Radioactive: Chapter Eleven

Radioactive

Chapter Eleven

~Stowaway~

“We’re coming on our final decent,” Kiri reported as she maneuvered the Nightwing aircraft.

Rain fell in sheets and made visibility difficult and landing a risky business. The wind beat against the aircraft making for a bumpy ride and on top of that it was in the middle of the night. All of those factors combined did not bode well for the average human. Luckily, Kiri wasn’t human. She maneuvered easily and located the place they were to land.

Kaiba sat beside her and assisted in maneuvering the craft. He looked over his shoulder, “Wake up! We might be in for a bumpy landing!”

Fang opened his eyes. He lounged in one of the chairs with his feet up. Just by the glare in his eyes it was apparent that he had other places that he’d rather be than here. Across from him sat Jekyll. His hat fell over his eyes as a sign of slumber. He barely stirred when Kaiba called. The truth was, even if Kaiba had a megaphone up to his ear Jekyll probably still wouldn’t have moved. A ways down was another man. He had long black hair that was braided back into a braid at the back of his head. His arms were laden with tattoos and a large broad sword hung on his back. A black spiked dog collar decorated his neck. He was younger than the other two men.

The craft landed in a beat up neighborhood. An abandoned lot was the designated landing spot where the five Fixers were going to meet with their contact: a local who would help them out with the case. The landing was a little rough but manageable. The back entrance opened and the passengers walked off. The Nightwing was cloaked and hidden from sight.

A woman stood a few meters away with her hands of her hips. Her hair was long and braided into five long cornrow braids. On the ends of the braids were red attachments with long blades attached to them. Around her head she wore a thick red head band. She wore an orange midriff tank top and light brown cargo shorts. On her feet she wore red high top sneakers. A yellow belt was wrapped around her waist carrying her handgun in a holster.

She stood in the rain and didn’t seem to mind it much. Kaiba walked up to her.

“I assume you’re Riu?” Kaiba said.

“The one and only,” she offered Kaiba a gloved hand.

“That’s an unusual name,” Jekyll observed.

Riu smiled, “It’s actually R.I.U. It’s an old nickname that stuck.”

“What does it stand for?” Kiri asked.

“Read it and weep,” Riu smiled and turned. She started to walk away.

Kiri was slightly confused. Weep was spelled with a ‘W’ not a ‘U’. She decided to inquire about the anomaly.

“Isn’t weep spelled with a ‘W’?” she asked.

“It is,” Riu answered, “As I said, it’s an old nickname; an old nickname that a bunch of first and second graders came up with when ‘weep’ was spelled somethin’ like ‘uep’.”

“So what’s your real name,” Fang asked.

“I’ll never tell,” Riu smiled, “Come on, keep up! You don’t want to be left in the dark in this neighborhood!”

She jumped onto a ladder and climbed to the roof. With some amazing parkour she ran across the roof and jumped to the next lower platform. She was faster than the others but they followed her better than she thought they would. After several minutes she landed in the center of a market place. She walked down an alleyway that lead away from the market square. There was an emergency staircase that she climbed up. Half way up the stairway had given way. With a running start, she jumped and grabbed on to the next ledge. She pulled herself up and continued upward. Riu stopped by a window and looked down below. The others were making good progress. She opened the window and ducked inside.

Her apartment was laced with the latest technology. Computer screens littered the apartment all with some complicated program being displayed. Riu took her job as an unofficial Agent very seriously. She would document anything and everything that she would see on a daily basis. Then after that she would go over all the information to look for anomalies. She was typing away at one of the computers when Kaiba walked through the window.

“Make yourself at home,” Riu looked over her shoulder, “Mi casa su casa. There are some beds up stairs. Nothin’ much but it’s better than sleepin’ on the floor. There are only five extra beds. I was under the impression that there were only five of you.”

“There are,” Kaiba said.

Riu looked again, “So the little kid who’s been tailin’ us isn’t with you?” She turned grabbed the handgun from her belt and walked toward the window. She stepped out once again in the rain and looked down the alley. Sure enough, there was the little kid that she had noticed before.

Riu walked to the edge of the railing, “Hey!” she prepped her gun, “Beat it kid!”

The kid hid behind a dumpster. She fired her weapon. The bullet struck the broad side of the dumpster, “I see you!”

“Hold on,” Kaiba walked to her side.

“What? You know him? Make up your mind, man! I just wasted a bullet!” Riu complained.

