The atmosphere in the kitchen was heavy. Screams still rang in the ears of everyone as the gravity of the situation began to dawn. Nick watched as Doyle’s face stilled, not in fear or worry though. Nick watched a calm acceptance flood through the man’s body, the tension drained away and was replaced by a strange confidence. Doyle signalled over one of the men in the room who looked positively terrified.

“Head back to the rooms. Tell all the teams to shelter in rooms or hide out in the floors until this blows over.” Doyle gave the man a firm pat on the back and pushed him towards the door leading to the staff areas.

Doyle took a deep breath and then a step towards the dining room. Nick watched on in a surreal shock as the man calmly walked towards all he could register as certain death. A peaceful resignation settled on the man’s shoulders and with each step he appeared more resolute in his actions. Nick was left unsure of how to react. The man in front of him was going to die, Nick knew it, but the man appeared to have accepted that. There was no anger, no tension, no fear in his posture, just acceptance.

Doyle pushed through the swinging door and came face to face with the self-proclaimed King of the hotel. A smug smile spread across the man’s face and Nick could no longer see Doyle’s face. The aura in the room suddenly gathered up and compressed into a single point. Barely audible whimpers began to spread through the air as the leader of the 71st floor was pushed down onto his knees by the invisible pressure.

“This.” Reggie gestured to the bodies littering the room. “Will be your legacy Doyle.”

Doyle was struggling against the man’s aura, he’d been brought to his knees but was managing to not get pushed down any further. Nick watched as the man's head slowly straightened, moving to make eye contact with Reggie.

“Such a weak and pitiful aura. Fitting for a worm such as yourself.”

Suddenly there was a flare of power, Reggie’s aura becoming so strong that Nick could feel it pressuring him from the room over. It was too much for Doyle and the man was crumpled to the floor, all pretences of posture destroyed.

“The rest of you rats hiding in the kitchen, come before me now.” Reggie demanded.

The Chefs moved first, with heavy legs like those of men on death row. They filed out one by one, lining up behind Doyle’s crumpled form. Next were the few of Doyle’s men that had stayed in the kitchen instead of running back to the rooms, Nick realised that a few members of the 71st Roamers were among them. Nick then looked at Paige and Rina, who seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole ordeal. They took confident steps towards the door, Paige reaching back and dragging Nick along with them, making sure to loop her arm around his.

The Scout from the PPM on the other hand, bolted for a door leading away from the dining room. Just as soon as he made a move Reggie whistled. A figure blurred through the room and collided with the Scout. The figure grabbed the Scout and slammed him into a wall, the Scout crumpling to the floor. The figure then came into focus, it was Casper, Reggie’s own Scout. Casper then grabbed the man by the back of his chestplate and carried him back to the dining room.

The Exes and Nick then went through the door and stood in a space of their own, separate from the rest of the gathered people. Reggie’s eyes began to scan the assorted peoples.

“What an interesting group we have here.” Then his eyes crossed Nick, they glowed for a moment before they moved to Paige, where they froze. “I trust that none of your members would have been weak enough to get caught in my little display?”

For the first time Nick felt like he could hear something other than arrogance in Reggie’s voice. The man was concerned, he was trying to play it off but Nick could hear it. The King of the hotel, the strongest man Nick had encountered to date, was concerned about the presence of Paige.

Paige smiled at the man, not a charming smile, but one that showed her fangs in full.

“I assure you, if you had come close to harming one of our members you’d have been made fully aware.”

Reggie cleared his throat. “Very well. I want no quarrel with your faction.”

The man then turned to the rest of the gathered people. First he looked at the gathered Chefs.

“How could simple workers be blamed for the failings of their boss? You may leave.” The man gestured to a door and the Chefs didn’t wait to be told twice.

Then Reggie turned to the men and women who worked directly for Doyle.

“The loyal followers of the man who betrayed me. Truly, if only Doyle had had the foresight to be just as loyal as you. In the end your only crime is loyalty.” Reggie said as he shook his head.

That’s when the man’s aura expanded from being focused on Doyle and enveloped the group, sending them to the floor like dolls. Some of the people must have had auras of their own and tried to defend, but it was a futile effort. Reggie’s aura ground away at theirs until they were reduced to the same state as Doyle, barely breathing figures slowly being crushed down into the carpeted floor. That’s when Reggie’s gaze moved over to Nick.

“Nick. Good to see you again kid. How are things? Don’t tell, I don’t actually care.” The man then looked at Casper, who was still standing silently, holding a limp Scout. “I should deal with this first.”

Reggie grabbed the man with a single hand and hoisted him up into the air. As soon he was at eye level the man sprang to life, pulling a hidden knife out and aiming it for Reggie’s throat. Reggie tried to drop the man to avoid the attack but the man’s legs snaked out and locked around the man's torso, his other arm looping over Reggie’s, pinning himself to the man. Reggie grunted and as a last resort dropped his chin, covering his exposed neck. The small knife cut through skin and flesh, hit bone then slid along Reggie’s jaw. The wound looked ghastly, but certainly not fatal in the slightest. Reggie frowned, reached over with his other hand and grabbed the man's face.

Reggie then began to squeeze. The Scout screamed as his face was literally crushed beneath Reggie’s grip. The man flailed around, trying to dig the knife into Reggie’s arm but it just harmlessly slid off his golden armour. Reggie didn’t relent, he just kept squeezing until the man’s struggle ended with a sickening crunch. The Scout was then dropped to the floor, Reggie simply flicking the blood and pulp off his gauntlet.

“Well that absolutely ruined my mood. Casper, deal with the rest of them.” Reggie sighed and shook his head. “Some people just have no taste for the dramatic.”

Reggie then looked at Nick, skin hanging for the left half of his face and blood flowing down across his golden armour. His eyes fell onto Paige’s arm linked with Nicks.

