Geno's Adventure: Chapters 13 To 15

Chapter 13: Mystical Assistance

         When My Name Is Pearl finished, around 40 minutes later, Geno actually noticed Zero’s presence. He had said he was going to find a bus station, and hadn’t come back.

         “…Say, Torvald, what do you think is taking Zero so long?”

         Geno, not getting any reply, actually took his eyes off the TV to look at Torvald… Unfortunately, Geno was unable to find him, either. He did, however, notice a note pinned to his shirt’s sleeve.


         Geno, you stupid, stupid bastard,

         Torvald and I are on our way to Four Village. Or, more likely, we’re already there and on our way back. I tried to tell you we were going, but you were too completely addicted to that damned TV. If you have a chance, feel free to come help us with the Alpha Gang. I’ve left a copy of the map with you.

         Zero


         “…Well, that’s a relief. Maybe I can actually get there in a timely fashion, now that I don’t have to argue with Zero, and I don’t have to deal with Torvald’s idiocy.”

         Geno Walked down the street a bit, and found the bus station. He bought a ticket to Four Village, hopped on his bus, and was off. The trip there was mostly uneventful. Geno simply stared out the window the whole way, viewing the countryside. He hated it. Geno was the kind of guy who would take big-city life over country-livin’ any day. And, unfortunately for him, Four Village was to be the smallest town he had ever been to.

         Geno stepped off the bus after the hour-long trip, and froze for a moment.

         “…This is it?” he asked nobody in particular, looking at the tiny downtown area of the village. “There’s not even a Walbertson’s! What kind of hellhole is this?!”

         Not having anyone to argue with, he took a look at his map, and discovered that he had to walk through the village, and into the forest just past it. Fortunately, the Alpha HQ wasn’t more than a few hundred feet into the forest.

         “Well, this shouldn’t take long. I mean, hell, I can see the forest from right here. I guess the Alphas chose this place for their headquarters because NOBODY GODDAMN LIVES HERE.”

         “I live here, sonny…” a voice from behind Geno said. It sounded like an incredibly old man, with a slight wheeze to it.

         Geno whirled around and saw the old man sitting on a bench, a wooden cane leaning against his leg.

         “Who are you supposed to be, old-timer?”

         “Nevermind who I am. Just take this,” he said, reaching into his pocket and handing Geno a key and a strange, glowing ball.

         “OH MAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH! WHAT THE HELL WOULD I HAVE DONE WITHOUT THIS RANDOM KEY AND THIS… WHATEVERTHEHELL THIS IS,” he said, holding up the orb in a sarcastic manner.

         “Shuddap, sonny. You’ll be needin’ those soon enough. That key happens to unlock a side-door into the Alpha HQ, and the orb… Well, you’ll know what to do with it when the time comes.”

         “…Whoah, this is just like in the movies. When I’m face-to-face with the Alpha boss, just about ready to meet my maker, I will suddenly remember this orb and throw it down, releasing some sort of… Something… Which will end the fight… Right?” he said with an air of awe.

         “Something like that, sonny. Now get going. Your friends are way ahead of ya’.”

         “Thanks!” Geno said, and started running toward the forest, glancing at all the little mom-and-pop shops, including the “Curl Up And Dye” hair salon, the “Quicky’s” fast food restaurant, and the “Quickies”… Well, it’s better not to say what that particular establishment was.

         After a short while, Geno arrived at the edge of the forest.

         “Holy crap, that took me like twenty seconds. That place was even smaller than I thought,” he said, stopping to turn and look at the distance he had come. He could clearly see the old man waving to him from the bus stop. He sighed, waved back, and started into the forest.

         “Hot damn, I can already see the place. Thank God it this isn’t as bad as the trip to the damned Alpha Bar.”

         Suddenly, Geno felt a rush of air go by his head.

         “OH GOD DAMNIT, NOT ANOTHER-“ Geno looked down and saw a leaf fluttering to the ground. “…LEAF? What the hell. Talk about anticlimactic.”

         Geno continued on for a short while, the Alpha HQ growing closer and closer. In the meantime, he looked around at the scenery. The trees around him were all bright green, and there were birds nesting in a good majority of them, singing their hearts out. A bit off the path to the left, there was a beautiful waterfall leading into a crystal-clear pond. Small fish were clearly visible within it, even from Geno’s distance.

         “…God damn I can’t wait to get home. All this nature is making me nauseous.”

         When he finally got to the Alpha HQ, he was rather amazed that it was so easy.

         “…So what is this, like, an illusion? Or a dream, or something?” Geno asked himself. He slowly approached the huge building, and lightly poked it with his finger. It appeared real enough. “Well, barring the dream thing, it appears to have just been that easy… Though I have to wonder where Torvald and Zero are. I suppose they’re already inside, having all the fun to themselves. Maybe that old geezer gave them a key, too.”

