Warren continued to drive, looking for the bar called “The Broken Clam”. He thought he was in the right area but the bar was nowhere in sight. By now he was in the northwest part of the city, a few miles north of where he first entered the city and was starting to lose hope. His information was based on what Andrew told him back when they were adventurers. If Andrew lied about them being friends, it was probable that everything he told Warren was a lie. In fact, there was a good chance that Warren was in the city of Redrock for absolutely no reason. Warren thought he might have to find Akane and go back to Colonus to start over when he finally saw his objective. He drove past a bar that had a sign above it mostly covered in sand that said “The Roken Cla”. Some of the letters were covered in so much red sand that they were unreadable but Warren knew that this was the place. He parked his car right in front of the bar and exited. He headed towards the bar’s double swinging doors but didn’t enter because a sign attached to the front window caught his eye. The sign said: “Help Wanted. N.H.N.N”. Warren knew what the acronym stood for. It meant “Non-Humans Need Not Apply”. Warren didn’t know why the sign caught his attention, he knew what kind of town he was in. Perhaps it was because he had never seen the sign in person before. He didn’t grow up in an immigrant hub city and the only other city he lived in was Colonus which forbade such signs. It was a new sight for him, a sight he didn’t like. However he wasn’t there to judge the people of Redrock so he put the image of the sign out of his mind and entered the bar.

The view inside the bar wasn’t much to behold. To his left was a very old brown piano that didn’t work anymore. Slightly to the right of the piano was a standard bar that wasn’t fully stocked with drinks. In fact the bar seemed to be quite low on alcohol for there were only about a dozen or so bottles on the shelves. The bartender was an old man with a bald head and a long grey beard. To the right of the bar were multiple wooden tables and seats that filled up the rest of the room. Besides the bartender the people inside the bar were mostly passed out drunks. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for but passed out drunks definitely weren’t it. He continued to scan the bar when he found his target. In the far back were 5 men playing at a pool table, drinking and laughing it up. These had to be the people he was looking for, he highly doubted that Andrew would’ve associated himself with drunks. He approached them, stretching his arms as he did so.

“So then I said “What are you, an elf?” one of the men joked.

The rest laughed hard at that. Warren had no idea what the joke was, he didn’t care. He approached the joker from behind and slammed his head onto the pool table.

“Ey what the fuck!” one of them cursed.

“Oh no Tommy!” another shouted.

“Where’s Andrew?” Warren asked the group of men.

“You think you can just come up here and start beating us? I’ll show you that-” another man attempted to threaten but was cut off because Warren gave him a jab to the face which knocked him out instantly.

“Hey hey buddy how about we slow things down for a bit?” one of the men asked in an attempt to defuse the situation.

He was wearing a short red sleeved hide jacked that covered most of his upper body. His pants were red and appeared very loose. Something about his aura gave Warren the feeling that he was the man to talk to. The other men backed up, afraid that they’d be the next ones to become unconscious.

“I’m only going to ask once again. Where’s Andrew?” Warren inquired.

“I don’t know about you but things went from 0 to 100 way too freaking quick. How about we start off with introductions? Hi, I’m Roy, nice to meet you.” the man greeted, putting his hand out for a shake.

Warren looked like he was about to shake his hand but as soon their hands clasped Warren squeezed the man’s hand so hard it broke.

“Ahhhhh! Ok you aren’t playing around got it! I get what kind of man you are, you’re the ‘do what I say or I break you’ type!”

Warren glanced at the other men expecting them to do something but they don’t. Instead they run out of the bar. Warren then glanced at the bartender and he didn’t seem to care. In fact he began taking a nap, laying his body on the counter.

“Ok you want Andrew right? I’ll get straight to the point. I haven’t seen him lately.”

“That’s not the answer I wanted to hear” Warren said as he cracked his knuckles.

“Hold on let me finish! I haven’t seen him lately but I know where he stays when he’s in town.”

“Which house?”

