by WOTNOPOLIS 17
“For an office building this place has a lot of ‘weapon’s rooms’” Clair noted as they continued down the staircase.
“Agreed,” Jake said. “So Dark Raptor, what are your plans here? In fact, why are you even here if you’ve only got one member?”
“I already told you. My plan was to look as cool as possible. And I have other members! Really,” Dark raptor added defensively. “For now, we’re just looking to cause trouble.”
Jake shook his head. “What a very dishonest sounding goal.”
“Well I don’t tell you where to butter your toast,” Dark Raptor snapped back.
“Boss, that’s a really bad come back,” PeinQ whispered.
“Hey, could you guys keep it down?” a voice yelled behind them.
“Yeah! Some of us are facing a life or death contest here! You can have your chatty tea parties later, Eagle gang,” someone else shouted.
“I haven’t had food in hours! And darnit I want toast!” Jake joined in the mindless yelling and Clair shook her head.
Dark Raptor laughed. “Jake, you have a knack for creating riots.”
The sound of shouting and battling exploded above them as the group exited the staircase. “Shoot, which way do we go?” Clair asked.
Before them was a hallway leading to the right and left of them. Knssquad pointed to their left. “If we go that way there’s a kitchen. If we keep going down I’m pretty sure it’s a trap.”
“How can you tell?” Jake asked.
“No, she’s right,” Dark Raptor smiled. “I can smell it.”
“Me too. The kitchen has lots of sugar,” Knssquad said as she pointed to her nose. “If you go down the stairs you just run into a lot of blood and something foul.”
A cackle reached their ears and Clair took a step back. “That sounds like Jose.”
“Well a snack break does sound nice!” Jake said as he raced down the hall to their left.
****
Bano’s Kama created a smokescreen around themselves. Q felt a tap on his shoulder. “We’ll do this quick and as a team. If we both give it all we got then we can finish off Punkfilter and head for the top. If he drags this out or gets us one on one then there’s no way we’ll have enough strength left to fight TFK.”
“Got it,” Q answered.
Q noticed a shadow flying through the grayish smoke. “Oh-” Q cried out and fell as Punkfilter’s crystal arm went above his head.
Q rolled out of the smoke as a sound clashed inside. Bano jumped out of the smoke screen and landed next to Q. Bano kicked off the ground and swung his left arm down as crystals rocketed out of the floor. Each one was as multi colored as the floor itself.
Bano sliced to his left as he hit the ground. Crystal spears had launched out of the wall beside him. He looked up and saw Punkfilter standing where the smoke cleared. “As I’m sure you’ve realized,” he spoke, “this room is designed for my battle style. The walls and floor are made of all different kinds of crystal with all different kinds of effects.”
Punkfilter punched the ground and a row of orange spears shot out towards Bano. He sliced through them and started to charge forward. An instant later Bano felt himself dropping to his knees in pain.
“That crystal explodes into sharp fragments when it feels an external pressure,” Punkfilter said. “I color coordinated it to make it easier on people.”
Q dashed forward and threw a kick at Punkfilter. A blue wall erupted around Punkfilter and Q screamed in pain as he fell against the ground. Spears rocketed out of the ground and Q felt one slice through his leg.
“This blue one is of the strongest substances on Earth. By a lot,” Punkfilter smiled as he straightened his tie. Punkfilter closed the distance between Bano in a split second and pulled a black crystal out of the wall behind him.
“But this black one here,” Punkfilter glared. “Oh this one is the best. It’s so light yet sturdier then you can imagine. And conducts electricity and heat.”
The black crystal crept up Punkfilter’s arm and solidified. “It’s the perfect substance to use. Plus when I’ve embedded it with the properties of an Amp crystal.”
Bano dodged as Punkfilter’s arm slashed through the wall behind him. A wave of energy erupted as the wall cut in two. Wind knocked Q‘s hair back as it rushed in from outside. “Ah, I guess that might be pushing it. If I cut off the top of the tower I’d probably really tick off the boss. Still, you get the idea,” Punkfilter smiled.
“How’d it explode like that?” Bano asked.
“That was just the static electricity,” Punkfilter grinned.
Q jumped against the wall as another row of spears flew towards him. He headed towards the ceiling as a row of orange crystals shot towards him. Q felt one slide through his arm as he slammed into the ground. He ripped it out and dropped it in anguish as the shattered pieces burrowed into his skin.
“Shoot,” Q yelled as a crystal wall shot out from the ground. Q leaped up and punched it back into the floor.
“Good call,” Punkfilter said. “If that stuff gets you it’s game over. Yellow crystal can encase you inside. It’s not often I get much of it but this room is loaded.”
Punkfilter turned to Bano and raised his arm. “Normally I’d just cut you to ribbons with my crystals and watch, but you’re known for your slicing skills. I’ll keep Q busy so why don’t you and I see which one can cut better?”
****
The man shook as the guards to his left and right fell to the floor. He had just seen his superiors get slaughtered. The person continued down the blood drenched hallway. He had nowhere else to run.
“Don’t come any closer!” the man screamed as he watched the figure walk slowly towards him. He felt his back bump against something solid. He turned and realized he had come to a dead end.
He turned his head back to focus on his opponent when something blurry caught his eyes. He jumped back and hit his head when he realized that directly in front of him was a sword.
“Please don’t kill me,” the man begged. “I’ll do anything.”
The man watched as he saw a blur of metal flash past him. He could feel cold steel pushing against the side of his head. His eyes were closed as he for it to be over. “Can you tell me how to get out of this stupid tower?” Yoyo asked the man. Trembling he nodded quickly.
“Alright. Please lead the way,” Yoyo smiled. “And no tricks.”
The man nodded and began walking them back down the hallway. He shivered as he stepped over the body of his fallen boss. “I’m going to take you to some elevators,” the man said. “If you take the one I tell you to you’ll get out of here in no time.”
Yoyo grabbed him by the shoulder and the man’s heart leapt. She looked him in the eyes and stared at him for a minute. “You mean it now? Not trying to trick me into the wrong elevator?”
“Absolutely not,” the man shook his head. “I value my life.”
Yoyo continued to stare at him and shrugged. “Whatever then. Lead the way. Hey what’s your name, anyway?”
“Call me Clonia.”
****
“Oh my gosh,” Clair yelled.
“I know!” Dark Raptor said.
“It’s like,” Jake said.
“Definitely!” PeinQ cheered.
“Best. Food. Ever!” the group cheered as they went through the kitchen’s refrigerator.
“I’ve got plenty of stuff for weapons, too,” Knssquad said.
“You know we’ve been going down stairs for a pretty long time now,” Clair said. “Think we’ve reached the third level or whatever, yet?”
“Who knows?” Dark Raptor said. “It seems like Jose got bored of the whole level thing and decided to just start killing people.”
“Maybe that is the third level. Like a video game! Beat the boss and you can move on,” Jake said.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I am passing on this whole stupid game bit we’ve been doing,” Clair said. “I’m just ready to be out of here. And make sure our gang is safe.”
“No kidding,” Jake said.
“Well, well. Look who just decided to make themselves at home,” a girl spoke behind them. “I know everyone is having their stupid fight, but to raid our kitchen?”
A whip flew across the room and smacked a sandwich out of Jake’s hands. “I’ve seen you before. And you, girl. You are Eagle, right?” she asked.
“Sick Selfish Sycho,” Clair answered. She swung her arms out in front of her and created an ice bow and aimed it at SSS. “If you’re looking for a fight then you’ve got one.”
“Relax, geez. I was just asking a question. I mean, sure, I can’t let you just leave. Especially after you ate all the ice cream!” SSS frowned. “But I’m not as barbaric as all the others around here. I don’t mind a good conversation or something first. It gets so boring here all the time, ya know?”
“Sorry, but if you’re not going to let us go without a fight, then we don’t really want to talk to you,” Clair said.
“That’s too bad,” SSS sighed. “I was hoping to learn something interesting. You never know what you might learn.”
SSS flashed her whip across the room and wrapped it around Clair’s hand. SSS whipped her arm back and Clair’s body crashed into a wall. Clair jumped up and released a barrage of arrows at SSS.
“Wait, Clair!” Jake said. “I got this. You take the others and get out of here.”
Clair looked at Jake confused. “Um, are you sure? She’s not exactly a small fry here and you’re not exactly a fighter.”
Jake looked back at Clair and gave her a thumbs up. “Please. This chick will be no problem for me. For she’s a thousand years too early to face me. And I have the heart of the-”
“I’m just going to interrupt your epic speech here to remind you you’re just fighting a girl. It’s kind of heartless of you,” Dark Raptor grinned.
