The W2RLD

Written by: Leon the Man

Edited by: The Masked Eidolon

Enjoy 🙂

Chapter 5 - He Who Strikes First, Always Wins

The large golden doors flung open as Ethan Clarke strode through the palace gates.

The guards at the next set of doors drew their swords and stopped him from going forward.

"I need to see King Virgil, now."

"We can't let you in unless you have an appointment with King Virgil," the guard replied.

"Since when is that a rule?" Ethan asked.

"Since yesterday. We're increasing the security of our king."

"I'm The Inspector, let me in," Ethan commanded.

"We don't care who you are. Orders are orders."

"Fine," Ethan sighed, taking out his gun. "I'll get in myself."

He pressed the trigger.

However, his gun didn't fire. Instead, it quickly changed form...and became a sword. More specifically, it became a sword made out of pure energy, which radiated with crimson heat.

The first guard stood in silence for a moment, in awe of Ethan's glorious weapon.

"What the hell," the other guard whispered, swinging his sword.

With a swift motion, Ethan stepped aside, letting the guard fall forward by his own momentum. Then, Ethan swung his energy saber, slicing the other guard's sword off its hinge. He kicked the second guard in the stomach and the guard fell down next to the first one on the floor.

Ethan quickly threw the doors open, stepped through, and then locked the doors behind him so the guards couldn't follow him.

He walked across a large ballroom and passed through another set of doors. From there, he navigated a few corridors until he reached the throne room. There were four guards standing by the doors to the throne room, but they knew The Inspector and let him pass once he retracted his weapon.

Once Ethan was inside, he told the guards to leave him, James Virgil, and the senior advisor Neil Chambers alone in the room.

Now, as a reminder, Neil, Kira, and Curtis are the three senior advisors of King Virgil. However, Kira is currently captured by the Dark Knights and Neil is actually a spy for the Dark Knights, although he became a senior advisor relatively recently.

Neil and King Virgil were discussing something but stopped when Ethan approached the throne.

"Ethan, what brings you here?" King Virgil asked.

"My king," The Inspector kneeled, "I have urgent news."

"Stand up. What is it?"

Ethan stood back up, a smile appearing on his face.

As mentioned earlier, Ethan was nicknamed The Inspector because he was famous for being the best investigator in the whole kingdom. His words were regarded very highly and his claims were taken as absolute truths.

"King Virgil and Senior Adviser Chambers, earlier today, I encountered Daniel, aka the Russian."

The king and advisor looked at each other, Neil struggling to hide his fear (once again, he's actually a spy for the Dark Knights).

"Go on..." Virgil narrowed his eyes.

"I tried to get him to tell me something, but he refused. He's really stubborn. However, just in time, Jenny appeared. She offered to talk to Daniel, and since I wasn't experiencing any success, I left them alone."

Neil's eyes widened as Virgil stood up from his throne.

"You left the only person in our whole damn empire capable of giving birth with the single most dangerous person in the entire kingdom?!" Virgil exclaimed.

Ethan raised his hands, indicating for the king to calm down.

"My lord, do not worry. They won't kill her if she is the last remaining girl on the planet. Continuing the existence of the human race is a common goal for both sides. In any case, I realized she would betray me and head off with Daniel to the Dark Knights' lair, so I prepared something."

He paused to take a device out of his pocket.

"What is that?" Neil asked.

"The first part of the tracking device," Ethan sneered. "The second part is currently attached to Daniel."

"Wait," Virgil sat back down. "You are telling me that you..."

"That's right!" The Inspector's eyes sparkled from joy as he grinned. "Lord Virgil, for the first time in 5 years, we have the location of the Dark Knight's compound. My king, we are now finally able to destroy them once and for all!"

Well damn Daniel you fucked up big time

Since we're on the topic of big things, though, let's switch over to the PENIS, aka the center of the Dark Knight's compound.

The train slowed down to a stop, and Daniel stood up.

"We're here. Let's go," he announced. Jenny nodded and stood up to follow him out of the underground train.

They stepped out into a similar underground train station. It was dirty and dimly lit, with the only exit being a narrow staircase. They climbed up the steep stairs and reached a door, which Daniel opened with an electric key that he suddenly somehow has (I'm creating these plot holes faster than I can possibly hope to fill them back up so bear with me).

The door unlocked and they entered the PENIS.

Everyone temporarily stopped what they were doing to look at them.

