Justice by R.T. Adams (reading list .TXT) 📖

“The stalls around here, they seem to only sell fruits, except for a select few that sell vegetables,” I said.

“I noticed it too,” he said, “When I noticed, I thought they were a vegan city, but that’s rather illogical.”

“My belief is that there are farms around that harvest fruits and vegetables, as well as each stall can’t sell the same fruits as another,” I explained my theory to him. When I looked around more, I noticed that what I theorized fit exactly.

“It is possible,” he said. Soon, we reached my car and I started it. I began driving, continuing in the direction we were going before. Once we’d been on the road for a few minutes, I noticed a strange blue car behind us. When I looked back on the road, I turned left, down a road. The car turned, as well. I turned right, then stopped and turned around, then went back down the same road I just went down.

“The hell are you doing?” Randolph asked. Before giving him an answer, I looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed the car still following me.

“Someone’s following us,” I said, “Look in the mirror.” He looked in the mirror and sat back in his seat. He looked over to me and gestured and I nodded. I quickly stopped the car and waited for the other car to stop, which it did, but much more smoothly than us. They all got out, four of them, and began walking over to my car. Looking at their outfits gave them away entirely. They were a part of Justice.

“Randolph,” I said. He quickly got out of the car and pulled out his sword. I grabbed my new sword and unsheathed it, placing my sheath in the back. I got out of the car and turned. The four of them each had the same swords we fought against before, nothing different than before. Two of them ran forward, one for each of us. When Randolph’s huge blade collided with the small blade of his opponent, the enemy was pushed back. When I went to slash at the opponent, the enemy’s blade simply fell off. My blade made a clean cut through their sword. Throwing the enemy off-balance, they fell in front of me. I then stabbed them through their back, twisting it, and pulling it out of their back. They soon stopped moving. With brute strength, Randolph broke the opponent’s blade, then cracked their skull. The enemy behind them then ran forward and their blades, as well, collided.

The enemy in front of me didn’t approach me just yet. In fact, they waited until my full attention was on them, then ran forward, much faster than the previous one. Their speed caught me off-guard, but I managed to dodge just in time. I swung to slice their blade off, as well, but they quickly moved it before it made contact. They then swung their blade for me, but just before it hit, a large object collided with it. Randolph’s sword. When I looked over, the other person lied their, decapitated. We both stood up straight, weapons ready to attack or defend. Our opponent had been prepared, as well. Before running forward, they pulled out another blade, different than the one in their hand now. They used both blades and then charged forward. When I looked closely at her other blade, I noticed there was no sharp edge on it. It was just like a bamboo sword but made out of metal. They used her other blade to swing at Randolph, who quickly raised his blade to block, but they quickly retracted their arm and jabbed forward, the blunt tip of it slamming directly under his ribcage, knocking most of the wind out of him. They then swung the basic sword at me, in which I swung at it, listening as it snapped right off, but they didn’t toss it aside. Instead, they drew it back and threw it at me, in which I dodged it. However, I made a wrong move, as they were now right in front of me. I didn’t have enough space nor time to react to them. They slammed the blunt sword directly into my back, causing me to fall forward a few feet. They didn’t attack me while I was down. Instead, they just stood there staring at me. I slowly began to get up, and they began to talk.

“You’ve done well to make it this far,” their voice wasn’t a man’s nor a woman’s, but roboticized.

“Don’t tease us,” I said.

“It is to be expected from Kimbo, the great demon hunter, though,” they said, “But you are not yet powerful enough to take me on.”

“Shut up,” I said.

“In that regard, you will die at my hand,” they said, “But before I kill you, I shall show you my face.” They slowly lifted their hand and placed it on the side of their metal mask. They pressed a button and their mask drew back into a small metal rim around their head. Looking more closely, I noticed it was a woman.

“I’ve been fighting a woman?” I said.

“That’s right,” she said in a sweet voice, “But don’t underestimate me. I’m one of the few generals of Justice, the empire which you decided to oppose.” I then stood up and readied my weapon again.

“I don’t give a damn who you are,” I said.

“My name is Alicia Garnet, the one who shall take you down,” she said, charging forward with her blade. I gripped my blade harder and waited for her to get closer. Once she got within a meter of me, I swung my blade, feeling it make contact with something. I heard the sound of an object snapping off of something. When I looked, I noticed the blade of hers flying above my head. She looked entirely surprised. Due to her speed, she was unable to stop herself and flew directly into my fists, which had been on the hilt of my blade. My fists were now planted on her stomach, which she had been slowly falling to her knees, out of breath due to the severe hit. Randolph got up and ran over, his blade in hand.

