Track 53

Conor looked down at his phone. He stood beside the hospital bed. 

"It's a random number…" He picked it up curiously. 

Mitani leaned against the wall. He wasn't sure if it okay to ask if he could leave, but he figured he had outlived his usefulness. 'At this point, It's up to Conor if he wants me alive…I've been sitting here for like an hour. I really hope he does like me. It would really suck to be killed by my favorite artist.'

Antwan sat in the hospital bed. In his lap he had a styrofoam takeout container, and a blunt in his hand. 

Earlier, Conor had made Mitani close the door and deactivate the firealarm in the room.

Answering the call, "Hello?" Conor said. For the next minute, the only sounds in the room were Conor's occasional "Uh-huh" and Antwan's light coughs, then he said, "Shit, you know Conor, don't miss. I'll get 'em." 

Before he knew it, Mitani was back inside Conor's lamborghini, flying toward Stygian Tower in the distance. 

They arrived through the back entrance, sprinting up the stairs inside. 

"What are we doing now?" Mitani asked.

"We're going to floor ninety-nine."

"What's there again?"

"Where the heads of all the families are…bruh keep up!"

"What are we goin' to do to them?"

"Convince them kindly to call off the hit squad they sent on us."

"By killing them?"

"Look, bruh," Conor slowed to a stop on the landing of the thirty-second floor. "You can go back to your friends or whatever, but these dudes, if you heard about a fraction of what they've done, you'd be thanking me for what I'm about to do, aight? So don't get all bitchy and whiny about it. When I'm done, I'll tell my sister to let your friend go too, a'ight?"

"Really?"

"If you don't believe me, you can follow me if you want, I don't give a shit." He continued to run up the stairs once more. 

Veni stared silently across the office space at Zheanni, Kholwa, and Zoe. 

His red aura flickered and cracked as he gripped his sword tightly, taking a deep shaky breath through his nose, attempting to clear his head. 

"Haemosu!" Kholwa called as tendrils of pink light began to surround her. As the sounds of approaching hounds filled the office space, Zoe took a deep breath, her wide eyes trying to take everything in, analyzing the situation. 

'Who's side do I need to be on? She said he was going to kill me. Based on how those two have been, they seem to think that he can kill them. His energy does feel "bigger" than theirs. The way he's looking at me…I don't think he knows I'm not with them. Or he doesn't care.' 

Kholwa and Zheanni shot glances to Zoe, seeing orange energy billowing around her. Zheanni braced herself, her gold aura quickly arching around her, but an attack never came, not from Zoe, at least. 

Veni rocketed forward, effortlessly blasting through cubicles and desks. His sword sliced through concrete pillars as he passed. 

Normally, Zheanni would have taken a hit from a sword without worry, but something in her told her to dodge. 

A wide sweeping swing of his sword that attempted to bisect them all right there was pulled away inches before it would've made contact with Zheanni, causing him to lose balance. 

"Huh?" Veni stared at the card on the ground a few feet away. 'A six of hearts?' It seemed to be pulling him and everything in the vicinity toward it. 

"Attack!" Kholwa ordered. 

Veni staggered, seeing Haemosu quickly slither toward him. Gnashing their teeth into his legs and torso. From under his right wrist protruded a golden dagger, which he used to stab into the head of one of the dogs that attempted to rip into his stomach. 

Kholwa screeched in pain as she pulled the pink uzi from the pocket of her hanbok, aiming it at Veni. 

Zheanni ducked out of the way of Kholwa's line of sight, coming at Veni from a different direction, punching and kicking. 

Lifting his sword with one hand, Veni blocked most of the incoming fire. With his other hand he had grabbed Zheanni by the throat, starting to lift the struggling girl into the air. 

Thinking quickly, Zoe took a card between her index and middle finger, dulling the edge, and making it dense. 

Though it didn't injure him, the force of the card's impact, plus the continuous pull of the six of hearts, sent him several feet. 

Zheanni ripped herself from his grasp, continuing to swing on him, dodging his hidden blades, and the wide swings of his sword. Using a throwing dagger, he was able to destroy the card on the ground. 

Seeing an opening, Zheanni moved in, one of her fists flying at his head, though moving faster than he ever had before, Veni grabbed her arm, pulling her close. Headbutting her, then putting his arms tightly around her neck, he was ready to snap it. 

Her eyes widened as he began to squeeze. She began to claw and punch, feeling the pressure on her neck. Like her body was a twig that could've been snapped at any moment. 

"Hm?" 

Kholwa blinked in surprise. 

Veni had suddenly let go, jumping away from Zheanni. 

She didn't sense it at first, but then saw the figure shimmering into existence next to Zheanni. 

Zoe's wide eyes fixated on the tall twinkling humanoid pacing behind Zheanni, slowly forming into their reality. 

"I don't know about this," Kholwa warned, setting the sights of her uzi on Veni. Haemosu curled around her defensively. "Z, we-"

"Hush!" Zheanni snapped. "We got this. It's a three- well, a four v one." 

Her Dark Passenger made a whirring sound of agreement. 

Zoe pulled her gaze away from that thing, and tried to focus on Veni, 'I don't even know what's happening right now. This guy, he's just so strong. I didn't think I would ever see anyone stronger than KTA, but he just feels like he's on another level.'

In a flash, Veni dropped his sword and lunged across the room, two blades extending from his wrists. 

Zoe readied two cards. 

Kholwa braced herself to attack. 

Zheanni squeezed her fists tight.

Veni suddenly stopped in his tracks, holding up his hand as a gesture to 'hold on', and began digging into his pants pocket.

Haemosu cocked their heads to the side, confused at the annoying beeping noise that had filled the room. 

Veni took out his cellphone, seeing the number of his client, and answered it. 

"Hellooo," Conor said in a silky cocky voice, elongating the word. "You're who they sent to kill us, huh?"

Veni was silent. 

Suddenly his phone buzzed. Several pictures had been sent to him. 

"They're all dead. You aren't going to get your money."

Veni stared at the pictures Conor had sent for a long time, eventually sighing, hanging up the call, and putting the phone back into his pocket. 

He gave a long stare at the three women several yards away who stared back expectantly, not sure what was happening. After another long sigh, he casually lumbered over, picking up his sword, sheathing it, and stepping into the elevator, disappearing. 

It had felt like everyone had been holding their breath for that whole phonecall. 

"What the fuck!" Zheanni plopped to the floor with an exacerbated sigh, letting out all the tension. 

After a minute, Kholwa moved to the window, watching Veni walk from the front doors of the building, disappearing into the crowd outside. "Yeah, he's actually gone." She turned, grinning at Zheanni, "You're a genius." 

"Mm!" Zheanni grumbled a huff. 

"What?" 

"I didn't wanna have to do that! I've never had to resort to such bullshit like that my whole life!" She cried, throwing her hands in the air. Her Dark Passenger made an annoyed gurgling sound. "Yeah, exactly!" Zheanni agreed, "It was fuckin' humiliating."

Kholwa turned to look at Zoe, "So…What are we gonna do about her?" 

Zheanni gave the girl a weary stare. She looked downright miserable in those tattered and burnt clothes. "You can go." She finally said, waving her away. 

Zoe blinked in surprise, then sprinted off toward the stairs before they changed their minds.