SHG12: Flames beneath me part 2

Arriving in the fare city, Bishop strolled through the city limits exhausted from flying with Allanah unconscious on his back. Dragging through the city pouring sweat from his face, he stumbles upon a small bar shop in the open. Passing by, he suddenly sees Priest kicked back under the pavilion with a large drink sitting on the table as he read a little pamphlet. Puzzled by his presence, Bishop walks over to Priest stunned by him being presently than expected.
“How did you get here before me?”
         Priest points over his shoulder at the bus across the street without even taking his eye off the pamphlet.
“I took the bus”
“What bus?”
         Bishop hears the horn, and views a woman leaning out the window waving ecstatically at Priest. Waving her off, Priest placed a smile on his face and waved his fingers that he had held up to his chin.
“Are you serious?”
         Priest implies.
“You were the one who took off and left me. It was your own selfishness that led to the physical drained state that you are in now.”
         Bishop stood with his jaw dropped and his brow rose, hesitating to make a simple comeback. But silence held his tongue and all that he could say is that.
“You won again.”
         Priest nods.
“…Yea. Sit down before you collapse.’
         Shamefully, Bishop places Allanah in the chair next to him, and then takes his seat at the table. Priest slides him the pamphlet to look at.
“I figure we take a little break before we head west.”
         The cover of the hot springs explained his intent for the rest of the evening.
“Hot springs?”
         Priest smiles.
“It is what the Pyro kingdom is known for, besides the Welding companies here. I figure we rehydrate, relax and heal our muscle from travel and being cooped up on the ship for hours on end.”
         Bishop takes a moment; lifting his brow and stroking his chin with his index finger as he processed the idea.
“It sounds like a plan, but we have to get a lead on the welder of this”
“I’ve already got a lead. The driver of that bus I rode on transport workers from the east that works out west every three days.
         The past images of Priest and the bus driver flashed before him as he shared the information he knew with Bishop.
“Her brother is supposed to be transporting some night shift workers tomorrow and said he can give us a lift there. Also that black metal from that carrier was made by a well known welder named Kane. He owns a company called Devil’s inferno.”
         Bishop smiles at the results Priest had given.
“Good job my friend.”
         Allanah suddenly slams face first into the table, drawing Priest’s and Bishop’s attention towards her.
“What about Allanah?”
         Priest lifts his hand; signaling a nearby waitress to tend to them. She hands Priest a tall cold glass of water with a bright smile.
“Thank you”
         Priest said gently with a big smile. Without even taking his eyes off of the waitress, Priest dashes the tall glass of water onto Allanah’s head.  The shocking cold beverage cooling her body stunned her severely.  Surprised, Allanah falls out of her seat and hits the floor, still disoriented about where she is and what happened.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?”
         Bishop looks over at Priest with a slight grin and chuckle.
“You have the answers to everything, don’t you?”
         Priest shrugs his shoulders holding an innocent smile.
“I’m not the Arch Bishop’s right hand man for nothing.”
         He nods, signaling Bishop that they should leave.
“Come on…  Let’s get a room at an Inn to stay for the night.”




         Night came quickly for the three, the city lights and the steady crowd of citizens filling the streets, inspired Allanah and the others to spend their evening out on the town. Bishop, staring out the hotel window watched the cheerful people walk the streets. As they passed by, he noticed something peculiar about each and every person. That everyone was wearing some kind of skimpy outfit, or merely shorts and unbuttoned shirts.
"Hmm."
         Turning around, Bishop's eyes fall upon Allanah stepping out of the restroom in a two piece with a towel wrapped around her waist. Timid, Allanah stood with an innocent glare on her face by the restroom door. She asks the two standing in the room, baffled by Allanah beauty and figure...
"How does this look? Is it too revealing?"
         Both shook their heads with their mouths hanging open.
"No, don't be silly."
         Priest said with sarcasm in his voice. Bishop leans over to ask Priest with his hand covering his lips from Allanah's sight.
"How old is she?"
         Priest mutters to him.
"Don't get any ideas."
         Bishop drops his head in shame and walks away hopelessly.
"Damn."
         Allanah walks up to Priest with the same timid expression as before.
"Does it really look okay? I never wore anything that actually showed off my body."
         Priest smiles, as he replied.
"You look fine. I know you feel uncomfortable, because people of royalty are not permitted to wear anything like that. "
         Allanah begins to blush.
"... But"
         He steps up to her and places his hand upon her head with a gentle smile on his face.
"...We are not in the Royal Kingdom. Right now, we're taking a break, so who cares what you wear, as long as you are not in the nude."
         Allanah giggles from the comical expression.
"Thank you."
         Priest nudges her toward the door.
"Now, let's get to the hot springs before they close."

