The kidnapping
The sound of a door closing startled Jason out of his sleep!
Tired and annoyed that he had neglected one of his most important tasks, he rubbed his eyes and sat up.
"Hello? Who's-"
He didn't get any further.
Before he knew what was happening, something invisible grabbed him and threw him against the wall, squeezing all the air out of his lungs!
Jason gasped in shock as the pain began to course through his body but before he could do something or call for help, something grabbed him again and threw him against another wall with such force that he blacked out for a moment!
This procedure was repeated a few more times until Jason found himself on the ground, completely dazed and in pain.
Confused and still disoriented, he tried to sit up again, but the pain and dizziness made his body disobey, which only made him panic even more!
Whatever had come into the room and attacked him was probably here for Steve and wanted to do something to him!
With that thought, his head shot up and it took him a moment to get his bearings until he suddenly noticed a cloaked silhouette standing next to Steve's bed and about to lift him onto his shoulders!
Jason froze and the blood froze in his veins when he saw it!
He wanted to jump up and scream for help, but all he could manage was a faint moan.
It was enough, however, to attract the attention of the intruder, who turned to him with Steve on her shoulders and sighed softly.
"I'm so sorry, Jason..." she whispered in a voice that sounded strangely familiar to him, but he couldn't quite identify it as it was rather muffled and oscillated between loud and soft, "But I have no choice... please forgive me..."
With those words, she quickly turned and stormed out the door, leaving Jason alone.
Jason couldn't help but crying out and hit the floor in frustration and fear as the door slammed shut before making another attempt to sit up.
The pain and dizziness hadn't gotten any better but the anger and agony of Steves loss drove him on, so he finally succeeded and managed to hobble to the door.
Outside, he stopped and leaned against the wall with one hand while the other held his ribs to catch his breath.
His gaze fell briefly on the two guards who were supposed to be guarding the door but were now lying on the floor, knocked out.
But Jason didn't have time to help with them, instead he looked around in panic for the kidnapper, before his eyes falling on Alex, Aurora and Roxana, who had just appeared in the corridor chatting happily and were still unaware of the terrible situation!
,,Help! Help! Someone's kidnapped Steve!" he managed to scream as he stumbled towards them, almost knocking the potion that was presumably meant for Steve out of Roxana's hand.
"What?! Who?! How?!" replied Aurora in shock, who managed to catch him and stared at him wide-eyed.
"I don't know..." Jason managed to reply as he clung to her, still in pain from the last ordeal, "It...It just happened! Please we have to hurry! He can't be far yet!"
"Oh, don't worry," Alex answered him as she quickly turned and went to the nearest wall and dismantled a block with a switch hidden behind it. "Then he won't get far either!"
And with those words, she grabbed the lever and flipped it!
(Change of view)
Nuka was panting heavily and sweat was pouring down his face as he raced down the tunnels with Steve on his back!
He didn't know exactly where he was going or where the next exit was but he had to find it fast!
Oh, how he would have loved to simply teleport out of here but the fear that Steve wouldn't survive was too great, especially as Null had made it clear to him that he only wanted him alive !
So he had no choice but to keep running through the tunnels until he found a hidden exit!
Until then he was forced to run through this labyrinth of tunnels, while dodging a few minecrafters, that would get in his way or using his powers to push them aside if he really had to.
Nuka gritted his teeth and tried to blink away the rising tears as he ran past another group that he just nocked out.
Oh, how he hated doing this!
He absolutely hated it! But he had no other choice...
I hope Jason is okay... Nuka added silently, just as he rounded another corner and looked directly at a waterfall that hadn't been there a moment ago, filling out the entire hallway!
The thing appeared in front of him so suddenly that he couldn't react in time, before he crashed face forward through the waterfall!
The water soaked his hair and clothes and made his face, hands and especially his eyes burn, causing him to cry out and collapse on the other side of the waterfall, causing Steve to fall too!
