Brett Blakley's Stories The New Adventures (Part 4)

The Truth

Bad News-

Things had been dreary since Night Riser's last note. The blue skies that were once hovering over all the hills, were now replaced with gray skies and multiple rain showers. It seemed like everyone had been effected by the dreariness of the out side world. But no-one else was as bothered as me. Night Riser's last letter was very strange and cryptic. After my narrow escape in attacking the Death Pit, I was to worried about talking to the others about this, it could scare them pretty bad. I tried to trick myself into thinking it never happened, but it kept flowing through my head, day after day. It will all be over soon... What did he mean by that? Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, Machine's knife, Part of Corruption's hood, missing S.S.C documents. It just didn't add up. I looked out the window in hopes that if I blinked a few times, then the sky would brighten up, and all of this mystery wouldn't be a problem at all. But as I opened my eyes, the same colorless sky was still hovering above everything around me. I sat down a sighed, nothing was going to change. As I began to fade away into my own little dream land where everything made sense, a loud ring of the phone seemed to destroy all of the tranquility I had left. I answered it and found out that it was Tim. Before I could speak, Tim began talking loudly. "Did you hear what's been happening?" I answered quickly, "What?, is it about Blade?" Tim paused for a moment and said, "Maybe, but it is unlikely." Tim continued, "Three S.S.C members have went into the small forested area to get a look at Specter's Tree." "And?..." I asked, starting to get interested. Tim sighed and spoke up, "They have all went missing..." I was pretty shocked, Specter's Tree was a pretty safe place. Tim started talking again, "I need you to meet up with me, George, Tye, and Samantha." "We will figure out whats going on." Tim gave me the time and the coordinates, I didn't think it was going to be a big deal, but deep down inside I felt as if I was dead wrong.

Specter's Tree-

I had never been to Specter's Tree before. But many S.S.C member's have heard of it. It was an old tree that many S.S.C members used to go to, for meetings. It was at the center of a small forested area, that was pretty close to the school. I kept looking up in the sky, I thought that it was going to pour down rain any second. I saw George and Tye in the distance, they seemed relieved that I had stopped by. "Am I the last one here?" I said as I approached them. "Tim still hasn't showed up yet." Samantha said quickly. I had learned to get used to Tim's lateness, it was his own way of making a grand entrance. The clouds above us continued to get bigger and more ready to pour down. Tim finally showed up and started to lead the way. The trees seemed to block all outside noises, if it was raining, there was no way for us to tell. Things got dark and eerie as we got farther into the trail. At times, I thought I could hear whispers and footsteps behind us. But there was never anything there. "For an old S.S.C meeting place, this is kind- of creepy." Tye said hesitantly. Hearing the word creepy made Samantha huddle up next to George for protection. I just rolled my eyes along with Tim and kept going. Strange shadows seemed to cover the ground until the ground seemed nothing but a shadow itself. Even though I would never admit it to the others, this place did give me the creeps sometimes. "Maybe the S.S.C members just got lost?" George said, breaking the tension. "That's unlikely," Tim said "This area isn't as big as it looks." I had to disagree, we seemed to be walking forever. We made it to a fork in the path. Both paths seemed to end in infinite darkness, except one of them had a sign saying: Do Not Enter, Path Incomplete. Tye already started heading for the clear path, but Tim stopped him. "This is where enemies would make their mistake", Tim said. He led us past the warning sign and instructed us to go around a huge fallen tree in the way. "Specter's Tree is not to far from here" Tim whispered as if he didn't want to startle anything. As we got to a corner, a chill went up my spine, Tim seemed to feel it to. But George seemed to preoccupied with protecting Samantha to feel anything. We came around the corner slowly and saw a large tree in the center of the lost path. I stared at it in amazement, it seemed so old and wonderful compared to all the other dark and rotting trees. I was so caught up in looking at the amazing relic, that I didn't notice what everyone else had their eyes on. Because, standing in front of the tree, gazing up at it's splendor, was a figure dressed in black! No-one moved or said a word. But, (without looking back) the figure spoke up in a voice that sent a bigger chill up my spine. "It's about time you got here, I was getting worried you might miss the ending."

Night Riser's true identity-

Everyone seemed shocked, I looked over at George and Samantha, they didn't move a muscle. Tye seemed to be partially hiding behind a shrub. I then looked over at Tim. His face was different than the others, he seemed confused and surprised, instead of scared. I tried to speak up, but found myself without words. Tim broke the silence at last, "Who are you?" Tim asked hesitantly. The figure straitened up, but continued his gaze on the tree. The dark figure spoke again, "You've forgotten a lot of things Tim, your old friends, your old missions, your old enemies, but did you really forget... about your own apprentice!" The figure finally turned around, I had never seen him before, but as I looked at Tim, he looked as if he'd been stabbed in the heart. Tim summoned up his strength and said in a shaky voice, "N-Nick?"