“Well, gotta love the bad boy, right?” SSS smiled.
“You totally made me look uncool, Dark Raptor. If the point of life is to look cool you totally ruined my reason to live,” Jake groaned.
“Alright. We’ll leave this to you then, Jake,” Clair said. “Catch up with us when you’ve finished her.”
“I feel like I should be insulted to have you looking down on me like that,” SSS glared. “As tough as I am sure he is I am not letting any of you get away from this place.”
Sick Selfish’s whip swung across the room towards the group. Dark Raptor stabbed it into the wall with his claw and smiled. “Whoops! We’ll just be leaving!” Dark Raptor called out as he dashed out the door. “Thanks Jake for taking care of this situation.”
PeinQ followed behind Dark Raptor and yelled back. “We owe you one Eagle gang!”
“Guys find Yoyo. Make sure she’s alright,” Jake said to Clair and Knssquad.
“Right,” Knssquad said.
“I promise,” Clair yelled back.
“Well, that was a nuisance,” SSS said as she pulled her whip out of the wall. “I guess that’s what I get for trying to take so many people on at once. Oh well. After I finish up here maybe I can hunt them back down. Or just, not.”
Jake kicked off the floor and bounced across the room. He used his left hand to fling himself off the roof and punched SSS into a cabinet. He ricocheted back and stood across from SSS.
SSS stood up and laughed. “Well, maybe you and I can have a bit of fun first, I guess. What the heck kind of fighting style is that?”
“Springy sneak attack no jutsu?” Jake asked. “Not sure.”
SSS’s swung her shoulder down and her whip snapped across the room. Jake sprung against a wall and bounced off of it. He turned and felt his face slam into her foot. His body crashed into the ground and he gasped in pain. “Aw, come now. Is that all there is to springy sneak attack style? Or did you really think all I could do is whip people?” SSS laughed.
Jake stood up and sprang off the floor. “Nice try,” SSS encouraged as Jake felt his momentum pulling him in the other direction. Jake realized the whip was coiled around his leg. His body was flung into the refrigerator breaking the door off of it. Jake was dragged across the floor of the kitchen and slammed into a counter with the swing of SSS’s hand.
“Not looking very cool, Jake. And after that speech. What will happen to your friends if you don’t win here, I wonder?” SSS taunted.
****
Bano panted across the room from Punkfilter as he spoke. “You’re definitely improving. Compared to that day back on the street, you’re actually capable of blocking and stopping some of my attacks. Very impressive. But you’re not strong enough.”
Bano felt blood dripping down his arms. His hands had cracked just from blocking Punkfilter’s attacks. He ignored it and got back into an attack stance. Bano stared at Punkfilter. “Not going to attack?” Punkfilter asked.
Bano blinked and watched as a blade swung towards his face. His hands jumped up and blocked the attack. He swung out his right arm in an arc towards the attacker. “Nice instincts,” Bano heard Punkfilter’s voice from behind and immediately swung both blades towards it.
“But you’re just instincts. You’re not taking the initiative. You’re just dodging and countering. Hoping that I’ll show a weak point,” Bano felt the attack and jumped away from it. Punkfilter’s blade ripped a gash through his right arm. “Nicely done. If you hadn’t of felt that attack your arm would have been cut off.”
Punkfilter shot the crystal from his left hand out. Bano’s body hammered into the ground as the black crystal cut through Bano’s chest. Punkfilter stepped over to Bano and pulled the Crystal out and reattached it to his arm.
“Just so you know, I have no weak points,” Punkfilter sighed. “Pathetic.”
Bano jumped from the ground and slammed an attack into Punkfilter’s arm. “Perhaps you are right. I’ve been trying to save up my strength for when I face The First Knight. But I suppose I have to finish you off.”
Punkfilter stepped back as Bano swung to attack. Bano jumped forward and crashed his blades into Punkfilter’s arm. Punkfilter felt a tingling sensation up his arm and looked down. Smoke swirled around Punkfilter and he completely lost his vision. Punkfilter waited and sensed for the spot where Bano was.
Punkfilter moved to that spot and sliced. He could feel that Bano blocked it and the tingling was getting worse. Smoke poured into the area and Bano’s presence disappeared. Punkfilter knew Bano had jumped and waited to see where he’d land. When he touched down Punkfilter immediately moved there and attacked.
Bano blocked Punkfilter’s attack and created another swirl of smoke adding to the already dense cloud. Punkfilter backed out and ran across the room to where Q had been fighting. He finally exited the cloud of smoke and looked at his arm. He could tell the black crystal was smoking. A shadow alerted him that Bano was attacking from above.
Punkfilter blocked with his same hand. An explosion rocked the room as Punkfilter felt himself falling back. He quickly caught his balance and landed on his feet. “What was that?” Punkfilter asked and looked at his arm that had taken the brunt of the impact.
Bano smiled and pointed his blade at Punkfilter. The blades of his Kama were on fire. “That was me taking the initiative. It’s over!” Bano raced forward.
Punkfilter sidestepped Bano’s attack and sliced open his chest. “Ah, of course. If this conducts heat and causes such massive attacks then the reverse is true, as well. You forced flames against my crystal and the result caused it to explode back on me. What a blunder.”
Bano fell to the ground. He forced himself onto his side but could do little more. “Your mission to get to The First Knight ends here, you two. Even if you got past me Draco is still ahead and Jose is lurking somewhere. And The First Knight overshadows all of us in power. I hope you enjoyed your climb, this is as fa-”
Q pummeled his fist into Punkfilter’s face and sent him flying across the room. “Geez, you’re really annoying. Making me dodge all those crystals really wore me out.”
Punkfilter stood up and glared. “I got careless, again.”
Q pulled Bano to his feet and held him up. “He’s right. We have to worry about the others. You wanted to reach for The First Knight. Well, we made it this far. We’re definitely coming along. We’ll have to wait for another chance.”
Bano shrugged Q off and shook his head. “No. We’ve got to reach for it now.”
Q glared at Bano. “And what will you do in your condition? Bleed all over him?”
Bano held back the urge to cut Q down for that. “I thought the Eagle gang cared for their subordinates,” Punkfilter frowned. “Yet you two ran this way completely disregarding their safety. Leaving them in probably the most dangerous situation they‘ve been in without a care. It’s not untypical of the gangs of WOTNOPOLIS, but it is a pity. It made you two interesting before.”
Punkfilter looked down at his suit and straightened his tie. “You’ve ruined a good suit and you’ve created a mess in my room.”
Yellow crystals shot out at the two of them in all directions. Q dodged them and picked up Bano. If he moved fast enough he could get out of the room without the two of them being hit. He dodged between the rows of crystals jettisoning from the ground.
“Look up!” Bano shouted as Q reached for the exit. Q looked up and saw a row of yellow spears falling towards him. Q threw Bano and reached back his fist.
“Screw this!” Q yelled as he punched the crystals. They flew back and Q looked around. He heard Bano shouting but he couldn’t hear anything. “What?” Q asked as he saw the crystals shatter. “I didn’t even touch them.”
Q jumped through the door and raced behind Bano. “Wow, that was close,” Q laughed.
Bano disagreed. “I still think we can take The First Knight.”
“Forget it. We have to find our gang and get out of here.”
Punkfilter stared at the two men running away. “If I had known he was capable of that,” Punkfilter sighed.
“You let them escape? That’s not like you, is it?” a voice crackled into Punkfilter’s ears.
“Why does everyone keep coming into my room?” Punkfilter growled. “I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“You didn’t answer. Why’d you let them escape?” Venomu said as he stepped forward. A smile etched across his face.
Punkfilter ignored him and took off the remains of his suit. “I see, you’re not talking to me. It’s okay. They’re my hobby, too. But you’re fight with them will pale in comparison to what I’m getting ready to do.”
Punkfilter looked Venomu in the eye and smirked. “You’re wrong. It’s not Q and Bano I want to fight, though I do get something akin to pleasure from it. But the one I want to fight is the other one I’ve let live. I do not understand hatred, but each member of the Eagle gang bears it. And that girl hates me. I remember seeing it on her face that day. It will be interesting when she’s become powerful and that monstrous tsunami of hate is headed my way. Maybe I will feel something, then.”
Venomu shook his head. “Please. You’re not capable of emotions like that.”
Punkfilter looked down at his hands and nodded. “Probably not.”