Panicking and groaning in pain, he tried to sit up and open his eyes but it was too painful, which only made him more panicky!
Normally his eyes weren't this badly affected by water!
No! No! No! No! Nuka's mind raced as he crawled away, whimpering and moaning in pain as he rubbed his eyes, hoping that would help open them I have to get up! I have to teleport! I have to escape! which he only retract a second later!
No! He couldn't go back! Null would kill him!
At that moment, his head hit a wall, giving him an additional headache on top of all the pain he already felt!
Nuka groaned and grabbed the throbbing spot, but before he could do anything else about, he heard several footsteps fast approaching him, which he hadn't noticed until now due to the sound of the water and his remoteness!
Panicked, he still tried to get up again and teleport, when suddenly something hard hit him and he immediately fainted!
(Change of view)
With a pounding heart and clutching her sword against her side, Aurora ran along the corridors of the sewer system with the others, trying to follow the trail of the kidnapper.
She hadn't actually planned to be here.
She had actually only come along with Roxana to bring Steve the potions she had brewed a short time before, even though they wouldn't be doing much anymore, and to let Alex show her around the base.
But then everything had turned out quite differently.
Aurora couldn't express how shocked she was to see Jason so badly beaten up, who was now restored as best as possible by Roxana and running alongside Alex, eager to find Steve and his captor.
He seemed more than angry and from his stern look and clenched fists and Aurora could only guess what pain and suffering would befall the kidnapper if they would be able catch him.
"Don't worry," she heard Alex say sternly to Jason a moment later, that seem to noticed his anger as well "He can't be too far. I alerted all the guards to look for him and that coupled with our other defenses will make it very difficult for him to get away."
"I hope so" Jason replied curtly, "but it seems so far your guards aren't be able to do much against him."
With these words, he nodded his head as he walked past two guards in iron armor lying unconscious against a wall, although they appear to have no injuries.
Aurora's heart tightened as she looked at them.
They were not the first on her path and she feared they would not be the last.
She could only hope that they weren't too badly injured as they had not the time to help them right now.
Whoever had kidnapped him must be very powerful, she concluded as she gave the guards a quick sympathetic look before continuing on her way.
"Do you think it could have been one of the shadows?" she asked aloud, to which Alex just shrugged his shoulders.
"possible," she replied, "However, it would be highly unusual for just one of them to go this far. Normally, they always come in masses. But if it is one of them, our defenses will stop them!"
"Well, whatever it was must be very powerful," Roxana intervened with a worried look at two more fuzzed-out guards, to which Aurora nodded in agreement.
I can't believe all this happened in the first place?! she added in her thoughts as she continued to hurry along the corridor, feeling her heart grow heavy I thought we were finally safe here…
They were not the first on her path and she feared they would not be the last.
Aurora's heart tightened as she looked at them.
She could only hope that they weren't too badly injured.
She would have liked to help them, but her priority was Steve.
Whoever had kidnapped him must be very powerful, she concluded as she gave the guards a quick sympathetic look before continuing on her way.
"Do you think it could have been one of the shadows?" she asked aloud, to which Alex just shrugged his shoulders.
"It's possible," she replied, "However, it would be highly unusual for just one of them to go this far. Normally, they always come en masse. But if they did, at least our defenses would stop them!"
"Well, whatever it was must be very powerful," Roxana intervened with a worried look at two more fuzzed-out guards, to which Aurora nodded in agreement.
But before she could think about it any further, they turned a corner and were suddenly faced with a wall of water shooting out of the ceiling from above, which seemed to have suddenly appeared and filled the entire corridor before disappearing again through a grate in the floor.
"Be careful when you walk through the water," she heard Alex say warningly at that moment, quickly pulling the hood over her cloak and walking towards the waterfall, "It's sewage, so it could be dangerous for your eyes and nose. So you'd better keep them closed."
With these words, she disappeared through the waterfall, forcing Aurora and the others to follow her.
