The W2RLD

Written by: Leon the Man

Edited by: The Masked Eidolon

Enjoy 🙂

Chapter 8 - Height Impediment

Time: 1 Hour before the attack on the Virgil Empire

"Great, everyone is here," Mox announced once everyone was inside the PENIS (I forgot what it stands for, but it's the main floor of the Dark Knights compound).

"My dear friends, we meet today in secret today because, unfortunately, something needs to be done. Our degenerate comrade here," Mox turned to Daniel, who saluted in response, "managed to carry a tracking device back to the Dark Knights compound. This means that Virgil now, for the first time in history, knows where we are. We are, more than ever before, on the brink of a war."

Mox paused to look at everyone. They were all listening, so he took a deep breath and continued his speech.

"Neon fails to understand something extremely important: the war will happen. We cannot stop it. What we can stop, however, is Virgil. We can stop him if we attack first. I wish I could tell all of the Dark Knights, but sadly, some people here are more loyal to Neon and will free her, which would lead to her stopping our attack on the Virgil Empire. Therefore, it is up to the thirty of us to begin this war."

When Mox paused again, the crowd muttered their agreement. He smiled and walked over to the stage that is somehow in the middle of the room for no reason. He climbed into it and turned back to the crowd.

"My Dark Knights, we are gathered here tonight because it is time to do what we have been training for, for the past five years. Virgil's dictatorship is coming to an end tonight. We, the Dark Knights, are a group who were formed precisely for this. Yes, we are different. We all have different backstories, all of us joined the Dark Knights in different ways and for different reasons, and everyone has their own beliefs and opinions. Some of us are as strong-willed as I am, while others may be hesitant to carry out this attack. Some of us have specific people they want to spare, and some of us want to eliminate the whole government without leaving a trace. Some of us have boners every time a female walks by, and some of us blame their toxicity and irritability on punctuation marks...specifically, periods. Hell, we even have a rock and a sexually transmitted disease among us."

"Actually," Leon interrupted, "STD is a guinea pig, and his name means Strong (and) Tough Dinosaur."

Mox shot him a dirty glance.

"In any case, whoever you may be and whatever you believe in, now is the time that we unite and carry out our mission. Our mission is to take over the Virgilian Dictatorship and free the remaining human race."

Everyone applauded quietly, careful not to wake up anyone who was not part of the team.

"Now then," Mox climbed down from the stage. "Let's attack."

The Dark Knights nodded and headed for the weapons while Leon and Daniel approached Mox.

"Mox, I'm assuming we will talk strategy during the train ride, but is there anything we should know while it's just the three of us alone?"

Max looked at Daniel suspiciously.

"Can he be trusted?" Mox asked Leon.

"He can," Leon looked at Daniel. "I used to know him very well."

"Okay then," Mox bit his lip, "there isn't much to discuss. Your goal is Virgil, who will obviously be inside his palace. There is one other person who I am concerned about, but he is secondary business."

"If I may ask, who is it?" Daniel asked.

"You may not ask," Mox replied sternly.

"Ask if I may, who is it?" Leon inquired,

"The Inspector. Ethan Clarke," Mox responded.

"Ah," Leon smiled, "as expected. But to be clear, me and Daniel are targeting Virgil, right?"

Mox nodded. "That would be correct. Let's get suited up for war."

Fast forward one hour, to the scene where Mox and the Dark Knights are about to attack the palace.

They exited out of the underground train station and slowly crept toward the golden mansion that was Virgil's home.

"Gus," Mox turned to him. "I'm putting you in charge of five Dark Knights. Attack the guards at Northsouthern wall as a distraction."

Mox turned to Leon and Daniel. "You two know what to do."

Daniel smiled and Leon grinned.

"Yes, we know what to do," Leon replied.

"And Leon," Mox leaned over to whisper it into his ear. "Don't try anything funny. Your goal is King Virgil. Don't get distracted."

Leon raised his hands. "Mox, you know me. I'm good at following directions. I'm coming back with Virgil's head, or I'm not coming back at all."