“It’s not a house. It’s a ware...house. Is a warehouse a type of house? I mean it has ‘house’ in the name so it must be right? It’s just a house for wares..so I guess-”

“Get to the point. Where is it?”

“A few blocks down from here. It’s the only warehouse in this part of town you can’t miss it. Giant grey building.”

“Alright. But if I find out it’s a lie I’m coming back and you know what’ll happen then.”

“Right you’ll probably break all the bones in my body. Andrew must’ve done something really bad to make you this pissed off. Most people who come after him aren’t as..direct or violent.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m going to be the last.”

Without saying another word Warren turned and exited the bar. After he left the two people he knocked out woke up.

“Ugh how many people is Andrew going to piss off?” one of them questioned, holding onto his jaw due to the pain.

“Way too many. But like all those who came before, Shig is going to handle it.” Roy promised.

“I hope so. That guy seems like no joke. He was the first one to start off with smashing my head against the table.”

“It’ll be fine I swear. We know what’ll happen if Shig doesn’t do his job. Now, you guys wanna keep playing?” Roy assured.

“Ugh shouldn’t I go to the hospital?” the man with the head injury suggested.

“...Nah. You’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? My head really hurts and Frank here has a bloody nose. You ok Frank?” the injured man asked his just as injured companion.

“W-what day is it?” Frank asked, his eyes looking all over the place, trying to remember what happened.

“Ugh fine we’ll go to the hospital. I swear you guys are babies. Let’s go” Roy insulted as he headed out the bar, followed by his two injured friends.

Despite violence being a good motivator at making one tell the truth, Warren still had some doubts about what he was told. If he was lied to, he was serious about carrying out his threat but it was only while driving did he realize that they would most likely be gone if he had to go back. However his concern was misplaced as after driving for about five minutes, he found what he was looking for. Warren saw a large grey warehouse that appeared to be abandoned. It stood alone from the other buildings for there were large gaps on each side of the structure. Warren supposed it was parking space for workers back when the warehouse was used. Something else that caught Warren’s eye was the fact that the warehouse had no windows which made him wonder what used to be stored there but quickly stopped thinking about it knowing he would never find out. Warren drove his car to the front of the warehouse and exited. The warehouse dwarfed Warren in size encasing both him and his car in a large shadow which served as some much needed shade from the blistering heat. Warren approached the large grey overhead door and used his aura to pull the door up with ease. Warren entered as the door slammed back down behind him.

Given the warehouse’s outside appearance Warren expected the inside to be just as decrepit. To his surprise he found the exact opposite. Where he expected to see dirt, spider webs, and darkness he instead found decadent carpets, extravagant pieces of furniture fit for a king, and bright lighting. The warehouse’s lights illuminated the entire area which was about 240 yards long and 80 yards wide. It would’ve been a massive open area were it not filled to the brim with decorations. On the walls were beautiful paintings of landscapes that had to have been very expensive to acquire. Beneath Warren’s feet was nice grey carpeting that would’ve been comfortable to walk on if Warren had not been wearing boots. The carpeting covered every inch of the warehouse’s floor as well so it must’ve been quite an undertaking to install. To Warren’s left and right were massive clothes racks that displayed fancy clothing like suits, slacks, and even hats. Then all the way across the warehouse, sitting perpendicular to Warren was a large fireplace that was still lit. In front of it were two couches and a recliner which surrounded a coffee table. To the right of the fireplace appeared to be a large bed. To the left appeared to be a makeshift bathroom. There was a toilet connected to the wall and to the right of it was a sink. It was a strange set up but Warren was able to piece together that someone tried to create a house-like layout within the warehouse. The only problem was that there was the massive empty space between the areas. Warren thought that was strange, it made traversal inconvenient since one had to walk so far just to go from one area to the next. Why was there so much empty space when one could’ve just put everything together? It was a mystery Warren wouldn’t solve so he began to walk across the warehouse thinking to himself what he should be on the lookout for. Warren knew Andrew wouldn’t be in the warehouse so he thought what evidence he might’ve left behind. Whatever it was he knew it would be related to the demon cult in some way so he was on the lookout for anything demonic looking or strange in general.