****
Yoyo poked the elevator doors with her sword. “Here’s good?”
“Yes,” Clonia nodded. “Just don’t go to the first floor. That’s a trap. Hit floor 2. It will take you to the bottom, which is where you need to go.”
“Thanks,” Yoyo said as the doors opened. She pressed the button to floor 2. “Uh, I guess this is bye. Kind of awkward, since I don’t really know or care about you, but than-”
Clonia watched the elevator doors shut on her mid sentence. “It is goodbye. I bet I will get a promotion for sending her there.”
****
Knssquad and Clair raced down the stairs. Despite them saying farewell, they were clearly still following Dark Raptor and Pein Q. “You’re making this awkward by following us!” Dark Raptor yelled back.
“Then go a different direction!” Knssquad shouted back.
“No way! The girl with the whip scared me!” Dark Raptor said as he waved his arms back and forth. “Plus she took out Jake. I really liked him.”
“He’s not dead, yet,” Knssquad answered. “But I hope Yoyo did a better job training him then we all expect.”
The group ran into another hallway and groaned. “What the heck is wrong with this place? Hallways and stair cases. Why can’t there just be one staircase all the way down!” Dark Raptor complained.
“It’s designed to be impossible to escape,” Clair answered.
“Oh yeah,” Dark Raptor sighed.
Knssquad spun around. “There’s something. Not right.”
“Hm?” Clair asked Knssquad. “What’s up?”
Knssquad looked around the room cautiously. “I don’t know. I just keep getting this eerie feeling. But it can’t be.”
Dark Raptor stared at her. “I understand. We should of taken more food with us when we left Jake to die.”
PeinQ shook her head. “No boss, I don’t think that was it.”
“Forget it. Let’s just hurry up and get out of this tower,” Knssquad said and raced forward. “We just need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
****
“You made it back to your feet,” SSS said. “Bout time. I already made some rolls. Want some?”
Jake’s body trembled. “Hey. Take me seriously.”
SSS put down the roll she was eating and frowned. “But you’re weak. And no offense to you, but I don’t take anyone seriously. It’s too much effort.”
Jake’s hands shook as he made them into a fist and got ready. “No. Take me seriously. Fight with all you got.”
Jake stumbled and picked himself back up. “I get that I’m weak. I get that really, I don’t play much role in the Eagle gang. I know I’m really no use to them. But this once. I have to try. I have to at least hold you back a little longer.”
Jake smiled. “I mean, come on. Even someone as useless as me should be able to do that much.”
SSS sighed and groaned. “Well, geez, kid. When you say it like that I have no choice. Fine. But don’t think you’ll live.”
Sick Selfish Sycho discarded her whip and pulled out another one. “This whip is lined with thorns and has a blade on the end of it. I don’t like to use it because it gets blood everywhere. I love blood, but I don’t want it on me.”
“Er, where’d you just pull that out from?” Jake stared at her seeing nowhere on her person that had pockets.
SSS stared at Jake. “Anyway, if you get hit with this you’ll be in real trouble.”
Jake stood back and exhaled. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Jake kicked off the floor. SSS’s whip swung towards the spot he was aiming for. He kicked his foot off the roof and bounced to the ground. SSS brought her whip down towards the floor but Jake had already bounced to a wall. “Got you!” Jake screamed as he bounced towards SSS.
“Almost,” SSS said as she pulled her whip back and slammed it into Jake. Jake felt the edges cut through his skin as he crashed into a counter.
“You tried hard, kid,” SSS said.
Jake smiled. “Naw, I did it,” He reached up and pointed a firework at SSS. SSS tried to jump back but the explosion hit her in the chest before she could react. A second later Jake slammed his arm into her stomach and yelled.
SSS fell onto the ground and laughed. “Shoot. You really got me.”
Jake hit the ground and smiled. “Thanks. But I feel like my arm was torn off.”
“Does it hurt to do that?” SSS asked from where she was lying. “To use the spring as a weapon.”
“Yup,” Jake said. “So does shooting off fireworks.”
Jake got to his feet and slowly walked toward the staircase he had seen the others go down. “Hey, thanks, for this. I feel like fighting you made me a little stronger,” Jake said as he walked out the door. “Don’t die!”
SSS smiled and shook her head. “You Eagle gang are really interesting. That’s the first time a guy has ever fought me so seriously.”
She laid her head back and closed her eyes. “That really hurt. But I think I’m starting to like those guys.”
****
Q and Bano were back where they had started before they peeled off towards TFK. “Geez, Bano. You’re pretty wounded. Are you sure you’ll even make it out of the tower.”
Bano focused ahead of him and ignored Q. A voice made them both jump. “Hey! We were waiting on you.”
Q and Bano turned and saw several gang members in dark cloaks. “We figured you’d come back this way so we waited. You didn’t kill The First Knight, huh? Still, that’s some guts you guys showed.”
A man stepped forward and thrust his hand out. “I know we haven’t met, but the Snake gang really respects you. I owe you for helping them out before, too. Plus, I kind of like you guys. Your wounded. Let me help you.”
Cloaked men surrounded Bano and began chanting. “The freedom are you doing?” Bano screamed.
“Nothing bad. We have amp crystals that heal. They’re nice. The chanting is just a weird habit,” the man said. “I’m Cytan.”
Q shook his hand. “Um, thanks, I guess.”
“Yep, we really respect you guys. You have no idea. However,” Cytan said as he threw Q over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. “This game isn’t about respect.”
Q jumped to his feet. “What the-” Q looked over at Bano but Bano was fine.
“We healed Bano for you. In exchange, fight me,” Cytan said. “I’ve heard so much about you guys. But if you can’t beat TFK, then what’s the point of letting you live?”
Bano stepped forward and pulled out his Kama. “Q. I am not letting you fight for me. If you want to fight someone in exchange for healing me-”
“Naw, I got these guys,” Q smiled. “After fighting a guy like Punkfilter this will be refreshing. Besides, I have been working on a power. Run off and catch up with Jake and them and help them find Yoyo.”
Cytan waved his hand at Bano. “You heard him, skit.”
Bano grimaced. “Fine. But only because I’m worried about the others, too.”
“Shall we?” Cytan said as Bano walked away.
The Snake gang members encircled Q and began chanting. “What are they doing?” Q asked.
“They’re giving me their energy. I have the ability to suck people’s energy away if they are holding amp crystals,” Cytan smiled. “The chanting is just to look cool.”
Cytan flashed forward and swung his fist. Q dodged it and kneed him to the chest. “Not enough.”
Q stared at the Snake gang members in cloaks around him. “I thought you guys were going to be independent? How is giving away your fighting strength to this guy going to accomplish that?”
Q felt a fist to his side and crashed to the ground. “Wow,” Q said as he sat up.
Cytan smiled. “So you see. With their power I’m not a total pushover.”
“I guess,” Q shook his head. “I just got out of a fight with someone really strong, though. So this is not really the same.”
Cytan scowled at Q. “I’ll prove to you-”
Q kicked Cytan across the room. He lost his hearing again and could tell the kick he had launched was much more powerful then he had meant for it. “So I was right, something is wrong.”
“Ah, sorry, I kind of overdid it,” Q said. “I guess if this is what you meant by repaying my debt, I tha-”
Q felt himself fall forward. “What?”
“Wow, you’re really strong,” Cytan said. “I also set those amp crystals to steal energy.”
Q could barely move. “Shoot. Cheap trick.”
Cytan laughed. “Seriously? That’s the whole point of being in a gang. You kill mercilessly anyone you have to. There are no morals in gangs. Come on, kid.”
Cytan walked over to Q and kicked him in the ribs. “That’s that. A weak guy like me can’t beat you. But I can trick you. There’s a lot more out there then-”
Q grabbed onto Cytan’s leg and pulsed a vibration through his body snapping his bones. “I hate guys like you,” Q said. “Tricking people and using others all the time. Disgusting.”
Q stood up and glared at the group. “As I was saying. If this is your answer to what I told you, then fine. Stick with this guy. But you are better than that.”
Q walked away. “I guess I make less of a difference than I thought.”
****
Knssquad was no longer unsure. She knew those eyes were somewhere. She had to get away from them. “Come on!” Knssquad yelled as she hurried the others down staircases.
“Come on! I wanna nap,” Dark Raptor whined.
“Boss, that sounded really uncool,” PeinQ whispered.
“Ah, I mean I want to take a personal mini hibernation cycle,” Dark Raptor smiled and winked at Clair.
“I should of just gone with Q and Bano,” Clair thought to herself.
