Be Holden

Chapter 17: Surprise!

Neale picks Ishin up with one arm and throws her body across the ring like a rag doll. Her hands shoot out before her and the golden double doors appear again. Her body slams against the doors and slumps to the ground. Ishin forces herself to stand and she opens the doors. A furry arachnid, that is almost as big as the two point seven meter tall doors, crawls out of this unseen storage site and sits on red ropes at the edge of the ring. The doors close without assistance and she walks up to the huge spider that just came out of her invisible storage area. Ishin tells it something and the spider jumps off of the ring to the second floor jail cages. It swiftly moves along the walls of the second floor leaving a trail of woven, lace web lines behind it. Ishin stands at the edge of the ring and Neale charges her form. She moves out of the way just in time. He runs into the ropes. They roughly push him back to the center of the ring.

The spider finishes weaving its shiny web back to the ring's ropes. Neale charges in Ishin's direction again. She dodges his attack again but this time he collides with the web woven around the ropes. He sticks to the web covered rope. It digs into his face, shoulders, arms and hands as if it is going to mold itself around his body parts. His flesh starts to tear and bleed green goo. He yells as the web pulls his flesh apart. "You think that this will defeat me?" He yells. Ishin walks up to his shifting body and pets his face before slapping his toughening skin. He grows bigger and his bones shift in his back. He tears himself from the web and rope in his Dragon form. He does not have horns, but he is almost as tall as the second floor of jail cages and almost as wide as the ring. Ishin pulls an arrow from beneath her cloak and a luminescent bow appears in her hands as she aims it at the Neale's face. His big, scaled wings flutter. Wind gusts in Ishin's direction shaking her body and slightly throwing off her aim. The arrow shoots through the air like a comet. It pierces his right eye and he spits out a fireball. Ishin jumps on the spider's back and barely dodges the flame ball. His right eye cries green blood that is mixing with black goo. Black veins fork across his entire face like an earthquake. It forces his scales to separate abruptly and ooze out green blood. He spits out another fireball in Ishin's direction and she dodges it again. He slowly morphs back into a bipedal being. He huffs as he tries to run to Ishin. She hops off of the spider and lets him approach her. He ends up stumbling to his knees and dragging a hand down her leg while looking into her eyes. Her face holds no expression but his face is completely etched with bafflement. His muscles relax and he slumps to the floor. "Ishin wins. Oh Ishin, I am a bit peeved with you! Why did you freaking get assistance? I don't think your little enchanting closet of misery is fair! So, how about we settle this problem. You and I on the ring without your buddy with the eight legs and the freaking web of doom! It will be fun for me to make you call me: Daddy! Ha! Ha!" The tiger looking guy says.

You look at your ex-lover's cage and see the overseer of evil standing next to your ex-lover. The jail bars are just before their faces and overseer's eyes look like it would bathe the place in lava. Your ex-lover bites their bottom lip while looking at the ring. "Lyle the champion versus Ishin!" The tiger looking guy says. You turn your gaze back to the ring. The web, Neale, and the spider are gone. Lyle crawls into the ring and begins to hop while shifting his feet. He punches the air and gives it a right uppercut before walking up to Ishin. He stops when his golden, furry chest is nearly touching her forehead. The boxing bell rings and he rips her cloak off. She spins away from him and he leaps back to her side. He grabs her waist and a cage rattles. He throws her up in the air and catches her by the thighs that her long sleeved, black leotard failed to cover. He growls and a cage door flies across the ring. He roars and looks up at the cage across from your cage. The overseer of evil jumps from the broken cage to the ring. Lyle drops Ishin on her feet and slowly walks toward the overseer of evil. They have a staring battle before Lyle chuckles. "Did I get frisky with your girl? Ha! Ha! I almost didn't notice. Why don't you walk back to your cage and let a big cat handle this, Zen? Isn't that your name? Ha! Ha! Ha!" Lyle asks. The overseer of evil rips Lyle's vocal box out with a swift motion. Then he rips Lyle's head off. The body falls to the ground and the head as well as the neck drool out some red blood. The overseer keeps the head in his hand and walks around the stage without saying anything. He stares menacingly in every cage and growls. Ishin slips back into the cage with a sheer, pink sleeping gown on that hovers over her feet. "Ishin! Come back here, right now!" Zen yells. Ishin weaves her way to the back of the cage and motions for you to come stand by her. You shake your head and she smiles just before Zen pushes past the individuals next to you. He walks up to Ishin and his head tilts down to her. You turn around and find the cage's door is gone. After a few moments Ishin walks out of the cage and jumps from the banister into the air. Her palms touch the double golden doors that just appeared. She pushes through them and the doors disappear along with her. Zen runs out of the cage shortly afterwards and sniffs the air. Then he runs out of the only exit and entrance to this area.

