Volume 2, Chapter 17: Escape from San Desquiciado (Part 4)

“Y-your problem?” Davis’ voice cracked over the situation he and his companions had fallen into. “We solved your problem! Isn’t that why you offered to help us leave?”

The hand gripping his squeezed harder, forcing out a yelp.

“I had two major problems,” Mary Glow snarled. “One was the pipe organ. The other was our lack of better weapons. I’m talking about guns.”

She pulled Davis in and held him hostage in a chokehold with one of his arms painfully angled behind his back.

Viola took a step forward to intervene.

“Uh-uh-uh,” Mary Glow warned playfully. Like a magician with a playing card, she drew a throwing spike seemingly out of nowhere and held it against Davis’ throat. His haggard breathing was palpable as the Tyrant leaned over his shoulder. While she spoke, Davis shivered at the thought that she would bite his ear off any second now.

“Guns are expensive, you know? I sent some of my guys to CWI’s back entrance so we could steal from their armory, only to find out that they’d been beaten senseless. Who would’ve thought it’d turn out to be you three?”

She twisted Davis’ arm, forcing out another yelp and more heavy breaths.

“Davis!” Viola cried out as he squinted, doing his best to mentally lessen the pain.

But Mary Glow wasn’t done talking.

“This doesn’t make up for what you did to Tommy, Orlando, Nikki, Yancy, Isaiah, Seth, Federico, Eric, Nancy, Richard, Irene, Salem--”

“Okay, what’s, with all the names?” Davis rasped.

“Just making it clear that no one in my crew is just some random or expendable guy to me,” Mary Glow said. “Their names, their habits, and even some of their personal secrets, I’ve spent a decent amount of time with all of them and even shared some secrets of my own. My crew and I are that tight. And when anyone messes with one of us, let alone thirty-seven, you can bet the rest won’t take it lightly!”

Oh shit, dude!

It was an understatement to say Davis didn’t like the way things were turning out, especially on his end.

“Wait, after what we’ve done for you, can’t you just give us some leeway, like, let us off with a warning?” he pleaded.

“I wish I could. Really,” Mary Glow said softly. “But would it undo the damage you’ve caused? None of my guys were killed, so you can stop worrying about your life. That being said, you did turn Indiana’s face into a work of abstract art. I think we can go an eye for an eye on that—”

“《 蛇的 Path of the Snake: Smashing Cobra! 路径》”

“Path of the what now — UNGYAA!”

Mary Glow didn’t expect to hear a sequence of words she thought to be ridiculous. That made her drop her guard, long enough for Viola to sucker punch her with a strike that resembled a real attacking cobra in the eyes of everyone else. It forced the wind out the Tyrant’s lungs and sent her tumbling backward.

Now freed from the Tyrant’s clutches, Davis ran toward the blond man, who’d already climbed back on top of the weapon case. Viola tailed from behind them as she retracted her arm back to its proper length through muscle control.

“Alright, my turn!” Davis declared as he approached the weapon case.

He removed and threw away one of his vambraces, then plunged his bare fist into a circular outlet on the side of the wheeled object. When he pulled his arm out, it emerged wearing something new.

It was a gauntlet painted a brilliant crimson, but it also appeared to be made out of random parts hobbled together. Its most notable feature was a canister attached to its forearm. Overall, it looked crude compared to the blond man’s gauntlet.

“What’s that?”

As Viola asked that question, four figures came charging at them with melee weapons in their hands. They were Martin, Paul, Maya, and Santana; the delinquents initially instructed to accompany them safely out of San Desquiciado. That was no longer the case.

“Part of a prototype I’ve been tinkering with on my days off,” Davis revealed. He then asked Viola to start pushing the weapon case toward the district’s exit as he prepared to deal with the four delinquents.

When they were close enough, Davis pulled his wrist back and activated the crimson gauntlet’s special feature.

[Breath of Wyvern!]

Things got red hot for the delinquents as a stream of flames spewed out of the gauntlet beneath its palm. Davis ran off after that, and Viola was pleased to know he was back to help her push the weapon case much sooner than she expected.

“‘Breath of Wyvern’ eh? There’s a Dragon Path technique with that name, and you kinda pulled it off,” she said.

“Did I, now?” Davis squealed. “Sweet!”

