Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 14: Eosalmo, the Usurper

"Usurper..." Rick snarled as everyone stared at the looming monster that was Sal.

Akikta was at a loss for words. His greatest enemy, Lord Sake, was right in front of him. He hadn't expected to see him anytime soon...

Despite that, he didn't feel an overwhelming amount of fear. Instead, Akikta's anger bubbled to the surface. "I told you not to call me that!" He shouted in irritation, catching when Sal referred to him as A.

At least, he thought he was referring to him.

"Oh, don't worry. I wasn't." Sal answered casually.

It was then Akikta noticed the two large frying pans in Sal's scaly silver claws. Both pans had a bronze handle with a silver rim; the main body's color was black. On the backside of each pan were miniature spikes.

Sal raised one pan, pointing at Eight. "I was talking to her."

Eight's brows furrowed angrily. "Don't call me that." She hissed.

"Come on, Astra. Don't be like that."

"That isn't my name anymore!" Eight snapped angrily.

Sal was clearly pushing some buttons he ought not to press. But who was Akikta to stop him? The more he pissed off the agents, the better. Plus, he was learning something new about Eight the more Sal kept yapping.

"This him?" An unfamiliar feminine voice asked.

Akikta spun around to where the voice came from, seeing Coral looking at Eight. "It is." She confirmed with a nod.

Akikta was still in shock that he heard the captain speak for the first time in... well, ever. So much so, he hadn't noticed Coral's hair abruptly glow, similar to when Eight was up against the Chrome Hog.

Akikta eyed the room, noticing the different looks on each person's face.

Metta, Shiver, and Big Man looked disturbed by Sal's appearance. Judging by the looks in their eyes, they've never seen anything quite like him. Even Little Buddy, who was usually in his own little world, seemed to acknowledge Sal's presence by just...staring. It was creepy.

Frye had a giddy expression as her feet repeatedly stomped on the ground. Akikta could faintly hear her muttering, "Final Boss! Final Boss! Final Boss!", giving the impression that she was excited. However, even her excitement seemed forced, as, despite her grin, the sides of her oversized head were beading with droplets of sweat.

Rick, Misaki, Coral, Eight, Pearl, and Marina looked deathly serious. Akikta found it uncanny for Marina to look serious since she normally had the friendliest/shiest-looking appearance out of everyone else.

And, of course, there was Nakji with an angry look in her eyes, similar to Akikta.

Everyone's face matched what he expected. Well, almost everyone's.

"..." Callie was standing in the back of the room near the door, clutching her roller in a vice grip.

Was she... trembling? Yeah, she was. She was shaking like a leaf with dilated eyes. No one but Akikta seemed to notice. She also mumbled some words, but he wasn't close enough to hear them.

"Tch." The sound of someone sucking their teeth made Akikta turn to Sal. It looked like he had also surveyed the room. "Greatly weakened them, huh? That girl needs to get her eyes checked." Sal grumbled, looking less confident than he had a few seconds ago.

Akikta almost smiled upon seeing Sal's agitated facial expression, but Sal did so first, looking at him. "Come on Akikta. Don't make this harder than it needs to be. You know you can't hide."