Note: I really need to try and rewatch episodes of The Raccoons again. For that matter, I should check out the channel that has them on YouTube. In order to prevent myself from writing a note that feels like a rant, let's move on. Before we do so, I want to say something to two reviewers.
hechtmanelijah06: Well, sadly, that's not true. There have been stories where the villains have succeeded in their goals. In fact, there might be stories where neither the heroes or the villains win. Stay tuned for this chapter.
Ron: Thanks, I hope that you like this chapter as well.
Now that I've done that, it's time for chapter fifteen.
Chapter 15: Prison Battle
At Evergreen Forest Prison, Yusuke Shiobana lay in his prison cell. He had no idea how anyone was able to catch him, but the cops managed to find him when he was out in the woods. The lizard tried to use every weapon he had at his disposal, only for an officer to hit him in the back with a stun gun. When the reptile woke up, he found himself in a cell, the guard telling him that he would eventually be put on trial. Shiobana wound up being charged for planning an attack on political figures, receiving a life sentence for his actions. Knowing what kind of profession he had, the guards at the prison were told to keep their eyes open in case he tried to escape.
Now that he was in jail, Shiobana thought about how he was going to get out of it. Previous attempts of his had been futile, largely due to events not working how he wanted them to. The lizard's first attempt to escape was when he attempted to start a riot, only for the guards to keep the prisoners calm. For his second attempt, he tried to break the wall open, knowing that his cell was next to the sewer system. The reptile was caught and put back in, with more guards being added around him. For his third escape attempt, Shiobana knew that he had to be clever and more careful.
Upon hearing someone walking up to his cell, Shiobana stood up. Not wanting to look suspicious, the lizard held out his hands to show that he had nothing on him. Seeing a shadow of whoever was approaching, the reptile could tell that it was a guard. This was somewhat odd, given how there had been an inspection yesterday. From what he was told by his fellow inmates, inspections only happened every other week, so two happening in the same week was strange. Shiobana was suspicious, having a feeling that something was wrong.
The guard came up to Shiobana's cell. To his surprise, this one looked like none of the guards he had seen before. In fact, this new guard was a bulldog. Whoever he was, Shiobana was curious as to why he was here.
"Shiobana?" The bulldog spoke.
"Yeah?" Shiobana asked.
"We're breaking you out!" The guard said.
Realizing that the bulldog wasn't a guard, but rather a spy sent by the Serpent Gang, Shiobana smiled. Jumping out of his cell, the lizard saw a few ninjas coming to where he was at. Their weapons were covered in blood, which meant that they had just killed those who they saw as threats. Seeing that, the reptile followed the bulldog over to the ninjas. Looking around, he was able to see a few of his fellow inmates and all of the guards on the floor, dead. It appeared that Shiobana's luck was turning.
Upon stepping out of the prison, Shiobana looked around him. No guards were standing outside, so it looked like the coast was clear. With that in mind, Shiobana was eager to head back to the Serpent Gang's HQ. Once he met up with Mr. Hirose, the lizard would ask to be sent out for an assassination. The reptile would even ask to be given a harder assignment, wanting the thrill of the hunt to be greater than before. It seemed that things were looking up for him.
All of a sudden, one of the ninjas was taken down by a shuriken. Upon hearing him fall, Shiobana was alarmed. Looking around, the lizard saw no one standing by. However, he kept his eyes open, intent on killing whoever was attacking him and his rescue team. Before the reptile could spring into action, he saw another ninja die. This time, the weapon thrown was a kunai.
"Mr. Shiobana, stay back!" The Bulldog said. "I'll hold off the attackers until you're out of sight!"
"You won't last a minute against our attackers." Shiobana said.
"What makes you say that, sir?" The canine asked.
"Because I think I know who they are." The lizard said.
A kunai fell towards Shiobana, looking like it was going to hit him in the head. However, the lizard caught it, knowing where it was by the noise it was making. Throwing it to the ground, the reptile spoke up.
"Show yourselves!" He shouted.
Without warning, a battlecry filled Shiobana's ears, which caused him to look up. Out from the sky came Bentley, who was wielding his knife. Before the blade of the weapon could hit him, the lizard picked up the kunai and blocked the attack. The assassin threw Bentley back, causing the boy to land on his feet. The raccoon glared at the reptile, keeping his weapon out. In response, Shiobana tilted his head.
