The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: So close!

"Where. Is. Gorgon?" Lilith seethed as she twisted the hunter's arm painfully behind his back.

"I-I dunno! He never tells us anything, we just work for the guy!" The man cried out as Lilith twisted his arm further.

"LIAR!" She roared, pushing the man's head harder into the wall. "See your friends down there?" She asked, breathing heavily into the man's ear as she nodded at the two corpses on the ground, one with a hole in his head, the other with multiple stab wounds and a slashed throat. "That is gonna be you in five seconds if you don't tell me where that son of a ***** is!"

"I don't know!"
"Five"
"I swear to you, I have no id-"
"Four!"
"Please!"
"Three!" She twisted the man's arm even further.
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"TWO!" She pulled out her pistol, jamming the barrel into the back of the hunter's head.
"PLEASE, I DON'T KNOW, I HAVE NO ID-
"ONE!"
"THE BASEMENT!" He interrupted. "He's in the basement!"
"Why the hell is he in the basement?" Lilith demanded, her tone a lot softer now.
"I d-dunno, that's just where he is!"
"Why the fuck isn't he with the others?!"
"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!"

Roaring with frustration, Lilith released the man, pistol whipping him around the head as he fell to the ground cowering. As she took a step back, running her free hand through her hair, she aimed the gun at the man, a look of distress on her face. "Why is he in the basement?" She muttered quietly, her hand shaking as she aimed at the hunter.

"Please! I have a wife and ki-"
"DID HE SAY ANYTHING?!" She roared as she took a step closer, her finger squeezing the trigger ever so tighter. The man whimpered, averting his gaze as he seemed to think for a moment.

"'The ***** will know why.' That's what he said, when talking to Landon and the others, p-p-please I-"
"Bollocks!" Lilith muttered, clenching her jaw. He knew, he knew she'd be after him, and now he was baiting her to come get him.

It was working.

"I told you everything I know, please, please don't kill me!" The hunter begged, tears welling in his eyes. Her pistol trembling even more, she furrowed her brow as her emotions began getting the better of her.

"I won't" She whispered reassuringly, her voice croaking as she tried to remain calm.
"Thank yo-ARGH!" The man cried out in agony as Lilith put a bullet in each of his kneecaps and began backing out of the room, her aim leaving the weeping man only as she exited through the door.

The basement it was.

Gorgon sat leaning back in his chair, his legs crossed over on top of the poker table. Despite the pain he felt from his recent surgery, he was in quite a chipper mood. He whistled a jolly tune to himself as he spun the cylinder of his revolver, over and over. The gun shots and screaming were getting closer. She'd find him soon enough.

He smiled.

Breathing heavily, Lilith wiped the blood from her hands and knife, smearing crimson across the back of a hunter's shirt. These men were grunts, no way was it supposed to be this easy.

'Of course not, he wants me alive.'

Cranston was probably dealing with the real hunters right now. Her expression softened slightly, wincing as she got to her feet. Leg throbbing, shoulder aching, eyes tired, the adrenaline wasn't doing a great job at the moment.

Turning to face the entrance to the basement, she quickly checked her pistol magazine. It was strange, she had been in a such a hurry to get there, gunning and cutting her way through so many men, and now she could stop?

Fire fears nothing

Expression hardening, she brought her pistol and knife together as she walked slowly towards the door, leaning up against it slightly, she reached down with her knife hand, slowly twisting the handle between thumb and forefinger.

"I'm coming for you, you son of a *****." She whispered, more to reassure herself, than anything else.

Gorgon cocked an eyebrow as the doorknob began to turn. With a stupid grin stretching from ear-to-ear, he chuckled, "Come to Daddy, little girl."

Cracking open the door, she shivered slightly as his words made her skin crawl.

There he was, just, sitting there.

Her pistol locked on him, she took a few steps forward, her resolve fading slightly as unease began to creep into her. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she forced a smirk.

"Sorry I was late for the party."


Gorgon laughed, "Nonsense, the party's just begun!" Gesturing towards the poker table in front of him, his laughter intensified. "I know you're a fan of cards. I figured this would be just as good a place as any other to end the legend of Casino. Don't you think?"

Remaining silent, she looked at the man.

Tilting her head slightly, she smirked slyly. "Pretty nasty nick you got there. Cut yourself shaving?"

"Funny girl," Gorgon mused. "You know that old proverb, 'an eye for an eye'?" He snapped the cylinder shut and grinned. "Well, I ain't settlin' for just your eye, Casino. But you knew that, didn't you?"

The smirk fading from her lips, Lilith's expression hardened. "You make it sound like this wasn't your fault." She tightened her grip on her pistol. "Couldn't stay away, just had to have a piece of us, like every other scum sucking bounty hunter out there."

"I'm not settling for a piece of you, oh no!" He shook his head. "I'm feastin' tonight. You'll be quite the juicy dish, I must say! Now," He pulled back the hammer on his revolver. "How do you want to play this?"


"Big words from a man who shoots kids." She replied coldly. "Put the gun down and I'll make this quick." She kept his head aimed squarely in her sights.

"There's not going to be anything quick about this!" Gorgon shouted as he hooked the edge of the table with his boot and kicked it over whilst firing two shots at Lilith.

Crying out in surprise, Lilith quickly dived to the ground, firing several shots at Gorgon, forcing him into cover behind the table.

"Sonovabitch!" She muttered through gritted teeth, as she quickly scrambled to her feet, firing into the table as she did so.

Poke your head out you bastard, I dare you.

Gorgon began laughing maniacally as he reached over the table and blind fired his revolver in her direction. None of her shots had found their mark, but wooden splinters had managed to embed themselves into his arm. It hurt, but he'd shrug it off. His ammo spent, he clutched the sides of the poker table, rose from his crouching position and lifted it up, "LET'S HAVE SOME FUN!" He shouted as he charged the much smaller woman in an attempt to pin her against the back wall with the table.

"Nice aim wankeOHHHHHH SHIT!" Lilith back peddled quickly, as she continued to fire into the table. Pinning her to the wall, Lilith's hand slammed into the brickwork, knocking the gun out of her hand, sending it sliding across the floor. Grunting with exertion, she pushed against the table as Gorgon pinned her harder to the wall.
"Kiss... my... arse!" As she inched the table away from her ever so slightly, she used the gap to quickly slide out of the pin, sending her stumbling across the room as she created some distance. There was only one problem.

Her gun was now on the opposite side of the room.

"Bollocks..."

Releasing his hold, he let the table clatter against the wall before turning to face his adversary. Drawing a huge knife from a sheath on his belt, he grinned, "We got up close n' personal last time. Want to dance again?"

Lilith clenched her jaw. The man was huge, a lot bigger than she remembered. Wincing slightly as she got to her feet, her breathing heavy, her eyes shifted wildly as she looked for an escape.

The huge man was blocking both the exit and the corner of the room where her gun had fallen.

'Shit.'

 

[ProtoChimp]

Alex raced through the streets, repeating her mantra throughout the speakers of her car, urging citizens to safety. All the while her son sat scared in the backseat. He knew what was going on from what she was saying, but there was still something else his mother wasn't telling him, something that scared him. Meanwhile Police all around the city where getting her message through the radio, escorting citizens to safety and heading towards the battle.

Little Austin remained quiet in the backseat as his mother drove through backstreets and into one of the poorest areas of Yuteni, blaring her siren and warning, despite the heavy presence of drug dealers and wannabe gangsters. Hastily parking her car by a rundown hotel she exited the car and picked her son up from the backseat. He was a bit big to be carried, but she could still hold him up with one arm as her other was ready to draw. Yuteni was ridden with petty crime, and this was a heavily concentrated area, the closest you would get to 'organised'.

Alex slammed her palm repeatedly on the door until an older gentleman opened the door, fumbling with his breathing mask. Alex pushed past the man and ran up the stairs. "Skylar!" She yelled, to which a young woman came out. She looked tired and incredibly skinny, with very pale skin and baggy clothing.

"Shouldn't you be out doing... whatever?" She asked confused.

Ignoring her query, Alex demanded, "I need you to take my son and get out of town. You might be able to get out on the other side of town from the breach. If you can't, then just find somewhere to hide. I don't care where it is just somewhere secluded, a sewer if you have to."

"Mom?" Austin asked frightened and also disgusted at the idea of being in a sewer. But even he knew now wasn't the time to be picky.

"I can't take your kid-" replied the much younger woman before again being cut off by the sheriff.

"Skylar please!" Her voice appeared more desperate than earlier, barely a trace of anger in her voice. "I'll help you get away from here I promise, you can stay at my place after this is all sorted, hell I'll even try to get you into some noble work if you want. Just please," she was almost pleading, "take my son somewhere you know is safe."

The girl hesitated before nodding. "I'll get my things."

"Thank you," Alex sighed gratefully.

As the girl disappeared from view, Alex ran back down stairs and outside towards Skylar's car, it looked more like a box with wheels than a car. Finally Austin couldn't take anymore, his fear boiling over.

"Mom please! What's happening!"

Alex stopped and gulped, guilt gripping her throat. She sat him atop the car and stared deep into his eyes. "I should have told you a long time ago but..." she had dreaded this day for eight years, she didn't want him to know until his teens, or maybe she never wanted to tell him. "There's a man, a very bad man, an evil man, and he is going to try and hurt a lot of people. Now I need to go and stop him, but I need you to be safe. Skylar is a friend, she can take care of you."

"Are you... are you serious Mom?" Austin had never been this scared in his life. Despite living in a city full of crime, the almost brutally methodical police force kept it in check, led by his mother, who's ruthless side he had never seen before. She hoped he'd never see it. He had been so sheltered, to be ripped from that to now being told a villain is trying to hurt everyone on the city was a shock to the system no child should take. At least he had been given a warning, but regret filled Alex's mind, she knew she should have told him when he was much younger.

"Yes I am. I'm sorry baby," she hugged him tightly, "his name is... well its... its the same as yours." She forced the words out of her throat.

"Austin?" asked the boy, even more confused now.

