A peaceful gathering of the most important leaders on the continent that was meant to be a promotion of unity and coexistence, instead had panic fermenting the streets of Ravia as chaos sings another verse. Shops raided, people slaughtered, and even some explosions and fires made everything a disaster; the combined efforts of Kida and Ixia worked in spreading fear through the hearts of the citizens of Ravia and the rest of Squirabia. Globally televised, the whole world saw carnage spread through this country, and many began to wonder if they were next considering that the most protected event of the year came under fire by extremists-what would stop these fiends from attacking them too? On the inside, it mirrored the outside. First responders were doing their best to extinguish the growing flames of disorder, and the conference room was a mess as many high officials and monarchs had to run for cover since the room became infested with radicals looking to kill. Luckily they had protection in the form of their security guards, but even that wouldn't be enough to handle the influx of invaders. Shiva and Fuchsia became protectors rather than the protected and chose to fight alongside their retainers in guarding the lives of everyone in the room. Maya and Julian were also on duty in protecting Netifla and Cap'n Cuttlefish, but the growing level of discord in the room from all the running and screaming made it difficult for the pair to count how many in the room needed to be taken down. In addition to those helpful few lending their support, Azule and the others were battling through waves of enemies still. A chance to show their strength and exhibit new moves they crafted in the time away, Cobalt and Tangie showed off their newest techniques: Cobalt's speed with the blade increased a thousand fold, and his form was more refined than ever before as though the rust or grime he had beforehand perished once he returned to his homeland and for Tangie, her palms were like iron with every strike, and her feet moved faster than sound and her strikes carried power like the rumbling thunder that followed. Their opponents were brought to their knees by the fear of death that threatened them from confronting the pair. Likewise working as hard to fight off the herds of enemies storming the room were Azule and Fuchsia, who refused to let their friends show them up in battle-this continues on for several minutes and they fight through wave after wave of what seemed like an endless supply of low level prey for them to tweak any mistakes; in the meantime, the leader of this attack finally showed up. Dressed in all black and wearing a motorcycle helmet to conceal their identity, they slowly entered the room and looked both ways before stepping over the dead body of one of their comrades. Despite the overwhelming numbers supporting them, they saw no progress on their front-only unnecessary damage done to the environment and not the people; admirable that everyone was defending themselves well, they looked around for the strongest in the room, ignoring the obvious appeal of fighting Cobalt, Tangie or the others, and instead turned his line of sight to the one elephant in the room: Maya Royale.
"Wait a second-you're that transporter kid!" one man yells recognizing Azule.
Azule's eyes dilate, and in a millisecond, he brought down the man. His face tenses up while the veins on his hands appear, "How do you know?" he asked in a vicious tone threatening to tear his limbs off if he revealed anything else in front of his friends. The man grimaces under the palm of Azule, who had his hand dragging the man's head on the floor; with a squeeze and pull he could rip his face off. "Answer me!" He demands from the struggling man who squirms like a worm.
"I was there! I saw you during one of your deliveries." he cowered, fearing his life and desperately prying the boy's hand off his face; "I was an ex member of the Black Urchins at the time and had jumped ship for some work. I saw you during your run as a transporter." Azule's face softens a little with confusion, and the man understood right away Azule was clueless as to why he was here anyways. "Hahaha, you're a poor soul!" he guffawed, ignoring his fear of death to enjoy one final taste of amusement of a person he felt deserved it.
"What are the urchins doing here! Why are you working with Ixia?" Azule's grip on the guy's collar tightened, still ready to press him for more information; "Why would your leader attack here?"
The guy continued laughing, "Ixia caught wind of a traitor's whereabouts and relayed to the boss, who felt compelled to give a hand to them as a show of gratitude. While you're busy handling us, our boss is passing judgment as we speak!"
