blurry. "Where...?" I muttered. I blinked. Risana was in front on me. Everyone else was there too. Zaln, Karl, Matt, Jay, Keir, Seth, Drake. I looked around. The submarine! "What...is going on? Where's Jerad?" I asked stunned with the sudden change. "Dead probably. That blast you created was powerful, it almost killed us too but Tammy came just in time. Seconds before the blast. She actually sent the submarine crashing through the dome. The rest of us had enough sense to climb aboard." Risana told me. "That was amazing though. That blast was pretty advanced." Zaln said. "Yeah...so the mission is done right?" I asked. "Yup, plus you more or less destroyed the Atlantric civilization." Keir said grinning madly. "Oh ok..." I said. Suddenly the submarine jerked to one side. I realized we were going very very fast. "Why are we going so fast?" I asked. "Well...that blast...was..a bit too strong...it struck the whole ocean. We're trying to get back on land as soon as possible because we aren't sure if we'll get caught in a...." Risana paused. Something reminded me...geography class awhile back. Something about nuclear underwater explosions or earthquakes... That reminded me of the name of that advanced telepathy attack. Professor Retnos had called it the "earthquake" due to it's high destruction power and similarities to a real earthquake. Earthquakes could set off a... My eyes widened. "Tsunami." Risana finished.
Chapter 23: The End of the Beginning "Do you think...a tsunami would affect us even though we're underwater?" I asked. "Maybe...we're not sure. So we're getting out of here anyway." Risana said. "Ok." I said. My head was starting to feel dizzy again. "Oh! Zaln are you alright?" I asked. "I'm not dying, if that's what you mean." Zaln said with a weak laugh. I gave Zaln a look. "Well it's hurts but I can't exactly get it out..." Zaln muttered. "HEY GUYS!" Tammy yelled. "Is something wrong Tammy?" Matt asked. "Oh Evaline! Are you ok?" She asked. "Tired and sore but not dead." I answered. "Anyway...?" Risana prompted. "Oh yeah, I put the submarine in auto drive. We should be at the surface in about a minute. Get ready to get out and run." Tammy said. "But what about everyone else in Illuminate?" Keir asked. I raised an eyebrow at Keir. After killing so mercilessly he would say that. Keir never seemed to stop surprising me. "I'll send the message to those in City Hall." Zaln said. "Are you sure Zaln? Aren't you hurt?" Tammy asked. "Ill be fine." He answered. "Anyway...we're close to the surface." Tammy told us. Tammy went to stand in front of the doors of the teleport. "C'mon." Risana grabbed me, got my oxygen tank off and helped me up to my feet. Karl helped Zaln stand up. I was so tired I almost fell. I realized everyone had discarded most of their gear and tanks. Then the submarine stopped moving. All of us entered the teleport. Then we were outside on the docks. It was late afternoon. People were gawking at us. I guess we looked pretty weird. Tired, beat up and dirty. "Let's go!" Risana yelled and she pulled on my arm. I stumbled a bit and ran to keep up. Everyone was in front of me except Karl and Zaln. I turned around, I could see something in the horizon in the water. It was coming. Zaln was running and limping at the same time. "Karl! Hurry!" I yelled. Karl nodded, I hope he understood. He stopped Zaln from running and carried him piggy back ride style. I grinned, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind...but it worked. My legs felt heavy, I wanted to sleep but I knew if I stopped now I would be put to sleep forever. We had left the docks. My feet pounded the pavement. We ran right through people. Everyone stared at us but I didn't care. Police were arriving, I wondered if they were here to arrest us. No... The police officers scrambled around telling people to get to high ground. I looked sideways to Karl and Zaln. "Good job." I managed. Zaln gave me a lopsided smile. We ran past Karl's home, the park, the hotel, the Academy and finally City Hall. Some people ran into apartment and condo buildings while other were running to the gates of Illuminate like us. We had to get to the hill. The hill where me, Risana and Diane came across when we first saw Illuminate from afar. My eyes widened. Diane! Her ashes! I stopped. "Evaline?! What are doing?!" Karl yelled. "Diane's ashes!" I yelled as I tried to go the opposite way of the flow of people. People pushed and bumped into me. A few yelled a curse at me. "Don't worry! Risana has it!" Zaln yelled. "Oh!" I said. Then I quickly turned around and went with the flow. "Sorry..." I added. "It's fine, but the others are ahead of us." Karl said. I was getting out of breath. I had to stop breathing through my mouth. I looked ahead. The gates! Those tall gates. The first thing I saw. I could hear screams and yells. The water must've reached the dock. It wouldn't be long now. We ran through the gate along with at least 100 other people. The concrete switched to grass and I was running uphill. I struggled. My breath coming out in pants, my legs were on fire. I was tired and dizzy. My knees gave out. I fell to the grass. I could hear the water rushing. "EVALINE!" I jolted. Matt grabbed my arm and forced me into a run. I stumbled and tripped. Then we were at the top of the hill. As soon as Matt let go I collapsed on the ground amid the hundreds of people at the hill. Out of energy, burned out completely. "Thanks....Matt..." I panted. "Your welcome." He answered. The chattering of hundreds was quickly