"Yes," she said, "he thinks he is everyone's father, he's a mad man. But he," she paused. She couldn't do it, she couldn't tell him the truth. "He'll say he's your father, but he isn't, he's just a mad man, he's a lunatic and he doesn't have any children. The people who follow him are just tricked, brainwashed, and they aren't really his sons and daughters. You are not, nor will you ever be his son." Those last few words came out more possesive than the rest of her speech.

"Mo-"

"You will never be his son! Repeat it to me." She was holding him tightly.

"Mom you're hurting me!"

"You will n-oh baby I'm so sorry." She hugged him again. "I'm so... I'm so..." tears welled up in her eyes, despite being a good few feet away she could still hear the sounds of chaos from her car radio. Austin hated seeing his mother like this, and ignoring the stinging pain he had in his arms just now, he embraced her tightly. "I love you baby..." she said so quiet it was almost silent.

"I love you too mom." He sniffed. Skylar had just come out of the house carrying a few bags, she opened the boot of the car and threw them all in.

"Alright lets go." She said as she entered the driver's side. Alex and Austin looked at each other, fear and sadness running across her every feature like droplets of water, while confusion and an even greater fear painted his face. He wanted to ask to stay with her, but he chose instead to be silent. Alex opened the back door and put his seatbelt on for him, like she used to before he was old enough to do it himself, and lifted her mask to kiss the top of his head.

"I love you Austin," she weeped before closing the door. She nodded to Skylar who began driving down the street. Alex watched with her arms crossed as Austin looked out the back window to her. Even as they got further away from each other their eyes remained locked until the car finally turned a corner. Alex held herself tightly, letting a few sobs escape her. Wiping away her tears mere seconds after they formed she dashed over to her car, turned her sirens back on and sped off towards the breach, where her former fiancée lay waiting.

Except he wasn't waiting, he was pushing ever further towards her, as his storm of bullets and rockets barrelled down upon the citizens of Yuteni, getting further and further inland. The police had never seen such superior weaponry head on before. Plasma cannons tearing apart buildings like nothing, as ballistic missiles destroyed the streets, cleansing them of their impurity.

"We barrel forth and bring down the oppressors while they lay on their fat, hedonistic backs!" Bellowed the all powerful father on his mission of 'freedom'.

 

[The Funslinger]

Bryan and Beard had been talking for a good few minutes, now. Bryan had at least partially relented, and bought his uncle a beer.

"Alright, uncle, I gotta ask. What're you doing with that keycard?"

"Aw, it's obvious, Bryan," Beard rasped. "I can lift enough info from that place to retire on."

"You always make enough to retire on, you drunk fuck," Bryan replied. "But you always burn it on gambling. Jesus, I bet Wilkes-Vines has made half his fortune off o' you!"

Beard waved him away. "Yeah yeah yeah, I heard it before, kid. Anyway, I know you're in his pocket. You gon' ask me for it?"

"Nah. Ain't my job."

"Good. It ain't nothing personal. Just business, even if he is an asshole."

"Oh, aye. But, uh... y'know, I'd hate to be... y'know."

"Sent after your favourite uncle?"

"My only uncle, but yeah, let's go with that."

"Ah, don't worry kid, don't worry. Ain't none of this traceable to me. But hey! Let's cut the shit, yeah? You come looking for me, tell me what's up?"

Bryan drained what remained of his beer and slammed the glass down. "Yeah, so basically me and mine have been asked to track down Dio's lass."

"Elizabeth? What, you gonna kill her?"

"Jesus, did everyone fucking know about that except me?"

"Nah, boy," Beard replied. "But it's my job, ain't it? You know, people die and that's that, but I don't exactly wanna be getting innocent people murdered for some asshole I kinda dislike."

"Right," said Bryan, "well word is we ain't killing the poor lass no more. Seems like her being abducted achieved more or less whatever fucked up end he were going for." He spread his palms. "Come on, uncle."

"Yeah well, like... I get this bounty hunter guy you probably heard of come looking for me wanting to know where to find the Iron Maiden's ship. Says him and his buddy going after Pixie Monroe for Basilio and they reckon she got Miss Maribel and some other chick I hear's dead now stashed aboard. So I give up the goat, give him a lead and off he goes. So anyway, this guy Metal, Eddie I guess is what they saying now... anyway, he been ambushed in the Bread Basket by Wilkes-Vines goons. From what I hear, the girl was still with him when it happened, but she got away."

"Yeah," said Bryan. "We actually had a chat with Wilkes-Vines. He said she were right here in Feroxi. Gave us the hotel she were staying at and everything. But she were gone. We staked it out and she never came back."

"Mmmm," said Beard. "Well sometimes you gotta put the pieces together, kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't know if you heard, but there was a dust up 'tween some bounty hunters and a couple of Maidens right here in this fair city not too long ago. Want my opinion, that's wonderfully convenient. They went to ground as far as I know about the same time she fell off the radar, too."

Bryan was about to respond when there was a knock at the door. "Well. I'll be off," he said. Getting to his feet, he crossed to the door and opened it. A group of men filed in carrying baseball bats, knives, and scowls.

"Well," said Bryan. "Seems like you fellas have some sort of activity planned. I'll get outta yer hair, then." As he was leaving the bar, he heard the tinkle of glass that was likely his uncle making a bid at escape through the backroom's window. Shrugging, he thumbed his radio.

"Commander, I reckon I got some likely confirmation on one of our earlier theories. Wouldn't be surprised if the others hear something similar."

==========================================================================

"how can we be sure WV can handle Austin if they can't handle some lunatics with hammers and fire axes?"

Ruffles shrugged. "I dunno, man. His guys seemed fine when they left. Walked right by me and the guy they had watching after me. A few less of 'em, but what the hell. The Captain's been dealing with guys like him for years, anyway. There's usually some reason they let shit like this slide."

=========================================================================

"Payton's a fuckin' clown. Tallahassee's the best scout we've got. I know fer a fact that he'd catch anyone tryin' ta' sneak by on ar' side'a town. Payton dropped the ball."

Whiskey considered telling them why those mercenaries had slipped past Payton so easily, but dismissed the idea almost immediately. Payton wanted her to tow the line, and if she didn't it would be Millie who suffered. Even so, she wanted the Maidens to be very careful.

A few minutes later, though, Pixie was asleep. For a few minutes, Whiskey merely watched the road as Bennie drove, thinking furiously. Bennie Carmine...

After a while, she said, "you of all people gotta know things aren't as simple as she's making it out to be, right?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Amy stroked Pixie's hair as she slept, trying to look anywhere else in the Crawler other than at her. Her mood was not helped by Bennie's palpable discomfort at sitting anywhere near her. Or perhaps he was just frustrated by the whole situation, it was hard to tell. She supposed she couldn't blame him for objecting to having a knife held at his throat. It was Amy who was the problem. A problem that couldn't be fixed.

She didn't want to think about what would happen between the three of them now. Bennie would demand an explanation, and Amy would be forced to go over every last gruesome detail all over again. It had taken most of her will power to force the words out just once. Pixie might defend her, but then Pixie herself would turn around and demand more. Welcomed or not, in the long run her moral mission just wouldn't allow Amy to suffer in silence, even if that meant making things worse. Pixie defined herself by being a protector, someone who never gave up on the people she cared about, that much was obvious. Being in the presence of a person she couldn't save would, in time, become unbearable for her.

Could Amy dare hope that there was a way out of this darkness? Perhaps she did need to let all the walls down, and that the people around her now could bare to see what was housed inside without being repelled or corrupted by it? The very thought was scarcely bearable, like fingernails on a blackboard happening in every cell inside her body, paralysing her and twisting a knife in her very core. Even after today, most of them would look at her and see a vulnerable little girl. None of them knew, none of them truly understood what she would be capable of, if they exposed the wound, and made the pain so raw that she would have to project it onto everyone around her just to create a context of the world that she could recognise.

No. They meant well, but she was beyond their help. There was no way out of this for her now that didn't end in pain.

"How much longer?" she asked, trying not to sound childish. No matter what else happened, the threat of Austin still loomed large and prominent. She wanted to be done with him, and more than anyone else perhaps, she understood Aesop's reaction to the man. She hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him personally, but she had been there, a frightened young whore, at his first uprising, in the only city that, for better or worse, she been able to call a home. That place was calling the three of them back now. Conformation was only a formality.

She knew where they would find him.

=========================================================================================================================

They were far enough above not to hear the screams, at least, but the thunder of the Iron Maiden's arsenal, along with the manic cheers of those manning the guns, rang loud through the ship's hull. Sitting back to back in the darkness, Sandra's hand found Georgia's, and they held on tight.

'We'll make it through this.' Georgia told herself, over and over. 'She'll be coming soon.'

=========================================================================================================================

"Who the fuck 'ar y'all?"

"My name is Agent Sandringham." The man in black said calmly. "I work for someone who want's to keep you safe, someone who has a long-standing agreement with your mother. Now please, sit down. We have a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it."

From there, Sandringham turned to face Maria, singling her out as the authority figure of the three.

"This safe-house is compromised, and there's no telling who heard those gunshots and what they're doing now. As soon as we're done cleaning up, the three of you must be relocated, in preparation for leaving this city altogether. The broader situation is increasingly out of control. I'm sorry, but if you all want to live, you need to come with us."

 

[Fappy]

"You of all people gotta know things aren't as simple as she's making it out to be, right?"

Bennie didn't reply right away. He simply chuckled and shook his head. Bennie was a hard man to pin down, even for those who knew him well. You never knew if he was laughing out of spite, frustration or legitimate joy. Given the situation, could it have really be anything positive?

Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, he kept his eyes ahead as he spoke, "Everything's a fuckin' game to that asshole. Always has been. My father," He bit the inside of his lip and shook his head once more. "The Carmine family was nothing more than a piece on a chessboard. All the pain, suffering and death that surrounded me as a child? Nothing but an afterthought to him. He did what he did because he could. Nothing more to it."

He looked to Whiskey, his tone was flat, "I don't reckon I'm telling you anything you don't already know, though."

"How much longer?"

"About ninety minutes or so," He spoke as if he'd completely forgotten about Amy's outburst in the bar. "Remind me to blindfold this one when we get within twenty kilometers." Glancing over his shoulder, he added. "How's she doing?"

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"I work for someone who want's to keep you safe, someone who has a long-standing agreement with your mother. Now please, sit down. We have a lot of work to do and not very much time to do it."

