Time: 5:06
"Venoma…" Teela was being held rather tightly as Venoma knew he was strong, and could perhaps hold Teela for a while longer. The trees he had once cut with his bare claws… they had been harder, and stronger… and much, much heavier… and taller… Venoma then heard Teela calling his name again. "Venoma? Are you… all right?"
" I should be asking you that, Moonlight weilder."
"Moonlight weilder?"
"It’s your sword’s name, is it not?"
"And how did you know that?" Teela seemed puzzled; she didn’t quite remember telling him anything.
"I don’t know… I just… know…" Venoma responded, his voice baring a tone that showed he was a little creeped out. Teela wanted to shrug, wanted to smile even, but her body was feeling as if she were being sorted through… like something was inside of her, trying to find… something.
"And what else do you know about me?" Teela asked, a sort of stubborn, but so very weak, tone and look upon her face.
"We need to turn invisible." Venoma saw ahead, as he was walking slowly, the guards. He knew they weren’t looking their way, but they would soon.
"Right…" Teela shut her eyes… found the ‘triggers’ within herself as she felt them both slowly becoming transparent. She knew it was hard… it was hard to do this. Invisibility was pretty new to her, and she didn’t know how to control it fully… she was lucky to have activated it at that moment. She suddenly felt more pain flow right through to her soul, not knowing how or where it was coming from; it seemed to come from everywhere. It wasn’t exactly from her soul… within her mind? Teela was conscious… she knew she wasn’t going into anyone’s mind while conscious, especially not her own… Teela felt more pain… building… more and more pressure on her chest; her lungs felt as though they were being constricted. She gasped for air, trying not to panic, as that would surely finish her off. Teela breathed through her nose now, trying not to let Venoma know she was having any trouble with this, trying to concentrate. Slowly, they started to become invisible, inch by inch. Their figures flickered a few times before Teela could fully grasp keeping them invisible. They then continued on...
Venoma…
Hm… You seem… troubled.
Just… never mind.
Are you sure? I’m not going to pry you open for answers… but…
I’m fine.
They walked right past the guards as Venoma stopped outside the main door of Kastle Koopa.
Venoma, I’m going to teleport us to Karma’s room.
Why?
Do you want to struggle up all those stairs?
Good point…
All right. Close your eyes.
Why?
Just do it, all right?
Venoma obeyed as he closed his eyes, Teela doing the same. Their figures flickered a few times, Teela feeling that Venoma was transporting them as well. He had been helping slightly, but that was not stopping the purging pain that seemed to just shock right through Teela once in a while, paralyzing her for another moment. She seemed fully paralyzed though, as she could not move, and Teela couldn't really feel anything anymore except what was the pain inside her body. She couldn't feel Venoma's warmth, couldn't feel the wind brushing through her hair, couldn't feel anything except the pain... Everything... seemed to be getting worse.
Teela?
What?
Do you even know where Kamek is?
No, but I have a feeling he will find us... or we'll stumble upon him...
How are you doing?
Fine... just fine...
And the two dissappeared, heading into Kastle Koopa, Karma's room. They would head out into the hallway from there, and hopefully, for Plit's sake, run into Kamek... Teela knew that she didn't have a lot of time, and if she didn't hold on... what would happen to Karma? She may not have been able to feel her external pain, but the other pain within her, the emotion and worry, was just as painful.
_
Time: ???
Reema had been leading the way, Karma and Ludwig following. They were heading towards a burned down building, seeing another about a few yards behind it. The other one... seemed to shine in the distance with the dying light of the sun, seemed as if it were made of metal or something. Either way, it looked like at least somewhere else to look, something to advance them... Karma sighed as they continued running across the grassy area, Ludwig wanting to cringe with every grassy step he took. Reema just wanted to get in and get out, really wishing Teela or even Venoma were here. Deep down, Reema knew, she was scared to death... But she wouldn't let it show. None of them really would anymore; it'd only make things worse... that was obvious.
_
Time: 5:13, Setting: Inside Kastle Koopa
Bowser stood in front of his troops now, commanding each and every one of them to search the castle for Karma and Ludwig Koopa. His look of frustration completely blocked his worry, and yelling at his troops made him feel a lot better. Clawdia and Larry stood far behind Bowser, outside the castle, worry evident in both their expressions. Larry hugged his mom, seemingly the only thing to do to comfort them both... Both of them cared for Ludwig, and at least Clawdia gave somewhat a thought for Karma.
Some guards were sent throughout the forest, commanded to search every rock and every tree. If they found anyone besides Karma and Ludwig, they were ordered to take the unfortunate soul to the dungeon.
On the rooftop stood a strange, old-looking figure that seemed to be looking down on the entire situation with displeasure. He held a crystal ball in one hand, and a broom in the other, his hat drooping annoyingly as he flipped his head back, the hat falling off. He bent down to pick it up, but he then dropped his crystal ball.
