Chapter 10: Cover Blown: Retreating

Vision was provoked by Warren's insolent remark and charged at him with full force. None of them backed down after a series of attacks and dodges. During the course of this intense fight, Warren is keeping his focus on the bottle of pills and ensuring that it stays in his possession. Because of this, Warren is at a great disadvantage while playing defensively. He's painfully reminded of this after suffering many heavy kicks and elbow blows.

His next focus is to get the pills off of the battlefield. He thought it'd be the perfect time to test out his new power. He carefully looked for an opening within the attacks to distance himself then teleport away. At first, he was worried by the artifact's limit, a five-minute timer, that came with the usage of the artifact. But then he thought that if his power was what he had presumed, then the artifact limit wouldn't have affected him.

All of this thinking within Warren's head greatly affected his effort in the fight. Before he knew it, his back was against a tree. Knowing that Vision would use the opportunity to strike, he quickly teleported away. Trying to put two and two together, Vision turns towards the village and starts running through the forest.

Warren reappeared at the village and tossed the bottle of pills away in one of the homes. Without a second to lose, he teleported back to the forest. He had appeared right in front of Vision, who had been swiftly running through the forest, and greeted him with a forceful front kick to the chest. Vision was sent flying back to where he had started running from and laid there in pain. He tilted his head up to gain sight of Warren and was unsettled when he saw him charging forth. He got up on his feet in time but Warren had the upper advantage now.

Without the red pills, Vision's body wasn't healing. He had bruised forearms from blocking and broken knuckles from exerting too much force from his punches. Although he felt no pain from the injuries, he still wasn't able to perform at his best. He blocked all he could and his reaction speed didn't decline, but he was still getting attacked more than before. He began to lose faith in his victory once he started taking a couple of heavy blows.

Warren was incredibly vicious with his combos as he had a savage facial expression. Every time he had landed a blow that sent Vision further away, he would quickly follow up and continue thrashing. After having enough of the fight, Vision pulled out a Teleporter Bead and desperately tried to crush it mid-fight. He suffered a devastating side kick that created quite a distance from the two, enabling him to put the bead in between his teeth and crushing it, immediately teleporting him back to base.

Warren stopped trying to chase him and just stood there out of breath as the sun began to rise. They had fought through the entire night. Relieved that the fight had come to an end, he leaned against a nearby tree and sat on the ground. After resting for a couple of minutes, he walks out of the forest. He runs towards the building that he had put Roger in and wakes him up. He claims that he is fine after waking up and Warren explains their current situation.

Roger was amazed yet doubtful as Warren explained his previous engagement. Worried that the Kannon could come back at any moment, he rushes Roger to gather the villagers and head northwest.

"Northwest? Warren we can't take them with us, that'd be putting all of our lives in danger." Roger disagreed with Warren's decision.

Warren tries to negotiate with Roger. "We leave them here to die and the Kannon get one step closer to their goal. We take them with us and they'll at least have a chance to live."

Roger is quick to give in due to his previous performance of effort and decision-making. He quickly heads to the well and contacts the villagers, assuring them of their safety, and proposes a new plan for them. As Warren commands Roger to take care of the villagers, he goes to grab the bottle of pills that he tossed away earlier during the fight. He wipes the dirt off of the bottle and tucks it into his jacket pocket. He checked his surroundings for any soldiers that had woken up afterward and made his way to Roger and the others when the coast was cleared.

"Warren, how are we gonna get all these people back to base? Walking is too dangerous and stealing a truck from the Kannon isn't any better." Roger said while helping the villagers out of the well.

Warren pulled out the Teleporter Orb and claimed that it'd be their mode of transportation. He gathered everyone together and asked them to hold hands with one another. If everyone were in contact with each other then all of them could be teleported at once. Roger followed along with this plan as he doubted its success. In his mind, he knew how Teleporter Orbs worked. You can only teleport to a location that the holder and the orb have been to. Warren had never been at the base with the orb, therefore making it impossible to teleport there.

Everybody stood in a circle and held each other's hands as Warren closed his eyes. Everyone was anxious until they saw blue particles gravitating away from Warren. Roger was truly astonished after all of them disappeared and reappeared at their secret base.

"Hey! Roger and Warren are back!" A civilian from the restaurant pointed in their direction and shouted.

A majority of the civilians drop what they're doing and start to group up around the villagers. The citizens are applauding and admiring Roger and Warren as they break away from their circle and wave back. The villagers, who were shocked and afraid, calmed down in the presence of the other citizens. The villagers looked around, marveled by the design of the town.

There was a large water fountain in the center of town, a street full of shops and restaurants, and a giant castle on the side of a mountain. The buildings and layout of the streets resembled that of a German town. There were also many people that lived there, almost thousands. People were cheering from the streets and restaurants, others even cheered out of their windows from their homes.

Warren and Roger looked back at the villagers they brought with them and had a fulfilling look while thinking about what they did. All of a sudden, the crowd gradually gets quieter. The sound of marching troops rumbles through the ground and a group of soldiers in blue uniforms show up. They stood in the formation of a circle but all faced forward. As they marched closer to the scene, the crowd shifted, creating an open route between the troops and Roger and Warren.

The soldiers in front of the formation move to the sides, revealing an attractive young man in a tuxedo within the middle.

"Roger," Warren whispers to Roger. "That's the butler of the castle. Why would the master send him?"

Roger claims he didn't have an answer, for he had been asking the question to himself. The crowd starts murmuring as the man steps closer towards Warren and Roger. He politely bows then lifts his head back up and says, "The master wishes to see the both of you in his castle."