A grumble came from the mouth of one Siris O'Brien. Now that he was in a relatively safe location and had allowed himself to calm down a bit, he was now less distracted and his irritating people-sensing skill was nagging at him again. As the others around him conversed with one another, Siris was acting his typical brooding-teenage-magic-user role into which he had not slipped for a whole year. The people-finding sense continued to nag at him. Someone familiar was not at all far away; but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Nonetheless, he felt obligated to act on this instinct that he probably would have found annoying had it not been so dang useful.
"Hey..." he began, interrupting the conversation of the rest of the group. "I... uh... I'm going to go look for something."
Silence.
"That means I'm going to leave the building."
More silence.
"Is nobody going to say, 'Oh no, you can't possibly; let me go with you'?"
Several of the party members shook their heads. "As long as you don't get yourself killed."
"Bah." Siris eyed a window, and climbed nimbly up to it. It helped that it was only five feet off the ground. He promptly opened the window, climbed out of it, and proceeded to fall to the ground. He began running like nobody's business toward the shore of Fourside.
Fortunately, many of the zombies were still distracted trying to get at the group that had quite recently ducked into the Department Store. He was relieved to encounter relatively smooth sailing, but as he proceeded, the zombies became more and more difficult to avoid. After a few minutes he found it necessary to begin shoving people out of his way, and after a few more he probably would have been swarmed by zombies.
He would have been, had he not encountered Penetella Giovanni.
"I pity the fool who has to clean up this mess," Penetella said, knocking out but not killing another man with his Pair of dirty socks. As he noticed the teenager running at full steam toward Fourside's harbor, he thought it prudent to run after him and inquire as to what he was up to.
"Hey foo'!" Penetella called. Siris turned his head to look at him. "Whatchoo doin' out here?"
"Looking for someone," Siris replied, pushing another crazed citizen out of the way.
"Well, you'll nevah make it through here alone," Penetella said. "Lemme help ya." He protected Siris's left flank by fending off attackers with his dirty socks. Surprisingly, he was in very good shape and managed to keep up with the slightly-magically-enhanced pace of Siris. The two continued running like this, and as Siris approached the shore he turned to face Mr. Giovanni.
"Thanks for your help," he said. "Stay with me for a bit longer, then you can go back home if you like."
"I don't think mah home is very safe at the moment," Penetella responded.
Siris's people-sense was nagging at him like a madman now. He followed the signal as best he could, and began to wade into the water as Mr. Giovanni covered his back. Spotting a human figure, Siris reached underwater and tried to get a grip on the man. Pulling this man out of the water, it became instantly clear who he was.
"Harsemhin Aberfydd," Siris said with a slight chuckle. "Didn't think I'd ever see you again."
The robed man coughed a few times, and Siris quickly brought him back to the beach and placed him on his feet. "Ah... thank you," he said. "It seems that swimming to the shore was not such a good idea."
"Let's go, Harsemhin," Siris said. "Can you run?"
"Is it Siris...?" said Harsemhin weakly. "No, I do not believe that I can..."
Penetella Giovanni turned around and lifted the quasi-druid over his shoulder. "C'mon," he said to Siris. "Let's get to where you're headed."
-----
Four figures flashed into existence over the cloudy skies of Fourside, each emanating with their own purple glow. Their countenances were quite inhuman -- their facial expressions seemed deadpan. Each one's eye sockets were sunken, with the tiniest trace of a shrunken crimson pupil. Their lips were dry and chapped, their faces a pale, undead white. They were, in fact, already dead -- dead by Ness' hands. Yet, some malevolent power fueled them, keeping them alive, empty shells of human beings that wanted to die but were not allowed to. Glimmers of their true selves resided in the backs of their now-decaying minds, thoroughly oppressed and overwhelmed by the evil force within them. They were nothing more than puppets now: marionettes imbued with a malignant power beyond comprehension.
Lier X. Agerate, the apparent leader of the group, levitated downward. The rest followed suit. Their inhuman eyes shifted left and right, as if searching for someone...searching for Ness. They were on a mission -- efficient assassins that could not die and would not rest until their task was completed.
"The Young Protector has gone into hiding." Everdred hissed.
"Yes, he is in fear of his life..." Monotoli responded in turn.
Carpainter mused. "Would he not find comfort in the thought of joining his friends in tormenting death?" He grinned cruelly.
Lier held a hand up, as if ordering their silence. "The puppetmaster does not care where he is. All that concerns him is that the Young Protector is alive. We must find the little pest and exterminate him, so that the master will be pleased." He stopped descending. The others followed suit. Now, they were drifting casually above the Fourside Park behind the Museum, about thirty feet off the ground. Their patrol took them south, toward the Bakery...and the harbor.
Everdred folded his arms indignantly. "Well then, brave leader, how do you suggest we flush him out?"
