Enjoy.
Chapter 24
(Gathering the necessary ingredients)
John
stepped out of the stairwell and into the lobby. Now … where is Hyuga?
The
thick layer of burned potatoes floating in the air made it hard to breath.
Three lines of Chefs stood in front of the elevators and stairwells like a
human barricade. The front row held feathers, and the back two linked to
various types of elemental bells. Beyond the lines of guards — a chaos-strewn tangle of bodies undulated while it traded blow after
blow and blast after blast in a stalemate.
While
gritting his teeth, John snarled. Without
knowing who any of my men are, I won’t be able to help without also hurting my
men … and my chances of getting the drop on Hyuga. He
placed a hand on the shoulder of Mariko — the other surviving member of Haru’s
scout team — and leaned in close. “Try not to kill our own Chefs.”
Mariko
shivered. “We are going out there?”
“Not
the fighting type, huh?”
After
shaking her head, Mariko sighed. “I’m a stealth specialist with a moderately
weak link.”
“Use
your strengths to surprise enemies and practice switching your link quickly.”
“I’ll
do my best, my king.”
“That’s
all I ask.” John squeezed her shoulder.
Mariko
straightened her back.
John
released his grip and urged his makeshift bodyguards forward. How should I search for Hyuga? I thought
he’d be more vocal than this.
A man
with a link as strong as John’s slammed his fist into a weaker Chef’s face. The
weaker Chef’s head snapped around while her feet lifted off of the ground. Her
body tumbled through the air and hit the lines of guards like a bowling ball.
Once the lines opened, several Chefs — each wearing a red pin that looked like
an old-school, World War two fighter-plane.
They must be Hyuga’s men. With a poke,
John urged his makeshift bodyguards out into the chaos. “Our only goal is to
kill Hyuga,” he said just loud enough to be heard by his guards amid the
clatter of battle.
Before
pushing through the collapsing lines, his makeshift bodyguards nodded. They all
burned and linked to an infused item — six to feathers, one to a red-stringed
bell and Mariko to a dog collar.
Fuck! I forgot to give them a detailed
description of Hyuga’s face. While they moved forward, John edged closer to
Mariko as to avoid shouting.
“I —”
Mariko’s head jerked back and forth. “No, I think I found him.”
John
growled. “Where?”
Mariko
started. “He … he’s just —”
“I see
that whoever replaced that traitor, Moe, has decided to show up.” Hyuga’s voice
boomed from the left side of the lobby. It once again bounded off of the walls
as if he were using a megaphone.
Mariko’s
hand froze in mid motion. It looked as if she were about to point in the
direction that the voice came from.
Found you. John grinned.
“Since
I know you can hear me,” Hyuga said, “I’ll give you to the count of three to
surrender John into my custody.”
Like I’d ever surrender myself to him.
“I have an idea.” After touching each of his makeshift bodyguards on the
shoulder, John stepped outside of the diamond formation.
“Three!”
John
crept across the room without making a sound. Then, he placed his back to a
pillar and knelt as low as he could get.
“Two!”
Once
John peeked around the pillar, he had to cover his mouth when the curse came
unbidden. Fucking shit!
Hyuga
had five guards standing around him. Each had links almost as powerful as
John’s, but the only seemed to have one link apiece. Of the five, one held a
dog collar and constantly scanned the area.
Well … there goes my plan to surprise him as
well as the one to use numbers against mind control. John bit into his
lower-lip.
The
coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.
John
spat into his hand and rubbed the blood across the pillar.
“One!”
Hyuga had three of his links active — one to a ballpoint pen, one to a crystal
vial and one to a white-gray-stringed bell. The element swirled in front of his
mouth and extended outwards in a cone-like manner. “Time’s up!”
So, now he joins the fight? Despite the
trickle of blood dripping into his mouth, John swallowed. I — He gagged while the blood rolled down his throat.
Hyuga
looked in John’s direction and pointed.
With
squinted eyes, the Chef attached to a dog collar glanced around the pillar.
John ducked
back behind the pillar. Even if he only
has one link, he could be a specialist.
Someone
from Hyuga’s group clicked their
tongue.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Hyuga’s
group moved towards John.
Fuck. John held his breath. Please … please, don’t see me.
Without
checking behind the pillar, Hyuga and his group strode past John. The two in
front slid forward in a blur and moved their links to a red-stringed bell —
each creating a thin-bladed fire-katana. Before their feather-enhanced strength
could flee, they cleaved a pair of Chefs down the middle.
John
licked his lips, and when his tongue passed over the gash, stifled a yelp. Damn … they’re good.
The
fire-katana’s vanished, and the two Chefs returned to their places around Hyuga
while their links returned to feathers. As a group, they moved forward.
Eyeballs
— the Chef connected to a dog collar — continued scanning the room. Left and
right. Left again then behind. Once again to the right before facing forward.
He occasionally checked the floor.
First thing is first. John clambered to his feet and edged around
Hyuga’s group. He ducked, spun and juked his way passed the Chefs entangled in
battle with one another. Where are you
keeping that pickled brain?
