Grinning Devil

His meds took a bit longer than he had expected to be efficacious, but thankfully they had the result he had hoped. The various wounds that were on Hakon's body were slowly closing themselves; even his face was regaining its natural color. With the natural regeneration that his MK I Enhancer gave him, the Grinning Devil was 80% sure he would survive.

Once that was dealt with, the Devil brought out from the inside of his jacket his pad to check on more important things. While he had been talking to Hakon, it had pinged him three times, each one different from the last. It meant only one thing: Khutulun, Evelyne and Ludomir were in danger. Especially his first companion, her vitals were all over the place. Nonetheless he did not panic. He trusted her more than anything in this world, so he left her be for the time being and focused on the other two.

While Ludomir's vitals were heightened, clearly showing that he was distressed, his blood pressure remained the same, so he knew that the young man was not hurt, at least not heavily. Meanwhile Eve's heartbeat was a constant 35 bpm, which bothered him at first, but soon got used to it.

Either way, he had to reach them as soon as he could, even though a part of him did not want to. But the Grinning Devil's rep was on the line so he had to push through.

Once he exited the bathroom, he went to check on Ana. Not out of the goodness of his heart, but because she may turn out useful later, or like Hakon, have some more useful information.

After he spotted her and checked that she was still breathing, his mind wondered about what had happened and was still happening. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thoughts running wilder and faster in his head, trying to connect every dot.

He focused on the last words of Hakon: "The Caliphate". The Devil had worked all over the world in his heyday, from America to Asia. But he never directly dealt with the Caliphate. To this day, they still have the reputation of being dangerous, and that having any contact with them is the surest way to die a painful and excruciating death.

His mind recalled one interesting thing in particular, that stayed on his mind till now. The leader, also known as the Last Prophet, is immortal. Some say he received a highly experimental Human Enhancer that allowed him to transcend humanity. Others say that the man had discovered the secrets of cloning humans. The Devil concurred with them on the last one, even if he would never tell them so. He had seen some things that could only be explained by that.

Nevertheless, he re-focused his rampant thoughts as to why the Caliphate would intervene here in the Ural Polis. It made no sense to him, considering they had been fighting against the Vatican State and EUP (European Union of Polises) in the Balkan states.

"Unless…"

There was the Black Hand. An organization made up by Unknowns, with their HQ somewhere in Romania. They usually played on both sides of the conflict, keeping it at a steady balance. If either side won, it would change the status quo that had been created after the Last Great War, and the leader of the Black Hand knew that it would lead to much more trouble that it was worth it.

"But why are they attacking Ural Polis?"

One theory could be that they were trying to expand in the Asian continent, seeing that Europe was a no go. It was very strange, there were many things missing. Honestly there had been a lot of information he lacked since he had come here. That had only one possible explanation.

"You motherfucker…" The Grinning Devil muttered.

He finally opened his eyes and hoised the red-haired princess over his shoulder. If they wanted to play dirty, then he would play their game too. It was time to show them that no one could cheat the Devil.

"Plan 2A is on."

Ludomir

Ludomir had spent most of the day trying to teach Victoria some tricks. Subverting all of his expectations, the mutt was able to rapidly learn whatever he taught her, though he could see that she was more reluctant to obey order from him than Evelyne.

"Good girl." He said while giving her a salami slice.

After petting Victoria some more, Ludomir went to the window to look at the weather. It was very cloudy, his guts told him it would rain soon.

"Maybe that will help a bit."

Seeing the acid rain slowly erode buildings and such always had a calming effect on him. It reminded him of the orphanage he and his sister grew up in. It was a hard time, but together they are able to manage somehow. Still, a pang of regret in his heart remained; he should have never left her alone, but instead should have taken her with him. But alas, no one can change the past.

"I will call her again tomorrow." Ludomir promised to himself.

But he had to think about what to do today. His watch told him that it was 18:24, they still had a bit of time before dinner, so he had to find a way to kill time. Ludomir had already spent most of his time thinking about how he ended up becoming a glorified babysitter for a kid that was most likely stronger than him. It was both funny and pathetic, so he shakes the thought away.

"Let's see what Legion is up to."

At first, the man weirded him out. It was a pitiful sight seeing an old vet with such extensive cybernetic prosthetics, but after sharing a bit of his past, Ludomir felt a bit closer to him. Of course, he knew to never trust an Unknown, though it has been a conscious effort to not lower his guard around the old man. Most of the time he was holed up in his studio, at the end of the hallway, often guarded by some of his drones. Ludomir wanted to see if he was free now, maybe he would be willing to share some good tips on how to survive as an Unknown.

