Wow. This got a lot longer than I meant it to be. Oh well. ^_^;;;
LunaticChaos: Glad you like the plot. And whoa, that's an impressive amount. o_o;
Whispering Hope: o_o;;; Geez… well, I'm glad to have such a loyal fan. _;
John: You mean a deck destruction? Possibly. I do need other ideas, thanks for giving me that one. And a soap? _ Maybe a little…
*Chapter 12: Into the Prison*
The companions had left the cave, leaving the dead where they lay. When they got outside, Rue set his Dark Piercing Light on the ground. Everyone gathered around the welcoming light.
"Not as good as a campfire, but we aren't staying long anyway," Rue pointed out. "We need to discuss what our next plan of action is. Any ideas?"
"We'll have to save Hope first," Gaston said.
"As much as I agree with you, how can we?" Larka asked. "We have no idea where she is being held. We don't even know which world she is in. She could have been forced into Teknisk Wereld, for all we are aware of."
"That means we're stuck," Draken stated.
"We can't give up that easily!" Mana protested.
That was when Will had an idea. "She went back to get help for Max, right? Maybe Claire would know something."
"Good point," Rue replied. "For once, you said something I can agree with. Everyone ok with that?"
"This will require going to the real world?" Gen inquired.
"Yep. My sister is there to help Max."
"Then how will we get there?" Miles asked. "Gen, Draken, Darche, Zack, and I don't even know where you guys are hanging out."
"True." Will thought for a minute, and then took a sheet of paper from his pocket, tearing it up into three pieces. He wrote Hope's address on each one, and gave it to them. "That should do it. You all in close range?"
"I'll be quick," Draken assured. "I live in Illinois myself. I was assigned to be there when I was with the Generals of Hell, in case Zenith needed back up."
"I'll catch a plane," Miles decided.
"My trip will be brief," Zack finished.
"Then we'll see you there by tomorrow?" Brandi inquired.
"Sounds like a plan," Draken said.
With that being said, they teleported out.
*****
Rue, Will, Brandi, their Soul Monsters, and Gaston all found themselves in the living room again. Claire was on the couch, looking exhausted. When she saw them wake up, she lifted her head up.
"Hi guys. Where have you been?"
"Just defeating a few Commanders here and there," Rue said casually, detaching the Envoyant Machine.
"You'll explain it in more detail later, right?" she asked as Larka and Fell entered the room.
"Of course," he assured. "But Claire, we have to ask you something urgent."
"What is it?"
"What happened to Hope? Did she leave the house?"
"Yeah, she did. I was concerned at first, because she said she would be right back. Then her mom got a phone call from an official. He said that she had agreed to answer some questions for him."
"What a liar!" Gaston snarled.
"He pretty much summed it up," Will said. "She was actually arrested."
"What?! You'd best tell me everything."
They told her of all that had happened since she had left.
"So somehow the Commanders are getting the officials to help them? Sneaky," Claire said when they were done.
"Indeed. By the way, those other guys will be here tomorrow," Rue told her. "So be ready for them. Oh, and don't tell Hope's mom. She doesn't need any more worrying right now."
"Of course."
"How is Max?" Brandi asked.
"He's doing a little better. I've been looking over him almost all day. He's out of the danger zone, but that doesn't mean he's in any shape to be moving around yet. But at least he will live."
"Thanks for helping."
"No problem at all." Claire stifled a yawn. "Well, back to work. You guys should get some rest, but maybe eat first. Oh, Neo, Hope's mom wanted me to tell you something."
"Yes?"
"She forbids you to enter her kitchen."
"Aw man!"
*****
The next morning, everyone was awakened by a scream, and a sound that was like a gong.
"What the hell was that?" Rue yelped, jumping off the couch he was lying on.
Larka, Fell, and Claire were down in a flash.
"Who's attacking?" Larka asked franticly.
"No idea, let's get to the door!" Gaston exclaimed, running towards there.
An odd sight greeted them. Zack was lying on the ground, having thrown himself down to dodge a pan swung by Hope's mother. The pan had smashed into the side of the house, hence the loud noise. The vibrations had been extremely strong, and she had thrown the pan over her shoulder a little too forcefully. It smashed into Neo's head, instantly knocking him out, and adding yet another dent to the cooking utensil.
"And here we have the definition of 'chaos'," Will said dryly.
"Um, Mrs. Gales? He's a friend of ours," Rue told her cautiously, afraid of getting smacked by something else around the house.