“Ing, get over here!” Kaiba called. He turned to look at Kiri, “Did you know he was here?”

“No,” Kiri shook her head.

Kaiba looked out through the rain again, “Get out, Ing and get up here!”

“Oh ho!” Riu turned to go back inside, “That kids in big trouble now!”

Ing looked out from his hiding spot. The anger in Kaiba’s eyes seemed more terrifying than staring down the barrel of a gun at that moment. He gulped nervously before emerging. Ing walked up the stairs and raised an arm. His arm broke into segments and he grabbed onto the railing next to the window. He pulled himself up and stood in front of Kaiba. His head was down as he stood in Kaiba’s direct gaze. He expected a big lecture but the silence was the worst part.

Kaiba looked down at the rouge android weighting the options of what he could do now, “Can anyone come and pick him up?”

Kiri shook her head, “Unfortunately, the Tower is extremely busy at the moment and would see the retrieval of a single android without an immediate emergency a waste of time.”

“And we can’t afford any time for one of us to fly him over and come back,” Kaiba said.

“No,” Kiri said, “I would be a waste of time to put it frankly.”

Kaiba closed his eyes and sighed, “Well, there isn’t anything we can do at this moment. You’ll be disciplined appropriately along with anyone who helped you sneak on board when we finish with what we can do here. You will behave and you will follow orders while you are here, understand?”

Ing nodded.

“Get in!” Kaiba shouted.

Ing walked through the window and went to sit in a corner. He sat cross-legged where he thought he would be out of the way. He looked up at Jekyll, his new found friend, but the doctor didn’t look in his direction.

Kaiba walked in and looked at Fang, “You keep an eye on him.”

“Me?” Fang raised an eyebrow.

“I have better things to do than babysit,” Kaiba said.

“And I don’t ?” Fang questioned.

“Don’t waste your breath,” Jekyll said, “this is Kaiba we’re talking about.”

Fang looked at him, “Yeah, but I could still rip his head off if I wanted to. I just hope he remembers that. I don’t work for the Tower and I think that wouldn’t mind facing them down as a consequence.”

Jekyll smiled, “That makes two of us but for now I think it would be mutually beneficial if we keep him alive. Besides, who would get on out nerves if he were gone?”

“I have six other people that do that every day,” Fang muttered.

Jekyll put his hands out to either side, “Than taking care of the little kid wouldn’t be too hard, would it?”

Fang glared over at Ing. He sighed. It sounded almost like a growl, “Fine.”

“Good,” Kaiba turned his attention to Jekyll, “And for your information, I could finish you off before you could even get a scratch on me.”

Jekyll smiled; there was a darkness to it, “Is that so?”

Kiri decided to step in, “Come on, you two! Not in front of the children!”

Iridescent: Chapter Eleven

Iridescent

Chapter Eleven

~The Hunted~

After the Fall

Chaud led Amber away from the shrine for several minutes. They circled back when Chaud was certain that the girl wasn’t following them. Amber followed quietly sensing the importance of what they were doing. She felt she did something that she wasn’t supposed to by talking to that girl. But she was lonely. She loved her brother dearly but at times a girl needed a girl to talk to.

They got to the shrine and Chaud hurried upstairs. Amber stood back and watched him as he quickly packed their things. She didn’t know whether to help or to stand back. He threw a bag over his shoulder and threw another bag at Amber. Amber caught it. Chaud walked passed her back down stairs.

“Chaud,” Amber called him.

“Not, now, we have to get going,” Chaud called.

“But Chaud!” Amber cried.

Chaud grabbed her arm, “Come on! Let’s go!”

He held her arm firmly as he walked down the stairs. Chaud got to the door and looked back at his sister. A bullet grazed the door frame. Chaud pulled his sister behind the door with his back against the door. He tried to look out around the corner to the open field.

“Aw, Sanya!” Zathura cried, “You bloody missed!”

Sanya put down her sniper rifle and said quietly, “I thought that was the point?”

“Will the both of you shut up?” Dante rolled his eyes and turned back to the shrine, “Hello! Chaud, is it? Sorry about that, my associate acted a little prematurely.”

Sanya looked confused, “But I thought you said—”

Dante looked at her trying to relay a hidden message, “She’s a little delusional as well. Don’t mind her.”

“Oh,” Sanya nodded, a dawn of understanding in her eyes, “Yeah, sorry!”

