//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Escape!!! // Story: The Fable of a Lost Wolf // by Solaris Night //------------------------------// The feeling was all too familiar. The never ending darkness, muffled noise in the background and especially the loud thumping in his head. Trider was caught in this sensation so many times, he had already lost count. Slowly he began to gather his thoughts and senses, and the world around him slowly gained a semblance of form. He blinked a few times to remove the fog from his vision and once it cleared up he was finally able to see where he was. The room was huge, the ceiling was easily four times as high as he was tall and the opposite wall was so far away that you could have a 100 m dash tournament in here. Lighting provided ample illumination, so he could see all of the details. All around were various pieces of machines, most of which he didn't have any idea what they were used for, but he knew very well that this place was some sort of laboratory. "You are finally awake!" The voice made Trider turn his head and he spotted Syver sitting in a comfy office chair, looking at him from behind a desk. "I was beginning to fear that I might've-" "You bastard!" Trider roared, interrupting the man in the middle of his sentence. He tried to jump at him and pummel him into the ground, but something held him back. He quickly looked at his arms and legs and saw that they were restrained by metal shackles. He again glared at Syver, noticing a slight sheen and a faded reflection of himself. "I'm truly sorry for treating you like this." Syver spoke, as he rose from his chair and approached him. "But it was a necessary precaution." Trider began to press against his restraints once more, but he didn't even make them budge. "Please calm down, I can assure you that you're safe." He tried to calm the angered Kanisar, but it didn't help. "I should tell you that this cage was made specifically to hold our kind. No matter how strong you are, you're not breaking out of there, so I plead again, rest easy and let us talk, I'm sure you have quite a few things you want to talk about." Trider continued to glare at him, but he eventually stopped his struggle and settled down. Syver smiled at that and sat back down in his chair, facing him. "Where are we?" he asked calmly. "This." he said extending his arms. "Is one of the kingdoms private laboratories, where most of their groundbreaking technological inventions are created. Such as hoverboards, replenishable power cells, Peacekeepers..." "Human Ki infusion?" Trider spoke blatantly. "That too." the man sneered. He took a deep breath, removed his glasses and began to massage his eyes. "I told you already that what I am doing is all for the better of our kind. I'm not proud of it, but someone has to make the sacrifice." "I'm with you there. Someone has to make a sacrifice." Trider agreed and before Syver could speak up, he continued. "But they should sacrifice themselves, not others. If you want to change how things are, then put your own fucking life on the line and not those of innocent." Syver remained silent for several seconds, his eyes hidden behind his glasses. "That is quite hypocritical coming from you." that sentence struck deep into Triders conscience. "You, who were nicknamed Trider the Heartless, the one who threw lives of his human comrades away like they were garbage." "I've changed." that was all Trider said in reply. "So you've said. But a wolf raised by sheep is still a wolf." Syver responded. Their chatter was interrupted, when the door to the lab opened up and in walked a woman. "Sir, it is time for your afternoon tea." The woman spoke and Syver nodded. "Completely forgot about it. Good job." he acknowledged and waved her over. As she walked over to him, she didn't spare a single glance at the caged Kanisar and instead focused on the man in front of her. Trider on the other hand got a good look at her. She was quite tall for a woman, around 186 cm, and her body was very slender, but not so much that she looked like a walking stick. Her black hair was tied in a bun on top of her head, with a single strand cascading down the right side of her face. She wore a single piece tight fitting suit, which covered every part of her body, except from neck up. Once she placed the cup in front of Syver and poured the tea in, she faced Trider and when she did he could only see dead cold eyes staring at him. There was no emotion behind them, no semblance of a sould, just empty void. It made the Kanisar shiver. "Hey you!" he called out to the woman, to which she didn't react. "You're a human right?" He waited for a reply, but again she didn't react. "That man over there isn't who you think he is. He's in fact a Kanisar like me and he plans on wiping out all of your kind." The woman continued to stare at him with a blank expression and Trider became highly confused. He was brought out of his stupor when he heard Syver chuckle. "Did you really think that would work?" he