Destiny (Anime Style)

Chapter 18: Ishtar Sink

As Leah was doing all she could in her power in order to gather with Ravi as soon as possible. The blue-haired trainee and his loyal ghost were already close to planet Venus. "Is that it?" Ravi asked Wire after coming out of hyperspace and staring directly at the yellowish planet in front of them.

"Yes" Wire bluntly stated. "That's Venus... better known as the jungle planet"

"Jungle planet?"

"You'll understand soon"

After entering the atmosphere, Ravi finally realized the reason for that nickname: almost the entire planet was covered by jungle. Of course there were also other types of environments like beaches, wastelands, ruins of old human cities, large esplanades, etc. However, the most impressive ones were these geometric-style constructions that seemed totally out of place. Some time later, they finally landed near one of the old city ruins and headed outside. "So, this is Venus's Ishtar Sink region?"

"That's right. This place used to shelter thousands... or maybe millions of humans. At least until the Collapse"

"Well, this planet sure is different than the Moon and Earth" Ravi couldn't be more right. Venus's environmental temperature was higher than that of the Earth, and the sky wasn't blue... but yellow with a few orangish parts. "Damn it, this place is really hot" the blue-haired boy complained while trying to cool himself.

"Hey, it was your idea to come here, remember? So let's hurry up and meet this Stranger already"

After that they spent some time exploring the city ruins and its whereabouts, Ravi even had to fight some fallen that attacked him out of nowhere. And when he was done with them, he discussed with Wire what the Ishtar Academy really was... and where they could even find it to begin with.

"Ishtar Academy is... or was... one of the greatest research centers in the whole system" Wire explained. "It belonged to one of the greatest scientific corporations that ever existed in the Solar System: the Ishtar Collective"

Ravi was surprised. "So, the Ishtar Collective was the greatest of them all?"

"Well, not exactly... There was actually another scientific group that rivaled with them"

"And what was its name?"

"Clovis Bray" Wire answered as Ravi widened his eyes in surprise. "Now that I think about it, you once said you heard about Clovis Bray before, didn't you?"

"Well, not exactly. I just happened to find this really cool building one day... and apparently, it belonged to this Clovis Bray"

"I see... And I suppose that's where your passion for technology began"

Ravi chuckled a bit. "You sure are sharp"

They kept on walking and talking without worries, until Wire finally changed the topic. "Hey, Ravi... Are you really ok with this?" the tiny droid asked in a concerned voice.

"Mmmh? What do you mean?" Ravi answered while raising an eyebrow.

"I'm talking about Leah. You 2 haven't talked since the Moon incident. Have you not considered that maybe she's right? That maybe coming here was... a bad idea?"

The bluenette took a long sigh. "Of course I have, but... if we do nothing, then maybe whatever lurks in here can become a threat for the Last City later"

"Oh please... Is that really the reason for us to come here? Or are you just excited for being in a totally new place?"

Ravi widened his eyes in surprise yet again. He knew that what Wire was saying might be true. After all, thanks to meeting Leah and saving her from the Fallen back on Earth, he learned and understood the importance of friends and also being responsible. However, very deep inside of him, his immature desire to learn new things as fast as he could was still present and influencing his reasoning.

"I don't know" the warlock replied with troubleness. "I guess my mind is just still trapped between what I want to do... and what is the right thing to do"

"Ravi..."

"But, right now that doesn't matter"

"What? What do you mean by that?"

At that exact moment, a soft and barely noticeable grin took form in Ravi's face. "Leah is safe" The blue-haired guardian finally stated. "She's safe..."

...

...

...

"...and that's all I care about"

Wire didn't know how to reply, and it was then that he finally realized the truth behind his guardian's fight with Leah. And the thing is, Ravi made her angry willingly, because he knew that she'd then want to stay away from him at all cost. And thanks to that, she'd be safe and sound at home.

"You sure worry about her a lot, don't you?" Wire asked as Ravi giggled slightly.

"Of course I do. We are friends after all!"

After that little conversation, Ravi and Wire kept on exploring the Ishtar Sink region in search of the Ishtar Academy without knowing that the Stranger had actually been watching them from afar for quite a long time already.

'Let's hope you are as strong as I think' The Stranger thought with a serious expression. 'If you survive the Vex, then we'll meet. If not, I'll have to look for someone else'

...

...

...

A few hours later, Ravi and Wire reached what seemed to be some kind of old plaza, though one could barely distinguish it between the lots of vegetation and trash that was scattered all around. There was a pool in the middle and many buildings around. And there was actually one in particular that caught Ravi's attention more than any other. Such building had many glass doors, though the glass was totally shattered, and above the entrance lied a huge sign that could barely be read with some very long-awaited words written on it...

...

Ishtar Academy

...

That's what the sign said, and it obviously managed to startle both the bluenette boy and his ghost.

"This is it" Ravi claimed as he and Wire slowly approached the building.

"Yeah... This is Ishtar Academy" Wire then added. "And just as I thought, the place is in total decline"

Once inside, they noticed the place was a in fact a complete mess: books scattered all around, many of them with lots of missing pages, the walls were ripped and had vines growing all around them, and there were also lots of junk and more trash all over the floor. Every corridor, every room, every single corner of that place looked as if a huge hurricane had just came, only to leave the poor building all dirty and in pieces.

Soon, Ravi and Wire also discovered they weren't alone by any means. They noticed many Fallen forces moving in a hurry towards the inner part of the academy. "They look upset" Ravi whispered so that no one but Wire could hear him.

"Maybe the Stranger is having a confrontation with them" Wire replied in the same manner.

