Alexis
Eve of the second day and no one has even tried making an effort to find her.
Were the Aeons that good at keeping themselves hidden? How? There must be more to this gang that meets the eye. Alexis would have seen that especially after being their prisoner for almost 48 hours. But the gang made absolutely sure to keep her locked inside her cell when they weren't on the move. If they were, she was confined to their limo, surrounded by fire mages.
And not just any fire mages. These were masters of their craft. Dangerous individuals, who could burn her to cinders with the snap of her fingers. She did not want to test them, for she saw their power with her own eyes. Apparently, someone survived the Cyber Knight's rampage the night before. Instead of showing him sympathy, King Aldric had him executed.
Indeed with one snap of the fingers, the wizard burned the poor guy into cinders. Even though she was afraid and humiliated, Alexis maintained calm. Not only would these guys be the death of her, but they could be the death of thousands of innocent people. Her mother was not a patient woman and had a hot temperament to boot. She went to war with people who called her fat for heaven's sake.
If Alexis died, the Queen-Mother would surely blame King Eldon for her death and send her army of one million strong to attack Eredas for their lack of action in saving Alexis.
She looked outside and noticed they were at the docks. Trucks were parked in a perfect line as the Aeons and another gang known as the Lords of 113 were putting boxes of toys into their containers.
Alexis suddenly felt pressure around her neck and coughed. She glared at a girl with flaming pink hair and eyes radiating bright blue from her magical augmentations. She held on tightly to a leash attached to a collar King Aldric placed around Alexis's neck with a built-in shocking mechanism if she misbehaved and a tracking device if she ran away.
The girl's name was Fahrenheit. She was once a master of pyromancy at the Citadel of Mages in Katina. Alexis had seen her conjure walls of fire and animated her flames to look like serpents and birds to scare the police away. To make matters worse, she was King Aldric's right-hand woman, specially tasked with keeping an eye on the princess. She had way too much fun with that aspect.
"I'm not doing anything!" Alexis shouted, swatting the leash away. Fahrenheit grinned and tugged the leash even harder, pulling Alexis down on top of her lap. She started petting her hair, to which Alexis slapped her hand away at once and sat back up. "Why do you have to be so obnoxious?" she yelled.
King Aldric laughed, pouring himself a glass of a green, glowing liquid. "You'll get used to her, Princess." He checked his watch. Midnight. "Day three," he said. "And not a single rescue. Of course, there is that one guy who went after you. The so-called hero with the metal dragon. You wouldn't happen to know who he is, do you?"
"I haven't a clue?" Alexis said shaking her head, refusing the drink King Aldric offered. She felt Fahrenheit pet her again and knocked her hand away. "Knock it off, will you?" she snapped.
"Don't lie to me, Alexis," King Aldric said, twisting a lock of his hair around his finger. "Lying to me is hazardous to your health."
"Keeping me prisoner is hazardous to your health," Alexis retorted. "I have powerful friends. You're going to regret this. I promise you that when this is over, you'll be begging for death." Fahrenheit yanked on the leash again. "ACK!" Alexis croaked.
"Don't be so sure about that," Fahrenheit finally said. "Can I shock her?"
"No," King Aldric said, holding up his hand. "Don't. Leave her be. Let her have hope. It will make her despair in the future much more pleasurable to enjoy."
The door to the limo opened. A man came inside. He wore a messy, smelly, brown leather jacket over a tropical red shirt and khaki trousers. He had long, black hair going down the back of his head, the top was balding. And he a distinctive, grizzled beard. He was terribly stout and reeked of tobacco and old fast food. In fact, a stringy piece of a french fry dangled from his mustache. He was soaked by the rain and chilled by it, too. He warmed his hands by the heater. The moisture made the man's terrible smell worse. Alexis's face scrunched with displeasure, and she looked away.
The man grinned at the two beautiful girls sitting in front of him. "Nice," he said.
"Leave her alone," said King Aldric. "How are things looking out there?"
"The rain isn't letting up," said the man. "But our boys are working hard to make sure your money gets delivered as scheduled."
"Good. Here's your cut."
Aldric handed the man a polished maple case with gold hinges and a leather handle. The man opened it and saw tubes with gold coins inside. "Very good. Pleasure doing business with you. I'll make sure the officers at the checkpoints in town look the other way."
