End of Innocence v2.0

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Thirteen: Hitting the Fan

Of course, as far as I was concerned, Sehkment showing up PERIOD was trouble. Of all the people who could have possibly found me after all this time and found out about Ariel, why did it have to be Sehkment? Why not. . . well. . . not-Sehkment? Even if Cale was a jerk like Sehkment implied, he was still not-Sehkment. And I could definitely handle Kayura or "Super Tree Hugger Vegan Bullshit Man".

But why Sehkment?

Of course, my interest wasn't so much why Sehkment was in my living room, but rather why he and Kayura had begun some kind of shouting match over his cell phone loud enough that Ariel came out of her room to investigate. She tugged on my hand. "Daddy?" she asked.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Why is he yelling?"

"I'm not quite sure."

Sehkment looked at his cellphone. "She. . . hung up."

I looked down at Ariel. "Um. . ."

My old rival stepped forward and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Look, I don't know all the details, kid, but we gotta get going. Something's come up – a pretty big something from what I can tell, and we're going to need your dad back in Toyama. RIGHT NOW," said Sehkment.

"Why?" asked Ariel.

I looked around my apartment, then nodded to Sehkment. "All right, but I don'tthink Ariel should get involved in this. Let me get a hold of Kojiro so he can keep an eye on Ariel first, all right?" I asked, heading for the phone. I turned to my former enemy and my daughter, who looked very confused and ready to follow me. "Sehkment, could you keep an eye on Ariel for a few minutes? Ariel, why don't you show Sehkment some of your toys?"

"Okay, Daddy. . ." Ariel looked a little confused, but ready to comply.

Sehkment, on the other hand, did not look as ready to cooperate. He had an angry look on his face and he was grumbling as Ariel took his hand and started to drag him towards a small collection of her toys by the television. "What the-?! Since when did I suddenly become your personal babysitter?!"

"PLEASE?!"

"Okay, okay!"

I ducked into my bedroom and began to furiously dial Kojiro's number. I drummed my fingers on my bureau, then started looking for paper and a pen. If something happens to me. . . I don't want to have to write this, but what choice do I have? Just as I found an old notebook from high school, Kojiro picked up.

"Hello?"

"Kojiro, I need you to do a favor for-"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"

I dropped the phone at the sound of Ariel screaming and darted out of my room to see a giant ogre-like monster standing in my living room. It was about eight feet tall, dark grey – kind of like soot – and didn't look like it was over for an afternoon tea. Admittedly, I screamed as well.

Sehkment was already in subarmor and standing between my daughter and the monster. The ogre had tried punching him, but Sehkment had stopped the punch with his hands – he was not going to be able to hold it off on his own for long, though, especially since he had pushed him back a little bit. Understandably, Ariel was crying. "Cye! Now! Help me out here!"

"Right!" I said. The ogre looked at me and grunted, tossing Sehkment aside like a rag doll into a corner with Ariel's toys. It (thankfully) ignored Ariel and started to move towards me. I started to move back towards the drawer I kept my armor orb in – I was going to have to fight this thing.

Especially if that THING thinks it's going to get anywhere near my kid!

I slowly opened the drawer and started to feel around for the armor orb, never taking my eyes off the monster. The monster stopped short before me, bending close to my face and breathing in my face. I gagged – his breath smelled like rotting meat. It stayed there for a minute as my hand blindly fumbled around, looking for the armor orbe. Amazingly, I felt it roll right into my hand.

I grinned, closed my eyes, and kicked.

The ogre let out a yelp and flew backwards into the next wall, taking several books out with it. By now Sehkment was up again, and I was transforming into my subarmor. I stood next to the former Dark Warlord, and the two of us stared the monster down. "What is this thing?" I asked. "Is this what Kayura called you about?"

"I don't know," said Sehkment.

"Thanks for your help."

"Hey! I don't know EVERY monster in the book like the back of my hand!"

"DADDY!"

Ariel's scream gave me just enough time to see the punch coming – the two of us ducked and tripped the ogre, sending him to the floor. "We are not going to be able to keep up this fight in here! The kid's gonna get hurt and there's barely enough room to move around!" said Sehkment. "Sorry about the kid but I think she's going to have to come with us – at least she'll be safer in Toyama."

