Welcome to RetroCity Chapter 2 Unyielding Forces, a misc. comics fanfic

Summary of RetroCity:

Retrocity is a dystopian city of harsh, divided levels. The Citadel controls from above with B.A.D., enforcing strict order. Below, BlueFrigid and PinkBlaze gangs fight for freedom. Survival is grim, hope is fleeting, and escape is nearly impossible.

Chapter 2: Unyielding Forces

Kelvan was being extremely careful with the traps. He took his time to figure out their mechanisms before advancing, especially after he was almost caught again by a second trap. As a creature with a water element, he had no resistance against electric attacks—one hit could leave him severely damaged. It was really annoying, but he should have expected it; those traps were pretty common in places like this after all.

He was slowly advancing up the stairs to the third floor. Every loud sound made him feel anxious—going into BlueFrigid's territory on impulse was really the worst idea ever.

Meanwhile, in the control room...

A slender, petite person was lying on a couch behind the others who were staring at the security cameras. He was messaging someone on his phone, a soft smile appearing on his face for a moment. Then, he put his phone on his stomach and looked in the direction of the control panel when he heard his companions shouting through the communicator.

After listening, he sat up on the couch and put his phone in his pocket. "Do you want me to go?" he asked calmly. His voice was soft but clearly that of a young male.

"AAAAAAAAAH!" The pale-haired bat jumped as the wall behind him was suddenly broken open. The scream would have alerted everyone else if Titus wasn't already practically breaking down the place. The others with the bat quickly made some distance, all staring at Titus, who now stood in the middle of it all. The pale-haired bat was on his hands and knees on the floor, having been pushed forward by the impact.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?!" he yelled at the others as he looked over his shoulder.

The person in the security room huffed, clearly displeased with how things were going. Without taking his eyes off the screen, he moved his head slightly to the side and said, "Go" to the person behind him on the couch.

On one of the still-working screens, it was visible how the people around Titus began to gear up, holding their weapons, but not yet jumping into action. The pale-haired bat got up and dusted off his knees and shoulders before striking a pose—hands on his hips, chest and chin held high, though he barely reached Titus' waist if he stood next to him.

"So, you thought it'd be a good idea to barge into one of our buildings, huh? Don't you have enough to worry about? Last I checked, it didn't seem to be going so well for you in your territory fight. Didn't think you'd want a can of whoop-ass twice today!" He laughed loudly. Wherever he got the information about the fight a few blocks down wasn't clear. He could be bluffing.

Titus had taken a wrong turn and smashed through a wall, almost crushing the poor soul here. He couldn't help but find the bat's terrified reaction a bit funny.

Adjusting his hat, the T-Rex moved to help the pale-haired bat up but stopped midway when he realized the situation. He let the bat continue his performance, taking pride in his speech.

Titus trusted his gang to handle the fight he had left earlier. Once he was done here—attempting to find the leader or any helpful source—he could go back and lend a hand.

As the tiny bat finished his speech, Titus pulled the bat into a headlock, using him as a shield to prevent getting shot at.

"Now, now... we can discuss this," Titus said, indicating to the others that he had one of their members in his grip, effectively taking him hostage. Any attempt to shoot would put their own member in danger.

The guy who had been sitting on the couch was calm, waiting for orders while listening to what was happening through the communicator. It seemed his companions were in trouble. When told to go, he nodded and immediately rushed out of the room toward the scene.

He was small and fast, making huge jumps and using the walls for extra momentum. He used a different route to surround the room and enter from the opposite side. Even if the intruder was huge, he wouldn't be so stupid as to look away from his enemy, which gave the newcomer an opportunity to surprise him. As he reached the entrance, he drew his guns and leaped to the side, shooting directly at Titus' back as he entered the room.

The gun fired electric charges, so the bunny boy wasn't worried about his companions—at most, the shots would leave them unconscious for a while. He had been a hitman before joining the gang, so negotiations weren't his strength. He was called to attack and eliminate.