"Cricketfeet... Grrr... Hope I didn't shatter it." His voice was odd, very old and rhaspy.
As he bent down to touch it, a vision appeared inside of it. Tthe figure got closer to it, getting on his knees, staring upon the faded vision, and holding the crystal ball firmly in his hands.
VISION
"Venoma... "
"What, Teela?"
"I... can't see now... The light is fading..." Two figures wandering... inside somewhere of Kastle Koopa...
END
The figure recognized them, and he then realized this was perhaps happening or going to... he didn't know, maybe it was similar to the situation. He dropped his broom, snatched his hat, and scurried, heading back towards the door that led back into Kastle Koopa.
_
Time: 5: 13
Teela, who had closed her eyes when she had teleported, had noticed everything fade a little more when she did so. She opened them, pain filling her expression, and beheld Karma Koopa's room. She had a few books here and there, a bed, and a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She had pictures on the walls, apparently things she'd probably made up. Teela looked at one in particular, which, after a few thoughts, she realized was not a creation. Teela looked at a picture of a light blue Yoshi with fangs. Teela was looking at Karma's drawing of her! She smiled weakly, knowing Karma had somehow always given her strength... and once again, in some odd way, Karma had done it once again...
Venoma...
What, Teela? Are you all right?
Yeah, I'm fine. Another lie...
What did you want?
Look at the picture to your right.
Hey! It looks like... you!
It is. Karma drew a picture of me...
And it looks pretty good!
Yeah...
Venoma smiled at Teela, who returned it weakly, trying not to show the pain, which, every once in awhile, was getting to a point where whe wasn't able to feel it... Teela was hanging on. This was, in a way, a fate worse than death, a very slow and very painful death, that was very hard to fight off.
"Can you go invisible?" Venoma asked aloud as Teela sighed... not wanting to... but she did want to... Teela felt dizzy then... Whatever it was... was growing stronger, getting into her head.
Venoma... I can't. I... It's in my head... getting there... through my blood...
Teela... How are we.. going to get through the castle?
You'll have to teleport from here to there. If you see anyone, teleport up near the ceiling, and then hover to avoid them.
Teela... I'll do it then... It will be hard, but you'll get through this. I will too. I'll do it for you.
Thank you... so much... I can't talk anymore... I'll need to save my energy... so I can talk later.
All right. It's not problem, don't worry about it. You almost gave your life for mine, and you barely knew me... which sounds pretty stupid... but I should be thanking you.
It wasn't a problem. It... was no challenge.
Suurree.... All right. You'll be fine. I won't bother you again. Time to make this interesting.
Venoma smiled, feeling his arms tighten, Teela's getting weaker. Venoma was getting tired... it's not like he was the strongest guy in the universe. He teleported to the door, Teela stretching out her hand and opening it. Venoma smiled at her again, though Teela couldn't see it; her eyes were closed. She didn't seem to have much longer... He figured that much... He had to hurry...
Venoma took a look down the hall, realizing they were probably on the second floor... but he wasn't sure. He didn't even know his own home castle like the back of his claw... he definitely couldn't find his way around this one. Teela was breathing heavily now. Venoma was freaking out, trying to remain calm, though he didn't know how much longer he could keep that up.
A blink of an eye, and he was the end of a corridor, looking down the stairs, seeing the guards. He felt the urge... to beat them up. Venoma thought it'd be fun, but he didn't have the time. He'd get close, wait for them to notice him, and then teleport across the room, hoping they wouldn't notice... or maybe he should teleport near the ceiling like Teela had suggested? Venoma then took a deep breath, held Teela closer, and bolted towards them, and the minute they turned around to try and see him, he disappeared, floating cautiously near the ceiling.
"Hey, you see something?" a Clubba asked a Koopa, which at first wanted to say "Yeah", but then cleared its throat.
"If there was anything there... we would have seen it." And with that, they walked over to search. "But... we might want to make sure. Bowser will have the head of the guy responsible for trespassers in his castle."
Venoma looked worried as he looked down to Teela. She wasn't as warm as she had been... He knew she was still awake, but her eyes were shut, yet... he could feel her fighting... he knew it had to be tough... but he wondered what was wrong with her... Whatever it was, he knew it was sinister. He teleported to the other corridor, into the hallway.
"Teela..." he whispered, watching her move her head slightly. "You're going to be fine." Venoma floated restlessly, fidgeting for another moment as he looked around, wondering where to go...
"What is wrong with her?" Venoma stood still for a moment, feeling his tail stiffen, hearing the old voice. He turned around, his eyes practically feeling his every crevice in his face with relief. He was staring upon Kamek, floating in the air. Kamek stared upon Teela, watching her, seeing her open one eye.
