|
Home About Me Computer Games Music Online Journal Stories Links Sign Guestbook View Guestbook E-mail me! |
Rescue and Vendetta Vincent Zeng, in human form, walked slowly and calmly toward Trioustan's Cathedral of Alliatus. The sun had already set and the stars were shining brightly in the night sky. The Cathedral was still open, and a few people still prayed inside, but it was mostly empty. Two paladins stood in front of the main door, guarding it. "Halt!" one of them shouted when he saw Vince. "Dark Fiend of Fire!" Vince raised his arms up. "I surrender," he called back. "Bring me to Motarius." The two Paladins ran up to Vince. One of them drew his sword, just in case, while the other pulled out a pair of enchanted handcuffs and cuffed Vince's arms behind him. After Vince was securely held, the first Paladin pulled out a communication device and pressed a few buttons. "Hello? Motarius?" he said. "Fire came to the Cathedral and surrendered himself." They threw him into a small, poorly lit cell. They had also removed his handcuffs, as they wouldn't need them anymore. Motarius and a few Ragnaroks, and Motarius spoke to him through an electrified window in the door. "Just like I planned, you surrendered yourself for your precious Stephanie," Motarius taunted. "Like I promised, because you turned yourself in, we'll set Stephanie free. I've already sent my soldiers to fetch her, so that you can see she's safe." Vince remained silent. "You're not plotting ways to break out, are you? Mandragon has specially designed your cell to be heat resistant. Also, the walls are 5 feet thick and made of reinforced concrete. The door is magnetically locked, and this one window that we speak through is electrified. Even if you manage to break out of your cell, there'll be a lot of soldiers, as well as a new MMH, to stop you. There's no way you're escaping, Fire, no way at all." Motarius looked down the hall. "Ah, here comes your girlfriend." Vince looked and saw two Ragnaroks leading Stephanie. Her hair was disheveled--no ribbon--as were her clothes. Without her glasses, she had to squint to see Vince. "Vince?" she asked, surprised. "You turned yourself in?" "Yeah," Vince replied. "Now you see she's all right," Motarius said. "That's enough. We'll bring her outside and send her home." The two Ragnaroks led Stephanie down one hallway while Motarius and the rest of the Ragnaroks walked down the hallway in the other direction. As soon as Vince saw both groups walk out of sight, he spat something into his hand. It was a shard of a red glass-like material. "Even though it's shattered, I'm sure the Shadow Disruptor can still do me some good," Vince said. "It has enough energy in it to do the trick." He pressed the piece into the lock mechanism of the door. Then, as the fire came and changed him into the Dark Fiend of Fire, Vince let a bolt of flame shoot into the Shadow Disruptor fragment. The piece exploded, destroying the lock. Quickly, as sirens sounded, Vince pushed the door open, then ran down the hall where the Ragnaroks had taken Stephanie. Sprinting down the hall, he caught up to them. The soldiers quickly released Steph, pulled out their rifles, and started firing. Vince danced left and right, avoiding the bullets. Then, with one quick motion, he threw two fireballs, which hit the Ragnarok soldiers on the heads. Next, he charged and pummeled them. "Steph, are you okay?" Vince asked, catching up to Stephanie. Steph looked at Vince, hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Can you run?" Vince asked. Stephanie nodded again. "Come on, let's move!" Vince shouted as the two of them ran down the hall. "Do you know the way out?" Stephanie asked as they ran. "Not really," Vince replied. "But I'm sure we'll find it." Running down one hallway, they saw soldiers blocking the other end, so they quickly changed and ran down another hallway. They kept running down various hallways in a desperate attempt to find the exit while evading the soldiers. Then, while in one empty hallway, a silver blur shot down from the ceiling. Instinctively, Vince, who led, hopped back. Something sliced through the air right in front of him, and he felt a few strands of his hair come off, cleanly cut. It was a humaniform robot, wielding a long, thick titanium blade. Landing on its feet, it quickly spun around and swung at Vince, who hopped back. Stephanie turned around to run the other way, but then, a group of Ragnaroks came in and blocked the way. The robot swung its sword with mad technique, trying to cut down Vince. This forced Vince to take hop after backward hop to avoid the blade. In a desperate attempt, Vince shot out a blaze while taking one of his hops. However, the robot was engulfed, but not burned. "Right, fireproof," Vince reminded himself. "This must be the new MMH." It was then that he noticed that the battle was moving too close to Stephanie. The poor girl had nowhere to run. If Vince hopped back, that would put Steph in a dangerous position. Yet, if he didn't he would be cleaved, so he had no choice but to continue his retreat. Unfortunately, that slight hesitation gave the robot an advantage. Although Vince jumped back, the tip blade struck him. The swing knocked Vince all the way down the hall, landing at the feet