Chapter Text
The mist of the Wrekkerton Bogs steamed up the surrounding air and gave off the pungent stench of the nearby gas emissions.
Amid this, however, lay the location General Pyrus had been looking for.
He would need to tread carefully however.
If the abandoned Cicadabot base was still active, his Red and Yellow colourings would give his position away almost immediately.
Cicadabots may have been a shell of their former glory, but the remaining units that were still active could still be cunning enough to find and capture him.
He kept to the sides of the entrance shutter doors, near to the swamp’s trees and shrubbery.
The doors themselves were wide open, but that would not give the sign of true abandonment.
Cicadabots were mere scavengers now, clinging to the last vestiges of their anti-Ramechan programming. They would kidnap Pyrus purely cos their system directories would order them to.
Cautiously, he entered the base.
Keeping his presence to a minimum, Pyrus kept his torch off and instead relied on his eyesight and hearing to find his way through.
This only got him so far, however.
He was about to pull his torch from his Torso shell when he heard noise coming from up ahead.
The darkened corridor was his saving grace as he could make out the outline of a Cicadabot, its red eyes glowing down the metal tunnel.
Pyrus backed up against the wall slowly before steadily retreating into his shell, keeping his movement steady so as to not set off any motion sensors on the Drone’s part.
It slowly glided passed his prone form, its hover wings emanating the slow humming noise they were known for.
Somewhat worn down and flickering as the remaining battery power it had left soldiered on to keep it functional, but no less dangerous.
It wasn’t worth the chance to be spotted.
Where there’s one, there’s likely more.
Once out of sight, Pyrus reverted out of his shell and proceeded down the corridor.
After a long while traversing the base and avoiding active drones, Pyrus’s Flipbook eventually directed him to the doorway to his right.
The radar began beeping wildly as he directed the small handheld device over the broke metal doorway.
He looked up at the large doors before returning to his Flipbook screen.
Adjusting the touch panel with his finger, Pyrus changed the emanating radio signal and the large doors opened rapidly.
Taking a look inside, the room was medium sized with very little to stand out among the rest of the base he had searched.
The exception being the large sickly coloured machine at the far side, against the back wall.
It was a large circular apparatus with what looked to be a control panel by the right hand side of it.
Pyrus held his Flipbook device out towards it and the beeping got slightly faster,
“There you are,” He said to himself.
Making his way over to the control panel, the Grizzled Rhino Turtle looked over the buttons and activated the system.
The machine’s button panels lit up as did the screen in front of him as it lit up the room with a blue-white gaze.
“Heh, takes me back,” He again said to himself.
Pyrus began pressing the various controls on the panel whilst also holding his Flipbook in the other hand.
“Bingo,” He said softly.
Pressing the final control on the keyboard, the panel reacted with a hissing noise and the sound of old technology screeching as a holder slid it’s way out of the side of panel.
The object on the inside of the holder illuminated the room with a bright yellow glow, temporarily blinding Pyrus.
When he adapted to the sudden light, he looked upon the light source.
“Torp, I hate it when you’re right,” He said to himself as he gazed upon the glowing Fruit-like Gem.
It resembled an enlarged Lemon and glowed with dazzlingly yellow Beryl stones.
The Red Rhino Turtle reached his hand out to grab the object.
“Halt!” Came a sudden voice.
Pyrus shot round to find two Cicadabot drones stood in the doorway to the room, aiming their Destructor Rays squarely at him.
“Do not touch the controls!” One screeched out, “Surrender or we will destroy you!”
“Yeah,” Pyrus said in response, “Should have seen that coming,”
Pyrus slowly raised his arms, taking a moment to glance at the two drone’s weapons.
A slight movement tingled on one of the units.
Was it a delayed attack on the part of the drone’s worn mechanics?
Was it merely adjusting to keep its weapon firmly set on Pyrus?
He likely would never know the answer but the motion caused Pyrus’s instincts to kick in and he drew his laser pistol from his hip and fired at the right-hand drone, ducking to the floor to avoid both their own weapons hitting him.
While his target landed, Stumbling the Cicadabot back from the shot to its casing, the retaliated efforts of both drones caused the Beryl Lemon to be hit by their beams.
Soon the room was flashing with discharging bolts in all directions.
Pyrus turned round from his prone position to see the machine was once again active.
The control panel began flashing wildly as the Beryl Lemon spun on its axis.
A whirring noise began slowly rising and getting louder.
Pyrus and the two Cicadabot drones stared on as the circular part of the machine started flashing and its circumference spinning wildly.
“Alert! Alert!” One drone screeched out,
“Shadow portal active! Can not control! Can not control!”
Pyrus stood up to see the circular machine began shooting energy into its central point.
As quickly as it began, the entire diameter was encased in a bright green glow and the back wall was replaced with a sickly looking green liquid.
Pyrus turned to the two drones,
“What have you infernal machines been doing here?” He screamed in anger, “What is this?!”
“Silence!” The closest drone replied back, “You will not address your superiors...”
The Drone was interrupted by a blood-curdling screeching noise.
Pyrus held his ears at the horrid shriek and turned to face the machine, where the noise was apparently coming from.
Through the floating liquid, he could make out a faint silhouette. Whatever it was, it was huge.
It appeared flat from a head-on view and had spindly legs on its side.
Pyrus stepped back out of its path and up against the side wall, closer to the control panel and the Lemon Beryl.
From Pyrus’s side view position, he saw a Jet Black insectoid head poke out of the portal.
It’s large pincers snapped together accompanied by a disgusting sounding clack.
Two jointed and clawed legs followed the circular head and stepped out of the portal, followed by a 2nd pair of equally segmented set of legs.
The creature took a moment to take in its surroundings, moving its antenna in a wild fashion.
From Pyrus’s perspective, this giant creepy-crawly was large enough to stare the Cicadabots squarely in the eyes.
“Halt!” The front-leading drone screamed at the creature, causing it to stare right at it with its Compound Eyes, “You will return to your dimension or we will be forced to retaliate!”
The creature seemingly did not understand the warning as it reacted with another horrible screech.
“Fire!” Shouted the drone, as the huge insectoid was soon barraged with laser fire from the two Cicadabot Destructor rays. The creature screamed as it was hit by an onslaught of rapid laser attacks.
However it was still able to hold its own.
In a fit of seeming instinct, it ran towards the lead Cicadabot and rammed it with its huge chitinous head.
The Drone was sent flying out into the corridor and was slammed against the back wall with a loud crash.
