"There's too many of them," Stan said. "Stand strong; I'll be right back."
Kathleen Stanley was no longer a young woman, but when needed, she could move faster and more agile than most half her age. She ran toward the edge of the mountain, opened her side satchel, revealing a rope that she had tied to an old metal post mounted in the stone. The other end of the rope she attached a small device the size of an apple. She pulled a key out of the device and threw it over the edge.
Three... two... one... The rope swung over the top of James in the direction of the swinging Davarti. Three diamond blades emerged from the device. As it made contact it severed the ropes of the troops, dropping them to the ground below. As it swung back toward James, he moved up and grabbed the rope with one of the arms of the chair. Tearing it free from the rope he loaded the small device into the mini gun of his chair. He fired it at three soldiers wearing steam jet packs headed his way. The bladed ball hit the chest of the first one coming out his back, causing the steam tank to explode. The shrapnel flew back and knocked the other two from the air. "Ha! I was hoping that would work!" James cheered.
Exhilarated, Stan ran back to a better position. "Hang in there, James. I'm going to help."
11 Viceroy Comes
James heard a thud on the bubble shield covering his chair. One of the flyers landed on him and was now pounding away. A shot rang out and a hole formed in the center of the Davarti soldier's mask, spewing undead matter all over the shield. The bullet exited puncturing the steam canister on his back, launching the Davarti like a rocket. James wiped the goo off and saw Stan with a long rifle giving him the thumbs-up from the ledge. Micah and Lucy looked all around finding each member with their hands full as they just stood there.
"We have to help them," Micah told her.
Lucy shook her head, grabbing onto his hand. "We were told to stay here."
"Gerard and Jaso can't hold them off much longer by themselves," he said as he unsheathed his Sentai blades. "We have to help them, or none of us will make it out of here." Giving her a wink he said, "I have your six. I promise."
Micah ran to help Gerard as his armor seemed to be collapsing under the pressure of the steam. The blades sliced through the undead soldiers with little resistance. One after another, Micah cut them down, trying to make his way to Gerard. Suddenly, the ground shook, and a loud shrieking sound could be heard. A rather large soldier with spiked shoulders came lumbering forward holding a ship’s side cannon at his side.
"Watch out for that one!" Gerard shouted to Micah. "He may be slow, but that gun is fast."
Micah turned to face the oversized grunt. Steady on his feet, the large Davarti, roared and pulled the trigger, unleashing a flurry of hot ammo at Micah and Gerard. Micah didn't have time to think, his body reacted to the situation. He crossed the blades in front of him as the bullets ricocheted off them. Turning his wrists slightly, he deflected them back in the direction they came from. Knocking the smaller Davarti off their feet, he managed to line it up with the side cannon itself.
The bullets entered the barrel and collided with the exiting ammo causing the cannon to jam and explode. Micah saw his chance. He charged the big guy, swords at his sides. The larger Davarti was still disoriented by the blast of his weapon, tilting and staggering around. Micah leaped into the air planting his feet as he came down into the chest of the enormous undead. The force was so great that it knocked him off his feet, flat on his back. Micah rode him like a surfboard to the ground where he planted both Sentai blades in the giant's eye sockets.
Gerard saw Micah handle himself with ease and it stirred a second wind inside of him. He pushed his armor to its limits, turning the pressure gauges to their maximum. "I hope this works," he whispered to himself. He reached for his sword and found nothing there. Looking around, he grabbed the closest soldier by the ankles, and then he used him as a war club to pulverize the others. Steam rushed from the armor, hissing and buzzing, as the heat rose. Gerard saw the gauges straining to keep up with the power, and yet he pushed on.
Jaso took his dual gut-ripper rifles and locked them together. With the pull of a lever on the side, he was now launching time delayed mortars in every direction. He rushed to his father's side and rained a circle of ticking destruction around them. The remaining soldiers came rushing toward them only to be caught in the blasts of the time delay bombs.
