GALACTIC UNITY

By:  Mark J. Hadley

 

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CHAPTER 18:

“Temple”

 

 

Xianea was most intrigued by the latest readings the scanners on her ship had picked up.  Drax Kanard’s ship had set down near a ravine, but there were no life signs in the area.  Mojo had decided to take his own ship down and land it near Drax’s, to begin his search from there, while Xianea chose to continue looking from the skies.

As she got a better aerial view of the area, to look for them, she became aware of the upper parts of a large structure.  She almost didn’t spot it before in the dim light, because it looked like it was carved from the rock rather than constructed.  The flat surfaces and straight edges gave it away, but it was still easy to miss, since only a few parts were visible from the surface; most of it probably lay underground.

She took the ship in closer for a better view.  There was no doubt about it; this had to be the temple that Ghoraan had told them about.  It’s such a large structure, she thought.  Perhaps Alyxk is still searching inside.  If we’re lucky, he hasn’t covered much ground yet.

She did a quick circle around the temple, looking for an entrance.  Finally, on the opposite end from the ravine, she descended and landed in front of what she believed to be the main entrance.  The huge set of double doors had already been opened.  After checking that there was a breathable atmosphere outside, she exited her ship and approached the temple entrance cautiously.  It was eerily quiet…she took a deep breath and went inside…

 

*              *                *

 

                It was very dark inside the temple, yet there was still a faint light that the girls could see by.  There were small tunnels to the surface, presumably for the very purpose of letting light filter down into these deeper chambers.  Even though it was dim inside, the girls were still marveled at the artistry of the temple.  Large columns supported the ceilings, which rose in a step-pyramid-like fashion.  More carvings covered the walls, in some unidentifiable symbols that looked to be a form of language.

                However, the situation was too dire for them to stop and admire it.  Another laser blast striking the column nearby reminded them of that.  “Keep moving!  Quick, this way!” Blossom shouted.  They flew out of the chamber and down one of the nearby passageways.

                “This stinks,” Buttercup said, as they zigzagged down several adjoining corridors.  “We need to fight this guy!  I wish we could at least use our eyebeams…”

                “Yeah, but we’ll ruin the helmets,” Bubbles reminded her.

                Suddenly, Blossom exclaimed, “Hold up!”  All three of them came to a stop, and she said, “Drax wasn’t wearing a helmet, and he was able to breathe all right.  Maybe there is air here.”

                “Only one way to find out…” Buttercup said.  Before the other girls could stop her, she opened the seal on her helmet and lifted it off with a slight *hiss*.  She took a deep breath, and coughed once, doubling over for a moment.

                Bubbles gasped, concerned, “Are you okay?!”

                Holding up her hand, Buttercup coughed a few more times, and said, “Yeah…I’m okay…just, the air’s kinda dusty…”

                Looking relieved, the other two took off their own helmets, and all three of them piled their helmets and suits up against the side of the corridor.  “Remember where we put these,” Blossom said.  “We need to come back for them.”

                Bubbles nodded, then abruptly pointed and shouted, “Look out!”  Drax had appeared at the end of the corridor, and raised his rifle, firing it again.  Bubbles immediately opened fire back with her eyebeams at the same time; the two beams collided in the middle, and exploded against each other.  It sent a small tremor down the corridor, kicking up some dust and causing loose pieces of rock to fall from the ceiling.

                “Fall back!” Blossom ordered, and they immediately headed down the passageways once again.  Drax wasn’t far behind.  “If we’re going to fight him, we have to do it in a larger area.  Those small tunnels look like they might collapse if we fight there.”

                As they rounded the next bend, they came to a stop, looking up.  Though the others were speechless, Buttercup remarked, “I think this is large enough…”

                They were in a huge chamber of the temple.  Many large, arch-like walkways circled around the room over a pool of water far below, which gave off a greenish hue from the color of the stone around it.  A pillar that looked to be about eight or nine stories tall rose up from the center of the room…it was surrounded by dozens of statues like the ones they had seen earlier, and water cascaded down from the top into the pool below.

