Chapter Seventeen: Revelations



The red Esx craft slammed into the side of the building with a moan, as Seraph, in her stolen hovercycle, fired a blaster bolt at it. Tymen smiled weakly, his body bruised and bleeding, as his comrades came in to save the day.

"Nice to see you guys!" Louie shouted, as he fired at the Esx attempting to kill them.

The one that was harassing Tymen turned, and with a evil grin, lept at the hovercycle.

Juiso lept from it, and, with his staff consumed in it's own flame, sliced the Esx in half, fourtnatley the upper part falling from the uppermost levels on which the battle took place, but down to the writhing crowds.

"Tymen, Kovu, Louie, c'mon!" Seraph shouted, former most of them quickly obeying, but Louie and Kovu continued to fire round after round at the Esx, who didn't seem to die very easily.

"Right!" They abandoned there guns, and ran to the hover cycle as it lifted off, barely snagging the bars that protruded from the side. As the hovercycle wheeled around in the direction of the dock when, quite painfully, Kovu and Louie realized they hadn't caught the hovercycle alone, when one of the two Esx that had attached to there legs, reached up and bit clear through the back of Kovu's left knee.

"AAAAH!" He yelped in pain, as the Esx clawed up there backs torward the occupants of the hovercycle.

Seraph prepared to fire her blaster, but was quickly stopped by Louie.

"No! It could destroy the hovercycle."

"You don't expect me to let them kill you and get to us?!" Seraph spat.

"You won't need to." Louie said grimly, then looked to Kovu. The latter, quickly interpreting his plan, nodded.

"Wait, you're not gonna..." Before Seraph could do anything to stop them, they released there grips.

The ship conpensated for the loss of weight, as Seraph opened a comm channel.

"Ducky, were comming in, no bogies...and we've lost Louie and Kovu..."



After the crew had returned to the Penultimate, they quickly disembarked and went into HyperSpace, and then they retreated to the inner bowls of the ship: the rec room.

As they all descended the spiral staircase that connected the medical, tactical, and recreational rooms, the mood instantly changed from the deep, serious one it had been since they left Carrotous to something more hopeful. As a quick description, the floor was rather disco-esque, with lighted tiles that would go on and off. There where two bars, on the left and right side, with three stools each, and a bartender droid on each of them. In the far back was a karoke machine.

"What can I do ya for." The two bartenders said simultaniously. They dispersed amid the two bars, with Seraph, Juiso, and Tymen sat at the one to the left and Tyio, Ducky, and BlackSheep to the right.

"Didn't we just come from a bar scene?" Seraph asked, as she sat down infront of the endlessly glass cleaning droid.

"You think to much." Juiso quipped, as the bartender slid him a Medivian milkshake.



"Didn't we just come from a bar scene?" Tyio asked, as they sat down infront of the bartender droid.

"You think to much." Ducky said, as the droid slid her a Rigelion SynthAle Carrot beer.

"You know I think," Tyio said, swivling in his stool with his Medivian milkshake,"that Seraph just said the same thing over there."

"Why, what?" BlackSheep asked, sipping her Ribblion Lite.

"Chaos theory." Tyio stated.

"Explain." Ducky asked, proping her feet on Tyio.

"Like, for example, every time I drink some of this milkshake, somewhere else in the universe, someone is squirting milkshake out there nose." Once Tyio took a sip of the Medivian milkshake, Juiso, on the otherside of the bar, broke into hysterical laughter and milkshake seeped out of his nose. So, then Tyio decided to take a big gulp, and milkshake spewed from Juiso, as he rolled on the floor in laughter.



Seraph helped Juiso up from his laughting fit.

"Okay, so a duck..." Tymen began, but was stopped by a severe look from Seraph.

"Don't tell it AGAIN." She snapped.

"Okay, okay I won't, if you tell me something, Juiso." Tymen asked, taking a sip from his Ribblion Lite.

"What?"

"Where you're from, why you helped up and how you got that staff?" Tymen posed, and Juiso seemed rather uncomfortable with the question, until he awnsered.

"I grew up in Hagravid...the last electric city, y'know? I was the eldest son in a very rich family. I made excellent grades, and I was the defunct leader amid my peers," he elaborated,

"However, I med someone named Sorett. She tricked me into following her, one time, when I discovered that Sorett was just the staff, looking for a new victim. The Staff of Magma is a parasite, and a drug all in one. It feeds off the energy of your soul. In addition, it sends a regular pulse of energy to you. If you're body doesn't recieve that pulse, if you're more than a thousand feet from the staff, you will die. In Hagravid and by my father, I was exiled as a dark arts user. As I traveled, I became weaker and weaker, till I realized that I was loosing vital energy taken by the staff. The only way to replenish my energy is to do acts of pure good or evil, I opted for the former. But...the more I restore my energy, the more it feeds...so I must travel constantly, doing good deeds whenever possible." Juiso took in a deep breath. Seraph and Tymen looked blankly for a moment, impressed by this tale.

"Wow."



The afternoon turned into night, atleast as well as the internal clock could tell. They all became rather drunk, and began dancing to the tune of a insane song Tyio sang(but had never heard before) around midnight the medical droid transported them to the medical bay for de-intoxication, as they left HyperSpace and arrived at...



Up Next: Chapter Eighteen: The Leaves That Are Green