Chương 70: Episode 15: Why, Alternates?

Dr. Madman slowly raised a trembling finger toward the largest containment chamber in the laboratory, the entire room seeming to lean around it. A towering cylinder of reinforced glass stood at the center of the lab, wrapped in massive coils of pulsating steel that throbbed with neon-green energy. Thick smoke churned inside the tank, swirling through bubbling bioluminescent fluid that glowed like a cursed brew. The machine hissed and groaned with pressure, every metallic creak echoing through the chamber.

Compared to the other containment tubes housing CyberBots, this one was monumental. Unlike the rest, it held a living creature rather than a droid.

"Behold," Madman whispered, his voice shaking with pride and manic excitement as a crooked grin spread across his face.

"Say hello to Don Black." Dironyx's glowing w eyes narrowed. He stepped forward slowly, his shadow stretching across the reflective steel floor as sparks crackled overhead. The deeper he walked into the chamber's glow, the clearer the figure inside became. Motionless and suspended in stasis, Don Black floated as emerald bubbles drifted around him like ghostly fireflies. His eyes remained shut, yet there was a dangerous restraint to the stillness surrounding him.

His spiky black hair floated weightlessly in the fluid, untouched by the current, while a shredded black martial arts gi clung to his body. The torn fabric swayed gently in the liquid alongside knee-ripped pants that exposed scars and hardened skin beneath. Thick silver chains wrapped tightly around his waist like heavy restraints. A massive chain hung around his neck, glowing faintly beneath the green light, and more bound his wrists like heavy cuffs strained to their limits.

Behind him drooped a pair of tattered black dragon wings, their jagged edges floating through the fluid like ripped banners from a battlefield. A long, barbed tail drifted behind him, twitching every few seconds with suppressed power. Dark brown skin, almost identical to Don's, was marked with sharp black energy veins pulsing beneath the surface like lightning trapped under flesh. At the bottom of the tank, his feet ended in obsidian talons locked in place by heavy ankle chains.

Dironyx tilted his head slightly, staring at the creature inside the chamber.

"So this is him?" he muttered, his voice layered with curiosity and genuine admiration.

"Your secret weapon. Don Black." Dr. Madman slapped a bony hand onto Dironyx's shoulder.

"Oh, he goes by many names," Madman chuckled darkly.

"Project 641-B in the lab, Rai Kai when I train him. But when the real work begins, when he is leading my CyberBots and commanding drones like a general forged in shadow, I call him simply Rai." Dironyx smirked faintly and stepped back, taking in the full image of the chained monster suspended before him.

"So the CyberBots were not just for destruction," he said as realization set in.

"You used them to train him in combat, leadership, and tactics. You have been building a one-man apocalypse." Madman froze for half a second before a scream exploded out of him. He threw his arms into the air so violently his lab coat whipped behind him like a cape.

"YES! FINALLY! SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS!" Without warning, the ground beneath him split apart with a deafening mechanical hiss. Massive cybernetic staircases erupted upward from the floor, unfolding piece by piece in colossal metallic clanks as gears rotated and pistons slammed into place. Madman rose upward as the staircase assembled beneath his feet, ascending dramatically like a lunatic prophet.

He marched up the steps with theatrical swagger and spun halfway up, stretching his arms wide as if conducting an opera of chaos.

"DON BLACK!" he roared as the lab lights flickered.

"YOU WILL STOP THE PRISONERS FROM ESCAPING!" The containment tube hissed, and one of Don Black's eyes snapped open. Black energy ignited within it instantly, burning through the green fluid like volatile lightning as the liquid around him sizzled violently.

"On it, Madman," he growled, his voice distorted, metallic, and unmistakably human. The fluid began to boil as chains rattled violently against the glass. Warning alarms blared throughout the lab, flooding the chamber with red emergency lights as the room shook violently beneath the mounting pressure. The containment glass groaned under the force of something inside pushing outward, fractures spreading rapidly across the surface.

