They went through the front door, saw they were in a lobby of some kind. The ground was made of white and gold tiles. In front of them was a fountain of the goddess Vienna. Her face looked down at Warren and Akane, her arms spread apart like they were getting ready for an embrace. Water flowed down the goddess’s back into the marble bowl around her feet. Above the fountain was a large golden chandelier which illuminated the lobby. Behind the fountain was a hallway parallel to them. While Akane and Warren were processing their new surroundings, the door behind them slammed shut. They looked at each other, nodded. They unsheathed their weapons and slowly walked around the fountain. Everything was eerily quiet, the only sound being their feet stomping on the tiles. Past the fountain now they could go down the left hallway, which had a wooden door that led to the western side of the mansion or they could go through the wooden door to the right to the eastern side.

Warren looked at Akane, said “Can you sense where they are?”

Akane shook her head, replied “It’s been quiet since we entered. They’re most likely concealing their aura.”

“People can do that?”

“If you’re trained.”

Warren looked at the door to his left, then at the door to his right.

“We’re going to have to search this place thoroughly. You take the right, I got the left. Be back in 10 minutes.”

“Got it.”

Warren and Akane split off, each going through their respective doors.

Warren went through his door to see that the hallway continued. The pattern of white and gold tiles continued for a few meters, the door at the end of the hallway barely visible. To his left were the windows he saw from the outside. It was pitch black out there, making Warren wonder how they got spotted in the first place. To his right were evenly spaced out doors, 12 in all in this hallway. Warren opened the closest door. Inside he saw an empty office. The color palette was drab, consisting of dull greys. All that was inside was a grey desk with a black swivel chair facing him, some filing cabinets lined along the left side, and a silver couch to his right. Seeing nothing important inside the room, Warren closed the door. He went to the next room, opened it. Inside he saw an empty office. The color palette was drab, consisting of-. Warren stopped. It was the same room he just saw. Everything was the same down to the finest detail. He went back to the first room, looked inside and it was still there, the same as he had left it. Warren quickly went to the third room, opened it. Inside he saw an empty office. The color-. Warren rubbed his eyes, questioning his sanity.

“Hehehehehehehe” a voice cackled.

Warren turned his attention back into the hallway, and saw that there was a small speaker placed at the end of the hallway. That wasn’t there before.

“Hehehehehehe think you’re going insane huh?”

Warren began to walk towards it, sword slowly rising.

“Hey hey now calm down, I’m just playing with you. I’d had this place built so I could switch rooms whenever I felt like it. It makes it so much easier to get around. In case you haven’t noticed, this place is pretty big.”

Warren stopped in front of the speaker, sliced it in two.

“I don’t have time for games Mason.” Warren said.

“You know my nephew was right. You are kind of a stick in the mud. That’s what makes you funny. I get why my nephew decided to play with you so much.”

Warren spun around, and saw another speaker had been placed.

“But you know, if you tell a joke enough times, it stops being funny. That’s what happened to you. You and all your friends stopped being funny. And you know once a joke stops being funny, the best thing for it is to die. A comedian can’t keep telling the same joke forever can he?”

Warren ran back down the hallway, kicked the speaker in.

“You know I expected a little more back and forth. You would be like “where’s Andrew?!” and you’d get all mad as the built up anger bursts forth. I’m disappointed.”

“It’s not like you were going to answer if I asked,” Warren finally said, turning around to see yet another speaker.

“Hmmm yeah you’re right.”

“You’ll only talk after I make you bleed.”

“Oooooh you’re a tough guy. I like that. What do you think Nathan?”

Unexpectedly, Warren felt a mighty blow to his ribcage that hit him with enough force to send him through a door. Warren’s body rolled, him feeling a strange sensation. It wasn’t pain, but dirt. He couldn’t tell where he was, the rolling preventing him from taking in his surroundings. Eventually he stopped rolling. Warren shot up, his legs wobbly. He breathed heavily, looked around and saw he was...outside? Around him was dirt covered by patches of grass. He looked up and saw a blue sky, with a few white puffy clouds. But for whatever reason, they looked off. He took a step back, confused by everything. His back hit something hard. He turned around, saw that it was a white brick wall with a massive red and blue bullseye on it. Behind the wall, further back were identical walls, spaced haphazardly about. Warren realized where he was. He was at a shooting range. The rooms must’ve moved while he was talking to Mason in the hallway. Warren began to make his way back, seeing the door he was knocked through 3 dozen feet away. As he got closer he saw a figure enter the doorway.

