Author's Note: Here we are, folks! Chapter 7 at last! This one is part two of the Arcturus Spire Arc. Sorry it took so long for me to get around to posting it.
Chapter 7: The Spire, Part II
Cornalia's musings were interrupted by Rutaba awakening, and he turned his attention to that. "How'd you sleep?" he asked. "Alright. You?" Rutaba responded. "Okay," Cornalia lied. "Good for you," Rutaba said. "Now. About our plan…"
"It needs to be foolproof. No way it can be screwed up," Cornalia responded. "Obviously. Now we don't have a single way to escape with these chains on. We need a way to get them off," Rutaba said.
"How about we wait till one of us gets them off for a match, and then we attack?" Cornalia replied. "That could work. Have the free one break the chains on the others and try to fight our way out," Rutaba said. "Right. I'll volunteer to do it, since it's my idea," Cornalia said. Rutaba nodded. "Right. Let's not lose this fight too badly," he said. Cornalia laughed. "Let's not lose it at all," he said.
Rutaba smiled. "That's the spirit. We've got to wait for the others to wake up, then we'll relay it," he said. Cornalia nodded. Time to wait, and that meant going back into his thoughts, which were…less than pleasant. "Great…just great…" he thought, still conflicted. "We're not that far gone, yet."
Rutaba noticed that he'd retreated into his thoughts and asked about it. "What you thinking about?" he asked. "Nothing!" Cornalia responded, somewhat defensively. "Are you sure?" Rutaba asked.
"Yes. I don't want to talk about it. Maybe we can discuss it later," Cornalia responded. "Alright. I'll back off for now," Rutaba said, sitting back down on his cot. "Thanks," Cornalia said, whilst internally panicking. "That was way too close!" he thought to himself.
A couple of hours later…
The group was all huddled around the arena, where they wondered if the rest of them that hadn't fought yet would have to fight today. That question was answered when the guard came in and pointed towards Kallot. "You're up," he said. Kallot nodded and walked over to him. "Let's get it over with already," he said.
The guard laughed and escorted him down to the arena, where he handed him off to the group who were responsible for releasing the fighters' restraints and putting them in the ring to fight. The announcer's booth fired up once more as the combatants entered the ring. "On one side, we've got Kallot, another new inmate!" he called. The crowd seemed disinterested, to Kallot's chagrin. "No respect around here…." he grumbled to himself. "And on the other side, we have Feralia!" the announcer declared, to much cheering.
Kallot sized up his foe, a short and stocky alien with a large scar on his cheek. "What are you in for?" Kallot asked. "Failed the boss. You?" Feralia responded. "Got abducted after we lost a fight," Kallot said. "That's rough. But you see, I can't get out without killing you, so let's get this over with," Feralia said. "Right. I agree," Kallot said, assuming his stance.
Feralia smiled and did the same, noting that the Saiyan's guard looked better than he was expecting. "Let's see how you handle this, Saiyan! WHIRLWIND STRIKE BARRAGE!" he shouted, disappearing in a blur. "He's fast…." Kallot thought. His opponent didn't give him much time to dwell on that, though, reappearing right in front of him.
Feralia then launched into a barrage of blows, seemingly faster than Kallot could react, before managing to kick him aside. The Saiyan struggled to his feet just in time to avoid a ki wave aimed right at his face. Feralia disappeared again, and reappeared above him this time, unleashing a barrage of ki blasts. Kallot managed to avoid them, only to take another punch to the face.
"This is getting old…" he thought. Feralia followed that up with another barrage of blows and then disappearing when Kallot attempted to strike him. "He must be putting everything into his speed, then back to normal when he attacks…" Kallot thought. "But how to hit him?" he wondered. Once more, this train of thought went nowhere, as he was forced to block another blow. As predicted, he vanished incredibly fast as he attempted to attack him again. "He must be dumping all his ki into speed the instant he dodges…but how is he able to shift it back so fast?" he wondered.
As if on cue, Feralia reappeared, attempting to land a blow on Kallot, who countered with a ki wave, landing his first hit of the whole match. "If I can't predict when he dodges…I'll predict where he's going to appear!" he thought. Feralia disappeared yet again. There wasn't much left to do except wait for him to show, so Kallot sat down and began meditating in the midst of the fight.
"What's he doing?" Rutaba wondered. "He appears to be meditating," Rayna said. "Great…perfect time for him to take up inner peace," Cornalia said sarcastically. "That's not his goal. I'm fairly sure he's just trying to trick his opponent into showing himself," Rayna said. "That makes sense, actually…" Cornalia said, focusing his attention back on the match. As predicted, Kallot shot his fist out the second Feralia reappeared. The alien took the blow to the face and went staggering backwards, having taken significant damage. "How did you figure out where I was?" Feralia demanded.
Kallot smiled and stood up. "I was listening to where you were," he said. "What do you mean?" Feralia asked. "You vanishing and reappearing made a unique sound. I thought that you were just channeling all of your ki into speed at first, but then I realized that you must be using some kind of short-range teleportation technique, or at least using it to complement your speed. So I started listening for that sound, and figured out how you were doing it- using immense speed to escape, then launching into your teleporting technique to close the distance," Kallot explained.
Feralia's jaw practically hit the floor. He'd been figured out! This was about to get a whole lot harder than it already was. He prepared to vanish, only for the Saiyan's fist to collide with his face, sending him to the ground. He'd noticed the sound that his technique made- and now he'd not be able to evade him. "FINE! THEN EAT THIS! GEYSER LASH!" he shouted, unleashing a massive beam of ki. Kallot saw it coming and prepared his counter. "FLASH CANNON!" he shouted, unleashing his own blast. They clashed in the middle of the ring, at first even, but Kallot's beam started to overpower Feralia's beam.
The alien had overextended himself and was running out of ki, and he knew it. "Damn…guess this is it…" Feralia thought, resigned to his defeat. "IT'S OVER!" Kallot shouted, unleashing his full strength, and overpowering his opponent's beam. The blast surged forward, bathing Feralia in the green ki that marked its form. When the smoke cleared, Feralia dropped to the ground, badly hurt. Exhausted, Kallot powered down and left the ring as the guards came in to retrieve his opponent. "This was exhausting…but kind of fun," he thought, heading into the tunnel. "And Kallot wins! WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS, FOLKS!" the announcer called. "Will the next two combatants please make their way to the arena?" he added.