Sprout eyeballed the chair but refused to sit down. He did, however, lower his weapon.

"... As soon as we're done cleaning up, the three of you must be relocated, in preparation for leaving this city altogether. The broader situation is increasingly out of control. I'm sorry, but if you all want to live, you need to come with us."

"What about Lilith an' Cranston?" He questioned. "They're out on an Op right now. What if they come back and we ain't here?"

Elizabeth furrowed her brow and stepped out from behind Sprout, "Who are you talking about? Who do you work for?"

"Gents," Sprout muttered. "They 'ave that old man smell 'bout them. If they're on 'ar side, they're definitely Gents' guys. Cranston mentioned that they were the only others in the city who may 'ave 'ar backs."

"Oh, that's good," She blinked stupidly and added. "Right?"


"No," Sprout muttered, not prying his eyes away from the man before him. "If we ain't gettin' support from one of 'ar own that means they're all we 'ave left. No offense, but I don' trust yer boss. I know the way my Ma' deals with 'im. She's never trusted 'im either."

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Tsubaki had spent the last few hours investigating this so-called "Chimera Squad", but had arrived at a dead-end after exhausting every resource she could think of. All she could do now was wait for them to contact her. That didn't mean the investigation was halted, however. Her squad had apparently gathered a sizable amount of intel and had been ordered to meet her in their private briefing room back at the base. Sitting at the end of the table, Tsubaki leaned back in the swivel chair, drinking a coffee while fingering through some documents.

Ortega's file was alarmingly shallow.

I hope you guys had better luck.

 

[The Funslinger]

"Let me have the fat one."

"That means I get the other two," he replied. For a brief moment, the Bejic mercenaries just looked at each other in confusion. Then the twins struck. While Severa, true to her word, attacked the fat man, Owain stepped forward, a knife descending from his sleeve into his hand, and lashed out with it. The blade's tip cut deep, slashing open the man's throat.

The second man was stepping back at this point, pulling a pistol from the waistband of his pants. Owain turned and threw. The small blade of the holdout knife buried itself in the meat of the man's forearm, and he dropped his gun, yelling in pain. He turned to run, but Owain produced a second knife and let fly. There was a wet thud as it hit the mercenary in the small of the back. His legs went limp and he sprawled on the ground, whimpering. Owain knelt by him, and patted him on the shoulder.

"We'd best leave those in for now, I think. It would be a shame if you bled to death before we had a chance to talk."

=============================================

"I don't reckon I'm telling you anything you don't already know, though."

"Damn straight," she replied sullenly.

"Remind me to blindfold this one when we get within twenty kilometers."

Whiskey smiled coyly at this. "You don't waste time, do you?"

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"How's she doing?"

Amy forced herself to look down.

"She's doing fine... I think. Still out of it though."

===========================================================================================================================

"She's never trusted 'im either."

"You're a bright one, I'll give you that." Sandringham remarked, somewhere between admiration and irritation. "The situation with your friends in under control. The other half of my men are on standby ready to assist. If they don't need it, we'll inform them of the situation as soon as they're extracted, and you'll meet up with them before leaving the city."

Holstering his own weapon, Sandringham stepped forward, and bent down slighting so he was level with Sprout.

"You don't have to trust me, but consider this. If I wanted you dead or harmed in any way, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Right now, my first and only priority is getting you somewhere safe, but I can't do that unless you follow my lead. Understand?"

 

[Terratina.]

"You don't have to trust me, but consider this. If I wanted you dead or harmed in any way, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Right now, my first and only priority is getting you somewhere safe, but I can't do that unless you follow my lead. Understand?"

Maria stopped scrubbing as she noticed the suits in the room, there were too many people here. Besides, there wasn't any real point, was there? From the sound of it, they were going to leave soon anyway. Part of her felt thankful that there were people who were going to help but part of her couldn't help but hate them for not arriving sooner, excuses or no excuses. She sighed, stood up and turned to Elizabeth, feeling rather guilty for ignoring her look of distress. Maria then paused and walked over to the young noble, hands still slightly shaking, fingers wrinkled from the mixture of water and kitchen cleaner.

"It's help." She sighed, "And he has a point, just look at what happened earlier. I dunno about you but I'm kinda desperate enough to accept right now."

***​

Jun stood there in a secluded spot, debating the merits of going back to investigate more. For now - though - he ended up decided to radio his findings in and leave going back to the realm of shoes and high prices to later, "Moon here. Target has been spotted in La Chaussure de Ciel among with two other women 'about a day ago'. That is all so far; will continue to investigate."

 

[ProtoChimp]

Scaling up the fire escape, the sounds of bullets suddenly stopped. Hannibal paused for less than a second before continuing. He didn't know why he was heading for the roof, it was the worst possible place to escape, but it was better than getting shot downstairs.

Carefully going up the fire escape backwards, Viola had her revolvers drawn and pointed downstairs, ready in case any of the bandits that were looking for Hannibal had somehow survived the onslaught, or if these newcomers weren't as friendly as they first made out. She wasn't exactly sure why these other people were after them; but her experience told her that it usually wasn't good.

Carter led the squad up the stairs. It didn't take him long to spot the chair Viola had wedged in the window, "Clear it out." Ortega ordered. Grabbing the chair by the legs, Carter planted his foot on the window sill and pulled. After a few moments it came ajar. Oretga signalled for his squad to hold for a moment before calling out the window. "Gunslinger? I am Colonel Esteban Ortega. I work for Lord Basilio. We don't want to hurt you or the boy. We're here to talk. Nothing more."

"Smooth," Mila commented.

Hannibal got to the top of the fire escape but was lead to a locked window. He began bashing his elbow against it when a rather stupid idea came to him. It was quick at least.

Stepping up onto the ledge of the railing, he leaped up into the air and grabbed the edge of the roof, only to realise he didn't have the upper body strength needed to pull himself up, as he kicked his legs as if trying to stand on an invisible platform.

"And not exactly subtle Colonel Ortega." Viola remarked, standing up two flights of stairs from where the chair once stood, the cocking mechanisms on the revolvers pulled back and aimed at the window.

"Quite the mess you made downstairs I might add. Why make such a big commotion if all you wanted to talk? Surely someone who works for Lord Basilio could of found a more quieter method of contacting me, I mean it worked the first time when he hired me to find his betrothed; which by the way, if this is what it's all about, you can tell him I'm still looking for her, just taking longer than I anticipated."

"That was the intention, Ms. Greaves, but given the circumstances it would have been too great a risk not to step in when we did."

"A thank you would have been nice," Barked Rebecca.

Ortega gave her a disapproving look and stepped through the window. His hands in the air, "I'm coming out."

"Colonel!" Carter shouted in protest.

Looking up at Viola, he continued, "This is about the Gentleman, actually. Please, I promise that no harm will come to either of you if you cooperate. We just need to ask some questions."

Wheezing and coughing, Hannibal pulled with all his might to bring his body up to the roof, eventually his feet clambering up the wall and finding the window sill, using it to balance himself and get up onto the roof.

Rolling over once he got up, he immediately regretted his decision as there were no adjacent roof tops to jump to without serious injury. The only way out now, was down.

Viola kept her aim steady as the Colonel came out with his hands up and then went on to explain why he had come looking for her. When he mentioned The Gentleman, she knew it had to involve Doctor Pym, it was the only plausible explanation.

"Seeing as how my only other option is climb and pray I find a rooftop to jump to, I, or rather myself and my friend don't exactly have a whole lot of choice here. I mean I may be wearing an armoured vest here, but I don't exactly think it's going to hold up well to several magazines of assault rifle ammunition; as for my friend, he ain't exactly got a lot on him to begin with. But how do I know I can trust you? A man's word is one thing, but proving it is an entirely different matter. I'm sure someone in your position can understand."

"Well," He began, sighing as he spoke. "To start, I walked out here in the open at your mercy, knowing full well that you are capable of taking me out before I could draw. Other than that, no, there isn't much I can do or say to make you trust me other than what I have done already. If we wanted to take you by force I'd have had kept my sniper on the roof across the street. We don't want anyone else to die today."

Hannibal scratched the back of his head, contemplating how he was going to get down to the street without running into any of the gun toters, unaware he was in the perfect line of sight for a sniper shot. Knowing he didn't have a choice, he ran towards the door leading down the rest of the building, angry at himself for essentially going in a big circle.

"I guess you've made a point Colonel, given the circumstances one would say you were either very brave, or very foolish to come out here; I would say brave myself." Viola commented with a small smirk as she holstered her revolvers.

"But before we settle down to business, a few ground rules I want to set first, just you have the co-operation of myself and my friend."

Like the uneducated boy he was, Hannibal rushed down the stairs of the building, slowing his pace as he got back to the floor he was on before, hiding behind a wall as he could hear the voices.

Ortega nodded, "Fair enough. Let's hear them."

"One, no handcuffs to wherever it is we're being taken to be questioned and during the questioning itself. Second, all of our equipment stays with us at all times, that includes weapons. Third, after said questioning is done and we're allowed to leave, no one follows us about. I would think of a fourth one, but nothing immediately springs to mind. Does this sound fair to you?"

Ortega hesitated for a moment before replying, "We may run into a snag regarding your gear, but I should be able to make it work. Just don't go flashing your revolver around while we're on-base and you'll be okay." Looking to his squad through the window, he nodded. "Get the crawlers ready. We're heading home."

Hannibal just began his sneakiest sneek across the hallway when literally the entire squad looked his way.

"Don't worry Colonel, on my honour, rest assured that my weapons will stay in their holsters. And thanks by the way for the assist. Whilst I've taken on groups of that size before, given the confines of the building, I didn't fancy my chances."

Mila laughed out loud, "The fuck's this little punk think he's doin'?"

Rebecca cocked an eyebrow and looked to her squadmate, "Leave 'im alone. Those Gunderson fucks have been on his ass for awhile now. He's probably scared to fuck right now."

"Ladies," Carter laughed. "Watch those mouths of yours!"

"Shut up," Ortega barked. "Enough horsing around. Let's move out."

"Uh... VIOLA!" Hannibal yelled.

