Lock and Key

I must say this chapter was great....

and it made me laugh....question

do you have any intention on expading how the world works in this story?

 

I was contemplating it, but I think leaving it a mystery to a certain degree could be best for the present. So it may or may not happen, either way has upsides and downsides.

 

I'm totally unsure of this week's door. I seriously have no clue what I'm doing any more. Well, that's all.


Door 17: All Good, All the Time


Church led the way through the tavern back towards Daniels’s room. Callum followed obediently but couldn’t help stealing a glance back at the bizarre scene. The few people that actually seemed to work at the complex simply walked around the headless corpse and left it there as if it would at some point pick itself up and leave of its own volition. Then there was that girl, the icy eyed girl that had killed him, merciless, the dark haired girl that had been so friendly after killing him, remorseless, the ordinary looking girl that had smiled so simply after she’d killed him, heartless. She just sat alone rearranging her cutlery and smiling faintly as if she were somehow pleased with herself.

He turned his head back to the front and watched Church’s heels disappear around the corner into Daniels’s room. Were they meeting again, or was it something else? Callum did not know but any excuse to get out of that girl’s presence was a welcome blessing. Church was sitting in his place atop the musty old desk and was wearing a triumphant grin when the boy entered.

“Nice.” Church smiled nefariously.

“It’s not what it looked like.” Callum dropped his eyes to the side and tried to evade the subject. He was already about ready to get sick all over the floor.

“Oh, it wasn’t the best coincidence possible? Sorry then I’ll assume you befriended the psychotic killer just because you have so much in common and planned it all out ahead of time.” He placed carefully subtle emphasis on the words common and killer. Enough to incense the black haired boy, but not enough to fully galvanize his anger.

“Where’s Daniels?” He said trying to avoid talking about the assassin girl.

“Snuck out while you were letting that girl divert everyone’s attention. Likely he met up with our ride or confirmed its absence.” Church smiled again, less sinisterly, but still unpleasantly.

“That’s good.” Callum said mechanically.

“You alright kid?” Church asked with an odd tone of concern is his voice.

“Yeah, it’s just--” The boy was cut off sharply as the effeminate man reassumed his standard demeanor.

“I asked a yes or no question. Tell Daniels about your worries. I for one am not anyone’s shrink.” He smirked before adding, “And no, I don‘t want to hear how that makes you feel.”

“Fine, I never expected as much from you.” Callum replied brusquely.

“It’s good that we have an accord, right friend?” The man smirked again.

“Whatever.”

“You sore about the toss old Marc gave you?” Church remarked. “Wanna get that girl to kill me?”

“No, I’d do it myself.” The boy seethed at the constant picking; he could feel it chipping away at his patience with each comment and remark.

“Unlikely, softy like you couldn’t even kill that other one.” Callum froze. What other one? Church smiled at the tacit question and grinned broader and broader the longer the boy remained silent.

“I’m not sure I understand.” Callum finally answered.

“Someone’s looking for you, looking to kill you rather, another girl--quite popular with the ladies you‘ve become, eh?--but I digress. Short black hair, brown eyes, near so tall, thin, your age about.” Church rattled off as if describing a friend, with a set hand motions to match each description. “Daniels doesn‘t have any enemies that won’t face him head on and mine are all known quantities, that leaves you.”

“Kanna.” Callum breathed. The boy found his mouth suddenly dry and his thoughts muddled further. All of the thoughts that he’d pushed away from his conscious mind had come back all at once and he still had no way to deal with them.

“I see, one wanting to kill for you, one wanting to kill you.” Church shifted his legs slightly. “Quite poetical.” Church mocked with a sidelong glance back at Callum. It was amusing to him, watching the boy in a distraught state. He deserved every second of it too, a sense of justice like his with such a fragile mind was in itself just too laughable to believe. Even so Church kept his laughter to himself and listened for more.

“I met them both in Ares.” Callum said suddenly, half to himself, half to his sole confidant.

“Same time then?” Church inferred instantly.

“Yeah, I didn’t try to kill Kanna though.” Callum said as if he were being accused and prosecuted.

“Why’s she so busy looking to put you in the ground then?” The man began tapping his foot just ever so lightly on the ground.

“I helped the one who killed her friends and colleagues.” Callum admitted. He resumed looking down at the floor as if it would make everything stop and move at his pace. But time marched on.

“Tantamount to doing it--” Church began with an air of superiority. He knew he’d gotten the mental high ground and was more than willing to exploit it for his own amusement.

“No.” The boy denied. “They were fighting, one of them was going to die and…”

“You being the sap you are stepped in, to save the girl downstairs and this Kanna from killing each other.” Church smirked. “Right hero you are.”

“Yeah.” He sighed, he‘d been sighing a lot lately, when did that start? Home? Escher? Ares? The boy was brought abruptly out of his thoughts when the womanish man spoke again.

“Well, looks like you’re an even more interesting mark than I’d ever expected.” For just an instant a hungry, psychotic look had crept onto the man’s face, warping his features and making the shadow of his very presence seem almost visible. The boy sat, as if petrified, without a single word or whisper as the man glanced over him in a simmering mania. “But in the end, it does not come down to either you or I does it?” Church smiled again, the wildness leaving the creases of his expression without a trace of them returning and his composure reestablishing itself over the temporary insanity.

“I would suppose not.” Callum replied cautiously. The face that’d revealed itself was the same as the one that the effeminate man had worn when he was ready to kill. Just when the silence had resumed there were steps on the stairs followed by a creaking of the door as Daniels walked in. He looked somewhat harried but held an accomplished air all the same.

“Yo kiddies. Played nice with all the good little thugs while I was out planning our next outing I trust?” He spoke quickly and sounded winded as if he’d been doing a lot of running.

“Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.” Church scoffed.

“Nice job with the distraction Callum, could not have planned a better one myself. You just have amazing luck like that.” Daniels said clapping a heavy arm on his back.

“Thanks.” He replied sarcastically.

“So we’re out of here in an hour. Pack up and meet me in the hall, we leave one at a time so as to draw less attention. I go last since I only just got here I’ll need to take a couple minutes to make it seem like I was up here for a reason or something. Clear?”

“Like those expensive crystal glasses.” Callum replied, somewhat relieved at the change of pace but still feeling the stress of his conversations with Church and the icy eyed girl. With that the three separated and made ready to leave the wretched inn. Callum only had the one bag to hold both his weapon and his meager supplies. As he bent over to lift the heavy parcel from it’s resting place on the musty bed he thought that he’d never seen either of the other two have anything that they couldn’t pocket on them and wondered what they could possibly have with them that he never knew about. Mid thought he shook himself from his consideration and proceeded on to the hall where he met the other two, both waiting patiently.

“I’m off then.” Church spoke out abruptly and made no further explanation or comment as he made for the stairs.

“Well, don’t get killed.” Callum said half heartedly.

“If you don’t get noticed.” Church shot back in mock accusation.



The next time the three met was on the dark windswept streets of Nanome. Daniels walked with a distinct wince accompanied by a pained twitch halfway through each step as he led the small band in silence. Church studied their leader’s weakness of injury with a cold analytical eye as a commander watches a lost unit in the flow of a key battle, there is regret but no sympathy.

As they walked down the dark dusty streets of the wretched town, away from it’s epicenter at the inn Callum could very clearly see the way the womanish man had been getting less and less able to keep his former façade since Daniels had returned from the battle with Strato. He used to put on an air of aloofness and uncaring attitude, but now he was concerned with every step, how long it took, where it would lead, what would be the consequences of it.

The way he looked around almost frantically as if he was followed by some unknown presence had also been getting worse with each day. Something had made him impatient, something had made him anxious. Just as Callum began trying to piece together what it could have been Daniels spoke.

“We’re here.” He said or rather sighed, his back slightly bent. The exertion of all his traveling was beginning to wear on him as one could see from the slight tremor in the hand that motioned to a vacant looking barn. Daniels saw both of the other’s expressions and walked through the double wooden doors first. Church closed his eyes momentarily then followed Daniels into the darkened building. Callum held back longer than either of the others, thinking. But when the lights flickered to life inside, releasing rays of light out onto the street, he took it as a signal that his time was up. The barn was empty when Callum entered, no hay, no livestock, and no people other than himself and his companions standing between vacant stalls.

The black haired boy had been expecting at least a few people to greet them in some way but he continued on until he’d caught up with Church and Daniels, both of whom were waiting in front of a stall at the very end of the hall. There was a man lying on a straw mat in the stall, sleeping. Church wore an expression of both confusion and disdain as he eyed the man. Suddenly the man stirred. He groaned and sat up groggily.

“Yeah?” He replied to a call no one had made. He wore a knit beanie cap pulled half over his eyes holding his messy hair away from his face, thick padded gloves, and a simple white shirt that hung loosely over a pair of grey pants. “Daniels?”

“Yeah. We’re leaving.” Daniels spoke loudly and slowly. The man twitched slightly and leapt to his feet. He was tall and thin almost sickeningly so.

“Gotcha, gotcha. So these are your buds?” Daniels nodded. “Well that’s just peachy keen, mighty fine, excelling in nicety.” The man swayed from side to side without rhythm and nearly fell over several times.

“Leaving now.”

“Oh righ’. Good, better than decent, copasetic.” Suddenly the man lurched to one side and produced a lock from his pocket and a key from the inside of a glove. He held both in front of him each almost touching the other and wore a maniacal grin on his face. “I’d stand clear and away were I you dudes.”
“We’re still inside.”

“Oh righ’, better do this in the street, don’t wanna get evicted.” The man said stumbling through another door in the side of the barn. Once he’d made it into the street running straight out of the town he promptly jammed the key into it’s place and twisted it roughly. Not a moment later the thin man was surrounded by a brilliant light temporarily obscuring him from view. When the light dimmed he stood next to the gigantic iron belly of a contraption that looked most akin to an old fashioned steam powered locomotive. “All aboard brah.”





Yeah, tell me about any grammar errors and the like.

 

This chapter concentrates on such a little part of the story, it's actually amuzing how you can write so much and not make it sound boring.

i think, that the fact that it did concentrate on it, made way for conversation and interaction between the characters(church and callum)

about having no clue what to do....it happens, maybe it's writter's block.

 

If it's not boring my job is done correctly.

Maybe it's writer's block maybe it's time to start thinking of another story. I run out of ideas after a while on every plot I think of and there's a little space from the place where I run out of ideas till the end it's rather annoying.

I am at that, and I'm surprised you're still going to go through the agonizing task of finishing this.




Door 18: The Train Job



When the great beast of a machine moved it wasn’t with the slow lurch it’s gargantuan bulk would suggest. Nor was it with a slight bounce forwards of an automobile. One could tell the machine was moving when they felt their sense of gravity suddenly shift towards the back of the car and stay there. And one could tell they were at speed by both the return to normalcy and a muffled roar of wind against the walls of the machine, and the distant thunder of its wheels baring down on the heavy sands as the vehicle tore across the barren plain.

Earlier Church and Callum had taken their places in the belly of the tank engine where a comfortably sized car rested. The lanky man and Daniels on the other hand set themselves down at where the front of a train would be solid iron the lock had an open air gallery of control knobs, switches, levers, dials and a number of other guidance controls arrayed in a half circle. The beanie capped man turned a few dials haphazardly and pressed his foot down on a pedal prompting the machine to blast forwards.

“You guys alright back their?” Static crunched over the voice issuing from an antiquated loud speaker. Neither bothered to answer the question in favor of gripping their seats and suppressing screams. After a brief interval of silence the static crackling voice returned. “Cool then.” Several seconds later acceleration stopped and the two disgruntled passengers returned to their seats. Looking outside revealed the desert plains passing by in a blur of far displaced dunes and the odd shrub. In short, it was amazing. Callum tore his eyes away from the window and examined his surroundings more closely. Only there really was nothing to more closely examine; it was all fairly standard in the car.

From the seats to the walls, everything looked almost as if it were from a real train, not a physics defying lock moving at speeds no train could ever hope to achieve. The boy looked to the front of the train; only a door to the front gallery lay there. In short this was all there was and all there would be for the ride. He sighed and closed his eyes, prepared to drift off into sleep as Church had done almost instantly. As his mind grew hazy he thought he could hear a voice calling out to him. A soft voice, a nice voice, a distant voice.

“Daniels, been a while since you’ve come to the Lateral man.” The brown coated man nodded. “Whatcha even doin’ way out heresaways?”

“Looking to find some answers.” Daniels sighed, not in irritation or any kind of anger, but more to keep himself from laughing at the irony.

“Vagueness. Lots o’ vagueness.” The man replied turning another knob here and there.

“It’s a pretty vague subject.”

“Excellent, nice, and otherwise not my business. Schweet.”

“Not speaking of vagueness. What happened these past ten years?”

“Th’ Boss got killed on a job. His family and the route fell apart pretty much immediately afterswards. I think only his personality and strength could keep that kinda thing going so long. Well, long and short are: this one right here inherited the lock after his own son refused to take it and skipped town.” He said jabbing a finger at his nose and staring at it momentarily.