At first Azule had no clue what he meant, but once he replayed that statement over a couple times, something clicked. If the boss of the Urchins only rushed at the conference for the sake of Ixia, then he must be somewhere in the city handling his own personal endeavors, and if he wasn't there for Azule, then there could only be a single reason to pop up in Ravia. If the boss didn't know he was in Ravia, then…Spyke! His face turns pale, mouth nearly dropping and the hardness in his glare shifting to soft glimmer as anxiety settled in, a ghostly look appearing on his face as he realized he screwed up big time. He left Spyke and Annie and never once imagined that there might be someone targeting them, and it could be a terrible coincidence that they were target because of him! The thought that he placed innocent lives in danger just by association left a sickening sensation in his body. His heart didn't hurt, but the guilt felt all to similar. Cobalt and Tangie wrap up the scene and notice something is wrong with their friend: despair. Azule never was one to wear a face of despair, but in these few moments he looked defeated, and immediately they rush to his side with their instincts screaming at them to take his hand quickly before it's too late. But before they can reach out to grab their distressed friend's hand, he already left the room. They scream for him to come back, but it's to no success-he's locked in on something. Cobalt looked on with worry, understanding that whatever it was Auzle was sprinting towards, was something he kept desperately close to his heart, hidden from everyone-much like he himself did with the burden of the selection. Calmly exhaling and putting his hand to his forehead, he tells Tangie that they're going after him, to which Tangie agreed immediately, noting that there would be no chance she lets him get hurt, not after everything he did for her. Cobalt calls out to Fuchsia to let her know they'll chase after him; Fuchsia, who'd been battling alongside Azule's parents and her sister became distracted the moment she heard Azule might be in trouble. Nearly putting herself at risk, she's saved by Maya, who could see that her mind was no longer on the fight. The mother narrows her eyes on the exit her son took and looked to Fuchsia with an encouraging gaze, "Go and follow him. We'll handle things." she ordered; Shiva also advised Fuchsia to go, promising to handle everything on her end and send help the moment everything was taken care of. With the trio given a new order, they give chase for him although it's near impossible to keep up with his pace. Waiting outside for them when they reach is Santiago, who also had Violet in the car with them and heard from Maya that they had to follow Azule. They had no clue where he was going but thanks to the locator on his communicator, they could follow his coordinates. As they try to catch up to Azule, the group of Shiva and her retainers, Maya, and Julian stand on guard as the leader approaches them. In this noisy setting with so many distractions, both parties had the attention of the other thanks to the strong aura emitted and the tension between them closing like a balloon ready to pop. Right away they knew that if they beat this man, the attack would likely cease, but the hard part is that he looks difficult to fight against.
The mysterious person who wore a black and blue motorcycle helmet to hide their identity and a matching skin tight bodysuit, was armed with a sword on his back, knife on his sleeve and gun at his hip. Maya and Julian already played out the scenario in their head of how to disarm them, but they had no clue how responsive their opponent was. It's risky to get reckless. Instead they favor the number game; There was also the concern of the innocent bystanders who were at risk of being caught in the crossfire should they go all out-one wrong move, and this person might attack them instead. Together the trio pick a side to cover him, ready to attack. The leader has his work cut out for him: Julian to his left, Maya to his right, and Shiva dead center and then surrounding him to the rear were Ciri, Reluna, and Vaairie. It felt like an old-fashioned staredown between a couple of gunslingers before a shootout. The helmet wearer kept their visor in Maya's direction with their legs parted, prepared to draw the gun at their hip; Maya was ready to, putting her hand behind her back to reach for something as well. His gaze was towards them, but the helmet wearer knew it'd be foolish to target the strongest ones first; they'd kill him in an instant in this situation.
What is he planning? They all thought, watching him from different angles. Shiva was curious about what he was thinking and found it very mysterious that they were hiding their identity to which she believed was a psychological tactic to make it harder for them to tell what he was planning, Julian was suspicious of him as well and found it strange that he avoided fighting anyone up until now and waited for this moment to pick a fight, and lastly was Maya, who was focused on disarming him as soon as possible in hopes she could stop this mess and see what was going on outside the building.