Beet was escorted into the arena next, facing down his opponent. "We have two newbies this time, folks!" the announcer began. "First up, we have Beet!" he called, and as before, the newbie received little applause. "And up second is Golmag!" he called to thunderous applause. The muscular Brenchian stepped into the ring, cracking his knuckles, whilst sizing up the young Saiyan in front of him. "Heh. This will be easy," he boasted. "No it won't," Beet retorted, assuming his stance.
"Oh, really?" Golmag said, tauntingly. Beet didn't respond, and just rushed forward. The Saiyan's fist soon impacted his opponent's face and sent him staggering backwards. "EAT THIS!" he shouted, unloading a powerful burst of ki. Golmag crossed his arms and blocked it, but still suffered a good bit of damage. Capitalizing on that, Beet rushed in and launched into a series of blows, pummeling the overconfident Brenchian. "This brat is tougher than I thought…" Golmag mused. "Let's see how you deal with this!" he shouted, unleashing a burst of ki blasts from his hand.
Beet was forced to cancel his attack run and block them, allowing his opponent time to get in close. He looked up just as Golmag threw a punch, connecting with his face and sending him to the ground. "Hah! Told you I was better!" Golmag gloated, dropping his guard in the process. Beet smirked and shot his leg out, tripping up his opponent.
As Golmag fell, Beet leapt up and nailed him in the chest, sending him to the ground, wheezing and gasping for air. "You were saying?" Beet taunted, grabbing the Brenchian's ankle. "See you later!" he shouted, lifting him up and slinging him around a few times.
After building up enough momentum, he let go, tossing the Brenchian into a wall. Beet re-assumed his stance, prepared for a renewed assault, only for his opponent to crumble to the ground unconscious. "That was anticlimactic," he thought, dropping his stance. "AND IN ANOTHER STUNNING UPSET, BEET DEFEATS GOLMAG!" the announcer called. Beet just smiled and left the ring as the guards collected the unconscious form of his opponent. He swelled with pride as he did so, not even noticing the guards placing his restraints back on. "That wasn't much of a fight," he mused, as said guards escorted him back to the stands. "I would've liked more of a workout…"
The guards soon returned Beet to the stands and selected the next participant, Bean. "Get over here," one of them said, pointing at him. "Me?" he asked. The guard rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes," she said, sounding more than a little annoyed.
Bean nodded, stepping over to the guards and allowing them to escort him down to the ring. "It didn't look like you got much of a workout from up here," Rutaba said, once the guards had left with Bean.
Beet chuckled. "Nope. That guy was full of hot air," the younger Saiyan answered. "Yeah. He seemed quite weak," Kallot added. Beet laughed. "Yeah. You can say that again." "So, how'd you think it went?" Kallot asked. "Good, I'd say," Beet answered. "I thought so," Rayna said, walking over to them. Beet smiled. "Thanks, mom," he said. She gave him a warm smile and a hug. "You're welcome, son," she said.
Down in the ring….
Bean stepped up for his fight as the announcer's booth started up yet again. "On the left side, we have a newcomer, Bean!" he called. The crowd actively booed this time, as opposed to a bored reaction as before. "And on the right, we have Rodimus!" the announcer called. This time, the crowd responded with cheering and whistling. Bean simply rolled his eyes and stepped up for the fight, ignoring the crowd's reaction. He'd win anyway- this guy didn't seem all that tough. He was weak, even by Arcadian standards.
How was he a crowd favorite, exactly? "Hey, kid! No hard feelings when you lose!" the alien said. Bean just chuckled and assumed his stance. "Bring it!" he responded. Rodimus nodded and charged in, only to find his attacks all blocked with extreme ease. "How have you survived this long?" Bean deadpanned, blocking yet another sloppy swing.
He then yawned, showing his boredom with the match. This angered Rodimus, who protested loudly. "You dare disrespect me?! The former Galactic Wrestling Federation champion!?" he complained. "That supposed to be impressive?" Bean said, yawning once again. "YES!" Rodimus shouted, charging. Bean smiled- his ploy having worked excellently. He threw out an uppercut as his opponent charged in, knocking the former wrestler out in a single blow. "That's what I thought…" Bean muttered to himself and turned to walk away.
"IN YET ANOTHER UPSET, OUR NEWCOMER HAS TOPPLED ANOTHER VETERAN!" the announcer called, and Bean was escorted back to the stands as the guards retrieved his defeated opponent. The next few matches were rather uneventful, just more former Arcadian soldiers beating each other up for their chance at freedom. Up in the stands, the captured heroes continued to formulate their plan.
"Should we just jump into the ring and cause a distraction?" Beet asked, bored out of his mind. "No. That would screw up our entire plan," Rutaba said. Beet sighed, and he and his brother stepped back from the railing. "Fine…but that's no fun…" he muttered. "And beating those guys up would be?" Rutaba asked. "You've got me there. Those guys are too weak to be a challenge…" Beet replied, begrudgingly. "Hey, guys? Can we focus?" Rayna said, slightly annoyed. Rutaba turned to face her and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Good. Now let's figure out exactly what our plan is," she responded.
"Right. So the idea is that Cornalia goes in for his match, and when they take the restraints off, he blows the guards away, and then heads up here to free us," Kallot said. "That's actually a good idea," Rayna replied. "I know. That's why I'm in charge of making the plans," Kallot replied. "That's a good start. But have we figured out how we're actually going to get out of this place?" Rayna responded. "We haven't thought that far ahead," Rutaba admitted. "That's just great…" his sister sighed. "What exactly were you thinking about doing, provided we can get these chains off?" she asked. "Well, the most likely scenario is that we have to fight our way out," Kallot said. "Not unless we start a riot or something."
Rayna sighed. "Starting a riot is not gonna help, I don't think," she said. "Then how do we get out?" Rutaba asked. "We don't have Kalrot- he's the muscle, really," Kallot said. "So we'll have to improvise."
"In other words," Rutaba said, "we're gonna have to fight our way out."
"And how are you going to make sure we don't die or get recaptured during this daring escape?" Rayna asked. "Who knows?" Rutaba replied, nonchalantly. Rayna prepared to protest that but was cut off by Cornalia interjecting. "We'll improvise and be fine," he said. "Knowing Kalrot, he'll show up soon enough. We don't need a one hundred percent success rate if he shows up."