"And if they don't?"
"Oh, believe me, they will. I have contacts in Shadow Company, who will no doubt pay them a visit."
"Do you?" King Aldric said intrigued. He opened a secret fridge by his seat and opened it. He took out a golden bottle of brandy and showed it to him. The man bobbed his head left and right to show he would like to sample the drink. "And could you by any chance you could get this elite PMC to offer their services to me? I'm worried about this Cyber Knight fellow who tried to rescue our Princess. I have a hunch he'll be coming back."
"I think I can work something out," said the man. "Provided they get paid."
"They will be properly paid," said Aldric. "And you, too. I know a few individuals in the banks who also would like to see the Church taken out of the picture. And the Dalton Family as well. They have given my organization a rather generous donation."
"I see," said the man, taking the drink and clinking the glass together with Aldric's.
Alexis shook her head, not believing what she was seeing.
Outside, Aldric's men and members from the other gangs were hard at work loading Aldric's gold into the containers. A supervisor from the Aeons walked around with a tablet in his hands, counting the gold and making sure the workers weren't slacking off. He wore a visor over his eyes made of chrome with glowing blue lenses that displayed windows of information.
"How long before we're done?" asked the supervisor.
"Not long," said a disgruntled worker. He sniffed loudly, for he caught a cold an hour earlier. "Just ten more crates to go."
"Make it snappy," said the supervisor. "We want to get out of here before we run into trouble. And with that Cyber Knight guy out there, I'm nervous."
"Hey, Dargon beat him," said one of the workers. "He scrapped his metal dragon to pieces. Sure, he killed a few of our boys, but he was eventually stopped."
"That's beside the point," the supervisor said, scanning the stormy skies. "This city is full of surprises. And let's not forget Prince Michael and his Archfiends are hunting us."
"Prince Michael is about to go out of town," said another worker. "Didn't you hear? Prince Yuri is due to come back soon. And since Michael is one of the Crown Prince of Domino, he's been chosen by Yugi to serve in the Royal Alliance."
"That position is about to go to King Aldric," said the supervisor. "Alexis is due for another beating tonight. The Daltons will break. Not only do they not want to see Alexis getting hurt, but they don't wanna risk open war with Lorin. They'll cave in. And before you know it, we're gonna be up there."
He pointed at the House of Gray, dominating every building in Domino. He grinned, but then he heard a scream coming from the darkness between two containers. He turned in time to see something bright white and shining zoom from between the containers before vanishing into the night.
"What the hell?" he said. He put his fingers on his earpiece. "Noctis Twelve, what's going on?" No answer. "Noctis Twelve this is Azure One, respond!"
He heard a scream coming from behind the warehouse, followed by gunshots. And then silence. "This is Azure One to Butcher Seven. Respond Butcher Seven. Butcher Seven, what's going on over there? Hey, I'm not getting anything from Butcher Seven and Noctis Twelve just vanished. Talon One and Two, check it out."
The gang members readied their weapons and those who could practice magic put on enchanted accessories to boost the damage of their magical attacks. Azure One put the tablet away and shouted at the other workers to hurry and load the money away. "It's me," he said to King Aldric. "We've got a situation out here."
"Handle it," said King Aldric. "Follett, sorry, but we've got trouble out there. I've got to bail."
Follett took a jeweled, engraved, golden magnum out of his jacket. "I'll check it out. See you in Level Five after tomorrow." He got out of the car and ran. King Aldric's limo sped away.
"What the hell is going on out here!?" shouted Follett.
"I don't know!" shouted Azure One. "My guys are getting picked off left and right!"
Follett stomped on the ground. "All right, leave the rest behind for now. The containers that are full, get them out of here at once. Get them to the Underground as fast as you can!"
The workers shut the containers. The drivers turned their trucks on and drove off into the night. Crowe was watching from the shadows. "It worked," she whispered into her phone. "They're scattering like roaches in the light."
"Leave the docks to us," said Prince Michael. "I think Zane's having a little too much fun with his new toy."
