Right.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
Not Your Average Aquilan Form
The ride was smoother, but the problem of not knowing the source of the hate waves was paramount. But they did know the general direction in which to look. That was something. Cloak sat back down, crossed his legs, balled his fists and pointed them at each other again. Then he shut his eyes again to calm his mind, to focus it.
"Cloak, should you really be doing that right now?" Aquilai asked.
"Probably not," came Cloak's sardonic reply.
"Are we there yet?" Sam asked.
"Don't start that joke," Blaze input, "please."
Then a horrible, terrible screech was heard. Cloak was the only one that didn't flinch. Noelle suspected that he was asleep.
"Wha . . . what was that?!" Underseen exclaimed.
"Don't look at me, I don't know." Aquilai said.
"Guys, there's an entry in it on your species databases. . . ." Gaz said. "Apparently it's the, uh, 'aquilan form' of somethings called 'demirevenants'."
"Great," AniDragon said, "does it say anyway to beat it?"
"Something called a Unity Pulse," Gaz said. "But I have no idea what that means --"
"It's a concussive beam of energy projected through the Mark," Cloak said unexpectedly, tone flat. "It can only be used when the users have a sufficient sense of unity."
"You knew about this?" Parker demanded.
"Richard's idea, actually."
"Well, the ship is having a hard time maneuvering to fight this thing," Yarin announced. "Fliers, your assistance would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!"
"Fine, just open the door, then." Faerie said, pulling her axe from hammerspace.
Yarin did -- only it just so happened that was the side of the hull that Cloak was mediating on. So, he fell out of the ship when it opened with an alarmed scream. Then he managed to project an air sphere around himself that allowed him to "fly".
"THAT WAS NOT FUNNY!" he snarled.
"I dunno," Faerie said, floating, in a dignified way, out of the ship, "looked pretty funny to me."
Cloak gave Faerie an ugly glare.
"Enough with the comedy, let's go!" Parker said, leaping out of the ship. Then, while somersaulting, activated his Hawk Ride Armor, and blasted up beside Faerie and Cloak. Then the Lanterns activated their rings and flew out. Gaz went all batty and flew out, not really sure of her scope to harm the huge beast in this form. Blaze, somewhat reluctantly, flew out, too. Noelle, Aila, Aquilai, Underseen, and, of course, Yarin, would have to remain on the ship.
Then they went into battle, Aquilai holding fast to the entrance of the door, somehow managing the suction, and managing to bend lighting at the bird. But no matter how many strikes it took, it would not go down.
"Geez, it's like the Simpsons," Cloak muttered, "no matter how many strikes it takes, it doesn't go down!"
"Uh, something really strange is goin' on here. . . ." Helen said. But she wasn't looking at the bird, but her hand. It was glowing so brightly that you couldn't make out the individual digits on the hand. Cloak looked around, and noticed that everyone's hand, including his own, was doing that.
"It is time!" he shouted. "Point your hand at the beast, and focus all your energy, all your will, all your heart at destroying the evil beasts!"
They did as he instructed. A blue beam projected from their Marks at a remarkable speed and power. It missed initially, but after two more tries it struck the bird. It screamed and dissolved into angry wisps which eventually dissipated of their own accord. It was gone.
The RAFians quickly boarded Yarin's ship, because the use of such a powerful beam, much like Hyper Beam of the Pokemon universe, left them feeling sluggish and drained. Yarin was the only one that seemed to resist these aftereffects enough to land the ship. Then, like the rest, collapse into slumber.