Micah searched for Lucy and saw her with both pistols drawn, backing up to the cliff's edge. Her body was trembling as the tears flowed from her eyes. Three of the Davarti were closing in on her. "Lucy, shoot them!" Micah shouted. "Just as we practiced! Aim for their heads!" She raised the pistols in her shaking hands and aimed at the soldiers. It was hard to see through the tears, and the shaking made her guns move.
"Do not let Conrad's legacy be destroyed. Be brave, Lucy!" Stan yelled.
Hearing her grandfather's name brought her back into focus. She was no longer afraid, no longer trembling. Now she was just angry. They took him from her. Her jaw clenched tight. With her arms straight, she pulled the triggers and dropped two of the oncoming Davarti in their tracks. Bringing her hands together, she fired both rainmakers at the last one. The blast from both pistols at once took the minion's head clean off his shoulders, the body still running until it fell at her feet.
Micah came to a skidding stop beside her. She still had both pistols out in front of her as he listened to her short and choppy breathing. He felt her whole body as it trembled.
"Lucy, it's okay," Micah said as he slowly lowered her arms. "You're okay. Can you hear me?"
She dropped the guns to the ground and wrapped her arms around him. "I was wrong... so wrong," she told him, voice cracking and scattered.
He held his left hand tight against the small of her back and his right was behind her head trying to comfort her, to ease her mind. "About what?" he asked.
"I will always need you," she said. "I will always need you to have my six or seven or whatever it is," Lucy exclaimed, holding him as tightly as she could. Her body felt as though she would drop to the ground if she let go of him.
Micah moved his hands to her face, tilting her head up to look at him. "I am forever your partner in this fight. We will have each other's back, always," he locked eyes with her leaving something unspoken between them.
"Hey, guys!" James shouted from the edge of the mountain behind them. "I think I found something!"
Lucy and Micah just smiled. He closed his eyes and let his forehead rest on hers. "Later?" he asked.
"Later," she replied.
They ran to check out what James had found. Gerard was slowly limping on his left side as he made his way to them. "Is it the key?" he shouted. "Tell me you found the key."
James stopped where they were standing, his chair reverting back to a normal looking wheelchair. He held out his hands, "The eyes of Robert E. Lee." James told them. "The riddle said they see all and they must fall. So, I gave them a little tap with a pneumatic spanner, and they popped right out. The interesting thing is what's on the back of them..."
James was interrupted by a loud, slow clapping coming from the building on the top of the peak. Spinning around they saw the Viceroy, Zacheous Atwood. Sweat was pouring from his rather large head, soaking the collar of his suit.
"How did you make it up this far, Atwood?" Gerard asked. "Did you make your men carry your sorry butt all the way up here? No wonder they looked tired as we beat them."
Micah tried to hide his smile and chuckle with the back of his hand. Stan poked him in the back and gave him a stern look. "Sorry," he told her.
"I will take whatever that is you found in those eyes," the Viceroy said. "The Countess requires it."
"Now you know us better than that, Zacheous," Jaso said with his hands on his hips. "We didn't work this hard just to hand it over to you or to the Countess."
The Viceroy wiped the sweat from his brow as he started to laugh. He placed the handkerchief back into his front jacket pocket. "Don't make me work
up much more of a sweat than I already have, Reaper. I promise to kill you quickly, if you cooperate," Zacheous said to them.
"Now, now, Viceroy," Stan said. "Even you aren't that stupid. There are six of us and only one of you. Granted there are five hundred pounds of you, but still... just you."
"That hurt my feelings," he said brushing a hand down his stomach. "I've lost a few pounds." Zacheous began to unbutton his suit jacket, dropping it to the ground to his left.
"Oh, dear lord!" Stan gasped.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" Lucy said placing her hand over her mouth making an awful gagging sound.
"My God, are you even human anymore?" Gerard asked.
"Yes, and parts of me are better than human. These were a gift from the Countess herself!" Zacheous exclaimed as he raised not one, but two sets of massive arms. "Do you like them?" he asked.
Everyone pulled their weapons and took aim at the massive Atwood.
"Oh, you can put away your pesky guns. They have no effect on me any longer. Muahaha!" the Viceroy stated.
