We land my flying car behind the house by the back gate entrance to the yard...
...Hehe, I just said "My flying car"... This is great. And I'd appreciate all this cool Sci-Fi stuff more if the human race wasn't about to be annihilated.
Zeon and I cautiously get out of Firebird X.
"Is it clear?"
<<< ... Yes. >>>
After a few steps away, the ZeoLight waves his hand at the space cruiser, causing it to transform back into the more familiar looking Earthly Pontiac Firebird.
"Look at this place... All of this had to have made for some commotion. How is it that no neighbors called the cops yet?"
I look over at our neighbor's house, the Phillips. I see Mr. and Mrs. Phillips just looking out the window at us... Then they quickly look away and close the blinds when they spot me looking up at them.
Huh, some neighbors they are.
"Alright, let's get in there!"
<<< Solmax wait. You most stay close... I can understand your need to just burst into your home to help you father. But... >>>
"Damn straight I want to burst in there and save my dad...! But I've already learned the hard way why you don't just run head first into a wall of situation without wearing a helmet of preparation to handle what you're getting yourself into. I know Zeon... Well, can you at least tell me if he's even still alive?"
<<< ...Yes, he's alive... But I can't seem to sense his current condition. There is a strong evil energy in the house... I can tell you that much. >>>
"Great..."
We walk in through the gate entering the backyard. This place was trashed. We quickly move to the back door of the house, or where the back door should have been. It was ripped off its hinges and laying on the ground fifteen feet away.
We enter the house through the Sunroom...
"Holy... It's way colder and dark in here then it should be. The power must be out to, no lights on or anything else is on for that matter."
We pass through the sunroom to the kitchen door, err...door frame. That door was ripped off its hinges as well.
I can't believe the condition of my home. I never thought I'd feel so alone and threatened within these walls.
I'm going to find my father and make, whoever or whatever did this, pay.
I walk by the refrigerator and open it up. I find the milk and start drinking straight from the gallon. It's still cold, power must not have been out long. Zeon looks at me with a puzzled head tilt. I wipe the milk from my chin and say,
"What are you looking at? I'm freakin' starving. Being dead takes It out of you."
I grab an apple from the fruit basket and take a bite. I look at Zeon and ask,
"Hey Zeon, you want one?"
I grab another and toss it to him. He catches it and retracts the front part of his helmet to reveal his face as he begins to inspect the apple by sniffing it.
"What...? You do eat food don't you?"
<<< Of course I eat... >>>
"But?"
<<< But It has been some time since I've had the chance to eat. With my powers sustaining me, I no longer have to consume food to stay alive. >>>
"Oh yeah, so you're like a plant? You can generate your own internal food source? Cool! ... On second thought, maybe you shouldn't eat that. I don't need you getting sick when this TarDron tries to, you know, start killing me and stuff."
<<< Don't be silly Solmax... Hehe. I will be just fine eating this "Apple". >>>
"Nope..."
I grab the apple back out of his hand before he has a chance to take a bite.
"I'm sorry. We'll eat later I promise. Well, if we're both not dead by then of course. And did you just laugh at yourself when you said... "Silly Solmax"?"
I put both apples back in the bowl and we continue towards the living room.
I look back at Zeon as he thinks I didn't see him sneak the apple back out of the bowl, I say to him,
"I saw that."
<<< And I could make you forget you saw that. >>>
"Oh really. Well how about you making me forget about everything that's happened to me over the past couple of days, ya jerk!"
<<< Solmax. I don't appreciate your sarcasm. So will you please stop acting like a... What is the word you humans use? Ah yes... An Asshole. >>>
"... Hehe... Touche Space Newt."
I smile at him and we proceed with caution. He creates a small knife and begins slicing off pieces of the ginger gold apple and eating them.
"Well, do you like it?" I ask.
<<< It has half the flavor of a similar fruit I used to eat from my homeworld, but otherwise... it's alright. >>>
"Well, you should try pears..."
Then we hear a weak voice call out to us from the darkness,
"Help me... Please... I... I think I'm dying..."