The other Cicadabot flew back out of the way of the attack though it ultimately proved fruitless as the imposing creature leaped forward and grabbed the fleeing Drone in its huge mandibles.
Pyrus looked on as the creature began swinging its head wildly and its captured prey was repeatedly slammed against the floor and the wall of the corridor outside.
“While they’re all distracted,” the Rhino Turtle said as he walked back to the panel and grabbed the exposed Beryl Lemon, pulling it out of its holder.
The energy discharge temporarily created some resistance but he eventually removed it entirely.
The green portal dissipated as the machine whirred down and eventually shut off entirely.
Placing the Lemon Beryl into his torso shell, Pyrus slowly made his way out into the corridor.
The Cicadabot drone that was slammed against wall was now fully in pieces from the force.
Looking to his right, he could see the insectoid still had the other drone firmly in its grip and was violently slamming it off the metal floor still.
Pyrus pulled his Laser pistol out and aimed it back into the room he just exited,
“And just to make sure,” he said as he fired a small barrage of laser blasts at the control panel.
After 4 or 5 rapid rounds, the panel exploded in a big ball of flames and scorched the circular gateway.
However the firing laser rounds and the following explosion caught the attention of the creature further down.
It rapidly turned its entire body towards Pyrus, the Cicadabot drone now completely offline in its grip.
The large insect quickly snapped its mandibles together and sliced the entire Cicadabot in half, which fell to the ground in pieces.
Giving off a bloodcurdling screech, it charged at Pyrus.
Without hesitation, the Rhino Turtle turned heel and ran as fast as his aging joints would allow him.
Pyrus continued to run, his years of resistance service and training allowed him to keep ahead of the pursuing monster.
Now and then, he’d turn to see the creature’s progress but each time, its resolve would not give. It saw him as prey and there was no retreat.
“No choice, I guess!” He said to himself, stopping just by a large set of double doors.
Pulling out his Laser pistol, the Rhino Turtle fired onto the door a few rounds before it opened quickly. Before him stood another imposing Cicadabot Drone, though before it could react to his presence, Pyrus continued running down the corridor.
The Drone exited the doorway and turned to follow him but it was immediately mowed down by the Black insect chasing him.
The Cicadabot got up and raised it’s communicating antennae,
“Attention! Ramechan and Dark Ant running amok in the base. All units pursue and destroy intruders!”
Pyrus continued running through the base as he approached a fork in the road ahead and was suddenly blocked off by a small legion of Cicadabots.
“Don’t move, Ramechan!” One screamed.
Pyrus, however, continued to run and pulled a confident grin.
Sliding to the floor and retreating into his shell, the Rhino Turtle span through the legs of the lead drone and bounced off the wall behind.
Landing immediately on his feet, he continued his escape.
The Cicadabots meanwhile were met with the oncoming giant insect in pursuit.
“Open fire!” Screamed the lead drone as laser beams began firing down the corridor.
While a few hits met their mark, seemingly too weak to even slow down the creature, the degraded condition of the Cicadabot units resulted in aiming being off and the entire legion were knocked to the ground by the giant insectoid.
The insect itself was momentarily distracted by the various drone obstacles and began attacking them. One drone was held in place with its mandibles while another was pinned to the ground by one of its front legs. Any on-target laser beams from the remaining units seemingly bounced off the creatures black exoskeleton. One Cicadabot attempted to get the drop on it from behind but it was downed when the creature swung its large, bulbous posterior and swatted it to ground before finishing it off by impaling it in the ground with a protruding stinger.
The large insect then disposed of the remaining two drones when it swung its head and launched the unit in its mandibles into the both of them, destroying all three in a single strike.
It then proceeded to grab the head of the Cicadabot drone it had pinned to the ground with its mandibles and effortlessly ripped it from its body.
Victorious, the Dark Insectoid looked up to find its original prey, only to see it had given it the slip.
Though a yellow glow did grab its attention from the direction it was heading.
Leaving the Cicadabot base, Pyrus ran into the open entrance area before leaping into the nearby trees and continuing up the incline.
Eventually, he reached an open hillside where the abandoned base could be seen from overhead.
Finally out of breath, the aging Rhino Turtle slowed at the top of the hill and looked back.
The base itself seemed lacking in activity from where he was stood.
One wouldn’t think there was some kind of creature running amok inside.
Pyrus regained his composure and felt in his Torso shell for the Lemon Beryl but could not find it.
He desperately began patting his torso wildly before retracting both arms inside to rummage around.
Nothing.
“Oh no…” He said worryingly, pulling his arms back out to his waist.
Summertime in Trinity City always had a warming and almost nostalgic vibe for Indigo as she stared out the window, momentarily distracted from her paperwork. Her Violet mane and Blue skin tone illuminated by the outside sunlight.
Out in the courtyard area, she could see Rhino Turtles, Hammerhead Orcas and Flying Cats all going about their day. Families taking their calves out to enjoy the sunshine as small stalls sold various treats and souvenirs.
She was snapped back to reality when a knock came to her door.
“It’s open” She yelled out.
The door opened and a Bespectacled Green-furred Flying Cat walked in, wearing a Black and Yellow hooded jacket,
“It’s just me,” He said in response, carrying two hot mugs in either hand and pushing the door open with his back.
Indigo turned around to greet her friend,
“Hi Wings, that time already, is it?” she asked him.
“You’re not losing your memory already, are you?” The Cat replied jokingly, sitting in the chair in front Indigo’s desk and placing the two mugs on top, “Surely you haven’t started forgetting our break times?”
Indigo walked towards her desk chair and pulled it back to sit in,
“Heh, No, No, perish the thought,” she said happily, “Just thinking was all,”
“Oh?” Wings pondered, “About what?”
“It’s nothing really,” She said in response, though Wings was now looking back with a raised eyebrow and a cynical smile on his face.
Indigo looked back and saw his reaction,
“Hey, don’t you throw my own eyebrow trick on me like that,” She jokingly said at him.
“Used to work on us back in the day,” Wings replied, relaxing his face, “Guess only you could master it,”
Indigo picked up her cup and took a sip of the hot contents,
“Well that’s exactly on my mind I suppose,” she relented, “It’s been 7 years today since Trinity City was liberated.”
Wings stopped mid-sip and looked back at his friend,
“Wow. It’s been that long already?” He asked almost existentially, “Time just flies by, eh?”
