Legacy: Shadow Raiders -JQTRA X-Over

PROLOGUE:
Jessie looks out the window, past the rim of the nearby forest, to a sparkling expanse of blue-grey silk embedded with glittering diamonds that are reflected in her eyes. The pale orange-yellow hue of a burning ball of fire dips slowly into a black abyss at the edge of the silken vision.
She looks beyond it, remembering a girl of blue-grey crystal, a boy of burning flame and their war against the darkness of the abyss, the void, the Beast.
A man stands in a doorway across the room, seemingly mesmerized by the colors, reds, oranges, burning, fiery, threads of gold. A soft whimper echoes in the silence, the colors flash together, as if coursing over a waterfall.
Jessie stares down at the tiny infant in her arms, as he nestles closer to her. She smells a faintly familiar scent and turns her head slightly as a smile enters her eyes.
"Jon."
The figure in the doorway approaches and stands beside her. His hand slips to the threads of gold he had but admired, his gaze takes in the bowed fiery red halo and the pale ivory bundle, softly sleeping, his wife and son. Jessie turns once more to the ocean beyond and the setting sun.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Zera turns her head to the nearby tiny form, once again in wonder. Pyrus holds her hand as he sits on the bed beside her reclining form, looking to his son... their son.
A clear crystal cradle holds the softly sleeping child.
Across the room, Jade, Graveheart, Cryos, Tekla, Femur and Zula stand at the foot of Zera's bed, all staring at their newest arrival in awe.
Within the cradle, the child lies, a son born of fire but not fire himself, of ice, but neither is he that. Lying unbeknownst of his meaning, innocently bearing an answer to an age old question of peace and identity... Lying *there*... a child of *stone*.
Graveheart smiles.
"A new era of peace is starting here, my friends, this child represents our heritage, a union of not two worlds but three. Three worlds of War."
Zera looks again at the babe, 'One day, my son, I shall tell you the story of the two who gave you life...the two who gave me my love.' She looks at Pyrus, lightly squeezing his hand, he turns to her, smiles and whispers,
"Thank you, my love, For our son."
They look once more at the sleeping infant.
The room's occupants save the babe reflect on two heroes from the past that may have left but would never be forgotten, Jonny and Jessie, and silently say... 'Thank you'.

CHAPTER ONE:
Hadji looked up and over at Jessie and Jonny as they took their places," Are you ready my friends?"
Jonny was the first to answer enthusiastically," You betcha, Hadj!"
Jessie was a bit calmer, " Ready Hadji."
Jessie smiled and shook her head at Jonny's enthusiasm. Jonny Quest had too much energy for his own good.
Jessie looked over at him and smiled warmth and mischief in her eyes. "Glad to see you're so anxious to be beaten halfway around the known universe, Hotshot."
Hadji shook his head, repressing a smile, " I thought this was a team game."
Jessie grinned at him, " Doesn't mean we gotta lose the art of competition."
Jonny looked over at her his eyes sparkling, "Yeah right, Jess. Who‘re you calling competition? You'll be eatin' my dust."
Hadji looked at his friends knowingly. ‘Some things never change...' he thought.
The Hadji's voice filled the room," Questworld log-on. Subjects Jonny Quest and Jessie Bannon."
Iris began the countdown, " 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."
"Goin' hot." Hadji turned his attention back to the computer screen.

INSIDE QUESTWORLD

[JB]: Eat your own dust, Quest. Ready Hadji.

[JQ]: Very ready.

REALITY

Hadji smirked, "Loading Shadow Raiders: War Planets."
Iris's reply was swift, "Game ready... Choose players."
Hadji's eyes sparkled with a hint of mischief. Growing up around Jessie and Jonny, it was bound to happen, " Hmmm... I think Zera and Pyrus best suit Jonny and Jessie's personalities, don't * you *, Iris?"
Hadji smiles, ‘Stubborn, volatile, never agreeable, perfect match for Jessie and Jonny.'
Iris replied curtly and a bit as though she knew exactly what Hadji was thinking and thought the same thing herself, Jonny had obviously been modifying her personality matrix again. "Understood... Player choice complete."
Hadji smiled, "Begin game sequence."
Iris confirmed, "Game sequence... Initiated."