devoured by the sound of rushing waves. I heard gasps, screams, yelps, crying and even sounds of awe, but I had no strength to turn around to watch Illuminate flood and be destroyed. This was because of me in a way. I sent out that blast. I felt oddly guilty. "Here." Risana whispered in my ear and slipped something into my hand. A jar. I looked at it. Diane. My best friend, died because of this mission. At least I had avenged her death in a way I hadn't exspected. I found some strength to get to my feet. Looking out I could still see the skyscrapers of Illuminate. The houses were completely flooded. The tsunami wasn't as bad as I had thought. It looked odd. Glass pillars in a sea of water. The late afternoon sun casting shadows. Peaceful though it was a site of mass destruction. I stood there, dirty, wet, tired and beat up but I wasn't alone. The mission that started this was now at an end. So much had changed in such a short time. The water would recede and Illuminate would rebuild. You could call it the end of a beginning. The End
Epilogue The events of the epilogue happen one after the other.(In sequence) With every end there is a new beginning. One month later Matt's Viewpoint I whistled as I walked into my apartment. It was noon time already. I had a stack of letters from the post office and some files from City Hall. Despite ruining Illuminate, they hadn't deducted anything from our compensation. In fact they doubled it. I wasn't sure why but I didn't care. I would be able to live comfortably for the rest of my life. I sat myself down onto the white leather couch in front of the flat screen TV. I spread the letters and files on the glass coffee table. A few of them were from my "friends" before the mission. I tossed those in the trash. They never really cared about me. Next was a letter about the rebuilding of the gymnastic center. Lately I had been helping with the rebuilding of the city. Before this I didn't know that I had interest in architecture. I set that letter aside. Next one was from Keir. It looked dirty and beat up. Apparently Keir had decided to go exploring only a week after the tsunami. He had said, quote 'After the mission I just realized how vulnerable human life is...so I'm going to live to the fullest!' It didn't make much sense. I opened the letter. Looks like Keir was backpacking somewhere in the australian outback. There was a photo of a grinning Keir making a peace sign...in the middle of no where. I had speculated with Drake on one occasion about how Keir had funded his expeditions. The amount we were given was a lot of pieces but...it was pretty obvious it wouldn't be enough if Keir lived this way. I wouldn't put it past him to be doing something in the black market. I shook my head and moved on to the last letter. Risana. Before leaving with Evaline she had agreed to become pen pals. It wasn't what I had in mind but it was better than no contact. I grinned as I opened and read the contents of the letter. I had better reply right away. Zaln's Viewpoint I wandered around Illuminates docks. Crews that I had hired were everywhere, searching for my brothers body. The sun was starting to set. It was the fifth day since I had started to search. The amount of pieces we were given wasn't much to me since I was rich already but it was enough to fund this search. My brother might have been a traitor but I still felt like I had to find his body and give him a funeral. "Hey Zaln!" I turned around. Tammy was waving with two burgers in hand and running towards me. I smiled. "Hey." I said. "How's it going?" Tammy handed me a burger. "Not bad. We recovered some shreds of his clothing but that's it." I answered sadly. "Don't get depressed! You'll find him soon." Tammy encouraged me. "Yeah..." I unwrapped my burger and we ate in silence for a few seconds. "How's you're job going?" I asked Tammy. "Good overall. It's a lot of paperwork but it pays well." She answered. Tammy was the only one of us other than Matt who had a proper job right now. All of us were offered jobs at City Hall but Matt and Tammy were the only ones who accepted it. I was the heir to my family's business now that my brother was gone so I obviously couldn't take a job. "Why'd you take it? The amount we were given was pretty good." I lied. Tammy just glared at me. "Fine whatever." I said holding my hands up. I finished my burger and threw the wrapper away. Hands in my pockets I watched the sunset. "You know...Tammy you could...mar-" I was cut off as one of the search teams captain ran up to me. "Mr. Kingsburg! We've found a body! It matches your brother!" "I want to see it right now." I said quickly. "Tammy...?" I asked. "I'll go with you." She said. I grinned. "You sure? Think you can handle it?" Tammy gave me a look. "Just kidding!" I grabbed Tamny's hand and we follwed the captain. Karl's Viewpoint I stepped out of the physiological doctor offices. The sun had just gone down, only a small speck of the sun could been seen and the moon was in the sky. I sighed. Reincarnating as a wombat had a larger impact on me than I had thought. I had trouble eating meat now, and I had wombat like tendencies. That's why my parents made me go to a physiologist and a therapist. Their only heir to the family business couldn't behave like this. The only good thing that had come from this mission was probably the amount of pieces we were given at the end. It was double the written amount so I was happy. Now I just needed to figure out how to spend it. I walked down the dimly lit