The Emperor's Dragon II

Rescue

Yu Hojo limped between desk cubicles, using his good arm to steady himself. His other arm was definitely broken and while neither of his legs were, there were definitely strains and pains in them. He hadn't looked but he could imagine they were one big bruise. The creatures Twice had with him didn't muck around.

He was panting with effort and the cold air, caused by water on the ground, was not helping. His wet clothes clung to him but he kept moving with grim effort. He might be the only one who could escape and fulfill the second part of the plan - to rescue Overhaul. The Shie Hassaikai might have suffered a defeat here, but if they could rescue Overhaul, they had not lost the war.

He didn't remember the office part of the building being this big, which said a lot for his physical state. The pain was providing him with a nice distraction from his situation, and from the fact that he hadn't found anyone else. It strongly suggested they'd been defeated.

He stumbled to the next partition and grabbed it to steady himself. The door was at least in sight. Nise Kai, the business that rented space from them, had a reception desk, and then an open plan office on this level, behind a floor to ceiling partition. It separated the areas without providing any security. Right now, that was a blessing. He didn't have to go through any door but the entry.

A noise behind him, caused him to jump. The quiet had been universal with only the drip of water, and as such it seemed overly loud.

Yu felt his eyes widen when he saw one of the dun coloured creatures. It gave him a toothy grin and rushed towards him. Yu turned from it immediately and hobbled towards the door. He knew what the creature wanted. Just defeating them wasn't enough. The brat was making sure he won the war.

No! He wasn't going to be captured. The Shie Hassaikai would rise again, just so long as he could-

"Urgh!" The creature slammed into his back. "No!" Yu yelled as it recovered, and reached down to grab him. Crystal formed on his arms and legs as they tried to kick or punch it away. It just soaked up the punishment and began walking back through the office.

"No!" he shouted again and tried to grip the floor. His crystal covered fingers left deep gouges in the wet carpet, ripping it up but ultimately not slowing him down. The creature was strong.

"No!"

-ted-

Exodus Rubble approached the Precept building carefully. He couldn't smell any smoke in the air, and he certainly couldn't see any which was a good start. It increased the likelihood of this just being someone who'd had a cigarette in the office significantly. He wasn't convinced of that though. The building was quiet, almost too quiet.

Yes, it was way after hours, but one thing the Japanese Office Worker had not been able to shed was a love, and some said, requirement, for over time. There was usually someone, or several someones working quite late. The lights were off in the building.

Which actually put the likelihood that this was a real fire up.

The usual guide lights were on and as he got closer he could see the emergency lights were still on but... there was no other obvious light on in the building. And, where was the guard?

Or was the Precept building one of those ones that didn't have a guard?

Exodus looked at the building carefully. It was... It was at that odd in between size. Large buildings hired a guard. Smaller buildings hired security firms to do drive by's and checks each night. Medium sized buildings could go either way and the Precept building fit neatly into the inbetween size. There was no obvious guard which meant they should have a security firm checking their doors a couple of times a night.