A/N: Yo. First and foremost, I'm really sorry about not updating sooner! I've been working on this chapter the past three weeks, trying to get everything right using what little time I have, so hopefully everythings good. :D Oh, and this is random, but I think it would be awesome if we got up to 100 Kingodm Keepers fanfics by the end of the year. Just sayin' (We're so close! Maybe you can take it as a challenge... haha.) ANYWAYS... Thanks for all the wonderful reveiws! Enjoy! :)
"What?" Amanda shouted at Finn. "What do you mean it's Philby and whatever is happening isn't good? How could you possibly know?"
Amanda was panicking. Finn could definately tell that. "Well, for one," Finn stated calmly, although he couldn't keep the agitation from his voice. It was obvious what was going on, wasn't it? "When people scream like that, it's usually in horror movies. Let your imagination do the rest."
Amanda cringed at the possibilites. She didn't like it very much when Finn was like this.
"Come on," Finn said. "Start paddling. We need to get there and help. Who knows what could've happened by now."
Amanda silently agreed and began to paddle in sync with Finn, moving quickly over the rushing water. All was silent. There was the occasional noise in the distance. A scream of pain, a cry of fury, each making Finn and Amanda cringe. After paddling for five minutes down the river, they arrived near the dock for the Mark Twain boat. They agreed to avoid the main dock, as to not be seen, and quickly docked their boat on the shore of the shrubbery nearby. They got out of the canoe silently, pulling it onto land and doing their best to conceal it somehow. There wasn't much they could do, but they did their best.
Once that was finished, they scrambled up the dirt and foilage. As they neared closer, away from the roaring noise of the water, the sounds of struggle could be heard more clearly. Concealed by the shrubbery around them, the two peeked over the bushes to see where they were at. They were across the street from the huge desert rock structure, Big Thunder Mountain. Finn felt a slight shiver crawl down his back as he remembered the incident he and Philby had had a few years earlier with the gaint T-Rex.
Finn took a glance around himself, looking for anyone that could spot them. So far, he saw no one. "Okay, Amanda," Finn said. "Chances are, we're going to run into a fight from the way it sounds. So, that being said, we're going to have to be prepared."
"Okay," Amanda replied. "So, what do we do once we get there?"
Finn closed his eyes, deep in concentration. "Let's see... How about we see what we're up against, figure something out to help them with whatevers going on, then kick some major Overtaker butt?" Finn laughed to himself at the end, trying to lighten the mood.
Amanda laughed too. "Haha, very funny," She rolled her eyes. "We better get going. We don't want them all dead when we arrive, now do we?"
Philby let out a exasperated sigh, breathing heavily. Sweat beaded on his forehead, causing his electric red hair to stick to his face. He looked all around him, taking in their situation. He and the other Keepers had their backs to each other, forming a cirlce so they could keep an eye out all around them. They stood in the middle of the Plaza Gardens, lunch tables and chairs scattered everywhere. Behind them stood the tent that had a stage area, with a classy appearence from the past, matching the theme of Main Street. Above it was a red and white canvas, making it like a tent. There were also mirrors up near the small stage and a disco ball hanging by a thread above the dance floor, reminding Philby of a song. But he couldn't focus on that now. All of them needed to get out of here.
"What now, Philby?" Maybeck whispered harshly. His voice was so low it was hard for Philby to hear. "Those guys look like they're gonna massacre us."
Philby diverted his attention back to the beings Maybeck referred too. They currently had the Keepers surrounded, standing less than ten feet away, weapons ready to shoot if they made any sudden movements. Their enemies wore sleek, form-fitting black suits with varying colors of a deep orange-red running through them, except for one who wore a black suit with a bright yellow-orange color running through it instead. They looked vaguely familiar to Philby, but he couldn't place where he had seen them before. The weapons buzzing with electricity, pointed at each of them, intimidated him and made his mind go numb.
