Cody the Guardian of Hell

Chapter 32

            Cody and Loona arrived at the place Loopty & Lipton told them. It was an underground facility – safe, secure, and secret. It looked like a military bunker with double blast-proof sliding doors, cameras, and security laser turrets. Loopty & Lipton had Cody, Loona, and their friends' biometric signatures recognized in their security system so they could get in without any trouble.

Once they were in, they found their friends and Celeste. She sat in a chair, weeping in her hands while Millie and Moxxie tried to comfort her. Blitzo was pacing back and forth with a worried expression, with Stolas trying to calm him down. Octavia leaned against the wall, her arms crossed, talking to Kyo and Slade. Shadow and Kimi were talking to Fuko while Vortex was talking to Tim. They turned and saw Cody and Loona.

Celeste looked up, and she ran to Cody, sobbing. The two embraced in a hug.

"Oh, Cody (sobs) It's terrible!" Celeste cried.

"I'm sorry, Celeste. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen," Cody said.

"We already explained everything to her about you, the Overlords, everything," Moxxie said.

"Celeste called us, and we came as soon as possible, but there were a lot of them," Millie added.

"So, you guys saw them? The I.S.N.A. bastards?" Loona questioned.

"Oh, we didn't just see them. We fought and killed them – a lot of them anyway," Tim answered.

"Can you tell us anything about them?" Cody asked.

"Well, they definitely got numbers. They got guns and not cheap ones, high-end guns, and high-tech gear. And they got some big and dangerous toys. There were armored vehicles with technicals," Slade stated.

Fuko sided, "They sure as Hell aren't Girl Scouts. They're trained. They knew what they were doing. Celeste says they wanted you, and your brother told them to fuck off, and that's when the shooting started. They set their house on fire and blew it up to try and kill them. I'm Fuko, by the way."

Cody shook his hand, "Nice to meet you. Thanks for saving my sister-in-law. Where's Tommy?"

Everyone glanced at each other.

"He's in there," Stolas pointed to a room with a window.

Cody was about to look, but Blitzo stopped him.

"Maybe you oughtn't look at him," Blitzo said.

"Why?" Loona asked.

"We got Celeste out just in time, but Tommy was still in the house when it was on fire. I grabbed him just in time before they blew it up. He . . . he got burned pretty badly," Kyo explained.

"What?" Cody uttered.

"They're working on him now. Loopty and Lipton called in a few favors for a demon doctor named Baxter. He's brilliant. He was an inventor when he was alive – he and L&L get along well. He managed to save him, but he needed surgery. We've been waiting for hours," Octavia said.

Cody took several deep breaths, and Loona sat him down.

"Cody, look at me," Loona said, grabbing his shoulders as her boy looked up, "Your brother's a soldier. He's a fighter. He'll pull through. You just gotta hang tough."

Cody nodded, "Okay."

They waited outside while Tommy was being operated on. Time stretched out like a blade. Loona conversed with Celeste by talking about Cody dancing with Octavia and buying a house in Nightmare City. She wasn't wild about the name nor about Cody going to war, but she congratulated him on being knighted and getting rich.