Emilio and Oberon’s blade’s clashed. The two of them keeping up with the other, the difference in skill being negligible. Oberon made sure to not take too many hits straight on when Emilio’s blade was in its unfolded state; the cleaver was far heavier than his machete. Meanwhile Emilio found Oberon’s speed to be a bit troublesome. Stepping around the corpses in the room, their boots made a sticky sound, as they stepped in puddle after puddle of now drying blood. Attack, defend, attack, defend, dodge, change location, attack, the dancing steps of combat.

  How was Oberon not even tired, after fighting so many Fixers? He had to be hopped up on combat stims. He didn’t even look the least bit winded. Either way, Emilio wasn’t going to let the deaths of all these men and women be in vain. He kept this in mind as kicked at Oberon, following up with a swing of his cleaver.

  Shoved away by the combo, Oberon went back on the offensive, dashed forward, and swung. Emilio just narrowly blocked, sparks flying off from their weapons. Oberon scoffed, his machete grinding against the edge of Emilio’s cleaver. “Hm, that weapon. I recognize it. When I caught wind of you joining a Fixer Office and moving up through the ranks, I wasn’t shocked at all.” He quickly stepped forward, ramming his shoulder into Emilio. Emilio, pushed back from the tackle, almost lost his footing as his heel bumped into one of the corpses on the ground. Oberon stepped forward again and swung his machete as Emilio’s face, who leaned his head back, causing the blade to graze along his cheek. A mere flesh wound that could’ve end much worse. “I was happy for you.” Oberon said. “Really, I was.”

  “Happy for me?” Emilio swung his cleaver at Oberon’s shoulder, who blocked, their two blades were now held against each other once more. “Last time we met, you had your boot on the back of my head, why be so sentimental?”

  Pushing against Emilio’s blade, trying to shove him over and break his guard, Oberon hummed. At this distance, the two of them almost face to face, Emilio could almost see Oberon’s eyes behind his mask’s opaque lens. “I suppose I was thinking about the few good moments we’ve had together… And I’m happy whenever anyone finds happiness in the City.” Suddenly, he began losing his footing, as Emilio began to push against his blade even harder. “Happiness, you can say it’s… A finite resource in the City, right?”

  With one hard shove, Emilio pushed him away, ignoring his rambling. Then, moving forward, he swing, aiming to decapitate Oberon.

  SLAM!

  Only for Oberon to block not with his blade, but with the cape of leaves on his back. Whatever material it was made from, it was far more durable than it looked. Blood dripped down from the arm that held the cape; looks like it blocked the attack, but not completely “Almost…” Oberon said, letting go of his cape, feeling the blood run down his arm. “Almost.” He repeated, as Emilio returned his cleaver to its folded state. “Sorry, my baby sister will be upset if I die here.”

  “Funny thing you say that,” Emilio swung his cleaver in the air, red droplets flicking off of it. “I planned to go after her next.”

  “What will you say if she’s already killed your friends?” Oberon asked, as he continued to use his cape as a shield.

  “I try to not think about such things.” Emilio shook his head. He leaped forward and swung, the two killers going right back to where they were moments before, each swing of theirs aiming to kill or maim the other. This time, Emilio’s attack grazed against Oberon’s chest. He almost had him! “For her sake, let’s hope she hasn’t!”

  “Charming.” Oberon nodded, holding his machete in one hand and his cape in the other. “When your blade is in that form, it losing cutting power. My cape should be enough to defend-” Before he could finish his sentence though, Emilio moved in close and swung his fist at Oberon’s face. His fist made contact! The sound of the lens of Oberon’s mask cracking could be heard.

  “Got ya!” Emilio grinned. His heart was racing. This was what he wanted! This was a good fight. Yes, he really wanted to kill this guy, but a small part of his brain was screaming ‘whatever happens happens.’

  “Fuck!” Oberon grunted, stepping back, hand over the lens that was punched. No severe damage, but it certainly hurt. He had to act before Emilio could make another attack! Stepping forward, he went for a stab, holding the blade horizontally. At this range, in punching distance, the blade would run Emilio all the way through! The stab, however, missed its mark, grazing across Emilio side, the blade faced towards him, leaving a nasty wound on the left side of his torso. More than a mere flesh wound, but not the damage that Oberon was hoping for.

  Regardless, Emilio hissed in pain. Yet again, he narrowly dodged a fatal wound. Oberon’s arm at his side, he pressed it between his arm and torso, locking his arm in place; he planned to keep his opponent close. Cleaver at the ready, he placed it against Oberon’s neck. From there, the fight would end, right?

