The Forgotten

Battle Of The Forgotten

Flames fly, the floor cracks to reveal an army of dirt, and a sabertooth tiger charges Allen. He stands calmly as the wave of destruction approaches, and holds out a hand as if it can stop it. Tiger-Shiran leaps... and falls to the floor. The attacks weaken as confusion assaults my friends and I. Is Shiran asleep? Unconscious? How did he become this way? Allen makes no move to return fire.
"Did you fools really believe that I hadn't lied to you? That my power was gone?" His evil little smile never leaves his face.
"If you touch me, you die. If I touch you, you die. If you run, you'll still die." Looking around, Ultra Tech guards that seem to have come out of nowhere now block all exits. Realization hits. We're trapped, outnumbered, one of us dead ( well, two, if you count me ), and all doomed.
"You killed him." whispers Cass, suddenly quieter and smaller than she was a minute ago.
"Yes I did." nods Allen. "Do you want to be next, Cassie?" Cass shakes her head, probably not knowing what else to do. "Of course you don't. So just follow these instructions-" Suddenly, a cage door swings open. And another. And more follow. I see Rolly frantically unlocking doors, the freed kids helping, and suddenly our fallen friend is replaced by dozens more, and that number growing by the moment. Allen's evil smile disappears, fading into a panicked face.
"Guards, attack!" The U.T workers rush forward. As powerful kids meet well-equipped nerds, one thought pushes it's way through my mind:
He killed Shiran. Unintentionally, I take a step forward. Then, this time intentionally, I take another.
He killed my parents. I avoid major fights, bashing and slicing guards with shadows whenever they get in my way.
He killed all these kids' parents. Although Allen personally didn't, he helped. He didn't stop it. Slowly, I leave the battle behind. It becomes clear that others have the same idea: Rolly, Ray, Shawn, Tarna, and Cass. I'm angry, and my power thrashes like a snake. But I keep it under control. I keep Evir under control. My mission is clear: Defeat Allen. If we have to kill him to stop him... will we? For now, it doesn't matter. Allen sees our strike-force coming and a hint of his evil smile comes back.
"So this is how it's going to be? Me against all of you?"
"Not all of us." Cass says quietly, trying not to look at the motionless tiger laying nearby. Allen's grin continues to creep back.
"Here come the Peace-Squad, avenging dear old Shiran. A dead child and a madman are among their crew. A useless fighter, as well. One touch, and they're dead." Allen walks into the Torture Chamber, and we follow.
"Right then, let's begin." He runs towards Ray, almost gliding, it seems. Tarna and Rolly are closest, and form a guard. Assaulted with rocks, fire, and a sword ( the combination that killed me ), Allen is slowed. His sword is out, cutting and slicing at the speed of light. I throw a dark bolt across the room, and this catches Allen off-guard. He's tossed sideways, steadies himself, and switches course and rushes me. Cass charges across the ceiling to my defence, but Allen gets there first. His skin is equally as dangerous as his sword, so it's only logic that I try to back him up. I throw wall after wall of shadows, but Allen slowly pushes through it. Just when he's almost through my dark storm, Cass arrives. Her sword sweeps down from the ceiling and Allen screams, our first successful injury. Allen's shoulder is damaged, and he grabs it. We surround him at a distance, as he recovers.
"The battle is not won." Allen spits. Then his eyes flash black, and he disappears.
"Did we do it?" asks Rolly. Unfortunately, the question is answered by 5 kids who just walked in. With black eyes.
"You will suffer, children." they say together.
The kids charge us, and they have advantages that Allen didn't. Numbers, for one. And ranged powers! One boy shoots crackling energy, maybe plasma, one blasts water jets, and another uses a sword, probably due to a peaceful power. The fourth gives me an unwelcome reminder of Shiran as she grows claws to attack us. The last goes Cass-style and climbs up the wall and onto the ceiling. Fire, plasma, shadows and swords collide as we face the black-eyed kids. Cass and the other wall-climber go into battle on the ceiling. The water-shooting girl attacks me while the rest attack my friends. The black-eye seems to predict my every attack, though, and counters with water jets. Sprays of water blind me as water-kid pushes past my defence. Random hits come in as I stay blinded. Slices, punches, kicks, and blasts of energy hit left, right, my head, my legs. From the cries I can hear, I can tell my friends are faring no better.
