[b][i]An Old Enemy: Part 1[/i][/b]

“What the fuck is going on…?” Solus breathed out heavily. He was tired, and beaten. And there was a lot on his mind. So many things were happening at once in his head that it seemed like his brain would soon burn out from the strain of the past day and a half. [i]So…[/i] Solus thought to himself. [i]Peskay is now one of them. Those weird gimp collar wearing nuts.[/i] The only other people he knew of that wore something similar, was that Succubus who was just in his car, an Angel who Rina met while Solus was out cold, a being which knew where he lived. And an old nemesis of his, who the Necromaster hasn’t seen in a decade, Clalrian. Solus sighed out loud, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “This is one hell of day…”

He had no idea what he would tell Rina. And he didn’t know how she would react. And what were those coordinates about? All he could really do was think about something else.

He blazed down the city streets, until eventually he was forced to drive slower, as the roads were filled with bodies of the dead and the dying, totaled vehicles and damaged buildings. Occasionally there would be a civilian or two who run in the opposite direction, heading towards the edge of the city. A wise move. It made Solus consider his current decision, to blindly go into the fray. Maybe he should have just turned and headed home, and gave up, or perhaps bailed on the city entirely. He shook the thought away. That wasn’t him. A mere skirmish between the Angels and the Demons wouldn’t deter him from at least saving a few lives, or at least just one. Even with one single life saved, he would be happy, even if he was tired of this abominable job.

With a new found determination and purpose, he continued on. The conditions of the city got worse as he went deeper into the city, collapsed buildings all around, with no life what so ever in sight. This is something he hoped he wouldn’t have to see, but now he knew, that his future, his prophecy, was gradually coming true.

In the distance, he saw a large black object blocking the path ahead, Solus knew that beyond whatever that thing was, the thing that faintly called for him, and perhaps everyone else in the city, had to be there. He slowed down even more, forcing the car against its will into a crawl. Gently passing the rubble and bodies that were laid out ahead of him. Slowly inching closer to the black wall. Finally he could see a little clearer. Way ahead in the distance, standing along the perimeter of the wall where several faint figures, they walked along the bottom and along the top of the 20 foot wall like on patrol. And from the silhouettes, Solus could just barely pick out that they were armed. “The military…?” The Necromaster asked himself quizzically. If it was, perhaps there was a glimmer of hope for this dammed city. Despite all the destruction that surrounded the man’s perspective, it was eerily quiet, and safe. Maybe these men ahead have dealt with most of the conflict on this side of the city. Hence the erected barricade to contain the rest of the fighting from the more secured sectors like this one.

Just in case those men where trigger happy, the Necromaster decided the avoid a hostile confrontation with them, and opted to bypass that gate by other means. He turned the car into an alley, nicely hidden away in the darkness. Then he locked it up, took a mental note of its location and set off on foot.

He tucked his back against the wall of the building where he parked his ride, bobbing in and out of the rubble that he was using as cover, in case one or two of the guards on the barricade were snipers. He then ran quickly across the street, and reached a tall corporate building, while still constantly watching the men on the barricade, who were about 300 yards away. He rested his back against the edge of entrance of the building, a glass turnable door that got eviscerated by gunfire, and slowly leaned his head in to look around. The reception area that the entrance lead to was a mess. Papers we strewn about and walls and furniture were filled with bullet holes and scorch marks, with a sprinkle of blood here and there. The lights on the ceiling flickered wildly as the power of the establishment fluctuated continuously. But other than that, the place seemed empty.

Regardless, Solus drew his large Beretta 93r Auto 9 Machine Pistol, or the ‘Bulletstorm’ as he liked to call it. He didn’t want to get caught off guard. He stepped in slowly, carefully watching his footing so as to not step on the loose glass and cause any noise. Stealth wasn’t Solus’ forte, so sneaking around like this was always the most tense part of any job, though this wasn’t really a job. More like an attempt to sate his curiosity, which made this that much more tense. His gun’s iron sights followed his sight as he surveyed the area. He tapped into his being as tried to sense for anything supernatural, or natural for that matter, as he slowly walked towards the elevator that lead to the top floor. 42 stories up.

