"The message has been delivered. I repeat, the message has been delivered."
'Message received, Cypher.'
Cypher sighed in relief and flicked a switch on the control panel in front of him to cut the connection.
"The Bishop should have received the intel... hm?"
Cypher sat up in his swivel chair and stared at the huge screen in front of him, specifically at one of the many square frames of security camera feeds covering the entire bunker.
"What on earth...?" Cypher muttered as he leaned closer to the screen.
The camera feed flickered.
Then it went dark.
"...Hm?"
He tapped a few buttons on the control panel, but nothing happened.
Camera malfunction?
His eyes shot to a different frame, where another feed was flickering.
Cypher stared as the lights in the corridor blinked once.
Twice.
Then—
CRACK!
The light farthest from the camera shattered.
A second followed.
Then a third.
Cypher slowly got to his feet as the darkness travelled down the corridor, swallowing it piece by piece.
What the hell...?
He switched to another camera.
That was when he saw the actual scale of the problem.
In the feed, two Pawns were lying on the ground. One was facedown, completely still. The other twitched weakly, drool leaking from the corner of his mouth.
Cypher's eyes narrowed, and he grabbed a small walkie-talkie.
"Sector Four, report."
Silence.
"...Sector Four?"
Nothing.
Cypher clicked his tongue and changed channels.
"Sector Five. What's happening?"
Again, silence.
He glanced at another camera and was met with nothing but black.
Then another went out.
Then another.
And another.
Confusion and worry began to build up inside of him, and thinking quickly, Cypher brought up the bunker map on the screen.
All systems were green. Nothing had been destroyed.
Seeing this, his expression hardened. He raised a hand to his hair and gritted his teeth together.
If the systems haven't been destroyed... why haven't the alarms gone off?!
He paused, then glanced back at the cameras.
In one frame, a Pawn hurried into one of the corridors, weapon raised.
He seemed to be muttering to himself, and when he took a left turn, he jumped back with a yell. Lying at his feet was one of the collapsed guards.
Cypher felt a chill go down his spine as the Pawn crouched. "No, wait—!"
The lights behind the Pawn shattered. He froze.
Slowly, the Pawn turned around.
Then the feed cut out.
Cypher's eyes widened, and he looked down at the control panel with a shaky gaze.
What's happening? he thought, wiping off sweat that had gathered on his brow. Why is my heart beating so loudly? No—how is this even happening?!
Cypher tried to get his breathing under control. This bunker was built in absolute secrecy after the Kings bought the company in charge! How was it found?! How was it even infiltrated?! How...
Cypher heard the shattering sound of yet another light, then shook off his worries. Gulping quietly, his hands flew across the controls.
The security systems are still active. I have to use them.
He hit a final button and looked at the feeds, waiting.
Nothing happened.
Cypher blinked, then tried again.
Nothing.
"...No."
He pulled up the map. All systems were green.
At least, according to the computer.
Cypher's mouth slowly fell open.
It's not working.
Another feed disappeared.
Then another.
On one camera, three Pawns lay scattered across the floor.
On another, someone had collapsed halfway through a doorway.
The darkness continued spreading.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Cypher swallowed.
I'm... scared. Me. Of all people, scared.
Cypher chuckled wryly at the growing darkness on the screen. I've performed countless heists, hacked into one of the most secure prison systems on Earth, and killed enough people to disgust even soldiers. Yet...
Cypher put a hand over his eyes. I'm faced with something that can't even be explained logically. Just what kind of Venma is this?
He looked up at the screen to see one single feed active—the one at the very centre of the screen. In it, one last illuminated corridor remained.
The light furthest from the camera shattered.
Then the next.
Then the next.
Cypher stared without blinking.
CRACK.
CRACK.
CRACK.
The last but one light went out.
For several seconds, the camera showed nothing but a small circle of light surrounded by darkness.
Then a tall figure stepped into the circle.
Black suit.
Hands in his pockets.
A blindfold covering his eyes.
Cypher's face went pale.
"Of all people..." he whispered, "Nocturne?"
The Hero stopped.
Slowly, he turned his head towards the camera.
Cypher stopped breathing.
The feed went black.
****
How did I end up here again?
Leprechaun glanced up at the sky, then over at the city's skyline. The sounds of screaming, roaring, alarms blaring, and even an explosion were carried over by the wind.
With a sigh, he locked eyes with the woman standing before him; Gorgon.
"What do you guys even gain from all this?"
Gorgon raised an eyebrow and chuckled. The snake nest on her head hissed quietly, and Leprechaun got the feeling that the snakes were laughing at him.