"Sounds good," Mox smiled. "In that case, Gus, cause the distraction. Leon and Daniel, head for the main entrance."

Everyone nodded, and Gus motioned for five Dark Knights to follow him to the Westeastern wall.

Now, if you remember, Leon's words did not age super well. To quote the beginning of chapter 6, after Leon and Daniel blew up the front gates:

"I don't care what Mox said. Daniel," Leon turned to look him directly in the eyes. "There are bigger problems at hand here than Virgil. Mox is an idiot. He can't calculate more than two steps ahead. If we kill Virgil right now, the best case scenario is a full on war between his citizens and the Dark Knights. That's not what we want, right?"

Yes, Leon is awesome at following instructions.

However, we'll get to Leon and Daniel's adventures with Oliver and Charlie later.

First, we need to finish up with Mox.

Mox and the rest of the Dark Knights remained hidden until the signal (the explosion of the front gates) would be activated.

"Remember," Mox turned to them. "Our goal is still to create as much chaos as possible. Leon and Daniel can kill Virgil. We destroy, and then we retreat. Virgil's army will take a while to arrange itself. We'll destroy the palace until then."

As he finished the sentence, he heard the explosion of the front gates.

Good, Leon and Daniel were in.

Now, it was time to do what Mox was best at.

He rose from the shadows and lifted his sword, pointing it at the sky.

Mox took a deep breath.

"Dark Knights, attack!!!" he yelled as the front wall of the palace exploded in flames from Gus's distraction.

The Dark Knights, trained to perfection, jumped out of the shadows and charged at the palace.

"Kill anyone who stands in your way!!" Mox yelled over the roar of the fire that was expanding aggressively.

The couple of guards surrounding the palace drew their weapons, but they were absolutely no match for the Dark Knights, who instantly responded by firing their guns and swinging their swords at the defenders.

Within a matter of seconds, anyone guarding the castle was dead.

That was when Mox realized that someone was screaming. Not just one person, though. Tens of people. Maybe even hundreds.

Mox's eyes widened as he realized who it was.

"Civilians," Mox cursed under his breath. "We're here to save you, fools!"

The response was more confused screaming. Mox shook his head.

"They don't realize it yet, but we are here for their own good," Mox whispered to himself. At the same time, he looked up at the palace.

It was beautiful.

For the first time since its construction, the castle was on fire. And as Mox stood there alone, a hundred or so feet away from the entrance, he realized this was all thanks to him. Narrowing his eyes, he realized the first line of defense had engaged with the Dark Knights, but they were still no match for them.

The soldiers were regular soldiers, trained merely to defend the castle - something they hadn't ever had to do.

The Dark Knights were barbarians and skilled warriors, hungry for blood.

Each Dark Knight could easily take three or four soldiers at the same time. Yes, everyone had their own weapon of choice, but whether it be a spear or a machine gun, they wielded it nearly perfectly. And now, they were taking over, even better than Mox had imagined was possible.

Suddenly, Mox's ears perked up. He heard...footsteps. Mox immediately spun around, swinging his sword.

To his horror, standing right behind him (well, since he spun around, they were now in front of him) was a group of teenagers. The kids were about fourteen or fifteen years old, and there were seven or eight of them. All were carrying sticks or clubs.

"What do you want?!" Mox hissed, stepping back.

One of the boys stepped forward.

"Who are you?" he asked. A skinny fourteen year old, the boy was holding a heavy stick. From his posture, it was clear he wanted to fight. Also, although Mox didn't know it yet, the boy's name was Eugene.

It was hard to make it out in the darkness, but Mox felt like the boy was...crying?

Mox lowered his weapon temporarily.

"My name is Mox. I am the... leader of the Dark Knights."

"You mean the group of people attacking King Virgil's castle?"

"Indeed. However, I assure you, we are here to save you. You don't realize it, but this is not how you're supposed to live. You are sheep, living under the dictatorship that Virgil has established. He may have saved you after World War 4.20, but his good intentions are all gone. Under Virgil's rule, the human race is doomed. You may not understand it now, but you will after we kill your king."

