Cloud Save

Chapter 9. I can see it! I can see it!

The flaming tendrils that Joe had sent into the sides of the ravine had started to slow them down but were losing their form, embers floated up as Joe tried to concentrate, "THINK THINK THINK! HOW CAN WE SAVE AIKO!?" Joe's hair started to spark as he thought more and more. Aiko would shut her eyes tightly as she felt something wrap around her, as if it was grabbing her very existence her everything! As if some powerful heat was going to keep her there and never let her go. Her body felt cold though as she and Joe plummeted further into the ravine.

"There is a large ravine that runs through every biome per say, but you contestants willing to travel into said ravine will be rewarded! For in this ravine is a powerful extract which is linked directly to the abilities you have been granted! While this does come at a great price if your not going to use it earnestly or at all, you see the extract gives you a part of your ability you may not have known about and will boost it. If you manage to survive what it'll do to you that is" a announcer said as he walked along the stage infront of all the kids who would be participating in the Cloud Save. He had a blue and green suit on with a mask that had nothing but a ;] plastered on it.

"SAVE HER! SAVE HER! SAVE HER! SAVE AIKO!" Joe's mind was filled with the same repeating message as he started to breath heavily noticing how close they were to reaching the bottom, something gleamed back at Joe "Huh?" He looked confused before recalling the last of his flames. "SAVE HER! SAVE HER! SAVE HER! SAVE HER!" His thoughts boomed louder as he tried to think, his body would order his flames to wrap around Aiko before tossing her into the air "Joe!" Aiko yelled as she tried to fight his flames, Joe smirked at Aiko as he used his flames to shoot her far up into the air "Aiko, I love-" he slammed into some kind of liquid. The drop itself never would've allowed for him to survive but as he sunk into the liquid it started to burn him, worse then any flame he had tested on himself but as he slowly sunk lower and lower he realized something had wrapped around him. It felt rubbery at first but as it wrapped around him he could feel the sudden rigidity it held to its form was this some kind of plant? The liquid it's inside of was hot as hell to burn someone who was made to handle flames and felt even more dense then syrup or a glue like mixture that couldn't have held a plant like anything let alone a possibility of complicated life! He started to lose consciousness as he felt the heat become more and more apparent this time it was like the vines and water was tearing away his skin cell by cell. He kept his eyes shut and forced his mouth to stay closed but eventually he opened his eyes the liquid completely see through, the vines a dark red, and then he opened his mouth to scream only for the liquid to hurridly enter his body and melt away his skin, but seemingly mixing with his insides.

Aiko would be caught by Neiko and Mal and pulled up to safety. She stared at the ravine longingly the flames around her danced as they slowly ebbed away and became embers, she would grab an Ember and hold it tightly "Joe...." she said softly before getting a blow delivered to her by Mal "You have no right to feel bad after what you've done!" Mal yelled. Neiko would grab Mal only to be sent back by an explosion of light "Why....you were the sole person in the world he thought he could always love! You were his best friend Aiko! So why the hell did you just kill him!?" Mal continued.

Joe would be looking towards the outside of the ravine and as he did he would look around and see a set of flames, he felt almost akin to these flames. As he tried to reach towards one he could hear his mind scream again "AIKO! AIKO! AIKO!" He would retract his hand and smile as his thoughts started to calm down "Aiko..." He muttered as the liquid started to turn red around him, surprisingly it didn't just boil his blood but after a moment Joe would notice it. He was perfectly fine now. After his realization he smirked and would start to crawl his way out of the red syrup like liquid "Mal....I won't let them take you....and as for you Aiko...." He smiled as he pulled himself out of the liquid the smile quickly faded as he puked up something disgusting and red back into the ravines river that ran through it and what saved him. "I'm gonna make you undoubtedly mine~" His voice bounced all over the ravine walls and as he looked around he would notice the evenness of the sides of the ravine sides that acted more like walls "the hell?" He would start to fly up using his flames and would try to forget what he saw because he knew this place was just the America's but made to be perfect for the Cloud Save but how far did they go to make this entertaining?

Mal would have been left by the others and she stood there, tear stained cheeks and ripped jeans, pissed off at them all. She thought she could still hear it but she knew it was impossible to have heard Joe's voice when no one else had, she knew even if he was alive the village was going to burn, that and she had known all along it was going to come to this but she knew that Joe would now be determined to kill Aiko or kidnap her. "What? Did you get yourself a case of Stockholm syndrome?" The pink devil joked as he landed behind her the grass beneath him being burnt and charred. Mal would whip around and quickly wrap her arms around him as she slowly started to change her form back to her 8 year old self form, she cried in his arms as she started to spout nonsense. A minute of this and Joe would sigh and grab her chin "you don't have to stay in this form for me anymore ok? I don't think there's anyone around to care if I carry another 15 year old around like a little child~" he joked but as Mal went back to her usual self she realized he would keep holding her if she didn't say something about it so she shrugged and let it happen, besides soon he would go back to focusing on either killing a good majority of people or getting Aiko again. Once they got back to the cave it would be dark Mal felt lucky that Joe didn't mind sharing the bed even when she wasn't in her child form but his response to asking was that it made him feel like a dad so he didn't mind, Mal smiled as they laid together but she knew that whatever tomorrow was she didn't want it to come so whatever she did plan on doing she would make sure it would make today be stained in Joe's memory.

Aiko would be restless that night as nightmares plagued her. She remembered what the announcer had said before they would be sent to the continent sized arena "If you manage to survive that is" he wasn't talk about the Cloud Save in general he was talking about the extract inside of the ravine and Aiko had seen what would happen to people who couldn't survive, they would be reanimated for a short period of time before their bodies decayed they had a weakness to any form of powerful light so when she had first encountered it she had some way of fighting it off but if Joe had became like that then would he lose his weakness to light? Would he become the perfect killing machine? I mean he already was proficient at killing and if the extract didn't kill him then it boosted him but was it enough to prevent his death? No and if it was....Aiko and everyone else was in serious danger.