《The Dark (Part 1)》


 Chapter 1: 22:00

    <h1>Chapter 1: 22:00.</h1>


    Outside of a somewhat upmarket bar, a small group of professional looking men had gathered in front of a yellow cab. They were a racially diverse group, and were all significantly tipsy, with some past the point of being able to be called that. In the centre of the group was a fairly tall, statuesque black male. He was handsome and well-built enough to get attention when dressed normally, but in this instance, he was dressed in a pure white three-piece suit. Everything he had on was white, and it all made his hands and head to appear to be darker than they actually were ¨C something his companions had been pointing out the entire day, and every other time he had worn the outfit. The conversation the group was having was an extension of the one they were having inside the bar, and had been dragging on for quite some time if the cab drivers face was anything to by. He looked to be running out of patience, and this was made worse by the act that none of these guys had noticed it.


    ¡°Look guys, I¡¯ve really got to get outta here.¡± The man said, trying to force his way into the cab.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. You¡¯ve been saying that for over an hour, Theo!¡± One of his inebriated friends boomed.


    ¡°I know!¡± Theo replied in faux anger, before looking over at the cab driver. ¡°Yeah, even the driver is pissed. Fuck you guys, I¡¯m getting out of here.¡±


    ¡°What? Come onnn! It¡¯s barely even past 10:00 PM!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well I¡¯ve got a wife and kids at my house, and unlike some of you, I actually like to tuck my kids in to bed.¡±


    ¡°Pussy!¡±


    ¡°Right back atcha!¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay, leave the guy alone.¡± Said another friend. ¡°Theo is a devoted family man, with a gorgeous wife and some cute kids; it¡¯s no wonder he wants to get back home. If he was going home to what you do every night Matt, he¡¯d probably be reluctant to go home as well!¡±


    ¡°What?! Fuck you!¡± Matt, who was by far the most intoxicated of the group, boomed in protest.


    The conversation was accompanied with some thunderous and drunken laughter, before the lot exchanged farewell handshakes and hugs, before Theo climbed into the back of the cab. He gave the cabbie an apologetic look before giving him an address. He looked back to see his friends all waving at him ¨C an act that he reciprocated before fishing in his pockets, looking for his phone. After some digging, he pulled it out, and dialed his wife¡¯s phone. The phone rang and rang until it reached her voicemail, and despite looking somewhat puzzled, Theo left a message.


    ¡°Hey babe, I just got in a cab, and am headed home right now. I know I¡¯m late, but I¡¯ll be home soon to apologise properly¡­ I¡¯m in your favourite suit, after all. Anyway, I¡¯ll see you soon. I love you.¡±


    Theo hung up, and placed the phone in his lap. He sat in silence for a few minutes as he looked out the window, clearly troubled by something.


    ¡®It¡¯s not like Jessica to miss my calls.¡¯ He thought to himself, before being interrupted by the sound of the snickering cabbie.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, did I say something funny?¡±


    ¡°Forgive me, I don¡¯t mean to laugh but¡­ THAT is your wife¡¯s favourite outfit?¡±


    ¡°Fuck me, what is everybody¡¯s problem with this damn suit? You know what, it doesn¡¯t even matter. My wife loves this suit, and that¡¯s all that counts. Now drive¡­ I¡¯ve been feeling restless all day, and I just want to get home.¡±


    The cabbie just nodded and gave a small salute as he put his foot down, driving a little faster. The bar wasn¡¯t all that far from Theo¡¯s house, so it was never a particularly long journey to make in either direction.


    ¡°So how long have you been married?¡± The driver asked Theo.


    ¡°We¡¯re going on five years, man.¡±


    ¡°Five years? You¡¯re practically still a newly wed.¡± He said, chuckling somewhat.


    ¡°Yeah, agreed. That said, we¡¯ve been together for almost seven.¡±


    ¡°Kids?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we have three; a boy, and twin girls. How about yourself?¡±


    ¡°Oh? I¡¯m married, and have more kids than I have any right to have.¡± The cabbie said with a sigh and a shake of his head, which prompted Theo to chuckle under his breath.


    The conversation between the two men continued in this vein until they reached Theo¡¯s house, which was located in a rather nice, somewhat upmarket suburb. The conversation from Theo¡¯s side suddenly stopped when he noticed from a distance how the lights at his house were all off.


    ¡°¡­that¡¯s odd.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not so late that she would be asleep.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Theo looked at his phone to verify that he had not received a call from his wife, and then looked back at his house, which the car was now rapidly approaching. A few moments later, and the cab pulled up to the house, parking on the street.


    ¡°It¡¯s all dark¡­¡± Theo said as he slowly searched for his wallet.


    He was completely distracted by the state of his house, and this resulted in the search taking quite a bit longer than it should have, but he eventually found it.


    ¡°H-How much do I owe you?¡± Theo asked as he opened his wallet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just call it an even twenty, sir.¡±


    The exchange of money was brief, as Theo wanted to get out of the car and into his house as quickly as possible. After paying and leaving the cab, Theo did his best to collect and compose himself. He was buzzing slightly, but not so much that his faculties were severely affected. He quickly approached the front door, keys in hand and just as he was about to open the door, he noticed that it appeared to be slightly ajar.


    ¡®What the fuck?¡¯ He thought to himself as he pushed the door open.


    Usually a calm and calculating customer, Theo suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach which coupled with his buzz, made him act out of character as he barged into the house. The thought of his family being in any kind of danger affected his ability to remain rational and his sense of urgency shot through the roof. After entering, he immediately went to a light switch, flicking it to test if the lights worked. They didn¡¯t.


    ¡®What the?¡± He thought to himself as he started becoming more and more concerned.


    ¡°Jess? Jess, I¡¯m home¡­ Jess?¡±


    Theo called out to his wife as he started moving further into the house, with the first destination he had had in mind being the children¡¯s bedroom.


    ¡°Jessica, what¡¯s going on? Where are y ¨C¡±


    Theo suddenly quieted down and stood perfectly still. His instincts told him that he wasn¡¯t alone in the house, and that whoever else was in there, was not friendly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who the fuck you people are, but I¡¯d advise that you leave before you get hurt.¡±


    Despite the menacing sounding warning, Theo suddenly found himself being approached by multiple people and then without warning, lunged at from behind. He slid to his left in a bid to avoid the attack, before spinning and turning to face whoever had just attacked him, He then threw a right hook which was evaded but pushed off from where he was standing and tackled whoever it was that was in front of him. As both men hit the ground, Theo quickly got to work, letting off a flurry of blows aimed around where he guessed the head would be. His aim was a little off, but he connected with face down below quite a few times, feeling a nose crunch beneath his fist. As he was doing this, two hands suddenly grabbed him from behind and hoisted him up. The hands then slid beneath his underarms and attempted to get him in some sort of hold, but Theo wasn¡¯t having it. He quickly jabbed his head backwards twice, head-butting the one trying to restrain him in the face with the back of his head, before letting out something of a roar and forcing his arms down, breaking the hold. He quickly turned around and unleashed two hard shots to his foes body, and then followed them up with two punches to the face. The body was particularly hard, but having done some damage to the guy¡¯s face just moments before helped take the guy out. Just as the guy went down, a blow connected with Theo¡¯s right cheek, forcing his face to violently jerk to the left. The blow was hard and heavy, and caused Theo to stumble slightly to his left. Another blow caught his other cheek, before a stern kick to the gut sent Theo reeling and forced him to crash into a wall. The guy who connected with his blows was immediately on Theo, throwing straights and hooks at his head. Despite everybody being in the dark, they weren¡¯t having any trouble locating each other, with Theo slipping and avoiding all the punches, before landing a ferocious kick on the guy¡¯s kidney. He then unleashed a four punch combination to the body and head, before grabbing said head in his palms and thrusting his own head forward, crashing his forehead into his opponent¡¯s forehead. As the guy crumbled into a heap on the floor, Theo took a deep breath and tried to gather himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who you fuckers are, but you picked the wrong house and the wrong family to fuck with.¡±


    As Theo said this, he stepped over the body on the floor and started striding forwards when the lights suddenly switched on, and Theo was confronted by the sight of four people - three men and a woman ¨C standing next to each other. One of the men was tall ¨C taller than Theo, who was rather tall at 6¡¯5. He was a large, muscular bald man who wore what looked like a blacked out prison guard uniform. Another was shorter and almost alarmingly slim, with his clothes appearing to hang off of him. They were also black, and his face was mostly hidden by a hood. The woman was dressed in tight fitting leather attire, and had a heavily made up face. She was around 6¡¯0, and surprisingly well-built. The third man, who appeared to be the leader of sorts was around 6¡¯2, well-built and was dressed in what appeared to be blacked out military combat gear, and a trench coat. He had a full face mask with some red goggles that seemed to be backlit. All the men were armed with various weapons, and Theo eyed them all with a stone faced expression. The leader of the men stepped forward and approached Theo, who had stopped moving by now, and continued looking at the dangerous looking men in his house.


    ¡°On the contrary, we¡¯ve picked the right house and precisely the right family, Theo¡­ or should I say, Othello.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that name? Who are you?!¡± Theo asked, his voice hinting at him being surprised and slightly annoyed at having been called by that name.


    ¡°My name isn¡¯t important¡­ and as to how I know your real name? Well, you¡¯ll find that out soon enough.¡±


    Theo¡¯s mind was now in overdrive as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. If these people knew who he was, then surely they weren¡¯t regular burglars or home invaders. He was definitely at a disadvantage, and he had to act quickly.


    ¡°Who hired you? Who¡¯s your target? Are you here for me alone?¡±


    Just as Theo asked thee questions, a few more men in the vein of those he had just fought emerged from deeper within the house, and Theo¡¯s thoughts immediately went back to his wife and his children. The expression on his face changed to one of concern, and then of anger as he looked the group. As if something switched inside him, Theo suddenly adopted a far more threatening stance.


    ¡°Where are my wife and kids?¡± He asked, his voice quiet, but also threatening.


    There was no answer from anybody in the room, and this caused Theo to leap off from where he was standing, displaying more speed and agility than he had in the prior exchanges. He closed the distance between him and the group quickly; however the goons who had emerged from deeper within his house were the ones to retaliate ¨C all of them leaping at him at the same time. Theo was seemingly not in the mood to play around, or had thrown caution to the wind as he raised his right hand and palmed one of the men in the face, the sound of contact between hand and face was surprisingly cloud, as was the groan that could heard coming from the goon¡¯s face, and the force with which he flew backwards and crashed into the wall behind him. As he slumped to the floor, Theo was already attacking another of the men who had tried going low. He raised his knee and crashed it right into the guy¡¯s face, causing said guy to actually flip over and complete a revolution before landing face down on the floor. Theo then avoided a few punches aimed at his face, before reaching out and grabbing the guy who was attacking with his left hand and pulling him violently towards time, before extending his right arm and forcing his bicep into the guy¡¯s throat ¨C giving him a sort of wrestling clothesline and making him spin and twist before crashing into a glass table that shattered as he went through it. Theo then turned to face the stronger looking group, which had been standing perfectly still and observing this second round of sorts. He was just about to charge them when he noticed that the female of the group was missing.


    ¡®Where the fuck did she go?¡¯ Theo asked himself as he looked around with his eyes.


    ¡°You know¡­ I really do admire you, Othello.¡± The leader of the group said.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Theo said as he looked at the yet to be named leader.


    ¡°I said I admire you. Coming from the family you do, which has strong links to a powerful clan from the Netherworld, yet you are this strong after having been denied the opportunity of signing a Contract.¡±


    ¡°¡­how do you know all that? Who the fuck are y¡ª¡±


    Theo couldn¡¯t finish his question as the female of the group returned, with Theo¡¯s family in tow. They were bound at the wrists, had gags in their mouths, and appeared to have signs of light abuse on their tear stricken faces. The woman looked at Theo and smirked at him.


    ¡°JESS!¡±


    The sight of his family shackled up like that seemed to set something off inside of him ¨C something of volcanic proportions. The group leader noticed this, and quickly reached behind his back and pulled out a massive rifle, before handing it to the tall bald man. He then removed a fairly savage looking bladed weapon from his waist and handed it to the other man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Othello.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Boss.¡± The tall one said.


    ¡°Othello!¡± The leader boomed. ¡°Face me. If you win, you and your family will be left alone. To make things fair, my guys won¡¯t interfere, and I will not use any of my weapons.¡±


    Theo ¨C or Othello ¨C was absolutely fuming by this point. His fists were clenched and shaking pretty violently, and he looked as though he was about to explode.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you¡­ I¡¯LL KILL YOU!!¡±


    Theo suddenly dashed towards the leader, closing the distance almost instantly and without standing on ceremony, unleashed a series of punches. They were fast, sharp and hard, yet they were all missing the target. Whether by ducking, swiveling or parrying, the mask wearing leader was avoiding all of the punches with ease, without even raising his fists to maintain some sort of a guard. To his credit, Theo not only kept swinging, but increased the speed of his strikes, varying the types of punches he threw, and even tried to get a few kicks in. Despite increasing the speed and ferocity of his attacks, Theo wasn¡¯t having any luck whatsoever, and before he even knew what happened, he felt what could be described as a small wrecking ball crashing into his stomach and knocking all the wind out of him, and that was followed by a particularly hard punch to the face that launched Theo off of his feet and crashing into a wall. He actually recovered from this fairly quickly as he landed on his feet and looked up to see his opponent right in front of him once more. His instincts screamed at him to duck as quickly as possible, despite no evidence of a punch or a kick incoming. Theo was always one to listen to his instincts though, and he ducked and moved to his right as quickly as he could, which turned out to be a smart move as a lightning quick two punch combination not only ripped through the air, but the wall as well, leaving a cross-shaped gash in it.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡®Holy shit! Don¡¯t tell me this guy¡­¡¯


    Theo barely had enough time to formulate coherent sentences in his mind as he was on the move again, dashing away from the masked leader before quickly charging him once more, trying to get him from behind. He threw a one-two combo which was easily slipped, before bending his arm and throwing his elbow back. His elbow strike was blocked, and his exposed side was hit with a flurry of blows so rapid, he couldn¡¯t even count how many punches were in the barrage. He heard a voice cry out in pain, and it took a few moments to realise that it was actually his voice. What he did know instantly however, was that his side hurt immensely, and that at least one rib had been broken. He lowered his elbow and attempted to throw a left hook, but it was easily evaded, and he then felt a fist connect with the left side of his chin, buckling his legs somewhat before a short uppercut connected flush with his chin, and dropped Theo to his knees. There was a slight ringing in his ears as blood poured from his mouth and his breathing was ragged.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯m impressed, Othello. You really are gifted. You''re strong, fast, and pretty skilled¡­ but at the end of the day, you''re just a gifted human¡­ ¡°


    The leader said all this as his goggles glowed bright red, and Theo looked up to see what looked like a pair of slanted red eyes glowing above the leader¡¯s head.


    ¡°Your gifts may be enough for you to take out low level Contracted like the boys here¡­ but for those like myself¡­ taking care of you is child¡¯s play.¡±


    ¡®Just as I thought¡­ this fucker has signed a Contract with an Entity¡­¡¯


    Just then, Theo felt immense pain for an instant, before everything faded to black, and he was knocked unconscious.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Theo to regain consciousness. He was seated in a chair, and attempts at standing up soon revealed that he had been restrained. He slowly started looking around, trying to ascertain whether or not he was still in his house. He was, and was seated in his living room. Seated across from him were his wife Jess, twin daughters Zama and Thandi, and son, Ethan. They too were all restrained, but they were also gagged. Theo tried calling out to them, but found that he was also gagged. He thrashed around a bit as he tried to free himself, but it was to no avail as these weren¡¯t ordinary ropes, they seemed to be sentient ¨C slithering and tightening with each attempt Theo made to escape. After giving up on breaking his bonds, Theo suddenly noticed that there was a strange red haze in the living room. Despite it being lit and everything being visible, it was unusually dark, and very hazy.


    ¡®This is very bad¡­ think, Theo! Think of a way out of this! THINK!!!¡¯


    He looked over at his terrified family, and tried to reassure them with his eyes. He tried to project a sort of calm demeanor, and he held eye contact with them all individually for extended periods of time. His children were still young, with Ethan approaching kindergarten age, and the twins a year younger than him. The tears streaming down their cheeks broke his heart, and made him struggle to free himself once more, however much like the first time, Theo¡¯s attempts were futile. Jess on the other hand was looking very calm. It was as if she had resigned herself to whatever fate awaited her and her family, and sort of shrugged bitterly when Theo looked at her. After a few excruciating minutes of waiting, the entire group walked into the living room, previously unconscious goons included. Everybody except the leader was chewing and holding sandwiches in their hands.


    ¡®You¡¯ve GOT to be kidding me! These bastards are eating my food as well!?¡¯ Theo thought to himself.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake.¡± The leader said as he looked at Theo.


    He looked around for a chair, and once he found one, he dragged it behind him as he walked and then set it down in front of Theo. He then sat down in the chair, and crossed one leg over the over before taking a deep breath and speaking.


    ¡°Theo Burrows, or should I say, Othello Barausse; illegitimate child of Frankie Barausse ¨C head of the Barausse family, one of the biggest crime families on the East Coast.¡± After saying all this, the leader leaned in closer and virtually whispered. ¡°Do your wife and kids know about this? I mean technically, you aren¡¯t actually black, man. You¡¯re mixed.¡±


    Theo scowled intensely at this man, who was casually revealing secrets he had been keeping for a very long time.


    ¡°Anyway, I just wanted to have a bit of a chat before getting on with business. You see, I genuinely admire you, Othello. I know all about you, man. I know that your mother was a hooker, I know that you went to live with your father at a young age, but things didn¡¯t go so well ¨C especially when you displayed levels of competence that were superior to the rest of the youngsters in your generation. You were smarter, stronger more charming and likable than the rest of them; even winning the affections of Tia ¨C the princess of the Bolzano family. However, for some reason, whether the shade of your skin and texture of your hair, or maybe because of the fact that your mother was a prostitute, either way, you weren¡¯t very well liked or accepted, and when the murmurs of you being the heir to Moon Contract surfaced, well¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh, sorry Boss, but weren¡¯t you saying how you wanted to get this all over with before midnight? Going over this guy¡¯s long ass personal history won¡¯t make that a realistic objective.¡±


    The leader looked back at his muscular subordinate and chuckled somewhat heartily, before shaking his head and looking at Theo.


    ¡°Sorry about that, I just really like this guy.¡± He then took another breath before addressing Theo once more. ¡°Othello, I just want to let you know that none of what is about to happen is personal. I have been¡­ employed to carry out a certain and extremely detailed task.¡±


    The man then stood up slowly and held his hand out. One of the low level henchmen hobbled into view with a large duffel bag in his hands. He gave to his boss, and walked off. The bag was then set on the recently vacated chair, slowly opened. Theo looked around the room, only to see the faces of virtually the entire group, all smiling sadistically at him. The sounds that came from within the bag as the boss rummaged through it were making Theo a worried man, and after a while, the boss stopped his search and looked up.


    ¡°Considering what is about to happen, I should at least tell you my name¡­ in certain circles, I go by the Phantom.¡±


    Theo was barely even paying attention to what was being said at this point, because as the Phantom revealed who he was, he started pulling out all manner of tools that could be used as torture devices. As he laid them out neatly on the floor, he looked towards the woman in his crew.


    ¡°Widow, have you completed the sound-proofing?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir. We could have a convert in here, and nobody outside would hear a peep.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­¡±


    The Phantom then picked up a small blade, a pair of pliers and a hammer, and walked right up to Theo, who was mentally steeling himself for what he assumed, would be a long and painful night. He could see his kids shaking in terror and fresh tears making their way down their respective faces.


    ¡°So, here¡¯s the thing, Othello¡­ you aren¡¯t my target. Well, you eventually are, but¡­ everything that¡¯s in the duffel bag, as well as in my hands right now is to be used¡­ on them.¡±


    The Phantom gestured with his head that the target was Theo¡¯s family.


    ¡®What? No! You son of a bitch! Don¡¯t you dare touch them! DON¡¯T TOUCH THEM!! DON¡¯T TOUCH THEM!!!¡¯


    Theo was going absolutely nuts, shaking violently as he tried to get loose. His eyes and face were filled with absolute desperation, and he was screaming. He was trying to talk, but due to the gag, all he could do was make noise. The Phantom turned around and made his way over to Jess and the children, who had started screaming once more.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame this has to go down, but we¡¯ve already been paid. Sorry about this.¡±


    Over the course of what felt like an eternity, Theo was forced to sit and watch atrocities that no living creature should be subjected to being carried out on his wife and children by the Phantom. The sound of their blood curdling screams rang in Theo¡¯s ears, and coupled with his own screams, filled the entire room, as did the heavy scent of blood. The amount of blood that was on the floor, as well as appendages after a while was the stuff of nightmares. Theo did not stop screaming or thrashing about the entire time. Watching this man commit such horrible acts on his family was only made worse by the fact that Phantom would stop in the middle of torturing one of Theo¡¯s loved ones and turn to look at him, offering compliments like ¡°Wow, these girls are absolutely beautiful. They would have made gorgeous brides¡± or ¡°Wow, Ethan looks just like you, Othello! You must have been so proud when he was born¡±. During the early parts of the ordeal, before anything had been severed, removed or the like, Theo found himself making all kinds of mental demands.


    ¡®Hey! You Moon Clan fuckers, I know you can hear me! I need help! Help me!¡¯ He boomed with his mind.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡®I need power! My family needs me! Give me power!¡¯


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡®It¡¯s The ¨C I mean, Othello Barausse! You have an alliance with my family! Send some demons to help! PLEASE!¡¯


    ¡°¡­¡±


    No matter how much Theo pleaded, all he received in response was rotten silence. He didn¡¯t stop however, and he continued demanding help. As time went on however, he found himself altering the demand from needing power to save his family, to needing the strength to put them out of their misery. The tone also changed, as he went from virtually ordering a Moon Clan demon to help, to begging. The silence he got in return was doing a number on him. His throat was hoarse from all the screaming, and fresh blood from said throat had stained the gag. His eyes were blood red, tears flowing from them. He aggravated and even exacerbated the injuries he received from the Phantom earlier in the night, and more than his physical state, watching and hearing his children crying and screaming his name, pleading with him to help, had come close to completely breaking him. Phantom had been going about his business without a shred of hesitation or remorse ¨C something a few of his people failed to do. Some couldn¡¯t watch, while others who had been watching had vomited a few times; their stomachs unable to handle what they were witnessing. One by one, Theo watched his children succumb to their wounds, and each death would destroy a portion of his soul. Time dragged on slowly, and at around midnight, Theo, whose eyes had glazed over, watched as Phantom turned around and walked over to the duffel bag. What remained in the chairs behind him were bodies in such poor condition that they could no longer be referred to as corpses. Jess, who held out the longest, had finally joined her children in the afterlife. The man who called himself Phantom looked at Theo and shook his head slightly as he pulled a cloth out from the bag and began wiping all his instruments of torture clean.


    ¡°You know Othello; I genuinely did not enjoy doing any of that. But you know, a job is a job.¡±


    By now, Theo was sitting limp in the chair. His head was hanging low, and it was as if Phantom¡¯s words were not registering. That didn¡¯t stop him from talking though.


    ¡°I wonder what it is you did to anger those who paid me¡­ because this was an unbelievably cruel thing to make a man go through.¡± He then held up a tool he used for eye gouging and started wiping it fiercely. ¡°I mean, your kids were so young and cute, man. Your wife, she was so beautiful¡­ I might even say she was prettier than Tia!¡±


    Phantom chuckled and nudged at the air in Theo¡¯s direction. He was speaking as if he had nothing to do with what just happened, let alone being directly responsible for it all. He continued talking as he cleaned his tools as best he could, before finishing up and closing the duffel bag. He looked at Theo once more and walked up to him, raising his head by pushing his chin up and looked at the man¡¯s unfocused, almost lifeless looking eyes.


    ¡°Othello? Earth to Othello?¡±


    Phantom even waved his open hand across Theo¡¯s face, and when he got no response, he sighed.


    ¡°Such a shame¡­¡±


    He walked off and went back to the duffel bag, opening it up and after a brief search, pulled out a handgun.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to leave him alive, but what¡¯s the point?¡±


    ¡°Wait Boss, you¡¯re actually going to kill him?¡± The muscular subordinate asked.


    ¡°Yeah? Didn¡¯t the client say he must be kept alive?¡± The woman previously referred to as Widow chimed in.


    ¡°That certainly is true, however it was only said to keep Othello alive to watch his family tortured to death. Nothing was said about what should be done afterwards.¡± Phantom held the gun up and cocked it. ¡°I¡¯m taking him out.¡±


    ¡°Seriously? Why?¡±


    ¡°Like I told him a million times, I like this guy.¡±


    Before anybody could talk back, the Phantom pointed the gun at Theo, who despite all appearances, was present and could hear everything.


    ¡®Fuck this guy¡­ acting all friendly after making me watch all that. Fuck all his crew; I hope they burn in Hell. Fuck the Moon Clan¡­ I don¡¯t know what I was expecting asking them for help, but they didn¡¯t even respond, despite my using the correct channel.¡¯


    Theo started crying once more, a fresh stream of tears making their way down his cheeks from his eyes. The Phantom noticed this, but all it served to do was make him nod, as if he was doing Theo a favour.


    ¡®I¡¯m so sorry, Jessica¡­ Ethan, Thandi, Zama¡­ forgive me for being weak and not protecting you¡­¡¯


    Just then, everything in the room went dark, causing Theo to actually look around with his eyes.


    ¡®What happened? Why¡¯s it all dark? Am I dead?¡¯ Theo asked himself all these questions as if he was going to answer them himself. He closed his eyes, and succumbed to what he thought was death


    ¡°Your voice reached me, Othello¡­¡±


    Theo¡¯s eyes suddenly shot open, and a bright white light illuminated the room. The light burned and crackled likpe the purest, most beautiful flames, and Theo couldn¡¯t focus on it for too long without his eyes hurting. Everybody appeared to be frozen in place as time seemed to have stood still. Theo, who still wasn¡¯t sure if he was alive or dead looked at Phantom, behind whom the light had formed. It then started to take shape, forming into a silhouette of some sort of humanoid figure, and where the eyes were meant to be appeared two eye slits which emitted a black glow.


    ¡°I must be dead¡­¡± Theo said, having suddenly regained his ability to speak, despite his being gagged.


    ¡°You are not dead, Othello. Not yet.¡±


    The being spoke with a raspy, almost wet sounding voice, which fluctuated from a whisper, to deep, grotesque tone; something completely at odds with the being¡¯s appearance.


    ¡°W¡­ Who are you?¡± Theo asked, still in a state of shock.


    ¡°You have not time for such questions. I have slowed down time enough for us to come to an understanding.¡±


    ¡°What kind of understanding? What the fuck is going on here?!¡±


    ¡°Do you desire the power to kill those who killed your family?¡±


    That question alone made every single thought about whether or not he was dead and what was going on seem absolutely trivial. In that moment, all Theo yearned for was the strength to heinously kill everybody who was present in his house, and avenge his family. Their severely mutilated corpses in clear view as if to enrage him even more. The resignation and acceptance of his fate that Theo had felt just moments prior had been blown away, and replaced with wrath. He looked this white, flaming entity in the eyes and answered.


    ¡°More than ANYTHING.¡±


    ¡°I have the ability to share my power with you, for a period of time.¡±


    All of a sudden, a stone tablet marked with something written in a language Theo had never seen before appeared in front of him.


    ¡°This is a contract. Sign it with your blood, Othello.¡±


    Theo looked at the tablet, trying to see if he could decipher even the slightest bit of the writing. He was interrupted however, as this entity suddenly screamed.


    ¡°STOP DAWDLING AND SIGN THE CONTRACT, OTHELLO!!!!¡±


    Theo was suddenly jarred into action as he spat onto the tablet with as much force as he could. The wad of spit was red and hit the tablet with a rather loud splat. As soon as the spit hit the stone, the writing glowed white and the tablet disappeared. The entity looked at Theo and he could swear he saw it smile and nod in approval.


    ¡°Well done, Othello¡­ I am known as the Fallen. I shall see you soon.¡±


    No sooner had this being called the Fallen introduced itself did it disappear in a bright flash. Everything in the living room then went back to normal, and almost instantly, the sound of the repeated gunshots filled the entire house. The Phantom stood with the smoking gun still pointed directly at the pulpy remains of Theo¡¯s head.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°What is it, Boss?¡± The muscular subordinate asked.


    ¡°Nothing, really¡­ it¡¯s just I could have sworn that at the last moment, Othello¡¯s dead eyes were filled with¡­ wrath, hope¡­ I don¡¯t know. Anyway, it¡¯s just after midnight. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± He then looked at the goons. ¡°You lot; you handle the cleanup.¡±


    ¡°What should we do, Sir?¡± One of them asked.


    ¡°Burn the house. A bunch of you all vomited or bled in here, so eliminate all evidence of our presence with fire.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Black Widow, Krazy Native, Mike D, you¡¯re all dismissed for the night. I¡¯ll contact you when next we have a job.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Boss.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Sir.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Phantom retrieved his weapons from his subordinates, slung the bag¡¯s strap over his shoulder, nodded at everybody, and was suddenly enveloped by some sort of black aura, before disappearing with a flash of light. Native looked at everybody who remained, and spoke.


    ¡°Alright, you all heard what the boss said. Widow, you can take down your webs, now. We all know how strong they are, and all they would do is hinder our effort to burn this place to the ground.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Black Widow said with something of a sneer.


    ¡°The rest of you will take care of ¨C¡±


    Native was interrupted by Mike D leaving the house. He raised his open hand, aimed it at the wall and after his palm glowed bright green, a skull shaped ball of similarly coloured¡­ something flew from his palm and hit the wall, with the resulting explosion creating a big enough hole for him to walk out of. He didn¡¯t even say anything as he lowered his hand and made his way out from the smoking hole, disappearing into the sky with a green flash.


    ¡°Fucking weirdo¡­¡± Native muttered under his breath with a shake of his head.


    He then walked out of the hole himself, crouched down, and then suddenly leapt up into the sky. He didn¡¯t fly away, he jumped away. Black Widow raised her hands with her palms open, and proceeded to suck all of the webbing that was in the house into her palms. Despite how much webbing there was, it all disappeared fairly quickly and once it was all gone, she looked at the remaining grunts and exited from the hole as well, before disappearing into the night.


    ¡°¡­n-none of those weirdoes used the damn door.¡± One of the grunts stated.


    ¡°When have they ever?¡± Another replied.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. Let¡¯s get this place burned up, and get the fuck outta here.¡±


    ¡°Hear, hear.¡±


    They all got to work, walking through the house, looking for and finding highly flammable materials before setting them up in strategic locations in the house.


    ¡°Man, tonight was BRUTAL.¡± One of the goons declared.


    ¡°Yeah man, I don¡¯t think that this line of work is for me. This anything-goes type shit is too much for me to handle.¡±


    ¡°Watching those kids get torn apart by Phantom while the other bosses watched on as if they were enjoying the show? Fuck, I couldn¡¯t take that.¡±


    ¡°I got kids that age at home¡­ I don¡¯t even want to imagine how that Theo, Othello, whatever his fucking name is; I don¡¯t want to imagine what he was feeling.¡±


    ¡°Man, fuck that guy. He might have gotten his ass kicked, but he went to town on us. Fuck him hard.¡±


    The discussion continued amongst the grunts as they set everything up. One of the men, who wasn¡¯t in the room due to having been too squeamish, was now in the kill room, looking at the multiple corpses and blood all over the place. He looked at the children and sighed, offering up a small prayer for them, before looking over at Theo¡¯s corpse. His pure white suit had been stained with a few drops of blood that had come from his mouth when he suffered a beating, and he was still restrained by the strange rope. The goon¡¯s eyes rose up to look at Theo¡¯s head, and while he was expecting to see brains, blood and head goop after all the bullets Phantom put into Theo¡¯s head, what he found was a perfectly intact head. In fact, there was absolutely no evidence of there having been anything violent done to the head.


    ¡°Wait¡­ what? Is this for real? Didn¡¯t that creepy guy shoot this guy¡¯s head to shit?¡± The goon then took a few steps towards Theo, before calling out. ¡°Hey guys, how was this guy here killed?!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Phantom blew his head apart like a ripe watermelon! Why?¡±


    ¡°¡­because right now, this guy¡¯s head looks like a perfect watermelon that hasn¡¯t exploded or anything!¡±


    ¡°What? Bullshit!¡±


    It didn¡¯t take all that long for the goons to all gather in front of Theo, and they all stared at him, completely confused.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get it¡­ I fuckin¡¯ saw this cat¡¯s head pop! How is this possible?!¡±


    ¡°The only possible answer I can think of is that he is one of the Contracted¡­¡±


    ¡°But if he was linked to a fucking Spirit or Demon or SOMETHING, he would have tried to save his family, wouldn¡¯t he? Like, the fuss he was kicking up, that was legit!¡±


    ¡°How can you be so sure?! What if he was faking it?¡±


    ¡°Is that blood from his fucked up throat fake? Either way, if he is linked with a Spirit, we gotta get this place in flames before he wakes up!¡±


    Despite having come to this conclusion, the guys seemed to have taken too much time as immediately agreeing on hurrying up, Theo¡¯s eyes opened. They were completely white, and glowed with a bright, pulsing light that wafted ever so gently out from both eyes. The guys all took a few steps back, as they looked at each other with slightly panic stricken faces.


    ¡°You there¡­ you all shall serve as the sustenance I need!¡±


    The guys suddenly staggered somewhat as they went from panicking, to shitting their pants. Immediately after the voice spoke, Theo¡¯s body started shaking and glowing, and moments later, Theo started screaming. His throat had been healed, so it wasn¡¯t a painful sounding scream, but rather, he was screaming in pain. After a few moments of screaming, three¡­ things burst out from Theo¡¯s upper back; two above each shoulder, and the third from just below his neck. The two above the shoulders were serpent like in shape, and were white in colour. They snaked their way into the air, forming their faces as they did and then let out an ear piercing screech. They were rather grotesque, featuring a mouth full of more sharp, jagged teeth than any mouth had any right to have, two small holes for nostrils, and round, beady eyes that were black and glowed. The growth below Theo¡¯s neck was quite a bit thicker than the two on his shoulders, and while it had a similar face, it had jagged tusk like growths on the side of what could only be described as cheeks, as well as a large, curved horns on its forehead and chin. The major discerning feature however, was the pair of white wings further down its body. They unfurled and stretched themselves before the creature let out a booming roar of its own. Theo had also changed a bit, as his afro was now loose and curly, as well as bright luminescent white, glowing along with his eyes. His forehead, both sides of his head and area around his eyes were all subject to vasodilation, and his canines had extended and become longer. The goons had completely lost it as some had literally pissed themselves.


    ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± One screamed.


    ¡°OHHHH FUUUUUUCK!!¡± Another boomed.


    ¡°DIE!!!¡± The Fallen screamed in its terrifying voice.


    The other two serpent creatures, as if following orders, suddenly shot towards one of the men. One wrapped itself around one of his ankles and hoisted him high into the air. He screamed as he hung upside down, and before he could do much else, the other creature slashed horizontally across his stomach. A red line trailed across the length of his stomach, before opening up and depositing his entrails all over his chest, face and then the floor. His blood gurgled screams were quickly brought to an end as he was then smashed against the floor, the crunching of his bones against the hard tiles made the others freeze in terror.


    ¡°R-Ruuuuuun!!!¡±


    The goon who shouted this was quickly taken out, as one of the creatures pierced his stomach and went straight through, before turning around and repeating the act, twisting around and piercing the torso as if it was a needle and thread until eventually slithering and bursting out from the mouth of the now dead goon. The other creature was making light work of a few other goons, whipping its head at them and cleaving them in two. The Fallen watched on, as Theo sat in absolute silence. He was in shock was as he witnessed these appendages rip through those who were complicit in what he and his deceased family just went through.


    ¡°¡­heheheheheh.¡±


    The Fallen¡¯s blood chilling laugh was gentle like a whisper, yet still clear and audible, despite the pained death screams of Phantom¡¯s goons. The massacre didn¡¯t last all that long, but it was brutal. There were body parts and organs all over the walls of the room, heads, limbs, scattered all over the place if a decorator had decided that the theme of the house was death. Once done with the killing, the creatures went back to their normal length, hovering slightly ahead of Theo¡¯s face, slithering slowly as their blood covered mouths and faces were almost too close for his liking. Theo looked up at the slithering, horned and tusked winged thing that was the Fallen in slight disbelief.


    ¡°¡­what the fuck just happened here?¡±

 Chapter 2: 00:13

    <h1>Chapter 2: 00:13</h1>


    After witnessing the carnage that just took place, Theo ¨C who was still seated in the chair and still restrained ¨C looked at the Fallen. He was still awaiting an answer with regard to what had just happened, however before receiving it, the two serpent things suddenly came into view, looking Theo in his eyes, as if they were sizing him up. Theo looked right back at them, looking them over as well, and while this staring contest of sorts was brief, it was intense. Despite being shocked and confused, Theo¡¯s gaze was intense and full of rage and determination. The creatures quickly looked away and moments later, let out a shrill shriek before a jet of white flames shot out from both of their mouths and hit the rope that was binding Theo. After catching alight, the rope let out a shriek of its own before slithering off of Theo and thrashing about as it burned to a crisp. Theo shuddered slightly as he watched this thing burn, before shaking his head.


    ¡°What the fuck is going on here?!¡± He mumbled to himself before looking over at the corpses of his recently deceased loved ones.


    He sighed and stood up slowly. He made his way over to the bodies, before falling to his knees in the still wet blood.


    ¡°Oh fuck¡­ I¡¯m so sorry¡­¡±


    He virtually whispered this in a cracking voice, before starting to sort through the body parts. The Fallen and its two serpent creatures watched on in silence as Theo started putting each of his family members¡¯ severed body parts in the correct place ¨C as if he was assembling a puzzle of sorts; toes to feet, feet to ankles, and so forth. He did this for everybody, virtually trying his best to re-assemble them. His suit was getting covered in blood, and he frequently had to stop in order to regain his composure as he sobbed audibly. It was especially tough for him when he was trying to put the twins together, because he was extremely doting towards them. Seeing them in this state was almost too much for him, but he pushed through.


    ¡°¡­fucking twins.¡± He said as he took a deep breath. ¡°I probably interchanged some stuff.¡±


    He then looked at Jess¡¯ corpse, and shook his head. She had withstood the most pain and torture before dying, so her body was an absolute mess. Theo choked back a few tears before getting to work once more. The Fallen, which had been quiet all this time, finally spoke.


    ¡°Othello¡­ we must talk.¡±


    ¡°Go ahead. You have yet to answer my question, Fallen¡­¡±


    ¡°I will be brief, pay attention. We do not have long to obtain vengeance, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± Theo asked while holding up a big toe.


    ¡°Because we only have until dawn before my ability to support you ends.¡±


    ¡°What?! Why?¡± Theo asked as his head shot up to look at the Fallen.


    ¡°We are both weak¡­ and our Bond is weak. Currently, I am not strong enough to remain in this world without a strong host. You are not strong enough to house me at full strength, therefore I can only give you a portion of my power, and only for a short time.¡±


    ¡°How short?¡± Theo asked as he continued piecing his wife together.


    ¡°Until the sun comes up. We must kill that Phantom before dawn¡­¡±


    ¡°So I only have a window of about¡­ five and a half to six and a half hours to not only find, but kill that bastard¡­¡±


    Theo then stood up and slowly walked deeper into the house for a while, before emerging with a large white bed sheet. He carefully draped it over the bodies of his family, and then looked at the Fallen, which had lowered itself and was now hovering above Theo¡¯s shoulder. He looked at it as he wiped the tears from his eyes with a blood soaked sleeve and nodded with steely determination.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to it, then. We need to get moving. Finding the location of that bastard has to be our main priority¡­ I wish I knew where to start, though.¡±


    ¡°I know of a method that could help.¡± The Fallen declared.


    ¡°Yeah? What is it?¡±


    ¡°¡­we feed.¡±


    ¡°We feed? On what exactly?¡±


    ¡°Look around you, Othello¡­ the fragmented corpses of those who work under Phantom and his subordinates litter the floor of your house. All you have to do, is¡ª¡±


    ¡°What?! Fuck that! There¡¯s absolutely no fucking way I¡¯m doing that! You can forget about that!¡±


    ¡±There is no other CHOICE, Othello!¡± The Fallen barked as its eyes glowed. ¡°You are WEAK! THAT is why you are alive, and your family lies DEAD before you!¡±


    ¡°You piece of shit! Fuck you!¡± Theo boomed as he scowled intently at the Fallen.


    ¡±Silence! You curse me because you know I speak the TRUTH! You do not have any other choice. You do not have the luxury of time to properly investigate and chase down any leads. Our Bond is weak and infantile. My time in this world is limited. You MUST feed!¡±


    ¡°I am NOT a fucking cannibal!¡± Theo protested as he looked at the body parts on the floor.


    ¡±You are not strong enough to decide what you are and are not! The path to vengeance for your family lies through consumption.¡±


    ¡°¡­for my family. Fuck.¡±


    ¡°Their brains hold the information we need, Othello! They MUST be consumed. Take control of my servants; use them to feed.¡±


    Theo continued to look at the floor¡ª looking at the heads. Some were attached to necks; others were on their own having been lopped off earlier. The Fallen looked at Theo and grinned, sensing it was getting through to Theo, and that it needed to turn the screw just a little bit more.


    ¡°The weak do not have the luxury of choice, Othello.¡± The Fallen then seemed to slither in closer, its foul mouth next to Theo¡¯s ear. ¡°This is for your family¡­ it must be done.¡±


    ¡±¡­h-how do I control these things?¡± Theo asked through gritted teeth.


    The Fallen gave a quick, twisted grin. It bore all of its teeth, if only for a second, before moving away from Theo¡¯s ear and above his head once more.


    ¡±Simply look within yourself¡­ you will find that their consciousness is linked with yours. Find them, and command them to feed. They will obey you.¡±


    Theo reluctantly closed his eyes as he tried to prepare himself for what he was about to do.


    ¡®You aren¡¯t eating them, they are.¡¯ He said internally, as if trying to convince himself that made it better.


    He searched for the consciousness of the creatures, and after looking for a little while, he seemed to find two balls of light. He reached out to them with his mind, and felt a sensation akin to grabbing two tangible round objects. Theo then relayed orders using his mind and just as he opened his eyes, he saw the serpent creatures move with blinding speed, shooting out from behind his head and sweeping across the floor in a blur. The Fallen grinned once again as it watched the creatures moving all over the living room floor. Its grin quickly disappeared however when it realised what Theo had ordered them to do.


    ¡±Othello! What are you doing?!¡±


    The creatures came back to Theo, mouths packed with brains and before anything else was said, they started chewing and swallowing. Watching them chew was akin to watching crocodiles eat. Theo watched them eat with disgust, but that was suddenly made worse as his mouth was flooded with the taste of raw human brains. There wasn¡¯t even a follicle sized piece in his mouth, but for some reason, he could taste them all, and before long, he was projectile vomiting all over the place; retching violently as he did. He even found himself taking a knee as he vomited, and when he finally stopped, he started spitting like crazy, trying to get the taste of both vomit and raw brain out of his mouth.


    ¡°¡­you defied me, Othello!¡± The Fallen fumed as it scowled furiously above Theo¡¯s head.


    By now, Theo was wiping his mouth with his forearm with the less blood soaked sleeve.


    ¡°Holy fuck; that was disgusting¡­ besides, you said that their brains had the information we needed, nothing else. Between going zombie and going full blown cannibal, I chose the lesser of two evils.¡±


    ¡°You do not understand! Human flesh is rife with what is known as Life Essence! No other creature in this world contains such large quantities of it, thus human flesh is sustenance for such as us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well human flesh is a fucking taboo for such as me. Besides, I have what we need¡­ These guys didn¡¯t know where Phantom is, but they did know where one those other three is, so let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡±You do not understand, Othello¡­¡±


    Theo just stood up and looked down at his vomit while shaking his head a bit to clear it, before walking towards the front door.


    ¡±Your clothes are soaked in blood¡­ will you not change them?¡± A slightly annoyed sounding Fallen asked.


    ¡°No, I think not. The blood of my family has seeped into this suit¡­ when I kill Phantom while wearing it, it will be as if they had a part in it too. Well, at least it will to me.¡± Theo reached for the doorknob, but stopped short of actually opening it. ¡°More importantly, how do I get these things to go away?¡±


    ¡±The same way you got them to feed¡­ use your will to control them, Othello.¡±


    Theo closed his eyes for a moment, and a few seconds later, the creatures slithered backwards, disappearing into his shoulders. Despite them having burst out from his skin, they didn¡¯t leave any damage on his clothing. The Fallen remained, however, and Theo looked up at it.


    ¡°What about you? How do I get you to go away? I can¡¯t walk around with a weird looking winged thing jutting out from my neck.¡±


    ¡±Unlike my pets, I cannot be seen by others, Othello ¨C only by you.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. Well, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡±Wait a moment. I have something for you.¡±


    Theo looked up at the Fallen, and as he did, it started to glow. Just as it glowed, Theo started glowing as well.


    Theo did as the Fallen said, and almost immediately, an orb of white light appeared in front of him. The orb started to stretch and change shape, and after a fair amount of shape-shifting, it resembled a sword or bladed weapon of some sort. A second orb appeared, and much like the first, it also started changing shape. It however, resembled the shape of some sort of handgun ¨C and was ridiculously big. Finally, a third orb appeared. It changed shape as well, and after close to a minute, all of the orbs flashed brightly. Once the flare of light died down, Theo found himself looking at three items that were floating side by side before him.


    ¡±Due to a lack of power, I had to create these out of fragments of the real items. First, we have the sword, Ygg¡¯Rael. Once belonging to one of the most powerful Hunters in the Kingdom of Heaven, this sword has the ability to stretch, allowing its wielder to fight both at close and mid-range. Next, is the firearm, Daemon¡¯s Bane. It has five barrels, with each barrel capable of shooting at a different target. The wielder of this firearm can target and shoot four different enemies at the same time. Finally, we have a cape in the shape of two wings. Made with my feathers, it will allow you to jump higher, as well as glide for a period.¡±


    Theo listened to the Fallen speak as he looked at the items bobbing up and down in the air. The sword, Ygg¡¯Rael was almost unnecessarily large, with the blade thick and pure white. The hilt and guard were also white, but elaborate in design, with gold accents. Daemon¡¯s Bane was large as well. It looked like it was made from two sawed-off shotgun barrels, stacked on top of each other, with a five one in the centre, as well as a white and gold grip and handle. It was impractical looking, and as a trained marksman, Theo shook his head how cumbersome the gun looked. The cape was just two large wings, which, much like everything else, were white in colour. Beautiful and pristine, they wafted delicately in front of him.


    ¡±They are yours; reach out and claim them, Othello.¡±


    Theo did just that, and as he touched them, they glowed once more and disappeared. Theo looked around in confusion once he realised that they were gone, before looking up at the Fallen.


    ¡±Your wrists¡­¡±


    Theo pulled the sleeves of his wrists up, and saw what looked like small tattoos in the shape of a cross on them both.


    ¡®Crosses?¡¯ Theo thought to himself, before the urgency of the situation pushed him to forget about them and move.


    He opened quickly moved to the door and walked outside for the first time since coming home to the awful situation from before. He saw that the cab he had taken earlier was still parked out front, and after jogging over to ask the driver why, he quickly got his answer without even having to say anything. He found the driver slumped over onto the steering wheel. Theo would have thought the guy was asleep if not for the smell of blood, and the giant section of missing skull, exposing his brain.


    ¡°Well¡­ this is unfortunate.¡± Theo said out loud, before swinging across to the driver¡¯s side of the cab, opening the door and pulling corpse out. He quickly looked the interior over and once he was satisfied that it was clean enough, he opened the trunk of the car, dragged the dead driver to the back of the cab and stuffed him inside, before closing it.


    ¡±What are you doing, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Taking this car. It will help us get to our first target.¡±


    ¡±Who is the target?¡±


    ¡°The woman; Black Widow aka Chelsea¡­ something. One of those clowns happened to be in a sexual relationship with her, so he knows where to find her.¡±


    Theo quickly got into the front of the car, and started typing the name of something into the GPS, and then started the car.


    ¡±Where are we going, Othello?¡±


    ¡°To an establishment known only as ¡®Club S¡¯. It¡¯s a BDSM club owned by Black Widow¡­ she¡¯s a Dominatrix, and people pay her to sexually dominate them. The guy who whose brain had this information found that she could do things to him that his wife couldn¡¯t, and she stimulated desires that his wife neither couldn¡¯t nor wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡±What kind of desires?¡± The Fallen asked in an almost innocent sounding voice.


    ¡°I get the feeling you¡¯ll find the answer to that question when we get there, Fallen.¡±


    Theo began to drive towards the club. The initial part of the trip was made in silence, but during the silence, Theo developed something of a pained expression. After around fifteen minutes or so, he spoke.


    ¡°¡­tell me something.¡±


    ¡°What is it, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked.


    ¡°Where did you get these weapons you gave me? Is there some kind of secret Moon Clan weapons vault or something? Because none of those contracted to Moon Clan demons in the family have weapons remotely similar to these ones.¡±


    ¡±Moon Clan? Do you think I am a member of that pathetic group, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that you aren¡¯t?!¡± Theo asked in genuine shock. ¡°I was using the telepathic channel available exclusively for the family and the Clan to communicate. If you aren¡¯t part of the Moon Clan, how did you hear my pleas?¡±


    ¡±I am many things, Othello. However one thing I am not is a slave to the rules and laws created by that Clan.¡±


    ¡°¡­if you¡¯re telling me that you are not of the Moon Clan, then who or what are you?¡±


    The Fallen let out something of a knowing, and condescending chuckle as it moved through the air slightly before stopping and settling on Theo¡¯s right shoulder.


    ¡°At this moment in time, I am your salvation, Othello. These weapons are my personal artifacts. That is all you need to know for now.¡±


    Theo continued driving as he followed the GPS¡¯ directions. There was a brief moment of silence as Theo contemplated just what this all meant for a few moments. He signed the contract with minimal hesitation precisely because he thought he was signing with the allied Moon Clan, but now having learned that this Fallen was not only an unknown entity to him, but that he signed a contract he didn¡¯t and couldn¡¯t read, Theo was feeling rather apprehensive. The apprehension however barely lasted five minutes, as it was blown away by his burning desire to exact revenge of those who had taken part in the torture and murder of his family.


    ¡°You know what, Fallen? I don¡¯t give a fuck who or what you are right now. All I care about is finding and destroying Phantom and all his friends, starting with this Black Widow¡­¡±


    After following the directions for a little while longer, Theo turned into the entrance of a fairly large parking lot which was actually packed full of cars, despite it being close to 01:10 in the morning. As he waited for the gate to open, a security guard approached him and knocked on the window, which Theo lowered slightly.


    ¡°Sorry pal; parking¡¯s full. You gotta use street parking.¡±


    Theo nodded and did just that, reversing out and quickly finding an empty parking pay further down the road. He parked the cab, and spent a few moments with his eyes closed, just focusing on his breathing. Afterwards, he opened the driver¡¯s door and stepped out, fastened the buttons on his suit, and after locking the cab, started walking down the street towards the club.


    ¡°Do you have a plan, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked.


    ¡°Of course I do. We walk into that club, and kill Black Widow, as well as anybody who tries to stop that from happening.¡±


    The Fallen began to laugh in some form of twisted amusement and approval. It¡¯s wings spread out for just a second as its eyes glowed brightly, before it calmed down and lowered itself, whispering into Theo¡¯s ear.


    ¡°¡­I like you, Othello. You might be the one¡­¡±


    Theo wasn¡¯t even listening at this point to the Fallen at this point, as the voices in his own head were monopolising his attention. He got to the entrance and the guard from before came to meet him.


    ¡°Yo, sorry about that. The club gets real popular around midnight, and finding parking becomes a real bitch. Anyway, welcome¡­ to¡­¡±


    The guard¡¯s words trailed off and eventually came to a halt as he noticed the copious amounts of blood stains all over the suit. Theo noticed this and acted quickly.


    ¡°You looking at the blood? It¡¯s fake, man. My wife and kids made this shit for me as a Halloween gift, because of how squeamish I am.¡±


    Theo then rolled his eyes and shook his head, and surprisingly enough, the guard actually bought that thin story.


    ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m here to see the Black Widow.¡±


    ¡°Shit, you know the Goddess? You¡¯re here to get busy with her, in a suit your wife and kids made for you?!¡± The guard said incredulously.


    ¡°Yeah, she told me to wear it tonight.¡±


    ¡°Man; that sounds exactly like something that bitch would do. Go on in, man. ¡°


    Theo nodded and smiled in appreciation before walking in through a small gate. The building was rather large, and funnily enough, plain on the outside. There was nothing externally that even hinted at it being the type of establishment it was, and the sign was just a large neon lit S. Theo walked between the cars towards a large double door with was rather brightly lit. It had guards of its own stationed there, who seemed to be listening to their ear pieces as they noticed Theo approaching. They looked at each other, and then at him and smirked as he walked by them.


    ¡°Yeah, Charlie wasn¡¯t lying. That woman made the dude come here to get fucked in something his kids made for him. Go in, you fucking loser.¡±


    Theo stopped and turned to look at the guard who was doing the talking, and the guard suddenly got aggressive.


    ¡°What?! You got something to say, motherfucker?!¡±


    Theo just looked away and started walking again.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, bitch!¡¯


    Theo just walked further into the establishment, and the deeper he got, the more the mood and the decor changed. Red and black were the order of the day, with an assortment of flogs, paddles, crops, and other assorted tools of the trade.


    ¡°¡­why did you allow that to go unpunished, Othello?¡± The Fallen enquired in a somewhat annoyed tone.


    ¡°Allow what to happen? You mean that guy insulting me? I couldn¡¯t care less what he thinks. Black Widow is my only objective.¡±


    Soon enough, Theo found himself at a reception desk of sorts, with a woman sitting behind a desk. She was dressed in what looked like a skirt suit, and she looked at Theo and smiled.


    ¡°Welcome to Club S, how may I help you?¡±


    ¡°Hi there¡­ I¡¯m here to see Black Widow. Is she available?¡± Theo asked, looking to see if he could get to her the easy way.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the Goddess is not available. Nobody is able to show up and just see her as there is strict protocol that has to be observed if somebody wants to book her services.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Theo said as he looked mildly annoyed.


    ¡°I''m sorry about that, but we do have an excellent selection of Mistresses on call, ready and able to assist you in reaching those levels of pleasure you so desire. Would you like me to show you to them?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°¡­you may as well.¡± Theo replied as the woman smiled and stood up.


    Meanwhile, deeper in the club, there was a large open floor area where all the magic happened. There were sound proof private booths all along the walls, there were hanging cages filled with men and women, hogtied in various ways, with all kinds of things shoved in them. There was an open area in which live shows were taking place, with a number of submissives were being dominated, with everything being visible to the audiences. All of the screams, moans, vibrating devices, lashes, grown men making animal noises, women booming out orders, they were all cheered as those who received sexual pleasure from public humiliation and domination were being subjected to just that. It was another great night in Club S, which unfortunately for the patrons, came to a literal crashing halt as the sound of shattering glass and dread filled screams filled the room. Everybody suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked up towards the source of the screams that sounded so different from those that had been echoing in there previously. They looked up to see one of the reception girls, flailing and screaming as she desperately clutched to the arm that was holding her through the shattered window.


    ¡°P-Please!¡± She begged. ¡°Please don¡¯t do this!¡±


    Before she could plead any more, the girl was tossed towards one of the private booths that were close to the wall. She screamed the entire way down, and crashed right through it, before landing fortuitously on a large bed. The collective attention of everybody present was solely on the girl, and then on the person who had thrown her as he came into view. He quickly leapt out from the hole where the window once was, and landed on the floor with a loud sounding thud, before standing up to his full height; his white suit contrasted with the large sections of red. He looked around slowly as he breathed in deeply, before booming.


    ¡°BLACK WIDOW! WHERE ARE YOU?! WHERE!?¡± Theo boomed dramatically.


    ¡°Calm down, Othello. Simply making noise will not draw her out.¡± The Fallen declared.


    ¡°I will not calm down, Fallen. Nothing good awaits me in the realm of calm and quiet.¡±


    Before the Fallen could try and press the issue, a whole bunch of guys dressed in suits appeared and surrounded Theo. The patrons as well as those performing the live show seemed to be unfazed by Theo¡¯s intrusion and watched on in interest as they expected to see him get his ass kicked.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know who you are, but you¡¯re fucked.¡± One of the guards boomed. ¡°Get him!¡±


    The guards rushed Theo, in no particular formation or order, while Theo just eyed them all with a look off thinly veiled rage. The first one reached him, and before he was able to even throw a punch, Theo had reached out with one hand and grabbed his tie, yanking him to him violently, before thrusting his other hand straight towards the guard¡¯s face, his fist crashing right into the middle of the guard¡¯s face with a loud and sickening crack. He started rotating while still being yanked, with his feet very quickly flipping over his face. Mid flip, Theo was already confronted by another guard, who had swung at Theo, but whose punch was caught with the arm fully extended. Theo the raised his knee with blinding speed and crashed it into the elbow directly above it, shattering it and causing the guard to scream out in pain. Theo then took a step forward and turned his body, while bending his arm and jammed his elbow into the guard¡¯s stomach, and as the guard doubled over, he adjusted his torso and brought his fist up, and crashed it into the guard¡¯s face with a short hook. Theo then ducked below a swing while twisting his body to face the direction of the person attacking him, and unleashed a flurry of punches, throwing two punches to the body, then the face and repeating the combination before the guard¡¯s legs gave way and he crumpled to the floor below once Theo had landed a total of eight punches. He then stood in an orthodox fighting stance with his guard up. The other guards had stopped dead in their tracks and were all looking at him with morbid trepidation. Those guys were all taken down in a matter of seconds, and nobody wanted to be the next guy taken out. On the other hand, Theo glared at the men through his guard, his eyes as intense as the scowl on his face. He suddenly broke eye contact and looked at his hands, feeling somewhat surprised.


    ¡°What the fuck happened?¡± He mumbled to himself.


    ¡°Are you surprised at your power increase, Othello?¡± The Fallen enquired.


    ¡°Is this because of the contract?¡± Theo asked.


    ¡°That is correct, Othello. Despite our Bond being infantile, you are still subject to all the physical bonuses every single Contracted Human receives, and considering how you have such high grade Blood, your already impressive natural abilities are boosted.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Let¡¯s test this out some more¡­¡±


    Theo suddenly dashed forward towards the group of guards who all shuddered slightly but before they could react, he was already upon them. Theo leapt up into the air and reached forward, grabbed the cheeks of one of the guards and raised both knees, driving them into the face between his hands. He released the guard¡¯s head and landed on the ground, crouching somewhat as he landed, before springing up and entering the range of another guard, who had already started swinging. Theo raised his guard and went on the defensive, slipping and dodging the blows that were launched his way. He was evading them all rather easily as the attacks were so unbelievably slow, Theo couldn¡¯t believe it. He was always a gifted fighter, but never had it felt this easy to fight people of this particular level. The novelty of watching the slow attacks wore off rather quickly funnily enough, and Theo quickly smacked both the guards fists away before reaching forward, grabbing his neck and belt, before closing the space between the two of them and then proceeded to lift the guard high into the air, and then slammed him back first onto the floor, executing the Choke Slam perfectly. Theo didn¡¯t waste even a second, and was already on the attack once more, closing the space between himself and another guard in the blink of an eye. He stomped his left foot into the ground decisively and pushed his right off the ground, driving his blood stain covered white dress shoe right into the chest of the guard, causing his arms and legs to stretch out ahead of him and he was launched back with immense force, the sound of his sternum cracking almost unnecessarily loud.


    ¡°Lucius!?¡± The guard cried as he flew backwards and crashed into a table where some people were sitting, but surprisingly didn¡¯t try to move.


    ¡°Who is Lucius, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked as he hovered above, watching the action.


    ¡°Beats me.¡± Theo replied, before slipping a punch from behind.


    He grabbed the wrist of the arm with both hands, and pulled it down, shattering the elbow on his shoulder, before flipping the guard over his shoulder and onto the floor in front of him. He knelt down and quickly brought his fist to the screaming guard and with one punch, knocked him unconscious. Theo then stood up really slowly, fists clenched and by his side. As he stood to his full height and turned to face the remaining guards, their eyes all baulked with dread as they looked at him and saw his eyes start to glow white as what appeared to be hazy, white flames seeped from his eyes and wafted up towards the ceiling. His fists were clenched, and a sort of white aura surrounded his body, and started doing the same thing as his odd eye flames. The unbuttoned suit jacket was fluttering behind him, and above his head, two large eyes formed out of the aura, with two large, black eyes suddenly appearing and glowing. As the eyes appeared, a huge amount of pressure was emitted from Theo¡¯s direction, causing a few of the guards and patrons present to actually vomit due to being unable to handle it.


    ¡°W¡­ what is he?¡± One of the remaining guards asked nobody in particular.


    Just then, their radios all started blaring static, before a voice spoke.


    ¡°The Goddesses elite, personal guards are going to take care of this guy. All of you fall back, and get rid of everybody else in the room ¨C quickly.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The guards suddenly looked at each other and nodded, before quickly getting to work and following orders. What seemed to surprise them was that Theo was standing still and letting them do exactly that. He neither tried to stop them, nor put them off; he just stood with an immense scowl on his face.


    ¡°You are not going to stop them, Othello?¡± The fallen enquired.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I told you before; my goal is to destroy those who stand between the Black Widow and me. These fools have just passed that that baton onto these so-called ¡®Elites¡¯. I¡¯m going to crush them until that bitch comes out from wherever she¡¯s hiding.¡±


    Just as Theo finished talking a large number of figures suddenly descended from above, all of them landing on the floor with a somewhat loud thud. Theo stood perfectly still as people were evacuated behind him, and the elite guards slowly stood up to their full heights. The tension in the air was thick, and almost tangible. Theo upped the intensity of his concentration, which resulted in the aura flaring up and growing slightly bigger. The scowl on his face deepened, and his fists clenched even harder, with his knuckles cracking as they did. Theo¡¯s eyes suddenly balked as he looked the guards over, and his mouth opened slightly.


    ¡°What the..?¡± Theo said to himself as he looked them over.


    Despite being different races, heights and builds, the men were all dressed in the same attire. They all had black leather masks covering their entire heads, with the only holes in them a circular shaped mouth hole, which had a ball gag, placed in it. Their nipples were all pierced, with large studs going through them, and further down, they were all wearing black thongs and leather boots as their only forms of clothing. Their bodies were shining and glistening with some kind of body oil, and the lights in the room were reflected on their skin. They also had tails sticking out from their butts, and Theo swore he could hear a faint vibrating noise coming from each man.


    ¡°¡­what on earth are these men wearing, Othello?!¡± The Fallen asked as it lowered itself to Theo¡¯s shoulder, looking completely confused.


    Before Theo could answer it, all the elite guards reached behind their backs and grabbed what looked like sticks. They pulled them out from behind them and brought them to the front. The ¡°sticks¡± in question made the Fallen and Theo¡¯s facial expressions become even more shocked, as each and every single one of these men was holding a large, black phallic object which served as a weapon. The surface of the odd club was ribbed like crazy, and despite these ¡®clubs¡¯ being so large and heavy looking, these men were carrying them with consummate ease.


    ¡°W-Why¡­ why are those things bumpy?!¡± Theo found himself asking.


    Just then, the guards all started stroking their weapons back and forth, which further made Theo and the Fallen look completely flabbergasted. The phallic clubs began vibrating rigorously the more they were stroked, before something suddenly shot out from the tips, resulting in Theo cringing and actually taking a step back.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± He boomed.


    The guards immediately held the clubs up vertically, and whatever it was that had shot out from them suddenly burst out from a seam running down the length of the entire weapon. It actually turned out to be a metallic blade, which was quite long and pointy. These clubs had transformed into large, single edged bladed swords, and the guards all pointed them at Theo threateningly.


    ¡°Othello! These men must be eliminated!¡± The Fallen boomed itself.


    ¡°Because they¡¯re in the way or because they¡¯re¡­ weird?¡± Theo asked as he slowly shook his head and regained his composure. ¡°Besides, I get the feeling they¡¯ll be a lot more trouble than the previous idiots.¡±


    ¡°Why is that? Because they are wielding bladed weapons? You have Ygg¡¯Rael; summon it and cut these¡­ men down.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right¡­¡±


    Theo then looked raised his right hand and looked at his sleeve.


    ¡°How does this work?¡± He asked himself. ¡°Uh¡­ Ygg¡¯Rael¡­ come forth?¡±


    A cross shaped glow could be seen coming from behind the red stained cuff, and immediately afterward, a huge gust of wind emanated from Theo¡¯s body as the cross moved from his wrist into the palm of his hand, and started growing. The larger the cross became, the brighter it glowed, and it eventually started changing shape until it was a large, golden silhouette of Ygg''Rael. Instinctively, Theo wrapped his fingers around the glowing hilt, and the moment he did, the golden glow started seeping off the sword, as if it was some sort of gelatinous substance, and one it was all gone, Ygg''Rael¡¯s pure white blade shone in such a way that it inspired near reverence from most of those who were present. Theo couldn¡¯t milk the moment however, as he quickly had to grab the hilt with his left hand as well before the entire sword fell to the ground. It was almost indescribably heavy, and it took a conscious and concerted effort for Theo to hold Ygg¡¯Rael up properly.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± Theo enquired as he looked to his left shoulder. The Fallen was still hovering there, and looked at Theo. ¡°Why is this thing so damn heavy!?¡±


    ¡°Because you refuse to consume Life Essence rich flesh, Othello. Everything we do requires Life Essence ¨C be it the summoning of my pets, or the use of items I gave you. Due to your stubborn refusal, you likely have an extremely limited number of uses of each weapon¡¯s abilities. You likely are only able to use them one at a time as well.¡±


    Theo looked at the Fallen, before looking over at the elite guards and scoffed. He then held Ygg¡¯Rael up in a threatening manner.


    ¡°I¡¯ll finish these guys off quickly and get their boss out here in my current state, ¡®Life Essence¡¯ be damned.¡±


    The Fallen scoffed as well but didn¡¯t say anything further as it wafted up above Theo¡¯s head once more. Theo wasted no time in attack, charging the group of guards who had been standing in their various battle stances waiting for Theo.


    ¡®First time using this cumbersome weapon¡­ for now, let¡¯s just defend for a bit and get used to it.¡¯ Theo thought to himself as penetrated the group.


    He was not mistaken thinking that he would not be able to coast against these guys as they all started attacking with speed and ferocity. Despite the phallic swords being large, they were incredibly quick, and cut through the air mercilessly. Theo found himself on the back foot immediately, ducking below a horizontal strike and as he adjusted his feet and torso to retaliate, he found himself having to dodge yet another attack. He was able to evade easily enough, but the transition from defense to offence was not quite as smooth as Theo would have liked. He slipped and evaded a series of thrusts aimed at his head before standing up straight while dragging Ygg¡¯Rael behind him, and with an almighty heave, unleashed an insanely powerful diagonal slash that ripped through the air with such force that it could be heard. Despite the power behind the swing, it was so slow; it was evaded rather easily by the guards, some of whom had started taunting Theo with gyrating hips and pelvic thrusts. They had created a fair amount of space between themselves and Theo, and as he looked at them, the white aura from before suddenly enveloped his body once more as he scowled deeply.


    ¡°These motherfuckers¡­ first they attack me with ribbed cocks, and now they mock me¡­¡±


    ¡°Kill these fools, Othello!!¡± The Fallen barked as it was even more annoyed by these antics than Theo was.


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan¡­¡±


    Theo charged the group once more, Ygg¡¯Rael held down by his waist, pointed behind him as they charged him right back. Theo was once again on the defensive as before he could sort out his hands, he was leaning back in an effort to avoid two strikes coming from either side of him. He twisted his torso and stabbed Ygg¡¯Rael into the floor and using it as a pole of sorts, he sprung up mid twist and extended his legs, completing a sort of Windmill type kick, which surprised a few guards and managed to catch two on the jaw, resulting in them spinning and twisting through the air. They quickly recovered however, and landed on their feet along with Theo. Theo recovered just that bit quicker as he pulled the sword out from the floor and performed a looping vertical strike, swinging Ygg¡¯Rael in an arc from above his head. The strike came up short though, and went straight into the ground, which the guards assumed was a mistake on Theo¡¯s part, yet he actually continued the motion, leaping off of his feet and completing a somersault while still hanging on to the sword. He tucked his feet in whilst upside down, and once his back was facing the floor, Theo thrust his legs out and his shoes landed flush on the faces of the two guards and sent them flying. The guards in question went completely limp the moment Theo¡¯s shoes hit their faces, and they flew towards the other side of the auditorium type room, leaving their ¡®swords¡¯ behind. Theo twisted his body and landed facing the other guards, who had leaped into action themselves, with three of them all thrusting their weapons at him. He pulled Ygg¡¯Rael out from the floor and held it with the flat facing his attackers. The sound of impact between the respective blades was incredibly loud, and it was now Theo¡¯s turn to get launched backwards. He crashed through a bunch of tables that had been vacated, before smashing into the stage on which the show was being staged.