Knssquad continued ahead of the group. She hadn’t seen windows, but she knew they had to be getting closer to the bottom. They had been at it for hours. She rounded a corner and saw another hallway. “We’re getting there guys!” she yelled.
A hand came out of the doorway and grabbed Knssquad by her hair. “There you are,” a voice said.
Knssquad looked up and froze. Two ice blue eyes stared at her.
“What the heck are you doing?” Clair said as she shot an arrow at the man holding Knssquad.
The man looked up and snatched the ice arrow. “Not bad,” he said. “That’s an interesting power you have.”
The man threw Knssquad over his shoulder and walked away. Dark Raptor jumped forward and swung his fist. Venomu stepped between them and shoved Dark Raptor back.
“Now now, this doesn’t even concern you, Velociraptor gang leader. Despite being Q’s little brot-” Venomu started.
“A guy kidnapping a girl concerns me!” Dark Raptor screamed as he raced forward.
“So wrong,” Venomu frowned and punched Dark Raptor into the ground. “Anyway, I just want to have a quick chat with Clair.”
“Fight back!” Clair screamed to Knssquad as the two disappeared. She aimed her bow at Venomu.
“I wouldn’t worry about her. Cause I have information that’s vital to you,” Venomu said as he stepped his foot on Dark Raptor’s face.
Clair shot several arrows and screamed. “I don’t care! Get out of the way!”
Venomu frowned and dodged them. “Really, why must people be such emotional creatures. Here I wanted to tell you where you could find Blackrain.”
Clair immediately stopped. Her breath disappeared. “Blackrain? He’s here?” She whispered.
“Yes. I believe I know where to find him. He somewhat revealed himself to me. But I don’t want to fight them. Just yet. And I know you do. So how about you come with me and we work out something?” Venomu gleamed.
Clair stuttered but nodded. “Okay.”
PeinQ was lifting Dark Raptor to his feet when he screamed. “Are you kidding me, Clair? They just walked off with Knssquad and you’re gonna follow this guy?”
“I have to,” Clair said. “Sorry. Tell the others I’m sorry. I know Q and them will rescue Knssquad. They‘re better off without me, anyway. I have to do this.”
Venomu stared at Dark Raptor and frowned. Green vapors started to fume off his body. “How about you two get out of my way?”
****
Bano climbed down the stairwells of the tower. He had been climbing down for ages. He had no idea if he was headed in the right direction. People lay scattered all over in various forms of defeat. He didn’t like the stench of death so powerful in the air.
“This place really sucks,” Bano sighed. “I hope the others are alright. And Q. Well, I don’t really know what I want from him.”
A body leaning against a railway caught Bano’s eye. “Jake!” Bano yelled. Jake turned his head and smiled slightly.
“I beat someone,” Jake said as Bano picked him up and slung him over his back.
“Good on you,” Bano said. “Geez, you’re beaten pretty bad.”
“Is Yoyo alright?” Jake asked.
Bano shook his head. “No idea. Come on. We’ll get out of here and get you to Clair.”
Bano didn’t want to alarm Jake but he had pretty serious injuries. They needed to get out of this mess. “If Q hadn’t made that outrageous announcement,” Bano thought.
Bano found a hallway that lead to two doors. He opened one and saw a gigantic blue generator. “Er, that’s normal to have, I guess.”
The other lead to more stairs. “Yipee,” Bano groaned.
****
Yoyo continued to slice through the darkness. She had long ago given up trying to find direction. It felt like forever since she entered the room and got off that elevator. “Anyone else?” Yoyo screamed at the pitch black room. “I’ll kill you all!”
She finally sensed no more movement. After exiting the elevator she was attacked by an onslaught of people in pitch darkness. “What kind of abyss is this?” she said as she stepped over some bodies and began to look for a door.
After stumbling for a bit she found one. She sliced through it and kicked it open. “Light!” She smiled. She looked back but immediately her stomach lurched. The room she had come from was filled with bodies. Frail ones.
Yoyo looked away and marched down the hall. “I have a mission,” Yoyo focused.
“But seriously, what is going on? Why is there even rooms like that?” Yoyo groaned. “I hate this place.”
“Oh yeah! And where the freedom am I?” Yoyo yelled in frustration. “Freaking Clonia is dead meat. I hate men!”
She noticed a stairwell had a door ajar and she ran for it. “Wooh!” She frowned when she got there. “Um, up? Is that the way I want to go?”
“Yes,” a voice behind her made her jump and start swinging her swords. She turned around and saw a tall man. “Hey.”
Yoyo pointed her swords at him. “Now now, I don’t mean to fight ya,” the man smiled.
“You’ve gotten lost from your group. You’re right now deep underground, and you shouldn’t be here. Go on up those stairs and wait up for your gang outside where it’s safe,” the man said.
Yoyo glared. “Last time I trusted you guys I was nearly killed so.”
The man smiled. “Well feel free to attack me, miss. But I’m Draco. And if you and I fight here, you won’t get your chance to fight later.”
Yoyo jumped back at his name. “Well, I guess you make a good argument.”
“Just do not open any of the doors down here on your way out. If you do, I’ll be forced to kill you. Goodbye!” Draco waved at her.
Yoyo ran up the stairs and shivered. “Freak after freak in this place. Makes the guy with the chainsaw seem rather sane.”
****
Bano had been carrying Jake for hours at this point. Q hadn’t caught up with him and he had no idea where anyone was. Jake long ago passed out. “Geez, this place,” he sighed as he walked by a room and something flashed at his eyes.
“Well, that burned,” Bano said after having been in the dark tower for so long. “Wait, really? Is that a window?”
Bano ran over to it and looked down. “Wait, am I on the first floor?” Bano laughed.
He kicked the window and jumped out of it. “Booyah!” Bano yelled. “We’re out of there! First ones!”
“Not quite. There was a door right there,” Yoyo called out to him from across the street. “What happened to Jake?”
“He’s alive, just lost a lot of blood,” Bano sighed. “Wait, if we’re both out, I hope Clair and Knssquad are out and safe, too. They were way ahead of Jake and I.”
“Shoot, you don’t think they’re still in there?” Yoyo questioned. “The idea of going back to search for them inside that horrible place really doesn’t appeal to me. I vote we wait for Q and see what he thinks.”
****
Q had been climbing down for a while and had not seen any sign of his friends. He just had to put his worries aside and focus on getting out of there. But battles and bodies really did not make it much easier.
“Hey,” a voice weakly called out behind him. Q turned around and saw Dark Raptor staring at him groggily.
“Brother!” Q yelled and rushed to his side. “What happened? When did you get here?”
Dark Raptor shook his head. “You have to save Knssquad. A man took her.”
****
Bano and Yoyo cheered when Q finally came out of the tower. Dark Raptor and PeinQ were leaning against him. “What happened?” Q asked Bano and pointed at Jake.
“He apparently got in a fight. He won, but he got bruised. We’re waiting on Clair to come out so we can all get fixed up,” Bano sighed. “Did you see her?”
“She’s not coming out. She’s gone,” Q said.
“What?” Bano asked.
“She’s gone. Forget her. Knssquad was kidnapped. We have to get her back,” Q said.
“What the heck do you mean forget about her!” Bano yelled.
Q grabbed Bano by the shirt. “She ditched us! She let Knssquad get carried off! She’s history.”
Bano shoved Q back and scowled. “I don’t believe it.”
“Eagle Gang,” a man said. Everyone looked back and saw Amaterasu. One hand was in a sling but his gun was trained on them. “What the heck is going on here? We’ve been alerted that something happened in TFK’s tower with a bunch of gangs. I was in the area and got here first.”
Q kicked a trash can. “Not right now, dude! We’re dealing with stuff. We went into that tower, tried to kill TFK, and failed. Leave us alone!”
“You tried to kill TFK?” Amaterasu asked.
“Yes, but Punkfilter overwhelmed us,” Q yelled. “We’re still weak and we‘re busy.”
Amaterasu put his gun away. “I shouldn’t do this. But no one stands up to TFK. I’ve been saying forever someone has to. You really did? Okay. Look. Just run away. Cops will be swarming here in less than two minutes. Just go. I’ll cover for you.”
“Really?” everyone asked in surprise. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah. Go,” Amaterasu nodded. “Hurry up.”
The Eagle gang scattered. “So what are we gonna do?” Yoyo asked Q as they ran away.
“I don’t know.”
“For an office building this place has a lot of ‘weapon’s rooms’” Clair noted as they continued down the staircase.