"Oh," Eugene lowered his weapon. "Well, you are mistaken, Mox. Many people do realize that this shitty food rationing and 15 hour work days from age 13 is not the way we are supposed to live... but we cannot do anything. We can't even dream of breaking through his defenses and killing him."

Mox's face lightened up.

"Exactly! That is exactly what -"

"However," the boy continued, "although we may be near slaves under his rule, everyone was alive."

Mox sighed.

"Child, what is your name?"

"Eugene."

"Eugene, I promise you, we do not intend to hurt any citizens. We will take over the government and save all of you."

"No," Eugene shook his head. "You don't understand. My father is part of Virgil's army, and he was patrolling the front entrance tonight."

Mox felt the blood drain from his face.

If this kid's father had been patrolling the front of the castle tonight, then he would be one of the first to die.

Mox looked down.

"I am sorry for your loss, Eugene."

"And I'm sorry for yours," the kid replied, raising his stick. All the boys in the group raised their weapons as well.

Mox's eyes widened.

"Kid, I really am sorry, but please do not attack me. I will have no choice but to kill you."

Eugene smirked as he wiped away his tears.

"Bold of you to assume you can beat us." He began to advance toward Mox.

Mox took a fighting stance.

"Bold of you to assume I can't," he replied quietly.

Eugene lifted his weapon and charged toward Mox.

"For my father!!!" he yelled, attacking.

"I'm sorry," Mox replied, swinging his sword.

.

"This, my friend, is le watah," Jarvis explained.

"Yes," Lucas nodded. "Water. I know, I've had it before."

"Good," Jarvis smiled. "Maho deals with water as well, although it is significantly more complicated to control this element than the air."

As a reminder, the last time we saw Lucas and Jarvis, they had signed an agreement for Jarvis to teach Lucas the magical abilities he has. Jarvis calls this 'magic' Maho, which stems from the Japanese phrase "Maho Hentai," or "Magic Hentai" in English.

"Maho, which I am going to get very tired of italicizing every time I type it, is the concept of controlling the world around us in ways which are normally impossible due to the laws of physics," Jarvis had explained to Lucas. "Maho is key to unlocking your true potential. It will take some time, but once you learn, you will be as powerful as me. You, not the laws of the universe, will be the dominant force."

"I'm normally submissive, but I think I can learn to like this," Lucas had replied.

And now, they were standing a few feet away from a lake. It was about 6 or 7 in the morning, and they had been practicing flying for almost 5 hours already.

Lucas was practically a master at this point.

"There is a problem, however," Jarvis told Lucas. "Flying above the ground is significantly easier than flying above water. As a reminder, water and fire are negative elements. They are both negative because they make using Maho significantly harder, while positive elements such as the earth and wind both help Maho."

"Wait, so flying above water is harder than flying above the ground?" Lucas asked, spreading his arms lightly as he floated up.

"Indeed," Jarvis confirmed. "Think of it this way. You normally get horny - and therefore hard - when submerged in water or set on fire. Therefore, it is harder for us to use Maho around these too elements."

"I see," Lucas nodded. "Do you think we should give it a try?"

"Your call," Jarvis replied. "But realize this. You are not experienced. The water won't just let you control it like the wind does. It will retaliate. It will fight back. Just like a boner, it will not go back down willingly."

"Mr. Jarvis, you appear to be horny."

"False," Jarvis smiled. "I control my level of sexual arousal as well...although that tree does look pretty sexy, doesn't it?"

Lucas sighed. "Alright, I'm going in." He closed his eyes to use the method Jarvis had taught him: utilize the air as a second layer.

Once he was focused, he opened his eyes. He was about sex* feet off the ground.

*Typo, I meant to say six.

He took a step forward in the air, and it supported his body weight, just like he had mentally commanded it to.

He took another step. Now, although he was six feet off the ground, in terms of his position, he was just above the very shallow part of the water.

He looked down. The lake was bubbling.

It was rejecting it.

"Continue!" Jarvis called out from the ground. His voice echoed in Lucas's ears.

Lucas took a deep breath and began walking toward the center of the lake at a brisk pace.

