Chapter 20- Bitter Reality

Dairokkan chuckled as he got back onto his feet.

"Look who finally decided to join us. Keith's new apprentice."

Ruh was still on the floor, still in shock at the fact that he didn't have a spear sticking through his gut.

"Ruh, are you ok? Did he hurt you?" Zimmi asked, turning to him with concern in her voice.

"No, no. That was one hell of a swing." Ruh smiled, getting back up.

"Thank you! My friends tell me I suck at baseball, but personally, I think I'm not that bad, right?" Zimmi asked with a smile.

Ruh was more concerned about the murderous Assassin in front of them. "Yeah."

Dairokkan appeared behind Ruh using his shadow, but Zimmi blocked his attack. Ruh heard a noise below.

"There's something moving on the second floor!" Ruh heard a voice yell.

They're here. Finally.

Ruh saw the glint of a spear at the last second.

"Zimmi, look out!"

Ruh shoved her aside and narrowly dodged the first spear and deflected the second one. Thankfully, his head was clear enough to create barriers once again.

"Thanks, bestie!" Zimmi smiled and got back up.

Dairokkan disappeared into his shadow. Zimmi and Ruh watched each other's backs as they slowly scanned the hallways, looking for the slightest movement.

The noise was back. Something screeching from above.

"Above!" Ruh yelled, making Zimmi duck as Dairokkan dropped down from the ceiling, driving his spear downwards.

Ruh used his barrier to deflect the strike and Zimmi followed up, swinging the rod against Dairokkan.

The Assassin used his other spear to block the attack, before vanishing into his shadow again. Dairokkan seemed to repeatedly attack using the same patterns, striking from the shadows, only to be countered by the duo's teamwork.

"A very impressive sword and shield tactic! A round of applause for both of you!" Dairokkan chuckled.

"Really? See, I told you that you were good at teamwork! Even Uncle Loincloth admits it, and he's trying to kill us!" Zimmi smiled, turning to Ruh.

"Zimmi! Focus!" Ruh yelled.

"Oh, right. Sorry!" Zimmi said, taking a defensive stance once again.

Dairokkan appeared from the ground between the duo. With his spear, he knocked down Ruh and cut Zimmi's cheek, making her shout a small cry of pain.

"Zimmi!" Ruh yelled.

Dairokkan stepped on the back of the boy and held him to the ground. With one hand, he grabbed Ruh by the hair, forcing the boy to lift his head.

With the other, he held his spear against Zimmi's throat, the sharp point lightly cutting against her throat.

"Get rid of your barrier, or I'll nudge a little harder," Dairokkan said.

Zimmi let out a small whimper when she felt the blade move slightly against her skin.

"OK! OK!" Ruh said, removing his barrier willingly.

"There we go attaboy. Y'know, you really remind me of another student I once had a long time ago. Such a troublemaker." Dairokkan sighed.

A group of loud footsteps came up the stairs onto the floor above. "Stop!"

A handful of guards stood behind Dairokkan, pointing their weapons at the Assassin.

Ruh used his barrier and forced Dairokkan off him.

He threw a right hook that connected with the Chief's ribcage, causing him to go off balance. Zimmi took the opportunity to slip away from his spear quickly.

The two children ran off while the guards approached Dairokkan.

"We have the right to use lethal force. Do not attempt to resist arrest or, I repeat, we will use lethal force!" One guard screamed at him.

Dairokkan shook his head and used his finger to dig out some earwax. "I heard you the first time. You really shouldn't shout at an old man. We can get really cranky."

The Assassin grabbed his spear off the floor and turned to the guards with a psychotic grin stretched across his face.

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"I think we're safe."

"You sure?"

"They'll take care of him and we can leave."

"That's the leader of the Assassins. I don't think a couple of guards can handle him." Ruh said.

"Pssht, you have so little faith in people." Zimmi giggled, shifting her elbow aside.

"You have too much faith in them," Ruh grumbled.

