Chapter 5: Reconnection

Teus felt the overflowing power surging throughout him, his body vibrating with the sheer force of the technique. 

Sparks of plasma whirred around Teus more intensely than before. He quickly positioned himself, aligning his sword with the massive beast. 

“Is this angle good enough?”

“No, get lower.”

“...How about now?”

“Almost, tilt to your left.”

“...now?”

“...”

“...”

“Almost, wait for the beast to look in this direction.”

Alberion calculated every angle, assisting Teus with his precise targeting. His heart was pounding with anticipation. When the time was right, he struck.

“Sealed Technique—Spiral Style: Severance Stream!”

The glowing arc shot throughout the air like a zealous lightning bolt, aimed straight for the beast’s open mouth. 

On the exact course that Alberion had predicted the strike was within seconds of hitting the creature. But at the last possible instant the creature shifted its head, ever so slightly. It learned from their previous encounter. The attack barely missed the mark of the inside sensitive flesh, and instead hit the very durable exterior.

The attack bounced off of the centipede’s head like a paper airplane.

“Crap! It didn’t work!” 

Teus grumbled, watching as the Flame Storm Centipede turned its glowing eyes at his exact location. Its massive body writhed in agitation, and with a thunderous battle cry, it began charging toward Teus.

“It’s on to you! Get out of there Teus!” 

Alberion’s warning cut through the chaos. Teus did not need to be told twice. He zipped from his hiding spot and continued his pursuit of the ship, this time faster than ever. His pulse racing as the monster tore through the vast terrain in it’s destructive pursuit.

“If there’s any time I would need step 3, now would be the time!” he thought.

As Teus sprinted through the rocky battlefield the rumble of the mother centipede grew louder and louder.

A constant reminder of the dangerous predator closing in on him. His muscles burned, and his breath came in short, rapid spurts. Through the corner of his eye, he saw smaller figures also chasing him, shooting fireballs as they went. 

There were more of the babies who had came in a desperate attempt to aid their mother.

As Teus dodged them using his upgraded speed his eyes drifted to the battleship. It was still far, but clearly in sight, painfully in sight. He could feel his suit struggling, the energy reserves quickly draining with each step.

Alberion chimed in. 

“Teus, I think the Fire Storm Centipede’s attack damaged your plasma core. You’re leaking more energy than you’re supposed to! And your energy is rapidly depleting! At this rate, you won’t reach the ship before the Fire Storm Centipede catches up to you!”

Teus clenched his jaw tightly in frustration. His chest boiled in anger.

“I wish I could use it! If I could unlock Step 3…!” he thought.

[Warning: Plasma core is depleting from energy: Retreat advised.]

[Warning: Plasma core is depleting from energy: Retreat advised.]

The suit blared out the warning for Teus as he continued to make his way through the rumbling landscape. That kind of speed would have helped him, but wishing was not going to aid him now. He had to keep going with what he had. Teus muttered under his breath as his feet pounded against the ground.

“Just hold out...just a little bit longer.” 

But then, the worst happened…

The energy in his suit depleted entirely, the familiar crackle of plasma immediately stopped fading around him. The world seems to slow down as his sealed technique had come to a abrupt halt. No more sparks, no more speed.

His momentum stumbled and his body in an instant began to feel heavy.

“...Crap!”

Teus thought to himself whilst still trying to run his way to the ship. Alberion’s voice crackled through, saying. 

“Teus! On your 10 o’ clock there is a centipede, dodge accordingly.”

Teus now wheezing for air, heeded the command and ducked out of the way of the centipede, his movements sloppy. He crashed on the ground and struggled to get up.

“Teus, if you don’t do something soon, you’re going to die!” Alberion pleaded.

The monsters began to surround him as he kept running. Not losing sight of the ship.

“I can’t…go any faster.” He thought.

He heard a loud boom from behind. As he turned his head, he saw the mother beast. Towering over him, clearly in view once again. Her flames burning with vengeance and her many eyes locked onto Teus, as if to anticipate his next attempt of escape. It was all too imminent.

“Teus!” Alberion yelled.

