61. Elevator Action
"Make sure you find a fun buddy to partner up with! Especially if you
don't catch a key in time!"
Trunculo's voice continued to boom throughout the circular room, but was
barely audible through the chaos that erupted as the second round of the tournament
began. The corridors had all been closed off, but the large metal storm gates
below the EXIT sign had now opened up to reveal a line of elevators sealed with
psynergy shields. Instead of waiting for instructions, some competitors had started
to scale the walls, while others tried to find a strategic position from which
they could catch a key.
"Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you one last thing," Trunculo
continued. "Underneath the floor is a long, deep pit. And parts of that
floor are gonna drop out right...about...now!"
Synced perfectly with Trunculo's exaggerated narration, squares in the
center of the floor slid back, revealing a deep black abyss. People scrambled in
all directions, tripping others and grasping for solid ground.
"Everyone grab on to me!" Amyr shouted.
"What?!" Vance screamed. "Are you insane? You can't possibly
hold us all at once!"
"Watch me," Amyr said, then took a deep breath.
Sickening snaps were heard, and two additional arms burst out of Amyr's
sides. He used one to snag a sabre from his waist and shoved it into the wall, creating
a makeshift handle. He let Vance and Eden hang from his right arm, while Cliff
and Caleb made a flying leap to grab on to each of his lower legs. His fourth arm
wrapped itself around Sabine's waist, just as the floor disappeared.
"What are you, some kind of mutant?!" Vance shouted.
"With the help of psynergy, I can physically alter my body to adapt
to difficult situations. But enough talk! Caleb, Sabine, Cliff, catch those keys!"
By this point, over half the group had either fallen into the void
below or sought cover, abandoning the tournament altogether. Soon, fifty sparkling
items came trickling down from above. The keys looked tiny, and if that wasn't
enough, they fell into the center of the chamber, which was easily several body
lengths away from Amyr's position on the wall.
"This is horrible!" Eden shouted. "How are we supposed
to catch those?"
"It’ll be easy," Sabine said, as her legs began to glow. "Just
use your head a little."
The 3rd division vice-captain leapt from Amyr's side, using
his body as a springboard to dive across the wide gap. Her psynergy propelled
her in a wide arc across the abyss, and after her jump had reached its climax,
she began to spin in a continuous cycle of acrobatic flips. As her speed increased,
she straightened herself out and once again charged up her body. Kicking off
another side of the circular wall, Sabine easily landed on one of the small areas
of the floor that remained.
"I managed to catch three," she called up. "Guess that means
we can get the hell out of here now."
"Incoming!" Caleb shouted suddenly. "Looks like you earned
yourself some fans!"
Sure enough, three competitors hanging from the wall had spotted Sabine's
quick catch. They were currently in the process of loading bolts into miniature
crossbows with their mouths and their free hands in order to shoot her, if only
out of spite.
But Cliff was on them in no time. Firing three swift blasts from his shotgun,
he knocked each of their weapons loose with expert accuracy.
"Not bad, Cliffy!" Caleb called out with a whistle. "Now
if only you could dance as well as you can shoot, you'd be the perfect man."
Hearing that, Amyr began snickering, and his body began to shake.
"Woah! Vance shouted. "Hey, take it easy, man! Are you alright?"
"Hey," Amyr huffed between breaths. "Not a good idea to
make me laugh right now."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Caleb called out. "Alright, time
to lighten his load. C'mon, Cliff."
Cliff hooked his body on to Caleb's while the 2nd Vice-Captain
pulled out his trident and pointed it downwards. As his psynergy spread around
the weapon, its center tip shot out diagonally and hooked into the wall edge of
the floor that remained.
"See ya at the top!" he called out, then allowed the butt end
of the weapon to contract and carry the two men away.
"Vance and Eden, charge up your psynergy," Sabine commanded.
"You need to cushion Amyr as he falls."
"Alright," Eden replied.
"Thanks." Amyr cracked his neck. "This should be interesting."
"Go!" Sabine shouted, and the three of them let their aura explode,
expertly shielding Amyr at he let his muscular body drop to the edge of the
wall.
On another side of the room, Averyl hung off the edge of the wall like a
gargoyle, watching with glee as competitors fell into the depths. From the back
of his cloak he’d materialized a wide blade that he’d chopped into the wall. As
a result of his efforts, the other three Dark Zodiacs had acquired a perfectly sturdy
platform to stand on.
"Winslow!" Mephistoclessia growled as the keys went flying past
them. "What are you waiting around for?!"
"Oh!" Winslow shouted in surprise. "Right! Sorry!"