INSIDE QUESTWORLD:

Jonny and Jessie are transformed into Pyrus [Jonny] and Zera [Jessie].

[JQ]: Whoa, the Ice Princess.

[JB]: And the Hothead.

[JQ]: Level 5, Iris.

The Questworld mainframe environment is transformed into the darkness of space, planets and stars shining and visible against the dark contrast. Jonny and Jessie are each inside a fighter ship.

[IRIS]: Beast drones approaching...

[JQ]: I see them, Iris.

Jessie fires the first shot, taking out a beast drone.

[JB]: One up on you, Hotshot.

Jonny fires and takes out two ships.

[JQ]: You're living in the past, Ace.

And so the game begins.

REALITY:

Hadji is monitoring the game's progress, when Dr. Quest's face comes over the nearby vid-com.
Dr. Quest's face alerts Hadji that something was wrong, he listened intently, " Hadji, Shutdown all non-essential Questworld systems. We've just been alerted of a storm coming in."
Hadji nodded his understanding, "Yes, Dr. Quest. Immediately."
Hadji begins the shutdown sequence.
" Iris, end game."
His command is ignored; he tries to enter them manually... Still nothing...
He begins to worry, was there something wrong with the program with Iris... Had Surd once again found a back door into their system? Concern in his voice he speaks his thoughts out loud, "What is going on?"
The system is locked up. He can't get in and he can't get them out...
Hadji is trying to find a backdoor into Questworld when the room goes black.
Frustration and concern and fear swamp him for a second, ' What is going on here?!'
There is no power. Questworld has gone offline and the lights are out.
Hadji rushes over to Jonny and Jessie.
" Jonny, Jonny, can you hear me? Please... Jess, Jessie, wake up. Please..."
As Hadji pleads with them and shakes them to awareness, Jonny and Jessie begin to stir.
Hadji breathes a sigh of relief and leans back a little from his kneeling position before them, "Thank God! I thought something had gone wrong with you. Are you both all right?
The power is out and the back-up generator isn't coming online. Come on. We should go to the house and find Dr. Quest and Race."
Neither Jonny nor Jessie moved, Hadji begins to worry.
'What if the something had gone wrong.'
" * Are * you all right?"
Jonny and Jessie both start speaking at once, frantically speaking... in gibberish!
Hadji is stunned and confused.
Unsure of what is going on, knowing only that he needs to get them coherent, he speaks soothingly, "My friends... Please... Calm down. I do not understand..."
Hadji rests his hands firmly on both their shoulders in an attempt to give them a sense of tranquility.
In a blinding flash, the lights go on. Jonny and Jessie rear back into their seats, silent... and panicked... looking wildly at the room and Hadji.
Hadji looks at them and in their eyes he sees... fear.
A sound in the doorway draws his attention away from his friends. Dr. Quest and Race stride into the room and as they do, Jonny and Jessie begin speaking again. Panicked gestures, their words still gibberish to the stunned onlookers. Then the two turn to each other and seem to be shouting at each other in gibberish, making angry gestures with their hands.
Dr. Quest looks on and a slow realisation dawns on him, ‘ They seem to understand each other.'
Dr. Quest turns to Hadji, " What happened here, Hadji?"
In seconds, Hadji recounts the events that had transpired. Dr. Quest listens to him but also observes his son and Jessie, still seemingly arguing. He picks up several things...
‘Arabic...? Gaelic?!...'
Hadji finished explaining, "When they came to, they began speaking in this gibberish."
