Hell Contractor: Rise of the Last God

Lock Down.

Ayanda silently gestured for Qiniso to remain oblivious to the fact that the mayor isn't the same mayor who brought her in before. In her mind, she was so shocked, she couldn't even begin to process how he was even able to infiltrate the mayor's estate and even impersonate him, but she quickly understood that there's no point in making a big deal out of it at this point. All she could do was stare at him blankly as he continued to pretend to be the mayor.

"On our way to Nimbus Garden, it would be better for you to be more cooperative than before. The more help you can offer, the sooner you can see Quake." Ayanda spoke in the mayor's haughty voice, but Qiniso grasped the underlying message.

"As long as you have the Cosmic Key that will get us inside, I'll help." Qiniso replied in a soft voice.

Ayanda nodded, then started to look around the mayor's private chamber to find clues about where he would store the Cosmic Key Qiniso mentioned. The more he looked around, the more he understood that the mayor was actually more protective of his secrets than he initially assumed, with no signs of any secret compartments or safe for where he may have stored it. Ayanda then went into the walk-in closet, pondering about if he should attempt to interrogate the mayor, but he was worried about if he may accidentally allow the mayor to call for help somehow. Instead, he looked around the walk-in closet, and strangely came across a set of keys that were hanging on one of the sets of clothes on the nearest rack close to the door leading into the closet. These key's appeared to have intricate engravings all across them, and were made of a dark metal which Ayanda had never seen before.

"Do you think these keys will help us find the Cosmic Key?" Ayanda asked Levy telepathically.

"Probably. It wouldn't hurt to snoop around the estate while you have the chance, so you can see where they lead to." Levy replied.

Ayanda nodded to himself, then left the walk-in closet to show Qiniso they keys. As soon as she saw them, Qiniso was somewhat happy, but hesitated to explain to Ayanda what she knew about the key's for a moment.

"There's probably a secret chamber nearby. But since there are four keys, that probably means that it could either be the mayor's treasury, his private Cosmic Key collection, a secret escape route or even another high level treasury. It's best if you go an see for yourself, that way it won't be suspicious. I'll stay here to keep Rome busy in case he returns before you get back." Qinsio explained to Ayanda.

Ayanda agreed, then casually walked out of the private room before ordering the Golden Warriors to keep guard to make sure Qiniso doesn't escape. As soon as he was done with them, Ayanda made his way to the nearest Palace Guard, and ordered him to lead him to the security room where the surveillance keeps track of everything that has been going on in the estate so he can make note of which area's the mayor visits. 

Once they reached the security room, Ayanda entered to find a much smaller Golden Warrior who was connected to an interface which is streaming all of the surveillance. Ayanda asked to be left alone with the Golden Warrior, and once he was, he asked the Golden Warrior to give him a report on the mayor's movements in the estate and which area's he's ordered to be off limits.

"Replying to the mayor: You have spent an average of 6.75 hour's this past week in the three restricted zones. As you ordered seven years ago, nobody has been allowed near the cellar, abandoned stable's and old fountain. The only other area where another person has visited without you being present was the underground dungeon, but Rome was given approval three years ago to enter." the Golden Warrior replied concisely.

Cellar, abandoned stable's and old fountain. Ayanda made a note of the three locations the mayor restricted, and considering the underground dungeon, that's most likely where they will be heading with Rome in order to go to Nimbus Garden. 

Ayanda then ordered the Golden Warrior to tell him about any other people that have access to other areas, and was pleased to find out that even Rome can't freely move around the estate, but even the Golden Warrior's themselves have no idea where he stayed. When Ayanda asked about where Rome was currently. the Golden Warrior accessed the system which controls all of the Golden Warriors, then located Rome in the Palace Guard barracks located nearby, which house the reserve Golden Warriors meant for additional support. 

A cunning light gleamed in Ayanda's eyes, and quickly passed an order to the Golden Warrior.

"While Rome is activating the additional Golden Warriors, program in the most complex commands available, and ensure that any order I give will override whatever has already been given." Ayanda commanded the Golden Warrior, then took a map from the room which indicated everything on the estate. The Golden Warrior indicated that the programming will go on for close to twelve hours.

