The Tejina Chronicles: Ambush on the High Seas
By: Kioko the pirate
Chapter 11: Chain-link
As the battle between 6-2-7, Stitch and Snooty raged overhead, Angel and Kioko made their way through the winding corridors of the ship. Wave after wave of guards attempted to stop the duo, but they barely managed to slow them down. Kioko's injuries were the only thing really limiting their progress, as they would occasionally need to stop and rest. But as time past he began to regain his strength and breaks became less frequent. They had managed to make it up five decks in under an hour.
They were now about mid way through the ship, they could clearly feel the action going on above them. "It feels like their going all out up there." blurted Angel as the floor shook beneath her feet.
"Yeah, it sounds fun." smirked Kioko after another small tremor.
"So, where do you think we are now?" asked Angel as she looked around.
They had walked into a long stretch of hallway, lined on each side by thick glass doors. As they walked past the first door Kioko peaked in and looked around. There was nothing but a small sink, toilet and a few cots. "It looks like the brig or something." He said as he pulled away from the door.
"Looks cozy." joked Angel as she peaked into another cell.
They continued walking down the long hallway until a sudden, muffled noise caught Angel's ear. Kioko looked on curiously as he watched his friends large ear twitch and jump in all directions. Before he could even ask her what it was she heard, the little female ran off toward the end of the hall and stopped in front of a cell.
"Kioko, come here quick!" called Angel as she motioned with her paw.
"What is it?" asked Kioko as he ran down to her.
"I think we discovered what happened to the human partners of those experiments."
"What?"
Kioko looked into the cell and almost instantly his jaw dropped. There, inside the cell, dozens of people were crammed together like sardines. All of them had absent-minded looks on their faces, and were unresponsive to either Kioko or Angel pounding on the door. "What's wrong with them?" asked Angel.
"It looks like they've all been heavily sedated."
"Sedated? Should we help them? It wouldn't seem right to keep them in there."
"We're already being slowed down enough by my condition. Helping them would only hinder us further. Besides, they're in no condition to be making an escape." Kioko paused for a moment as he thought out their options, "I've got it. We keep moving ahead, and once we've defeated 6-2-7, we'll come back and get these people out of here. How does that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan." smiled Angel.
"Good, then let's get moving. The faster 6-2-7 is beaten the faster we can get these guys out of here."
With that Kioko and Angel turned and continued down the corridor. Ahead of them the corridor made a sharp left turn; with no tough security around the two didn't bother checking around the corner to see if it was safe. Which turned out to be a mistake, because just as they were about to make the turn a mace connected to a chain shot in front of them and smashed through the metal wall like it was nothing. Both Kioko and Angel stopped in their tracks and stumbled backwards a little. As the two of them recovered from the sudden surprise a voice echoed through the corridor, a voice they both thought had been silenced.
"Your confidence in beating 6-2-7 is amusing," it was none other than Cobra, "but very foolish. After all, you won't be able to beat us."
The mace withdrew from the wall and Kioko and Angel followed it. They came around the corner to find Cobra standing at the other end, still in rough shape. But this time he wasn't alone, beside him stood a small fox-like experiment. It had dull grey fur with brown markings all over its arms and a bushy tail that swung from side to side. Its dark grey spell book was clutched tightly in Cobra's large hands.
"I should have figured that Vandercamp's 'top man' would have an experiment." blurted Kioko as he glared at the man.
Cobra just smiled while his experiment and Angel stared down one another like gunslingers. "So I finally meet the infamous experiment 6-2-4 or should I say Angel? I've heard a lot about you." said the experiment with a suave, friendly tone.
"I can't say the same for you. What is your name?" asked Angel bluntly.
"The name is Chain-Link." smiled the experiment. "Since you already know my partner I'll skip right to the chase. Surrender your spell book or we'll take it by force."
Kioko gave a small chuckle. "As Cobra there found out first hand, we won't hand over the spell book. So don't bother asking."
Chain-Link just smiled. "That's too bad," the experiment raised his paw toward Angel, "because I'd really rather not harm such a beautiful creature."
Chain-Link's book erupted with a dull grey light as Cobra opened it up. "Maserudon!" called the large man.
Like a bullet from a gun a mace shot out from a glowing yellow circle in the center of Chain-Links paw. Its speed caught Angel by surprise; all she could do was cross her arms in front of her a take the impact the best she could. Before Kioko could even blink the attack struck his partner, sending her skidding back down the hall as the mace continued to push her. She clenched her teeth in pain, the force of the attack was incredible, and it felt like a comet had just hit her. The attack didn't slow down at all as it drove the pink experiment through the wall and out of sight.