"Of course! People are great! Could you move your hand a bit, please?" Zimmi asked.

Ruh did as she asked, but she started snickering. "What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, you just kinda tickled me a little bit," Zimmi whispered.

"Oh, you mean like this?" Ruh asked, repeating the same action.

Zimmi giggled, before lightly hitting him on the shoulder. "Stop, stop! He might hear us."

The two were hiding together inside a locker in a nearby room. It was very uncomfortable, but Dairokkan hadn't come around yet, nor did the guards. At this point, it was merely a waiting game for some sign so that they could leave.

"Why are your elbows so pointy?" Zimmi asked, shifting again.

"They are not pointy! You know what is pointy? Crazy Uncle Loincloth's spears!" Ruh said.

Zimmi giggled. "His mom should have named him that. It's so much better than Dairo-can."

Ruh suddenly remembered something. "Let me see your neck."

"Why?" Zimmi asked, covering her neck with her hands.

Ruh pulled her hand off and looked at the small cut from Dairokkan's spear. It was a thin line, but he didn't want it to fester up or get infected.

"Hold on," Ruh said, reaching into his pockets.

Zimmi leant against the side of the locker. "What are you doing?"

Ruh pulled out a small band-aid and gently peeled off the plaster. He slowly applied it over the cut.

"I'm very grateful, but why do you even have a bandage in your pocket? Do you just carry one around all the time?" Zimmi giggled.

"Yeah…force of habit," Ruh mumbled.

Zimmi was briefly confused before she realized what he meant. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

Zimmi scooted closer to Ruh and laid her head on his shoulder. Ruh tried not to say anything, but his toes curled up in his shoes.

"You know, if I could get a time machine or a rewind spell, the first thing I would do is to sneak you away from the bad Ass…assass…" Zimmi stuttered.

"Assassins? Why would you do that? There're so many other things you could do with something like a rewind spell. You could go back and find your parents." Ruh said.

"My parents are gone. I don't know why they left me. Maybe they loved me or maybe they didn't, I'll never know. So, there's no point in trying to figure that out and waste my time on the past." Zimmi whispered.

Ruh nodded. Zimmi sighed as she closed her eyes with a smile.

"And I would rather spend that time teaching you how to do a secret handshake." Zimmi giggled, poking him in the chest.

Ruh laughed softly. His smile disappeared when he heard the wooden thumps outside the door.

"Am I interrupting?"

A hideous creature stepped inside the classroom, covered in blood dripping from his arms and face. His blindfold was soaked red, with only a few patches of the regular white dye visible on the bloodstained cloth.

His staffs trailed behind him like a tail, scraping and screeching while it was dragged across the floor, leaving a trail of red behind him. He flipped a table over noisily and looked under it, tilting his head as he searched underneath.

He seemed to be using his ears to register his surroundings. He thumped his staffs loudly against the steel chairs and tables. He pulled out a chair and sat directly in front of the locker that Zimmi and Ruh were hiding in.

They could see him through the small holes of the locker and desperately tried to hold their breath.

"You know, I never got to finish that story about that troublemaker, did I?" He asked, tilting his head.

Zimmi looked up at Ruh to see if he had some plan. Ruh shook his head and held a finger to his lips.

"You see, there was this one new trainee that simply refused to make himself useful. He would always skip out on training sessions and crack jokes. He always disrespected me whenever I would teach the class. He never did very well in his grades." The man said, resting against his staff.

He suddenly got up, making the chair scrape against the floor.

"So, one day, I told his parents he needed to show that he could perform in class. They agreed and sent the child to go on a hunting session with me. It was the perfect opportunity to show me that he had the potential to be an Assassin. Powerful, ruthless, vicious…a perfect killer."

The man chuckled maniacally as he felt the smooth, soaked cloth of his blindfold.

"Unfortunately, teenagers will always be teenagers. So adamant and so persistent in their defiance of orders, so frustratingly rebellious against those who know better than them."

