Chapter 32
A/N: Last chapter remaining in my drafts... Looks like if I want to update next time, I have to really pick up that writing pen which hasn't been moved for like one and a half year.
"Geri, don't," Xavi halted just when Gerard intended to hand over the golden container, "We can't surrender to him so easily."
"How do you know about the Wise? Where are you from and who sent you here?" Andres questioned the mysterious man boldly.
"Why am I answering you?" He replied with a snicker, "Just hand me the container, or else you are not going anywhere except hell."
"Oh my, he's really going to have us killed!" Cesc exclaimed, "We'd better run!"
"Where else we could run to? He's now killing us," In fact, Xavi growled, drawing Frenzy out of his scabbard, "We got our weapons. We have nothing to fear!"
The mysterious man seemed to have flinched a little. However, he remained his ambition, "Your so-called weapons are useless to my massive defensive wall, idiots."
"We don't believe in you," Xavi grunted, swinging his sword towards the shadow, "Prepare for attack! Força Barça!"
His sword hit the transparent defensive wall and was repelled by an unknown force.
"I told you, shrimp," the dark shadow smirked, swaying his sword glimmering in silver. A sinister, familiar face shone under the glow from Christine's eyes, "Now it is my turn."
"Cesc is right, which is rare, that we should run," Gerard trembled, tapping on Xavi's shoulder like running out of patience, "Head towards the exit!"
"No, there's a metal door blocking our entrance," Andres let out a hopeless mourn, "There's no way we can get out!"
"Guys, look up there!" Christine's eyes scanned over a wire netting on the ceiling, from where a ladder extend.
"Climb up that ladder and open that net then," Xavi led the way up the ladder, "The wire netting is locked by a three-digit alphabet password!"
"Puta, that mysterious shadow is coming!" Andres spat from below, "We got no time to figure that key out."
KEY... a word flashed through Xavi's mind. It couldn't be the same password with the one in his weapon quest. Nevertheless it was worth a try.
With the help of Christine's light, Xavi gave himself a chance before the lock was pulled down with little effort.
"Come on!" Xavi pushed up the wire netting and entered the vent, disregarding his confusion.
"This is impossible! How do you manage to know the password?" Cesc was awed, "You must've set that lock thing up."
"Weapon quest, well, I'll explain it to you later," Xavi closed the wire netting gate right after three of his teammates and the Claudonese had entered the vent, "The wiring net won't hold the mysterious shadow long. Move quickly while he's coming up to get us."
---
"I'm running out of ideas, man," Sergio pondered around the small room, "How can we get through that wall to rescue them? It's only one thin rock."
PANG!
"Did you just step on something?" Iker frowned with his arms akimbo.
Sergio removed the soil on where he was standing. A drainage cover was seen below his feet.
"That's it, Sese!" Fernando chanted, "You're a genius!"
"A genius... Am I?" Sergio was still confused.
"This is the way we can find them," Fernando continued, "Through the drainage!"
"Eww no... I swear I'm not getting underneath that cover!" Sergio flinched with a disgusted face.
"Yes we are," Iker commanded, "We are a team and if Xavi... our mates are having trouble, we must not stand aside."
"Aye, aye, captain," Sergio mumbled as he removed the drainage cover, "Hey, that doesn't smell bad."
"Perhaps it's only a secret passage way," Iker suggested thoughtfully, "Let's discover where it can lead us to."
---
The four Spaniards crawled inside the vent, following the lead by the Claudonese. Their path became clearer while the light from Christine's eyes grew stronger.
"Here comes the first intersection point," Christine announced, "Left or right?"
"How do we know?" Cesc grumbled, "It is you who knows Claudon best."
"I do not know vents well, my apology," Christine sighed, "Looks like we have to pick randomly."
"What if we pick the wrong route and are stuck in here forever?" Andres panicked, "This is like a labyrinth!"
"We can go back to the previous intersections to try again even if we choose the wrong way, right?"
"No Cescky, the shadow is only a few turns behind us," Xavi stated, "We only have one chance."
"Wait, if Xavi managed to unlock the password in the vent because of the weapon quest..." Gerard muttered, "...I have an idea. Follow me."
Left, left, right, left, left, left, right, right, left, left. This should be the right route. The gang followed Gerard as he turned left for the first intersection, and so on. Until the seventh intersection, Gerard stopped.
"What's wrong?" Andres asked from behind, "Why are we stopping?"
"Don't tell me you forgot," Cesc rolled his eyes, before receiving a grunt from Gerard.
"Oh how I wish my Iker were here. He got the best memory," Xavi grinned to himself, "He can even remember my goal against him 17 years ago! Força Barça!"
"Mushroom, enough for your lovey-dovey daydreams and give me some time," Gerard groaned.
"It's not me who isn't giving you time," Xavi stated, "The mysterious shadow is only a few miles away now!"
"You ain't going anywhere!" An evil laugh echoed behind among the walls of the vent.
"It should be 'right'," Gerard quickly turned right, avoiding the impatient gaze of others.
"Move faster, Geri!" Cesc yelled, "The shadow is right behind me!"
"This is the fastest speed that I can get..." Gerard panted, crawling as fast as a grumpy infant, before interrupted by Cesc.
"Ah! My right foot," Cesc screamed as the mysterious took grip on his ankle, pulling him away from the group, "Someone please help me..."
"Now you are in my hands... Give me the Wise!"
"We have to stop to help Cesc!"
"No, not this way, you are pulling me apart!" Cesc whimpered while Andres grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, "Hold on a second, I can take my shoe off."
With a few kicks and struggle, Cesc managed to loosen his shoe and break free from the shadow's grasp.