They both sat silently for a while on the notion until Wings continued to break the silence,
“Ever considered getting back into the Politics game? You were a really important figure in setting our parliament back up,”
Indigo scoffed at the idea,
“Please, who wants to sit around listening to politicians all day?” she asked, “I’ll leave that to the Queen and the Prime Minister thank you,”
Wings finished up his hot drink and placed the cup on the desk,
“It’s no secret that you’re hankering to get out of this desk job though,” He said almost accusingly.
Indigo glared back at him, practically insulted,
“You watch your tongue, young man,” she replied unhappily.
Wings however didn’t back down,
“Come on, Indigo. Don’t give me that. We’re not in Team Chimera anymore, those days are behind us. Right now, I see a friend who still has that fire in her eyes. A fire she can’t put out,”
Indigo leaned back in her chair and pulled a look of sullen agreement,
“I guess I’d be lying if I said I didn’t agree,” she lamented. Getting out of her chair, she walked back over to the window outside, “But maybe I’m being selfish when I say I feel lost in this rut.”
Wings got up himself and accompanied her to look out alongside her.
“Look at us,” She said to him, “A world at peace, eh? How hard did we fight to get this back?”
Wings thought on the question,
“Well really,” He started, “We know who really brought all this back,”
Both Ramechans stared out the window in the direction of the Team Chimera statue from their liberation parade, now looking a little sun bleached from years of exposure to the elements.
“Still no word from him I take it?” Wings asked tentatively.
“Seven years, Wings,” Indigo replied with, “Seven years since any of us even saw Gemini. Everything we went through together, all those adventures and hardships but not a single visit from him. Not even a postcard,” She turned away from the window and walked towards her desk, then turning and resting against it, crossing her arms, “You know I’d almost be tempted to request an expedition to find his sorry butt. Drag him back to the city he saved and make him appreciate the peace he brought through his actions,” She then sadly looked down at the floor at the idea.
Wings stirred his head to the side,
“But you know as well as I that he wouldn’t agree to that,” He finished for her, “Even if we knew where he was,”
Indigo groaned in agreement,
“Hmm. Besides, after this long, I’m not even sure he’d be the same person anymore,” she pondered, “None of us are quite who we were when the Cicadabots were finally stopped. Manta only knows what Gemini is like now,”
Wings hesitated on the suggestion he was about to make,
“He may not even be alive anymore?”
Indigo looked up,
“Oh he’s alive,” She said confidently, “I can feel it. He took on an entire army on his own and then destroyed a big Cicada Mech single-handedly. Nothing could really be a threat to him, however mysterious his powers were,”
Both Indigo and Wings were suddenly met by a knock at the door to the office.
“It’s open!” Indigo yelled out as she lifted herself off her desk and turned round.
The door opened and a small Green and White Cactus creature entered, poking its White proboscis around the door,
“There’s a gentleman at the reception to see you Ms. Indigo,” the young intern said.
“Thanks, Peri,” Indigo replied, somewhat lackadaisical, “But tell him I’m currently busy right now with paperwork or something. I'm not in the mood for visitors right now,”
Peri stayed at her position in the doorway,
“He said it was of utmost urgency. Told me to say his name was...Pyrus?”
Indigo and Wings both glanced at each other,
“Pyrus?” Indigo asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Red and Yellow Rhino Turtle slowly walked up and down the foyer to the parliamentary building and took in the royal brown marble floor and mahogany decor.
Eventually snapping round when he heard the echo of a door shutting further inward from the entrance. He pulled a slow smile as he saw Indigo and Wings walking up towards him.
“Well if it isn’t the old war dog himself,” Indigo snarked to him.
Pyrus lowered his eyebrows at the remark,
“Still got the wise cracking sass, I see,” He replied back.
Both eventually caught up and gave each other a big hug.
Pulling back, Pyrus looked passed her and towards Wings,
“My haven’t you grown, Cat-boy" He said observantly, “One day you’ll grow into those wings of yours,”
Wings walked up to the Red and Yellow Rhino Turtle and both grabbed their hands in a firm grasp, which Wings slightly winced at.
“It’s good to see you, General,” the Green Cat strained to say.
“How is your brother doing?” Pyrus asked, “Last I heard of him, he was dealing with that business over on Balliwick. Very odd to have random Dobumon suddenly grow in size for no conspicuous reason but then end as soon as it started, eh?”
Pyrus then gave off an awkward chuckle as Indigo walked up behind him.
“But no doubt,” She started, “Not the reason you are here, is it?”
The old Rhino Turtle turned to face her,
“Ever the sharp one, eh Indigo?” He asked before his smile turned to a one of cold seriousness, “You’re right. I have something to tell you both,”
Wings walked round to meet Pyrus’s gaze alongside Indigo,
“Well?” he asked.
“Not here,” Pyrus replied, “Don’t want anyone to know until I’m certain. Is there anywhere we can talk in private?”
The Trinity library was a large interior filled with rows of bookshelves on both the ground and upper balcony floors, though today it was seemingly desolate.
“You sure this is quiet enough?” Indigo asked Wings, “I do have my office we could have used,”
“No, this will do nicely” Pyrus said in response, “There may be something in here that might help with what I have to say,”
Indigo leaned against one of the bookshelves in the aisle they all occupied and crossed her arms,
“Alright Pyrus,” she began, “You called this meeting so what’s this important info you have to tell us?”
Pyrus paused before answering,
“It’s about Torp and that fruit you pulled out of Gawlim’s lab 7 years ago,”
Indigo uncrossed her arms and lifted herself back to her feet as Wings also looked on intently,
“What about it?” she asked.
“Let’s just say,” Pyrus began, “Our Hammerhead friend was right to be suspicious about the Cicadabots even after Gawlim was out of the picture. He suspected the good Doctor was conducting more than he was letting on and well, turns out we were wrong to doubt him,”
Indigo momentarily interrupted,
“There was no limit to Torp’s suspicion it seems, nor that slime Gawlim’s depravity,”
“Indeed,” Pyrus confirmed, “That Fruit Gem you found at his palace was only one he was in possession of. It took me years of traversing across Taggshead but I eventually discovered the hidden base where he was holding the other,”
“So you got the Gem out of there, right?” Wings asked.
Pyrus responded with a look of both shame and fear,
“I almost did. I dropped it in the confusion. Turns out the base wasn’t quite as abandoned as I thought,”
“Cicadabots?” Indigo asked.