"Zeon, did you hear that...!?! Hello, Dad is that you!?!"
I hear the moaning and groaning of someone in pain coming from the darkness of the living room floor.
There's just enough light to see a silhouette of a body lying on the hardwood floor. I ran over to the man.
"Dad...? Dad are you OK? Hey ZeoLight, how about some actual light over here?"
Zeon creates a light and shines it on the man as I turn him over.
"Dad?"
"Uugh... Sorry kid..."
"It's not him, it's not my father... Then who the hells this guy?"
<<< This was the TarLing's original host... It left this man's body. There is nothing we can do for him now Solmax >>>
I look at the man, his face was covered with black lesions and sores. His skin was pale, cold and clammy. He tries to speak,
"My name's Curt. I tried... to fight it... Fight its control over me... But it was to...to... strong... Huuuug...*"
"Umm... Hey mister...? Hello? Oh my god... He's... He's dead."
<<< TarLings don't normally relinquish a host until they've already died. Or found someone stronger... I'm sorry Solmax, but I'm afraid the parasite has... >>>
"Zeon, where's the TarLing now? Where is it!?!"
Zeon turns and looks to my father's study.
<<< It is in that room... >>>
I know what's happened... I'm not going to admit it to myself until I see it with my own two eyes... This is going to suck.
"That's his study... Ummm, is it getting really smokey in here all of a sudden...?"
"It's cigarette smoke... Cough! Cough...! It's getting thicker... Cough! Cough! It's coming from the study... Cough! Dad!?!"
I run to the doors, sliding them apart to gain access to where Zeon said Dad was supposed to be. With the doors open, smoke comes pouring out of the study.
"Dad? You in here...? Cough...! We need to get you out of here... Cough...! Dad!?!"
"I can't see anything, the smoke's too damn thick!"
<<< Solmax, we need to leave, now! >>>
"No... Not without my Father...!"
Suddenly all the smoke in the room falls to the ground, crawling, and swirling around on the hardwood floor like dry ice.
"Ooooh... That can't be good..."
<<< Solmax, RUN!!! >>>
We turn to run back out of the room just as the study doors slam shut on their own. I nearly lost my hand as I pulled it back just in time, neroly avoiding the two heavy doors slamming together with a loud bang.
A voice comes from my Dad's chair sitting behind his desk as it was facing away from us turned towards the bay window.
"Where are you going son?"
The large chair swivels around to face us as a figure stands up from it. It's still very dark in the room so I can't see the man's face clearly.
He menacingly walks around to the side of the desk and says,
"I asked you a question my boy. Where are you going? You came in here for a reason. And aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"
He lights up a cigarette that was already in his mouth. The light from the flame illuminates his face, proving once and for all that it was indeed my father standing there.
"Dad...? You OK...?"
"I'm OK son, got a bit of a headache. Had to teach some punk a lesson in trespassing onto another man's property."
"Yeah... it looks like you put up a hell of a fight out there, didn't ya pops?"
"That's right son, when you fight, you fight to win... even if you can't. You fight no matter the cost... Always... Always remember that and know that I... I love you S... Son... Aaah...! Nnaaahh...!!!"
"Daddy...?"
He's been fighting the TarLing's control over him from the moment he was infected, but it looks like he's losing that battle. Dad falls to his knees grabbing his head with his right hand, while still holding the cigarette in his left. He manages to get out one last message,
"ZeoLigh...! Keep my boy... Safe... From... MEERRAHHHHH!!!"
<<< I will, father of the Solmax. >>>
"Dad, I love you, but you need to keep fighting! Do you hear me, FIGHT IT!!!"
Dad stops screaming, stops struggling for control of his mind and body... Because... he just lost.
The man who looks like my father starts laughing as he uses the desk to help himself back up to his feet.
His laugh... It's the kind of laugh you do after you accidentally hurt yourself, like after you ran your elbow into a wall bruising your funny bone or stubbing your toe on the leg of a coffee table.
