"You must have been real hungry."
The silver-haired boy didn't answer; just wiped off his mouth after downing his sixth glass of homemade lemonade, finishing the pitcher that Tifa had made before she left. He used it to wash down the third peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had ate, after exhausting the home's supply of cheese by eating four toasted cheese sandwiches. He also ate his share of celery and carrot sticks, and had polished off a bag of potato chips by himself.
"I was." He answered. "But I didn't know that food could taste good."
Denzel looked at him in puzzlement. "You didn't?"
The boy shook his head. "All I ever had to eat was this stuff called protein paste. It didn't taste like anything."
The brown-haired boy continued to marvel at his new acquaintance. Both he and the homeless boy were at a table in the bar now, surrounded by open jars of peanut butter and jelly, empty packages of bread and cheese, and all sorts of other trash for the makings of a real mess. Denzel had dragged all of this out to make him something to eat, and the boy had sure utilized his hospitality. He had spent so long eating that it was now dark outside. Tifa wasn't back home yet, but Denzel was afraid she would be at any time. If that was the case, then the boy couldn't stick around much longer. And yet…Denzel's own sympathy didn't want to just throw him back out in the cold…
The silver-haired boy seemed to realize this. After he had finished eating, he realized that the hour had grown late. He turned his head to the windows, and saw that it was dark now. That made him shake, quivering and cringing again in his oversized clothes. His face turned to fear. Yet he seemed to realize that he couldn't stay here. In the end, he uneasily turned back to Denzel.
"Could I…sleep in the alley behind your house, tonight?" He uncertainly asked, as if fearing rejection already as well as what was out there. "You've been nice to me… I feel…safer...staying close to you."
But Denzel reacted to that. "You're going to sleep outside?"
"That's where I sleep." The boy simply answered. "I don't have a home."
This struck something inside Denzel. Of course, he saw plenty of orphans and homeless people in his time, short as it had been. But he actually brought this one in, and had been talking to him and feeding him for a while. And he looked really scared… Denzel remembered how cold and lonely it was to try to sleep in the alleys on your own… He remembered being scared…and with good reason. An urban alley was not the best place to be at night, especially being small and helpless. Again, he felt his pity aroused as he saw this boy cringing…
Finally, an idea came to Denzel's head.
"Hey…you can stay here tonight, if you want."
The boy snapped out of his fear, and looked to Denzel in surprise. "Huh?"
"You can use my sleeping bag." Denzel explained. "If you lay right next to my bed on the left side, and we turn out the lights, Tifa will never see you when she comes in. Marlene might find you out, but don't worry. She won't tattle on you."
The boy hesitated a moment. He was still very scared and untrusting about this world he had come into. All the people he could remember prior to Denzel had treated him with contempt, loathing, and mercilessness. But Denzel…he was different. And the boy was starting to realize it. Not only did he feed him, giving him fresh, tasty food rather than garbage or paste, but he was giving him a place to sleep too, in a house where he could hide from Dr. Hoeng and not be cold. And he was beginning to realize something else. A person like Denzel was kind…and the feeling of someone being kind to him was a very good feeling. It made him feel…warmer…inside. If he could feel more of this feeling, then he'd gladly stay here. He was beginning to like Denzel.
In the end, he nodded. "Alright."
A few moments later, and Denzel led the boy back into the kitchen area and their home. Once there, he showed him to the staircase and up it. There were the bedrooms and bathroom. Denzel led him to the room that was his and Marlene's. There were still two separate single beds inside, as well as the unusual clash of a young boy's preferences on one side and a young girl's on the other, which had grown more marked with time.
Once there, Denzel went to the closet to get his new acquaintance some things. He wasn't quite tall enough to reach the top yet, but if all he was doing was getting his sleeping bag off the top shelf, he could jump for it. Sure enough, once he got there and slid it open, all he had to do was leap up, seize the straps on the bag, and then yank down to get it to fall. It did hit him on the head in the process, but being a rolled up bundle it didn't do anything to stop him. Once he had it, he pulled it up and turned around back to the boy.