Warren was now in front of the fireplace and scanned everything closely. Nothing appeared to catch his eye. If only he saw a desk, or a safe. Something someone would store information in. Warren decided to check the bed which was located three dozen feet to the right of the fireplace. People hide things under their beds all the time, especially criminals who couldn’t deposit money in the bank. Warren went up to the bed and flipped the mattress over. Warren wasn’t surprised to find there was a lot of gold underneath. As long as Warren knew him, Andrew had a one track mind. Everything he did was to make money. But on top of the money there was something more interesting. There was a brown journal which had a bright red ring on the cover. Warren raised his eyebrow when he saw it. It looked familiar to him but he couldn’t figure out just where he had seen it before. He picked it up and was about to open it when the lights in the warehouse went out. Warren would’ve been in complete darkness were it not for the lit fireplace. The fire’s light didn’t extend very far; all it illuminated was the furniture in front of it.

“I would put that journal down if I were you.” A voice called out to Warren from the darkness in a strange accent.

The voice spoke with a bit of an echo so Warren couldn’t pinpoint where it came from. He slowly scanned the darkness, trying to figure out if he would notice any movement. Nothing popped out. Defying the voice’s warning Warren put the journal into his pocket for later reading.

“Wow what did I just say?” the voice said, sounding annoyed.

“Where’s Andrew?” Warren called out.

“ Hmm straight to the point. But do you really think I’d tell you that?”

“If you value your life”

“Pfft you doing a tough guy act to scare me? Let me give you a piece of advice.”

Warren felt something approach him from behind. He attempted to turn but whatever came at him was too fast. Warren felt two slashes go across his back making an x-shaped wound. Blood started to slowly roll down his back. Warren frantically looked around to try to find his assailant but all he saw was darkness that looked like an abyss. The voice called out to him.

“If you want to scare someone: you have to get violent”

Warren vs. Shig Fight Music

Warren knew he couldn’t stay in place. If he stayed still he’d be a sitting duck. Warren began to sprint into the darkness to get to the otherside of the warehouse to escape. Using his aura to increase his speed he was able to get halfway across the warehouse in the blink of an eye but suddenly collapsed. He felt a sharp pain in his right shin. He put his hand on it and felt blood, he had been cut.

“Trying to run away are you? Can’t let you do that. Just stay still and I’ll make this quick tough guy.” the voice told him.

Warren got back on his feet and put his arms up in defense. Unable to see he knew he couldn’t fight back nor could he run, blocking was the best thing he could do until he could think of a plan. Using his arms he tried to cover all of his vital areas. He put up his defense in the nick of time as an assault began as soon as he got back on his feet. Warren felt cut upon cut. He felt pain in his arms, legs, and back. It was as if his body had been thrown into a blender. If he hadn’t also been using his aura to increase his skin’s toughness, he would’ve been chopped into pieces. The best his assailant could do while he was in this fortified position was chip away at him.

“Aren’t you a tough nut to crack! Looks like I gotta kick it up a notch!” the voice stated.

The attacks increased in both damage and speed. The gashes Warren received became bigger. His defense was slowly going down, his aura becoming less effective. He couldn’t let this continue for a second longer, he had to go on the attack. Warren knew what he had to do knowing that if he messed up he would die.

