● 17th day of the Sixth Month, year 666 - Realm of Light: Pacifica; Bae City, 077
Libruou ran carefully deeper into the building. Her laser gun was fully loaded, and she was on her toes. She wanted to call for Nico, but didn't want to lose the element of surprise.
The hallway was dark and straightforward, and the doors around were all closed. Libruou noticed light coming out of one door.
This must be where Nico is!, she thought. And then, prepared herself for anything. With wide steady steps, she charged inside.
"Stop right there!" She shouted, but then realized there was nobody in the room. The light was coming from a big screen in the wall.
Huh?!, she realized that it was a set up.
The door behind her got closed, and she saw the red-headed gangster holding Nico with his laser blade on her neck.
"I've been watching you.." he grinned.
"Nico!" Libruou yelled.
"Libruou, tell this punk-nut to let me go!" Nico cried.
"You heard that, psycho!" Libruou pointed a gun at him. "Let her go!"
"No, can't do! This girl is our way to greatness!" The gangster said as he released drones from the ceiling. They started shooting heavily at Libruou. This is bad!, she ran and took cover. And he's using Nico as a shield! Jaden, you'd be useful by now.
Meanwhile, Jaden was struggling against Eidth. He tried to attack her with his skills, but couldn't cause a scratch.
She's incredibly fast!, he thought. And her skin is solid like steel.
"I'm goin' to crush you, and put your skull in my living room!" Edith said as she charged viciously towards Jaden. He rolled away from her, and tried to hit her with Rebellion, his knife. Eidth quickly got hold of his arm, and smack him to the wall.
"Ghaaa!" he screamed. As he didn't reach the ground yet, she slammed Jaden, tossing him to the other side of the hall.
He struggled for a bit before he get on his feet again. He was panting, and his knees began to wobble.
"Shit, that hurts.." he mumbled to himself in agony. I've never felt this pain ever my whole actual life.
At the same time in the hallway, Libruou was still struggling against the red-headed gangster and his drones.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he laughed.
But Libruou was still hiding in the shadows.
"Humph," he smirked. "Could it be that she ran away?!"
He then received a call from Eidth. "Erestor, where's the girl?!" she asked.
"She's here with me! It's all under control by now." Erestor answered.
"Start sending the data first, and then package the red shards!" she told him. "I'll have to take care of some pest first.."
"Yes, ma'am!" he said playfully and hung up. He then grabbed Nico, and took her back to the room. He told her to send all the documents she got from the Old-Net, and send them to some address.
"I'll make sure that friend of yours stay away.." he went back out.
Libruou was watching him as Erestor walked further until he reached a wider area. Then, she shot at him, but he jumped off.
"So, you decided to show up, huh?!" Erestor shouted sarcastically. "You don't know when to give up!"
He then signaled to his drones which surrounded Libruou.
"Any last words, sexy doll?!" he smirked, but she didn't even panic.
"Sorry chicken head," Libruou's right eye glowed blue. "But you're not my cup of tea!"
All the drones flew towards Erestor. It turned out that Libruou hacked them all at once when they circled around her.
"Hacking tech is my favorite past time!" Libruou winked. "Now, how about you get fried by your own little babies?!" she snapped her finger, and the drones initiated self destruct.
"No, don't!" Erestor yelled in terror. "You monster!"
"It wasn't your lucky day when you chose to mess with Team Nora!" Libruou was ready to finish him off.
"No, wait—" he uttered.
On the other side, Eidth still the upper hand. Her last attack almost ended Jaden's life. It's super terrifying when you see the bar of your life force shrinking, Mado thought as he was struggling to remain standing.
Eidth then throw a smashing punch at Jaden, but he barely avoided it. He then slid between her legs, and kept a distance.
"Face it!" she said. "You can't beat me. Thanks to Anthem, I'm fucking invincible!"