“Cicadas,” Pyrus answered, “And something far worse. The machine that Gem was hooked up to, it was some kind of gateway. A gateway to Manta only knows where,”
Indigo was already pondering the notion of the story,
“Well we do know Gawlim was never shy of experimenting on new tech concepts,” she stated, “Some of our sources even claimed he tried tapping into more mystical approaches to world domination. Perhaps this was one of those efforts,”
“If it was,” Pyrus answered, “Then we’d better pray to the Manta herself that it never fully succeeds. What I saw in that base was nothing short of evil incarnated,” Indigo and Wings looked at each before turning back to listen as Pyrus continued, “It had no air of reasoning. It was nothing more than a vicious, mindless beast. It destroyed the entire Cicadabot squadron in there like they were made of cardboard. Huge claws and horrid, lifeless bug-eyes...”
Pyrus drifted off, seemingly thinking about the experience even now.
As Indigo stared on at her former-Commander's slow descent, Wings was lost in thought.
“Bug-Eyes, you say?” He asked Pyrus, who came back to reality to answer the question.
“Yeah...” He replied, “Bug-Eyes, Jittering Antennae and a huge stabbing stinger at the back,”
Wings looked up and turned to face the General,
“And it was a gateway you saw it come out of, yes?” He asked.
“What are you getting at, Wings?” Indigo asked.
“Hold on one second,” The Flying Cat before he opened his wings and hovered above his two associates.
He drifted along the higher shelves of the aisle before pulling out a large Evergreen coloured book adorned with Golden spirals on the corners.
The cover read, ‘Conquest of Darkness,’
Wings glided back down to the floor and placed the book on the table surface in the middle of the aisle. He quickly flicked through the pages before stopping at a page near the start.
“Was this what you saw, General?” The Flying cat asked, pointing at a bunch of diagrams showing a Jet black Insectoid from a shoulder, side and birds-eye view.
Pyrus’s eyes widened,
“Yes that’s it!” He yelled, pointing at the book. He was momentarily interrupted by a loud shush from somewhere in the library, temporarily giving all three a bit of a shock.
Pyrus lowered his voice, “That’s what I saw. It came out of a green spiraling portal, I’d call it,”
“That was a Dark Ant you saw,” Wings confirmed, “They reside in the Darkness Dimension and are the manifestation of pure shadow and evil,”
Indigo looked upon the book,
“I didn’t think you'd be this clued up on this sort of thing,” she said to Wings.
Wings continued looking at the book as he answered,
“My friend Bedros majored in Dark magic back at the Trinity College,”
Indigo looked up from the statement,
“Oh that explains a lot,” she said calmly before turning back to both Wings and Pyrus, “So what do you propose we do about this, then? We’ll have to inform either the Queen or the Parliament about this if they pose a threat to Taggshead,”
Wings turned round to answer,
“I wouldn’t recommend that. These things feed off negative emotions like fear, anger, even depraved emotions like greed and lust. If we made this public, there’d be panic everywhere and that would make them stronger,” He turned back to face the book pages,
“Strong enough to even break the barriers between our worlds. They’d be unstoppable. Right now, the one you saw, General, is likely just living off physical shadow so it’s probably not at full power yet,”
Pyrus stood firm,
“If that was a single drone at less than full strength, then I’d dread to see an army of them at their peak, ” He fearfully said, then slapping a fist into his palm, “Then we need to work covertly, just like the old days. Though we’re going to need some assistance. Our old service pistols are useless against them...” He paused for a moment as he thought on a notion, “We need Gemini. I feel he’s the only one strong and confident enough to face these things,”
Indigo scoffed again at the idea,
“Please, General,” She said, “Gemini hasn’t been seen in 7 years. None of us know where he is,”
Indigo and Wings realised the silence coming from Pyrus as they both looked over at him. The Red Rhino Turtle’s pupils had shrunk and he twisted his mouth slightly.
“Except you know where he is. Don’t you, General?” Indigo accused, putting her hands on her hips.
“Hey, I’ve been on the road a while,” Pyrus replied, “You hear a lot of rumours. Rumours I can confirm are true,”
Wings’ eyes lit up at the notion that his friend was still alive and well,
“So where is he, General?” The Green Cat asked.
“He’s living in a small cabin a few miles North-East of High Hill,” Pyrus confirmed, “Real close to the Metro Republic border. Guess he really didn’t want to be found by any of us,”
“Yeah, well,” Indigo replied as she began walking down the library aisle, “Load of good that did him,”
Wings and Pyrus watched her walk passed them both.
“Where are you going?” Wings asked.
“I’m making a business trip to High Hill,” she replied, turning round to face them both, “See if I can make a deal with our old friend,”
The Green cat then got to his feet,
“Then I’m coming too,”
“No,” Indigo snapped, “You stay with Pyrus and see if you can find any weakness these Dark Ants have. See if you can contact Stobot as well. We’re going to need all the assistance we can get,”
Wings saluted,
“Yes Boss!”
Indigo paused for a moment in surprise before throwing a small smile.
She turned round and disappeared round the edge of the bookshelf.
The Cicadabot moved its head ever slightly from its prone position, the last vestiges of power it had left struggled to lift any part of its body. Though it didn’t make for much when its assailant landed the destructive blow to its head. The Dark Ant drove its front appendage right between the eyes of the Cicadabot and watched as its prey slowly shut down. The Jet Black arthropod then looked out to the open doorway into the sunlit and boggy opening. As its head hit the beams of sunlight shining in from outside, it felt a harsh burning sensation on its exoskeleton and shrieked in pain. Darting back into the shadow, it momentarily paused and flickered it’s antennae. Turning back towards the desolate tunnel, it slowly began scurrying towards the safety of the shadows.
The Tunnel then eventually lit up with the gleam of the yellow shining object that the small, shelled creature from earlier dropped in the confusion. Poking it with its front limb, it realised its light was not harmful and so picked it up with its mandible. Somehow this gem brought it to this world.
And where one could be brought in, so could others.
Indigo stepped off the Whaletrain just before it departed from the High Hill train station, which consisted of a small cottage-like building on the Eastern facing line, while the opposite track held a small and lone platform with a bridge crossing.
Carrying her small supply satchel, she walked up to what she believed was the ticket office where a very young looking Turquoise coloured Rhino Turtle sat, looking very bored.
He realised she was heading in his direction and so looked up from the paper puzzle which he was half-heartedly paying mind to and looked up to face her.
Before Indigo could reach the window however, another Pink coloured Rhino Turtle barged in front of her to face the Ticket clerk.
She didn’t look too happy either.
“That Whaletrain,” She said to the worker at the window, “It was due to leave 2 minutes from now. Why was it early and why didn’t you stop it?”
