The Uphill Battle

-Divide Island, afternoon-

Victoria listened to the hum of the motorboat and felt the vibrations beneath her feet as she rode towards a confrontation with A. Kerwes, the scientist behind Project Lacedaemon and the cause of so much suffering and disaster on Shadow Island. She had barely had a few days to recover from the last Shadow Island adventure when Franklin Kerwes had contacted her with his wayward son's coordinates... and a request. Victoria's mission was simple. She was to apprehend or kill A. Kerwes and prevent him from conducting any more experiments with Agent Lacedaemon. She was not sure how Sabertooth would feel about her orders for this job, but given the harm he had caused to Shadow Island and the lives his mutants had claimed, she doubted that Ryo, Kite, or the Guild Aces would lose much sleep if A. Kerwes was killed in battle.

However, Victoria would not be undertaking this mission alone. Since neither Victoria nor Franklin had any idea of what the Sabertooth mage would be going up against, the senior Kerwes had contacted "an old friend" of hers for help with this job. The brunette did not know who the "old friend" could be, but a few ideas were running through her mind.

Victoria stepped off the motorboat and onto a sandy shoreline dotted with small rocks partially buried in the sand. She moved to hand the boat's captain a bag of Jewels for his trouble when he held his hand up to refuse them.

"I've already been paid, kid. Your employer paid me in advance... and paid me generously too. I could buy a new boat with the Jewels he gave me... not that I'm complaining." He said to her, his long brown hair flapping about in the wind and his open blue Hawaiian shirt flapping around too. He was a tall, tan-skinned man named Dave who did boat tours of the island but was paid extra to transport Victoria to Divide Island for this job. Victoria turned around and adjusted the Crown of Persephone on her head and the Azure Armor on her torso, then waved goodbye to the boat's captain.

"Good luck kid!" Dave wished her before starting the engine and getting away from the island. She could not blame him for wanting to get out while the going was good. Divide Island had been suffering from a string of mutant attacks lately, but they were not humanoid mutants like the ones that had terrorized Shadow Island. Instead these entities were reptilian.

Victoria wore a blue t-shirt under her Azure Armor and a black skirt with black bike shorts on underneath it. On her feet were her usual white tennis shoes. She carried food, a dozen bottles of water, and the Living Water she had retrieved from the cavern beneath Hargeon Town during the same job that she had earned the Azure Armor for completing. The Living Water might come in handy in case someone died and needed to be revived. Victoria's Combat Medic magic was a powerful healing magic, but it could not bring back people from the dead.

Draped across her armor was the Bandolier that Itori had given her. Victoria had all of her gear, so she was ready to push ahead to the first settlement of the island and meet up with the friend of hers that Franklin had contacted. Looking down the path that led into the forest, Victoria looked above the forest and saw the split mountain that gave Divide Island its name. She took a deep breath and began walking under the dense green canopy.

-One hour later-

Victoria had made it through the forest without incident and arrived in the first settlement on the island, a town that was named Chasm Town. It was not the most creative name, but it was what it was. The town had a contemporary design and architecture that was reminiscent of Hargeon Town, albeit on a smaller scale. Victoria walked into the town and was met by a town guardsman armed with a submachine gun. He was wearing body armor with pauldrons and had a bloody bandage wrapped around his forehead.

"You've arrived at a bad time, kid. There are reptilian creatures all over the interior of the island that kill any people they come across. Two weeks ago they started pushing into Chasm Town and have been trying to break in ever since. We've been holding them off, but it's not easy because they're so tough to kill. Their skin's like a natural armor." He explained to Victoria. The mage presented her job notice and the man took it. He read over it and allowed himself to show a bit of relief.

"I'm glad you're here, kid. We were starting to worry whether someone would do something about those things. We've been hanging on thanks to that nurse from Sakuramori, but we haven't been able to take action to get rid of them." The officer said to her with palpable relief. Victoria had tuned him out when he mentioned "nurse from Sakuramori." Was it really Florence Manderley?

"Do you happen to know where this nurse is now?" Victoria asked him. His green eyes lit up in recognition.

"Yeah, sure. She's at the hospital tending to the wounded. There are a lot of wounded people whenever those things show up." He said to her before motioning for her to follow him. Victoria fell in behind him and followed him down a deserted street patrolled by teams of town guard members armed with submachine guns and shotguns. Just like on Shadow Island, the sight of a town in midday with no one in the streets was more than a little disconcerting. All the shops and businesses were shuttered and what few people were on the streets were either town guard or citizens armed with bolt-action hunting rifles or revolvers for self-defense.

Eventually the pair reached the hospital, which was a modern five-story structure guarded by more town guardsmen wearing body armor and holding assault rifles. The pair walked through the sliding glass double doors and into the hospital. Victoria hoped that the nurse from Sakuramori was really Florence because the brunette would need all the help that she could get. Florence was not just a good medic; she was also an invaluable source of moral support for the Sabertooth mage.

[Word Count: 1,084]
[Total Word Count: 1,084/12,500]

-Inside the hospital-

Victoria stopped in the foyer of the hospital and paused for a moment. She took off her Bandolier and put it away in her backpack before going any further inside the hospital. She then followed the officer to the lobby and past a semicircular reception desk staffed by a middle-aged woman and middle-aged man with spectacles to an elevator with silver doors and two glowing red circular buttons on a brass-plated control panel. The officer then spoke to her.

"I've gotta get back to my rounds, so you'll have to find the nurse on your own. She's most likely on the fifth floor, where the most critically injured patients are taken for treatment. She can tell you more about what you'll be up against. Good luck." He said to her before walking away and exiting the hospital. Victoria turned to the elevator control panel and pressed the glowing UP arrow. A pleasant DING chime filled the air and the silver doors opened for the brunette to enter the elevator. It was empty, so she would have it to herself.

Victoria walked inside and punched the circular button for the fifth floor. The elevator doors closed after a few seconds and the elevator lurched upward, then smoothly ascended to its destination. Victoria listened to the piped-in music playing from speakers stationed in the top corner of the elevator and found it to be somewhat pleasant to listen to, although the chimes used as the chief percussion instrument to accompany the acoustic guitar track were mildly annoying. After a full minute the elevator reached the fifth floor and the doors opened to let Victoria out at her destination.

-Fifth floor-

Victoria heard the elevator doors close behind her as she looked around for the nurse the police officer told her about. The fifth floor was a chaotic scene as doctors and nurses scrambled about tending to patients in private rooms and darted about while discussing treatment options in rapid-fire medical jargon the brunette could not even pretend to understand. To her left was a hallway with a series of rooms on the left and a semicircular desk for staff use just before a hallway that curved off to the right. To her right was a waiting area with a water cooler and a magazine stand with various magazines neatly stacked on it.

Victoria was not sure what to do. If Florence really was here, she would not have time to stop and talk because patients took priority. Maybe she should ask around at the staff station she saw near the patient rooms. Victoria turned to her left and slowly walked down the hallway to keep the noise down. She walked until she reached the desk, which was manned by an exhausted female nurse with copper red hair in a bob cut who had four paper cups scattered to her left and was on her fifth paper cup of coffee.

"What do you want?" She asked curtly.

"I'm looking for a nurse from Sakuramori. She's a blonde woman slightly taller than I am. She has golden eyes and-" Victoria started to describe Florence before being rudely cut off.

