Chapter 2: Impractical Signposting
The group reach the lounge, and Cypress prepares them some drinks.
Cypress: "Hey Shep, Starblox or Hot Chocolate?"
Shep: "Definetly the Hot Chocolate. Don't know why you'd ever go for the Starblox when the local brew's an option."
Cypress: "Never change, shep."
Cypress takes a can of Bloxiade out of the fridge. As he slowly opens the bottle, he focuses on the lid of the cup, and as the carbonation is released from the bottle, a sound can be heard from his casstte.
Cypress's Cassette: "It's gone a little stale, so it won't have as much of a kick. Still perfectly drinkable though."
Cypress: "Alright, i'll take your word for that. And you Jungorou?"
Jungorou: "Just slide me a Bloxy Cola, and we'll be golden."
Cypress: "A simple man, huh? I respect it."
Cypress chucks Jungorou a cold can of Bloxy Cola. Jungorou immediatly opens it and starts sipping it. It's his favourite drink for a reason.
Jungorou: "Yeah, i had my first one when i was a kid, and it's been my personal favourite ever since. It's mainly because of how smooth it goes down."
Cypress: "Now then, let me explain to the three of you the sight i took in when i was heading back from that dragon battle."
Jungorou: "Is that the same one that Shep mentioned you only barely surviving?"
Cypress: "Precisely. I'm impressed by how well you're remembering this stuff. While i was heading back to the base, i was looking at one of the houses i was passing by, and i couldn't help but notice that the door was open. This wouldn't be too strange, but there was also what looked to be a red calling card hanging out of the end of the post box. The house may have been raided by someone. I say we all head there and check it out. No need to bring any vehicles with us either, as this is only around 4,000 studs away from the base."
Shep: "Huh. I've seen calling cards like that a few times, but i've never been able to pin point the cause of them. Seems like an ample opportunity to look into what they mean. You with us, Jungorou?"
Jungorou finishes taking a large sip of the cola.
Jungorou: "Yeah, i've not got much else to do anyway. What member of The Bastion would i be if i said no to a simple operation like this? By the way, do you guys know where the nearest bin is?"
Shep: "Just pass it to me."
Jungorou threw the can with full force towards Shep. He would then transform his hand into a mini incinterator, burning the aluminium can in seconds.
After finishing their drinks, the group would exit the hideout and start the 4,000 stud trek to the suspicious looking building that Shep pointed out to the group. Eventually, they'd find a bustling town with multiple people going about their day-to-day life.
Shep: "Is this the street?"
Cypress: "Yeah, it should be near the end of this street here."
They walked for a while, with Jungorou taking notes of a couple of the civilians using some gears he remembers messing around with when he was a cimple civilian. The two wheeled hoverboards, the boom boxes blasting the exact same song about tacos over and over again. Hell, he even found someone playing around with a tiny fidget spinner to be something he deeply cherished. He couldn't stop to strike a conversation though, as he was on a mission.
The group would eventually find the house with the calling card sticking out of the letterbox, and like Shep said earlier, the door was completely open.
Shep: "You go first, Jungorou. You're able to fit into the front door easier.
Jungorou would enter the house, and the first thing he noted was that even though the house didn't have anyone inside, the rooms were still completely lit, as the lights were switched on.
Jungorou: "What... happened here?"
Shep and Cypress break apart a bit of the wall over the front door so they could fit into the house.
Jungorou: "This is starting to creep me out a bit. I say we check the second floor."
The group of them cautiously take the steps up to the second floor, and they see a series of three different rooms.
Jungorou: "So, should we all check a different room? Seems like the most efficient way to get this done."
Shep: "Yeah, even if there is something, we'll likely have time to back out again."
The three of them entered each of the rooms at exactly the same time, with Jungorou entering the room to his left.
All Jungorou was able to find was a seemingly tidy bedroom. Before he could get a good look at where he was, however, he heard something from another room.
Cypress: "WHAT THE HELL?"
It was Cypress. The other two as fast as they could burst into the room, but they didn't see anything.
Jungorou: "What was it that you were so concerned... over..."
Cypress was pointing to the wall he was facing, as it was coated with red paint in a language completely foreign to him. It seemed to be making an attempt to tell whoever was going to read it something, but whoever it was intended for, it likely wasn't them. Luckily, Cypress had just the right tools for the job. He started focusing on the lettering, reading it at a slow and steady pace... and then his cassette started talking to the group... in someone else's voice.
Cypress's Cassette: "If you're able to read what i've placed onto this wall, then that's how i know that i'm reaching out to the correct people. Hello Shep and Cypress."
