The Start Of Something Worse
"Pathetic. Incomplete mission means no pay. These runts can stay here to die."
He begins to walk away when he notices Fullsky standing. Her wings pinned to the floor by the stone balls weighing them down.
"You really think it would be that easy?"
She asks with a determined look. Keeper lifts an eyebrow at her as she leans forward on all fours, swinging her wings above her, clasped together to form a large black bag filled with the heavy stones. She slams them down upon him as he puts his arms up. He is smashed into the floor again but this time hard enough to smash through the ground and into an underground construction zone beneath them. He hits the floor hard on his back, bleeding from his mouth a bit but no reaction on his face. Fullsky pants as she looks at the hole. Watchdog sits up holding his head. He then gets up and steps next to Fullsky, also staring at the hole.
"After you."
Fullsky plays. Watchdog smirks before they both jump in. As soon as they hop down, sirens can be heard pulling up to the scene. Emergency responders pull up rapidly as Chief steps out of his car. He looks around at the mess and takes a deep breath before coming up with a plan of attack.
"Alright, I want all of the masked individuals in custody immediately! You are free to restrain them in any way you need! A few of you will be with me to check the surrounding buildings for injured people! Medical, I want you at the ready in case of life threatening injuries! Keep the roads clear for this whole block and someone find out what's beneath this bank! We need to make sure no one or thing gets close to that fight! Let's go, people, move!"
He shouts as they all rush into action while Watchdog and Fullsky fight below. As Chief is rushing, he thinks to himself with a worried look,
'Please guys, keep that fight tight.'
Down below, when they land, they can't find Keeper anywhere. They look around but find many dark spots he could be hiding in.
"Come on out! We won't hurt you much more!" Watchdog mocks.
"Don't be a coward! Show yourself!" Fullsky shouts.
"Me? A coward? I am no such thing. I am loyal to my Commander and a Pole of the Devil's Syndicate. I will complete my task without fail."
His voice echoes throughout the underground but he cannot be seen anywhere. Watchdog gets an irritated look.
"Oh yeah? How will you defeat us hiding like that?"
"Arrogant fool. You are not my assignment. The money was not my assignment. I have what I need. All I need to do is return and my task is complete. You are nothing more than a nuisance."
He responds confidently. Fullsky grits her teeth and gets angry at his remark so she lifts her hand up and yells as a bright yellow flash comes from her hand. She slams it down to the floor which lights up the place causing the dirt to glow a bit. This illuminates the area revealing any of the dark spots he could be hiding in.
"Wow, full of all kinds of tricks."
Watchdog says, impressed. She smirks at him before looking around for Keeper. As the large site progressively gets lit up, Keeper's face forms in the wall out of dirt and stone, much larger than normal.
"What?"
Fullsky is shocked. Keeper's eyes open as his body pulls away from the wall as if being made of the ground itself. He then dives at them and smashes the ground between them, separating them. He turns towards Fullsky first which pisses off Watchdog.
"Don't turn your back on me!"
He stretches his arms out and grabs Keeper's shoulders and shoots himself quickly at him like a rocket. Before he could slam into him in the back though, a stone arm comes from the dirt roof and punches Watchdog in the face into the ground. Fullsky sees and is distracted for a moment as Keeper throws a large punch with his stone covered fist at her. She blocks it but is thrown far back. She flips and lands on the wall in a crouched position. She bolts back at him at twice the speed, winding up a punch. They collide fists and the force rips through her arm sleeve, fracturing her bones a bit from the force. She calls out in pain while Keeper punches her away again but a clean hit this time. As Keeper stands up from the punch he looks down to see an arm stretch between his legs then shoot up at his jaw instantly. He is lifted into the air by the force and his eyes white out for a moment.
"Want to do arm tricks?! Fine! Let's do tricks!"