"If you're not badly hurt, go to one of the other floors for treatment. We don't have time for attention-seekers. We have a lot of patients who are police officers who got hurt defending this town, so go play games somewhere else!" The nurse chastised her. Victoria was trying to be understanding of the hospital's plight, but she was not going to be talked to like she was an idiot. She was not here to play games. She wanted solid information on what she would be going up against.

"Look. All I want to do is speak to the nurse. She might be able to tell me what-" Victoria tried to reason with the irritable nurse. Her effort was shot down by the red-haired nurse.

"I've got better things to do than to play games. If you don't walk away right now I'm going to call security!" She raised her voice at Victoria. The brunette was tired of playing Nice Mage because it was getting her nowhere. She clenched her teeth and shoved down her irritation at the dense nurse to make one last effort to be civil and still get what she wanted.

"Is a nurse named Florence Manderley here?" Victoria cut to the chase, barely able to keep her irritation in check.

"Right here." A female voice answered. Victoria turned away from the unhelpful redhead and towards the voice. The owner of the voice was indeed Florence Manderley. Florence looked more than a little frazzled herself, but she was nowhere near as irascible as the redhead glowering at Victoria. Victoria ignored her and turned to Florence, who was dressed in a white coat with white long-sleeved shirt and black knee-length skirt with black dress shoes.

"Things have been awful. Whatever those town guardsmen ran into did a number on them. We've lost six officers already and that's not even everyone we have to treat." Florence grimly recounted her day so far.

"I've been sent here to help stop those things before the situation gets any worse. One officer described them as reptilians with thick hides that acted as a natural armor." Victoria said to Florence. Florence's golden eyes met Victoria's eyes and flashed a look of concern.

"I figured you'd be called in to clean up this mess. That Franklin Kerwes man sent me here to help treat the patients, which was a good move. Everyone's here and we're still having a hard time keeping up. Some of the doctors have been here for two full days and working in twelve-hour shifts with only three hours of sleep between shifts." Florence told her pupil more about the situation in the hospital. With that kind of stress weighing on everyone's shoulders

"I was told that you'd be here, but I thought you'd be going into the field with me, not working in a hospital. I'd offer to help, but I'm not a licensed medical professional like you are. I'd be more help getting rid of those lizard things before anyone else gets hurt." Victoria said to Florence. Florence nodded in agreement.

"I heard you've been busy fighting the science projects of Franklin's wayward son." Florence said to Victoria. Victoria found that a grimly amusing way to put it.

"You could say that." Victoria replied to her mentor figure. The cleanup operation against the mutants on Shadow Island was still on her mind. She wondered if she would be called in to clean up the reptilian creatures after the confrontation with A. Kerwes was over.

[Word Count: 1,151]
[Total Word Count: 2,235/12,500]

Florence and Victoria looked at each other for what seemed like hours until Florence looked at her wristwatch and then looked at the mage. Victoria knew that soon she would be traipsing through the jungle and fighting the reptilian enemies responsible for killing multiple town guardsmen and terrorizing an entire town. She kind of hoped that Florence would be going with her, but that was not to be. The brunette would be entering the danger zone by herself and would have to watch her own back.

"Well, I'd better get going. Those lizard things aren't gonna get rid of themselves." Victoria said to Florence, whose face showed a measure of concern.

"Just be careful. I don't want to have to treat you next. I don't want to bury you either." Florence replied in all seriousness. Victoria had no witty comeback or dark comedy for her mentor. There was nothing she could say to that to ease Florence's concern.

"I'll be careful." Victoria assured the blonde the best she could. In the end offering assurances was all that the Sabertooth mage could really do for Florence. If push came to shove Victoria had the Living Water in her backpack ready to use. However, it would not do her much good if she was decapitated or fell into a spike pit.

"Good luck." Florence said softly before turning around and heading into a patient's room, presumably to see how they were doing. Victoria turned around and made her way towards the elevator but spotted the water cooler and decided to get a drink of water before leaving the hospital. Victoria grabbed a cone-shaped paper cup from a dispenser, sidled up to the water cooler, and pressed the blue tab down to dispense some water. She then took a sip from it and glanced at the television sitting on a corner wall mount a short distance from her head.

It was a weather forecast program featuring a dolled-up female weather forecaster sitting at a desk wearing a blue jacket and blue knee-length skirt. She predicted that the weather would be clear and sunny today, which would make for perfect beach weather. That would be the case if Victoria were on Crescent Island, but she was on Divide Island and on the clock. At least she would not be getting rained on while exploring the forest and searching for those lizard creatures.

Victoria drained the cup and lightly tossed it into a nearby recycle bin, then set out for the elevator at last. She soon arrived in front of the silver double doors and pressed the glowing down arrow. The doors opened and she stepped into the elevator, then pressed the 1 button for the first floor. The doors closed and Victoria was on her way.

Victoria heard an acoustic guitar playing over the speakers, but this time there was no annoying chime for percussion. Instead there were drums that were playing in the background. The drums sounded deep and featured prominently but did not overpower the guitar, something that Victoria liked about the music. If she wanted She stood back and enjoyed the ride while listening to elevator music that was actually kind of good.

Victoria soon felt the elevator jolt to a stop and saw the doors slide open. She stepped out and let a group of doctors and nurses on board, then walked towards the lobby and prepared to head out of Chasm Town on her quest to save the island from more of Kerwes' twisted experiments. Victoria waved at the receptionist and made her way through the sliding glass double doors, stepping outside and being slapped in the face with warm air.

-Outside the hospital, Chasm Town-

Victoria stepped outside and walked a few steps away from the door. She carefully walked down the stairs and stepped off to the side, then took off her backpack and opened it. She fished out the Bandolier and carefully put it on, then closed up the backpack and slipped it onto her back. Now she was ready for the trials ahead. She walked away from the hospital and towards the town outskirts.

Victoria felt the same atmosphere of fear that had dominated Shadow's Edge and Dusk Town when the mutants were still running about trying to find prey. Homes were locked up tighter than a bank vault, as were most of the shops and restaurants. The few that were open had a small number of patrons milling about inside. The busiest establishments were the taverns and bars, which were filled with people trying to drink to forget their problems... or ease their pain before death claimed them.

Victoria would do her best to make sure that the experiments were stopped before even more people were killed. She could not stop all the deaths, but she could prevent a lot of them by drawing the attention of the creatures onto herself. They were only animals, so they would go for the easy prey in front of them instead of passing her by and heading for the town with an abundance of prey. At least Victoria hoped that that was the case.

The brunette stopped at a crossroad and paused to let a small group of female shoppers clutching their purchases go by. She then continued straight ahead and paused at a green metal sign pointing the way to the town outskirts, which were to her right. Victoria went right and passed by a steakhouse that had only six patrons and two overworked cooks and an overworked waitress who looked to be on the verge of tears.

Victoria found herself standing in front of a checkpoint that was manned by town guardsmen armed with submachine guns and assault rifles. Like the ones on Shadow Island, this checkpoint was a sandbag barricade that was waist-high and blocked off most of the road except for a narrow gap that a group walking single-file could pass through. There was also a police van loaded with weapons and ammunition sitting close by.

Victoria brought out her job notice and presented it to a curious black-haired officer, who read it and looked at her incredulously. He was probably wondering if the twiggy brown-haired teenager wearing blue armor on her torso and wearing a floral crown on her head had a death wish because she was leaving the relative safety of town to hunt the creatures threatening Chasm Town. He handed the notice back to her and spoke.

