Chrono Continuum Chapter 20
Problems Solved?
By Cain
64,999,998 BC
Corea looked up, impressed. She and her escort of hunters stood before a pair of double-doors. Corea looked up further. It wasn't hard to see the top of the complex. She guessed that the Tyrano Lair had been much higher once, but its glory was now lost. Still, at least it was above ground. In her time, her father had showed her this exact area, but the Lair was deep underground. They built a cabin there. A safe, secluded place. She and Rakin always loved going there, away from the castle, with no one to bother them but their parents... She wiped her eyes, and willed the redness to go away so the hunters wouldn't lose respect for her. If there was oner thing she had learned with them, it was that the chief could never show any signs of weakness. She turned to the closest person. It happened to be one of the men. She scoured her memory for his name, but could find neither hide nor hair of it.
"Man. What is your name," she barked out. He snapped his head toward her, absorbed the question, and answered.
"Me Vomo." She nodded, acting as if she'd remember his name, although she now recalled having asked him five times already.
"Vomo. Good name. Could... you open door, now." She had trouble ordering instead of requesting. She also had trouble speaking in terms simple enough for them to understand. He considered a moment, and then seemed to remember the answer to a question.
"Can not, Chief. Door not work. We see reptites make tunnel under wall. They block door. Tunnel too small for human... What we do?" Corea's face explained her feelings very well. Annoyed enough to shove him through the tunnel herself for not telling her sooner, but not patient enough to do so. She looked to the double-doors. A barrier. A block to her mission. They were trying to stop her from saving this Ayla woman. That meant that an innocent woman would not survive. Corea didn't like that at all. It made her angry, a feeling that brought on strength. She had learned that during her stay. She continued staring at the doors, and they soon became the focus of her anger. They were evil. They had to be destroyed. And she would do just that. She pointed at them.
A flash burst from her finger tip. Her eyes began to shine a bright blue, frightening her group. A wind blew up, seemingly out of nowhere, stirring up dust. None of it touched her. Brief sparks flashed through the spikes of her hair. She gritted her teeth. Those doors didn't stand a chance. Her fingers, currently at a pointing position, slowly curled into a fist. Bright blue light shone from it. Corea smiled. She brought her arm back, and then threw it forward with all her might. There was a flash, an explosion of electricity as her fist hit the doors, and a sharp rapport of sound. And then it all ceased. The doors flew back, shattered into many small pieces. Corea examined her fist. Not a scratch. She turned to the awed hunters.
"Well, what are you brave men and women waiting for? Let's save the chief."
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2311 AD
This was it. The deciding battle. In three days, the guard had told him. In three days he'd be fighting the fight that would guarantee his freedom. And the freedom of Kradish. Robo and his fellow prisoner had been getting to know, as the saying went, eachother the last few days. Kradish had turned out to be a petty thief, who would not even battle in the arena because he wasn't worth it. And at Kradish's request, Robo had even requested that Kradish be allowed to watch his battles. Kradish often admitted how impressed he was. Robo wondered if he would have been more impresseive with his old devices. His new ones felt strange, after using the old ones for so many years. Yet they worked well.
The device called the "Huvatron" that had been implanted in his feet allowed him to glide along above the ground at twice his footspeed. A rather large weapon was at home on his left shoulder, and was currently facing upwards, off. He had yet to find out what it did, preferring not to use unnecessary force in his battles. The right wrist housed an energy shield device, capable of deflecting almost any energy and very well equipped against physical attack as well. That had come in useful. On his left wrist was a small reel, housing a whip-like cord. He could unwind it at will. He could also freely energize it, making it stronger, and quite damaging. His body had also been revamped. It was thinner and longer, so that he looked less like a rock and more like a human. He was still short, as his legs had not been further tampered with.
He would have sighed. He supposed he was probably much more impressive now, but it would be nice to have his own body back, at least for a time. That idea stuck. He could make his body shiftable, if he could get the tools. Perhaps he could even create a replica of his original body, and transfer his mind there. Or back, if the situation demanded it. It just might. He had no doubt that his allies were trying even now to handle whatever the problem was, and that they would come for him. Eventually.
And as Robo a.k.a. Prometheus a.k.a R66-Y thought his deep thoughts, Kradish sat in his cell, and watched a video on his small portable screen. A scene of Robo dodging a tentacle. A scene where he was jumping to his full height. A scene where he could see the enemy with night vision apparently double that of a human's. He rewound it all, and played it for the thirty-seventh time. Kradish watched this all, absorbing it. Thinking his thoughts.
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Same Time
It was dark. There was no sound. Until the faint sound of tearing could be heard. It grew louder, and louder, until it was fully unnatural. A circle of midnight blue appeared in the darkness, giving off its own non-light,visible in the darkness. A dark form jumped out, landed lightly on his feet. He looked around, letting his vision adjust to the darkness. It wasn't enough. He blinked, and the magic kicked in. He could suddenly see perfectly. He wrinkled his nose in surprise and slight disgust. It was one of the futuristic privies he had seen, and had even studied and installed in his own home. But this was not even close to the clean disposal unit he had made. This room was dirty, with stains on the floor, and bits of paper strewn about. Why anyone would care so little about paper, Magus could never understand. One piece of paper could be worth more than gold with the right things on it. He was rather short on it. He'd have to buy some in this time.
He turned to the portal. Waited. Waited. Waited. He folded his arms. He'd jumped into the portal behind the kid. He should have come out first. The portal was wavering. It would close soon. Magus gave brief thought to magically holding it open, but decided against it. If the kid was lost, he was lost, and Magus could do nothing about that. The tearing sound ended, and the portal shrank into nothingness. Magus shrugged. If the kid was as lucky as he seemed, they'd meet up later somehow. Those kinds of coincidences happened. At least to him.
He turned, alert, as the door next to him opened. Light spilled in to reveal a man in a green uniform. He reached for the wall, towards what Magus recognized as an activation switch, possibly for the electric light. Before the man had even seen him, Magus pulled out his scythe. It was rather small, looking like the majority of the handle had been sheared off, though it was in fact retracted into the part of the pole holding the blade, so as to be easily concealed. He didn't extend it. He rammed the butt of the retracted handle against the man's skull, knocking him out cold. He closed the door. With a gesture, the man was upright, though unconscious. Magus manipulated his body, disrobing him indirectly. Afterwards, Magus doffed his own clothes and donned the somewhat smelly uniform. His outfit went into the man's pack, now on Magus' back. Magus opened the door, looked left and right, and walked out into the open.
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The black wind howls again...
- Magus
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