Ayanda left the room, rushing back to the mayor's private room to ask Qiniso more about Quake after ordering the Golden Warriors outside to not scan or make note of any changes in his private room. Since she's been poisoned, it would be better to find Quake, and then retrieve the Thousand Year Jowar safely without risking anyone so he can help her get the antidote, even though it may seem suspicious in Rome's eyes. Even if Venus could return within the twelve hours he's given himself, Ayanda was only concerned about making sure he can help Qiniso by finding Quake and letting her escape. But when he pitched his plan to Qiniso, she refused to let him go alone.

"Even if you can find the Cosmic Key, Quake isn't going to be easy to find. Even the mayor has struggled to locate him even though he's taken Nimbus Garden. As far as I can tell, Quake is in a separate space or dimension which can only be accessed through a certain Cosmic Key. The mayor has failed all these years, what makes you think it will be that easy?" Qiniso wanted to commend Ayanda's plan, but it was never going to work.

"So what now? We wait for Rome and Venus to come back before we look for him? Do you think you'll be able to escape with that possibility of not finding Quake?" Ayanda asked with concern. He could tell that there wasn't a good chance for her getting the antidote from the mayor since he's already searched him and didn't find any. It seemed unlikely that Rome would have it either since it's the mayor who's been desperate to get his hands on the Thousand Year Jowar, so now Ayanda had a strong feeling that they weren't going to let Qiniso go easily.

"Then I'll go with you. Who knows what you'll come across on your way there, and I may be able to by myself more time if the poison gets really bad." Qiniso replied in a serious tone, while gritting her teeth. She didn't want to leave all the risk on Ayanda since he was trying to keep to his original agreement, and she felt bad for spying on him in order to test if he was really serious about helping her find Quake. Now that they're both here, they may as well rush to Nimbus Garden together.

"Fair enough, but we'll go after I stop by the mayor's treasury and Cosmic Key collection. If there's anything useful for us, I'll grab it and head back quickly so we can go to the underground dungeon. That's the most likely place for where they're keeping Nimbus Garden." Ayanda responded.

After Qiniso listened to Ayanda's plan, she agreed to follow him to the underground dungeon once he returned. She kept her eye on the mayor who was knocked out and let Ayanda go off to prepare carefully.

Ayanda calmly strode through the mayor's estate and started at the cellar. This was most likely the location of the treasury, and as soon as he entered the kitchen area that leads to the cellar, the servants who were working made their way out of the kitchen as though it was an order without Ayanda needing to say anything. Clearly it was known that once the mayor was on his way to the cellar, they would have to vacate the kitchen area to ensure they don't try to do anything against him.

After finding the set of stairs that go down towards a thick steel door, Ayanda made his way down and when he looked closely at the door, he noticed that it had a strangle keyhole in the center, which matches up perfectly with one of the keys in his set. Ayanda didn't hesitate and quickly opened the steel door with the key, and as soon as he walked inside, he noticed an unbelievable amount of vitality gems, precious metals, as well as a shelf that had different colored jewels that have a dull glow.

"Are those... Void Stones!!!" Levy exclaimed when he noticed them, and Ayanda summoned him out instantly onto his shoulders as he walked over to pick one of them up.

"What are Void Stones?" Ayanda asked as he held one of them up to his eyes to get a better look at them.

"Drop some of your blood onto one of them and you'll find out." Levy responded with a cheeky voice.

Ayanda shrugged his shoulders slightly and followed Levy's instructions, piercing his index finger slightly to allow a drop of his blood to fall onto the Void Stone he was holding. As soon as the blood touched the crystal, instead of making any contact, it was instantly absorbed and Ayanda suddenly felt as though he could see into the crystal, which had a huge space inside, a large space, which was about the size of the mayors estate.

"This!.. Is this like a pocket dimension?" Ayanda was astounded by the sheer size of the space inside, but was more startled as to how he simply picked one of the many Void Stone's that were on the shelf and it was already this big.