Watchdog shouts as he throws his arms back, two more arms ripping through his clothes. Keeper turns and cocks his arm back for another punch. Watchdog throws his two right arms back as well and they trade blows. This causes them both to spit out blood. Watchdog catches himself with his leg and throws another set of punches while yelling into the face of Keeper which sends him crashing into the wall. He hits hard and coughs up blood. As he falls to one knee he looks up to see Fullsky jump back up, her wings looking sharper than before. She swings her wing in his direction which sends a high speed air cut at him. He puts his arm up to block the slash but it cuts deep into his arm and down his chest. He has a shocked look on his face for a moment.
'Those air cuts are sharp. I have to pay attention.'
He thinks with wide eyes. Stones begin to get pulled from the ground and attach to him going along his chest, up his neck and down his arms forming a sort of stone plating on his body. Fullsky sees but continues swinging, doing air cuts over and over. This time, Keeper open palms the cut and completely negates it. Her eye opens wide but she pushes harder doing more air cuts. He strikes each one, dissipating the attacks then swings his fist up in an uppercut motion. A large stone fist comes from the ground quickly and slams Fullsky into the roof. As the stone arm retracts he turns to see Watchdog diving at him full speed with his arms cocked back. They trade punches again which rocks Keeper just as much the first time.
'This man… His soul doesn't seem as strong as Fullsky's but his strength should not be underestimated.'
He analyzes as they begin sending each other a barrage of punches, each punch colliding with the other. He does this for a moment before Keeper throws his head forward and headbutts Watchdog in the face. Watchdog stumbles back for a moment, blood spilling from his nose through is mask, Keeper grabs him by the face and slams his head into the dirt.
"This is taking longer than expected. I must complete my task."
Watchdog lays in the ground, knocked unconscious. Keeper steps over him and tries to jump away.
"I need to find a way back to the safehouse."
Before he could get very far with his jump, three black spikes stab into his leg and he falls to the ground. He turns to see Fullsky still laying on the ground barely conscious with her hand stretched out towards him. Her wing now stretched into spikes, impaling his leg. He looks at her and then points his fist at her. Large stones start forming into a huge ball above her.
"I'm not… letting you go..!"
Fullsky strains as Keeper opens his hand and the large ball begins to fall. Before it can crush her, Watchdog jumps over her and catches it. He only has two arms again and struggles to hold it over his head.
"We have to… stop him…"
Fullsky coughs out. She can't hold it any longer and her wing begins to tear like fabric against Keeper's resistance. Once it does, he swiftly pulls himself away and escapes through one of the holes in the wall. Fullsky passes out underneath Watchdog.
"You really are something else.."
Watchdog says, looking down at her. The large stone ball begins to crumble away which surprises Watchdog. He quickly falls to a knee over her, protecting her, as the stones pelt him and fall around them. He bleeds from his head as he opens one eye to see her still passed out but clear from the rocks. He picks her up in his arms.
"I'm sorry, he got away. Let's just get you out of here." He says before leaping away.
As Watchdog jumps from place to place, Fullsky wakes up on their way.
"Watchdog?.."
"It's alright. We're safe now."
He lands in a clearing in the woods. There are benches facing a wooden stage area overlooking the city. They stop on the stage. He gently lets her go as she stands on her own, limping just a bit. She looks around surprised.
"Why did you come here?" She asks curiously.
"It's a safe spot. Abandoned and away from anyone else."
He answers confidently. She nods a bit.
"He got away?"
She asks, worried about his answer even if she knows it anyway.
"Yeah, he did but at least we stopped the bank robbery."
"Yeah, at least."
She looks down, lowering her head. Watchdog looks at her concerned.
"Hey, it's alright. We're not perfect. Sometimes the bad guys get the better of us. But we have to keep our heads high. There are still people out there to protect."
He says, coming closer to her and lifting her head gently with his finger. She smiles softly, lifting her spirit.
"Yeah, you're right. Besides, I forgot to tell you but I got someone on the inside of the Syndicate. She'll be keeping in touch if she hears something useful. We'll get ahead of them soon."
She says while clenching her fist in determination.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Watchdog puts his fist up a bit. Fullsky looks at him, observing his body.
