Terminal City: Chapter 7

by **Razren** Tue May 20, 2014 5:01 pm

Chapter 7: Swords

Calvin and his team had been running through the facility for about 20 minutes, and they felt completely lost. "I think that's the same corner we passed a while ago?"

Jade stopped and looked back to Calvin. "Gee...I'm sorry if I can't lead us through a research facility that was shut down when I was a baby."

Calvin stopped talking and just continued walking. As they continued along, the cleaner walls seemed to start giving away to walls covered with weeds and foliage. Jade suddenly tensed up, and told her teammates to slow down. "I hear someone around the corner..."

They all tensed and hid in the shadows. As they sat there, a few guards came walking around the corner. As they walked a little ways away, Calvin smacked one over the head with a lead pipe he had found. Jade then punched the other two into each other to knock them out. As the guard Calvin hit began to stand up, Jade forced him back against the wall.

The guard cursed under his breath, and Jade began to press for information. "Start talking."

"And why should I talk to you?" The guard's voice sounded young, but rough. Jade smirked and put a little bit of pressure on his neck.

"I would suggest if you don't want to face the wrath of the Emerald Dragon, you start telling me what I want to know."

His eyes seemed to widen in shock. "Wait...that green hair....oh no."

Jade nodded. "Yeah. That's right. Now, what are you guys doing here?"

His voice sounded shaky and frightened, but he answered nonetheless. "Umm...well. The Empress wanted to scour around to see if we could dig up anything on Black Lotus here..."

Calvin got a look of curiosity. "And what would Black Lotus have to do with Kana Island?"

The guard sat silent for a second before responding. "I'm just a 2 of Swords. I'm not privy to that kind of information."

Jade frowned. "Then you're useless." She punched him in the jaw and let him drop to the ground. Zach seemed a little hesitant.

"Isn't that a little....harsh?"

Calvin could, for once, agree. "Yeah....and why did you call yourself the Emerald Dragon?"

Jade began to walk away without answering. Zach walked forward and gripped her shoulder. "Are you going to answer us?"

Jade shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "Just keep moving."

She continued walking without another word. Calvin frowned, but continued. They ran into a couple of other groups, which they pressed for more information. They discovered that The Empress, whoever that was, was interested in the facility as she thought Black Lotus was connected to this facility and wanted to take them down.

As they continued along, they eventually arrived at the lower levels of the facility, and found containment cells as they starting walking along. Zach seemed to tense up as they continued, and considering Jade's attitude, it was Calvin who hung back to talk to him.

"Is something wrong there Saxon? You haven't spoken much since we entered this place."

Zach sighed and looked up. "It's nothing. Just...this place brings back some bad memories."

Calvin frowned. "Is it something I can help with?"

Zach laughed slightly. "Like I said, don't worry about it. I'll be fine in a little bit."

Calvin rolled his eyes. "If you say so...." This place...it's making everyone more tense....we need to get what we wanted and get out of here.

"I found something!" Calvin immediately ran over to where Jade was. They found what appeared to be a central monitoring room for all the cells. Strangely enough, no one was there. Calvin walked in and began to look around.

"Knock, knock?"

Zach entered the room next, and after a bit called Calvin over. "Look, there's some people in those cells!"

Calvin walked over and saw three people on the screens, where everywhere else was empty. "I have a feeling they are not supposed to be here..."

Jade walked over and looked at the controls. She scanned through, and sighed. "I can't make heads or tails of this stuff. I was never into computers..."

Calvin smiled. "Allow me madam...." He spun the lead pipe in his hand and slammed it against the controls they exploded into a flurry of sparks, and he heard the mechanized voice of a computer go off.

ATTENTION. ALL CONTAINMENT CELLS ARE NOW OPEN. REPEAT, ALL CONTAINMENT CELLS ARE NOW OPEN!

Calvin smiled. "There we are."

Jade looked at him with a look of anger. "Why in the seven hells would you do that?!"

Calvin retreated back slightly. "I'm sorry...I mean they are all open, right?"

Jade sighed. "That could have also broken all the controls and locks. You should consider yourself lucky..."

Zach smiled. "Well, let's go make sure those guys are alright."

Suddenly, they heard the door of the room slide shut. The central screen turned on and showed the face of a certain scientist that had been prowling through the facility.

"I'm afraid that is going to be quite impossible." His voice was soft, but forceful.

Jade looked at him with a look of anger. "And why is that?"

The man laughed. "I believe it would be ill advised for the enemy to reveal their hand right away. Wouldn't you agree, Emerald Dragon?"

Jade suddenly had her wind armor on. "Why don't you come down to my face and say that!"

The man sighed. "As much as I'd love to degrade my standing to meet with you...it will be rather difficult to talk to you after you are dead." A small hiss could be heard as gas began to fill the room. "Goodbye...my dear Dragon...."

The group were already coughing from the gas as the screen turned off. "We're trapped!" Zach was panicking as he was trying to open the door again.

Calvin was attempting to climb the room to see if there was another way out. "I don't think it's good this way either..." Calvin cursed under his breath. This can't be where I die...come on! Think of something...

Jade cursed and slammed her fist into the computer screen. It shattered and then she simply stood there. As Calvin watched her movements, he saw some of the gas seemed to move with her around her punch. Suddenly...an idea clicked in his head.

