We’d barely been inside the vault for more than a minute when the alarm finally shut down.

“I’m glad that’s over,” I muttered as I carried Bell back down the corridor.

“Does anyone else still hear ringing?” Panda asked as he trailed clumsily behind me, “I think I’ve caught tinnitus.”

“I don’t think you can catch tinnitus, buddy,” I replied, “It’s not a disease.”

“Well I have caught it, kid,” he complained as he tiptoed through the viscera filled corridor. “The ringing won’t stop. It’s like no matter what I do it follows me… like a lost puppy but without the cuteness.”

“I know what that’s like,” I muttered in response as we re-entered the room with the elevator.

I got Panda to channel his mana into the panel on the wall, calling the elevator down to our level, then we entered it and my pass must have registered once more as we were heading back upstairs within moments.

“Someone must have used this whilst we were away,” Panda said, scratching his chin.

“It was probably whoever killed all those guards,” I replied seriously. “Stay alert, we don’t know what we’ll be walking into up there.”

I had planned to cause some mayhem of my own in the hotel after seeing what the Morningstar Collective had done to my friend. I needed to ger Bell to safety first though, she was in no condition to fight.

Even as I mentally prepared myself for whatever was to come when we reached the main floor, my mind was racing. Where was silver eyed man who had kidnapped Bell and why weren’t there more guards? To my understanding the hotel and spa was accessible from every major city in Celestia. Surely it shouldn’t have been this easy to break in and free Bell. Something wasn’t right.

The elevator doors opened with a ding and we stepped back out into the club area. It was deserted. Whereas previously it had been filled with people dancing, drinking and debaucher-ing, when we exited the elevator there wasn’t a soul in sight.

I took a step forward and nearly tripped on something soft and squishy. Looking down I saw that the floor was littered with blood and human body parts. There must have been at least twenty corpses spread across the room, or at least, there were enough pieces to make twenty corspes.

“I don’t know who robbed that vault,” Panda began, “but if we ever meet them you should buy them a drink, kid. Looks like they’ve just saved you from an impossible fight.”

“Why me?” I replied absently as I looked sceptically around the room. It seemed a little too easy and my Kaleb-senses were tingling, who was the thief and how were they this powerful?

“Because you don’t pay me,” he replied bluntly.

My eyes darted towards the bar as I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.

“Well aren’t you a perceptive one?” A familiar voice said from behind me, “most people don’t notice my presence at all.”

“How about instead of playing games with us,” I replied irritably, “you fill us in on what happened whilst we were gone, Jack?”

The trench coat wearing man smiled as he fell into step with me. I didn’t exactly like him tagging along, but I wasn’t in the best position to protect Bell on my own. I couldn’t exactly carry her and fire a bow.

“Oh it was quite the spectacle,” Jack said in his crooning tones that could melt butter. “That walking suit of armour and their wolf wreaked havoc. They came back up just before you did. The hotel was mid evacuation due to the alarm and the armour didn’t hesitate for a second.

“It ran straight towards the reception, slaughtering guards as it went. It was really something, it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone do that kind of damage.”

As he spoke I began to notice even more bodies. They were less obvious than ones I’d tripped over, but tucked between a booth and strewn in front of the bar there were bloodied corpses, these ones were more intact that the others.

One of them looked like it had been mauled by a feral beast, guts were strewn across the floor and a look of sheer terror was etched permanently into the man’s face.

“Well, as long as the armour has taken care of them, at least I won’t have to fight my way out of here.” I replied, picking up the pace slightly.

“How very pragmatic of you,” Jack said with a smile, “now let’s get this young lady home shall we?”

“Are you coming with us L.A Noir?” Bell asked quietly from her place cradled in my arms.

I sniggered at the nickname.

“I certainly am,” Jack replied, ignoring the joke, “your boyfriend owes me a favour and I need to collect.”

“I’m married,” I replied with a sigh.

“Sorry, your husband owes me a favour,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Not to her,” I began, but thought better than to offer any further explanation. It really wasn’t the time or the place.

