Aurum City
He brought his fist down on the guard's head. He felt everything in slow motion. The cheekbone, already caved in from his previous strike, gave away. His fist tore through the head, covering him in blood and cerebral fluid, and stopped upon hitting the floor, imprinting his knuckles on the stone.
His head snapped up with a snarl. He launched himself at his primary target, Soval Legon, the only son of the head of the Table. His blood-soaked hands wrapped around the man's throat, pushing him up the wall.
Behind the largest warehouse the Legons owned, it burned with corpses blocking the path out.
He considered squeezing until his fingers tore through Soval's neck, but a far more deserving punishment came to his mind.
He grinned at the black-haired man, around his age, his dark suit covered in soot and blood, blue eyes rolling back into his head.
Easing up on the pressure, he took a bag from the table, full of white powder, and left the warehouse.
—
"Where are we?" he asked Nax, dragging the unconscious boy from his leg.
"Legon mansion. This is where the meetings are held, and they are in an emergency session now."
"Session," he scowled. "You make it sound like they are a legitimate organization and not filth."
"That's what they call it."
"Are they all inside?"
"Yep."
The satellite imagery connected to his visor once more, painting the separate ballroom where the table had gathered. The mansion was crawling with guards, but he wanted to reach the serpent's head immediately.
He dropped Soval, raising his bracelet. The rocket launcher appeared in a flash of light, the side effect of opening and closing the pocket dimension.
Between the trees, he was invisible to them, but they did not share the same advantage. He raised the weapon to his shoulder, feeling the weight of the smooth metal. Next, he switched to the scatter-rain mode and pulled the trigger.
Three shots left the barrel in quick succession, each one reaching a certain altitude before the electromagnetic field collapsed inwards. It expanded violently in a rhythmic pulse, expelling the plasma to cover a wide area as the globes traveled the predetermined path.
It rained death.
Each droplet could go through Siamese as if it wasn't here. The guards had nowhere to hide. Those smart enough to take cover found no protection but only delayed deaths.
The building had quickly caught on fire. The staff were quick to abandon the mansion, rushing out of the door as he dragged Soval once more.
Circling the mansion, he shot any stragglers that had survived. They all had suffered horrific plasma burns, and death was a mercy now.
The stench of charred flesh was becoming too familiar now.
He stood before the oak doors, seeing the holographic outlines of the members of the Table. They all had drawn guns, waiting for anyone to enter through the door.
His bracelet flashed again, dropping a circular device with three rectangular protrusions branching out from a singular point, forming a rough Y.
He threw it through the window. The quick mental calculations proved to be correct as always, and it landed near the round table. The sonic pulse caused everyone inside to seize. Some fell like frozen popsicles; others just stood motionless.
He kicked the door, which woke Soval up, and he walked, scanning each of the bastards.
Drugs, weapons smuggling, counterfeiting, prostitution, protection rackets, and more. Each of the ten members, nine since Zaver's death, was responsible for a different market.
He pulled the frozen man of the hour, laying him on the table. He sat down on the nearest chair, sighing.
He was tired.
Soval's father, Hazar, was exactly an older version of his son. The same suit, the same diamond-shaped face, hair, and eyes, only older. He threw a small device the size of a grape at the man. It stuck to his head, allowing him to finally do more than just wildly dart his eyes around.
"My brother almost died because of the drugs your table sells. Not because he used them, no. He is too smart for that. But because a girl thought he might be interested in her if he just relaxed," he ranted. Watching
"If only my father had a spine and wiped filth like you off the face of this planet." He might have even respected the old man because of it.
"You don't know who you are messing with," Hazar threatened, but there was no bite to it. He and his cohorts were at his mercy now.
"Words of a dead man mean nothing to me. But before you die, I want you to feel the pain of all the people who had to watch someone dear to them perish because of your drugs."
Hazar's eyes widened. His struggles became frantic but were useless. He resorted to screaming, begging him to stop.
He ignored every word.
Laying the bag on his face so Soval would inhale every powder particle, he waited.
"Please, don't! I am begging you. I'll give you whatever you want. I won't sell any more drugs; please stop!" Hazar kept begging, but Thairon was deaf to the pleas.
He slapped another device on Soval, neutralizing the effects of the neural inhibitor. He immediately started to convulse, foaming at the mouth, just like Kael. Only, Soval had no Thairon to save him.
Hazar stopped begging him and instead screamed at his son to wake up and run. Soval was unresponsive. As his movements became slower, so did his father's pleas start to gradually fall silent.
He was frozen when Soval's head rolled to the side and all movement ceased. Hazar looked into his son's empty eyes, a silent plea for him to wake up.
"Imagine how many times this scene, even if not exactly as it started, repeated across the planet because of people like you."
