Episode 4 Dusk in Haven

As the explosion clears, Ryuu and Kunai enter the hallway. In front of them is a large pile of rubble, rising from the floor to the ceiling.

“The ceiling’s caved in!” Kunai cries out loud.

Ryuu glances around apprehensively. “Dammit…we haven’t got the time to clear this mess.” Suddenly overhead, another alarm rings followed by a flash of red light. “The guard’s are gonna be on the way with all the noise we made.”

On the other side, Arai’s voice sounds. “If I remember correctly, on the map there was a passageway leading from the library into a large reactor room. There’s another passageway leading from the control room that meets up with it in the reactor. If we take those passages, we should be able to meet up in the reactor again.”

Ryuu sighs. “All right. We’ll meet up again there, but this is gonna be a lot more trouble than it’s worth…” He glances back at Kunai as he turns around. “Be ready for enemy fire, Kunai.”

Kunai nods, raising his Scarab and clutching a Steely. “Don’t worry, I will.”

Ryuu and Kunai suddenly sprint through the control room, exiting into a narrower hallway outside. They suddenly stop in their tracks as they see three guards standing in the middle of the hallway, guns raised.

“Crap! We don’t have time for this!” Ryuu cries out loud, unsheathing his sword. It bursts into flames as he leaps into the air, cutting down two of the guards.

The other guard draws his gun, firing at Kunai, who dodges the laser beam from it and sends a Steely into the back of the guard’s head.

Kunai lands, staring at the three downed guards. He turns to Ryuu. “Let’s get going!”

“Right,” Ryuu replies, glancing around the hallway. He begins leading the way, running straight down the hallway as more guards begin to appear in passageways leading into the main hallway.

Kunai suddenly holds out his hand, stopping Ryuu as three more guards appear in front and behind them. Ryuu glances around the hallway irritably. “Damn, we’re cornered.”

“Put your hands up!” one of the guards cries out loud.

“Tch,” Ryuu growls, staring at the guard who spoke. “Like we’ll ever obey your orders. C’mon, Kunai!” He suddenly kicks down on a panel on the floor, revealing a large hole underneath. He leaps through the hole, dragging Kunai with him.

Arai and Ivy begin sprinting down their end of the passageway, emerging once again in the library, this time filled with guards.

“Oh no!” Ivy cries out loud as she sees the guards.

“Stand back, Ivy!” Arai cries, stepping forward and waving his staff. Several ice blocks suddenly emerge in the air, freezing several of the guard. He waves his staff again, creating a shaft of lightning and cuts down several of the other guards.

Arai turns to Ivy, waving his hand. “Come on! We have to keep moving!” He begins running down the library, followed by Ivy, through another passageway leading out of the library.

“Arai!” Ivy says as she sprints next to him to keep up, “this is a Paradox factory, right?”

Arai suddenly glances out a window in the hallway as they pass it. It is nearly dusk outside; the sky is tinged an even redder color as the sun begins to set. “That’s correct. They manufacture large amounts of Paradoxes here.”

“Why did you just look out the window?” Ivy cries as she runs next to him.

“Paradoxes love the night,” Arai replies seriously, staring behind his back as four more guards appear. He suddenly turns and casts Cold Beam, covering the floor suddenly with a long strip of slippery ice, causing the guards to trip.

He turns around again and pulls Ivy into another passageway leading out of the main one as a couple more guards pass by unawares of them. “It’s rumored that some of the stronger Paradoxes stay as solid, inanimate objects in daylight, but at night they become the vile creatures we know as the Paradox.”

“So if that’s the case…” Ivy begins.

“Then if we stay here too long and the sun sets, we’ve got a lot more trouble on our hands than guards,” Arai replies, glancing briefly at her.

As Ryuu and Kunai fall into the passageway below, they stumble onto the floor. Ryuu quickly stands up, raising his flaming sword and casting a soft glow around the room.

His eyes widen suddenly as he stares around at the room. A soft whispering suddenly echoes throughout the room, followed by soft clicking noises.

Kunai raises his hand, clutching a Steely. “Is that…what I think it is?”

Ryuu harshly pushes Kunai out of the way suddenly, cutting down an invisible object with a horizontal stroke of his sword. In the semi-darkness a large spider-like object appears suddenly, with a glowing yellow eye wrapped around a red pupil.