Rayna sighed. "I want to believe that, but even if he's alive, how's he gonna get here?" she said. "He's got the ship, remember?" Cornalia responded. "Right…but that's gonna take a while," she said. "Yeah, and?" Cornalia replied. Rayna sighed once more. "You're impossible sometimes…" she said. "There's not much time to plan, so I guess we'll improvise…"
Cornalia nodded affirmatively. "Glad that you came around to the way I see it," he said. Rutaba elbowed him for that. "You mean the way we see it," he said. Cornalia grumbled and amended that statement. "The way we see it…" he said. Rayna chuckled a little at that and went back to planning their escape. "Hopefully I can come up with something that won't get us killed…" she said.
"Maybe, but I say we just improvise," Cornalia said, turning and walking back to the railing. Rayna sighed and turned back to her brother. "He's impossible to deal with sometimes," she said. "I hate to admit it, but I agree with him here. We don't have much time or room for a proper plan. We need to get out," Rutaba said.
"For what it's worth," Kallot interjected, "Cornalia's right here. We don't really have time." Rayna was quiet for a few moments as she thought about her response. "I don't like it…" she said. "Neither do I, but it's the only plan we've got," Rutaba responded. "Right, then let's just survive the matches…" she said. Rutaba nodded and began to respond, only to notice the guards approaching. "You next," one said, pointing at Parsel. The stoic Saiyan nodded and walked over to them. "Let's go," he said. The guard chuckled. "I agree," he responded, taking the Saiyan by the shoulder.
With that, they walked him down to the ring to begin the next round, which was guaranteed to be short- Parsel didn't play around, and these guys seemed pretty weak. The announcer started up his commentary yet again as the guards brought Parsel's opponent down to the ring. "In the left corner, we have Parsel, yet another newbie!" he called, to more jeers and boos. "And in the right corner, we have Loparia!" he said to widespread applause. "I wonder who this guy is…?" Parsel thought. Shortly thereafter, his opponent was revealed: a slender, yet well-built Brenchian woman with short hair.
She cracked her knuckles as she approached him. "You don't look all that tough," she said. Parsel just ignored that and powered up. "The silent type, huh?" Loparia said, only to be cut short by Parsel punching her in the face. "There's no room for talk in a fight!" he said. She grimaced and threw a punch of her own, only to find it quickly dodged.
The Saiyan responded with a flurry of blows that hammered his opponent with nearly everything he had. He didn't let up on the relentless assault one bit: this was pretty much a fight to death, given that there were no rules. Loparia attempted to hit him with a flurry of ki blasts, but he evaded them all and rushed in, landing a kick to her side, causing Loparia to crumple to the floor. Parsel gave a confident smirk and began charging his newest move: the Proton Cannon. He began gathering the massive blast between his hands in the form of a large yellow orb. "Is he doing what I think he's doing?" Beet asked.
Rayna nodded. "He's attempting that move he came up with a couple months ago…" she said. "He has absolutely no control over that move…" Beet lamented. "We can use this as a distraction to try and escape!" Cornalia said. "You're right! I'm predicting another explosive failure to pull that technique off. We might be able to escape in the chaos…" Rayna responded. "The timing is great, too! The guards will be up here soon to collect the next fighter, and we can ambush them and get the keys to these chains!"
Cornalia nodded, following her logic. "Alright. Me and Rutaba will wait by the elevator and ambush them the second it opens," he said. It was then Rayna's turn to nod affirmatively. "Good idea. Looks like Parsel's almost done charging that move of his," she said. Cornalia nodded and gestured for Rutaba to follow him, heading over to post up next to the elevator. Once they'd taken their places, the others went back to spectating the match that was currently going in the ring.
Parsel smirked as he finished charging his attack, with Loparia struggling to her feet just in time to see it. "What…is…that…?" she wondered. He didn't bother saying a thing, and simply prepared to fire. Her eyes got wide as she realized how powerful this blast truly was. "Seriously, what the hell is that?" she asked. Parsel rolled his eyes and just kept on aiming, effectively scoping in on his target. "EAT THIS! PROTON CANNON!" he shouted, unleashing the attack. Loparia's eyes widened as she attempted to dodge the beam, which rushed forward with extreme speed. However, at the last second, the beam failed to maintain its shape, resulting in an explosive failure that shook the entire ring, inflicting massive damage on the arena.
Once the smoke cleared, the only thing left of Loparia was a charred corpse, and the ring was in utter shambles. Parsel was there, breathing heavily- standing in the one section of the ring that wasn't wrecked by his technique's failure. "Damn…still not able to hold the shape of the technique…" he thought.
Up in the stands...
The elevator arrived soon after, and a pair of shocked guards stepped off, resulting in a swift ambush by Rutaba and Cornalia. "Let's get those keys…" Rutaba said, reaching down and snatching them off of the belt of an unconscious guard.
Cornalia nodded and dragged one of them aside, tossing him into a corner as Rutaba dropped his partner on top of him. "Now, let's unlock these things," Cornalia said. Rutaba nodded and produced the keys, unlocking the chain around Cornalia's wrists. With a swipe of the keycard, the chain unlocked and dropped to the floor. He then leaned down and unlocked the one around his feet, freeing his teammate.
"Alright! Now give it here, and I'll get yours off," Cornalia said. Rutaba nodded and handed them over. A few seconds later, two of them were now free. "Let's get the others out," Rutaba said. Cornalia nodded and followed him back to their friends. Soon, the whole group was free of their restraints, and thus able to use their ki. "Let's get out of here!" Rayna said. "Right, but let's not get immediately caught, or let others out," Rutaba said. "I agree. Let's try and find our stuff," she responded. "I'm not taking any chances," Cornalia replied, dropping the card key to the ground and smashing it with his foot. "We might have needed that!" Rayna protested. "Eh. We can get another one if we do. Holding on to that one was begging for trouble," Cornalia responded.
Rayna sighed and rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I guess you're right…We don't need any extra risk," she said. "Now, let's get Parsel," Cornalia said, glancing down into the ring. Their exhausted ally still stood in the arena, surprised that the guards hadn't come back yet. "Right. How are we gonna do that?" Rayna asked.
"Leave that to me," Cornalia said, approaching the railing. His mouth formed a smirk as he prepared to leap over the railing to grab Parsel. Rayna nodded in acknowledgement, even if she thought that plan was risky. Not that Cornalia actually cared. He'd just do it anyway.
Back down in the ring...
