Mr James had cleaned up the bar and was ready to open it any moment now. He entered Alex's room and knocked on the door.

"Yes, sir?" Axel said.
"I want you to buy me some groceries. Could you please get me some potatoes and beans?"
"Sure, sir." Axel walked out of the room. 

Mr James gave him some money and he dashed out of the bar on his roller skates. He slowed down as he reached the end of the street and began walking. He stood near the red light, ready to cross the street when he looked at a dustbin. There were three small puppies inside it. They were dirty and stinky. He picked up one of them. It had deep blue eyes, which almost looked black and a thin fur coat. Axel looked at him as his green eyes seemed to grow bigger with wonder and amazement.

"Hello there, buddy."

. . .

Slaine walked into Jimmy's room while he lay on the bed with bandages around his naked upper body. Lupin sat beside him.
"Is he still not conscious?" Slaine asked him.
Lupin shook his head.

He then walked towards the balcony and stood at the railings. He turned around and saw Asselyum sitting near the window. Her eyes were closed and a wire from her neck was connected to the power supply. He looked at her.

"What are you doing?" He asked but she didn't respond. He touched her face. A faint hologram opened from her eyelashes "Go to the past! Find me and kill me!" A man with dull, pink eyes and brown hair shouted at her. The hologram suddenly closed by itself. Slaine looked confused, "What the fuck was that?" He moved closer to her eyes and opened her eyelids. Her iris had an electric blue shine in it and he could see all the wires inside her eyes. If he focused, he could even hear the voices of the various machines inside her. Slaine wondered how hard her inventor would have worked to make her this perfect. Even the tiniest wire was placed perfectly inside her body cavity as if he was a god, a creator,"

Lupin sat beside Jimmy and looked at Slaine. Suddenly, the sirens went off. The lights turned red. They both ran out of the room into the basement. Lupin switched on the mega-computer and typed come commands. It opened a map of the city, with a red-lit target zone. He tore a spare paper from his notepad and scribbled something over it. Meanwhile, Slaine fixed his headset. Lupin held the page before him, "Asselyum is charging. You have to go alone,"

"Goddamn, why me?" Slaine said. Lupin flipped the page "Jimmy is hurt. Axel is in danger, the X-DROID is in the same area as him. Are you fucking kidding me?!" Slaine shouted as he grabbed his jacket from the sofa and Lupin pointed at the location which was blinking as a deep red spot on the screen.
"It's near the time square. How will I get there so fast?! Teleportation won't work without Asselyum," Slaine said and Lupin pointed at his skateboard at him. Slaine looked at it and smirked "Hell yeah!"
Lupin gave him a pistol, "It'll protect you," It was Asselyum's pistol.

He went down the streets, jumping over footpaths and other obstacles on his skateboard. Finally, he saw Axel roaming here and there with the grocery bag and a puppy in his hand. It was crowded. He grabbed Axel and picked him up on the skateboard, "WOW! WHAT THE FUCK! Wait, Slaine? What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass, kid. And what is that disgusting smell?" Slaine made a disgusted face.
"Oh, it's the puppy!" Axel shoved the puppy at Slaine's face.
"Ugh! Throw that shit away!"
Suddenly, the glasses of a shop broke and a girl jumped out of it. She had her mouth displaced to the left side of her face and had the exact same features as the previous X-DROID they had met. She screamed as everyone else ran away, Slaine took his pistol and shot at the X-DROID.

Axel jumped down from the skateboard and switched his boots to shoes. Slaine went ahead at full speed and Axel skated beside him.
"Where is Asselyum?"
"Not here. We have to fight alone,"
"What the hell? I can't beat that...thing alone! I'm just a mechanic!"

They entered a dark street, "Lupin, now!" Slaine shouted. Lupin switched off all the security cameras and cut down the power supply of that area and it turned dark.
"What-What happened?" Axel yelled.
"Be quiet. The X-DROID will hear you,"

"Why are we here? Teleport us!"
"He can't. Asselyum's not here,"

"WHAT? SO BASICALLY WE ARE STUCK HERE WITH SOME NASTY ASS MONSTER WHO IS GOING TO KILL US ANY MOMENT?!" 

