Granado Espada: Thunderspring Squad Chronicles Chapter 1 Part 4

Quest 1.4

A Game Of Experiments Gone Wrong

     "Gerrero will destroy you!!" thundered Gerrero as it hauled its fists at Vexen. Again, it failed to hit him as Vexen had rolled away from the attack, thus causing the Gerrero's fist to create another crater on the floor.

     

     "Circle Shot!" Vexen quickly targeted the Gerrero's head in a circle and fired an accurate shot for the giant's head. Although the bullet had penetrated its forehead, it was still not enough to bring Gerrero down.

     

     "Just what is this thing made of? Even after all those bullets I've sent into him, he's still..." Vexen's didn't get to finish his sentence when the Gerrero sent another punch at him. It was too close for comfort, Vexen only had backed away for a second before the bouldering fist could grind him to dust. But then he was caught off guard when the Gerrero launched a second punch as he was still dodging the first

     "Back Slider!" Vexen jumped and slide backwards, while evading the punch and firing at the Gerrero's abdomen simultaneously. It still wasn't enough to take out the monster but it did manage to flinch it slightly backwards.

     "You sure can take quite a hit." Vexen said, as he leaped back to his feet. He guessed that the Gerrero was already at its limit, noticing a stream of purple blood flowing out of the Gerrero's mouth.

     "Name..." Gerrero grunted.

     "Huh?" Vexen rose an eyebrow.

     "Intruder...your name..." the Gerrero grunted again, in an even louder voice.

     The mercenary drank a few gulps from his canteen of wine before answering. "Zwei of the Thunderspring Squad, Vexen Dmitri. What is it to you anyway?"

     "Vexen Dmitri... Vexen... Dmitri... I'LL KILL YOU, VEXEN DMITRI!!"

     The Gerrero made a giant spring forward, the bridge rumbled with each of its heavy footsteps. Gerrero attacked  Vexen with another punch from its right fist. Due to the small earthquake caused by the monster's sprinting earlier, Vexen had trouble had trouble evading Gerrero's fist, but still he succeeded in doing so. Although this time the Gerrero had predicted his move

     Just as Vexen had dashed away from the Gerrero's punch, the Gerrero swung its fist forward before it touched the floor. Vexen was sent flying a couple of metres ahead after he was tackled in the stomach by Gerrero's steel-hard knuckle. It was fortunate enough that the sudden attack had only thrown Vexen onto the middle of the bridge instead of sending him off of it.

     "He's strong..." Vexen growled in a slight jolt of pain. He could taste the blood dripping out from the corner of his lips. "I underestimated him..."

     Vexen pushed himself up with both of his hands, but the Gerrero was already towering before him. It's two hammerfist was falling down to his head like two chunks of boulders.

     "You'll die now, Vexen Dmitri! Mjolnir!!"

     The entire Gehenna was echoed in huge burst of explosion.

***

     Fye felt as if he was taken into another dimension after passing through the doors. The place, with its heating atmosphere, appeared to look more like Hell than a prison. He was now standing inside a vast rectangular chamber surrounded by concrete walls and burning stone furnaces. Although this chamber was built high on top of the volcano, a floor of nothing but boiling lava could be seen flowing directly beneath the stone corridor Fye was standing on.

     "Just what is this place anyway? The prison's private sauna?" Fye panted, while loosening up the collar of his coat. "Whatever this place is, I need to find the power plant and get that antique fast, or else I might die of dehydration myself."

     Forming a barrier of cool air around him, Fye continued walking down the corridor. Seconds later he was walking down a large metal ring-shaped walkway that hanged from the ceiling, As he walked across the ring, he could feel the steam of lava rising to his feet from below, as the walkway ring was only made of grilled steel. Fye was grateful enough that there were no monsters around, and he hoped it would stay that way.

     After successfully crossing the ring, Fye arrived at another large stone corridor, with a series of stairs that lead up. His eyes were surprised by the sight of what laid beyond the road of stairs; a tall glowing tower of what seemed to be some sort of a large crystal. Fye believed it to be the one thing he was looking for.