“Agreed,” Jake said. “So Dark Raptor, what are your plans here? In fact, why are you even here if you’ve only got one member?”
“I already told you. My plan was to look as cool as possible. And I have other members! Really,” Dark raptor added defensively. “For now, we’re just looking to cause trouble.”
Jake shook his head. “What a very dishonest sounding goal.”
“Well I don’t tell you where to butter your toast,” Dark Raptor snapped back.
“Boss, that’s a really bad come back,” PeinQ whispered.
“Hey, could you guys keep it down?” a voice yelled behind them.
“Yeah! Some of us are facing a life or death contest here! You can have your chatty tea parties later, Eagle gang,” someone else shouted.
“I haven’t had food in hours! And darnit I want toast!” Jake joined in the mindless yelling and Clair shook her head.
Dark Raptor laughed. “Jake, you have a knack for creating riots.”
The sound of shouting and battling exploded above them as the group exited the staircase. “Shoot, which way do we go?” Clair asked.
Before them was a hallway leading to the right and left of them. Knssquad pointed to their left. “If we go that way there’s a kitchen. If we keep going down I’m pretty sure it’s a trap.”
“How can you tell?” Jake asked.
“No, she’s right,” Dark Raptor smiled. “I can smell it.”
“Me too. The kitchen has lots of sugar,” Knssquad said as she pointed to her nose. “If you go down the stairs you just run into a lot of blood and something foul.”
A cackle reached their ears and Clair took a step back. “That sounds like Jose.”
“Well a snack break does sound nice!” Jake said as he raced down the hall to their left.
****
Bano’s Kama created a smokescreen around themselves. Q felt a tap on his shoulder. “We’ll do this quick and as a team. If we both give it all we got then we can finish off Punkfilter and head for the top. If he drags this out or gets us one on one then there’s no way we’ll have enough strength left to fight TFK.”
“Got it,” Q answered.
Q noticed a shadow flying through the grayish smoke. “Oh-” Q cried out and fell as Punkfilter’s crystal arm went above his head.
Q rolled out of the smoke as a sound clashed inside. Bano jumped out of the smoke screen and landed next to Q. Bano kicked off the ground and swung his left arm down as crystals rocketed out of the floor. Each one was as multi colored as the floor itself.
Bano sliced to his left as he hit the ground. Crystal spears had launched out of the wall beside him. He looked up and saw Punkfilter standing where the smoke cleared. “As I’m sure you’ve realized,” he spoke, “this room is designed for my battle style. The walls and floor are made of all different kinds of crystal with all different kinds of effects.”
Punkfilter punched the ground and a row of orange spears shot out towards Bano. He sliced through them and started to charge forward. An instant later Bano felt himself dropping to his knees in pain.
“That crystal explodes into sharp fragments when it feels an external pressure,” Punkfilter said. “I color coordinated it to make it easier on people.”
Q dashed forward and threw a kick at Punkfilter. A blue wall erupted around Punkfilter and Q screamed in pain as he fell against the ground. Spears rocketed out of the ground and Q felt one slice through his leg.
“This blue one is of the strongest substances on Earth. By a lot,” Punkfilter smiled as he straightened his tie. Punkfilter closed the distance between Bano in a split second and pulled a black crystal out of the wall behind him.
“But this black one here,” Punkfilter glared. “Oh this one is the best. It’s so light yet sturdier then you can imagine. And conducts electricity and heat.”
The black crystal crept up Punkfilter’s arm and solidified. “It’s the perfect substance to use. Plus when I’ve embedded it with the properties of an Amp crystal.”
Bano dodged as Punkfilter’s arm slashed through the wall behind him. A wave of energy erupted as the wall cut in two. Wind knocked Q‘s hair back as it rushed in from outside. “Ah, I guess that might be pushing it. If I cut off the top of the tower I’d probably really tick off the boss. Still, you get the idea,” Punkfilter smiled.
“How’d it explode like that?” Bano asked.
“That was just the static electricity,” Punkfilter grinned.
Q jumped against the wall as another row of spears flew towards him. He headed towards the ceiling as a row of orange crystals shot towards him. Q felt one slide through his arm as he slammed into the ground. He ripped it out and dropped it in anguish as the shattered pieces burrowed into his skin.
“Shoot,” Q yelled as a crystal wall shot out from the ground. Q leaped up and punched it back into the floor.
“Good call,” Punkfilter said. “If that stuff gets you it’s game over. Yellow crystal can encase you inside. It’s not often I get much of it but this room is loaded.”
Punkfilter turned to Bano and raised his arm. “Normally I’d just cut you to ribbons with my crystals and watch, but you’re known for your slicing skills. I’ll keep Q busy so why don’t you and I see which one can cut better?”
****
The man shook as the guards to his left and right fell to the floor. He had just seen his superiors get slaughtered. The person continued down the blood drenched hallway. He had nowhere else to run.
“Don’t come any closer!” the man screamed as he watched the figure walk slowly towards him. He felt his back bump against something solid. He turned and realized he had come to a dead end.
He turned his head back to focus on his opponent when something blurry caught his eyes. He jumped back and hit his head when he realized that directly in front of him was a sword.
“Please don’t kill me,” the man begged. “I’ll do anything.”
The man watched as he saw a blur of metal flash past him. He could feel cold steel pushing against the side of his head. His eyes were closed as he for it to be over. “Can you tell me how to get out of this stupid tower?” Yoyo asked the man. Trembling he nodded quickly.
“Alright. Please lead the way,” Yoyo smiled. “And no tricks.”
The man nodded and began walking them back down the hallway. He shivered as he stepped over the body of his fallen boss. “I’m going to take you to some elevators,” the man said. “If you take the one I tell you to you’ll get out of here in no time.”
Yoyo grabbed him by the shoulder and the man’s heart leapt. She looked him in the eyes and stared at him for a minute. “You mean it now? Not trying to trick me into the wrong elevator?”
“Absolutely not,” the man shook his head. “I value my life.”
Yoyo continued to stare at him and shrugged. “Whatever then. Lead the way. Hey what’s your name, anyway?”
“Call me Clonia.”
****
“Oh my gosh,” Clair yelled.
“I know!” Dark Raptor said.
“It’s like,” Jake said.
“Definitely!” PeinQ cheered.
“Best. Food. Ever!” the group cheered as they went through the kitchen’s refrigerator.
“I’ve got plenty of stuff for weapons, too,” Knssquad said.
“You know we’ve been going down stairs for a pretty long time now,” Clair said. “Think we’ve reached the third level or whatever, yet?”
“Who knows?” Dark Raptor said. “It seems like Jose got bored of the whole level thing and decided to just start killing people.”
“Maybe that is the third level. Like a video game! Beat the boss and you can move on,” Jake said.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I am passing on this whole stupid game bit we’ve been doing,” Clair said. “I’m just ready to be out of here. And make sure our gang is safe.”
“No kidding,” Jake said.
“Well, well. Look who just decided to make themselves at home,” a girl spoke behind them. “I know everyone is having their stupid fight, but to raid our kitchen?”
A whip flew across the room and smacked a sandwich out of Jake’s hands. “I’ve seen you before. And you, girl. You are Eagle, right?” she asked.
“Sick Selfish Sycho,” Clair answered. She swung her arms out in front of her and created an ice bow and aimed it at SSS. “If you’re looking for a fight then you’ve got one.”
“Relax, geez. I was just asking a question. I mean, sure, I can’t let you just leave. Especially after you ate all the ice cream!” SSS frowned. “But I’m not as barbaric as all the others around here. I don’t mind a good conversation or something first. It gets so boring here all the time, ya know?”
“Sorry, but if you’re not going to let us go without a fight, then we don’t really want to talk to you,” Clair said.
“That’s too bad,” SSS sighed. “I was hoping to learn something interesting. You never know what you might learn.”
SSS flashed her whip across the room and wrapped it around Clair’s hand. SSS whipped her arm back and Clair’s body crashed into a wall. Clair jumped up and released a barrage of arrows at SSS.
“Wait, Clair!” Jake said. “I got this. You take the others and get out of here.”
Clair looked at Jake confused. “Um, are you sure? She’s not exactly a small fry here and you’re not exactly a fighter.”
Jake looked back at Clair and gave her a thumbs up. “Please. This chick will be no problem for me. For she’s a thousand years too early to face me. And I have the heart of the-”
“I’m just going to interrupt your epic speech here to remind you you’re just fighting a girl. It’s kind of heartless of you,” Dark Raptor grinned.
