//------------------------------// // Invasion of Tortuga: Part 2 // Story: A New World, A New Way: Requiem from the Lostbelt // by Metroid Prime //------------------------------// Cerberus. In Proper Human History’s Greek Mythology, it is said to guard the entrance to the Underworld, the domain of Hades. In the world of Equus, it is known as the guard dog who guards the entrance to the prison known as Tartaros. But just what connection between Equestria’s Cerberus and the one from Proper Human History, is a story for another time. In Proper Human History, the hero Heracles traveled to the Underworld in order to bring back Cerberus as his 12th and final Labor to King Eurystheus. If you were to ask Heracles or Hades, they would describe Cerberus as a monstrous dog with one large eye on each of its heads, and covered in metallic armor. However, in the Atlantic Lostbelt, this is not the case. Because the monstrous Progenitor Dragon known as Typhon never came into existence, it never mated with its fated wife Echidna. And as a result, many of the monsters it would father with her were born “incomplete”. In the case of Cerberus, it now lacked a full body. But what they lost in power, they made up for in numbers. So long as the Demonic Beast that birthed it was continually fed magical energy, she could produce as many dogs as she wished. So the fact that Odysseus felt the need to let loose only one, should say something about that. - On the beaches of Tortuga, the Watchdog of Hell was immediately greeted by several Pokemon and Zebra, the latter of which took a step back. A Bisharp among them fired a Dark Pulse, which nailed it in the right head. But this only seemed to annoy the creature mildly. The demonic beast charged at its attack, only for two other Pokemon, a Tauros and a Bouffalant, to meet it head-on. But despite both using Giga Impact, they only managed to make it stagger back. And because Giga Impact makes one tired for one turn, the two Pokemon were helpless as the Cerberus recovered and quickly tore off the heads of the Pokemon and feasted on their remains. The sight alone was enough to send the remaining soldiers running. Rum and Barb witnessed this from the base, and right now one of them was currently dropping bricks. “Now do you think we should evacuate!? If that thing can kill two Pokemon single-handedly, what chance do we have!?” Rum was at a loss for words. Right now his duty told him to defend to people so that they could evacuate, but in the face of such a terrifying creature, he was not sure he could do much to slow it down. Still, he was not about to leave now like a coward. “Barb, if we don’t do something, that thing is gonna tear up the town before anyone has a chance to leave!” “Did you not just see that dog tear apart two Pokemon like it was nothing!? How are we supposed to fight it?” Rummington looked at the creature again, even without using the telescope, he could still tell that it was eating the bodies of the Pokemon it had just killed. It seemed content for now to just eat its meal. It was this sight that a train of thought appeared in its head. “It's a powerful savage beast alright, but at the end of the day, it's still an animal. One with its instincts and a small-minded simple brain that only follows its primitive desires.” “You point?” “What if we somehow lead it away from that town? That’ll give us enough time to evacuate everyone.” “Oh, I suppose you have a brilliant idea on how to do that?” “No, and I can’t of one right now.” Rum walked over and looked back into the base’s center yard, the soldiers still fighting the dragons. “Cause right now we need to deal with that.” Barb walked over to Rum and nodded. “Alright, this I can manage.” After climbing down the stairs and into the yard, they found themselves faced with 3 dragons fighting 4 teams of soldiers. A few lone ones were already lying on the ground, Rum could not tell if they were dead or not. He then saw that one group of soldiers had managed to ground a dragon with ropes, but had yet to restrain it enough so they could kill it. Already he could see that it was about to break free. “Not on my watch!” Rum then ran up, grabbed a nearby crossbow, and lined up a shot. He fired, but instead of hitting the eye as he intended, it bounced off the scales of its neck as it kept swinging its head. “Darn!” Rum then reloaded, but the dragon was now trying to flap its wings. “Oh no, you don’t!” Another arrow load, he once again aimed at the dragon's eye. Then the creature, looked directly at him, which was what he wanted. “Gotcha!” The arrow flew true, this time hitting its mark and blinding the creature in its left eye. While he knew it was not enough to kill the beast, it was enough to wound it. Unfortunately, a wounded creature is sometimes when it's most dangerous. Now further enraged, the dragon then spun around, lifting the Zebra who were holding down