Dmitri chuckled. “Fair enough, shall we resume?”
I shook my head. “One, do I even get a choice? Fight you or surrender. Two, can’t I just make my jolly way downstairs, get my friend out of here, and go about my jolly damn business. I’m trying to save the world, your world and mine, from these demons, y’know.”
Now it wasn’t just a chuckled. Dmitri was fully laughing. “The solution to that is simple enough. Just nuke them all, like the government wants.”
I glared at him. “You do not know anything about demonology. If you did, then you would know that that solution is highly impractical and impossible. The demons would just multiply by the thousands if we just started firing nukes left and right. Not to mention the mass amounts of radiation it would produce throughout both of our planets.”
“You speak of both of our planets, and the only one I’m aware of besides mine is Calsh. Are you a Calshian?”
Crap. These guys were a lot less informed than I had thought. “What the hell makes you think I am of Calsh? There are plenty of planets out there besides those two petty ones.”
“If Earth is petty, why save it? Earth and Calsh have a direct link to one another, it would make sense that you are from Calsh. I knew that if you weren’t of the Earth then you were definitely of Calsh. You do not need to lie to me.”
“Why not? Are you going to say something stupid like that you are my friend?” I took a step toward him in mock outrage. I could use this debate to my advantage. I needed to get closer, to be able to attack.
Dmitri replied likewise and stepped toward me as he continued, fist thrown to a side in emphasis. “Right now, yes! We want similar things. If you would just stop helping the damn government, then we wouldn’t be fighting. Your friends would be safe downstairs!”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about what you want. I have my orders, and my orders do not care if you live or die. My orders only care about what they say.”
“Oh and what is that, pray tell.” Dmitri threw up his hands and paced around before glaring at me, waiting for my reply.
“You really think I am foolish enough to fall for such a ploy? You really are thicker than I had expected.”
Natural defense mechanism two: pissing people off so much that they fight like an idiot.
Dmitri lunged for me again, but this time it was out of rage. Never fight out of rage, you make stupid mistakes.
I literally stepped toward the side, grabbed his fist as it flew past my ear, used his own momentum to twist his arm around and bring him to his knees.
“Now who is the fool?” I quietly asked him as I heard the rushed footsteps behind me. I’m sure if I decided to turn around I would see four men with guns aimed at me as I held their leader to the floor on his knees.
“You,” Dmitri whispered back. He started laughing, and didn’t stop. I looked down at him a bit worried, and hoped he wasn’t contagious.
I looked over my shoulder at the men standing there. “English?” I asked, not really caring about the reply. All they did was aim their guns even better at me. They were sighting down the barrels, probably about to shoot without a moment’s notice.
One of my hands was on Dmitri’s shoulder, right next to the pressure point. There’s a reason to actually plan out where you hold a guy to keep him from moving, in case of situations like this.
I started pressing down on said pressure point while looking the guys with the guns in the eye. It didn’t look like I was doing anything, so they weren’t attacking. Discreteness has its advantages, never doubt that.
Once Dmitri’s laughter was cut off as he became unconscious, I didn’t have much time.
“Bye,” I said while waving a hand and pivoting to my left. I could hear Dmitri’s body fully hit the floor as I kicked down the door and ran inside. I was surprised to find that it wasn’t a room, but a hallway. Sweet.
I kept running, taking the first turn I came across. It actually led me to the hallway I hadn’t been down yet that was connected to the staircase. I made a left there and kept running. After a few paces, I heard someone run out into the hall behind me and I looked over my shoulder. Two of the gunmen were chasing after me. Looks like they had split up.
I took another turn and hoped that I would be able to make my way out of this rat’s maze afterwards. All the halls looked the damn same. Or maybe I would actually get lucky and come out to the stair access that would take me further down. Or an elevator, they were convenient.
I kept running, thanking the Rebellion for all of those years of endurance training. I mean, I hadn’t run that far here yet, but still. I was hardly feeling anything, but I could already hear the puffing breath of the men behind me struggling under all of the weight of their equipment. They were silly.
Who needed that much equipment anyways?
I had let them catch up to within seven feet of me when I decided to put on more speed. I sprinted forward and glanced back as I turned around another corner.
Damn did they look pissed.
After a few more turns, I eventually came within sight of the staircase that went further down the building. There were still the two guys pursuing me from behind, and I could see the clumsy shadows of the other two waiting around a corner near the staircase. They were probably good at taking orders, but these guys really had no brain.
I landed differently on my feet now, practically silencing my steps. As long as the two behind me didn’t give away my position, I would be able to hurtle past the two ahead of me before they realized it.
I took out a gun just in case the door was locked and I had to fight.
I sprinted past the corner and practically leaped at the door, shoulder first. It hardly budged, and I would have a nasty bruise by tomorrow. I grunted as I fell backward a few steps.
And now I was cornered. The two guys who had been waiting by the door were already over their surprise at my sudden appearance and had their guns trained at me while the other two were catching up. There was nowhere to go besides down, and that way was locked.
