Floor 20 - Chapter 2 - On a Knife's Edge

The not so small group continued to trek through the forest, few words spoken between the various subgroups, other than to inform each other of their plans. Agil's group had broken away early on into the trek, taking a somewhat less direct route, but one that was less of a trek through the dense foliage. About half way through the journey, the group had reached a fork in the path - the northern most branch took the group through a large group of Shrewmen, and it had been decided by way of Rock, Paper, Scissors that Fuurinkazen would take that path, their larger numbers working in their favour against the cunning mobs.

Meanwhile, their group had taken the southern flank. On paper, this was the fastest path to the dungeon, but in practice... the sheer density of the foliage made for awkward navigation at best, and required a number of course changes to avoid the wild masses that would slow them to a standstill. Eventually though, they had reached the last waypoint that Argo had reported to them.

''The dungeon isn't far.'' Sanya called to the group following her, refusing to turn to face them. He wasn't sure he could blame her for that one - one person staring daggers into the back of your head is unpleasant enough, but nearly ten of them... it was a sign that you were never recovering from whatever mistake or action had led you into that situation.

In one hand, Jet had taken to twirling his blade around, almost as if it were an oversized pen in his hand. He didn't doubt that almost everyone had noticed his silence on the matter... he did doubt how much they cared though.

Koharu was still stood beside him, but she was equally silent unless spoken to, and no one was willing to break the uneasy silence. Phillia and Rain stood behind them, and he was fairly sure that he was the second highest person in Rain's bad books right about now - only below Sanya, and she'd betrayed everyone! Phillia was quiet, and he couldn't really tell what the treasure hunter was thinking, other than how much he'd fucked up by doing this...

Unable to face the friends he considered his found family, he walked on ahead, no one stopping him as he did so, and began to walk next "Guess we're both persona non grata right now, huh?" He snorted. "Suppose I can take solace in knowing I did the right thing, eh?" He rolled his eyes, and he was almost certain that even he didn't believe that. It would've been so much easier just to leave Sanya to the mercy of the crowd, and carry on looking for Lind and Shivata themselves - but it wouldn't have been the right course of action in his mind. He'd often reminded himself of the mantra he'd tried to live by: Never cruel, never cowardly... and never eat pears. He'd failed on the latter statement, mind you, but he suspected that was the least important of the three tenets by far.

Leaving Sanya to face mob justice would've been both cruel and cowardly in his eyes.

Sanya replied, her voice quiet and soft in tone, almost as if she didn't want to be heard. "I am grateful, you understand. I don't doubt that my days of freedom are over, but..."

"You didn't want your days to be over, though. I get it, don't worry." He finished her statement for her.

"I made the wrong decision, I understand. But I couldn't let anyone get hurt because of me..."

"Eh, define wrong." He shrugged again.

"I-I don't understand the question?" She looked towards him with a look of confusion.

"Humans don't deal with absolutes very well. Much less morally. From a moral perspective, you sacrificed yourself for others... I'd say that was an understandable call, even the right call, perhaps."

"I find myself unable to agree with that assessment." She spat, though whether that vitriol was aimed towards him, or herself, he couldn't tell.

''Maybe.'' He answered noncommittally, before carrying on. ''But you put everyone else ahead of yourself, even though it's made you into a pariah. Not the actions of a villain, I don't think. An anti-hero, maybe, but...''

''I don't understand you... you try to be this hero, yet you are willing to forgive someone for their betrayal. Why, when they may stab you when your back is turned, yet again...''

''Who said anything about forgiveness, Sanya? For what it's worth, I don't forgive you. Perhaps it was morally the right call, but you could've warned people. Even if it was only in hushed tones, and tipping your supposed best friend off, that would've given people a chance to do something...''

''Do you not think I considered that!'' She asked, stopping in her tracks. Jet carried on walking, and within moments, she started walking again. ''I wanted to resolve it on my own, and that it was my burden to bear. That I should not have been forced to yield to such thugs...'' She turned to face the bushes beside them, rather than him. ''I hear something.'' Sanya raised her hand to signal the group to stop.