"Daniel!" Neon yelled, rushing over. "You're alive!"

Daniel smiled. "Neon, this is Jenny, Jenny this is Neon."

"You're the girl?" both asked each other at the same time.

Mox decided to walk up at this moment. He approached Daniel and whispered, "Good, the more girls the better."

"Ah," Daniel replied. "Mox, you are a man of culture as well, it seems."

"Indeed. As you know, Neon is not exactly very approachable."

"Yeah, but Jenny is mine," Daniel responded.

"Buddy, she isn't yours," Mox sneered, "she's whoever's she wants to be with whom."

"What the heck is that grammar, Mox?"

"Oh be quiet Daniel, you just can't come up with a comeback because you know that when it comes to girls I'm obviously going to be the winner."

"Mox, you're about as good at flirting as I am at ice skating."

"You ice skate?"

"We live in a desert, Mox."

"Ah. Well, Daniel, you're such an idiot that even Ryan the Rock has more brains than you."

"Mox, your name is so annoying - it keeps on autocorrecting to "Max" as Leon types - you're literally his least favorite character, probably."

Mox put his hand on Daniel's shoulder [to assert dominance]. "Daniel, I'm going to - hey, wait, what's this on your shoulder - wait, is this a...CONDOM??"

Neon and Jenny spun around as Mox bounced back in surprise.

"It's not a condom," Daniel blushed, taking off the circular thing from under his shoulder sleeve.

"This?" he turned over the small circular device over in his hand. "Nah, it's not a condom, it's just a tracking device." He smiled wholesomely. Nearly instantly, his expression changed from happiness to horror.

"Wait...a tracking device?" his hand shook as Neon snatched the device from him.

After a few seconds of analyzing, she spoke.

"This is indeed a tracking device." Neon looked up. "For the first time in five years, Virgil now knows where we, the Dark Knights, are."

Mox cursed. "Well done, Daniel."

"Hey - I didn't mean to carry the device back here!" Daniel protested, waving his arms.

"It's true," Jenny confirmed. "I was there. He had no idea the Inspector somehow very subtly attached the device to his clothes."

"Neon," Mox turned to her. "We need to discuss this right now. We have no time to waste."

He turned back toward Daniel. "Daniel, explore the PENIS with Jenny while we discuss what to do."

"Sounds good," Daniel sighed. "Don't worry, Jenny, you'll like the PENIS. Let's go, they need to talk in private." Before she could protest, he grabbed her hand and ran off to show her the whole PENIS."

"Everyone and everything else inside the PENIS," Neon called out, "leave. Me and Mox need to discuss something important by ourselves."

The Dark Knights inside the PENIS reluctantly obeyed.

However, there were two individuals who stayed.

STD the guinea pig and Ryan the Rock.

They were expertly hidden in the nooks and crannies of the PENIS, patiently waiting to hear the news Mox and Neon were about to discuss.

STD and Ryan had, after all, become best friends over the course of just a few hours. They had taught each other many things and revealed all their secrets.

Ryan had even revealed the biggest secret of all rocks.

The truth was, rocks were actually soft. They only became hard when they were touched. It was a natural reflex, Ryan had explained. Rocks go through puberty before they are born, and thus will get turned on at any age.

"Mox," Neon put the tracking device on the table. "We need to keep this tracking device a secret for now."

"No," Mox replied.

"Why?" Neon asked, confused.

"Because, if we keep it secret, the full title of the device will be the Secret Tracking Device, whose acronym is STD. We already have one STD inside the PENIS and that is more than enough, two would be extremely unhealthy."

"You're right," Neon sighed. "Two STDs inside one PENIS is dangerous, and the Dark Knights will eventually gonorrhealize its existence."

"But Neon, there's bigger problems here. If Virgil knows our location, he will attack. And I am afraid that if he attacks, we will lose. They will simply outnumber us."

"That is true. What do you suggest we do, though?!" Neon exclaimed.

"We attack," Mox responded. "We attack their kingdom first. The element of surprise will help us, and we will defeat them before they can attack us. We will defeat them thoroughly enough so that they are unable to retaliate."

"No!" Neon yelled. "There are so many innocent people living in the kingdom who are simply brainwashed by Virgil. If we attack, we will kill many good people. Our mission is to overtake the government, not destroy the last place on the Earth where people can still survive!"

