Cole walked with tucked hands and an expressionless face as he approached the city sets. The soothing smell of grassy pastures along with the natural air of the outskirts gradually faded away.
As Cole passed, his eyes darted around the set's entrance for any sign of his old colleague. Unfortunately, much like before, he wasn't present.
He kept a constant pace so his actions weren't suspicious.
'He isn't here again today,' Cole thought.
It was morning in the city as well, the warm sun shone brightly over the towering buildings and small street stalls. Indeed, everywhere was as lively as usual.
'They fixed the synchronization. That's good, I was a bit worried about the lag in the time frame.'
Cole took a detour past the run-down apartment; to his dismay, it looked exactly the same. Not even a scratch or evidence of what occurred was present.
He frowned until wrinkles drew on his cheeks, sighed heavily, and left, his hands remaining tucked in his pockets. When he turned out of the alley and reached the main road, he hailed a taxi.
The taxi drove him through the busy streets and large traffic, stopping at a small gate in-between two skyscrapers and a lane of other tall buildings.
Cole didn't have much cash, but he paid his dues and thanked the driver. He then turned and walked to the gate, it was barely a few meters above his height.
He knocked a consecutive 4 rhythmic times.
A small hole slid open.
"Who goes there?" A masculine voice seeped out the hole.
"Just an average man," Cole replied.
Gears banged against each other in a loud tantrum as the gate was unlocked from the other side. A small section, the shape of a door, was pulled open from the inside.
"Come on in, bro."
Cole was greeted by a bald man at the gate.
Smoothly, Cole went in with a dead expression and focused eyes. The first sight that greeted his view was the arrangement of beautiful lights in the darkness-plagued area.
The central district was a small section of the city affected by a faulty time frame in its portion of the set. Simply put, the district is always at night regardless of the hour.
Because of this major property, it was a city of crime and danger. Law enforcement in the district was incredibly lax, commotion was a normal occurrence, and constant death was deemed natural.
What better meeting place could Cole ask for?
He wore a nose mask, hat, and glasses to hide his facial features as he navigated the rough streets. To his right, people engaged in violent knife fights, probably to settle a dispute or for money. To his left, armed people chased someone holding a large black bag.
The smell of blood and fear was more prevalent than the air itself.
Once upon a time, Cole used to walk on these streets like a king, but now...
'Never mind all that. Where are they?' Cole wondered.
As he walked the streets, Cole was offered many "services" and "Deals," but he rejected every single one.
"How annoying, if they knew it was me, they wouldn't dare," he muttered.
BADUMP!
A flash of cold breeze made his very bones shudder; his heart weighed like a heavy load in his chest. For a brief moment, breathing became a tedious challenge for his lungs.
'What was that?' Cole squeaked, all signs of blood were visibly absent on his face.
"Found him!" A bold yet frail voice spoke from behind.
"I told you not to use that!"
Cole gathered himself together as he redirected his gaze towards them, his balance was unsteady, but he pulled through.
He saw Snider, beside him a woman he'd never met before. Cole was a bit shaky to ask, but he firmed his voice.
"You wouldn't happen to be the faction Head?" He turned to the woman and asked.
"So what if I am?" She retorted.
Cole had half a mind to pull out the knife and kill her where she stood, he also had half a mind to remain cautious and refrain for the time being.
"If that's the case, nice to meet you," Cole stretched out a friendly handshake.
Antadisma curled her lips with a narrow stare and spoke, "I don't shake strangers, but likewise."
The breeze played with their strands of hair as it rushed past them.
Cole gaped as he receded his hand; veins rose at the side of his forehead as he gritted his teeth. Eventually he let out a brief sigh and smiled politely.
'What a suck-up,' Antadisma commented.
"How'd you injure your hand, sir?" Snider asked with a worried face.
"I slit it while cutting pork," Cole responded swiftly.
'This guy's just buns at this point,' Antadisma frowned.
Using her thumb, she massaged her temples and spoke, "Look, Cole Minner or whatever, do you want our help or not?"
"What can you give me if I say yes?"
Antadisma asked in a strained, clearly annoyed voice, "DO YOU WANT OUR HELP, YES OR NO?"
Cole shot back for a moment, "Uhmmm... since you asked so nicely, then yes."
