Clash of the Guardians IV
#4 of Clash of the Guardians
Walking along a dimly lit corridor, Rai had a few spare moments to ponder the situation that was quickly unfolding. A commander of the Guardians was escorting him and a rather interesting other fur back to their precious biometals. He would have to fight again, this time not just for survival but also to retain the one physical object to which all of his recent memories were attached. Rai suddenly rammed straight into Nexus and stumbled backwards, falling down and looking up stupidly.
"Pay attention to your surroundings. For this mission, you're a soldier of mine and you'll do as told. Get back on your feet, we're here." Nexus entered a code into the digital keypad by the door and the hissing sound of hydraulic locks disengaging echoed throughout the corridor. The three furs stepped in and were met by an eerie white glow bathing the entire room. The source appeared to be from the biometal fragments. "Before we continue, I would like to ask you two a quick question."
Draze and Rai turned towards the white wolf with a curious look. "How much do you actually know about the biometals?"
"From my research, all I know about them is they contain the knowledge, personality, and other data of past Reploids. A famous scientist by the name of Ciel created it long ago, and the few biometals in existence happen to be those of very strong and wise Reploids." Draze gave a smug look of sorts.
"That is correct, Draze. You and Rai have two of the models based off the four legendary Guardians. The other two are in enemy hands, and no one has any clue where the few others are. There is rumored to be at least 2 or 3 more, but we have insufficient data to confirm this. Boys, these are not precious only as weapons, but as lessons from the past. The knowledge contained within these biometals can teach not only the world, but you yourselves many things. Use them to do what you feel is right, but right now we need to take down the mavericks in Telos. Please meet me back on the bridge in 10 minutes, we'll have everything set up for you by then." Nexus nodded at the two and turned tail, walking sternly out and around the corner.
The two furs looked at each other for a moment. Emerald orbs stared into Rai, looking for something within the expression of the panther. Draze grinned and walked over to his biometal, holding out a silver paw and brushing against it gently. Suddenly he became rigid and the room filled with a blinding light, and there stood Draze, showing signs of the great Shadow General in his eyes. He truly looked like one with the shadows. His black and white armor had an intense foreboding feeling surrounding it, but one could also sense intense loyalty to the task at hand. Draze would carry out what was asked of him if it cost him his life. The green crystal atop his head shone brightly. He was ready to dominate whatever stood in his way.
Rai walked over to the biometal he had found, rather, that had to come to him. There was an unfamiliar aura emanating from it now, and instead of the gold he remembered it was an illustrious green, a bit darker than Draze's eyes. He held out his own paw and established contact, feeling a rush of energy surging throughout his body. All of a sudden, Rai blacked out and went limp, falling to the ground. Draze snapped his head towards the panther and his eyes widened as he dashed over.
"Rai! Rai!"
Rai awoke in a daze, surrounded by blankets and in a comfortable bed. His eyes opened lazily and looked around the room he was in. It was...familiar. Very familiar, in fact. The panther jolted upwards and immediately recognized where he was. But no...this is impossible. Rai was back home?
Hopping out of bed, he walked up a window with a magnificent view of the city, Telos. Awash in sunlight, the view was somehow nostalgic to him. Reploids, furs, and humans went about their business, interacted with each other, lived as neighbors with little problems. Discrimination existed in some form, but it was as close to a utopia as existed in the nation. Telos was the city all others modeled themselves after; and also where the rulers of the nation held court. Rai looked up towards the sky, but stopped midway, too shocked to move another inch. His reflection showed a young panther, in fact exactly what he looked like as a child. He forced his head down to look at his paws, but they were adult sized. Is this...a dream? Why is this is so clear?
Rai tried to move from where he stood, but he could not. Suddenly a young voice that sent chills down his spine spoke with an enthusiastic tone.
"The sky looks so beautiful, it seems like nothing could wrong at all!"
It was that day.
"Rai sweetie, it's time for school! Don't tell me you aren't out of bed yet!" A more feminine voice came from behind, and little Rai turned around and rushed to the bathroom to wash up quickly and head out into the kitchen where a middle-aged pantheress stood, a silly expression on her face. "How many times do I have to tell you not to oversleep! I swear, if you're tardy one more day your teachers are going to start calling."
Rai's ears flattened. "I'm sorry mom, you know I'm a heavy sleeper. I get it from dad."
She sighed and knelt down to lick him on the cheek, and he blushed slightly. "And he's still in bed. That man...regardless. Have a good day, and please stay safe, my child."
"I will. See ya!" It seemed that Rai couldn't control anything, almost like a video was playing with no way to go back or speed up. All of the words were crystal clear, every action and minisucle nuance. He could never forget anything from that day, he never would, and it was tearing at every nerve in his body to not witness it again. It appeared to make little difference.
Little Rai scampered off towards school with a bounce in his step like any young teen fur would. Telos was a busy, but generally safe city. Nonetheless, security was present all over the city due to the immense number of high profile figures situated in its borders. Rai turned around to take a look at the large residential complex he lived in. While not necessarily coming from an affluent family, they were well off enough to have little concern over money and lived comfortably. Spinning around on his heels he walked straight into a security Reploid and was knocked down on his rear. Rai looked up, embarrassed as the Reploid grinned.