"So, the newest member of the Seven Heroes?" He spoke. "You're the one who killed two of my saviors, is that right?"
"Incorrect, Shiobana!" A voice rang out.
"He didn't come alone!" Another voice shouted.
Shizuka and Schaefer came out of the woods, brandishing their weapons. Shiobana glared daggers at them, trying to be intimidating. Neither the sheepdog nor the aardvark stood down. Rather, they walked up to the lizard, facing those who were with him. Bentley stood by his teammates, his knife ready. With Shizuka and Schaefer with him, the raccoon felt that the fight would be easy.
"It's just the three of you, eh?" Shiobana scoffed. "Did your teammates get lazy?"
"They're out on a separate mission, so we've been sent here to fight you!" Bentley said.
"And don't expect the battle to be easy!" Shizuka stated.
Shiobana chuckled before pulling out a dagger. He then lunged himself at Shizuka, eager to stab her to death. The aardvark only blocked the dagger with her spear, mere moments before the blade would've made contact with her skin. She threw the lizard back and thrust her spear forward. The reptile was quick to dodge, however, as he jumped away from the attack. He carefully watched his enemies, trying to guess who would strike next.
Figuring that Schaefer would be the next one to attack, Shiobana rushed at him with his dagger. Before he could even stab his enemy, however, the lizard received a kick to his side. The attack came from Bentley, who was quick enough for the assassin to not notice him. As he hit the ground, the reptile crawled, trying to get back up. This only left him unable to dodge a kick to the face from Shizuka. In order to keep him unarmed, the aardvark knocked his dagger away with her spear.
Seeing that their escort was in trouble, the ninjas ran towards the three Heroes. Knowing that the battle would be tougher than they thought, Schaefer signaled for Shizuka and Bentley to follow his lead. They engaged the ninjas in battle, using their weapons to block each attack. As they fought, however, Shiobana got back on his feet. The lizard grinned wickedly as he picked his knife up, intent on using it.
Upon seeing that Shiobana was up, Bentley gasped. The lizard was right behind Shizuka, ready to attack her. Given how the aardvark was preoccupied with a ninja she was fighting, this left her ignorant of the assassin. Once he took down the ninja that was fighting him, Bentley tried to warn his teammate.
"Shizuka, behind you!" He cried.
Hearing Bentley's voice, Shizuka turned around and looked. As the boy had said, Shiobana was right behind her, brandishing his knife. The aardvark moved away from the lizard, trying to dodge. Despite her effort, she received a cut on her arm. Once she felt the blade hit her flesh, the afrothere let out a cry of pain, clutching her arm. Shiobana only smiled, knowing that his attack was successful.
In alarm, Schaefer and Bentley tried to rush to the aid of their teammate. However, two ninjas stood in their way. One engaged Bentley in battle, trying to hit him with a bō staff. As for Schaefer, he was having a far better time against the ninja he was fighting. Despite that, both he and Bentley were desperate to help Shizuka, who was now at Shiobana's mercy. Before they could even try to get near her, the aardvark grabbed her spear and looked at her teammates.
"No," Shizuka shouted, "I'll handle this! Just take down your opponents!"
Knowing that they couldn't get to Shizuka at the moment, Schaefer and Bentley were forced to keep fighting the ninjas. With her teammates preoccupied, the aardvark began to fight Shiobana. Her arm was still hurting from the cut it had received, but she needed to fight through the pain in order to fight. The afrothere glared at the lizard, knowing that the fight wouldn't end unless he was done. The reptile smirked at her, only getting in a defensive stance. Both of them held their weapons out, waiting for when their opponent would strike.
Shiobana ran towards Shizuka with his knife, eager to stab her. The aardvark moved out of the way, striking the lizard when the opportunity presented itself. In an attempt to dodge, the reptile jumped straight into the air. He dived at the afrothere, aiming his weapon towards her head. However, she was quick to block his knife with her spear, throwing him off. Landing on his feet, Shiobana clenched the handle of his knife.
