Everflame 2 (FINISHED)

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tiz grinned at Annie, though Lantz still stared at the space where the communication screen was projected. He furrowed his brow and and leaned back in the chair making the mouse girl wobble in his lap.
"I don't know about this, that woman looked a bit... I don't trust this." He scratched his neck, and Tiz looked up at him expecting elaboration. He looked down at her and grumbled at himself. "At any rate," he turned to Annie. "You should contact your two boys. They can't bring friends though. The camel is not a big ship."



"Thank God," Reggie marched through the corridors, holding back a bit so Tess would lead. "I have not had a good day." He growled to himself and looked around as he passed. The people, particularly the guards made him scowl. Finally they came to the Mechanicus quarters, and he headed for the communal shower. "So how does this work, I hand you my clothes or what?"



Howl stood beside Vuranin but he felt his body drift. His essence slipped along the flow of the wind. With every step Chronin took to the everflame, Howl felt his body move away and spread.




Many lightyears away from the planet, Chronin's energy spike flared across the instruments of a satellite. The letters, GA were plastered across its side. The information was relayed to the machine's owners.




The beast looked up in the grasp of Nero. Its eyes burned but showed nothing. It was just light. The flame of its body was draining, being sucked into the tendrils of Nero's darkness, but the blinding light of its eyes did not wane. "You forget." Its voice boomed and sent ripples through the absence that was the beast's new obstacle. "Or you never realised. Some would remember your insolent nature. You do not listen." The flames whipped away, and even the light from the eyes was pulled and dragged but the glow did not falter. "When you left, the dimension was folding, fusing. All the beings you knew bent and absorbed into one. As the boundaries of our existence were pulled together, even the passive and inert fused into one. What was born from that fusing is who you would now try to consume." From the eyes, tendrils of light spread. They coiled and weaved together, then reached for the dark. The felt into the ink and spread like white paint in dark water. "I, we, they and it are one in this form. You are, will and have always been part of it." The light spread and tainted the dark, fusing themselves together.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Vuranin turned to Howl, showing some confusion and a little curiosity. "Is something wrong, 'Ambassador Howl'?"

Chronin entered the small corridor, and inspected the damage done by his 'blast glove'. Huh, I thought I made these blasts to be 'contained'. I thought I covered more than just the air-bound shockwave, guess not. He looked around for anything that might hint as a direction, since the gaping hole in the wall is throwing off his sense of direction. "I could start blasting more holes, but that would probably make more of a mess than I'd like to clean up." He looked around for something akin to a P.A. system button, and only found a fire-alarm and a 'containment shield' which seemed unusually close to the aforementioned fire alarm. He took a gamble and opened the door, greeted by a falling mop that hit him right between the eyes. "Aw ****!!" He knocked the mop away, then noticed a small cartridge with clear-blue corners on the top of it. He toyed with the cartridge until the corners lit up and projected a 3D hologram of the tower, along with the rooms, corridors, and facilities inside. I guess this is for the trainee janitors or something. I'll just be borrowing it for now.

Chronin spent a minute or two trying to get a close-up on his location when his thoughts were interrupted by a mechanically nerd-like voice.

"Please select a destination."
"Uh... the Main Chamber."
"Statement "Uh... the Main Chamber" is not valid, please select a destination."
"Main Chamber."
"Statement "Main Chamber" is not valid, please select a destination."
Oh for the love of... "Everflame..." After a few seconds of silence, a line connected from Chronin's position to some location just two floors above.
"Before entering the chamber, please report your destination to your supervisor so the door can be opened for you." He cursed under his breath, trying to resist the temptation to throw the 'silly' device outside through the hole he made just a moment ago.

[KittKat chunky~]

Annie shook her head at Lantz's comment "I know her, friend of my son." She watched the carrier grow closer with every passing moment and a frown creased her smooth forehead "She's a good girl. I wouldn't think we have any reason to distrust her, besides, they let us dock."

The frown grew until it pinched at the corners of her eyes and lips. She thought of Tess, after all Blaze had always had a crush on her, but childhood fancies never lasted anyway. Annie sighed and threw her ponytail over one shoulder with a flick of her head, it wasn't like Blaze had even asked her out yet. The safety of her son came before childhood relationships. "Yes I'd better do that right away. Thank you again, for all of this."





Tess ran a hand through her hair and sighed "Tell me about it. Blaze had his arm crushed when we jumped." She sighed again as they entered the communal washrooms "He had it replaced with a prosthetic of course, Mechanicus service has its benefits after all, and its not like I'm obsessed with appearances." Her eyes flicked up at Reggie from behind her fringe and she rubbed her upper arm tentatively "I love him. Really, I didn't understand what people meant when they explained how they love someone. My mother died when I was young, and I never knew my father, but now I understand."