Anthem?! Is that some kind of enhancer?!, he wondered. But he didn't much time for wondering because the Bone Smasher was already close, and she put both fists together, and made them fall on Jaden. He in turn, raised his hands and struggled trying to overcome her attack. They both wrestled to apprehend the other. But then Eidth snapped back in a blink, and punched Jaden multiple times before tossing him.
This time, Jaden was completely collapsed on the ground. I—can't go on, he panted. My body feels heavy and numb.
But then, he heard Ovan's voice.
".…Rise up…Jaden…stand on your feet.."
Jaden pressed on his teeth. Eidth was right above him, and delivered the finishing blow, but Jaden rolled fast to the side.
Screw Ovan, and that virtual life! If Jaden thinks he'd seen hell, then Mado had lived in one, he thought.
"I am Mado," he took hold of his knife and yelled "Mado Luqman!"
"You're nothing but a dead pest to me!" Eidth jumped and attacked him, but Jaden slid to her back, and leaped to slash her, but she slapped him in midair. Jaden was tossed to the wall, but on it, he stood on his feet and jumped to unleash an attack. As his knife and Eidth skin collided, Jaden felt that there were delicate parts on her. He immediately leaped away.
"It's just a matter of time, and I'll hang you!" Eidth roared.
If Medical School taught me something, it's that no human body is ever invincible, he thought. There're always weak points...fatal points! Jaden rushed towards Eidth. She took the opportunity to hit him with a powerful punch, but he was able to block it using his foot. He then landed a bit distant.
"I got it!" Jaden smiled. It's the Jugular vein in her neck!, he thought.
He than quickly charged forward towards her and jumped halfway. Eidth jumped against him, too. And they were going for one last blow. Jaden left his knife float in front of him as the Bone Smasher arms were about to close in on him. Mado was waiting for when he is at the right angle.
Now!, he grabbed Rebellion, and charged his last bet.
"[Arial Swift]!!"
~SLASH!
Eidth lost balance, and fell to the ground. Jaden landed on his knees before rolling on the ground. His attack made a critical hit. Eidth tried to get back up on her feet, only to notice that blood was flowing out of her neck.
"You ratchet, filthy brat!" she said as she couldn't hold herself together. Few seconds later, she collapsed into the ground, trying to breath.
Jaden walked up to her, and saw that she was dying. He put his fingers on his face, and then found blood sheds on his hands. He started to breathe heavily.
"Did I just—" No way, no, it can't be!, he thought. This is not real, it's not! It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not, it's not! Jaden witnessed as Eidth took her last breath, and laid still motionless on the ground.
None of this is real, he turned his back, and walked to catch up with Libruou and Nico.
When he walked through the quiet dark hallway, Jaden noticed that one only lit room. The door was ajar, so he just entered slowly.
The moment he was already inside, Jaden was surprised. "Hey, Nico!?!" he said.
Nicolette turned away from the large computer screen, and faced him. "Huh? You're that church dude!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah—just keep it quiet!" Jaden whispered. "Are you all right? Where's Libruou?!"
"I dunno, but I heard that bad red head fight somebody minutes ago…" Nico replied reluctantly.
Jaden then looked at the bright screen before him. "What's that you were doing?" he pointed at the computer.
"They wanted me to hack into the Old-Net." Nico answered. "I was sending the findings to somebody…"
"What findings?!" Jaden tried to use the computer, but the system was in a different language. Is this Latin?!, he was surprised. But after few trials, Jaden was able to display the data on transfer. It was a picture of what it seemed to Mado like a screenshot.
"Huh?! What's that?!" he wondered.
"It's what they wanted the most.." Nico muttered.
Jaden looked at it thoroughly, and noticed text in English.
"The Copper Key awaits.." he read it. But then he noticed something else at the top left corner. Wait— is that, he thought. A Google address!
As he was shocked for what he found, an explosion occured somewhere in the building. Jaden hurried to protect Nico. He heard footsteps coming towards them.
