 |
|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Prodigal Child
He wasn’t sure how to react; he was just thrilled to have made it as far as he had in the Azure Cup. But now he sat in Hades awaiting his biggest challenge to date, Rebel358 sat luxuriously in Shadow’s cockpit not more than 100 meters away. Zach’s eyes were quivering from the presence of Rebel, this was the first time he had ever come close to the idolized pilot. He tried to keep his composure but that was difficult knowing that none of Rebel’s opponents managed to strike Shadow at least once. Rebel was the type of pilot who just goes beyond any restrictions MF pilots are thought to have. Before he managed to strap himself into Hades and flew out to the space arena he listened to Reine trying to boost his confidence. Trying to make it seem like he could defeat the seemingly invincible Rebel358, although Zach knew the truth; that even if he managed to cause stunning upsets in the past that Rebel was way out of his league. Small spurts of frantic breaths caused the plastic visor to fog up in front of his perspiring lips. The digital clock had just reached “10” and was counting down at a much faster pace than he had hoped. “He’s nervous….heh, maybe I won’t be able to see his full potential this day. Oh well then…at least the tournament is coming to an end. Once this is completed I can get out of Prosperity and deliver the tribulation that humanity has feared for centuries. The time to correct the sins of man is almost upon us.” Rebel softly announced to himself as he readied for battle. Zach’s hands trembled along side the obsidian throttles while sweat rolled down his temperate skin. The digital clock hit “0” followed by a tremendous punch to his gut. He felt as if all of his air was sucked out from his lungs leaving them dry and useless. His vision was blurred barely able to see Shadow before him. The announcer had already declared the match to begin but his hearing was deafened due to his own embrace of fear. Rebel perked an eyebrow; he wasn’t too shocked to see his opponent cowering in fear. After all Zach was only a 15 year old boy, regardless of his skill and profession as an MF pilot, he was still just a boy. “Come on boy….I know you’re better than this. Let’s get this going!” Rebel shouted. His shouts incited little to no reaction from the paralyzed boy. Shadow arched forward while the left leg leaned forward, the back thrusters began to flicker slowly at first as they gathered energy. All of this happened in a tenth of a second and then the obsidian and crimson MF shot forward suddenly appearing besides Hades. The right arm of Shadow raised and quickly jerked back as the plasma rifle fired. The crimson beam collided with the front core of Hades knocking the orange MF flipping backwards with no control. Zach still clutched onto the throttles just staring out into the dismal void of nothingness. Rebel cringed, he was still holding back. He truly wanted to test the limits of the boy he had been watching the entire tournament. “Come on! I’ve seen you fight! This isn’t like you!” Rebel continued to scream hoping to entice Zach to fight back. “What’s going on? Why won’t he fight back?!” Reine screamed as he leaned over the guardrail in the hanger. “He’s too scared to feel anything right now.” Stephen replied. “Scared? But he’s been fighting for so long! How can he be scared all of a sudden? This is the moment he’s been waiting for!” Reine yelled back. “It’s Rebel…he has that affect on people. Zach is still the youngest competitor in the tournament. All these years of probably being pressured to act like an adult have forced his innocent nature into a ball hidden deep in his subconscious. I think it broke free….he’s reacting like a normal scared child. If this keeps up then he will not have any chance of defeating Rebel…” Stephen mumbled. “Damn it Zach….you can do this!” Reine screamed. Zach continued to stare blankly while Shadow continued its onslaught. Plasma round after plasma round exploded onto Hades’ armor causing the MF to spin in circles or flip uncontrollably. Inside the cockpit he was tossed just as much as his machine. And still he remained numb. “What the hell is it going to take to make you show me your power?!” Rebel screamed. “(Maybe I was wrong about the kid….maybe he isn’t the H-3….ugh, then why am I wasting my time with him. He’s not worth to be an image in my eye…)” “Guess I was right