Recap: Their attention was pulled to the balcony where someone had started clapping.
"Bravo!" cried Antonia enthusiastically, "The grace, the expression, the sheer violence of it." She went passionately on. Luna didn't hear her words, her eyes were locked with those of Junner who was staring down at her with a small frown.
She unconsciously shifted closer to Riddick. She hoped that when they escaped that she could follow them. She didn't want to stay behind and be anywhere near Junner. The guy gave her the creeps.
"Exquisite." marveled Antonia on catching the younger woman's attention again.
Riddick stared at Antonia with a frown on his face. He then turned his head ever so slightly to Blade who send him an invisible nod.
"Such a complete and thorough performance. It leaves only one question," continued the artistic woman.
Luna rolled her eyes at the woman's words. 'Talk about ranting. I've never heard someone chatter so much about someone's actions like she does,' she thought, annoyed and glanced over at Imam and Jack.
Both had pulled the collars from their necks. Her gaze drifted to Blade and his hand. It was barely noticeable but she thought she saw his nails elongate. Squinting, she saw that her thoughts were proven right when she saw that his nails had, in fact, lengthened.
'I didn't know he could do that.' she mused, before her thoughts went to the Blade movies. 'Now I remember! Deacon Frost could also lengthen his nails a bit. And as they said in the movies; Blade has all the strengths, but none of the weaknesses,' she thought to herself, remembering bits and pieces of the first Blade movie.
"I got a feeling you're not gonna like this." Jack whispered softly to Blade who hummed in response.
"How will I ever have you mounted to do it justice?" asked Antonia as she tapped her cheek with her finger.
Taking that as their cue, Riddick brought his shiv up to his neck where the explosive charge was planted and cut a small, but deep enough hole with the tip of his knife. "What are you-…?" started Antonia, her face turning horror stricken when she saw his movements. Her gaze shot to Blade, "No!" she stammered, her eyes widening.
Blade stuck his nails in his neck where the charge was planted with him, and thanks to his sharp nails, pulled the chip out with ease, letting out a short grunt from the painful action. Antonia turned to her table and quickly reached out for her detonator but it slipped clumsily out of her hands from her fast maneuvers.
At the same time Riddick took his shiv out of the wound and stuck his finger in it and picked the chip out. Luna glanced from one convict to another with morbid fascination. On one hand she was disgusted by their actions, but on the other hand it was, in a creepy way, intriguing to watch.
"Eww!" muttered Jack as she held her head in disgust.
"Disgusting." mumbled Luna as she wrinkled her nose
"You gonna keep that?" asked Jack as she pointed to the chip in Blade's hand, completely oblivious to what the thing really was.
"Looks like you two will have to be abstract pieces." hissed Antonia as she lifted the detonator up.
"Down! Now!" barked Riddick as he pulled his hand back and threw the device to the wall where the shrill had came from.
"Duck!" ordered Blade at the same time, as he, too, threw his chip towards the wall. Jack, Imam and Luna quickly ran the other way and just when Blade and Riddick started running, Antonia pressed the button of her remote. The two bombs went off at the same time and exploded.
The shockwave that followed threw everyone off their feet and to the ground. Luna landed next to Jack on her stomach. Luckily they were too far away to be actually hit by the shockwave and they quickly recovered.
Jack and Luna wasted no time as they each ran to the convicts and helped them to their feet.
While Jack helped Riddick, Luna ran over to Blade, ignoring the stinging of her knees and started pulling on his arm to get him faster to his feet. "Come on! We gotta go!" she told him urgently.
Imam was already running through the hole that had been made in the wall and was followed by the rest of the group. They ran as fast as they could, each knowing that Antonia would send her people after them.
After a while of running they came to a part of the ship where there was zero gravity, forcing them to fly their way through. Riddick stopped in the middle of a jump and landed on the ground. He waited until Luna passed by and grabbed her ankle and pulled her down, causing her to gasp in surprise.
She landed with a stumble in front of him and looked up at his face confused. "Riddick? What's wrong?" she asked softly and slightly nervous, her hands fiddled unconsciously with the end of the leash that was still wrapped around her neck.