"Are you really going out there to hunt those things?" The town guardsman asked Victoria.

[Word Count: 1,107]
[Total Word Count: 3,342/12,500]

"Yeah. I've been hired to hunt them, so that's what I'm gonna do." Victoria answered calmly. The officer was just doing his job, so she held no ill will towards him for questioning her intent in venturing beyond a police-controlled safe zone. The officer handed the job notice back and was prepared to let Victoria pass, but before he did he had some parting words for her.

"I hope you know what you're doing, kid. Those things are dangerous. We've already lost six officers to those things today. We're keeping everyone here to protect the town, so you're on your own." The officer warned her. Victoria was not terribly concerned about being alone. She had carried out a lot of dangerous jobs by herself, so this was simply another one to add to the list.

"I understand, Officer." Victoria replied. She saw a flash of green up ahead and saw the officers murmur and raise their weapons in the direction of the road. Victoria brought out her Light Machine Gun and waited. Suddenly a shrill screech pierced the tense silence and the flash of green leaped towards her and the officer. Its leaping trajectory had propelled it on a course that would clear the sandbags and place it directly in front of them when it landed!

"GET BACK!" He shouted, shoving Victoria out of the way and sending her sprawling away from the threat. The officer was not so fortunate. He had taken a slash across the chest that had cleaved through his body armor like it was simple cloth and was lying on the ground clutching a hand to his bleeding chest and stomach. The green reptilian beast was standing over him and preparing to finish the job. Victoria jumped to her feet and picked up her weapon.

She quickly got into a position where other officers would not get caught in the crossfire and opened fire. The creature turned around and screeched at her, then started sprinting towards her. Victoria kept firing and her weapon kept inflicting minor wounds to it, wounds that it simply shrugged off as it slammed into her and knocked her to the ground. The Light Machine Gun clattered just out of reach, but she would not have had sufficient room to aim it as the creature stood over her and raised its muscular clawed arms that were longer than its legs. Victoria put her fingers together in a gun shape, focused golden energy into them, and fired a thin beam of energy that punched through its skull and sprayed a fine mist of blood.

She rolled out of the way just before the creature fell onto the place where she had been lying and began twitching as it bled through the hole in its head. Victoria stood up and righted her crown, then dispelled her Light Machine Gun. The officer from earlier was right... those things were tough to kill. Speaking of officers, Victoria hurried over to the man who had shoved her aside and knelt down. He was bleeding badly and needed help if he was going to make it.

Victoria stood up, closed her eyes, and began focusing healing magic into her hand. She then began to put more magic into the Field Hospital spell, draining her magic reserves further but lending her spell greater healing power. Victoria then opened her eyes and cast the spell on the officer who had saved her from injury. The magic began to wash over him and his chest and stomach wounds closed up within seconds of the spell being cast. The brunette could only hope that she had cast the spell in time to save his life.

"Get him to the hospital immediately!" Victoria urged the officers, two of whom slung their submachine guns on their shoulders and hurried to do as instructed. They picked the man up, took off the shredded body armor, supported him on their shoulders, and began to take him in the direction of more advanced medical care. Victoria focused on the path ahead of her. Another black-haired male officer wearing body armor took charge of the checkpoint and spoke to her.

"Thanks, kid. I hope he makes it." The officer said to her.

"Me too." She replied succinctly. Hopefully Florence would be able to finish what Victoria started and save the man's life.

"I won't hold you up any longer. You know how tough they can be, so I won't lecture you. Just be careful out there. The terrain's full of thick brush, giving them plenty of hiding places." The officer counseled the mage.

"I'll be careful." Victoria replied before walking through the gap in the sandbag defenses and heading for the mountain in the distance. To get there she would have to walk through terrain that was full of brush that gave the reptilian beasts plenty of places to hide. She would have to be careful because her Beam Cannon spell was the only reliable weapon she had against the resilient creatures.

-On the trail-

Victoria followed wooden signs that were just off to the side of the trail that she was following. They pointed the way towards the mountain that she would need to ascend in order to find Kerwes' lab... or so she hoped. For all she knew she could be going on a wild goose chase that the rogue scientist had set up just to waste her time. She would take that chance because those reptiles could not be allowed to live. They were too dangerous and would wipe out Chasm Town if given the chance to spread unchecked.

Victoria walked until she came across a swathe of blood that led towards a patch of brush that was waist-high. Part of her wanted to walk away then and there, but the other part had to know what it was that the brush was hiding. Victoria followed the trail and glanced over the vegetation. She instantly regretted that decision.

She saw the remains of a hunter in woodland camouflage with an orange safety vest lying face-down in a patch of dried blood. His legs had been severed at the knees and a large chunk of the right side of his head was missing. At his side lay a shotgun with five empty shell hulls next to it. He must have been hunting wildlife but had instead fallen prey to Kerwes' latest experiments.

Victoria turned around and looked for signs of the reptiles trying to sneak up on her but did not find any. Not wanting to hang around and possibly become their next victim, she left the scene and got back on the trail that led to the mountain. She had a long way to go before A. Kerwes would be made to answer for all of his horrifying misdeeds.

Reptilian Creature:

[Word Count: 1,150]
[Total Word Count: 4,492/12,500]

-Mountain trail, one hour later-

Victoria had followed the trail from Chasm Town to the foot of the split mountain that had given Divide Island its name. She had not encountered any more of the reptiles on the way to the foot of the mountain, but she had encountered some of their handiwork. It consisted mostly of deer with a missing leg or two and deep bite marks around the throat, but she had also found two hunters in a state of decay like she had found hidden in the brush earlier. They had been found a short distance away from the mountain.

The hunters had been found lying side-by-side on the road, indicating that they had enough warning to at least attempt to defend themselves. They had spent every shell they had with them because there were over three dozen empty shotgun shell hulls lying next to them. A blood trail leading away from the bodies and up the mountain showed that they had inflicted at least one serious wound on one of the reptilian creatures that had decided to make them a meal. Victoria instinctively followed the blood trail and began climbing the steep terrain to find the reptilian creatures and their creator. It was going to be a long way up.

Victoria began to make her way up the mountain and noticed that there was very little in the way of vegetation on the steep terrain and a lot of rocks. There was some brush that came up to the brunette's ankles, but other than that it was rocks as far as the eye could see. She continued to follow the blood trail while looking for its source, which as far she knew might still be alive. None of the rocks so far were big enough to hide behind, which worked in her favor because small rocks did nothing to hide the creatures.

Victoria continued to climb and saw what looked like a human a short distance ahead. She was wary, but she had no reason to think it was one of the beasts, especially since it had hair in a ponytail and wore a tan hat. Those reptiles did not have hair of any sort.

"Hey! HEEEEEY!" The human called out in a female voice and waved their arms at her. Victoria knew that she was dealing with a human. She raised a hand in greeting as the person approached them.

"Don't climb any further! There's weird lizard things running around up there!" The woman warned her. She was dressed in olive green clothing, had a badge of some sort on her chest, and looked like a forest ranger.

"That's why I'm here. I'm here to kill them and stop them from killing any more people than they already have." Victoria told the woman. She looked skeptical until Victoria handed over the job notice as proof of her claim. The person read the notice and handed it back to the mage, who pocketed it.