“Short.” Daniels remarked with a scoff.

“It’s only been ten years, not much can happen out here.” The lanky man replied placidly.

“I guess I’ve grown a bit soft.” The brown coated man reflected.

“Must be nice.”

“It is sometimes.”

“Huh, is that so?” The man asked almost sarcastically.

“Is so.” Daniels replied with a warm smile.

“Hold up a quick sec, bruh.” The man pushed his cap above his eyes and ears to listen.

“What is it?” Daniels inquired tensely.

“We’re being followed.” He said suddenly serious.

“I thought nothing could keep up with the Rossetti original Locomotore.” Daniels’s expression was one of total disbelief.

“I told you The Boss died on a job right? Popular trend in jacking called rocketing is to thank for that. You know how to drive this joint?” The man said quickly, biting his lip and narrowing his eyes. In the corner of his vision a dark spec was growing quickly.

“I can ad lib it.” Daniels answered confidently.

“Copasetic.” Without a further explanation the man leapt off to the side of the gallery and caught hold of a black object as it rocketed past the train. Two others had been grasping onto the rocket previously and the extra weight dragged it off course, up and away from the train. Daniels watched in anticipation as the missile bobbed and dipped in the air above the train. After a brief struggle for control of the rocket the three occupants of the vehicle were forced to bail as it came crashing to the earth. Two fell squarely on the train’s roof and the other into the desert. Daniels smiled and continued navigating the massive locomotive forwards.

“Who the hell are you?” The two men that had landed on the roof were now facing each other in a deadlocked standoff. One was dressed in a once crisp looking red suit that was now covered in dust and wrinkling. He also wore a pair of sunglasses and his hair pulled back in a short ponytail, the other man wore a beanie and a confident grin.

“Kun Yu Xin. At your service, mister highway robber.” He bowed in mockery.

“Get the **** outta my way!” The man growled as he bared a blade lashed to the back of his left forearm.

“Doubtful.” The man charged forwards only to be deftly sent to his back by a flowing takedown. Xin smiled. “Mister robber, you done yet?”

“Fuck that.” The man came back with a series of quick slashes and a series of kicks to the legs. He was no amateur, but when he threw his right hand forwards extending a hidden spike it was hardly unpredicted. Again he was easily tossed to the ground. The man stood once again and ready for another rush, both hands primed for action.

“Seriously dude, I’d stop it there.” The man only laughed. Xin narrowed his eyes suspiciously but said nothing more, he simply prepared for another attack.


In the car Callum had been roused by the sounds of two impacts above him and Church either hadn’t heard or was pretending not to have. The next moment a muscular, solidly built man wearing dull brown mountaineer’s clothing and a face to match heaved himself through a window and examined the car’s occupants with a grin.

“Easy.” Was all he said before he brandished a set of heavy clawed gauntlets connected by a long thin cord with heavy blades spaced about a foot away from each other hanging from it. He went first for Church who instantly opened his eyes and unlocked his scythe. The man was forced back by the broad guillotine blade it sported and Church grinned with that same bloodlust returning. Callum dashed out of the fighting area and brought his saw to the ready.

“Forget it. We can’t have you going bat shit insane here, I’ll handle this guy.” Church said holding out an arm to bar the youth’s advance. He turned his attention to the grizzled man ahead of him. “Now your name?”

“Unnecessary. We’ll all die eventually, what’s the point of wearing a label that’ll get torn off in the end?”

“I suppose battle courtesy is unneeded here. Good to know I can go wild.” Church smiled sinisterly. He lurched forwards slicing the air wildly with his great pole arm. The muscular man adroitly guarded himself with his gauntlets till he was inches from the end of the train. The one final strike should have killed him but he used the bladed cord first as a shield then as a rope he trapped Church’s blade in one smooth block.

“This place is a little small for me, how about you?” He grinned as he threw himself out the back door to the train dragging the womanish man along with him.

Church thought he was dead for a moment. Then it dawned on him that he wasn’t. He was hanging on to his scythe wrapped in that cured man’s cords that were the only thing keeping them from anchored to the side of the train. The man had latched two blades to the floor of the car before he jumped and pulled himself to a sideways stand against the outer wall afterwards in hopes that his enemy would simply let go and die on impact with the ground. He frowned when Church made a likewise positioning change almost immediately.

“You think that little tricks will take me out like that?” The man remained silent. It was clear that he with a ranged weapon with more than ten feet of free cord was at an advantage. But he still frowned because he felt the other set of eyes on him. He was still two to one and couldn’t take out the second target without compromising his position. Things weren’t going as smoothly as expected.


Xin laughed heartily as the red suited man fell to the roof once more.
“You’ve obviously done some ambidexterity training brah, but hell, that **** won’t do ya any good ‘gainst me. You’ll always favor one hand, no matter how well they both work and that tells me how you‘re gonna move.”

“Bastard, never thought I’d have to use this on a simple train job, but it can’t be helped.” The man drew a pocket watch from his red jacket and held it out in front of him as a hypnotist would. “Enter, Devil Time.” Xin felt his body stiffen suddenly, then he realized it wasn’t just stiff, it wouldn’t move and what’s more nothing else seemed to be moving either. Even the train was moving at less than half it’s speed. So everything was moving slowly, not stopping. But then he saw it, the red suited man was moving just as slowly as everything else, this was Devil Time.

An altered perception of time that makes everything seem to stand still. It’s enough to madden a man, incapable of moving but still being aware of everything around you, even the most calm would get restless. Xin blinked, it took ages. How long would this last? A minute? An hour? The thin man did not know, but he still focused on the target. No matter how far away the target is, it’s never out of reach and after all patience was a virtue. With time, the movements would come.


“Up we go.” Church said smugly as he wrenched his scythe upwards pulling the man’s bladed cords taut as the long curved edge of the scythe hooked over the edge of the roof. The muscular man growled but followed along with the motion pulling along his anchor blades bringing the fight to the roof. The burly man’s jaw dropped when he saw the other two. Xin was standing over the red suited man with a broken watch in hand. He looked at the pair that had joined him. After a brief analysis of the situation he spoke.

“You survived the fall? Dude.” The lanky man said with a smile.

“Idiot should’ve let me take care of the fighting.” The clawed man snarled as his comrade slowly crawled over to him.

“Whatever, this is tiring me out, I think I’d just end this now.” The lanky man said yawning.

“What in hell?” Was all either of the two jackers had time to say.

“Eat this.” Xin pulled down his hat and in one quick step launched himself over to where both of his opponents stood. He quickly extended an open palm just in front of the pair and with an explosion of light from his glove the two were blasted off the train into the desert as if by a great shockwave. “Done.”





I honestly halfassed this one. I had the idea but I feel like I didn't execute it properly, but at this point I'm just unsure.

 

A train battle.....every story needs one XD.

and it was heated, i think it did need a bit more longevity

And i can see why you say it wasn't executed properly, i believe you could have done a much better and much longer train sequence.

most of the time i wouldn't advice this...but go nuts with quick battles, that have simple descriptions.

I'm very pleased with this chapter mainly because of the quick battle style you presented in it.

i am a bit dissapointed that it's rather short, but its much more lighthearted and simple than the 3 chapters before it...which is a nice change once in a while.

 

I honestly wanted to do more with this idea but due to the way I wanted to lay out the time line it ended up being shorter and less action oriented than it originally was intended to be. I tried to find a way around this but then I decided that trying to over-complicate things and break style in order to fit in ideas was probably not the best of ideas. So this chapter was an experiment in a different form and from what you've said it did not really fail as horribly I'd expected. I may just redo this once I've finished the story.

 

Okay the final chapter part one. I've decided to go with a staggered release because of the way the story is broken up into three distinct parts that do no quite constitute them being chapters unto themselves. So here we go.


Door 19: Central Enigma

By dawn the train had left the deserts far behind and brought the three travelers back within sight of the great wall of craggy cliffs that had welcomed them into the Enigma only days before. Callum sighed as he looked trough the dusty window reminiscently a the monolithic wall of stone as if it were some mark of his travel in Escher. He thought about home, his life there, and his life here. Which was the one he really wanted? Did it matter?

Halfway through his calm musings, the boy ran a hand through his pocket only to feel a forgotten slip of paper. He withdrew it instantly and looked at the calligraphically styled writing. The lettering on the crumpled card still ran true and straight against the paper‘s unruly creases and crinkled valleys, probably another strange property of this product only found in Escher.

It’s strange loopy print read:
“Name: Annalisa Katenin
Contracts: 1
Completion: N
Activation: Inactive
Contractor: ____________
Activate: Y/Nâ€

“So that’s your name. Annalisa.†He whispered under his breath letting the feel of saying the name slowly come to rest in his mouth, that name, her name. The name to associate with the monster. But what had made her hat way? He couldn’t understand or even begin to think of how a person could smile like her, talk like her, act like her. It was too wrong, perverse, and repulsive, all of it. The loud speaker crunched to life, a welcome interruption to his half formed contemplations.

“It’ll be a few minutes till we get on about to the door, ‘kay brah?†There was a pause in the crunching voice of the speaker. Neither of the car’s occupants even pretended to think the lanky man could hear their response in the control gallery and took it as rhetorical. “No one’s jumped ship so I’ll take that to mean excellent, awesome, and otherwise acceptable.â€

So the train sped onwards over the flat cracked ground in the mountain’s shadow. Church closed his book, the book he’d thrown into Callum’s room that night only a week before.

“How fast time does pass when there is always a task at hand.†Callum turned to Church to see if he’d been speaking aloud or not. The man answered with a disdainful look that quickly changed into one of inquisitorial analysis.

“Callum.†It took the boy a few seconds to realize Church was speaking, he’d never called him anything but ‘kid’ or even earlier ‘prey’.

“Yeah.†He responded.

“I told you before that I wouldn’t kill you right?†Church asked perfunctorily. He knew he remembered, but he could never trust another to. Callum sighed almost as if in tacit assent, he did that a lot lately.

“Yeah.†The boy answered monosyllabically to clarify his sigh, or perhaps because he was unaware of it.

“Be aware, though I didn’t lie, it doesn’t mean I’ll protect your life again. Once I get what I want you can be sure my word will be the only thing between your neck and my blade.†Church explained calmly, no hint of threat in his voice. Careful in his wording, careful to spin his meaning like the fine silken webs of a spider, without a strand out of place.

“What’s with this talk all of a sudden?†The boy asked earnestly.

“By tonight we’ll be in the Central Enigma. A feat very few can hope to accomplish in their lives. There is where, as Daniels leads us to believe, the answers behind that key and weapon of yours lie.†The womanish man let his words hang in the air, to sink in or be swept away, neither would make a difference to him.

“Is that it?†Callum asked, almost relieved.

“Of course? Life is simple. If we were as complicated as characters in stories no one would get over themselves long enough to see the big world around them. In fact--†Suddenly the loud speaker crackled to life with a new garbled voice on the line this time.

“Yo guys. Daniels here, we’ll be disembarking in nigh one minute hold onto something for the deceleration. Over and out kiddies.†There was a click and a brief silence followed.

“On the eighth day he gave us the Enigma.†Church smirked, pleased with something, the rush in his manner all but gone.

“Looks like it.†Callum responded half heartedly. He wasn’t sure what it was but he felt a weight in his chest. Not sadness, or anger, nor even emptiness, he’d experienced each before, so very vividly did he remember those feelings. But no, this was something else, dread? No, it was less intense, uncertainty. The ambivalent feeling pressing down on his chest, forcing the air in and out in quick rushes, it was uncertainty. Lack of an answer, lack of a means to answer, lack of a defined question to answer. His shoulders drooped down under the weight of his thoughts.

The hard questions could no longer be avoided: Why was he there? What did he intend on doing? Maybe he would discover the answers to find his real question, what he really wanted to know, what he couldn‘t even conceive yet, maybe he would discover them in the Central Enigma. So the youth steeled himself, prepared for whatever horrors the world of Escher decided to throw at him.


The train soon came to a full stop. It began by decelerating roughly but was not as viciously abrupt as accelerating and finished with a tired groan of iron on iron and a sigh of steam. Xin remained seated in the open gallery of switches and controls as he watched the three disembark one by one.

“So what are you gonna do from here old buddy?â€

“I dunno. Maybe aimless traveling or somethin’ to that effectuality, you guys seem to be having lotsa fun times and all that jazzness.†The thin man answered carelessly and almost disinterestedly. “Wellepos, we’d better get this barrel movin’ long thatawaysish. Seeya later kiddios. Stay cool.†Just before the train main its sudden jump to full speed Daniels tipped his hat and made a silly half bowing motion as Callum gave a halfhearted wave and Church ignored the conductor, his stare favoring what it was certain he saw as the next challenge.

Xin made a last wave to them and in a great blast of wind and dust he was gone, probably miles away already. When the clouds of dust cleared the object of the effeminate man’s interest was revealed once more, the great stone slab standing as if carved from the very cliff side itself. The door.

