Unity/Chapter 4: Teenagers Vs The Apocalypse

Before you read
This was written by Skyblade743 with a little help from Nitrogen218.

For those in the know, this happens about 2 weeks after ADKON. Expect spoilers for the Skyblade Continuity within literally the first paragraph. Do not pass go. Do not collect £200. *Dissolves into random babbling*

Chapter 5:Teenagers Vs The Apocalypse
Natalie thought that this would be the end of Kabletech. The kidnapping of nearly 600 people (by Carl’s calculations) would be exposed, the media would have a field day, and the corporation who had, among other things, kidnapped her future girlfriend and turned her grandfather into a cyborg would be brought to justice. Instead, nothing happened.

Kable had pulled strings in G.U.N and the major media outlets to cover up the kidnapping of Power Gene carriers for experimentation and the 600 people who were freed were branded as 600 conspiracy theorists.

“It’s not your fault, Natalie,” Angel said as they walked towards the Crater, a modernised area of Westopolis where the Black Comet had been, and the regular meeting point of the Powers Club. “You couldn’t have done anything to stop Kable manipulating everyone.”

“Maybe if we had some kind of physical evidence,” Natalie said “Maybe if we could prove something…”

“It wouldn’t make any difference. Kable would pass it off as false.”

“Maybe we could...verify it somehow. Maybe if-”

“Natalie, stop. You saved those people and that’s good enough. Heck, you saved me. Most people cannot say their girlfriend saved them from an evil businessman.”

“Kable will just kidnap them again. And maybe kidnap some more people as well. And maybe even kidnap us.”

“He won’t. People will start to get suspicious after the second time.”

They walked on in silence for a few moments.

“How’s your anxiety?” Natalie asked. Angel suffered from anxiety attacks and, after their escape from Kabletech, they were starting to becoming more frequent. Natalie had been determined to help Angel get over it. After all, if you want to solve a mental illness, who better than a psychic, and one who was head over heels in love with you to boot?

“Fine,” Angel said hurriedly “It’s fine.”

“Angel, even before we started going out, you couldn’t lie to me.”

“I...don’t want to talk about it right now.”

“That’s ok. I’m not going to force my way into your head or anything. But I’m here for you, and so are the others. Remember that.”

Natalie put her arm over Angel’s shoulder and kissed her on the cheek as they reached the Crater. They walked into the youth centre, but went straight on instead of going to the right like they had before Wraith the Cyberhog had attacked them. John had changed the room they met in seeing the side room they had used before hadn’t been completely fixed yet, with the walls still bearing scorch marks from both Wraith’s lasers and Rugal’s fists. The other people in the youth centre still ignored them, though. It’s not like they knew what had happened.

Although neither of them could see it, on that same wall, one of the marks was glowing a reddish color, fading in and fading out like the rythym of a heartbeat. The light wasn't any brighter than the lights in the gym. It was less than that. Not only that the glow caused the wall to start turning a a oranges red, and indication that somethings getting very hot. The wall started swelling too as if it was full of hot air. The marks also started to emit black smoke, another sign that something was burning.

Natalie and Angel walkd into the new room John had booked. The room they were now in was larger than before, but still not massive. There was nowhere to sit, and it was way to large for just 5 people meeting for an hour or so, but it would do until the other room was repaired.

It wasn’t just the room that had changed. Carl as Rugal had buried the hatchet after they both saved each other’s lives. Carl was a lot more confident, and although Rugal still had an ego the size of Shamar he was a lot kinder. John was practically the same, but since his fight with Ice and his insistence to kill him, Natalie had become a little more weary of him.

Rugal opened his mouth to say something.

“Shut up,” Natalie said before he could even get a syllable out of his mouth.

“But I haven’t-“

“I know what you’re going to say.”

Rugal sighed, smirking. He’d teased Natale and Angel ever since they started going out, but he still wished them the best, and had even resolved to help Angel and Natalie out whenever he could, although his knowledge of relationships was disputable.