He looked over at his two friends... his eyes saddened and his soul heavy with guilt...
Dr. Quest listened to them once more then spoke determinedly, "Whatever they are speaking it isn't gibberish. I can hear undertones of Arabic, Gaelic and Celtic languages and variants of some others."
Seeming to come to an agreement, Jonny and Jessie stop speaking, looking curiously at the figures across the room.
Jessie stands and addresses them speaking in the odd language. She bows at the waist, hand extended, then she stops... She looks at her hand, turns it over, turns to Jonny and seems to see him for the first time.
She mutters something in this odd language and slips to the floor, unconscious. Jonny jumps out of his chair and catches her before she slips to the ground. He looks at her, concern obvious in his features...
Jonny begins shouting, pleading, fear evident in his voice, "Zera! Zera Àstaviasasnà Sèrtàkti! Sèrtàkti!"
Hadji looks confused for a minute... something familiar about the name, just on the edge of his mind...'Zera?'
Jonny kneels holding Jessie's head on his lap.
Dr. Quest motions to Hadji, "Hadji, get Jessie's translator."
Hadji still dazed, nods and turns away, "Yes, Dr. Quest."
Benton Quest turned to the monitor nearby, "Iris."
"Yes, Dr. Quest."
" Do you have a recording of the past few minutes?"
" Yes."
Dr. Quest's tension relieved somewhat, " Analyse Jessie and Jonny's speech patterns for known language traces."
"Analysing data... Analysis complete. Traces of 51 different languages were identified."
Dr. Quest looked over to the two teenagers, as though he knew something, "Just as I thought!"
Race looked at his expression. He had been standing by since this had started. He knew when to get involved and when to let Benton do what was needed, "You mean you know what's going on here, Doc?"
Dr. Quest nodded and murmured, his gaze falling back to the screen, "I have an idea."
Hadji returns with the universal translation device Jessie had devised.
Dr. Quest hit a few keys, then spoke, as though satisfied his plan would work, "Iris. Compile the data and construct a database of a possible list of meanings for reference for this new language."
" Processing... Language database created."
Dr. Quest continued," Download to the translator."
Hadji inserts the micro disk.
" Downloading... Complete."
As Hadji retrieves the micro- disk and updates the settings on the translator, Doctor Quest moves forward and takes it from him, "Now to try it out."
Dr. Quest moves to where Jonny is kneeling, still repeating the same litany of words, He slips one of the translators about his son's ear and places the other on his won.
Jonny is startled and looks up at him angrily.
"What are you doing?!"
Dr. Quest glanced back, smiling slightly to his companions," It works! Hadji, Race, I can understand him."
Race looks at Benton stunned, he sure as hell couldn't understand the boy. "Well, fur on a catfish." Benton Quest's ability had always amazed him, and he'd been on the receiving end of it too many times not to be grateful, and so had Jessie. Race moves forward to take his daughter from Jonny so that they can revive her.
Jonny refuses to relinquish his hold.
Dr. Quest places his hand on his son's shoulder, trying to quell his concern for his love, "She's his daughter, Son. Let him take her. Race and Hadji will help her."
Jonny looked at him taken aback, pulling away from Benton's touch as though stung and spoke back ferociously, clinging to Jessie's form all the while, " * No *! She is * not * his daughter! She is the daughter of Cryos and the Princess of the Planet Ice and I am * not * your son! My father is dead!"

