by Vee Bosse
“This is unreal! I feel in sync with this mace!” he announced as he noticed its black and blue form, only this weapon seemed to be made of a material that was not Diamond Radiance. He even felt a surge of electricity upon wielding it.
“Derek...Woolfing,” Jordan said, still pulsating his brilliant corona energy. Derek showed a confident smile as he suddenly began to walk forward in the direction of Hubris.
“Lady, we’ve got stuff to do. We’re gonna leave now.” Yet just as Derek announced the signal to the entire group that they were making a break for it, the six androids lunged at the team with a purpose as Professor Hubris snapped her finger twice, thus giving their signal to subdue them. They all ejected a strange net that gave off a unique white glow, and as the nets connected to each other flying fast in their direction, the group found themselves in desperate need to defend themselves.
“I got this,” declared Dre as she threw her palms out in front of her with no delay. Her psych energy reformed itself as she launched them at the net in the form of bullet-like projectiles. “What is this?” to her amazement, she witnessed the psych bullet hitting the net with ease, yet somehow, the net could reform itself back into shape. “Then I’ll just have to be defensive,” she said as she moved her arms in a backwards motion, thus creating a defensive dome around her entire team in protection.
At that moment, she looked on in horror as the cybernetic net impacted her psych shield, but was still able to seep through, thus surrounding the team indefinitely. “The hell?” she yelled in frustration when the net suddenly constricted itself, completely binding the team into submission on the ground.
“Damn...I can’t...move,” said Christian, suddenly loathing his feeling of helplessness once again. Andrea’s psych energy died off while the team struggled against the net that felt to them like iron bars that had the weight of a feather.
Sabrina took care to cast her cybernetic net at Derek’s group directly, to which Jordan responded to by stepping forward, and attempting to enclose the net in his corona energy to send it on a long trip to the sun. “Jordan,” Woolfing said as he noticed his energy continuously died off as he attempted to consume it.
“I’m trying...ugh!” Jordan said in frustration when Sarge leapt forward.
“These nets seem to be immune to yours and Dre’s abilities...so now, it’s time for me to shine for once! Just stand back you three!” Woolfing sneered at Sarge’s sudden arrogance as he swung his giant mace in a spiraling motion for the kill. With as much strength as he could muster, Sarge attempted to destroy the net with whatever energy he imagined could come out of the mace. But much to his dismay, he saw nothing extraordinary upon its impact. “What the hell?” he yelled as even his enormous physical strength with the hammer wasn’t enough to stop its momentum.
Derek and his team tried to dodge backwards to escape the net as it snapped around Sarge and his mace, rendering him immobile. The net moved with almost a mind of its own as it lunged at the other three, tackling the remaining escapees to the ground hopelessly. “Shit! Even after all of our precautions, how could this happen?” Derek asked rhetorically as all seventeen team members writhed on the ground, subdued while their robot captors stood above them without emotion or words.
“Now, don’t you understand what happens when you don’t focus on your positives every day?” said Hubris as she looked on above, feeling satisfied once more.
“I guess I have to do it. I never wanted to show this to anyone else. But,” Said Winkle as she was able to just barely able to move enough to pull out her leather sack holding her gemstones.
Hubris continued on: “These nets are made of cybernetic Anti-Radiance. Surely you don’t think out of the thousands that I have brought to this island that you are the only ones to resist your unleashing? Forbidden abilities and normal physical attacks are completely nullified with my wonderful nets. Now, children, you will unlock your abilities my way as faithful androids, or be killed in the process while attempting to resist!”
Winkle smiled in defiance, shouting a few words in confidence, “Come out,Carlisle!!!” It was a massive burst of wind, almost like the sudden strength of a tornado threatened to carry them all away. Just as Hubris announced the end of their rebellion, Winkle slammed a jade gemstone to the ground, causing a sudden wind cyclone to knock Hubris over on her balcony, and send her android servants flying to the ground. The massive gust was also somehow able to send the cybernetic nets flying away to release the captives.