"Hehehe. Let me tell you something, these crystals aren't as amazing. I've seen some that are as large as an entire planet. My guess is that even the mayor didn't realize what they were since he left them lying around in here gathering dust, and more importantly, it takes someone with enough vitality to become it's owner. Quick! Throw everything in his treasuries and hidden collection inside the space, you can sort through them later after we escape." Levy told Ayanda with a cheeky, gleeful tone in his voice.

Ayanda didn't act shy at all, and instantly all of the items inside the treasury were swept into the Void Stone without leaving even a single shard behind. After Ayanda left the cellar, he rushed to the old fountain located near the abandoned stables, and in there he found a shocking amount of relics which were from the Profound Cyber Age, similar to the ancient hovercraft Mr. Han had kept in the garage of their apartment back at the Black Dragon Academy. Some of the relics were clearly non-functional, but the price of any of them would be staggering considering how the Profound Cyber Age was a mystery to everyone in the Four States, with barely any historical records left behind of that era. Most of the technology seen now was reverse engineered from the relics that were found, but it seemed like the mayor of Neon Bridge simply collected as many pieces as he could get his hands on. 

Within the mix of the relics, Ayanda found a strange metal staff, which appeared to by rusted and slightly dented, but something was drawing him to it. Regardless of how he felt, he threw all of the relics into his Void Stone which he's now attached to the ring where Sango was attached to, turning the originally dull jewel into a much smaller precious stone that didn't seem like it was worth much.

After he cleared out the old fountain, he proceeded onto the abandoned stables, and there he found the mayors collection of Cosmic Keys. Inside, beyond the same steel door all of the rooms had so far, there were dozens of shelves lined up in rows, and each shelf had at least two hundred glass ornaments in the shape of cubes, globes and even prisms. Without even checking the state of the Cosmic Keys, Ayanda swiftly swept them into his Void Stone, and felt satisfied in how much he has earned so far. 

Ayanda quickly made his way back to the mayor's private room, and came back to find Qiniso was still there, while the mayor remained unconscious. 

"Did you find everything we should need?" Qiniso asked hesitantly. She was worried that Ayanda wouldn't be able to get much since he came back empty handed.

"Don't worry. I have enough." Ayanda replied without explaining anything. For now, it was better if he kept the Void Stone's for himself to make sure other's wouldn't be as greedy as he was when he cleaned out the mayor's wealth. As far as their trip would go, as long as he held the mayor's treasure's they would be able to escape whenever they need to, and also even pay whatever price they may have to in case they had to become fugitives from Neon Bridge.

"Okay then. We should go to the underground dungeon now. Order the two Golden Warriors outside follow us down. As long as it seems like I'm still under your control, nobody will think much of us going down there together." Qiniso told Ayanda calmly.

Ayanda agreed with her and then took Qiniso through the mayors estate, then down a flight of hidden stairs which led towards the underground dungeon, while maintaining his disguise. This underground dungeon wasn’t difficult to locate since it wasn't heavily guarded or had any restrictions, but what they found was a very vast space, a very large area where there were lots of jail cells created. These jail cells seemed very old and very worn down but the jail cells seem to be in good shape whilst they appeared aged. The closer they both got all the jail cells they began to notice how one of them was emitting a faint cosmic glow. 

"What is that?" Ayanda muttered under his breath.

Within the cell where the glow is coming from, they noticed that there was a large jagged cube that was in the shape of a miss formed prism. This cube filled most of the jail cell and seemed to have a vast mystical nature about it. From the outside it would appear that there was another world within another vast world. The vitality swirling within was almost rushing about but also self contained within the prison like a cube. From Ayanda’s observation, he could tell that there was something more mysterious about the cube, something that was drawing him to want it. As he contemplated deeply he decided to slowly walk towards the cube that was within the jail cell and slowly observe it.