    ¡°Ughf!!¡± Theo exclaimed as he looked at the sword. ¡°This thing is ridiculous. I¡¯m using my fucking sword as a pole vault and a forsaken shield!¡±


    ¡°Eyes up, Othello!¡± The Fallen warned.


    Theo immediately looked up to see the elite guards quickly closing the gap between themselves and Theo. He took a deep breath as he stood up to his full height, holding Ygg¡¯Rael low once more.


    ¡°That said¡­ I¡¯m quickly figuring out how to fight with it. I was never the strongest at sword fighting, but these guys aren¡¯t that great themselves.¡±


    Theo¡¯s aura started to pulse even more impressively as his eyes also began to glow once again. He charged towards the onrushing attackers, but held Ygg¡¯Rael even lower as he lowered his torso and ran in a somewhat hunched over position. About two thirds of the way of the way down, Theo was already beginning his attack, turning his body to the side as the soles of his shoes slid across the floor, as he twisted his hips to generate momentum, his hunched over shoulders and arms flexing and tensing as he swung Ygg¡¯Rael with as much speed and force as he could muster, unleashing a horizontal strike of epic proportions. The approaching guards were caught by surprise by Theo starting his attack so early, and whilst a fair number of them were able to evade, some of them were caught by it. The sound of the strike boomed and echoed through the room as those guards who were hit discovered, Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s strikes were almost unreal. Those who were able to raise their phallic swords to block found that it was useless, as they and those who weren¡¯t able towere cleaved in two along with their weapons and everything else that was behind them. What felt like gale-force winds sent leaking body parts, d¨¦cor and whatever else that was caught up in them hurtling violently through the air and crashing loudly moments later. The Fallen just looked at the carnage before him, then down at Theo who was being rushed by those who had managed to evade the deadly.


    ¡°¡­Space Ripper¡­ this man was able to unleash it with such a pathetic version of Ygg¡¯Rael¡­¡± The fallen then grinned, baring all of its sharp teeth. ¡°You impress me so much, Othello¡ª¡±


    Just as the Fallen said that, Theo was on the receiving end of attacks that actually made contact, as the guards used a series of dummies and feints to get Theo to try and block with the sword, before pummeling him with multi-strike melee combinations to the face and body, sending him flying back into the stage once more.


    ¡°Were you saying something?!¡± Theo asked as he looked up at the Fallen, before looking ahead of him and quickly doing a backflip up onto the stage above to avoid the influx of attacks. He slid backwards while readying himself to launch another attack.


    ¡°¡­no, nothing.¡± The Fallen said in a deflated sounding voice.


    The guards cautiously jumped up onto the stage as Theo ended his slide with a very loud, very wet sounding ¡®squelch¡¯. He looked down at the surface of the stage before shaking his head.


    ¡°¡­I hate this place.¡± Theo said to himself, before he heard the guards start to chuckle and laugh at him. ¡°¡­I really fucking hate this place.¡±


    Theo readied himself for another attack when the guards all suddenly stopped laughing, stood up straight and started shaking rather violently.


    ¡°What the fuck is it now?¡± Theo asked as he remained on guard.


    Their tails seemed to be the cause of this sudden and violent bout of the shakes, as their vibrations suddenly kicked into overdrive. Before long, grunts and groans could be heard coming from the group as they continued to shake, and as Theo and the Fallen watched them closely, the Fallen suddenly noticed something.


    ¡°Othello¡­ look¡­ look there.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Look where?¡±


    ¡°Down by their feet¡­ something seems to be¡­ dripping¡­ at their feet.¡±


    Theo looked at the feet of the guards and when he noticed the fresh wet spots on the stage floor, his gaze naturally sought out the source, and his eyes balked once more as he noticed that whatever the substance that was dripping onto the floor was, it was coming from the front of their thongs.


    ¡°N-No way¡­¡± Theo said as he blinked a few times. ¡°Those guys are actually¡­ nutting, in the middle of a fight?!¡±


    ¡°Nutting? I am not familiar with this phrase, Othello. What does it mean?¡± The Fallen said as it lowered itself onto Theo¡¯s shoulder and looked at him.


    ¡°Uh¡­ orgasm.¡± Theo said as he looked at the Fallen.


    ¡°What!? How in the Hell did they do that, Othello?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Maybe it¡¯s because of those¡­ tails. They appear to vibrate, and¡­¡±


    Theo went on to give a brief explanation of what he thought the tails were, and the Fallen¡¯s eyes grew larger as the explanation progressed.


    ¡°WHAT?! THOSE THINGS ARE VIBRATING IN THEIR¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Theo said as he looked back at group.


    ¡°¡­does it feel good?¡± The Fallen asked as it looked at Theo once more.


    ¡°How the fuck should I know?!¡± Theo barked as he shot the Fallen an annoyed look.


    There was no time for the conversation to continue however, as the noises coming from the group suddenly turned into pained groans. Theo and the Fallen watched on with grim curiosity as all of a sudden, the groans turned to screams and strange lumps started to appear on the sides of the guards¡¯ torsos, as if something was trying to push out of their bodies. Their skin was stretching back and forth, and a few moments later, things forced their way out as the screams got even louder. These things varied from guard to guard in terms of size and length, but what Theo knew for certain, was that they were appendages ¨C most likely arms. They were covered in blackish fur, and as they burst out, the guards themselves began to have short black fur cover the rest of their bodies. Some guards had two of these arms; others had three, or even one. Their already muscular bodies actually grew in size and mass, with parts of their bodies regularly pulsing.


    ¡°Contracted Items¡­ ¡°


    ¡°Yeah¡­ given to those of a certain level by a Contracted Human in order to bestow a power boost upon them, at a cost.


    ¡°You are surprisingly well informed, Othello.¡± The Fallen said.


    ¡°Yeah, well I do come from a family with a long term Contract with a demon clan, after all. But this place¡­ man, fuck this place.¡± Theo said with a shake of his head. ¡°How is it popular?! Not only are the orgasms ruined, but they come at the cost of you turning into a fucking monster.¡±


    As if to emphatically solidify Theo¡¯s statement, the ball gags in the mouth holes all shot out and a long, slimy tongue like thing thrust out of the hole, with a four pronged tip that split and opened up, revealing a hole in the centre with what looked like spikey teeth lining it. This was followed by a horrific screech, and both Theo and the Fallen cringed as they looked at these guards complete their transformations. They glanced at each other for an instant before they leapt at Theo, causing him to dart off to his left. The guards all jumped after him, no longer walking but hopping and crawling on all fours like a swarm of bugs or something. Theo slid to a stop after a few moments of running, and then started charging the group. He ducked below one of them as they attacked, and slashed up towards another airborne guard, who twisted in midair and avoided the strike, before swinging his own weapon at Theo¡¯s head. He quickly ducked and avoided the strike and planted Ygg¡¯Rael into the stage, using it to generate momentum once again and pushing off the ground, driving both his feet into the gut of another guard, who felt the attack, but didn¡¯t appear to receive as much damage as Theo thought he would. The guard grabbed both of Theo¡¯s ankles as two guards leapt into the air, and executed two downward thrusts with their phallic swords. Theo let out a grunt of effort as he used his core to draw his legs back, and lift the guy holding his ankles up into the air. Whether through planning or sheer luck, Theo flipped the guard above himself right as the other two who here attacking were about to hit, and both their swords sliced into the guard¡¯s torso and fortuitously got stuck in it. Just as black blood started spraying from the guard¡¯s cleaved torso, Theo pulled himself out from beneath the flow of blood and quickly spun around to the other side of Ygg¡¯Rael. He then pulled the sword¡¯s blade out from the stage and immediately swung it as hard as he could, all the while hoping he would make it in time. Luckily for him, he did, and as the two guards were focused on pulling their blades out of their fellow guard¡¯s torso, their heads were lopped right off; black blood shooting from their necks like water from a fire hose.


    Theo could barely even settle as he felt a stinging pain in his side as one of the guards got him in the side with the back of his phallic sword. Fortuitously enough for Theo, he was hit with the bladeless, ribbed side of the weapon, so the damage was only blunt.  He let out a grunt of pain as he positioned himself to slash in retaliation, but he suddenly felt something clamp down around both of his wrists. Theo then looked down at his wrists and saw a pair of those four pronged tongue things with a firm grip of his arms.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve GOT to be¡ª¡±


    Theo couldn¡¯t even finish speaking as he felt himself being yanked from where he was standing and whipped into a bunch of benches, tables and racks on stage, that thankfully for Theo, were dry and not recently used. The crashing sounds were very audible, and the pair of guards who were responsible for this forcefully whipped their heads and caused Theo to be lifted high in the air, before being slammed down into the stage floor, and then through it with a loud and painful sounding thud. There was a brief moment of quiet, before the guards retracted their tongues and looked at each other, communicating by making odd sounding screeches and the like. In what sounded like a conversation between two oversized pterodactyls, they seemed to be laughing and patting one another on the back. All of a sudden, two hands broke out from beneath their feet, grabbed a pair of ankles, and suddenly pulled them down through the floor into the abyss beneath the stage, along with the body connected to them.


    ¡°Skree! Skree!¡±


    Was all that could be heard as a white light glowed out from the large hole in the floor, and soon afterwards, the sound of fighting could also be heard. The scuffle which was taking place beneath the stage was very brief, and after half a minute or so, it all went quiet. A few moments later, Theo emerged from the hole as he lunged at the other guard responsible for tossing him around the stage. He reached for the guard¡¯s neck, but was instead attacked with the strange tongue once again. He saw it coming this time though, and grabbed it from the side, and as he landed on the stage floor, he quickly dashed behind the guard and wrapped the tongue around its neck quickly. The guard tried to turn around and stop what was happening, but was quickly punched in the face repeatedly until it was dazed, and then turned around. Theo then drove his foot between the guard¡¯s shoulder blades, and began to push it forward while pulling back in the tongue. There was a screeching noise that came from the mask, but it was quickly replaced by a loud crack and then thud as Theo had snapped its neck, and dropped the guard to the floor. He then turned around and saw the two remaining guards watching him and hesitating. He slowly walked towards Ygg¡¯Rael, which had been left on the floor when Theo had been tossed around, and wiped blood from his brow, nose and mouth as he reached the sword.


    ¡°Well? What are you two waiting for?¡± Theo asked as he spat out a wad of bloody saliva.


    Despite the power boost granted by their grotesque transformation, Theo seemed to have quickly adjusted and actually gotten somewhat stronger himself while dealing with the guards ¨C something that they had noticed. The two guards looked at each other, and without saying anything, both ran for it, running as fast as they could. Theo just scoffed as he wiped the last bit of sweat and blood from his face, before bending down and picking his sword up.


    ¡°Hmn¡­ this sword feels a bit lighter than it did when all this started.¡± Theo remarked more to himself than anybody else.


    ¡°Incredible¡­ our Bond actually became stronger during this fight. If only we had more than a few hours together, Othello.¡±


    Theo held Ygg¡¯Rael in both hands as the Fallen spoke, before turning around and starting towards the edge of the stage. He was about to continue his search for Black Widow, however as it turned out, the search was not going to last for much longer, as the sound of echoing footsteps filled the entire space. The high heeled black boots continued to make noise, and Theo cracked his neck as he jerked it to and fro in both directions. A scowl adorned his features as Black Widow slowly came into the light, with both guards who had run away being dragged behind her, both attached to what looked like webs.


    ¡°What the fuck is going on in my club?¡± Black Widow said in a voice that sounded all too familiar to Theo.


    Black Widow was also scowling intensely as she was in something of a foul mood. She was dressed in her Dominatrix gear and had her hair tied in a high ponytail. She looked up at Theo who looked as though his eyes were about to shoot laser beams of hatred at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who the fuck you are b¡­ but¡­¡±


    Black Widow¡¯s speech tapered off as she looked Theo over. She knew that she had met him before, and it was a recent meeting, but it took a minute or so for her to actually realise who this blood drenched suit clad man was. Her eyes grew wider and wider with each passing second as recalled the events of a few hours earlier.


    ¡°¡­how? I saw you die¡­ your head fucking exploded! How are you still alive?!¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t answer the question. Instead, he stabbed Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s tip in the stage emphatically, and began to neaten up his suit, tucking his shirt in properly, adjusting and aligning his tie, and then fastening the buttons of the suit jacket. He did all this while staring directly into Black Widow¡¯s eyes, never breaking eye contact, or even blinking. The wrath within him continued to grow, and it was shown in his eyes. Black Widow was not used to being ignored, and within the blink of an eye, the floor tiles in front of the stage suddenly cracked, with bits of ceramic residue shooting off in multiple directions. Black Widow was holding a whip in her right hand; eyes now filled with anger while face morphing scowl almost made her look like a completely different person.


    ¡°You will NOT ignore me, slave! Answer my question!¡±


    ¡°All I need to hear from you is the location of that Phantom bastard; nothing more, nothing less.¡±


    Theo said this as he was tugging on the cuffs of his jacket, scowl still on his face.


    ¡°All of you motherfuckers are going to pay for what happened to my family.¡±


    ¡°Says the weakling who sat and watched his family tortured to death. I still remember your screams, the pained expression on your tear stricken face¡­ it was such delicious spectacle.¡±


    Theo finished neatening himself up and then pulled Ygg¡¯Rael out from the stage floor with one hand, just holding it one handed as he looked at Black Widow.


    ¡°Tell me where Phantom is, and your death won¡¯t be quite as painful as it could be if you don¡¯t.¡±


    Black Widow¡¯s scowl suddenly disappeared as she looked completely bemused by Theo¡¯s declaration, before throwing her head back and absolutely howling with laughter. She even had to take a few moments to steady herself as she stumbled around a bit.


    ¡°Oh my, a mere slave talking so tough when all he could do was get his ass kicked when it really mattered?¡±


    Black Widow started laughing once again, and Theo just looked at her as his grip of Ygg¡¯Rael tightened.


    ¡°Ignore her provocations, Othello. She underestimates you ¨C use that to your advantage.¡±


    ¡°I hear what you¡¯re saying, Fallen. But the image of this bitch dragging Jess and the kids before me, as well as the look she had on her face when she did is so vividly ingrained in my memory, that I doubt I¡¯ll be able to maintain my composure for much longer.¡±


    Theo said this as his body began to shake with barely contained rage, the white aura from before once again making an appearance once again. Black Widow saw the bright, pure white light pulsing all over Theo¡¯s body and her laughter quickly came to a halt. She just looked at Theo as her gaze intensified once more.


    ¡°Othello Barausse¡­ you are a Contracted? When did that happen?!¡± She asked through gritted teeth. ¡°You definitely weren¡¯t one a few hours ago!¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t even give the woman anything resembling an answer as he jumped down from the stage and immediately charged her. Black Widow scoffed and spat in Theo¡¯s direction, before raising her whip above her head and spinning it a few times. She unleashed a strike with the whip so fast; it was all Theo could do to evade the tip of the whip. The cracking of the whip was almost obscenely loud, and the damage caused to the floor was greater than that from the previous strike. Theo didn¡¯t have time to look at the point of impact as he was already on the move, trying to close the gap once more. Black Widow continued unleashing whip strikes, the speed with which the strikes followed each other so rapid, it sounded like an automatic hand gun was going off.  To his credit, Theo was dodging them all, and while doing so, was slowly closing the distance between the two of them. As Black Widow increased the speed of her strikes, flying debris and dust clouds were the order of the day. Theo was also increasing his speed as necessary, his body becoming a white and red blur. Black Widow found herself becoming increasingly frustrated at her inability to land a hit on Theo continued to increase her speed as much as she could.


    ¡®How is this¡­ no matter how powerful an entity he formed a contract with, how can Othello be this fast?¡¯ Black Widow thought to herself.


    Her internal monologue was cut short however, as within the blink of an eye, Theo suddenly shot forward, having completely closed the gap. He turned his body and thrust his shoulder into her body, launching Black Widow into the air and sending her flying back. Theo followed after the woman, Ygg¡¯Rael held up high above his head as he looked to cleave her in two right off the bat. She reached behind her and grabbed hold of the webs her subordinates were attached to and pulled them forward, launching both of them in front of her to act as a pair of humanoid shields. As she did, the webs detached from her body and quickly wrapped themselves around the two. With a roar, Theo swung Ygg¡¯Rael down with immense force.


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± The Fallen boomed. ¡°Space Ripper!!!¡°


    The sound of Ygg¡¯Rael ripping through the air sounded even more intense this time, and Black Widow¡¯s guards became little more than sacrifices to buy her a few precious moments to evade the attack. The two web wrapped guards literally exploded into web covered, hairy, bloody chunks of flesh that rained down onto the floor.


    ¡®S-Such¡­ power¡­¡¯ Black Widow thought to herself once more as she quickly darted away to what she thought was a safe distance.


    Theo quickly closed the gap once more; his sword above his shoulder this time. He launched another attack and black widow found herself stumbling over chair that had fallen over. By the time she had recovered, she found it was too late for her to react due to the speed with which Theo was on her. At least, that¡¯s what she thought, because in spite of his strength increase allowing him to hold Ygg¡¯Rael with one hand when not using it to attack; Theo was still rather clumsy at using the naturally heavy and cumbersome weapon. Black Widow saw the strike coming in what seemed like slow motion in comparison to Theo¡¯s previous movements.


    ¡®His sword is SO fucking slow!!¡¯ She thought to herself while smirking.


    Black Widow found she had enough time to roll away, stand up, and then create some space between them once again. Ygg¡¯Rael hit the floor and caused a whole bunch of damage, splitting the tiles and concrete below with a loud boom, sending dust flying everywhere. The dust quickly settled to reveal Theo standing in the middle of a small and somewhat shallow crater, holding Ygg¡¯Rael in his right hand, looking at Black Widow, who had a knowing and mocking smirk on her face.


    ¡°Well, fuck.¡± Theo said as he walked out from the hole. ¡°I was hoping to finish her off before she realised how slow I am with this damn weapon.


    ¡°There are some barriers we cannot overcome in a matter of hours, Othello, and this is one of them. That said, you must still finish this woman off quickly. You are running out of time with Ygg¡¯Rael.¡±


    The meeting between Theo and the Fallen was cut short as Black Widow approached Theo, smirk growing larger with every passing second.


    ¡°You know Othello; you really did catch me by surprise. That a mere slave such as you would display such speed and skill. If not for the absurd disparity of speed between you and that weapon, I would have been in trouble.¡±


    ¡°That was certainly the plan¡­¡± Theo said as he took a few deep breaths, as his mind went to work trying to formulate another strategy.


    ¡°You¡¯ve received some form of training, haven¡¯t you slave?¡± Black Widow asked. ¡°Yours aren¡¯t the movements of an amateur. Even back in your house, your ability to fight in the dark with ease suggested that you weren¡¯t normal.¡±


    ¡°You continue to refer to me as a slave¡­ I suggest you stop.¡± Theo said somewhat menacingly.


    ¡°Why should I? I hold dominion over every single member of the male species is on this world.¡± Black Widow said as she flicked her hair, before looking directly into Theo¡¯s eyes. ¡°That also includes you, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Theo asked. ¡°What about that Phantom bastard? Is he also one of your slaves?¡±


    ¡°The Phantom? His is an existence is one that has transcended the binary nature of us humans¡­ Neither man nor woman, the Phantom is nobody¡¯s slave.¡±


    Black Widow seemed to have immense respect and admiration for Phantom, and it actually showed not only in her eyes, but her voice as well. Her admiration was right on the precipice; feeling very similar to reverence to Theo. She held out her left hand and reached behind her back with it. Theo heard the sound of something he couldn¡¯t quite identify, but the noise was the least of his concerns as she pulled out a second whip, that was identical to the first.


    ¡°I¡¯ve figured you out, Othello¡­ you¡¯re too dangerous to fight up close, so I¡¯ll keep you at bay and kill you from a far.¡±


    Black Widow started putting on a bit of a show; dual wielding her hips while spinning and cracking both whips, the floor on either side of her getting torn to shreds as she did. She suddenly unleashed an attack on Theo with both whips, the double crack it produced sounding absolutely brutal. Theo was able to avoid the first strike, but the second caught, if only slightly, on the cheek. It didn¡¯t hit him flush, but Theo reacted as though he was hit with a large fist; head snapping back. He slowly turned to face Black Widow, blood flowing from the resulting wound on his cheek. He reached up with his left hand, rubbed his cheek with it, and then examined the blood on his fingers. He then looked up at Black Widow with a scowl.


    ¡°You just made me do something so fucking clich¨¦d, it¡¯s not even funny.¡±


    Strangely enough, doing this seemed to make Theo angry, and a sudden burst of wind blew out from his feet as his eyes glowed and his aura came back. Black Widow just smirked, and started drawing out power herself, with her eyes glowing bright red as she did. Her ponytail danced around violently, as her skin darkened slightly, nails became black and pointed, and her teeth all sharpened and became pointy. A black and red aura enveloped her body, and the aura formed into the shape of some sort of head, above her very own head, All of a sudden, a whole bunch of beady, red eyes opened on what was the forehead of the head. They all seemed to be looking directly at Theo, and he could feel the presence of whichever entity Black Widow had signed a contract with. The aura started spreading, as if it was trying to become the dominant force in the room.


    ¡°The fuck is this?¡± Theo asked as he tensed his muscles.


    His own aura started growing in size, and after a few moments, the formation of the humanoid head and neck from earlier could be seen above Theo¡¯s head, black eyes opening and glowing as well. There seemed to be something of a personal battle between the two entities, as a screech could be heard coming from Black Widows¡¯, while a roar in the Fallen¡¯s voice came from Theo¡¯s one. Auras and voices clashed, as black and red pushed up against white and vice versa. Theo and Black Widow also exchanged deep, intense gazes during the brief clash. Theo then spoke to the Fallen without breaking eye contact with the woman.


    ¡°Fallen¡­ how have I been summoning this aura?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean to tell me that you have not been doing so consciously?¡± The Fallen enquired in shock.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ it¡¯s just been popping up, and the result is a boost in my physical capabilities.¡±


    ¡°I cannot believe this, Othello; to draw out power instinctively is impressive¡­ but you are still at a disadvantage. This woman is strong.¡±


    ¡°I know, Fallen. Those dual whips are going to be a real pain.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where you think you are, but having leisurely conversations with your Contracted Entity during an engagement with somebody else is rather foolish. I could have killed you by now.¡±


    ¡°No you couldn¡¯t have.¡± Theo retorted as the clash between the Fallen and whatever it was that Black Widow was Contracted to.


    The winds died down completely, and the two looked at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Theo decided to go first, Ygg¡¯Rael held firmly with both hands as he closed the gap ¨C well, as he tied to, at least. Black Widow immediately launched a counter attack which was even quicker than the taste she had given Theo moments earlier, and Theo found himself having to devote all of his concentration to dodging the whips. The strikes were not only lightning quick, but also surprisingly heavy. The biggest issue with the whips was that Black Widow could literally target two parts of his body at the same time, and that was precisely what she was doing. Theo would be jumping to avoid a strike at his feet when he would be forced to twist his torso to avoid another strike aimed at his body, then quickly move and try to gain some more ground ¨C rinse and repeat.


    ¡®Fuck me!¡¯ Theo thought to himself as he found himself increasingly on the back foot.


    He was thinking of ways to try and overcome his disadvantage when he looked down at the ridiculously large sword in his hands. He quickly looked up and evaded an attack aimed at his face and another aimed at his feet, causing him to jump back. The moment his feet touched the ground, Theo suddenly assumed a more compact, hunched over stance as he had earlier, presenting the woman with a smaller target and started running forwards. Black Widow rained the attacks down on Theo, but he just raised Ygg¡¯Rael and used it as a shield once more.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Widow scoffed as she increased the speed of the strikes, as well as changed the direction each strike came from.


    Theo was forced to roll, jump, parry and slide his way through the barrage, with the sounds that echoed through the room being absolutely brutal. If it wasn¡¯t for the sound proofing webs the entire building was lined with, those standing outside would have thought a bunch of explosives and such were going off. The floor was being torn to absolute shreds; however Theo was finding a measure of success using this method of approach, as he was actually closing the gap. The problem was that each time he would gain a considerable amount of ground, Black Widow would move back to maintain the gap between them.  After a few more attempts at getting closer that ultimately failed, Theo eventually jumped back a few steps in order to catch his breath. He stood up to his full height as he took a number of deep breaths. Black Widow¡¯s smirk dripped with absolute arrogance and she continued to whip the floor either side of her.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t work out too well for you, did it slave?¡±


    ¡°On the contrary, I¡¯m about to crush you.¡± Theo said with absolute confidence.


    Before Black Widow could find out what the basis of this confidence was, Theo was on the move once more, Ygg¡¯Rael held down low, pointed directly behind him. He was also running perfectly upright, having completely abandoned defending himself.


    ¡°A battle of pure speed, is it?!¡± Black Widow asked. ¡°Bring it!!¡± She boomed as she suddenly became serious herself.


    Theo became a blur once more, moving quicker than he had at any point during the fight, with Black Widow also increasing her speed monumentally. They were dealing in milliseconds in this exchange, and Theo wasn¡¯t evading while using lateral movement; instead, he was moving like a bullet train. The whips were cracking and actually making contact with his body; however, due to slipping at the last possible moment, Theo was able to take most of the hits on his clothes. While he still felt the attacks, he was doing his utmost to ignore the pain and push forward. The whips were a blur of constant movement, and Theo was a blur of sheer force, however the speed of each whip continued to increase and Theo found himself becoming less and less able to evade and slip the blows, with some of them landing flush on his body and face. Theo let out an immense roar as he just tanked the successful hits, continuing to close the gap. Black Widow, whether consciously or otherwise, started aiming all her strikes at Theo¡¯s face, hoping that snapping his head back would slow, or even completely halt his momentum. As it turned out, that was a smart move, as while the first few hits to his face weren¡¯t enough, around the fourth and fifth strikes rocked him, snapping his head back. Black Widow quickly capitalised on the opening, unleashing a deliberate series of attacks directly at Theo¡¯s face, snapping his head around in all directions so rapidly, it looked like a boxing speedball. Blood was spraying all over the place like crazy during the barrage, and right at the end, Black Widow wrapped the whips around Theo¡¯s ankles and began rotating her torso furiously, resulting in Theo spinning around and around above her head, before she released him in the direction of the now battered stage. The sound of Theo crashing through the front of the stage was almost unreal, and sounded like a legitimate explosion or building detonation. Black Widow, who only moments earlier was quite worried suddenly threw her head back and cackled. Her shrill laughter was filled with as much relief as it was with arrogance.


    ¡°You pathetic slave! You thought that you could beat me with such a simple and straight forward plan of attack?! Fuck you!¡± She bellowed. ¡°Have some more!!¡±


    Black Widow started launching more whip attacks, with both whips growing in length as they seemed to find their target every time, destroying more of the stage with each strike as shrapnel was sent flying. With each successful strike, Black Widow¡¯s laugh would become progressively louder and shriller with every strike, and just as she delivered what she thought would be the finishing blow, she felt resistance as she tried to withdraw her whips.


    ¡®¡­what the?¡¯ She thought as she continued to pull on the whips.


    All of a sudden, Black Widow was airborne, being pulled violently in the direction of the stage and before she could even think of letting go of the handles, a fist thundered into her cheek with such force that she thought the entire building was shaking when she hit the floor. She actually bounced off the floor, and was quickly hit with another punch that slammed her into the ground and rendered her motionless.


    ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡± Theo said as he spat a red wad of saliva out of his mouth. His suit was riddled with gashes and cuts, some of which had blood seeping from them. His face looked like a scored chicken breast, with blood pouring out from the wounds. ¡°You were having fun while going to town on my face, weren¡¯t you? I also saw how my kids looked when you brought them out¡­ my wife too¡­. You must have a thing for faces.¡±


    Theo, who had been wrapping the whips around his forearms as he spoke, suddenly reached down and pulled Black Widow up to her feet. He then went to work, driving both fists into her face as he unleashed what seemed like a never ending combination of lefts and rights, delivering each blow on to her pretty face; each crunching blow produced a spray of blood, and after a while, the sound of cracking bones and teeth, with a few of her teeth rattling around in her mouth. As Theo delivered a hard punch to her cheek, a combination of blood, spit and teeth fragments spewed out from her mouth, yet before Black Widow could hit the ground, Theo grabbed her by the ponytail and held her up.


    ¡°Not yet¡­¡±


    He dragged her to where Ygg¡¯Rael was fortuitously sticking out of the ground, with the blade pointing towards the ceiling.


    ¡°How lucky.¡± Theo said as he picked up the near limp body of Black Widow.


    He held her up horizontally, and just as he was about to impale her on the sword, a web shot out from Black Widow¡¯s back and stuck to the ceiling. She quickly shot out of Theo¡¯s grasp as he tossed her down onto the blade.


    ¡°Huh?!¡± Theo exclaimed as his head darted in the direction Black Widow flew off in.


    She had flown and stuck to the ceiling, and was looking down at Theo as blood leaked from her severely mangled and beaten face.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I have to do this for a mere slave¡­¡± She said in a heavily muffled voice.


    Suddenly, she started screaming as the black and red aura from before enveloped her body. Black Widow¡¯s blood curdling screams filled the building, Theo bent over and pulled Ygg¡¯Rael out from the floor and watched intently as her body started behaving the same way as those of her  subordinates as they transformed. It didn¡¯t take long for four growths to shoot out from her sides, with two on each. They were clearly arms however, and they were covered in spikey black hair ¨C which also grew all over the rest of her body. Her feet burst out from the leather boots as they grew in size and were also covered in the hair. Her head grew in size, and spider like fangs pierced their way out from her cheeks, while bloody, vertical slits of varying sizes appeared all across her forehead. They all opened simultaneously, revealing an unnerving number of glowing red eyes, all of which were looking directly at Theo. Her butt had morphed into a large, hairy growth resembling a spider¡¯s abdomen. Once the transformation was complete, Black Widow let out an ear-piercing screech. Theo and the winged growth that was the Fallen¡¯s vessel both looked up in poorly veiled disgust.


    ¡°What? Why? Why must all this shit be gross, Fallen? Why?¡± Theo asked as he shook his head.


    ¡°Look at all those eyes, Othello.¡± The Fallen replied in an equally disturbed voice.


    Theo activated his aura ¨C once again by instinct ¨C and he held Ygg¡¯Rael firmly in both hands.


    ¡°This is not good, Othello. We are extremely low on Life Essence, and will likely be able to use Ygg¡¯Rael for one more attack.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯ve got a plan¡­ All I need is one strike.¡± Theo said as he took a deep breath.


    Black Widow spread her legs wide and her weird hairy butt growth suddenly bent down into the space, with the spinnerets pointed directly at Theo, who along with the Fallen suddenly opened their eyes and raised their brows in apprehension.


    ¡°She had better not be aiming her ass this way with the intention of¡ª¡±


    After a sudden bit of throbbing and pulsing from the growth, a beam of wet webbing shot out of the spinnerets and cannoned towards Theo, who jumped out of the way in a manner that can only be described as ¡®bitching out¡¯. One leg was bent up from the knee, while his hands were tucked up against his chest. Funnily enough, both Theo and the Fallen had the exact same look on their faces, before looking up at once again screeching woman.


    ¡°She just shot something out of her ass at me! She tried to kill me with demonic spider diarrhea!¡± Theo roared as he looked about as disgusted as his face allowed him to look.


    ¡°She deserves death! Give it to her, Othello!¡± The fallen boomed as well. ¡°Because if you do not, I suspect that a vibrating contraption will be shoved up your¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not an option! Nothing with eight limbs is shoving anything up anything of mine! Let¡¯s do this, Ygg¡¯Rael!!¡±


    Black Widow reached down and in a process that left Theo and the Fallen further grossed out, squeezed out six web whips with a wet sucking noise; one for each arm-like limb. With each one produced, the growth would throb and resemble a tube of toothpaste being squeezed from the bottom when the whip would come out of the spinneret.


    ¡°I will cut off your arms and legs, and use you as my personal play thing for the rest of your days, Othellllloooo!!¡± Black Widow boomed in a disgusting sounding voice.


    She quickly prepared to unleash an attack with all six of her whips as Theo regained his composure and closed his eyes for just a second, focusing on his breathing.


    ¡®Ygg¡¯Rael.¡¯ Theo said internally. ¡®I need to use that long range capability of yours. So, uh¡­ Grow, Ygg¡¯Rael!¡¯


    As if the sword could actually hear him, it responded to his command, and all along the blade, and at regular intervals, glowing golden lines appeared going across from one side to the other. They appeared at seven inch increments, and no sooner had they appeared, that they all split from each other, being held together by a multitude of golden threads that were seven inches in length themselves. As Ygg¡¯Rael grew in length, Theo found that just holding it was an entirely different experience from how it was only moments earlier. He didn¡¯t have time to think on the feeling however, as Theo looked up to see Black Window looking increasingly closer to attacking. He started to spin Ygg¡¯Rael in a circular motion repeatedly, going faster and faster and causing the ¡®blade¡¯ to not only spin like some sort of whip, but also grow in length, creating a sort of twister-like entity with Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s blade. Black Widow let out yet another screech as she ¡®whipped¡¯ all six arms in Theo¡¯s direction, causing all her whips to crack and snap through the air in his direction, only for him to redirect the blade twister in the direction of them. The sound of them all being cut to shreds filled the room for a second or two, and while Black Widow screeched in lamentation over the destruction of her weapons, Theo ceased spinning his sword, and just pulsed and whipped his arms in her direction, with the pliant, extended blade-whip pulsed towards Black Widow through the air like a deadly serpent. Gold and white hit black and red, completely destroying the ceiling, its web insulation, and the roof above it with a MASSIVE explosion; the sound it all made being the loudest and most violent of the entire night, and completely drowned out Black Widow¡¯s pain-filled shrieks. The entire building shook, from the now damaged roof, right down to the foundation, and as large parts of the roof came crashing into the floor, Theo stood with his arms down by his side, breathing heavily through his open mouth.


    ¡°Magnificently done, Othello.¡± The Fallen said as it approved.