“So Daniels, time to make yourself useful again.†Church mockingly commanded. Daniels casually sauntered forwards a clear light in his eyes brought on by the prospect of leaving the Lateral Enigma.

“Sure. It’s actually real easy to get in, it’s just no one really gets it until you tell them.†He winked as one would at a child to amuse them.

“Elaborate.†Church ordered, his voice suddenly harsh again.

“Nah, I’ll show you first, it’s easier to explain it once you know what it looks like.†Daniels chuckled as he brushed him off and practically danced over to the first part of the door he seemed to take interest in.

“Fine.†Daniels tapped on several of the out jutting symbols that formed a complex set of pictographic images all over the surface of the door.

“Okay, now we turn the key.†He whispered as he touched the stone at the very center of the set he’d been working with and with several grunts of effort turned it one quarter turn to the left. “Done.†He announced happily.

“That’s it?†Church blurted out in disbelief.

“Yeah, the pictographs on these bottom rows are really just the original language used out here, once you get it down in your head… well you saw how I just told the door a code and used the switch to unlock it essentially.â€

Church grumbled something that sounded awfully like, “Dead easy†as he pushed past Callum towards the door. Callum simply sighed and waited as Daniels grinned and with the slightest touch sent the doors apart.

“I welcome you two to the Central Enigma.â€



At first the light reaching through the door was blinding, like looking into the dawning sun. But then the pale blankness gave way, laying the vivid scene of a small pre-industrial town before the dazzled viewers. With a similarly flat skyline with an unfamiliar warmth of disposition and carefree congeniality it was hardly what Callum had expected to see when he imagined the Central Enigma. If Church was as surprised he did a very good job of hiding it.

“We’d better get a move on there kiddies.†Daniels urged when he felt they had gaped long enough. “Onwards and forward, or whatever.†Neither of the others spoke, they simply followed the man with the ragged brown coat as he strode through the absurd door. On the other side the land they saw before them very clearly smelled of sweet mountain air, and the match to the Lateral Enigma’s door was carved into the base of a handsome snow capped mountain. Callum took note of this as he watched the doors close out all of the dusty, desolate plain behind him. His gaze remained on the ancient looking door for several moments, but he tore his eyes from the image and jogged after his companions towards the near edge of the quaint stone built town.

“So who’s the friend of yours?†Church asked abruptly. Callum was surprised to realize Daniels had never really told them about who it was they were going to meet in the first place.

“It’s a surprise, and he’s not really a friend, just a contact I have.†Daniels explained as they walked down a cobbled road alongside many bustling cheery citizens.

“This is kinda freakin’ me out a little.†Callum frowned. They were the kinds of people that he could never get along with in real life to begin with, these happy looking people who acted as if they had something important to do at all times no matter how trite or mundane the real issue. But in this surreal world the whole thing seemed even worse. Maybe he had just grown used to being disgusted, but he felt a similar but less intense disdain for this town as he had the last. He let his gaze wander with his thoughts from place to place before they fell on a peculiarity in the world of happiness and overall satisfaction. A man wearing a lab coat over a tee with a clip on tie and rolled up khakis brought a certain dissonance to the picturesque street with his thoughtful scowl and odd attire.

He glanced at Callum for a moment before cocking his head to the side extending the glance to a stare. The man opened his mouth as if to speak but was cut short when he run straight into a woman carrying groceries, who promptly became cross with him and demanded reparations for any hypothetical damage to her property. He was lost in the sudden crush of the shopping crowd by the time Daniels brought the troupe around a corner and out of traffic. Callum brought his eyes back to the leader of the expedition, his head was tilted ever so slightly upwards letting his hat drop back on his head. Callum looked on to what Daniels seemed to be looking at. A house, a modest house even for the area, sat atop a grassy knoll watching over the closest rooftops.

“Hey Daniels.†Callum called.

“Yeah?†He answered almost drowsily with a complacency that seemed to replace the anxiety of the Lateral Enigma.

“That where we going?†Callum jerked his hand at the house.

“Uh huh.†He nodded vaguely.




Just as promised the travelers came to face their final destination.

“Okay, okay.†Daniels almost chanted to himself as he skipped up to the door and turned the knob then began fiddling with the knob, a turn here, a twist there, all deliberate, but still so ridiculous. He exhaled, relieved, before placing and turning a key thus opening the door. They walked into a room caked with dust, from the inn styled reception desk barring the path to the rest off the house to the walls and ceiling. “Hey, old man, I’ve a few questions for you.â€

“Go away. Nobody’s here.†The voice echoed through the house. It was old and crotchety sounding even through the wood floored halls behind the long wooden reception desk that stood in the foyer.

“You know who I am old man.†Daniels whined.

“No I don’t.†The voice insisted.

“It’s me John Daniels, don’t you remember?†Daniels half pleaded almost in parody of his own words.

“Daniels? Your voice is different.†There was a shuffling sound accompanying the echoing voice this time.

“Who else could get into your house you nut?†Daniels teased playfully.

“I guess that’s true.†The voice replied incredulously.

“So questions. You gonna answer any?†Daniels restated.

“You have any locks for me?†The man’s voice was closer now but still without a face to match.

“Yeah.†Daniels replied digging into his pocket and revealing a large handful of locks that he placed on the counter. “Here.†There was another shuffling sound and soon a short balding man with thick rimmed glasses appeared. He wore a metal working apron and heavy gloves over his old yet powerful fingers.

“Ah you’ve brought outsiders.†His voice was now small and crestfallen when compared to the great echo of his irritated resonance.

“Yeah, locks.†Daniels reminded.

“Yes, yes, locks.†He examined them each under a set of magnifying spectacles. “Good quality. There’s a Meng Yu original here too.â€

“Now?†Daniels urged.

“Oh do come in.†He said snapping back into the world around him. He stuffed the locks into an apron pocket and opened a creaky door near the end of the reception desk’s length allowing the group to enter his less dusty inner sanctum. “So what questions do you have in mind? Would you like some tea?â€

“Yes to the tea and I feel the questions need the tea so we’ll wait.†Daniels replied. “Oh right, my guests. Church, Callum say hello to the last key maker, Cyril Flynn.â€

“He makes these keys?†Callum burst out uncontrollably waving his key in the air.

“Yes.†Daniels answered matter-of-factly.

“Does this child know nothing?†Cyril spat incredulously.

“He’s a newbie.†Church interjected almost mockingly.

“Yeah.†Daniels attested hastily.

“Then why is he here?†The old man frowned in skeptical thought.

“Tea first, talk later.†Daniels beamed.



When they were all situated about a beat up coffee table with rings from teacups long past all over it Daniels spoke.

“Okay, Callum, show him your lock weapon.†The boy obeyed after a brief pause.
“Here it is.†He held the heavy metal of the saw before the now wide eyes of the Lock Maker.

“This is a lock?†The old man spoke with more astonishment than incredulity.

“True.†Daniels said promptly.

“But how?†Cyril stuttered with excitement.

“Callum?†Daniels said opening the floor.

“This key, it was a map key before but--†He was cut off when a gloved hand snatched the key away from him.

“Ah, I see. It‘s one of my keys, early works.†He commented, totally absorbed into his own world even as he spoke.

“You wanna shed a little light on our situation here?†Daniels said sharply to bring the man back to the present matter.

“Yes, I do. This is a map key like any other true enough, but its unstable properties made it an unreliable one that changed hands many times as either a dud or a normal key without manifestation of powers. I never expected anyone to try to use this on an outside object though. Much less a machine like this. You-- Callum was it? How did you use this key when you found it?â€

“I just opened a shed and got this--†He began.

“Shed?†Cyril asked quickly an excited jitter still hanging in his voice.

“Yeah, it was padlocked and--†He began once more.


“Ah I see. A lock with no door, must have wrought havoc with the key, probably the reason for it’s transfer to the weapon type when added to any stress you may have felt at the time because of the key’s inherent malleability. So what class is that weapon?†Cyril smiled, but it wasn’t a happy one, it was a smile of knowing and wanting to know.

“Cla--†Callum was cut off before he could even begin when Daniels spoke again.

“We don’t know. It’s not under any of the known classes.†He explained.

“Really?†The old man said stroking his chin.

“Can someone explain to me what these classes are?†Callum asked.

“Locks are separated based on anima proportions required to operate them. The known classes are Dueler, Thief, Soldier, Defender, Assassin, and Brawler. Each has its own attributes and characteristics based on anima levels. Good enough?†Daniels explain hastily.

“Yeah.†He responded.

“There are three other classes of weapon locks. Very uncommon though.†Cyril spouted as if almost unaware of his guests.

“Really?†Daniels replied as Church shifted his gaze from the far window to the old man.

“Murderer, Suicide, and Emperor. They were banned by the Escherian government first. Long before the times of even the garbage men--†It was Cyril’s turn to be cut off.

“The what?†Callum burst out.

“Oh yeah, you never met any of them. Well, the spark notes version is roughly two hundred years back, near the end of the first dark ages, a group of people calling themselves prophets took over the church of their homeland and formed an empire the likes of which had never before been even dreamt of. Needless to say power grew, across lands, across worlds, eventually it came to govern the bulk of Escher outside of the Enigmas and shy of the Hinterlands. Nivallinseum Das Marcisco is the name on books, but more people just call it the Escherian government because of it‘s more down to earth and simple sound.

"They have total power in most parts and have set themselves on keeping it that way. So they formed a group codenamed garbage men. They do all the brutish base work with the primary mission of taking locks out of the picture and eliminating “trashâ€. So you have to have a license and a bunch of qualification tests to even get your hands on a lock legally. Illegal lock users are most often killed or drafted into the garbage men. That’s the short of it, for the long you’ll have to research it a bit while we’re here.â€

“You’ll be staying then?†The old man said, perking up slightly.

“Yeah.â€

He took a sip of tea and began again. “So to confirm class--â€

“Murderer.†Church suddenly blurted out.

“Are you absolutely sure?â€

“Of course. I’ve known for some time now that the lock was of a different class or standing somehow, but upon hearing about the banned classes it’s clear that the lock is either a Murderer type or a completely new class in itself.â€

“Clear?†His face wrinkling further in quizzical expression.

“The berserk killing rush that goes so far as to kill yourself for the death of the opponent. It’s pretty clear that the madness that made him into a monster that time was murderous anima coursing through the lock.†Church responded dully.

“How do you know that?†A glint of excitement was growing in the eyes of the old man with each passing moment. Like a child in a toy store.

“We’ve seen the lock in action. It’s obvious why that class was banned in first set.†He scoffed. “It has the most lethal affect I’ve ever seen.â€

“Interesting… do you think I could?†He said looking intently at the chainsaw as if it were the one toy he had to have.

“Yeah, though I want two favors of you, cool?â€

“Tell me what they are first.â€


“I want you to take a look at the lock and key.â€

“It was my intent all along.â€

“And can you do something about my coat? It’s totally dead.â€

“It’ll take me a week to run all the tests on the lock and key set and a day to fix the coat.â€

“You hear that sweetness?†Daniels said stroking the singed sleeve of his coat.

Five days into the testing Cyril came across a few new things about the lock but nothing too major and the lack of activity was sending Callum further into insanity with each passing tick of the key maker’s grandfather clock. The old man remained locked in his room cackling every so often for most of each day, Daniels loitered and did various things with all of the free time but spent the vast majority of it sleeping, and Church sat in one spot and read for periods sometimes spanning twelve hours. Callum had long since decided how he would deal with Annalisa and Kanna; he’d even made some semblance of peace with Church and studied up on a brief history of Escher by the third day. Everything he’d been waiting for was here, but it wasn’t very interesting. Maybe knowing the rest of the story wasn’t the way he’d find his answers, or maybe the answers he found were simply useless to him. What was he truly asking to begin with? He was brought back to the present with a low brass note signaling the middle of the day.

“I’m going out.†He suddenly heard himself declare.

“Okay, I’ll let you back in when you’re done.†Daniels replied as he pored over a few books on locks at Cyril‘s request.

“Alright then.†He said somewhat less strongly. With that he picked up his empty bag out of habit and left the others to their own pursuits. Though the town irritated him with its brightness of disposition when he’d first come there it was quite a bit more enjoyable without all of this unresolved thoughts plaguing his every waking moment. Just as he passed a vendor selling fruits of some sort he heard an unfamiliar voice.

“YOU!†He spun around instinctively reaching for the weapon that wasn’t there. It was the strangely attired man he‘d seen in the crowd only days earlier. “You’re that guy!â€

“Which guy?†Callum answered almost mockingly.

“The guy with the interesting wavelength. It seems a bit different today but you are definitely that guy.†He said turning his head sideways and widening his eyes to nearly impossible proportions.

“Perhaps you have me confused with someone else.†Callum said nervously. Without a weapon he was no fighter and this man was clearly a few baskets over a case.

“Nope. Everyone’s wavelengths are remembered by Artorius‘ mind.†He made several gesticulations that ended with him pointing to his own head. “So I must study your wavelength.â€

“Study? What the fuck is wrong with you?†Callum blurted out.

“Nothing’s wrong with me, but oh, there is a lot wrong with you.†He said twisting his head almost upside down and wagging a finger.