the ropes and throwing them into the air and onto walls and the ground like ragdolls. The dragon then removed the arrow with the claw of its forewings and then looked and Rum. “Oh, crap.” The dragon then charged at the guard tower Zerba, intended for him to be its next meal. “Slash!” A blade of light came out of nowhere and made a large gash in the dragon’s neck, blood spewing from its wound. “Crunch!” Then a Sharpedo appeared and began to chop down on its next from where it was bleeding. The dragon roared in pain and tied to fly away, but was stopped by Quagsirewho used Body Slam on it. And for the finishing move, a Floatzel appeared and used Hyper Beam, just as it opened its mouth to roar. The beam shot straight down its throat before exploding inside its gut, killing it. “And stay down!” The Sharpedo said. Rum looked in awe at the four Pokemon reassembled. Barb, who had also watched the whole thing spoke first. “Wait, I know you guys, Your Team Seapray right?” “Right you are miss,” said Tops. Rum too also recognized the group. “But wait, aren’t you guys supposed to be on out on the sea slowing down those ships?” Rum said this as a matter of observation. But the team instead just gave him a grim look. As if they didn’t want to talk about the reason why they were here and not out there. “That can be explained later, for now, we need to deal with the rest of these dragons.” Rum then saw that the other teams had managed to get the upper hand on the remaining two dragons. “Right.” With the addition of Team Seaspray, the Zebra forces managed to finish off the dragon invaders. With the immediate threat having passed, the soldiers took a moment to catch their breath. Soon after, Commander Alek, who was in charge of the base arrived and assessed the situation. “Lieutenant Groove! Status report!” “The dragons have been dealt with sir awaiting further orders!” “That's good,” It was then that the Zerba spotted the Pokemon. “Captain Tops!” The leader of Team Seaspray heard the Commander and ran up to him before saluting. “Captain Tops, reporting for duty sir!” “Captain Tops, explain to me why are you back here instead of slowing down those ships?” “Sir, the enemy forces proved to be more overwhelming than anticipated sir! I am also sorry to report that we lost one of our own, Ensign Sam died fighting off the enemy sir.” The Commander paused for a moment. “I see, his courage and sacrifice will be remembered.” “Thank you, sir.” “Still, we have no time to grieve, there is still work to do. The evacuation of the city is now our top priority.” “Sir!” Commander Alek then looked to his right to see Rum walk up to him. “Private Rummington. Do you have something to say?” “Yes sir, I would like to inform you that evacuation will be difficult unless we do something about that dog monster that just showed up on the beach sir!” “What dog monster?” “Sir!” Tops said. “The monster Private Rummington is one we encountered before retreating, it is also responsible for the death of Ensign sam.” “I see, and do you think we should deal with this creature first.” “Yes sir, as Private Rummington said, we won’t be able to safely evacuate the city while that thing is roaming unchecked.” “Then what do you suggest?” “If we cannot kill the creature then maybe we could keep it busy.” “Sir I was just thinking the same thing,” Rum said. “We need to lure that creature away from the population by the time everyone is evacuated.” “I see, but you do realize that I cannot spare many resources to handle this problem when an entire fleet of ships are bearing down on us.” “Sir, I am willing to just take my team and any volunteers to deal with this if necessary. And with your permission sir.” “Hmmm, very well, I’ll approve this operation. Remember take only those who want to participate.” “Yes sir!” Tops then turned to Rum. “I assume you are on board with us?” “Yes, I’ll help however I can.” - In the city, the Cerberus had moved from the beach and more into downtown. Several soldiers who tried to stop it were unsuccessful, and unfortunately, civilians who had yet to evacuate yet were victims of its attacks. The beast then finally arrived in the town square, which was now barren. The Cerberus however could smell the souls of people nearby and was now looking with all three of its heads in several directions. And then it heard a whistle. “Hey, Fido!” All three heads locked eyes on the source of the voice. And saw a lone Zebra standing on the roof of a building. “Still hungry? Well, I’m right here!” Rummington then started to bolt as the Cerberus chased after him. Jumping across rooftops, the Zerba thanked his many years of running which helped him leap across the gaps. The three-headed dog was not far behind him, and despite it being on the ground, Rum did not put it behind him that it could somehow jump on the roof if it so managed. Still, the fact that it was following him was good so