The entire containment tube exploded in a violent storm of smoke, shattered glass, and glowing green liquid as steel restraints snapped apart like brittle twigs. Emerald mist rolled across the floor in thick waves as a massive silhouette stepped forward through the wreckage. Don Black emerged slowly from the destruction, fluid dripping from his body as broken chains dragged behind him with every step.

His enormous wings stretched outward like a demon stepping onto a stage, and his single glowing eye scanned the room with cold, predatory focus. He exhaled once, steam pouring from his mouth like a furnace venting pressure, before flexing his hand to dent the metal floor beneath his palm.

"They will never escape," he said quietly, his voice colder than steel.

"Because I am awake now." He snapped his neck once and vanished into the shadows, disappearing with a burst of speed so fast the room itself seemed to lag behind him.

We made our way across the desert, moving through a stretch scattered with long sticks and spindly branches jutting from the earth like brittle bones struggling to rise from the dead. Night draped over the Earth from above, with stars flashing and the moon radiating down on us. As both of us walked past tons of skinny sticks on the ground, I stopped and leaned against one large branch, then dropped myself to the ground, letting my axe fall beside me.

I smeared my hands with blood, then let out a rough groan—before gradually looking up into the starry sky, my eyes low and heavy as I stared. Eddy waddled in front, scowling.

"Why didn't you just call that red glowing guy?" I looked down at him, exhaling.

"Eddy, I just wanted to do this on my own. I didn't need help."

"He's a Zenith. He has a higher chance of beating Dominator than you ever could! You're lucky he came anyway!"

"That is peak Lunaranite strength right there," I said, cutting him off.

"We don't know if he could match up against a Zenith, but he would at least stay alive the longest against one… He's just too powerful."

"So why'd you take him on?" Eddy asked. I let the wind rush by as dust particles drifted past us, and I turned to him at a leisurely pace, blood glistening as sweat dripped down my face. I adjusted my position as I looked up at the sky.

"Because… isn't that how we grow?" Eddy froze, slowly raising an eyebrow as he took a few steps back and sat down.

"What do you mean?"

"I wanted to become independent. I wanted to prove that I was strong… Eddy, I'm not an outsider."

"I know that, Olsen," he said.

"You fought in the Great War of Celestia—we already know that you aren't an outsider!"

"WELL THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY THINK!" I shouted, snapping as I jolted up from the ground, looking down at Eddy.

"THE EARTHNITES DON'T THINK THAT I'M A PART OF THEM!" I roared, my voice echoing throughout the thousands of stuck branches on the ground.

"THEY THINK THAT I'M JUST SOMEONE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. THEY THINK THAT I'M NOT ONE OF THEM!" Eddy was shocked, eyes wide. He got up and took a few more steps back as his face darkened into fear. Watching me lash out at him felt like betrayal after everything since we first met. T-Ex, from behind, softly growled as he slowly turned around, sitting on the ground and trying to sleep. I quickly snapped out of it, blinking as hard as I could while facing Eddy.

"Sorry…" I whispered.

"I just wanted to prove that I could become an Earthnite warrior just like them… to prove that I am not like anybody else but them!"

"Do you have to, though?" Eddy said, holding onto his horns as he slowly looked up at me. The two moons floated between us while the clouds faded away into the darkness of the night sky, and I looked down at Eddy with a mix of guilt and confusion. I turned to pick up my axe, then turned back around and sat against the large branch. I held my axe tight as I looked down, thinking about his question. Then I slowly looked up at him, and his gaze locked onto mine. I looked back down at the axe, still thinking.

"I…" I flinched, then thought about it again. Do I want to become a real Earthnite and take everything seriously as they do? Is stoicism really the answer here? What would an Earthnite do that I wouldn't? I slowly stood up, gripping my axe as tightly as I could—then looked down at Eddy with lowered eyes.

"I don't know… but maybe that's a decision I get to make in the future." I sat back down, then set the axe beside me as I curled up, covering myself with my Rockslide Ankylosaurus tail, yawning loudly. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Go to bed, Eddy. We've got a day ahead of us…" Who said I could sleep? Because I know damn well that I couldn't sleep at all. The ground below me felt hard, crumbling as if it were unstable beneath my weight. It was made of deep gray stone, dust crawling over it and drifting through the air. Around me was nothing but pure darkness—every step I took, I couldn't see anything beyond it. The nightmare was completely shrouded, the only thing visible being the stone floor beneath my feet.