"AND IN A STUNNING UPSET, PARSEL WINS!" the announcer called. "HE MAY HAVE WRECKED THE ARENA, BUT THAT LAST ATTACK SURE WAS IMPRESSIVE!" he added, to cheers from the audience. "At least I impressed them…" Parsel thought. "But where are the guards?" he wondered. That train of thought went nowhere, as Cornalia soon landed in the ring next to him. "This is an escape," he said. Parsel nodded and held out his arm. "I'm out of juice," he said. Cornalia nodded and laid it across his shoulders, flying back up to the stands.
"We have an escape attempt! All matches are suspended!" the announcer called, frantically. Alarms began blaring, signaling the group to bail. "Come on guys! There will be guards up here at any moment!" Rayna called. Cornalia landed and ran over with Parsel, nodding. "I know. We need to get moving, find a ship," he said.
"We need to get our stuff back, or we won't have any way to contact Kalrot if he's still alive," Rayna responded. "Right. Do we have any idea where they took it?" Cornalia asked. "No, but I have a feeling that we can find out if you get me to a computer. We'll probably need another keycard to use it, though," she answered. "I'll search those guards we clobbered earlier," Rutaba said. Rayna nodded, and he took off to examine the bodies of the guards he and Cornalia had ambushed earlier.
The guards began scrambling, going into emergency lockdown. "We need all available backup!" one called over his scouter. "There's been an escape attempt!" another added. The warden was left shocked at that- he had no idea how to respond. "Warden Arcturus?" the first guard asked. "I'm still here," Arcturus said, finding his words. "I'm sending Lomar," he said. "He'll be there with a few more squads," he said. "Thank you, Warden. We're scrambling all available personnel," the guard said, cutting the transmission.
Warden Arcturus sat in thought- he'd never dealt with an escape attempt, and he'd been in charge of this prison for nearly ten years. It seemed like a fool's errand, yet one was happening right under his nose. There would be no need for the emperor to know of this. He'd deal with it himself, and make sure the offenders were taken to the Disciplinary Complex immediately. "Shall I inform High Command?" his aide asked, interrupting the quiet. "No. That is our absolute last resort. We all know that the penalty for failure is high," Arcturus said. The aide nodded. "Of course…the Emperor is very unforgiving…" he said. Arcturus shuddered at the thought. "Yes. We could end up prisoners…or end up dead," he said, oozing with fear at the potential consequences for failing.
Elsewhere, in the arena stands…
Rutaba walked back over the others, carrying another keycard. "These seem to be general purpose- accesses everything- elevator, the electronic locks on those chains, doors, computers, you name it," Rutaba said, handing the keycard to his sister. "Right, then. Let's get moving," Rayna said, leading them into the elevator.
With a swipe of the keycard, the elevator panel lit up. "Now…where should we go?" she wondered, aloud. "Probably the one marked "security office," so that we can disable the lockdown and the alarms," Rutaba said. "Good idea," Rayna said, mashing that button. The door then closed, and the elevator started moving upwards.
In a distant star system…
Kalrot's ship flew through space, once more on course for the Arcturus system. "How much farther is our destination?" Kalrot asked. "Three days. Why?" Commodus responded. "I'm bored out of my mind, for one. And two, I'm worried about my crew," Kalrot said. "I get that- both of those things," Commodus replied. "Is there something I can do to get your mind off of them?" he asked. "No. Saving them is the only thing that will do that. Thanks for asking though," Kalrot responded.
Commodus nodded. "If you want to talk about it, I'm here. And we've got nothing but time," he said. Kalrot smiled a bit at that. "That we do…" he said, trailing off. "You okay?" Commodus asked. "Yeah. I'll be alright," Kalrot said. Commodus nodded and diverted his full attention back to piloting.
There wasn't much of anything going on, just the awkward silence between them as they flew. "So, the others say they're getting bored too," Commodus said, attempting to break the silence. "Long journeys tend to induce that. But with your friends, I didn't think there was much boredom around," Kalrot responded.
Commodus chuckled a bit at that. "They do tend to fight a bit, mostly because Magnus does something childish, but we're all friends," he said. "I got that impression within five minutes of meeting you guys," Kalrot said. "Yeah. It tends to go like this: Magnus says or does something Aria doesn't like, and they fight. Tala tries to break it up and get dragged into it, Aldous sits and watches, entertained by the whole thing, and Gradius tries to ignore it. I usually don't get involved at all because I'm flying the ship. That and it gives me a headache," Commodus responded.
"There's not much of a fight going on right now," he added. "How do you know that?" Kalrot asked. "I'm pretty much always listening to our comms," Commodus said. "What are they doing?" Kalrot asked. "Well, Tala and Magnus shut their comms off and slinked off to their room, so there's one guess as to what they're doing. Aria and Aldous are playing some card game, and Gradius went off to use your weight room," Commodus answered. "Huh…none of your crew drinks, do they?" Kalrot asked. "A little. Why do you ask?" Commodus replied.
"Because it seems like them being drunk is a very bad thing," Kalrot said. "Oh yes. Get some booze in them, and they become even more competitive than usual. And they have a larger tendency to fight, yes," Commodus said. "There's no alcohol on this ship, is there?" Commodus asked. "Some, but I keep it locked in a safe in the kitchen. Nobody but me is getting into that thing. The cheap stuff tends to get used for cooking," Kalrot said. "That's a relief," Commodus said. "The last thing we need is for them to get drunk while we're in the middle of a long trip through space," he added.
Kalrot laughed at that. "I believe you. My group tends to get a little rowdy when they drink," he said. He and Commodus laughed and swapped stories for a while after that, taking their minds off the boredom they'd been experiencing.
Arcturus Spire, Security Office Corridor…
The crew arrived at its destination, and the elevator stopped. "Get ready, guys," Rayna said. "I was born ready," Cornalia replied, smugly. Rayna started to say something else but was cut off by her brother. "Can you not be this way today?" Rutaba asked, already annoyed. Cornalia rolled his eyes and charged out as the doors opened. "That overconfidence is going to get him killed one day, isn't it?" Rutaba said. Rayna just nodded, not bothering to even look up. "Come on, guys. Let's make sure that he doesn't get himself killed," she said.