Dante looked at the shrine, “Now, I’m sure we can sort out any misunderstandings. My sister Ai told me you have a little girl with you? Amber is her name, right? My crew and I just came over to see if you would join us. That way the girls would have someone to play with. What do you say? Can we talk about it?”

Chaud, as we have very well established, wasn’t an idiot. He knew if he went out there they would shoot him. Kill him? Chaud wasn’t so sure about that possibility but he did know they would certainly try to maim him.

“Come on,” Chaud took his sister back up stairs.

He looked around franticly for something to fight with other than his guns. He wanted something that packed more of a punch. Amber stood awkwardly by the stairs. Chaud looked at her and motioned for her to crouch and stay away from the windows. An idea dawned in his head.

The second floor was filled with the living quarters. Most of the rooms had a small stove that ran on gas. He grabbed one and rolled it out into a type of living area. Chaud pointed to one of the drapes.

“Pull that down,” he said to his sister.

Obediently she crawled to the window and tried to pull down the drapes. She was unsuccessful the first attempt but tried again and again until the drapes fell on top of her. Dante raised an eyebrow and turned to Ren on his left.

“What do you think their doing in there?” Dante pointed with his thumb.

Ren’s shoulders rose and fell in a halfhearted shrug.

“Tear the drapes into long pieces,” Chaud instructed.

Amber proceeded to tear the sheets into strips. Chaud loaded his gun and rolled the gas tank over to the window. He walked over to her and grabbed a strip she had torn and tied it around his sister’s mouth and nose. With another strip he tied it around his own mouth and nose before loosening the nozzle on the tank.

“What are you doing?” Amber asked through her makeshift gasmask.

Chaud looked at her, “Evening up the odds. Get over there and knock over the table. Hid behind it.”

“Chaud?” Amber started crying.

Chaud looked at her, “What?”

“I’m scared,” Amber cried.

“We’ll be alright,” Chaud said. He nodded toward the table, “Now get that table in position.”

Amber nodded and did as she was told. Chaud looked around the wall out the window keeping himself hidden from the group below.

“Oi!” Dante called up, “Chaud are you coming out or what? Hey, I can be a reasonable man!” Dante took his claymore out of its scabbard and stuck it in the ground, “I’ll come to you! Look! I’m not armed!”

“I’d stay back if I were you!” Chaud called.

Dante crossed his arms, “Yeah? You and what army?”

Chaud picked up the gas tank with both hands and threw it out the window. He pulled out his gun and fired at the six people below. As a reflex to the shots, Sanya only saw him and not the tank of gas. She raised her sniper and fired. The bullet grazed the gas vapors. The heat of the bullet lit the vapors and ignited, exploding the gas tank.

Chaud could feel the impact of the explosion against the shrine wall as he ran to his sister. He grabbed her by the arm and started down stairs. The six hunters were blown off of their feet but none of them were critically injured. As Dante tried to get to his feet he saw Chaud and Amber run out of the shrine and into the woods.

“Hey! Our pay day is getting away!” Dante called, “Get to your feet, you bunch of dogs!”

Zathura was the first to her feet and ran after them. She pulled a blue vial from her pouch and injected herself. Her eyes turned dark purple as the shadows around her started to change. The shadows of creatures could be seen in the overgrowth and in the trees. A silhouette of a fox ran passed her with violet eyes. Yin ran alongside her and shot her a competitive glance.

Zathura smiled, “Bring it on, she-dog!”

Yin looked forward and ran ahead.

Chaud let go of his sister’s arm, “You’ll need to keep up!”

Amber followed him, “You don’t need to tell me twice!”

Chaud turned slightly and fired at Yin. The woman jumped into the trees avoiding betting shot and ran from branch to branch. Chaud pulled his sister to the right. Yin used a vial of Blue Gold. Her eyes turned lilac in color. She threw out her hand and a pile of fallen branches rose from the ground. They shot toward the two siblings. Both Chaud and Amber dropped to the ground as the sharp branches were thrown at them. A shadow fox ran out of the dense growth and leaped on them. Chaud brought out his gun and fired at the animal. It disappeared momentarily.

“Come on!” Chaud pulled his sister to her feet.

The shadows gathered again and the fox barked and ran after them, its purple eyes set on its target. Amber ran after her brother. She looked through the trees as saw a strange glowing light. Chaud saw it out of the corner of her eye. He veered away from the light and Amber quickly followed. She breathed heavily as she ran over fallen logs and through dense growth.

