Superhero Epic Ch. 9

Chapter 9: Destiny
Mindbender and company were still riding the airship back to Draco City. Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and even Elemage were all asleep. Mindbender and Shikara, however, were wide awake, and deeply involved in their conversation.
"So dear, tell me more about yourself, we still have a while to go before we land," Mindbender said casually. His glance toward Shikara was incredibly warm and inviting, despite his twisted, evil-looking demeanor.
"As I have been telling you, I do not think it is appropriate to reveal so much about myself so soon after meeting you," Shikara replied, smirking at Mindbender playfully. Mindbender smiled back at her, just as playfully. "Oh, come on, not even for me?" Shikara began playing with her braided tress. Her eyes looked Mindbender up and down, observing his features intently for the first time since meeting him. Then she blushed at the realization of what she was doing. "Shikara my dear, do you find me attractive?" Mindbender said jokingly. She looked back at him, shocked that he would even suggest such a thing, even though her feelings deep inside were telling her something else. She shook her head, and laughed nervously. "You? Attractive? Please. This airship ride must be giving you brain damage." Mindbender smirked at her. "Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. Was that necessary?" Shikara blushed again. "Just shut up, you idiot," she said, averting his gaze. Mindbender smiled and put his hands on his knees. "Well you're not very friendly are you? You know you catch more wildflower flies with sugar than with oil."
"Will you two knock it off? Some of us are trying to sleep," Shadowcaster said irritably, due to being woken up. Mindbender looked at her nicely and gave a little smile, ever so warm and inviting. Shadowcaster rolled her eyes and turned her head away from him. His smile spread even larger across his face, and he shook his head slightly. "No need to be rude, dear. Shikara and I were just trading witticisms." Shadowcaster quickly turned her head back to Mindbender looking incredibly annoyed. "Witticisms? You call that witty? I've seen more wit from a brushback! Just knock it off!" She got up from her seat, and stormed into the washroom that lay on the airship, and locked the door. She looked in the mirror back at her reflection, seeing the anguish in her own eyes. She began holding back tears, and even managed to pull out a smirk. "Who does he think he's kidding? Acting like he doesn't like her, everyone can see it. The only reason she even came with us is 'cause she wants to fuck him! Damn dirty bitch!" She once again saw her reflection in the mirror, and it began speaking to her, just as the her in her imagination would. "Look at you! You're getting all worked up! And for what?! For some boy?" Shadowcaster looked at her reflection angrily. "I'm not getting worked up! Why should I? Me get worked up over some power hungry psycho? Please! I don't like him, if that's what you're trying to say. In fact, I hate him!" The reflection in the mirror smiled. "Really? Then why didn't you get mad until Shikara came into the picture?"
"Never say that name again! Damn dirty bitch, trying to step in and ruin all that we've got!" Once again, the Shadowcaster in the mirror smiled. "All that who's got? Do you mean you and Mindbender? Face it Lacey, you're jealous!" Shadowcaster let out a growl. "Of her?! Never!" At this, Shadowcaster began crying. "I can't like him! I just can't!" she said softly. She continued crying and sat down on the toilet. She heard a knock on the door, and Elemage's voice followed. "Hey, could you hurry up? I have to use the washroom!" Shadowcaster lifted her head, her long, flowing hair now tear-soaked. "You can wait a few more minutes!" she shouted, still teary eyed. Elemage bit his bottom lip, and sighed in frustration. "Not really! Could you get out of there please?!" Shadowcaster wiped the tears from her face, and stood up. She opened the door, and shot Elemage a nasty look. "You want in here? Fine!" She shoved him and briskly walked through the narrow hallway back to her seat. She sat down and crossed her arms. Mindbender glanced at her, and did a double take. "Shadowcaster, my dear, are you all right? You seem upset about something." Shadowcaster raised an eyebrow. Then she smirked slightly. "Me? I'm perfectly fine. Do you know how much longer we're gonna be riding in this thing?" Mindbender also raised an eyebrow, but with a shake of his head, it went back to its proper place. "We should only be on the airship for about twenty more minutes. Why are you in such a rush? Enjoy the scenery for a bit." Shadowcaster rolled her eyes, but looked out the window anyway. She saw a gigantic shadowy figure flying through the air. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a dragon. She poked at Dracosaur and then let out a slight gasp. "Everybody! Look at this!" Dracosaur got up, as did Shikara and Mindbender, and Elemage even came out of the washroom to see what all the ruckus was about. Shikara looked at the large beast, and gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep, it's Dracosaur's grandpa!" Elemage began laughing at his own comment, until Dracosaur shot a nasty look at him. "You're a real comedian, you know that? It's obviously a dragon, you twit." Elemage looked at him and scowled. His eyes returned to the dragon outside the airship, who has now curiously flying the same speed as they were. "I thought dragons went extinct like a thousand years ago." Mindbender looked at the dragon, astonished at the sight he was now seeing. "Well obviously they did not. Perhaps he is the last of his kind." The dragon's eyes then met Mindbender's, and the great beast let out a roar. He flew into the airship with a large thud, and then the airship began sputtering. The intercom for the airship was now audible for the first time during either flight, and buzzed with the pilot's voice.
"That damned thing damaged our engines! We're almost there, but I don't know if I can land it in time!" Mindbender looked at the beast, who was preparing for another charge on the airship. Elemage looked at the oncoming beast, and gave a frightened look. "Brace yourselves! This is gonna be bad." Everyone did as Elemage said, except for Mindbender, who merely smiled. "Do you forget? I am vast in ability. My telekinesis will prevent this creature from attacking us again." He created a telekinetic shield around the entire airship, as the dragon charged at it. The beast flew, straight through the telekinetic shield Mindbender had created, and knocked the airship a few yards away from the position it had previously been in. The airship began swaying back and forth, full of huge dents, rocking from the damage that had been done to it. Mindbender looked at the beast confusedly. "That should have worked. What makes this beast so special that even my abilities will not work?" Shikara looked at him and smiled. "Don't you know about Draconian Lore? In the Tome of Draconian Lore, passage 13:5 says that 'the dragon, whose blood runs with the magic of ages, shall be immune to any magic that may try to cause it harm.' You may be an intelligent person Mindbender, but you have a lot to learn about these things." Shadowcaster, Dracosaur and Elemage all snickered, and Mindbender furrowed his eyebrows. "So this beast will not respond to any of our abilities? That is just fantastic. How exactly are we supposed to get rid of this creature?" Shikara frowned at Mindbender, unsure of what to tell him. "I don't think we will. Much has been told about dragons, but any legends of how to defeat them are dead and gone."
"Um, guys, I hate to break up your little chat, but he's coming back again!" Elemage said, the fear audible in his voice. Mindbender looked at the beast charging at the airship. "Well, if he can't be affected by my abilities, then perhaps I can move the airship out of his way." As the beast began closing in, and tried charging at the airship, Mindbender held out a hand, and the airship dropped about twenty yards from its previous position. "What the hell was that?!" Dracosaur said, clutching his chest. Mindbender smiled, and let out a little chuckle. "It's just my way of ensuring our safety." Dracosaur sneered at him. "Safe?! You just dropped us out of the sky like fifty feet! This isn't the first time you've almost killed us either! Who're you really lookin out for?!" Mindbender's face contorted with anger, as though the very suggestion of his disloyalty made him burn with rage. "How dare you?! My sole concern is, and always will be, the well being of our kind. If you wish to think any different, then perhaps you'd like to leave us." Dracosaur looked at Mindbender, slightly angered, but he shook his head. "No, I'm stayin. I've put too much effort into all this 'Metahuman' junk to leave now." Mindbender smirked. "Wise decision." Shadowcaster was looking out the window, watching the great beast flap its wings irritably. It let out a huge roar, and began flying away. "I think your powers spooked him. That thing is getting out of here!" Shikara frowned at Shadowcaster's comment. "I highly doubt it, dragons are usually fiercely territorial. I believe he's marked this place as his territory, and he's going to defend it with everything he's got." Elemage looked at Shikara confusedly. "Then why is he flying away?" he said, his brow beading with sweat. Shikara shrugged her shoulders at him. Mindbender gave a little wave of his hand and the airship began to split open. Wind started rushing in, and nearly blew everyone out, but Mindbender used his telekinesis to catch them. "What the hell are you doing?!" Elemage shouted over the rush of wind. "Are you trying to kill us?!" Mindbender gave a slight look of concern. "We have to get out of here. That dragon is preparing for a final charge on this airship, and I highly doubt I can stop it this time. Hopefully we will be beneath his notice, because as Shikara so intelligently explained, none of us can harm that dragon. Anyone who cannot make themselves fly, I shall assist you. Shikara, I believe that means just you. Prepare yourselves everyone. On the count of three, we leave this ship." Elemage gave a look as though Mindbender had forgotten something.
"What about the pilot? We can't just leave him here!" Mindbender looked toward the door that the cockpit lay behind. "He is expendable. Don't worry about it, all things happen for a reason, and his death will be no different." Elemage looked at Mindbender somberly. He gave a slow nod, and braced himself. Mindbender also nodded, and put up a finger. "One," he said frowning. Another finger came up, and the word two came out of Mindbender's mouth. Once the third finger came up, everyone dove out of the opening in the airship, nearly missing the dragon, who plowed into it just moments after they escaped. Elemage had conjured a disc of rock, on which, he was now floating through the air. Shadowcaster had a layer of shadow conjured around herself, and was using it at warp speed to fly through the air. Dracosaur was flapping his massive wings, going incredibly fast, soaring through the air. Mindbender, of course, was using his abilities to carry himself and Shikara. Mindbender looked up at the airship, falling down just past them. He looked again, trying to see the dragon, but it was nowhere to be found. "It appears we are home free, everyone. Once we land back at home, we can continue the next phase of my plan." Elemage looked at Mindbender with a frown. "How are we even supposed to make it home? The entire city is in lockdown mode." Mindbender smiled at Elemage. "My abilities will keep us shielded from any interference. We are nearly there. Luckily, the airship landed in the mountains, so no one will be suspicious. Once we get past the mountains, we will land on the docks, and use Elemage's influence as emperor to get in." Shikara laughed. "Emperor? This pompous gasbag? You've got to be joking!" They all continued to fly through the air, and Elemage's hands began glowing with flames encircling them. "I would change your tone if I were you. You don't have to join us, you know." Mindbender raised an eyebrow.
"Both of you, stop it, now! We do not need your constant bickering! We have nearly made it past the mountains; I can see the docks off in the distance. Now, when we land, I will have to shield you from the general public's view, Dracosaur." Dracosaur eyed Mindbender with an irritated look. "Ya know, I could just roast all the people in sight. What could they do against all of us?" Mindbender looked at Dracosaur, smiling slightly. "I would like for nothing more, but Elemage here still has to maintain his secrecy. However, if he doesn't mind, we can 'roast' all the civilians you like." Elemage smirked, and laughed a little. "Oh, trust me, I have no problem with that. Just make sure I'm not seen, and we can do whatever you'd like." The quintet of Mindbender, Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, Elemage, and Shikara were all closing in on the docks, and as they got there, they all landed behind a gigantic shipping container. Mindbender saw guards all around and pointed at Shadowcaster and Shikara and directed them to turn to the west of the container. He pointed at Dracosaur, and directed him to go east, and Mindbender began levitating forward, above the shipping container. He let out an evil cackle, and began levitating objects around him. "Behold, pathetic mortals, your doom awaits you!" He hurled an oil drum at the nearest police officer, who cringed in fear. It crushed him with virtually no effort. "It's those freaks! They're all around us! Take 'em out!" One of the officers said. They fired on Mindbender, who of course put up a telekinetic shield, and continued to throw oil drums at more officers. Shikara and Shadowcaster were putting their powers to good use against a slew of policemen. Shadowcaster continually lifted the officers off the ground, and slammed them back down into it with a ribbon of shadow. Shikara used her acrobatic skills to subdue her enemies, then cloned herself to perform multiple attacks at once, beating her opponents to death. Dracosaur was busy as well, flying through the air around a huge group of police. He opened his mouth, and let out a huge roar. Then came a jet of flame, burning all the officers to a crisp. Mindbender cackled again.