We reached the double doors leading to the reception a moment later and I shouldered my way through them.

The reception was piled high with bodies strewn across the foyer floor. It was a scene straight from a horror movie.

Whoever this armoured person that Jack had mentioned was, they were brutal.

“Fuck!” a large man yelled from close by.

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His body was grotesque and covered with scars and abrasions. The man was clearly no stranger to a fight but from the look of his many healed injuries he wasn’t very good at them.

Sporting a green mohawk, the angry man wore a suit with the sleeves cut off. Yup, you heard that right. What a weirdo.

He was flanked by two lycanids with large swords and he held a strange spear which glowed an eerie purple colour.

He faced a portal which snapped shut a few seconds after we entered the room, then he turned towards me.

“Who the fuck are you?” He demanded, thrusting his spear in my direction.

“Who me?” I replied, “I’m just a boy standing in front of a fashion disaster and asking him to stop needlessly removing the sleeves from clothes.”

Bell chuckled, but it quickly devolved into a cough reminding me of her dire need for medical treatment. I poured a health potion down her throat quickly and that seemed to help a bit. In all honesty, I wanted to slap myself for not thinking of that earlier.

“You look more like a thief to me,” he said menacingly. “Do you know who it is you mock boy?”

“No and I don’t really care, I just want to get the hell out of here.” I replied with a shrug, though internally I was scouting the room for a spot to place Bell down. It was obvious that I was going to have to fight my way out.

“You stand in front of Yaldabaoth!” One of the lycanids growled, “a capo in The Morningstar Collective and the overseer of our affairs in Havar.”

“Does that make him like a mini boss or something?” I asked as I edged towards a bench off to the side, “because from what I hear, Havar isn’t exactly a powerful place.”

“Kaleb,” Jack said from my side, “as amusing as this back and forth is, you should be careful. He may be a low rung on the Collective’s ladder, but he’s still a higher level than you.”

“Did you just assume my level?” I asked him in mock offence.

“Enough!” Yaldabaoth yelled, veins popping on his scarred face. “I will not suffer these ridiculous insults anymore. The boss is going to have my head for this disaster, but if I take yours first maybe he’ll be forgiving. Kill them!”

He gestured towards us and his lycanid guards raised their oversized swords and began advancing.

“Hey Bell, do you have any mana left?” I asked as I retreated towards the bench I’d spied.

“A little,” she croaked.

“In that case,” I began, “Bell, use fireball!”

She smiled slightly and raised a shaky arm towards the lycanid guard on the left. A medium sized ball of spinning, sparking flame fired from her hand and shot into the lycanid’s face.

His fur set alight and he dropped his sword, throwing his hands to his face and batting at it whilst he screamed in agony. The smell of burning hair and flesh filled the room, stinging my nostrils.

“It was super effective,” I muttered as I placed Bell down on the bench and drew my bow.

I turned back to fire on the second attacker but Jack had already beaten me to the punch. He had, what looked like, a magic sniper rifle in his hands. Pulling the stock firmly into his shoulder, he calmly looked down the sights and squeezed the trigger.

A beam of red light erupted from the gun like some kind of energy beam and the second lycanid’s chest exploded. Goop, gore, blood, and guts blasted out in all directions.

“That was badass!” Panda exclaimed as he shuffled towards me and Bell. “I’ll stay with her; you go back up John Wick over there.”

I nodded and jogged towards our new, shady ally.

As I stepped up next to the trench coat clad man, we both aimed our respective weapons at the scarred capo.

“Who are you really?” I asked him as his eyes widened and he raised his hands.

“I am Yaldabaoth, how did you kill my men so easily?” He asked, a shocked tone in his voice.

“I don’t think you are,” I continued, “I heard that Yaldabaoth was the chairman of the entire organisation not just some two-bit capo asshole.”

Jack snorted laugher and I glanced at him, being careful not to take my eyes off the scarred man in my sights.

