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Lightning snapped across the landscape as Krystal rushed into danger. Her warning was thankfully heeded by the escaping figures, as the tallest of the three stepped across their path, tackling the two smaller ones out of the way. In that split second, the attacker's battle-staff cleaved the air around them, only visible as a vibrant blue blur flying through the dust.
Krystal—poised to strike—set eyes on the shadow and charged at it. Using her own staff as leverage, she leapt high into the air and aimed to bring her weapon straight down into the shadow lurking in the dust. As she put all her force into the attack, that blur of blue intercepted and clashed loudly with the vixen. A harsh, violent jolt of vibrations ran up Krystal's arms and nearly made her entire body fall numb, while the clang of grinding metal stood her fur on end.
The force from the clashing staves cleared the air around them, just long enough for Krystal to look at the assailant. She couldn't make out much under the dark cloak it wore; just a pair of red beady eyes that seemed to glow and flicker. Then, a wild snarl and a sharp set of teeth broke from the dark hood. The attacking staff pushed back against her—unbelievably easily—causing her to lose her balance and stumble backwards. Luckily, she had the wherewithal to roll through and immediately spring back to her feet. She leapt up and assumed a fighting stance, raising her…
…crooked staff.
Krystal stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she saw the nasty bend in what was her sturdy, otherwise unblemished staff. She brought it back closer to her face to examine the damage. Not only was the staff bent, but a deep fracture cut through the handle and almost ran down the entire length of the weapon. The staff's ornate topper and the crystal inside seemed okay, but the bulk of the weapon was still dangerously damaged.
She had little time to respond as another ribbon of blue streaked across her vision. She was able to dodge it, but she staggered backwards and was off-balance while the red eyes glared. This time, an armored boot exploded from the dust. Krystal raised her staff, but it was too late. The boot kicked right through it, snapping the weapon clean in half as the vixen found her world flipped. She was launched backwards at least twenty feet away, landing on her back with enough momentum to roll through and slide face-first on the gravel path. The two broken ends of her staff clattered on the ground as she lay still in the dirt.
"Krystal!" Fox cried out. Fox snapped his blaster up, snapping off a controlled pair of bolts as soon as his sights were on the center of the shadow and dust. The red bolts zipped through, clearing holes in the dust and prompting Fox to start searching the dust with more precise pairs in hopes of a hit. After a dozen or so pairs showing the shadow devoid of a person, he began to visually search for the figure beyond the shadows. In that instant, he saw another blue flash in his peripherals. He had just enough time to roll away from the impending strike, but the blur kept going and struck the ground. A blast akin to an artillery strike detonated the floor and tossed Fox away as if he were weightless. He flew until he hit the gravel path with an unceremonious thud, then rolled until he was within an arm's length of Krystal—who just began to stir.
Krystal raised her head and coughed away the dirt. She clasped at Fox's arm and instinctively tried to crawl over top of him, but that was when she looked up. The shadowed figure no longer had a veil of dust covering it. Instead, a large warrior cloaked in intricate armor stood and stared at the two discarded mercenaries. He was at least twice the size of Fox, not including the pieces of silver and gold over his arms, shoulders, and legs. What wasn't covered showed off a coat of white and navy blue fur, the blue occasionally marred with white vine-like brandings. She remained still as the figure removed his hood, revealing that those beady red eyes and expressionless glare were attached to a Cerinian.
The warrior jammed his battle-staff into the dirt, shaking the gravel beneath the mercenary duo. He stared at them for a long time, not necessarily trying to find the words to say, but merely processing the scene before him. Those red eyes were paralyzing to look at. He then looked up, taking a glance at the ditch where the fleeing figures had taken shelter behind. Krystal was able to take a look at them, if only for a brief moment. They too were Cerinian; that much was clear—but she didn't have enough time to make out more than that before the warrior spoke.
"You do not look familiar," he said, his piercing gaze analyzing everything he could about the vixen. His voice was otherwise powerful and commanding, yet in this moment was rather subdued. He stared for a while longer, slowly tilting his head to the side. His black, braided hair began to shuffle and eventually roll off the top of his head. "You do not… feel familiar. Who are you?"
Krystal did not move. Fox started to stir, but she gripped his arm and pushed down ever so slightly, signaling him to stay down too. Fox didn't want to, but he trusted her.
When she did not respond, the Cerinian brandished his teeth. "Who are you?!" he demanded, sending a wave of fear into Krystal's already overworked heart. She didn't want to reply, but she knew she was playing with fire. That warrior was huge, and looked like he could snap the two of them in half just as easy as he did with her staff.
Speaking of, the Cerinian eventually halted his attempt at trying to extract info from her and turned his attention to her broken staff. He scooped up the front half, examining the craftsmanship and the exquisite crystal top. It was not damaged, but no longer glowed as it once did.
The Cerinian warrior growled, slinging the broken weapon well off the gravel path. The distant patter of the hollow shell hitting the dirt barely registered in Krystal's ears. The warrior returned to his weapon and leaned against it, glaring at the defiant vixen. "…and where did you obtain such a relic?"
Krystal gently adjusted herself, placing more of her body atop Fox in hopes that she could protect him. "It's mine," she spat with the venom of a cornered cobra.
"It is not," the warrior shot back, anger beginning to broil beneath his stoic presence. "It was a nobility staff—taken from a fallen Alpha. You stole that staff. Again, I ask; who do you think you are?"
Krystal's emotions began to flare at the idea of calling her a thief. "I didn't steal it," she insisted, but the warrior wouldn't have any of it.