Denzel was a bit surprised at what he saw. The other boy was already at the side of his bed, and he seemed to be pulling up his and Marlene's dirty clothes that they hadn't put in the hamper to make himself a place to lay.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
The boy turned back to him, and looked confused. "I was getting ready to go to bed. It's cool in here, so I wanted something to sleep on."
Denzel was still puzzled, but held up the sleeping bag. "You can sleep in this. And you don't have to use our clothes. I'll give you one of my pillows."
Surprisingly enough, the boy looked confused at this. However, he didn't stop Denzel as he unrolled the sleeping bag next to his bed, and then completely unfolded it for him. He was so puzzled by this that Denzel actually had to show him how to use it. After that, he gave him a pillow. The boy uncertainly unzipped the side and slipped into it, not taking any of his clothes off.
"You should take off your coat and shoes first." Denzel cautioned.
Yet again, the boy looked like this was a totally foreign concept. He looked down at himself a moment, but then finally shrugged and began to do as he was told. "…I guess it doesn't matter. I don't think I'll be cold in this." He murmured to himself as he did so. Once he was finished, he slipped inside the sleeping bag again and brought the top over himself, resting his head on the pillow.
He was soon pleased with the result. Denzel had barely turned toward getting himself ready for bed when the boy smiled.
"This is soft and warm." He spoke. "It's a lot better than newspaper and rags. And sleeping on metal floors."
Denzel once again turned to the boy at this, again confused as to what he meant by this. However, he recovered soon, and turned back to start taking off his own shoes. Again, he didn't get that far into it, before the boy pointed at the wall.
"What's that?"
Denzel turned to him, and then followed his finger to what he saw. Hanging against the wall on a few small nails was a necklace made out of rough gemstones, tied on a leather string.
"Oh. That's Marlene's." Denzel replied, with a slight frown. "She made it for me for my birthday, but I said it was too girly. Tifa got mad at me for that and said I should apologize, and she made me keep it. When she went to see her dad in Corel, she was in a riverbed all day looking for the gemstones."
The boy smiled at it. He seemed to enjoy the colors and look of it. Denzel turned back to his work, finishing pulling off his shoes. After a moment longer, the boy spoke up again, pointing out at it once more. "What color is that? It's really pretty…"
Denzel looked up again, and back to the necklace. He followed the boy's finger again, and saw that he was pointing toward one of the lighter blue stones.
"That color?" Denzel answered. "It looks blue to me…but Marlene told me it's 'azure', whatever that color is. It's blue to me, but she has to have all these funny names for colors…"
However, the boy seemed to almost be entranced by that title.
"Azure…" He echoed, staring at the necklace and the color. He was silent a moment, but then smiled wide again. "I like that color. I like that name. I want it to be my name. My name's Azure now."
Denzel had just finished pulling off his pants when he turned to the boy in confusion. "Huh?"
"You have a name." The boy explained matter-of-factly. "Dr. Hoeng had a name. Weasel and the others have names. The ones called Tifa and Marlene have names. I want a name, so I'm giving myself one. Call me Azure."
The brown-haired boy was a bit puzzled. He had never met a boy who acted like this before. Denzel remembered his own name when he was found by Cloud and Tifa. He knew that some kids in the streets gave themselves nicknames when they couldn't remember their own, but it was never done so...cheerfully. It looked like the silver-haired boy was very pleased and proud of his name, more so than any other boy he had ever seen. And he wasn't used to having someone suddenly name themselves something. But in the end, he supposed it figured. And so, with a shrug, he nodded and smiled.
"Ok, Azure."
"Are you sure we should be running with lights on?"
"Consider this, Elena…" Reno answered as he continued to work the controls of the Sierra. "They must know that only Cloud and the kid took this thing out. Hence, if they try to contact us with the radio, and anyone besides them answers, they'll know it's us. So we're having to run without answering their hails. At the same time, we aren't returning to their airfield but we're swinging around Midgar. If we run with lights off, that's only going to give them more reason to be suspicious about why we're acting this way, and to start wondering if Cloud and the kid are, in fact, still in command. Keep in mind, this thing isn't stealth. Lights on or off, they've seen us by now."
Elena realized the wisdom of that rationality, and silently turned back to her own console.
