Heeled footsteps clacked down the hallway, echoing over and over. Their owner strode forwards, past the debris and destruction lying in their wake, one slender, delicate hand extending out to their side, wisps of green light emerging from their palm and circling around it. The soft, subtle glow grew stronger and stronger, growing more and more vibrant, before the hand suddenly shot forwards, the magical energy being unleashed. And the target, a set of double doors, were shattered into a thousand small, individual pieces as they clattered into the room they once blocked.
The men inside all raised their weapons up instinctively. Neil’s men, the bandits who stood watch over their truck and their helpless captives within, had all prepared and braced themselves for what might transpire. None of them had any idea what was happening within the Grande Diamond, not leaving their precious cargo to investigate under strict orders prewarned by Neil Hunter, but it did not mean they weren’t ready to defend themselves when necessary.
However… what they didn’t expect was for this stranger to be such a small and slender, delicate woman. She was beautiful to behold, and that split second hesitation was enough for all of the bandits to lose, even though it would have been impossible for them to succeed anyway.
The woman’s hands swept out across her body, and all of the men in the room were suddenly blown backwards by a tremendous gale. Their bodies were hefted off the floor, and thrown backwards to crash against the nearby walls with rough force. The majority of them cracked their heads and slipped into a ready sleep. The others, however, were pinned down, unable to stand back up again. Those who hadn’t dropped their guns had them wrenched free from their grasp, the weapons speeding forth into the air and stopping in midair around the woman. Boxes and crates that had been piled up around the room were then suddenly lifted up and thrown atop those still conscious bandits. After that, there were no more threats to pose a danger.
In the back of the van, Josette continued to kick and slam the floor of the truck as she shook her body from side to side, tugging at her bonds in an effort to free herself. Her explicit screams were nothing but a quiet muffle. Estelle, meanwhile, sat rigidly still, her arms were impossible to free, and sight and speech both lost to her. But her hearing was still there, and the exploding doors and resulting screams she heard from her aggressors prompted her to be calm and patient, awaiting with as much nerve as she could for what might come next. All she could hope, all she could pray for, was that whatever it was, would not do the same to her.
“It’s okay, Estelle.” The voice instantly calmed and cast her fears away. “I’m here.”
Marcus!
The blindfold was torn from around her face, and gingerly with much blinking, light returned to her world. But Estelle was left speechless, even when the gag was removed, that Marcus wasn’t there. She could have sworn she heard him though…?
“Are you okay?” The woman asked, moving away after untying the rope from around Estelle’s wrists and ankles, turning to Josette. “If they did anything… I’m sorry it took so long, Estelle. I really am.”
Wait. Wait, that voice was Marcus! There was no mistaking it! But that body… that dress, that makeup…
Estelle’s cheeks turned a shocking shade of red, to match that of her fiery hair.
“M-M-M-M-Marcus?!” Estelle shrieked. Josette’s eyes widened in disbelief once her bonds were removed, her expletive filled screaming dying down immediately. She too, turned as bashful as Estelle once she saw Marcus dressed as a woman. “W-W-W-What are you wearing?!”
Marcus looked down at his body, and laughed. It was almost as if he had forgotten how he had been transformed. “It’s… a long story, haha. Infiltration.”
“You look… you look!”
“You look… pretty…” Josette stammered inbetween disbelieving blinks. Then, her eyes widened in surprise, as she noticed something else lying in the truck that she didn’t know had been there before. She sprung to her feet, immediately running to their side. “Oh my gods! Serena?! Serena are you okay?!”
Josette eased her red haired coworker up, and gently eased her to wakefulness. Serena, along with the other two women who had been kidnapped with them, slowly, after much struggling, started to awaken. And then, there was the onset of panic as Serena started to understand that where she was, was NOT where she was supposed to be. And on top of that…!
“Mathias!” Serena screamed. “Where is Mathias?! Where is my baby?!”
The Pellagio’s card dealer started to struggle, to try and dash out of the truck, and out through the room, before Marcus and Josette managed to catch her quick enough and control her, before she could risk harming herself. Serena collapsed, clutching onto Josette and crying fitfully. Then, Marcus finally realised…
“A baby? We found a baby. In one of the Pellagio’s rooms,” Marcus explained. “A little boy, with red locks of hair… he’s alright, but we were looking for his parents. You wouldn’t happen to be…?”