The Ticket clerk stood motionless and put on a positive demeanour,
“Yes sorry about that,” He said in an informative tone, “It must have just arrived early. There’ll be another in 5 minutes though if you want to just wait. Your ticket should still be valid,”
“I don’t want to wait” The customer said rather annoyed, “You should have stopped that train and let it leave when it was scheduled to. Now I’m going to be late for my scheduled manicure session over in Gosopolis,”
The Ticket clerk was unsure how to answer and began looking a little worried.
Indigo caught sight of this.
“He probably didn’t know you were here to be fair,” She said behind the annoyed customer, who then glared back at her, “I’m sure if you wait 5 minutes for the next one and explain why you were late to the session then they’ll understand. I doubt they’ll cancel the entire booking just cos of a missed train,”
The pink Rhino Turtle turned round completely and looked right into Indigo’s eyes,
“Why don’t you just mind your own business?” She said condescendingly before turning back to face the Ticket clerk.
Though before she could open her mouth further, Indigo interrupted her again.
“To be fair, you were the one running late yourself,” She said rather dryly, “It’s no good blaming others just because you can’t see your train times from your Ivory tower!”
The Pink Rhino Turtle then turned back around to face Indigo, her eyes beaming with frustration,
“Who do you think you are, young lady?” She aggressively asked, “How dare you come over here and boss me around like that!”
Indigo stood forward and was right up in the customers face,
“Oh you wouldn’t believe who I am, Missus Fussy Britches!” she said with much gall, as the customer slowly started backing up from the confrontation ahead, “I won’t have you waste this young Foal's time nor mine while you stand and complain about something that can very easily be fixed. Now do us both a favour and go sit for your next train,”
Indigo then pointed at the small bench by the side of the station building and remained in that position throughout the remainder of the exchange.
The Customer tried to speak up but Indigo just reacted by throwing her pointed hand in the direction of the bench again.
The Pink Rhino Turtle quickly glanced at the Ticket clerk before throwing her nose up at both of them with an annoyed,
“Humph!”
She then turned around and stormed over to the bench.
Indigo lowered her arm and shouted to her with a cheeky smile,
“I hope your manicure goes well!”
She then turned to face the Ticket clerk.
“Hello there,” she said to him, now more positively, “I was wondering if you could help me with some local rumours?”
The Ticket clerk stirred,
“There’s not much happens round these parts,” He replied, “Unless you’re one of those rich types who complain with the Doles digging up their precious gardens then there really isn’t much to talk about,”
Indigo put her hand on the counter and rested on it,
“I want to know about a hermit who lives in the area?” She asked.
The Ticket clerk pulled a bit of a confused look,
“You wouldn’t happen to mean that forest dweller would you?” He asked, “Green mane, Grey skin, very freakishly strong?”
“That sounds like him,” Indigo confirmed.
The clerk continued,
“He lives up in the nearby woods. About a mile out of town. He’s not known to come into town itself, only seen by travellers and hikers. People here tend to avoid him but he’s never really been considered a danger. Keeps to himself mostly,”
Indigo glanced down as she took in the word. She slapped the top of the counter with a positive beam,
“Thank you, you’ve been a great help today,” She said staring right at him, “I hope your day goes well,”
The Clerk blinked with surprise then beamed a smile,
“Your welcome,” He said much more happily, “Have a nice day yourself. Thank You,”
With that, Indigo left the station and headed into town.
The Dark Ant flickered its antennae on the Yellow gemstone to feel around its ominous shine. A stray spark shot up and hit the Ant in the head, making it jump back. Once it recuperated from the shock, it slowly went back to the shining object and began feeling it with its front limbs. It started rolling it back and forth between its forelimbs before taking a few scurries back to view it from a distance.
Gathering as much strength as it could, its antennae started to glow a sickly green. Eventually, though weak, the drone managed to fire off a small beam of the same colour and struck the gem with it. The shining fruit then began to shake from its position before briefly shooting upwards with a blinding flash. A green swirling spiral appeared above it, though it was seemingly fleeting as it was not fully solid. The backdrop of the metal wall could still be seen through its aura.
Regardless, it was enough time for something to fall through and land on the ground in front of the drone.
It looked and saw another one of its own kind on the ground in front of it.
The Drone walked up to its fellow Ant and began running its antennae over its body.
The 2
nd
drone rolled over on to its 6 legs and faced its summoner.
Both Ants began rubbing their antennae together as horrid, scuttling noises emanated from both of them.
The First drone pointed its head to the Yellow gemstone on the ground as the 2
nd
looked at it.
Picking it up in its mandibles, the 2
nd
drone then scurried out of the metal room and into the corridor, as the first drone followed.
Reaching the open exit of the base once again, this time in a pair, the first Drone poked its front limb into the sunlight. Once again it burned, but took longer for the sensation to come to.
The other Ant then swung its head and threw the yellow fruit gem out into the opening and shot a green beam from its antennae, striking the gem outside.
After once again hovering upwards and shooting off energy discharge, two portals appeared either side of the object before it fell back to the ground. Each portal spawning two more Ants before dissipating. All four of which shook their bodies in the sunlight rather uncomfortably.
The two from within the base then stepped out into the exposed sun, feeling a bit too warm but were no longer burning away from it.
All 6 Ants approached one another and began flicking their antennae while making various clicking noises.
Eventually, the largest of the drones, the one which shot the beam that spawned the two previous portals, grabbed the Gem from the ground with its mandible and walked back into the abandoned Cicadabot base.
The other five drones then followed as the interior began flashing yellow and green from the inside.
The Hexapod Saurian Beast slowly came to a halt on the dirt track which nestled between the forest trees outside of High Hill, which could be visible from the elevated location of the drop-off point.
The carriage it was pulling skidded to a halt too as the door opened and Indigo stepped out onto the grass.
“Thanks for the ride,” She shouted up to the Hammerhead Orca on the carriage roof who was steering the beast of burden.
“Don’t mention it,” He said back, “You just be careful round these parts. They say danger lingers round here,”
Indigo gave a brief chuckle,
“Don’t worry,” She said in response, patting her torso shell, “I’m protected,”
The Hammerhead then nodded and whipped the bridle,
“Hyah!” He shouted as the carriage sped off into the distance.
Indigo watched it disappear down the path before she turned and made her way down the foot path into the forest. Eventually the path darkened as the trees began to shadow over the dirt track.
Looking round into the gaps between the foliage, Indigo couldn’t help but feel a bit nostalgic.
“This sure takes me back,” She said to herself.