"You can relax Hannibal. These people aren't here to cause us trouble, they just want to ask a few questions regarding The Gentleman, I'm sure you know what this relates to. But if you're scared, just stick with me, and everything is going to be okay, mark my words." Viola said in a calm and relaxed voice, a stark comparison to the shouting from Ortega's troops.

"Um, okay." Hannibal said, the volume of his voice much higher than usual. "Where are we going then?" He squeaked random words in his sentence, still shaken up. "Are the um, Gunderson people um..."

"Dead," Mila assured him as she approached. "You won't need to worry about those fuckers anymore. Not after their friends conclude your in bed with Basilio. Trust me, he's not a man you want to cross." She giggled as she ruffed up his hair.

"Knock that shit out, come on!" Ortega reiterated as he led the group back down the stairs.

Hannibal damn near smiled as he heard about the Basilio part. The Gunderson's were smart enough not to step up to a noble as tough as Basilio. He could use this as his meal ticket.

Then she touched him, he jerked away from her immediately before staying completely still, his hands stuck to his sides like glue as he avoided all eye contact.

Mila titled her head in confusion before looking to her CO and falling in line.

"Yeah, should have mentioned that earlier, for some reason he's not okay with people touching him."

Hannibal blushed and gulped, feeling embarrassed over his phobia as the hairs stood on the back of his neck, a shrill, cold shiver running down his spine, feeling ever so cold in the baking hot Feroxi.

"It's okay, Becky doesn't like it either. I do it anyway though," Carter joked.

"I swear to God," Rebecca muttered under her breath.

A few minutes later, the crawlers were all loaded up. Ortega drove one himself, with Viola riding shotgun and Hannibal in the backseat with Mila. "I'll see what I can do about getting you two back on the streets before tomorrow. You know how these things are, though."

Hannibal didn't want to admit how much he really, really didn't want to be back on the streets. But he couldn't focus on that now. Now, all he could focus on was feeling a hand on his head. Fingers ruffling his hair, gripping his hair and pulling it, pushing him against a wall and turning him around so he couldn't see. But he could feel what they did.

Even all these years later, he could feel it.

"Necessary but time consuming is what I hear." Viola remarked as the crawler drove through the streets of Feroxi. Looking back at Hannibal, something suddenly came to her. She leaned towards Colonel Ortega to whisper something quietly into his ear.

"Colonel, I apologise if this is pushing it a little, given how reasonable you have been thus far, but you wouldn't by any chance be able to acquire a spare set of clothes for my friend? I'd be willing to cover any requisition costs if necessary. Nothing to fancy though something practical."

"I'll see what I can do," Ortega replied. It seemed he was a man of few words, as the rest of the trip was made in silence.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Gorgon took note of the fear in her eyes and drank it in for all it was worth. Approaching slowly, he tossed the knife between his hands and laughed, "What's wrong, Casino? You look a little pale."

"Do I?" Lilith chuckled nervously as she backed away from the huge man. Her heart thundering in her chest. "Maybe I need a cigarette to calm my nerves, how about you?"

Gorgon cocked an eyebrow, "I'm pretty fuckin' wired, myself." He tilted his head, his grin was as toothy as ever. "Sure, why not?"

Lilith breathed out slowly as the man stopped his approach.

'Oh thank god.'

Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out her cigarette tin and lighter.

'Think, damn it, think!'"

Opening the tin, she raised it to her mouth, her eyes never leaving Gorgon as she took a cigarette between her teeth. Closing the tin, she held it up for a moment before gently tossing it to the man.

'Look at him Lilith, look at him, he's wounded, blind in one eye, you can take this son of a *****.'

Flicking open her lighter, she held it to her cigarette, her hands trembling uncontrollably. Why was she this scared? Flicking the lighter shut, she took a deep drag before tossing it to Gorgon.

Gorgon savoured her anxiety. Whether she knew it or not, her terror was palpable. It was a sweet taste and it had Gorgon's blood boiling hotter than usual. Taking what was offered, Gorgon lit the cigarette and placed it between his lips. After one long drag, he exhaled sharply, "It's not often you share a smoke with someone right before you put them in the ground." He laughed. "You know, a few days ago when we had our little skirmish I told you that it was just business. Well, I'm sure you've realized by now that I'm a bit of a hypocrite. There ain't nothin' business-like about this anymore. This is straight up revenge. This is personal."

He held the cigarette out between his fingers and looked at it, "What I plan to do to you ain't in my job description, if you know what I am saying. Felt you should be aware of that." He met her gaze. "Hypocrisy is just a word. In the end, it really doesn't make a bit of difference if you're guilty of it or not. It's just as it's always been. The strong survive and the weak die off. Strength is the only quantifiable aspect to the human condition." He laughed. "Look at me, getting all philosophical all of a sudden."

Clenching her jaw, Lilith furrowed her brow, remaining silent. The man's attitude was beginning to feel very familiar. Revenge. Was this what it was all about? Revenge for the boy, revenge for tearing out her heart for those brief moments?

"You're wrong."

The woman gulped as the fear refused to fade away. "You're wrong if you think you can just force your way through life, that isn't how it works." She removed the cigarette from her lips, holding it between her fingers as she blew smoke from the corner of her mouth. "Look where it's gotten you so far."

"It got me as far as that alley," Gorgon mused. "Then I got soft. Showed weakness. I could have put a hole in you while you were mourning that boy, but I didn't."

"Weakness?" A pulse of anger shot through her body. She curled her unused hand into a tight fist. "You call having a slither off empathy weakness?" She took another deep drag of her cigarette as she held out her hand.

"Can I have those back?"

"You're not going to need it, anyway," Gorgon chuckled as he dropped the lighter on the floor and crushed it under boot. "Now, you ready to play or what?"

Her mouth slightly agape, her eyes locked on the shattered remains. Raising her gaze, she looked at the man, a look of pity in them. "That was a gift."

'Pixie'

Her expression hardened.

Fire fears nothing

This was it, she would die here.

Fire fears nothing.

"I'm terrified." She muttered to herself, a small smile curling her lips.

Spoiler: Aroooooo!

"Stop being so tense, loosen your fist." Bennie demanded, his hands on his hips as he stood over the girl.

Lilith pushed herself off the padded map for the seventh time that sparring session, groaning in frustration. She had only just started training with the huge man, after a number of rather 'vigorous' sessions with Pixie. The marks of which were evident all over her.

"How the bloody hell can I hit someone with limp fists?" She replied.

Bennie chuckled. "You're trying to fight like Meredith." He smirked as he sighed heavily. "You don't have what it takes to fight like her, you don't have the commitment to back up your aggression, the balls to throw yourself into any situation without fear."

Lilith pouted, crossing her arms over her chest sulkily. "Do so."

Bennie shook his head. "Pixie is fire. Fire fears nothing. It's not just in the way she fights, it's a part of who she is" He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Life ain't about brute force, it's about being adaptable, being fluid, like water." He held out his other hand, turning slowly as it stroked the air. "Don't be tense, be calm, most of your opponents will be stronger than you are, you can use that strength against them, react to their movements without resistance." He looked the girl in the eyes. "It means being like water, calm one moment, then pounding down in a torrent the very next." He tilted his head, a twinkle in his eye. "You get me?"

Lilith blinked a few times, a ponderous expression on her face. After a few moments she raised an eyebrow. "Have you been smoking with Ruffles again?"

Bennie burst into a fit of laughter, patting the girl hard on the shoulder. "You'll see what I mean, and maybe if I'm lucky, you'll learn a thing or two about life as well."

Lilith shook her head as she sighed, running a hands over her hair as she tightened the elastic on her ponytail. "You can spout all the philosophy you want as long as you don't teach like the captain." She looked up at the man. "She's fucking crazy." she whispered.

"Oh, I know that, don't you worry."

"Absolutely terrified." She said louder. Locking eyes with the man, she didn't try to hide it. She couldn't overpower this man, not like last time, all she could do was hold him off and hope an opportunity presented itself. Maybe she could get some help with that.

"You wanna play?" She dropped her cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with her boot, she reached a hand to the radio on her lapel. "Found him. Basement." Before the old man could respond, she turned the device off, shrugging the jacket off her shoulders, she let it slide from her arms to a crumpled pile on the ground.

"I'd say you have about five minutes." She smirked. holding up her hands, her fingers coiled loosely as she shifted her weight.

"Let's play."

Gorgon giggled like a school boy, "Now you're speaking my language!" Holding the knife by his hip, he charged forward in a flash, swinging his arm in a wide arc.


With her knife lost in the previous fray, she'd have to quickly disarm the man, or this fight would be over very quickly. Her expression hardened as Gorgon charged. Smoothly dodging beneath his first attack, she concentrated on his movements as she pushed his arms away.

As his knife-wielding arm was pushed out of range he reached forward with his off-hand, grasping her shoulder and pulling her in for a rib-splitting knee to the gut.

Gasping in pain as the blow hit her, Lilith staggered back, clutching at her chest with one hand. The fucker hit like a crawler.

"That... the best you got?" She croaked as her breathing heaved slightly. "Nice depth perception, ****." She taunted.

'God, I hope this works.'

"We can even the odds!" He roared as he stepped forward, his knife leveled once more. "FUCKING *****!" He lunged forward once more, his knife headed straight for her face.

'There!'

Regaining her composure almost instantly, she slid around the clumsy thrust on the outside of Gorgon's arm. Bringing up her hands, she wrapped one around the man's wrist, the other to his shoulder. Pushing down at the same time, she kicked his foot from under him, pulling back his wrist as she forced his arm at a painful angle. Regaining her foothold, she brought up her knee into the man's gut, his arm twisting even more painfully.

The girl almost cried out as the knife fell from Gorgon's hand. "Fuckin' dumbass." She muttered. As it clattered to the ground, she quickly placed a foot on the blade, swinging her leg back as she sent the weapons sliding to the opposite side of the room.


Gritting his teeth, Gorgon shrugged off the pain and grabbed her thigh with his free-hand. She had superior leverage, but if he could assert his weight he'd be able to bring them both crashing to the floor. Ignoring the blistering pain in his other arm, he stepped forward, closer to Lilith and imposed as much force as he could. Hopefully that'd be enough for her to lose her footing, "FUCKING *****!"