Working the Sierra wasn't easy. It took more than one pilot to do so, and a lot of trial and error that had nearly sent the airship into a nosedive more than once. Reno, Rude, and Elena had bumbled over the controls for about twenty minutes before they were able to successfully take it out of auto-pilot and turn it to the south, making their way around the Northern Continent. After that, it was simple to follow Krystea. True, her helicopter was on stealth, but each Turk had a GPS on them. It was reserved for whenever one of them might be captured. They didn't really think it could be used to hunt down one of their own. What more, no opponent, including Krystea, would be able to remove it unless they had surgical tools. It was implanted under one's skin.
They had to take a longer route than Krystea, unfortunately, as getting over the Northern Continent would incite the New Shinra to fire. Yet once clear, they were much faster. It took some hours to get as far as they were now. The sun had gone down, and now Midgar was lit up on the horizon. Typically, they didn't find themselves headed to Midgar, toward the base of the PPA. Rather, they were headed for the outskirts. Not long ago, they saw the blip representing Krystea, and that it had slowed down considerably. She had to have landed and disembarked from the chopper. Catching her would be easy now if they could have maintained use of the Sierra…but they doubted they could much longer.
Another threat was that their prisoners had to be awake by now. It would have made more sense to kill them earlier. Reno frowned at his own stupidity. Why hadn't he anyway? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had the impulse to spare them at that moment, and that he couldn't think of killing them. Now, it was too late. They'd have trouble when they opened that closet, even with them restrained…
"We got something." Rude suddenly announced, calling Reno from his private thoughts.
The Turk immediately turned his head in Rude's direction. "Got what? A bogey? Enemy fire?"
"Message." Rude answered. "Their communications system seems to be able to take messages when we don't answer."
"Put it on." Reno instructed. "Maybe we can get some clue as to how to avoid them a bit longer."
Rude gave a nod and pressed a few buttons on the console.
Moments later, all three Turks recoiled in shock as a screaming, violent, and nearly unintelligible stream of obscenities and curses flowed out of the speakers and into their ears. The three were stunned into paralyzation, hearing the chorus of yells and foul language. Yet as Reno began to cup his hands over his ears to keep himself from being driven into pain, he began to recognize that voice. Not only that…but he managed to catch assorted words between curses, such as "thieves", "stole", and "bring it back now".
Rude, blustering underneath his shades, reached out and switched the voice off before it got any worse. As silence returned to the bridge, Rude and Reno uneasily began to straighten up again. Elena was shaking a bit, her own body turned to fear from the sheer violence of the man on the other end.
"What the hell was that?" She exclaimed.
"I think it was Cid…or him after turning into a werewolf." Reno answered. "And from the sound of it…I think it's safe to say we've been ratted out."
Elena snapped up at that, and looked back to him. Rude did the same. "You sure?" He asked.
Reno frowned and nodded. "Couldn't make out much in that tapestry of obscenity…but I heard enough to gather he'd ready to rip the heads off of some people who stole his boat. He must somehow know we took it."
"What?" Elena exclaimed in disbelief. "How?"
Reno kept frowning. "Apparently…someone…or some people…who knew we were on board managed to get a message out. I thought we had cleaned those two…but it looks like they somehow managed to get a message back to shore."
The three looked dark after that. This changed some things. Stealth was supposed to be their biggest asset. They were planning on landing the Sierra and abandoning it, being gone long before the opposing army could show up and know who did it. But now that they were found out, this would make things more difficult. Down here, the Shinra wasn't in that big of a presence to guarantee their safety and ability to disappear. Here, it was the PPA who ran the show, and they were the outlaws.
"What do we do?" Elena finally asked.
Reno sighed in response. "Only thing we can do, I guess. I don't think it would break Cid's heart to blow this thing up while we're on it, though I think he'll try to have us disabled first. If we try to fight our way out, Krystea will get more of a head on us. We're going to have to ditch this thing before they use any anti-aircraft artillery on us."
"What about Cloud and Ragnar?" Rude asked.
Reno frowned again. "If they managed to contact them, they're probably already free and waiting for the first person to come back and try to finish them off. They live for now, I guess. At least hopefully running into them will keep the PPA off our backs long enough for them to get away. For now…they still don't know who we're after…"
Zola sure hoped that whoever he had just saved was worth it…because, for once, he looked like he had bitten off more than he could chew.