“Yes!” Serena screamed. “That sounds like Mathias! I’m his mother! Oh, please! Please tell where he is! I need to find him, I need to-!”
“He’s safe,” Marcus smiled. “Safe and far away from here. On my word, I will bring you back to him, but we need to settle a few things here first, before we can…”
“Marcus, where are we?” Asked Estelle from behind, stepping out of the truck and helping the other two women to climb down as well. “What… what happened? Did we… did we really…?”
“The missing women,” Josette perked up. Her eyes then turned angry. “We were fucking kidnapped.”
“…yes.” Marcus admitted. “We’re at the Grande Diamond… Los Paraisos’ most prestigious building. However, the man in charge, Lord Alistair Dumont… he won’t be hurting anyone again. I can promise you that.”
“The Grande Diamond?!” Josette gasped, looking around in disbelief. “We’re… here?! We got kidnapped by a noble?!”
“Well…” Marcus’ face turned grim. “Not exactly. Dumont was
buying women. The person who kidnapped you two… he’s still in the building somewhere. He took Selan. And the others… they’re all fighting Dumont’s security forces somewhere. We… well, we need to end this, quickly. We need to find that man, and Selan, and then we can-”
“We can kick some fucking ass!” Josette’s fists pounded together. She then turned, glaring towards the broken doorway Marcus had came through. There was one other exit that led outside, through the parking garage. “No one fucking does that to Josette and her friends and gets away with it!”
“Right.” Estelle added, bending down at the body of one of the fallen bandits, snatching his sword. It was nowhere near as good as her former Magitech Sword, or the new sword she had gotten from Tiberius, but it’d do. “And anyone who thinks they can take Selan… has got another thing coming.”
“Serena.” Marcus turned to the card dealer, smiling in as hopeful and disarming a manner as possible. “Would it be okay for you to help lead the other women out of here? You don’t need to go far, but to just get out of here and hide would be best. It’s not safe here for you… but you don’t need to worry. We won’t take long to end this.”
“Yes…” Serena nodded, calming down after hearing her child was safe. “Yes, I will. Thank you. Thank you so much!” With a determined nod, she looked towards the other two fearful women, and the trio raced for the open exit leading to the exterior carpark and premise exit.
“Marcus.” Estelle walked beside her partner, looking up to him. “What should we do? Do you know where everyone is? Where the kidnapper is?”
“No… but I think I have a way to end all the battles everyone is in.” Marcus smiled back. “But the kidnapper… he’s a rogue, and dangerous element, Estelle. If he was to go anywhere, I think it’s back here. To his men and their truck. So…”
“So stay here. Right. I’ve got it.” Estelle nodded. Marcus paused and hesitated for a spell, but Estelle laughed. “Don’t worry about me. I’m through with letting people get the slip of me. Next time I see him, he won’t know what’s coming. Isn’t that right, Josette?”
“Oh you better fucking believe it.” Josette nodded. “This fucker… he’d
better come back here. He’s going to die for what he’s done.”
Marcus looked at both of his friends and sighed in relief at their confidence. With a short, understanding nod, he turned and moved back through the corridor he came down, heading back towards the lobby.
Los Paraisos: The Grande Diamond: Lobby: Ninth FloorKenneth flinched.
He was taken aback, genuinely impressed by Aria’s next trick. This… this was something new, and something he had never encountered before. Somehow… somehow he had been absolutely blinded, in a sea of complete nothingness. What was this? This wasn’t like any typical illusion he had ever faced before. If it was, he’d be able to break through it, no problem at all. But he couldn’t. This… this was something else entirely. It was new. Exciting.
He wanted to speak out, to taunt Aria by congratulating her, by marking how impressed he was. But doing that, even if it was fun, brought him to an incredible disadvantage, and he wasn’t stupid.