all along….now show me your potential.” Rebel screamed. Zach remained quiet as his grey gradient like eyes stared piercing through Shadow. The orange boosters erupted as the MF sped towards Shadow firing the dual plasma rifle. Shadow easily dodged the attacks and moved in to strike Hades with the energy saber but to his own surprise and delight missed. Hades swayed to the right avoiding the attack and once again hit Shadow with its left leg. However Shadow’s crimson fingers latched onto the metallic leg preventing it from colliding with the torso. Zach’s eyes widened as Shadow’s left arm quickly tore through the captured leg. As the energy beam seared through the metallic joints causing an uproar of singed debris to fling out Hades raised the dual plasma rifle at Shadow’s core and fired. Shadow was hit by the dual layered energy beam knocking it away from the injured Hades. Rebel began to break out in a nearly silenced laughter. “Good…this is exactly what I had been hoping for. This is it, that sensation that I’ve been missing. More….MORE!” As Rebel’s intensity increased so did the reaction time and speed of Shadow. With no warning or sign of movement Shadow struck Hades’ core leaving a thick gash from the attack. Hades spun around spewing sparks of electricity, Zach cringed, for the first time showing physical emotion while he fell under the influence of his berserker state. Rebel suddenly began to find pure enjoyment in the thrill of the battle. Shadow sped past Hades and once again swung its left arm. The energy beam seared towards the back of Hades’ torso, just before the tip of the crimson beam made contact Hades spun around firing the dual plasma rifle. The dual beam of energy burst onto Shadow’s left had causes to the energy saber to be deflected. Zach still remaining quiet but breathing heavily gracefully pulled the throttles to the right simultaneously as his feet pressed down onto the accelerator. Hades abruptly tackled into Shadow with a high velocity causing the obsidian MF to falter. Hades’ left arm reached behind the core latching onto the energy scythe and with an accelerated response slashed downward but missed Shadow’s core. Rebel continued to smirk as he repeatedly dodged the attacks unleashed by Hades. But with each swing the energy scythe came much closer to connecting with its blow. “This is what I had hoped to see from you. Unfortunately for you play time is over boy. But be proud in knowing that you are the first one to force me to take things this far….” Rebel mumbled as his fingers began to type vigorously on the obsidian keyboard inside his cockpit. Suddenly text flashing in crimson emanated off the display screen causing Rebel to smile. Neo System….engaged… The feminine voice alerted. Hade’s left arm once again began the motion to swing the energy scythe but in mid swing as the elbow joint pivoted backwards flames ruptured from the connectors along with an erupting array of electrical sparks. Quickly reacting Hades grabbed onto the energy scythe with the right hand as the left arm discharged from the joints. The force of the blinding explosion forced Hades off balance for a few seconds. Zach’s eyes began to move to the side to stare at the severe injury that crippled his left side. His head began to look frantically around space, he couldn’t locate Shadow anywhere. His sense of rationality began to slip in draining the berserker quality. Suddenly Zach’s restraints snapped in two as the young pilot was thrown forward. His orange helmet crashing into the LCD display screen causing it to shatter along with his visor, the translucent plastic shards pierced the skin on his face causing him to bellow out in excruciating pain. Hades now floated with no arms and one leg remaining. Zach’s quivering hands lifted from the throttles covering his blood soaked face softly as to not apply pressure to the shards of plastic that now protruded from his skin. “It was fun while it lasted….” Rebel mumbled softly as Shadow sliced the rail cannon off the torso of Hades. The final explosion sent Hades tumbling through space uncontrollably while Zach continued to scream in agony. The match had ended, not officially but it was clear that Rebel won the match. “Impressive Rebel you’ve managed to secure your victory…hmpf, to be honest I was curious how this match was going to turn out. At least you’ve shown me that you’re not a complete failure…maybe you will be able to carry