Nocturne Promenade Episode 4: Dashing Draags
Haunted Suite Part I - Nocturne Promenade Episode 4 - Dashing Draags
The next day saw to Ahkin being deployed to investigate Richie and Friends to follow up on the information received from Fenadu. Ahkin tried to push for going that same night, however Mongurai forbade it, as in the event that there were any squatters or gangsters within there would be the chance that they would be worn out from whatever their nighttime activities were. Not only that, but the pine marten felt it was more tactically sound to deal with things in the daytime.
Jikan grumbled to himself as he drove Ahkin through the mostly-defunct "Tourist District" of Lunaira, displeased at having to work with Ahkin again and the very real potential for him to become "some two-bit errand boy working for some stuck up bunny", as he put it to Barnabas. Ahkin himself was sitting in the backseat while another of Barnabas' employees, Talkis, was sitting in the front. Talkis was a male deer dressed in the traditional light armor that Mongurai Technical's Apothecaries, essentially combat-ready field medics, wore. As Jikan continued to drive through the desolate district Talkis found himself looking out the window.
"I just cannot bring myself to believe the Royal Family of Lunaria let the colony go like this." Said the deer with a frown as they passed another homeless Denebian.
"Yea, and it was all so they all could live it up in their damn greedy, luxurious lifestyle." Replied Jikan with a scowl, "Ran out their funds, then raised taxes and came up with other ways of squeezing money from us. Eventually the _bakas_ran out the businesses with these stupid acts, and soon the amusements packed up and moved out as well."
"You mean the theme parks?"
"Well yea. That and all the other things, too, like the family restaurants, diners, arcades, things of that nature. See, Lunaria was also once known for being one of the few places in the East Coast Colonies were magic was real and taken seriously. Still don't get why there's places in East Coast that don't believe in magic."
"It is not that they do not believe in magic, per se; it is more of the fact that they either do not believe it is as powerful as some claim it is, or they simply more or less disregard it." Explained Ahkin, "There were plenty of soldiers in Wesserx's Royal Army that were the same way. Bloody idiots, it is even part of the empire's history."
"I fail to understand how magic can be so...widely disregarded when it's so readily available and used frequently in other nations and even some of the Colonies." Said Talkis.
"Willful ignorance, I think. Perhaps it is some sort of inherited belief from elsewhere." Ahkin shrugged as Jikan continued his story.
"As I was saying, Lunaria used to be known for its magic. Would pull in all kinds of folks from everywhere. People would pay top dollar to see all kinds of magical tricks and shows; even if they_didn't_ believe in magic they still believed in gettin' entertained. So it became a hot spot for all the tourists and people looking to do something on the weekend. So it figures that people would try to cash in on that. But...the Royal Family got too damn big for their britches and there you go, town kaput."
"And the Royal Guard does nothing to enforce these taxes on the people still here?" Asked Talkis.
Jikan chuckled, "What Royal Guard? And like the town could afford to pay to house 'criminals' anyways. Folks round here gotta rely on gangs for protection and other things. Quite a shame that the Royal Family can't even protect its own damn people."
"So the gangs of Lunaria are really good guys?"
Jikan frowned. "Not all of them."
After a few minutes more they reached an old, derelict looking building with a sign on the front that barely read "Richie and Friends' Family Diner". Many of the windows were boarded up, and the front sliding doors looked decrepit and rusted. The place itself was rather large for what was commonly thought of as a "family restaurant", and Ahkin explained that it was originally conceived as one, but eventually grew to be a family amusement establishment, rather than just a family diner. He also explained that one of the more famous aspects of the place were the "animatrons" fashioned after characters from an old television series called Willow's Tales.
"Animatrons?" Asked Talkis.
Before Ahkin could answer Jikan said, "Yea, animatrons. Androids made just for entertainment purposes. Kinda like an 'animatronic', but not quite. These guys are more life like and able to bring the characters alive way more better than any old dusty robot could."
"You seem to be familiar with the place, Brando." Said Ahikn as he looked to the fennec with slight surprise.
"I remember seein' these old ruins sometime when I was younger. I got curious about it and read up on the place. Man, would've been real great to have the luxury to come here as a kid." Jikan moved towards the door, noting that it appeared to be rusted shut. He also noticed some insignia spray painted on the window boards, one insignia in particular sticking out and appearing more recent than the others.
"We got a gang in here, Ahkin." Said Jikan grimly, looking back to the rabbit.
"You said there are 'good gangs' (as if there could be such a bloody thing!), yes? Then perhaps they will be willing to relocate." Replied Ahkin.