                This room was also well lit compared to the rest of the temple, as there wasn’t really a ‘ceiling’ so much as a few crisscrossing beams.  The dim starlight was able to shine fully inside, and the three moons were visible above.  The sight was breathtaking in its beauty.

                We’d better take cover and be prepared, Blossom thought.  I wish we didn’t have to fight here…a lot of this will probably get damaged.  She flew over and took position behind the pillar…Bubbles and Buttercup followed her lead.  She whispered to them, “Okay…when I give the signal, plan alpha-delta-9…”

                They nodded, and waited.  From their vantage point, they could see Drax enter the room a moment later.  He gazed about for a moment, and almost looked like he too was taken in by the splendor of the temple, although only for a second.  He raised his scanner, checking it, then looked directly at their hiding place.

                “Now!” Blossom shouted.  They flew out from behind cover, one after another, flying in a straight line directly at Drax.  Before he could raise his rifle, Blossom fired a blast from her eyebeams…it struck Drax dead-center, but did little more than stagger him back a step or two.  She veered off to the left, and Bubbles, directly behind her, fired her own eyebeams, forcing him back another step.  Bubbles veered to the right, and Buttercup shot straight forward while he stumbled, striking him in the chest with a kick.

                This knocked him back another few steps, and that was all that was needed, for now he had reached the edge of the walkway, and tumbled from it into the pool below.  The girls watched him splash into the water and regrouped in the air above him.

                A bright light suddenly glowed from the bottom of the pool where he fell.  Bubbles said, “I don’t think he’s through yet…”  They all backed up as Drax emerged from the water, his jetpack propelling him into the air.  His rifle was slung on his back once again, and he now held a different weapon, a sleek pistol.

                “Give it up, Drax!” Buttercup yelled.  “You can’t beat us!”

                Blossom nodded in agreement, “We out-fought you once before, and we can do it again!”

                As they waited for his next move, he chuckled, “You’re so confident, because you’ve got the upper hand, aren’t you?  You’ve got superpowers, while I must rely on technology…”  He leveled his pistol at them and said, “Allow me to remove some of that confidence…”

                The girls immediately tried to move, but an energy beam lanced out from the weapon far too quickly for them to dodge…it struck Blossom, surrounding her with a bright bluish-white light.  It didn’t hurt her, though…in surprise, she said, “What the…”, and suddenly dropped from the air, plummeting towards the pool below.  She tried to stop her fall, but she couldn’t…

                “Blossom!” Bubbles and Buttercup shouted together.  Blossom splashed into the water, and bobbed back to the surface a moment later.  They were thankful she was still okay…but then, they noticed something was wrong.  She was flailing, splashing on the surface.

                She sputtered, “H-help!  I c-can’t swim!”

                “Hang on, Bloss!” Buttercup called out, flying down and lifting Blossom out of the water, who looked frightened.  “What happened?”

                “I…I couldn’t fly…” Blossom stammered.  As she was set down on the walkway, she tried to fire her eyebeams experimentally, but nothing happened.  She gasped, “My powers are gone!”

                “What?!” Bubbles exclaimed.  She looked back over at Drax, who was grinning evilly, and demanded, “What did you do to her?!”

                “Just a simple dampening field.  I tuned it to your energy signatures,” Drax said simply.  “It’ll wear off shortly…but I’m afraid you won’t live long enough for it to matter!”  Before Bubbles could react, he fired his pistol again, striking her with its beam.  She shrieked as she fell from the air towards the walkway below.

                Buttercup quickly dashed over and caught her with one hand at the last second, “Don’t worry, Bubbles, I’ve got y—…”  She was interrupted when another blast from Drax struck her, and she collapsed, no longer strong enough to hold Bubbles with just one hand.  “No!” she exclaimed.

                Looking up at Drax, Blossom shouted, “You won’t get away with this!”

                “But I already have,” Drax declared.  “Defeating you now is—if you’ll pardon the expression—child’s play.”  He returned the pistol to his side and took out his laser rifle once again.

The girls huddled together, and Buttercup said, “Wh-what do we do now?”

