Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis

by Danny R Negron

  Dr. Frankenstein takes a step back and replies, “No. How did this get in here?”

  Indrid attempts to analyze it and becomes shocked to find about twenty wendigos inside. She shouts, “We have intruders!”

  Her body begins to get surrounded by a black mist when, suddenly, she gets shot in her neck by a long dart. Before she can pull it out, she screams as her body gets shocked by an incredible force that seems stronger than a bolt of lightning. As her body collapses to the floor, Dr. Frankenstein runs toward her while yelling, “Indrid!”

  The sphere disappears and the wendigos are seen falling down. They land on their feet and the leader proclaims, “You are all dead!”

  Barbara yells at Dr. Frankenstein, “Get them out of here!”

  Haruka pulls out both of her katanas and shouts to Barbara, “You get out of here, too! If some thing's heading this way, you all need to survive it. I'll take care of them.”

  Rikki screams, “No! You'll die!”

  Haruka briefly looks at her and says angrily, “I owe Indrid for saving my father's life. I'll gladly do this for all of you...now get moving!”

  Dr. Frankenstein grabs Rikki by the wrist and says, “We don't have much time.”

  Terry picks up Indrid's unconscious body from the floor. As they all run down the corridor, Dr. Frankenstein shouts into his wrist, “Commander! Collapse this corridor!”

  Commander Derceto is heard asking, “Doctor? What is...”

  He interrupts her by saying, “The city has been fired upon! Do as I say...now!”

  While running, Melanie takes a quick glance behind her and watches in horror as the corridor's field holding the ocean begins to collapse behind them. Dr. Frankenstein opens the door and orders, “Hurry! Everyone inside!”

  Melanie trips and falls to the ground. Barbara hears her scream and turns back to rescue her. Just as Barbara takes her by the hand and lifts her up, the ocean swallows them up. The force of the water entering Atlantis is so strong, that it pushes Dr. Frankenstein several feet away. His head hits one of the pillars which renders him unconscious. Alexandria arrives and kneels next to him while shouting, “Dad!”

  Adam points at the water entering the city and shouts, “Barbara's still out there!”

  Alexandria tells him, “Wait here.”

  She runs as fast as she could and dives into the ocean. Her body instantly transforms and she begins frantically searching for Barbara. Alexandria finally spots her spinning out of control and quickly makes her way toward her.

  Haruka's face changes into that of a cold blooded killer as the wendigos surround her. Her grip on the katanas tighten and she tells them, “You will all die before I do.”

  The leader laughs and asks, “Is that so? Lady...you need a math lesson.”

  He quickly pulls out his gun and fires at her. Haruka successfully dodges the bullet and flings her knife which causes it to hit the leader right in the eye. His lifeless body falls to the floor. The remaining wendigos are shocked at this unexpected outcome and pull out their swords. Haruka pulls out her sword, cracks her neck and prepares for battle.

  The wendigos scream like animals as they charge at Haruka. She jumps and does a back-flip avoiding a strike. She lands on the floor, blocks one strike from the front and ducks to dodge a jab from behind which slices a wendigo's throat. Haruka chops his arm off but gets kicked in her face causing her to spin around. She blocks the strike from behind with her sword and jumps up landing on his shoulders. Haruka then screams as she buries her katana into his back and, quickly afterwards, performs a sideways flip.

  Haruka lands on her hands and pushes herself into the air again. At this point, a wendigo's blade barely scratches her head. She sticks her katana into one of the attacker's eyes and throws him at another knocking him down. One of the wendigos leaps at her while swinging his sword at her head. She blocks it and rapidly ducks to avoid another strike. Blood splatters everywhere as the back of her foot breaks his nose. Haruka spins around like a ballet dancer dodging a strike from behind and chops his head off. She dodges and blocks a numerous amount of attacks. Haruka grabs the wrist of a wendigo soldier that has a gun pointed, twists it and kicks the gun away before it touches the floor. She then stabs him through his neck and kicks him toward the two soldiers in front of her effectively knocking them down.

  Commander Derceto arrives and places her hand next to the doorway. She says loudly, “We need to close this door now!”

  Adam yells, “No! Wait!”

