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Chapter 3: Spilled Blood
"No
way..." Calmar stuttered, it was the man they left for dead in the factory.
He had survived but was missing his left arm and had scratches on his face.
The man laughed again at Calmar's shock "You honestly
thought that little thing could kill me? You must not remember me Calmar. Does
the name Daniel Tristan ring any bells?"
An image of a man cowering on the floor flashed in his mind,
was this really the same person? The Daniel Tristan he remembered was weak and
helpless, anything but a complete psychopath like this man seemed to be.
"What's the matter?" Daniel asked "People can
change a lot in seven years you know, scars from their past can drive them to
become very different. I suppose we have you to thank for making us what we are
today."
"We? Who is..." Calmar started, but was quickly
interrupted by Daniel.
"Oh how rude, he's the one that wanted to talk to you in
the first place, sorry about that Tom." he said, stepping aside.
A man in a blue uniform stepped into view, his fiery red hair
seemed to amplify the burning hate in his eyes. Calmar recognized him instantly.
"Not at all Daniel, I had to think about what to say anyway, it has been so
long." he spoke very calmly, despite his ferocious appearance.
"Thomas..." Calmar muttered
Thomas chuckled, "You remember me do you? Good, it would
be a shock if you had forgotten me. After all, you did kill my brother."
Maria, who was watching quietly until this point, gasped.
"What... that can't be right..."
"Yeah!" Amy shouted, "Leon may not be the
nicest guy but there's no way he's a murderer!"
"Leon? He didn't even give you his real name fool, what
does that tell you?" Thomas scoffed
"Calmar Orna, that's my real name. Leon Shrike was just
cover so these peons couldn't find me, lot of good it did." Calmar said,
never taking his eyes off the screen. "So Thomas, come for your revenge eh?
How many times do I have to tell you, it was an accident!"
"An accident?!" Thomas slammed his hands on his
desk, finally showing his rage "You put three bullets in his back, and you
expect me to believe that was an accident?! We will settle this one and for all!
You hear me!?"
"Fine." Calmar said coldly "If dealing with you
is the only way I'll get any peace, name the time and place."
"Ah, that's more like it.” Thomas grinned.
"There's an old ruin, a tower, hunters emptied it years ago. It would prove
to be a fine place for our showdown. I'll wait at the top for you in one week.
Just to keep things interesting, Daniel and two of my best hunters will be there
as well. Bring your allies if you wish, just don't die before you can reach me.
I want the pleasure of killing you myself."
"Fine, see you then." Calmar said, disconnecting the
call. The four of them stood in silence for a few moments.
"Leon... uh... Calmar... is all that true? Did you
really..." Maria stuttered
"Yes, I did kill his brother." Calmar said, walking
to the office door. "But as I said, it was an accident."
"Indeed." Clint finally spoke "What is your
plan now?"
"I have taken a challenge, and I will not back down. It
may be a trap, but I'm tired of running. It ends in one week. You know where he
was talking about, right Clint?"
"There's only one clean tower in this city, the others
are still plundered occasionally. It's called the Viridian Tower."
"Viridian... that's where..." Calmar laughed
"He's really got it planned out doesn't he?" he said, stepping out the
door.
"Hey, wait a sec whatever your name is!" Amy shouted
chasing after him.
She followed him to the lounge, where he sat on the couch and
planned his battle tactics. It wasn't long before Amy asked, "What the hell
is going on, what happened back then?"
"I suppose you won't leave me alone until I tell you,
right?" Calmar asked
"Not a moments peace, now spill it. What did you
do?" Amy said stubbornly
Calmar sighed, "Fine, seven years ago, I was on a mission
in the Viridian Tower, looking for some old documents. As usual, there was
competition. Among them were Thomas Centime, the co-leader of a guild called The
Hunters United Guild, more commonly called THUG due to their rather ruthless
methods. His best friend, Daniel Tristan was there as well, along with Thomas's
brother, Vincent, the real leader of THUG."
Calmar stopped, he didn't like thinking about it but Amy
insisted he continue.
"Well, back then I used to use two pistols. One loaded
with live rounds for dealing with rogue bots, and one with stun rounds for other
hunters. I was chasing Vincent, he had gotten the documents before I could, so I
pulled out my stunner pistol and hit him three times in the back... but..."
"But?"
"My guns looked the same, except for a red piece of tape
I put on the one with live ammo in it, but I must have put real shells in the
stunner by mistake. One of the bullets pierced his heart and killed him... I ran
off with the documents, it was too dark in there, I never noticed the blood...
and... damn it!" Calmar punched the wall "If only I hadn't been so
careless! Now all this... it's just-"
"Calmar..." Amy said "It does sound like an
accident. If you didn't mean to kill him... I..." she stared at him, he
didn't hear a word she said, he was lost in thought. "I'll be going."
she said, slipping out the door.
A week passed slowly, none of them talked to Calmar much after
that day. Not that he noticed, spending most of his time training or preparing
mentally for the impending battle. When the day arrived nobody was around,
Calmar went back to the locker room and retrieved his katana, taking a deep
breath. "This is it." he mumbled, walking out of the locker room and
down the hall. He stepped into the lobby, Amy, Maria and Clint were all standing
in front of the door.
"Don't bother trying to stop me." Calmar said
coldly. "I'm going."
"We don't plan to stop you, idiot, we're going with
you!" Amy said
Calmar looked at them, they all looked ready for battle. Amy
in her normal pink outfit, Maria wearing her white soldier's uniform and holding
an Uzi, and finally Clint, who was wearing a long black coat, silver ankh and
broad rimmed black hat.
"You're crazy, this isn't a mission! This is a fight to
the death!" Calmar shouted at them, but they didn't budge.
"I refuse to let my newest hunter go out and get
killed." Clint stated, it was clear there was no reasoning with him, or Amy
for that matter.
"I... I won't be a burden. I'll show you all I can handle
myself!" Maria said loudly, perhaps to convince herself as well.
"You're all out of your minds." Calmar scoffed,
"Don't blame me if you end up dead, this is your own doing, got it?"
"You know it! Besides, I owe that jerk Daniel a beating,
he'll think twice before insulting women hunters again!" Amy yelled, making
a fist
Calmar stifled a chuckle, "Yep... nuts." he mumbled,
walking past them "Lets go, the sooner this is over, the better."
They headed off to the tower, unaware of what Thomas had in
store for them.
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