Does Free Will Matter That Much? Part Two by shattaga |  |
The Captures and The Revealing
A close popping noise startled them all, and they whipped around to see
a purple Cybunny, another Shoyru, and a Krawk pop into existence. They looked
as shocked and confused as they were.
"This place is weird," the Cybunny squeaked. "I wanna go home."
More popping noises echoed around the island as more pets appeared. The pets
stopped coming after a minute or two, but there were hundreds all the same.
Suddenly, with a ripping sound, a large white ball appeared in the middle of
the hoard. The ball glowed with a grey light, and flitting around inside of
it, were images of screaming NeoPets of all types. The purple Cybunny crept
toward the orb, sniffing the air around it. An image played itself in Shalecasha's
mind, and she screamed, "Get away from it! Don't touch the ball!"
The Cybunny poked the ball, and a mini explosion seemed to take place. Grey
light flooded over the beach, knocking pets this way and that. Light washed
over Starry, Scith and Shalecasha, giving their coats a grey tinge. Immediately
after, almost every pet screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching their
heads with the pain of another being in their minds. Starry rushed to his friends'
aid, feeling absolutely nothing himself, and crouched down next to Scith, who
was, by now, beside himself with the pain of forcing away the thing that was
eating away at his willpower.
"Scith?! What's wrong? Why is everybody screaming?"
"My... head! Something's... trying to... take my will!" Scith screeched.
Starry looked up from his suffering friend and looked out at the mass of NeoPets.
White wisps of some vapour were being sucked into the white ball in the centre.
And each time a wisp of vapour entered the ball, another image of a screaming
pet appeared inside. Starry looked on the scene with round eyes and a gaping
mouth.
"The white stuff... it's their wills. Someone is taking his or her will power.
That means they could..."
He turned to Scith, who was still screaming. Starry could see a white strand
of will gathering around Scith's head, so he began to get desperate.
"Scith, what's my name?"
"Starrynights19!"
"What is my species called?"
"SHOYRU! WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS?!"
Starry could see the will going into Scith's head, and Scith slowly got up,
holding his head as the pain subsided.
"Now what are we going to do?" Scith said.
A sound behind them made their bodies freeze. A snarling sound issued behind
them getting louder and louder each second. They both turned their heads and
there was Shalecasha, snarling and growling, creeping up behind them, holding
her favourite fire sword. Her entire body was glowing with a grey-black luminescence,
and stood out in the brown light of the sun, and her eyes shone with a red light
all of their own. Behind her, every other pet was walking in straight lines
like a grotesque army. All of them had a grey glow to them. She raised her sword,
growled loudly, and the masses came to a halt. Growling and snarling, she threw
herself at Starry, fire sword on the offence. Starry countered with his Ice
Scimitar, but barely. Scith, seeing his buddy in need of aid, swung his Attack
Fork and smacked Shalecasha square on the forehead. She blinked for a minute,
shook her head, and snarled even louder.
"And Warhamer told me to give her a Codestone! And this is the result!" Again
she rushed Starry, slashing wildly with the fiery blade. She knocked him on
his back, and tried for the hit. Scith was hitting Shalecasha time after time
with the Attack Fork, but it didn't seem to even phase the Shoyru Terrified,
Starry, with wide eyes, whispered: "Shalecasha... don't hurt me... please..."
A spasm seemed to overtake her. She stood up, grabbed her head and screamed:
"It is impossible for a mind to overtake the demon once it is inside! You cannot
win! Especially over a Shoyru like that!" Shalecasha kept screaming nonsense,
trying to free her mind of the demon inside. A vapour escaped from the ball
and entered her head. She let out a final scream and dropped to the ground.
Shalecasha slowly stood up, shaking from the previous experience.
"Thanks guys," she said.
***
A whirring sound behind them once again made them turn around. "Oh now what?!"
Scith said, whipping his head around. A portal was opening up, and the sphere
began to slide toward the hole in the air. The group stared at it, The whole
of the masses stared at it. Starry took a wet snowball and threw it into the
portal. One splat and a huge roar later, a figure of an upright Kougra appeared
in the portal. "I think someone's coming through," Scith said.
And out popped Fortilius and Lendolin. Lendolin swept his hand toward the ball,
and ZZIIIIP... it came into his hand. It hovered there, like an orb of constantly
playing horror movies. With the orb in his hand, the black hooded cloak, and
the teeth poking out from under his upper lip, he truly looked like the tyrant
he was. Starry, Scith, and Shalecasha backed away from Lendolin, holding their
weapons at the ready. He looked out at the masses of enslaved pets and smiled
wickedly. Then he looked at the group of free Shoyrus, standing there like a
strange imitation of a military rank.
"Well," he chuckled, looking at the three Shoyrus with amusement and mock fear.
Fortilius hid behind the upright Kougra, peeping out at the scene every once
in a while. "It seems that not all of the chosen fighters have come under my
will." He made a mock bow to them. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lendolin,
ruler of all lands under the brown sun, and soon." He gestured with a clawed
paw. "With this great army, I will rule all who live under the yellow sun as
well." His dark yellow eyes bored holes in Starry, frightening him to the point
of dropping his weapon. Lendolin frowned. "I expected your resistance to the
Will Stealer, but this is something of a twist." He turned his gaze to Shalecasha,
who shook with fear from the penetrating stare. "I figured you would be the
last to fall to my wills. Your kindness and love for your friends would keep
you from the Will Stealer for sometime." He shook his head, tut-tuting the entire
time. "Shalecasha, you disappoint me."
"You keep away from them. What do want with them, they haven't done anything,"
she said to the cloaked menace, each word quivering as it came out.
"Simple, my dear," he said, smiling at the shaking shadowed Shoyru, his
words oily and comforting. "I sought out the most evil hearted Neopians. They
had to be strong, a battling type of pet, the kind of pet who couldn't resist
the idea of a faraway tournament with a priceless items as its grand prizes."
Starry and Scith listened to all this, realising that they all had fallen right
into his plan. Lendolin was right, Scith thought, We did go right
for the idea like a Chia with a cookie. Suddenly, Lendolin shot out and
grabbed Starry around the middle, and stepped toward the still open portal hole.
"What are you doing?! Where are you taking him?!" Shalecasha charged Lendolin,
Fire Sword held high. Lendolin, almost lazily, still hold the struggling Starry,
reached into his cloak and pulled out a dagger. Black poison glinted at its
tip. He threw it, the blade hitting its target. Lendolin stopped to watch his
opponent, and Starry went limp with horror. Shalecasha stopped, and as if in
a dream.
"Oh, meep it..."
"Shalecasha! Shalecasha!" Starry cried. He turned to his captor, well, his
ribs anyway. "You stupid cat! Let me go!" And he struggled even harder. Lendolin
looked upon this scene with amusement, and laughed at the wiggling Shoyru under
him arm. "Now, to what I originally planned, to empty the light from your heart
and turn you to our cause!" Scith watched all this, and went completely insane.
He threw his Attack Fork at Lendolin. The cloaked Kougra raised his hand, and
the weapon stopped, turned, and flew in the opposite direction at Scith. He
shouted, and was knock unconscious as the fork struck him in the forehead. With
that, Lendolin laughed once more, and jumped into the portal, leaving the injured
Shalecasha and the stunned Scith in his wake.
To be continued... |
