The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (50 page)

He laughed at their appalled expressions. “Come
now. Isn't my plan glorious in its simplicity? I hardly have to raise
a finger, really.” He shook his head regretfully. “But I
fear that you won't be alive to see the new world bloom, Justin. Or
your friends. I could turn them to my side, of course, but why
bother? I have many more troops awaiting me elsewhere.”

He stood up and gripped his spear firmly. “Try not
to struggle. It's quicker and less painful if you just submit.”

Justin and his friends backed away from Hyperion until
they stood in the center of the Arena. The Titan sighed dramatically.

“
You're
just going to make it harder on yourselves, you know.” He
looked at the renegades. “My children. Restrain them.”

The red-cloaked figures leapt forward and began to run
toward Justin, Aaron and Maria.

“
Wish
I had that glove right about now,” Aaron said as he watched the
approaching renegades.

“
Yeah,
I hear you, bud,” Justin replied. Maria simply stood there,
crouched down and ready to strike.

Suddenly, lightning smashed into the renegades and they
fell in heaps on the ground.

“
What!”
Hyperion shouted. He turned to glare at Jason who stood there with
his hammer pointed at the pile of bodies. “You!” the
Titan yelled and drew back his spear.

“
Me,”
Jason shouted back at him and a blast of lightning shot from the
hammer and sent Hyperion flying backwards. He landed hard and his
spear went flying from his hand.

“
Guys,
get your stuff!” Jason yelled at Justin and the others. They
ran forward, jumping over the renegades who were stirring feebly.
Each grabbed their own weapon and Justin looked over at Jason.

“
Thanks,
Jason. For what it's worth, I understand why you did what you did.”

Jason nodded. “I never meant for any of this to
happen, Justin. I only wish...”

The rest of his sentence was cut off. Hyperion's spear
slammed into Jason's chest and sent him reeling backwards. He looked
at Justin one last time and tried to speak, but a gush of blood
filled his mouth and he collapsed, dead.

The three friends looked in horror at Jason's body, then
over at Hyperion who was staggering to his feet. “Never betray
a Titan, boy,” he said in a thick voice. They realized that he
was still woozy.

“
Come
on, Justin! Let's get out of here,” Aaron yelled. Justin nodded
and looked up at the six Guardians. All of them were on their feet
but they hadn't moved. They were obviously confused and he wondered
if they had been drugged.

“
Maria!
You and Aaron get the Guardians out of here,” Justin said
quickly. Some of the renegades were almost back on their feet and
Hyperion was staggering forward to retrieve his spear. “I'll
hold these guys off.”

“
Um,
Justin. How..”

“
Just
do it!” he yelled. “It's time we had some troops of our
own.”

His two friends looked at him dubiously but headed
quickly toward the group of Guardians. Justin looked at the silvery
floor beneath him.

I'm basically standing on an Arena game board, he
thought. Let's see if I can wake up the players.

He raised the sickle over his head and turned the blunt
side downward. Several yards away, three of the renegades were on
their feet. They began to lurch toward him.

Oh no you don't, he thought. And then he at last
unleashed the rage that had threatened to engulf him and he brought
the sickle slamming down on to the surface of the arena. He felt his
power surge as the ground shook at his tremendous blow. A shock wave
rippled from the point of impact and threw the renegades from their
feet. And as his power spread across and under the silvery surface,
he called out “Hear me! I am the son of Cronus and I need your
help! ”

There was a momentary silence. He heard laughter and saw
that Hyperion was standing over Jason's body, holding his spear.

“
Good
try, boy, But you aren't Cronus.” And he drew back his arm to
throw the spear with deadly force.

“
No,
I'm not Cronus,” Justin said defiantly. “But he is in my
blood. And the power is mine!”

The floor of the Arena exploded.

Up from the metal ground leapt gigantic figures. A
minotaur. A cyclops. A manticore. A gryphon.

A dozen or more metal soldiers called to battle. Called
by the blood of Cronus, their creator.

Hyperion threw his spear at Justin in a fury. It smashed
into the cyclops that leaped to protect him and the creature
collapsed on to the floor and sank back into the silvery surface,
taking the spear with it.

“
No!”
Hyperion screamed. “Give it back!”

The mechanical monsters tore into the renegades, ripping
them to pieces. The red cloaks managed to take down several of the
creatures, using bolts of fire, spears of ice and weapons of titanium
that they had pulled out from beneath their cloaks. But it wasn't
enough. In the end, all of them fell. Justin never saw what happened
to Benson, but felt a momentary pang of regret.

Justin stood back and watched the battle. Several times
he used his power to encase the legs of the renegades in metal,
holding them so that the creatures could pound on them.

Aaron and Maria had watched the battle in shock for a
few moments, then they had gathered the Guardians together and moved
them slowly to the exit. Aaron had his arm around Mrs. Mallon,
supporting her as she struggled to walk. Justin felt a rush of
feeling as he watched the two of them.

“
Come
on, Justin. Let's go,” Maria called to him.

He turned around in time to see the minotaur, his
favorite, stride toward Hyperion, its huge club ready to swing. The
Titan snarled but, even disarmed, he wasn't finished yet.

The minotaur swung the club with deadly force but
Hyperion jumped back, then stepped forward and grabbed the construct
by the arm. Justin watched in horror as the spot where the Titan had
grabbed the creature bubbled and smoked, the metal skin rotting away
at his touch. The minotaur's arm suddenly hung limp and then fell to
the ground with a loud clang, its weapon rolling across the floor.
Hyperion laughed madly.

