Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 10 - Your Host Tonight

Otharon, Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla headed off, heading down a ramp and then a flight of stairs back at the place where they had first met Otharon. Shulk was still thinking about his vision, and stopped at the top of the stairs, clenching his fists slightly. "Hurry it up, slowcoach!" Reyn complained when he noticed Shulk. "What's wrong?" Sharla asked. Shulk didn't reply and Otharon rolled his eyes, starting off again. Shulk bit his lip, thinking about his vision. There was an ether river, Otharon, and some sort of machine. And the Colonel's words… "Juju! Gadolt! This is for you!" What can it mean? Shulk thought. 'This is for you.' Is Juju already dead?! Or is he going to be killed? Is that why Otharon...He shook his head vigorously, and realized that Reyn, Sharla and Otharon had left, but he didn't really care at the moment. But then...what does that mean? If we keep moving, is Otharon really going to die? He clenched his jaw and ran down the stairs. "No!" "What's wrong, Shulk?" Reyn asked. "This battle is for my people," Otharon said angrily. "If you can't handle it, drop that weapon and head home." "That's not it!" Shulk said, suddenly at a loss for words. "I...It's just that…" "Out with it!" "Listen," Shulk pleaded. "Maybe we shouldn't just rush in head first." "What?!" Otharon roared. "We got this far," Reyn said. "I think we should observe them and plan our attack afterwards," Shulk said quickly. "You insolent…" Otharon couldn't seem to finish his insult. "We don't have that kind of time! You don't know a damn thing about these machines! I have observed their movements. I've planned this attack for a month! I know full well what's going to happen to my brothers and sisters." "It's just…" "We're going!" Otharon growled, turning to Sharla. "Fall in Medic!" "Sir!" Sharla called after the Colonel as he stomped away. She turned to face Shulk. "What's got into you?!" She demanded. "I…" Shulk could feel his throat tightening. "A vision again," Reyn said, understanding. He approached Shulk and folded his arms. "Don't tell me, another death?" "Yeah," Shulk hung his head. "I knew it," Reyn sighed. "The Shulk I know doesn't just chicken out for any old reason." "This vision…" Sharla said. "Was it like before?" "Kind of," Shulk frowned. "I saw an underground ether river. And Otharon…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. "Huh," Reyn said thoughtfully. "An ether river…" He fell silent, before suddenly looking angry. "You know what? That sword lets you see the future. All that power, and you still keep getting it wrong." "Better to use my brain then my fists!" Shulk retorted. "Shulk, I may rush in head first, but at least my head's useful for something," Reyn replied. "Okay, okay, I get the idea," Shulk said, incredibly hurt. "I ain't done yet!" Reyn said. "You're useless on your own, Shulk. That's why we're here." "Reyn, I-" Shulk started an angry response, but the red-haired man cut across him. "Next time you have a vision, you tell us," Reyn ordered. "We bear the burden together, as a team. You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together. Got it?" "Got it," Shulk said bitterly. "What was that?!" Reyn demanded. "Say it like you mean it." "I got it, alright!" Shulk snapped. "Next time I'll tell you!" "He's right Shulk," Sharla agreed. "You two saved Juju once before. I knew we can do it again. I believe in you." "Thanks," Shulk smiled weakly. They're right, He thought. We'll change what happens. Anyway, I didn't see Juju and the others dying. There's still hope. They followed Otharon, but didn't seem to find him anywhere. He must have gone off without them. Sharla led the way and they maneuvered around monsters and soon arrived in the observation point. Sharla pressed a button, and that opened up a gate. Sharla then led them to that gate, and they stepped through it. "We're here," She said. "The Central Pit." "Where are they all?" Reyn asked, walking forwards and putting a hand on one of the mine carts. "I don't see anyone." "They must be down at the bottom," Shara murmured. "We'll take that lift. It won't take us all the way down, but it'll get us a decent amount of the way. We'll just have to be careful. We're going to have to walk across this." She guestered to the huge machine in the middle of the pit, stretching down to the bottom. "It'll be hard to get around it, because of all the moving parts that could crush us, but we'll reach the bottom eventually." "Got it," Reyn nodded. The three stepped into the elevator, and it took them down to the next floor. Shulk glanced around, before running after Sharla and Reyn who were making their way over a narrow bridge, onto the huge mechanism. The Central Pit was by no means an enormous place. Most of it was taken up by a machine that looked like a drill, supported by clutching the rock paths. Ether crystal deposits were placed here and there, and the place was swarming with Mechon. It looked as though they had completely taken over the entire colony, confusing mine and all. Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla made their way down the central pit, fighting Mechon and collecting crystals. They exchanged a few jokes, but overall the mood was serious. They knew there wasn't much time to save Juju, Gadolt, or Otharon. For all they knew, he could have already been dead. Finally, they reached the bottom by taking a lift. There was an ether river churning below them, but most of it was made of cement and railings to make sure one didn't fall into the river. Sharla, Reyn, and Shulk stepped off of the elevator, Sharla gave in a gasp. "No…" She ran forwards, stepping onto the platform, clapping a hand to her mouth. "They're...Gone!" She glanced around, trembling. There were pools of blood nearly everywhere, and one single rifle was abandoned on the ground. "So whose blood is…" She knelt at a pool, and felt her stomach turn to mush. "Oh no!" She gasped. "Ahh, here at last!" Shulk turned around, and saw the bronze-faced Mechon soaring towards them. "I've been getting hungry!" He swooped above them, and hit the ground with a bump, skidding several hundred feet. "Shulk, isn't that…?" Reyn trailed off, and Shulk nodded. "It's him alright," Shulk nodded. "He's the one who took Juju!" The faced Mechon took several steps towards them, smaller Mechon scrambling to it's side. "Juju and the others!" Sharla ordered, taking out her rifle. "Tell me where they are!" The bronze-faced Mechon giggled insanely while Shulk and Reyn took out their respective weapons. "You want the brat?" He pointed upwards. "Well, he's right here!" Three Mechon units descended from above, holding Juju with three different energy beams. "Juju!" Sharla screamed when she noticed Juju's eyes were closed. "He's still alive," The bronze-faced Mechon told her. "But don't think he will be for long! As for the others, well…" If Mechon could smirk, this one was certainly doing so. "I just couldn't help myself. I ate them all up!" He roared with laughter, and Sharla took a step backwards, her eyes widening. "Welcome to our banquet hall!" Giggled the Face. "Tonight, the main course will be…" His voice cracked. "You!" He giggled. "And if I still got room, the brat will make for a tasty dessert!" "Murderer!" Shulk growled, holding the Monado so tightly his knuckles turned white. Reyn and Sharla nodded in agreement. "I'm Xord, your host tonight," The bronze-faced Mechon said. "Xord," Shulk repeated. "So you have a name?" "That's what they all say," Xord sounded slightly irritated now. "Can't say that I remember it myself!" "What's he talking about?" Shulk murmured as Sharla collapsed onto her knees, clapping a hand to her mouth. "Oh yes," Xord said, slamming it's hammer into it's palm. "It's good to see fresh meat on the table. These colony folk just didn't fill me up!" It's weapon started crackling with electricity, and Xord slammed the hammer into the ground sending ripples of power arcing across the central pit. "Gadolt…" Sharla whimpered as she stared down at the ground. "The others…" She stifled a sob and Xord laughed. "Come on boys!" He said to his smaller Mechon counterparts. "Dinner's ready!" The Mechon charged, and Shulk activated the Monado, using enchant. Sharla's breathing turned labored, and she clutched her gun tightly as she looked up, her face screwed up with anger. "I swear I won't stop…" She growled. "Until I've scrapped each and every one of you!" She ran forwards, firing her rifle angrily at one of the Mechon. It thrashed around and she continued attacking it until it fell over. Sharla put on boot on it's remains, and fired once more just for good measure. Another Mechon appeared out of the smoke Sharla had created when she had destroyed the Mechon, and Reyn deflected it's blow wit his driver. "Get behind me!" He ordered Sharla, and she obeyed. Three more units approached them, and Shulk leapt in front of Reyn and Sharla, slicing horizontally. One by one, the Mechon exploded into heaps of junk. "Reyn, Sharla!" He called over his shoulder. "We are Homs. And we won't just stand here, waiting to be eaten!" "The Monado?" Xord looked at the red sword in Shulk's hands. "Do you think that thing can dent me?" "How about this!" Shulk sprinted forwards, slamming the Monado into Xord's arm. It giggled, apparently incredibly amused. "I'm not Metal Face," It said. "You'll have to try harder!" It slammed it's hammer