Before the assassin could attack again, Shizuka got in a defensive stance. The blade of her spear was pointed towards Shiobana, almost daring him to get stupid enough to run towards the aardvark. In order to get his enemy off her guard, he kicked some dirt towards her. When it looked like the afrothere had been blinded, Shiobana ran towards her, ready to get the fight over with. The lizard plunged his knife at her, intent on hitting one of her vital areas. Closing his eyes, he felt the blade hit something, causing him to smirk.
Upon opening his eyes, Shiobana saw that the blade of his knife did not stab Shizuka. Rather, he saw that the blade had been blocked by her spear. The aardvark's eyes were still closed, but she still managed to keep the assassin from stabbing her.
"Impossible!" Shiobana gasped. "I blinded you!"
"But I was able to hear you rushing towards me!" Shizuka said. "You see, I have been through training that involves depleting one sense while using the remaining ones during a fight! Even if I couldn't see you, you were giving yourself away by attacking!"
"That won't stop me from killing you!" The lizard snarled. "And once you're dead, I'm going after your teammates!"
"Oh no, you're not!" The aardvark shouted.
Throwing Shiobana back again, Shizuka thrust her staff towards him. In an attempt to dodge, Shiobana rolled to the side, getting a cut on his arm. Before he could move again, the lizard felt something hit him in the face. It turned out to be a punch thrown by Shizuka, who was able to see again. Rushing towards the assassin, the aardvark let out a battlecry. She thrust her staff, aiming towards her enemy. As that happened, the afrothere closed her eyes and waited for something to happen, hoping that her attack would work.
All of a sudden, there was the sound of flesh ripping, followed by a gurgled scream. Opening her eyes, Shizuka saw that she had managed to impale Shiobana. Her spear went through the assassin's abdomen, hitting where the stomach was located. Upon seeing that her enemy was on the verge of death, the aardvark collapsed to the ground. It wasn't because of what she did, but it was due to how rough the fight was. After all, fighting with an assassin wasn't an easy job.
Back to Schaefer and Bentley, they had just defeated the ninjas that they were up against. Once that was out of the way, the two decided to see if Shizuka was alright. Much to their surprise, however, she was standing next to Shiobana, who had been impaled by her spear. The aardvark looked winded, but she had a smile on her face.
"Told you I could handle it!" Shizuka said.
Bentley walked up to Shizuka, deciding to speak with her. He saw the impaled Shiobana, and it nearly made him vomit. The smell of death was filling the raccoon's nostrils, causing him to cover his mouth and nose. Shiobana had blood trickling out of his mouth and his wound, with it falling to the ground beneath him. The fact that he was up close to the body made it worse for Bentley, to the point where he wanted to take a bath due to simply being near it. Shizuka only put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"You really got him, did you, Shizuka?" Bentley asked.
"Yes," Shizuka said, "but it was a stroke of luck on my part."
"It's a good thing you got him, Shizuka, because he would've escaped if we didn't take him down." Schaefer said.
With Shiobana dead, Shizuka carefully pulled her spear out of his corpse. With the blade free, the aardvark cleaned it up, not wanting the blood to rust it. Bentley watched as she did that, knowing that he would need to do the same to his weapon. Schaefer only put his hand on the boy's shoulder, offering some comfort after the mission. Once Shizuka got done cleaning her spear, the three spoke to each other.
"We should get back to base, Mr. Sunea is waiting for us." Bentley said.
"No doubt the others have come back from their part of the mission." Schaefer said.
"And Bairei is still in the hospital." Shizuka added.
"The doctor said that he would meet up with us when he's better." The sheepdog said. "Now, let's get back to Mr. Sunea!"
Shizuka, Schaefer and Bairei walked away from the dead Shiobana, leaving his body out in the open. All that was on their minds was meeting up with their teammates and allies. Even if the others hadn't come back yet, at least they would be safe for the time being. Once they were back at base, they would share what happened during the mission. Needless to say, Chu-Ya would be pleased by what they had done. After all, they managed to stop an assassin from rejoining his allies.
Note: That was intense, wasn't it? Not only have the bombs been disarmed, but Shiobana is dead. The Serpent Gang will not be happy to hear about this. They might even retaliate in a violent way. Let's just hope that the Seven Heroes are prepared for that. Until next time, guys, this is Newcomer24, signing off. Peace!