Immediately, the water sprung up and began circling him. Geysers sprouted and grabbed on to his legs, making walking harder. Nevertheless, he slowly trudged on through the air.

However, the water became more aggressive. It began to circle him like a small tornado, closing in on him. As he continued forward, he felt the water begin to nip at his arms and torso.

The water was like a living creature, giving Lucas one final warning to get off its property.

Lucas ignored the warning and continued forward.

That was a mistake.

In the span of a second, it was like he had crossed some border. He briefly realized he was at least twenty feet from the shore, where it was surely very deep.

Too deep to escape.

And that's why the water chose this moment to strike.

A huge wave burst from underneath him and knocked him off his feet in the air.

That was very, very bad. The key to controlling the wind was to remain calm and in control, and the water had just ruined that.

The power of the wave instantly flipped him over, making him completely lose his balance. He tried to regain it, but tentacles sprouted from the water and attacked him, attaching to his mouth and eyes.

Now, he couldn't breathe or see.

Then, the water quite simply grabbed Lucas and pulled him straight down into the lake. Lucas hit the lake hard, and the next thing he knew, he was underwater. The power of the water was dragging him downward, towards the depths of the sea that the lake had turned into.

And there was nothing Lucas could do. He tried to yell for help, but instead swallowed a mouthful of the water and began to choke on it.

Turns out, drowning doesn't take too long, and within a matter of five seconds, Lucas's vision darkened, his limbs stopped fighting, and he lost consciousness.

He woke up to Jarvis giving him CPR.

.

"Hey what is...going on...AH!" Neon sprung up, accidentally punching Chandler, who was sitting next to her, in the face.

"Oww!" he yelped.

"Where am I?!" Neon exclaimed, looking around and registering her surroundings.

She was sitting on a bed in a swimsuit.

The bed was not hers.

Neither was the room.

In fact, nothing here was hers (except the swimsuit and her virginity).

Additionally, there were two boys standing in front of her: Chandler, a guard, and Jared, the technician of the Dark Knights. They appeared mildly afraid now that she had woken up.

Neon was about to speak, when she realized that there was someone on her lap.

She looked down.

It was Jenny, sleeping.

Upon seeing her, the memories began rushing back to Neon.

Mox...getting locked up... STD... Ryan... the climb... and then...

She looked up at the two boys.

"Tell me honestly, how the hell did I end up in your room?"

Chandler cleared his throat.

"Neon, you won't believe us, but I promise everything we are about to say is true."

And so

For the next half hour

Chandler and Jared explained and showed how the laptop worked. During that time, Jenny also woke up and learned the powers of the laptop with Neon.

Jenny took a particular interest in the Lego foot porn application, but since it was August and therefore No Nut November, Jared and Chandler advised against it.

For convenience's sake, I'll repeat the main functions of the laptop, but at this point if you haven't memorized them, your IQ is probably at most 88.

The person typing can create/change characteristics of the physical world or themselves at the expense of one's short-term health and energy.

The person typing can create/change characteristics of other people/animals/rocks** at the expense of their (the receiver's) short-term health and energy. If there is a major change, it will make the receiver lose consciousness or even die.

The laptop automatically narrates everything that is happening, with certain exceptions**.

*Oliver and anyone close to him cannot be in any way affected via the laptop's powers, which is why Leon is so desperately trying to kill Oliver with his own hands.

**Ethan, aka the Inspector, does not show up in the laptop's descriptions unless another character is interacting with them.

"Okay," Neon took a deep breath after they were done explaining and showing how the laptop worked. "Listen, you two, it does sound completely crazy. Normally, you two would go to a psychiatrist for this. However, given the already unusual circumstances, I am willing to believe you. Nevertheless,"

Neon stood up.

"Me and Jenny need to go change. Don't do anything too dumb while we're gone, and preferably check what Mox and the other Dark Knights are up to."

Jared and Chandler nodded as Neon and Jenny awkwardly left the room,

Once they were alone again, they hesitantly reopened the file.

They noticed there were recent changes.

The laptop was auto-writing what was happening,

"Jared, can you find what Leon is doing?" Chandler asked.

