Chapter 10: A Deathly Confrontation

A new mornings light washes over the city of Bonze, the early breeze wafting through the streets leaving the trio with a shiver. Together they stand in a cobbled ally, a nod from each Oliver and Dipp, they stand ready. There backs against the wall prepped to breach the building. Pallas smirks, with a small run-up he plants his foot into the door. With a thundering crack, the door breaks from the hinges. Dust wafts up as the destroyed door plummets to the dusty floor.

"Shit!, what was that? is it the guards?." A man asks with a furious yell. With haste, he stands up from his seat, other thugs quickly following suit. Knives in hand they stand ready, staring into the dust with narrowed eyes. With a terrifying roar, Pallas charges through the dust cloud. The thug lets out a painful grunt as he's knocked to the floor, desperate he raises his arm to block Pallas painful hits. A grin appears on Pallas' face as he grips the man's forearm, twisting it behind his back.

"Get the shit off him you damn animal!" one of the thug's companions yells, a shortsword in his hand. With all the force his body could muster he brings the sword down.

"Arrh, faark. My bloody hand!" The man screams as an excruciating pain radiates from his palm. The sword drops to the floor with a loud clang. The injured thug turns his head to check his hand. A knife cleanly pierces through. With the criminal distracted, Oliver throw's another knife hitting its mark with deadly precision. Leaving the thug no time to react, the knives blade finding itself deep into the man's leg. Letting out another cry of pain, he crumbles to the floor, supporting himself on his one good leg. His breathing erratic, his vision blurry, with shaky legs he tries to stand.

"Stop being an idiot. you won't die from these injuries if you stay down!" Oliver yells in an intimidating voice. Fist clenched, he hits the shaking thug, sending him crashing to the floor with a loud thud. Unable to let the man bleed to death, Oliver crouches beside the unconscious criminal. Bandages in hand, he quickly wraps the criminal's wound.

"What the hell's going on down there! someone go check!" Someone yells from further down in the den of criminals. The three looked at each other. It was clear the sound of battle had alerted the others.

"What do we do? We weren't expecting a large group of criminals" Dipp asks in a worried voice.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine if their as strong as these guys they'll be a breeze!" Pallas says with a laugh in a voice, cracking his knuckles as he spoke.

"Master Dipp, I believe that if I watch over the doorway, we can breach the corridor and deal with any criminals that come out," Oliver says as he kneels, rifle in hand he aims his barrel towards the door.

"Okay. If you think it'll be okay" Dipp says in a low voice.

"Haha, that's the spirit! All you have to do is stand there. If any slip past Oliver you can deal with them!" Pallas says in a confident door. Standing in front of the door, Pallas takes a deep breath. With a hefty kick, the door cracks, crashing to the floor with an ear-ringing bang. Shortsword in hand, he stands frozen from the sound. Oliver stares down the corridor, pulling the trigger as the door crashing. A man stands confused, a hole in his chest lets out an inaudible sound before collapsing to the ground, the sound of the bullet bringing Dipp back to reality.

Dipps hand shaking as he stared at Oliver. Unbreakable focus coating his face as he readies himself for the next target. Dipp was in awe of how Oliver could remain so calm and collected in the heat of battle. Dipp's heart beats faster and faster, as he watched Oliver fight alone. Determined, Dipp takes a long and powerful breath. Oddly calm, he grips his sword tight. The pitter-patter of Dipp's feet fills the room as he charges through the door, ready to fight.

"Wait! Don't run out there!" Oliver says in a loud and worried voice, his steady hands now shaking from worry. The thought of his short master being short down rushed through his mind. A pistol in hand a criminal hides in a nearby room. A broad and sinister grin plastered on his face as he hears the sound of footsteps rushing down the corridor.

"Haha, nighty nighty dumb ass!" The thug says with a confident laugh. Leaping from the room he shoots towards the sound of the footsteps, a grin still covering his face. Oliver stares wide-eyed at the bullet, his undead heart racing with worry. The thug's smile gone, a jaw-dropped expression of disbelief as the shot passes of the short Dipp's head. In a state of disbelief he looks down, blood slowly seeping out of his stomach. Dipp plunges his sword deep into the man's stomach. Furious Oliver pulls the trigger. The anger-fueled shot lands in the man's forehead, unable to resist he plummets backwards.