The pale-haired bat wasn't pleased, to say the least, when Titus put him in a headlock. He was a little surprised that Titus didn't take any of the bait he'd thrown at the big guy. Just like his earlier scream when Titus burst through the wall, the same squeaky voice blurted out a yelp when Titus grabbed him.

"Unhand me RIGHT NOW!" he yelled angrily, struggling in the headlock with little to no effect, unless a weapon or a bigger person intervened. The bat kept being loud as he continued yelling. "What, do you think you can come BUSTING in here and demand we take it easy? You're a JOKE." He huffed and puffed, unaware of the surprise that was about to hit from behind.

Unaware of the new fast arrival, Titus reacted on instinct when he sensed the shot coming—using the pale-haired bat as a shield.

Unfortunately for the bat, he took the brunt of the electric surge. Titus let out a grunt as both of them were affected, causing him to drop the hostage and kneel down. Breathing heavily, he knew he couldn't let this take him out just yet. He picked the poor bat up again.

"Sorry about this, Shortfuse," he muttered, tossing the bat at the shooter to buy himself time as he made a mad dash through another wall. He had to calm his racing heart; something else was threatening to come out, and now was not the time.

They were just gang members.

Keryth tried to stay calm and focused on his job, completely ignoring the poor bat's safety—he expected him to be used as a shield, after all. That's what hostages were for. He furrowed his brows when Titus threw his companion at him, forcing him to dodge, which annoyed him. Afterward, he stopped to contact the people in the control room without being overheard.

"It's Shadow. The big one is probably trying to go down. Don't lose him and keep me informed of his location. Don't worry about the traps," he said in a calm, emotionless voice. He was confident in his skills and resilience. He had noticed that his attacks affected the giant; they almost had him. After coordinating with the others, he rushed out of the room to follow the enemy boss. The guy was much stronger, so Keryth needed to keep his distance. He also had to be more cautious of the traps, but he had an advantage—he knew where they were.

The pale-haired bat had no choice but to be used as a meat shield for the electric surge shot at Titus. Once again, he screamed in pain as the surge hit him, his body tensing up like all his muscles were cramping at once. As if that wasn't bad enough, the big guy holding him hostage dropped him, leaving him unable to break his fall due to the twitching, hitting the floor hard and in an unpleasant position.

It took a moment for him to regain control over his muscles, which he used to try to push himself off the floor.

"W-What the hell, K-Keryth?!" he yelled, still stammering from the residual twitching. "Me and my brother almost ha—what?" He was cut off as Titus grabbed him and apologized before throwing him at Keryth. He had little time to react and ended up screaming again as he flew towards his fellow gang member.

His brother, the red-haired bat, called out for him before his group moved aside as Titus barged through another door. All the noise and chaos could be heard several floors up and down, and Razz could clearly tell he was getting close to Titus. He wasn't far, and if he chose his path correctly, Razz could reach Titus sooner rather than later.

The person Keryth was in contact with assured him they'd keep an eye out, letting him know where Titus was going as best they could with the working cameras. "Be on the lookout for others from his gang."

The rabbit's prediction about Titus going down was wrong. Titus was still heading up. He hadn't found the leader yet, and going down wouldn't help with that.

They were sending so many members to strike him down; if he held out long enough, maybe their leader would show up.

As far as Titus knew, they could be at the top levels—that's how they operated, wasn't it? If he was wrong, so be it. He had been in much more dangerous situations and survived.

As he maneuvered through traps in rooms and corridors, he couldn't avoid all of them. He stepped into some and got jolted—each shock was like a shock chamber back in the higher levels. But he used it to learn the pattern, formulating a strategy to reach the stairway.

He kept moving up the stairs, attempting to break off parts of the stairway on the way up by bringing down sections of walls and floors to block the path.

