Chapter 11: The Shattered Mask

"Why are you here?" wondered Kenny, as he could not comprehend the scene. "Ah!" He winced as he was in misery because of the paralyzing poison.

"We will talk later," said Tangent, and loaded an arrow. 

"It seems I will have to work on some extra disposals," said Scribble mask before he crouched away when Tangent shot the arrow. Two long blades grew out of his palms, and he used them as shields against the arrows.

Tangent constantly shot at him. "Kenny, can you move now?" he asked Kenny.

Kenny felt he could move a bit as the effect of poison had lessened a little. "Stand up, my legs!" He spent whatever energy he had recovered and rose on unsteady feet. The cut across his chest, while not being deep, still hurt. He clawed his wound.

The old man and Scribble mask engaged in an action. Tangent moved around and shot arrows at him constantly while the enemy tried to get closer to him, dodging and blocking the attacks. 

"You should lie in your grave, old man," taunted Scribble mask.

"I have still long to live, the emperor's dog," taunted back the old man, firing another arrow. 

Kenny followed them from the sidelines wearing a desperate face. He wanted to help, but could not see how. "Damn it, they are too fast. I can not match their movements." He noticed that the masked man tactically had driven old man Tangent to the end of the alley. It was a dead end, as there was a wall at the other end which was built recently. 

Tangent pressed himself backward to maintain some distance from the enemy, but realized he had reached a dead end when his back touched the wall. "This is not good. I am not great at close combat," Tangent expressed in his mind with a troubled face. "He knows that, and that is why he pressed me to this wall to minimize my movement space."

"Where would you run off to now?" spoke Scribble mask, closing in after deflecting an arrow with the blade sprouting out of his wrist. He was close enough to deal a direct harm to the old man. 

He swung his arm to slash Tangent, but the old man crouched and saved himself from getting slashed. The blade clashed with the wall, forming a long mark in the trajectory of the slash. 

He swung his arm again, but the old man forced himself away to dodge the attack. 

"You are persistent," commented Scribble mask, chasing the old man to keep a close distance with him.

"I might not be a skultar like you, but…" the old man said, evading the swing of a blade by the enemy. "I have enough experience to deal with you."

Suddenly, a blade elongated out of the belly of Scribble mask. It was unexpected, as the old man had his focus on his arms. His instincts caused him to dodge to the side, but still got grazed near his waist. "Shit," he mouthed, as he knew it could be fatal under these circumstances. Suddnely, he dropped to his knee. "Damn it." He struggled to get back on his feet, but he felt the control of his body getting disabled. "This is bad."

Scribble mask stood over his head, looking down at him. "I have enough experience in slaughtering nuisances like you," he stated arrogantly. "Say your prayers, old man." He raised his right arm when a blade grew out from the back of his hand and was about to swing it. 

"Fart engine - knee strike!" 

Boom.

Suddenly, scribble mask sensed someone coming at him at a tremendous velocity. He set up his other arm to shield himself when he caught Kenny, who flew at him with his knee targeting the side of his skull. "Argh." He somehow blocked the knee from striking his head, but he got pushed away from the old man because of the tremendous power of the attack. 

"Shit. I missed the target," Kenny thought when his knee strike got blocked. He had to get away quick from the range of the enemy, as he could paralyze him again. He turned to his right and propelled away as fast as he could after the enemy tried to cut him with a diagonal swing.

"You are a sneaky rat," mouthed Scribble mask when Kenny stepped away. He pulled back the blades inside his body. He then rubbed the back of his arm, which he had used to block Kenny's attack. "I can not explain how the effect of my poison faded out so soon from your body. I guess it is one of the perks attached with an Exceptional."

He turned his face towards the sky and spread his arms. "I did not want to get serious against a nobody like you, but I guess I have to use up some of my real strength to get this done quick." Suddenly, his nails grew out, which had somehow turned into metal, and also sharpened. His elbows grew sharp-pointed blades. Also, the nails of his feet grew and tore out of his boots. He facepalmed when he realized his outfit had completely messed up. "Just wait a second," he said, quickly turning his feet nails to normal, and put off his boots. "Now, only your deaths could compensate for it." The metal nails of his feet grew into claws again. 

"This is bad," understood Kenny, his face having a tint of uneasiness, sweat dripping down his temple. 

"Stay away from his claws," warned Tangent, struggling to stand up. "They might paralyze you."

"He does not have to stay away from it," said Scribble mask. 

"Huh?" The eyes of both Tangent and Kenny enlarged when they realized the enemy targeted Tangent, not Kenny. 

"You will die first!" revealed Scribble mask, galloping towards the old man. 

"No!" Kenny shouted, rushing towards Scribble mask. 

Tangent could feel death approaching him in a slow motion. He gave a disturbed smile. "I guess it is time…" he muttered. 

Just when Scribble mask swung his claws at the old man, Kenny bolted in between. "You…" he reacted with a hint of surprise and astonishment when he saw Kenny becoming a shield for the old man. Before he could react…

"Knee Strike!" Kenny struck right into his face with his knee, shattering his mask. 

Scribble mask got forced away because of the blow.

His selfless action surprised Tangent. "Kenny…" he muttered with his eyes widened. 

"Can you stand up, old man?" said Kenny, turning to Tangent, gasping with an uneasy face. 

Tangent saw Kenny had received cut wounds across his chest; four parallel cuts diagonal to the cut he had received before. "Kenny…"

"I might not be able to fight him anymore," Kenny added with a disturbed smile. "Get away from here..."

Upon saying that, he coughed blood and collapsed to the ground on his face. 

"No…" The old man gritted his teeth in desperation as she tried his best to get up. He saw the enemy was back on his feet already.

"You dastard!" Scribble mask roared, covering his face with his hand. Suddenly, multiple blades grew out all over his body. "You dared to touch my mask. I will kill you!" He crouched and rolled towards them like a ball. "You will become mincemeat!" 

"I have to save Kenny at any cost," decided Tangent, and exerted all his strength to get up on his feet. "Yaaa…" He pushed himself up and somehow managed to stand up. He quickly jumped in between Kenny and the ball of blades approaching him, and spread his arms. "I will not let you harm him." 

He closed his eyes when the enemy got closer, as it assured him of his death. 

Suddenly, there was an explosion. 

Boom!

"Huh?" He opened his eyes to discover the enemy flying away as he got hit by something explosive. He smiled with a frown as he said, "You are late, dastard." He looked to his side to find old man Cosant in sunglasses, carrying a bazooka. 

"I waited for the right moment to make an entry like a hero," responded old man Cosant before firing his bazooka at the enemy again. 

Boom. 

"You dastards," hissed the enemy when he realized they had outmatched him at this point. "I will return to take your heads." He climbed up the wall at the other end of the alley with his claws and escaped. 

Cosant did not fire at him as his primary concern was to look after the wounded ones. He walked to Tangent, who glanced at him in relief. "You owe me one."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," responded Tangent while nodding, and signaled towards Kenny, "He is hurt," he gave a stiff smile, "I feel embarrassed that he saved me when I was the one who came to his rescue."

Cosant looked at Kenny, who had already passed out. "You have gotten old, old man," he commented at Tangent's words.

"So have you!" said Tangent.

***

From the top of a building just above their heads, someone watched them. 

"An Exceptional," they said. "Interesting."