Finding Light

Chapter 26: Madness

Heading towards the booth. I have to make sure Oko made it. Although it didn't seem that way. It looked like the explosion got him. He didn't even move!
More men show up. Great! How great!
They instantly run up swinging and I block. Kash comes in and immediately punches them down! Ouch.
      "Shit how many was that already?" I say sarcastically, when a knife grazes my shoulder. Fuck!
I grab my shoulder and it got me pretty bad. So much blood.
                                "Dammit! Chibi!" Kash shouts. I then look down from the direction it came and see....Oko??! That bastard survived! He immediately stabs that guy in the back and starts fighting the rest. I dash towards him.
Kash shouts my name and just follows me.
          As we're fighting, I hear another explosion coming from town...Oh no!
My freaking pa! I hesitate and a guy knocks me down. Kash and Oko both simultaneously take him down!
As the men all gather up and all slowly walk towards us I stand up. Now I'm pissed. "Kash...Oko...back your asses up" I snap. They immediately back up. No questions asked.
I then stomp the ground and lift up my arms. I create this bowl and seal them in it. Enough to breathe of course.
         Kash and Oko turn to me. Shocked.
"We have no time! We have to see where that explosion was!" I shout. They nod and we dash off.

As we head towards the black smoke rising, I can see civilians running from it. Oh my gosh...what in the hell is this?
           I can feel the ground shaking and I hear so much commotion. As we turn the corner we see Commander Lee lying on the ground, hurt pretty badly.
I dash to him, immediately!
"Oh my gosh Commander Lee!!" I shout. He painfully shakes his head and points. I turn and see more men. Something's different about them...
"You guys-you need to get-away from he-here" Commander Lee says painfully. I turn to him with tears in my eyes. Kash crouches down beside me, "Sir we can't leave you here like this. We need to get you some help!" Kash says calmly. "No-no!" Lee barely shouts, "As your Commander I do not allow- th-this!" he says. Oko walks up slowly, "Chi-Chibi? Is that...Tsuki and Monsai?" I quickly turn my head to look. Holy shit! Tsuki?! Monsai???! What the hell are they doing here??
I lay The Commander down softly then I hear a voice.
        "You will not escape me! You fucking pieces of shit!" My papa shouts.
Pa!?
                          I turn and quickly stand. I see Tsuki with her beautiful flames and strong hits, Monsai with his pure water and sharp moves, and then my papa...destroying everything in his path. Whatever it takes. I dash off, heading for the commotion. I can hear my commander shouting my name but I don't stop. I have to help them!

        Getting closer, one guy slices my papas arm and I see Tsuki running to him. Monsai follows. As I run closer I can see bodies laying on the ground. Dead bodies. Everything fades out and my vision blurs. Wh-what is this? What's going on? Why....?
I collapse.

It's dark. I can't see anything. Am I dreaming? Wait? Who is that up ahead..? I walk forward to see and immediately stop.
    "Hey princess" Diego says calmly.
What the hell is this?
"You're just dreaming darling. Don't worry. This isn't real. I'm just here to tell you one thing" he says calmly as he walks towards me. My body shakes.
I can't move it.
He stops. "When the times comes, it'll be mine. Or everyone will die. Simple" he whispers. As his body fades away so does this darkness. My eyes finally open. Tsuki leans over me, holding my head. Kash, Monsai, and my papa all stand over me. Worried.
      "Oh thank goodness! What's your name??" Tsuki says softly.
"My name? Chibi. It's okay. I'm back" I say softly. She hugs my neck. Ouch.
My papa crouches down and his eyes fill with sadness and worry. "Papa?" I say softly, "What happened?" Tsuki lets go and looks at me too. Why does everyone look like that?! Like they've seen a ghost? As I sit up I look around me. The town looks beat up, at least hopefully this part. I see medics running around carrying..... bodies.
    Oh my gosh.....
I quickly stand up and so does Tsuki and pa. I look around, fast at this point.
                    "Holy shit! Someone just tell me what happened here! At the arena booth, someone planted bombs there! Boom! Gone! At least 50 men were there and-" I shout.
My papa stops me, "I know" he says softly. He walks closer and looks at me. "Chibi...some men came in and took El Diablo. Diego's gone. We're assuming they were apart of his group. Chi we lost a couple of people today. Even Commander Lee got hurt pretty badly. Others too. These men weren't just any kind of men..." my pa says softly.
I froze.
          Wait...that dream I had...could it have been real? No...no it couldn't have! How could Diego have that kind of power? When the time comes it'll be mine? What did he mean....?
I look to my papa and then glance around. No Oko. Hmm. Figures. Tsuki stands by my side and grabs my hand. Monsai and Kash walk up.
           "How did you two get here?" I say softly looking to Tsuki and Monsai.
"I called them" my pa says, "When I heard the explosion I was worried because you were out at the market."
I nod and turn to them, Tsuki nods also. My papa then grabs Kash and pulls us in, "You guys are going to be the reason this town survives. I am so proud of everyone! I do apologize that you guys had to face this kind of battle. It's too much-" my papa says calmly.
     "No" Monsai says softly, "Don't worry. We will always protect eachother. No matter what." We all smile and nod.

But it wasn't over. This only meant that we have to beat those guys! Survive what's to come and save everyone.
He's not done. Diego will come back. I just know it. He wants something but what? What could be so important?

      If I'm going to do this, I need to train harder! I need to be stronger if I'm going to beat El Diablo! Him and his followers won't hurt anymore people. Not while I can still breathe.
            As everyone goes separate ways, to their homes, I head to the hospital. Hopefully Commander Lee is conscious. I want to check on him and the others, but I have questions first.
                              Important ones.

       Arriving at the hospital I hear someone whisper my name from around the corner. My papa is in the hospital already and I can hear him talking with the staff.
I look over and see the shadow of a staff. Immediately, I walk over. Turning the corner, Oko stands there.
             "Left pretty quick huh?" I snap quietly. He sighs, "I'm sorry but you don't understand-" he says softly.
  "Understand what?!" I snap again.
He stops and looks around. Then back at me. "I'm not..wanted where I go, okay? Well wanted would be a good word for it" he says calmly.
"You're a criminal?! Figures!" I snap.
He shakes his head, "Wait wait! It's just hard to explain...Chibi really. Let's just say my family sucks and I catch bad dudes for bucks...for a living." He says calmly. I turn my head in confusion.
"Oh my gosh! Okay! Basically like a bounty hunter running away from my family of thieves! They're bad people Chibi. I wanted to find my own way and they didn't like that very much. Especially my uncle." Oko says softly.    Then he points to his eye.
The blind eye.
                                          Holy shit...
        "Let me get this straight," I say calmly, "You're basically a runaway who makes a living being a Bounty Hunter?" He sighs and walks closer.
                              "Earlier you asked me why the sudden change of heart, right? Here's the answer. You" Oko whispers.
My head flinches back.
      "What exactly do you mean" I snap.
He looks deep into my eyes then smirks, "I mean...you are pretty tiny. It's cute" he says sarcastically. I instantly swing at him.
No questions asked.
His body fades away and I feel a tap on my shoulder from behind. I turn and face him.
   "Oh yeah...so that's how you survived that bomb attack. You used your astral projection!" I shriek. He tilts his head and looks surprised, "Yeah actually. Seriously though..." he says softly and points to my shoulder, "Since your headed into the hospital, get that checked out. That guy got you pretty good out there." I look at my shoulder. That's right. I forgot all about that.. and I can't even feel it anyways.
            When I turn to look back up, Oko is gone.
Not even surprised anymore.