Chapter 32: RUN!
During the boat ride Stephen read Fred's list of plans thoroughly, especially plan M, one that he studied many times even within the pirate's hideout due to the high chances that he would need to be prepared for this scenario and its variants
The [plan M] that Fred had ordered executed before going into battle was to cover his face completely and stay hidden inside the food cart with the crossbow armed, with his finger on the trigger and only shoot in case Smith and John realized that he was hiding there
Even so…
'Don't even think that I'll sit idly by while you're in danger
Either in the forest or here I will be covering your back' Thought Stephen, who didn't care at all about screwing the plan and putting himself in danger if with that he managed to keep his best friend safe, especially when a few minutes ago Fred had done the same with his mother
Stephen would shoot as soon as he saw that Fred was about to be defeated! He had seen how the Leech pirates had killed and tortured the people they defeated and he wasn't going to let them destroy his friend's future.
Fortunately in the first intervention everything went well. Fred diverted the attention of the captain and vice-captain of the Leech pirates flawlessly, making them to not realize that their subordinates behind him had fallen due to the poison and that the scums had managed to evict the girls from the room just in time
However, Stephen had great trouble determining when to fire to save Fred after the pirates realized what had happened. The entire time Fred was in grave danger escaping from the pursuit of two renowned adult pirates, almost every minute he was facing critical danger for being cornered by both pirates
'Come on Fred, I know you can get away from this one too'
Stephen had always trained with Fred, knew part of his [experiments] and except for the poisons, medicines, sword and the gun, everything Fred carried had been made by him or at least with his help. Stephen knew perfectly well how many tricks he had on his body and the ways in which he could use them to continue gaining time, that's why every time Fred found himself in one of those critical situations he kept the hope and even the certainty that Fred would get away
'Great!'
Just as he expected!
Fred was cunning as a fox, wicked as a snake, quick as a gazelle, nimble as a butterfly, slippery as an oiled pig and unsparing as a tax collector!
Time after time Fred managed to avoid being caught by the two elite pirates and buy time until the poison took effect.
'Shit...
Come one...'
Unfortunately, that moment never seemed to come and Fred ran out of the resources he needed to be able to escape from the most unfavourable situations... until finally Fred was left with no choice but to fully resort to using his melee abilities against monsters that outnumbered him in everything, like in age, strength and experience.
Stephen's heart compressed, his pulse shot up, his sweat began to soak his clothes and his hands trembled as he watched Fred dodging and blocking the powerful blows which sent him flying as he couldn't contain the brutal attacks of those guys who doubled his best friend in height
'When?
When should I shoot?
Now?
Now?!
NOW!?'
But was when Smith grabbed Fred's face and slammed him to the ground that Stephen felt his heart burst. Not only was Smith holding onto him preventing him from attacking in any way, John was running towards the two of them to attack Fred at his most vulnerable moment
'Shit! SHIT!
Who should I shoot!?
WHOM!?'
If Stephen shot Smith he could free Fred but probably John could hit him in the moment of confusion after breaking free from his grip... and if he shot John then Smith, in the event that the shot doesn't distract him, could wound him too with his other hand
Stephen was at a crossroads, but from a rational point of view his first target should be Smith, since...
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
However, Fred's bite that momentarily knocked Smith out removed one of the problematic variables from the equation, leaving only one target to shoot at.
'Steady as steel!
Cold as steel!'
Now that the objective was clear, Stephen just needed to focus, aim, keep a steady hand to shoot... and try to kill a human for the first time
FeFFFFT!!!
Stephen shot John, as he had intended and should have done…
'SHIT!'
However, at the last moment before pulling the trigger his kind, good-natured and innocent mind of a well-behaved nine-year-old boy felt a great revulsion towards the idea of ending the life of a person, even if that life belonged to the execrable captain of the Leech pirates
CLANK!
"NANI!?"
That's why almost instinctively and without thinking, Stephen corrected the trajectory of the shot and aimed directly to one of John's arms with the intention of stopping his attack on Fred, what really, from the bottom of his heart, was his real goal
"This...