far. “Just need to make it there.” Rum jumped over a few more rooftops before he suddenly began to feel the ground beneath his feet shake. “The hell!?” Looking down, he saw that the dog was now smashing into buildings, trying to bring them down and him along with it. “Shoot, this is bad.” Rum regained his footing and kept moving, although he was now running out of buildings, and the last one was small and looked old. “Come on, come one!” He was nearly out of breath, and the monster was still right behind him. Rum managed to make it to the last building, right before the Cerberus used all of its strength to crash into the small hut, destroying its support beam and sending it crashing down. “Waaaah!” As the smoke cleared, the three-headed dog pulled itself from the wreckage, expecting to find its prey buried beneath the debris. “Hey dog breath!” The Cerberus turned and saw Rum, now sitting in a wagon, being pulled by two Zerba. “I’m over here!” As one last taunt, Rum fired a crossbow at the Cerberus, right before the Zebra guards started to run and pull the wagon with him. The arrow didn’t even pierce its thick hide, but it did irritate the monster, who chased after the wagon with predator-like intuition. The Zerba led the Cerberus through several neighborhoods, before finally making it out of the city. Just like they had planned, they had managed to lure the monster out of town. But getting rid of it was another matter. They did not have the resources or manpower to spare in order to kill this thing, but if they couldn’t kill it, they could make sure it didn’t stick around long enough to cause more harm. Rum then took out a short-range magical communication crystal and spoke into it. “Captain Tops, this is Rum, the target took the bait, we’re almost at your position, you ready?” “Copy, we’re ready to receive.” “Good, let's hope this works, over.” Barb, who was one of the Zerba pulling the chariot spoke up. “Just so you know, if we make it out of this alive, you’re pulling this thing on the way back.” “Yeah, yeah, just don’t slow down.” “Oh, believe me, I don’t want to.” The Tiger River was located right beside Tortuga. A primitive dam was built next to it that now was abandoned after the war. Aside from that, a large waterfall was located near the mouth of the river that fed into it from the ocean, with a drop of over 500 feet. Needless, to say, even if something were to fall down that river and survive, it wouldn’t be climbing back up for quite some time. Rum then finally arrived at the cliff which overlooked the waterfall. The Zerba guards detached themselves from the reigns and he got off the wagon. Not seconds later, the Cerberus appeared over the hill and stopped to stare at them. Rum started back at the beast, waiting in anticipation for it to move again. After growing for a few more seconds, the monster rushed down the hill, its teeth gnashing and ready to tear the Zerba to shreds. It was closing the gap at 30 feet, 25 feet, then 15 feet…. “NOW!” From behind a rock, Lieutenant Sharp came out swinging with an Aquajet that caught it by surprise. From the left, Zeg and Quag hit the dog with Hydro Pump. And then, right behind it, Tops came out with a flurry of Slash attacks. They all kept pumping the creature, inching closer to the edge of the cliff. “We almost got it!” But just as it was about 5 feet from falling off, the Cerberus started to hold its ground. It began to push back against the onslaught of attacks. “Come on are you kidding me!? How strong is this thing!?” Eventually, as some of them needed to take a breather from using their moves, the Cerberus gained more ground. “Oh no, you don’t!” Quag stopped using Hydro Pump and then began to charge at the monster. “Quag what are you doing!?” Tops said. “What needs to be done!” Quag’s body began to glow as he prepared his strongest attack. Tops then realized what the Water Pokemon was about to do. “Quag no!” “Giga Impact!” Then with all his might, Quag tackled the Cerberus over the edge, and he with it. The group then rushed over to look. Quag was barely hanging by a vine growing out of the cliffs. Beneath him, the Cerberus had also caught a vine with one of its heads. Quag looked down, and to his horror, he saw that the demonic dog was using its other two heads in rotation to climb up the vines. At this point, the Water Fish Pokémon knew that he had to finish this. By using a well-placed Ice Punch, he could send it tumbling down the waterfall, and him with it. But before he could act, an Ice Beam, struck the beast, encasing it in a block of Ice. Made easier thanks to the seawater, coming from the waterfall. Quag looked up and saw that it was Zel who was using that move. He did not stop until the creature was heavy enough that the vines could not support its own weight. And, with an audible snap, the vine broke, and the Cerberus fell into the ravine below, making a big splash