         Geno sauntered over to the left side of the building, the closest to him, and found a locked door.

         “Come on, old man. Don’t fail me now…” he said, closing his eyes and turning the key, with a satisfying click sound. “…How damn, it actually worked,” he said, pulling the door open, peering inside to make sure there weren’t any guards or anything, and then he stepped into the dark room, pulling the door shut behind him.

Chapter 14: Warm Welcomes

         Geno flipped the light switch, and found himself in what appeared to be a storage room. There were metal shelves with basically garbage all over them. Apparently they stored things here so they wouldn’t have to pay a garbage man. That or that little crapass town didn’t even have a garbage collection service. That would explain the smell, anyway.

         As he was about to exit the room, he did see something that rather caught his interest. It was another note from Zero.


         Geno,

         Way to take an ass-long time getting here. Assuming you get here at all… Which, if you’re reading this, means you did… Yeah.

         Anyway, Torvald and I are going ahead. Some old guy at the bus station gave us a key to get in here, but, knowing you, you probably just snapped the handle off with your robotic arm.

         Here’s another map so you know where to go in this place.

         Zero


         “…That’s a good point. If that old guy knew so much about me, why didn’t he just have me bust the door open? Maybe he’s not as smart as he seemed. This stupid orb thing is probably going to explode and kill me, or something.”

         Sighing and checking the map, Geno went out the door and surveyed his surroundings. The hallways all appeared to be unpainted, silvery metal, and there didn’t appear to be anyone around. Geno glanced at the map for a moment, and then quietly ran down the hallway to the left, passing several unmarked, steel doors.

         Again, he glanced at the map, and finally turned down a passage leading off to the right, and he could see that it lead to a dead-end. He resumed his quiet-run, making his way down the hallway, doors lining the walls. When he finally got to the end, he looked through the tiny viewing window into the room. Unfortunately, it was pitch-black inside. Wherever he was going, it was going to be a surprise.

         “Well… Better now than never…” he whispered to himself, and gently eased the door open. On opening it, enough light flooded into the room from the hallway that he could see how many generic Alphas there were, all wielding what appeared to be machine guns, and supposedly the boss Alpha standing behind them, and a good two feet taller than the rest. “…Or not…”

         Geno quickly slammed the door shut, hearing bullets ping off the steel door as he did. He quickly bolted down the hallway, not looking back. In seconds, he heard the door open, and a deep voice, presumably the boss, yelling at the others to chase him. Seconds later, gunfire rang out, and bullets pinged off the floor and walls around him. He was finally approaching an off-shoot that he could turn down, when he heard a distant, yet familiar voice. Of course, it was hard to tell with the gunfire and the blinding panic.

         He turned down the hallway as quick as he could, turning his head for a moment to see how close his followers were. Too close.

         However, before he had a chance to turn his head back, he slammed into something and fell over. Holding his head, he looked up and saw Torvald staring down at him, and Zero standing right next to him.

         “Geno! We were wondering where you were! What’s all that noise down the hallway?”

         “THEY’RE SHOOTING AT ME, YOU IDIOT. ZERO, HELP!”

         Zero sighed and stepped over Geno, into the hallway he had just run down. He quickly let out a loud grunting scream, and strong gusts of wind could be felt around him. All the bullets that came flying down the hallway quickly changed direction and ended up mowing down a good portion of the Alphas. They quickly realized what was going on, and the ones who managed not to get hit (around ten) threw down their guns, but continued running. It appeared they wanted a hand-to-hand fight.

         Zero, cool-as-always, turned to Geno and Torvald. “Ready?”

Chapter 15: Power Revealed

         Torvald helped Geno up, and the two of them stepped into the hallway, one on either side of Zero. They stood their ground as the ten Alphas dashed toward them.

         Those who managed to get to Zero first met with a fall as Zero ducked to the ground, and spun around with his foot outward, tripping all who were in its range.

         Those who met with Torvald, on the right side, all received a punch to the face, also being knocked down.

         Those who encountered Geno, on the left, received various attacks from the robotic arm, including some elbows to the face and some straight-punches, and also fell to the floor.

         The Ministry was quite pleased with itself as the Alphas slowly stood back up.

         Geno punched one right in the nose with his robotic arm, knocking him out cold, just as Zero kicked one in the head, slamming him into another, and taking both of them out. Torvald, never the classiest fighter, kicked one in the crotch as hard as he could. The man may not have passed out, but he was definitely out of the fight.

         The Ministry was treating this as practice. As one was attacking someone, the other two were watching their style… While keeping an eye on their own set of baddies, of course.

