The Devil’s Choice

Jake froze, his gun still aimed at the giant, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The voice that had spoken wasn't the woman's. It wasn't the masked man's. No, this voice was smoother, more dangerous. It oozed with authority, with power. And it was a voice Jake knew all too well.

"Vito?" Jake's voice cracked, his heart hammering in his chest as he slowly turned around.

Standing in the doorway, framed by the chaos, was the man himself. Vito Marino. Very much alive and looking more sinister than ever.

The world, for a fleeting moment, was frozen in stillness as the thoughts ran around Jake's brain. He'd killed Vito. He's done it he'd ended that nightmare. Except now, now Vito's standing there in front of him, a grimy grin spattered across that scarred mess of a face. His eyes were burning from some cold inferno, but his hands stood loose at his sides, completely relaxed, even though he might have just slogged through an entire war.

"You've kept busy, Renzo," said Vito low and amusedly. "You didn't expect me to be so easy on you, I suppose?"

Jake's blood ran cold. The giant, now struggling to get to its feet, let out an enraged growl, the eyes flicking from Vito to Jake and then back, as if the beast sensed that something in the room had changed. It appeared to hesitate, its enormous frame tensing for a moment as if waiting for its next instruction.

"Vito… you son of a " Jake started, but the words died in his throat as the weight of the situation sank in. The room was closing in. His options were running thin, and there was no way he was getting out of this without a fight.

The woman in tactical gear was composed but remained silent. She glared from Jake to Vito, weighing the situation. It could be said she had been holding her own up until this point, but now that the true puppeteer had joined the fray, even she looked out of her depth. She took a small step back, her hand on the hilt of a knife at her side.

"Vito, you son of a bitch," Jake repeated, his voice dripping with venom this time. He squeezed the grip of his gun, its weight both reassuring and terrifying. "I thought you were dead."

"I don't die that easily, kid," Vito said, grinning wider. "You should've known that. You're in way over your head."

Jake's mind was a blur, but it was too late. The giant, whose body was shattered by bullets and knives, charged forward like a freight train. Its massive fists swung in brutal force. The woman with the knives didn't look back. She ran straight forward, leaped into the air with an almost elegant dexterity, and threw punches at the giant's face.

Jake fired at the beast, shots connecting with its shoulder, and the creature hardly flinched. It swung one of its giant arms at the woman, knocking her across the room like a rag doll. She hit the wall with a sickening crack, sliding down unconscious.

"Fucking hell," Jake whispered under his breath, eyes darting between Vito and the beast. This was bad. All bad.

Vito laughed, stepping forward with a nonchalant confidence. "You lost, Renzo. You always were too soft. Look at it. It's over."

The giant's roar filled the room, and Jake didn't waste another second. He fired off another round, this one aimed straight at the face of the giant. But the creature was too quick. It leapt for him, its massive hands swinging like battering rams.

Jake barely dodged, diving to the side as the giant's fist slammed into the floor where he had been just moments before. Dust and debris exploded into the air, and Jake scrambled to his feet, trying to keep his balance on the unstable ground.

"Get up!" Vito's voice rang out, mocking and cold. "This is your last chance to prove you're worth anything."

Jake's heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn't going to let Vito win. Not now, not after everything he had been through. The woman with the knives was out for the moment, her body crumpled against the wall. The masked man wasn't much better, groaning and barely able to stay upright, blood staining his clothes. Jake was alone in this fight, but he had one last card to play.

Fuck this," Jake whispered, his voice low and raw. He stretched out with the last vestiges of strength to grab hold of a table next to him and flipped it over. It shattered on the ground, and from the ruins, Jake managed to pull out a massive metal pipe.

The giant turned to face him, its monstrous form closing in with an almost gleeful expression. Jake tightened his grip on the pipe and charged.

The first swing hit the giant's ribs with a sickening crunch. It stumbled back, momentarily stunned by the blow, but it recovered quickly, swinging its own fist at Jake. Jake ducked, barely missing the strike, and swung again. This time, the metal pipe connected with the beast's jaw, sending it crashing to the side.

Jake felt his body scream in protest as he pushed forward, slamming the pipe into the giant's knee. The beast let out a guttural roar of pain, but it didn't fall. No, it just turned its focus back on Jake with an intensity that made his blood run cold.

You think you're done?"Vito called out, stepping back and watching the chaos unfold. "This is just the beginning. You won't escape me, Renzo. Not now, not ever."

The giant, now enraged, charged at Jake again. This time, it was faster, angrier. It moved in for the kill.

Jake was ready to take it down, ready to give everything he had left, when a loud explosion shook the room.

The floor beneath them cracked, and the walls trembled as the sound of a heavy impact echoed throughout the building. The giant, stunned by the sudden shift in the room's foundation, faltered in its charge.

Jake's eyes widened as dust and rubble cascaded down from above, and the ceiling cracked open once again.

The ground shook beneath his feet, and he barely had time to react before something no, someone dropped down from above.

It was another figure, dressed in shadows, moving with deadly precision. This figure landed between Jake and the giant, grasping a huge battle axe. Its edge seemed to gleam under the faint light.

The giant let out a furious roar, but this figure didn't hesitate. The beast's arm was severed at the elbow in one swipe of the axe. Blood sprayed everywhere in the room.

The giant howled in pain as it staggered backward, but the newcomer did not have mercy. He raised the axe once more and swung it again, this time cutting clean through the neck of the giant. The head then fell to the ground with a sickening thud, the body collapsing as a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Jake stood there breathing heavily, staring at the bloody remains of the giant.

The figure faced him, its face still hidden in the shadows of its hood.

"Are you going to stand there or finish what you started?" the figure asked, its voice cold and commanding.

Jake's heart still pounded inside his chest, but now, there was a spark.

"Who the hell are you?"

The figure smiled, a cruel, sharp grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Your savior. For now."