“Yaldabaoth, the chairman?” Jack howled; it was the most emotion I’d seen from him since we’d met. “The chairman calls himself Nyx and I’m pretty sure he’s a god, though a pretty minor one. This asshole is just a wannabe gangster on his pay role. His real name is Jimmy. Yaldabaoth is an alias he uses.”

“You watch your mouth!” Jimmy exclaimed, pointing his spear at us. “Don’t you dare say his name!”

“Oh great,” I sighed, “so he’s a zealot and an idiot.”

“Aren’t they all?” Jack replied.

In that moment and without warning, Yaldabaoth – or Jimmy… whatever his name was – charged towards us with his spear levelled at my chest.

I fired off an arrow which he deflected with the tip of his spear. Jack shot a magic bullet at him but at the same time, Jimmy threw a dagger at him.

Jack blocked it with his rifle and then tried to fire off another round but nothing happened.

With an almighty scream, Jimmy rammed his spear through my side, impaling me. I dismissed my bow and summoned my daggers, gritting my teeth as the ripping pain in my skin burned through me.

I had let my guard down and now this asshole had gotten the better of me.

Not for long, I thought angrily.

Slashing at his face with my left dagger, I brought the right one down hard on the shaft of the spear that was sticking out of my side.

It snapped in two and I was free from Yaldabaoth’s grip. Down a weapon, the deranged gangster pulled a glittering yellow potion from his inventory and tipped it into his mouth.

His face was bubbling in a half-Chelsea grin where my slash had connected with the edge of his lips. He grimaced as he downed the liquid and I took that moment to yank the severed haft of the spear out my body.

I yelled out as I pulled and it came free with a splattering of blood and what looked like a piece of kidney.

Great, my alcohol tolerance will never be the same, I thought grimly as I clicked on a healing potion in my inventory.

The broken skin began to heal, pulling itself back together and I once again focused on Yaldabaoth.

Having consumed the yellow potion his, already sizable, arms doubled in size giving him the appearance of a hulking, disproportionate monster.

I dashed forwards and slashed at his neck, but he was faster. Despite his abnormal size, his speed was something to be reckoned with and he blocked my slash with his oversized forearm.

The daggers barely penetrated his hardened flesh, hitting the forearm felt like trying to cut steel and my wrists jarred with the unexpected impact. His skin bubbled slightly but it didn’t seem to bother him.

I dropped to the floor and attempted to sever his Achilles tendon but he predicted my actions and kicked out with devastating power, launching me across the room and into the far wall.

The world went black for a moment as I gasped for breath. A second later I watched as Jack, his weapon now fixed, fired a volley of magic glowing bullets into the juggernaut.

Raising his scarred arms, Yaldabaoth blocked most of the bullets. One, however, got past his defence and imbedded itself into his eye with a loud pop.

Body moving on automation, he threw his hands to his face, clutching at the eye socket and howling as blood and eye fluid dripped through his oversized fingers.

Whilst he was distracted, I took my chance.

I summoned my bow from my inventory once more and channelled my stamina into a Soul Shot. The arrow rocketed from my bowstring and cut a hole straight through Jimmy’s chest.

Grunting, he moved one of his arms to the hole as if trying to prevent the blood and viscera from leaking out.

“I won’t die like this!” He growled in an unnaturally deep and distorted voice.

“You bloody well will,” Jack replied from behind as he fired off another few rounds.

They ripped through Yaldabaoth’s body and he grunted with each impact. Falling to his knees he looked up at me with a fierce hatred in his eyes. I dismissed my bow and summoned my daggers once more.

“Nyx will avenge me, then you’ll be sorry,” he spat in my general direction, laboured breath sounding more like wheezing.

“I doubt that,” I replied coldly, “I doubt he even knows your name.”

I strode up to the dying, ugly monstrosity and gripped the back of his head. Pressing my lips close to his ear I said: “this is for Bell,” and plunged my dagger into his throat.

His lips pursed and he gasped and gurgled as he choked on his own blood. In the end, his wide eyes pleaded for help that he was never going to get.