A wicked smile spread over Lier X. Agerate's lips. "The only way we know how." He extended an arm downward, the palm pulsing with a vile red aura. In the blink of an eye, a wave of red energy erupted from his hand and smashed into the Bakery, utterly annihilating the second story and half of the first. Skip Sandwiches and Bread Rolls littered the floor in disarray following the blast.
Penetella paused momentarily, still holding Harsemhin, and directed his attention to the sound of the immense blast. His mouth widened as he saw his apartment obliterated. "That crazy foo' Murdock's gotta be behind this! What's this jibba-jabba all about!?" He fumed, stamping his feet in a rage. Siris tried to calm the irate man as best he could.
"Hello..." Carpainter drolled in a menacing whisper to his colleagues. His shrunken red pupils had caught sight of three figures near the harbor. One was unmistakably a participant in the battle earlier. "Well, looks like I'll have a little payback for that little 'static cling' attack. It sure did tickle, but I can't let just about anyone go around doing things like that to me." He nodded to his companions, who pressed forward, levitating through the air toward the hapless trio's location.
A blur of motion in the sky caught Siris' eye. He glanced up, and Penetella and Harsemhin followed suit. He recognized the evil auras emanating from the Four Puppets immediately. His face seemed to pale somewhat, though not much. "Well that's not too good..." he muttered. The three watched somewhat helplessly as the four demonspawn extended their arms at a downward angle toward them, and each one's palm glistened with an evil red energy.
"Prepare to die," Lier X. Agerate whispered.
The energy in the hands of each of the demonspawn's hands intensified, eventually becoming so red they were black. Then the dark red orbs of energy blasted towards the helpless trio.
"Can you stop that energy?" Penetella Giovanni demanded of either Siris or Harsemhin.
"No, I'm too tired to do anything right now," Harsemhin admitted, "and I have nothing that could do that, any way."
Giovanni turned to Siris. "Could you stop the energy?"
"I could try," Siris murmured. "Spiral Barrier!"
While invoking the name of this magic spell, Siris lifted his hands. From his hands arose a pale baby blue mist that spun around over the embattled trio. As seconds passed, the energy orbs getting closer, the mist solidified and darkened, forming a deep baby blue conical spiral.
The energy contacted the spiral and dissipated!
"NO!" exclaimed Carpainter. In anger, he fired off another five energy orbs. Because these orbs were not as charged as the first, they didn't even reach the spiral; they became nothing seconds after leaving Carpainter's hands.
He dropped his hands in anger. The other three, more reasonable than Carpainter, deigned not to waste their precious energy on pointless ventures.
"Can you use Sagitta Halt on them yet?" Siris pressed Harsemhin.
Harsemhin struggled up, sighing.
"I could try." Facing the demonspawns, he focused all his energy in his heart. "If it works, and I faint, just leave me here. I don't want you to be endangered because of me. Sagitta Halt!"
No sooner did the words escape Harsemhin's mouth than the four demonspawns found themselves unable to move. "Argh!" shouted Carpainter in frustration. Harsemhin collapsed on the asphalt.
"I doubt this will last very long," Siris said, eyeing the now unconscious Harsemhin. "Do you mind carrying him again?"
"Let's go," said Mr. Giovanni, hoisting Harsemhin onto his shoulder once again, despite his recent request.
"To the department store."
"Gotcha."
The two began to run back in the direction of the department store, but after a mere minute the four puppets were fully mobile again. Carpainter began to move quickly in pursuit, but Everdred halted him.
"Let them go for now," he hissed. "We'll kill nearly a dozen birds with less than a dozen stones later."
"Quite," muttered Monotoli.
Penetella Giovanni, Siris, and the unconscious Harsemhin made it safely back to the department store. Siris addressed the group.
"I uh... found some friends." With this, he fell backwards into a conveniently placed bench and rested.
Chartreuse looked around the lobby of the Dept. Store, which was now becoming very crowded. Sighing, he glanced out the window. The moon was well into the sky; it was somewhere midnight. As a testament to this fact, Siris suddenly let out a loud yawn.
"Maybe we should get some sleep..." Chartreuse suggested, yawning himself. Talus nodded stiffly.
"That's a solid plan, but what if the Foursidians sneak in to the building and kill us in our slumber?"
"I hope they kill you first," Siris mumbled to himself. Talus glanced at Siris briefly, but looked back at Chartreuse for his opinion.
"I suppose we'll have to sleep in shifts then, to make sure no one breaks in. Any volunteers?" Chartreuse glanced around the group, all of which were slowly finding it hard to stand. Shrugging, he turned to Rustopher.
"Rustopher, would you mind doing the first shift with me? We should let the kids sleep, since they probably need it more than we do. After all, most of them are still teenagers."
Rustopher snorted unhappily, but he couldn't argue with the logic. Chartreuse was about to speak again when Mr. Giovanni spoke up.
"Foo, I'll keep watch with you suckas! Ain't nobody gonna take Penetella Giovanni down!"