CHAPTER TWO
As the words left Jonny's lips, there was a loud thunderclap just outside. Race exclaimed, recalling their initial purpose, "The storm!"
Dr. Quest glanced outside, "Yes, we must get to the house." He looked at the boy before him and explained, "There's a storm coming, we must go to a safer shelter."
Jonny looked over at Jessie, unsure... Another loud clap of thunder followed by a blinding flash of light in the doorway. He nodded, then stood, lifting Jessie in his arms and followed them to the safety of the house.
Once inside, Dr. Quest directed Jonny to lay Jessie on the sofa. He did... and proceeded to sit down beside her. Hadji came forward holding something, as he put his hand near Jessie's face, Jonny moved to push him away. Dr. Quest stayed Jonny's hand, "No. He's only trying to revive her."
Jonny gave him a searching look, trying to decide whether to trust, when the girl on the sofa murmured and stirred. As she opened her eyes she gasped at the figures around her. Quickly raising herself up, still a bit dazed, she tried to lever herself off the couch and away from them. Her eyes were frantic. She was standing in the middle of the room with the candle she had grabbed from the coffee table in her hand.
Jonny rose and stepped towards her; she waved the candle as a weapon in front of her and spoke, "No! Stay back!"
Dr. Quest looked on in interest, while Hadji and Race stood by confused, they still could not understand either youth. Jonny extended a hand to her in a gesture of peace, "Please, Zera, it's me, Pyrus, don't be afraid..."
Jessie's eyes clouded, as though reliving memories, she looked at him questioningly and asked, "Pyrus?"
A sigh of relief escaped Jonny's lips. Smiling gently, he responded, extending his hand further to relieve her of the weapon, "Yes, Zera."
Zera dropped the candle on the floor and threw herself into Pyrus's arms, hugging him tightly and crying. She spoke between sobs, "What has happened to us, Pyrus? What has happened to us..."
Pyrus held her, gently stroking her hair, trying to calm her. Soothingly, he answered, "I don't know Zera... But we *shall * find out... *Together *."
She accepted this... She was not alone... Her sobs ended.
They turned, still holding each other, to their onlookers. Zera spoke commandingly, "Who are you? I demand that you identify yourselves immediately and explain what has been done to us... Or you shall answer to my father!"
Race and Hadji looked at Dr. Quest's reaction to Jessie's obvious tirade. As she ended, Pyrus held her a little away from him, eyes flashing angrily, and muttered in admonition, "Zera!"
These people had after all seemed friendly, and they *had * helped her.
Dr. Quest waved his hand to stop him and moved forward. Pyrus felt Zera tense against him at the action and squeezed her hand lightly in reassurance.
Dr. Quest saw the movement and hastened to explain, "My name is Dr. Quest, and these are Hadji," Hadji stepped forward, "And Race," Race followed. "As to what has happened here, we are as lost as you are. As far as we knew you were... are Jonny and Jessie" He pointed to each respectively. "Jonny is my son and Jessie is Race's daughter and though you claim not to be, *you * Pyrus and *you * Zera look just like them."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jonny began to regain consciousness... His head hurt...Man oh Man...Did it ever! He lifted his hand to massage the ache, "What the hell!" his hand dropped and his eyes snapped open in shock, but at the blinding light he encountered, they were instantly shut again. Slowly, he opened them again, trying to focus, letting his eyes adjust to the light.
He looked over the room, it was well lit, the walls were black and one of them was made of bars, but not ordinary bars, rather, crackling electricity forming vertical solid cylindrical poles that were at equal width along the wall. His gaze continued to take in the room when he heard a sound behind him... as he looked around, he saw her... Jessie...stirring to consciousness, only she was still in Zera's form.
As he looked down at his own hands he saw he was still in Pyrus' form. ‘No wonder my head felt so weird,' he thought, 'Hmmm, how did we get * here *?'
Obviously, they were still in Questworld, playing the game, but he had no idea how they had gotten to this level... In fact the last thing he remembered was being in a ship, taking out beast drones. Jessie was sitting up next to him, she looked at him and apparently reached the same conclusion... shaking her head slightly, in an attempt to clear it and stop the splitting headache... Jonny looked at her concerned, he asked, "You okay, Jess?"
"Mmm..," she answered then asked, "So we're still in Questworld, any idea how we got * here *?"
Jonny looked at her blankly, "Not a clue, Jess. Woke up just before you did."
Jonny looked at the walls around them appreciatively, "Wow, this place looks so realistic, this game is A plus." Jessie nodded, still massaging her aching head; "Yeah hotshot, but I think I've had enough for today... Hadji? Log me out will you?" Jonny looked at her, concerned. This had never happened in Questworld before, the pain felt so real... His own head still ached... He looked up and called out "Yeah Hadj, me too."
Several minutes passed as they waited in silence... finally Jonny got frustrated and called again, "Come on Hadj!" Again there was no answer or response...
Suddenly a form approached their cell from the dark corridor outside. As Jessie and Jonny looked on in shock, the figure drawled, "Pyrus, Zera, Stàvsetikshtà, Sàteskti Àstànàisterisànà."
Jonny and Jessie looked at him in utter confusion at his words, but the knew who he was no words needed to explain that to them, they spoke in unison, stunned, "Blokk?!"
"Alià, Blokk," he replied, tall, his body made of null matter, looking into him was as though looking into the depths of space.
As Jonny and Jessie looked on panic setting in, Blokk began to laugh... A horrible sinking feeling settled in Jessie's stomach... ‘This is all wrong...This is all so very wrong...'
Jonny drew her to him and as he did so she screamed in pain, thrusting herself away from him and sinking to her knees in the middle of the room, clutching her arms... As she moved her hands to look at them, he saw... Shocked to his core, Jonny looked at her, where he had touched her icy blue-grey exterior, now were brown, orange-tinged wounds... Jonny's mind was stunned... ‘ *He * had burned her! ' He thought about the impossibility of it all... 'What the hell is going on! This is * not * part of game rules... And definitely outside of Questworld capabilities... Just where *are * we?!'
He looked at Blokk moving down the corridor away from the laughing still... and Jessie sitting on the cell floor...