He grabbed his staff and laughed, or rather, attempted to laugh, yet the only thing that came out was a bone-chilling groan.

"So, as we headed deeper into the forest, I made sure that his parents would be proud of him. Sure, they would have some…shortcomings…when it came to my methods, but ultimately, they were forced to understand that it was for the greater good. That he would finally prove his use to the clan."

He cleaned the bloodstained spear with the edge of his loincloth.

"So, I tied him up to a large wooden log and placed him near our traps for the winter. The traps weren't proving their use either, but it was almost poetic how two useless things became so…effective."

The man paced around the classroom as his voice became rapidly uneven and unsteady with each word that he spoke.

"Of course, the boy wasn't so eager to aid our clan. He kept struggling and fighting back and…and…squirming-fuck…he squirmed a lot…and screamed…that too. Naturally, I had to shut him up…his tongue was useless…so-so…I had to cut that out too. Mmm…hehheh."

The man shook his head and wiped the blood off his arms.

"That winter, we were able to feast on all the meat that he had attracted near the traps. I remember a few boars were roasted…some nice and tender bear meat-oh yes, a trio of wolves were skinned neatly from his catch. The boy, of course, didn't survive being ripped apart, but that's not what's important."

The man walked right in front of the locker and stood still.

"Just like my eyes, the boy was useless. And just like my eyes…"

Dairokkan removed his blindfold and peeked into the locker.

"I despise things that are useless to me."

Ruh clutched Zimmi tighter as he was forced to stare into hollow, fleshy sockets, lined with ripped nerve endings and dried pus. Dairokkan's yellow teeth became more apparent when his smile grew wider.

Dairokkan pointed the spear towards the locker before a huge shockwave rumbled through the ground below him.

He hurled the spear into the locker next to Zimmi and Ruh, making Zimmi cower in fear. She hid her face under Ruh's arms, who was just as scared as she was.

Dairokkan frowned as he pulled the spear out of the locker and used his fingers to sense the spear edge. He hummed curiously since he couldn't sense any blood.

Another Assassin appeared behind him from the shadows.

"Chief Dairokkan, sir!"

Dairokkan spun around angrily with his spear, stopping it a few inches away from the man's throat.

"This had better be good. I hate it when people interrupt my playtime." Dairokkan growled.

The Assassin gulped before he continued. "Sir, h…he's been spotted. To…towards the northern entrance of the town."

Dairokkan's livid expression faded. "I trust that the others have established the outer perimeter?"

"Yes sir! The perimeter is intact, although the guards and civilians have established a safe zone inside the town. It is proving to be quite…challenging getting past their security." The Assassin said.

"It won't stay that way if you have anything else to offer other than excuses. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare myself to finally exterminate an enduring thorn in my side." Dairokkan said, turning around.

"Children! It was a delight getting acquainted with you two before your demise! I'll be off on my way, as I have more important things to attend to. Oh, I wouldn't try to leave, however. My men have surrounded this building, so none of your friends can get in and you can't get out until the time comes to use you."

The Assassin left and Dairokkan sighed.

"Children? Are you there? Helloooo?"

Zimmi and Ruh looked at each other, confused.

"Huh, I guess my tracking skills have gotten a bit rusty. I could've sworn they were in this locker…Oh, well. I can save the troublemaker story for the next time I find them. Maybe I should emphasize the part where I cut out his tongue…yes, yes- and maybe I should keep knocking my staff around…add suspense…yes…YES."

Dairokkan looked around briefly; making sure no one was present and checked the locker next to Zimmi and Ruh that he had speared. The Assassin shrugged and vanished into his shadow, disappearing into the darkness.

Ruh and Zimmi both let out a sigh of relief before looking at each other.

"Ruh?"

Ruh gulped as he looked into her eyes, shining and staring into his. She had the puppy-eyed stare that had charmed many people on the spot and at the moment, it was making his heart rate skyrocket in the small space they were in.