"Alright, that sounds like a fair plan." Talus said, nodding his head.
"We could sleep in the toy department and use the stuffed animals as pillows," Siris suggested, holding his hand over his mouth to suppress another yawn.
"Leave it to you to suggest sleeping with stuffed animals," Talus smirked.
"That's a good idea," Chartreuse replied, glancing at the bickering two, "But who's going to carry the man that Siris found?"
"I can do it!" Mr. Giovanni grunted, immediately picking up the prone quasi-druid.
"Perfect. Now, let's not waste any more time, or we're going to fall asleep where we stand!"
Once they had reached the top of the department store, several of the group members immediately claimed their stuffed animals of choice for the night. Chartreuse noticed both Talus and Siris trying to sleep near Chione, but she was lucky enough to be stuck between Ness and Dan.
Slowly but surely, the day's activities began to take effect on the group, and they fell asleep one by one, until it was only Mr. Giovanni, Chartreuse, Rustopher, and a half-asleep Talus left.
-----
Skulryk ended up at a place in Toto which had capitalized on the recent happenings concerning L'Hotel de Summers, and was offering a night's stay to everyone who's rooms were lost during the fire... at a certain price. The owner of this makeshift hotel was making quite a profit on the plight of others.
Still, Skulryk was forced to pay the money, as he had no alternative, and needed to sleep. He did put this event in his notebook to report on later; it wasn't the wisest thing to take advantage of a freelance reporter, and the hotel would get a very unfavorable review.
He fell asleep very quickly. The day had been pretty long, and he was pretty tired. Getting back to a shaky start on reporting was a lot of work.
Dreams came quickly. Strange dreams. It wasn't any kind of recurring dream that had happened every knight for the past year, and it wasn't any kind of generic nightmare. It was simply a dream.
"Skulryk! Listen to me!" A voice said.
Wuh. What? Skulryk thought.
"Hey, pay attention. The fate of the world is at stake!"
Really?
"No, not really. Maybe this'll have an affect on the world, I don't know. I just know it involves a story. A great one."
Story... yay! So I can get back to reporting?
"Yeah. This one's a big one, so make sure the battery's fully charged. Much bigger than last year."
Last year? Oh yeah... Really? Well I dunno. Last year was pretty big. Lots of stuff went down. Wait, why are you telling me this in my dream? Who are you? Why do you sound like George Carlin?
"I'm your inner reporter child talking. Or something. I'm telling you this so you can get on the biggest story ever to hit the world once again. And I sound like George Carlin because he is the true answer to everything in the world. Anyways, stop asking so many questions. Don't you want to hear more about this news story?"
I guess so. Well, can you tell me what it is?
"You can find that out for yourself, but I'll tell you where you need to go. Follow the advice that was sung over the rooftops and get back to where you don't belong."
Huh? What are you talking about?
"Well so much for the interesting song reference. Looks like I just have to hit you over the head with it. Fourside. Go to Fourside."
Fourside... but I just left Fourside looking for news, and the news comes there?
"Yeah, that really stinks, doesn't it. Well, you'd better get up. You don't want to miss this big story"
Ok! Thanks, George Carlin!
Skulryk woke up. "What a strange dream..." he said. Still, he decided to check it out anyway. It was the closest thing he had to any type of lead, and he sure wasn't getting anywhere in Summers. He'd have to figure out how to get to Fourside, however; police were increasing their roadblocks by the minute, and they might have completely blocked off any way back from Summers.
Before he started getting ready to leave, however, Skulryk checked his battery. It was near low. Good thing my inner reporter child told me to check it... Skulryk thought. Strange that it was drained, though; he could have sworn it was charged, and would never have bothered if it weren't for the dream.
-----
Risosha grinned malignantly.
"Excellent, yes...most excellent. Night shrouds the horizon. Now is the time to strike, when the mind is weary." The puppetmaster extended his hands, his fingers lancing out and seeming to dance in the air, as if manipulating a doll. Warped, blackened tendrils struck out from his fingertips, weaving about the silent ocean waves.
-------------
Ness' dreams were wracked with torment. Paula, Jeff and Poo flitted before his mind's eye, dying a thousand deaths at the hands of an unseen nemesis. Ness did not need to guess who it was. Crimson and purple intermingled in the black void of the dreamscape, encircling him, stringing him up like yet another pawn in the game. He awoke in a cold sweat.
Ness glanced about the darkened toy department, noting the row of sleeping figures. He sighed uneasily, blinking several times and rubbing his eyes. Something caught his attention...something in the corner of his left eye. He glanced down to see a ghastly visage lying next to him. It was a full-grown man, dressed all in black, his skin chalk-white. His eyes were closed, but had they been open Ness knew they would be blood red. His foe, Raltise, was lying peacefully next to him -- him -- and he was asleep. Ness saw his opportunity.
