Thanks, Gazzy.
CHAPTER TWO:
The Greatest Divide
Malice appeared a few miles north of RAF, having survived the cave-in. She had to dig herself and her loot out of the cave, and she managed it with all the dignity and decorum that she could muster.
She set a smooth, egg-shaped, puke green stone the size of an overlarge coconut down, but it hovered a few inches above the marking she made below it. She smiled sinisterly. Then she whispered one word to the stone, in breathless tones.
"Activate."
Suddenly, there was a brilliant green flash as the stone took on a near-transparency. The shockwave rushed around in all directions.
***
Meanwhile, back at RAF, Parker was using his Spider Ride Armor to change a light bulb. Blaze was testing out all the forms his new weapon could take. Although he seemed disappointed that it couldn't turn into an eighteen-wheeler. Dameg and Esplin were agruing, like a married couple. Ash and Broken were having a bit of a picnic. Estelore had left to explore more of the Virgo costellation.
Cloak and Shadow were training in the elements. Shadow sent an orb of air toward her uncle, which he deftly deflected. He sent a wave stones along the ground, in a fissure*, toward her. Shadow simply jumped atop the wave, and rode it, giggling like a maniac.
"Shadow! Get serious about this!!" Cloak scolded.
"Sorry, Uncle."
Then she fired a ball of fire that burst into many upon contact with Cloak's earth wall. It was the Burst Shot technique, and it was actually skillfully performed. Cloak's smile told Shadow this, and she smiled back.
But then she had to stand back when two seconds later, Cloak performed a fiery Shoryuken-like uppercut. She had JUST dodged it.
"Shadow, don't forget: never let your guard down in battle. Never. Not even for a moment."
Shadow took her opportunity during this lecture to wrap Cloak's leg with wooden vines. Cloak was impressed, she caught him with his attention diverted. She was always a smart little girl, after all. Although, sometimes, too smart for her own good.
Cloak fired an Hadouken-like fireball, and Shadow was "knocked-out".
"Aw, man!" she complained.
"Do not be saddened by this, Shadow," Cloak said, "you've come a long way. Your skills have improved a great deal."
"Yeah, I guess --"
Suddenly, a green flash passed over them. Cloak was gone.
"Uncle!" Shadow cried. "Uncle! Where are you?!"
It was then that Shadow realized that Cloak wasn't the only one that had gone. Blaze was missing too. So was Parker. And Esplin. And every other RAFguy.
They, every single RAFguy, were all gone.
----
*To clarify, like the Ground-Group Pokemon in Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs.
