The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (51 page)

“
Enjoy
my parting gift. I'll return to pick up the pieces one day soon.”

And then Hyperion turned and went back into the Arena
room, closing the door behind him.

“
Destroyers,
after him,” Prometheus said quickly. Serena and her people
raced after the Titan, spending a few minutes forcing the door that
Hyperion had sealed behind himself.

It wasn't long before Serena returned. “We're in
trouble, sir,” she said to Prometheus, but it was Justin she
was looking at.

“
What's
wrong?” the Titan asked. “Where is my mad brother?”

“
Hyperion
is gone, sir. Used a water Gate. We found the puddle. But it's
something else.”

“
Lead
on then,” Prometheus said and walked wearily behind her. Justin
and the other teens followed him. Fitzgerald shook his head when
Maria asked if he wanted to join them.

The Arena room was a mess. Blobs of melted metal marked
where Hyperion had destroyed the mechanical creatures. The bodies of
the renegades and weapons of various types were scattered about.
There was a smoky haze a few feet off of the ground that Justin
couldn't identify. Smoke? From what, he wondered.

“
Here,
sir,” Serena called and pointed toward the middle of the arena
floor. There, Justin saw a hole slowly widening in the silvery
surface. A hole? He walked closer and really looked at it.

It was corrosion. Justin saw that a black oily sheen
outlined the edges of the hole and, when he leaned over to look
inside, coated the entire bottom. It was becoming wider and deeper as
he watched and the phenomena was increasing in speed. The entire
floor was slowly rotting away.

“
What's
going on?” he asked Prometheus nervously.

The Titan closed his eyes tightly and shook his head
with despair. “It is my brother's final curse; his vengeance on
us for our victory.”

“
Hyperion
did that?” Maria asked, appalled.

“
Yes,
my dear. I do not know of any way to counteract it. And if we cannot,
Sanctuary is doomed to rot away.” Prometheus stared at the
rapidly advancing corrosion, then back at Justin. “Like Cronus
did with Atlantis, Hyperion has started a chain reaction. But this
corruption is unclean, and unstoppable. We'd best get back to
Fitzgerald and see if he has any ideas. We don't have much time.”

Justin was thinking rapidly. “Wait a second,”
he said and everyone stopped moving toward the exit. “Maybe I
can stop it. It's eating away the earth, after all.”

“
Hey,
good point, Just!” Aaron said with a wide grin. “Your
power should be able to handle it, no problem.”

“
I
don't know, Justin,” Prometheus said cautiously. “This
blight is something that you've never faced before. It could harm you
as well.”

Justin shrugged and sat down abruptly on the ground. The
black edge of the ever widening hole was only ten yards away. “I
have to try now before it's totally out of control.”

“
Very
well, Justin. Try it. Carefully.” The Titan and everyone else
stepped back and gave Justin room. He placed the head of the sickle
on its side directly between himself and the hole. Then he grasped
the handle firmly and sent his mind through the weapon and down into
the ground.

He saw the corruption. It was just as black to his
mind's eye as it was to his real sight. But he could see how it was
literally eating the substance of the earth, dissolving it, consuming
it, and the more it ate, the stronger it got and the faster it moved.
It seemed almost alive. And it was hungry. But how to stop it? He
didn't have to touch it to know that he had no power over this curse.
But how was it dissolving the substance of the earth? He looked
closer, careful not to touch the slime itself.

Ah, yes. It was breaking apart the individual molecules,
absorbing the energy created, powering its advance and gaining in
strength as it went. But what would happen if he increased the
density of the rock, making it harder for the corruption to
penetrate. He had to try it and quickly.

Justin focused his power, sending it to surround the
slime, diving underneath to strengthen and increase the density of
all the encircling rock. Make it like titanium, he thought. As hard
and dense as titanium. Pull the elements from the ground, send it to
merge with the stone, make a barrier. Now. Make it now!

He sighed and sat back, holding his concentration but
opening his eyes to see the result of his work.

The bubbling, roiling mass of corruption was a scant few
feet from where he sat. But it had stopped moving. Around its edge, a
gleaming bronze-colored circle held it back, a dam of titanium, made
all the more bright and beautiful when seen against the disgusting
black mass washing up against it. Justin smiled a bit sadly.

“
Hey
Justin! You did it!” Aaron shouted.

“
Well
done, young Titan,” Prometheus said with a smile. “I
should have had more faith in your abilities.”

“
It's
beautiful, Justin,” Maria said from behind him and squeezed his
shoulders.

“
Thanks
guys.” He stared at the contained blackness and then looked
around him with a feeling of satisfaction. “Yeah, it was worth
the price, wasn't it?”

There was a moment of silence.

“
Price,
Justin?” Prometheus sounded puzzled. “What price? The
Arena? It can be repaired, I'm sure.”

Justin shook his head. “That's not what I'm
talking about.” He looked up to his left, where the old Titan
was standing. “I can't leave, Prometheus. I can't even move.
That titanium is only temporary. If I lose my focus, it will
dissipate and in the time it would take to reassemble it, the rot
will have spread too far. I have to hold it here. Now and forever. I
can't move.”

Aaron knelt down beside him, a look of horror on his
face. “Justin,” he murmured. “Why?”

“
Why?
This is my home now, bud. Yours too. And all of our friends. How many
creatures, machines, secrets uncounted lie buried beneath us in
Sanctuary? How could I not do it?”

His friend nodded slowly. He stared at Justin for a long
moment and then carefully reached out and ruffled his hair. “You
need a haircut, buddy,” he whispered with a weak grin.

“
You
too, Aaron,” Justin replied and winked.

Aaron wiped his eyes. He stood up, walked back toward
the entrance and out of Justin's sight.

“
Is
there no other way, Justin?” Maria took Aaron's place beside
him.

“
Not
now, Maria. But I'm hoping that between them, Prometheus and Mr.
Fitzgerald will think of something.” He glanced at the Titan
who nodded firmly.

“
You
can be sure we'll do our utmost, Justin. I'll go and speak to
Fitzgerald right now.”

The old Titan strode off quickly. Maria gently kissed
Justin's cheek and stood up.

“
We
won't leave you alone, Justin,” she said. “There will
always be someone here with you, in case you need anything or just to
talk.”

“
Thanks
Maria. Why don't you check in with the others? I'll be fine for a
while.”

“
Okay.
Be back soon,” she replied and walked off.

He was alone. There might be some Destroyers behind him
but Justin couldn't turn his head to see. And right now it didn't
matter.

What mattered was that Sanctuary was safe. Mrs. Mallon
was okay, Mr. Bellisle too. He looked at his titanium ring. Yeah, it
really was beautiful. He wondered where Hyperion was now. Did he have
more allies on the outside? Was he even now moving to set his plan to
destroy the world in motion? Justin didn't know. Someone else would
have to take up the pursuit now. It was out of his hands.

What had it said about Titans on that pillar in the
museum? He tried to remember. Oh, yeah. We stand when others fall.
Justin smiled a bit. Yeah, he thought. I guess we do.

The
End

Check
out Justin McLeod's previous adventures in

The
Return of the Titans

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