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Chapter 7 – Beyond the City Walls

Yong tapped his foot on one of Horace's crossed belts, watching the city fly by under them as Horace maneuvered the bike quickly around the slow-moving traffic. He had become very agile with the bike in the few minutes he had been driving. Horace was deep in thought as he drove, his eyes scanning, but not seeing the area below. The main city soon gave way to another set of slums, these buildings pieced together using whatever scraps that could be found, and they were all placed precariously along a rickety, ill-made walkway made of leftover wood and large rusted nails, built over dirty brownish-green water. Horace did not really take any of this in. His mind was wandering, jumping between Lili and Roderich, Vash and the Underground, the mysterious Shadow, Baron Tannous, and the Metal Heads. He rubbed the back of his head, keeping the bike's path steady with his knee and other hand, trying to figure out how he was going to solve all of these problems all at once. As much as he wanted to find Lili and Roderich and just go home, he now felt obligated to take out Tannous and, as much as he did not trust Vash, he seemed like a decent man who wanted to free his home from a tyrant. He would have continued like this for longer had Yong not tapped his shoulder so urgently and vigorously.

"Horace, we're gonna crash if you don't stop, da ze!"

Horace snapped out of his own thoughts to see the wall growing ever closer. He dropped the bike to its lowest hover setting and pulled it up alongside the ramshackle walkway. They were just a few yards away from the wall itself, and, that same distance along the wooden path, the drain pipe that Vash had spoken of loomed before them. Horace shook his head to clear it.

"Sorry. Just lost in thought."

Horace put the bike into park and took the keys from the ignition, pocketing them and dismounting the bike. He walked calmly toward the pipe and away from the people wandering aimlessly about, taking in the details of the door blocking his way to the outside. It almost seemed like it was meant to be a public passageway, except for the fact that everyone appeared to avoid this section of the path at all costs. Considering this fact, the door itself was surprisingly easy to open. Horace pulled on one side of the metal entrance and it slid open without any trouble. With a small shrug, he walked through, closing the door behind him. He found himself inside the wall, in a miniature room with a door in front of him as well. He shrugged again and slid the entrance before him open. As this one revealed the beach just beyond the walls, the computer voice from the palace spoke.

"Exiting city."

Horace and Yong looked around in confusion. No wonder normal people were afraid of trying to escape the city… Horace shook off the uneasy feeling of being watched as he stepped onto the sand of the beach, sliding the door closed behind him again. He took a deep breath, happy to feel fresh air again, instead of the dirty city air. He began looking around; taking instant notice of the large, mechanical structures that, in theory, made up the pumping station, set against a sheer cliff face. Almost immediately after, he noticed something running towards him. It was vaguely humanoid, with reddish purple skin, and it ran like a gorilla. Its wrists, elbows, knees, and head were covered with some kind of metal plate – in theory guarding it against damage – and, in the head plate, whether set into the plate or part of the creature's head, there was some sort of large, glowing yellow gem. Behind it, not seeming to have noticed the two boys yet, were two more. Yong jumped in alarm at the beasts.

"Horace, those are Metal Heads, da ze!"

Horace nodded slightly, taking a martial arts stance. As soon as the Metal Head was within reach, he lashed out, driving his palm into its face and kicking it in the stomach, sending it into the shallows. It got back up, charging him again, but he kicked it in the side of the head and, with a sickening crack, its neck broke and it fell over again. Horace grimaced at the sound, but did not dwell long on the dead creature. When he looked back up, its two friends were charging him as well. He took his stance again, readying himself for the attack. As soon as the creatures were within range, he lashed out, killing one of them instantly with a well-placed palm strike. The other he sent flying backward into one of the pumping station structures, watching as it bounced off the metal siding with a deep thump that echoed through the construct. It got dizzily back up, starting toward him again. It did not take much more to put it on the ground again, as dead as its former companions. Horace frowned in confusion as he noted that the yellow gems from the creatures' heads had popped out of place. He looked at Yong, seeming to question if he should actually act on what he was thinking. Yong gave a shrug. He saw no reason not to. Horace bent down, retrieving the gems and looking at them. He felt like they would be worth something to someone, and any form of currency he could find was worth taking, no matter what it was. He had no money, after all, and he did not know what these people used as such. He stashed the items in his bag and looked up at the metal structure again. The only way to go was up… Right in front of him was a pair of some sort of giant pistons that, to his delight, went up just high enough on the structure that, if he were to ride one up, he could jump up onto the top. He shrugged and waited for one to come down, then leapt onto it, waiting patiently as it went up, then climbed onto the platform. Waiting for him up there, to his annoyance, was a pair of the frog creatures from the swamp. He rolled his eyes. He was getting really tired of these things. He hardly thought about it as he sent them flying over a giant pipe on the left side of the platform, nodding in satisfaction at the soft crunch they made as they landed on the other side. He turned away from the pipe and, seeing a small protrusion of sandy, somewhat rocky land sticking out of the cliff face, he took a running leap, easily landing on it. He did not stop after landing, merely continuing along the short stretch until he reached the end. Seeing another pipe at the same level as the outcropping he was running along, leading to a higher island along the cliff, he jumped onto it and continued along it, jumping up and grabbing onto the edge of the island, pulling himself up without difficulty. On that island, he found another frog thing and two of the orange lizards. He growled in irritation. These things were hardly worth his time… He kicked them all over the edge of the island, hearing a splash as they hit the water. He was about to move on when he heard a voice from below. It sounded like the computer voice again.