“Screw this.†Callum started off in the other direction.

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! You can’t do that!†He whined. Callum did not respond to this gesture, he simply took off running as fast as he could not noticing the lock that was now in the man‘s hand. “Come back here interesting guy!â€

“Crazy bastard.†Callum muttered to himself as he dashed along to streets with the man on his tail. The two made their way across the town causing quite a ruckus all along the way. But finally Artorius’ superior speed and knowledge of the environment had Callum cornered in an alley near the foot of the hill where Cyril’s house stood. “Dammit.†He breathed.

“You gonna let me study a bit now?†He said rolling his eyes back into his head in a blinded smile.

“As nice as that sounds--†He grinned. “I think you’ll just have to find someone else.†Callum pushed his sightless way past the enemy knocking him to the ground.

“Ow. That hurt.†Artorius was back on his feet in a second and in another he had caught up with his target at the mouth of the alley. “I wanted to let you go and agree to come along, but this isn’t working out nicel--†He suddenly jumped back just as Callum heard gunfire.

“Daniels! Took you long enough!†Callum shouted at the brown coated man as he waved to him both guns in hands.

“You’re not that interesting.†Artorius scowled. Not a second later, in an impossible feat of athletic ability, he closed the gap of half the hill between himself and Daniels in one jump and threw the gunman through the key maker’s stone wall with one swing of his lithe arm. “So I don’t think I need to worry about killing you.â€

“Wrong.†Church declared midway through his swing. The vicious scythe bore down on the thin man as it‘s wielder stared virulently at his prey. Metal crashed with metal as Artorius blocked the great edge with his lock.

“Right.†He grinned insanely and thrust his arm into his attacker‘s gut, throwing the assailant away in an instant. “Now interesting guy…!?â€

“Thanks guys.†Callum said lifting his chainsaw into an offensive stance.
“You are very interesting. Very, very interesting.†The man stated. “But even that won’t let you beat me.†In a sudden change he hooked his finger into the arch of the lock and stared pulling.

“Are you insane? You can’t open a lock like that!â€

“I can.†He smiled. Suddenly the lock came undone and in an electrifying burst of energy Artorius drew his blade. “Most people need to unlock the door to get in, but not me.†His blade was curved and deadly looking with sectional blades comprising it’s form, like a twisted, armor plated scalpel. “Now, you still wanna fight?â€

“Of course.†Callum said with suddenly faltering determination.

“Good.†Then they both leapt forwards brandishing their blades and crying out. There was no clash, not even a sound when the two met, there was only the shock on Callum’s face and the twisted grin on Artorius’ as the scalpel flawlessly sheared through the chainsaw’s blade even as it span.

“Impossible.†Callum breathed in terror.

“The Infinite Scalpel has a blade so fine that even the edge of razor wire is like a two by four in comparison. A lock of this caliber is no different from rubber to me.†Artorius smirked, self satisfied and victorious. Then he was shot. The man staggered back as deep red dyed his sleeve and shoulder.

“Not fast enough to stop a bullet that you can’t see coming, eh?†Daniels half swaggered, half coughed. “Well, you won’t be able to dodge the Colt Maximum anyways.†His eyes were suddenly familiarly vicious and brutal as he took aim with one arm and tensed the second to go.

“Not yet!†Artorius howled rushing forwards.

“Too slow, range is my friend today.†Daniels fired twice nearly simultaneously. But his enemy did not fall to the fire, the bullets never reached him. In the instant before he was blasted away by the preternatural force of his enemy’s strike Daniels saw it. Just before Artorius’ palm the bullets were crushed flat by their own force against an invisible barrier. “A wall of anima?!â€

“Correct. I’ve got so much anima powering my wavelength that I don’t need a lock to channel it through I can blast you with it raw.â€

“Shit.†Daniels choked out just before he passed out.

“But this arm might make me bleed to death if it’s left alone. And I can’t carry my target this time.†He whimpered and pouted. “But hey, at least I killed all the nuisances. Next time I’ll get to study interesting guy for sure.†He said pointing at Callum.

“We’ll see.â€

“Correct sir. Correct.†He smiled, and waved and then he was gone.

“Church! You alive?†Daniels yelled into the unconscious face of his ally. No response. The man frowned and began prodding the limp form with the barrel of his gun. Suddenly he moved, the first thing he did was grab the gun and wrench it away from it’s owner.

"Fuck!†He howled out instinctively. “Oh, it’s just you.â€

“What do you mean just me?†Daniel scrunched up his face into a travesty of indignation. “I was the only one here to check if you were alive.â€

“What was that attack?†Church asked ignoring the expression.

“Anima, a pure shockwave of it, pretty nearly killed me twice.†Daniels admitted shamelessly as he cracked his neck and shook himself as if it proved he was fine.

“You’re too reckless, that’s why.†The scowl on his face indicated that was incensed but soon it was overcome by a controlled calm.

“Well you’re too slow, you should have been able to bisect that loser before he blew you out of the match entirely.†Daniels mocked.

“Oh shut up.†He said pushing the brown coated man away from him.

“Either way looks we’re safe for a little while.†Callum interjected.

“Not long, he’ll be back once he gets himself patched up enough to fight.†Church said checking out his limbs and weapon for damage.

“Tomorrow at the latest granted his power even injured can probably take all three of us out in a matter of seconds.†Daniels pointed out from a safe distance from either of the disgruntled combatants.

“We’d better check on the old man is still okay.†Callum said, in an attempt to change the subject to something less negative.

“Don’t bother, I’m fine.†Cyril spoke in a hoarse displeased tone.

“Hey, you’re alive too.†Daniels’s face brightened. Safe!â€

“Have you seen my wall? Oh wait, that’s right, you were the one that was thrown through it!†The old man bellowed at the collective younger group.

“A detail.†Daniels countered with a winning smile.

“And you! Bring the town crazy to my house and destroy that piece when I’ve only limited time to work on it! Honestly, kids these days have no discretion.†No one spoke as the old man ranted and raged over his losses, partly out of pity for the almost humorous behavior, and partly because if one were to speak it would no doubt prolong the pain of suppressing laughter.

“Sorry.†Callum answered meekly before either of the others could retort.

“Don’t apologize, just get that wall fixed!†He huffed.


“Sure.†Church answered somewhat drearily.



It wasn’t until nearly a day later that the section of wall was repaired; even with loans of equipment type locks from Cyril the work was hard and slow. However when it was completed the old man seemed a lot more placid, whether it was due to the wall’s being fixed or from something he never mentioned could not be said for certain. When the workers returned Callum was greeted by a repaired and fully studied chainsaw, and relegated the task of replacing the locks that had been borrowed from Cyril for the construction work. Callum had just finished returning the locks the three had been lent when he noticed a key in a display case in the corner of the key maker’s storage room. Just beneath it was a yellowed, worn tag reading, “Map Key: Commonâ€. Callum didn’t give it a second look. The key maker mentioned it once before, but the boy knew that whether or not he had a map key his knowledge of the world was too small for it to be of any use to him in his travels. Just as he was turning to leave he felt a familiar cold steel and killing aura from behind him.

“Don’t move kid.†Church demanded, scythe in hand.

“Church! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?†Callum said without moving towards or away from his enemy.

“Exactly what I came here to do, get my key.†Church said as he swiftly cleared the boy in a leap and retrieved the Map Key from it’s case. He smiled introspectively for a moment before he dashed past Callum with a maniacal grin pasted over his face. The boy took the opportunity to draw his weapon and call out for Daniels and the key maker as he gave chase alone. Callum couldn’t keep up with the effeminate man in a simple contest of running about the house, but eventually he was cornered in the drawing room with his back to a peculiar red door.

“Hand over the key.†Callum demanded angrily. He was unsure of why, but on some level he put f in Church and felt betrayed.

“I knew you were that guy.†Daniels added simply as he strode up unarmed.

“You already know how this is going right kiddies?†Church declared as he jammed the key into the lock of the door and wrenched it open. “Thanks for the key.â€

“Bastard!†Callum dashed the second Church moved but in the end the door came slamming shut just as his hand reached the doorknob. He felt it slam shut, he heard it slam shut, but he still could not believe that the way was so simply shut. That the man who had tried to kill him and protect him was never to be seen again. He gripped the handle tighter as if it would allow him to open the door to Church again, then he noticed something.

“He’s gone.†Cyril sighed.

“The door isn’t shut, not yet.†Callum grinned, that’s because it wasn’t closed. The knob never clicked shut, the door was never closed completely. The black haired boy opened the door in just enough time to watch two golden elevator doors framing Church’s smirking face. Then he was gone. Callum took in a breath and ran.

“Callum, you can’t be serious.†Daniels called after him as the door swung inevitably shut, completely shut.

“Dammit.†Daniels cursed. He turned to the key maker and looked at him for a moment. “I’ve gotta go man, you know, stuff to do.â€

“The wall’s done, you can leave any time--in fact I want you out.†Cyril said sarcastically.

“Thanks--â€

“But one more thing, about your lock, if you are going to subdue the murder lock, there is something more to locks that you have to know.†He said grimly.

“I’m all ears.â€



“Church…†Callum thought to himself as he walked down the red carpeted floors of the long hallway towards the golden doors of the elevator shaft.

 

oh, i feel this is so soon to end.

where is the organization of bad guys with distinctive special powers like in shonens? XD.

that would have truly taken the cake XD.

I see nothing wrong with this chapter at all, it's all good.

i can't believe this is ending *sniff*.

 

Very blunt and direct.


I liked this chapter a lot, wait a sec...

The locks sound like classes(no duh there)

and the last three, very interesting.

I'm just suprised there isn't any class that actually seems supportive >.>

but since you don't care.....I won't even type anymore about details.

I'll just go ahead and say, that this was a great story, and I understand that story wasn't the original intent for this and thus that may partly have to do with you uninterest.

 

Actually it's more a lack of ideas on how to construct the rest because I still like the story I just can't write it anymore. Natural progression. Part three will actually explain your little >.> moment so don't go thinking I'm done with and dead yet.

 

wee!!!

So, this is the end of the first season?

this was so awesome, and kinda cliff hanger....an anime opening is at order!!!

rawr!!!!

 

Essentially the end of the series as well, at least under my metaphorical pen. I don't want to write another fifty four pages at ten font, single spaced, and roughly two-three pages a week, it's really wearing on the mind.

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Anime opening you say? I don't draw well enough to even consider animation.

Meeoooooooooooow!

As a final note: I won't lie and say that this was a good story and I most certainly won't be indignant about my paucity of readers since it is my own fault. Still I cling to the hope that this has in some way been an experience for a person beyond myself. And so she said, "Farewell.".

 

oh, please!

you can't stay away....it's in your blood!!!

then i'll write one up hahaha *completely messes L&C*

Write next season!!!!! *whips*

well , you can concentrate on the collab now....If my idea is taken , I definately want you in.

 

Well, I'm not done here it appears. I've been holding onto this for a little bit but I am going to start writing when summer starts so I figured I'd give you something to look at while I wait to be released. I've not really edited so there are errors about. Try not to hate me for updating after six months of nothing it's just how I work. Oh well, we'll see how this goes... again.




Door 20: The Strip

“I’ve always lived in darkness. Back in the city I was denser than this. Back there where I got my starts in this business. Back there when I thought friend was a word you could take seriously. Back there what was stolen from me…” Church suddenly stopped musing to himself. He’d been so caught up in his own thoughts that he barely noticed the blinking lights of an arriving elevator not more than several hundred feet ahead.

Careless. He didn’t think of hiding, no, that’s how to look suspicious. The doors opened and out stepped a man, no, he immediately noted the stride too graceful and the features too delicate to belong to a man, the thin black suited figure was surely a woman. She looked familiar, a face from the file no doubt. They passed each other without a sidelong glance, then she spoke.

“Sharpe.” She came to a complete stop as she spoke letting her black dress shoes come to rest just feet away from his, now static, rubber soles.

“Iron Maiden.” He replied without looking back.

“You pass.” She smiled and turned to look at his back causing her long coattails to flutter and drag through the air. He slowly followed her lead and turned himself about as well.

“Or fail if you look at it from my perspective. However, someone of your stature might find that a bit hard.” He said tilting his head up slightly to get a better look at her face.

“Funny as ever Life Stealer.” She remarked with a cold mocking laugh.

“I hate fighting.” Was his reply.

“Is it the fighting or the losing?” She continued jeering as she adjusted the red flower on her lapel.

“They seem to go hand in hand with me.” He simply answered.

“Well I’ll at least make it quick.” Her gloved finger drew a pure black scorch mark against the decorated paper of the wall; as she dragged it along lazily curls of dark smoke following it‘s arc through the air reached the man‘s nostrils as the delicately thin index finger was brought to mark him.

“I’ll bite.” He said making a half snapping motion with his teeth.

