Book Title

Justice

Justice

I, like many others, was given life to make the most of it, and that is exactly what I try to do. However, when out in a desert, it isn’t exactly easy to do that unless you decide to go hunting for demons to make a living. These past few years, I’ve been hunting, keeping others safe and receiving my pay. By far, I’ve stayed at a place with only a few buildings. So few that I could list them all off, such as a motel with twenty rooms, a garage where people could go to get their vehicle fixed, a hangar in which is used for larger vehicles, such as semi-trucks and the likes, as well as a two two-story buildings, both which are just small rooms stacked on top of each other for rent, and a single convenience store with a gas pump outside of it. I’ve been living in one of the downstairs motel rooms for about twelve years, concluding that my parents died when I was fourteen, so at fifteen I went off and started doing my own things, at twenty-two, I began to hunt demons, as I found out it paid better than garage work. Now, however, I’ve got more money than I need, especially since the motel rooms are pretty cheap. Though, since I’ve been staying for so long, I’ve been given a small discount and I only have to pay three weeks worth every month. Everyone who has been working or living here for long times has known my name for quite some time, Strangely enough, even some people I’ve never seen know about me. I suppose a hunter’s name gets out there one way or another. Right now, however, I’m in the midst of travelling off to find a demon that has been causing trouble over and over. As I walk next to the road, I watch as multiple cars pass. Trucks with crates in the back, small cars, big cargo trucks, and all the likes. I looked down at my map, then at my compass. By now, I should head southwest, and so I turn and begin walking southwest. I looked up and noticed a fair-sized beast taking heavy steps along the ground. Being under it would crush someone in mere seconds. I quickly put away my items, pulled out my blade, and hid behind a nearby rock. I peered out, watching as it looked around. It likely sniffed me out and is now searching for me. Luckily, I’ve dealt with kinds like it. It shouldn’t have an extremely strong sense of smell, so it won’t be able to sniff me out of my location. However, its sense of touch and sight is extremely sensitive. Moving or being in its sight will be a crucial disadvantage to myself. I grabbed a rock nearby and threw it on the ground near another rock near the rock I’m at. It quickly jolted and I hid behind the rock again before it turned. I could feel the vibrations of its fet getting closer, then stop at the rock I threw. There were a few quick steps, assuming it turned around. I looked over the rock and, surely, the beast had its back turned to me. I quickly leapt over the rock, ran towards the demon, and hopped on its back, plunging my blade deep into its back. It screeched, piercing its voice through the air. I covered my ears, however, it hopped upwards on its back two legs, so I quickly grabbed its wrinkly, dry skin. Once it slammed back down, I grabbed my blade, twisted it, and pulled it out. I crawled on its back to its head, stabbed through its head. Soon, it began to fall sideways, so I quickly pulled out my blade and leaped off of it, a few meters in front of the location it had fell to. Another demon dead, another life saved.

I cleaned my blade as I walked back to the small resting spot. It was getting dark, so I decided to go over to the garage to greet everyone. However, before I greet them, I’ll go take a quick shower. Once I was back in the limits of the rest spot, I ran over to the motel and unlocked my door, opening it, walking in, and then closing it. I stripped myself of my clothes, tossing them in a bin near the bathroom door. I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, stepping into the shower and turning it on. Quickly, I washed any dirt or blood from my body, then stepped out and dried off, walking out and over to a drawer next to the bed, pulling one of them out and finding some boxers, then opening another and grabbing a pair of jeans. I quickly pulled them both on. I closed the two drawers, then opened another and grabbed a pair of socks, slipping them on, then walked over to a wardrobe and grabbed a reddish-brown button-up shirt and a plain white t-shirt. I threw the t-shirt over my head and slipped my arms through the holes. I then shoved my arms into the reddish-brown button-up shirt and buttoned it up. I grabbed a black jacket and threw it over myself, keeping it unzipped. I turned out the lights and walked back out of my room, locking it behind me. I kept my blade with me, just in case. It was in a sheath at my hip. I walked over to the garage and looked in through the open garage door. I saw an old man, Maior Tharl. He had been working here for much before I’d been born. To be more precise, about forty years.

“Kimbo, how are you?” he stood from his foldable chair.

“You don’t have to stand, Tharl,” I walked over to him and he refused to sit down. He walked over to me and pulled me in, giving me a hefty hug. Regardless his size and age, he’s still strong and well.

“I see you’re as healthy as you’ve ever been these past few years,” I chuckled a bit.

“I ain’t gonna croak yet, boy,” he said, laughing mightily.

“How’s it been at the garage?” I asked.

“A bit lonely without you for these past few years. Miss Holly has been working on them vehicles all day long,” he said, “Ah, if you’re wondering, Miss Holly’s working on a car now in that hangar down the road.”

“Another semi?” I asked.

“No, some strange vehicle,” he said, ‘They have all them strange thing-a-doos now.” He walked over and sat down in his foldable chair.

“I’ll be seeing you,” I said, raising my hand to signify my leaving.

“I’ll be sure not to die then,” he said. I walked across the street, past the convenience store and to the hangar. Surely enough, I saw her working on some strange vehicle.

“So, the hell are you working on now?” I asked.

“They wouldn’t tell me, some classified stuff,” she said, looking over to me, “Oh, Kimbo, how’re you?” She looked almost entirely uninterested in me.

“You know, hunting as usual,” I said.

“I see,” she said. I know she doesn’t like hunters, but I needed more money than the garage was giving me, so I had no other choice. Knowing Tharl, he’d make me sleep outside or in the hangar, which isn’t a place I want to be, either of the two.

“I’m sorry that it turned out like this, again,” I said.

“How many times do you gotta say that?” she turned around, looking agitated.

“I suppose I’ll be leaving now,” I said, “Just came around to say hello.” I turned and began walking out of the hangar. She didn’t say a word, much less turn to look back at me.

I walked over to my motel room, finding an envelope on the ground in front of it. I bent over, picked it up, and opened it, pulling out the slip of paper in it. Once I’d read it, I noticed where the location was. There was a demon causing havoc in a city a few so miles southeast of here. Apparently, there isn’t another hunter nearby, and so I was chosen to deal with it. I unlocked my door, walked into my room and closed my door, turning the lights on and walking over to my desk. I sat down and composed a short letter notifying the person I’d be there as soon as possible. I grabbed an unsealed envelope and fitted the paper into it, writing the return address onto the envelope and then sealed it. I grabbed a stamp and placed it onto the envelope, then went over to the convenience store and, in front of it, slid it into a post box. I walked over to the garage, finding Tharl still in his chair. I looked around, but couldn’t quite find what I was looking for.

“If you’re looking for your car, it’s in the back,” Tharl said. I nodded and walked over to a door, opened it, and saw a few cars. However, the only one that stood out was a dark blue one, my own. I walked over to it, pulled out my keys, and unlocked the door. I got in, closed the car’s door, adjusted the side-view mirrors, started the ignition, then fastened my seatbelt. I changed the gear and the car began to move. I slightly pushed the gas pedal and began driving out of the large door in front of me. First, exiting the building, I was on a dirt road. Then, I came to the asphalt. I looked for any other cars, then turned. I pushed a button in the car, causing the roof to slide back. It would seem that she did install the convertible part of the car I wanted. I looked around only a bit. The scenery in the desert-like area wasn’t exactly beautiful, but it sure was something, especially with the tranquil beasts around. I conclusively find it tiring to drive for extended periods of time. However, once I reached the city, it was great to finally be able to stretch out. I walked over to a building, one described in the note, and walked in. It was a restaurant. I looked around, but I couldn’t find the person who was described in the note. However, a man in a black vest, a white button-up shirt, and black slacks walked over to me and handed me a note, walking away without a word. I walked out of the building, unfolded the note, and read it. It seems it was a ruse. However, that isn’t uncommon for hunters. Often times, we’re told about demons invading cities and harassing people, but it was just some joke or trick that a kid or someone who hates hunters put in. However, I felt the ground rumbling and then a light, and soon came the sound. When I looked around, I noticed a fairly sizeable amount of black smoke rising from the northwest, where I just came from. Was the garage attacked? I threw down the note and ran over to my car, quickly starting it and driving as fast as I could, caring not what others were doing around me. In a matter of minutes, much faster than I left the rest spot, I arrived. However, I was welcomed by ruins and the blood of people, along with a booming sound of some vehicle making a leave. The same vehicle Miss Holly was working on. Most of the hangar had still been standing, so I ran over to it. I looked in and, mostly, the roof and a few parts of the walls were gone. When I looked over to the pile of rubble, I saw Miss Holly trapped under it.

“Holly!” I ran over to her. Her breath was quiet. I knelt down and looked down to her.

“Kimbo,” she softly spoke, “I’m not wrong, am I?” Her eyes seem to be injured, as well.

“Holly, don’t move too much,” I said, “I’ll get you out of this, I swear.” I stood up and climbed up the rubble, shoving things off of the pile.

“Kimbo,” just barely, I heard her and stopped, turning around.

“Holly,” I said. I could feel myself tearing up.

“It’s much too late,” I hopped down from the pile and looked down at her smiling, “Always remember to smile and everything will be alright.”

“You know that isn’t true,” I said, “Besides, the only times you smiled for me were when I worked at the garage.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t smile more,” she said, “But always remember that I’ll be there.”

“Please don’t,” I couldn’t stop my tears from falling. I grabbed her hand and held it in mine. She squeezed my hand weakly, which only made me feel worse.

“Continue your life,” she said, “You must move on.” Soon, her hand slowly started to release mine and her arm went completely limp. Her eyes were closed and a smile still pasted on her face.

After I’d left the hangar, I walked over to the garage. It had been completely destroyed, considering the amount of combustibles and explosives in it. I turned to look towards the motel, which had also been demolished. I feel as though I know the purpose of the note, now. They wanted me, a hunter, to be out of the town so there was no way they could stop them. Soon, I felt rumbling, so I looked around, but saw nothing. I looked up and saw a large ship slowly making its way across the sky. Soon, I noticed a symbol, one I know all too well. They call themselves Justice, but everyone considers them terrorists. They go around destroying locations that they see unfit. If a few hunters are in the location, they’ll find a way to remove them from the location, as they see hunters as people who commit acts justice, as well. However, even hunters see them as the opposition. I walked back over to my car and hopped in, starting it and driving off. I’ve never been too far from the rest spot, so I don’t really know many of the roads around here. However, I did see a few of Justice’s ships hovering above an area, one which had walls. It was likely one of their few bases around here. By the looks of it, a small fort. It was only a few turns ahead, so I decided to go to it. After about a minute of driving, I parked my car in front of the entrance. The gate had been opened because a truck recently came in. It began to close, so I ran for the gate. Much before I closed, I made it in. I looked around and saw quite a few buildings, along with a few patrolling vehicles and men. I snuck along the wall, then got down on my stomach and began crawling through tall grass and bushes. As I made my way through the base, the ships began to lower, all near the center of the base. Once I made sure, I quickly ran across a road, my back against a building. I looked around the corner and noticed two other people sneaking around as well. I crept along the building, until I reached the corner, and I looked around the corner once more. They went through a gate, and so I followed behind them. The area was fenced in, along with some large object within the fence. I stood, my back straightened. I stared at it, the bottom of it glowing a bright blue. They simply walked up to it, one of them shoving a crowbar into the metal. He pried it open a bit and the other grabbed onto it with his bare hands, peeling it off of the object. Inside, a small blue orb sat. One of the lifted a greatsword and began their swing. However, just before the person could hit the orb, a person appeared out of nowhere in a red flash and deflected the man’s swing with a thin blade.

“I don’t think so,” the man said with a grin. He kicked the man with the greatsword, who grunted and fell to his bottom. The other man pulled out a blade and swung, but missed entirely. The man with the thin blade somehow managed to get behind the other man. He bashed the hilt of his thin blade into the other man’s head. He fell to his knees, then he fell forward. The man with the greatsword got up and ran forward, swinging downwards at the man. However, his greatsword collided with the concrete below. The man with the thin sword, again, knocked out the man. I just watched, standing behind a crate. Soon, the alarm sounded. I was startled for a moment and looked around, noticing many feet pattering around. Soon, a group of people spotted me.

“There’s one!” one shouted. He ran for me, so I pulled my blade out and blocked his swing. When I looked down at his hilt, I noticed I was too late to react. A huge burst of wind was emitted from a box on his hilt, knocking me back. I stood back up, grabbing my sword next to me. He charged at me again, so I ducked and swung upwards, moving upward with it. I managed to cut his arm, but he seemed not to flinch at all. He kicked me in the stomach and I was sent back a few steps. I swung my sword again, but he blocked it and, again, a burst of wind emitted from the box, this time flinging my sword out of my hand. He then grabbed an object on his side and forced it onto my body, pressing a button on it. A quick shock had been sent through me, paralyzing my body from movement. I simply fell, my eyes falling shut.

When I woke up again, I found myself lying on the ground, a cold hard concrete ground, behind some bars. There wasn’t a bed or anything, really. There had only been a bookshelf with a select few books. Those books were more from either famous authors or entirely unknown authors. I stood up and looked around, noticing only a few other cells. However, hardly any of them had another person in them, other than two that stood out particularly. The other two who had been sneaking around. They were both still asleep. I could hear the footsteps of soldiers patrolling the halls nearby, but not much else. There hadn’t been much to do in the cell, so I just grabbed a few paperback books and fitted them to act as a sword, just a cylindrical once. I swung, only to have it fall apart on me. I picked them back up and put them back where I found them. They’d been similar to magazines, really. I didn’t expect much from them. If I have nothing to do, then I may as well begin reading a book. I grabbed a book by an author I didn’t know, Isshak Guarvi. Without bothering to look at the title, I opened the book and began to read. At first glance, nothing particularly stood out about it. Once I’d gotten deeper and deeper into it, though, I was beginning to get dragged in, as though I was a fish completely susceptible to the lure. I couldn’t remove my eyes from the pages of the book. Naturally, I’d read and read to gather knowledge on such things as demons and such, but to take time and leisurely read a book like this is different. It’s all dreamt up, planned, and then created. Of course, it naturally takes time to do such things. When I finally looked up, I noticed a fairly sizable man with two guards. He wore a tie and suit, along with glasses. He held a big cigar in his hand, as well, the tip of it burning away. He lifted the cigar, placed it in his mouth, and took a huge puff of it, releasing the smoke moments later.

“So you’re Kimbo, the well-known hunter?” his voice was a bit grungy, “Your offense was sneaking in and planning to destroy a generator?”

“Not exactly,” I said, “But I did intend to take down that abomination.” He just chuckled and grinned.

“I like your attitude, kid,” he said, “But it’s too bad you’re not on our side.” He said.

“I guess it is,” I shrugged.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, pulling a ring of keys from his pocket, “I’ll let you out. However, don’t lean on me too much.” He stuck the key in the lock and unlocked it, sliding the door open. I stood up, placing the book back on the shelf.

“Why?” I said.

“As I told you, I like your attitude,” he took another puff of his cigar, “You, escort him out of the building.” One of the men stood tall and saluted to him. I walked over to the man and we were soon leaving.

“Don’t think you’re off the leash yet because of him,” he said.

“Never thought of it,” I said. Soon, I walked out of the building and back to the world I knew, a big desert. My car just so happened to end up here too, as I saw it nearby. I walked over to my car, the roof down, and looked in the back seat. Surely, my belongings were there, as well as my keys. I reached in, grabbed my keys, got in the driver’s seat, and started the car. I pulled out of the area and began driving on the road. I turned only for a moment to see a humongous building. So I was imprisoned in such a thing? I honestly don’t think he let me go because he liked my attitude, but because I was a hunter. Soon, I found a city, so I drove in and looked around. There were plenty of people on the sidewalks. I turned and went straight. Soon, I found a convenience store, so I pulled in and parked at it. I got out, grabbed my belongings, and put them back onto my body. My blade back at my hip and a pair of suspenders with two holsters, along with the handguns that go with it. I then threw my black jacket on and set out to find something. I walked over, into the convenience store to see what I could find.

“Welcome,” a woman at the register said with a smile. I walked over to her.

“Hello, I’m new here,” I said, “Mind to give me a few tips as to what’s around here?”

“Sure,” she said, pulling out a map of the city. It wasn’t large, but it was most definitely bigger than the rest spot. We exchanged a few words and she pointed out a few essential locations in the city. Once I departed, I thanked her and began to head for a restaurant, as I haven’t had anything to eat for some time.

I walked around, looking for a restaurant, but only found some cafes and a few jewelry shops, each with beautiful wares. Soon, I encountered a restaurant, and so I walked in and looked around, noticing many people seated. I waited for someone to address me, and soon, someone did. They asked how many, and so I told them it was just me. They brought me around to the back portion of the restaurant, where there was a bar. From there, I suppose I’m to do as I please. I sat down at the bar, which had been in the center and was a rectangle. One of the two bartenders came over and leaned on the bar. I told them a glass of water and a sandwich. They nodded and they started working on it. I looked around, noticing there weren’t too many people here. I assume it’s more popular here at night. Soon, the bartender arrived with a glass of water and a plate with a sandwich on it. It contained a few slices of ham, lettuce, and cheese. I picked up the glass and drunk a bit of it, then took a bite out of the sandwich. I noticed someone sit next to me, so I looked over. A man who wore only a white t-shirt and black jeans sat there, a tattoo on his right cheek and a sleeve of tattoos on his arm, along with long, black hair. I noticed a few scars on his arm, as well as one on his lip. I looked back down to my food in silence, as though nothing happened. Of course, as anyone would be, I was curious about his scars.