"It belonged to someone more important than you," snapped the fox, glaring daggers at the vixen at his feet. "By virtue, you should be killed just for having it. I will ask one last time: who are you?"
The vixen clenched her teeth and was willing to stay silent, but her disposition changed. She felt Fox grab her wrist and weakly press his thumb against her pulse. Her still stare then shifted down to Fox, and he gave her an almost indiscernible nod. That was all she needed. She looked back at the warrior, a rediscovered calmness and determination in her gaze.
"Krystal," she replied. Then a smirk crept up. "And you?"
A cocky smirk escaped the warrior's face. "You have a rebel's heart, Krystal," he said, but his expression hardened alarmingly quick—enough to sap the confidence clear out of the vixen's heart in an instant. "But you are a liar. Tell me who you really are and where you really got that staff. Now."
Her tongue was stolen from her mouth, and she didn't know what to say. She couldn't read this warrior. Any other person in the universe would be easy to read just with a simple snap of her telepathy, but not with him. Behind those glaring and flickering eyes was a void shrouded in dark clouds. Krystal could feel her mind grow icy and bleak just trying to extract anything from him. That alone was more terrifying than his imposing stature and stonewalled stare.
"I—I'm telling the truth," Krystal feebly squeaked out. It was all she could have done.
Fox had heard enough. With a snarl, he barked, "Alright—who the hell are you and what do you want?"
The warrior scoffed and started laughing. "You have no say in this fight, outsider," he spat, poison lacing the last word. "Stay out of this for your own sake."
"I'm here now," Fox deadpanned. "And you're threatening my fiancée. I have a say in this fight."
The Cerinian growled at them but eventually relented, adopting a calm but authoritative tone. "So be it." He took a gentle step backwards, allowing the duo to breathe. Cautiously, Fox slid his frame back a bit and slowly started to climb to his feet. When the warrior did not move—and only gave a slight nod of his head—Fox started to help Krystal to her feet. Once they were standing, Fox returned the small nod. This warrior seemed honorable. Fox didn't know whether that made him more dangerous or not.
Fox dusted his flight suit off and focused. With a bit more confidence, he spoke to the warrior, "You know who I am, right?"
The Cerinian's expression did not change. "Fox McCloud." He spoke Fox's name with such confidence and power that the mercenary nearly flinched. Instead, he nodded; prompting the warrior to let out a brief, sharp exhale. "I respect you. Everyone in the High Council respects what you've done. With this, I ask that you leave."
Fox remained steadfast. "Not before you tell us who you are."
The warrior, again, showed a moment of respect and bowed his head—if only for a moment. "My name is Karyu," said the warrior, raising his head to reform eye contact. "Paladin of the Alpha High Council. Enforcer of the oath that the ones behind you broke. Now that I have given you my title, I will ask you once more to step aside and hand over those traitors before you get hurt. I wish not to spill unnecessary blood."
Krystal looked behind her to see the three Cerinians peering out of the ditch. The tallest was a male, and the two on either side of him were smaller, younger females. The male had a distinct cross fox coloration, with most of his fur being a shadowy black only broken up by patches of seafoam green. The girl to his left looked like Krystal, but the blue in her fur was dulled to a sickly extent, and she only had a wispy tuft of fur atop her head. The girl to his right had a warm lavender color to her fur, but all of her body below her jawline was covered with a gray cloth jumpsuit. They all were watching intently, with the male of the three seemingly poised to run once the opportunity came along. Krystal made note of that.
Meanwhile, Fox shook his head in calm defiance. "Our job is to rescue them. I won't be leaving without them. Sorry."
The warrior Karyu said nothing for a few moments. A pang of sincerity swept across his face, if only for a brief moment. "I insist," the Paladin said. "You do not understand the depth of which you are getting yourself into. This is beyond mercenary work or battles of war. For your sake and for the sake of your fiancée, leave—and do not look back. I do not wish to harm you."
"You are going to hurt them," Krystal spoke up this time. "I don't know what they did or why you need to do this, but I won't stand around and let them be hurt."
"Krystal's right," added Fox. "Sorry, but we have orders."
"Orders like yours do not compare to the oath I have taken," Karyu replied. "If you wish to express defiance to my command, then I will have no choice but to treat you as an enemy."
Fox smirked. "Then I guess we are."
Karyu's expression softened for a split second, and Krystal briefly understood that as resentment for what he needed to do. Nevertheless, Karyu placed a hand over his staff, and his eyes flickered.
"So be it."
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ARC I
[The Unraveling]
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Chapter 3
"The Great Awakening"
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Krystal understood that something was wrong the moment Karyu placed a hand on his staff. She tried to alert Fox, but she was even too late for that. The mercenary duo soon found themselves weightless; an invisible force slowly pulling them off the dusty ground with malicious intent. Fox and Krystal thrashed and kicked, but it ultimately meant nothing when gravity was seemingly suspended for them.
Karyu left his staff upright in the ground as he methodically approached the helpless foxes. While Fox kicked and squirmed to no avail, Krystal observed the Paladin reach for a scabbard at his hip. Despite not being able to read the warrior's emotions, she could still feel a sense of guilt sweep across his glowing eyes. He drew his long, razor-sharp blade and raised it, setting his gaze upon Fox and Krystal like a venomous spider ready to sink his teeth into his prey. The blade was so close that Fox could read inscriptions branded into the side of the steel, inscriptions Fox could not decipher.