“Got any new tricks you want to show us?” John asked. Natalie had been practicing certain tricks with her powers, feeling that she’s been a little useless fighting Kable Enforcement when breaking out of Kabletech Tower despite Angel’s insistence otherwise. Primarily, she’d focused on expanding her illusion based powers, and although she had tried using her powers on multiple people at once it hadn’t worked. However, she had been looking through her mum, Sasha's, mind for basic swordfighting techniques, and had been able to train herself a bit with her own illusions.

“Yeah,” Natalie said “Check this out.”

A katanap appeared in Natalie’s hand, with a grey blade and red hilt, although only she and John could see it. Natalie changed who could change the illusion quickly between the other members of the club.

“Do you really need a sword?” Rugal asked Natalie.

“I figured an actual weapon of some kind would be useful.”

“It’s not an actual weapon, though. It’s an illusion. It can’t hurt you.”

“Do you want to test that theory?”

“Nah, i’m good!” Rugal said quickly, shaking his head.

Natalie smiled and let the katana disappear, and for a moment she sensed another mind coming close to where they were. One she’d trawled through 2 weeks ago.

“Guys, Kable’s here.” Natalie said.

Right on cue, several Kable Enforcement members barged their way into the hall, their bodies covered in the standard issue black armour that turned them into faceless soldiers. Following them was Kable the Fox; owner of the greatest tech company on the planet, humanitarian, and evil egomaniac. Unexpectedly, he looked completely shocked when he saw Natalie and her friends.

“Oh, hell,” he said “Why does it have to be you five?”

Soon the katana was back in Natalie’s hand, Rugal’s fists were on fire and Angel was in a fighting stance.

“What do you want?” John asked. He hadn’t got into a fighting stance, and a quick glance into his mind showed his powers were currently unusable, kept behind the wall of the drugs John took daily to stop his personas taking over him.

“I don’t want any of you, for a start,” Kable said “That’s for later. I’m looking for something else.”

“Another child to kidnap?” Angel asked “Another test subject?”

“Lady, in case you hadn't got the memo before, I don’t give a damn about your genes right now.” The fox replied. He pulled out a small electronic tablet out of his suit pocket and held it up for all to see what’s on it.

“I don’t believe for a second you could understand it,” Kable said “So I’ll spell it out for you in plain English.”

“Dimensional anomaly,” Carl replied before Kable could get another word out. Kable looked momentarily surprised.

The sound of creaking can be heard. It sounded like someone inflating a rubber balloon. However, the sound of creaking metal and breaking concrete and the smell of melting metal and burning rebar eventually turned into a sudden loud bang that shook the whole complex. Some people ran out in fear thinking some people just got shot and others simply froze in shock, too startled to move or even say anything. Aftward, the smell of burning material became much more prominent and undeniable.

Kable turned round, startled by the sudden explosion.

”What the heck?” he said “I thought we were on top of the anomaly! And why are there people still here?” he continued, looking at one of the Kable Enforcement members “I thought you evacuated them.”

”The evacuation is ongoing, sir.” The soldier replied.

Kable sighed. He had already shot one commander in the past 2 weeks, the last thing he needed was to shoot another one. Meanwhile, Natalie and the other members of the Powers Club dashed past Kable.

”Get after her!” Kable shouted “We need to get there first!”

Natalie heard the sound of footsteps behind her as the guards tried to catch up to her, her friends dodging around the people who were yet to be evacuated. The guards couldn’t fire yet: they couldn’t risk shooting anyone else and causing a ruckus. Natalie dived into the room where the burning was coming from, following her nose as best as possible.

She continued to follow her nose until the tip of it touched some red hot metal and began to get a nasty smell of burning metal, an indication she was very close to the source of the explosion. Natalie looked around the room as the rest of the Club filed in. John was the last in and slammed the door behind them. Kable and the guards could clearly be heard behind them, barging through the people still in the building.

