The TSD Kids:

The Adventurer’s Agency

Lv. 17

Rescue Mission (Part 3)

Last time, I had just defeated Warren, who had a complete change of heart, as he too now wanted us to save Nadia, the daughter of his childhood friend. The others had made some progress too. They got into the prison compound where Nadia was held, but where was she? And where was Gale, to that point? According to Kyle, she went to find Les herself, for if Les were to be defeated, then the thing holding the Phanto-Barrier can be broken. I’ll see to that task; Les is going down!

Gale: “He should be here…”

Gale stepped into the building where the 1st Division always held their meetings. It seemed to be totally vacant.

Gale: “If T can’t get here in time, then I guess I’ll handle it.”

“You’ll handle what?”

Gale: “(Gasp!)”

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared out of nowhere, standing in front of her, and before she knew it, he held her up by her neck!

Gale: “Les!”

Les: “I knew you’d return, traitor.”

Gale: “Someone has to try and stop you!”

Les: “Why did you leave in the first place?”

Gale: “I couldn’t stand being around someone who’d want to kill two innocent children.”

Les: “I told you; they’re not children, they’re criminals! They deserve to be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law!”

Gale: “No one will agree to that logic!”

Les: “Then I’ll cut down those who deign to oppose me!”

Gale: “You monster…”

Les: “Since you haven’t committed any crimes… I’ll give you another chance. Come back to us, and we can forget this ever happened…”

To think he would even suggest this… all she could do was spit in his face!

Gale: “NO! Never!”

Les: “Foolish woman!”

Les then threw her to the wall! As she hit it, her staff flew towards the front door. Just before she blacked out, she thought…

Gale: “Damn… he’s just as strong as ever… please… be careful, T…”

T: “To get rid of the Barrier… I must defeat Les.”

At around the time before the others made it to the prison compound, I was getting closer to the side of the Inner City where the Spade Gate was located.

T: “Question is, where could he be?”

I looked at my surroundings.

T: “The prison building is supposed to be quite big… but all these buildings are tall! Oh?”

I spied a rather low building, compared to all the others, that is…

T: “I guess I spoke too soon.”

I approached the building’s door.

T: “Hey… this is…”

That’s when I noticed…

T: “This is Gale’s staff! She must be in here. Why’d she leave it out here??”

I stepped in. The interior had the same tatami flooring as Reina’s house.

T: “Gale? Are you in here? Huh?”

I noticed a shape lying on the floor ahead, indiscernible due to the dimly lit room.

T: “What’s…?”

Suddenly, the place lit up! And the person lying there was…

T: “Gale!”

I went to see if she was okay.

T: “Oh, she’s out cold… Who could’ve done this…?”

Then as soon as I realized, I felt a chill down my spine, along with the unnerving feeling that something sharp was aimed at the back of my neck! Before I could turn my head…

“Don’t move.”

T: “Grr…”

“If you do, your head will go flying… but even if you don’t… it will happen anyway!”

While holding Gale, I transformed and blew myself out the way before both our heads were severed! After I rested her against the wall, I then got a good look at the offender.

T: “Les!”

Les: “So you remember me. You must’ve gotten over the shock of losing your little sword.”

T: “Did you do this to Gale?”

Les: “…”

T: “Answer me!”

Les: “I have no need to discuss the actions of a traitor to an outsider. Even more so, you insult our noble syndicate by wearing that robe.”

T: “Noble? You guys are just corrupt tyrants!”

Les: “That’s not for you to judge. If you feel you can last a brief moment against me before your untimely demise, then come at me!”

T: “You know you’re asking for it, yet you demand it anyway… fine!”

I drew my sword.

Les: “So you repaired it…”

I ran in ready to strike, but suddenly…

T: “(Gasp!)”

Les’ sword, which almost resembled a big hook, was right around my neck as he stood slightly behind me!

Les: “Yet again, I have another chance to remove your head. This time I won’t…”

T: “Wind!”

With a quick transformation, I got out of his range by moving away as fog!

T: “No one’s removing my head!”

Les: “At first, I thought just dealing with that girl would’ve sufficed for now, but now I have the chance of destroying you, for being her accomplice… This will be a day to remember!”