Crowe giggled and held out her hand. It froze over, cold steam danced over her fingers. She smashed her frozen fist on the ground, creating a ring of ice beneath her. Inside the ice was a light blue arcane circle. Crowe smashed the ice and summoned her faithful companion. From the frozen dimension of the Ice Barrier, she called upon Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier. He growled and shook his arctic blue fur with snowy-white stripes. He was adorned in cerulean armor trimmed in gold. Crowe wrapped her arms around the Tiger King's neck and kissed the top of his head.
"Feeling frisky tonight, pal?" she asked.
Dewloren growled in reply. He was more than ready to stop evildoers. Crowe climbed on top of his back. "Let's go!"
The Tiger King roared and sped after the trucks. A homeless man warming himself up to vodka saw her speeding by. He groaned and took a long gulp of his drink.
Meanwhile, Aeon gunmen scoured about the docks, looking for their assailant. Azure One hurried toward a red container. "We need to get this one out pronto," he said.
"Why this one?" asked Follett. He opened a small window to look inside. What he saw disgusted him. There were children in there. They were crying and calling to be let loose. "What the hell is this?"
"We rescued them from the Church," said Azure One. "I wanted to let them out, but Aldric told me to keep them in there until he figured out what to do with them. Now that he's gone, I guess we have to leave them to their fate. Or...since you're in the Domino PD, you can take them. You'll make yourself look like a hero."
"I like your thinking, kid. But first, we need to get rid of..."
AAAACCKKK!
Follett turned around. Azure One was gone. Forget the kids, Follett turned and ran to get as far away from the docks as he possibly could, leaving the Aeons to their fate.
They huddled together in the center of the docks, cornered like rats, pointing their weapons at spells in all directions, and firing them at every shadow they saw.
"We know you're out there!" shouted a member of the Lords of 113. "You can't stop all of us!"
"I beg to differ..."
He gasped and turned around. The Cyber Knight stood in front of him. With one powerful punch, he flew across the docks and smashed against a container. Zane was pleased with the new upgrades to his exoskeleton, which was now a suit of armor. It was sleek white with neon blue patterns complete with a holographic surcoat around his waist. His armor made him look like the knights in the West.
He felt like his favorite heroes. Norman the Conqueror, who tamed the God Cards in his platinum armor. Ser Joey Wheeler the Black Dragonknight combining his magical Duel Armor with his Red-Eyes. Or Prince Stas of Monde, who won the War of the Golden Summer in a gold enameled suit of armor sparkling with jewels in all the colors of the rainbow.
Now he could join them. If he was successful this night, he just knew that he would one day be sung about in songs and tales.
Two Aeons with rifles snapped him out of his dilly-dally. He held up his palm and created a shield with blue, hexagon-shaped tiles tinged with green. The bullets could not penetrate the shield. An Aeon with magic came up from behind and unleashed currents of lightning from both of his palms. But they rebounded off of Zane's armor.
"Thanks for that, Kara," Zane said, sniggering at the mage, who was still blasting him with lighting. "Your magic-resistant armor is working like a dream."
"Glad to hear," said Kara, watching the battle from her laptop. She sat on her bed, her legs crisscrossed underneath her. All she wore was a long, gray, shirt as pajamas. She had a string of licorice in her fingers, enjoying the show taking place on her screen, thanks to the dozens of cameras she placed on Zane's armor. She saw him blast an Aeon with his laser cannons, now improved to shoot rapidly.
"Ouch," she laughed. "That looked like it hurt."
"Warning!" said Nel-E. "Dimensional rupture detected."
"Uh-oh." Kara placed the mouthpiece of her headset over her lips. "Zane heads up. Someone just summoned something. And it's big!"
"Wha...?"
Zane was pushed away by a powerful torrent of boiling, hot water. He anchored his boots to the ground to keep himself from being swept away. The ground shook with heavy footsteps. Gate Guardian. And standing directly under him was Dargon, the Ace Summoner of the Aeons.
"Nice set of armor you got there," he said, hands still in his pockets. "It's going to look on King Aldric after I loot it from your corpse. You just never learn, do you?"
Zane laughed. "I always learn. It's what makes me so powerful. No matter how many times I fall, I come back stronger."
The containers behind him fell down and collapsed on the ground with a loud crash. Zane's new and improved Cyber Dragon (ATK 2100) roared and slithered behind him. It loomed higher and higher until it stood directly over even the Gate Guardian. The creature was coated in a sleek, reflective, white paint. It had bright yellow eyes and even a tongue to give him life. It roared at Gate Guardian. Gate Guardian bellowed loudly and thumped his fists over his chest.
