Here we are. A better chapter.

Wow, dreams can get pretty crazy. I'm gonna check the clock...but why can't I move? I don't even think I'm lying down.

Okay, it feels like I'm tied to a chair. I can't see anything. Maybe I'm still dreaming? My head hurts...wait a minute. I'm definitely awake. I got chloroformed earlier, which means...I've been kidnapped. I really hope I didn't get any brain damage or anything.

This is bad. I think I know who did this, but the fact that he found me means he probably knows where I live or something, which means he could come after my family and then even if nobody dies, I'm at least going to be grounded until I move out, and my mom may even force me to break up with Azalea or worse. Basically, my life sucks right now and it may be my fault.

It's pitch-black in here, so I have no idea what this room even looks like, much less where I am in general. There could be someone nearby who would want to know that I've woken up, so...maybe I should make myself heard?

"H-hello?" I say quietly. "Hello?" Wow, I sound like Phone Guy.

"Huh? Do you need something else?" a feminine voice asks...but this isn't just any feminine voice.

"Azalea?" I call out quietly. "It's X."

"*GASP* Oh no!" Azalea exclaims. "I'm really sorry...he had a knife, and I didn't know any of the things he wanted me to tell him, so-"

"Wait...he got you first, and then he made you tell him where to find me?"

"Uh...yes, I'm sorry!"

"Azalea, don't worry, it's not your fault. And actually, if you've been captured, then I'd rather be here with you than let you be stuck here alone."

"Oh...thanks...but-"

Suddenly I hear another voice coming from the right. "Alright, shut up, I'm ready to get to work here."

The light comes on, and the man in the red ninja mask, Mason Richards, steps into the room, which appears to have walls and floors covered in something soft. Looks like I've got my back to a wall with Azalea right across from me, both of us tied to chairs with ropes.

"Here's the deal," he starts. "You kids seem to have given me some strange enhanced abilities. And you're going to tell me how to control them, and..." he holds up his wrist, "how this watch works."

"Uh...why should I...tell you...this stuff?" I somewhat daringly ask.

"Because I've got a machete," he replies, unsheathing one and pointing it Azalea, "and she is completely defenseless."

Yeah, at this point I'm pretty much this guy's...I can't think of a clean word that would make sense here and sound funny/cool at the same time.

"Okay, I'll talk," I tell him. "The easiest way to control your powers is with the watch. You just press the blue button to turn it on and off. All of the other buttons pretty much just do all the things a normal watch does."

Richards presses the button and his cyan soul lights up on his chest. "Hmm...great. How does it work?"

"I'm not lying, it's literally magic. The watch gives off a small amount of magic that reacts with your soul to give you power somehow."

"Whatever, where does this "magic" come from?"

"Wait...have you even heard of Undertale?"

"Answer the question."

Uh...wow. I'll take that as a no. I think. "Magic...comes from monsters."

"I knew it! That d**n thing you were with that one night that I couldn't kill! And those other ones that I probably could have killed...alright, now tell me where they are!"

"Okay, okay!" Azalea is silently losing it while I give Richards the current address of the Shadow Guard.

"This is much better than my original plan," Richards remarks. "Those things are going to make me unstoppable. Alright, now if you lied about where they are..." he stares straight at me while pointing his machete at Azalea, "you will watch her die right in front of you."

"That's where they are," I assure him.

"And don't expect anyone save you, either. If you couldn't already tell, this room's near completely soundproof."

"I know about the cult."

The heck did I just say? Now someone's definitely going to die.

"The what?"

"Uh...aren't you in a cult that wants to wipe out the human race?"

"How do you know about that?! How long have you been stalking me?!"

"I haven't, I haven't! But...the monsters have."

"Alright, that's it! I'm going after them right now! And I'm going to kill as many as I can and then force the rest to get rid of anyone else who ever gets in my way again!"

On that note, Richards storms out of the room and slams the door behind him, leaving me and Azalea to reflect on the current situation.

"X, we have to get out of here somehow!" Azalea exclaims. "He said he's going to kill them!"

"Yeah, he is," I reply. "Assuming he's leaving right now, and that we're near the city limits, I'd say we've got ten minutes to warn the Shadow Guard that he's coming. If we do, maybe they can do some sort of counter strike and get him arrested."

