What in the world is this thingThe great mountain of courage and joviality had turned to many rivers of fear and regret.
Those things were out to attack them. They split in twos: Ryan and Ely, Alicia and Iriel. The great mountain of courage and joviality had turned to many rivers of fear and regrets . They turned it into a rough fight, dodging—but how long would that last? Unfortunately, Ely and Ryan were surrounded, leaning against a tree like a long pole, and Alicia and Iriel got surrounded with their backs turned to each other.)
Hazel: (She yelled, she knew they were strong enough to do this, they just had to key into the streams of power) You guys are the only ones who could save yourselves right now, so listen: close your eyes.
(They obeyed instantly to save their lives.)
Hazel: Make your two opposite energies come in sync, your split energy should flow through you, then release the one you want now.
(They followed the flow of her words. This process was happening in them. Suddenly, they opened their eyes: their eyeballs had become bluish, and their hairs became blonde. Ryan's large weapon appeared. Alicia's four sharp, long, spidery legs appeared. Ely's arm got embedded in a fine rock-like armor from his arm to fingers. Iriel got embedded in blue lights; her powers appeared. They had summoned the inner spirit—and that's the spirit the spirit Hazel believed could help Marthardon)
Ryan: Now you guys are dead meat.(the power was courage itself power within and it feels fulfilling to use)
Ely: Hundred percent. (He smirked.)
(He slashed the three close to him, and Ely punched the two in front of him. He clenched his fist; this gave a force that moved many. Alicia controlled her weapon using her hands and mind. Iriel used her organic weapon to defend herself Iriel defend herself as well, shooting her power blasts and cloning to maintain defense. Kylock's fingers became two short steel sabers, and with his super speed, what could be more useful than this? He was able to attack freely; he was a flash in their sight. They could only see blue stripes attacking the Death Allies his skills showed he was an experienced fighter the way he swinged using his his speed to enhance agility he was a warrior. The fight was now getting interesting. The Mart Force were gaining the upper hand.)
(Suddenly, a roar came from afar.)
Commander: (In a foreign language) Retreat!
(As the rest of the allies heard this, they disappeared into thin shadows. As the Mart Force perceived this, their system was relieved. The weapons disappeared, even though their hairs still remained whitish and their eyeballs were still bluish. This was their Marthadonian form. They sped to each other, dazzling in smiles, hearts dancing with merry and victory.)
Ely: I was just getting started when they fled.
Iriel: I was just feeling the surge of power… chickens.
(They gave each other high fives. Then, diving through the skies was Zadox, the leader of the Death Allies. He wasn't wearing a dark cloak; he was wearing a steel suit with a head mask, covered in dark flames, which starkly contrasted the purple skies of Marthadon. With great vengeful and hateful energy, he shot a power blast at them from the air. The Quaternions, carried away by the joy of victory, fortunately, their captain saw it with his greatest speed energy. He ran and moved them away from the direction of the blast. It struck the ground and shook the whole place. They were highly shocked.)
Alicia: What in the world is that kind of blast?
Kylock: It's not about what kind of blast it is, but who did it. (He looked in the direction of Zadox; their eyeballs captured each other with great force, he flew away.)(The Quaternions stood orderly behind Kylock. They were frozen by the long gazes of the Marthadonian, who stared intently at their Messiahs—not because they hadn't seen beings like them, but because they were different, very different. This was more than awkward.)
Kylock: I hope everyone is okay. (Many of these people had the form of Kylock, and a few of them were like humans with three dots above their eyebrows.)
The Koran Lilyo: We are, thanks to you, Mart Force. (He walked out of the crowd from behind to extend gratitude to the saviors. He was a derat Marthadonian—a human-like one. He was technically like a man in his late thirties. He had long hair like dreadlocks, which fell on his soldiers consequently as he took a step, and devilish eyeballs complemented his complexion.)
Ryan: Seems like you guys are really popular around here.Hazel: A little.
(Lilyo walked up to Kylock.)
Lilyo: I am the Koran here, helpers.
Iriel: Koran? (Questioning.)
Hazel: The head of the caravan.
Kylock: Kylock. (He extended his hand to him for a handshake; they did that.) This is my team.
Lilyo: It's a pleasure to meet you, comrades. Once again, thanks for your help.
Ely: (In a very low tone) What should be our response?
Hazel: Just nod. (Immediately they did that.)
Kylock: Let's leave the introduction, Koran. What in the world happened here?
Lilyo: Follow(He turned, and they followed. They walked through the crowds and stopped in front of something like a small gate. He pressed some things like a passcode on this gate, and there appeared a large and long projected tower right in front of them.)