"Oh, really? I'm sorry!" she apologized to Zack, who rose carefully. "I just panicked when I saw you…"
"I get it all the time," Zack reassured, entering the house, closing the door behind him. "Not many people know about cyborgs."
"A cyborg? What other kinds of friends is Hope going to pick up?" Hope's mother sighed. "She had better not have said that you can stay here."
"Well, actually, he and two people and two Soul Monsters are still coming to stay…" Rue trailed off, and ran away as a rolling pin hit the wall where he had been before.
"I can't stand this!"
"Don't worry," Brandi told her. "Most of us will be gone shortly. So we'll be no hassle. Please try to relax."
"Are the others at least normal?"
"They're human," Gaston reassured, deciding not to mention that one had nearly killed them all once, and that the other could possibly take everything that wasn't nailed down.
"Well, that's something," Mrs. Gales sighed. She went over to retrieve her pan, and set it down again with a frown. "But you should have warned me! Now one of my best pans is completely ruined."
"Don't worry," Will replied. "Rue will pay for a new one."
"SAY WHAT?!"
"That's a really nice thing to do! Thank you for being so considerate!" Then Mrs. Gales entered the kitchen.
Will was forced to leap out of the open window to avoid Rue, who was trying to kill him with the damaged pan and discarded rolling pin.
After some time, Claire managed to restrain her brother long enough to let Will enter the house. It was only when she threatened to tie and gag him that he relented, grumbling unpleasant things about Will. Gaston was unable to rouse Neo gently, so he was forced to drag him outside and throw a bucket of ice-cold water on him. Although Gaston was nearly chopped in half by the angry swordsman, it did successfully wake him up.
About an hour later, the doorbell rang again. This time Larka got it, and let Draken in.
"We thought you would be here first," Rue greeted him.
"Traffic sucks," he said. "Cars kept blocking me when I was trying to cross streets. A stop light also blew up, so I had to take a detour."
"A stop light blew up?" Mana looked at him. "Details. NOW."
"From what I gathered, a policeman tried to shoot a criminal, but hit the stop light accidentally. But enough on that. Is Miles here yet?"
"He should be soon," Perseus nodded. "Any minute now."
Larka looked up at the ceiling. "That's odd. I thought I heard something."
"Probably just the wind, or something," Mana said. "Are you SURE there are no more details about the stop light?"
They talked for a few more minutes, when Claire stood.
"I'm going to check on Max. I'll be right back."
"I'll come too," Draken volunteered.
"Sure, come on up."
The others chose to stay downstairs. A few seconds later, a loud crash sounded, followed by two shouts of shock and pain.
"Now what?" Brandi muttered.
They went into the living room to see a bewildered Miles and a stunned Draken. Claire was laughing helplessly.
Rue looked up and saw that there was a hole in the ceiling.
"I am NOT paying for that," he told Will.
"Darn it. I guess you won't fall for the same thing twice. No pun intended," he informed Miles, who was rising slowly.
"Very funny… ow! That was not a pleasant way to enter."
Draken was tenderly pressing his body parts. "Nothing broken, or so it seems."
"Now maybe you would care to explain WHY you came in by flying through the roof?" Will asked.
"I ran into some random thug. Here's some advice: don't make fun of someone with a gun. I ran for my life, and jumped up on the roof to hide, Gen with me. He should still be up there, as a matter of fact. When the thug was gone, I attempted to get back down, only to step on a weak area of the roof."
"And you got on the roof… how?" Brandi inquired.
"The house next door had a ladder out. I climbed it, got on their roof, and jumped onto this roof. The other guy eventually left, I tried to climb down, only to collapse here."
"Very clever," Rue said sarcastically. "How are you going to fix the roof?"
"I'll get back to you on that one." Miles looked up at the hole, and shouted, "Hey Gen! You up there still?"
No response came.
"I guess he found a way down," Miles decided.
A polite knock came from the door. Claire opened it, and Gen stepped in.
"I see you found the quick way in," he told Miles.
"Quick and painful, unfortunately. I nearly killed Draken. Ah well. So, when are we going to leave this place?"
"It's only two," Will stated, looking at the clock. "We have plenty of time to search, but we have no idea where to start."
"It's too bad these are the officials," Gaston sighed. "If they had been the Commanders, maybe Miles would have some idea."
"No chance," Miles disagreed. "I didn't know that much about them in the first place."
"Wait…" Zack paused.