"Well?" Rugal asked "What now?"

The footsteps got louder and louder, and the smell of the thick smoke from the burning wall became all the more evident. They heard Natalie shout as if she had been hit by something. She did in a way, by the sound of something bouncing off her nose and making a loud noise upon hitting the ground. Natalie staggered back and the rest of the club scours the room for what it was.

Natalie soon grabs the item that bounced off her nose and tried to look at it, but heard the door being kicked open, loud enough to startle anyone nearby. Rugal and Angel leap into action, assuming the people who kicked down the door are Kabletech as Natalie examines the item.

However, the door wasn't kicked open by Kabletech, but a group of one eyed robots with their arms out and hands open. Yet, they didn't fire their harpoon weapons yet, as the thick smoke from the flames made it hard to see.

The vectors receive a translated message from Vultra.

"Attention Vectors: I'm getting several life signatures in your area. The gem is also resonating a sound frequency. It is getting becoming very frequent. You are in its immediate area. Find it, and bring it on board the station. I'm keeping your auditory and visual feed open. After multiple instances of speculation as to its whereabouts, I need visual confirmation. Do not engage the threat for now."

"Acknowledged, Lady Vultra." Replied one of the vectors. With that, they made their way in the room.

The Powers Club stood away from the robots, still in fighting stances.

"Who are you?" Natalie asked.

The vectors still have their harpoons aimed. "We are Vector Drones. He harvest data for our Lady. We are searching for a gem. Red in color. Tell us, now." The leading vector, possibly a commander, demanded.

"Tell you what, exactly?" Angel asked "Why are you asking us?"

"Because we have it," Natalie said, getting out the item she caught earlier and holding it up, although keeping it closer to her than the Vectors. "Is this it?"

Carl. Natalie said to her comrade using her telepathy. ''Get inside these thing's minds. Find out what they want.''

To the Vectors, Carl now merely has his hands behind his back. However, none of the robots notice his right hand glowing blue has he dives into the Vector's mainframe, almost undetectable to anyone who didn't know what they were looking for. Meanwhile, a few Kabletech guards and Kable himself enter the room behind the Vectors, guns raised. However, Kable holds his hand up and the guards lower their weapons.

"Let's see what happens," he muttered to the other guards "This could get interesting..."

A couple Vectors walked over to Natalie with the red object in her hands. One of the vectors scanned it from top to bottom. Afterward one nodded to the other and took the gem from her. Vultra soon spoke through the Vectors' audio feed, ordering the taller vector to turn around, facing the guards and Kable. She had heard them through the audio feed. "Who are you?" Vultra said through the feed.

"I'm Kable," the fox replied "Kable the Fox. Judging by the fact you haven't heard of me, I'm guessing you're not from around here?"

Kable looked over at Natalie and the Vector holding the stone.

"What is that thing, anyway?" He asked.

"Hmm...Judging by the fact you haven't opened fire yet does warrant an explanation. I am Vultra, Leader of the Comet Battalion and commander aboard LOKI Station. The gem in question isn't related to your world or dimension. It is one of four Raggadak Gems. These gems bear the knowledge of Xi Paxxam Roksha, one of the leaders of Terabytes. They often utilize that knowledge in the form of power. Limitless power. Yet, the red gem here is a fragment of that knowledge." Vultra explained while introducing herself.

"Intriguing," Kable replied. Slowly, the fox begins to consider his options. "So what can the red gem do on it's own?"

Anyone got a plan? Natalie asked her friends telepathically. Most of them replied with nos, but Carl seemed to have an idea.

Vultra responds to Kable. "The red gem focuses on storing large quantities of power. Unlike the others, it fuses on augmenting offensive capabilities. It goes so far as to overcharge major defensive and offensive weapons. Minor weapons will simply explode. If it stores too much of its own power, it triggers a discharge that usually results in explosions. It is quite an effective power supply. "