  All of sudden, Barbara and Melanie are seen as they are pushed inside by Alexandria. Just as Alexandria is about to enter, Rikki approaches her and shouts, “There's still someone in the docking area! Did you see her?”

  Alexandria shakes her head and replies, “No! I didn't!”

  Derceto tells her, “Get inside, princess. I'm closing this door and we're leaving Earth now!”

  Alexandria can't help but feel Rikki's pain. She says to Derceto, “Close this door behind me, commander.”

  She leaves once again and Commander Derceto obeys her order. The door closes cutting off the stream of water that was entering. Derceto looks at everyone and says softly, “This is madness.”

  Diana hears one of her engineers shout, “Cannon is fully charged!”

  She grins in response to that wonderful news and orders loudly, “Fire!”

  The tip of the cannon pulsates and fires a tremendous blast of red energy. Diana sits back and takes a sip of her blood in the wine glass. Afterwards, she says to herself, “Goodbye, Doctor. Without you, all of this wouldn't have been possible.”

  A wendigo shrieks as his leg gets chopped off by Haruka's katana and he falls to the floor. Her back gets sliced making her shout in Japanese, “Shit!”

  She dodges the next three strikes and grabs his wrist. Haruka jumps in the air while holding his wrist and flips him through the wall and into the ocean. She finds this fascinating and loses her concentration. She screams in agony as the final wendigo chops her arm off. Haruka falls to her knees while holding her arm as blood gushes out. The wendigo places the tip of his gun on her forehead and says, “Holy shit, you're one tough bitch. I will savor every inch of your flesh.”

  Haruka closes her eyes and whispers, “I love you, father. I love you, Rikki.”

  A gunshot is heard...but she is surprised to find herself still alive. Haruka opens her eyes to find a terrified young girl in front of her holding a smoking gun. She groans in pain as she rises to her feet and says, “Thank you...whoever you are.”

  Alexandria replies, “No problem.”

  They both become startled as they feel the entire docking bay shake violently. Alexandria drops the gun and says, “We need to get out of here.”

  The ocean floor beneath Atlantis begins to shift as the city dislodges itself. It then proceeds to move toward its right. Queen Thessalonike is seated on her throne and holding on tightly to prepare for the impact of the incoming blast from above. Commander Derceto shouts, “Impact in five, four, three, two...”

  The section of the city closest to the blast sustains so much damage, that it breaks completely off and explodes. The force makes the queen lose her grip and she falls down the marble steps. Derceto kneels next to her and says, “We've completely lost the southwestern section of Atlantis.”

  As Thessalonike rises to her feet, she shouts, “We must avoid another strike! Full speed now!” She whispers, “May the gods protect you, my daughter.”

  Indrid's ship is tumbling out of control as a result of the powerful blast. Alexandria is trying her very best to regain control and a pale Haruka asks in a raspy voice, “You can fly this thing, right?”

  “Uhhh...well. I'm sorta winging it here. But I got the basic idea.”

  The ship eventually levels out and Alexandria begins to smile. She says, “Okay. I think I'm getting the hang of it.”

  She looks ahead to see that Atlantis is accelerating at an alarmingly fast rate. Alexandria tells Haruka, “Uh, oh. This is bad. How do you m
ake this thing go faster?”

  She pushes on the controls but this results in the ship taking a dive. Alexandria says, “Oops...that's not it.” and pulls to level it out.

  She finally remembers to twist the right control clockwise and the left counterclockwise simultaneously. This causes the ship to instantly move forward at a blazingly fast speed and she shouts excitedly, “There we go!”

  Atlantis exits the ocean and continues to fly upward. Indrid's ship is seen exiting a minute afterwards. Indrid senses this and immediately tells the queen, “Alexandria and Haruka have survived! They are following the city, your highness!”

  Queen Thessalonike grabs Commander Derceto's arm and breathes a sigh of relief. She says with tears in her eyes, “She is alive.”

  Derceto squeezes her hand and replies, “And extremely brave.”

  Abaris clenches her fist and says to Diana while biting her lower lip in frustration, “Merde. They have escaped. We can still destroy them, mon maître.”