“More importantly, I hope you didn’t set anyone on fire,” Viola added, a little concerned for those going after them.

“And piss off Mary Glow even more? Definite no. I just set a patch of the ground on fire to keep them away.”

Right after he said that, the trio cringed from a scream.

“GAAAAAH!!! I'M BUUURNIIIING!!!

“Uh… he tried to jump through the flames,” Davis claimed. “He should’ve known better that only works in the movies. I swear I didn’t burn him straight away.”

“YES…! HE…! DID…!”

“Your pants are on fire; that makes you a liar!” Davis shouted back; pun intended.

◆◇◆

“Mary!”

Dolly, the bassist of Mary Glow’s band, rushed to her downed Tyrant after dropping off the concert stage. She was sure the rest of her bandmates would do fine for a few minutes without some deep beats.

“Easy now. I got you, girlfriend!”

She held Mary Glow’s arms and helped her up as the Tyrant herself clambered back to her feet, still suffering the breathtaking effects of Viola’s surprise attack.

“Hakk… gahaak…”

Without her voice, she couldn’t give commands to her crew. That was why they took matters into their own hands and pursued the escaping trio in such a straightforward manner when Mary Glow had other ideas.

“Kahnks… Kahnks…”

“Catch your breath, Mary,” Dolly instructed while demonstrating.

“Guns!” Mary Glow finally rasped out. “Bring out every gun we have and shoot them down!”

“Yeah… a little too late for that,” Dolly said reluctantly. “Nico’s told me that the last of them was taken not too long ago. Some of our guys on standby really wanted to take it out on Lord Xavion’s forces.”

“What?! So, we’re just gonna let them get away?”

“Well…” Dolly hitched a thumb toward a heavy weapon leaning next to the concert stage. “My six-pack rocket launcher is right over there.”

Mary Glow’s eyebrows furrowed. The fangs on her facepaint appeared to twist themselves into a visage of insanity. Neon paint of different colors trickled down the corners of her lips.

“Blast ‘em, Dolly. I want to see parts of them flying here, there, and everywhere!”

Dolly returned a maniacal smile of her own. “Let’s rock.”

◆◇◆

As the trio went on with their escape, the blond man looked ahead and spotted several small structures with not a single neon light on them.

“That must be it!” He riled his two companions for the final sprint. “The way out of this hellhole is in sight!”

“Alright, Viola!” Davis fired himself up despite the burning in his lungs urging him to stop. “Let’s give it everything we got!”

She nodded. “No need to tell me twice!”

Then the blond man paled after taking a quick glimpse at their rearview.

“Er… now sounds like a good time for that. Look!”

They’d first sensed it as a familiar noise hissing through the distant air, only this time it sounded like more than one. Looking back confirmed everything.

“More rockets at once?! These guys have really been snorting too much paint if they’re willing to go this far!” Davis exclaimed. “Viola, can you deflect them like last time?”

Her thought process played out quickly.

Six rockets. Flying after us in random patterns through the air. There are small gaps in distance between each rocket. That means they would strike us at different but close time intervals. And that’s going against my Tempest Thunderclap technique, which I can only do as one close-ranged air blast that takes a moment to prepare because I haven’t mastered it. In other words…

Because time was of the essence, she summed up her thoughts and conclusion with just one word.

“Nope.”

“So, this is it?” Davis went aloof as his sense of hope slipped away, once again. “We’re very close to reaching the end goal, and it’s going to be taken away from us just like that? Viola, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but please let me—”

“You two, climb on now and join me!” The blond man ordered. “It’s going to be all or nothing, but I just might have our last means of escape!”

With no other alternatives, Davis and Viola climbed on top of the weapon case. It continued to move even though no one was pushing it, but it wasn’t long before its momentum ran out and left the trio as sitting ducks.

The blond man aimed his right arm, which wore his gauntlet, at an upward angle and clenched his fist hard like he was trying to crush a tomato in it.

A cone of steam erupted from his gauntlet’s rear, and a short sword catapulted from a small opening on the gauntlet’s collapsed shield, much to Davis and Viola’s surprise.

“Now grab onto my arms, and hold on tight! By all means, do not let go!” The blond man emphasized.

Viola grabbed and squeezed the closest arm, which was the left, while Davis grabbed the right. If this wasn’t a desperate situation, he would’ve complained about clinging on to another man, but he swallowed his feelings for now.