down, forcing Shulk backwards. "It's the same as before!" He muttered. "The Monado's useless against this guy!" Xord flung his hammer around, barely missing the trio. The blast of wind that came after Xord's attack forced them backwards, and Sharla fell over. She got to her feet, her face grim with determination. "We'll never get to Juju at this rate!" Shulk groaned. "I've got to think of something!" Suddenly, there was a squeak of tires and a mobile artillery wheeled towards Xord, slamming into the Mechon forcefully. One giant arm socked the faced Mechon in it's face, sending it backwards. "Where did you come from?!" Xord demanded. "You feeling hungry, eh?" The person within the artillery said, and with a jolt, Shulk realized it was Otharon. "Chew on this, scrap-for-brains!" Xord screamed as Otharon deflected it's hammer, and forced it down on the ground, near one of the openings into the ether river. "Boy!" Otharon yelled at Shulk. "Now's your chance! Save Juju!" "Otharon!" Shuk protested. "Don't do it!" "Hurry up!" Sharla and Reyn ran towards the unconscious Juju. Sharla shot at the Mechon keeping him in his prison. "At this rate, even if we save Juju, Otharon's gonna be…" Shulk swallowed as Sharla finally shot the Mechon down. "You have a vision you don't like, we'll change the future together. Got it?" Reyn's words came back to Shulk, and he watched the red-haired man in question run towards Juju with Sharla. "Change...the future," Shulk said thoughtfully, closing his eyes. He turned and spotted a machine with some sort of grappling hook attached to it. "Yes...that's it!" Shulk grinned. "Reyn!" He yelled towards his friend. "You grab Juju!" He sprinted off towards the machine. "Shulk!" Reyn called after him. "What are you doing?!" Otharon, meanwhile, slammed Xord in the face, forcing them both towards the ether river. They slammed into the wall, the platform they skidded on shivering with the impact. "Old man," Xord said. "You think you can stop me?" "No I don't," Otharon admitted. "But I can do this!" He slammed the hand of the artillery into the side of the huge mechanism that rose all the way to the top of the central pit. Almost immediately, ether exploded from it forcing Xord closer to the river, and making the platform tremble again. "Let's see if that Mechon body of your's can withstand an ether river!" Otharon said nastilly as the platform gave way, taking Xord down with it. It suddenly caught on the side of the machine, and Xord tried to scramble upwards. "Juju!" Sharla said, shaking the boy in question. "Wake up!" "Sharla!" Reyn said. "Leave the rest to us." He ran towards Otharon, throwing his driver over his back. "Hang in there you old fool!" He shouted towards the Colonel. "Fall you damn machine!" Otharon said, forcing Xord down the platform. He gave one mighty shove, and the platform fell off of it's hinges. The bronze-faced Mechon screamed as he fell. "Damn you!" Shulk heard it's cry, and activated the machine, wheeling it towards the mobile artillery, which was slowly falling after Xord. "Otharon!" Shulk yelled as he activated the grappling hook, grabbing onto the artillery. "Hold on!" The weight of the artillery dragged Shulk forwards, and he slammed against the sides of the artillery. "Shulk!" Sharla shouted after him. "What a shot!" Reyn praised. "Boy…" Otharon breathed. "We can change our destinies," Shulk told him. "Otharon. You won't die here. Not today." He yelped as his back collided with the back of the hard seat he was sitting on. The machine lurched and the artillery was thrown forwards. Xord was clinging onto the artillery with everything he had, inches away from touching the ether river. "You cannot defeat me!" It roared angrily. "Get out of there!" Shulk yelled as Otharon climbed out of the artillery. "Quick! It's giving way!" Otharon stared down at Xord coldly, and took up Gadolt's rifle, aiming it at the Mechon. "He's gonna…" Reyn gasped. "It won't be long now my friends...But not before..." Otharon glared at Xord, suddenly angry. "Gadolt!" He shouted. "This is for you! This is for the people of Colony 6!" He took aim at the faced Mechon's hand, and fired once. Xord screamed as it hit the ether and sank. Suddenly, the grappling hook gave way, throwing Otharon into the air. Shulk's eyes widened. "But I…" He whispered. "This isn't supposed to happen! Otharon!" "Gadolt…" Otharon said. "I'll see you before long." Shulk closed his eyes, but Reyn suddenly leapt forwards, grabbing onto Gadolt's rifle, and the grappling hook, saving Otharon's life. The artillery splashed into the ether, and Shulk looked up, seeing Reyn holding onto the gun and grappling hook. "That was close!" Reyn grinned down at Otharon, who looked bewildered. Reyn grimaced