XAVIER WIPED THE sweat that accumulated from his brow as he focused in on his foe before him. She was a hard target to read, especially since she did not have a particular pattern of attack. She was swift, intelligent, and emotionless. It was like she was in a trance of some type.

“Ice Princess I really don’t want to hurt you.” Xavier replied, his sword was up in the second position trying to defend himself from oncoming icicle attacks. His adversary would have the help of a Relic.

“Xav, she’s a doll!” Aden shouted over the roar of the flames that had appeared around the Cafeteria. The pirates had begun lighting the place with lighter fluid and fires while they were pre-occupied with Zaine and Claire.

“I know that!” He shouted back before another stream of icicles came his way. “Just hoping she’d gain something… like a consciousness you know?”

Aden gritted his teeth holding his sword in the fifth position waiting for his own foe to lunge into his strong upward arc he’d initiate. “It’s not like her Jiminy Cricket is going to pop out all of a sudden.”

Aden’s adversary laughed. “A bit flustered are we?” The mask that was adorned on his face seared a fiery orange as the flames licked around them. “That isn’t the same boy I trained eleven to twelve years ago.”

“Shut it.” Aden snapped his sword hand forward bringing himself into a lunge. He swung his blade swiftly upward and watched Zaine sidestep his sword. Before he could turn around the backside of Zaine’s blade sliced into the cloth of his forearm. Aden could feel a trickle of blood trail down his arm while he heaved a breath.

Zaine merely stood at ready while holding his blade in the fourth position above his right shoulder. He was just toying with him after all this time. Following his example, Aden also put himself into the fourth position but switched his sword to his other hand.

“It’s time this ended.” The older man with the mask replied before charging. Aden did the same only as he went to swing his sword, he dropped down to his knees, sliding on the linoleum, and raised his sword up to block the downward slice Zaine prepared. It was only a millisecond but it felt like a lifetime.

Bracing the back of his blade Aden ignored the bite from his blade’s cut as Zaine pushed into him harder. It was there that Aden realized his problem. Zaine’s right foot collided into his left temple causing him to get knocked over onto his right side. When he fell, Aden managed to lift his non-dominated sword hand up to prevent Zaine’s sword from beheading him on his way down.

When he collided with the ground the sword in his hand was knocked out of his grasp.

“Aden!?” Xavier cried out but he was being assaulted by icicle spears flying through the air. Bringing his sword over his body, he blocked a majority of the attack. A couple managed to get through and snag him on his left side and right cheek. Grunting Xavier used his left hand to tap the ear piece in his left ear.

“Leo! Jakob! Where the hell are you?” There was some static over the communications device before Leo and Jakob replied together over the device.

“We got stuck in the corridor when some guy named Henry appeared! He’s making it hard to move forward!”

Xavier gave a growl before tapping the device again. “Find a way to get through!”

There was more static before he received a: “Working on it!”

Xavier shook his head before running forward. All he needed to do was grab her shadow and end it. He didn’t need to kill her only something in his peripheral caught his attention. Snapping his sword arm up and away, Xavier managed to block whatever whizzed at him.

“Watch out!” Aden shouted while another bullet whizzed through the air in front of Xavier.

“Hooo hoo, that was a close call.” Xavier grinned before looking at his blade. The blade got hit with two precise shots from a high caliber gun. If he took another attack from those icicles or a sword even, it would break in two.

“Shall we end these games gentlemen?” Zaine raised his gun in his left hand while supporting his sword in his right. He was ambidextrous when dealing with weaponry. Claire had taken her time walking over to his side with her own dagger in her right hand. She looked on with interest as her Master kept the situation always in their control.

When he peered at her, she immediately charged forward to Xavier and he braced himself in the second position for the next attack. When her dagger connected with his steel it immediately buckled, breaking at the contact, and the point flew into Xavier’s shoulder. Grimacing, the man with the moon and stars tattoo withdrew from his stance. The pain in his shoulder was immense but not enough to make him faint.

“Xavier!”

This surprised the male when Aden shouted his name, and for a millisecond he realized why. Icicle shards flew at him as quick as a cat, but before they made it to its intended target a swooping scooter came out of nowhere and brought Xavier to a safer location.

Damien was standing at the entrance of the Cafeteria closing the doors from the onslaught of the pirates following them with the help of Charie while Olivia had rescued Xavier.

“Your ETA was off by fifteen minutes Drummond. You owe me big.”

The Commander leaned on the back of the scooter’s tail. “I’ll buy you as many kegs of root beer and tools as you want. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”

“And where do you think we can leave from?” Olivia looked around the huge galley before Xavier pointed straight to the balcony located on the west side.