Are you going to scold me for intervening?" Stephen asked, who was able to hide his face of fear, anxiety, concern and disappointment towards himself thanks to the balaclava and hat that completely covered his face except for his eyes
"What's done is done… but a few seconds earlier and aiming for his head or testicles would have been better...
However, I cannot complain too much...
Good job..." Fred replied snorting in relief after having been saved at the last moment from certain and painful defeat as he wiped Smith's blood that was still around his mouth
They had overcome this crisis, but a new one began!
"I WILL KILL HIM! I WILL BREAK ALL YOUR TEETH ONE BY ONE!
AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Smith yelled with disproportionate hatred as he covered the wound on his hand with a torn piece of his shirt and screamed in pain for said wound
And John, who was taking the arrow out of his arm, despite the fact that he had also been wounded, didn't scream madly like his subordinate. Unlike others, he kept a cool mind and saw in Stephen a solution to his most immediate problem. "Another rat has snuck onto the island?
This one seems a bit weaker, don't you think Smith!?
Do you think it will be easier to capture him or our friend the mad dog?"
This was precisely the reason why Fred didn't want to expose Stephen, since the moment Smith and John saw him they would try to do what they liked the most and the results gave them
Taking Stephen hostage to force Fred to give them the antidote!
Stephen, despite being strong, fast and skilled for his age, wasn't at Fred's level, if he had to fight or even flee from those pirates he would be captured for sure… but since Fred the paraoid had predicted that something like this could happen, he also had a plan in this scenario even if it was extremely dangerous for both of them.
"Little Timmy!
Plan M.A! Quickly!" Fred yelled at Stephen as he got into a combat stance while watched in disgust as John and Smith salivated at the sight of a victim less strong and annoying than the previous one
Fred had to buy Stephen time so he could run and hopefully hide so he wouldn't get caught.
"Plan M.A?
Is it the plan in which I have been discovered, the poison hasn't worked yet and that's why I have to run away so that they don't catch me and if I can inject the antidote to the girls before it's too late?
Right?" Stephen asked as he ran towards the exit door of the party room displaying a syringe containing a clear liquid
A subtle question that left the three other still-conscious people in the room speechless and almost in shock.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Until the sound returned to that room after some seconds...
"FUCKING MENTAL RETARD!
WHY THE FUCK DO YOU EXPLAIN THE PLAN OUT LOUD FOR THEM TO HEAR!?" Fred yelled at Stephen with his face completely red, his eyes about to pop out of their sockets, his jaw so open you could almost hear the bones of his mouth disengage and his lungs gasping for air from the power of his scream.
"Just wanted to be sure that..."
"SHUT UP YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND RUN!
MUSSEL ABORTION!" Fred yelled once more without giving Stephen time to say more stupid excuses, now more than ever he had to run for his life towards the exit door of that room and lose sight of them as soon as possible
However, while this was a crisis situation for Fred and Stephen, for the Leech pirates the whole situation was like a breath of fresh air.
"LEECH! LEECH! LEECH!
They're still children after all...
LET'S GO SMITH! LET'S GET THE ANTIDOTE!" John screamed as the chase began again, but this time with a different target.
And that target was Little Timmy, who had handed them the antidote on a silver platter!
"But don't kill him, we need him alive" Captain John said when he saw his second-in-command's unbridled bloodlust, he had to remind him that the stupid boy was more valuable alive than dead
"YES CAPTAIN!" Smith responded as he followed his leader, although his attitude and words didn't match
And Fred, knowing what they meant to do, drew his sword and stepped in the way between Stephen and them and yelled "Over your corpses! You pathetic, smelly shitty failed pirates!"
Fred was aware that he couldn't hold those two pirates at the same time, after all he had had a hard time even running away from them when he had his ranged weapons.
Still, he had to try, he had to get them separated and get at least one of them to stay with him.
'But if I can kill the mummy now...
Everything would be solved... 'Fred thought as he watched as Smith and John ran towards the door that he was blocking
Smith looked like a raging bull with tunnel vision, ignoring everything around him, including Fred, the person who had ripped off part of his hand. All of his attention was focused on the boy behind Fred, the potential hostage who was also carrying an antidote who had just now turned down a hallway.