"Neon. Those people are not our people. I care about my friends in the Dark Knights, and I know you do too. Me, you, Daniel, Leon, and everyone else will die if we let Virgil attack. We have to kill Virgil at any cost. I understand that we will definitely take innocent lives when we attack, but there is no choice."

"Mox, there are about one hundred Dark Knights. If we storm the palace and Virgil orders his citizens to defend, we could be talking about hundreds of deaths. We cannot wage a war. That was never our plan."

"Plans change!" Mox yelled, furious. "Neon, we have lived inside a penis for the last five years. Our goal was always to overtake the dictatorship of the Virgil Empire. What changed is that now is our final chance to do so, and every minute that we wait is a minute Virgil spends preparing for war."

"No!" Neon shook as she spoke. "Mox. I am officially the leader of the Dark Knights, and I forbid that you and the other Dark Knights attack Virgil."

Mox was shocked at the sudden statement by Neon.

"Neon, I am the co-leader, and I care about our people. If we do not attack, they will die. We both know it. Everyone you have known for so many years will perish."

"Mox, if we attack, hundreds of citizens, soldiers, and even children will be slaughtered. I am officially ordering you to keep this tracking device a secret until I think of a way to save ourselves without murdering hundreds of people."

"Fine!" Mox yelled, clenching his teeth. "Keep your STD to yourself. I never wanted it, anyway. But I promise you, I will not just stand and let my people be killed in front of my eyes."

With those words, Mox spun around and walked out of the PENIS, leaving Neon alone and on the brink of crying.

Well, not exactly alone - STD and Ryan were still there, hidden under a desk, patiently observing Neon pacing back and forth.

STD nudged Ryan (making him hard). They made eye contact and quickly escaped the room.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Jenny were exploring the PENIS [originally, this was the name of the room, but I think I'm referring to the whole compound with this acronym at this point].

"Dang, the PENIS is really big," Jenny smiled in awe.

"Yes, it is," Daniel confirmed. "I hope you are enjoying the PENIS so far."

"I am," she replied. "I can see how you guys could survive here for five years."

They were currently in one of the lower levels, exploring the sleeping quarters. Daniel had arranged with one of the guards, Gus Hansen, to put Jenny's name next to his. He had actually tried to convince Gus to put them in the SAME room, but unfortunately Jenny protested against it.

After sorting that out, they both ventured over into the elevator to go to a different floor.

They didn't expect it when the elevator opened and Mox walked out, clearly pissed off.

"Hey, Mox, what are -" Daniel was cut off by Mox who grabbed him and pushed him against the wall.

"Daniel, turn off your stupidity for once and listen to me. Thanks to you, Virgil knows where we are. He will invade our compound in as soon as a day or two and completely obliterate us. His army is twice the size of all of us combined, and only about half of the Dark Knights are well trained in fighting. However," Mox paused, "there is a way you could partially make up for what you've done."

"What is it?" Daniel asked, inching away from Mox.

"I am planning on attacking the kingdom tonight. Due to our underground trains, we can reach them significantly faster than they can reach us. Thus, my plan is we go there and murder Virgil and the rest of the government before they can attack us."

"Uh," Daniel tried to push Mox off him (Mox was still holding him to the wall), "If we start a war, there will be many casualties..."

"Yes, but they will be the casualties of our enemies."

"No, they'll be the casualties of innocent citizens in the Virgil Empire..."

"Listen," Mox spat from anger, "Either they die, or we all die."

He turned to Jenny. "As for her, they'll kill her too, or even worse, take her back and then rape her to continue the human race."

He let go of Daniel.

"Think about it, but don't tell Neon. We strike at midnight. It's your choice if you join us or not."

With that, he stormed off, leaving Daniel and Jenny by the elevator.

Daniel turned to Jenny.

"What do you think we should do?" Jenny asked.

"Have sex," Daniel replied.

"Idiot, I'm talking about the offer Mox just proposed."

"Oh," Daniel scratched his head. "I don't know, I'll need to think about it. Let's go upstairs, you need a proper introduction to Neon."

"Back to the PENIS we go, I guess," she responded.

"Indeed," Daniel's usual sparkle returned to his eyes. "As Einstein once said, "He who has penis must go into place where there is bigger PENIS.""

And so the two of them walked inside the elevator and, after the doors closed, ascended back into the PENIS.

Meanwhile, Mox strolled over to Leon's room.

He encountered Gus (the guard) along the way.

