Chapter 2 : Encounter

Underneath one of the tall skyscrapers in the city hides an underground lab that was once used by a great scientist, the late Dr. Rooney. The secret passage that led to the lab was in a computer room at the lowest floor where you could see all floors of the skyscraper via the CCTVs, the passage was blocked by boxes that are either empty or filled with broken computer parts thrown away by others. The lab reeked of old socks and many weird scents due to the chemicals laying everywhere on the once pure white lab table, that now looks like a patchwork quilt of colours. On top of the table where no chemicals spills were seen lays a gigantic metallic canon with a muzzle that glows a blueish hue non-stop. The gun was as futuristic as the city, as it is powered by a magic stone that was the only one of its kind. The stone belonged to the Southern Abyss and was one of the treasures of The Lord Of The Abyss. The power harnessed from the stone kept the canon going non-stop as though it was always charged and at the ready, completed with a U shaped handle, a body made of painted white steel, the canon could become a dangerous threat if fallen into the wrong hands.

The owner of this magnificent canon, although hard to believe, is non-other than the petite female standing next to it trying to fix a component of the canon named Layla. The girl looked like she was close to her 20s from afar, but up close, you close see her flawless face that would make her seem like a 12-year-old. Her appearance is completed with crimson locks of hair tied in two pony tails that were twirled around like a tornado, a dark blue torso, short dark blue pants, long dark blue padding from knee down and a piece of metal that indicates a communicator with ring bearings on her wrist. The canon was an indirect heirloom from her father whom had disappeared after a dreadful attack at her house which haunted her to this day.

"Dammit, it still isn't working" the girl said in frustration. She had tried to fix the faulty canon that had been acting up lately. "Maybe I need another battery for it, this one is old anyway" she thought, giving up on fixing it by herself. Swiping on her communicator brought up a holographic panel that allows her to catch up on the daily news without going outside. Pressing the bottom left button which shows the picture of two people shaking hands indicating it was a friends communication list. She scrolled down to the letter L and found her elf friend's profile smiling at her. She pressed call and waited for it to dial. Hearing the "Beep" she proceeded to talk to her friend.

"Hey Lolita, could you come over here and take a look at this thing? I can't seem to figure it out despite using it for 2 years."

"So, you've finally given up on fixing it yourself I see, glad you didn't die in the rotten cave of a home "

"Whatever, as I was told my father used to work with this Rooney guy so I thought I might find clues to his whereabouts. Anyways, you can come over?"

"Sure I can, but could you crawl out of your cave and take a stroll outside? I know it's nighttime but atleast clear your head for a bit"

"Alright fine" she huffed and pressed the end call button which was a red old timely telephone used by her ancestors, no thought to change the icon so people just left it this way.

She hung up and sat down on the nearest stool and took a deep breath f that was filled with dust and most likely some germs. It's true that she hadn't gone out for a few days because she was trying to fix the last thing she was left with by her father, but it's best if she cleared her mind as she was starting to see stars forming around her head and her vision was getting foggy.

She got up and walked to the door leading to the passage, careful not to make a sound while walking out as she didn't want to attract any attention. She closed the door as slowly as she could but it still made a slight but noticeable "creeeek" sound. She walked up the passage and climbed out of the whole which was blocked by a box filled with who knows what. She then proceeded to crawl to an empty space a placed the box to hide the secret passage after closing hatchet.

"Thankfully, the main door to this skyscraper is never locked" she thought relieved. Blinded by the light of the street lamps she covered her eyes with a hiss, she thought must've looked like a goblin that crawled out of a cave after being trapped for years. She walked down a narrow alley that she knew too well for she often uses it to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention. The alley leads to a metal wall which surrounds the perimeter of the city to keep out demons but the front gate is always open during the day. The wall although strong, was not tall so it makes it easy for her to climb out of the city once in a while to obtain fresh air.

While walking, she heard soft footsteps coming towards her from the opposite direction, the direction in which she was going. She panicked while looking and up and down trying to find at least some place to hide. To her demise, she only saw walls of rust next to her. She looked in front and saw a short frame, the silhouette had a circular figure on its head while holding what seems to be a staff with a huge round tip, she couldn't see well but knew it meant trouble. Before she could do anything the figure popped behind her leaving the thing that was on his head infront of her and 2 robotic like tentacles grabbed her by the wrist where the skin was exposed, pinning her to the wall. She cursed under her breath and regretted not bringing her canon along. She noticed something shining around the figure's chest and took a closer look, to her horror it was a symbol of a skull, the exact same symbol as the demon that had showed up on that dreadful day.

Seeing the symbol reminded her of her painful past, filling her with horror and rendering her powerless as memories of those demons slowly approaching her while stomping on her mother's corpse. She could look straight into the glowing purple eyes of the figure infront of her while shaking and trembling in fear, her legs felt like jelly and all she could hear were her short breaths trying to grasped for air as memories of what she felt that day came flooding back to her like a tidal wave. The only thing she could do right now was let out a loud the high-pitched scream that pierced through the silence of the night. The sound of air being pushed back came as a response after a few seconds and a figure as tall as her showed up in front of the alley, holding blades that shone in the light of the moonlight.