He didn't even see how the blade at the end of Fred's ponytail came near the back of his neck.
CLANK!
CLANK!
However, what he didn't see was for John, who parried this attack that could have taken the life of his wounded, shaken, and somewhat crazy second-in-command.
"Smith you go for our new guest
I'll keep this one entertained so he doesn't get bored" John said as Smith continued to run after Stephen
Like Fred, John had come to the conclusion that the divide-and-conquer strategy would be the best option, albeit for different reasons.
After all John didn't know if Fred and Stephen would be good at combined tactics or if they were leading them directly into a trap, in this room he had some control of the situation since in principle there were no elements unknown to him and he had been able to verify that he's superior to Fred in combat
'I think that in his jacket he had bottles of that same colour that the idiotic child has shown...
I guess that's the antidote
LEECH! LEECH! LEECH!' John thought as he admired himself for being able to devise such great plans for his personal interest.
"Entertain me? I don't think you can...
I am a very difficult audience" Fred said as he tore off part of the door with his hand and threw the splinters at John's face, restarting the fight
CLANK!
CLANK!
Now Fred was left alone with Jon in a 1 vs 1 match, an ideal situation where he could run from him forever without needing to use throwing weapons to escape his dirty clutches. However Fred couldn't do that, in the case of opting for that tactic John could determine that it would be better to go after Stephen than to stay playing cat and mouse with him.
He had to engage in close combat and survive long enough for the poison to take effect on those monsters once and for all.
'Stephen...
Follow the plan and... may the force be on your side...' Fred thought as he backed away from slashing swords with John and charged from a low position towards him again.
---
Meanwhile, in the corridors of the secret base of the Leech pirates
"YOU WON'T ESCAPE!"
Smith once again ran that day after an elementary school boy to torture him, a boy who seemed to be an easier prey than the previous one, but even so both grew up together and shared certain customs
FeFFFFT!!!
Just as Smith hurriedly ran into the corridor, Stephen shot an arrow made of 100% metal that flew towards his injured head.
CLANCK!!!
If it hadn't been for the metal plate the crew doctor put under the bandages on his head as protection against falls and other shocks now he would have died, but although that projectile couldn't pierce his head, part of the impact was absorbed by his injured skull, which began to bleed
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Smith yelled as he took cover to avoid taking any more shots.
Stephen had been waiting for the exact moment when the enemy appeared in that corridor to shoot him while he was at the other end, this time learning from his previous mistakes, cooling his mind completely to shoot with killing intent.
'Shit!
He had a magnificent and exquisite metallic skull protection
Next time I'll shoot somewhere else
Maybe in the crotch like Fred said…'
Unfortunately, he didn't achieve his goal and didn't intend to try again, at least not in that corridor, so he continued running to get as far away as possible from his wounded enemy, but still physically superior to him.
An enemy who got up again to continue the chasse with an even more uncontrollable fury than a few seconds ago, but this time with enough prudence to prevent ambushes, ranged attacks or traps
"MOTHERFUCKER! HE HAS FILLED THE HALLWAY WITH TRIANGULAR NAILS!" Smith yelled, trying to ignore the great pain that came from his head, either from the injuries, from a possible migraine or both at the same time.
The floor of the corridor that he had to cross to continue the chase was full of triangular metal nails that he would have to patiently move aside to not step on them if he didn't want to hurt his feet too or maybe even be poisoned in the event that they have applied poison to these weapons as well
'I hope the captain doesn't mind if I hand you over half-dead... or dead... I don't know if I'll be able to contain myself when I catch you' Smith thought as he pushed aside the metal nails with his sword and boots, advancing as fast as he could towards Stephen, who was possibly preparing another ambush for him
And as he moved as fast as he could pushing aside the triangular nails
Clack!
"What th..."
Smith collided with a nearly invisible cable at nearly knee height, knocking him off balance
"AAAHHHHHHHH!!" Smith cried out in pain after being pierced in his already damaged hands by several triangular nails that fortunately for him weren't poisoned. After all, they were easy to get stuck on, even by the thrower, so Fred and Stephen preferred not to poison them for his own safety… besides that it wasn't a metallic poison
If he hadn't reacted in time and put his hands in front of him, he would have stuck them in his face, a face totally distorted by anger.
