*10 years earlier*
As the projection faded and the lights in the cavern returned to normal, Zekks and Shay stood quietly. The sound of water rhythmically dripping into the pools below was all that could be heard.
Zekks looked towards the massive doorway that had appeared towards their left and slowly began to approach the altar.
"You're kidding right?" Shay asked with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "You can't seriously still want that thing after everything we just heard!"
Zekks was silent. "And why not?" he finally replied, not even turning his head to look at her. "After all, it's what we spent the past two years searching for."
"What YOU spent the past two years searching for" she corrected, the confusion in her voice quickly being replaced by anger.
"'The ability to hold influence over 'space' itself...'" Zekks recounted as he stared up at the doorway and the massive form encased within crystal just beyond it. "To move through and create realms unhindered. How could anyone say no to that?"
Despite her frustration, a pained and conflicted look appeared across Shay's face as she slowly reached for her blades. She would have to suppress everything – all their time together, all the twists and turns they'd been through – and fight him one final time. And then...
"No. No... No!" Zekks scolded as he turned and shook his finger at the massive figure - like someone reprimanding a child. "Well what do you know?" he laughed, "I guess it is pretty easy to say 'no' to it!"
Shay let out a long exasperated sigh. "Don't scare me like that Sparky!"
"What?" he teased. "You're allowed to bust my chops nonstop; but I can't do the same?"
"Yeah, cause mine are actually funny – not to mention tactful" she scoffed as a look of genuine appreciation appeared on her face. "What about your dream?"
"Eh, still want to see the universe" he shrugged. "Though honestly, I'm tired of running."
The sincerity of this admission caught Shay off guard.
"Besides, the slow route isn't that bad" he added with a wink. "– with the right company of course."
Shay rolled her eyes, but was unable to hide the accompanying smirk, "Idiot".
"Hey you finally called me something besides Sparky" he joked before his attention turned back towards the massive form and his tone got serious. "But you're right. This thing is far too dangerous for cavalier use – even for us."
"We have to make sure this never falls into the wrong hands..."
------
As Zekks began to approach - a blank expression across his face - with the talisman in hand, the old man couldn't help but burst out into laughter.
"Fate truly does have an intoxicating sense of humor" he mused. "Sometimes it's immediate, other times you have to wait a couple dozen centuries or so; but either way, you always get what's coming to you."
Though as Zekk was a few paces away from the man, he stopped in place.
"Everything alright?"
"Just... fine" Zekks stuttered, his trembling hand and clenched teeth conveying a very different emotion.
"You've certainly been through a lot haven't you?" the man began in a consoling voice. "But I promise, you'll see Shay again soon enough."
"I.... I could..."
YOU ARE READING
PokéRangers: New World
FantasíaImagine a world much like our own; but where Pokémon exist only in ancient mythology. It is here that 6 youths were chosen to wield their powers and become PokéRangers. After a ferocious battle, our heroes have found themselves in a time of unexpect...