"Gonna take the collar off," was all he said, as he pulled out his shiv and brought it to her neck.
She involuntarily flinched but still tilted her head to give him better access. He turned the collar until the lock was in front of him and started picking it. A minute or so later, the collar with the leash still tied to it, fell to the ground with a soft 'clink'.
Luna stared down at the collar on the ground before she sent a bright smile at him. "Thanks," she said happily and rubbed her throat before an awkward silence came over them. "Nice getup by the way, kitten," rumbled Riddick suddenly, his eyes running over her form as she jumped and sailed past him.
Luna blushed at the comment. "Thanks," she murmured "but as soon as we find some new clothes, I am changing out of this outfit." She grumbled, trying to ignore the feeling of her face burning in embarrassment.
But that aside, the zero gravity was the only thing on this ship she found fun. With no gravity she could do things she normally couldn't. Like a summersault for example. Ignoring the heat of her cheeks she did a summersault to forget her discomfort and unconsciously flashed her panties to anyone who was looking.
"Keep it, you'll never know when it will come of use," growled Blade, his eyes glued to her form. Her slave outfit left little to the imagination.
The comment distracted her and instead of landing on her legs she landed face first into a wall.
Hissing in pain, she pulled away from the wall and once again ignored the burning of her cheeks. 'That was embarrassing. Note to self, stay focused!' she thought with a pout, as she heard Jack snicker at her landing.
She turned and glared at Jack who bit her lip to keep her snickers hidden. Her gaze drifted to Blade "And pray tell, how this is going to be of use?" she asked through narrowed eyes.
Blade smirked and cocked a brow. The motion gave her enough information and she turned around to hide her reddening face, trying in vain to push the blush down. 'Pervert.' she thought with a hidden smile.
Jack's yell pulled her out of her thoughts. "Luna! Come on! Hurry up!" cried Jack from down the tunnel. She blinked and looked up to see Jack and Imam already by the end of the tunnel with the latter just disappearing around the corner.
Sighing, she followed after the young teen and landed a few inches to the right of Jack, almost even bumping into her. "Sorry." she mumbled, to which Jack gave her a shrug and a soft "That's okay." before she jumped forwards, trying to follow after Imam.
Blade and Riddick flew by them and landed several feet further before they both pushed off and flew further ahead, quickly gaining and even passing Imam by.
As they flew around another corner Luna noticed that Jack really had some problems following everyone. But she was not the only one. Luna herself had problems with keeping up, too. As the others flew further and further away, Luna and Jack floated near each other. Jack glanced over at her and gave her a strained smile.
Finally they made their way to a room with gravity. No matter how fun it was to fly around, there were just too many things that could go wrong in zero gravity. Luna waited at the edge of the room for Jack who was still several feet behind her.
"Come on, Jack!" she called as she motioned with her hand for her to go faster. All of a sudden grabbed two hands her from behind. She let out a startled cry and immediately tried to wrestle herself out of the hands. She knew it wasn't anyone of her friends as she had just seen Imam, Blade and Riddick fly by and Jack was still catching up.
"Luna!" cried Jack, as she went to fly towards her, but the man who caught her pulled her further into the room they were in.
The man had stepped through a doorway that was hidden by some pipes. He knew he couldn't handle Riddick and Blade alone but maybe he could get something for returning Junner his slave. The merc chuckled.
"Don't come any closer, brat. Not unless ya want yer friend here harmed," sneered the man as he pulled a large knife from his back and held it against her throat. Luna stopped struggling once she felt the edge of the knife bite into her skin. A small trickle of blood rolled down her neck.
Jack stopped where she was and gritted her teeth as she glared harshly at the man. In the meantime had Riddick, Imam and Blade returned once they heard Luna and Jack's cries.
Imam frowned deeply when he saw the merc holding Luna hostage. He held up his hands and carefully took a step forwards. "Please, let her go. We do not want any trouble." he said softly trying to negotiate with the merc.
The man merely grinned at his words. "Ya really think I'm just gonna let her go like that? Junner's gonna gimme a lot of credits for gettin' his precious slave back," said the man from behind her.
Jack glared angrily at him. "Coward! Riddick and Blade are gonna kick your ass!" cried the girl courageously.
