Chapter 34: A New Plan of Action!
Back at the base, Erica was getting impatient as she kept pacing around in the lounge area. "I can't take it anymore! How much longer until Kitami and the others get back? Where did they get off to?" Erica said out loud. She saw Saeki coming into the room and finally decided that she had enough waiting. "Hey! Saeki, I need to talk to you!" Erica called out. "Ok, what is it?" Saeki replied. "I know that you know something about Kitami's whereabouts, so stop lying to me and just give it to me straight. Where the heck is she?!" Erica demanded as she got in her face.
Saeki knew that she couldn't keep it up with the act anymore, but she also remembered the promise she made to Reika earlier. "I don't know where she is, Erica." Saeki lied. Erica's face turned red with anger. "God damn it, I said not to lie to me! Just tell me where she is; I need to know!" Erica shouted. "Don't yell at me! I already told you that I have no idea where she is!" Saeki yelled back. "You're lying! I know you are, so stop hiding the truth from me and just tell me where she is!" Erica demanded as she clenched her fists. "How many times do I have to say it to you? I do not know where Reika Kitami is!" Saeki snapped as she enunciated the last sentence.
Suddenly, Erica slapped her in the face. Saeki cried out in pain from Erica's forceful hit. "You're gonna tell me right now where Reika Kitami is! And if you lie to me one more time, so help me I'll-" Erica shouted. "Erica! What the hell are you doing?!" Yuuto exclaimed as he walked in on them. Erica looked at her brother with both anger and sadness on her face before she turned to face Saeki, who was trying her best to hold back tears. "She's hiding something, Yuuto! She knows where Reika is, but she won't tell me! Now I'm not going to ask you again, goddammit! Where is she?!" Erica screamed. "I can't tell you, all right?! Reika made me promise not to tell you guys anything!" Saeki screamed back.
This made Erica even angrier. "Why?! Why would she do that to me?" Erica cried. "It's not just about you, you idiot! She's concerned about all of us! She told me that she put you guys through enough and that she didn't want to be a burden on you any longer!" Saeki blurted out. "What?! She...she thinks that she's a burden to us? But...but...but why?" Erica exclaimed. Saeki cursed as she palmed her face. "You know what? To hell with this; I'm tired of putting up with your bullshit! You want to go out there and get yourself killed? Fine, but that's all on you! I'm going to bed!" Saeki growled before she pushed Erica out of the way and left the room.
Yuuto glared at Erica as he approached her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped. "What? What did I do?!" Erica retorted. "You're kidding, right? You think maybe there's a reason why that woman left us? And you've got the nerve to tell me that I've got an oedipus complex!" Yuuto growled. "How dare you!" Erica shouted. "You know it's the truth! I know it's the truth, because I see it in you! You're pissed off that mom is gone and now that this strange woman appears, you don't want to let her go! You ever think that maybe she doesn't want to be our new mother, Erica?!" Yuuto challenged.
Erica wanted to snap at him, but she couldn't help but think that he was somehow right. Deep down, Erica had a feeling that Reika was somehow pushing her away. But she didn't want to admit it. "Yuuto, I-" Erica began. "You know what? Just shut up, all right?! You need to learn to control your temper!" Yuuto snarled before he walked off. Erica was left speechless as she stood there alone. "Kitami? Why? Why do you keep pushing me away? Don't you love me? Don't you want to be a part of our family?" Erica thought with bitter tears.
Meanwhile; Sonya Blade, Jax, Ichinose, and Morikawa were traveling their way through a large chasm. "Damn it! I think we made a wrong turn, Sonya!" Jax cursed. "I knew we should've taken a right. Are you sure this is the right way?" Sonya demanded as she approached Ichinose. "I don't know, that's what Morikawa said!" Ichinose snapped. "Everyone be quiet and let me think, all right? Now I do know that there is a strange rock formation around here somewhere; it's got a face of some sort. Now where is it?" Morikawa said out loud.
Sonya groaned as she sat on a rock and tried to get her radio to work. "Come on, you piece of shit! Work!" Sonya cursed as she banged her fist on the radio. "Forget it, Sonya. I've been trying to get that damn thing to work, and I just can't seem to get a signal. We're too far underground to even-" Jax began. "AHA! I found it; there it is!" Morikawa shouted as she pointed.
Everyone rushed over to where she was pointing and they were surprised to see that there was a tall rock-like pillar with a strange face formed on it. It stuck out from the ground like a stalagmite, but there was something strange about the rock formation itself. There were strange markings all over the body of the pillar, as if they were carved purposely. "That's...weird. To say the least!" Sonya said out loud. "Wait a minute! I think I recognize those symbols!" Ichinose said as she approached the stone. "You do? Well, what about them? Do you know what they say?" Jax asked. "I'm not sure...but I could have sworn I saw symbols like these a long time ago. I was reading a book about ancient runes and symbols, and I saw a picture that looked just like these. I wonder if-" Ichinose explained as she observed the stone pillar.
But as she placed her hand on the face, she gasped as she found herself pressing down on it. The face lit up with a blood red aura before a bright red light began creating a path that led towards a wall. "What did you just do?!" Morikawa exclaimed. "I don't know!" Ichinose replied shakily. The red light reached the wall and began to crawl up all over the wall, creating strange symbols and runes.