"Not too sure about that, Ahkin. Lot of these Lunarian gangs...they get territorial."
Ahkin frowned. "Would that be a problem?"
"Not unless you don't wanna shed any blood."
"Not an issue with me. This place is owned by Barnabas now, and is my responsibility. Kill as many as it takes to make them leave. But first..." The rabbit surveyed the broken door. There were thick sheets of metal where the windows were, and it was likely the doors were being held shut from the other side by something. He began wondering where else the gang members would enter from before looking to Jikan. "How would you recommend we penetrate the building? I would plan myself, but alas I do not know your full...'capabilities', as it were."
"I think I got something that can get us past that door. You mind me making some noise, or would you rather go in quietly?"
"While I do not mind the use of brute force to break in I would prefer you not alerting the entire building to our presence."
"Yea...but I'd imagine that they wouldn't be keeping watch on the door unless, oh we blow it up or something. Lemme try this..." Jikan approached the broken sliding door, his deck box suddenly glowing. Ahkin and Talkis watched as Jikan's right hand began to glow and the fennec effortlessly punched through the sheet metal and pulled his fist out. Jikan's other arm began glowing and the fennec tore open the sheet metal as if it were cellophane. Once he was done Jikan stepped back while the glow died out.
"You draw power from those cards, Jikan?" Asked Ahkin as he stepped up to observe the fennec's handiwork.
"Well, they don't really give me power. They kinda...give me inspiration for the powers, I guess. Well that and when I found the deck there was a book that said what kinda powers they give...but I kinda found out I can stretch those powers a little depending on the situation."
"I see...and where did you come across such a magical assortment of cards?"
"I found them in an old abandoned novelty store." Jikan shrugged as he pulled out some of the cards to show Ahkin. On the back of the cards was a bright yellow sun against a black background with purple corners, and as Ahkin looked on the art it became clear that these were tarot cards, each one having some very well done and detailed art featuring different characters themed after the Major Arcana. "No idea why they'd have these nice cards lying around. Maybe something happened, or someone dropped it. Oh well, they're mine now."
The group proceeded to step through the now-opened door and surveyed the area. It looked to be the ruins of an entry way, with various rubble and clutter all over the floor, various cracks on the wall and peeled paint, and anything of value missing. There were two open double doors in front of them, and they proceeded through, making sure to keep watch all around them in case anyone - or anything - decided to show itself. They proceeded forward into a short hallway with what looked like some kind of junction in front of them and smaller rooms to their left and right.
Jikan leaned forward towards one of the doors and read a sign to its left, "Security Site A. Seems pretty self explanatory."
"This other location has a sign that denotes it as an employee area. Probably a break room and where folks clock in and clock out." Said Talkis, who then peered into the room and spotted miscellaneous recreational items such as alcohol bottles, discarded cigarettes, and even a hookah with a couple of its stems left lying on the ground.
"Seems like the buggers have made a damn right mess of the place." Said Ahkin with obvious disgust, "We shall certainly be doing this place a favor by routing these gangsters out of this place."
Just then Jikan's ears tweaked as he heard someone moving around. "Hey! Quiet! I hear something!" The fennec followed what seemed to be footsteps coming from Security Site A, and placed his hand on his deck box. As he stepped in the room he saw various pieces of surveillance equipment such as televisions, computers, and cameras, though most of it was defunct and broken. Curiously, there was a large black chest...and he saw something very fast and small duck behind it. Jikan approached cautiously, his eyes locked on the chest for any signs of movement and then gave the chest a good kick.
"Hey! Come out from behind there! Don't think I didn't see you!" The fennec gave the chest another kick. A male brown squirrel then peeked out from behind the chest. He appeared to be nothing more than a little child, and looked quite scared.
"Y-you're not gonna beat me up, are you mister?" The squirrel asked nervously.
"Us? No, we ain't. Why in the world would we beat up a kid?" Replied Jikan.
"If the child chose to attack I myself would not hesitate in putting it down." Ahkin said while entering the room and approaching the chest.
"Yeah...but that's practically a given. He talkin' about us plucking him from behind here and beatin' him up."
"What is your name, child?" Asked Ahkin as he looked at the squirrel.
"It's okay little guy. We aren't gonna hurt you." Said Jikan with an assuring tone.
"S-Serus. Serus is my name." Replied the squirrel.
"You from around here Serus?" Asked Jikan. The squirrel nodded in response, and Jikan continued, "From this area, specifically?" The squirrel nodded again, and Jikan said, "Then you'd know that this place is gang controlled 'cause of the paint on the front windows, right? Why on earth would you come here?"