Ryuu raises his sword and stares around at the room, revealing hundreds of more Paradoxes. “Holy…” he mutters, staring at the hundreds of yellow eyes.

“Those eyes…they’re so evil…” Kunai mutters. Suddenly there is a loud rustle and rumble, and the Paradoxes begin moving forward towards them.

“Okay! Plan B! We get the hell out of here!” Ryuu cries out loud. He grabs Kunai on the arm, shaking him slightly. “Haste us the hell out of here!”

A faint blue light suddenly surrounds the both of them, and they leap over the Paradoxes further into the dark hallway, where there are none.

As Kunai lands, a large needle suddenly flies into the air, narrowly missing him on the shoulder. It hits the wall and lands on the floor with a soft clink. “They can shoot projectiles?”

“I don’t care if they shoot Arai’s cookies!” Ryuu cries out loud. “Just as long as we get out of here. We’re flies to these spider Paradoxes if we don’t get away!”

The two of them begin sprinting down the hallway, but cry out loud as they bump into a large wall sitting directly in front of them. Ryuu feels around the wall, pounding it frustratingly with his fist. “Solid wall.”

“So we’re stuck here?!” Kunai cries out loud, staring at the approaching Paradoxes.

“All right then!” Ryuu cries, drawing his sword. “Plan C! We kick their asses!”

“Sounds good to me,” Kunai grins, nailing one of the closer Paradoxes in the eye with a Steely. He suddenly begins moving his hands in a specific motion, weaving a large spider web.

Kunai leaps into the air, showering the Paradoxes with the web and enclosing them all in the small dome of silk.

Ryuu grins and gives Kunai the thumbs up. “All right! Now to finish them!” He cuts the air with his sword with a vertical slice, and sends a burst of flame into the air, which erupts with a horrible explosion over the spider web.

The Paradoxes begin to shriek hoarsely as the flames engulf the entire room, illuminating it brightly. Kunai stares at the burning Paradoxes with slight disgust on his face. “Their shriek is probably the worst noise I’ve ever heard…it’s inhuman…”

Ryuu turns around, staring back at the dead end in front of them. He shrugs. “I don’t care if they quack like ducks, we gotta get out of here before we get burned to crisps too.”

He taps his hand along the wall, and suddenly kicks it with a strong blow. He then strikes the wall again with the hilt of his sword, creating a small hole in it. He clambers through the hole, beckoning Kunai to follow.

The two of them suddenly emerge in a large, high-ceilinged, brightly lit room. In the back is a large platform built near the ceiling of the room, looking down on the rest of the room below. On either side of the room are stairways leading up onto the platform.

In front of Ryuu and Kunai are dozens and dozens of the guard, each with a gun raised and pointed at the two of them.

Ryuu growls and raises his hands, Kunai as well. “Damn, we got caught after all…” Ryuu growls, glaring at the guards in front of them.

One of them steps forth, turning to face two other guards. “You two, take their weapons and any other materials they might possess that might be deemed Code AB Dangerous. Escort them to Lord Fyx. He wants to see them. The rest of you, scatter out, find and bring in the other two detected in our security cameras as well. Remove their weapons and bring them to Lord Fyx as well when you find them.”

Arai suddenly pushes Ivy gently forward, and begins running again, signaling for her to follow immediately. “The reactor room is just up ahead…”

The two of them suddenly emerge in a large brightly lit chamber, at the center of which is a large tank, emitting a soft humming noise and several sparks of radiation.

“Shadow matter production…” Arai mumbles to himself as he stares up at the huge tank.

He stares around the room briefly before seeing a large switch on the wall. “Is that…the switch to shut down the reactor? If that’s so…we can shut down the entire plant with this.” He strides up to the switch, and presses it.

There is suddenly a loud clicking noise and the humming from the tank suddenly dies down. Arai gives a gasp in surprise as a long, sharp needle flies through the air and strikes him on the arm, bouncing off onto the floor with a soft clatter.

He turns immediately as several of the guard approach, guns raised and pointed toward Ivy. One of them shoots, sending a beam of red light forward and hitting Ivy. She cries out loud before falling to the floor unconscious.

“Stunned one of them!” the guard cries. He bends down over Ivy and picks her up lightly. The other guards approach Arai, raising their guns and pointing them at him.

Arai sighs and raises his hands, grinning at the guards as they approach him with handcuffs. “Well if you must, you must.”