That was when Krystal noticed the Cerinians. The pale blue furred girl, seemingly in defiance of the male attempting to hold her down, threw something at the unattended staff. It bounced off the glowing hilt with a metallic clink, disrupting the staff just enough to send it falling to the ground like an uprooted tree in a thunderstorm. Once the weapon smacked the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust, Fox and Krystal regained their gravity and landed on their feet.
Instead of charging, Fox paused. In that moment, he felt a heavy weight seemingly try to pull his heart into his stomach. He looked over at Krystal, and she too had that same feeling of hesitation. The two connected for a moment, and they both had a similar instinctual reaction.
This Paladin could manipulate gravity. Not only that, but had the strength to defeat all of them combined, regardless of the ability he had. This wasn't a fight they'd win if they engaged.
Not now.
Now wasn't the time to fight.
Not yet.
Fox looked over Krystal's shoulders to the three hidden Cerinians. The male of the group understood too.
"RUN!" Fox hollered, and everyone dashed.
Well, everyone but Fox.
As the Cerinians rushed towards their getaway car, Fox made a break for the fallen Paladin's staff. Karyu recognized this as well and attempted to cut Fox off. Thankfully, Fox's smaller and more nimble stature easily evaded the heavily-armored warrior as he tried to swing and claw at the mercenary. Fox rushed forward uncontested thereafter, then reached down to scoop up the staff in full stride.
Except, as he slipped his hands underneath the staff, he couldn't lift it. The staff stayed anchored to the ground as if it were bolted to the dirt. Fox couldn't stop his momentum in time, flopping head over heels as he tripped over the heavy staff. In desperation, Fox crawled back over to the staff and attempted to heave the weapon up, but that didn't work either. For some reason, the staff was completely immobile, no matter how much Fox tried to pry it up.
Before Fox could fall back, Karyu's boot clamped down on Fox's hands, rolling them off his staff in one smooth, painful motion. Fox looked up to see the warrior's icy glare. While Fox had the poise of a battle-hardened soldier on most days—today he swore he was looking directly up at death. Fear rifled up his spine and made his fur stand on end as the Cerinian warrior's glowing red eyes paralyzed him.
"Never steal a Cerinian's weapon," growled the Paladin. "Only terrible things come from it."
Fox tried to pry his hands out from beneath Karyu's boot, but he wasn't nearly strong enough. He could only stare up as the warrior drew his blade again. It was even sharper up close.
"It hurts to do this, but if you only plan to stand in our way, Fox… I have no choice."
Before he attacked, he turned his frame and held up a block. The seafoam green Cerinian—the male of the three—seemingly came in to help with his own staff drawn. The Paladin easily parried the attack and used the fox's momentum to wrestle him away. In that moment, Karyu shifted his stance so that he could absorb the blow, leaving one of Fox's hands exposed. He couldn't wrestle his other arm out, but in the split-second he was awarded, the resourceful vulpine was able to reach into his pocket and retrieve a hexagonal trinket. Before Karyu could react, Fox pressed down on the object, immediately expelling a bright blue field of energy radiating outward in the same hexagonal shape. The burst of energy startled the Paladin, shocking him enough to send him staggering backwards. This allowed Fox to jump back onto his feet, regrouping with the other Cerinian that bought him his time.
Fox looked over at the cross fox and nodded. "Thank you."
"My pleasure," said the Cerinian, sharing a confident smirk. His weapon of choice seemed to be a composite short-staff, which he brandished and held tight as Karyu stared back. What bothered Fox is that he didn't seem upset or bothered. His stone-faced glare and expressionless face somehow seemed more unnerving and dangerous.
Karyu shook his head. "Your defiance is deeply upsetting, Kirian," said the warrior, taking slow step after slow step towards his discarded staff. Fox assumed his fighting stance beside the Cerinian named Kirian as the Paladin effortlessly pulled his battlestaff off the ground as if it were weightless. The crystal adorning the weapon immediately began to glow.
Just as he did so, Kirian jumped forward with his short-staff, but the bigger and more powerful warrior brushed his blow aside. While Kirian occupied the Paladin, Fox dashed off to the side and located his fallen blaster. Right as Karyu swung at Kirian and sent him aside, Fox trained his blaster on the Paladin and opened fire. Over a dozen shots rang out in quick succession, all aimed at Karyu. But, Karyu didn't flinch. Instead, all of the blaster bolts stopped dead in their tracks, not even coming close to hitting him. Fox tried firing a few more shots, but once they hit the Paladin's apparent shield, they all froze in place just as the last shots did.
In an instant, Karyu waved his staff, and the energy bolts flew back towards Fox. Instinctively, Fox reached down and pressed his trinket again, activating his hexagonal reflector. The bolts careened off of Fox's energy field effortlessly, shooting them straight back towards Karyu. Instead of reflecting them back again, the warrior chose to deflect each shot, scattering each shot into the sky above.
Fox attempted to fire back as his shield waned, but Karyu advanced in his wake, deflecting each shot like it was barely an inconvenience. Soon, he caught up to Fox and attempted to swing, but the nimble mercenary evaded the heavy, lumbering swings from the Paladin's battlestaff. With his blaster effectively useless, Fox started to retreat towards his car, but Karyu pressed and intercepted him, forcing him backwards. Kirian came in to try and fight back, but he too realized that Karyu was much too strong. Blow after blow was blocked as best as the two could, but eventually, the strong warrior broke through the defensive line, splitting Fox and Kirian up before swinging both of them to the ground. A huge plume of dust kicked up and blew behind the Paladin as he stood over his two prone victims.