Qiniso, on the other hand, was very emotional, slightly trembling as she stared at the cube. The cube resembled the diagram she was looking at on her computer. Her eyes had a soft glimmer within as she stared at it. Her face had a complicated expression. It was as though she was facing someone she had lost before and now suddenly had a chance to find again. Ayanda unintentionally had noticed her stare, but he chose to remain undistracted. The more he looked at it, the more he realized that this prism like cube was far more mysterious than he had anticipated.

Once the two of them got closer to the cell it was held in, Ayanda quickly opened up the bars that were surrounding the cell. Upon entering the cell, there was an immense force that was surrounding the cube, almost like a gravitational force. This force seemed to have a vitality of it’s own. Initially there appears to be no possibility of them being able to breach this force, but Qiniso suddenly pulls out a Cosmic Key which appears to be similar to the snow globe that she had hidden within the inn room. The Cosmic Key wasn’t exactly noticed by Ayanda at first, It was disguised as a small jewel on a necklace she was wearing, but once she took it out the tiny jewel in large to become the same Cosmic Key she had used before as the mascot thief from before. The gravitational force surrounding the cube suddenly parted and allowed the two of them to get closer to it. 

But out of nowhere, Rome appeared inside the cell where Ayanda and Qiniso were, catching them both off guard. While they were both flustered, Qiniso used her body to push Ayanda, who suddenly was drawn into the cube like it was a vortex, and he vanished before Rome could get his hands onto him.

"Dammit!" Rome angrily snarled, then shot an angry glare at Qiniso, "Why did he bring you down here?" then he asked her menacingly.

Qiniso remained silent, and stared at Rome with an indifferent look on her face. She was not fearful of his demeanor or how he was imposing his frustration on her.

Rome became frustrated, but held back in doing anything. He had been busy before with the setup of the Golden Warrior's he had planned on bringing with them into the mysterious cube that Ayanda had been pushed into, but it the process became much more longer than the time he had planned. At first he had gone to the security room to investigate why the process had changed, then he had noticed the video feed near the dungeon, showing the mayor and Qiniso walking down the stairs leading into the dungeon. Rome quickly rushed to them without caring about the setup of the Golden Warrior's, which had now been completed along with Ayanda's additional commands. 

By the time Rome had made it to the cell where the mysterious cube was, Qiniso had noticed his presence before Ayanda did, and she reacted by pushing Ayanda inside so as to buy them some time, so that Rome couldn't figure out that Ayanda was pretending to be the mayor.

Rome grabbed Qiniso roughly and proceeded to take her out of the underground dungeon as quickly as he could, leaving the Golden Warriors that the mayor brought with them. He dragged her along as they made their up the stairway and towards the mayor's private room, but stopped early on to enter a room that was down the corridor, and Rome had the key to unlock it. As he opened it, it was revealed to be a simple seating area, with steel chairs and a slightly worn down Silver Warrior that was on guard. This Silver Warrior was less imposing as the Golden Warrior's that were outside, but appeared to have more of a modular feel to it's design, as some parts seem to have been replaced on it's exterior surface and limbs. There was an open tray which was on the forehead of the Silver Warrior, and Rome hesitantly took out a golden microchip from a necklace he was wearing. Once the microchip was inserted, the Silver Warrior booted up and became aware of Rome, then silently saluted him, paying Qiniso no attention at all.

"Specter. Execute primary mode and guard this prisoner. Only allow entry to myself. Ignore the mayor's command." Rome spoke quickly.

"Understood." the Silver Warrior replied in a human like yet metallic voice.

"Additional commands: Ignore all requests from prisoner and keep her inside this room by any means necessary. Do not harm or endanger her life in any way." Rome added calmly before leaving immediately. He didn't even wait for a response, but heard the Silver Warrior acknowledge his last command. Rome locked the door firmly before he left to go to the security room.

"As long as Venus returns with that damn woman's research, we can go after the mayor and find out why he was alone with her." Rome mumbled to himself in frustration. Things have suddenly gone out of his control, so he needs to ensure the mayor is rescued before he's harmed, or else the Palace Lord he serves will remove him from his position permanently. 

Inside the room Qiniso was in, she was seated on the steel chair, staring silently at the Silver Warrior, hoping that she had made the right choice earlier.