"I WILL KILL HIM! I SWEAR I WILL KILL HIM! HIM AND EVERYONE!
UAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
This same sequence was repeated more than once, although unfortunately Stephen's ranged attacks and traps stopped having as much effect after the first attempt. Smith had already learned that painful lesson and every time he turned down a hallway and opened a door was always prepared to dodge or block Stephen's thrown weapons and crossbow shots.
Due to this inevitable setback Stephen had less and less time to set his traps and flee...
'Damn!
I'm running out of traps, he's getting closer and there are fewer places to run
When will the poison take effect on this guy?!' Stephen thought desperately as he ran for his life running out of resources and seeing how the few he had left weren't having an effect against Smith who was advancing unstoppably towards him.
"YOU'RE DEAD! DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!
DEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD!!!!" Smith yelled as he chased after Stephen like a possessed, leaving a trail of his own blood oozing from his wounds wherever he went.
However, despite his injuries his speed didn't slow down, he kept running tirelessly towards Stephen as if he were a zombie!
'DAMN!
HOW CAN HE RUN SO MUCH WHEN HE'S SO INJURED!?
I should have run just like Fred every day until my body couldn't take it anymore!
If I was as fast as him this zombie would never catch me!' Stephen thought as he ran with all his might, throwing to the ground all the dead weight that could give him a little more speed.
However, it didn't matter how much Stephen lamented that he hadn't trained enough for all these years or how much metal equipment he threw on the ground... Smith kept running after him and the distance shortened each second.
'DAMN!'
Sensing that Smith was a few meters from him, Stephen without looking back in order not to lose speed he fired his crossbow at the living zombie
FeFFFFT!!!
Clanck!
Unfortunately that arrow fired at close range was blocked by Smith, but his objective wasn't to hit that shot since he was sure that Smith would stop it like the other shots. His goal was to buy himself enough time to drop the crossbow, draw his warhammer, and prepare for the impending close combat.
'Come on Stephen...
Have confidence in yourself, today you managed to beat Fred, this battle isn't lost yet
For the plan to succeed at least I have to do this...
NOW OR NEVER!' Stephen thought as he did something that his enemy surely didn't expect, taking the initiative in this conflict and using all his power in a single desperate melee attack.
He was aware that this was an extremely simple and suicidal plan, but he really didn't have much choice other than to charge with everything at this point since he couldn't run away from him, hide or use refined and agile combat tactics like Fred.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
With that war cry Stephen jumped towards Smith brandishing his 100% metal war hammer with the intention of hitting his extremely injured head!
If he managed to connect that attack, Stephen would probably win and he could avoid waiting for the poison to take effect or continue with Fred's risky plans to counteract this setback, thus achieving a great victory that would allow him to go to help his friend right now
He just needed that opportunity!
But unfortunately for him...
CLANK!
CLANK!
Smith attacked at the same time that Stephen and his weapons collided with each other, destroying that great opportunity.
But it wasn't the only thing he destroyed...
POOOM!!
¡CRACK! ¡CRACK! ¡CRACK!
Smith's strength was far superior during that weapon clash, having no problem fully countering Stephen. Therefore, the trajectory of his sword was unchanged and ended up hitting Stephen's ribs that weren't cut thanks to the resistant chain mail that he wore under his clothes and the hammer that he held with both hands, which blocked the huge saber of the vice captain of the Leech pirates.
BOOOOOOOOOMMMM!
CRASH!
"UGHT!"
Thus, for Stephen the result of this exchange of blows ended with four broken ribs, his right arm fractured, his left wrist dislocated, his back incredibly sore after slammed into the wall... and his optimism and hope shattered into pieces in the process
"HIA! HIA! HIA!"
While Smith, despite also being extremely injured and opening his wounds with every step he took and word he said, felt completely euphoric...
"HIA! HYA! HYA!
GAME OVER BRAT!" Smith yelled as he walked slowly but surely towards Stephen, who was struggling with all his might to get up from the ground despite feeling half dead
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Chatper Edited By: The_Bored_Immortal
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