Dark, dried red blood stained the ground as the Owner’s headless body hit the floor. One of the most powerful supernatural beings in Los Angeles, slain by Katie like a dog.

As soon as Katie snapped out of the Hallucination Matrix, the Owner knew he was fucked. For some reason, the torture only empowered Katie. Honestly, he should’ve expected this, but as far as the Owner saw, Katie was a self-healer. Nothing more.

The Owner was powerful, but he was more of a summoner than an actual fighter. His might came from his collection, which he accumulated using Crypt Entertainment. Put him in melee range with someone like Katie Lockwood…

Katie didn't even need to retrieve her Knife. Instead, she tore the Owner’s head right off his body with her brute strength.

“Well, you’re welcome, my friend.” As she was done with the kill, Katie said to herself quietly, referring back to the four boys one last time before stepping on the culprit’s decapitated head, crushing it like a melon.

Not far away from her, Gadreel was still lashing out at all around him as if his powers were endless, which they were not. Katie noticed he felt weaker and weaker by the minute. At this rate, he would burn himself out soon. Unfortunately for him, the death of the Owner didn't turn off the Hallucination Matrix. It was still on auto-pilot, and it was torturing the crap out of Gadreel.

Katie didn't quite know how to help Gadreel. She would be more than happy to drill his eyeballs out as well, but something told her that wouldn’t have the same effect on Gadreel as it did on her. So instead, she casually strolled onto the third floor.

If this was a game and the Owner was the boss, then maybe it was time to collect the loot?

The Owner was extremely wealthy. Katie remembered the promises he made when she and Gadreel first confronted him. Something something Vampire Count essence? Something something Demon? Cursed items? That sounded like a lot of fun! Plus, it was only fit to conclude a kill with some loot!

At the same time, she snickered upon Gadreel’s decision to actually make the deal. Why let the Owner live when you can kill him and take his properties for your own? Vengeance and profit! It was a win-win situation!

Brushing past a line of lit-up computer screens, Katie searched the third floor. It didn't take her too long before her eyes landed on one particular glass bottle that was sitting on a counter. One filled with red blood.

If the Owner was telling the truth, then it was the essence of a Vampire Count. Supposedly, it could make its user a vampire...maybe not a count directly, but it could still grant an ordinary human being with supernatural might. The Owner must’ve returned it to the third floor for safekeeping after she and Gadreel were blinded by the Hallucination Matrix.

That piece of loot might come in handy, but Katie was hardly satisfied. It took her a few minutes to go through the entire floor and retrieve everything there was to retrieve. The results were enough to form a small pile. If the Owner didn't use most of his treasures trying to stop the pair, there could’ve been more.

“Ok...now what?”

In the end, Katie stood there in front of the pile and found herself tapping her chin thoughtfully, unsure of what to do next. Honestly, she didn't understand what most of the objects were for. Maybe she could track down potential buyers for these things? Or perhaps she could just disperse them on the streets of Los Angeles? That would surely lead to some fun results!

What? Maybe she could destroy these potentially deadly items so no one would get hurt from this as a result? Hell no! Did she look that boring?

Just as she was wondering what to do next, footsteps appeared on the stairs, and Katie turned around to find one Gadreel, more worn out than ever.

“Took you long enough.” The brunette noted quietly as she ran her fingers across her pixie haircut. She turned back to the stack of loots. “So, any ideas?”

Gadreel was silent for a moment, which prompted some interest from Katie. Another glance by Katie told her something was off with Gadreel. Well, yes...his powers felt exhausted and he felt weak, but there was something else about him that felt out of the ordinary.

“You good?”

“Depends on your perspective.” The Angel replied in a low voice as he casually stepped forward and stood beside Katie. “I’m...different.”

“Oh yeah? How so?”

Gadreel gave Katie a glance. It was clear he didn't want to have a whole debate about this, but Katie wasn’t one to take no for an answer. Gadreel suspected that if he refused to talk, Katie would be all too happy to nail him to the chair and beat the answer out of him...just to satisfy her curiosity. Plus, the two of them weren’t exactly on the best term, not after Gadreel tried to take Katie by surprise.

He hesitantly provided some explanation.

“Remember what I told you about what’s going on right now with the Angels?”

“Yeah. Heaven fell. All the surviving Angels are forced to reside in the material world. Angels are different from beings of the material realm, so for your kind to exist on Earth, you need to reside in human hosts. The longer you reside in these hosts, the more you are as humans.” Katie scoffed. “Yeah, I took notes.”

“Back when I was under the hallucinations, I was brought back to the Gates of Heaven...at the moment when everything went wrong. Right before Heaven fell. I saw...fellow Angels. In the thousands. They were marching across the Gates of Heaven, ready to sacrifice themselves in a war that they knew they couldn’t win. And on the way, they were all too happy to mock me for failing my duty. For not dying like them.”

“That sounds...noble.”

“Indeed. Noble.” Gadreel snickered. “Back then, I was just like them. I was a weapon of the Lord. An avatar. My sole purpose of existence was to spread the glory of our Savior to every corner of the world. If I was in Heaven back then, I would’ve made the same decision. The very concepts of free will and self-preservation were alien to us. We were machines. That’s it. Machines that run on celestial grace instead of oil and electricity.”

“When Heaven fell and I was forced to reside in a human body for over a decade, I found a mind of my own. No longer will I allow myself to be just another sacrifice in this endless, hopeless war. But...at the same time, I was still an Angel. All I wanted to do was to live out the rest of my life in peace. That...that is the least I can do for my kind.”

The Angel let out a sigh before he turned and stared Katie in the eyes.

