"God damn am I hungry. When the fuck are we getting there?" Nerva questions.
We've been on the road for a couple of hours now on our way to Milan. The roads have been pretty clear and Warren still drives like a madman but despite these things, the journey is taking a lot longer than any of us imagined and we're suffering for it. We definitely should have brought more food and water for the trip. The worst part is that Warren won't allow us to take any pit stops in the small villages we drive through.
He must really want to get to Milan to find this informant. If this informant doesn't have the information Warren wants, they're most likely going to die. We're all hungry, cramped, tired, and worst of all, I can't read since it's getting dark. It's sunset outside so it's probably going to become nighttime in a few minutes.
"We'll be there soon. Just hold on Nerva" Warren assures though he sounds a bit irritated.
"Warren," Adam says to him.
He doesn't respond.
"Warren," Adam says again. "I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Can't stop. I keep telling you guys we gotta get there as soon as possible. We're almost there." Warren finally replies.
"B-but I gotta go now."
"You better not go in this car Adam. You're my friend but I am not afraid of abandoning you in the middle of the woods."
"We should just do that anyway," I chime in.
"Y-you guys are joking right?" Adam asks.
Neither Warren nor I respond.
"...Oh," Adam whimpers.
"Great now I'm fucking tired," Nerva complains.
"I thought you were hungry?" Adam inquires.
"I am, but now I'm fucking tired. Maybe I can sleep off the hunger or some shit. Adam be my pillow"
"W-what?"
I turn around in my seat to see Nerva attempt to use the entire backseat as a bed. Adam jumps immediately out of his spot and is now laying on the ground of the car.
"What the fuck Adam?" Nerva angrily questions.
"I-isn't you laying on my lap embarrassing and weird? Mostly weird?"
"No, you. . . made it weird. . . fucking pervert," Nerva retorts with hesitation.
"B-But how? You're the one who suggested it, how am I the pervert?"
"Because fuck you, that's why."
"I-I don't think that's an explanation."
Before I get to witness anymore weird Adam-Nerva banter Warren tries to break them up like a tired father who has loud children in the back of his car.
"You two stop fighting. If you two keep at it I'm turning this car around," Warren threatens.
"Ugh fine but he fucking started it," Nerva says pointing at Adam.
"... But I didn't," Adam retorts.
"Ha!" is all I add to the conversation.
I find the whole thing hilarious, but we gotta get out of this car soon or we all might kill each other. By each other, I mean team up to kill Adam. Eventually Nerva does go to sleep and once again Adam spends a good portion of the journey on the ground out of embarrassment and fear. Luckily only another hour passes before we finally reach our destination. It's completely dark now so it's not too easy to see the town of Milan.
I can make out some impressive looking structures however as we drive our way down a few cobblestone roads. The roads are lit by some old looking light posts. The buildings are quite small and made of stone.
It reminds me of ancient Roman architecture that I saw in illustrations back in high school. The streets are themselves pretty empty with only a few carriages to share the roads with. Guess this place doesn't have a nightlife. After going around in circles for a bit Warren makes this huge sigh and takes out a map.
"Hey Nerva, can you look at this map and guide me to where East 7th Street is? That's where the tavern we're supposed to go is but I can't find it," Warren requests.
"Why I gotta do it?" Nerva shoots back instantly.
"Because last time I checked you can create a light with magic so you'll have the easiest time reading it. In case you haven't noticed it's dark outside" Warren reasons.
"Oh… ok, I got this shit."
Well that was weird. Nerva doesn't hesitate at all, at least in things not related to her having a weird discourse with Adam. She grabs the map and opens it. She snaps her right hand to create a small fire on her right index finger.
"You. . . ugh. . . gotta take a right and shit," Nerva informs.
"You sure? You don't sound too confident" Warren asks, turning back at her with a concerned expression on his face.
".... Shit you right. Ugh. . . take a damn left up here and. . . shit. . . ." she mumbles to herself.
"Nerva are you ok?" Adam asks in a worried tone.
"Yeah I'm fine fuck you. Quincy you read this shit since you read all them damn books," Nerva orders, handing me the map while she hovers her lit hand over my head.
I take a look at it and I have no idea why she had trouble reading the map. The town isn't very big, so it was easy to find the street we needed to get to. I see that we're right next to a huge fountain in the middle of the town and easily trace where we're supposed to go from there.
