Numbered and Factions

Chapter 6

 Spark casts a wall of light around the three of them, it angles itself to morph at a moment's notice. Sparks of electricity ripple and crackle though Storm's fur as he growls at an approaching figure. Anbu stands ready to strike, the mask's eyes are dark.

The figure stops about 20 ft away from them, she's of a average height, pale skin, blonde hair with pigtails dyed a bright blue, teal, and purple, bright blue eyes like the summer sky, a rainbow and black striped shirt, studded belt with two wallet chains, noise patterned boots, and hoop earrings. She smiles at the three of them almost cynically.

"Well! Would Ya look at what the cwat brought in todawy!" She trills, her body seems to glitch at the edges.

"Who the hell are you?!" Spark yells, his barrier grows points at the end as his fists catch alight with a light based fire. The girl laughs,

"I couwld ask the sawme abowt you~"

Spark growls, his left eye glows brighter than normal.

"You thwee wanna plawy a gawme?"

"No." Anbu signs,

"Well, Two bad!" She responds, the floor shakes as walls grow from them. Two large spectral hands grab Spark and Storm to drag them off somewhere. Anbu tries to grab Spark but is caught by a third hand that holds them in place. The fox and the wolf are dragged in separate directions as the walls move and contort to make a maze. Anbu is let go as the walls settle for now. The girl had disappeared as the two were dragged off.

***

Anbu doesn't waste any time before darting down the passageway, they use their ability to stick to the walls as they run. They climb up and run across the tops of the walls, hopping over the walkways with ease. They're knocked off after a minute of this by a glitched figure. It looks like a taller woman yet all of her features are glitched out.

Anbu doubles back and bears claws, the woman stands in front of them with a spiral of knives floating behind her hand. Anbu growls and makes a ear splitting noise, the woman is unaffected. The fox runs and strikes, using their tails to hold her hand and the knives down. The woman struggles and punches them in the face, Anbu bites her other arm with a skeletal jaw. The woman screams in a glitched key, Anbu screeches back louder. The woman tries to shake the fox off as her body glitches in their hold. Anbu takes her to the ground, holding her legs down with their own. The woman yells and screeches like an animal. Anbu grabs her neck in their jaw and jerks thier head to snap the woman's neck. They stand and continue on their way, going back to running on the tops of the walls.

***

Storm finds himself being thrown to the ground a ways away from the others, he can smell them but it's faint. He stands and starts running, stimulating himself with his own electricity. He's met with a man at the end of a corridor, he's tall, sort of lanky, his face is one of an otter, glitched fragments dance around the man as a ball of water gathers in his hands. Storm growls and stands his ground as he screeches to a stop. Bolts of electricity surround the wolf in an enticing serenade of voltage. The otterman looks at him and growls, Storm growls back with his teeth beared fully.

Storm runs at the otter with his paws leaving sparks in their wake, he's struck by arrows of water yet keeps running. The sparks come natural to the wolf as he leaps forwards, combining his sparks with the otters water. The otter shrieks as he's electrocuted from his own element. Storm knocks the man over with charge erupting from his body like it's nothing. The otter glitches to nothing at the wolf's paws. Storm runs ahead, following Anbu's scent.

***

Spark finds himself right in the heat of the storm, standing face to face with a man with a cat's tail and claws. The man's posture was not friendly in the least bit, he shifts down to the form of a gray striped cat, his hackles raise as he hisses at Spark. Spark sets his fists alight with light as he bears his fangs, the cat yowls and meows hostily. The fox runs forwards as the cat copies, the cat seems to fade into a shadow as it strikes Spark in the face with its claws. Spark rebounds with a claw of light, hitting the cat in the tail. Spark holds his light eye as it glows unstably.

"Oh now you've done it.." Spark growls as his other eye lights up, a wall of light flame surrounds the cat. Spirits dance around the top of the structure and strike at the cat, shadows were weak to light after all. The wall drops with the cat glitching to nothing. Spark approaches the glitches and examines them before continuing on. He can hear Storm's fight so he follows that.

He runs with all he has. Spark makes holes through the walls of the maze using his light rifts. He runs past another glitched figure that tires going after him, only to be cut in half by a closing rift. Spark opens a final rift with the gray wolf running straight into him. The wolf barks and snaps at Spark, the boy backs up with the rift closing behind him.

"There you are, Lightning Rod." Spark smiles slightly, Storm unshifts to speak,

"Didnt miss your face Light Bulb."

"You call me that when you light those up"

"Shut it. We need to find a way out of here." Storm growls as he turns to the corridor. Spark straightens his hoodie and closes the rift behind him. Storm shifts and gestures to follow before running ahead. Spark runs after the wolf with his guard up. The walls behind and in front of them start to shift, the two boys pick up the pace with Spark rifting them through the walls. Storm bites right through a glitched man that stands in their way. The two keep running through the changing maze on a course for the elusive masked fox.