by Chucho Jones
“Quick, let’s go get Leon – Oliver try to stop the damn thing from leaving us behind,” Laura yelled as she felt the guilt for losing herself in the previous moment.
Justina ran towards the crew, and stopped at the site of the flying vessel. Everything in the ship with hinges began to flap. It was as if Fausto wanted to warn them about something. The IFO opened and a menacing creature glided towards the crew. The faceless man stepped into the center of the now open hall. He stretched his arm to the devilish beauty and she replied. She walked over towards him into a safe embrace.
“Well done my dear. The magnitude of the event was worth the wait,” said the elegant faceless man to the maiden. The brunette beauty stretched her hands to the man and gave him the core and Leon’s Intro-Phase.
“Here it is my love. This is what you’ve been looking for. This will end your mandate.” she said with love behind her words to the faceless creature.
“Thank you, my dear,” the man said as he placed the objects into the open IFO.
“Why? Why, Justina?” asked the gentleman to the rogue. She rolled her eyes at him up and down – to scan him.
“Because you never loved me like he did,” she said to the man as she approached her vile lover. The lady began to gurgle and gag for no reason. She held her chest and stomach as if she felt ill. The faceless stood perplexed by the site. Laura felt helpless and wanted to act but everything happened so fast.
As if it wasn’t enough for the suffering vampire, a group of frying electro lassoes stunned the treacherous lady to the ground. A wounded Leon stepped from around the corner. Blood dripped down the left side of his neck. He grabbed his wooden phatasfa and broke it off. He used the sharp end and drove it through the hag’s left side across her heart. He gripped the lady from the wooden stake and threw her into the water.
“I told you bitch, my blood is a lot to handle!” he exclaimed proudly, arriving in the nick of time. Laura’s heart raised at the site of her brother. The wounded rebel propped himself against the wall. The faceless menace thrust himself at the tired scoundrel. Thaddeus acted quickly and jumped on the faceless threat. His claws drove into the pale skin of the creature.
“I’ve got you now reaper,” said the avid adventurer. The elusive man activated his finger rings and called unto his scythe and swung it at the feral man. The beast got knocked back, Laura and Leon recognized the weapon from their encounter with the faceless at the monolith. Oliver stretched his arm out and fired a blast at the man.
“I don’t care what it takes. We’re getting out of here,” he yelled at his mother as he grabbed Victoria by the hand. The faceless retreated into the IFO. Oliver kept shooting at the man and the IFO to no avail. The ship from out of time flew fast into the distance.
“No! we need to stop him. He’s got her. He’s got our answer,” Leon yelled as he fell to the ground, weak from his previous attack. The crew remained helpless as the ship Esperanza drowned. Fausto did as best as it could to keep the ship afloat, but the damage was too substantial, and it sank. Greg floated on the water on a makeshift raft that he conceited from the carriage and a piece of rooftop from the main deck.
The team got on board. Laura felt sorry for her brother as the wounded rebel jumped into the carriage, heart torn and mangled.
“Don’t worry crew. Let’s continue our voyage to the new kingdom of Leon. I have a feeling that’s where our common enemy is headed.
16
Chapter 16
The sun shined brightly. The crew had been traveling for hours at a high speed through the water. They managed to gain a lot of time because the size of their vessel, nothing Greg couldn’t handle. Leon was beginning to respect the metallic helper. Maybe he was beginning to go soft on account of so much blood being drained. Oliver used his remaining energy to alleviate his uncle. Leon came to his senses at the break of dawn. The thought of killing his last lover made him think back to the last time he was ever with a woman. He thought of the alien mistress. His heart pounded fast in fear. Had his life come to this? Tangling himself up with freaks and monsters?
His mind wondered. The bright daylight suddenly turned into the shade. He dosed in and out of consciousness. He thought about his maiden. The one clue he had spotted right. he opened his eyes again, nobody said a word. He wondered why was it always him on the rear end of things. He dozed off…
The night caught them quickly. The robot servant kept going strong nonstop. Leon finally felt strong enough to say a word.