Up close and personal, these things smelled even worse. And though they had been initially shocked by what he had done, they were now starting to split up and move apart, moving to surround the warrior. And from what he had seen when he charged in, these six were only some of the threat. There were a lot more outside…and they may have already gotten the women he had just saved. At any rate, there was no time to worry about that now. He was surrounded…and had to fight.
The enemy made the first move…but it was something Zola hardly expected. One of the cloaked figures suddenly snapped his or her head back beneath the hood. He was just in time to see some small object come from this person. In response, he quickly tilted his head to one side. That was good, because the object sailed past his head and impacted one of the wood posts for the ceiling behind him. He risked a look behind him real quickly to see what it had been. To his shock, a greenish-gray blob of goo was against the post…and it was dissolving it. That was especially shocking, considering the fact that the strongest acids in existence could barely affect plant material…
Yet Zola had little time to ponder this…as another member shot forward. To the basilisk's surprise, this one opened its palms…and revealed long, sharp, curved, six-inch talons that extended from its fingers. It immediately dove forward and began to swipe at Zola with surprising speed. To the shock of the armored creature, the claws easily ripped apart his shirt and cut a shallow scrape around his gut. He quickly began to maneuver back as the figure closed, slicing and slashing as it made its way forward. Its speed was impressive, and Zola soon had to leap back considerably and quickly to stay clear.
But while doing this, another figure leapt for the ceiling, and grabbed one of the overhead posts with extra-large hands. Swinging forward like some sort of ape, it used this post as a fulcrum to swing itself around and lunge for Zola. The current attacker ducked just in time to eliminate the one barrier between Zola and the size-sixteens that the ape-like one wore. Despite his incredible strength and threshold for pain, the man was stunned as a powerful blow caught him under the chin, and knocked him off of his feet to send him flailing back.
Zola tipped and nearly fell backward, but somehow he managed to stabilize himself. He stood back up and got his balance…and just in time. As he gaped in surprise at his opponents…he noticed that another one was already coming. "Tiny" apparently hadn't been stunned long from Zola's opening punch, and now he was on his feet again and barreling at him, easily snapping both wooden and steel braces out of the way as he charged forward. The basilisk wheeled around to him and saw him approach. However…despite his size and power, this was his first good chance. He had enough speed to dodge out of the way and give him a slash to the side when he got up to him. And so, Zola paused a moment and stood there, waiting for the right opportunity…
At last, the hulk reached him. Zola enacted his plan immediately, and leapt out of his path so that he could bring his sword around and slice into his side. Yet before he could bring his weapon up…he felt what appeared to be slimey, sticky rope lash out and seize his legs. With a look of surprise, Zola found his legs locked together and then yanked out from under him. As the giant stormed by, heading outside and seeming unable to stop himself that easily, Zola was sent falling face-first to the ground with a rather powerful impact.
Zola winced in pain, but managed to turn and look behind him. He soon saw what had grabbed him, to his surprise. A fleshy, slime-covered tentacle had protruded from where one of the homeless person's arms should have been, and had snagged him. Now, the one with the claws was charging forward. Giving a cat-like yell, it leapt into the air and extended its claws, meaning to land on him and rip him to pieces. Zola was stunned. What were these things? Monsters? He didn't know…but he knew he had to start fighting back soon or he was dead.
As the creature was about to land on him, Zola abruptly twisted and rolled his body away. Moments later, the thing pounced on where he was, but his long sharp nails only embedded into concrete instead. What more, it seemed to cause it some pain, and it let out an animal howl in response. As for Zola, he used the moment to take up his tri-blade and swing down again, this time raking it across the tentacle that held him. The owner of the appendage gave an inhuman howl, and immediately released him and drew it back. Now free, Zola quickly got to his feet…
Only to see that the spitter was firing another blob at him. Quickly, he swung his head to one side, nearly having his ear melted off in the process. But that was also a trap, and he soon found himself in a prime position for the ape one to hop onto the ground and then lunge at him, giving him a cross against his face. Zola was once again knocked off of his feet and staggered back.