The waterfall wasn't wide, a block at most, but it was enough to soak them completely and leave the unpleasant smell in their clothes, which was something Aurora could have done without.
"You're using the sewage as a defense system?" Roxana asked in surprise after she reappeared at the other end with Aurora and Jasin, to which Alex nodded.
"Yes, we built it in to protect us from possible inversions by Null's shadows," she replied curtly, as they continued their rapid walk through the corridors, "I know it doesn't smell very good and it's not particularly hygienic, but it's one of the few things we have plenty of and can therefore waste."
But before she could say any more, there was a loud scream that echoed in the corridors and seemed to come from not too far away!
Alarmed by the scream, the group rushed forward, now led by Jason, and after a few corners came to another corridor, where two figures lay at the end of another waterfall.
One was clearly Steve and the other was an unidentifiable figure, unrecognizable through its cloak and hood, trying to sit up with a pained groan.
As Aurora and the others approached, he froze and his form began to shimmer slightly, a clear sign of teleportation!
Aurora gasped in shock when she saw this!
A few more seconds and he would be gone, with no way for his pursuers to ever find him again!
"No!" Jason shouted loudly at this moment, as he also seemed to realize what was going on and starting to sprint to stop him, but before he could even get close, a bright beam of light shot past him, hitting the figure shortly afterwards and causing him to slump unconscious.
Surprised, Aurora turned around and saw her sister standing there with her staff outstretched, also looking very surprised at her harsh reaction.
"What?" she asked in confusion when she noticed the looks on her friends' faces, "I only made him faint. If I hadn't done that, he'd be gone by now."
"It's all right. Thank you for your quick action," Alex replied with a placating smile, while Jason had already run forward and knelt down next to Steve, who still seemed a little dazed and unware of the dangerous sitouration he was in, just a few seconds ago.
Roxana also settled down next to him shortly afterwards to finally hand him the potion she had brewed, leaving Alex and Aurora to take care of the still unknown kidnapper.
"All right, let's see who's hiding under there," Alex muttered before taking her sword and flipping up the hood with the tip, only to actually make a mop of dark, curly, messy hair that half-hid a pale face that was red and swollen by now.
But still, Aurora recognized him immediately!
"Nuka?!" she gasped as she looked at his swollen lips and eyes in shock, which was probably also a result of the dirty water.
"What?!" Roxana joined her at that moment, her voice filled with dismay, while Aurora was still sitting there staring at him with her mouth hanging open.
She couldn't believe it!
The boy she didn't know much about at first, but who quickly turned out to be quite friendly and gentle, who even poured his heart out to her about his life and who she now considered a good friend and who she had thought was dead until recently, was now lying in front of her and not only that.
He was also the one who had kidnapped Steve!
But why?! Aurora thought, searching for a solution that didn't involve bad or evil intentions on Nuka's part.
But she couldn't find one…
"You know him?" she heard Alex ask him at that moment, to which she only nodded.
"Yes," she murmured quietly, still unable to take her eyes off the unconscious boy, "but he... he should be dead. Right?"
With these words, she turned to her sister, hoping she had an idea that would explain the whole thing, but there was nothing but the same confusion and uncertainty on her face, that Aurora was feeling.
"Well, are we sure he's the real one?" Roxana finally asked with a hopeful look at Alex, who just shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I can't say for sure because I don't know him," she replied, "but he's defintly not a shadow. A shadow would never be able to keep its shape after it got wet."
"But I don't understand," Aurora called out desperately as she shook her head and turned her uncomprehending gaze back to Nuka, as if he could give her an answer, "Why would he do that? How did he even find us in the first place?"
"Well, that's one of the questions we can ask once we've chained him up and give him to a big interrogation!" she suddenly heard Jason growl, who was still holding Steve in his arms and scowling at the fallen Nuka, "I can't wait to see what explanation he comes up with to get his ass out of trouble this time!"