“Just like a dog.” She smirked. Almost instantly there was a rush of air about them. The woman barely seemed to move but Church was tossed back almost before he had time to release his weapon from it’s resting place. Midway through the air however he did summon the mystical arm and drove it into the floor and let it act as his podium. He spread his arms and dropped a red flower crumpled into a shadow of its former self. He grinned, or rather smirked, with his head held high and his eyes looking down his nose at the suddenly infinitesimally small opponent.

“Damn those false starts.” He said sardonically. The woman made no reply but she rushed forth twice as fast as she’d thrown him, but even before she’d moved he was out of the way of her incoming strike. “No good man or rather girl, hard to tell with the suit ya know?”

“Dress code’s a bit of a bitch that way.” She struck again.

“That’s why I freelance.” He slipped away like a piece of silk on the wind. They eyed each other for a moment before resuming the intricate dance of offense and evasion. “So why are you still around here after being burned?”

“How’d you know about that?” Her eyes narrowed momentarily from bother confusion and curiosity.

“We’re not playing questions, a simple reply works fine.” The small man smirked, even through the flurry of blows directed at him and the complexity of his own evasions his speech and expression never once changed to show any amount of difficulty.

“I don’t think it’s really any of your business. However, even though I never knew you very well after you were discovered as a traitor to the garbage men I still didn’t want to believe you were the Life Stealer.” She admitted with an ironic grin.

“I’m pretty sure the false flag was torn up pretty well. You’d have to be a friend of mine to believe in me after that, no?” He scoffed as another blow sailed past his face.

“It’s more that I always assumed you were more honest than the rest of us.” She parried his strike easily but still no matter how close she got to him it was as good as chasing smoke he was always able to find an escape route no matter how improbable the situation.

“I couldn’t say the same of you. I should have had you marked for a burn since day one.” He returned with a acerbic tone.

“Why’s that?” She laughed as if they were having a normal civil conversation.

“Your boss.”

“We had the same superior, don‘t you remember?” Even for only a moment it was clear she let her guard down when she showed genuine curiosity.

“Not that one. This one runs this casino here in The Strip and is the reason why you’re here in my way too, direct orders no doubt.” Church smiled with sickening affectation.

“Bastard.” She swore angrily.

“No idea why you kept with him for so long, but for some reason you stayed with the man this far and all you are is an obstacle that I must remove.”

“Don’t get so full of yourself.” Suddenly the woman in black was smiling. Before Church knew it he’d been circled and only just began reacting when he’d already lost his scythe. A moment later he was breathing heavily and sweating fearfully as he glanced from the bit of cloth in the woman’s hand to the hole in his shirt with the signs of a deep abrasion already clear.

“So that’s how you’ve done it.” The effeminate looking man smirked half heartedly as he wrenched his scythe out of the floor and once again readied himself for battle.

“You’re too late you know.” She replied dispassionately.

“I know.” He sighed and looked . “But I still need to get it back. That most important thing.”

“Just give it up, you can’t even get past me.”

“I know that too, idiot.” Even with his despairing remark Church continued to fly through the air aided by his scythe as she chased him with almost acrobatic series of assaults. Church defended through a combination of threat and evasion rather than actually clashing with the physically stronger opponent in order to maintain his lead of just one step ahead, eternally forcing the next move to bring the battle to an eternal stalemate of offensive and defensive plays for dominance. But it was clear who was better as the Iron Maiden continued to increase her speed with each move even as Church nimbly swung himself around his own movable jungle gym each strike came closer to him as if the steady increment in speed was a form of drawn out torture in itself.

For all his movements and careful plans, he was merely human, a human too slow. Another strike found him. He stumbled, but regained enough balance to avoid the next impact but it wasn’t long before a searing fist hammered him in the chest causing him to gasp pathetically and stumble over himself disgracefully but he continued to try fighting despite the growing difference in power. Soon his ability to evade was all but destroyed and he was caught up in a bloody squall of furious strikes.

When the final blow finally rang out against his body with the heavy bass of the final drumbeat in a march he could feel his skin burning as his back arched over in almost intolerable agony. Church’s eyes came to rest on a dress shoe digging itself into his gut quite splendidly. She released the pressure to stand and survey her work, but that instant where she was retreating was his final chance to advance. And advance he did. “So here we are.”

“Shit.” The woman cursed as she felt the cold black metal press against the nape of her neck and the hot ragged breath of the man before her. Church was standing not an inch from her and kept his scythe supported over her neck with his strength remaining.

“Even if you rip out my guts or my jugular, the scythe will still fall and lodge itself soundly in your neck severing your vertebrae from your skull. I’d call this a queen in check.” He laughed, disheartened at his position knowing it depended entirely on loss aversion and the unwillingness to trade that all humans had but could easily suppress with the proper training.

“I’m just another pawn.” The woman began to raise her hand for the final blow when she felt a prickle in her other arm.

“Of course even if you are slightly less well endowed than I like, I’d never really choose kill a woman as pretty as you.” He made an attempt to smile but only managed a pained grimace as he removed the syringe from her arm, tossed it aside and lowered his blade. “Don’t worry it’s nothing but a fast acting tranquilizer, you shouldn’t be able to move your arms anymore and you won’t have that luxury again for an hour or so. I came prepared for people of at least your caliber.” He said wiping blood from his face.

“You bastard.” She slumped over into his chest with a look of furious defiance even as he slowly eased her limp form to the floor. He man an almost congenial wave and set himself off in the direction he’d been going from the start, then he paused.

“Call me whatever you like. I prefer wanker though. Anyways, I’d best be getting on, you burned up a good bit of my time with your little game there Aria.”

“Come back here!” She yelled.

“No, I don’t think I will.” He mocked without turning. The next plea however behooved him to stop.

“Then tell me! Tell me why you came back here!”

“Why do I steal from your boss?” He turned to look at her frustrated, humiliated, struggling face and replied evenly. “I’ve had quite a bit stolen from me, I’m just returning the favor.” He paused as if he was finished but then thought better of it and added a small addendum. “But you know… no matter how much of it I steal… my pride, I still have none of it left. Hah ha hah ha hah ha hah ha…”

-

“You bastard.” Callum swore as he continued down the long hall. He recognized that he was in a large resort hotel, an upscale one at that. Perhaps it was even a whole world devoted to the concept of a hotel. That’s all the worlds in Escher were, caricatures, representations of their real world counterparts, existing as ties to the real world between the great deserts of uncultivated existence. He came up to the elevator and took a deep breath. There was no way of knowing which floor Church had gone to so there was nothing to do but choose a direction and guess how many floors. Though Callum didn’t know exactly what he’d intended on doing to the man when he found him but he was sure enough that he had to move forwards. He decided to go up and pressed the button and waited.

Soon the elevator arrived and opened its doors to convey him to what he hoped was Church. But it was once the doors closed behind him that things went wrong. The elevator started going down and refused to open its doors until the elevator had passed the point where the hand marking the floors stopped at the lowest level insisting that’s where it was. Even then Callum was unsure as to whether or not he should go out, but since there was no way back up with the elevator refusing to take commands and no other door out he gripped his weapon and exited the booth.

He stepped halfway out of the elevator into what seemed to be a foundation level basement, and before him stood a tall man with a rather large bulky looking duffel slung across his shoulders. The man motioned for him to come all the way through to doors into the dark basement level. He hesitated momentarily but thought better of remaining still.

“So what the hell do you want?”

“No way to greet a stranger kid. Thought your parents would teach you better.”

“Patronizing is an ugly color.” Callum said, bitter sarcasm threaded through his words.

“Well prison pallor is a worse one. I hereby arrest you by the authority vested in me by the Escherian States Garbage Men.”

“So you’re the ones that Daniels and Church told me to look out for.”

“John Daniels and Church Sharpe will be placed under custody at a later time, you’re the top priority according to the higher ups kid.” The statement was enough to momentarily stun Callum, and it showed.

“Oh, you didn’t know that? Tisk tisk.” He wagged a finger playfully. “Well I’ve gotta bring you in now, so quietly, or loudly?” The chainsaw roared to life. “Clear.”

“I was on a tight schedule as things were so I don’t have time to play with you.” Callum glared dangerously before commencing his attack. The man calmly grabbed the blade of the chainsaw with his right hand and Callum heard the grinding of metal on metal as he finally realized the man’s entire arm was a robotic prosthetic. “Shit.”

Callum leapt back and took up a defense where he was. The man smiled and dropped the duffel to the ground with a loud metallic thump. Then he leisurely stooped, unzipped it and withdrew a large metal arm with deadly sharp claws and several other sleek adornments. Then the man grasped the stump of it with his right arm and Callum couldn’t take advantage of the opening for his shock kept him rooted as the monolithic arm slowly slithered over the prosthetic like a gigantic glove. Mere moments later the man was flexing his new razor-like fingers and looking oddly pleased with himself.

“Alright kiddo. Time to fight.” Suddenly the man’s face was deadly serious and his voice was stern and dispassionate. Callum stepped back instinctively when he felt the new aura wash over him like a cold mist, but he still kept his stance firm and kept looking forwards at his target.

“Screw you. I’ve got places to be.” Callum muttered to himself as he initiated his attack. His movements weren’t the same amateurish stumbles they once were. His gait was clipped down to the barest minimum necessary steps like a marathon runner trying to conserve energy but maintain speed. When the blades of the saw met the talons of the gauntlet Callum saw for the first time that the total length of the armor greave was over thrice the reach of his saw and the power behind it was even more impressive. Not only had the machination halted, but the blades struggled to continue revolving futilely as they were held in place by the spindly bladelike fingers that betrayed not even half their strength by their look. “Shit.”

“That’s what you’re in now kiddo.” He said casually tossing Callum back into the wall by the elevator where he’d entered. The black haired boy groaned in agony as he felt the impact and continued as he felt his body begin to give out in protest of his standing. Still he pushed past the pains and injuries and refocused himself on the target. A target that won in speed and power not to mention the element of surprise. Callum swore and dashed forwards once more, this time he stopped and hung just outside the reach of the talons by his reckoning. There he assumed a defensive position and waited for his enemy to move.

It was risky but it would definitely elicit some information that he hadn’t got beforehand. The man stared blankly at him for a second then stepped forwards with a wide swig, it wasn’t going to hit. Halfway through the swing he changed its direction and jammed his claws into the ground, Callum was thrown for a second. In that second the ground beneath him exploded throwing him along with chunks of rubble away from the mechanically armed man. “So you like it?” He asked after he saw Callum was still alive under the pile of rocks that had fallen on and around him.

“Heat.” Callum cursed.

“That’s right, this baby can superheat anything in a contiguous area of around three meters in a second, the explosion was the concrete unevenly breaking apart chemically because of the intense application of that heat.”

“So I just need to cut off that arm to beat you.”

“Easier said than done man.”

“Nope, I can do it, I’ve seen what you can do pretty well.”

“I doubt that’s true.”

“We’ll see.” Callum scoffed at the man’s confidence and ran in again. This time he didn’t attack straight off or wait to defend, he instead dodged off to the side opposite the arm and feinted from there to get him to block that way and circled behind the man to strike at the base of the arm where it still left the prosthetic unprotected. There was a sound of metal grinding as the man stopped the saw with his clawed hand again by reaching around his body and blocking from an angle impossible to imitate with a real arm.

Callum pressed the charge against the thick forearm guard hoping to at least damage it. The man quickly shoved him away revealing a faint scar on his armor. Callum frowned at the superficial damage and attacked again using a similar feint and strike maneuver to similar effect. Thought it was slow and ineffective it was all he could do to get in at least a little damage.

“You’re a quick little bugger but if applied myself a little you’d be paint on the walls. Why don’t you give up before I have to take a limb?”

“Because I don’t like you.”

“Well looks like you only want one leg.” In a flash his arm had covered the gap between them and the palm was glowing, already prepared for another superheated burst when it began to close over Callum’s leg. Callum cursed as he pulled himself free at the cost of a few deep gashes in his calve. The man took no notice of his failure and continued to slash at his opponent almost uninterestedly as the blood splattered all over the floor and support beams. Callum staggered back weakly as he felt the claws shredding his flesh and freeing rivers of blood as it did.

“Fuck.” Callum swore as he continued to attempt counterattacking as he was painfully forced back by the constant pounding and tearing of the vicious gauntlet. “If I could only get past that arm and hit him!”

“Well you can’t?” Suddenly the man’s expression had changed, he noticed now that his arm was scratched all over, small *****s that shouldn’t have made a difference seemed to strike fear into him. It was in that instant that Callum counterattacked. The man reacted but it was too late the teeth of the saw had already torn into his shoulder by the time he extricate himself. He looked at the wound for an instant to gauge his situation and sighed with relief.

“What the hell was that?” Callum asked almost mockingly but still betraying his genuine curiosity.

“Nothing.” The man retorted harshly before resuming his attack but not without additional caution, caution that allowed Callum more breathing room even if he was getting fewer chances to even strike at the arm. That was it. The arm was delicate, it was not a lock weapon and thus was bound to be an earthly material and couldn’t possibly be as strong as the saw. It made sense except that the scratches shouldn’t have alerted the man to it, it must have been something else but still if the arm is in danger then that’s the thing to attack Callum thought. Callum roared as he brought his full strength down on the bulwark or defense that the arm provided but he didn’t allow himself to be repelled, he kept the pressure on despite the fighting, struggling and flailing of his opponent.