out the tribulation. Heh, who am I kidding? You’ll fail with your premature rash decision. And after you fail I will remain to pick up the pieces…” Luscious muttered as he slowly took another delicious sip of his wine. Luscious…Severen is on the line. He says it’s urgent. Luscious smirked as he took his legs off the desk to sit in a more formal position suited for business matters. “I see…connect him.” Yes sir. “Luscious….it’s happened. A lot sooner than we expected but it’s happened, the clone has manifested.” Severen said with a shaking voice crackling with fear. “I see….what happened?” “The TA sir…well to be specific Vincent Avidus. He sent the TA military on a hunt for the clone and what they considered an unidentified MF.” “Hehehe….repeating history in such a short time, amusing. Did they encounter the specimen?” “Yes Luscious…first they attacked it with 30 Shades…..which he disposed off with little effort. That was right after he managed to escape. And then once again last night, but only 2 Shades encountered him.” “I see…” “That’s not all Luscious, one of the Shades managed to capture a video feed along with an audio recording of the communications link. It was all stored in the black box the military recovered.” Luscious sighed as he reclined back into the leather cushions of his chair. “How much does the TA know?” “Nothing….we intercepted the black box before it could make its way to Revelations in Washington.” “Good…so then. Is he exactly as we remembered?” Luscious asked with peaked curiosity “Depends…if you mean after the encounter with Novus then the answer is no. He is untainted, all read out analysis from the MF suggest that the chip has been reactivated and the hybrid is currently at 95% efficiency.” “Well it’s good to know that he’s working…but we need to capture him and the Chimera as soon as possible. We can’t have a repeat of events otherwise we may never succeed.” Luscious replied. “Understood….but sir, the Chimera is much more powerful now than before. How can we possibly restrain it with the little man power that we have on Earth as is? Especially now with rumors about the TA and nuclear weapons. This is going to be much more difficult than we originally thought.” Severen replied. “Heh, I’m confident that you’ll figure this out Severen. Now if you’ll excuse me the second to last match is about to begin in the tournament and I’d very much like to watch it.” Luscious replied as his index finger smoothly grazed the button cutting off the link. Severen sighed as he stared back into the shadows. His eyelids flickered open barely being able to make a clear image. The bright ivory light shun down on him from the cracked and imperfect ceiling. He tried to move his arms to cover his eyes but he felt too weak to even call out for help. Zach lay under the ivory sheets with his face covered in bandages that were stained with his own blood. His fingers began to move up and down as he tried to move even though he knew it was useless. “Zach you’re awake! Don’t try to move.” Reine’s calming voice emerged into Zach’s current reality. His dark blue hair began to rustle above his eyes as he stood up from the plastic chair to get a better look at his injured friend. “Don’t move man….you were hurt….incredibly hurt.” Reine replied as his hand placed itself on Zach’s shoulder. “I……lost….” Zach’s muffled voice blurted out. Reine chuckled slightly while covering his mouth. “Yeah….but it doesn’t matter. You made it all the way to the Pre-Finals, and you were the youngest pilot in there! You did a hell of a job, better than most other pilots.” “….I guess….” “Will you stop worrying about whatever the hell it is that you’re worrying about? Man can’t you just be happy at how far you advanced?” “You….you won’t understand….” Zach mumbled with his muffled voice tilting his head towards the opposite side of the bed. Reine stared blankly at his friend. “Zach….” Hearing Rebel’s voice echoing like a broken record in the back of his head only caused his minor headache to strengthen to a migraine.
“What the hell is it going to take to make you show me your power?!” His thoughts trailed all confused from the recent events. Never before had anyone been so intrigued by his piloting abilities…or was it something else, Zach couldn’t figure it out nor did he want to. But still, he pondered about what made him stand out in a crowd of a 128 pilots to Rebel. “(H-3….what…..what does that mean?)”
