Chapter 16: Part 3
“You fight well for an eight legged, cash carrying freak Offender, but it’s time for you to sleep with the fishes.” Mobster Lobster flung his hat at the massive cash register.
“Well I say, thar must be plenty of booty of yours for me to plunder once I deal with you and your gang Lobster.” A beam shot from Registered Offender’s eyes and turned the hat flying through the air into solid gold. It crashed into the wooden planks below with a thud.
“You’ll pay for that you ruffian.”
“Ahhh!”
“Sailor!” Mikey lunged to break her fall as she slipped from her rooftop hiding place.
“What in the?”
“Humans!”
“Hmm heya Lobster how ‘bout we put our grievances aside and deliver these humans to the boss?” Registered Offender turned to Mobster Lobster.
“It sounds like a deal I can’t refuse Offender.” Mobster Lobster moved up beside Registered Offender.
“You alright?” Mikey groaned as Sailor landed on his back.
“Yes, I think so.” She said as she sat up. “I’m sorry.” She stood up as Lei, Owlie, Jonjon, Shinju and Upward emerged to join them.
“We were going to have to come out of hiding eventually. Might as well be now.” Mikey nodded to Lei.
“Alright let’s give them hell.”
“We got these leftover goons.” Jonjon and Shinju went after the remaining Crabmen and Pirate Fluffs.
“Hey Lei let’s boil us some lobster” Upward called.
“Guess that leaves us with the gold spitter.” Owlie helped Mikey to his feet.
“Guess so.” Mikey hung back as Owlie and Sailor attacked Registered Offender. He was worried his rings were still misfiring.
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“Anyone else hear that creepy organ music?” The inside of the cathedral was dark like all the windows had been covered, and the candles replaced with globes that drained even the most minute of light sources. Still the area possessed a faint purple glow along the floor and in patterns engraved on the walls. It almost seemed to Kerri like the stonework had null crystals embedded in it.
“Now that you mention it. It is kind of creepy. How is this cathedral laid out John?” Jeremy shivered a bit.
“What about that guidebook we have Jeremy doesn’t it say anything about this place?” Henry felt as if he was being watched by the birds engraved into the walls.
“I hope this isn’t how the place appears when it’s purified otherwise the people who use it as a cathedral have some warped worship practices.” Penelope tilted her head as it looked like the glowing stones in the wall pulsed.
“The guardians of this holy place are aware of our presence now. If I remember this place was designed to become lighter as the floors were ascended, until we came to the main assembly on the top floor.” John held out his hands as if he were feeling around for something.
“Crystal Cathedral, where the residents of Tlauixcalpantecuhtliopolis come to pay their respects to Spirits of Gaia. The bottom floor contains many prayer shrines along the walls each honoring a deity of Gaia: such deities include Sentinel, Overseer, Meili, Peath, and Hephaes. Below the cathedral is a mausoleum where many warriors of Gaia are interred. To find the spiral stairs to the second floor one must let the guardians guide them.” Jeremy took a breath,
“Wonder what that means.”
“It means we must let these guardians that we can’t see yet point us to a set of stairs that may or may not already be in front of us.” There was a scraping sound that interrupted KJ.
“Who dares enter this sacred ground?” It sounded like many voices speaking in unison coming from all around the group.
“Pity we had to leave the Anari to mind the door for us, this place is right up McCoy’s alley.”
“You know the Anari McCoy? He used to be our caretaker here. We miss him greatly. Only those worthy may ascend to the temple.” Six of the shrines along the walls began to glow a bright pink as figures shaped from purple crystal emerged from them.
“That one looks like Sentinel.” Kerri pointed to one.
“That must make this guy Hephaes.” Henry pointed to a large robotic looking one.
“Anyone want to bet each of them is a representation of a Gaian deity?”
“Prepare yourself for the tests of spirit.” Each of the crystal creature fired beams of light from their hands. Penelope tried hitting the nearest one with fire, but it seemed to absorb the flames. As it sucked up the last of the flames the Meili figure glowed bright pink before shooting flames back at Penelope.
Henry tried drenching the Hephaes figure with water only for it to absorb the torrent, glow brightly and then unleash a tidal from its hands.