"Target locked."

Horace frowned and glanced over the edge of the island. All he saw was the frog he had punted over the edge. He glanced at Yong and the two shared a shrug. Then came the sound of a laser blast and the small croak of the frog's life being extinguished. When Horace and Yong looked back over, they saw some sort of robot re-submerging itself beneath the waves, but saw no proof that the frog had ever been there.

"Target eliminated."

Yong's mouth fell open, his brown eyes wide. He quickly closed his mouth and tried to chuckle away the disturbing conclusion to the encounter.

"Well… there goes the sea route option, da ze…"

Horace backed away from the ledge.

"I think I miss the giant fish back home."

Yong gave a weak chuckle.

"Yeah, no kidding, da ze…"

Horace cleared his throat, now proceeding with a bit more caution. Walking just a few feet, he found his next means to move on. It was a pipe connecting the island he was on to a metal platform several yards away. However, just before he was about to step down onto it, it rotated ninety degrees with a clank. Horace stopped at the edge of the island. That was going to make things a bit more difficult… He watched the pipe, trying to determine the pattern. He did not have to watch for long. Four seconds later, it rotated again. Horace frowned, took a breath, and prepared to run. Yong gripped his friend's belts again.

"You sure you can make it, da ze?"

Horace inhaled deeply, then exhaled, nodding. He waited patiently for the next rotation, then flew forward, sprinting across the pipe. He grabbed onto the ledge of the platform just as the pipe below him began its next turn, pulling himself up before he could be thrown into the water below. He smirked a bit, then noted who he now shared the island with. Another Metal Head. He sighed, grabbing it by the gem on its head, and kicked it mightily in the torso. The gem came loose and, with a grimace, he found that it was, in fact, set into its head. Fortunately, he did not have to see this for long, as the creature went flying backwards into the water where, if it were not already dead, the robot under the crashing waves finished it off. Horace pocketed the gem, then wiped his hands on his pants. The creature had both felt and smelled like it had never bathed in its life. Turning to see what his next challenge would be, he shook his head, wondering who had built this place and what they had expected would invade. Another pipe connected the platform Horace and Yong were on to yet another, only this one did not turn every few seconds. This one had an electrically charged strip that moved slowly back and forth across it. Horace gave a low sound of displeasured exasperation and started running along the pipe, leaping over the electrically charged piece, and continued onto the new platform. He did not even bother pausing to size up his next group of enemies, nor did he give them time to react to him. He sent four frogs flying off into the unknown and promptly snapped the neck of a prowling Metal Head, then climbed onto another set of pistons, which brought him up to a rocky outcropping, similar to the one he had jumped to when he had first got there. He jumped the gap, defeating the group of enemies waiting for him without missing a beat, and continued onto the next pipe. Several groups of enemies, a few pipes, a ramp or two, some stretches of beach, and a few ledges later saw Horace pocketing two more of the Metal Heads' gems as he went up the final ledge to, at last, the water pipe for the slums. He strode confidently up to it, Yong jumping down onto the sand below and going over to the valve, drumming his fingers together in delight.

"Ah, the valve, da ze."

He smirked and walked to the rust-colored metal wheel, gripping it.

"Allow me, da ze."

He pulled up, getting only a squeak. He frowned slightly, repositioning himself in front of the valve, he grasped the outside of the circular object with one hand and one of the strips of metal that connected the outside wheel to the center with the other, heaving mightily with a squeak of strain of his own. Again, all he got was the protest of rusted metal. He stood and panted for a while, then went back to his original position, grabbing it with both his hands and wrapping his legs around it, pushing up with his tail. Still, it did not budge. Horace sighed, rolling his eyes, and smacked the pipe with a fist, getting a hollow thunk. As if this were some sort of cue, the circular valve began spinning. Yong, still holding on with all fours, spun around with it. A pipe above him, whose hatch had opened when Horace had hit the pipe, began sucking in air, which pulled the unfortunate weasel right in. The hatch closed behind him. Horace raised an eyebrow at this unexpected turn of events. Listening closely, he could hear Yong's yells as he was sucked chaotically through the pipe system, and he followed those yells, amused but worried for his friend. Through several bends the weasel clanged through until, at the end of the pipes, he came to a nozzle. His small voice could be heard from there.

"Horace, da ze? Help, da ze…"

Horace turned a valve above the nozzle, watching as first Yong's small head, followed by his shoulders, torso, and finally hips were forcefully pushed through the wide nozzle's opening. After a moment, Yong was shot, as out of a gun, a few feet, where he skidded a couple more in the sand. Horace closed the valve again and, his face containing some amusement, walked over to and squatted down in front of Yong, opening his mouth to speak. Yong put his hand up, stopping Horace before he could speak.

"Don't say it, da ze. Don't even chuckle, da ze. Next time, YOU turn the valve, da ze."

With that, he fell back down onto his back in the sand. Horace suppressed his laughter, picking up Yong without a word and setting him on his shoulder, shaking his head in mirth. With his weasel friend back in his place, he started the trek back to the city door.


Characters:

Only Horace and Yong this time around.

Note: And so you have seen some of the scary Metal Heads. Not to worry, they get bigger, tougher, and scarier. They are not the most underwhelming boogiemen ever to have prowled the land. I hope that lived up to everyone's expectations and did not bore you with all the running, jumping, and climbing. Thank you all for your continued reading and I hope you can bear to keep following me. I would love to hear your thoughts, so review! Until next time, have a great day. Auf Weidersehen.