"Uh... I don't know what to do. You got any ideas?" Philby whispered back.
Maybeck shook his head. "Nah, man. I think we're sunk."
Willa, overhearing the quiet conversation, joined in. "Well, seeing as they're waiting for us to make the first move, why don't we? It could be simple. We all attack one guy, take his weapon and use it against the others."
Philby nodded. "Yeah. That could actually work." He smiled. "So, we'll just-" His quiet whispering was cut off by the yell of one of the men.
"QUIET." His deep, electronic voice boomed.
"Woah, why is his voice like that?" Philby heard Charlene say from behind him.
That's when it clicked. "I know who they are!" Philby said excitedly, snapping his fingers. "They're from that new Tron movie!"
Maybeck took a quick glance at Philby, eyeing his shirt. "You're wearing a Tron shirt. Of course," Maybeck sighed, rolling his eyes. Philby shot him a glare.
"Wait, so if you're wearing a Tron shirt and they're from Tron... would'nt that mean they like you?" Jess said.
"Well, actually, that would make them hate me more because-" He began to explain, but was cut off. Again.
"I said, SILENCE!" The man in the yellow-orange suit shouted. The leader looked towards his other men and shouted an order. Immediantly, the others obeyed, closing in on the Keepers.
"Plan! Now!" Charlene pleaded.
"Distract them, err, fight them! Maybeck and I will try to grab one of their weapons and use it against them!" Philby replied back. The others nodded.
The men charged, weapons ready. There were about ten of them. That would mean about two for each Keeper. This was going to be an interesting fight... Philby thought.
The Keepers collided with the warriors from Tron, dodging hits and ducking often. The girls took on a few of the men at a time, trying to disable them. Willa and Jess would distract them, trying to attack from the front and behind. Then Charlene, using her flexibility and gymnastics, would take the guy down. They weren't able grab his weapon though, because as soon as he hit the ground hard, he disintegrate into a million pixels. And with him, the weapon breaking as well.
They tried a few more times with no success. The Programs and the weapons would disintegrate before they could get to them. On the plus side, the guys were evaporating and they were currently winning their battle. Soon, with the help of Maybeck and Philby, there were only three left.
The five paused to take a breath, regrouping and standing by each other, putting on a strong looking facade. The three left stood across from them, still standing proudly. Philby could've sworn he saw their leader smirk from beneath his black mask.
"We totally killed it!" Maybeck announced proudly, still flying high on the adrenaline. He felt like he could take the last of them out easily.
"Don't celebrate yet." Philby said in a quiet voice, not wanting the others to hear. "We still have to take these three down."
"Pssh, piece of cake," Maybeck laughed.
At that very moment, the leader began to speak. "You think it's that easy?" His voice came out raspy, yet somehow still electronic. It reminded Philby of how the DHI's usually sounded, although his voice was had a more menacing tone to it. He laughed. "Those guys you just took out? They were in training. Not much experience."
He then flicked his wrist and a small baton appeared in his hand. He pressed a button on the baton. As Philby watched, he saw it grow in length at one end until it was three feet. Made of light, he noted that it was a sword. But unlike normal ones, this one also flickered to life and sputtered with electricity.
"Us, on the other hand... we like to see some bloodshed in a battle."
Before Philby could realize what was going on, the leader lunged at him, thrusting his sword, keeping the others at bay. Instictively, Philby wobbled back quickly and fell hard, landing on the dirty ground, the fall stealing the breath from his lungs. The two others attacked Maybeck, Willa, Charlene and Jess, keeping them busy.
With Philby still on his back, gasping for air, the leader pinned him down. No matter how much he squirmed, his hold wouldn't budge.
"So, you like Tron, eh?" He laughed once again. What was so funny to him? The irony of the situation? He then made a tsk tsk noise. "Shame. Tron was a good program." He said, referring to Philby's shirt. "We were even friends once. But, as you'll probably learn soon, friendship? Worthless. Only slows you down. Power. Now that's something to work towards." What kind of insane maniac is this? Philby thought to himself. Was he actually trying to give advice? He wasn't very good at it. "And as soon as I'm done with you and those other Keepers, that's exactly what I'll have. Power."