The Truth Behind It All-

"Who is Nick?" I asked frantically, "What is going on." The figure now spoke up again, "Oh, you mean he never told you?" "I... was Tim's apprentice." I became shocked like everyone else. I looked at Tim again, "That is impossible, I am Tim's apprentice, isn't that right Tim?" Tim didn't speak, he didn't even look at me. My anger flowed through me. I started to yell "Is it true or not, Tim!" Tim cleared his throat, "Nick... was my apprentice." I couldn't believe what I had just heard, "But... But... this makes no sense." Nick talked again, "And that is why I am here, to tell you the whole story." "It all goes back to the beginning." "I was Tim's apprentice, you trained me and became my good friend." "Everything was fine then, there were no hard feelings, no major problems, no worries in the world." "But after all of that training and hard work I was put through, after all I had done!... you let me down." "You refused to let me fight Machine... the thing I was most anxious to do." "You just left me there, wanting to help, but knowing that you didn't want me too." "So I came up with a plan, If you weren't with me, you were against me." "I was able to find Machine and convince him into making me his apprentice." "He agreed to tell you that he had killed me... and that I was never coming back." "Over the years, Machine trained me and I rose very high in rank." "I became more powerful than Machine and ordered him to give me his precious knife." "I became so powerful, that I was aloud to consult with Corruption, alone." "I told him that he was so strong, that he could take Brett out without any guards." "Corruption went off to defeat you, with Machine." "But he eventually told Machine to leave after he remembered my words." "Once you defeated Corruption, I took immediate control of THEM and got all the members to go into hiding until we could strike again." "I then started to go by the name of Night Riser." "I sent the S.S.C messages about how to find The Brotherhood of Death's plans and when to attack their hideouts." "But at the same time, I sent the Brotherhood of Death messages instructing them when to obtain your secret documents and where a nice place to attack would be." "To keep you from finding out the truth, I left clues that would distract you long enough for me to get a hold of your secret information." "I figured that the S.S.C and The Brotherhood of Death would fight each other so much and so equally that when everyone was weakened, THEM could take everyone out, and become the new rulers." "And I would finally get my revenge and take over the school... and soon... beyond the school!" Tim had his mouth hanging open, I could tell that the truth hurt him badly. There was only one thing to do, and that was stop Nick. But before we could get the chance, Nick took out a walky-talkie and spoke into it loud and clear, "Begin the attack."

Aftermath-

Before we knew it, Tim started to get a call from multiple S.S.C members who were all shouting and screaming. George, Tye, and Samantha all ran out to help. I looked back at Night Riser, but he had disappeared. Then it was just me and Tim, alone. It was so quiet, so hopeless. Tim pulled himself together and ran off, leaving his walky-talkie behind him. I was now all alone. I finally got the answer I was looking for... the answer I had spent all this time trying to uncover. But I still felt empty inside. George had been right the entire time. If I wouldn't have gotten so carried away in the Corruption mystery, then maybe I could have discovered the truth sooner. This was all my fault. All this time, I was walking right into Night Riser's plan. I sat down next to the tree. How could Tim have never told me this, what did he hope to gain from not telling me. I stood up with some new hope, I wasn't going to let Tim get away with this. I was going to track him down and find out why he didn't tell me, no matter what. Meanwhile, George, Tye, and Samantha were heading into the thick of the battle. The S.S.C v.s The Brotherhood of Death v.s THEM, who could win such a momentous battle. There were kids everywhere. It was nearly impossible to tell anyone apart. All they could do was fight. George stayed behind with Samantha, even though she knew how to fight, George didn't want to lose her. They were immediately attacked by five attackers, George punched one in the face and tripped the other one. Samantha then stepped on the fallen one and kicked the other attacker in the jaw. Tye was surrounded as soon as he broke through the front line. He was accompanied by a few regular soldiers and pushed back the enemy. They kept punching their way through the crowds as they made it towards the back. Tye's soldiers were taken down one by one around him. Tye then jumped into action. He picked up an attacker and threw him into four others. He then saw George and Samantha in the distance being taken down quickly. "This isn't going to be easy." George said as he kneed a kid in the stomach. "But we can't back down, we must keep fighting." Samantha said with some hope. George was immediately hit hard in the side and thrown down to the ground. Tye jumped in to help but was quickly pushed down along with George. Samantha was left standing. She hit one in the face and pushed them into one another. Tye was stepped on from all directions, and although George tried to help, Tye was knocked out within seconds. (Ignoring the punches to his back) George stood up and hit a kid hard in the face. As George was about to speak to Samantha again, she was tackled from his side to the ground. As the attackers got off of her, George could tell that she was knocked out. George then got angry. He started punching all of them in the face wildly and headbutting them as well. When there was only two left standing George immediately punched one in the stomach. The other attacker was able to get a hold of George's arm, and twist it. George yelled out in pain and let out a final punch to the kid he was headbutting. George continued to stand his ground despite the pain in his arm. He charged at the kid but was strangled and thrown against a tree. Before George could move, the attacker kicked George further into the tree and finished him off with a hit to the head. George tried to keep his eyes from drooping. But his body wouldn't let him. The last sound he heard was the sound of more screaming.

The Lost Story-

The sky was pitch black. Only the light of the stars and the dull shine of the moon lit the path I was walking down. I knew Tim well enough to know where he would go after a confrontation like that. Whenever Tim was down, he would go to the old park and sit under a certain tree he seemed to like a lot. When I got there, I found that I was right. Tim sat there under the tree and seemed so silent. I sat by him and looked up into the starry sky above. "Why?" I finally managed to ask. "Why didn't you ever tell me about Nick." Tim didn't respond at first, he once again seemed to be in another world. "I'm sorry Brett... I just..." his voice trailed off. He started to speak again. "I thought he was really dead." "I thought that because of me, a life had been lost." "That is why I always gave you what wanted." "I let you fight Machine quickly, I let you battle anyone you wished." "I was to afraid to lose another apprentice... I was blinded by what I thought you needed to stay happy." He looked back down at his feet and said, "It seems like all my old friends are against me now." I continued to look at him, "What should we do?" Tim paused and seemed to be in deep thought. He stood up as he spoke, "There is only one thing to do,... fight back."