Stumbling Into Madness (Complete)

In hindsight, perhaps Alan and Aurora should've expected something like a dead body considering they were in the middle of some ancient Aztec Ruins with mystical energies running through its halls. Regardless, they actually took a step back from the skeleton, wincing as they did so.

When Iha offered the paper, Siren took it and looked it over, "...I'm starting to think somebody got down here before us and managed to get their hands on the relic, but either wasn't able to get back out...or they were sealed here," Swallowing her hesitation, she bent down to inspect the skeleton closer, "I wonder..."

She began reaching out to sense the feelings of whoever or whatever was around them. As they did so, they began to shudder as their mind was opened to feelings of raw anger and sadness laced with hints of desperation but ultimately...despair, "Something terrible happened here...whoever got their hands on the mask was a very troubled individual...but I don't think they were evil. Just desperate...and afraid.."

Iha was in a deep mental state. His soul pushed out of the metallic structure he called a body. He could feel taunting him pulling at him. The feeling drew his spirit upward, through the vegetation, through the stone of the walls, out into the sky that was above. A bright light was before him.

"Complete your mission my son." A voice said.

A large green spirit hand formed in the distance, but as it approached Iha it became the size of his own hand. Landing on his shoulder. Iha could feel power pushed through him. It was exhilarating, but he kept his composure in front of what he perceived to be the spirit of Osiris himself.

When the hand lifted his soul fell. Or was he pushed? The feeling woke Iha from his meditation.

Around his body a shadow type of aura surrounded him. Energy pulsed through his body. His systems worked with little trouble, his suit hardly had to work at all to keep his temperature regulated, Iha felt like he was in almost perfect shape.

"Alright. You ready?" He glanced at his friend. "Whatever happens in there, make sure we finish this. I'm thinking there are going to be more forest type creatures in there. Not to mention spirits of some kind. When I was meditating... There was something odd in the door way." Iha looked concerned. "We can do this. We just need to keep working together." He finished.

Siren stood up and looked to Iha, noticing the aura around him. She nodded, "If you ready, than I am." She turned and headed for the chamber, taking time to spare one last glance back at the fallen colonist before heading in to face whatever awaited them...

"Who enters my chamber?" A voice boomed as the hero jetted into the spherical chamber. It was larger than expected, almost by one hundred percent. A jungle under the ground, tall trees with large broad leaves, thick areas of grass and shrubbery, odd looking birds, deer, lions, and gorilla roamed the open areas.

"Who was that?" Iha asked. Crouching behind his companion for a moment. "This place is way bigger than I thought. Lets make a run for the center. Try not to give it a chance to attack." Iha ran.

Before he could make it to the tree line a large gorilla showed itself. Behind it four more. Each looked like an amalgam of forest. Their eyes a light green color and hair made of long grasses. They stood eight feet tall. A roar filled the compartment.

"Kill them!" the voice boomed again.

The gorillas rushed toward Iha, forming his metal into a blade he leaped into action. As one of the animals sent a large fist his way it passed by, Iha hardly felt his body moving. His dark aura singed the gorilla's arm, pulling at his sword, Iha cutting it off.

As soon as his feet hit the ground he jumped for the other, slicing as he went. A cut across its belly and then off went a leg. One came from behind, mouth wide for a bite. It landed on Iha's shoulder. The creatures face started to melt, causing it let go.

On Iha's shoulder where only small cuts where teeth would have been. With a twist of his body Iha sent his sword through the gorilla's head.  

The other rushed for his companion...

He kept moving deeper into the forest. Feelings of desperation and anxiety where aching at the back of his mind. He had to get there, he had to stop this, he made vow.

"And as if today didn't have enough surprises already..." Siren remarked in awe at the sight of a literal jungle being in the heart of the ruins. "We need to find that relic and fast because if this power gets loose, I don't think we'll be able to stop it..." As if the world had decided to affirm her words, that voice boomed from nowhere and sent its defenders after them, "Me and my big mouth..."

She charged towards the gorilla, transforming into an identical clone of it with both throwing a punch that collided with enough force to uplift parts of the ground around them. With a growl, Siren coated her enlarged fists in a telekinetic shell before proceeding to trade blows with the enemy. Her more powerful fists were enough to cause the beast to recoil and she delivered a double palm strike to its stomach hard enough to blast a hole through it.

As the beast staggered about, gaping in shock and disbelief at its missing chest, Siren only delivered one swift uppercut and sent it flying into the sky. Siren morphed back into her feathered serpent form and flew alongside Iha, "Climb on and just point where we gotta go! No matter what happens, we don't stop for anything!!"