Alicia: Marthadon is sure full of surprises.
(They advanced into the gate and then into the tower. As they got in through a bronze tree that looked like a door, they got on a stone lift, which covered them with a projected glass. They started moving higher.)
Kylock: Welcome to our watchtower. (These places were like some kind of factory. Their views as they moved higher proved that.)
(After moving for a while, abruptly, they stopped at a place which seemed like the last floor. The projected glass opened. They went out into a narrow corridor led by the Koran, who stopped abruptly in front of an automatic door, which opened as soon as they got in front of it. They went in. What they saw was surprising—this place seemed a lot like a morgue, choked with Marthadonians with little life in them. This view sent gentle chills down their tender spines
Iriel: What is this place?
Lilyo: Welcome to our MICU. This is where we keep the infected.
Alicia: Infected? (Surprised.)
Lilyo: Yes. Anytime these things attack a Marthadonian, they become infected with some kind of poison, which takes out ninety-five percent of their lives. The other five percent is what we preserve here.
Kylock: For how long can you keep them?
Lilyo: Only for a few days.
Ryan: What happens after that?
Lilyo: (Now his voice was shaky and cords were staggering to create a sentence, like a soldier who had lost a lot of his comrades.) They either die… or something else happens, and we can't bear losing this many lives.
Ryan: There is no antidote for this thing?
Lilyo: There is a warlock.
Alicia: Great. (Livened up.)
Lilyo: But it seems like that's where the hard halibut lies for us. The antidote can only be found in the middle of Navan, which practically no one in this caravan could ever visit, which is why we need your help, Mart Force. We really need you.
(Kylock gave a very scary look at his team; they absolutely knew it was not good the look was very tense)
(They reported to the fortress, Hazel was flaming in fury already ready to devour those things, she seemed more human with her fury)
Hazel : These Ning Nong packs… I knew it was out of our reach.
(She slammed the device on the table in front of her, agitated. The other five stood a little apart, leaning on some tech gadgets, giving her a "chill" stare.)
Ryan: Where in the world is this Navan?
Kylock: Simply the deadliest place in Marthadon.
(It appeared on the screen. Lightning was all over the place.)
It's filled with mystical, dangerous creatures whose existence cannot be explained, and murderous traps whose origin is unknown. It's located in the Dark Lands.
Hazel: Thousands of explorers—
(Sudden chills sped through their spines.)
Alicia: Thousands?!
Hazel: They explored it, but ended up dying in the process… or got lost trying to escape.Ely: That's worth an adventure.
(He smirked. His thoughts were a stark contrast to what was going on. They were highly surprised by his words.)
Kylock: Trust me, Ely. This is your worst nightmare, not a place to have adventurous fun.
Iriel: I thought you said the Mart Force was created for dangerous situations like this. Maybe this could be some introductory adventure for us.
(Her words froze Hazel and Kylock in shock. "What in the world is she saying?")
Ryan: Actually, she's right. Maybe it's time for round two. Besides, people are going to die if we don't act fast, right?
Kylock: Yes.
Alicia: Then what are we waiting for?
Hazel: (voice mixed with surprise and fear) Okay… I'llOkay… I'll check what we can do to reduce the risks.
Ryan: That's what we're talking about.
Kylock: You guys can go now. We'll call you when we get anything.
Hazel: You guys can contact me through this.
(She gave them a tech device like a ball, with a red button at the top.)
Press this. (pointing at the button) I'll send the portal immediately.
Alicia: Roger that.
(The four entered the teleporter.)
(The quaternions, after the long trip of fighting the Death Allies, entered Degriss High School's old, dusty, haggard attic. It was a terrible scene. The dust welcomed them horribly, and the cracked walls were proof that the place was ancient. Rusty materials and useless stuff lay everywhere.)Ryan: (dumbfounded) What in the world is my offense to deserve this?
Alicia: (scorning) Coming from the person who missed Coach's training session.
Iriel: You guys should be appreciative of our macnermity.
(Ryan started dusting one of the old tools. It was a shovel.)
Ryan: Since what week has this place been cleaned?
(He held the shovel in a way that showed how disgusting it was.)
Alicia: Speaking of weeks… talk about years.
Iriel: Wow.
(She was assisting Ryan now.)
Ely: This is absolutely child abuse.
(Alicia assisted him, exchanging tools among each other. They were definitely sure this had swallowed their whole day.)After a while, a portal opened, producing an explosive force that shook the shelves and pushed the humans in the attic backward. It was a greenish portal emitting forceful vibes. The quaternions could barely see what was happening.