"You see? We are dominant and shall forever remain so!" No sooner than Mindbender finished his sentence, had the sky filled with thick, dense clouds. "Jeez Mindbender, you think you could tone it down on the speeches a bit?" Dracosaur said, looking at the darkening sky. Mindbender scowled. "It isn't me. Someone must've decided to crash our little party." The sky suddenly cleared, just as quickly as it had darkened. "Well that was creepy," Shadowcaster said with a shudder. Suddenly, a figure appeared. "You know, it's creeps like you that give us a bad name." Everyone turned to face the voice, but when they looked for the person behind it, it was nowhere to be found. A breeze suddenly went through the air, and they heard the voice again. "You guys honestly have no brains. Things were going fine, and then you had to go and ruin all that." Mindbender's eyes darkened with anger. "Show yourself! You cannot hide from me!" The voice they heard turned into a laugh. "Apparently I can. You just don't get it, do you? You may want a war, but what you don't realize is, humanity can accept people like us, in time." Mindbender attempted to pinpoint where the voice was coming from, but found that it had disappeared again. "The problem is," the voice said, once again out of nowhere, "people like you step in, and try to destroy everything that has been built for them. If you want a war, you've got one, but it won't be with whom you'd expect. You have been warned, murderers." The voice disappeared, and Mindbender waited for it to return, but after a few moments, he decided it wouldn't. "Everyone, let us get home, we have business to attend to." Dracosaur looked at Mindbender confusedly.
"So we're not even gonna talk about this? What just happened?" Mindbender shouted. "FORGET IT! ELEMAGE, WE WILL BE WALKING HOME! IF YOU WISH TO JOIN US, THEN MOVE!" Everyone cringed at Mindbender's voice, even Dracosaur. Elemage came out from behind the shipping container, and the five of them walked home.
The very same darkened and lightened sky that had plagued Mindbender and company now made its home above the Vermillion Archipelago. Artillery looked around the tent he was sleeping in, and rubbed his eyes. All his companions were still asleep, and of course, Knightbeast was snoring as loud as ever. Tech was still in his cyber suit, and Artillery continued to wonder how he was able to sleep in it. Pixie looked just as gorgeous as ever, even though she was curled up in a ball, as she often did when she slept. Twilight, being the bat-like thing that he was, was hanging from the top of the tent, his wings covering his body. Artillery stood up from his bedroll, and stretched out a bit. When he did, Knightbeast stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at artillery and frowned a bit.
"You're up kind of early, aren't you?" Knightbeast let out a yawn and rubbed his eyes. Artillery smiled at Knightbeast. "Not really, it's like the middle of the day. Hey, do me a favor, and get everyone else up for me. I want to walk for a bit." Knightbeast shrugged his shoulders as he sat up. "Fine by me. Just remember, apparently we've got a busy day ahead of us." Artillery smiled, his head buzzing with a million thoughts at once. He walked through a flap in the tent, and walked into Kahran's hut. "Ah, hello outsider, I have been expecting you," Kahran said mysteriously. Artillery looked at Kahran confusedly. "You were? Why?" Kahran smiled. "I assumed you would want to speak with me about your upcoming journey. However, before you ask me anything, I have something to confess to you. I knew who you were the moment I saw you. Your scepter gave it away. I just wasn't ready to believe that you had returned. Now I can see that I was wrong. You did indeed come, as he said you would those two thousand years ago." Artillery raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" Kahran shook his head. "Everything you want to know will be told to you when you make your journey to the temple of the gods. Now go, your destiny awaits you, young one." Artillery bowed his head and left the hut. He made his way back into the tent that his friends were previously asleep in, but found them all awake.
"Oh, you're back now Frank?" Pixie said, smiling, but rubbing her eyes. Artillery nodded. "Now that you guys are all awake, we need to head out. I have a feeling that even though I need to see this, you'll want to." Artillery walked out of the tent and everyone followed him. "This is gonna be interesting," Twilight said, smiling slightly. They started walking, and made their way through the jungle, onset by mosquitoes and gnats. "Bleech! Damned bugs! Where are we even going anyway?" Pixie said rather irritably. Artillery shrugged. "I'm not completely sure. Kahran mentioned something about a temple, and that the scepter would guide me." Knightbeast gave a little laugh. "Oh, that's really specific. What else did he say?" Artillery looked at Knightbeast, thinking of what Kahran told him just before all of them had left. "Nothing," he said evasively. Twilight smirked at this. "I'm sure. It would be nice if we were clued in on what was going on."
"It is rather disconcerting to have no clue where we are going," Tech said irritably. Pixie rolled her eyes. "Oh relax, will you Tech? This is kind of exciting, don't you think? We're gonna find out why we even came here, and why Frank has that scepter thing." Artillery smiled, and began walking faster. "It's not far now, I can feel it!" Tech made a sudden noise, like a shiver, as if something had given him a chill. "I can feel it too. I cannot place it, but I can feel a sort of aura around this place." Everyone else made a shudder too, and gave a nod of agreement. They all made their way to a clearing where Artillery began running. Everyone else followed him, until Artillery suddenly stopped and pulled out his scepter. The scepter began glowing, and suddenly, a large stone building appeared out of nowhere. It was indeed a temple, just as Kahran said. There were huge stone pillars holding up the porch-like awning that lay above the great stone steps. A sealed doorway presumably led to the wonders that Artillery had imagined.
"Well, it looks like there's a huge door. How we gonna get past that?" Pixie asked, smiling at Artillery. Artillery smiled right back. "Well, it occurs to me that this temple was built in part due to Draguardium's help. If that's the case, then the scepter should be able to open it." He walked up to the door, followed by his team, and held up his scepter. It began glowing again, but nothing happened. Suddenly, the door began glowing, and a small hole appeared. Artillery put his scepter inside the hole and turned it to the right. The door sprang to life, opening through a slit in the middle of it. Artillery smiled from ear to ear and then looked at his team. "Well guys, here we go." Artillery walked into the door, followed by his friends, and found the way lit by several torches along the wall, held up by statues that resembled the natives of the very island they were on.
"Kinda creepy lookin', huh?" Knightbeast said, looking at the statues. Twilight smiled at Knightbeast. "Not as creepy lookin' as you, furball." Knightbeast growled at Twilight. "You wanna run that by me again, blue boy?" Twilight smirked. "I said—" Artillery put up a hand to silence him. "I thought I heard something. Keep your eyes peeled for anything strange." Tech let out a chuckle, sounding odd, considering his suit made him sound mechanical. "Strange? All of this is strange. All this 'destiny' gobbledygook is just ... nonsensical." Tech looked around, and a rumbling behind them made him quiver inside his cyber-suit. A chill filled the air as Artillery braced himself. He suddenly found himself on a battlefield, surrounded by armored soldiers.
"What the hell is going on?" he said confusedly. He changed his scepter into a sword, and readied himself for an attack, in case one indeed came. A shadowy figure appeared as all the soldiers began charging it. Artillery could hear the clang of the soldiers' armor as they ran. A pulse shot through the air, causing the soldiers to fly in every direction. One of them landed right where Artillery was standing, but instead of crushing him, it passed straight through him. Looking incredibly confused, Artillery shouted at the top of his lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" He looked around to see if the soldiers, or even the shadowy figure would react, but none did. Artillery found himself getting quite frustrated. He was suddenly in a place where not only no one could hear him, but apparently no one could see him either. He couldn't react with anything. Not only that, now his scepter was behaving strangely. The sword retreated and the scepter returned. Suddenly a wisp of smoke issued from the very scepter he was holding, and formed into someone looking very much like himself. The shadowy figure that appeared previously uttered a laugh as he began walking into view.
"So, you decided to show up after all Draguardium? All the better. Now I can dismantle you personally!" The air became incredibly cold, and dense with fog. The figure that was called Draguardium pulled something from his waist. Artillery watched in amazement as the object "Draguardium" pulled from his waist became an enormous sword, and the shadowy figure pulled out a sword of his own. A huge smile spread across his face. "This has to be another vision," Artillery thought, still smiling intensely.
"Khylor, your reign is at an end! End this tyranny now and I will let you go!" Khylor laughed, and flailed his sword around. "You are a fool. End your futile efforts to try and stop me; I cannot be stopped!" Khylor grinned at him, and his brown teeth were bared. Draguardium raised his sword and readied himself for an attack. Khylor laughed at him. "You honestly think you stand a chance against me? Your little friends aren't here to save you this time!" Draguardium looked at Khylor with rage, as if doubting his skills was the worst possible thing Khylor could do. He charged Khylor, and then everything went dark. Artillery found himself spinning into another room, perhaps another scene. He found himself in a circular room, not unlike the one back in the tower he called home, only everything in this room was carved from stone. Artillery recognized the person who had just sat down at the table from the scene he had just witnessed. As Draguardium sat down, a figure began speaking from behind a chair, in a gruff voice Artillery knew he'd heard before.
"Draguardium, why have you called us here?" the voice said, sounding slightly annoyed. Draguardium did not smile; there was no friendly tone, no kind demeanor. "Lykourgos, everyone, welcome. I have called you here—Trophos, we're trying to have a meeting here, please try to have a little decorum and not get food all over the table." Artillery heard a raspy cough that he thought had to have been Twilight's, but he looked and saw a creature bigger than Twilight, although he was the same color, and he had slightly different features, such as a tuft of black hair on his head, as opposed to the long jet-black hair Twilight possessed. The creature gulped down his food, and frowned a little.
"I was hungry. Is that a crime?" A female voice giggled a bit, and sighed. Artillery looked at her and she was beautiful. She had bright blonde hair, slightly darkening as it went down, at its darkest (light brown) past her elbows. Her face had absolutely no blemishes other than the few freckles that were scattered among it. She gave another sigh, and frowned. "No, it's not a crime, but it would be nice if we could sit at the table without getting sprayed with whatever miscellaneous food you happen to be eating." A man sitting across the table from her found this funny. He was completely covered in a deep silver armor that gave his voice a metallic quality. He pointed at the girl and continued laughing.
"Luminara, you're one to talk. You dribble pudding down your chin every time you eat it. Not very ladylike if it you ask me." The woman now referred to as "Luminara" smirked, and then frowned just as quickly. "Well, Phanes, at least I can eat. When was the last time you took off that contraption to eat something?" The armored man, now known as "Phanes" scoffed at her, and Draguardium frowned. "Do you think you could stop the bickering for just a moment so we can discuss the issues at hand?" and without waiting for any reply, he said "Thank you." He took a deep breath in and began talking again. "Now, you have all been called because I need counsel. Our supporters continue to diminish, and Khylor's followers continue to grow. If we do not act soon, I fear all shall be lost. How can we continue to fight him?"
"By being as fierce and vigilant as ever! He won't stop in his efforts to destroy us, so we must be as unrelenting in our efforts to stop him. He presents himself as all powerful and invincible, but everyone has a weakness. Everyone," Lykourgos said with a growl. Artillery got a better look at him, and gasped. He looked almost identical to Knightbeast, only much larger. He had the same cream-colored fur, only thicker. His eyes were just as intense, just as focused, and his mouth was the same canine snout he was used to seeing in Knightbeast. "Besides," Lykourgos began again, "when you have the strength that we do—" The room began to spin, and a bright light blinded Artillery. He suddenly found himself lying on the temple floor surrounded by his team.