CHAPTER THREE
Benton Quest tried to sort out the ramifications of what Jonny... 'No... Pyrus...' was telling them.
They had finally explained the situation to them. It was amazing... but these two were not just characters out of a game... they were real people from a real world. The problem now was figuring out where the real Jonny and Jessie were and how this had happened.
Dr. Quest spoke up, voicing his thoughts, "It's safe to assume that, Jonny and Jessie's minds have been somehow displaced into Pyrus and Zera's bodies, just as Pyrus and Zera's minds have been displaced into Jonny and Jessie's bodies. However how it happened is an entirely different situation."
Benton Quest went over the situation again and again in his mind, searching for what could cause this anomaly.
"And we're not going to figure it out tonight." It was Race who spoke up, "It's late we've all been through a lot this evening, right now the best thing for us is sleep."
Benton Quest nodded, then turned to Pyrus, " That is if you trust us."
Pyrus thought for a moment, he looked at Zera by his side. If they had wanted to these men could easily have trapped or killed them, but they had not, he could sense the goodness in them... Dr. Quest, oddly, reminded him of his own father... And the man , Race... was much like Graveheart... They may not look like them, but these people were much like their friends,
He knew he could trust them... And he felt safe with them...
"We will trust you."
Zera caught his eye and he noticed her reluctance and hesitation... He tightened an arm about her; she looked at Dr. Quest. And spoke the same words...
Hadji came forward and Dr. Quest explained that he would show them to two rooms to sleep.
At that Zera's hand came up in panic and held fast to Pyrus' arm, it was so odd being able to touch him... yet it felt so right... For once in their lives... They were the same, and right now he was all she had... She would not be left alone.
She voiced her words frantically to Pyrus, and he smiled at her. He'd never thought to see the day Zera would willingly seek out his company, actually from their encounters in the past, he thought she'd rather not touch him with a ten foot staff, unless it was to topple him with it.
Then he turned to Dr. Quest, "Perhaps one room?"
Dr. Quest seemed to deliberate the questions for a moment, unsure of what to do, these two may not be Jonny and Jessie... but they were in their bodies, and he wasn't sure he was ready for the thought of those two sleeping together.
Zera looked at his eyes and she understood... her father's eyes, his expressions seemed so much a part of this man before her... his gentle, calm spirit... And she saw in his eyes what he was thinking.
She looked at him, pleading in her eyes, showing him her fear, her need to be close to the only one she knew in this world... then on a ragged breath, begging... she said,
"Please..."
She may not understand him but he understood her words... and he realised that though they spoke different languages, their hearts were the same, perhaps that's why it was so difficult to separate them from Jessie and Jonny... Both couples were too much alike.
He nodded and turned to the young man behind him who seemed very perplexed by the tail end of the conversation.
" Make that one room Hadji, Jessie's room I think, Jonny's is never up for company."
Hadji laughed and Dr. Quest smiled, and the couple on the couch relaxed, standing and following the Indian boy out of the room.
Benton looked up to see Race just standing there looking at him as though shocked. All Race said as Benton looked at him questioningly was, "One room?..."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jonny looked at Jessie as she sat on the cell floor, her breathing becoming calmer and as he moved closer to her, she flinched involuntarily. He stopped at her reaction and turned to the cell's energy bars. And he wished he could cry in Questworld... Then he felt a hot tear on his cheek and touched it in shock... He turned to Jessie who was now back on her feet and realised the burns were gone.
But he had not imagined them, and he saw from her expression that they had both come to the same conclusion, "I take it we're not in Questworld anymore." Jessie was the first to voice her opinion.
"I'd be agreeable to that fact, thing is if we're not in Questworld, where * are* we?"
Jessie looked at the cell at the walls at herself, listened to the sounds outside.
"I know this may sound crazy, but I think... I think we're in Shadow Raiders."
Jonny looked at her confused, "But how can that be? The game can't be running outside the system."
Jessie shook her head, "No Jonny, you don't understand what I'm saying. I mean, that Shadow Raiders is more than a game... I think it's real."
Jonny absorbed what she said and looked at her in shock, "What?"
Jessie continued, " Look at this place Jonny, listen to the sounds of the battle outside, look at Blokk. We couldn't even understand him and he sure couldn't understand us... Your father taught us anything is possible, There are more realities and worlds out there than we know about, and I think we just proved the existence of this one."
"But how? And why are we in these bodies," Jonny's eyes clouded over, "Why can't I touch you?"
Jessie wished she could hold him... tell him it was okay... but she daren't repeat their last experiment. All she could use were words.
"I love you Jonny Quest... I can feel you in my heart even if you can't hold me in your arms."
Jonny looked up at her and smiled slightly, "I love you too Jessie Bannon."
Jessie returned his smile, "Good."
"Okay, so what's your take on this Ace?" Jonny questioned, getting back to the situation at hand.
" I think something happened while we were in Questworld, our minds were transported, not our bodies..."
Jonny nodded, understanding the logic, their minds were all that was in Questworld anyway. Then suddenly another thought occurred to him.
"So that means, that Pyrus and Zera's minds are probably in our bodies as well."
Jessie nodded grasping his thoughts easily, "Very likely, and they're probably having as much of a language problem as we are."
"Maybe, but they're not behind bars."
Jessie looked at the crackling energy stream, "I see what you mean, so we get out of here first, then figure out how to talk to these people and then we find our way home."
Jonny grinned at her; "I love the way your mind works."
Jessie smiled at him and teased, mischief entering her eyes, "So you love me for my mind huh? And I always thought you only wanted my body."
Jonny looked at her and laughed, "Dammit, it's not fair I can't get my hands on you. But when we're out of this Ace, you have major payback coming. So how do we get out of here without getting killed? Hey you think there's a Graveheart and King Cryos in this world? They'll probably be coming after Zera and Pyrus, as per usual if the show's accurate."
"I'd rather not rely on that." Jessie said thoughtfully, considering their next move, nut not before adding dryly, "Don't you know not to believe everything you see on T.V.?"