"I'm sure you'd want to understand our little plan," Gorgon said as she ran her hands down her body and pulled out the knives strapped to her hips. "But we have a bit too many objectives for you to understand."
She held her arms out. "Look around you, Hero. This is all you can and will see: the spontaneity of life. Oh, the thrill of it!"
She grinned widely. "Not knowing what might happen next is one of the greatest feelings in the world, you know? Oh~ I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it!"
She licked the blade of one of her knives, and Leprechaun flinched, taken aback.
Is that... sanitary?
He shook his head. "You know, they say the world's a small, weird place. Look at us now: we're facing off at the top of a what? Nine-storey building? It's not even finished too..."
Gorgon blinked, slightly confused as Leprechaun muttered to himself. She was about to take a step forward and begin her assault, but something, whether her intuition or something else, told her to wait.
Why does it feel like... he has no openings?
Leprechaun shook his head again. "Never mind that. What I'm trying to say is: right now, the 'world' of everyone here in this case is this terrorist attack."
Leprechaun's voice dropped. "You claim that you love the unexpected, but we're going to stop you. What's so unexpected about that?"
Gorgon stared at him. Then a small smile pulled at her lips.
"Pfft-HAHAHA~!"
Leprechaun clenched his jaw tightly as the woman in front of him laughed and laughed. Eventually, she calmed down.
"You know, it's cute how naive some Heroes can be," she said with a wide smile.
"Do I have to be the one to experience the unexpected to enjoy it?"
She brandished her knives and lowered her body.
"I don't think so."
Her feet dug into the concrete floor, and a small web of cracks radiated out of the spot as she burst forward.
She came to an abrupt stop in front of Leprechaun, her blade already stabbed forward. The snakes on her head hissed and shot out as if trying to bite something, and Gorgon chuckled.
She had hit air.
"Woah, woah, woah!"
She glanced to the side, where Leprechaun was patting the air in front of him.
"Relax! We can talk this ou-wah!"
Leprechaun took a step back, and Gorgon's knife swung in the space where his neck had been.
How...? He dodged that with minimal effort too...
Gorgon smiled, swinging her other knife at Leprechaun's midsection.
The Hero took another step back, narrowly dodging the blade.
"Haha..." Gorgon grinned, glancing at her knife. How is he—
A fist slammed into her throat.
She jumped back, gagging. Wide-eyed, she looked up to see Leprechaun standing in the same place as before, making no effort to attack her.
What on earth?
Gorgon paused, then grinned.
"This might be a lot more fun than I thought."
She dashed forward, swinging her blade at Leprechaun's head—
He had already bent over to avoid the hit.
She pivoted round, aiming an upward stab at Leprechaun's shoulder.
He straightened up, and Gorgon hit nothing but air.
As if they were affronted, her snakes shot to the side to bite his face, but Leprechaun stumbled back and avoided them.
Gorgon burst forward, slashing and stabbing at the Hero with a savage grin on her face. Leprechaun avoided every single attack as if he saw each and every one of them coming.
A slash aimed at the shoulder? Sidestep. The other blade coming in from the side? Hop to the side and pivot round. A kick aimed at the head? Crouch and make it an overhead kick.
Hm... Gorgon thought as she tossed her knives upward and threw a sharp right hook. He doesn't seem to be physically ahead of me.
Leprechaun leaned away and kicked her leg. She ignored it and caught his ankle.
I need to test something out.
She pulled him forward into a headbutt, then pushed him away to catch her knives and swing them at his chest.
Still reeling from the headbutt, Leprechaun took a step back, letting the knives nick his suit jacket.
Gorgon smiled, but her mind was far ahead of her enjoyment.
I'm not using as much force as I normally do... or am I?
She blinked in confusion, then shook her head slightly.
Whatever. She glared at the Hero in suspicion. He seems weirdly lucky for him to be holding out this long, since he isn't overwhelmingly better than me.
Gorgon straightened up, widened her stance, and threw herself into a roundhouse kick straight at his head.
This should hit, she thought with the strange certainty of a veteran fighter.
Leprechaun bent over and put a hand to his mouth, and the kick sailed over his head.
Gorgon's eyes widened in surprise, and she jumped away to create some distance between them.
How?
Gorgon paused, then went over what she'd thought earlier.
...'Lucky', huh?
She sighed, then lowered her body once more.
"It's been fun, Leprechaun."
The Hero looked up, his expression solemn.
Gorgon chuckled. "I'll have to end this before I start losing."