"Y…y…yeah?" He asked.

Zimmi blushed and leaned closer to his face.

"I really need to pee."

Ruh snorted in laughter.

"W…What? It's not funny, I really need to go!" She squirmed.

"Didn't you go a while ago?" Ruh asked her.

"Yeah, but that was a while ago! Having a spear pointed at you multiple times can make your bladder smaller and that's scientifically proven!" She whined.

"Oh, yeah? Where's the proof?" Ruh asked.

"Ruh!" Zimmi squirmed.

Ruh opened the locker door slowly. "Alright, alright. You can go now."

Zimmi was about to open the door when Ruh stopped her.

"Zimmi, where are you going?"

"To the bathroom! Where else?" Zimmi seethed, stomping her feet in place.

"There's Assassins out there! Do it here until help arrives!" Ruh exclaimed.

"What? Are you crazy? I'm not peeing in a classroom! I'd rather get chopped up than pee here! Miss Silvia says it's unladylike!" Zimmi said.

"You know what else is unladylike? Dying! I won't look, just go in the corner over there and do your business." Ruh said, turning around.

Zimmi grabbed his arms and pouted. "Ruuuuh. Come on! The bathroom's not that far!"

"No."

"Ruh."

"No!"

"Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuh!"

Ruh sighed, looking at her puppy-eyed stare once again. "Fine, give me a few seconds. Let me make sure no one's outside. I can use my barrier to protect myself, but I need you to watch my back once we leave."

Zimmi nodded and walked behind him.

Ruh slowly opened the door, only to find the hallway empty.

"See? We didn't need to worry after all." Zimmi said triumphantly.

"Zimmi. Bathroom." Ruh reminded her.

"Oh, shoot. Uhh…I think there's one round this bulletin board." She said, taking Ruh's hand and leading him down a hallway decorated with paintings from the students along with a few letters and circulars.

"You think?" Ruh asked her.

"Hey, hey. I remember a certain someone nearly walked into the women's bathroom on his first day here." Zimmi snickered.

Ruh blushed. "That was an accident! I've never seen those blue signs before!"

Zimmi started giggling at Ruh's defence, who appeared to cringe at the memory.

"It's fine. I came to your rescue afterwards anyway, didn't I?" She asked, tilting her head.

Ruh smiled.

"Yes. Yes, you did."

They reached the bathroom and Zimmi asked Ruh to stay outside the stall to keep watch if anyone circled around. Ruh walked to the sink and washed his face, relishing the cold, refreshing splash of water.

Drinking some water from the sink, he waited until Zimmi was done. He heard her sigh in relief.

"It's so nice to sit down and take care of your business, isn't it Ruh?" Zimmi asked from inside the stall.

"Zimmi, we don't have to talk while you're peeing," Ruh said uncomfortably.

"Why not? It's fun!" Zimmi giggled.

Ruh's eyes widened as he registered Zimmi's earlier sentence.

"Zimmi?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you say…sit down and take care of business?"

"Yeeeahhh…why?" Zimmi asked.

"I don't think you're supposed to sit down and pee. You're supposed to stand up." Ruh said.

"What? That's stupid. Why would you stand and pee? It's so much comfier to sit down and pee, isn't it?" Zimmi asked.

Ruh was about to answer when he genuinely had no response for a few seconds. "I don't…know?"

"If you haven't peed sitting down, you don't know what you're missing! You should try it!" Zimmi giggled.

Ruh tapped his chin. Perhaps he should try it. It did sound more convenient than standing up, for some peculiar reason.

He heard footsteps outside the bathroom door.

"Zimmi, let me in," Ruh whispered urgently.

"Woah, woah. Ruh, not right now! Try it out later." Zimmi giggled.

"There's someone outside. Quickly!" Ruh whispered.

Zimmi unlocked the stall door and shut it behind Ruh. The footsteps grew louder and stopped.

"This bathroom is way cleaner than the men's bathroom," Ruh mumbled.