Chaud heard her sister struggling and looked behind to see her. Amber’s eyes grew wide as she saw something behind him. Chaud looked forward quickly enough to avoid certain death. Somehow he avoided a direct attack from the claymore sword and escape with only a few hairs missing from his head. Chaud took a few dazed steps back. Amber tried to run toward her brother but heard an ominous click behind her. She turned and saw Ai standing behind her, a barrel of a gun staring at down at her.

Dante propped his sword on his shoulder and looked and Chaud. The blade of his sword was engulfed in white fire, “Hello, Chaud. Having a nice walk?”

Chaud raised his gun at Dante. He kept a close eye on his sister and Ai, “Don’t move, Amber.”

Amber nodded and stayed as still as she could. She shook a little with fear.

Ai watched Chaud closely with her unwavering eyes, “Don’t try anything I won’t like. We only need one of you to pull your family out of hiding.”

Chaud glanced at her, “Is that what this is about? They aren’t even on the Island anymore. I don’t know where they are.”

“Yeah, right!” Dante laughed, “We’ll see what the guy in the suit says. Come on, put the gun down or we’ll shoot your sister. Shame really. Your family would probably prefer her over you especially after they find out it was your fault she’s dead.”

Chaud glared at Dante, “I’m not going to let you touch her.”

Dante shrugged, “That’s going to be up to you, my friend.”

“You’re the last person who has a right to call me a friend,” Chaud reached one hand into his back pocket.

Dante shifted his sword and held it out at arm’s length with the pointed tip facing Chaud, “Well, that’s a shame. I’m sure we would have been best buds.”

Chaud pulled out a blue vial from his pocket, “Amber! Get down!”

Dante saw the vial and lunged at Chaud. Amber crouched to the ground with her hands over her head. Chaud used the vial and his eyes started to turn gold in color. Ai dashed toward her brother and used a vial of her own. Thunder rumbled in the sky above and a huge flash of lightning cut through the sky to the ground. Amber screamed and covered her ears from the noise and heat.

When she looked up she saw her brother swoop towards her and pick her up. He flew into the sky away from the scene. The forest immediately surrounding their location burned as fallen trees smoldered from the lightning strike. Amber held on to her brother’s neck and closed her eyes. A soft rain fell over the entire Island.

The Turn: Chapter Eleven

The Turn

Chapter Eleven

~Blast!~

Three Years before the Turn

Time quickly sped back up. Deontay took the left flank while Chaud took the right. Zara continued on her path straight ahead. Simon was coming at her too. They ran to meet in the middle and at the last possible second Zara dropped to her knees. Her momentum and the loose smooth soil continued her forward. By the time Simon realized what she was doing it was too late. Zara raised her left leg and balanced herself on her right elbow. She kicked Simon just under the chin. He was lifted off his feet and fell back first onto the red dirt.

“Oh, ladies and gentlemen, those boots were made blindsiding!”

Zara swung her leg down and got to her feet. She took her right katana and attacked him on the ground. He rolled out of the way and onto his feet. His nose was bleeding but he didn’t seem to notice. He flicked his wrist and a long blade appeared in his wrist. Simon lunged at her, attacking her head. Zara stepped to one side. Simon took his other arm, flicked it and arced it across her midsection. Zara jumped back but not fast enough for her sweater to avoid being torn.

“To your left, Zara,” she heard Naru’s voice.

A girl ran at her and Zara ducked down as she punched at her. The girl, the one announced as Maddie, came to her brother’s rescue. She came at Zara with amazing speed. It took all her wits to avoid the girls flying fists.

A bullet of light shot past the girl’s head. She looked around for the source. Zara took her opportunity and kicked her in the stomach with her knee. She then took her katana and thrust the sword, point first, into the girl. Before the sword struck, Maggie glowed a blue and white color then vanished.

Zara wasn’t able to think about what had happened when Simon was upon her again. She kicked him in the stomach and tried to attack him with her weapon. He stepped back from the impact to the gut but managed to avoid the blade.

“Thanks, Chaud,” she muttered when she was able.

“Got you back,” Chaud responded.

Chaud jumped off a rock protruding from the lake of lava and back onto the main land. He was immediately engaged in battle with Walter, a fire wielder. Chaud crouched onto the ground as fire spewed from the pool. The sweltering heat was only a reminder of what would happen if he were to come in contact with it. While he was crouched, he raised his weapon. He fired several shots, one grazing Walter in the leg. Walker fell on his weaker knee. Chaud jumped up and ran toward him, his gun transforming into a sword. Walter raised a defensive hand and the ground between them opened sending a geyser of lava spewing into the air. Chaud jumped back.