“It’s...it’s a dragon?!!” yelled Haynes as the group struggled to keep their footing on the ground below in the massive windstorm. Indeed, a large, green dragon had appeared before them all at the summoning of Winkle with her green gemstone.
“Of course. This is Carlisle, the Jade Dragon of the Wind,” declared Winkle as everyone’s jaws dropped to the ground. “My dragons are amazing, aren’t they?” Winkle’s smile was filled with pride as Hubris’ appearance had suddenly become unkempt and crazed as her eyes widened to the breaking point.
“Winkle...the gemstones,” Hubris stuttered out as best she could at the realization that the true power of the gemstones was so far beyond anyone’s imagination. Hubris lunged upwards, hanging onto her balcony for dear life in an effort to not become a projectile in the raging wind.
“You seem shocked Professor, but I have to apologize about that lie I told earlier. The gemstones I found in the mountains all those years ago are my precious Dragon Stones, that each have their own elemental empowerment. Obviously, you can see Carlisle’s elemental ability is wind.” Winkle’s revelation made a smile once again creep on the face of Hubris. Yet this time, she seemed to truly lose her mind in sheer madness at the sight of a subject summoning a dragon right before her eyes.
“I must...I will have you WINKLE RAMSAY!!”
Hubris commanded her robot soldiers into action once more as she suddenly pointed directly at Winkle for a quick capturing. “I will capture the others later. Your power will be for my use, first and foremost!” Hubris declared, as Winkle only continued with her confident smile.
“Carlisle, send these buildings toppling,” Winkle said, as the jade dragon was something out of an ancient myth that had become long-forgotten, yet it was right before everyone’s eyes. The creature’s wings grazed the night sky with a fury as each flapping of them caused a powerful wind gust to bear down upon the land below.
As the androids enclosed on Winkle for a takedown as the rest of her team still struggled to maintain their footing, Carlisle looked down with a strong desire to protect the one who summoned her, and complied with her request. The gust of wind was ungodly as the green dragon paused in the sky, seemingly using his wings to inhale the air itself before smashing it to the ground in a fury with his wings.
After Hubris realized that her balcony was now to the point of breaking off entirely, she managed to raise her head against the force of the wind to witness the sheer terror of two small tornadoes that Carlisle had generated with each of his wings. Their dense funnels were visibly going around to miss the entire group between the buildings, yet Hubris screamed in dread as she was unable to prevent one of them from coming straight at her to destroy the building entirely.
“No, no...not like this!!” she yelled amongst the amazing roar of the vortexes as she managed to drag herself back into her room through the doors that had been forced open.
“Winkle, we’ll be killed! Do something!!” yelled Dane said as the group was helpless against the ground, along with the androids who continuously attempted to mount up against gale, to no avail.
“Just hold on, Carlisle would never hurt us!” yelled Winkle trying to reassure everyone when the dragon’s overwhelming desire to protect her summoner and her friends did show through.
The dragon flapped his wings once again in their direction, yet this time, a curious looking green shield seemed to enclose the entire group. Carlisle’s wings had brought forth a shield made of pressure to counteract the massive force of
the two twisters that were now right next to them. Now with calm inside of the bubble, the group looked around to see where their android opponents had disappeared to.
“Oi, the androids, your dragon must have gusted them away,” said Benedict as their eyes once again met the sight of Hubris’ factories being torn apart with a fury. Their strength seemed to develop into EF5 level proportions as the deafening sound of the building structures getting ripped away sent chills down everyone’s spine.
“Winkle, this is...really the power of a dragon?” asked Haynes, as he turned to gaze at the prowess and beauty of the glowing Jade dragon that seemed to light up the night sky above them with a hue of jade green. Even the two twister’s condensation funnels had a unique and bright green glow to them that would make anyone stare in awe, despite their horrific fury.