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Sharon’s voice tended to represent everything that was classical and eloquent about a woman. Her distinct smile lit up the darkened cockpit that Adam sat in. Adam nodded as his restraints clicked into locking position. “You’re not going to take this too far right? I mean he’s your brother….” “Heh…” Adam mumbled as he shrugged his shoulders. Sharon glared at him menacingly while he continued to ignore her. He was typing vigorously on the keyboard, his mahogany eyes glued to the LCD screen. He wanted to make sure everything was 100% for the upcoming battle. A battle that he had waited over 2 years for. “Are you listening to me?!” Sharon screamed. The abrupt shriek of her voice shook the foundation of his soul causing him to jump up from the seat but still be restrained. “God….yes….yes, I hear you.” “Stephen’s your brother, so don’t try and over do it out there.” Sharon replied. “I’ll be fine….stop worrying.” Adam replied. “Just promise me you won’t get mad if you lose.” Sharon replied. Adam smirked as he glanced back at Sharon, his eyebrows arched. “I won’t…” Adam replied. “Good….” “Listen Sharon you should probably head over to the spectators booth with everyone else. I’m about done here and just about ready to launch.” Adam replied. “Ok….” Sharon leaned forward to kiss Adam briefly before she left. Once her body began to ascend towards the safer platform Adam smiled as he slid down the visor on his helmet. With a few button pushes the cockpit closed encasing Adam in the heart of the metal warrior. “Heh…I’ve been waiting far too long for this….Adam Novus, Blue Dragon launching!” The cerulean flames lit up as the blue MF launched gracefully out from Prosperity. As Adam left the hanger Alpha moved into position for launching. “You’re not going to let him win are you?” Ashley voice emanated from the communications display. Stephen smirked as he glanced over to her radiant face. “I’m not about to let him do anything.” Stephen replied. “Umm….not that I’m doubting your abilities or anything. But out of curiosity who won the last time you two faced off?” Ashley asked hesitantly. “Hehehe….I did…Stephen Novus, Alpha launching!” Alpha abruptly shot out from the hanger leaving a thin barely visible trail of crimson energy. Ashley began to chuckle as both her and Sharon stared into the abyss. As Alpha sped out into space the jet like wings that were attached to its torso spread outwards igniting the second set of boosters that were found inside the thin sleekly designed jet pack. Adam smirked trying to ignore his own nerves as he saw the crimson speck of light that was Alpha and his brother. He took a deep breath as he wrapped his fingers around the obsidian throttles. His feet slowly revving the accelerator in anticipation, his anxiety could hardly be contained. “So…2 years.” Stephen mumbled. “Yeah….it’s been far too long since that one time. I will never forget that day….” Adam trailed off as the memories began to cloud his mind. At the last second as the cerulean blade neared the outer layer of armor Stephen engaged the energy shield. Adam’s blade collided with the shield doing no damage what so ever. The crimson MF’s boosters then ignited forcing itself into the body of the blue MF knocking it off balance. As Adam fell backwards in the sky heading for the ground Stephen quickly stared as hundreds of lock on boxes solidified. Hundreds of missiles dispersed from the shoulders of the crimson MF dashing towards the descending blue MF. Adam broke down, he felt he was doing so good his best even and his brother swatted him away like a common fly. His confidence was shaken; he began to doubt his own abilities regretting even asking his brother for a fight. Every missile launched exploded on its target in various spots all over the machine. Tons of thickly collected smoke burst out from the explosions completely engulfing the blue machine. Stephen hovered above the massive torrent of smoke while awaiting his brother’s next move. The smoke dispersed as the lightning struck the concrete highways underneath the high flying battle area, the blue machine burst out at extreme speeds. A massive thin trail of cerulean energy followed behind the blue MF, Adam reequipped the solid assault rifle lifting it up towards his brother’s machine in the sky. The arm jolted back after each shot fiercely fired from the elongated barrel. Six shells ripped through the clouds towards Stephen. With the slightest strain the crimson machine strafed to the right and then turned its body to the lift watching the bullets stream by. “You weren’t ready when we fought that day Adam.” “But I’m ready now.” “I know….and whoever wins this faces Rebel in the finals…” “Yeah…” Adam replied. Both of their eyes caught the attention of the digital clock that continued to descened. Both of them smirked as they grasped their throttles tightly.
|
|---|