Karyu drew his blade once more, but as he planned to deliver his decisive blow, a muffled dixie horn shattered his concentration. Before he could react, Fox's car barreled out from the plume of dust and slammed into him, dislodging his weapon and sending him clear out of view.
Once the car came to a stop, the driver side window slowly rolled down, and out popped Falco's head. "Yooo, did'j'ou guys seeeee that?"
Fox and Kirian jumped to their feet and damn-near leapt into the back seat, cramming beside the other Cerinian girls. As Fox wrestled his way over the center console and into the vacant passenger seat, he shouted, "Get us outta here, Falco!"
"Oooooon it!" the still very stoned Falco hollered back, slamming on the gas and lurching the car forward. The wheels drifted in the dirt before Falco straightened it up as he slipped back onto the road, speeding out of danger with only a trail of dust in their wake.
As the getaway car sped away with haste, Karyu stood back up and stared at the vehicle. He stepped over to his battlestaff and picked it up, dusting the adorning crystal as he did so.
With a growl, the Paladin looked back towards the dissipating dust cloud and clenched his staff tight.
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The stillness in the air didn't dissipate until the getaway car was safely on the expressway bound for Corneria City.
Most of the abbreviated trek across empty country roads was spent catching breath. Anxiety and fear amongst the passengers slipped away slowly, much like how Fox kept his breath calm and rhythmic in order to quell the adrenaline rush. He didn't get rattled very often—being a battle-hardened mercenary will do that to anyone. But, that Cerinian really did rattle him. At first, he wanted to chalk that first encounter as a defeat… but as he thought about it more, he recognized that their rescue mission was ultimately a success. The means of accomplishing said mission were left to be discussed, but at the end of the day, he could disregard bruises and soreness if it meant that he was successful in what he set out to do. That alone was worth something.
Fox looked towards his driver. "Falco, are you sure you're cool with driving?"
"Don't worry 'bout it, Foxy," the avian replied with one lazy wing over the wheel. His eyes were red and slightly watery, and his expression looked as if he were ten seconds from ripping colossal ass, but he was otherwise calm and relaxed. "I'll get us home safe an cozy, bet. Yo, did I just miss our exit?"
"No, Falco, you're fine," Fox assured him. "Just keep going straight ahead buddy. I'll tell you when we need to get off, okay?"
"S'none of my business how you get off bud, but knock yourself out," Falco snickered. Fox gave him a smack on the shoulder, but in response, Falco abruptly screamed and turned the wheel. Fox snapped forward, grabbing onto the wheel and straightening it out before they careened off the elevated freeway.
"You're good, you're good," Fox explained as calmly as he could, and once Falco started laughing it off, he directed his attention to the back seat. "Life tip: don't punch anyone who's high off their ass."
"Noted," Krystal nodded with wide eyes, keeping arms across the three passengers behind her. They all looked shaken up, exhausted, and hungry; but otherwise alive.
Fox took a long breath and feigned a smile. "You guys okay?"
The seafoam green Cerinian named Kirian looked towards the other two and nodded his head. "We're okay now. Thank you."
Fox smiled, then cocked his ears. "Kirian, right?"
"Yes," he nodded. He gestured to the pale blue vixen to his right. "This is Raiko,"-he then gestured to the lavender colored girl to his left—"and Hyumi."
Fox nodded. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is—"
"YO HOLY SHIT!"
Fox snapped his head forward as Falco squawked, the avian abruptly turning the wheel hard right. As the tires squealed in protest and the car spun around, Fox barely caught the blur of an oncoming car coming towards them from the sky. Fox watched as time seemed to slow, recognizing the car that had nearly crushed them from above wasn't there originally. And, as Falco controlled his spin so that his vehicle same to a stop facing forward, Fox saw the projectile hit the asphalt and roll, tearing the metal components apart. Shocked, Fox faced forward again, then stared wide-eyed past his windshield as he saw a silhouette contrasting the daylight.
Karyu.
He followed them.
"Falco…" Fox's voice was shaky. "Falco, you gotta get us out of here."
"Heh," Falco smirked as he tightened his grip on the wheel. "I think he wants to race."
"No, Falco, I mean it," Fox pleaded. "Just ignore him and—"
"Naw, don't you worry McCloud," Falco reached over to smack Fox's shoulder playfully, woefully misrepresenting the severity of their situation. "I bet'cha I can whoop his ass blindfolded. Strap yourselves in, I'm going for the fastest lap."
"Falc—whoaaa!"
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{{BREAKDOWN :: vs. Paladin Karyu}}
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Falco slammed on the gas, kicking up a plume of tire smoke in his wake as the old hatchback launched forward. Karyu seemingly responded in kind, dashing forward with his staff raised, aiming for the getaway car. Despite his inebriation, Falco recognized his end goal and challenged, driving straight towards the armored Paladin. Once within range, the Paladin jumped high, repositioning his staff in an attempt to impale the roof of the vehicle. But, Falco was one step ahead.
He pulled the manual brake and hooked the car hard left, swerving the hatchback out of the way as Karyu came down with a ground-shaking detonation of sound and energy. Falco shifted as he slammed back onto the gas, rocketing the surprisingly nimble hatchback forward and away from the enemy. Falco laughed maniacally as he caught back up with highway traffic, while Fox clenched his hands seeing the Paladin pursue in his mirrors.