“These guys absorb and reflect anything energy based. We’re going to have to break them with brute force.”
“How great is your resolve human?” The Sentinel figure stared down Kerri before she tried firing her bow. The crystal creature flew apart as the arrow passed harmlessly threw, then reassembled itself. John tried taping down the massive Peath crystal but it ripped through the tape as fast as he could summon it.
“Bring out the blades guys, melee is going to be our only chance.” John could only watch as Jeremy hacked at the Peath figure. The blade left a deep gash in the crystal face, but began to rapidly heal. John could see that the Overseer figure was behind the others and he was feeding an energy beam into the Peath figure.
“Jeremy, Henry, Penelope go after Seer. Kerri, KJ with me drawing the others.” There was a dazzling light show as KJ, Kerri and John fired lances of energy between the different crystal demi-gods. They demi-gods were unamused with the show and gave chase to the three. Henry, Jeremy and Penelope went to work hacking and slashing at the Overseer. Without the other five to defend him the fragile crystal soon succumbed to the blades’ might. As the five continued chasing John and Kerri, KJ was shouting orders.
“Peath then Hephaes, bring down their big guns quick!” Kerri and John kept throwing beams past the lumbering crystal masses. Without the ability to heal the crystalline creatures were easily shattered by the three blades assaulting them.
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“Thankfully, the Valkyrians and Garghouls seem more interested in fighting each other than us.” A line of vines attacked a group of Garghouls and Valkyrians that were already absorbed with fighting each other.
“Let’s hope it stays that way Miles.” Deanna coated the door into the cathedral with a thick layer of ice.
“Let us hope the humans are having just as much luck inside as we are out here.” Hoshi zapped a line of Garghouls out of the sky as they tried flying overhead.
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“Punch it! Punch it!” Up yelled as Lei was riding Mobster Lobster’s back. He had managed to climb up the crustacean’s shell during the attack and now it was trying to buck him off. As the massive monster waved his pincers around he knocked Up across the pier, and with a heave Lei was thrown next to Up.
“Oww. Remind me not to fly Air Lobster again, they have pretty rough landings.” Lei joked as he grabbed his head.
“Yerr all just as worthless as these gold tokens I spit.” A Registered Offender let loose a shower of gold tokens from his mouth. The force of the impact blew Owlie and Sailor into a heap next to Lei and Up.
“Shinju watch out!” Jonjon threw himself in the way of Mobster Lobster’s hat as it exploded. The impact landed him next Lei.
“Jonjon!” A bunch of gold tokens pelted Shinju knocking her into the heap with the others.
“Guess it’s up to me now.” Mikey stood between the two beasts and the others,
“Come on!” It looked as if Registered Offender and Mobster Lobster were charging energy up for another attack.
“Hope this works.” Mikey muttered to himself as the dual attack came. He tried throwing up a defensive shield, it was barely the size of a Spartan shield and it was flimsy, each token blasted small holes into the glowing hexagons. As the shield faded to a mere disk an explosive top hat hit it. Mikey was launched clear into a back alley, his world was spinning as he tried sitting up. He could see someone looking down at him.
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“That’s the last of them John.” Henry’s hack lobbed off the last bits of the Meili crystal. As the figure dissolved a stairwell on the far end of the room lit up.
“Looks like we go up.” As the approached the stairs, John took point. The stairs spun around as the room lit up to a candlelit glow.
“We must be entering the sanctuary. Look at all the pews and candles.” The organ music was louder but the source was still not visible.
“Sure is one strange place to hold a mass.”
“Keep in mind the kind of creatures that worship here.” Kerri looked down at her hand. She had pulled out the amulet that used to be Mikey’s for a bit of comfort in the dark area. She felt as long as she held it, he was right there with her.
As they reached the center of the sanctuary the candlelight vanished. And six points of light began glowing crimson along the walls. There were two at the front of the room and two on either side of the stairwell they came up. As the KJ stepped off the last stair a trap door slid over the stairwell blocking their retreat.
“Guess we’re stuck here.”
“Who dares enter this sacred ground?”
“Trespassers into the holy land will be dealt with.”
