Zelgadis' Gambit
Chapter: 6
Unexpected Happenings
Time to have some more fun
A few days had passed and yet there was still no attempt on the second painting. Lina had been waiting in the room with the painting for days. She had gotten some sleep here and there but the job was starting to take its toll on her. She had stopped talking to others to just fully focus on protecting the painting. 'I will get you this time,' she kept repeating to herself as she continued to look out of the large windows towards the setting sun.
Downstairs there was a knock on the door. Fox, still disguised as a house maid, answered the door to be met with the visage of Jackal. "Begin the plan," he whispered as he handed her a mid-sized package.
Fox nodded before shutting the door and heading towards the dinning room. The old man of the house was in the middle of his dinner when Fox entered saying, "There is a package for you sir."
"Just lay it on the table and I'll open it after I'm done," the old man commanded as he continued to eat.
Fox smiled as she walked towards the staff quarters. On the way she went through the kitchen where the chef was cleaning up. She smiled at him before walking behind. The chef did not notice as she pulled out a rag and a bottle of chloroform. She soaked the rag before capturing the chef's nose and mouth. The chef was caught unaware and passed out quickly. Fox grabbed a bottle of wine before slipping some pills into the bottle and continued towards the staff quarters, 'Now to finish up before he opens that package.'
Lina continued to watch the outside world when there was a sudden and loud boom from downstairs. Lina turned and began to run while shouting, "Amelia come with me! Gourry stay here and watch over the painting."
Gourry nodded and continued to guard the room as his friends ran downstairs to meet the threat. As he waited he heard clicks from the windows. Gourry turned and began walking towards the window. As he got halfway to the window the window shattered as the Black Wolf burst through the window into the air. Gourry dropped into his stance as the master thief hit the arc of his jump and began to come down. Gourry drew his sword and swung at the Wolf. To his surprise the blade bounced off of the Wolf's skin and fractured. The surprise was all the Wolf needed to grab Gourry's head and slam it to the ground as he landed and cast, "Sleep."
The Wolf stood before moving to the painting as he heard from behind him. "Damn you take some risk," as Jackal landed in the room from the roof.
"Sometimes you have to take risk to achieve your goals," the Wolf replied before grabbing the frame and asking, "Do you have them?"
Jackal nodded as he produced two tube cases from his back. He watched as the Wolf pulled the frame down and hit it hard on both sides with his fists. The frame popped open and the Wolf pulled the painting out carefully while rolling it. They then put the painting in the first tube. Jackal took the first tube and the Wolf took the second tube. "Now to wait," the Wolf commanded.
As they waited the Wolf walked back over to the unconscious swordsman. He pulled the sword from his hand and the pin from his pocket. The Wolf smiled before saying, "I think I'll keep this as a souvenir as well."
Lina and Amelia came downstairs to find it full of smoke. They coughed before Lina shouted, "Bom Di Wind," and used the spell to clear out the area.
In front of them stood a young girl with a bone mask just like the Wolf's own. Lina looked at her before saying, "Who are you?"
The woman smiled under her mask before saying, "I'm Fox. I guess you can call me an understudy of the Black Wolf. Who, by the way, is stealing the painting as we speak."
Fox took off and head out the front door. "Don't worry about her," Lina commanded as she ran back up the stairs with Amelia right behind her.
Lina ran up the stairs and back into the room to see the Wolf and another young man. The Wolf looked at her before saying, "Just one problem...which one has the painting."
Both of the men had a carrying tube and as soon as the Wolf finished talking they both took off out the window. "Amelia, go after the other guy. The Wolf is mine," Lina commanded as she cast a ray wing and took off.
Amelia had used a ray wing to catch up with Jackal. The young man in black proved to be quite the runner and he was heading towards the city of Atlas. If he slipped into the city Amelia could lose him so she was pushing herself to get ahead of him. After a few more minutes she pulled in front of him and landed while announcing, "The chase ends here evildoer."
Jackal watched as the girl landed in front of him. He smirked as he dug his heels in to break from the hard run he was in before jumping into a back flip. "Try this one on for size," as he tossed a black ball at Amelia's feet.
When the ball hit it exploded and let out a large amount of smoke. As Amelia coughed from the smoke she tried to get clear of the area. As she back up she bumped into something. Amelia went to turn but was stopped as a rag was placed over her face. She could smell the chemical but could free herself. Soon all went black as the smoke cleared to reveal Fox holding Amelia's limp body. Jackal smiled before saying, "As good as always."
Jackal began walking towards the city while Fox looked off in the distance towards where the Wolf had taken off to. "Come on Fox we need to get back to the safe house," Jackal called from behind her.
Fox looked for a second while thinking, 'He may be the Black Wolf but he is still up against Lina Inverse.'