“I don’t know…” Blossom replied…without any powers, they didn’t stand a chance against him.  For what seemed like the hundredth time in the past several weeks, the situation seemed utterly hopeless…

 

*              *                *

 

                Xianea walked slowly down the corridors of the temple.  She was fascinated by the sheer artistry of the ancient ruins.  The time and effort it must have taken to build…it was simply amazing.  She wanted to stay and examine it further, but she knew she had to help the girls before it was too late.

                As she made her way through the temple, she suddenly became aware of a sound in the distance, like footsteps.  She froze, and listened.  After a few moments, the footsteps quickened for a moment, and then stopped.  Who could that be? she thought.  It’s not the girls; they don’t usually walk.  It must be either Drax, or Alyxk…or maybe, Mojo Jojo…

                She slowly crept around the corner to peek into the room.  She didn’t see anyone…it was mostly empty, save for a few stone archways, and a pillar in the center of the room.  She carefully stepped forward…and suddenly, Alyxk stepped out from behind the pillar, a laser pistol in his hand aimed directly at her.

                “Xianea…you didn’t think you could sneak up on me, did you?” he said with his usual telepathic buzz.  “I sensed you as you approached.”

                Raising her hands, Xianea said, “Alyxk, listen…”

                “Bah,” he growled.  “I was hoping you had some kind of lead on where the pedestal we’re looking for might be, but you don’t.  And don’t bother with what you were going to say.  You’re not going to talk me out of this, not when I’m so close.”

                “But don’t you see what you’re…” Xianea started.

                “Don’t you see,” Alyxk interrupted again, “what I could gain from the Omega Particle?  What I can become?  No, of course you don’t.  What do you know of true power?”  Before Xianea could answer, he said, “And don’t give me that ‘knowledge is power’ nonsense that you Centraxians are so fond of.”

                Xianea closed her eyes…Clear your mind, she thought.  Clear your mind…

                Alyxk stared at her and said, “It doesn’t matter…you’ve outlived your usefulness anyway.  You and the Powerpuff Girls got me to this planet; I can take it from here.  It has been nice knowing you, Xianea, but then again…”  He raised his pistol higher, “…no it hasn’t.”

                As his finger started to tighten on the trigger, Xianea didn’t think, didn’t formulate any kind of plan…she simply reacted.  She swung a kick upward, suddenly, striking his arm and knocking it upwards.  The laser went off, hitting the ceiling instead.  A brief tremor shook the room and pieces of rock fell…during this moment of confusion, she quickly swung one of her arms in an arc, the claws popping out of her hands and striking the pistol, slashing it to pieces in an instant.

                Alyxk fell back a few steps at this sudden action, dropping the remains of his pistol from his hands.  Xianea retracted her claws, and said, “You will listen to me!  You can’t do this…it would be wrong for one single person to rule the universe, especially one that would be evil enough to destroy a whole planet to further his own goals!”

                “And you think you’re going to stop me?” Alyxk told her.  “You’re welcome to try.  You may have caught me off-guard there, but now I’ll be watching your every move…your every thought.  There’s no way you can win this fight…”

 

*              *                *

 

                “Jump!” Blossom screamed, and the girls threw themselves off the side of the walkway, just as the blast from Drax’s rifle struck the spot where they were just standing.  They fell down about ten feet before landing on one of the walkways just below it with a *thud*.

                Buttercup picked herself up stiffly, and said, “Ow!  That hurt…”

                Scrambling back to her feet, Bubbles asked, “Now what?”

                “I have a plan…this way!” Blossom said, running down the walkway towards the pillar in the center of the room.  The other girls were hot on her heels.

                Circling around the edge of the walkway to look for where the girls had jumped to, Drax noticed they had run off.  “How pathetic, they think they can actually escape from me, now that their powers are gone?  Really…”  He circled around the side of the pillar, raising his rifle at the ready.