"But how are we going to do that? We're stuck in this room!"

"I think this guy forgot exactly who he's trying to hold prisoner."

"Huh? Ohhhh, right! Maybe you can use your bullets to break the rope!"

"I don't know, I'm not sure they're strong enough to break through rope..."

"I saw you blow up Trent last week, it was pretty big. Maybe if you focused it more or something."

"Well, I guess it's worth a shot. Wanna help get my soul activated?"

"Okay, Justice right? Um...Richards is going to kill the monsters?"

"Alright, I think we're headed in the right direction. Why do we need to fix that situation?"

"Well...what have they done to him?"

"Let's see, spied on him, track him down here to get him arrested...but he needs to get arrested for killing people! Especially if it'll stop him from killing anyone else...because as far as I'm concerned, nobody deserves to die."

My soul starts glowing pretty bright. I get ready to shoot a bullet from my chest, but first I focus as much power as I can into the smallest space possible...nobody must die...EVERYONE MUST LIVE...and release.

*CRACK*

The section of rope closest to my soul breaks straight in half. From there, I'm able to get the rope to loosen and unwrap, and in no time I'm free. Now I go over to untie Azalea's ropes, which is a bit difficult, but it doesn't take too long.

"Thank you!" Azalea says, standing up and hugging me. "Now let's go."

"Wait, there could be someone else outside this door," I tell her. "Let's be careful."

I walk over to the door and open it very slowly and carefully, checking to see what's on the other side. All I can see is a computer screen over to the left. We must be inside Richards' house or something.

"Alright, the coast is clear," I say to Azalea. "First we need to find our backpacks and stuff, they should be around here somewhere."

Azalea goes to the left towards the computer and turns on a light, while I open the door to a room to the right. This looks like his bedroom, not much of interest in here...and I don't see our backpacks.

"I found them!" Azalea suddenly calls out. I head down to the computer room, where Azalea is looking for something in her backpack, which is sitting right next to mine.

"Score!" I remark. "Let me get my phone and call them...it's 10:44?! My mom's gonna hate me so much for this! Alright, here we go..." The phone on their end rings twice before they pick up. "Hello?"

"This is X. Azalea and I got captured by Mason Richards, and he forced us to tell him where you live, so now we're at his place and he's on his way to your apartment. Maybe you guys can call the police and trap him when he shows up or something."

"Hold on, he captured you? Are you alright?" Sounds like Knight Knight.

"Yeah, we're fine, we broke out, just be ready when he shows up."

"I could come and get you now if you want."

"Look, I appreciate you wanting to help us out and all, but this guy has guns, a machete, and probably a bunch of other weapons and stuff and he wants to kill you guys. Oh yeah, and he has my watch. And I don't even know where we are right now. I'll look up our location, you call us back when you're done with Richards."

I hang up and look at Azalea, who's eating food from her lunchbox.

"Oh, sorry," she says. "I haven't eaten since breakfast so I'm starving. Want something?"

"Nah, you need food more than I do," I tell her, getting on the computer and noticing that Google Maps is already open, showing the route from this place to the apartment of the Shadow Guard. I peek through the blinds on a window and see that we are, in fact, in an apartment. One that I now know the address of.

"You doing alright, Azalea?" I ask.

"I guess," she replies. "I'm afraid for the monsters, though."

"Don't worry, they've been doing stuff like this for years. Now that they know he's coming, there's no way they'll let themselves get killed."

"Well, you're right, but what if he gets away again and comes back here?"

"Hopefully he doesn't know that we've already broken out and we can just find some way to neutralize him ourselves. We got this. We're pretty much already home free."

Azalea stands up and throws her arms over my shoulders. "I just don't think I'm ready these kinds of things..."

I hug her back and let us fall back onto a couch. "Even if you aren't ready, and even if I'm not ready, I think we are. If that makes sense."

We hold each other like this for just a few more minutes, until my phone rings. Looks like it's time to find out how things went.

Again, sorry about last chapter, I just didn't want to rush straight into this intense stuff. And honestly, I really can't resist throwing in some fluff here and there. Hope it didn't bother anyone.

Next chapter, was the Shadow Guard able to take care of Richards themselves...or will X and Azalea have to finish the job?