asked, as he sipped his tea. "You are an enemy of humans; do you really think that they'd believe you just like that? A Kanisars word against the word of a high ranking official." He made another quick break to drink more of his tea, before he continued. "And even if your word held some value, she." he said nodding his head to the woman. "Would do nothing." "Why?" Trider asked, switching his glance between the two people. A sadistic grin appeared on Syvers face, as he stood up and moved behind the woman. Then without hesitation he placed his hand on one of her shoulders and dug his claws deep into her flesh. Trider just watched shocked, while the woman displayed no signs of pain or fear. "Because she is my puppet." Syver said gleefully, taking out his claws and licking the blood off of them. "She was, still is, my assistant, who didn't know not to snoop around. She found out about my true identity and goals. But before she could report to the higher-ups, I stopped her and made her one of my first guinea pig." He smiled sweetly, almost like he was recalling a fond memory. "I broke her body, will and spirit. In order to avoid the torturous pain she was put through, she discarded all of that. Her body feels nothing, her will is mine to control and her spirit has long since been extinguished. Now she is nothing more than a soulless puppet." Trider wanted to vomit. In all his life he had never encountered something so horrific. Even his past self would never do something so horrendous. "I've seen enough." he said and glared at Syver. "When I get out of here, I'm gonna kick your ass to kingdom come. And you can forget about me ever joining you. I'd rather die than even lift an arm for you." Syver looked the Kanisar dead in the eyes, seeing the determination radiating in them. "I understand." he sighed loudly. "I really didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." He pressed a button on his desk. "Prepare the girl for the procedure." "What girl?" Trider asked, fearing the answer. "The one you were with." Syver replied bluntly. "I was willing to let her live, since she was a friend of yours, but seeing how stubborn you are, I'll just have to use her to make you change your mind." With all of his might, Trider began to thrash around. "When I get out of this thing, I'm gonna turn you to minced meat." he threatened. Syver chuckled. "If you get out. That pod was made specifically to hold our kind locked up and with you in your current state, can't hope to even tilt it." At this point Trider stopped listening to his banter and was solely focused on getting out. He pressed against his shackles, but they still didn't budge. As he continued his desperate attempts, he could feel something deep in him surge forth. "AAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" he screamed to the top of his lungs, as the sudden burst of energy exploded, tearing apart the pod. Syver watched from behind his turned over table, as Trider stood up from amidst the debris. His eyes were glowing bright blue, but they quickly turned back to their dark brown color. Without a moment’s hesitation, Trider launched himself at the other Kanisar. But before he could reach him, he was tackled by the woman. He tried to push her off of him, but was surprised by her inhuman strength. The woman grabbed his right arm and twisted her body around, throwing the Kanisar over her shoulder on the floor. Before he could stand up again, she sat on top of him and putting him in an arm lock. "Incredible." Syver said in a cheery voice. "You continue to exceed my expectations." "Come and fight me yourself, you coward." Trider growled. "I'm not stupid Trider; I know that if I did, you'd win hands down. So I'll leave it to my assistant. It is her job to protect me after all." He then shifted his gaze to the woman. "Put him to sleep." Without a word, the woman raised one of her arms, which now glowed in a purple aura and swung it down onto the Kanisar. But before her palm could connect, she and Trider were launched into the air. Surprised by the sudden development, the woman loosened her grip, which allowed the Kanisar to reverse the situation. The two were now floating in mid-air, while Trider held the woman by her forearm. "Fuck. Off." he growled in her face and released her. She landed on her feet and casted her gaze back at the Kanisar. Her arms were once again enveloped in purple aura, this time however the focused them in the palms of her hands and began to shape them, until they took form of a spear. With a single leap she shot herself at Trider and the two clashed. The woman tried to strike the Kanisar with her weapon, but Trider managed to block it with his Spirit Claws. Taking advantage of her momentum, the woman swung her body around, and kicked Trider in the face, making him hit the ground. Before he even had the time to pick himself up, Trider saw the woman falling towards him, with her spear aimed directly at his chest. He rolled out of the way, making her strike the