"Man, that's the limited version of Adidas Superstar," following Gerard's lead, Cesc mourned, "That right shoe is so comfy. I called it righty."
After turning left at the last intersection, the vent led to the floor of an empty, ancient dungeon. The ancient dungeon was established with yellow brick walls, nothing except a gate in the front and yellow bricks around.
"Close the exit of the vent," Xavi ordered, "Block it with those loosen bricks, at the corner of the room, as obstacles."
"There are only three bricks here," said Gerard, using all his strength to carry the three heavy bricks, "But they are sure to be bulky enough to block that mysterious guy."
"Good, now it's time to figure out how to open that gate."
---
"Can anyone turn the lights on?" Sergio startled just as Fernando closed the drainage cover from above, "It's too dark down here in this secret passage way."
"Perhaps Vengeance can help," Iker dragged his sword out from the marble white scabbard. The emerald core embedded to the cross section lit up as the blade shone in bright golden light.
"Oh gosh, that is magical," Sergio watched him in awe, "Can we swap weapons?"
"No," the captain rejected with a smug face, "It only deserves to be mine."
"Badass Iker," he muttered.
"Seems like this passage way isn't leading us across the thin wall," With the help of the light, Fernando peeked at their path, "Anyway, let's go."
The narrow passage way wasn't long. Soon they approached a locked gate at the end of the route.
"I can hear Gerard's voice from here," Fernando told them, "They must be behind the gates now."
All of the sudden, an enormous ten-legged "spider" leaped onto Sergio's back, before the defender squealed hysterically.
"Yikes! Get rid of it! Quick!"
Fernando yanked the "spider" out from Sergio's back. However, it was still aggressive for another attack.
"Why is it always three of us who encounter terrible extraterrestrial creatures?" Sergio trembled in fright, "It was the catwolf a couple of days and now a ten-legged spider!"
"Watch out!" Iker exclaimed as the "spider" spat out cobweb, enwrapping the captain and the freckled striker together inside the web, as if they are the fillings inside a sushi roll, face to face.
"This combination is a bit weird to be honest," Fernando blushed, feeling the warmth around Iker's body, while the older man failed to avoid embarrassment by creating distance between himself and the blond inside this tight trap.
"Well, Sese," Fernando continued, "Seems like now you are responsible for defeating that 'spider' and free us from here."
"Oh, don't tell me that I'm the last man standing..." Sergio shuddered with fear. This ten-legged "spider" was definitely going to create nightmares.
"Use your weapons!" Iker advised right before the "spider" was ready to attack again.
"...Fury Strike!" Sergio unleashed the special power from Hephaestus. Fire blazed from the tip of blade to the heart of the ten-legged "spider". The "spider" was too late to take any reaction, and of course, burnt to death.
---
"I can hear Sergio's scream behind this gate," Cesc announced, "Something about a spider. But the gate is locked."
"In my weapon quest, the brick wall will collapse by typing a Greek password on a keyboard. The keyboard is obtained by pressing a red button behind a loosen brick on the wall," Andres explained, "I guess it works the same with this gate."
"However, there aren't any loosen bricks on the wall," Christine knitted her brows, probing along the wall.
"Perhaps we should find signs of a keyboard," Gerard suggested, exploring the place.
"I found you guys!" The evil snicker uttered once again behind the door of the vent, "You and the Wise have nowhere to escape!"
"He's coming! We have to think faster," Xavi was alarmed, "The bricks won't hold him long."
"Are there any more information about your quest, Andres?"
"Well, I first thought the password would be 'live'," the midfielder tried to recall the details of his quest, "But it turns out to be rotated."
"And it is?"
"Evil," Andres simply answered. Unexpectedly, the floor of the room shook vigorously as the gate opened gradually.
"So this time a keyboard is not required. It's a voice operated gate," Andres let out a triumphant smile, "Technology really bolsters rapidly."
As what they had wished for, the group of five met with their other teammates without harm at the passage way, except for a tied up Iker and Fernando.
"So glad to see you guys back! I'm so worried...thought you are captured by some Axuklians," Sergio cried while cuddling Gerard with a suffocating embrace, "Even though you are rivals."
"Poor Phammaxia," Christine suddenly sighed, "Who burnt you to death?"
"Who's Phammaxia?"
"This ten-legged creature is called Phammaxia," the young Claudonese explained, while wiping off the ashes from the "spider's" corpse, "It's my favourite animal."
So first a Catwolf and then a Phammaxia... Who could love such an unfriendly monster?
"Oh, Nando did it," Sergio lied, "He burnt it with his toenail."
"Did someone say my name?" Fernando blinked with innocent eyes after having untied from the cobweb.
"You cannot escape from me that easily!" Despite being blocked by obstacles, the mysterious figure broke open the door of the vent and began to approach to the gate.
"We almost forgot that shadow that has been chasing us all along!" Xavi exclaimed, "Close the gate, quick!"
"There is no close button!"
"Maybe we should get ourselves running away again."
"All of you are going to die!" The figure was only few steps away.
"I don't want to die in your hands," Andres wailed, "I want to live!"
The floor shuffled as the gate started to close gradually. Evil was the key to open the gate, while live was the opposite command that could close it back. However, it was too late. The sword of the mysterious man wedged between the doors of the gate, allowing him to squeeze into the passage way.
"Run!" Iker shrieked behind the team before the group started dashing towards the exit of the passage way, until Gerard released unfortunate news.
"Guys, I'm terribly sorry to say this. I think I dropped the golden container of the Wise somewhere behind in the passage way."
A/N: I'm expecting some comments, but nah they won't come out for bad writers who don't update (*cries) Happy Chinese New Year anyway! :)