Chapter 24: The Queen of Hearts

  Marcus moved through the ruins of his room while the rest kept the attackers busy. They had only limited ammunition and that meant it was only a matter of time until the Hard Boys would overrun them. His shiny armor was a burned mess but Marcus searched for something else. His big closet was half collapsed but he was able to draw out a large bag that was mildly singed. He opened it and found his old armor in good shape. Armored up he made his way to the starting line. In his left hand he carried a bag full with grenades, some from the armory others from fallen enemies. He crouched against a burned wall and took a careful look through a blasted out window. In the night, behind cars and some other cover, most of the enemies were getting ready for the next assault.

  Marcus prepared several grenades and was thankful that Russo had forced him to learn to use them. At the time he had been against it, because it did not fit his combat style but a lot had happened since then and he was wiser now. Not being able to hear well would be a blessing in a moment.

  He threw the first grenade far into the direction of the enemies. It did not really matter what he hit. Quickly two more went flying while the first exploded. Then he jumped through the broken window and ran in a zig-zag over the open courtyard while throwing more grenades. Enemies ran out of cover to avoid the explosions and were picked off by Janette.

  Between the explosions, Marcus could hear shouting in a language he did not know and bullets filled his path. A few hit and hurt but his trusty armor and whopping 19 vitality kept him going. He moved closer and closer while emptying his grenade stock and Janette took down several enemies, who ran into her line of fire. Then something heavy scratched his shoulder in full sprint. Armor pieces were torn off and Marcus could see the outline of the Elemental Mage 50 meter or more away. The guy retreated, staying not only out of reach of Marcus but circling away from the lethal Janette. The mage send more goons to Marcus and he threw his last grenade.

  He was trapped behind a burning car unable to reach the commander and the goons were closing in. With every second more bullets found their mark and time was running out. Marcus could see the Elemental Mage far away, hiding behind a tree while shouting orders. A blur appeared behind him and the flash of automatic fire illuminated the night. Pavel eliminated the Elemental Mage with a precise burst in the back of the head and took cover behind the tree. It took a few seconds before the rest of the enemies understood what happened and that they were now trapped between Janette and Pavel, without a commander or class holder.

  The rout happened quickly and nobody from the team felt the need to follow them. That said Janette’s gun took down a few more before they had fully vanished into the darkness. Marcus’ body hurt all over, he wished Cullen was here and sat down for a moment.

  But there was no time to rest! The buildings were still burning and people were wounded or dead. Marcus pushed himself up again and ran back. The team evacuated the buildings and took care of the wounded as well as they could. They finally got a call for help out, after the phones had been jammed the whole time. It seemed, the Hard Boys were really gone, for now.

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  “That was a great plan but you put yourself in significant danger.” Russo said with a white face. Janette was on the phone, most likely Cherry, and Lars looked miserable but stable. It was thanks to him that Janette had gotten her gun but he had paid for it by being too close to the Fireball. “If I had a better plan or somebody else who could have played bait I would happi-” he was saying to Russo as Janette suddenly shouted. “NO.NO...NO..no..no.” Marcus turned his head and saw Janette staring at her phone, her face as white as Russo’s. “What happened?” Marcus asked. Janette looked distressed “Cherry is coming here.”

  That was reckless, Marcus thought. The situation is not safe, it is likely the Hard Boys would strike again. He could understand that Janette did not want to see the love of her life in such danger. If Cherry got the first possible flight from London, Cherry could be here by tomorrow afternoon, give or take. “Janette, we still have time. You can try to stop her or get to Helsinki tomorrow and put her in a hotel. We will be able to manage without you.” Marcus said but Janette did not seem to listen.

  She bit on her fingernails and mumbled “If she is with Rin she is going to be here much sooner.” Marcus was not sure what she meant but Janette had her eyes closed and looked as if somebody was about to pull one of her teeth out. Then a loud noise, like a thunderclap, rippled through the dark sky.

  Marcus looked up and saw a nightmare under the crescent moon. Something as big as a house moved in the sky. The thing looked like a mixture of dragon and crow and had six glowing red eyes. It circled around the compound and drew ever closer. Now Marcus saw more details and it felt wrong, like something that had been cut out of a manga and just slapped into reality. Uncanny and not real and yet too real to be ignored, it hurt the eye and the mind.

  A hundred meter off it landed in the field with barely a sound and vanished. It was just gone, no sound, no smoke, just gone into nothingness as if it had never been. Instead two people moved over the field, one of them suddenly leaped forward, red hair flowing under the moon. The woman moved with great speed and landed just meters away and fell into normal step without a break. Her red, golden armor was adorned with a golden three headed dog and she was surrounded by an aura of absolute authority. “Never have I interfered with your goals and you do know I support you no matter what. But IF you think I will stand back while criminals try to murder my woman in the middle of the night than you could be no more wrong.” Her voice sounded clear and she stopped right in front of Janette.

  Janette looked like a school girl that just got scolded. “Okay.” she sobbed. The taller woman embraced her and kissed her passionately. It was in that moment, that Marcus knew he was nothing more than a side character in somebody’s epic story. “The moonlit Villainess and her Lamb.”

  Everybody watched and for a few seconds nobody dared to say something or even could come up with something to say. Marcus stared at the couple and his brain refused to comprehend.

  He knew the woman, he had seen her photo, he knew her name and he knew that there was no way she could be here. Amelia “Queen of Hearts” Long, United Kingdom’s top class holder, a level 98 Phantasmal Mage (rank 2) and one of the three heads of the Cerberus clan. That woman could not be here kissing Janette, because if she was that meant that Cherry…

  The women parted and only now the woman, who could not be Cherry, looked around and spotted Marcus. “Marcus darling, are you okay?” Marcus nodded but felt very weak in the legs. “So, hmm, well this is my betrothed Amelia.” Janette said with a look of discomfort. “She is really nice if you get to know her.” She looked to Marcus and then to the rest. Sirens were howling in the background as emergency services were about to arrive. “Hello Janette.” The other person had reached the group and turned out to be another woman with Asian descent and an armor not unlike Amelia’s Cherry’s. “Hi Rin. Sorry for the bother.” Janette said but the other woman just smiled it away.

  The ambulances arrived and medical personal quickly tended to the wounded. Marcus looked at Janette and she was apologetic “Sorry, for keeping it a secret.”. This was just all too much for one night. The base was burning, people had died, his body was a mess and Janette… Marcus sat down, right were he was and closed his eyes. Everything had gone wrong.