Everyone ran towards the wall and gasped and stared in awe at the strange occurrence. "Oh! That's amazing; it's almost like...I pressed a button and now-" Ichinose gasped. "It's a map! Look; I recognize that! That's the spider catacombs; see those pods?" Morikawa exclaimed as she pointed. "And that path through the catacombs...it looks like it leads the way out!" Sonya pointed out. "Finally! Some good news for once! Now let's see if we can find our way out of this damn place!" Jax cried. "Wait! What's that? That giant symbol in that temple there? What is that?" Sonya asked as she pointed it out.
Everyone looked at it and wondered what it was. "I don't know, but it doesn't look good to me!" Morikawa said. "Wait...there's something awfully familiar about that. I think I've seen it somewhere before." Jax announced. "What? Where?! Where did you see something like this?" Sonya demanded. Jax observed the strange symbol and closed his eyes. He gasped in horror as he finally remembered something. "What? What is it? Jax?!" Sonya exclaimed. "Sonya...we've gotta find that place and shut it down now!" Jax said gravely. "Why? What is it? Wait...are you saying what I think you're saying?!" Sonya said in shock.
Jax nodded his head, making Sonya gasp. "Oh God...it can't be! It was right here all along and we didn't even notice it?! Fuck!" Sonya cursed. "What's wrong?" Ichinose asked as she saw how upset they became. "Hope you don't mind getting your hands dirty...cuz we've got a new plan of action!" Jax said as he lit a cigar. "Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Morikawa demanded. "We'll explain along the way. But let's hurry! We may not have much time left!" Sonya answered as she prepared some of her combat gear. "Ok, if you say so!" Morikawa said in confusion. "Come on; it's this way!" Jax said as he led the way. And with that said, they were all off.
Back with Spawn and Kitami, both of them were wandering through the vast wasteland to try and reach the base. Spawn was starting to get impatient due to the feeling that both he and Kitami were lost. "Stop! We've been through here before! We're lost!" Spawn growled. "We're not lost, ok? I swear I remember that my friends and I walked through here!" Reika snapped. "You don't even know where the hell we're going, do you?!" Spawn snarled. "Don't get fresh with me! Now let me think-" Reika snapped.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard from the distance. "What the hell is that?" Reika wondered. Spawn growled as he turned around, his eyes glowing bright green. "Darrel! I can sense his evil presence from here!" Spawn said to himself. "Raizo, wait! What about the others?" Reika pointed out. "To hell with them! Darrel is the one that I want!" Spawn snapped. "Hey! That's not part of the deal we made, remember?!" Reika shouted. "I've come this far to get my revenge, woman! I'm not about to let him escape from my grasp!" Spawn cried before he took off. "HEY! Get your ass back here, Raizo!" Reika screamed angrily.
Spawn took off flying into the air, much to Reika's dismay. Spawn used his chains to grapple his way across some spiky rocks before he snagged onto a rocky pillar that overlooked a deep chasm. "Damn you, Raizo! You're such a pain in the ass!" Reika muttered as she teleported her way up towards Spawn's location. "All right, Raizo! Cut the shit; what's going on?!" Reika demanded. Spawn looked at her with a grave expression on his face, slowly changing the witch's attitude. "What? What is it?" Reika demanded. "See for yourself!" Spawn said grimly as he pointed down at the chasm below.
Reika gasped in horror at what she saw; it was a large, yet cleverly hidden fortress of some sort. Built within large caves and rocky crevices, there laid very large artillery cannons, tanks, and massive amounts of explosive shells, bombs, and crates full of guns. And in the center of this fortress, there was a strange roofless stone temple with a pentagram painted on the ground in blood. "Oh my God! How the hell did anyone not notice this?!" Reika exclaimed. "It looks like that temple has been there for quite some time, but those weapons look like they've been newly acquired. It's likely that Darrel must have stolen as much of St. Arcadia's weapons as he could before he nuked the place." Spawn explained as he pointed to the weapons.
Reika nodded her head in agreement. "You're right! He's got enough of guns to lead an entire army! But what's with that temple?" Reika asked. "I think we already know the answer to that, Reika. It might have to do with that ritual involving that book!" Spawn pointed out. "No...there's something completely different about that temple. I haven't seen anything like that before. Wait...do you think maybe-" Reika began before she gasped in horror. "What now?" Spawn growled. "Raizo...we need to destroy that temple now! Do you know what that is?! It's a portal of some sort!" Reika explained with a heavy voice. "What?! Oh God...Darrel, you crazy son of a bitch! What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea what it is you're about to unleash?!" Spawn said halfway to himself.
Spawn and Reika looked at each other before they looked back down at the fortress. "You're right, Reika! We need to destroy that portal before Darrel uses it!" Spawn said. "Yeah, no kidding! But how do we get there without being noticed?" Reika added. "I don't think we can. We'll have to strike them fast and hard with everything we've got!" Spawn answered. "That's awfully risky, honey...but I don't think we've got much of a choice right now. All right; you lead the way. I'm right behind you!" Reika replied. Spawn nodded his head before grabbed hold of Kitami and they teleported away from the rocky pillar.
They teleported their way into the deep chasm, right behind a giant boulder that was a few hundred feet away from a giant iron gate that served as the entrance to this fortress of evil. "Let's do this, Raizo!" Reika said with fierce determination. Spawn nodded his head in response before he drew out his Agony Axe. Things were about to get really violent!