Warren had to divert his aura usage from his body to his eyes. Human eyes have a remarkable range when it comes to adjusting to different lighting conditions. However, it takes a lot of time for the eye’s rods and cones to adjust. It takes the rods 45 minutes or longer to fully adjust to absolute darkness. That was time Warren did not have. He would have to use his ability to quicken the process manually. Warren wouldn’t be able to do this and use aura to protect his body at the same time. His ability only allowed him to enhance one body part at any given moment. If he did it, he would be able to see in the dark very well but would be fragile. All he needed was to connect a single powerful attack to give him enough time to escape the warehouse. The torrent of cuts continued. It was now or never. After Warren received another slash across his arms he put them down and instantly transferred his aura to his eyes. The room around him became visible. He saw a blur of blue rushing towards him. Warren had his target. Now knowing where to attack Warren quickly transported his aura to his right arm, stepped forward, twisted his hips, and threw a mighty punch. His fist slammed into his assailant making their body fly across the warehouse, through a wall leaving behind a gaping hole next to the metal door Warren had used to enter the building. Warren breathed heavily after unleashing the attack, his hands were placed on his knees trying to recuperate. He was surprised by how much strength he put behind the attack, all he wanted to do was give himself time to escape but the excitement of the moment must’ve made him go all out. Warren walked towards the hole he made, his body stinging all over from his injuries.

When he went through the hole his eyes were blinded by sunlight. His eyes were still adjusted to pitch darkness so it was quite painful to readjust them. After rubbing his eyes he was able to see normally again. He was now in front of the warehouse next to his car. In the street was a figure laying on the ground, their head looking up at the sky. Warren approached in order to verify that they were defeated.

“Ahhhhh god damn it human!” They cursed as they coughed up blood.

They rolled onto their stomach and punched the ground in frustration. They got back on their feet, their legs shaking ever so slightly and holding onto their stomach with their left arm due to the pain.Now able to see them clearly Warren realized his opponent wasn’t human. Before him was a member of the catkin race. In place of skin was grey fur, their eyes were bright yellow with black pupils, and there were large notable whiskers on their nose. Their clothing consisted of a blue hood that had two holes where their large cat ears stuck out. Their body wore blue baggy silk pants, a grey sash tied around their stomach, and a large blue silk jacket. In their right arm was a bloody scimitar, a sword not used by humans.

“What’s a catkin doing protecting Andrew?” Warren interrogated.

“T-There’s no point in answering your questions human. I-I’m about to kill you.” the catkin responded.

They tried to take a step forward but fell onto one knee and coughed up some more blood.

“You can’t fight anymore. Just tell me what I want to know. You do that, I'll let you be.”

“Kukukukuku, you think you’ve won human? I’m nowhere near done. I have to kill you…. I have no other option.”

Warren squinted his eyes at the catkin in concern. That was supposed to be a threat but the way he said it had a tinge of fear in his voice. Something was off.

“What’s your name?” Warren asked.

“I already told you. I’m not answering your questions.” he said as he got back onto his feet.

“Stop. This fight is over.”

“Oh I disagree with you there. We’re just getting started!”

A light blue aura started to emanate from the catkin’s body. He started to hop in place, preparing to do something. Warren reached for one of his knives only to grasp at air. He had forgotten to get more knives once he entered town. In fact he forgot to get supplies in general, a gross oversight on his part. Warren had to continue the fight barehanded. He raised his arms to get into position. He stared at the hopping catkin in front of him. Now that they were fighting outside Warren could use his ability to its fullest. He increased the blood flow to his legs to increase his speed. The plan was to end the fight in one punch. Without a second to lose Warren dashed in to close the distance. He couldn’t move as fast as a monk but it should’ve been enough to catch the catkin off guard. Now right in front of his opponent he threw a punch but instead of making contact his fist went through his target’s body. Warren's eyes widened in surprise in realization of what happened. It was an afterimage.

Warren felt a fist slam the right side of his head which sent his body crashing into a nearby building.

“Kukukukuku. You thought just because you took me outside you’d have the advantage? Let me tell you something, us catkin are a lot faster than you humans!” the catkin stated.

But just as soon as Warren was knocked into the building he zoomed out of it and began his own set of attacks. Warren began punching and kicking but the catkin was able to dodge each attack with ease. Every time Warren believed he was about to make contact he would discover he only hit an afterimage. Bare handed combat wasn’t Warren’s specialty and it was showing. After dodging a dozen or attacks the catkin countered by kicking sand into Warren’s eyes.

“Ah!” Warren yelled in pain as he furiously wiped his eyes.