Hours later, the three found themselves relaxing in a steaming pool with waitress serving them wine in a soothing environment. Priest and Bishop resided on the left of the pool with warm towels resting on their heads.  Allanah sat on the other side of the lava rock wall built between them, relaxing to herself as she read a little book to keep her attention.
"God, I'm glad we came here for the night.”
         Priest and Bishop watch the beautiful waitress in their skimpy outfits walking around the hot springs, entertaining them with their glamour alone. Priest glances over at Bishop with a slight smile and implies.
“We might have to stay an extra night.”
         Bishop takes a drink, before he answered Priest.
“It would be delightful, but we have duties to attend to and cannot procrastinate any long.”
         A frown comes upon Priest’s face, but logically Bishop was right and could not argue with the matter. Priest sinks into the pool at eye level, still wearing his shades as he carried a weight of disappoint on his shoulders.
“Yeah, you are right about that.”


         Confined within his chambers, Aoin stood over a large global map that stretched over the entire table of his room. He observed every route that could possibly be taken by land and sea, plus the landscape of the Shadow kingdom itself. Focusing, Aoin concentrated on the assault; plotting every move to perfection. He scaled the distances and the time with his tools by his side to calculate the advantages of the climate and landscape. From the entrance of his chamber, a gently mellow voice speaks out to him
“You haven’t changed a bit”
         Aoin glances up to see a beautiful woman approaching him from the door; her soothing sandy brown hair glared from the lights above, and the cheerfully expression upon her face warmed Aoin’s heart. A smile creeps upon his face as he called out to her.
“…Taya.”
“…You are more focused as ever”
         The two hug one another; tightly holding each other passionately.
“It has been forever since I have seen you.”
“Six years to be exact.”
         She replied. Aoin steps back and glares at her with a delighted smile that expressed his inner joy of her presences.
“What are you doing here?”
         She shrugs her shoulder with a puzzled look on her face.
“I’m the Lieutenant General that they sent to help you with the invasion.”
         Astounded, Aoin is amazed at Taya’s superior ranking.
“…Lieutenant General? …Really?”
         She smiles.
“I have been working my way up the latter to get to this position. I heard you made General, so I had to make my way to your ranking.”
         Aoin nods in confidence of her ability.
“I believe you are a great Lieutenant General if you made it this far at your age.”
         Taya punches Aoin in the chest, shoving him back a little.
“Hey, what do you mean your age?”
         Aoin grabs his chest and laughs.
“… I’m only a year younger than you.”
         They took a moment, staring in each other’s eyes as if love had feel upon them for the first time.
“I’m glad you are here.”
         Aoin said, stroking her hair back behind her ear. A slight blush appeared on Taya’s face as she replied.
“I’m glad I am here with you again.”

         Resting in front of a console with several others seated nearby, a woman of dazzling beauty from before stared at the monitor before her with concern, but yet drowsiness appearing in her eyes. The red energy flowing from what seemed to be the interior of the mountain catches her eye on the monitor ahead again, except rising higher than before. She leaps from her desk and shouts to her superior up above.
“IT’S HAPPENING AGAIN!!”
         At that moment, a quake sweeps the land; shaking the tower greatly for a brief moment. Before it could begin, the quake ceases. Alarming, the superior seating up above replies to the girl below that warned them.
“…Roxana, call the Inferno crew and see where they are positioned. We can’t hesitate to waste no more time.”
         Roxana, the girl from below implies.
“Should we send out a warning alert to the civilians in the nearby city?”
“No, that will only cause chaos and disorder. Everyone would be trying to flee the city and backing up the evacuation. We’ll let the Inferno crew deal with them, not unless it gets too dangerous.”