  Diana bites on her fingernail for a few minutes and replies, “No. I have what I want. Queen Thessalonike is a pacifist. She's more concerned with the welfare of her people...let them go.”

  She stands up and, as she walks away, adds, “I'm still a bit angry, though. I'll be in my room taking it out on our special guest. You're in charge for now, Abaris.”

  Meanwhile, Dr. Frankenstein is laying down in a bed recovering from his concussion. He glances at the window to look at the blackness of space and says to himself, “We made it.”

  The door of the room slides open and Alexandria runs inside. She takes his hand and asks, “Are you okay, dad?”

  He grins and replies, “I'm fine, konfect. It's just a mild concussion.” He quickly asks, “Haruka?”

  Alexandria nods and tells him, “You won't believe it...I actually went and saved her. I'm still amazed at myself.”

  Dr. Frankenstein says proudly while patting her head, “You take after your uncle.”

  She hesitates for a moment and tells him, “Haruka might need your help, dad. She lost her arm.”

  “Well...I'm sure I can fix her up.”

  Melanie looks down at both of them and says, “I'm glad you're okay, Mr. Frankenstein.”

  The doctor nods and tells him, “And I'm glad you're here with us.”

  Haruka slowly opens her eyes and turns her head to see Rikki sitting down next to her. Rikki starts crying and says, “Hey. Welcome back.”

  Haruka asks in a gravelly voice, “Rikki...am I dying?”

  Rikki touches her forehead and replies, “No, baby. You're going to make it. Don't you ever do that to me again.”

  Haruka glances down to where her arm used to be. She asks, “Where is my father?”

  Ryu's voice is heard speaking a rough English saying, “I am here, Haruka.”

  He appears on the other side of her bed and rests his hand on her shoulder. The pain medication in Haruka's bloodstream makes her succumb to the urge of falling back to sleep.

  Wolf is holding Phoebe's hand as he gazes out of the window to look at the stars. She looks up at him and asks, “Aren't the stars beautiful, Wolf?”

  He grins and replies, “Stars. Pretty.”

  Phoebe takes a moment to think and says, “I'm gonna miss Earth. I hope we can go back soon.”

  Fluffy arrives and barks loudly. She seems him and, as soon as she tries to pick him up, he runs away. Phoebe's hair turns red while she shouts, “Fluffy! Wait!” and runs after him.

  Commander Derceto stands next to Queen Thessalonike and informs her, “We should be arriving to Meropis in five days, my queen.”

  The queen does not reply right away. She thinks about the years that the people of Atlantis have lived on Earth and feels somewhat ashamed to have abandoned the planet. She finally asks Derceto, “Did I do the right thing? I sometimes ponder what Alexandria mentioned about fighting for what's ours. She could have tried rescuing that boy...Joshua. But she did not.”

  The commander replies confidently, “I stand by your decision. The day will come for us to reclaim Earth...and the princess will reunite with him. I am sure of it.”

  Thessalonike smiles and, as she walks away, says, “Thank you, old friend. I will be with Ludwig if you need me for any reason, commander.”

  Queen Thessalonike arrives at Dr. Frankenstein's room to find that he is no longer there. She says to herself, “I should have known.”

  A small red box resting on his pillow captures her attention. The queen walks toward the bed and takes the box. She decides to open it and gasps when she finds a ring with a glistening diamond. Dr. Frankenstein is heard saying, “You have always loved me, Thessa. Even though I was hardly here with you and our daughter.”

  Thessalonike feels his arms wrap around her body from behind and begins to cry. He then asks her softly, “Will you marry me?”

  She turns around to look him in the eyes and replies, “Of course, I'll marry you.”

  They both give each other a passionate kiss and begin to remove each other's clothes. Alexandria spots them making love to each other and uses her hand to prevent Melanie and Adam from approaching. She closes the door right away and pushes her while laughingly saying, “Moving right along!”

  Melanie utters in confusion, “Hey!”

  Although Alexandria is laughing as she pulls on Melanie's wrist, she feels a profound sense of envy toward her parents. As well as Melanie and Adam...Henry and Dawn...Rikki and Haruka. Everyone is enjoying the sensation of true love while she had to sacrifice it. It just doesn't seem fair.