The young man checked on Evelyne and Victoria before exiting into the hallway. The image of them playing warmed his heart, so he just silently left without bothering them. Outside, once the door behind him closed, Ludomir felt his stomach acid acting up. Taking some deep, cold breaths, he was able to calm it down a bit.

Nevertheless, he was a bit agitated. The acidity usually came when he was in a stressful situation. It was like his own sort of danger sense, although the pain would sometimes be quite distracting.

He looked around for anything that was out of place, but nothing jumped to his eye. Then a drone passed by him, then another, then another… he stopped counting at five. Some of them silently positioned themselves behind him, as if guarding the door which he had just gotten out from.

"Are we under attack or something?"

That was his first thought. With a somewhat rapid step, he walked towards Legion's studio. His foot hitting the old wooden floor made squeaky sounds that served only to fuel that unease that was building up in his heart.

"Even when I met the Devil I did not feel so bad…"

The gray, metallic door looked somewhat out of place. Maybe it was the clash of the mostly wooded environment, or maybe it was the various danger signs that were attached to the door. Some were even in Polish.

"Staff only?"

Ludomir shook his head and knocked. The moment his fingers touched it, the door opened slightly, letting some of the purple-ish light seep out.

"Legion? Are you there?" Asked Ludomir in Polish.

No one answered. But the door opened even more, as if inviting him to get inside. The young man did not refuse.

Once he was inside, the door closed behind him. In front of him stood the old cyborg, partially illuminated by the neon lights above him. The metallic gray walls, slightly purple in color and the lack of windows made it seem like this place was out of this world. When he was done checking out the room, he glanced at Legion and immediately noticed that he was not well.

His skin, already pale, had become even whiter. The remaining eye was bloodshot red, as if he had pulled consecutive all nighters. His wet clothes stuck to body making it look like his second skin. Even his gait was uneven, like he had lost his sense of balance. Only when Legion sat on his chair, in front of his desk and the mantel monitors, did he seem to calm down.

Before Ludomir could open his mouth, the old man took his e-cigarette from his pocket and started puffing. After some breaths in and out, and the formation of a small cloud of smoke floating above his head, he offered the e-cigarette to Ludomir.

"Sorry, I don't smoke."

The cyborg lips twitched for a second, then he shrugged.

"Been doing well?" Suddenly asked Legion.

"Too well I would say…"

"Bored?"

"Yeah."

The old man chuckled.

"When I made the contract with the Grinning Devil, I thought I would be joining a legendary expedition, filled with dangers and so on…" started the young man.

"But you got babysitting duty." Interrupted Legion.

"Yeah."

The cyborg laid his hand and his chin, a small frown forming on his face.

"Well, you are but a simple human."

"True, but I can hold my own!"

This caused Legion to laugh loudly. Ludomir felt very crossed, but he tried to not show it.

"Against another normal human, but you have seen what they deal with, have you not?"

This reminded Ludomir of the first meeting between him and the Grinning Devil. Some days had passed, but he still clearly remembered that Enhanced Human, the Mad Dog. The guy healed too quickly to be put down, in a straight fight Ludomir would lose, but if he could shoot him from afar maybe he could win. But that was wishful thinking, and that could get him killed. He did not survive this long by relying solely on luck after all.

"..." the young man looked down at his feet.

"Ever thought of…" - Legion took a long puff from his e-cigarette - "... of enhancing yourself?"

"I do not have the cash to afford cybernetics or Human Enhancers."

Unless one was part of a big organization, like the Lion's Share, or had a huge sum of money to throw around, getting either one of them nigh impossible. Even if you somehow did get them, you had to deal with the possibility of rejection. This was the main problem of the Enhancers, although he could take a Mk I to lower the chances of him dying a horrible death, but what would be the point then? A Mk I is little above peak human physical capabilities, and once it was taken, he could not use another Enhancer. Cybernetics did have that problem, but finding good components was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

"Then steal it." Suggested Legion.

"From who?"

"The Devil."

Ludomir found himself speechless.

"T-that's a joke right?"

Legion stood quiet, only the sound of his puffing could be heard from him.

"Listen kid, the situation has changed a lot. Staying with the Grinning Devil will only bring you closer to your death."

"Oh fuck, you are serious."

The cyborg leaned in forward, his elbow resting on his thighs.

"I can cover your sister's medical expenses and pay for your cybernetics."

Ludomir again found himself without words.

"W-why?"

He could not understand his thought processes. Already thinking of double crossing the Grinning Devil put the fear of god in him, but Legion was even offering to help him out with his sister. He was confused as to why he would do that.

"Just a whim of an old man."