“But no more. I am not an Angel, and I don’t want to be an Angel. When I was seeing the hallucinations, I was faced with a choice. Accept my own failures as a soldier of the Lord and acknowledge that I am no longer his servant, or watch myself be torn apart by my own guilt. I...I have made my choice.”

“I am not an Angel anymore. I am just a being with Angelic powers and grace...a being who doesn’t want to die just yet.”

“So…” Katie’s voice trailed off. She wasn't exactly getting what the not-Angel was saying. “Does that make you a villain or something? Are you going to kill me now?” She wondered in exaggeration.

“Nope. It just makes me more...practical. More realistic.” Gadreel replied in silence. He turned to the pile of loot for a brief moment before snapping back to Katie with a little more caution. “But...just so we’re clear, we’re cool, right?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well, I did backstab you back when that scum was offering to pay us for mercy. Good job with the head, by the way. I actually stepped on it again by accident…”

Even as he said all that, Gadreel was taking a few steps back carefully, his eyes observing Katie’s every move. Like he just said, he had no intention of dying just now. Katie would be a formidable opponent, but he wasn’t going to sit back and let her kill him either.

“Oh…” Katie’s voice drifted off before she, slowly, reached into her pocket and drew her Knife. Just as Gadreel’s eyes were about to lit up, Katie suddenly reached around and slid the blade into her own back.

“First of all…” She grimaced slightly. That was all the reaction a blade through the heart could draw from her. “that is a backstab. What you did back there...you imploded my arms and legs...which is honestly a lot gorier and intriguing. Anyways, yeah, we’re good.” She let out a warm, welcoming smile. If she didn't pull the Knife out of her back immediately after and spill even more blood, it might’ve been a peaceful sight.

“Oh...ok.” Gadreel nodded slowly. He wasn’t surprised that she did that, nor would he be surprised if she wanted to carve his heart out. Some of the things Katie did made no sense whatsoever, and he had gotten used to that now. Now that the danger was gone, he and Katie turned back to their loot once again.

“So…” Katie said as she kicked on a wooden box that she suspected was cursed or something. “Any idea where we can get a shopping cart?”

Twenty minutes later, Katie and Gadreel finally cleared out the entire Crypt Entertainment cinema. Gadreel tried to see if he could somehow control the cinema without the Owner, but none of his attempts worked. Finally, after making sure the entire cinema was empty, Katie had some fun lighting the three-story building up.

The flames burned for half an hour. Countless citizens walked by the burning building, only to not bat an eye at the sight, not that it mattered. Half of the supernatural beings in Los Angeles knew about Crypt Entertainment, and once they realized Katie and Gadreel took it down by themselves...oh, Katie could already imagine the new clients that would flock to her with offers of employment!

Finally, as Crypt Entertainment was no more than a bunch of wreckage, Katie opened up her own forearm and drew a Lockwood symbol in front of the arson scene with her own blood. One final piece of advertisement.

And then, with an entire carload of prizes, Katie and Gadreel made their way home.

As Katie drove, Gadreel suddenly spoke up.

“I need to ask you for a favor, Katie.”

“Favor? Oh...sure! Wait…” Katie’s eyes suddenly figuratively lit up. Her lips curved into a wicked smile. “Nope.”

Gadreel raised his eyebrows in confusion. That was unexpected. Katie would never shy away from a fight.

“I’m a professional.” The brunette added as she reached into her pocket. “Here...shit, I’m out of business cards. Anyways…”

“I helped you make those cards, remember? Where are you even going with this?”

“Well, my point is that I’m a professional, and professionals don’t do favors. We only do jobs.” Katie turned to Gadreel. “What do you want me to do? Assassinate? Torture? Who’s the target? Given what I just accomplished, I’m afraid I have to double my rate. What’s my rate now? I have no damn idea but I'll come up with something.”

Katie’s words were so all over the place that it took Gadreel a while to realize what she wanted. “So...you want me to pay you?”

“Yep.”

“But…” The former Angel didn't even know where to begin. You can slay monsters of unimaginable power, monsters capable of twisting reality, and you’re asking for paychecks? You’re probably richer than I am! You know that? Fine! This was Katie Lockwood he was dealing with, and trying to convince Katie Lockwood of something was pointless. “Fine. I’ll get you the money. Whatever you want.”

“Good. Now can you tell me who you’re after?”

Gadreel took a deep breath before starting. He had a lot to explain.

“As you know, Angels run on their celestial grace. Since the fall of Heaven, we can no longer replenish our grace, and without it, we become weak. Fragile. We become defenseless and mortal.”

He continued.

“At the same time, while the overall grace across the Angels on Earth cannot be replenished, individual Angels can gain more grace by extracting them from other Angels. Now, usually, this is a mutually agreed transfer. If an Angel is dying beyond salvation, then instead of having the grace go to waste, the Angel can transfer the power to a comrade. And if a garrison of Angels is faced with an impossible enemy, they can combine their might into one entity.”

Katie immediately got where Gadreel was going with. “Something tells me no Angel will agree to give a deserter their power.”

“Not by their free will.” Gadreel answered quietly. There was a sense of guilt in his voice. Guilt, a very human emotion. “But it’s possible to take the grace from them by force. It just requires the other party to be...rendered defenseless.”

“Defenseless? As in dead? Crippled?”

“Crippled. In pain. Anything to prevent them from resisting my reach.”

“And you want me to do the crippling?” Katie was a little displeased. “As fun as that sounds, I prefer to be more straightforward with my opponents. Then again, crippling...” She finally let out a small chuckle. “Fine. We’ve got a deal.”

Gadreel returned a slight nod before turning to look out of the car window.

Sorry brothers, but as I said, I am a coward, and nothing will come into the way between me...and survival.