“I’m not a fan, Grand Master,” they said, stepping inside.

Warren stopped in his tracks, raised his guard. It was a man who stood at about 5’9. He had the same blue cotton outfit all the Humanity Defense Front members wore. The sack over his head was white. He removed it revealing a pale face with a red ponytail and black glasses. In his arms were metal tonfas.

“Really? Why’s that?” a voice echoed from the hallway.

“He’s too weak to be talking like that.” The man replied, eyeing Warren.

“Hmmm very insightful Nathan, that’s why I like you. Plus you also can cook a mean burger.”

“Thank you.”

“Well I’ll let you handle it. My next radio show is coming on.”

“Have a good time Grand Master”

Nathan took a few steps toward Warren, twirled the tonfas in his hands.

“I don’t have all night! Make this quick!”

Warren grabbed his rib, felt it. It stung but wasn’t broken. He got into his battle stance, his sword raised, legs spread apart, his body leaning forward.

“Me neither. Let’s get this over with” Warren concurred.

“Who said I was talking to you?”

A loud thump echoed throughout the shooting range, followed by a loud whistle sound which got progressively louder. He looked up, and saw a grenade barreling towards him. He knew he had to move, it didn’t matter where, he just had to move. Warren began running, glanced back and saw that the grenade was trailing him, closing the distance. Right when it was about to touch him he stepped to the side, the grenade hitting the ground. The resulting explosion knocked him off his feet. He slammed into a nearby pile of dirt.

“Man I missed.” A voice called out.

Warren got to his feet, brushed the dirt from his face. Now that he could see he saw that another man was standing next to the man armed with tonfas. He had the same outfit but his face was concealed, for he wore a purple sack over his head. In his arms was a grenade launcher. Warren remembered he was the man he almost fought in front of the police station.

“I thought you don’t miss on your turf William” Nathan said, an annoyed tone in his voice.

“It’s not my fault he moved!” the man retorted.

“Don’t make excuses William. Just do it.”

“Alright fine, just keep him off me.”

William raised his grenade launcher, shot it. Warren saw the grenade fly high up into the air, almost touching the fake sky. Then it diverted its trajectory, zooming straight toward Warren like it was tracing him. He quickly diverted his blood to his legs, increasing their strength. He jumped back to see the spot he was in become a small crater as dirt shot into the air. Warren landed next to another target which had a giant hole in it. If he didn’t close the distance soon he would end up like that. Warren gauged he had about 100 yards between him and William. He could close the distance quickly but there was no way he’d be able to get there before another grenade was shot. He’d have to prevent that. Warren reached into a pouch, took out a small knife Akane had returned to him during the drive over. It was coated in dried blood so its effectiveness had gone down but it’d do the trick. He was about to throw it when he saw Nathan jump into the fray. He dashed in, appearing next to Warren, a tonfa raised into the air, his eyes looking at Warren’s hand. He slammed his tonfa down. Warren pulled his hand back in the nick of time, avoiding a blow that would’ve shattered his hand. Warren countered with a swing of his sword. The blade clashed with Nathan’s other tonfa, sparks flew. Warren pressed his attack, swinging again and again. Nathan blocked each blow with his left arm, using the tonfa like an arm guard. Suddenly Warren heard another thump. For a very brief second, Warren’s eyes darted to the side to see where the grenade was coming from. He saw that it was in the air, going in an arc. In that brief second Nathan banged a tonfa into his ribcage, the same one that had gotten hit before. The blow sent him further into the room but Warren was able to recover, rolling onto his feet, his back hitting another brick wall. He looked up, and saw the grenade coming right for him. It was too late for him to jump the side, he only had one option. Warren dropped his sword, put up his hands like he was about to catch a ball. Using the ability to manipulate his body at will, his brain excreted chemicals to drastically increase his keratin production. The result was he gave himself hyperkeratosis around his hands, a skin condition which results in the epidermis drastically hardening. The grenade made contact with his palms, resulting in a massive explosion.

Nathan and William stood side by side, looking at the pile of smoke rising at the far end of the shooting range, about 400 yards away.

“I think I got him that time.” William said, a grin under the sack covering his face.

“The Grand Master won’t be satisfied until we bring back the body.” Nathan pointed out.

“Well go get it then. Close quarters is your specialty. I’ll stay back ”

Nathan continued to stare at the smoke, his body as still as a statue.