The merc turned his gaze to the girl and sneered. While he was distracted Blade snuck around the room towards the pair. Jack noticed this and resisted the urge to grin.
"Oh really? How're they gonna do that when I have their pretty li'll friend in my hands, huh? They make a wrong move and I'll slit her throat. Junner prob'bly won't be too happy with that, but if I twist the story a bit then he'll understand just fine," he chuckled evilly, with a careless shrug.
Luna swallowed as he pressed the blade harder against her throat, causing her to unconsciously move her head away from it. Jack glared at him. "You really think you're gonna get away with that? Riddick and Blade are gonna kick your ass and gut you like a fucking fish." she spat.
The man sneered at her words. "They won't be able to once they're caught," his hand slid towards Luna's breast from her waist. "And when Junner gets his li'll slave back, I'm bettin' he will let me 'ave a go with her before the others," he jeered as he squeezed her breast roughly, causing her to gasp in pain.
Suddenly there appeared a sword against the merc's throat. "No one will be touching her, but us," came Blade's dark voice from behind the merc.
The man tensed. "H-how did ya get behind me? I was sure ya stood by yer friend!" cried the man as he tilted his head to keep the blade away from his neck.
"Should've kept your eyes on us instead of talking so much," growled Blade before he slit the man's throat without a second thought. A gurgled scream escaped the man as blood gushed out of his neck, some of it falling even on Luna's back.
She quickly pushed the merc's hands out of the way and stepped out of range of the blood.
Turning around, her eyes widened at the sight of how much blood flowed from his slit neck.
She watched in mortification as the man grew quickly paler and paler as he fell to his knees and his hands clawed at his neck, trying in vain to get some air in his lungs. Finally the man stilled and fell with a dull thud on his side, his eyes glazed over and seemingly staring right at her.
Her hands flew to her mouth at the sight, growing pale herself from all the blood. She knew that Blade just saved her life. That he had just stopped the merc from bringing her back to Junner. But a small part of her was horrified by what they did. Only one thought went through her head at the dead body. 'How could they do that so easily?…' repeated in her head.
She was used to seeing her own blood most of the times when her parents hit her too hard. But seeing the blood of others, seeing someone take a life so easily, without a second thought or remorse, sickened her.
Blade walked past her sending her a single glance and went towards Imam and Riddick.
Jack walked up to Luna and rubbed her back. "You okay?" she asked a bit worried and got a shaky nod as answer. Her mouth opened and closed but no words came out. She shook her head and send a fake smile at the preteen. "F-fine." she whispered and quickly ran over to the others.
A while later they walked through a tunnel and just rounded a corner when a loud roar came from the tunnel on their right. Everyone tensed at the sound. "What the hell was that?" asked Jack softly as she glanced over at the tunnel where the sound came from.
"Don't. Move." ordered Riddick softly.
They had walked further after the sound when nothing came their way, but this time more hurriedly. Jack and Luna glanced anxiously over their shoulders behind them, both afraid of whatever that thing was.
They came to a room that had a door but was locked. After a few tackles from both men they decided to climb upwards. Riddick took the lead, with Blade intending to go last. Once Imam and Jack were up, Blade turned to Luna who didn't move. "Ya gonna climb?" he asked slightly annoyed.
She shook her head and glared at him. "No. Not with you climbing under me. I'll go last." she told him firmly.
Blade quirked an eyebrow before he shook his head and jumped up at the wall and grabbed a pipe that stuck out. After that he started climbing upwards with ease. Luna instantly regretted going last as she didn't know how to climb. Wincing at that thought she swallowed and started climbing. Slowly and with a lot of huffing and slipping, she climbed her way up.
"Come on, Luna! Hurry up!" hissed Jack softly, making her glance up. Jack and the others had just gotten to a tunnel about a hundred feet up. They were all just waiting for her now.
She groaned when she saw how far she was behind and tried to go faster but almost slipped. Deciding slow would be better, she continued her snail pace and slowly gained ground until she was almost by the tunnel. Riddick held out his hand once she was finally in range and she grabbed it.