Hyuga
occasionally dissipated an incoming elemental blast, but he refrained from
directly engaging John’s men.
Is he saving his strength for something?
John eased closer.
Hyuga’s
center pocket where the pickled brain had been during their last fight bulged.
It curved in the same shape like before.
Hyuga
couldn’t be that stupid, could he? He had to have known that John had felt it.
Or was
Hyuga a creature of habit?
John
shook his head. No. He’s too clever to do
something like that. With narrowed eyes, he continued to search Hyuga’s
pockets.
The
rest of the pockets on the front of Hyuga’s shirt didn’t jut outwards. Most
likely, they contained his collection of infused items designed for battle.
Fuck, I should have checked his back pockets
first. While he worked his way behind Hyuga, John kept an eye on Eyeballs.
Eyeballs
glanced all around like a kid with ADHD after scarfing down an entire bag of
Sweet Tarts.
John
grinned. Does he never look up? His
grin spread.
Hyuga
whirled about and faced John.
Thump!
Thump-thump,
Thump-thump.
John’s
heart leaped into his throat.
Thump!
Thump-thump.
Thump!
Hyuga
turned back towards the elevators.
John
started to sigh then clenched his jaw shut.
Eyeballs
peered in John’s direction.
John
froze in place. You fool!
A long
moment passed.
After
shaking his head, Eyeballs began his search of the area again.
No more mistakes. John tiptoed closer to
Hyuga’s group.
The
few, cushioned, back pockets of Hyuga’s shirt and pants matched most of the
ones in the front. Save for one, nothing bulged in them, and the one that did
carried the shape of the comically large prayer-beads that Hyuga had used on
John before.
Trembling,
John stumbled backwards. Then it has to
be in that front —
Hyuga’s
right hand shot forward, and fire sprang from his fingertips, to melt the skin from a pair of female
Chefs.
Roasted
chicken intermixed with the acrid stink of incinerated hair and danced across
the room. It overpowered the unnerving — yet refreshing — scent of a hundred
burned potatoes.
John’s
stomach lurched, but he stopped himself from vomiting.
In a
pocket under Hyuga’s arm and near his armpit, something almost round bulged
out.
There it is! John stopped breathing
through his nose and stared at Eyeballs. A few moments later, he bolted off
towards the stairwell.
###
After
hanging up her smartphone, Haru plugged a USB stick into her computer and
tilted the screen up. Why couldn’t Moe
just switch to laptops like I asked her to?
On the
other side of the reception room, Yuuna combed through the file cabinet. She
randomly cursed and tossed a file across the room.
Discarded
papers covered the carpeted floor. The heavy scent of burned potatoes still
filled the building, though a hint of blood now floated atop the countless strands
of power.
Haru’s
lips curled into a snarl. They had better
not hurt John. She opened the document’s file and copied the registry of Chefs onto the USB stick. She
also added the contact information for each of the affiliated Chefs as well as
the current mission data. “I’m
sorry that we weren’t better organized.”
Yuuna
grunted before tossing another stack of files across the room. “Not a problem
if — found it!”
“You
did?” Haru looked up from the computer. “Perfect.”
Once
Yuuna pulled the four large files from the file-cabinet, she strolled across
the room. “At least I think I did.”
The
top file read, ‘Insurance policies.’
From
top to bottom, the others read, ‘Finances,’
‘Bank accounts’ and ‘Architectural building plans.’
Haru
flipped open the files and scanned the first few pages of each. “Yep, these are
the ones we need.” She picked up her Louis Vuitton limited addition bag with
the branding flowers and shoved
the files into them.
“What
else do we need to get?” Yuuna glanced at the computer screen.
“Once
this file finishes copying, we can —”
An
explosion opened the door, and a burly man stepped into the reception room. His
link was as thick as John’s.
Not now! I just needed a little bit longer
to get all of this and get out. Haru burned. “We have to stall him until
the files finish copying.”
Yuuna
smiled at the man and hesitated before burning.
The
man nodded as if he knew that Haru and Yuuna were no match for him.
Yuuna
swallowed. “Why don’t we just crush him?”
Haru
started. I thought she was the scouting
type. “If it’s possible, then yes. If not, we have to make sure he doesn’t
damage the computer or USB stick.”
“Fine.”
Yuuna glanced between Haru and the man. “I’ll attack from the left, you come
from the right.”
Sounds good enough … . “We have to be
careful.”
“I
know.”
The
hulking man laughed. “What are the two of you chattering about?” His
high-pitched voice squeaked like a mouse. “Are you ready to surrender already?”
“As
if.” Haru linked to a feather.
Yuuna
did the same. “Besides … John isn’t here.”
Haru
narrowed her eyes. Why did she use his
name?
“We’re
not important enough to bother with.”
Yuuna moved forward. “Just leave.”
The
man cracked his neck. “It’s unfortunate that John isn’t here, but I’m not
actually after him.”
Haru
arched an eyebrow. “But isn’t that
the only reason your master came here.”