The squirrel lowered his ears slightly, "I-I didn't know a gang was here, honest! I came in through the back, and by the time I saw the spray paint from inside..."
"It was already too late. _Nanda..._why do gangs have to pick on little kids? They seriously need to leave them out of their nonsense."
"Well! We can't be letting people know that we give some people the slip, can we? Gots to assert our dominance and all that, y'know!"
The group turned and saw a raccoon wearing a white button up shirt with a bowler hat on, with white denim jeans and black boots. He was carrying a baseball bat in his hands and spoke with a distinct Wesserxian accent.
"I was wondering when the dregs of society would show their faces. You must be Wesserxian, judging by your accent...and lower class at that, if I may be so precise. Ah, this locale is quite fitting for a dreg such as yourself." Said Ahkin with a damning smirk.
"Oh so you think your funny eh? Think you can talk to me like that an' get away with it!?"
Jikan turned to the child who was still hiding behind the chest and warned him to get out from behind it, as things were "about to get real damn ugly." The squirrel did as he was told, running to Talkis' side as he felt comforted by the deer's presence for some reason or another. The raccoon looked to the child and smirked.
"Now, I think I can find it within myself to let you three go free if you hand me that child. Our gang needs to teach him a lesson in tresspassin' don't we?"
Serus tried to hide himself behind Talkis' legs, and the deer spoke up, "No, I don't think we'll be doing that. I knew Jikan said that not all the gangs in this place were good, but I didn't think they'd be as foul as to pick on children."
"Eh? Is that so? C'mon, it's not like we're gonna kill him or anything. Just...a simple smacking around."
Jikan pushed his way past Ahkin and Talkis, and glared at the raccoon, "The only thing your gang should be doing is burning in hell! Now piss off before I really get angry!"
The raccoon pointed his bat at Jikan and laughed, "You really should not have said that."
"Ahkin. Talkis. Leave this bastard to me." The rabbit and deer complied, stepping aside to give Jikan some room. Normally Ahkin would not take orders from Jikan...but he preferred to let the fennec get his hands dirty. Not only that, but he noticed Jikan's deck box glowing with power again. What an ample time to do some observation of his arcane powers.
The raccoon rushed Jikan, bat wound back for a home run slam. That chance never came though, as Jikan suddenly teleported behind him and smirked. Before the raccoon had a chance to act Jikan grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the chest. He stepped back and allowed the raccoon to regain his composure.
"This is gonna be just wonderful." Said Jikan, the smirk still on his face.
"You...you bastard! How'd you do that!? Cheatin' eh?!" Exclaimed the raccoon.
Jikan shrugged, "Heh. We are in Lunaria. A dashing Draag such as yourself should expect magic. Draag is your gang's name, right? Anyways, ain't my fault you didn't expect any tricks."
The raccoon raised his bat again and attempted to swing, and this time Jikan's deck box lit up along with the fennec's right arm. He caught the bat mid swing and absorbed practically all of the force with no noticeable damage. The raccoon was at a sheer loss for words as Jikan ripped the bat out of his hands and snapped it in half as his arm stopped glowing.
"Yare yare. Is that all you got? Seriously? You call yourself a gangster? I've seen recruits put up more fight than that!"
The raccoon moved to pull something out of his pocket, presumably a knife, but never got the chance as Jikan struck him in the face, and then proceeded to hammer on punch after punch on the raccoon's chest.
"Taru! Taru! Taru! Take this!" Exclaimed the fennec as he continued to pound away at the raccoon. To finish Jikan delivered a right hook to his face and the raccoon tumbled down, breaking his fall on the black chest.
"Okay! Okay! You win! You're a real fightin' man! Just...just let me go, please!" Begged the raccoon.
Jikan chuckled, "Maybe. Depends on my boss. Hey Ahkin, how sadistic are you feeling right now?"
The raccoon's heart sank.
Ahkin smirked, "Let him live. I want this gang to remember their defeat. But, do take care that you are not too light on him."
The raccoon attempted to pick himself up and run away, but Jikan knocked him to the floor. The fennec looked to the chest, opened it, and threw the raccoon's body so he was on his knees, his body leaned over the chest. The raccoon barely got any time to notice the contents before he felt his head driven into the open lid of the chest. As blood ran down his face Jikan picked him up and held him face to face.
"You're lucky this little kid's here, otherwise I'd have beat you 'til you were bleeding from your eyes. But I'd hate to scar the little guy. So I'm gonna have to let you off easy. Taru!!" Jikan stuck the raccoon one last time and let him crumble to the ground, unconscious.