“
I'm
not done yet, boy,” he yelled as he glared at Justin. It was a
mistake. The minotaur smashed across its body with its remaining arm
and the Titan staggered back and fell to his knees. But the rot that
Hyperion had infected it with was spreading, moving up the stump of
its arm to its chest and head. As the Titan regained his feet, the
minotaur collapsed in upon itself, slumping to the ground and falling
apart into a shapeless mass of bubbling metal.

“
Get
him!” Justin yelled, pointing at Hyperion and the remaining
half dozen or so metal creatures converged on the Titan. Justin had
seen enough and turned and ran to catch up with Aaron and the group.

He put his hand under Mr. Bellisle's arm and helped him
down the hallway as the sounds of the battle behind him continued.

“
Well,
well, if it isn't Mr. McLeod,” the man said in a weak voice. “I
see you still like playing Arena.”

Justin laughed with relief. “Yes sir. Thanks for
showing me the game in the first place.”

“
No
problem, my boy.” Mr. Bellisle winced as he stumbled along.
“Best decision I ever made.”

The group emerged into the main courtyard and staggered
toward the fountain.

“
Here
Justin, let me help you with him.”

“
Thanks
Richard,” he said with relief, then stared at his friend.
“Richard? What are you doing here?”

The teen grinned. “We came to help, Mister
Impulsive.” He nodded toward the fountain and Justin felt a
huge sense of relief when he saw who was waiting for them.

Serena was there with a handful of Destroyers.
Fitzgerald sat on the edge of the fountain. He still looked frail but
he was alert and directing those around him. Stabel hurried over and
helped Aaron with Mrs. Mallon. And next to the small crowd stood
Prometheus with little Daemon beside him.

“
Well,
well, Justin. Not a very patient person, are you?” he asked in
his deep ponderous voice.

“
Impulsive
young Titan,” Daemon said, shaking his head. “I like it!”

“
Hush
Daemon. Don't encourage him.”

“
It's
good to see you, sir,” Justin said as another servitor, he
realized that it was Borgen, took over from him and helped Mr.
Bellisle to a seat next to the fountain. Richard knelt down beside
him and began checking him over.

“
Yes,
I suppose I was impulsive. I apologize for that.” Justin looked
over at Mr. Fitzgerald. “But what choice did I have? We simply
didn't have time to wait. At least, that's what I thought.”

“
I
understand, Justin.” Fitzgerald nodded. “You made your
choice, as did your friends. Now we must all live with the
consequences.”

“
I
don't see Jason anywhere, Justin,” Richard said as he walked
over to them. “What's going on?”

Justin knew that Richard and Jason were close. He wasn't
sure how to explain what had happened without hurting him, so he
simply related the events as they had happened.

While he was talking, Serena took her Destroyers into
the Arena room. Justin finished explaining quickly and was saddened
by Richard's look of shock and betrayal.

“
He
was Benson's brother?” Mr. Fitzgerald looked as surprised as
Justin had ever seen him. “We never knew that Benson had a
brother, let alone one that was also a Titan.” He sighed
heavily. “Such a tragedy.”

“
Oh,
Jason,” Richard muttered. “You idiot.” He turned
away and wiped his eyes.

“
He
was a hero at the end, Rich,” Aaron said.

“
If
it wasn't for his sacrifice, we'd be dead now,” Maria added.

Richard just nodded once and walked back to help the
wounded Guardians.

“
Leave
him be, for now,” Prometheus said softly as Aaron started to
follow. “Let him grieve as he wills.”

At that moment, the Destroyers came racing out of the
door to the Arena room, Serena bringing up the rear.

“
He's
coming out!” she called to them. “The machines have been
destroyed.”

“
Tough
son of a b...” Aaron started to say. And then the door crashed
open and Hyperion stood there.

He had picked up a hammer from one of the metal
creatures and he stood defiantly glaring at all of them. But the
fight had left him bleeding from a dozen wounds. His hair was matted
with blood and his nose was smashed to his face, pulped by a weapon
blow.

He took in the crowd before him and focused on one
person.

“
Prometheus!”
he screamed. “My executioner!”

Prometheus walked forward and stared at Hyperion calmly.
“Obviously not. I should have burnt your body then and there,
instead of waiting. Well, better late than never.”

“
Don't
you dare sneer at me! It was your fault the humans became as powerful
as they did. None of it would have happened if it hadn't been for
you.”

“
Don't
listen to him, master. He simply wishes to shift the blame for his
treachery to someone else.” Daemon looked at Hyperion with
contempt. “A typical ploy of the weak and selfish.”

Hyperion roared. “Weak, am I? I'll show you weak,
tin man!” He began to stride forward but Prometheus stepped in
front of Daemon, an intense flame suddenly appearing in his hand.

“
Unless
you've suddenly become fireproof, dear brother, I would recommend
against attacking my servant.”

Hyperion stopped in his tracks. He seemed baffled as he
looked at the crowd in front of him.

Like Prometheus, Aaron was holding a flame in his hand
and scowling at the Titan. Maria stood beside him, brandishing her
staff. The Destroyers were all lined up against him and then Justin
walked towards him, his sickle poised and ready.

Surprisingly, the Titan smiled, his teeth covered in
blood. “Well, I see I shall have to wait for another day to
destroy this damned place in person.” He looked directly at
Justin. “My brother built well and you have his strength. I
appreciate a worthy opponent, Justin McLeod. Unfortunately, I fear
you are going to be too busy to stop me from achieving my ambitions.
But you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you will live
beyond your world's end.” He looked at the rest of the people
near the fountain and saved a last glare for Prometheus. He spat on
the ground.