T: “Yeah; the day you get pwned! White Tiger Strike!”

The attack force I made merely got blocked by his sword, which gave off a red glow!

T: “No way!”

Les: “I’ve seen that move before; you can’t get me with old tricks.”

T: “Fine; bring it!”

We both crossed swords, trying to push the other away.

Les: “Hey, boy, I bet she never told you to expect the unexpected, before you set foot in here…”

T: “What do you mean? Huh?”

His sword started to glow bright red!

Les: “Attack! Double-Edge Destroyer!”

The sword gave off an energy discharge, which passed through to my sword, then to me!

T: “AAAAHH!!”

He then knocked me away, next to Gale!

Gale: “Uhh…”

T: “She’s still out… I gotta beat this guy and help her!”

I got up and ran up to Les, but before I could hit him…

Les: “Too slow!”

I swung at thin air as Les stood on another side of the room!

T: “How did you…?”

I ran after him to strike him, but he slipped away again!

T: “Dang it!”

After more failed attempts to hit him, his sword started to glow red again!

Les: “Take this!”

He struck the ground, creating red shockwaves along the ground! I dodged them all except for…

Les: “You can’t avoid them all! Look at your friend!”

One was headed right for Gale!

T: “No!”

I had to throw myself in the way to keep it from hitting her! It hurt just like that first attack!

T: “You dirty rat…”

Les: “I was aiming for you, but if one were to hit her by accident…”

T: “Shut up and let me hit ya!”

But even still, he darted away from every mad swing of my sword… Afterwards, his sword glowed again and made another forceful attack.

Kyle: “Phew… I’m bored.”

Kyle, who was still guarding the weird thing holding up the Phanto-Barrier, had grown bored, so he decided to light a spare sparkler he carried with him. As it gave off blue and red bits of light, he was deep in thought…

Kyle: “I wonder how everyone is doing right now. Man, what I wouldn’t give to be part of the action, where they are now! But hey, if I don’t break this thing, then we can’t leave this place anyway, even if… no, when we do save Nadia…”

As the sparkler burned out, he got up and looked at the object.

Kyle: “Ugh… can’t wait to smash this thing… huh?”

He then noticed something odd about its presence…

Kyle: “I can still feel the MP pulsating… but first it feels strong, then it goes super weak… then strong again… why??”

He then thought about whom it was it was magically tied to…

Kyle: “Say… this thing’s bonded to Les. If Les were to get pwned, then in turn this thing can, too. What if it’s him that shifting in power so?”

He raises an interesting thought… too bad I don’t know!

As for me, I just fended off another attack, and was trying to hit him. But as such, he slipped away as effectively as before!

Les: “Commendable. None of my previous opponents have lasted this long. They usually perish from the first strike. But like all the others, you still haven’t landed a hit on me.”

T: “I will soon!”

As soon as I said that, I swung and missed… again.

Les: “This is why I had an ongoing streak of never getting a scratch on me in battle… until your friend marred my face!”

But technically, that wasn’t a battle when it happened, so it shouldn’t count, but I didn’t think he’d care to hear that…

T: “There must be some way to beat him! I can only resist his attacks for so long!”

That’s when I noticed…

T: “Hey… his MP feels considerably weaker… too weak… wasn’t it powerful just now? It was strong just before he released those attacks, and then it’s super-weak when he’s darting around like a caffeine-crazy hummingbird!”

Then… a realization!

T: “Of course! His sword’s ability! He drains all his power into those focused attacks, then when he’s weak, he compensates by moving around, to avoid getting hit, all while recharging for the next strike! I have to hit him when he’s weak! I can feel his power returning.”

But how was I to hit him? He moves too fast for that…

T: “Wait… I can match his speed! Must concentrate…”

Keeping my cool, I took note of my surroundings… suddenly…

T: “I see him!”

I could see Les moving slowly from one spot to the next. But he was still moving fast; I could just now track him and keep up with him!

T: “You’re not getting away!”

I moved as fast as he did and stood right in front of him, right where he stopped!

Les: “What!?”

T: “Your power hasn’t fully come back yet! Feral Five-Star Slash!”

The star-shaped slash I inflicted caught him off guard, and knocked him back!

Les: “How’d you catch up to me?!”