“They came from Justice,” he said, “A couple of years ago, four of my friends and I went to attack one of their bases. My friends ended up either dying or getting captured. By now, they’ve probably been executed. I only managed to barely escape.” He turned to me.

“Yeah?” I said.

“I intend to go and crush them,” he said, clenching his fist.

“I’ve got the same thoughts as you,” I said, “To destroy them.”

“You’re a hunter, aren’t you?” he said, “Kimbo?”

“Yeah,” I said, “It shouldn’t be hard to enter the base with me by your side.”

“We’ll make a good team,” he smiled and held his hand out. I grabbed it and shook it. After a few minutes had passed, a bartender came around and served him a glass of whisky. I finished my sandwich and then continued to drink my water. The bartender came around and picked up my plate, then came back to us. Him and the man next to me began to talk to each other. I suppose he comes here a bit often, likely to get the load of his previous friends off his back. I finished my glass, as well as he, and we both set out. I turned, back down the same road I took to get here. When we arrived at the store, I unlocked my car and got in. He sat in the passenger’s seat and adjusted it.

“This is a nice car you’ve got,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, “It’s the only memory I have of my home, as well as two of my dear friends.”

“I see,” he said, “So, what happened?”

“Well, as usual, I received a note of a demon terrorizing people in a city, but there had been no demon when I arrived. It’s pretty natural to get fake notes. However, when I went to head back to my car, I noticed an explosion. When I arrive back to my home,” I paused, “When I arrived, the place was in shambles. It was a rest spot called Gandolia. The hangar collapsed on top of one of my friends, who had still been alive once I got there, but passed as I tried to help them. The other was already dead in the garage, crushed under the little remains of it left.”

“Oh,” he looked down, “I see, and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, “We’ll destroy Justice for what they’ve done to us.” I said, starting the car.

“I never introduced myself,” he said, “My name is Randolph Quay.”

“You already know who I am,” I said. He laughed and lightly pushed my arm. I pulled out of the lot and began driving.

I decided to head to a base nearby, just so no one would suspect me from the last base. I looked around, then noticed the base, one with big walls around it. It was much larger than the previous one, so it would take a bit more time to find the generator. However, it wouldn’t be as hard to get to it, as we don’t have to sneak. Soon, we arrived at the base and I reached to the back, where my things are, and pulled out my hunter’s permit. I drove up to the entrance, stopped, and waited for the man to come up to us. I showed him my permit and he stepped back. The gate opened and I drove in. I parked my car, put up the roof, and then stopped the car, getting out and grabbed my blade from the back. I put it in the sheath and continued forward. As I was walking through the base, the soldiers all watched us strangely. I began to get slightly uncomfortable, but still walked forward. Soon, I spotted the generator and pointed towards it. He nodded and we turned that way. Before we struck the generator, I looked around. No one was around, so I gave him a thumbs up. He pulled out a giant blade from the sheath on his back and I pointed where to stab through. For a moment, the blade clashed with the metal, but then penetrated. I heard the sound of steam being forced out of an object. From the edges of the metal plate, I saw smoke, then noticed it was getting hotter. It had been hissing wildly at us, as though it was a cat in which we had just assaulted.

“Get back!” I shouted, forcefully pulling on him. He put his sword away quickly and began running. The generator soon exploded and the lights went out. Not only the lights, but the tanks shut down, as well. The ships faltered and stopped moving. We watched as multiple things began to malfunction due to the destruction of the generator. The soldiers panicked for a moment, but soon began to turn to us. Quickly, we ran. We’d have to take a long route, but it’d be the safest bet. We ran behind a large building and in front of us, a much smaller group of soldiers. I pulled out my blade, and so did Randolph. He immediately ran forward, swinging his blade into one of the soldiers. For a moment, I almost looked away, but then realized that the soldier dodged it. I could tell it caught Randolph off-guard, so I quickly ran forward and bashed the soldier with the hilt, causing him to fall back.

“These aren’t your ordinary soldiers,” he said.

“I noticed that last time I fought them,” I said, “Exercise caution when fighting them, got it?”

“Alright,” he said.

“Also, you see the box on the guard of their weapons?” I said, watching for him to look closely at them, “Those aren’t just some design, they emit a burst of wind meant to wear down their opponent or to knock them back.” He simply nodded. One of the soldiers ran up and their blades clashed. Randolph made sure to keep the guard of their weapon away from him. While he was busy with one of the soldiers, another came over to me. The enemy had the same kind of blade, as anticipated. When blocking, I kept the enemy’s guard away from me. I pushed back and swung my blade. I felt it tear through something, but there was no blood. I looked down at the guard and noticed the box had been broken. I swung my blade and they clashed. I noticed a clicking sound coming from the box, but nothing more happened. I kicked the soldier and he fell back. I looked over to Randolph, who still seemed to be having a bit of trouble. I ran over and stabbed at the box on the soldier’s sword. It successfully went through and I pulled my blade out of it. He looked over to me and tried to swing, but Randolph bashed him with his giant sword. The soldier went flying, then landed back-first.

“We can’t just keep bashing them. They’ll continue to get up over and over,” he said.

“I know!” I said, “I just can’t.” I said, gritting my teeth.

“Start doing it now or we’ll die!” he said. Just then, I remembered what he’d been through with his friends. One of the soldiers ran over to him, but he swung his blade and it broke their blade, as well as cut one of their arms off. I looked over and noticed a mass of blood on the ground in only a few seconds. He then stabbed through the soldier’s neck, causing his head to tear from his body, flinging away from us. I looked away, then noticing a soldier run up to me. I held my blade tight, prepared to block. He swung at me and I blocked it, pushing him away, then stabbing for the box on his guard. It penetrated the box, then I pushed forward more, until the base of my blade was through it entirely, some of it in the man’s stomach. I pulled it out and then swung horizontally at his torso, feeling resistance as my blade tore through his skin and clothes. Blood soon began to pour from just beneath his ribcage. He collapsed on his knees and forced his arm over the large wound, applying pressure. I clenched my teeth and plunged my blade through his head, then pulled it out. Whether I knew the person or not, it was hard to see someone’s life end. I continued to clash with the other soldiers, killing them one by one. Once we were done, I cleaned off my blade and slid it into the sheath. Randolph patted my back and began running. I heaved a deep breath and began running.

Once we reached the car, I quickly drove off. Randolph simply just looked back at the base, then looked forward. On the road, I noticed many ships flying over to the base. Their source was likely connected to a nearby base, which I wasn’t ready to attack yet. I clicked a button and the headlights came on. There weren’t any streetlights out here, so using my headlights was the only way to see. It was likely past eight o’clock by now. During night, it’s highly advised that normal people don’t drive or go out at all. Of course, there are those occasional teens that decide to go out and test their bravery or some crap, then end up getting themselves killed. There are also people who have been miles away from a city and couldn’t make it in time, so they ended up getting attacked on the road. Many lives have been lost to demons, but many demons have been killed. By now, it’s hard to tell which one of us has died more. Next to me, Randolph just stares at a book, paying no attention to me or the road, much less the world around him. Soon, I heard a low grumbling sound, one similar to a demon. I quickly stopped the car and looked around. In the middle of the road, a large demon with two long arms and two large feet stood there, walking along with its arms dragging along the ground.

“Randolph, ahead,” I said.

“I see it,” he said, closing his book and getting out of the car. I turned put the car in park, keeping the lights on so we could see. I reached in the back and grabbed my blade, then hopped out of the car. We both went up to the demon, who stopped once it saw us. It just grumbled and stared at us. It lifted its large arm and swung it down. We ran away and it slammed between the two of us, tearing the road up. I pulled out my blade and Randolph did the same. I ran over to the demon’s arm and stabbed into it, climbing up using my blade. It didn’t even flinch or look concerned about what I did. I continued to climb it, up to its upper arm. It lifted its arm and began swinging it. I kept my blade in its arm and held tightly. Soon, it stopped swinging its arm. I continued to climb up until I reached its shoulder, then began swinging my blade at its neck. My blade continued to hack through its skin. It reached its other arm over and grabbed its shoulder, almost crushing me. However, it moved its hand and then grabbed me. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel myself moving. Once I could see again, I noticed myself practically flying through the air. When I landed, my stomach hit the front of my car. I slid downwards onto my knees and held my stomach.

“Dammit,” I muttered.

“Kimbo!” Randolph shouted, looking back to me. I turned and noticed the demon heading for him.

“Behind you!” I yelled with what I could. He turned and, just barely, managed to clash his blade with the demon’s large arm. However, due to the force and momentum of the attack, it caused him to get knocked back a few meters. He fell backwards, but quickly got up again. I stood up on my own, bearing the pain of my stomach. I slowly and painfully got over to them, my blade in my right hand. I readied myself again, preparing for the next attack. It then swung its arm horizontally, so I ducked before it got to us. Randolph swung his blade vertically, his sword slicing into its arm. It let out a loud screech and quickly pulled its arm away, releasing a plentiful amount of blood while doing so. It then brought forward its other arm directly above me. I started running, but noticed at this speed and its size, I wouldn’t make it in time. I held up my blade and its hand collided with my sword. Just before I got out from beneath the large hand, my sword broke in two and its hand slammed into the ground nearby me. Due to the wind pressure, I was lifted a bit and tossed back. Randolph ran over to the demon’s arm and cut part of it. It jolted back and slammed down with its other arm in an attempt to crush him. However, he dodged and cut through the part he had previously cut. Its large hand fell off of its arm and fell limp in front of us, quickly vanishing. It stood tall and lifted its right leg, stomping downwards, but Randolph managed to dodge it again and stabbed through its leg, pulling his blade out. It screeched and then turned, quickly fleeing. Randolph was panting a bit, but was fine in the end. He cleaned his blade and put it back in his sheath, outstretching his hand to help me up. I grabbed a hold of his hand and he pulled me up. We walked back to the car and I began driving again. He picked up my blade from the back seat and pulled out the remains of it.

“So, this is the blade you’ve been using since you began hunting?” he said.

“Yes,” I said, “It was about time for it to break anyhow, just as the smith said.”

“A smith who can tell when it will break?” he said, “Must be one talented smith.”

“Indeed,” I said.

“So, who is he?” he asked.

“Who was he,” I said, “He isn’t alive anymore.”

“I see, so,” he said, persisting to know.

“He was my father,” I said, “Killed by Justice some few years before I actually became a hunter. He was a part of the Union, and by that time, Justice had raided the city. He was killed after defeating one of the few Justice High Commanders in a prolonged battle. He sustained one too many wounds to live.”

“I see,” he said, “I’m sorry.” He turned without a word more and stared at the darkness ahead of us.

By the time we woke up, we were in a motel room. I looked out of a window and saw a convenience store in front of the building. When I walked out of the building and in front of it, I noticed that the motel and convenience store were the only two things out here. Seems it’s a rest spot, similar to Gandolia, just smaller and less buildings. I walked over to the convenience store and opened the door, welcomed by a man standing at the register. I nodded to him and looked around, looking for something small to eat and a drink. I grabbed a small bag of chips and a bottle of water, walked over to the cashier, and waited for him to check them in. When he told me the price, I pulled out some money and laid it on the counter. He took the money, counted it, and gave me my change. I pocketed the change and took the two items, walking out to my car and placing the water bottle in one of the seats, then opening the bag of chips and began eating. I noticed Randolph talking to a woman who had been selling things from the back of her truck. He was likely looking for things to buy, as well. He nodded and turned away, noticing me, and walking over.

“So you’re awake now?” he said.

“Yeah,” I said, “What were you looking for?”

“Directions to the nearest city. If you’re going to fight, you’ll need a weapon,” he said.

“Well, it’s about time for me to quit being a hunter, anyhow,” I said.

“What?” he said.

“I’ve been thinking about quitting hunting,” I said.

“Hold on, you can’t. What about your friends, your father? Justice killed them,” he said.

“Exactly, Justice killed them, not the demons,” I said.

“But you can get in the bases without a problem. Don’t you want to crush them for what they did?” he said.

“I do, but if it means killing people,” I said.

“If it means killing people, so be it. You want to crush them because they killed those who were close to you. Remember what happened to me and my friends?” he said. They were all likely murdered and he managed to escape. His plans now are to take down Justice due to their actions. They’ve murdered many innocent people, so why would they deserve to live, to remain in power?

“Alright,” I said, “I’ll stay a hunter.” He looked at me with a smile and placed his hand on my shoulder, nodding. We got into my car and I began to drive to the nearest city with Randolph guiding me. The fastest route to the city involved a lot of turns, but was worth it in the end, as we ended up entering an area with an abundance of trees. The scenery was beautiful around here. Soon, the city came into view. It was on top of a hill. We ended up going under a bridge, turning a wide turn, and then taking the bridge to get into city limits. I turned into a parking lot and shut down the car. I got out, and so did Randolph. I picked up my sword sheath and walked around the city, looking for a smith. Once I saw a man admiring a blade, I thought that was the smith. I walked over to him and stood in front of him. He looked up to me.

“May I help you?” he asked.

“Are you the smith?” I asked.

“Indeed,” he said, “Do you need a blade?” I nodded and pulled out the blade from my sheath.

“It broke last night while I’d been fighting a demon. It ran away, but at least we’re alive,” I said.

“Yes, life is essential. I’ll make you a new blade right away. A classic falchion. You seem like the kind of man for that,” he said.

“No,” I said, “I want something that can make a clean cut in a demon.”

“A clean cut?” he said, “Sure, but the price will be hefty.” I nodded and asked how much it was. It was, indeed, a large amount. I gave him the money, almost all of what I had left in my pocket, and he went inside of a building, telling me that it would probably take the entire day to make the sword. Randolph and I decided to head back to my car and talk for a bit. He began reading his book and I grabbed the water bottle I bought and began drinking it.

“These past few days have been long,” I said.

“Yes, they have,” he said, “But in due time, we will take down Justice. Whether it be years from now, or whether it be tomorrow.” He seemed extremely confident and ecstatic about it. I was excited for the day we would defeat them, as well.

“You wouldn’t mind to sleep in the car tonight, would you?” I asked him.

“Sure, but why?” he said.

“That purchase of the sword took a large amount from what I’ve got on me right now. Plus, I don’t think I saw a bank around here at all, so I can’t pay for a place,” I explained to him.

“I suppose so,” he said, “It’s getting dark, we should probably get to sleep, then.” I looked up and saw the moon peeking between the clouds, as well as a few faded stars. I got into the front of the car and Randolph got in the back. I put the hood up and we both laid down in our part. I laid in the two front seats while he laid in the two back seats. Quickly, I fell asleep.

Once I woke up, I lifted my body from the seats and looked in the back seats. Randolph seems to have wandered off again. My back was a bit pained, but that is natural. I opened the car door and made sure it was locked before looking around to find Randolph. When I made it around town, I found him at the smith’s. The smith was standing there talking with him. He looked joyous, and so did the smith. I decided to let them talk a bit more and went off to find a food stand. When I did, I bought a fruit with what little money I had left and, being that it was a fruit I could just eat without peeling or cracking open, I began munching on it. It had both a sweet and sour taste, the sweet being similar to that of a pomegranate and the sour being similar to that of a lemon. I looked around and noticed several stalls selling fruits. In fact, when I paid more attention, just about all of the stalls sold fruits. Some sold vegetables, but for the most part, they sold fruits. Simply put, they must have plenty of farms around that harvest fruits. Perhaps they are of high-value and are sold separately per stall. I finished my fruit and turned back to the smith and Randolph, who were still talking. I walked over and began listening in. Of course, they were both talking about swords.

“I’m awake,” I said. Randolph turned to me.

“You sleep through most of the morning, it seems,” he said.

“I finished your blade,” he said, “Let me go get it.” He turned and walking into his building. Moments later, he came out with a shining curved blade with a black hilt and golden guard.

“Such a beauty,” Randolph said, examining it closely.

“Quite,” I said.

“Took me a bit longer to forge than I expected, but it turned out just fine,” he said. I took the blade in my hands and grabbed my sheath. I slid it in and, satisfyingly, it fit, with a soft clink when it fully went in. After we finished exchanging a few words, we left from the smith and continued back to my car.

“The stalls around here, they seem to only sell fruits, except for a select few that sell vegetables,” I said.

“I noticed it too,” he said, “When I noticed, I thought they were a vegan city, but that’s rather illogical.”

“My belief is that there are farms around that harvest fruits and vegetables, as well as each stall can’t sell the same fruits as another,” I explained my theory to him. When I looked around more, I noticed that what I theorized fit exactly.

“It is possible,” he said. Soon, we reached my car and I started it. I began driving, continuing in the direction we were going before. Once we’d been on the road for a few minutes, I noticed a strange blue car behind us. When I looked back on the road, I turned left, down a road. The car turned, as well. I turned right, then stopped and turned around, then went back down the same road I just went down.

“The hell are you doing?” Randolph asked. Before giving him an answer, I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed the car still following me.

“Someone’s following us,” I said, “Look in the mirror.” He looked in the mirror and sat back in his seat. He looked over to me and gestured and I nodded. I quickly stopped the car and waited for the other car to stop, which it did, but much more smoothly than us. They all got out, four of them, and began walking over to my car. Looking at their outfits gave them away entirely. They were a part of Justice.

“Randolph,” I said. He quickly got out of the car and pulled out his sword. I grabbed my new sword and unsheathed it, placing my sheath in the back. I got out of the car and turned. The four of them each had the same swords we fought against before, nothing different than before. Two of them ran forward, one for each of us. When Randolph’s huge blade collided with the small blade of his opponent, the enemy was pushed back. When I went to slash at the opponent, the enemy’s blade simply fell off. My blade made a clean cut through their sword. Throwing the enemy off-balance, they fell in front of me. I then stabbed them through their back, twisting it, and pulling it out of their back. They soon stopped moving. With brute strength, Randolph broke the opponent’s blade, then cracked their skull. The enemy behind them then ran forward and their blades, as well, collided.