Somehow, through the pain and dazzled sensations, Zola saw the spitter rear back again. As he did, he saw the one with the nails rip his talons out of the floor, scattering cement in the process, and then turn and rush at him. As Zola managed to get his bearings and slow down again, he quickly looked at these two and made some calculations. He saw a way to get out of this…and waited for them to close for a second longer…
At last, talons reached him. He swung at him again with his extra-large nails. Zola countered by swinging out his blade and catching his nails in the forked portion. After that, he quickly wrenched his hand around and brought it in front of his face. It was just in time too…for that was when the spitter finished releasing its latest acidic wad. However, instead of hitting Zola, the thing's projectile impacted the hand of talons that Zola had trapped in his blade, immediately splattering out over it.
Zola quickly pulled his blade away to avoid getting it melted, but talons drew his hand back and bellowed in pain as the spit began to dissolve his limb. But the basilisk wasn't finished. He quickly brought up his weapon to put the creature out of its misery…when he found himself caught off guard again. Apparently, tentacle had more than one tentacle, and had recovered by now. This time, the sides of its ratty coat exploded as four of the appendages shot out and seized Zola, with two of them pinning his arms to his side and another two grabbing his legs. Zola once again yelped as he was yanked off his balance. But this time he wasn't merely dropped. Tentacle instead snapped him into the air and then flung him violently across the room. Zola was soon turned into a projectile himself, and smashed through two more wooden posts before hitting a steel one with his back and head. A horrible pain shot through his body as a tremendous "clang" sounded, and with a moan the basilisk slid to the ground.
Zola's head was swimming, and he was rather stunned after what had just befallen him. Yet he was a fast healer, and he blinked and looked up again. Talons was on the ground, grabbing the bloody stump that had been his limb and bellowing in agony. But ape was swinging along the ceiling, headed right for him again to give him more pain. Not only that, but tiny was back. He was in the process of smashing through part of the already wrecked wall and barreling straight for him, looking fit to smash him into jelly under his feet.
The basilisk held a moment. Quickly, he surveyed the situation once more, and made a few calculations again. Once he saw what was happening, he formulated a plan. As fast as his sore body could, he once more stood on his feet as the two opponents arrived. He only hoped that ape would do as he intended. Yet as the agile thing approached, he realized that he would. Rather than swing from the rafter and attack him, he reached out and seized one of the metal poles supporting the ceiling. He swung himself horizontally around it, meaning to come around and hook Zola with a double kick. Not only that, but tiny was closing in from a slightly different side. Zola looked to be crushed between the two…unless he did this first.
At the last moment, the basilisk ducked, letting ape sail harmlessly over him.
Tiny could do nothing but gape before the double kick smashed him in the gut instead, knocking him back and off of his feet once again.
Ape was stunned at what he had done, and slowed down his swing as he came back around once more. That was his fatal mistake, however. Zola used the moment to shoot back up, and this time swung his tri-blade up with him, cutting a rather large gash along the side of ape. Another bestial howl went out before ape released his post and fell to the ground, grasping his side in pain. This cut was deep...and would likely be mortal soon. And so, Zola turned his attention to the other three still standing. Not waiting for tiny to recover yet again, he began to step out toward them…
But unfortunately, he was too late. Tiny had barely been stunned by that blow, as he had barely been stunned by Zola's. The basilisk only took a few steps before he felt a massive hand wrap around his neck and crush inward. Zola gagged for a moment, before he found himself ripped off of his feet and swung around. He continued to gasp as he looked face to face with tiny, who was now getting back to his feet once again. He couldn't see much…other than two ugly, oversized eyes glaring at him over a gigantic, cow-like mouth. The thing glared at him in rage for a moment more…before swinging him up and smashing his head into…and through…the ceiling. Zola opened his mouth and gagged again, unable to cry out in pain as concrete was broken around his head due to his airway being cut off. Fully enraged, Tiny proceeded to smash three more holes in the ceiling with Zola's head, trying to crush his skull in…
But as much as this blow hurt the basilisk, he was far too strong to be killed by it…at least as easily as a normal human might be. As tiny yanked him down and prepared to drive his head through the ceiling again…Zola lashed out and up with his foot, catching tiny under the chin. The blow would have killed a regular man, but tiny was barely stunned. And so…Zola did so two more times before giving him a thrust kick to the throat. That made the creature gag, and he finally dropped him. Zola landed on his feet, but staggered and gasped a moment, trying to get some air in before doing anything else. However, he didn't have long to do so. Tiny gagged only a couple times before turning back to Zola with his violent anger. He snarled at him once, and then lunged forward once again.