"Personally, I would have broken some bones." Said Ahkin as he looked at the raccoon's unconscious body.
Jikan shrugged, "We got a kid in the audience. Don't wanna be too graphic, right?"
Ahkin sighed, "I suppose so. Though I must say, for a street urchin you do seem to have a good rock of what is right and wrong. You have morals."
"Not all of us homeless in Lunaria are scoundrels, Ahkin. You should get to know us more sometime. Some of us are just trying to get by."
"Yes...except when you deal cards at Barnabas' casino. I do not see much justice there."
"Yea...well there's a whole hell of a lot of difference between dealing cheat hands at an MVP table in favor of the house than beating up a child. Besides, I deal fair games at the MVP-STAR table."
The squirrel looked to the raccoon, then to Ahkin, and then to Jikan and said, "Actually Mr. Teleporter, I agree with the Wesserx rabbit. I would've kicked his nose in and punched his teeth out."
"Well then, perhaps the next gangster that picks a fight with us will get their teeth knocked out just for you." Said Jikan with a smirk. He then turned to look inside the chest out of curiosity and saw what looked like a small child goat inside. It had white fur, short silver white hair and was wearing a blue gown with some kind of insignia on it composed of a white pillar that had one black wing and one white wing, and diamonds that were all colors of the rainbow, and there were three white four pointed stars in between the diamonds. Jikan recognized the emblem as being from The Willow Kingdom, the main setting of the Willow's Tale television program.
"Hey Ahkin, we got something here. Looks like it might be an animatron." Said the fennec as he continued to look over the goat. Ahkin hurried over and peered into the chest and looked up to Jikan with great surprise.
"This...this is impossible! I never read about any kind of goat animatron in Fenadu's files! And he pulled everything from that moose's mind!"
Apothecary Talkis stepped up to the chest with Serus following him and also looked down at the goat, "Perhaps he didn't know about it, then? I seriously doubt that Laurren would be able to actually hide things from a Mind Sear. Only those who are potent in telepathy could block such a powerful technique."
"How would he not know, then? Hm?"
Jikan looked to Ahkin, "The place eventually came into Laurren's possession, right? Well, what if this animatron was just something he over looked, or was hidden and found by these gangs after The Laurrens stopped giving this place their full attention? And on second thought...just why the hell did Laurren try to keep this place so far away from you? From what I've seen it's just some old restaurant. Not worth it in my opinion."
Ahkin thought for a few moments, most likely thinking of some way to compile a simple explanation, and proceeded with, "It should not surprise you that animatrons are ran on mana, correct? Right, thought so. Well, there is more than one reason why they run off this magical energy, specifically these animatrons. You see, all of the animatrons here are able to access and use their own magical powers. And one of them even uses black magic...now can you imagine something like that falling into 'the wrong hands'?"
Jikan considered Ahkin's words for a few moments, "...y'know what, I can actually. I mean, you or hell Barnabas don't come off as folks that guys like Laurren wouldn't trust. But, he got left in the dust."
"Quite so. Now, onto the rest of this place. I am quite surprised none of the other gang members have appeared yet."
Jikan led the group into the room that was across from Security Site A. There was nothing of real interest aside from various discarded garbage that told of the kinds of things the gang did in their recreational time. Ahkin did manage to find a rather nice combat knife that he took for himself, however. The group continued on to the Main Junction with Jikan in front. As soon as he entered the room he turned to his left, and nearly leapt out of his fur as he saw a huge, broad bodied and muscular purple rabbit standing tall and intimidating. Ahkin and the others rushed into the room as they heard Jikan shout and observed the purple rabbit.
"Jikan! Why the bloody hell are you screaming so loud!? Are you trying to give us away!?"
Jikan looked over to the rabbit with an embarrassed look on his face, "Uh...sorry. This guy really gave me the jump."
Ahkin looked to the rabbit, "That's just Bokko, one of the animatrons. Strange he should be here though...Fenadu's files mentioned that none of the animatrons had any mana to move around on their own."
"They...uh...they move them around on their own, the Draags do I mean sir." Said Serus, "I knows 'cause I heard them talking about it. They put him here to scare people so they know who's coming..."
"Well, it sure seems like it works on some creatures..." Ahkin glared at Jikan, "Surely the gangsters are on their way now."
Talkis took a look at the impressively intimidating animatron, "Poor fellow has no clothes on. And some of his fur is withering away. Oh, he could use quite an upgrade." Talkis walked to Bokko's side, and the deer noticed its eyes following him. "D-did it...it...it...!?"