“I see. Faction hopping already. Well, you served your purpose, short as it was.” He then looked at Paige. “I assume you’ll be taking him and his associates?”

“Of course, we’ll leave you to do your business here. I can assume this won’t be the limit of your responsive actions today?” Paige asked in return.

Reggie grinned. “Of course. You can assure your handlers that their operations will go unimpeded.”

Paige then told Rina to take the recruits to go wait out in the car park and led Nick back through the kitchen. Nick was in a bit of a shocked state. So much had happened in the last few minutes and he hadn’t even begun to properly process it. Not to mention the abysmal sight that was the dining room. The space that had hosted so many enjoyable meals and good conversations had been transformed into a nightmarish hellscape of mutilated bodies in moments. Nick’s mind struggled to process everything that had happened as Paige pulled him along by his arm. Before he knew it they were in the wide space that held all of the doorways to bedrooms and suites.

“Which of these is your family in?” Paige asked.

Nick snapped out of it and led her over to the door to Maddy’s room. He didn’t try the handle and simply knocked on the door a couple of times.

Paige whistled. “That’s a pretty serious setup. Someone is very set on keeping people out.”

“Who is it?” A muffled voice called out from behind the door.

When Nick answered the door swung open slightly, revealing that no one was behind it. Nick walked through the door and when Paige tried to follow something strange happened. The stone piles on the floor began to vibrate and the potted plants' leaves began to curl. Paige paid it no mind and simply walked through the passageway behind Nick. They found the group sitting in a collection of chairs in the centre of the inscribed circles.

“What’s going on Nick? Who’s this?” Lily was the first to speak.

“This is Paige. Paige, meet my family, Lily and Henry and my friends, Maddy and her sister Abigail.” Nick introduced everyone.

“A pleasure to meet you all. Nick has told me delightful things about you.” Paige said while she did a small curtsy.

“What a disgusting skill set. As expected of a Stained.” Abigail spat out.

“Pardon you? That’s rich coming from a Shaman.” Paige retorted.

“Everyone be incredibly careful of what this monster says. It has skills based around influencing and controlling others.” Abigail spat again.

“What’s going on here?” Henry asked, confusion etched across his face.

“That thing next to Nick is a Stained. Usually that means they’re just very sick people. The Executioners on the other hand trade their health for power, becoming things like what’s in front of us.” Abigail explained.

Nick turned and looked at Paige, Maddy had sort of explained that the Exes were Stained but hadn’t mentioned why they were. Abigail had just shed some light on the situation and a few things clicked together in his head. The ritual that the recruits went through was likely what made them Stained and gave them their regenerative abilities and uniform looking skills. Nick looked at the woman next to him in a new light.

“There’s no need for such harsh hypocritical rhetoric from a Shaman dear. Do you want me to tell Nick what his sister has just signed up for? We all have our paths to power, there’s no need for such judgement.” Paige said with a smile.

Abigail smirked. “You wouldn’t. Not even someone in your position could survive the consequences of that. Your masters would cast you away without hesitation, just like the sick dog you are.”

“Righto, lovely conversation guys but we’ve got more pressing concerns on our hands.” Nick interrupted. “Namely being that Reggie is a couple rooms over. Doyle is dead and there’s a room filled with bodies.” 0*****

That made everyone in the room pause, even Abigail.

“That does seem like quite the issue then.” Maddy said.

“One that I am willing to solve.” Paige replied. “I’m sure Nick has made you aware, but the Executioners are interested in recruiting him. We’ll happily escort all of you to our capital in the Parklands, where we can guarantee your safety. Of course, a team to rescue Benny is already being put together and he will be back in safe hands within hours.”

You know, Nick was getting really tired of all this moving. First he moved into the 72nd floor, then the 71st, and now to somewhere in the Parklands? This was all getting a little much for him, he never was the best at handling change. He also picked up on the subtle messaging from Paige. The Executioners would have Benny. While it wasn’t as obtuse a threat as Tony’s, he really wasn’t happy with the implied messaging at play here. Nick once again realised that he didn’t have much of a choice, he wasn’t sure if Reggie would just let him and his family walk away from this. It wasn’t a chance he was willing to bet the lives of everyone on. Before Nick could put together a reply, Abigail answered for him.

“Thank you, give us five minutes to pack everything up and we’ll be right out. Nick, can you and your friend grab whatever you need from your room? I’ll need everyone here’s help.”

Nick just nodded and left the room, Paige following behind him. Nick wasn’t sure what Abigail was planning but he decided to trust her. The information she’d dropped in that last conversation made him realise that his own mental faculties might be a bit more compromised than he understood. Nick began to realise that some of his actions as of late haven’t been the smartest of choices.

“Hey Paige, how badly am I fucked here?” Nick asked.

Paige turned and faced him, a brilliant smile beaming across her face. “Not at all silly!”

Yep. Nick nodded to himself. He was certainly up the creek without a paddle. Nick sighed and headed into his room. He grabbed the clothes that all of the families had brought into the Complex and chucked them into his bag, they’d get them cleaned eventually. Other than some wallets and a purse that no longer held much purpose other than sentimental value, the family didn’t have many belongings. Nick knew that other than his prided pair of chinos, none of these items actually really mattered to the family. That wasn’t why he’d been sent to get them though, he was just buying time for the others. To do what? He had no idea, but he placed his blind faith in it.

Nick also threw in some board games that the family had enjoyed playing, just for the hell of it. Then he and Paige headed back out to the wider room, where they found the group waiting for them. Each member of the group had a necklace on now, with a very crudely carved symbol on it. Abigail looked smug as her giant rock floated behind her.

Paige frowned. “That was a little excessive wasn’t it?”

Abigail smiled. “Never can be too careful these days.”