Keryth was already heading downstairs to gain some time, assuming that the enemy leader would try to find his friends or an escape route if he didn't know there was backup inside. Titus was at a clear disadvantage—this was their building, so they had more people inside and complete control of the traps. The giant had hurt one of their companions, but the bat seemed fine if he could still talk, so their numbers were still strong.

He thought he had everything under control when a series of loud noises made him stop. He looked upstairs, perking his ears and widening his eyes. Then, he returned to his serious expression and started jumping back up to the higher levels.

"He's going upstairs! Be on alert, I'm coming," he said in a loud tone through the communicator, not quite shouting. That crazy bastard was really pissing him off—he was unpredictable and troublesome.

Kelvan was one level below where Titus had been when he heard the noises. He felt relieved but was still worried. It was a good sign—he was close and going in the right direction. The sea dragon hurried and continued his way up.

"Up?!" the other voice asked in surprise as Keryth reported that Titus was moving upward instead of down. "You think he's going for the vault?" the guy asked as he watched Keryth follow the PinkBlaze leader. The one behind the screens was wondering how Titus could be aware of their secret vault and what was inside. Was he aware of it, or was he just barging in and causing a ruckus like a lot of the PinkBlaze members were known for? He let out a short sigh. "Would explain why the whole group is so whack..."

In the meantime, Razz had climbed through the ventilation shafts like a monkey, following the noise he assumed his leader was making. He popped his head out of the ceiling and looked around before seeing a large figure barging through the area.

"HEY BOSS!" he yelled excitedly as he hung halfway out of the ventilation opening. "Boy, you have no idea the trouble I had navigating through the ventilation!" He started rambling, assuming Titus had an easy time getting up here. It hadn't crossed his mind that a big guy like his leader might be held back by BlueFrigid members. Was Razz even aware Titus was being chased? He clumsily climbed out of the opening. "Man, I knew this was a great idea! They must be hiding something great if you had the same idea to come here... which makes the idea even better! 'Cause it's from you, right, boss?" He snickered, stumbling slightly as he finally dropped to the floor.

Razz was too busy being excited to notice Titus was struggling a bit.

Meanwhile, Titus had managed to sabotage the stairway as much as possible. If they got to that floor, it would crumble down—triggering once they reached it.

Satisfied with his work, he turned to continue his path, only to see Razz's head pop out from the ceiling just ahead of him. The sight of the fluffy dragon suddenly appearing made Titus pause. Well, it made sense that Razz could fit through there—cotton candy sure was small enough to get through fast.

"Mhmm," was Titus' reply as he listened to Razz ramble, amused by the young dragon's enthusiasm. It appeared that Razz had come to the same conclusion as him—that there must be something valuable up here, given the resistance they had encountered.

As Titus reached right below Razz, who clumsily fell, he caught him in his arms. The large reptile continued on, now carrying Razz in a bridal style.

"Nah, you thought of a great idea, Bikini Boy," Titus said, giving Razz all the credit. "Did you find anything else while you were in the vents?"

Keryth made a quick stop in the room where the bat siblings were. He needed to warn them about the unexpected turn of events.

"Go back to the control room! Use the elevator—he's heading there!" the black bunny yelled as he entered the room. Then he turned around and left, heading for the higher levels. He planned to continue up the stairs to prevent Titus from escaping.

He heard the noise, but what he saw when he reached the next level surprised him. Titus was a real monster—a whole section of stairs was in ruins. It was impossible to pass, even by jumping, and Keryth wasn't built for climbing. He stopped abruptly before he reached the edge, staring at the destroyed stairway with wide eyes. He looked around for another way up, and his gaze stopped at the vents. He sighed deeply in resignation.

"He destroyed the stairs from level 20. I'm going through the vents. I sent the other two to the elevator," he explained to his superiors through the communicator as he approached the vents. He removed the grating and crawled inside. Being small and light, the mobility wouldn't be an issue for him.

Kelvan finally reached the level where he had seen his leader land, but Titus wasn't around—he just found two BlueFrigid members in the room. He looked around, growling in frustration. He should have expected this—Titus always had the craziest ideas.