“I knew it! You are afraid I’ll hurt this arm!”

“So what? It’ll take less to kill you than this arm!” It was an obvious bluff. His voice was tremulous and timorous, even though Callum couldn’t decipher what it was the man was now seriously afraid of something. Before Callum could reply he felt heat beneath his feet and looked down in time to watch the ground beneath him explode sending large chucks of concrete at him. Before he could even cry out in pain he saw the metallic blue arm sweep him into a support with a thud. He groaned dully and did not move.

“You scared me for a second. I never thought that there would be a lock that could beat the anima barrier on my arm, that saw just tore through it.” He sighed and made to collect his target when he felt a pulse of raw murderous intent wash over him. He froze and saw a gleam of red emerge from Callum’s now darting mad eyes. “Oh shit.”

 

You've continued with this...It's been such a long while. So...I'm guessing this is like a second season?

You know how I feel about this, and I hope you keep writing it just a bit more. What suprised me most was Callum's newfound battle experience...how'd he get better at fighting? I mean he is a just your average kid....except for the chainsaw and the devilish possesions xD.

 

First real update since I stopped writing, I'm sorta getting back into it but not really. Whatever.


Door 21: I'm Not Gonna Kill You (Yet)


Church could feel something going awry somewhere as he walked down the darkened basement halls towards the security office. It had no bearing on his situation though, nothing could mess up his plans now that he’d cleared the strongest layer of defense that the building had to offer. Finding his way to the next objective would be easy. He looked to the camera that had been following his progress down the hall. With one swift motion he slashed through the wall beneath it.

He smiled, there was a huge gash in the outer wall but underneath was a totally unharmed metallic casing that he followed all the way up to the camera. If there was one thing that was overprotected in this large base of operations it was the nervous system. All the armoring on the cameras and sensors and wires was guaranteed to lead the enemy straight to his objective rather than stopping him.

“If you go about it like that letting them take out a few surveillance systems is just as useful because at least then they don‘t get any ideas beyond hacking you, meaning you know their access point and possibly intentions without having to lift a finger or scramble any guards. But people lose their heads and make sure that if it‘s important it cannot be touched, no matter what.†Church chuckled to himself and waved to the camera as he continued periodically slashing beneath cameras to find where they all connected to the center of security systems. They knew he was coming but that wouldn’t help.

Security office heads, when confined to a hotel or any other concealed base, no matter how powerful the security won’t be able to do a thing if attacked directly, they‘re usually just analysts with a security detail, some handguns, and one way in and out. A good place to hole yourself up in if your enemy can’t get in without taking some shots, a horrible thing if your enemy is stronger than you. A lock weapon like the Copper Scythe would negate the advantages of the guns in a confined space where he could easily kill everyone in a single sweep before a single gun was fired. They’d be sure to know this after his playful warning.

Just on schedule the grey halls were filled with the clatter of feet. Reinforcements. Guard the nerve center, without communication you fall apart. That’s a cardinal rule in tactics and warfare, but it was exactly what Church needed, people who consistently followed the rules and did everything right. He smiled confidently and continued walking to the end of the hall. Even in the dim flickering fluorescent lights he could clearly read the numbers by the doors.

“B051.†He smirked and unlocked the door. Just as predicted, it led to an oasis in the desert, settled mainly by travelers and supported by an underground river. It was just a stopping off point, but he’d learned about all of the places he’d have to go for this job. “Next room is KN201.†He walked off slowly following the path he’d mapped out moths ahead of time. He’d been foiled long enough, this was his victory, he could practically taste it in the arid air around him.

---

“What the hell is this?†The man struggled to keep up with his opponent’s newly discovered speed. The blows rained down on him as he Dashed back trying to find a place to escape and reformulate his strategy. Suddenly he was clear of danger and Callum was standing stark still with his hands at his sides huffing and puffing.

He’d finally run out of steam, no one could keep up that level of strength and speed against a specially designed robotic arm like that. Especially with his show before, whatever the trick was, the game was up and his target was going down. The man sighed in relief and began the firs step his counterattack when he heard a maniacal laughter erupt from Callum’s lungs.

“Kill. Kill! KILL!†He bellowed suddenly jubilant once more and halfway across the large gap he’d created before.

“You’re a monster. No wonder they want you. But I don’t think I can stop you without killing you.†The man said as he sighed in resignation. Then he attacked. A gigantic swing arced across the gap and came crashing down on the crazed Callum. It had no effect, the black haired boy stood tall beneath the arm with his shoulder cracking as it pressed down on him. “Numb to pain?†Suddenly, he released an eerie blood curdling cackle. Before the man could even make a second move he felt a piercing pain run up his organic arm. Callum was standing next to him grinning broadly dragging a trail of the man’s own blood through the air as he stood, relaxed as if he were sleeping on his feet, until he began screaming.

“Rip, tear, kill. Rip. Tear. Kill!â€

“Bastard’s faster than I thought.†The man grit his teeth and continued the fight even with his arms getting torn up steadily more and more. “But how does he get stronger the longer we fight?†Pain shot up his arm again. He was being shredded slowly on purpose. He could tell from the grin that Callum wore that he was enjoying himself more than a kid in a candy store. They crashed together in a rain of sparks, the chainsaw burying its teeth into the arm as they both pressed forwards.

“You’ve lost your brains with that sensitivity to pain.†The man shouted as he cleared Callum’s blade and activated his arm’s heat generator with his target the air just between them. Even in his half crazed state Callum took notice of the light as a threat like and animal in headlights but it was far too late for him to evade or counter if he‘d the presence of mind to, he was dead for sure.

At least that’s what the man with the mechanical arm had thought until his saw a shadow pass behind his opponent just as his shot discharged and blinded him with the light of the plasma momentarily. Then came the voice, the nonchalant yet still menacing female voice.

“Damn. I never thought I’d be saving this man’s sorry ass after I vowed to kill him, but I’m the one who’s going to do that, not you.†The girl’s voice rang out from behind the cloud of dust kicked up by the blast and Callum’s crumpled form. When the cloud finally dispersed he could see her holding one of his arms and that she had dragged him away from the man’s attack just in time to save him from more than some first degree burns. At least the boy was now unconscious, he’d only have one enemy to deal with and he wouldn’t have to destroy the target after all. The man smiled at his good fortune.

“Who the hell are you?†He asked still unsure as to how to deal with the girl wearing a school uniform before him.

“I only give my name out to people who I’ve chosen to kill.†She proclaimed tossing aside Callum’s arm and readying her key.

“I’m Henry Bishops then, now prepare yourself.†The man smirked as he flourished his giant arm and claws.

“If you insist. Hiko Kanna is coming to kill you.†She said plunging the key into the lock and unleashing her glaive.

“Another lock user.†He scoffed. His weapon was weak against the saw that absorbed anima but there wasn’t another effect he could think of that would break through his shield again. The two came together in a furious melee of blades clashing but it was over as soon as it had begun. The familiar glow of the arm preparing to fire revealed itself in close quarters once again. Kanna swore but managed to redirect the man’s arm as it closed in on her sending the plasma ball harmlessly into the air above them and cleared a space for her own counterattack.

She had nearly made contact when the air returning to the vacuum forced her back into the fray and with an inhuman recovery from the block and an equally impossible lunging maneuver the man attacked. The two glared at each other, they were closely matched as things stood. Kanna changed her grip on her long halberd and rushed in again, this time only as a feint to take the man’s back and attack from his blind spot. Another counter from the mechanical arm. They finally broke apart after several more clashes.

“I’ll give you this much, for a girl your age you have some good moves and the fact that you can divert my arm’s attacks makes you all the more impressive however when it comes to range I still have the advantage and when it comes to tactics…†He quickly jammed his arm into the ground causing a huge explosion between the two forcing Kanna to jump back, just what Henry Bishops had waited for. Without missing a step he threw an uppercut at her that she barely managed to block in midair but it sent her higher up. With a maniacal grin Bishops used his arm to launch himself back into the air against the now defenseless girl. “I rule the sky.â€

“Sorry, but I’m going to have to interrupt another fight.†Callum said as the blades of Bishops’s arm dug into his ribs.

“You idiot!†Bishops shouted tearing his claws free as the three landed. “How am I supposed to bring you back if--â€

“You’re still fighting me.†Kanna bellowed taking a swing at him as Callum fell to the ground with a pronounced thump.

“You bitch! Get away from me!†The man bellowed as she blacked and forced her away.

“No!†She practically screamed. “Either you back off and let me deal with him or you let him bleed to death while you fight me!†Bishops grit his teeth and then spoke.

“Don’t think I’m letting you off for this, but the objective is to capture him alive. Since you seem to want to kill him in a fight I’ll leave him to you until you plan on killing him.†He sighed irascibly. “Until then Hiko Kanna our fight is postponed.â€

“Whatever, he’ll be dead before I leave this room.†Kanna shouted at the retreating man.

“I’ll just have to take that chance.†Bishops said before boarding the elevator and disappearing.

“You’re an idiot.†Kanna said to Callum as she stripped off his shirt and stanched his wounds with a hastily prepared bandage made from it.

“I couldn’t just let you die before you got to kill me right? Try being a little grateful.†He whispered through a series of barely stifled coughs.

“I need a doctor.†Kanna bit her lip as she watched her makeshift bandage quickly soak through with blood.

“Ka…†Was the last thing Callum said before passing out.

“What the hell is that?â€

---

“Hello there Mr. Walsh.†Church smiled broadly as he entered the tastefully adorned office through the heavy oak doors at one end. The man he was speaking to stood opposite Church looking out the immense window that led out onto a veranda.

“I suppose you’re here to kill me.†Walsh responded with a chuckle.

“You’ve supposed many things over the years as a tactical analyst.†Church said wagging his finger and advancing.

“You mean I’m wrong?†Walsh said turning to face Church, who instantly reacted to the tell.

“I mean that you obviously saw this coming.†Church smiled as he struck down an oncoming projectile and threw his scythe into the wall where it came from making a squelching noise both upon entry and when the effeminate man ripped it from the wall spraying blood all over the carpets. “And you thought of several ways to stop me from killing you. But I’ll tell you this, I’ve already got what I want. The contents of a certain safe you are in possession of.†Church paused to watch his prey squirm momentarily. But it wasn’t time for him to die yet, he had to live on a little longer to complete his mission. “What? Nothing to say? Do you want to kill me now? I’m sure you do, I’ll give you a free shot if you want.â€

“You’ll dodge anything a neophyte such as myself could throw at you.†Walsh laughed haughtily in response.

“Well isn’t that the point?†Church laughed. Then it struck him, just how to break Walsh, the man who had won every battle he’d ever planned. When his laughter faded he let his menacing smile return and he advanced, slowly.

“I do not know what your purpose in betraying the government and stealing from all of your former associates is, nor do I know what you intend to do to me now that you’ve got my most valuable possession.†Walsh stepped back, he was threatened by the move. This made Church grin all the more broadly.

“I intend on letting you live, letting you see me take away what you guarded with everything you had. I intend on winning.†Church finally said leaning in close, close enough for the man to count his teeth, to smell his breath, to feel the vibration of his words, to understand his defeat.

“Why?†The man said defiantly.

“Because I lost before. This is my vindication. Simplicity in action.†Church said, letting his words roll out of his mouth with luxurious slowness.

“Lost what?â€

“Now that is classified information.†Church whispered into the man’s ear breathing slowly over the motionless figure. “I’ll take my leave now.†Church said as he left without leaving a single scratch or drop of blood on his target. “If you want that pride of yours back you’ll have to go back and take it from me of yesteryear because you won’t get anything from the me now.â€

“Your life is enough.†The man suddenly proclaimed.

“Too slow!†Church howled as he cut down the assassins from above. There were more, at least forty more stood between him and the door now. “Fuck! I thought you’d have something better than this, you already know I escaped from a fifty man trained security detail in Guardian. You think this is enough?!â€

“We shall see.†Walsh said with triumphant air to his voice.

“Good! Bring it all on! Watch your best break like the waves upon stone!†Church said as he charged straight for the exit his eyes glinting madly.

---

Callum thought he was dead when he first realized he‘d passed out, but when realized he thinking he decided he couldn‘t be dead. Then a voice called him abruptly from his slumber. “Wake up.†It was Kanna, he’d recognize the voice anywhere. He’d jumped between her and that man with the claws. That should have killed him shouldn’t it have? He groaned. “I know your alive, now get up.â€

“I’m up.†He said groggily without moving or even opening his eyes. Kanna responded by poking him and watching him wriggle a little and opened his eyes. She was sitting next to him with her head leaned over so as to look directly at his face and he was lying down facing the early morning sky, that’s all Callum could tell with his limited ability to move even his eyes around without feeling sick.

“Good.†She said, more at his movement than his answer.

“I’m glad you’re safe.†Callum practically whispered as he tried to no effect to move himself to the sitting position.