The enemy in front of me didn’t approach me just yet. In fact, they waited until my full attention was on them, then ran forward, much faster than the previous one. Their speed caught me off-guard, but I managed to dodge just in time. I swung to slice their blade off, as well, but they quickly moved it before it made contact. They then swung their blade for me, but just before it hit, a large object collided with it. Randolph’s sword. When I looked over, the other person lied their, decapitated. We both stood up straight, weapons ready to attack or defend. Our opponent had been prepared, as well. Before running forward, they pulled out another blade, different than the one in their hand now. They used both blades and then charged forward. When I looked closely at her other blade, I noticed there was no sharp edge on it. It was just like a bamboo sword but made out of metal. They used her other blade to swing at Randolph, who quickly raised his blade to block, but they quickly retracted their arm and jabbed forward, the blunt tip of it slamming directly under his ribcage, knocking most of the wind out of him. They then swung the basic sword at me, in which I swung at it, listening as it snapped right off, but they didn’t toss it aside. Instead, they drew it back and threw it at me, in which I dodged it. However, I made a wrong move, as they were now right in front of me. I didn’t have enough space nor time to react to them. They slammed the blunt sword directly into my back, causing me to fall forward a few feet. They didn’t attack me while I was down. Instead, they just stood there staring at me. I slowly began to get up, and they began to talk.

“You’ve done well to make it this far,” their voice wasn’t a man’s nor a woman’s, but roboticized.

“Don’t tease us,” I said.

“It is to be expected from Kimbo, the great demon hunter, though,” they said, “But you are not yet powerful enough to take me on.”

“Shut up,” I said.

“In that regard, you will die at my hand,” they said, “But before I kill you, I shall show you my face.” They slowly lifted their hand and placed it on the side of their metal mask. They pressed a button and their mask drew back into a small metal rim around their head. Looking more closely, I noticed it was a woman.

“I’ve been fighting a woman?” I said.

“That’s right,” she said in a sweet voice, “But don’t underestimate me. I’m one of the few generals of Justice, the empire which you decided to oppose.” I then stood up and readied my weapon again.

“I don’t give a damn who you are,” I said.

“My name is Alicia Garnet, the one who shall take you down,” she said, charging forward with her blade. I gripped my blade harder and waited for her to get closer. Once she got within a meter of me, I swung my blade, feeling it make contact with something. I heard the sound of an object snapping off of something. When I looked, I noticed the blade of hers flying above my head. She looked entirely surprised. Due to her speed, she was unable to stop herself and flew directly into my fists, which had been on the hilt of my blade. My fists were now planted on her stomach, which she had been slowly falling to her knees, out of breath due to the severe hit. Randolph got up and ran over, his blade in hand.

“Wait,” I said, “Don’t kill her.” I said.

“What?” he said, “But she’s a general of Justice. A general. She must be an important factor of their military.”

“Exactly, she can be used for us, to fight against Justice,” I said.

“Do you seriously think she will just join us that easily?” he asked.

“Of course I will,” she said, “You proved your strength. I only join those who can defeat me.” Though it was entirely by fluke, she accepted her loss. Randolph ended up carrying her into our car, placing her in the back. She laid down, hands on her stomach. My items were now on the floorboard in the back. I continued to drive until I saw a rest spot, then turned in and got out. By then, she was feeling a bit better and continued to follow us to a motel room. There were only two beds and a couch to sleep on.

“I’ll take the couch,” I said, “You two can have the beds. After all, Randolph, you’re bigger and she’s a lady, after all.”

“Don’t think of me as a lady,” she said, trying to argue but not able to muster enough strength to yell. Randolph laid her down in one of the beds and then walked over to the other bed and sat down. I sat down on the couch and looked over at both of them. Randolph continued to remain upright while Alicia laid on her side. Soon, I decided to lay back on the couch and rest.

When I woke up, I found that Randolph had, again, left. Alicia, however, was still sleeping silently in the bed, still in the same outfit as last night. Being that she was still in that outfit, she was surprisingly clean, even after fighting me and Randolph. I lifted myself up and stood slowly, still drowsy from just waking up. I walked over to a window that peered out to the garage and convenience store here. I saw Randolph inside the garage, speaking with a man who looked dirtied with some grease on his face and a bit of oil which had stained his brown button-up shirt and blue jeans. He was a fairly sizeable man, but nothing compared to Randolph, who had likely trained his muscle and skills as much as possible after losing his friends. I turned around to look for my items and noticed Alicia lifting her body up, her hand on her head. She must have received a morning headache. I walked over to my bag and reached down next to it, to my blade, and lifted it up, putting it at my side. I walked back over to the window I looked out it again to Randolph, who was still talking to the man. I began to walk out of the room, but Alicia tossed a pillow at me, so I turned.

“What do you intend to do with me?” she was still tired and it was clearly noticeable by her quiet voice.

“We intend to use you to fight against Justice and to eliminate them,” I said. She just chuckled and sat up, placing her feet on the floor. I heard only two small clanks as she put her feet down. Her suit must have some kind of metal in place of shoes.

“So that’s all,” she said, standing up, “Well, I’ll need a new weapon if that’s the case.”

“You were a general of Justice, you should have money,” I said, “Go buy one.”

“From some smith on the street?” she said.

“Yeah, that’s where I got my sword,” I said. She looked over to my sword and walked over to me.

“Just from some smith?” she said.

“Yes, from some smith that I didn’t even know,” I said, “Stalling will get you nowhere fast, so hurry up and let’s go.”

“I am prepared,” she said.

“With such thin silk like that?” I said.

“Most of it is armour,” she said.

“Yeah, but,” I said, but she stopped me.

“Armour is armour, there is no more to it than that. If the enemy happens to strike skin, then so be it. I am willing to bear pain,” she said. I just shrugged and grabbed my bag, then opened the door, waited for her to come out, and then locked it. We went down the stairs and to the register to turn in the key. I then walked over to my car and tossed my bag in the back on the floorboard. We then went over to Randolph and the other man at the garage. I stood next to Randolph and Alicia stood next to me. Randolph definitely noticed me, but hardly showed any signs of it.

“Randolph, we’re about ready to go,” I said, making sure not to interrupt them.

“Very well,” he said. He then held his hand out to the man, who shook it.

“A tight grip,” he said, smiling in admiration. Knowing them, they’d probably be talking about strength or such. When we left the garage we went to the convenience store, which we were welcomed by an elderly woman at the register. I turned and found a bottled water. Alicia refused to get anything and Randolph requested a cup of coffee from the elderly woman, who went to the coffee machine and began making it. She asked him if he wanted anything in it and he said no. She then gave it to him and he paid her, then began sipping at the black coffee. I went to the register and Alicia followed behind like a loyal dog, like she had been since this morning, which makes me feel strange. I paid for the bottled water and walked out of the convenience store, then stopped at my car and turned to Randolph.

“Why are you so good with communicating with people?” I asked.

“It’s been a part of my family nature since I was young. We’ve needed to be social with humans in order to persist,” he said.

“What do you mean by that?” I said.

“I was the bodyguard of the prince, a high watchman,” he said, “That’s why I was so reluctant to accept her into this group.” He looked over to Alicia, then back to me.

“Was the prince,” I stopped.

“Yes, he was with me while raiding one of the bases after the kingdom fell to Justice,” he looked down, “I failed my objective, but I will get my revenge.”

“I see,” I said.

“Do keep in mind that I will kill you once our journey is over,” he turned to Alicia.

“Do as you please,” she said, “But as long as he demands I remain alive, I will not die.” She must be referring to me. I sighed and took a drink of my bottled water, then got in my car and started it, Alicia in the back and Randolph in the front. Quickly, the car made its way down the road, but suddenly, two Justice vehicles pulled out in front of us, placing us at a halt. Several soldiers quickly emerged from the vehicles. There were many more than I thought they’d send. However, knowing we have one of their generals, what’s to be expected.

I got out first, then Randolph and Alicia. I turned to Alicia who didn’t have a weapon. Randolph pulled out a smaller blade and handed it to her. I nodded and turned back to the soldiers, who began running towards us. Randolph, with his large blade, bashed through the soldiers, likely breaking many of their bones at a time. Alicia, with her speed, dodged easily and cut through their outfits, quickly eliminating them. I, on the other hand, simply sliced through their blades, then their body. We were flying through the enemies without an issue. However, suddenly, a man came out from behind the vehicles. He was different from the others. He didn’t wear one of their outfits. Instead, he wore a black, long coat which was highly decorated and gray pants. The undershirt was decorated with some intricate designs which had repeated. His eyes were narrow and seemingly neutral with a small smile on his face. All but five of the soldiers remained standing, surprisingly alive from our barrage.

“Alicia,” he said calmly and casually, “Why did you defect?” It was a simple question, and with it came a simple answer.

“This man defeated me in battle,” she said.

“For such a silly reason as that?” he said, “Justice, alone, would be much more than enough to defeat him. Hardly would it even take all of Justice to crush him. All they need is me.” He seemed cocky and arrogant, exactly the kind of person I disliked. I lifted my sword, ready to attack.

“Stop using your mouth and start using your weapon,” I said.

“My weapon?” he said, pausing for only a moment, then laughing.

“The hell’s so funny?” Randolph said.

“A weapon?” he repeated, “I need no weapon for an opposition such as yourself.” Suddenly, in seemingly speed faster than light, he appeared next to me, in front of Randolph. He had hardly any time to react. Suddenly, Randolph was sent flying, his weapon, too. His weapon planted in the ground behind him, while he lay on the ground in pain.

“What?” I turned, but he’d been gone again.

“You are much too slow,” he said. I turned again to see him in the location he was prior to attacking Randolph. Defeating the muscle was rather smart, as no one else here could beat his speed, not even Alicia.

“Be careful, he’s another general,” she said. If this is how the generals are, then I wonder how the high commander and emperor are like. I gripped my sword tighter, knowing that we were likely to lose, but I kept hope in my mind, even if the odds were strongly against us. I ran forward and swung my blade at him, but it were as though he read my moves and easily dodged it. Even to my surprise, Alicia suddenly appeared next to me and swung the blade she got horizontally, but he ducked and swept his leg underneath her, causing her to fall. She quickly stood back up, but he was already out of sword’s reach by that point. She then ran forward and stabbed forward but he dodged right, which I then quickly pulled out a small object from my pocket, pushed a small button on its side, and waited for the blade to quickly pop out. Once it came out, I threw it at him, but he dodged it by tilting his head. I felt as though I was being seen through, as though he already knew what we were going to do much ahead of the time we even thought about it. He quickly appeared at my side and struck the back of one of my knees, causing me to kneel. I stabbed my blade into the ground and looked up at him, both hands on my sword.

“It is about time I left,” he said, “I wouldn’t want to overstay my visit.” He then turned and began walking back to the cars. I quickly stood up and ran to him. To my surprise, he turned, but didn’t do anything. My blade simply penetrated through his back.

“What?” I said, stepping back and pulling my blade out of him. When I looked down, there was no blood. He fell over and, with a clank, landed on the ground. I knelt over and looked at the stab. I then tore apart his clothes and noticed a weld mark on his back. I felt his back, which felt cold and metallic. His face, however, looked realistic, not similar to a robot’s at all, not even his voice. So it was a robot we had been fighting all along?

“He was a robot all that time?” she said. We turned back to the car and Alicia got in. I went over to Randolph and tried helping him stand. He stood up, still pained enough to barely walk, but he had enough strength so that he wouldn’t collapse on me with me helping him walk. He laid down in the back seats while Alicia sat in the front. I began to drive, past the two vehicles, looking for the next city.

The road, long and winding, wasn’t exactly smooth. There were quite a few bumps, and so I made sure to go slower than usual. Looking around, I could only see a Justice base and a bunch of grass with a few scattered trees and rocks, with an entire river separating the land between us and the base. I continued to drive until a few buildings came into sight, then I found a place to park nearby. They were made of sand, and, for the most part, were still standing. It would seem that they had been attacked, or such, not too long ago. Alicia got out, then Randolph. I remained in the car for a moment, then opened my door and got out. I walked around the car over to them. For some unknown reason, these building caught my attention. I walked into one of the sand buildings and looked around. It was similar to a modern-day house, just made of sand and there were no electronics. The furniture was made of leather, wood and the likes, like a normal house. I looked around and noticed one thing missing: a bathroom. There was no bathroom inside the house. I walked out and looked around, then noticed a wood shack nearby. I walked over to it and opened the door. I looked in and saw that there had been a single pipe rising upwards, then a can on the end of it, a few holes in it aimed downwards. It was likely this was the shower. There had been a single switch on the pipe, likely to halt or start the shower. I closed the door and turned back to them. I looked around and noticed there hadn’t been anything in the place of a toilet, so I could only assume they used the ground, itself, as a toilet.

“What’re we doing here?” Randolph asked.

“It caught my attention,” I said.

“Why?” Alicia said.

“I’m not sure,” I continued to walked around, looking for anything. I turned to the building behind the car and walked over to it. It had  a wooden door, unlike the first sand building. I tried to open it, but it didn’t budge. I quickly kicked the door and it swung open, one of its hinges breaking off due to age. I stepped in and looked around. It was much darker, considering there were no windows and this building hadn’t partially collapsed. I pulled out my sword and began cutting holes into the walls, creating light to see. I looked around and found two drawers, one piled with papers, the other with nothing on it. I opened a few drawers of the one with papers, but continued to find more papers. I turned to the other one and opened the second drawer, finding a picture frame inside. I reached in and slowly lifted and turned it. The glass was dusty, so I swept my hand over it, uncovering it. Even in the place I was, it was too dark to see the people’s faces. I walked out of the building and looked at it, noticing precisely who it was. I knew exactly who they were, the four of them. One of them was a younger version of myself, sitting on the ground with a wide smile and a wooden sword without a shirt on. My mother stood behind me, my father next to her. My sister, older than myself, stood in front of my dad and to the left of me. It was surely an old memento, but I don’t ever recall being in such a poor state when I was young. Nor do I recall ever seeing this room. Now, my father and mother are dead, as well as my sister. My father and mother were murdered by Justice when they were still a minor group. My sister ended up dying in a car accident after she’d soon started driving. She ended up swerving off the road due to a group of demons which had suddenly appeared on the road during the day, which isn’t natural. I walked over to my car and placed the picture in my bag.

“What’s that?” Randolph asked.

“Nothing,” I said, “Pay no attention to it.” Considering I was in such a state during that time, as well as being completely oblivious about our condition, I felt as though I shouldn’t share it with them. I walked over and hopped into my car. Both of them got in, as well. I started the car back up and resumed driving. Once we got close enough, I could see a bridge, a long one as long as the river was wide.

Only a few other cars passed by as we continued to head towards the base. I made a turn onto the bridge, looking around only for a few seconds and not very often. The river shined a bright blue colour, shimmering like the stars at night. It isn’t every day that you see water as blue and beautiful as this. Often times, the water is a somewhat darker shade or a bit green. Soon, we reached the other end of the bridge, all covered in shrubbery and grass, with hardly any trees. There was a single wooden shack near the bridge and a set of stairs leading to the shore. We soon arrived at the base and, before we even entered it, we could hear the sound of blades colliding, as well as the sound of the alarms. It would appear that someone else has already infiltrated the base. I parked the car in front of the base and hopped out, the others following behind me. I ran through the front gate, as there was no reason to try and sneak if they were already in combat and on high alert. Right as we entered, we noticed a single person in a torn black cloak and hood fighting a fair-sized group of soldiers. There had also been a pile of soldiers lying dead on the ground. A group of soldiers soon accompanied us, and so we took hold of our weapons. Quickly striking down the soldiers, we moved on to the mysterious figure, who seemed to also have finished their portion of the soldiers. We withdrew our weapons, and so did they. They looked over to us, but their face hadn’t been visible, as there had been a black cloth over their face, except their eyes, which had a dark-shaded visor.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“That should be my question,” they said, their voice deep and hoarse.

“He asked, now answer,” the man froze up for a moment.

“Well?” I said.

“Sorry,” he said, “Just call me Arcanum.”

“Latin?” Randolph said, “Only royal families and nobles ever use that language.”

“I do know that,” he said, not saying any more.

“I suppose we should go destroy that generator,” I said, “Have you scouted the base enough to know where it is?”

“No, I just arrived,” he said.

“I’m going to guess that it’s this way,” I said, turning and going between two buildings without a second thought. Once I reached the end of the narrow area, I was lead to a wide open space where there had been only the generator in the center.

“So that’s it,” Randolph said.

“It’s getting dark, we’d best get this done quickly and head out,” I hastily made my way to the generator and, without pausing, lunged my blade into the generator, feeling hardly any resistance as it penetrated. Soon, a hissing sound came out. I quickly pulled my blade out and began running, watching as steam seeped out heavily, clouding most of the area around it. Soon, the loud explosion came, almost deafening. The lights, as before, shut down, as well as any other things which had been linked to the generator.

“Another base down,” Randolph said.

“So, are you joining us?” I asked directly to Arcanum.

“I have nothing better to attend to,” he said, assuming he means yes.

