Chapter 23: it’s not worth it.
The two boys watched as the women stood unfazed in the midst of Ediki Chikoon’s attack. She waved her arm back revealing a crimson revolver hanging at the right side of her waist. She drew it forth and aimed straight ahead at the naked laughing bank robber.
She fired and a crimson falcon shot out along side the rotating bullet as it tore through the air.
Ediki Chikoon clenched both of his hands into fists and the numerous blood particles around him quickly formed a thick red armour around him blocking the woman’s bullet. He then charged forward with several bone like spikes erupting from his back. He quickly emerged out of the simmering hole and closed the distance between himself and Jupitika.
“Come here sexy let me show you a good time.” He swung his right arm around as it grew and deformed disgustingly.
Jupitika quickly jumped back dodging his mighty swing.
At the side of the battle Okimodo sighed in frustration. If this woman succeeded in arresting Ediki Chikoon then he could kiss his prestige goodbye. Okimodo would surely suffer a set back if he didn’t kill Ediki himself. In the long run Okimodo needed her to fail but for the time being he could watch the battle from the sidelines and use the woman as a probe to study Ediki Chikoon’s abilities. If the battle went in the woman’s favour then he would quickly knock her unconscious and steal the finishing blow for himself. If it went in Ediki Chikoon’s favour then he would wait until the woman was too injured to further contribute to the fight and then he’d swoop in to kill him.
Jupitika drew forth a whip with her left hand that quickly caught fire. She swung it around producing multiple small explosions that all scorched the blood particles in the air causing the sent of burnt blood to be unbearable.
Ediki screamed in pain and attacked again transforming his lower body into that of a crimson centipede. Be dashed towards Jupitika before swinging one his boney protrusions forward towards her. She ducked under the attack before spinning around and whipping Ediki Chikoon’s waist. The man screamed as his right arm caught ablaze before jumping up and landing upside down on the ceiling. He then zoomed across the bank’s ceiling like a giant red roach before jumping all over the place and spreading blood particles everywhere.
“Crap!” They all dove and took cover as the blood particles converged into blood bullets that shot and ricocheted across the ravished lobby.
Okimodo began to rack his brains. How was he going to deal with a resonator like that? It seemed like he was weak to fire.
At the next moment Okimodo’s chest expanded in size as he took in an enormous amount of air. He then stood up to look for Ediki who was still flying around the place. As blood bullets pierced his skin and left small slashes he used spectrum dash to slow down time and spot Ediki Chikoon. Okimodo quickly spotted the man just above him likely in the middle of a sneak attack. Okimodo unleashed a pillar of flames straight into his shit eating grin wearing face. At the same time he deactivated spectrum dash and watched on as Ediki Chikoon was engulfed in a massive explosion that rippled through the bank.
Ediki Chikoon fell to the ground screaming in agony before he quickly darted back into the vault ceiling the path behind him off with a thick barrier of blood.
Helious quickly appeared beside Okimodo and the two approached the blood barrier cautiously. It gradually grew pale before turning into solid bone firmly blocking off the vault.
“You can both leave.” Jupitika declared as she joined the two.
“Crap.” Okimodo didn’t like where things were going. “Sweet heart we’re just here to help. Do you really want the bank’s money to go to waste.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Jupita’s deep blue eyes moved up and down as she analysed the two boys before pondering on what to say next. It was impossible to escape the vault from the inside due to it being comprised of solid metal which was a material that few class four resonators could destroy. She had to find some way to apprehend Ediki Chikoon and prevent the two shang rokai from slaughtering him. If she failed and Ediki Chikoon was killed then she’d never be credited for his demise. She spent much of the past year busting her ass to get promoted to squad captain and the arrest of Ediki Chikoon was the next step she needed on the ladder. Fortunately Ediki Chikoon was now stuck in one place he could not escape from. Unfortunately however, this meant that she now had to report this back to her colleagues which meant that there would be more anti resonator division officers turning up. If that happened then she’d face even more competition for the prize.
“Listen he’s probably going to be hiding there for a while.” Jupitika said. “It’s for the best that you leave and do some other jobs. He likely won’t be out for hours.”
Okimodo stroked his chin as a vale of darkness engulfed everything. He now stood in a dark star filled void with four ethereal figures surrounding him. Each of the figures floated in mid air about a metre above a suspended stone stand from which radiated beautiful rainbow ripples.
The figure directly ahead in front of him had the appearance of a man in a business suit and a giant cigarette for a head.
Okimodo heaved a sigh before speaking. “Cigarette Head I’ve come to seek your guidance. I’m sure you already know I’ve found myself in a difficult situation.”
Upon hearing Okimodo's voice the top of Cigarette Head’s head lit up and a plume of translucent smoke rose from up into the stars. He spoke and his voice was raspy and weak sounding as if he had a terminal illness. “There is an obvious logical solution to your predicament. Go the fuck home, five points aren’t worth this headache.”
Snapping back to reality, Okimodo turned the face the other two.
Jupitika dreaded his next words. If they decided to stay here then she’d have no choice but to aid Ediki Chickoon in escaping. By ensuring his escape she could guarantee that no one else could get the credit of stopping him. If she couldn’t succeed then the next best thing was making sure everyone else failed.
“Let’s leave Helious.” Okimodo sighed. “We’re wasting our time here.”
Helious stared at Okimodo with a puzzled expression before shrugging. “Fine.”
Jupitika watched on with a relieved expression as the two boys left, greatfull that this complication was resolved.
After several minutes of flying Okimodo had arrived at his new apartment looking to shower and get changed out of his bloody clothes. Helious had continued ahead to get another job request. Okimodo had a gut feeling that Ediki Chikoon wouldn’t be leaving the vault any time soon so it was best to forget about him for the time being.
He unlocked the front door before entering into the building. Shipo was long gone leaving the apartment in an empty silence. He had just over an hour left before he had to leave for the train station so he continued on to the bathroom locking the front door behind him. He showered and got changed into a more traditional black Azurai under robe and sandals before he went into the kitchen. He retrieved the moonshishi from the fridge that had now grown ice cold. It was a meal that could be consumed either hot or cold so Okimodo got stuck in right away.
“I wonder what that Cheadle girl is doing right now.” Okimodo became melancholic as the rich flavour of the moonshishi melted into his mouth. The image of the adorable blonde girl appeared in his mind and lingered for some time. After a few seconds the image began to change becoming that of a girl with dark hair and green eyes. “Kaiya…”
Okimodo’s mood quickly became blue as he continued to think about the green eyed girl. He remembered how proudly she proclaimed that he was her boyfriend earlier in the day and laughed in a self deprecating manner.
Today was Okimodo’s first day as a shang rokai. When he was a kid he imagined that this day would be one of the most emotional days of his life. He had even imagined himself crying and yet as Okimodo sat down staring at his meal not a single tear fell.
Okimodo continued to finish the meal before getting up and going into his room to prey. He got on his knees and prostrated, slamming his forehead on the floor. “I thank you Heshea for every new and beautiful day-“
As Okimodo continued to recite the prayer, his mind drifted back towards the previous topic. Why was it that he felt so little accomplishment in achieving one of his long term goals? That’s when something clicked in his mind.
As he finished his prayer he stood up and said. “Shang rokai? That was never where my dream ended. I remember now, my goal is to become a hero of an epic. To have my story be written down into legends that inspire good in people. Just like Heshea.”
End of chapter 23.