Chapter 3: Fight To The Death!

Outside the room,

Four men stood with pensive faces as they held their swords and waited for the door to open. One man was standing behind them; he seemed to be their leader. He had a grim look as he observed the situation.

He was Emily's father, Griffon. His daughter had been assigned to take this boy out. He knew he shouldn't be too worried, his daughter was one of the elite recruits; there was no way possible for that boy to take her out.

Even though he kept repeating these words in his head, he did not believe them. That boy was a Keeper like none other. Many of his fellow members and even his brother had succumbed to him. That was why he came here; he never wanted his daughter to go through the same fate.

CRRCH!

The door opened to reveal a drunken old man; he stumbled and fell on the floor. The men was surprised, this wasn't the boy. The old man got up and scratched his dirty beard and stared around with hazy eyes.

The moment he stepped out, the four men rushed inside.

Griffon looked at this old man with contempt. Grabbing his collar, he slammed him on the wall and shouted at his face, "Where's my daughter?!"

The old man was petrified as he stuttered, "Y-your daughter w-was with the S-shadow."

Griffon's eyes glinted, "Where is he?"

He pointed inside with his finger, "Don't go in there."

Griffon was bursting with rage; he threw the old man in the middle of the inn. The Scavengers already ran a long time ago. Griffon turned his eyes for the door.

Tick…tick…tick

A strange sound was coming from inside, he was bewildered and stepped forward...

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

Multiple blasts occurred, a red liquid was thrown everywhere; Reaper blood. The whole room was blasted to smithereens.

Ali took off the dirty beard and shook his head, "You metal head, I told you not to go in there."

He had already anticipated this attack. You see, among Emily's stuff was something he identified as a tracker. He garnered that whoever sent her will come looking.

Ali had planted 3 TNTs inside and placed bags of Reaper blood on them. This should be enough for five of them.

Just as he was relishing in victory, a hand reached out of the room followed by a whole person. Griffon stumbled out of the room as fumes flew from his body. He glared at the boy and roared,

"Where's my daughter?!!"

Ali scratched his head, "She's in the shower. You see, she was really tired after our date but I have to say your daughter is one hot-"

"Shut your trap!"

Griffon's body trembled; he cried out, "Why did you have to kill her?"

Ali had a strange expression, "She was trying to kill me! What was I supposed to do?"

Griffon's sorrow was turning into anger; he burst with rage and bolted towards Ali. He planned to crush every bone in this boy's body.

Ali stood his ground and just stared at the incoming bull with eyes calm like water. Just as Griffon came close enough, Ali said in a low voice,

"Rach"

Rach, who was hiding nearby, heard this and threw his shoe at the bulb on the roof. The shoe struck the bulb and shattered it. A white powder dropped down from the residue and landed on the raging Griffon.

His eyes widened as his body went still. Every muscle inside him was paralyzed as he was stuck in a charging posture.

Ali grinned at him, "Red Spider poison, causes paralysis. What do you think? Do I make a great Son-in-law?"

He pulled out the gun and aimed it at the motionless Griffon.

"Goodby-"

Another gun ticked.

"Think again!" a voice interrupted his glorious moment.

"You!" He looked at the side and that grin was removed from his face.

"Emily!" Griffon had tears of joy run down his face as he saw his daughter.

Ali shouted in disbelief, "How are you alive? "

Emily scoffed with disdain, "You're not the only one who has secrets. "

Ali couldn't help but notice that she was wearing familiar clothing, "Wait…are those my clothes?"

Emily blushed, "NO"

"Drop your gun or die."

Ali retaliated, "Great, you kill me and I'll kill him."

Rach jumped out of his hiding spot and tried to attack Emily.

BAM!

A shot pierced Rach's head as he was thrown away by a powerful impact.

"You toad! Damn it!"

"Emily, run!" Griffon didn't want to lose his daughter because of this scheming brat.

"Yeah, Emily, run!" Ali repeated with a taunting tone.

Ali still felt that he held the battlefield, but…

The poker face of Emily changed, her rosy lips curled into a smile. She changed the gun's direction and shot Griffon.

"What?!" Ali and Griffon both yelped.

Ali was stunned for a moment, he could not figure out why she would shoot her father. But remembered that he was the only one with Reaper Bullets, then…

The shot hit Griffon and a green glow enveloped his body. His paralyzed self started to show motion and broke free of the poison.