"Strident Blast!" shouted Zane.
Cyber Dragon unleashed a fiery-yellow laser attack from its mouth. Dargon ducked. The blast flew over him and struck Gate Guardian in the chest. It pushed him back twenty feet. Cyber Dragon had to cool down its attack and ceased the attack. It closed its mouth, steam hissing from its teeth.
"So he has a little more firepower," laughed Dargon. "Gate Guardian, destroy his dragon now! Thuderstroke!"
Gate Guardian's pieces worked together to form an all-powerful attack. The water and winds mixed with lightning and flew towards Cyber Dragon. Compartments opened down Cyber Dragon's body. Drones flew out and formed a circle in front of him. The drones then formed an arcane barrier of fantastical design that stopped the attack dead in its tracks.
"Impossible!" shouted Dargon.
Cyber Dragon roared as if taunting him. The drones dispersed, allowing him to launch a second attack.
"Strident Blast!" Zane shouted again.
Cyber Dragon fired again. Gate Guardian braced himself for the attack. It struck him in the chest, sparks flew everywhere and he was knocked back. He dug his feet on the ground to keep himself from being knocked back any further.
"Impressive," said Dargon. "But as strong as he is, your dragon cannot defeat my Gate Guardian. You were foolish to take us on alone."
Zane chuckled. "Who said we were alone?"
That made Dargon quiver with fear. "Huh?" he turned around in time to see two metallic bodies coil around Gate Guardian's arms. He could not believe what he was seeing. Zane had two more of the damn things!
The two Cyber Dragons screeched and hissed, lifting Gate Guardian up higher and higher into the air. They pulled with all their might until they ripped his arms off. Gate Guardian howled in agony and fell. The three Cyber Dragons each launched their own bursts of Strident Blast at the creature as it continued to fall. The attacks proved too much for him. He exploded in mid-air, falling back to earth like a flaming comet.
Dargon stood where he was, screaming in horror. His monster's burning ruin fell right on top of him and exploded one last time.
All three Cyber Dragons roared victoriously.
Zane's helmet de-materialized. He wanted to see his monsters with his own eyes. Something snarled behind him. He turned to look. Terrorking Archfiend stood behind Prince Micheal.
"Did you leave anything for us?" Michael asked.
"Nope. But if you're lucky, you can help Crowe tack down the trucks with King Aldric's gold. "Sounds good to me." He took out his phone. "Crowe where are you?"
"Uh, I'm a little busy right now," she said, still riding on top of Dewloren. He sped after the trucks with great speed through the streets of the Dragon Garden's District. "What's up?"
"Where are you?"
"Don't worry about me, I've got things taken care of."
A car with gunmen riding in the back shot down their windows and started firing at Crowe.
"Guns? Come on, you guys are so old-school." She held out her palm and formed a thick shield of ice with the design of a snowflake emitting blue light deep inside. She held it over her face, blocking the bullets. The shield didn't even crack.
With her free hand, Crowe fired ice spikes, blasting the tires of the car. It swerved wildly and crashed into a nearby alleyway. An SUV limousine sped up from behind her. Dewloren roared and moved out of the way before it could ram them.
"That wasn't nice!" she shouted. The windows rolled down. Mages and gunmen began assaulting her with bullets and magic. In one split second, Crowe saw Alexis screaming for help from inside.
"I FOUND HER!" she shouted.
"Who?" Michael asked. "What's going on?"
"ALEXIS! THE PRINCESS! SHE'S IN THE BACK OF A LIMO!"
That was all Zane needed to hear. Booster wings formed out of his back, but before he could take off, Michael commanded him to stop.
"What about them?" he said, referring to the children.
Zane paused. Michael was right. He couldn't just leave them there. "All right, you two, take them to the Domino City Police headquarters. You, come with me."
The Cyber Dragons hissed and got to work. The children oohed and ahhed as their saviors picked them up from the docks and carried them off to safety.
"The Church is going to answer for this," said Zane zooming off into the city. His Cyber Dragon followed.
