John, the veteran of the ghost hunters--considering his high level--wore a blue leather jacket and a white cowboy hat. It covered one eye -- the other stared at the carnage inside the bunker.

Tenner drained the last few drops from his bag and tossed it away whilst his mouth muttered an inspect.

The other guy’s name was Dereck. Having half the experience of his colleague, he was spared a white hat, and upon entering the flood of blood inside the bunker, the level ten bounty hunter lost his shit.

I’m a bounty hunter and I’m the most brutal person I know. Tenner wouldn’t underestimate these ghost hunters. Especially considering that the shuffling from the doorway, through which they entered, hadn’t ceased.

Their shock dissipated after a moment. John took out a ball, covered in wires and with antennas of all shapes and sizes sticking out of it. Out of a few buttons, he pressed the red one and the odd device started humming.

Dash, who from the corner of Tenner’s field of view, had given him instructions and showed clues to help win the fight, disappeared.

Back to how it used to be back in the day, a whole twenty four hours ago, Tenner thought, approaching the hunters. Being on my own is the best, but I can’t lie… it’s harder.

After a few steps, Dereck took out a small, white laserpistol. Tenner ignored the gun pointed at him and kept inching closer. He had no clue how many barrels he had stared down in the past few days, but it was enough for them not to affect him anymore. Then, when the distance between him and the ghost hunters dwindled to less than ten meters, John took out a bulky, roughed-up gun and whistled.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he spoke. “Stop right there. You’re facing two guys with guns and your ghost friend is not gonna help you now.”

“You… you don’t wanna be that chill, J, he just killed Wolf, Fingers and Deathdoor,” Dereck spoke in a weak voice. “And they’re the--”

“Eyes on the target,” John snapped. “We’re fine: he had good old bitter Dash to help him.”

“You’re right, but… damn…”

“What are you gonna do?” Tenner asked.

“I honestly don’t know,” John said, shaking his head. “Came to put the ghost back where he belongs but stumbled into a bloodbath.”

“We gotta light him up with lasers!”

“He doesn’t have a bounty -- why waste charges?”

“Because--”

“It’s a rhetorical question, dumbass. The team will be coming along to do our job for us.”

As his words finished, four figures, fully covered in white robes which were armored with metal plates, emerged into the room, swinging pipes and whips at Tenner. His jaw dropped and he stumbled backwards.

“Damn… I love overstaffing…” John laughed.

Then the mix of perks, adrenaline and potions shot Tenner back into shape. He blacked out or lost control of his body: he dodged the first wave of attacks from the ghost hunters, snatched a pipe and beat one of them on the head. They collapsed, their three buddies taking the spot. Whips and pipes crackled and whooshed past Tenner’s ears. He avoided every single one, smashing a ghost hunter’s knee and grabbing another by the neck.

“Well, in this situation, not necessarily,” John grumbled then roared, pointing his gun at Tenner’s face. “Enough! Drop the fella and let them both retreat!”

The only robed ghost hunter who remained standing nodded along.

“I don’t think so -- I can dodge your every shot,” Tenner said.

“But eventually you’ll slip up or drop my friend you stole. When you do, you’ll regret it. So, don’t bet everything on luck!”

Tenner checked his character screen. His health was at half. If he indeed made a mistake, he could handle two, maybe three shots before oblivion swallowed him.

Tenner eased his grip: the robed figure freed itself and ran behind John. The veteran ghost hunter nodded for them to leave, his expression saying “I’ll deal with this, suckers”.

Being alone is so much more intriguing -- I actually gotta figure out a way out of this. The thrill and the risk are back, baby!

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Tenner stood in the same spot, wondering what he would do and what the ghost hunters would.

“Better make up your mind quick.”

Dereck’s brows furrowed and his arms couldn’t hold his gun straight anymore.

“Don’t shake!” John snapped. “I was about to have an idea.”

“It’s not for me to control!”

“I don’t care.” The veteran ghost hunter turned to Tenner. “Just because you killed our leaders…. Tenshot, doesn’t mean there ain’t people leading. Bandits got a hierarchy and we bounty hunters are not at the top of it. We’ll bring you to Catherine LaCriminax and she’ll decide. But I warn you -- she might have me put a laser through your brain.”

“That’s a bold thing to say. If it was opposite, it would be true.” Tenner let out another frantic giggle whilst his eyes stared at Dereck without blinking. Driving fear into the kid was as easy as sneaking through the Castle of Hate during broad daylight.

“Enough. Get over here. We got plenty of flights of stairs up ahead.”