Each step I took echoed, reverberating through the endless void. I turned around, whispering, "This is a nightmare… I know that someone is here…" And how do I know this? That vision I had back when I was riding the taxi with Teo to Insane Middle School—the vision of that Zenith… Dironyx. Was Dironyx giving me a dream like this? Was this intentional, or did it come out of nowhere? I started walking through the void, my footsteps echoing with each step.

I looked around as I moved quickly, my eyes darting in every direction, staying alert to everything around me.

"You're the one to make the choice…" a voice whispered. I snapped around—nothing. Just another pathway of pitch black. Then it hit me. Pathways. Why were there dark pathways in my dream? There were at least two of them, on both sides. They looked like empty tunnels—hollow, carved from stone, completely flooded with darkness. I slowly straightened up, fists clenched as I swallowed.

"Dironyx… you really enjoy messing with me, right?"

"Who said that I was Dironyx?" the voice replied, whispering into my ear like wind.

"I'm just a voice in your head… a voice from your dreams…"

"I've seen you in one of my visions—don't start with me," I muttered, serious.

"You might be powerful… but who said I couldn't face you on my own?"

"Will you ever get the chance?" the voice shot back.

"Will you ever get the chance to face me one-on-one? Because I bet that once you do, there will only be one person on the ground in less than two seconds." It sighed calmly as it circled around me.

"But I respect your bravery… I respect your confidence. But you're running out of time. A few more weeks left, and the Empire will arrive." I chuckled, a mocking smile forming.

"Screw your Empire…" I turned toward one of the tunnels and walked into it without any sense of direction—like I didn't care where it led. And that was true. I just wanted to get out of this dream. Wake up. Be done with it. But as soon as I started getting closer, I heard Eddy's voice screaming from somewhere beyond me:"OLSEN, WAKE UP! OLSEN—UP—NOW!!!" I turned around as the void began to crumble—shattering, tearing apart as white fractures split across the sky and the stone ground. Then everything broke at once.

I snapped my eyes open, back in the desert, shooting up off the ground—almost tripping before catching myself. I stood straight, looking down at Eddy while it was still dark outside.

"Dude, what are you—" He pointed forward with gritted teeth, looking freaked out. I looked ahead, and my eyes couldn't bear the sight of what was standing in front of us. Eddy had the perfect instinct to run away and find somewhere to hide. T-Ex stalked forward, slamming both claws together as he bent his knees. His tail whipped back, jaws cracking open. Ready to kick ass with me, I guess that's his whole gig. Azure stood in the center, Ironz beside him, twirling his mace.

King had magnetic electricity crawling over his body, and Rusty was warming up for the fight.

"Any chance you know anything about Xion?" Azure asked, stepping forward.

"This universe calls him 'Dark Don.'""Dark Don? The guy's gone, out of this world," I said.

"He's not on this planet, so you've been searching in the wrong place this whole time." He bent his knees and spread his fiery blue wings.

"I don't want to think of us wasting our time on this planet for no good reason." Azure flames flickered in his eyes as his blue hair rose up and ignited.

"Give us a good reason." RUMBLE. The land beneath him surged upward, a wave of earth slicing into the sky streaked with azure. I flipped backward as pillars erupted beneath me, one after another, until I landed on the highest one, arms crossed. I glanced down. They were already spreading out below. I stepped off. Dropped straight down. Wind tore past me. At the last second, I spread my arms wide. SPLIT! The ground beneath me cracked open in a straight line, splitting to both sides.

Walls of earth surged up beside me. Then, BOOM!! I slammed into the center. The impact blasted the ground outward, huge slabs of rock erupting in every direction as I thrust both hands forward. RATATAT! Jagged chunks of earth shot forward like bullets, tearing across the battlefield. T-Ex roared and charged, tail lashing behind him, claws tearing furrows into the dirt as he ran. King moved. ZZZRT! Magnetic electricity flared around him as he sprinted straight at me, plowing through the incoming rocks. KRAK! KRAK!

