Rescue, Part 2

Austin's plan, it's a simple one, yet effective. Before King can execute Nick and Mikey, Ella is to boost up mine and Jamie's strength. Next, Grover, who is hiding out nearby, teleports Jamie and I onto the stage. Jamie will use her Iron Cloak to attack King, whole I'll use my Wind Blade to free Nick and Mikey. Austin will provide cover fire from a nearby building, and make sure that everything runs smoothly.

The plan is set, and now, we need to put it into action.

As the clock strikes six, King enters the stage. Just like yesterday, that same woman stands to the king's left and that same they/them stands to his right.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't nervous as all hell. Blood rushes to my head, and my heart beat is dominating my hearing. I'm sweating all over and my breathing has been ragged ever since yesterday. I swear I am going to leave today with a full head of white hair.

"Greetings, my subjects!" King booms once he enters the stage, demanding the attention of the audience. "I am sure that you are all aware of the reasoning behind the sermon who are currently holding. Yesterday, too foolish Pro Slayers tried to interrupt our sermon, and attacked me, your King!"

"How dare they!" A man in the crowd shouts.

"Yeah!" The others cheer. "Burn the Slayers! Burn the Slayers! Burn the Slayers!"

King raises his hand and the crowd instantly hushes. King …he demands such a presens over these people, such charisma, it's impressive, in a horrifying way.

"That is the plan, my loyal subjects! We shall burn these two alive, as an offering to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!" King booms again, causing the crowd to cheer at once.

Their cries are loud enough to invoke fear into anyone who dares to go against the King. And since my friends and I were the ones who prepared to go against King, I can speak on their behalf that we were scared as all hell.

"Now…BRING FORTH THE SACRIFICES!" King booms.

When King said that, the four people in black robes from yesterday enter the stage, the clover, the heart, the spade, and the diamond. Behind them, with their hands bound behind them with black handcuffs, bags covering their faces, and robes tied around their neck to be used for leashes, are two men, which I instantly recognize to be Mikey and Nick. Surprisingly enough…the two remain unscathed. At least…as they have no fresh wounds from the last time I saw them. Three people were holding onto Nick, but only one for MIkey, who's still busy kicking and flailing in protest. Nick is dead still. For some reason, we aren't using his Cursed Power, it must be blocked somehow.

"They probably believe in only offering healthy sacrifices…" Ella whispers under her breath, as if she read my mind.

"My subjects, you all know the sacrificial ritual! In case one of us does not, I shall explain the process!" King booms. ""First, we light the cauldron a blaze-" That must have been the cue, because the clown looking guy brandishes a lighter then kneels down beside the cauldron, flicks the lighter on and setting the wind underneath the cauldron ablaze. What, so all of King's followers know the ritual? How often do people get sacrificed here?!

"-Then I, your King, shall bless the cauldron. Using my supreme power I shall turn it into a portal to hell. A portal leading straight to the bellies of the Four Horsemen," King continues, before waving his scepter above the cauldron, which begins bubbling with an ominous deep purple, almost black Cursed Power, "blessing" it. I'd like to bet that most of the audience here doesn't know what Cursed Power is, and see King as some godly figure, when in reality he's a psycho with an impressive Cursed Ability.

"We then put our first prisoner's dominant arm in the guillotine, decapitate it, then their other arm. Next we decapitate their dominant leg, then their final limb. We repeat the process for the next prisoner. Of course, depending on how many prisoners we have, we'll repeat the process for each of them. One by one, we shall throw bits of the limbs into the cauldron, as to let the Four Horsemen savor each little morsel. The more dedicated members have the right to throw bits of the flesh and meat of the prisoners into the fire. Finally, we load the prisoner's torsos and heads into the cage, then slowly lower the cage into the cauldron, burning these hideous traitors alive, if they haven't already forfeited their lives due to the pain," King finishes.

What a horrifying process! I peer over at Ella, she looked as if she's about to puke or pass out. I couldn't blame her. I'm feeling queasy myself.

"Now…to let the sacrificial ritual begin!" King booms.

The choir enters the stage and begins to sing, their musical voices echoing across the grass, fading into the distance. I couldn't make out their words, I don't think they're in English.

The three people restraining Nick drag him over to the coffin then force him down onto his knees. The man with the clover decal unbinds Nick's arms and asks: "Which is your dominant arm?" Nick says nothing, and just raises his left hand. Hah! Nick is right handed. Sabotaging this ritual to the very end!

The man reaches for Nick's left arm, but is interrupted when the man with the spade decal says: "He's a Pro Slayer. His word can't be trusted. Put his right arm into the guillotine."

"Oh, uh…good thinking," Clover says before grabbing Nick's right arm tightly and thrusting it onto the guillotine, then clasps the wooden lunette over Nick's arm, before ripping off the big around Nick's head. Finally getting a good look at Nick's face, Nick seems to be as apathetic as his body language made him out to me. But then…Nick somehow manages to spot me in the distance and smirks.

Like he knows he's about to get rescued.

The woman with the diamond decal then walks over to the guillotine's lever and grabs it tightly.

And then she pulls.

And time seems to almost stand still.

"NOW!!!"

As the broad iron blade begins to fall down upon Nick's arm, I see a bright orange flash out of the corner of my eye. The flash hits into the guillotine, snapping the wooden tool and sending the blade hurling towards the crowd. A green wormhole then open up, and redirects the blade towards the king, who then slams his scepter onto the ground, as the guillotine's blade disappears from sight. The crowd screams.

What the Hell happened in that instant?

Austin was originally planning to aim for the guillotine and halt the chopping of the blade. Grover would then use his Wormhole to instantly get Jamie and I onto the stage to rescue Nick and Mikey and hopefully deliver a few blows oto King or some of the other Cards of the King members. But the plan was altered at the last second. Austin's new plan was to use his sniper rifle to shoot the blade off of the guillotine, then send it hurdling quickly towards whichever direction it pleased. Grover's job was to open a wormhole in order to redertic the blade towards King and while we were worried about that attack, Jamie and I were to charge onto stage and deliver another attack each towards King, which is our current step of the plan.

I feel a hand against my back as my strength begins surging, Ella must be juicing Jamie and I up now. Jamie and I are about ready for our part of the plan, but we're thrown off when a bright, golden projectile comes firing from the building opposite of the one where Austin is perched on. The strong, fast projectile appears to be an arrow, unusual for Austin, and attempts to strike King in the back of the chest, which he dodges as well, using his unknown Cursed Ability.

Reinforcements from the Slayer organization?!

"Inconceivable! Who dares to attack the King?! My subjects, locate the locations of these two traitorous imbeciles!" King booms. The crowd begins to search frantically, until one woman yells: "Look, up there!" my eyes trail to where she's pointing, and see that luckily, she's not pointing towards Austin, but instead, a golden-haired boy with equally golden eyes holding a glowing golden object. He is too far away to see clearly.

Austin then fires another sniper rifle bullet towards King as Grover's wormholes appear right in front of Jame and I.

It's now or never.

"Wind Control: Wind Blade!"

"Adaptability: Iron Gauntlet!"

Jamie and I ready our attacks then hop into Grover's wormholes, and found ourselves on stage. I am my katana towards Nick's bindings, while Jamie aims her iron punch towards King, but with the blink of an eye and the slamming of a scepter, Jamie and I find ourselves face down on the grass, away from the stage.