Under his coat and suit wasn't the stack of blubber that they thought. The Countess had transformed him into an abomination. Using parts from not only other humans, but animals as well. He possessed the strength of a grizzly bear, the girth of an elephant and the limbs of a silver back gorilla.
"Well, my time is money," he said as he cracked both sets of his knuckles in front of him. "I need what you have." The behemoth charged straight for James. Jaso opened fire with both rifles. He watched as the bullets sank into his skin, but never fazed the Viceroy.
James quickly placed the stone eyes into a locked compartment inside his chair and activated the bubble shield. "Not today, Viceroy! Ha ha! Not today!"
The shield slammed shut just as the Viceroy pushed into him, all four fists pounding the barrier. With a snap, Stan caught one of the massive arms with her whip and gave it a yank.
"You're getting too old for this, Stan!" Atwood shouted as he yanked on the whip's end and sent Stan flying to the ground. He used the whip as a leash and pulled her to him.
Gerard ran to her and sliced the whip's end, "Get back! Get Lucy out of here. We will handle Atwood."
Stan got to her feet and grabbed Lucy by the arm, pulling her to the side.
Gerard gave the pistons one last twist. "Nothing left in the tank," he said. "I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." He motioned for Micah and Jaso to converge on the Viceroy who was back to pounding on the shield of James's mini tank.
Jaso and Gerard reached Atwood at the same time. Jaso swung as the Viceroy blocked with his upper right hand. As he did so, the bottom right lowered, connecting with Jaso's mid-section, doubling him over at the waist. The upper hand followed, smashing down on his back and slamming Jaso to the ground with a sickening thud. Gerard was just a step behind Jaso and came in with a leg sweep to try to knock him off balance. Atwood was ready for him though, his left lower fist catching him, pinning him to the ground as the upper left arm repeatedly smashed his limp body.
Micah vaulted from the top of a large rock. He struck the Viceroy in the face with his boot as he pulled both blades from their sheathes as he came down. Atwood hoisted Gerard between the two as a shield just as Micah twisted the blades away from him. The razor-sharp Sentai blades barely missed the unconscious Reaper. At once, Atwood sent Gerard flying into Micah, slamming both hard, hurling them to the ground as James opened fire again with the mini guns. Each bullet sinking deep into the putty-like blubber of the Viceroy.
"I told you," Atwood said. "Guns have no effect on me. The bullets just tickle as they go in." Slowly, the Viceroy lumbered to James and pounded on the shield once more, forcing cracks in the framework.
"I have to put some distance between us," James whispered. Looking around, he shrugged his shoulders, mumbling, "I hope this works. All power, forward thrusters!" The mini tank roared and shot forward with a blast straight over Atwood, coming to a stop about two hundred feet away.
"That's it!" Atwood shouted as he spun around. "No more mercy! No more Mr. Nice guy. I want that key, and I'll happily tear you apart to get it!" He lumbered forward toward James.
Lucy nudged Stan, "He's moving slower now." She pointed to the Viceroy, "It's like he is weighted down or something."
Stan moved her eyes from the still motionless Gerard and watched the Viceroy labor and shuffle with each step. Jaso was making his way to his feet, shaking his head trying to clear his mind. Stan shouted to him, "Your rifles! Use your rifles!" She pulled her pistol from the thigh holster and ran toward Zacheous. Jaso pulled both triggers sending a volley of hot lead into the body of the Viceroy. James caught on to what they were trying to do and again opened fire with the mini guns. Each round entered the massive body and started to drag at him. Atwood's knees began to buckle under the weight. He stopped in his tracks and fell to the ground using his lower arms to brace himself.
"You may slow me down," he said. "But you can't kill me! I will find you, and I will break you into..." Atwood's eyes grew large, and they could hear a gurgling sound coming from his throat.
"That's why we can't let you leave, Mr. Viceroy." Micah was behind him with both blades buried to the hilts. He retracted the blades, and the lifeless body slumped to the ground.