“That was too easy.”

“Well it should’ve been. It was part of the plan after all. Here I can go all out, without having to worry about destroying anything. Once I’m let loose, things end real quick. But I get what you mean, I’m disappointed too. We should’ve been the ones chosen to assault the town since that’s where the real action is. The preacher and Brother Black should’ve been the ones to stay here.”

“Protecting the Grand Master is a great honor, William.”

“I know I know but was it worth staying here to lay a trap for these intruders? Seems like overkill”

“If the Grand Master said it’s worth it, it’s worth it. You don’t have to think too hard about these things, thinking isn’t your strong suit.”

“Did you just make fun of me again?”

“Of course not. Just being honest. Now stay on your guard, I’m going to go get the body.”

Nathan headed towards the pile of smoke, his tonfas at the ready. He stopped in front of the smoke, trying to see any movement. Not seeing anything he headed into the smoke. Looking around he saw that one of the targets had been blown to smithereens. Yet among the rubble there was no sign of a body. Nathan’s hairs stood on end. Warren was alive. Where was he? His eyes darted around, trying to find any traces of movement yet there was none. All of a sudden the area got darker. Shade overcame Nathan and for a moment he thought a cloud had passed over the sun but remembered that the clouds and sun were just drawings on the ceiling. He looked up, braced himself for the incoming attack by crossing his tonfas. Warren cut down with a vertical sword slice onto the tonfas, slamming Nathan onto the ground, causing even more smoke to rise into the air. Nathan was forced onto his back as Warren stood over him. He swung towards Warren’s leg in an attempt to get him off but Warren kicked the tonfa out of his left hand. He tried again with his other tonfa only for Warren to lob his forearm off with a sword swing, making him defenseless against Warren’s next attack. Warren raised his left leg and threw it down onto Nathan’s face in a mighty stomp. Nathan’s head was crushed into the dirt, creating a small crater. His vision became blurry, he saw doubles of Warren and his body didn’t want to move. Warren continued his attack. He opened his left hand, pulled the fingers back so the palm stuck out. It was covered in calluses and slightly burnt from catching the grenade. He clobbered Nathan’s face with the toughened palm, repeatedly doing so until Nathan’s body stopped reacting. Seeing that Nathan was finished, Warren stepped back, breathing heavily. After catching his breath, he ran out of the smoke, ready to attack his next target.

William’s eyes widened as he saw Warren running towards him, taking long strides with his aura enhanced legs. Instinctively, he raised his grenade launcher into the air about to pull the trigger when Warren reached into his pocket and threw something at William with such speed he couldn’t react. He felt a sharp pain in his right hand, forcing him to drop his grenade launcher.

“Ah!” he screamed, recoiling from the pain.

William looked at his right hand. A knife was in it, straight through his palm. He ripped it out and used some of his body’s aura to stop his hand from bleeding. While he was doing this Warren had closed the distance between them. Presently Warren was in front of William, about to swing his sword so he could chop William cleanly in two. Before the motion could be completed Warren’s body suddenly became constricted like he had been jammed into a tube. His arms became stuck to his sides, his legs forced together. He fell over as the constriction became tighter and tighter. Warren looked down at his body, saw that a bright yellow and transparent reptilian had captured him. He was currently in the clutches of a large snake spirit. The snake hissed in his ear, as if the snake was taunting him. Warren was now on his back, looking up at the fake sky above.

“About damn time Nathan!” William shouted to Warren’s right.

“You act like I summoned it.” Warren heard Nathan reply to his left.

“You’re a tamer aren’t you? Of course you summoned it.”

“I told you, spirits have a mind of their own. The snake comes and goes at will and it only remains around for an hour.”

Warren heard footsteps to his left until he could see Nathan looking down at him, his glasses gone having been broken earlier courtesy of Warren. Nathan was holding onto his right forearm. Warren had cut it off, yet there it was. Nathan noticed Warren staring.

“Tamers can take on the characteristics of their spirits. Since my spirit is a reptile, I can regrow my limbs.”

Warren didn’t respond, he was too busy thinking how he was going to get free. He was already using his aura to fight back against the snake so that his bones wouldn’t be crushed but couldn’t summon enough strength to fully free himself.

“Nathan, you good? Where’re your glasses?” William asked.

“I’m fine but our enemy here broke them. I’m using Reptilian eyesight so I can see.” he replied, wiping away the blood that came out of his nose.