"I think you're out of your mind for even hunting those things, but if you're here on an officially sanctioned job, I won't stop you. Just be careful. I was up around the top of the mountain looking for a missing hiker when I was chased away by those things." The woman warned Victoria of what lay ahead. The brunette did not appreciate the lack of faith in her abilities or the implication that her judgment was poor. She had not gotten this far in her mage career by being lucky.

"OK. I'll be careful." Victoria assured the ranger. The woman had a question for the mage.

"How does the road to here look?" The ranger asked.

"I saw the bodies of a few dead hunters along the road and in the brush. I didn't see any of those lizards on the way here, but that doesn't mean they're not around. If you're gonna go back to Chasm Town, stick to the main path, move quickly, and don't go sightseeing in the brush." Victoria advised the ranger on the safest way back to civilization. She had not swept the area because her first priority was getting here to stop the reptiles at their source. The ranger would have to move quickly and stay on the main path if she hoped to reach Chasm Town alive.

"OK then. I'll keep that in mind." The woman replied. Victoria resumed her climb and was about to pass the woman when the latter spoke to her.

"Hey, do you know anything about that concrete tunnel at the top of the mountain?" The woman asked Victoria. Victoria stopped in place and carefully turned to face the ranger. The Sabertooth mage was keenly interested in this tunnel.

"Not at all. I'd heard in Chasm Town that there was something at the top of the mountain, but no one said anything about a tunnel." Victoria replied. Her curiosity was piqued.

"I'm not sure if those lizard things came out of it or not since I didn't go inside. I can lead you to it if you want." The ranger offered. Victoria would certainly appreciate the help of a local who knew the mountain, especially a ranger who had spent years patrolling the area. The brunette was not sure if she should take the offer and risk the woman's life.

"I can't guarantee your safety if you join me." Victoria warned the woman of the risk involved.

"No one said that being a ranger would be easy or safe. I'm willing to take my chances. Those things need to be stopped before anyone else gets hurt." The ranger replied, brushing aside the thought of danger. Victoria was somewhat impressed with her dedication to her duty. The woman had a lot of guts to stick around in the face of man-eating reptilian creatures, especially since she did not even have a weapon with which to defend herself.

"OK. If you're willing to lead the way, I'll follow." Victoria conceded. She put the choice in the ranger's hands. If she wanted to leave, Victoria would not blame her for doing so. If she wanted to stay and guide the mage, Victoria would not turn down her help.

"All right then. Follow me and don't be slow. This terrain can be pretty rough." The ranger said before taking the lead. Victoria wordlessly obeyed and started to follow her brave new guide up the mountain.

[Word Count: 1,100]
[Total Word Count: 5,592/12,500]

With the brave park ranger leading the way, Victoria slowly made her way up the mountain and towards the tunnel the woman had briefly told her about. She was fairly certain that the reptiles originated from there as yet another one of Kerwes' experiments to refine Agent Lacedaemon and make a fortune off of the improved formula. Armed forces everywhere would pay a fortune to be able to get their hands on something that would boost the effectiveness of their soldiers. So would crime syndicates like the Corlones or the Anlecottis.

"The name's Annette, by the way." The park ranger gave her name as the pair rounded a corner of the trail that was protected by a fence which was little more than a series of poles connected by a length of chain. Still, it was better than nothing. Having a length of chain to grab onto could mean the difference between life or death if a hiker lost their footing near the edge.

"I'm Victoria." Victoria gave her name in return. The pair briefly stopped talking to focus on passing by the edge of the mountain safely.

"Victoria Sheridan, right?" Annette asked once the pair were on flat ground away from the edge.

"Yeah." Victoria answered. The mage was sure that question was asked because the ranger had read the job notice earlier.

"I think I met a guy who had the same last name a few months ago." Annette commented. Victoria's pace slowed to a halt. The way the ranger put it, Lawrence may have been here while the brunette was off on one adventure or another.

"What did he look like?" Victoria inquired.

"Tall, muscular, short blond hair. He even had a long scar on the left side of his face that went over his eye and down to his lips." Annette answered. That fit Lawrence's description perfectly.

"...Do you know him?" The ranger asked.

"Yeah. He's my adopted father." The mage answered.

"I hate to say it, kid, but you missed the family reunion by a good three months." The woman said to her. Victoria only shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I hate that I missed him, but it happens. We're both busy people. We'll meet again somewhere down the road." Victoria calmly replied. She was not distraught about the missed meeting because she knew that her adopted father was just like her... he always had to be in the middle of the action. Annette looked at her briefly before they resumed their trek to the top of the mountain. It was tough going that only got more difficult the higher they went. Not helping matters was the fact that the path was starting to become studded with loose rocks everywhere they stepped.

"Be careful up here. If you go over the side, it's a long way down." Annette warned Victoria. The mage stuck to the inside path and walked slowly to minimize the chances of falling down and possibly going over the side. It was slow going, but the mountain tunnel was not going anywhere... she hoped. For all she knew Kerwes had rigged it with explosives set to go off the moment she got near it. He could have even rigged it with remote-control explosives that he would trigger when she stepped inside... if the blast did not get her the falling concrete would.

It was the risk she ran to find him and put an end to his plans once and for all. Kerwes had to be stopped because if not stopped he would continue his human experimentation without end until he had what he wanted. The cost in human lives could not have been predicted. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of screeching and Annette scrambling behind the mage for protection. Victoria heard plodding footsteps and saw a reptile stroll down the path in search of prey.

"Ive got this." Victoria said, putting her hands together in the shape of a gun and focusing magic into her the "barrel" formed by her pointer fingers. She aimed at its head as it crouched down for a jumping slash attack. She waited until it rose, then fired the Beam Cannon at it skull in the hope of killing it in mid-air. A spray of blood indicated that she had hit it, but it still soared towards her with a claw raised.

Annette quickly scrambled back to give Victoria enough room to dodge. The ranger had moved just in time because the brown-haired mage fell backwards and felt the bulky reptile sail right over her before landing hard and bouncing over the edge where the chain was not low enough to prevent someone from falling over. If the Beam Cannon did not kill it the fall certainly would.

"That's a straight drop down. It can't survive that." Annette commented on the location where the beast had bounced just below the fence line. Victoria was not entirely sure that the fall would kill it, but she did not have time to go back down the mountain and make sure it was dead because she had to keep moving forward. The others were bound to have heard the commotion of the fight and were heading this way to investigate.

"We'd better get moving, Annette. Its buddies are gonna be heading right for us. I'll take the lead." Victoria said to the ranger, who was understandably concerned about the possibility of facing more angry lizard beasts. The mage had armor and the means to defeat them, so it would be wise for her to take the lead. Annette fell in line behind Victoria and the Sabertooth mage took the lead for the next part of the trip.

The pair worked their way up the steep trail while occasionally stopping to listen for the sound of more hostile lizards coming after them. It was a tense journey where neither brunette talked because of the concern that the creatures were sneaking up behind them as they ascended the mountain path. Victoria looked at a wooden sign with white letters painted onto it and the ranger broke the silence.

"We're almost there. We're almost to the top." Annette commented, then raised a hand for silence because she thought that she had heard a noise.

The pair had not spoken much since the last fight because they were worried that the lizard beasts might try to attack from behind. It was a fear that was well-founded because at a curve in the road at the three-quarters mark Annette tapped on Victoria's armored shoulder and gestured towards the path behind them. Victoria turned around and looked just in time to see another lizard charge at them!