     The prison's power plant. It was actually kept in this chamber, and he had found it. Fye's heart skipped with excitement, but he knew that it was not the time to be celebrating over his discovery. Fye climbed up the stairs in a fast walk, and soon soon he arrived at the peak of the walkway, and also the end of the room. The massive power plant was now a dozen of metres in front of him. He now received a better view of the power plant. The tower of glowing crystal was nearly over ten times taller and larger than him, surrounded by four glowing stone pillars, each were connected to the power plant by a set of thick metal cables. 

     After a closer inspection on it, Fye noticed something unusual of what he had believed to be Prison de Joaquin's power plant. The tower didn't seem to look like a large crystal any more. Instead it looked more of a faint-glowing stalactite with a surface that was curved smooth as a shell of an egg.

     Fye was taken aback when he saw the large structure throbbed like a heartbeat of a living creature. Now, he even felt a strong magical energy radiating out from this so-called power plant.

     "Is this thing...alive?" 

     "Stay away from the Chrysalis, intruder!"

     The sharp, rasping voice drew Fye's attention away from the 'power plant'. He turned to his right, and caught eyes with a tall and broad middle-aged man, who possessed a very pale grey skin with a few trace of rotten flesh on his face. Dressed in a thick, heavy black coat, he looked like a neat nobleman if it wasn't for his corpse-like face.

     Following the man were dozens, nearly half a hundred of humanoid creatures. They had a naked grey body that looked like candle wax, with a bloody red oval head which had a pair of glowing yellow eyes over their gape-opened moth. Their bodies ambled around in a wave as they followed the old man towards Fye.

     "Chrysalis? What are you talking about?" Fye asked.

     "I thought the Gerrero was holding you off. It seems you had managed to slip away." Dr. Fran seethed.

     "Are you the owner of this place? Wasn't this place abandoned? Who are you...or what are you?"

     "You're asking too many questions, young one. I will not let you get any more closer to my Chrysalis." Dr. Fran waved his hand dismissively at Fye and yelled. "Kill him, my experiments!"

     Carrying blades in their hands, the monsters broke into a staggering run for the lone wizard.

***

     "Dimension Tear!"

     Blood spattered across the concrete floor as Celeste drove her Acuben's Will across the Fallen Champion's waist, splitting the knight's upper body from his horse. The monster gave out a loud groan before staggering forward in a loud thud, blood spewing out of its two separate halves.

     "Never hesitate even when facing your own precious memories." Celeste sighed, wiping the blade of her sabre with a piece of cloth.

     Seeing that the fight had ended, Rezxy and Athena went closer to the Fallen Champion's corpse. After ensuring that it was dead for good, the two of them went to join Celeste.

     "I never thought that a creature like him would be affected by your Moonlight Memories." said Rezxy.

     "Me neither." Celeste shrugged. "I guess he wasn't a monster to begin with."

     "Hold on. Are you saying that it wasn't a monster entirely." Athena pointed at the Fallen Champion.

     Celeste nodded. "I'll get right to the point. That knight was once human, and so were those Jabberwocks we've encountered."

     Rezxy and Athena stared at her in disbelief.

     "From the first moment I encountered those Jabberwocks, I could feel the presence human life forces inside of them. And when I fought this knight earlier, I saw a memory of a human inside his mind."

     "Could it be...that they were all..." Athena  spluttered in disgust, her hand covering her mouth.

     "Now we know what had actually happened to the prisoners. But who could've done such a thing to them, and why?" Rezxy thought of it while his arms folded.

     "I guess we'll find out soon enough. What's important now is that we find the basement to where the power plant is." Celeste sheathed her sabre and gave a thoughtful look at her comrades. "And thanks to our friend's memories back there, I've just discovered where to find it."

***

    "I WILL KILL YOU, VEXEN DMITRI! I WILL KILL YOU!!"

     Gerrero smashed his fists countless of times against the floor, giving Vexen not a single chance to fight back nor escape from being grind to dust. The Gehenna Bridge rumbled as Gerrero pounded harder and harder. Pebbles flew all over the place and the bridge was then fogged up by a cloud of debris.

