Ms. Lenz wasn’t the only one who knew about the rooftop entrance.

Because Honey had been planning to sneak in and seduce Loren Dames earlier that night, she had memorized the entire building’s blueprints. That included all the different passageways, both for stagehand use and for the builders. This was an older building, and as such, it had many service entrances and exits, and as soon as she saw Loren trapped on the rooftop cage, she realized how easily she could be saved.

Of course, the original plan hadn’t calculated for that at all. She had never conceived of Cerberus doing something like this, so it surprised her just as much as everyone else. But the plan would still work.

It was pretty basic.

Bear God and his men were going to be sacrificial pawns. They’d charge in and fight Cerberus, and they wouldn’t be able to beat him. It was a guarantee that they would all die, but Honey didn’t tell them that. She said it’d be tough but possible. Giving them hope made the mob easier to control.

While they were doing that, and Cerberus was distracted, Dominic was going to be trying to rescue Loren. Again, she told him this was possible, but not for a second did Honey consider that actually working. Because she didn’t think Bear God would be able to beat Cerberus, she figured the beast would probably play around with them. He was a sadist, after all. But even if he did, he’d never keep his eyes off of Loren Dames, because the thing Cerberus wanted more was not to kill them, but to bring them despair. He wouldn’t let anyone die thinking they saved Dames.

So, Dominic was a second distraction. No matter where the battle happened, Loren Dames would be on display, and Dominic would have a hard time getting there. He’d be seen, and Cerberus would attack and kill him. Those were all parts of Honey’s calculations, and it was all part of her plans.

The key factor, then, was her.

Because she was the only person who could kill Cerberus.

Lance’s Nemean form was one that hardened his muscles and skin, and when combined with Hippolyta, which gave incredibly fast acting regeneration, the only way to kill him without waiting for the time limit was piercing his brain, and the only entrances were through his eyes, nose, or other soft tissue around his head. And fortunately, Honey carried a perfect weapon for those types of assassinations.

The difficulty was getting to him. But even that had been planned for. Long ago, after Honey and Hanson fought against Cerberus for the first time, they spoke with Lance. Cerberus was a blight, something Lance Gordon, the man with twelve personalities sharing a body, couldn’t live down. It was the evil desires of eleven different people, all concentrated into a single being. And when it came down to it, none could fault Cerberus. They were the invaders. Unwillingly, of course, but it was because of them that Cerberus had been formed, and it was because they kept him sealed inside that he went to great lengths upon escaping his cage. So, the three came up with a plan.

One of Lance’s forms, Lernaean, was a master of poisons, and could change his fingers into blades. While Cerberus had his techniques, most poisons would be neutralized, so nothing could slow him down. But on the other hand, if Lernaean specifically worked to create a stopgap in his own defense that Honey could exploit, then they would have a secret weapon to use against Cerberus whenever they needed. It was an incredibly difficult process. Because Cerberus could see everything they saw, and hear everything they did, Lernaean needed to write out the complete message without seeing it, and he needed to read things via touch. Because the brains couldn’t actually tell what the others were thinking unless they intentionally tried, doing this was a way to communicate between the forms that would keep things from Cerberus. And so, Lernaean form Lance and Honey worked together to create an alchemical spore that would make Honey invisible to Cerberus.

It needed to be minor. If it was too great, the antibiotic functions inside of Cerberus would activate and create a cure for the toxins, so they couldn’t have anything that froze him in place. Who knew how long something like that would last, especially when combined with quick regeneration? So the perfect thing was one that would allow for minimal contact but quick effectiveness.

Before the fight, Honey had created the mixture in her stomach, then regurgitated it into a slime. Because of the thick viscosity of it, she wouldn’t be able to disperse it through airborne methods, but it didn’t matter.

Bear God was going to take it in his own mouth. He held it in the corner of his mouth, while fighting, and waited for a moment to spit it on Cerberus’s face. He had no idea what it would do, but trusted Honey. Was there a reason to trust her with such certainty? No, there absolutely wasn’t. But Bear God wasn’t a smart person, and he always saw the best in people, so he did what she said without ever considering the fact that he was bait.

He spat it out the first time he came face to face with Cerberus, mixing it with blood from his own bitten cheek. There’d be no reason to expect it as poison, and Cerberus hadn’t even though twice about the blood.

After that, it needed time to mix in. But it couldn’t be too long, because even if he didn’t realize it was there, the antibodies eventually would, and the plan would fail. So Honey kept hidden in a service tunnel only a few meters away from where the three titans were fighting. The moment Cerberus took a shotgun blast to the face, she knew she had to act. The gun would cause his face to regenerate, and as his eyes regenerated, they would eradicate any foreign substance, which would ruin the plan. Fortunately, as she approached, he had already defeated Bear God and Dark Cobra, who Honey hadn’t expected to see. She walked up and spoke the codewords that would end all of the night’s insanity.