"Gus," Mox stopped him. "I need the key to Leon's room."

Gus nodded and handed him the key. The two of them were decent friends, by the way.

"Also, tell your friends to meet me today in the cafeteria two hours before midnight."

"Sure...why?" Gus asked.

"You'll see. Also, spread it to your friends and tell them to spread it to theirs, but make sure Neon doesn't know about the meeting, understand?"

"You got it," Gus smiled. "See you at 10:00pm tonight."

"Wait, 10:00pm?" Mox asked. "I said two hours before midnight."

"Mox, those two are the same..."

"Oh. Okay. Sounds good. Uh, you can go now," Mox said.

"Alright! See you soon!" Gus replied.

After separating from Gus, Mox walked over to Leon's room and unlocked the door.

He walked inside to see Leon asleep on his bed. The backpack was on the ground next to him, open.

"Leon."

Leon stirred but didn't wake up.

Mox sighed. Leon had always been a heavy sleeper.

"LEON." Mox spoke more aggressively.

Leon opened his eyes tiredly.

"What do you want at this time of night??" he exclaimed, annoyed at being woken up.

"It's 5pm right now, Leon. Now get up, I need to talk to you."

Leon sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "What is it?"

"Leon, we have a problem. A very big one, actually. Ethan Clarke attached a tracker to Daniel, and now Virgil knows where we are."

"Wait," Leon stood up. "Daniel is here??"

"Yes, but you're missing the point-"

"Ayyyy," Leon grinned. "It's been a while since I talked to Danny! Time to go see him now!"

Leon walked over to the door, but Mox stopped him.

"Leon, Virgil will invade the Dark Knights compound in a matter of a few days, killing all of us."

Leon took a step back.

"Wait, what?"

Mox sighed.

"Now that Virgil knows where we are, he will do everything in his power to get rid of the last group of people who can still overthrow him."

"So you want us to attack him first, right?" Leon inquired, sitting back down on his bed. "Mox, I haven't seen you for years, and yet you haven't changed. You're still as aggressive as always, not considering the risks involved in the operation."

"Leon, I can't bother considering any risks because there is no other option. Neon wants to wait and 'think' of a plan, but there is simply no third option. Either we attack, or they attack. Someone needs to do it, and if we want to survive, then we have to do it first."

"I see," Leon yawned. "Fine, but we'll never beat Virgil's army like this..." Leon rubbed his chin.

"What aren't you telling me, Leon?" Mox inquired.

"Hmmm, well, I suppose that all is fair in love and war...right?"

"Right, go on..."

"Well, I could...HEY!" Leon yelled, jumping to his feet.

"What?!" Mox exclaimed, confused.

"MY - MY LAPTOP!!" Leon yelled, horrified. "IT'S GONE!!"

The color of Mox's face visibly changed.

"LEON! We're on the brink of war, and you're worried about your LAPTOP??"

"Idiot!!" Leon yelled, shaking his head as he searched under the desk. "It's not just a laptop, it's not just an - argh!!" he flipped the desk in fury.

"What the hell is so special about that laptop??" Mox yelled back.

"It...it..." Leon clasped his hands over his head.

It was his secret. He had never told anyone the power of the laptop. But without it, they were screwed. They needed the laptop, and Mox was possibly the only person who could retrieve it because of his control over the Dark Knights' army...the guards...Chandler.

Leon took a deep breath.

"Mox, that laptop isn't just a laptop. I don't have time to explain everything right now, but..."

He sighed.

"Shortly after receiving the laptop, I learned it had special abilities. You see, the laptop treats the post World War 4.20 world as a...as a story."

"What the hell does that mean?" Mox inquired.

"Although there are certain restrictions, generally, as I, the Narrator, type what is happening into the laptop, it autocompletes and autocreates the world around us. That is how I created the Personal Files for everyone in the kingdom (except the Inspector)."

"But it doesn't end there. If I want to, I have the power to create things through the laptop. For example, say I needed a gun in my hand right now. If I wanted to, I could simply write: And so, after explaining how the laptop works to Mox, Leon opened his palm and a gun appeared in it. And then, that's exactly what would happen."

"Damn, seriously?" Mox asked, partially scared but also partially extremely awed by the concept.

"Yes. And I am afraid that if the person who stole it - Chandler - damages it or is able to unlock it, then..."

"Then what?"

"Our world could be destroyed, Mox. And we'd go with it."

