335: A Plague of Phantoms: Arena of Ra , Garden of Persephone III

"TINA SMASH!" Tina exclaimed and smashed his fists together.

I looked back at the scene the evos had cultivated then looked back at Chad who seemed confused about what was happening. His eyes immediately darted to one of the officials in particular, a woman dressed in a Egyptian air force uniform.

'I see…old military training reinserting itself.' I thought, as I remembered what Chase told me about Chad and his real origins. I steeled myself then stomped over to the woman, stepping around the Orkand and Briar Lieons that surrounded the military officials and quickly drew my manalock revolver. I pointed it at her head and scowled.

"You are unlawfully laying claim to evos belonging to Sho'lajah Artifact Company, release them now or you'll be sent back to your homelands in coffins." I said calmly.

The woman; a major if I was reading her rank correctly; looked at me indignantly then laughed. It was a slow building laugh that quickly grew into a loud reverberating cackle.

"Oh hilarious! You think that just because you work for Chase Kingston that it means you have the right to order us around like him. You are a normie, a worthless speck in the enormity of the universe. Know your place and get that useless stick out of my face!" The major snapped and started to slap my manalock revolver away.

I was suddenly jerked back before the woman could make contact. I looked over my shoulder and saw Chad grabbing me by my shirt and pulling me backwards.

"Stop it! Are you insane?!" Chad hissed in my ear. "She's the daughter of General Rakish! She can have anyone in Egypt killed! A normie like you is powerless against her family!"

I jerked away from Chad and spun around to face Chad. Before either he or I could react, I slapped him. Hard, the sound echoed throughout the biome and the mountain top. He stumbled back and held his cheek, looking at me with shock.

"I might be a normie with no value to you splicers but at least I'm not a coward and traitor!" I snapped. Chad glared at me, gritting his teeth and balling his fists.

"I am atoning for my transgressions!" Chad snapped.

I chuckled and shook my head, but only to hide the rage that was boiling underneath the surface. He'd been given a second chance to make up for forsaking the pact he made by Chase and Jane's brother and he was throwing it back in Chase's face.

"No, you are trying to buy forgiveness." I said coldly then let my rage boil over and leveled him with a glare that made him visibly shiver. "I owe Chase for saving not only my life but the life of my wife and son. He protected us when it would have been so much easier to walk away, he gave us a second chance at life when so many people only wanted to beat us down. So you can imagine the fury I am feeling right now to see you…taking Chase's grace and shitting on it!"

"I'm not…" Chad backpedaled but I shook my head sternly, silencing him.

"You are! Your one job was to protect the Briar Lieon's and make sure these idiots are kept under control but you're too worried about who they are to do your job! Would you be this pensive if they were threatening the Gents? Iris? Jane?" I snapped. He opened his mouth to answer but I steamrolled over him. "Nevermind, Regardless of what you say I can't believe it, your actions right now contradict your words!"

"Yes…they do, don't they?" a voice said behind me.

A bright purple light shined brightly in the sky above as bolts of lightning suddenly rained down and struck the Briar Lieons as well as Grog and Tina. Cages made of lightning formed around each evo and then chained them to the ground, immobilizing them with continuous electric shocks.

"GROG! TINA!" I yelled as I spun around.

I was confronted by several splicers smirking devilishly at me. I quickly raised my manalock revolver only to feel every muscle in my body burn and convulse against my will. It wasn't until my face hit the dirt that I realized I had been knocked off the ground.

"AAAAAH!" I screamed as I felt electricity coursing through my body, the pain numbing my thoughts and making me twitch.

Through the pain I heard footsteps approaching me from the side and felt someone grab my hand and yank the manacite communication ring off my finger. I took all my strength to force my eyes to look in that direction, I wasn't surprised to see Chad standing over me.

"Y-you fuc-c-k-ker!" I spat, looking up at Chad with as much venom and distain as I could muster. Chad looked down at me with pity then pulled my his own manacite communication ring and tossed both of them off the mountain.

"Should have been Sin." He said softly.

"Yes it should have been!" That major Rakish woman snapped harshly.

I strained to look over to where the voice came from and saw the major walking over to Chad and rearing back to slap him. The smack was so hard his head snapped to the side and he nearly lost his footing.

"Perkit you fool! You were supposed to lure the head of security here! Not some normie janitor!" The woman barked.

"Sorry Sir…I…" Chad apologized but the major huffed and snapped her fingers.

"Stand at attention! Has your time with civilians dulled your sense of etiquette?!" The major barked. Chad stood at attention then saluted the major.

"Sorry sir! Forgive my lapse sir!" Chad exclaimed. The woman shook her head then turned and looked back at the evos she and the others had captured.

"With these evos we will be better able to deal with that annoyance in the west…we only have to find a way our of here." The major said. One of the other military officials, a man, walked over to Tina's electric cage and snorted.

"These two were not part of the plan. Rather ugly for evos but the fact they are intelligent enough to talk could make them valuable on the black market." The man said.

"Leave them alone!" I barked, drawing everyone's attention back to me.

Two of the military officials shared a look then both men took a running start and kicked me in the head. I saw stars as I rolled onto my back and spat out blood. The two officials came into view and one stomped me in the gut while the other kicked me in the head repeatedly.