“That was a close one if I’ve ever seen one! That could have been messy! Am I right folks?”

Deontay on the other side met with Lillian. She cracked her whip at him as a warning but Deontay continued his full on charge. Lillian, seeing that Deontay wasn’t backing down, raised her whip and cracked it down on him. Deontay saw the whip and winced when it struck him under the eye. He shot his hand out and grabbed the whip, the tip wrapped around his arm. Then he turned around quickly with the whip taut he flung his arm forward. There was a moment of silence as Lillian, unable to react in time, was pulled into the air by her whip and crashed on her back on the ground.

“Oh! Did you see that!? That attack by Lillian was RE-JECTED!”

Deontay started to turn around, thinking that either Hina or Vicky could handle her, when a punch to his lower jaw caused him to see stars. He took a few dazed steps back and shook his head to clear his vision. Rudy stood before him looking a little bit baffled as to how Deontay was still standing. By the impact of the punch, Deontay guessed that the skinny kid in front of him had super strength or something. He cracked his neck. There was a difference between super strength and rock. You can hit a rock as hard as you want but a rock can always hit back harder.

Deontay took a step forward and slammed his fist into the ground. A slab of rock under Rudy’s feet shot up, sending the boy flying into the stands behind them. An invisible wall seemed to shatter at the line of the arena and the stands. There were cries of panic and wild cheering as the crowd ran to the sides as Rudy hit the stands.

“He’s down but not out! Look at him get to his feet! Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first arena break of the day!”

Deontay slapped his hands together and nodded. If you exited the arena you had a certain amount of time, while the wall repaired itself, to get back in. If you didn’t, you ‘died’. Rudy was up on his feet but the break in the wall, outlined with a bright blue glow, was closing fast. The audience was cheering for him, calling out his name. He ran down the steps, people in the audience made sure to get out of his way. The hole in the invisible wall was getting smaller by the second. Rudy jumped though with enough time to spare. He landed across from Deontay. Rudy got to his feet and glared at him.

“You want a go?” Deontay assumed a fighting position, “Let’s go.”

Lillian had gotten to her feet and started to run at Deontay to help her team mate. Hina smiled and turned to Vicky, “I got this one,” she said with a thumbs up.

She ran after Lillian. Lillian happened to glance up at one of the screens to see Hina coming after her. She stopped turned and flung her whip and the coming threat. Hina slid to her knees and bent backwards, almost parallel to the ground. She saw the whip sail over her body and heard the deafening crack of the whip hit the ground somewhere over her head. As the whip retracted, Hina got back up to her feet. She was instantly attached by Lillian. Hina defended the first punch by raising both arms. When the blow was dealt, Hina quickly attacked with her palm outward.

The blow forced Lillian back a few paces. Momentarily she tried to figure out what the purple mist was but then she decided on a different tactic. She cracked her whip once and she vanished only to appear on Hina’s right side. Lillian punched Hina in the jaw, cracked her whip, hit Hina in the leg on purpose, and vanished. She appeared again in front of Hina and kicked her in the stomach. Again she cracked the whip, hitting Hina somewhere on her body, and vanished only to appear somewhere else around Hina.

“I’m going out on a limb here, people, but that has got to hurt!”

Naru suddenly stood up straight. Vicky thought it was the thought of his sister being treated the way she was but she noticed that his gaze was elsewhere. Chaud after the deadly geyser subsided; he started for Walter when the volcano in the distance started to rumble ominously.

“Looks like Mt. Tiki Tiki is getting revved up!”

“Vicky, you see Rickman over there in the shadows?” Naru said quickly.

Vicky looked. Just past Chaud and Walter was another figure. Rickman looked to be meditating with his eyes closed. Vicky nodded when she saw him.

“I need you to distract him,” Naru said, “I have a bad feeling about him.”

Vicky nodded, “What about you?”

“I think I’ll be needed soon,” Naru looked at the volcano.

Vicky ran forward as fast as she could. She pulled one of her shuriken by its handle and flung it at a slight angle. The weapon spun end over end and its track curved slightly toward its target. One of the four blades struck the wall inches from Rickman’s head. He opened his eyes shocked at the impact and looked around for the threat.

