Without thinking twice and while silently cursing under his breath for missing Clark's warnings, Arthur grabbed the back of Delia's chair and pulled it sharply, causing the now ethereal looking woman to topple backwards with some grace as she instinctively broke the fall with a roll. Arthur wasn't sure if the sword that had cut the air where her head was just a second ago would have dealt any damage but creating distance for their employer felt like a priority.

Clark stood frozen in place. He knew he had to help his friend, and the awareness that he could not jump away anywhere significant had not left him either. He wasn't a fighter. He had no sword. He knew all these things but it was far too late for cowardice. Someone was going to  die in this basement and he really didn't want it to be him or his friend.

Across the table, the Chief spewed commands at his men while retreating behind them. Arthur quickly realised Edgar was already nowhere to be seen and a cursory glance around the room suggested he had somehow managed to flee. His unusual henchmen, on the other hand, had stayed behind and were getting ready to attack.

Fueled by desperation or some kind of insect adrenaline, Clark launched himself at the Chief's unnamed guardsman and thumped against his chest with a thud, sending him tumbling backwards into a crate, narrowly avoiding the Chief. The cricket landed on the floor and having felt Geoff's intention to swing his sword in his direction, he glared viciously at the red haired guard who only just seemed to recognise who he was dealing with.

Without so much as a sound, as if they had done it countless times before, Gordon and Roland prepared themselves. In what was one of the more unusual sights Arthur had seen in the last day, the stocky henchman had compacted himself into spiked ball. "I would suggest you duck!" He heard Delia's voice and had just barely enough time to process it. Gordon, despite being handicapped by his height in the basement, took a single step back from Roland and [i]kicked[/i].

Arthur threw himself on the ground as the spiked man-ball [i]whizzed[/i] over his head and embedded itself into the wall behind him loudly. With little time to acknowledge the absurdity of the situation and pick himself up off the floor, Arthur swung and kicked at metal as he felt himself be picked up by Gordon.

"What are you looking at you idiot? KILL THE BUG!" The Chief roared at Geoff, to which the confused guardsman responded by taking up his sword and shield properly...And facing the Chief. The old man rubbed his face and grumbled under his nose. "...hanged. I'll have you hanged for this." Slamming his visor shut, the Chief simply turned away and stormed up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Arthur continued to struggle against the giant man's grip. Gordon had him locked firmly by the throat and, despite the ease with which he could crush it, Arthur was confused as to why he kept delaying. It took just a few seconds as the henchman turned him around to realise just what the plan was. The amnesiac watched the short thug detach himself from the wall and re-enter his metal egg. He began rolling towards Arthur.

As Delia's barrier waned, she figured her chances of getting out of the basement alive in her current predicament would be higher if her helpers weren't dead. And here she hoped this would be a deal like any other. The casino owner picked up her chair and swung it directly in the direction of Gordon's head. The deafening twang inside the man's helmet caused him to loosen his grip over Arthur, allowing the amnesiac to kick his legs up while the rolling ball of doom crashed into Gordon's shins, knocking the two men to the ground.

Geoff pulled Clark out of the way of the diverted Roland and watched as the spiked ball sped towards and [i]over[/i] the unconscious guardsman before the spikes pierced their way through his chest armor. A loud squish and grunt filled the dank basement and then...Silence. Arthur picked himself up off the ground and, without taking his eyes off Delia, removed the unconscious Gordon's sword and scabbard.

"Now," he began. "you have some explaining to do."