I hear wood cracking. Oh god, it's the legs of the solid oak desk giving out from the force dad's uses to push himself back up. His strength has increased. Then once to his feet he rips the corner of the desk off.
"...Dad?"
<<< No Solmax, your father's gone... >>>
{{ "That's right boy, daddy can't hear you anymore. But I gotta tell ya, he put up one hell of a fight, just like you said... Huh...? I can still feel him trying to get out. But he's only human. He can't fight against the Dark Lord's will forever... Now let's get down to business shall we? First up on the agenda... you both need to die." }}
My father's eyes begin to glow red and the smoke that was crawling around on the floor begins to rise back up, filling the air. It once again becomes hard to see and breathe.
"Zeon, we need... Cough! To get out of here!"
<<< Agreed. >>>
Zeon, who was still in full basic battle form except for his face which was visible to be able to eat the apple, reformes the front faceplate of his helmet. Then an energy blaster forms around his right hand and he fires it at the doors, blowing them apart. The smoke rushes out of the room as we make a break for it.
"What...? Zeon, something's got me!"
Something has grabbed ahold of my legs, then my arms...
I look over to see the same has happened to Zeon.
The smoke...? It's the smoke! TarDron Dad is controlling it just as Zeon can control the green energy he creates.
The smoke pulls us back inside the room.
I look over to see Zeon struggling against the smoke as he says,
<<< This is not good Solmax... TarDrons should not be able to manipulate toxic gases. It is an ability only the Dark Lords themselves possess... This stupid planet...! Just one more thing I have to fight against! >>>
"Hey... it's not our fault... Whoa!"
With our hands and feet entrapped, we are lifted up off the floor and spun back around to face my father.
His eyes are still glowing red as he commands the smoke to take on two humanoid forms and stand before us.
"Ooof!"
"Uuuh!"
They begin to strike us, in our face and stomach. Their fists of smoke becoming hard as rock right before impact then turning back into gas as they recoil back ready to strike us again.
I feel blood start running down my chin coming from my mouth and nose.
I look over at Zeon as the smoke creature attacking him is trying to crack his helmet open like a hard boiled egg. Repeatedly and ferociously whaling away at Zeon's protective armor. And although he looks to be taking a beating, Zeon's suite seems to be holding up. But just by being in contact with the toxic cloud, his suite is reacting negatively to the smoke, damaging it and causing pieces to sizzle and flake off, only to see it quickly repair itself.
Then the smoke construct grabs me by my neck and with its other "arm", begins forcing its toxic smoke into my nose, mouth and down into my lungs.
I can't breathe, I'm quickly suffocating to death.
<<< Solmax, hold on! >>>
Zeon focuses his powers on me, he quickly begins creating a green energy vapor that surrounds my body. Then starting with my face, he creates a breathing device that sucks out all the toxic smoke from my lungs.
I can breath again...
Then the energy vapor around my body condenses into a liquid, coating my body,
A helmet forms first on my head then instantly spreads down my body as it solidifies into a black and green suit similar to Zeon's. The smoke can't touch me now, but it still has a firm grip on the both of us.
"...Wow... Thanks... That's much better. Now, what do we do?"
<<< What we do now is get some ventilation in this room. >>>
Zeon turns his attention to the wall leading outside, he powers up, but then hesitates at the last second as he notices something.
Using his telekinesis, Zeon begins moving a bookshelf. It was full of family photos, sculptures, albums and things we made for dad over the years. He places the entire bookshelf to the side, out of harm's way.
"Huh... That was very considerate of you Zeon, thank you."
<<< You're welcome Solmax. Preserving images of the past is important... >>>
Then he blast a decent sized hole in the wall. Green energy begins filling the newly made opening as it solidifies into a giant fan.
It powers on and begins pulling all the smoke out of the room and into the muggy night air outside.
The smoke creatures are, of course, sucked out along with it, releasing us from their clutches which moments ago seemed inescapable.
We hear Dad roar out in anger as we fall to the ground.