The volcano shook violently. Lava started spewing from its mouth. Fiery rocks were scattered all around. Some rocks flew into the crowd causing many to scatter. Vicky stopped in her tracks. A rock hurled its way toward the teams below. She took her second shuriken and hurled it at the coming threat. The coming boulder broke apart into smaller pieces.

Walter, the fire wielder, looked up at the impact. He hurled a fire ball at Chaud causing him to hide behind a stalagmite of rock. While Chaud was hiding, he gained control of a fire engulfed piece of rock. Chaud looked up in the sky. He sighed.

“A little help here,” he said as he saw the rock hurling in his direction and was unable to avoid the rock.

Chaud crouched low as he expected the worst. Naru came up out of nowhere, a bow and arrow made of water in his hands. He stood between Chaud and the coming danger, fired the arrow and crouched low. The arrow struck the rock putting out the flames that had once engulfed it. Without the fire around it, Walter lost control of the rock. The rock fell to earth due to gravity. It nicked the top of the stalagmite and made a splash in the lava pool a few feet away.

A drop of lava fell on Chaud’s pants and they instantly caught on fire. Chaud frantically tried to pat it out. He succeeded but not after the fire had eaten a large whole in his lower pant leg.

“Man,” he said in frustration, “I loved these pants!”

Naru glanced over his shoulder, “Is that all you’re worried about right now?”

Chaud didn’t hear him. He looked around the stalagmite and glared at Walter, “He will pay for ruining my best pants!”

Naru shrugged, “Whatever gets the job done, I suppose.”

Again Chaud didn’t hear. He jumped out from behind the stalagmite and fired his weapon, “Die, you mother—!”

His voice was drowned out by the rapid fire of his weapon. Poor Walter did his best to avoid being ‘killed’. He shrouded himself in fire, hoping that the bullets would ignite before hitting him. One bullet made it through. In a moment he vanished in a glow of blue. Chaud dropped to his knees and started reloading his gun.

“No one messes with my pants,” he muttered.

Naru sighed, “That’s good to know. Now help Vicky with Rickman.”

“Rich-who?”

“The guy hiding in the shadows,” Naru flicked his wrist. His two sai slid out handle first. He gripped the bladed end and flipped it so he held the handled end.

Chaud looked to where Naru had described. He looked painfully back at Naru, “Really? Can’t you deal with him?”

Naru glanced over his shoulder. His gaze was so harsh that Chaud shifted uneasily. Without saying a word, he ran back toward his sister.

Hina assessed her situation and frankly she was getting annoyed with the magical rabbit act that Lillian was doing. Even as it appeared that Hina was struggling to keep up with Lillian, she was timing the girl in her repetitive sequence.

Lillian appeared. That was at 5-43.

She struck Hina in the jaw and cracked her whip. That was 5-44 and 5-45.

When she vanished, that was 5-46.

She would appear usually a second later to repeat the process.

Hina guessed that she had about two seconds to change the tides. She feigned weakness and fell to her knees at the latest hit in the face. The whips tip struck her in the face as she fell to one knee. Lillian vanished yet again but this time Hina was more than ready. She focused her energy to the center of her body. Hina started to glow from the inside with a purple energy. When Lillian appeared, Hina screamed. She shot her arms out. A blast of energy shot from her in a circle around her. Lillian was blown back and sent flying through the air.

Naru ran up, both sai’s in hand. He saw the ring of energy coming for him and he jumped into the air.  In the same second, he took one of his sais and threw it in Lillian’s direction. The sai flew end over end and just as it was about to strike Lillian, she vanished in the same blue glow as her teammates. Naru landed on the ground and ran to his sister. Hina looked at him with a smile despite her battered and bruised appearance.

“That kid can move, people! And I mean, MOVE! Wasn't he just over there?”

Vicky’s weapon circled around and returned to her open palm. She saw Rickman again. He was back to meditating and looked to be muttering something. She ran with shuriken in hand toward him. As she ran, she felt a presence behind her.

“Get down,” she said as she stopped suddenly, spun and hurled the large shuriken.

Behind her, Chaud crouched as the blades spun above him. The shuriken flew straight and true but suddenly it stopped, spun in place, and retracted just as fast as it had been going before. Vicky stepped to one side, hand extended. She caught it with ease but the velocity it was going caused her to step back.