The others nodded and followed her out of the elevator just in time to see a guard come flying down the hallway, heavily burned. Cornalia stood at the end of it, holding out his hand, which was smoking. Clearly he'd just fired a blast of some kind. "You guys are slow," he said, and sprinted off down the hallway. "Hey! Save some for me!" Parsel called and sprinted off after him. Rayna and Rutaba almost facepalmed simultaneously. "Those two never slow down, do they?" Rutaba said, annoyed. "No…they don't," Rayna said. "We need to stick together…" she grumbled.
"I agree with you guys," Kallot said, nodding. "Yeah. But what are we going to do about the guards?" he asked. "Fight them, obviously," Rutaba said. Kallot nodded affirmatively. "So what are we going to do about our teammates running off?" he asked. "You and Pyrus are going to go find them," Rayna said. "Right. What are you guys going to do?" Kallot asked. "We're going to go and find a security terminal. We can find out where our stuff is there," Rayna answered. Kallot nodded. "Alright. Then we'll get going," he said. "Good luck," Rayna said.
"Thanks. But I don't think we'll need it," Kallot responded. "You ready, Pyrus?" he asked. The Pyronian nodded and followed Kallot down the hallway that Cornalia and Parsel had sprinted off down. "Alright. We'll split into two teams- we'll be able to cover more ground that way," Rayna said. "But you said we should stick together," Rutaba responded. "That's before Cornalia sprinted off and ruined my plan," she answered. "Fair," he replied. "Now, you take Beet and Bean and go down the middle hallway. We'll take the left," Rayna said. Rutaba nodded. "That seems fair," he said.
"Any questions?" she asked. "Not that I can think of," Rutaba answered. "Anyone else?" she asked. When no one spoke up, she started again. "Alright. We're splitting up in order to find the main security office. That's where the terminal we need to find most likely will be," Rayna said.
With that, the teams set off to accomplish their goal, with three impromptu teams: Parsel, Cornalia, and Pyrus; Kallot, Rayna, Zora, and Spinak, and finally, Rutaba, Beet, and Bean. Each tackled one of the three hallways in the lobby. One was bound to lead to the security office, right?
Down the left hallway, Rayna's team came across a security door. "Guess we'll use this keycard," she said. "That's as good a guess as any," Zora said. "Anything to add, baby?" she asked. "No. Not apart from just blasting through it," Spinak replied. "Yeah, we've got no better idea," Zora said. Rayna nodded and swiped the card, which unlocked the door, to their delight. "Now we can get going!" she said, excitedly. The others nodded. "Yeah! Let's get going!" they said, in unison.
They briefly gave each other a confused look and then followed Rayna through the now open door. The three walked down the seemingly endless hallway and came out in another, smaller foyer. "Odd. It's like…a second lobby?" Zora observed. "Yeah. Weird," Rayna said, looking around. "Spinak? Any suggestions?" she asked. "No. The Arcadians are weird like that. But I do find it strange that we haven't run into any guards yet," Spinak responded. "Yeah…that is strange," Rayna said. "That looks like a door over there," Zora said, staring at something on the other side of the room.
Rayna turned to see what she was talking about and noticed it too. "That does! Good work," she said, walking over to unlock it. As before, swiping the keycard opened the door. The three continued on their way, coming out in a large room with a door labeled "Security Office," and two more doors- one to the east, and one to the south. "Those must be where those other two hallways come out," Zora observed.
"Yeah. That's what I figured," Rayna said. Spinak walked forward, examining the door. "This appears to be what we were looking for. But it's odd that there aren't any guards," he said. "Maybe they were all downstairs at the arena?" Zora said. "Or maybe Cornalia took care of them all already," Rayna added. "Maybe. But it still makes me nervous…" Spinak said. "I get that," Rayna said, walking over and swiping the keycard on the security panel. Predictably, this opened the door and allowed them inside, where they found a dozen guards.
"They're they are!" Spinak said, taking on his stance. "Well, looks like we'll get to fight after all!" Zora said, cracking her knuckles.
Elsewhere, in the right hallway…
Cornalia and Parsel rushed down the hallway, making it a competition to see who could defeat the most guards. "You won't beat me!" Cornalia gloated, speeding up. Parsel grunted and sped up as well. "You won't leave me in the dust!" he said. Trailing in the back, Pyrus and Kallot continued stepping over the trail of dead and/or unconscious guards littering the hallway. It was hard to tell which was which sometimes, especially when they were all dressed the same way.
"Those two are really competitive, aren't they?" Pyrus asked. "Yeah. And it's getting really old," Kallot said. "Though, there's not much we can do about it, I'm afraid."
Pyrus chuckled and kept up the pace. Kallot began to say something else, but was interrupted by an explosion in the distance. "What was that?" Pyrus asked. "I don't know, but we need to find out!" Kallot responded. Pyrus nodded, and the two sped off.
They soon came across a security door with a massive hole blown through it. Behind it were the bodies of about a dozen guards that had been waiting for them in an ambush lying scattered about in various states of damage. "That has Cornalia written all over it," Kallot said, assessing the situation. Pyrus stepped through the hole in the door to join him. "Seems that way," he said. Kallot chuckled. "Let's keep going. They can't be far." Pyrus nodded and followed him as they took off after their teammates.
Down the middle hallway…
Rutaba's team came across a similar roadblock- a couple squads of guards and then a locked door. "Stand back, guys," Rutaba said. "Why?" Beet asked. "Because I'm going to blow this thing open," Rutaba answered, proceeding to charge up his Blaster Beam.
The twins quickly got the message, stepping back as he prepared to fire. He unleashed the attack a few seconds later, shredding the door and defeating their would-be ambushers all at once. "Huh. There were guards behind that…" he said, a bit surprised.
"Yep. Now can we move on?" Beet responded sarcastically. Rutaba chuckled a bit. "Sure. Let's go," he said, stepping through the doorway, which was now unobstructed. Beet and Bean followed, and the three continued on, eventually coming to a stop in yet another mini foyer, just as Rayna's team had. "Another lobby…?" Beet questioned, glancing around at their new surroundings. "That is weird," Rutaba said, doing the same. "Hey guys! I found another door!" Bean said, charging a ki wave. Rutaba and Beet nodded and began heading over as he blasted their way through.
After another walk down a hallway, they came out in the security office room, noting the open door. Before they could investigate further, though, another door was suddenly blown away, revealing Cornalia and Parsel, followed at a distance by Kallot and Pyrus. "There you guys are!" Rutaba said. "Yeah, here we are," Cornalia said, stepping into the room with a smug aura about him. Parsel trudged in shortly afterwards and promptly ignored him, heading over towards the open office door. "What's wrong now?" he asked. "I got more guards than he did, and he's sulking that I outdid him," Cornalia said, smugly. "This again? Drop it and let's go," Rutaba said, walking off towards the office. "Whatever," Cornalia said, and followed.