“Where are we?” he said to his family. A word that up until recently didn’t mean much to him other than a cold acronym.
“We’re on our way to end this,” said his sister. The young man incorporated himself into his seat. He was dressed. Laura gave him his weapons, the broken lucky bat with the remaining handle and his magnetic shocking phatasfa.
“I’m glad you rested, we will need to be strong. Thaddeus is fronting the expedition. Oliver is outside helping Greg. We lost Fausto on the ship,” said Laura in a dry tone. Victoria seemed attentive on the road ahead.
The woodlands of the New Kingdom of Leon on the northern part of Mexico sat a nice ambient to the hasty carriage ride. The light of the quarter moon wasn’t enough but it contrasted itself nicely with the site of the cattle back mountain of the region. Leon gazed at the beautiful mountain for a moment.
“It’s called Sattle Back mountain,” Thaddeus said this is the fastest route to the pits of the underworld, but also the most dangerous,” said Laura.
“So happy to wake up to this. Great vacation.” Said the scoundrel in a sarcastic tone. He shook his head and got ready. At this point, all he could think about was being able to get to Connor. It wasn’t clear why, but he wanted to think it was because he felt compelled to help his family. For whatever selfish reasons. A loud bang was heard, and Oliver yelled from the outside. Leon took haste into joining the boy. He swiftly joined his on the rider’s seat.
“What happened? you alright?” he asked.
“Hey, are you alright?” the boy replied. “Yes, I just think something other than Thaddeus is lurking,” said the boy as they gazed the ominous road.
CAWH! CAWH!
The annoying sounds resounded through the path deep in the woods.
“What the hell was that?” Leon asked. The carriage approached a shadowy figure rapidly. The creature soon revealed to be a half man half bird watching over the road. Greg the avid rider swiftly took the carriage around the beast.
“Did you see that? Was that a Birdman?” Leon asked. His doubt what shortly clarifies as a hoarding group began to circle the carriage.
“Holly crap they’re hunting us. Do we even know where we’re going?” he said, shooting his electrifying phatasfa at the beast to try and scare them off. The creatures seemed noble and cowardly enough to coil at the fearsome rays.
“Good at least this will keep them at bay,” he said, scaring the creatures from the carriage. Leon looked over at Oliver and took the chance to level with him.
“Listen, kid. I should tell you. I’m amazed at how you’ve been handling everything. When I was a kid, I wasn’t even close to living an adventure like you’ve had. Despite my reckless behavior,” said Leon with sincerity. “I think we’ve been learning a lot from your quiet demeanor and restless courage. Just wanted to throw that out there. I guess that’s why I’ve been fine with following you with this all along,” he said to the boy. He that noticed Oliver seemed uplifted. The stagecoach caught up with the feral man, and the trail ended on the cusp of a grand cave entrance. The thing looked ancient and impossibly man-made. The rectangle structure stood grand and dark – like the rightful entrance to the underworld.
“This is it. This is the place. If we go down there, there’s no coming back,” said Thaddeus to the crew. Leon looked around the entrance and grabbed his weapons tightly. He realized there where extra carvings on the wall. As if the place where too tight for the IFO to glide smoothly through.
“Maybe the IFO wen
t down through there,” said the scoundrel. Greg scanned the entrance with his stereoscopic eyes.
“Mercuranium residue sits on the scratches on the walls,” said the robot.
“They have to be down there. Everyone ready?” For a moment Leon forgot about ranks and talked to his people like what they were. His family – and someone had to be in charge. “Ok everyone gets ready and let’s go,” he walked in first. Thaddeus approached him and grabbed him by the shoulder.
“I admire your new-found spirit, but we can’t just walk into this one. We’ll need the carriage,” said the explorer.
“Well then why did we got off the first place?” he asked.
“I wanted to show it to all of you. This is a great discovery. If you trace a straight line from the entrance of this cave to the rumored coordinates of the lost city of Atlantis, it shoots a straight line on the globe. Thought you should know,” said the man to the crew.
“Lost city of Atlantis, that’s by the Gulf of Mexico. Mom, XY’s vessel could have landed there had it been thrown off course. This might be the way,” said the boy, full of excitement.