On that super bright and cheerful plot twist, let's switch over to the PENIS. *removes dildo*

The elevator dinged and Daniel and Neon stepped out into the clearing of the PENIS (the main room of the compound, where Neon is currently pacing back and forth).

"Hey Neon!" Daniel called out cheerfully.

Neon looked up.

"Oh. Hello, Daniel and Jenny," she forced a smile. "Jenny, have you and Daniel explored all parts of the PENIS?"

"We have, yeah," Jenny grinned. "I originally didn't think I'd like it, but turns out I'm a fan of PENIS."

"That's cool," Neon smiled tiredly. "Well, is there anything I can help you with, Jenny?"

"Yes, actually," Daniel replied before Jenny could. "In anime, whenever two girls have to create a good relationship, they always meet in the spa. Maybe you two should go do that?"

"Uh," Neon's face turned red (so did Jenny's), "we...we don't really do that here...but...I suppose it could be the start of a new tradition."

"Wonderful!" Daniel exclaimed. "In that case, I'll watch to make sure everything goes smoothly.

"No, you won't, pervert," Jenny responded.

Daniel frowned. "Oh well."

"Jenny," Neon turned toward her. "I think we can go chat in private, then. Do some girl-talk so we can get to know each other better? At the Dark Knights, it's really important that everyone feels comfortable, so maybe Daniel's idea isn't too bad after all."

"Wait, wait, wait." Daniel interrupted again. "How are you going to do 'girl-talk' if Leon, the writer of this story, is literally a guy? -_-"

"Anyway," Jenny sighed, ignoring Daniel's fourth-wall break, "I think that's a decent idea. Let's go, Neon."

The two of them left, leaving Daniel alone and horny.

While he remained there, brainstorming as to how he could sneak into the spa while Jenny and Neon were, uh, not exactly fully clothed, two familiar characters had thought ahead.

When Neon and Jenny entered the spa anime style (not exactly fully clothed, that is) a few minutes later, the best duo in the history of duos was hidden amongst the rocks.

STD and Ryan the Rock.

Ryan, being a rock, had a perfect disguise. STD has significantly more trouble since he did not, by default, look like a rock.

However, Ryan, being a loyal friend, had taught STD how to look like a rock.

The key was to curl up into an imperfect ball, he had explained. And so, STD did so, and combined with Neon, sat behind the plants in the spa waiting for Jenny and Neon.

Of course, as soon as they entered, Ryan, being the rock that he was, became hard.

STD, for wholesomeness reasons, did not become hard, but almost did.

Neon and Jenny entered the spa in bathing suits (I wasn't gonna make them naked -_-), and slid into the warm water.

HOWEVER, both of them were barefoot, and that is a very crucial detail I wanted to point out.

"So, Jenny, you think you're ready to become a Dark Knight?" Neon asked.

"I am. I'm tired of being under Virgil's rule."

"Good. Well, we welcome you with open arms. I will warn you, however, not all moments will be sweet. Get ready for hearing lots of arguing between me and Mox. We do that a lot."

"Oh..." Jenny shifted her position in the water.

"The Dark Knights," Neon continued, "have a goal. To overthrow the Virgil government. We were formed shortly after World War 4.20, and we are getting more and more ready to take James down."

"James?" Jenny asked.

"James Virgil."

"I've never heard of anyone calling him James," Jenny admitted.

"Oh," Neon smiled. "Well, I'm actually his step-sister."

"WHAT!" Jenny yelled, standing up, making Ryan lose control, roll over, and plop into the water, creating a small splash.

"I'm his step sister," Neon repeated her earlier statement. "And I know him well - that's why I began to construct the Dark Knights before James showed any signs of being evil. I knew the evil was inside him, and I knew it would come out eventually."

"Dang," Jenny sat back down. "Does anyone else know?"

"Leon, Mox, and Daniel do. I assume James's siblings Bonnie and Oliver do as well, although since they all think I am dead, they probably don't think about it too much. In any case, a big reason the Dark Knights haven't just attacked the Virgil palace is because I, their leader, don't want unnecessary death. James may be evil, but, honestly, I still love him and don't want him to die."

"But, you'll never destroy his dictatorship unless you kill him," Jenny complained.

"I'm hoping you're wrong, Jenny. I hope we can capture him alive and only kill a few people to overthrow them, but that is unfortunately going to be significantly harder now that your boyfriend Daniel came back with a tracker attached to his shoulder."