"But Neon said to find out what Mox is doing?" Jared asked.

"Yes... but Leon's whereabouts are more important."

"Fine," Jared ctrl+F'd Leon's name, and once the file loaded, they began reading.

[As a reminder, this scene takes place right after Leon and Daniel break into Oliver's room - it is also the last scene I will be writing that is "in the past," aka placed before present real time in the story.

"Oliver," Leon stumbled a bit as he tried to stand, "My laptop...I can kill anyone with it, except you or anyone close to you. I don't know how you're able to counter the power of the laptop, but it doesn't matter. Once I kill you, Virgil will die and we will overtake the kingdom without a war."

"What laptop?" Daniel asked. "Leon, what are you talking about?"

The words were being typed in real time, and Chandler and Jared watched in horror as the story unfolded.

"I'll explain later, Daniel," Leon loaded the gun and pointed it at Oliver's head. "Goodbye, Oliver."

"Jared, do something before he kills this kid!!"

"W-what should I do??" Jared exclaimed.

"Gah!!" Chandler yelled, grabbing the laptop from Jared. He frantically typed whatever came to mind first and hit enter.

As you probably guessed, my dear readers, Leon didn't shoot the gun.

"Shit!!!" Leon yelled, dropping the gun as his hands flew to his ding dong while he collapsed on the floor.

"Leon!!! What's wrong?!" Daniel yelled, crouching down Russian style.

"Suka blyat!!!" Leon cursed, holding his uh pelvic area. "My...my..."

Oliver, being not a complete idiot, chose this moment to escape through the window.

"What is it??" Daniel turned Leon over to his side. Leon's breathing was fast and his eyes were suddenly bloodshot red. He was sweating and shaking uncontrollably, and he looked like he was about to puke. Whatever had happened to him, it was probably extremely serious.

"I think I grew a second penis," Leon whispered.

At that moment, Neon and Jenny knocked on the door and Chandler shut the laptop shut.

"Well?" Neon inquired. "What are they doing?"

Seeing that Chandler was about to say the exact truth, Jared responded with "Attacking the Virgil Castle. The details are... unimportant, but we need to get there as soon as possible and stop them before they either kill everyone or get themselves killed."

"Oh no," Neon leaned against the wall. "It's as I've feared. Mox...he betrayed me. He attacked."

Neon looked up.

"Are they already inside the castle?" she asked.

"They are," Chandler replied. "And from the looks of it, at the very least, some guards are already dead. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we'll never make it in time on the underground trains, that's at least an hour-long ride. They'll kill each other by the time we get there."

"Can we teleport there?" Neon inquired. "Using the laptop, I mean."

"No," Jared replied, taking the computer from Chandler. "If teleporting you two a couple hundred feet knocked you out for 5 hours and gave Chandler a vomit fetish, teleporting the rest of the Dark Knights 50 miles will simply make us all arrive...dead."

"Damn it," Neon cursed. "You're right, any major changes to us will be too harmful to our health. Is there no workaround?"

For a few seconds, no one spoke. However, a previously quiet voice broke the silence.

"I have an idea," Jenny announced. "Jared, if the typer changes some object, the typer will be the one to suffer the health effects, right?"

"That is correct...by doing that, at the expense of one person, others would be spared."

"Good," Jenny walked over to Jared. "In that case, I have an idea. I'll type the following sentence: One of the underground trains, normally traveling at 60 miles per hour, will, for just a single trip, travel four times faster."

"Wait, Jenny, that is wayyy too risky...you could die," Neon stated.

"Which is why I won't create something as extreme as a teleportation machine. I'm just editing a train's speed for one trip. It's still pretty major, but if all goes well, I shouldn't die."

Neon nodded. It was a good plan. If all worked according to plan, they would be able to arrive at the empire in 15 minutes.

"Okay. But someone else should type the sentence, not you."

"Wrong," Jenny replied. "You need all the warriors you can have right now. I'm no warrior. I am, however, a main character that hasn't done much since the start of the story. I need to do this, Neon. It needs to be me."

Neon hated it, but she couldn't help but nod.

"You're right," she agreed.

