Black Bone Tower Part 20

Previous: Black Bone Tower Part 19

They walked, but the light from the outside had disappeared as the tower's door closed behind them. They were all blind, except for Rinji, who had a decent line of vision in the dark. Usagi had her sword very tight in her hand, ready to unsheathe it at a moment's notice. The nine of them stuck close together, and it was an unspoken rule that if they did not have anything important to say, they should stay quiet, and even when something had to be said, keep it low, and keep it short. Kimi and her two crewmates stuck close to their group from the back, and even though Jana Chi could not see much of anything, she kept her ears open. The corridor was far longer than any of them had anticipated it curved slightly, and many of them had to put their arms on the wall to see just how much it did curve, but it straightened out once again, and they could hardly believe it just kept going.

Gonzo: My God, this is boring [Whispered.]

Usagi: Quiet, we need to be ready for anything.

Gonzo: If there's a trap here, none of us are going to be able to know it until it's too late.

Jana: Speak for yourself, I can already tell, we're approaching a larger room soon. When that comes, we need to be extra ready for anything.

Rinji: Stop [He held up a fist to make them all come to a halt.]

Kimi: What is it?

Rinji: You hear that? [His ears twitched.]

Dala: Yes, it sounds like [She paused for a moment.] coughing.

Kimi: You think it's the other crew?

Dala: It might be, but I sincerely doubt it.

Rinji: Yes, the entrance they went through was very solitary, I don't think we will be running into them anytime soon.

Chio: Then lets see who needs their medication.

Rinji nodded, and motioned them forward. It wasn't so dark that they couldn't see his shadow, there was a very faint light coming from somewhere, it was just impossible to see from where. That was when he started to smell something, and that something was very filthy, like the scent of lantern oil, but more bland than that. It had to be some kind of motor oil or grease of some sort. Whatever they were approaching was coming close.

Gonzo: Alright, that's it, I've had enough of this crap [He quickly lit a match and brought a kerosene up.]

Usagi: Where did you get that?

Gonzo: Always prepared, am I.

Chio: Nice, but I'm glad you're using it sparingly.

Gonzo: My thoughts exactly. I don't know how much oil will be enough for this place.

Then it happened, something came from above down upon them, in an instant, they saw a sword in a hand. Many of them reacted in less than a second, but it was Jana who jumped in the way and caught the sword with both hands clapped on either side of it. Gonzo held the light up, and both Chio and Usagi recognized the cybernetic woman that they saw from before.

Jana lashed out with a round house kick, but the cyborg, KAR-3011 jumped back in a double flip and landed on her feet.

Rinji: Holy Hand Grenades! [Rinji looked close at her, and saw that there was a small bleeping in her eyes that flashed blue very quickly.] There's no way.

Chio: Yeah boss, that's the one. [He got into a fighting stance, ready for her next attack.]

Jana: Jaga-odori! [Whirled through the air in the fastest cartwheel any of them had ever seen, and came down with an axe kick that could shatter pure stone.]

The cyborg lept to the side, and put her foot on the wall, jumping up from both side, and then slicing downward on her descent. In one fluid movement, Jana jabbed her middle finger into the side of the sword and up came her palm, and it met with her opponent's chin, knocking her up and back with a cracking sound coming from the back of her neck.

Jana: Haienawarai! [Brought herself into a fighting stance the next instant after her attack to see the cyborg fall onto her back.]

The cyborg got to her feet, her head leaning to the side now, and the flashing in her eyes became somewhat frazzled.

KAR-3011: System malfunction.

Jana: KYAA!! [Lunged forward with a chopping hand that swept through the air fast enough that they all could hear it, however, before it could hit, KAR's wings expanded on her back and flapped to pull her straight back in a dodge.]

KAR turned and began to run down the other direction, down the corridor.

The Tiger-Stripe crew looked in awe at Jana's almost flawless performance. They snapped out of it, though, and joined Jana in persuing the Cyborg. Dala jumped straight over everyone, and zoomed past them all to chase KAR. That was when a light at the end of the tunnel became visible, and everyone watched as the cyborg entered the door, and it began to slide close. Dala was quick to catch it, though. She was able to hold it, but just barely, and soon it began to slide against her, and she was not quite strong enough.

Dala: Damn! Come on! Open you little bastard! [She strained against the door, but then a red and black striped claw clamped on the edge of the door, and with a mighty push, Rinji smashed the door against the threshold.]

Dala looked at him, and he at her, and she saw it. There was the look.

All of them made it to the opening, and the cyborg standing, her back toward them. The room was very large, and black metal formed all around it. There were platforms that held a higher ground on either side of them, and lights above them that illuminated the room enough to get a good look at the whole thing. There was a stage much like them on the other side of it, and the cyborg stood in front of it. They entered the room with caution, and kept their eyes on her, but she did not move.

That was when the wall opened a passageway, and a man walked out of it. He wore glasses, his hair mostly silver, but he did not look old. He pushed up his glasses, and coughed a few times, his other hand behind his back.

Kimi: Wait a minute, that's the guy who was in the bar!

The man looked at her, and to Dala, who also recognized him.

Robert: Yes, hello. I'm Dr. Robert Kathium. I am here running the tower and maintaining its functions.

Rinji: Yeah, that's real nice, and all, but what are you doing here? Aren't we supposed to be searching for some kind of treasure?

Robert: You would be, but I'm afraid that will not be necessa-- [Cough cough cough cough cough! Cleared his throat.] Necessary. [Lit a cigarette and started smoking.]

Chio: The hell do you mean "not necessary"?

Nikk: He's the one controlling the robot women.

All of them looked at her, and Nikk kept looking toward Kathium.

Nikk: He has the remote control for them in his pocket, and also another remote control behind his back, probably the remote control for the tower itself.

Robert: I am thoroughly impressed. She is right.

Nikk: He also has lung cancer, and still chooses to smoke, even though it has already engulfed the better part of his lungs.

Kathium's look became somewhat grim. He took a long drag on his cigarette and exhaled a large cloud of smoke.