17
Chapter 17
The crew had no more time to waste, the carriage followed down the cavernous path the IFO’s trail. Greg kept scanning the dark pit for mercuranium traces. Leon felt that everything was leading up to this point. The cold brooding cave sat uneasily with an eerie feeling of the unknown. The crew knew nothing of where they were headed. Only speculation.
“This looks a lot like the cavern I went down in the moon,” Laura informed the crew. Leon felt they were coming to the culmination of their adventure have they the chance to find exactly what they’re looking for. The odds were far from their favor. They come to a great halt where a familiar circular door ended their trail.
“I guess we’re here,” the boy said to his uncle. The team got off the stagecoach and moved onward.
“What do you think we will find in there?” Victoria asked Oliver.
“I’m don’t know, but I’m sure it’ll be an answer,” said the confident teen. He raised his arm up and drained some more power from his Geothermal battery onto the door. The grand structure activated and opened. The crew stepped in, ready for action.
The faceless awaited inside. The grand chamber remained left. Various cocoons began to light up as vapor was released from the bottom. Two grand cocoons sat in the middle behind the grand nexus in the center stage of the spherical vessel. Leon recognized the ship form when it followed them back to Earth. His heart pounded. All he could think about was not failing his family. The moment came to this. He acted impetuously and ran towards the faceless threat.
“You faceless piece if shit. I’ll end you now!” Leon took a lead and activated his shield as he lashed his phatasfa at the faceless man. This time he felt he had the advantage for he had seen him fight before. Leon bashed the man with his shield. The team acted quickly. The cocoons began to open as alien captain soldiers stepped out of the pods. The doorman creatures acted quickly.
The faceless countered Leon’s strike and kicked across the floor.
“You imbeciles, you can’t tamper with perfect power. My mother and her kin, we are the superior ones. We will fulfill our mandate across time, across space, across planes. My mother will wake soon enough and you will face her wrath,” said the elusive man. Leon became confused at the matter, he knew the faceless was involved with the alien endeavor but couldn’t quite understand how.
He thought little about the matter and began to fight the faceless in a dueling combat. The werewolf used his feral abilities to neutralize the alien vermin that awoke from the chamber’s pods. Laura and Victoria escorted Oliver and Greg towards the Nexus. Greg went on to take the phantom core and placed it on his chest cavity. Oliver saw the robot’s feet.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m placing myself as the conduit like the maiden did. He said as he grabbed Connor’s Intro-Phase and gave it to Oliver.
“You will need the maiden to understand exactly what to do. Ladies will you please be willing to cover for us?” asked the robot.
“No, don’t do this, you’ll destroy yourself,” said the boy to the robot.
“Indeed, but it’s a necessary commodity to further your journey. I’m sure you will find the necessary resources to complete your task wherever you’re going,” said the robot as he placed himself front of the nexus. Oliver went ahead and stretched his arm. From inside one of the cocoons, a blue round light began to emanate. the blue sphere broke the pod and launched itself onto Oliver’s hand.
The nexus began to work. The glowing orb began to drain Oliver’s power and consume his Geothermal battery.
AHHHHH!
The boy’s cry resounded throughout the grand vessel. Leon saw his knee hew succumbing to the orbs power. He kept looking for a way in to neutralize the faceless but they kept toe to toe.
“Ah perfect, like a moth to a flame, the missing piece finally revealed. And here we thought it was the core and the wrist device,” said the man in triumph. Leon kept hitting the man to no avail. The faceless struck his scythe and threw Leon across.
The feral beast jumped onto the faceless and threw him across, the feral man went rampant at the faceless legs. The man was not able to walk and was left to the ground. The second cocoon opened. The menacing alien minions hoarded the beast.
From inside the pod, a menacing figure arose. Kha Tse, the alien mistress awakened. She screeched at the feral beast throwing herself at him. She wielded her mercuranium lassoes and began to cut the feral man badly. Thaddeus didn’t back out and fought tremendously. Laura and Victoria kept the alien beasts at bay from Oliver, but felt helpless to do anything about Thaddeus. The man was thrown out of the vessel – not without hurting the Alien bit badly. Leon went on to strike down the faceless.