Suddenly she heard a noise coming from somewhere and she froze in place. Flicking her ears behind her in an alert fashion, she stood and listened out for any more sounds. After a while of waiting, her instincts served her well.
Leaping forward, she narrowly avoided her attacker and rolled to face them.
A large purple Canine with thick reptilian scales leading down its back stood over her original spot, its glowing green eyes were fixed squarely on its prey.
“Well, well,” he said, drool dripping from his fanged mouth, “Lost, little Rhino Turtle?”
Indigo stood up from her position and readied herself as the intimidating figure began rubbing his hands together, sheering his claws in the process.
Indigo looked to her side and could hear the sound of somebody else behind her. No doubt this guy was the distraction while his accomplice got the drop on her.
When the large Canine leaped forward to grab her, Indigo ducked and withdrew into her shell. She heard a huge clunk as her would-be attacker collided with his accomplice in a bumbling manner.
She then rocked herself to the side and reverted out of her shell to run forward and out of harm's way.
Stopping to turn around, she did indeed see the Canine bandit had ran straight into what appeared to be an Ice Turtle. Both now lying in a heap on the ground.
The Ice Turtle was the first one to get up, readjusting his Black-coloured rimmed hat and faced Indigo down.
“Well,” He said sounding a bit impressed, “You’re not so gullible after all,”
“Plenty of experience, boys,” Indigo replied confidently.
As his Canine accomplice got to his feet, the Ice Turtle positioned himself in a ready combat stance,
“No matter,” He said smiling, “We’re more than enough to take you out,”
The large Canine then put his hands into fists and also stood firmly, ready to pounce.
Indigo put her hands to her side and stared both attackers down as the wind rustled the nearby trees.
After what felt like a long time, the two bandits flinched back as a sudden rush of wind took all three by surprise.
Indigo closed her eyes to shield from the gush of air then quickly looked to see a familiar Grey and Green Rhino Turtle stood in front of her, facing towards the two attackers. The Ice Turtle and the Canid stared at the almost grizzled looking but no less firm figure in front of them.
“Hey, that’s him, Osho,” The Canid said to his associate, “That’s the Forest Hermit we’ve heard about,”
Osho stared up the Hermit for a few seconds,
“Yeah that’s him alright,” He confirmed in a lamenting manner, his eyes firm nonetheless, “Come on, Ark. The fight isn’t worth this,”
He then turned around and began walking slowly away from any possible confrontation. Ark continued to stare back briefly, giving a small growl before following Osho down the dirt path back towards town.
Indigo relaxed her body and walked up besides the Grey Rhino Turtle,
“You didn’t have to swoop in like that to save me,” She said softly.
“I was saving them,” He said in response, before turning to look at his friend with a small smile, “It’s good to see you again, Indigo,”
Indigo put a hand on her hip and returned with a smug friendly look,
“Ever the honourable sort, eh Gemini?” She replied back.
Both Rhino Turtles continued down the dirt trail, unbeknownst to the Dark figure which looked on from the shadows.
Indigo and Gemini came out of the wooded area and into an opening where a few tree stumps lay around a log cabin, complete with a woodcutter axe embedded into one of the residual trees.
Indigo stopped to take in the area and was bewildered by the sight.
“Erm, quaint,” She said in response.
Gemini replied without turning back to face her, continuing onward towards the door,
“Serves a purpose, I suppose,” He replied, as he opened the front door, “It’s amazing how quickly you learn building with timber when you live out in the wilderness,”
He then ushered his other hand towards the open door to offer the entrance.
Walking in, Indigo looked into the simple setup.
A single open space with a fireplace, two arm chairs, a wooden table and a kitchen area. A small bed took up the back wall by the rear window looking out to the rest of the woods.
“Wow,” She remarked, “Looks an awful lot like our old huts back in the Resistance village,”
Closing the door behind him and walking passed Indigo, Gemini headed towards the kitchen bench area,
“Yeah I mostly made them from memory,” He responded, pouring some water from a jug into a burnt looking kettle, “Though I imagine you’re not just here to reminisce,” he then said rather coldly.
Indigo stirred at this statement,
“And just what is that supposed to mean?” she replied very harshly, “Do I need a reason to visit an old friend?”
As Gemini finished pouring the water into the kettle, he turned towards the simple looking hob and went to place it on top. Pulling a piece of flint from the side of the appliance, he struck it with an absurd level of speed and the spark ignited.
He then turned to face Indigo again,
“Well, 7 years and you’re only now showing up?” He asked sounding rather offended.
Indigo turned to face him fully, just like the days of the old Resistance,
“Now look here, Delta!” She yelled, pointing at him with a stern finger, “You were the one who abandoned us like you did! None of us knew where you were so don’t start pulling the blame game now!”
She threw her arm down and continued to glare right at him with disconcerting eyes.
Gemini had flinched back from the outburst like he’d nearly caught his fingers in a door.
He then relaxed and began laughing softly,
“You always could keep us in line like that,” He then resounded, “Good to know your resolve is the same as ever. But am I right?”
Indigo was surprised by the sudden questioning,
“What?” She asked, just as the kettle began whistling from the heat.
“Am I right?” Gemini repeated, walking towards the kettle and removing it from the burning hob, “Are you here for a reason? It’s not like this place is that easy to find. It’s highly unlikely you would be out here by chance, which tells me you came looking for me and want my help,”
He turned round holding two hot mugs and put one on the bench to offer Indigo.
Indigo then admitted, picking up the hot cup,
“Yes, I did. A new threat to the world may be upon us and we could really use your help,”
Gemini finished sipping his hot drink before replying, looking down very sorrowfully,
“My help? I don’t help anyone anymore, not after what happened at the end of the war,”
“What?” Indigo answered back, putting her own cup on the table too, “You mean ending it? You stopped the Gawlim Empire, freed our land from tyranny. You know there’s a huge statue of us in the central square of Trinity City? You gained quite a following of fans in particular,” She then reached into her travel satchel and pulled out a pile of paper issues, waving them up as she continued, “Me and Wings are always getting fan letters and unlicensed merchandise sent to us. Just look at these comics that keep coming through our post deliveries,”
She then tossed the issues onto the table top to reveal the incredibly crude colourised drawings of Gemini and the other members of Team Chimera on an equally simple looking backdrop.
Gemini picked up one issue portraying his caricature running towards the edge of the screen with the words,
“I fought the robots and I won!”
He then flicked open the issue to check the panels.
