Glad everyone is liking my stories and my OC's. I'm planning to share the identities of the two cowardly guards from earlier in the story and don't worry, they will have a point. Oh and by the way, Anya means darkness in Japanese and Seij is a name I cut in half from a FF XI character I know. The story is drawing up to its climax. Here is my attempt with the action scenes. I feel like I write the combat races better than hand-to-hand combat. Please share some tips if you can fellow writers.
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Chapter 9
"Release you're weapon governor" the man's voice whispered into her ear as they both stood up, his silver blade still against her neck. She felt the slight sting and the warm moisture drip from her throat.
The woman sobbed in front of them, "I-I'm so sorry. They made me do it" She buried her face in her hands as she cried helplessly.
Ashelin growled as she stood facing the woman with the mystery man behind her. She lifted her pistol up in front of her so that the man could see. She stood calm even though she spoke to him through her gritted teeth. Her gums hurt as she controlled her anger using her teeth to grind against each other.
"Fine" the pistol in front of her seemed to drop in slow motion in her mind. She released it from her fingers knowing the man's eyes would be focused on the falling pistol rather than his hand holding the blade to her neck.
She swiftly spun her body around to elbow him in the face. Her elbow hit something hard and she heard a crack as she threw her body to the floor. He grunted in pain and stumbled back. She didn't look up to see the damage. Her chest painfully slid onto the concrete as the pistol fell into her hands from when she dropped it. She turned to aim at him but he kicked the pistol from her hands and it slid into a dark corner.
She lay on her back to see the dark figure looming over her and stepping on her arm that once held the gun. She winced as he put his weight to crush her wrist. He lifted his foot to stomp on her face but she rolled out of the way. She sprung back up in offensive stance with her fists up and her wrist now sore. Her crimson lips growled at her enemy as she felt the blood from her neck beginning to wet the collar of her shirt.
The man rushed in to jab her and she swayed to the side to dodge. She hit his chin with an uppercut. Once again she hit a hard hollow surface that seemed to protect the man from her hits. She realized the rough texture from his face was wood. Right as she had upper cut him he got her with a low blow to the stomach. She groaned painfully through her teeth but still stood in action. She dropped to the floor and her long leg shot up in the air to kick his face up. Whether his face was protected to not, she'd find a way to break it.
He grabbed her leg right before she could kick it and began pulling her. He spun his body around with his strong grip on her leg. He flung her body against a cold brick wall and her back cracked as it crashed into it. She felt the sharp bricks scrape her back. She tasted the bitter saltiness from the blood emerging from her clenching gums inside her mouth. She spat some of it beside her.
"Ooh I'm gonna f-ck you up" she spat out at him. She rushed in once again. By surprise he ran at her too and held his arm out. He close lined her onto the floor and her head smashed against the concrete. She felt the sharp throbbing pain shoot through the back of her head as it bounced off the floor once she fell. Her vision blurred and once she adjusted her vision the man was hovering over her, pointing the knife at her eye. He was on one knee and for some odd reason, although she couldn't identify his face in the darkness and because of her head injury, she knew he was smiling. She felt the cringe of disgust burning inside her.
"Looks like you're outta time governor. We meet again"
To his surprise she smiled back at him as she lifted her arm up to reveal that he was at her gunpoint. He hadn't realized that the wall he had thrown her into was where he had kicked the gun away earlier. She raised the gun to his eye.
"An eye for an eye is it?" She raised a brow at him, content with her plan and how it worked out to distract him. He stood up and released his blade. She saw it shine as it hit the floor and she stood up cautiously with him still at gunpoint. Her head was spinning from when she hit it on the concrete. She struggled to keep her threatening gaze on him. She heard a sadistic laugh escape him.
Suddenly a horrific gasp came from the helpless woman who was once lying on the floor in tears. Ashelin turned to look and realized another man held her the woman by the neck at gunpoint to her head. She gasped for air and squealed for help as she kicked desperately to be set free.
About ten other men revealed themselves from the shadows. They all seemed to be holding guns and she only had one pistol. Usually she'd be able to take them all down either way but now there was a hostage. Unlike her father, as governor of the city she cared for her people. She didn't want one of them to die because of her.
"Drop your weapon or the girl gets it" the man holding the helpless woman tightened his grip on her neck and Ashelin heard her hack and choke. She knew she had no choice but to give in. She slid her gun onto the floor and kicked it toward the group of men. She cringed in disgust as she heard the men laugh in victory. She silently wished there wasn't a hostage or they would've all been dead by now.
She dug her nails into her palms as she stared ahead at the woman, "Let her go. It's me you want"
The man that she was fighting with grabbed her shoulders and whispered into her ear, knowing she was now defenseless. "My, what a good governor you are, taking care of your people" he looked up at the man in front of them, "Release the woman"
The woman dropped to the floor and grabbed her neck, gasping for lost air. She desperately scrambled to her feet from her knees and ran away from them. Ashelin could still hear her sobbing in the distance.
The man chopped her in the back of her neck with his hand. Ashelin fell to the floor and her vision grew blurry again. She was losing consciousness. She heard the man whisper to her lying on the floor, "I don't make deals with my prey. Hey you, kill that woman"
Panic rose up inside of her as she struggled to stay conscious. She scraped the ground with her fingernails but was unable to get up. She felt someone lift her up and throw her inside of what seemed to be a two-passenger zoomer. Her unfocused jade eyes tried to follow the one man sent to pursue the woman and kill her. Ashelin used all of her strength to go for her trump card. She reached to her ankle and grabbed a grenade that she had strapped to it under her pants. She brought it to her teethe and pulled out the pin. As the zoomer sped away she managed to throw it out.