But before he could react, the monster once again let out a frustrated roar that completely shook the island around them. The scream erupted from the Fire Storm Centipede, sending a shockwave from its cry that slammed into Teus with the force of a tidal wave. 

The sheer force ascended him off the land, sending him blasting through the air like a ragdoll. The wind bellowed and howled in his ears as he tumbled uncontrollably. The world spun violently around him.

He caught a glimpse of the ground below. The ship that was once within reach was now a far distant speck. Desperation clawed at him, but so did the realization: That the mother beast was now closer than ever and his suit had failed him.  As Teus continued to spin he thought to himself.

“...What…What do I do now…?”

His eyes slowly but surely faded into darkness, as he lost his last bit of consciousness.

§

Drops of water splashed onto the hard surface of rubble.

Teus slowly stirred awake, finding himself squished between rocks with no sign of light. His entire body pulsing with pain, his limbs feeling as heavy as lead. The darkness completely surrounded him and it took a moment for him to realize that he was buried underneath piles of rubble.

His head vigorously throbbed, and his mouth tasted of dust and blood. Alberion’s voice attended to him.

“You’re finally awake. The suit recovered some energy, and fixed your plasma core while you were out, but I didn’t know if you’d be awake to use it.”

Teus groaned, shifting painfully as the dust and rubble weighed him down, wiped the blood from his forehead.

“Alberion, how am I still alive? How long was I out for?”

“After the mother of the Fire Storm Centipedes sent you flying, you eventually landed in a fissure and got buried by the debris. Seeing you get flung like that, the beast most likely assumed you were dead and went her way.”

“I see…”

“As for your crew members; with the burning ship it seemed certain to her that there would be no survivors. But clearly it underestimated our battle suit’s durability.”

Teus weakly chuckled, clearly still surprised at the durability himself.

“I guess, ha… I don’t give the suit much credit either…” 

He said whilst panting in between words. 

“Welp, let's find our way out of here.”

With gritted teeth, he clawed his way through the rubble, pulling himself, slowly, free from the debris. Every muscle in his body screamed in clear protest, but Teus pushed through. 

Emerging into the open air, battered but breathing. He stood hands on his knees, his eyes squinting but determined as the world around him still spun. Alberion spoke to him again.

“Teus, I can still sense them. The others—one of them is close. But you don’t have long, he’s hanging on by a thread.”

Teus wiped sweat from his brow and nodded.

“Got it.”

In an brilliant flash, despite the aching body. Teus used his newly recovered energy and sped off, adrenaline fueling every step.

His focus sharpened as the remnants of the broken battlefield came into his vision, flames still desperately licking at the battle airship's hull. He pushed through the pain, regardless. What he was looking for quickly came into view.

Near the battle-torn ship, one of his crewmates.

Bruised and battered, clung desperately to the edge of a rock cliff. His grip was clearly faltering, knuckles white from his effort.

The ground beneath him finally began to crumble and he screamed as the rock was utterly giving way.

“Ack, guys, please!...Help!”

In that critical second, Teus appeared, much like a bolt of lightning. With precision and speed, he grabbed the wrist of his crewmate right before he could fall into the ocean abyss below.

“Te-Teus?! You… saved me…again…”

The crew member stammered, wide eyed and very much shaken.

Teus flashed a tired but warm wide smile, gripping his wrist tightly to pull him up.

“I’m just glad I made it in time…”

Teus pulled the crewmate to safety, his heart still pounding from the adrenaline still coursing through him. He had little time to catch his breath before he turned to ask.

“What’s going on? Where are the others?”

Before the words fully left his mouth, the rest of the team quickly came into his vision.

All of them were beaten, their armor torn and clearly signed from the battle with the beast’s little ones. 

Captain Hawk was among them, looking worse for wear than even Teus. Though, still carrying an air of smugness. One of the crewmates examined the damages on their gear before saying.

“Ha, I wonder how long it’ll take for the nanobots to repair the damages on this one? Eh, Hawk…Hawk?”

Though the captain was not respondent, he had his eyes firmly fixated on Teus, almost burning with focus. The captain scoffed, chortling as if this became some twisted joke.

“Well, well, well. Look who’s still alive?”