“Huh,” He reacted, “Cute, I guess,” He then stopped at the midway point and looked in shock and disgust at the contents before tossing the comic back onto the table, “Regardless, I can’t fight for you anymore. Not after what I did,”
Indigo crossed her arms,
“I’m not going to pretend what you did was easy on you or even convince you it was the right decision,” She began, “But in taking out Dr Gawlim, you ushered in a new age…”
“This isn’t about just Gawlim!” Gemini yelled, gently slamming a fist onto the table and splintering the wood slightly with his strength, “It’s about…” He then stopped himself and closed his eyes really hard at the thought of the matter.
Indigo could see her friend was hurting in his eyes despite being shut.
“You can always talk to me, Gemini,” she said, as he looked up at her, “We all went through some harsh times but keeping it all to ourselves is never the answer,” She then looked down very sorrowfully, “There are a few things I’d still like to tell Torp…”
Gemini looked up at the last statement,
“Wait, what do you mean?” he then asked.
Indigo looked at him from across the table,
“Torp is...no longer with us,” she said with a broken voice.
Gemini remained motionless for a few seconds as he took in what he just heard. He then went over to the counter by the kitchen area and leaned his back against it, holding his forehead,
“How long ago?” He asked her.
“About 2 years after Trinity City was liberated,” She replied, “Last we heard of him, he went to investigate a remnant Cicadabot base. Soon after, the whole thing went up in flames. All we found of them was a piece of his burnt jacket,”
Gemini closed his eyes hard and stood there for an extended time before turning back to Indigo,
“What about Edward? His son?”
“No idea,” She replied, “We tried taking him in but he disappeared soon after and hasn’t been heard from since,”
Gemini turned back to face the floor and remained silent.
“Look,” Indigo said once she realised Gemini was likely not going to say any more, “If you don’t want to help us then fine, but at the very least let me be here for you. I was always your friend first and your Team leader second,” Gemini remained silent as Indigo turned around slightly, “Or should I just make my leave right now?” She asked, to which he didn’t still respond,
“Fine,” She uttered.
Indigo looked on sadly at her silent friend before she decided to head towards the door. As she opened it, Gemini spoke up and she turned her head back,
“It wasn’t just about what happened between me and Gawlim,” he continued, turning his head slightly in the direction of his friend, “It was how I treat you all. On that last day, I behaved poorly towards you, Wings and especially Torp,”
Turning back away to face the floor, Gemini raised his right hand and looked into his palm,
“I just lost all restraint, even in the name of freeing you all from that horrid tyrant. But I almost pushed you all away in the process,” Lowering his hand, he then closed his eyes, “I can’t bear the thought of doing that again to anyone,”
After a while of holding his eyes tightly shut, tears almost welling up in them, he felt his hands be grabbed from the front. He opened them up to see Indigo had grabbed them and was looking straight at him.
“You ended up being right in the end though,” She assured him, “Had you not disobeyed us, who knows where we would be right now. There’s a chance we could have been worse off without our commune village. It’s me who should be apologising to you!” She let go of his hands and stood back, “We all sometimes wonder whether the ends justify the means. But you did what you had to, all for us. That’s a hero in my eyes, not a monster,”
She looked at Gemini a little while longer before turning back to the open door and headed towards the outside.
She turned back one last time,
“We could really use your help again in our time of need. Please think about it. We’ll all be in Trinity City. Our home,”
She then smiled back before leaving and closing the door behind her.
Gemini watched her leave before staring up at his wooden ceiling.
Indigo made her way through the small path that she and Gemini followed before to his cabin, the sun still beaming down through the cover of the trees above her. As the path opened up and steadied, she pulled a Flipbook out from her Torso shell and began tapping on the screen. The small device began making bleeping noises as she typed.
“Jeez,” She sighed to herself, “You’d think Wings would make these things easy to use,” After a while, the device began making a calling noise as a picture of Wings smiling appeared on the screen, “Ah there we are,” she said to herself.
Eventually, the dialing stopped and she heard Wings’s voice come through the small speaker system,
“Hello, Indigo?” Wings said.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Indigo confirmed, “I found Gemini,”
Suddenly Wings sounded way more excited,
“Great!” He shouted through, “So is he there with you? Is he…?”
Indigo suddenly heard a struggle and the voice of Pyrus interrupted,
“Indigo, do we have Gemini’s co-operation?”
Indigo remained silent to the sudden reaction as Pyrus continued,
“Well, do we or not?”
“General…” Indigo replied, slightly irritated, “...I’ll explain when I get back. I’ll give you my full report in person. In the meantime, any word on Stobot?”
Wings’s voice suddenly came back to the fold,
“My brother is currently preoccupied with the Dobumon attack over on Balliwick still but he says he’ll head back when that’s over,”
“Good, at least he’s on board,” Indigo replied, “Keep me posted. We’ll need all the help we can get if the Dark Ants are as big a threat as Pyrus claims,”
Pyrus overheard this and replied back,
“Don’t doubt me on this one, Indigo,”
Indigo pulled a smug reactionary smile,
“Never doubted you for a second, General. Indigo out,”
With that last proclamation, she dialled the hang up icon and the Flipbook screen went black.
Indigo stared into her reflection within the screen, as well as the one of the Insectoid that was seemingly between the trees behind her.
She glanced her eyes in the general direction and belayed a soft,
“Hmmm,”
Slowly, she closed her Flipbook and put it back into her Torso shell, while also grabbing hold of her Laser pistol in return.
A short distance away, Gemini heard the recognisable sound of laser fire from his cabin, flinging his head in the direction it apparently came from.
Indigo leaped through the large bush and into the open clearing between the trees, turning heel to the left and continuing to run as fast as she could.
Behind her, the Dark Ant drone crashed through the underbrush and skidded on its 6 spindling legs.
Once it same to a halt, it continued its pursuit of the small Rhino Turtle.
Indigo held onto her Laser pistol and turned her upper-body to fire a few rounds at the pursuing Insectoid. The blue laser bolts seemingly just bounced right off the Drone’s chitinous exoskeleton, or even appeared to be have been absorbed right into it. Turning back round, she could see the clearing ahead and the scenic town in the distance.
“I’m leading this thing right to High Hill,” She said to herself, “I need to keep it away from the roads,”
However, in her distraction, she slowed down which gave the Dark Ant ample time to get right behind her and knock her to the side with its huge head. Indigo instinctively withdrew into her shell as she was sent flying towards a large tree, crashing right into it.
She dropped to the ground and fell out of her shell, landing on her chest. After recomposing, she looked up to see the Ant was now approaching her. She quickly crawled backwards but was now cornered at the large tree as the Dark Ant opened its mandible, ready to grab her.