"Get back!" Victoria warned Annette as the former readied another Beam Cannon. Each use of the spell cost a decent chunk of Victoria's magic power, but it was the best weapon in her arsenal for dealing with the thick hide of the reptiles. They had proven that they could shrug off Light Machine Gun fire and that of other conventional weapons, so the Beam Cannon would be used as the first weapon in each fight with them.

[Word Count: 1,212]
[Total Word Count: 6,804/12,500]

Victoria quickly stepped in front of Annette as the lizard beast charged. She quickly prepared and aimed a Beam Cannon at the beast's skull, then held her aim until the right moment. That moment came when it did not stop to pounce but instead charged at her at high speed. Victoria carefully aimed for its skull and fired, piercing it and causing the beast to pitch forward in mid-stride. It skidded to a halt at her feet and lay motionless, but Victoria backed away because she was not sure that it was really dead. Its mouth was open and its yellow eyes glazed over as it bled from the quarter-sized hole in its skull.

"There's another one!" Annette shouted. Victoria spun around and came face-to-face with another one bounding down the trail. It spotted her, screeched loudly, and crouched down to perform a leaping attack. Victoria prepared another Beam Cannon and and carefully aimed at the target's skull, but it was not going to sit still and be target practice for the mage. It leapt at her and raked at her with its right claw, slamming into her shoulder and barely missing the unarmored part of her left arm as it dragged the claw down.

Victoria barely stepped back in time to avoid having her left arm sliced open from the shoulder down. She recovered her wits long enough to jam her fingers against its skull before firing the Beam Cannon. The spell blasted it at point-blank range and killed it instantly when the golden beam punched through its skull. It flopped onto its back and blood gushing out of the back of its head stained the trail.

"Are you OK?" Annette asked Victoria, examining her left shoulder where the pauldron had saved the mage from losing her left arm. The impact of the attack certainly hurt, but the mage still had her left arm and could still use the Beam Cannon, albeit with some difficulty thanks to her throbbing shoulder. She would just have to ignore it because she had a job to complete.

"I'm OK, thanks. Let's keep going before more of them arrive." Victoria said to Annette. The ranger nodded in agreement and the pair continued their trek up the mountain. They listened out for more of the lizard creatures as they climbed the trail. Victoria's magic reserves were getting a bit lower than she would have liked, but it could not be helped because the Beam Cannon was keeping her and Annette alive.

-At the top of the mountain-

"We made it!" Annette exclaimed with relief. Victoria silently shared in her joy as she reached the top of the mountain, which was a flat area with a small amount of grass dotting the plateau and a few wooden picnic tables sitting nearby. She faced the tunnel that the ranger had spoken of earlier in the trip. Its mouth was a square concrete construction that opened into a concrete tunnel reminiscent of the Umbra Command bunker on Shadow Island. She was sure that the dark and cool tunnels would be crawling with reptilian creatures who called it home.

"Yeah. We made it." An exhausted Victoria echoed Annette as she sat down on the sparse grass for just a moment. Her legs were killing her and so was her left shoulder. Those reptiles hit hard. If she had not worn the Azure Armor it was a safe bet that she would be a one-armed mage if she did not bleed to death on the mountain trail.

"I don't know what lies in the tunnel ahead. I've never been inside and I've warned a lot of people away from it." Annette said to Victoria.

"It's for the best that you did. I'm sure the interior's crawling with those things." Victoria replied, standing up so that she could take off the Azure Armor and check on her left shoulder. She took off the body armor and gently rolled up her left shirt sleeve to get a look at the arm. There was bruising on the shoulder and the upper part of her left arm where the reptile's muscular arm had slammed into her arm. Annette glanced at it and let out a low whistle.

"You're bruised pretty badly, Victoria. I know you don't have time to go get medical attention because you've got a job to do, so I'll just tell you to be careful." Annette counseled the Sabertooth mage. Victoria raised her right hand and focused golden magic into it. A golden ball of light began to form in the palm of her hand.

"It's OK. I can heal myself. It's not as good as a hospital, but it'll keep me on my feet and maybe save me a trip to the hospital." Victoria replied calmly as she finished forming the Medical Bag spell. She cast it on herself and watched as the bruising quickly faded away; the pain followed shortly afterward. Annette was speechless.

"It looks like you've got this under control, Victoria." Annette said to the brown-haired mage. The ranger seemed like she wanted to say something but was hesitant to speak.

"Are you OK?" Victoria asked the ranger.

"To be honest, I'm in way over my head, kid. I don't know the first thing about those lizards and I'm afraid to go into that tunnel." Annette admitted to Victoria.

"I can take it from here. Do you think you'll be able to get down the mountain safely?" Victoria asked the nervous ranger. Annette had guided her this far. The ranger had every right to get to safety while the going was good. Victoria only regretted that she could not escort the woman all the way down to make sure that she got down safely.

"I'll be able to make it on my own, kid. You just be careful in there." Annette assured the Sabertooth mage of her ability to make it to town on her own. Victoria was not sure if the ranger could, but she would just have to trust the older woman's judgment. Annette knew the area a lot better than the brown-haired mage.

"I'll do my best." Victoria replied to Annette while putting on the Azure Armor again. Thanks to the healing spell her shoulder now only twinged with pain instead of throbbed. The armor slipped on with ease and Victoria was physically ready to enter the dark tunnel.

"Good luck!" Annette called out before disappearing down the trail. Victoria stayed still and listened out for the woman until she could no longer hear the footsteps of the latter. The mage then turned around and faced the yawning concrete tunnel. It was time to go in and put a stop to Kerwes' destructive ambitions.

[Word Count: 1,157]
[Total Word Count: 7,961/12,500]

-Inside the tunnel-

After taking a break and modestly recharging her magic supply, Victoria had ventured into the dark tunnel to carry out her mission. She had climbed all the way up the mountain and had killed three of those scaly beasts, so she was going to go all the way and finish what she started. Annette, the town guard, Florence, and the people of Divide Island were counting on her to stop the threat posed by Kerwes' latest creations.

The tunnel was dimly lit by florescent lights flickering above her. The tunnel was wide enough to accommodate at least thirty people walking side-by-side, but unlike the Umbra Command tunnel on Shadow Island, this tunnel did not have traffic lines because it was not intended for vehicles. It was intended for foot traffic only. It was so empty and so austere that the mage was more than a little creeped out by the feeling. Victoria followed the empty tunnel to an elevator that was functional, much to her surprise.

She found that suspicious and looked around for an alternate means of getting to the lower levels like a staircase. She walked away from the elevator and searched the immediate area but found nothing other than the elevator doors glinting in the intermittent light provided by the flickering florescent lights. Since there was no other way, Victoria pressed the glowing red down arrow and the elevator dinged open. She stepped on board and looked at the control panel.

-Inside the elevator-

A quick glance at the control panel showed that there were twenty floors with the appropriately numbered buttons, an OPEN DOOR button and a CLOSE DOOR button. There was also a CALL FOR HELP button and a speaker to speak into. She had a feeling that such a thing would be worthless down here. Not sure what to do, Victoria's finger hovered above the button to the second floor when a voice interrupted her.

"Don't bother. You'll only be wasting your time. You see, I control the elevator." A male voice said to her.

"I control when the door opens. I control when it closes. You're at my mercy." It continued, demonstrating the ability to open and close the door at will. Victoria had no choice but to endure the demonstration because she did not see any other way down. She decided to endure the power trip and hope that the man on the other end did not just send the elevator into freefall and kill her then and there. As if to confirm her worst fears, the elevator entered a sudden and sharp descent!