“You will not make it out of here alive.” The glowing points of light became brighter and began moving. The candlelight returned to a faint glow but it was bright enough for the group to see they were staring down three massive Garghouls.
“Garghoul Zealots! Run!” They barely had time to react before the hulking stone goliaths shot lasers from their eyes.
“Garghoul Zealots, if I remember the notes correctly they are the strongest Garghouls under Father Garghoul. They are his personal bodyguards and have combat abilities and skills to match.” The pew behind Jeremy burst into flames as a zealot leapt over to glare at Jeremy and Penelope.
“Try to focus on one and bring it down.” Henry tried firing at one of the zealots as it rushed past him. The sweep of its claws knocked him to the ground.
“Think again!” The three Garghoul Zealots landed together, “Trinity berserker!” They each fired their lasers at a central point. As the beams merged, the result was a massive energy beam that threw off waves of heat. The team was thrown back against the altar.
“Divide and conquer. We got to break them up.” John tried coordinating an attack.
“Hah you think you five can really stop us?” The Garghoul Zealots hadn’t noticed that KJ wasn’t with the team, John tried not to react as he saw KJ sneaking behind one of the zealots.
“Aww how touching. You forgot all about me.” KJ delivered a spinning kick into the side of one the Garghoul’s faces. The mass of stone fell to the ground stunned from the blow as the other two tried reacting they were met with a volley of lancer fire. KJ ducked as she ran back to the rest of the team.
“Won’t keep him out long, but I figured two versus six are better odds.” John, Jeremy and Henry rushed at one of the Garghoul Zealots while Kerri, Penelope and KJ rushed at the other.
“Reminds me of bashing Mama Saws in the Saw Mill.” Kerri, Penelope and KJ chuckled as their zealot crumpled and fell apart while John, Jeremy and Henry were still attacking theirs.
“So much for macho men.”
“Hah!” The zealot KJ had knocked down was up again and a sweep of his talons caught the women off guard.
“One versus six now.” The second Garghoul Zealot crumpled to the ground. The team was about to charge when there was a blinding flash of golden light.
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“Come Michael Berth, you must get up the others need you.” It was the robed figure she pulled Mikey up as his head spun.
“I’m useless, my rings won’t work at all.” He held up his hands and showed his rings had taken on a dull grey appearance.
“Hmm, you took more of Guardus’ Ghirate teachings to heart than you thought. Your Ghi energy has become fused to your emotional state. While you lack the will or focus to use your energy you will not be able to use your rings. In that case I must save our friends.” The robed figure had looked Mikey’s rings over before turning to go.
“You can’t face down Mobster Lobster and Registered Offender on your own.” Mikey called after her.
“If I lose hope because of the fear of loss this world will never be rid of the evil that corrupts it. If I fight there is hope still.” She threw back her cloak revealing a figure in an armored skirt and bikini top. She wore tanned knee high pirate boots, a sheathed cutlass hung off her belt and her gauntlets were affixed with eight rings on the fingers. Her flowing red hair caught the breeze as the sunlight glinted off of a jeweled headpiece. Her battle worn green eyes showed that she’d seen much in her time, even if the rest of her appearance didn’t suggest it. She stood between the fallen six warriors and the two bosses. “You took my crew, you will not take my friends. Prepare yourselves for Zelda the Pirate Queen!” She drew her cutlass as she spoke and held it firmly to her side as she stared down the two.
“Heya, Registered Offender does this dame look familiar to you?”
“Why yes she does, I remember slaughtering her crew on the high seas. I always wondered why we never found her corpse.”
“Well we’ll rectify that mistake soon enough.” The two bosses split up so that Zelda was in between them. Two of her rings glowed as a crystalline shield formed in her other hand and her blade became charged with Ghi energy. As she fought the two monsters, her shield deflected the golden tokens of Registered Offender as she cut into Mobster Lobster. As she tried digging deeper the lobster threw her back.
“How ‘bout that double trouble blow? Worked on the high seas against her shipmates.” Mobster Lobster and Registered Offender crossed their claws as they fired a shower of exploding gold tokens. The force of the tokens was too much for Zelda’s shield. Deep cuts appeared across her body as she was thrown back from the explosions. Mikey rushed to her side as she lay coughing on the ground.