William looked down, and saw Warren squirming.

“Heh, look at him go. ”

“It’s annoying how he struggles. Time to put an end to that”

The snake bit into Warren’s neck, making his body feel like a shock of electricity coursed through it.

“Spirit venom. It’s highly lethal and since it’s spiritual, cannot be cured by earthly antidotes. That means there’s no cure and in five minutes, you’re going to die.”

Warren’s eyes widened as the danger of the situation set in. He’d have to kill these guys quickly before the poison does.

“You know it sucks I couldn’t blow him up” William complained.

“You had your chance. Not my fault you can’t do anything right.” Nathan insulted.

“Tch.”

Warren could feel the poison make its way through his body. Right now the right side of his body was numb. He had tried using his ability to cure himself but he could feel the poison destroying his white blood cells. His body was defenseless against it. He’d have to cure himself another way. Nathan and William continued to bicker above him, assuming that Warren would be dead any minute now. That would be their mistake. Warren still had complete control of his wrists. He flicked his right wrist which made a very small knife fall into his hand. It was his smallest knife, more akin to a butter knife than a real blade. It was hidden up his sleeve, ready to come out at the most unexpected of times; a time such as this.

Warren put the knife between his index and middle finger, then sent his aura to them. He flicked his wrist, throwing the knife into the snake’s body. The snake let out a loud hiss and uncoiled, freeing Warren. He sprung up to his feet, standing between Nathan and William. Their eyes went wide in realization and tried to jump away but Warren was too quick. He grabbed each of their heads, slammed them together. They fell to the ground but Warren knew they’d jump up quickly so he only had a small window to move. He picked up his sword, spun around. The snake was slithering away from him, going down the shooting range. A large snake such as that wouldn’t abandon prey simply because it got hurt. It was escaping because it knew that if Warren killed it, the poison would disappear. Warren tried to chase after the snake but heard movement behind him. He turned back round to see Nathan and William back on their feet, the former dashing towards him, the other away. Warren blocked a swing from Nathan’s metal tonfa. The two entered an exchange once more with Warren on the defensive. It was hard to fight for the right part of his body was numb and the numbness was now slowly spreading to the left side. No matter which chemicals his body excreted, the numbness wouldn’t go away. Despite this, Warren was able to defend himself. While fighting Warren increased his blood flow to his eyes, allowing him to clearly see each of Nathan’s incoming attacks. While blocking Nathan’s attacks he saw William behind Nathan, reloading his grenade launcher, aiming it in the air. They were trying to do what they did earlier, have Nathan attack Warren and have William follow up. Their teamwork was what made them so dangerous. When they’re alone Warren was able to deal damage but when they were together it was impossible. The solution was simple. He would split them up.

The thump of the grenade launcher was heard, giving Warren his cue. Throughout the fight, Warren had noticed something strange about the way William fights. William would never aim his grenade launcher directly at him. He always aimed in the air, where the shot would linger until it reached the apex of the arc, then it would track him. That meant his homing ability had a time delay. It would explain why they lured Warren into the indoor shooting range. His ability wouldn’t be effective in a closed space. Warren was about to use this delay to his advantage. He ducked under a swing from Nathan, grabbed his waist, threw him upwards to about 20 feet in the air. William’s shot collided with Nathan, sending the man flying across the room in a trail of smoke. He went through the ceiling, leaving a hole in the artificial sky. Pieces of the roof fell to the ground.

“Oh fuck! You made me shoot Nathan! I mean he had it coming but still!” William yelled.

Warren wasn’t in the mood for banter, he dashed in close to William, and wound up a punch. His left arm went far back, his fist tightly clenched. He concentrated his aura into it and unleashed the blow directly into William’s face. William’s body flew back, going through the wall into the adjacent room. Warren wobbled, the poison's effects getting worse. He felt dizzy, and couldn’t feel the outside of his body at all. Yet on the inside he felt a burning sensation in his chest. He entered the hole William went through. He saw that he was in that office room that Mason had been using to toy with him. Across from Warren sitting with his back against the wall was William. His nose was bloody, and was spitting out teeth.

“Ha that’s all you got?” William insulted, slowly getting up to his feet, his legs barely letting him stand.

He raised his grenade launcher at Warren only for Warren to kick it out of his hands, followed by a kick to the head. William fell back to the ground.

