It happened too fast.
"Spectre!"
The first thing I heard was Estella calling out my name. I was pulled from my collar, and by the time I blinked, my vision was rolling around.
—BANG!
Second was a bright flash. I was still hurtling through the air when a boom resounded from the place Estella and I had been standing mere moments ago.
"Guh!"
My back crashed against the edge of the spaceship we had been chasing all this time. The ship was tiny enough to shake a little from the impact, and I was flung with enough force to spit out some blood.
I fell to the ground, pain spreading through my body, and a ringing struck my head. My senses had been knocked out of me; the metallic taste in my mouth constantly reminded me of its presence.
The third thing I saw was the spaceship again. This was because there was simply no time to hesitate. Immediately, I got to my feet, bearing through the pain to rush into the spaceship.
I quickly tapped on the kiosk. As I read the instructions and spat out some blood, the sounds of battle behind me kept ringing.
"SPECTRE! Do it quick!!" Estella screamed from behind. A crash resounded, followed by a cloud of smoke pushing me slightly forward.
Debris flew around.
Bang, Bang, Bang, echoed through the entire place. I wanted to look back, but that would be a waste of time. Interpreting the kiosk's language as quickly as possible was the best thing I could do.
While also asking some questions.
"Isn't there just one!? Can't you handle this?"
"I could have handled it if it was anyone else!" Estella screamed. "This guy—"
"—You dare be distracted, foolish star warrior!"
A chill ran down my spine. I don't know what it was—a unique feeling, perhaps a sense that only thieves could develop—but a strong feeling of almost being caught grasped my ankle and made me bite my lips.
Instinctively, I ducked down.
A laser shot passed right overhead. Then another. Both missed the kiosk and the tiny spaceship, crashing into the walls of the emergency escape room. No looking back!
We had to get the fuck outta here before I got caught again. The sense I had felt just now was definitely an 'instinct,' best described as a thief's gut. Perhaps another power-up from the system.
"Spectre! Some speed here!"
"Don't worry, I got you covered!"
I quickly tapped on the screen and slammed the enter key. Small flaps on the walls opened up, guns peering out of them. In front of me, on the screen, visuals of the two fighting appeared alongside a crosshair.
"Yes officer, it's the green guy with four arms right there."
The crosshairs zoomed in on the Czar. At once, dozens—no, hundreds—of bullets pointed exactly at the Czar shot out.
Smoke covered the screen, the crosshairs moving around rapidly to reacquire the target. Four green arms tore through the cloud of smoke and snapped out, rapidly moving across the screen.
The Czar had survived with just minor scratches, and his fierce eyes were unmoving as he charged ahead.
He was heading for me. The feeling of something approaching me once again took over my nerves, but there was still no time to turn back. If I could be scared, I could use that time to open the damned spaceship.
The feeling got stronger as another round fired, the bullets scratching my cheeks as the Czar's voice resounded in my ears. I quickly sorted through the kiosk to finally access the terminal of the emergency spaceship.
I could access it.
The Czar's hand was looming over my back; I could feel it. At the same time, I smashed the enter button on the screen.
Three sounds merged into one, simultaneously. The first was Estella's grunt-like scream.
"COME BACK HERE!"
It mixed with a gasp from Czar. My eyes finally trailed back, and I could see him dragged away just mere centimeters from my eyes, a long, starry whip wrapped around his leg.
"GUGH!"
And the last sound was of the ceiling opening up. The blue Earth sky peeked at us as the top of the escape room flung open.
A sigh left me. If Estella had been a single moment late, I would have died. I felt a push from the direction of the spaceship as its thrusters activated and it started floating up, the hatch opening on its own.
"There we go!" I yelped and ran straight into the spaceship. "Estella, come here quick!"
"It would be nice! If you at least! Look once!!"
Her voice was gritty as hell; perhaps she was tying the Czar down? Every few seconds, the guns kept reloading and shot at the Czar, so she must have bought herself a good chance.
Ignoring her protests, I ran into the spaceship. Despite being completely covered with metal from the outside, all the walls inside the ship were covered with a screen that let one peer right through the metal.
The piloting system was also one that I had used before, perhaps an updated version? I quickly took my seat at the controls and started tapping away at the spaceship.
"Woah!"
The thrusters all turned to the side with a single touch, and the spaceship shot toward Estella.
"Oi! Oi Oi oi! Don't come this way, idiot!!" Estella's screams rang in through the speakers, and I could clearly see the Czar's widening eyes.
I tapped a button and spoke into the mic. "Estella, throw him aside and run into the ship! We're leaving right now!"
The two of them, with the spaceship sliding toward them, took a second to process my words. Their eyes widened and narrowed almost simultaneously.
But two things were working in my favor. One was speaking in Estella's language, and the other was the fact that we had built trust. Estella moved just a split second faster; she punched the Czar across his jaw before grasping her whip and tossing him away.
I kicked the handles around, and the spaceship drifted to the side, the hatch open and ready for my partner in crime. Estella jumped into the spaceship.
"Go go go! That beast, we can only slow him down so much!"
And she was right. It barely took a few seconds for the Czar to stand up again.
"Stop right there, prisoners! Don't think the Sermentali will let you escape!!"
His voice echoed through the entire room, probably booming out through the ceiling.
The Czar flexed his calves and ran—full speed at us.
"What are you doing!? Go!!"
"Just a second!"
"What the fuck, move!!"
The Czar had almost reached the hatch. His hands stretched out again. Finally, the speakers inside the spaceship started blasting jazz out loud.
"Huh?" Estella's confused hum mixed with the buzz of the thrusters as I pulled the handle back. At once, the spaceship tilted upward and shot to the sky. The Czar's hand barely missed the handle, and the hatch started closing.
I wiped my forehead with one hand and smirked. "Sorry, connecting Spoti*y took a second."
The handles went to the back once more, and I smashed the boosters.
The spaceship cut out of the metal prism of the Sermentali base, ascended into the blue skies of Earth, and in no time, the blue was replaced with the black of space.
We had escaped.