The Tales Of Zaleth 2

Chapter 17: Fall Of The Necklace

~April 3rd, 3:06 am, 2089, Hive City~

Sam only saw a group of Smasher Strongholds on a Zaleth desert. Tony tried to get through to her, but she only heard the scream of a Smasher Stronghold. Sam threw a punch and Tony barely dodged it. She fell onto the ground and a green and blue shockwave emanated from the impact. It pushed everyone back. The Starmind's core ran away grinning. James aimed a gun at her, but Michelle stopped him from firing it. "We're not killing her!" Michelle yelled. Jacob got up and aimed The Staff at Sam. "Jacob, don't!" Ben yelled trying to tackle him. Jacob fired The Staff at Sam causing a hole to form below her. She fell down a level onto a Hive Incubation Chamber. "We can't beat her like this. Let's go." Jacob ordered. Everyone tried to run towards the entrance, but Sam flew in front of them and grabbed Tony. "Why is she bullying me?!" Tony asked angrily. Tony took out his gun and fired it into her gut causing both of them to fall to the ground. Sam got up and her wound was healed by The Necklace and The Bracelet. "That's so unfair!" Jasmine said. Sam fired a laser beam from The Bracelet and Jacob jumped in front and blocked it with his staff. 

The power of The Necklace and The Bracelet made the The Staff emanate a bright and blinding gold glow. Jacob looked at it in shock. "What's going on?" Tony asked as everyone looked away from the glow. Jacob kept staring. The glow kept getting brighter. Jacob tried to look away, but he couldn't. The glow dispersed. Jacob's pupils were white and The Staff had its original gold color. Jacob was blind and The Staff had its original color and power. Sam was breathing heavily. She can't handle the power of three artifacts at once, and since she possesses 25 times the power of a time anomaly deity her body is slowly deteriorating. Jacob closed his eyes and felt The Staff. He took off the blaster that used to fire The Staff's projectiles. "Jacob, you alright?" Skyler asked. Jacob nodded as he felt the full power of The Staff flow through him. He may have been blind, but The Staff gave him everything he needed. Sam fired a beam from The Necklace. Jacob blocked it with The Staff. A dark necrotic glow came from The Staff this time. 

~2017, Reston, Poseidon Island, a few weeks before the Poseidon War~

"You are the second protector?" Jacob asked. "I am indeed." The second protector answered. "Will I be able to harness the full power of The Staff?" Jacob asked. "Only half, for now. You are its next wielder. When you're faced with death from an artifact much more powerful you will unlock the full power of The Staff , but at a cost. Then, when you're pushed back again you will unlock the hidden potential of The Staff." The second protector answered.

~2088, entrance to Hive City~

The Staff was surrounded by an aura of darkness. The gold color was replaced with a necrotic black. "This is the unlocked potential of The Staff. I am going to call this The Neo Staff." Jacob said as he charged at Sam. Sam was once again breathing heavily. Her hair was turning gray and her skin was getting wrinkly. Jacob struck The Mask, and it was surrounded with a flaming aura. Sam's body was thrust into the air as The Mask's hidden potential was unlocked. The Ultra Mask. Sam threw a punch surrounded with flames and the green and blue aura. Jacob dodged. The flames from The Mask surrounded both in a flaming circle with the circumference being green and blue flames. Jacob used The Staff's new telekinesis ability to bring down part of the top of the Starmind on Sam. The Mask got damaged from all the Hive mass that fell on top of it. Sam blew it all away and punched Jacob. His ribs were broken and he fell to the ground. Jacob grinned.

Jacob fired one last shot from The Staff. The blast was 20 times as powerful as the blasts from the Poseidon War. The Mask fell off of Sam's face, but the Starmind was still altering her vision. The Starmind sensed the artifacts fall to the ground. Its core rushed to the location of The Mask, The Necklace, and The Bracelet. The fire ring disappeared. The necrotic aura and flaming aura disappeared from The Staff and The Mask. Tony ran over and knocked Sam out. James and Elias picked Sam up. Tony and John picked up Jacob. Jasmine picked up The Staff, The Mask, The Necklace, and The Bracelet. All three went to Tony and James' ships. They returned to Jessica's flagship. The Starmind core got to the previous location of The Mask, but it was gone. It grinned as the eye and mouth vanished. 

Sam and Jacob were rushed to the medical bay of Jessica's ship. Tony went to the bridge where Jessica and Stu were. "The Necklace and Sam have been brought back safely." Tony said not mentioning the fight between Sam and Jacob. "Good. Now we make our final strike on this thing." Jessica said. A tentacle from the Starmind slammed down onto Jessica's flagship. The Nagamorph teeth bit through ten people and killed the rest. The tentacle retracted and watched as the ten people on Jessica's command ship were turned into Hive Nagamorphs. The Nagamorphs' black color was turned into the Hive's brown and red color scheme. Every other characteristic of the Nagamorphs stayed the same. The ship was quickly turned into a Nagamorph breeding ground. The Starmind was laughing, taunting Jessica and her crew. "Great, now there's two parasites to worry about." Tony said as he grabbed a Class-AA minigun off a weapons stand. Jessica and Stu grabbed Class-AA Rifles and cocked them. "Let's go kill some Nagamorphs." Jessica said confident that they were going to beat the new parasitic foe.