“Good morning, Hesperides.”

Then stabbed her blade up through his skull. It pierced into his neck and went further, and because hesitating even for a second would mean death, Honey shoved as hard as she could until the hilt of her dagger met the bottom of his jaw.

It worked immediately, because he couldn’t move, so she slipped the blade out and rubbed off the blood on her shirt as Cerberus collapsed, his eyes full of burning anger.

That wouldn’t do. She couldn’t have him get revenge the next time he got free.

“Hey, no offense, okay? I’m just doing this for money. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have minded anything you did, so sleep well, Cerberus. Hopefully we can meet on better terms next time, yeah?”

Yeah, hopefully that would work. It was the kind of casual sociopathy that Cerberus exuded, and it would likely speak to him. As his eyes began to lose focus and roll back, she felt a pang of guilt. Cerberus was a freak, unable to live in society. A monster, created in a lab, unable to exist without causing pain. That was a familiar feeling, so she couldn’t really blame him. Sending him off so casually was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to remain as he was, a being of hatred and fear, and apathy allowed him to keep going that way.

If there really was a human in there, they couldn’t want to live like this. If it was just a young kid, never able to grow, and only ever able to watch as his body developed and experienced the real world through a dim television screen, unable to fight against that fate.

She knew what would really break into the core of his vision.

“Night, night, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

Horribly cruel words to say as Cerberus expired. Those were the things that all kids at the Institute are told as they go to sleep, through intercoms as the facility lights shut off. To prevent them from leaving their cells, as dangerous carnivore insects roamed to kill any intruders or escapees. They were words that kept those children from ever having a good night's sleep, but in some sense, they were words of solidarity.

As his head split open and the brains began fighting against each other, Honey sighed and stared out at the city. It was a peaceful night out there. It was unlikely anyone would actually figure out what happened. But that was a good thing. It meant people could all forget about it.

The Bear God Army had run to grab Bear God and bring him down for medical care, and for some reason, they brought down Evelyn as well. Honey could care less, even though if it were her choice, she’d have wished Cerberus killed them both. They were way too dangerous. If either were to fight against her brother, she had no idea who would win, and the very thought put her on edge and made her begin calculations. It wasn’t easy being so methodical. Things got too grey.

“Ugh…”

Honey looked down to see Lance, back in his normal Hesperides form, rubbing his forehead. His body had shrunk, though he was still tall and well built, and other than being covered in blood and being completely naked, he looked just like a regular guy again.

“Yo,” she said, casually. “You’re not evil right now, yeah?”

“...I feel like shit...what happened?”

“Don’t remember?”

“Not exactly,” Lance groaned. “Bits and pieces, at best. But for the most part it just seemed like ‘that man’ was just causing problems. I hope everyone ended up fine.”

“Eh, well, he probably killed quite a few people, and definitely maimed some others.”

Lance was quiet.

“Buuuut~ nobody important. And by important, I mean me and Loren. See he’s…”

Honey didn’t finish her statement.

“What?”

He had difficulty looking, but Lance slowly got up and followed her gawking face to the edge of the roof, where Loren Dames had been kept in a cage. It should have been obvious, considering the music seemed to have stopped a long time ago. Because she had been so focused on killing Cerberus, Honey hadn’t even paid any attention to the rescue mission she’d sent Dominic on.

Loren Dames was not in his cage.

***

“...come on, up this way…”

Ms. Lenz was leading the other two men up the building, from dark stairways to cramped corridors with pipes and sharp pieces of metal sticking from the wall. It seemed so strange for the inside of such a nice looking building. To Wolf, it felt like being underground, in a sewer. To Dominic, it was rather reminiscent of Scatola Nera of District 6. He felt chills as they kept on going.

“Are we close?” Wolf asked, obviously unable to keep the anticipation out of his voice.

“We’re getting there.”

“Hmm.”

Otherwise, it was a quiet journey. Because it was such an important part of the mission, nobody could keep from feeling worried, and the silence helped them keep focus. The only sounds were from their loud footsteps as they ran.

“...here, this should be it…” Ms. Lenz said, pointing to a small hatch. “P-please...be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Wolf said, climbing up the ladder. At the very top was a rooftop exit, latched on. It was a heavy pull, but Wolf got it off without too much difficulty. He poked only his head out, eyeing the battlefield.

There was fire and smoke, and he saw figures clashing, though it was too dark to tell who. What he heard was the sound of a beautifully sad violin, a song he’d never heard before, but one that made him feel like crying. Wolf wasn’t a man to enjoy music much, but this was something else. It made him happy to be saving someone capable of doing so much good.