Chaud ran past her, his weapon a sword. Vicky followed close behind him. If they couldn’t attack him from afar, they would have to get up close and personal. Vicky grabbed two adjacent blades and pulled them together, creating a double ended spear. Her hand on the grip, she raised the weapon as if to throw it. While Vicky came in high, Chaud came in low, the tip of his weapon down to the right hand side for a slash from under.

The dual attack didn’t work. The end of Vicky’s spear shattered on impact of an invisible force, shattering up to the thick handle. Chaud’s sword seemed to strike something hard and broke into pieces. The shield surrounding Rickman glowed yellow. Acting quickly, Vicky jumped back, using the wind to carry her back farther. Wings sprouted from Chaud’s back and the strength of one flap of his wings sent him back and into the air quickly. The shield shot out an energy surge equal to that of the force that both Chaud and Vicky attacked with.

“That isn’t going to work, folks!”

Chaud landed on a small raised island in a large puddle of lava. Vicky landed on the ground nearby.

“Huston, we have a problem,” Chaud muttered.

Zara was on the offence now against Simon. She used both of her katana in a relentless attack. Simon repeatedly had to dodge, parry, and block and as he did so he retreated ground. Zara whipped her weapon across toward Simon’s face. He managed to dodge with only a scratch just under his right eye. The wave of energy from the force field washed over them.

Simon flew to one side. Zara felt the impact and winced. She released her grip on one of her katana as she fell to the ground. Quickly, she rolled to her feet and saw that Simon had done the same and was coming at her. With a frustrated groan, Zara changed tactic.

A blue flame engulfed her katana from her hand. She attacked him and Simon stepped back, a brief look of panic went past his eyes. He stepped back as Zara attacked wildly, frightened of the flaming sword. She glanced at what Chaud was talking about.

“Get someone else,” she almost yelled, “I’m busy!”

“Roger,” came the response.

Naru looked at the situation. He glanced over at Deontay, “I’ve got an idea.”

“Great,” Chaud said sarcastically, “care to share?”

Naru ignored Chaud’s comment, “Vicky, attack again at a 45° angle. Do it with all you’re might. Try to wedge it inside. Deontay, you think you can part from what you’re doing?”

Deontay caught one of Rudy’s punches, grabbed his arm and swung him into the wall, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Great, then get over here as soon as you can, Hina will cover for you. Once Vicky cracks the surface, Chaud, try to drive it in farther,” Naru continued his command.

“Fine,” thunder rumbled in the dark clouds above.

“Let’s break this thing!” Hina shouted.

“We start in 7-27, 7-28, 7-29, now!”

Vicky switched her grip on her spear weapon so the other end was available. She ran quickly toward Rickman and his shield. When she was close enough, she jumped with both arms on the weapon and the blade facing downward. She drove the blade into the shield and felt the impact of her weapon on the invisible shield. The blade pieced the shield only by an inch. She jumped back as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A lightning bold shot down from the clouds and struck her weapon driving it deeper than it had been before.

Deontay ran toward Naru. Hina ran past him to keep Rudy occupied. The shield was already turning yellow in preparation of repelling its energy. Naru looked at Deontay.

“What you want me to do?” Deontay asked quickly.

“Throw me,” Naru answered.

Without question, Deontay stood a few feet behind Naru. He back flipped into Deontay’s hand, his stomach on Deontay’s hand. Deontay took account of Naru’s light weight before taking a large step and launching Naru into the air.

Naru sailed through the air. As he started his arc of decent, he shifted his body. The heel of his foot landed squarely on the weapon. The impact of his weight drove the blade in further, creating a substantial crack. The shield tried to repel its energy only to self-destruct and shatter. Energy was sent flying in all directions. A large burst of energy sent everyone fighting flying instead.

Naru, who was the closest, took most of the blow. He was sent flying all the way across the fighting arena and through the invisible wall into the stands. Audience members ran to avoid being hit as Naru flew into the stands and tumbled further up. For some moments he didn’t move.

Zara got to her feet after being blown to the ground. She looked around, volcano dust was still settling. The only person she saw still barely on his feet was Deontay.

“Naru!” he was screaming into the stands.

Zara’s vision cleared and she noticed the large gaping hole on the other end of the arena and the frantic audience members. She looked around frantically. She saw Vicky sitting and coughing due to the debris in the air. Chaud was getting up from his knees. Hina was squinting though the dust toward the stands. Rickman was nowhere to be seen and Rudy was working his way to his feet. She looked back at the gaping hole. It was starting to close.