The Clearsky Glaciers, a beauty that's as if Antarctica toned down its below freezing temperature to the atmosphere is just a breeze in the wind. This is the environment the teenagers arrive at when the device teleported them away from their previous scorcher of a previous location. To say this was the second most beautiful location they've visited would be an understatement. A big understatement. The floor looked as if the gods copied Earth's Salar de Uyuni as inspiration for this paradise. The tall mirror structure awaited them, but they lost themselves in a trance whilst admiring the beauty of the place. Nothing other than reflections inhabited the place. No snow, no mountains, no crystals, and especially no blizzards: just a pure aqua-ocean area with a mirror as their gate leading to the fourth shard. The team, after glancing around this beauty for a minute or two, made their way into the mirror.
"Well, look what we have here?" Sarcastically snarked a very familiar presence. Their faces turning from absolute curiosity to a look of pure annoyance and anger mixed, the teen group turned to see Raptor and Silencer standing there, obviously here for a fight.
"You two have really given us some trouble. And for that, we're going to eviscerate you from the face of this place," Silencer says, the venom in his voice doing nothing to pierce their souls. The blood in their veins wasn't turned to ice either, and they sure as hell weren't scared of their macabre power. They need to finish these guys off for good. Shadow Bird, shortly after the team gets their weapons ready, sets the backpack down on the ground. Raptor felt his fighting instincts cooking, himself licking the lips under his mask while his yellow iris glows brightly. Silencer, unlike the two groups preparing for a fight, decides to get even with his brother by revealing his trick up his sleeve.
"You guys are quite stubborn, you know that?" Raptor said whilst getting his sickles out.
"Well, we gotta be for the multiverse's sake," Shadow Bird quips seriously.
"You know you guys don't have to do this. Do you guys really enjoy doing this crap for him?" Jayden asked in a bid to better understand these two brothers.
"Uh, yeah kid. Isn't that what I told you during our first fisticuffs?" Raptor asked with impatience growing inside him. Growing impatient himself, the angrier entity uncovers his trick. Aubrey's blood turned to ice the minute her terrified little sister was held by the hair by Silencer. Her iced blood is soon thawed by the fury building inside her. Aubrey's face even snarled at the sight of the atrocity that these bastards are gonna die for. The team couldn't help but feel the rage that foamed from her aura. Aubrey, before Jayden could even place his arm near her to stop her from getting herself killed, stormed slowly to the group, the lighting in her eyes striking inside her.
"I wouldn't try anything if I were you," Silencer said as he summoned his hammer. The thump from the hammer didn't scare Aubrey, yet the team walks up to her to try and stop her from unintentionally sealing Ariana's fate.
"You two let her go NOW!" Aubrey nearly screamed through gritted teeth. The whole group stopped dead in their tracks when they're now ten inches away from the two entities threatening Aubrey's little sis.
"What do you want?" Jayden asked stoically.
"You know full well what we want, Jayden," Silencer firmly said. Jayden and the others froze in their tracks just as those words came out of the red-eyed entity's mouth. They didn't want to endanger the multiverse. They didn't want to ruin Starsis' plan. However, this was a human life that was at stake. Not only that, but this was Aubrey's little sister, Ariana Stone, that could die if they don't cough up the shards. A moment's hesitation went by before Jayden makes his decision. Apologetically glancing at his team, the young man went towards the backpack to grab the shards. The team looks back towards the entities with rage boiling through their faces. Silencer gripped tighter onto Ariana's hair as he stared deeply into the elder Stone girl's fuming eyes of lush forest. This, of course, was meant to scare the girl out of trying anything that would tick him off, therefore giving him all the more reason as to snapping the little girl's neck.
"A-Aubrey?" The frightened girl whimpered, making Aubrey forcibly snap out of her angry state and take on a more tender role.
"It's going to be ok, Ariana. Just trust me," Aubrey says, her voice choking back the urge to scream and threaten the monsters holding Ariana hostage. Ariana nodded obediently to her eldest sister as her hair is held tightly by the scarier entity. Well, at least in her mind, Silencer was the scariest of the two. Asori then forces herself to seal her swords away back into her aura, the rest of the group going into a standard casual stance.