She closed her eyes to the sound of a horrible crunching noise, only to feel she was still on the ground unharmed. Opening her eyes, she saw the Dark Ant’s large claws were inches away from her and the Ant itself was seemingly being held in place unable to move. Tilting her head to the right, she could see Gemini was now holding on to its abdomen with both hands and pulling it back.
“I leave you for 5 minutes, Indigo,” He yelled over. The enhanced Rhino Turtle then lifted his arms to the right, sending the Dark Ant drone soaring across the grassy clearing straight into another tree. The creature's body gave a huge clunk as it impacted the bark and then slowly fell to the ground onto it’s back.
Indigo walked up to Gemini as he was brushing his hands together triumphantly.
“A bit rusty, but I think I’ve still got it” He said to her smugly before turning to face her, “What was that?”
Indigo’s eyes remained staring ahead of where the Dark Ant was sent flying, frozen in thought.
“Indigo?” Gemini asked to her. He then yelled, “Indigo!”
The Blue Rhino Turtle jumped from her trance and looked back at her friend,
“Whoah, erm sorry. I was...just…”
She then struggled to find the words as Gemini turned to her directly,
“Hey are you Ok?” He asked her.
“Yes, I’m fine,” She replied rather flatly, “Just I...almost didn’t survive that,”
Indigo then looked on again, completely shaken. She then felt a hand hold her arm,
“Hey,” Gemini said, to which she then looked back up to him, “You still held your own pretty well. In fact…”
Gemini was then interrupted when a green energy beam blasted him from the side and he was sent flying back. Indigo managed to jump back out of the way and turned to look back at where the beam came from.
The Dark Ant had apparently recovered from its assault and was now back on its 6 legs, shrieking in anger.
Indigo could see her Laser pistol on the ground ahead of her, having dropped it when she was knocked into the tree. Both she and Dark Ant leaped forward as she barely grabbed the pistol before the Dark Ant was mere feet away. Rolling forward and withdrawing into her shell, Indigo rolled her way under the Dark Ant and onto her back.
Pulling the Laser pistol back out with her, she unloaded round after round into the Dark Ant’s thorax.
The Drone screamed as it was blasted with laser fire from underneath. It then jumped to the side, out of the way of the onslught, and turned to face Indigo on the ground. Though she was able to deliver a spinning kick to its face with her large boot to buy her time to get back up and run from her position. She turned back around a few feet away from the dazed Insect and continued to unload her Laser pistol into its hide. Though this seemed almost fruitless as the Ant continued its shrieking assault and began running towards her again.
Just before it could reach her position, it was then blown from its side across the field again.
Indigo looked and saw Gemini had side tackled directly into the Dark Ant’s abdomen, both then soaring across the grassy plain. The Dark Ant rolled from the force and landed back on its legs as Gemini skidded from his attack. He then reacted quickly as the Dark Ant ran straight for him with its mandibles ready to split him in half. Grabbing the inside of the Ants large pincers, Gemini then pushed outwards to keep them from snapping inwards. Though he was able to do so, he still struggled after a while of holding against the mandibles.
“Jeez! You’ve got some bite to ya, don’t you?” He said to the Ant, still struggling to hold its mandibles, “But time for your check-up! Open wide!”
Gemini then began pushing harder against the claws as the Dark Ant tried to resist from the force. It's large, sharp pincers struggling to close in on its prey.
The Rhino Turtle grimaced as his grip grew stronger on the mandibles, which were in return also putting up more resistance, his arms began shaking as he began to tire out while the Ant seemingly continued its onslaught.
Indigo watched as the two powerhouses continued this war of attrition from afar.
Aiming her laser pistol directly at the Ant, she steadied her aim in the hopes the struggle will ease and she could get a clear shot. Her moment came, as Gemini pushed back once again and managed to keep the Ants body steady. Taking her chance, Indigo fire a stray laser blast directly into one of the Dark Ants eyes. While this seemingly didn’t do as much as she’d hoped, the Insectoid was clearly injured as it shrieked from the shot.
In its moment of weakness, Gemini gave one last push against the Ant’s mandibles and managed to to snap one right off the creatures face, causing a stream of green blood to spurt onto the grass. As the Ant continued to scream in apparent agony, Gemini span the mandible around so its pointed edge was aiming directly at the creature’s head. With a mighty throw, he was able to land the dissected piece right between the Ants eyes and embedding it straight in it’s head.
The Dark Ant continued to writhe and scream as its large form fell to the ground and began to spasm on the ground. Both Gemini and Indigo watched in horror as this monster was now reduced to a horrible, shrieking mass on the ground.
"What have I done?!" Gemini yelled in remorse,
Indigo raised her Pistol again and took aim at its head, though the various laser shots were useless as the exoskeleton of the Dark Ant was still too tough to end its suffering.
All the pair of them could do was watch and wait for the end to come.
Eventually, the Ant stopped moving and its limbs fell to the ground after what felt like an eternity.
Both Gemini and Indigo looked at the motionless body of the creature in cold silence, despite the whole ordeal having taken place on a bright sunny day.
“There should have been another way,” Gemini said flatly, still looking at the Ant’s body on the ground.
“We had no choice," Indigo said very hollowly, She then turned to Gemini with a more determined look, “But there’ll be more like this one running amok if we don’t find a way to stop them soon. Wings and Pyrus are currently looking into any way to stop them, but it looks like they’re getting more relentless real quick,”
Gemini looked up from the Dark Ant’s lifeless body and walked around it, heading in the direction of town,
“Well, I suppose it will be nice to see Trinity City returned to its former glory,” He stated with much duty, before turning back to face Indigo and lowering his voice, “Besides, if Torp was investigating this new enemy then this is something I can’t ignore. His suspicions never lied. I want to continue what he never finished,”
Indigo smiled back before walking up to catch up to him.
Once the Rhino Turtles were out of sight, the two Dark Ants scurried out from the bushes over to their dead comrade.
The Ant with the larger mandibles grabbed the body at the thorax and bit down hard, splitting it into two clean pieces.
The other follower Ant ran up to grab the lower section and dragging it some distance away.
Biting down on the remains and grabbing a hold with its forelimbs, the smaller Ant began absorbing a shadowy essence from its scavenged meal as the body it was holding began to shrivel until eventually there was nothing remaining.
The larger Ant did the same with its half and both had grown in size.
After sizing one another up with their antennae, they then looked in the direction that the two Rhino Turtles had gone down and stared on.
To be Continued...