“Z… Zelda hang on. I’m going to get you out of here. Going to get you well again.” As Mikey knelt next to her she only shook her head and tried laughing.
“Afraid I’m already on my way out Michael. So long as those I defend are safe that’s what matters.” The others had managed to get back on their feet while Zelda had stalled the bosses.
“But… but why?” Mikey stared down.
“There comes a time when a person must be willing to lay down their life for those they care about. By my sacrifice I hope that this world can be saved for my daughter. If you…see her……please tell her…..tell her I am sorry for not always being there……. Tell my daughter Blaze that I….” She heaved one last breath before she collapsed onto the ground. Mikey clenched his fist as he felt emotions welling up within him. His breathing was ragged as he narrowed his eyes.
“You two… are monsters. I cannot allow the evil you have become to persist.” His fists clenched as his teeth gritted. His rings began lighting up from the dull grey into a brilliant golden glow.
“I can’t afford to feel sorry for myself. Not anymore. Nobody else is going to perish for me.” With his last words he became bathed in a golden glow. It was blinding as it burst out of him the entire world seemed to flash between gold and white. When everyone’s vision had cleared, Mikey held in his hand the blade Guardus had left him, in the other his amulet which now hummed and vibrated.
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“Everyone okay?” John looked around as everyone blinked a few times to regain their eyesight.
“The amulet’s gone!” Kerri felt her pocket where she had been keeping Mikey’s amulet.
“So is Guardus’ blade.” Henry felt along his belt where he had kept the blade.
“Either TP is able to freeze time or they’ve returned to the one who can wield them.”
“Toilet paper can freeze time?”
“Weren’t you ever taught about the magical place the bathroom is?”
“She means The Phantom you dorks. But if it isn’t him, that means…”
“He’s alive and somewhere he needs use of them. We need to continue on our task.” Kerri breathed a sigh of relief.
“That blinding flash melted the last of that zealot and revealed the stairwell to the belfry. Let’s go, Father Garghoul is up there.” As John lead the charge up the stairs they found themselves in a room with stain glass windows on all sides. High up in the vaulted roof were several bells of assorted sizes. They could clearly hear the organ now as it appeared in the middle of the room.
“I don’t get it, shouldn’t Father Garghoul be here.” Jeremy and the others looked at each other as they found themselves alone in the room.
“Maybe explore a bit? Maybe he’s triggered like Papa Saw?” As they spread out to search the room the organ continued to play its haunting tune.
“He he he, such foolish children you are.” The voice came from the stairwell as someone else reached the top. “Do you really think the Master of Tlauixcalpantecuhtliopolis would make himself so easily assaulted?”
John was the first to turn around to face the newcomer,
“Ilara! How did you-“
“Get past your pet Anari? It’s rather easy when you’ve spent so long confined within these walls. Hahaha.” She interrupted John’s question as she approached the organ.
“Confined within these walls? I thought this was Father Garghoul’s prison.” Henry and the others moved to rejoin John.
“Are all of your kind so… what’s the word… unintelligent? Yes, I believe that is the one. I must thank you for undoing the lock though. It held my full powers sealed. I could not regain my full form while that accursed seal was in place.”
“Wait if you’re Father Garghoul where’s the Matriarch?” Kerri trembled a bit.
“Really now you can’t solve puzzles can you? There was no Matriarch Ilara, nor was there a true Father Garghoul. My master wanted this land in turmoil so I invented both identities to plunge it into that glorious chaos. And now that you’ve undone the seal the Valkyrians placed on my power I am free now to unleash my full wrath on this land. I am Caracarapticus, and I am the ultimate ruler of the skies, and now you must all be destroyed.” As she spoke Ilara’s hands transformed from the graceful humanlike hands of the Valkyrians into much more sinister claws that were much larger and longer versions than those of the Garghoul, her knees bent backward as hooked talons replaced the gentler bird feet. Her chest bubbled and expanded as her entire form grew from a six foot tall Valkyrian into an eighteen foot tall monster. Her face grew a curved golden beak as her eyes became crimson orbs set in a vaguely human head. As she flapped her wings white feathers were cast off like a reptile shedding a skin. The feathers burned as they hit the crew. Replacing the white feathery wings was one large white leathery bat wing and a black feathered wing. The organ fell to pieces as the tremors its flapping wings gave off shook the entire cathedral. Caracarapticus let out a deafening screech as it plunged through one of the stained glass windows. The cathedral shook so hard the crossbeams struggled to hold the bells as they violently shook.