CHAPTER FOUR
Hadji had tried his best to help Pyrus and Zera understand where things were and they did for the most part. Pyrus insisted Zera rest once Hadji had left... As usual, she refused and he got annoyed.
"The *last * thing I need in this situation is a spoiled princess who can't even stand up straight," he fumed. Zera looked at him, Jessie's eyes smoldering green fire, as Jonny's own blue gaze grew stormy... She flung away from him and turned around looking away from him... and her gaze fell straight on a mirror... She stared at the strangers before her... she walked forward and touched the shiny surface... The fingers of the image was a cold surface as she brushed it...
She spun around away from the picture of this stranger's body and right into Pyrus... He'd watched her journey across the room, had looked at the mirror image of the girl he knew to be Zera but who looked so alien to him... He saw the expressions that fluttered across her face and he could see the pain in her eyes... He mentally kicked himself for being angry with her...
'But dammit, I'm worried about her.' As she turned towards him he reached out his hand and held her arms in his grip... he felt the warmth of her beneath the hands... It was so strange a feeling... but somehow... no matter how strange the outside was... inside she was still Zera...
Still headstrong... and stubborn and annoying... and smart and beautiful and... his best friend...
He pulled her into his arms and held her close... she cried... he'd never known tears before but he understood her fears and slowly he lead her to the bed and lay her down... then he moved away to sit on the nearby chair... Her hand reached out and stayed his progress... he turned to look at her quizzically and he saw in her eyes what she couldn't seem to overcome her pride enough to ask... Pride or not he didn't care... he was afraid to be alone too... to fall asleep... lest the nightmare worsen...
She sat up on the bed and he sat down next to her... he put an arm around her shoulders and leaned against the headboard. They stayed that way until exhaustion from the shock and scare overcame their weary souls... The thunder and gusting winds seemed to erupt like an explosion about a half-hour later as the storm hit... Pyrus heard the sounds and tightened his hold on Zera reaching for a blanket...
He was cold... then secure in he fell into a deep sleep... a troubled sleep, plagued with images of himself and Zera in their own bodies trapped in a cell, the energy bars crackled and Blokk's laughter echoed in the corridor, fading away...
Minutes later, he awoke, he was freezing and a stranger was staring at him, and asking
"What is it?" He reconciled the girl looking at him and Zera after a few minutes and shook his head to clear it... Zera looked at him in concern... "Tell me. Pyrus?" He managed a smile at her. " It was just a dream, Zera, that's all..." He looked over at the windows... "The storm is past." The world outside was quiet except for the gentle lashing of the water on the cliffs beyond.
Zera stood up and looked out the window at this strange world... She had been thinking... having awakened sometime before Pyrus.
"Pyrus... Do you think these children," her hands swept out gesturing to his body and hers... "That they are alright...? You and I both know the beast fighters were tracking us... But we know how to deal with them... These children... Pyrus... If they are in our bodies and Blokk has them..." She felt her body take on a sudden chill, "They are in danger and the Alliance is too."
Pyrus knew she was right, it was a horrifying thought... a circumstance they had been in before, had never thought they would be in again... They had thought their planet cluster; their galaxy had been rid of the beast planet years ago. There had been peace for years, since their first encounter with the beast. Their planets had been enemies, stealing each other's resources for survival until they had found there was an enemy that threatened everyone's survival... Then Graveheart had built the alliance of their planets of war and they had defeated the beast, or so they thought...
"We launched the message beacon Zera, in case we were captured, the alliance should have received it by now..."
Zera thought back to the last few days, she and Pyrus had gone to visit Zuma on Planet Sand, it was a routine visit and it had been fun... On their way back they'd picked up a strange signal, like a beacon but it sounded more like static... What they'd discovered was a message buoy floating in space... from a distant planet of the outer galaxies... the beast had attacked their world days before... Before they had been able to journey back to Planet Sand they'd encountered the Scout Fighters for the beast planet... Small fighters... they'd realised that there must be a base within the planetary belt of this system... They would have liked to stay and fight but the alliance had to be forewarned to forearm... If the beast caught them unawares... it would be a massacre.