Noticing that everyone's thoughts are how he wanted, he swiftly attacks the trio behind him. First lashing out at Reluna, who luckily blocked his attack in time to send him upwards; he does a flip and fires a shot at Ciri, but she's able to roll out the way and only grazes her ankle. The moment he lands, he's struck on the back of the helmet by Shiva's orb, which she threw at full force, screaming at him to keep away from her retainers as the orb returned for a volley kick. The first attack landed, but the second was narrowly missed as he crouched in time holding the back of his helmet thankful he had that protection, in turn sprinting for her now that she was left open with her octorb out of her possession. Vulnerable for a melee attack, the princess is saved by Julian, who does a swift vertical kick to create some space, followed by Maya approaching him up close and exchanging a dozen strikes before forcing him to retreat a bit the moment she quickly draws her gun, nearly blasting his gut and only refraining the moment he distanced himself. It all happened in a mere matter of seconds! Both sides further become cautious of the other after that brief exchange. Julian helps the princess to her feet as she catches her breath analyzing what just occurred. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. Reluna, Ciri, and Vaairie felt their bodies thrown into sentry mode and awoken from their laziness-never again would they allow him to catch them vulnerable like he did previously, preferring to fight together than isolated and circling around to join Julian and Shiva.
Maya lowers her chin and shows the glint in her irises, stretching her neck and groaning a bit. "You must be the one Akane calls Rogue. I see your profile speaks for itself." Rogue nodded slowly but didn't give a verbal answer. Maya understood his silence and hurried, "Well then, it's a shame we're going to have to kill you." she declared, wrapping up her stretch. Rogue's attention is kept on Maya and Julian, wary of them the most since his instincts warned him not to let them close, but he couldn't understand the phenomenon behind Shiva, when he looked to her, he felt a strange chill just by looking at her that felt more intense than the other pair-as if she was driven by something more than her desire to win, as though she had something greater to accomplish.
The second round of this fight begins once Shiva tosses her orb up like a volleyball player doing a serve, slamming the hard sphere towards him and sprinting at top speed to reach him, Maya takes out a trio of burst bomb-like smokescreens and heaves them at Rogue with a with a sidearm throw. Blinded immediately by a puff of smoke, Rogue's senses are thrown off as he's forced to abandon his vision, weaving backwards to narrowly avoid the octorb smashing his face and taking just a couple of steps to avoid the acrobatic combination of kicks from Shiva. Battling in the smokescreen, Shiva's dishing out a dozen different attacks from midair to ground ground game, testing his reaction and surprised that even under these conditions he still found a way to block every attack. Shiva dips, and in comes Ciri and Reluna on the tag, attacking him from both sides and forcing him to draw his sword and dagger for defense. In comes Vaairie from overhead; he rolls forward and avoid her and the other pair's attacks, but in turn finds himself eating an orb to the gut-forgetting all about it. After receiving the orb and sending it upwards, it finally made its descent and landed on the foot of Shiva for a volley shot. The smokescreen clears up while Rogue reels from the clinical shot, his instincts screaming to move away quickly. Here comes Julian with a roaring punch to the helmet that sends him flying through a few tables before crashing to the ground, his helmet rolling off his head. It was a matter of seconds, but their team attack proved effective, or so they thought. Rogue is slow to rise to his feet, but he grabs his helmet and puts it back on before the others could catch a glimpse of his identity-now there's a huge crack running down the side of his visor by his right eye. Without hesitation, a knife appears in his fingers and then vanishes, sharply cutting the face of Shiva who barely dodged it and received a scratch across her cheek as a warning.