"Shh. Quiet." Zimmi hushed Ruh.

The door let out a loud creak as it swung open. The sound of water hitting the sink filled Ruh's ears. Ruh wasn't willing to take another risk like hiding in the locker with no defence. Thankfully, the stall was a bit wider.

"Zimmi, you get ready to attack. I'll be holding up a barrier in case they try to attack us through the door." Ruh whispered as silently as he could.

Zimmi nodded. They saw someone's shoes just outside the stall.

A blade hacked repeatedly through the stall door, tearing a hole in the middle of the frame. Zimmi screamed and didn't hesitate before she threw a punch bursting with electricity.

"HERE'S KEITH!"

Ruh saw Keith's face peek through the hole before Zimmi's punch connected with his face.

Keith went flying into the wall, groaning in pain.

"Mr. Keef?!" Zimmi exclaimed.

Keith gave a weak thumbs-up, though he was still knocked down on the floor.

"Ok, I kinda deserved that one."

________________________________________________________________

"So then I whacked him like a piñata and then Ruh shielded me with his barrier and then whoosh…I smacked him again, but I missed and then…and then…"

"Right, right. I get it. Now, let's get the two of you out of here." Keith said.

They walked downstairs. Zimmi re-told their thrilling encounters with much exaggeration while Ruh silently followed her. The fear and tension had virtually disappeared from her face. She smiled and giggled the entire way.

"So, you want to tell me why you were in a bathroom stall with Ruh?" Keith asked, shooting Ruh a terrifying glare.

Ruh gulped. Zimmi giggled and started skipping next to them. "We were trying to hide when we heard footsteps. We thought it was one of the bad guys."

"Hmm. That's…acceptable." Keith said, still looking at Ruh maliciously.

Ruh, wanting to steer the subject away from the current one before Keith mutilated him, cleared his throat and asked Keith a few questions. Keith explained that the rest of his group was outside, holding off the Assassins while he came here looking for Zimmi after Silvia said she was missing.

"So your friends are outside? Ye! I can't wait to meet them, Mr. Keef!" Zimmi said happily.

"Yeah, you're going to love them. There's Enteico, Yokubo and Felix. Well, actually, you're going to love most of them, except for Felix. We don't like him." Keith said.

Zimmi nodded, pretending to understand with a forced frown. "No, we don't. He stinks."

"How are we going to escape from the Assassins?" Ruh asked, worried that the two might get sidetracked from the matter at hand.

"Escape? Who said anything about escaping? I'm taking care of the Assassins, once and for all." Keith said.

"Yeah, with me, Ruh and the rest of your friends! We'll be the…umm…do we have a name?" Zimmi asked Keith.

"No, not at the moment," Keith said.

"Well, we should come up with one!" Zimmi squealed, clapping her hands.

"Zimmi, I think we should try to survive first before we…" Ruh said.

"Ruh, shhh. Don't go pooping on the party yet! After all, there is no need to fear when the Dropkickers are here!" Zimmi declared triumphantly, making Keith fight the urge to laugh.

"That's a terrible name." Ruh smiled.

"Oh, come on. At least I tried. Give it a shot! It's fun!" Zimmi giggled.

"Ok, ok. What's something that we all have in common?" Ruh asked.

"We're pretty cool and awesome, especially me. Dare I say, pretty sick, but the good kind, not the bad one, which specifically applies to me." Keith suggested.

"We're super strong and we like protecting people! And we punch bad guys when they do bad things! Like heroes!" Zimmi said.

"And also, we're pretty cool and awesome, especially me. And pretty sick, but the good kind, not the bad one, which specifically applies to me." Keith repeated.

Zimmi nodded vigorously. "Ye! Ye! That too, that too!"

"We'll be the Super Powerful Awesome, Cool, Sick, but the good kind, Protectors!"

Zimmi clapped as she jumped happily with her absolutely amazing name for her new group of friends.