Og came out of the portal. He was floating in the air, hovering close to the entrance. He was badly injured, but he managed to speak.
Og: Mart Force… your world is in danger.
(He stammered in pain, fell from the air, and lost consciousness. The portal closed immediately.)
The four stood up carefully, recovering slowly. They felt a mix of amazement and fear. Why was it always this place that portals opened?
Ryan: What in the world is this thing? And how does it know the Mart Force?
Alicia: Maybe we should take it to Hazel.
(Even she couldn't believe she said that.)Iriel: You think so? (scared of what could happen)
Ely: Unless we want the whole school to know about this.
Ryan: We can't let that happen. We take it to her.
At this point, they knew their lives weren't normal anymore. Everything had changed This was way more than what they expected, the more interesting it got the more they felt as if they were advancing deeply into the unknown,
Ryan pulled out the device Hazel gave them and pressed the red button. Hazel's face appeared as a projection.
Ryan: Uhm… Hazel…
Hazel: I'm sending the portal.
(She said it without even hearing what they had to say, in the fortress, they placed the being into a purple liquid that kept his body system stable. Hazel and the four stood in front of the unconscious stranger, half-dead.)
Hazel: Whatever this thing is… it's not from Marthadon.
Ryan: But it knows the Mart Force.
Ely: We thought it was one of your friends.
Kylock: We'll find the answers to our questions when he wakes up.
Hazel: That aside, the main reason I truly brought you here was to give you a surprise package.
Ely: I hate surprises.
Kylock: I'm sure you're going to love this one.
(Hazel walked briskly to the large monitor. She pressed the rolling "M" sign on the screen, and something like an AI appeared.)Alicia: So an image is the surprise?
Hazel: No. This is a Skik Fighter.
Iriel: A Skik Fighter? (disturbed)
Hazel: I designed it to be able to copycat the form of any Marthardonian—even down to the DNA.
Ryan: This is just a hologram.
Kylock: It's more than that.
Hazel: This thing goes before you and triggers every murderous trap there, and you guys go scot-free.
(It would've been better if things happened exactly the way she said they would.)
Ely: This is more than cool.
Kylock: But here's where the hard halibut lies: it can't trick the creatures. We'll have to handle them ourselves.Iriel: So literally, it does half the work, and we do the other half.
(Kylock made a "yes" sound that made him seem more human than Marthadonian.)
Hazel: I prepared something else. Follow me.
Ryan: You're really full of surprises.
(She led them out of the fortress into a dark corner. She turned on the lights, and in front of them was a triangular jet.)
Ryan: So what's this?
Hazel: This is a speed jet.
Alicia: A speed jet… (half surprised, half not)
Hazel: This is the fastest jet you've ever seen in your life.
Ryan: Really?
Ely, let me guess 1,000 miles per minute
Kylock: Yes.
Ely: What?!
(He couldn't believe his ears. None of them could.)
The four, led by their captain, entered the jet. Hazel spoke through the comms connected to it.
Hazel: One hundred percent durability.
After touring the small jet—built with five seats (one in front, two in the middle, and two behind)—they sat down. They weren't ready for what was ahead… or maybe they were just distracted by the beauty of the jet, even though where it was going was ugly.
Alicia, the captain, sat in front them . Iriel and Alicia took the middle seats. Ely and Ryan sat behind. Automatically, the seat belts gripped them tightly
.Hazel: Auto-pilot and organic seat belts.
(The windows opened beside Ryan and Iriel.)
Kylock: So who's ready to fly?
Hazel: I'll be there before you.
They heard an ignition sound—pleasant, unlike their situation. The jet took off sharply. It felt slow in the air at first, but after a while they saw thousands of greenish stars rushing past them.
Alicia and Ely quickly stood up, ripping their seat belts out of anxiety.
Ryan: What are these things?
Kylock: They are starlight wrinkles in the night hour. They're glued to the skies, and at sunrise they move around wherever the zephyr takes them.
Ely: Astounding.
(Something(Something like a bluish opaque butterfly flew past them.)
Ely: What about that?
Kylock: It's called a Sky Diver.
Almost instantly, glowing rings rushed past them.
Kylock: Those are ringlets.
Then something like a large greenish, furred dragon flew past them.
It was as if Marthadon was manifesting its greatest beauty to hypnotize them. The views were too beautiful to behold.
Iriel: What in the world…?
Kylock: It's a Karakuughe.
Ely: Kara-what is that?
Kylock: You'll know more about Marthadon's organisms as time goes on. You'll communicate with the environment soon. Just be patient.
He said it slowly. They kept seeing aesthetic wonders, forgetting the danger of their mission.