  Barbara is in the training room of Atlantis preparing for target practice. She loads the magazine into her pistol and aims. Her target appears and she immediately begins firing. All of the bullets hit the center of the approaching target flawlessly. Barbara places her gun on the table and takes a moment to observe her handiwork. She sighs and says to herself, “Well, that's not as challenging as it used to be.”

  Henry says while approaching her, “Uh, yeah. With that eye of yours there's really no point in doing this, Barbara.”

  Barbara nods and says, “I know, Henry. It just makes me feel human.”

  She asks Alexandria, “How's your dad, Alex?”

  Melanie holds back her laughter which makes the princess punch her shoulder. She replies with embarrassment, “Ummm...recovering quite well. Hey...we're gonna get a bite to eat. Come with?”

  Barbara replies, “Sure. Give me a few minutes.”

  As she gathers her things, she can't help but think about Frank Garrison and wonder if he managed to survive.

  Several hours later, Dr. Frankenstein enters Haruka's room and shakes Ryu Miyazaki's hand. He looks down at her and asks, “How are we feeling? Isn't that what doctors usually ask?”

  Haruka grins slightly and replies, “I'm thinking about my new life as a lefty.”

  The doctor asks, “Miss Miyazaki? Did you know that I gave Barbara her prosthetics? What if I said that I can do the same for you?”

  Haruka takes a quick glance at Rikki and then looks at him again. She asks while feeling a bit apprehensive, “Really? Will it feel the same?”

  Barbara answers her question by saying, “It feels slightly numb at first. But, eventually...Yes, it will.”

  Dr. Frankenstein smiles and asks, “Shall we begin, Haruka?”

  The following day, Dr. Frankenstein is assisting Haruka become accustomed to her new arm. He tells her, “Close and open your hand, Haruka.”

  She does as he orders. The doctor analyzes the data on the computer screen and says with satisfaction, “Excellent.”

  Afterwards, he takes a needle and says to her, “Open your hand. I'm going to be testing your nerve ending sensitivity.”

  Haruka flinches as she feels the sting of the needle on each of her fingertips. Dr. Frankenstein places the needle back on the tray and says, “Everything is working fine and your body is not rejecting the prosthetic. Just remember that you're going to feel a bit of tension as the muscle tissue falls
into place.”

  Rikki grins at him and says, “Thank you, doctor. We really appreciate it.”

  He rises to his feet and replies, “You are very welcome. Make sure she gets some rest.”

  Barbara is leaning on the doorway and nods at Dr. Frankenstein as he walks by. She smiles at Haruka and says, “Welcome to the freak show, Haruka. You should do the other arm, y'know.”

  Haruka laughs and tells her, “Shut up.”

  Barbara walks to the edge of her bed and says to Rikki, “I'll take over. You need to get some sleep, Rikki.”

  Rikki kisses Haruka's forehead and tells her, “I'll be back, baby.” She then says to Barbara, “Thanks.” and makes her way out of the room.

  Haruka asks, “What's it going to be like on this new planet?”

  Barbara pauses for a moment and explains, “The good news is that there's oxygen. The bad news is that the composition is so different that our bodies cannot process it correctly. We're going to have to live in the ocean.”

  Haruka thinks for a moment and says, “I guess we have no other choice.”

  Barbara sits down on the chair and says, “Dr. Frankenstein is hoping for some kind of revolution back on Earth. He thinks that could give us the opportunity to overthrow Diana.”

  Haruka looks at her and replies, “That may take a very long time.”

  Barbara nods in agreement and begins to cope with the possibility of not ever going back to Earth. Is all hope really lost?

  Chapter XIX

  As Dr. Frankenstein walks down the hallway, Phoebe runs into him and falls to the floor. She sits up and, while her hair turns blue, says, “Ow. That hurt.”

  He picks her up and tells her, “Phoebe. You know better than to run in the hallways.”

  For some odd reason, she weighs a little heavier than before. This intrigues Dr. Frankenstein and he decides to take her to his office. He opens the door and places her on the chair. Before she even has a chance to move, he points his finger at her and says, “Ah, ah, ah. I need to perform a test on you, Phoebe.”