"Jade! Punch at the door and suck all of the gas into your punch!"

Jade looked at him confused. "And what is that going to do!"

Calvin sighed. "Just trust me!!!"

Jade did as was instructed, and as her lunch connected with the door, the force of the gas hitting it caused the door to explode and shoot off. It flew down the hallway and landed at the other end. Zach turned to his friends with a, "Quick! Let's get out of here!"

The trio ran out of the room, and Jade couldn't help but look back at the screen with a look of hatred. Little did they know, the sparks from the electronics finally connected with the gas. Suddenly, they heard a huge explosion coming from back the way they came.

A huge torrent of fire was headed their way. Calvin turned around and saw it. "Umm...Jade?"

Jade nodded and spun around. She clasped her hands together and formed a huge gust of wind that sent the fire upwards instead of at them. The force of the shock wave hit them away, and everything went black.

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Liz didn't know how it happened, but she and her team had managed to leave the containment area and find their belongings again. The doors just opened....someone is messing with us...

Hawk finished hacking into another door when they heard a huge explosion. The three of them all turned back to where they just came from. "Glad we weren't down there anymore..." Liz could agree with Hawk. She didn't like the sound of that. They continued down the hallways until they eventually arrived in a slighter more open room.

It had an upper level and had a clear view to the roof of the facility. "We're finally almost out..." Ian sighed a sigh of relief. Liz stopped however as she watched someone approaching from the other side of the room. It was a girl wearing the same armor as the other guards, but she wasn't wearing the helmet. Her long brown hair fell down past her shoulders as she readied a whip as her weapon.

"This is as far as you go." Her voice was commanding.

"And what will you do if we don't?" Hawk began to step forward, but Liz walked forward instead.

Liz sighed and looked at her. "If you're trying to stop us...I'm gonna kill you."

The girl laughed. "You? Take me down? That's a laugh!" She walked forward and flipped her hair back. "I'm the 9 of Swords. And who are you?"

Liz sighed. "Just Elizabeth Scales. Nothing more...nothing less." Liz pulled out her lighter and created a small fire ball.

The 9 seemed to smile. "A pyro, eh? Just like Sir Aaron. He'll have to shine favor on me then for beating you!"

Liz turned to the rest of her team. "I'd like to handle her myself..."

Before Hawk could protest, they heard the clamor of more guards coming from behind. Hawk gave her a thumbs up. "I'm trusting you Liz. Don't let me down!"

Liz nodded and watched as Hawk and Ian sprang to action. Meanwhile, the 9 laughed.

"All by yourself? This will be that much easier!" She raised her hands and the surrounding structure seemed to shake. Eventually, some boxes rose from side rooms and entered the room they were in.

Liz grimaced. Telekinetic....

The 9 threw her hands out and the boxes charged at Liz. Liz created a wall of fire that absorbed the boxes in the blaze. The 9 shot through the fire and spun around to thrust her whip at Liz. Liz jumped back and created a small fire around her fist. She then charged in and punched the girl in the face. She flung back with a slight burn and Liz took that opportunity to lunge forward and create a small vortex of fire.

Unfortunately, the 9 rose her hand and caused a nearby crate to slam into Liz's back, causing her vortex to collapse. The 9 landed perfectly fine and proceeded to renew her attack on Liz. The whip hit her full on, causing Liz to slam into the wall. The 9 then proceeded to form the crates from nearby into a sword like object to slam down into Liz.

Liz shot backward from the shock wave, then corrected herself. She looked down at her lighter, then sighed. If there's one thing you taught me...it's how to fight...

The 9 smiled as Liz stood there, panting. "Had enough little girl?"

Liz smirked. "Oh....I'm just getting warmed up." Liz slammed her fists into the ground as a huge torrent of flame erupted. As it rose, it seemed to take on a shape. As the shape formed more, it appeared to be like that of a phoenix. Liz smirked.

“From your unholy ashes, consume all in the flames of your rebirth!" When 9 heard those words she gasped.

"Wait...that's....."

Liz rose into the sky and was surrounded by the phoenix. "Phoenix Flare!" The Phoenix charged at the 9 and completely engulfed her in flames. Liz could hear her opponent screaming as the flames consumed her, but she could feel no sympathy. She hit the other side of the room and the phoenix dissipated.

Liz turned around to see Hawk shooting towards her with Ian underneath her. As their eyes met, Hawk screamed at her. "Hop on! This place is blowing!" Liz's eyes widened as she jumped up to catch Hawk's hand. She saw flames shooting towards them, and it seemed the entirety of the room they were in was immediately engulfed in flames.

The shockwave finally caught up with them. And it hit them off course. The trio slammed into the rubble of a nearby building as everything began to calm down. Liz attempted to regain her bearings as she looked around. "Ugh...."

She looked back to the facility. While it appeared from the outside it was on fire, she could see it was only a small portion that actually caught fire. Still, the damage could still be seen quite plainly. A huge crater now marked the entrance of the facility. Flames raced across the first floor, but it seemed like the fire systems were getting rid of most of the problem.

Liz simply sighed as she looked on. "Guess we got quite a bit of barbecued Arcana Knights..." Liz passed out as she finished her sentence.

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