of the Ragnarok soldiers. Across his chest, a shallow but bleeding gash opened up. Seeing the Ragnaroks, Vince jumped to his feet and leapt toward the robot. The robot swung horizontally, but Vince fired a powerful flame upward, allowing the recoil to turn him around and throw him flat on his back, right under the robot's sword. Then, as the robot swung downward in attempts to crush Vince into the floor, Vince rolled to the side, grabbed the grounded sword with his left hand, caught the robot's arm with between his feet, and twisted, forcing the four-foot blade from the robot's grasp. Climbing to his feet, Vince took a swing and knocked over the unarmed robot. Then, Vince grabbed Steph's arm, and the pair fled. The robot leapt to its feet and chased after them, but Vince and Stephanie had passed through a doorway. There, Vince pressed on the control panel, closing the door. Then, he smashed the panel. "That'll buy us some time," Vince said as he and Steph ran off. The Dark Fiend of Fire and Stephanie took another turn to get onto a safer hallway. However, at an intersection, Motarius leapt out of a door to ambush them. He swung his silver Ophelia, but Vince still carried the robot's sword and used it to block. "My sword's longer," Vince said calmly, but confidently. "My sword's better," Motarius countered. "It doesn't matter," Vince said with sadistic calmness. "I'm still going to kill you." In response, Motarius laughed and leapt forward. Swords clashed as Stephanie Chen looked on from afar. Motarius fought with his silver sword, engraved with Ophelia's name and inhabited by her soul. Vince fought back with his newly gained weapon--the long titanium blade. Yet, while Vince had longer range, Motarius fought with more dexterity, more ferocity. While Vince struggled just to put up a good fight, Motarius dealt small cuts to Vince's limbs between clashes. Motarius was just too skilled. Covered with small wounds, Vince hopped away from his opponent. "Metal's not enough," Vince said angrily. "How about I burn you as well?" With that, he channeled fire energy into the blade, setting it aflame. Vince then attacked with this flaming sword. Yet, Motarius didn't fear Vince's flame. In fact, he laughed as he effortlessly blocked every single one of Vince's attacks. "What? Is the flame supposed to intimidate me to death?" Motarius taunted as he blocked another attack. However, Vince quickly gave that attack an extra twist. The sword managed to lightly touch Motarius's shoulder and set his shirt on fire. Motarius swore as he hopped back, extinguishing the flames with Holy Magic. "If that's the way you're going to play, I'd better not hold anything back," Motarius said. "I'll power up my sword with magic, too." With that, Motarius's silver sword began glowing bright blue. The two of the clashed again, but Motarius's sword simply cut through Vince's blade. The flaming piece, cleanly sliced from the sword, landed near Stephanie, who crouched by the wall. "Now, my sword's also longer," Motarius taunted. Motarius shot forward, lunging with his sword. The attack hit the quickly moving Vince in the shoulder, tearing it. Vince shouted in pain. Dropping the remaining half of the sword, he fell against the wall, then fell over onto the floor. "Didn't you say something about killing me?" Motarius asked tauntingly. "Well, now I'm going to kill you, Shadow!" As Motarius thrust his sword downward, Stephanie, giving a yelp, threw the flaming piece that had landed near her, throwing it into the ceiling lights about Motarius. The lights exploded, and sparks rained down. Within this shower of sparks, Motarius suddenly clutched his face and stopped his attack on Vince. "My eyes," he shouted in pain. "Augh! They burn! Stupid sparks!" At that moment, an angry Vince leapt up from the ground. Giving a loud battle cry, he charged toward Motarius. However, at that moment, Motarius's body gave off a bright light, knocking Vince away. Vince quickly got up again and ran to Motarius. He attacked with flaming fists, but an invisible force stopped his hands just a hair's width away from Motarius's skin. As Vince bashed at this force, trying to pierce it, Motarius began channeling a bright light through his hands into his face. After seeing Vince punch uselessly at the Mystic, Stephanie stood up and ran to Vince. "Vince, his shield's too strong," Stephanie pleaded. "You'll never break through before he fixes his eyes. Let's run away while we still have a chance." "I thought you were mad at me," Vince replied, still punching at the shield. "Even still, I need you to get me out of here," Stephanie answered. "No, I need to kill Motarius first," Vince said without stopping. "Vince, he almost killed you just now," Stephanie shouted. "Motarius is a powerful Mystic. I saw him handling that ice girl, and she didn't have a chance. Now, I saw him fighting you, and I think it would be better for you to just run away." "I'm not a coward," Vince shouted. "I won't run." "Vince, look at his shield," Stephanie said. "Not even a crack. Look at his face. You and I both know that Alliatus magic is real strong. How long do you think it'll be until he's done fixing a few small burns on his eyes? You don't have enough time to beat him while he's blind, and when