"He...he isn't my boyfriend. We're just friends..."

"Alright, then. In any case, my personal mission is to overthrow James's rule as peacefully as possible...but, if needed, the Dark Knights have permission to kill anyone that stands in their way if they have to."

"Oh..." Jenny sulked.

"What is it?" Neon inquired.

"I...I have a friend, Derek, who is in Virgil's personal army..."

"Jenny," Neon grabbed Jenny's hand with her own, "When we take over, I promise that I will do all in my power to keep the killing to a minimum. That's the way I plan to do it, and I will carry out my mission of overthrowing as peacefully as possible."

"Well, I'm actually afraid of something else..." Jenny looked away from Neon.

"What is it?" Neon inquired.

"Mox." Jenny admitted. "He's planning on attacking tonight."

"What!" Neon exclaimed, standing up (to Ryan's, who has been underwater this whole time, disappointment).

"Neon," Jenny sighed sadly. "I know loyalty is the most important thing for the Dark Knights, but I don't want the few friends that I have to die when Mox invades today."

"What do you mean, when Mox invades today?!" Neon yelled, the water dripping down her body [why the hell did I choose to include this detail lmfao].

"Mox. He told me and Daniel that he's going to invade Virgil's kingdom today and forcefully overthrow him. I'm sorry. I should've kept quiet, but I, like you, still have people I care about under Virgil's rule...and I don't want them to die."

"Jenny!!" Neon yelled, climbing out of the water. "You definitely did the right thing by telling me. Now, let's go, we need to stop Mox!"

She rushed to the doors separating the spa from the rest of the compound, Jenny close behind her.

Neon slammed into the doors, but to her surprise, they didn't open.

Shocked, she stepped back.

That's when she saw Mox through the window of the spa.

"He locked the doors," Neon realized.

Mox smiled through the window. Then, he lifted his hand, waved, turned around, and left.

"No!" Neon cried out, punching the doors. "He's locked us in!"

"Wait, Neon, calm down," Jenny tried to talk to a very hysterical Neon. "Someone will find us."

"Damn it!" Neon yelled, quickly wiping away tears. "No, no one will find us here until midnight. No one ever visits the spa. By the time someone willing to open the doors shows up, Mox will already be at Virgil's palace.

"Is there no alternate way to get out of here?" Jenny asked.

"No!!" Neon yelled, crying.

Mox...he had betrayed her. Now, he would take so many innocent lives...and possibly Virgil's, her step brother's, as well. Her mission to take over peacefully...it had failed.

And now, many, many people would die.

"Neon, think. There has to be a way to get out of here."

"There isn't," Neon turned around. "The spa was designed to be one of the few strongholds in the compound in case we were attacked."

She sighed.

"It's over, Jenny. What I worked to create for five years... my vision... it's over." Neon slid down the door until she was sitting on the cold, hard floor.

"Hey," Jenny crouched down beside her. "We'll think of something, I'm sure."

"We won't. I told you, it's completely cut off. These doors are the only exit to the outside, and they are impossible to break through."

They sat in silence for a few seconds as Jenny tried to think of something. The water dripping slowly was the only sound echoing in the large room.

No, wait.

The water wasn't dripping.

The plop-plop-plop rhythm wasn't water.

It was...

Jenny turned around.

STD was trotting toward her.

"Hey Neon," Jenny nudged her, "we have company."

"Huh-" Neon got up to her knees as Jenny moved to the side to let Neon see STD.

"STD, is that you?" Neon asked the little creature as it ran up to them and started circling Jenny.

STD nodded, then started walking toward the water.

Neon and Jenny got up and followed the guinea pig. STD stopped at the edge of the water and started bouncing next to the edge. He (yes, I refer to STD as a he not an it) seemed to be trying to convey something.

"STD, do you want to swim??" Jenny asked. Neon giggled in response.

STD shook his head and continued to bounce around next to the edge of the water.

"Maybe he dropped something," Jenny asked, dipping her hand in the water and trying to find whatever it was that STD dropped.

"It" turned out to be Ryan, who got hard the moment Jenny grabbed him.

Jenny took Ryan out and placed him next to STD, who snuggled up against Ryan.

Neon smiled.

Then, STD let go of Ryan and trudged back over to the edge of the water.

"Pu pu pu!" STD indicated for someone to lower him into the water.

