Survivors of Alterna: Final Run

Chapter 21: The Complex of Superiority

"Akikta..."

A voice echoed, calling out Akikta's name from a distance. Who the voice belonged to was a mystery, as he couldn't make out its tone. At the same time, he was too tired to care about who the voice belonged to.

Akikta's body felt warm and fuzzy; He imagined himself nice and snug under a soft, cozy blanket while lying on a bed made from clouds. The thoughts alone made him drift deeper into his slumber... At least, it would if it weren't for the echoing voice still calling out to him.

"Akikta..." it repeated, this time a little louder. Akikta was able to identify the voice as belonging to a female.

The low echoes of the voice slowly turned into a high-pitched ringing noise. He tried to tune out the sounds at first, but it worsened over time, eventually making that impossible.

"Akikta!" The feminine voice shouted, snapping him awake.

Akikta's eyes shot open, only to see a figure standing over him on all fours. He flinched, and his heart skipped a few beats.

After a second, he quickly calmed down, realizing the figure was just Nakji. "Oh, it's just you, Nak." He breathed a sigh of relief

Nakji smiled widely at Akikta's response. "Aki!" She hugged him tightly, causing a surge of pain to shoot through him.

He grunted as the warm, fuzzy feeling was replaced with soreness and discomfort.

After the hug, he sat up, seeing they were on top of a large pile of trash. He wondered how they got there. The last thing he remembered was pushing Marina out of Masu's beam attack.

Before Akikta could process what happened, a light stinging sensation pricked his brain. He winced and raised a hand to rub his head, but he never felt the two connect. Confused, he pulled back, being met with the horrific sight of his missing arm.

Akikta barely held in his vomit as he turned away to avoid getting a good look at his wound.

When he turned, he spotted Callie and Marina standing to the side with heavy frowns. Like Nakji, both of them were heavily bruised. On the bright side, everyone was still alive.

Akikta rubbed his head with his other arm. The memories of what happened moments before he fainted played back in his head like some sick movie. He lost his arm trying to save Marina—talk about irony. He supposed it was karma for severing her tentacle. At least he still had his dominant hand.

Regardless, the throbbing pain coming from his wrapped-up stump made it difficult to focus on any positives. He asked some questions to take his mind off the pain. "How long have I been out... and where are we?" Akikta realized they weren't in the Rejuvenation Center anymore, which was strange.

"F-fifteen minutes," Callie answered the first question. "And I think we're in the bowels..."

Akikta audibly said, "Huh?" after hearing Callie's response. Fifteen minutes, and they were all in the slums of Atlantis? How? What happened? Last he checked, they were somewhat holding their own against the Steel Twins. Did they lose?

The more Akikta thought about it, the more he noticed how badly injured everyone was. Nakji looked the most beaten out of the three—part of her skin didn't even match its usual palish color, taking on a deep shade of blue or purple instead. Marina was missing her weapon and had a nasty bruise on her jaw. Callie was missing both her visor and helmet. And Biggie was...

Akikta looked around, not seeing the Big Shot anywhere. "Where's Biggie?" He looked back to the group. Nakji lowered her head. Callie stared nervously at Marina. Marina was eyeing Akikta, but she didn't say a word. "Guys?" Akikta's concern rose the longer the silence lasted.