"You know, kids. This has been a lot of fun," Raptor comically comments, catching the team's attention.
"Seriously. You guys gave us one hell of a fight even though we creamed you both times. How'd you guys get so good at fighting like that?" Raptor states boldly.
"Well, for me, and this was a few years back, I got most of my taekwondo training from a... special person of mine." Shadow Bird didn't want to continue at that point. He knew full on that this maniac could use "him" to get to him. So, he shut up at that point.
"What about you and that double sword fencing of yours, Ms. Asori?" Raptor's usage of that wordplay really creeped Asori out. What's worse is that his yellow eyes were on fire like a kid just opening what appeared to be her most anticipated Christmas gift. Taking a deep breath, Asori uses this as yet another opportunity to trash a certain someone who betrayed her.
"A bastard," Asori said coldly.
"Ahh, I see. Well, our father trained us like crazy since we were conceived five years ago. And let me tell ya Asori, you're not the worst off." Asori felt a wave of anger build up inside her because of that comment. It wasn't the first time she's been told that, and she'd gotten sick and tired of hearing that.
"And from what I've gathered, Ashley and Aubrey took some boxing classes, is that correct?" Raptor smirked wickedly at that question. The two wanted to respond viciously, but they knew Ariana's a goner if they even tried it.
"That's what I thought. Of course, Jayden over there had some sword training. He's also great with his legs." Jayden, meanwhile, was getting his plan into motion. All he's relying on now is the pen he has that'll save the whole multiverse and his team that'll buy him the time he needs. For the plan to look authentic, he had to put his sword back into the backpack.
"If I could guess, you two could be on par, Ms. Asori." Asori's face begins to cringe at that constant nickname Raptor gave her. Asori didn't question this reasoning for this nickname, her being afraid of exploring the dark desires of this madman. Shadow Bird himself couldn't help but frown sternly to hide his chills from this creepy guy. Glancing at Jayden, he knew exactly what he's doing, Shadow Bird humming happily in a quiet manner.
"What was that?" Silencer asks, catching Shadow Bird's attention right off the bat.
"Ohh, nothing. I'm just bummed a bit," Shadow Bird admits, his head tipping a bit.
"Hey, cheer up. At least you'll have each other when the lights go out," Raptor comments casually. That did nothing to calm their nerves as they fear what'll happen once they're forced to hand over the shards. They're practically going to doom the entire multiverse to these guys thanks to Aubrey's little sister being threatened. But, what else could they do? If they try and take the shards after they hand over Ariana, they'll sure as hell seal both her and the team's fate.
"What's the holdup, Jayden?! The clock is ticking!" Silencer shouts which doesn't scare the young man at all. Jayden, putting the finishing touches on his plan, ends his process by simply taking the shards out of the bag, himself slipping his secret weapon into his hoodie pocket. The impatient entity grips harder on Ariana's hair to warn Jayden not to try anything. Moreover, the pressure was on, but Jayden didn't care. The blue hooded leader made his way to the two entities with the shards in both his hands. Jayden, as soon as he made his way in-between the two sides, sets the shards down near the two dark entities. Silencer then takes the two shards in his hands. Looking over them, he can't believe the kid is doing this. In fact, he can't believe that these kids, pests who've given him and Raptor a very hard time, are willing to let the multiverse become an eternal blight to save a single life.
"You win. Now, hand over the girl," Jayden demands sternly. Silencer, as a means to show respect for this respect shown to them, lets Ariana go. The two Stone sisters embraced like toddlers who've been separated by their parents for way too long. They didn't cry, however, because they're now focused on getting the hell out of this shitstorm in any way they can. Jayden, knowing what they're thinking through their panicked-relieved hugging positions, brings her over to the backpack to give her a new order. They all do this in a whispering voice, the two entities too focused on their victory then whatever the two teammates are talking about.
"Ok, listen to me." Aubrey nods as the young man that is her leader gives her the device.
"Go to the random location that has nothing to do with any of the crystals. Keep doing that until you guys get to your house on Earth."