     After a while, Gerrero finally gave up to exaustion, and ceased its onslaught on Vexen. It removed its fists from the human-sized crater. The monster couldn't see what had happened to it's opponet due to the thick debris.

     "I must not let any intruders live. No one must disturb Dr. Fran Mothein."

     "Are you done punching the floors yet?"

    The Gerrero turned around after hearing a familiar voice came from behind it, only to find the unscathed figure of Vexen, standing with his arms folded across his chest. The debris then cleared away, revealing that the crater Gerrero had made was actually empty. The monster had missed its target all this time.

     "You don't actually think that an obvious attack like that would have caught me off guard, do you?"

    "SILENCE!!" the Gerrero gave a mighty roar as it made an immediate charge towards Vexen. "THIS TIME, I'LL KILL YOU FOR SURE!!"

    "How about trying to land another hit on me first." Vexen taunted, his body was slowly becoming translucent. "On the second thought, maybe it's time to finish you off."

***

     "Uwaahhh!! Guys!! Where are you!?" Fye yelled hysterically, while making a quick haste for the exit. The swarm of Dr. Fran's undead experiments were hot on his heels.

     "Stop him, my experiments! Do not leave a single trail of his body!" Dr. Fran's voice echoed from the distance.

     The Undeads quicken their pursuit. Fye was halfway across the corridor, the monsters were closing in on him.

     "Vexen! Celeste! Anybody! Save me!!" Fye continued yelling. He increased his sprinting speed, and not too long he was at a safe distance from the Undeads. The giant doors were now fifteen paces away from him, and the Undeads were left further behind. As he was about to reach for the door, Fye suddenly braked his feet and spun around on his heel.

     "Now wait a minute... I can fight, can I!?" Fye said in sudden clarity. Slapping his palm against his face, the young man groaned. "How could I be so stupid? Of course I can deal with these clowns!"

     The Undeads were ten seconds away and closing in fast. Fye raised his Control of Ophiucus up. A giant, glowing magic circle began to form in mid-air. Just as the Undeads entered the circle's radius, Fye swung his rod downwards.

     "Avalanche!!"

     A pile of rocks and boulders came showering out of the circle. Most of the Undeads didn't had the time to dodge the sudden attack. Lots of them were squashed down by the landslide. The remaining Undeads which survived the attack continued their charge.

    "Persistent, are we? Try this one, then." Fye swung his rod downwards again. This time another magic circle formed on the ground where the remaining Undeads were standing on. The wizard then lifted his rod upwards.

    "Weather Ring!!"

    Not a single Undead managed to escape the circle when they were swallowed and then buffeted by a large tornado summoned from the magic circle.

     "Show's over. Now for the leader."

     Fye levitated himself up from the ground and flew towards the other side of the chamber at an incredible velocity. He stopped directly above Dr. Fran, and noted the anger on the doctor's face over his minions' defeat.

     "My experiments! How could you possibly..."

     "Photon Splash!!"

     Fye sent out dozens of psychokinetic blasts before Dr. Fran could finish talking. The attack created a large explosion, bringing up a mass of dust clouds. Fye then descended back to the ground after believing that his opponent was now nothing but ashes.

     "Darn it. I forgot to ask the old man on how to turn off this thing." Fye grunted as he looked at the giant cocoon-like object standing before him. "Might as well destroy it I suppose. Hope the antique is damage-proof."

     "Don't get over your head, young wizard..." the gruff voice of Dr. Fran said. As the dust clouds cleared away, the figure of Dr. Fran; being protected by a thick wall of ice came to sight.

     "How dare you intrude this sacred ground?" seethed Dr. Fran.

     "Sacred? This hell hole?" Fye spat.

     "You have destroyed my good experiments!! I won't let you destroy the Chrysalis! Now you must pay, by becoming my new test subject!!" Dr. Fran roared furiously, as two balls of flame began to materialize in his hands.

