How long has it been since I released a new chapter this quickly? =o Yep, summer break ftw.

Episode 73 Premiere

Kunai stands next to Lord Gilford, as the two of them enter a dark, low-ceilinged surveillance room. Stretched all across the blank wall are various television screens clicked in place to form a TV screen mosaic.

“Bring up Section A-52,” Gilford speaks aloud in a commanding tone. The television screens obey his voice command, bringing to light on one of the larger screens an aerial view of one of the outside forest areas surrounding the gates of the complex.

A hint of morning dew glints in the grass, as the trees of the Ellinian Forest come to an abrupt end, halted in their tracks by the immense concrete walls of Haven. Standing on a patch of grass just outside the walls are Rill and Ivy, looking about awkwardly.

Kunai’s eyes widen slightly as he spots the two of them; otherwise, he shows no other sign of surprise. He clenches his fist slightly, watching the scene indifferently. ‘Damn them! Why did they follow me here?!’

Gilford’s eyes sway over to watch Kunai for a moment, taking pleasure at his internal struggle. “I trust you’ll have no problem greeting our guests for us, will you?”

Kunai turns his eyes upward, to meet Gilford’s gaze. “Of course not. It makes no difference to me whether they come here or not. But if they come, then I shall give them a greeting worthy of Lord Gilford.”

Gilford smiles slightly, a wry smirk as usual. ‘Good. So far he has kept to character. That should be how it is, Kunai. Do not disappoint me if your intentions are true.’

Gilford sighs slightly, turning away. “You shall, of course, be free to roam about the facility as you please, in order to ‘greet’ our fine guests. I will not interfere. However, as it is standard procedure, the guards will be on duty as always, in order not to rouse their suspicion. Understood?”

“Yes,” Kunai replies, not bothering to turn and face Gilford’s back.

“‘Yes,’ what, Kunai?” Gilford asks with a low growl.

“Yes…Lord Gilford,” Kunai retorts darkly.

Rill crouches down next to Ivy as the two of them stand slightly out in the open, no longer under the cover of the forest trees. He peeks around the corner of the heavy concrete wall surrounding the complex.

On the other side stand the main gates of Haven, the direct entryway into the facility. Two guards stand on either side of the locked gates, armed with laser rifles.

“Damn,” Rill mutters to himself, turning back to Ivy. “Just as I thought. This place is heavily guarded and fortified. Even with just the two of us alone, we’ll have an extremely difficult job sneaking in unnoticed. Not only that, but there are at least six different cameras that have caught us on tape already.”

“What are we going to do then?” Ivy responds. “We have to find a way to get inside somehow.”

“Don’t worry,” Rill replies, “we will. I’ve got a plan.”

“What is it?” Ivy asks.

“It goes something like…this!” Rill shouts, leaping high into the air with his Haste. He bounces off a tree, leaping onto the top of the concrete wall.

“Rill! What are you doing?” Ivy asks worriedly, glancing up far into the air.

“Just watch and you’ll see!” Rill shouts. He reaches into his pocket, drawing out two stars. ‘Damn, I’m running really low on stars.’

Rill hurls the two Tobis down into the ground below, striking a guard on the shoulder.

The guard shouts in surprise, reaching for his holstered gun, and aiming for Rill. Meanwhile, Rill begins running down the concrete wall, away from the guard. The guard misfires, missing Rill badly several times.

“Catch me if you can, Mister!” Rill cries boyishly into the air, leaping down off the wall and back onto the ground below. Suddenly, he finds himself standing in front of the gates, with the two guards on duty glaring angrily at him.

“Sorry about this!” Rill shouts to them, reaching over and stabbing them each in the back with the butt of his claw, knocking them unconscious.

Rill hurriedly drags them away, undressing them at the same time. “Ivy, quick, hurry!” Rill shouts breathlessly, dragging the bodies and hiding them behind a tree.

He hands Ivy some of the garments. “Put these on,” Rill says, “and this, too.” He hands Ivy a helmet with shaded visors. Ivy places the helmet over her head, masking her face completely.

Very soon, Rill and Ivy emerge dressed as two guards, each armed with their own laser gun. “All right,” Rill says, pulling out the ID card he’d stolen earlier. “These cards are most likely passes for us to use once inside. Don’t flash these unless absolutely necessary.”

“Right!” Ivy replies nervously.

The front gates suddenly open with a clang, as an entire host of guards stands in the inner courtyard, watching Rill and Ivy.

“Oi, you over there!” one of the guards cries over to Rill. “Have you seen a real shrimpy-looking assassin, about your height, dressed in a Red China set?”

“No!” Rill replies, fixing his own visor helmet nervously. “We saw him run in this direction, but he disappeared completely somehow! We were about to look for him ourselves.”

“All right!” the guard replies. “Well, we’re gonna go out and hunt down that shrimp ourselves. You guys stay behind and watch the gates. We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“R-Right,” Rill mumbles, as the rest of the guards hurry after the leader, disappearing amongst the forest trees. Ivy lunges forward, but pauses as she notices Rill hesitating.