Seeing as how he couldn't catch up to the vehicle, Karyu decided to use his staff to make the vehicle catch up to him. Even as Falco hammered the gas, Fox could see his tires lift off the ground slowly, and momentum slowly came to a halt. Karyu was using his staff to lift their getaway vehicle off the ground, much like what he did to Krystal and himself earlier.
Recognizing this, the small lavender vixen named Hyumi looked down and closed her eyes. After a few moments, Fox could see the air around her ripple and distort. Before he could process what was going on, the car fell free from its isolated gravity with tires still spinning, squealing and punching forward the moment they landed back on the asphalt.
"She's diverting Karyu's pull on the car," said Kirian, climbing up towards the car's sunroof. "Krystal, keep her protected."
Furious, Karyu used the flow of traffic to his advantage, jumping onto a passing car as it sped by and used the rest of the traffic to charge up to the fleeing hatchback. Instead of jumping onto the getaway vehicle, Karyu instead leapt onto a large cargo truck that they were following, glaring daggers down at the car from his perch above them. Using his staff, Karyu started pushing and pulling cars around the hatchback, hoping one would impact and immobilize them. Horns blared and tires squealed amid the chaos.
Despite this, Falco's composure stayed level as he swerved around the labyrinth of traffic. Fox felt his heart rate spike several times over with each narrow miss of a vehicle out of control. The avian kept a boot on the throttle regardless, pinning the engine to the redline on the tachometer. His stoner hyper-focus was only broken by a small orange light on the gauge cluster, next to a little icon of a fuel pump.
"Hey Fox? You think this guy would let us stop for gas?"
The vulpine shot him a flat look. "Falco, just keep driving," he grunted, being thrown aside from another dodge. "We'll figure something out. Krystal; under your seat. Gimme my blaster carbine."
As Krystal reached under the back bench seats and rustled the unknown objects lurking beneath, Fox leaned over and manually rolled down his window with the slowly grinding hand crank.
As he was doing so, Krystal called out, "Got it. I found some grenades too; want those?"
Fox shrugged. "Maybe later," he replied, reaching behind him to take his blaster carbine.
"Why do you even have these in your car?"
"Hatchback."
Fox leaned his upper body out of the window and pointed his blaster at Karyu, sending an intermittent stream of laser bolts at him. It didn't stop him, but a shot bouncing off his helmet did seem to slow him down. Recognizing that his actions probably only seemed to anger the Paladin further, Fox called out to the passengers with newfound fear in his voice.
"Hey, guys? We got a new problem on our hands!"
"Bro what are you complaining about?" Falco whined. "See? Look ahead; the road's clearing up!"
Outside, Karyu's eyes gained a vibrant shimmer, flickering in anticipation. He looked ahead and focused on a large SUV riding in the passing lane. With a determined glare and a glowing staff, he used his power to lift the SUV off the road. The driver had no clue what was going on, tires spinning in the air as Karyu snapped his attention back to his targets.
Fox swallowed, his eyes going wide as he realized what was about to happen. "Falco, he's gonna throw the—"
Before Fox could finish his sentence, Karyu flicked the staff forward, sending the hovering SUV hurtling toward Falco. Instinct took over the avian's body as he slammed his foot down on the gas, narrowly missing a full frontal impact. The sounds of scraping metal on the roof filled the cabin as a noticeable dent formed in the roof, sloping downward near the back of the car where the Cerinians sat.
"Yo, did he just walk up—slowly— and throw another freakin' car at us?!"
"He did," Fox grunted. "He really did tho."
Falco's shock was answered by another car levitating ahead of them, Karyu now wearing a wicked grin as he looked down at his prey. "Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me!"
Metal missiles began to rain down on Falco, the avian doing all he could to avoid them. Crunching steel, blaring horns, and screams from both inside and outside of the cabin filled the air as Falco tried to avoid all of the attacks.
Karyu's frustrations began to rise again. He looked around for something more fitting of the situation, but most of his makeshift weapons were simply inadequate. Just when it seemed he was out of viable options, a wicked smirk stretched across his face. Summoning all possible power from his staff, he began to sweat as he slowly ripped his new weapon into the air.
A bone-chilling horn filled the air, Fox's blood running cold as he saw what Karyu was successfully lifting. "Holy shit… there's no way… Falco, you have to get us out of here, now!" A massive semi-truck was hovering a good twenty meters off the ground, the shadow it cast on the tiny car like a cloak of death blotting out the sun.
"Bro, tell granny in the friggin' econocar to get the hell outta the passing lane, then!" Falco squawked back.
Fox looked back and forth and saw they were boxed in by helpless cars wedged against his. "Krystal; pull the middle seat down and get into the back."
Krystal did as she was told, pushing the Cerinians away as she pulled the emergency strap above the center seat's seatbelt, allowing the seat to fall away from the back. There, she immediately found and pulled out a surplus plasma cannon chilling behind the bench seats.
"Where has that been all this time!?" she yelled.
"Hatchback!" Fox yelled back.
Understanding her new role, Krystal wrestled the cannon onto her shoulder and snuck her way up through the sunroof. She flipped the reticle open and initiated the weapon's systems just as the Paladin flicked his staff forward.
The semi truck came hurtling towards the hatchback as Krystal fired the cannon. The plasma pulse slammed into the trailer hull with a vicious explosion, tearing the sheet metal and automotive components apart. The explosion shook the shocks of the hatchback, causing Falco to swerve and veer around the remnants of the trailer as they rained down upon the highway lanes. Larger parts bounced and cracked against the windshield, leaving large gashes and seams in the glass.