ground. "Wailing Nova Sphere!" he shouted and shot a ball of energy at her. The woman reacted by dropping her spear and raising her hands to protect her upper body, while forming an energy barrier. On impact the whole building shook and the blast blew apart the wall, allowing Trider to see into the rest of the facility. As he looked over the many humans that were in there, the people were also looking back at him, terrified. As he continued to look around, he soon spotted a pod in which Avaia was kept. He jumped down to the ground floor and ran over to the pod, making the other humans flee away from him. "Avaia!" he shouted, but he got no response. He smashed his fist into the glass and broke it immediatelly. He looked over the girl and saw that she was just unconscious. He chuckled to himself, before he broke her restraints. She began to stir and slowly opened her eyes. "Trider?" she asked quietly. "What are-?" "It's OK. You're safe now." Suddenly he felt something behind him and without thinking he ducked, just barely avoiding the ethereal blade that swung at his head. He was again facing the woman, whose face was now covered in blood. Trider prepared himself for another clash, but then they heard Syver shouting. "That's enough! Come back!" The blade in the woman’s hands disappeared and she jumped back to her master. "Initiate procedure HX-34." Suddenly four objects fell from the ceiling and Trider watched as they began to shift around, until they took on a familiar appearance. The Peacekeepers loomed over the two Kanisars, awaiting their orders. "Kill the girl, but keep the male alive." Syver commanded. Each of the robots beeped, before they lurched at Trider and Avaia. Trider quickly charged at one of them, coming to a standstill. Avaia on the other hand, was still dazed and was just barely managing to dodge the robots assault. Trider wanted to help her, but was struggling against the machine. All of a sudden, another robot struck the Kanisar with one of its limbs, sending him flying directly at Avaia, who didn't see him coming at her. The two crashed and fell to the ground. They were both now surrounded by the Peacekeepers, as well as the guards, who were pointing their guns at them. "It seems not even you can go up against a Peacekeeper." Syver shouted. "Kind of disappointing." he added under his breath. "Lock him up." Trider breathed heavily as he stood back up and faced his opponents. He looked around trying to spot a way to get out, but saw none. He then turned his head to the girl who was still lying on the ground. She looked at him as well, her eyes full of fear. But what she saw on Triders face wasn't neither fear nor despair, instead she saw him smiling at him. "Hey. Wanna see something cool?" he asked. Her face contorted in confusion. "Wha...?" Trider turned his head back to the men and robots in front of him. He closed his eyes and took slow, but deep breaths. He continued to do so, as the air around him began to shimmer with energy. The feeling that he had before was now stronger than ever. "I'm back baby." he thought and smirked. Suddenly he exploded with tremendous power, making everyone shield their eyes from intense flash. When they looked back, they were all shocked at the now transformed Kanisar. Avaia stared at him with her mouth agape. "Trider, is that-?" "Told you it was cool." he said back to her. "Now get down and let me clean the house." One of the robots lunged itself at him, as soon as he said that. To Trider it seemed to move in slow motion, so he kicked it while it was still in mid-air. The force of the impact twisted the robots body and sent him flying into a wall. Everyone in the room stared at the scene before them with wide eyes and mouths agape. "Avaia!" he called out to his friend. "Can you go around and find if there are any other Kanisars around?" She shook her head and cleared her mind. "Absolutely." she said with renewed determination. She got up and began to run towards the opening that was left by Trider, when he kicked the robot out of the way. Other Peacekeeperes tried to get in her way, but Trider quickly intervened. "You should be focusing me you scrap heaps!" he shouted as he grabbed one of them by their limbs and tossed it into the other two. As Trider continued to fight with the robots, Avaia too slowly made her way throughout the complex. The human soldiers tried to get in her way, but she was way too nimble for any of them. She weaved through their ranks with such grace, that it looked almost like she was dancing. She managed to cover most of the facility in just a couple of minutes, but she has yet to find the holding cells. Just as she turned around the corner, she stumbled into a rather large group of soldiers. They were in a tight formation and were aiming their guns right at her. "Open fire!" As soon as the commander said those words, the group began to fire at Avaia. She managed to retreat behind the corner just in time to avoid the barrage of bullets, but one of them still managed