“Let’s go,” I gestured to everyone. However, just before we could leave, I heard the humming of a ship above us. A Justice ship had caught us just before we could make our leave. Jumping down from it, a man in a white coat, one which hang to his ankles, all fastened to his neck. He had black military boots and a curved blade at his side. His hair was long, to his lower back, and it seemed to be white, pure white. His eyes nor mouth gave off any sort of emotion, purely expressionless. His eyes were a blue, as well as narrow, along with thin eyebrows. He had no facial flaws, not even facial hair. It looked as though he didn’t have any sort of battle scars or such whatsoever. He wore black gloves, as well.

“So, you have succeeded in the destruction of two bases now, have you?” even his voice was entirely expressionless.

“Yeah, and?” I said.

“This will cost you your life,” he said, slowly reaching towards his blade.

“Hands down!” Alicia said, pulling her blade quickly and darting forward. I thought for sure he would have not expected her, as she was close enough to surprise any normal person. However, halting his movements entirely, with what seemed as though he hadn’t moved at all, he didn’t fall. In fact, Alicia didn’t even strike. Instead, she stopped without even being able to strike. Shortly after, she fell. We didn’t even see what happened. He moved as though he was light, or rather, faster than light, itself. His eyes still remained on us, not moving from focus at all. Randolph, Arcanum, and I all drew our swords. I slowly made my way forward, even moving to the left. However, his eyes did not follow my actions. In fact, we each took a different approach. Randolph went right, I went left, and Arcanum followed behind Randolph, but he wasn’t looking at either of us. Could it be he is blind?

“Are you blind?” I said. He slowly turned his head towards me.

“Is this what you would call blind?” he said, “The inability to see?” So he is blind. However, he took down Alicia so easily. This man is much stronger than we think. It would appear that if he had sight, he’d be much stronger than he is now. No, maybe his blindness is an advantage. Without the ability to see, he do not have to focus on anything else other than the sounds of his opponent. Randolph slowly made his way closer to him, but when he got too close, he, too, was struck down. He fell, his heavy body vibrating the ground, even. Suddenly, I thought of a plan. Using his strongest sense, hearing, we could divert his attention elsewhere, then strike. I waved over to Arcanum, who looked over to me. I acted as though I picked something up and threw it, then gestured towards my ear and acted as though I were striking something. Surprisingly, he understood exactly what I meant and grabbed something from inside a pack under his cloak. He pulled it out, a book, and threw it near him. Just before it landed, I ran forward and lifted my blade. The book landed just before I swung and just before I swung, I could see his blade leave the sheath for only a second, slicing at the open air in front of him. I struck down, my blade severing his right arm from his body, along with his sword. He fell to his knees and let out an utterance of surprise, but nothing more. He reached his left arm over to his missing right arm, then pulled it away slowly. Of course, he couldn’t see, but blood had been dripping from his hand. On the ground next to him lies his dismembered arm in a puddle of blood. I walked around in front of him and he looks forward.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let myself die just yet,” the moment I began speaking, he looked up to me, his face as expressionless as ever.

“I see,” he said, “I was most certain this day would come, sooner than later. It just so appears you were the one to stand in front of me on this day.” Without even a chuckle or a slight move of his mouth, or much anything to signal his passing, he simply lay his body down and closed his eyes. It is likely Justice will come and kill him, or he will bleed out before they arrive to the scene. After all, he wouldn’t be useful to them considering he can no longer fight.

As we drove off, two Justice ships made their way to the now useless base which suddenly went down in the middle of the night. The lights had been shining all around the base, likely looking for someone down in the base. Without even landing, one of the ships fired twice into the base, likely annihilating him for good. As usual, Randolph was reading a book. Alicia was just staring forward in the seat next to me, and our newest member, Arcanum, was just sitting in the seat, staring out at the open land. I had a few questions in mind, but I kept them to myself, as I was more focused on the road and keeping us alive, or out of trouble, in the least. Ahead, I could see lights, likely being emitted from a city or rest spot. Randolph, noticing it, closed his book and sat it in a slot on the door. Arcanum turned his head and sat upright. Soon, we arrived at the light. It appears it was a rest spot, rather common. Here, though, there was no motel or anything, just a convenience store, a garage, and a hangar. Next to the garage were a few scattered tents, all likely people who came here to keep safe during the night. It appears we have no choice but to set up a tent, as well. However, I don’t have a tent with me. I turn to Randolph, who shakes his head. Alicia shrugs and Arcanum just sighs. It appears none of us have a tent with us. We all get out of the car and Randolph immediately goes over to the garage. When I follow him, I noticed a small building come into view. A sign above it would tell that someone could rent a tent here. We paid a fee for two tents, one for me and Arcanum, another for Randolph and Alicia. We found a wide open area and set up the two tents. We each crawled into our tent and fell fast asleep. Slowly, something drifted into view in my mind, a dream. I found myself lying on a cloud-like object. I stood up and looked around. Around me, white walls and columns which seemed of Greek origin. I found an opening and walked over to it, admiring the beautiful structure around me. I was lead into a wide hallway, each with statues of bare-chested men and women. As I reached the end of the hall, a big, circular room came into view, a white marble throne at the top of a set of stairs. I climbed up the stairs to the throne and stood in front of it. Suddenly, a bright, blinding light appeared and I shielded my eyes with my hands. When the light vanished I looked again to find a woman in a peplos, an ancient Greek outfit. She suddenly began speaking, but in a language I didn’t know. Her voice echoed, as well.

“I’m,” I paused, “I’m sorry, but I cannot understand your words.”

“I see,” she said, her voice still echoing, “You may seem of fine fettle now, but you shall later struggle a great deal with a powerful opponent.”

“Who are you?” I asked her, “And why do you give me this information?”

“My name is of no significance,” she said, “The purpose of my actions are of sympathy.” A sympathetic dream woman seems strange. However, before I could say anything else, I’d suddenly been forced out of the dream and woke again to the real world. Though the feeling was short, it was already morning. I felt completely rejuvenated. I looked over to the other sleeping bag, but Arcanum wasn’t there. When I left the tent, he had been sitting next to the entrance of it. Randolph was already folding up the tent they were in and Alicia stood watching. I grabbed the two sleeping bags in our tent and rolled them up, then began folding the tent. Soon, we finished and went back to the small building returning the tents. We went to the convenience store and bought something to eat as a small meal for breakfast. Quickly, we finished and I resumed driving.

We passed through many places in which had ruined buildings, mostly made of woods and scrap metal. It was likely they were previously owned by poor people who could no longer afford even the cheapest homes in the slums of the cities that they lived in. They were probably murdered by Justice as punishment for obtaining free services in their own accord. However, we soon came across a large city which had been destroyed. I turned to park, then looked around at the city. I hopped out and the others got out, as well. I walked across the street to the opening of the city’s paths. Large portions of buildings had collapsed onto the ground in front of us, even forming a likely unsturdy archway. I slowly made my way under the ruins, hoping it wouldn’t fall and crush us. I soon emerged into the center of the city, or so I guess, and look around. It’s a wide open space with a fountain in the center, without water and one of the short walls busted on it. The statue in the middle of the tower was a man holding a sword, but the arm with the sword was detached, lying on the ground now, shattered into a few different parts. When I looked to my right, I saw a sign that was likely supposed to be at the entrance of the city, but managed to get here. The city’s name: Shorepost. It’s a place I am unfamiliar with. I looked over to Randolph, then Alicia, both of them looked slightly surprised by the sign.

“Shorepost?” Randolph said, “Shorepost was a strong influence and trading area, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Alicia replied, “It seems they got to it, too, though. Importing or exporting items that aren’t approved by Justice was against the law, so we ended up destroying places that did such.” I looked down and noticed a piece of a necklace of some sort sticking out underneath a rock. I moved the rock and saw a closed pocket watch. I picked it up and opened it, noticing a picture inside, two little girls and a grown man, along with a strip of paper. I pulled out the paper and saw the last name of the owner: Rouhman. I closed it again and looked around, then saw a sign posted on a building, one that matched the name.

“Each house here is labeled with the family’s last name,” I said.

“Yes, they were,” Alicia replied. I looked down at the missing door, now split into multiple pieces inside the house. I bent over and placed the pocket watch down in front of the house, opened. I closed my eyes and muttered something none of the others could have heard. I then rose and turned.

“We’re leaving now,” I said, but before they all turned, I noticed a woman standing at the archway, wearing a blue garment, one which seemed like a kimono, loosely over her body. She reached into her kimono and pulled out a small blade, a dagger to be more precise.

“Kimbo, Alicia, Randolph,” she said, “And who may you be?”

“Arcanum,” he said, standing next to me, his hand already on his blade.

“A new member since I was last informed,” she said, “You all shall perish at my hand.” She suddenly threw her dagger and vanished in a light blue tint of smoke. I could hear the soft patter of bare feet next to me. When I looked to my left, she was standing there, ready to strike. I suddenly pulled out my blade, managing to block just in time. However, unlike times before, her blade did not split in two. Rather, it remained intact. She then quickly threw her dagger elsewhere, disappearing once again.

“Dammit,” I said, “Stop playing tricks you hag!”

“Hag?” she said. I turned, only to notice Randolph already on the ground, along with Alicia.

“What the hell?” I gritted my teeth.

“Such an unkind word,” she said, “Perhaps if you had kept your nose out of our business, I could have let you use my body to your pleasure.”

“What kind of whore are you?” without thinking, I spoke.

“Hmm,” she just closed her eyes and laughed for a moment, “A whore? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong. After all, I did have to work as a prostitute before joining Justice.”

“Screw off!” I swung my blade at her, but she just jumped back and laughed. She ran up towards me and jammed her fist into my sternum, causing me to quickly fall to my knees and curl up. Suddenly, I heard the clash of blades and I turned my head just enough to see Arcanum fighting with the woman.

“Feisty, are we?” she said to him. He continued to swing his blade, blocking out any sort of sound. He seemed to be struggling greatly to get a single hit off. However, just as I thought he wouldn’t manage to hit her at all, I hear the sound of cloth being torn. The cloth on her arm suddenly drooped down a bit more than it normally did. She just clicked her tongue and continued to strike. Suddenly, from his other hand, a black mist began forming. A shard of darkness suddenly struck up from behind her, but she managed to dodge.

“Vanish,” he said.

“What nice little tricks you have,” she said. Suddenly, without a word more, his hand grasped her neck. She dropped her dagger and grabbed onto his arm. Her feet left the ground and she struggled to breathe.

“You are but worthless scum compared to my powers,” he said. Suddenly, another shard pierced right into her chest. He released her neck and she fall limp onto the shard. The shard soon disappeared and she fell to the ground. I slowly made my way to my feet, noticing Arcanum fall to his hands and knees, pulling his mask so his mouth was visible. He started hacking and coughing. Something from his mouth, not quite blood, but it had the consistency of blood, sputtered out onto the ground, then vanished shortly after.

“Arcanum?” I said, making my way to him. He soon fell to his side, unconscious. I hastily made my way to him, kneeling over to him. Behind me, I heard Randolph grunting.

“What’s going on?” he said.

“Get over here, Arcanum has an issue,” I gestured him to come over, and he did. Quickly, we made our way back to the car, Randolph carrying Arcanum and I carrying Alicia. We set them both in the back and I started the car, driving faster and faster to find the next city.

For as far as I could see, there was not a single city nor rest spot in sight. By the minute, I became more worried about Arcanum. I kept looking around the area, making sure I didn’t miss a city, or making sure one didn’t manage to skip my sight, but there was still nothing. Randolph hadn’t been reading a book this time. Instead, he kept his eyes on Arcanum. Soon, I heard the rumbling of a ship passing by. Hoping they didn’t notice us, they flew right past. However, it wasn’t just one ship. It seemed an entire fleet of ships had been flying overhead. A large cliff was directly to our left, so it was hard to see exactly how many there were until they all passed. There hadn’t been just six or seven, but there were about forty or fifty. It made me wonder exactly why they had such a huge fleet heading out somewhere. It was tempting to follow them, but there was no road leading their way and I already had the issue of Arcanum’s strange thing. Suddenly, I heard grumbling in one of the back seats and turned my head, noticing Arcanum with his hand on his head. I soon pulled over to the side of the road and turned most of my body his way.

“Hey, you alright?” I said.

“I’m fine,” he said, looking away from me. I sighed and turned back, resuming our road trip to wherever. After about an hour of time, we ended up finding our way to a small city. I drove in and parked the car in a lot. When I got out, I noticed that the city wasn’t just some normal city, but a school city. The entire city was predominantly filled with students originating from a single school. I looked up at an archway where a sign was.

“Parkinson-Joehi?” I said, confused.

“The city built as one school,” Alicia said, “Parkinson and Joehi, two wealthy men who originally funded Justice, only to find themselves being used. Joehi was assassinated by a general of Justice and, once news reached Parkinson, he headed far away from where he originally was and upped his security. Even still, Justice hasn’t found him yet. However, Joehi does have a son, of twelve years of age. Poor kid lost his parents at such a young age.” She looked down at the concrete we stood on.

“How does this city work?” I asked.

“Students go to a class for about two hours, go to work for about four hours, then return to their last class for about another two hours. If they don’t have classes or are on break during that time, they do what they want,” she explained to me.

“If the city is made up of students, who runs the workplaces?” I said.

“Well, it isn’t entirely made up of students,” she said, “Most of the citizens, however, are students or graduates. There are a few other citizens scattered around.” I nodded in response, then began walking into the city. They all followed behind me, looking around at the stores and buildings. I kept walking forward through the crowds of students, noticing some still in their school clothes. I suppose they’re either going to their class or just getting out of one. I looked around a bit and one particular restaurant caught my eye. An old-school restaurant. I immediately turned that way and walked into the restaurant. A woman in a brown dress and white apron approached me.

“What can I do for you?” she smiled brightly.

“Ah, nothing, just exploring,” I said, looking around, hardly looking at her. From the ceiling hung two chandeliers, beautifully decorated. Each had candles rather than lights on them. There were no fans on the ceiling, either. The tables and chairs looked like antiques, so much so that I didn’t want to touch them. The floor was made of floorboards, heavily cleaned each day, it seems, and with the proper tools. It was truly a beautiful place. However, I had no intention of staying too long, so I turned around and walked right out, then I continued walking. Soon, I found a man in a blue uniform, along with a Justice symbol on his shirt. I quickly hid off to the side.

“What?” Randolph said, hiding with me.

“There are seriously students who are Justice soldiers?” I said.

“Afraid so. They seem to be highly respected and valued as well, or perhaps it’s just fear,” she said. I get the feeling it’s more fear than respect. After all, kids who have so much power let it go to their mind and end up using it incorrectly, which then causes people to either fear you or rebel against you. In this case, it’s fear. Those who fear him haven’t been taught how to stand up against him, and so they avoid him. Even if they did stand up, they would likely be reported as supposedly missing, likely because the kid who feels as though he has so much power reported that someone assaulted him, and so Justice dealt with it in the only way they know how: annihilation. Of course, that’s just a theory. In my case, I don’t like to harm children, so I hid, waiting for him to pass. Since he’s a child, I can’t just kill him on the spot, especially with so many people around. He likely already received my face and information, so he probably knows I’m a target, along with Alicia, Randolph and, by now, Arcanum.

We let the kid pass without an issue. Now, we were headed up a huge flight of stairs, all the way to the school, itself. It was in view, but there were still a couple hundred steps left. My legs were burning due to walking at an inclined rate, but it’s nothing different from the burning from walking to a location where demons were. Come to think of it, no demons have managed to catch us yet, likely because we keep spending our time wisely by remaining in cities and rest spots during night. Soon, we arrived at the top of the stairs, each of us breathing even slightly heavily. The doors to the school were wide open, as if it were a warming mother with her arms wide open for a hug. We all continued to walk towards to opened doors of the school. However, before we could enter, a man appeared in front of the doors. He was fairly old, gray hair already, and held a cane in his hands directly in front of him. He wore a tan suit with a tie. His smile seemed friendly, along with his tired eyes which were currently closed.

“Who might you be?” he said, his voice a bit rough, but nonetheless comforting.

“My name is Kimbo, this is Randolph, Arcanum, and Alicia,” I pointed to each of them as I stated their names.

“Oh, the four wanted by that wicked empire?” he said, “Mind you not to tell them you have come here, as they may come to destroy this city.”

“I’ve noticed a few of the students have joined with Justice,” I said, “It may be a bit complicating to roam the city freely without them noticing.”

“Apologies, but the empire requires us to allow any students that are eligible, and they just so happened to be,” he said. I nod and he smiles back, waving at us as we make our way back down the stairs. However, just as I reach the bottom of the stairs, I noticed a small group of Justice students. Two females, three males. The females both seem to be slightly wary of the males, but are still accepting them. One off the males was large and brawny, practically constantly showing off and admiring his own muscles. One of the other males seemed like some rich snob who managed to get into Justice and this school only because of money. The last male seemed entirely uninterested in the girls, as well as uninterested in the guys. He was looking around sharply, as if on guard. Perhaps he earlier made friends with the two guys and ended up getting stuck with them. I tried to quickly hide before he in particular spotted me, but his eyesight was much too keen.

“You there!” he shouted.

“Dammit,” I muttered. I stepped out from behind the wall.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Nothing in particular,” I said.

“You’re clearly suspicious,” he said, “Might I see your identification?” I pulled out my hunter’s permit and handed it to him.

“Kimbo?” he said, “The infamous hunter who turned to destroy Justice bases?”

“I never turned, nor am I a traitor to you. Hunters and Justice were never on the same terms to begin with,” I said.

“But she is a traitor,” he pointed at Alicia, “Mind to come with us?”

“Sorry, but I’ve got business to tend to, I can’t stand around meddling with some kid,” I said.

“So be it,” he grabbed a small dagger from a back sheath and quickly sliced at us. However, his movements were much too slow, allowing me to easily dodge.

