Water splashed on Loren’s face and he was roused to feel wind pushing his face from every angle. As his eyes blinked out the moisture, he realized where he was and found his breath caught.

He was trapped, in a metal cage, at the top of the concert hall he had played before. The roof of the building was a semi-circle dome, with the front half, where people entered, just below him, a good 20 meter sheer drop to concrete. He was being balanced by a few metal bars in his cage, and sitting on the other side, staring out at the city, was a muscular man with horns, completely in the nude with a bucket in his hands. It looked like Lance, but it most definitely wasn’t.

“Ah, glad to see that you’re awake,” this man said. “Call me Cerberus. I’ll be your god for tonight.”

“What’s happening?”

So much had gone on tonight that Loren couldn’t even feel surprised anymore.

“Haha! You’re fucking stupid, you know that? You’re only a few seconds from death, and you’re this neutral about it? I almost feel like killing you would be a service. But, there are plenty of other good reasons not to kill you, so I think I’ll hold off for now. But anyway, want to know something interesting? While my slaves never figured it out, I know who sent that assassination note.”

That brought Loren back to reality and he blinked.

“What?”

“That seemed to get your attention, at least,” Cerberus said. “So, how about this? In a little bit, there are gonna be a bunch of people trying to climb up this dome here to either save you or kill you. And I’m going to fight them, and kill them. During that entire time, I want you to play violin. I want to hear some fucking good battle music that inspires me, and helps give me the power to kill your saviors and enemies. And, if you play for the entire time and don’t stop until I’ve killed everyone, I’ll tell you. That won’t stop me from killing you, but at the end, at the very least, you’ll know.”

At Loren’s feet was his violin, and picturing Mick’s lifeless face in his mind, the violinist picked it up for what might be the last time.

***

“He told us to meet at the concert hall,” Honey said, sitting in the backseat of the bus, while Bear God poked his head through the window from outside. “And he knows we’re coming to fight. I expect that he’s probably aware that you’re gonna be helping us, so we should be prepared for that.”

“Ha! I need not prepare, not even a little, because, you see, I am incredible!”

“Shut up, you dumb beast.”

Bear God frowned.

“Sure, you may be a competent fighter, but that’s only the first step. The man we’re going against...no, the thing we’re going against, Cerberus, is far stronger than all of us put together,” Honey said. “He’s a perfect combination of brains and brawn, and that isn’t all. He knows how to fight, he knows how to read people, and he can regenerate his body. Going one versus one against him is literally suicide, and that isn’t even counting that he can probably spit out fire and poison.”

“W-wait,” Dominic said. “Spits...fire and poison? Like at the s-same time?

“And not only all of that, he’s on the defense and has Loren Dames as a captive,” Honey continued, not answering Dominic. “My guess is that since he probably expects that you’re coming, he’ll stick to a place outside of your specialty. Probably outdoors somewhere, or in the auditorium. Actually, maybe on the roof? Anyway, even if he’d be impossible to beat in your perfect element, he’s still smart enough to take away any risk factors, and he’ll fight somewhere that you can’t ricochet tires.”

“Damn! That fucking bastard! How could he, when we’re trying so hard, do this!?”

“What’s worse is that we don’t know whether he’s teamed up with the Black Viper or not. While I wouldn’t put it past him to do, it seems unlikely that they’d agree to work with him. Then again, if he just bullied them into obeying, I could see him abusing their power. It would explain why they knew we were at the Hawk’s Nest...although, how did the Bear Army know?”

“Ah, that would be me,” Ricky said. He was holding a baseball bat and methodically inserting nails into it. “I’m the new second in command after Wolf got the boot. We had followed Wolf after beating him up until he got to the clinic, and then when Bear God saw him early tonight, I just guessed you guys would be there. Turns out we were right, and when we saw those black suit fuckers, the only real option was to duke it out with ‘em.”

“Ohh, I see. That’s quite convenient for us, isn’t it? Anyway, all of that sums up to why this is going to be difficult,” Honey said. The bus was filled to the brim with people, soldiers of the Bear God Army, but this was it. The only members still in action after the long night so far. “And it will quite likely result in dozens of casualties. I can’t actually guarantee that this plan pays off and works in the end, so we might just all die. That all said, I just want to make sure you’re all willing to put your all in, and trust me no matter what happens.”

Despite her devilish charisma, Honey was quite bad at rousing speeches, and did a lot better in one on one negotiations. That said, Bear God was already convinced, and with his backing, not a single army member would digress from the orders. A few seconds went by without anyone saying anything, but then a random member in the middle of the bus shouted out a primal roar.

“WE CAN DO THIIIIISS!!!!”

“Yeah!”

“No, FUCK YEAH!”

“YEAH FUCK YEAH!!”

“Let’s show those mother fucking assholes who we are!!”

“Blood!! Blood!! Blood!!”

Louder and louder the bus grew as it travelled down the long highway to concert hall, as the members continued psyching themselves up before their final fight/suicide mission of the night.