The look in Tess' blue eyes was one of bright happiness, and it was with flushing cheeks that she turned to a metal slot in the wall. With a deft tug she pulled a clear plastic bag from the dispenser and held it out to Reggie "Put your clothes in here and drop them down the chute outside the shower, by the towels." The cellophane was marked with a large number 46 and a zip-lock ran across the open end.

Tess flicked her fringe to one side and grinned her usual cheeky smile "I'l be off to see Blaze. The doctor said he needs rest, but I doubt he will want to be lying around for long..."




The final door to the station bridge opened with a hiss of pneumatics and the darkness beyond lit up by a dozen torch beams. Grawn lead the way, red laser sights traversing across the wide room and reflecting off control panels "Jaeka, get in here now and see if you can slice into these consoles. We want the power up ASAP." Jaeka nodded and pushed roughly past Blaze, plucking a device from his armored wrist and dropping heavily into one of the many empty chairs.

A soft clicking and fervored rustle echoed through the many air vents lacing the corridor behind the group, but the sound was barely noticted as the heavy doors slid closed again with a long hiss. Blaze glanced across to Karla who returned the glance and gave an encouraging smile as the bridge was suddenly bathed in florescent light.





Jessice squirmed in her seat, fingers twisting nervously. She leaned back in her chair and glanced across the rows of Mechanicus office workers in the reception. With a mental groan she rubbed her temples as she muttered under her breath "I did not need this happening today..."

[Entaru]

Nero stood shocked for a moment as the light spread through his form.  Suddenly the feeling of shock faded from his gargantuan frame and the taint of light began to fade.  The dark form cackled with delight as more tendrils wrapped around the beast.  IF YoU TrUlY ArE WhAt YoU sAy YoU aRe...ThEn YoU kNoW wHy It WaS i WhO wAs SeNt.  I aM tHe STRONGEST!!  NoNe CaN CoMpArE To ME!!  His arrogant voice screeched through the stars as the beast was drawn closer to the black hole of his eye.  One by one, the stars that sparkled around his body became extinguished as they were pulled into the deep dark of his eye.  iNfInItY!!! tHaT iS wHaT i Am!!! InFiNiTe DaRk!!!  NoT eVeN aN iNcReDiBlE lIgHt SuCh As YoUrSeLf CaN cOmPaRe To Me!!  YOU AND THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSE ARE STILL NOTHING BUT FOOD!!!!!

Black tendrils shot out from Nero's body, pulling the beast's taint out of his body before shredding it like paper.  More tendrils snatched up pieces of the beast and dragged them into his eye, feeding him the essence of the creature.  As he devoured the beast Nero could feel himself expanding as the entirety of the ethereal realm was absorbed into his body.  The black twisted and contorted becoming less humanoid and more bestial, as the black hole grew and moved down to cover the Nero-creature's entire body.  Twelve red stars appeared on the black like eyes.  A curling snarling mouth grimaced and smirked into the deep of space as countless clawed limbs sprouted from his form.So MuCh...PoWeR.  i CaN AlMoSt....No.....I CAN sMelL tHe FlAmE!!  aT LoNg LaSt...I cAn FiNaLlY dEvOuR iT aNd CoMpLeTe My PoWeR!!  i WiLl Be A gOd!!  I WiLl CoNsUmE eVeRyThInG!!!  The Nero-creature's many arms clawed and tore at the fabric of space as it dragged its bloated body across the stars at blinding speeds.  It was heading straight for the Everflame. 

IT'S MINE!!!!

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Howl shook on his feet and motes of his body drifted away like petals plucked and flown through the air. He turned to Vuranin and confusion riddled through his eyes.
"I feel like something bad is going to happen. I think it's my connection to the dimension. I'm drifting  apart and maybe we all will. Whatever is going to happen will happen soon so I guess there's not much I can do about it." He turned to the tower with smoke and dust billowing through the damaged base where the defense drone sparked aflame. "Ignore me. Let's just focus on getting this done and getting out as fast as possible."



Chronin climbed up through the tower, as warning lights stared with red eyes. The place had been locked down and as he reached the right floor, the door to the central chamber was sealed. There were no windows to  look through, only a gallery of computer consoles shut off. According to the device in Chronin's hand, the room was right there, and the everflame inside.



High above them all among the surrounding stars, the GA satellite signal was recieved. Ships moved, hummed and roared with engines as large as mountains that charged with a force of a thousand earthquakes. They leapt into hyperspace and raced to the planet and the intruders invading it.