slightly. "You wanna hurry up?" He asked. "My arms about ready to drop off!" "Thank you," Otharon murmured, and climbed up the gun and Reyn's arm. He sat down on the edge of the hook. "Save the thanks for Shulk and his vision!" Reyn said. "As soon as I saw an ether river, I knew this had to be the place." Shulk swung them over to safety, and climbed out of the machine, his back most likely bruised from the collision it had with the hard seat. "Juju…" Sharla breathed as they walked over. "You're safe now." "What did I tell you?" Reyn said teasingly. "You and me can make anything happen." "Yeah," Shulk nodded. "You were right." "A boy who can change the future," Otharon said thoughtfully. "I stand corrected young man. You've done a great deed here today." "I didn't really do anything," Shulk admitted. "I couldn't have done it without you guys." "Tell me," Otharon said. "Your vision saved me. But what of the others? What happened to Gadolt?" "Uh…" Shulk glanced at Sharla, who was still hunched over Juju. He shook his head and Otharon looked crestfallen. "I see," He said as Sharla straightened up. Otharon turned to look at her, and held out Gadolt's rifle. "Sharla, take this," He ordered. "Gadolt would have wanted you to have it." Sharla took it, and held it close, resting her head on it and closing her eyes. "Time to head back to the camp," Reyn said finally. "We'll need to get Juju some medical attention," Shulk agreed. Reyn nodded as Sharla swapped her rifles. "There's a freight elevator on the next level," She informed them. "From there, it's an easy route out of the mine. As long as it's working…" "We'll know that when we get on it," Reyn muttered. "You make me laugh," Sharla rolled her eyes, but smiled anyways. "Well I'm right, ain't I?" Reyn pointed out. "You're absolutely right," Sharla nodded. "We need to move on and stop worrying about every little thing. Come on guys." They followed her back up the lift, and rode some spinning platforms to the freight elevator in question. When they arrived, Shulk pressed the up button, and was relieved when it started moving. "It works perfectly," He smiled. "You see?" Reyn smirked at Sharla. "What did I say?" "We're all impressed," Sharla grinned. Shulk laughed. As the elevator made a steady decent upwards, it suddenly stopped, throwing everyone off of their feet. "Why've we stopped?!" Reyn demanded, getting up. "I dunno," Shulk said as he and Sharla also stood. "But I think we're about to find out." No sooner had the words slipped off of his tongue, then Xord flew upwards, landing on the elevator with a thunk. It looked in terrible shape, with electricity sparking and it's metal rusted and falling apart. "Not him again," Reyn groaned. "This one doesn't give up!" Sharla said. "This is our chance guys," Shulk said. Xord raised it's hammer, and sliced down towards them. Shulk nimbly leapt out of the way, while Sharla backed up and Reyn dove aside. They ran towards the Mechon with their weapons blazing, and after toppling it, the three attacked with everything they had, dodging small puddles of ether that Xord leaked. Finally he was down on his knees, groaning in pain. "Still...Hungry!" He screamed insanely, raising his hammer. He swung it down towards Shulk, but Sharla leapt in the way, and shot it's arm clean off. With another blast, Xord's other arm went careening down the slope. It's legs followed it's arms, and soon, the bronze-faced Mechon was nothing more then a head and torso. He panted heavily, his voice cracking every few minutes. Xord fell backwards, hitting the ground and splattering ether everywhere. Sharla glared at him coldly, and Reyn eyed the fallen Mechon. "Did we get him?" He asked. Xord was hardly breathing now as the three advanced upon him carefully. "Got to hand it to you," It finally said. "You beat me without even releasing the true power of the Monado…" "True power?" Shulk repeated. "What do you know about the Monado?!" "Sorry, boy," Xord's breaths were coming in short ragged gasps now. "I can't tell you that. You'll have to find out the truth on your own." "The truth?" Shulk repeated. "When I became what you see now, that's when my eyes were opened," Xord said. "Was a good ride while it lasted…" He nodded to himself, and Shulk glared at him. "When you became like this?" Shulk frowned. "What do you mean?!" He leapt back as Xord suddenly propelled himself forwards. "Time's up, pipsqueak," He groaned in pain and fell over the edge of the lift. "I'm gone!" "Xord!" Shulk yelled. The bronze-faced Mechon tumbled down the slope with his arms and legs, and seconds later, exploded into nothing. The blast of it's explosion prompted the elevator to start again, and make it's way out of the mine. Colony 6 was free. Xord was no more.