    ¡°I fucking hate swords¡­¡± Theo said in between breaths.


    He quickly remembered that he had three more targets that night, and walked towards the pile of rubble where the roof and Black Widow had landed. After a few moments, he found who he was looking for, as buried under a pile of rubble was her body, with half of it sticking out, and leaking its dark blood profusely. Her many eyes all fluttered open and she saw Theo standing above, looking down at her. His heavily wounded cheeks were still bleeding, and while his suit showed signs of having been hit multiple times by her whips, it was still in one piece.


    ¡°¡­h-here to finish me off, are you slave?¡± She asked; her voice only partly demonic, despite still being in her transformed state.


    Theo¡¯s eyes started glowing brightly as he finally summoned the serpent creatures from the house. They ripped their way out from his shoulder blades, screeching and roaring as they looked around in morbid curiosity at their new surroundings. They quickly noticed Black Widow on the ground, as darted towards her as if about to devour her. They suddenly stopped, wincing and flinching as if they had been beaten or something and quickly withdrew, hovering just above Theo¡¯s head.


    ¡°Why¡­ why did you stop them, Othello?¡± Black Widow asked.


    ¡°Because even though I may very well find out without you saying so, I want to know¡­ why did you and Phantom do that to my family? What did they do to deserve such a fate?!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Black Widow was quiet as she contemplated her answer, before she coughed up some blood and closed all of her eyes. ¡°You¡­ are only the second penis wielder that I acknowledge¡­ I will answer your question.¡±


    Theo looked on expectantly, his breathing having become normal once again.


    ¡°Your family was subjected to that torture¡­ because they were your family. As to why we did it, they were orders given to the only other penis wielder I acknowledge ¨C Phantom. He only told me that there was a well-paying job that he had accepted, and that was all I needed to know.¡±


    ¡®What happened to all that bullshit she spewed earlier about his transcending human existence and all that?¡¯ Theo scoffed to himself as he looked down at Black Widow, who was still bleeding out pretty quickly.


    ¡°I have no regrets, though. That person saved me from an existence that was worth than death. So actually dying for him here¡­ is¡­ just fine. How-however having said that, I don¡¯t know where he is¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­appreciate the honesty, Chelsea.¡± Theo said through gritted teeth, as he clenched his fists hard.


    Her human eyes suddenly shot open and looked up into Theo¡¯s, but then she immediately felt something on her neck, and her perspective changed. Her head rolled over and she was looking at the rubble that was next to her head.


    ¡°Goodbye, Chelsea. For your role in my family¡¯s demise, I hope your soul forever burns in flames of Hell, you crazy bitch!¡±


    Black Widow actually caught that farewell message, before her cranium was ripped open by Theo¡¯s pets. They quickly got to eating the brain within, and just as after they consumed the brains of the goons in Theo¡¯s living room, Theo found himself on his knees, violently projectile vomiting. As he did, images of Chelsea¡¯s memory flooded his head as images of her suffering severe physical and sexual abuse at the hands of a much older man, and then eventually, a whole bunch of other men. The images in question were sickening and depressing, but at the very beginning, it all started because Chelsea found this older man trying to abuse another young girl named Nathalie. All subsequent abuses were committed under the guise of protecting Nathalie. Theo couldn¡¯t for the life of him explain why he was seeing all of this, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to find more information relating to the location of Mike D. He took a few minutes to try and get the taste out of his mouth once more, spitting something fierce; however it did little to help.


    ¡°Fucking hell, this is disgusting.¡± He with a shake of the head.


    Theo stood up as all his wounds started glowing and making a hissing, virtual sizzling sound. Having consumed the brain of a relatively high level Contracted Human gave Theo¡¯s Life Essence reserves a welcome, if not ultimately minute boost.


    ¡°Hurry up and consume the rest of this woman¡¯s body, Othello!¡± The Fallen ordered.


    ¡°Really? This again? I told before, I will not eat human flesh! It¡¯s bad enough that I have to eat fucking brain, but I have no choice with regard to that.¡±


    ¡°Very well¡­¡± The Fallen said, having given up surprisingly easily in Theo¡¯s opinion.


    He looked at the woman¡¯s face, which not only was still intact, but the human eyes were still open.


    ¡°I won¡¯t retract my previous statement about you burning, but I¡­ I think I better understand why you became what you did. Taking on that burden at such a young age to protect that Nathalie girl was¡­ well, it was noble. I hope those who abused you all suffer a fate worse than you, and that you get to watch it all as you burn.¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t even know why he was talking to this literally empty head, but just as he was about to turn around, he saw tears flow from her eyes, and a small smile form on her lips.


    ¡°¡­t¡­thank¡­ you.¡± The head said before the eyes closed, and the smile faded.


    Theo just stood flabbergasted at the fact that a brainless, decapitated head was able to speak, and even smile. He quickly shook his head as if to banish the image and turned around, walking off.


    ¡°¡­man, fuck this place.¡±

 Chapter 3: 01:57

    <h1>Chapter 3: 01:57</h1>


    As employees and security rushed into the now virtually empty Club S parking lot, Theo walked calmly towards the cab. He was walking through an empty alleyway, and popped out fortuitously right behind the cab. He quickly got in, but just sat for a while in silence as he leaned against the seat back, hands on the wheel, and just took a series of deep breaths. He had ¡®sheathed¡¯ the pets; however the Fallen¡¯s vessel was still present, as usual. It looked down at Theo and after a moment or two of continued silence, it spoke.


    ¡°What is the matter, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Nothing, it¡¯s just¡­ I thought I had left this life behind.¡± Theo said as he opened his eyes and looked straight ahead.


    ¡°Which life is that?¡±


    ¡°The life of death¡­¡± Theo then laughed bitterly as a forced smile adorned his lips. ¡°It took death to force me back into it.¡±


    Theo suddenly felt the urge to cry. His face started twitching as he sniffed and forced the tears away. He shook his head violently, turned the key which was in the ignition, starting the car and quickly drove off down the road. He then started punching something into the in-dash navigation, prompting the Fallen to speak once more.


    ¡°Who is our next target, Othello?¡±


    ¡°That silent weirdo ¨C Mike D. His real name is not known by any of those whose brains were¡­ consumed, but I¡¯d put good money on it having something to do with Michael.¡±


    ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°According to Chelsea¡¯s memories, he¡¯s holed up in an abandoned and dilapidated high school in the outskirts on the other side of the city.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The Fallen said as it continued to look down at Theo. ¡°Tell me something, Othello.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Theo responded as he looked up at the Fallen momentarily.


    ¡°Why have you begun referring to that woman by the name Chelsea?¡±


    Theo looked at the road as the voice from the navigation prompted him to slow down, and then turn left. Once all that had been done, Theo turned his attention to contemplating how to answer the Fallen¡¯s question.


    ¡°It¡¯s her given, human name, Fallen. It just felt as though calling her by it was the appropriate thing after she decided to stop viewing me as a slave¡­ or something. I can¡¯t explain it.¡± Theo sat quietly for just a few moments before speaking again. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because even though she transformed into a demonic spider abomination, she spent her final waking moments as a human.¡±


    Theo shrugged as his attempt at an explanation seemed to fall flat. The Fallen accepted it all the same however, and nodded.


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense.¡±


    There was another period of protracted silence, and just like during the trip to the club, Theo¡¯s face slowly morphed into an extremely pained expression, prompting him to start talking again.


    ¡°You know, my wife used to say that there was untold power in a name. That knowing a person¡¯s name could make all the difference, which was why she refused to ever meet somebody, and part ways with them without having gotten their name. To her, names were damn near sacred. It¡¯s kind of sad how she heard my real name for the first time tonight.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, Othello?¡± The Fallen enquired.


    ¡°Over here, I go by the name Theo Burrows. I had been down here on a¡­ job that didn¡¯t quite go according to plan. I was severely beaten, shot, stabbed, and then tossed out of a moving car. Thought I died, but I found myself coming to in a park that was at the bottom of the hill I was thrown onto, and rolled down. Jessica was crouching in front of me, with a look of concern on her face. There I was, dressed in the remnants of combat attire, riddled with knife wounds and bullet holes, eyes virtually swollen shut, face all puffy and beaten to a pulp, and the first thing she says is ¡®You okay, Handsome?¡¯. I ignored her, and just wanted her to leave me alone to die in peace.¡±


    Theo smiled and shook his head slowly as he stopped at an intersection, the red light almost unnaturally bright.


    ¡°Instead, she kept talking my ear off, all the while doing her best to treat my wounds. The first thing I said to her was ¡®Fuck off!¡¯, but as usual, she completely ignored me and kept treating me. Anyway, after a back and forth debate over her calling an ambulance, she respected my wish of not going to hospital and dragged me to the small hole she was living in at the time to treat me there. I recall I was losing consciousness when she asked me my name, and I answered her honestly, much to my own surprise. When I came to once more, she said ¡®Welcome back to the land of the living, Mister Theo Burrows.¡¯ I have no idea if she heard that because of how muffled my swollen lips made my speech, but¡­ I just rolled with it. Seven years I lived as Theo Burrows, a regular civilian who ended up working in a bank. Seven years of pure bliss. I should have known happiness isn¡¯t something somebody who lived their life as I did previously is allowed to obtain.¡±


    Theo¡¯s grip on the steering wheel tightened immensely as he put his foot down, causing the cab to wheel spin on launch, the pained and then happy expressions having completely disappeared from his face, only to be replaced with pure wrath.


    ¡°Those who took that happiness away still live, Othello. We will destroy them together.¡± The Fallen said as it lowered itself down onto his shoulder; wings brushing against Theo¡¯s ear.


    Theo just nodded and cracked his neck from side to side.


    ¡°For the coming hours, Theo Burrows takes a backseat, and for the first time in nearly a decade, Othello Barausse takes centre stage. These fuckers made a mistake in doing that to the people I loved most.¡±


    The Fallen looked at Theo and grinned, baring all of its teeth once more. Due to the lateness of the hour, the roads were relatively empty, which meant that the trip to the school was not as long as it could have been. Luckily for Theo, the school in question was a boarding school, so it was in a somewhat secluded area. As they got closer to the school, the surrounding areas suddenly started changing, looking as though they themselves hadn¡¯t been lived in for a long time. Theo looked up to his right and saw the school building at the top of a cliff, overlooking the area below which they were about to drive into.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fucking ominous, isn¡¯t it?¡± Theo said to himself.


    ¡°It is as though you are approaching a castle, is it not?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it is. That said, the sooner we get there and take this Mike D out, the sooner we find out if he knows where Phantom is.¡±


    Theo¡¯s blood visibly boiled at the mere mention of Phantom¡¯s name, and as he turned into the winding road that led to the school, the look on his face slowly changed. During the drive, he had been thinking and talking about his wife quite a bit, so his face was far more emotional than it had been when he was in the club. Now that he was approaching the next target, his game face was slowly coming back, and his eyes began to glow instinctively as he prepared himself mentally for whatever it was that was lying in wait for him. The speed with which Theo was blasting up the road was increasing, and after around fifteen minutes, the school gate was visible.


    ¡°The second target is within reach. Are you ready, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Hmph, of course I am. The sooner we take care of him, the better. The dawn is only a matter of hours away.¡±


    Theo parked the cab just short of the gate and stepped out, preparing himself to make the remainder of the journey on foot. He walked to the tall, padlocked gate, and looked to the right, seeing the name of the school; the letters of which he was barely able to make out.


    ¡°R..Rosew¡­ W-Wal¡­¡± The Fallen mumbled as it tried to read it.


    ¡°Forget about it, Fallen.¡± Theo said as he reached for the padlock and chain. ¡°These are relatively new in comparison to the gate.¡± Theo pointed out as he held the padlock within his clenched fist.


    He then simply pulled on it as if he was ripping toilet paper, and the links on the chain simply shattered, leaving the gate completely unlocked. Theo tossed the padlock onto the floor and walked right in, making his way up the meandering school drive way as he neatened his suit up once more, shoving his hands into his pockets once he was done. It was an eerily silent walk, the only audible noise being the one made by Theo himself as his footsteps echoed slightly. He approached what looked like a reception area, which had a large tower next to it.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ let¡¯s see if this works.¡± Theo mumbled to himself as he approached the building.


    He suddenly dashed forward and with a single leap, jumped up towards the roof. His back glowed a bit through his suit, and immediately afterwards, a large pair of white feathered wings materialised on his back. They flapped once, and Theo suddenly received a major boost in terms of elevation.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± He exclaimed as he tried adjusting his position in midair.


    He landed pretty heavily on the roof of the reception building, cracking a few roof tiles in the process. After steadying himself, Theo quickly changed direction and dashed towards the tower, before leaping up in its direction. He landed on a wall, but instead of falling, the wings appeared and flapped once more, with Theo having timed the flap with his jump. He zipped through the air, the wings flat against his back as he tucked his arms against his sides while his feet were together. When he reached the small, pointed roof, he flew past it, and once again had to clumsily adjust his body in as he dropped towards the roof. One rough and roof tile damaging landing later, Theo was crouched down on the roof, breathing in deeply as he slowly stood up. He stood atop the tower, which gave him enough of a vantage point that he was able to look over the entire school.


    ¡°Impressive, Othello. Considering that was your first time using the wings to increase your jumping capabilities.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I used to have a grappling hook to help me do shit like this back in the day. The boost imparted by the Bond and these wings render my old equipment completely useless. That and they also pick up the slack brought on by my rustiness.¡±


    There was a brief period of silence as Theo looked the school buildings over, his head slowly turning as his eyes scanned as much of the area below as they could. There were a bunch of dimly lit lights all around the exterior of the school¡¯s buildings that were somehow still working.


    ¡°Have you seen anything particularly useful, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked after a while.


    ¡°Well, a large number of these buildings are wrecked, and a whole host of them are roofless. I don¡¯t know if anybody lives in them, but there appear to be a fair number of buildings that still have roofs, including what looked to be a chapel, which had an even taller tower than the one he was standing on. In fact, if you look over in the direction of the boarding house, it is not only roofed, but the windows are intact, and it actually looks somewhat¡­ hospitable. I¡¯d say that if Mike D is anywhere, it would be in there.¡±


    ¡°Whatever you are, you aren¡¯t going to escape!¡± Theo shouted as his vision was locked on it.


    ¡°Watch where you¡¯re going, Othello!¡± The Fallen boomed.


    ¡°Huh?! What are you talking about?!¡± Theo boomed right back as he turned more to the left.


    Before the fallen could respond though, Theo suddenly noticed the partially destroyed roof of a building directly below. Both Theo and the Fallen cringed somewhat as they braced for impact, and moments later, Theo crashed right through one of sections of the roof that didn¡¯t have a hole in it, producing a loud crash, along with a dust cloud that blew out from the multiple holes ¨C including the freshly made one. Theo found himself lying atop a bunch of old pots and pans of various makes and cultures. He somewhat fortuitously landed with a Tajine between his legs. He looked down at it and breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Thank fuck for that¡­¡± He remarked as he sat up gingerly. ¡°That¡­ wasn¡¯t fun.¡±


    ¡°You almost killed us, Othello! What kind of gliding technique was that?!¡± The Fallen barked.


    ¡°What do you mean us?¡± Theo asked. ¡°Besides, that wasn¡¯t gliding, it was falling¡­ with style.¡± Theo said dryly as he stood up.


    ¡°Falling with what?¡± The Fallen snapped.


    ¡°Ugh, nevermind. Let¡¯s go.¡± Theo said as he dusted himself off and quickly shot out of the door, his head darting back and forth. ¡°That person went this way.¡±


    Theo darted off in the direction they were headed before the crash landing. What he quickly discovered however was that the pathways between the school buildings were almost maze-like, and that made it extremely difficult to track or find somebody. The search continued for longer than Theo even tried to figure out, as he would randomly turn and dart down a certain path. Every now and then, the Fallen would randomly bark out a direction for Theo to turn in, or boom the word ¡®NOW!!!¡¯ and Theo would turn or dart in a particular direction. After a while, the both of them felt incredibly foolish, and Theo even stopped to rest and catch his breath with his hands on his knees.


    ¡°This is fucking hopeless!¡± Theo remarked.


    The Fallen was about to say something, when the both of them suddenly perked up.


    ¡°Can you hear that?¡± Theo asked. ¡°It sounds like¡­ like¡­¡±


    ¡°Laughter!¡± The Fallen replied.


    As The Fallen said this, both it and Theo suddenly scowled, baring their teeth as their eyes glowed simultaneously. Theo suddenly dashed off towards the direction of the laughter, moving much quicker than he had been before. That person who was laughing suddenly squealed in panic and ran, realising that making Theo angry was a grave mistake. The chase didn¡¯t even last that long, as Theo quickly hounded the fleeing culprit down, reaching out and grabbing the back of his robe, and holding him up in the air as he slid to a halt. Once again, his and the Fallen¡¯s eyes started glowing bright with rage.


    ¡°Who the fuck did you think you were laughing at earlier, huh?¡± Theo said through gritted teeth.


    He suddenly felt as though something or someone was about to attack, and it prompted him to drop the person and evade. He did just that, but the attack wasn¡¯t forth coming. Instead, the figure scurried backwards, and moments later, a group of similarly dressed people suddenly dropped down from above, and surrounded them protectively. Theo, who had calmed down somewhat, just looked at everybody standing in front of him. They were all dressed in brown robes and what looked like combat boots. Their hoods were up, and what struck Theo was that they were all dressed exactly like Mike D was in his house. He clenched his fist, and his knuckles automatically cracked, rage filled expression adorning his features.


    ¡°Where is Mike D? Tell me where he is!¡± Theo demanded. ¡°If you don¡¯t, you will die; simple as that.¡±


    The group of hooded folk did say a thing, or make a sound. Instead, they slowly reached up and flipped their hoods down, revealing their faces and drawing out cringe from Theo. These ¡®people¡¯ were absolutely hideous, with all of them having pale, splotchy skin, riddled with scars, acne, and parts of skin that appeared to be festering; some of which was actually hanging off their faces. Their hair was a patchy mess that looked like a serious case of alopecia gone wrong. They were also missing bits and pieces of their faces, with some missing an eye, a nostril, or even an entire nose. They also produced an absolutely rancid smell, which caused Theo to recoil the moment he smelled it, as if he had been smacked across the face with a rotting foot or something. The Fallen¡¯s vessel was also suffering as a result of the smell, with its face dripping with disgust.


    ¡°Whoaaaa, fuuuuck!¡± Theo said as he squinted, the smell screwing his face up. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m looking at Jason Bright¡¯s followers.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°You know, the Bright Brotherhood? Ugh, not again¡­¡± Theo said as his reference fell flat.


    The conversation was interrupted as the group all suddenly started smiling; revealing a mouth full of sharp, black teeth. Theo and the Fallen¡¯s brows rose in surprise, but that was far from the end. The smiling ¡®people¡¯ suddenly opened their mouth as their smiles grew even bigger. Their mouths didn¡¯t seem to stop growing in size, and soon, large black pincer type growths sprouted out from the sides of their mouths as they all made a strange hissing sound. A thick, foul smelling gelatinous substance poured out from their mouths as the pincers and teeth grew in size and number. Their mouths started splitting at the edges and continued growing, more pincers popping out from what used to be cheeks. Bug like feelers sprouted from their foreheads and began moving about, and the entire group let out a shrill hiss that was as revolting as it was ear piercing. Theo and the Fallen continued to look progressively more disgusted, and it was compounded when the group leaned forward made a hiss/roar type sound, and copious amounts of the thick saliva stuff spewed from their mouths in Theo¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Why?! Why Fallen, tell me why!!!¡± Theo boomed as he looked up at the winged vessel.


    Immediately after he asked the question, the creatures all reached within their robes and pulled out all manner of firearm. Some were holding assault rifles, others shotguns, while others were holding hand guns. Where the magazine or shells were supposed to be inserted, were large, round fleshy growths that pulsed and throbbed. Before that could gross Theo out any further, the guns were all pointed at him, and he found himself turning around and dashing as fast as he could in a zigzag pattern as gunfire erupted in his direction. Bullets zoomed and zipped past Theo and much to his surprise, these beings were immaculate shots. If it wasn¡¯t for Theo¡¯s speed and evasive maneuvers, he probably would have been turned into Swiss cheese. Luckily for him, there were so many derelict school buildings and remnants of buildings that Theo was able to find cover relatively quickly and duck behind it.


    ¡°Holy fuck! Those¡­ those¡­ things have such powerful weaponry! Where the fuck did they get it?! This is a school!¡±


    ¡°That is not the biggest issue here, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah? What is the biggest issue, then?¡± Theo retorted as he quickly looked up over his cover, before quickly ducking as the section of wall he popped his head over was blown to smithereens. ¡°Fuuck!!¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡± The Fallen said as Theo sprang from his cover, running to a different spot, vaulting over the wall, and quickly pressing his back to it.


    ¡°Precisely? That doesn¡¯t explain a thing!¡± Theo barked.


    ¡°I was still explaining when you suddenly ran, Othello! Now, listen. These creatures are using weapons that have been enhanced, and their ammunition is made of refined Life Essence.¡±


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s not good. Life Essence bullets can be a real pain, and have any number of effects.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Have you come across them before, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, once or twice. I¡¯ve used them once or twice as well, so I know what happens when somebody is shot by one of those things.


    The Fallen listened to Theo speak, and was constantly impressed with his knowledge.


    ¡°Your life prior to your marriage must have been quite the life, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Not as much as you would think, Fallen.¡± Theo said as he looked down at the ground with something of a bitter smile. ¡°Anyway, what next?¡±


    ¡°Well, things are about to become rather difficult, Othello. This Mike D is likely Contracted to Skelem¡¯Dor, the Decayed.¡±


    ¡°Who? What? How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°I know what happens to those who are the recipients of her tainted Life Essence. We do not have the time to discuss it, however trust me when I say, this is the work of Skelem¡¯Dor.¡±


    ¡°¡­understood. What is the best way to fight these creatures?¡±


    ¡°You have a weapon of your own that uses Life Essence ammunition.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! D¡­ Daemon¡¯s Bane.¡± Theo said, suddenly becoming deflated.


    He held his left hand out, and with a completely disinterested look on his face, he called out to it, much like he did with Ygg¡¯Rael.


    ¡°C¡­ come forth, Daemon¡¯ Bane.¡±


    The cross on his left wrist glowed brightly and with a slight flare, the unnecessarily large hand gun appeared in his left hand. He quickly had to hold it with both hands, and he just stared at the five barrel, white and gold gun.


    ¡°What is it, Othello? Why such an unenthusiastic attitude towards Daemon¡¯s Bane?¡±


    ¡°Every time I hear that name¡­ ugh, could you not have chosen such a clich¨¦d name for a weapon used for hunting demons, Fallen?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­ silence, Othello. Daemon¡¯s Bane is one of the most powerful of all the Hunter¡¯s weapons! Your attitude towards it is incredibly insolent!¡±


    Theo continued to eye the gun, looking thoroughly unconvinced. It was as if the urgency and seriousness of the situation had become totally lost on Theo, and he just stared at the gun, when all of a sudden, the sound of a loud, raspy hiss snapped Theo out of it.


    ¡°To your left, Othello!¡± The Fallen shouted.


    Theo quickly raised the gun, holding it like a master marksmen who had held and pointed a gun countless times in his life, got on one knee, and pulled the trigger, firing bullets at the chest and head in such rapid succession, the creature was airborne and then flew into the wall behind it before it even knew what happened. For his part, Theo held the pose as if there was a photographer around waiting to take a picture, before slowly standing up and looking at the gun with a rather impressed look on his face.


    ¡°Not ba¡ª¡±


    The creature suddenly hissed as it fired off a few shots at Theo, who just barely managed to avoid the first before ducking behind cover again.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Those were clean shots!¡±


    He stood up once again, firing shots at the chest and head again, which resulted in the spray of a green substance that Theo assumed was blood, but once again, the creature stood up. Theo let out a roar of annoyance, and hopped out from behind cover and held the gun up, shooting vitals repeatedly, walking the creature down as if it was a mannequin. As it slumped against the wall, he kept shooting, until its chest was a mass of rancid, pulpy flesh. Theo stood with the gun pointed at the slumped figure, before slowly lowering his gun.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡ª¡± There was another hiss, and Theo let out a roar as he fired a whole host of bullets into the thing¡¯s head, shooting until it exploded. ¡°Fucking DIE already!!!¡± He boomed.


    This time, as smoke wafted up from the now headless neck, Theo was absolutely certain that whatever this thing was, it was now dead. After a few moments of silence, the Fallen¡¯s vessel lowered itself to Theo¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Well done, Othello. You really are¡ª WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!¡±


    The Fallen screamed this as Theo had stood up, and then thrown Daemon¡¯s Bane onto the floor with such disdain and force; it actually created a hole in the pavement below.


    ¡°Most powerful demon hunting weapon my ass! Did you see how many times I had to shoot this thing for it to die?! Daemon¡¯s Bane is a piece of shit!¡±


    ¡°How dare you?! Daemon¡¯s Bane wasn¡¯t the problem! These creatures have all been injected directly with Skelem¡¯Dor¡¯s Life Essence! They essentially have Contracted Items inside their bodies! Of course they are harder to kill!¡±


    ¡°Bullshit! This is just some ornamental weapon that¡¯s unnecessarily bulky, and heavy as shit!¡±


    Hissing and screeching interrupted the argument, as Theo was forced to pick up the gun and start running for cover once more. The sound of gun shots behind him made Theo fall to his ass and slide along the cobbled paving until he reached a ruined building which was little more than a wall. He then placed Daemon¡¯s Bane in his lap and quickly hit the ground with his open palms, which launched Theo off the ground, with him tucking his legs in as he somersaulted over the wall, grabbing his gun as he completed it. The moment Theo completed the somersault and landed on his feet, he stood up, pointed Daemon¡¯s Bane and started firing. The recoil was insane, however thanks to his boosted strength, he was able to shrug it off relatively harm free. The problem was that these robed creatures were virtually shrugging off Daemon¡¯s Bane¡¯s bullets, with the larger ones able to keep running even when shot in the shoulders.


    ¡°They¡¯re like zombies!¡± Theo remarked as he quickly lowered his aim.


    He fired off a few shots at the creatures¡¯ knees, and after having their knees blown away, more of their luminescent, bright green blood sprayed everywhere, smoked and starting to melt into the paving. Theo then quickly readjusted his aim, and fired off a series of bullets into the heads of those who had been felled like some sort of alien tree, blowing their heads to bits. All in all, it took far too many bullets to kill these beings, but as things stood, Theo had no choice but to go with this course of action. The remaining few from the initial group stood at a distance, looking at Theo, before one of them suddenly threw its head back and started hissing and screeching. Theo watched from behind his gun, before lowering it slowly.


    ¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± He asked himself.


    His question was answered sooner than he thought, as all of a sudden, the sound of an untold number of hisses and such could be heard. Theo¡¯s eyes grew to near golf ball size, as he watched hordes of robed denizens literally crawling out of absolutely everywhere. Some were crawling along walls, out of roofs, holes in the wall and ground, and Theo and the Fallen both shuddered somewhat.


    ¡°Ugh, forsaken demons! This is what I hate about them!¡± The Fallen said as its vessel spread its wings as it shook about in discomfort.


    ¡°Them? Hate about them? You speak as though you aren¡¯t one of them!¡± Theo said; the expression that was on his face a carbon copy of that of the Fallen¡¯s.


    Before the conversation could continue, Theo suddenly heard a hissing sound coming from behind him, coupled with the smell. He turned around to see one of the Mike D¡¯s fellows with its giant mouth open, as if it was about to bite him. Daemon¡¯s Bane became a white blur as Theo raised it with the intention to aim. The creature slapped the gun away with its forehead feelers and launched itself towards Theo, who raised his right foot in an arc, the toe of his shoe catching the creature from below on the chin. As it started spinning backwards he blasted it in the chest, sending it crashing into the wall behind it, before firing off a few more shots, all aimed at the head until it exploded. Theo then felt a pair of arms hook him beneath both armpits and hold him in place while a hiss came from behind. The glint of a shotgun caught Theo¡¯s eye, and just as the trigger was pulled, he turned his back to face the line of fire. The shells all hit the back of the creature, and immediately afterwards, Theo forced his arms out of the grip, and quickly pointed his weapon in the direction of the one with the shotgun, blasting at it without even aiming for a vital area. Shots then came in from behind him, prompting Theo to slide on his butt once more in the direction of the creature he had just shot, springing up and forcing Daemon¡¯s Bane into its face and unleashing a series of shots that made its head explode. Theo used the creature¡¯s shoulders to vault over it, landing on his feet before turning around and kicking its back, launching it towards the one that was shooting at him. He then quickly dashed away from where he was standing, only to be confronted by another two. He closed the distance almost instantly, and as one pointed its gun with the intention of shooting, Theo ducked beneath the gun, before rising up, and driving his knee into its midriff. As it keeled over, it felt all five of Daemon¡¯s Dane¡¯s barrels on the back of its patchy head. Consecutive shots burst its head, and just as the other one was about to shoot, Theo reached over with his left hand and forced the gun up which resulted in it being pointed directly at its own face with little time to evade. Green sludge sprayed all over the wall as the head exploded.


    ¡°These things are endless!¡± Theo shouted.


    ¡°That is true, Othello. And judging by the number of buildings, and the size of the dormitory, there is plenty more where these creatures come from.¡±


    ¡°Wait, do you mean to say¡ª¡°


    ¡°Above!¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t even hesitate as he aimed above, and saw two of the¡­ things attempting to ambush him from above. He crouched down, and in an instant, the wings appeared. Theo jumped up in tandem with the wings flapping to give him a boost, and he zipped up between them both, aimed his gun down, and blasted at both heads as he flew up. Both heads exploded after a few seconds, and after Theo turned around in midair, he landed on the roof with a bit more grace than in his previous attempts.


    ¡°You certainly are more skilled at using a gun than you are a sword, Othello.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t lying, Fallen. I was always average when it came to melee weapons. Fists and guns were always my specialty.¡± Theo said as he watched the robed creatures all moving in his direction. ¡°They¡¯re like fucking roaches!¡±


    ¡°That is precisely what they are, Othello. Skelem¡¯Dor is a massive, foul smelling cockroach.¡±


    ¡°Now there is a fitting demonic creature, if there ever was one.¡± Theo said with a shake of the head. ¡°They eat glue, Fallen. GLUE!¡±


    ¡°They are absolutely revolting, Othello. That said, why are not using the weapon you are most skilled with to its full potential?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, Fallen?¡± Theo enquired as he looked at the gun in his hands.


    ¡°Daemon¡¯s Bane has five barrels, Othello. You are currently using one.¡±


    Theo continued to look at the gun, before closing his eyes. He held the gun as if he was preparing to shoot, and took a deep breath.


    ¡®Well, Daemon¡¯s Bane¡­ show me what you can do. Hopefully you¡¯re more than just a shitty name.¡¯ Theo said internally, speaking to the weapon.


    Theo continued to stand with his eyes closed, yet unlike with Ygg¡¯Rael when he could instinctively feel something, with Daemon¡¯s Bane, he felt absolutely nothing. Theo¡¯s eyes shot open as he scowled in disdain.


    ¡°This useless fucking ¨C wait!¡±


    Theo¡¯s vision was suddenly filled with what looked like four screens, or boxes with live images. As if his eyes had picture in picture¡­ times two! Two of these screens were in his left eye, the other two in his right, providing live imagery over and above that which his eyes naturally produced.


    ¡°Whoa¡­¡±


    Theo moved the gun about, and the imagery changed. It was if there were four cameras attached to the gun, relaying images directly into Theo¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°What the fuck¡­? I can see¡­ four different images, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is right. Daemon¡¯s Bane allows you to control ¨C wait, did you just say four?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, four. It¡¯s really weird. I¡¯m looking at two Roaches climbing directly up the wall of the building we¡¯re on right now.¡±


    ¡°You can use all four barrels already? The gun acknowledges you, it seems. You are able to decide on how the barrels are used, Othello ¨C whether to use them all on one target, or to split them up and shoot four separate targets. The choice is yours.¡±


    ¡°You said all four, Fallen; what about the fifth?¡±


    ¡°You will not be able to use it in tandem with the other ones just yet. That would require a lot more time to practice as well as Life Essence, both of which are in short supply to us.¡±


    Theo suddenly pointed the gun, and after a few moments, he pulled the trigger, resulting in four bright bullets shooting out from the gun, each bullet having a glowing tail of sorts, as if it was a firefly. They actually bent over the roof and changed direction as two of the bullets hit the hands of one of the ¡®Roaches¡¯, blowing its hands clean off. As it fell back off the wall, the other two bullets hit its forehead, resulting in a loud, squishy sounding explosion. The other one that was crawling up the wall looked down at its fallen comrade, but that was all it had time for, and it suffered the exact same fate as its fellow. Theo looked at Daemon¡¯s Bane, barrels smoking slightly, and then smirked.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°¡­not bad.¡±


    ¡°I agree... however, be careful, Othello. Those controlled bullets require a much higher amount of Life Essence to not only be made, but to also be fired. You can get away with recklessly firing the regular bullets, but these ones will leave you drained before you even reach Mike D.¡±


    ¡°Can I not just find a way of absorbing the bullets these things shoot at me? I mean, they¡¯re made from pure Life Essence, are they not?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are. However they are made from the very same Life Essence that has transformed them into these monsters. If you were to ingest it, you would end up like them¡­ if you did not die from the poison inherently in Skelem¡¯Dor¡¯s blood and Life Essence.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Theo said as he summoned the wings once more. ¡°From now on, we move in the direction of that boarding house. Mike D had better be there.¡±


    Theo then jumped right off the roof and spread his wings, gliding quite a bit slower than before, and with more grace and control. He started raining bullets down from above, mowing down a few Roaches as he had taken to calling them, but when he was low enough, he withdrew the wings and fell down to the ground. He did this as the others began to shoot at him, causing him to charge directly towards them in a zigzag pattern, bullet holes trailing him like a tail. As he ran, Theo would also occasionally shoot at those who were shooting at him, if only to put them off for a few moments as he increased the distance. Theo decided to stick with the pattern he had decided upon earlier, of shooting the knees of the Roaches before blowing their heads off whilst at distance. When he was up close, whatever was required to take them out would be done. He raised Daemon¡¯s Bane, and the two lower barrels suddenly fired two guided bullets that hit two Roaches holding larger guns clean in the chest and sent them flying back as their chests and heads all exploded. Theo then suddenly increased his speed, zipping right up to a Roach, taking a knee and pressing the barrels of his weapon against its chin. Three pulls of the trigger later, and its headless corpse was falling back; its blood spraying everywhere like a fountain. A few shots went off as those who were still standing all aimed their weapons at Theo and fired, however he had rolled out of the way, stopping in front of another Roach, shooting it in the stomach. As it doubled over, Theo did a somersault from his crouched position, shooting the Roach in the back of the head as he flipped over it, blowing its head up, and as he completed the flip, he extended both of his legs and kicked two Roaches in the face, and launching them backwards. Instead of landing on his feet, Theo landed on his knees and used his momentum to slide along the ground, holding Daemon¡¯s Bane up and after a few moments, fired four more guided bullets that all ended up as headshots ¨C blowing them up and sending head residue flying like it was watermelon lumps after being smashed to bits with a pole. He then stood up and started running in the direction of the boarding house, leaving a litany of headless corpses in his wake.