"What the hell happened?" Knightbeast said, panting. Artillery sat up slowly, with help from Pixie. "I was hoping you could tell me," he said rubbing his eyes with his fists, as his scepter was still in his hand. Pixie looked at him, seeming quite worried. "Well, we were walking down this corridor, and you like suddenly passed out. We tried to wake you up, but nothing worked." Artillery looked at Pixie confusedly. "How long was I out?" Knightbeast gave a small growl, and frowned. "Damn near twenty minutes. Scared the crap out of all of us," Knightbeast said, the worry still clear in his voice. Artillery frowned, but suddenly remembered why he was unconscious in the first place, and a huge smile spread across his face. "Guys, I've got a lot to tell you. I'm having visions from the scepter again." At this, Tech scoffed. "Visions? Nonsense! The intense heat and humidity of this place was probably the reason for your unconsciousness." Artillery's smile still didn't fade, even at Tech's skepticism. "Tech, for someone so smart, you're very narrow-minded, you know that? I had a vision, accept it. Anyway, it started out on a battlefield, and I was surrounded by soldiers, right? So a shadow just appears, the soldiers charge it, and a pulse shoots through the air and knocks them all out. Then, another dude appears, and the big shadow starts talking to him. He blurs into view, and he's Draguardium!" Everyone seemed intensely focused on Artillery's story at this point, except for Tech. He gave a sigh, and put his chin in his hands. "Which figure was Draguardium? The large shadow or the smaller one?" Artillery cleared his throat and gave a small shake of his head. "The smaller one," he began irritably, "because the other shadow was Khylor. Anyway, they started trash talking, and then started running toward each other, then everything went dark. After that, I was in a room, and four people were sitting at a stone table, and Draguardium walked in. He was asking the four people for help. A bat-like thing looking a lot like you, Twilight, except bigger, was stuffing his face. A girl sitting next to him laughed at him. She looked like you a little, Trixie, except you're better looking than she is. Then a guy in a soldier's battle armor scoffed and laughed at the girl for laughing at the bat-thing, saying that she dribbles pudding down her chin or something. But the one that shocked me the most was the big Knightbeast-like guy. He looked almost exactly like you, man, except his fur was thicker. Other than that, I don't remember much."
"So you're saying that there was a doppelganger for each of us back in those days? Unlikely," Tech said skeptically. Artillery looked at him, getting more and more annoyed, and grunted in frustration. "Just everyone follow me, and no more questions or anything." They all did as he said, (Tech did so reluctantly) and followed him deeper into the temple. He made it to another stone doorway and did the same thing he did with the one at the entrance. The door opened, and there was a large chasm, leading down into a tiny orb of light. "That's where we've gotta go," Artillery said excitedly.
"Are you serious?! We're going down there?!" Pixie said, the fear clear in her voice. "Relax," Artillery said reassuringly. "Everything's gonna be fine. All we have to do is jump down there, and we'll land safely. Trust me, have I been wrong about anything yet?" Pixie looked at him like a dog eyeing something it didn't understand. "Well no, but—" Artillery held up a hand. "But nothing. You'll be fine, trust me. Take my hand." She did as he said and locked her fingers with his. "Okay, on the count of three, everybody jump! One!" He put up a finger, "two," he put up another, "three!" He jumped, hand in hand with Pixie, and everyone else jumped after them. They flew faster and faster down the well-looking tube, and just before hitting the ground, they all hovered for a moment, and gently touched down on the grassy ground. They found themselves in a circular room, the very center of which was covered in bright green grass and moss. At the very center of the grass and moss was a pedestal at about waist level, with a hole in it; Artillery assumed he was to put his scepter inside it. Knightbeast gave a look around and bared his teeth. "What is this place? It looks like some kinda shrine." Artillery gave a gasp of excitement. "If it is, then the answer will come from that pedestal." He walked up to the marble pedestal, and put his scepter in the hole that lay in it. When nothing happened, he turned it to the right. When that did nothing, he turned it to the left. That did nothing either. He began to get frustrated. Everything else he'd done with the scepter worked perfectly, but for some reason, this wasn't. Artillery shoved the scepter deeper in the hole, and a great rumbling began shifting rocks around the entire room. Everyone jerked their heads around anxiously. When the rumbling stopped, the floor began moving. Pixie looked at Artillery, then at the room. "Is it just me, or is the ceiling getting higher up?" Tech turned his head to her and laughed slightly.
"What an astute observation, Pixie," he said sarcastically. Pixie rolled her eyes at his comment. "You know, you don't have to be an asshole about everything. Just because you don't believe any of this stuff, doesn't mean you have to give everyone an attitude." Artillery glared at the two of them, and neither of them said anything further.The platform continued to lower down, and when it finally stopped and hit the ground, there were four statues, all turned to a much larger statue, holding a scepter, and pointing it up toward the hole they just came down from. Knightbeast walked up to a statue, and gasped. "Hey, Artillery, you said you saw a guy that looked like me in your vision thing right?" he said anxiously. Artillery glanced over at Knightbeast and a confused expression spread across his face. "Yeah, why?" Knightbeast's eyes continued to bulge out of his head. "Did he look like this?" Knightbeast said, pointing at the statue. Artillery looked over, and smiled. "Yeah, that'd be him." Twilight was gazing intensely at the large bat-human creature's statue, and Artillery smiled at him. "Before you ask Twilight, that's your 'doppelganger'." Artillery has held up his hands and used his fingers to indicate that "Doppelganger" had intended to be in quotations. There's one for each of you, and even though you don't wanna believe it, Tech, there is one for you too. Now, what's the meaning of these statues?" Artillery walked up to the statue of who he assumed to be Draguardium, and examined it more closely. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, other than the way the statue was standing. Artillery readjusted his position, walking a couple of paces backward. He shifted his right leg out in front, just like the statue's leg was, and he held his scepter in the air at the same angle that the stone Draguardium did. A beam of light issued from both Artillery's scepter and the stone Draguardium's. Artillery suddenly felt an intense vibrating come from the scepter, and had to tighten his grip. The beams crossed over each other, and began wrapping around each other. They twisted straight up, and they hit the ceiling maybe 75 meters above them. Five beams then shot from that, hitting each one of the statues. Suddenly the stone peeled away from the statues as though it were a hard shell coating on the outside of a nut. The beings inside the statues sprang to life, and everyone jumped. The statue that was Draguardium was now a real person, much smaller, of course, than his statue. Lykourgos gave a growl, as did Trophos. Luminara tousled her hair, and Phanes just stood there looking regal. Draguardium gave a bit of a yawn and looked right at Artillery.
"Finally, he's here! And he's brought friends! I will admit that part I was not expecting." Artillery looked at the sight before his bulged eyeballs. He could not believe what he was seeing. He very bravely walked up to Draguardium, but very timidly spoke. "Excuse me, are you Draguardium?" even as he spoke it, he knew it sounded timid. Draguardium simply smiled. "Yes, Franklin, I am. Well, at least the spirit of Draguardium." He noticed the confused expression that ran across Artillery's face, and began speaking again. "Perhaps I should explain. After the long-fought war with Khylor, I sealed a portion of my soul away, along with portions of the souls of my most trusted soldiers, so that the next possessor of my scepter may call on us again." Artillery became really intrigued now. "Why would you need to lock your souls away? Wasn't there some other work you had to do?" he looked up at Draguardium with the greatest adoration a person could have for another person without being in love. Draguardium looked down at Artillery with a small smile. "There wasn't anything else we could do. Khylor was defeated, and our destinies had been fulfilled. It was our time. Now we are here to help you." Tech scoffed at Draguardium, and started to turn around to walk away. Phanes looked at him and laughed. "What's your problem?" he said, still laughing. Tech turned back around and looked at the spirit. "May I ask why you are laughing?" Phanes looked at him and smiled. "You are still skeptical? I would've thought that all this would've been enough to make you a believer. You really are stubborn, Stephen." Tech's heart began beating rapidly in his chest. "How do you know my name?" he said anxiously. Phanes laughed and shook his head. "What's the point of telling you? You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Tech looked at him and crossed his arms, which everyone thought was odd, due to the fact they didn't know how unrestricting his armor was. "Try me," Tech said irritably. Phanes looked at him with a smirk, and he put his helmet on.
"We are gods. You are our successors. Once you complete the task you were put here for, you all will take our places, just as we took the places of the gods before us." Artillery looked at Phanes, and he was shaking from the excitement of this newest bit of information. "You're gods?! How did that happen?" Draguardium looked at him with squinty eyes, and a wide smile. "Simple. The gods saw fit to grant us their powers in order to defeat Khylor, who had become too powerful to defeat by regular means. Then when the job was done, our souls ascended, and we became godly beings. I left a portion of our souls behind, as I explained before." Tech took off his helmet and a tear fell from his right eye. "You are gods? How can that be? I mean, I've gone my whole life always being told that all that religious stuff is crap, and never to believe it, because I'd just be wasting my time. Now that all of this is… I just can't believe… wow." Tech could no longer put words together. He began crying more intensely now. Pixie looked shocked, Knightbeast looked as though he was going to laugh, and Twilight didn't seem to care at all. Draguardium looked at tech, and smiled. "It's ok Stephen. I understand how you are feeling. You will find peace with your duty. Do not let your duty consume you, but allow your duty be one of your main focuses. Now, down to business. You, Franklin, have much to do. The menace known as Mindbender is a threat that not even your team can defeat. You must begin creating an army. Mindbender will begin doing so in a short time. He has his companions, yes, but with his powers of persuasion, he could recruit millions. Gather an army, and you will be instructed further. You may go now." Artillery looked at him confusedly, and began to speak, but the spirit portion of Draguardium held up a hand to stop him. "There is one more thing before you go. You presumably wanted to know more about us. Well I can help all of you with that. I had a hidden reason for sealing away portions of all of our souls. We will be transferred to you." Artillery had an excited but confused look on his face. "Transferred? I don't understand." Draguardium looked at him, very seriously. "The spirit portions I placed here will be merged with each of you, and you will have the knowledge of each of us. For example, Jacob will have the memories and knowledge of Lykourgos, and Jeffrey will have the memories and knowledge of Trophos. Get the picture?" Artillery looked at Draguardium, and nodded. Draguardium smiled, and also nodded. "Very well, everyone ready?" He did not wait for a response. "Good." A flash of light flew through the air, and Artillery and his team found themselves outside the temple walls. The starry sky twinkled above them.

Superhero Epic Ch. 8

Chapter 8: Gods and Greatness

Artillery and his team continued to await Tech in the Mess Hall. He finally exited his room and came out with several small earpieces, and handed them, one by one, to each other member of the team. "These are the devices. They will allow you to understand any language that is spoken to you. Simple enough. Now, I have programmed my teleporter to the location of the Vermillion Archipelago, so all you have to do is synch your teleporters to mine, and we will be able to get out of here."
"Sounds like a plan," Artillery said. "Let's go." Pixie looked at Artillery with a confused expression. "Wait a minute, how exactly are they supposed to understand us?" Tech began fumbling around with a bag he had at his side. "I almost forgot, these are your headsets. I would've fixed them in with the earpieces, but I needed them to work separately in order for there to be no interference." He handed one to each of them, and each one of them affixed it to his or her head. Artillery smiled, knowing what was about to happen. "Is everyone ready?" Knightbeast gave a little frown. "We're all ready; I just hope you know what you're doing." With that, they all synchronized their teleporters to Tech's, and disappeared from sight.
Mindbender sat comfortably in the bucket of Elemage's airship as the sun was now sinking below the horizon. He looked at the now-asleep Shadowcaster, and Dracosaur, who was falling asleep. This was fine with him, because that meant that he and Elemage could have a one on one discussion. Elemage, who was looking out the window, suddenly turned and faced Mindbender, who smiled at him. Elemage took a breath in and a very large breath out. "So, you can read people's minds. What else can you do?" Mindbender laughed at Elemage's boldness. "My, my, aren't you the eager beaver? Very well. Yes, I can read minds. However, that is just the bare minimum of what I can do. I can control people with my telepathy, not just read minds. On top of that, my telekinetic abilities are quite vast." Elemage gave Mindbender a "prove it" look, and Mindbender responded. Elemage was still wearing his fez-style hat, and he felt it lift off of his head. "Really? That's vast? Show me what else you got," Elemage said with a smirk. "You wish to challenge me? Very well." The hat then broke into millions of small, dust-sized particles and then re-formed into what appeared to be a small, cloth dragon. "I trust you are satisfied now?" Elemage looked in shock at his former hat. "You didn't have to ruin it! Jeez! But, yes I'm satisfied now." Mindbender smirked at him. "Good. Now, I have a faint idea what you can do because of the story you told me and my friends. But I would like to know exactly what it is you can do." Elemage took a breath in, and gave Mindbender a little smile. "Well, as my newly given name suggests, I have control over the elements. By 'elements', of course, I mean Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire. The house fire that killed my father, the whirlpool that killed my oldest brother, and the avalanche that killed my older brother, were all due to my control over the forces of nature." Mindbender gave a smug smile. "Excellent! Your powers could come in very useful later." He looked out the window of the bucket, and noticed the fact that they were over the beautiful waves of the ocean. "It won't be long now. Soon we will find another soldier for our army of superiority!"