"Angel!" cried Kioko as he watched the mace retract from the gaping hole left in the wall.
"Even after a hit like that she is far from finished," said Chain-Link casually, "so I wouldn't worry about her. Instead, you should be worrying about yourself."
"What?"
"Sero-Macen!"
Kioko gave a gasp as four chains tipped with arrowheads wrapped themselves around his arms and legs and lifted him into the air. He looked toward the experiment to see that the chains were coming from where Chain-Links fingers had been. But what made him nervous was that in the center of his paw another arrowhead was sticking out of a glowing yellow circle, like an arrow ready to be launched.
"There are three ways to defeat an experiment. The first way is simply to burn their book, the second way is to beat that experiment until the safety mechanism triggers and their book self-destructs, and the final way is to kill their partner. Once an experiment has chosen a partner they can never find another, so if they lose that partner, they have no real option but to accept defeat." said Chain-Link with a small smirk.
"Let me guess," smiled Kioko, "if I don't hand over our book you'll kill me, right?"
"I'd really rather not if it can be helped. I don't like spilling blood, it's too barbaric for my taste."
"That's very honorable of you."
"Thank you." said Chain-Link as he bowed his head slightly.
Suddenly, Cobra gave a frustrated yell and stamped his massive foot. "Enough of this ridiculous babbling! Chain-Link, just kill him already so we can get the book!"
The foxy experiment glared over his shoulder at Cobra and was about to say something, but Angel's voice suddenly cut him off. Everyone looked over toward the hole in the wall and saw the pink experiment emerging with numerous cuts and bruises all over her body. "I won't allow either you to harm my partner." said Angel as she stared angrily at Cobra and Chain-Link.
"Well it took you longer than I thought to recover. Don't tell me the great 6-2-4 is beginning to lose her touch." smirked Chain-Link.
"You wish!" shouted Angel as she suddenly charged toward the two men.
"Angel wait!" yelled Kioko as his partner fly by him.
But she did not pay any attention to him; she had her sights set on Chain-Link. The grey experiment calmly stood before his approaching attacker as if there weren't a care in the world. "She has such a spark, that's not something found very often in a female. I like it, too bad I have to extinguish It." smiled Chain-Link sympathetically as he raised his paw toward Angel. Cobra once again summoned the 'Maserudon' spell, but this time it shout forth with even greater speed, catching Angel by surprise. Angel stopped in her tracks and braced for the impact that came just a second later. The spell slammed into her gut knocking the breathe out of her and sending her flying back toward the hole in the wall.
But this time she grabbed a hold of the mace and drove her feet into the floor. The claws on her feet kicked up sparks as they slid across the bare metal floor. She was nearly to the hole when, to everyone's surprise; she brought the spell to a halt. Chain-Links eyes widened with amazement as the chain of his spell went slack with a metallic clank as it hit the floor. Angel was left holding the large mace in her arms, she gasped as she tried to catch her breath. Kioko clenched his teeth in worry as he saw blood trickle down from the corners of her mouth. But despite all of this the pink experiment still managed to give a toothy smile.
"You shouldn't judge an experiment just because of their gender," Angel lifted the heavy mace above her head with only one paw and grabbed hold of the chain with the other. She began to spin the mace above her head as if it were nothing, making Chain-Link take a cautious step back, "because if you do, you might just end up regretting it!"
With a heavy groan Angel sent the mace straight back toward Chain-Link and cobra. The fox experiment couldn't react in time and was struck in the face by his on spell. The hit caused him to lose his focus and the chains around Kioko's arms and legs released their grip. The boy dropped back down to the ground and in one swift motion revealed the black book from behind his back. It instantly began to glow, but before the boy could say a word Angel appeared on his shoulder and clasped her paw over his mouth.
"Let's not use any spells on these guys," instructed Angel as Kioko looked up at her out of the corner of his eye, "We need to save as much power as we can for 6-2-7."
Kioko gently pulled her paw off of his mouth. "Don't you think these guys are a bit too strong for us to hold back like that?"
"Where has your confidence suddenly gone, Kioko." smiled Angel as she jumped off his shoulder. "Don't worry, I have a plan."
"You do?"
"Yes. You're right in thinking that it would be next to impossible to take on opponents of their level without spells. But we don't need to fight them directly. If we split up and make only one of us a target, the other will be able to ambush them and destroy their book."
