Andrei considered the man before him. Gabriel thought he was competent but would he be enough? "I will take my men, while you split yours in half, fifteen men per group. Select whoever you want as their commander," he said. "We will move north-east together, scour the homes there for any looters we can find."
Dante looked doubtful, "Is splitting up really the best course of action?"
Andrei nodded his head, "Definitely, it's only a matter of time until they notice what is happening and regroup, we need to deal as much damage before then as possible. If it was safe to split any thinner than that we would."
The neighborhood watch's leader didn't look persuaded, "Still, maybe we could just scare them into retreat, their plan hinged on those arsonists. I don't want any of my people to get hurt."
Andrei stopped cold for a moment, then stepped out of the water column, towards Dante, "Listen, men and women are losing their homes every minute." He stood before the man now, staring into his eyes. He stared back, good. "Those gangsters are not scared of you. The fires? It's not a tactic to keep you busy, it's an intimidation tactic, and looking at you it obviously works."
Dante kept silent, but he gritted his teeth and clench his fists, Andrei's words getting to him, "Are you calling us cowards?"
He didn't budge before the large man, "Yes, only cowards are capable of throwing water on a fire ignoring the cause of the fires to begin with."
"We didn't have the manpower!" barked out Dante.
"Yeah, I heard that before. But now you do, what changed?" asked Andrei.
Dante was silent, staring intently into Andrei's eyes. For a moment Andrei thought the man would fight him, but then his eyes shifted back to his own men, "Alright, we will split up and follow your lead."
"Good," he replied, walking back to his militia. Unlike Michael, he wasn't here to make friends.
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Andrei didn't go along with his own plan, leaving his troops under Gabriel's command, setting off alone into gang overrun territory. Like he said, if it was safe to split their forces into more groups he would, but none of the groups could reliably operate without numerical advantage over individual groups of gangsters. Andrei could.
As he approached the first neighborhood, sounds of breaking glass and shouting could be heard in the distance, looters going about their business.
Andrei closed the distance cautiously, moving from house to house, making sure it was clear before proceeding. It was slow and methodical work, but he was getting closer.
As he turned a corner, he spotted a group of five looters breaking into a house. They were armed and dangerous, various blunt weapons hanging at their belts or held casually, unaware of approaching danger. Andrei knew he had to act fast before they caused any more damage. He crouched behind a nearby cart and watched them for a few moments, studying their movements.
He could see that they were not professionals, but rather amateurs who had taken advantage of the chaos. Andrei knew that he could take them out with his superior skills, but he also knew that he had to be careful not to alert the others nearby.
He quietly reached for his short sword, courtesy of the first gang leader, ignoring Michael's complaints, and made his way towards the back of the house. He crept along the side of the building, listening for any signs of movement. As he reached the corner, he could hear one of the looters laughing and joking with his comrades.
Andrei knew that he had to strike fast, and he lunged forward, plunging his sword into the back of the nearest looter. The man let out a scream and fell to the ground, blood pouring from his wound.
The other looters turned in shock, reaching for their weapons, but Andrei was already on the move. He darted forward, taking out two more with swift blows to the head. The remaining two looters swung, but Andrei was too fast, ducking and weaving between strikes.
He closed in on the last looter, dodging his wild swings and delivering a devastating kick to the man's chest. The looter went flying, slamming into the wall of the house with a sickening thud.
Andrei stood there, taking deep breaths as sweat beaded on his forehead. He knew that he had to keep moving, to take out as many of these looters as possible before they destroyed any more homes.
He sheathed his sword and took off down the street, his heart pounding in his chest. He was a one-man army, fighting to take back the streets from the gangs that had taken over. He knew that he would never stop until he had won.
As Andrei continued down the street, he could hear the sound of more looters in the distance. He knew that he had to keep moving and take them out before they caused any more damage.
He came across a group of eight looters, armed with makeshift weapons and moving quickly through the neighborhood. Andrei could tell that they were more organized than the last group he encountered. Eight was a lot, to the point where surprise would not be a sufficient advantage.
He quickly drew his sword, observing the group, following it around and making his way as close as possible without revealing himself. He waited for the gang to give him an opportunity, but this group always had at least two men on the lookout, preventing him from dealing any significant damage before the others were warned.
That was when he noticed another group approach. Not a looter one. Across the street, moving in the shadows, was one of Dante's neighborhood watch groups. He couldn't make out their leader, so it could have been either Dante himself of sheriff's lieutenant that he selected as commander for the second group.
If they attacked first, it would attract the attention of the enemy sentries, allowing Andrei to deal critical damage before they noticed him. Unfortunately, the neighborhood watch seemed content to observe the group of looters, staying hidden within looted houses.
Probably too cowardly to engage even when outnumbering them two to one, thought Andrei with disgust, but an idea formed in his mind. If the Mountain won't go to Mohammed, then Mohammed must come to the Mountain. Circling around the bandit gang, he found a place from where he could throw without revealing his location.
Grabbing a stone, he launched it across the street. Right at the hiding place of his de facto allies. Most of the looters didn't notice anything, but their sentries were immediately on guard, alerting the rest. They turned towards neighborhood watch's hiding spot, drawing their weapons and slowly walking over.
Perfect. Andrei emerged from his own hiding space, sword drawn and ready for bloodshed. Before the bandits knew what was happening a man was cut down. Another fell before they managed to turn around, shock and surprise written on their faces. Another tried to raise his weapon to block a cut aimed at his neck. Too slow.
Then, Andrei ran, unwilling to take five on one odds and not trusting his allies to actually help him. For a moment gangsters were frozen in place, now surprised at his sudden retreat, but then all tension broke and every single one started to chase after him, not even bothering to check on their dying friends.
