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Chapter 5: A New Sergeant in Town
Upon entering the passage, Jack found himself in Radiata's sewer system, the Path of the Spider. He remembered going through here once during his exploration of Radiata so the place was familiar. Jack rushed through the long passageway until reaching a large room. Waiting there was the princess and the two bandits. Jack unsheathed his Phantom Edge, ready to rescue the princess.
The smaller bandit, a kid named Elmo, leered cockily at the teen. "Looked who followed us! One of those Vancoor chumps! C'mon Joaquel, let's crush him!" Joaquel, the large bandit, nodded and brandished a large hammer. "I crush you!" the large brute exclaimed. Jack gritted his teeth. This fight wasn't to be taken lightly. Luckily, Jarvis and Daniel appeared right behind him as backup. Elmo just scoffed. "Ha! No matter how many guys you got, you can't beat us!" Jack pointed his Phantom Edge at the bandits. "You're gonna eat those words!" The fighters charged at one another.
Jack planned to take down Joaquel when he heard Jarvis signaling for an attack on Elmo. Though he wanted to beat down the big man, Jack complied. A minute after the scuffle, the large bandit knocked Daniel out with a heavy blow. The axe fighter flew into the ground, unconscious from the attack. "Daniel!" Jack cried out. "Don't get distracted!" Jarvis warned as he blocked a thrust from the little bandit. Jack returned his attention to the fight, planning on getting Joaquel back for that strike.
A while after the fight started, Jarvis batted the little bandit away with Fathmil. Jack charged at the remaining enemy, glowing with a fiery aura. "You're gonna pay for hurting Daniel! Limit Break!" Just as he announced those words, time stopped. Joaquel stood there before him as a sitting duck. "Here goes!" In a quick flurry of slashes and a mighty uppercut, Jack took down the brutish man. But just as quickly as they've been knocked down, the two lackeys ran for the hills deeper into the sewers.
With determination, Jack and Jarvis chased after the two bandits while leaving Daniel behind. It wasn't long before the tunnel narrowed and came to a dead-end. A ladder led up to the surface. Taking responsibility as the sergeant of the Hecton squad, Jarvis climbed up the ladder to scout out their location. What he didn't expect was the circle of Void members surrounding the hole with swords/daggers unsheathed and ready to slit Vancoor throats. Jack popped up from behind Jarvis when the sergeant took too long. He saw the magnitude of the danger they were in. "…Well…damn…"
Just as this was happening, Daniel finally regained consciousness. The axe fighter found himself alone in the chamber. "Sergeant Jarvis? Jack?" Finally remembering what happened, he hightailed it out of there for reinforcements. In his panic, Daniel almost crashed into Gerald outside of Vancoor HQ. "Whoa! What's the hurry?" the deputy chief asked. "Deputy Chief Gerald! It's horrible! Bandits kidnapped the princess!" "What?! Those Void members have gone too far! Boy! Where are they?!" "T-there was a tunnel leading into the sewers…" Gerald stopped the axe fighter mid-sentence. "I know that place. Go alert everyone. I'll take care of the bandits." "By yourself?!" Daniel asked incredulously. "We don't have time! Now go!" The deputy chief charged to the Void headquarters as Daniel watched in awe.
One by one, the bandits had fun beating up their Hecton Squad punching bags. The leader of the band, a man named Nocturne, hung back with the princess in tow. He watched with faint pleasure as his lackeys continued to punch Jarvis and Jack with impunity. "All right princess…give me the pendant or else your bodyguards are dead." The princess gasped in horror. Before she could comply, some of the bandits fell over and the others hid behind Nocturne. "What's going on?" "So…it was you Nocturne!"
Nocturne's lip curled into a smirk. That voice could only belong to one person. "If it isn't Gerald…" "Deputy Chief!" Jarvis called out. "Quit your blubbering", Gerald answered. "You've gone too this time. Release the princess." Elmo glared at the intruder. "Who do you think you're talking to?!" Nocturne held up a hand. "Silence Elmo. I can take care of this…" The Void member took hold of a sword and faced off against Vancoor's deputy chief. "You'll be sorry for interfering…now prepare to die." In a brief clash, both came to a standstill. But without warning, Nocturne stabbed Gerald in the stomach. "Deputy Chief!" Jack cried. Nocturne backed off and snatched a pendant off of the princess's neck before she fainted. The Void bandits left as Jack struggled to get out of his bindings.
So much happened that Jack could barely comprehend it all. It was really tiring too. All he could remember was being put to bed in the infirmary. Now for some reason, there was a creaking noise in the bed across from him. He sat up in bed to find someone doing sit-ups in bed. When the teen realized who it was, he screamed loudly. Deputy Chief Gerald continued to exercise regardless of Jack's reaction. "You could give someone a heart attack with that scream!" "You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought that…you…agh!" "I'm not dead yet!" Gerald answered with a chuckle. "It'll take more than that fool Nocturne to take me down."
A knock interrupted them. "This isn't the bathroom! It's open!" Gerald barked. Chief Elwen entered with a chuckle. Gerald instantly became sheepish. "Uh…sorry about that…" "That's quite alright…I'm used to your attitude. Anyway, that incident did not turn out too well though the princess was unharmed. I need someone to go investigate the Void Community." Gerald immediately got out of bed. "I'm on it!" Elwen shook her head. "No Gerald. You need to rest. Actually…isn't about time Jack got rewarded?" The teen cocked his head to one side. "What do you mean?" "How would you like to be a sergeant of Theater Vancoor?"
Jack instantly agreed. "Of course! Oh man, I'm really moving up!" He was about to start a victory dance but then realized there was people in the room. Elwen folded her arms though she was amused by how ecstatic the teen is. "It's a big responsibility. I'm counting on you Jack." She left without another word. Gerald patted Jack on the back. "All right then Sergeant Jack…I've got to teach you something that'll make your life a lot easier for you and whoever is crazy enough to join your squad." "What?! Are you saying I'll be a bad sergeant?!" "Your words, not mine."
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