And all I currently had in hand was a pistol, probably running low on bullets by now. I thought of Darkstar and Erik. I would have to get out of this, and fast.
Chapter 23: The Brilliance of Wolves
DARKSTAR
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate this chamber? There was absolutely no purpose for it. I was still leaning against the wall, already tired of my theorizing. Erik sounded like he was having a tough time out there. I don’t think he had even gotten a single hit in, and I was just laying here all dandy like.
Why was it that we had to have the serious terrorists people down here. I wondered how Firestar was doing where he was. It sounded like the messenger feared him, but the leader down here respected him.
The sounds of fighting suddenly stopped and I heard the guy who had brought us here speak. “Markus.”
A voice I hadn’t heard yet answered back.
They had a conversation in Russian. The least this stupid chamber could do was translate this stuff for me, but no. It had to be completely useless and a redundant place to be when unconscious. Just terrific.
Eventually the guy left and the man who I still didn’t have a name for turned to Erik and switched back to English. “You are not Firestar, are you?”
Well, I am assuming Erik was at least still conscious, even though he didn’t reply.
“Answer me, you filth!” I heard leather and rubber hit flesh. Probably the ribs. I should think that Erik was lucky that nothing had cracked, else he would be in some serious pain right now. Well, I didn’t hear anything crack at least.
Where the hell was Firestar?
FIRESTAR
The men pointing guns at me smiled toward each other. They must think that they had me trapped. Well, I guess they were right in a way. But only in a way.
I was starting to get a bit jealous of Water, Ice, and Forest. They all at least had regular powers that were offensive, or could be made offensive. If I wanted to d
o anything tricky with fighting, I had to resort to a special, now didn’t I? I mean, even Dark could use his offensively by controlling his opponents mind.
I could just see the future. And then puke afterwards.
I was debating if I really wanted to summon the fire when the lights started to dim down. I thought that it might be Darkstar, and then I realized how stupid that sounded. The last time I had seen him, he was being taken into the terrorists headquarters and was tired as hell from injury and using his special. No way was this Darkstar.
The Russian men started looking around, their smiles gone by this point. They didn’t seem too happy about the change in lighting. One of them asked something, and another snapped at him. I’d bet my next meal that he had suggested it was ghosts.
It was practically pitch black by now, and I stepped back a bit. While still facing them, I used my left hand to try the door knob. It was locked, but felt pretty fragile, and the door was set back a bit in its frame. I had done some damage when I rushed it earlier.
I was about to turn around and try kicking it in when I heard the high pitched scream. Oh hell, that didn’t sound good. My eyes frantically searched in the dark. Whatever was making them scream probably wasn’t good for me either.
I saw one of the men to my right fall down. The scream was coming from him. I ducked as bullets started being shot in all directions, and I heard an oomph as one of the Russians was hit by his own comrade.
That would be two men down, wouldn’t it?
The bullets stopped, and it took me a second to realize that the screaming had too. I replaced the gun in my hand with a knife. Whatever was out there wasn’t going to be fought at long distance by me. It was hiding way too easily in the dark.
Thoughts danced in my mind of jagged teeth suddenly leaping out of the dark at me, and I tried to push them out of my head before I realized that they were a vision. The thing would be coming after me at some point of time. Not like I hadn’t realized that, but it wasn’t any better knowing it for sure.
I felt fur touch my outstretched hand as the thing rushed passed me. The screaming resumed as another man was attacked, and his remaining partner started shooting in that direction. I heard bullets hit flesh and the scream died out in wet coughs. I bet he had a punctured lung.
That left one guy and myself. I wasn’t sure if whatever was in here was still alive.
Claws clicked on the ground before there was the heavy thud of a large body hitting the ground. That guy didn’t even have a chance to scream, to plea for mercy.
And then there was one
I prepared myself, standing in a feral crouch with a lip raised in a snarl. My knife arm was stretched out more as a shield and I was already gathering the energy to launch fire at whatever was out there. I wouldn’t go down without one hell of a fight.
The lights were turning back on, very slowly. I wildly looked around, searching in vain for what was out there, or what the source of the lights was.
Nothing was present except for the mangled bodies of the men in front of me. Blood was already pooling around their carcasses. I held my breath and studied their wounds. Bite marks, definitely.
I looked down the two halls, looking for any sign of my rescuer. Nothing.
I stepped away from the blood before it could hit my boots and turned my back on the halls. I wasn’t sure if the thing haunting this floor was a friend, foe, or neither. I wasn’t going to spend any more time here than I needed to, though.
I kicked down the door to the staircase and this time it fell back with a crash. Looks like my guess had been correct. Too bad it hadn’t worked before the blood spree had happened.
The stairwell definitely went down to the bottom floor, and I was thankful for that. I did not want to try and go through another rat’s maze to try and find a third staircase down.
I casually walked down the stairs, my ears practically hurting from the strain of me trying to hear everything around me. I wasn’t going to be snuck up on again.
I was down to the second floor when I heard the clicking of claws on metal. I stopped. It stopped. I looked up. Nothing.