"You forgot to add the "especially me" part in it," Keith whispered.

"Oh, right, right. I'll add it after the full name. What do you think, Ruh? Pretty cool name, huh?" Zimmi asked.

Ruh blinked twice silently and looked at the two of them. "You know, I think the problem is that the Super Powerful…something…is just too awesome to be our group name."

Zimmi stomped her foot. "Dang it, he's right! We need another name!"

"How about something that connects all of us?" Ruh asked.

"Well, you've all met me, but I don't want our name to be "Keith and Co." Seems a little flawed." Keith tapped his chin.

"Why, Mr. Keef?" Zimmi asked.

"Because that would imply that I'm the leader. If one of you fu…screws up, then it's on my head. I ain't interested in that bullcrap." Keith said.

They came near the entrance when Ruh noticed a surprising lack of Assassins on the ground floor.

"What happened to the Assassins?" Ruh asked.

"I took care of them."

As they walked outside, Ruh and Zimmi saw the group of Assassins that were supposed to make sure that the two didn't escape the Foundation building.

They just had the slight problem of being in Keith's way.

Ruh bit the inside of his cheek as he saw the dead bodies outside the entrance. Flies buzzed around the corpses, prompting Zimmi to cover her face with her hand to avoid breathing in the rotting stench.

"D…Did you do this, Mr. Keef?" Zimmi asked.

Keith nodded. "Don't worry; they didn't put up much of a fight."

Ruh saw Zimmi frown slightly. He tapped her shoulder and asked her a silent question with a shake of his head, but she shook her head, asking him to not worry.

"That's…fine…I guess…" Zimmi said, reluctantly.

Keith could sense that something was troubling her, but he chose to focus on getting her to safety. They walked outside, where the entire town seemed to be engaged in a gigantic battle against the Assassins.

The guards were putting up a valiant fight, however, under Dairokkan's leadership; the Assassins had prepared traps, ambushes and various underhanded strategies to turn the tides against their foes.

"There he is!"

A group of Assassins spotted Keith emerging from the Foundation and rushed to attack him. The guards noticed that civilians were in danger, but they could offer no assistance since they were trying to evacuate another trio of civilians to the safe zone, fighting against Assassins on the way.

The Assassins descended upon Keith like a swarm of nightmarish shadows in the night, ready to attack.

"I got this one!"

Zimmi's hair began to stick out as she threw a roundhouse kick, launching a few Assassins aside when the electricity jumped off her leg and connected with the Assassins, knocking them out.

Zimmi wobbled unsteadily while Ruh shielded her against the other Assassins attacking.

"Zimmi, I thought that move wasn't ready! Are you ok?" Ruh asked, struggling as he deflected multiple blows from their attackers.

"Wooohuuuu…mah tung fees ike gelly." Zimmi mumbled, swaying unsteadily.

"Damn it, kid! Get your head in the fight!" Keith said, slamming his fists down on an Assassin before pulling the trigger through his skull. The Blade tore through the Assassin's head and cut another one's throat as it shot through the air.

"Yehes sir, Mr. Kweef! Aww, why'd yah have ta kill them? They cud be nice people…" Zimmi mumbled, collapsing to the floor. Keith's eyes widened.

"Zimmi!" Ruh yelled.

"I'm ok, I'm ok…" Zimmi groaned, shaking her head as she tried to clear the noise ringing through her head.

A sword glinted briefly before it nearly took Keith's head off. He jerked his head away from the blade at the last minute, yet the blade still nicked him on the nose.

Keith swung his Blades against the Assassin's shoulder and then kicked him to pull the Blades out from his flesh. He was vaguely aware of the ambush slowly taking its toll on him, but more importantly on the two children behind him.

"Ruh, take her and get out of here! Find Enteico and the others!"

"But…but…" Ruh stuttered, unsure if Keith could survive the onslaught of Assassins.

Keith wrapped his chains around an Assassin's neck and snapped it off.