As he did so he sensed an attack coming. Warren leaped back, still trying to regain his vision. He felt a sharp pain that went from his upper left chest all the way down to his right hip. It was unmistakably a sword slash. If Warren hadn’t jumped back in time the attack would’ve killed him but he wasn’t out of the woods yet. The jump had made him fall onto his back. He could sense the catking standing over him ready to plunge the blade through his chest. Not able to get up in time Warren had but a mere moment to plan his next move. Still unable to see, Warren used his aura to enhance his skin’s sensitivity to get a sense of his surroundings.

“Die human!” the catkin screamed as he tried to drive the blade into Warren’s chest.

As the blade descended Warren kicked it out of the way with his right leg making it plunge into the sand right next to him. Then with his left leg he threw a kick at the catkin’s head.

“Ack!” the catkin screamed as he stumbled back.

Now safe, Warren wiped his eyes some more, finally giving him his sight back. Warren got up and took the sword next to him. The catkin was still stumbling in front of him, looking like he was about to fall over at any moment. With his new weapon Warren bolted towards his opponent and attacked. The sword was about to cut the catkin’s head off but once again Warren’s attack whiffed. It was an afterimage yet again. Warren was dumbfounded. He was sure the catkin was stumbling, there was no way the catkin should’ve been able to dodge.

Warren felt an attack coming from behind. Warren turned around and raised his left arm to block a high kick. Wielding the sword in his other hand he performed a horizontal strike hoping to cut his opponent in half. All he hit was air. How many times would Warren only hit afterimages? Warren looked around and saw that he was now alone.

“Don’t you see human? You’re never gonna beat me. You’re too slow.” the catkin taunted from above.

Warren looked up and saw the catking standing on a nearby rooftop.

“I take it you're not about to leave are you?” Warren asked.

“Of course not. You think I’m going to let you keep that sword? I can still cut you to smithereens” the catkin said as he held his hands in front of him revealing claws.

“I always hated cats,” Warren grumbled.

The catkin leaped at Warren from his position barreling at him like a bullet. Warren ducked to dodge the attack. Warren straightened up and looked behind him to see the catkin on all fours, his eyes wide as he stared at Warren. He looked at Warren like he was prey. The catkin leaped towards him again. Warren blocked the incoming claw slash with his sword. Unfortunately this left him open to his opponent’s other claw which slashed him across the chest. Warren tried to counter but hit another afterimage. The catkin was zig zagging around keeping him off balance. Warren was now on the defensive again. The catkin kept coming in, slashing for a few moments, only to leap away when Warren tried to fight back. What the catkin stated was true, he was much faster. Warren realized that the only attacks which landed were ones that came by surprise. He knew what he had to capitalize on. A plan formed in Warren’s head. The first step of that plan: run away.

Warren started to sprint down the road at an incredible speed. The catkin chased after him, running on all fours, like a lion chasing after a zebra.

“Where do you think you’re going!? You can’t run away now human!” the catkin called out from behind.

The gap between the two was slowly closing in. Warren never would’ve been able to escape. However that wasn’t what he was trying to do. The catkin tackled Warren causing the two to skid across the ground for about 3 dozen feet. Warren, who had anticipated this,contorted his body while they skidded so that he would roll back onto his feet allowing him to stand up first. His gamble that cats in all forms like to pounce succeeded. The catkin sprung up shortly after Warren did. Having created this small window Warren reached out and grabbed their wrist. The catkin’s eyes widened in surprise. Warren increased the blood flow to his arm, increasing its strength and squeezed so hard that the wrist broke with ease.

“AHHHHH!” the catkin screamed.