         Zero was the next to go, and he kicked one square in the stomach, doubling him over, and then uppercut him with such force that he actually flew up into the air about two feet, and then came crashing down.

         Geno took a little too long watching the man fall, and was jabbed in the face. He stumbled back a bit, and then became a bit upset and charged toward the man, driving his non-robotic arm into the man’s gut with all his force, sending him flying back a few feet. Still a bit upset, Geno decided not to wait for his last victim to stand all the way up, and kneed his chin, knocking out the man, and several of his teeth.

         Zero had one left, and Torvald had two. Zero went first, actually leaping over the man, spinning through the air, landed facing his back, and got him into a headlock, slowly choking his consciousness away.

         With no time to wait for Zero to finish, Torvald grabbed the heads of the remaining two, and started conking them together until they stopped groaning, and then dropped them to the floor.

         With the sound of Zero’s man falling, the lackeys were through.

         “Well, that was a nice workout,” Zero said, brushing off his sleeves and straightening his turban.

         “Yeah, but we’re not through yet. The Big Man is still in there,” Geno said, motioning toward the door at the end of the hallway. “Ready?”

         Zero and Torvald nodded, and the three walked down the hallway, side-by-side. Geno attempted to walk in slow-motion to make it look more cool, but it didn’t work and he just tripped slightly.

         “Damnit.”

         When they arrived at the door, Geno took a deep breath and opened it. Inside, the Alpha boss, was sitting in a chair.

         “You… You’re the one from the bar!”

         “The very same,” he said with a chuckle. “You think I would send some subordinate moron to look after my tavern? Not a chance.”

         “Well. I suppose you know we’re here for the dog?”

         “Ahh yes. You must mean this little prize,” the boss chuckled, pulling a small cage out from under his desk. In the cage was Zero’s dog, Boing.

         “That would be the one. I suppose there’s no way to get him out of here without a fight?” asked Zero.

         “Not likely,” the boss warned, glaring at Zero for a moment. He finally stood up, out of his chair, and apparently stretched for a moment.

         “What is the point of all this, anyway? You know we’re not going to give you any-“ Zero was cut off as the Alpha boss seemingly glided forward, lightning-quick, and grabbed Torvald and Zero by their throats. He began to slowly laugh as he raised them into the air.

         “Well, Geno? What are you going to do to save your friends, hmm? You should know full-well that you cannot merely use your little robotic trick. You wouldn’t even be able to get your hand around my arm. And here you stand while your friends slowly choke to death.”

         Geno knew the boss was right, and his mind raced as he thought of what to do. Suddenly his pocket apparently began to glow… And then he remembered the glowing orb. This must have been the time the old man was talking about. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, staring at it for a moment.

         “Ha ha ha ha ha!” the Alpha leader laughed slowly. “What is that supposed to be, some sort of magical orb that will suck me into another dimension or something? Spare me.”

         Geno continued staring at it for a moment, and then finally noticed how heavy it was. He had always grabbed it with his robotic arm, and, as a result, didn’t particularly notice the weight. It had to be a good thirty of forty pounds, at least.

         Geno chuckled, himself. “No, boss-man. It’s no magic. It’s simply-“ Geno cut himself off as he switched the ball into his robotic arm, and tossed it at the Alpha leader’s head as fast as he could. Before the Alpha even had time to stop chuckling, he was out cold.

         “No matter how big you are, getting hit in the head by a 40-pound ball is going to hurt,” Geno muttered to himself, and then went over to check on Zero and Torvald, who were both coughing, but choking in some air. After a minute or so, they both recovered.

         “Geno… Where did you get that orb?” Zero asked, standing up.

         “Some old goober gave it to me. But is that really what’s important right now? I say we take this friggin’ dog and go home. These have been the longest two days of my life.”

         “Fair enough.”

         The three grabbed the dog cage, and walked out of the building, encountering no more resistance. They walked through the forest, and through Four Village, until they got to the bus stop. Unfortunately, they had to wait half an hour for the next bus.

         They all decided to take a rest, and sat on one of the benches. Zero, in a rare display of emotions, actually smiled as he looked at his small dog, happy to have him back. Geno reclined on the bench and closed his eyes, and Torvald started tossing his tennis ball up into the air and catching it, as he had in the cemetery not-so-long ago.

         Dusk was settling in on the old bus station, as it did most days. The sun had just slipped behind some far-off mountains, and the sky was half-golden and half-blue, with the coming of the night. A slight breeze arose and rustled some newspapers around, but none of the station’s occupants took notice. All was as calm as it could be, as the ex-Ministry awaited their transport.


         After several minutes of silence, Geno leaned forward, looked at Zero, and calmly said, “Y’know… That whole thing didn’t really seem worth it.”