Both of them were ready to pounce at Ali and tear him apart.

A flash passed and Emily appeared in front of Ali. A cold blade was placed against his neck.

Ali had cold sweat dripping down his sweat, he stuttered, "Don't k-kill m-me, please. I'll do anything!"

Emily smirked, "An hour before, I would have killed you without hesitation but I see your worth now."

Ali was petrified, "You saw nothing of my body! Don't lie!"

"What? Shut your mouth, no more nonsense. Give me the Magnia and I'll let you live." Emily had had enough of this guy's tricks.

Ali closed his eyes and shouted, "Ok, ok! You can have the stupid thing! I don't want it! Just let me get it."

Ali pushed his hand into his pocket and clutched the marble. She said it holds immeasurable secrets; would he really give it away? What was more important to him, his life or some valuable marble?

"Step away from my Boss!" Rach that was supposedly dead had appeared behind Griffon and had a gun to his head

Emily was shocked by this sudden development, providing Ali a chance.

"I don't know what this does but this is the property of Shadow. No one gets it if I don't!" Ali pulled it to his mouth and gulped it in one breath.

Everyone was stupefied, this was crazy! He just swallowed the Magnia!

Grabbing Emily's hand, he jerked the sword out of it and slammed his gun on her head, knocking her out.

"Rach, prepare for battle!"

Griffon heard the shout and immediately prepared to go all out. A burst of crimson surrounded him as his body mass increased. His muscles turned bulky and his eyes shifted to red.

"FIGHT TO THE DEATH!" Ali shouted as he pulled up his gun straight and pointed it at Griffon.

BAM!

Griffon raised his arms in a cross to protect himself. The bullet striked his metallic arms and dropped down without causing any harm.

He pulled down his arms and shook his head, "You're indeed tricky but still too naiv-eh? Where'd he go?"

He looked around the empty joint and saw the two scheming muskets running on the street, he was speechless.

He returned back to normal and checked on his daughter, "Emily, are you alright?"

Emily opened her eyes and shouted with all her strength, "YOU PIECE OF GARBAGE!!!"

Griffon suddenly heard a noise behind him, "Alas my dear, from this moment on, you shall rue the day you tried to catch the Shadow!"

Emily's cell phone was ringing with this recording.

She smashed the phone and glared at the sprinting boy with hate.

***

"And that is an honorable retreat! Learn it, you'll go far!"

The two vanished from people's notice as they dashed among the streets of the city. They stopped at a park with scarce people and took a breather.

Sitting on the bench, Ali stared at Rach in bewilderment, "I thought that girl killed you."

Rach made a prideful face, "I had faked it. That wasn't a real bullet; it was just a Mana shot. I had iron with me."

A Mana shot was when a Mage concentrated their energy in a single stream. Iron acted as an insulator and could stop any damage from a long shot.

Ali nodded, "Indeed that was a good move."

Hearing the praise from his Boss, Rach floated in the sky.

"Now…Get back to the Safe house, you toad!"

***

Night time,

The duo had a safe house in the very middle of the city, a deserted house. As they say, the most dangerous place is the safest place.

Ali got this house from someone whose life he saved. It was a nice place, reminded him of his old house.

Ali laid on his bed and stared at the roof with a look of sadness in his eyes. He missed his old life, he missed his big sister, he missed Quinn, he missed that old man Tim, hell he even missed that Josh.

He lost everything he had in a single moment. He still didn't know what happened.

He craved for the little things he remembered. He craved for the moments when he walked Quinn through the garden; he craved for his big sister's dinner, he craved taunting that jerk, he wanted all of them back.

Ali was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly felt something twitch inside him. He jerked up as his eyes widened, something moved in his stomach!

His abdomen started heating up, Ali jumped up and started running all around. The heat was getting unbearable! It spread all over his body. He wanted to scream but was unable to; it was like something was clutching his throat.

Just when he was about to pass out, something again twitched, causing him to groan in pain. Suddenly, the blazing heat started getting cooler and cooler till Ali felt his body frozen.

Ali very well guessed the culprit, that Magnia! He now regretted swallowing that piece of crap with every fiber of his being.

At this instant, it was revolving at an insane speed inside him, releasing heat and cold. The revolving speed went to maximum and the marble exploded.

A pulse of energy went through his body as he passed out.

But just before he lost his consciousness, he heard something,

*System Activated!*