Ever so slowly, careful not to awake the cause of all his misery, Ness snatched up the baseball bat lying on the ground. He faced his tormentor, the sleeping demon, and slowly raised the bat high over his head. He summoned all his energy into one swing that would crush the ghastly one's head like a ripe melon.
"Don't you dare touch her."
Talus, being only half-awake, fortunately caught Ness just as he was about to bring his bat down on the slumbering Chione's head. Ness spun around to face him, only to be met with an unearthly white face and two glowing, crimson eyes. A malevolent yellow sneer greeted him. Ness' hand darted out at the unsuspecting Talus, and unleashed a blast of PSI Rockin' Alpha point blank in the young man's face. Talus snapped back in response, falling to the floor, clawing at his face in agony. Ness was on him immediately, his hands about his neck, choking the life out of him.
Then the toy department erupted. The commotion of the PSI energy release combined with Talus' screams drove everyone to consciousness. Penetella and Chartreuse immediately jumped to either side of Ness, each grabbing an arm in an attempt to pry him off of the hapless youth under him. Siris and Dan worked from the other side, each clutching Ness's wrists and trying to loose his hands from about Talus' neck. Chione blinked, rubbing her eyes exhaustedly and fumbling for her eight-foot sword. Christina and Vincent stared, perplexed. Rustopher merely looked on, shaking his head and 'tutting' disapprovingly.
With great effort, they pulled the frantic Ness from Talus' writhing body. The white-haired boy, still clutching his face in pain, let out a huge gasp as his air passage became unblocked once more. Ness kicked wildly, attempting to break free of Penetella and Chartreuse' grasp, but the two older men were much stronger than the young thirteen-year old protector of the Earth. He glanced left, then right, eyeing them spitefully, but all that met his gaze were white faces and crimson eyes. The boy screamed at the top of his lungs, arching his head upward.
"Raltise! You can't hide forever! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" His shrill cries eventually broke into a mournful sobbing, and then silence. His body went limp. Chartreuse sighed with relief. Matt ran from one of the aisles with several jump ropes in hand. Taking the hint, Penetella and Chartreuse grabbed the jump ropes and began binding Ness head and foot. They left the young protector, drained, lying on the floor, held tightly.
Chione, Siris and Dan meanwhile were surrounding Talus, trying to persuade him to remove his hand so they could view the wound. Grudgingly, he did so, still convulsing somewhat from shock. His eye was split wide open, a large gash appearing to have vertically cut across it. Siris drew back, nauseated. Talus looked at him, then at Chione. He smiled weakly...and then his strength left him, and he collapsed to the floor in a heap. The rest looked on apprehensively.
-----
As he entered Apple Kid's home, the first thing he noticed was the mess. The second thing he noticed was the smell. Bruiser came in behind him and closed the door.
"Don't," instructed the boy.
Bruiser blinked. "What?"
"Don't close that."
"Oh."
"Can I be of assistance?" came a voice from farther inside.
"You're Apple Kid?" asked the boy, very directly.
"I am. And you are?"
"Hiyatake Kageru. If I ask where I am, are you going to say it's in Eagleland?"
"Of course. That's where we are. Twoson, Eagleland."
"I have a slight problem with that."
"Why would you have a problem with me saying we're in Eagleland" A look of realization crossed Apple Kid's face. "Eagleland does not exist where you come from, does it?"
"No. Can you help me get back?"
"I'm not sure. We didn't have enough time to study what Cyan had to tell us before he disappeared. It seems as though he doesn't control the power that takes him from one world to another. But..."
Kageru interrupted. "Did this Cyan ever mention his last name?"
"Takaishi, if I recall accurately. Why?"
"There's a Takaishi Cyan in my world too. I had to fight him on the Digital Plane."
"A Digital Plane? Intriguing. How does it function?"
While Kageru and the Apple Kid descended into a fairly technical conversation about something called the "Digital World", Bruiser looked at the neat things lying around - he really didn't have a head for technical details.
"And it was while you were on the Ark you ended up in Onett? My only suggestion is we try to create an Ark of our own. I don't have any other ideas I think could work, but Anthadd and I are only starting our research."
"I thought so."
"Unfortunately, I do not even know how to begin designing such a program. Perhaps you should g to Fourside. Anthadd went there a few days ago. You might also want to try talking to Narcissa Topolla. She's worked on some interesting projects in the past."
"Thanks, I guess." Kageru turned and left abruptly, not bothering to say good bye. Bruiser followed him for lack of anything better to do. Kageru started walking East.
-----
Scaraba. A room in an unknown villa. A man in an Italian suit was standing, looking at his reflection in the mirror.
His watch alarm went off. He raised his left hand to his right wrist, deactivating it, fixing his cuff links in the mirror while he did so.
Time for the daily ritual.
He pressed the Play button on a small tape recorder in front of him.
This.. is my altar.
He mouthed the words. He knew these words by heart, because he heard them every day. He held his right hand in front of his face; his altar, his place of power.
This.. is my cross.