“My dragons are my friends, I’ve honestly never asked them to do combat before because I never wanted to. I never needed to. I guess those times are gone,” said Winkle as she gazed at the power of her dragon with equal amazement along with the rest of her group.
After a minute of the buildings becoming nothing more than collapsed piles of metal and burning electrical equipment, Carlisle let the twisters dissipate as the winds ceased to allow for calm skies once more. The barrier that had protected them also wore off, and to the group’s wonder, the jade dragon swooped down in front of them to seek his master’s praise. Winkle approached the dragon who flapped its wings as it met the ground, forcing everyone to brace themselves up for a second more.
“I found these gemstones in the middle of the forest, but the moment I touched them for myself, I could somehow instantly feel a connection with the dragons. It was almost as though, at that very moment, they kind of chose me as their summoner.” Winkle stroked the top of the friendly dragon’s head who had scales that were brilliantly smooth with a glistening of green.
“Your inner radiance must have somehow called out the dragons. Never have I imagined something like this could happen in the world,” said Laran as he and Milli watched along with the rest of the group while Winkle showed her dragon summon some affection.
“Rarely have I ever wished that I could see, but I suppose this is one of those few times,” said Kasper as he spoke to reveal a calm and strong-willed demeanor.
“Yeah for sure...wait, what!? You’re blind?!” said Sarge as he and the rest of the team turned his way while Winkle remained focused on her dragon.
“I don’t really need vision. I can perceive my environment abnormally well without it.” Everyone seemed stunned as they realized why he wore sunglasses in the middle of the night.
“Well, even blind people deserve to fight for freedom. He can stay if he’s chill,” said Christian as he turned back towards Winkle who seemed to suddenly have a shocked expression on her face.
“Carlisle, you can strengthen our natural abilities like that?” said Winkle as her eyes grew wide in wonder. Carlisle leapt backwards, causing the ground to shake a little as he seemed to nod his head up and down at the group as a show of approval. “Listen everyone, Carlisle...he says he wants to help us fight! He’s going to give you all something.” Winkle’s words stunned everyone as they wondered what the dragon could do to help them all awaken their abilities. Just then, the Jade Dragon stood on his hind legs, and breathed out an amazing green radiance that consumed the entire group. The jade energy sparkled against the vivid moonlight as the team watched it dissipate into them, causing a feeling of profound energy to bubble up inside of them all at once.
“Hey, what just happened?” asked Isaac as they noticed Kayla holding out her gemstone once more, which then led to their dragon ally seemingly reforming himself into pure jade energy to be absorbed into the gemstone itself. “Carlisle, thank you for this gift, and for protecting me. You are all close to my heart,” Winkle said as the team stood in silence hoping that the dragons could all feel their appreciation for Carlisle’s help as well.
“Winkle, do you know what your dragon just did to us?” asked Derek who was eager to find out exactly just what the dragon gave them.
“He gave you a piece of his radiance, basically awakening your dormant abilities in the process. What Carlisle did was give us his blessing in the form of an energetic boost,” Winkle said as she placed the jade gemstone back with the others in her leather sack. Christian suddenly felt a surge of ecstatic happiness as he realized that perhaps protecting his family and all his new friends was possible after all. The team also shared glances with each other as they couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having the ability to fight for themselves from that point on.
“Everyone, you might want to prepare yourselves for the approaching enemy that’s flying towards us from our immediate left,” said Kasper, who was able to put his claims of immaculate perception on the proving grounds, despite his lack of vision. Indeed, as the group turned to see the robots flying at them from the distance, they were astonished to see them all suddenly swing to the left in mid-flight as they approached the pile of rubble that was once Hubris’ housing building.
As they witnessed the androids pulling Hubris out of the rubble pile, they prepared themselves for the fight that would likely ensue. The professor could stand on her own with the help of her servants, although she was an utter mess who appeared to have lost a lot of blood from a gash on her shoulder. “No...everything I worked on for the last decade...it is gone.”
