WW: CH.2: Thy Dungeon Man Pt.6

Chapter Two: Thy Dungeon Man
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Part Six

Hikaru walked down one of the hallways the next day, having just finished a late lunch.

Her shoulders slumped a little. While the others were training, she had nothing to do. Tomorrow was the last day to train; she’d lain awake for hours the night before, trying to think of ways to regain her powers she had on Cephiro. She didn’t know why they had disappeared, taking her weapons also.

Her thoughts strayed to Cephiro. Was it crumbing, without her to support it? Were Umi and Fuu worrying? And the rest of her friends? She didn’t like them to worry about her. A small smile stole across her face at something Umi and Fuu had told her once….

Umi, with her long blue hair and pretty face, and Fuu with her golden curls and kind eyes stole into her minds eye. She could nearly hear Umi’s voice: “You’re the most reckless of all of us, and you never complain when you’re hurt or tired. You’re too busy taking care of everyone else….”

Her face fell, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes. She missed them dearly. The warriors were very kind and protective of her, as adults would be, but they didn’t know much about her. They hadn't been through what she, Umi and Fuu had together...

She stopped at an intersection of the hallways, and saw someone training alone in a room on the right. Turning this way, she stopped outside the room. It was Luke Skywalker, the warrior she knew the least about.

He wore a half-dome-shaped helmet on his head, but the visor on it was down and covered his eyes completely. He held a cylindrical mechanism in his hand, which was about ten inches long or so.

A movement above him attracted her attention. An orb-like object floated in the air there, light grey in colour with holes on its many faces. It turned this way and that, floating lazily in the air above Luke.

Hikaru watched in fascination as he loosened his shoulders and spread his feet, then held his silver cylindrical device tightly in both hands. Suddenly a shaft of light, a bright green, shot forth from the cylinder, emanating a distinct humming noise.

The moment this light-sword appeared, the floating orb spun faster and more randomly, flying now more than floating.

Out of the holes on the orb flew what looked like lasers at Luke, but with graceful sweeps of his weapon, he deflected the shots.

Wow, Hikaru thought. I don’t think I’d be able to deflect missiles with my eyes closed. She folded her legs underneath her and sat there in the hallway, watching.

The light saber twirled easily in Luke Skywalker’s hands. Though he could not see the Marksman-H Combat remote, he could feel its presence through the Force. He let the Force guide his arms and feet, and distantly heard a second and third remote appear out of the machine that released them.

Now all three of the remotes were firing at him, but he was deflecting all of their lasers. He heard and felt them ricochet off his weapon as he spun. He swept his light saber in a fast arc, now in a slower, smaller arc, then in a fast sharp motion as more shots fired.

Captain America and Logan were heading towards another training room when they rounded a corner and almost tripped over Hikaru.

“Oops, sorry,” she said, getting to her feet.

“No problem kid,” Logan said. “What’re you doin’ down there?”

“Watching Luke," she said, pointing.

“What kind of weapon is that?” Captain America asked, peering into the room.

“Dunno,” Logan replied. “Looks pretty fancy. I think I’ll stick to old fashioned weapons.” Hardening his fist, the three metal claws punctured the skin near his knuckles and slid into view.

“Were you born with those?” Hikaru asked quietly.

“No kid.” He allowed the claws to slide back under his skin. “Some scientists thought it’d be a riot to lace my bones with this stuff.”

Her hands flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

Logan shrugged. “Not your fault, kid. They come in handy sometimes.”

“Do they hurt?”

“Yeah. But I heal so fast that it doesn’t bother me much. Now, why aren’t you trainin’ like everybody else?”

“I can’t. My weapons and armor disappeared when they brought me here. I have to figure out how to get them back by myself.”

“How’re you going to do that – whoa!” Captain America gripped the wall as the floor suddenly shook.

“What the—” Logan shouted, steadying Hikaru.

“What was that?” Luke asked, running out of the training room, light saber in hand. He shook his blond hair from his eyes as he tore off his helmet.

“I don’t know. Whoa, hold on to something!” the Captain shouted as the floor trembled, then lurched violently.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and the purple, winged form of Goliath came around the corner. “Where is that coming from?”

The others shook their heads, unknowing.

“Whoa!” Hikaru nearly toppled backwards as the hallway gave another violent shake, but Goliath caught her, flaring his wings to steady himself.

“Are you alright?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Thank you.”

“Come on, let’s try to figure out where that’s coming from.” Captain America said.
“Do you think it’s an earthquake?” Hikaru asked.