Philby's eyes grew wide as he realized who his captor was. "CLU?" Right as the words left his lips, CLU unmasked his face, revealing a smile.
"I was wondering when you'd get it." CLU laughed. "Too bad I have to kill you. You would've been a great addition to the team with that brain of yours,"
CLU then pressed the button on his baton again, quickly shifting through the different weapons. He stopped, deciding to go with a small dagger. "Ah, much better." He took the dagger in his hand, seeming to contemplate how to kill him. Philby could almost imagine the thoughts running through his head. Hmm... what to do first? Cut off the head or the arm? Philby thought with bitter humor. He knew he shouldn't think that way, but he couldn't help it.
Using the time he had left while CLU thought, he peered around to see how the others were doing. They seemed to be handling it well. Maybeck fighting with Jess, Charlene with Willa.
"MAYBECK!" Philby called out to him. He turned, just now noticing Philby under CLU's grasp. He began to run towards his friend to help.
"Quiet, boy!" CLU said harshly, covering Philby's mouth with his hand. Philby then mumbled something, trying to get Maybeck to turn back around. But it was too late. Maybeck hit the ground cold, knocked unconcious. One of the Programs had thrown a light disk towards his head once he realized what he was doing. After, redirecting his attention back to battling the Farlie.
"Hah." CLU laughed. Philby gave him a death glare. "No communicating, kid."
"Get... off!" Philby yelled through clenched teeth, using all his strength to try to get out of his grasp.
CLU, annoyed with Philby's outburst, took the electric dagger in his hand and quickly swiped it across Philby's face, leaving a long, clean cut going from Philby's forehead, across his eye, and down to his cheek. Instantly, the wound began to spill blood. Philby let out a small cry of pain, cringing.
"I told you, QUIET!" CLU cackled. He gripped the dagger tightly in his hands. Then with quick reflexes, CLU swiped his blade swiftly across Philby's mouth, forming a deep, crimson cut in Philby's skin.
"AHHH!" Philby cried, the pain of the two cuts overloading his senses. He could feel the blood trickling down the side of his face. His scream cut through the quiet night, disturbing what silence there was aside from the battle going on behind them. He tried to move, but he was still under the impossibly strong weight of CLU.
"Maybe that'll teach you a lesson on speaking out of turn..." CLU smirked.
"Philby?" Philby heard Willa's voice call out to him, sounding worried. He could hear her start to make his way towards him, but her footfalls abruptly stopped. She couldn't escape from her own battle, the trained Program blocking her off, playing offense. She was stuck, unable to reach Philby.
"Now for the fun part," CLU stated, taking his dagger and pressing it up to his neck. He pressed against Philby's neck with the blade harder and harder, making Philby wince under the pressure. He still tried to move, but it was no use. He was stuck. The blade finally cut through the skin on Philby's neck. Blood almost instantly came out, making a small rivulet running down his neck.
Philby was losing blood, fast. He knew he was by how deep and long the cut was across his neck, not to mention the cuts also on his face. Soon, he would be unconcious, just like Maybeck, from the loss of blood.
Philby was beginning to see black spots dance across his vision. And for a minute or two in his dazed condition, the world turned a different array of colors, the sky shifting to a bright orange, CLU's face turning a sickly shade of green. Just looking at the combination made Philby feel dizzy and sick. His eyes began to flutter shut, and Philby could've sworn he heard CLU laughing evilly, though he wasn't sure. He tried to fight the oncoming feeling of sleep, telling himself he needed to stay awake, that he needed to help his friends fight in battle, but it was no use. He felt his vision go blurry, the feeling of sickness coming over him like a tidal wave.
The world went black.
