Five minutes had gone by and I had managed to make it down another two floors. This place was a lot bigger than I had expected it to be. And of course, as ineviatable as it was, the guards had finally realised that I had escaped. This meant that I either had to take out a guard or two or end up hiding from some of the larger patrols. It wasn't exactly looking like escape was going to be much of an option as I'm willing to bet that all the entrances are guarded tight. This meant that I would either have to find another solution, improvise or just pray that the Gongmen group was homing in on this location, of which I had kind of hoped that they would have arrived by now. Clearly they hadn't. Surely they hadn't missed the giant explosion I almost got blown up from had they? That would be a kick in the face if that was the case. I doubt I'm going to be able to keep this up for much longer, even if I do have one of their weapons, of which I had managed to tie to my side with a belt I ended up stealing from one of the guards I knocked out. Shit, is that another patrol heading this way? They're getting faster!
Indeed, it was. The voices they were making talking to each other was easy to hear approaching the other side of the door I was at. I quickly scrambled into the corner of the room and the door opened in my direction, almost daring to hit me in the face. From it, two smaller snakes entered, passing me at once. Had the door not opened my way, chances were they would have spotted me. Once they were out of my way, I had to quickly slither through the door before it closed. Last thing I needed right now was to open a door that creaked loudly, especially when the guards were just feet away. Thankfully I made it through unnoticed.
As I continued to move through the crumbling concrete maze, the thought dawned upon me that the boa, the big guy that I had spoken to earlier, he mentioned something about dealing with a mèngyǎn. Kind of wish I had asked how he had managed to accompolish it but at least there was now one thing I knew that made life a little more positive for me. The mèngyǎn CAN actually be killed. But how? That was what I needed to find out. Does the room of knowledge back at Gongmen tower have anything that could help me with it? I very strongly doubt that I will find it here. I need to get back to the city, the sooner the better. However, for that to happen I need to escape here first. My luck has held out so far, but how can I get out of here? I don't even know what bloody floor I'm on! Not to mention the constant appearances of partols. If I'm really getting out of here, I'm going to need some sort of distraction to do so. Something that can gain the attention of every soldier in this building. Something like...
"THE GONGMEN PATROL! THEY'RE HERE"! Came a panicked voice just below me.
... Yeah, like that. Perfect. Although how I'd pull that off I have no...
...
Oh, or it could actually happen. Yeah, that works too I guess.
At least it's now clear that my little improvised bomb plan wasn't a total disaster and actually accompolished what I expected from it. Good to know.
Okay so let's just take a moment to think this through and through. Chances are fifty fifty that these snakes are going to choose either fight or flight, considering they're about to be invaded by a force that's double their own. Even so, I'm still going to need to stick to the shadows until I know for sure. Despite whatever chaos is about to go down I'm still going to be their leader's biggest priority, or at least one of them. No doubt he'll be getting as many soldiers as he can spare to move as much of that arsenal he's got a few floors up. Though how he's going to get it all down before this place is overrun is going to be tough. Like I care anyway. Anyway I better get moving.
Some time later...
Several minutes have now passed. I've yet to run into anyone, friend or foe. The sounds of panic and orders can be heard getting louder and louder with each floor I move down from. It also sounded as though several voices started vainishing the closer I got. Two floors up it sounded like there were ten voices, one floor up it sounded more like five. Now I'm on this floor, it sounds like two. It was like they just... I don't know, instantly kept to themselves or something. Finally, I had reached what I believe was the ground floor. It was just one big open space, save for one snake other than myself. Just a guard grouping several small boxes together. Where the hell are the others? Had they escaped out of a back door? And why leave a single soldier here gathering boxes? No, something's not making sense here. Still. Might as well introduce myself.
"Hey buddy. Over here". I calmly called out, standing at the edge of the stairway I had come down from.
The second the guy turned around and saw me, I could have sworn he was about to have a heart attack. At once he jumped at my appearence and begun to dig through the small bags attatched to his belt in a rushed manner.
"Damn it damn it! Where is it"!? He begun panicking.
Huh. You know, this is the first time I've had someone react to me in such a... negative manner. Kind of wierd seeing someone scared of me like this. Still, I slithered forward keeping my composure.
"Care to tell me where the rest of your friends are"? I asked in a menacing tone. Figure if I make myself seem tough, I'll end up making him talk in no time. He's already scared shitless.
I was about ten metres away from reaching the guy until he finally took out what he was looking from from his pocket. It looked like a small red marble. Because of his panicking he ended up spilling several more out from his pocket. He didn't seem to care as he wasted no time holding it up in the air, about to bring it down. Now I was the one becoming nervous. Whatever that marble was had to be another one of those strange weapons! Only I don't know what this one does! For all I know it could end up leveling this whole damn place!
"Don't you da"-
Shit! He threw it!
I just waited. With my eyes closed and my tail protecting my head, expecting the worst. It was ten seconds later before I realised that I was fine and that the guy had vanished. Along with the boxes he had. Which means...
...
Oh for... really, are you kidding me? Now that's just rubbing it in.
Did that marble do what I think it did and TELEPORT him?! There's supposed to be a fine thin line between imagination and reality! This world ALONE! Has broken that line several times over according to my own eyes! The shift stones, deadly demons, even my own self turning into a bloody snake! But teleportation?! Are you kidding me?! O- okay, just calm down Mike. You can lose your sanity over that later... Right now, let's... let's just check upstairs. Maybe there's a chance that something got left behind...