Victoria could only brace herself against the sides as it entered freefall. Bracing herself was useless because she would die on impact, but it was the only way that she could exert any control over her situation. If the elevator hit bottom, there would not be enough left of her to bury because the combination of the impact and the elevator crumpling like a tin can would make for a messy aftermath. She was going to die in a metal box and there was nothing that she could do.

Victoria kept an eye on the floor counter and watched it rapidly count down. The drop had only happened ten seconds ago and she was already on the tenth floor and was fairly sure that this ride would only end at the bottom. To her surprise it jolted to a halt at the thirteenth floor, making her head nearly slam into the ceiling. Instead she flopped to the floor and her crown came off.

The door dinged open and facing her was another empty expanse of underground tunnel. The voice had a message for her.

"You'll find another elevator at the end of this tunnel, but I'd be careful if I were you. You see, my latest creations have taken a liking to the damp, cool underground and have made a nest here. I'd suggest walking carefully." The voice suggested before cutting out. Victoria picked herself up, put the Crown of Persephone back on, and slowly walked out of the elevator. The moment she left the confines of the elevator the door dinged shut behind her. There was no way to go but forward.

-On the thirteenth floor-

Victoria faced the empty expanse and began to walk forward with caution as the florescent lights flickered and hummed. There was only one way forward but a lot of empty rooms without doors off to the sides. A few of them had bloodstains where someone or something had been dragged into the room, presumably meals that the reptiles had caught. She wondered if they were people who had explored the tunnels before her and never came out.

She did not have much time to puzzle over the source of the stains because she heard the sound of low hissing and the clicking of something on concrete. That was the mage's cue to get a move on before she was next on the menu. She was twiggy for her age and would not make a good meal, but that would not stop genetically mutated beasts, who were not renowned for selective feeding habits. Victoria moved forward as quietly as she could and listened out for the clicking sound that would alert her to nearby enemies.

The humming of the overhead lights almost drowned out the sound of the surrounding environment, but she could hear above them just enough to know that something was after her. She kept creeping forward with her fingers raised to aim and fire a Beam Cannon at a moment's notice. She could see the elevator doors gleaming in the light, but they were so far away from her that they might as well be in Capital Crocus. Victoria swiftly ducked into a doorway when she noticed a shadow hovering in the distance.

Ducking into one of the rooms was the last thing that the brunette wanted to do, but when faced with a choice between near-certain death and the unknown, she would take her chances with the unknown. She slowed her breathing down because she could hear the clicking echoing in the hallway. It was drawing closer to her.

[Word Count: 1,046]
[Total Word Count: 9,007/12,500]

Victoria stood just behind the doorway and pressed herself against the wall as much as her Azure Armor would permit. She listened for the clicking and it was drawing closer. The mage glanced to her left and saw that she had entered one of the rooms where the reptiles had been storing their meals. To her left against the wall was a small piles of half-eaten human corpses. That sight was certainly alarming, but there was something more to it.

Fighting her growing concern that she would be found and attacked, Victoria kept her eyes focused on them and noticed something unusual about the bodies. They all wore military clothing with webbing gear much like the outfit she wore during the Night of Eternal Darkness incident in Sakuramori. Had Franklin Kerwes sent more people before her? Had he called her in after they tried to stop his son and had failed? There was no time to ponder that... the clicking was getting closer.

Victoria looked towards the hall and spotted one of the reptiles walking nearby, the talons on its feet clicking against the concrete floor. It was clearly looking for her but had no idea of where its prey could be. Maybe their eyesight was poor and fast movement was what attracted their attention. She slowly brought her hands up in front of her and formed a gun with her fingers, hoping that the creature would go away before it found her. That hope was destined to be dashed as it turned left and shambled straight into the room where she was.

Victoria's pulse quickened. Had she been found? She barely suppressed the urge to scream as it shambled right by her... and made a beeline straight for the pile of bodies. Apparently she had caught it going on lunch break. The brunette listened for the sound of any more of them coming in, but when she did not hear any more she took a chance and quickly slipped out of the room just before it bit into the arm of a dead man who was already missing half of his face.

-In the hallway-

Victoria slowly released the breath she had been holding ever since the lizard entered the room and slowly proceeded down the hallway towards the silver doors of the elevator. There was no guarantee that the voice would let her get to safety, but that was a chance she was willing to take. She could get to the elevator and maybe die or hang around and definitely die. There was not too much difficulty in making the decision when it was put in those terms. Victoria had taken ten quiet steps down the hall when she heard the familiar clicking of talons on concrete and ducked into the nearest room to avoid detection.

-Inside the room-

Victoria pressed herself against wall on the right side of the doorway and hoped for the best. On the way in she heard her foot plop into something wet. She turned her head left and saw what looked like eggs lined up against the wall sitting in a puddle of water that had formed when a water pipe had burst beneath them. She panicked. Victoria had just taken shelter in a lizard nursery!

The eggs were about half of Victoria's height and were leathery. She needed to get out of there before they hatched and the new lizard creatures started calling for their mothers. That was going to be a chore because the sound of patrolling reptiles drew closer to her position and there was nowhere to hide in the room. Again Victoria slowly brought her hands in front of her and formed a gun to use the Beam Cannon.

Victoria listened as they passed right by her without even sniffing the air. She wondered why they had passed by without even investigating the room. Maybe they too were going on lunch break and were just passing by. Victoria waited until all three of them had lumbered by and immediately left the hatchery behind before her luck ran out.

-In the hallway-

Victoria watched the three reptiles troop into the room where the bodies were stored to make sure that they were completely distracted before going towards the elevator and possible safety. Once they had disappeared the brunette slinked down the hall and was making good progress towards the elevator at a good rate when she noticed the door open of its own accord with a soft DING. She was torn between continuing to sneak and throwing caution to the wind and just running for it, an option which was reinforced when more of the reptiles came walking down the hallway just behind her.

She was sure that the jig was up, but she continued to take the slow approach until she was absolutely certain that she was spotted. That did not take long because she had barely made five steps when the inhuman screeching sounded down the hallway. Victoria quit sneaking around and bolted for the door as fast as her legs could carry her. The reptiles behind her started running and were quickly gaining on her... it did not help that the mage's legs were still sore from climbing the mountain just to get here. The panicking mage hurried into the elevator and jammed the CLOSE DOOR button, then prepared to fire a Beam Cannon when the doors shut.

-Inside the elevator-

Victoria screamed as the metal doors bulged inward from the force of the reptile's attack. She was surprised that the door had closed instead of opening back up and exposing her to further attacks from the irate lizards. She heard laughing over the intercom before the elevator started moving by the invisible hand that belonged to the voice.

"That was quite the close call you had, young lady. You've made it further than those hired guns did." The voice offered a bit of praise for the mage's tenacity and speed. Victoria did not respond and simply listened to the voice.

"I'm taking you down a couple of floors to another challenge. I'm certain that you'll pass that one with flying colors just like you did the last one." The male voice said to her. It was not like she had any real choice in taking the man's challenges.

"It'll require the same level of discretion you used for my last challenge. It'll require you to think before acting and to analyze your surroundings. If you pass it I'll be most impressed. I may even grant you an audience with me." The man said as if trying to tempt her with a prize. Victoria would take the test and pass, if only out of spite for the man. She was going to get through his challenge and when they met face-to-face, she was going to give him what for.

