Chapter 16: Lag, please.
Thud. Ranger's boots crunched against the pavement as he landed, leaving on the ground a spiderweb of cracks as he continued unhampered by the fact that he had just jumped off a building, and continued walking towards Boss. The leader of the pricks hadn't lost sight of the action; his keen senses had managed to discern the general area of the shooter before the bullet had even reached it's target - who now lay hapless on the ground, a crimson ragdoll.
It didn't take long for the too to find each other face to face. By now, all the other members that had roamed the streets had backed away in fear of the sniper, not knowing that no harm would come to them this day. Within seconds, the area had been cleared; only a small number of people stood on this street.
Boss and his goons. Ranger. And the limp body of Axilus Prime.
"What do you want?" Boss muttered through his teeth. He hadn't moved an inch since the sniper bullet had been fired, standing in the exact same spot he had been, but to everybody who had looked closely enough and long enough they'd have been able to see what looked to be small movements on the top of his body.
"It's not every day that somebody shoots a guy dead on the street," his voice snaked, the essence of it's pitch and tone driving back even Ranger, who, under his mask, frowned. Tch. I knew he was freaky, but I didn't know this was how bold D38-Boss was. What's he hiding?
The words that Boss spoke next had a tone that felt different, as though billions of voices were cohesively speaking as one. Eerily, Ranged began to theorize exactly what Boss.....was. "Tell me," Boss continued with a threatening tone, "Before you find me taking the words out of your throat with my hands wrapped around it."
Ranger gave a laugh. No matter how dangerous and mysterious the person standing in front of him was, his mind was still the mind of a member, and Ranger could predict what a mind like that could do.
"Things within 343iCF are being catalyzed. Like dominoes, these events will happen within a grand plan, the ultimate scenario, and as each chain of event continues, as each domino falls, you are hopeless to stop it." As he cryptically responded to Boss' questions, he slowly advanced, each word he spoke bringing him a single step closer to striking distance.
Of the two of them, Boss was slightly shorter, yet he was also larger, and around him was a menacing aura that Ranger just couldn't put his finger on. "Yet, people still do not have the ability to see the confirmed future. There are wildcards in this plan, which we need control over, lest danger befalls the planned future for this world."
Boss grunted. "And am I a wildcard? Is he-" He raised an arm, a crooked finger pointing at Axilus, "A wild card?"
"Ah......those are things I am not privy to explaining. As of right now, I am simply following a plan, and the next step is this." Without stopping a single beat, Ranger reached behind him and unsheathed a thin, double handed sabre, it's obsidian blade slicing through the air in an arc of near perfection. Behind the mask that he wore, Ranger let out a grin. As expected, Boss had been bold enough - and stupid enough - to wait for him to strike first, and the first strike would be -
The next action happened too fast for Ranger to react to. In front of his eyes, the very particles that made up Boss' body ripped apart from each other, allowing the blade to pass cleanly through it's intended target. Stunned, and with both hands attached to a sword that had just unintentionally made a slash arc too wide, Ranger could do nothing as Boss' arms came up with inhuman speed, literally turning into a blur as one hand wrapped around Ranger's neck and immediately clenched, while the other tore off his mask like ripping a piece of cardboard apart.
Ranger's eyes bulged as the shocking pain rocketed from nerve to nerve, signifying over and over that his larynx had just been crushed.
FUUUUUUU
* * *
This was new. It wasn't every day that people actively searched for the Felis Ipsum, the legendary, mythical beast that was said to stalk the wilds that surrounded the city of 343iCF. Few passed on the ancient legends about the creature; even fewer believe it's existence. Yet, it was known to the entities of higher ranking that such a beast existed - asleep for eons, waiting for the time when it would awaken to act as the catalyst for events, events the happenings of which had been set one era ago.
Even now, the clock is ticking, and it was nearly time for the hand to finally strike.
For the Felis Ipsum guarded an artifact that had been created one era ago. The very same artifact that Elite Sniper and Mayh3m were now searching for.
Events had been set one era ago. The Felis Ipsum would be the catalyst, and when it's story is over so soon, the opposite of the beast would rise once again.
And that's chapter 17. A bit late, and a bit short, but 18's hopefully gonna be a bit action heavy, and once that's done 19 will reveal some nice stuff that hopefully tickles you guys. There's foreshadowing for chapter 19 here, and what better way to foreshadow than with google translate? :3 hehe.
EDIT: Just realized that I had to make a retcon for the story. Within one of the previous posts in this thread, I just removed a sentence so the next stuff that's coming works out. Props to whoever knows!