Reunion

"Hugh... Hugh... Hugh," Gruunsk heavily panted after finally quelling his rage. When he stopped, the room was left in a state of total disorder.

Desks were shattered, old water coolers were twisted and destroyed, and the matted carpet was barely visible through the layer of debris and various papers littering it.

Leo slumped into a ruined swivel chair and grinned at Gruunsk. "Wow, it looks like a tornado hit this place," he chuckled as he placed his weapon on a nearby desk, causing it to clatter loudly against the surface.

Meanwhile, Charlotte approached Gruunsk with caution. "Are you okay now, hon?" she raised her hand to his muscle-hardened shoulder. "Still feeling angry?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Charlotte," Gruunsk huffed with a deep quaking voice. "It's just... What the h*ll is going on?! I died!" he shakily brought both hands to view. They trembled as he tried to make sense of it all. "How the h*ll am I alive?! Who was that creepy masked dude?!"

All of his questions were ones both Leo and Charlotte shared too. However, like Gruunsk, they hadn't had any answers for them.

'Guess that means you don't know either,' Charlotte thought disappointedly. She hoped Gruunsk had some information or even a clue about what was happening.

Charlotte sighed. Then she put on a warm smile, clasped her hands together, and said, "no idea, but let's sit on whatever hasn't been broken and chat. Let's catch up!"

"C-Catch up?" Gruunsk grunted; his mind was still hazy with fury. "Yeah, let's catch up."

The desire to smash anything and everything slowly faded from Gruunsk's mind. When he finally snapped out of his raging spell, what greeted him was the aftermath of his actions.

'Ugh...d*mn this orcish blood,' Gruunsk wearily brought a hand to his forehead and rubbed it. 'Why can't I control myself?!'

Interrupting Gruunsk's thoughts, Leo snickered and pointed to the foldout chair. "Yinny's right, Gruunsk. You should sit down." Surrounding it was a pile of thick rope that had been used to bind his body.

A visible crease of frustration formed on Gruunsk's forehead. "Don't test me, man," he warned Leo with a pointed finger. "You know I can't control myself when I get angry."

Leo, as if to poke the bear, burst out in laughter. 'I can't believe someone so intimidating looking is such a coward inside!'

"I'm sorr-" Leo stifled his laughter upon seeing Gruunsk's eyes narrow. Though it was hilarious to mess with him, he'd rather not Gruunsk wreck what was to be their new home for the foreseeable future.

Leo brought a fist to his mouth and audibly cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, buddy."

Gruunsk growled, then snorted in acceptance. "Fine. We're old friends, so I'll let you off the hook."

"Thanks for that!" Leo snickered again, causing Gruunsk to snarl, but finally calmed himself.

After a loud sigh, Gruunsk paced over to the pile of cash and supplies.

He picked up a stack of bills and eyed them skeptically. "What is all of this? What does that masked guy want with me? With you two?" While thumbing through the cash, he turned to Leo and Charlotte. "Did you two die with me?"

Leo and Charlotte glanced at each other, then nodded with silent agreement. Their faces became hardened and solemn as any trace of casualness vanished.

"We'll tell you everything we know, old friend. Now please," Leo motioned for Gruunsk to sit.

***

Upon Leo's explanation finishing, Gruunsk's skin twitched with unease. "So I was right... We all died... That... That son of a b*tch killed us. F*cking Larceny! And what did you say? The guy, Cryptbreaker, he enslaved us?! For what?!"

Leo took a deep breath, expanding his chest to its limits. However, it was Charlotte who took the explanation from here.

"He wants us to steal a magic artifact from the M.A.B." she crossed her arms beneath her chest and wearily sighed. "He called it the Asclepius Staff."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Gruunsk jumped up from his chair in shock, dropping the stack of bills he'd been fidgeting with. "He wants us to do what?! How the h*ll are we supposed to do that?! Does he have any idea the kind of security they have?!"

Leo laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, I doubt he cares very much about the odds of it. He just wants results."

'Just like my superiors on the war front,' Leo thought to himself.

"And we can't just take all this money and run because?" Gruunsk gestured to the massive pile of green bills.

"Because of this, hon," Charlotte gestured to the mark on her neck, then to Gruunsk's. "Apparently, that'll f*ck you up if you disobey him."

Gruunsk had been about to call Charlotte foolish when a particularly unpleasant memory flared up in his mind.

It was right after his revival. His vision was darkened, and he'd been in some underground space. When he came to, the floor was littered with several hooded bodies.

However, amongst the death stood the one that could transfer life. The cackling madman that Gruunsk now knew was Cryptbreaker.

Gruunsk's first instinct was to run. His orcish senses felt the malicious darkness that lies within Cryptbreaker's soul. It was akin to the demon lord of fables. The one who'd been vanquished for thousands of years.

So, after insulting and threatening Cryptbreaker several times, he made a mad dash for the exit. However, before leaving the room, he recalled experiencing pain worse than having his limbs sawed off with a butter knife.

Then, everything went black before he woke up here, tied to a chair, surrounded by guns and cash, and with guns pointed at him by two of his closest friends.

Gruunsk picked up the dropped cash and tossed it back into the pile. He then walked over and scanned the crates of supplies. Without turning toward Leo and Charlotte, he said, "so what's the plan? How are we going to steal from one of the most highly secured vaults in Quincy?"

Both Gruunsk and Charlotte looked to Leo. During their merry escapades of criminal activity, Leo had always done the bulk of the planning.

Leo leaned forward, propped his elbows atop his knees, and cradled his chin over his hands. "I have a few ideas," he said with a mischievous smirk.