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  It was dawn when they approached, five figures coming down the dirt road as the overcast sky portrayed a gloomy morning. Eric stood tall, his steps small so he would keep in line with the others. He had a tired expression on his face, as though this was a tango he had danced too many times before. Lucia walked next to him, a passive form of anger displayed in her movements and facial expressions. Draco was calm and composed, entering into this with a level head and a clear goal for himself. Elas had a very clear form of suppressed anger in her eyes, a slight twitch to her lips as they approached the item of her maddness. Lilly had an almost comical expression of anger, puffing out her cheeks as she psyched herself up for what was to come.

  "You guys know the rules," said Eric as they approached the main city gate. "No killing, but breaking bones is fine." A pair of guards came out with lances on the side, which they leveled at Eric as soon as he was close enough.

  "The king demands to see you," one of them said, but the tips of the lances were swiftly cut off in a single swipe by Lucia's sword. Lilly followed suit, bouncing up and smashing the two guards in the face with her powerful legs. Their helmets were caved in as they fell to the ground, Eric's group walking past their crumpled forms without even a sideways glance at them. They continued their walk, entering the city as if nothing was wrong while people went about their daily lives. A few more guards saw the group, but were apparently uninformed that Eric was a fugitive once again, so they passed by without any trouble.

  Eric and his entourage were walking past a particular shop when Eric waved at them. "I want to check in with an old friend," said Eric, and he walked into the store. "Draco, Lilly, Elas, you're with me; Lucia, guard the front door." A huge black man with an afro and handelbar moustache looked up, and he smiled with his pearly whites gleaming in the candlelight of his store.

  "Eric Bane, the hero of heroes," said George happily, thrusting his hand for a handshake. "How have you been? Is there a problem with the weapons and armor?"

  "The weapons and armor are working beautifully," said Eric, smiling at the chance to have a friendly conversation. "I was going to ask for two new sets, and whatever you can cook up for Elas. She's a magic user." George looked at the two new youths who were also growing up very quickly, then his eyes shifted to Elas who stood taller than most women.

  "Magic users wear thick clothes to defend from the elements," said George, "armor won't be necessary for her. I'll size up the kids, see what we need for them." As George got to work, he began talking with Eric about what had been going on.

  After the great debacle a month ago when Eric took down Tyler, it seems that people were losing faith in the heroes. Rumors that were spread about Eric were no longer viable since he had been generally helping everyone he had come across with a problem. The most of the people in the country knew what Eric had actually done, saving the village during the wave while the others were mindlessly fighting the monsters. It seems that rumors spread faster than wanted posters.

  Once George was done, Eric payed with ten silver coins, then he said, "George, if anyone asks, you might want to tell them we didn't come here."

  "Why," George asked, "did you do something?"

  "We're about to," said Eric meaningfully. "The king slaughtered a group of refugees who were escaping Midrard."

  "Is that so," said George with piqued interest. "What exactly do you plan to do about it?"

  "I think it's better that you don't know any details," said Eric, walking towards the door. "Plausible deniability and all that." Eric opened the door to see Lucia standing outside and twenty armored guards all around her. They were clutching limbs and groaning in pain, some of them weren't moving anymore. Eric stepped over a few arms and legs that lay between him and Lucia, the others following him out as George's eyes went wide at the scene in front of him.

  "Have fun?" Eric asked Lucia plainly.

  "Of course," said Lucia, "I had such good company to keep."

  "Lets go. The king requested our presence after all," said Draco, then Eric took point with Elas and Lucia to one side, Draco and Lilly to the other. They walked away from the mass of fighters groaning and sleeping through the pain. The group was slowly approaching the castle, the source of misery for the people around them. Eric and his party had a vendetta to keep, and they weren't ones to be late.

  "Tell me, father," said Judy, her black hair falling over her shoulder, "what devious plan do you have for that chain-wielder?" She spoke over a table adorned with the finest foods royalties could buy. The king, wearing his crown and his spotted robes, smiled maliciously with his cheeks stuffed to the crown with fruit juices. 

  "I asked Lord Benny to follow the bastard and to follow through with the orders if the chain-wielder didn't do his job," said the king. "Benny has returned with news that the chain hero abandoned his mission, so he safely brought the entire camp down from a distance and came back."