With a flick of his wrist, Winslow activated his magnetic field in an attempt
to pull some of the keys toward them. Saffron placed his hands on his swords as
they began to tremble, while Mephistoclessia's metal choker clinked around her neck.
After a few more moments, Winslow let out a huge sigh, and over a dozen keys fell
onto the edge of the platform.
"Hey!" A veiled woman dressed in dark clothes called out from
the floor. "Think you can throw one of those to me? You don't need that many,
right?!"
"Oh, you want a key, huh? " Winslow smirked, scooping up the
keys and holding them out teasingly. Then, he tossed them all into the abyss
and began laughing maniacally. "Better get going, then!"
*
Bruce and Azuka exploded out from the flames of the committee room. Her
wooden blade pressed against his chest as his arms locked her in a bear hug.
"Y'know, Rose isn't going to like this," Bruce shouted as they
went sailing down toward the pavement. "She gets jealous of other girls."
Above them, the flames continued to rage. Most of the committee members
remained huddled under the table, muttering curses and other useless taunts as
the fire continued to spread.
Captain Ravi Katjagaarda let an olive green wave of psynergy explode from
her fingertips. The energy parted the flames, suppressing them and giving her a
better view of the room.
The first thing Ravi spotted was Rose and Zhang Guo standing still by the
left wall, watching the captains like cats would mice. As Ravi raised her
arm to attack, she felt a soft, thin hand wrap around her wrist. She spun around
instantly and raised her free arm up to protect herself. Staring back at her
was a dusty brown-haired, older woman smiling sweetly as her aura surged. She wore
a flowery dress with glasses that seemed far too big for her mousy face, and felt
unbelievably strong.
"Be still now," Cecilia said soothingly.
Ravi bellowed in response and threw her palm forward. Cecilia blocked it
with her own. Then, Ravi watched in shock as the woman began to float off the
ground.
"This isn't a good place to fight," Cecilia said. "Let's
go somewhere else."
The Sheep's leg flexed as she aimed a sharp kick toward Ravi's head.
"Sarvangasana!" Ravi chanted, and dropped to the ground. In a shocking display of agility,
the woman pointed her legs up toward the sky and balanced her entire body on
her thick shoulder blades. As Cecilia followed through with her kick, her leg
was caught expertly in the Captain's vise-like thighs.
"Wooow..." Cecilia blinked. "You're more interesting than
I thought you'd be."
Ravi twisted around Cecilia's leg and used all her force to pull herself
upward, but by then, the Sheep had finished what she had been preparing. All gravity
within an area of six feet around them was displaced, and Ravi soon lost control
of her body. Cecilia shot forward like a rocket, counter-wrapped around Ravi
with her second leg, and both of them went speeding out into the fresh afternoon
sky.
Zhang Guo remained still with eyes closed as the two women flew by. He
was dressed in light tan robes laden with so many folds and layers that it seemed
as if they would swallow up his head if he tripped and fell.
"We must act quickly," he said.
"I'm on it," Rose replied, then took off her jacket, blouse,
and skirt to reveal a dark blue, skintight bodysuit. As she knelt on the
ground, sweat poured down her body, seeping into the suit as deep blue psynergy
emanated from within. Soon, water began to flow out from every pore in her body,
resonating with an azure glow and slowly overtaking the burning flames.
"Hah!" Maximilian rose behind the both of them. "You're
both wide open!"
He jumped forward, prepared to wrap his hands around Rose's thin neck,
but was forced to stop in his tracks as Zhang Guo cut in front of him, brandishing
a ringed staff in his hands.
Zhang Guo spoke in a slurred, creaky voice. "You will go no further."
"At least open your eyes if you're going to fight me!" Maximilian
fumed. "What do you take us for?!"
Kamo's voice sounded from above. "Relax, Max."
The 2nd captain stood upside-down with his feet attached to
the ceiling, burning with a neon yellow aura. He had his right hand pulled
back, as if gripping an invisible bow, while a thin strip of yellow psynergy snaked
from his right hand to his left. The end of the strip wrapped around the forefinger
of his left hand, which stretched out in front of his body, pointing straight
toward Rose's head.
"I'm just waiting for the lady to put out the flames, and then we'll
get down to business."
"A stalemate?" Zhang Guo wondered.
"Not quite," Rose murmured.
The Horse opened her eyes and jumped to her feet. Three sparkling tentacles
comprised solely of water shot out directly from a puddle below Kamo, hooked
around his neck and ripped him from his perch on the ceiling. He fell onto the soggy
floor of the committee room with a thud, wasting his psynergy. The Knight
Captain continued to flail as the psynergized water slid up toward his mouth and
nose. Desperate for air, Kamo tried to pull the water off with his hands, but they
merely shot through the water, grasping nothing as Rose’s psynergy kept it
firmly in place.