Krystal ducked into the cabin just as part of the trailer's axle careened over the roof. The wheel clipped the plasma cannon and ripped it out of her hands as she landed in her open seat between the Cerinian girls.
"Okay, new question. Where can I get one of those for myself?" she asked.
"Hatchback!" Fox yelled again.
"Would you shut up about the hatchback?!"
"NO!"
The discarded plasma cannon landed on the asphalt and skidded along until it was run over by granny's econocar. The blunt trauma against the weapon caused it to discharge one last time before being crushed under the might of zero carbon emissions. The plasma charge zipped along the highway until it blew apart the metal housing of the hanging highway signs a half kilometer ahead. The vibrant green signs identifying the coming exit ramps then fell into the highway lanes, bottling up incoming traffic like a clogged drain. Brake lights filled Falco's vision, but he wasn't about to let the swath of red on Apple Maps deter him.
"Hey Fox I gotta take a detour," Falco announced, downshifting and cranking his wheel to the left. With the guardrails down, Falco had no issue hopping over the edge of the highway, drifting along the grassy median, then slipping up and over onto the oncoming lanes of the highway. Head-on traffic immediately began blaring horns and swerving to avoid the hatchback as Falco shifted back up. While Fox kept his eyes covered, Falco expertly weaved through the oncoming traffic for a bit until the traffic recognized the hazard and gave the bird an open lane to drive in.
Karyu, however, wasn't done. He hopped from his perch just before the highway signs collected the truck, then took residence upon another trailer closely following the getaway car from the other side of the highway. He pulled his staff towards himself, and the traffic which had been granting Falco his open lane soon started skidding and swerving into him. Falco sneered and dove back into the center median, waiting for his opportunity. Karyu persisted, pulling cars into the sound barriers in hopes one could fall and flatten them. One of the cars Karyu pulled towards them missed the mark, clobbering the metal guardrails and tearing a large opening back onto the correct side of the highway. Falco then floored it, rocketing the abused hatchback over the fallen sound barrier acting as a ramp, yelling triumphantly all the way through until the hatchback landed all four tires on the road with an unceremonious thud.
Fox stared at Falco wide-eyed, letting his hands touch all over his face to confirm he was still alive. "Nice driving," Fox said in stunned disbelief, sinking back into his seat.
"There's a tunnel coming up," Kirian announced, pulling himself up into the sunroof and pointing forward. "We can lose him there."
Falco nodded, pushing the engine as hard as it would go. Looking ahead, he saw nothing but clear roads ahead of the truck Karyu was perched atop. It made him start laughing as he gloated, "Aww, baby boy doesn't have any more Matchboxes to throw at me!"
"Uhhh, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Krystal hesitantly pointed out, noticing the glow from the Paladin's eyes from way back in her seat. Just as she finished talking, she felt the back of the vehicle jostle and shake as if it had hit something. Fox noticed it too, and as he looked into his side view mirror, he saw that an entire chunk of the highway had come apart underneath them. Before he could look forward, Falco cranked the wheel hard again, narrowly avoiding a chunk of the pavement itself as it clipped and sheared off the mirror.
"He's throwing the road," Falco deadpanned, then yelled, "He's throwing the friggin' road! What the hell!?"
Meanwhile Raiko, one of the Cerinians in the back, quickly began glancing around the hatchback's cabin. All of the interior trim was made of some kind of plastic, or covered in dirty, matted fabric. Anything metallic was probably already bolted down, hidden away, or under the carpet. That is, until Falco hit the brakes to avoid the pavement coming apart in front of him, and she heard a metal donk from beneath her. She looked down under the seat in front of her where she found a black metal water bottle covered in stickers rolling between the seat rails. The words Falco Lombardi were etched into its surface.
Not wasting a second longer, she grabbed the bottle and yanked Kirian down from his bird's-eye perch. She shoved him back into the seat and ignored his protests, spotting Karyu only a couple of car lengths away. Concentrating was difficult amongst the swerving of the vehicle and the debris scattering above, but she did her best, holding the metal bottle in her hands tight. She blotted out the pinging of the engine and the pleas from the cabin to retreat until she heard nothing but silence; the wind mutely swirling in her ears. She closed her eyes, feeling heat build and build beneath her skin until she felt sparks fly from her fingers.
In an instant, she opened her eyes and stared daggers at Karyu. As soon as she did, a wild arc of electricity jolted from her makeshift metal lightning rod towards the Paladin. The conductor wasn't nearly as strong as she would have liked, resulting in the charged arcs striking anything and everything in its path. Road signs, metal guardrails, and even the hatchback itself became swallowed by the web of electricity. Karyu braced himself, letting his staff accept multiple intense strikes of lightning before discharging the energy back.
Raiko raised both hands out of the sunroof, one containing Falco's metal water bottle and the other flipping Karyu the bird. The Paladin's jaw clenched, enraged at their insolence and refusal to die. He strengthened his grip on the battlestaff, sending another redirected energy beam at the car. It arced through the air, clipping highway signage until it finally latched onto the metal cylinder in Raiko's hand. Raiko grunted, absorbing the new circuit as best she could. Stray sparks sprung high into the air, snapping onto anything accepting a current.
This included the hatchback's radio antenna. The lights on the radio lit up far brighter than they were meant to, involuntarily blaring the last played track.
Dayliiight~
I wake up feeling like you won't plaaaay riiiight~
"I used to know but now that shit don't feeeel riiiight," Falco sang along in a badly cracking falsetto.