I continued walking. The clicking resumed. I repeated the stopping situation, it ending the same way. Again, I walked, and the clicked resounded in the stairwell. Whatever was up there was smart. And invisible, apparently.
The space between my shoulder blades started prickling and I had the urge to scratch it, but I prevented myself from doing so. It was just unease. The thing wasn’t attacking me. I kept pushing the vision of jagged teeth out of my mind. Everything would be alright. I knew I was lying to myself.
I got to the first floor exit and paused. The clicking paused, too. This time when I went through the door, I closed it securely behind me. Hopefully if it had claws, it didn’t have opposable thumbs. That would be nice.
While worrying about what was behind me, I hadn’t wondered about what I would be stepping out to on the first floor. I probably should’ve planned better.
I was in what looked like a huge garage or something. Except, there were only a few cars in here, and a ton of punching bags littering the space around the walls. Well, I found where the training grounds were.
Along with Darkstar and Erik.
Oh, not to mentioned a couple of terrorists dudes who looked like they actually knew what they were doing. Great, a roomful of Dmitris.
Beside me, something walked out of the wall. Legitly walked out of the wall, and I jumped to the side in surprise.
It looked like a wolf. A Calshian wolf, mind you, not your petty lapdogs.
The thing’s shoulder was almost equal to my own and it had mangy black fur, except for streaks of what looked to be a burgundy type of color. Its eyes were the same burgundy as the fur. Also, some wicked sharp claws stuck out, seven on each paw. Well, that wasn’t even close to being Calshian either, though it did look a bit familiar, like I had seen the wolf somewhere before.
“Nice wolfy?” I muttered, taking another step back. It sat down and cocked its head at me, like it was waiting for a command.
I looked back at the Russians. They seemed to be paralyzed. I turned my gaze onto the wolf again. “I’m not saying to do this right now, but like, bark once or something if you would fight and kill them.”
The wolf seemed to glare at me and gave a sarcastic snap of its teeth. Well then.
I nodded my head. “Good enough. Uh, please stay here unless it looks like I’m getting my ass handed to me.” The wolf laid down and rested its head on its paws, casually looking at me out of the corner of his eye.
I nervously took a few steps forward, looked back at the wolf which was looking at me like I was an idiot, then continued forward. I studied the situation in front of me as I walked. Darkstar appeared to be unconscious once again, though he didn’t seem to have any new injuries. Erik was on his knees being held up by his hair and blood messily covered his face. Looked like he had a rough time down here. Guess that was only expected, what with him not being a fighter within the midst of a terrorists.
The guy holding Erik’s head studied me a bit. “Are you Firestar?” he asked, finally finding his voice apparently.
I looked down at myself and examined my hands. “Possibly. Who’s asking?”
“Why should I tell you my name?”
I shrugged. “I like to know who I fight.”
“If you managed to get that far, I’ll tell you.”
I nodded my head in consent. “Come at me, broski.” I winced after saying the last word. Now I remember why I never used Earth slang. It sounded hideous.
The still nameless guy motioned with a hand and two others ran at me. I focused my attention on them, not bothering to count precisely how many men were here. I would fight whomever was in front of me at the time, and only them. They would regret ever hearing my name.
The two men had fallen in line, one behind the other. The lead charger looked to be in his late twenties and pretty short. I thought the people in the north were suppos
ed to be really tall, but he came up to my shoulder, if that. From what I could see, he didn’t have a weapon. Just his two hands.
That’s how I liked to fight.
He raised his arms to grab my shoulders and I matched his movement. Our hands locked together, each trying to get the advantage. His partner came around on my left and I ducked, pulling the guy in front of me with me.
God I can see how my commentary will get annoying this way. We’ll call the guy I just threw to the floor Doofus, and the other can be Idiot, even though he looked like he might possess a brain.
Doofus at least had let go of my hands once his back hit the floor. Sounded like it hurt, that it did. I shook my hands out and stepped back a few paces, bouncing around on the balls of my feet like we did in Calsh before starting a mock fight. Kept you warmed up.
Idiot waited until Doofus was standing before they attacked again. Tag teaming it, I see. I could deal with that.
I ducked under Idiot’s arms and stood while kneeing Doofus in the groin. He backed up a step right before the hit connected, so sadly he didn’t end up on the ground rocking back and forth.
I jumped back a few steps as Idiot tried to make a grab for me again. Apparently that was all he could do, grab and hit. Idiot made a run for me and I dropped to the ground and flicked out a leg, pulling his knees out from under him. I rolled across the ground as he almost came toppling over me.
Okay, my earlier estimate about this being a roomful of Dmitris was wrong. They didn’t fight as well, nor did these guys seemed to be as clever. I stood up and looked for Doofus, slowly pivoting in a circle. Idiot would be off the ground soon, too.
Doofus was backing up toward the wall where I had come from. It looked like he was getting ready to do something specific, like a maneuver that had been planned out for a situation like this. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was going to run for his mommy.
I was about to start following him when someone latched onto one of my legs. Idiot was laying on the ground still, both hands wrapped around my left ankle. I shook my leg for a second, and he didn’t budge. You have got to be kidding.
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