    ¡°Magnificently done, Othello.¡± The Fallen crooned as Theo ran.


    ¡°Thanks, but I think I used a few too many of those special rounds.¡±


    Theo then noticed some Roaches crawling on the walls of a number of two and three story buildings that he assumed were formerly classrooms. Daemon¡¯s Bane was aimed, its trigger pulled, and much like swatting cockroaches off the wall and then quickly squishing it with a newspaper, Theo shot the Roaches that were falling off the wall until their heads blew up.


    ¡°What the fuck kind of school is this?¡± Theo asked as he continued to make his way towards the dorms, no longer getting lost as he was before.


    ¡°Skelem¡¯Dor has a previous history. She often goes for isolated areas that have a high concentration of people she can corrupt.¡±


    ¡°Such as boarding schools?¡±


    ¡°I would not put it past her, Othello.¡±


    ¡°So are you telling me that these are¡­ these are school children that I¡¯m gunning down?¡±


    ¡°I will not commit to any one theory without the proper evidence to support it, Othello. But there could be a chance that these are school children. Does that bother you?¡±


    Theo did not respond, as he turned down a dead end. He just summoned the wings on his back, and with an almighty flap, jumped over the broken down walls and rubble that formed the barrier. As he flew over it, he was suddenly tackled in midair, and sent crashing through a wall into a building. Theo and his attacker both wrestled on the floor for a bit, both of them trying to get in a position to shoot their respective weapons. A few moments later, the sound of a gunfire echoed throughout the building, and Theo quickly rolled out of the way so as not to get any of the toxic blood on his clothes.


    ¡°Man, these fuckers stink.¡± Theo remarked as he stood up. ¡°What is this building?¡±


    He started walking down the hall with Daemon¡¯s Bane in his hands at the ready. He wasn¡¯t expecting to simply walk through the halls unchallenged, and he was right, as one of the doors burst open and a hissing Roach grabbed Theo¡¯s neck with both hands, pushing him back against the opposite wall. The moment his back made contact with the wall, Theo shot the Roach in the stomach a few times, causing it to stumble back just a bit. Theo used the space created to drive his foot into the recently shot stomach, causing the Roach to scream and move back even further. He then raised Daemon¡¯s Bane and pulled the trigger until the face before him exploded. Another Roach burst out from the door next to him, and Theo was quick with it, aiming and shooting at the hissing face until it too exploded, the body flying down the hall and sliding even further after landing. Theo quickly dashed through the door the first Roach burst out from, and the sight that greeted him made Theo¡¯s eyes open extra wide. He was in what was supposed to be a class room, but what he found instead, was a room full of Roaches, all seated and bound in chairs. They had the same brown robes on, but they also had a large number of pipes leading into and beneath their robes, pumping a green fluid that looked suspiciously like the ¡®blood¡¯ that squirted out of them when shot. The pipes all led to larger, main lines which led to holes that were on either end of the room, The Roaches were all alive, and they were blindfolded. On the desks before them, there were all manner of torture devices which appeared to be made and used specifically on the Roach seated at the desk. The Roaches that had burst out from the rooms to attack Theo seemed to be guards of some sort, as there wasn¡¯t an empty desk.


    ¡°Well, I guess this confirms my question from before, Fallen. These all appear to be school children.¡±


    ¡°I agree, Othello. I do not know how long these children have been sitting in this bondage, however one thing is for certain; Skelem¡¯Dor has been torturing children and turning them into a demonic army. The filthy demon, we must put a stop to this, Othello.¡± The Fallen virtually demanded.


    ¡°What? What do you mean put a stop to it? Put a stop to what exactly?¡± Theo enquired in slight confusion.


    ¡°Look at these children, Othello. Trapped in torturous bondage, subjected to physical and spiritual torment¡­ can you not hear their souls crying in anguish? Have you not been hearing their cries the entire time? The demonic activities that occur in this place must come to an end, Othello!¡±


    The Fallen¡¯s eyes glowed with wrath, and its vessel even started glowing as it gave the impassioned call-to-arms of sorts. Theo on the other hand looked completely disinterested.


    ¡°Be that as it may, this all has absolutely nothing to do with me, Fallen. I¡¯m not here to liberate the anguished souls of these possibly middle aged children. I¡¯m here to carry out my act of vengeance on one of the people who destroyed my family. Let the families of these Roaches exact revenge for them; these¡­ things are not my problem.¡±


    Theo¡¯s face had cold, heartless expression on it as he looked up at the Fallen with something of a sneer, before turning around and walking out of the former classroom.


    ¡°So I guess to answer your question Fallen, no ¨C it doesn¡¯t bother me.¡±


    Theo started moving quickly down the hallway towards the stairs on the other end, seemingly having forgotten about the hole he was brought through so violently moments earlier.


    ¡®Just who or what the fuck is this Fallen? It claims not to be a demon, and appears to despise them, yet continuously pushes me to kill and consume¡­¡¯


    Theo was caught up in his thoughts and as he reached the stairs, his peripheral vision caught the presence of something, but it was too late even for his razor sharp reflexes as before he could react, Theo felt pain like no other and in the blink of an eye, he went from being in the buildings, to smashing through a wall and careening towards a surprisingly maintained sports pitch, which became unsurprisingly heavily damaged as Theo absolutely thundered into the turf. The force of his latest crash landing resulted in dust and sand flying everywhere ¨C completely encapsulating Theo in a cloud of dust and darkness. He found himself lying in the centre of a moderately sized crater, completely winded. There was a ringing in his left ear, and he couldn¡¯t tell if his woozy vision was due to the dust, or double vision.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­ what was that? A wrecking ball?¡± Theo asked as he shook his head a few times to try and regain his senses.


    All of a sudden, Theo could smell something that was far more pungent than any odor he had encountered since arriving at the school. He wasn¡¯t able to even react to it however, as before he could even try to figure out what it was, he felt his head being held and squished inside of a massive, and worryingly moist hand. He was suddenly lifted out from the crater, before the ¡®wrecking ball¡¯ hit him in the gut, sending him flying across the field, and after bouncing off the turf a few times, Theo recovered in midair, adjusting his body and landing on his feet; sliding backwards until he came to a halt. He stood up to his full height slowly as he spat out quite a bit of blood, wiping it off with the back of his hand. He looked in the direction whatever it was that hit him, and when he saw what it was, he had to take a second to process it. At the very least, the creature in question stood at eight feet. It was absolutely massive, not only with regards to height, but in terms of mass as well. It was an odd combination of muscular and fat, as it had massive, heavily muscled arms and shoulders, along with large, prominent trapezius muscles. It had a ripped chest as well, but then a massive, perfectly round pot belly, as well as a double chin. Thick, tree trunk like quads and massive calves made up its legs. In terms of clothing, it was dressed in trousers with suspenders and heavy duty boots. It was topless, and the suspenders were actually hooked up. It wore fingerless gloves, and a large, brass mask covered its entire head. There were two eye holes, and some around the nose and mouth to allow the massive Roach to breathe. Its skin was in identical shape to those of the other Roaches, except for the fact that its belly was actually glowing. It was a deep glow, which was the same colour as the green fluid being pumped into those Roaches Theo saw in the classroom, as well as what sprayed out in the place of blood when they were shot. The massive Roach let out a positively bone chilling roar which caused the few smaller Roaches which had gathered to hiss and cower in fear. Theo watched this happen as he tried to recover somewhat from the two blows.


    ¡°What is that thing? What is its role here?¡±


    ¡°Its role?¡± The Fallen asked.


    ¡°Yeah. I mean, Black Widow was the leader in that fucking club. Is this thing the leader here? If it is, then what the fuck is Mike D¡¯s role here?¡±


    ¡°Does it really matter, Othello? At the end of it all, you are here to kill anybody and anything that stands between you and your revenge.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Theo said as he cracked his neck while breathing in deeply. ¡°That said, fighting this thing is gonna be a real bitch.¡±


    ¡°Just shoot it until it falls, Othello.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, Fallen¡­ but I seem to have lost the gun.¡± Theo said with a shrug.


    ¡°You lost Daemon¡¯s Bane?!¡±


    ¡°Not to worry, Fallen. I¡¯ll just use the sword.¡± Theo held out his right hands, mentally calling on Ygg¡¯Rael.


    The giant Roach let out another roar as it began charging Theo, who stood there with utmost confidence. The ground shook with every step the Roach took, and it was also deceptively quick. As it gained on him, Theo would occasionally look up from his hand to look at the oncoming foe, and the closer it got, the more his gaze would alternate between his hand and the Roach, with a progressively more concerned expression his face. The Roach reached Theo, and unleashed a punch so surprisingly fast; it took everything Theo had to successfully evade it, leaping out of its path. The ground below was hit, and actually split due to the force of the blow. Theo was now running and looking at his hand.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± He boomed as he ran.


    ¡°I have told you before, Othello. You have such a paltry amount of Life Essence in store; it is amazing that you have made it this far by relying on skill and experience alone. I mentioned that you would have limited uses of the items, and you have exhausted all of Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Shit! I need to find the gun, then!¡± Theo said as he quickly changed direction to avoid another incoming blow. ¡°How fucking fast is this thing?!¡±


    Theo grimaced somewhat as he ran, clearly still feeling the effects of the previous attacks. His eyes and head darted around as he looked for Daemon¡¯s Bane, however this in itself turned out to be something of a difficult task as Theo had to constantly dodge and evade the punches thrown by this giant Roach. It didn¡¯t take long for Theo to become frustrated with this method of searching, and much to the Fallen¡¯s surprise, he suddenly stopped and turned around. No sooner had he turned around, had Theo been forced to evade a punch from his left, ducking beneath the massive fist that threatened to actually take his head off. The force of the punch was such that it caused dust and sand to whizz past Theo¡¯s face.


    ¡®Fuck me! I¡¯ll surely die if I take more of these!¡¯ Theo thought to himself.


    He was quickly on the defensive once more, dodging a punch coming from his left this time, ducking to his right. Upon evading the swing, Theo quickly dug the Roach to the body ¨C throwing a series of uppercuts and hooks to its side and lower abdomen. The Roach let out a noise akin to a groan, and tried to backhand Theo, who once again evaded. He once again unleashed an assault on the exposed stomach of the beast, which responded by throwing a straight right. Theo managed to evade it by a hair¡¯s breadth, before grabbing its wrist and holding its elbow, and with a slight groan of exertion, Theo ended up throwing the Roach over his shoulder and slamming it into the ground in front of him with a loud, earth shaking slam. Theo took a few moments to catch his breath as he breathed through his mouth, before turning around and continuing his search for Daemon¡¯s Bane. The Fallen watched on in silence, before mumbling to itself.


    ¡°His natural talent is superb¡­ however; even that has its limits.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Theo said as he continued to frantically look for the gun.


    ¡°Hmm? Nothing, really.¡±


    ¡°Well if you have time to mumble, then you have time to help me look for the fucking gun!¡± Theo barked. ¡°We don¡¯t have much time before that fat bastard is up and on my ass again. I barely did any damage.¡±


    Theo was speaking the truth, as within less than a minute, the Roach was up on its feet and let out another roar. It took absolutely no time at all for the Roach to start chasing after Theo, who seemed to be breathing out of his mouth quite a bit. He stopped once more, and turned to face the giant. He quickly dashed towards it, taking the offensive initiative. He felt as though he was fast enough to evade the Roach¡¯s attacks and retaliate in order to buy himself time. He was correct in this regard, as the second exchange went more or less the same way as the first; however Theo found himself sucking in even more air after round two, standing slightly hunched over with his hands on his knees. He was sweating quite a bit, and by the time he had recovered enough to stand up straight, the noticed that not only had a large group of Roaches gathered and formed something of a crowd, but also that the giant Roach was also on its feet, and was standing with its hands by it side. The giant then Roach let out a series of grunts and roars, prompting a section of the gathered crowd to split, and a group of Roaches came running through the gap, pulling a wheeled wagon carrying what looked like a massive, rectangular concrete block with great difficulty. Another group emerged from a split within a different section of the crowd, pulling a wagon which was carrying a large, gnarled pole which was about the size of a telephone pole. When they both reached the giant Roach, it reached down for and grabbed the pole, before lifting it up and holding it with one hand. It then jabbed one end of the pole into a hole in the block, and both suddenly lit up with the same green glow emanating from the giant Roach¡¯s belly. The fluid appeared to be flowing through the pole via multiple veins, before collecting in a ball in the middle of the block. It lifted the now newly formed weapon, which looked like a giant sledge hammer, and suddenly brought it down with surprising speed, completely squishing a large portion of the group that had brought it the head. It let out something of a grim laugh while the other Roaches ran away and rejoined the crowd.


    ¡°Well¡­ this can¡¯t be good.¡± Theo remarked as he wiped his brow with his rather dirty sleeve. ¡°I really need to find that fucking gun.¡±


    Theo was still trying to formulate a strategy on how to take on the Roach from a distance, when it suddenly pointed the weapon towards him and within a matter of moments, there was a flare of green as an energy beam made of a highly condensed amount of the fluid suddenly shot out from the hammer in Theo¡¯s direction. He barely had time to react as he just managed to jump out of the way of the attack, with it flying passed him. The entire field was illuminated by the Roach¡¯s blast, and the grass beneath was scorched away by the blast. The sound it made was loud and grating, and said blast hit the remains of a building, completely melting and obliterating it with ease. There was an uneasy silence as everybody was eyeing the damage caused by the attack to the grass and what used to be a building. Well, almost everybody was looking at the damage as Theo was already on the move, running towards the giant Roach.


    ¡°This is bad!¡± He said. ¡°I can¡¯t even take one of those, can I?¡±


    ¡°I would prefer you do not try and find out, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Agreed!¡±


    Theo quickly closed the distance between himself and the Roach, which was standing in wait for Theo. The Roach then swung its weapon down at Theo, who managed to evade the swing, jumping just as the head made contact with the ground. As the ground shook, Theo extended both of his legs at the same time, driving them both deep into the glowing gut, twisting and spinning as he did before pulling his right foot out, and using his left foot as a pivot of sorts, swung his foot at the Roach¡¯s face, making contact with the mask. Just as his foot completed its arc, Theo pulled his left foot out from the gut and did a sort of half somersault, his left foot extending as he did. His heel made contact with the Roach¡¯s chin as he flipped over, and as he landed on the ground facing away from the Roach, Theo sprang off the grass, twisting his torso as he turned 180¡ã, before thrusting his right fist, landing a ferocious straight right on the chin, once more. The punch actually threw the Roach¡¯s head back, but it still wasn¡¯t enough, as Theo suddenly felt every nerve in his body screaming at him to dodge. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t able to, and a boulder-like fist crashed into his body, slamming him side first into the ground with a brutal ¡®wham¡¯. He bounced off the ground, and immediately afterwards, that same fist caught him flush in the face, causing his head to snap to his right so quickly, his neck and then the rest of his body followed suit, resulting in Theo spinning in midair like a barber¡¯s pole. A giant foot suddenly stomped down on Theo¡¯s body, stomping him into the ground. The foot stomped down on him repeatedly, with each one driving him further into the ground. After close to ten stomps, the Roach stopped, and bent down, grabbed Theo by the wrist, raised him up and began to slam him repeatedly into ground ¨C using his limp arm as some sort of handle. It came across like overkill, but the giant Roach didn¡¯t seem to care as it chuckled in grim amusement all throughout the slamming. Once it had become bored with slamming Theo into the ground, the Roach held Theo up by his wrist, and just looked at him. His suit by now was red, white and brown ¨C covered in so much sand that the white was barely coming through. Blood poured out from Theo¡¯s mouth, nose and ears as if each orifice was a faucet or tap of some sort. The Roach laughed as it suddenly tossed Theo up into the air, and grabbed its weapon with the hand it had been attacking Theo with. As the he dropped, the Roach, which had been standing and waiting like some sort of foul smelling baseball batter, swung its weapon and smacked Theo like he was a baseball, the head of the hammer hitting him square in the torso, and sent Theo flying. He smashed into the dormitory, which was ironically his initial target, and crashed into a giant room, bouncing a few times before smacking into a wall. Theo was seated on the floor; his back partially leaned against the wall as he sat hunched over, his slightly heaving form the only hint of him still being alive. He remained in that position for a while, as if he was unconscious or unable to move. After close to a minute of silence and stillness, Theo¡¯s body twitched, before he sat up, taking a deep and painful sounding breath. He opened his eyes and slowly looked around, his vision was hazy at first, but when it came into focus, he was able to see just what he had been smashed into. It was the size of an auditorium or basketball court, but it was lined with giant vats of the green liquid, and an untold number of pipes leading into the vats; transferring the liquid into all those Roaches Theo had come across in the classroom.


    ¡°Fuck¡­ me.¡± Theo said with a grimace and a groan.


    ¡°I am surprised that you are still conscious, Othello.¡± The Fallen remarked.


    Theo tried to force himself to stand, but the pain was such that he had to relax and remain in his current position for a bit longer, as his arms wrapped themselves around his abdomen.


    ¡°Any breaks?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ every-fucking-thing.¡± Theo said as he grimaced once more. His eyes looked around the room slowly. ¡°So this¡­ is where it all¡­ happens, eh?¡±


    ¡°All of this is Skelem¡¯Dor¡¯s Life Essence, just in liquid form, Othello. That brute that just turned you into its plaything has been pumped full of it.¡±


    ¡°How did she produce so much of it?¡± Theo asked as he focused on his breathing.


    ¡°How do you think, Othello? From humans.¡±


    Theo remained seated as he looked around at all of the vats once more, as well as all of the pipes. He then tried to stand once more, and after toiling for a bit, he got to his feet, at which point he retched, and blood poured from his mouth as if it were the spout of a kettle. Once he had concluded his expelling of blood, Theo started stumbling towards the direction of the hole he made in the wall when he smashed through.


    ¡°What are you doing, Othello?¡± The Fallen enquired.


    ¡°Going back to the battlefield.¡±


    Theo said this as he suddenly jumped towards the hole, his wings materialising and flapping, boosting his jump enough that he actually reached the hole. He crouched down in the hole, before springing forth from it; the wings appearing once more and helping him glide gently back towards the field which wasn¡¯t too far from the dorm, but still required the wings to reach. Theo¡¯s unimpressive, slumped form descending towards the field was noticed first by one of the Roaches in the still present crowd, and it started hissing and chattering, drawing the attention of the giant one. They all watched as he slowly floated down, landing on the ground and threatening to crumble right there and then. The giant Roach then started laughing.


    ¡°Enjoy this moment, you piece of shit¡­ it will be your last.¡± Theo said with a sneer on his face.


    The Roach suddenly stopped laughing and pointed its weapon at Theo once more, and the head started glowing as if was preparing to unleash another blast. Just then, everything went completely dark, and just as when he was still in his house, the white humanoid figure of the Fallen formed before him. It looked down at Theo in silence for a while, before speaking.


    ¡°You are in quite the sorry state, Othello.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck, Fallen? I¡¯m in the middle of something.¡±


    ¡°Be silent for a moment, Othello. Be silent, and listen. The physical state that you are currently in is all because you refuse to acknowledge what you have become, and in turn, refuse to do things the way we must. You are no longer a regular human, Othello; you are a Contracted one, and thus must live by our rules. We all operate on Life Essence, and while many entities get it through other means, we acquire it through consumption. Your stubborn refusal to consume more than just human brains means you barely scrape by with the bare minimum. You will surely die if things continue in this vein, and your loved ones will not be avenged. I have a way to assist¡­ I have brought ¨C¡±


    ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± Theo roared as his fatigued body began shaking. ¡°Who the fuck do you think you¡¯re talking to, Fallen? Saying that I¡¯m going to die here? Me? ME? That¡¯s not going to happen! Not while the souls of my family have yet to receive the vengeance their deaths warrant! You clearly don¡¯t know who I am! I am the Bringer of Death! The Harbinger of Despair! The Bastard of Barausse!!¡±


    As Theo roared his respective titles, his eyes began to glow. By the time he had said the third one, his entire body had begun to glow, and suddenly became engulfed in white flames which burned brightly. The burning flames only lasted for a second or two, and when they subsided, Theo was suddenly standing at his full height, a wrath filled scowl dominating his facial features. The Fallen looked down at Theo with its eyes balking slightly.


    ¡°Othello¡­ he deepened our Bond, at this moment in time?¡±


    A line suddenly appeared across the face of the humanoid figure, and it split open into the shape of a giant smile, revealing a mouth full of jagged, black teeth. Theo activated his aura for the first time since arriving at the school, and as it generated the usual gusts of wind, the Fallen watched as Daemon¡¯s Bane started to form in his left hand.


    ¡°Out of the way, Fallen! We don¡¯t have time for this right now!¡±


    Theo boomed this, and without even waiting for the Fallen to respond, his aura generated a gale force wind that blew the Fallen¡¯s figure away, and brought everything back to real time. He raised Daemon¡¯s Bane with his left hand, before holding it with both, and aimed it at the giant Roach. In less than a second, the Roach fired a beam towards Theo that seemed to be even more powerful than the previous one, as it not only scorched the earth below, but also tore and split it as the blast powered its way towards Theo. Theo let out a roar as he pulled the trigger of his own weapon, and for a moment, the four pictures appeared in his eyes once more. Within an instant, all four images were focused on the same point on the Roach¡¯s body, and as Theo pulled the trigger, symbols akin to those that were written on the tablet which served as the contract between Theo and the Fallen suddenly started glowing on all four of the barrels. They only glowed for the briefest of moments, before four thin beams shot out of the barrels, with each one seemingly going in its direction way. That said however, every few moments they would all suddenly change direction, leaving a trail of zigzagging, often intersecting beams behind them. They all quickly seemed to converge towards a single point, which was the incoming blast from the Roach. When they all met, they did so as they clashed with the single blast. For the briefest of moments, bright, luminescent lights clashed and illuminated the entire field once more, producing a shockwave so powerful, it knocked more than a few Roaches off their feet. The two blasts appeared to be jostling for supremacy, but this was a short-lived battle, as Theo¡¯s beam suddenly forced its way into the giant Roach¡¯s, and blasted its way all the way through, destroying it en route to the head of the hammer. It ate away at the green blast, and once it reached the hammer, Theo¡¯s attack melted it as if it were nothing, and with a loud ¡®boom¡¯ hit the giant Roach clean on its belly. There was a large flash of light, and white completely drowned out and destroyed green. The sound of the screaming Roach could be heard for only a few seconds as the light became almost blindingly bright, resulting in most of the Roaches having to cover their eyes. It took a while for the light to completely die down, but when it did, the sight that greeted those present was that of destruction. All that remained of the giant Roach was its lower torso, with a slight amount of its lower abdomen remaining. Copious amount of the green fluid cascaded over the fleshy precipices, as well as portions of glowing and pulsing entrails and organs. There was absolutely nothing else left, and smoke rose from the remains, which somehow remained upright. Theo stood with Daemon¡¯s Bane still pointed in the direction of the remains, still in a state of shock.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­¡± He said, as his voice no longer had traces of intense fatigue in it.


    The Fallen¡¯s vessel was hovering above Theo¡¯s head, looking absolutely shocked itself.


    ¡°O¡­ Omega Blast.¡± It said to itself more than anybody else. ¡°I cannot believe that Othello was able to use it¡­ he virtually has no Life Essence available to call on.¡± The Fallen looked down at Theo who by now had lowered the gun, and was just focused on his breathing. ¡°¡­natural talent.¡±


    Theo looked down at the smoking gun in his left hand which was suddenly a lot lighter than it had been when he was using it before.


    ¡°That was¡­ awesome.¡± Theo said before looking up, noticing that the gathered crowd had was all staring at the smoking remains of the giant Roach.


    ¡°Fuck, what if these assholes all decide to attack me right now? That declaration I made just now will be thrown out the window as they rip me to shreds.¡±


    There was a moment of stillness as they all stared, as if they didn¡¯t know what to do now that this Roach that seemed to have been in charge was now dead. There came a sudden shriek and hiss from the direction of one of the dormitories. Everybody present on the field ¨C including Theo and the Fallen ¨C all looked in the direction the noises came from, and they all saw Mike D standing on the roof. He let out another hiss before leaping off the roof, soaring through the sky and landed in the field, to Theo¡¯s right. The landing didn¡¯t go as smoothly as Mike D hoped it would, as he appeared to cry out in pain, and spent a few moments rubbing his ankle while rolling around. Theo and the Fallen watched this with slightly bulging eyes. Mike D suddenly stood up sharply, acting as if nothing happened, and walked over to Theo, whose grip on Daemon¡¯s Bane suddenly tightened.


    ¡°How is it all looking, Othello?¡± The Fallen enquired without taking its eyes off of Mike D.


    ¡°I¡¯m still just as fucked as I was before, but for some reason¡­ I can¡¯t quite feel it.¡±


    ¡°You are still operating on the boost brought about by the deepening of our Bond, Othello.¡±


    ¡°What? The Bond became stronger again?¡± Theo said in slight surprise.


    ¡°I too was surprised, Othello. Anyway, take advantage of this and dispatch of this Mike D before the boost disappears, and you are hit with crippling pain once more.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Theo said with a nod.


    Theo¡¯s eyes began glowing as his aura was activated once more. Mike D suddenly stopped, looking at Theo from behind his hood. He slowly raised his hands and flipped the hood back, revealing a face so surprisingly human looking, Theo and the Fallen did a double take at the same time.


    ¡°What the¡­ Mike D isn¡¯t a Roach?¡± Theo said as he looked up at the Fallen.


    Mike D suddenly raised his hand in a greeting of sorts, smiling as he did. He then looked as though he was about to speak, which he did.


    ¡°Mike¡­ Mike D, Mike D. Mike, Mike Mike. Mike D, Mike D Mike D, Mike D Mike D!¡±


    Both Theo and the Fallen¡¯s jaws slowly dropped as Mike D was communicating using only his name, as if it was a genuinely language. His face was extremely emotive, but neither Theo nor the Fallen could glean a single thing from the continuing conversation, all coming from Mike D¡¯s end.


    ¡°W-What¡­ what is he saying, Fallen?¡± Theo asked while still staring.


    ¡°Why are you asking me, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked; its eyes also glued on Mike D.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he speaking some sort of weird demonic dialect? I refuse to believe that he believes repeating his name over and over again constitutes a language that can be understood!¡±


    The Fallen remained silent as they both listened to the seemingly never ending speech. Theo suddenly remembered that he was virtually on borrowed time with regards to his being able to move pain free.


    ¡°Fuck, shut up!¡± He boomed. ¡°If you aren¡¯t going to tell me where that fucking Phantom is, then I have no reason to listen to your long winded speech!¡±


    Theo suddenly raised his gun and fired off a few shots that Mike D managed to anticipate and evade. Theo continued shooting, but the bullets would either zip past Mike D, or hit the ground in front or next to him. He was either surprisingly nimble, or Theo was a bit off with his aim, as the fight continued in this vein for a period, with Theo himself actually starting to move around, trying to follow Mike D¡¯s movements and pressurise him into making a mistake. To his credit, Mike D was completely avoiding the attacks, and after a few minutes of the cat and mouse game, he raised his hands, and after a second or two of his palms glowing green, he fired two large skull shaped things like he did back in the house. They looked incredibly impressive as they moved towards Theo, but they were moving so unbelievably slowly that he was able to actually walk out of their path and watch them waft past. Theo stood with his shoulders slightly slumped over and slowly turned his neck to look at Mike D, who had a sheepish sort of look on his face. As he was looking at Mike, Theo¡¯s attention was suddenly drawn behind him as the two skulls had come into contact with a building, completely blowing it to smithereens with a massive explosion. Theo looked at the explosion for just a few moments, before looking back at Mike D, who was rummaging around inside his robes, appearing to be searching for something.


    ¡°¡­if this guy is searching for a weapon that will harness that insane destructive power, things are going to get complicated.¡±


    Just as Theo raised his gun to shoot, Mike D pulled out what looked like a strange looking contraption, loaded with four doctor¡¯s needles, filled with the green stuff. He quickly jabbed it into his neck, and dispensed the contents of the needles directly into it. The contraption quickly dropped to the ground, and Mike began making a serious of noises as parts of his body jerked and twitched. His hands started shaking violently as a strange growth covered them, causing them to grow in size. His fingers were pursed together and pointed straight as the growth covered them completely. The funny thing about the finger growths was that despite completely covering Mike D¡¯s fingers, there was a hole at the tip of each one. The growth also made its way up Mike¡¯s neck and the side of his face, going all the way up to his eyes, and the two growths met in the middle, covering both of his eyes and molding into a visor of sorts. Both the visor and hand coverings suddenly started glowing and pulsing with the luminescent green light as Mike D suddenly became still and fell silent. He looked at Theo with a slightly tilted head and blank expression, before suddenly grinning and exposing his jagged, no longer human like teeth. Immediately after opening his mouth, the pincer like growths made their way out of Mike D¡¯s mouth, much like with all the other roaches, bar the giant one. He hissed as they poked out of his mouth, and the thick substance started to drip out from his open mouth.


    ¡°¡­aaaaaand there it is!¡± Theo said with a grossed out look on his face.


    He pulled the trigger and started shooting at Mike D once more, who suddenly sprouted cockroach like wings from his back, which not only immediately ripped out from his back, but also started flapping frantically and lifted him off the ground. Mike D zipped around the air as Theo shot at him, his wings making a buzzing sound that was clearly getting on Theo¡¯s nerves. He raised and pointed both hands towards Theo and suddenly let fly, shooting tiny bullet sized skulls at Theo in rapid succession. It sounded like he was dual wielding machine guns, with the speed of the shots now infinitely quicker than those big skulls from before. It was now Theo¡¯s turn to use his wings, however instead of using them to fly, he used them to boost the speed of his dash; a new ability he gained post Bond increase. It was an instinctive thing as well, as the Fallen had not suggested it to him. Mike D¡¯s bullets were pelting the ground below, as they followed Theo, who left the field and was making a beeline for the maze like buildings in order to get behind some cover. Bits of dust, sand and eventually stones and pavement flew up from behind Theo as he ran, before he turned around and jumped backwards, pointing Daemon¡¯s Bane towards Mike D and letting off a series of shots himself, causing Mike D to take evasive action. Theo slid on his butt as he tried to shoot Mike down, but that was made impossible when the flying Roach suddenly flew behind cover. Theo flapped his wings once to lift him off of the ground and as he did, his right hand reached out to grab the top of a broken wall, using it to flip himself over the wall backwards, before landing and pressing his back against it.


    ¡°What is the matter, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked.


    ¡°Huh? Why do you ask, Fallen?¡±


    ¡°You have been displaying superb marksmanship the entire time, yet now, all of a sudden, your aim is off. Why is that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just that, I¡¯ve suddenly become very aware¡­ of what you have been harping on about.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, Othello?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ ever since end of the fight with that giant, I¡¯ve been able to see a sort of¡­ status bar, indicating how much Life Essence I have left and¡­ I really don¡¯t have a whole lot to use. The reason I''ve been missing so much is because the bullets themselves are extremely weak. They are there for the sake of being there, and if even one of them hits, that bastard will know I¡¯m bluffing, and probably come at me with everything he has.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ if you were to shoot seriously, how many times would you be able to shoot?¡±


    ¡°Once.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The Fallen simply responded.


    The mid-battle strategy meeting that had become so popular between the two was suddenly interrupted as Mike D started shooting once more, his finger bullets blowing Theo¡¯s cover to bits, ten bullets at a time. Theo looked to the side that was being chewed up and sighed.


    ¡°This is going to be annoying, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean, Othello?¡±


    ¡°I mean that in order to win this, I¡¯m going to have to experience some more pain.¡±


    The Fallen¡¯s vessel looked down at Theo and grinned broadly.


    ¡°Are you saying you have a plan?¡± It asked.


    ¡°Of course I do.¡± Theo said as the look on his face suddenly intensified. ¡°My babies went through an ordeal no child should ever experience. The pain I¡¯m about to feel is NOTHING in comparison!!¡± Theo roared as he psyched himself up.


    He suddenly burst out from behind the rapidly disintegrating wall and returned fire, once again missing the buzzing Mike D, who had started squawking like a bird for some reason.


    ¡°You fucking spaz!¡± Theo shouted at Mike D.


    Theo dashed towards a wall opposite the one he was recently behind and leapt up onto it, placing his right foot onto it as he turned his torso around and pushed off of it, flapping his wings and boosting his jump as he intended to land on the roof of a nearby building. As it turned out, Theo was going fall rather short and flapped once more, boosting his jump a second time, and ensuring that he actually reached the roof, landing harshly.


    ¡°Shit, these things can be used twice in one go?¡± Theo asked as the wings disappeared.