I closed my eyes. "Well, I guess we're going to have to leave, now aren't we?"

Sehkment nodded. "Get to the door, grab the kid, armor down, and run."

"My thoughts exactly." I armored down, extending my hand to Ariel. "Ariel. . . we're leaving now."

Seeming to understand that the big scary monster was, well, a big scary monster, Ariel nodded and took my hand as the three of us back towards the door. I squeezed her hand, bending down to pick her up. She wrapped her arms around my neck, shaking and trembling as she cried and I patted her on the back. "It'll be okay – I'll get us out of here, just trust me, all right?" I said quietly. Ariel whimpered in response, burying her head into my shoulder. I could feel a slight nod – of course she trusted me. Still, I felt a pit in my stomach – monster or not, I could feel my parental instinct kicking in. She did NOT need this kind of trauma as a five year old kid. I needed to protect her.

Sehkment was still in armor. "I'll head out after you get the kid out, all right?" I nodded, grabbing the door handle. Ariel clenched tighter, and I swallowed, watching the monster and Sehkment as best I could. "On the count of three, you need to move, all right?" I nodded, and Sehkment turned to me and grinned.

"THREE!"

Both of us darted out of the apartment, the ogre crying out in anger as he bashed the door down. Ariel was no longer screaming, but clearing terrified as we ran towards the stairs. "Your landlord is not going to be happy with you, is he?!" Sehkment asked, reaching the door before I did.

"You're telling me!"

The two of us barreled down the stairs, me trying to make sure I didn't fall over and hurt Ariel and Sehkment was looking back for the ogre. I could still hear the monster behind us, and Sehkment could probably see it from the look in his eyes. "Ah shit, it's following us!"

"STILL!?"

"My car is outside – I'll get her started!" Sehkment had his keys in hand and was furiously pressing buttons. "She should be started and the top should be down when we get out of here. We'll have to worry about seatbelts later because we need to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS CITY RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!"

I glared at Sehkment and started to yell back. "I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION AND THERE'S A GIANT OGRE CHASING US BUT CAN YOU PLEASE TRY TO NOT SWEAR AROUND MY DAUGHTER? SHE'S ONLY-"

"NOT NOW!"

We flew out of the building and started running towards Sehkment's car, which was a dark green convertible. Sehkment effortlessly leapt into the front seat and jammed his keys into the ignition – I took the extra moment to open the door and usher Ariel inside. Once the door was closed, Sehkment floored the car and I dove over Ariel in protection.

And the ogre had still not given up.

"WHAT THE HELL DO WE HAVE TO DO TO LOOSE THIS THING!?" asked Sehkment. His eyes were on the rearview mirror, and sure enough, the ogre was now chasing us out of the parking lot. "IT WON'T GIVE UP! THE SON OF A BITCH WON'T GIVE UP!"

Now that we were on a straight stretch of road, I was buckling Ariel into a seat. Seeing as Sehkment was too busy driving, and Ariel was only five, I realized there was only one thing to do. I was the one who had to stop the ogre to get us back to Toyama safely and protect my daughter.

And Sehkment.

"Sehkment! Keep driving!"

"Really? I wasn't sure," said Sehkment. "NO SHIT SHERLOCK! OF COURSE I'M GOING TO KEEP DRIVING! WE'VE GOT A LARGE BEAST WITH A CASE OF THE UGLIES BEHIND US AND I'M NOT ABOUT TO STOP AND ASK IT FOR DIRECTIONS!"

"I'm going to try and attack it from here!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!?"

"DO WE HAVE A CHOICE!?"

Sehkment stopped arguing and continued to drive. I know what I was doing was quite stupid, but the ogre was gaining on us (that thing was FAST!) and we were going to have to stand our ground at some point. And I was choosing now – we needed to get rid of it as soon as possible, especially if we were heading for Toyama.

I got back into subarmor and braced myself against the back of Sehkment's seat. From here, I had to get into the Armor of the Torrent (and pray for luck) for my plan to work. I looked over at Ariel and smiled. "Just sit tight and be a brave girl for me, okay?" Ariel nodded, wiping away a tear. "I'm about to have another magical armor on top of this one, and then I'm going to make that ogre go away."