“Well, gotta love the bad boy, right?” SSS smiled.
“You totally made me look uncool, Dark Raptor. If the point of life is to look cool you totally ruined my reason to live,” Jake groaned.
“Alright. We’ll leave this to you then, Jake,” Clair said. “Catch up with us when you’ve finished her.”
“I feel like I should be insulted to have you looking down on me like that,” SSS glared. “As tough as I am sure he is I am not letting any of you get away from this place.”
Sick Selfish’s whip swung across the room towards the group. Dark Raptor stabbed it into the wall with his claw and smiled. “Whoops! We’ll just be leaving!” Dark Raptor called out as he dashed out the door. “Thanks Jake for taking care of this situation.”
PeinQ followed behind Dark Raptor and yelled back. “We owe you one Eagle gang!”
“Guys find Yoyo. Make sure she’s alright,” Jake said to Clair and Knssquad.
“Right,” Knssquad said.
“I promise,” Clair yelled back.
“Well, that was a nuisance,” SSS said as she pulled her whip out of the wall. “I guess that’s what I get for trying to take so many people on at once. Oh well. After I finish up here maybe I can hunt them back down. Or just, not.”
Jake kicked off the floor and bounced across the room. He used his left hand to fling himself off the roof and punched SSS into a cabinet. He ricocheted back and stood across from SSS.
SSS stood up and laughed. “Well, maybe you and I can have a bit of fun first, I guess. What the heck kind of fighting style is that?”
“Springy sneak attack no jutsu?” Jake asked. “Not sure.”
SSS’s swung her shoulder down and her whip snapped across the room. Jake sprung against a wall and bounced off of it. He turned and felt his face slam into her foot. His body crashed into the ground and he gasped in pain. “Aw, come now. Is that all there is to springy sneak attack style? Or did you really think all I could do is whip people?” SSS laughed.
Jake stood up and sprang off the floor. “Nice try,” SSS encouraged as Jake felt his momentum pulling him in the other direction. Jake realized the whip was coiled around his leg. His body was flung into the refrigerator breaking the door off of it. Jake was dragged across the floor of the kitchen and slammed into a counter with the swing of SSS’s hand.
“Not looking very cool, Jake. And after that speech. What will happen to your friends if you don’t win here, I wonder?” SSS taunted.
****
Bano panted across the room from Punkfilter as he spoke. “You’re definitely improving. Compared to that day back on the street, you’re actually capable of blocking and stopping some of my attacks. Very impressive. But you’re not strong enough.”
Bano felt blood dripping down his arms. His hands had cracked just from blocking Punkfilter’s attacks. He ignored it and got back into an attack stance. Bano stared at Punkfilter. “Not going to attack?” Punkfilter asked.
Bano blinked and watched as a blade swung towards his face. His hands jumped up and blocked the attack. He swung out his right arm in an arc towards the attacker. “Nice instincts,” Bano heard Punkfilter’s voice from behind and immediately swung both blades towards it.
“But you’re just instincts. You’re not taking the initiative. You’re just dodging and countering. Hoping that I’ll show a weak point,” Bano felt the attack and jumped away from it. Punkfilter’s blade ripped a gash through his right arm. “Nicely done. If you hadn’t of felt that attack your arm would have been cut off.”
Punkfilter shot the crystal from his left hand out. Bano’s body hammered into the ground as the black crystal cut through Bano’s chest. Punkfilter stepped over to Bano and pulled the Crystal out and reattached it to his arm.
“Just so you know, I have no weak points,” Punkfilter sighed. “Pathetic.”
Bano jumped from the ground and slammed an attack into Punkfilter’s arm. “Perhaps you are right. I’ve been trying to save up my strength for when I face The First Knight. But I suppose I have to finish you off.”
Punkfilter stepped back as Bano swung to attack. Bano jumped forward and crashed his blades into Punkfilter’s arm. Punkfilter felt a tingling sensation up his arm and looked down. Smoke swirled around Punkfilter and he completely lost his vision. Punkfilter waited and sensed for the spot where Bano was.
Punkfilter moved to that spot and sliced. He could feel that Bano blocked it and the tingling was getting worse. Smoke poured into the area and Bano’s presence disappeared. Punkfilter knew Bano had jumped and waited to see where he’d land. When he touched down Punkfilter immediately moved there and attacked.
Bano blocked Punkfilter’s attack and created another swirl of smoke adding to the already dense cloud. Punkfilter backed out and ran across the room to where Q had been fighting. He finally exited the cloud of smoke and looked at his arm. He could tell the black crystal was smoking. A shadow alerted him that Bano was attacking from above.
Punkfilter blocked with his same hand. An explosion rocked the room as Punkfilter felt himself falling back. He quickly caught his balance and landed on his feet. “What was that?” Punkfilter asked and looked at his arm that had taken the brunt of the impact.
Bano smiled and pointed his blade at Punkfilter. The blades of his Kama were on fire. “That was me taking the initiative. It’s over!” Bano raced forward.
Punkfilter sidestepped Bano’s attack and sliced open his chest. “Ah, of course. If this conducts heat and causes such massive attacks then the reverse is true, as well. You forced flames against my crystal and the result caused it to explode back on me. What a blunder.”
Bano fell to the ground. He forced himself onto his side but could do little more. “Your mission to get to The First Knight ends here, you two. Even if you got past me Draco is still ahead and Jose is lurking somewhere. And The First Knight overshadows all of us in power. I hope you enjoyed your climb, this is as fa-”
Q pummeled his fist into Punkfilter’s face and sent him flying across the room. “Geez, you’re really annoying. Making me dodge all those crystals really wore me out.”
Punkfilter stood up and glared. “I got careless, again.”
Q pulled Bano to his feet and held him up. “He’s right. We have to worry about the others. You wanted to reach for The First Knight. Well, we made it this far. We’re definitely coming along. We’ll have to wait for another chance.”
Bano shrugged Q off and shook his head. “No. We’ve got to reach for it now.”
Q glared at Bano. “And what will you do in your condition? Bleed all over him?”
Bano held back the urge to cut Q down for that. “I thought the Eagle gang cared for their subordinates,” Punkfilter frowned. “Yet you two ran this way completely disregarding their safety. Leaving them in probably the most dangerous situation they‘ve been in without a care. It’s not untypical of the gangs of WOTNOPOLIS, but it is a pity. It made you two interesting before.”
Punkfilter looked down at his suit and straightened his tie. “You’ve ruined a good suit and you’ve created a mess in my room.”
Yellow crystals shot out at the two of them in all directions. Q dodged them and picked up Bano. If he moved fast enough he could get out of the room without the two of them being hit. He dodged between the rows of crystals jettisoning from the ground.
“Look up!” Bano shouted as Q reached for the exit. Q looked up and saw a row of yellow spears falling towards him. Q threw Bano and reached back his fist.
“Screw this!” Q yelled as he punched the crystals. They flew back and Q looked around. He heard Bano shouting but he couldn’t hear anything. “What?” Q asked as he saw the crystals shatter. “I didn’t even touch them.”
Q jumped through the door and raced behind Bano. “Wow, that was close,” Q laughed.
Bano disagreed. “I still think we can take The First Knight.”
“Forget it. We have to find our gang and get out of here.”
Punkfilter stared at the two men running away. “If I had known he was capable of that,” Punkfilter sighed.
“You let them escape? That’s not like you, is it?” a voice crackled into Punkfilter’s ears.
“Why does everyone keep coming into my room?” Punkfilter growled. “I will not hesitate to kill you.”
“You didn’t answer. Why’d you let them escape?” Venomu said as he stepped forward. A smile etched across his face.
Punkfilter ignored him and took off the remains of his suit. “I see, you’re not talking to me. It’s okay. They’re my hobby, too. But you’re fight with them will pale in comparison to what I’m getting ready to do.”
Punkfilter looked Venomu in the eye and smirked. “You’re wrong. It’s not Q and Bano I want to fight, though I do get something akin to pleasure from it. But the one I want to fight is the other one I’ve let live. I do not understand hatred, but each member of the Eagle gang bears it. And that girl hates me. I remember seeing it on her face that day. It will be interesting when she’s become powerful and that monstrous tsunami of hate is headed my way. Maybe I will feel something, then.”
Venomu shook his head. “Please. You’re not capable of emotions like that.”
Punkfilter looked down at his hands and nodded. “Probably not.”
****
Yoyo poked the elevator doors with her sword. “Here’s good?”