Warren didn’t do that just to harm his opponent. It created another opening. His opponent, now distracted by the pain and shock of the broken bone allowed Warren to follow up with another attack. Warren threw a left high kick which hit the catkin’s head. As the catkin was about to fall Warren threw a right high kick which slammed into the other side of his opponent’s head. Warren then threw another left kick. Then a right kick. Then a left kick. Warren began a barrage, holding onto his opponent’s wrist with his left arm, holding the sword with his right. Each kick was heavy and precise, which caused his opponent’s brain to keep slamming into each side of their skull. Warren kept the barrage going for 6 seconds that felt like an eternity. To finish it Warren performed one final kick and let go of his opponent’s wrist. The catkin stood upright standing completely still for a few seconds, then fell onto their right side, no longer conscious.

Warren looked down at his opponent and raised his sword, ready to thrust it through the catkin to end it when he remembered the catkin stated they didn’t have a choice earlier. Warren was curious about what that meant but after all he’s just been through he knew he had to kill. The blade was about to enter flesh when he heard a loud whistle from behind.

“What’s going on here?!” Warren heard a deep gruff voice call out from behind.

Warren turned around and saw a man riding a brown horse towards him. He wore a beige colored cowboy hat, a short sleeved beige collared shirt, brown slacks, brown cowboy boots, and had a golden star shaped badge on his right chest which read “Sheriff-Town of Redrock”. He was quite elderly, having a big grey handlebar mustache and noticeable wrinkles on his face, which indicated he was in his early sixties. His body however was that of a young man. He had a thin but muscular build which proved he could hold his own in a fight. On his hip was a sheathed sword. The sheriff’s horse stopped about a dozen feet away from Warren as he stared at the destruction the fight created.

“You do all this son?” the sheriff questioned.

Warren didn’t know what to say next. He couldn’t go to jail, that would keep him trapped for who knew how long yet he knew he couldn’t lie his way out. He decided to keep quiet. The sheriff stared at Warren and noticed his wounds.

“It’s fine if you don’t talk outsider. It doesn’t take a genius to piece together what happened here. Looks like you had a fight with Shig and were about to murder him. That right?” the sheriff surmised.

Warren didn’t answer. He knew he was caught red handed. His only option now was to run. Warren dropped the sword and began to sprint away, hoping to get to his car.

“Dumb kid.” the sheriff said to himself as he got off his horse.

“Stay here Holiday. I’ll be right back” the sheriff told his horse.

The sheriff got into a runner’s starting position. Yellow electricity started to emanate from his body as he took a deep breath. After his breath was completed he zoomed from his position leaving behind a trail of electricity. The sheriff moved so fast he sensed that he caught up with Warren in an instant, appearing a few feet in front of him. Warren stopped dead in his tracks in an attempt to turn when the sheriff dashed forward and gave Warren a punch to the gut which sent electricity coursing throughout his entire body. Warren’s body couldn’t stop convulsing.

“Son you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand?” the sheriff stated.

Warren couldn’t answer, he kept shaking and eventually lost consciousness.

“Good enough” the sheriff accepted.

The sheriff picked Warren up and placed him over his shoulder. He walked back to his mount to see that a small crowd gathered around Shig’s unconscious body.

“Everybody stay back!” the sheriff yelled.

“Sheriff Reeves we saw the whole thing! This cat here was fighting with that boy. Almost killed him. To think he had the audacity to attack a human in this town!” an old man in the crowd stated.

“I bet you the cat stole something from him. You know how cat things are.” a woman added.

“I think we should let the Humanity Defense Front handle him!” a third guy yelled.

“Yeah!” a few people in the audience shouted.

“Folks calm down, the law is going to handle this! No need to get them folks involved.” Sheriff Reeves told them.

“Look what the cat did to our street! We gotta let these non-humans know that they can't get away with that in this town! They can’t hurt our property, our people!” a man angrily protested.

Other people started to yell as well, if the sheriff didn’t do something the crowd would’ve turned into a lynch mob. The sheriff raised his left arm and shot a ball of electricity into the air which quieted everyone down.

“There will be no lyncing! These two are coming to the station and that’s final! Everyone get out of here!” the sheriff yelled.

The crowd started to murmur amongst themselves but did as they were told. Sheriff Reeves placed both unconscious bodies onto the back of his horse and began to trot away from the destruction.