"I think you need to calm down on the whole 'army of superiority' thing. Makes you seem like you're talking out your ass," Elemage said with a slight frown. Mindbender smirked, although slightly irritated at Elemage's statement. "Maybe it does sound like that, but why not declare our army superior?" Elemage looked at him, anxious about what he had done in joining him. "Well, we can, just tone it down a notch, it creeps me out." Mindbender smiled once again. "Very well, I'll, as you said, 'tone it down a notch.'" Mindbender walked up to the pilot's cabin and opened the door. "When will we be in Kilgari? I am getting impatient." The pilot clutched his chest due to him being startled, and waited for his breathing to normalize. "We should arrive in Killark in about two more hours." Mindbender gasped at him. "Killark? That is the newly established Metahuman colony!" The pilot shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I keep my nose outta their business, and hope they do the same for me." Mindbender smiled, walked from the pilot's cabin, and closed the door. He sat down next to Elemage and smiled. "My plan is coming together perfectly. Even I had no clue we were going to Killark."
"Exactly what does Killark have to do with your plan?" Elemage said confusedly. Mindbender frowned because he was sick of explaining things. "Killark is the newly established Metahuman colony. They overthrew the city's government, and made negotiations with the President of Kilgari to make themselves a separate colony." Elemage frowned irritably. "Do you have a point?" Mindbender rolled his eyes and frowned. "My point is that they will sympathize with our cause far greater than anyone else would. No one can understand our quest for greatness like those who have already established theirs. It will only make our task simpler." Elemage gave a yawn, and closed his eyes, but still spoke. "That's nice, but I'm going to sleep. Wake me when we get there." Mindbender gave a little chuckle, and rolled his eyes. "Very well, have it your way." He sat there in his chair as Elemage drifted off to sleep, and the airship continued to fly toward its destination.
The sky was cloudy over the jungles of the Vermillion Archipelago, as Artillery and his crew walked around for a moment to remedy the disorientation of teleporting such a far distance. Artillery stopped for a moment to view his surroundings. All around him were huge trees, filled with all sorts of creatures. The calls of birds, primates, and other jungle creatures echoed throughout the dense forest. Shrubbery littered the forest floor, and insects buzzed all around. Knightbeast took a breath in, and seemed almost at home.
"This place is amazing! It's like the land itself is feral!" he said, his excitement clearly obvious. Twilight smiled at him. "That must be why you like it here so much. You say the land is wild, so why not have a wild thing like you like it?" He gave a laugh, and Knightbeast charged at him. He pinned Twilight to the ground, and snorted. "You're not funny, you know that?" Even with Knightbeast on top of him, Twilight still managed to chuckle. "I thought it was funny."
"Will you two cut it out? We've got business to get to," Artillery said, wanting to get his mission of discovery underway. Pixie looked at Artillery, and frowned slightly. "What's your hurry, hun? We should relax, after all we've been through, we sure could use it." Tech made a small sound of irritation. "As much as I would love to relax, I believe Artillery is correct. We must press on, not only to further the mission, but to assure we don't get attacked by the beasts on this island." Pixie looked shocked. "What beasts?" Tech simply smiled at her. "The Vermillion Archipelago is said to be home to creatures that can be found nowhere else in all of Hortath. As such, we may encounter some fearsome beast that even we can't handle."
"Not possible," Knightbeast said with a smirk. "Let's go. Lead the way, Artillery." Artillery said nothing; he only walked forward through the trees, and over roots and such. He could feel the scepter guiding him, leading him to his destination, though he didn't know what that was yet. He led them for a little while longer, when a rustling to the side of him made him stop in his tracks. Once he stopped, the rustling did as well.
"What's wrong?" Pixie said with a tiny bit of fear in her voice. Artillery looked back at her, stony-faced. "It was nothing, let's just keep going." They continued on, and out of the corner of his eye, Artillery saw someone charge at him, as others did the same for the other members of Artillery's team. Artillery kicked the person off of him, and pulled out his scepter, which he instantly turned to a sword. As the other members of the team struggled to break free of the ambushers, the leader of the gang of ambushers gave a look of intimidation.
"If you want your friends to live, you will lower your weapon and follow us." The leader looked at the group of heroes, who were struggling to break free, but the tan, barely dressed thugs kept them fiercely stable. Even Knightbeast, who was usually much stronger than his opponents, could do nothing but allow the thug to keep hold of him. Artillery looked back at the lead thug with ill contempt. "What if we don't comply?" the words Artillery spoke sounded nothing like the language he was used to speaking. He assumed that was Tech's mouthpiece doing its job. The thug smirked. "You know my language? That is quite impressive for an outsider. Either comply with my orders, or you will be destroyed. Outsiders are not allowed on this island." Artillery let out a sigh of frustration and his sword reverted back to a scepter. The lead thug smiled and turned, and the entire group of thugs, and heroes followed the lead thug. They kept walking through the trees and all the shrubbery, and the leader stopped. He waved his hands twice, and a village appeared in front of them, full of villagers, apparently shocked by the arrival of these outsiders.
"Where are you taking us?!" Artillery shouted. The thug grunted and pulled Artillery forward. "The Council will know what to do with you five." Artillery gave a look of anger and confusion. "What Council?!" The thug made a fist and bonked Artillery on the neck with the end of it. "Shut up and follow me!" The thug began walking through the village, followed by Artillery and the other thugs, guarding Artillery's team. They walked up to a huge series of tents, with a circus sized tent in the middle. They followed the thug into the circus-sized tent, and waiting for them there were a group of elderly people sitting behind a desk. The one in the middle looked at the large crowd now walking in the tent, and addressed who Artillery assumed to be the lead thug.
"Leicion, who have you brought before us?" The thug who was apparently known as Leicion bowed. "Elder Kahran, these are trespassers to our island, I have brought them to you to determine what their fate shall be." Elder Kahran looked at Leicion with a scowl. "The penalty for all outsiders is death; you are a mighty warrior, why must you bring them to me?" Leicion smiled politely, and gave another bow. "Surely you can see? They are the gods, returned to fulfill the prophecy." At this, Elder Kahran laughed. "You honestly believed in that pathetic old fairy-tale? The so-called 'gods' were nothing more than a tool to be used to revive our faith all those years ago. If the gods really did exist, then they would have appeared at a time when we needed them, not when we are flourishing. Ha! Gods? These are nothing more than intruders, who must be destroyed!" Leicion became very irritated. "I am not questioning your judgment, Elder Kahran, but before you go killing them, you could at least put their leader to the test. If he fails, then they are not the gods I believed them to be. However, if he succeeds, then the first part of the prophecy will be fulfilled."
"If you wish to drag out their deaths, very well. If he passes the test, he and his friends may live, though he will not," Kahran said smugly. Artillery stepped forward and held up a hand, wanting to get a better understanding of what was going on. Kahran frowned at Artillery. "Ah, the outsider wishes to speak, does he? Very well, intruder, speak, but with caution, you are speaking to an Elder." Artillery bowed just as Leicion did when addressing elder Kahran. "Elder Kahran, I have come seeking the secrets of this scepter. It has led me here. I could feel it guide me. I do not know about this 'god' stuff, but I will do whatever I have to do to prove my worth. What is this task?" Kahran looked at him with pure disgust. "You will be told of your task when you are at the very place that it must happen. Before you leave, I am going to be a little kind and tell you the orders you are to follow while on this mission, firstly, and most importantly, you will be facing the challenge alone. Your friends may not come with you, and will be detained here until you return, if you even manage to return at all. Leicion here will be your guide. He will inform you of the challenge when you arrive at your destination. You will be placed on a time restriction. If you have not returned after twelve hours, you and your friends will be destroyed. After all, you are outsiders, and the penalty for being such is death. Go now, your presence here is annoying me. Guards, put the others in their cells for now, until the outsider returns." Artillery scowled, and Leicion took him out of the tent. They kept walking, no words between either of them until they left the village. Artillery gave Leicion a confused look.
"I have a question." Leicion smiled, and gave him a nod. "Very well outsider, ask your question." At Leicion's smile, Artillery became even more confused. He shook his head, and looked back at Leicion. "You ambushed me and my friends when you saw us. If you really did think we were gods, why continue with the attack?" Leicion gave a chuckle. "Isn't it obvious, outsider? I didn't think you would follow me otherwise. I realize you probably don't trust me after that, but I hope I can gain it back." The two of them continued on through the thick jungle, and creatures called all around them. "Why did you even believe my friends and I were gods? For all you know, we could have been intruders trying to kill your people." The creatures calling around the two of them temporarily interrupted the two of them. A large flock of colorful birds flew over their heads. Leicion smiled once again. "I highly doubt that. No outsider even knows of our tribe. There are smaller, less significant tribes, all discovered by outsiders, but our tribe is secret, and has been so for two thousand years. I cannot yet tell you why I believe you and your companions to be gods, but I can tell you that your instincts about your scepter are correct."
"So, what you're saying is that my scepter has some kind of connection to the past, just like I thought?" Leicion shifted his eyes at Artillery's comment. "I'm sorry, I cannot reveal any more. We will camp here temporarily. The journey ahead is long, and we must rest." Artillery didn't question him; he merely nodded his head and sat down.
Hundreds of miles away, in the Metahuman colony of Killark, Mindbender and his companions were being flagged down from their airship, and Mindbender smiled at the Metahumans flagging them down.
"I have never seen such a wondrous sight! Nothing but Metahumans, as far as the eye can see!" Mindbender let out a chuckle. Elemage looked at Mindbender, rubbing his eyes from being woken up by Mindbender's voice, and frowned slightly. "What makes you sure they're all Metahumans?" Mindbender's smile continued to pan across his face. "Aside from the fact that we are in a Metahuman colony, I can sense them all around. With so many Metahumans in one place, they create a kind of collective consciousness. It allows me to sense all of them at once, instead of having to search for them like I had to in Draco City." The airship landed, and Mindbender awoke Dracosaur and Shadowcaster. "We have arrived, my friends." The two of them stirred for a moment, and stood up. Dracosaur yawned, and a tiny puff of smoke issued from his mouth. "Well, now that we are here, what do we do?" Mindbender gave a little smirk. "Dracosaur, dear boy, we step out of the airship." They all did as he said, Mindbender left first, followed by Elemage, Dracosaur, and then Shadowcaster. The moment they got off the ship, a figure walked up, presumably to greet them. He was incredibly tall, towering over everyone there.
"Greetings, fellow Metahumans. Welcome to Killark. Is this a visit, or are you planning on staying permanently?" The man said warmly. Mindbender gave him a polite smile, but quickly wiped it away to make the man know that he was here for business. "Just a visit for now, my friends and I would like to see what all the hubbub is about." The giant laughed at Mindbender. "Hubbub, huh? Well, trust me, you're in for a bit of fun. Now if you will follow me, we can get on with your visit." The giant turned around, as Mindbender and company followed. Mindbender gave a slight cough and tapped the giant on the back. The giant turned his head as continued to walk forward, letting Mindbender know he was listening. "Where exactly are we going?" Mindbender asked, curious about what was going to happen next. "To the customs office. There you can get everything you'll need for your stay, and get your powers evaluated, to determine the best temporary housing environment for you." Mindbender looked confusedly at him, but shook it off. "What is this 'power evaluation' you speak of?" The giant looked at him and smiled. "It will be fine, I can assure you. It is just an evaluation of the strength of your powers to determine where you should live. You're probably wondering why. Well, to avoid complications, we try to avoid placing people whose abilities are advanced with those whose aren't. It keeps the stronger ones from getting any ideas."
"So you got a name, or should we just call you 'Tiny'?" Dracosaur said with a smile. The giant looked at him, rolling his eyes. "You're so funny, you know that? My name is Gorgon. Anyway, this is the place." Gorgon opened the door to the stone building in front of him and ducked so he could fit inside. Mindbender and the others followed him inside as people at desks looked up at them. Gorgon looked at Mindbender, Dracosaur, Shadowcaster and Elemage, and held out a hand toward the desk. "Complete the registration, and then I can take you to the evaluation area." Mindbender gave a nod as he and his three friends walked up to the desk. The people behind the desk gave them papers and instructed them to fill them out, and they would be analyzed, and be given visitors' passes. All four of them had filled out their forms, and handed them back to the people behind the desk. Mindbender just now noticed that the people behind the desk were identical quadruplets. He saw their eyes quickly scanning the paperwork, and after a moment, all four of them stamped the papers, and pulled out cards. They all wrote little bits of information on the back, and handed them to Mindbender, Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and Elemage respectively. They all spoke, in unison, the combination of their voices sounding quite eerie.