as it hit the water. “That was for Sam you monster.” As the others helped pull Quag up, Rummington fell on his rump as he felt like he could relax for a bit now. “We did it.” “Yeah, we did it,” Tops said. “But our job isn’t over yet.” Everyone turned and gasped at what they saw, but eventually knew was going to happen. The first ships from the invasion fleet had already docked at Tortuga. “We need to get back,” Rum said. Picking himself up, despite the fact he was still tired from all that building hopping. Barb sighed. “Okay, but I’m not pulling the wagon.” “Alright, Barb we get it.” Zel meanwhile was still looking over the cliff, searching for any signs of the Cerberus. Tops eventually walked up beside him. “That thing probably survived,” Zel said. “Yes, it probably did,” Tops responded. “I want to go down there and finish it, I owe Sam at least that much.” Tops closed his eyes. “Revenge will not bring back those we have lost. We as soldiers should understand this more than anything.” “I know, but still….” “We should be heading back now.” Tops started to walk away, Zel remained where he stood for a few more seconds before joining him. Odysseus marched with his soldiers through the streets of the now mostly empty city. Some of his men were entering houses, looking for any signs of life. But found none. “It seems most of the people have evacuated sir,” said one of the soldiers. “No matter, they merely extend the duration of their lives in vain.” “Keep searching, leave no stones unturned.” “Yes sir!” As that soldier walked away, another walked up toward him. “Sir, our scouts have reported that a platoon of guards are up ahead.” His words made Odysseus look at him with interest. “How many?” “We estimate them to be at least 100 strong sir.” “Hmmm, then let's not keep them waiting.” The Atlantian soldiers did not have to walk long before they arrived at the town square where the Zerba border guard was waiting. As more and more men crowded behind him, he could see the fear in the eyes of the enemy. Good, after all, mortals should fear the power of the gods and those blessed by them. There was a tense moment of silence before the lead Zerba spoke. “I am Commander Alek, you have unlawfully invaded this Zerbrican waters and its territory. Stop this now, and return to where you came from immediately.” He knew it was a pointless statement to make, but he had to say it in case there was even a slight chance they would listen to reason. He expected the enemy commander to just say no, or shrug it off. He did not expect them to start laughing like he had just told a funny joke. Odysseus however did not laugh, but he understood and agreed with why his soldiers did. A reason he would now explain to Zebra. “Oh, and by what authority and power do you have over us to demand such a thing?” Alek steeled himself and responded. “I speak this as a servant of his majesty, King Trotankhamun, the ruler of Zebrica and all who dwell within.” “I see, answer me this, is your King a god or divine being?” “Uh, no he is not?” “Is he a descendent of one, does even have at least one drop of divine blood, or even claim to have any?” “No, our king is descended from the first great hero of Zebrcia, who founded our nation in ancient times. There are no gods in Zebrica or hold any power in its lands.” Alek was aware of those who still worshipped the old gods, but even with the existence of Arceus, he did not believe in such things. “I see, then I am afraid we much decline.” “What?” “You see Commander Alek, we are here on a mission divined and ordained by the great Demiurge, the King of Gods who rules over this entire planet. I speak of the King of the Twelve Olympians, Zeus.” “Zeus?” “I am not surprised that name is unknown to you, but you need not worry about such finer details. Only know that your deaths and the conquest of this nation are done by his will. And if Zeus wills it, it must be done. For what is a King to a God?” Alek gritted his teeth, he now knew that there was no turning back. More than likely he was going to die here. But if he was to sacrifice himself, he would take as many with him as he can. “Alright then, if there can no diplomatic resolution to this, then the only thing left to do it-” Alek drew his spear and pointed it at Odysseus. “CHARGE!!” Alek sprinted with the entire platoon of guards following right behind him. Yes, this was going to amount to them just throwing away their lives just to save the lives of others. But they knew that from the start, they were soldiers after all. Odysseus did not move a muscle, nor did his men attempt to attack or charge as well with the incoming approach of Zerba guards. It was only when they were halfway there that Odysseus jumped into the air, and delivered an energy-charged kick right into the center of the platoon, sending guards flying in every direction. Not even giving them a second to recover, the servant