"Is betraying the Devil just a whim too then?"

"No. It was planned."

"..."

"I was offered something that I could not refuse, and now is the best moment to jump ship Ludomir." Said Legion, his expression softening, as if explaining something to a child.

"I-I really don't know."

"Even the Grinning Devil will not come out alive out of this one, trust me. This whole thing is much bigger than I had first anticipated."

"...what about Evelyne?" Asked Ludimor after a few seconds of silence.

"The Department will come and get her, bringing her back home."

"You mean back to being tortured like some sort of beast."

"Why do you even care, Ludomir? She is nothing to you."

The young man opened his mouth, but no words came out. Deep down, the rational part of him told him that Legion was right. He and Eve have known each other just for a few days, and they did not share any blood between them. It was supposed to be a simple thing. But the acidity flared up, now rising up to his throat and forcing him to cough.

"It's just a kid…"

"An immortal kid that could easily destroy this whole Polis if she wished."

"You don't know her."

Legion sighed, his expression softened even more.

"You never truly know people, Ludomir, especially in this day and age...sometimes children are even worse than adults."

"This is not right, Legion."

The old cyborg turned to look at his monitor while smoking.

"I don't care anymore… I just want to see him again…" He muttered under his breath.

Ludomir was torn. The Grinning Devil has not mistreated him, so he had no other reason to betray him other than personal gain. He had been once at the receiving end of it, it did not surprise him that he had now the choice to do it himself. But these were the times they lived, a dog eat dog world where nothing has value. It disgusted him.

"Legion I-"

Before he could begin his sentence, the old man interrupted him.

"I know your type Lud… for now just go back to your room and do not try to escape." He said without looking at him. His eyes were trained on his monitor.

Ludomir glanced at it and saw one of the drone feed go dark. Something had destroyed or disabled it. His guts told him it was someone they both knew quite well.

Quickly he removed his gaze from the monitor and turned quickly towards the door. He could hardly hide the smile that was forming on his face.

Fjodor Anisimova, The Lion

Punch, get hit, regenerate and repeat. Since the attack early afternoon, Fjodor had been fighting these damned assassins. At first, he and Hakon were able to keep them busy, but he had to send his right hand to check on his daughter since he felt that she too would be in danger.

So he remained alone fighting three of them. They were most likely ex-soldier or mercenaries that had taken a Human Enhancer Mk II at the very least. Their movements were fast and precise, their coordination showed that this was not their first time working together. Fjodor would make sure that it would be their last.

The fight went on for hours. His broad upper body was littered with wounds, the few strands on clothes that were still on were unraveling in the wind. Their attacks were mostly focused at his tendons, so each time he had to force his regeneration to keep up with the onslaught of attacks. The Lion noticed that his legs and arms started to feel sluggish, and that his healing was slowing down.

"Poison!"

Fortunately, this one was not the same potency as that of the Grinning Bastard, so he could still move while his body got rid of it. Nevertheless, this was a great opportunity.

Fjodor went down on one knee, his body sweating bullets and his breathing haggard. He was reaching his limit; the assassin would not give up this chance to strike him down. Two of them went for the kill. All according to his plan.

When they were close enough, he used his hands to pierce through their abdomen. His hands went so deep that he touched their spinal column which, with a quick twist of his wrist, he shattered them.

They fell on the ground like a puppet whose string had been cut. While Fjodor had killed two of them, another one remained at the ready. The assault of the other two however was not in vain. One of the knives had cut his jugular, blood was splurging all around him. He could feel his vision growing dimmer.

He used his hand to make pressure on the wound and grit his teeth. His blood shot eyes trained on the last assassin, which involuntarily took a step back. They say a beast is at its most dangerous when cornered and injured. The assassin clearly felt the intensity of his gaze, that of a man that would do anything to bring him down, even if he had to pay the ultimate price.

Before any of them could do anything however, a laser projectile went through the last assassin's head, killing him instantly. When the body hit the ground, Fjodor saw a familiar figure standing behind it. That smile he could recognize everywhere. He did not want to die yet, he had to make sure his daughter was fine. So he took a fighting stance, with the last of his energy and got mentally ready for his last fight. That got a laugh out of the Grinning Devil.

"Fear not Lion, I have come to help you take care of the trash." He said with a hint of glee in his voice.

Behind him stood what seemed to be an army armed with various weapons. None of them was human, all Androids. Fjodor felt fear for the first time in a long time, but not for himself, but for the Polis. Whatever will happen in these few hours will be crucial.

The Bloody Lion looked up at the black sky. A soft smile on his face.

"It's going to be a long, long night."