A defiant act to let them know he hadn't the slightest of intentions in letting them defeat him without taking someone down, he taunted them by motioning them to come at him with his hands; Shiva's retainers were outraged by his attempt to kill their princess, and even more that he managed to cut her. Maya bursts through everyone and collides with Rogue-their fists pressed together with a thunderous response that sends Rogue flying again with a tumble. As a mother, Maya refused to see a child in pain, and despite Shiva's insistence that it was just a scratch, Maya imagined if that was one of her children in that same position. Rogue rises to his feet and twirls his blade and knife, the black visor on his helmet reflecting the light front the ceiling while he turned to Shiva. Beforehand, he didn't consider much attention on Shiva, but now things have changed. She's royalty, kill her and the entire world will be sent into a frenzy-which is why Maya became so aggressive. An end to his means, there's no better way to plunge everything to the lowest level imaginable than an assassination on one of the brightest stars in the world. Disappearing like dust he left behind, he brushes past Maya and went to Shiva; Shiva kept still and waited for him, daring him to lay a hand on him; her glare told him that if he tried that same stunt again, she'd give him hell. Extending his arms wide holding his blade, he's ready to take her head off, but met by the hands of Julian, his blade is caught! Julian's hands bleed as he grips the blade, flexing his arms ready to break it in half; Rogue realizes it's a trap to corner him, sensing a trio of bodies pile on him overhead. He lets go of his sword and dodges Vaairie, kicking Reluna and disarming Ciri. Backing away to catch his breath, he barely avoids the clothesline from Maya, who had all intentions to bring him down. Now without his sword, all Rogue had was his knife and gun, and unfortunately, he knew firing that thing in this situation would only hurt his chances. As it stood, they all fought with a hesitation to prioritize his life, but if he dared fire that gun, none of them would hesitate to kill. The thought of being underestimated didn't sit easy with him, and gripping his dagger, he quickly charged at Julian who had his sword. In the blink of an eye, the sword twirls in the air before landing in the hands of its owner and a bewildered Julian holding his wrist in response. The others were surprised at how quickly Rogue worked but understood that this time, he meant business. Julian was impressed by his quickness and admitted that there's no chance he'd have kept that sword if he readied himself when Maya asked how he allowed the enemy to retrieve the weapon.
"My bad!" he waved with a chuckle; Maya looked irritated almost rolling her eyes and shrugging her shoulders with a sigh.
A troublesome foe who awoke wielding a knife and sword, the likes of Maya and the others were about to be tested as the air around them turned heavy with uncertainty, the tension surrounding Rogue even worse. A few minutes pass by, and slowly it felt like the schemes ran earlier were proving unsuccessful now. The longer the fight went on, the better it looked like Rogue was getting. A glance at her retainers is enough for Shiva to know that they can't continue this pattern if they hoped to stop Rogue. Even with the likes of Maya and Julian on their side, they couldn't bring down this guy. She felt accustomed to his fighting pattern. His footwork, his battle style, she made sure to keep a keen observation on Rogue that she felt confident enough to reach a decision. At first he fought very defensively, then he brought out his weapons and altered completely. He got faster and sharper, and in turn, our movements dulled. At this rate, I'm concerned that someone might take a wound from him. Before that happens...She looks over to Maya and Julian with a concerned expression. Even though she knew how to bring him down, something didn't feel right about having all these bodies on deck to just take him down. Swift like a speeding bullet but elusive like pollen, Shiva realized that the way to beat rogue was there all along, but she'd been blinded by her hesitation to not recognize it sooner. This was the first time that everyone was fighting together, and although they fought well, Shiva couldn't ignore that there were flaws. The reason why Rogue lasted so long was because he was exploiting those flaws and stalling long enough to tire everyone out. If they got sloppy, it spelled the end. Even though Maya and Julian were fabulously skilled, and her retainer fought their hardest, she knew the only way to successfully take him down was to do it herself. "Azule's parents, please leave this to me and my retainers. We can handle him." she said with a commanding tone much to the surprise of everyone on her side, especially her retainers, who found it strange that she's shooing away their strongest allies.
"But, wouldn't it be better if we battled him as-is? We have the numbers on our side." Julian reasoned.
Shiva shakes her head, "As much as I'd love to fight beside the two of you, I'm really concerned about my sister and your son. Something tells me they'll need your help more than I. And besides, the reason we aren't getting anywhere is because our styles are clashing. We can't synchronize and at this rate, he'll become more troublesome."
Maya kept her gaze on the princess for a moment, understanding her intentions, "Very well. Please, take care of yourselves-all of you. Julian and I will pursue Princess Fuchsia and my son."