activated his built-in laser guns and started blasting. Rows upon rows of guards were mowed down in an instant as the superior existence known as a servant demonstrated his power. He shot blinding lasers that sliced people in two. Whenever someone got close enough to try and impale him, he would respond with a mana-powered punch that turned them into a stain on the floor. Sure, there were some who were able to get a lucky shot or stab at the guy, but since his armor was forged by Athena, he was invulnerable. They were all just lambs to slaughter in the worst sense. Several Pokemon who were among their numbers attacked him with moves of Fire, Electric, and Dragon, but so long as the Aegis protected him, no harm would come to the man spoken of in the Odyssey. Eventually, there was no one left standing, everyone was either dead or dying. Commander Alek, who had 2 broken legs from the initial impact, tried to get up. But his shattered limbs failed him. All he could do is roll over and look up as the enemy Commander stared down at him. For Alek, this was the worst outcome imaginable for him. He and all of his guards would die without taking the life of a single enemy. The enemy commander, on his own, had managed to single-handedly kill their entire platoon. “What are you?” It was the only question he could formulate at the time. The way this man had fought showed that he was no ordinary being. He recalled how he had said they were blessed by gods, by a group of a divine beings who called themselves the Twelve Olympians. Is this what the power of a god can do to a person?” He knew that King Trot and Commander Sev had destroyed the Death God known as Ragnoros. But that monster was just a single being, if there were others like this man, who would they ever stand a chance against them? “Who are you?” He asked. Odysseus, despite looking down on him, in both a literal and metaphorical sense, had to give him some respect for having the courage to stand up and face him. So he felt obliged to answer his dying question. “I am Odysseus, I am a servant of the Gods of Olympus, of the Great God Zeus. And just like we have conquered this city of yours. So shall the rest of this nation fall. The Rider Class servant raised his foot. “I now condemn you to Hades.” He brought it down on Alek’s face, and the Zerba knew no more. The group that consisted of Team Seaspray, Rum, and Barb ran as fast as they could. It was a long walk. “Alright, guys we’re almost there,” Tops said However, as soon as they got over the last hill separating them from the town, they saw a figure running toward them. “Hey look someone coming,” Barb said. As they got closer, they saw that it was just a border guard. “What's he doing out here?” “Perhaps he’s looking for us?” Once the guard caught up with them, he was about out of breath and look pale. “Oh thank god, I found you guys.” “Easy trooper,” Tops said. “Did something happen?” “Yes, the worse thing has just happened! The city has been taken!” Everyones faces just dropped. “What!? How!?” Rum said. “The entire 4th platoon led by Commander Alek, they were all wiped out!” Rum could not believe what he was hearing, the entire platoon, just gone!?” “How is this possible? We couldn’t have been gone for 10 minutes!” “But that's the thing, the enemy human Commander! He was a monster, he singlehandedly took out the entire platoon by himself!” The group, particularly the Pokemon, were in more disbelief to hear that bit of info. “A single human killed all those Zebra!?” Sharp said. “I saw it with my own eyes! He was using these laser beam attacks and just slaughter them all. I only managed to get away when his initial attack sent me flying into the window of a building.” The entire group was silent as they tried to process this information. Thankfully, Captain Tops was better at it. “What about everyone at the base?” “If they’re smart, they should have evacuated by now.” “And the civilians.” “I’m pretty sure most of them got out. But right now we can’t do a headcount.” “Alright then.” Tops then turned around and looked at his team. “Okay boys, standard protocol says we need to rendezvous with the rest of the guards that hopefully escaped, after which we need to meet up with the feeling civilians and escort them safely to the nearest city. The Capital should be aware that the city has fallen pretty soon. So hopefully they send someone to assist us. But for now, we need to get out of here.” There were no words, just nods from everyone. Then they started to make their way east, to their destination point. Rum stopped and turned around one last time to look at Tortuga, which was not being set ablaze. He was ready to die defending this place. He would have gladly done so. But it seems fate, was not done with him yet. The border guard then turned around and caught up with the group. Walking into an uncertain future, for them and Zebrica as a whole.