Quicker than lightning, he dipped his hand into the left side of his suit, returning it to its place before his face, but now with a gun. This is my cross, he breathed along with the recorder. It truly was. It was his symbol of power, the beginning and end of everything for him.
And these.. are my words.
Though he continued to mouth the words, exactly the way he had said them so long ago, the man relaxed, picked up the recorder, and walked to his desk. He sat down. This was the easy part of the ritual. He could do almost anything without missing a word now.
He opened the paper and read the much-vaunted article about Summers with slight interest.
The passing of time will shatter the Nightmare Rock, and will reveal the path of light. And I plan to be there when the light shines. Without the darkness, there is no light, for the light would blind and be indiscernible. I will be there.
Yes, he would be there, he kept telling himself. After so many years, he still believed it. It kept him going, kept his blood pumping.
Jakob will not be there. Jakob was an experiment by the Regime. The Regime was stupid to think they could brainwash someone and then leave them to wait for the call without constant supervision. Jakob chose to escape, and did so. I cannot escape. Nor do I choose to. I will be there.
This was the beginning of the historical part of the monologue. Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
Simon will not be there. Simon is
The phone rang.
too busy
The man reached for the Pause button, not missing a word.
running arou*CLICK*
The man in the Italian suit picked up the phone. "Hello?"
A vaguely British voice spoke in his ear. "Jack Flash, International Assassin?"
Jack Flash sat up in his chair, grabbing a pen and setting it to the paper, writing the time and date. "Who is this?" he demanded in a brisk, formal tone.
"A benefactor. Code EQRZY7STT1." Jack wrote the serial code down next to the date.
"The details."
"I'm sending a few pictures over the fax for you."
Oh dear, thought Jack, this 'benefactor' knows my fax number. After this job, it's time to move again. Though he was also partly comforted by the knowledge that this was a real job, perhaps more serious than usual.
"Your mission is measured in one objective: Chaos."
Jack's steady hand stopped mid-sentence. "Chaos?" he repeated, stunned.
"Yes. Check the serial now, please." Jack pushed aside the paper and brought forward his desktop computer terminal. He entered the serial code into his master job list. After a moment, the job listing came up with the match.
The title simply read "CHAOS". The message body contained only a picture of a large happy face with horns.
"Regime business," he muttered into the phone. "This is preordained."
"Nothing beyond this should be, Jack. Find the faces on those photos, and misalign them. You know how the Regime feels about too much organization."
"I know it," Jack agreed. "Payment?"
"The usual. Direct deposit into your private Winters account. One twenty five immediately, and one twenty five on completion."
"Two fifty," Jack bargained.
"You should be thankful the Regime wastes money on you at all-"
"Unless you can get flannelman on the case, you're paying me five hundred million dollars!" Jack shouted into the phone.
The voice on the other end was silenced for a moment before speaking again. "You're lucky that 'flannelman' is currently detained. Five hundred it is. Two fifty now, one twenty-five after, and another one twenty-five for satisfactory results. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
The phone went dead. Jack sighed. This was his third Regime job. The last two were wrestling assignments. Wrestling. Now what was the point of that?
No, chaos was more his style. Perhaps his prayers were being answered.
He reactivated the recorder before going to look at the faxed pictures.
nd playing with his own mind to be concerned with these matters. He would come if called but would not know what to do with himself when he got there. He is a leader, not a doer. I am a lone man and a doer. I will be there.
Hmph. A mix of male and female. Faces, but no names or details. Nobody recognizable, either. Regime didn't have a clue how to get a guy started on a job.
Rovin was a second experiment. Rovin had the power and the ability, but not the knowledge to see the plan through. The Regime could not make him follow their plans because he was not theirs to begin with. He had no clue that he was part of the larger plan. He will not be there. I know what I am part of. I will be there.
He committed the pictures to memory, then put them into the paper shredder. The paper would be the lead, then. The fire in Summers? Sure, why not. If it was the Regime, he'd be in the thick of things sooner rather than later.
The Regime will help me to my goal. I will be the chaos that helps define the order. Without me, there will be no balance. The recording ended there. Jack picked up the recorder and pressed Rewind before replacing it in his pocket. He stepped out the door into the hallway and began to walk briskly, his Summers-born servant following him as he gave orders.
"Gaston, I'm going on assignment. Keep the place clean; no parties while I'm gone; you may help yourself to the Printemps '86, but not the '87. Where are my MP5s?"
"Do you really need your MP5s, sir? You always seem to find more entertaining devices in the field. They never really make anything better in the long run."
"MP5s make everything better, Gaston. Ahh, here." Jack opened a closet and drew out the twin guns, one black and the other white, checking that the ammo was loaded before stuffing them into the seemingly endless void of the Italian suit.
"Did you complete your ritual to Evil Bob today, sir?"
Jack made a pained face. "Gaston, you know I hate it when you call it that! He's a false god who the Regime made up so they could eat microwave popcorn and play Nintendo! It's a ritual to my supposed destiny, not to Evil Bob!"