"By the way," Chandler interrupted. "Since we're talking about warriors, I would like to take a moment to give a shout-out to our sponsor for today's chapter - Raid W2RLD Legends."

"It's true!" Jared exclaimed. "Raid W2RLD Legends is an online role-playing game that is completely free! With over 250 downloads, you can choose from a number of roleplaying champions such as Neil Chambers, Eric Jarvis, or even Bonnie Virgil!"'

Jenny nodded. "Raid W2RLD Legends has absolutely everything you could want - an amazing storyline, awesome characters, HD 7K graphics, and thousands of unique champions to choose from."

"Ahem," Neon interrupted, "Can we focus?"

"Right, sorry," Chandler blushed.

"Okay then," Jenny sighed. "It's settled. Jared, give me the laptop."

Jared handed over the laptop reluctantly, and Jenny placed it on the desk and opened it.

She typed out, "and, for the next ride and the next ride only, the first Dark Knights' underground train will be able to travel 4 times faster than normal."

Jenny looked up. "I'm done, I just have to press enter."

"Jenny," Neon places her hand on Jenny's shoulder. "We really appreciate it. Thank you. I'll do my best to make sure you're fine and don't... die."

Jenny smiled.

"Okay. In case I do die, tell Daniel I said thank you for..."

"What is it?" Neon inquired.

"Hmmm... I can't think of a single thing to be thankful for toward Daniel."

"Ah."

Jenny sighed. "In any case, tell him it was really nice meeting him and getting introduced to the Dark Knights. At least if I die, I'll die with honor."

"For crying out loud, Jenny," Jared exclaimed. "You'll be fine. Just hit the enter button already and stop wasting time."

Jenny growled. "Fine. Also, take the laptop with you and monitor Mox, Leon, and Daniel so you know exactly where to go when you arrive."

"Good idea," Neon agreed.

"Alright." Jenny took a deep breath, and then hit "enter."

Almost instantly, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Chandler jumped forward and caught her before she hit the floor.

"We should get her to medical," he announced.

"Yes," Neon agreed. "Chandler, take her there. Jared, broadcast the emergency evacuation alarm."

Chandler and Jared nodded.

"Alright, then. It's time to stop Mox."

Splendid, we're all caught up.

Now, let's go back to where the previous chapter left off on Leon, Daniel, Oliver, and Charlie.

Their scene ended on a plot twist where Oliver revealed (internally) that Charlie would be shot in just 18 minutes because he had a psychic dream about it, at the exact same time as Daniel and Leon suddenly appeared behind Charlie and Oliver.

[Now that we're all caught up, let's get to the chapter]

Oliver's dream had started with Oliver and Charlie in some large, enclosed area. It had tall walls, beautiful engravings and pictures, and torches all across the aisles separating one side of the build from the other. There were dark benches all facing in one direction, and there was a cross.

They were in a church.

Oliver glanced at the old clock on the wall. Although churches - and any kind of religious practice at all - was completely illegal under Virgil's rule, the clock, although covered in spider webs and dust, was still ticking.

Was someone maintaining the place?

At the moment, it did not matter.

What mattered was that the clock was approaching 1:30 (a.m., since it's pitch black outside), and Oliver could hear someone angry coming.

Somehow, he knew it was a psychic dream. And that meant whatever happened right now would happen in real life. Sure, the details might change a bit, but the main idea always came true.

At that moment, the big wooden doors flew open and Leon and Daniel walked in. Before Oliver could even realize what was happening, Leon raised his gun and shot Charlie.

The clock hit 1:30.

And then, the dream ended.

Okay, back to reality.

"Hello," Leon smiled from behind Oliver and Charlie. As a reminder, they had been hidden in an abandoned building for the past half hour after running away from Dane's gangsters.

Oliver and Charlie turned around slowly.

Both Leon and Daniel had pistols drawn, and Leon was aiming his directly at Oliver.

"Leon, what do you want?" Oliver inquired.

Leon laughed.

"Oliver, you know what's ironic? You sound like you genuinely don't know."

"I really don't. Why are you trying to kill me? I'm just a kid, and I don't even know you."