A malicious sounding voice came from the bushes. ''Just something?... Almost as if you don't think of us as human... Sanya.''

''N-no...'' She stuttered, realising who it was...

''Friends of yours?'' Phillia asked, already aware of the answer...

''I did as you asked!" Sanya yelled. "You said you'd let me go after I did your dirty work!'' Her words had a sense of naivety to them, almost as if she'd actually believed them...

"And you actually believed us!'' He laughed, almost as if he couldn't believe that someone actually believed that. ''Oral contract." The hooded lead player stated, shaking off leaves from his cloak.

"Not worth the paper it's written on." Jet answered, a darkness to his voice as he understood what was happening. "I'm sorry, but they were never going to let you go, Sanya. Too valuable an asset, I'm afraid."

"Oh, not as stupid as your friend here, are you? You must be the Knight of the Wind then..."

"That's me, and you must be one of the mysterious red players." Admittedly, that little deduction wasn't particularly taxing. He only had to look above their heads to their cursors for that one...

"You know us then! Heheh, you are full of surprises! I guess we should tell ya who we are then!" Jet was a believer in the theory of "Know your enemy", but even he thought this was far too convenient. Unless you happened to be a super spy, infiltrating some bad guy's lair in some far flung island in the Pacific, enemies didn't simply tell you who they were and what they were planning - it made it too easy for whoever was going against them to foil them.

After all, "loose lips sink ships" was the phrase he'd been told as a child.

"I guess you should, yeah."

"Shame for you then! What do you take us for, fools, heh!" Despite the accusations, the man's grin ran wide; the unsettling expression of a mad man... or Colin Baker in rubbish '80s CGI, Jet thought to himself.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He replied, aiming for nonchalance with his answer.

"Your wit wounds me..." Sadly, Jet thought, it hadn't been his sword instead. "As much as I enjoy this verbal duel, the boss wants you brought to him... dead or alive."

"I mean, that's a bit counterintuitive right now. Bringing me to your leader dead, just means that you've taken thin air to him." Jet pointed out, slightly cursing his motor mouth attitude at times like this.

"Err, Johnny, he's kinda right, and I really don't wanna piss off PoH... he creeps me out normally, but when he's angry..." The red player besides "Johnny" shuddered, whilst Jet allowed a small smile to come to his face. What was it about loose lips again, he thought, as he made a mental note of the names.

"Fiiine..." Johnny whined. "We take all of them alive then. You never know, the boss might let us keep one of them..."

''Yeah, no. That isn't happening.''

''I don't want to hurt you...'' Not a single member of the group believed that, and most even raised an eyebrow at that statement. ''Fine... yes, I do! Watch you scream for mercy as the light fades from your eyes...''

''So, I'm guessing your parents weren't the nicest of people then...'' Jet muttered in disgust. ''Either that, or you're just a dickhead.'' The red player, Johnny, grinned at him.

''Leave him alive, I want to see how to make him tick.'' The unnamed red player beside him nodded, before retrieving a mace from his inventory.

''I'm going to enjoy shutting you up.''

''Better people than you have tried... and better than you have failed.'' He retorted, retrieving Hope from his scabbard and getting into a ready stance...

/-/

The mace user was certainly no pushover, Koharu realised, but the way the groups had split gave them somewhat of an edge - Jet would keep the attacker's attention, taking him in a slugging match, whilst Phillia and herself, both far more agile, used the hedges and trees to launch hit and run attacks on him whilst Jet kept him focused on him.

She wasn't sure how much she liked the idea of her boyfriend using himself as bait, but with the current situation, that objection would have to wait until they were out of the woods - both literally and metaphorically speaking.

Darting through a hedge, she found herself on the left hand of a pincer movement, the girls slashing at the slower mace wielder, who quickly changed targets to focus on Phillia, swinging his mace in her general vicinity. The mace itself didn't impact her, skimming past her with only a hair's breadth, although the air turbulence around the spiked ball was enough to throw her to the floor, the impact from the dirt knocking her out.

''Phillia!'' The mace wielder ignored the other girls strikes, advancing on her downed form menacingly...

