Armand did have a polite treatment of his prisoners. Instead of dungeons he had a large office with a comfortable couch, a fridge filled with food and a lovely view of the city. But in spite of the commodities Marlena was captive nonetheless, the large bodyguard followed her every move and at the least disturbance he was ordered to shoot her. Armand assured her he would never have her killed but he wouldn't doubt in leaving her wounded enough not to cause troubles.
They took her Smartphone so she couldn't call for help, but thanks to Duncan's shopping spree she had another plain burner cellphone hidden in her clothing. The male bodyguard didn't follow her to the bathroom so she took the opportunity to call Duncan and told him of Swanson's plan.
-"I have a small team outside the building we are coming in"- Was his angry response.
-"Duncan he is going after Adam, he could lead you to my son I need you to follow him"- She whispered praying her captor wouldn't hear
-"I can see Swanson leaving the building as we speak! Don't worry I'll go after him"- She heard Teela from the speaker.
-"No wait!"- Marlena said scared, that girl could get in a lot of trouble if Armand found her.
The door of the bathroom was open roughly and the large bodyguard yanked the phone from her grasp. Angry at the breach of security he informed the rest of his surveillance team. He wanted to follow his employer's instructions but he really wasn't willing to shoot an otherwise helpless woman so he simply tied her up. Marlena let him do it without a fight because she knew that by then it was too late, a large explosion rocked the main entrance of the building, and Duncan was coming for her.
…
Caleb was desperately trying to get money so he could leave New York with his family, so he sold his few worthy possessions in a pawn shop near his home. He was walking towards his brand new car when three men in suits came out of a BMW and towards him; the one in the center seemed to be the boss and called out –"Mister Archer I would like to have a few words with you"-.
Since the last time he met men in suits things ended in violence, and knowing that maybe Esteban might be still after him Caleb chose not to take any chance and ran off. The mysterious men followed suit.
-"We do not mean any harm young man!"- Swanson yelled
-"Yeah right!"- Caleb spat and sped up; thank god he was in good shape because those guys were fast. To his dismay he noticed only two men were after him, the third one probably went back to the car to block his escape. His heart sank when the BMW rode right in front of him, he froze in his tracks for a second and before he knew it he was surrounded.
It was clear that whatever those guys wanted wasn't good. Caleb feared what they had in store for him so he decided he wouldn't go down without a fight, he landed a few punches but these guys were professionals and they immobilized him without difficulty. They were about to throw him inside the car when stray shots flew close to them.
Out of nowhere a pretty red haired girl begun to shoot at the men, Caleb took advantage of the distraction and punched his way out of the mess.
He ran towards his car when a taxi drove next to him, a Middle Eastern guy told him to hop in. The boy didn't know him but whoever this man was Caleb knew he had to be better than the three "men in black" running after him.
-"Hello young man, my name is Sharif"- The man said kindly
-"Caleb"- The boy answered shaking his hand.
-"We must go after your friend before Swanson's men get to her"-
-"Oh right! That crazy girl… what the hell got into her? Why did she help me?"-
-"She is your friend! Didn't you recognize her?-
The cab driver then made a sharp u turn and then headed to an alley near the place where Swanson almost kidnapped him. Sharif waited only a few seconds before the girl came out of the shadows and jumped inside the car, it hadn't been hard to lose Armand's men since they didn't know what hit them.
Once in the back seat Teela was greeted by the sight of her long lost friend, she jumped into his arms as Sharif accelerated far from Swanson's reach.
Caleb was completely clueless about what the hell was going on, but he thought that if a pretty girl is hugging you tight you hug her back. She lifted her gaze to meet his and it was then that he realized she looked familiar, for some reason he had drawn her face countless times yet he couldn't remember who she was.
-"I think I know you"- He said stunned
-"Of course you know me idiot! We were raised together. We've been looking for you for months!"- She said punching his arm
-"I can't remember"- He mumbled –"I woke up in a hospital a year ago I don't remember anything from before that time"- Could she be the family he had yearned for ever since? Part of him believed it was too good to be true, especially after all the countless nights he prayed in vain for them to come only to find confusion and loneliness the morning after.
The BMW was soon after their cab if they didn't think of something right now they'll be in deep shit.
A glint of insanity lit Teela's features as she came up with a plan.
-"Sharif I need you to ride as straight as possible and keep it as smooth as you can"- She said while removing a very large shotgun from below the back seat. She poked her head and arms out of the window and aimed at the approaching car, with several shots she managed to destroy the front wheels but they still chased after them even when the rims produced sparks on the pavement.
To Caleb's surprise the girl took yet another weapon, this one was smaller but much scarier.