“I don’t think so. It seems too erratic.”

As they headed down the hall, sometimes using the walls for support, they encountered Necro, Alex, the Marines, John Connor, Samus, Ripley, Jonah Hex and finally Carin, coming out of her training room.

“It’s coming from further down the hallway,” Carin said. “Whatever it is, it’s powerful -- I could feel it through the Dome. The Domes usually block out outside activity.”

As they went farther and then turned left, they saw Batman, Superman, Harry and David gathered around a metallic door. The door led into another transparent room, but this room had a tiled floor and a large cylindrical machine in the center.

In this room were Goku and Trunks. They were in the air, hovering some eight feet off the ground and twenty feet apart.

Both were breathing heavily; Trunks raised a hand to wipe some blood from his lip.
Carin looked them over in concern. Had they argued? They’d been fighting, that much was obvious. Wait, she realized. They’re not fighting. They’re sparring. They’ve been training against one another.

“Come on, Trunks,” Goku was saying, “Gimme your best shot.”

“Alright,” he said. “You asked for it.” Suddenly he was gone – a few of the warriors cried out in surprise – and then he had reappeared directly in front of Goku, landing a punch so powerful in the Saiyan’s jaw that it sent him flying.

As he collided with the opposite wall, a great tremor ran through the complex, causing Hikaru and a few others to stumble and fall.

“A blow like that would kill a human,” Superman whispered.

But Goku just cracked his neck and grinned. “Okay, Trunks. The gloves are coming off.” He got to his feet, and Trunks drifted to the ground.

The black-haired Saiyan stood firmly, feet shoulder width apart, hands in fists at his sides.

Trunks followed suit, and as their fellow warriors watched, the two underwent a shocking transformation.

Instead of Goku’s black eyes and Trunks’ baby blues, their irises turned a solid, glowing turquoise. Their hair suddenly took on a brilliant gold tint and they were enveloped in faint pulsating gold auras.

The emanating power was incredible. Even with the transparent walls of the room separating the Saiyans from the rest of the warriors, the latter could feel the strange heat and sensation that caused goosebumps to form on their skin.

And the transformation didn’t end there. Goku and Trunks raised their voices, yelling to help release the energy trapped within. Their hair became an even more shocking shade of gold, their eyes flashing.

The floor began to tremble again; as it grew more violent, the machine in the Saiyans’ room began to sway.

Soon the warriors in the hallway were holding onto the walls and each other, fighting to keep their balance.

Superman took to the air, Hikaru in his arms; Goliath had planted the claws of his hands and feet firmly into the floor, flaring his wings from time to time. The only ones who seemed remotely stable were the Master Chief and the Marine in their heavy MJOLNIR armor.

Rushing footsteps caused them to turn – Haku and the Pharaoh careened around the corner only to come to a dead halt. Despite their various magical abilities, the warriors could tell from their shocked faces that they’d never seen anything like this before.

As the Saiyans’ power continued to build, a horrible sound rent the air.

It was a sharp, crunching sort of noise, and as the warriors looked for the source, David spotted it. “The wall’s cracking!”

A spidery crack was forming on the transparent wall of the Saiyans’ room. Any moment, it would burst, sending sharp fragments flying in all directions.

Haku pushed his way to the front of the crowd of warriors, waving frantically to get the Saiyans’ attention. It took more than that, however – it wasn’t until a whole group of the warriors began to yell and wave their arms that Goku and Trunks took notice and powered down.

- - -

That night, Carin was awoken from a sound sleep. She looked around the dark room and it didn’t take long for her to realize that someone was missing.

“Hikaru?” she called softly. She folded back the blankets and stepped silently out of the room.

The hallway was half-lit while they slept, though it wasn’t night-time. It was in fact the day, for Goliath turned to stone during sunlit hours and so the warriors had adjusted their sleeping schedules to accommodate this.

She looked around the dim corridor, searching for signs of the girl. Suddenly she heard her voice further down the hall.

Tiptoeing, Carin made her way towards Hikaru’s voice. As she drew nearer, the light in the hallway became brighter and took on an orange tint. She vaguely wondered at this, but was more concerned at finding the girl.

She came to a T-shaped intersection of the hall, and turning to the right, received such a shock that she slipped backwards and fell, her mouth gaping open.
Hikaru was standing face to face with a strange, flaming creature easily five times her size.