  "Defying the king's direct orders," said Judy with a naughty smile, "that's execution worthy material." There was a vibration that tickled the wooden seats the two royals sat on, not even large enough to be noticable by either party. "How angry do you think he'll be? We've been messing with him for so long, it must have driven him to the brink. Do you think he'll try to attack us directly?"

  "Ha," shouted the king in disbelief. "Him and his pet demi-human may be strong, but they are nothing compared to the entire armed forces we have stationed in the castle. Let them die if they dare come for us. It's two people against an army, what could they-" another vibration shook the room, this time making the candles flicker and a ring of water wave inside of their cups. The king paused, looking around the room as if something was the matter. "Besides," he continued, suspicious of the vibration that had shaken the room, "we still have Benny, John, and Tyler in the castle. Together they should more than be enough for a weaponless hero."

  A sudden shockwave shook the room with such violent force, the king tipped over in his chair and splashed water all over his elegant robe. Judy was almost sent flying as well, but she reached out in time to grab the table's edge and stabalize herself.

  "What was that?" demanded Judy in bewilderment, looking around the room in fearful recognition.

  "In here?" came a muffled voice from the thick wooden door.

  "Yes," came a desperate cry, "please! I don't want to die!"

  "That depends on if you're lying," came the other voice, then there was a gentle knock on the door. Both Judy and her father had a horrible feeling in their stomachs, a mix of dread and impending doom.

  "Somebodies attacking the castle," came a shout from the door, "we need to get the king and princess out of here!" Judy and the king looked at each other, then they rushed to the door and cranked it open to try and get to their protection. Once the door opened, they both saw the huge figure of Eric Bane, his chainmail covering his body as he carried a man wearing full armor with purple highlights. Eric smiled like a madman at the two royals, his cheeks reaching to his ears like the cheshire cat.

  "Behind door number one," he said like a television game show host, "are a pair of lying cowards!" Judy pulled the daggers that she carried everywhere with her, but Eric didn't even acknowledge her drawing her weapons. She lashed out at Eric, but he simply batted her hands to the side like a professional martial artist. With a single stroke of his palm, Eric struck Judy on the bridge of her nose, making a torrent of blood shoot out at the impact. Judy fell back from the strike, landing hard on her padded backside while the king just stood there with his tail between his legs. "Oh, it looks like I won't be getting my money back. I didn't get the reciept!"

  "You bastard," shouted Judy offensively, "how dare you attack me! I'll have my guards after you for the rest of your life."

  Eric tossed the man in purple armor next to Judy, saying, "Explain to her where she stands right now." The man landed hard, which prompted a coughing fit that lasted a few seconds, then he breathed in deeply.

  "You have to run," choked the man, looking from the two royals to Eric, then back. "His gang habe taken out the barracks, took the men down before they could get their bearings."

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  "Oh please," said Eric, "we just walked through the door without so much as a gentle breeze to stop us."

  "We had a hundred men!" the guard shouted in rage, which started him coughing again.

  "And they were less effective than a gentle breeze," said Eric with a cocky smile. "To be fair, we didn't give you much of a chance. I mean, you had, like, five minutes of us doing nothing before you were even in position to do something? Oh, and about those archers? They should be fine if you put them in warm water for a while."

  "What happened to the archers?" the king asked with a trembling voice.

  "Frozen solid," said Eric plainly, "by one of my new friends. She can use ice magic even I couldn't fight against."

  "Where are the other guards," Judy cried, grasping the man by his dented helmet.

  "They were decimated," said the man in purple, much to Judy's disgrace.

  "Useless," Judy cried, shoving the man back down before facing Eric once again. She pulled her daggers out, facing Eric with a determined look in her eyes. Eric's cheeks inflated, then he couldn't hold back and laughed with such violence that he was in danger of choking in his own phlem. He wiped a tear from his eye right as Judy attacked, her dual knife play eviscerating the air in front of her. Eric moved much faster, his fingers pinching both blades before they could even cut his fingernails.

  "Useless indeed," said Eric, pulling the blades out of Judy's hands. "These should go to someone who will actually put them to good use." Eric put the knives in his inventory, then he looked at the king who was holding a scepter across his chest. Eric grabbed it, then pulled it out of the king's hands to put it into his inventory. Once that was done, Eric grabbed them both by the back of their necks and dragged them out of the room. They crossed hallways filled with unconcious guards in dented metal gear and some blood dripping across the stone floors. Eric dragged them to the throne room, where thirty more men lay unconcious spread around the room.

