The morning came early for Daniel as he was suddenly jolted awake by a severe pounding noise on the door to his room. Nearly falling out of the bed because of the daze he was in, he opened the door and sleepily answered, “H-Hello?” Of course it was Professor Matt at the door who then pushed the door open wide and grabbed Daniel by the shoulders, shaking him wildly. “Grab your things kid, we’ve got trouble on the surface!” he yelled. “Meet me in my office as soon as you pack up.” He then rushed off down the hallway in a quick walk before Daniel could get a word in edgewise. “What?! No breakfast?!” Daniel shouted as the professor disappeared behind a corner. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Daniel stumbled over to what little belongings he had and gathered them up. As he walked down the hall toward the Professor’s office, he mumbled to himself, “Is a plate of waffles and some chocolate milk too much to ask for in the morning?”
Luckily, Daniel remembered the path he took from the office last night well enough to make his return fairly quickly. Upon his arrival, Professor Matt was alone and sitting facing toward a large plasma screen. “Finally up eh?” he said in a joking manner, “I was knocking on your door for a good five minutes. Anyway, you should take a look at this surveillance footage we captured only moments ago.” As Daniel heavily sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, he slowly tipped his head up to take a look at the screen. Once again, to his surprise he saw Omega Troopers combing the area in which he first arrived. “More troopers?!” Daniel shouted, “These guys are persistent.” Nodding his head in agreement while turning off the monitor, Professor Matt said, “Indeed. The Omega Syndicate most likely tracked your location the same way that we found you. By monitoring the last time you used the Diver. Even though your presence is being masked while underground, they’ll eventually find this place and we’ll be discovered… The time to find the Fisherman is now Daniel.”
“Y-You mean right now?” Daniel asked as he looked at the Professor in surprise. “Yes, I mean right now…do you want to wait until Omega is breathing down our necks and then make your daring escape?” Professor Matt sarcastically responded. “Well I was ju--” but before Daniel could finish his sentence, the Professor interrupted him as usual. “Well, I’m glad we’re in agreement. Now remember, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.” He said with a grin on his face. After hearing that remark, Daniel quizzically turned his head to the side wondering what he meant by that. With a simple ‘good-bye’ wave, Professor Matt hit a button on his desk. As soon as he did, metal bars strapped Daniel to the chair and at the same time opened the floor below the chair so that it could fall. “WHY MEEEEEeeeee!?!?!” Daniel screamed as he plummeted to the unknown depths of the compound.
Falling for what felt like a solid thirty seconds, the chair finally hit solid ground, but was a surprisingly soft landing. As Daniel struggled to get out of the metal straps that held his limbs in place, the chair began to rotate clockwise. “Oh great…what now?” he said still trying to get loose. Once the rotation stopped, a long tunnel appeared before him as well as what looked like railroad tracks. Looking down the tunnel with no end in sight, Daniel said to himself, “Why does the Professor make these things?” However, only a moment after that thought, the chair proceeded to jettison itself down the tunnel at an extremely high speed. “AHHHHHhhhhh!!!” Daniel yelled out as his body began to sink into the cushioning of the chair. He could do nothing but clench his teeth and watch as each row of lights in the tunnel passed him under the blinding speed of the now supposed rocket chair. With every passing second, his ride down the tunnel became faster, to the point where Daniel’s eyes began to water. However, not too long afterwards, he could feel the speed suddenly being reduced and he could only hope that this was the end of his wild roller-coaster ride. Finally coming to a full stop into a garage type area, the metal straps on the chair were released and Daniel fell to the floor with a thud. “Unnnhhh…” He said with a nauseous tone in his voice.
Feeling a hand quickly pull him up by the shoulder, he heard a familiar voice in his ear. “Hey, what took you so long my boy?” Looking up in a daze, Daniel could make out the blurry image of Professor Matt holding him up with that goofy smile on his face. “But…but…how…you…here….NOW?!” Daniel said to him as his eyes dashed around the room looking for answers. “Haha! I took the stairs of course. You kids and your thrill rides. No time to talk about that though, you have to be on your way.” He said as he shoved Daniel into the passenger seat of one of the nearby jeeps. “Good luck out there!” the Professor said as the driver sped off to the southern mountains.
Holding his head in confusion as the jeep reached the outside and hit the road, Daniel heard a small laugh coming from the back seat. Turning around, he saw Rachael with her hand covering her mouth and giggling like a school girl. “…and what may I ask is so funny?” Daniel asked her while crossing his arms. “Hehehe, you should have seen your face when the Professor said that he took the stairs…hehehe.” Rachael said as she tried to retain her laughter. “Yeah? Well, get those laughs out of your system, because I don’t think this Fisherman character is any mood for jokes from the look of that picture we saw earlier.” Daniel said in a sarcastic tone. “By the way…do you know anything else about this guy Rachael? The Professor didn’t really say much about him.” Putting a hand to her chin, Rachael said, “Hmm…not really. Like the Professor said, there isn’t much we know about him other than the fact that he has been in direct contact with agents of the Syndicate…which is why we’re looking for him.” A little disappointed with her answer, Daniel responded with, “I see…” However, just then the car stopped and he asked the driver, “Wait, why have we stopped?” “We’re here.” The driver said as he pointed to the small village in front of the vehicle. Responding a bit embarrassed, Daniel said, “Oh…that was fast.”
As Daniel and Rachael got out of the jeep, they both looked around the desolate village for any signs of life. “This place reminds me of my old neighborhood, has the entire world been reduced to this?” he asked Rachael. “I-I’m afraid so… After Omega invaded this dimension, they left nothing in their wake. Some survivors describe it as ‘A great dragon, raining it’s sharpened scales upon the earth.’ They saw us as an inferior dimension and useless to their so called, ‘great cause.’ Omega just wanted the satisfaction of destroying any resistance left, but what he doesn’t know is that we’re still here…waiting for the opportunity to strike back.” Nodding in agreement, Daniel responded with, “Well, let’s hope this Fisherman guy can help us…if we can find him.” The moment Daniel said those words, he heard an unfamiliar voice shout out from one of the deserted houses up ahead. “Did someone say…Fisherman…?”
Shouting back at the voice, Daniel said, “Who’s there?! Show yourself!” Almost immediately, the figure of a man emerged from the house and spoke back. “I am the Fisherman. What is your business with this village?” he said in a deep and irritated voice. Responding again, Daniel said, “Well, we’ve been sent here to look for you, and…” However, he was cut off as soon the man took a notice to the watch on Daniel’s wrist. “Hahahaha! Such a pity Omega is…hiring children to do his dirty work. Do you even know how to use that thing?” the man asked. “Umm…well, no. That’s why we’re here. You see…” Cut off again from his response the man took no time at all to unsheathe a katana hidden within his cloak. “It truly is a pity that you and your acquaintance must die at such a young age.” The man said as he pointed his sword toward the two of them. “Whoa…slow down there. I think you have us mixed up with someone else.” Daniel said trying to reason with him. “The time for talk is done…I shall strike down any agents of the Syndicate as long as they are in my path…even YOU!!!” After those final words, the man ran toward Daniel and Rachael at a blinding speed, almost unreal. With nowhere to run, Daniel could only put his hands out in front of face by sheer instinct. Once again, time seemed to slow down as the man drew ever closer. As he noticed the sun’s rays glisten off of the man’s sword, he knew that the final swing was taking place. “Is this it? I can’t die this way…not now…”
To be continued...
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Also, the best in all of the story "Haha! I took the stairs of course. You kids and your thrill rides." rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl Poor Daniel!
-leaves a plate of waffles with chocolate milk on the table for Zol- biggrin