"Go straight for Workshire Avenue 4 blocks, take a right, then after 2 more blocks take a left at Ligny road. We'll be there after that," I instruct.
Warren drives the car and an awkward silence fills the car. After about two minutes Adam decides to break it.
"Nerva… do you not know how to read?" Adam inquires.
"Course I can fucking read shut up!" Nerva commands.
"Then why didn't you read the map?"
". . . Fuck you Adam," she mutters.
Well that explains it, she couldn't find the street we needed to get to because she couldn't read the words. I would be more surprised but it makes sense now that I think about it. I've never seen her read anything. Every time she ordered something at Dragon's Descent she would point at a picture on the wall or would make Adam order. Things are getting pretty tense here now. We really do need to get out of this car.
Fortunately Warren finally parks the car and tells us we've arrived. Adam rushes out of the car, heading into the building ahead of us. I can't tell if he wanted to get away from Nerva or to pee. Probably both. We all follow to see that the tavern is a huge and busy place. It reminds me more of a saloon.
There's a guy playing piano to our left in the corner, in the center of the room is a huge clearing where people are dancing to the music. Behind the clearing there is a stairwell that leads upstairs to what I presume are some bedrooms. There're tables in front of us where I see people drinking and playing some card games. Finally there is a tiny bar where the bartender is serving out drinks to people at a counter situated ahead of the piano. So this town does have a nightlife, it's just all concentrated here.
"Warren, who exactly are we looking for?" I ask as we all make our way to an empty table.
"I have no idea. He's supposed to come to us. I think he's supposed to know who we are by seeing the bag of gold. . . which I just realized Adam is holding" Warren laments.
Since Warren, Nerva, and I have entered this place we haven't seen Adam. If he really did run to the bathroom then he must be upstairs.
I sigh and tell them,
"Ok I'll go find him. I'm sure he's upstairs somewhere."
I awkwardly pass by people in order to go upstairs to try to find the bathroom. Upstairs I see some girls in dresses talking to some guys who appear to be very drunk. Suddenly one of the girls came up to me.
"Hey baby, are you looking for a good time?" she asks.
"You got a book?" I ask in return.
"Um. . . no?"
"Then I'm not interested. Begone, thot." I tell her, shoving her out of the way.
I proceed to walk into a dimly lit hallway where a question comes to mind. She works here, why didn't I ask where the bathroom is? Oh well, too late to go back now, I have to avoid social awkwardness.
"Adam!" I call out.
I don't get a response besides the mumbling of guys with prostitutes.
"Adam!" I call out again.
Still no response, dang it, I'm gonna have to check the rooms. I open one door and see that it's an empty bedroom. Whelp he's not here. I open the next one to see a guy standing over an unconcious girl. He has a knife in hand with blood on it.
"Hi there friend, wanna play a game?" he says in a creepy voice.
"Nah man I'm good" I responded, closing the door.
Nope, ain't dealing with that shit. I got important things to do. I try a third door and finally I find the bathroom. To no one's surprise it's freaking disgusting, everything is dirty. It's also really small too, there's only one stall and a dirty sink. There is also a small window near the stall that's open. Good because this place needs to be aired out. It stinks.
"Adam! You in there?" I holler, banging on the bathroom stall.
I don't get a response. I'm getting pretty annoyed at trying to find Adam so I kick the stall down. I look inside to see that it's empty. Dang it, he's not here. This place better not have many bathrooms in it. I sigh in exasperation and decide to look out the window for a bit as a break. In the street I swear I see a man carrying Adam like he abducted some princess.
"Quincy! Help!" Adam yells.
The guy carrying Adam starts to run down the street.
Adam, how did you get yourself into this situation? My hatred for you grows. I leap out of the window, landing in the streets below. Ow my knees, I should have used more of my aura. Putting the mild pain aside I start to run after them at a full sprint. I thought with all of the training I've done it'd be easy to catch up but this guy is really fast, even when carrying the excess weight known as Adam.
"Adam, you can at least try to free yourself!" I wail as the guy takes a right, going down a different street.
"I'm trying! He's very strong!" Adam yells back.
"Use your knife dumbass!"
"I-I can't! I can't reach it!"
"Adam God Dammit!"