“Speed isn’t exactly your forte, is it?” I said.

“Not in particular,” he said, “But would you say trickery is?” Before I could react, I noticed that the two females were already out of sight.

“Arcanum!” I shouted.

“On it,” he said, already headed off somewhere.

“Make sure not to injure them!” I shouted. Unsure if he heard me, he left quickly. Suddenly, a huge, polished sword came falling from in front of me, but then another huge blade blocked it before it could hit me. Without a problem, the defending blade shoved the other blade back. Randolph and the large student were now fighting. Considering Randolph’s immense strength, the student was no match. Alicia quickly darted in front of me, Slicing her blade down in front of one of the members, keeping them away. The rich kid cowered back, trembling. The last one, the one who spotted me, jabbed forward with his dagger. I jumped back, easily dodging his attack.

“Let’s not make this a pointless matter,” I said, “In the end, we know I would end. Besides, I have more stamina than you. I’d be able to dodge your attacks endlessly as you ran out of breath.” I continued to dodge his attacks. However, by the time I noticed, it was much too late for me to do anything.

“As I told you, trickery is my forte,” he said. Small, almost undetectable sharp strings were all around me. Suddenly, Arcanum dropped down nearby with the two now unconscious females lying at his sides. He slowly began walking over to me.

“Hold on!” I said, stopping him, “Look carefully.” He looked around and saw a thin string in front of him. He pulled out a blade and sliced it in two. It fell to the ground, no longer usable to damage anyone. He continued cutting through the strings, until each and every one was now useless. When I looked over to Randolph, he managed to knock out the kid without severely injuring him, such as cutting him. Alicia managed to scare the rich kid into pissing himself, then blacking out. From behind, Randolph and Alicia stood. In front, Arcanum and I. The last kid stood, grimacing.

“Damn you,” he said, “I have no choice but to let you go, now leave.” We all put our weapons away and resumed walking. As the kid said, he would let us go. He didn’t try attacking us as we were vulnerable. It would appear the kid is honorable, after all.

We eventually returned to the car and left once more, considering there wasn’t anything as particularly interesting as we thought there would be. I continued driving forward, hoping the road would lead to where the fleet went. As we went on, I noticed freshly destroyed land around, likely meaning the fleet went this way. Looking in the sky for just a moment, I noticed the fleet hovering above something, but I couldn’t see what that something was. Suddenly, a random beam of light shot up through one of the ships, but it appeared for only a second. A few more seconds later, a loud boom, then the ship suddenly went falling. Surprised, I stopped the car and got out, and so did the others. We all stared at the ships, suddenly being struck by beams of light from nowhere. They fired back, but I assume it was to no avail. Soon, all of the forty-so ships were gone from the sky, falling down to form a sizeable ship graveyard. Anyone with the right mind or a mechanic would go to salvage the parts. I looked over to the others, who were just as shocked as I was. I hopped back in the car, as did the others. I started it up and pushed hard on the gas. The car started picking up speed, soon reaching its max limit. The trees and a few so rocks and creatures passed by with only a second’s time to be seen. The area in which the ships fell was coming closer and closer. A mountain range lied ahead of us, along with a presumably long tunnel in front of us. Soon, we entered the tunnel with dimmed lights inside of it. I maintained the speed we were previously at, slowing only at turns. Soon, I noticed a light at the end, and so I started to slow down. We then emerged out of the tunnel and into a fairly darkened location. Looking around, I could see a lot of smoke blocking the sky around here, just hanging around. On the ground, there weren’t just a few fifty ships, but hundreds, all different variations. There had even been some older Justice models which had a huge hole in them, presumably from the large beam of light. Looking at each and every ship, they all had one large hole in them. It would appear that there’s a stronger force than Justice in this region. We continued driving, slowly through the eerie location, around the ships as necessary, as they had blocked the road when they crashed. After passing hundreds of ships, we found ourself at another tunnel, one in which some of the lights were damaged and no longer working, or flickering. I turned on the headlights so I could see while driving. I assume there are many more ships than just the ones in that graveyard we just passed. There are likely plenty on top of the mountains, as well as on the small cliff this tunnel is under. The lights were probably knocked out by the vibrations of the ships hitting the cliff. After passing through the tunnel, we were now on an overhang, where below us was supported by only the rocks. Looking down, a ravine was visible, dark and empty at the bottom. We then went into another tunnel and quickly emerged at its end, inside of a luscious, beautiful city. Considering the past few places had been just a bunch of dark areas and a bunch of destroyed ships, this was most definitely worth it. Its beauty is by far incomparable to the beauty of any other place we went to. We were currently on a long, huge bridge decorated in many lights and hanging lanterns to the city. Once we reached the end of the bridge, it lead directly to a parking lot, fairly large, too. I parked the car and we all hastily got out to take a better look at the city’s beauty.

“Not something you get to look at every day,” Randolph said.

“Not for us, but perhaps for the citizens,” I said.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Randolph said, laughing a bit and scratching his head.

We soon walked on a path which had been between two widespread buildings, making for a large path. Tons of people flooded the paths, making it hard to get around. Going too fast would end up splitting us apart, but going too slow would make it so people would become angry at us, or it would end up almost halting our movement completely. Soon, we came out of a location particularly where people weren’t at. It was odd, considering people looked as if they were purposely avoiding it. People’s eyes and faces shifted over to us for only a moment as they passed by. I continued to walk towards the center of the area in which they avoided. In the center sat a small statue of a child in which had been sitting, as though he were crying. There was no plate to read, so I couldn’t find out why the little boy was crying. I looked at all areas around and on the statue, but there was nothing. I stood up completely and scratched my head. When I looked around, I noticed something had changed about the ground. Footprints were now imprinted into the ground, as though someone stepped into the cement as it was still wet and being placed. I followed the footprints, not paying attention to hardly anyone else around me. When the footprints stopped, I was lead to another area in which people avoided. A statue of a large blade stabbed into the ground. On it, a small text in Latin, the language that the royals use. I try comprehending it, but I couldn’t read it. I turned to Randolph, who came over and began reading the text.

“Come one who shall be worthy to obtain the power of Gods. Prove not of worth, then you shall perish,” he read the text aloud to us so we could understand.

“Power of Gods?” I said, “What kind of power would that be?”

“I assume the power of the old Gods, all which controlled the elements,” Randolph replied. I looked around, the people still staring at us. Suddenly, I felt rumbling on the ground, as well as the rough sound of rock grinding against concrete. When I looked forward, in the area behind the sword, a cave had opened. Slowly, I made my way down a long set of stairs which had been exposed by the new opening. As each one of us entered, the rocks began to close again. Torches were hanging from the walls, Each already lit. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard the sound of water splashing. I looked down at my feet and saw that I stepped in water

“The floor is water?” I said, slightly confused.

“Rather, the floor is filled with a small bit of water,” Alicia said.

“Right, makes more sense,” I said, continuing to walk, each step echoing softly through the halls of the structure. Soon, we reached a large area in which columns had been, some partially destroyed, as well as some of the building, itself. In the center was a stone tomb, or so it looked. When I looked at it, it seemed somewhat Greek. We continued forward, into a hallway which had many columns, each somewhat destroyed. Soon, we found ourself in a large circular room with columns, as well as a flight of steps upwards to a ruined throne. There sat what was meant to resemble a crown, but was now split in several pieces. Suddenly, a sense of deja-vu hit me. My dream. The lady who warned me.

“So you have come,” a voice, one which strongly reverberated throughout the place, spoke out. It was most definitely a woman’s voice. Soon, someone appeared from behind the throne, walking up her own flight of steps. She was beautiful, along with being dressed in a peplos, the same Greek outfit that the woman in my dream was dressed in. She was identical to the woman.

“Who are you?” Alicia immediately responded, mostly by pulling out her blade.

“Hold on,” I said, grabbing her wrist, “I’ve seen her in a dream before.”

“A dream or a vision?” Randolph said.

“I’m not sure, but she warned me about a great struggle we will come across,” I said, “She spoke in a language I didn’t know when we first saw each other.”

“The language of the royals,” she said.

“Latin?” Randolph said.

“Much before it had been switched, ages before,” she spoke, “The true language of the royals.” A language in which no longer exists in our planet, a dead language unable to be translated anymore.

“How come the language on the blade was Latin?” I asked.

“The language switches accordingly to the royal’s new language,” she said, “The true language became too easy to comprehend by commoners, and so they soon found out every plan of the royals. So it was once more switched. It is likely to be switched again very soon.”

“So, what is this struggle we will come upon?” I asked, almost now completely uninterested in the royal language.

“I am afraid I do not have the ability to tell you that,” she said.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I must take my leave now,” she said, walking away, down the steps behind her.

“Hey, wait!” I ran over, but she’d suddenly vanished. A door soon opened, one huge and likely heavy. I walked through the doors, but before the others could enter, it shut. I turned and ran over to the door.

“Kimbo?” Randolph shouted from the other side.

“What the hell is this?” I yelled.

“Make haste to the blade, then you and your friends shall depart from this structure,” a voice that i didn’t know echoed through the long hallway in front of me. I looked back at the door, then back forward again. I began running in hope that the voice hadn’t lied to me. Suddenly, behind me, the bricks began to collapse. If I stopped now, I would most certainly die, along with me friends being trapped here forever until they die of either hunger or dehydration. Soon, the bricks stopped falling, but in front of me, a demon appeared. It as fairly large, but I was ready to fight it. I pulled out my sword and waited for it to attack. With its four legs, it charged forward. It then swung its two arms around, each with its own sharpened edges. I swung my blade at one of its fairly thin arms, watching it as it simply flung off and stabbed into the wall nearby. It wailed in pain, but didn’t stop. Instead, it turned and swung its other arm at me. I swung back at it, cutting off the sharp edge, which flung behind me and fell in between two bricks. It the jumped up on two of its legs and forcefully kicked its front two legs at me. I lifted my blade to block. When its feet slammed into my blade, it shoved me back fairly far. I lifted my blade and sliced directly down, cutting open its chest, then diagonally at its throat as it lowered for a slight moment. By now, it’s head was hanging on by a thin amount of skin, the blood pouring out from both its detached head and neck. It soon fell over and dissipated into the air.

As I was about to walk forward, two men stepped out from behind two columns, each holding a spear. Both of them ran forward at once.I dodged one of them and swung my blade down on the other’s pole, slicing it in two. I then brought my elbow back into one of their jaws and extended my blade as I was still pulling back, cutting a portion of their hair, just barely missing their head. The other one pulled their spear back and jabbed again. Just barely, I managed to dodge it and grab the pole, halting him from jabbing again. I pulled my own blade back and plunged it into his chest, twisting and pulling it back out. He simply fell to the ground with a thud. The other one quickly reacted and threw a punch at my side, successfully hitting me. I flinched only a bit, but to my surprise, he was faster than I thought. He managed to get another punch off right into my left cheek. I lifted my blade quickly and slashed downwards, slicing his right arm off, then horizontally, cutting his torso off from his legs. His knees buckled and his torso fell off backwards, onto his now immobile feet. I cleaned my sword and slid it into its sheath. I kept running, soon noticing a large wooden door. However, just before I could get to it, I felt something wrap around my body, pulling me backwards with an immense amount of strength, releasing me, causing me to crash into one of the columns. I got up in pain, pulling out my sword. I looked at my opponent. It was an indecipherable thing. It had tons of tentacle-like objects, all with sharp objects on the tips. However, the tips did not look natural. Rather, it seemed like they were melded together with the demon. It was hardly much else than a slop of tentacles wriggling around in a big pile. It quickly darted one of its tentacles towards me. I lifted my blade and sliced the tip off, but not the tentacle, itself. It slowly moved towards me, one-by-one shooting its tentacles at me. However, I continued to cut the tips off, eventually until there were no more blades. It didn’t shriek or anything, it just continued to move forward. By now, it was attacking with its bare tentacles, trying to swipe my feet or to grab me. Eventually, it grabbed my left arm, so I swung my blade at its tentacle, but before I could, it sent a mass of its tentacles right into my blade, slowing down my cut. It used its own limbs to protect itself. With my arm still captive, it yanked on me, causing me to stumble forward a bit. I kept trying to slice its one tentacle on my arm, but it kept jerking me around and blocking it. However, by the time I got close to it, almost all of its tentacles were gone. I decided to, instead, plunge my blade into where I thought its heart was. Coincidentally, its tentacle on my arm loosened and began rotting away. I put my blade away and walked over to the door, pushing with what I could. It creaked, but nonetheless opened. In front of me, a large circular pedestal with a single blade stuck into it. The blade was red, as well as looking heavily decorated. There seemed to be practically no guard on it. Rather, just one large circle with a hole through it, then the hilt. I walked up to it, grabbed the hilt, and pulled. To my surprise, the blade smoothly slid out. Suddenly, a light started to emit from it and I went unconscious.

By the time I woke up, I was lying in front of the sword statue, or where it was. Resembling what was similar to the sword statue was now in my hand, but it was the same colour and figure as that in the structure. I slowly got up and looked around, noticing the people all standing and staring, gossiping about “that man with the sword.” At my feet, Randolph, Arcanum, and Alicia lie there, unconscious. I went over to Randolph and shook him, but he still didn’t wake up. I went over to the other two and shook them, as well, but they didn’t wake up either. When I looked in the location where the sword statue was, there was nothing. Not even a hole where it had been stabbed into. Soon, I heard one of them, or just all of them, groaning. When I turned around, surely, it was all of them. Each and every one of them ended up groaning in unison, as well as rising up at the same time. They all looked around for a moment.

“I’m not very fond of a lot of attention,” Arcanum said.

“Didn’t intend for this to happen,” I said, “Come on, let’s hurry outta here.” Without being able to sheath my blade, it was beginning to get annoying. As I passed through people, they split into a clear path, noticing my sword. Soon, we reached my car. I tossed my new sword along with my old one in the back on the floorboard. However, just before I could get in, someone ran up to me.

“You!” they shouted, carrying something large by their side.

“Yeah?” I said.

“You obtained the sword, correct?” he asked.

“Yeah, I did,” I said blatantly.

“Take this,” he handed me a sheath, one that fitted the sword I now had. I didn’t need to ask how he managed to make it, considering there was a statue of it on display right outside the cave. The question would be more like why did he make it. However, I decided to keep my mouth shut and just accept it, considering it’s the only sheath I have for it. I leaned into my car, picked it up, and slid it into the sheath. Surely enough, it was a fine fit. I laid it down on the floorboard and got into my car with the others. Driving off, the man waved at us. Surely, he was a strange figure, but I let it be. Come the time we left the city in the mountain, we were now on a bridge, a long and wide one in which lead to a whole different area. Ahead, I could see a small island, one with some few large buildings.

“Isn’t that one of their strongholds?” Randolph said.

“It is,” Alicia said, “No one hardly gets to it because it’s so far out in the water.” The bridge was most certainly long, considering we haven’t even covered half of it yet and we’d been driving for about five minutes on the bridge.

“It doesn’t just look like a stronghold from here,” I said.

“That’s because a lot of higher-up Justice members also live there, along with some normal citizens,” Alicia said.

“Isn’t it a bit strange that they’d let normal citizens stay at a Justice stronghold?” Randolph asked.

“Most certainly,” she replied, “Not even I am sure why they did such a thing.” By now, we’ve covered a few more minutes of the bridge. It was becoming tiring to see just ocean and bridge the entire way. Every so often, I’d notice a ship or a boat pass by under the bridge, usually a Justice ship. The water was most certainly different than most water I’ve seen. Rather than just being a greenish-blue, there had also been a slight black shade.

“So they pour their waste into the ocean?” I said.

“They do,” Alicia said.

“How long has this stronghold been here?” I asked.

“Before I joined Justice, so for a long time,” she said. I just looked forward and continued. When we get there, it won’t be there any longer. After the long journey on the bridge, we came across a checkpoint into the city.

“It’s not going to be easy entering,” I said, “Hand me my sword.” I looked back at Randolph, who bent over and picked up the sheath of my new sword. I grabbed it and put it between my legs. I pulled over just before reaching the checkpoint. Two of the guards looked at each other and began walking over to us. I pulled out my sword from the sheath between my legs. I stood from my seat and hopped out of the side of the car, jabbing the tip of the sword towards the guard, who swung down to deflect my attack, but without doing anything, a burst of heated wind came out of the sword, colliding into the guard, who was send flying. He rolled around on the ground, patting down his body as if he’d been burning to a crisp. Once he realized he wasn’t on fire, he looked for his sword and quickly grabbed it, getting to his feet. I looked at the sword in my hands, wondering just what it was. I lifted my blade and swung horizontally at the other guard, my blade colliding with his sword. Even from here, I could feel immense heat coming from my own sword. However, it must have been much more heat than I thought it was, considering the guard’s sword started to melt like snow. He pulled his blade back, but instead of coming off in one piece, it looked as though it tore apart, the metal still dripping like syrup. I stabbed forth, my blade successfully penetrating the man’s abdomen, apparently scorching hot on his insides. I twisted my sword and pulled it out of his abdomen. It appears that the blade was so hot that it caused his blood to literally boil. He fell backwards, no longer moving. The other guard, now in a cold sweat, began stepping backwards in fear. He dropped his weapon and fell backwards.

“Open this gate,” I said. He simply nodded and started scrambling to get up to the gate. I went back to the car and put my sword back in the sheath. It was definitely a suspicious sword. Watching the gate open, I drove through. Now, we could see the buildings and houses inside the stronghold. There had also been a power plant, as well. Not only that, but there had been many mechs walking around, along with tanks roaming. Suddenly, a loud alarm began wailing.