"What's the matter?" Mana asked.
"I think… I might know where they are."
"How?" Brandi inquired.
"I mentioned that I was simply hired by the Commanders of Heaven. Well, I have been hired by the officials before as well. I was to kill a rebel. Unfortunately, after I completed the mission, they deleted the location from my memory."
"So there's no way for you to remember?" Larka inferred.
"I never said that. It is possible, but I will have to go through… 'back up files'. In other words, a place in my mind that all deleted articles are stored."
"But if they are technically deleted, shouldn't it be impossible to get those memories back?" Perseus pointed out.
"The officials were careless, because they assumed I would never be returning there unless they asked me to do something else. And in truth, they were right-until now. Anyway, they didn't use the most high-tech equipment. Give me some time, and I should be able to extract the location."
"In the meantime, we should prepare," Will decided. "Miles, you had best explain the roof to Hope's mom."
"Nuts."
"Oh, a quiet location would be preferred," Zack mentioned.
"Go to the guest room," Larka suggested. "We won't enter until you are ready."
"Thanks." He went upstairs, Miles going there as well to talk to Mrs. Gales in her room.
A few minutes later, and a crash sounded. Miles ran down the steps, tripping over the last three.
Gen examined him. "A shard of glass. It looks like Hope's mother broke a vase over his head."
"The pretty birdies…" Miles mumbled.
"He'll be fine shortly," Gen assured the others, who were eying him doubtfully.
"I'm sure," Perseus replied.
*****
A little less than an hour had passed. Miles had recovered, and they were ready to go. The problem was that Zack was still gone.
"I wonder what's taking him so long?" Mana complained. They were in the family room.
"It's better that we get the location correct the first time," Will informed her.
"True, but it's still annoying to have to wait!"
"It shouldn't take too much longer… hopefully," Claire said. She had decided not to come, because Max still needed treatment.
It was about that time that they heard the door upstairs open. Zack came downstairs, looking very weary.
"Are you alright?" Larka asked.
"I should be… it's just tiring to recall deleted things," he explained. "The location of their headquarters is in the capital of Illinois- Springfield. Coincidentally, the prison is in the same building, just on a lower floor. Once we enter Springfield, I should be able to find the building again."
"Springfield? Just great," Draken groaned. "That's four hours away!"
"It's not like we can do anything about that," Will pointed out. "The best thing we can do is catch a bus there, or something."
"We're in luck," Claire told them. The minute Zack had told them the location, she had been looking on the internet at bus schedules. "The next bus leaves in ten minutes. If you hurry, you can make it."
"How are we going to explain Zack?" Gaston wondered. "Hope's mother completely panicked, after all."
"She saw the switch blade from my arm," Zack said. "A mistake on my part. Normally, nobody can tell the difference between a real human and me, unless they are trying to."
"Then we'd best get moving," Miles advised as they got up. "We'll be back eventually."
"Good luck!" Claire called as they left.
*****
Although they had been held up by Neo almost getting bitten by a stray dog, they managed to make it to the bus just in time. The back was empty, and once all of the Soul Monsters besides Gaston entered their Soul Cards, they managed to fit in.
"I need to recharge," Zack stated. "That memory scan took more out of me then I thought it would."
"Go ahead; it's going to be a long trip," Gaston informed him.
Zack pressed something on his arm, and was out instantly. Will had gotten out Lord Brocktree, and was soon completely absorbed in the book. Rue was playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on a blue Gameboy SP. Miles was listening to a CD player; nobody asked him how he acquired it. Draken seemed to be thinking about something. Brandi was checking her deck again. Larka was trying to memorize some of her cards that she didn't know as well. Fell just looked as bored as ever. Gaston was looking out of the window, seemingly impatient.
"So what will we do when we get there?" Draken asked Rue.
"Come on, come on… damn it!" The Game Over screen flashed at him. "Stupid Twen! I'm going to slaughter him someday! Well, just sneak in, get Hope out, then run away, I guess. We can't really decide anything else until we get there."
"That's a good point."
*****
The bus pulled to a halt at long last. The sky outside was already turning black. The other passengers left first.
"How do we wake him up?" Draken wondered, looking at the unconscious Zack.
"Should I get the ice water out again?" Gaston joked.
"Totally unnecessary," Zack told him, opening his eyes. "I can program into myself when to revive."
"That's handy," Miles commented. "Well, let's get moving."
They stepped outside, and the bus drove away to its next stop.
"Do you recognize this area?" Larka asked.