    ¡°I am as surprised as you are, Othello.¡±


    Theo quickly pointed his gun at Mike D once more and started shooting. His wings were a permanent fixture, and while they didn¡¯t allow him to fly indefinitely, they allowed him to fly in bursts; loud, annoying bursts that grated on Theo¡¯s very soul. Coupled with the strange noises that Mike D was making, Theo found him to be a far more exasperating opponent than either Black Widow and her guards, or the giant Roach before him. The two of them continued with their battle and cat and mouse game, with the role of cat being one that was regularly exchanged between the two; with Theo bluffing his way through his stints as the cat. Mike D¡¯s bullets were absolutely tearing the school buildings and ruins to shreds, and as the two of them jumped, buzzed and glided their way around the rooftops, the Roaches below were enthralled, following the pair as best they could. Theo had started to lower the amount of bullets he was firing, and was mostly trying to cut the gap between him and Mike D, as if he was banking on getting a hold of him and beating him up close and personal. Mike seemed to notice this, and was trying to maintain his distance from Theo. As the chase continued, Theo started timing his dashes and double jumps with Mike D¡¯s landings and the ends of his bursts. He seemed to have gotten the measure of timing his approaches after a few failed attempts, and Theo started putting more effort and energy into speed and agility. While he was nowhere near the level of speed he displayed in his battle with Black Widow due to fatigue and injuries, he was still fast enough to be a real concern. He had Mike D actually back pedaling as he applied pressure, predicting Mike¡¯s attack patterns and evading the attacks moments before they started. It was similar to his initiating attacks earlier when fighting with Ygg¡¯Rael earlier in the club. As Theo progressively got closer and closer, his shot output lowered more and more. Mike D was also shooting less, and it became blatantly obvious that the both of them were up to something. The growths on Mike D¡¯s body were starting to glow for longer periods at a time, and the time between each glowing period was steadily decreasing as well. It seemed as though both combatants were zipping around and heading towards the church tower. By the time they reached it, neither man was even attempting to shoot, and when they began their ascent, the loud buzzing of Mike D¡¯s wings was almost louder than it usually was. He flew up while circling the tower, while Theo went straight up along one side of the building. Mike D reached the top first, and moments later, Theo emerged at the top as well. As Theo popped up at the top, Mike D appeared with both arms pointed at him. There was a massive grin on Mike¡¯s face as a giant ball of sparking green energy had formed right in front of his fingertips. The ball continued to grow until it took the shape of a massive, green and black skull. Theo¡¯s eyes grew in size, and within an instant, Mike let out a shriek and fired the skull at Theo from point blank range. There was literally no time for Theo to even attempt to dodge the attack, and it hit him flush, and sent him flying towards the ground below at high speed. He crashed through a building on his way down, and the moment he hit the ground, there was a MASSIVE explosion, coupled with another bright flash of light. There was no way that somebody who wasn¡¯t even looking in the general direction of the school didn¡¯t see the explosion, or even hear it. The thunderous sound, coupled with the wind generated by the blast caused the Roaches that were close enough to have to cover their ears, while some of them were blown off of their feet once again.


    ¡°Caww cawwww!!¡± Mike D boomed as he started to laugh.


    He buzzed around the roof as he continued to laugh. Mike was even twirling as if he was attempting some strange Netherworld ballet or something, celebrating what he thought was a victory. His victory dance was cut short however, as within the smoke and dust that shrouded the area in which Theo had crashed into; four white lights were visible, before they broke out from the cloud. Four luminescent white beams danced through the air towards Mike D as they had earlier towards the giant Roach, and before Mike could buzz away, they all hit their respective targets. Unlike the previous instance when they converged towards the same point, these ones all had specific targets ¨C namely each of Mike D¡¯s limbs. As they hit their targets, there was a bright flash and Mike¡¯s loud and shrill screams of pain were so loud, they were almost ear piercing. His arms and legs were vaporized in an instant as four mini explosions melted them away. Mike D then fell to the ground, as his sole remaining wing flapped haplessly in an attempt to keep him up, but failed. He hit the ground with a thump and a squelch, as the green blood sputtered out all over the place from his body. A few moments later, Theo emerged from the smoke and dust, walking gingerly, his face absolutely wracked with pain. There was some blood flowing from his mouth and nose, but other than that, he looked exactly the same as he did before the blast. He reached Mike D, who was squirming and wriggling about like a giant grub of sorts. There were no stumps or any hints of him having previously had any limbs to begin with.


    ¡°Holy fuck¡­ that hurt so much.¡± Theo groaned as he hugged himself while walking.


    Blood continued to flow from the four giant wounds, and Theo stood perfectly still as he watched the visor like growth crumble and fall off of Mike D¡¯s eyes, revealing his human face once more. Even his teeth had gone back to normal, and he looked up into Theo¡¯s eyes as if he had something he wanted to say. Theo reluctantly and slowly crouched down, with Daemon¡¯s Bane at the ready in case the rapidly bleeding Roach had the intention of a last ditch attack before dying. Mike D raised his head as high as his neck would allow, and spoke.


    ¡°¡­M¡­ M¡­ Miiiiike, Deeeeeeeeeee¡­.¡± Mike D said in a whisper, before slumping lifelessly to the ground.


    Theo looked down at the now dead Roach, and suddenly pointed Daemon¡¯s Bane at his head, as if he was about to blow it to bits.


    ¡°No, Othello! Calm down!¡± The Fallen quickly shouted. ¡°Do not ruin things after executing your plan so brilliantly. Just consume him!¡±


    Theo¡¯s hands were shaking as he fought the urge to shoot, before he slowly stood up and closed his eyes. A few seconds later, the tentacle serpent creatures burst out from his shoulders, going through their usual routine of screeching, stretching, and slithering around in the air, as if looking to see where they were now.


    ¡°You were magnificent, Othello. Using the cape at the very last instant as a shield to block the skull and explosion was an inspired move.¡±


    ¡°It was also extremely lucky on my part that it all worked.¡± Theo said with a tired sounding sigh, seemingly starting to overcome the pain.


    The serpents quickly got to work, ripping Mike D¡¯s head open and consuming the brain within. Theo stood upright, looking as if he was defiantly resisting the urge to vomit as he had done before. He failed, and after a few moments, he was spraying vomit like some kind of disgusting sprinkler system, which was odd considering how he technically hadn¡¯t eaten anything since the entire ordeal began. As he vomited, Theo¡¯s mind was suddenly flooded with images, much like it had been before. Unlike last time however, the images of Mike¡¯s memories were far lengthier, vivid and more detailed. He saw a bunch of school children, all dressed in their uniforms walking from the dorms. Everything was being shown from Mike D¡¯s perspective. There were a bunch of conversations happening between the adolescents, and it appeared to be early in the morning.


    ¡°My back hurts!¡± A large headed child said.


    ¡°Shut up and go fix your edge up!¡± A familiar sounding voice that Theo identified as Mike¡¯s replied.


    ¡°Someday, I¡¯m gonna buy this entire school. I¡¯m gonna earn six figures!¡± A somewhat geeky kid said.


    ¡°Go fight Larry, first!¡± Responded a kid with a beer bottle in one hand, and a burned grilled cheese sandwich in the other.


    ¡°How the hell did you get that beer? And why are you drinking it out in the open?!¡± Mike boomed.


    ¡°Do you guys get the runs when you eat too many blueberries? Do you also have sensitive skin? Do you get nervous in crowds? When in the shower, how do you clean your¡ª¡±


    ¡°You ask too many questions, motherfucker!¡± Mike D boomed as he interrupted the kid asking all the questions. ¡°Damn! Shut the fuck up, already! Old Bitch ass hoe!¡±


    Everybody else in the group started laughing, and they continued to walk and talk, just behaving like a group of friends and looking fairly happy. All of a sudden, the sound of the bell in the church tower started to echo, causing all the boys to suddenly tense up and look at each other. The conversations stopped, and they all started walking in a different direction, shoulders visibly slumped and their demeanors considerably less happy. After a while, they reached a building, and they all filed into the open door of a classroom, similar to the one Theo was in earlier. They all sat down in their seats, waiting in silence and fear. Moments after the last student was seated, a tall, slender middle-aged man dressed immaculately in a pinstripe suit walked into the class, followed by a large, pot-bellied man who looked like a farmer, dressed in his checkered shirt, tucked into his trousers, and suspenders. The slim man had a stern, cold looking face, while the man behind had that sort of ¡®jolly fat man¡¯ thing about him.


    ¡°Good morning, pupils.¡± The slim man said as he reached the front of the class.


    ¡°Good morning, Principal.¡± The kids all replied.


    ¡°This morning, we will be trying something new and increasing the dosage¡­¡±


    As the Principal spoke, the fat man who came in with him began to secure the kids in their seats with the bindings attached to them. The Principal spoke the entire time the fat guy was doing his thing, and when half of them had been bound, he made his way towards the door. He stopped just short of it, and turned to look at Mike D.


    ¡°Michael, I expect to see you in my office after class¡­ as per usual.¡±


    He then gave Mike a look, before turning around to leave. The images and memories suddenly stopped, and Theo was back in the present. He wiped the combination of spit and vomit from his mouth with his filthy sleeve, and slowly stood up with a somewhat perplexed expression on his face.


    ¡°What is it, Othello? What have you seen?¡±


    ¡°¡­I can¡¯t be sure. I think they were¡­ memories. They were so much more vivid than Chelsea¡¯s ¨C so much more real. I saw a date on the black board¡­ these Roaches, they¡¯ve been like this for decades, Fallen.¡±


    Theo stood in silent contemplation for a short while, looking at what was left of Mike D¡¯s body. His body glowed slightly as his body used the Life Essence received from the brain to heal. As he stood there, Theo¡¯s eyes suddenly darted from side to side, looking around as though he was trying to find something. He swore that he could hear strange sounds that almost sounded like the pained cries of an untold number of people.


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± Theo said as he started to look around with his head, before tapping both ears.


    ¡°Hitting your ears will not drown out the sound, Othello?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? You can hear this too?¡± Theo asked as he looked up at the Fallen.


    ¡°I have been hearing them the entire time. It is about time that you heard them as well, Othello ¨C the cries of the tortured souls of these Roaches.¡±


    ¡°Why can I suddenly hear them, Fallen?!¡± Theo barked in annoyance.


    ¡°Perhaps this is something borne of our deepening Bond, Othello.¡±


    Theo grimaced as the voices seemed to get louder and louder. He tried by all means to block them out, and possibly even ignore them, but that wasn¡¯t happening. He pressed both hands against his ears as he tried to figure out what to do, and after a few minutes, he let out a roar of anger. Just then, something in his eyes changed, and he suddenly started running towards the chapel, bursting into it and then into the tower. He hastily looked around, as if impatiently searching for something. When he realised that it wasn¡¯t there, he let out a groan of frustration, before looking straight up. He suddenly crouched down, and immediately after his wings appeared, Theo jumped, flapping in as he did and shot straight up like a bullet. The ground cracked beneath him as he shot up forcefully, and just as his momentum slowed, Theo flapped again. A second or two later, he smashed through the wooden platform that served as a ceiling, and fell onto a portion that wasn¡¯t broken, rolling a few times before quickly standing up. In front of him hung a massive bell that was covered in dust, cobwebs and other nasty stuff. The rope that would have been used to ring the bell in decades gone by had been ripped off or something, because it was missing. Theo looked around, while the Fallen and two serpents remained silent all throughout; not even daring to make a peep. After a few more seconds, Theo once again let out a roar of frustration, as he suddenly drove the bottom of his shoe into the side of the bell, causing it to ring loudly. He kicked it again and again, continuing in this vein and making the bell ring ¨C much like he had witnessed in Mike D¡¯s memories.


    ¡°What are you doing, Othello?¡± The Fallen asked as Theo continued to kick the bell.


    He didn¡¯t respond to the question and continued kicking the bell for a few minutes, before jumping and breaking through the ceiling and roof. Theo had seemingly lost it, not particularly caring about the condition of the tower. He quickly stood on the edge, and looked down intently at the ground below, as the continued ringing echoed throughout the entire school. It took some time, but Theo finally saw what he was looking for ¨C the Roaches all moving towards and then going into their respective class buildings; as if on autopilot. As they all went in, Theo¡¯s eyes starting glowing as he activated his aura ¨C by choice. He then summoned the wings provided by the cape the Fallen had given him earlier, and he jumped up into the air. The wings spread as wide as they could, however instead of gliding, Theo actually remained afloat. He lowered his hands to his waist and opened them, as he pressed his legs and feet together. All of a sudden, the two serpent creatures started screeching and roaring as they slithered around frantically. Their eyes then started glowing pure white, and moments later, they opened their mouths. Just as they did when Theo was bound by the demonic rope, they started spewing the pure white flames from their mouths. This time however, the flames were not aimed at Othello, but rather, at the buildings below; with the path of the flames focusing mainly on the dorms, and then the classroom buildings. Such was the potency of the flames, they required very little time to absolutely consume a building, and in less than five minutes, the entire school was ablaze with white, seething hot flames.


    ¡°This is your chance at peace.¡± Theo said in a virtual whisper, yet there was nobody on the school premises who didn¡¯t hear him.


    Theo then flapped the wings once, and began gliding in the direction he had come from. As he glided across slowly, he looked down and saw that nothing and nobody was even attempting to break out of windows, jump off of ledges, or even walk out of doors. There wasn¡¯t a single physical scream or anything, and the anguished wails of all their souls slowly started to die down. As Theo was halfway across, there was a sudden explosion from the dorms, as all the vats of tainted Life Essence exploded one by one. Theo didn¡¯t even take the time to look back, as he continued to make his way towards the cab. The creatures were the ones that looked back at the explosions that went off like evil fireworks, flaming green residue lighting up the sky. As more and more explosions went off, the wails and cries died down more and more, slowly being replaced by contented sighs. Theo continued his descent, and just as he was about to land, he suddenly heard the familiar sounding voice of the Roach that first laughed at him speak.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± It said in a grateful whisper.


    ¡°You''re welcome.¡± Theo said as he landed deftly on the tar close to the cab. ¡°Now shut the fuck up.¡±

 Chapter 4: 03:23

    <h1>Chapter 4: 03:23.</h1>


    As the white flames illuminated the sky above the school that was perched on the top of the mountain, the sound of the high revving V8 of the cab could be heard rapidly approaching the bottom of the road that led up to the school. Theo quickly turned onto the main road without even hinting at braking at the intersection, and he gunned it as if in an attempt to get as far away from that horror school as possible.


    ¡°Othello.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I have a question, if you will indulge me.¡±


    ¡°What is it, Fallen?¡± Theo asked as he turned towards the highway.


    ¡°Why did you do that? Free the souls of those creatures, that is.¡±


    ¡°Because they just wouldn¡¯t shut up!¡± Theo boomed in annoyance. ¡°I¡¯ve already got more than enough voices that torture me during quiet moments¡­ I didn¡¯t need all of them to bitch at me as well.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Although that said, I should have just gotten out of there and left them to their fucking fate. Using those flames¡­ completely depleted my already pathetic Life Essence reserves.¡±


    ¡°The Flames of Purity¡­ there is nothing that they cannot burn, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well after healing my virtually broken torso, they certainly did burn through my Life Essence.¡± Theo said with a bitter scoff.


    The Fallen made a sound akin to a snicker, and Theo actually looked up at it.


    ¡°¡­what was that? Did you say something?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to ask if Mike D¡¯s memories had any useful information on either Phantom¡¯s location, or the location of our next target?¡±


    ¡°Phantom? No. On Krazy Native; sure. That particular bastard is holed up in a private prison. Getting there might take some time ¨C something we don¡¯t have much of.¡±


    ¡°Very well. Hopefully his brain possesses the information that we need.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it does. He seemed to be the closest to Phantom, so he¡¯s got to be our best bet. That said; I have a few questions of my own for you, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°Ask them.¡± The Fallen responded.


    ¡°Alright¡­ how were you able to identify the demon responsible for what happened at that school?¡±


    ¡°I possess intimate knowledge on the vast majority of all demons and their clans, Othello.¡±


    ¡°What of Chelsea¡¯s Contracted Demon, then? You didn¡¯t mention anything about it.¡±


    ¡°She signed the Contract with a low level demon from the Steel Web Clan. There is not much else to tell, though. Her Contracted Demon was both weak, and young.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I understand.¡±


    ¡°Did you notice something about Mike D, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Yeah ¨C he wasn¡¯t a Contracted Human. He was the same as every other Roach, only vastly stronger. He had to inject himself to transform.¡±


    ¡°Precisely, Othello.¡± The Fallen crooned.


    ¡°Having said that, I think I might know who Skelem¡¯Dor¡¯s Contracted Human may be. I think the Principal of that place is that human.¡±


    ¡°I see. I wonder if there are more schools that have been turning children into a demonic army.¡±


    ¡°Even if there are, it¡¯s none of my business. My only concern is Phantom, and turning him to paste before the sun comes up. Moving on to my next question¡­ who or what are you? Why are you so concerned with demonic activities, and why are you so against them? You speak as though you detest them, yet also come across as one.¡±


    ¡°¡­ask a specific question, Othello, and I will answer it if I am able to.¡±


    Theo grumbled to himself as he turned onto the highway, before gunning it once more, blasting down the near empty roads.


    ¡°Are you a demon?¡±


    ¡°No, I am not.¡±


    ¡°Then what are you?¡±


    ¡°I cannot be classed as one thing or the other. That is as detailed as I can be about it, at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Why is it that our Contract is only valid until the dawn?¡±


    ¡°¡­because I cannot operate in the light, Othello. I cannot be in those places where the light of the sun can reach. Also, despite your nigh on miraculous growth and talent, you still do not possess the strength to keep me here longer than the duration of our Contract.¡±


    Theo just remained silent for a bit as he tried to make sense of the information he had just received. He eventually sighed, and shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m no better off than I was before I asked. You''re fucking terrible at answering questions, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°Do not be discouraged, Othello. The time will come when you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, what the fuck are the terms and conditions of our Contract, Fallen? I couldn¡¯t make any sense of what was written on it, and there wouldn¡¯t have been any time to do so even if I could have.¡±


    ¡°It is a simple Contract, Othello. It simply states that I am doing you a favour, and that you will repay the favour someday.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it¡¯s that simple, Fallen.¡±


    The Fallen didn¡¯t respond, and once again, there was silence in the cab. The silence was short lived however, as Theo broke it almost immediately.


    ¡°Talk to me, Fallen. I can¡¯t deal with silence at the moment.¡± Theo said as his grip of the wheel tightened.


    ¡°¡­very well. Tell me something about your life prior to your settling down in this city.¡± The Fallen said.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much to say, really. I was a soldier of sorts, willing to do anything and everything that was required of me, no questions asked. I became jaded after doing the job for over a decade, and luckily, I was forced into early retirement.¡±


    ¡°Early retirement?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, remember how I told you that I was stabbed and shot and shit? Well, it was how I was ¡®relieved¡¯ of duty, so-to-speak.¡±


    ¡°Considering how skilled you have shown yourself to be, and how that skill has bridged the gap between you and those you have destroyed, I find it difficult to believe that you were overpowered and defeated so severely.¡± The Fallen said as it lowered itself down onto Theo¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Well¡­ I didn¡¯t necessarily fight back as hard as I could have.¡±


    ¡°Why not, Othello?¡±


    ¡°Heartbreak, I guess. The woman I loved¡­ chose the life my brother could provide for her over the one I could. The life I ended up having with Jessica.¡±


    The cab boomed down the highway, and Theo shook his head slightly, a smile forming on his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny how things work out sometimes, Fallen. Jess gave me the life I thought I had been denied. She gave me children, she gave me a home, she gave me love¡­ she gave me a life, yet all I gave her in return was death. That¡¯s why at the very least¡­ I must, I absolutely MUST give her peace.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, Othello¡­ we will give her and your children the peace you desire.¡±


    Theo nodded as he took a deep breath. The conversation between the two continued all throughout the drive to the prison, and while it mostly consisted of generic stuff like discussions about the previous fights, and how weird and disgusting some of their foes were, it never felt forced. The drive itself took around half an hour, and both Theo and the Fallen looked out the window.


    ¡°This place really is in the middle of fucking nowhere, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°This place also serves as a prison, does it not?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a private prison. I wonder who or what is hidden within those prison walls.¡± Theo said as he gestured with his head in the direction of the now visible prison.


    They turned into the road leading to the prison, and what was readily apparent, was how heavily fortified the place was. There were guard towers galore, high walls topped with barbed wire, flood lights, armed guards, you name it. Even the road leading to the prison was narrow, and actually had walls on either side.


    ¡°Look at all this¡­¡± Theo remarked. ¡°The sense of dread prisoners must feel when on this road is sure to be immense.¡±


    ¡°What about you, Othello? How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? I¡¯m feeling concerned. I¡¯m low on Life Essence, and judging by the number of guard towers and such, high on foes. I can¡¯t use Ygg¡¯Rael, or Daemon¡¯s Bane. My only option is hand-to-hand combat at first, and to try and steal as many weapons as possible before launching a full scale assault on the prison. The issue with all that is that this might end up taking far too long.¡±


    As Theo was voicing his concerns, the cab actually pulled up to the gate. There was an intercom with a speaker next to the driver¡¯s side window, and after a few moments, Theo could hear what he thought was static. He rolled down the window, and a familiar voice spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you to get here, Theo ¨C no, Othello.¡± Krazy Native said. ¡°The gate will be opened, and you will be allowed inside. I¡¯ll be down to see you shortly.¡±


    The speaker cut off as the massive gated started to open, the sound of the hydraulics that powered it filling the area. The ground actually shook as the gate slowly opened, and Theo sat in the car and along with the Fallen, looked and felt absolutely dumbfounded. They were both expecting a far more blood filled entrance, and a difficult fight to even get inside the prison, yet here they both were, waiting for the gates to open. Once said gate was open, Theo slowly and cautiously drove into the well-lit facility, his eyes surveying his surroundings. Heavily armoured guards, wearing massive suits body armour were everywhere. They all stood, watching Theo as he drove, and down the road, there was a guard who pointed Theo in the direction of the prison¡¯s visitor¡¯s parking. A minute or two later, Theo pulled into a parking pay in the absolutely empty parking lot. He sat in the car for a bit, just trying to think of ways and means of survival if this was a trap he was walking into.


    ¡°This is way too suspicious, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°I agree, Othello. However considering how low you are on Life Essence, it may be a blessing in disguise. For now, let us see where this path takes us.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Theo said as he unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the far.


    He looked down at his filthy, multi-stained suit and sighed. He then started dusting off as much of the filth as he possibly could, before neatening up as best he could. He then strode away from his car, only to be met by Krazy Native and another man. He walked up to them with his hands by his side, and his face looking focused.


    ¡°Relax, Othello.¡± Native said as he slid his hands into his pockets. ¡°Nothing is going to happen just yet. Oh, this is Mason. Mason, Othello.¡±


    Mason, a tall, somewhat lanky man with long hair, piercings, tattoos poking out beyond his sleeves, and a manicured beard only offered a nod in greeting. Theo on the other hand, offered nothing. He continued to eye Native suspiciously, and only spoke directly to him.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this? How did you know I was coming?¡±


    ¡°I will explain once we are inside. Follow me.¡±


    Krazy Native turned around and began to walk, and Theo followed cautiously. The trio of tall men all walked past a bunch of guards who all eyed Theo from behind their helmets. A few of them even raised their guns semi-threateningly when he approached.


    ¡°Lower those weapons.¡± Krazy Native said. ¡°Despite wearing those Exo-Armours, if you went up against this guy, he would kill you.¡±


    The guards looked in Native¡¯s direction as he spoke, and after some hesitation, they followed the order, lowering their massive guns. The trio continued to walk, going right past many of the security points within the entrance area of the prison, and soon enough, they all approached an elevator.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Theo asked.


    ¡°I just want to show you something before we get down to business.¡± Native said as Mason quickly stepped in front of the other two, opening the elevator and beckoning them in.


    ¡°After you.¡± Theo said as he eyed them suspiciously once more.


    They both stepped in as per his wishes, and Theo followed in after them. There weren¡¯t any buttons in the elevator, and after a brief waiting period, it suddenly shot down, heading underground. The elevator trip only lasted a matter of seconds, before it came to an abrupt end. The doors opened up, and Theo walked out, continuing to look over his surroundings. Native and Mason walked out after him, and led Theo down the corridor, which seemed to have ambient lighting as opposed to regular lighting. They reached a door after a bit of walking that required Native to place his open palm on a sensor pad. After scanning, a series of confirmation beeps could be heard, before the door unlocked and opened. They all walked through the door, into a multi-tiered cellblock. There were a whole host of cells, all of which contained people in various stages of bondage ¨C from none at all, to extremely heavy.


    ¡°Follow me, Othello.¡± Native said as he started to walk once more.


    He did just that, and they walked in front of a row of cells. There were men and women inside, some showing signs of transformation; others were normal and completely human, while a few were fully transformed. Their jumpsuits were also different colours; those who were normal wearing a light shade of red, those who were partially transformed wearing a normal shade of red, and those who were fully transformed wearing a deep shade of red. They all reacted differently to the sight of Krazy Native, with some cowering, others smiling and waving ¨C whether disingenuously or not was another matter ¨C and others hissed, roared, barked, or otherwise threatening and hostile sounds and gestures. These reactions didn¡¯t seem to play at all on Native¡¯s mind, and as the small group walked past the cells, he suddenly spoke.


    ¡°So you wanted to know how and why I was expecting you, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Your actions haven¡¯t exactly been ¡®subtle¡¯, Othello. You destroyed a club and massacred a bunch of people, while there were witnesses present. You then destroyed an entire school; the whole fucking thing. Doing things like those draws attention, and while I would like to take the credit for having some sort of super spy network, the truth of the matter is that I heard it all on the news.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Theo said as he looked at Native.


    ¡°Although to be fair to myself, when I heard that the shitty Club S had been destroyed and Black Widow had been killed, I knew immediately that it must have had to do with what happened earlier in the night. Then, I heard about the school, and absolutely knew that it must have been you¡­ which was odd, because I saw your head get shot to pieces. I would ask how you did all that, but there are only two possible and logical answers to that question.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Either¡­¡± Native continued, without even waiting for Theo to participate in the conversation. ¡°You had a Contract with something before we got to your house and things happened as they did, or you somehow signed a Contract during the entire thing. Personally, I think it was the latter.¡± Native said as he began descending down a flight of stairs at the end of the corridor.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The descent down the stairs was made in absolute silence, with only the sound of their shoes echoing throughout the cellblock. Native and Mason led Theo all the way down to the final tier, and walked out right into the middle of the floor.


    ¡°You must be wondering why I¡¯ve not only brought you here, but also allowed you to enter this place uncontested.¡±


    ¡°Yes, the thought has crossed my mind.¡± Theo said as he finally spoke.


    ¡°Look at this place, Othello. This is a private prison, yet it is filled with fortifications and facilities that a regular, State owned prison lacks. Why?¡±


    ¡°W¡ª¡±


    ¡°Because over here, we house criminals that the State itself cannot contain on its own. We keep Contracted Humans as prisoners over here. We also take care of those who have suffered Backfires, and are in a permanent state of transformation. Those guys often times lose their minds, and go on rampages, so we keep them detained in facilities such as this one.¡±


    Krazy Native had been speaking with his back to Theo the entire time, and for the first time since they reached the cellblock, he slowly turned around and faced Theo, looking him in his eyes.


    ¡°The reason I have brought you here is to show you that I am different from those two fools you ran through. I am not as selfish and self-centered as that so-called Black Widow. I damn sure am a hell of a lot more self-aware than that loopy Mike D. I cannot and will not have you massacre the men and women of this prison. These people are not my lackeys, or my goons, or anything of the sort. They are my subordinates, and employees of my superiors. Your beef is with me, personally. So your fight shall also be with me, personally.¡±


    ¡°How fortuitous!¡± The Fallen boomed into Theo¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Hmph¡­¡± Theo snorted as his eye twitched slightly while he attempted to ignore the pain in his ear. ¡°I will destroy anybody who stands in the way of me and my revenge. If these fuckers all stay out of my way, then they will live to see another day.¡± They said as he bluffed his way through that powerful declaration.


    ¡°Just as I thought.¡± Krazy Native said with a smirk. ¡°Follow me once to a place we will be able to fight to our heart¡¯s content.


    He then turned around and started walking once more, with Mason and Theo in tow. The walk was a silent one, and while it seemed as though Theo was also walking in silence, he was having his ear subjected to nonstop talk from the Fallen.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°We must make the most of this chance, Othello! If you only have to use energy to fight a single opponent, you will be able to at least build up more of a reserve to fight Phantom with than you have had with these ones.¡±


    The Fallen continued to chew Theo¡¯s ear off, and after a few minutes of walking, the trio reached another door that was opened in a similar manner to the previous one. From there, they went into an elevator that took them above ground once more. It didn¡¯t stop on the ground floor however, and kept rising until stopping, and opening up to the roof of the facility. On the roof, there was a massive cage in the middle of a demarcated area.


    ¡°This is something I am extremely proud of¡­ The Cage!¡± Native boomed as he pointed to it. ¡°In here, people are able to sort out their differences. The rules and parameters of the bout are decided upon beforehand, and are followed strictly during and after the fight. I suggest that you and I enter this cage, fight it out like men, and see who wins at the end. Are you willing to participate in a one-on-one battle with me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why I wouldn¡¯t be.¡± Theo said. ¡°I came here with the intention of taking two things from you ¨C your life, and information about Phantom. Exactly how I get my hands on those two things matters very little to me.¡±


    Krazy Native grinned, and nodded.


    ¡°Very good, then! That means the rules for our bout are simple enough ¨C no holds barred fight to the death, winner takes all!¡±


    ¡°Woks for me.¡± Theo said as he rolled his neck, stretching it somewhat.


    ¡°Mason! You heard the man! We fight to the death, and in the event that I die, you become the new Warden.¡±


    ¡°Understood, Sir.¡± Mason said with a nod.


    All of a sudden, Krazy Native ran around to the other side of the cage, where a second entrance was. The sound of a warn blaring caught Theo¡¯s attention, and two doors on opposite sides of the cage slid open with a loud clang.


    ¡°Please enter the cage. Any and all weapons you have on your person are allowed in the cage, however, please take note, the fight ends when your life ends.¡±


    ¡°You seem pretty confident that my life is the one that will be ending, Mason.¡± Theo said, virtually spitting Mason¡¯s name out.


    ¡°Not at all, I just meant that death signals the end of the fight, nothing more.¡± Mason retorted.


    Theo confidently strode through the gate, which shut behind him. Another gate in front of him opened, and both Theo and Native strode into the centre of the ring. Almost immediately afterwards, lights came on around the cage, and revealed a very large crowd of people, who coincidentally all started shouting and cheering the moment the lights came on. Theo looked around at the gathered crowd, and scoffed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get to you, Othello! Come at me with everything you have!¡±


    Theo turned his head to look at Krazy Native, only to be greeted by the sight of him disrobing.


    ¡°What the¡­ why¡ª¡±


    ¡°You know Othello, for what it¡¯s worth; I¡¯m sorry about what happened to your family, man. I have a wife and four kids, and I can¡¯t even begin to imagine how sitting in that chair and watching your wife and children get mutilated and cut to pieces while still alive must have felt.¡±


    Native said this as he tossed his shirt and undershirt to the ground. He even flexed a little bit as they hit the floor.


    ¡°What the fuck is this guy saying while getting naked?¡± Theo said, as if he was asking the Fallen.


    ¡°You know, I actually knew about you before tonight. We run ¨C or at least ran ¨C in similar circles back in the day. And I heard all about this cat they called the ¡®Bringer of Death¡¯, who was an absolute beast. Rumours about your prowess with a firearm were rife, and people spoke about you as if you were some kind of boogeyman.¡±


    Native then ripped off his pants, revealing ¡®tighty whitey¡¯ briefs, which elicited a chorus of wolf whistles from the crowd.


    ¡°Personally, I never believed in the boogeyman, but was still excited to hear that you were our next assignment.¡±


    He then bent down and started taking his shoes off. Theo remained somewhat stunned as he watched this guy continue to take his clothes off.


    ¡°To be honest though, I was a little disappointed in you when I saw you in action. I mean sure, you took out the weaklings, and sure, you might have been somewhat rusty, especially considering how you had been living a life of peace for the past few years, but still. You once made Contracted Humans tremble with fear at the mere mention of your name.¡±


    ¡°Well sorry to disappoint you, but in my defense, I had gulped down a few drinks before I got home. ¡°Theo said as he just shrugged as he shook his head dismissively.


    ¡°Sure, that in itself is understandable.¡± Native said as he stood up and kicked his shoes and socks off. ¡°Anyway, do you know why I call me ¡®Krazy native¡¯, with a ¡®K¡¯?¡±


    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know man, male pattern baldness?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because one day, I decided that I¡¯d had enough of military life, and the way we did things. We had developed an over-reliance on firearms and body armour, and as the technology in our kit became more and more advanced, we as soldiers, as fighters, as humans, we became more and more pussified. So, I threw down my guns, took off my gear, and¡­ well, I went on a rampage. I completely lost myself, and by the time I came to, I was standing over the corpses of those I had served with; them, who died with their armour on, and guns in their hands, and me, standing only in my underwear, with their blood on my hands, and in my mouth. It was glorious, Othello ¨C freeing, even. Anyway, I¡¯ve gone on long enough; let¡¯s get this shit started!¡±


    Theo was still digesting what Native had just said when the virtually naked man suddenly lunged at with speed and force, before aiming his open palm at Theo¡¯s face. He was barely able to form a guard, and despite being successful in his block, he was launched backwards with such force that a shockwave emanated from the point of impact. He absolutely flew into the cage, which surprisingly had very little give, and didn¡¯t even flinch from the force with which Theo crashed into it. He landed on the ground and was forced to take a knee, as he peaked out from behind his smoking guard.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­ such power¡­ where does it come from?¡± Theo mumbled under his breath.


    ¡°His obscene strength more than likely comes from his Bond, Othello. It is all as a result of the boost afforded to him by his Bond with his Contracted Entity.¡±


    ¡°What is this entity, Fallen? Is it demonic in nature?¡±


    ¡°More than likely, however we would actually have to see this man transform or use a Life Essence based attack.¡±


    ¡°Understood. I can¡¯t possibly hope to compete with this bastard with strength.¡±


    ¡°Speed it is then, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Speed it is.¡± Theo confirmed as he stood up and took a deep breath.


    He suddenly lowered his body into a stance that was almost sprinter like, before pushing off from where he was standing and absolutely zooming towards Krazy Native. Theo then leapt up in the air and shaped as if he was about to throw a punch, when Native suddenly jumped at him with a giant grin on his face. He spread his arms wide, and completely tanked the punch that Theo ended up throwing, before wrapping his arms around Theo and catching him in a bear hug. When he had Theo in his grasp, Native raised him up and tossed him like he was a sack of potatoes. Despite the short distance between him and the ground, Theo hit the ground so hard that he bounced rather high. During the bounce, Native kicked Theo in the midriff and sent him flying into the fence once more, before leaping up and catching Theo¡¯s head in his right hand, landing against and pushing off of the cage and slammed Theo hard into the ground, head first.


    ¡°This place will be your grave, Othello!¡± Native boomed as he smiled sadistically, his demeanor now changing.