What is wrong with those two? Creatures start to rattle their cages and break out. You and the crowd in your cage begin to run out of the cage causing a stampede and a buildup forms at the entrance to this area. Someone grabs your wrist and leads you through the crowd. You try to fight their grasp but it is too strong for you to fight. Finally, you get out of the cave with minor cuts and bruises. Your ex-lover let your wrist go and shifts into a Pterodactyl. The creature's wings whip running beings down in its surroundings. It grabs you with one of its claw feet and leaps into the air. Everything and everyone on the ground get smaller as you get higher up into the sky. You close your eyes because the wind is drying your eyes. It is making them sting and cry.

You two reach a beach. Your ex-lover shifts before landing on the sand, which jolts your relaxed body awake. You rush to get on your feet as you brush the sand off, but your legs are like gel and will not operate to their best ability. Your ex-lover helps you to your feet with ease and releases your hand afterwards. What is my ex-sweetheart's name again? I can't keep thinking of them as "that person I know." I will just bite the bullet and ask. "Hey, I uh...I um...forgot your name." "It's Morgan." Your ex-lover says as they began stomping through the sand.

"Hey! Hey, you can't hold this against me. I just got out of a casket pod thing. Give me a break."

"Why do you assume that I am upset? I am just trying walk on the sand that my feet keeps somewhat sinking in! So, you should give me a freaking break!"

"You are not upset but you are yelling at me. I will make sure I remember to not ever take you seriously when you are yelling!"

"Are you sure you can remember that?"

"Fuck you!"

"You did that already!"

You two stop walking and face each other. You stare at each other briefly before you burst into a fit of laughter. Morgan chuckles with you. You hear a bloodcurdling scream from above you and on the hill you are standing by. Your lover pushes you out of the way just before a twisted body takes your place on that part of the sand. You look up at the hill and you see a creature that has straight, long and brown limbs with a bald beige head. It has no teeth and it scowls down at you two before disappearing into the dense forest on the top of the hill. What the hell was that? "What was that?" You ask Morgan. The body on the ground cracks and twists back into place. It is a blond boy with matte black eyeballs. You do not see his irises and you prefer to not look him directly in the eyes. Your eyes drift past his mushroom haircut to Morgan. The guy is wearing a black garment like Thyme and Zen's garments. "Who are you and what was that?" You ask the guy. "I need to fix Jessica. She is a broken Master Key. Can you help me fix her?" He asks.

"What is your name?"

"My name is- is Mr. Barnes. I was at a gate and they would not let me in. Jessica is still by the gate. Please help me."

You look over the guy's shoulder.There is something amiss about this guy. I feel it but I cannot see it. Morgan signals both of you to follow and you both do.

Eventually, you all reach thick metal gates with creamy toned stone walls. Morgan bangs on a gate's door with a fist. "Oh no! The mask is back and it knows I did not take the red path!" Mr. Barnes exclaims. You do not see a mask anywhere. Two minions with violet skin and mirrors for eyes peak out the crack of space between the gates. They whisper to each other and push the gates open. You all go through the gates and Mr. Barnes apologizes to the minions before rejoining you two. "The mask seemed upset and I apologized to it. Hopefully, it doesn't punish me." He says. His banter is annoying you and you are thinking of ways to get rid of him. Morgan walks briskly ahead and you run to catch up as well as get a lot of distance from the delusional Mr. Barnes. You reach another gate with a tree on each side of it. "Where is Jessica, you freaks?" Mr. Barnes yells from behind you at one of the trees. It does not move. Morgan knocks on the gates door, which is a bit thicker than the other one. Another couple of violet minions open the gate with cloudy, white eyes that lack pupils.

Crick! Crack! Creak! The trees near the gate pick you and Mr. Barnes up. A root from your spine pierces the tree holding you and burrows through it while sapping nutrition from it. Roots pop out Mr. Barnes' eyes and try to crush you. Some more roots rip past the flesh on your back from your spine. You burrow your roots into all of your opponents simultaneously and take all their nutrients away. Your roots burrow into Mr. Barnes and slither out. They cough out black liquid before falling off of you. It dissipates and you glare at Mr. Barnes. Branches come out of his mouth and shoot at you. It slaps your face twice and two of your roots pierce Mr. Barnes' torso before ripping his body into two pieces from head to toe. The roots that came in contact with his blood wither and fall off of you. You sway and everything turns black.