Chapter 4: Upside-down
Sfx: Cling! Clang!
The clashing sound of each weapons resonates the silent night. Eight jumped back as he tries to check for a new opening.
' I can't believe a cat is holding me back!' The enemy said behind her head. She shows a calm and collected image but bits of sweat are starting to form in her forehead.
' She's starting to get anxious.' Eight was able to determine the enemy's condition as he hears her heart beat.
" Oya, oya? Feels like I'm fighting a low tier soldier." Eight played with his sword as he tries to provoke the lady.
" Shut up!!" He smiled viciously as the enemy ran to his direction. The elongated nails of the lady won't even reach the nimble cat whose only playing with her.
" Humans never learn, really. Even though they've gone through this, they still forget the basics." Eight did not even blinked as he slice up the enemy into two.
" How lame =_=" He said before leaving the blood stained roof.
*****
Sfx: Gwaaaaaaak!
My lungs are pumping back and forth as I try to gasp for air. I've been barfing for three times just because of that damn hell escapade.
" Gwahahahahaha! I can't believe you shrieked ahahaha (≧▽≦)" Nellie still can't stop laughing.
I literally panicked! Who would have thought that we would do an extreme parkour escape?!
" Anyways, where the hell are we??" The place is kinda familiar to me, though I don't clearly know where...
" Were still in upside-down Nats." I was appalled by that and made a turn just to see the whole place as an..... Abandoned train station?
The place is really way too different. This is like a lost city or something like a ghost town. Vines and algae are very evident which makes the station more eerie.
" Let's go back. The others might be worried." With that said, the place suddenly turned into a more lively one. I can hear footsteps and other things. We're back to the normal world.
It was a silent trip, way back to my apartment. Amos and Eight is already in there with a serious expression in their faces.
" What's going on?" Nellie stole my line which makes me shut up.
" This bastard here is a useless prick!" Eight said while pointing his paws to Amos." You had two strikes boi! Only if our king is not clueless, you would have been totally kicked out!" Wow! I was actually in awe that Eight is talking back to Amos but... Am I supposed to be happy being called clueless?
" Our job is to protect and to prioritize our king but you seems to still be inclined in your very own business." Eight followed up.
" You don't have the rights to criticize me you little pussy cat! You don't know how it feels like to be left alone!" It's the first time hearing Amos so vulnerable.
" Alone? Hah! In terms of being alone and abandoned we're far more superior to yours! Me and him! You don't know how it feels like to be like me...like him. You only feel alone because you push people away from you. It's your goddamn fault why you feel miserable, idiot!" O....kay? It seems like everyone here has their own issues to solve. And whose the 'him' that Eight is pertaining to?
" Okay guys! Just be calm okay? The neighbors will get disturbed, okay? Whatever issues you have, we'll solve it. But for now, let's take a breather and rest." That's the end of our day and neither of us gets to have a dinner.
Around 11 in the night, I felt Eight's fluffy fur in my arms as he curled his body beside me.
" Say, will you be able to accept him when the right time comes?" It seems to me that Eight is somehow worried about someone.
" Maybe. It's not like I'm not welcoming, am I?" Eight just looked at me for a second and then closed his eyes.
*****
Morning came and thank God! There's no training or something. Eight is cooking and the other two is just casually sipping their morning coffee.
O....kay??
" Morning." I greeted and they also did the same.
After a few minutes we get to eat Eight's cooking but it feels like something is really wrong. It feels like they wanna tell me something.
Sfx: Ahem
They all looked at me with the same expression on their faces. W-what's wrong with these people?
" Uhm...." Nellie was the first to talk." I've been meaning to ask this since last night but... Say! Will you really solve every issues in this family?" Huh?! That's it? That's the question they want to ask me?! Even Amos and Eight are nodding their heads like stupid.
" Y-yeah, why not?" I'm kinda skeptic about this as I see eagerness in their eyes." Only if you want me off course."
" But before that." Amos stood up with a firm expression in his face. It feels as if he's trying to concentrate.
" This is just so stupid." Nellie said and suddenly, we are standing at a roof of a building.
" Hey?! Aren't we supposed to go to school?" Nellie just gave me an apologetic look then turn away.
What the hell?! ಠಿ_ಠ
" The rules are simple. Who ever surrender wins." Amos is smirking as if he's been waiting for this to happen.
" Yare, yare... How overconfident." Eight said while unsheathing his sword.
They both have their own stance while concentrating. It seems to me that their eyes are evaluating the perfect move to make.
" And....boom." I was startled when both of them vanished to my sight. Amos's chains is creating a small explosion that dominates the area.
Eight is just dodging it as if it's as easy as pie. He's hitting the other chain while avoiding the others. Both of them are skilled but it seems to me that Amos is a pushover.
" Tsk!" Amos clicked his tongue and jump back, five feet away from Eight.
" Is that all you got kiddo?" Eight grinned and plunged straight to Amos's direction. He is too fast that Amos wasn't able to make a perfect move.
He used his shackle in his right foot and deflect the short sword. Eight used the momentum and flew back last me a pro gymnast.
" Why don't you use your power kiddo?" My brow furrowed by Eight's question to Amos.
" Isn't he using it already?" I turned to Nellie which seems to be watching intently.
" They're only using ten percent of their capabilities Nats." She motioned ten in her hands while looking at me." Though, I'm not sure for Eight's case. He only seems to be playing around." I was surprised that. Eight is really a peculiar cat but I'm not aware that he's too powerful.
" I-if you compare your strength to Eight, whose who?" I asked.
She smiled at me and then watched the fight again." It's definitely Eight."
I just quietly reverse my gaze and watch the fight again. Amos is being pushed back by Eight's strength which I don't know where it came from.
The sound of metal clashing is tingling my ears when I suddenly felt a new presence.
It's like a thunderbolt landed between Eight and Amos. Amos is in his knees while trying to stand up and Eight is standing in front of Amos, almost like defending him.
As the fog slowly vanish, I see a silhouette of a long haired girl with a huge sniping rifle.
" Stop the meaningless fight." The wind blows her hair as well as the fog that makes her move visible." Xeles Axlford, at your service!" She grinned widely while saluting to me.