The others filed in shortly thereafter, where they noticed the defeated guards lying around. Over at the main computer were their allies, who were attempting to get anything useful out of the mainframe. "So apparently, there's a confiscated goods vault on level twelve, but we need a level six security clearance to get there," Rayna said, reading some information off the screen. "How do we get that?" Zora asked. "I'm guessing that we need another keycard," Rayna answered. "So in other words, we're at a dead end?" Zora asked. "Yeah, I think we are," Rayna replied. "So we need a new plan?" Rutaba said, startling his sister, who spun around in surprise.
"Oh. It's just you," she said. "Yes, we need a way to get our hands on one of those keycards so that we can get to that vault and recover our stuff." Rutaba seemed a bit miffed at her flat greeting, but nodded nonetheless.
"That's going to be hard isn't it?" Rutaba said. "Yeah. We have no idea where we're going to find one, either. It's not like we can just make one," she said. "Yeah, that seems like it'll be hard," Rutaba replied. "What are you thinking about doing to get one of these?" he asked.
"I don't know. I say we start with a high-ranking Arcadian- the type likely to have such a card," Rayna said. "Fine with me, as long as I get to crack some more skulls," Cornalia interjected. "And I don't think the others will object to that, either. We all want to get out of here."
Rayna nodded. "Right. Let's get down to business. This plan needs to be foolproof. No way to mess it up," she said. "Obviously. Now, I say we just beat up the Arcadians and fight our way out," Cornalia replied. "But I don't think you'll go for that idea." Rayna nodded as if to say, "of course I won't" and spoke up. "That's a stupid plan- there's too many of them for us to take at once," Rayna said. "Instead, I propose that we do this strategically," she added. "And how do you propose we do that?" Cornalia said, somewhat annoyed.
"We need to be stealthy, not go in guns blazing. They'll overpower us for sure if we do that," Rayna said. "I second that. We need another plan- not just rush forward," Rutaba added. Cornalia sighed and exhaled, acquiescing to their point. "Fine. I get what you're saying. Now what are we going to do about it?" he responded.
"Right. I say we head to the elevator. We need to move before they figure out where we went," Rayna said. "Alright. That's smart," Cornalia admitted. "Glad you came around," Rayna said, needling him. "Just get on with the plan already," he said, ignoring her. She laughed at that and began leading the group back to the office.
The Warden's Office…
Warden Arcturus breathed a sigh of relief as his Head Guard entered the office. "You wanted to see me?" he asked. The warden nodded. "Yes, Lomar," he said. "I have need of your services." Lomar nodded. "This is about that breakout attempt, correct?" he asked. Warden Arcturus nodded." You need to get down to level four and help contain an escape attempt," he said. "I was on my way when you called," Lomar responded, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Yes, I see. Well, in that case, then I'll let you go," Arcturus said.
Lomar nodded, but didn't leave immediately. "Have you located them yet?" he asked. "No, but the security office on level three suddenly stopped reporting in. If I had to guess, I'd say they went there," Warden Arcturus answered. Lomar nodded once more. "Then I'll start by going there," he said, turning to leave.
"Good luck, my friend," Arcturus said. "I don't need luck," Lomar said, strolling out of the office. "Confident as usual…" Arcturus thought to himself, watching the head guard stroll out of his office.
Elsewhere, Kalrot's crew filed inside the elevator. "Let's go to the armory- there might be something we could use there. Like a scouter that we could use to snoop on their comms," Rutaba suggested. "Good call," Rayna said, swiping the keycard and selecting their destination. Once more, the doors closed, and the elevator started moving once again, this time headed down.
One fairly short ride later, the elevator stopped on level five, and the doors opened. Its passengers stepped out and examined their surroundings: they'd found themselves in a medium-sized room with a large door on the other side. "That must be the armory," Rutaba observed. "Obviously," Cornalia snarked. "And it has a security panel," Rutaba said, electing to ignore Cornalia. "Yep. And I'm betting this keycard will get us in," Rayna replied, walking over to examine the panel. She glanced at the panel, and then down to the keycard, and then back at the panel. "This should work," she said, swiping the card.
Just as she'd expected, the door unlocked and slid open, allowing them access to the armory. "Nice going," Cornalia said, and strolled right inside. "Right, well, let's head in," Rayna said, heading in as well.
Rutaba turned to Kallot and Pyrus. "You guys stand guard in case they find us," he said, before rounding on his heels and entering the armory. The pair nodded, taking up places on either side of the door as the others followed Rutaba inside.
Inside, the group found a lot of what they expected: walls covered with racks of Arcadian armor, various kinds of laser guns, arm cannons, and other things worn by guards and other Arcadian soldiers. "So there's just a whole lot of nothing down here," Cornalia snarked, observing it. "Not entirely. We could use the armor for extra protection if we absolutely have to," Rayna said. "That's not happening on my watch," Cornalia said, shooting that suggestion down. "Hey, guys! I found the scouters!" Rutaba called. "Where?" Rayna asked, walking over to him, followed closely by Cornalia. Once she got close, Rayna noticed that there were several large crates full of scouters. "Let's see what we can do with them…" she said, examining one.
"That's weird…" Cornalia said. "Only officers in the Arcadian military wear them, unlike the PTO, where everyone wears them." Rutaba nodded. "That is strange," he said. "Why would there be so many down here?" "Maybe because it's a prison? And they need them for communications? Or to detect the power levels of prisoners?" Beet suggested. Rutaba shrugged. "Who knows," he said. "It's not like it really matters." Beet nodded, but Cornalia eyed the crate warily. "I don't like this. Not one bit," he said. "Neither do I," Rutaba said. "But we don't have any other choice." Cornalia sighed, acquiescing. "I know," he said. "But I don't have to like it."
Up in the Security Office…
Lomar arrived via a different elevator in the back of the office. To his surprise, a team of guards was already there investigating it, having used the stairs. He walked inside, noting that the place looked like a disaster area: things were broken, and defeated guards were strewn about the room. "Have you found anything yet?" he asked, walking over to the guard investigating the computer. "No. My guess is that they took the elevator in the lobby- that one connects to the arena, where they would've been, considering that they're from Block A," the guard said.