"Those are your visitors' passes. Please see Gorgon outside for your housing placement." Mindbender bowed at them, and he and his friends left the building. Gorgon was waiting outside for them, and waved a massive hand to greet them. Mindbender smiled and walked up to him, of course, followed by his companions.
"Hello again. Did everything go well in there?" Gorgon said, politely smiling. Mindbender returned Gorgon's polite smile. "Fairly. Those quadruplets are sure efficient. They worked more quickly than even I could have predicted." Gorgon laughed at him. "Quadruplets? You mean Shikara? My dear boy, the virus infects her in a strange way. She can make copies of herself, as many as need be, until she becomes too weak to make any more. There is a drawback, however. Whenever she makes a movement, her clones do as well. Also, if one of her clones is injured, she feels it as well. She is learning to control it, which is why all of your names are actually inscribed on the back of the cards she gave you, instead of all of them saying the same name." Mindbender's eye twinkled with interest. "My visit is going to be a bit shorter than I thought. There is no need for the power analysis, all I need is to talk to this 'Shikara' woman." Gorgon gave a confused look. "Why would you need to talk to her? She is just a secretary." Elemage, Dracosaur and Shadowcaster all smirked as Mindbender looked intently at Gorgon. "Let's just say she's more than just a secretary to me, and leave it at that." Mindbender turned back around toward the customs office, and just as he began walking again, he heard Gorgon's deep, gravelly voice. "You are not going in there without me, I am unsure of your intentions, but I assure you, if you have anything sinister on your mind, you will not succeed."
"Of course, I would not want you to avert you from any duties you may have. By all means, accompany us in there, my goal will be accomplished either way," Mindbender said with a sick smirk. He began walking toward the customs office again, and his friends, and now Gorgon followed him. Once he made it in, the former "quadruplets" were now one being, presumably this "Shikara" character. He walked up to the desk, and smiled at her. He just now noticed how nice-looking she was. She had her crimson hair tied back in a long braid, and the glasses she wore couldn't hide her intense, deep green eyes. She looked up at him confusedly.
"Can I help you?" she said, frowning slightly. Mindbender smiled. "Actually, you can, my dear. I believe I am correct in assuming that you are unhappy with your current career path?" She continued to wear her frown, and gave a small sigh. "A job is a job. I cannot help it that I may not like it, I was chosen for this job, and I will continue it until it is no longer needed. Gorgon convinced me of that." Mindbender smiled. "Ah, I might have known. He has you brainwashed. I was suspicious of him the moment he began spewing out his power evaluation rhetoric." Gorgon growled, he could almost feel the evil within Mindbender, who shot his gaze at him. "You are the being responsible for creating this colony aren't you?" Gorgon looked at Mindbender, the anger clear in his eyes. "Yes I am, and I am here to protect my colony from people like you!"
"You mean brainwash them!" Dracosaur interrupted. That's what the power analysis is for isn't it? To keep those of us who are strong from fighting against the evil that men do!" Mindbender smiled at Dracosaur. "Well said, Dracosaur. People like us are held back from greatness, while cretins like you abuse what little power you have until you are so blind, you," Mindbender directed his gaze back at Gorgon, "can't even see who you are affecting anymore." Gorgon's demeanor became much more fearsome now, and filled with rage. You people are nothing but terrorists!" Elemage looked at him with a fury that rivaled Gorgon's. "How dare you?! I have spent the past year protecting people from terrorists, and you have the gall to call me and my companions such? You are nothing more than a coward, using your Metahuman brothers to protect you from the others who would harm you! You may be a giant in stature, but you are miniscule in spirit." Gorgon gave out a yell, and Shadowcaster let out a yell of her own. "Shut up! I'm not listening to your garbage anymore. We have a job to do and we're not leaving here until we finish it." Gorgon let out a final roar and threw his fists in the air, nearly hitting the roof of the high building. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" lowered his arms down with a tremendous force, which would have crushed him if it weren't for Shikara. She created over two dozen clones and used them to create a wall. Impressively, the clones managed to stop him, and were still holding up his arms.
"They are right!" Shikara and the clones said in unison. "If you truly wanted peace, you would have helped us to gain it! Instead, you stayed behind while we did all of your work toppling governments for you! At least these people have the courage to stand up for what they believe in. Perhaps my destiny lies with them. I will not allow you to brainwash them as you did me!" Gorgon looked down at Shikara and her clones with a heartbroken tone in his face. "So is this what you want? To go with them? Do you want to betray me, and all of your brethren?" Shikara and the clones laughed at him. "Brethren? These are my brothers now. They appear to actually have faith that I can be something other than just some measly secretary." Gorgon lifted his arms, and let out a sigh. "Very well, I cannot stop you from leaving. Just make sure it is the proper decision." Mindbender smiled at Gorgon. "You see, Gorgon? My friends and I actually believe in her. We can push her to use her true potential, something you never wanted to do, due to your fear of being overthrown. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to take leave of this place. You three, stay behind with Gorgon for a few moments, you four could use a nice chat. Shikara, would you mind following me?"
"Not at all," Shikara said with a smile. The two of them walked out of the door, past Gorgon, and continued on toward the landing pad, and Elemage's airship. When they left, a smile spread across Shadowcaster, Dracosaur, and Elemage's faces. Gorgon suddenly got the feeling that no "talking" would be going on. A second later, Elemage had flames circling his hands, Shadowcaster's body was encompassed by shadow, and Dracosaur was flapping his wings fiercely. Gorgon shouted, and threw his hands down at the three of them. Shadowcaster protected them with a semi-solid shadow-shield, after which, the shield disappeared, and Dracosaur shot a jet of fire at Gorgon, and Elemage threw out his hands and made the flames encircle the giant.
"Try that again, and you'll get burned to a crisp!" Elemage said, laughing. The flames continued to move around Gorgon as he shouted once again. Shadowcaster created a shadow that turned itself into a spear, and she threw it into Gorgon's chest. He let out a howl of pain and fell to the floor. Dracosaur smiled and let out a little chuckle. "Looks like our work here is done, huh?" Elemage looked at him, also smiling. "It seems to be that way. Let's go." They began walking toward the landing pad, and the airship, which Mindbender and Shikara already had been for a moment. The two of them were now deeply engaged in conversation.
"So, my dear, why exactly have you joined us?" Mindbender asked politely. Shikara looked at Mindbender with a small smile, and she pulled her glasses down to the end of her nose and smiled. "As I am sure you realize, I was far too timid before. I came to the conclusion that the time had come to break myself of that cycle. If that meant leaving that freeloader, then so be it. As much as I dislike bullies, your assertiveness is just what I needed to get myself out of the rut I was in." Mindbender looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. "So you're just using us to get out of here?" Shikara made a noise as though she had been shocked. "I must admit, at first, that was my intention, but you intrigue me. I am sure we can develop a most interesting friendship." Suddenly, the door to the airship opened, and Elemage, Shadowcaster, and Dracosaur walked inside. Mindbender immediately stopped even trying to speak.
"Whoa, what were you two talking about?" Shadowcaster said, smiling slightly. Mindbender looked at her, his face reddening a bit. "Um… nothing, just forget it. Elemage, instruct your pilot to return us to your home, we have work to do." Elemage bowed to him. "Very well." He walked toward the pilot's cabin and opened the door. "Pilot, take us home." The pilot turned his head, and looked annoyed. "Already? You don't want to stay here a little longer?" Elemage looked back at the pilot irritably. "We got done what we needed to get done, so just take us back home, and try not to complain." Elemage closed the door, and sat down. "All right people, we're out of here." The airship began to take off, and the whole five-some sat back, as the airship flew off into the early night sky.
The same sky shone its orange glow on the forests of the island of the Vermillion Archipelago that Artillery and his team landed on. Artillery was leaning against a tree as Leicion tapped him on the shoulder. "We have been resting for over three hours, why did you let me sleep so long?" Artillery got up off the tree, and smiled slightly. "You looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to bother you." Leicion scoffed. "What utter nonsense. Now we must move quickly if we are going to make it back in time. You have yet to even complete your task. We must make it to the cave quickly, come, follow me!" Leicion began running through the trees, and Artillery followed him. "Jeez, do you have to run so fast?" Artillery suddenly got a surge in his stomach, and he doubled over. Leicion heard him fall, and ran over to him. "What happened?" he said anxiously. Artillery began holding his head and rolling around in pain. Suddenly, the pain stopped as quickly as it came. "I don't know what happened," Artillery said. "One second, I was doing fine, the next second, I was doubled over from a pain in my stomach and my head. It's like I passed something that made me sick." Leicion looked at him nervously. "But you are fine now, correct?" Artillery got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Yeah, let's go, I'm sure I'm fine." Leicion gave him a nod, and began running again. Artillery followed him, running quickly behind. Leicion stopped suddenly, and Artillery nearly ran into him.
"Why'd you stop?" Artillery said breathing heavily. Leicion smiled. "We have arrived, and as alder Kahran said, I must inform you of your task." Artillery smiled at the excitement of finally facing this challenge. "What is it?" Leicion did not return Artillery's smile. He kept a rather stony look on his face. "A dragon lurks beneath us, the last of its kind. Your task is to navigate the labyrinth in which it resides, and release it, at which time, it can return to its true home. As proof of the completion of your task, you must retrieve a fresh scale from the dragon, and return it to Elder Kahran before the time limit is up, and just so you know, you have used up four hours thanks to that long nap I took." Artillery got an incredible chill down his spine. He shivered, and stood more upright. "I have one question. How am I supposed to get down to this labyrinth?" Leicion frowned, and put his hands on his hips. "I am afraid that is part of the challenge you must figure out for yourself." Artillery sat down, and put his chin on top of his fist. He closed his eyes, and he saw something. He saw the forest exactly as it was, only a stone revealed itself, and his scepter began glowing. A soft voice then echoed throughout his head.
"A dragon lurks beneath your feet, and against this beast you must compete. To find the beast and all his flame, hold out your staff and call its name." Artillery stood up and opened his eyes. He didn't even know how he was going to find out the name of that dragon, but the scepter hadn't steered him wrong yet. He let the scepter guide him, and he suddenly shouted the words: "Dragon Staff!" his scepter transformed into a long, ornate staff, with small, wooden dragon wings at the top. The staff glowed, and a large stone dragon head appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. It was so realistic, it was as though an actual dragon's head rose up from the ground. He needed to figure out the name of that dragon to open that stone dragon head's mouth, he was sure that would lead him to the legendary beast. Artillery closed his eyes, and saw the name as clear as day. He took a breath in, and spun his staff. "Dragorum!" he shouted fiercely. The stone dragon head suddenly came to life, opening its jaws, and its eyes engulfed in flames. Artillery smiled and looked at Leicion, who had a combined look of shock and excitement on his face. "Leicion, hopefully I won't be gone too long, but wait for me a while, will you?" He walked into the dragon's mouth and followed a staircase downward, lit by several torches. He finally reached the bottom of the staircase, and found a circular room with several hallways, each one leading in a different direction. He picked the one on the far left, and it led to another circular room with the same number of hallways.
He continued to go down hallways and find himself in circular rooms, until he found what he assumed to be a dead end, until he found a pair of stone dragons, facing each other, creating an arch. Artillery still had his staff, which began glowing, as did the arch created by the two stone dragons. The arch disappeared into nothingness and gave way to a hallway, incredibly dark, and mysterious. He went down it, though he was unsure where this tunnel was heading, and he could see nothing in front of him. He kept going and suddenly a light appeared at the end of the hallway. He began running, wary of the time he had already spent in here, he was sure that he had been in here for at least an hour already, from the labyrinth of hallways. Once he got to the end of the tunnel, he saw an enormous room, comparable to the opera house in Draco City. And there, in the far corner of the room, was the dragon. He was huge. He was covered in deep green scales, with his belly covered in orange scales. The dragon raised his head, and turned it towards Artillery. The dragon let out a roar and began walking toward him. Artillery held out his staff, and the dragon stopped, with an almost perplexed look at it. The dragon growled in a strange manner, almost as if he was talking. Artillery looked at the dragon confusedly. "What?" he said, hoping the dragon wouldn't attack. The dragon let out what sounded like a sigh, and began its strange growling again, which this time around, Artillery understood perfectly.