Leaving the matter to the princess, the parents leave to search for their son as well. Alone at last, Shiva felt a massive weight lifted off her shoulders as now, she could use her octorb to the best of her abilities with no one to hinder her. Even though Maya and Julian were far better than her in combat, they were evenly matched when she used the octorb. Not only that, but Shiva knew that there were many helpless eyes watching her and hoping for her victory. Not only did she make a big statement on the grand stage but now she was putting her words to action already. If she saves the conference, everyone should accept her and the cause she's fighting for since these were the same nations that became spectators when her people suffered, and now here she was about to save them. She didn't need to protect them and instead could be selfish, but she chose to be a better person. "On my name as Magenta Yeshiva Octavio of Octaria and overseer of Octo Valley, I swear to protect everyone in this room!" she announces, sending looks to her retainers and letting them know that she'll handle this fight. "Please aid anyone that needs attention. The medics should arrive soon, so in the meanwhile inspect that none are harmed as well as help others who might be struggling in their battles." after that command, the trio depart and leave the floor to Shiva and Rogue, confident that she wouldn't lose-not with the octorb. Shiva breathes a sigh of relief, aware that the current situation wasn't unfavorable and the only true threat is the one standing before her.
Shiva points at him with a commanding tone while spinning the octorb on her other hand, "Now that we're alone, I've got just one thing to say..." Rogue's chin raises, but he gives no verbal response; "If you surrender, your life will be spared. Otherwise, I'll smash your face in."
Rogue doesn't respond but Shiva could tell from his mannerisms that he gave off the expression of "Is that supposed to scare me?" from the way he shrugged his shoulders. An agitated breath followed by a shake of the head, Shiva bumps the orb off her finger and juggles it off her shoulder, doing a quick spin once the orb reaches a considerable height and timing her spin perfectly, sends a rocket shot with her foot. The orb launches at Rogue, but he's able to block it with his blade; the orb lands in Shiva's palm-already in midair ready to dunk on him. Rogue does a spinning handstand to move out the way, aware that a dunk from her was enough to end the fight immediately-she wasn't joking about smashing his face in. But Shiva doesn't falter-instead her speed increases. Instead of only relying on her octorb for damage, she switched it up and went on the aggressive in between turns and forced Rogue to rely on more than just his weapons for defense. He went around in circles careful to block, deflect and simply dodge anything she threw at him, but because of how well she was at closing the space between them, he had no chance to find his offensive rhythm. Often using leg sweeps to bait and trip him, Shiva played mind games as she focused on her first task of disarming him and turning this into a melee battle. She was sure that Rogue was a defensive based fighter, and with her octorb she could shatter that in an instant once she removed his weapons. Forcing him to be wary of any knee and ankle shots, Rogue became mindful that with her speed and strength, she could ankle pick and end him if she got too close and found an opening.
As the pair clash away in the middle of the conference with all eyes on them, the packed car of Santiago, Violet, Fuchsia, Cobalt and Tangie make their break for the road. Passing by several ambulances and medics and even spotting Dr. Sinclair, the lady who was supposed to be Azule's doctor. Cornering tightly and running stop lights, they were keen on catching up to Azule as soon as possible, following the coordinates on his tracking devices. Much to their surprise, he was moving faster than the average inkling could without swimming and marveled that he could move at such a pace under these conditions. The sky looked red from the smoke overhead, buildings were trashed and on fire, people were running the streets in a panic, and all during this mayhem they had to drive through it. For Violet and Fuchsia, this resembled what they saw in Beacon Hills months ago, though to a more terrifying degree, and for Cobalt and Tangie, this felt like the selection in Osamu. Unlike then, they all sit together on the same side fighting for the same cause. Meanwhile in a location not too far from where they were, Spyke is returning home after all of the commotion he encountered while on the road. Rushing home to make sure his pregnant wife was safe after seeing the inferno in some of the marketplaces, he returned to a site that left him petrified. A crowd of people surrounding his home, and along this street of homes they all looked abandoned or ransacked. The closer he comes home, the more his heart sinks. Arriving at his humble abode, his blood went cold watching the unbelievable greeting of a familiar face holding Annie by her neck with a knife to her throat, and he wasn't alone as he was surrounded by several people that looked to be part of his crew; his heart picks up the pace, and his hand tremble with rage, frustrated that he's in such a position and that he allowed Annie to get caught up in this predicament. Spyke looks over and notices a group that doesn't necessarily look to be part of Kida's forces but seem to be their for a mutual reason. With just a glance he can see that they weren't too happy to be there but were clearly there for another reason. A cold sweat runs down Spyke's face watching Annie struggle to breathe, clenching his hands on the armrests.
