At 11:00 P.M, Roy rose from his bed and changed into a new pair of shorts along with a fresh T-shirt before exiting his apartment with a bass case on his shoulder. At the entrance to the building, street traffic was minimal and moon light compensated for any areas left unlit by street lights.

Roy had his hand firmly grasped around his blade still hidden in the case. "I suggest we treat this like a normal night and check the alleys. Anyone here to kill you will be well aware of our hunting habits." Roy turned right and began walking down the sidewalk toward what the locals called the bad end of town.

He wasn't a fan of the stereotype considering one's life could be in danger in any part of the city. Especially considering he'd been attacked more in the 'better' parts of town than in the 'bad' parts. He rounded a corner and noticed the absence of traffic, pedestrian and motor, on the new stretch of road.

"Looks promising," Roy joked. Lucifer remained silent while focused on their surroundings. Roy started walking down the street and contemplated whistling when he heard a scream. He picked up his pace and rounded another corner entering into an alley.

"I hear two voices outside the person who screamed earlier," Lucifer reported. Roy entered into the darkness and began searching for the source of the scream. On the block, each of the alleys connected into one central area with branches spreading between different parts of the city.

Roy continued walking and noticed movement ahead. He ducked behind a pile of trash to the side of the alley and tried to gleam what he was looking at. He saw two grown men off to the side of the alley and a young boy crying inbetween them.

One of the men spoke to his companion saying, "I'm not sure this will be worth it. What if the parents don't pay up." The other man responded, "Are you kidding? Look at how he's dressed. They even agreed to the amount immediately when we called them on his phone. The parents have got to be loaded. Besides, all we lose is a little bit of time if they don't pay up. We can just go find another one and try again if this doesn't work." "I guess you're right," the first man said, "and we can always ditch the kid if they call the cops."

The two men continued talking while Roy sat motionless watching. "Any thoughts Lucifer? If not, I really want to make them pay for what they are doing." "We don't have all the details yet. Wait until the authorities show up and only involve yourself if the boy is in direct danger. Something isn't right here. If the child's parents are wealthy as they believe, he would normally be well protected from common criminals like these."

"I don't know. Maybe he ran off on his own. That's not the point. They have him now. Let's just hope the parents or somebody shows up soon," Roy responded. Roy continued watching as the boy sobbed on the ground. The child slowly began crying more intensely and becoming noisier. One of the kidnappers yelled at him saying, "Shut up kid. You'll be fine soon." The boy only began screaming louder upon hearing this.

"We can't keep having him scream like this. Someone is going to hear it and get curious," one man said. "What do you suggest?" the other asked. In response the man turned and asked the boy, "Do you want your parents to get hurt? If you don't stay quiet from now on we might just have to kill them." Hearing this, the boy tried to regain his composure, but only began screaming louder.

"That's it. Let's just shut him up ourselves." Both men turned to the boy and began approaching him. "I think it's time to interfere," Roy told Lucifer. "Be careful. They could be more than they seem." Roy completely pulled Lucifer out of the case and kicked a nearby rock over to the men.

Catching their attention, he dashed toward them and smashed the flat end of his sword against the leg of one of the kidnappers before placing himself between them and the boy. Seeing his friend writhing on the ground, the standing kidnapper lunged at Roy only to be met with the pommel of his sword.

The man crashed to the ground and did not stir. Roy waited to see if either man would try and attack again, but neither seemed interested in him due to more pressing bodily concerns. He turned to the boy who was still crying trying to process what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked. The boy nodded his head, but remained quiet. "What is your name?" "James," the boy responded. "Okay James. My name is Roy. Your parents should be on the way. I'll wait here with you until they arrive."

The boy still looked frightened even with Roy's reassurances. He realized a holding a five foot blade wasn't helping him look any friendlier. He turned to grab the bass case where he'd dropped it on the ground. As soon as his back was completely turned, Roy felt metal bite into the skin of his right hand and dread immediately filled him.