Lantz folded his arms and looked out to the carrier.
"No offense but i dont know you, nor your son. Personal assurances dont hold much weight." He looked to annie and gave an apologetic grimace, then turned the screen in silent observation of what lay ahead. Tiz climbed off his lap and headed to the kitchen.



Reggie gave a sideward glance to the young vixen, with bright eyes filled with emotion as she went on about her love. It made him  smirk.
"You love him? You've got a funny way of showing it around him." He laughed a little, laced with an almost an aggressive bark. "Unless you think hiding your relationship from others is super romantic." He took the bag as she offered it and nodded at her instructions. He turned to head to the  showers when his datapad buzzed in his pocket. "Oh what now." He pulled it out and its screen was lit with a name. "Annie." He nearly yelled it out, then prodded the pad to answer and held it up. On the screen, she looked out to him.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin flipped the device around in his hand for a few seconds, then put a finger on his earpiece. There was nobody on the other line, but the motion made it easier for him to 'contact' Vuranin. I'm at the room, but there is a door in the way.

Vuranin had mixed feelings about what Howl said. On the positive side, Nero and Beast would probably be sent back to their dimension, but this would also mean that her son would probably be in the most danger due to him being a dimensional hybrid. Just break the door down or something, we don't have much time left...

Chronin nodded to himself, then backed a certain distance before changing into his more primal form. The energy that powered this form, and his powers, were all poured into his bomb glove. The result was a dark red sphere that was becoming more and more unstable the longer it existed. He launched the sphere at the door, and he could only hear the ring in his ears as the smoke cleared.

All that remained of the door, was a piece of the threshold that had almost completely melted into the floor itself. The rest of the area was unharmed, due to the instability directing the blast through the door and only allowed the combustion to enter the Everflame's chamber. Chronin changed back to his 'mortal' form, and walked up to the Everflame. Huh, I can feel something in there... is that just my new instincts recognizing a piece of 'home', or is it less dead than originally thought?

[Entaru]

As the Nero-creature tore through space, it could smell the Everflame more and more.  Suddenly three more presences came into its senses.

It was them...Howl....Vuranin...and her half-breed son, Chronin.

His red eyes shone bright with rage as he realized where they were.  A silent howl pierced into the minds of Howl, Vuranin, and Chronin No!!! It'S mInE!!  yOu HeAr Me!!!  i WoNt AlLoW yOu To HaVe It!!!  ThE fLaMe Is MINE!! His voice shrieked and wailed louder as he grew ever closer to their position.  His lightning fast pace became frantic as he scrambled to reach the Everflame before the others.

[KittKat chunky~]

Tess flicked her fringe to one side with a huff and pointed an accusing finger "Hey! Don't you-" She stopped, flushing red and realizing she had no smart comment to whip back at Reggie. "Blaze doesn't want to tell other people either, its not just me." She glanced away, knowing that this wasn't remotely true. It was with a sigh of relief therefore that Reggie answered a call from Annie, as Tess took the chance to sidle away from his accusations and set off towards the medical bay.



Annie grinned, exhausted but relieved "Hey Reggie. I'm going to be docking in bay four, ask Tess or someone where to find it." Her eyes watched Reggie's intently and she sighed "If you could also find Blaze, He isn't answering his calls; probably just asleep, the lazy boy." Now she grimaced and brought the datapad closer "Look, if ever I needed you to trust me its now. We need to leave the carrier fast, get your things and tell Blaze to pack too. Please, this is important Reg, I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasnt."




"Power is booting up finally, systems seem normal." Jaeka's fingers flew over keyboards as his eyes flicked from screen to screen. He pressed a final button and then leaned back in the chair "The carrier is docking automatically with the station now..."

Grawn watched, looking satisfied as he glanced around at the explorators around him. He growled as he spoke "Good work team, those engineers should count themselves lucky they got captain Grawn here to-" his last words where lost as screams of pain erupted in everyone's helmet receivers. The scream went on and on, overlaid with a high-pitched shriek like a circular saw biting into steel. With the noise came sudden darkness as the florescent light strips overhead buzzed, flickered, and went out.

The screaming stopped as quickly as it started, with only the high-pitched buzzing lingering for a moment as the lights returned with a flicker of sparks. Blaze turned to Karla, terror in his eyes, a fear that stemmed from the cargo bay of the wrecked ship and the metallic beast that had chased him. Karla however was looking elsewhere, weapon suddenly drawn as she said "Where's Lita... She was standing right next to me-"



In the mechanicus carrier, on the top bunk of Blaze's bed his datapad flashed periodically. On the screen a small icon blinked -'3 New Messages'-

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The everflame sat nestled in the central container within the chamber. A sweet purr came from its cold insides. As the dragon looked upon it, it looked back, and its voice overrode Nero's wails.