Venoma... tell him... I need... help.
"She says she needs help..." Venoma whispered quietly, hoping no one else was here as Kamek pulled out a vile of potion, placing a hand on Venoma's shoulder and unleashing the cap from the bottle. Venoma didn't even have time to close his eyes before realizing he'd been teleported by Kamek's potion.
The room the three were now in was large, like an underground cavern. It looked more like a lab, but seemed more advanced than that. Venoma took a moment, figuring the castle halls were large, but this was ever larger. The castle was bigger... but this room was amazing.
"My special lab." Kamek noted Venoma's look as he looked back to Teela, trying to not get to side tracked. "Now what happened?"
Tell him that I just started to go invisible, get weaker, and now I can't move, and I feel like everything iniside of me... is... just... fading.
"Teela claims she just started to get weaker, she then couldn't move, and now she... feels like everything inside of her is just weakening... fading, she says."
"Teela... Hm... This is odd, indeed. And I don't know right off the back of my hand what exactly is wrong with you."
"Try some tests or something!" Venoma urged, then took a deep sigh. "She's dying!"
"DYING?! What on Plit is wrong with her, boy?"
I threw up blood.
"Teela says she was throwing up blood."
"All right. I'll do some tests. I guess... Magic tests."
"As long as it won't hurt her."
"No. She'll have to give me a taste of every one of her powers. I'll do that test. I have a feeling... if she's got more powers... if any... she... it will have an affect on her if it's not hers." Kamek than told Venoma to help Teela stand. Venoma set her down on her feet gently, Kamek waiting patiently. Teela opened her eyes again, leaning against Venoma, tired... she was weaker... "Help her onto that platform. Teela, you will have to stand on your own, all right? There will be a glass dome around you. You will have to give me a test drive of all your powers. Can you?"
Venoma... I can't!
"She says she can't..."
"Why? And why can't you talk, girl? Come on! I won't be able to help you if I've got no idea what's wrong with you! And if you can't speak, you might as well be a Goomba on Mario's foot!" Kamek urged. Teela nodded.
"Teela, you can. I know it... c'mon!" Venoma was trying to be enthusiastic, but he was more worried about Teela.
"A-A-All... right," Teela whispered shallowly as Venoma helped her onto the platform. Kamek then put a few harnesses on her as Teela fidgeted. She felt constricted as he tightened them. They were like body armor... except she could feel her power being... pushed. She could feel it waiting for her to do something. It was going to read her energy level... she could already feel it doing so with her being regular without any power, just physical strength.
"Teela, I'm going to lower the glass dome. You can do as much of any power you want. That machine on you will tell us what it's doing, the level, and its affect on you," Kamek explained. Teela sighed, breathing heavily. "Right now, your levels of physical strength... are excellent. Your magic strength is slightly better... and your ability to resist things is wonderful. Pretty good... but let's see the affects of your abilities."
Teela then decided she'd do every power she'd ever gotten in order that she had gotten them. This was going to be hard, especially for the newer ones... some of them she really had to think about. Especially the latest one... she didn't even know what or how to describe it as.
"Kamek... how is she going to transport?" Venoma asked as Kamek shrugged.
"She'll figure it out." And with that, Kamek pressed one button as Teela felt herself being "read" even more. She could feel it was ready...
Teela knew this was now the easiest one, hovering... she could do that one quite well. Teela didn't even really have to think much about it, didn't have to have a straight line of concentration. She went up slightly, feeling her pain swallow itself for a moment... Teela felt relief for just a moment.
"That one... is yours, Teela. Basically, certain powers are unlocked in your brain, and others... it just... they just, somehow, some are domino effects of other situations, or things you've done, such as the Protosyatha Connection between you and Venoma. But there are others... within some people... that are chemicals... or things... kind of like... something gets into your body and changes the way it works, thus causing you to get different abilities. That is the way it is with demons. They've got some kind of substance in their blood that allows them to change... in different ways. There are many different situations, however." Kamek spoke into a microphone as Teela nodded, her eyes fading again... her vision was becoming blurred... She took another breath as her eyes lit up, still coming down back to the bottom of the glass dome.
"How is that one?" Venoma asked as Kamek stared at the reading on his screen. All the bars were going up and down, some fading completely. They evened out as Kamek looked at it oddly.
"It never did that before... Teela, that one.. is yours as well... mostly... My readings indicate it was 'thrown' into you, but your body apperently adapted to it, which means your stamina for that must have been stronger than the power itself. It wasn't originally yours... but it is now. No harm. If it was... you wouldn't be seeing anything right now..." Kamek didn't laugh as Venoma stared, Teela holding up her hand and leaning against the dome, her eyes shutting, the bright light remaining as she shut her eyes again, the light fading quickly now. "Next? Is that all?"