"Yes, sir.." Gaston turned and walked down the hall. Though the butler's back was turned, Jack could tell he was rolling his eyes.
No matter. Jack went down to his private beach and jumped into a yellow motorboat. After putting on a bright orange lifejacket, he revved the motor and sped northward for Summers, idly wondering what kind of situation he was supposed to be manifesting upon itself.
-----
Bruiser exited the home, and he attempted to catch the newly named boy.
"Hey, Hiyatake. Wait up!"
As Bruiser attempted to catch up, the boy turned fast.
"It is not Hiyatake. It's Kageru."
He turned, and continued on his way. Bruiser stood there, looking puzzled. He had just heard him say his name with Apple Kid.
"I heard you tell that Apple Kid that your name was Hiyatake... Kageru..."
"My name is Kageru. Not Hiyatake."
"I don't understand it Hiy... Kageru. You told him your name was Hiyatake Kageru. But you say your name is Kageru... I'm confused..."
Bruiser scratched his head as Kageru turned and walked his way.
"Look, I'm Japanese. It goes Family-name given-name in Japan. Do NOT call me Hiyatake again."
Bruiser gave a little laugh, and walked up to the kid. He tried to pat him on the head, but Kageru dodged. Bruiser shrugged, and they headed for their destination.
----------------------------------------------------
What Bruiser and Kageru DIDN'T know, was that up ahead, something would slow down their progress dramatically. In Dusty Dunes Desert, a large amount of vehicles were headed from Fourside. Few vehicles were headed to Fourside. One of the vehicles heading West, decided to attempt to pass. Obviously, they never expected that the road wasn't clear. A massive collision occurred, and the crash could be heard from far away. Considering how close each car was to the one in front, the 2 vehicle crash quickly became a crash of 3, 4, 5, and so on, and so on... the road to Fourside was now blocked.
----------------------------------------------------
Back in Twoson, Bruiser and Kageru were a little behind schedule.
"This is taking forever, Hi... Kageru. I'll get your name right sooner or later. I promise you that. But I have an idea."
They both turned as a convenient bus headed their way. Kageru reached down as if to reach for a card.
"Oh no, I have a better idea."
Bruiser jumped out onto the road, and waved his arms as fast as he could. The bus swerved, and he quickly ran to the door.
"You have to let me and my little bro on! He... broke his ankle!"
Kageru turned his head, sighed, and walked -not limping at all- to the bus.
The driver laughed out loud.
"Look, you don't have to pretend. I know who you are! You're the Bruisin' Baron!"
"It's nice to be recognized. We have to get to Fourside."
"No problem. Just hop on. The ticket is on me."
Kageru smirked, and walked onto the bus. He greeted the driver with a nod, and sat in the front seat. Bruiser sat in the seat opposite to him.
"This is the life, huh Kageru? Hey, I got your name right. This reminds me a lot of my battles in Hong Kong..."
"Good for you... baka.."
"Whatever you say, kid."
Bruiser received a cold stare from Kageru, and decided not to argue. "That kid sounds tough. I wonder if he can back it up." Bruiser thought to himself.
They quickly headed through Twoson, and then through Threed. To Bruiser, it brought back many a memory. He had fought the world famous 'Circus Match' here a few years back. Even though he was only 21 years old, he had been all over the world. He was known as a decent draw to the wrestling industry, but never got the chance to be world champion. To Kageru, this was a whole different world he had never seen before. But he didn't really care. He just wanted to get to Fourside.
"Holy Christmas..."
The voice of the driver got the attention of everyone aboard... the two travelers looked out the front window. Fire. Smoke. Screams for help. It was all there.
"This is insane!" Bruiser said to himself. He hopped off the bus and headed for the wreckage. Perhaps he could save a life, but the Police were already on the scene, and would not let him through. Kageru stepped off the bus, and walked to Bruiser.
"Let's go."
Bruiser simply nodded... he was clearly shaken by these events. The two watched as the bus drove back where they had begun.
-----
– Fourside –
Virus had just barely made it to Fourside before night fell, but he was having trouble fighting his way (without killing anyone) through the throngs of former Foursidians. Finally, mercifully, he reached the Fourside department store. However, no one was on guard, and the door was locked.
The Four Puppets were flying high above the Dept. Store. In a whispered discussion, they considered enslaving the powerful sword-user.
"Perhaps we should take him for our own?" Lier hissed in a low whisper.
"Yes... The Puppetmaster would be quite pleased with this addition." Carpainter replied, already charging up a blast of energy that would knock out the dual-katana user.
Without much other words spoken, the energy launched from Carpainter's outstretched hand, striking the katana user in the back.
He seemed to be fine, as he awoke seconds later, but his skin had paled by several shades, and his usually hazel eyes had turned completely crimson.
Unsheathing his dual katanas, he hesitated for only a brief second before slicing through the door like a hot knife through butter. The door fell to the ceramic-tiled floor, shattering.