         Traveling across the scorching lands of the Pyro kingdom for hours upon a humid bus of old odor bound workers, Allanah and the others finally make it to the western city in great time. Opening the door, Priest tumbles off of the bus along with Allanah and Bishop following. All three gasped for air and fanned themselves with their hands to shed some kind of breeze upon their bodies.
“Good God it is hot on that bus!!”
         Priest bellowed. The obese bus driver chuckled at the sight of them whining about the conditions of the journey.
“Hahaha. You tourist don’t know how to handle the heat.”
         Bishop turns around and gives the bus driver a dark glare that struck fear into the obese man.
“Right now is not a good moment to be criticizing us!!”
         The driver slumps in his chair, fearful of Bishop’s furious presence.
“…My apologies.”
         Priest and Allanah rise from the ground, and begin to brush themselves off.
“Thanks for the ride.”
         Priest said pleasantly to the driver, as he rubbed the back of his head with a smile. The humble driver nods and replies.
“No problem. I don’t mind helping out kind folk like you.”
         Allanah smiles and says.
“…Thank you sir.”
         The bus driver shuts the door smiling before he departed with them.
“Take care!!”
         He yelled out his window. Aggravated, Bishop implies to the others with a stern tone of voice.
“Can we get going now? We have work to do.”
         Curious, Priest asks Bishop about his grumpy attitude.
“Why are you so flustered?”
         Bishop replies without even glancing over his shoulder.
“Heat and I are not a great combination.”
         Allanah nods.
“Understandable.”
         Caught off guard, the ground beneath them begins to quake, as the sound of thunder erupted into the air.
“What the hell?”
         The rumbling dies down after striking fear into everyone. They glance over toward mountain venting black smoke from the head in the far distances.
“…A volcano?”
         Curious to see the awakened mountain pouring black mist into the air, Priest settles Allanah’s curiosity of the mountain.
“The Pyro kingdom has three major volcanoes. I guess this is the only one that is active.”
         Bishop then implies.
“Let’s not waste anymore time. “
         Priest and Allanah nods in response.


         Beginning their search, Bishop, Allanah, and Priest flowed through the city, asking questions about the shop and the worker known as Kane. For hours on end, the three seemed to not be gaining any progress with their search; hearing random tales and no conclusion at all from the citizens. Meeting in the street by a lunch shack, the three comprised their personal information that they have gathered.
“Did you two come up with anything?”
         Bishop asked.
“I have heard that he is a giant man with a long black beard, to he is a short person with a little temper.”
         Priest implied.
“I didn’t find anything.”
         Within the background of them, Kane was leaving a small grocery store with a bag of food in his arms.
“So we got nothing?”
         Both Priest and Allanah nods in doubt.
“No”
“Damn.”
         From underneath the shack, a short elderly man sat with his arms crossed and his head down, spoke out to them.
“Are you looking for The Kane?”
         They all turn around and face the man, surprised that he seems to have hope for them upon their search.
“You know of him?”
         Allanah asked.
“Of course I do. He is well known as one of the best welder and crafter on the west coast.”
         The owner replied.
“Can you tell us where to find him? We have very important questions to ask of him”
         The short man places his cigarette he smoked into the ash tray underneath the counter where he sat before answering.
“Take this street down for twelve blocks, and then hang a right. In about a mile, you should see a factory called Devil’s fury. That’s his shop, you should find him there. That boy damn near works twenty four hours a day seven days a week. And you might want to hurry.”
         Puzzled by the comment, Allanah asks
“Why should we hurry? You said that he resides there nearly all hours of the day.”
         The shop owner takes a puff of his cigarette.
“You see that mountain there behind you?”
         All three turn and glance of the mountain gradually venting smoke for the top.
“…Yea. What about it?”
“Centuries ago, a great phoenix was concealed in that mountain by the Great Sages. For hundreds of years, that mountain has never been active until now. You know why?”
         Curious, Bishop asks.
“Why?”
“…Because the Phoenix has awakened once again after nearly three hundred years of slumber. From the way it looks, we only have a couple of hours until it erupts.”
         Priest then asks.
“Then why is everyone so calm about it then?”
“…Because, the mountain has been venting for twelve years and everyone is too ignorant to realize that with the sudden quakes that those are signs of an eruption.”
         Bishop then asks and intriguing question.
“What about the watchtower near it? Wouldn’t they have announced something by now?”
         The shop keep takes another puff.
“…If they do that, there would be a catastrophe. A panic would spread through the city, and fleeing people would clutter the streets and no one would be able to evacuate in time.” 
         A grim dark shadow appears over the shop keep that struck fear into the three.
“It’s just a matter of time before the phoenix awakens and kills us all.”
         All three stood, stunned by the menacing warning by the man. Standing with their jaws dropped and their brows twitching, Priest suddenly informs the shop keep.
“I think we should go.”
         They quickly rush off; hurrying to find the shop to speak with Kane immediately.
“…Thank you sir!!”
         Allanah yelled. Moments after they vanish from the owner’s sight, he suddenly realizes a key part of the information that he should have revealed to them.
“I think I should have mentioned that Kane has a very bad temper and impatient.”
         He shrugs his shoulders without a care and says.
“Oh well.”