“We need to get out of here, the whole place is coming down!” John shouted as he ran to the broken window.
“How do we do that? The stairs are blocked off!” Penelope had to shout to be heard over the clanging bells.
“Umm we fly out. We were given wings by those potions, let’s put them to use again.” Jeremy jumped from the broken window, his wings sprouted as he beat them a few times level himself.
“Go go go!” John motioned each of them out of the window Penelope was the last one to approach the jagged edge.
“I’m not so sure about this.” As she spoke one of the bells fell from its perch and crashed into the ground beside her.
“Would you rather stay here?”
Penelope took one look at another bell that was coming loose before jumping out the broken window, John followed right behind her. It was sunset as they regrouped in the air. The fight between Garghouls and Valkyrians below had paused itself as they watched the lances of energy cross the sky as the crew gave chase across the clouds to Caracarapticus.
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“Lei, Mobster’s left claw. Up, his right. Owlie, Sailor, Shinju mob the offender. Jonjon, mop up any remaining baddies. Ready? Go!” Mikey barked out orders as Ghi energy rushed into the blade he held.
“On it boss.” Shinju shot back as she bumped one of Registered Offender’s legs. It threw the hulking menace off balance as Owlie approached another leg.
“Now this is more like it.” She said as she slashed at the leg. The beast howled in pain as Sailor shot its face.
“This is for Pandexx and Kenny and all the others I knew.” Her gunfire broke part of the glass his eyes were contained in.
“These fluffs are running and the Crabmen are gone. I don’t think they want to mess with us. Change of target?” Jonjon chased off the last of the Pirate Fluffs.
“We got a pretty good lead on Mobster here, help the others with Offender?” Up cut into Mobster Lobster’s claw on one side, while Lei did the same on the other. Mikey had disappeared beneath the mass of its body and could only be heard hacking bits of the crustacean’s shell off.
“These humans are more annoying than a Symbion colony while molting.” Mobster Lobster tried swinging Lei and Up off of his claws to no success.
“We’re just getting started.” Lei said as he tried climbing up the claw.
“I think we broke the bank.” Shinju smiled as Registered Offender crashed into the ground. He twitched a few times before she plunged a blade through the buttons on his face. The behemoth spat one last wave of tokens before he broke into thousands of fragments and gears.
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“John, you got a feather bomb on your tail pull up so I can get a clear shot.”
“Negative Henry, stay on the big bird. Take him out, he’s the more important target.” Caracarapticus had shown its deadly arsenal of attacks when the crew had managed to catch up to him. The massive creature had turned to greet them with a scream that created stunning shockwaves in the air. As it flew off, large feathers fell out and proceeded to chase after members of the crew as if guided by a malevolent intelligence. They had learned the hard way the feathers explode violently if they get close enough to their target. Henry’s vision swirled a moment as he followed John’s order and began to gain altitude. He could make out Caracarapticus’ silhouette against the clouds in the haze of twilight.
John’s wings beat frantically as he tried to outrun the six feather bombs pursuing him. He tilted his head and out of the corner of his eye he could see Penelope diving and weaving as she shot flames at the monster above and avoided his sonic screams. Instead of trying to attack the beast, Jeremy had decided to use his amulet to create violent winds opposing the monster whenever it tried to fly away from the assault. Kerri was having trouble freeing herself after she had been snatched up into one of the large talons. She felt the crushing against her ribs as every breath was a struggle to hold on. KJ had flown down trying to attack the talon to free Kerri. John got an idea he thought might be crazy but worth attempting,
“I always wondered how he came up with those crazy plans,” He muttered to himself. He began flying in a straight line towards Caracarapticus. The beast barely had time to react as John did a few loops around him. As he had anticipated the feather bombs exploded and hurt Caracarapticus. The impact jarred Kerri loose from the talon, but her crushed wings were too damaged to flap.