KRAK! Shattering them with his body as he pushed forward. T-Ex cut across his path and slammed a claw down where King had been a half-second earlier, gouging a crater into the ground.

"… tch." I clenched my fist and launched upward. A wall of earth shot up directly in front of King. He slammed into it. THOOM! The force rebounded. BOOM! Throwing him backward through the air, straight into T-Ex's waiting jaws. CHOMP! T-Ex's teeth clamped down on King's shoulder plating and flung him sideways like a ragdoll. I dragged both arms forward. The ground in front of me surged like a rising tide. Then I clenched. WHOOOM!

Green energy burst from my fists as the entire section of land lifted and slammed forward like a wave, crashing toward the Illegals ahead of me. I pivoted right and fired. THWIP! Azure ducked under it. I fired again. He sidestepped, fast, too clean.

"…!" He twisted past my flank, flipping around my side. WHAM! His kick slammed into my arm, knocking it aside. I snapped back with a punch, but he slipped under it. Gone from my front. Behind me.

"—!" BOOM!! Azure flame erupted point-blank, launching me straight up.

"Ghh!" I twisted mid-air. He was already above me. Spinning. A blazing blue axe kick dropped. CRAAASH!! Driving me straight down into the ground. Rock exploded upward. I hit, rolled, and forced myself up instantly. T-Ex slammed down beside me and roared straight into Azure's face, the sound alone rattling loose stone off the ground. Azure recoiled, wings flaring to shield himself. I turned. Azure had just landed in front of us.

I twisted past his incoming strike, snapped a chunk of rock upward, and flicked it straight into his face. THK! His head jerked back. I stepped in and backhanded him across the jaw. WHAM!! Sending him flying across the battlefield, straight into T-Ex's tail, which caught him mid-air and slung him even farther. I raised both fists. My hammer spun into orbit around me. WHRRR. Green energy flared outward. The Illegals rushed in from multiple directions.

Azure skidded across the ground behind them, then flipped back to his feet.

"…good. Come on." I grinned and charged forward. T-Ex charged with me, stomping the ground hard enough to buckle it, tail carving a wide arc through anyone dumb enough to get close. King blinked in at my left. ZZT! I swung. He vanished again.

"…stop running." Rusty came in from the front, two rapid kicks. WHIP! WHIP! I leaned back, dodged the first, shifted past the second. Spun. The hammer slammed into her thigh. CRACK! She staggered. I rotated around her and brought the hammer down on her head. THOOM! She dropped. Behind me, Darn lunged with his trident. I flipped backward over the strike. Landed. A blood blast shot toward my side. I stepped out of its path.

"… too slow." Then spun back in. SLASH! My axe tore across his chest. Blood sprayed. His arms morphed, stretching into long, whipping strands. They lashed toward me. Left. Right. WHIP! WHIP! I ducked the first, leaned past the second. Flipped back and drove the ground upward beneath him. THUNK! A spike caught his chin. Then another. THUNK! He bounced into the air. T-Ex snapped him out of the sky mid-bounce, jaws clamping around his stretched-out arm and slamming him straight into the dirt. The ground surged again.

WHAM! Launching him away. I turned right. Metal shrieked through the air. Liquid streams of steel shot toward me, hardening mid-flight into spears. SHRING! I brought up my axe. Swung. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Each spear shattered on impact. I walked forward. Ironz kept firing from a distance. I spun. Raised a wall of earth between us. RUMBLE! Then vaulted over it, grabbed the top, and ripped it free, forming a massive slab.

"Try this!" I hurled it at Ironz. He punched straight through it. BOOM! Fragments exploded outward. I snapped my fingers. SNAP. Energy warped. The ground split again beneath him. I shifted left just as he rushed in, fire trailing behind him. I weaved his approach.

"…not enough." He slipped past me and drove an uppercut into my gut. BOOM!! Blue energy exploded.