"Have you figured out where they went?" Lomar asked. "Not yet. I'm working on getting into the elevator access logs. Whoever accessed this computer is exceptionally good," he said. "Let me know when you find something. I'm going to check with the rest of the team," Lomar answered. "Yes sir!" the guard said, returning to his work as Lomar walked away. "Hmm. This will be more difficult than I thought…" Lomar thought to himself. "There's not much left to examine here…"
Nonetheless, he walked around and spoke to each member of the team, finding that each of them had found nothing of use. These prisoners had covered their tracks extremely well. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the computer tech called him over. "Sir! I've found something!" he called. Lomar went over to see what he'd found, hoping that it would lead him to the targets. "What is it?" he asked. "The elevator use logs show that the elevator went down to level five not too long ago," the guard responded. "Good. I'll call for backup- they've probably gone to the armory. We'll corner them there," Lomar said. The tech nodded and resumed working. "Glad I could be of use," he said.
Lomar nodded in return and walked away to contact the warden, opening a comm channel on his scouter. The warden answered immediately. "Lomar. Does this call mean you've found them?" he said. "We believe so. I think they're down in the armory- easy to corner them. The elevators are the only way in and out of there," Lomar responded. "Good. Then all available squads are yours to trap them there," Arcturus said. "Thank you, sir," Lomar replied. "Is that all you wish to report?" Arcturus asked.
"No sir. We think that they might also be counting on some outside help showing up. Why else would they try something this risky?" Lomar answered. "That is not likely. Who would be stupid enough to attack this place?" Arcturus answered. "Proceed to the armory once you have your reinforcements. Arcturus out," the warden said, ending the call. "Ungrateful bastard…" Lomar grumbled to himself as the guard in charge of the team approached him. "What would you have us do?" he asked.
"Call all available squads here. I believe that our targets are in the armory. We will easily corner them there and recapture them," Lomar responded. The guard nodded and walked away to make the call, once more leaving Lomar alone with his thoughts. "This will be easy…" he mused, a smile forming on his face.
Down in the armory, Rayna successfully broke into the enemy comm chatter using one of the scouters there. "Uh oh.." she said. "What's wrong?" Rutaba asked. "They've found us!" she answered. "That's not good," Rutaba said. "No it isn't- not one bit," Rayna replied. "Guess we're going with Cornalia's plan," she added. "We need to take up a defensible position and fight our way out."
Rutaba nodded as his sister dropped the scouter she was using to the ground and crushed it underfoot. "Let's get out of here alive," he said. Rayna nodded and went off to rally the others as Rutaba headed back up front to inform Pyrus and Kallot of the situation. "Hey, guys? They're onto us," he said. "Does that mean we're about to have company?" Pyrus asked. "Yes," Rutaba answered, nodding his head. "Well, I guess it means that we get to fight," Kallot said, cracking his knuckles. "I did notice that there was another elevator off to the side of the room," Rutaba said. "So that means we'll likely get attacked from two directions at once," Kallot said.
Rutaba nodded. "That is most likely," he answered. "Great…" Pyrus complained, much to the amusement of his teammates. Back up in the security office, Lomar now stood in front of six squads of heavily armed and armored guards. "These prisoners are dangerous- and are to be taken to the Disciplinary Complex once recaptured. All of them are to be blacklisted from obtaining the tournament grand prize," he said, addressing them.
"We will have a two-pronged assault. Half of our squads will be deployed through the office elevator, and the others through the lobby elevator," he added. "Any questions?" he asked. None were posed, so he continued. "Alright! Then let's move out!" he said, and the squads split off to their assigned positions as half headed to the back elevator and the other half headed back out to the lobby.
Soon enough, Lomar was left alone with the investigation's squad, who remained there to assist him. "Shall we head down?" the squad leader asked. "Not yet. Give it a few minutes, and then we'll head down," Lomar responded. Said squad leader nodded and headed over to get his men ready as Lomar took a deep breath and focused on the mission. "Time for some exercise," he thought.
Down in the armory, Kalrot's crew found themselves swarmed with Arcadians as the whole team had to move to the front to combat them. Each of them had their hands full with three or four guards each, dodging ki blasts and plasma bolts from their weapons alike. "These guys just keep coming!" Rutaba said, blasting a couple away with a ki wave. "I know, and it's getting on my nerves!" Cornalia said, blasting a group of them. "Keep your heads cool!" Rayna said, punching out one guard and blasting another.
Elsewhere, Parsel led Beet and Bean on a warpath, engaging several guards at once as they seemingly kept coming- Arcturus having sent several more squads to reinforce them. Up in the security office, Lomar was pleased to see this- the warden had done what he asked and sent more guards.
Six squads was not enough, and he wasn't sure twelve would be either. "Let's go," he said. The leader of the squad that had already been there investigating nodded and rallied his team to move out. Lomar and this last squad filed into the office elevator and headed down to the armory, where the captured heroes were still putting up a desperate and valiant effort against the guards, defeating many of them. In their fervor, they failed to notice an elevator coming down. It arrived shortly afterwards, and Lomar exited it, backed up by the last squad of guards.
He glanced around the fighting, and decided to go after Rutaba, Kallot, and Pyrus first. The three were currently fighting a group of guards and were distracted. They were also considerably weaker than him, according to his scouter. His power level was 25,000, and they couldn't match that, as he expected. He rushed into action, throwing off a punch that blindsided Rutaba, knocking him out in one hit. He subdued Pyrus and Kallot with similar ease before moving on to the others.
With an impressive burst of speed, he rushed over to Cornalia and effortlessly dropped him with an elbow to the stomach. The others noticed, but failed to do anything as he was entirely too fast and strong for them to stop- at least in their current state- resulting in him defeating all of them before they could even react. Lomar then contacted the warden again to inform him of his success.
"Sir, I've subdued the targets," he said. "Good job, my friend," Arcturus said, pleased. "Take them to the disciplinary wing at once!" he ordered. "Yes sir," Lomar responded. "Do you need me to come to your office?" he asked.
"No. I will meet you down there," Arcturus responded. "Yes sir. I will take them there now," Lomar said. "Good. I will be there momentarily," Arcturus said, cutting the transmission. Lomar then turned to the surviving guards. Out of twelve teams of six, he had a squad and a half left- the rest of them were either dead, unconscious, or otherwise unable to fight or walk.