He scrambled forward and turned to see a grinning James holding a shining red knife in his hand. Lucifer and his hand were on the ground between them. In his childlike voice James said, "I never thought catching new toys would draw in someone so valuable." Roy remained silent and calculated his options. The boy may have surprised him, but normally he would have reacted or at least heard something before the attack.

Looking at the knife, Roy knew he was facing off against another vice. Apparently one with more sins than him as well considering the boy's superior speed. From the sound of blood splattering on the ground Roy knew he needed to grab Lucifer as quickly as possible to stop the bleeding and have a chance of winning the fight. He couldn't use his full strength or be healed unless he had skin contact with Lucifer.

Roy sighed contemplating why he hadn't just taken on another sin so he wouldn't be so reliant on Lucifer being in hand. James began inching forward and Roy figured his chances of regaining Lucifer weren't getting any better. With ten feet between them, Roy dashed at James and planted his left foot in order to spin kick James with his right food.

James countered easily and Roy's shoe with foot inside went flying past him hitting the wall with a meaty smack. The tactic had worked however as Roy was able to bend down and grab his sword with his left hand as he kicked at James. Roy was immediately bombarded by Lucifer's thoughts, but ignored them and kept his eyes on the opponent in front of him.

The boy smiled even wider saying, "I like you. I hope you don't bleed out before we finish playing," before approaching once again. Roy quickly relayed his observations of James and asked Lucifer, "Any ideas?" "How about you buy a metal arm brace so someone can't cut your arm off." "I meant ideas about winning the fight we're in right now."

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"I already stopped most of the bleeding, but with the fight earlier today and this additional damage, I won't be of much use if you get hit again. You're currently missing a foot and a hand in addition to having to fight with your off hand. At least we've done left handed training before. I suggest you end this quickly by any means possible. Good luck"

"I already figured a knock out was the way to go, but thanks for the support." Staring James in the eyes, Roy stood stock-still waiting to see if he would make the first move. His opponent however seemed content to wait for Roy to try something whether it be running or fighting.

Roy knew running was pointless since he would be cut down from behind by his faster opponent. With no better options, Roy crouched down with his sword behind his back over his shoulder. He knew his sword would scrape the walls of the alley if he fully extended his arm, but a diagonal slash should be fast enough to pressure James while also limiting his options to retreat.

Roy used both legs, careful to counter balance to offset the effect of using his cut right leg, to launch himself strait at James. James looked shocked by a move so obviously telegraphed, but considered it would be difficult to block such a sword slash with a dagger. He ducked under the slash, unable to counter due to Roy using the sword almost like a shield.

Roy went flying past him and James began giggling wondering if Roy would end up stuck on the ground unable to get back up with only two limbs. Behind him Roy's blade hit the ground where Roy pushed back propelling himself backward. James turned expecting a grounded opponent only to see the legs of Roy approaching his neck.

James was dumbfounded as he and Roy both fell to the ground in a dusty heap. James was pinned underneath Roy whose legs were wrapped around his throat. Roy grabbed James' dagger and stabbed it into the boy's leg before rolling to the side. Roy staggered to the wall where his severed foot had landed, grabbed it and proceeded to grab his hand as well.

He shoved all the items and Lucifer into the bass case before shuffling down the alley back toward the main roads. His hand was in the case making contact with Lucifer as they talked about the battle. "Why did you not kill him?" Lucifer asked as Roy rounded the corner. "I'm not going to kill a little kid." "You don't know that was a child. It's likely he stopped his aging years ago and has been acting in the role of child assassin ever since."

"Wait. You can stop aging?" Roy asked as he paused between street lights to check out other people on the street. The roads were barren which struck him as foreboding but convenient. "We're unable to do so at your current level, but it would be possible if you had two sins like he did. There are many benefits to continued advancement, however, the boy will begin aging again now without contact to the dagger."

"Well I'm still not taking on another sin. Besides, I doubt the boy started out that way. You know what the bond does to the mind. Especially if the dagger forced him to advance or broke him during the binding," Roy responded as he finally passed another person on the street. It was an old woman with a cane who didn't notice his missing limbs. Although she looked harmless, he still gave her a wide berth on the sidewalk in case she was an ally of James arriving as reinforcements. One surprise was enough for the night as it had cost him two limbs.