"Hey, are you alright kid?" Rai nodded. As the panther gathered himself and stood up, the Reploid's communicator activated.
"This is Telos central command, issuing an emergency warning to all security personnel. A Guardian airship of the main fleet, codename RC70 is under attack and has been hijacked and is heading towards the center of the city. Other details are currently unknown. If sighted, engage immediately. Repeat, if sighted, engage immediately. Missile batteries are now active, please advise all residents to stay clear. Central command, out."
"This is bizarre..." the Reploid muttered under his breath and looked up towards the sky. His eyes looked upward in the sky and without hesitation grabbed the young panther and started running away. Before Rai could even realize what was happening and protest, he looked up into the sky as well and fell silent. "Central command this is unit 38! I've sighted the airship, and it's billowing thick smoke and approaching the ground fast! It's going to crash into the residential sector!"
Seconds later an unholy alarm blasted and Rai tried to cover his sensitive ears to no avail. The massive airship rocketed above their heads and the smoke blocked out all direct sunlight as the missile batteries unleashed a salvo. Rai craned his neck backwards in horror as the steel goliath collided with the earth, exploding violently and sending a deadly shockwave throughout a mile radius.
"KID GET DOWN!" the reploid screamed as loud as he could over the blaring alarms and he ducked down, the panther under him as the wave shot right through and sent them both flying. Rai blacked out as both were thrown into a concrete wall, the Reploid absorbing the majority of the shock.
Rai awoke soon afterwards to a massive headache. Dried blood was caked all through his fur, and he found himself sitting in a pool of synthetic oil. He wanted to cry, but he held back and turned around to see the disfigured Reploid. A wave of nausea overcame him and he slammed a paw down onto the ground as his body viscerally reacted, dry retching. He tried to stand up and look at the colossal tower of smoke originating from where...No...no...it can't be..
A new emotion washed over the young feline as he grimaced and grabbed the Reploid's blaster pistol. His left arm seemed to be broken and all of the nerve receptors in his body were screaming for him to stay put, but he ignored them and ran as fast as he could towards home. Tears streamed down and away from his body in expectance of the worst, and his fears were soon realized. The complex was a burning wreck, flames shooting futilely for the skies from the arching windows. Metal from the airship was littered everywhere, impossibly crumpled from the impact. Rai fell to his knees and cried, but nothing came out. His head felt like it wanted to explode and his voice was gone.
All of a sudden, a brilliant green light filled the area and a blast of wind carried shards of glass, rubble, and scrap metal flying everywhere, and only serving to fan the fires. Rai rolled to the side as a large metal sheet shot right through the place where he knelt moments ago, and he peeked around the edge with watery eyes. A figure in green and white armor was flying around, battling against a figure clad in reddish-orange armor. The winged warrior flew down at his opponent and crashed straight into him, and they disappeared behind a smoldering section of the airship. Rai stood up and ran over, his fear and anguish temporarily stifled by curiosity and anger. He held the blaster firmly in his paw, as if it actually provided him some protection.
He peeked around the corner of the airship and saw the two mysterious figures pitted against each other, shooting mercilessly and dodging the other's attacks. The green warrior held up two transparent energy swords and charged at his opponent, the orange warrior holding up an unusually large buster cannon and aiming it in retaliation. How..who..how COULD THEY TURN THIS INTO THEIR BATTLEGROUND?! Rai stepped out from the wreckage, a pained and nearly psychotic expression plastered onto his face. He scrunched his eyes closed and lifted the blaster, blindly shooting at the two figures. The winged fighter stopped in mid-dash and flew upwards, and the orange figure swiftly aimed his cannon straight at Rai as he dashed over.
"You little punk! How dare you try to interrupt my battle! DIE!" He charged his cannon and as he unleashed it, the green figure swept in and stabbed both swords through his chest. Blood gushed out and evaporated around the edges of each sword as the cannon fired up into the sky, missing Rai by a wide margin.
"It's over. Give up and die for all the sins you have committed," the green one spoke calmly.
"You think this is finished?! I'll take you with me! If I can't have the biometal, no one will!" The green warrior's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He stared straight into Rai's eyes for a moment and smiled sadly, then rocketed upwards straight into the smoke covered sky, dragging the other along. Rai looked up and was blinded by an explosion. The two fighters had just self-destructed, and their biometals streamed down back into the wreckage.
The panther clamored up and stumbled toward one of the biometals. He could hear a faint voice, almost as if it was calling to him. His emotions had all but shut down, all he could think about was this object that somehow looked like it had eyes and had a green aura surrounding it. Rai placed a paw on it and was instantly bathed in a warm, golden light.
"You are worthy of inheriting my strength, young one..."
Everything faded to black.
"Rai! Rai! Wake up!" Draze held the panther in his arms, shaking him violently.
Rai finally grunted and pushed himself up to a sitting position. Cold sweat mingled with fur underneath the armor that now encased him. "What was that...why did that memory replay for me...?" He shuddered involuntarily, and heard a serene voice inside his head.
"Because the time has come, young one...It is time to return to Telos."
(c) Siarnaq