He looked up at Warren and said with blood pouring out his mouth “Damn. Guess I’m done for. It’s been a real shit week. My tonsil exploded, my appendix exploded. I didn’t get to destroy Redrock which is a shame. I wanted to kill that bitch and her abomination myself. At least I can take comfort knowing I don’t have to hear Nathan pester me anymore.”

Warren raised his blade, said “ Don’t get too excited. He’ll join you shortly.”

Nathan’s head was cut off in a clean cut. His head unceremoniously rolled down his body then across the floor. One down. One to go.

Warren, having a feeling he’d need the firepower, removed William’s grenade launcher and belt of ammo. Warren slung the grenade launcher over his back, tied the belt around his waist. Warren whirled around, headed back into the indoor shooting range, picking up William’s head along the way. Inside Nathan dropped from the hole in the ceiling, landing on his feet about 30 yards away from Warren. Smoke still emanated from his body, his eyes were now yellow with black pupils and green scales covered his skin. He straightened his back, twirled his tonfas.

“What happened to William?” he asked.

Warren threw William’s head at Nathan’s feet. Nathan looked down, stared for a brief moment.

“Hmm, a failure to the end, weren’t you William? I never should have recommended you to the council.”

Nathan looked back up at Warren, locked eyes.

“And you. You do know the poison is about to kill you no? I’d say you only have a minute left and as you can see, the spirit is nowhere in sight.”

“I don’t need the snake. If I kill you, it’ll return to the spirit world right? Spirits have no reason to stick around if the person they’re bonded to dies. And once it’s gone, its poison will go along with it.”

“You think you can kill me in a minute? I’m using Reptilian armor, your sword won’t be able to pierce my skin.”

“I’ll just break that armor.”

Warren removed the grenade launcher from his back, held it in his left hand, his sword in his right. He raised the grenade launcher, shot it, hitting Nathan dead center. Nathan blasted back about 25 yards, colliding into a brick wall. Warren chased after him. Nathan’s body was stuck in the wall. Warren, not slowing down, in fact increasing his speed, plunged his sword into Nathan’s now exposed chest, the scales having been blown off. Warren had ran so quickly he bashed them through the brick wall. Warren quickly recovered, so did Nathan, the sword sticking out of his chest. The blade didn’t go in deep enough to hit the target Warren was aiming for, the heart. The scales had reformed before Warren plunged his blade. Warren closed in once more, taking out one of his knives. He attempted to plunge the knife into Nathan’s body but Nathan, ignoring the sword, blocked it, smacked Warren’s head with a tonfa, followed up with a knee to the stomach. Warren didn’t feel the pain, the poison’s numbness effect in this instance helping him. Ignoring another hit to the face, Warren stabbed Nathan in the chest but the blade bounced off. A kick to the face sent Warren back about 8 feet.

“Give up. You only have thirty-”

Warren shot another grenade at Nathan but he ducked under it, the grenade going off 50 yards behind Nathan. Nathan and Warren rushed at each other. Nathan raised his tonfa, ready to bash it against Warren’s head. Warren did the only thing he could do. He opened his hand, slammed his palm into the bottom of his blade’s hilt, pushing the blade further into Nathan’s chest. The blade only barely moved, but it was effective.

“Ack!” Nathan gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth, the push forcing him to step back.

Warren continued his assault, switching palms to ensure an endless stream of attacks. Each hit sent the blade deeper and deeper into Nathan’s chest, his body unable to do anything but step back to avoid falling down. This continued until they were at the very end of the room. Nathan’s back bumped into the wall, giving Warren the opening he truly needed. Warren unleashed one powerful palm strike, which sent the sword through Nathan’s body, piercing the wall behind him. Nathan was pinned to the wall, motionless. Warren took a step back, fell to the ground, his face in a mound of dirt. The pain in his chest was now unbearable. He thought to himself that he was too late, he was going to die. At least he took them with him. That’d make things easier for Akane. She’d succeed where he failed. He closed his eyes, ready to take an eternal slumber when the pain in his chest stopped. Slowly he began to feel the rest of his body. He had killed Nathan just in the nick of time. Warren rose up, looked at Nathan who stuck to the wall like some ornament on a tree. He grabbed his sword, yanked it free. Nathan’s body collapsed to the ground. Warren let out a deep sigh, and wondered if it’d been ten minutes yet. He decided he’d jog back. If he was late he was sure Akane was going to say something that annoyed him. He turned away from Nathan’s corpse, started to jog, his sword in his sheath, his new weapon on his back.