Grunting as the man grabbed her, Lilith gritted her teeth as she held her ground, applying more pressure on his arm. As she predicted, he was going to try and overwhelm her with brute strength.

"Won't... work... wanker."

Wrenching her leg from his grip, she released her hand on Gorgon's wrist as as she slid across his back, punching the man in the side of the head as she moved to his opposite side, delivering another swift punch to his blind eye. Before hopping back a few paces, her hands held up in front of her.

Grappling this man would be a mistake, she knew it.


"FUCK!" He barked as he clutched his face. The stitches were burning. He spun around swinging his arm wildly in a vain hope of grabbing his opponent.

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't see that one coming?" She stepped forward, delivering a swift kick to his injured hip, she stepped in further, knocking his arm away to land another fierce blow to his face.

"How about that one?"

Another punch, this time to his nose, before stepping back again. She needed to keep her energy up.

'Hurry up, Cranston.'


Blindly, Gorgon shoved her backwards to make some space for himself. This was bad. She was wearing him down. He'd underestimated how debilitating his injuries were, especially when exploited like this. Shaking much of shock and disorientation out of his mind, he stared her down, hypothetical steam shooting like geysers out of his ears, "I'm going to break you, Casino. I am going to make you fuckin' scream. I promise you. I FUCKIN' PROMISE YOU!" He shouted as he lunged forward once more, both arms out and ready for a grapple.

Narrowing her eyes as the man lunged, she swerved to his blind side, rising her knee as she landed a devastating blow to Gorgon's groin. As the man doubled over, she pulled his head down, thrusting her knee into his injured eye, before landing a flurry of blow to his face.

As she worked him over, the anger began to raise in her chest, weeks of feeling useless, of feeling powerless just started to pour out of her. Avoiding Gorgon's clumsy grabs, she clenched her fist, crying out as she smashed it into the man's eye. A wave of anger washed over her.

"Break me?!" She shouted. Another punch. "YOU FUCKING WHAT, MATE?!" Another punch as hot fury shot through her veins. "YOU HURT THE PEOPLE I LOVE!" Another punch. "FOR THAT, ************, YOU DON'T BREAK ME!" She continued to shout, kicking out one of Gorgon's legs from under him.

"I BREAK YOU!" She roared, as she stepped to her side, Lilith stamped down hard on the man's leg with all her might. A sickening crack laced the man's howls as his leg fractured, the bone splintering grotesquely through his skin.

"FUCKING *****! FUCKIN---GOD DAMMIT!" He groaned in pain, clutching his leg. This was it. He'd lost. His body had been too damaged to keep up with her speed. If only he had had enough time to recover. If only he hadn't been so god damned cocky. "FUCK YOU! F-FUCK YOU!" Was all he could shout. This was it. He was out of hands to play.


Standing behind the man, she grabbed his mowhawk, wrenching his head back as she leaned into his ear. "You lose again, ****." Her breathing grew ragged as her rage boiled away. "You threaten me? You threaten my friends? Who the fuck do you think you are? You're nothing, just another scum bag bounty hunter who thinks he can get his dick wet in the Iron Maidens." She wrenched his head back further, her tone growing more sinister. "Want to know why they call me Casino? It's not because I'm lucky. It's because you are. If this was Meredith Monroe instead of me? After what you did to her boy? You'd wish she'd put a bullet in your brain like I'm about to."

Placing a foot on the man's back, she kicked him to the ground.

'Fucking end him, end him now.'

Her hands clenched, she quickly made her way across the room, walking passed the exit as she approached the corner where her gun had fallen.

 

[Fappy]

"That means I get the other two,"

Severa winked at her brother right before he went into action. As he made quick work of the two of them, his sister simply stood where she was and stared at the larger man. He was shocked! Terrified, even! Severa did little more than savoir the look in his eyes. He was armed. He could have done something. But he was too fat. Too slow. Too stupid, to help his friends before it was too late.

After watching the second man bend to Owain's will, the fat man looked to Severa an pleaded, "L-LET ME GO! I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT! I SWEAR!"

Severa smirked, "You don't have shit, fatty. You're not even worthy of Miranda's wrath." Suddenly, Severa swung her huge metal case with one arm, crushing the man's jaw in a flash. The bandit careened across the bar and landed in a heap, under the counter.

Sauntering over to his barely conscious form, Severa pouted, "Oh please, brother. Can we question this one? He will be so much more fun!"

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

"You don't waste time, do you?"

"Orders are orders," Bennie stated, plainly. "It's not often I tie up a pretty lady against her will, but you understand."

"She's doing fine... I think. Still out of it though."

Bennie nodded to himself, "Good," He kept his eyes ahead. "She needs her rest. She's a fuckin' machine, I'll giver her that, but she's still human. I don't reckon I'll be able to talk her out of partying tonight after she wakes up, though. Not sure if you've heard, but it's kind of a Maiden tradition to celebrate the memory of a comrade on the night of his death. There's enough pain and suffering out there as it is, so we figured we wouldn't waste time mourning when we could be focusing on the good times."

He shook his head, "And it's fuckin' Parker. There's no way she'll sit this one out. He'd been with us for over eight years." He sighed. "Fuck."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"... Right now, my first and only priority is getting you somewhere safe, but I can't do that unless you follow my lead. Understand?"

Sprout clenched his jaw and said nothing.

"It's help... And he has a point, just look at what happened earlier. I dunno about you but I'm kinda desperate enough to accept right now."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yeah, you're right. We don't really have any other choice." Looking back to the kid, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Sprout. We'll be safe with them, okay?"

Sprout continued to stare at Sandringham for awhile longer before breaking eye contact and meeting Elizabeth's gaze, "Fine. Let's jus' get outta here, okay?" Holding his side, he added. "Gonna need some help, though."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Moon here. Target has been spotted in La Chaussure de Ciel among with two other women 'about a day ago'. That is all so far; will continue to investigate."

Tsubaki dropped the files on the tale and picked up her radio, "Negative, Moon. Head back to base and we'll discuss what you've found so far. Suns are setting and the shops will be closing soon. If you have to you can pick up where you left off tomorrow." She paused before adding, "There have been some new developments on my end. Over."

 

[The Funslinger]

Having drawn attention away from Lilith, Cranston had had his hands full with the bulk of Gorgon's forces. Thankfully, however, many of them were easily duped. Weaving through the maze of industrial machinery proved a vital tactic as it spread their forces thin, making it easy enough for the old assassin to pick them off one-by-one. The explosive sound of gunfire died down as the hunters' numbers dwindled.

Eventually, he was down to his last clip of ammunition. It wasn't supposed to go like this. It was supposed to be fast, quiet and surgerical. He should have known better than to take Lilith with him. In an effort to conserve ammo he held his pistol in his off-hand and drew a knife with his right.

Three men came at him as he rounded the last corner of a machine that ran the length of the building, near the back of the main floor. The three of them brandished submachine guns. Diving under the hail of bullets, Cranston rolled across the floor and swung his arm in a wide arc as he came up onto one knee. The first man's throat split in two as he stumbled backwards onto the floor. Wasting no time, he reached out and grabbed the second man's weapons before he could bring it to bare. As he rose to his feet once more, Cranston yanked the man forward by his weapon and landed a savage headbutt between the eyes.

Wrapping his arm around the man's neck, he pulled him in close and spun him around, firing upon his alley with his own weapon. Once he'd emptied the man's clip into his comrade, he finished the job with a quick snap of the neck. Holstering his pistol, he retrieved one of the uzis off the ground and started for the basement.

The sound of gunfire cut through the air, and Landon turned towards it like a dog with a scent. He had to move quickly.

Seconds later, it cut out, but he kept moving to where the sound had come from. Hearing the footsteps echo loudly now, he moved around the corner of one of the huge, monolithic driers to see a familiar bald head disappearing down the basement staircase. Dropping his pistol into its holster, Landon hefted the launcher and sprinted forward and pumped two grenades down the stairs, and then moved into cover a couple of paces up the thick concrete wall from the top of the stairs, sticking his fingers in his ears. When the twin explosions sounded, he pulled out his revolver and waited for the dust to settle.

Hearing the heavy footfalls coming from behind, Cranston turned his head right on time to see two grenades soaring through the air, "Shit!" He shouted as he lept straight up into the air, grabbing hold of a lead pipe that lined the ceiling of the concrete stairwell. His limbs wrapped tightly around the pipe, he felt the hair on his ass singe as the grenades detonated at the base of the stairs, not too far from where he had been standing. Releasing his hands from the pipe, he let himself hang upsided-down as he unhooked a flashbang from his vest. After cooking it for a few seconds he tossed up the stairs, closing his eyes and covering his ears right on time to spare himself from its effects.

Dropping to the ground, he sprinted up the stairs, uzi levelled. He'd be sure to make quick work of whoever it was that waited for him up there.

As it turned out, Landon would be glad he waited for the smoke to clear. He was just advancing slowly when a grenade sailed up out of the air. Not wasting time to try and identify it, he turned on his heel and threw himself behind one of the driers, fingers in ears and eyes closed. The flashbang set an awful ringing in his head and for a few seconds, a huge afterimage dominated his field of vision, but he was able to avoid the worst of it. Straightening up, pistol in hand, he stood at the edge of his cover, and watched the doorway.

"Make this easy on yourself," he called out. "I just want this handled."

Cranston slowed his approach as Landon's voice echoed down the staircase. Throwing himself against the wall, by the entrance to the main floor, he replied, "It's over, Landon. All his men are dead and Lilith's down there finishing the job as we speak. You have nothing left to gain by keeping at it." He chuckled. "You know who I am, right?"

"More or less," he called back. "But to be fair, nothing good happens if I call it quits, either. I'm just a loose end here."

Holding his revolver in his offhand, Landon held the grenade launcher in the crook of his elbow and took aim at the inside wall of the staircase.

"A loose end, maybe, but one I am willing to overlook. I know your cousin, Landon. Jake is like a nephew to me, so know this," He pulled a smoke grenade from his vest. "You've got one chance to walk away from this. If you do, you won't see me again. But if you stay and fight? Well, you know me. You'll be lucky if your life lasts another sixty seconds."