"Ok. But, what about-"
"I'll deal with that. You just worry about her." Aubrey glances over Ariana, her worried little sister being held close to her. Jayden then smiles at her, Aubrey taking this as a chance to smile as well, her trusting that the team is going to make everything ok. The two sisters teleport away from the battleground that will explode once his plan is found out. Jayden walks away from the backpack to end up standing by his teammates.
"Well, aren't you guys up to something?" Raptor said, knowing full well the group has a scheme up their sleeves.
"The question, however, is what it is," Silencer said before he crushes the handheld objects effortlessly.
"And is that why you made your little speedster run off with the lamb? So that you could destroy her before we do first?" Raptor mocked. The teens only stand strong as they get into their respective fighting positions. However, no swords were shown as the teens figured their fists and feet are enough for these two. Silencer and Raptor, seeing this interesting display of willpower, decide to respect their gesture of changing up the pace of their fight by getting into their fighting positions.
"How about we wait until your little speedster comes back, shall we?" Raptor said seriously as the team nodded their heads in approval. Silencer, as much as he didn't want to, complied with this notion. These brats started this beef with them as a five-member squad. Therefore, they'll be eviscerated together. Vivian Stone began worrying heavily about Ariana. She said she would be out walking and promised to be back before dinner time. Where the hell was she? Growing frustrated, she looked at her phone to see that little gal didn't answer any of her calls nor messages. Her frustration would've grown until the knock on her front door forces her to take a breath and walk over to the door knocker.
"I swear to God." Opening the door, her initially frustrated composure is replaced by the fact that Aubrey, her niece who'd been missing for over three days straight, was standing next to the little gal she was gonna pounce on for worrying her so much.
"Aubrey?" The woman asked her eldest niece.
"Hey, Aunt Vivian," Aubrey said nonchalantly. Her hoodie had stains of blood on it as she'd been in a very brutal fight. Not only that, but she appeared on the verge of collapsing from all she's gone through as of this past month.
"Oh my god!" The woman in casual wear said as she ran up and hugged her nieces as a momma bear would do with her bear cubs. The sisters happily reciprocated the act before Vivian noticed the device in Aubrey's hands she clutched towards her chest.
"What's that, Aubrey?" Vivian asked, her question pointing to the device.
"I don't have time to explain. I just came to drop Ariana off." Aubrey then led the little gal into the home before she began setting up her trip back to the battlefield.
"Wait! Aubrey, what the hell are you doing?" Vivian asked, still being unaware of what the hell was going on.
"There are some very bad people I have to take care of. I promise I'll be ok, you guys," Aubrey said whilst the teleportation process was only inches away from completion.
"Wait! Aubrey!" Ariana said before Aubrey looked down at her sternly.
"Ariana, stay with Aunt Vivian!"
"But-"
"Do what I say!" Aubrey shouts just before the device teleports her away from the household. Both Stone family members looked on in both shock and fear for the yellow hooded family member. Back on the glassy battlefield, the two groups stood in silence as they awaited the fourth member of the five-member squad to return. Silencer, feeling bored, decided to add conversation into the mix so that he'll speed the process up for the upcoming fight.
"You know, it's pretty sad," Bluntly stated the impatient entity.
"What do you mean by that?" Jayden asked casually.
"You guys could be doing so many other things with your lives. Too bad Starsis chose you five to carry out his dirty work."
"Well, like it or not, you guys are no different," Ashley said firmly.
"Indeed. You guys never had to stick around with Evilkin. You guys could be doing so much good with your lives, ya know," Shadow Bird states to the two dark entities.
"We know. But, that isn't how things work with us kid. We were literally made to do his bidding. He told us so himself," Raptor admits.
"In regards to what we could do, would you really see as merchants or mercenaries? It would grow boring for us," Silencer admits as well.
"Yeah. We don't like doing boring things. Nobody likes being bored to death. We're just monsters, kids, and there's nothing you do about it." A brief pause between both groups comes across the atmosphere just as Aubrey manages to make it back to the fight.
"Well, the little yellow speedster finally makes it back. Took ya long enough," Raptor bantered, receiving none back from the pissed girl.
"You assholes are gonna regret messing with my little sister."