One of the bat brothers was helping the other up when Keryth hurriedly returned and told them Titus was going up. The bats exchanged glances, hesitation evident between them. The pale-haired bat's first encounter with Titus had clearly shaken him. But Keryth's tone was urgent and intense, indicating something big was at stake. They helped each other up and made their way to the elevator.

In the meantime, Razz was comfortably being carried by Titus, legs dangling over the T-Rex's arm as he spoke animatedly. "Y'know, you hear some interesting things when people don't know you're around," Razz said with a grin. "That's actually how I heard some guy talking to another guy whose cousin said his brother thought I had a nice rear end. I mean, thanks, dude, but I don't own a boat." Razz shrugged, oblivious to the innuendo, obviously not understanding that the guy was talking about his behind. "But yeah, it seems they're really itchy about whatever's on level 25 and are trying to keep you away."

Titus was amused by how comfortable Razz was in his arms and how unaware he seemed of the danger around them, but he let the young dragon babble on.

He briefly considered asking if Razz understood the compliment on his ass but decided against it.

"I take it you didn't look around beyond the lower levels, did you?" Titus asked as he inspected the level they were on, looking for any clues about what might be important on the higher levels, as well as where the leader might be.

He also added, "And what brought you here on your own?" unaware that Kelvan had been with Razz somewhere in the building.

Kelvan was standing in a blind spot behind a pile of boxes, waiting for the bat brothers to leave. When he finally heard the elevator doors open and then close, he cautiously left his hiding place. After ensuring that no one else was around, he continued running upstairs. The way was suspiciously free of traps, which made things easier, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The answer came quickly when he reached the next set of stairs—they were completely destroyed, which had also damaged the nearby defense mechanisms. Now the loud noise he had heard earlier made sense. It was clear that Titus had done this. It was a smart move, of course, but it also affected him. Maybe Titus hadn't expected him to enter the building, but it still made the sea dragon roar in anger. The intensity of the sound almost completed Titus' destruction.

Meanwhile, Keryth was advancing silently through the vents when he heard the loud roar. He stopped and flattened his ears reflexively, widening his eyes in surprise as he tried to hold his position. The sound made the structure shake slightly. When it passed, he immediately turned on his communicator.

"There's another PinkBlaze member coming behind me through the stairs. The stairs are destroyed, but keep an eye out in case he finds a way up," he said to the control room. Then he continued moving. Those bastards were really making things complicated. He had miscalculated, but the fight wasn't lost yet. The other guy hadn't seen him—Keryth would have noticed if he had been spotted. He just needed to stay in the vents long enough for the sea dragon to meet up with his friends before showing himself. If Kelvan didn't make it up, Keryth would follow his original plan.

"Upstairs? No, I was supposed to find you, so that's what I did! Is that where they keep their stuff? 'Cause honestly, I had no idea what level to go for when trying to break in. I actually thought it might be secretly behind a wall in the back somewhere," Razz said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It was more of a gesture than anything, considering he hadn't really thought through any big plan before coming in. If Kelvan and Titus weren't here, the fuzzy dragon probably would have just gotten lost.

"But I'm not on my own. Though it was my idea, SO great that Kelvan thought it'd be a good idea to tag along and lend me a hand! He wanted to assist you when you crashed through the windows, so I took the risk of crawling through the vents." He had a grin on his face, as if this was all part of a well-thought-out plan. Maybe he actually believed it was—or at leasthe wanted to make it sound like it was for Titus' benefit. "And just between you and me... he should lay off the pizzas, y'know?" Razz said with a whisper, glancing around as if Kelvan could overhear. He giggled at his own joke.

Titus let out a booming laugh, the image of Kelvan indulging in too much pizza far from fitting but still hilarious. Razz always knew how to lighten the mood.

"Don't you think maybe you should lay off them too? Someone did say your ass looked plump and delicious." Titus teased, causing Razz to blush slightly, though he tried to laugh it off.