Leaping on to the serpent Iha yelled, "Just head forward. Try to stay above the trees!" As they climbed into the sky the jungle underneath them swayed back and forth, and with lager parts of it expanding into large clearings vines shot strait toward them. Multiple would grab at the serpents neck, body and tail. Attempting to pull it to the earth.

Iha jumped down, holding onto one of the vines he hacked at the others. For each one cut loose more shot out and pulled. Iha's aura help a little, burning the little ones, but the vines that where more than hands length thick where a challenge.

In the distance could be seen a large stone mound that had stairs leading to a small stone platform. In the center was a pedestal.

The center is right there. he thought as they where about to plunge to the ground.

A pules of green energy emanated from the pedestal.

"...Look papa!" A boy yelled as a white man approached on horse back. The first white man he had ever seen. They wore shining silver like armor and strange hats. For all of the excitement in the boy's eyes, there was only fear in his father's.

Siren nodded and did as instructed, keeping as high up as possible even as the terrain before them came alive and tried to bring them down. Letting her teeth grow jagged and sharp, she swerved to avoid one vine before chomping through it and several others. Seeing Iha descend, she sprouted curved blades all along her body and whirled about, cutting through any vines that were foolish enough to grab onto her.

However, more and more came, and before long, she found herself being slammed against the ground hard enough to leave a crater and for the vines to start pulling in all directions, "No way are we letting ourselves be stopped at this point!!" Aurora decreed. Alan agreed and their form shrank back down into a normal Space Siren which was enough for them to slip free and launch themselves like a missile through the trees and zoom back into the sky.

Seeing the structure in the center, the duo had a feeling that was where they had to go...at least until a wave of green pulsated forth and her vision went all screwy before being shown a vision, "W-What is this...?"

Shaking his head Iha came too right before his body slammed against the ground. The dent into the earth was substantial but his systems were reading just fine. He picked himself up and continued to run toward the center.

Vines wouldn't stop coming for him. The metal on his belt was working overtime, shifting, melting, shifting, and melting in a constant cycle to smack, cut, or block the barrage. Some where moving in whipping actions, other came at him strait.

He didn't have time to dwell on the vision he was given. Though it had to be important to what was happening to this place.

... Meanwhile Outside,
The androids began shooting the mob. Waves of laser blasts took out a group of people that rushed the perimeter. Mehka tried to communicate over the comm system but it was all in vain. She could only hope Iha knows the powers are growing more rapidly.

In the center of the cavern was a man in green armor. With they style of an ancient Aztec he carried a macuahuitl. It was a wooden weapon with sharp obsidian blades on it. His face was covered with a wooden mask that was shaped to resemble the head of a coyote. Only his deep red eyes could be seen through it. He waved his weapon toward Iha and Siren.

Out of the forest a gorilla emerged from the forest. It attempted to grab Siren's body and throw him toward the ground.

A stampede of rhinos came for Iha. They left only broken trees and rubble in their wake.

Siren found herself back in reality and decided to keep moving forward until they reached the heart of the temple...and before them appeared what he assumed to be the one responsible for all this madness. Before they could go on the attack, she found herself being attacked by yet another gorilla.

Siren morphed their arm into a blade and slashed its arm off, causing the beast to roar in pain and stumble backwards as she somersaulted into the air and took her foe's head off with one strike...only for the beast to keep moving and grab her with its one remaining arm and slam the alien into the ground. As it went to crush her with one of its giant feet, Siren slipped into the form of a serpent and slithered between its legs before changing back and cutting off one of its legs and bringing it to one knee.

She hopped up on its back and leaped up high, reinforcing her arm blade with telekinesis before slicing the giant straight down the middle.

Siren then spotted the herd of rhino heading towards her friend and began to sing an extra soft melody, mixing it with telekinesis to construct a fair-sized chunk of metal from the particles in the air, "Use this!!" She chucked it towards Iha.

Dust filled the air as the herd rushed Iha. He dodged what he could, but the constant shifting of the metal barrier was almost making it more difficultly. Some times it would erupt right where he needed to pass by or cover his view entirely.

Iha jumped up and started to go from rhino to rhino off their backs. His aura singing them as he moved.

His friend yelled downward but before he could notice a piece of metal was beaming him in his chest. It forced him to the ground in pain. The pain quickly turned to pressure, then it was gone all together.

A metal sphere covered his body while he was prone on the ground. The pounding of rhino feet echoing into it. That actually worked out for the better. He thought as last creature trampled past.

"It doesn't work like that!" He yelled back.