So they'd tried to outrun the fighters, their ship was bigger, faster, King Cryos' Bladewing, and they had been succeeding when they'd landed themselves in this world... But Pyrus had launched the message beacon along with their own message into space, with a course laid in for Planet Sand. If the drones intercepted them, at least, they knew their friends would know what had happened...
Zera turned to him, " All we can do now, is pray for their safety, hope they are unharmed and that the alliance receives our warning of the impending attack."
Pyrus looked into her eyes and he saw the defeat in them, he looked steadily at her,
"No, We can do more than that. We are going to find our way home!"
There was a rapping sound on the door, and after a second's silence, it swung open.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"Got it!" Jessie spun around, her four arms clasped before her as she bowed. Then she turned back to the charged energy cell bars and threw her devices against them. As the smoke cleared the pulsing crackling rods of light were gone. Jonny grinned at her; "You are beautiful!" Then they moved out the cell door into the empty corridor, they walked along, keeping to the shadows.
They saw three drones along the corridor guarding the door at its end.
Jonny looked at the short stick in his hand and as he gripped it tighter and concentrated, it extended to its full length.
"Allow me," he bowed to Jessie and his hand shot out of the shadows and the end of the staff plunged into the chest of the drone crushing his containment unit and causing him to return to the beast dimension. In a quick movement Jonny spun around his back to the two drones and keeping a steady grip on the staff he plunged it back destabilising the second drone's containment unit. As he heard the shattering sound as the drones dissipated, he withdrew the staff and with a deft twirl of the staff he maneuvered the tip into the containment unit of the third drone. As the last drone fell, Jessie stepped out of the shadows, smiling slightly, "Show off!" Jonny grinned, "When you got it, flaunt it," he turned his attention to the room beyond and peering outside he saw the area was clear for the moment, "Let's go." Jessie followed him; they both hid in the shadows. They heard the sounds of a troop of drones coming and slunk closer to the wall, as they neared the main sector of the base they heard the thundering sounds outside.
"Explosions!" Jonny exclaimed, in shock, there was a battle being fought right outside the walls of this base. They saw the drones marching towards the lifts to the surface. He motioned at them to Jessie, whispering, "Remember Remora?"
Jessie nodded. In Shadow Raiders War Planets, The Beast had taken control of the dead planet, Remora and set up an underground base there. They had used similar lifts to get their troops to the surface of the planet and Pyrus and Zera had used those lifts to get in and out of enemy lines. Jessie looked at him; "Maybe we could...?" Jonny understood her ploy... they could escape the same way.
Just as he was about to nod, the walls quaked and there was a thundering sound, the far wall of the room then exploded, flooding the room with debris. Jonny and Jessie were covered in dust. But they looked up as the smoke settled and three figures walked in, standing at the charred remains of the wall's supports laser rifles in hand aimed at any oncoming danger. As the light penetrated the haze of dust, a shocked voice muttered, in awe, "Cryos, Jade and Graveheart."
Jessie realised the voice was hers, Jonny grinned and his smug look spoke volumes, ' Volumes of I told you so's!'
Once they caught sight of them, Cryos Jade and Graveheart rushed towards them. Graveheart smiled, "Stàvsetikshtà vertainsiià!" He patted Jonny on the back. Cryos meanwhile had embraced Jessie, "Selà." Jonny and Jessie looked at each other in confusion and frustration...
Before they could say a word, Jade muttered something to Graveheart and he indicated they should depart. They moved to go out the same way they came, as they exited, a small beast fighter hovered nearby, the pilot looked straight at them before pulling up and disappearing into the atmosphere.
Graveheart's features seemed to darken with rage and hatred and shock, "Blokk!"
At the end of the last war with the Beast, Graveheart had killed Blokk. Jade looked at the sky in the wake of the craft... "Creis?!"