     "So you're an Elementalist, huh? More than that you're an Elemental Lord!" Fye acknowledged, forming an Anti-Magic Shell around himself. "Unfortunately for you, you're the kind of opponent that I wouldn't hold back on"

    Three wind blades began to form around the wizard. "Funf of the Thunderspring Squad, Fye Vynnette. Prepare to meet your maker, old man."

***

     "Are you sure we are going the right way, Celeste?" asked Rezxy, giving an unsure scratch on the head.

     After Celeste had defeated the Fallen Champion, she had obtained the location of Prison de Joaquin's power plant from its 'memories'. According to Celeste, the power plant was located at the basement area of the building, which was accessible via a long and narrow stairway located at the end of the Torture Chamber. They had successfully found the stairway, but after ten minutes of walking down its dark and gloomy steps, Rezxy was starting to have some doubts about it.

     "I'm sure this is the right place. And if I'm not mistaken, we're almost there." Celeste repliead.

     "It's really dark in here. I can't see a thing." Athena said of the passage that was pitch black as the night. The only things that help their vision were the glimmerings of their weapons.

     "What's the matter? Scared of a little dark?" Celeste gave a teasing smile.

     "Very funny." Athena said sarcastically. "I'll let you know, that back at Military School, we used to...KYAAHH!!"

     All of a sudden, Athena let out a high-pitched scream and jumped onto Rezxy's back.

     "Hey! What in the world? What's wrong?" stammered Rezxy.

     "Get it off me! Get it off!" Athena yelped, pointing to her shoulder.

     Celeste took a closer look, and saw a thin white string was attached from the ceiling to Athena's back. Then she saw a small eight-legged creature resting on Athena's shoulder.

     "Oh, for God sake! It's just a spider!" Celeste scolded.

     "I don't care what it is! Just get it off me!!" Athena tightened the grip of her arms around Rezxy's neck.

     "Hey..stop it...you're killing me here..." Rezxy croaked.

     "You big wussycat! Ugh, here let me get that off." Celeste groaned. Before she could swat it off from Athena's shoulder, the arachnid crawled up and moved on to Athena's nape.

     Athena let out another, and an even louder ear-piercing scream. Her hysterical squirming and struggling had accidentally pushed both Celeste and Rezxy off their feet, sending all three of them toppling down the hundred steps of stairs below.

     Rezxy fell back first at the end of the staircase, with Celeste falling on top of him, followed by Athena. The three of them gave groans of pain before rolling away from the top of each other.

     "I think it's gone now." Athena stood back up with a sigh of relief.

     "Well, my spine was almost gone too thanks to that crazy ride you gave us back there!" Celeste scowled furiously while fixing her garbs and brushing the dust of her pants.

     "Excuse me for being scared of something. I'm sure you have something to be scared of too, right?"

     "The only thing that keeps me awake at night is that pesky cat who keeps crawling down my sheets every night!"

     "And I'm telling you-"

     Their argument continued, like two grocers quarrelling over the price of their goods at the marketplace. Rezxy only stood there quietly, watching his two team-mates having a friendly quarrel. But after a short while, he couldn't resist any more and started chuckling.

     Athena and Celeste ceased their argument immediately after hearing the slight laughter from their leader. They looked at each other dumbfounded before turning their gaze to Rezxy.

     "What?" asked the two of them in unison.

     With a warm and gentle smile, Rezxy replied. "It's just that you two make a good pair of sisters." he then continued chuckling. "Now come on, let's not waste any more time. Look."

     Rezxy pointed ahead, a bright and welcoming light awaited them at the end of the passage.

     "Looks like you were not wrong, Celeste." Athena raised an eyebrow.

     "Don't thank me just yet."

     "Power plant, here we come." Rezxy said, taking the lead.

     The three of them started walking forward. While he was walking at the front, Rezxy took a glimpse at his two friends behind him. His body felt much stronger and his heart felt much safer whenever his comrades were by his side.

     It's amazing how you guys managed to get this far being with me. Rezxy smiled in his thoughts. I'll make sure it'll always stay that way.

     Upon reaching the end of the passage, the three comrades were greeted by the presence of something unbelievable.