"I said, 'how did you get down here? Did Draguardium send you?'" Artillery looked at the dragon quizzically, and took a breath in. "You know about Draguardium?" The dragon raised his brow, looking slightly confused. "Of course! It is because of him that I am down here in the first place! Now answer my question. Did Draguardium send you or not?" Artillery hesitated for a moment. He didn't exactly know how to answer that question. He supposed it was partly true, considering the fact that the scepter he was holding was once his, so he figured he'd tell him what he believed to be the truth. "Well, in a manner of speaking, I was." He changed the staff back into the scepter, and the dragon looked startled. "I know for a fact that this once belonged to him. I don't know what my connection to it is, but I am trying to figure it out, and I get closer every day." The dragon smiled at him. "So you're the one his scepter chose? Interesting." Artillery continued to grow more and more confused at every turn of the conversation. "What do you mean that I'm the one the scepter chose?" At this, the dragon laughed.
"You ask far too many questions young one. I can tell you about my past, and maybe that will help clear things up, but there are a few conditions. Firstly, you may not interrupt me, under any circumstances. Secondly, you must help me get rid of this aching scale that has been bothering me for nearly a year now. Finally, help me to exit this horrid place. Sound fair?" Artillery smiled. "All right, tell me all about your past." The dragon smiled and nodded. "Very well. My name is Dragorum. I have been alive since before the first war of ages. Three thousand years doesn't exactly treat the body kindly, but I would love to stretch my wings and fly one last time. Ah, I digress. I first encountered Dragorum during the fifth and final War of Ages, when he was still gathering troops for his army. He convinced me to join him, and to use my magic as a dragon to make children." At the last sentence, Artillery looked confusedly at Dragorum. Dragorum then looked back at him, and frowned slightly. "Before you interrupt, I can see you are confused, so allow me to explain. We dragons are magical creatures, and as such, we do not breed. We simply use our abilities to create more children. Anyway, Draguardium told me that there would be a time when the dragons would be needed again, and if I created them, I would help to ensure that the future would be safe. So I created them, and scattered the eggs, as he asked me to, and they have never hatched. There was a specific magic to make them hatch, and only Draguardium knew it. He cast some sort of spell some time after I scattered them. About the same time he created this labyrinth, actually. He created this place for me, to protect me from future evil, and he said that when I was needed again, a chosen warrior would be able to set me free. After that, I never heard from him again." Artillery looked shocked. "So you have been down here for two thousand years?" Dragorum sighed. "Yes, now, I do think you owe me two things." Artillery saw that Dragorum didn't want to talk about the time he'd spent down here, and he chose to respect that. "All right then, first things first. Where is this scale that's been bugging you?" Dragorum sighed, and let out a low growl. "It is in between my wings, and it is very painful. It's bigger than the rest or and has been making my skin swollen, I have no idea why it is causing me such a great amount of pain." Artillery climbed up on Dragorum's back, and saw what scale he was talking about. It was much larger than the surrounding ones, so Artillery could see why it was paining him so. He transformed his scepter into a dagger and cringed. "This may hurt a bit." Dragorum growled at him. "Just get it over with, will you?" Artillery cringed at it again, and dug the dagger into the scale, and cut it off. Dragorum roared at the pain it caused him, which made artillery jump off his back.
"Are you okay?" Artillery said, a little frightened. "Yes, I'm just glad that thing is finally gone. Anyway, we still have the matter of providing me an escape from this prison." "Well," Artillery began. "I don't exactly know how, I've kinda been playing this thing by ear." Dragorum growled at his last comment. "Well you better figure it out, I refuse to allow you to just find out all about me, and then just leave me here." Artillery looked at him with a slight sadness. "I wouldn't do that to you. I'll set you free, mark my words." The dagger Artillery was holding suddenly changed back into the scepter again, and quickly changed into the staff he had held a few minutes before. The staff began leading him around the large room, and he stopped in front of a worn symbol on the wall. "Dragorum, what can you tell me about this?" He said, pointing at the symbol on the wall. Dragorum looked at it, and shook his head. "I have no clue what that is. Draguardium made a lot of symbols and things, each with a different meaning. I remember that one being important, but I can't remember why." Artillery frowned. He had no clue what to do, but suddenly, his scepter began glowing. It shot a beam at the symbol on the wall, and the symbol also began glowing. It rapidly spun around and around. A very thick beam of light then shot out of it, at a diagonal, into the floor. The ground began to quake and the dragon moved to the side of the room that Artillery was on. A huge ramp began coming out of the floor, and went all the way up to the ceiling, which slid open, to make a huge hole for the dragon to escape through. "Would you look at that? I can finally get out of here!" Dragorum ran up the ramp, and made his way into the forest. Artillery went up the ramp as well, and he saw four beams of light coming up from the ground, and all going off in different directions. He shouted out Leicion's name, and Leicion jumped out of a tree, and landed at Artillery's side. "You have released the beast! I did not think anyone could accomplish that task! Do you have the scale?" Artillery said nothing in reply, he merely held up the scale he had cut from Dragorum's back. "Excellent!" Leicion said. "Let us go! We only have an hour left; you spent quite some time down there! Leicion began running, and Artillery smiled. "Wait! I have a better way!" Artillery smiled, and his eyes twinkled. "Dragorum!" He shouted, and a roar filled the air. Trees began snapping around them, and Dragorum appeared.
"Yes?" He said, slightly irritated. Artillery smiled as Leicion looked on in shock. "Well, I heard you mention you'd love to stretch your wings again, and I kind of need a ride, so if you wouldn't mind, I kinda need a ride back to the village." Dragorum flapped his wings in excitement. "You set me free from that place! I would like for nothing more than to give you a ride!" Artillery smiled at him, and bowed a bit. "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like for my friend Leicion to ride with me." Dragorum thought it over for a moment, and nodded. "Very well. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." Artillery turned to Leicion, and gave him a wink. "Leicion, Dragorum says he'll give you a ride back to the village." Leicion walked a bit closer, and nearly fainted. "You mean you can talk to this creature?" "Of course," Artillery replied. "Can't you?" "I don't know anyone who claims to know the language of those beasts! Perhaps you are the one of the gods!" Artillery looked at him irritably. "Do you want a ride or not?" Leicion thought about it for a moment, and smiled. "I won't pass up this chance! I would love to for a ride on a dragon!" "Then let's go!" Artillery replied. Dragorum lowered his neck, and Artillery and Leicion climbed on. Dragorum looked up to the sky, and began flapping his wings. Artillery and Leicion braced themselves, as Dragorum shot off into the air. Higher and higher he went, soaring into the clouds. Though the village was shrouded in a magical cloak, Dragorum could still see it, sitting a few miles from where they currently were. He flapped his wings, and rocketed toward the village. When they made it almost directly above the village, Dragorum lowered himself down to land in a bare strip of dirt. The villagers all crowded around the beast, and Dragorum growled. They all backed off, and Artillery and Leicion jumped off the creature's neck. Artillery ignored the villagers and began walking to Elder Kahran's tent.
"Wait!" Dragorum shouted. Artillery turned to face him "Before I leave, I wanted to let you know that if you ever need me, use that staff to call me." Artillery smiled. "I will!" he shouted as Dragorum flew away. Artillery then turned tail and began walking toward Elder Kahran's tent. He finally made it in, and Kahran looked shocked.
"You have returned?! And with nearly an hour left. Impressive. That is, of course, if you managed to retrieve the scale. If not, you and your friends shall die." Artillery pulled out the scale he had been keeping in the arrow pouch that Tech made for him. "You mean this scale?" he said, a smirk painting his face. Elder Kahran looked at the scale, and gasped. "Impossible! No outsider could've gotten that scale!" Artillery frowned at him indignantly. "Well this one did, so let my friends go!" Elder Kahran gave an irritated sigh. "Very well, allow me to take you to them." Kahran began walking toward a tent that was further away from the other tents surrounding Kahran's. "You truly are a special individual. Perhaps you are even a reincarnation of the leader of the gods, as Leicion believes." They walked inside the tent, and Knightbeast immediately grabbed his cage at Artillery's arrival.
"You're back! Please tell me we can get the hell out of here!" Artillery smiled at Knightbeast and sighed. "Yes guys, Kahran is going to set you free. But, before he does, I want to let you know, that we're going to stay here a while. Don't do anything stupid to jeopardize that." Twilight gave a snarl. "You expect us to just sit here and do nothing after being locked in cages for eleven hours?!" Pixie also gave a little grunt of dissatisfaction. "Can't we just get out of here? We've spent too much time here as it is, only to be kidnapped and forced in cages, which were like magically sealed or something. Tech scoffed at her. "Humph! Magic! There is no such thing! They must have some sort of technology that even I can't understand." Artillery smirked at Tech, and then directed his gaze back at Kahran. "Could you let my friends go please?" Kahran gave a grunt and smiled.
"Of course. You have more than proved yourself worthy." Kahran waved his hand, after which, the cages began glowing, and they opened. The foursome of Tech, Pixie, Knightbeast, and Twilight all jumped from their cages, and stretched a bit. Kahran put a hand on Artillery's shoulder, and smiled. "You have come here to discover more about yourself, and the scepter you carry, correct?" Artillery nodded, and Kahran kept wearing his smile. "Very well. I was hesitant to reveal anything to you, because I was skeptical that you were indeed the reincarnation of Draguardium. However, considering the fact that you retrieved Dragorum's scale, there is no further doubt in my mind." Knightbeast looked at Kahran, and then Artillery, and turned his head slightly sideways. "What's he talking about, Artillery?" Artillery smiled. "I'll explain later. Anyway, what's next, Kahran?" Kahran turned his back to the group of them, and frowned. "You must go on a journey to the place that scepter was created, to discover its true purpose." Artillery looked confusedly at Kahran. "How am I supposed to make it to this place? I have no clue where it is!" Kahran frowned, though Artillery couldn't see; Kahran's back was still turned to him. "Your scepter will guide you, young one. Normally this would be a journey you would have to undertake alone, but, considering the way I treated your friends, I think it's only fair that they be allowed to accompany you." Knightbeast growled at Kahran. "Damn right we get to go with him! No one is gonna tell me any different!" Kahran turned back to face Artillery and the others. "You may go anytime you wish," he began, ignoring Knightbeast's comment. "But I would suggest that you rest before you go on such an arduous journey. There are bedrolls in my hut if you wish to do so." Artillery nodded to him, and instructed his team to follow him. They did as he said and followed him to Kahran's hut. They went deep inside the hut, and found a series of bedrolls, just as Kahran said. Artillery lay down, as his friends did the same, and they all slowly drifted off to sleep. Artillery however, lay awake for a while longer, his head finally hitting the pillow, swimming with thoughts of the upcoming journey, and the discovery of his role in all this.

Superhero Epic Ch. 7

Chapter 7: Dealing


Mindbender and company continued to fly toward the Emperor's palace. They finally made it there when gunfire began to riddle them, which Mindbender put up a telekinetic shield to repel.
"Fools!" Mindbender shouted. He flung a hand forward, and the soldiers shooting at them flew up in the air. When they landed back down on the ground with a sick thud, Mindbender flew toward the building at breakneck speed, crashing through a window. His companions followed him through the window, and encountered a mass of resistance.
"Soldiers, open fire! Destroy those freaks!" They responded with a barrage of gunfire and Mindbender once again shielded his team. Mindbender looked at them and smiled. "Did you really think I would allow you to harm me or my companions? How foolish! Dracosaur, enlighten them on what happens to fools." The soldiers stopped firing due to the fact that they had run out of ammo firing on Mindbender's telekinetic shield. Mindbender lowered his shield as a jet of fire shot from Dracosaur's mouth, incinerating the soldiers, who went in to full panic-mode. Mindbender began laughing and flung the soldiers out the window. He directed his gaze at Shadowcaster and stopped laughing immediately.
