Panthora Warriors

Chapter 13: Hunted

I was down in the workshop inside the den working on a new project that I knew the Others would love. The next day I called the guys to meet me outside the den. "Guys, I've got a new tech power up you are going to love!", they looked at me in confusion as Leo was the one to speak. "Dude, you've got a serious habit of making things without telling us!" "I know, but this one is different. I've been thinking that we can't always transform into warrior form at the sign of danger, especially in public or when we go back to school! So I created these powered mechs that grant the user special abilities and we can activate using a specific command, I call it 'Project Bionic'." At this point the guys were looking a bit more interested but still had a few questions in mind, Reece was first to ask. "What kind of abilities?" "Allow me to explain, Leo, the jaguar mech gives you extreme agility. Blake, your cheetah mech will allow you to increase your speed to any amount." "Like my racer suit?" "Exactly, except you won't need to transform to use it. Shaun, your falcon mech will give you perfect aerial maneuverability. And Reece, your wolf mech will give you enhanced abilities, including speed, agility, strength and power!" "And what about you man, what does your mech give you?" "My panther mech gives the ability of stealth, invisibility and quietens my body movement, therefore making it harder for the enemy to see or hear me!" Then Blake stepped in. "Just one question, how do we activate them?" "To activate your mechs you have to say the command 'Go Bionic'." After that was said I asked the guys if they wanted to go to the arcade tomorrow, but they all had plans. Leo had built his own assault course and was determined to try it out, Blake had found an abandoned race track and had renovated it to beat his own speed record, Shaun was doing target practice and Reece was working on his jeep. So I decided to come back to the den and work on my own stuff.

In his cave Scorpius was plotting a new plan, he opened up some sort of spell book and began chanting a spell. In front of him a portal appeared and five humanoid creatures walked through. They turned to face Scorpius as he inspected each of them. He then stood back and explained what he had intended for them. "According to legend the five of you are the most successful hunters in your dimension!". Then one of them stood forward, a creature with grey skin, covered in cuts and scars and equipped with all kinds of traps and snares. "It is true, we are so successful that we have hunted every species in our dimension including our own to extinction!" "Why?" Another one stepped forward only this was a vibrant yellow with black markings and had feet similar to a raptors. "Because we don't hunt for survival, we hunt for FUN!" Scorpius then looked at the hunters with triumph. "Then I'll make you a deal; destroy the Panthora warriors and I will give you the ability to travel through dimensions to hunt to your hearts' desire!"