He couldn’t use his illusions on her. To do so, he needed to be able to see a target. He needed to be able to physically see her, but he couldn’t. And so it was, that his innate invisibility illusion was rendered moot… although at the same time, those benefits had still been held, thanks to Aria’s own imposed blindness. As much as that didn’t change, however, he had been swamped with a far greater disadvantage, with no benefits from it to speak of. That was annoying. And fun. And exciting.
Kenneth’s blind eyes widened, and it was with luck he could feel the wind shift and just barely recoil from the sharp blade that swung out in front of him, Aria’s fan slicing off a few strands of his hair. By the gods! Even though they were both blinded, she could still find him!
Another flail, and another near miss, and it was then that Kenneth began to confirm his suspicions. He was able to deduce that Aria’s fancy new trick had its own drawbacks, otherwise she would have been able to finish this the moment she could ‘see’ him. But she hadn’t, lest she was the type to toy with an opponent like he was, but he doubted it. He was able to guess that she must have been imposed from her technique just like he had… and it made sense. Powerful magic like this, magic that could best his own ability to see through her illusions had to have drawbacks of their own. Confidence began to return to Kenneth once he understood that. The playing field had been levelled a tad… they were equal. Nearly. Because for some reason, even though she must have been blinded like he had… she still had a good, general understanding of where he was. How?
Another swing of her fan, this time with Kenneth being too slow to avoid it completely. The fan sliced its way across his face, leaving a shallow cut across his cheek and right ear. That handsome face had been besmirched. But it didn’t send Kenneth into anger. Instead he remained calm and collected. She had to have a way of finding him… what was the solution?
Another blind slice, and a cut ripped through his suit and forearm, drawing more blood. And then another, hitting his other arm’s shoulders. By the gods, this woman was quick…!
And then another, creating a thin nick in his neck, barely missing the aorta. This girl was good, but it made Kenneth pause. Her fighting was reckless, especially considering Guilders were charged not to kill. To be better, and above that. Had he really pushed her this far?
Another slice. This time missing his dodging body, to cut through his cigarette instead, dropping half of it to the floor to rebound off his shoes…
And that’s when it hit him. The reason she could find. Smell.
Another foxy grin spread over Kenneth’s face. This girl was all cute, smart, talented and deadly… if he wasn’t devoted to Mordie, then he might definitely have been interested in her. But two could play at that game.
Just as his cigarette smoke was a glaring sign, so too was her perfume. He pulled out his other switch knife, and with both in hand, he stepped forwards.
A cornered fox is more dangerous then a jackal.
Los Paraisos: The Grande Diamond: Ground Floor: Casino/Party HallThe little girl’s foot swung out, startling Heather just long enough for her to loosen her hold. The mercenary turned, to fire Trixie’s weapon at her, but Xandra threw herself in front of the pair, and started wrestling with the cool and confident woman for possession of the gun. She barely knew either Trixie or Amy, barely knowing them over a day, but she wouldn’t let them be hurt. She couldn’t.
Her prosthetic hand tightened on Heather’s wrist, and the gun, with surprising strength. She could wrench it free… she would…!
And her heart caught in her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him coming. Charging towards her, his fist reared back to strike with maddening glee. Bart.
Los Paraisos: The Grande Diamond: Sixth Floor: RestaurantCrimson Justice’s feet wobbled, and his feet took several steps back, his knees threatening to keel over and collapse, but he held his ground. He looked on, to that wretched, cackling man in front of him, whose sharp teeth glistened as he grinned towards his opponent. The superhero clutched his head, shaking it from side to side, to shake the exhaustion and pain out of his body.
It was now that he was beginning to understand what he was fighting, and what Neil was able to conjure. The way in which he had almost hit Selan sent shivers run up his spine. It was close. Too close. If he had hurt her… he didn’t know what he would have done. His fists clenched tigher. His resolve strengthening.
He couldn’t fully comprehend what Neil’s powers were all about, but that those purple, swirling vortexes he could create but bad news. For some reason, if something went in one, they would reappear elsewhere. Like his fists, disappearing hitting himself, or almost Selan. Neil’s leg, sweeping him off his feet. They were dangerous… unbelievably so. With magic like that, how could he win? He could create one of those purple vortexes whenever he wanted, defending his body and throwing Crimson Justice to who knows where. Hitting himself was one thing. He could take that, but not Selan. It made his ability to know what to do waver. And at the same time… kept him at a far enough distance for Neil to take advantage of that.