“Not like this. Anything but this.” She spiraled down towards the ground. She panicked and covered her face as she saw the ground rushing towards her only to feel a sudden jerking around her waist.
“I got you. But next time I have to save you can you drop a few pounds first?” KJ had caught Kerri by the waist and was struggling to stay airborne. It wasn’t a soft landing but it wasn’t crashing into the ground.
“Thanks KJ. Now move!” Kerri shoved KJ as Caracarapticus crashed into the ground next to them. Dirt and turf and small mounds of earth were kicked into the air as the beast spun around trying to regain its footing. A crowd of Garghouls and Valkyrians had gathered around to watch the fight. As it tried standing up Caracarapticus shifted between its appearances as Ilara and Father Garghoul before melting into some form halfway between them. As it tried to rise again it was met with another assault of lancer fire.
“Nooooo……. I’ll not be beaten by… humanssss.” It began to melt into a pool of black and white goo with and angel statue at its center. Kerri and KJ joined the attack as they stood up. As the statue cracked the goo began to sizzle and smoke. It tried reaching out a tendril towards John but was met with a tendril of water from Henry. The statue was a smoldering heap of rocks by the time anyone let up their assault. “I will haunt you humanssss…… You haven’t seen the last of me. My master will raise me ceaselessly to destroy you…..” There was a loud boom as the rock chunks exploded.
There was a brown glow from within the cathedral’s rubble before a beam shot from it towards John. As the glow died a brown-green amulet hovered in the air before him. As he reached out his hand and gripped it the amulet let out another flash of light.
“Ahh that is the Amulet of Earth. Very wonderful, you have reclaimed five of the six amulets.” The Anari approached the aftermath of the fight. McCoy was conversing with a large Garghoul and a heavily armored Valkyrian.
“The residents of Tlauixcalpantecuhtliopolis have decided to put aside their differences and forge a new peace in light of the truths of their leaderships being revealed. This is quite wonderful that you have brought peace to this region. As airships can travel quite rapidly from here to elsewhere given the wind currents. The chiefs Aiden of the Garghoul and Gabriel of the Valkyrians have recommended we tackle a very potent well of Ghi energy that has been corrupted. Allies of our enemy control the Otami Underworld, if we can cleanse the place and restore the Otami tribe to power we’ll have gained a very valuable resource in our fight.” Both the Garghoul and Valkyrian with McCoy nodded.
“What about Isle de Gambino? Don’t we have business to take care of there?” Jeremy wiped some of the sweat and dirt from his brow.
“Nay both the Garghoul and Valkyrian intelligence networks confirm that the situation there is well under control. The journey to Otami should not be considered lightly though. After Aekea, the Otami Underworld is the largest source of The Phantom’s power.” Miles leaned against his staff.
“Speaking of Aekea I have business to attend to there. I’m afraid I will not be able to the Otami Underworld, but certain preparations must be made there if our quest to stop The Phantom is to succeed.”
“Aww KJ, but you were just starting to really fit in like one of the team. Be safe okay.” Kerri hugged KJ, the suddenness caught KJ entirely off guard.
“Uhh hmm. I’ll be safe. Don’t worry, or anything like that.” KJ hid her blushing as she struggled to free herself from Kerri’s grip.
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“Work Lei, ride that son of a Landshark!” Shinju cheered Lei on as Mobster Lobster tried to shake him off. Up with help from Owlie and Sailor had dismembered Mobster Lobster’s left claw, while Jonjon and Shinju were cutting into his right.
“Oh I’m hanging.” Lei, grabbed onto one of the antenna stalks under the black and white hat and held on for dear life.
“Second claw’s away!” Jonjon called as he and Shinju removed the other claw.
“KYYYEEAAAAAAAAH!” The lobster howled in pain as blue blood began to squirt from the stumps where his claws used to be. His eye began to glitter golden color before a golden glowing blade pushed up through the thorax.
“Holy Marshall nuggets! You almost nailed Lei there!” Jonjon commented as Lei sat shocked, the blade pointed up just between his legs.
“Well it’s not like there’s a sign that says stab here.” Mikey emerged from the collapsing Mobster Lobster’s mouth. Mikey wiped off the lobster meat and blood from his sword as Lei slid off the head onto the tail.