Stepping forth, Tenner re-activated most of his perks. Scratches sounded inside his head and blue light flickered on the outer edge of his vision. None of that is real, he assured himself while his eyes remained unblinking, staring at Dereck. The ghost hunter stepped back.

[Fate Is My Weapon has succeeded! Manipulating nearby devices to being’s will…]

The combination of the lack of experience dealing with gore and getting his perception messed with, dropped the kid to his knees and blasted his stomach contents out on the already colorful floor.

Tenner approached John with a steady step.

“Stop and turn left!” John ordered.

Tenner had no intentions to follow anyone’s words. Except for maybe the ghost’s.

“I said stop or I’ll turn you into a light show!” the veteran ghost hunter persisted. With every word, his facade of someone strong fell apart. Years of experience must’ve ingrained in him a tolerance of danger as high as the realm’s walls. But such experience also taught not to underestimate a foe. Especially one who left behind a room covered in blood and corpses of the three strongest people one knew.

Tenner took a deep breath, [Predator] helping him sense the mini void forming under his nose.

John’s second hand gripped the pistol tighter, his stance straightened, and one of his eyelids closed a millimeter of one of his eyes. Then, as his finger pushed on the trigger, both of his eyes closed. Just for a flash. Just so he wouldn’t see his target the second of impact.

The surrounding air filled the void under Tenner’s nose -- he dashed.

The ghost hunter opened his eyes. Tenner held him by the neck, pointing his own pistol at his forehead.

“How?!” John said, gasping for air.

“How? Well, I looked into the barrel of your gun, looked into your eyes then finally into your soul,” Tenner whispered. “I could see exactly where you’d fire.”

“Dereck.” John sighed. “Stop reminiscing about your dinner and shoot this fucker.”

The young ghost hunter wiped his mouth with his knuckles and raised his head. Eyes widening, Dereck aimed a laserpistol at Tenner, and got to his feet. His whole body, from his head to his arms, to his feet, shook. His mouth whispered “I fucking knew it” on repeat.

Tenner started frantically laughing, pushing the barrel of the gun as hard as he could into John’s temple. Come on, Fate Is My Weapon. You didn’t save Molly, then kill these fuckers.

“Shoot, dammit,” the man said through his teeth.

“What if I--”

“I don’t care, just fucking shoot!”

[Fate Is My Weapon has succeeded! Manipulating nearby devices to being’s will…]

Not a second later, Dereck sprayed lasers, all of which ended up in John’s chest. The young ghost hunter bellowed, told himself to stop and fired more whilst Tenner hid behind John’s corpse. More and more lasers lit up his body, making it hard to hold from the heat. One thing they didn’t do was pass through the man.

The second Tenner detected that the kid stopped firing for a split second longer than usual--an irregularity in his pattern--Tenner peaked out and fired at him.

He let go of John’s body as lasers riddled Dereck’s.

That… that didn’t feel like it usually did. Maybe I didn’t need to kill them? No, I’m always right…

Tenner turned around to the old ghost hunter and placed the man’s laserpistol on his chest then put both his hands on it. Then the regret came back, riddling Tenner.

“Thank you for letting me kill you,” he said, turning to the device which had vanished the ghost. There were two buttons on it. First, Tenner pushed the one the ghost hunters had then tried the other.

All remained still and silent.

Closing the hidden door to the realm’s under-mechanisms then making sure the bunker door was shut as well, Tenner used the last of his strength. Finally, he sat in front of the table in the room’s middle, leaned back and closed his eyes. The regret and a sort of shame faded away.

[Check inside the drawers...]

“For fuck sake, Dash, won’t you let me rest?” Tenner peeled his eyes open. The ghost still stared. “Okay.” Tenner crouched, shoving a pair of drawers open. Inside, rested stacks upon stacks of documents, containing information of the Realm’s slums, contracts, hidden shops and all sorts of material a bandit king could ever need. “Changed my mind, this is beautiful.”

[Just trying to help…]

“And helped you have,” Tenner turned to the blurry figure. “These documents will carry me out of this Realm and to the top of the bounty hunter ranking all by themselves. I don’t know how you ghosts interact with physical objects and humanity, but… You deserve this all.” He pointed at the stack of creditcoins in the bunker’s corners.

I might’ve fought all these bandits off, but this was your purgatory for hundreds of years, Tenner thought, remembering what the drunks had said in Chisel’s bar. Offering Dash these massive fortunes wiped the awful feelings of killing the ghost hunter. I took away lives, failed to save one so I’m giving the ghost one…

Dash stood still for a minute then leaned against a chair and giggled.

[As you’d say -- fuck yeah.]