"Splitting up might be too risky. There are still guards out there after all. Besides, which one of us would be the target?"
"Give me the book," ordered Angel as she raised her paw toward Kioko, "I will be the target."
"What, no way!" shouted Kioko. "There is now way I'm letting you be the target!"
"It would make the most sense. If I take the book I will make the most tempting target and they will most certainly follow me. They might even think that you abandoned me, which would give you an even greater element of surprise."
"I really don't like that plan, Angel."
"Just have faith in me, please," by now Chain-Link was slowly getting back to his feet, still holding his nose, "We don't have much time, now please, just give me the book. I'll be fine."
Kioko hesitated, he looked down the hall at Chain-Link and Cobra, who was yelling at the experiment to stop being a wimp, and then looked back at Angel. Ordinarily, he wouldn't even consider doing something so risky, but he could clearly see the confidence in her eyes. So he reluctantly handed her the book. Chain-Link lowered his paw and opened his eyes just in time to see the two turn and run. With a small growl Chain-Link and Cobra chased after them. Within only a few seconds Kioko and Angel reached a split in the corridor, with one last glance the two of them went their separate ways, Angel running right and Kioko to the left. Kioko didn't like the feeling, he felt as though he was leaving her defenseless, even though he knew how skilled she was. But he knew that all he could do now is pray and try to find some way to ambush Cobra and his experiment.
The large black man and his experiment reached the intersection a few seconds behind their opponents. Chain-Link quickly looked left and right, trying to figure out which way they had gone. His ears twitched in every direction, trying to catch the slightest sound of running feet. To his surprise he heard the sound of shoes running to the left and paws running to the right.
"Well, which way did they go?" asked Cobra impatiently.
A smile crossed Chain-Links maw as he glanced down the two hallways. "It would appear that they have split up."
"Split up? Why would they split up?" asked the large man.
"I'm not sure, it doesn't make sense. But that doesn't matter, with the two of them apart they'll be easy to defeat. I saw that Angel had the spell book with her and she ran to the right, while her partner ran to the left. We will go after the experiment."
"Well than what are we going to do about Kioko?"
"Did you forget our new spell," laughed Chain-Link.
"Oh, I nearly forgot about that!" grinned Cobra as he flipped through the spell book enthusiastically. The book began to glow after Cobra had found the page he wanted. "Nasu Marudon!"
Chain-Link raised his paw into the air and brought down upon the floor. A moment later large glowing circles began to appear on the walls, ceilings, and floors. Slowly, gleaming metal arms and legs began to emerge from the glowing circles, and moments later the hall was filled with large suits of medieval armor; all of which were carrying large swords, maces and even spears. "While we pursue Angel, these guys will; take care of her partner."
With a wave of his paw Chain-Link sent the armor marching down the corridor while him and Cobra ran the other way. For Angel it quickly began to seem like she had been running forever. She was panting heavily as she ran as fast as she could, clutching the black spell book to her chest tightly. Her memories of running through the forests and streets of Kauai without a partner came rushing back to her, why exactly she did not know. Perhaps, she was worrying that something would happen to Kioko and she would be alone once again. Or it was such a mundane thing as her muscle memory of these actions triggering her mind to recount the last time it was used. Either way, she knew that now was not the time to analyze her thoughts. She came to a bend in the corridor and after stopping to peak around the corner, and make sure the area was clear, she let her self fall against the cold walls.
The cold metal felt refreshing against her body, and for a moment she allowed her guard to drop. She closed her eyes, raised her head and gave an exhausted sigh. But suddenly, as she shifted her position in order to find another cool spot, Chain-Links voice rang out. "It's very impolite to run from others, my dear Angel." His voice seemed to come from everywhere at once and just as Angel began to look around for him a spear seemed to emerge from the wall across from her. Angel gasped as it shot out, barely missing her as she jumped to the side. "A beautiful woman like yourself should have some manners, don't you agree?" Chain-Links voice called out again. "I'd really like to teach you, but I can't if you keep running, so I guess I'm just going to have to stop you."
Without warning another spear shot from the wall but Angel again managed to dodge. That spear was soon followed by another, and then another, and soon Angel was dodging them by the dozens. In a short amount of time she had sidestepped, jumped, and back-flipped her way down the corridor, landing in an adjoining hallway where the spears seemed to stop. She stared down the corridor with amazement, there were so many spears sticking out from the walls that you couldn't see more than five feet. Suddenly, her senses detected something above her. She looked up and saw a spear right above her head; it shot downward so quickly that Angel could not side step it. Without thought she leaned back and held the book out in front of her, closing her eyes she hoped for the best. There came a metallic "thunk" and Angel slowly opened her eyes. Her breath left her as she found that the spear had passed between her arms and between her and the book.