He reached the two chrome doors, that weren’t so pristine like they used to be only 25 minutes ago. Solus took note of that, the time this all started and how long it took him to get here. Whatever happened in this place, happened fast. He pushed on the ‘call’ button, but there was no response. He then pushed it a few more times, same result. “Dead…” The Necromaster mumbled out, disappointed. He didn’t really know what he expected, but it was worth a try anyway. “The stairs then…”

He turned towards the staircase, only to reach it and almost lose all hope. The whole thing had collapsed, not even a few steps remained. So he turned back to the elevator again. If he could pry the doors open, perhaps he would find a maintenance ladder within the shaft.

He drew one of his swords, and jammed it into the gap between the two doors. He then used all his weight to pull the blade to one side, forcing the doors open just enough to slide both his hands in. He sheathed his sword and placed his hands into the gap, getting a good hold on both doors, and then forcing them apart, making the gap large enough for him to shimmy in. He instinctively look up as he pushed his head in, there were a few lights in the shaft that still functioned. They dimly illuminated the shaft all the way to the top. “That’s a long climb.” Solus remarked as he looked around for the ladder he initially set out to find.

Something else caught his attention though, and that was the smashed elevator down below. It must have crumpled up like a paper cup when it landed at the bottom, 3 stories below Solus’ feet, where the underground parking area took its residence in this building’s floor plan. The Chimera hoped no one was in that thing when it decided to add ‘Hell’ as one of its many options on the floor selection panel.

He pushed the doors even further apart, almost opening them completely. “There you are…” He stated, with the service ladder now in his sights. It was all the way across from him. He took a few steps back, and then ran towards the open elevator shaft, leaping all the way across towards the ladder. His body slammed against it with a clang as he grabbed a hold of it. He secured his grip and footing on the holds, and began to climb.

As he climbed he noticed that at the 5th Floor another elevator shaft perpendicular to the one Solus was in appeared. His hope of reaching that damn roof quickly rose, but only for a short moment until his negativity completely shattered it. He doubted the elevator in that shaft worked, but who knew…

It was when he reached the 11th Floor, when he noticed that the ladder was starting to warp and the metal holds became more twisted and damaged. He stopped and looked. The ladder was split in half and the cleave ended about 2 more stories above. During its fall, the elevator must have grinded against that side of the shaft, and tore the ladder apart, from floor 29 to floor 13. [i]Damn it.[/i]It seemed like fate was trying to impede him from finding out what was happening.

Solus sighed heavily. This was taking forever. Maybe he should have just charged at that barricade head on instead of looking for a way around.

He began to look for other options, and saw that the doors on the 12th Floor have been completely blown off. If he was careful, he could climb up and continue heading up to the roof, if there was any way up to the roof from there to begin with.

Solus climbed up that one extra floor, and then stepped onto a small ledge that wrapped around all four walls. It protruded out only by 6 inches, which left a lot to be desired of this foothold. He shuffled along it slowly, being cautious of where he placed his feet. Unfortunately the ledge ended short before the doorway, and the Necromaster had no other option but to jump, and at an awkward angle. Fate added that in for shits.

“Here goes.”

Solus jumped alongside the wall towards his open escape. Trying to catch a ledge that was 90º to the right of you tended to be a suicidal notion, but luckily he managed to get his arms over the ledge all the way up to the elbows. Unfortunately the marble floor slid him along until he slammed head first into the doorframe. His legs dangled out in the shaft as he scrambled up into the 12th Floor entrance, crawling out on all fours. Finally, some solid ground. He let out a sigh of relief as he stood up and began to dust himself off, only to be greeted by the sound of a dozen assault rifles being loaded, and seeing about 7 different laser dots on his chest. The other 5 were probably on his head.

He looked up towards the assailants. They were all in dressed in black ballistic armor. They wore no emblems and were unmarked. The eye holes of their gas masks glowed with a bright blue light. Each of them held G36C Assault Rifles with under-slung grenade launchers. They said nothing as they watched the Necromaster stare them down with surprise.

“Oh for [i]fuck’s[/i] sake!”