Dextreme Adventures: Enriched Chaos

Chapter 3: Unum quod coniungit

The trio went further down the cave, hoping to get to the end before their enemy can. Visvio was slightly distracted, playing a game on his own screen. Gadget noticed something heading towards them. "HEY WAIT!" Gadget yelled out as he grabbed Visvio's collar, pulling him back. It was the right move as a giant pendulum scythe swung from side to side. If Gadget didn't stop Visvio, he would have been cut in half. "Woah, thanks!" Visvio said, somehow not being scared of the giant scythe. James looked onward, seeing a barrage of traps and other strange items. "Guess this is one of those traps that guy told us about" He spoke. "So what can we do?" Visvio asked. Gadget looked ahead; he noticed a lever was at the end of the path. "Wait... you see that? If one of us can get to that, maybe it'll stop the traps?" He asked. James shrugged as he said, "Possibly, what else could a random lever do in this context." Gadget nodded as he looked ahead, moving into a position. He put himself into a crouched stance that was similar to a sprinter's starting position in a race, with the addition of one foot being slightly forward and his body coiled up. James and Visvio looked at the wolf's prepared stance before Gadget suddenly dashed at full speed. "GADGET WAIT!" James yelled out. Gadget, however, kept his speed. He dodged various scythes without much issue, bending backwards to dodge a faster one that nearly hit his glasses. James decided to join in, using his robotic arm to catch up in terms of speed while Visvio did the same. The three noticed a large part of the ceiling was falling downwards, containing spikes. James dashed faster and set his pistol to "Jet mode" pointing it upwards as the force of the blast brought it back up. Gadget continued onward, noticing a wooden wall attempting to seal the path. He then used his wispon to grab one of the pendulum scythes, ripping it out and tossing it towards the large wooden wall before it could close. But as he started running, he noticed there was a huge pit, too wide to jump across. Visvio used this opportunity to blast a piece of the wall in order to fill up the pit, giving Gadget the perfect route to grab the lever, and stopping all the traps. Gadget took a moment to catch his breath. Gadget looked back at James and Visvio, giving an approving thumbs up as the other two did the same. After a bit of a long voyage, the trio wondered if they were even going the correct way. "I'm not one to doubt, but we've been walking for a while, wasn't there supposed to be more traps or something? There's no way that was it." James questioned. Gadget rubbed his chin slightly, thinking about what James said. "Honestly, I have no idea. The nice fellow we talked to made it seem as if there was more than a simple obstacle cou-" Before Gadget could finish, he noticed something ahead, destruction. It was remains of what seemed to be the next part of their test. Various soldiers with blunt weapons such as bats and staffs while wearing defensive armor were found all dead or at least extremely injured. Gadget ran over towards one that was hanging on to consciousness. "What happened?" The wolf asked. The soldier coughed, and only uttered one word. "S..Sephran..." After finishing, the soldier died. Gadget looked horrified. Visvio was shocked, but then had a look of confusion. "Sephran? I've never heard that name before..." He said with a solemn tone as he looked at the carnage. James was about to speak, but something caught his eye. A strange glow behind a toppled bookshelf, almost as if the blockade was placed at the last second before it all happened. James walked towards it, lightly trailing his finger across the shelf, before grabbing it with his prosthetic arm, and throwing it aside. This sudden action shocked Gadget and Visvio. That's when James saw it, a shiny bottle, up on the highest point of the cave. Gadget only saw it for a brief moment, and he knew this was the prize at the end of it all. He slowly climbed up the stairs, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest. After making it up, he held the bottle in his hand, popping the cork out and seeing the inside. It contained a liquid that looked as if a galaxy was morphed into a drinkable substance. He looked nervous but shook his head and chugged the drink down. After he was done, he wiped what stuck to his face off with his hand. For a moment, nothing happened. Until a strange aura surrounded him. A light shockwave erupted from his body, James and Visvio bracing themselves to stay upright. Gadget fell to his knees, still alive, but shaking from the immense energy he felt at that point. He opened his eyes and turned back to the two, his eyes glowing for a brief moment before going back to normal. "So... did it work? Feel uh, like a prophet or something?" James asked. Gadget looked at his hands, nothing changed how he looked. "I... guess so?" Gadget replied, feeling a bit suspicious. "Sure I feel more powerful and somewhat healthier. But nothing else." He continued. Visvio spoke up. "Well didn't the guy say your power changes depending on a battle's intensity or chaos being higher or lower?" He asked. Gadget blinked, his expression changing from uncertainty to one of realization. "Oh! Yeah now that you bring that up, that's right. But how ca-" Just then, Gadget felt something... off. Like he sensed a particular force. Before he could think, a strange figure started running at a speed faster than the naked eye, running past James and Visvio and straight to the wolf. Gadget had only a moment to quickly grab the figure's fist, just barely hitting him. However, the figure simply threw Gadget down the stairs. The wolf landed on his feet, looking up at the figure. "Damnit... too late it seems." It said, holding the empty bottle before crushing it. Gadget was confused. "Too late for what? Who are you!" He yelled out. The figure looked back, wearing a hooded cloak. James was silently thinking, wondering if it was Storm. He crossed out that possibility, Storm didn't sound like some scaly freak- wait a second... James realized, his eyes widening. "Gadget... I don't want to alarm you. But I think that's the guy we were warned about." He spoke. Gadget's face was nothing short of shocked as he put the pieces together. The figure scoffed. "Guess that hag couldn't keep their mouth shut." it said as it grabbed the cloak, throwing it to the side, and revealing itself to be the reptilian foe. Gadget then remembered the final word that soldier said. "You... You're Sephran... aren't you?" He calmly but nervously asked, sweat dripping down his head. He was face to face with the one enemy he was told to avoid. Even with the new power within the wolf... will it be enough to win?