Rose walked up to the man. "It's useless. That water's connected to
me, and it obeys my will. You're all mine, Captain Metro."
Red in the face, Kamo desperately rolled to the side, allowing his body
to fall out of the building – and hopefully beyond the reach of Rose’s psynergy.
"You’re not getting away!" Rose shouted, then leapt off after
him. As Kamo fell, she shot out more aquatic tentacles after him.
"Kamo!" Maximilian screamed. "No!"
The 3rd division captain ignored Zhang Guo's staff and made
a mad dash through the dying flames, desperate to save his friend.
"Good, good," Zhang Guo said, trailing slowly behind him.
"That makes four."
Maximilian kicked off the edge of the building and shot down as fast as
he could, slamming Rose in the back and loosening her tentacle's grip on Kamo. The
two scuffled, but the captain got free and kicked off her, pushing himself further
toward Kamo.
"You idiot!" Kamo wheezed, as the two of them neared the ground.
"Who's going to protect the old geezers now?!"
"Who cares?!" Maximilian screamed. "You were about to die!"
"Die?" Rose called from above. "No one's going to die just
yet."
Then, flying seemingly out of nowhere, a serpentine blue dragon came
and swooped beneath the trio, catching them on its scaly diamond back. It had
deep emerald eyes and an enormous snout with long, flowing whiskers that trailed
out above its canyon-like nostrils. Each scale on its back was the size of a bed,
and its monstrous wings were large enough to block out most of the sky. The dragon
rose high up into the air until it reached the committee room window, allowing
Zhang Guo to carefully hop over the gap and join the others on its back.
"What," Maximilian gasped, "is this?!"
"Qin Long," Zhang Guo whispered, moving up and softly petting
the dragon's neck. "God of the East."
Far below the four, Azuka stared up with wide eyes at the monster in the
sky. "Impossible..."
"One of the 4 Godly Beasts," Bruce said. "Hey, you don't
get that old without having a few tricks up your sleeves."
Azuka shifted her eyes away and stepped out from the broken asphalt
where she and Bruce had landed. "I'm not worried. The other three captains
can take care of themselves."
"Aww." Bruce grinned. "So I really do get to have you all
to myself, huh?"
Azuka's iridescent aura flared up around her. "For the next few minutes,
at least. Until I take you down."
Flames roared from Bruce's fists. "Now that's more like it!"
*
"Run to the elevators!"
As other competitors scrambled to get inside the elevators under the EXIT
sign, Sabine, Amyr, Vance, and Eden dashed to claim their own. In desperation, some
smarter individuals had given up on the keys and figured out clever ways to break
into the chambers using brunt force. Unfortunately for them, explosive psynergy
laced on each barrier left them screaming in pain as they shoved through.
"Phew," Amyr heaved, as sweat rained from his forehead.
"I’m exhausted already..."
"Don't talk," Sabine said, placing her small palm over his mouth.
"Save what energy you have left. We need to hurry, or we might not get inside."
Across from them, Cliff and Caleb frantically tried to fit themselves inside
one of the tight capsules.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of Amyr. Here," Sabine said hurriedly,
tossing the last key to Vance and Eden. "This one's yours."
The two teenagers shot a glance at each other, then looked across the
abyss in the center of the room. Cliff was gone.
"What the hell are you waiting for?!" Sabine shouted, as she
hoisted Amyr up and slid him inside an elevator. "Get inside one already!"
"C'mon," Vance said shakily, then slid the key into a large
green membrane that covered two small seats and the elevator platform. Slowly, the
membrane dissipated along with its psynergy. A bright red light blinked on over
the seats, and the elevator whirred to life.
Eden turned back one last time. "We didn't get to say goodbye to
Cliff."
"Relax," Vance said, grabbing her arm. "It's no big deal."
"I know..." Eden sighed. "I’m just...getting a weird
feeling for some reason."
Vance rolled his eyes. "I bet you never did this when I
split up from you guys."
"Come on, let's go." Eden said, hopping in one of the tiny seats.
"The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be back together again."
"Exactly." Vance slid in beside Eden. As soon as they both
sat down, the capsule closed back up and began to rise. "We'll probably be
right back with him when we get to the top."
But as he said those words, for some reason, he felt a dark, hollow sensation
rise in his throat. He tried to shake it off, but deep inside, Vance knew
exactly what Eden meant – that somehow, it would be a very long time before he
and Eden ever made contact with Cliff again.
Next: Labyrinthine Malice