Loren Dames was in a cage, his eyes closed as he played, and Wolf quietly crept up.

“Mr. Dames, please, stay quiet,” Wolf whispered, his sudden appearance causing Loren to flinch. The violinist paused his playing only for a moment before continuing. “We’re going to get you out of here while that crazy guy is being distracted.”

“Thank you...but, those bars...”

But that wasn’t an issue at all as Wolf wedged himself in between the bars and pushed as hard as he possibly could. Slowly but surely, the metal began to creak, and a small passageway appeared, just barely enough for a person to fit through. Wolf reached out and grabbed Loren’s hand and pulled him through, then shepherded him down the ladder and closed the hatch.

“Come on! Let’s get out of here,” Dominic said, grabbing Ms. Lenz’s arm and pulling her along as the four started to return the way they came. “Before Cerberus notices…”

Down the stairs they went, Dominic doing his best to follow the directions Ms. Lenz gave him to retrace their steps. Behind her was Loren, then in the back Wolf, who was limping along. Pushing against those bars had worn him out.

“...just...keep going...yes, perfect.”

Dominic stopped as they were approaching a platform. It was above the center stage, the mess of thin metal bridges and railings that were used to set up lights. The flyspace, where chains and hooks hung to drag props around. It was dark, and the only lights were coming from the safety neon fluorescents that lined the walkways.

Wolf slowed down as he saw his companions pause, and he started feeling worried. This wasn’t the way they came.

“Guys, are you alright? What happened, why’d you stop?”

To answer his question, Dominic fell down face first.

Slowly, Ms. Lenz turned around.

She looked completely different than ever before. It was that same nerdy, glasses and freckled face that had been brought along with them the entire time, but instead of the classic weak and nervous look she always wore, instead, her eyes were narrow and cold. In her hands was a strange weapon, a thin blade, coated with blood, attached to a chain that ran to a small metal ball in her other hand. Her mouth was tight as she spoke in absolute monotone.

“Everything is fine,” Ms. Lenz said. “Don’t worry, Mr. Wolf, everything is fine. This was all planned. No, I wish I could say that. In fact, everything went far afield of the original idea, but in the end, things will work out. Actually, no, that’s wrong too. Things are in shambles, so the only thing to do is make lemons.”

“W-what are you doing Ms. Lenz?” Loren asked, his eyes wide as he took a step back.

“Ah, no need to call me that any more. While that technically is my real name, I don’t usually go by it,” she said. “Instead, I’d rather you call me Ceba. Although, I’m going to be killing you soon, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“But why?”

“Hmm? Oh, not for a very good reason,” Ceba admitted. “It’s sort of unlucky for everyone involved, but someone put out a hit on you and I was the one who got the commission. There’s a guild of assassins I work for. Your boss wanted you dead, so he paid me to do it. Made it really complicated to do?”

“My boss? You...Mick?”

Ceba nodded.

“Yeah, sorry. He was going to pay a lot of money to have you killed. From what I could gather, it was because if you died during the middle of your popularity, before you started declining, you’d be remembered as a shining star, and your records would sell for a premium. In the end, it came down to money, and Mr. Holden, or uh, Mick, as you call him, decided it was time to cash out. And he made a really convoluted plan to do it too, though I’m pretty sure all these other guys weren’t part of it.”

Loren’s eyes grew deader as she continued to talk, uncaring as to whether everything she said got heard by Wolf. She had been hiding herself for the past few days, pretending to be meek, so now that she had a chance to let it all out, it came as a burst. Normally, Ceba Christa Lenz was actually a very talkative assassin.

“Wait,” Wolf said, taking a step forward. He froze when he began raising her weapon. “The assassin that was supposed to attack...does that mean you’re Jackal? Wasn’t that the person who sent the letter?”

“Ah, no, that’s not me. Sorry,” Ceba said. She bowed her head and did a minor curtsy as she introduced herself yet again. “In the underground world of assassins, I have a different name. Not one so fancy. They call me Owl.”

Wolf had never heard the name. That could mean two things.

Either she was a terrible assassin.

Or she was an incredibly good one.

“But the play with the letter from Jackal was pretty good, no? Well, I wish I could take credit for it, but that was all Mr. Holden,” Ceba, or Owl, continued. “He came up with the idea to scare you into thinking someone was after your head. Hire a bodyguard and everything. Of course, we suspected nothing would happen, so after the performance, you’d lower your guard. We’d all laugh it off as a joke, and I’d be fired for my incompetence at the letter.