The preparations were set. All the blond man needed to do now was to time it right. His short sword had already reached the apex of its height in the air and was now beginning its fall toward the ground.

Not yet.

Davis looked behind, and his eyes widened. One of the six rockets was closing in!

Not yet.

The rocket soon filled Davis’ vision. Everything was going to end in 3…2…

Now!

The rockets disappeared from Davis’ eyes and were replaced immediately with a motion blur effect as explosions took place away from them. Random shifts between neon blue, pink, red, and yellow blurred past him as the fiercest drag winds he’d ever felt threatened to strip his clothes and flesh. There was no weapon case under him; it felt like he was flying.

Then after a short blur of grey, the drag winds stopped, and Davis found himself unable to talk as he sank hard into a big and spongy object — a stray mattress leaning outside a small structure.

No longer holding on to the blond man, Davis forced himself out of what he sank into and hit the ground on his behind.

“Oww…”

Rubbing his sore bottom, Davis fluttered his eyes toward his new surroundings.

Everything slowly became clear. The structures around him were a duller color, not like the bright neon structures in San Desquiciado. Speaking of San Deaquiciado, he could see the district itself in the near distance, still noisy and with its recognizable entrance also in sight.

Tucking his arms to himself then letting it all out, Davis cried out in triumph. He couldn’t believe it, but it happened. They actually managed to escape!

As for Viola and the blond man, they were safe and sound too, as both peeled themselves off the same mattress he crashed into. Like Davis, they also fell on their behinds.

“You guys, we did it!” Davis cheered some more and helped the two back to their feet.

“Yeah, that was amazing,” Viola agreed, then checked for the big object they were traveling with. “I’m sorry your weapon case didn’t make it.”

As if it had been waiting for Viola to say that just to prove her wrong, a big and heavy object bounced and tumbled their way. Then it stopped bouncing and stood in place on its four wheels, conveniently in front of them.

“The weapon case!” Davis pounced and wrapped his arms as far as he could to hug the big object. He also peeked inside it and was glad to know its contents were safe too. “Glad to you have you back!”

“W-wha?” Viola spoke what both she and the blond man felt upon seeing that the weapon case returned to them almost unscathed. “How?”

“Blast shields, baby!” Davis patted the steel material that covered every part of the weapon case. “This thing can survive any kind of explosion whether a missile strikes it, or even if the many explosives I placed inside it were to unexpectedly go off!”

It was then that Davis realized he might’ve said too much because of his elation from cheating death. He sucked his lips even though that was pointless and reluctantly peered toward Viola and the blond man.

No frills about it. They were pissed.

“What was that just now?!” Viola marched toward him. “Are you saying we’ve been transporting and riding a box full of bombs the entire time?!”

“Hey, no need to get upset,” Davis tried to get her to cool down. “In the end, the explosives didn’t go off, and we’re still alive, so all’s well that ends well!”

Viola crossed her arms under her bust and pouted. “Hmmf… fine.” She turned to the blond man. “Now, I’m curious to know how we managed to avoid those rockets.”

The blond man stared at his gauntlet with twitching eyes and quivering lips. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but only once.” He wandered to his short sword, which was now lying on the ground a few steps away from them. “My Dominion Gauntlet is a one-of-a-kind that possesses special powers. It’s not something that can simply be made.” Picking up his short sword, the blond man held it up for Davis and Viola to see. “This sword may be used for combat, but its primary purpose is this.”

He threw the sword to the nearby mattress that caught them moments ago.

“Watch closely.” The blond man spread out the fingers of his right hand. Davis and Viola were astonished when they saw him suddenly fly backward as a near-invisible blur.

It lasted less than a second because the blond man became visible again, having sunk again into the nearby mattress where his sword was waiting.

“When I want to, the sword pulls my gauntlet and me to it like a magnet. There’s a risk of me crashing whenever I use this ability, so I have to watch out. Can’t say for sure how fast I go, but I’d say it’s probably close to the speed of sound.

“Sound, huh? Viola pondered. “I think the Deva of the Rabbit Path can match that speed.”

“There’s that word again.” Davis confronted her. “You have some explaining to do. What is a Deva, and why did you call Lord Xavion as that?”