"Just go! Head towards the safe zone past the orphanage! NOW!" Keith yelled.

Ruh dragged Zimmi by her hand and protected her against any attackers. The Assassins didn't seem interested in them, rather it appeared that their priority target was Keith.

They circled him slowly, like sharks at the first hint of blood, watching him breathe in and out, watching his smallest movements to gain any sort of advantage over him.

"Alright then. Let's get the introductions out of the way. My name's Keith. I'm going to be the one sending you all to hell, and maybe I'll even join you. I like Moon Juice and extreme violence."

Keith pressed the trigger on his gauntlet, unlocking the chains connecting to the Blades of Alysides.

"And, unfortunately for you, I'm all out of Moon Juice."

________________________________________________________________

"Zimmi, keep your head down."

"You keep your head down."

"My head is down already, yours isn't!"

Zimmi blinked as she swatted at a branch in her face. "What were we talking about again?"

"Shh! There's another one."

Ruh watched with Zimmi from behind a tree while a group of Assassins began to run towards Keith. It seems that their forces were divided between two objectives- Capturing the civilians from the safe zone and Keith.

"Ok, when I give you the signal, we need to run for it," Ruh said.

"Ok." Zimmi nodded, about to leave when Ruh stopped her.

"What?" Zimmi asked.

"We still need to decide what the signal is and then wait for it." Ruh sighed.

"Oh. Right. Oopsie." Zimmi giggled.

They hid in silence momentarily, before Zimmi broke the silence.

"Do you…do you think that Mr. Keef's a bad person?" She asked, meekly.

"What? No…no, I don't think that. I think he's a bit of an ass…umm…a bit mean, but I don't think he's a bad guy." Ruh shrugged.

"But he killed all those people."

Ruh looked at Zimmi before another group of Assassins ran past them.

"That doesn't make him bad. It's…it's a little complicated."

Zimmi didn't say anything. Her silence made Ruh uneasy.

The last few Assassins passed by, giving them the perfect window to escape.

"Ok, now!" Ruh said.

"Wait, was that the signal?" Zimmi asked.

"Yes!" Ruh exclaimed.

The two ran underneath the cover of the trees, trying to avoid the main street as much as possible. The lamp posts gave very little light compared to the burning houses nearby. Ruh felt Zimmi shiver violently, though he wasn't sure if it was from the cold air or her condition after the fight.

"You ok?" Ruh asked.

"Y…Yeah, yeah. Let's keep moving…I…I think I see the safe zone! It's a few blocks away from the orphanage!" Zimmi pointed.

Surely enough, in the distance were multiple platoons of guards, holding off a swarm of Assassins from breaching the safe zone. The guards were using an item that exploded light, briefly forcing the Assassins to revert to their physical form so that the guards could eliminate them.

As they crossed past the orphanage, Zimmi forced Ruh to stop.

"What is it?" Ruh asked.

"Look! In there!" Zimmi pointed at the glass doors of the orphanage.

Bob was struggling against a group of Assassins, wounded and cut all over his body. The Assassins laughed as they toyed around with the man.

A group of children cowered in fear behind Bob.

"Come on, fat boy! Keep jumping for us!" An Assassin howled with laughter.

Bob swung a fire axe at one of them, missing him. The Assassin kicked him to the floor, laughing with the rest of his group.

"We need to help him!" Zimmi said.

"Zimmi, don't be stupid! We need to get help!" Ruh yelled.

"I'm not leaving him to die! He's my friend, and last time I checked, people don't leave their friends behind!" Zimmi screamed, running towards the orphanage.

Ruh looked around frantically. Zimmi couldn't take the whole group of Assassins by herself, but with him, she had a chance, albeit a small one. With Keith's friends, they could easily take them down. But, if he ran to get help…

"BOB!" Zimmi yelled, breaking through the glass doors.

Ruh bit the inside of his cheek and then groaned in frustration. Sprinting into the orphanage, he arrived just in time to shield Zimmi from a katana aimed at her head.

