7 The Rescue Attempt

While the two were in the midst of their conversation, it took an abrupt turn as soon as Kuhn Lau took notice of Pete's absence.

"Odd, wasn't Pete sitting on that table?" Inquired Kuhn Lau.

Nicholas arose to his feet and stormed off to his bedroom. As soon as he opened the door, no one was in sight. He then turned his direction towards the bathroom and barged against the door.

"Peter, Peter, open up!" He opened the door and found no soul present, "Dammit, all!"

He then returned to Kuhn Lau, who gazed at him with great concern.

"Did you find him?"

"Nah, let's look around the flat. Pete couldn't have gone far!" He replied while taking a minor breath as his hands rested on his knees

"Great idea!" Concluded Kuhn Lau

They searched throughout the flat, from the highest corridor to the lowest. They even went as far as to look for Pete on every staircase they encountered. Despite their efforts, the latter was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, they integrated when they returned to his apartment.

"Were you able to find him?" Inquired Kuhn Lau.

"No!"

Kuhn Lau heaved a sigh. He then sat down and rested his hands on his forehead. Uncertainty took over; he didn't know what to do. A stream of thoughts started popping all around his mind, trying to provoke his emotions to take over. These thoughts grew intense with each moment, trying to kill the bit of optimism lingering around his mind.

What if Pete got lost? What if Slicer got to him while we were talking? If Slicer found him, did he kill him and take his talisman? Giving heed to these thoughts could take him off track. In turn, he chose to ignore them and delved deep into his mind to find the bit of optimism that was lingering around.

"We have to find him. No matter the cost!" He stated with determination.

"Really? I understand he's your pal, but what's important about him."

"It's because he is one of us, the Divine Guardians."

His eyeballs ballooned to grand proportions, and his facial expression testified of astonishment.

"Wait, what?! How is that possible? Hold on a sec. Are you trying to tell me that Ken Sou entrusted him with protecting one of the six talismans? How does that even make any sense?"

"Unfortunately, Nicholas, I do not have an answer to your inquiry. Only Ken Sou knows why Pete wields one of the six talismans."

Nicholas sat beside him and continued, "You know, now that I think about it. We've got nothing to worry about. A man of his weight couldn't have gone far. Much less pay for his exit fee."

"I'm sure he is not stupid enough to leave without paying an exit fee, right?" He inquired as he imploded with laughter.

For a brief moment, he stopped laughing and looked at Kuhn Lau. His facial expression was stern. That look told the entire story that what he suggested might be true.

"Right?" He insisted, eventually succumbing to the fact that Pete got himself arrested.

"What a moron; he had to get into trouble, didn't he?"

"Nicholas, I know you have signed a peace treaty with Black. Me, on the other hand, I did not," he said as Nicholas glanced at him with a brow arched.

"What are you trying to say, Kuhn Lau? You better not be thinking of doing something that you shouldn't!" He snarled.

He boldly raised his voice at him, just slightly higher. "I'm saying that I'm going to rescue him!"

Nicholas's facial expression morphed into a heinous glare so egregious that his eyeballs emitted a red pigment. He rose to his feet and clenched his fist; his voice broadened with a steady roar.

"If you dare take a step out of that door. I promise you this; you won't live to see the sunset!"

Kuhn Lau arose to his feet and fixed his eyes on his. At that moment, there was no sign of fear.

"Try as you may, but I will walk out of that door no matter the cost. Not even you have what it takes to stop me!"

Suddenly, every piece of furniture around them levitated at the force of his might. However, not even this had the sharpest needle to pop his balloon of sheer integrity. Therefore he grabbed Kuhn Lau by the collar and raised him high. Moreover, Kuhn Lau still found the zeal to cling to his determination.

"I find your threats mildly amusing. Eradicate me if necessary, but scorch these words in your mind. I do not fear death, nor will I allow you to impede me. I'm going after him even if it's the last thing I do!"

Nicholas unclenched his grip from his collar as Kuhn Lau's feet kissed the floor. After that, every piece of levitating furniture returned to the floor as his fur.