         Hundreds of large trucks filled with soldiers roared toward the western city for the evacuation.  As all the vehicles headed toward the city one behind the other, the earth beneath them began to quake heavily. The streams of vibrations rocked the vehicles until they flipped over or turned unto their sides. Trembling, the ground begins to crack open into sectors of land. Many trucks fall into the cracks of the earth; being crushed by the tumbling rock.
“Ugh!!”
         Screams flowed in the air from the agonizing pain and turmoil the soldiers were enduring. One manages to radio in to the tower near the mountain afar.
“…Mayday!! Mayday!!  We need assistance!! The quakes have gotten stronger and have halted or troops from reaching the city. Number of injuries is unknown. Number that is dead is unknown. Please send help!!”

         The message reaches the tower. The superior that stood above the others at his desk collapsed upon his desk, is shock of the dreadful position. He glances up at the others down below glaring up at him for orders. Scanning the room, bravery took to heart and the superior began to give out orders to everyone of his subordinates.
“First, inform your family’s and tell them to evacuate immediately. Secondly, announce the evacuation to the city. We are going to have to take measures into our own hands.”
         The crew scurried to call their families. Roxana, thought to herself about one single soul that she cared for dearly.
“…Kane.”
         She quickly dashes off to warn him about the erupting volcano.


         Steadily working, Kane suddenly halts in mid swing of striking the large broad piece of metal. He glances up toward the entrance of the shop at the dark figure standing in the doorway, obscured by the shadows of the shop. Kane’s eyes glare with fire from underneath his mask. He shouts.
“Who’s there?”
         From the shadows, stepped Roxana, glaring wary and disturbed. Kane’s sudden fury eases as his eyes set upon the Roxana’s beauty.
“Roxana”
         He lowers his tools and takes off his mask. Kane approaches her, but halts in his steps as an image of his father struck him; causing him to halt as if there was a barrier in his way.
“Ugh...”
         The painful memory of him being torn apart from her by his dreadful father haunted him presently. His words echoed through his ears repeatedly.
“What would she want with a piece of shit like you? Besides, you will only bring her pain, suffering, and endless lonely nights. You are nothing and always will be nothing. ”
         Kane breaks the terrifying trance the possessed him; shaking it off and returning his attention back to Roxanne. Grunting from the painful memory, he asks her.
“What are you doing here?”
         Timid, she implies to Kane.
“I came to warn you.”
“Warn be about what?”
         She answers.
“…About Mt. Phoenix. It has awakened, and somehow it is on the verge of erupting.”
         Kane stood there in silence, demonically staring at her.
“Kane… You should leave, the Council of the Phoenix sent the Inferno crew, but the earthquakes from the volcano devastated their troops.”
         Kane sighs.
“You should leave and evacuate with the others.”
“What about you?”
         Vulgarly Kane repeats.
“WHAT ABOUT ME?!! YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT ME SO WHY WOULD YOU START NOW?!!”
         Astounded by Kane’s great temper and outburst, Roxanne took the harmful words to heart. Tears swelled within her eyes as she stared into Kane’s eyes.
“Never cared? I’ve always cared for you. It was your father that tore you away from me. I tried so many times to see you, but he always turned me away at the door.”
         Kane simply turned his back and went to his station to continue working.
“…Just leave Roxanne. Forget about me and evacuate with the others.”
         Heartbroken, she turns and walks away with tears streaming down her cheeks. As she left, she said before vanishing from Kane’s sight.
“It is sad that you turned out just like you father.”
         The comment struck a harsh nerve; stunning Kane nearly paralyzing him.
“… Just like my father?”