Hubris stood in awe as sparks and flames danced around what was once her precious experimenting building. “You, you are the fruits of my negative emotions that consumed my entire life,” Hubris said addressing her androids. “Please do me a large favor, and kill them SWIFTLY!!!”
The group who had just received unspeakable energy from the Jade Dragon no longer felt any fear or apprehension, yet a confidence that they could only dream about before at Haven Island. As Derek suddenly leapt forward to give the signal of attack, he stopped himself, staring in shock at the sight before him.
“Sabrina, you,” uttered Hubris as she looked down at the hand of an android that had completely impaled her through her chest, delivering a coup d’ grace of unbelievable proportions. The other androids suddenly turned to see their master in a sudden state of near-death, their eyes widening in shock as their humanity somehow was able to seep through their mechanisms. Sabrina, with a slight and emotionless smile still etched on her face then proceeded to pull her arm away, allowing Hubris the ability to feel her destroyed heart’s final beat as she lost consciousness, falling face first into the rubble of her shattered ambition.
Skat suddenly leapt into the air as his arm turned into a sharp titanium javelin. The other androids seemed to be unable to process any new directives since the one they were programmed to obey was now dead at their feet. “Our Queen is in critical condition; life saving measures are to be taken to save her life. First step towards fulfillment of the new directive: eliminate the perpetrator,” said Skat as he prepared himself to pierce through the traitor, just as she had done to the one they were supposed to serve.
All the other androids except for Blue Misty leapt forward, acknowledging and accepting Skat’s proposed directive as Sabrina held out her hand in a way that was suggestive of someone waiting for a cookie to be placed in their hand. Just as Skat and the others were almost close enough for lethal action, several electronic cubes of circuitry projected forth from Sabrina’s palm, launching themselves into her android attackers.
“ACID SEQUENCE...begin.” Sabrina leapt backwards with great speed as the cubes took effect inside of their android hosts. Before they knew it, their robotic insides literally turned themselves into acid, as their forms quickly dissolved away into nothing. Their faces held no expression as they ceased to exist as anything other than metallic liquid that did well to dissolve the building rubble below. “Be thankful that you are no longer human. Sabrina began to walk away from her conquered adversaries remaining speechless, locking eyes with Blue Misty who stood emotionless in front o
f the fallen professor. Her master was lifeless in the rubble, betrayed.
She didn’t keep her eyes locked on her for long though, as she turned them towards the group that now was in complete shock at her unexpected, yet welcome betrayal. “It is advised that this not be taken personally,” she said, leaping from the rubble pile to the ground below. The team gazed at Sabrina for a second, and then back at Misty whom they expected to also retaliate at any moment. “The Golden Ones, you are now allowed to proceed towards your next chosen destination.”
Christian leapt forward to join Derek who was now standing ahead of the group, waiting to see what Sabrina would do. “Can we ask why you killed her? I don’t do well with needless death, although we may not have been able to avoid it here,” said Christian, as Sabrina walked ahead to stand in front of them all in abeyance.
“I am to be considered a failed experiment,” the rogue android spoke with no emotion.
Derek spoke up with a tone of questioning, “That doesn’t answer the question.”
Sabrina paused and allowed her vague smile to wash over them all. “I will follow only the strongest. That dragon passed on an unknown energy to you all, and currently, the Forbidden Radiance readings that I am detecting from you are off the charts.” The team stepped forward to join Christian and Derek, as they let a sense of gratitude for this android come over them. They knew that even with their new and unknown abilities at hand, Sabrina Phillipi would be a deadly adversary. Their new ally suddenly spoke as rebels looked on in controlled concern.
“I have a new mission directive. I am to protect the Golden Subjects at any cost.”
Chapter Six
The Disaster Down Under
“So, do you really think we can trust her, Christian?” asked Jassa with a look of concern that seemed to match the other’s apprehension.
“We will probably be going up against some powerful enemies. I would rather have her as an ally than as an enemy,” said Christian, as he turned to see what Derek would say.