"Shadowcaster, shroud the building. We don't want to be interrupted." Shadowcaster gave him a look of uncertainty, but went along with his orders anyway. A dome of shadow began to surround the building as onlookers watched in horror. "Excellent, now let us find this Emperor, shall we?" The trio of Mindbender, Shadowcaster and Dracosaur roamed the halls, and occasionally encountered some guards, which they quickly dispatched. They rushed down a hallway, and found a locked door. Mindbender attempted to blast it open with a telekinetic pulse, but found his attempt unsuccessful.
"What's wrong?" Shadowcaster said worriedly. Mindbender threw an irritated look at her. "It appears he has this door very well bolted shut. No matter, I'll get it open." Mindbender looked very intently at the door in front of him and directed his thoughts behind it. A soldier was guarding the inside of the door, and Mindbender could feel his thoughts. He pushed his own thoughts into the soldier's head, telling him to open the door. The soldier felt Mindbender's thoughts become his own and began moving toward the keypad, ignoring any orders not to. He punched in the code to open the door, and then shot his partner soldier, and himself, in the head. The door opened, and Mindbender and his associates walked in the room. They looked around and saw an empty room, aside from the two dead soldiers lying in front of the door, and a desk sitting in the far end of the room. Mindbender closed his eyes, and seemed to almost scan the room, his thoughts peering for any life form other than Shadowcaster and Dracosaur. His thoughts moved around the room for a moment, when he found the Emperor. He began talking to him using his telepathy.
"Come out Emperor, there isn't any reason to hide from us; we wish to talk to you." The Emperor, hiding underneath the desk, whimpered inaudibly. He attempted to keep his thoughts to himself, with no success. "What are you so afraid of? What secrets do you hide?" Mindbender smiled a very devious smile. The Emperor boldly made his way from underneath the desk and shouted at Mindbender intently.
"How dare you?! You have entered my place of residence and desecrated my troops!" Emperor Lignum gave a look of disgust at Mindbender and his lot. Mindbender merely smiled, though Shadowcaster and Dracosaur did not share his politeness. "You should calm down, Gareth. Yes we have entered your home, but we would have done the same to anyone else, you are a lower form of being, and that is to be expected. As for the soldiers, I did nothing but defend myself and my friends, they would have done the same to us, so why not pay them the same respect?" Lignum looked at Mindbender with contempt and frowned. "What do you want?"
"Let me first introduce myself. I am Mindbender. The lovely woman to my left is Shadowcaster, and the impressive creature to my right is Dracosaur. We had come with the intention of killing you, and my friends here are probably wondering why I haven't yet. While I was in your mind, I discovered something." Emperor Lignum looked incredibly frightened and angry. Mindbender ignored him, and went on. "While I do admit that I was completely ready to kill you and get on with my business, what I discovered while in your mind changes everything. Now, if you wish for your secret to remain so, then you can enlighten my friends here, and I promise that no one but the four of us will know, but if you do not, I have no problem telling the entire population of Draguardium what you really are." Lignum growled in anger and took a deep breath in.
"Very well. Is this all you want?" Mindbender let out a small laugh at Lignum's question. "There are a few other things I require for keeping your secret, but they are minor, I can assure you." Lignum actually managed to crack a smile. "So it's blackmail, then? Fantastic. Very well, you monster, if it makes you feel better to hear it, fine. I am a Metahuman. I am a freak just like the rest of you monsters. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Wait a minute, what?" Shadowcaster said in shock. Mindbender smiled, and Dracosaur growled. "You mean to tell me that you are calling a war on our kind, when some of us had to scrounge around, barely making it by? And on top of that, you were raised with a silver spoon in your mouth, when you're just like the rest of us?! I should roast you!" Mindbender became incredibly irritated. "Dracosaur, calm down, I have a proposition for our friend here. However, before I get to that, you hate our kind, but may I ask why? I may be ruthless, but I do care for my fellow Metahuman. If need be, I will make this one of the conditions of our agreement. Just tell us why you hate Metahumans so badly."
"You want to know? Fine. From the moment I was born, I was treated like a second-class citizen by my family. Even before they discovered my abilities, I was dirt to them. My father was the important one; I was always shoved to the side to make way for my saintly brothers and my perfect mother. My father was the domineering dictator, everything was his way, and I was never even considered to take his place as Emperor. Then they found out I was a Metahuman, and they kept me locked away. Whenever my family went on an outing, my father would temporarily take me out of my cage, and let me join in the festivities to save embarrassment."
"Could you move it along please?" Dracosaur said, still irritated. Mindbender looked at Dracosaur forebodingly. "He has a point, let him finish."
"Thank you. Anyway, eventually, I got sick of my family's treatment of me. I was going to get back at them for what they did, no matter what the cost. When I escaped, I had discovered that my mother had passed away from an illness she had been battling with for quite some time, so that just meant one less family member to get back at. I went for my brothers first. My brother Patrick was swimming in the family pool one day, and I took the opportunity to make him suffer. A whirlpool appeared in the water, and pulled him in. He continued to spin around until he became so disoriented, he couldn't stay afloat. He sunk down to the bottom and drowned to death. After his death, I took no hesitation in going after my brother Percy. He was hiking on a trail not too far from the hills to the east, and I was following him. He began going toward the slopes of Mount Djinn and I once again seized the opportunity to exact my revenge. An avalanche began to roll down the mountainside, and my brother began to flee, but it came too fast for him to do anything about it. He was crushed by the falling rocks, and I went to finish off my father, which I promptly did with a house fire. His palace burned down to the ground, taking with it his will, and thus making me the rightful heir to his throne. I told you that story so you will better understand when I explain my reasons for my distrust of Metahumans. I hold a grudge against you because no matter how oppressed you were, you at least had the support of your family, which is something I never had, though I deserved it just as much as anyone."
"You think all of us had the support of our families? Please! My dad hated me after he found out what I was! He wasn't too fond of me beforehand, considering the fact that he used to beat me on a daily basis. Trust me, some of us have had it just as hard as you, but that's what makes us strong, and that's why we do what we do," Shadowcaster said boldly.
"Well put, dear. You can be more than just an Emperor. Trust me, your life can be much better than what you had previously wished it to be," Mindbender said slyly.
"I don't understand. What could be more than being Emperor?" Mindbender gave him a slight frown and walked up to him. "My friend, my mission is simple: to end the oppression of our kind. In order to do that, I will need your help. Once our goal is reached, you will no longer need to hide who you are. We will be able to help you if you allow us to." Lignum's face was working, and he absorbed the information he was given. "What are you proposing?"
"What I want is for you to become a member of our allegiance. I am not asking you to give up your post as Emperor, in fact, I would be incredibly happy if you would keep your post. What I need from you is to be a double agent of sorts. Keep the anti-Metahuman sentiments going amongst the people, and all that mistrust and anger can help us." Lignum looked confused. "I'm afraid I still don't understand. How is that going to help Metahumans?"
"I'd like to know that too, Mindbender. You say you've got our best interests at heart, but you want to keep this war going. That doesn't add up to me," Dracosaur growled. "Look at it this way, Dracosaur. If we are to become superior, we must fight to gain our superiority. We will never be respected as superiors if we can't fight for our place. The human race fought hard for their position, why should we expect any less? I realize you are angry, my friend, but we will never be strong unless we can stand up against an entire civilization. That is the only way to prove it to them." Dracosaur growled again. "Fine, whatever. This is getting to be a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be."
"Where do we go from here?" Lignum asked, smiling slightly. Mindbender returned his smile. "I can feel someone coming. It is odd, I cannot gauge their thoughts, it as if they are being blocked from me. If it is who I think it is, once they arrive, talk with them and make sure that they think you are still as anti-Metahuman as ever. When they are convinced that you are not going to change your position, they will leave. Once that happens, set another press conference and make the public think that these 'heroes' are behind an attack on your life. Then we can make our next move. For now, however, I must leave." Mindbender took flight out of the one window in the room, and Dracosaur and Shadowcaster followed. As they made it out the window, the layer of shadow shrouding the palace disappeared. They flew for a while, and landed in the street a few blocks away from the palace.
"You mean to tell me we gotta walk?" Dracosaur grumbled. Mindbender eyed him with a smirk. "Relax, it's only until Franklin and his friends arrive at the palace. When they make it, we can fly all you want." Mindbender stood there for a few moments with his eyes closed, and once he could feel their consciousness enter the palace, he ordered his friends to take flight, as he did the same.
A few minutes earlier, Pixie had been training her powers, and since she knew exactly what needed to be achieved, it was a relatively simple process. She only had to try a few times before she got the hang of cloaking the whole team. Once she got it, they took off into the air, with Twilight holding Knightbeast, and Tech holding Artillery. Pixie was riding on Twilight's back, cloaking the others. They flew for quite a while, until they finally made it to the palace, where they found a broken window, which they promptly flew into. They saw the Emperor standing there, pacing back and forth, and then Pixie removed the cloak she had placed on them. Lignum turned with a start and he shouted at them.
"Who are you?! Have you come here to kill me? Are you the ones responsible for all of this damage?!" Knightbeast looked at Emperor Lignum with a slight look of shock, but shook it off. "Look Lignum, we gotta talk about some things." Lignum looked at Knightbeast in disgust. "The creature just spoke to me! Don't you have a cage to get to, animal?" Knightbeast tried to charge at Lignum, but Artillery caught him and held him back. "Knightbeast, calm down! Look Lignum, can't we keep this civilized?" Artillery said angrily, wanting to let Knightbeast go. Lignum cracked a smile, and chuckled a little. "Civilized? That beast just tried to attack me! You people are a prime example of why I am calling this war! Invading my home, trying to attack me, I'm surprised that you haven't devolved into slithering puddles of muck, the way you behave."
"We're trying to negotiate with you if you'd let us!" Pixie shouted. Lignum laughed. "Negotiate with you monsters? You people are pathetic! Get out of my home before I decide to have you killed!" Knightbeast growled at Lignum. "Gladly! I don't wanna be here with a bigot like you anyway! Knightbeast hopped on Twilight's back and ordered his team to move out. They did as he ordered and flew out the window into the afternoon air.
Lignum made a noise of disgust as he was disgusted with himself for what he was forced to do. He now was with them, the very things he despised for so long, who he hated for having the comfort of being able to be proud of who they were, he now was a part of them. As much as he hated them, he couldn't help longing for that life, after the sheltered one he was forced to live. He had thought about being with his fellow Metahumans many times, but the idea had seemed foolish at the time. How could he ever be with them? They would surely take away everything that he had fought so hard to achieve. He wiped away all the negativity from his head, as he had done so many times before, and sat behind his desk. His head still rang with what that woman said. It's our hardships that make us stronger. Never had he heard words so true. It was these words that he clung to in order to make sense of everything. Just when he had calmed himself down, armed guards ran into his room and looked for any sign of intruders.
"Are you all right, sir?" One of the guards asked. Lignum did not move. He merely looked at the guard and gave a stony look. "Have the television cameras wheeled up here. I must alert the public to what has happened." The guard looked confused. "Sir, what happened?" Lignum looked down at his desk for a moment. He then looked at the guard with the same stony expression but spoke in a tone that almost sounded amused. "An attempt was just made on my life. Those Metahumans are animals, and I must counter-attack. Just get the cameras up here, I will deal with the rest." The guard looked as if he was about to speak, but the look on Lignum's face stopped him. He commanded the other guards in the room to get the reporters and camera crews in his office as soon as possible.
About fifteen minutes later, back at the place that Knightbeast and his team call home, the television was on, with Gareth Lignum sitting at his desk in his office. Everyone was on the couch watching, except for Knightbeast, who was standing behind it. Lignum then began speaking.
"Greetings to the people of Draguardium. I have come to you in distress. I have said to the people time and time again that Metahumans are nothing but monsters, and now I have proof. I was confronted by a ravaging set of these creatures who demanded that I call off the war. When I refused, their leader attempted to kill me. He lunged at me, and nearly took my head off." At this, Knightbeast growled in anger, and the TV continued to blare on. "Luckily I was not intimidated and I kicked the beast off of me. After they saw that I refused to relent, they left, like the cowards they are. The attempt on my life has made me even more determined to wipe these animals out. I am depending on you, the people of Draguardium to help me in these efforts. Any Metahuman found should be immediately taken to the Hunter Corporation on Starland Way. If you are dedicated to the cause, you may find further employment there. I thank you for listening, and bid you farewell." Twilight turned off the TV and snarled.