"Yes. I can remember the way easily enough."
The Soul Monsters emerged, and they set off. They had to make several turns down alleys, which Zack explained was for privacy on the official's part.
"Well, this is it," he finally said. They were in an alley to the side of the building.
They looked at the building in front of them. It was a tall, sleek, black building. There were no windows at all, and only one door. At the front of the door were two men.
"Guards," Rue muttered. "Figures. How are we going to deal with them before they set off some alarm or another?"
"The night could help," Miles said. "Let's do a sneak attack!"
"As if we can get them before they set off an alarm," Draken reminded him.
"Got any better ideas?"
"Well… no."
"That's what I thought."
Fell had been at the back of the group, just watching them talk. Now he walked to the front.
"Fell? What are you doing?" Larka asked.
In response, he jumped out of the alley, running towards the guards.
The night helped, for his black form blended perfectly with it. But it was because of how fast and silent he was that he managed to take out both of the guards. Moving so fast that he was just a blur, he zipped in front of the first guard, slicing his throat open with his nearly-clawed hand. The other guard only had time to utter, "What?!" before he was cut across the chest, and collapsed.
Fell calmly wiped the blood from his hands onto the dead guard's shirt, and then entered the building.
"What the hell was THAT?!" Rue demanded. "The only person who I have been able to see move faster than that is Brandi, and she tore her leg muscles doing it! How can he do that?"
"He can go faster than that," Larka informed him.
"Yeah, that's nice, but… SAY WHAT?!"
"He's going to leave us behind if we don't hurry," she pointed out, running after her brother.
"But…"
"Let's ask later," Will suggested. "I doubt they will tell until they are ready. And we are only wasting precious time."
"Ugh… you're probably right… wait, I agreed with you again? What is the world coming to?"
They entered the building swiftly.
"Where should we go?" Mana whispered.
"Down," Zack answered. "Or so I believe. The offices only get more important as you go up."
"I bet you're right," Miles replied. "Think about it. All the cold, damp, dark dungeons just HAVE to be the lowest floor in the evil headquarters, don't they?"
"That is typical…" Neo agreed.
"Whatever, let's just get down there!" Rue ordered.
They went down the hall, and soon came to a fork.
"Left or right?" Gen wondered.
"Left," Zack responded. "I remember that much."
They went down, and were soon at an elevator.
"We'll have to take two trips," Gaston figured. "How about we Soul Monsters go first, to make sure there isn't anyone waiting?"
"Go ahead. We'll be down right after you," Draken assured.
They entered the elevator, and it closed behind them. In a few minutes, it was back up. The rest entered.
"Here we go…" Larka pressed the button that said, 'Lower Floor.' "This should be what we need."
The good news was that the elevator was silent. It quietly moved down, to the deeper area of the building.
The elevator soon halted. They stepped out, and saw someone running towards them.
"Mana? What's the matter?" Brandi asked.
"Go back!" she cried. "It's an ambush!"
"Say what?!" Rue yelped.
"There's some kind of electric force field!" she hastily explained. "I was the last to try to enter, but they pulled up the force field too quickly. I was thrown back. The others are trapped there!"
"How many opponents?" Will inquired.
"Twenty at least! Normally, there wouldn't be any problem, but like I said, it was an ambush. Neo was nearly shot, and Gen barely managed to save Darche from a fatal hit. If Gaston hadn't had that crazy helmet of his on, he would have died from a bullet to the head!"
Rue swore. "A force field? How are we supposed to get by that?"
"Still, we have to try. Lead the way!" Larka told Mana.
"Right!"
They soon encountered the battlefield. Gen was laying on the ground, unable to move. His right arm was bleeding fiercely. Darche stood in front of him, managing to block several bullets that came at him with his sword. Neo was forced to concentrate on dodging the frequent fire, and could not get close enough to attack. Ruecian was busy keeping a barrier around himself and Gaston, who was unable to advance either.
"Damn it!" Rue snarled. "We have no way of advancing beyond here."
"Mana! Can you break it down?" Brandi asked.
"I tried that already, but it didn't work!"
"Get out of here!" Darche shouted, ducking another bullet. "If you leave quickly enough, maybe you can get away!"
"And leave you here? No way!" Draken argued.
"Please stand aside for a minute," Zack requested.
Puzzled, the others stepped away from the force field as he stepped up. He looked at his left hand for a minute, and then thrust it into the force field.