“Not
the only reason.” The man chuckled. “Besides, Hyuga already knows where he is.”
“What?”
Haru blinked, tears formed in her eyes. My
love … . “Then —”
“He
will be in Hyuga’s custody soon.” The man wrapped his link around a feather and
charged forward. “And once I have that database, he will reward me with a place
in his council!”
Haru
sniffled.
Yuuna
crashed into the man, and they crashed into the floor. They rolled across the
carpet towards the door.
Crinkle.
Crinkle.
The
paper under them rustled.
Their
mouths worked, probably insulting one another.
B-beep.
The files are finished copying. Haru
looked to the pair and then back at the computer. “Hold on for just a little
bit longer, Yuuna!”
Yuuna
grunted.
The
man rolled atop her and pinned her to the ground. “I don’t think she’s going to
make it, little lady!”
Haru
moved her link to a light-blue-stringed bell and threw a wave of ice across the
room.
The
man flipped off of Yuuna and flattened his body beside hers.
The
ice zipped over their heads.
Haru
dashed behind her desk and ejected the USB stick. She jerked it out of the
computer. I hope it’s not damaged.
She tossed the USB stick into her bag and made ice-spikes rain from the
ceiling.
The
burly man scrambled across the floor and towards the file-cabinet.
Focusing,
Haru turned the spikes of ice into a thick mist. Please, don’t be hurt. She flipped her link back to the feather and
sprinted to Yuuna. “Let’s go.”
Yuuna
took Haru’s outstretched hand.
Haru
dragged Yuuna to her feet and out the door.
Three
Chefs stood in front of the elevator. Each wore a red, fighter-plane pin on
their collars.
Fuck. After glancing to the left, Haru
squeezed Yuuna’s hand tight. “This way!”
She bolted to the right. If I can make it
to that latter … .
###
While
the two women in front of him turned into ash, Hyuga released the red-stringed bell
to conserve his potatoes. Why hasn’t the
new leader or John showed themselves yet? He lowered his right hand back to
his side.
His New Officers clashed against the
organizations’ Chefs, and the roar of elements cracked off of the walls. Claps
of feather-enhanced fists meeting flesh
echoed across the floor.
Piaaaak!
Hyuga
grunted when the doors to the lobby opened, and a large force of Chefs crashed into his men’s backs. “From behind!”
The
New Officers in the center of the lobby turned to face the new group of
traitors.
I must be prepared to touch gold or another
ballpoint pen, but … . Hyuga used his two remaining links to grab onto a
blue-stringed bell and a purple-stringed one. “Jump!”
The
New Officers obeyed.
Hyuga
released a wave of electrified water across the lobby.
A few
traitors dropped, but the waves were dispersed before they could do too much
damage.
How can such skilled Chefs throw away their
country and their freedom so easily? Hyuga growled and raised both hands in
the air. “All traitors deserve to die!”
“Master?”
Erin — one of his five guards — asked in a raspy voice. “I think you should be
careful.”
“Don’t
worry so much, Erin.” Hyuga threw a blast of water and a bolt of lightning
before moving his links to a red-stringed bell and a light-blue one. “With my
five Imperial Commanders watching my
back, even if the Chef who can hide from Meriku appears —” He slung a fireball
with a spike of ice as a core. He moved his links to a brown-stringed bell and
a gray one. “— I’m sure that the lot of you can handle him.”
Erin
nodded.
Despite
three of four blasts being dispersed, Hyuga continued to swap elements and rain
down destruction upon the traitors. “Meriku will just have to focus on his
hearing more often.”
Meriku
saluted. “Yes, Master.”
I really wish they would have stuck to
calling me Captain-Commander. Hyuga swapped to a pair of red-stringed bells
and destroyed two large waves of fire from the left and right. “Just make sure
no one who doesn’t have the pin even gets close to me.”
All
five Imperial Commanders saluted before crouching into an offensive stance
Hyuga had designed for Chefs back in the war.
After
taking a deep breath, Hyuga ceased his onslaught and watched for incoming
elements to counter. That
should give my New Officers enough of an advantage for now. He pulled out a
piece of potato bread and shoved it into his mouth. He only chewed once before
swallowing each mouthful. The real issue
is, why haven’t any of the men I sent upstairs returned with John’s —
A
woman ran from the stairwell and slid to a stop in front of a snarling Erin.
She peeked around him and met Hyuga’s gaze. “I’m sorry to report this, Master,
but none of our men sent upstairs have seen any sign of him.”
“Where
the fuck are they hiding him?” Hyuga screamed. “I don’t know who this new
leader is, but when I find them, I’m going to —”
A
shadowed figure fell right beside Hyuga. A massive purple claw flew down from its
left hand.
Hyuga
lifted his right arm to block, moving a second link to the ballpoint pen. Not going to make it!
The
lightning claw bit into his flesh while the form shimmered, slowly becoming
visible.
Something
snagged at Hyuga’s shirt before he could leap backwards.
The
Imperial Guards spun and gasped.
Once
his arm had healed, Hyuga blinked. “John? Is that you?”