“We’re done with you,” Leon said.
“No!” An echoing voice resounded in his head. “Don’t rid your kin,” said the voice.
Leon hesitated on striking the faceless out of his misery.
“He’s your son,” said the voice. Leon ignored the words and struck his broken phatasfa into the Faceless heart. The creature screeched in horror as his life faded away.
“You human vermin,” yelled the alien hag. She whipped her mercuranium lasso at Leon and with a single strike rid him off his left hand and Phatasfa.
AHHH!
A loud cry resounded as the scoundrel fell to the ground in excruciating pain. He was shocked at the situation. He fell to the ground and ended his fighting. The hag crawled at him. Laura saw the scene but was pinned down hard shooting at aliens that she couldn’t do anything.
“Leon!” the woman yelled. Thaddeus found enough strength in him to aid the cry for help. With the last of his strength, he grabbed the alien lady and tossed her to the side right outside the vessel. The ruckus became such that a cave-in separated the two from the rest of the crew.
Leon was safe but in pain. The nexus was still operating and spinning out of control. Oliver was lost in the link with the nexus. Leon’s head began to spin out of control too. Between the pain and everything that they had gone through, he couldn’t understand. A voice kept resounding in his head.
“You killed your kin, you murderer. You killed your kin. The worthless anomaly will fail…” The last thing he felt, he looked over at Oliver – he was on the ground in a link for power. His hand stretched out. Greg began to dissipate as the nexus’s power grew. Laura and Victoria were cleaning the place up from aliens along with Chuggy. The nexus began to show images of places and else worlds. It began to work. Leon could only think of all the pain at the time. His heartache, his mind going crazy, and the loss of his limb. He looked at the scene and despite his condition, he felt the team was prevailing. Nothing could go wrong, from behind the Nexus a tentacle menace arose. It struck Laura from behind, and across her chest. Her lifeless body was thrown across the room.
“Laura!” Victoria yelled
in agony. XY had arisen as well. right in the nick of time for the Nexus. Amid the battle, Chuggy got frightened by the menacing alien leader. The ruins where Nanook got lost displayed on the nexus. Chuggy jumped without hesitation and got lost on the nexus power.
“Chuggy, not you too!” Victoria cried uncontrollably. She had no more fight in her left. XY strolled his tentacles across the room and towards the nexus. He disposed of his armor and displaced his viscous tentacles body across. The creature grabbed Oliver by the side of his head with his tentacles. The Nexus began to glow a blinding pink. Nebulas of assorted colors with an asteroid field with ectoplasmic asteroids and micro cosmos around strings of light appeared. Leon’s head resounded with its deep voice.
“Ah, finally the mandate fulfilled. The wielder will take me to the after cosmos.” Leon’s head spun out of control. Another voice began to sound, it was Oliver’s voice combined with Connor’s.
“No, your journey ends here alien vermin. The voice said. Leon crawled over to Victoria, as they both embraced.
“Are you alright?” The girl asked the mangled man.
“I think so. Let’s end this. Help me up.” Leon got to his feet and with his remaining good hand lip-gloss up his phatasfa. The arrogant alien ignored the troubling humans, Leon light up his phatasfa and shot it at the bare alien.
“Take this your fucking squid!” Leon shocked the alien grabbed him and tossed him into the after cosmos. The creature disintegrated at the touch of the mass. The shock sent Leon and Victoria across the room. Oliver kept floating. The voice resounded once more.
“It’s ok. We can do this. We will work together.” the voice said inside Leon’s head.
“Can you hear that?” he asked the girl.
“Yes! I think it’s Oliver,” she answered. Their heads shook with the voice again.
“I’ll do the best I can. Look for Dr. Dickens. He’ll know what to do. We’re on our way. Love you all” said Oliver Oblivious to the loss of his mother. The grand structure lit up to a blinding white light. The massive mercuranium structure arose. It floated in the middle of the sea.