Kida gives a sly grin, "Dear old brother of mine, was it too difficult to send me a greeting card?" he taunts with a vise grip on Annie, ignoring her struggling whimpers to let her go; "I nearly rotted on that island, Spyke. I thought I lost everything. My people, my power, my life. Then I was blessed with a second chance, and just when I finally find my footing again and try to re-establish the empire I lost, what do I find…?" Spyke's silence was enough of an answer since he kept a furious glare at Kida; "You can try to answer, you know?"
"Let her go." Spyke demanded.
"When I was over there suffering, you were playing house? You left the life of a gangster and got married. Now you want to start a family? All under my nose?" he sucked his teeth and shakes his head; "Spineless. No wonder a child blew your kneecaps out."
"Let go of my wife." An exasperated Spyke demanded with fury in his glare, almost losing his voice to the anger boiling while his fingers dig into the armrest.
Kida narrows his eyes, "I'll forgive you for all of this, if you accept my terms."
"Screw you! My wife and children's lives aren't negotiable!" he shouts in protest; Lance found this hard to watch, as did the others, but they knew they couldn't get involved.
Kida chuckles, "You're only half the man you used to be but you're foolish to believe you're bigger than me? You think I care about how you feel? Listen to me closely, I will spare your wife and future children if you agree to work for me again. You can stay in this shithole, but you'll be establishing a network for me. I don't give a damn about what you do now, as long as you do as I say. Good deal right?"
It wasn't, Spyke knew that Kida was slithery with his tongue. Even if the opportunity he presented didn't seem so bad, it meant that he and his family would have to live in fear for the rest of their lives, and that more than likely when his kids come of age, or even before that, Kida would snatch them up and make them his workers. A life of enslavement disguised as fealty to a monster, Spyke knew that this wasn't the life Azule sacrificed for when he did those transporter jobs. The dream he wanted wasn't worth tarnishing by letting a cancer like Kida back into his life. Spyke knew that it could only end one way, and with every ounce of strength in his body, he chose his words very carefully…
"In life, if you don't stand up for something then you'll never be anything. A kid taught me that the price to being a good person extends beyond simple good deeds, but to a sacrifice. A willfulness to help another even when it hurts you or puts you at risk. Today, I'll follow that mentality."
"That means you'll do it?" Kida raised his chin, loosening his grip on her throat.
"Never." Spyke said coldly with a steel resolve.
"A shame." he mutters, throwing Annie on the ground; Spyke screams her name in horror as she lands on her belly. Kida guffawed at the panicked couple, "Uh-oh Spyke! Stillborn alert!" he sang, crouching next to her and dangling his knife near the belly, "Or should I perform an emergency exit?" he said with a psychotic look, enjoying the moment of torture he can inflict on the once freed man.
Everyone's face hardened. After witnessing these last few seconds, no one wanted to support what he was doing, but his urchins would obey, and the Tower Bridge Unit would not get involved. For the Tower Bridge Unit, it was sickening to watch and more so for Lance, who had to clench his teeth and fists and abstain from shredding Kida to bits for what he's done. Since their hands were tied with Liandt, and he advised on them keeping as low a profile as possible, there was no chance they could do anything rash and risk starting another problem. Watching everything unfold they asked themselves what General Garston would do if he were here, and if he would've taken the cowardly route they did if he was under such orders. Everything they justified through the hope that it would lead to success for him, not caring who or what they had to step over or neglect to achieve it. Little do they know that he was in the area in search of them, hoping to stop them but he wasn't the only one closing in on their location. At his top speed hitting with a perfect stride, Azule darts around each corner faster than before, "Almost there…!" he shouted, knowing in a few more minutes he'll reach his destination. But, would it be in time? Could he save Spyke and Annie in time? Little does he know that awaiting him were enemies with intentions to take his life or deliver him to someone hoping for a harsher fate.