Getting to his feet he started to run again. His speed increased as the distance to the center closed. He could now make out the man that stood there. His skin just looked dark from a distance by now the signs of decay and age riddled it.

...
The man at the center shifted his weight to his right and drug his macuahuitl through the air. Just as Iha made it to the central clearing peaces of grass darted at him like tiny needles. With the same wave the trees became like a wave, reaching almost to the ceiling, they would push all the way against the cavern wall.

The attack was all encompassing. He meant to end the fight right here.

"You can't defeat us!" Now that they were closer the voices sounded like many.

"Sorry! I thought you could control all metal!!" Siren called back before soaring over the herd herself and heading towards their target. As they approached though, their foe decided it was time to stop messing around and released the full power of the relic, turning the entire jungle against them.

It was definitely a sight that would crush the hearts of even the truly brave, would make them quake in their boots and flee at the very thought of butting heads with such overwhelming power...

However, Alan and Aurora weren't most people.

"Oh yeah? How about we put your money where your mouth is?!!" Siren reared back and let out a sonic scream that echoed through the whole temple as a sign of defiance. They let their body grow to its maximum size and turned their arms into a gloopy mess that lashed out at the towering plant mass before them.

If they couldn't stop it with brute force...then they'd just devour every last drop of it.

The metal formed into a shield to block the needle shape grass. It pinged against it and fell to the ground. Iha continued to run toward his target. The distance closed quickly, soon they were both at arms range.

Iha's aura burned the man's skin as he closed in. Pulling at the metal in a spinning motion he formed a sword and swung it at the man's head. Then another spin low, sweeping his legs.

The details of the man's mask where specific now. It seemed to be made of wood. The attackers skin was necrotic, dead for years from the looks of it.

...
Blocking Iha's sword with his macuahuitl and sliding back to dodge the sweep kick, the man lunged forward. His hand out wide in a gripping motion he grasped Iha as he recovered from the sweep.

His large palm slammed against Iha's head. A wave of green psychic energy burst outward.

Gun shots went off. People screaming in the distance. Fear wracked his bones. A determination was born, "defeat the Spanish at all costs!" The voice echoed through his head

Siren dug their heels into the dirt and pulled the titanic mass of living flora into herself, absorbing every last portion. As she did so though, more visions flashed through her mind...and a clearer picture began to form for her, "So that's what this is all about...this man is an ancient Aztec warrior who just wanted to protect his people and decided that using the mask was the best option...no matter what the cost might be.."

Having fully realized what she needed to do, she began to move forward, still devouring all the scenery in front of her as she traced the source of the negativity, "Come on, come on...there!!"

She burst through on the other side and went to tackle the chieftain, trying to hold onto him as she tried to use her Pathokinesis to quell his rage, "Please, you need to stop! The fighting's been over for a long time! You don't have to be the mask's puppet anymore!!"

Iha couldn't move. His soul was pushed out into the spiritual realm. He could see the figure before him, shifting in colors, in height, weight, age, like different people appearing as one. Shifting in and out of each other.

Iha could see his body. Standing static the man back kicked it, sending it back into the jungle. He then watched the man turn back.

Siren's voice echoed through the spirit realm. "Please, you need to stop! The fighting's been over for a long time! You don't have to be the mask's puppet anymore!!" The man's spirit fell to his knees, his form was steady now, a deep red color, younger than the rest.

The body was still in motion, a green spirit animated it. He swung his weapon upwards, sending a wave of vegetation toward the attacker.

...
"YOU CAN'T DEFEAT US!" the voice echoed through the area. Birds rushed at his attacker in addition to the wave, attacking from above.

"Oh shut up already!!" Siren roared as she sent out a constant telekinetic wave to blast apart the immediate area around her and to hold the attacks at bay as she dug her heels in by sticking blades on them and into the ground as she grasped onto the possessed man's mask and began to haul with all her might, "Fight it! Fight the mask! As long as you hold onto this hatred of yours you will never be free!! Don't you want to see your family again?!!"

Wave after wave of energy pulsed from the man. Histories of the past wearers, the past spirits that where attached to it. The wave could start to be felt, physical energy jetted from it. Spheres of energy began to push out and even shift the trees. It would pull at the attackers skin, like hitting brick wall over and over again.

The body could do nothing but shake in disbelief and pain. Its skin starting to peal off to show bone, soon the mask was only attached to a skull.

"NOOO!" The voice rang.

Iha saw what was happening and ran to his body. It was deep into the jungle. Mangled and contorted. His arms where broken, legs all contorted in different directions. A branch even penetrated the bodies back.

"Well.. this is going to hurt." Iha anticipated the entry back into his body.