Leon sneered.

"Just a kid, huh? Oliver, you and the people close to you are the only people, with the exception of Ethan Clarke, on this planet who I cannot kill using the laptop. Although Ethan is just a person and can be dealt with physically, you know and care for many people - and it adds up. The one person who I most want and need to control, King Virgil, is completely out of my reach because my laptop refuses to listen to me when I try to hurt him. And I've run a few experiments - it isn't Virgil that is the center of it. It is you. Oliver, do you still think you're just an innocent, know nothing kid?"

Oliver looked down.

"Leon...I really am sorry, but...I don't know what laptop you're even talking about. Please, believe me. I mean you no harm."

Leon laughed again.

"Yeah, well, I mean you harm, Oliver." Leon cocked his pistol (is cocked the right word here?).

"Wait, wait, Leon" Daniel lowered Leon's hand. "Are you sure about this? He is a kid after all."

"Are you not?" Leon asked, confused. "This child is the only thing standing between us and world domination. You know Virgil's dictatorship is wrong, and now you know that the only way of getting rid of it is by killing this boy. Then, without his blockade, simply using the laptop to control Virgil's body. We can kill him and his government easily once we're done with Oliver here."

"I know, but -"

"No buts," Leon raised his weapon again. "Goodbye, Oliver."

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Leon realized something. The door...was opening.

"Down!!" Leon yelled, throwing himself to the ground as the gangsters began firing.

The other dropped down to the ground as well.

Dane's gang members had stayed hidden behind the door, and since they now knew there were other people here, they were willing to shoot.

They temporarily stopped shooting, and silence once again filled the air.

Daniel crawled up to Leon. "Leon, what do we do? We have pistols, they have assault rifles."

Leon grinned.

"As if that's enough to stop us. Come on, Daniel, you know we're better than this. You know we always won those water gun fights back in the motherland, even when it was just us against five kids."

Daniel nodded in the dark.

"You're right. They may have been four year olds, but we won anyway. We can win this too. What should we do?"

"Hmmm," Leon mused. "Fake a surrender. I'll kill them."

"Got it," Daniel agreed. He stood up and raised his arms. "Hey, no need to shoot. I surrender."

"Throw us the weapon," the gangsters responded.

"I literally have no idea where you are," Daniel responded.

"Perpendicular to you. Throw the weapon in the clearing in front of you, and we'll take it."

"Alright, but then I live, deal?"

"Deal," they replied.

Daniel bent down, placed the gun on the floor, and gave it a push. It slid across the floor and stopped in front of the guards. They nodded to each other in the dark and stepped forward to pick it up.

Unfortunately for them, Leon could both see well in the dark, and he had perfect aim.

Two shots rang out, and both gangsters collapsed to the floor, dead.

"Hah! Told ya," Leon grinned. Then, he remembered Oliver and turned around. "Shit, Daniel, grab your gun, we need to go find them before they get too far away.

Daniel jogged over to his weapon and picked it up. "They had to have exited through a back door."

"Yep," Leon agreed. "Let's go!"

They quickly found their way to the door in the dark, and soon as they were outside, Leon spotted Oliver and Charlie running away in the distance.

"Daniel," Leon put the gun away. "How fast can you run?"

.

Slice.

His throat burst open and the blood instantly burst from it like a fountain, killing the boy instantly.

Mox took a step back and sighed.

That was the last one.

He looked around himself.

7 dead bodies.

He had just killed all of them.

Well, almost all of them.

The very first one, Eugene, was still alive.

The boy was on his back on the ground. He was holding his abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding. He had cuts across his chest and arms, and his left eye was swollen. Most importantly, Mox had dealt him a deadly blow to his stomach with his sword, and Eugene was now bleeding out.

The boy lay on the floor, shivering from the loss of blood as Mox walked over to him, sword still in hand.

"P-p-please s-spare me," the boy pleaded. "I w-won't e-ever at-tack you a-a-again."

It clearly pained him to speak.