he can see, he'll be far too powerful even for you, Vince." Vince looked, and he saw that he had made no progress in breaking the shield. "Vince," Stephanie pleaded. "Think about Tina. Think about Alice. Think about all those people who want you to live. If you keep fighting, you risk your life over a little vendetta. If you run away, you'll see all your friends and family again. Please, Vince." Motarius then put his hands down. Vince looked and saw that his eyes were glowing a bright white, making the last few adjustments to repair Motarius's vision. The spell was almost done, and Vince had barely even begun. Vince looked to Stephanie for a moment, and then, the two ran down the hall. Motarius blinked and opened his eyes. They were normal again. He looked around, but neither the Dark Fiend of Fire nor Stephanie Chen were in sight. "Damn him," Motarius muttered as he stood up. He then took out a communicator and spoke into it, "Lock the building down. Close all doors and passages. I don't want him to escape." In the meantime, Vince ran past a door labeled "Storage 2". "Vince, wait!" Stephanie shouted. "Storage 2, I'm pretty sure this is the way out. I kind of remember coming through here when they brought me here." "You're absolutely sure?" Vince asked. "Absolutely," Stephanie replied. "All right," Vince said. The two of them ran into the storage area. There were a series of rooms, and a hallway stood on the other side. Suddenly, as they ran through the rooms, the doors began to close. Vince and Stephanie had to duck to get under the closing doors. Then suddenly, in one of the rooms, Stephanie tripped. "Vince, wait!" she shouted as she tried to climb back up. Vincent was already in the next room, and the doors had nearly closed. "Vince? Is that you?" came a voice from the room beyond. "Chrissy?" Vince asked. "Help me!" Chrissy cried. "Get me out of this cage!" "Vince!" Stephanie yelled from the other side. "My ankle! I think I twisted it!" Chrissy was in the room ahead, inside a cage where they presumably did studies and tests on her. Stephanie was in the room behind, on the floor with an injured foot, unable to get up on her own. The doors were almost fully closed. There was only time to go through one of them, and barely any time to decide. Vince had to choose: should he go forward and rescue Chrissy, or should he return to Stephanie and help her? Vince looked to both doors, to both girls. Then, he made his decision. He sprinted for the door, then dove and rolled under it just before it closed and sealed itself. "Vince!" Chrissy shouted. "Vince!" Stephanie shouted. Both of the girls reached for him. Both needed his help, but Vince could only help one of them, and he had made his choice. He ran over and helped Stephanie to her feet. "Are you all right?" Vince asked. "Yeah, I think so," Stephanie said. "Just don't make me run anymore." Vince looked around, then said, "We're still not safe yet. The doors are closed, but that's just to trap us in here. It's only a matter of time before they come in and get us." "Can you find a way out?" Stephanie asked. Vince looked around again. "That grating over there," he said. "I think it goes into the water drainage system." He set Steph down and ran over to it. "This will be our exit." With that, Vince set to work, trying to burn the reinforced steel grating open. Motarius, Mandragon, and several Ragnarok soldiers ran into the room in Storage 2. Vince and Stephanie were already gone. A loose grating lay on the floor, but the entrance into the drainage system was blocked off by debris. "Damn!" Motarius yelled, slicing at a box of bullets in rage. "They got away." "Don't worry, Motarius," Mandragon reassured him. "They have but a small chance of survival down there. You see, back during the early days of Magic-Machine Hybridization experiments, we worked on creating war beasts by mutating animals with magical energies. Those experiments failed, and we dumped the beasts into the sewers. Due to competition for survival, many of them have killed each other off, and only the strongest, the deadliest survive. Odds are, Fire will only meet one of the beasts, but even the weakest beast down there should be more than strong enough to kill him." With that news, a smile grew over Motarius's face. The Dark Fiend of Fire lit up the sewers by lighting his left hand like a torch. He led Stephanie through the grimy tunnel network that existed underneath the Ragnarok Command Complex. Unfortunately, it was a large network of tunnels. "Stephanie," Vince finally said. "We've been walking down here for about an hour, and you still haven't said a word to me. You're still mad at me, aren't you?" "What do you think?" Stephanie replied. "Steph, I went to Alliatus, risked my life, and almost got killed just so I could rescue you," Vince pleaded. "Plus, when I chose to save you instead of Chrissy, doesn't that prove that I love you more than Chrissy?" "You don't love me enough," Stephanie replied. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have let me doubt you in the first place." "Chrissy..." Vince said sorrowfully. Vince simply sighed and shook his head. Stephanie was still mad at him, and he was out of ideas. The only thing to do now was to get out of this dirty sewer. |