“Dammit, should have known,” Randolph said. By now, our only option would be to plow through the forces coming at us. I stopped the car at the bottom of the bridge, where several mechs and tanks awaited our arrival. Quickly, I grabbed my new sword and pulled it from its sheath. The others exited the car and, in only a moment's notice, a mech began attacking. Three missiles fired at once from it. Quickly, I ran forward, towards the mech that fired the missiles. I stabbed my blade into its metal and started climbing it from the back. The missiles, original in front of it, all landed at its feet, causing it to fly upwards due to the force of the missiles. Just before landing on its back, I hopped off and onto one of the tanks, in which a man was on the turret. I stabbed through his neck and lifted him with my blade, throwing him aside. I opened the hatch and reached into the tank, where one man had been operating it. Pulling him upwards, he struggled to release my grip. I simply sliced his neck and threw his aside, lowering myself into the tank and closing the hatch. I shoved my blade into the sheath and began looking around with the tank. I found that Arcanum had been struggling to fight these, as he usually goes against opponents who are easy to kill. I fired between two of the mechs in front of him, each which were forcefully pushed apart and onto their sides. I then moved the barrel towards another tank, in which I fired at. Of course, it hadn’t done too much to it. Slowly, I noticed its barrel turning towards me. I fired again, at the base of its barrel, disabling it. I continued firing at the other tanks and mechs, each until they were all down. I got out of the tank and looked around. It appeared that they were all fine for now.

Without taking the car anywhere, as we would be an easier target to spot, we ran through the city, noticing tons of citizens, mostly Justice-related, walking around. They had no weapons or anything, so we shoved past them. However, suddenly, one particular person stood. He had a long sword with a small spike at its end, pointing forward. Without a word, he immediately attacked us. Quickly, Randolph lifted his blade and blocked, forcefully pushing backwards, in which the man then flipped and landed on his feet swiftly. He brought down his blade, not at any one of us in particular, but right into the ground, the spike breaking through, and into, the ground. He then ran forward, the hilt of the blade in his hand and released it as soon as he got to me. Unexpectedly, he struck my gut with one fist and my left cheek with the other as I was hunching over. Pain struck me quickly. He then grabbed his blade which had now been just behind him, and lifted it over his head and was about to bring it down on me. However, Alicia came to my aid and deflected his blade, causing it to crash into the ground next to us. That, however, did not thwart his plans. He immediately lifted his knee into her left side, then released his blade and brought his elbow down into her shoulder. He then placed his hand on the side of her head and threw her downwards, towards the ground, headfirst. He grabbed his blade and swung all the way around, just above me and into Randolph’s large sword. Without trouble, Randolph shoved it away, but just as he did so, the man released his sword again, running forward to Randolph, then jammed his fist under his jaw. Randolph, still not falling, swung one of his fists at the man. However, the man simply ducked under his large fist and kicked Randolph’s stomach, causing him to stumble back a few steps, and then, once more, forcefully punched upwards into his jaw, causing him to fall back. Alicia, knocked out cold from the forceful push downwards, and Randolph, finished from a second uppercut, but not quite unconscious, were now lying there, as if waiting for someone to come save them. Then, he grabbed his blade and swung it towards Arcanum, who quickly deflected with what looked like his bare fist, but then I noticed a small dagger in his hand. The man, one last time, released his blade to strike him, but Arcanum grabbed the man’s fist and kicked him in the chest, causing him to practically fly back. He quickly retaliated with a rock he simply picked up from the ground, throwing it at Arcanum, who simply took the hit. It crashed into his arm, but it seemed as though nothing happened. The other man closed the space between them, but Arcanum quickly moved out of the way and wrapped his arms around the other man, commencing in a suplex, smashing the man’s head into the ground and releasing him, quickly getting back up. However, the other man still persisted, even with blood dripping down his face. He took a small dagger and plunged forward. To Arcanum’s surprise, and ours, the dagger managed to just barely slice a part of Arcanum’s mask and hood. The mask fell loose and exposed a portion of his face. Quickly, the man ended up cutting the cloth around Arcanum’s face, exposing more portions at a time. Underneath the mask and hood, a man with short, vibrant blonde hair with scars over both of his eyes, presumably meaning he was blind. All this time, he managed to fight ever so valiantly and vigorously.

“Prince?” Randolph said, exhausted. Regardless, the man didn’t bat an eye, but it did hinder his performance, as the man with the dagger successfully stabbed him in the stomach. Thought fazed a bit, Arcanum grabbed the man and, as before, his hand began emitting some form of mist. Looking over to him, I could see he mouthed the words “thank you.” Abruptly interrupting the moment, several black shards all went through both Arcanum and the man. As the shards slowly vanished, both of their bodies went limp and fell to the ground.

“Prince!” Randolph yelled with all he could, reaching out to them, slowly crawling over to them. He lifted his own body to a sitting position, pulling Arcanum into his lap. His visor was cracked apart, exposing one of his eyes. His eyes were closed, and his breath soft and quickly fading. He didn’t say a word, but only smiled. As he smiled, his breath slowly faded away and his heart stopped beating. I noticed a drop of water on his cheek, then another. When I looked up to Randolph, I could see streams of tears coming from his face. He lowered his forehead onto Arcanum’s forehead. For the entire fight, and even during this time, I forgot we had been in the middle of a Justice stronghold.

Before any more Justice members or artillery could appear, I quickly got everyone up and ready to go. Sadly, we had no time to properly bury Arcanum. We were all running past the masses of people, shoving through. Soon, we arrived at a wall that split the housing section from the industrial area. Several guards along with two mechs waited for us to appear, the gate closed. I noticed a control panel in a tall tower nearby. I turned to Randolph and Alicia, who had still been a bit off-track, and gestured for them to deal with the guards. They nodded and I split with them, running towards the tower. A few guards split off to intercept me, so I pulled out my sword cut the head off one of them and then stabbed my sword into the other, twisting and pulling. I continued running up the stairs of the tower. I turned around and noticed a group of guards coming towards me. I found a support bar holding up this section of the stairs and cut it, a clean cut. Suddenly, the stairs began to slowly creak and break apart from the rest of the tower. I ran up the fall portion of the stairs, quickly making it to a part which had still been attached. Soon, I reached the top of the tower, only a few guards between me and the control panel. I cut through their swords and then through their torsos, watching them fall before me. I stepped over their body and put my sword away, looking at the control panel, which had a lever and a big button. I pulled down on the lever, which gave a lot of resistance, and pushed the button, which soon set off an alarm, notifying the people that the gate was opening. Slowly, the gate started sliding into the wall, making a small gap in the middle. When I looked down, I noticed that all but one mech had been defeated. Soon, the mech fell sideways, with one missing leg, and my friends ran between the gate. I climbed over the railing and hopped down, on top of a guard under me and, stumbling momentarily, began running towards the gate. In front of us, a mass of guards waited.

“Dammit,” Randolph gritted his teeth.

“I know that by the time we got here, they wouldn’t go easy on us,” I said, “So let’s show them not to underestimate us.” I ran forward, along with Alicia, who was much faster than myself and got to the guards first. Acting as a practical distraction for us, the guards turned to her direction, behind the mass of soldiers. Giving a wide opening, I slashed at the off-guard soldiers and began quickly killing them. Randolph had been bashing them with his large sword, crushing their ribs and skulls, as well as slicing large chunks of them. Soon, they dwindled down to only a select few, who had no chance against us. Quickly, they were killed, as well. A large mass of soldiers, now lying dead at our feet with a large puddle of blood which we had been standing in. Limbs had been lying freely around, detached from the bodies and, by now, were impossible to tell who they belonged to. We continued forward, towards the first location which caught my eye, the power plant. Randolph lifted his large sword and plunged it into one of the tanks. I cut open a large cord, which soon began emitting sparks. Quickly, we ran, awaiting a large explosion. We found a place behind a fairly sizeable wall, along with tanks in rows. We all covered our ears, the tank soon exploding. From the impact of the one, the others began to burst into pieces one-by-one. Even with our ears covered, it was as loud as could be. Soon, each of the tanks were gone. When I looked over the wall, I noticed a few of the tanks had been tossed around. However, for the most part, there had been only flames.

“To the oil factory now,” I said, already heading towards it, “If we manage to find the generator before we find it, then we’ll take out the generator and leave.” Alicia and Randolph both nodded. Quickly, we made our way towards the oil factory, one in which had been easy to spot. Soon, we arrived, with no sighting of the generator, and ran into the factory. Not only had there been oil, but coal, as well. That would explain the large furnaces inside and the chimneys outside. Soon, a group of people in overalls noticed us and began fleeing from us. Not that I intended on murdering them in any way. We continued through the factory, destroying the furnaces and oil tanks as we came across them. There had been four furnaces, each which took roughly five minutes each to render completely useless. The oil tanks only too one large cut at the bottom, in which I couldn’t do unless I wanted the oil to catch fire. Walking through the factory, I noticed a large metal object in the corner, hidden by a large wall in which someone wouldn’t be able to naturally see just by walking in at the entrance. I turned to the other two and gestured them over. They came over and looked at the large metal object, likely the generator for the entire city. I will admit, this is quite the place to put a generator. We walked over to it and looked at it. It was like stacking two indifferent Randolphs on top of each other and stuffing it into the corner, except it was three times as wide as him. On the side was a large latch which kept it closed. I cut off the latch and the hinges to it. The large door on it fell off and we stood back. Looking up, a large, glowing orb sat inside. I looked over to Randolph, the only one able to reach it without having to have someone climb onto someone else. He lifted his blade and plunged it into the orb, which cracked and emitted a large amount of steam, as well as it began hissing. We started running, knowing exactly what would happen. We ran out of the building, and, just then, a loud explosion. Portions of the building began collapsing like dominoes, almost. We turned to see the city shutting down, as well as the mechs and tanks. We walked through the gate we came from, noticing masses of people panicking, running like wild animals, all particularly in one direction: towards the exit. We ran over to my car which, surprisingly, was still intact. I sheathed my sword and tossed it in the back, hopping in and starting the car. Quickly, I drove off, to a different exit, where even still many people were running to, but not as many. I slowly drove between the people, who surprisingly split as my car was coming through. They quite obviously hadn’t even covered one percent of the bridge. Quickly, I was able to break free and drive at full speed.

The bridge was longer than the one I came into the city on, but it wasn’t a problem, as we managed to get in and out by nightfall. To think about it, this is the second time we’ve been out of a city during night. There wasn’t a city in sight, and so there was no possible way to avoid demons which would appear out of nowhere. Speaking of which, one had been roaming around already near us. Keeping at the same speed, we passed it in no time. However, just as I thought we avoided a major issue, another one appeared in front of the car. Not just a single one, but a few. They were small, but the smaller they are, the more annoying they get. They all began hopping around us, even as we were getting out of the car. Immediately, even without a plan, Randolph slammed down his sword, missing them entirely because of how they moved. I swung horizontally at one, but it hopped over my sword and landed on the ground, continuously hopping. I was beginning to get frustrated with them, just as one hopped up to hang off my blade, a technique they’d use to hinder your abilities. However, just as it grabbed onto my sword, it began to screech in pain due to the heat and quickly released my sword. Just as that one released, the other hopped towards me to attack me. However, I swung my sword at the two, slicing both of them in two, then plunged my sword towards the one that grabbed my blade, stabbing through its chest, then lifting it and tossing it aside. I walked over to Randolph, who seemed to be having the most issues with them. I’d began hacking at them, cutting only a few of them. He then grabbed one of them with his left hand and crushed its skull in his bare hand, releasing it, watching the contents of it fall to the ground. Looking over to Alicia, she had just about no issues, considering she had already been fast enough to strike them. In mere moments, they were all defeated and gone. We got back into my car and resumed driving. Soon, we came across a familiar sight to me, a desert. Ahead, I noticed something in particular which caught my attention, a pile of ruins. It was Gandolia, where I was originally living. The place in which both Tharl and Miss Holly both died. I pulled into the parking lot in front of the now useless convenience store. I got out and walked over to the garage, where Tharl had always sat around in a foldable chair. I just stared at the ruins, unable to enter. I turned to the hangar and walked over to it, staring at the pile of rubble which had most definitely been moved since I left. When I walked back outside, I noticed a wooden post which I’d never seen before. I walked over to it and saw a nameplate on it. Miss Holly’s grave, it would appear. Someone came and buried her. I wasn’t going to question who, but I was certainly curious about it. I could feel a warm tear running down my cheek. I bent over and sat down, staring down at the withering pink flowers at her grave. The other two simply stood behind me, waiting. In a fit of rage felt towards Justice, I clenched my fist and punched the ground, lifting myself to my feet and wiping my tears away.

“I know where we’re going,” I said. To the first base I’d ever snuck in to. I walked over to the car and got in, as well as the others. I’d been stronger and obtained these two new partners, as well as a third who was now gone, but to remain in memory and heart. Swiftly drifting out of the parking lot and speeding down the road, I made my way to the desert base. I pulled over to the side of the road right in front of the base. Three guards walked over to the car and, just as they noticed who I was, they lifted their swords. However, standing no chance, I cut through them without hesitation. I walked through into the base. Guards, each by a whole unit, came towards us. However, each one was brought to their knees, then slaughtered. Soon, we reached the generator. I walked up to it and pulled back, ready to plunge my blade into it. Shoving forward, I expected to stab into it, but instead, my blade was deflected and scratched the top of the generator. A long, thin blade had sat in front of me, slowly being lowered.

“I don’t think so,” a man said, his voice rather soothing. and calm. I turned to see a man with long red hair and red eyes, along with the same grin I saw when I hid previously. He lifted his hand to grab mer, but I moved out of the way.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“I am Justice’s High Commander, or rather, the Second in Command,” he said, “Avecia Garnet.” I looked over to Alicia. However, her hair had been silver, but her eyes were definitely red. I never paid attention before. However, they do look alike.

“The Second in Command of Justice?” I said.

“Indeed. Who shall you be?” he asked.

“Kimbo,” I responded.

“No,” he said, “Your real name.”

“What?” I said.

“Kimbo is not your real name,” he said. By now, I’d been gritting my teeth.

“What are you talking about?” I said.

“Your real name,” he said, “Your real name is Zephire Myles.” I glared at him, revealing my name without my permission. I knew my name, but considering the emotional thrust behind it, I abandoned it and changed it to “Kimbo.” The other two, Alicia and Randolph, just looked at me.

“Myles?” Randolph said, lowering his blade. Alicia, as well, lowered it. I could feel an intense amount of sudden distrust towards me. I sighed and turned to them.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Myles is Justice’s Emperor’s name, isn’t it?” Alicia said.

“Indeed,” Avecia said, “He is the heir to Justice’s throne, but Emperor Myles decided to throw him out of the castle. Until he was prepared to rule, he would not be allowed into the castle.”

“Then, why are you fighting against them?” Randolph asked me.

“They killed my friends and my family,” I said.

“But,” he said.

“I was adopted by a poor family, one which took me in when I was still just a baby. They found out about me, but they still accepted me, regardless. After I’d went out one day, I came back to find my father and mother lying half-dead in the middle of the street. When I entered the house, a group of men stood there, a blade through my sister’s heart.” I explained to them how it happened and what urged my hatred for Justice.

“Even to this day, he refuses to follow by his true father’s words to become a fine emperor,” Avecia said, “It will cause your death.” He thrust his blade upwards, pointing the tip towards me.

“My death will be long to come,” I said, lifting my sword. The other two hesitantly but hastily lifted their swords.

“I am much more fit to be emperor, just die quietly and quickly,” he said, jabbing forward. I slashed down at the blade and it stabbed into the ground. Instead, he thrust punch towards me, landing directly into my face, causing me to stagger back. He then forced a harsh kick into the left side of my ribcage, causing me to fall to my right. I stabbed my sword into the ground and picked myself up, but he was relentless and threw a knee into my chest, causing me to fly further back. I looked over to Randolph and Alicia, who were still hesitant. I grunted and lifted my own body, which was beginning to feel heavy. I then noticed Randolph come forward, bringing his large sword down onto the man in front of me. However, it was easily block with his thin blade. He then forced Randolph back by sending a kick into his stomach. From above, Alicia hopped over Randolph and swung her sword down, only to have Avecia dodge. Her blade collided into the ground.

“Now, sister, we don’t need to fight,” he quickly grabbed her neck and lifted her, throwing her to the side like a doll. He then swung down on me, but I scampered away, the sword hitting the ground in front of me.

“Dammit,” Randolph grunted and ran forward, his blade no longer in his hand. He lunged one hand forward to grab the man in front of me, but instead, the man stepped back, causing Randolph to run past him and into the generator instead. Randolph then grabbed the box of the generator and began crushing it. Quickly, it was crushed into practically nothing. The orb in it cracked, releasing steam and hissing. He lifted it and threw it, it soon exploding. The base’s lights went out.

“That is no issue,” Avecia said. Instead, he continued to swing his blade at me, it glowing every second, emitting enough light in the darkness to see. I quickly stood up and swung my blade back at his, but it just clanged and flew back into a wall. I looked towards him, his face looking grim and terrifying in the glow of his sword.

“Damn you,” I said angrily. I ran for him and he lifted his blade, only in enough time to stab into my leg. I gritted my teeth in pain, but nonetheless grabbed his throat, squeezing as hard as I could. He fell to the ground and, with the blade in my leg, it dug deeper as the hilt of it hit the ground. I continued to hold his throat, now throwing punches at his face, hitting whatever I could. He then grabbed my arm and, with what seemed hardly any force, made me release my grip. He then used his other hand to lift my body off of him. He then stood up and grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulling it out of my leg, causing me to wail in pain. He then punched me in the stomach with an immense amount of force. As I was going down, he sent his knee upwards, striking me directly under the jaw. I felt as though I had started flying while in the air. I soon landed, pain striking me in just about every bit of my body. I could feel blood trickling on my leg and out of my mouth. It was warm, and although it was a sign of me dying, it was comforting, for some odd reason. However, unexpectedly, I heard a loss of breath come from Avecia. When I looked up, I noticed the shine of a sword through his chest.