“Stabby, stabby, stab, stab, stab.” Lei made several cuts along the body as he slid down. Shinju pointed to the tail as she rushed to Lei’s side. He stuck his blade into the tail and sunk it down into the wood planks below.
“Now for Shinju’s super-secret finishing bash attack of doom.” Shinju said as she bent over and began to shake her a** at Mobster Lobster. After a few seconds of this she unleashed a large bump attack onto the lobsters body, but because of the blade in the tail it could not absorb the entire shock of the blow and the tail was torn off.
“Phhew Mikey you stink man.” Up took a whiff of the still lobster innards soaked Mikey, everyone else laughed at the commentary as both hulking bosses laid on the pier.
“Say what you want, but he looks ready for a lobster boil now,” Owlie said.
“Guys, look at them. They’re all fading.” Sailor commented as Zelda, Registered Offender and Mobster Lobster seemed to be dissolving into a black dust and blowing into the wind. All that remained of Zelda was her black hooded robe and the cutlass she had wielded into battle. “Where do you think they are going?”
“I heard stories from one of the developers that spirits of the dead in the new zOMG! chapter end up in one of three places based on their qualities.” Jonjon watched as the last of the dust floated away.
“You are indeed correct young one there are actually six places where the flow of Ghi creates strong wells. One of them lies in ruins, one of them is very far away, one is deep beneath the waves, and the others are within reach of here.” An old gentleman in a white coat emerged from behind a stack of boxes. “Yes, your fighting was brilliant. I didn’t expect such tactics to be used against these two. Some of my strongest creations corrupted by that evil meddling phantom character.” He shook his head as he leaned over a cane.
“And you are?” Up hesitantly held a blade to the newcomer.
“Wayne Pennyworth, I presume? Or would you prefer your alias as ‘The Deadman?’” Mikey had begun washing himself with water from a nearby pump.
“Ahh you are most correct lad. You must be this Michael I keep hearing about who keeps destroying my corrupted children. I can tell you where you must go next if you are to stop that bothersome phantom.” Pennyworth stared at Mikey expecting an immediate response.
“First I want to hear about these Ghi wells. Where are they and how strong are they and who controls each of them?” Mikey shook his arm trying to dry it a bit before picking up the black robe and cutlass.
“Of course, of course, but not here. Come you seven are coming to my lab with me.” He turned to lead the group down another walkway.
“Can we trust this guy?” Owlie looked at Mikey.
“We don’t have a choice. We need the information he has.” Mikey led the group as they followed Pennyworth’s zigzagging through the streets of the Isle de Gambino. Finally as the sun was setting they came to a large metal building. The door appeared to have several kinds of locks including a key, combination, palm scan, and something Mikey thought was a microphone.
Pennyworth hunched over as he twisted a silver key in the lock. Once it clicked and vanished he proceeded to enter an eight digit combination on the next keypad. Following the keypad he placed his hand on part of the door, as it was scanning he turned to the group, “Can’t be too careful with my research. Not after what my last assistant did.” He turned to face the microphone before speaking again, “This is Wayne Pennyworth the Third I am accompanied by seven guests. May the golden voice grant me entry.” There was a rattling sound as the door opened itself. As they followed him into the lab the door closed itself behind them. There were various objects each showing different stages between inanimate and animated. There was an OMG in one terrarium that sprouted legs but had not grown an underbelly.
“Alright, we came to your lab now talk.” Lei and Up pressured Pennyworth to speak.
“About the Ghi wells, there are six major wells scattered throughout this world. The one far away lies in the Barton Town fountain, the one buried in the rubble was within the Durem Library which your leader there witnessed the destruction of.” Pennyworth pointed to Mikey as if to mark him in disgrace for causing the destruction.
“And the others?” Jonjon asked.