Her weak hand fell next to her throbbing head, as everything around her was growing black. She felt relieved when the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was the loud explosion from the grenade she had thrown. Hopefully that would give the woman enough time to escape and provide the commotion that would stop the other man from pursuing her.
Run! Run as far as you can! Please…get Torn.
The image of the strong firm man covered in jagged black ink and sea blue eyes was the last thing she saw before her world turned black and the throbbing pain in her head vanished.
The music continued to blast inside the Naughty Ottsel. Torn was still leaning on the bar lost in his worries. His ears perked up when his sharp senses picked up the very vague sound of an explosion nearby. His brows furrowed. He turned his eyes to Jinx who seemed to have heard the same thing. Jinx nodded in acknowledgment as he apologized to the women still cooing all over him and began to leave the booth.
Torn heard the loud rushing thumps down the stairs and the back door slam open. Jak rushed through it with his blond hair ruffled and he was straightening the collar of his racing jacket. His solemn face met Torn's equal gaze. It seemed Torn wasn't imagining things. There was an explosion alright and it probably wasn't a good thing.
No one seemed to hear it because of the booming speakers and the rumbling floors that disguised the light vibrations that the explosion sent off. Torn didn't want to alarm the people in the bar unless it was necessary. He beckoned Jak to walk toward him as Jinx brushed through the dancing crowd to meet them.
Right before Jak could walk away Keira's hand tugged his shoulder and he looked back into the hall, catching the Vulcan Fury from Tess' weapon room that Keira had thrown to him. She gave him a thumbs up. She knew it was time for Jak to get into action. Jak nodded and strapped the gun on his back with the straps that Keira had also provided for him. Keira smiled and took out his Mar emblem from his shirt, patting it proudly before releasing him. He walked toward Torn who was checking his pistols to make sure they were fully loaded and unlocking the safeties. Jinx was doing the same.
The three calmly laid back on the bar, scanning the bar for any strange movement. Torn held the gun against his shoulder as he ordered Jak, "Tell Daxter to cut the music"
Tess was observing the three and picked up that there was something wrong. She didn't work in the Underground under Torn for nothing. The girl had a keen sense for things. She knew Torn's facial expressions well. She crawled on top of the liquor cabinets and signaled Daxter to cut off the music without waiting for Jak.
The orange ottsel lowered his sunglasses and raised an eyebrow in question. He saw Tess point to the three men leaning on the bar with their weapons cocked and ready. Daxter's eyes widened as he turned down the music, "Sorry folks but its break time. Free drinks on the house"
The crowd cheered and thankfully the distraction Daxter provided worked. The crowd began to emerge toward the bar so the three men could head toward the exit unnoticed. Daxter managed to hop on and off the shoulders of the passing crowd to make it to Jak's shoulder. Keira slipped behind the bar to help Tess pass drinks to the crowd overflowing the bar area for free drinks.
Torn expected the frigid air of the night to cool his face as he walked outside but he was wrong. The smell of smoke and burning debris filled his nostrils and he saw the orange glowing cinders floating in the air from wherever the explosion originated from.
Torn nodded at Jinx and Jak by his side. Torn hopped into his two-passenger FL zoomer as Jak hopped into his Falcon combat vehicle. They followed the heat being carried by the night wind until they saw a woman emerging from the clouds of gray smoke. She was covered in gray soot upon her feminine face streaked with black tears. Gray ashes speckled across her once ebony curls as she ran toward them waving her arms for help. Torn and Jak brought their vehicles to a harsh halt as Jinx hopped out without waiting for it to stop.
He ran toward the woman who fell into his arms, sobbing and trying to brush the soot from her eyes. Jinx pulled out a rag from his back pocket and helped her wipe her eyes. Torn and Jak were already behind him. Jinx looked down at the trembling woman in his arms while on their knees, "Are you injured?"
She shook her head as she continued to wipe her black eyes with Jinx's rag. Her gray eyes fluttered open, bloodshot and full of fear. "There was a bunch of them. They-they tied me up- they-" She was struggling to speak between her hyperventilating breaths.
"What the f-ck happened here!" Torn looked around to see the large orange flames rising up from nearby the underpass. Jak and Daxter had walked ahead to scan the area for clues.
Jinx brushed the messy hair from the woman's face, trying to calm her. "Calm down lady. Breath. Tell us what happened"
She raised her trembling finger toward the burning inferno as she spoke in her cracking voice, "They-they took her"
Torn's eyes widened as he dropped to one knee besides Jinx and the woman. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Took her? Took who?"
Oh my God! Please, not Ashelin! Anything but that!
He felt the panic begin to rise from his chest and an unfamiliar feeling bubble inside his stomach. It was fear.
He heard Daxter's nervous voice call out to him from Jak's shoulder, "Uh Torn? You're not gonna like this…"
Torn looked up to see Jak's worried gaze looking at him. He was shaking his head and whispered, "I'm sorry Torn"
Sorry! Sorry for wha-
His wide eyes finally focused on what was being cradled in Jak's hand. He stared at the red and black metal pistol in Jak's nervous fingers. It was Ashelin's. She had set off the grenade to help the woman escape and to alert the others.
Torn shook his head, in denial of what was happening.
Ashelin, I'm sorry. I failed as your commander and as a man…I failed to protect you.
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OMG I love this chapter. I don't know why but I just do. I like how I put all the guys into action mode and all the drama in it. I dunno I thought it came out really well. Even though I felt I could've done better with the fight between Ashelin and her obvious assassin (who you should know who it is by now) but everything after that I thought came out good. I think it was because I was listening to alternative music while typing it up and you know how they say music changes your mood and inspires your ideas. I should do that more often don't you think?