"Sorry man," replied Landon. "I'm not gonna be the guy that pussies out. But you tell Jake what ya did."

He squeezed the trigger, and his grenade rebounded off the inside wall and bounced down the stairs.

Tossing the smoke grenade outside the stairwell, Cranston dove out into the growing cloud just as Landon's grenade detonated behind him. Thankfully, it had fallen a few steps before detonation, preventing most of the shrapnel from reaching him. One fragment, however, managed to bury itself deep in his arm as he dashed behind a nearby machine. Considering the placement of the smoke bomb, the oldman could have snuck behind any number of walls or machines. Landon was at his mercy now, unaware as to where he would strike from.

Landon swore under his breath as the cloud of smoke grew, consuming the room. He thought he saw Cranston for a very brief moment before that too was consumed in a grey haze.

Moving quickly, he retreated to the far side behind him, and put his back against the wall. He'd be damned if he let the old man creep up behind him. Just as the wall of smoke caught up with him, Landon fired off his last three grenades in different directions, and then set the launcher on the ground. The smoke would work both ways, and Cranston would have plenty of difficulty telling where the grenades landed.

Holding his pistol to his cheek like a duelist, Landon waited.

Three more blasts followed by the sounded of metal clattering against metal. His grenade launcher was spent. It was a good thing, too. Despite the injury he'd sustained, Landon had lost his only advantage in this fight. Picking up another submachine gun from off the ground, he slowly made his way towards Landon's last know position. He clearly wouldn't be there, but it was a good starting point.

Once he'd arrived and confirmed that Landon was no longer there, he analyzed the layout of the machines around him. Once the smoke had cleared, Cranston was gone. A long while passed as Landon remained pressed against the wall, waiting. Then, suddenly, a barrage of bullets came raining down from the top of a nearby machine. Cranston had both submachine guns trained on him from afar. If they didn't find their mark, they'd certainly draw him out into the open.

It had been twenty seconds since Cranston's warning.

Concrete wall exploded around Landon as a hail of bullets descended on him. He reacted as well as he could and moved, but still felt hot lines across his back. Doing the only thing he could, Landon made a beeline for another machine, firing a couple of shots at the one Cranston had mounted. The unaimed rounds missed the man himself, but one clipped the machine and set it sparking. Landon was feet from his next point of cover when machine gun fire hitting the ground in front of him brought him to an involuntary halt.

Turning, Landon pointed his revolver at Cranston. "I guess you've got me," he said.

 

[Dogmatic99]

"Hey, you want some coffee?"

"Yeah sure." Mike grunted as he stretched his arms out over his head. The heat in the checkpoint booth was turning out to be just the right kind to softly lull him into a cosy tiredness. It was slow days like this that made him really wish he could get a longer break, a nice chance to stretch his legs and get some fresh air. Everybody had kept saying don't move up north, place was a nasty, cold ass town. Didn't matter how good job opportunities or how hot the girls were, no sir they couldn't get paid enough to try it.

Course Mike had been less picky, and you know what? Things had worked out. Sure the job wasn't the most exciting in the world but it was cushy in its way and had steady pay. Plus he had actually met one of those hot girls he'd heard so much about. Course since they got together Dina had always been talking about visiting the domes down south and seeing one where it looked like the sun could shine. And ever since they got married she'd been on his case about it pretty much everyday. Not that he could blame her, the gang problem had gotten steadily worse to the point where the people in their building were looking to chip in together to pay for a panic room thingy. Though why they kept yammering on at him for it Mike had no clue. Working for the nobles hadn't gotten him any great perks besides the uniform. Things were finally starting to get quiet these days though, maybe the they'd all worn themselves out. Still... maybe moving back to Yuteni wouldn't be so bad. He could show off Dina to the family. Maybe the years of security could get him a job with the police, they seemed to have it pretty easy.

Daydreaming'd have to wait though as a couple of trucks rolled up to the checkpoint. "Got quite the delivery today huh?" He called over to the lead driver.

"????? ??????? ??? ????? ?????" The guy slurred over at Mike. great, he was one of those proper Ruskies. The accent was pretty sexy on the ladies but Mike always found hearing the locals talk in that weird language of their kind of grating. They always sounded angry, whatever they were saying. Like dogs barking and trying to hack up phlegm at the same time.

"I don't speak that, pal. Sorry." Mike'd only ever picked up enough to survive, he'd always sucked at languages.

"???? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ????????? ????!!!" Now the guy was getting pretty pissed off, yelling something Mike could safely guess wasn't nice.

"aw jeez, papers!" Mike sighed. "Papers!" He tried shouting it louder, cus that would help. "Guy, I just need some papers!" A little added emphasis and waving some papers of his own around. The driver seemed too busy shouting his head off to care and the drivers behind him were starting to beep their horns impatiently. Mike was about to press the buzzer to call the inner ring security to come handle him when a cup got plonked down in front of him.

"I'll take care of the others." Alexei gave a little laugh at the scene as he went outside and waved the other trucks to go round.

The grisly looking driver eventually got over himself and Mike managed to get everything signed off and stamped properly, only half looking things over as he ended up too frustrated and embarrassed and just wanting to get the guy out of his face. Dina's friends always gave him grief about the language barrier and he wasn't in any mood for it today. "Hey Alexei, I'm goin' for a smoke, you got this?"

There was no answer. "Al! Hey, Al!" Mike couldn't get a good look for him through the moving vehicles and people. Wait, people? Who the hell were these guys, the forms said they were transporting food goods, what the hell were they unloading? "Hey... hey." Mike got out of his booth and tried to find a driver that could They ignored him. What the hell was everybody deciding to take a dump on the out-of-towner today? "Hey Al, do you know what they're doin' here?"

It was only as Mike rounded one of the trucks and saw Alexei on the ground as some guy's feet. The man looked like a shaved polar bear. He just looked at Mike like he was bored and couldn't be assed with any of this. Then Mike snapped back from sheer surprise and saw the red scarf tied around the guy's arm. "Oh Shi-" Then he felt himself jer round, the world fell out from under him and went black really fast.

========================================

Neither Erik or any of his crew paused for a moment as the gormless guard dropped to the ground, his neck broken like a twig. The man that did it quickly went back to work helping to unload the explosives.

Faster, faster... Erik paced around helping to unload the bigger heavy weapons and making sure his team leaders were all quick on the uptake as each group formed up and sprinted off in their given directions. He didn't like being out in the open like this, time was short as it was and with so little cover. At least he was working with professionals again. Thank god for small blessings.

The last of the teams were ready and moving out, all but Erik's team who were waiting for him to give the word. ["Masks"] Was apparently it as they all slipped on their full face breather masks in unison. Each one locked and loaded their guns, making sure to make as many metallic noises with it as possible before moving off fast and low. Each team had their targets and Erik would be damned if his vanguard would be found wanting.

Only a few minutes now. Soon security would be waking up and the whole compound would be going crazy and that was before the main assault came. Just saves more for us. Erik couldn't suppress the grin under his mask, every nerve was standing on end and the world seemed to have a nice, crisp, feel to it. These were the days he was made for.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Debris fell from the skies of Yuteni as the roofs of buildings were being blown apart, causing further destruction for pretenders on the ground. Meanwhile troops were doing an excellent job of liberating children from their captors, and luring said captors into Austin's ire, as he drew closer and closer to the tattered spire that was the Yuteni family ivory towers.

"So smug as to actually name the city after themselves." Retched the daughter piloting the ship as Austin stood by her side.

"Worry not my girl, we'll rename this pitiful place once we have declared victory."

"To what father?" she asked, calmly, ignoring the carnage she was causing.

"Lets focus on the mission at hand first." He chirped.

"Yes, of course father." she replied, obediently.

Meanwhile soldiers were running to man the artillery built to defend the tower, as the nobles inside cowered in fear. Of all the fighting forces in the ashlands, one would be forgiven for thinking these were the least experienced- and the most cowardly. Their commanders screeched out to fire on the ship with wild abandon. They weren't even close enough to reach the Iron Maiden, and thus only served to add to the damage down below. Austin laughed at their pathetic answers. "Take note my children," Austin addressed the entire ship, "this is the simplest foe we shall face. In the future, they will be far more organised than this pathetic rabble. But lets enjoy ourselves while its this easy." He chuckled before commanding in an angry, jarring tone, "Annihilate them!"

Charged plasma shots blasted at the tower, taking out legions of soldiers as they scrambled for direction and command. As the ship came within range it did indeed receive surface damage from their artillery, indeed if the family were only armed with rockets and mortars they would lose this day. But the advantage of built in missile launchers made the world of difference, as they bombarded the enemy below, their putrid army of such tiny size appearing as ants before the vengeful father. The ship circled around the the spire, letting lose such chaos that the pitiful defenders of nobility had no chance of even defending themselves, let alone their charges. Their weapons fell apart, a lack of maintenance brought on by Noble greed, where was their greed getting them now, thought Austin, other than an early grave.

"Destroy the foundation of the building!" He ordered with such awesome conviction. "I want it to topple over like those wretches inside will at my glory!"

The echo of "Yes father!" pierced the ship better than any cannon ever could, as pride and hope filled the hearts of all of his murderous sons and daughters. All weaponry then focused on the towers foundations, laying down a barrage of fire the likes of which none of these soldiers had even seen or been so close to. It was however, their last time seeing it as well.
===================================================================
Driving like a mad woman through the slums, chaos was erupting around her on the streets. Not because of Austin, she hadn't reached him yet. But of looting, fighting, and people running for help. She wanted to stay and help them, to halt the criminal element from taking advantage of the situation, but the soldiers would be more than worthless against Austin. Hell her officers may not have the arms they had, but they had something they sorely lacked. Discipline and conviction. Two qualities a police officer...

She slammed down on the break as she realised what she was doing. Ignoring civilians for the sake of stopping Austin. He may have been a terrorist at this point, but she was still an officer. She was to protect and serve, and if she couldn't hold up that mantra then she didn't deserve the badge, much less her father's hat.

Stepping outside of her vehicle she shot into the air as she saw to men fighting over a crate filled with... she didn't even care. "Break it up!" She boomed, causing the men to immediately scatter. She didn't even check what it was they were fighting over as she set off to stop the scum of her city from using this chaos to their advantage.