streets of Illuminate. Many places were construction sites. Matt had told me he was in charge of the architecture. The didn't see the others in the group as much as I would have liked because I was stuck in doctor offices all day but I got some gossip from Matt and Drake. The bright lights of the city were brilliant at night. I remembered as a kid hiking up the hill outside of the city and staring at Illuminate. The name was fitting for this city. I walked past the park and found myself at home. I opened my mailbox. Inside were letters from everyone. Three were from Keir. Me and Keir had gotten pretty close after the mission. Maybe it was because I saved him when the dome where the machine was, was destroyed. I still had memories from when I was a wombat. Keir had said he was going to travel all over the world and promised me postcards from every place he visited. So far he'd only been in Egypt and now it seemed like he was in rural Australia. I laughed when I thought about the day Keir told me about his plan to fund his expedition. Keir was intelligent for sure but maybe it was a good idea he turned down that government job. Sometimes Keir was too smart his and others good. I laughed again and walked into the teleport to go home. Drake's Viewpoint I sat in front of my computer with the music at full blast. Night had fallen. I was typing e-mails to everyone and returning letters. This mission was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I made a lot of new friends, became more outgoing and gained a heap of pieces. I couldn't wait to put my plan in action. Instead of buying new objects or devices I had decided to start up my own business. I was young but I was sure I could pull it off. I hit the send button and sat back into my chair. I wondered what happened to Seth, he was the only one other than the wandering Keir who I hadn't been able to contact. Jay said he left as soon as we had finished the report at City Hall. Maybe I should talk to Jay later, if anyone knew where Seth had disappeared too it was Jay. I grinned and typed out a new e-mail. Jay's Viewpoint I sat at my teachers desk marking papers. Who knew that being a teacher at The Academy would be so stressful? It was night already, maybe 9PM. I marked the last paper and put them away to give back tomorrow. My students were all pretty diligent. I locked up the classroom and left the school. It was odd they decided to create classrooms rather than continue one on one training but I guess it was because of the high amount of students applying. I started my usual walk home. I still hadn't gained my memories of the past, but before Seth left he promised me I would get them back one day. Thinking of Seth, I wondered how he was. I was the only one who knew where he went. It was a shame that he had to go into hiding. We could've stayed together... "Urgh..." I muttered. Why did I still like him?! I suppose my heart was stronger than my brain. "That's it...I'll go home and look into the future! Maybe do a love reading too!" I told myself. I giggled. A girl in love. Who would've thought it would happen to me. Oh! That reminded me, I'd have to warn Keir not to go to the north pole anytime soon. From my readings last night, it would be best to stay away from the north. Apparently Keir was in Australia right now so he was OK for the time being. I unlocked the door to my flat. Even though the reward was a lot of pieces I still preferred my old home. The usual smell of flowers greeted me as I opened the door. "Home sweet home." I said. One month and a day later Evaline's Viewpoint I walked outside into the blazing sun. In my hand was a bouquet of flowers. I walked down the dirt road in Enimote. Life was the same as always except for the fact I was a lot richer now. I had decided after I left Illuminate that I would study medicine to do my best to prevent anymore deaths. I planned to return to Illuminate soon. I couldn't wait to see everyone again. I hoped Keir would be back from his backpacking trips and maybe even Seth would show his face. I had more scars after the mission, emotional and physical but I had more experience with telepathy now at least. I was now an advanced telepathist. I also happened to have a conversation with Zaln once a day. It was fun testing our skills over a long distance. I left the road and walked into a lush, green valley. In the middle of the valley was a simple stone grave. Risana was already there. Risana smiled as I approached. "Hi." She said. "Hi." I answered. I turned to the grave. Diane. I kneeled and put the bouquet of purple flowers on the grave. We came back here and laid her to rest in this valley. It was halfway from where I lived and halfway from where Risana lived. "It's been a month and a day." I said. "Yeah." Risana said quietly. "I'll never forget." I mummered. "When are you going back?" Risana asked. "Two weeks." I said. "We'll go together." She said. I nodded. Our first trip to Illuminate was eventful, I could only wonder what would happen the on the second trip. "See ya." I said and we walked away in opposite directions back home. ------------------------------- Thank-you for reading Atlantric: Unknown! I'm glad you continued until the end. I hope you enjoyed the story. Feel free to post on this thread now since the story is finished. BTW no copying my story please! Thank-you! Storallelite
I've also found a somewhat perfect song that somewhat matches this story: Level 5 Judgelight It's from an anime so it's in Japanese. I recommend looking up the song