"That was very good," echoed Chain-Link's voice as Angel stepped cautiously away from the spear as if it were a deadly serpent ready to strike "Your agility is admirable and your senses are of the highest quality. It may not be gentlemanly to say this and if you take offense I apologize, but you would certainly make an excellent mate."
"Don't even start with that bullshit," growled Angel as if he were standing right next to her "You aren't the first male to say that to me, not by a mile, but I'll tell you what I told all of them. I'm not letting anyone touch my body like that. So you can just forget about any fantasies you may have."
"Please do not insult me. I would never disrespect a fair woman like that. I am not a barbarian like so many other males are. I am considerate; allow me to demonstrate. I can sense that you are weary, so I will tell you from which direction my next attack will come."
"What?" blurted Angel, surprised by this odd behavior.
"To your left."
Trusting the experiments warning Angel looked to her left and saw a giant spiked ball drop down from the ceiling and begin rolling quickly toward her. The pink experiment spun around and ran as the deadly sphere tore down the hallway after her. At the same moment Kioko began to slow down his pace as he ran down the seemingly endless hallway. Finally, he came to a full stop, walking over to the wall he tried to catch his breathe.
'That should do it, I should be far enough away that I can ambush them.' Thought Kioko as he looked back down the corridor, hunched over with his hands on his knees. "This little plan of yours better work, Angel. For both our sakes."
Kioko pushed off the wall and slowly began to walk back down the hall. He began to make the transition from walking to running, wiping the sweat from his brow as he forced his body forward. It was obvious to him that he was at his limit. He was exhausted and all of his running had kept his wounds from closing, he had never pushed himself this hard before. But nowhere in his mind did quitting make its appearance. There was not a doubt in his mind that he would lose, no doubt in his mind that Angel would be defeated. That was impossible.
Suddenly, the lights in the corridor flickered and died. The red emergency lights sprung to life, illuminating the corridor in their eerie glow. Kioko slowed to a stop as he thought he heard some one coming. But as he stood there, completely still, there came not a sound. Then in the dim glow he saw a flicker of light, a reflection off some large object. In an instant a massive metal spear crashed into the floor in front of Kioko's feet. Startled, the boy stumbled backwards and looked back toward the shimmering light. His jaw dropped as four large suits of medieval armor emerged from the darkness.
"You've got to be kidding me," blurted Kioko, "Are they really that desperate that they are putting on suits of armor?" Underestimating the threat, Kioko charged toward the suits of armor. "I don't have time to waist on you idiots!"
He skidded to a stop in front of the lead suit of armor and spun around on his toes. The heel of his right foot smashed into the side of the armors helmet with a loud bang. Kioko smirked expecting the helmet to fly off and reveal a dazed man, but to his surprise there was nothing under the helmet, it was hollow. Kioko landed back on the ground, still staring at the empty armor in amazement, but a glint of metal snapped him out of his trance. A massive sword sliced through the air and barely missed the boy. A few back flips moved him away from immediate danger, but the lumbering, steel behemoths just continued to walk toward him. Kioko's frustration grew as he watched he wall of armor ready their weapons.
"I don't know if you can understand me, but I hope you realize what you're doing. You stand between me and my partner," smirked Kioko as he yanked the spear that had nearly struck him out of the floor, "That is something that I cannot allow!"
Before the living suits of armor could take another step, the headless suit was knocked straight back onto the floor by the tip of the spear. A second fell when Kioko spun the spear above his head and brought it smashing into its side. Both suits fell like a ton of bricks and busted into pieces. The boy was surprised at how easily the enemies were defeated, and for a moment he thought this fight would be easy. But the pieces of armor suddenly began to disappear into the floor and the sound of clanking metal echoed from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the two suits of armor rising back up from the floor. He was now surrounded, and to make it worse, a sharp pain knocked him to his knees.
One of the knights stepped up to the boy and raised its large sword. Kioko stared up at the monster with blood running from his mouth. "Damn it." growled Kioko as he watched the sword fall toward him.
Well that's the end of this chapter. I wanted to end this story in the next chapter, but it looks like there will be one more chapter after that. Unless I make it a really long chapter, but I know that those aren't a favorite of readers. So unless you tell me otherwise there will be another chapter after the next.