Before they could continue, a roar reverberated through the walls, shaking the structure slightly.

"Speak of the sea devil himself!" Razz exclaimed. The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Meanwhile, in the control room, Ora answered Keryth through the communicator.

"More? Damn it! I should have known… We have to assume they brought along some of the higher ranks. They must have gotten word about the power supplies stashed in the vault. We can't let them get their hands on those—we could power a quarter of our territory with those if there's an outage!" Ora had already left the room where he'd been watching the security cameras. Now, he needed to find a way upstairs since the stairs were destroyed. With more and more PinkBlaze members showing up, he wasn't sure they could handle this alone.

Titus, on the other hand, was still walking with Razz comfortably sitting on his shoulder.

"Oh, you guys saw my entrance, huh?" Titus said, a little embarrassed. It wasn't the most graceful way in, but it had served its purpose.

"Yeah, and Kelvan is here too," Titus said, glancing back at the stairs he'd sabotaged. He could almost hear Kelvan's complaints already.

The plan was to recover their friend and then sabotage the elevator, but before he could act, the elevator reached their level. The doors slid open, revealing the bat brothers. The moment they spotted Titus, they sprang into action.

Titus heard noises behind him as well. He realized, too late, that they were surrounded.

Before he could react, Razz jumped in front of Keryth's shot, shielding Titus. The electric shock sent Razz slumping, unconscious. Titus roared in pain as the bat brothers fired on him, but he wouldn't go down easily.

With a burst of strength, Titus ripped the doors off two nearby rooms and used them to slam the bat brothers into the corners, while his tail snatched Razz around the waist, pulling him close.

Panting heavily, Titus smashed through the elevator roof, grabbing onto the cable. With his tail still holding Razz close, Titus bit into the cable to drop the elevator down while pulling himself and Razz up several floors.

Titus could feel his body reaching its limit. His arms were trembling, but he continued pushing himself. "Not now," he scolded himself silently.

"Sorry, Kelv," Titus muttered through gritted teeth, hoping his sea dragon companion wouldn't be too angry.

Finally, he swung off the cable, landing on a higher floor. The effort had been too much. Titus collapsed, falling unconscious with Razz beneath him in a protective hold.

Keryth watched as the scene unfolded. He had not anticipated Razz's brave act, nor the resulting chaos. With Titus and Razz now out of reach, he quickly turned to his communicator.

"They escaped to the higher levels through the elevator, but both are injured. Let's capture them before the other one arrives," Keryth said, glancing at the bat brothers, who were still recovering from the earlier attack.

Kelvan, unaware of the current state of his comrades, reached the destroyed elevator and carefully forced the doors open. The elevator car was destroyed at the bottom, and he let out a sigh of relief. It was clearly Titus' doing. He looked up, then jumped to grab onto the cable, starting his climb. Fortunately, his dragon eyes allowed him to see in the dark.

Meanwhile, the remaining bat brother, still groggy, groaned, "What the crap... why does he keep going?!"

Keryth stared at him coldly. "There's no time. If you still have the energy to complain, then come with me." With that, Keryth jumped back into the vents to move quickly to the higher floors.

Up above, Razz was slowly coming to. His body twitched slightly from the residual shock. He groaned, struggling to move from under Titus, who was still unconscious. He blinked a few times, dazed.

"This is it… Boss dropped the entire building on us..." he muttered, barely coherent.

Ora, now climbing the elevator shaft with his catapult gun strapped to his back, heard noises and realized someone else was already inside. He peered up to see Kelvan climbing above him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Ora growled, gripping the cable and starting to sway it side to side, trying to throw Kelvan off balance.

Kelvan, determined not to be stopped, growled in return. The sea dragon's patience had worn thin. He let out a powerful roar, shooting a jet of water in Ora's direction, hoping to throw off the BlueFrigid leader below.

Original Characters:

NPC's Roleplayed by Me and Marlie.