“Yes,” Clonia nodded. “Just don’t go to the first floor. That’s a trap. Hit floor 2. It will take you to the bottom, which is where you need to go.”
“Thanks,” Yoyo said as the doors opened. She pressed the button to floor 2. “Uh, I guess this is bye. Kind of awkward, since I don’t really know or care about you, but than-”
Clonia watched the elevator doors shut on her mid sentence. “It is goodbye. I bet I will get a promotion for sending her there.”
****
Knssquad and Clair raced down the stairs. Despite them saying farewell, they were clearly still following Dark Raptor and Pein Q. “You’re making this awkward by following us!” Dark Raptor yelled back.
“Then go a different direction!” Knssquad shouted back.
“No way! The girl with the whip scared me!” Dark Raptor said as he waved his arms back and forth. “Plus she took out Jake. I really liked him.”
“He’s not dead, yet,” Knssquad answered. “But I hope Yoyo did a better job training him then we all expect.”
The group ran into another hallway and groaned. “What the heck is wrong with this place? Hallways and stair cases. Why can’t there just be one staircase all the way down!” Dark Raptor complained.
“It’s designed to be impossible to escape,” Clair answered.
“Oh yeah,” Dark Raptor sighed.
Knssquad spun around. “There’s something. Not right.”
“Hm?” Clair asked Knssquad. “What’s up?”
Knssquad looked around the room cautiously. “I don’t know. I just keep getting this eerie feeling. But it can’t be.”
Dark Raptor stared at her. “I understand. We should of taken more food with us when we left Jake to die.”
PeinQ shook her head. “No boss, I don’t think that was it.”
“Forget it. Let’s just hurry up and get out of this tower,” Knssquad said and raced forward. “We just need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”
****
“You made it back to your feet,” SSS said. “Bout time. I already made some rolls. Want some?”
Jake’s body trembled. “Hey. Take me seriously.”
SSS put down the roll she was eating and frowned. “But you’re weak. And no offense to you, but I don’t take anyone seriously. It’s too much effort.”
Jake’s hands shook as he made them into a fist and got ready. “No. Take me seriously. Fight with all you got.”
Jake stumbled and picked himself back up. “I get that I’m weak. I get that really, I don’t play much role in the Eagle gang. I know I’m really no use to them. But this once. I have to try. I have to at least hold you back a little longer.”
Jake smiled. “I mean, come on. Even someone as useless as me should be able to do that much.”
SSS sighed and groaned. “Well, geez, kid. When you say it like that I have no choice. Fine. But don’t think you’ll live.”
Sick Selfish Sycho discarded her whip and pulled out another one. “This whip is lined with thorns and has a blade on the end of it. I don’t like to use it because it gets blood everywhere. I love blood, but I don’t want it on me.”
“Er, where’d you just pull that out from?” Jake stared at her seeing nowhere on her person that had pockets.
SSS stared at Jake. “Anyway, if you get hit with this you’ll be in real trouble.”
Jake stood back and exhaled. “Okay. I’m ready.”
Jake kicked off the floor. SSS’s whip swung towards the spot he was aiming for. He kicked his foot off the roof and bounced to the ground. SSS brought her whip down towards the floor but Jake had already bounced to a wall. “Got you!” Jake screamed as he bounced towards SSS.
“Almost,” SSS said as she pulled her whip back and slammed it into Jake. Jake felt the edges cut through his skin as he crashed into a counter.
“You tried hard, kid,” SSS said.
Jake smiled. “Naw, I did it,” He reached up and pointed a firework at SSS. SSS tried to jump back but the explosion hit her in the chest before she could react. A second later Jake slammed his arm into her stomach and yelled.
SSS fell onto the ground and laughed. “Shoot. You really got me.”
Jake hit the ground and smiled. “Thanks. But I feel like my arm was torn off.”
“Does it hurt to do that?” SSS asked from where she was lying. “To use the spring as a weapon.”
“Yup,” Jake said. “So does shooting off fireworks.”
Jake got to his feet and slowly walked toward the staircase he had seen the others go down. “Hey, thanks, for this. I feel like fighting you made me a little stronger,” Jake said as he walked out the door. “Don’t die!”
SSS smiled and shook her head. “You Eagle gang are really interesting. That’s the first time a guy has ever fought me so seriously.”
She laid her head back and closed her eyes. “That really hurt. But I think I’m starting to like those guys.”
****
Q and Bano were back where they had started before they peeled off towards TFK. “Geez, Bano. You’re pretty wounded. Are you sure you’ll even make it out of the tower.”
Bano focused ahead of him and ignored Q. A voice made them both jump. “Hey! We were waiting on you.”
Q and Bano turned and saw several gang members in dark cloaks. “We figured you’d come back this way so we waited. You didn’t kill The First Knight, huh? Still, that’s some guts you guys showed.”
A man stepped forward and thrust his hand out. “I know we haven’t met, but the Snake gang really respects you. I owe you for helping them out before, too. Plus, I kind of like you guys. Your wounded. Let me help you.”
Cloaked men surrounded Bano and began chanting. “The freedom are you doing?” Bano screamed.
“Nothing bad. We have amp crystals that heal. They’re nice. The chanting is just a weird habit,” the man said. “I’m Cytan.”
Q shook his hand. “Um, thanks, I guess.”
“Yep, we really respect you guys. You have no idea. However,” Cytan said as he threw Q over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground. “This game isn’t about respect.”
Q jumped to his feet. “What the-” Q looked over at Bano but Bano was fine.
“We healed Bano for you. In exchange, fight me,” Cytan said. “I’ve heard so much about you guys. But if you can’t beat TFK, then what’s the point of letting you live?”
Bano stepped forward and pulled out his Kama. “Q. I am not letting you fight for me. If you want to fight someone in exchange for healing me-”
“Naw, I got these guys,” Q smiled. “After fighting a guy like Punkfilter this will be refreshing. Besides, I have been working on a power. Run off and catch up with Jake and them and help them find Yoyo.”
Cytan waved his hand at Bano. “You heard him, skit.”
Bano grimaced. “Fine. But only because I’m worried about the others, too.”
“Shall we?” Cytan said as Bano walked away.
The Snake gang members encircled Q and began chanting. “What are they doing?” Q asked.
“They’re giving me their energy. I have the ability to suck people’s energy away if they are holding amp crystals,” Cytan smiled. “The chanting is just to look cool.”
Cytan flashed forward and swung his fist. Q dodged it and kneed him to the chest. “Not enough.”
Q stared at the Snake gang members in cloaks around him. “I thought you guys were going to be independent? How is giving away your fighting strength to this guy going to accomplish that?”
Q felt a fist to his side and crashed to the ground. “Wow,” Q said as he sat up.
Cytan smiled. “So you see. With their power I’m not a total pushover.”
“I guess,” Q shook his head. “I just got out of a fight with someone really strong, though. So this is not really the same.”
Cytan scowled at Q. “I’ll prove to you-”
Q kicked Cytan across the room. He lost his hearing again and could tell the kick he had launched was much more powerful then he had meant for it. “So I was right, something is wrong.”
“Ah, sorry, I kind of overdid it,” Q said. “I guess if this is what you meant by repaying my debt, I tha-”
Q felt himself fall forward. “What?”
“Wow, you’re really strong,” Cytan said. “I also set those amp crystals to steal energy.”
Q could barely move. “Shoot. Cheap trick.”
Cytan laughed. “Seriously? That’s the whole point of being in a gang. You kill mercilessly anyone you have to. There are no morals in gangs. Come on, kid.”
Cytan walked over to Q and kicked him in the ribs. “That’s that. A weak guy like me can’t beat you. But I can trick you. There’s a lot more out there then-”
Q grabbed onto Cytan’s leg and pulsed a vibration through his body snapping his bones. “I hate guys like you,” Q said. “Tricking people and using others all the time. Disgusting.”
Q stood up and glared at the group. “As I was saying. If this is your answer to what I told you, then fine. Stick with this guy. But you are better than that.”
Q walked away. “I guess I make less of a difference than I thought.”
****
Knssquad was no longer unsure. She knew those eyes were somewhere. She had to get away from them. “Come on!” Knssquad yelled as she hurried the others down staircases.
“Come on! I wanna nap,” Dark Raptor whined.
“Boss, that sounded really uncool,” PeinQ whispered.
“Ah, I mean I want to take a personal mini hibernation cycle,” Dark Raptor smiled and winked at Clair.
“I should of just gone with Q and Bano,” Clair thought to herself.