         An hour passes, and the Shoguns arrive at the factory where Kane reside and owned. Standing out front of the build, they stared at the three story factory and the red sign with a devil imprinted on it reading “Devil’s Fury Welding”. Priest glances over at Bishop and implies.
“I’m pretty sure this is it.”
         From the outer doors of the factory, the echoes of metal colliding caught their ears before they entered. The three approached the doors, but Priest stops and turns towards Allanah following behind them.
“It is best that you stay out here.”
         Puzzled, Allanah asks with a frown on her face.
“Why?”
         Bishop answers.
“Because, welders from the Pryo kingdom are not known for their kindness or composition in certain situations, and we don’t want you to get injured.”
         Allanah pouts for a moment.
“…Fine. I’ll wait.”
         Bishop and Priest enter the factory cautiously. Before the doors shut behind them, Bishop muttered to Priest.
“What a spoiled brat.”
         Allanah overhears the comment and shouts to him.
“I heard that!!”
         Replying, Bishop yelled.
“And?!!”
         Inside, the two made their way through the aisles of the steel work and tools lying all around the shop. Following the loud hammering, Bishop and Priest made their way upstairs to another level of the complex. Coming towards the door, Priest could see the flashes of light from the spark of the metal. Then a loud sizzling noise sounded from the workshop. Entering quietly, they both stood by the doorway silently, thinking that Kane was unaware of their presences.
“What is your business here?”
         Kane said. Priest and Bishop are surprised about his sense of awareness.
“Huh… I thought we were quiet enough that you won’t hear us.”
         Priest said sarcastically.
“I heard you when you were outside of the building.”
         Priest’s eyes quickly cut towards Bishop with a dark glare. Bishop shrugs his shoulder in innocence and a slight smile.
“Sorry…”
         Taking the piece of steel out of the caldron and forging the shape with his hammer, Kane continues to speak with them.
“State your business here.”
         Priest begins to approach him, but stops in his tracks when Kane lowered his hammer and lifted his head. With that action, Priest took precaution and held his hands out to his side to gain his trust.
“Are you the Owner of this shop, Kane?”
         Kane replies.
“Who wants to know?”
         Priest introduces himself.
“My name is Abel of the Tsunami kingdom or likely known as Priest, whichever you prefer to use. And this is my colleague Bishop of the Typhoon kingdom. We need to ask you some questions.”
“Pertaining to?”
         He asked. Bishop steps up next to Priest and implies.
“We have to ask you about a black carrier ship that attacked the Typhoon nation several days ago.”
         The worker ceases in motion from Bishop’s questions, his attention now drawn toward them.
“What of it?”
         He asked.
“The ship was made from a special type of alkaline earth metal that can only be traced back to this kingdom.”
         Kane turns around and takes off his mask to speak with the two about the object.
“It was made from Samarium. A rare alkaline earth metal that are usually used in nuclear reactors, but we found a way to use it against magic and other things.”
         Priest implies.
“So you are Kane?”
         He nods.
“Indeed I am.”
         A spark of anger awakens within Bishop. The images of the battle flashes before him, and the carnage that foul beast did feed the pain and turmoil in Bishop. Lashing out, Bishop yelled
“Why did you create such a thing to help those deviants?”
         Kane stares dead into Bishop’s eyes.
“I was ordered by the Council of the Phoenix to craft the metal. To keep the peace and the Shadow nation off our shores, we must uphold our part of the Treaty and provide them with their needs.”
         Bishop approaches closer to him.
“You built a death machine!!”
“Don’t get angry at me, because I was doing my job.”
         Kane replied.
“I lost many men because of you!!”
         Kane simply stared at him emptily as he replied.
“…My condolences.”
         He turns around and continues with his work; shoving the large piece of metal back into the caldron to heat up.
“If you came to fuss and shout, I have no time for you. I have more important things to do.”
         Kane annoyance pushed Bishop’s temper even further.
“Don’t you know that sooner or later the Shadow Kingdom will come here and do the same thing to your kingdom also?”
         Kane ignores him; still working continuously without rest.
“You hear me?!!”
         The loud tone of voice irritated Kane; which he took offense to.
“You will stop talking to me like that in my establishment. You are being disrespectful.”
“And you are disrespectful towards life. Many were slaughtered because you helped them in their conquest to invade our land!!”
         Priest tries to calm Bishop down.
“Relax Bishop. Ease your nerves.”
“How can I when this heartless bastard is showing no regards for the lives lost?!!”
         Bishop shoves Priest out of the way.
“There’s just as much blood on his hand as the Shadow king.”
         Bishop latches on to Kane’s shoulder with a firm grip. Instantly, flames appear from Kane’s eyes that were filled with rage. Surprisingly, both Bishop and Priest were astounded by the sight.
“What?”
         From the palm of his hand, Kane conjures a ball of pure fire out of thin air. He strikes at Bishop, but he reacts gracefully and dodges the attack in time. Bishop glances back at Priest with a stern glare.
“He can conjure fire?”
         Priest then realizes who Kane true identity was at that moment.
“He’s the Shogun of Inferno.”
         Kane begins to launch ravaging balls of fire toward Bishop, forcing him out of the shop.  Bishop soars out of the shop, as well as Kane rushing behind him carrying fire in both hands. Priest nods his head in shame at the dispute between the two.
“Can we go anywhere without having a fight or somebody getting killed? Damn it!!”
         Bishop soared through the factory with fire exploding all around from Kane targeting him down below.
“You can’t be serious. We just so happen to stumble across the Shogun of Inferno.”
         An explosion nearby knocks Bishop almost out of the air; wildly he flew across the ceiling until he gained control once again.
“Damn.”
         
