The Lance of Friendship

We zoomed through the sky at ungodly speeds. I was barely awake, but I could sort of hear the mystery boy screaming something. I couldn't hear him very clearly, but I was able to put together the words: "Stop" and "Crash." After hearing that, I summoned all my strength and grabbed the lance by the handle and forced it to aim downwards. Then I grabbed the mystery boy and floated above the forest.

The lance plummeted to the ground and smashed a giant crater into the forest floor. When the dust cleared, we slowly floated down.

As soon as we landed, the boy carefully set me up against a tree. He looked me up and down, then he sighed. His expression and demeanor were different than when I last spoke with him. It was almost like he was a completely different person. I watched him as he wandered around, checking for something.

He looked around for while checking the sky and listening for sounds. Until he finally sat down and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he raised his right arm, and his lance came flying from the crater and into his hand.

-Henry: Why did you save me?

Without a glance, he threw his lance into the air, and it began dismantling itself and shaping around his left arm. He flopped on the ground next to me and said:

-Mystery boy: "Why did you save me?"

-Henry: I don't know, I just couldn't kill someone who reminds me so much of myself. A little boy trapped inside a monster's body.

He wasn't responding, so I asked him again.

-Henry: Now it's your turn.... why did you save me?

-Mystery boy: "I was just repaying the favor as best as I could. Where I come from, lives mean little to nothing. Your worth is determined on how well you carry out your mission."

Then he clinched his metal fist and said:

-Mystery boy: "Sadly, it's beginning to seem like even that doesn't matter anymore. Even though I'm one of their best gallon pilots they still tried to incinerate me in that God forsaken machine."

I slowly turned my head, and asked him where it was that he came from, and what exactly is a gallon? He told me that "gallon", was the name of the suit of armor he was wearing when he attacked my town, or rather, when he was forced to attack my town. I asked what he meant by "forced"? He gritted his teeth then he said:

-Mystery boy: "Gallons are not just suits of armor; they're more like a controller."

He stood up with a serious look on his face and said:

-Mystery boy: "When you put on a gallon, you don't wear it......it wears you."

Apparently, the gallons take complete control of their minds and use their brains as its own to function. All their knowledge and experience became the suit's capabilities. Abilities it uses to carry out certain "heinous missions." At least that's what he told me.

He stood in front of me and said:

-Mystery boy: "We have about an hour before Ranic starts sending those things after us, so we better start moving."

I told him that I would if I could, but Ranic did something to me that limited my ability to move. I told him to just go on without me and that I would take care of the gallons if any showed up.

By then, I would have had time to get my strength back. He turned his head away and said:

-Mystery boy: "Look, all the gallon pilots are children and there's going to be more than one of them."

He said that unless I was planning to kill them, there was no way I was going to survive, at least not alone.

-Henry (thinking): For someone I barely know, this kid is really selfless to put his life in danger for me. Yet he did do it once already today, I guess. I know I've only known him for a day but my gut tells me that I can trust him. Well—if it's for his sake, I'll try and move.

I pushed myself up from off the ground and tried my hardest to fly but nothing. I had no strength left in my body; I was running on fumes; heck I was on empty.

-Henry (thinking): I can't just stay here and drag him down with me; maybe I could try my portals again. It didn't work the last time I tried to make one, but what have I got to lose? Let's see here, what was it like the last time I made one of these? Come on Henry, think! What was it that you did last time? What did you feel? All I remember is feeling hopeless and desperate. I remember feeling as if there was no way out and that it was all over. Yet even though I felt that way, I knew that I couldn't just settle for any of those outcomes. I knew I had to stop the water cyclone and save the town whether it was impossible or not. I can do this.

After about 20 minutes of channeling my emotions, I finally managed to summon a few. With the remaining time, I started to experiment, just to see how it really worked; a few straight shot long distance ones. A few from here to the ocean and another from here to town.

-Henry (thinking): Going back to town seemed like the worst possible idea. If we went there, it would put the whole town in danger, but part of me wants to go back home, just to see how my grandmother was doing. I really hope she's doing fine, but I doubt that she is. After all that's happened, how could she be? Grandpa is gone now and I can't go see her.... she has no one else left to comfort her. She's all alone; the one thing she hates most of all. Well, at least she's safe, along with everyone else in town. Me being around can only spell disaster. For now, getting as far away from here as possible is our best option. The question is though, where can we go? I only ever knew this town, this island has been my home for years. Moby's bay is the only place I've ever been.