"No, it's not." Venoma answered for Teela as she was then trying to remember which one she got after that.
Teela was now wondering how she was going to do this next one. She couldn't just leave the dome... Teela shut her eyes, knowing this would hurt... horribly. It was something... she just didn't feel too good teleporting. Teela opened her eyes once again, pain-filled as she thought about the next power. Teela shut her eyes, and looked up. In less than a blink of an eye... she was at the top of the dome, and then she was back down.
"Teela... That power... It's not yours. It's... an effect of something. Your body cannot overcome the side effects from this one... Teela, how shall I put this... Basically, when an effect does something and your body cannot handle it, it has side effects of its own that destroy your body."
"WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Venoma asked. Kamek looked to him.
"Do you feel any weaker since you've gotten it? If you do..."
"No..."
"Then obviously, you're fine. Teela, however, is different from you. Her blood, chemical structure, DNA structure even... is completely different. Teela, that power... I will have to do more tests with it. We will find the solution for it. Give us another ability."
Teela's breathing was getting even weaker. The next one... was even worse. Teela took a huge breath, gasping, feeling her lungs tighten... and her body started to fade. She had become completely transparent, her figure still visible, foggy, but she started to sink through the floor, the harness falling off of her. Teela then concentrated... became visible again as Kamek stared... no living thing was supposed to be able to do this... He was appalled... shocked to a point at which he was afraid. This was not normal, wasn't supposed to... it defied the laws of Plit completely. Only a.. ghost could do something like that...
"Teela... Come out of that dome." Kamek lifted up the glass and Teela sank to her knees.
"Kamek... I'm hurting like... I can barely breathe right now, and with every... e-every word..." Teela stopped there, collapsing completely...
"TEELA!!!" Venoma yelled as Kamek kneeled down beside her. Teela was breathing heavily. She wasn't sweating, but she was burning hot.
"You... Where is everyone else?" Kamek asked. Venoma sighed... he didn't have enough time to explain anything!
"I'll tell you when Teela is better! Now is not the time!" Venoma raged. Kamek nodded, using his wand to put her on one of the lab beds.
"What do I do now?" Kamek asked himself as Venoma shrugged.
Teela? Are you... in there?!
"Kamek... I can't talk to her with the Protosyatha thing... She is not in there..." Venoma's eyes filled with sorrow and worry as Kamek placed a hand on Teela's forehead.
"She's in there, boy, she is. She's just... lost in there... her head... Something is dragging her in. That side effect... of her and the transparency... It is killing her, boy. The problem is that she cannot adapt to it, ever. That is something, only a spirit can do... Teela's body is trying more than anything to adapt... and there must be more than one power like that to be doing this to her. The teleporting isn't exactly helping, because her body... can't just rip itself away from somwhere... not when she's young like that... In a way, everyone's special abilities... our brains sort of made... When our bodies are ready, and our mental capabilities surpass a certain limit... we get 'new abilities' that bend and sort of even break what we call 'reality', or even what we call 'normal'. She obviously is missing one or even more abilities... How she got that one... she would have had to have somehow jump-start her skills and strengths shortly, or even just a little bit, tricking her brain some way, at least...Venoma, she's got an ability her body couldn't handle." Kamek frowned as he looked to Venoma. "An effect of the fangs, kid..." Kamek shook is his disappointment as Venoma thought for a moment.
"Ghostinara, the process of... blood to live?" Venoma asked simply as Kamek nodded.
"No... not exactly. The past records... obviously, that happened to someone.. or that is what someone thought. Teela doesn't live off of blood... That ability would be... like a price to pay for another... Teela is not going through that process. She is going through something totally new... different. Somehow... some of these abilities threw off Teela's entire... body... and it is slowly destroying her. It's probably finally reached her head, and she probably can't think straight. Her body is trying to adapt to some of these powers by killing herself... She probably got them when she was near death, or troubled times, her instincts knowing how to save her life...get her out of the situation... These abilities, some of them only a... ghost should be able to do... But everyone knows no one can live... and be dead at the same time."
"Maybe that was ghostinara? Maybe Teela can't live, so she'll need blood? To control herself?"
"No. That won't stop what she's going through... No, I doubt it. I need to speak with Teela... see what else she can do... I don't know everything... I need every variation."
"Why don't you check her blood?! If she said she was throwing up blood... wouldn't you want to check?"
"No. I'm going to talk to Teela, but good idea anyway." Kamek then pulled out his magic wand, and shut his eyes. He thought purely for a moment... and touched his head with his wand...
"You don't understand anyone until you walk a mile in their shoes," Kamek said oddly as he then touched Teela's forehead, instantly disappearing... leaving Venoma to wander... alone...