"If truly you are a Divine Guardian, Nicholas, fulfill your duty by protecting the talisman and the people of Cairo. Unless you are not and would prefer to sulk regretfully for the rest of your life."

His words struck his conscious viciously, prohibiting him from acting according to his violent nature. He further calmed down as his fury instantly burned out. He then turned his back on Kuhn Lau.

"You know your way out!"

*************

Nina told her side of the story while Pete inclined his ear toward her.

"I fell in love with Indistructo, and our relationship reached extraordinary heights. Unfortunately, a day came when we parted ways. I had to let him go while he relocated to another city. Black terrorized the city during his absence, and in the process, he murdered my father and..."

She cleared her throat and found it difficult to continue speaking. Nonetheless, talking about what she went through put a hard toll on her. It's as if the more she said, the more someone strangled her.

"Black murdered my father and forced my hand in marriage. What resulted from that was utterly horrifying; he tortured me internally and externally by depriving me of food, water, and intellectual freedom.

I had to do every chore in the mansion without limits. When my body could no longer proceed with its routine, Black assaulted me. To make matters worse, he eventually molested me and extracted my spirit from my body. Till this day, I wallow in the depths of this dark place, deprived of joy."

She then broke down and began to flood the floor with her tears. She could pour her heart out to someone for the first time in a long time. Suppressing those emotions and experiences poisoned Nina. She might've lost her sanity if she had not poured her heart out to him. In turn, Pete grabbed her and embraced her, comforting the cavity in her soul.

"There there, it's going to be ok. A wise friend once said these golden words to me..."

She then looked up to face him. Pete then wiped her tears with the underside of his hand, similar to a windshield wiper.

"You might be going through a rough patch. It'll be alright." He firmly held onto her shoulders.

"The sun will shine on your side again. Just hold on to hope."

She rejected his encouraging words, believing he promised her a bliss that never existed.

Well aware that doubt might cloud her optimism, he also vented out.

"You know when a lot of people look at me. They see an idiot and a coward; however, that's only a facade. They don't know the real me..."

She stopped crying momentarily and inclined her ears to his words.

"I give people the impression that they want to see because they don't deserve to see the real me."

He chuckled as though trivializing the seriousness of this matter. He continued speaking, hoping to unbottle all the emotions that he harbored for the past sixteen years.

"When I was still a kid, I lost my parents. That was the hardest day of my life. Although some people were kind enough to help me with the burial, the next phase of my life was unbearable. The day my foster parents adopted me, everything changed..."

Pete closed his eyes momentarily, trying to block himself from crying. He clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth. Once he had suppressed his tears, he opened his eyes and continued.

"I was brought up in a group of four foster siblings under the care of my new parents. I was the most underappreciated in that group. At school, I had no friends and regularly failed in class. Despite my misfortunes, I still chose to hold on to hope, trying to do more and become a better version of myself to be appreciated.

I went the extra mile when they gave me many chores, even if it meant sleeping late at night. I worked harder in school and tried to become more social."

For a brief moment, a smile was etched on his facial features, though it didn't take long for it to change as the tone of his voice saddened.

"Despite my efforts, people still took me for a fool. Heck, my foster parents and siblings discouraged me from pursuing my dreams. They told me that I will always be a failure no matter what I do..."

Pete sagged his shoulders and looked at the floor. He struggled to face Nina, feeling embarrassed for expressing his vulnerability.

"I realized that nobody deserved to see the real me. So I acted like a fool because that is how they saw me. If there were something that I wanted to achieve in this accursed world, that would be self-love. You know to believe in myself and my abilities."

Relating to his pain, she felt sad for him. The poor guy went through hell as a child. For this reason, she enveloped him in a tight embrace him.

****************

It was a bright, sweltering afternoon. The sun shone extricateley, evaporating the small ponds around Egypt. The parching heat gave the impression that it would dry up the Nile River. Fortunately, that was not the case. The scorching temperature created a heat wave while the ground blistered. It's as if there were volcanic activities from under the crust of Cairo.

Two security guards sat lazily on their chairs. One placed his feet on the desk and slept while the other fanned himself with a newspaper article. These two men were at the gates of the mansion. Suddenly, somebody threw a couple of stones at them; this somehow intrigued one of them.