"Zimmi, there's three behind us!" Ruh yelled.

"Thanks! I got 'em!" Zimmi said, firing off three charges of electricity when she flicked her pinky towards them. The bolts knocked them all unconscious.

A cry of pain alerted Zimmi when she saw the last Assassin about to kill Bob.

"NO!" Zimmi yelled, rushing to attack the man. Despite her flurry of punches, the man refused to budge, taking the hits with ease.

"GET OFF HIM! GET OFF HIM!" Zimmi screamed, slamming her fists repeatedly.

The knife slowly dug deep into Bob's neck, making the man scream.

"NO! DON'T. HURT. HIM!"

Zimmi screamed as she grabbed the Assassin by the neck, making him flail off Bob before she sent thousands of volts of electricity coursing through him, causing him to jerk around violently before he slumped to the ground.

"Zimmi! Stop!" Ruh yelled.

Zimmi cried out as her tears fizzled upon contact with the tremendous burst of electric energy, making her short out all the nearby lights by making their bulbs shatter.

Ruh made a barrier around him as he wrapped around Zimmi with his arms.

The girl stopped screaming and fell back into his arms, the energy instantly disappearing. She stared blankly at the ceiling, then at Ruh, then at the ceiling once again. She couldn't breathe and started sobbing into Ruh's shoulder.

"It's ok. It's ok. Bob's fine, you saved him."

Zimmi caught her breath and looked at Bob, who was holding a cloth over the knife wound. The children behind him were looking in awe at Zimmi.

But she noticed that the Assassin who was going to kill Ruh wasn't moving.

The silence was deafening as the smell of burned flesh clogged her nose.

She wobbled over to the man. "Mister…are…are you ok?"

"Zimmi, wait! What are you…"

Zimmi shook the body and then felt around for a pulse. She put her head to his chest to hear a heartbeat, but couldn't hear the thumping rhythm at all.

"I…I killed him." Zimmi whimpered.

"Zimmi, it's…" Ruh said.

Zimmi started using her hands as a defibrillator, desperately trying to bring the man back to life, but to no avail. Electricity whirred through her small hands.

"Please, please, please. I didn't want to…I didn't mean to…" Zimmi began to cry.

She tried to jumpstart his heart again. Nothing happened.

"Zimmi, he…he tried to kill Bob. It isn't your fault." Ruh said, walking towards her.

"He could have had a family waiting for him. A wife…a daughter…a home. I wasn't trying to…to take that away from him…I didn't want to kill him..." Zimmi sobbed, still trying to revive the dead man.

"Hey, Zimmi. It's ok, it's ok." Ruh said, slowly taking Zimmi's hands away from the dead Assassin and hugging her. Her hands began to shake and quiver.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm a bad per-a…a bad person…I'm a murderer…I'm a terrible person…" She cried, hiding her face from Ruh.

"You're not. You're not." Ruh said.

"I…couldn't control it. With the others…I…I trained to control…how much power I let out…but-but…I didn't FOCUS…I JUST NEEDED TO FOCUS…but I…" She said, gnashing her teeth when she spoke.

"Zimmi, you had to choose between his life or Bob's. It was an accident." Ruh said, trying to console her.

She whimpered something incomprehensible and cried in Ruh's arms, trembling with grief. All Ruh could do was to hold her in her time of need. To hold the only friend that he ever had, in his arms as she broke down, her guilt rendering her inconsolable.

He wished he could do more.

Ruh wrapped his pinky around hers.

"I promise to make Zimmi my best friend, and, through thick and thin, stay with her, no matter how cruel the world may become. So that I can convince her that she will always be a good…and kind…and-and the best person of us all, no matter what happens." Ruh whispered, trying to fight the lump in his throat.

Zimmi looked up at him. Her face was stained with tears.

"Promise?" Zimmi asked softly.

Ruh hugged her tightly as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Promise."