The Cards of the King, Part 2

"NICK'S BEEN CAPTURED, BUMBLEBEE DOWN, BUMBLEBEE DOWN!" Grover and Jamie cry as they teleport into the middle of the lobby.

"Huh, what, what happened?!" The receptionist asks, sounding concerned.

"HE'S BEEN CAPTURED, THE CARDS OF THE KING GOT HIM!" The two cry.

"Hachi, eh? That bastard had it coming for a while. Karma's a bitch," a hunched-back, gray-haired, old man says as he enters the lobby of the Slayer Organization Headquarters.

"Oh, the Bumblebee? Your old partner?" The scruffy-beard, tired young man walking besides him asks.

"Slayer Hitoshī, Slayer Chishiki, it's horrible! They say Slayer Hachi has been captured! You two need to go save him!" The receptionist cries.

"Not my job," Hitoshī yawns. "I don't deal with rescue missions. Plus I hate nick." Hitoshī pauses before Grover and Jamie, raising a bulging eyebrow at them. "So you're Hachi's kids, eh?" He asks.

"Er…yeah," Grover answers.

"This dude creeps me out…" Jamie loudly whispers to Grover, who nods in response.

"Be careful, that man's a devil!" Hitoshī laughs as he walks away from Grover and Jamie, Chishiki following after him.

"I'll find a squad close to your mission location to rescue Slayer Hachi," the receptionist stammars as she frantically types away at her computer. "Where and what happened?!"

***

"Any ideas, you two? I kept you two by my side since you're far smarter than Grover and Jamie," Austin says to Ella and I.

"Um...ah...no...the only thing I can think of is attending the sermon then blowing our cover and attacking the King…" Ella answers.

I don't answer. I'm too busy pacing back and forth frantically, muttering to myself like a schizo.

"Luis, please! Your pacing is seriously distracting!" Austin snaps. "And Ella, that won't do, King seems to have the ability to alter time, or more likely, space. What I deduced is that he can move certain people or objects by his own will. Unlike Grover, he doesn't use any teleportation portals. His Cursed Ability...it sure is a fearsome one."

"Black Prism…that must be its name," Ella replies.

"I've thought of a plan," Austin announces.

"What?! Tell me!" I cry.

Austin then proceeds to tell us his plan.

"Sound's excellent, Austin!" Ella replies.

"Let's just hope Grover and Jamie were able to get some help from the Slayer Organization…" I grumble.

Grover and Jamie teleport back into the house. "I think we found back up!" The two announce.

"Come on, spill the beans, what happened?!" I cry.

"Here, I'll explain," Grover replies.

***

Nick and Mikey sit back to back in a jail cell, their hands bound behind them with handcuffs.

"So what do you plan to do to us?" Nick asks.

"At six P.M. Tomorrow, you two will be sacrificed to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in front of the other members of the church. So say your final prayers, because soon, you will be bound to Hell," King explains as he watches over his two inmates.

Mikey spits at him. "Church? You mean your damned cult!" He snaps.

"Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, but that also means that you have no right to be befuddled by beliefs of others," King cockily replies.

"Go to hell..." Mikey growls.

"Oh, those two men...those are some cute ones!" Diamond swoons as she walks up to King. "Can I play with them for a while?"

"No, Diamond. If you go in to toy with them, they'll kill you with ease. It's better to start back for now," King answers.

"Aw man! But that boy in red with fiery eyes is so-so cute!" Diamond wines.

"It's a shame that we have to burn these corpses to ash. They would be fun puppets. Especially the man in the suit, I hear that he's a top Pro Slayer," Queen adds. 

"Slayers… eh? Do you think they had allies amongst the crowd? Slayers typically work in groups of three to six excluding one squad captain, making it four to seven." Spade asks.

"By any chance...is your name Shade Miller?" Nick asks, causing Spade to flinch.

"I am in no obligation to respond, Pro Slayer scum," he growls.

"Yeah...you're Shade Miller, aren't you?! You were the greatest examinee in years, until you slaughtered all of the fellow examinees and examiners," Nick replies. "Until this one showed up at least!" Nick teases as he motions towards Mikey. At least …the best that he can with his hands tied behind his back.

"Calm down, Spade. We are not to harm these two until the sacrifice is ready," King intervenes.

"Yes, my King," Spade replies as he lets out an exhale of distress.

"See, Mikey! If we let you run wild instead of harnessing your power, you would have turned out as twisted as this guy!" Nick laughs.

"Why the Hell would I ever become a damn demon worshiper. I'd rather be a damn murderer," Mikey grunts in response.

King laughs, before walking away from Mikey and Nick, his subjects following after him.

"So, how are we breakin' outta here?" Mikey asks once King and his subjects are long gone.

"We're not," Nick answers.

"EH?! Why not?!" Mikey cries. "I still have my pistols, after all."

"They didn't take your guns because you can't use them right now," Nick explains. "Even if we break out of here, King has the funky space-time manipulation CUrsed Ability that'll keep us trapped here regardless of what we do. And if we do manage to escape…there's an entourage of Cursed ABility users sitting out there waiting to get their hands on us. King isn't afraid of us breaking out. In fact…he craves it. He's afraid of us being rescued. His Cursed Ability is perfect for capturing foes."

