As the Genesis crashed into and through Zolott, it shook the ground for miles in all directions. Shock waves rippled though air, blowing away anything unfortunate enough to be flying locally. Jagged chasms opened and snaked their way randomly around, tearing whole trees asunder and tossing animals into the air like the comparable rag dolls they were. Boulders the size of houses were bounced from their firm earth bases by the sheer magnitude of the blast. All told, the utter chaos that had been rampaging over the battlefield had just swung his hammer, sadistically crushing anything within range and finally leaving everything in sight and a few things beyond suffering in the wake of devastation incarnate.
I told you I could write something besides comedy.
Sheko and Redaz, being relatively far away from the crash site, managed to keep their composure by bracing their feet against the ground. Kyanosa, on the other hand, fell over and started flying backwards. He had to embed his sword in what remained of the ground to keep himself from being blown right back to First Earth. As this was his first time using a power besides Fire after his acquisition of the marble, he was somewhat surprised to see his shoulder pads return and the glow surrounding the top of his head fade away. He would have made a joke, but he was preoccupied with not dying.
When the dust finally settled (albeit in the sky), the three gathered back together in the limited light. Sheko peered at the other two. "You guys saw that too, right?"
Kyanosa tried to brush himself off for a second, but gave up pretty quickly and instead tried pulling his sword from the land in which it was. "You mean how Black Ship just got whooped by Yellow Ship and smashed into the ground a la the comet of the dinosaurs?"
"Yes, that."
"Nope. Had my eyes closed."
Redaz lit his hand in fire and held it up, allowing the group to get a good look at their surroundings. There wasn't much to see. The trees that hadn't flown yards away were bent nearly at ninety degree angles and the area was completely devoid of any other life. Everything had either died or had been smart enough to get while the getting was good. That should tell you something about our three fellows. "Did anybody take note of where it crashed?"
"In the ground."
"I think it was over there." Sheko pointed, completely ignoring Kyanosa.
Redaz brightened his flame and squinted through the gloom. "How can you tell?"
Sheko gestured around them. "All the trees are pointing in the opposite direction. The shock waves would have come away from the crash site, so if we go the opposite way the trees are, we should find it."
Redaz nodded. "Makes sense. Let's go then." He took a few steps before noticing that nobody was coming with him. "Anybody."
"Gimme a sec." Kyanosa was on the ground with the sword now, trying to dig it out with his hands. "I know. I'll summon the sword and chip away at the rock around the sword! Oh, wait."
Sheko was watching him, arms crossed. "Why not just switch it with the umbrella?"
Kyanosa stood up and stared at the sword for a minute. He snapped his fingers, transforming his weapon into the same white, fluid light that was quickly absorbed by his hand. Once it was gone, another light flowed from him and took the shape of the umbrella. Kyanosa glared at Sheko. "I hate you."
"Let's go then." Redaz led the way, providing the literal guiding light for the motley crew.
Another few steps in, Sheko turned to Kyanosa. "Can I ask you a question?"
Kyanosa, whose thoughts were switching between large-scale battle tactics and wishing he had pockets, shrugged. "Sure."
"What's a dinosaur?"
* * *
Eventually they made it to the crater itself. Kyanosa looked into it and whistled. "How far down does it go?"
"Let's shove you in and find out." Sheko grinned.
"I'd do that, but I'm too pretty to die."
"Just grievous bodily harm."
"Who would grieve?" Redaz said matter-of-factly, still staring down the pit.
"I'm sensing a strong anti-me mentality." Kyanosa looked back and forth between them. They just shrugged.
"I guess we have to go down after it." Redaz started climbing down.
Sheko held up a hand. "Wait. Why can't we just let the group in Yellow Ship go after Havering and get him when he comes out?"
"Because then this would be a really boring chapter." Kyanosa switched weapons, stuck his yo-yo on the ground, and started rappelling (that's what my spellcheck tells me to use) down after Redaz. Sheko nodded and slid down the rope after him.
Midway down, Kyanosa stopped suddenly, causing Sheko to crash into him, fall from the rope, and grab onto his ankle. "What now?"
Kyanosa reached out and plucked a marble from the dirt. "Sweet. Twenty bucks says it isn't Plasma."
"No, it's a marble."
"You know, this is taking too long. Hang on." Kyanosa pushed from the wall and retracted the yo-yo, sending them both flying through the air. After waiting long enough for panic to settle in, he summoned the umbrella, opened it, and began to float towards the underworld, which is a really negative-sounding place.
Once Redaz saw the others floating down, he jumped from his perch and latched onto Kyanosa's other ankle. "This would be a really bad time for those big guns to start working again."
"Oh, sure, bring us all down. The first time I knew what I was doing, and you have to ruin it."
"You're going to get us killed." Sheko looked down.
"It'd be fun, though." Kyanosa grinned, hanging onto to umbrella's hook with both hands.
On the other side of the crater, they could see Black Ship firing at something streaking randomly around. "What in blazes is that?"
Kyanosa squinted. "Can't tell. Looks hazy."
"Whatever it is, it means they're not shooting at us," Redaz noted. "Either way, tilt more away from the ship. It might eat us."
"Eat us? What does that-"
Kyanosa cut Sheko off: "No, he has a point."
And the three floated to the ground. (I hate writer's block. I can never do endings.)