[Word Count: 1,159]
[Total Word Count: 10,166/12,500]

-On the fifteenth floor-

The elevator arrived at its destination and the doors opened automatically. Victoria faced another dark corridor lit by flickering lights and filled with open doorways that led to Wizard Saints only knew where. This did not look promising, but passing through here was the only way she would get a chance to confront Kerwes and put an end to him and Project Lacedaemon. Stopping Kerwes would also stop the flow of mutants that had been taking over islands lately. Then Victoria flashed back to the thirteenth floor and the clutch of eggs she had come across in the room with the busted water pipe.

That room provided hard evidence that some species of the mutants could reproduce, which meant that the threat would not be ended with Kerwes being taken out of the picture. Cleanup operations would have to be undertaken and every last reptile found and killed before Divide Island could be truly declared safe. She would have to deal with that later because right now she had a hallway to traverse, but the voice promised that this would not be as easy as the dangerous but brief jaunt on the thirteenth floor. There was a hidden twist to this "challenge" and it was up to her to find out what that twist was.

Victoria stepped out of the elevator and the door closed behind her. Almost immediately she heard clicking coming from down the hall, which meant that more of the lizards were on their way to investigate. She needed a hiding place quick. She slipped into a side room and looked for a better place to hide than the doorway. A row of metal lockers might do the trick, but she did not want to hop inside one and become canned meat for the reptiles.

Another concern about jumping into a locker for safety was that once the door shut she might not be able to get out again, not without making a whole lot of noise. The noise made in an effort to get out would defeat the whole point of hiding from the scaly predators. She really did not want to die trapped in a metal locker miles underground. The clicking of talons on concrete was close by, so Victoria tried the next-best thing and opened the door of the first locker to try and obscure the line-of-sight from the entrance, then pressed herself against the wall next to the locker and hoped that it was enough to escape detection.

Victoria held her breath as she heard the sounds of walking and low hissing coming from the hallway. She watched through the slits in the locker door as two of the creatures stood near the elevator while a third entered the room she was in. They were smarter than their peers on the thirteenth floor, but intelligence was not the only area where they differed from the first reptiles. Their appearance was also radically different.

They were roughly the same height and skin color, but this new species had numerous red growths piled on the right side of their bodies. Their right eye was also covered by the growths. They were suffering from some mutation that went out of control and she was fairly certain that it was not in Kerwes' plan for them to develop like that.

Victoria watched through the slits and saw the scaly creature approach her position while breathing deeply, then pausing to smell the air. Victoria was sure that it knew where she was and was playing with her before the attack, but she stayed in place because there was nowhere else to run. She silently raised her hands and formed a gun to ready a Beam Cannon, but then she recalled the voice's words about using discretion during the challenge. The brunette thought over the situation a little more and came to a conclusion. This was one of those times where discretion was the better part of valor.

Victoria could use her Beam Cannon and kill it, but the screech it made upon death would alert the others that prey was near and bring the whole group down on her. Her magic reserves were still modest despite their gradual recovery, so she could not afford to take on every reptile on the floor. It would be best to avoid any fights that were not necessary. But how could she get around them?

Stifling her rising fear, the brunette risked a glance at the creature. It did not notice the patch of brown hair peeking out from behind the locker door nor the crown of bright flowers on her head. Either it was colorblind or it was just plain blind... she did not care because that weakness allowed her to keep her head on her shoulders. That gave her an idea.

Maybe it hunted based primarily on sound. If she ran around in a panic, that would be the end of her. If she kept as quiet as she could and did not make too much noise, getting around them would be a lot easier... in theory. The mage decided to test that theory with a Flashbang.

The mage summoned one in her hand, then crept out from behind cover until she was an arm's length away from the scaly hunter. She aimed for the hallway and tossed the cylindrical device. It clanked on the concrete and rolled into the room right across from her, then detonated with a loud BANG. The reptiles dropped everything they were doing and rushed for the room she had lobbed the Flashbang into. Victoria took the opportunity to slip into the hallway and right past a mutant who had rushed right by her in favor of joining its fellows to check out the source of the loud noise.

-In the hallway-

Victoria crept by another room, then did a double take when she saw that the room was full of eggs that were guarded by four stationary reptiles standing at full height and actively watching for any threats to their unborn young. A water pipe had burst in that room and there was an ankle-deep puddle in the corner of the room where the eggs were piled. This species could reproduce itself just like the normal ones could. Victoria needed to blast the eggs now, but doing so would only get every reptile on the floor after her and there was still a lot of hallway between her and the elevator she needed to take. The chance of her reaching safety before being run down and slashed to ribbons was very slim.

Victoria decided to let the room be and continue down the hallway. She reached the quarter mark when the reptiles from down the hall lumbered out of the room she had thrown the Flashbang into and made their way up the hall. These reptiles were smart. She needed to make another distraction before she was discovered by the nearly blind predators.

Mutated Reptiles:

[Word Count: 1,171]
[Total Word Count: 11,337/12,500]

Victoria had to come up with another distraction before she was found and torn apart. She spotted the gleaming metal doors of the elevator she had taken to reach this floor. That gave her an idea. Shooting them with a projectile should make a loud enough noise to lure the reptiles away and put some distance between them and her. Victoria brought out her Mini-Crossbow and aimed it at the doors, then fired a dart at the metal doors. It made a loud TING upon impact, luring away the reptiles and giving her an opportunity to slip further down the hall... or it should have.

Her plan worked and it backfired. It worked because the reptiles down the hall were distracted. It backfired because more of the scaly creatures were pouring out of the doorways in front of her and threatening to discover her by dint of numbers. Victoria frantically looked for an escape and noticed a room with a bloodstained doorway that had been emptied of mutants. With no other choice she ducked into the room and escaped detection by the skin of her teeth.

She waited until all of them had left the area, then exited the room and slipped down the hallway towards the other elevator. The mage was making good progress and had not been spotted when she reached the halfway point of the hall. There were easily a dozen reptiles clustered around the elevator door she had shot and more were arriving to investigate. Victoria continued to sneak down the hall without issue until she reached the three-quarters mark... that was when things got complicated.

Victoria's luck ran out when one of them emerged from a doorway and ran into her, knocking her to the ground and sounding the alarm with a screech. The dozen mutants down the hallway answered the call and came charging after her. Victoria jumped to her feet, snatched up the Crown of Persephone, and ducked under the claw attack of the mutant who had knocked her down before running for the elevator on the opposite end of the hallway.

It was a panicked sprint to the elevator with the scaly predators rushing after her. Victoria ducked under an attempt by an enemy waiting in a doorway to knock her down with a clothesline and continued to run. She felt the grasping claws of the same enemy cut into the fabric of her skirt around the bottom and slice through it, but she ignored the clothing damage. She narrowly dodged a grab at her right arm from a reptile standing in the doorway next to the elevator and kept running until she reached the elevator and the door closed behind her to the sound of screeching.

A frightened Victoria repeatedly jammed the down arrow and waited for the elevator to move but realized that the gesture was futile because the man controlled it. Shortly after she stepped away from the control panel the voice cut in with amused laughter.

"That was a good show, my dear, a very good show!" He said while clapping. Victoria frowned. She was glad that her host was entertained by her near-death experiences at the hands of his mutated pets.

"You're not very smart, but you can certainly think on your feet. I'm impressed. Truly." He complimented the mage on her completion of the second challenge. The elevator lurched and began to travel downward as the man continued to speak to his captive audience.