Ahkin smiled, "Ah, so it seems there is some power left in you after all. Can you comprehend what I am saying?"
Bokko's eyes locked on the short rabbit, his ears slightly tweaking.
"You can hear me. Oh, yes, you poor damned soul. Have no fears, as after we rout these dregs I shall take it upon myself to have you restored."
Bokko's eyes looked to his left, and the group followed his gaze to see a trio of Lunarians approaching them. In front was a male white cat wearing a hooded blue jacket and blue torn jeans, with a male fox to his right and a pink female dog with turquoise freckles here and there to his left.
The cat in the front pulled out a knife and waved it in the direction of Ahkin and his group, "What's that you say? 'Routing'? What's this, some kind of little war? Heh! D'ya hear that friends, this short little bunny wants to wage war on us!"
Laughter was heard around the group, with some unseen voices jeering and saying quips like "They think they can take us!" and "What a small little group! Boinking idiots!"
Jikan stepped over to where Ahkin was and whispered, "So, what do you think we should do? We stay here and they're gonna kick our ass. But if we split up there's a chance we're all gonna get hunted and killed."
"Perhaps this would be the best solution." Said Ahkin as he pulled out what looked to be some kind of high-tech revolver. He pointed it at the cat as it continued to taunt him and squeezed the trigger, and a bright yellow bolt of energy shot forth from the barrel and struck the cat, knocking him clean off of his feet and sending electricity coursing through his body.
"Perhaps your leader would do well not to taunt his superiors, next time." Said Ahkin with a satisfied smirk.
"Oh...you think he was the leader? Oh, I think you're terribly mistaken!" Came a voice from further down the room, hidden in the shadows. Talkis noticed that Bokko's eyes were moving again, this time looking to the right, as if he was trying to look behind him. Talkis looked to the hallway behind them and saw more Draags behind them.
"Uh...guys, we got a problem. We're sort of blocked in here." Said the deer to the others.
"We need a plan." Said Jikan as his eyes darted around the room in front of them, trying to find any Dreegs lurking in the dark, "We stay here, and we die."
"I have five shots left in my gun." Ahkin mentioned as he observed the darkness, looking around to see if he could spot any other gangsters, "I could shoot five of them, cutting down on their numbers immensely. The only thing is, I have not the faintest idea just how many of them there are."
"It can't be that many. A lot of Lunarian gangs like to keep their numbers low. Usually they're made up of close friends of some kind. On average? There's about seven to twenty gang members. I think we should just clear out the ones behind us and get movin'."
"Are you hearing yourself right now, Jikan?! We've a chance to show our power to these dregs! I will not let them defeat me. And retreat? Well that in of itself is a form of defeat."
Jikan sighed as energy started building up in his left hand, "Your pride will be the death of us yet."
Ahkin inquired about the energy in Jikan's hand, and the fennec quietly explained that it was another power from the tarot - The Sun. When the energy exploded it would cause a blinding flash and deafening bang - perfect for getting the jump on some gangsters. All the others had to do was lay hands on Jikan and they would be protected from the flash and noise.
Jikan raised his hand into the air while the voice continued taunting them from the shadows. "Hey guys!" Exclaimed the fennec, "Get a load of this!"
Before anyone could react the energy exploded and sent forth a blinding flash while producing a deafening bang. Jikan quickly turned around and fired his magi-revolver quickly, putting down three gang members in rapid precision: a tigress, a female bat, and a male iguana. Jikan turned his attention to the front and took aim at the pink dog and fired, barely missing her due to her tripping over herself as the bang rang in her ears. He attempted to fire at the fox that was next to the pseudo-leader, but found that he was just slightly off mark. No matter, that was three gangsters down, and every gangster down was another point in Ahkin's favor. He pulled out a speed loader, broke open his revolver and shook out the spent energy crystals inside the gun and reloaded it. Only one word came from Ahkin's mouth: "Charge."
Talkis' visor activated and slid over his eyes, giving him tactical data on both his suit and any targets he picked up. He activated a night vision mode and identified two more targets hiding behind a pillar to the far left and another to the far right behind another pillar, who was armed with a handgun. Jikan explained that was more than likely the only gunman, as guns were extremely hard to come by for Lunarian gangsters. The trio pushed forward while the gangsters were still reeling from the effects. Jikan and Talkis split off to the left while Ahkin split off to the right. Serus in the mean time hid behind Bokko, the rabbit's large stature being a decent enough hiding place during the chaos. Or at least, that was what he thought.