"If that's the case we must hurry. We can't let whoever that person is to die at the hands of those four-arms"

Ravi and Wire rushed towards where the Fallen were gathering. They could hear gunshots and loud growls from afar, and also... the sound of metal being hit and crushed. Something that they weren't really expecting at all. 'What the hell is happening?' Ravi thought as he kept on running.

The closer he was to the fight, the louder the noise became. And after some time traversing the various dirty hallways, he finally reached what seemed to be a library... a big, torn apart and messy library. Its glass roof was broken and most of the shelves were ripped apart. But the most shocking part wasn't the room itself, but what was happening inside it. The Fallen were fighting some kind of weird looking... robots?

"What are those things?!" Ravi asked in shock while staring at the weird android-looking creatures in front of him.

They had big heads with only 1 big red eye in the very middle. They also had a very big white area at where the stomach would normally be, and deadly red laser guns stuck into their arms.

"Are those... Vex?!" Wire replied, referring to this brand new enemy. "They even reached Venus?! But... how?!"

Ravi stared at Wire without a clue of what he was talking about. "Wire! Answer me!" Ravi yelled. "What are those...?!" Before Ravi could finish, he was abruptly interrupted by an explosion near him. He was sent flying and crashed into a wall, and when he came to his senses, he realized he was right in the middle of the brutal shootout. 'Oh no!' the boy thought with despair, after which he quickly stood back up and took cover behind one of the shelves. There were Fallen and Vex all around shooting at him and between themselves.

"WATCH OUT!"

Then, a huge Vex appeared behind Ravi and got ready punch him. "DAMN IT!" the bluenette yelled while barely dodging the attack and stepping out of his cover. The Fallen and Vex immediately charged at him and now he had no other choice but to fight. "Very well! Come at me you stupid invaders!"

Ravi turned on his fire and began taking down the Fallen and Vex soldiers one by one while still having to dodge the shots from both sides. At first, he seemed to be doing fine. He was simply too fast for the enemies to follow, but little by little he was tiring himself more and more. And when he finally got a chance to catch a breath, one of the Vex lasers hit him directly on the arm

"ARGH!" Ravi grunted as he fell on his knees while rubbing his shoulder. Still, he had no time to think. The enemies were all charging at him at the same time.

And so, it was then that Leah's words finally came into his mind... and he began regretting himself for not having listened to her...

...

"YOU ARE SUCH AN i***t! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO BECAUSE I WORRY ABOUT YOU?!"

...

'Leah...' Ravi thought with remorse.

...

"IF YOU WANNA RISK YOUR LIFE, THEN DO IT! BUT DON'T COUNT WITH ME!"

...

'I'm sorry...'

...

"I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO BARE SEEING YOU GET KILLED!"

...

It seemed to be over. All Ravi could do at that point was wait for the enemies to overwhelm him and take his life away...

...

...

...

Or that's how it was at first...

'NO!' Ravi thought with determination. 'LIKE HELL I'M LETTING IT END LIKE THIS!' At that exact moment, the blue-haired boy instantly raised his hand while gathering fire on it... and then... "AAAHHHH!!!" he then yelled with fury as he abruptly punched the floor with all the energy he had left, causing a massive shockwave of fire which spread all around the room and hit every single Fallen and Vex that was still standing there.

Then, when the dust settled... most of the walls and Fallen were all burned to a crisp... and lots of the scary Vex were more than just melted metal...

Still, Ravi was panting and breathing heavily at that point. He certainly had no more energy inside him. But, it didn't matter anymore given that he really did manage to defeat the enemies... or that's what he thought.

"RAVI! MOVE!!" Wire yelled after noticing one of the Vex who was supposedly defeated crawling and pointing its laser gun at the blunette warlock.

This last one however, couldn't move anymore. He just limited himself to stare with panic at the barely operational robot which was about to shoot him to death. But then... someone else intervened and saved the young boy's life mere moments before that could happen... Someone who Ravi didn't expect to meet there at all.

"STAY AWAY FROM HIM!!" a female voice that he knew very well suddnely yelled. It was Leah. She had just arrived, only to charge towards the Vex enemy and pierce its tough metal armor with her daggers surrounded by lightning.

"Le... ah..." Ravi muttered in a soft and tired tone. Then, the young girl turned around until her eyes met with his. And after noticing the bad state in which her best friend was, she immediately rushed to him and hugged him tightly while leaning her head on his chest.

"YOU i***t!" Leah screamed as a few tears fell from her cheeks. "HOW RECKLESS CAN YOU BE?!"

"Leah..."

"Don't say anything! I'm just... so glad you are alive..."

Leah hugged him even tighter and after a while, Ravi took a long sigh of relief and hugged her back.

Then, a few moments later, Wire and Cybel joined them too. "Are you ok, Ravi?" Wire asked with concern.

"Yeah... Well, except for my shoulder... I'm fine" Ravi replied while in pain.

"It's good to see you again" Cybel added. "Still, I can't believe the enemy this time was the Vex"

"Yeah... And they were really strong"

"Vex?" Leah asked. "What's that?"

"I can answer that question" A mysterious female voice behind them suddenly claimed, after which Ravi and the others turned around and stared with their eyes wide open at an unknown exo figure wearing a black cloak and hood.

There was no doubt... It was the Stranger.

"Who... who are you?" Ravi asked in a low voice.

"Follow me" The Stranger bluntly replied while ignoring the question. "After treating your wounds, I'll tell you all you need to know"

Ravi and Leah looked at each other and then nodded. After all, they came all the way to planet Venus just to get the chance of meeting the Stranger. And as such, they might as well just play her little game for now.