                The girls weren’t there, however.  Confused, he took a glimpse around, but still didn’t see them anywhere.  How did they get away so fast? he thought.  Well, it doesn’t really matter…  He raised his scanning device to look for them, and was stunned to see that they were nowhere within range.  He was flabbergasted for a moment, and then he remembered…their powers were gone, so the scanner wouldn’t be able to pick them up anymore.

                Gritting his teeth, he flew up to the top of the room to get a better view…still no sign of them.  He called out, “You can’t hide forever, girls!  I’ll find you, and it’ll be all over for you!”  He raised his voice, “Do you hear me?  You’ve lost!!”

                There was nothing but silence.  He cursed himself for losing track of them, and started to drift down, turning away from the pillar to get a view of the many corridors leading out of the huge room.  Maybe they ran out while I wasn’t looking, he thought…this could very well be a great hunting challenge…but I must find them before their powers return, or…

                His back was to one of the statues around the side of the pillar, and he didn’t notice that the girls were hiding behind the statue, clinging to the back of it.  Blossom nodded to them slowly, and all three of them leapt out from behind it, screaming, “Yaaaaah!”  They all landed on him…Blossom and Bubbles each clutching onto one of his arms, and Buttercup landing on his head.  Surprised, Drax thrashed around, trying to shake them off.

                Blossom was shaken off, and fell only a couple of feet before she landed at the base of one of the statues.  Bubbles, though, actually managed to pull the rifle free from his hand, while Buttercup covered his eyes so he couldn’t see.  “Get off of me!” Drax yelled, trying to pry Buttercup off his head.

                Shaking her head to clear it, Blossom looked next to her and saw a loose stone that had broken free from the statue.  She scooped it up and threw it as hard as she could at Drax’s back.  It struck his jetpack, and it suddenly ignited at full power.  Drax jetted out-of-control upwards…Bubbles and Buttercup fell free from him, luckily landing safely on the walkway below.  Drax tried to regain control, but not before his head struck one of the beams that made up the ‘ceiling’.

                As the girls watched, he fell from the air, landing on his back on one of the lower walkways.  He was out cold.  They peered over the side at him below, just to be sure, and gave a sigh of relief.  “Oh wow,” Bubbles exclaimed, “I think we got lucky that time…”

                “You said it,” Blossom agreed.  “I wonder when our powers are going to come back?  He said this was only temporary…”

                “I hope it’s soon,” Buttercup said.  “We still gotta find where the Omega Particle is…it’ll take us forever on foot!”

                Bubbles had looked up, and was looking further down the walkway, “Maybe not…what’s that?”  They looked at what she was pointing at, and saw that the walkway lead to a small alcove set in the wall of the room.  Curiously, they got up and walked over to it, and noticed that the alcove had a short pedestal.  On the surface of the pedestal, three concentric rings were etched, like tracks…and set into those rings were three stones, each with an image carved into them, what looked like a moon.”

                “This is it!” Blossom exclaimed.  She glanced up at the open ceiling, and studied the position of the moons above.  “If we just arrange these to look like that, it’ll open the way to the Omega Particle!  I can’t believe it…we were in the right place this whole time!  Good thing Drax didn’t know…”

                Slowly, and with several repeat glimpses at the sky, she slid the stones along the ring-like tracks, until they were in the proper position.  She carefully adjusted it to make it perfect.  Buttercup nodded, “Looks okay…so now what?”

                She got her answer.  There was a rumbling sound that shook the entire room, and across on the other side of the room from them, a portion of one of the walls lifted up slowly, revealing a new passageway.  “That’s what…c’mon, let’s hurry!”

                They ran across the walkways, taking a few of them down and across until they finally figured out how to get from where they were to where the doorway was.  It was a little frustrating, especially since they could have just flown over in a second if their powers were still functioning.

                As they stood before the passageway, they were excited.  This was finally it…the Omega Particle lay within, and with Alyxk nowhere in sight, there wasn’t anyone left to prevent them from using it to bring back the Earth.  So excited were they, that something crucial had slipped their minds: the particle wasn’t unguarded.  But having forgot this, they proceeded within, unaware of the danger that awaited them…

 

TO BE CONTINUED…