Rise of the Guardians   von Aqua111
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                             Kapitel 11: Downfall
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Rise of the Guardians
Chapter 11 - Downfall

The darkness enclosed him like quicksand and besides the constant whispering
there was no other sound. Spectre cowered in the dark and covered his ears but
that only made the voices inside of his head louder. He still couldn't
understand the words but he exactly knew their meaning. It was the call. The
memory chip had been activated and in his weakened state he wouldn't be able to
withstand for too long. So the wraithlike Death Legionnaires never had attempted
to kill him - they only wanted to make him vulnerable. But why him? If Enerjak
needed reinforcement he still had a lot of other Dark Legionnaires and his own
zombie army. Why was he focussing on him now?
Spectre's eyes snapped open when sudden realization hit him: Because he was with
the Guardians. Locke's appearance in his mind proved they still stayed close to
him and hadn't given up on him yet, not knowing that the Legionnaire inside of
him would soon take control over him and they all were in grave danger.
No, he wouldn't let this happen. As long as he was alive the Legionnaire inside
of him would never take control. With a roar he unloaded his anger and jumped
back to his feet. He would continue this fight even if he had to stay in the
darkness forever.

'Why do you still struggle? You aren't worth being called a Guardian. You have
killed.'
These first clear words that echoed around him hit him like whiplashes and left
bleeding welts in his self.
"I never used any kind of weapon against anyone except Moritori - and his death
was a salvation for all the living ones", Spectre answered as firm as possible.
'But you were with the Dark Legion on countless missions, you saw what they were
doing and didn't interfere. You bear part of the blame for many deaths.'
"But others survived although they were doomed to die because I stood in front
of them, refusing to do what the officers commanded me to do and thus was
standing in another Legionnaire's line of fire."
'I know every evil thought that once spun through your head.'
"I'm aware of that."
'Actually you are longing to embrace the darkness. You could be so strong. With
your knowledge of the Chaos Force you could even be stronger than Enerjak one
day.'
"Maybe."
'Forget the puny Guardians. Give in to the darkness.'
"No."
'Give in to me...'
"No. I know you. I have always known about your existence. For a long time I
have fought against you and I'm not willing to quit the field. I know who you
are ... Spectre. For so long I always have been afraid of my inner self - of
what Enerjak's people could have made of me. But now I have been through too
many things that proved me the opposite, that I am a true Guardian rather than
the creature - Moritori's son - I had been born as. You don't frighten me
anymore."

The sudden silence roared in his ears. For a little while he stayed in complete
emptiness and then light flooded over him - so bright that he had to close his
eyes. It remained mostly silent but now he could feel and hear a light breeze,
the air was hot and he was sure to stand on sand. When Spectre slowly opened his
eyes and blinked the brightness away he was looking at the dunes of the
Sandopolis Zone. Most people wouldn't have been too happy if they suddenly found
themselves in such a landscape but Spectre was a son of the desert and this was
home to him. But was this even real or was he still caught in his own mind? And
why if he had won over the Legionnaire inside of him had he not woken up and was
still kept in a state between dream and unconsciousness? He had the feeling he
soon would knew.

"I know you are here", he said without turning around. The presence of the
trinity was so strong there was no doubt on who had come to visit him in his
dreams. "Please, tell me what plans you have for me and this time be a little
less vague than the last time."
"We are sorry to hear that."
"Though we are sure we have never met before."
"But don't worry, young Guardian. We are here to help you in a task so grave not
even the Neo Walkers could offer you much aid."
"They can't fully estimate Enerjak's powers or weaknesses."
"But we can for we created him."
Spectre's eyes widened. Yes, it was a trinity but these were definitely not the
voices of the Neo Walkers. He spun around and stared at the three floating
tiki-masks.
"But ... you are dead", he said unbelievingly.
"We are as dead as the Brotherhood of Haven."
"And the same time we are as alive as them."
"Our earthly shells might have been destroyed."
"The Chaos Force that formed us however can only be destroyed by a force of
equal strength."
"We are as indelible as hope."
"Or death."
"Or destiny."
The Ancient Walkers alternated in speaking but it was never clear who of them
had said what. The place-switching voice was making Spectre feel dizzy after
just a short time.