As I continued to chase them I picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the guy as hard as I could using my aura enhanced strength. It's a direct hit to the back of the head. However it had no effect. Adam's abductor continues to run unaffected even as blood pours down his neck. Seeing this made Adam scream. After taking a few more turns he stops in the middle of the town where the huge fountain is. Great, this guy made me go backwards.
"Government dog!" he yells, slamming Adam's back onto the rim of the fountain.
Adam drops to the ground, screaming in pain. Seeing this I sprint forward, quickly closing the distance. I wind up a punch, hoping to knock this man's lights out in one blow but suddenly a bolt of electricity shoots out his right hand, hitting me square in the stomach. Feeling an immense shock I'm thrown back a dozen feet, back to where I originally was. I try to get up but my muscles won't listen. My whole body is quivering as a sharp pain shoots throughout my body.
I'm at least able to get on my knees to see Adam's abductor slowly approach. From top to bottom he's wearing a blue ushanka hat, a deep ocean blue parka, poofy grey wool pants, and finally grey furry boots. His skin is pale with bright emerald eyes. He looks like a whack Soundcloud rapper. He clenches his hands as electricity surges on top of them. Stopping six feet away from me he says,
"You're the second hero!? I expected so much more from Creon's lapdog."
"W-who the hell are you calling a lapdog?" I utter, trying to get on my feet.
"You, of course. You and the first hero have been sent here to crush the will of Ayana's people have you not? You are here at the behest of Creon. A mere weapon for the government to oppress the people. I won't let you. I'm the people's champion. I'm Juvenile and I will destroy you for the cause."
After fighting through the pain I'm finally able to stand up. To be honest I wasn't really paying attention to whatever this guy's on about. I really don't give two shits. I only care about the insult he gave me.
"I'm gonna stop you right there. First off, I'm nobody's bitch so let's make that clear. Second off, I don't really care about this whole rebellion. I'm not from this world so I couldn't give less of a damn. I know your people are starving because of Creon or something but that's none of my business. In fact if you could get me home right now I'd be out of your hair."
Juvenile looked at me all askance, wondering if I was being serious or not. Behind him Adam is getting up. His left hand is placed on his right shoulder emitting a green light, letting me know he's healing himself.
"Now don't get me wrong. I'm still kicking your ass," I continue.
"You messed up once you attacked me so it's too late to stop me from beating your head in. Just know when I do I'm doing it because I want to, not because Creon told me to."
Juvenile smirks, cracking his knuckles as electricity starts to surge around his entire body.
"You're not what I expected but I'm intrigued. Give me a good fight you government dog. Prove that you're worthy of fighting the people's champion."
"You're conceited, you know that? You talk too much. Ain't no one trying to hear all that."
All of a sudden Juvenile disappears from view. I sense something to my left so I turn my head only to get hit by an electrified punch. My whole body stings once again as I stumble. My left cheek hurts the most. It's a hot burning sensation.
"Quincy!" I hear Adam call out.
I put my arms up to guard as electricity appeared all around me like I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. My body starts getting hit from all over. My back, my forearms, my head, my legs, all are hit within the span of a few seconds. This guy is fast. It's like I'm taking on a whole crowd of people. I increase my aura to bolster my defense.
"Come on dog! Show me something!" Juvenile taunts.
I throw a punch where I heard the voice but he disappears, reappears to my side and kicks me in the head. The blow makes me step back. I resume my turtle defense. This guy has got me surrounded. I don't know how to get out of this.
The pain in my body is becoming unbearable. It wants to shrivel up. When I felt like I was on my last legs the attacks stopped. I put my arms down to see that a blue transparent dome is over me. I look around in confusion. Juvenile is on the outside, his punch having been stopped by the dome. His face looks as confused as mine.
"Quincy!" Adam yells.
I turn my attention towards him to see his hands aimed at me, emitting a blue glow. Did Adam summon the barrier? He can do that!? Since when!? Juvenile notices this as well, staring down Adam with killer intent.
"And here I thought I could let you live," he grunts.
"Eep!" Adam squeaks.
Did this boy just eep?
Juvenile disappears in a bolt of electricity, reappearing in front of Adam in a split second. Adam tries to jump away but is uppercutted in the stomach, causing electricity to surge through his body. Juvenile follows up with an overhead punch, forcing Adam to the ground. The blow causes the dome around me to disappear. I zip to them. Juvenile was about to stomp on Adam's head when I gave him a one-two combo to the stomach.