  There was a deathly silence broken every few seconds by the heavy breathing of a man whose chestplate had been crushed inward by a powerful blow. Eric dragged the two up to the thrones where four other figures stood. Eric pushed them down to their knees so they were bowing to the four figures, then he said in a deathly low whisper, "My hands are around your necks. Right now, I really want a reason to strangle the both of you. You don't want to give me a reason, it's hazardous for your health. So here's what's going to happen:

  "Each of my friends are going to step up, and you need to apologize for everything you've put them through. Once you've apologized to everyone, myself included, then I'm going to let go and leave you to your coward's dinner."

  Draco stepped forward, and he declared, "You promised to protect the demi-human village of Smallwood, but you did nothing as it was picked apart by slavers and raiders. My dad was killed trying to do your jobs for you, bastards."

  "Now apologize," commanded Eric, putting some pressure on his captives' necks. The sound of dripping water, alerted Eric, but he could only see a pungent, cloudy liquid dripping from a large wet spot forming on the king's crotch.

  "I-I'm ssssorry," said the king, his fear made evident by the rapidly moving hands and pungent aroma of piss.

  "I'm sorry," said Judy, but her conviction was so absent it was practically meaningless. Eric jerked her neck to the side, making Judy groan from the pain in her neck. "I'm sorry," repeated Judy begrudginly, but with enough heart put into it that Eric didn't punish her. Draco stepped back, then Lilly stepped forward looking angrily down at the two with tears in her eyes.

  "My parents were taken away by slavers," said Lilly, tears streaming down her bunny cheeks. "You were supposed to protect us, keep our families safe! I hate you!" Lilly screamed at the two royal's angrily, then she got quiet when Eric squeezed the necks of the two imperials.

  "I'm sorry," they said in unison. Lilly nodded, then smiled with her slight buck teeth showing before passing the apology mantle to Elas. Elas had this imposing power to her as she towered above Judy and her father, looking down at them with such strong rage it sent chills up their spines.

  "Now be really sincere with this one," said Eric with a cocky smile. "She's a lot more pissed than I am, even though I'm the one who's gonna strangle ya if you misbehave."

  Eric nodded at Elas, who began, "I am Elas Novac, a proud Midrardian who was responsible for forcing my kinsmen out of their country. You took my mistake and slaughtered them in cold blood, cutting them down like animals without even burying the bodies! If Eric didn't have his hands around your necks I would-"

  "Elas," said Eric cautiously, "they're begging for their lives here. I'm sure they understand that by now." There was a sudden chill in the room as Elas's rage boiled up before simmering down to a simple anger.

  "For your crime of taking the innocent lives of my people, I demand your apology," said Elas with a heavy sigh.

  "I'm so sorry," said the king weakly, but Judy stayed silent. Eric pressured her neck, but Judy remained silent. Eric smacked Judy's head against the stone floor pressing it into the stone until a trickle of blood appeared around her forehead.

  "I am sorry," said Judy as she noticed the blood around her head. Elas sneered at her in superiority, then stepped back to let Lucia step forward.

  "You are horrible people," she said sternly. "You lie about Eric, you try to assault me, and you kill innocent men, women and children for your own selfish desires. You are sad people, living empty lives. You have my pity, and the pity of everyone around you."

  There was a brief silence before Eric said, "I have never been more proud than this moment." Lucia blushed lightly, then they waited for the king and his daughter to respond.

  "Thank you for sparing us," said the king, but his daughter remained silent.

  "You rape me, insult me to my face, then you think I'm going to apologize to your fucking pet," Judy shouted in outrage. "I'd rather die." Eric was a second away from throwing her down the stairs, but then Lucia stepped forward and bent down so that she was eye-to-eye with Judy.

  "How big is Eric's penis?"

  The question reverberated throughout the room, shocking Eric into forgetting everything about Judy's insolence.

  "You see, I've been with him for five months, and I haven't once seen him with his clothes off. I've tried to watch him bathing, but he is beyond cautious when it comes to his naked body. You have experienced how big he was, his girth and length, so please tell me how big his penis is."