"Great, so all we can do is sit here and wait to get executed?" Mikey sulks.

Nick shakes his head and smiles. "No, we sit here and wait for our comrades to rescue us!"

"Well I ain't leaving my life in anyone else's hands!" Mikey booms as he jumps to his feet.

Mikey, cut it out!" Nick snaps. "Your rashness got us into this mess, and it's not what it'll take to get us out!"

"I don't care!" Mikey snaps back as he shoves his back into Nick's face, his pistol holsters aimed directly at Nick.

"Mikey…what the Hell are you doing?!" Nick cries. "Get your ass outta my face!"

"Grab my pistols and hand them to me, old man!" Mikey orders. "I'll burn this place to ash and then we'll escape!"

"I'm not doing that, Mikey!" Nick replies. "I'm not letting you kill yourself with this suicide-escape mission!"

"Dammit…you're no help…" Mikey grumbles as he retracts his back away from Nick. Mikey then saunters over to the cold stone wall of the cell.

"What…are you doing…?" Nick asks.

"THIS!" Mikey roars as he slams his back into the stone wall.

"What are you doing now, Mikey?!" Nick cries.

"I can't rely on anyone, only myself!" Mikey monologues as he continues slamming his back into the wall over and over again. Eventually, this process causes one of MIkey's's dual pistols to loosen from its holster. A singular pistol wiggles free from its holster against Mikey's waist and clangs to the ground at Mikey's feet.

"I see…" Nick mutters.

"Gah-ha!" Mikey exclaims as he bends over and awkwardly scoops up the pistol in his handcuffed hands, cradling it in one clenched fist.

"Now…" Mikey continues as he aims the barrel of his singular pistol upon the bars of his and Nick's cell.

"BURN OUT!" Mikey cackles as he squeezes the trigger of his pistol, sending a flaming bullet firing towards the bars of his and Nick's cell.

"Mikey, no!" Nick cries. "Listen to me, dammit!"

But before Mikey's bullet can explode into the cell bars and melt it into a pool of liquid silver, a voice booms: "what…are you…DOING?!?!"

A transparent purple cube then manifests around Nick and Mikey's cell.

"Shit!" Nick cries as he peers up, observing the cube.

"BLACK PRISM!"

In the blink of an eye, Mikey finds himself standing on the ground again, sitting back-to-back with Nick, his dual pistols both residing safely in their holsters, and Mikey's flaming bullets having not made contact with the cell bars.

"Wh-what happened?!" Mikey cries.

"This must be King's Cursed Ability!" Nick explains. "I told you, Mikey!"

In another blink of an eye, King then appears before King. The two Pro Slayers' eyes barely have a chance to widen before King swiftly reaches a hand out and grabs Mikey by the neck, hosting him off of his feet and into the air and squeezing the boy's neck tightly. Mikey kicks and flails against King's grip, but he's powerless to do anything against the man's grasp. Mikey then weakly attempts to pound away at King's arm, but with King squeezing the life out of him, all that Mikey can muster up are weak slaps.

"MIKEY!" Nick roars as his entire body begins crackling with electricity. Nick thenzooms towards King, but in the blink of an eye, King (with Mikey still in his grasp) teleports behind Nick, then tosses Mikey into the man with all of his might, electrifying the two and sending Nick and mikey crashing into the bars on the opposite end of their cell.

"Tch tch tch," King clicks his tongue as he wiggles a disapproving finger at Mikey. "You should know that escape is futile, Michael Hakan." King then turns to face Nick. "And you, Slayer Hachi, look at you," King sighs. "You get too worked up when someone lays a hand on one of your children for your own good."

"Yeah, because I'm not a heartless bastard," Nick sneers.

"How…how do you know my name…" Mikey growls as he pushes himself. up to his feet.

"Oh, you? Well…my pawns and I have been keeping an eye on every fire user in the Slayer Organization's grasp," King answers.

"Why…?" Mikey growls.

"You'll come to know soon enough, boy," King answers with a satisfied smirk. "If you're the one we're after, that is."

"First Luis, now Mikey…WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH MY SQUAD?!" Nick roars.

"As I said, you will find out soon enough, if the boys of your squad are the ones I need," the still-smirking King answers as he turns to face Nick.

"Now, if you'll excuse me-" King then says as he turns to face the bars out of the Cell. "OH, SPADE!" King bellows.

"Yes, my King," Spade answers as he swiftly floats into the room where Nick and Mikey's cell lays, standing on top of two creepy floating hands with his arms folded behind his back, as if Spade had been waiting for King's beckoning call.

"Entertain our two guests, please," King smirks. "I have more pressing matters.

"Yes, my King," Spade answers with a small bow. "Gladly. Anything for you."

A transparent purple cube then manifests around Nick and Mikey's cell again, and in the blink of an eye, King disappears out of the cell while Spade takes his place.

"Great, a new friend…" Mikey grumbles.

"I'll make you regret dredging up my past…" Spade growls as he swipes both of his arms towards Nick and Mikey, revealing his handless-wrists. As Spade does so, dozens of hands then float up beside him, aiming themselves at Nick and Mikey.

"Looks like we have something to pass the time with until our execution," Nick smirks as his entire body begins crackling with electricity.