"Ni—" that person appeared to be Libruou, which in turn was surprised to see Jaden.
"Jaden you're here, too! That made my job way easier!"
"What happened?! What was that explosion sound?!" Jaden asked in concern. "And where's that red-headed guy?!"
"Oh, you mean this guy?!" Libruou dragged a fainted man that apparently was Erestor. "I took care of him!" She said playfully as she tossed him to the floor.
"I also armed this building with bombs!" she said. "These shit heads are expecting some people. I think they're no the way!"
"Yeah, we gotta get outta here!" Nico yelled.
Jaden hurried back to the computer, so he can save or, print that screenshot with the English text. Damn!, he thought. I don't have anything to copy it to, or even a printer, or even know Latin.
"Choir boy, hurry!" Libruou took Nico and the Crystal shards as they were about to leave Jaden behind.
"Oh, dang it!" he hit the keyboard. I have no other but to give it one last good look, he thought.
"C'mon, I see other gangsters coming!" Libruou shouted. "I have to blow this place up!"
After hearing that, Jaden left the room, and ran outside. He reached the bike as Libruou and Nico were already on, took the driving position, and drove away. When they reached a safe distance, Libruou pressed a button that sat of an explosion which engulfed the entire dom-shaped building, and blew it to the ground. The other gangsters arrived to witness the boom. Jaden speeded as fast as he could, and the three fled out of Pacifica.
At their headquarters, Herc, Jeremiah, and Maqi were waiting in anticipation and fear. Jeremiah was trying to keep himself busy by double checking Herc's racing truck. Herc was actually nervous, and kept going up, and down on the couch.
Then Maqi yelled "I hear something!"
He the ran out of the front door, and came back bouncing. "You guys come on!"
"It's them!" Jeremiah cried.
Herc and the others rushed to see them. They all came back safe and sound. More or less, at least.
"Herc! Maqi!" Nico hugged them both.
"Libruou!" Jeremiah helped her get inside.
Then Herc went to check on Jaden, but he smiled to him awkwardly.
Right after they settled inside, Jaden asked Libruou about what he found. "It was like— a rhyme, or some sort of riddle!" he explained. "And it came from some Google account!"
"What's a Google?!" Libruou was asking.
"So, you don't have that, huh?" Jaden sighed.
"Hey, maybe it's from the Old-Net! Lottsa freaky stuff are looming there!" she said. "But maybe I can help with the rhyme thing. Can you still remember it?"
"Yeah, but not for too long!" Jaden got up, and wrote what he saw on a piece of paper.
..The Copper Key awaits
In a tomb filled with horrors
But you have much to learn
If you hope to earn..
Libruou read it multiple times before saying "It sounds like a clue for the location of one of the Keys!"
"The Seven Keys of Azerrak, you mean?!" Jaden asked.
"Yeah!" she answered. "Maybe that's what the Animals were after.."
The Keys, Jaden thought. Even gangs want to take hold of 'em.
Herc and Jeremiah came into the living room.
"Hey, Jaden!" Herc said. "I'm sorry for putting you through this. We gave you the worst first impression ever!"
"Don't hold it against us!" Jeremiah muttered.
"It's okay!" Jaden sighed. "Besides, I already know it's not gonna be easy since I left Red Grave!"
"I bet you do!" Jeremiah replied.
"I guess I owe you again!" Herc said. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Jaden took a second to respond, and then said "Maybe there's,"
He then walked up to the bike that got him and Libruou to Pacifica and brought them back with Nico. "I guess, I'll need Jeremiah to hook it up with one of my shards."
"For what—" Herc mumbled.
"Uhhh, you don't say!" Jeremiah exclaimed.
Jaden cracked a smile. "Yeah, exactly!"
"Wait you're not planning to—" Libruou grinned.
"Oh!" Herc finally understood.
"I wanna be in the Bae City Grand Prix!" Jaden said.