"Anyone who's able, assist me in taking the prisoners to the disciplinary wing. I will have a medical team dispatched here soon enough," Lomar said. The guards complied and started recovering the unconscious warriors and carrying them towards the elevator.
Three hours later...
The group awoke in some holding cells. "Where are we?" Pyrus said, rubbing his head, which was now sore. "I have no idea…" Rayna said, nursing her left side. "I think my ribs are bruised…" "That's rough," Rutaba said. "Are you okay?" Rayna responded with a pained nod, and he sighed. "You don't have to lie to me," he said. Her response was to hug him and not let go for several minutes. Rutaba gently hugged her back as the others took stock of their situation.
"Damn it all!" Cornalia swore, thoroughly angered. "There's not much left to fight for now. We're all roughed up, and we're trapped in this damn place," he grumbled, gritting his teeth and gesturing to the room around them.
"We know that! Complaining won't get us anywhere!" Rayna snapped, annoyed. Cornalia froze, immediately ceasing his complaining. Leaning against her brother, Rayna began to stand up. "Are you okay?" Rutaba asked, noting her struggle to get up.
"Careful," he said. "Your ribs are broken, I think." Rayna winced, acknowledging his point. "Can one of you guys help me?" Rutaba asked. Spinak, who'd gotten off with as little as a black eye, walked over. "Alright. On three," Rutaba said. Spinak nodded, and they each supported one side.
Rayna grimaced as they helped her to her feet- clearly more was hurt than her side. Her knees almost immediately buckled. "I…don't think I can stand…" she said. "Are you okay?" Zora asked, stepping over to them. "I'm not sure," Rayna replied. "You don't look so good," Spinak said. "I don't feel particularly good. Take me over there next to my kids," she said, gesturing to where Beet and Bean were sitting, in the corner.
Rutaba and Spinak nodded, making their way that way as Zora stepped aside. They very carefully sat her down next to Beet, and Rutaba sat down on the other side of her, unwilling to let her out of his sight.
They nodded and carried her over to the other side of the cell, sitting her down next to Rutaba. "You alright, sis?" he asked. "No…my side hurts really bad. I think my ribs are either bruised or broken," she responded. "That's what I said," Rutaba deadpanned. Rayna glared at him angrily, so he quickly changed gears. "You need me?" he asked, concerned. She nodded and leaned over on him. "You can lay there. I'm alright," Rutaba said, in a comforting tone. "How long were we out?" Rayna asked.
"Are you okay?" Beet asked, nervously. Rayna gave him a look of uncertainty, and latched onto her. She flashed a weak smile and hugged him back. She laid down, and attempted to sleep. "Kalrot is gonna murder that guy," Kallot said, observing the scene. "Tell me about it," Spinak said. "It's gonna be bad."
Kallot nodded, recalling some of his old war stories. Kalrot was particularly brutal to anyone that harmed anyone important to him. Cornalia stepped over to them, sighing. "That's for sure. If he's even alive." Kallot nodded. "I'd like to think he is," he replied. "Yeah," Spinak added. "It'd take a lot more than what we went through to kill my brother."
Cornalia sighed a bit, and walked away. "How long were we out, anyway?" Kallot asked. Spinak opened his mouth to reply, but found himself cut off by an unfamiliar voice. "Three hours," it said. "You've been out for three hours."
Both rounded to face the source of the voice as Lomar stepped out of the shadows. "And you are?" Spinak asked, observing the man. "The one that put you here," Lomar replied. Cornalia stomped over angrily. "So you're the one who ambushed us?!" he snapped.
"Yes. You may call me Lomar," he responded. "Arcadian trash!" Cornalia snarled. "Your feelings about me are irrelevant. You will not escape without outside help. And the warden has completely dismissed that possibility," Lomar said, briefly giving them a bit of hope.
"But I have not," he added, dashing that hope as quickly as he'd established it. "You don't deserve to live…" Cornalia spat, now angry. Lomar outright laughed at that. "None of you can challenge me. You're beaten, broken. I don't even need the sealer chains to make you of no threat to me," he said. Cornalia gritted his teeth and backed down a bit. "Just where are we?" Rayna asked.
"This is the Complex of Disciplinary Action and Interrogation," Lomar said. "It has earned the nickname 'Devastation Complex,' which I can't say that I disagree with," he added. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to," he said, turning and walking away. "All of these Arcadian scumbags are the same…" Cornalia grumbled, sitting down in the corner.
Rayna snapped her head up as soon as he'd left, not saying anything. She glanced over at Cornalia: he was right for once. They were trapped without some miracle to save them- and Arcadians were pretty much the scum of the universe. A scourge that needed to be wiped out completely and utterly. But unfortunately, none of them were strong enough to do that, even though they wished they were. If they were, they'd have never gotten captured in the first place. And that made it all the worse.
Somewhere in space…
Kalrot's ship rocketed across the stars, aiming for the Arcturus system. "I'm coming for you guys!" he thought. "Don't you worry!"
He'd already decided: if any of them had been hurt, then the bastard responsible would end up dead at his feet. Especially if that someone was his wife. Not one person messed with her and got away with it. Unless you were the Emperor of the Arcadians, apparently, but that was more of an outlier.
He felt the fury building within him, even just thinking about that possibility. The Arcadians had better hope that they hadn't hurt any of his friends or family members. Because if they had, he was gonna burn that prison to the ground, and every Arcadian that stood in his way was a dead man.
Something long buried within him began bubbling to the surface, and he wasn't sure that he liked it. His hands gripped the control stick tighter. His past fury towards the Arcadians was beginning to bubble up. He felt the first shards of the vengeful, rage consumed person he'd been before on the battlefield.
He forced that old man he'd been back down into his subconscious, managing to suppress his rage. "I need to find them," he thought. He took a deep breath, refocusing his attention on flying the ship. Commodus took notice of his distracted state and looked over at him. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah. The pressure is just starting to get to me a little bit," Kalrot lied. Commodus nodded, redirecting his attention to flying. Kalrot breathed a sigh of relief. That was easier than explaining the truth for now. He'd just have to make up for it later.
Another bleak one! How will our heroes get out of this? Find out next time! (Though not really. There are two more to go before that happens). Kalrot's gonna be mad when he shows up, though. Chapters 8 and 9 will wrap up this arc, and 10 will start the next one.
Until next time, signing off!
-Robbtastic01.