to graze her shoulder. She winced in pain as she grabbed her wound. She gritted her teeth and began to channel her Ki into the palm of her hands. A ball of green energy formed and soon as the firing stopped she jumped from behind the corner. "Booter Bouncer!" she said as she dropped the ball and kicked it with all of her might at the soldiers. The ball hit one of them, knocking him out cold immediately, and then bounced off his body. It continued to ricochet off the walls, floor and ceiling, in a chaotic pattern, until only one soldier remained. Just as the attack was about to connect, the man extended his arm and grabbed the ball. He looked at the girl and snickered under his helmet. "Nice trick." he said and shattered the orb. "But it won't work on me." He dropped his gun and raised his hands. They began to glow with golden aura, before firing a barrage of Ki blasts at the Kanisar. Avaia collected herself and began to dodge and block the incoming projectiles, before jumping behind the corner again. "Stop this!" she cried out. "If you continue to use Ki, you're going to die because of it!" The man cackled in response. "You think I'm going to believe such an obvious lie?!" he shouted back and increased the rate of fire, slowly chipping away at the wall behind which Avaia was hiding. The girl took a deep breath and sighed. She slowly stood up, her legs now encased in sparks of electricity. With determination she jumped from her hiding spot and slammed with her feet into the opposite wall. She began to run at the soldier, but to his surprise it wasn't on the floor. Instead she ran along the wall into which she slammed before. The soldier changed his aim and began to fire at the wall along which she was running, but as soon as he did that, Avaia leaped onto the ceiling and continued her upside-down sprint towards him. When she reached him she swung her leg at him, but he managed to block her attack, by raising his arm. Pain flared through his entire arm, but he pushed through it and grabbed Avaia by her neck and slammed her onto the floor. He grabbed both of her arms and pinned her down, while still holding her throat with his other hand. "I know they said to kill you." he said as he lowered his helmeted face to hers. "But maybe I can have a little fun with you, before finishing you." Avaia glared at him, as he removed his hand from her neck and slowly began to lower it. "You should've gone for the legs." she said with a smirk. Before he had time to reply, he felt an unimaginable pain course through his entire body, as he collapsed onto the ground beside the girl. The girl stood up and looked at the curled form of the man, as he desperately clutched at his groin. "Here let me help you ease the pain." she said before kicking his head, knocking him unconscious. She kneeled down and began to look over his body, eventually finding a keycard. Without another word she ran down the corridor the soldiers were guarding and soon reached the holding cells. In total there were only five Kanisars and they all looked like they've gone through hell. She unlocked their cells and each one of them began to thank her. "Is there anyone else?" she asked. They all somberly shook their heads and Avaia held back her anger and grief. Suddenly the entire complex was shaken, as numerous explosions went off. Without a moment’s hesitation Avaia looked towards one of the walls and created a bright orange ball of energy. She reared her leg back as far as she could and struck the orb with everything she had. "All-star Ace Shot!" The ball broke through the wall like it was made of paper and continued its devastating travel, decimating everything in its path, until it dissipated far off in the distance. "Get out of here and find shelter!" she yelled at her brethren, as she herself turned back and headed back into the collapsing building. *** "These things are tougher than I first thought." Trider thought, as he smashed one of the Peacekeepers into a wall, before being tackled by another. "Though, I'm not fighting at my full capacity, otherwise this would've been over." The robots were badly dented and one of them had one of their legs ripped off, but they continued their assault, but it was clear as day that no matter what happened, in the end Trider would be victorious. As the battle continued, from up above Syver observed his fellow Kanisar, tear through his lab and creations, like they were nothing. "Super Kanisar." he mused to himself. "Thank you for showing me something wonderful." he said as he began to walk away. "Follow." he commanded to his slave and she obediently did so. They calmly made their way through the mass of panicking scientists and once they were outside the complex Syver and the woman sat into one of the cars. The Kanisar took out a small device and turned it on. "Initiate self-destruct. Code: Ka-boom." he spoke and the two drove off. Meanwhile inside the building, Trider was still fighting Peacekeepers. Suddenly they all stopped. Trider stopped his