“Wait,” I said, “Don’t kill her.” I said.

“What?” he said, “But she’s a general of Justice. A general. She must be an important factor of their military.”

“Exactly, she can be used for us, to fight against Justice,” I said.

“Do you seriously think she will just join us that easily?” he asked.

“Of course I will,” she said, “You proved your strength. I only join those who can defeat me.” Though it was entirely by fluke, she accepted her loss. Randolph ended up carrying her into our car, placing her in the back. She laid down, hands on her stomach. My items were now on the floorboard in the back. I continued to drive until I saw a rest spot, then turned in and got out. By then, she was feeling a bit better and continued to follow us to a motel room. There were only two beds and a couch to sleep on.

“I’ll take the couch,” I said, “You two can have the beds. After all, Randolph, you’re bigger and she’s a lady, after all.”

“Don’t think of me as a lady,” she said, trying to argue but not able to muster enough strength to yell. Randolph laid her down in one of the beds and then walked over to the other bed and sat down. I sat down on the couch and looked over at both of them. Randolph continued to remain upright while Alicia laid on her side. Soon, I decided to lay back on the couch and rest.

When I woke up, I found that Randolph had, again, left. Alicia, however, was still sleeping silently in the bed, still in the same outfit as last night. Being that she was still in that outfit, she was surprisingly clean, even after fighting me and Randolph. I lifted myself up and stood slowly, still drowsy from just waking up. I walked over to a window that peered out to the garage and convenience store here. I saw Randolph inside the garage, speaking with a man who looked dirtied with some grease on his face and a bit of oil which had stained his brown button-up shirt and blue jeans. He was a fairly sizeable man, but nothing compared to Randolph, who had likely trained his muscle and skills as much as possible after losing his friends. I turned around to look for my items and noticed Alicia lifting her body up, her hand on her head. She must have received a morning headache. I walked over to my bag and reached down next to it, to my blade, and lifted it up, putting it at my side. I walked back over to the window I looked out it again to Randolph, who was still talking to the man. I began to walk out of the room, but Alicia tossed a pillow at me, so I turned.

“What do you intend to do with me?” she was still tired and it was clearly noticeable by her quiet voice.

“We intend to use you to fight against Justice and to eliminate them,” I said. She just chuckled and sat up, placing her feet on the floor. I heard only two small clanks as she put her feet down. Her suit must have some kind of metal in place of shoes.

“So that’s all,” she said, standing up, “Well, I’ll need a new weapon if that’s the case.”

“You were a general of Justice, you should have money,” I said, “Go buy one.”

“From some smith on the street?” she said.

“Yeah, that’s where I got my sword,” I said. She looked over to my sword and walked over to me.

“Just from some smith?” she said.

“Yes, from some smith that I didn’t even know,” I said, “Stalling will get you nowhere fast, so hurry up and let’s go.”

“I am prepared,” she said.

“With such thin silk like that?” I said.

“Most of it is armour,” she said.

“Yeah, but,” I said, but she stopped me.

“Armour is armour, there is no more to it than that. If the enemy happens to strike skin, then so be it. I am willing to bear pain,” she said. I just shrugged and grabbed my bag, then opened the door, waited for her to come out, and then locked it. We went down the stairs and to the register to turn in the key. I then walked over to my car and tossed my bag in the back on the floorboard. We then went over to Randolph and the other man at the garage. I stood next to Randolph and Alicia stood next to me. Randolph definitely noticed me, but hardly showed any signs of it.

“Randolph, we’re about ready to go,” I said, making sure not to interrupt them.

“Very well,” he said. He then held his hand out to the man, who shook it.

“A tight grip,” he said, smiling in admiration. Knowing them, they’d probably be talking about strength or such. When we left the garage we went to the convenience store, which we were welcomed by an elderly woman at the register. I turned and found a bottled water. Alicia refused to get anything and Randolph requested a cup of coffee from the elderly woman, who went to the coffee machine and began making it. She asked him if he wanted anything in it and he said no. She then gave it to him and he paid her, then began sipping at the black coffee. I went to the register and Alicia followed behind like a loyal dog, like she had been since this morning, which makes me feel strange. I paid for the bottled water and walked out of the convenience store, then stopped at my car and turned to Randolph.

“Why are you so good with communicating with people?” I asked.

“It’s been a part of my family