"But if you still had existed all this time and also known how to destroy or at
least defeat Enerjak then why haven't you stepped into action earlier or
prevented him from coming back in the first place?"
"We exist in the same way as the Guardians before you."
"Or as the Chaos Force living inside of you."
"You also found out what you are capable of doing in the time of greatest
danger."
"And we appear at the end, when you are still in need of advice before your last
step."
Spectre had closed his eyes to prevent himself from switching his gaze between
the masks trying to find out who of them was actually speaking at the moment.
"So ... if it's just pure Chaos Force you are made of right now ... Wouldn't
that mean I am actually talking to the Chaos Force inside of me?"
"Probably."
"It can be possible."
"What do you think?"
The dark furred Echidna rubbed the bridge of his nose and slowly shook his head.
He didn't know what he should think about it. But today he already had seen
Locke inside of his mind, had fought against his own darkness and had won a
verbal battle against his inner self so talking to the purest form of Chaos
Energy shouldn't really surprise him anymore.
"You might not have been destroyed because you are more or less Chaos Force come
to life but as far as I know the same counts for Enerjak as well. How should
five Guardians be able to destroy something like that?"
"It's not exactly the same."
"We created him so he holds part of our strength."
"But we haven't given him the full power we are able to wield."
"If you want to compare our powers then compare the Chaos Energy existing on the
whole planet with the energy of several dozen Chaos Emeralds."
"Barely anything can control the incredible source necessary to destroy us."
"But five Guardians can channel enough energy to defeat Enerjak."
Spectre let out a dry laugh.
"That would be like shooting the Master Emerald into his ugly mug ...
Channelling such a high amount of energy would only be possible if we Guardians
were standing right in front of the Master Emerald so how are we supposed to do
something that powerful in the middle of nowhere in front of a demi-god?"
"You forget that the great source of energy you need will be right in front of
you during your last encounter."
"Enerjak is, in fact, a living, breathing Master Emerald."
The Guardian's eyes snapped open and he stared at them, mouth slightly opened.
"Wait ... do you want to say we have to rip the Chaos Energy out of his body and
then shoot it back again?"
"Precisely."
This one-word-answer sounded as if it had been spoken by all three the same
time.
Spectre stared at the ground when a terrible thought crept through his mind.
Such a high amount of energy wouldn't just destroy the demi-god - it would also
kill the Guardians. Realizing that, all out of sudden there was only emptiness
inside of him. He could neither feel fear of death nor desperation - just a
freezing coldness that spread through his body.
'So be it', he simply thought. They couldn't escape their fate anyways. Maybe
they had already vaguely known it from the beginning - at least he now felt as
if he had always known it.
Then he noticed the slow disappearance of a presence.
"Wait..." he silently said.
"We thought you already had made up your mind and there was no need for us
anymore."
"Just one more question", he said. "How am I supposed to get out of here? If I
only dreamed then I could simply wake up but this doesn't feel like a dream."
"Follow the call."
"The call of Haven."

~~~***~~~

Slowly Spectre opened his eyes and blinked at the sight of a neon light.
‘Haven...’ he thought. He never had been at this place but there was no
doubt he was in the former home of the Guardians.
Carefully he turned his head to have a look around. On the bed to his right
Thunderhawk and Sojourner were sleeping. They looked as if someone had thrown
them there and knowing them they probably just had dropped backwards and slept
in where they had landed. The other bed to his left was the resting place of
Sabre and Locke. Sabre had protectively wrapped his arms around the younger
male's body.
Spectre stared back into the neon light and waited. He didn't want to wake them
up just to tell them they all had to die.
"S-Spectre...?"
The whispered words caught his attention and he looked back to the left. Locke
blinked the drowsiness away and carefully shoving Sabre's arms aside he stood
up.
"Oh Aurora be thanked, you really made it out of the darkness."
"And not just that", Spectre said while sitting up. "I also have found out a
thing or two about Enerjak."

A little while later when they all had woken up Spectre told them about his
dreams - or whatever they had been. He hadn't mentioned the deadly fate that
awaited them eventually but he believed the others thought about the same as he
before and found his presumption confirmed when Sabre said tonelessly, "So that
means we Guardians only came to existence to be sacrificed for the greater weal
in the end."