But Zola was ready. He was growing tired at this point, but he knew he couldn't afford to let up. As tiny came at him, he crouched and suddenly leapt into the air. He placed his hands on tiny's shoulders as he closed in, and then used him as leverage to push himself up and over the thing's head, in effect hurdling the beast. The giant looked about in confusion only for a moment before, in his own stupidity, he drove his own head into the same metal pipeape had used, hitting it so hard that his head dented it in. The effect only served to stun him, but that was all that Zola needed.
As the basilisk went to the ground, he slashed out with his sword again. He had managed to catch tentacle trying to bring his appendages in to pour on more pain, but the creature had hesitated because it couldn't get a good look at Zola to attack. And now, having been surprised at Zola's sudden move, it was caught off guard as the basilisk landed and sliced through two more of its fleshy limbs. Another inhuman cry later, and the thing recoiled again, hauling its arms protectively into the holes in its coat.
The basilisk panted. Ape and talons were down…but tiny was shaking his head and turning around to glare at Zola in rage. He didn't look the slightest bit hurt from all the punishment he had taken so far. Tentacle fumed at Zola, and looked ready to prepare another attack. Spitter was hauling back again, and one of them appeared to just be watching this, still having not made a move. Zola swallowed. This was a lot harder than it looked. These things were resilient. If he didn't even the odds soon…he could be in trouble. He only hoped that those women had gotten away…and that he could somehow eke a victory out of this…
But before anyone could make another move, they froze as a new sound entered the environment. Gunshots were coming from outside. The monsters and Zola turned and looked out the openings that tiny had made, and heard the sounds of rapid gunfire outside. It also appeared to have effect. Some of the things that were still out there began to cry in agony. Zola was surprised. What was that? Had the PPA come at last? He hadn't seen any signs of them…and they shouldn't have heard them from where they were. But what else could it be? Perhaps somehow they had been alerted, and had come to join the fray. Then again…there was a chance that it was more enemies, and that the ones crying out were the two women… Or it could be that the women themselves were firing… He thought he had smelled the scent of gun metal on one…
However, after a moment, it seemed that whoever they were they were on his side. The one who hadn't moved hissed. "Damn them…we've been spotted. We're under attack." At this, the thing wheeled around to her companions. "We need to leave here. We'll ruin everything for the doctor if they find out about us."
Tentacle and spitter turned to the female, and seemed hesitant. They wheeled around back to Zola, and sneered for a moment. The basilisk almost thought they would attack again. But in the end, they uttered curses at him, and broke off. Tentacle ran forward and used its appendages to yank the bleeding, nearly delirious talons off the ground. It supported him as best as he could, and then turned and ran out the door they had knocked open. Spitter spat at the ground at Zola's feet, leaving another ball of acidic fluid in its wake, and then turned and ran as well. That left the female, tiny, and the now-dead ape.
Tiny was furious, glaring at the female. He pointed at Zola and roared. "He killed Bartus! We can't let him get away with that!"
"We have no time, Nimrod!" The female hissed back. "If they find out about us, he'll kill us all for our failure! Revenge can wait!"
The hulk sneered, but the female didn't waste anymore time. She turned and ran after her companions. The giant wheeled around and glared at Zola. He was livid with fury, and looked ready to rip apart Zola with his bare hands. In the end, however, he snorted. He turned and went over to his dead companion, and quickly lifted him up and easily held him in his arms. He wheeled around one last time to Zola, and growled again.
"I swear I'll kill you for this, human."
With that, the giant wheeled around and charged. A moment later, he smashed through the opposite wall, not even slowing down as he did so. A torrent of debris, bricks, and wood rained down behind him, covering his escape as he charged out into the night. It didn't really matter. Zola wasn't following him…nor was he sure he wanted to after seeing the threshold for pain on that guy. Within a few moments, Zola was standing alone in the chamber.