“Wake up.†She said, punching him in the arm.

“I’m up.†He insisted.

“Then quit dreaming of stupid things.†She said frowning at him.

“Fine-- where are we?†Wherever it was, it was grassy and a cool breeze blew over them, probably a hill somewhere.

“Right outside The Strip. I found a doctor a few floors up who treated you so you can‘t say I never did anything for you.†Kanna explained as if in anticipation of the next reflexive question he’d ask.

“You helped me in Ares.†He responded, smiling weakly as he did so.

“I still intend on killing you.†Kanna assured him as she ran a hand through her hair, it was slightly longer than before. She also had bags under her eyes and her uniform still had his blood all over it.

“That’s okay. I owe it to you.†Callum answered resolutely.

“Ie to kill the other girl first.†She said to clarify her intent.

“Why?â€

“I promised that to myself. Now get better quickly so I can kill you.â€

“Understood.†Callum nodded as best he could which ended up being a sort of twitching motion.

“Since you are awake I’m leaving you. So don’t die before I kill you.†In an instant she was on her feet and walking away from the immobile boy.

“Kanna.†He called after her as well as he could.

“What?†She turned and looked at him, with something that resembled pity in her eyes.

“It’s nothing, I’m sorry.†Callum shook his head and smiled.

“Seeya around.†She waved vaguely and then she was gone.





No proofreading done, so tell me if you see anything. CnC is next to cleanliness.

 

I'm not sure why everyone is so turned off to commenting on anything I post but whatever. I apparently do have some readers, or did at one point so I'll keep on slogging it out in total uncertainty until someone has anything to say. That's all for now. Enjoy or don't enjoy if that's what you'd rather do since I'm not one to dictate the lives of others.


Door 22: When in Rome Do as Pirates Do

“That was pretty intriguing, if I have that power then even if he does use that form again I’ll be just fine.” Daniels smiled to himself as he locked his weapons up beneath his bandanna and glanced at the door that Church and Callum had left through nearly three hours ago. “So Cyril, I won’t keep the map key so you’ll have to lock it yourself remember?”

“I’m not that old yet John.” Cyril replied bitterly. Then he jabbed his finger at the door and said, “Now go.” Daniels stared at him for a second, then resumed smiling to himself and made his way to the door.

“Alright alright.” With the key in the lock and only a turn of the knob to go Daniels gave a confident wave and in that same instant he was through the door.

The world on the other side smelt of the sea. It was dark, dusty, smoky and musty all at the same time where Daniels stepped in through the double door. But he didn’t have time to process all of this before a cannonball zoomed through the wall directly to his right and sailed through the far left wall as well. The first thing he got straight was that cannonballs meant he was in an old world. The second was that he wasn’t on a boat. There was no rocking to be spoken of and the stairs immediately before him were clearly those of a once grand mansion.

Where the cannonball had entered there a shaft of pale yellow sunlight had followed. Daniels stooped slightly to get a direct view through the jagged hole and saw a rocky shoreline fade into waters of a light southern blue shade. He searched through his mind for a matching world for several moments as he peered. He’d never been to one. It was clearly a seventeenth and eighteenth century type feel that he got from the place but he was unsure as to exactly where he was or what he was to do with his situation. Just as he pondered his options cries broke out on the lower floor.

For once, since his fight with Callum, Daniels felt it was something he could deal with relatively easily: pirates. A gaggle of motley men hopped, leaped, and stumbled into the entrance hall through the freshly splintered doors. It was a shame Daniels thought as the doors had been quite exquisite not ten seconds earlier. Drawing a gun from its lock he sighed and took aim with a leisurely air that was only complete with the shot that popped the lead man’s blunderbuss straight out of his hand with his eyes closed. Daniels smiled as the men looked around in frantic bemusement.

“Oi! I’m up here.” Daniels pointed out just after his second and third shots disarmed the other two. “Oh, don’t look so amazed, I just can’t have you shooting at me.” They remained silent. “If you’re not going to be cooperative I’m going to see how many fingers you can live without.” Daniels drew his second pistol and aimed it at the man who had begun inching towards his felled gun. “Now tell me, where am I?”
“The Wellington Manor.” One said stupidly.

“Less specificity if you don’t mind.”

“Fort Lionel.” Said the next.

“Again, too specific. I just need more a general area. These townie names mean nothing to me.”

“If that be the case there then you’ll be standing in the southern quarter of the Triangle.” Said the leader, or at least the one Daniels assumed should be the leader.

“Thanks then lads, I really must be off with myself if that’s so.” Daniels waved genially and leaped straight over the railing to the floor below and sprinted past the bewildered men. The brown coated man glanced back to see if they followed but saw nothing as he rocketed down the cobbles towards the town.

Everywhere he looked it was about the same as it was in the manor. Bits of wall were blown out and pirates were running wild over everything. Daniels stayed hidden to the best of his ability and slowly followed after the men carrying the loot from the town presumably back to their ship. Although he knew it would be easiest to simply find another world closer to the core and start his search there he’d always wanted to fight a pirate. So on he snuck with a joyful grin plastered on his face. The men he happened to follow were carrying a chest of some sort, from a private residence it seemed by the look of it. Daniels looked over his should and up at the roofs before following them around each corner they turned. An unnecessary number of them in Daniels’s opinion. Maybe they were onto him despite their stupid faces.

Daniels shrugged it off, common brigands couldn’t do a thing to him anyways. Numbers only gave the illusion of strength by covering it up with endurance. Daniels smirked when they finally rounded a corner that led to the harbor. A decent sized port this Fort Lionel was. But it was certainly eclipsed in excellence by the most ostentations ship Daniels had ever laid eyes upon.

The pirates made a bee line for it too, the ship with three flags going around the same mast that reached up three times the height of an ordinary one. Three maidens adorned the prow of the ship rather than one. In fact if there was one of it on a normal ship there was three of it on this one. Three cannon galleries, three above deck stages, and three times as many sails. This was not to mention the blood red, forest green and navy blue coloring of the ships hull. To say it was simply strange would be to understate it’s oddity, but no other word came into Daniels’ mind until he heard a gun cock behind his head.

“Ahoy there matey.” The brown coated man said raising his hands unthreateningly.

“So what’s a cowboy like you doing out here in the Triangle?” The man’s speech was slow and made nearly incomprehensible with slurring.

“Came here for the waters?” Daniels laughed.

“The waters that have sunk more sailors than there are stars in the sky?” The man said, he was probably trying to sound threatening or ominous but the slurs and stumbles that plagued his speech completely destroyed any atmosphere he could have built up.

“I’m a challenge fiend.” Daniels replied with a shrug that shifted his coat enough to make his knife accessible. He was sure it wouldn’t be necessary but he wasn’t going to go in with a killer without a backup plan.

“I’m taking you to the captain.” The man said abruptly and shoved Daniels forwards. He was probably confused with the blonde man’s phlegmatic behavior.

“Actually, he’s the one that I wanted to see, you see?”

“Walk.” The man barked gruffly.

“Got it, I like walking anyways.” Daniels chuckled.

“Quiet.” The pirate ordered with a sharp crescendo in his voice.

“Okay, I can be quiet. In fact, once in school I was totally laconic.”

“I said quiet!” The man reminded him with a shove to the back of his head with what Daniels now judged to be a flintlock pistol from the feel of it’s muzzle and the smell of its metal and powder. Nothing to worry about at a hundred feet. Daniels sighed and walked on silently. The sounds of fighting had died down and given way to the sounds of tumultuous retreat.

The pirates had either been beaten back, or more likely they had taken what they could and a signal for backup had somehow been sent by the fort. It didn’t matter either way to Daniels, in fact it was probably better to fight out at sea where no one from the Escherian government could find him.

Moments later Daniels was jostled, shoved, pushed, and otherwise manhandled onto the ship at the same time as the dozens of crewmen all tried to do the same with all of their luggage. After what seemed like hours of having his face rubbed in the sweat, brine and assorted filth of the crew Daniels had cooled to the idea of being on the ship at all, but it was too late to turn back by then.

“I’m taking you to the captain.” The man repeated. Suddenly there was an outburst from the only clean man on board or, more accurately, a continuous inundation of shouts and obscenities. Daniels took one look at him and knew he was the captain.

“Oi! You lazy shits get a move on, we can’t have the garbage men on our asses now can we, you filthy little ingrates!” The captain was wearing the traditional pirate’s garb. An eye patch, a puffy shirt and vest under a dark seaman’s coat, a bandanna under a squashed hat, sailors boots, heavy belts of weapons and gear, and the whole works. The was until he threw his hat at a passing crewman that was moving too slow for him. This sudden movement revealed the captain as nothing more than a dark haired adolescent boy of a slightly petite build given his profession.

“You deaf, blind, stupid, and slow?! Get your ass below and get us underway before I slit every last one of your throats!” There was a mass increase in the amount of shuffling and bustling on board. Apparently, as young and clean as this boy was they respected him or at least feared him.

“Hey you!” The man holding Daniels looked up at the sword pointed at his face as the Captain shouted at the man that had brought him aboard. “Yeah, you, shitface? What’s that?”

“I’m not a what, I’m a who.” Daniels chimed in with a congenial smile.

“Speak up crewman!” The captain bellowed even louder than before.

“He’s a guy I found.” The crewman replied sheepishly.

“You into men or something!? I don’t have time to waste with this cowboy--yeah, a cowboy--now fucking throw him fucking over-fucking-board now!”

“Hey, hey, hey. Aren’t you being a mite tad bit too hasty there Cap’n?”

“Quit dicking around and get to work all of you!” The boy shouted before turning back to Daniels. “You think because your taller than me you can treat me like a kid? Eh?!”

“No disrespect meant. I’m just a dude with a plan which doesn’t include my sinking to the bottom of the sea. If you‘ve got other plans I‘m sure we‘ll find a way to reconcile them, right?” Daniels said resting a hand on his gun. Suddenly the boy smiled and clapped Daniels on the back.

“I like this guy! He’s not the groveling type like the majority of you lot! What’s your name my interesting fellow?” The Captain was a lot like Callum Daniels thought as he looked down at the half of the jubilant face that wasn’t covered by a mop of dark hair and an eye patch. He was the polar opposite of the boy but at the same time something about him gave him a familiar feeling.

“John Daniels.”

“Nice to meetcha! I’m captain Davies Johnson! The crew‘s taken to calling me Davy Jones though! Yeah, I know what you insignificant little shits call me behind my back!” He shouted to the crew, who promptly made themselves as scarce as they could while still performing their duties. “They know I could kill the lot of them in my sleep, literally!” He burst into laughter.

“Well, I’m not really such an interesting person but I have happened to find myself in the Triangle and like they say: When in Rome act as Romans do.” Daniels chuckled in turn.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about mate! So long as you’re here you’ll be treated as my second first mate, and one of the only people in this crew that’s worth his mettle. Now head over there I’ve got some shit to do. First first mate! Take second first mate to my offices!”

“Yessir Captain!” If the Captain was the only clean man on the ship this was the closest second. A wizened veteran that could have been anywhere from his thirties to fifties served as the crew’s first mate. Of all of the crewmen he was the only one with almost no fear in his eyes when addressed by the Captain. He had a slightly disheveled look but he still didn’t look at all squalid. Daniels decided to attribute that much to the raggedness of all of his clothes and the high probability that he’d neither bathed nor actually done any work for some time.

“I‘ll see you two in half a tic!” Davies yelled before turning his attention to a chest that just wouldn’t open and the ineptitude of his men that were attempting to remedy the situation with a series of clumsy kicks. As he busied himself with that the first mate motioned for Daniels to follow him. With half a moment’s hesitation Daniels complied. The two passed through a peacock colored door that led into a gaudy drawing room that obviously couldn’t have fit into the ship given the outside dimensions.

“So what kinda ship is this?” Daniels asked already half knowing the answer that awaited him.

“Tripoli Galleon is my lock, that’s why I’m first mate. All I do is supply the necessary anima to run the craft and I get the best of everything from the Captain.” The man said almost proudly as he led Daniels through another door into what Daniels assumed were the Captains offices. The only things around were wardrobes and trunks bursting at the seams with repetitions of the same outfit Davies was currently wearing, swords and guns scattered about everywhere with no seeming order or purpose. “You’ve either got guts or a death wish if you challenge that man.” The first mate said after seeing Daniels’ perplexed expression.

“Oh? He’s strong?” Daniels asked as he took a seat on top of an overturned trunk as his counterpart had.

“Davy Jones isn’t just what we call him. It’s a title awarded him by the Escherian government for all of the damage he’s caused, mate.” The man said proudly.

“That’s impressive, sounds like he’s a Round level at least then.” Daniels commented as he picked up a gun and examined its design closely.

“On the sea it’d take at least two Rounds to beat him.” Said the first mate without a drop in the pride in his voice.

“Now I’m all jittery, being around such a strong guy. I’m a fighter myself so whenever I’m around people that good I can’t help but get excited.” Daniels explained as he placed the gun back down and began fiddling with his own.