“Then, right before the train left, I’d sneak up to you and inject you with some poison. It’ll put you to sleep, then wash out of your bloodstream too quickly to be detected by most doctors. I’d wrap a noose around your neck and hang you, after of course typing out a suicide note. Something about how you couldn’t deal with all the stress of being famous, or something like that. After that, Mr. Holden was going to cover everything up, and things would be good. But unfortunately, he ended up getting killed. Really unlucky, that one.”

“If...if he’s dead,” Loren started. His mouth was dry. Of all the attempts on his life, for some reason, this one felt the worst. Mick wanted him dead. His long time friend, who had died earlier that night. Who Loren had cried for. “Then you don’t need to do this. It’s just a waste. We can all forget this happened and go back to our normal lives…”

“No can do, Mr. Dames,” Owl said. She pulled a mask from underneath her shirt and put it on. It was like a theatre mask with a shark bird nose, quite elaborate for an assassin. “The contract isn’t just between me and him. The contract was between him and the guild, and then the other was between the guild and me. With him dead, his contract isn’t void, which means mine isn’t either. What is void is the need for me to wait, or to stage your death or anything like that. I can just kill you and get paid. Sorry. It’s nothing personal. Just money and reputation on the line. Well, and I’m just tired of putting on this act all the time and want to go back to my shows. But still, sorry I gotta do this.”

Without even showing a hint of hesitation or movement, the metal ball attached to her chain swung out towards Loren’s head. It would have struck, if not for Wolf jumping in the way and letting it crack down on his arm. It likely bruised his bone and made him clench his jaw. He grabbed Loren and pushed the man back, standing in the way between his hero and the final assassin.

“Woah, Mr. Wolf, why’d you do that? I can’t imagine it felt good,” Owl said, the metal weight returning to her side. She began swinging it, until it entered a spin, revolving around her side at a high speed. “I don’t want to kill you. You’re not my target, so I get nothing out of it. If you’d like, I could just knock you out quickly, like Mr. Dominic here, so you’d have an excuse not to get beaten up by a girl. Sound good?”

Before he could answer, she flung the chained ball at him. He raised a hand to grab it, but it was a feint, and she dashed in to stab him. He stepped back to avoid it, the blade only scratching his arm.

“Loren, run!”

At his command, the violinist began sprinting the opposite direction, though he had no idea where to go. Even though Cerberus had been defeated, Loren had no way of knowing that, so he only figured to go down in whatever way he could. Actually, his escape, while feeling drastic and exciting, was almost completely without threat.

Back to the fight scene.

Owl swiped twice, both times barely nicking Wolf. He could tell that she wasn’t trying to kill him, but he didn’t realize why until she backed off her attack. His body started to become numb.

Poison.

“Oh, did you realize? Poisons aren’t really my specialty or anything, but since they were needed for the job, I decided to grab some. Funny how they ended up being useful in the end, though in a totally different way than I would’ve guessed. Life is strange. Okay, let’s keep fighting.”

With the numbing solution running through his blood, Wolf was sure this couldn’t last much longer. And because he needed to protect Loren, there was only so much he could do. He was useless against Cerberus, but right now, against Owl, he stood a chance. But to do so, he’d need to throw everything away.

He didn’t even consider trying to play it safe.

The next time that Owl tossed her weight in as a feint, Wolf was prepared for it and caught it with his bare hand, crunching the bones. This gave her momentary pause, halting her stabbing rush, which gave Wolf the chance he needed.

He threw the ball back, pulling Owl slightly off balance, then grabbed her knife arm and quickly clutched it into a lock. His other arm grabbed her shoulder, and he tripped her forward, spinning her around and changing the grapple into a headlock. He barely had any strength left, so she dropped the weapon and kicked herself up in the air, then came back to hit his shins in.

But Wolf was a master of grapples, and he knew what to expect. As soon as she lifted herself up into the air, he leapt forward, slamming her down onto the ground on her back. It was right on the metal bridge, and the landing was hard enough to knock the breath out of both of them. The rumbling of the poorly constructed bridge was enough to knock off one of the railings astray, the metal twisting off like an insane dragon.

Owl groaned at the pain.

Unlike some of the other ‘assassins’ that had been fighting, she was mostly just a normal person with some skill. Fighting in close combat was not something worth practicing. She rolled herself over and grabbed her kusarigama, then slowly stood up.

Wolf had her by the shoulder as he jumped off the railing, pulling her along.

The fall would be over 10 meters.

It was a good thing Owl had grabbed her weapon though, and she threw the weight up and around the limp metal rail that had split. It wrapped around and caught, but then started to slip. In a moment of absolute desperation, she pulled against the blade to pull herself up, just in time as the chain fell off.

She grabbed onto the broken railing with her bloodied hand. It had been cut by her blade.

“Ah, I’m pretty fucked, aren’t I?”