Unfortunately for them, running fell under Physique tree just as much as fighting did, and he shook the gangsters off within a single minute. He dearly hoped the neighborhood watch would finish the job, otherwise those looters would warn the rest of the gang that there was a sword wielding maniac lurking around.
Andrei quickly made his way through the neighborhood, looking for a bandit group to deal with or Gabriel's group, hoping that they had succeeded in their own extermination mission. He could hear the sounds of battle in the distance, and he knew that he was getting closer.
As he approached the group, he saw that they were still engaged in combat. But they were winning. Gabriel and his troops had managed to hold their ground against the gangsters, and they were slowly pushing them back.
Andrei joined the fray, his sword flashing as he took out gangsters left and right. His presence gave the troops renewed energy, and they fought even harder, driving the gangsters back with each passing moment.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last of the gangsters fell, defeated. Gabriel's group emerged victorious.
Andrei stood there, his chest heaving with exertion, his sword dripping with blood. But he felt a sense of pride in what they had accomplished. They had taken back a neighborhood from the gangs, and they had done it together.
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He turned to Gabriel, a smile on his face. "Good job, commander," he said. "All of you fought well."
Gabriel grinned back at him. "Couldn't have done it without you, you insane idiot," he replied. "You're terrifying."
Predatory smile split Andrei's features in agreement. He knew his calling. He was a warrior, a fighter. And he would continue to fight until every last drop of blood in his veins stopped moving.
"How many have you dealt with?" Andrei asked.
"Including this one?" Gabriel did a quick count of dead bodies and moaning gangsters on the ground, "Eighteen, and we lost no one, but Jamie ended up with a broken arm, I sent him back."
That was impressive, they have performed far above his expectations. "Let's hope Dante's men did at least half as well."
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It didn't take long to find out that there were no more bandits in the neighborhood. After Andrei's and Gabriel's groups met up with Dante's, they learned that what gangsters have remained chose to run away once they learned of the quickly deteriorating situation.
The battle was won. It was over, which meant that the silent tugging at his mind was Michael, requesting control be returned to him. Andrei dove to their shared space.
"Last chance to cooperate, we can still work together," pleaded Michael, the snake.
"No," was his only answer.
"As you wish." After a short silence, Michael's voice sounded once again, this time a boom empowered by his Volition, "GET BACK IN!"
The puny iron cabinet door before him crumpled like paper, exploding open, unseen power sucking him in as his doppelganger stepped out. With a finality, the sheet of iron slammed closed after him, once more in perfect condition.
Michael breathed a sigh of relief, the day was over. He was back in control, his evil self chained within his consciousness once again. The horrible acts of violence he performed today were regrettable but done for a honorable goal. Then again, Michael was fully aware that his past would do worse for purely selfish goals.
There was one last thing to do in his mind, walking over to the skill puncher, he read numeral three. Apparently whatever decided the distribution of points valued their actions today greatly.
He looked at Andrei's board, ensuring that his random point didn't end up in Volition. Logic, curious. His violent self was probably raging about that one.
But Michael had no options as far as his points were considered, Andrei's could not be allowed to get free.
Michael pressed his hole puncher against his Volition page, making three holes.
INTELLECT 6 PSYCHE 4 PHYSIQUE 3 MOTORICS 2 Logic 7 Volition 6 Endurance 4 Hand/Eye Coordination 2 Encyclopedia 6 Inland Empire 4 Pain Threshold 3 Perception 2 Rhetoric 6 Empathy 4 Physical Instrument 3 Reaction Speed 2 Drama 6 Authority 4 Electro-Chemistry 3 Savoir Faire 2 Conceptualization 7 Esprit De Corps 4 Shivers 3 Interfacing 2 Visual Calculus 6 Suggestion 5 Half Light 3 Composure 2
He waited for a while to observe Andrei's choices but no matter what, his nemesis made no moves to spend his points.
Opening his eyes, Michael found himself back in the real world, Gabriel sitting beside him, offering him a water skin, "You alright?"
"Yeah..." replied Michael.
"I saw how your demeanor changed," seeing Michael's panicked expression, he quickly continued, "It's okay, adrenaline left you, you had to come to terms with what happened today, we all did."
Michael was silent, once again grateful for people finding their own answers to questions. Gabriel must have taken it as agreeing.
"The world changed, more than materialistically, I mean. Life's going to be different from now on."
"Yeah..." Michael had no words of comfort for the older man, he wouldn't lie to him by saying empty platitudes like 'It's going to be okay.'
Gabriel leaned back, looking up at the sky. The sun was setting down, casting the sky in a beautiful orange color.
"What are you going to do now?" asked Gabriel.
That was one question he could answer, "Head back to Chicago, find my neighbor, I owe him. I will figure it out from there."
"Hmm, at least you have a plan. I will probably head west." At Michael's questioning look he continued, "Gotta leave, those gangsters will be back, with more men. If not them, others will eventually come."
He was not wrong, staying here would mean they remained defenseless against forces that would eventually destroy them. Something occurred to Michael, words of the white man and events of his past few days clicking together in his mind.
"You know the particle accelerator to the west of here?" asked Michael.
"Tevatron? Yeah, why?" asked Gabriel, confusion evident on his face.
"Go there, get in the middle, there's a big rock you should touch," told him Michael before standing up
"Wait what? And where are you going?" exclaimed the man.
"There's no more time to wait, I need to get to Chicago as soon as possible," he called over his shoulder.
"You are not even going to sleep? After all that?!" he shouted at Michael's retreating form. "Motherfucker! He left me here to deal with all this shit by myself. I knew I shouldn't have helped him."