"People threatened us like that before, but none of them followed through with it," Silencer said whilst cracking his knuckles. Aubrey then gets into her fighting position as the group stared intently at the two-man squad in front of them. The tense atmosphere only lasts for a good minute or two before both entities charge at the five-member squad. The fight is just as intense as their last two battles only with Silencer trying to maul the ketchup and mustard dressed girls and Raptor was just having fun with the other three. Silencer's physical strength set the girls on edge as every punch and kick practically would've killed them had they not been quick enough to block and/or dodge them. If Aubrey were a betting woman, the monster would've taken both her and Ashley's heads over with just a simple swipe of his fist. Ashley manages to land a double punch onto Silencer's head during her short period of blocking his fists. Silencer then riles back in pain once Aubrey manages to land a scissor kick onto Silencer's temple. Enraged, the entity's red eyes glow with rage as he recklessly amps up his assault. He even adds some of his aura to his attacks to quickly dispatch of the girls. Sadly, these girls were just way too quick for him, each of his raging uppercuts and jabs being either ducked, backed away, or simply jumped from. Before Silencer could even use a powerful energy blast to wipe Aubrey off the face of the planet they stood on, Ashley responds by blasting a wave of fire at the attack. This temporarily blinds Silencer which makes him even more irritated. Just as he regained his vision, the two gals he's been fighting with give him a swift roundhouse kick to his face simultaneously. The fight with Raptor was no less as intense as the fight with Silencer. In regards to his impatient brother's desire to end the fight as quickly as possible, the demonically gleeful entity was having the time of his life. These three little punks were giving him a good fight. Asori especially proved to be a great challenge thanks to her mixing ballet dance moves with simple karate kicks. Being a blue belt at this art, Asori uses a very hard front kick to Raptor's abdomen, this being followed by her green belt peer using a sidekick to this creature's face, and this combo ending with a side whip kick from Shadow Bird. This only led to a very angry Silencer trying to charge at them for hurting his brother. However, thanks to quick thinking from Aubrey, the yellow hooded teen hijacks this attempt at attacking her teammates by sliding under the runner's feet. This, of course, knocks him on his back. The two girls follow up this attack by slamming their feet into his stomach. They also follow up with vicious punches and kicks onto this guy as vengeance for both nearly killing them along with endangering the lives of others. Raptor sees the brutal beating his brother is going through and tries to intervene. Jayden and Asori, knowing what he's planning to do, charge at the man with a roundhouse to his temple and a jumping front kick to that said temple. Falling to the ground, Raptor gets a solid right hook to his jaw from Shadow Bird followed by Jayden shoving his foot onto his throat. Raptor writhed in pain as Silencer just barely manages to see his beaten brother amid his beating. Asori, using the fear of the two entities killing them and the hidden excitement she's gotten from this fight, summons her two blades to finish the madman off. They weren't playing around when they got into those fighting positions. They wanted to end this here and now. Just as Asori was about to impale the maniac, Silencer lunged at the purple and black-robed girl after knocking both girls beating him away with a dark energy blast, knocking everyone to the ground in the process. This frightened her to the point her powers stopped working. Not only that, but time started to slow down all of a sudden. She couldn't feel the balance in her aura due to this said fear overpowering all her other emotions. Ashley screamed in fear while the others rushed to stop her death. Just as she's nearly impaled by his knife, Aubrey, having grabbed Jayden's sword from the backpack, impaled the raging behemoth, slamming his body on the ground as she did so. Aubrey, on one knee as Silencer found himself unable to move from the sudden chest stab, whispered this into Silencer's ear.
"That's for my sister, you piece of shit," The young woman snarls softly into the behemoth's ear. Raptor, in a panic, used a small bit of his aura to blast the teens off of him.
"Silencer!" Raptor shouts in fear. Kneeling by his brother's side, the maniac's usually static persona shattered, itself being replaced to that of a scared child.
"Brother." The entity held his brother close to him as he wheezed and held onto his chest. Although no blood came from the wound, a dark aura left the impatient brother's body at a fast rate. The teens stood there in shock as the entities they considered heartless monsters came near each other in a frightened manner. As the brother's held hands for the final time, Raptor knew that even though he couldn't see it, his brother had been smiling underneath his dark exterior. Just before he faded to black, the entity said one final word to his brother.
