"Settle the score? What may be that be?"
"Now, now. Don't try to act so dumb. You just put me through all of that, and yet ask of me what it is that I seek?"
"Hmm...Just because you just untied yourself and popped back onto the land, you feel that you're superior now and want to take 30 people at once? How naive of you."
"Then let me ask you this. How about you get tied up, and drop into the pool, and return, just like I did?"
"Provocation of that sort won't work on me."
"I wasn't provoking you by any means. I'm just challenging you."
"And why would I have any need to accept your challenge?"
"Do you need a reason to accept my challenge?"
"Unlike you who just operates on a whim without any prior thinking and then worry about his actions, I'm the opposite of you."
"Then all the more reason to."
"Weren't you listening?"
"I clearly heard every single thing about what you just mentioned. But by using the very same logic, you should be able to even conclude that if I, someone who acts first and then thinks later has outdone everyone's expectations and silenced my critics, then you, who thinks first and acts later should be able to silence down his one and only critic, right?"
"Well, that's interesting but I do have one question?"
"Very well. I can only control what's mine, and sadly, your curiosity is not something I own."
"You say that you defied the odds and made it out without any trouble, and yet, how is it that there's not a single drop of water on your body nor on your clothes?" He noticed that, didn't he? Looks like I slipped. But then again...
"Um...Blake."
"What is it?" He looked at everyone, staring at him with uneasiness, wondering how to convey what they felt. "Spit it out already! If you have something to say to me, don't hold back."
"What are you talking about Blake? Can't you see he's completely drenched?"
"Yeah, from top to bottom!" There was quite an upturn in the number of audience questioning out their leader's comments. Doubts that were just a few whispers now turned into an uproar.
"Silence! What are you talking about? Can't you see he's dry as the sand in the deserts? Just look at hi...Impossible!" He couldn't believe his own eyes. Till now, he was under the impression that I wasn't soaked at all, which made him confident to the point where he challenged his subordinates, only to make a joke of himself.
"What a joke! Think first, and act later. Yeah! My ass you are different from me."
"But that's..." He was stuttering and trying to regain his composure. "Oi, who are you talking to?" In the split second, he took his eyes away from me, I was already by his side, and yet, he was able to notice me by his side, while the others around us hadn't even realized what happened.
He moved away from me, closer to the pool. Without a momentary hesitation, I pushed him into the pool. Splash! A loud thud captured everyone's attention, and to everyone's surprise, and horror, they found me, in the place of their captain, all while their beloved captain was in the pool, struggling to come out.
Not even one of them couldn't grasp the entire situation right now, except for...
"Woah! Easy there!" I swiftly moved away from the position I was recently at. A sudden, and sharp roundhouse kick was targetted at me from the back. A very underhanded and yet crafty move.
"Help him out fast!" The voice commanded.
"But why?"
" Are you blind?! Use your eyes! The rope's missing! That only means one thing! His hands are tied. Get him out fast!" The voice gave out precise instructions in a frightening order, which made everyone quiver and look at each other. "Hurry up! Argh!"
While he looked away for a moment, without warning, I went for a sweeping low kick, that off-put his balance, and resulted in him falling face-first to the ground. Before he could get up, I placed my knee over him, and knelt on his back, pushing him to the ground.
"Do as he says, and you'll suffer the same fate!" The words I said, froze the rescue team at their place. Was it because of what they had witnessed, or was it just a testament to what they had heard of me till now, everything that had preceded led down to this moment? I had no clue. But, showing a few cards that I had held up my sleeve was my only option right now, and I did so, as I had to.
If possible, I would have hidden them, but sadly, today was not such a day. And as I pondered about that stuff, I suddenly realized that the water was dead calm, and slowly, a shadow emerged behind me.
A gargantuan force landed near my lower ribs on the left, and I was sent flying till I hit the fence with the steel rails at the end of the pool area. Cough! I spat out some blood. To think that one blow was enough to send me afar, this was quite the predicament.
"Everyone, leave us, now."
"But..."
"I said leave!" The crowd dispatched immediately. As I assumed, this was no ordinary opponent that I was facing. This is someone who knows Emily pretty well, almost at the level of a boyfriend, or in fact, her supposed boyfriend. Which means that he'd know about her being a vampire. If that's the case...
"Why did you send them out? Things just got interesting."
"I'm going to end this right now."
"Sure, go ahead, Shadow Alchemist!" The moment those words slipped past through my mouth, he stood dead in his tracks. An expression of horror and disbelief lay straight on his face.
"So, why don't you try your shadow puppet again...You vampire freak!"