  Of course, as he struggled against the Fixer, Oberon wasn’t going to let things end that easily. Reacting quick, he swung his arm, palm held open flat, and slapped his hand against Emilio’s ear. The sound echoed through the lobby. For that moment, Emilio was left dazed, staring into the opaque lens of his opponent’s mask. His right ear was completely deaf, while his left ear was ringing, the rest of his head felt cloudy. His grip loosened and he stumbled back.

  “Do you remember this feeling?” Oberon scoffed. As he kicked at Emllio, his foot making contact with the Fixer’s chest. It felt like getting hit by a hammer; even with his jacket adding protection. He could barely hear his words, it just sounded like mumbling.

  Even with his ear ringing, Emlio kept up the fight, swinging at Oberon, even changing the cleaver to its unfolded state on the third. Oberon deflected each attack with a quick move of his machete. The grin he had earlier, was now replaced with a determined expression. He could only scold himself for making such a mistake in a fight.

  “Haaah, to be caught off guard by such a cheap move. I see why ear claps are illegal in boxing.” Oberon said, blocking an overhead swing. “Need to sit down for a while?” He asked, moving in close, grabbing Emilio by the collar. “Then sit down!” He said as he shoved Emilio’s head down and brought his knee up. His knee made contact with Emilio’s nose, completely flooring the Fixer. “Do you remember this feeling?” He shouted, “You can threaten me, all you’d like. Don’t you ever fucking threaten my sister!”

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  Dropping his weapon, Emilio tumbled to the ground, holding his nose. If the ear clap from earlier didn’t give him a concussion, that attack sure did.

  “How quickly the tide turns.” Oberon said as he ran his finger on the edge of his machete, enough to draw a tiny bit of blood. “I actually thought I was going to die there.” He said as he pressed his fingers to his neck were Emilio placed his cleaver against it. A small, minuscule cut. Any further and an artery would’ve been severed. Then, he stopped, looking down at Emilio, now separated from his cleaver, scrambled and picked up a knife from the floor.

  His head was clearing, his manic grin had returned. He was either going to die here pointlessly or take his opponent with him! Stepping forward, he swung at Oberon, going for the arm holding the machete.

  Only for Oberon to duck right under the attack, getting to a crouching position “I’m through playing around.” He said as he swung at Emilio’s ankle. What followed was the nauseating sound of a blade slicing deep enough to make it to bone

  As expected, Emilio howled in pain, falling to the ground; even after all his years of experience and built up pain tolerance, that still fucking hurt. Unable to stand on his now mangled leg, still clutching the knife in defiance, even as Oberon painfully yanked the machete out of his destroyed ankle; he didn’t even have the courtesy to slice the whole thing off. “Fuck!” Emilio, shouted, as he tossed the knife. The blade flew the short distance between them, this time catching Oberon off guard! The knife pierced through the side of his chest, causing him the grunt in pain, taking a few steps back. But, in the end, the valiant last resort wasn’t enough. The knife failed to pierce anything vital, leaving Emilio defenseless.

  “So close again. But, I feel we’re done here, right?” He taunted, wanting the knife out and tossing it aside. Then, he pointed his machete down at the defenseless man. “Goodbye.” He said, as he raised his machete, going for the fatal blow.

  Only for a sudden interruption arrived, leaving him frozen in place.

  “Oberon! Enough!” A voice was heard at the entrance to the lobby. In he walked, smelling of cypress. His long white hair pristine, with small leaves decorating it. He dressed in the same black and green suit the rest of the Syndicate wore; The leader of the Ghillie Dhu and the object of Emilio’s revenge, Fionnlagh. With a gentle smile, he looked to Emilio on the ground. He adjusted the clawed gauntlet on his left hand. “Ah… Nostalgia…” He waved gently to Emilio, who could only watch in defiance. “Hello, Emilio… My best friend.”

  While all this was happening, up on the third floor, the trio of Silvio, Oliver, and Heidi were struggling against Rogue. Heidi took the lead, being Rogue’s main target, while the other two attempted to get hits in; but, with the Index member’s focus solely being on the ex-Index member, and them not wanting any friendly fire, it wasn’t the easiest task.