Zelgadis had taken off with a ray wing in the opposite direction of Jackal. He looked behind him to see Lina catching up quickly. He pulled Gourry's sword from his belt and pulled the pin from his pocket. He placed the pin on the pressure point before spinning in the air while pushing the release button. 'Normally, I would say catch...,' Zelgadis thought as the blade went spinning towards Lina.
Lina saw the blade and dodged before thinking, 'Wonderful, now he is chucking blades at me...time for pay back,' before shouting, "Flare Arrow!"
Zelgadis dodged the flare arrow as he dipped into the tree line to try and lose Lina. He began to climb and dive in between the trees but Lina was able to copy every move he could produce. Zel climbed out of the tree line before turn and shouting, "Bom Di Wind," while trying to knock Lina out of the sky.
Lina quickly barrel rolled out of the path of the spell before shooting above the Wolf. She dove down as she saw him head back into the tree line. Lina came under the tree line and hovered as the Wolf had disappeared. She looked around before she got the sense that he was behind her. Lina quickly flipped as he tried to rush her before smirking and saying, "You lose...Fireball!"
The fireball hit its mark as it exploded into the Wolf's chest. Lina landed on a branch of a tree as she waited for the smoke to clear. After the smoke left there was the wolf on the ground. His clothes had been burned in places. Lina landed on the ground and walked forward as she saw some of his skin in places. It was blue with darker blotches. Lina's mouth hung open before saying, "It can't be!"
The wolf came to and saw Lina staring at him in shock. "Is it so hard to believe," he asked as he sat up.
Lina glared at him before moving up and grabbing him by the neck of his shirt. She looked into his blue eyes before shouting, "What in the world would you do this Zel!"
Zel looked back at her with an unapologetic stare before saying, "Why do I do anything Lina?"
"A cure," Lina shouted, "How do these paintings have anything to do with your cure?"
"It would have been easier if you had not gotten involved...sorry Lina," Zelgadis replied as he grabbed Lina's hands and said, "Monobolt."
The electricity shot through Lina's body and she could not help but scream as she felt the same pain that she had when they had first met. As the attack continued Lina lost her grip on Zelgadis and slowly collapsed to the ground. Zelgadis looked down at the unconscious Lina before saying, "Sorry for this," before picking her up and running towards Atlas City and his safe house.
Lina began to slowly wake up as she said, "I feel like there are a bunch of bees in my head."
"You said the same thing last time," came Zelgadis' voice from the side.
Lina fully woke up and went to move to find herself tied to the roof yet again. She swung from the rope for a moment before turning to see Zelgadis in a chair. She glared at him before saying, "You asshole! How many times are you going to betray your friends?"
Zelgadis stood up and walked to Lina before grabbing a hold of her chin. He forced her to look at him and she could see that he was not in the mood for her jabs. "Listen, I know that there have been moments where I have chosen badly, but this is not a betrayal. I had made my decision to go after this and you and the rest happen to show up."
Lina continued to stare at him before saying, "So you think this will cure you. When are you going to see that your friends are more important than a cure that might not exist?"
Zelgadis let Lina go before turning around, "This is worth it. Even if I'm not cured this is the mother load. Lei Magnus' lab is just in my reach."
"What," Lina shouted as her eyes grew to the size of dish plates, "What do you mean his lab?"
"The paintings are the key to finding his lost lab. Once I have them all I can reach all of that research and hopefully cure my condition," Zelgadis replied as he sat down again.
Lina had had enough, "Fireball," she shouted but nothing happened.
Zel smirked before asking, "Do your think I'm that dumb Lina," before pointing at the mirror beside Lina.
Lina turned and saw a small glowing rune on her forehead. She smirked before thinking, 'A binding rune...Well I'll have to give that to you Zel.'
"Why didn't you just leave me out in the forest? I would think that this would be a step back for you," Lina questioned as she now understood what Zel was up to.
Zel stood again before looking out the window and saying, "Simple. Amelia will look for you before trying to stop my next caper. That being said I can hopefully get a little ahead of you."
Zelgadis then walked towards Lina before stopping right in front of her. He looked into her eyes before placing his hand on her cheek, "And, call it soft or nostalgic but I couldn't leave you out there."
"I'm flattered," Lina replied sarcastically before rearing back with her right leg and kicking Zelgadis in between his.
Zelgadis crumpled back from the blow as Lina bit her lip because even there the chimera had the consistency of stone. "Don't act all chummy with me. I'm sure I'll end up forgive you for this sooner or later but right now you are going to get it!"
Zelgadis began to stand from his hunched position before saying, "Well then I guess this talk is over. Sleep."
Lina tried to fight the spell but soon found herself drifting off while thinking, 'Zelgadis you are so dead.'
Disclaimer: Any characters or ideas from The Slayers do not belong to me. I am not selling this material, just writing for the heck of it as I go.
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