The self-proclaimed guards awoke with a start, and began to run downstairs. Virus heard the footsteps, and smirked as he held the katanas, one over the other. Physically shaking, focusing on his swords, he stopped about 30 seconds later as the blades lit aflame with Shadow energy.
"Bring it on!" Virus hissed in two voices, his own and Raltise's, as the guards arrived to battle him.
-----
Kapeka was still above Fourside, exhausted. She had been flying all night, and still there was no large demon-creature that she supposed Raltise would look like. She couldn't keep flying, it was just too tiring, but she couldn't land, because that might require fighting. She had to find a safe place, but how?
The answer was to use a trick she had picked up from her brother. She held out her iron staff and concentrated.
The city was large, and there were lots of life forces. Some of which, she had noticed, had some kind of dark power embedded in them.
"Those must be the people that Ral-person is controlling!" she thought, as she started to look for pure ones. Ahhh, and then there were quite a few pure ones at the Dept. store.
Strange, why would so many, of them be at the department store? Duh, because it was a shelter, of course. Shelter was what she wanted, and shelter was what she was gonna get. She was also going to arrive with a bang.
"Huh, what's that, look's like something's going on. Seems to be a fight." Kapeka thought. "I'm not gonna hide or run away, this time! I'm gonna fight." She thought viciously, as she lowered herself to the ground and pulled out her staff.
-----
Risosha grinned.
"Excellent. More to join the performance. They will not hold up long within." He chuckled quietly to himself, madly. His revenge would soon be consummated, and the Young Protector would be dead. This thought pleased him.
A motion caught the corner of his eye. This was strange, because he was so far out in the ocean. He turned to view the strange apparition, a small blur in the distance. A yellow motorboat was racing toward his ship at high speed.
Jack Flash squinted into the distance, viewing a ship with what appeared to be a single occupant. He cursed under his breath. "Can't let anyone know of my presence." He hoisted one of the MP5s and, as he closed in on Risosha's boat, began to open fire on the figure aboard.
Risosha smiled as the bullets harmlessly deflected themselves, ricocheting off a projected shield with a purple tinge. "Amusing." He whispered as the professional assassin continued his onslaught. The motorboat circled, coming in for another pass, while a perplexed Jack Flash wondered why his bullets didn't seem to be hitting his target, given his experience in marksmanship. Risosha grunted irritably.
"Retaliation." He whispered this single word, and then waved his hand in a downward arc slash. Immediately, a tidal wave sprung up from the calm ocean and heaved Jack Flash's small boat into the air. Fortunately, as it came down, Jack wasn't harmed. He tread water on the surface, holding on to his upturned boat, an MP5 clutched in each hand.
"Great." He muttered. "Do you know how hard it is to dry an Italian Suit!?" He shouted angrily at the figure on the boat. Risosha merely smiled, mock saluted, and in the blink of an eye, the entire boat flashed out of existence. Jack Flash rubbed his eyes once or twice, unsure of what he had just seen.
-----
Siris' head jerked up in surprise at the sound of the doors below being ripped off their hinges. "Oh, great." He muttered. He nodded to Chartreuse, Penetella and Dan, leaving the rest to watch over the ailing Harsemhin, Ness, and Talus. The four bolted down the unpowered escalators as quickly as possible, stumbling in the darkened atmosphere. An eerie red light cascaded from below. They dashed down the final escalator in time to see a strange individual, one they vaguely remember seeing, brandishing two swords, his eyes glowing an eerie crimson. The figure hissed at them.
Dan gasped. "Who IS that person!?"
Siris frowned, scanning the individual's aura. His eyes widened. "Keep your guard up! This is no ordinary woman! Meet Virus, the swordsman!"
Virus punched a wall in frustration, blinking incredulously. "What the-!?" He started. "Hey, I'm a GUY!"
Dan stared disbelievingly. "THAT is a GUY?!"
Virus grinned menacingly and flashed a wicked smile, blowing a kiss in the air. "Male...female...what's the difference? Power is beautiful, and I've got the power!" He quickly turned serious, brandishing his swords once again, ready to lunge at the four now opposing him. Instead, he straightened, extending his palm and sending a blast of dark red energy rocketing into the ground at their feet. Siris, Chartreuse, Penetella and Dan scattered frantically to avoid the blast.
Going into a roll, Siris pivoted himself on one knee to face Virus. He concentrated, invoking an aura of magic. A boulder materialized in the air behind him as he initiated the Crag Press. Throwing his arms forward, the boulder sailed over his head and directly for Virus. Not expecting this, the large chunk of rock slammed into Virus full force and sent him back through the entrance the way he came, slamming into the wall of the building on the other side of the street. Siris breathed a sigh of relief.
The boulder split in two. As it cracked apart, a red aura could be seen emanating from it. At last, it fell, revealing Virus perfectly intact. He marched menacingly toward the entrance again, swords unsheathed, ready to go in for the kill.
