Chapter 3

Deathmask's crew journeyed into the darkness using night vision goggles, except for the two with alien masks. They had been given night vision, as a form of their transformation. They continued on for over one hour.

Pete yelled, "Something down the tunnel at lightning speed!"

Everyone but Joe put their backs to sides of the tunnels to avoid detection.

Mr. Big yelled out, “Berserker! Berserker!”

Some sort of machine with spinning blades around all the horizontal edge. Laser rounds were gushing from several guns. Yet, Joe wouldn't move.

The blasts didn't harm the former champ. The machine race towards Big and sliced at him with the cutting power of high-grade diamonds.

Mr. Big only laughed as he bent the blades like they were Styrofoam.

Out of the blue, the machine exploded which covered the giant in a showing of smoke and flames.

The driver had leaped out of the device in time, while he was coming down at Joe with a laser-powered chainsaw.

Big caught the chainsaw to the attacker’s horror and even managed to snap clean in two. He then backhanded the enemy into oblivion.

Pete blurted out, "You are one bad nig..."

Joe shouted, "What your mouth! That isn't your word to say!"

Pete spoke, "Chill out man! I was only going to say, nigga."

Big dropped the matter as the group traveled on.

#

The group ran across three different paths.

Deathmask spoke, "let's split up into three groups of two. Big, me, and Pete are the three strongest in that order. I will go with Joy here since we were trained together. Big, you go with Billy.

He has a glass jaw. Pete and Bob, you will team up, as in your past.

Big spoke, "We will go the middle path since I like to walk in the path called straight."

Billy spoke, "I know what you mean, brother!"

Deathmask spoke, "Pete and Bob, you will go left, while we will go the right."

The three groups left without incident.

#

Deathmask and Joy were traveling down the path a little way when heard the path closing behind them. The two turned back to confirm their suspicions.

Joy spoke, "Now, we are past the point of no return!"

Deathmask spoke, "I want to find the limits of this mask, so it does not bother me."

The floor came out from under them. Deathmask was able to keep from falling by sticking to the wall, while the combat medic hadn’t such a luxury.

Deathmask spoke, "I should have known that the play was booby trapped. Kill Joy, I hope that you are okay."

Deathmask raced down the side of the wall as if he was a giant spider.

Blades soon formed on the walls in elaborate patterns. Deathmask saw in some kind of slow-motion image that allowed him to better memorize the patterns.

He thought, "What on Rindat is going on here? How I am seeing This?"

A voice spoke, "It's the powers that I am bestowing on you sapling. We are in a symbiotic relationship. I will give the user some of the skills that the former masters had built up over the last several thousand years."

Deathmask spoke, "How can you do that?"

The mask spoke, "It was from the elders of old that gave our people such powers. They were the teachers of us Gigantos."

He spoke, "The what?"

The mask spoke, "That is the name of the race that you and your comrade are a part of. The elders had seen that we were slaves for far too long and gave us to them. I had slowing absorb the skills of over one thousand different masters. With time we were able to defeat the evil ones."

Deathmask spoke, "Who are these evil ones?"

The deathmask spoke, "They are the Solarians, the worshipers of the great shadow on planet Violio."

The lad spoke, "But our science had found that no one has ever lived on that planet."

The mask spoke, "That is the lies of the great shadow! He has blinded the eyes of your caretakers on this world. The guardians had allowed each planet in the system to be able to see the other

worlds. But was he came unto the scene!”

Deathmask spoke, "To whom are you referring?"

The mask spoke, "The man that had trained the other mask user on this planet. He was once a murderer in his world. He was one of two emperors on his world. His might and skills are nearly perfect. All attempts to stop him has been a fool's errand."

Deathmask paused on the wall with his guard up, while still listening to his mask intently.

"The ones known only as of the guardians were set in place by the elders of old to stop all of the two emperors attempts to destroy all twelve planets in the solar system."

The officer spoke, "That is impossible since there are only ten planets!"

The deathmask spoke, "What little you know. The guardians live on the last unseen planet that enters within sight of each world every thousand years. They had limits in place to prevent destruction to all worlds. Only the two emperors are known to travel to the planet to planet. But there are others in the outer planets that will come to rule this planet."

Deathmask spoke, "Who are they? Why do they want to conqueror this world?"

The mask spoke, "It is their lust for power that causes them to do so. They rule almost all of the Singlarr Galaxy already. They avoid the fourth planet because it is under some others of the shadow's

playthings.”

Deathmask demanded, "Who are they?"

The being spoke, "They are Kozdazaki from the ninth planet. Tell no one of this or I will leave you to your devices. You must be ready for when they come or they will kill you all!"

The voice then left and the hero continued with his journey through all of the booby traps.

#

Kill Joy landed on the hard floor on his backpack. He checked it for any damages.

"Good, most of the supplies were undamaged in the fall. I wish I knew where I was at. This part

of the underground has been left unlisted, due to some form of importance. It is hard telling how far down we are.”

A machine could be heard nearing him in both directions. It was probably some sort of motorcycle. There were at least six or seven coming his way. He had four mines left, so he placed them on the floor some distance away. They were the bow on top of him when one of the mines goes off behind him.

One of the bikers was dead, but Joy had no time to rejoice since he had another biker right in the face. He one of the bikers right in his helmeted face. The face guard breaks, revealing broken flesh and dripping blood. The bike landed on the remaining three minds to his dismay.

A biker slashed him on the side with an energy blade.

Kill Joy managed to keep alert and shoot the bikers engine. This caused the bike to explode, killing the driver.

At least five more bikers remained.

Two were killed by the remaining land mines.

Kill Joy pressing a bottom on the side of his med kit and two large laser blasts fire at two of the bikers.

Only one biker remains and he hits Joy clean on, forcing the medic to have to grab the front of

the bike to prevent being run over.

The medic had to make a decision very quickly or he will be dead very soon. He forced himself to jump back off the bike, as he shoots the riding with one of his guns.

The warrior had successfully hit his target. He slid out of the way to keep from getting hit by the crashing motorcycle.

The medic was gasping for air, as he walked farther away from his former location.

Kill Joy speaks, "I don't know how the other guys, like all this bullshit. I am just a medic and not a front line soldier! I hurt like hell and this battle isn't even close to being over.

#

About three hours later, Deathmask had been able to move through several traps, but it felt too easy for him. The traps up to now had been only to kill the very weak and the very stupid.

Deathmask was speeding a rare moment on the floor when he hears the walls at each of him close shut. He tries to cut them to no avail.

He speaks, "I must use my Mach speed to get through, or I will be flat as a pancake."

Deathmask moved at Mach five and used his hand slices to cut at the walls.

But it was for naught.

He knew that he could go faster, but how much he didn’t know for sure. The mask said that he could at least have a twenty-five power boost. Power equals strength times speed.

He speeds up to Mach ten and still nothing.

Mach fifteen and still nothing, after Mach twenty after that. It wasn’t working and the walls were almost on top of him.

He finally went Mach twenty-five and slice a perfect circle into one of the incoming walls. He leaps through the hole at the last possible second.

Deathmask had been successful but for how long?