-"Is that a grenade?!"- The boy said shocked
Calculating the time cautiously she removed the safety pin and made sure the artifact exploded right below the BMW. The car blew up and swiveled out of control.
-"Good"- She said satisfied –"Now let's go to Swanson's building and help dad with Marlena's rescue, I hate to think he'll get all the fun. After all he's got the big guns"-
The boy begun to think he would be better off out of the cab and far from that trigger happy chick.
….
Marlena's guardian ran at the source of the explosion to meet his coworkers. A minute later the door was open and the man lay unconscious at her feet.
Duncan had first infiltrated the building with a security badge provided by a disgrumpled employee, who was contacted by Warren and bribed with Randor's gold. Only when he was near his queen he detonated a bomb previously placed in an empty storage room, as soon as the guard left the room it was easy to knock him out and remove his electronic key.
-"Have you found him?"- She asked as he unbound her
-"Teela is after Swanson, Sharif is covering for her. Now let's go before the other guards realize the bomb was just a distraction"-
She saw the unconscious man on the floor -"Is your strength matching a terran now?"- Marlena was intrigued.
-"I don't know how but yes, I am adapting"- Duncan wondered if the spell the sorceress laid in him affected not only his mind but his body as well.
They ran to the emergency exit but two more guards got in the way, one of them was massive in size while the other one was rather average. Duncan faced the big one, he threw a large big punch at his jaw but the guy barely flinched so he used a different tactic, when his opponent launched at him the warrior twisted his foot around the guard's and in a swift turn of his body he easily threw him out of balance. Now with the enemy on the floor it was easy for Duncan to throw a big kick at his head and knock him unconscious.
Meanwhile Marlena went after the smaller one, her son was close to her reach she couldn't afford to waste more time, and her patience had run out hours ago. She drew her knee towards the guard's solar plexus with brutal and uncontained force while her hands wrapped behind his neck bringing him forward, that move left the man gasping for air and immobilized. Turning to face Duncan who had just finished with the big guard she told him:
-"What do you think? Could he be about my size?"- She asked looking at her fallen opponent.
Now disguised as guards the queen and man at arms calmly walked out of the building, in the raging chaos nobody noticed who they were. Warren gladly offered to be the second source of distraction blowing several other small bombs on strategic places; he was thrilled at the idea of destroying Swanson's property. But in the middle of all the destruction as they were about to climb into Warren's car a blank faced man in a suit, Swanson's chief advisor, came out to them holding the sword in his hands. His eyes had a glowing green light in them.
-"For its rightful owner alone"- He said in an empty voice as he gave the sword to Duncan.
The man at arms had little time to ponder in the sword's obvious display of magic, as Marlena grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him inside the car. Teela had contacted her saying she found Adam and they would meet at their loft.
…..
Back in Sharif's taxi the young couple was heading towards their abandoned building and Teela begun to explain Adam what had happened.
-"Let me see if I understand"- Caleb said amused –"I am a prince from a different planet in a faraway galaxy…"-
-"As a matter of fact I think it might be a parallel universe"- Teela added helpfully
-"Right… that makes more sense. And in this planet as you seem to describe it there are many parallels to the middle ages of this world but there is also a much more advance use in technology since people is usually flying around in machines right?"-
-"Not all the time but yes, the attack track is a very useful transport"-
-"So it would be like game of thrones mixed with star wars?"- He said no longer able to contain his laughter.
-"I don't know what that means"- Teela shrugged.
-"Look this is fun but "the prince" has to go after his brother and mom before a drug dealer kills them"- He said dryly
-"You don't believe me?"- She was appalled
-"Of course I do, just let me get my magic dragon out of my garage and we'll fly off to Narnia! Sharif please stop the car I'm getting out of here"- This whole thing was more than he could handle. First this girl claims to be part of his long lost family and now she tells him all this nonsense. There were two drug dealers chasing after him and he had no clue who had just tried to attack them, he had no time for all this delusions.
Her small delicate hands grabbed him by the collars of his jacket, dragged him towards her so her face could be only millimeters away from his. The burning intensity of her green eyes paralyzed him and her warm breath caressed his skin.
-"Listen you idiot we have been looking for you for months all over Eternia and we crossed the universe to track you down, your parents were about to lose their minds and the entire nation was losing hope. Your mother and mentor are going to meet you soon and you better respect them! As for me you little twerp, I am not loosing you off my sight so sit still and behave!"-
Before he could answer her Caleb received a phone call from Malik. He was horrified when he heard his brother screaming:
-"Cal! Ronnie's men are here!" - There where gunshots in the background and then dead silence.