"What the hell are we gonna do now? We've got basically everyone out there hunting for us, and all because of a goddamn lie!" Knightbeast growled very fiercely. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do! Nothing! There's nothing we can do! I can't take being prosecuted anymore! Maybe we should all just turn ourselves in."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing! The one I looked up to for being a good leader, and a good friend, is giving up? What happened to you?" Artillery shouted. Knightbeast looked at him, incredibly depressed. "I've just been…broken. All the oppression and hate finally got to me, ok? Is that what you wanted to hear?"
"Knightbeast, please…" Pixie begged. She looked at him with tears in her eyes, her face reddening. "Please, we have to fight. If we don't, who else will?" Knightbeast looked back at her, also teary eyed. "I can't do it anymore, I just can't. I wanted to help people, to make our planet a better place to live. Now these people are trying to kill us, so why should I save them? This planet isn't a better place. This planet is being ruined. Why should I give them the satisfaction of being saved, when none of them would do the same for me? I'm sick of helping those ungrateful bastards!"
"You're sick of saving them?! You used to be one! Hell, you still are! Don't let your outward appearance determine who you are, even your abilities. Your actions dictate who you are, and as far as I'm concerned, you are more human than they are!" Artillery shouted. Knightbeast gave a little smile, but quickly returned to his depressed scowl. "What are we supposed to do? How can we fight this?" Artillery walked up to Knightbeast and put a hand on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter how we fight, all that matters is that we do indeed fight. We have to fight, not just for ourselves, but for anyone who's oppressed!" Knightbeast let out a little chuckle, which made Artillery smile. "Artillery, you remind me of myself when I started this team. Fine, I'll keep fighting, but I can't lead this team anymore. I think that job is better suited to someone else." Knightbeast gave a wink to Artillery and smiled. "Whoa, you mean me?" Artillery blushed. "I couldn't think of anyone better. Your resolve can never be broken, no matter what happens to you, and that makes you perfect for the job. Just do me a favor and don't give me the whole 'I'm honored' garbage." Artillery smiled. "All right, thanks." He shook Knightbeast's hand and looked at his new team.
"So what's next, Artillery?" Twilight said, surprisingly warmer to him now. Artillery just smiled. "Well, I am determined to stop this war, and I refuse to let Carter, or Mindbender, whatever he wants to be called, get his way. He wants this war so he can gain superiority. He may have a very powerful weapon in his telekinesis and his telepathy, but I have a powerful weapon too, and with it, I know we can take him down."
"There is a flaw in your plan." Tech began. "You barely know how that thing really works. You're as clueless as the natives of the Vermillion Archipelago." Artillery got a chill down his spine at the last two words. "What did you just say?" he asked, his eyes glaring at where Tech's should be. Tech looked a little startled. "You're clueless." "No, after that," Artillery replied, completely nonplussed by Tech's comment. "The Vermillion Archipelago?" Tech asked, unsure what relevance that had to the conversation. "Yes! I don't know why, but I just know that's the answer! That's where I'll find out the secrets of this thing, I feel it! It's like the scepter is trying to communicate with me!"
"What are you trying to say? You're not planning on actually going there are you?" Knightbeast said, almost laughing. Artillery looked at Knightbeast intently. "That's exactly what I'm planning. The secret is there, I can feel it. We need to leave as soon as possible."
"Frank, I realize that you feel that this is the right thing to do, but how do you know? You could be leading us on a wild goose chase." Pixie said with a bit of indignation. "Listen, I know this may seem crazy, but I just know that this is what is gonna help us, you gotta trust me."
"Well if we're going, I'm not going unprepared. We're going to have to deal with natives, and I highly doubt any of us know their language." Tech said, almost excited. "Don't you have some kind of device that'll let us communicate with them?" Artillery replied. "I have one thing, it's primitive, and can interpret only the simplest of languages, but I think if I work with it a little, it may be just the thing we need. What it does is takes the sound, turns it into electricity and the electricity is then turned into something we can understand, via an earpiece. Give me an hour or two, and I'll have it running perfectly." He looked at Artillery, and gave him a nod, and then he went into his room. The entire team sat there, buzzing with thoughts of the upcoming voyage.
The day was darkening fast, and Mindbender and his crew was on the move.
"Where are we going?" Shadowcaster shouted, due to the wind rushing past them. Mindbender continued moving forward and shouted, "I have diverted from my duty for too long; we need more soldiers for our army. We are going to Kilgari. It is said to be a treasure trove of Metahumans. We need to make a stop by Lignum's home first, though. His order to lock down the city will stop us from getting transportation. I would normally just have us use our abilities to fly there, but I think that may be a bit overtaxing for the two of you, plus, it would take too long." Mindbender landed a few blocks away from the palace and Dracosaur and Shadowcaster did the same.
"Why are we landing?" Dracosaur asked irritably. Mindbender smiled his dark smile. "Don't you think if we were to go in there as we did before, we would be rushing things? If we go in there, guns a-blazing, he will have no choice but to have us destroyed, and I don't want to jeopardize the relationship that he and I share. Now enough talking, let's go." Mindbender began walking, with Dracosaur and Shadowcaster's feet began to pound the pavement. Dracosaur looked down at his feet and gave a little laugh. "Don't you think people are gonna notice me?" Mindbender turned his head, and chuckled just as Dracosaur had done. "Relax, my friend. You will be fine. If anyone comes near us, I will plant the idea in their heads that you are nothing but ordinary. Just relax." They all continued on until they made it to the palace. When they made it there, the soldiers guarding the gate stopped them from proceeding any further.
"Who are you, and what do you think you are doing here?" Mindbender gave the soldiers a polite smile. "I wish to see the Emperor, if you would please open the gates and let us in, I would greatly appreciate it." The soldier on the left laughed at this. "I'm sure you would kid, why don't you and your friends go someplace else, huh?" Mindbender looked down at the ground, the soldier assumed it was because he was upset because he was upset that he couldn't get in, but in reality, Mindbender was communicating his thoughts to Emperor Lignum. "I would greatly appreciate it if you would get your goons to allow us in, we have something to discuss." A few moments later, the soldier on the right put a finger to his ear and nodded his head a few times, with a bit of inaudible dialogue escaping his lips. He nodded to his fellow soldier, and the gate opened. "Watch yourself kid, or I'll take you out," the soldier shouted at Mindbender, who smiled at him. "I'll keep that in mind, now if you don't mind, I'd like to see the Emperor." He walked past the soldiers as Shadowcaster and Dracosaur followed. They kept walking and went into the door, which more soldiers seemed to be behind.
"We're your escorts. Don't do anything stupid, or you'll be killed." The soldiers walked them to a lift and opened the door. Once they all walked in, one of the soldiers closed the door, the other soldier pressed a button on the lift, and it started to go up. No talking went on, the soldiers, just with their presence, seemed to silence the area. Mindbender looked at one of the soldiers, and he could've sworn that his skin was peeling away, and beneath it there was an orange, scaly look, but he ignored it, and looked forward. The lift stopped and the soldiers opened the door, as they began walking down a long narrow hallway, which led to a door with a keypad. The soldier to their left typed in a code, and the door opened to reveal Emperor Lignum's office.
"We're prohibited from standing in on your meeting, but if there is even the slightest sound of danger, we will not hesitate to destroy you," the odd-looking soldier said. Mindbender gave him a confused look, and shuddered. "Don't worry, I just have a request of him, and if I don't get the answer I want, I will leave." Mindbender walked in, and his friends followed him, and the door shut closed behind them.
"Well if it isn't Mindbender. Ah you brought Dracosaur and Shadowcaster as well. What can I do for you?" Lignum said smiling. Mindbender returned his smile. "Well, I have a favor to ask of you. We are in need of more followers, but I believe that there are valuable assets outside of Draguardium. I need your help in getting me to Kilgari. Your lockdown of the city has kind of dampened my travel plans." Lignum frowned at this. "Well, I would love to help you out, but any method of transportation outside town is blocked, no airships are allowed to take off, all airports are shut down. I don't really see any way out of town for you." Mindbender looked at him, and gave a sly smile. "You must have your own private airship or something. Let us use that." Lignum laughed. "Are you crazy? Do you honestly think you're going to use my airship? I'm sorry, but I can't."
"Why the hell not? We're risking a lot to even be associated with you, you know," Dracosaur could feel his anger beginning to boil up. Lignum looked at him, taken aback. "I could say the same about you. My answer has not changed. I can't let you use my airship, not without me on it." Mindbender smiled, as he saw a loophole open up. "Do you have a second in command?" Lignum looked at Mindbender intently. "Why do you want to know? What's brewing in that complex brain of yours?" Mindbender looked at Lignum and smiled. He wiped the hair away from his forehead, and blinked. "Well, you could appoint him to rule in your stead, and you could accompany us to Kilgari in your airship. What better way is there to prove you are truly with us?"
"So it's a question of allegiances, is it?" Lignum replied. Mindbender looked at Lignum, smiling as usual. "If it needs to be," he said. Lignum looked down at his feet and became very somber. "What have I gotten myself into?" Shadowcaster looked at him, and felt sad for him, considering their similar parental torment. "Listen, Lignum, you just need to trust Mindbender, he might not exactly be the kind of person you're used to dealing with, but he's our best shot at finally feeling normal. Isn't that what you want?" Lignum smiled at her, he had not felt someone so warm and inviting reach out to him this way in his life. "I suppose you're right my dear. Very well, allow me to make a telephone call, and we can get out of here. He walked to his desk, and picked up the receiver to his telephone. He dialed a number, waited for it to ring a few times, until he heard someone pick up.
"General Talon? Good, I need you to take my place for a few days. I know this is on short notice, but I am really in a hurry. Details? I have to meet with the Prime Minister of Kilgari. Apparently he is experiencing Metahuman difficulties as well. I'm sorry but I have to go. Get here as soon as you can, I have to leave right now." He hung up the phone and was moving rather erratically. "All right you three, we have to move quick if we're to get out of here before Talon makes it here. We'll need to take the lift to the hangar bay, and after that we can get out of here." Mindbender smiled as Lignum put in the code on the keypad and the door opened. The guards were still standing there, and they saw Lignum walk briskly from the room, with Mindbender, Shadowcaster, and Dracosaur following quickly behind. They pointed their guns at the trio, and yelled at them to stop.
"They're with me, c'mon!" Lignum said, telling the soldiers off, and motioning for Mindbender, Dracosaur, and Shadowcaster to follow him. They did as he said, but he stopped. "Soldiers, One of you call the pilot and tell him to meet us in the hangar bay. I have important business to attend to." He started toward the lift, and made his way inside it, followed by the trio. The lift doors closed, and Lignum opened a panel, and pressed a button inside it. The lift began to travel downward, and Lignum took a breath.
"What's the matter, can't take a little excitement?" Dracosaur said smiling. Lignum laughed a bit, and shook his head. "I can take plenty of it, I just haven't exactly prepared for this. I'm used to having a certain amount of order in things." Mindbender laughed at Lignum's comment. "This certainly is not the best place to find order, my friend. But seeing as you are one of us now, what would you like to be called? We each have a name to signify the importance of our abilities, to separate us from our human selves. What would you like to be called?"
"I've been thinking about that. How about 'Elemage?'" Lignum said, smiling. Mindbender gave an odd look and shook it off his face. "Elemage is as good as any other, I suppose." The lift finally stopped after what seemed like forever. Elemage opened the lift doors to reveal a massive hangar, and even more impressive, an enormous airship that lay in the center. The airship was massive, and had a 'bucket' for holding passengers and the pilot, but most of the ship's mass was above the bucket. It was a massive container to hold the gas, which was used to give the ship its lift. He walked toward the airship, which now seemed much further away than originally anticipated, with his new teammates following behind him. They walked for a while, and when they finally made it to the Airship, a pilot greeted them. "Your ship is ready for takeoff sir. If I may inquire as to our destination—" Lignum put up a hand to stop him. "Take us to Kilgari, no questions asked," he said, opening the door to the airship. Everyone went inside, including the pilot, who shut the door. He went up to the front, and pressed a button or two, flipped a few switches, and pulled a lever. Then the very ceiling above them folded upward to allow the airship through. The foursome of Elemage, Mindbender, Shadowcaster and Dracosaur looked down at the ground, mindful of the task that was to be done.