T: “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Les: “That won’t happen twice! Double-Edge Destroyer!

His next attack came in the form of energy bombs with a wide explosion radius. Using the Turtle Shield defensive skill, I blocked the blasts, but I had to cover Gale with it, so she’d avoid getting hit!

T: “C’mere, you!”

I sped towards him, but he saw that coming and ran behind me just as I swung my sword!

T: “Where…?”

Les: “I only used half my strength in that last attack!”

T: “What? But that could’ve been strong enough to…!”

Les: “Yes! And the next half will be more than enough to kill you!”

He came with his sword, ready to impale me!

T: “Heh, now that’s a shame…”

I lifted my sword, held it backward, and…

Les: “Ugh! Uh… oh…”

Just as Les closed in on me, I thrust my sword behind me, stabbing him in the midsection!

Les: “H-how…? W-why?”

T: “I say it’s a shame… because when you used all your power, you felt lighter, more able to move freely, though weak. You had 50 percent of your power intact just now, but you couldn’t move as fast… that was your mistake, and that is why you suck!”

I jumped away from him and readied my sword for the final attack!

T: “Consider this payback for all the people you hurt!”

Les: “S-so much for my… streak…”

T: “Blue Dragon Seiryuu! Dragon Slayer!”

The Emerald Sword gave off a bright blue and green glow, then…

T: “Yee-haw!!”

I fired off a massive blast of energy, shaped like a lunging dragon’s head straight at him!

Les: “AAAAAHHH!!”

After the bright green light subsided, Les lay motionless, on the ground.

T: “Phew… that’s that. He got pwned, big-time! Ew… my sword’s all covered in red…”

Now I could see to getting Gale out of here. I approached her slowly.

T: “Now we can go and get Nadia and…”

Les: “I… cannot lose… to the likes of you!!”

T: “What?!”

With a blind frenzy, Les was up and ready to strike me down with his last breath, but…!

Les: “Ugh! Ohh…”

A sword poked through right where I ran through him!

T: “Whoa! Who did that!?”

He fell over for good. The person behind him was…

Reina: “Hey kid, miss me?”

T: “…Reina!”

She stood there, holding the sword with her right hand; the only hand she even had!

T: “What’re you doing here?”

Reina: “Thought you were all in some hot water, so I sent myself over to help! Of course, I was smart enough to equip a parachute!”

Now see, when she said that, that was just not fair! How were we supposed to know we’d get shot out of an oversized cannon!

T: “But I thought you said you’d only help with getting us over the gate!”

Reina: “I lied. Just wanted to see how far you all would get. Besides, you all promised me an arm! You did good, kid!”

T: “Thanks!”

Reina: “Oh no, Gale!”

T: “She’s only unconscious. Les did try and pull a dirty trick, like trying to hit her during our battle.”

Reina: “Well, we can see how it turned out for him! I’ll tend to her, you should go find Nadia.”

T: “Cool beans! Say, while you’re at it, you should check out the center of the Inner City. Someone’s hurt there, and I think you’ll find that person very familiar…”

Reina: “Eh?”

T: “Stay safe!”

I ran out the building without delay!

At around the exact same time…

Kyle: “Huh?”

Suddenly, the eerie glow in the center of the jar-thing disappeared!

Kyle: “Sweet! T must’ve beaten that guy! Inferno Fist!”

With that, Kyle smashed the object with one fiery punch! The ghost-things that floated around it flew off into the air!

Kyle: “Hey, my part’s done now; I’ll go catch up with the others.”

He ran out of the hut.

T: “Whoa…”

I got into the prison compound, only to see the place littered with KO’d Officials!

T: “What kind of eight-person whirly-wind struck this place… of course!”

I ran following the trail of pwnage.

Sofia: “Oh no…”

Rick: “This is bad.”

As for the others, they were sitting in the open cell being really upset about something… that was when…

T: “Yahoo! I’ve come to save you!!”

I slid into the view of the others, but not even this made them look any happier.

Sofia: “T! You’re here!”

T: “Yep, yep, that I am! I just tore through Les, and made my way up here! But it looks like you guys did some damage of your own…”

Cutter: “Yeah…”

T: “Uh, why so down? W-where’s Nadia?”