“We escape through there. The window. We can easily get to The Phoenix from there if we cut across the manor’s garden. We’ll save time.”  Olivia scanned the window before parking her scooter and jumping off. She easily kicked off the plate where all of the wiring was at and began working through the mechanics.

Xavier paled, “What exactly are you doing?”

Olivia replied coolly with a screwdriver in her mouth, “I’m changing the programing to hover short distances. You won’t be able to land on your feet with a wound like that.” Xavier grimaced before grabbing the broken sword tip embedded in his shoulder.

“Just wanted to put this out there but this is why I hate violence.” He pulled it out before placing his hand over the gaping wound that bled freely now.  “There.”

Olivia snapped her attention up to the man before pulling out a long cloth from beneath her mobile transportation. “You should have known Aden’s mission was the most difficult. Don’t complain; now put pressure and apply this to your wound. I do not want you dying from blood loss.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Damien was holding the door back while Charie dragged over a bench from the table to barricade the door. Damien merely took the bench and slammed it against the wood before looking at Aden’s position. The Great Dane that Olivia built jumped up onto the bench that Charie had brought over to add more weight up against the door as it bulged from the pirates pushing their way through. It began to snarl when a hand reached through a broken panel of the door, but one snap of its metal jaw was enough for the pirate to withdraw.

“Go help Aden! I can barricade the door with the Pup.” The door was being banged upon but Charie did not need telling twice. Damien slammed a slate of wood in place of the entry point of the door before beginning to slide a couple tables and benches over.

Aden was struggling to bring himself back up but before he could regain his footing Zaine was standing above him. His sword was pointed at the nape of his neck as he stared calmly at the boy.

“Do you honestly think you all will survive just because back-up has arrived? You have truly changed Aden.” Onyx eyes stared into deep emerald ones before raising his sword, only before he could thrust it into Aden, Charie charged forward (box still in her left hand) and collided into the older man with the mask.

Aden stared in shock as Zaine lost his footing but regained his stance by grabbing the girl’s auburn locks and dragging her up to his face. “Look who we have here. How long has it been?” He enjoyed watching Charie struggling in his grasp, just finally realizing he had found what his real Captain wanted.

“Seems like we have an affinity for meeting Miss Rothschild, but today will be your last day I will assure you of that.”

Whatever Olivia had done to her scooter was finished because she was shouting at Damien to forget the door and go to the window. Despite all of the barricading he did, the door was already in shambles from all of the swords, axes, arrows, and daggers. Running across the hall, he saw Aden lunge forward to grab Zaine’s leg but the man merely stepped on Aden’s chest to hold him down in place.

“Aden!” The blonde called out seeing Charie in Zaine’s clutches. “Lionsheart!”

Olivia snapped her attention up to where Aden was and clicked her tongue in distaste. The weight capacity of her vehicle could only take one more light person with the flight proportions applied the way they were, but it would inevitably slow down her machine some more.

“We have to leave Summerfeld! Now!” Olivia yelled over the chaos of the fighting, blood, and pain she saw etched into her estate. The only thing that remained calm was Claire who had still not moved from the center of the room. It was like she was waiting for a command to move.

“Aden, be good and stay there won’t you? I have business to attend to with Miss Rothschild here.”

He gave a sinister grin before thrusting his sword into her chest and jerking the blade a couple inches up and across her torso. Olivia didn’t know whether she should have added all of those features to make Charie as human-like as possible, but now she was regretting it. It was like her best friend was there and dying in front of her. Olivia felt herself go into shock as she watched.

“Charlotte!”

Aden watched in horror as the girl above him stared at the blade in her chest. It was only when Zaine withdrew his blade sickening slow that the droid comprehended what had happened. The box in her left hand dropped to the ground and scattered the four jewels on the linoleum.

Aden had no clue what overcame him then but he found the strength to overpower Zaine’s strength. Charie was tossed away like a rag doll as Zaine stumbled back from Aden’s forceful ju-jitsu.

Damien had run over to the auburn haired girl, picking her up as carefully as he could before running over to the window. Aden had lifted himself up and it seemed to Olivia that he was seeing nothing but killing his nemesis before him but it was short lived when Damien’s whistle erupted. Aden picked up his discarded sword and ran to the window. Helping Damien hold Charie, they took hold of his Hawk’s ring and disappeared through the window.

Olivia felt the room drop in temperature as Claire finally registered what she had to do, but the mechanic and Lieutenant Commander had already flown out of the window. Putting her hand over the button on her communication piece Olivia issued the order for retreat.

“Everyone retreat. The Phoenix is leaving.”

۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞ ۞