Down below, Michael took a rifle from the back of his jet-black sports car and then raced after him. Terrorking Archfiend spread his wings and followed him. The homeless man from before looked to the sky. He saw a knight with wings zoom over him with a cybernetic, white dragon trailing not too far behind. Then a black car raced down the street with a crowned demon soaring above.
The homeless man shook his head and poured his drink down the drain.
Zane found Crowe, the trucks, and the limo in no time. He dove with great speed to fly above it. Cyber Dragon fired a vermillion-colored laser from his eyes, blasting the tires of one of the money trucks. It deviated violently and fell on its side, coming to a stop.
"DAMN!" shouted King Aldric. That was 500,000 in gold he just lost. "SEND THE WORD!" he shouted furiously on his radio. "TAKE THAT DRAGON DOWN! A MILLION GOLD TO ANYONE WHO BRINGS ME HIS HEAD!"
Before Zane knew it, he and Cyber Dragon were getting shot it from all directions. Three black SUV's trailing Alrdic's limo formed a perfect triangle to guard the vehicle. The tops opened and gunners with miniguns rose out.
"Oh, crap!" shouted Zane. He rolled out of the way. Cyber Dragon flew down another street to avoid the bullets.
The SUV in the front searched for Cyber Dragon. "Where are you?" said the gunner. Cyber Dragon appeared and flew towards him. "Your mine!" the gunner sneered.
Those were his last words, for Terrorking Archfiend came out of nowhere and sliced his head clean off. He then smashed the SUV with his sword. The limo driver cursed and tried to swerve out of the way. Michael came speeding out from an alleyway in his car. He rolled the window down and started shooting the limo. Unfortunately, it was well-armored, making it bulletproof.
"Shit!" he cursed, swerving to another road to avoid the traffic in front of him. Cyber Dragon flew down and smashed the front of the limo with his body.
"YES!" shouted Zane. "We got her!"
Crowe and Dewloren hurried to the wreckage of the limo. "Princess!" she shouted. "Princess it's me, Crowe. Don't worry we've got you."
She opened the door. No one was in there. But that was the least of her worries. She heard an ominous beeping on the floor. She looked down in time to see a metal egg-shaped object counting the last two seconds down before detonation.
"Of fu..."
The limo exploded. Frightened civilians ran from the streets to find shelter.
"Crowe!" Michael shouted, running out of his car. "Crowe! Crowe! NO!"
When the flames subsided, he saw that Crowe as entombed in a coffin of ice. Dewloren saved her just a mere millisecond before the blast could kill her. He, however, was no so fortunate. He was on the ground, cooked and injured. Zane landed beside him and knelt down. The creature whimpered and whined.
"You've done enough," he said. "Rest. You'll get your revenge soon enough." Dewloren's head slumped on the ground and he burst into thousands of snowflakes, blown away by a gust of cold wind. Zane looked at the flaming wreckage of the limo.
"Don't worry," said Michael. "They must have bailed during the battle. King Aldric is many things. But a brave man? No. He would never take his life."
"It doesn't matter!" Zane growled. "I lost her again!"
"Relax, will you? When all is said and done, we'll get them back for this. Without their Gate Guardian, they won't be so bold next time."
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
"Let's get out of here," Michael said. "Can you get her back to your place?"
Zane didn't reply, but he nodded. Cyber Dragon needed no orders. He picked up the icy box with his mouth and flew off into the night. Zane got up and went after him, while Michael got back into his car and sped away.
King Aldric
"That was close!" he shouted, holding tightly onto Alexis and covering her mouth. They remained hidden in an alleyway. "Think we lost 'em?"
"We sure did," laughed Fahrenheit. "They must have overshot us by a week and a half. I just got word from the drivers. They're on their way down to the slums. The bomb slowed the Cyber Knight and Prince Michael down. It looks like we got that amateur frost mage, Crowe, in the process, too."
"Good work," Aldric said.
He heard a car backing up towards them. Follett leaned out the window. "Come on, let's go!" he shouted. "The cops will be here any minute."
"Come on, you!" he said, dragging Alexis toward the car. Follett opened the trunk and then Aldric tossed her in. She pleaded for them not to leave her in there, but Aldric cared not and slammed the trunk shut. He and Fahrenheit got into Follett's car at once.