{{ "What!?! No!!! I will destroy you ZeoLight!!!" }}
Clearly the TarDron didn't like that we managed to save ourselves, and that he temporarily lost the smoke constructs. I yell out to dad hoping for a positive response,
"Dad, you need to get control of this!"
Dad just stops and stares at me as if he wasn't sure what he wanted to do next. I'll never stop trying to get through to him. And right before "Evil Dad" put back on his angry face, I saw him smile. It was my Dad's smile. The smile that only he could make.
He's still in there, and I'm going to get him back!
"OK Zeon, here's the plan, my Dad's mind is still alive in there so we're going to save him which means not killing his body."
<<< Solmax, I told you, once a TarLing bonds with a host, it will not release it willingly. And if it did, the damage to that host is irreversible. The only way to save your father is to kill him... I'm sorry. >>>
"Ummmm... NO!."
<<< No? >>>
"Yeah, no."
"We're going to trap him and find a way to save him."
<<< And I'm telling you we can't! >>>
"Why!?! You haven't even tried yet!"
Dad is just standing there, trying to get our attention...
{{ "Ah-hum..." }}
<<< I've been doing this for a long time Solmax, you think I haven't tried to save those who had been turned!?! >>>
{{ "Um, excuse me you two...?" }}
<<< I've lost track of how many beings I've befriended and then lost because they became infected and I had to choose between pointlessly trying to save them or end their suffering so that I could survive to continue the battle. And most often than not, it had to be done in front of their loved ones before the TarDron could kill them as well!!! >>>
{{ "Are you two finished bickering...?" }}
"Dad, please. I'm trying to convince Zeon why he shouldn't vaporize you... Now Zeon, I'm sorry, I am. But you're on Earth now and you will try again to separate this infected host from this TarLing and this time you will succeed!"
{{ "That's enough chit-chat from you two, time to die... I have plans latter." }}
"Yeah, yeah, hold on Dad..."
"Do you know where on Earth you landed Zeon?"
<<< Umm... Galaxy View. But Solmax... >>>
"That's right, in America! Land of the free, home of the brave! If anyone's going to prove you wrong it's going to be us!"
<<< Solmax... >>>
"... And the human race as a whole...! And my Father are going to prove you wrong!"
<<< Solmax...!!! >>>
"What!!!"
{{ "Moving speech Son..." }}
<<< MOVE!!! >>>
"Ah Shit...!"
"Evil Dad" had strolled over beside us and actually waited as me and Zeon argued for a little bit longer, then he got tired of it and got down to business. Turning his hands into giant TarDron claws, and began attacking us with major slashing action.
{{ "...But strong words won't save you here." }}
With Zeon's energy suit increasing my strength and protecting me along with our mental connection, we begin fighting Dad together.
Zeon creates weapons for himself and does the same for me. This is amazing... With this new heart of mine I feel stronger and faster than ever. Even my stamina has doubled.
I've learned enough about these goddamn TarDrons to understand how they act and fight. With brutal force and an unforgiving blood lust.
And yet with all the fighting we've been doing, Dad still hasn't turned into a full blown TarDron yet. He's keeping the TarLing within him mostly restrained, he's still fighting for control.
Dad grabs Zeon's left arm and was about to throw him when the ZeoLight cause his fake arm to temporarily turn back into energy vapor causing dad to lose his grip and balance, falling backwards. He quickly recovers and charges straight at Zeon again.
Zeon instantly reassembles his arm as I joke with him,
"Now wasn't that a "Handy" trick."
He just looks at me for a quick moment as he creates a wall that Dad crashes into but cannot penetrate as he continues trying to kill us, then Zeon takes control of my arm and makes me smack myself upside my own head for using such a bad pun.
I just look at him and say, "Eh... I had that coming'."
Dad breaks through the energy barrier and the battle continues as we duck and dodge his attacks.
"Zeon, will you just trap him already! Can't you see that my Dad is still in there, fighting from the inside!?! He's giving us a chance to win this."