"Regroup!" Tarna yells. Unfortunately, the constant water spray stops me from obeying. The constant blows have lessened, though, so I assume that my friends are stopping the other black-eyes from attacking. I think water-kid ( perhaps this should be Bob #2. Bob is a girl name too, right? ) is the one punching and kicking me. Hoping that my friends are out of the way, I swing with Mareth. I smile as, one, I realize that I'm using Allen's own gift against him ( or whoever he possessed, or whatever he did ), and two, I hear an angry, almost animal hiss and the water stops, just for a second. In this second, I see my friends fighting back-to-back, and Bob #2's position. The water starts up again, but this time blindness doesn't bother me. I confidently walk forwards and kick. I feel my attack hit something solidly, and another hiss emits from Bob #2. The water stream ends again, and this time I dash away, although sopping wet and bruised, to the good guy circle, knocking an evil-eye down on my way. The good guy circle is now complete.
"Sorry we couldn't help." Cass mutters.
"That's fine." I reply. "You had you're own problems." We duck as a plasma bolt flies over our heads. The chit-chat ends as the black-eyes attack once more. I notice that our opponents have one less member, though. The swordman is down! With the odds leaning in our favor, 6 v 4, Rolly and I attack Bob #2. Every water blast is blocked, and soon we knock her out as well. With victory slipping away from them, the remaining black-eyes regroup.
"You cannot defend yourselves from us forever." they threaten together. After this, they run into the Cell Rooms again. Once again without an opponent, we regroup and have a huddled conversation.
"They were right; we can't keep this up much longer." Rolly says.
"Yeah, we've got to leave." Cass agrees.
"Let's retreat outside with the other escaped kids." says Tarna. So we all go into the Cell Rooms, into the Entrance/Exit, and gather at the door. Curiosity encourages me to investigate the only room that we know nothing about, and I walk over to the door. I jump back, though, as claws swipe the space where I just was.
"The black-eyes are in there!" I inform my group. We stick to the original plan, deciding not to mess with those kids again. Outside, we find absolute warfare. Technology meets supernatural abilities, and the battle is horribly spectacular. Unfortunately, our numbers are lessening as kids see their chance to run away and take it. After a minute or two, it becomes obvious that escape is the plan, not fighting. Only a few kids are left fighting, and I grab one's arm.
"Hey, we can't win this battle. We have to run now." The boy turns around, and in this moment I notice that he looks a bit like me.
"Okay." He follows me as we dash away from Ultra Tech's army of workers. We run, and random energy blasts follow us. I'm tackled to the ground and panic before realizing it's only the kid that I saved, now saving me from a blast.
"Thanks." I say, and then we continue running. We hurl flames, rocks and shadows to slow our pursuers, and after a few minutes they become angry shapes on the horizon. A large force is heading in the direction of The Hideout, cancelling our best option. Finally, we take cover under a large tree. Depression falls on all of us like rain.
"We failed." says Tarna, settling down to lean against the trunk. And it's true. We freed about half the kids at U.T, but they're now homeless and lost. We ourselves are homeless and lost. We now amount to 6- oh yeah, the kid that followed us!
"What's your name?" I ask, obviously out of curiosity, but also to help lighten the mood.
"I... I don't know." We stare at him for a moment.
"You don't know?" asks Cass in disbelief.
"No. I was taken to Ultra Tech when I was 9, which was almost 4 years ago. I knew my name, but then... I forgot. They made me forget. Machines, and wires, and..." the boy shivers. "And I forgot." I feel bad. We were taken around the same time, since he says it was almost 4 years ago. I thought that I had it bad, but at least I had a name. I can't imagine being at U.T, not knowing who you are. And what will we call him?
"Is that the only thing they made you forget?" asks Tarna.
"No. They made me forget a lot about my parents, but they do that to everyone." It's true. In your first week there, you forget everything about your parents, other than they're dead.
"But they made me forgot more." continues the boy. "Where I came from, if I liked it there, and what my power was."
"You don't know what your power is?" asks Rolly, alarmed.
"I do now. I can shoot lightning." The ghost of a smile creeps onto his face. "When I went to attack the Ultra Tech guys, I felt it inside of me. I remembered." the boy explains. "Thanks for that. I like remembering." We rest under the tree, each of us thinking our own thoughts. As for me, I just know that one of my friends was a traitor, one of them is dead. Shawn is sick, and the only thing keeping me alive is a small metal box. Our new teammate doesn't know his own name. We'll need a plan sometime, but for now, all we can think about is defeat. We are defeated, tattered and bruised. We can run, but to where? How long before we starve? I know with all my heart one thing. One thing that I've known all my life, but refused to acknowledge. Facing the fact now will get it off my chest. I know, and always have known, this; We are the forgotten.