“Rill? Is something the matter?” Ivy asks tentatively.

“S-Shrimpy?!” Rill mutters to himself.

Ivy sighs impatiently, grabbing Rill’s arm and dragging him forward. “Come on, this is our chance to sneak inside while everybody’s away!”

“Huh? Oh, right!” Rill replies vaguely, blushing slightly from the warmth of Ivy’s touch.

Rill and Ivy rush in, sprinting at top speeds down the empty, humming hallways of Haven, as the alarm continues to ring ahead, signaling intruders.

The two of them pause in their tracks, as they run straight into a locked, password-protected door. Ivy glances worriedly at Rill. “Now what?”

“These cards should come in handy,” Rill states, bringing out his own stolen identification card. He swipes it through the provided slot. After a few beeps, the door slides open with a rush of cold air.

Rill steps inside, but pauses, turning back as Ivy lags behind. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s this button?” Ivy wonders out loud, contemplating over a bright pink button in the wall.

Rill watches Ivy blankly, blinking slightly. “Ivy, don’t—!” However, Ivy presses the button rashly, ignoring Rill’s interrupted warning.

“I wonder what it does—” Ivy says; next second, a trapdoor opens up behind her, and she falls straight through, screaming until her voice disappears faintly into the distance.

Rill’s eyes widen, as he scrambles over to the edge of the trapdoor. He peers through, yet sees nothing but darkness. “You’ve…got to be kidding me,” Rill shouts exasperatedly, removing his head from the opening.

Rill sighs, scratching his forehead. “I wonder what I should do…” He glances around, as the sound of approaching footsteps rises higher in the air. “I hope Ivy’s okay. Going through the trapdoor can’t be a good thing, so I probably shouldn’t follow her…but I promised to protect her! Damn!”

Rill curses, glancing nervously around once more. However, as the sound of footsteps grows louder still, he makes up his mind, and rushes to his feet. “Well, it’s a gamble, but I should assume even if Ivy gets captured, she’ll probably get put in a holding cell of some sort for later. I can probably rescue her later. My priority should be to avoid getting captured too, or else we’re both in trouble!”

Making up his mind, Rill heads in the opposite direction, sprinting down the newly opened corridor.

Meanwhile, in the darkness, Ivy falls into a crumpled heap, landing roughly on a smooth, concrete ground. She feels around blindly in the darkness for several moments, wincing in pain. “Ow, ow, ow!”

Suddenly, a faint hissing catches Ivy’s attention. She glances around, drawing out her staff. Waving it slightly, she forms a semi-Holy Arrow with it, bringing forth a faint, glowing light to the floor around her.

Ivy screams, falling backwards as she sees the scene before her. Hundreds of spidery Paradoxes sit and stand waiting around her, clicking their fangs eagerly. “Sp-spiders!” Ivy screams in protest.

Ivy backs up against the wall behind her, leaning against it and trembling in fear. All of a sudden, the wall spins, and hurls Ivy out into the brightly-lit room on the other side. She lands on all fours, sprawled dazedly on the ground, stunned by the sudden flood of lights.

“There’s one of ‘em now!” a guard shouts, pointing at Ivy, as her visor helmet falls to the ground, already cracked from her initial fall.

“Heh, heh!” Ivy replies nervously, curling up before the two angry guards standing before her. “Um, um, please, Mister Guards, can you please help me? I got lost looking for the bathroom…wah!”

“Huh?” the guards glance at each other in surprise, appalled by Ivy’s words.

Rill hurries breathlessly down the corridor. He runs into another locked door. He rams into it in his haste, breathing raggedly. Rill scrambles around for several moments, finally drawing out his identification card. He slides it through the provided slot as before, forcing himself through it even as the door slides open.

All of a sudden, Rill finds himself in a huge chamber hall, strangely silent save for the humming of many machines. Several gigantic computers and processors stand in the otherwise empty room, lit by several large, industrial lights overhead.

Rill pauses to catch his breath, finding himself alone in the huge room. However, the next second, a dark figure slides out from behind a computer, stepping towards Rill.

In the emptiness of the room, the figure’s footsteps ring loudly throughout, echoing from ceiling to floor with loud, resounding thuds. Rill glances up in surprise, tensing up as he realizes he is not the only one in the room.

“Nice to see you again so soon…” the darkened figure speaks to Rill as it approaches.

Rill merely remains looking puzzled, eyes widened as the figure continues to approach him relentlessly.

“…Rill.”

Next Time: Episode 74 An Absence of Light

Otis: OH MY GM! I CAN’T STAND THIS SUSPENSE ANY LONGER! Who will win…Rill-gorilla, or our newly-found enemy, Kunai-gorilla? That’s right, go Kunai-gorilla! You’re on the winning team now! Go crush that shrimpy— [squish] Oww!

Ryuu: Be quiet, you.

Episode 74 An Absence of Light coming soon!