“Forget about it. Strato Vercingetorix is the only guy I’d ever place above the Captain offhand and he’s an old man by now.”

“Yeah, probably quite a bit weaker than even ten years ago.”

“A good Round could probably do him now.” The man laughed as he withdrew a flask of liquor and took a swig of it. He tacitly offered Daniels the flask but was answered with the now empty flask that Daniels still carried around.

“I wish I could see him fight at least once though.” Daniels replied, hardly able to contain his own amusement.

“Doesn’t everybody, mate?” The man took another swig as he spoke.

“Suppose so…” Daniels trailed off. Just when the conversation seemed to have died the captain entered shouting back to the crew through the drawing room.

“--and get back to work and I’ll kill you!”

“It’s ‘or’ Captain.” His first mate corrected him.

“Or! Or I’ll kill you! Is that clear you filthy little maggots?!” Davies slammed the door and all that could be heard was a general grumble from outside. Once completely inside his offices Davies softened slightly.

“Alright you two! Daniels is gonna be a passenger for a bit so let’s get things straight. He’ll be staying in your quarters Drake so take care of him like he‘s your new subordinate!”

“Clear captain.” The man made a halfhearted attempt at saluting then dropped back to his seat.

“Now let’s get our new friend to the mess hall--” Davies continued to speak warmly and went so far as clapping Daniels on the shoulder again when the brown coated man brushed his hand off.

“Sounds great but since we’re acting like friends and all I wonder why you sent the order to call the garbage men for a pick up?” Daniels smiled knowingly but the friendliness had already left his manner.

“Smart as a whip this one! Such astuteness is what gets you killed faster out here Lock Hunter!” Davies shouted half to his first mate and half to the rest of the crew who had to be listening from just a room away. “It really is a shame to kill you but it’s the only thing that will get those tyrants off our asses for a while!”

“I had changed my mind about fighting you, but now that you’ve turned on me I don’t see much else I can do.” Daniels sighed regretfully.

“We don’t fight fair out here mate! It’s you against the whole crew not to mention me!” Davies howled with laughter as he spoke.

“I challenge you to a duel then. Accept it one on one if you’re not a coward.” Daniels replied sharply as he drew forth both of his guns. He aimed one at Davies and used the other to push up the brim of his hat. “You aren’t a coward are you Davies?”

“Whatever, the warrant says alive. I’m the only one with the finesse to beat you just within that last inch of your life anyways.” Daniels smirked as Davies boasted.

“Good.” Davies walked out onto the deck and motioned for Daniels to follow. When the two walked out the crowd of listening crewmembers parted and scurried to places with cover, some even fled below deck. Suddenly the captain threw his coat down and excess arms down and placed his hand on the hilt of a cutlass.

“Just don‘t expect me to hold back more than I have to.”

 

I finally got around to reading this, and I must say that these chapters were really good. More is needed. This is too amazing, if not a bit cliche. Though, I think it's executed in near perfection.

Now I wonder what will happen...though, this reminds me of an anime, a very popular one.

 

Please enlighten me. I don't see any popular anime in this. Maybe I've just had it in my head so long that I can no longer distinguish. Either way I'm glad to have a happy replier, tell your friends and put in a good word for me will you dear?







Extra Door 22: Bishop to E-7

The man that walked the halls of the Escherian detention center stood with a powerful posture that made everything else around him seem smaller. That was not to mention his natural height and rugged features. As he walked his steps echoed in the dimly lit hallways against the institutional blue walls and floors until he stopped in front of the one source of pure white light for what seemed to be miles in the cave-like atmosphere. Before him stood a window and a woman. The woman was sitting at a desk behind the window with a slightly bored expression on her face until she noticed the tall man before her.

“Warden Dean.”

“Major Weiss, sir!” Dean almost tripped over herself as she shot to her feet to greet the Major. He was intimidating in his dark blue uniform with gold detailing and medals lining his chest. The warden herself felt somewhat under dressed in her normal work clothes and almost blushed, but was saved when the man spoke again and distracted her from her own thoughts.

“At ease, I’m looking for a man. Bishops was his name I believe.” The Major said genially as was possible with his rough voice and form.

“If I am not out of line, may I ask why?” Dean asked without thinking. She kicked herself for it the second the words had passed her lips.

“Of course you may. The report I received indicates that he allowed the aberration to escape. As his direct superior I’m deeply disappointed in his performance and have come to discipline him personally. You understand my needs do you not Warden?” He said warmly.

“Of course, sir. I’ll take you straight to him.” Dean responded as she removed herself from her office and bowed slightly to the Major as she looked through a checklist of detainees. Bishops had been asked for only a few hours ago Dean remembered as she looked over the chart. She wondered why he was there but quickly put it out of her mind as she hurried on ahead of the waiting Major to lead him to Bishops.

“Good, good. You see, my subordinates’ actions are a direct reflection of me, if I allow failure in them I allow myself to fail. Isn’t that right Pandora?” The Major looked down at the girl who had been trailing him since he entered the halls of the detention facility. She couldn’t have been more than thirteen or fourteen by the looks of her.

Dark hair cut to a conservative curtain reaching only just to her chin with bangs evenly clipped across her forehead, dark uniform with black detailing around the pockets and sleeves and an equally conservative cap and skirt, dark eyes that looked nowhere but right in front of her. No badges, honors, or medals adorned her plain bicolor uniform. Everything about her seemed very regimented and manufactured, controlled and deliberate.

“Sir.” She stopped briefly to salute the still walking Major and quickened her pace a calculated amount to catch back up to him when she followed. Dean glanced back at the two that followed her but quickly turned back when she saw them speaking to each other and tried to prevent herself from hearing as if it were rude of her to do so.

“That’s why I sent your brother Cuan Aillén ahead to ready our subject.” The Major said with an avuncular tone.

“Sir.” Pandora responded with another short salute. The Major wanted to smile but he knew better than to be too familiar with his subordinates, one day he might be ordering another officer to put down Pandora and Cuan Aillén. Things changed very quickly within the government and even more quickly in the Service.

“Sir! We have arrived.” Sure enough outside of the cell that they had been brought to there stood a boy of almost identical appearance to Pandora’s. Though, he stood several inches taller and sported a closer cropped hairstyle and wore a pair of shorts rather than matching his sister’s skirt.

The greatest difference between the two however was the look in their eyes. Pandora was blank and clearly observed only what she was ordered to, she had the eyes of a tool, an ideal soldier. Cuan never stopped watching, watching everything that could fall out of his favor and everything that could fall into it. He had the eyes of an inveterate tactician and a thinker.

“Major Weiss, sir. I’ve determined the condition of our objective, it will be fine to take him as he is.” Cuan said dully without looking straight at his superior.

“May we?” The Major asked.

“Yes sir.” Dean replied deferentially as she fumbled with her passkey to open the door between Bishops and his party.

“You two, bring him here, we’ll be moving to more suitable chambers momentarily.”

“Sir.” They both chimed in. The Major felt like smiling again, but again he held back. Especially that Cuan fellow was dangerous to be around even for a superior officer. In seconds they brought out the battered form of Henry Bishops. Hardly the shape he’d left them in, most notably he was missing his prosthetic arm.

“Alright then, we’re going now.” The Major held out a closed hand and drew a few signs in the air with his index finger before dropping a silver watch on a chain that extended nearly to the ground. In a moment a circle of light lit up around them and in a series of digitized pulses the four people disappeared from the Warden’s sight.

-

Bishops awoke to find himself seated in a metal chair with his arm bound tightly to him and a light shining in his face so that he could barely see the Major looking at him curiously. It all quickly came together for him though. He’d failed and the Major was now going to execute him.

“Henry. Do you know why you were brought in?” The Major asked him patiently.

“For going off mission after failure sir.” The defeated man replied without moving or trying to escape the glare of the lamp.

“Correct. Why did you do that?” The Major asked him without changing his tone or expression.

“The objective was dying and needed immediate medical attention sir.” Bishops replied with painful humiliation and mortality burning at his throat and chest.
“Why did you not just bring him in?” The Major asked in reply.

“There was a girl there who was on par with me in fighting. No, she was a little better. She was a lock user sir.” Bishops recounted even though he was sure that the Major was already aware of all that he was saying.

“You were too weak then?” The Major had finally gotten around to his point Bishops thought. He was now no longer worthy of working under the Major and was going to die as a result of his failure.

“Yes sir.” He answered agonizingly slowly.

“Even after you were granted the power of the future you were too weak to take a single girl?” The Major turned away from Bishops and floated around invisible in the darkness.

“Yes sir.” He continued to answer to the man he knew was watching.

“I am that weak as well then.” The Major finally said from the darkness.

“Sir.” Bishops wanted to say more, but that would be out of line, even more reason to kill him.

“I am reflected in the performance of my subordinates. A failure on your behalf is a failure on mine, your weakness is my weakness. You understand this?” The Major leaned back into the light and examined Bishops’ face.

“Of course sir.” He could feel the breath of the Major, it was colder than the air around them and caused his hairs to stand on end.

“Now it would be standard procedure to allow you straight back into the field once your injuries are healed. However I am granted certain privileges with my position and I can choose to terminate you if you are unacceptable as a member of my personal task force. You understand?” The Major returned to his place just behind the light and continued to cross examine Bishops.

“Of course sir.

“Now I’m willing to give you the opportunity to redeem yourself. If you choose not to take it then your life will be forfeit, if you choose to take it and fail your life will also be forfeit, and if you choose to take it and succeed then you will be free to choose your own outcome within certain limitations. You will have a day to think it over. You are dismissed.” Bishops felt the ropes around him loosen and then totally vanish. Rubbing his side where it had been particularly painful he stood to face the Major. He was several inches too short to see him eye to eye but he stared at him for a time before either one of them moved.

“Sir. If I may ask of you one thing sir.” Bishops requested carefully choosing his words before he used them.

“What would it be?” The Major asked, knowing the answer.

“Even if I lose and you kill me, I’d like it if you limit it to that much. Just tell Henrietta that I died in the chainsaw man mission sir.” Pleaded Bishops. He was clearly trying to keep his emotions out of it but when it came down to it he couldn’t leave a loose end like that, he cared too much. That was what had made him a useful operative but at the same time it couldn’t help but seem superfluous in and of itself.

“I’ll do that much. You have my word as your superior.” He finally said.

“Thank you. So tomorrow I can give you my decision sir?” Bishops was a curious man, always trying to keep himself in the right position no matter how bleak things were. The Major wanted to sigh but that would be enough to show his intent, instead he merely answered.

“Yes.”

“I’ll sleep on it then sir.” Bishops stated finally as he allowed himself to be led out to his temporary lodgings.

“Obedient to the bitter end, that’s perfect. I’d let him stay in if he lost personally but I wouldn’t say that Dora and Cuan would leave enough left for me to do that.”

-

“I’ve decided. I am going to take this opportunity you present me with sir." Bishops was standing before the Major again. This time twelve hours had passed and the lighting had improved. The area was an empty rectangular prism with sheer walls only broken by the entrances and exits on each wall.

“I see. Come forward Pandora, Cuan." The Major waved a hand and the two seemed to materialize from nowhere. "If you can defeat either of these two in a match against both of them simultaneously you win.”

“Sir.” Bishops nodded as he changed his stance for battle. Suddenly the Major held up a hand and stopped him. Beside the Major sat a familiar dark bag.

“I’ll give this back to you to make things fair.” The Major said throwing over the duffel that contained Bishops’ claw.

“Thank you sir.” Without hesitation Bishops struck. The flash of light before the Major’s eyes blinded him for a moment but he already knew the outcome. When the light died Bishops’ confused voice could be heard. “What?! What is this?” He was contained in a cube only noticeable from a distance due to the faint greenish glow that flowed lazily along each edge and continued out just a bit further as if to assure its completeness. Immediately Bishops knew he was trapped and cursed himself for his carelessness. It was only when he’d refocused himself that he noticed the boy Cuan holding his hands up as if to frame the box around him. That was his power it seemed.

“Capture complete.” Said the boy.

“Commencing erasure.” His sister replied. Almost simultaneously the cage dissolved and there was a flash of light not unlike a large explosion that Bishops only just managed to counter with his own plasma burst. At first Bishops thought she’d barely moved but just at the instant she attacked he could clearly see it as he played it back in his memory. The explosion of force that had nearly killed him was just from that little girl taking one step.

“Not gonna go down that easy kids!” He cackled madly as he darted back towards the two.

“His speed it twenty percent above projections, adjust accordingly.” Cuan began forming another cage but it was predicable this time wherever his hands went a cage would form based on this it was possible to dodge if the are he was entrapping remained small enough. “Recapturing now.”

“Goddamn these two are good.” Bishops thought to himself as he dodged in and out of the shocks from the little girl and the barriers from her brother. She was strong and fast but inaccurate with her attacks and her power dissipated with range. But Bishops couldn’t keep his distance because it would mean falling into an easier range for the boy to catch him in. There was no safe range to hide in against these two, it was either outdo them in speed and power completely or fail completely. With that thought in mind he steeled his will and took the plunge straight into the fray.