Beneath the palace in the secret garage, Ada cried out as her cramps got worse.

“Come on!” Ivan spat as he dropped two High Table soldiers inspecting an armored limousine.

“I-i…” Ada let out, her legs wobbling.

“Are you okay?” Ho-sook asked, the teenager helping Ada up.

“Mister! Something is wrong with momma two!” Celeste called out as Ivan opened the back door to get Ada loaded.

Ivan spun, immediately frowning as he locked eyes with Ada, “Oh you've gotta be shitting me. Isn't this premature?!”

“Yes!” Ada screamed through clenched teeth as Ivan rushed over and began helping her to the black limousine.

“My oh my…” The sweetly voice of the Purple Pawn cooed, echoing through the tunnel.

In her hands she dragged Leona and Kamila by the necks, dropping them onto the floor as Celeste made to run to Leona but was caught by Ada.

“Oh, don't worry about these two, they're still alive. They'll make fine additions to my collection,” The Purple Pawn said, brandishing her pointed teeth. “Now, where are you going?”

“Ya know… places…” Ivan chuckled nervously as he grabbed Celeste and Ho-sook and pushed them into the car along with Ada.

“Places?”

“Yeah,” Ivan readied his revolvers, “Places.”

“And that involves shooting our own men?” The Purple Pawn drew near, the walls vibrating as Ada let out a pained cry from within the limousine while Ho-sook was busy holding the frantic Celeste. “After everything we did for you? Gave you your revenge, embraced you into our family, brought your lover back to life?”

The Purple pawn struck a pose, her lips pouting as she cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah… well, what can I say? Selfia offered me better dental,” Ivan fired two rounds, the armyrethium-tipped bullets ineffective as they slammed against the woman's face that was quickly shielded by a moving black mass.

“Tch, damn nanomachines,” Ivan gripped, still trying to figure out his options.

He couldn't throw a grenade or risk collapsing the tunnel, and he couldn't penetrate her nanotech shield or overpower her with brute force. In layman's terms, Ivan was backed up against the proverbial wall, not to mention the pregnant woman behind him going into labor was NOT on his vision board.

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If it were just him, he could probably escape.... probably.

Ivan fired repeatedly, his weapons doing little against the chief torturer of the Black King.

“Well, fuck,” Ivan let out before teleporting, firing his guns from different angles as the Purple Pawn giggled.

“Ivan, darling, we already did this little song and dance, you should already know your short little toys aren't gonna work on me,” Purple Pawn cooed, suddenly snatching Ivan's wrist mid-teleport and lowering herself to lick the barrel of his gun. “You need a much bigger barrel if you want to satisfy me, let alone kill me.”

Ivan smirked, his eyes darting from the melting barrel of his revolver to the crazed eyes of his assailant, “Yeah well, my plan isn't to kill ya, its to stall ya.”

“Stall?” The pawn raised a brow before her eyes went wide and she spun, catching the two-handed nodachi with her now armored black arm. “YOU?!”

“ME!” Tenno laughed, his muscles bulging before he sent the woman flying into the nearby wall.

The Purple Pawn bounced, rebounding off the cracked wall before Tenno’s foot forcefully buried her several feet into the tunnel wall. "HAVE YA MISSED ME PURPLE?!"

“You're late,” Ivan hissed, throwing away his ruined revolver.

“Had a bit of traffic,” Tenno grinned before turning and blasting the Purple Pawn with a deafening mana shot that drowned out her shriek of rage.

“Ada! Ho-sook!” The voice of Kenichi barked, the blindfolded Hoshido leader racing down the hall with several samurai and palace guards in tow.

“Shit,” Ivan muttered, covering his face with a hand and turning away before realizing the man he was wanting to avoid was blind.

“Over here! She's going into labor!” Ho-sook yelled, guiding Kenichi past Ivan to the car where Ada was crying and bleeding onto the floor of the limousine.

“Step back! Make space!!” An imperial medic barked, the awakened doctor pushing Kenichi away to get into the back cab.

Seeing her opportunity, Celeste finally wrestled free from Ho-sook’s grasp, the little girl tearfully calling out for her mom only to be caught by Ivan.

“Shhh. Shh lass, she'll be fine, she's ok, the doctors will take care of her,” Ivan assured, attempting to soothe the sobbing girl as medics tended to the two injured women and moved to bring them into the limousine.

“But mommy!”

Ivan walked to the car, lowering himself to place the girl within. “It's ok, just let them do their job, o-”

Ivan froze, his gaze fixed on the blind man beside him furrowing and unfurrowing his brow repeatedly as his face stared at him.

The gunslinger coughed, clearing his throat before raising the bass in his voice.

“-just behave, you're safe,” Ivan said before letting the girl go who rushed to the injured red-haired woman.

“Do I know you?” Kenichi asked, cocking his head to the side as though angling his ear at Ivan.

The man's hand was on the katana at his side, a sense of bloodlust oozing off him as Ivan's hand rested on his revolver.

Does he recognize me? No, I never spoke to him. And he never saw me. I don't think…

“Can’t say we've met,” Ivan replied, the sound of Tenno’s clash against the Purple Pawn shaking the very foundation of the palace, “Go, Tenno and I will handle the Purple Pawn, just make sure the kid and the girls are safe.”

Ivan took off, racing into the brutishly carved tunnel before Kenichi could say another word or hopefully recognize him.

****