Howl covered his ears and shut his eyes. He felt his body twist in the wind, and the screams of the demon racing toward them.
"Hurry up Chronin, grab it so we can leave and finish this whole situation."



Reggie gritted his teeth as she talked about Blaze.
"Right well I just heard something you won't like." He looked around for Tess, and glimpsed her tail slipped through a door before it closed. He sped after her, catching up with haste and patting her on the shoulder. "You should probably hear it from Tess." He handed the phone over to the girl. "I'm coming with you to the medbay. You tell her about Blaze."

[Chrono Blackwyng]

For the first time in his whole adult life, Chronin couldn't do anything. He was just mesmerized by the 'voice' of the stone, something that he thought until now was just a dead rock that had lost all its power. It didn't last long however, as a growl in his head brought him out of the trance. "Okay, time to take you home..." he said aloud, only realizing as he changed form once again but without the overflowing rage that sometimes came with it. He put his hands on the panel between him and the stone, and it crumpled like paper before hitting the ground with a thud. He gently took the stone out as some part of his mind refused to think of the Everflame as just a 'magical stone'. Vuranin came through the opening after teleporting just a short distance away, and held out her hand.

"Sorry for the mess and all... came at a bad time." "Funny, your father said the same thing when I met him... why don't you come with me?" "W-what?!" "Oh darn it, would you look at the time, I'll just give you a tour, see if you like it or not." Vuranin's aura spilled out as she hastily put together an inter-dimensional portal, that pulled every entity foreign (and some partially foreign) to this dimension within a mile-wide raidus, into the dimension of light.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The tower twisted and warped, stretching against the boundaries of the portal as Vuranin spread it wide. Light spluttered out through the growing tear, spilling out like phlegm until through the gap there was nothing. There was no light, not even darkness. The portal lead to an emptiness. It spread and shuddered with the impossible anomaly on the other side. The dimension of light was gone, collapsed into a few last shreds that smeared the floor. The walls of the inter-dimensional shook and ripped its walls. A force pushed at Vuranin, Chronin, Howl and even Nero and Seeker. It dragged at the molecules, motes of themselves. Shimmers of light that pulled off their bodies was whipped out across space. The everflame burst into light like ash in the breeze, whileChronin's body, half of both dimensions, was tearing every sliver of himself apart, ripping his light self from his real. Vuranin's body bore the full force, light pouring off her body like a shimmering stream. Nero felt the wave slam against his self and speared cracks into his dark tendrils, full and deep. Howl, already half spread through the wind, scattered across the planet and out across the stars; as did Seeker on the planet Mngeya. Every piece of them screaming across the galaxy, colliding with ships, planets and people; and where each mote hit burst with life.

The spirit of existence spread like diamonds across the stars. The same force the everflame had emitted twenty five years ago, but stronger, harder. The light hit the galaxy and at each point, a plant grew. A plant born of pure life, hungry, crawling and spreading to multiply and expand. They grew fast, as they had done before, when the flame was strong. Their roots pulled from the dirt, or the puddle, or the crumbs of soil on the floor of a ship. They spread and bloomed with great flowers and strong vines filled with barbs. The triffids marched again.

[KittKat chunky~]

Tess grimaced when Reggie caught up with her, hitching on a smile as she took the datapad "Hi Annie. Yeah, about Blaze..." She glanced across at Reggie and then back to Annie, turning left a they neared the medbay "He was injured during an unscheduled jump. All the cargo was loose and it crushed his right arm."

On the screen Annie took in a sharp breath and said "Prosthetic?" Tess nodded and flicked he fringe to one side. At the doors to the medbay a nurse ushered the two of them through the wards. Annie shook her head and sighed "That boy is nothing but trouble. But so long as he is okay, losing an arm isn't the end of the world."





At the bridge of the carrier Captain Vladiik drummed his fingers on the arm of his seat, clicking his beak impatiently "When did you say we lost contact?"

The finch sitting at the computer screens massaged his forehead and groaned "As soon as they reached the bridge. All radio contact was lost with the explorators and-" He stopped, looking across to a screen which flashed. Vladiik looked from the finch to the computer expectantly. Frowning, the finch tapped the screen and stared for several long moments "Heat signals captain, just flared up all across the station." He looked up at Vladiik and the frown deepened "The same heat signals are also appearing across our own decks sir.... Thousands of them."