Electricity flew everywhere, but it was going to one main source: Zack. He was absorbing the currents into his own body. Blue energy coursed through him as he gritted his teeth, enduring the pain. It was not difficult to take small energy amounts, but he had never attempted this much before.
"I can't… hold it back… get out of the way!" he shouted, holding out his palm.
The Soul Monsters dived to the sides of the room as a huge wave of blue electricity rushed out of his hand. It consumed all of the officials instantly. From somewhere in the room, an explosion occurred as something else was hit.
The others had covered their eyes to avoid the bright light. As it cleared, they chanced a glance.
It was not a pretty sight. The officials' bodies were charred, and if they hadn't seen them before, they would not have guessed that they had once been humans. Another object lay on the floor, a small, broken one. The Soul Monsters had managed to get out of the direct path, but if it hadn't been for Ruecian's barrier, they would have still suffered from the attack as well.
"…Wow," Larka whispered.
"Are you ok?" Draken asked Zack.
"I… should be," he said. "I just need… to relax, that's all." Zack was shaking slightly, but he did not seem hurt otherwise.
"So you can absorb electricity as well… amazing," Draken commented.
"But it is difficult," he informed them. "I've never tried that much before…"
"But how did they know we were coming?" Brandi pondered.
"That would explain," Will replied, pointing at the broken object. "A security camera. We were too careless."
Miles had run over to examine Gen. "Hey, are you ok?"
"I will be…" Gen sat up, wincing. "Who would have thought one small piece of metal could do this much harm?"
Miles removed the bandana around his neck and tied it around Gen's arm. "That won't help too much, but it might assist a bit. We'll have Claire look over it later."
"Yeah, I can go on until then… thanks…"
The others had gone to make sure their companions were unharmed, but Larka froze. She had noticed something when Miles removed his bandana.
"Miles… your neck…"
"Hm?" He ran his fingers over a long, jagged scar on it. "Oh, this… yeah, that's why I wear that bandana. It keeps this thing hidden."
"How did it happen?" Neo inquired.
"I… don't want to discuss that." Miles shook his head. "Sorry… but I can't…"
"I shouldn't have asked. Sorry."
"No, it's fine… let's just go on."
"Those cameras are going to be tricky though," Gaston pointed out as they stood up. "This is probably the only area that we are safe in."
"Then we'll just have to hurry!" Mana exclaimed.
"So what are we waiting for?" Neo asked, standing up. "Let's get moving!"
"Are you sure you want to come?" Darche asked Gen.
"If I stay back here, and I'm attacked, I stand no chance," the thief pointed out.
"Hm… that is true. Then let us move on!"
*****
The woman picked up her ringing cell phone.
"What is it?"
"Intruders!" her caller shouted. "They managed to break through!"
"Why didn't you stop them?"
"I assigned a group to stop them at the force field, but they broke through somehow! I don't know how, but one of them sent a huge wave of electricity, killing them all and destroying the security camera!"
"Hm…" the woman sighed. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this… send one of your duelists to guard the passage to the prison cells. Have the condition of losing be death. Make sure he can hold them off for quite a while-time is what I need."
"I have the perfect guy for the job."
"Excellent. Send him down."
*****
"Haven't these guys ever heard of decoration?" Miles complained. "I'm sick of seeing the same stone walls!"
They had been walking down the hall, which had not changed at all in means of looks. On the plus side, there were no other unpleasant surprises waiting for them.
"I think I see something up ahead," Larka said. "Let's go cautiously."
As they got closer, they saw a man standing there. He wore an official's suit, which was typical anyway. His short hair was blonde, and his eyes were brown.
There was a Soul Monster with him. It was a green kangaroo, which wore a purple vest, big red shoes, and red punching gloves.
"So you are the intruders," the man inferred.
"Yep, that's us!" Miles agreed. "Who are you?"
"I'm Todd, and that's Jack, a Death Kangaroo."
"Conspiracy," Mana muttered. "I hated the movie Kangaroo Jack."
"I'm guessing we can't just slay you and move on?" Neo asked.
"No, you can't. There is an invisible force field around me. Until you win, it will not be lowered. The loser of the duel will…"
"Let me guess; the loser will die," Miles finished.
"Correct."
"We've done it so many times that it doesn't surprise us any more," Neo explained to him.
"Ah, I see. So who will be the one to face me?"
"I haven't had a serious duel in a while," Will stated, stepping forward. "So I'll be your opponent."
"Then let's begin!"