The X-DROID heard them and ran towards them. They could hear him from far away, "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Slaine swore as he grabbed his board and began running. Axel followed him, "Lupin! Lupin just call Asselyum. I don't care if she isn't fully charged, Just-Just get her!" Slaine yelled and the X-DROID soon appeared before them. 

"Sit!" Slaine grabbed Axel and both of them fell into the manhole just before them.

"Ugh! Wow! What an amazing way to 'sit', sir," Axel said, sarcastically. They heard the X-DROID overhead, trying to break through the manhole's opening. Slaine grabbed his aboard and they ran inside the sewers. Suddenly, the dog bit Slaine's hand and he shouted: "What the fuck is wrong with it?!"
"SHHH! The X-DROID will hear you!" Axel whispered and they heard loud thumps above them. The ceiling began breaking and loud voices covered the entire sewage tunnel. Something seemed to be approaching from the dark. "We are stuck here! Lupin! Lupin, guide us to the exit!"
Lupin tried speaking but he couldn't. He looked at Mr James, "Walk to your right and take the first left you see. Walk straight and you'll an exit," He guided them as he looked at the map. 

They made it to the exit and Slaine picked Axel up on his shoulders, "Quick, get out,"  Axel crawled up "Slaine, give me your hand" Axel looked at Slaine and stretched his arms out.
"No," Slaine jumped up and hung to the entrance, "If I pull you, you'll fall back in. We both almost got the same body weight,"
He tried pushing himself up, "Ugh! Should've worked hard at those monkey bars, I can't myself up!" 

He kicked his feet into the air but suddenly, something pulled him down with a jolt, "AH!"
"SLAINE!" Axel yelled.
It was that X-DROID girl. She shrieked and so did he. Out of reflex, he kicked her face "Ugly!"
She grabbed his leg with her claws and scratched them. He screamed and his took a huge bite on his leg, "UGH! SHE'S EATING ME! SHE'S EATING ME ALIVE! AXEL, HELP ME!"

Axel looked around and found a fence. He ran towards it while the puppy barked at Slaine. He kicked the old fence and pulled out a metal plank out of it. He then ran back towards the manhole and hit the X-DROID with the plank's eroding end which was sharp and rusty. She screamed as it hit her in the eye. She fell down and Slaine began losing his grip, "FUCK!"

But she came back up and grabbed Slaine by his waist, but suddenly, she was pulled into the water. He could hear her shrieks from the water and as he and Axel looked down, they saw two blue eyes shining at them. Asselyym's electric blue. 

"Asselyum!" They both yelled at once. She got out of the water and looked at them, "You both give me a headache," She said, "SAVE ME!" Slaine yelled and she picked him up. She jumped out of the manhole and threw him on the street. 
Axel looked down the manhole, "What about that bitch?"
"Killed it," Asselyum looked down at Slaine, "Saved you,"

"Lupin, teleport us." She commanded and they landed inside the basement.

"Hey, guys. How was your experience?" Jimmy asked as he stood beside Lupin.
"Shit! You're up?" Axel asked.
"Yeah. I can't move my shoulder very much but otherwise, it's all good. Hey mommy, nurse me~" Jimmy walked towards Asselyum. Axel sighed, "This pervert,"

"Lupin will do that. He's better at nursing." Asselyum said and Lupin smiled as he nodded.
"Man, ion want no man nurse," Jimmy wined while Slaine slowly walked out of the basement without saying a word. Axel looked at him, "What happened to him?" Axel asked.
"Some people tend to get depressed after switching across worlds. He'll be fine,"

Slaine sat in the bathtub and looked at his wounded leg. He touched his bruise and applied some disinfectant to it. He covered it with a bandage to control the bleeding and washed his hair. He brushed his teeth and wore his clothes. He covered his leg with his jeans and walked out of the bathroom. He saw Asselyum standing outside the door, "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah?" He said as he opened his room's door, "Why won't I be?"

"I thought you were depressed,"
"I am. Because the more I know about you, the more I don't want to be here," He looked into her eyes and closed the door on her face. She looked at the closed door, "I should've let you die,"

-To be continued

X-DROID
Code Counterattack X 777