"I'm sorry," Mox replied. "But I don't show any mercy. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that your mistakes come back to haunt you. If I don't kill you, you'll end up killing me. And I can't have that happen. Your fight is over, Eugene."

Mox stabbed his sword into the boy's chest. The blood sizzled out, and the kid stopped moving.

Mox pulled the sword out and sighed.

He hadn't wanted to do it, but there was no choice.

He took a few steps forward and turned around.

Seven dead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But it was necessary."

Then, he remembered the Dark Knights.

He marched forward to get a better view of the castle.

The front of it was completely engulfed in flames, and dead bodies - Virgilian soldiers - were scattered everywhere.

But there was a problem. The Dark Knights were no longer fighting the first line of defense.

"Group seven, horde charge!!" General Derek Byrd yelled over the roar of the flames.

30 soldiers attacked 3 Dark Knights at full speed, and the warriors simply couldn't swing back fast enough.

The Virgil Army had been assembled and deployed in full power.

Mox had seen many battles before with his eyes, and he knew this was one he couldn't win.

He raised his sword and cried out, "Dark Knights, retreat!!!"

A few turned heads temporarily, but most didn't hear him.

"Damn it!" Mox exclaimed, realizing what he had to do. They couldn't hear him from this far away.

He gripped his weapon tighter and charged into the wall of fire yelling, "Retreat!!! Dark Knights, retreat!!!"

.

Oliver and Charlie finally reached the village.

They had been running for a good ten or more minutes, and Leon and Daniel were right on their heels.

But, now, they were finally across the large desert clearing and were back to the more populated area of the Virgil Empire.

"Oliver, we need to hide!" Charlie yelled. "They've almost caught up to us. Follow me!"

Before Oliver could protest, Charlie took a sharp right and headed straight for some large structure, although Oliver couldn't quite make out what it was in the dark.

Charlie dashed inside and Oliver followed him.

"We can't run anymore, we must hide here," Charlie whispered, out of breath.

Oliver nodded, and the two of them began to jog through the aisle separating the benches into two.

That was when Oliver realized they were inside a church.

He froze, and frantically spun around, his eyes darting all around the place, looking for a clock.

Finally, he saw it.

And it read 1:29.

"Crayon!" Oliver yelled. "We need to get out of here!"

"Hmm?" Charlie stopped at the front of the church, by the cross. "Why? We can hide here! And keep your voice down!"

Oliver caught up with him.

"Crayon, I don't have time to explain, but please, we need to get out of here."

"No, Oliver, I can't run anymore-"

"Crayon, look at me," Oliver grabbed him by the wrist. "We need to get out of here."

Charlie smiled tiredly. Then he bent down, and pulled up his pants.

Oliver's expression instantly changed from fear to horror.

"I've been shot," Charlie showed the wound in his leg. "I can't run anymore, I'm sorry."

"Crayon, but-"

Bang!

The front doors flew open, and Leon and Daniel stormed in.

"I'm on my last bullet," Leon announced out loud, so don't try anything funny."

He cocked his gun and pointed it at Charlie.

Oliver was confused. Why was Leon aiming at Charlie?

The realization hit him almost instantly.

They were on an elevated stage, and he was standing, while Charlie was crouching.

Leon was far away, and thought Oliver was Charlie because he was the shorter of the two.

Oliver turned his head toward Charlie, too terrified to speak.

"It's okay, let him," Charlie whispered.

Oliver shook his head, but no words came out of his mouth.

He was too afraid. Too shocked. Too horrified to say anything.

"Goodbye, Oliver," Charlie mouthed as a single tear escaped his eye.

Bang.

The horrible sound echoed loudly through the whole church as Charlie collapsed at Oliver's feet, dead.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. Oliver was too terrified to speak. Too terrified to cry. Too terrified to move.

Then, Leon's voice broke the ice.

"Finally!!!" he yelled, jumping for joy. "I did it!!!"

"G-good job..." Daniel appeared upset.

Unfortunately, Leon didn't party for too long.

The doors exploded and ten Dark Knights, led by Chandler and Jared, barged into the church.

"Leon and Daniel, you are, under Leader Neon's command, under arrest," Chandler announced.