Giving a heavy sigh, I rounded up whatever marbles had been scattered, as carefully as I could before placing them in a bag of my own on the stolen belt before heading upstairs. Figure it's only a matter of time before that patrol arrives anyhow...
I travelled back up the stairs slowly.
Grudgingly, I made it to the top floor. Turns out that every box I had seen up here was indeed gone. So much for that theory.
...
Shit, I'm- I'm sorry I just... I just can't even think straight any more... That- that whole teleportation trick has gotten to me, you know? It just kind of reminded me of home. Not the Jade palace I mean my own, actual home when I was a human. Back when everything made sense. At least more so than here. When was the last time I even thought about it, huh? What about my mum, my dad, my little sister? It may not have been the greatest back there but hey, least I had people who loved me dearly. And now here I am, several months later without so much as a thought about them until now. At least there didn't have to worry about becoming a damn animal, getting shot, fighting to save my own hide, SURVIVING AGAINST MONSTERS, HAVING THE DEATH OF TWO BRAINWASHED VILLAGERS ON THE HANDS THAT I NO LONGER HAVE! HOW CAN I-
...
Damn it. Just... damn it all! I... I just... I can't...
Sometimes I guess you can't help but wonder what if I guess? If I had chosen not to pick coming here and going through with that so-called second chance Oogway offered me. Yes, I suppose I did find some form of happiness, but certainly not peace. Now look at me. It's scary to think that I'm no longer the person I used to be. At least in the afterlife I wouldn't have had to deal with this.
*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*
What? Someone's coming up the stairs. Heh. Can't even get a bleeding moment of peace can I?
I tried my calmest to take a deep breath and face the door in a fighting stance. You never know, it could be a soldier that hadn't... you know what. Or perhaps it was one of the Gongmen guards or even Viper herself. Still, I'd rather wait until that doors open. Just in case.
The footsteps came to a halt outside the closed door. A simple shove was all that was needed to open it. The person on the other side was revealed. It wasn't a soldier or a guard. It wasn't even Viper.
Instead I could just stand there, with a look of surprise as an all too familiar black furred feline walked into the room in a combat dress that was just as black. A smile grew onto her face. For a moment, I allowed myself to do the same as I pushed the thoughts that plagued me to the back of my mind.
"Hello there Mike. It's been a while".
"Hey there Yinshen. Long time no see".
There's no mistaking it. It's certainly the black panther with attitude herself. Guess it's not so surprising. Only she would make an entrance at a time like this. When I'm at my lowest. And yes, I know. That little teleporting trick from earlier did kind of throw me off. But it wasn't the teleporting itself. Just that sudden realisation that everything that I thought was impossible has been happening before my eyes. And if has for some time. It's hard to explain I know but... imagine it this way. If you were the one who had been taken from the town or city you once knew and lived in and were suddenly placed in an unknown land, you would be confused, panic, right? Well that panic and confusion would increase tenfold if that unknown land happened to be another world, and don't deny it, we all know you'd end up shitting yourself. The only reason I didn't do so when it happened to me was because I recieved a fair warning about it. And at first, you know, everything seemed fine. Got a cool job, cool place to live, even a girlfriend surprisingly enough. But I guess because of those things it kind of drummed out the reality of the situation. At least enough to almost forget my roots. I think the best way to put it is I'm feeling kind of homesick. It's just taken me this long to realise it. And it's not a good feeling either... Ain't that a bitch?
"Kind of brings back memories this, huh"? Yinshen asked.
"Huh? What do you mean"?
"Me, here to rescue you. Just like the Galardriel gates all over again".
"Oh, yeah". I replied stupidly. "Don't take this the wrong way but why are you here? I thought I heard that you were on some kind of mission"?
"Yeah, I was". She smirked. "It's a funny story. Wait till you hear how this one turned out".
So that was it then I guess. We both begun our journey down the stairs, all while Yinshen baisically bragged about her latest story. Guess I needed to hear it. It certainly would help to take my mind off of other things. For now at least...
...
Hi guys. Sorry this chapter is late. Uni's been picking up again and-
Yinshen: Why is that your excuse for everything?
Shut up Yinshen! Do you know how annoying it is getting work done every week that has to be completed in five days time?
Yinshen: I'm a member of the Gongmen city council. I think I may have it a little bit tougher than you do.
Yeah, well... shut up Yinshen, before I remove you from the story.
Yinshen: I just joined it though.
Hey, I'm the author here, alright? I'll decide what comes and goes! Uh, anyway, Thanks for reading guys. Sorry about the chapter being so short. I'll try and make up for it in the next one. And yes, Yinshen is back once more and I'll be sure to mention what she's been up to since the second act. Hope you've had a good week and I will see you in the next chapter. Cheerio!
EDIT: I've tried to add a few more paragraphs in as well as fix some of the rushed parts. I'll try and fix anything else that needs fixing if I can so keep your eyes peeled ;)
DOUBLE EDIT: A comment or two has suggested that they're confused as to why the whole teleporting trick has gotten to Mike. Well to help with this I've added a couple extra paragraphs at the end to help explain it better. I may end up editing it a little more tomorrow when I actually get a good nights sleep. Sorry guys.