With a deep guttural growl that rattled the helmet speakers Grawn turned to the computer banks "Jaeka, find out what-" He blinked, the seat where Jaeka had sat mere moments before was empty and its soft plastic covering scorched and blackened. Grawn pointed his pistols accusingly at the explorators and growled again "Where did that son of a fox go-" Darkness enveloped the bridge again and tortured screams cut-off Grawn mid sentence. 

Unlike the first time however, beams of light flared out from the helmets of several explorators. Even this did not completely lift the darkness as the torches ebbed and waned, with one going out in a flash of sparks, just as the florescent lights overhead had done. The sight that was illuminated by Blaze's helmet light twisted his stomach and churned its contents, fur prickling across his body.


Spiders. Not the small arachnids which could be found in every spaceship across the galaxy, nothing more than a nuisance to air-filters and long disused corners of cupboards, but arm-length metallic creatures with too many legs to count that swarmed and scittered across the ceiling. They dropped down on the men and women below with clicking mandibles and chattering limbs. Even the large form of Grawn had been overcome, pistols dropping from limp hands to clatter across the floor as metallic squeals and buzzing filled the room. Sparks flew and gunshots rang out as the explorators struggled and writhed, but armor was torn apart and helmet visors where sliced open to reveal the fleshy insides of the prey.

"Run you fool!" The words filtered slowly through Blaze's mind as he watched the horrific scene, insect-like machines skittering and clicking over the shuddering bodies. "Run!" This time the shout was accompanied by a strong tug on the arm. Karla with her face spattered in blood, helmet shattered and burst inwards, pulled Blaze towards the door. She fired off shots as she ran but they merely ricocheted off metallic bodies as the swarm surged in the direction of the last living creatures aboard the station.



 

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chronin could barely keep his eyes open as he regained consiousness. He didn't feel despair, anger, or even frustration. In fact, he couldn't even feel relief at being alive. I have no emotions... interesting. He could make out humanoid shapes coming towards him, then the feeling of being lifted up by almost three of those figures and dragged through the grass and woods until he felt his feet scraping against metal and linoleum. I suppose I could go to sleep for a few hours, I've been awake for almost two days now.

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Reggie gave a sideward look at Annie through the datapad as they passed through into the medical bay.
"Are you sure you're okay. You dont seem that fussed that he just lost an arm." They strolled through the corridors and he took a peak into the different rooms as they passed. "I mean you're right, the prosthetic should be fine, but still..." Reggie leaned into Blaze's room with an empty bed. "Where's he gone?" After he spoke, a red light flashed on the wall and the fire alarm started to blare. A voice barked from the loudspeaker.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a problem in one of the wards and require anyone able to leave the medibay, to do so and gather in the assembly area outside the front doors." As the voice came through, it met the march of boots, as security moved through the corridor and evacuated people from their rooms. Those who couldn't move were wheeled out or defended by one guard each.



Lantz peered over Annie's shoulder as the drama unfolded, then faced ahead as they were guided into the carrier. They hovered over the other ships, then halted frozen by the carrier control. Roots and vines crawled across the floor and leaves sprung with flowers held aloft. These green creatures moved over all the craft and the carrier floor, while guards charged in, shooting them down. Back through their own ship, he heard a door slam.
"Shut the doors, lock the kitchen," said Tina. "There's a Triffid in my bloody room!"



The soldiers pulled Chronin through the tower, to the lower areas on the opposite end to where the dragon had broken through. The three scientists, Jerime, Deas and Jenna followed on behind to a small complex of labs. Windows looked out across the landscape where triffids were sprouting from the ground.
"How long until this guy wakes up?" asked one of the soldiers. Jerime, the red panda in the mint suit, shrugged.
"Probably a while. That... whatever that was took a lot out of him, literally." They laid Chronin down on a bed and tied him with straps and clamps. Three of the soldiers stepped back and watched him with suspicion, while the last checked the restraints.
"We'll be back with security that's a bit more robust, but for now this will have to do." The scientist huddled around the dragon and began cautious examination

[Entaru]

Nero howled in agony as he felt pain for the first time.  The fissures throughout his body ran to his very core.  A dark purple light emanated from each crack as they spiderwebbed across his being.  His howl quickly silenced itself as his body destabilized, no longer able to control and contain the power inside him.  With a blast the size of a small supernova, Nero's body shattered like glass.  Dozens of fragments scattered across the galaxy, streaking through space like black spears.  The shards buried themselves into planets, ships, and space stations.  The shards radiated with dark energy that bled into the very fabric of reality as the areas around them twisted to match them.

And where Nero once stood, a small black mass sat motionless...barely alive.