Will: 8000
Todd: 8000
"If you don't mind, I shall make the first move," Todd announced. "I set one monster, and lay another card down."
"It's my turn. I summon Magic Warrior-Breaker. By removing his magic counter, I destroy your face down card. (1600/1000)"
"That was my Magic Cylinder."
"Now Breaker attacks!"
"You have run into my Big Shield Guarder. (100/2600) When attacked, he is switched to attack mode. But since I can just switch him next turn, I'm not very concerned with that small fact. Oh, you also triggered Jack's ability. If you attack one of my monsters and it has a higher defense than your attack, your monster is destroyed."
Will: 7000
Todd: 8000
"Well, I have nothing else to do."
"I think you will find this attack a hard one to cope with. I summon Battle Footballer. (1000/2100)"
"In attack mode?" Will said disbelievingly.
"Of course. Why else would I play this? I activate a magic card-Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand. This switches all of our monster's attack and defense strengths for one turn. (2600/100) (2100/1000) Now my Big Shield Guarder, and Battle Footballer attack you."
Will: 2300
Todd: 8000
"I end my turn by laying one card down. (100/2600) (1000/2100)"
"Hm… I summon Black Forest Witch. (1100/1200) She attacks Big Shield Guarder."
"I activate Attack Nullification."
"Darn it… two cards down."
"My turn. I activate Forced Transfer. We each select one monster on our fields, and swap them. So I select my Big Shield Guarder, and you get to keep it. Since your only monster is Black Forest Witch, she becomes mine. Now I sacrifice her to summon General of Impenetrable Defenses! (1550/2500) This monster goes to defense mode when I summon it. Now I activate another Shield in the Right Hand, Sword in the Left Hand. (2100/1000) (2500/1550) My Battle Footballer attacks directly!"
"I activate Holy Barrier-Mirror Force! Your monsters are destroyed!"
"Not quite. You destroyed my Battle Footballer, but since my General is in defense mode, he escapes death. Now he attacks!"
"But how?"
"He can attack at any time, even when in defense mode!"
"In that case, I activate Magic Cylinder, to save my Life Points."
Will: 2300
Todd: 5500
"Damn it… I end."
"Also, when you sacrificed my Black Forest Witch, I got to search my deck for a monster with 1500 defense or less. I get Magical Marionette! (2000/1000) Now I lay one monster in defense mode, and end."
"I lay one card down. Then I'll have my General attack your monster."
"You aren't the only one who has strong defenses. You attacked my Royal Magic Library. (0/2000)"
Will: 2300
Todd: 5050
"You done? I sacrifice my Royal Magic Library to summon Magical Marionette! (2000/1000) Now I play Cyclone, to destroy your magic or trap!"
"My Attack Nullification…"
"Now I activate Raise Dead on Breaker. (1600/1000) That gives my Magical Marionette two magic counters, which I remove to destroy your General!"
"What?!"
"Now both of my monsters attack directly!"
Will: 2300
Todd: 1450
"All I can do is lay one monster down…"
"And I activate Sealing Swords of Light, to reveal it!"
"My Air Guard Gear Golem… (800/2200)"
"The only other thing I need to do is play Clarity of Mind. This gives me two magic counters. I remove both to destroy your Air Guard Gear Golem. Now Magical Marionette attacks!"
Will: 2300
Todd: 0
The Magical Marionette whipped strings around Todd, binding him and Jack. He only had time to say one thing.
"My only purpose was to delay."
Then the wires sliced through him and his monster, severing their limbs and heads.
*****
It had been an anxious day. Hope had spent it worrying over her friends, wondering if they would be caught unawares like she had been. It wasn't like there was anything else to do.
She suddenly heard the door open. A few seconds later, and the woman was back in front of her.
"Plans have changed," she said icily. "I need to take extra precautions."
"What?"
The woman took out a key and unlocked the door. "Don't get excited. I just need to attach something."
With amazing speed, she slammed Hope into the opposite wall. While she was stunned, the woman revealed what she was holding; an iron ring. She attached it to Hope's neck, where it instantly tightened; not enough to suffocate, but it could not be taken off easily.
She cried out as pain lashed through her body, coming from the collar around her neck.
"What… is this?!"
"Just something needed to keep you in line." The woman dropped her. "Now I must prepare." She locked the door behind her, and slammed the door.
Hope tried to stay conscious, but the next wave of agony was too much. She collapsed to the floor, unable to fight it.
To be continued…