"I see most of your injuries are healed already."
She says, a hint of playful jealousy on her face. He looks surprised and looks at himself.
"Oh yeah, most of the cuts and smaller bruises but my bones are still broken and I think there's still some internal bleeding."
Fullsky droops at his casual use of that sentence.
"You say that like it's not a big deal…"
"Eh, it'll heal soon enough. Most injuries I get are gone by the next day."
"Well isn't that convenient. I have to manually heal myself."
Her hand starts glowing a bright silver with a slight yellow tint. She holds it over her abdomen area. She inhales deeply and exhales slowly. He watches in awe of her healing ability.
"Feeling better?" He asks softly.
"Yeah, but it's gonna take longer than this. I'll be alright. You can head home."
"You sure? I don't mind taking you home."
Fullsky looks at him with caring eyes. She steps closer to him and places her hand on his cheek.
"You know we can't do that."
She says in a soft whisper. Watchdog sighs.
"Yeah, I know. Worth a shot."
"You're so cute."
She hugs him wrapping her arms around his neck and he wraps around her waist.
He waves goodbye and jumps away. Fullsky watches him with a soft look as it fades to a darkness. Keeper walks into a room with Commander Spark standing at a table. Once at a proper distance, Keeper takes a knee and lowers his head.
"Commander Spark. I have returned and completed my mission."
"Let me see it."
He commands as he turns to Keeper reaching into a satchel. He pulls out an amulet with a large gemstone in the center. It is uncut and uneven but the metal casing was made to fit around it. Spark puts his hand out as Keeper gently places it in his hand. Spark lifts it up to admire it.
"The missing piece. Lost for thousands of years. That old man had such a powerful artifact in his grasp and had no idea. Better in our hands than his."
He says with a sharp smirk. He turns and places it in a metal box then seals it. Without turning to face Keeper, Spark speaks.
"What took you so long?"
"Watchdog and Fullsky came just as you said they would. They proved to be more of a nuisance than anticipated." He says, keeping his head lowered on his knee.
"I am disappointed that such nuisances could cause you such injuries."
He looks at Keeper from over his shoulder with sharp, glowing eyes.
"I am disappointed in myself as well, Commander. Though nothing they did to me was near life threatening, they shed my blood nonetheless."
He says boldly, owning the situation. Spark squirts a little.
"What of the team you were accompanied by?"
"They were all defeated and I assume captured, Commander."
"You didn't think to protect or retrieve them?"
Keeper's eyes widen a bit and he looks up at Spark, slowly.
"I prioritized completing the main task of retrieving the artifact from the vault. The others were too weak to be of any help. Protecting them could have jeopardized the mission. I figured there was no point in protecting the weak and useless."
As he answers, a plasma substance pools out from Spark's feet and makes its way towards Keeper's hand that is on the ground. Once it's close enough, it rises in three little tentacles. It then stabs into Keeper's arm. Keeper reacts sharply but doesn't flinch and stays on one knee. They start climbing deeper into his arm. He is in obvious pain.
"Do you know why the boss appointed you a Pole instead of a Commander? It's because you are too stupid to figure things out on your own. You are fortunate to have completed your task, otherwise I would have removed your head by now."
Keeper struggles and strains to maintain his composure, blood leaking from his nose with sharp shallow grunts.
"Only Commanders and above get to decide the fate of our members, get what I'm saying? So next time, do your job properly as a Pole of the Devil's Syndicate or I will make sure to personally relieve you of duty."
He quickly removes the plasma tentacles from Keeper's arm as he exhales.
"You are dismissed."
Keeper nods. He stands, turns and walks away. Spark turns back to the table. He leans over it and marks a piece of paper.
"With the amulet in our possession, that leaves only two more parts to get before we can move onto phase two."
He takes a step back and looks at the whole table. There are different papers, blueprints, schematics and items about. He smiles an evil, satisfied smile.
"Yes, the boss will certainly be proud of that."