"Ack!" Juvenile coughs, bending forward.
I hit him with a right hook to the dome of his head, sending him into a nearby light post. With Juvenile forced away I check up on Adam. His eyes are closed so he must've been knocked out. I slap him a few times hoping to wake him. Nothing happens. Frustrated and with no other options I threw him into the fountain assuming water would do the trick. It does as he springs up, eyes wide.
"AHHH! Quincy I had a horrible nightmare where we were fighting some weird electricity guy! It was awful and so painful!" he sputters.
"Nah that was real," I reply.
"W-what?"
"Yeah it's happening right now. He's right there."
I point at Juvenile who's gotten up. Blood is coming down the side of his head due to my blow.
"Ah he's real!" Adam cries.
"It appears I am the lucky one. You two are worthy challengers for me. My partner got the short end of the stick. She has to handle your friends while I get to rip you two to shreds. Your heads will be put on pikes for all to see." Juvenile announces.
He starts to slowly sway from side to side, like he was building up momentum for something
"Quincy, what do we do?!" Adam screams in my ear.
"We beat this guy obviously!" I shout back.
I get into my boxing stance as Adam steps out of the fountain. Juvenile continues to sway as electricity forms around his body. All of a sudden he disappears in a flash of light.
Like before, I sense something. I look up to see Juvenile. He reaches his hands down, grabbing our heads with each hand. Electricity courses through our bodies, making my insides feel like they're being boiled. Adam and I scream in agony but I fight through it, grabbing the arm that held my head.
Juvenile's eyes widen at the feat. With him in my grasp I punched upwards, hitting him square in the nose. I felt it break as he shot up, laughing maniacally. He disappears in another flash of light.
"Adam, are you alive?" I ask, looking down.
Adam slowly gets up where I see a black mark on the side of his head. Must be from the electric shock.
"Unfortunately," he whimpers.
He takes out a healing potion, chugs it. He offers me another one which I down in an instant. We need to figure out how to beat this guy. He's faster than us. He can wear us down by using hit and run attacks since we're bound to run out of healing potions. Those hits I landed were lucky shots since he was distracted by Adam. In my peripheral I see a flash of light.
"Adam, shield!" I command.
At once Adam erects a blue dome around us as Juvenile charges in from my left side. He begins punching at the bubble rapidly. He punches so much that small cracks are beginning to form at the area of impact on Adam's shield. It looked like glass that was slowly about to break.
"Quincy, he's about to break through!" Adam warns.
"I've noticed!" I holler.
Come on Quincy, think! You're somewhat smart. He has to have some weakness to exploit. He uses electricity right? It gives him his strength. Turn that into a weakness. I notice the fountain behind us. That's it! Use water. Can I use the fountain itself? No, not possible. Juvenile has to know water's a weakness so he'd avoid the fountain at all cost.
If I try anything that would tell him I'm trying to put him into the fountain's water he'd zoom away. Where can I find a large body of water he's not expecting? My eyes dart all over the place. I gotta find somewhere quick, Adam's shield's about to break down. I'm about to give up when I notice a manhole in the street. I got a plan.
"Adam lower it," I order.
"W-what!?"
"Just do it!"
The shield disappears, allowing Juvenile's punches to approach us. I reached my left arm out and luckily grabbed his wrist. I yank it forward which causes him to stumble towards us. I raise my free arm, form a fist.
I punch downwards on the back of his head so hard it bashes through the earth causing Adam, Juvenile, and I to fall through. When we land I feel myself surrounded by water. I quickly get up, completely drenched. Examining my surroundings I see that my gamble was right. We're in the sewers. Water is up to my waist and the smell is awful. Much worse than the bathroom at the tavern. Adam rises next to me, spitting out water.
"Ewwwww Quincy why?" Adam asks.
"That's why," I say, pointing ahead.
Juvenile springs up from the water as wet as us. He checks his surroundings, immediately realizing where he is.
"Well I'll be damned," he comments.
"Yeah ain't so tough without your electricity huh? It's over now, " I taunt.
"No it's just that….I'm surprised you thought you could beat me," he hisses.
Despite being in water that goes to our waists, Juvenile charges as quickly as if we were on land. He's not using electricity however, it's pure strength. He closes the gap between us, throwing a punch my way.