"I'm glad you agreed, but that's not the end of it," Antadisma raised her finger. "See... our faction won't waste its time dragging around dead weights. Prove to me you're worthy of our protection!"
"Huh?" Cole exclaimed with parted lips.
'That sort of doesn't make any sense,' Snider was at the edge of tears after hearing her.
"Antadisma, what..."
"Hush up, Snider..." She whispered. "The boss isn't here, so I'll be in charge of how things Proceed."
Snider gulped and stepped back.
Antadisma folded her arms and adjusted to a straight stance. Cole shifted his hand closer to his boxers as he kept a strict monitoring gaze on her.
"Eidenrich, come out!" She ordered.
The air beside bubbled, followed by the oozing of white gas. The result was a cloaked being with a skull and eyes in its sockets emerging from a dark liquid that painted the air.
"Gouge out his heart, we don't need his body to keep him alive," Antadisma commanded as she pointed towards Cole.
'Is that why my heart felt so heavy earlier?'
Eidenrich hovered beside her, then flew towards Cole at projectile speed.
Cole was briefly stunned but managed to force his body to move. In the nick of time, he rolled out of the way as Eidenrich missed him by an inch.
"Phew."
Cole dug into his pants and pulled out the Swiss knife!
'What the hell?' Snider revolted with a flickering smile.
'He's been with that the whole time and I didn't notice? Hm...' Antadisma thought
Cole surveyed the area with his eyes.
'Just as I thought, all the commoners that flooded the street mere moments ago have vanished.'
The area was plunged into a dreadful silence, partly disturbed by the creature's clicking and Cole's grunting.
Each time Cole swung the knife, Eidenrich would avert it by a mere second. It was safe to assume they were evenly matched at that point.
Antadisma and Snider simply spectated from the background.
'Every slash keeps missing, is just hovering around the only tricks it has or is she toying with me?'
Strategically, Cole hopped on a stack of boxes and swung a precise cut at Eidenrich's head; it dodged, but was inflicted with a slight cut on its cheek.
'Yes!' Cole rejoiced.
As Cole landed, he slid by a wall decorated with graffiti, he punched and shattered the wall, then used his feet to send the rubble flying towards Eidenrich.
His plan was successful; even though Eidenrich dodged the majority, it was still caught off guard by dusty pebbles that hit its eyes.
In the moment of temporary blindness, Cole swung a heavy strike that split many objects in between, aiming for Eidenrich's throat.
'Don't move.'
A cold, alerting voice pierced through Cole's ears and jolted his skull. He froze in place on pure instinct.
The knife was only a wrist flick away from severing Eidenrich's head; however...
'Is he lucky or rather intuitive?' Antadisma was struck by curiosity. 'Either way, how did he know?'
Cole's survival instincts were in full gear; he turned into a statue on its command. He slowly simmered his thoughts and realized something felt like it was tugging the left side of his back.
"Reveal," Antadisma instructed.
To Cole's dismay, lines of dark matter drawing through every direction and path he took in his fight against Eidenrich became visible. He traced the lines as best he could and landed at a line linking to his back.
A hand of bones was pointing its finger, only a skin pierce away from reaching his heart.
Cole further turned his head to get a better view; he was left widening his eyes and lips at the sight.
'If I move...'
"Then the hand moves along with you," Antadisma whispered beneath her breath.
'Each encounter and dodge was only for the purpose of setting trigger lines. If he was caught in-between any of those lines, his heart would have been gouged from his body,' she pondered.
Snider introspected as well, 'I see, so that's her plan. In the event he ends up being an absolute weakling, she'd steal his heart and seal him somewhere safe and secluded. Not only would he be alive, but also easily accessible to our faction if he's ever proven guilty.'
'Honestly, I'd have preferred the girl's plan succeeding. It might have been lunacy and inhumane, but it makes things easier for me as well,' Sniper concluded.
"I... yield," Cole roared.
'There's no way I can escape this! Even cutting its head won't guarantee this creature's death; it's not worth the risk.'
"Seriously? That's it? Just giving up?" Antadisma? Plastered an ugly yet pained scowl on her reddened face.
She spat on the ground in disgust and uttered.
"Congratulations, you failed the test."