Before a purple blur slammed into him, throwing him to the side and into the dirt below. As he picked himself up from the dirt, and looked towards his assailant. ''You really are a irritating brat, aren't you?'' The ginger knight picked himself up, leaving his weapons on the floor as he did.

''Nah, just good at cunning stunts...'' She noticed a V shape with his fingers, before he jabbed them into the now disarmed man's eyes.

''ARGHHH!''

''Oh, and stunning... well, gentlemen like you!'' He followed up his optical assault with a punch to the throat, his victim staggering backwards clutching his throat with his eyes closed. It was, kind of unsettling to watch Jet make such a light hearted quip, considering how he'd just attacked... his next attack reinforcing her worry, as Jet circled around him, wrapping his arm around the attacker's neck, the would be assassin throwing himself around to try to extricate Jet from his neck...

''Koharu! Whatever you-RRaggh!- plan to do... do it now!'' She snapped back to reality, and lunged at him, her dagger slamming into the mace user's arm, before he slammed backwards himself. The tree behind him shuddered, as he yanked Jet forward, his head passing over his shoulders, before coming to a stop as it bounced off her own forehead.

She staggered back, seeing black specks in her eyes, and soon felt her blood run cold as she felt an arm around her neck... ''Don't bother fighting back... you'll end up like your friends back there!'' The manic voice of the dagger wielder whispered into her ears, as she felt a small scratch against her cheek...

/-/

After having his head slammed into Koharu's, Jet extricated himself from the tree he'd found himself bound to by manner of his scabbard, and looked forward to see the horrible grin of the mad dagger wielder in front of him, now clutching Koharu in much the same way as he'd held the mace wielder before - arm around her throat, whilst the other hand was on a weapon, a dagger dripping with a clear liquid...

From across the field, Sanya attempted to stand resolute against them, but she wasn't doing so well. Her breathing became erratic, as she blinked constantly, no doubt trying to refocus her eyes. As she fought to regain control of her errant eyes and lungs, she began to shiver, despite the warm weather... ''Wha-what did... what did you do to me!''

''Poison, at a guess. The weapon of a coward.'' Jet hissed.

The poisoned dagger wielder looked back towards him, scandalised at the implication. ''Oh, the weapon of a coward is it? I'll tell you a curious thing about this specific type of poison. It has some... interesting quirks, I think. First, it's recipient loses control of their extremities, before becoming very... receptive to any ideas given to them. I could have her kill you all, if I so wanted. It's a shame we only have this, and not more, else this mission could be far more fun!'' Sanya collapsed to the floor, and he could see Koharu's legs begin to wobble, having clearly been afflicted by the poison.

Gritting his teeth, Jet considered his options. Sanya, Phillia and Koharu were all out of the fight, whilst Rain and Liten had switched to fighting the mace user, and weren't doing so well...

They needed to even the odds, and they needed to do it now! ''I'll tell you what, 'knight of the wind'... how about a duel? The baddest players on Aincrad, taking each other on in a fist fight... it'll be a spectacle to remember us by!''

''Why should I fight you fairly? You clearly have no qualms about cheating...'' He stated, matter of factly.

''(whistles) Ohh, boys! Playtime!'' Another three cloaked players arrived, and and grabbed the two downed girls. The first, a man that Jet figured was getting on in years, picked up Phillia, and began leering towards her. Had the ginger girl been conscious, she would have had to fight back any urge she had to spit in this creep's face, knowing that she really had no way to fight back, and would likely end up a corpse if she did.

''Finally, guess Christmas came early this year, Johnny!''

''The agent is in them, and remember what the boss told us... he wants them himself. But, I'm nothing if not generous, so you get second pick... but for now, hold them. Really make that adrenaline race!''

''Try that, and I will make you suffer a fate worse than any human has ever suffered. Death will be a goddamn mercy...'' Jet uttered, venom and blood thirst in his voice.

''Oh how terrifying.'' Another red player, an estoc wielder spoke with sarcasm evident, whilst his dagger wielding compatriot began holding her face, before making a swift slash, almost singlehandedly sealing his own death warrant when Jet won against him. The attack was only a small scratch to her other cheek, and caused a loss of maybe 10 HP at most, but...