Stan stood with Micah, "Take his head so the Countess can't resurrect him." As Micah took care of Atwood's body, Stan rushed to Gerard. Jaso was holding him, "Hang on, Pops. We'll get you patched up." He gently laid Gerard across James's chair, and they headed back to the ship.
Once they were back on board the Silvertooth, and had Gerard strapped to a bed, they headed back to New York. They gathered around a table in the galley. Jaso still had Gerard's armor in his hands. He could see the suit had been pushed too far and was out of power.
"He'll pull through, kiddo," Stan told him. "He always does."
"He shouldn't have been out there," Jaso said. "He's too old to still be doing this." He hurled the armor across the room crashing into the wall with a thud.
James was coming through the door as the armor flew past him. "A little warning next time, maybe?"
Micah spoke up, "Well, what did you find? Was it the key?"
James held up his hand, "Don't get your panties in a bunch. We will look closer at them when we are back home safely."
The group silently did their duties of the ship. Each one dealing with what had happened in their own way; each one hoping what they just went through was not in vain. The group needed a win.
12 Gateway Stones
The Silvertooth touched down on the roof of the Met back in New York, and they carefully settled Gerard into the med bay. As the medical bots began to scan Gerard, the group made their way into the library to see what they had found on Stone Mountain.
"He'll be okay, Jaso. Your dad is a fighter, and I just know he’ll pull through." Stan tried to sound convincing.
"I've been so nervous since we landed," said Lucy. “I want to be by Gerard's side, but at the same time I want to know what we found. Then there's another part of me that wants to find the Countess now, and make her pay for this."
"She will get what she deserves," Stan told her. "It's just a matter of time."
Jaso looked to James. "What did you find?"
James laid two stones the size of grapefruits on the table. "It's another blasted puzzle!"
Jaso pushed himself away from the table, knocking the chair to the floor. "So, we aren't any closer than we were?" he asked. "My father is fighting for his life for what? Rocks!?" He stormed toward the door as Stan called after him.
She rushed to the door to catch him. "Jaso! This has to mean we are closer!" she said placing her hands on his cheeks. "We have to believe."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand, Stan. He's not your family," Jaso said as he stormed out the door.
Tears stung Stan's eyes as she watched him head down the hallway back to the med bays. "No, but you are," she said quietly to herself. She wiped her face and retu
rned to the table with the others. "If this isn’t the key, what is it?" she asked.
James picked them up and pointed to an inscription on the back of each one. "I think if we can figure out what these say, it will lead us to the key," he said tossing them back to the table.
"Do we have a way to translate?" Micah asked as he picked up one of the stones to examine the text.
Stan looked over the other one. "I've never seen a language like this in any of the archives here. It may not even be words." She handed her stone to Lucy.
"The markings seem to be a part of the stone itself. Not carved into it, but raised from the surface," she said as she rubbed her fingers over the writing. "Do both pieces have the same markings?" she asked as she held her hand out for Micah's stone. He dropped it into her hand. As soon as it touched her palm, the stones began to glow.
"Whoa! What did you do?" asked Micah. "Lucy?" He snapped his fingers in front of her, but she was in some kind of trance.
"Biikousiis Heey-otoyoo Ceesey Hisei' Nonoo hooto," a voice rang out from Lucy.
Everyone stayed very still and quiet.
"It has been many moons since a chosen has come forward. We will speak in your tongue. You must go to the long mountain of Colorado, there by the highest moon the one woman will see."
The stones dimmed, returning to normal. As they fell from Lucy's hands, the loud boom on the table snapped her out of it. "Why are you all staring at me?" she asked scanning their shocked faces.
Stan jumped to her feet, feeling Lucy's forehead and cheeks. "You aren’t aware of what just happened, kiddo?"
"Yeah, we were talking about the markings on these rocks, and then you guys spazzed out on me," she said irritably.
Micah picked up the stones, squinting hard at them. "When you held both stones you went into a trance of some kind," he said. "You were speaking, but it wasn't you... speaking..."
Stan grabbed Lucy's hand, "We can find the key! It told us where to go!"
The Key of Knowledge Page 8