It was wolf-like in appearance, with slanted scarlet eyes and a crackling mane of fire. A single gold horn, long and curved, protruded from its forehead. It stood surveying Hikaru, tilting its head from time to time, its fiery fox-like tail crackling and burning. It was about ten feet from the girl, and it suddenly began to move closer.

“Hikaru!” Carin yelled and ran towards her. But as soon as she reached her, she slammed into something solid and fell backwards. She rubbed her head, but was instantly up again. She felt in front of her until she felt the solid something – it was an invisible wall that shimmered when she touched it. She made a fist and punched it. “Let me through!” she yelled. She pounded her fists against it, but to no avail. The creature was much closer to Hikaru now, little more than four feet away.

“HELP!” Carin screamed. “HELP! HIKARU!” She backed up and threw her weight against the invisible wall, but it still held firm.

Some of the other warriors – the Marine, Goku, Logan, John Connor and Ripley – came out of the bedrooms, rubbing their eyes.

“What’s going on, Carin?”

“HELP ME!” She screamed at them. “HIKARU!”

Before she could blink, Goku was at her side. “Whoa!” he cried. He reared back and hit the wall with his fist. “Marine! Help me ram it!”

Goku and the Marine ran at the wall to try and break it down, but it didn’t budge. As they tried it a second time, it turned a bright red and the two leapt back.
“Ow! It’s hot!” Goku said, patting his scorched shirt.

The Marine cursed, holding a burnt hand.

“I’ll get help!” John Connor yelled at them, and went to the left down the hallway, towards the room near the kitchen where Haku and Atemu could often be found. He skidded to the right as he veered around the corner. A light was on in the room. “Help!” he cried.

Haku instantly appeared in the doorway, and with him the Pharaoh. Or was it? He was dressed in the Pharaoh’s clothes, but was shorter and was looked much younger, with wide eyes.

Connor blinked once, and when he looked back, the Pharaoh as he knew him was standing there.

“What is it, Colonel Connor?”

Haku’s voice shook him out of his momentary confusion. “It’s Hikaru – there’s some kind of monster in the hallway – come on!” Without another word, he raced back the way he had come, Atemu and Haku hard on his heels.

When they reached the hallway, more warriors were at the scene. Despite the heat of the invisible wall, Logan was wildly tearing at it with his metallic claws. But he was making no progress.

Suddenly several warriors cried out – as John Connor drew closer, he did as well. The creature was bending towards Hikaru, its mouth agape. To their surprise, instead of closing her in its jaws, it placed its tongue on her forehead.

At once Hikaru was wreathed in flame.

“HIKARU!” Carin screamed.

As they watched, the girl turned towards them in the midst of the fire. Her eyes widened in surprise and concern at seeing them there. The fire around her rapidly grew more wild and bright, and brighter still until they could no longer see her.

“Do something!” Ripley cried.

Haku and Atemu ran towards the invisible wall, but slid to a sudden halt as the fire suddenly vanished. The invisible wall also disappeared and with it, the creature.

All that was left was Hikaru, lying on the floor. Instead of the normal school uniform she usually wore, she was dressed in a flowing red cape and gold and scarlet armor.

“Hikaru?” Haku asked, and reached for her.

She stirred, and slowly sat up. She turned to face the group, and they saw that her head was adorned with a crown-like headpiece, resembling tongues of flame. She looked at her hands, which were now covered by thick white gloves, the left encrusted with a large round ruby.

“Hikaru! Are you hurt?” Carin asked, kneeling by her.

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine.” A wide smile broke across her features. “I got my magic back! I have my weapons and armor now!”

Carin sat back, stunned.

Ripley bent towards her. “So…so that monster didn’t harm you?”

“No,” she said softly. “Rayearth would never hurt me. I’m sorry I worried you,” she added, looking around at the group. “I didn’t know he was coming, or else I would have warned you.”

“You know that thing?” Logan asked.

“Rayearth. Yes. He’s my Mashin.”

“Your what?”

“He’s called a Mashin – he’s the source of my magic.”

“You had us pretty worried, kiddo,” Goku said, his shoulders sagging in relief.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to.”

“Well, we’re just glad you’re alright,” John Connor said.

“We should all get back to bed,” Ripley said, fighting a yawn. “We need to be rested for tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s our last day to train?” Hikaru asked Atemu.

The Pharaoh nodded. “Yes.”

“We have to make tomorrow worth it. We need to do whatever we need to to be at our best strength,” Goku said, taking on a more serious tone than Carin had ever seen him express. “We don’t really know what we’re up against.” He turned from the group and began to walk back towards the bedrooms. “We have to be ready for anything.”