"Where did that Cyber Knight come from?" Aldric asked.
"I don't know," said Fahrenheit. "But it looks like we've underestimated him. I tried reaching Dargon, but I'm getting no answer from him."
"I tasked him in stopping the Cyber Knight!" Aldric growled. "Where is he?"
"Dargon never fails," Fahrenheit answered. "It looks like our new friend was better than he was."
"Then we'll assume the worst has happened," said Aldric. "No matter. If this Cyber Knight thinks he's going to stop me, he's got another thing coming. After what we do to Alexis, the Dalton Family will have no choice but to surrender the crown to me."
It was a long drive back to Aldric's hideout, a makeshift town in the sewers underneath the Aquamarine District. Alexis was thrown into a dark room with a single fluorescent light hanging on the ceiling.
"I bet you thought you were ready to go home," Aldric sneered. "You think these heroes are going to make a difference?"
Alexis looked away to keep herself from looking at his face.
"No. Heroes only win in comic books, Alexis. This is your sad reality. You've got five days left. And as I promised, they will get worse and worse for you. And now with these punks playing hero, I am really pissed off. We're going to make you wish you were never born tonight."
Fahrenheit stood over her and smiled. To Alexis' shock, the girl took her shirt off.
"But first," sneered Aldric. "It's time for your bath."
Follett
the rain was pouring down even harder now. He looked to the sky. Lightning flashed in the clouds above. "Curse my luck," he grumbled with a mouth full of relish. "It's supposed to rain like this all week. Aafi better get off the rag, cuz I'm getting pissed."
Suddenly two cables slithered from out of nowhere and wrapped around his ankles. He fell forward, dropping his hot dog and then he was pulled all the way up the 50th floor of a tall building. An angry Cyber Dragon roared in his face. He screamed and flailed about like a worm stuck on a hook. He saw the two other Cyber Dragons hissing at him. The cables came from a launcher underneath their chins.
"HELP! HELP! HELP!" he shouted.
"No one's coming for you!" Zane said, appearing out of the rain. "Well, look what we've got here. A corrupted cop. I know just what to do with you."
A glowing, blue energy sword morphed out of his gauntlet. He was going to cut the cables and send Follett plummeting to his doom.
"NO! NO! NO!" pleaded Follett. "Please. Please. I have kids at home! Don't do this to me."
"Start talking!" shouted Zane. "Where are the other trucks going?"
"I don't know!" sobbed Follett. "I don't know I swear! I don't know I swear."
Zane smashed the blade against the cable. It started undoing itself.
"NO!"
"WHERE ARE THE OTHER TRUCKS GOING!?"
"Two of them are going to a warehouse in the Aquamarine District. Another pair is going to drop off the money at a town outside of Faircourt in the morning. The last one is going to Aldentor. That's all I know. I don't know where the Princess is I swear."
"Why soil a distinguished career to join a bunch of lawbreaking punks?" Zane asked.
"I had to join them!" cried Follett. "The police haven't been doing anything. Our people are being killed by those psychopaths and their fascist ideology."
"The Church of Yeyu?"
"Yeah! Yeah! That's right. They have to be stopped. I had to join the Aeons. I just had to. I was sick and tired of seeing children getting hurt. I was sick and tired of seeing them taken from their parents and sold off like candy to that sick king up north! I had to do something! I didn't want my kids to be next!"
Zane stopped. It was a good thing he had his helmet on. He didn't want Follett to see the disdain on his face.
"You're fighting the wrong people, kid. You can join us. You have to. The Covenant of Yeyu had declared war on Termnnia. Please, think about who you're fighting against."
"I'll stop both the Aeons and the Church. And as for you, you're out of a job."
He cut the cable and it snapped. Follett screamed as he fell all the way down. He noticed he was slowing down. And then he stopped just a few feet from the ground. He looked up and saw one of the Cyber Dragons had caught him with its cable. Just the mere look the creature had told Follett that the Cyber Knight let him off with one final warning.
Cyber Dragon snapped his jaws, cutting the table and dropping Follett hard on his head. He groaned and rolled around on the ground in agony. Colorful lights flashed in his eyes and the world spun. He opened his eyes and saw nothing. Nothing but rain sky. Follett could contain himself no more and started crying,