The gunman, or gun woman in this case since they were a female bird, regained her composure and noticed Ahkin coming for her. She began wildly firing shots at the rabbit who took cover behind another nearby pillar.
"Stupid tosser cannot be bothered to aim properly." Ahkin said aloud to himself as he peeked his head out. The bird took shots at Ahkin as soon as she saw his head, but the rabbit pulled his head back as a shot whizzed by his head. He noticed a strangely long pause of gunfire from the bird, and rushed to the other pillar to find the bird aiming at him.
"Get...get down rabbit! Now! And drop the gun!" She ordered.
Ahkin held his hands in front of him, the gun still in his hands but pointed sideways and towards the ceiling, "No need to shout. You've me right where you want me. I suppose you would want me to have my hands above my head and my face down on the ground, or would being on the knees work?"
"F-facedown! Now!!"
Ahkin smirked, "But I can do so much more from my knees."
The bird seemed confused at what Ahkin had said. How in the world could he do such a thing? Was he trying to hit on her? Well, rabbits were known to be immensely sexual...and they did have a rabbit on their own team that was flirty even during gang fights. Though her thoughts were soon cut off by the sensation of intense electrical pain that was sent coursing through her body by Ahkin's magi-revolver.
"Ah, that was quite simple was it not? Remember lassie, focus your thoughts on the target, not what he is saying." The rabbit straightened his tie before proceeding forward.
On the other side of the room Jikan and Talkis were currently engaged with a fox, a rabbit, and a female raccoon wielding a led pipe. Jikan was currently fighting the rabbit and fox two-on-one while Talkis had what appeared to be a blade made of pure white energy in his hands which he clashed against the raccoon's led pipe.
Jikan quickly took a few steps back to put some distance between himself and the rabbit and fox, and tried to think of a plan and fast. The two rushed Jikan, who teleported behind the rabbit and grabbed her tail and yanked back as hard as he could. The rabbit yelped and was thrown off balance enough to where the fennec struck her back and caused her to fall over. The fox spun around and threw a punch at Jikan who bobbed out of the way. The two canines proceeded to exchange several blows with each other while the rabbit picked herself up and prepared herself to get back in the fight. Jikan's hand began glowing red, and on his next blow the fox found his shoulder fur suddenly burst into flames.
"AH! FIRE! HELP ME! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" Screamed the fox as he attempted to put the fire out by smacking his shoulder. The rabbit got a hit on Jikan's face while he was distracted and amused by the fox's suffering, and stumbled slightly to the side.
Talkis, on the other hand, was managing his opponent quite well. Whoever this raccoon was, she was quite skilled with her use of the led pipe, wielding it with great control and force. She had even managed to land a blow to his side earlier, and if it was not for the shields his armor had it more than likely would have done some serious damage. They continued their clashing, a bright flash occurring whenever Talkis' energy blade made contact with the raccoon's pipe. Talkis attempted to get a blow on her chest, but she intercepted the blow, causing their weapons to be locked together. At this time she also heard the fox's screaming, and knew she had to do something about Talkis so she could help her friend. She pushed forward against Talkis, causing the deer to stumble slightly back while she swung and connected with the deer's legs, knocking them right out from under him and sending the medic to the floor. She then turned her attention to Jikan, who was dodging blows from the rather fast and agile rabbit. She attempted to swing at Jikan, but something caught the pipe mid air. Jikan, the rabbit, and the raccoon all stopped fighting to look at just what was going on. The raccoon tried to move her pipe, but could not as this invisible force would not let go of her pipe. Before the raccoon could do anything else Talkis came from behind and grabbed her in a chokehold, having extinguished his energy blade, and at the same time the ghostly force that held the raccoon's pipe let go.
"Clockwork!" Exclaimed the rabbit as she began throwing more punches at Jikan, "You dirty, cheating bastard! First you teleport and now you have ghost friends!?"
Jikan put his guard up and refrained from attacking back, instead looking for the perfect opportunity to strike back, "Nah, don't think so. I have no idea what that was, but I guess I must've been in the right place at the right time. Looks like I just got the Royal Flush..." Jikan dodged another punch and caught the rabbit's kick that was aimed right for his groin. "...and you got the bum hand." He threw the rabbit's leg up, causing her to fly slightly into the air and fall on her back. Jikan followed up with a blow to her stomach, knocking the wind right out of her. The fennec kneeled over the rabbit with a disappointed look on his face.
"Tut tut. And you have such a nice body too."