Knssquad continued ahead of the group. She hadn’t seen windows, but she knew they had to be getting closer to the bottom. They had been at it for hours. She rounded a corner and saw another hallway. “We’re getting there guys!” she yelled.
A hand came out of the doorway and grabbed Knssquad by her hair. “There you are,” a voice said.
Knssquad looked up and froze. Two ice blue eyes stared at her.
“What the heck are you doing?” Clair said as she shot an arrow at the man holding Knssquad.
The man looked up and snatched the ice arrow. “Not bad,” he said. “That’s an interesting power you have.”
The man threw Knssquad over his shoulder and walked away. Dark Raptor jumped forward and swung his fist. Venomu stepped between them and shoved Dark Raptor back.
“Now now, this doesn’t even concern you, Velociraptor gang leader. Despite being Q’s little brot-” Venomu started.
“A guy kidnapping a girl concerns me!” Dark Raptor screamed as he raced forward.
“So wrong,” Venomu frowned and punched Dark Raptor into the ground. “Anyway, I just want to have a quick chat with Clair.”
“Fight back!” Clair screamed to Knssquad as the two disappeared. She aimed her bow at Venomu.
“I wouldn’t worry about her. Cause I have information that’s vital to you,” Venomu said as he stepped his foot on Dark Raptor’s face.
Clair shot several arrows and screamed. “I don’t care! Get out of the way!”
Venomu frowned and dodged them. “Really, why must people be such emotional creatures. Here I wanted to tell you where you could find Blackrain.”
Clair immediately stopped. Her breath disappeared. “Blackrain? He’s here?” She whispered.
“Yes. I believe I know where to find him. He somewhat revealed himself to me. But I don’t want to fight them. Just yet. And I know you do. So how about you come with me and we work out something?” Venomu gleamed.
Clair stuttered but nodded. “Okay.”
PeinQ was lifting Dark Raptor to his feet when he screamed. “Are you kidding me, Clair? They just walked off with Knssquad and you’re gonna follow this guy?”
“I have to,” Clair said. “Sorry. Tell the others I’m sorry. I know Q and them will rescue Knssquad. They‘re better off without me, anyway. I have to do this.”
Venomu stared at Dark Raptor and frowned. Green vapors started to fume off his body. “How about you two get out of my way?”
****
Bano climbed down the stairwells of the tower. He had been climbing down for ages. He had no idea if he was headed in the right direction. People lay scattered all over in various forms of defeat. He didn’t like the stench of death so powerful in the air.
“This place really sucks,” Bano sighed. “I hope the others are alright. And Q. Well, I don’t really know what I want from him.”
A body leaning against a railway caught Bano’s eye. “Jake!” Bano yelled. Jake turned his head and smiled slightly.
“I beat someone,” Jake said as Bano picked him up and slung him over his back.
“Good on you,” Bano said. “Geez, you’re beaten pretty bad.”
“Is Yoyo alright?” Jake asked.
Bano shook his head. “No idea. Come on. We’ll get out of here and get you to Clair.”
Bano didn’t want to alarm Jake but he had pretty serious injuries. They needed to get out of this mess. “If Q hadn’t made that outrageous announcement,” Bano thought.
Bano found a hallway that lead to two doors. He opened one and saw a gigantic blue generator. “Er, that’s normal to have, I guess.”
The other lead to more stairs. “Yipee,” Bano groaned.
****
Yoyo continued to slice through the darkness. She had long ago given up trying to find direction. It felt like forever since she entered the room and got off that elevator. “Anyone else?” Yoyo screamed at the pitch black room. “I’ll kill you all!”
She finally sensed no more movement. After exiting the elevator she was attacked by an onslaught of people in pitch darkness. “What kind of abyss is this?” she said as she stepped over some bodies and began to look for a door.
After stumbling for a bit she found one. She sliced through it and kicked it open. “Light!” She smiled. She looked back but immediately her stomach lurched. The room she had come from was filled with bodies. Frail ones.
Yoyo looked away and marched down the hall. “I have a mission,” Yoyo focused.
“But seriously, what is going on? Why is there even rooms like that?” Yoyo groaned. “I hate this place.”
“Oh yeah! And where the freedom am I?” Yoyo yelled in frustration. “Freaking Clonia is dead meat. I hate men!”
She noticed a stairwell had a door ajar and she ran for it. “Wooh!” She frowned when she got there. “Um, up? Is that the way I want to go?”
“Yes,” a voice behind her made her jump and start swinging her swords. She turned around and saw a tall man. “Hey.”
Yoyo pointed her swords at him. “Now now, I don’t mean to fight ya,” the man smiled.
“You’ve gotten lost from your group. You’re right now deep underground, and you shouldn’t be here. Go on up those stairs and wait up for your gang outside where it’s safe,” the man said.
Yoyo glared. “Last time I trusted you guys I was nearly killed so.”
The man smiled. “Well feel free to attack me, miss. But I’m Draco. And if you and I fight here, you won’t get your chance to fight later.”
Yoyo jumped back at his name. “Well, I guess you make a good argument.”
“Just do not open any of the doors down here on your way out. If you do, I’ll be forced to kill you. Goodbye!” Draco waved at her.
Yoyo ran up the stairs and shivered. “Freak after freak in this place. Makes the guy with the chainsaw seem rather sane.”
****
Bano had been carrying Jake for hours at this point. Q hadn’t caught up with him and he had no idea where anyone was. Jake long ago passed out. “Geez, this place,” he sighed as he walked by a room and something flashed at his eyes.
“Well, that burned,” Bano said after having been in the dark tower for so long. “Wait, really? Is that a window?”
Bano ran over to it and looked down. “Wait, am I on the first floor?” Bano laughed.
He kicked the window and jumped out of it. “Booyah!” Bano yelled. “We’re out of there! First ones!”
“Not quite. There was a door right there,” Yoyo called out to him from across the street. “What happened to Jake?”
“He’s alive, just lost a lot of blood,” Bano sighed. “Wait, if we’re both out, I hope Clair and Knssquad are out and safe, too. They were way ahead of Jake and I.”
“Shoot, you don’t think they’re still in there?” Yoyo questioned. “The idea of going back to search for them inside that horrible place really doesn’t appeal to me. I vote we wait for Q and see what he thinks.”
****
Q had been climbing down for a while and had not seen any sign of his friends. He just had to put his worries aside and focus on getting out of there. But battles and bodies really did not make it much easier.
“Hey,” a voice weakly called out behind him. Q turned around and saw Dark Raptor staring at him groggily.
“Brother!” Q yelled and rushed to his side. “What happened? When did you get here?”
Dark Raptor shook his head. “You have to save Knssquad. A man took her.”
****
Bano and Yoyo cheered when Q finally came out of the tower. Dark Raptor and PeinQ were leaning against him. “What happened?” Q asked Bano and pointed at Jake.
“He apparently got in a fight. He won, but he got bruised. We’re waiting on Clair to come out so we can all get fixed up,” Bano sighed. “Did you see her?”
“She’s not coming out. She’s gone,” Q said.
“What?” Bano asked.
“She’s gone. Forget her. Knssquad was kidnapped. We have to get her back,” Q said.
“What the heck do you mean forget about her!” Bano yelled.
Q grabbed Bano by the shirt. “She ditched us! She let Knssquad get carried off! She’s history.”
Bano shoved Q back and scowled. “I don’t believe it.”
“Eagle Gang,” a man said. Everyone looked back and saw Amaterasu. One hand was in a sling but his gun was trained on them. “What the heck is going on here? We’ve been alerted that something happened in TFK’s tower with a bunch of gangs. I was in the area and got here first.”
Q kicked a trash can. “Not right now, dude! We’re dealing with stuff. We went into that tower, tried to kill TFK, and failed. Leave us alone!”
“You tried to kill TFK?” Amaterasu asked.
“Yes, but Punkfilter overwhelmed us,” Q yelled. “We’re still weak and we‘re busy.”
Amaterasu put his gun away. “I shouldn’t do this. But no one stands up to TFK. I’ve been saying forever someone has to. You really did? Okay. Look. Just run away. Cops will be swarming here in less than two minutes. Just go. I’ll cover for you.”
“Really?” everyone asked in surprise. “You’d do that?”
“Yeah. Go,” Amaterasu nodded. “Hurry up.”
The Eagle gang scattered. “So what are we gonna do?” Yoyo asked Q as they ran away.
“I don’t know.”
Last edited by quater on Sun May 15, 2011 1:39 am; edited 1 time in total
