Tempo Trigger Chapter 24
Library of Leng
By Nanaki
1855 A.D.
"Welcome, to my fortress!" Leng threw open two huge metal doors as if they were nothing. "This is the center of operations for the Soul Knights. They were originally based in the middle ages, about 900 years ago, but they got so powerful that the Lavoid began to track them down. I had my baby brother Moogoo send them here, the center of the resistence movement against the Lavoid. Raganorn here is their leader."
"Uh..." Magus started to say something, but couldn't decide where to begin.
Leng's expression suddenly grew more dire. "Right now, there are two wars being waged against the Lavoid in two seperate eras. Follow me to the information center, and I'll explain more." He gestured down the hall. Magus nodded, and he and Ertai followed him down several flights of stairs, ending up in a room packed to the gills with computer monitors. Leng began switching them on. "One of those wars is taking place in the future. I am from that era. The Lavoid is so powerful then, I doubt any human force could defeat him."
"Well-" Magus began again, but Leng cut him off this time.
"The other war is taking place much farther in the past. There, we have some hope for victory. If we can muster enough men, with enough power..."
"Excuse me." Magus finally got a word in edgewise. "But how bad can this thing be? I mean, his parent was bad news, yes, but "just" three humans were able to get rid of him."
"I'm guessing you were one of the three." Leng smiled a little again.
"Landed the killing blast myself." Magus smiled. "But that doesn't matter."
'If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have brought it up.' Ertai thought at him. He turned in time to see Leng give him a knowing glance, as if in agreement.
"What does matter is the other two humans were basically as powerful as I am. I hate to admit it, but you're more powerful than I. So just how strong is this thing?"
"Well, first describe the Lavoid you killed. Then maybe I can explain better."
"All right." Magus proceeded to tell him everything he knew about Lavos, from his physical appearance, to the types of spells he used, to Magus' first attempt to kill him, and more.
"I see..." Leng nodded. "Sounds like you guys had a basic Class C. They're the average workers among the Lavoid race. The things do get a lot weaker than that, but the "working class" gets stronger too..." Leng pressed a red button on a console, and every screen on one wall suddenly lit up. Magus involuntarily clenched his fists at what he saw. A Lavoid shell, but with a five pronged "eye piece" and additional, smaller spikes sticking out of the main ones. "This is a Class B Lavoid, and he seems to be a strong one too." Leng pressed the button again. "This, is his battle armor." Magus frowned. It looked a good deal like Lavos, but with sharp edges in just the right places to look much more intimidating. "And this, is actually him, the core." Magus' eyes widened in surprise now. "From what you told me of the appearance of your core, I would have to guess that your atmosphere was poisonous to him, and he needed a life support suit when exposed to it. Obviously, this one doesn't. This is what they really look like." Magus stared intently, memorizing every detail of what had just become his mortal enemy. It was a blue skinned man, but with no nose, and glowing orange eyes. Spikes jutted out of his head rather than hair. Longer spikes covered his back. And he had the most arrogant smirk Magus had ever seen.
"I didn't expect them to look so human." Ertai observed, surprised.
"No one did..." Leng drifted off, clearly recalling something.
"Well, he looks like a world of hurt, but appearance means nothing." Magus said. "Just how powerful is he?"
Leng sighed again. "You should know, as the classes, go up, their power increases exponentially."
Magus growled. "Ten times! He's ten times as strong as Lavos?" Leng pointed up at the ceiling. "More?! What, forty, fifty?"
Leng had to smile at his disbelief. "A basic Class B is one hundred times as strong as the strongest Class C. And judging from what I've seen him do firsthand, I'd say our boy here is more than basic."
Magus turned back to the wall of monitors. "Does he have a name?"
"Anyway..." Leng plainly chose not to answer that question. "That's why we're mustering as much power as we can to throw against him. Hundreds of men more powerful than myself have perished at his hands. I'm currently the leader of this resistance against him, due to the fact that everyone better than me has been killed or... Well, has been killed. We're not powerful to go against him directly yet, so we're constantly searching for ways to undermine his power. Now, I'm sure you two want to join the fight against him."
"You can count on it!" Magus clenched his fist again.
"Yeah!" Ertai said simply, and enthusiastically.
"Magus, you're powerful enough to begin helping me right away." Magus looked like he would have been ready to launch back into battle, had Leng said otherwise. "Ertai, you have an enormous amount of power lying within you, but you can't control it yet. I would recommend that you spend some time training with a good friend of mine, a Mr. Darkness."
"Mr. Darkness? He sounds cool already." Ertai grinned.
"He operates about thirty years ago, and can help you increase whatever you want. Magic, speed, strength, etc."
"Sounds really cool." Ertai smiled, "But how long am I supposed to stay there?"
"As long as you need." Leng said. "I'd recommend a full year. After all that, you'll be able to tear apart a Class C with your bare hands, and you can return to the same moment you left at, or a little later, if you so choose."
"Why don't all of you go train with him then?" Ertai asked.
Leng smiled. "Well, he wouldn't do me much good, but it would be nice to have some time to train. However, if too many of us start increasing our power in one place, the Lavoid will start tracking us down. We're already running a high risk here."
Suddenly, a girl looking to be about Ertai's age appeared at the door. "Brother, what happened? I heard fighting outside, but as usual, the men wouldn't let me go have a look."
Leng turned from her back to Magus and Ertai. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my sister, Seraphina." Magus nodded curtly, while Ertai actually bowed. "Sis, these are two warriors who're going to be joining in our fight against the Lavoid. I was merely "testing" them."