Jikan looked to the fox, who had been rolling on the ground in an attempt to put out the fire. Just as his efforts were successful Talkis grabbed his hair and drove his head into a nearby wall, causing him to black out.
"Well! That was easy!" Said Jikan with a large grin on his face.
"Oh yeah...easy for you..." Replied Talkis as he breathed heavily, "...I only took two blows with led pipe."
"But ah...your shields put up with it, right?"
"The suit's shields only put up with so much of the damage. And aside from that, they don't absorb the attack fully. It just...lessens the blows. Instead of being hit with led pipe it was more or less like she was punching me on the side with full force."
Jikan was about to add something when he heard a voice calling out.
"Fennec! Bun-Bun! Deer! If you really care about this kid, you'll come up to the main stage!"
Talkis and Jikan rushed to the main stage, but before they could get too close they were ordered to stop where they were - between two pillars and a good distance away from the stage.
On stage a calico cat held Serus at gunpoint, handgun pressed firmly into the squirrel's temple. Serus was in front of the cat and held in place by his other arm. Ahkin noticed a tall brown bear animatron wearing a short top hat behind the two by roughly three or four steps. The rabbit identified this robot as Richie the Bear, the leader of the Richie and Friends characters. Like Bokko his eyes were alight, though they were locked onto Dash and Serus. Perhaps if he had some kind of energy to move...
"So you make a return to picking on children again have you? What is the matter, you have no boldness to face us on directly?" Said Ahkin.
"In life you gotta do what you can to win. And if that means taking this kid hostage, so be it!" Said the cat with a large grin. "Now, don't move a step closer, or I'll blow this kid's brain's out!"
Ahkin turned to Jikan, "Brando, why not use your teleportation magic to get on stage and save the child?"
"My magic ain't gonna reach him at this distance. I'll barely close the distance between us before he blows that kid's brains out." Replied the fennec with a frown.
Ahkin looked to the animatron behind Serus and the cat, and began to think. Slowly a plan began to form in his mind, and he looked the cat straight in the eyes, "Feline, what is your name?"
"You want to know my name? Well fine, it's all good if you remember the cat that outsmarted you! It's Dash!" Replied the cat with a large grin.
"Dash eh? I take it that is some sort of nickname, hm? Quite terribly stupid if I do say so myself. Why Dash? Is it a remark on how fast you ruin your plans?"
Dash quickly became irritated at Ahkin's insults, and pressed the gun harder into Serus' temple, causing the child to cry out in fear. "Do you think this is a game?! We're dealing with a kid's life here! The very same one that you're trying to save and that you risked your life to fight for!"
"In fact, I do believe this is a game. An interesting chess match between you and I. It is quite obvious you will never shoot the child...as he is the only thing preventing us from tearing you apart." Said Ahkin as he paced slightly to and from, his eyes never breaking from Dash's.
"So tell me then, Bun-Bun, what's ya next brilliant move?"
Ahkin pointed his gun at Dash, and then moved the sights slightly to the left and squeezed the trigger twice, sending two bolts of electric energy whizzing past the cat's face and right into the animatron behind him. Dash froze as soon as he saw the shots burst forth from the barrel of the magi-revolver.
"You...you actually shot at me!" Exclaimed Dash with surprise as his grip on both his gun and Serus lessened slightly. "Guess you don't really care about this kid, do ya?! Huh!?"
"Perhaps I do, and you are just not seeing it due to the density of your mind." Ahkin retorted as he casually broke open his magi-revolver and began reloading it.
"Then why didn't you shoot me!?"
Ahkin held the gun up so Dash could see it plainly, "As you can see, this is clearly a magi-revolver. It shoots electrical energy. If I shot you there would be a high chance that Serus would be electrocuted; even if that was not the case your muscles would contract and generally spasm about, which could result in you involuntarily shooting Serus. Either way, we lose."
"Heh heh heh...so you're just tryin' to creep me out, huh?"
"Perhaps I am. Perhaps I am merely distracting you until Jikan or Talkis take action and launch a sneak attack on you. Or perhaps I am distracting you until _he_strikes."
Dash wondered who in the world Ahkin was talking about and darted his eyes all around the room. He noticed Jikan was nowhere to be found, but the deer was still there next to Ahkin. Where did he go? Behind the overturned table? No. Behind a pillar? No not there either. Dammit, where!? He kept looking and looking until he heard loud, thumping footsteps behind him. The cat turned his head around slowly to find a reactivated Richie looming over him, eyes glowing a cold, angry blue color.