"I love you," The entity weakly said before passing on. The maniac couldn't believe it. No. He didn't want to believe it. His brother is dead, and it's all his fault.
"What do you suggest we do? Let them get strong enough to at least try and kill us?" Words from a not so long ago past immediately enter his mind. They told him the truth. These words, while harsh, were simply a harsh reality to him now.
"What the hell, Raptor?! Why didn't you let us get the backpack?!" The screaming of his brother haunted his eardrums. Those were the last words they spoke to each other. Those angry, hurtful, sarcastic, and commentary worthy words. Why? Why did this have to happen? How could he have been so blind? Tears of grief filled the eyes of the monster in front of the teenagers as they watched the shaking stature of the once energetic killer break out into a sob. That action. That sad... reminder of what they did so many times. When they lost people close to them, some of those same people abandoning them, and even when the world was just unkind to them in general. Aubrey, although she didn't regret what she did, couldn't help but stare in shock at this emotionally horrendous sight. Ashley felt sparkles of tears well up in her eyes. But due to being aware of this weakness showing hypocrisy on her part, Ashley forces the tears back into her eye sockets. Jayden and Shadow Bird were simply shellshocked by this event. Nothing more. Asori, out of all the team members, felt the most guilty. No way, shape, or form did it involve this monster's dying brother. Those two had it coming. The purple and black-robed girl felt guilty for freezing up like that. She could've gotten herself killed if it hadn't been for Aubrey. Why did she have to show such weakness back there? Was Jerrod right about her? Is she really...? Before she could finish that thought, the beast that was Raptor has ceased his crying fit, now only left as a twitching, whimpering mess. After a long, agonizing moment of whimpering, Raptor finished his tangent by having his arms drop to his sides. His head down signified the shame on his conscience that practically ate up all of his happiness. These two have gotten in multiple skirmishes before most, if not all of them, were caused by the two's arrogance. They never thought they'd die throughout all of their conflicts. Who'd have thought five kids would be the ones who give them their comeuppance for their long history of crimes against the multiverse?
"Kill me," The weak entity said, no longer wishing to live with the guilt of killing his own brother. The team didn't know how'd they go about this. They knew how dangerous this guy was, but a part of them felt bad for him. All of a sudden, Aubrey, knowing full well what it felt like being betrayed by someone pretending to be weak, ends the misery of Raptor by impaling him through the chest with Jayden's sword and watched in a neutral stance as he passes on. The teens saw the shard exiting his belt pocket and grabbed hold of it when the dust cleared. The backpack now had a third shard in its possession once Aubrey placed it into the backpack Shadow Bird brought onto his back. Feeling a vibration in the backpack, Shadow Bird allows Jayden to get it. The message was Starsis with a look of obvious guilt and regret smeared all over his complexion.
"How's your journey?" Starsis asked forlornly.
"We... Well, we got the third shard" The leader said in a soft yet sorrowful manner.
"What's wrong?" Starsis asked genuinely.
"We... Well, we..." Ashley couldn't answer. A part of her just felt too dirty to do so.
"I killed Silencer and Raptor," Aubrey said stoically. Starsis, knowing what the teens are feeling right now, began talking to them evermore sternly.
"You five did a good thing." The teens' heads peaked up to hear what the light entity had to say.
"Those two were very bad men. Another example as to why Evilkin needs to be stopped." The pause in the atmosphere didn't ease the sudden weight of what just happened from only moments earlier.
"Continue with your mission, heroes." The transmission ended there without another word. One word, however, stuck out to the young men and women. Heroes. Why did Starsis call them that? But, it didn't take long for them to find that answer after a moment of thinking. They were aiding in saving the multiverse. Not only that, but two psychotic maniacs are now dead thanks to them. Aubrey practically avenged God knows how many in the multiverse who were victimized by Silencer and Raptor. They guessed that this is part of what Starsis meant when talking about them being heroes. The teens were now willing to sacrifice lives for the multiverse to continue blooming with light.
YOU ARE READING
The Alta Heroes (Reboot)
AdventureStarsis and Evilkin, two powerful entities who've dueled for millennia, become severely weakened because of their tireless war. The enraged evil entity plots both his brother's downfall and the regaining of his terrible power with the help of Silen...