The second I mentioned that, they all looked even sadder than before!

T: “?”

Cotton: “(We’re too late…)”

T: “WHAT?!”

Sean: “Look out the window…”

T: “Okay…”

From the cell’s vantage point, I could actually see over the gate! The Spade Gate was actually open! I could see the trail leading just outside town, close to a cliff facing the seaside. And on that trail was…

T: “I see a bunch of guys in white robes walking there…”

“And who do they have with them?”

I looked closely and saw a head of dark blue hair in the middle!

T: “They have Nadia! What’s that thing they carting her to?”

Tracy: “One of the Officials said that that thing up there is some sort of magic device used for execution rituals.”

Sean: “That thing doesn’t just kill a person, it… erases them.”

Rick: “And it doesn’t leave a trace whatsoever. It’ll be like they never existed.”

T: “How come you guys didn’t try going after them?!”

Sofia: “By the time we get there, it’ll be too late!”

T: “It’s never too late, not as long as I have these boots! Step aside!”

When the others went to the sides, I raised my fist!

T: “TNT Punch!”

BOOM!

As soon as I bombed a hole in the wall, I jumped out!

Ellis: “T!”

Cutter: “I’d say he’s the embodiment of indignation.”

Sean: “True; if anyone can do this, he can.”

As soon as I landed, I dashed out the Spade Gate and rushed towards the cliff with all speed!

T: “There she is!”

The seven white robed people stood at the edge of the cliff, with Nadia in tow. Each of them held a rope, which restrained her.

T: “HEY!”

They turned around.

T: “That’s my friend! Let her go!”

“Who is this fool who dares to interrupt us…?”

“Hush… After we deal with this one, then we can sort him out…”

“What an odd amount of green he wears…”

Nadia: “(Gasp) Green?”

They turned back around.

T: “What? How dare you mock my authority?! I told you to turn and face me! Diamond Blitz!”

After repeated attacks, they soon grew irritated…

“This fool is pushing our buttons so…”

“Then let us kill both of them, in the name of the Inner City Officials!”

They then turned and rushed my way, still holding Nadia by the ropes!

T: “Now you’ll pay! This is my verdict; you’re all guilty! Swordy Judgement!”

I threw not my hammer, but my sword like a boomerang! It flew around cutting all the ropes they were holding!

“You insolent…!”

T: “Shaddup! Dragon Twister! Get blown away!”

I knocked all the robed freaks away, sending them all off the cliff into the water!

T: “Hey… hey Nadia…”

Nadia: “Huh?”

T: “You can get up now. They’re gone.”

Nadia: “T… I told you not to come for me…”

T: “Heh, you dork… you think I’d stand around and let my friend get killed? You must not know me very well…”

Nadia: “Thank you… for everything.”

T: “No problem! The others are waiting back at the prison; you can thank then too!”

Nadia: “That’s great.”

Just about nothing could keep her from forming a wide smile across her face.

T: “Ah, you’re smiling again! Y’know, you should smile like that more often!”

Nadia: “Really?”

T: “If you want to. C’mon, I’ll fly us back! I know they’ll want to see you, so I’ll go fast!”

Nadia: “Okay… whoa!”

Cotton: “(Did you see that?)”

T-na: “He sure did catch up to them fast…”

Sofia: “And he cleaned their clocks in one hit!”

Rick: “Hey, guys, I think something’s headed our way…”

Cutter: “Really?”

Rick: “Come and see!”

Everyone gathered around the hole that I bombed to take a look.

Sofia: “It’s flying this way… a bird maybe?”

Ellis: “Since when do birds like to fly into walls?”

Cutter: “It looks like a parrot; I see green and dark blue…”

Sean: “Dark blue and green? Uh-oh!”

T: “Incoming!”

Nadia: “Look out!”

As the others were yelling frantically for us not to come any closer…!

Kyle: “Hey guys! I made it!”

Kyle finally stepped in the doorway, drawing their attention away from the hole!

Kyle: “Hey guys, where’s…”

CRASH!!

We collided with everyone, including Kyle, and fell against the wall! Painful…

T: “Ouch.”

Nadia: “I’m… back everyone…”

Sofia: “Hooray.”