Dash pushed Serus away from him who promptly ran as fast as he could from the cat and Richie. Before Dash could react any further Richie swatted him across the stage.
"All bets are off!" Exclaimed Jikan as he rushed towards the stage, leapt onto it, and ran over to Dash.
"S-Starshine! Help me out here!" Exclaimed the cat. Three sparks suddenly flew towards Richie and exploded in the animatron's face in multiple colors which caused him to stumble back a couple of steps, and a pink dog entered stage right and began focusing her energies. Richie turned and glared at the canine before grabbing his hat and throwing it at her like a disc. Starshine thought that this was a rather pathetic attack and was prepared to catch it when it slipped right through her fingers and smacked her in the face. For such a menial looking thing it sure was unreasonably hard and heavy. Starshine was knocked to the ground as the hat continued flying, but she quickly regained her composure and stood up just in time to be knocked down from behind by the hat's return trip to Richie, who had by this time closed the distance between himself and the canine. As she got up she found herself seized around the neck by Richie. Starshine grabbed his arms and desperately tried to pull the animatron off of her, but Richie was simply too strong. As she continued to struggle the canine suddenly found herself suddenly feeling slowly drained, as if the power and energy from her very soul was being stolen from her.
"What are...what are you...doing...?" Starshine managed to breathe out before Richie drained the last of her energy which caused her to faint. Once she went limp Richie released her and turned his attention towards Dash, who was currently engaged in a fight with Jikan. The fennec found that Dash possessed superhuman strength, agility, and power, possibly using his own mana reserves to give him these abilities. As he barely managed to block a blow by the cat he thanked his stars that Ahkin decided against shooting him - a single electric bolt more than likely would not have been enough to bring him down.
"What's the matter, fennec? Ain't gonna use your fancy teleportation magic on me? What, you run out for the day or something!?" Dash exclaimed as Jikan barely bobbed out of the way of a kick.
"You use mana, you should know! Can't go relying on it only for combat, in case you run out of it!" Replied Jikan with a smirk on his face.
"One teleport's enough to do you in, eh? Good thing to know!"
Jikan's smirk grew wider, "Don't know how you're gonna put it to use; looks like you just about drew The Dead Man's Hand!"
Dash withheld a punch that he was going to throw towards Jikan's face, but before the cat could say anything Jikan said, "I know exactly what you'll say! 'How could that be?! Can you see into the future!?' And now...!"
"How can that be?! Can you - what the hell!?"
While Dash was distracted by Jikan's comment the fennec delivered a kick to the cat's chest, causing him to stumble backwards and straight into Richie. The animatron grabbed the cat by his neck with both his hands and held him in place as he screamed out in terror, electricity surging through his body.
Ahkin's face grew into a smile as his ears slightly perked up, "Remarkable! Richie can store energy from mana-based attacks and use them later!"
Talkis meanwhile looked on in horror as Richie exhausted the last of his electrical mana, sending Dash into unconsciousness. The fearsome bear released Dash as he tumbled down and off the stage. Richie looked to Ahkin, and appeared like he was going to say something when his body locked up and his eyes darkened.
"Wh-what happened to him?!" Exclaimed Talkis.
"Simple. He ran out of power." Said Ahkin, surveying Richie's now defunct body, "Like Bokko he must have been running in a low-power standby mode. There was another animatron I found as well, a bird that Fenadu's Files identify as Tammy. She too was immobile, only able to move her eyes. However, it was those eyes that prevented capture by one of this cat's members." Ahkin walked towards Dash's unconscious body and gave it a good look-over, "And now I remember where I have seen this cat before."
"Oh really? And where did you see them?" Said Jikan, who approached the edge of the stage.
"This cat was part of the group of dregs that Laurren paid off to ruin his store in his insurance scam. Jikan, Talkis, did you manage to see a female raccoon with green hair and a grey fox?"
Talkis nodded, "We did. Apparently the raccoon's name is 'Clockwork'."
"Mmm. Such a quaint name. At any rate..." Ahkin pulled a cellphone from out of his jacket, "...I need to place some calls. On top of that, we still have two animatrons to find: Hook Jr the fox, and Arclite the rabbit. As for the gang..." Ahkin chuckled, "We'll throw them to the street. Word will spread about how we defeated them. And then the other gangs will know that any attempts on us will only end in failure."
Talkis thought for a couple of moments, and then said, "So...Ahkin, what are your plans now?"
Ahkin smirked, "These past few hours had me thinking of various ideas and opportunities. I think...I think I shall start a business. Or rather, cause a Grand Reopening."