***

The only people who left were Honey and Dominic, otherwise, the remaining group were either incapable of fighting normally or too beaten up. Wolf was able to prop up Rico and Lyle on either side of his shoulders, after having been miraculously healed by Lisa, but that didn’t mean he was at 100%. His body still felt like a brick, and his vision was blurry. Deep within his stomach, he felt like something that shouldn’t have been moving around was. It was taking all of his concentration to keep the two unconscious men standing as they slowly travelled back to the Hawk’s Nest.

Bear God explained to them that the Black Viper were all cleared out, and Honey reasoned that since Loren Dames was already abducted, they wouldn’t be bothered. There was no reason for the assassins to attack them, it seemed. Even still, they were cautious, since it’d be almost impossible to defend themselves at the moment. Wolf couldn’t fight to protect five people, especially when two of them couldn’t even move.

It felt wrong to him. He knew someone needed to protect the girls, but it shouldn’t need to be him. He alone was the person who swore to defend Loren Dames, and right now he had failed, and others were taking up his mantle. Even if it was his actions that convinced Bear God, he was a man, and when a man decides to do something, they continue through with it until it’s finished or they’re dead.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Dr. Hawk jolted up like he was struck with an electricity and entered a boxing pose, hopping around to survey his surroundings.

“What the...what the hell is going on? Lisa?”

Lisa had been holding him up, along with Christa Lenz, and the two were pushed away in surprise as the doctor regained his mind.

“Doctor! You’re okay!”

“Huh?”

The apprentice surgeon grabbed onto her boss and hugged him, which confused the older man.

“Uh...you didn’t answer my question...what the hell is going on here? Last thing I remember is a massive tire flying towards my face...wait...actually…” The doctor looked at Wolf. “Now I get it. You were attacked by the same tire throwing madman. Where the hell is he? What happened? What happened to Rico and Lyle, or the rest of those dumbfucks?”

“They’re okay, mostly,” Lisa said, letting go of Dr. Hawk and smiling weakly. “But that violinist, Loren, got grabbed. The others are chasing after him.”

“Those idiots...those two are fine, I take it?”

“Yeah, they were just knocked out, like you were. We...we were gonna take you back to the clinic and get you patched up and all.”

“Is it safe?”

“It should be, or at least that’s what the Bear God said.”

Dr. Hawk’s eyes narrowed. He suddenly sneered as though all the pieces were coming together and everything made sense.

“Ah, I see. That was it the entire time. That fucking russian piece of shit. How could I have missed it with the tires!? Nobody else could fight like that except for him! Well, I guess the last time I had to deal with him, he was using anchors instead, so I guess this is better. That motherfucker.”

“A-anchors?”

“Huh? Yeah,” Dr. Hawk replied. “For some reason, that man doesn’t fight with normal weapons. Something about needing to handicap himself for the sake of others. Bullshit if I’ve ever heard it. If you’re gonna try not to kill your enemies, at least swear the hippocratic oath or something.”

“Wait, you said you knew him? Really?”

That was news to Wolf. The Bear God Army travelled around, and though they’d been in Paris for a while, it seemed crazy that the two had ever come across each other for longer than a few seconds. But it sounded true: even Bear God had admitted he knew the doctor. How?

“Ha! Yeah, I know him. Years ago I met him in the badlands south of the UTSR. We fought together for a few years. I’ve never seen such a fucking insane man, though he didn’t call himself such a stupid name back then. In fact, other than his retarded strength, he was a pretty normal guy. Well, that was before he got shot in the back of the head.”

“!”

Everyone was surprised at the revelation.

“Hmm? Oh, I suppose he probably doesn’t tell people, but that’s why he’s bald. It wasn’t a normal shot, either. Basically, he got hit with a stray mortar. Destroyed most of his scalp, but that mother fucker had quite a dense skull. I thought it was some Institute bullshit at first, but nope. All natural. After that, he was a little loony, so I kept away from him. But I’ve heard of his antics, getting caught in jail and escaping. Sounds about right for an idiot like that. Anyway, screw all this reminiscing, I want to go home and fucking drink. Tonight’s been way too damn exciting for an old man like me.”

Hearing about the only man who ever gave Wolf guidance, Wolf decided.

This was the perfect moment.

He took a step forward and pushed Rico and Lyle off to Dr. Hawk, who took their shoulders without realizing what was going on, in an attempt to share the load. But as soon as he was unburdened by those men, Wolf turned and bolted away. He wasn’t going to let Bear God die tonight. Not a man like that, for one of Wolf’s mistakes.

“Huh!? Hey, what the FUCK are you doing, dumbass!? Get the fuck back here!”

But Wolf didn’t stop.

“A-ah! Wait, I’ll go g-get him,” Ms. Lenz said, her freckled face contorting into worry as she watched him run. “He got hurt bad...right?”

“Yeah! And he owes us fucking money! Bring him the fuck back!”