As I sat there pondering our destination, mystery boy asked a question. He said:

-Mystery boy: "Hey squid-man, do those portals go far?"

-Henry: Honestly, I was not too sure on how far they could actually go, but I think it depends on if I know where I want to go or not.

He pointed in a direction in the east and said that there was a massive civilization in that general direction called: "Nerva". He told me that by ship it would take around 8 day's journey, but if I could summon a portal there, it would make things move a lot quicker. It seemed like a long shot, but I had to try.

-Henry: Show me the precise direction of this civilization of yours. If it's that far away, it's going to take a lot of energy to do it. We only have one shot, so we can afford to miss.

He transformed his metal arm back into his lance then he fiddled with some strange dials on it. After doing that, he released the lance into the air, and it began to float and rotate like a needle on a compass. A few seconds later, it stopped and pointed in a direction without moving an inch. The lance then became green and began to vibrate with a very soothing sound; it almost put me to sleep. Luckily, he stopped the sound before I could pass out.

-Mystery boy: It looks like it's facing northeast, so aim your focus in this exact direction.

-Henry (thinking): This could get really tricky, I have no idea what this place looks like, so how am I supposed to create the portal? Maybe I could try and see it from here. I know this big eye is more than just a giant target to shoot at. I remember Ranic doing something with his eye that made it feel like he was looking straight through me. (*Shivers) That guy gives me the creeps, but if he could do it, so can I.

The lance was facing northeast, so I focused my eyes with all intention to see "Nerva". At first, it felt like I was searching through some kind of tunnel that just went on and on without end. After about 4 minutes of searching, I finally saw something. I saw land with some creatures flying through the sky like snakes, but they were huge and covered in fur.

-Henry (thinking): Well, I got all the visuals I need to do this, our anchor will be those creatures.

As soon as I got the destination locked, I summoned the portal to Nerva and we stepped through. When we did, it finally felt like my strength was coming back to me. It was rejuvenating, to say the least. It felt so great to finally get over this numbness I've been feeling since my failure against Ranic.

The portal spit us out somewhere by the edge of the land. Somewhere nearby where I saw those flying snake-like creatures. We looked around for a bit to check this place out and it didn't take long before trouble arrived.

Everything felt normal until this sudden feeling came over me. And there it was, by a rock under a strange tree, we saw this man with a spear, taking a nap with one of those snake things laying its big head on his lap. The creature was calm at first when it saw me. It looked me up and down with its yellow, nearly golden eye.

The creature gave no reaction to seeing me, not even a head raise. It was that it didn't see me as a threat, like I was a normal occurrence for it, but as soon as it saw the mystery boy, it started to growl. The man pretending to sleep tried to pet the creature's head to calm it down, but the creature only became more aggressive. The creature's excessive movements eventually woke the man up. When the man saw us, he let out a big yawn and said:

-Strange Man: "Just what in the world am I looking at? I thought all you squid-man were extinct; wasn't that monster the last one of you guys left?"

-Henry: Squid-man? Is that what I am? Well, that's a bummer.....that name is kinda lame.

The man closed his eyes and said:

-Strange Man: "Well if you guys are here then I guess you must have some sort of death wish."

After those words, he reached for his spear and grabbed it. I could already tell that this guy wasn't the talking type, so before things could get any worse, I transformed back to my normal form. The man's face changed completely along with the mystery boy's. Then he took a good look at me and said:

-Strange Man: "Well I'll be damned; this world hasn't seen anything like that in centuries. It looks like the ocean star has chosen its successor."

He let out a loud laugh and continued:

-Strange Man: "Boy I wish I could see the look on that abomination's face right now; he must be losing that twisted head of his."

I tried approaching him, but before I could, the mystery boy grabbed my shoulder and said:

-Mystery boy: "This guy is dangerous, squid-man, don't get too close."

I put my hand on his shoulder and told him that it was alright, and that I don't feel any bad intentions from this guy right now.

-Henry: By the way, my name is Henry, not squid-man.

He hesitantly put his lance away and said:

-Mystery boy: "Henry huh....well my name is Aaron, at least that's what Ranic called me."

(SWOOSH!!)

Then in that instant.....I felt a shift. The moment he spoke that name; it was like the atmosphere changed completely and the wind began to roar and howl.