New World

Shit. The fox he had been following had been attacked by a Treant. Said Treant was now standing between Samuel and the castle. Skidding to a halt, the stoat fired the last three shots in his rifle at the tree monster, before opening it and starting to reload. They didn't have much time here, and he had to work quickly.

Zenith wasn't running at all - he'd in fact skidded to a halt after dodging, and turned to face the treant. He drew his katana, as the guard that was following them unloaded thee rifle rounds at the creature. The wooden bark splintered and cracked with each shot, the creature rearing back in surprise. This gave Zenith the opening he needed to dash forward and deliver a decisive horizontal blow along its centre.

As the fox returned the blade to its scabbard, the treant, with a look of dumbfounded shock on its evil face, slowly came apart into two pieces, which fell to the floor, lifeless. Zenith glanced over at the guard with a slight smile, and nodded in thanks. "Excellent aim - now let us push forward."

Indeed, the Ice King behind them had reared around once more, searching around for more targets. It appeared to be rather stupid...most of them time it didn't think to look down for something to kill. But Zenith wasn't complaining. He looked down at Rizzo. "Let's continue, and keep hold this time."

They were close now. A fast dash would take them about 30 seconds to make it into the courtyard, where the guards were waiting for them.

---

"Sir??" a guard spoke out to the Commander, sounding increasingly nervous with each passing moment. "It's close! Don't you think it's time to light the cannon??"

"Wait for it..." the bear growled, shooting the soldier an impatient glare. "We are the Royal Guards. We guard the people of this city! The second the civilians are here, we open fire - not a moment sooner!"

"...Yes sir..."

His rifle reloaded, the Stoat turned and took a pair of shots aimed for the Ice King's face, again hoping to hit the eyes. If he missed, at the very least he would drive it towards them, and the cannon within the castle.

With that done, he turned and started to run towards the castle. As he passed the fox, he called out "We can pat each other on the back later, let's go!" The castle gate was only yards away. They might actually make this!

Shaking off the dizziness from falling off Zenith's shoulder after he'd skidded to a halt, Rizzo crawled back up to his vantage point (once Zenith had dealt with the treant, which he observed with growing admiration for the guy) and took his advice, clinging on more tightly than before (which, of course, would be even more uncomfortable than usual)

He watched the Marine firing shots at the ice giant with a passing interest, more intent now, perhaps selfishly, on getting himself to safety; he glanced over at Zenith; "I guess you could make a run for it," he quipped, "But maybe we could use the teleporter again?"

Taking the teleporter from its rather insecure place it his pocket, he unclasped the green gem from its tip and stuffed it into Zenith's hand: "If you can make a run for it, I'll cling on as tight as I can, but uhh.. How far do you think you could throw that?" He gestured towards their destination; maybe running would be a better option, but he thought it might be worth a shot, after all, the gem atop the device was made of an extremely tough and durable material; it wasn't going to break just from being thrown.

"An apt suggestion." Zenith said, grasping the gem tightly in one hand. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder, and saw the Ice King, mildly irritated by the shots to its vacant icy eyes, take a massive earthquake-inducing step forward. No good, that thing would catch up in less than 30 seconds.

Sprinting forward until he caught up with the guard that passed him before, the fox wasted no time. Pulling his arm back, he raised the gem into the air, before sending it flying in a mighty hurl, the gem arching into the air, over rooftops and chimneys, spinning with great velocity towards the castle...and through one of the gaps in the gate, landing with a tumble in the grassy courtyard in the middle of the troop of soldiers.

Zenith held his arm out towards the stoat, before shouting to Rizzo. "Now would be the ideal time!"

------

As the gem landed in amongst the soldiers, they stepped back in caution. "What's that?! A grenade?!" came a few mortified yells from the soldiers, as a few made a dive to get distance.

The commander turned around. "What?! ..." he looked down at the jewel, frowning. "Doesn't look like a grenade - those civilians threw it!"

At Zenith's command, Rizzo hastily slammed his fist into the green button as soon as the soldier had caught onto Zenith's arm; there was a brilliant flash of light, and before they knew it, they'd both be standing, woozily, as tended to be the effect of the teleporter, in the grounds of the castle.

Rizzo breathed a sigh of relief as he knew he was away from danger; he glanced over at the soldier: "The first time is always the worst" he consoled him, "Are you alright?"