Equinox: The Uprising

Chapter 16: Torrential Temple Part 2

                I climbed the vines leading to the entrance and entered the temple. I was greeted with the same puzzle as last time so I solved it very simply. However once I solved it this time, a new door opened up, opposite the other pathway. I entered the new room, expecting some kind of puzzle only to be greeted with what looked like a statue in the center of the room. Once I entered, the door closed behind me.

                I heard the sound of power and saw the statues eyes glow. It stood up and grabbed a brown staff that was standing beside it. It then lunged forward with incredible speed. I barely had time to dodge, even at full speed myself. I tried to activate my ARD but it wouldn’t form, it couldn’t. Once it tried to form, it just fell apart. I tried my Sniper Rifle and it did the same thing. Then I tried my Talons, the same thing happened. It was at that point that I knew I had to fight this thing with only my hands.

                It lunged forward again, the same attack as last time. I dodged again and it swiped behind itself, knocking me down. I rolled backwards to get away from it just before it swiped downward with its staff. When it impacted the ground, the entire room shook and the staff revealed light blue lines on it that quickly faded again. I tried activating my TDD but as soon as the wave started to emanate from my suit, another wave emanated from the statue creature, cancelling the time distortion.

                I started forward towards it and it tried swiping at my feet. I vaulted over it, then punched it in the back trying to stun it, it didn’t budge. It used its staff to somehow knock me into the air, then it hit me directly in the stomach. I flew to the wall and got stuck inside it. I was stunned for a few seconds, long enough for it to slowly walk over to me. It raised its staff as if it were going to stab me with it, which I knew would be fatal. I lunged out of the wall, falling on top of the statue. It kicked me off of it and readied its staff once more. I landed on my feet and it began to charge at me. I kicked its staff upwards and it released from the statues grasp.

                I vaulted over the statue and grabbed the staff. I landed and tried to absorb the staff but it wouldn’t dissolve. The statue started rushing for the staff. I jabbed at it and it flew back about three feet. I jabbed again but it blocked the attack so I swiped at its feet. It went down and I drove the staff into its head. Its eyes stopped glowing and I sighed. It was over.

                -Now how do I get out of this room?

                I took the staff from the statue and started examining the walls for a secret exit. As I was examining the third wall, I heard a sound behind me. The statue had come back to life and rushed at me again.

                -DAMMIT! HOW??!

                I swiped at its feet trying that maneuver again but it did a cartwheel and escaped the staff. I vaulted over its head and did a vertical swipe behind me, knocking it into the wall. I then drove the staff back into it, but in its chest this time. A door opened and I left the staff behind, knowing that if I had taken it the statue would just come back to life again.

                When I entered the next room, there were two more statues. The door once again closed behind me and I saw the two statues come to life and jab at me at the same time. I front flipped over the two staffs and grabbed them out from the statue’s hands. I drove one of them into the ground for now and used the other one to knock down one of the statues and pierce its chest with it. While I was doing that the other statue grabbed the staff in the ground and tried tripping me again. I vaulted over its head and grabbed the staff from around its side. I then swiped downward with the staff driving the statue to the ground and pierced its chest with this staff. Another door opened and I proceeded through.

                On the other side was a large room with a supercomputer on the opposite wall. The wall with the door on it was rounded, making the room’s shape a semi-circle. There was a deep cobalt-colored glow in the room caused by a sphere of some kind emitting light from plasma that was running through it. An image of somebody was projected into the center of the room.

                “You seek a plant-form that will save a life?”

                -Yes, a life that is invaluable to stop a war.

                “You may have what you seek, but tell me this; do you know who you are?”

                -I know nothing of my past, is that what you are asking?

                “Correct. You may not yet proceed. Come back here when you learn of your true existence. In the meantime, the plant you seek is just in the next room. It has already been refined for you.”

                A door opened and the light dimmed into darkness. The room was pitch black now, only lit up by a small light by the door that was now open. I proceeded into the room and grabbed the plant. A bright light surrounded me and when it faded I was outside the Hentu base. I proceeded inside to give the plant to Kate.

                “Thanks Chris, this is exactly what we needed. I’ll get this ground up and made into a potion for Jack.”

                I followed her into the lab where she used a mortar and pestle to grind up the plant. She then mixed that with a superheated chemical which would dissolve the physical parts. She then drained the chemical and mixed the plant with some water, giving it a light green glow. She put it into a bottle and handed it to me.

                “This is it. Now go help Jack; we need him.”