The next day me and the guys were all split up doing our activities we had planned. Leo was at his assault course, Blake was down at the track, Shaun was at the target range, Reece was at his dad's old garage working on his jeep and I was outside the den fiddling with some of the security features. At his assault course Leo was half way through when an explosive device came flying his way, knocking him off the beam he was standing on. As he picked himself up a creature made of blue, black and red scales emerged from the undergrowth. "Who the hell are you?" "I'm Dagger, master of agility and you are mine" "I don't think so, Go Bionic!" Leo's jaguar mech encased his body and he took off towards the trees. "Two can play at that game!" Then Dagger took off after him. Blake was doing his 3rd lap when something moving at high speed knocked him off his feet, he rolled and tumbled until he came to a stop. As he rose to his feet, rubbing his head in pain he came face to face with his attacker. In front of him stood a creature made of yellow and black rugged fur, grinning canine teeth, and evil green eyes. "Who are you?" "I'm Velocity, master of speed and you are my prey!" "Not happening, Go Bionic!" Blake's cheetah mech activated and he took off in the blink of an eye. "The chase is on!" Then Velocity chased after him. Shaun was at the target range taking aim with his bow when a bunch of daggers came flying his way, as he dodged out of the way a creature with metallic armour and wings swooped down. Shaun then rose to his feet and activated his mech, he then took flight as the winged hunter chased after him. Reece was working on his jeep when a small sphere shaped device rolled next to him, when he picked it up to examine the device it began to beep rapidly. He threw the device a distance from where he was standing and leaped out of the way as it exploded in mid air. As Reece rose to his feet he came face to face with a muscular reptile-like creature armed with bows, swords, axes, and other weapons. "The hell are you?" "That's for me to know and you to never find out!" The reptilian creature then withdrew a sword and charged towards Reece. "Go Bionic!" Reece activated his mech and grabbed the item closest to him. I was working on some of the security features outside the den. Just as I sensed the arrow coming it came flying my way. I moved out of the way as the arrow bounced off the den's metallic wall. As I picked it up a humanoid creature with horns and dressed like an old western outlaw stood behind me. "Nice shot!" "I was surprised by how quickly you moved away, as if you saw it coming!" "Who are you?" "All you need to know is that you're finished!" "You think so? GO Bionic!" I activated my panther mech and faded into the background. "Do you really think you can hide from me?" I answered his question with a kick to the side of the head with an answer, "No, but what I do know is that you can't hit what you can't see!" I then disappeared again and again reappearing with every attack. I telepathically told the others to lead the other hunters to the den. Dagger was the first to appear, the humanoid creature turned to him in confusion. "Dagger, what are you doing here?" "Chasing the prey!" Then Velocity came speeding in. "I thought we were taking separate targets!" Then Vortex, "What am I doing here?" And then finally Reece came by with his hunter, "Why are we all in the same area, I thought the plan was to separate them!" With all five of us standing next to each other the hunters now knew that they were now the hunted. In unison we transformed into our warrior states and each took on our hunters. Leo took off into the woods with Dagger. "Haven't you learned you can't escape me!" "You may be the master of agility but you're in my world now?" Leo then placed his hands on the ground and used the trees to thrash Dagger about before launching him out of the forest, he then landed outside the then in a pile of broken bones. Velocity raced after Blake in his racer suit. "You can't outrun me!" "I'm not trying to outrun you, I'm trying to distract you from that tree" "What tree?" He answered his own question as he ran slap bang into a giant oak tree, Blake then used this moment to weaken him even more before throwing him towards the den where he landed on top of Dagger. In the sky Shaun was battling Vortex. He shot an arrow at him as he caught it in his hand, "Nice try!" "Thanks, try catching this!" Reece entered his phoenix form and generated a giant fireball, he then launched towards Vortex. He then took the blast at full force and came crashing to the ground next to Dagger and Velocity. Meanwhile Reece and his hunter were locking swords. "You can't defeat me, you couldn't hit me if you tried!" "Then I'll stop trying!" Reece activated his Luna form and hit his hunter with an energy blast that sent him flying towards his fallen allies. While all of this was happening I was dodging each and every trap my hunter tried to use. "You can't win against us!" I put down my weapon "Look around you, you're going up against something you know nothing about!" And with that said I unleashed a shock wave that sent the hunter flying into the heap of his team. After the fight we gathered up the hunters, tied them up and sat them against the den. Once they came round we demanded some answers. "OK! Who are you guys?" The humanoid creature spoke first. "My name is Shadow, this is my team, Dagger; master of agility, Velocity; master of speed, Velocity; master of aerial combat and Savage; skilled in all forms of weaponry. We are an elite team of hunters from another dimension, we were summoned here to destroy you!" "Summoned by who?" "A creature by the name of Scorpius!" "What did he offer you?" "He said he would give us the power to travel through dimensions and hunt whatever we wanted!" Then Reece piped in "Why?" Dagger was the one to answer, "We are so elite that we have hunted every species including our own to extinction!" "Why would you do that?" "We don't hunt for survival, we hunt for sport!" I beckoned the guys over towards me. We had a brief discussion about what to do with the hunters when I had an idea. We broke away and returned to the hunters. I cut them loose before handing Shadow a key. "Take this!" "What is it?" "This is a key to a dimension with infinite species, there you will be able to hunt as much as you like, but I will only give this to you if you promise never to return here again!" "Deal!" And with that they disappeared through the portal. My friends then looked at me in disbelief "Dude what the hell, they tried to kill us and you just let them go?" "Yep" "Why?" "Because they weren't trying to kill us, Scorpius sent them to kill us, they were just following orders!" The guys just looked at me and shook their heads. After that we all went to get a pizza.