“Deep below the seas where the first major rift occurred. It was where you fought my old pupil Labtech X. The student thought he’d surpassed me and tried to harness a Ghi well to create his own army. I warned him even I had trouble creating compliant animated, and I’ve been infusing creatures and objects with Ghi energy for decades now, but that’s beside the point. One well resides deep in the shadows where my first lab used to be. An abyssal creature called Kamila rules that region now. One well is in the industrial center of Gaia, Aekea. It is what has imbued some of the artificial lifeforms there with their sentience. But the strongest well of Ghi energy I know of lies in a much more dangerous area. Deep below the jungles of Otami is a sort of shadow world, merely setting foot there without proper protection can cause ones soul to separate from them. The locals call it the Underworld, maybe it is with all that Ghi energy collecting and creating twisted lifeforms.”
“Aekea, Durem, Barton, Otami, Deadman’s Shadow, Sealab Complex, are you sure there aren’t other Ghi wells?” Sailor looked curiously at Pennyworth as he handled a beaker that bore a strikingly similar appearance to a supercharger with both its shape and the color of its contents.
“You mentioned the soul stealing of the Otami Underworld. Is there any way to protect against it?” Mikey was getting an idea of where he was going next.
“Well if you don’t protect yourself from it, it will cause that mutation you have there to speed up exponentially.” He motioned at Mikey’s clawed arm. “That’s a rare form of Ghi mutation that happens when already living creatures become infused with more Ghi than their body can tolerate. It has its advantages, increased strength, agility and speed, an improved recovery time but it’s at the cost of slowly turning you into a golem-like animated creature. Once that happens there’s no going back to your world and rings, phew don’t count on being able to use them. But I digress. This armband when worn should provide the necessary protection from the environment in the Otami Underworld.” He ran what looked like a Ghi amp over the band a few times before handing it to Mikey.
“Those look like powerups,” Shinju said pointing to various objects scattered around the lab.
“Why how observant you are. I realized once my pupil had decided to try and create his own monsters people fighting him might need tools to give them an edge against the animated. Each of them is a concentrated and distilled version of Ghi. Even the Bloodstone Amulets and gems used to enter into Deadman’s Shadow are forms of concentrated Ghi. Without the amulet or gem’s form of Ghi you would not be able pass through the gate there without severely depleting your energy. This armband functions much in the same way. I shall call it hmm… The Bloodstone Bracelet. Yes, it has a ring to it. You must hurry to the path to the underworld Mr. Berth.”
“What about these six?” Mikey looked the silver armband over a few times before noticing the red bloodstone set in the band.
“I must go to Aekea for a very important rendezvous. Though, the area is controlled by The Phantom, I may require an escort to make it.” Pennyworth looked at each of the players before him.
“Jonjon, I want you to take the crew and make sure Pennyworth makes his rendezvous. I have a feeling I’ll cross paths with my group on the way to the Otami Underworld.” Mikey looked Jonjon in the eyes as he spoke.
“You sure?” The words Jonjon spoke were echoed on the faces of the others.
“We have the same goal, but we must take different roads to get there. I must find my original team. I have no doubt our paths will cross again.” Mikey, the crew and Pennyworth began to somber march to where the ferries had been docked. As he prepared to follow the crew onto the ferry heading to Aekea, Pennyworth stopped.
“Give one to each member of your team. You already possess yours, but there are six bracelets in this box. Godspeed Michael Berth.” He handed Mikey a wooden box before boarding the ferry.
“Here’s hoping for a reunion soon.” Mikey said as he boarded his ferry.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
“Don’t worry, once I’m finished in Aekea I’ll find you guys. It’s an important meeting that will hopefully gain us a powerful ally.” KJ stood at the gangplank onto an airship bound for the outlying region around Aekea.
“Alright. Just be careful, we’d hate to lose you.”
“Yeah, good luck KJ.”
“Just don’t get in over your head alright.”
“It was an honor fighting by your side.” Henry held out his hand to shake hers.
“Believe me Henry, the honor was all mine.” She shook his hand before saluting John,
“Good luck my better half.”
“We’re both going to need a bit of it.” KJ turned and boarded her airship. As it began floating away from the dock, John lead the crew to another dock with an airship bound for the Otami region.
“Think we’ll ever see her or Mikey again?” Kerri asked.
“I hope so Kerri. I hope so. Come on let’s get below, McCoy said he and the other Anari were ready to ship off.” Kerri lingered a moment to watch the sun dip below the horizon before following John into the ship’s hold.