    He then stood up and shaped to throw Theo across to the other side of the cage when Theo suddenly grabbed Native¡¯s wrist with his left hand, before driving the palm of his right into the elbow of the arm that was holding him, producing a loud crack, and a groan from Native, who released Theo¡¯s head. The two men were about the same size and height, although at 6¡¯6 and 250lbs, Native had the physical edge. Theo, who was bleeding from the nose launched into an attack, aiming particularly for the side with the broken elbow. He threw and landed hard punches to the body, each one hitting the same spot and once again, Native let out a pained groan. Theo suddenly saw a blow coming in from the corner of his eye, and quickly raised his right arm to block the shot. Once again, the blow was brutal, launching Theo off of his feet, and drawing a loud cheer from the crowd. He didn¡¯t quite make it to the cage wall this time, and landed on his feet, sliding back some. Krazy Native didn¡¯t even waste a moment and he charged Theo, taking the offensive initiative. He thrust his left fist directly towards Theo¡¯s face, and it took all Theo had to tilt his head to the side and slip the large fist. Despite avoiding the fist, Theo still felt immense heat and pressure coming from the forearm that zipped past his head, but he quickly got to work, digging the body once more with short hooks. He doubled up on the hooks, but suddenly felt Native¡¯s elbow catch him on the jaw, snapping his head to his right, and forcing him to take a few steps to the right as well. Native then threw a left hand in the direction of Theo¡¯s chest, which Theo evaded by swiveling his body, using his right foot as a pivot. He then caught Native¡¯s left wrist with his left hand and prepared to thrust his palm through the other elbow, but Theo was suddenly hoisted off of his feet and tossed to the other side of the cage, his back hitting the cage wall. He recovered enough that he landed in a crouched position on the ground, before standing up slowly, much to the enjoyment of those gathered.


    ¡°This man is powerful, Othello. In terms of brute strength, there are only a handful of demon clans that could impart such strength.¡±


    ¡°You still need to see him use Life Essence before being able to see which clan it is, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on it.¡± Theo said as he wiped the blood from his nose. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much longer I can fight at this level, and take hits from this bastard.¡±


    Theo activated his aura as he drew out more strength. The moment his white aura appeared, the crowd started whistling and cheering again, as if it was the first time in a long time they had seen one ¨C despite all working in this prison. Krazy Native grinned as he raised his right arm. He seemed to flex it, and the area around his elbow glowed yellow, and a sound similar to the one Theo produced when he would heal could be heard. A few moments later, Native started bending his arm at the elbow up and down.


    ¡°Good as fucking new.¡± He said as the grin grew in size, before suddenly pushing off from where he was standing.


    Theo assumed the simplest of orthodox fighting stances, looking at Native approach rapidly from behind his guard. Native got busy the moment he was within range, planting his left foot and launching his right towards Theo¡¯s head, attempting a high kick. Theo just managed to duck below the kick, before dashing in and closing the space between him and Native. He threw a blindingly quick one-two combination that landed on the button and threw native¡¯s head back. Native¡¯s right hand suddenly swung down and caught Theo on the cheek, and despite only having one foot on the ground and being off balance, the shot still rocked Theo. All of a sudden, Native¡¯s foot hit the ground with authority, and a left arm clothesline smashed its way through the air. Theo saw it coming, and with athleticism and flexibility he had yet to display, managed a sort of corkscrew flip to evade it; twisting and spinning like a human shaped spinning top. He quickly extended his legs, left first and then his right, and caught Native on the chin with the heel of his left shoe, and then the toe of the right; three times a piece and completing a six kick combination. The crowd went absolutely nuts as Theo landed on the ground, doing his best to ignore the dizziness. Krazy Native had been taken off of his feet by the kicks, and blood gushed out from his mouth as if it had just burst from the natural casing of a sausage in a seething hot skillet. With a roar, Native virtually willed himself into recovering, and rushed Theo, absolutely mauling him in the process. He threw potentially life ending hayemakers with every punch, and Theo was barely evading and slipping them. The crowd would gasp with every single punch that was thrown and missed, and it felt as though they were at a like fight in a casino or underground, illegal fighting ring. In the midst of the hayemakers that he was throwing, Krazy Native briefly abandoned his attempts as decapitating Theo and suddenly thrust his foot into his stomach, sending his opponent hurtling towards the other side of the cage, shacking into it like a wet rag against a wall. Theo leaned his back against the wall, testing to see how much ¡®give¡¯ it had. He had only taken his eyes off of Krazy native for an instant, but the moment he looked ahead of himself, he found Native right upon him, thrusting his open left hand at Theo¡¯s face. He managed to avoid the hand, but the right was quickly thrown, and it connected flush on Theo¡¯s face. It threw his head back, but it bounced off of the cage and right back into the path of the fist, which struck him again.


    ¡°Payback for breaking it, bitch!¡± Krazy native boomed as he threw yet another right hand.


    Just as the previous two, it connected flush as it hit the target, with blood spewing from both Theo¡¯s mouth and his nose. Whether due to the fact that the crowd was cheering every single landed blow, or for some other reason, Krazy Native threw yet another punch, but this time, Theo managed to duck beneath it. He suddenly hooked his left arm around Native¡¯s right, and then did the same to native¡¯s left with his right. Theo then slid his hands down both arms so that they were placed on both elbows. Native¡¯s eyes suddenly grew larger but his attention was then drawn to Theo¡¯s knees that were rising up between the two of them. The knees suddenly extended, and the soles of both of Theo¡¯s shoes were suddenly on his chin, pushing his head and neck backwards. At the same time, he suddenly felt immense pain in both elbows as Theo pushed his hands towards each other. It only took a matter of seconds, as Native¡¯s wails of pain were interrupted by two loud and sickening cracks. Immediately afterwards, both arms were released, and Theo pulled his feet and legs back as he grabbed onto the cage wall and used it to generate enough momentum for him to turn around, before thrusting his right foot down hard and directly at Native¡¯s right knee, driving his foot through it completely with another sickening crack. Native let out a roar of pain before his left heel crashed into Native¡¯s jawline as he completed a heel kick. The brutal attack sent Krazy Native flying back into the centre of the ring, where he lay on the ground, gritting his teeth in pain. The crowd was stunned and silent, as they had never seen the Warden in such a state. Theo stood with his back leaned against the cage wall, wiping the blood from his face with his sleeve, and breathing deeply.


    ¡°¡­in order to heal and possibly gain the upper hand once more, that fucker will have to tap into his Life Essence.¡± Theo said in between breaths.


    ¡°¡­magnificently done, Othello.¡± The Fallen cooed. ¡°You firmly have the upper hand in this fight.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being sloppy, Fallen. In fact, I¡¯ve been sloppy the entire night¡­ I¡¯ve been hit with too many shots that would have killed me if it wasn¡¯t for this fucking Boost¡­ I¡¯m so rusty.¡±


    Krazy Native, who had been grunting and groaning while trying to stand up, finally got up on his left foot, while his right foot and both arms dangled painfully.


    ¡°You should have taken this chance to kill me, Othello¡­ now; you¡¯ll pay the price for making that mistake.¡±


    Immediately after making that declaration, Krazy Native let out a massive roar that resulted in a shockwave pulsing out from his foot. The crowd was completely silent, but that was no longer due to shock or anything. They had witnessed this before, and their reaction was mostly out of fear. The ground shook at Native¡¯s foot, and his eyes began to glow bright yellow, along with his shattered elbows and knee. The sound of healing bones could faintly be heard before being drowned out by Krazy Native¡¯s roars and screams. He looked at Theo and grinned as his body and face were riddled with bulging and pulsing veins, and his muscles began to grow in size, his flesh was rippling and moving as if something was about to burst out from it. His face started to morph and change shape, and his torso began to grow in length while his legs shrunk, also changing shape. Coarse brown fur forced its way out of his skin, completely covering his arms, legs, and torso. His face morphed and changed into what looked like that of a bull, and sharp horns pierced his forehead, shooting out and sending blood flying about. The horns then branched out, producing a number of sharp and dangerous points and tips. His fingers became covered in some kind of hard, hoof like substance that was able to bend and allow him to form a fist. Horns also forced their way out Native¡¯s shoulders, and they grew to be thick, long and pointed. They looked like they were caked in dry blood, and with a final roar and a bit of a flourish, the transformation was complete. Krazy Native stood at seven feet, at the very least, and had put on around 150lbs of sheer mass. His legs had morphed into the shape of a bull¡¯s hind legs, and arms were bigger and longer than before. The horns on his head were jagged and multi-pronged, whilst the ones on his shoulders were just long, pointed growths. His face was completely in the shape of a bull¡¯s, and as he grinned, he revealed a mouth full of yellow and brown teeth, as a long, thick tongue flopped out, and dangled.


    ¡°I know which clan this person is Contracted to, Othello.¡± The Fallen said.


    ¡°The Tauren?¡± Theo asked semi seriously.


    ¡°The who? No, he is Contracted to a demon from the Jagged Horn Clan.¡±


    ¡°Give me the quick rundown on them.¡±


    ¡°Speed and power; that clan possesses some of the fastest and strongest demons of the Netherworld. They are in the unofficial Top 5 in terms of speed, and unofficial Top 3 in terms of strength. Be careful, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Theo said as he sneered at Krazy Native, his aura suddenly becoming more prominent as he did.


    ¡°I have a question for you, Othello.¡± Native said, his voice sounding sadistic and otherworldly. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Going on 31.¡± Theo answered cautiously. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Well, I just recently turned 38, and for 28 years, I used to think that the greatest joy in the world was my family. My wife, my children, I used to believe that I lived for them. But then something happened, and I discovered something faaaarrr more satisfying and fulfilling.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Theo asked as he tugged on the cuff of his left sleeve. ¡°What did you discover?¡±


    ¡°My Contract with Ra¡¯Gul. Through the contract, I found the greatest pleasure one could ever experience in life¡­ eating human flesh!¡± Native boomed as he spread his arms wide, even laughing as he did.


    Theo raised an eyebrow while shaking his head, and suddenly felt the Fallen¡¯s vessel touch his left shoulder. He sighed and looked to his left, expecting to see the Fallen giving him a look of ¡®I told you so¡¯; instead what he saw was a look of absolute disgust and anger.


    ¡°Filthy demon!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°Othello, this creature must die!¡±


    Theo looked at the Fallen with a look of absolute shock on his face.


    ¡°Really, you fucking hypocrite!? ¡®Consume, Othello!¡¯ ¡®Consume her flesh!¡¯ ¡®It tastes great with barbeque sauce!¡¯¡± Theo said as he tried his best to impersonate the Fallen¡¯s voice, which took its toll, and resulted in Theo coughing for a bit.


    ¡°I do NOT sound like that!¡± The Fallen boomed while looking at Theo, before looking ahead at Krazy Native. ¡°We consume out of necessity, Othello. That¡­ thing consumes out of pleasure¡­ filthy demon.¡±


    Theo looked at the Fallen in silence as he once again felt somewhat confused by its stance on demons. He then looked at Krazy Native and sighed as his hands rose into his guard.


    ¡°I used to snuggle up on the couch with my entire family almost every single day. Last night was one of those rare nights when I didn¡¯t, and as it turned out, it would be the last time I ever had the chance to. I hope you said goodbye to your wife and kids this morning as you left for work, because you aren¡¯t going back.¡± Theo declared harshly, eyes glowing bright, aura pulsing into the sky.


    Native just boomed with laughter before he pushed of from where he was standing, cracking the asphalt below him and absolutely thundering towards Theo, who could barely even react in time, just, and I mean just blocking the open handed attack that was aimed at his head. No sooner had he blocked the shot, was Theo hitting the cage wall with such force that he thought his back had shattered, and that his life was at an end. Blood shot out of his mouth, spraying out almost half way across the cage, and the pain was so immense, he almost passed out. When he realised that he could still feel the pain, Theo quickly smacked his face with both hands.


    ¡°TO THE RIGHT!!!¡± The Fallen screamed, and Theo didn¡¯t even look or anything.


    He quickly dashed to the right with as much speed as he could muster, and the sound of Native absolutely smashing into the cage wall in the space vacated by Theo was heard. The fence, which was usually so taut and firm, bent and stretched as Native hit it, and Theo didn¡¯t even try to hang about dashing away once more, just in case. The pain in his back and forearms was still really high, but Theo was battling through, trying to maintain his focus on Native who was recovering and turning around.


    ¡°Are you alright, Othello?!¡± The Fallen asked as it looked at Theo.


    ¡°Holy shit¡­ I¡¯ve never been so hard in my entire life¡­¡± Theo said, a feature warping grimace on his face. ¡°That said, looking at what just happened, I think I¡¯ve figured something out. I just hope I can avoid this fool¡¯s attacks long enough to confirm, and then capitalise.¡±


    Theo assumed his stance once more, hands up in his conventional guard. There was a nervous energy amongst the crowd as once again, Krazy Native charged, with the ground below being torn up once again. This time he was leading with the horns on his head, and Theo was able to move out of the way with barely any time to spare. Native absolutely smashed into the cage wall once more, and Theo created as much space as he possibly could between Native and himself, his gaze fixed on Native, watching everything that happened. Native suddenly used the momentum generated by the cage wall springing back to leap towards Theo, this time leading with his right shoulder as if in an attempt to gore Theo through the stomach. Theo ducked and rolled beneath Native this time, rolling into the centre of the cage and then dashing to the side, just in case Native was about to use that bounce attack again. He quickly stood up, and faced Krazy Native, before assuming his stance once more.


    ¡°How long are you going to keep evading, you coward?!¡± Krazy Native roared in annoyance.


    ¡°Not for much longer, you freak.¡± Theo said as he slowly caught his breath. ¡°I¡¯ve got you figured out, now.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?!¡± Native said, still shouting. ¡°Well bring it on, then! This is a winner takes all death battle! Your body won¡¯t be satisfying if you don¡¯t put up a meaningful struggle!¡±


    Theo shuddered somewhat as he heard Krazy Native speaking about his body with his tongue hanging from his mouth like that. The Fallen¡¯s vessel also shuddered as it lowered itself to Theo¡¯s shoulder once more and looked at him.


    ¡°Othello¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I meant what I said¡­ I have him figured out. So long as I don¡¯t fuck up, this fight is in the bag.¡±


    Theo¡¯s demeanor was brimming with confidence, and he slightly altered his stance, where before he was standing flat footed, Theo was now on his toes, ready for quick movements. His eyes barely blinked as the glowed and focused on Krazy Native, who threw his head back and let out a booming roar. Theo watched as native readied himself to attack, eyes growing larger as he focused more.


    ¡®¡­shoulder!¡¯ Theo said to himself as he started to move.


    Native suddenly charged him, leading with his left shoulder. Theo dashed to his left, and as Native flew past him, Theo stood and watched, shaping as if he was about to attack, but then dashed away to create some space once again. He stood and watched intently as Native once again used the cage wall to generate momentum and flew towards him once more.


    ¡®¡­head!¡¯


    Theo initiated a short and quick roll beneath the flying Native, and for a fraction of a second, was in a position to attack the exposed torso. He didn¡¯t however, and rolled away once more, creating more space. He stood up to his full height, and assumed his fighting stance once more, with something of a smirk on his face. The smirk seemed to infuriate Krazy Native, who let out another roar and charged once again. Just as he had before, Theo identified which attack was in coming, and avoided it, however this time, he went on the attack after having avoided the shoulder horn, nailing Native in the body with a vicious straight right. He quickly moved away to the other side of the cage, and Native bounced off the wall, before leading with his head. Theo rolled under Native, and as he completed the roll, hit him with an uppercut to the midsection, before rolling and then dashing away. Native seemed to be tanking the shots though, as he continued to use the cage walls to bounce and maintain momentum. He gradually started moving faster and faster between bounces, and Theo had to remain as vigilant as he could to not only keep his eyes on Krazy Native, but to also dodge and then retaliate as well. Much to Krazy Native¡¯s frustration, whether it was a shoulder barge, a headbutt, or a palm strike, none of his attacks were landing, and to make things worse, all of Theo¡¯s attacks to his body were. He let out a rage-filled roar as he flew towards Theo, with the intention of attacking with both hands at the same time. He was in midair with both arms cocked back when he saw Theo shaping to kick him in the body. He blinked and saw Theo initiating the kick, before blinking once more and suddenly seeing Theo back in his orthodox stance, shaping to throw a punch. Krazy Native¡¯s arms were both low, both blocking the kick to the body.


    ¡®Why are my arms down there?¡¯ Native asked himself. ¡®Why am I blocking, even though they didn¡¯t hurt me?¡¯


    Krazy Native didn¡¯t seem to be aware of the fact that he was bleeding from the mouth again, and he had subconsciously tried to block the attack to the body. He suddenly noticed the smirk on Theo¡¯s face once more as his eyes grew wider in realisation.


    ¡°You sack of shit¡­¡±


    That was all Native was able to say in that moment as Theo¡¯s right fist smashed into his entire face. Theo had planted his feet firmly on the ground and leaned in with his entire body, adding as much weight to the blow as humanly possible. The moment Theo¡¯s fist made contact with Krazy Native¡¯s face, a shockwave emanated at the moment and from the point of impact, and while Native¡¯s body continued moving forward, his head remained stationary on Theo¡¯s fist. As Theo completed the punch, he leaned forward, and drove Krazy Native into the ground, head first with an earth shaking force. Blood sprayed out from around Theo¡¯s fist, and he remained in his kneeled position, his fist buried in Native¡¯s face, whose body was still in the strangest position ¨C with both arms still across his body, and his legs pointed straight up towards the cage ceiling. Theo removed his blood soaked fist and slowly stood up, looking down at Krazy Native with glowing eyes.


    ¡°¡­your mistake was thinking that your stupid unarmed, unarmoured technique for taking out armed fools was going to work on me. I am far more dangerous than any fool with a gun.¡±


    Theo then reached down and grabbed Native by his neck, and pulled him into a neck hold, positioning himself behind Native. He squeezed tighter and tighter around the giant neck, resulting in Krazy Native starting to jerk and squirm as he battled for breath. Theo suddenly twisted Native¡¯s neck from side to side, a cracking sound echoing all throughout the cage as he broke Native¡¯s neck. He repeated the neck twists three times, before speaking.


    ¡°Payback for my wife and my children, bitch!!!¡±


    Theo then suddenly crouched down lower, before the wings of his cape materialised and flapped hard twice, just as Theo himself leapt up into the air, completely pulling Krazy Native¡¯s head, neck, and spine out from his body with a procession of sickening cracks. He then shot out from the cage, smashing the ceiling to smithereens as he flew high into the sky, blood shooting out from the headless, spineless body that slumped to a bloody heap as broken links and bits of scaffolding rained down into the cage below. The entire crowd gathered split their attention between the bloody ring, and the winged figure, holding the head and spine in one hand, slowly gliding down back to the ring. Theo¡¯s aura was bright and pure, and in the brief time it took him to get back down to the roof, those who were looking up at him were completely mesmerised. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Theo suddenly held the head and dripping spine above his head and let out a victorious roar, which much to his surprise, was met with cheers and clapping by the crowd. He quickly tossed the remains in his hand to the ground, and quickly summoned the Fallen¡¯s serpent ¡®pets¡¯, which stunned the crowd to silence once again. Theo wasted no time in having them rip the horned head apart and consume the brain within. For the first time that night, Theo was able to contain his vomit, but not without a few scares. He knelt with his mouth covered, and retched a few times.


    As this happened, he saw images of Krazy Native, standing outside what he assumed was his house, grilling up steaks, sausage links, and burger patties. He suddenly looked behind him to see his youngest son trying to sneak up on him and scare him.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± The young child said as he grinned at his father.


    ¡°You¡¯re much too young, and much too clumsy to get the better of my, Kyle.¡±


    The young boy called Kyle suddenly started giggling as Native reached down and ruffled his hair. Another of his sons emerged from the house and approached his father and brother.


    ¡°Is it okay if Jacques and Bongs come over, Dad?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s totally fine.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Dad.¡± He said appreciatively as he reached down and picked up his kid brother. ¡°Come on, Ky-Ky. Let¡¯s leave dad to grill in peace.¡±


    ¡°Someday, it¡¯s gonna be YOU who¡¯s grilling in peace! You better start practising!¡± Native boomed light heartedly.


    Soon afterwards, Native¡¯s wife and daughter brought some bowls to the table on the patio, and set them down, before smiling at him as they walked back inside.


    ¡°Oh, Daddy, Ryan said he¡¯s on his way back from the liquor store.¡± His daughter said.


    ¡°Okay, thanks for letting me know, my baby.¡±


    She smiled warmly and went back inside, and Native¡¯s wife then smiled at him from inside, with Native reciprocating and blowing her a kiss. He continued to smile as he let out a sigh and looked at the grill once more. He then looked down at the apron he was wearing, which had the words ¡®World¡¯s G8test Dad!¡¯ painted on it, which made him sigh once more.


    ¡°¡­I want to eat them all so badly.¡± He said as he looked up towards the sky.


    ¡°No, none of that.¡± Came the response from a man with a familiar sounding voice who was talking with his back to Krazy Native, peeing in a bush. ¡°We¡¯ve discussed this before; your family is off limits, Native.¡±


    ¡°I know, Boss. A man can dream though, can¡¯t he?¡±


    Theo came to just as that particular memory ended. He had an absolutely disgusted expression on his face, although whether it was because of the brain or the memory he had just witnessed, only Theo knew. He looked to his left to see Mason, the man who had been with him and Krazy Native standing next to him. Theo looked at him in silence as he shook his head, and spat repeatedly, as if once again trying to get the taste out of his mouth.


    ¡°¡­fucking disgusting.¡± He said to himself.


    ¡°Then why did you do it?¡± Mason asked.


    ¡°Because his brain has information that I require.¡± Theo said as he took a deep breath.


    The amount Life Essence he received from Krazy Native¡¯s brain was higher than that received from previous occasions. He started healing his injuries, which despite how hard he was hit, weren¡¯t all that serious or that high in number. Theo was looking for a relatively clean bit on his sleeves to wipe his mouth with, but couldn¡¯t find one. He suddenly saw Mason offering him a clean kerchief, and after a bit of hesitation, he took it with a nod of appreciation, and began to wipe his mouth. What Theo saw next shocked him as Mason suddenly spat on Native¡¯s corpse and flipped him off.


    ¡°I hope you rot in Hell, you piece of shit!¡± He said as he spat once more.


    Immediately afterwards, everybody else spat as well, flipping him off their own special ways. Theo watched this silently as he wiped the blood off his fist with the kerchief as well.


    ¡°He was a sack of shit.¡± Mason said, even without Theo having asked. ¡°He was an abomination of a human being, and as you can see, I¡¯m not alone in rejoicing in his death. The things he forced us to watch take place in this fucking cage¡­¡± Mason spat on the corpse once more, before looking at Theo. ¡°My condolences with regard to your family.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Theo said with another nod. ¡°Sorry about the kerchief.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it. You freed us from this fucker. Ruin anything you want.¡±


    Theo tossed the kerchief on the floor and nodded, before turning around and walking out of the cage. He made his way over to the edge of the roof, and looked for the visitors parking. His wings materialised once again when he found it, and just as he shaped as though he was about to jump, he heard Mason speak.


    ¡°We can take you down there, you know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± Theo said as he looked back. ¡°Take care of that fucker¡¯s family, Mason.¡±


    He suddenly jumped off the edge of the roof, as he spread his wings and started gliding towards his cab.


    ¡°Magnificently done, Othello.¡±

 Final Chapter: 04:45

    <h1>Final Chapter: 04:45</h1>


    As the hours to sunrise drew ever closer, Theo absolutely tore down the roads in the cab, with its owner still stuffed in the back. Theo had a look of sheer determination on his face as he blasted along at speeds that would get him instantly arrested if were ever caught by a cop.


    ¡°So where are we going to find Phantom, Othello?¡±


    ¡°I have no fucking idea, Fallen!¡± Theo boomed in reply.


    ¡°Where is that ¨C wait, you do not know?!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t!¡± Theo replied. ¡°There aren¡¯t any fucking concrete locations or anything in this piece of shit¡¯s memories!¡±


    ¡°Then what do we do, Othello?¡±


    ¡°We have no choice but to look for that bastard! We¡¯re going to go to every place that Krazy Fucker and Phantom ever had meetings in, and hopefully, we bump into him.¡±


    ¡°Is that going to work, Othello?¡±


    ¡°At the moment, it¡¯s our best and only option.¡± Theo said as his eyes began to glow.


    ¡°Very well.¡± The Fallen said as its eyes glowed along with Theo¡¯s.


    As they drove back towards the city, Theo looked particularly focused. The Fallen looked down at him, and lowered itself down onto his shoulder.


    ¡°What are you thinking, Othello?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about how vile people can be. It was something I often put out of my mind back when I was active in my previous life, but now? The shit I¡¯m seeing in my mind after having consumed those brains is disturbing, and it¡¯s all I can do not to throw up right now.¡±


    ¡°The mind of a demon is a vile thing, Othello.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the thing, though; because with the exception of Native, the memories I¡¯m seeing are all from before they had even thought of signing Contracts. Heck, Mike D wasn¡¯t Contracted either, he was forced¡­ much like the other Roaches.¡±


    ¡°How much of their memories have you been able to unlock?¡±


    ¡°Not a lot, to be honest. It just also made me wonder how something like that Phantom bastard, who was able to mutilate children to death without so much as a smattering of guilt, was before becoming a Contracted Human. I mean, I¡¯ve done things that required me to completely switch off my conscience many times in the past. How far was I from becoming a completely amoral person, like Phantom?¡±


    The Fallen continued to look at Theo for some time after he finished speaking, as if it was trying to formulate a question in its mind.


    ¡°Does that bother you, Othello?¡± It finally asked.


    ¡°What? That I could have turned out like Phantom?¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°I honestly couldn¡¯t tell you. I mean, considering how people like him and I live, there are certain things that we have to come to terms with.¡±


    ¡°Such as?¡±


    ¡°Such as the fact that things tend to go one of two ways ¨C either the things we do render us desensitised to most of the shit we get asked to do, or we become unable to handle it all, and break down physically and mentally. Native claimed to have discovered pleasure in eating¡­ he just finally snapped whilst on duty, and murdered and ate his squad mates. Whichever demon from the Jagged Horn Clan ended up signing a Contract with him only capitalised on what happened organically ¨C well, at least in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°Which direction were you headed in?¡± The Fallen asked.


    ¡°I think I was right on the edge of going some kind of way, but I can¡¯t quite be sure. I longed for love and family, yet I didn¡¯t bat an eye when I myself obliterated a person¡¯s family. There¡¯s a chance I could have turned into an unfeeling psychopath like Phantom.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°None of this matters anyway, because regardless of whether it is a human, a demon or a Contracted Human, there is evil in every heart.¡± Theo said as he shrugged dismissively.


    ¡°Some people mistake duty, for evil, Othello.¡±


    ¡°In what way?¡± Theo asked.


    ¡°Everything you have done leading up to this point¡­ you have taken the lives of many, in painful and gruesome ways, not for enjoyment or pleasure, but out of a sense of duty towards your wife and children. Sometimes, in order to ensure that one¡¯s duty is fulfilled, one has no choice but to do things, and become something that others consider to be evil. There are very few things in this state of being that we call existence which are as binary as good and evil, Othello.¡±


    Theo took his eyes off the road for just a second to look at the Fallen¡¯s vessel which remained on his shoulder. It was looking directly ahead with a pensive expression he was seeing for the first time on its face.


    ¡°That, I most certainly agree with.¡± Theo said as he looked back at the road.


    The cab was moving at speeds that it had never hit before, and Theo found himself having to slow down as they entered the more urban areas of the city outskirts.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting close to the first place I can find in Native¡¯s memories.¡±


    ¡°I see. Hopefully we will find him there.¡±


    After a few more minutes, the cab pulled into the parking lot of a 24 hour diner. Othello quickly stepped out of the car and strode purposely towards the door. He burst in to find a few patrons sitting in there drinking some early morning coffee. Theo¡¯s head darted around as his eyes quickly scanned the room. Everybody stopped to look at this man, dressed in an absolutely ruined suit that was stained with blood, dirt and whatever else was on there. He had what they thought was a crazed look on his face and in his eyes, and nobody moved or said a thing.


    ¡°Shit, he¡¯s not here!¡± The man exclaimed. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± He said afterwards.


    Everybody watched him fly out of the diner, and they were under the impression that he was absolutely crazy.


    Theo and the Fallen flew back into the cab, and with some wheel spin, shot out of parking lot and zoomed down the road.


    ¡°On to the next one!¡± Theo barked as the cab flew down the roads.


    Luckily for Theo and the Fallen, they were deep into the winter months, so the sun would only rise after 07:00 AM or so, so they still had time. What they didn¡¯t have were clear and empty roads as they had been enjoying throughout the entire night, with people up and about, driving and walking to work. Due to this handicap, Theo had to pick and choose when he would floor it, and when he would drive like a sane human being.


    ¡°What is the next location, Othello?¡±


    ¡°A coffee shop a few minutes away from here!¡± Theo responded as he haphazardly punched the name of the coffee shop into the navigation. ¡°I noticed a few things about that diner that I¡¯ll have to keep an eye out for at them fucking caf¨¦.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t answer as he violently swerved into the oncoming lane and floored it, bursting past a few cars, gunning towards a car approaching the same intersection as he was. It was as if Theo was playing a game of chicken with the opposing car, and in spite of honking and flickering lights, Theo continued to accelerate, before pulling the handbrake, initiating over-steer and throwing the cab into the intersection.


    ¡°Turn right.¡± The robotic sounding voice of the navigation calmly stated in the middle of the chaotic, tyre squealing maneuver.


    After Theo barbarically forced his way through the intersection, he once again gunned it, and moments later, parked the cab outside the coffee shop, leaving the car running as he burst out and ran towards the entrance. He virtually broke the door as he entered, and started scanning the tables and such, looking at all of the staff as well as the few customers who had made their way in either before or after their morning jogs. His eyes quickly scanned the entire shop, before he turned around and ran back into the cab. As Theo jumped into the front seat, he suddenly realised that he wasn¡¯t alone, finding a well-dressed, middle aged man in an expensive suit and shades in the back.


    ¡°You''re a life saver.¡± He said as he moved to buckle his seat belt. ¡°I need you to take me to--¡±


    ¡°GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!¡± Theo roared.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°GET OUT OF THE CAARRRRR!!!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a cabbie! This is a cab! Is that how you talk to a¡ª¡±


    ¡°GET OUT OF THE CAR!! GET OUT OF THE CAR! GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CARRRR!!!¡±


    There was still some odd hesitation on the guy¡¯s face, which prompted Theo to have a go once again.


    ¡°GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR!!!¡± ¡°GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAAAARRRRRRRR!!!¡±


    Both Theo and the Fallen absolutely roared at this guy simultaneously, causing him to finally get out of the cab, mumbling something about getting touch with Theo¡¯s superiors. Theo then drive off with some wheel spin once again, not even bothering with his seatbelt anymore.


    ¡°What a fucking idiot!¡± He barked as he threw the car into a corner.


    ¡°Where to next, Othello?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another meeting spot they had, but according to the hazy memories I¡¯m sifting through, it¡¯s somewhat further away than I think we can reach, considering how much fuel we have in this fucking car.¡±


    ¡°So what do you plan on doing?¡±


    ¡°We have to stop and refuel, Fallen. There¡¯s a station somewhere between where we are, and our destination. Luckily, I¡¯m somewhat familiar with where we¡¯re headed this time, so we won¡¯t need the nav. Let¡¯s just hope we¡¯ll be fortunate and that Phantom is at this meeting spot.¡±


    ¡°Agreed. Tell me, did you notice those similarities between the two locations that you were looking for?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I did. First of all, both places are open 24 hours a day, meaning they could meet as and when Phantom felt like it. Secondly, the places themselves aren¡¯t particularly busy at early or late hours. Lastly, and most importantly, there are no cameras, either inside the establishments. Meaning, apart from being seen by the odd customer or staff member, there are no records or images of them being there. They can meet in secret without those around them knowing it was a secret meeting.¡±


    ¡°You were able to see all that after being in both establishments for a few seconds?¡±


    ¡°Conditions and situations must be assessed in the time available to you. There¡¯s nothing worse than a surprise during a life or death confrontation.¡±


    ¡°I could not agree more, Othello.¡±


    There was a lull in conversation as Theo drove as recklessly and as rapidly as conditions allowed. He bullied his way through traffic, had the hazard lights on, and his continued use of the horn was particularly skillful, getting people to move out of the way with ease. The noise and urgency seemed to take his mind off of the screaming voices in his head, and after ten or so minutes, they arrived at the petrol filling station, with Theo parking hastily in front of a pump. He quickly got out of the car with the cabbie¡¯s fuel card in tow, and went around to the side with the fuel cap, popping it open.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± he said as he looked at it. ¡°Dude¡¯s name was Sven.¡±


    As he went to slide the card in the pump and get started, every single instinct that Theo had screamed at him to dodge. He dashed forward and created space just as something hit the cab and then the fuel tank, causing it to explode and send Theo flying in the blink of an eye into the small convenience store behind the pumps. The explosion happened in stages, with it growing bigger with each passing stage. The flaming cab flipped and spun before crashing into the convenience store as well, and Sven¡¯s cab, along with his corpse, were both scorched to shit. Once the explosions had subsided, the massive flames continued to burn. A few seconds later, from the rubble of the store, Theo suddenly emerged with great flourish, sending bits of rubble flying everywhere. Black, brown, white and red now coloured his suit like some kind of arrestor bed, and Theo looked in the direction the blast came from as flames danced all around him, yet avoided him as if they feared him.


    ¡°¡­Phantom.¡± Theo growled as he was overcome by a bout of face distorting rage.


    ¡°Remain calm, Othello¡­ as talented as you may be, and smart as you may be, you still face an opponent who is just as talented, just as smart¡­ but vastly superior in terms of strength, speed, and ability. Our Bond is over five hours old¡­ there¡¯s no telling how old his is, which is the only reason why he holds any advantage over you. However, do not be disheartened, Othello! This is the moment you have been fighting for, the moment you have been killing for, the moment, you have been destroying for. Your enemy stands before you, but so does the only opportunity you have at obtaining your heart¡¯s desire ¨C peace for your wife and children. Control your rage. Unleash your wrath. Exact your revenge.¡±


    All throughout the Fallen¡¯s pep talk, Theo¡¯s aura had been pulsing and growing by the second. He suddenly felt immense heat on both wrists, and as he looked down, he saw the crosses glowing from beneath the cuffs, indicating that he could his gun and his sword. His wings suddenly materialised, and with a roar, Theo jumped straight up with a flap of his wings, causing a shockwave to pulse out from where he took off, sending rubble, dust and flames flying everywhere. A few moments later, he landed hard on the roof of an apartment building. He then started running quickly in the direction he had been attacked from, running at blinding speed as he leapt from building to building, making his way towards Phantom. He was ready to evade any and all incoming shots as he approached, yet none were fired. It was as if Phantom fired the shot with the intention to inform Theo of his location, and as he approached a tall, high rise building, Theo brought out his wings once again, before jumping and flapping, doing a double jump and flying straight up and reaching the top of said building. As Theo rose above the edge of the roof, he found the man he had been chasing after the entire night standing there, dressed exactly as he had been when he was in Theo¡¯s house. In his right hand, he held his rifle, as his jagged bladed weapon hung on his hip. The goggles of his mask glowed bright red, and the tail of his coat fluttered as Theo¡¯s wings flapped once to keep him a float in the air. Phantom set his gun down on the ground and started clapping slowly.