"The wielder seemed cognizant of his actions, but I suppose you could be right," Lucifer responded. "All we can do now is make sure he never gets the dagger again. If we see him and he hasn't recovered, then i'll end his suffering, but i'm going to give him the chance to improve."

Roy had finally reached a main road with a more active night life. Few were out so late at night, but cars still flew past in regular intervals with a smattering of foot traffic. "I hope you don't live to regret your decision. How are we going to get back to the apartment? I doubt you'll be able to just walk through the front door without receiving strange looks."

"You say that like a one handed guy with a bass case stumbling around late at night stands out," Roy joked. "At the very least, we need to reach some sort of shelter soon. Reattaching your limbs will take time which is currently limited considering the boy might have friends searching for you."

"I'll figure something out. As long as I find something to cover my face and they don't try to stop me from entering we shouldn't have anything to worry about." The apartment complex was still a few minutes away, but Roy was making good time even with the absence of one foot. Anyone looking closely would notice his lopsided gait and a bloody pant leg, but shifting his weight with each step helped mask the missing limb and speed up his trip.

"I hope you realize how close that was to being disastrous," Lucifer mused. "Weren't you the one who told me close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades? I've been in more dangerous situations than that one. While being down a hand and losing you could have ended a lot worse, I survived. Isn't that what you want? Tests of my strength that drive me to new heights?"

Roy had finally reached the block of his apartment complex and turned down an alley to loot a dumpster for a quick disguise. "Your improvement is exactly what I desire, but I refuse to be separated in battle again. If we die together at the hands of a superior foe then so be it. However, I can't accept our defeat as individuals. As heartless as you think me, I value our connection. Besides, training another wielder would take ages."

Roy snickered and responded, "You're just scared of being stuck forgotten in a cave again. I don't think I'll every forgive you completely, but I do think this adventure is the one I'm meant to live. Anyway, lets see what I can scrounge up." At first, he only found a raccoon rooting through that night's dinner, but a few minutes searching provided him with a stained ball cap and a fraying scarf.

With a sigh, Roy gently placed the cap on his head and wound the scarf around his neck and chin. While it wasn't winter, the wardrobe change still made sense in the night time fall chill. He shuddered at the idea of wearing some strangers clothes and hoped he wouldn't get lice or something worse from the decision.

"Time to run the barricade. Any advice Lucifer?" "Don't get caught," responded the deep voice. "Helpful as always. Here goes something." Roy exited the alley and approached the doors to the building. Doing his best to steady his gait, he opened the doors and strode forward as confidently as possible. He could almost feel the gaze of the man behind the desk watching him as Roy kept his eyes glued to the door to the stairs.

The man said nothing as Roy finally reached safety and opened the door with his functioning hand. "You know. As stupid as the idea to put me in a bass case was. It does a great job drawing attention away from the fact you're missing a foot and hand. I imagine the hat and scarf didn't hurt either." Roy ripped off the scarf and hat which he quickly stuffed into the case before rushing up the stairs.

"I still can't believe he didn't stop us. How am I supposed to feel safe living here if they let in such suspicious individuals?" The stairs had seemed like his best bet since the elevators would have more traffic. Plus he didn't like the idea of awkwardly having another person look him over on the ride up with the off chance they looked down at his leg.

So far, Roy hadn't seen anyone else on the stairs, but he wasn't home free until he hit his fourth floor apartment. Just shy of nothing going wrong, the fourth floor door opened just as he cleared the last step. Jumping off his remaining foot, Roy grabbed the handle and swung the door open for cover.

The couple entering the stairway looked confused by the young man with a bass case smiling at them from behind the door, but payed him no attention as they continued on their way. "Smooth. I thought you were a goner." "Not my best pose but at least they bought it," Roy responded and hurried down the hall way toward his room.

Within steps, he opened the door to his room, entered, and quickly closed it behind him. "Home sweet home," Roy mumbled as he slid to the ground with the door at his back.