I raise my arms to block but he redirects his attack, switching arms to hit Adam square in the jaw. Adam is flung back, leaving me on my own. I try to elbow Juvenile in the nose but he ducks, throwing a hook into my rib.
"For the cause!" he yells, throwing an uppercut.
He's fast but he's manageable now. If my opponent isn't faster than the speed of light my eyes can track him. I step back, making the attack whiff. I throw a straight into his chest, making him step back. I rush in, unleashing a volley of punches.
It's Juvenile's turn to be on the defensive. He puts his arms up in defense as I throw punch after punch. His defense is weak. My punches are getting through his defense and I can feel his forearms shattering as I hit harder and harder. Seeing he had to switch tactics he puts his arms down, leans his head to dodge a punch. Suddenly he headbutts me, shooting my head back.
Next thing I know I'm kicked in the stomach, falling into the sewer water. I try to get up but I feel hands wrap around my throat and start to squeeze.
"Revolution is coming, government dog! The people have spoken! This state's corruption will end and no one shall stop it! You will not stop the cause!" I faintly hear above me.
Great, he's going on about stuff I don't care about again. This guy just won't shut up! Full of anger I grab his wrists and using aura enhancement, squeeze so hard I hear the wrists snap. This forces Juvenile to get off me.
Now free I get back to my feet. He's standing 5 feet away, his arms slack, his face full of anger. The sewer water below us is calm as we stare each other down like we were about to have a shootout. I get into my boxing stance.
"Your move, dog," he beckons.
I step forward, throwing a punch. He dodges, tries to kick me in the head but his foot is stopped by a blue transparent square that appeared to my side. Without a moment's hesitation I throw a jab, hitting Juvenile in the head again.
He recovers, throws a kick with the other foot, aiming for my body. Once again a blue square appears blocking the blow. I rush Juvenile, hitting him with multiple punch combos. Every time he tries to fight back the blow is blocked again.
Deciding it was time to deal major damage I hit Juvenile in the jaw with a right hook, breaking it. As his jaw dangles he attempts to say something but it only comes out as a weird gurgling sound.
To finish the fight I uppercut him in the roof of his mouth, causing his upper teeth to fly out. He flies about five feet into the air before landing back into the water. His body surfaces but is faced down, floating down to who knows where. With the fight finally over I try to catch my breath.
"Quincy!" Adam yells from behind.
I slowly whirl around to see Adam regroup with me, wiping blood away from his mouth. Without saying anything I get out of the sewer's water, getting onto the side of the sewer along the wall and sitting down. Adam follows suit, plopping down next to me.
"Quincy... did that really just happen?" Adam asks, breaking the silence.
"Yep"
"Hey I didn't pass out or cower did I?"
"Well you did get knocked out, but it wasn't out of fear so that's progress."
"I-I actually helped didn't I? Nerva forcing me to learn defensive magic was really helpful."
"Yeah I suppose you did as much as I don't want to admit it."
"D-does that mean you like me now and are going to respect me?"
"No."
"Oh….."
I would tell Adam that I'm impressed with him and would say thank you for the help but I'm worried he'd change dramatically and become a cocky jerk if I did. Instead I'll be nicer to him, but only marginally.
"Hey Adam next time you get into an argument with Nerva, I think I'm gonna be on your side."
I look at him and he has this huge smile on his face but the fact it's beat up makes it look awful.
"Quincy you really are my friend" he says jovially, giving me a hug.
"Adam if you don't let go of me right now I'm breaking you" I threaten.
"Just let me have this" Adam retorts.
After that horrible hug we continue to sit in silence for a few more minutes. After getting some energy back I decided it was time to go.
"Ok we're done here. Heal us, get the money that's by the fountain and let's get the hell outta here." I order.
Adam uses his healing magic on us and we drink a few more healing potions. The pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as before. We head to a nearby ladder to head out of the sewer. Now topside Adam retrieves the bag of money and we begin walking back to the tavern when a thought occurs to me.
"Adam, we need to run!" I exclaim.
"Why?" he asks, puzzled.
"I just remembered that guy said something about his partner attacking Warren and Nerva. We need to get going now!"
"Ugh ok yeah let's go!"
Adam and I sprint into the night, worried about the fate of the others.