Fox quickly hit the button to shut off the radio, covering his ears with his other hand.
"Hey! I like this song!" Falco squawked.
"Not now Falco!" Fox shot back. "Get us to the tunnel!"
Karyu pressed on, keeping the arc alive between his staff and the car. The bolt snapped and crackled as it tore through the air, but the vixen with the water bottle kept a firm grasp on her makeshift conductor. Raiko grunted as it buzzed in her fingertips, soon realizing its intensity was too much to bear. Her stance began to falter as one of her feet slipped off of the center console and onto the seat behind her.
Just as she thought she would slip and lose the current, Kirian withheld his protests and latched onto her leg, keeping her upright. With this newfound balance, Raiko used the momentum to lurch the bottle forward, causing the once clean arc to loop onto itself. The arc bent and swayed back to the other end, increasing in power and volatility as it ripped signage clear off their bolts. Karyu ducked the incoming blast before it could take his head off, but the intense electricity quickly latched onto the truck he was perched atop. The blistering heat rapidly expanded the air in the tires of the trailer, causing them to burst and shred apart. The trailer immediately began skidding as Karyu lost his balance.
Fox saw the semi begin to slow and pointed to its right. "There's our opening! Falco, stand on it!"
"But I'm sitting."
"Just go!" Fox barked back.
Falco, replicating vibes of a student getting the right answer on a quiz but doing the problem the wrong way, literally placed both boots on the accelerator and stood as far upright as his lanky bird frame could fit inside the car. The RPM gauge rocketed past its redline as smoke began billowing behind the rear tires. For one brief, adrenaline-filled second, Fox thought they could escape in the carnage.
Karyu had other plans. Opting to discard his staff, he jumped from the toppling semi trailer directly onto the roof of the passing hatchback, heavily denting the roof. Falco—with his head against said roof—was shot down into his seat with such force that it knocked him unconscious. His limp body sagged onto the accelerator, while his body pulled the wheel towards the wrecking semi truck. Fox quickly regained control of the wheel, dropping his blaster in the process. As the vehicle swerved to regain control, Raiko couldn't slip beneath the sunroof in time before Karyu grabbed her by the hair. He yanked her free of Kirian's grip, pulling her along as he slipped onto the hood of the topped-out hatchback. She kicked and screamed back, but he was much too strong; holding her by the scruff of her neck over the highway. She looked down at the streaking pavement markings and froze; the painted lines zipping by accurately depicting her heartbeat.
Karyu glared into the cabin, eyes flickering wildly. "Stop now or I drop her," he demanded.
Flustered, Fox gestured to his incapacitated driver with open hands. "I literally can't stop!"
"Karyu, don't!" yelled Kirian. He stood up through the sunroof hatch to plead with the warrior. "You don't have to do this!"
"Who are you to say what I can and cannot do?!" boomed Karyu. "You all have been told time and time again that what I must do is beyond your understanding. I have begged you all to trust me, begged you all to cooperate so that you may be saved, and yet you still fight! What else must I do to get your attention?!"
"Don't hurt her," begged Kirian. "She answers to me. Don't punish her for what I tell her to do."
Karyu growled. "Then maybe her life will get you to listen."
"No!"
Without another motion, Karyu released his grip. Raiko screamed, but only for a split-second. Just as the Paladin let go, Fox released the wheel and practically threw himself out of the window. He was able to scoop the vixen out of the air just before the highway could claim her. The hatchback's incredible five-star safety rated seatbelts kept Fox in his seat (mostly) before yanking back against his chest, essentially throwing himself and Raiko back into the cabin. Their combined momentum carried them backwards into Falco, violently knocking into him and instantly waking him up. With a squawk, he snapped back on the steering wheel, swerving the car erratically and causing Karyu to lose his balance again. He fell onto the hood of the car, clinging onto the windshield wipers for grip. Still yelling in surprised fear, he kicked on the wipers in hopes they could throw the Paladin away, but it only succeeded in snapping the wipers in half.
As the surprise waned with the Paladin still hanging on, Falco began scanning the road. Soon, his eyes lit up as he swerved onto the shoulder of the freeway. An orange sign warning the avian of construction coming up made him chuckle aloud before he snapped his head to Karyu. "Hey, big guy!"
Karyu glared daggers at the bird. "Don't you dare."
"Road work ahead?!"
Karyu paused, his mind attempting to piece together what the driver said as he continued to giggle. Reading his mind was no help, as narcotic substances clouded his thoughts. "What? What do you mean?"
"I sure hope it does!"
As if on cue, Falco drove the hatchback through a section of the highway that was under construction. Orange cones, wooden barricades, and temporary road signs all attacked the warrior as he tried his best to hang on. Pavement soon transitioned into rough gravel and dirt as Falco kept hard on the gas. The uneven ground jostled the cabin and turned everyone's brains into a pink smoothie. Still, Karyu persisted and attempted to gain a foothold on the car's bumper. That was when Falco saw a wildly uneven patch of broken pavement. He knew what he had to do.
Crossing his feathers, Falco gunned it towards the makeshift ramp and shot over it, launching the hatchback over dump trucks and heavy construction equipment as if he were jumping over a record number of school buses. The sudden weight shift of the hatchback going over said ramp threw Karyu over the hood, slamming his back into the now spiderwebbed windshield, before rolling over the dented roof and onto the rear bumper. Just before he hit the pavement, Karyu was able to grasp onto the hatchback's tow cable, using it to balance himself as he planted his boots into the asphalt. The sheer strength and resolve of the Paladin soon started making the hatchback slow little by little as his heels created gashes in the highway that the road department would take months to repair. Eventually, the hatchback came to a stop with tires still squealing and rubber threads flying from the screaming rear tires; Karyu holding on tight with all of his strength.