"Neon," Jenny glanced at her. "We're stuck in here anyway, might as well take a swim with the guinea pig and the rock."

Neon nodded and lifted STD as she slowly reentered the water. She walked over to the center of the pool and lowered STD so that he could touch the water.

To her surprise, STD jumped out of her hands and into the pool.

"Shoot!" Neon exclaimed, "where'd he go?"

Realizing guinea pigs can't swim, Jenny dived into the four-feet deep pool to catch STD. She emerged a few seconds later about two yards away from Neon, holding him in her hands.

"Nice save," Neon smiled.

"Thanks," Jenny said, holding a wet STD.

"Wait," Neon narrowed her eyes. "Why'd he swim so far away in one direction?"

"Hmm," Jenny took a step back.

Her foot hit something.

"There's something here."

Neon dived under the water. She reemerged two seconds later.

"That's just the water drain. Wait."

She glanced at Neon as the same thought passed through both of their minds.

"Neon," Jenny whispered, "can we escape through the water drainage system?"

[Fast forward about seven hours, to midnight]

Since it's midnight, Mox's meeting with the people loyal to him had already happened. Those are all the details we know as of now. Leon and Daniel's presence, Neon and Jenny's whereabouts, or what they discussed during the meeting is currently undisclosed to the readers.

"Your highness, why aren't you asleep?" The Inspector asked.

Ethan Clarke was standing in the main ballroom of Virgil's palace. He had always been a night owl, and tonight was certainly no exception. His tracking device told him the Dark Knights had discovered it.

"Your announcement of the location of our enemies has kept me up. What about you?" Virgil asked.

"The Dark Knights, unsurprisingly, discovered the tracking device. It's possible they could be considering waging war on us before we do it to them. I am planning on leaving right now so I can make it there early and gather information on them. I will report back to you via radio."

"That seems a bit risky. What if you're caught?"

"If I don't call you every 2 hours with the exception of the night hours, send reinforcements. Outright attacking them would be unwise. I want to first gather some information on their lair, at least from the outside."

"Alright," Virgil sighed. "In that case, I wish you best of luck with not getting caught."

"Thank you," the Inspector straightened. "I'll be going now. I will take my motorcycle and should be at their compound in about an hour. Farewell, my king."

"Goodbye, Ethan."

Ethan nodded in acknowledgment and slipped out of the room. A minute later, Virgil heard Ethan's motorcycle engine turn on, and soon enough, he was already too far away to be heard.

Virgil sighed, relieved, and sat down on the floor.

"Finally," he thought. "The last remaining threat will be extinguished. Finally."

He sat there for a few minutes, but then he started to get sleepy, so he stood back up to head back to his bedroom.

However, a sharp sound stopped him dead in his tracks.

It had come from outside. Was it Ethan? Why had Ethan returned?

Virgil's gaze shifted to the large doors that were the entrance to the ballroom.

The guards on the sides of the ballroom heard the noise as well and advanced toward the closed doors, weapons drawn.

The noise seemed to be coming from behind them. That is, from the outside of the palace.

Virgil slowly walked toward the doors. The sounds became louder. Except, it wasn't Ethan's motorcycle. No...it was shouting...screaming...crying...

"Guards," the king called out, "what's happening behind those doors?"

"We don't know," a guard replied, "but opening them seems unwise!"

Virgil nodded in the dark as he came closer to the doors.

"Don't worry, my king," one of the guards spoke, "these doors are designed to be extremely durable. No one is getting through.

Well, that was quite the inaccurate statement.

The next thing Virgil saw was the doors blowing up, sending pieces of gold, metal, and bricks flying toward the king and his guards.

Virgil was knocked nearly senseless, but he scrambled back to his feet quickly, holding his head where a piece of gold had hit him.

At the entrance stood two people, both holding large weapons.

Approximately the same height, one's face was twisted into a scowl while the other's was twisted into a smile.

Virgil knew exactly who these people were.

The two Russians.

"Danny!!" Leon yelled, turning the flamethrower back on. "Just like in the old times, huh??"

"Yes!!" Daniel yelled back. "Just like in the old times, Leon!!"

Daniel spun around, throwing a bottle of liquid through the air.

Vodka.

It hit the floor, exploding as it shattered and combined with the fire from Leon's flamethrower.

The three nearest guards were instantly killed in the explosion.

"No..." Virgil whispered, taking a hurried step back. "The war...it has begun."