 

[The Funslinger]

"I guess you've got me,"

Cranston simply grimaced as he realized one of his weapons was empty. Stepping forward, without hesitation, he dropped the emptied submachine gun and fired at Landon with the remaining uzi.

Landon threw himself to the side as bullets filled the air he had occupied a second before, firing his revolver as he scrambled to stay ahead of the gunfire. The first few went wide, but the last bullet went smashed right into the barrel of the uzi. Realizing he was empty, Landon got to his feet and threw the revolver away.

Cranston released the weapon on impact, allowing the twisted hunk of metal to sail across the warehouse. Trying to draw on Landon from this range would have been too risky. Instead, Cranston opted to press the assault with as little delay as possible so Landon couldn't draw another weapon himself. Stepping in closer, the old assassin delivered a savage punch to the man's gut and lifted up, sending him tumbling backwards against an old, rusted machine. Crossing the gap between them in the blink of an eye, Cranston slammed his forearm against the larger man's throat and pressed him up against the machinery.

Landon was surprised by the speed with which his opponent moved, and soon he was backed up against the side of one of the machines. Grappling Cranston's arm away, he brought his knee slamming up into the man's stomach, taking the reprieve to duck out of the stranglehold and step around his opponent.

Cranston winced and nearly doubled over from the force of the blow. However, he wouldn't let his prey weasle away so easily. Turning to face him, Cranston dropped into an almost casual-looking fighting stance, "You get one move. Better make it count, boy."

"I thought old fighters talked less shit," replied Landon, considering his next move. There was no way he could match Cranston for technique. His only advantage was the level of force he could bring to bear.

Bolting forward, he made as if to lash out at Cranston's chest, and then feinted, throwing himself forward to tackle the old man to the ground.

You were supposed to run.

To an a seasoned professional like Cranston, Landon's deceptive tactics were easy enough to predict. Planting his boot one step ahead, Cranston threw his body forward into Landon's hold. However, he was not without his own leverage and bent his knees as his body dipped below Landon's superior mass. Grabbing hold of his shirt with both hands, the old man hoisted Landon up and over his head, using his own momentum to throw him head-over-heels onto the ground behind him.

Slamming down hard against the concrete, Cranston wasted no time and drew his silence pistol while his adversary was still stunned. Standing over him, his weapon trained on the younger man's head, he checked his watch, "Sixty-five seconds. I was wrong." He pulled back the hammer on his pistol. "What should I tell Jake?"

Landon rolled onto his back and looked up at his killer. "Like I said before," he said, ignoring the blood flowing from his nose. "You tell him what ya did."

Cranston nodded, "Okay. Will do." Cranston fired one round between Landon's eyes and sighed. "Stupid kid." Looking back towards the basement he grimaced.

How was Lilith fairing?

============================================================

"Oh please, brother. Can we question this one? He will be so much more fun!"

"Why not both?" suggested Owain, straightening up. "We don't even need to take them anywhere. I'm sure this place has a wonderful backroom."

The barman spoke up at this. "You two are fucking psychos! Get out of here! I have a shotgun under the bar, and I'll--"

He was cut off by Owain drawing his silenced pistol, and shooting him through the head. "I suppose he keeps his keys under the bar, too," he said conversationally. "Find them, sister dear, and I'll set about dragging fatty here into the kitchen."

=============================================================

"It's not often I tie up a pretty lady against her will, but you understand."

Whiskey burst out laughing at this, and then fell silent as the conversation carried on. She remained silent now. It wasn't her place to say anything about their dead crew member, or the state of their Captain.

=============================================================

When Bryan finally walked into the meeting room, he sat down in one of the chairs, propping his swords against the table. "Any luck on the espionage, Commander?"

 

[ProtoChimp]

Yuteni's noble family had been having a wonderful evening. Beginning the day with a spot of archery, they had lunch in a lovely bistro within their tower. Departing from each other for a few hours, the youngsters nor the elders realised just how similar their tastes were. While the young adults were off ordering the most mature and expert whores they could find, the elders, specifically the head Gerald Yuteni, looked towards the youngest. By no means were they the only nobles in the world to be enticed by young prostitutes, they were voraciously adamant in 'helping' them maintain a presence within their city.

As evening approached, the women and girls had been disposed off in a way befitting leftovers on a dish. They could not be allowed to leave a noble bedroom thinking they were equal to those they had pleasured! No, no they must feel like a dirty rat, vermin that had to be scooped away by force of an armed escort; who's only job was to hide their escorts and be as rough as possible removing them from the tower.

Some were mad, others just bored, but all were insulted. Little did they know just how grateful they'd be to be out of the noble's homestead as the foundations began to crumble under the weight of vicious pirate artillery. Soldiers and staff were being blown apart and damn near having their body parts melted as plasma rained like meteors. Suddenly the nobles within who had spent the carbon of their city on their own luxury wished they had instead spent it on their own protection. They first thought to enter one of their own ships, but the docks were destroyed before they could even reach their vessels. They thought to exit by other aircraft, but if Austin wouldn't allow them to leave by ship, why would he allow them by any other form-as any and all exits were cut off by fiery death.

In the end there was no exit, no one could have saved them. No one brave heroic soldier doing his or her duty for their perfect noble family, no allied attempt at a rescue of the Yuteni nobility, no grateful act by the city that they had condemned for years. No, instead they simply yelled and blamed each other as their world, literally, crumbled around them.
==========================================

The new arrivals on the ship had heard their wild shrills, but no more than when they finally achieved their goal. Bellowing out a triumphant "YES!" Austin elongated the word as long as possible, losing any and all gracefulness in his tone as even he slobbered like an animal, totally out of character for the 'refined' father.

He watched in awe, never more proud of his family than he was in this moment, as the foundations simply couldn't hold up the structure of the building anymore. The support fractured, it began to break apart until gravity and physics decided that the Yuteni family was simply not worth supporting. And it fell. Collapsing in on itself. From the top of the spire it came crashing down onto its lower portions until there was nothing more than the wreckage of the pathetic, meek cretins that debased the city they were meant to protect.

All over, the city stood in shock. They wouldn't miss the nobles, but the fact that the ivory towers themselves had been brought down, it seemed unreal. Impossible even. But with enough conviction, weaponry, and malicious intent, anything was possible.

"Finish off the soldiers!" Austin barked. "No one leaves this unholy site alive!"

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: Mooooozec

'Just do it, just one shot, then you can leave this damn city.'

Picking up her pistol, she stormed back over to Gorgon, who had managed to turn onto his side.

Kicking his shoulder, she put him flat on his back as she stood over him. "Look at me." She demanded, her voice quiet as her eyes burned into him. She wanted to see his face as he died.

Gorgon didn't hesitate to do as he was told. He was disappointed with himself, sure, but he wasn't afraid to die. He wasn't afraid of this little girl, "I'm lookin'. What the fuck you want from me?"


Lilith looked at the man. No begging, no apologies, in his mind he was already dead.
"Axel." She said clearly. "The boy you shot, his name is Axel."
She clenched her jaw for a moment, furrowing her brow. "He survived, by the way, just thought you should know."

"Figured," Gorgon sneered. "You would've finished the job by now if he was dead. What's the fuckin' hold up, anyway? All this waitin' is pissing me the fuck off."

Lilith's finger tightening on the trigger, she narrowed her eyes. "He's fifteen years old." Her hands began to tremble. Bitterness crawling up her throat as she struggled to contain her disgust for the man. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Hey, FUCK YOU! I'm the one lookin' down the barrel of your gun! What, you want me to feel fuckin' guilty? Make me beg for forgiveness? Fuck off! You don't get to make that decision! I'll die on my own fuckin' terms. My death ain't about you or that fuckin' brat! Grow the fuck up and just finish this." His one good eye bore into hers. Despite his helplessness, he didn't have an ounce of fear in him. He was like a mad dog waiting for his master to put him down.

He was right, she should kill him. Kill him right now. There was nothing about the man she felt sympathy for, he deserved it. So why was she hesitating to put a bullet in his head? Her eyes softened as she stared into his.
"You were wrong about one thing. If the boy hadn't have made it, you wouldn't be dead right now. It would be much worse."


She tilted her head slightly. "The boy you shot? The boy you almost killed? He's kind, and gentle, and goddamn if he isn't the sweetest thing on this shithole planet." She smiled sadly. "And you nearly took him away from me."

She paused for a moment.

"Nearly."

Lilith looked down at the man she had broken. "If he were here now, he wouldn't want to see me like this." She clenched her jaw as her eyes glistened slightly. "He'd hold me, and stroke my hair, and tell me everything was going to be okay, and that we should just go home."

Her eyes pierced Gorgon, "You nearly broke me that day, nearly made me into something I never want to be."

If there's one thing you should never, ever do, it's make violence personal.

She smiled.

I just need to know something first, or it'll mean nothing.

"And you nearly broke me again tonight." After what felt like an eternity, she lowered her gun.

"Nearly."

Frowning slightly, she furrowed her brow. "You don't deserve to be the person who does that to me, Not while that boy is still alive." His leg was in pieces, his men were dead, there was nothing this man could do to hurt Axel or the others, not anymore.

"Good night, Gorgon." She said simply as she went to collect her jacket, she wanted to go home.


Gorgon watched in utter disbelief as she turned away from him. Was this some kind of joke? Was she toying with him? No. No, she was actually going to let him live. How in the mother of fuck had she made it this far with such a naive attitude? She had killed half his men! How did sparing his life make any difference at all? How does that absolve her of her sins in any way?

She was a stupid kid. Clearly, there was nothing else to it.

Gorgon was pissed. He was insulted. Again, he'd been left beaten and broken. He'd been left to swallow his pride as a small, stupid little girl got the best of him. No. NO! He would not settle for this! This ***** needed to be taught a lesson! She needed to pay!

As she knelt down to retrieve her jacket, Gorgon gritted his teeth, braced his arms against the wall and sprung out from behind her. Considering his crippled mobility, he had no choice but to bet it all on this tackle.

And it worked.

Wrapping one arm around her shoulder, he came down hard on top of Lilith, knocking the wind out of her, "GOT YOU NOW, *****!"