So the secretary began her considerably slower chase after him.

***

Hahahha.

Hahahahahaha. Ha. Haha.

Enough is enough.

Almost all of her men were dead or missing. The rest ran away.

Armed bodies were left on the streets in their Black Viper uniforms.

Everything was going to come crashing down. There was no way to recover from this, no way to clean up the absurd mess that bastard created before morning. This was going to destroy the Black Viper. It was going to absolutely destroy it, and the group was never going to get another job for the rest of its existence. They might as well just surrender. Even if she killed Loren Dames now, the people who hired her would consider it a waste. It would be too obvious that someone paid for him to be killed, and tomorrow’s newspaper would read about the secretive cabal of assassins failing and getting massacred by a bunch of idealistic teenagers. The order she had grown up in, the order she had sweat and bled for, the order that was the sole purpose for her life was going to crumble. No, that was wrong. It had already crumbled. At this moment, Dark Cobra was the leader of nothing. In fact, at the very worst, her life probably wouldn’t last much longer. While she didn’t know the exact identities of those who hired her, she knew of their paranoia, and once this got out, it would be days before someone came to get her head. This was really it. She was going to lose everything, including her life. A complete disgrace, all because of one person.

One person.

One person.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

It was so funny.

So fucking funny she could laugh.

She wasn’t. Dark Cobra, or Evelyn now that her organization was nothing, dug her nails deep into her face, tearing through the skin.

Ahhh. My head...my head hurts so fucking badly...ahhhh…

Fuck fuck fuck. Fuck him. Fuck that motherfucker. He stole everything from me. He ruined all of this, and for what?

She could see him, even now, standing atop the concert building, with Loren Dames trapped in a metal cage formed from twisted flagpoles Cerberus had uprooted from the ground. He was some sort of freak. Warping metal as though it were weak plastic. His being was a spit in the face of all assassins everywhere. He was a sin against those who made a living killing. It was too easy for him, and he took it all for granted.

Haha.

Evelyn laughed internally. No, she didn’t.

Blood ran down her face from the numerous holes that had been poked in it, and veins wrapped around them like ridges.

“I’m going to get an aneurysm from this, aren’t I?”

Well, that was probably better than being targeted by an assassin. Even though she could kill them all, it would mean her life was going to be constantly on the run. She wouldn’t be able to pay for Institute technology, and she wouldn’t be able to get the numerous types of surgery they offered. Even at the very best, if she was left alive, there’d be nothing to go back to. It was truly all over.

If it was all over, why the fuck even bother?

Evelyn had been staring at the weapon in front of her. The man catcher with scythe attached. It was a weapon she had personally created and spent years practicing, forming her own martial art with the peculiar tool. On one hand, it was an intentionally difficult weapon to use, and it gave her adversaries an advantage, partially due to its nonlethal nature. But when it switched forms, it was impossible to fight against. The weapon was too deadly and unpredictable in how it struck.

That weapon was a symbol of her life.

Hahahaha.

She grabbed it and spun it around in her hand. Someone needs to break first, right? Whether it be me or the spear, I’ve longed to be a warrior, huh?

It was true.

What sort of assassin fights against their enemies? None.

What sort of assassin uses a long spear that is intentionally difficult to weild? None.

What sort of assassin decides to throw their life away?

Evelyn was so caught up in her own internal rambling and psychosis that she didn’t hear the sound of a bus filled with cheers driving up on the opposite side of the parking lot as she started towards the side of the building she could climb up, her weapons in hand.

***

“It looks like all of the pieces are in order,” Cerberus said, staring down from the building. In this moment, he was a god. In every moment, he was a god. “All the gnats, swarming up to the light, and they will be burned. Moths to a flame. Gaze over this, my slaves. It is all within my power to destroy everything in this city, if I chose. Of course, I won’t. But it only stands because I allow it. And now these ants will try to defy the heavens, so I will banish them to the underworld, where their kind belongs.

“And to you, my bard,” Cerberus said, turning and extending his arm to Loren. “The time is coming near. You will play, correct?”

Loren nodded his head slowly.

“Excellent. To tell you the truth, I feel like I’m a little too dramatic for my own good. But honestly, when you live a life like this, entrapped and betrayed by your own slaves, the mind starts to degrade a bit. That is the worst crime committed against me. The damage to my body is massive, but that’s physical. A body can be changed. The theft of my time is criminal, but soon enough, I’ll prevent myself from aging. The true sin that cannot be forgiven is the damage to my soul. That is why I do this.”

Cerberus smiled to himself as he flexed. The violin music began to play as miniature figures started up the slope to meet him.

“No, that’s not the truth. I’m doing this because I want to. There’s no greater reason, other than that I like it. So to all my slaves watching this, screaming in the darkness because they cannot do anything to prevent me, gaze on. Because the only reason I live on is to make you suffer.”

From his hands, blasts of fire erupted, beginning the light show that signified the end.