Suddenly, two more of the purple vortexes appeared before Neil. The bandit braced his body, throwing his fists out, punching the portals. And from there…
Portals began to flash and disappear all around Crimson Justice’s body. From them, an unending flurry of fists were sent flying out, punching him anywhere and everywhere. His arms, legs, chest, back, head… nowhere was safe. Caught in a buffet of attacks, he could do nothing but be pummelled over, and over again.
“Don!” Selan cried out, watching as the poor man took the full assault. Eventually, Neil stopped, beginning to tire and grow weary of such an attack. Crimson Justice’s body was left staggering, swaying back and forth. Neil lifted his leg up, summoned another vortex in front of him…
…and his sole crashed straight into the hero’s chest, sending him flying back, to crash in a heap against the wall and floor, dust and debris clattering on top of him.
“Feh.” Neil laughed, amused at his handiwork. “What a joker. Anyway,” The bandit turned, fixing his gaze on Selan again. She turned to spy him, there at the other end of the room, but in the blink of an eye was soon subjected to him towering over her, bending over with that venomous grin of his, overshadowing her completely. “Now that that’s done, I think it’s about time we got on our way, don’t you agree?”
That shadow turned into light.
Gattai Nante Kusokurae!!A fist enveloped in light and fire smacked into Neil’s face from the side, sending him flying away from Selan to crash onto and skid along a bar full of drinks and glasses before crashing and falling off to the floor adjacent. Selan’s eyes turned, to the owner of the fist, and to him, the costumed man who’d defend her no matter what. To the buffoon who called himself Crimson Justice, but was really-
“No one… touches… Selan…” He breathed heavily. He walked away from Selan, shaking his fist out before gripping it tightly again, facing Neil once more. This battle wasn’t over until he said it was.
“You… are beginning… to annoy me…” Neil wiped fresh blood trickling from a gash on his cheek.
“I know how to beat you.” His adversary said with clear determination. His pose tightened again. This time with confidence. “It’s over.”
Neil’s eyes flickered. He stood back up, assuming his own fighting stance. Arms stretched apart, he threw his fists out in front of him. “Oh, it’s over, alright. I’ve had enough of this.” A crackle of purple energy erupted inbetween his fists, and his left hand pulled onto it, gripping something, and then pulling away from the vortex…
At the same time Crimson Justice’s body surged forwards, both arms, both fists reared back behind him, burning with all of his power and might. With all his courage and heroism. There was one way to beat him. To overcome that portal power of his. He had to be fast. Faster then anyone knew possible. Faster then he could use or activate them. Fast. And strong enough to end it in one more punch.
His body was upon the bandit’s. His fists flew out, aimed for a simultaneous final attack on Neil. This was it! He had done it!!
Crimson Justice’s fists, and body, sailed through empty air. Small sparks of purple energy drifted past him, before slowly ebbing away. The superhero’s boots hit the ground, a look of pure horror enveloping the face hidden behind the visor, as the power and might within his fists dissipated to nothing. An uneasy sense of understanding hit him.
He hadn’t been quick enough.
Behind him, within the blink of an eye, Neil reappeared from the portal door he had hidden in. And in his hand glimmered the deadly shine of something else he had pulled from the vortex. That he had unsheathed-
His body convulsed. His arms fell to his side, and he couldn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend why. And then… then his head drooped, looking down towards his chest, and the strange object that emerged from it. It gleamed from the overhead light above him, shining in his visor's reflection. He then understood. He understood what it was… what the thing was that pierced his chest… but he couldn’t understand why it didn’t hurt.
Everything turned black as it was wrenched free, slithering back into his chest and out of his back from where it was stabbed into. His body fell to the ground in an unmoving heap, as Neil raised the crimson katana up to wipe clean… his carnivorous grin even more sinister.
“Whoops.” Neil cackled. “I think I just killed a superhero. Does that make me a supervillain?”
He turned, laughing longer, walking towards Selan. This time, at a far more leisurely pace, leaving the blood pooling superhero behind…