    ¡°Wow, I honestly didn¡¯t believe it when I first saw you, but it really is you, Othello Barausse!¡± Phantom said; sounding absolutely delighted to see Theo.


    ¡°¡­Phantom.¡± Theo said with a menacing, yet controlled growl.


    ¡°You know, I knew I liked you for a reason! I¡¯ve been listening to the news, and you have just been tearing through those loyal to me, as well as those loyal to them.¡±


    ¡°Well, I had to find you, didn¡¯t I? Nobody knew where you were, and I had to go through them one by one until I found somebody who did.¡±


    ¡°Of course you did! You''re so resourceful!¡± Phantom said, clapping again. ¡°You know, I saw that glint of determination and willpower in your eyes moments before pulling the trigger, and I was hopeful! Hopeful that you had survived! How did you manage it? You weren¡¯t one of us Contracted when we were all in the house. Did you sign it afterwards? I¡¯d like to know!¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± Theo said as he wafted down on to the roof. ¡°After what you did to my family, do you think you have the right to talk to me so casually?¡±


    ¡°Oooohhh, so chilling.¡± Phantom said. ¡°I told you in your house, Othello ¨C I know everything about you¡­ and I mean everything. Here you are, so angry about what happened to your wife and kids. I do admit that level of cruelty was absolutely uncalled for, but do you think you have the right to act as you have, considering the things you¡¯ve done in the past, huh Bringer of Death? Harbinger of Despair? Former Captain of the Allied Families¡¯ Death Squad, Othello Barausse!¡±


    Theo¡¯s face twitched as Phantom spoke, especially when he just rattled off his titles, and his previous occupation.


    ¡°Your actions, heinous as they were, were what the Allied Families used to become as big and as powerful as they are. The people you eradicated without a second thought, the families you ripped apart or whose numbers you severely lowered, the people you crippled¡­ I know all about them.¡±


    ¡°Enough! Are you saying my family deserved to be done in like that because of my past deeds?¡±


    ¡°Not at all, Othello; however I was just following orders¡­ just as you once did.¡±


    ¡°Who sent you to my family?! Who paid you to do that to them?!¡± Theo boomed as his composure was slowly slipping.


    ¡°Nobody paid me, Othello. I was simply ordered to do it. The payment angle was used to satisfy my men; that is all. I paid them out of my own pocket.¡±


    Theo¡¯s eyes grew wide as he balked at this new information. He clenched his fists as his face became riddled with anger.


    ¡°Oh, and before you even ask, I¡¯m done shooting my mouth off. I may like you, but I don¡¯t like you enough to disobey orders. If you want the information I possess, you know what you have to do.¡±


    Theo let out a massive roar and he burst forward from where he was standing, using his wings to help propel him towards Phantom. He threw a one-two combination that was parried, before quickly throwing an elbow aimed at Phantom¡¯s head. Phantom caught the elbow in his left hand, and went for Theo¡¯s body with a short hook. Theo twisted his torso to evade the shot while pulling his elbow back and quickly readjusted his feet, before sweeping his right foot at Phantom¡¯s ¨C trying to knock him off balance. Phantom raised his foot just enough to avoid Theo¡¯s, but Theo quickly hit him with a shoulder barge to get him off balance further, before turning and opening up his body and aiming a left hook at his body. Phantom thrust his left hand down and palmed Theo¡¯s fist away, before quickly throwing his elbow towards his chin. Theo just managed to lean his head back and avoid the elbow. Phantom, who had recovered from the shoulder barge, followed up the elbow with a punch aimed for Theo¡¯s face, and Theo quickly moved to duck below the fist, when he suddenly found that the straight punch had become an uppercut. He quickly forced his head to the side to avoid the fist, slipping it as it grazed his ear while zipping past his head. Theo slid in a semi-circular motion as he circled around Phantom, before attempting once more to sweep Phantom¡¯s feet away. He saw it coming once again, and was able to evade by hopping over Theo¡¯s foot, before suddenly spinning in midair, and extending his leg with such incredible speed, Theo almost missed it. He raised his right arm and braced it with his left as he blocked the incoming kick, before grabbing hold of Phantom¡¯s ankle with the intention of throwing him. He was unable to however, as Phantom¡¯s other foot suddenly came up from below with the intention of kicking Theo¡¯s head right off. Theo was able to jerk his head away quick enough; however he had to relinquish his grip on Phantom¡¯s ankle. He immediately went on the offensive, as he attempted to punt Phantom while he was still upside down and attempting to complete him somersault. The kick was blocked however, and Phantom quickly placed both hands on the concrete below, and attempted a windmill kick of sorts, spinning and extending both legs. Theo quickly squatted down, and shaped to throw a combination, but Phantom quickly flipped away out of range, before landing on his feet. Both men then stood up and eyed each other; however Theo was actually breathing somewhat hard, despite how brief the exchange was. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I''m IMPRESSED, Othello!¡± Phantom boomed as he clapped one more. ¡°You are skilled! Not flashy, but skilled! And your powers of observation and concentration are both top notch! I went for the kill a few times there.¡±


    Theo focused on his breathing, as he inhaled deeply.


    ¡°That shit was insane.¡± He said to himself. ¡°If caught clean by even one of those, I would have been in serious trouble.¡±


    ¡°Do not let that intimidate you, Othello.¡± The Fallen encouraged.


    ¡°Who do you think you¡¯re talking to, Fallen? I don¡¯t have time to be intimidated.¡±


    Theo clenched his fists as he drew out some more power, his aura pulsing as he did. It also grew in size, and Phantom tilted his head to the side, before activating his own aura, which was black and glossy ¨C almost like wet tarmac. Theo suddenly dashed towards Phantom once more, and the two engaged in a high level, high speed bout of fisticuffs. Their hands and feet were an absolute blur as they went at it. Theo was throwing combinations to the body and head that were being parried and evaded, while Phantom attempt to counter, and have his own attempts narrowly evaded, or parried. Theo¡¯s attempts at kicking Phantom, either low or high were as fruitless as his punches, with Phantom able to either avoid or block them. Phantom even started switching it up, attempting to catch either a wrist or an ankle, with the intention of twisting or breaking it. Theo managed to avoid or break the holds, but they were becoming too frequent, and made Theo feel somewhat uneasy. The speed the two men were fighting at was so high, that they started generating shockwaves which emanated from where they standing. Their respective auras clashed with each other, and white and black battled for supremacy in the slowly fading darkness. Theo found that he was having more and more close calls however, and after deflecting a two punch combination and attempting to counter, he fell for a feint that caused him to rush his punch, and got caught clean on the cheek. That single punch was so insanely hard, it produced a shockwave and buckled Theo¡¯s knees. To his credit however, Theo neither blinked nor took his eyes off of Phantom, and saw the follow up blow coming. He quickly dashed backwards to avoid it all together, but Phantom was quickly on him, and zipped right to him to continue the fight. The fight continued along this path, with the pair zipping around the roof at blurring speed. Theo was getting tagged during the engagements, and worryingly, the time between each connected hit was gradually decreasing. Theo¡¯s face was also showing signs of wear and tear; as blood was now flowing from both his nose and mouth.


    ¡®More speed!¡¯ Theo barked to himself, as if he was ordering his body to move faster.


    It duly obliged however, and Theo¡¯s aura grew even larger as he started moving faster and faster in an attempt to gain the upper hand in the fight. Phantom however was having none of it, as his own aura got bigger, and he himself drew out more speed. Unfortunately for Theo, it got to the point where he was unable to draw out any more speed, and Phantom was able to keep going, moving faster and faster, until Theo was being peppered with so many shots, his head was bouncing around like a speedball. After a particularly ferocious combination, Theo was sent hurtling off of the roof of the tall building as blood spewed from his nose and mouth, before he crashed onto the roof of one below, bouncing and rag-dolling to the edge.


    ¡°Othello!¡± The Fallen shouted as it seemed as though it was attempting to rouse Theo.


    ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡± Theo responded as he sat up and shook his head curtly. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡±


    Theo slowly stood up and looked up towards Phantom, who was standing on the edge of the building, looking down at him. After wiping the blood away with his sleeve and blowing blood out from his nostrils, Theo held out his right hand, and with a flashy glow, as well as some rustling of his suit jacket, Theo summoned Ygg¡¯Rael, which appeared impressively in said hand. He gave it a few swings, as if he was trying to loosen his shoulder, his eyes barely blinking and never losing sight of Phantom.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this Ygg¡¯Rael.¡± Theo said; the fire in his eyes not even slightly diminished.


    The wings of his cape appeared on his back once more, and just as Theo was about to jump up, Phantom suddenly jumped down on his own, grabbing his blade from his hip and swung down, as Theo let out a determined roar and swung Ygg¡¯Rael as well, grabbing it with both hands in the process. As the two blades made contact with each other, another shockwave pulsed out from between Theo and Phantom, causing coattails and jackets to flutter violently in the process. The sound was nigh on eardrum shatteringly loud, and for the brief moment that Phantom and Theo¡¯s blades were pressed against each other, there was a kind of stillness.


    ¡°You continue to impress, Othello!¡± Phantom said with a chuckle.


    Theo just bared his teeth in rage and pushed as hard as he could to throw Phantom back. He succeeded, and as Phantom¡¯s feet touched the concrete and slid backwards, Theo was on him, having dashed towards him. With an almighty swing of Ygg¡¯Rael, Theo slashed across Phantom, forcing him to parry the strike. Theo¡¯s skill with Ygg¡¯Rael had improved tremendously since he first used it in Club S for some reason, and apart from being able to swing it faster, we was more nimble and skillful with it.


    ¡®Alright, overwhelm him.¡¯ Theo said to himself.


    He swung and slashed for all he was worth, using horizontal and vertical strikes while pushing the issue to try and keep Phantom on the back foot. He would feint going for Phantom¡¯s neck, before quickly changing and aiming for his body, slicing from above and then below, just not letting up. Space Rippers were being performed with almost every other strike, and Phantom was blocking, parrying, deflecting and evading for all he was worth at first, just focusing on defense. The weight behind each of Theo¡¯s attacks was such that he was either buckling Phantom¡¯s knees, or lifting him off of his feet. Despite this, Phantom never came across as being particularly flustered or panicked. In fact, he didn¡¯t come across as being under pressure or anything, he seemed as though he was just biding his time, waiting for the correct opportunity. Theo launched Ygg¡¯Rael into a baseball bat type swing which caught Phantom a little by surprise and sent him flying towards the building behind him. Theo quickly leapt off of the edge of the roof, his wings instantly appearing and flapping as he did. Phantom landed with his feet pressed against the side of the building and pushed off; flying through the air towards Theo and going on the offensive for the first time since the initial attack. Theo held Ygg¡¯Rael up horizontally to deflect the incoming attack, which he actually managed to do. However, the attack from Phantom was so powerful, that he actually caused Theo to spin and flip about in the air as he went past. Theo had to use his wings to quickly recover before he himself reached the same point on the wall Phantom pushed off of. As Theo¡¯s feet came into contact with the wall, he noticed how it had actually cracked and had a slight indent. Nevertheless, Theo pushed off of it as well, and flew towards Phantom who had already landed back on the roof. He flapped a few times to increase the speed and momentum of his dash, and with an immense swing, crashed Ygg¡¯Rael right into Phantom¡¯s weapon in a reverse of their positions from the beginning of the sword fight. The result was the same however, as another shockwave beamed out. Theo quickly flipped over and landed on his feet, before dashing towards Phantom once again. This time, Phantom dashed forward to meet him, and the two engaged in an exchange similar to the fist fight from before, dashing about on the roof as their respective blades became little more than colourful blurs. Sparks flew around like crazy as the pair tried to kill each other, however much like with the fist fight, it quickly became readily apparent that no matter how hard and fast Theo¡¯s attacks were, Phantom was able to be faster and stronger, and Theo soon found himself on the back foot once again. Phantom was finding it easier to evade and counter, after having gotten used to Theo¡¯s speed. Theo now had to avoid more attacks than he had to parry, as Phantom was becoming too fast with his blade for him to block with Ygg¡¯Rael. The evaded strikes were all close shaves which resulting in small nicks and cuts that all bled, and Theo¡¯s blood began to decorate the roof both men were on, much like it decorated the roof they were previously on. Phantom was getting closer and closer to landing a critical strike on Theo, and in an attempt to prevent that and create some distance between Phantom and himself, Theo suddenly attacked and pressed Ygg¡¯Rael against Phantom¡¯s blade.


    ¡°Grow, Ygg¡¯Rael!¡± Theo commanded.


    Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s blade suddenly extended much like it did in Club S, and drove Phantom off of his feet. Theo swung with all his might as the blade continued to grow and extend, smashing Phantom into, and then through one wall of the building, before doing the same to the other one.


    ¡°FUCK YEAH!!¡± Theo boomed as he fist pumped, before composing himself.


    He then ran and after summoning his wings, double jumped over the building with Ygg¡¯Rael raised high above his head, ready to strike from distance again when he saw Phantom. That plan was quickly thrown out of the window however, as Theo found Phantom standing on the roof of yet another building, holding and pointing his rifle in his direction.


    ¡°How the fuck did he¡ª¡±


    Theo was interrupted by Phantom shooting, and he quickly had to use Ygg¡¯Rael to deflect the bullet. Luckily for Theo, Ygg¡¯Rael¡¯s blade was massive, and while it managed to deflect the bullet, a large portion of the blade actually melted as a result of the deflection. Theo, who was spinning in midair once again quickly let go of Ygg¡¯Rael, and as the damaged sword disappeared with a flash while another flash in his left hand brought out Daemon¡¯s Bane, and after recovering, Theo pointed the gun at Phantom. He then pulled the trigger, and shot a plethora of bullets at him. Phantom quickly dashed away from where he was standing, and the bullets all hit the roof following his path. Theo quickly dashed towards a roof and landed on it, having become completely adept at using the cape now. He dashed to the edge of the building, and quickly had to make evasive movements to his side to dodge an incoming bullet, with zipped past him and into a building, completely passing through both walls.


    ¡°I absolutely can NOT get hit by one of those!¡± Theo remarked as he looked at the damage just one bullet caused.


    He then returned fire with a bunch of bullets. A game of cat and mouse reminiscent to the one he had with Mike D broke out on the rooftops as the sun slowly but surely drove the darkness away. Theo and Phantom dashed and danced across the rooftops, with Phantom firing one deadly shot at a time, and Theo firing in bunches; both men missing. Theo was sweating heavily as he had been fighting at full blast the entire time, doing his utmost to not only keep up, but also win the fight. He was dashing and double jumping across buildings all while evading and returning fire. The chase between the two had them circling around the block, with them both taking on the role of the cat and the mouse.


    ¡®Close the gap, Othello!¡¯ Theo said as he referred to himself as Othello for the first time in years.


    He worked particularly hard to close the gap, taking more chances and trying to slip the bullets coming from Phantom as opposed to avoiding them completely. For better or for worse, Theo had assumed the mantle of aggressor once again, chasing Phantom who was able to jump across the buildings and move at such speed without any wings or the like. Theo, who was sucking in air at every opportunity had chased Phantom all the way back to that high rise building that was the location of their initial exchange. Phantom was running up the side of the building, while Theo double jumped up the side of it, as both zipped towards the top. Theo had Daemon¡¯s Bane ready, and seemed somewhat desperate in his actions. He activated the quadruple sight, looking at Phantom through it while pointing the gun at the running man. As Phantom reached the top of the building, Theo thought he was going to stop on the roof, but instead, he jumped off of the edge and flew straight up. He pointed his rifle at Theo, who in turn had pointed Daemon¡¯s Bane at him. Both men had their auras active the whole time, and both men pulled the triggers of their respective weapons at the same time. Theo¡¯s Omega Blast illuminated the entire block as it flew towards Phantom, shattering windows along the way. Phantom fired his own beam towards Theo, and the moment during which both attacks made contact with each other produced a light so bright, it would probably have blinded anybody who happened to lay eyes on it. That said, the clash between the two attacks barely lasted, as Phantom¡¯s blast completely overpowered Theo¡¯s Omega Blast, disintegrating it as it came bearing down on Theo, who didn¡¯t even have time to use his wings to protect himself the way he did against Mike D. The blast hit Theo, and for the duration of the blast, those few moments, Theo felt the WORST pain he had EVER experienced in his entire life. The scream he produced could not even be heard as it was drowned out within the giant red beam produced by Phantom¡¯s rifle. Theo was driven into the ground with such speed and force, he was sure that EVERYTHING was broken. There was a MASSIVE flare of red light, coupled with a thunderous boom, and after a few seconds, it all passed and everything settled. In the middle of a smoking crater, Theo lay in a crumpled heap, absolutely motionless. Most of his suit had been burnt to shit, with all four sleeves and his shoes completely gone. His skin was exposed, and incredibly burnt, and his mouth was wide open. Despite barely being able to breath, Theo¡¯s eyes were still firmly fixed on Phantom, who was making his way down from the building. All of a sudden, everything went dark and completely silent, and much like it had done in the house and at the school, the Fallen appeared before Theo in the form of its silhouette. It just stood in silence, looking down at Theo, who was an absolute mess. It had no idea how Theo was still alive, but it was grateful that he was.


    ¡°Othello¡­¡± The Fallen said after a while. ¡°Look at the state you are currently in.¡±


    Theo did not respond. In fact, he could not respond, as breathing was pretty much all he could do in his state. He just looked at the Fallen with a look that it could instantly tell meant ¡®What do you want?¡±


    ¡°We are running out of time, and we are also running out of options. You do not have much time left in the land of the living, and we are no closer to realising our goal of bringing peace to your family. Despite my lack of power at this point in time, I can help you, Othello. I can help you bring this so-called Phantom down, but I need you to help me help you.¡±


    Theo just looked at the Fallen. A plethora of thoughts ran through his mind, ranging from how weak and pathetic he felt, to what it was the Fallen was proposing.


    ¡°I have a technique that creates portals to a dimension of my creation. I can prepare one such dimension, as well as one such portal, exclusively for this Phantom. However due to my current lack of power, I¡¯ll need time to set it all up. Considering your current physical condition, you can barely muster up enough time to recover to the point where you can talk, let alone fight. I do however have a¡­ solution, of sorts.¡±


    The Fallen¡¯s eyes glowed as three black orbs of energy suddenly appeared in front of it. Streaks of white lightning danced around the surface of the orbs, and the Fallen looked at Theo once more.


    ¡°These are three examples of the portals I can create, and within the dimensions these portals lead to, lay the bodies of Black Widow, Mike D and Krazy Native. Call forth my pets; have them enter the portals and feed, Othello! It is the only way!¡±


    Theo¡¯s eyes grew in size as protested vehemently in his mind, and with his soul. It was already bad enough that he had consumed a number of human brains during the course of the night, but he absolutely refused to consume human flesh. While Theo was in the midst of thinking about all those things, he suddenly heard something that had been drowned out by the sounds of chaos since he began searching for Phantom.


    ¡°Daddy!¡¯


    ¡°Help me, Daddy!¡±


    ¡°It hurts! Make it stop, Daddy!¡±


    The cries of his children, the resigned look on Jess¡¯ face, they all flooded into Theo¡¯s mind, and tears welled up under his eyes.


    ¡®I have to make this stop!¡¯ Theo thought to himself. ¡®Whatever happens to me is immaterial; I must give Jess and the kids peace!¡¯


    All of a sudden, Theo¡¯s smoking, burnt heap of a body started glowing white as the two serpent creatures made their way out from his shoulders. One by one, the pair shot into each portal and began to consume, much to the Fallen¡¯s barely contained delight. A massive, sadistic smile appeared on the white figure¡¯s face, revealing a mouth full of sharp, black teeth, accompanied by a bone chilling chortle. Feeding time didn¡¯t last all too long, and soon after the pets had emerged from the third and final portal, Theo¡¯s flashing body suddenly seemed to burst with even more light, as the darkness and the Fallen¡¯s silhouette faded out. Phantom, who had been moving so quickly that even during the period when time had been slowed down, was right in front of Theo when a massive orb of white light enveloped Theo¡¯s body within the crater, and grew in size until it virtually exploded, causing Phantom to shield his eyes from the resulting light, despite the goggles on his mask. Once the flare had died down, Phantom looked down into the crater in which there was a massive smoke cloud. The cloud was suddenly blown away with a flap of Theo¡¯s wings, to reveal him standing in the centre, skin looking healthy and non-ashy. The wings on his back were now huge ¨C at least double the size they were previously. His hair had once again become a mop of loose, luminescent curls, glowing white and gently moving and waving in the air above his head. His forehead and area around his eyes was subject to vasodilation, and his eyes were glowing brightly, a substance that looked similar to his aura pulsing out from them into the sky. In his right hand, Theo held Ygg¡¯Rael with ease, and in his left, he held Daemon¡¯s Bane. They pets were still present, and had been beefed up, now thicker, winged, and had a similar, horned or tusked appearance to the Fallen¡¯s permanent vessel. Every few seconds, the veins popping out from Theo¡¯s head and arms glowed with a golden pulse, and as he opened his mouth to exhale, his extended canines came into view.


    ¡°¡­that was fucking disgusting.¡± Theo remarked as breathed out.


    ¡°Most of the Life Essence you received went towards healing you, Othello, so holding Phantom off will not be simple.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, Fallen. How much time do you need?¡±


    ¡°No more than six minutes; no less than five.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck kind of an answer is that? Anyway, I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡±


    ¡°¡­kick his ass, Othello.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me twice, Fallen.¡± Theo said as his aura pulsed slowly.


    With a slight rattle, Theo disappeared from Phantom¡¯s sight, before suddenly reappearing in the air in front of him and swung Ygg¡¯Rael down from above. If it wasn¡¯t for the splitting asphalt below that followed after Theo¡¯s movements, Phantom would not have been able to keep up. He raised his blade and held to horizontally to block the blow, but his instincts screamed at him, telling him to avoid the strike altogether. Phantom moved as quickly as his legs could take him, and it was just as well, as the instant Ygg¡¯Rael made contact with the ground below, a large portion of the ground simply vanished as it was vaporized by the energy the sword was now exuding. Theo took a moment to look at his hand and sword in awe, before turning his attention back to Phantom. He had yet to touch the ground, and with a single flap of his wings, he was onto Phantom like a flash, driving his foot into his gut and for the first time, connected with an attack, sending him ripping through the air before smashing his way right through two buildings. As Phantom tried to recover in the air, he looked to see that Theo had already moved in front of him, and just as he raised his guard, Theo absolutely punted him like a rugby ball, sending him flying up and through a few more walls. Theo flapped his wings once more, and moved at such startling speed, it even rendered him completely surprised. He stopped where he predicted Phantom¡¯s trajectory would carry him, and lo and behold, he ended up flying there. Theo, while still holding Ygg¡¯Rael, absolutely slugged Phantom in the cheek, sending him flying towards the ground, looking as though he was going to smash into the road below. Phantom¡¯s coattails suddenly morphed into large, black feathered wings, and with a few hard flaps, he managed to stop himself from hitting the ground. He then flapped a few more times and absolutely zipped up in Theo¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Wow! You are incredible, Othello!¡± Phantom sincerely gushed. ¡°You only took in that much, yet you¡¯ve become that strong!¡±


    Phantom made his own blade materialise much like Theo had with Ygg¡¯Rael, and with a roar, swung at Theo who raised Ygg¡¯Rael to chest level, and performed downward slash.


    ¡°Space Ripper.¡± He said in a virtual whisper.


    That small slash and whisper produced a giant, crescent shaped sword beam that shot towards Phantom, who had to quickly raise his blade to block it. It hit his blade with a loud ¡®clang¡¯, and sent him hurtling towards the ground once more. Just as with the first instance, Phantom used his wings to steady and prevent himself from smashing into the tarmac below. As he looked up, he saw that Theo had raised his own sword once more.


    ¡°Space Ripper; Barrage.¡±


    Theo performed a procession of cross-shaped diagonal slashes, shooting a whole host of Space Rippers down at Phantom. They all hit like machinegun fire, and as they hit, the tar was torn to shreds. After they all hit the ground, there was a massive smoke cloud that was obscuring Theo¡¯s view. Moments later, Phantom came bursting out from the cloud, increased his speed and disappeared, before appearing above Theo and driving his sword down ferociously. Theo just raised Ygg¡¯Rael to block, and did so with consummate ease. It didn¡¯t even look like he was trying at this point, and before Phantom could do or say anything, Theo went on the offensive once more.


    ¡°Grow, Ygg¡¯Rael.¡±


    Ygg¡¯Rael suddenly extended much it had before, only much quicker and much further than ever before as Theo slashed downwards once more, Ygg¡¯Rael bending like a whip as it drove Phantom through a series of walls, and much to Phantom¡¯s great annoyance, into the tarmac below with a massive crash. Ygg¡¯Rael quickly went back to regular size, as Theo started to float down towards the ground when he suddenly saw Phantom pointing his rifle at him. As Phantom pulled the trigger, Theo pointed Daemon¡¯s Bane at him.


    ¡°Omega Blast.¡±


    The two pets, which had been quietly and patiently watching, suddenly opened their respective mouths, and the Flames of Purity immediately shot out, swirling around and combining with the Omega Blast. They hit Phantom¡¯s beam, and much like the previous time, one beam completely eviscerated the other ¨C only this time, the Omega Blast did the eviscerating. A similar explosion to the previous one happened, only this time, the flash of light was white. Within the crater that was left behind, Phantom lay on his back with most of his body armour scorched. His coat was burned and singed, but still in one piece, and unlike Theo after taking a similar attack, he wasn¡¯t completely wrecked.


    ¡°Fuck me¡­ this guy is crazy strong. Just how tough is he?¡± Theo said in frustration.


    Theo descended all the way down to the ground, his bare feet touching the tar for the first time since his transformation. He walked up to the crater¡¯s edge, and stood looking down at Phantom. One of the serpent pets suddenly shot down towards Phantom, wrapped itself around his ankle and pulled him out, holding him up and dangling him in front of Theo. Just as Theo held Daemon¡¯s Bane in front of Phantom¡¯s face with the intention of shooting, both weapons and the wings all disappeared, and the pets¡¯ appearance suddenly went back to normal.


    ¡°What the fuck?! Oh no!¡± Theo boomed as Phantom quickly capitalised.


    His free foot suddenly flashed down and connected with Theo¡¯s cheek, sending him reeling as the pet released his ankle. He quickly flipped over and landed on his feet, before unleashing an assault on Theo, punching him with lightning quick and unnecessarily hard punches that surely broke his ribs and cracked his jaw as he threw them to the body and the head, before grabbing his right arm at the wrist, raising it high as he turned to have his back face Theo and brought it down hard on his shoulder, breaking his arm in two places as he did that twice, before repeating it on Theo¡¯s left arm. All this was happening so quickly, Theo¡¯s body had no idea what to have Theo scream in pain for, and before it could decide, Phantom drove his right boot into Theo¡¯s stomach, and sent him flying backwards, his body bouncing off the surface as he rag-dolled to a painful halt. Phantom slowly approached Theo, clapping the entire time as he did.


    ¡®Piece of shit used my own move against me¡­¡¯ Theo thought as he lay there.


    ¡°Holy shit, you really are great, Othello. In terms of natural ability or talent, you may even surpass me! But to be honest with you, there is one fundamental difference between you and me¡­¡±


    Phantom the crouched over Theo¡¯s body, and grabbed a handful of his still loose and glowing curls. He suddenly yanked Theo¡¯s head up as he brought his down, delivering a series of brutal headbutts that left Theo¡¯s forehead bleeding.


    ¡°¡­and that difference my friend, is age; both of our respective ages, as well as the ages of our Bonds. You see, you, aren¡¯t yet 31¡­ and your Bond, must be hours old. Me? Well, I don¡¯t want to give away my age, but¡­ I¡¯ve had over 300 years together with my Contracted Demon¡­ I have a Bond that is centuries old. There are just certain barriers that natural talent cannot break down and overcome.¡±


    Phantom then gave Theo one last headbutt before tossing him down onto the ground. He then stood up slowly, and made his rifle materialise in his right hand, before pointing it down at Theo¡¯s head.


    ¡°Goodbye, Othello Barausse¡­ it¡¯s a real shame that such talent has to end here.¡±


    Just as Phantom was about to pull the trigger, a large black orb appeared behind him, causing him to stop and turn back to look at it.


    ¡°What the fuck is that?¡±


    ¡°Now, Othello! Force him into the portal!¡± The Fallen screamed.


    All of a sudden, Theo let out a roar as the two serpent pets shot up, both opened their mouths and spewed out the Flames of Purity, which quickly formed a beam and hit Phantom on the chest, lifting him off his feet and pushing him towards, and eventually, into the portal. There was an explosion that happened within the dimension, the remnants of which forced Theo off his back, and to smash into a car, flip over the car, and then crash into the wall of the apartment building behind him. Almost as soon as Theo hit the wall, the portal closed, and everything went quiet. Theo found himself sitting up with his back against the wall, his broken arms slumped down by his side, and his head hung low. His breathing was heavy and ragged, and the area was becoming brighter as the sun forced its way through the darkness. The Fallen¡¯s silhouette suddenly formed once more, however it was not accompanied by the usual time slowing darkness. The silhouette was actually bigger than in the previous instances, and Theo could vaguely make out some details, such as the Fallen¡¯s long, flowing hair, somewhat elongated face, and giant wings that were spread out completely. It stood like a human male, but then again, Theo couldn¡¯t be sure.


    ¡°You did it, Othello.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, fucking hell¡­ that bastard was stronger than anybody has any right being¡­ and he wasn¡¯t even the shot-caller. But fuck it, I avenged my family¡¯s murder, and that¡¯s all that fucking counts.¡± Theo said somewhat tiredly as he looked at the Fallen. ¡°He is dead, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Othello. I left a little something in there to take him out, which was helped by the Flames of Purity.¡±


    Theo looked at the Fallen, and smiled as he closed his eyes.


    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯m fucking done¡­¡±


    ¡°Not quite¡­¡± The Fallen said as its eyes started glowing. ¡°I have a surprise for you, Othello.¡±


    Theo didn¡¯t give a shit about whatever surprise the Fallen had for him, until he suddenly heard familiar voices that had been haunting him the whole night.


    ¡°¡­Mister Theo Burrows ¨C open your eyes, Mister Burrows.¡±


    Theo¡¯s eyes suddenly shot open as he saw four white shapes that slowly morphed into ethereal visages of Jess and the kids. They all smiled warmly at him, and looked peaceful and happy. Theo¡¯s eyes immediately welled up with tears, and for the first time since he left his house, Theo allowed himself to confront his grief and his guilt. Tears started to flow from his eyes profusely as he audibly sobbed, shaking his head slowly as he did.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, Love.¡± Theo said in a whisper as his voice cracked. ¡°This is all my fault¡­ everything that happened, was entirely my fault.¡±


    ¡°Shhh, there¡¯ll be none of that.¡± Jess said as she moved to embrace Theo. ¡°What happened to us was not your fault, and even if you had come home sooner, nothing would have changed.


    Theo went from sobbing to bawling as Jess wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close as she braced and caressed his head. Next thing he knew, he could feel his children all hugging his torso, as the sounds of them sobbing could also be heard.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, Daddy!¡± The twins said with their toddler-like drawls.


    ¡°Men don¡¯t cry!¡± Ethan said in a wobbly voice as tears streamed down his little ghost cheeks.


    The entire family just sobbed and cried, before Jess released Theo¡¯s neck and slid down to sit next to him. She lifted his broken left arm and draped it over her shoulders as she snuggled up to him.


    ¡°Come one, let¡¯s snuggle with Daddy one last time, guys¡± Jess said as she sniffled.


    The children all obeyed, as Thandi and Zama both snuggled up to his side beneath is right arm, and Ethan climbed into his lap and snuggled up to him as he wrapped his arms around Theo¡¯s stomach. They all remained like that, as Theo continued to cry and sob. Despite him wanting it to last forever, the final snuggle quickly came to an end, and the souls of his family started to float away from Theo, prompting him to reach out for them. He looked at his arms which had miraculously been healed, before looking back at his departing family.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± He cried out.


    ¡°We have to, I¡¯m sorry. Please, don¡¯t live your life with anger and hatred in your heart, Theo¡­ all I want, all we want, is for you to be happy. Just live your life in a way that makes you happy.¡± The four of them turned back into shapes as they continued to ascend. ¡°Also, eat your broccoli. I¡¯ve never seen a grown man who refuses to eat his greens.¡± Jess rebuked as her voice became fainter and fainter.


    ¡°We love you, Theo.¡± Jess said, before the kids all repeated the line.


    The voices of Jess and the kids all faded away, and Theo¡¯s arms slumped back down to his sides. His wounds had all been healed, and he was in absolutely no danger of passing out or dying.


    ¡°Nagging me right to the end, huh?¡± Theo said as he shook his head with a slight chuckle.


    ¡°That was all the time I could secure, Othello. Anyway, the sun is out, so our time together has also come to an end. It was fun.¡±


    Theo looked at the Fallen as he wiped his remaining tears away with his hands.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ thanks for everything, Fallen.¡±


    ¡°Do not thank me, Othello. Just be ready when you are required to return the favour. Until then.¡±


    The Fallen nodded, and then a portal opened at its feet. In stark contrast to the souls of Theo¡¯s family, the Fallen descended into whatever dimension it resided in, before the portal completely closed. Theo remained in his seated position as the sun came up, and the sound of sirens blaring in the distance could be heard. A guy walked out from an entrance that was to Theo¡¯s left, and after taking a few steps, suddenly started freaking out.


    ¡°Arrrggh, what happened to my car?! What the fuck?!¡±


    Other people finally came out and saw the damage that had been done to the neighbourhood, and started calling the police and such, all while the guy continued screaming about his car.


    ¡°Until then, Fallen.¡± Theo said as he looked up at the morning sky with a smile on his face.