Just then shone someone a light on her. Glancing over her shoulder as far as she could, she tried to see who it was but her arm was in the way as it was the arm that Riddick was holding.
Suddenly whoever was aiming their light opened fire on her which caused Riddick to lose his grip on her arm. She gasped, but his reflexes were quick and he could manage to grab the back of her skirt.
'Oh God! I don't know what's worse, becoming Swiss cheese or that Riddick has me by my skirt.' she thought and covered her eyes with her hands. She also had a bit of fear of heights. Well, with how high they were now and how she was dangling high above the ground by her skirt, it was well understood how afraid she was.
Riddick pulled her up with a grunt and two hands wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her over the edge. She leaned back and opened her eyes. "Thanks." she squeaked and then glanced at the person behind her and blushed lightly when she saw that it was Blade.
She went to scramble away from him, but that would mean she got closer to the edge again and with the mercs still shooting at them, she rather stayed where she was.
'I rather die of embarrassment than by bullets.' she thought firmly and then noticed how Riddick crawled away army-style. She clambered over Blade's leg and crawled on hands and knees behind Riddick.
"You badly hurt?" commented Imam suddenly, as he watched Riddick pass him.
"Him? What about Luna? He almost tore her in half." said Jack, sounding slightly offended.
"Just a graze this time." replied Riddick calmly, as he finally stood up once they were far enough away from the edge.
They ran through the halls with Riddick in the front, then Imam, then Blade, then Luna and lastly Jack. Two mercs jumped from around the corner they were just about to take and held Riddick under fire.
Riddick dodged the bullets as he jumped, ducked and rolled out of the way. The two mercs didn't notice Imam and the others as Blade pulled out his sword and ran towards the two mercs and cut off the head off one and stabbed the other through the chest. Luna gasped at the sight. She still couldn't get over how easily they killed.
In the movies it all looked like nothing. It felt like nothing as it was all just an act. But when you see it first-hand in real life, you gain second thoughts on that. She looked to the side with a frown on her face before she and the others continued running.
This time Blade ran up front. They hadn't ran even four meters when suddenly another merc popped from around the corner. Blade wasted no time and dodged the line of the merc's gun and send a hard side-ways kick to the man's neck. A sickening crack was heard that made Luna wince. 'I never realized how horrible the killing is. It's sickening,' she thought with a disgusted look.
They were about to continue when another merc came from a different tunnel and ran at Blade, firing his gun. Blade ducked and jumped around the corner to avoid the bullets.
Having come to a four-way intersection, the others waited across from him, out of sight. Riddick snuck past the trio with his shiv at the ready. Just when the merc stepped in sight, Riddick let his shiv fly. He stabbed the shiv to the hilt in the man's neck with a growl and then pulled out. Blood sprayed his shirt slightly, but he ignored it.
Luna stared at the body that laid sprawled on the ground, unconsciously a tear rolled down her cheek at yet another person who had lost their life. Mentally she prayed that no more mercs would pop out, so that no more lives would be taken. Her wish was ignored as they ran further they bumped into four more mercs, each losing their life to either Riddick or Blade.
They ran down a tunnel with Riddick and Blade at the front and Imam and Luna behind them, Jack was all at the way at the back, barely keeping up. The two men glanced at one another and stopped their running.
Imam and Luna stopped by them and both panted heavily as they leaned their hands on their knees. Luna shook slightly and her feet were dirty as hell. Having no shoes on, they held small cuts and bruises from the moments she had bumped into something and from all the running.
"We cannot stop." panted Imam, as he tried to get his breath back.
"We're not outrunning this thing," said Riddick softly.
"Not the five of us," finished Blade with a frown as they watched Jack finally catch up as she leaned over trying to breathe again. Imam placed a hand on Jack's back as she stumbled to a stop.
Jack gasped. "What? I can keep up!" wheezed the preteen. Riddick shook his head while Blade looked up at the ceiling and noticed a shaft there. He walked forwards until he stood right under it and looked straight into it.
"Maybe someday, but not now," rumbled Riddick, as he turned to Blade who nodded his head up causing Riddick to look up. He saw the shaft also and both already had a plan forming.
Luna knew what was going to happen. They were going to leave them.