"Okay, Daddy," she said.

"Cye? You're an idiot."

"Tell me about it."

I concentrated. "Armor of the Torrent. . . DAO SHIN!"

Once I was fully clad in the Armor of the Torrent, Ariel was dumbfounded. "Wow!" she said. "How did you do that? Are you like Sailor Moon, Daddy?" I wasn't sure how to respond to the "Sailor Moon" part, but Sehkment seemed to think it was funny.

"If you weren't driving, I'd probably poke you with this," I said.

"Nah, I'm growing on you."

I ignored Sehkment for a little longer and pointed my weapon at the ogre. I could feel a drop of sweat drip down the side of my face – my plan was INCREDIBLY risky. "Okay Sehkment, if my plan works, there's a good chance the car is going to fly forward very, very quickly, and you need to stay in control of the car, all right? That's all you need to do. Do you understand?"

It took my former rival a minute to figure out what my plan was, but sure enough, realization eventually dawned on him – or perhaps hit him over the head like a sack of potatoes. And he was not happy with the plan at all. "Why would. . . I'm driving the car already. . . and. . . YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT! I'M SORRY ABOUT YOUR KID BEING HERE BUT THAT IS THE FUCKING WORST IDEA I HAVE EVER HEARD! YOU'RE GOING TO GET US KILLED YOU MORON! HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA!? PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT! ANYTHING BUT THAT!"

"Sorry, Sehkment, but that's the plan," I said. I tried to focus my weapon on the ogre, steadying myself. I didn't need to be THAT precise, but the closer I was to a direct hit, the better off we'd all be. "You wouldn't have bought this car if you didn't want a LITTLE excitement."

"Cye? Just wanted to let you know that I'm not happy with you right now."

"Daddy, what are you going to do that's making Mr. Sehkment mad?"

"You'll see." The ogre was gaining on us, but I wanted to time my plan just right. We needed to make sure it was dead or far enough away from us that it wouldn't be able to catch up again. I tried to keep my yari steady, but I could feel my hands shaking. "C'mon, ugly, just a little closer. . . little closer. . ."

There it was. The perfect range.

"All right, ugly! EAT THIS!"

"Oh God. . ."

"SUPER. . ."

"Ariel, brace yourself!"

". . . WAVE. . ."

"YOUR FATHER IS AN IDIOT!"

". . . SMASHER!!!"

"I NEVER SAW PARIS!"

The next few moments were a blur, but this is what happened, more or less. One: Our ugly ogre adversary received a Super Wave Smasher at point blank range – I'm not convinced he survived. Two: The force of the Super Wave Smasher, thanks to the laws of physics, propelled the car forward – quite quickly, and rather unsafely.

I dropped my yari to clutch the underside of the seat as the world outside of the car seemed to blur into a streak of colors and sounds. Ariel was screaming, Sehkment was panicking (but still doing a wonderful job at keeping the car from crashing), and I was definitely not wearing a seatbelt. But once the car started to slow down, I dismissed my armors, sat comfortable next to Ariel, and buckled in.

Once Sehkment had calmed down a bit, he cleared his throat. "Cye?"

"Yes, Sehkment?" I asked.

"Do me a favor."

"Yeah?"

I could see him grinning through the rear view mirror as he put on a pair of sunglasses and started to laugh. "Whatever happens next, if we both survive what's going on down in Toyama. . . you gotta promise me that you'll do that to Cale sometime, okay?"

Author's notes

That's right. That ogre got a point blank Super Wave Smasher. I'm about 90 sure some of this idea had to have come from either Final Fantasy 7 or watching Grindhouse (which is an amazing pair of movies). If anyone's seen that film, know that I loved the last twenty minutes or so of the second movie. That said, this is one of the most satisfying scenes I've written in a while.

Fun note: It's been so long since I've done an armor up scene that I had to look up Cye's battle cry.

For those of you who got two e-mails about this update, I have to apologize - there was a formating issue that needed to be fixed.

Dixxy