  The hardest part was his fighting style. Two blades, that worked in tandem. Sometimes he’d switch to using just one, sometimes he’d swing the two of them together as if they were one blade, sometimes he would even switch one to a reverse grip and go for a stab. Heidi was in full focus, the only lights being the cherry of her cigarette and the sparks flying off their blades. Jumping backwards from a flurry of slashes, each jump backwards being an avoided slash, she made her move. Going for a vertical slash, aimed at his neck. To which, Rogue promptly dodged, just as nimble as his opponent. Quick to counter attack, Rogue spun around and kicked at her. His foot made contact with her chest, Heidi was sent skidding away into a cubicle wall, the force strong enough to break off a portion. “Fuck!” She grunted in pain.

  “Heidi, who the fuck is that?” Silvio said, stepping forward, his ax at the ready. His arm was wounded, but still had the strength to hold a weapon. The wound stung. More so than a regular wound he experienced in the past; did that Index guy coat his blades in something?

  “He’s one of Eve’s Disciples.” She said, “A group from the Index.” As she explained, Rogue just stood there, watching. “One that I use to be a part of… Rogue joined after I left so I don’t know a thing about him. We were like headhunters, going after and killing people who specifically threatened the Index.” She flicked her cigarette to the floor, stomping it out.

  Rogue rubbed the back of his helmet with the pommel of one of his swords. “You through? I let you explain things out of a sense of hospitality.” He pointed one of his swords at Heidi, “I came here to test you.” He pointed his other sword at Silvio. “You don’t step in.” Then, he paused. “Hm… There was a third one-” Just as those words left his mouth, he was tackled by Oliver, sending him a few cubicles down. “Ah…”

  Running past Oliver, Heidi thanked her. “Stand back, Olive!” She positioned her blade to go for a stab; sword pointed forward, placed under her armpit. “I’ll finish him!”

  Oliver didn’t even bring up her annoyance at the use of the nickname. But, she nodded, silently giving Heidi the go ahead.

  Rogue getting to his feet, feeling like he was hit by an especially small size car moved to the side, dodging. “Predictable.” He raised fist and brought it down, smashing the pommel of his sword against Heidi’s artificial eye, staggering her. He could finish her right here, she guard was wide open. But, instead, he ran right over to Oliver. “My will is the City’s will. Do not impede me.” He swung his blade’s at Oliver, who jumped back. As a form of defense, she blocked his attacks by striking his hands holding the blade. Not a perfect defense, far too precise. But it worked. She mainly dodged. She hated being on the defense.

  Oliver, with her simplistic but brutally effective fighting style, swung her fists at him, this time forcing him on the defense this time, blocking with his arms in front of him. “Tough…” he grunted in pain, the onslaught of attacks getting to him; he felt like his arms were about to break. If she kept this up, he’d be killed. Already, he could hear Heidi getting back into the fray, ready to strike him from behind. “So reckless…” Swiftly, he rolled to the side, now on Oliver’s left side, getting his back away from Heidi.

  Oliver turned to face him once more, ready to keep recklessly swinging her fists.

  But, Rogue already anticipated her, both of his swords pointed downward, at an angle, he swung upward. The sound of the blades slicing across flesh could be heard. The force of the slash sent blood flying to the ceiling. In one attack, Oliver was left with two long slashes across her chest, running from her left hip, up to her right shoulder.

  “Gnnk…” Oliver grunted, coughing up blood inside her mask.

  “Oliver!” Heidi screamed.

  “A reckless fighting style like that falters to sudden changes in scenario.” Rogue said, twirling his blades, watching as Oliver fell backwards. Her breathing was shallow, but visible, even in her injured state she still twitched and attempted to get up, simmering with rage.

  “Fuck!” Silvio grunted. He didn’t know Oliver, but it was never good to see someone get cut down like that.

  “Right then.” Rogue said, approaching Heidi. “I told her not to interfere.”

  Heidi stood there, panting, before taking a deep breath, arms held to her side, as some form of meditation. Then, furrowing her brow, she stared Rogue down. “Silvio! There should be a first aid kit down the hall! Save Oliver! Don’t let her die on us!”

  “A-alright…” Silvio said, already moved over to Oliver. A lot of pressure was put on his shoulders, he was no medic but he didn’t want this girl to die on him.

  “Rogue!” Heidi said, pointing her sword at him. “If she dies, I’m killing as many Index members as I can, including you and all the other disciples!”

  “Mmm…” Rogue hummed. “That’s just what I wanted to hear.”

  Moving to a new location, Rogue having the hospitality to let Heidi choose their battlefield away from the wounded girl, the two got ready for Round Two.