  Eric suddenly caught on to how genius this question was, because Judy couldn't possibly know how big his junk is. Judy seemed to realize this too, because she was quiet about how to answer this question. The room was silent, silent enough to hear a pin drop from outside in the hall.

  "You don't know, do you," said Lucia, "because Eric never actually raped you."

  "Fine," Judy shouted, "the bastard never raped me! What are you going to do about-"

  "Is that true?" said a voice from the rear of the throne room. Eric turned his head to see Tyler, John, and Benny standing in the entrance of the throne room, Benny with an arrow notched in his bow. "Princess, is it true that Eric never raped you?"

  Eric stepped forward, letting go of his two hostages, then he stepped in front of Judy and flipped the front of his pants down. Judy could only stare at his back, watching the big man's back as he did something in front of her.

  "Tyler, you should know best," said Eric. "Does it feel like Judy was ever touched by something like this?" Eric was positioned so that neither Judy nor the king could see his front, but Tyler, Todd, and Benny had their eyes wide and glued to Eric's crotch.

  "How long is it?" Lucia asked Judy, an undertone of accusation in her voice. "Come on, tell us the size and shape of the object that raped you!"

  "Judy, give us the truth," said John, his faith in the princess currently entering freefall. Judy was at a total loss for words, looking at the back of Eric's hips trying to figure out how big of a dick he had.

  "She can't tell you," said Eric, putting his junk back into his pants, "because she's never even seen it." Eric turned back to his group, Judy looking at his crotch to try and estimate his size, but his pants gave no indecation to his size. He walked back to his group, then said, "Let's go. We've done enough for now." Eric, Lucia, Draco, Elas, and Lilly stepped past the two royals that remained on their knees. They walked down the steps where men in armor littered the floor, then Eric stepped right up to Benny, who lowered his bow finally.

  "Eric," said Todd, rubbing his hand over his short blonde hair, "I'm sorry." His scythe, a deadly looking weapon that was leaning over his shoulder, disappeared in a brief flash. He extended the same hand to Eric, then said, "If you ever need anything, I've got more than enough stuff to help you out."

  "Me too," said John, extending his hand out to Eric. Eric looked at both of them with a very grim look on his face, and he looked away from them.

  "Five months, guys. We have been spit on, ridiculed, and I was stabbed a few times because of this. To be fair, I don't give a fuck what you do, but don't think this is going to fix anything. As far as I know, you were all a part of it. Until I'm proven otherwise," Eric raised his middle finger to the heroes as he walked away. When Lucia passed them, she did the same, as did the rest of his group. They walked through piles of people laying all around the castle in full armor, legions of guards knocked unconcious or pretending to be sleeping so they were no longer hurt by the unbelievably powerful group walking through the castle uninhibited.

  Once Eric and his entourage were outside the city gates, they started to talk about their invasion. Lilly giddily recounted how she had tossed one guy into five of his friends, making them all fall down a flight of stairs. Draco excitedly told the group how he fought off twenty guys at one time, using their own weapons against them expertly. Lucia bragged about how she dropped seven of the elite guards with only a candlestick she had been intending to steal from the castle. Elas was silent, but she had a smile that wouldn't disappear.

  Eric didn't add his own story, but he had one in mind that was terrifying. When he had entered the throne room, Eric was confronted by more than fifty men in armor, including twelve of the purple guard. He created a few winch mines, a new skill he had made with a variation of his chain. He tossed them into the crowd, then watched as they exploded into streams of chains. Then he stood there and listened as the chains all became tighter, the men screaming for release as they were bent and squeezed beyond their limits. Eric felt a pang of guilt, because he had immensely enjoyed their screams.

  "Alright, now we need to start training in earnest," Eric announced past the city limits. "You all did great, especially you, Lilly and Drake. Unfortunately, we aren't always going to be fighting those kinds of rent-a-cops. We're facing off against demons here, so we need to be ready for everything! I don't care if I need to throw you punks into a cave of wild bears, we're going to be busting our asses every day until the next wave. Can I get a 'Hell Yeah'?"

  "Hell yeah!" Lucia shouted energetically, but the rest just fumbled the words.

  "We'll work on it," Eric sighed exasperatedly.

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