<<< OK Solmax, allow me to show you just how pointless trying to capture a TarDron really is... >>>
Zeon begins forming energy restraints around Dad's arms and legs, Dad slashes at the vapor energy with no prevail. It quickly solidifies forming shackles, locking him to an energy platform that forms underneath him. Then walls and a roof form around Dad, locking him inside a large box.
We can hear him screaming and growling inside as he tries to escape, clawing and punching at his temporary confinement.
We use this opportunity to catch our breaths.
"Now, what are we going to do with him? Come on think... Think... Zeon, what can we do with Dad as we... Well... figure out what to do with Dad...? Zeon? You listening to me?"
I look over to see Zeon, who was focusing deeply on the large crate containing my father. The eye lenses of his mask were pouring out green energy as the blue light pathways all over his suite were racing.
Either Zeon was really struggling to maintain the containment box, or trying hard to think of a way to do something more with the box... or he really had to go pee. Whatever it was, it's taxing his power to a breaking point. He's getting ready for the cage to fail...
"RAAAAHRGG!!!"
(( BAM!! ))
"SCREEEEEEK!!!"
(( BANG!!! ))
"GRAAAAAHLK!!!"
(( CRACK!!! ))
"ARRRRRRRG!!!"
"Zeon? Please tell me that those sounds are coming from your body as a result of eating that apple?"
He doesn't respond.
"Yeah... That's what I was afraid of."
Then he says,
<<< I'm sorry Solmax, I told you... You can't contain a TarDron... Our powers were not meant for containing them. Only destroying them... Now stand back and prepare yourself, the construct is about to fail. >>>
The box begins to bend and warp, cracking the outer black shell, revealing the green liquid energy underneath. Then, red and black tar begins bleeding into the green, swirling into it until it was gone, leaving only the blood red.
The box construct explodes, releasing its prisoner, leaving him free to once again begin trying to tear us apart.
Were temporarily blinded by the red mist of Zeon's contaminated energy until it begins to dissipate. Revealing to us a terrifyingly newly formed beast, birthed while contained within the ZeoLight's temporary confinement.
There standing before us was a hulking, fully formed, badass looking, pissed off TarDron.
"Zeon...!?!"
<<< Fight Solmax! >>>
Zeon, once again forms a buffed up battle suit and begins taking on TarDron Daddy. They exchange blows, Zeon with his lightning fast speed and precision and the TarDron with his monstrous power and rage.
Zeon tries his best to fight the TarDron while avoiding his attacks while keeping from using a more powerful attack that would do permanent damage to Dad's body, while trying to keep me safe...
This lasts for five minutes until Daddy TarDron grabs Zeon by his real leg and throws him through the wall, bursting through to the outside leaving me alone to fend for myself against TarDad... I'm so screwed.
The TarDron comes straight for me. I back flip and dodge his first few swings at me. I even managed to get in a few hits.
(( Crack!!! ))
"Sorry Dad!"
(( Swack!!! ))
"Sorry Dad!"
(( Bam!!! ))
"Sorry Da... Ah Crap!!!"
He gets a hit to my face that sends me flying through the inside wall that separates the dining room from the living room towards the front door. I'm on the ground.
"That hurt..."
"GRRRRAAAH!!!"
The TarDron starts to charge towards me with his foot long razor sharp claws ready to shove them right through me and tearing me in two. All the while i'm trying to reason with the man trapped inside the beast.
"DAD!!! Fight it! I know you're still in there!"
Within seconds he's above me ready to strike.
{{ "Goodbye boy! RRRHHHHG!!!" }}
"Dad, NO...!!!"
"Hey TarDron!!!"
(( KRA-BEEW!!! ))
"Get away from him!"
(( KRA-BEEW!!! ))
"...Now!!!"
(( KRA-BEEW!!! ))
The TarDron is bombarded by blasts of blue energy, the last hit puts him on his ass.
"What...? Who?"
I see a woman dressed in form fitting black tactical body armor, standing behind me with a big ass smoking energy blaster.
It takes my eyes a moment to focus in on her face, then I recognize who she was ...
"Mum!?!"