"Get the merchandise out of here you idiots!" A man yells from further in the den. Dipp stands over the dead thug, determined he grabs the sword from the body, stepping over him without hesitation.

"That was pretty badass Dipp, but don't be too reckless, alright? Pallas says in a joking voice while gripping Dipps shoulder. A smile on his face, Pallas cracked his knuckle. Adrenaline began to fill his veins as he thought about Dipp's death charge down the hall.

"Sorry, I'll try to be more careful-" Dipp finds himself cut off as Pallas charges down the corridor, letting out a frightening war cry as he rushes to battle. Exhausted Oliver lets out a sigh as he moves forward, ready to back the crazed Pallas.

"What the hell is that sound?" A thug says confused before letting out a pain-filled grunt. Pallas with a loud laugh crashes his fist into the thug, the weight of his punch knocking the man to the floor.

"Shit, that cat ass just knocked out Mark!" A thug yells as he slashes towards Pallas with his sword. Veins bulged along his arm as he grabbed the knocked out man, throwing him into his attacking friend. Oliver and Dipp stood from the side, shocked by the sheer strength Pallas showed. Each attack the thugs threw he dodged with ease, retaliating with a powerful hit each time.

"That was a piece of cake let's hurry through before they escape!" Pallas says, his breath becoming heavy as he stood over the room of pummeled and bloodied hugs. Pallas at the door readied himself. He had knocked down each door so far he wasn't going to stop now, raising his foot in front of the door.

"Are you alright, Pallas, you don't have to push yourself so hard," Dipp says in a worried voice, looking at the out of breath Pallas.

"Haha, don't worry I got plenty of energy left- uhh..." He says with a smile, before letting out a painful groan, a scorched and burnt hole appearing in the door. The groaning Pallas crumbles to the floor, blood slowly pouring out. A slow creak of the door fills the room, a woman standing tall in the doorway. Oliver grips the trigger tightly, shooting towards the unknown woman. Imitating a pistol she pulls a non-existent trigger, letting out a blast of lightning, a crackling sound fills the room as the blast melts through the bullet and the rifle with ease.

" Mr Oliver. It's nice to meet you finally." She says as she sends out another blast of lightning. Dropping the disfigured rifle, Oliver narrowly avoids the crackling lightning, a black scorch mark lying on the floor where Oliver previously stood.

"Who are you!" Dipp yells as he watches Oliver struggle to avoid the barrage of lighting.

"Oh, I didn't notice you there. Since your so cute, I'll tell you a little bit. I'm Rein! Your executioner haha" She says with a maniacal laugh. One blast after another she fired lightning around the room, scorch marks litter the floor, the walls and the now-deceased thugs on the floor.

"Did Isen send you?" Oliver asks loudly, trying to come to grasp with the deadly situation he'd found himself stuck in. Dipp heart thumped heavy, Pallas lying on the floor, Oliver fighting for his life, and all He could do was watch. 'Move!, fight!' he yelled at himself internally, he'd done it before, unknowingly he'd beaten the odds.

"Agh!" Oliver lets out an agonising yell. Blood pours from his shoulder, around the wound was black scorch marks from the deadly lightning. Oliver's scream bringing Dipp back to reality he gripped his pistol, as fast as he could he fired the gun. The bullets flew towards Rein, with a smile and a laugh she turns to the shots, letting out several quick blasts. With ease, they melted under the overwhelming temperature of her lightning.

"Master, Just run!" He yells, turning back to see Dipp. His breathing heavy, his eyes wide. Dipp took a slow step forward, rein, raising his empty gun towards her.

"What the hell are you going to do with an empty gun! are you as dumb as your cute haha?" She says as she watches Dipp aim the empty gun. Tightly he pulled the trigger, sightly a blood-red need shot out from the floor towards the woman, with a quick gasp she leapt away from it, letting out a groan as it scraped by her arm. Blood slowly seeping out of her shoulder.

"What do you think you are doing!" Dipp yells loudly, the pressure of his voice filling the room with a dense atmosphere.