Once he realized he was in the clear, and he heard the gunshots die outside, the basilisk let out a sigh of relief. He nearly let his tri-blade clatter to the ground as he dropped his arms. He was sore, but not in nearly as much pain as he should have been. His regeneration helped out immensely. Still…that had been one of the worst fights he had been in a long time. What more, he hadn't done nearly as bad to the enemy as he thought he should of. They were something else entirely…as their foul and unusual inhuman smells testified against. It made Zola nervous to think about it…and considering his age and true nature, that was something.
Who were those guys, anyway? What were they? And what did they want? If they didn't want to be found out by the PPA…then why had they gotten into a fight this close to the camp? They were doing more than good enough anyway…so why had they broken off now? Tiny alone probably could have taken care of a whole regiment of troops… Who were those two ladies anyway? Why had they sent all this power after only them? Were they that big a deal? And why would they want them?
Before Zola could ponder any of these things, however…he froze. He suddenly sensed that he was no longer alone in the room. He didn't actually hear anything come in…but he could smell it. And it smelled inhuman… Not only that, but he could almost sense it. And the sense he received was not pleasant. It was rather…cold…and unnerving. It made him feel uncomfortable just to be around it. And from the smell and sensation…he realized that it was coming up right behind him.
Zola stayed loose a moment longer, secretly preparing himself and trying to stay calm. Then, in a flash, he suddenly snapped around and swung his tri-blade out for the foe behind him.
Moments later…he let the weapon rest lightly on the neck of the man who had come up behind him. But it wasn't out of mercy…
It was because a handgun's barrel was resting on his forehead.
Zola and the man he now held at blade length froze. The basilisk was surprised. He hadn't met many who could react that quickly. What more, strong as he was…a bullet to the head would more than likely kill him. As such, a bit of fear held him. He used the pause to quickly survey the man that now had him at his mercy as much as he did. He was tall, pale, and had a head of long black hair. He was dressed all in blood red and black, save for a long metal claw he had on one arm. His other arm held the handgun at his head. He looked rather monstrous himself…especially since his cold eyes burned red and were focused on him. However, he wasn't dressed like the others,as a homeless person. He had no idea what to make of him…other than he was now in a bad situation regarding him.
Finally, Zola broke the silence, trying to sound bold.
"You better run off like the rest of your friends. Didn't you hear the gunfire outside? The PPA are coming."
"…Then if I were you, I would run as well." The man simply replied. "You appear to be dressed as one of their inmates. However…I assure you that they aren't coming. You heard me."
Zola hesitated at that, a bit amazed. That was this man? He did have a gun…but it had sure sounded like a firefight. And he hadn't been alone in that assumption. The enemy had thought the same, obviously… However…if he was fighting the enemy, and had driven them off…then perhaps that meant he wasn't with them.
"Um…so…you aren't with the monsters?"
"Why did you automatically assume I was?" The dark man calmly answered.
Zola took one look at the man's ghastly, nearly vampiric appearance, and gave a shrug. "Um…no reason."
Neither man moved.
Zola swallowed. "…You can put your gun down now."
"You're an escaped prisoner from the PPA." The man simply answered.
"No I'm not."
"You're dressed like one."
"It's a complicated story."
"Good. I enjoy complicated stories."
Zola frowned. "You're not a member either. You don't have any authority to arrest me."
"I plan on joining soon."
"How do you know I don't?"
"I don't. I'm just proceeding on a logical course."
The basilisk was once again at a loss. He had to get out of this. At last, he let out a sigh. "Look…I was fighting against those things. You were fighting against those things. Obviously, they were the real bad guys here. We're not getting anywhere just like this. So why don't we just both put our weapons down and try to act like civilized people for a few moments?"
The man said nothing in response. However, after a moment longer…his thumb went out to his stock. After pushing once, he uncocked it. He never averted his cold glare for a moment. Zola licked his lips, but then slowly began to pull his blade away from the man's neck. Both of them, neither fully trusting the other, stared on as they slowly returned their weapons to their sides.Afterward, they found themselves standing face-to-face and unmoving.
"Alright." The man began. "If you weren't with that company, what were you doing out here?"
"I spotted those freaks coming out here after I saw a helicopter go down." Zola answered. "I followed them here to see what was up."
"In a prisoner's uniform?" The man inquired.
