2.13

“Hey Silver Fang, I’m up for that job tonight if you are.”

“Yeah, no worries Rampage. We could always do with the extra muscle. Knew I could count on you.” Rampage hung up the phone and threw it away.

“Muscle, that’s all I’m ever good for.” Rampage looked at his incomplete armor he had been working on months ago, it had seemed so stupid to him that it was his idea for a solution to move forward.

The serum Cardinal Knight had given him was amazing. It made him stronger than he ever imagined he could be, and after a few months training, he had gained almost complete control over his boosted strength.

The fight with the group of kids had been an annoyance. He had lost to that stupid kid multiple times now. Every time he thought he had a solution, that kid and his friends would find a way to ruin it all.

Those kids thought they were fighting the good fight, but they failed to realize the ones they thought were the heroes, were the real villains. So many heroes failed to see that the ones that ran them, were the evillest of all. Rampage could see it, why couldn’t they?

Silver Fang’s job was simple. He was having a meeting with some crime lords and he wanted Rampage there in case something went wrong. If all went well, Silver Fang would pay Rampage some money with the promise of more money to come.

Silver Fang and Rampage had gone way back. They had met when they were bodyguards for a mafia boss and had gotten along really well. They had each saved each other’s lives multiple times. Silver Fang was even the best man at Rampage and Paenji’s wedding.

Silver Fang had opened his own bodyguard business and Rampage took work from time to time when he needed the money but never stuck around long. They hadn’t ever drifted apart, only their paths had taken different routes.

Paenji came out to the barn and hugged Rampage from behind. Her warmth had always brought him comfort and peace.

“Are you taking Silver Fang’s job?” she asked.

“Yeah. It’ll be easy, especially if I take some serum, just in case,” Rampage replied.

“Marisha caught sight of you in that form last week. It scared her.” Paenji rested her forehead against Rampage’s back.

“I thought she was acting a little differently lately. I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow.”

“Please don’t scare her.”

“I won’t.” Rampage turned around and stooped down to kiss his wife. She turned and left the barn.

Rampage slipped into a baggy hoodie, worn jeans and boots. He headed into Athena City and met up at the rendezvous point with Silver Fang before they had to head in for the meeting.

Silver Fang was a grey, bipedal wolf. Close to a quarter of the world’s population are animal people, with nobody really understanding how they came to be. But records as old as time showed animal people existed alongside humans.

Silver Fang not only had greater strength than that of a normal human, but he was faster, had quicker reflexes and a keen sense of smell. He could easily bench press 280 kilograms. He was also a martial arts expert and had won multiple martial arts tournaments.

He trained under two legendary masters and had even invented three techniques of his own. When Silver Fang wasn’t training or running his security business, Silver Fang had his own successful dojo.

The two friends stared each other down, waiting to see who would move first. Rampage took a step, and, in a flash, Silver Fang was in front of him, taking a swing at Rampage’s gut. Rampage brought his elbow down, but Silver Fang dodged just in time, doing handstand flips backwards out of the way. Silver Fang rubbed the back of his head and gave a wry smile.

“That would’ve really hurt if you hit me.” Silver Fang laughed and came back in for a handshake.

“Good to see your reflexes are on point.” The two clasped hands and laughed.

“Good to see you, old friend.”

“Good to see you too. So what are we likely in for?” Rampage asked.

“They’ve brought with them two bodyguards I’ve heard about, but never seen until tonight. They won’t be easy if something goes down,” warned Silver Fang.

“I’m sure they’ll be nothing,” chuckled Rampage.

“They are dangerous my friend. They aren’t normally bodyguards. They are mercenaries, trained killers. This person means business.”

“And so do you. So who are they, what do I need to know?”

“One is Nin, uses a sword. I couldn’t gather too much info on her, but she has some strange powers with her sword. Something to do with rain I think they said.”

“Okeydokey, and the other one?”

“Umbra. Shadow constructs. The constructs themselves are difficult to deal with, but if we can get passed those, Umbra should be easy to deal with.” Silver Fang gave a thumbs up and a short whistle.

“What kind of weirdos are you dealing with here?” Rampage flexed a fist and gave his old friend a baleful glare.

“Its for a good cause, trust me. But I’m dealing with Puppet Master.”

“Seriously? That’s one scary dude. Why would you deal with someone like him? Guy’s a real weirdo. Do we have some sort of extra help before we go into this?” Rampage cracked his knuckles; his friend gave a half smile.

“Yeah, I was able to get someone else.”

“Who?”

“Grand Hotpot.” Silver Fang smiled.

“Never heard of them.”

“You haven’t heard of a lot of people, have you?”

“Nope.”

“Let me introduce you to our extra help then.” Silver Fang pointed behind Rampage, who turned around.

A large cooking cauldron, one Rampage pictured old witches and wizards would use, was floating on the rooftop just behind him. A large crack marred the front of the pot, and looking within, Rampage noted a large, glowing orange eye staring back at him. A beautiful aroma tickled his nose.

“Name’s a little literal isn’t it?” asked Rampage.

“Most are.”

“Hello,” the voice sang.