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« on: July 19, 2010, 04:50:22 PM »
The 2nd to last chapter. A whopping 2300 words! But it’s all action… and something else. Tomorrow is the last chapter then I'm DONE! (nd I start corrections T-T)
[for web's sake, i broke it into two pieces.]
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CHAPTER FOUR: CRIMSON BEGINNING
1. Crimson I (Before Aftermath I)
The fight had exploded into action. The pirate-soldier known as Tex had fired his weapon at Rex and Regina, and they had been forced to jump and roll out of the way of its explosive bullets that blew up huge holes into the floor.
Hart had smiled at this missed attack and suddenly fired his large gun twice at Tex, who had stepped away from the pink, stretched fireballs, which exploded into the face of a pyramid as Tex jumped away from them.
…Regina had thrown five of her hooks at Yolanda, but Reyuu had jumped and slapped them away her black, metal hand.
Reyuu screamed to Regina underneath the black facemask, “She’s mine!”
She then turned to fulfill her challenge. She jumped towards Yolanda and took her up in the air with a flying jump. Yolanda gasped in pain, but quickly recovered and slashed down at Reyuu’s shoulders with both of her blades.
Reyuu was forced to dodge the strikes, leaving Yolanda falling free. However two cloths wrapped around her arms and blew outwards to leave long, white ‘wing’s’, allowing the pirate to fly. She smiled and rushed to Reyuu with her two swords ready to slice.
…Aikichi had still been rolled up in the silver cloth, and Rex ran to catch her, but two spikes were shot down at Rex. Aiming for the kill. He only had enough time to step away and found himself with two green spikes stuck into his right shoulder.
“Aah!” Rex shouted in pain. Blood flowed and his right hand weakened.
Rex pulled the spikes out with his left hand and faced his attacker: Thousand. The mutant freak, who was now a green beast resembling a mix between a fish and bull, with his feet arranged like that of a bull, and a face like of a fish. His skin was slimy and gray, and his tattered clothes were spread across his unnatural body strangely.
Thousand smiled, “No girl until we get the book, Takaroma!” He shouted in a squeaky voice.
Rex glared, and raised his left hand. A silver hook and chain flew towards Thousand, who rolled away and spat two more spikes from his fish-mouth.
Two hooks and chains rose from Rex’s belt and made tight circles in the air, forming two small ‘shields’ which blocked these spikes.
The ‘shields’ then quickly attacked Thousand, who jumped in the air and spat more spikes.
Rex rolled away again…
… Regina stood there unsure as battle unfurled. In front of her, Hart fired his gun at Tex, who dodged and fired his own gun as well. The two men dodged each explosive, and the ones fired by Tex flew over Regina’s head narrowly, blowing up on the pyramids behind her.
It’s amazing none of them have died already. She thought.
- But she was rudely disturbed, as two harpoons shot at Regina from beside her. She turned to face the harpoons and flipped backwards, and they flew over her head. Regina landed on her feet and found herself facing the man Rex had called ‘Harper’.
He was aiming his harpoon gun at her. Regina slashed up her left hand with three fingers extended and sent three hooks from her sling after him. Harper pulled a gear on his harpoon gun, and an umbrella of skyblue light appeared at the neck of his gun.
The hooks bounced off the ‘umbrella’, and Regina screamed as electric shock burst through her, conducted from hook to chain to her body. She fell backwards onto the ground, finding that she was completely unable to control her body.
Two harpoons flew over Regina.
Flying backwards… She noticed: Harper was collecting the two harpoons he had shot at her.
After he was finished with this, he walked over to Regina, kneeled over her, and dug his gloved hand in the pockets of trenchoat that was wrapped around Regina’s waist.
He pulled out the book, and stepped away. Regina couldn’t tell if he smiled or not, through that large helmet he wore.
He raised his hand in triumph in the direction of Yolanda and Reyuu’s fight.
“I have it!” He screamed, stupidly. Unaware that this would shift all focus to him.
…Hart turned from fighting Tex and saw Harper raising The Legendary Treasure in his hand, and immediately turned his gun on him. Tex took this chance to aim a pistol at Hart’s head.
“Learn to watch your back, Hart!” Tex shouted with an angry smile. Hart didn’t even turn his head.