"You'll kill him!" Chad exclaimed, however the major spun around and slapped him across the face again.

"Quiet Perkit! He's a normie, no great loss to the country and certainly not this company. If you want us to honor our deal and help you earn back your family's honor…then you will be silent." She said in a frigid tone.

Both the military officials that were beating me stumbled back, huffing and breathing heavily. My body ached and screamed with every breath I took, regardless of that I glared at Chad, wanting to strangle the bastard with my bare hands.

"Your honor? You betrayed Chase…for that!" I growled. Chad refused to look back at me this time which only fueled my anger. "You threw that away when you sided with Jane's sister in that attempted coup! You would have been executed with all those other bastards if Jane's brother hadn't taken pitty on you! What kind of honor can come from STABBING YOUR SAVIOR IN THE BACK!" I yelled.

"The kind that only a war hero can obtain." The major said with a chuckle. She smiled and walked over to me then crouched down to look me in the eye. "A soldier has to be willing to sacrifice everything for the glorious victory of their country…Perkit over there is nothing if not a soldier."

"There isn't any major war going on…at least not one that Egypt is involved in…" I said, feeling confused. The major smiled coyly then crossed her arms.

"Not yet. A lot of very important foreign dignitaries died during that bastard princess's little coup…and not all of her allies have been found. Imagine my surprise to learn that one of my most humble dogs still alive and working for the one man that could bring all my plans to fruition." The major replied.

One of the male military officials crouched down and dangled a silver bangle in front of my face. I recognized the craftsmanship instantly, it was one of my wife's creations.

"That spell we used to trap all these evos was created by your boss. He didn't even bat an eyelash when my men described the spell he wanted enchanted. Ironic that Kingston's enchanted item will be the catalyst that starts the war that ends the Egyptian royal family, isn't it?" The man boasted.

"If you're wondering why we're telling you this…it's because you're not going to make it out of here alive." The major said then walked over to my manalock revolver and picked it up then held it out to Chad. "Perkit, finish him!"

Chad looked surprised and conflicted for a brief moment then nodded. Chad walked over and took the manalock revolver from the major and made his way over to me. He placed his foot on my chest and pointed the revolver at my head.

"I'm sorry…" Chad said, his expression blank. I glared back at him, I had recovered from the effects of whatever electric spell that had paralyzed me while those splicers were beating me but had no way to gain the upper hand, until now.

"I'm not…" I replied then grabbed his leg with all my strength.

A loud, wet, crunch rang in my ears followed by the feeling of a wet peanut crunching in my hand. Chad screamed and tried to jump backwards but couldn't because of my grip on his leg. Instead he fell on his back and I quickly jumped to my knees and dove on top of him. Ignoring my pain I reached for my gun and grabbed his wrist. It snapped easily thanks to my augmented strength and Chad dropped the gun. With my free hand I grabbed the revolver and immediately pointed and fired five shots before one of the other military officials kicked the gun out of my hand.

I was jumped and kicked five of the male military officials until the major reached down between them and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and yanked me into a sitting position. Chad was still screaming in the background.

"Was that worth it? That little act of defiance? It was about as useless as you are, normie trash! You couldn't even hit any of us!" Major Rakish snapped.

"Who said I was aiming at you?!" I growled back.

Several sharp popping sound rang out and the major made a shocked and pained expression before dropping on the ground beside me. Before the others could react Grog and Tina tackled two officials and dragged them along the ground, flinging them over their shoulder and slamming them into the ground over and over again. A hail of quills turned the remaining three splicers into pin cushions, their bodies fell on the ground around me.

I laid there for several moments just breathing and trying to drown out the sounds of Grog and Tina bashing the military officials heads off the ground. One of the Briar Lieons rushed over to check on me, his eyes shined with relief when he saw I was still alive.

I sat up and wished I hadn't as my entire body screamed in defiance. I ignored it and forced myself to stand then looked over at the bodies of all the military officials. Only the major was still breathing, though only barely. The poison on the quills would kill her if an antidote was given to her within the next hour.

"F-fuck…" Chad whimpered and gaining my attention. He was a couple feet away and trying to crawl away. I looked around and found my revolver laying on a rock. I limped over and picked it up then limped over to Chad and pointed it at him. "Don't…please…"

I stood over him for several seconds as he tried crawl but the Briar Lieons had surrounded us and blocking his route of escape. With no other option he rolled on his back and looked up at me.

"…you had every chance a human can have. Born a splicer, talented one at that, and from a respected family. You were a member of the royal guard for fucks sake! And you threw it all away! Your choices dishonored you and even when you were given a second chance you betrayed us all again!" I growled. Chad looked away only to get chittered angrily at by a Briar Lieon.

"How did you free them? You're a normie!" Chad asked.

"I have a ten year old in college and a boss that's a genius…connect the dots." I replied then chuffed and turned my back on him. "I should let Chase decide what to do with you but I'm tired of this bullshit…kill the traitor."

"Wait NO!" Chad cried out. I tuned out the sounds of his screams as he was shot to death by Briar Lieon quills then looked to Grog and Tina who were poking at the paralyzed major's body with a stick.

"Lets see Sin do that...useless normie my ass!" I grumbled.