Chapter 11: See Ya Later

The smoke and flames rose high into the sky after the explosion. Inside the nearby houses, families watched the fire dance in horror from their windows. On the street, a voice spoke, “You thought you were so clever with that whole strategy. You even made sure to capture Tre without having it touch the ground so we wouldn’t be able to retrieve it, but I guess we got the last laugh.” The voice then let out a sadistic laugh that echoed down the street.

Ginger and Sabin, who stood in front of Nick, looked behind them in horror. They saw the remains of the airship melting inside the roaring flames. In front of the fire, their General lied prone on the ground. Nick spoke, “Before any of the monsters were sent out, they had explosives planted inside of their bodies. Did you honestly think we were stupid enough to risk letting the enemy take one and diagnose it?” Sabin and Ginger started to grow angry, and Nick continued, “Your General looks to be in bad shape. You might want to check on him.”

Sabin and Ginger looked at each other and knew he was right. Sabin spoke, “You go see about the General. I’ll deal with this guy.”

“Okay.” Ginger spoke, “Be careful.” She then left Sabin and headed towards Sy.

“Oooh, big man.” Nick taunted, “Trying to impress your girl, eh? I don’t blame you, she’s pretty cute.”

“Shut up!” Sabin spoke, summoning a white energy sword in his hand.

Nick smirked and brought his arms out in front of him. He then looked down at the side of his arms and realized something. “Oh, that’s right, I didn’t bring my weapons. Guess you’re free to finish me off.”

Sabin started to attack, but before the sword could get close to him, a black circle appeared underneath him and a black energy barrier surrounded Nick. As soon as the sword touched the barrier, Sabin’s weapon disintegrated. “What the…” he gasped, surprised by what had just occurred.

“It’s a real shame the third monster was defeated. That was the last one we had ready.” Nick spoke dryly. He then started to sink into the ground and continued, “But don’t think you guys are off the hook, we’ll strike again before you know it. I wonder…will you be able to stop the next demon we send out.”

“What? What are you talking about? Next demon?” Sabin questioned. However, Nick’s body was now almost completely underneath the surface.

“Until next time, RULE, see ya later.” These were the final words Nick spoke before disappearing into the ground. Sabin pounded his fists on the road once the barrier and circle vanished. He then remembered about Ginger and Sy and went to check on them.

“Sabin!” She exclaimed once he approached her. “Did you get him?”

Sabin replied, “No, he disappeared into that black circle before I could. How about Sy, is he alright?”

Sy weakly spoke, “I’m okay.” Sabin was relieved to hear his voice. “Just before the blast, I created a shield in front of my body. It wasn’t strong, but it was enough to keep me from getting swallowed in the blast. However…” Sy then sat up and looked at the wreckage in front of him. Sabin and Ginger realized that another life had been lost, the pilot of the airship.

“Dammit.” Ginger spoke, “Why did so many people have to die here.”

“Why is this group sending these monsters out?” Sabin questioned. “What do they have against RULE?”

“Not everyone agrees with the direction the Goddess sent the world towards.” Sy started, “But for a resistance group this strong to challenge it…who could possibly be behind all of this?” All of these questions and more swarmed the minds of the soldiers while they remained on the burning street.

In an underground location, Nick stood surrounded by a group of his peers. “So it’s still the same out there, huh?” One student with glasses asked.

“Yep.” Nick answered coolly. “Same red sky, still no people outside, same boring world we once knew. Anyway, did you see me kill those guys out there? Didn’t I look really cool?” He ended his question with a slick smile on his face.

“You didn’t do anything, Tressan did the work.” A snarky male student responded.

“All you did was ride it, and you didn’t even do that well.” One large student followed.

“I guess that means it was your fault that the M.C. got killed.” A sassy female chimed in.

“What?” Nick was surprised by these responses. “It’s not my fault! Tre was a stupid creature!”

“Yeah that’s mature, blame the M.C.” The snarky student spoke.

“Maybe it was the rider that was the stupid one.” A young female student followed.

“If it was me out there, that wouldn’t have happened!” A loud-voiced student exclaimed.

“Why did Nicki get picked over any of us anyway?” A cocky student asked another student besides him.

Nick jumped out of his seat and yelled, “Geez, you guys are asses! Not even one word of praise. Screw this, I’m outta here!” He then pushed his way through the others and made his way out of the room. Once he exited the room, he saw a female figure walking down the corridor in his direction. “Oh, hey Karichi.”

“Hi.” She responded flatly.

Nick thought to himself, “Ha, it’s my lucky day. The hottest girl down here is now alone with me. I bet my performance out there made her all hot and bothered. This is my chance to get with her! All I have to do is set it up!” He then spoke aloud, “So, what did you think of my fight?”

“I didn’t watch it. Now excuse me, I have to go help someone with their studies.” She answered in an apathetic tone and then continued walking forward. She passed him by without a second glance.

Nick, looking comically dejected, thought, “Why is everyone here so hard to please?”

In a different area of the underground location, two figures stood next to an old man who was sitting down in between them. The three men commented on the fight from a control room. The old man spoke, “Well, they did a good job of analyzing the third M.C. and stopping it, but it still gathered a sufficient amount of data for us.”

“Time…?” One of the men, who wore glasses, quietly asked.

“Yes, I believe it is time. I wonder if he’s ready.” The other man, who had a soft and slithery voice, answered.

A black-cloaked figure then emerged from the darkness above them. He looked down at the trio below and addressed each of them. “C Bar.” He called the old man. “Four.” He called the man with glasses. “Two.” He called the man with the soft, slithery voice. “The final stage is set. We will end this in six days.”