There was a loud metallic slash and the sound of sliced flesh, then blood rained on the floor, and Tex fell forwards in two halves, with a face of angry pain.
“Learn to watch your's.” Reyuu said, standing over Tex. The underside of her hand was now a sharp blade that dripped blood, proving her guilty of Tex’s death.
“Run, you idiot!”
Yolanda screamed from where she was. Her shoulder was bloody, and she held one sword her right hand. Her other blade was stabbed on the center of the roof in a pile of stained white cloths.
Harper began running slowly in his heavy suit. He headed for the edge of the building. Hart aimed his weapon, and charged it. The tip of the gun glowed pink. Reyuu simply watched.
Rex was dodging spikes, so he couldn’t do anything. Regina was still paralyzed.
Hart fired his charged shot, just as Harper was about to jump to his freedom, and the pink flame blasted the floor in front of him.
Finally the roof had reached its limit: cracks formed on the floor instantly, and the whole level crumbled downwards with loud sounds of shattering glass and instruments on the floor below.
Rex, Thousand, Hart and Reyuu jumped and landed as properly as they could on the new, jumbled floor, while Regina tumbled helplessly. Her side on a piece of glass, and she gasped in pain. However this also served as a cure for her paralysis, because she found she could finally move her body.
Regina turned her head, and found that she was looking at Harper. He was lying against a piece of remaining wall, while holding his harpoon gun out, preparing for any attack. She rolled backwards into a squat, then jumped straight at Harper with her sword preparing for a slice.
Harper fired all his harpoons at her, but he was wounded too badly to hit Regina. The harpoons hit different parts of the room harmlessly. Regina slashed her sword sideways, and Harper remained still.
The severity of the cut was only known when the piece of wall behind Harper fell over him, covering his body up to his boots: The sword had passed through both flesh and stone… The book tumbled out of Harper’s hand, and Regina reached for it-
“!”
A vicious surprise attack from above!
Regina raised her sword in defense and blocked the wakishashi slash aimed at her head. Regina was pushed down from the strong force, and couldn’t avoid the following kick to her stomach. Regina flew backwards and rolled on wood, stone and glass.
Yolanda squatted and picked up the book with her weak left hand. She turned with a desperate look in her eyes: “Thousand! I expect you to do everything to avenge your friends and help me escape!”
She jumped up and away, flying with dirty cloths. Hart and Reyuu began running towards her.
“No you don’t!” Reyuu screamed in defiance as she began jumping-
But Thousand was away from Rex and in front of her in an instant. He curled into a ball, and unfurled into a fish faced being with a fat, bloated body that lined with green crystal blades.
“Take this!”
He exploded, and the spikes flew in every direction.
-Reyuu was hit in the shoulder. The crystal spike easily went through her black armor, and stuck out from the other side. She gasped, and fell to the ground. Her face plate and helmet disappeared, letting her hair cover her face. She remained there unconscious.
- “REYUU!” Hart screamed in shock and he was hit in the shoulder as well. He stumbled back, and fell off the building.
-Rex had begun running towards Yolanda, when the hundreds of crystal blades had flown. He ran and performed a backflip. A sharp blade ran along his chest, cutting a thin line but otherwise missing him whole. Rex landed on the floor in a heap.
- Regina rolled away from the blades, and came to her feet, jumping towards the now spikeless Thousand. He only had a moment to widen his ugly eyes before Regina stabbed him with her silver sword.
He coughed pitifully as it cut his mutant insides. Regina then kicked him off the building. He flew like a strange sort of ball, spilling green alien blood all over the floor.
Regina looked at Rex, “Rex! Yolanda is getting away! We have to-”
That was when she noticed what had happened to Aikichi…
The once floating silver balloon was punctured with spikes, and blood poured from it. Rex was pulling out the crystals and throwing them away. He started shaking his sister’s body frantically, “Aikichi… Aikichi! Aikichi!!!”
Regina grabbed Rex’s shoulder, “Rex, she’s dead!”
“NO!” He screamed.
“!!” Regina was pushed back by a blast of golden light and force pushed Regina back. Her tied up hair came undone and flew backwards in wild bands.
“Rex!?” Regina shaded her eyes in the light.
Rex’s belt shone gold, his hands shone gold, and his eyes cried tears of gold and burst golden light as bright as the sun. He was completely changed.