attacks, expecting some kind of trap. Instead the robots jumped into the air and each one latching onto one corner of the roof. Trider and the rest looked at them in confusion, right before they exploded. The ceiling began to collapse, as more explosions resonated all across the building. Without another thought Trider leaped into the air and slammed into the rubble that was falling. He held it in place as the humans looked at him. "The fuck are you all staring at?!!" he yelled at them. "GET OUT BEFORE THE ENTIRE THING CRASHES DOWN!!!" They heeded what he said and began to run outside the complex, while Trider continued to hold the massive roof in place. "This seems familiar." he thought, as he readjusted his grip on the rubble. He mustered as much strength as he could, but he could feel the debris pushing down on him even further. "Trider!" he heard a familiar voice calling out to him. He looked down and saw Avaia running towards him. "You idiot, why didn't you escape?" he screamed at her, as he dipped another meter. "I couldn't leave you. We are all getting out of here." she replied, as she kicked a large slab that was falling towards her. "Forget about me, something like this won't kill me." he said. "Help the others, who didn't get out instead. I can only keep this up for a few more seconds." Avaia nodded and quickly began to help anyone who was trapped by the initial explosions. All the while Trider continued to struggle to buy a few more precious seconds, but with every moment the roof came closer to the ground and he could feel his strength reaching its limit. "That's everyone!" he heard Avaia shout at him. "Good, now you get the hell out." he yelled back. "I told you, we're all leaving this place." she said. Trider wanted smile, but he couldn't even muster that much to do so. "When I say go, you move out of the way!" He glanced down to his friend and saw a large ball of orange energy. He nodded and used the last of his strength to push back. "Now!" she screamed and kicked the ball right towards Trider. In the last moment he dropped out and the ball dug a giant hole through the rubble and continued high into the sky. The rest of the building collapsed and both Kanisars were engulfed by the debris and smoke. *** The night air was blasting against Avia's face, as she and Trider were soaring through the sky. "I didn't know Kanisars could fly." she said, as held tightly onto Trider. "Neither did I, until I did it." he laughed back. The two managed to escape and were currently heading back to the camp, where they could debrief Shepherd about everything that happened. They continued to fly in silence; neither of them knew what to talk about. "Why did you save them?" Avaia asked out of the blue. "Why did you sacrifice your life for the humans, when you could've just left them to die?" Trider entered into deep thought. "Because it was the right thing to do? Cause I made a promise? Or maybe it's just repentance for my past sins? Who knows? I just did what I wanted to do." Avaia remained quiet as she mulled over his reply. "I guess you really did change." she said quietly. "I'm sorry." "You don't need to apologize." he reassured her. "I wouldn't have believed it myself." "Still..." she trailed off. "Nope not hearing it." Trider countered. "Besides it's me who should say sorry." Avaia turned to him and gave him an inquisitive look. "What you said back then, you were right. I acted like I was the victim, because how I was treated, but it was my own goddamn fault for it." he paused for a couple of seconds before sighing. "What you told me struck me deep and I couldn't even fall asleep. And not because of the reason you're thinking." "Then why?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "Because I tried to remember." he said somberly. "Cathy, Zack, Johnny, Lucas, Rebecca. These are just some of the names I could remember for now. But I promise I'll remember everyone who suffered because of me, and I'll work hard to make up to them. Even if it kills me." Avaia was awestruck. For the first time since she met him, she didn't see him as Trider the Heartless, but as just Trider, a man who was making up for his past. She smiled and snuggled closer to him. "That's more than enough." she said. Trider smiled back to her and the two could now see their camp far off in the distance. "What are going to do about Syver though?" "I still think I can save him, but it'll be tough." he answered. "But we will have to fight him eventually." "Why?" she asked. He wanted to tell her, but he knew he shouldn't. It was his responsibility to retrieve what was taken from him. And he'd be damned if he didn't get it back. *** "We'll soon be at the residence sir." the driver said as he drove down the packed road. "Take your time." Syver responded. The light from outside reflected off of the smooth surface of the crystal that was in his hand. "Now then, what is this Trider? What have you been keeping away from me?" he wondered as the crystal radiated with a menacing aura.