         Outside, Allanah’s crystal glared brightly from Kane’s close presences in the factory. Allanah stared astonished by the burst of fire flashing through the windows and Ion tensely sensing the other Shogun inside. Allanah begins to enter, but Ion warns her before making her way through the doors.
“Allanah, don’t go in there.”
         Allanah halts.
“Why?”
“Let them deal with him, because at the moment they are dealing with the Shogun of Inferno. He is a dangerous being that controls the element of fire and has an incredibly short temper. “

         Bishop continued to flee for his life from the burning fire balls Kane was hurling towards him. Outsmarting the wind shogun, Kane unleashes two fire balls in sequence to catch Bishop off guard.  Whirling to the left, Bishop dodges the first attack, but the second nearly strikes him down. In that split moment, Bishop pushed the fireball away in time with his abilities to save himself. But the attack strikes a tanker, and explodes near Bishop. The force knocks Bishop into the wall and then falling to the floor far below. The impact disoriented Bishop, giving Kane time to approach him closely. Kane, his eyes still glaring red with fire stood over Bishop with flames roaring from his hand. He lifts his hand above his head, preparing to strike the final assault to Bishop knelt down before him. Before he could lower his hand, he is pause by Priest standing behind him, grasping his wrist.
“That’s enough.”
         Kane glances over his shoulder.
“… There is no need for reckless violence.”
         Priest’s sensible reason did nothing but provoke Kane’s anger even more. Fueling his rage, flames begin to form around him as both Priest and him stood their ground. Priest began to glare with a blue aura to protect him from the burning flames.  Steam began to sizzle from the grasp Priest had upon Kane.
“Ugh”
         Regaining consciousness, Bishop seized the opportunity to stop Kane personally.  Thrust a power force of wind, Bishop threw Kane and Priest high into the air. Kane crashes into a large propane tanker, while Priest slammed into the floor upon his back.
“…Ugh… God that hurt!!”
         Bishop storms over to Kane rising from the floor gradually. He knocks Kane over with another burst of wind from his palm.
“Now, we can settle this and be men about this.”
         Unaware, Kane punches him strongly with his right fist that threw him to the floor.
“Ugh!!”
         Kane explodes into flames, building up his anger and power with each passing second. Growling, the flames grew massive to where they could be seen through the windows outside. Bishop shakes off the brutal assault.
“I’m really going to feel that tomorrow.”
He said holding his jaw. Bishop levitates back to his feet and soars into Kane like a missile. With a wall of wind protecting him from Kane’s fire, Bishop stood toe to toe against him. Both exchanging blows, casting burst of energy upon each strike. Kane’s burning first struck the defensive wall of wind surrounding Bishop’s body. The impact thrown was too great for Bishop to block and absorbed the strike with his own cheek. Following, Kane broke through the wall of accumulative wind and grabbed Bishop by his collar. Lunging forward, he head butts Bishop directly; knocking him into an unstable state of mind. Lifting his hand, Kane reformed the ball of fire in his palm to take down Bishop. Suddenly a block of ice catches him by his feet. Glancing down, Kane’s eye caught Priest knelt down to his left ready to strike. His timing with his strike was on point; capturing Kane in an open position.
“Damn it I forgot about him!!”
         Priest delivers a hammering strike to Kane’s ribs, sending him gradually to a knee. Retracting his strike, Priest delivers another blow; upper cutting Kane directly in his chin. But the vicious attack only stunned him for a mere moment. Kane latches on to Priest’s arm and drags him into a thundering kick. Still holding on, Kane breaks the ice paralyzing his leg as he spins around and tosses Priest into the propane tanker. Priest bounces off the hard steel and falls to his hands and knees. He grabs his side from the agonizing pain from the previous attack.  Kane then draws back, and unleashes a wave of inferno towards Priest knelt down on the ground. Reacting, Priest creates a dense wall of ice to protect him from the burning fire. Kane began to approach Priest, bearing more pressure and heat upon the wall.
“Damn it I can’t hold it much longer.”
         Bishop finally regains his thoughts and his sense of mind. His eyes then fall upon the tank directly behind Priest. The large sign saying “Propane” alarmed him greatly.
“Shit!! I got to stop him before he blows this whole damn factory up to heaven.”
         Bishop lowered his stance and began to concentrate his powers. A vortex of wind formed around the base of Kane’s feet, until it grew to become a powerful hemisphere of raging wind. The vortex around Kane slowly seized his flames and started to strip the wind from his lungs. Kane struggled to hold his conscious state, but the lack of air within him became too much. Fading, Kane dropped to his knees, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. Finally he fell completely still and motionless.  Bishop decease the wind around him, dropping to a knee himself from the intense concentration of the vortex.
“I tried not to kill him.”
         Priest walks over bold and angry, holding his ribs from the impact of Kane’s strike. As Bishop glanced up at him, he caught sight of a fist driving into his head, followed by loud harsh words.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!!”
         Bishop leaps from the floor and replies loudly.
“What are you talking about? I just saved all of our lives.”
“Well all of this would not have happen if someone didn’t lose their damn head in a simple conversation!!”
         Priest implied. Bishop began to counter, but failed at the attempt.
“…”
         He lowers his head and shamefully replies to Priest.
“You win again.”
“THANK YOU!!”
         Priest drives his fist into Bishop’s head once again.
“Ouch!!”
         Bishop began to rub his head.
“…That hurt.”
“It’s supposed to hurt!!”
         Their attentions are then drawn to the unconscious Kane lying on the floor before them.
“Now what are we going to do about our friend here?”
         With the same idea, both place a devious glare on their faces.