"Darn kids," he said, disgruntled.

He grabbed a whip and walked toward where the children threw the stones.

Kuhn Lau then crept up from behind and tapped on his right shoulder. He turned around and received an audacious head butt. The latter blacked out instantly, his unconscious body plummeting against the ground as his forehead throbbed.

Kuhn Lau then stripped him of his garments and put them on. He ran towards the wall with agile speed and flipped over it. Kuhn Lau proceeded forward when his feet touched the ground, pottering towards the building. His disguise was outstanding; he blended perfectly with the atmosphere around him, just like a chameleon.

As soon as he entered the building, he proceeded toward the surveillance room. When he got inside, he found another soldier occupying a reserved seat. The soldier turned around and grew suspicious of him.

"What are you doing here; this is not your station. Return to yours at once!"

"Quite the contrary, my dear colleague. I was in contact with Black just a few seconds ago. He requested that I relocate to this station."

The soldier furrowed his eyebrows and grabbed his walkie-talkie. "If what you're saying is true, surely you won't mind if I contact him at this second."

He shrugged while maintaining his posture, "If you must."

As he was about to notify Black, Kuhn Lau flipped in the air and landed a roundhouse kick toward the back of his neck. The force of his kick knocked him out cold. He then looked through the surveillance and found Pete's whereabouts. Afterward, he gushed out of the room and inadvertently kept the door open.

A few minutes later, a soldier patrolled past the surveillance room. Before he went further, something of great interest intrigued him. He gushed straight into the surveillance room without a moment's notice.

"What the hell?" He knelt beside his colleague's body and tried various methods to revive him.

"Danvar! What happened? Please wake up!"

He grabbed his walkie-talkie and contacted his superior, "Sir, sir! It's an emergency!"

Black responded calmly; he placed the glass of whiskey aside.

"Calm down, Seargent, start afresh. Tell me what happened?"

"Danvar was knocked out in his station."

"Check through the surveillance and notify me of anything peculiar."

He arose to his feet and checked through the surveillance. Afterward, he placed the walkie-talkie in front of his lips and continued.

"One of the guards is walking to the dungeon. He is not from around here."

Black then clenched his fist and slammed the side of the chair.

"He is an imposter, most notably an ally of Indistructo! Summon every soldier to the lobby at once. I will meet you there later!"

Kuhn Lau knocked down two steel doors (which led to the dungeon) with his foot. With haste, he stormed across the dungeon until he reached their cell. Pete's heart pumped vigorously.

"Kuhn Lau, I'm so glad to see you!" Exclaimed Pete with excitement.

He grabbed the bars of the cell and pulled them out.

"Quickly, we do not have time on our side!"

The three made haste towards the lobby. Upon arriving, Pete and Nina's hearts nearly bolted through their ribs as a swarm of soldiers infested the entire area. They aimed, centering their artillery toward them. Behind the multitude of soldiers was Black, who perched against the beach chair he sat on. His arms folded behind his head, with his legs stretching forward. Beside him was his right-hand man, Anubis.

He placed his hand close to his mouth and yawned, "I apologize for intercepting your plans; however, it would be unfortunate if I allowed you to take my hostages.

"I cannot exert my authority over the government without them."

Kuhn Lau stepped forward with a smug carved on his face.

"Give it up, Black. Your time is nigh, and we both know that. I have your hostages in the palm of my hands. It's pointless for me to hold back the true extent of my powers."

In response to his statement, he laughed, "Ha ha ha! How foolish. Well then, I guess it's good that I have an ace up my sleeve, just in case plan A manages to slip out of my clutches."

He reached for his right pocket and took out a device similar to a remote controller.

"Do what you must. However, it will come at a cost."

Kuhn Lau squinted with curiosity, "What cost?"

"You see, I have planted microchip explosives in their necks. Just one stupid move, and I'll press the trigger. The entire block will be garnished with their blood."

Kuhn Lau's facial expression morphed into a glare. He, in turn, imploded with laughter.

"Come now, what's wrong? I see. It looks like the three of you have backed yourself into a corner; how sad."