The New Language fondly nicknamed: ' Shaqtra' pronounced 'shack-it-tra'
SHAQTRA DICITIONARY
Àstaviasasnà = Wake up now [Àstaviasasn = to waken]
Sèrtàkti = Please/I beg you [Sertaktn = to beg or ask a favor]
Stàvsetikshtà = How nice/I'm Pleased [Stavsetikshtn = to be nice/pleased/good]
Sàteskti =Finally
Àstànàisterisànà = You are awake [Àstànàisterisn = to be awake]
Alià =Yes
Vertainsiià = We found you [Vertainsik = to find]
Selà =daughter
Creis = How
Aliáne = No
Trikt = Time
Ser = For
Lèbk = That/It
á = Now
Visíe = We must go/Let us go. [Visn = to go]
Iiáya =Let us go back to/we must return to [Iián = to return/ go back] [ya = to] [Iiáíe = We must go back/ return] when ya is placed after conjugation of the verb, it replaces the conjugated ending, in this case 'ya' replace 'íe' in 'Iiáíe' to form ' Iiáya'.
Ensíiklir = The ship/ The vessel/ The container. [En = The] [síiklir = ship] for 'The' followed by anything the 'en' is attached as a prefix to the word.
Muadànà = You are quiet/ You are silent. [Muadn = to be quiet/silent]
Setrikristìè = You are well/ ? - Are you well [Setrikristn = to be well/okay]