The Matters of Power

Chapter 56- One Final Night [3]

This place is like a maze. That, or the hallways are starting to make me go insane based on how ridiculously similar they look every time I turn a corner. It might have been a few minutes since I escaped that room that I was held captive in and yet it feels like an eternity for every step I take inside this labyrinth that the Crimson Group have. As far as I can tell, this is an entirely new building I'm in where they couldn't fit their secret base in Red Buster's. If all this is underground, then how could they do all of this without attracting attention? Never mind that now, I gotta prioritize finding that crazy chick from earlier, but with what little I know about this place, I need to take it slowly and check every corner. If possible, I need to find Phinn and the others that were dragged in here and rescue them... from wherever they are. I doubt Quarter and the rest of the gang have any clue how to get to me, so I'm on my own. They took everything other than the clothes of my back and the psychic abilities on the stone on my wrist, so at least it was a smart move to go radio silent as soon as I went in to avoid being listened in on. Now that I got my bearings together, I need to be extremely careful wandering around the heart of the enemy, and I definitely need to avoid any fights if possible.

Saying that though, a few minutes have gone by, and I haven't found anything worth investigating other than a few rooms that act like storage rooms and lounges. Turning around another corner, I spot a set of stairs that lead upwards and to my surprise has a plaque that tells me that I'm on floor B10! Just how big is this place?! No, I can't get caught up in some logic test, I quickly brush my thoughts aside and head up the stairs to another floor that oddly resembles the same layout as the previous one. This time, though, I can sense a few people on this floor out and about, most likely members of the Crimson Group. I'm not taking chances; I make sure that I avoid any of them that are around and only fight if I'm cornered and it's absolutely necessary. There's not a lot of room for me to make mistakes as the hallways are long and well-light as well as there not being many rooms that are unoccupied for me to hide in. Before I know it, I manage to pass floor B9 and ascend more stairs to... floor B8 undetected. Dammit, just how much time and money did these thugs have to do something like this?! Don't tell me they got help from that old man... then again, the track record on him would suggest that his fingerprints are all over this. I sense a group of thugs walking towards my direction, so I quickly find the closest door near me and luckily manage to find some clunky storage closet to hide. "...for some bucks." I can hear the group's conversation and concentrate on eavesdropping. "Seriously? All that food that the kid was willing to advertise as a poster boy and all he had on him was a few bucks. What about the other kid, that funny-looking guy who started that whole party in the food court?" They stop just before the stairs to the lower floor. "Him? Dunno... oh yeah, he was sent straight to the third floor as well as with those two gals that were in there too." "Oof, they got off lucky, that kid with the good looks is gonna be having it rough for the time that he's gonna be stuck down there. It's gonna suck even worse that we're gonna have to keep an eye on him all this time while the boss decides what to do with him and the stuff he had on him now that she has it." Great, just great. Well, at least I save myself the trouble of finding my stuff and the others. After some banter, they finally decide to move, but down the stairs where I didn't want them to go. If they're going downstairs to check up on me when I'm not there, then I'm gonna need to hurry the hell up and get as close to Maniac Mina before all hell breaks loose and they start hunting me down. The closer I get to the stairs on this floor the more thugs I sense around me and I've been nearly caught far more times than I would like.

I finally manage to reach the stairs and quickly go up to finally reach floor B7, but before I manage to go up the final step, I encounter one of the Crimson Group thugs munching on a granola bar while looking down on his phone heading towards me in the only hallway portion leading to the stairs. So many scenarios go through my head as to how to get past this thug without causing a scene with my psychic powers, but before I can react a sudden ear-piercing beep goes off followed by a continuous alarm that gets our attention and the thug's eyes off his phone. We just stand there, eyes locking to each other and not knowing what the heck we can do in the awkward moment until he realizes the situation and rushes over to stop me. He leaves himself wide open for me to dodge and counter his attack, followed by a quick grapple and then throwing him behind me and over to the stairs where I can hear him painfully crashing down until I hear a strong thud from below. Crap, there's no time now to think about his health, the alarms are going off probably because that group earlier found the unconscious prison guards and me nowhere in sight. I quickly run around the floor trying to find the stairs and, with any luck, still have time on my side if they still think I'm hiding around floor B9 or B8. The stairs are within sight, and I sprint over to make it, but I suddenly come across another group of thugs coming down the same stairs and they spot me. "Hey, it's that kid they brought in earlier! How the hell did you get out?!" "Can it, it ain't gonna matter now once we drag his sorry ass back there. Come on, let's get him!" They waste no time surrounding and preparing themselves to fight me, and even a few of them pull out knives out of their pockets. "Kid, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, and you better-" Before the thug who was speaking finished his sentence, I leaped forward and placed a powerful dropkick in the middle of his face, dropping him out cold immediately. I quickly get back up as the others swarm me and the adrenaline blurs my immediate memory as I can only recall a lot of dodging, parrying, and counterattacks until I finish off the last standing thug with a high jump kick that sends him soaring across the hallway. I check myself for any injuries and thankfully find no visible cuts or bruises as they couldn't land a hit on me. There's no time to waste, I head toward the stairs to the next level but my sixth sense has me turning my head back to the thugs I wasted and find one of them still conscious with their phone in their hands! "B-b-boss!" He coughs intensely, "That kid got loose! He's on the ei-" I soccer kick him right in the jaw before he can say anything else and decide to crush his phone for good measure.

Crap, things got even worse now! They'll be on top of me before I know it, I gotta find some way to get in touch with Quarter and the guys before I'm overwhelmed! Focus Marcus, as long as I'm quick enough, I can get above ground and hopefully knock out any Crimson Group thug in my way before their reinforcements catch up. Finally, I make my way to floor B6 and the environment looks a bit better compared to the previous floors. Where there wasn't a whole lot of color and well-maintained halls and rooms from the floors I was in before, this one looks a lot more pleasant to the eyes and there's some effort to show that they're maintained, to some extent. I must have been going through the dungeon and hangout spots of the previous floors if this is what standards these thugs maintain. Suddenly, my Sixth Sense View catches someone nearby running towards my position, just one person and they look like they're in a rush. I manage to hide in the closest room that wasn't unlocked so that they can pass without noticing me, but something about their figure seems... familiar. No way, it that Quarter?... I'm not sure, but if that's him then that means the rest of Swift Cross found their way in, yes! I can practically hear their breathing as they passed the door to the room I'm in and quickly take a peek to confirm my suspicions that it is Quarter in the flesh! "Quarter! Quarter it's me!" I call out to him and he turns around to see me, a sign of relief etched onto his face as he rushes over and gives me a hug of all things that I couldn't predict.

"Oh man... Marcus, it's damn good to see you in good shape."