''So, do I have your attention now? Or does this pretty little one have to suffer even more...'' Jet noticed his hands beginning to wander, and yelled out, startling almost everyone present.

''FINE! A duel it is, then.''

''Ah ah ah, before we start, let's make this more fun. There's a setting here. Change it to five.''

''Jet!'' Koharu yelled out, before her jaw was forced shut, the poison kicking in with full force.

''Good, now be a good little toy, and shut up!'' The dagger wielder hissed

''And what if I refuse?'' He asked, almost certain that he knew the answer.

''You.'' Johnny pointed to the crony holding Sanya. ''Take her away, and do... you know what? Go mad! Enjoy yourself! I'll explain it to the boss myself if she doesn't come back with you...'' Sanya had often been described as cold blooded. Normally, that wasn't true, but right now, she felt her blood run cold, as her captor smirked at her. That struck more fear into her than dying here really did. At least death would be quick, this... wouldn't. It could be said that humans are the only truly evil creatures, and right now, she'd agree, as she was at the mercy, or lack of, of one of them.

''Fine. It's changed, see?'' Jet spat, cursing his lack of understanding of kanji. If he had a slightly better understanding, he'd never have entertained the idea of adjusting that setting...

''Good, then... HERE'S JOHNNYYY!'' The lunatic screamed forward, a fist slamming into Jet's throat, sending him flying backwards, badly winded. He had no doubts that, had that been IRL, it would've killed him there and then. Luckily, this was Aincrad, and it didn't, with the knight recovering his breath quickly afterwards. During the momentary reprieve, he wondered what setting he'd actually changed, before a more dark thought came to his mind - he wasn't fighting a duel. He was fighting for his life, and his attacker could easily control the pace of the fight. A fact demonstrated when another punch slammed into his gut, ''I call that one a senda. Hell of a fighting move...'' Jet slammed into the ground again, and spat out digital blood.

''Hah, jokes on you, I needed that tooth removed!'' He coughed, as he stood back up with a defiant grin on his face.

''Ohh, I like you! Give as good as you get!'' Fists flew, and Jet put up an admirable defence for someone at a handicap, matching most attacks, and slugging the ones he couldn't. A plan formed in his head - when his assailant threw a jab, he seemed to overextend his attack. If he could just... screw that! A fist slammed into the assailant's nose at full force, earning a Broken Nose ailment.

''I was playing nice there, but no... boys. Every hit he lands on me, is a slash on them.'' The dagger wielder turned to Koharu, and gave the most snake like grin she'd ever seen. ''Let's see how many of your pretty little screams he can take, shall we?''

''Fuck you.'' Jet spat, getting back into position. A straight up fight was no longer an option, forcing the knight into a purely defensive position, a place that wouldn't end well for him. Despite that, if he could use his attacker's own movements against him, and make use of that overextension, then... it was just crazy enough to work.

''What's the matter, don't wanna play ball!'' A fist lunged into Jet's blocking position, pushing his arm out of the block. Jet smirked back at the attacker, dodging left to avoid another blow, as another fist flew past on his right, a really overextended attack... now! Jet grabbed the attacker's arm, pulling him towards him, before a sweeping kick took the attacker's legs out from underneath him, earning him a single ticket to the dirt, and a boot to the head as he landed.

''Rule one of any form of hand to hand combat. Use your enemy's own movements to your advantage.'' Jet stood over his vanquished foe, victorious, and with a look of smugness on his face. He had every right to be, he thought... he'd just won a fist fight, against the most long odds possible, and-

SKKKLCH.

He looked down to see a sharp metal spike piercing through his stomach, and combined with the sound of metal piercing flesh, muscle and organs, he felt himself go weak and his eyes closed, the world around him disappearing from view as he felt a groan escape from his vocal cords...

''JET!'' Koharu half screamed, and half sobbed, as the knight keeled over, an ever growing puddle of red pixels beneath him...

{Author's Comments}

Cliff-hangers.

It was only so long before I did one like this (honestly, the fact it took me 62 chapters to do one like this is still impressive to me.)