“I cannot allow you to kill him,” Alicia said, not even moved by what she had just done.

“Why?” he said.

“You wouldn’t understand,” she twisted the sword and pulled it out of him. He fell to his knees, dropping the sword next to him. He then fell forward. My body couldn’t move. I couldn’t move my body at all.

“Hey, you, don’t die on us!” I heard Randolph say, his footsteps making vibrations as he came closer. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move, I could barely even make out the shapes in front of me. All I could guess is they were the two of my friends looking down on me. Everything had began getting darker. Just before my vision blacked out entirely, I could feel myself being lifted and a voice speak, but I couldn’t make out the words. Then, everything went dark.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a white room on a white bed with a light blue curtain around me. When I looked to my left, I noticed a bag of blood stuck into me. To my right, a heart monitor, still working. Doesn’t seem like I’m dead, as it’s not flatlining. Soon, I heard mumbling and footsteps. I heard a curtain open, but it wasn’t mine. I then heard two people talking. A man, exhausted and somewhat in pain, and a woman. I couldn’t really make out their words, as they were quiet. Soon, they stopped talking and the footsteps left the room, as well as the closing of a door. There wasn’t much to this small, confined area. It had just been a monitor and a bag of blood. However, just then, I noticed a vase of flowers, all pink flowers, sitting on a small metal table next to the bed. I tried reaching for it, but my arm would barely lift. It appears my body hasn’t properly come back to me yet. I could hear some few people cough, and some few moving around a bit in their bed. Once again, there hadn’t been much to look at. I looked directly upwards and stared at the ceiling, which had a smooth white texture. Suddenly, again, the door opened. I could hear two people talking. A woman’s voice and a man’s voice. The footsteps came closer to my area, then suddenly halted. My curtain peeled open and I noticed two people. A nurse and a doctor. Once they noticed that I was awake and well, they rushed over to me.

“You’re awake?” the doctor said. I could only look at him and nod. My mouth wouldn’t open, nor could I speak.

“Are you able to say anything,” the nurse then spoke, but in a reply to her question, I slowly shook my head as a no.

“So he’s unable to speak. Just what happened?” the doctor said, standing up straight, writing on a clipboard, “Your friends won’t tell us what happened, and considering you can’t speak, we can’t find out. Can you move your body?” I tried to move my arms and legs, but they barely even lifted.

“It appears he’s struggling to move,” the nurse said.

“You were stabbed in the leg, as well as roughed up pretty bad. A few of your left ribs were broken, as well as several bruises under your jaw and on your body, particularly your stomach. Your spine took some minor damages, likely the cause of your near inability to move. You should be able to move at full capacity and speak again in a week’s worth of time,” he gave a full explanation of what had happened to my body. It appears I’d be here for some time. I looked around, particularly his wrist, which had a watch on it. I lifted my left arm, trying to point at his watch.

“Sir,” the nurse spoke, “I think he needs something.” The doctor looked over to me, then my arm. He walked over to me.

“What is it you need?” I reached out to his wrist and touched his watch.

“The time?” the nurse asked. I slowly shook my head.

“How long you’ve been here?” the doctor asked, and with that, I nodded, “Three days, so far. Your body had been healing at a rather significant rate compared to your injuries, though.” I laid my head back and relaxed. They soon left and, about three minutes after, the door opened again. The curtain soon drew back quickly and, standing there were two people. A large man who I could identify as Randolph, and a woman with long white hair, Alicia. Randolph wore a black jacket with a white shirt underneath and blue jeans. Alicia’s hair was in a ponytail and she wore a white, beautiful dress. They both stood at my side, Randolph to my left and Alicia to my right.

“Hey, buddy, you alright?” Randolph asked. I nodded. He took a deep breath, likely stiff from the roughness I went through. I looked over to Alicia, who was avoiding eye contact. I lifted my hand and, as she noticed it, she took it in hers.

“Don’t die,” she said. I could tell she was highly upset that I was near death, practically on the verge of tears. I’d never seen Alicia like this before, so it came as a huge surprise to me. However, I couldn’t voice my concern to her, so all I did was try tightening my grip, as well as giving a very weak smile. Soon, the nurse came in and whispered in both of their ears. They nodded and waved me bye. The nurse closed the curtain and soon, I laid myself to rest, closing my eyes. Soon, I drifted away.

The next time I woke up, I found myself still in the hospital bed. However, I could move much more easily, and I found that I could speak again, but my breath was shallow. I could only say a few words before needing to take another fairly large breath. As every thirty minutes passed, they came to check on the multiple patients in the room. Some of the even got to leave due to their better condition. In fact, the only one who wasn’t able to leave yet was me. All of the other patients had been switched out with new ones, but I remained resting in the bed over the entirety of the week. The more the days passed, the more I reflected on what I’ve been doing and what has been done. I’ve been killing men, people who have had families, taking the fathers away from families. The more I think about it, the heavier the guilt feels. I started throwing random thoughts into my mind to flood the bad thoughts. After the few days passed, I was able to leave. Alicia and Randolph visited every two days, sometimes together, sometimes separate. I was escorted by a nurse to the ground floor, then to a room with a bunch of lockers. She stopped at one in particular and started pulling my items out, handing them to me. I immediately began undressing, even though she had still been in the room. The patient’s gown fell from my body and I began putting on my other clothes, over the only piece of clothes I had left, my boxers.

“You’re a hunter?” she said, seeming a bit shy and somewhat embarrassed to have been in here while I was undressing and then dressing again.

“Yeah,” I said, putting my sheath and sword properly onto my waist, carrying my old sword and sheath in my hand.

“I heard there were some demons attacking a city north of here,” she said.

“I see,” I said, “I’ve been thinking about quitting as a hunter.”

“How come?” she said.

“The things I’ve done,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing important.” I turned and started walking out of the room, but she grabbed my arm.

“Please,” she said sweetly.

“If you’d so kindly quit asking.” I jerked my arm to release her grip, then pushed the door open and quietly exited. However, she came for me and pulled on my shoulder, trying to turn me, but I persisted forward. Then, she grabbed my arm again.

“Please!” She was annoying, and I was beginning to get highly irritated.

“Why are you so damn clingy!” I shouted at her. She released my arm and cowered back. I could see fear in her eyes. Looking around, I noticed groups of people look towards us. I quickly turned and stormed out of the building, not giving in to her. Outside, my car was in the parking lot. Randolph and Alicia were nowhere to be seen. I ran over to my car and tossed both of my swords into the back of the car. I looked at my pants and looked at the hole in it, where the sword penetrated my leg. A white bandage was under my pants, clearly visible. I looked around once more, but there still hadn’t been anyone around, other than a single vendor on the street with a small crowd around him and a few people walking around. I walked over to the vendor and took a peek between the few people who had been there. Cheap jewelry, such as necklaces, rings, wristbands, wristwatches, and all the likes. Most of them weren’t very expensive-looking, but rather self-crafted by the vendor, himself.

“Come and get specialized jewelry, such things to help you in your daily life and even at night against demons!” he shouted, a smile on his face. A few people glanced over and walked by, some stopped and browsed, and only a handful actually bought something. I walked up to the vendor and looked at one particular ring, made of a stone-gray metal with engraved writing in latin.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Interested? It’s the old king’s ring, infused with powers beyond those known!” he was trying to make up some sort of backstory to it. I was interested, but not because of his story. There was something that stood out in this one among the others, even the ones that shone brilliantly in the light.

“It’s a bit intriguing,” I said, “How much?”

“Sixteen hundred,” he said.

“Sixteen hundred?” I said. Surprisingly high, much higher than I thought.

“Indeed,” he looked up from the ring to me. I reached into my pocket and looked at the few bits of money I had. I did have enough, but just barely. Even though I was a bit reluctant, I still gave him the money and he gave me my change. I shoved it into my pocket and took the ring. Looking at the engraved bits on it, I tried to comprehend it, but I wasn’t able to. I took the ring and slowly put it on my finger, but I felt nothing different. I knew it was some sort of rip-off ring, nothing special but the writing on the ring. I turned and noticed Randolph walking over to the hospital. However, before he got to it, he noticed me.

“Kimbo!” he said loudly, running over to me. Once he got to me, he stopped.

“Yeah?” I said.

“You’re alive and well,” he said, “Thank goodness.”

“Of course I am, don’t think I’ll just keel over and die,” I said, smiling and placing my hand on his large shoulder. He smiled and turned, looking around.

“We should find Alicia,” he said, already walking off. Without a word, I followed silently behind.

Walking through the city, we searched for Alicia, but we couldn’t find her yet. We searched through the main roads, the side roads and some alleyways, as well as inside the public buildings, such as restaurants and shops. We asked around about her, but either no one knew her or knew where she was. By the time we made two rounds around the city, we weren’t able to find her. The bars were currently closed, and so we didn’t have the ability to ask the knowledgeable bartenders about the situation. It would be about another half hour until the bars opened, so we decided to make another round, just in case we could find her. Randolph went one way and I went the other. I walked through the few groups of people scattered around the city, but I couldn’t seem to find her. To get all the way around the city and back to the center took about twenty-five minutes, leaving five minutes until most of the bars opened. We went straight for the bars, asking the bartenders about Alicia, but for the most part, none of them knew her. I few said they’d seen a woman that looked like her, but they had no other information. Suddenly, we found a place where the bartender actually knew some information about her. Seated at the bar, few people inside as of now, we were prepared to start asking a few things.

“You said you know a bit about Alicia,” I said to him, “Do you know where she’s going?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just give information like that,” he said, “If anything, it’ll cost you to know.” I sighed and pulled out some money and threw it on the bar counter.

“That enough?” he was counting the money, then threw back a portion of it.

“This’ll be enough,” he said, “She told a group of people playing poker that she’d be headed to a Justice stronghold in Kuey High, if I remember, the stronghold’s name was Tiamon.”

“Tiamon’s one of the largest strongholds that Justice owns, on top of a mountain,” Randolph spoke up.

“Why would she go alone?” I said, quickly jumping up from the stool and running out of the bar, quickly to my car. Randolph followed behind me. I hopped into my car and started it, Randolph hopping in just as I was pulling out. He gave me directions to Kuey High, the mountain in which Tiamon, Justice’s stronghold, was at. As we were driving, we were listening to a radio station, in which a man was speaking.

“Today, a former member of Justice, Alicia Garnet, was captured by Justice elites, a group of newly-formed members who were formed just for the reason of defeating the small group which Alicia came from, the other members being Randolph Quay and Kimbo. However, Kimbo’s real name was released earlier this month, known to be Zephire Myles, the son of the current Justice Emperor. His reasons to oppose the Emperor are currently unknown.” The radio had given us information as to what happened to Alicia. Considering there’s only one prison nearby, in the desert, it’d be safer to assume that she’s there, the same place I was locked up in. Quickly, I pushed down harder on the gas, as far as it’d go.

The car had been going roughly one ninety kilometres per hour. Randolph, even for how fast we were going, was still reading a book. Soon, the prison came into view. A tall, large gray building, one which would look menacing to a normal person, but considering I’m both a hunter and have been there once, there isn’t an issue for me. I pulled to the side of the road and got out of the car, pulling my two swords from my car, putting both the sheaths on either side of my hips, each with a sword in the proper sheath. At the front gate of the prison, two soldiers stood, practically immobile. As we approached, they walked forward. Of course, they knew our faces. I pulled out my old blade and cut through their swords, then right through them. Feeling their warm blood splatter onto my face, I continued forward. Randolph didn’t even have a chance to pull out his sword after I’d quickly finished them. However, he pulled out out anyway. He then swung down on the gate, which crunched at the force of his sword. A small group of about eight soldiers suddenly turned their gaze over to us, preparing their weapons. They ran over to us, simply falling at our feet as each came to us. With haste, we made our way through the practically unprotected prison, which was awfully strange. We bursted through a door, which lead to many soldiers protecting one particular object in the room, a paper. Quickly, me and Randolph cut through the soldiers, as well. I put my sword away and grabbed the paper, seeing that it was a record of all the prisoners who have been locked away. I flipped through the pages, finding that Alicia was definitely on the list, as well as her cell number. Special detainment, Cell five twenty-one. The first number is spaced out from the last two, likely labeling the floor number, five, in room twenty-one. I tossed down the clipboard and ran out of the door, over to the stairs and began running up them, finding my way to floor five, shoving open the door into a long hallway. Currently, we were in the normal cells. Looking left and right, I noticed practical skeletons sitting in cells. Some of them even stood up and ran over to the bars, reaching out to us, yelling at us like maniacs. We went past them, to the hall where the special detainment cells were. I kicked open the door and, even still, room twenty-one wasn’t in this area. I walked over, looking around in the metal doors with small windows, noticing all the different people who were too strong or intelligent to keep in the normal cells. I walked over to the corner of the hallways, looking to my right, down the hall, noticing a large cell with a single door and several different-looking guards standing in front of the cell, along with the portly man who released me.

“Kimbo! What a joy to see you again,” he said, a greasy smile on his face.

“Quite,” I said.

“Have you come to retrieve something you forgot?” he said.

“No, I can to get something you stole,” I said, looking over to Alicia, who was bound to a large metal object, submerged in a tank of water, wearing only a one-piece black material over everything except her head.

“She was quite the feisty one,” he said, “Perhaps I could make her mine?” Suddenly, something ticked inside me, as my hand immediately went to my sword. However, Randolph grabbed my arm.

“Don’t get too heated, he’s trying to reel you in,” he said. I sighed, releasing some of the strain on my body.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“What do I want? For you and Alicia to come over to Justice,” he said.

“What’ll happen to Randolph?” I asked.

“He’ll be harboured in one of our strongholds, so don’t worry,” he said.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“I’ve been loyal to Justice for ever so long, and besides, my dear mother told me to never lie to others, especially those who you like.” He was beginning to annoy me.

“Precisely, you’re with Justice, there isn’t a way to tell if we can trust you,” Randolph spoke up. He just laughed and walked over to one of the soldiers and spoke into their ears. He then signaled the others and began charging towards us. The several soldiers held nothing in their hands as of now. I pulled out my old sword and swung at one, but missed entirely. The soldier seemed to disappear, but just as I looked up, I noticed one jumping down from the ceiling at me. I began lifting my sword, but just as I thought I was going to get hit, closing my own eyes, I didn’t even feel the clash of swords, I quickly opened them and noticed everything around me moving twice as slow. I moved out of the way and lifted my sword, slicing down through the soldier and then turned around, noticing the other soldiers moving slowly, as well. I started cutting through them, all until the last one was cut through. Suddenly, everything went back to normal. I looked down at my sword and noticed a fading green glow coming from the ring, then its glow went away.

“What the hell is this?” the portly man coughed, partially choking on the smoke he inhaled from his cigar from the turn of events.

“It doesn’t matter what just happened,” I said, “What matters is that you’ve no longer got any protection to hold us back.” He stepped back, his back now on the bars of the cell that Alicia was in. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys, quickly and clumsily unlocking the door, then locking it again. I cut down the door, the bars simply falling. He continued going back, until he reached the tank that Alicia was in. I walked up to him and he slid down onto the floor. Visibly, tears were pouring down his face, snot coming from his nose. He had already pissed himself out of sheer terror.

“Please, please, don’t kill me,” he said in a somewhat broken voice, shaking.

“I don’t need to kill you,” I said, “I have already reached my objective, and besides, watching you cower in fear under me is good enough.” I walked past him and he let out a huge breath of relief, quickly scurrying away, stumbling every few steps with his penguin waddle of a run, if you could call it running. I looked all around to open the tank, but I couldn’t find any particular way to do so, so I just lifted my sword and cut at it instead, the glass busting and the water pouring out. I stepped back quite a few steps as the water’s force started pushing me a bit. By now, my knees and lower were soaked in water. Unlike before, Alicia’s body and hair were now hanging limp from the binds. I walked over to her and grabbed the binds, carefully bringing the tip of my sword to them and cutting them, causing each limb of hers to fall down. Soon, I cut through all of the binds and she fell, so I quickly caught her. With her in my arms, I struggled a bit to put my sword into my sheath.

“You won’t be able to fight like that, Kimbo,” Randolph said.

“Then could you please protect me?” I asked of him.

“Understood,” he then pulled out his sword. I lifted Alicia into my arms, carrying her with her upper back in my left arm and her legs in my right arm. We ran through the hallways, making our way out of the prison. Once we reached the doors, Randolph burst through them. Surprisingly, no soldiers were outside. We ran over to the car and I laid her in the back seats, getting ready to throw my swords in until I heard something. Several ships came flying over, all Justice ships. I quickly threw my swords on the floorboard and hopped in, starting it even before Randolph got in. Quickly, he got in and I pushed down on the gas, in which the car began to move, even if slowly at first. Soon, we were flying past everything like when we came to the prison. The ships were flying along as well, firing the large cannons on them down at us. Every so often, the force from one of them would get to the car, causing it to swerve heavily, jerking us around a bit. Regardless, I continued to drive. Suddenly, one of the cannon’s shots hit directly in front of us, causing the car to hit the force directly. Hardly being able to see due to the smoke, I felt that we were suddenly flipping. I felt my body leaving the car. I looked back and over to Randolph, who had also been thrown out of the car. Alicia, as well, was tossed into the air. I reached over, but she was much too far to get to. When I looked back, I noticed a cliff. It was inevitable, I’d be flung off of the cliff. Just before falling down to the cliff, I noticed Alicia landing into Randolph’s arms. Then, everything on the road disappeared and I was falling. Below me, trees. Suddenly, I hit a tree, the branches slapping harshly on my body. I tried grabbing a branch, but instead of staying on it, it snapped. I continued to fall, the branches slapping me and snapping as I fell through them. Suddenly, I hit the ground and everything went dark.