Lilith cried out in surprise as the man tackled her to the ground. Bringing up her gun hand as she tried to turn, firing a round, the bullet went astray as Gorgon swatted the gun from her hands Grabbing her wrist, he pinned her to the ground.

Oh god, oh god, what have I done?!

Panic began to rise in her throat as she attempted to wriggle from the man's grasp.

It was of no use, of course. Gorgon's advantage had been his size. With Lilith's mobility gone, there was little she could do, even in Gorgon's crippled state. Slamming her left wrist hard against the concrete, he slid his good leg up and pinned her hand in place with his knee. Leaning in close, blood dripping from his wounded face, he sneered, "YOU STUPID FUCKIN' *****! YOU FUCKIN' TRYIN' TO INSULT ME!? HUH!?

With one of her hands pinned he was free to reach for the switch-blade in his back pocket. Flipping it out, he held the tip of her blade below her naval, "WHAT DID I SAY!? WHAT DID I SAY I'D DO TO YOU!?"

Lilith cried out in exertion as she tried to force the much larger man off of her. Her breathing growing ragged as terror began to overwhelm her. "GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" She kicked out her feet helplessly, bucking her head forward as she tried to push the man away, but to no avail.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He screamed in her face. "DID I SAY YOU COULD TALK!?" Hovering the knife above her face, he smiled wickedly. "You know, you're purdy lil' thing, Casino. Be a shame to ruin' that face." He gently pressed the knife into the skin just below he right eye. "Please, Casino, scream a bit more for me. Scream! SCREAM!"


Locking eyes with the man, she tried to contain the terror in them, to stop it from spilling over into the rest of her. Clenching her jaw tightly, she remained silent. There was still time, time for Cranston to get here, all she had to do was hold out, try and delay him until then.

"Fuck you." She muttered slowly through clenched teeth.

Gorgon bore his teeth like a hungry wolf, "I ASKED FOR A SCREAM, NOT A WHIMPER!" Slowly, he sliced the knife down her cheek "THIS IS WHAT YOU GET, *****! YOU UNDERSTAND ME!? DO YOU UNDERSTAND!?"

Growing rigid under the touch of the knife, Lilith whimpered slightly, breathing heavily through gritted teeth. All she had to do was stall him. Not scream, and stall him. Not cry out, and scream, and stall him.

Clenching hey eyes shut as she fought back the tears, warm blood dripping down the side of her face. Her chest heaving as she started to hyperventilate. Locking eyes with the man, she started to seethe. "FUCK YOU!" She roared as she spat in the man's face.


He laughed out loud as he withdrew the knife. throwing it carelessly over his shoulder. "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! NOW, HUSH THAT PRETTY MOUTH OF YOURS!" He roared as he reached out and wrapped his hand around her neck. Squeezing firmly, he looked her right in the eye. "I'm gonna choke the life out of you slowly..." He grinned as he tightened his grip.

Spoiler: MUCH TENSE

Gasping as the man's hands tightened around her throat, she clawed at the them as she tried to pry them from around her. Flailing her legs wildly against the ground as she tried to gain footing that didn't exist.

'No, no, no, no, no! Not now, not now, please!' She tried to cry out as she gasped for air, her vision began darkening around the edges.

As survival instinct took over, she flailed her arms wild, reaching up to the the man's head, her nails clawing at his neck in an attempt to reach his face.

'Please, not now, not like this.' As tears began to stream from her eyes, her gasps grew more and more desperate.

'Kill him kill him kill him kill him!'

As her strength began to wane, her vision grew fuzzy as her consciousness started to fade.

'I'm done.' Her arms fell to the ground.

'I'm so sorry Axel...' Her hands twitched uselessly as she tried to gather the strength to fight back. This was it, this was how she would die, choked by a world that saw fit to punish her mercy. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair dammit!

Her consciousness roused slightly as she felt something sharp prod against the side of her right hand. Clawing at the ground, she wrapped her fingers around whatever it was, grasping it tightly as it sunk into her flesh.

Rising her hand slowly, Gorgon's blindside hiding her purpose from his view, she gently placed her fist against his neck.

'One shot, Valentine, make it count.'

Pulling her arm back, she slid the shard of metal from between her fingers, slick with her own blood. It was only a few inches long, but the tip was sharp and jagged. Clenching it between her thumb and the side of her forefinger, she mustered all the focus she could manage. Holding the the shard close to Gorgon's neck, she firmly pushed the shard into his throat, following through with her palm as she plunged it into him, her hand falling to the ground as she blacked out.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"And it's fuckin' Parker. There's no way she'll sit this one out. He'd been with us for over eight years."

Amy hung her head, she had almost forgotten about Parker. If she was a Maiden now, she supposed that she would be 'celebrating' with them. She was not without empathy, but truth be told she hadn't spoken so much as a word to Parker. In fact, she barely knew anyone here, and yet her life and the lives of her sisters were in their hands. It was all so confusing, how fast it had happened. The optimism that Amy had felt before about her induction to this new family was now soured by dread. Parker's wake would just be the first of many to come for her, she knew, and it was all so strange. Before now, Amy had had her sisters, and she had cared for and worried about them all, trying her best to give the security, and to give them all the same chance that The Gentleman had once given to her, to make the best of their shared situation; but deep down, Amy knew that sister was just a word. This, the camaraderie, the knowledge that every other person under your banner would have your back when they needed them, this was a real family, and the hard truth was that Amy didn't know if she was cut out for it. A handful of days in this environment and she was already starting to lose her grip, being recklessly impulsive and defying every rule of logic that had kept her alive since she was a little girl. What were these people going to do to her if she stayed around them for much longer?

Worse, what might she do to them?

Cradling Meredith closer, Amy whispered in her ear, her voice not carrying above the noise of the Crawler.

"I'm going to be brave for you. I don't know if I an ever be the person you want me to be, but I'm going to try. Please, just let me know I haven't made a terrible mistake. Don't give up on me, and... if I can't be everything you want, please let what I am be enough, because what I am is someone who loves you. That's all that matters."

=========================================================================================================================

"Gonna need some help, though."

Sandringham simply nooded, before turning to one of his men and saying "Winters, take care of him."

While Mendez and Farthing dragged the body into the bathroom, Sandringham turned to address the two women.

"There's no time to remove any trace of a fight. We're lucky police aren't on their way here already. All we can do now is make sure nobody who might want to follow us has anything to go on. My men will make sure nobody can ID the corpse. While they're doing that, you two have five minutes to clear this place of any personal affects you have that could be used to place you here. Anything that you can't take with you is getting burned. Understood?"

 

[Terratina.]

"...There have been some new developments on my end. Over."

"Roger that, Commander." Jun replied, then switched off the radio and began to walk back to base. Did he really give off the impression that he needed to investigate further? Or was there another meaning to those words? Too much bother thinking about it, anyway. Regardless, it was pleasing to see that at least one of the others had made some progress.

Not long after that little conversion, he had returned.

***​

"Anything that you can't take with you is getting burned. Understood?"

"I'd better get my things then." Maria sighed and walked off to what had been her room for the last couple of days. The first thing she grabbed was the doctor's bag; without it, she would be at least a smidge above useless to Sprout and the others. Next were just the rest of what she had, including her coat. It was a small mercy that she hadn't been wearing it when that bastard had attacked. Still, it wouldn't have been the first time a drop of blood had touched it and had left a dark brown stain that was a ***** to get rid of. For one small moment, she collapsed onto the bed and closed her eyes.

'It's over, Maria, move on. ' With a stretch, she got off the bed and returned to Elizabth, Sprout and the suits.

 

[Fappy]

"Why not both?"

Severa grinned.

"Find them, sister dear, and I'll set about dragging fatty here into the kitchen."

"As you wish, Brother," She chirped as she hopped over the bar, effortlessly. Crouching over the bartender's corpse, she retrieved a ring of keys from his pocket. Stepping out from behind the bar, Severa swung the key ring around on the tip of her finger as she came up to the door. Unlocking it for him, Owain proceeded to drag the fat man through the door. "I can hardly wait!" She mused.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

Tsubaki looked up from behind the files she'd been mulling over when Bryan and Jun entered the room. No sign of Asad yet.

"Any luck on the espionage, Commander?"

"Yes," She stated simply before looking to Jun. "Make yourselves comfortable. We'll start once Harel arrives." She nodded in the direction of the coffee maker on the counter.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Winters, take care of him."

Sprout said nothing as the man helped him out into the hall. Leaning against the wall outside the door, Sprout sighed heavily. The stress of the situation had taken a lot out of him. Winters looked to the boy and faked a smile, "Cheer up, kid."

"Yeah," He muttered, absentmindedly.

"I'll go get your stuff for you. Is it all in your bedroom?"

"Yeah," He repeated.

With that, Winters headed back into the apartment in search of Sprout's belongings.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"... Anything that you can't take with you is getting burned. Understood?"

"Oh my," Elizabeth gasped.

"I'd better get my things then."

"So it would seem," Elizabeth forced a nervous laugh. "I will collect Lilith's things as well."

After combing their room, Elizabeth felt confident she'd collected all the necessities. Unfortunately, there had been far too many new outfits to bring along, so she picked out the cutest of each of their collections and shoved them all into one overstuffed dufflebag.

Coming back out into the main room, Elizabeth dropped the heavy sack onto the ground in front of her, "I think that's everything."

Joining the group with a large bag of his own, Winters spoke to his boss, "I have the boy's stuff. I think we're clear to torch the rest."

********************************************************************************************************************************************************

"... Don't give up on me, and... if I can't be everything you want, please let what I am be enough, because what I am is someone who loves you. That's all that matters."

Pixie muttered something incomprehensible back. Had she been awake? No. She was dreaming, most likely. From the looks of it, it was a happy dream. Whether Amy's words had truly made it to her was unclear, but they seemed to make her happy nonetheless.

Eventually, she began to rouse, just as they were closing in on their destination. Looking up at Amy from her place in her lap, Pixie smiled, "Hey there, darlin'. Why so glum?"

Bennie ignored Pixie's newly found consciousness and looked to Whiskey, "Sorry, girl, but it's blindfold time." He handed her a black bandanna. "Can I trust you to do it yourself?"