"AGH!" I was launched skyward. He followed. A side kick snapped into my face, fire trailing. WHAM! Sending me even higher.

"… damn it." I let my weapons drop. Focused. Hands moving fast, pulling fragments of rock from the air itself. Wind spiraled inward. WHOOO. Then I fired. TKTKTKTK! Dozens, hundreds of tiny rock bullets shot downward, piercing through the air, raining across the battlefield. They struck. TATATAT! Rapid impacts everywhere. The ground shattered under the barrage. Below, T-Ex weathered the falling debris without flinching, using the cover to close in on Rusty and pin her down with one massive claw.

Then heat surged below.

"…wait." Fire gathered. Spinning. Growing. Then, BOOOOOOM!!! A massive blue explosion erupted upward, catching me mid-air, spinning me out of control. I crashed through branches. CRACK! SNAP! SNAP! Flames streaked between them, closing in from every direction.

"…too many." They converged, all at once. IMPACT!! A massive eruption engulfed me. Light consumed everything. Ironz dropped through the flames and hammered his mace across my face. CRRRRAAACK! Blood sprayed inside my mouth. He spun again. WHOOSH. I threw up my axe. CLANG! Sparks screamed off steel. BANG! His helmet cracked against mine. Stars burst behind my eyes, blood pouring from my nose. His gauntlet clamped around my skull, iron fingers crushing.

"IRONZ CONTINUE TO PUNISH AND ENSLAVE!" He slammed me into the ground. THROOOOM! The earth cratered, fissures splitting outward like lightning veins. He ripped me up and hurled me across the battlefield. I tumbled end over end through dust and grit. But rage anchored me. I caught myself, palm scraping fire across the ground. Rock hardened up my arms into brutal stone fists.

"PUNISHING AND ENSLAVING ARE GONNA BECOME REGRETS, SOON!" My axe tore into his chestplate. CRUUUUUNK! He bellowed, spit flying, "ARGHHHHH!" I spun, backhanding him across the face. CLANK! Behind him, T-Ex slammed into the fray with a roar that shook dust off the nearby rocks, stomping down on a chunk of rubble Darn was hiding behind and sending him skidding into the open.

"THEY NEVER DESERVED THAT!" Azure charged, fists blazing blue flames. I collided with him, detonating a fireball that shook the land. Darn tried to sneak up behind me, but T-Ex's tail whipped around and swatted him clean off his feet before he got close. I swung, spun, and sent Rusty into the air. T-Ex leapt after her, jaws snapping shut around empty air as she barely twisted out of reach, forced to scramble away instead of pressing the attack. I stood, battered but unbroken.

"BRING IT ON!" Ironz roared, slamming a fist into my face. I ducked, twisted, and yelled, "SPIKY GROUND!" Green energy erupted, jagged spikes hurling him across the battlefield. The Illegals closed in, forming a circle. T-Ex planted himself at my back, tail sweeping low to keep anyone from flanking, a low growl building in his throat. I raised my arms. Rock rose beneath me, lifting me high. The earth shifted, twisted, alive. I slammed Azure into the ground, the terrain swallowing him, dragging him into the sand.

T-Ex chomped down on King's leg the second he tried to blink in close, dragging him down out of the air before he could reset.

"RELEASE!" I roared, hurling my energy forward. BOOOOM! The shockwave scattered them. Silence fell. I stood atop the jagged hill, breathing hard. T-Ex stomped through the clearing fog behind me, tail flicking lazily now that the fight had gone quiet, and Eddy jogged up with a grin like it was nothing.

"Kid! That was INSANE! You leveled the whole land!" Hmph. First time he's ever said something like that. He climbed onto my back. I vaulted onto T-Ex, and together we looked out. The battlefield? A mountaintop. Below stretched a frozen expanse—snow-laden peaks, frozen rivers, ice cliffs glimmering in golden light. Air cold, still, and clean. Another world. Snow sparkled below like stardust. Eddy muttered, wide-eyed: "Woah… what a huge pile of frozen beauty…." I raised my axe toward the horizon, grinning.

"Ickeris. Our next adventure. Let's see what it brings."