The hatchback's rear door then opened. Fox looked in his crooked rear view mirror to see Hyumi scale the bench seats and sit cross-legged underneath the rear hatch. Not a word was said as she held her hands close to her chest, with the car's occupants noticing a dull white light form beneath her hands. It became brighter and hotter as the seconds ticked on, and just when it seemed the girl would be consumed by light, she thrusted her open palms forward, and a blast of light the size of a freight train jumped from her hands. The blast slammed against the pavement beneath Karyu's feet. He disappeared amidst the detonation of rubble and dust in an instant.
With the tow cable severed, Falco could only hold onto the steering wheel as tight as he could while the hatchback roared up to top speed; the force of the blast pushing them forward like a jet engine. The needle on the speedometer blew past its upper limit, wrapping back around to zero and then some as they screamed into the highway tunnel. The tires spun way faster than their rating, causing them to stretch outward from the centrifugal force. All four rubber tubes then burst in rapid succession, leaving Fox's hatchback careening on its rims while it casted a shower of sparks down the dark tunnel. From where Fox's car once stood lay two distinct tracks of fire and burning rubber chunks spanning the entire length of the viaduct as if he had just traveled forward in time.
As the shock waned, Hyumi just hopped back onto the bench seat as if nothing happened, then collapsed into Krystal's lap in need of immediate slumber. The now tireless hatchback traveled at least two hundred kilometers on nothing but inertia and chrome rims, rocketing free of the tunnel with a supersonic BOOM. Gradually, the hatchback skidded to an agonizingly slow stop on the side of the road with the throttle hung at full speed. With nothing for the engine to do, a piston finally cried uncle and blew from the engine housing, rocketing upwards and puncturing a hole through the hood like a gunshot. Only then did the redlined engine finally quit, leaving the cabin of the hatchback quiet with only the sound of highway traffic driving by as if nothing had happened. Smoke billowed out of the hole in the hood; the smell of oil, rubber, and fire filling everyone's noses.
Falco looked out of his sideview and smirked. "See? Told'ya we'd beat him!"
Fox panted beside him, instinctively holding Raiko tightly in his lap. "Remind me to never complain about your driving again." He opened the passenger door to let Raiko out, only for the door to fall off its hinges and slide into the ditch. As the vixen stepped out, Fox asked, "You okay?"
"Yeah," she answered weakly.
"Everyone okay?" Fox asked over his shoulder. The door behind him opened to let Kirian out, who proceeded to vomit into the ditch.
"We're okay," Krystal answered. "I think we lost him."
"I think so too," Fox echoed, getting out of the disabled car and pulling out his phone.
Krystal sighed and started gently stroking Hyumi's hair as she slept soundly in her lap. "What matters is that we are still alive. Let's get them somewhere safe, somewhere where Karyu can't find them."
"Agreed," said Fox. He held his phone up to his ear, saying, "Peppy? We got them out. Ran into some issues on evac… can you get someone to come pick us up?"
While Fox was on the phone, Falco chuckled to himself and patted the center console lovingly. "You know… I think I'm starting to like this little hatchback," he said to himself.
Upon hearing this, Fox wandered back over to offer Falco a triumphant handshake. "Hatchback!"
"Hatchback!" Falco hollered back, latching onto Fox's open palm while they flexed their arms with the most manliest of forces. A force so powerful, in fact, that the large rear hatch of the car came loose and fell against the pavement. Laughing, the avian then pushed the button for the radio. The music returned, this time thankfully at a more acceptable volume.
"It made me put awaaaay my priiiiiiide!"
: : : : :
A/N: Hey everyone. I suppose I owe an explanation for the three year wait on this chapter.
Long story short, writing is difficult. Scratch that, writing well is difficult. I've been on this site long enough to recognize that everyone writes in different ways, and the longer you write, the better you get at not only writing in general, but also recognizing a standard for your writing. I think my older stuff is garbage, but also has a place in the archive as a whole. See, the whole point of God of Fire is to write something that I feel is up to my standards as a writer, and to really establish a story/universe people know me for other than my older work. I really hold this story in high personal regards, and I wanted to see the best version of it, no matter how long it took to get to that point. In hindsight, I stressed over this way too much, and I really do apologize for how long it took to get a new chapter out.
Somewhere along the line I recognized I wasn't gonna get anything done by myself. I was stuck so deep in trying to get this story perfect that I couldn't get anything to stick. So, I enlisted the help of a few close friends to help co-write this chapter, and their collective drive and ideas jump-started me in a way I couldn't have ever dreamed of. A three year slog of not being able to write anything vanished in a week, and a week later, we finally have new God of Fire. And I'll say it right now, the next chapter will not take another three years to complete.
I want to give a heartfelt shout-out to DeltaERB, SpaceCat010, Demo ODST, Kuairu, MrMcStabson, and Elarix for co-writing, beta-reading, and giving emotional support throughout the three year absence of this story. I wouldn't have gotten to this point without you guys' help. So, thank you.
Feedback is always greatly appreciated, especially now. It's been a very long time, so I'm hoping I still know what I'm doing here.
Thank you everyone. I'll see you on the next update :)
-Sheppard