"Not necessarily", Locke said thoughtfully. "Let's take Chaos Knuckles as an
example. Being hit by loads of Chaos Energy didn't kill him - it rather turned
him into a living Chaos Emerald. He died when he unloaded all of it but Aurora
sent him back to life. However he lost all of his abilities in the progress and
had to wait for them to return. Another example is Finitevus. His body also
absorbed a lot which caused him to go insane and more or less turn into a weaker
form of Enerjak. So actually we have three options: we could simply die, we
could turn into living Chaos reactors for a few seconds until we unload our
energy, die and get resurrected weak as kittens or we could just go insane."
Thunderhawk laughed humourlessly. "Three great options we have there. But at
least it sounds better than an inevitable death. Shall we go now? I only want to
get that over and done with."
"Locke, you seem to know Haven better than we do. Is there another exit further
in the north and closer to Enerjak or do we have to get back where we entered?"
Sabre asked.
"If the way there isn't blocked then yes", was Locke's reply.

"Is everyone ready for our last step?" Spectre asked a hand on the northernmost
gate, steely determination in his eyes.
"Not at all", was Sabre's hones answer. "But even if we waited for years we
still wouldn't be so let's just do it."
Another time they walked through the blue flames but they ended up in a
different location. The ground was torn up even worse and Chaos Energy was in
the air tingling on their skins like electricity. Standing at the edge of a pit
staring down they watched Enerjak slowly gliding over the wasteland, sending out
waves of energy every now and then that ripped open other parts of the ground.
"He's searching ... for the Guardians' bodies", Locke whispered.
"And we can't let him find them", Sabre grimly added. "But how on Mobius are we
supposed to get close enough if one of these waves means an instant death?"
"I know how fast I am so I will draw the attention on me to give you four the
chance to attack from behind", Thunderhawk decided. "He hasn't fought anything
for centuries so his battle skills might be a bit rusty at the beginning ...
hopefully. And even if my swiftness won't be enough ... four Guardians will
suffice to channel all the energy as well."
"No, I won't leave you alone again. If anything then he should concentrate his
attacks on both of us", Sojourner said resolutely.
Thunderhawk opened his mouth but he couldn't bring out a word when he looked
into Sojourner's eyes. The younger male was determined to either live or die
together with his friend. For a moment the lavender Guardian closed his eyes as
if he was in pain but then he simply said, "Let's go."

When the two Guardians glided off the edge into the pit Enerjak immediately
noticed the movement of the corner of his eye, spun around and shot a wave of
Chaos energy at them. They quickly dodged by dropping a few feet but then they
caught their fall and continued bearing down on him.
The gold and blue armour surrounded by a faint green glow might have been an
impressive sight already but it was only a nice little adornment knowing about
the strength living within the demi-gods body. Getting hit by one of these
attacks had the same effect as sitting on the Master Emerald when it detonated.
Sojourner and Thunderhawk shot along closely over the ground and darted
sidewards when another attack roared towards them. It hit the floor and the
force of the impact let earth and rocks rain down on the Guardians. But aside of
exploding terrain and the sounds of Chaos blasts Enerjak fought in complete
silence. Neither a word of threat or scorn against his enemies nor battle cries.
The demi-god knew his power and there was no reason to intimidate his opponents
in a verbal way.
At first his attacks really were barely targeted but he regained his old skills
fast and the Guardians' flight manoeuvres had to become riskier and riskier when
they wanted to prevent him from turning around while narrowly escaping death
each time.
And then they suddenly received a mental message - the others were close enough
to channel Enerjak's powers. Sojourner and Thunderhawk stopped dead a few meters
away from him but so did the demi-god as well now. Too late he had realized the
Guardians' actual plan. Energy was ripped from his body and this time he let out
a scream of pain and rage. He fired another Chaos wave but it only fuelled the
five living Chaos batteries surrounding him.

Arms spread the Guardians levitated a few centimetres over the ground. The
amount of energy rushing through them made it impossible to move - even
breathing was hard. Then the mental command came, given by all five the same
time.
'Release...'
Blinding green light flared up and for a few seconds the wasteland called the
Forbidden Zone was bathed in it. Pain as if they were ripped into pieces flashed
through the Guardians' bodies. And then it all abruptly ended and they were
dragged into the numbing darkness.

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