         Pouring into the city streets, civilians packed with their own personal things scurried to flee the city and escape the volcano. Few operators from the tower were managing to keep the people and traffic in order, but the sheer numbers were too much for them to direct.
“Please remain calm!! We are trying our best to load everyone on transportation vehicles as we speak. Please be patient!!”
One commanding operator implied to the rest
“Why did you wait so long to announce the evacuation?”
“Yeah”
         Suddenly a fight begins to breaks out, stirring others around to be involved.  Dragging more and more into the brawl, the situation becomes chaotic and out of control for the commanding operators to handle. Trying to cease the fights, innocent people start to get hurt and brutally beaten by the rowdy bunch.
“PLEAS STOP THE FIGHTING!!”
         The assault continues until in swept majority of the civilians in the street. Roxanne amongst the group found her way into an ally to hide from the battle happening in the streets.
“Oh my God…”


Night fell shortly upon the land of fire, and the night sky covered with burning stars was obscured by the heavy black smog of the volcano. On the outskirts in the small meadow a few miles from the city, Priest and the others rested along with Kane lying in recovery from the rash encounter earlier. Resting by a campfire in the meadow, Kane awakened from his slumber to find Priest and the others sitting around the fire calmly and at ease.
“Huh?”
         Priest held a warm smile on his face as he says to Kane sitting across the fire to him.
“Well, looks like someone has finally woken up.”
         Kane leaps from the ground, angered by the unfamiliar position he was in. Unaware of where he was and why, irritated him greatly. As his anger peaked, the fire in front of them rose high and grew stronger, but did not strike fear into Priest or Bishop. Allanah is alarmed by the sudden burst of the flames energy.
“Where am I?!!”
         Priest rises from the ground.
“Calm down. We are in a little meadow about two miles away from the city. We wanted to continue our questioning in a more relaxing environment.”
         Kane remains tense, but staggered with his anger; conflicting with his emotions to trust them.
“Our primary objective was to question you about the black metal used in the battle a week ago, but now since we found out that you are a Shogun”
         Eager, Allanah rashly blurts out their intention to him.
“We were wondering if you would join us on our quest.”
         Priest lifts his brow as he turned and glanced at Allanah. Innocently she smiles and shrugs her shoulders at Priest.
“Sorry…” 
“Like I was saying, we would like it if you would accept our offer to traveling with us around the world to find the others.”
         Kane frowns, puzzled that Priest did not defined what he meant by others.
“…Others? What others do you speak of?
         Bishop, being treated by Allanah with bandages answers Kane question with a stern tone of voice.
“Shoguns like us.”
         Kane mind wondered for a moment; becoming silent and rash.
“…”
         He sighs, and then begins to walk away from the others.
“… I don’t have time to play games. I have a business to run, and no time to be chasing false hope.”
         Allanah leaps to her feet and shouts out to him.
“Please wait!!”
         Kane pauses.
“We need your help. Many people are dying and suffering from the Shadow King’s tyranny.  We need all of the Shoguns help to defeat him. Please reconsider the offer.”
         Kane grimly glances over his shoulder at her.
“You really think you can defeat the Shadow king?”
         The spark of hope Allanah held in her eyes slow faded as Kane tore it shreds with his comment.
“…Girl you are more idiotic than I thought. What makes you think you can defeat him, because you have a few Shoguns on your side? Well guess what, every time they defeat the Shadow king, he came back ten times stronger. So what is the point of fighting a losing battle? “
         Allanah implies to him.
“…But what about the innocent lives that are destroyed by this man’s greedy and power? Don’t you care about them at all?”
         Kane then unleash a dark cruel remark that strikes down Allanah’s dear innocence.
“People die every day. It is not my battle to fight for the weak and pathetic peasants in the world. Let them live their lives of sadness and let me live mine. If they die, they die. It is no concern of mine.”
         Allanah is devastated by Kane’s cruelty and lack for the respect of life. Her heart shimmers as silence took her voice and despair troubled her spirit. Kane’s cruelty struck Priest odd, becoming puzzled of his coldness.
“…Kane!!”