"No more games. I'm bringing you to me on the twentieth floor. You've earned an audience with me. I'm interested in meeting the one who got past my creations." He said to her. Victoria was puzzled by that remark. She assumed that he had been watching her through hidden cameras or something, so he should have seen her by now. She let the matter drop and felt the back of her skirt. It had been cut to ribbons by the claws of the reptile from earlier and now it was in danger of exposing her backside with every step she took.

Victoria frowned. When she met this Kerwes guy she was going to give him everything he had coming to him, including a beating that he would not soon forget. The elevator stopped at the twentieth floor and she stepped off into a pristine room full of computers and video screens. Standing in the middle was a tall blond man in a lab coat wearing a white dress shirt, a red tie, and blue jeans with brown dress shoes.

"Ah, so you must be the one my father hired to stop me!" He greeted her. Victoria slowly walked into the room under the watchful gaze of the scientist.

"I'm Kerwes. Alexander Kerwes. And you must be Victoria Sheridan." He introduced himself to her. Victoria's eyes narrowed. How did he know her name?

"My father has strange taste in assistants, but I suppose he's so desperate to stop me that he'll throw anyone right into the meat grinder. It's too late, though. I've almost perfected Agent Lacedaemon. It's taken me years, several relocations, and countless test subjects, but I'm almost there." Kerwes said with absolute confidence. Victoria looked around to see the computer screens flooded with images of documents pertaining to the project, a 3D representation of a double helix, and pictures of test subjects before and after their mutation. This place was a shrine to his unending ambition, a monument to his hubris. Alexander's eyes narrowed and looked into her own.

"You wouldn't understand any of Project Lacedaemon's beauty or potential. You're just a hired helper of my father, an expendable asset who can be easily replaced if enough Jewels are spent. I'm sure he told you the sob story of how his pet Project Aesculapius turned that old man into a killer able to rip through four scientists with superhuman strength. I'm sure he also told you how I begged him to research the potential and militarize it and how he turned it down. He was a shortsighted man." Alexander commented. He turned away from Victoria and walked a short distance away. The mage watched him the entire time.

"It's a shame, really. We could have made a fortune from selling the completed product to the miltary, but he wanted to stay in the medical field. Still, he made his choice and I've made mine." The man said with what almost sounded like pity before his voice reverted to the smooth and confident voice which which he greeted her.

"I know that you've made your choice as well. You won't be swayed from your job of killing me. That's also a shame because I could have used an enforcer like you. A tough and resourceful mage like you isn't easy to come by, but it can't be helped. I won't let anyone stop me so close to my goal. Anyone." He calmly expressed regret before a red outline formed around his body and she felt a power signature that was the same as her own. Victoria brought out her Light Machine Gun and aimed it at his back, but he teleported away before she could pull the trigger. She saw an image blur to reality in front of her and felt him grab her throat.

"You simpleton, you're nothing but trash! Trash like you can't stop me!" He bellowed at her before throwing her backwards into a bank of computers, causing them to spark and her to fall to the floor, landing on all fours. He grabbed her by the back of the neck and laughed as he slammed her head first into a computer console and she fell onto her back. The dazed brunette then felt him press the heel of his shoe against her throat. Her hands grabbed at his ankles and she struggled to pull him off, an action that only amused him.

"It's useless. You can't win." He said to her while continuing to press down. She was starting to lose consciousness and needed him to let go. She formed her right hand into the shape of a gun and fired a Derringer spell at him, scarring his face and causing him to gasp. Victoria scrambled to her feet.

"YOU... YOU FILTH! I'LL END YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!" He promised while clutching the right side of his face.

Alexander Kerwes:

[Word Count: 1,428]
[Total Word Count: 12,765/12,500]

"DIE!" He bellowed. He teleported and disappeared from sight. The dazed brunette could not even begin to find the man, but he came to her when he reappeared and a fist slammed into her chest, knocking her into the closed elevator doors. She coughed and wheezed as he laughed and walked towards her while glowing red. He then thought better of it, stopped, and pulled out a slender black rectangular remote with a red button.

"On second thought, you're too much fun to kill right away. I haven't had this much fun in years. I'd like for us to play again." He said calmly while tapping the red button with his thumb. An automated voice started speaking and the screens all flashed red and displayed a fifteen-minute countdown. Alexander laughed again.

"You'd better run if you want us to meet again. You've got fifteen minutes to get out of here before the entire place explodes. See you around!" He taunted before teleporting again and disappearing. Victoria waited for him to return with a high-speed punch, but he had not returned. A wall on the other side of the room dropped and a hidden elevator opened up as if inviting her in. Victoria stood up, picked up her crown, dispelled her dropped Light Machine Gun, and ran for the elevator.

-Inside the elevator-

Victoria got inside and the door closed. She tapped the button to the first floor and it took off without any issue. The elevator dinged as it reached each floor and paused. Victoria groaned as she had to tap the UP button at each floor.

"TWELVE MINUTES TO DETONATION." The soulless male voice reminded her of her impending doom. She was only at the fifteenth floor and needed to get to the top. She was on the slow road to nowhere.

Victoria continued to tap the button at each stop, praying that the doors would not open and let in a swarm of mutants to take a bite out of her or cut her to shreds with their claws. She was now on the thirteenth floor and the door threatened to open. The brunette shrieked and jammed the CLOSE DOOR button just before the door pulled open. She tapped the UP button and the elevator continued its slow trek upwards.

"TEN MINUTES TO DETONATION." Came the reminder at the eighth floor. Victoria groaned and punched the up button again. She repeated the process until she reached the top and the door opened on the first floor.

"SIX MINUTES TO DETONATION." The reminder sounded. Victoria clenched her teeth and ran for the exit. The tunnel was so long that it would take at least five minutes to fully cross. She had better hurry.

Victoria began to run for the end of the tunnel and heard the sounds of screeching sounding from behind and around her. Hidden panels full of reptiles began to open up and discharge their deadly occupants. Victoria screamed and ran harder. She was about to reach the end of the tunnel when the dreaded voice came on again with an unwelcome statement.

"ONE MINUTE TO DETONATION." It reminded her. Victoria's woes were compounded by the sight of a thick metal shutter sliding closed. She continued to run with the beasts at her heels and felt their claws pass behind her in a vain attempt to hook her and prevent her escape. The brunette saw that the shutter was nearly closed and dove between them just before the door shut. A reptile was not so lucky and was cut in half at the waist for its trouble.

Victoria got up again and ran out of the tunnel with fifteen seconds remaining.

-Outside the tunnel, on the mountain-

Victoria had just cleared the tunnel when the unmistakable sound of an explosion rumbled from within the depths of the mountain. She kept running until she was on the mountain trail she had taken to get here. More explosions sounded from within the mountain and a ball of flame erupted from the tunnel she had just cleared moments ago. It was over... for now.

Alexander Kerwes was still at large and she had no clue where he could be. At least the reptiles had been stopped at their source. Still, if any were outside of the complex when it went off, they could reproduce and make a new generation of reptilian terrors. Victoria would go back to Chasm Town and report her success, then wait for further instructions from Franklin Kerwes. Maybe he would reach into those deep pockets of his and hire a military cleanup crew to eliminate the remaining reptiles while she pursued his son Alexander.

[Word Count: 786]
[Total Word Count: 13,551/12,500]