"Dark energy mass at 50% charge. Estimated activation time...20 minutes." This was the sound that greeted us when we arrived through the portal. We quickly rolled behind a desk that had been flipped over as Nelson deactivated the portal behind us. I peeked above our improvised cover. I saw the machine we came to destroy. My eyes widened as I looked at the base of the machine. A giant, scary, pitch black snake with red eyes was coiled around the base. I quickly went back behind cover. "Snakes...It had to be snakes..."I said.<lol. Indiana Jones reference.>
"That's a pretty big snake." Said Alex.
"Nooooooo...REALLY Alex?! I couldn't tell!" Emanuel said while still keeping his voice down.
"I like turtles." Nelson said as if it was relative.
"Good for you dipshit. I say we punch that thing in the face." Matthew said determinedly.
"If you wanna die so badly I can have that arranged." Taylor said.
"Guys...is that who I think it is?" I said. I pointed at the desk across from us.
Taylor gasped. And with good reason too. There was Daniel. He was over top of a body which I instantly recognized as Cogitari. He looked up at us and his eyes widened. He gestured us to come over to his cover. We did so swiftly yet carefully. "Dan! Oh my gods I'm so glad to see you!" I whispered. He nodded. "Nice suits." He said.
"Hey well, it's no tuxedo but it'll do." I smiled. But my smile faded when I saw Daniel was crying as his gaze was locked on Cogitari. "His last words were...'At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.'...then he was gone..." Daniel wiped away his tears. "I'm going to kill them...no...I'm going to slaughter them...I'll make them wish that they had never killed my grandfather. I'll do more...I'll make them wish they had never existed! I'll make them pay!" He looked up at me. Hold off Basilisk the fear serpent. And do not meet it's gaze. Or else you shall see your greatest fears plague the world before you." He flicked his hand. A golden scythe materialized in his hand. "I'm going to destroy that machine..." I blinked in disbelief. Was this even the same nerdy librarian dude I met before? Realizing that he was too determined for me to convince him to just stay under cover, I nodded. "Will do pal." I turned towards the others. "You heard the nerd! Let's do this thing!" I jumped from out of the cover, sword in hand.
"Did he seriously just say 'you heard the nerd'?" Emanuel said.
"Yes he did." Matthew said. I detected many eye rolls behind me. I charged at Basilisk and the others followed my lead. We let out a collective battle cry. Basilisk looked up at us from what he was doing, which was eating books. It did not seem very happy to be interrupted, as it must have been enjoying its snack. "You shall not destroy those books you stupid--" I paused when Basilisk straightened up. He was bigger than I had first thought. "...I mean...um...feel free to eat as many books as you want you...really nice, scary death snake..." Basilisk let out a hiss. He slithered quickly towards us, bearing his fangs. His mouth dripped with purple slime. At first it appeared to be liquid but then it looked more like a gas. It almost looked like it couldn't decide what it was. Everyone else jumped out of the way. I dropped my sword and stood in a fighting stance, with my fists ready. Basilisk came closer. "Charging temporal punch" said the suit's AI. Basilisk prepared to ram me. He was now right in front of me. "Active." Said the AI. I quickly held out my fist and punched the stupid snake in the face.<ONE PUNCH!!!>Matthew was very much proud of me for doing this. The gaps in between the snake's scales glowed light blue in a sort of shockwave effect once my fist made contact. Basilisk's tail made contact with his head as the rest of his long body caught up with him. He let out a wail of pain. Daniel took advantage of the opportunity to run for the machine. I picked my sword up and faced back towards the disoriented snake. "You messed with the wrong group of teenagers bud." I said to the snake as I began walking towards it. Taylor was shooting vines over Basilisk in order to keep him restrained. Emanuel covered its mouth with a muzzle made out of rock. Alex and Matthew were standing by, ready to attack if it managed to escape. I flew up onto his head and readied my sword to pierce the top of it's head. "Now die." I drove my sword downwards. But before it made contact I was struck rather violently. I hit the snakes head hard on my back. A familiar laugh came from where I was just standing. It was cold and metallic. "Well well well! Look what we have here!" The figure bent down over my head. I was now face to face with Blackout. "A boy and his friends trying to play hero."
