Battle Against Time

Manley and Roger continued to discuss their future. Roger didn't know what to do because he made plans to be with Julia. He just didn't want to tell Manley yet because he was afraid of being talked out of it. The situation now, left him feeling lost.

"What if we take care of them?" asked Roger.

"You mean kill them, have you lost your mind?" said Manley.

"Wha…I thought you of all people would…I don't know."

"No, asshole I don't enjoy killing people. The reason it's a bad idea is that people would know or at least suspect it was us. Don't forget that laws still exist, and I've always tried to avoid going to jail. Although, I could get some good EXP in jail and maybe some allies. Hmm…no, too risky."

"So, what do we do then?"

"Try to avoid them for now, this last job should give us enough money to move far away from home. I wanted to go to medical school here, but I doubt they would leave you alone."

"I don't want to move away from my family."

"You should've thought about that before chasing girls."

"…"

"Alright, alright stop sulking, everything will work out."

In order to avoid the mob that was after him, Roger spent more time on his training. He kept his head down at school and took precaution to not be followed. Manley spent more time with the dogs, his gains have practically slowed to a stop. The puppies were growing but their respective families have taken a shine to the animals, and he couldn't really use them. He was able to spend time with both puppies to train up his skills. Manley next goal was finding a new pet for his extra group slot.

Time passed quickly and their final job with Ainest was approaching. One the of the kids that Manley and Roger used to fight came to deliver the message at his school. Manley didn't know if Ainest truly didn't know where their base was or if it was just for show. Either way with the final job approaching he got paranoid that things will go wrong. He wished he knew more about gang politics because he would hate to be a loose end that had to be removed.

"Ainest said this was the last job, and he would have to betray those other guys too. I think you worry too much," said Roger.

"Yeah, and you worry too little then what happened? It's not that I think he is out to get us, the FBI is involved. If they put the squeeze on him…," said Manley.

"Does that mean we're doing the job or no?"

"Yeah, could be worse if we try to avoid it."

The next day, Manley and Roger loaded up the van with the dogs and drove to the meeting.

They pulled up to the warehouse and spotted the other team already there. Ainest was a lot more confident now than he was before. He walked up and even greeted Manley and Roger.

"Good, everyone is here. This final job is to take out Vanius Kilbane, the head of the Reaper gang. This man is a true monster, killer, torturer, and worse…the things he does to children...this one is personal, I want him dead. I will pay well for this favor," said Ainest.

"Okay, gives us the details. What are we up against?" asked Rennie.

"He abandoned his gang to escape by himself. He has three bodyguards, no family. He had a daughter that was rumored to have died from some strange illness. You will find him hold up in a church," said Ainest.

The teams got back in their vehicles and drove off. They pulled up by the church and kept driving. It was a large but old church, from the outside it, it looks abandoned. No cars parked outside the place or close by. They parked two buildings down from the church and approached on foot.

As they got close to the church, Swen stopped the group.

"They know we're here, pull your dogs back," said Swen. He looked at Manley, waiting for confirmation. "They are armed and very well trained, we have to be very careful."

They wanted to enter the church from a side door, but Swen said the front would be better. They would have more cover in the wide-open area and behind the pews than from the side entrance.

This time Manley and Roger brought the guns with them, although they didn't know how to use them. They had no area to safely practice without the gun shots attracting attention.

The group made it through the front door without much fanfare. They traveled along the sides of the pews rather than down the middle.

A man of great height and muscle appeared almost from nowhere and at the pulpit. Dark hair in a ponytail, white suit with a black jacket worn like a cape.

"Welcome friends, taking the life of Vanius Kilbane is a great honor. Come claim your prize," said Kilbane. He turned to walkaway and time seem to freeze, while he walked normally.

After the door closed behind him, the other door on the opposite side of the pulpit open. Three big men in suits took firing positions.

Swen and Rennie were the first to return fire, everyone else dived for cover. Roger was crawling for cover only to run into Anthony's prone body. He was bleeding and coughing blood.

"Manley! Help him," said Roger.

"I can't, I could heal his organs but that would use up all my mana and he would still drown in his own blood." Manley kept moving pass Roger and the dying Anthony.

Roger crawled forward but soon felt rage at his own helplessness. He raised both hands preparing to blind his attackers only to be stopped by Manley.

"What are you doing! You will blind our allies and get yourself shot," said Manley.

Delvin made a risky move and took out one of the attackers but was shot in the process. Manley then instructed Roger to help him provide covering fire. He did this not for Roger to understand what to do but for Swen.

Swen and Rennie on the opposite side of the pews made their move. They were able to get a clear shot at the man behind the wall at Manley and Roger's side.

As Rennie started firing the other man on their side peaked out from behind the wall only to get shot by Swen. Rennie and Swen were then able to combine their effort to take out the last man.

After everything was over, they checked on the dead. Delvin was injured but could be saved, but it was too late for Anthony.

"Let's finish this guy then we can deal with the body," said Rennie.

"Hold a second, there is three in the next room," said Swen.

"Dammit, did Ainest lie to us?" asked Manley.

"No, the other two wasn't there before. They just appeared," said Swen.

The whole group was unsettled by the whole thing. They approached the door to the back room almost like it would jump at them. They slowly opened the door a crack and could hear voices from the other side.

"Son, I have a son…hahaha this is a pleasant surprise." Kilbane's voice boomed out, he spoke as if he was putting on a performance.

"Not so pleasant for me, grandfather…," said another man.

"That only means your bloodline is pure," said Kilbane. There was a dangerous edge to his voice this time. "What of my lovely Vilana, do you not speak."

"Pure! Look at me father, as for mother she will not address you," said the other man.

The group slipped into the room and got a closer look. There was Kilbane at the end of the hall, facing them. In front of Kilbane was a tall but skinny man in an untucked dress shirt. Next the man was a plastic doll the height of a ten-year-old. The doll was of a dark-haired girl, and it was facing them. They moved to get a better look and the doll's eyes followed them.

Manley looked around and spotted the decorated glass windows around the room. He then looked back at the group and noticed their eyes glued to the doll.

"Yes, son my guests are here," said Kilbane.

"My name is Valius, sick—"

"Do not be rude, boy!" said Kilbane.

The man's body stiffen then turned away from Kilbane. When the group could finally see his face, they were shocked. He looked like all the skin was peeled off his face and his nose was removed. Weirdly he had a full head of dark hair, and his hairline was untouched on his mangled face.

"What the fuck," said Manley.

Swen, Roger, and Rennie opened fire at the group. They kept shotting but the scene in front of them was unchanged. The only difference being the bullets floating in the air between them.

Manley was about to shoot as well but stopped when he saw the scene of floating bullets. He looked closely at the floating bullets and realized that they were moving. Ever so slightly the bullets were making their way to the targets. Looking passed the bullets he could see that Kilbane had his hands out towards them.

The rest of the crew stopped firing and just stood there is shock. Manley then raised his gun and started firing all over the place. Glass started raining down all around them.

"Fuck this, what the actual fuck," said Manley. He kept firing until his machine gun clicked empty.

"What are you doing? At least shoot the enemy," said Rennie.

"Oh yeah, that worked out so well for you right," said Manley.

As the group started arguing between themselves Swen was whispering to Roger.

"Very amusing, but I am afraid I no longer have time to play," said Kilbane.

He waved his hands and the bullets fell to the ground. They fell forward and down as if they simply ran out of momentum after traveling a great distance. Kilbane then stepped forward to confront them. He took one slow step and an appeared right in front of them.

Kilbane raised his hand only to get blasted away by Roger who was charging up the whole time.