"You just love to show off, don't you?" She teased him.
"Not as much as I used to." He sighed. "I need to talk to you later, but can you leave us alone for the moment?"
"Okay." She turned around, and closed the door behind her. Ertai stared at the closed door for a moment, before turning back to Leng.
"Anyway Ertai, there's no reason why you can't go right now. There's a room full of Gates in the very bottom of the fortress. One of them will take you straight to Mr. Darkness' place. Should we expect you back here in a few minutes, or...?"
"Actually, I think I'll come back a few weeks down the road. Magus has put up with me pretty well so far, but I think he needs some time alone."
"All right, we'll see you then." Ertai nodded, and quickly walked out of the room.
"I'm worried about that boy..." Magus looked thoughtful.
"Whatever for?" Leng looked at him, surprised.
"He totally lost it back there, in the fight. He got so mad that he couldn't control himself. I think that's a weakness an enemy could easily take advantage of."
"It's a weakness that can easily be turned into a strength." Leng told him, turning to fiddle with a console. "Unlike you, the boy is in touch with his emotions. Once he learns to bring them under control just enough to focus on the fight, he'll be a force to be reckoned with."
"So you say..." Magus glared at him.
"You could learn a thing or two from him." Leng continued. Magus decided to change the subject.
"Look, I sure wouldn't mind killing another Lavoid, but the main reason I came here was to look for my sister."
Leng looked up, and walked over to another console. "Do you have any idea where or when she would be?"
"No." Magus said simply.
"We'll have to do this the hard way then. Put your hand on this." He pointed to a silver panel on the console. Magus did so, and a bright flash emanated from it. He felt a tingling sensation in his fingers. "Now the machine will scan every time period from the time life began on our world, searching for any DNA that could be a relative of yours, adjusting for the two X chromosomes, of course."
"A machine can do THAT?" Magus asked, surprised. Then scratched his head. "What's DNA?"
"The machine can do it, yes. So we will find her eventually. However, there are almost four billion years to scan. It's going to take a while."
"I've already waited a LONG time." Magus clenched his fist. "But I guess a little more won't kill me..."
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Ertai found the Gate room fairly easily. There were so many different people walking around the fortress, in so many varying styles of clothes, that he fit in just fine. The lone guard in the room didn't look at all surprised when he walked in. "Where to?" He asked boredly.
"Um... Which one goes to Mr. Darkness' place?" Ertai asked. The gaurd pointed to a sign over a Gate on the far end of the room, reading, "This way to Wilhelm Darkness' training facility." "Okay then." Ertai nodded, then warily stepped around the pulsating blue orbs, until he came face to face with the one he wanted. He reached out to touch it, and it suddenly expanded. He yelled in surprise as he was sucked into the swirling blue mass.
Ertai found himself drifting in a sea of soft, wavy blue lines. But he barely had a good look around before he found himself being spit out inside of a brick building. "You must be the latest from Leng." A voice stated. Whirling around, Ertai saw a man leaning back in a chair, his feet up on a dusty desk, an odd, large hat concealing his eyes. "He doesn't send many recruits my way, you know, so he obviously thinks you're something special." Now the man stood up, revealing blue eyes and silver hair under the hat. He was wearing a brown jacket that came almost down to his feet. "My full name is Wilhelm Lars Darkness, and I've trained the best of the best in Leng's forces. You would be..."
"I am Ertai Vecar." He stated simply. "And I'm here to become as powerful as I possibly can." He looked back at Wilhelm's face, and saw him wrinkle his nose slightly.
"Sorry, that's a name you don't hear too often in 1825." He explained. "Anyway, I can't take your power up to maximum. A good number of the people Leng sends here don't HAVE a maximum, but I can give you a good start. And there's no reason we can't start things off right now, unless you need to rest or something."
"Well..." Ertai began. He sure wanted to rest, but on the other hand, endurance was one of the things he most wanted to build up. "Let's go, Mr. Darkness."
He took his hat off, and left it on the desk. "Please, all my trainees call me Billy." He took off the jacket, revealing a black combat suit underneath. "Let's go."
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"So Leng, what did you want to talk to me about?" Seraphina asked upon returning, and finding Magus gone.
"Sis, none of our spies are good enough." He informed her bluntly.
"That's because your spies are all MEN." She insisted. "Send a good woman instead, and she'll get you anything you need."
"Think you could be a "good woman?" He asked her, not looking up from what he was working on.
"Huh?" She was taken aback.
"I need you to go to 8,000 B.C. and gather as much information on the Lavoid AND the king as possible. As much information on their society as possible. As much information as you can possibly absorb. Besides Raganorn, you're the only one I can count on for sure."
"What brought about this sudden change of heart?"
"We're running short on time. Moogoo and Habeeb are both in the same time now. I don't know what's come over them, but we need a strategic advantage, and we need it fast. You're the only one who can give it to me."
"It's nice to be appreciated for a change." She smiled, albeit a little nervously. "You can count on me, brother." She turned to leave.
"Oh, and as always..." She turned back. "If you run into father, do your best to kill him."
"Yes..." She nodded, but her smile vanished as she left the room.
Leng grimaced as he turned back to the console. 'The situation is getting grim. We can't handle any more than we're doing now. It's actually a good thing Ertai won't be back for a few weeks. Maybe we'll have things pinned down by then...' He put his head down on the console. 'And if not, then it's ALL up to him...'
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"That kid's gonna be stronger than all of us." - Piccolo
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