Zola rolled his eyes and sighed. "Like I said…it's a very long story, and I can't sort it out without coming off as guilty. But the real enemy here were those freaks. They weren't human."
"I gathered that much." The dark man answered. "I placed two shots into the skull of one and it didn't falter. I injured several of those outside, but I only killed one."
Zola frowned. "Same here. In the meantime, you only have to look around to see what else they did while I was trying that." Here, the man indicated around him. Although the dark man never looked away, his peripheral vision examined the room now, showing the burns, concrete cuts, and ruined construction that surrounded them. It looked like a war zone in Zola's wake. After this, however, he looked back to the dark man. "Why are you here?"
"Same reason. I saw the helicopter landing secretly, and I assumed something foul."
"The helicopter is about ten blocks away." Zola reminded him.
"I was drawn to this point for, I assume, much the same reasons you were. I saw these creatures moving on some target. But when I tracked them here, I already heard a fight having broke out. I assume you picked a fight with them."
"Only because I was trying to defend the two ladies." Zola defended. "I assume they were the ones who came out of the chopper."
On mentioning this, however, Zola realized that he had managed to pique the curiosity of the dark man. After all, he hadn't seen who had been a passenger on that ship, and this offered a new clue to him.
"…What did these ladies look like?"
Zola paused for a moment. He didn't know who this man was, or what his angle was. There was a chance that telling him about these women might endanger them. However, in the end he decided to go ahead and go for it. The creatures had been after them, and in the end this guy had indirectly defended them.
"…Both of them looked about the same. Brown hair and green eyes, and somewhat similar builds. One was in a white robe. The other was in a dark suit. I overheard them a bit before they came in. Sounded like they were having some sort of tearful reunion…"
The dark man took this in for a moment. But once Zola was finished and he had a few seconds, he finished by simply brushing his cape up and replacing his gun in a side holster. After that, he turned and began to walk past the basilisk.
"Very well. Good bye."
This, however, only puzzled the man even more. As the dark man passed him, Zola spun around and followed him, and then called out. "Wait a minute…where are you going?"
The dark man halted, but did not turn around.
"…Those two women likely were the ones on the helicopter. One of them was wearing the attire of a Turk, according to you, and I know that the Turks are prone to using stealth helicopters. Based on their manner of arrival, it is likely that they were on assignment to conduct some act of espionage on the Planet Protector Army. However…if what you say is true about a Turk moving around with a civilian and actually expressing emotion around one, then that is an item of interest indeed…as is the fact that these creatures were after them, and are likely still after them. All of this merits me investigating this further. I'll find them and ask them myself."
With that, the dark man began to walk away again, toward the newest hole in the wall. However, Zola wasn't going to let him off that easily. He immediately stepped forward.
"Hey, wait a minute!" He called out. "I'm not letting you go that easily! How do I know you aren't after them too? And you aren't a member of the PPA either."
"Be that as it may, I'm still going after them." The dark man calmly answered, not turning around.
Zola frowned for a moment after that, and let out a large sigh. In the end, however, he grunted and then broke into a jog himself, moving to catch up with the dark figure.
"Then I'm going with you."
This made the dark man halt. He stopped in midstep, and turned his burning red glare behind him to stare at Zola as he approached. The look was powerful and dark…and it made Zola halt and nearly pale at the sight of it, as unnatural as it was. However, Zola steeled himself, and stood up straight.
"Why?" The dark man asked.
"Like I said, I still don't trust you all that much." Zola responded. "And like you said…there is something weird going down, and you're a part of it as far as I'm concerned."
"I could say the same thing about you." The dark man answered coolly.
"Anyway…" Zola continued, pushing this off and stepping forward to once again stand right next to the dark man. "I'm not sure what's going on or where you figure into this. But until I find those women and get it sorted out, I'm sticking with you. I know personally that the PPA lost too much by letting strange people go about their own business. I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."
The dark man stared at him a moment longer. He was silent and expressionless as he did so, not showing approval or disappointment. But Zola stood and did not change. He had already made his decision at this point. In the end…the dark man finally turned away and continued to walk toward the opening.
"…Don't expect me to wait up for you, so keep up if you wish to follow."
To be continued...