Then the department store shook violently. Chartreuse gazed warily up at the ceiling as plaster began to fall in chunks. A furious sound filled the air, as something heavy continually bombarded the rooftop of the store. The structure weakened, and then the roof caved in, accompanied by red blasts of energy falling from the sky and uprooting the tile floor below. Dan skittered out of the way of one such blast just in time. The Four Puppets descended through the now-demolished roof, smiling cruelly. Penetella turned to the door. Virus was standing there, blocking the only exit.
"Crazy foo'! Ain't nobody's gunna done touch Penetella!" He launched his dirty socks square at Carpainter's head. Upon impact, Carpainter went sailing through the glass window of the department store. The other three stared after him in disbelief, then turned to the four on the ground and began charging up energy in their hands.
"I think now would be a good time to split." Chartreuse advised. Siris, Dan, and Penetella nodded in the affirmative and quickly darted up the escalator. Virus dashed after them, while the Four puppets hovered along as well. They ran to the second floor, breathing heavily. As they skidded about the corner, Dan looked about to see the door to the supply room across the floor open slowly, and a man with shades step out. It was Chaz, the arms dealer. He smiled at them, lifting a Heavy Bazooka over his shoulder and aiming at their pursuers. Dan sighed with relief.
Then Chaz's shades fell lower on his nose, and Dan could see his eyes were a piercing blood red.
"Run!" He shouted to the others. Chaz aimed the Bazooka at the escalator and fired. The missile screamed through the air, crashing into a stray display. Fire soon engulfed the stand. Chaz dropped the Bazooka, pulling out a pair of semi-automatics, and firing wildly.
As the four climbed the escalator and rounded the third floor, they heard a piercing wail. Glancing at the window out into the night street, Chartreuse's face went pale. Thousands of Fourside citizens, all possessed by Raltise, had encircled the building, and were climbing the sides. A few banged on the third-story window panes at this very moment. Then, with a crash, they broke through. The zombified people began pouring in by the hundreds, and Siris had little time to even look before they all ran to the top floor, where the toy department was.
The chaos from below had alerted the members upstairs, who had quickly sprung into action. Chione grabbed her sword, holding it defensively, while the others prepared for the onslaught. A banging at the office door behind them alerted them to a new presence. Suddenly, the oak door was ripped off its hinges and a literal river of zombified citizens poured in. Matt recognized one as the café owner Jackie Boruhesu, who seemed stronger than most, and whom Chione promptly took a swing at. Her sword connected, sending the possessed individual reeling, life essence spewing from his neck. Yet after recovering, Jackie kept advancing, arms outstretched, head tilted to the side somewhat as the blood kept arcing out in a fine mist.
Siris, Chartreuse, Penetella and Dan dashed up the final staircase and joined the others, batting back zombies left and right, Virus, Chaz and the Four Puppets on their tails. The group of twelve closed in, cradling the wounded, their backs facing one another as they assumed a defensive posture. The hordes closed in.
Then with a deafening crash, a large, round, metallic object crashed through the roof. It was humming mechanically. It was the Sky Runner. The door slid open and a ramp retracted, and Jeff's ghost appeared in the doorway, grinning goofily. "Hi, I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."
Chione blinked once or twice, then grinned. "Aren't you a little short for an imperial stormtrooper?" Paula's ghost appeared beside Jeff.
"Quickly! Everyone inside!" Siris grabbed Harsemhin, while Penetella hoisted Ness over his back and Chartreuse and Dan grabbed Talus. Christina and Vincent dashed in first, followed by Matt and Rustopher. Those with the wounded followed; Chione was the last to enter.
"Alright!" Jeff shouted from the control room. "Let's blow this popsicle stand!" He punched the Sky Runner's throttle, and the round craft ascended into the air. But as they tried to retract the ramp, they found Virus hanging on for dear life. The Runner ascended higher and higher into the air, gaining altitude. Siris peered out the doorway, meeting Virus' deadly glare. Then he simply booted the possessed individual in the head. Virus lost his grip, and plummeted twenty feet to the department store floor below. His fall was cushioned by the bodies of several other possessed. He rubbed his head, grunting irritably.
The Sky Runner took off, disappearing over the horizon. The Four Puppets, hovering over the now demolished store, stared passively after it, knowing that their master would not be all too pleased. Lier muttered.
"It appears...that they escaped." Monotoli snorted.
"No really, you think?" He retorted.
A shout from below caught their attention.
"Hey guys! I was just across the street getting a Brain Food Lunch, how're you all still holding up?" The ghost of Poo floated through the wall, his eyes closed, munching cheerfully on his prize...and he floated right into the waiting horde. He stopped, his eyes slowly opening, coming to a realization. Chaz and Virus closed in on him. The Four Puppets descended from the sky upon him, emanating red evil.
"...this is bad, isn't it?" Poo said.