Cutter: “Woo-hoo.”

Ellis: “M-my back!!”

After that we left the prison compound and made it to the Diamond Gate. On the way I explained everything about the battle with Les, and Kyle spoke of the odd thing holding the Barrier.

Ellis: “Hey, look! Isn’t that Reina over there?”

Kyle: “And Gale is with her. Good.”

Nadia: “But isn’t that…?”

Alonso: “Here they are…”

Alonso and Warren, who were still looking beat-up, were standing along with them.

T: “I guess you’re feeling better, Warren.”

Warren: “Yeah… Good, you saved her. I guess that means Les is…”

Reina: “It’s just as I said! He beat him, straight up!”

Gale: “I knew he could do it.”

T: “Aw, heh, heh…”

Cutter: “Otto’s also no longer among the living.”

T-na: “So… what, you two have no problem with us being here?”

Rick: “You are Officials, right?”

Alonso: “Now that Les is gone, this place is just gonna fall apart. Everyone’s just gonna most likely quit. I know I am.”

Warren: “Same here. I’ve had it.”

Cotton: “(Look! The sky!)”

We all looked up as the Phanto-Barrier dissipated, and blue skies were visible once again!

T: “Well, that’s great and all, but what about getting out of this Inner City?”

Reina: “Got it covered! I asked a big friend for a favor…”

Suddenly, the Diamond Gate started to shake, then it rose up!”

Sean: “It’s Sergueï!”

Sergueï: “Hello, little friends! Uh… no one’s gonna cut my arms again, are they?”

Ellis: “No need to worry about that! Thanks for letting us out!”

Alonso: “Even without Les, we still have some pull.”

Warren: “Yeah, we’ll have them tear down this gate.”

Gale: “I promised Janine that we’d head back to the castle after saving Nadia. Shall we go?”

T: “Yeah, I’m beat…”

Janine: “Oh, I’m so happy to see you safe and sound! I never, ever want this to happen to you ever again!!”

Nadia: “M-mother… you’re crushing me!”

T: “Now you know… how we feel!!”

Rick: “Yeah!”

My mother and Rick’s mother Martha had come to the castle, and now the three of us were getting the stuffing hugged out of us!

Mom: “We’re just so glad to see you safe!”

T: “How the heck did you come out here anyway??”

Sofia: “There were monsters on the way here…”

Martha: “One of the queen’s guards was nice enough to escort us to the castle to meet you here.”

Rick: “That’s cool.”

Janine: “Please, you all must rest here. I can’t imagine all the trouble you’ve been through…”

T-na: “Oh, it’s alright…”

Mom: “I must be off, I can’t leave the house unattended…”

Martha: “They need me at work. Sorry I can’t stay!”

After they left, we rested for the night.

The next day…

Janine: “Warren… it’s been a while.”

Warren: “I know. I want to apologize. If I had realized she was your daughter sooner…”

Janine: “What’s done is done. At least you didn’t let any harm come to her. Thank you.”

Warren: “Don’t thank me. Those friends of hers really saved her.”

Janine: “But she said how you’d always swing by her cell and talk to her. No one else would.”

Warren: “Hm.”

Reina: “Hey, why do you two look so down, huh?”

Gale: “Yes, it’s been some time, but we’ve finally seen each other after so long.”

Janine: “Yes, we were just kids when we found this pond…”

Reina: “Yeah, but why did you bring your guards here?? They’re killin’ the mood!”

Guard: “Just doing our duty to protect the queen, miss! Don’t mind us!”

Warren: “Heh, heh, heh…”

Nadia: “How nice…”

Sofia: “The four of them look so happy.”

T: “Yeah, it’s like they’re kids again!”

T-na: “Makes me wonder if we’re like that.”

Tracy: “I dunno. But hey, at least we can all head home now!”

Cutter: “What a long mission… now I know Razor’s griping about how I’ve run off to who-knows-where!”

Sean: “What about Gale? If she’s heading our way, then we oughta wait for her.”

Rick: “She said she’d get back on her own. Besides, she’s having fun; let’s let her be.”

Sofia: “Then it’s time to head home!”

With that, we left Cornet Valley, with the Inner City Official’s oppression coming to a grinding halt for good!