“You want to know more about the Devas? Sure, I don’t mind sharing with my friends,” Viola said with a little excitement. “But first, let me just say that going on a dangerous roller-coaster ride, interfering in a massive battle we had nothing to do with, and escaping explosives while riding a box full of explosives… was more fun than I thought! I gotta hand it to you Davis. You’re a really fun guy to hang out with!”

Davis sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, blushing. “Aw, you think? Haha, yeah, no problem, it’s… the kind of thing you can expect whenever you’re with me. So, let’s hang out again some time.”

“That being said, it also gave me a lot of stress.” Viola thrust her hands, then pulled Davis up close and locked eyes with him. “Now, you’re going to help me release that stress.” Her aromatic breath caressed his face. “Once I’m done fucking you up, you’ll feel like a brand-new man.”

“W-whoa, you want to do it right here and right now? W-we can’t.” He pointed a finger. “Not while he’s watching! Or, maybe that’s something you’re into?”

Nothing jovial was present on Viola’s face as she stared into his eyes, dead-serious.

“When I said ‘fucking you up,’ I wasn’t talking about sex.”

“…Y-you weren’t?”

“No.” Viola turned her head to the blond man. “But Davis is right about one thing. Better look away now, close your eyes, and put your hands over them. You might not want to see this.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He did exactly as told without argument.

Viola slid a foot across the ground and raised her fists, slowly shifting into a fighting stance befitting the Snake Path of Shǔxiàng Kung-Fu. Eyes narrowing, her expression lost its emotions.

Davis backed off but couldn’t find it in himself to run away. “Viola, please, I’ll make it up to you another way. You don’t have to do this!”

“Here I come, Davis.”

“Oh god, oh man!!!”

The blond man could only shudder at the battle cries behind him.

“HWOA-CHOU!! KII-YAA!!!”

Viola held nothing back as she unleashed a combo of punches and kicks that pulverized every ounce of Davis’ body. All his pained groans, moans, and pleas for mercy were either drowned out or ignored as she beat him senseless in what he was bound to consider the worst for a long time.

◆◇◆

“Somehow, we failed.”

The result became clear to Mary Glow and Dolly as they watched the explosion smoke clear away. Aside from some collateral damage, not a single dismembered body part or heap of scrap metal was in sight.

Dolly slumped to her knees as if brought down by the weight of her six-pack rocket launcher. “Sorry. I was too slow, Mary.”

The Tyrant lunged a hand at her. Dolly braced herself, only for her Tyrant to give her a gentle pat on the head.

“No, it didn’t matter whether you were fast or slow,” Mary Glow said and helped Dolly up. “Those three managed to escape because they had a trick up their sleeves. I don’t know what they did, but kinda knowing what Lord Asspull can do, I wouldn’t be surprised if that trick was something out of the ordinary.”

“So, what now?” Dolly asked.

“Uh…”

Mary Glow pointed a hand behind Dolly, and the bassist of her band was reminded of the turf war still going on. It was still as violent as ever.

“You guys! We have a problem!”

Nico, the band’s drummer, ran to them with arms flailing about. “Lord Xavion’s forces have greatly dwindled in number!”

“And… that’s a good thing, right?” Dolly asked, raising an eyebrow.

“But so is ours! Someone is tearing through both crews!”

“Wait, did you say ‘someone?’” Mary Glow pointed out. “As in one person is doing all this?!”

She borrowed Nico’s binoculars and searched for where the biggest number of casualties seemed to be happening.

And then she spotted someone, surrounded by corpses made of both her allies and her enemies.

He was dressed in raggedy clothes that made him look like a homeless person. Freshly applied bandages were wrapped around the injuries on his left arm and forehead.

Mary Glow struggled to stay calm as she watched this newcomer slaughter all who tried to attack him. “Who are you?”

By sheer coincidence, he looked her way. His emerald eyes glowed brightly within the sights of the rattling binoculars.

Fenris, the Renegade, had entered the battlefield.

*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*

Author's Note

Jio Kurenai here, hoping I've given you the entertainment you deserved!

After working on a lot of commissions from other clients, my illustrator has begun productions on the art assets for Volume 2's official release! There's still a lot of work to be done even though the Beta version is nearing its end, so I hope to receive a good amount of feedback when the time comes to bring this whole Volume through its editing phase! 

Until next time! ;)