         Kane turns to find his sights falling into the depths of Priest’s unveiled eyes. Priest embarks on Kane’s mind, the view of sorrow and abuse by his father taking everything Kane loved from him. The hatred of Kane simmered deep within his heart of his lost and pain he suffered from his own father’s pain. The sight of Kane’s mother breaking away from him and his father became the clear source of his heartache. Priest releases himself from Kane’s mind and transcends back into reality.
“… You are afraid, and cursed.”
         Kane awakens from the transaction of the Priest’s mind warp.
“What did you do to me?”
         Priest places his shades back over his eyes as he replied.
“It saddens me to see a soul lost from the path he’s destined upon by someone else pain and suffering.”
         Kane becomes skeptic of Priest’s comment.
“What?”
         Kane races over and lifts Priest up by his collar. Vulgarly, with his eyes burning red and the campfire exploding into the air, Kane implies to Priest.
“…You know nothing about me!! The pain I suffered and the heartache I endured since I was a mere child.”
“I know that you are just like you father.”
         Priest implied. Kane shouts in retaliation.
“I am nothing like him!! He was heartless cold drunk who didn’t give a damn about no one. Not even his flesh and blood.”
         Priest aggressively replies.
“You are!! You spend you days slaving away in a sweat shop!! No friends, no family, and the one person you cared about was driven away by your father’s arrogance!! Look at yourself; you are just as heartless as he was. The only thing missing is the flask in your hand.”
“SHUT UP!!”
         The flame grew more intense along with Kane’s emotions. Bishop leaps to his feet, anticipating Kane’s next dramatic action. Priest lifts his hand, to settle Bishop.
“Wait.”
         He stares Kane direct in his eyes with no fear or remorse.
“… Look at your life. You are alone, and angry at the world for what one man did to you because of his foolishness. Break free, be your own man and step out of that image of your father.”
         Priest’s words begin to impact Kane emotionally; breaking him down as memories of his life flowed through his mind. Easily he lowers Priest to the ground. The flame from the fire settles to its normal state after Kane’s feelings dwelled.
“Your mother left because of your father’s ignorance and violence. And because he lost her, he turned his pain toward you. He wanted you to suffer as much as he did because he wanted someone to suffer with him, but now since he’s gone what’s keeping you from fulfilling your destiny?”
         Kane lowered his head, thinking about the sense Priest was making about the observation of his life. The heart-felt words began to turn Kane’s cold exterior into a warm concerning being and the sight of Roxanne’s loving face appeared before him.
“Become your own man and step out of your father’s shadow.”
         Bishop sitting on the ground again rises to his feet and makes his way over.
“Priest, don’t waste your time. He’s a scared child afraid to leave home.”
         Kane grimly glares out of his brow toward Bishop to his right.
“… I am not scared.”
         Before Kane could look Priest in the eye, the ground began to rumble more heavily and rapidly than before. Above, ash began to fall from the growing black clouds from the volcano, followed by a great explosion that shook the earth.
“Shit!!”
         Priest and Bishop shouted. The mountain standing over the trees revealed exploding magma exerting from the mouth of the volcano. Black ash cloud poured into the sky and lava began to boil over the ledge of the mountain top. In the city, screams and cries soared into the air from the horrifying sight of the erupting volcano.  In an instant, the volcano sends a thundering sound that shook the earth, as lava shot into the air. Brutal the sound was, everyone had to cover their ears to shield their hearing from the noise.
“Ugh!!!!”
         Roxanne glared at the volcano with fear and despair.
“We’re too late.”
         Priest and the others staring at the monstrosity concluded to prevent the lava from reaching the city themselves.
“We got to do something.”
         Allanah implied. Priest glances back at Bishop.
“…”
         He nods; agree to help save the city. Bishop nods agree also. Priest glances back at Kane, confused and wary from the thrashing words from him.
“Kane… It is going to take all of us to stop this thing. Lives are at state here, so please help us.”
         Kane simply ignores Priest plea. Bishop takes Allanah upon his back and begins to hover in the air.
“Priest, leave him. Let him cry in his own pity… He’s useless anyway.”
         Bishop’s words, finally pulls Kane out of his own despair. But wasting no time, the others take off to stop the volcano from destroying the city; Bishop soaring off with Allanah, while Priest traveled on foot.