Both of the more experienced Bastion members were briefly stunned, but Cypress decided to keep reading.
Cypress's Cassette: "Don't worry. I'm not here to hurt you. Infact, i'm on your side in this ordeal. The reason i'm reaching out to you both, and whoever may be alongside you as you're reading this, is because you're both under a strict time limit, and you don't even know about it yet."
As the cassette continues playing, Jungorou starts to take note of a heat wave that hit the house while they were still inside of it. He then decides to open a window to let some more cool air in.
Cypress's Cassette: "You see, i've been keeping tabs on an artefact that i first heard rumours about a few years back that may have been proven to actually exist. This artefact is The Wishing Rod."
Shep's eyes widen, as the wishing rod was something that was only rumored to exist a few years back, and even then, only one of his former colleagues told him about it, so he brushed it off as a hoax.
Shep: "Wait, that exists?"
Cypress's Cassette: "Don't get it confused for a regular Fishing rod, however. This rod has a very special property to it, for if someone were to impale themselves with the rod, it would grant them a wish. But the impaler doesn't get to choose what that wish is. Rather, the rod gives them something that they didn't know they wanted, no matter how outlandish that may be. I don't think i need to tell you this, but that could potentially lead to all kinds of safety risks for everyone living on the planet we currently occupy."
Jungorou once again starts to notice a temperature increase in the room. He looks to the window to see if it ended up getting closed by a breeze, but it wasn't. It was in the exact same spot as it was when he propped it open. Something fishy was going on, but Jungorou didn't have it in him to interrupt the group.
Cypress's Cassette: "And to make matters worse, word's already spread to a couple of bad eggs that want to seize the rod for themselves. I have no doubt that you'll bump into at least a couple of them on your venture to try and swipe the rod from under their noses."
As Cypress's cassette was talking, Jungorou started to smell what seemed to be burning. He figured now would be the right time to signal a warning to the group.
Cypress's Cassette: "Now, pay close attention this part, as reading this part properly is imperative to loca-"
Jungorou: "THE BUILDING'S ON FIRE-"
Just then, a hole breaks out from under the floor directly beneath Jungorou, sending him crashing down into the floor just below them.
Shep: "WHAT? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?"
Shep noticed how he fell, and instinctively turns his hands into two plasma beams to rip out the rest of the wall so they can read it later.
As Jungorou starts to come back to his senses, he looks up, and sees a figure in a bronze suit staring him eye to eye. He also donned a dashing gold cape, a helmet made to resemble some kind of fanged animale and a red sword lodged straight into his head.
???: "Glad we could finally meet eye to eye, JUNGOROU!"
He lifts his arm, and a puff of smoke comes straight of his suit. He then claps his hands together, and the puff of smoke ignites into a gigantic fireball, with Jungorou still in the thick of the hellish inferno.
Jungorou: "FUCK, RGHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Through the flames, he then instinctively takes out his blaster, aims it at the roof of the second floor and shoots through the hole in the floor and launches him upwards. Unfortunately, the money strand that was being used as a grapple hook burned before he could completely hoist himself up, and he had to hold onto the edge of the hole with his arms.
Cypress: "JUNGOROU, YOU'RE ALIVE?"
Jungorou: "WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE, DUMBASS! PUT IT OUT ALREADY!"
Just as he starts to say that, Shep grabs the piece of the floor that Jungorou was holding onto, lifting him up into his hand, which in tern also set on fire. He would then turn his other hand into a leaf blower and would aim it at his now flaming hand at full blast. After a few seconds, the flames would subside.
Jungorou: "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCK THE BURNS ARE STILL STINGING."
Cypress: "SHEP, WE NEED TO GO. WE'VE GOT EVERYTHING WE NEED ALREADY!"
Instinctively, the group slam straight through the wall, with Shep breaking through it with his shoulder. As they jump down, they notice another fireball coming out of the building, as the bronze figure was preparing another huge puff of smoke with the intent to take out the entire house. They jumped out in the nick of time.
As the house starts to burn down, the firey figure walks to the end of the hole they broke through the wall, stares down at the group of three who were running from his presence... and chuckled.
???: "Heh, i reckon you're going to get real sick of running from me."
The man would give them a deadpan stare as they ran into the distance. The previously humble civilians of the town started screaming and running as far away from the wild fire as they could, as they'd never seen an inferno of this scale in their life. All the while, The Bastion's forces made a mad dash back to their base, and even though The Bastion knew where to go next, the team had never felt any less safe.