When I woke up, my entire body was stinging with agonizing pain. I slowly lifted up, the stings striking me even harder, as though I were still being slapped. I lifted my shirt and looked at my body. Red marks all over my body from the branches. I looked at my arms and noticed red marks, as well, even some cuts. I felt my face and noticed a few small cuts, specifically on my forehead and left cheek. I tried to stand, but a sharp pain struck through my left calf. I looked down as I fell back down and noticed a piece of wood through my leg. I sat up and reached down to it, trying to pull it out. Successfully and painfully, I pulled the wood out and tossed it aside. It didn’t penetrate through my leg, but it was a deep wound. I looked around, but there hadn’t been much of anything, so crawled over to a tree and reached up towards a vine, which had been just in reach, and began pulling on it. As it came lower, I grabbed further up, pulling on it. I heard a snap and watched as the vine fell on my right leg. I grabbed it, lifted my pant leg, and began wrapping the vine around my wound. It was better to cover it up with something than to just leave it. I reached for my sword to cut the vine, but noticed my swords weren’t with me. I reached over to the wood I tossed and began rubbing it against the vine. After about four minutes, the vine snapped off and I knotted it. I tried standing and leaned against a tree, keeping my left leg up, as it was still in pain. I hopped on my right leg towards the next tree, resting at each tree. Soon, I found the end of the trees and a large lake, along with a shack nearby, or what seemed to be one. I slowly made my way over to the shack. By the time I got there, I noticed it was a small house, with only one room, a bed, and a pantry of food. I looked around, but there was no one here. I sat down on the bed and looked around once more. A few counters and cabinets, a small table and a chair, two windows, one facing the lake, one facing the forest, the door, with a window of its own, and the pantry. Abruptly interrupting the peace, something swung the door opened. I noticed a man walking in with a bucket of fish. He dropped his fished as he noticed me.

“Who’re you?” he stepped back, reaching for a wooden stick behind him.

“My name is Kimbo,” I said, my breath quite different than usual.

“You’re injured?” he said. It would appear he doesn’t know about me, unlike most people. He knelt down and took a look at my leg. He stood up and walked over to a cabinet, grabbed something and walked back over to me. He set down a small white jar and a white cloth. He lifted my pant leg and cut off the vine I wrapped around my leg. It fell off, the blood still coming out of my leg. He opened the jar and tilted it over my leg. A liquid came out and slowly poured into the wound. It stung like hell, causing me to want to jerk away, but I didn’t. He then grabbed the cloth and began tying it around my leg, tying a knot on the side. He pulled my pant leg down and stood back up.

“Thanks,” I said.

“No problem,” he turned away and picked up his bucket of fish, setting it on one of the counters, then grabbed a stick and tossed it over to me.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“You can use it to walk with. It should be sturdy enough to hold your weight,” he said, “Now go. You look like a busy man.” He wasn’t wrong, but I’m unsure how he knew. I stood up, using the stick as assistance. I walked out of the house, around the lake, climbing up hills and I found my way back to the street. When I walked down the road, I noticed my car lying upside-down on the road, along with a bit of smoke around and broken parts of the road. I noticed my swords both lying away from the car. One was near the edge of the cliff, a portion of it off of the cliff I walked over to it, picked it up, and put it to my side. I then went to grab my other sword and put it on the other side of my hips. I resumed walking over to my car. I got down and looked, but there wasn’t much anything, other than my supplies. I reached down, pulled the few scattered things out from under my car, and stuffed them back into the bag. I sat down next to my car, my backed leaned against it. I drifted away into sleep soon after relaxing my body.

When I woke up, I noticed my car was back on its wheels and, not only had it been upright, but it was also moving quickly. I was lying in the back seat and lifted my body, only enough to see who had been driving. When I got a good look I noticed Randolph. When I looked back to the seat, I noticed Alicia’s body. My head lay in her lap and she was looking out at the place around us. I didn’t say or do anything. Rather, I just kept my head there silently, acting as though I hadn’t woke up yet. However, she must have noticed my head moving, because she looked down at me and placed her hand on my head. She didn’t say anything. Rather, I felt the car come to a halt. The driver’s door opened and, just as I was about to fall asleep again, my head left her soft lap as she got out. I lifted my upper body in a sitting position. Randolph was at my aid, lending me his shoulder for support to get out. I placed my hand on his shoulder and lifted myself out of the car, carrying the stick I had with me. He closed the door behind me and stayed next to me in case I fell, or such. We were in an unfamiliar place, but easily found a hospital. Once we entered, the people looked my way, some even shocked. When I looked at my wound, I noticed that extremely diluted blood had been dropping to the floor. With haste, I noticed two nurses running over to me. Soon, a male nurse came over with a mobile bed. They laid me down on it and took me elsewhere. Without putting me to sleep, only numbing my leg, they soon began stitching the wound together.

“Who put this liquid in your leg?” the man stitching my leg spoke.

“A man I found in a cabin,” I said.

“He seemed to know his herbs,” the doctor said, “You leg seems to already have been healed fairly well.” He finished stitching my leg and cleaned the blood up, putting a new bandage around my leg.

“This wouldn’t be the first time I got a bandage,” I said, patting on the current bandage in my thigh.

“You’re a hunter, so I suppose that’s to be expected,” he said. Thing is, I didn’t get this wound from a hunt, so it’s rather hard to explain it.

“Yeah,” I just looked away as he walked out of the room. Moments later, Randolph and Alicia came in. Alicia wore something different now, different from what she’d been wearing the past few times she was fighting and when she was held prisoner. She was wearing another dress, one with a few frills here and there. The dress itself was black and white, the frills being white, as well. Like before when I was in the hospital, she avoided eye contact. I suppose she feels rather embarrassed to wear such feminine clothes. Randolph was the first to get to me. This time, I was in a room alone, no one else around. They had the ability to be louder than before, but they still couldn’t be too loud.

“So, the second time,” he said, “How many times are you going to make us visit?”

“Wasn’t my intention,” I shrugged and laughed, listening to him laugh as well.

“Looks like your thigh hasn’t healed yet, either,” he said.

“It’s slowly healing, but it isn’t there yet. The hole’s been sealed together, it’s rather a surprise it didn’t bust open on the fall,” I said, looking at the somewhat torn bandage under my pant leg.

“It might be better to change out the bandage,” Randolph said, “I’ll go find the bandages.”

“No need to search, they’re in the second cabinet over there,” I pointed over to them. He nodded and walked over, opening to cabinet and taking down the bandages. He lifted my pant leg and started unwinding the previous bandage. When it came off, I noticed that the stitches were gone, only a scar left.

“Hold on, you said it was in the process of healing,” Randolph said.

“I did, but,” I was absolutely astonished.

“What the hell is this then?” he pointed out my leg.

“I’m not sure,” I said, completely unsure of how to process this. We just continued with our pointless chattering. Somehow, the best times seem to be when I’m stuck in the hospital, having fun with them. However, being in the hospital also reminds me of those who have died on this journey and before the journey, along with those who are to die in the future. Though they’ve been lied to and have been pushed to some of their limits, they still continue to fight alongside me. I wonder why they continue to stay by my side regardless what happens. Even when Arcanum died, Randolph still had the strength to stand back up and keep fighting. I’m not sure I could keep fighting when one of my greatest friends died in front of my eyes. It just proves how strong he is. And Alicia, with her speed, is nearly impossible to match, except for a select few. Then here I am, some average man who came along and practically said “Hey, let’s get together and take down Justice!” And in the end, I somehow end up as the person they adore most. Though I think of this now, our journey is yet to end, and so it’ll be a while longer until we come to our end.

By the time four days passed, I had full ability to use my left leg once more. It would appear that both Alicia and Randolph had stayed with me overnight for the last night, as I found them both resting in the room. Surprisingly, I was awake before anyone else, but I suppose that was due to my sudden irregular sleeping schedule. When I looked over to the clock, I noticed it was just before seven o’clock, when Randolph usually wakes up. Rather than waiting for one of them to wake up, I got up out of the bed and walked over to the window, opening it and leaning slightly out it, looking down at all the people walking around, some of them with their children. I suddenly started to think of how it’d feel to have a child of my own. Someone to pass all my legacies over to, someone to carry it all on. Someone who, if I failed to demolish Justice, would be able to destroy Justice. I smiled for a moment at the thought of having a child. The hardships, the joy, the pride, the fun, all the good moments, and even bad moments, in life with a child would all be so much better. The more I thought of it, the more distant it felt, the more it felt as though it would be unachievable. I suddenly heard shuffling behind me, so I turned to see who it was. Apparently, Alicia woke up in the middle of my daydreaming.

“Thinking of something?” she said.

“Nothing in particular,” I said.

“Perhaps I’ve had the same thoughts before,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“The thought of children?” It was rather scary how spot-on she was, and I also began to wonder exactly how she knew.

“How did you know what I was thinking?”

“Your smile gave it away. I’ve seen it on many people. It almost seems like the smile of a parent,” she said. The smile of a parent, huh? What exactly does that look like? I suppose I wouldn’t know, considering I’d been thrown out of the castle when I was young, and my adopted father never actually smiled much, except in a few photos.

“My smile, is that right?”

“You know, I’m not incapable of carrying a child,” she said. Suddenly, it struck me. I forgot entirely she was a woman, and just thought of her as a companion of battle. When I looked up, she avoided eye contact entirely, blushing at the cheeks. Was it that she was offering herself to me?

“You know, when I’m in battle, I forget about female, male, and age. I forget about everything and just attack whatever’s in front of me, regardless what or who it is, unless it’s an ally. I guess I forgot that you were a woman,” I said.

“That’s a bit rude, don’t you think?” she asked.

“I guess so, but it’s who I am,” I chuckled a bit. Abruptly, the door opened, halting our conversation entirely.

“You’re free to leave any time you like,” a female nurse said, “And, sorry to eavesdrop, but a child wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe you could come here so I could see it if it ever happens?”

“Yeah, sure,” I nervously said, a bit hesitantly as well. She closed the door. I was stiff as a board from absolute embarrassment. I suddenly began giving a few nervous laughs. Soon, Randolph woke up, as well. He said he didn’t want to be in the hospital anymore, so we decided to leave town. Soon, we were on the road again, headed to another destination. Our destination was the heart of the terrors and agony. Justice’s home base, Algora. Algora is an island in the middle of an ocean, on top of a mountain which so happened to form there. From here, even, we could see the mountain in which Algora was on. There was no bridge to get to Algora, only ships. Algora wasn’t a base, rather a city made for the Emperor and high-ranking Justice officers, such as Alicia’s elder brother, Avecia.

By now, we were in an entirely different city, a city where the ships to Algora could be found. Not all of the bases and strongholds had been destroyed yet, but if the capital was taken down, then perhaps the rest would die down. However, we didn’t have the ability to head to Algora just yet, as it was getting dark and heading to Algora during nighttime was extremely dangerous, we had to remain in the city. Randolph and I went straight for a bar, getting drinks while Alicia went to a few stores. After finishing her own business, she came into the bar with us. She sat down next to me, her form rather noble-like. Her body was curvaceous, suddenly, making me feel differently for her. I suppose Randolph noticed, because he jabbed me with his elbow and grinned at me. I waved him off and looked back down at my drink. I could feel someone tapping my shoulder and I looked over. Alicia leaned to my ear and began to whisper.

“Are you sure about this? After all, your real father lies in wait in the throne room in Algora,” she said.

“Don’t worry, I’ve prepared myself,” I said.

“And,” she hesitated, “Have you thought any deeper about the thought of children?” I pulled back a bit and looked her in the eyes. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I just turned my head back to my drink and took a sip, then looked over to Randolph for a moment, who just looked back and took a drink of his drink. It’s rather obvious he wouldn’t have a clue what we were just whispering about. I turned back to Alicia.

“I have, a bit,” I said.

“Come closer,” she said, and so I obediently came closer to her. Taking me by surprise, she leaned in and our lips met, even if only for a few seconds.

“Wh-” I was completely shocked by what she just did.

“Hey, whoa, when did you two start doing things?” Randolph said.

“I’m not sure?” I turned to him, confused, myself.

“Don’t worry about it,” Alicia quickly left the bar in embarrassment. I could feel eyes on me, crawling all over my body, making me extremely uncomfortable. I was tempted to leave, but I remained in my seat, drowning out all the thoughts of eyes with other thoughts, such as annihilating Justice. After Randolph and I finished our drinks, we went out and looked around the city a bit, seeing what there was to see just before we went out to fight against the superior power of Justice. Apparently, looking around at all the activities and festivities around, a festival was going on. The festival was in honour of the man who founded this city. Later tonight, there would be fireworks. However, as of now, we decided to walk around and see the shows put on and get a few rare-to-find snacks. There were even some games, some including finding objects placed around the city. We ended up finding quite a few objects, winning a few of the games, tasting all of the rare snacks, and saw about two or three of the shows, one of them being a musical performance that wasn’t all too bad. All-in-all, the day was definitely great. At the end of the day, we left to go to a hotel nearby. While headed to the hotel, Alicia suggested that I get two separate rooms, and so I decided to do so. We went into the hotel and I paid for two different rooms. Randolph took the separate room, room two hundred and eight, and we took the other room, room two twenty, only six doors apart, considering there were doors on both sides of the hall. There had been a balcony aimed towards the sea, as well as towards Algora’s Mountain., as it came to be called. As of now, Randolph was with us, each of us sitting in a chair on the balcony, chatting away, when suddenly a boom echoed from the distance. We all shifted our gaze towards the unexpected sound. We looked up a bit and noticed colours in the sky. Suddenly, more explosions came, along with more colours. The fireworks had started. Colours filled the sky and noise filled the air. The beauty of the colours was astonishing, nothing like what I’ve seen before. In the end, a large amount of fireworks were released, creating a beautiful, intricate design in the sky. It ended with a big boom, something I’d like to happen when fighting against the Emperor. We said only a few more words before Randolph went to his room. I walked over to the bed, removing my clothes as Alicia went into the bathroom. I could hear water running, but not from a bath, from a sink. I crawled into the bed, under the covers. Soon, I noticed Alicia come out of the bathroom, only in her underwear as well. She walked over to the bed and, as she got closer, I felt more obliged to look away. I could tell she was embarrassed, even if I couldn’t see her face but only from the moonlight outside. As she crawled under the covers, I could feel her soft skin against my own, a relaxing sensation.

The next morning, I found myself naked in the bed, Alicia already awake and getting dressed. I didn’t decide to ask about anything. Instead, I looked around for my clothes, soon finding them on the floor. I picked up my boxers and quickly put them on, then grabbed my pants and shirt, putting them on as well. Instead of putting my button-up shirt on, I carried it out. We ended up checking out of the hotel and heading towards the car first thing. I tossed my shirt in the back and placed my hand on the car, which was dented from all the stuff it’s been through. I turned to the other two, each who nodded. We walked over to one of the ships, paid a man who had been taking the money, and made our way onto the ship. After a few minutes, we felt the ship lifted, then moving forward. It took only about five minutes to get everyone aboard and lift up, then about seven to reach Algora’s Mountain. When we got off, we were welcomed by a huge crowd of people making their way through the city. Ahead of us, a large white manor where the Emperor’s Advisor lives. However, I doubt he was there, He was probably in the castle right now with the Emperor. We merged with the crowd, following in one direction until we found our way to the castle. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, we looked up at the white castle. My two swords were with me, along with the support of the other two.

“Remember, this is the last battle we’ll have to do in order to bring down Justice,” I turned to them. They both nodded, looking toward each other and back to me.

“Don’t worry about us, we can handle ourselves,” Randolph said.

“Why do you think we’ve been with you so long and haven’t died yet?” Alicia said. I just laughed, accepting the fact that she was right. We all ran up the steps, pulling out our weapons and finding the first group of soldiers, which were just outside the castle doors. With haste, we cut through them, bursting through the doors and up another huge flight of stairs, down a hallway, cutting down any soldiers in our way. We ran through a large room with a long table and multiple chairs, shoving through any butlers or maids there were. Again, we burst through a door to a hallway, cutting through the last few soldiers until we made it to the throne room’s doors. I stopped in front of the doors and turned to them.

“I’m truly grateful to you guys,” I said, “And I’d love to see it to the end with you, but I’m afraid I’ll have to do this alone.”

“Hold on, you bring us all this way only to deny us the ability to fight beside you against the Emperor? Hell no, I’m coming with you,” Randolph seemed rather upset that I was trying to leave them. However, Alicia stopped him.

“It is his father,” Alicia pointed out, “He would be much more effective against him alone than the three of us together.” Still pissed, Randolph turned.

“Just,” he hesitated, “Don’t die.” I smiled, even if he couldn’t see it.

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to,” I said, turning back to the doors. The two, large wooden doors with intricate gold designs on them. The two doors leading to the throne room, where my real father sat in wait for me to one day challenge him. Those two doors, I shoved open with great anticipation of the battle that will end Justice.

 

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 09.02.2017

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Dedicated to Samuel Holloway and Makyla Sampson for being two of the greatest friends I've had throughout the roughest of times.