"How does it feel to get a taste of what your actions caused?"
Hazar let out an unintelligible scream, shouting profanities, trying to bite Thairon.
"Don't worry, I won't keep you from your son," he responded. All his fury was spent, and he didn't feel the urge to kill Hazar in the gruesome manner he deserved.
He left a single grenade on the table next to the sole corpse in the room and walked away.
Once he was outside, the bloom of plasma blinded the cops arrayed before him. When they regained their senses, he was gone.
—
Glassport
He threw his bloody clothes in the trash can. Combined with the stench of soot and charred flesh, they weren't worth the trouble to save.
Water, perfectly mild, rained down on him. He sat in the shower, resting his eyes for a couple of seconds.
"You have a call from Tomoe. Do you want me to relay it?"
"Sure."
"Hey. Why can't I see you?" Her voice echoed through the blank screen.
"I am in the shower. You can speak though, don't worry."
"I just saw the news. You don't seem like the type to go on random massacres, unless I am grossly mistaken. Care to tell me what happened?"
He raised an eyebrow at her tone. It was neither accusatory nor judgemental, something you would expect considering what he had just done. Not that he felt bad about it.
"That is an awful lot of trust."
"We fought together. In my opinion, it warrants at least that much."
"My brother, Kael," he said, leaning his head back on the wall. "A girl gave him drugs to get him in bed. I was only at the beach because I didn't feel like working today."
"Ah." She fell silent after that. He knew she had a sister, but she did not speak of their relationship much.
"I started from her," he decided to continue in greater detail, "and took everyone out right up to the top of the organization responsible for the production and distribution of narcotics in Aurum City."
"The results are everywhere. Is it over?"
"I killed the leadership and made the head of the table regret ever living."
"And?" she asked, waiting.
"Yes. It is over."
She hummed. "What did you do to him?"
"Sure you want to know?"
"I," she stopped for a second, "understand where you come from. If it had been my sister, I would have raised hell."
Which meant she understood his motivations to a degree.
"I overdosed his son with the same narcotics his organization sold, right in front of his eyes."
Another moment of silence. "Brutal."
"Are we still on this weekend?" she asked, as if the previous part of the conversation had not taken place.
He blinked once. His lips stretched, and as tired as his mind was, the laughter that ripped out of him was loud and long.
"I just admitted to brutally murdering the criminal son of a criminal father after carving through an entire organization, and you are asking if we are still going on a date?" he chuckled. Either she was as crazy as him or too optimistic for her own good.
"Is that a no?" she asked.
"It's a why?"
"As I said, I understand where you are coming from. Though, you should definitely consider anger management."
He chuckled at the advice. "I'll see you on Saturday."
—
Aurum City
King Roland Hospital
"He is getting food from the cafeteria outside," Skyler said, cursing in his mind. He had thought the RIA wouldn't visit Kael. He just never considered they might come because Thairon had just massacred over two hundred people.
"Are you sure, young master? You know you are not protected as the princes are," the agent asked.
His lips twitched, and he imagined himself punching the agent for that comment. "You don't have to remind me."
"Look, there he is," he said, sighing internally. To his luck, he had also brought food.
"My prince," the agent bowed, suddenly meek. They knew Thairon was behind this but couldn't prove it. The prospect of getting on his nerves must have scared the man.
"What do you want?" he grumbled, combing a hand through his hair.
The other agent spoke since his partner seemed to have lost his ability to speak. "Where have you been during the last two hours?"
"Here. I just left to get food. Didn't Skyler tell you?" he asked, shaking the bag in his hand.
"He has."
"Then what?" Thairon took a step forward, glaring down at the agent.
The best of the Kingdom or not, they flinched. "Nothing. Good day to you, my prince."
The agents made a hasty retreat, leaving the brothers alone once more.
"What the heck did you do?!" Skyler hissed once the corridor was clear.
Thairon glanced at the cameras. "Did they enter the room?"
"No."
He started to scan the area for any bugs but came up empty.
"Done?"
He nodded, and Skyler scowled. "Great. What the heck did you do?!"
"What had to be done," he answered.
"That is not an answer."
"I killed criminals who deserved it. I don't see what answer you want from me." If they were willing to engage in crimes that would threaten the lives of ordinary citizens, they should be prepared to forfeit their lives.
"You didn't have to dirty your hands. You could have just gathered proof and handed it to the law enforcement."
"When you want something done, do it yourself." If the government wanted to, they could have handled this before.
"For the love of—", Skyler clenched his fists, forcing himself to not scream. "You know what, forget it. He is awake; come in."
He opened the door without a delay, seeing his brother lay on the bed with an IV on his arm.
"Hey," they said at the same time, approaching the side of the bed.
"Sup," he waved, reaching for the food as soon as he was in range.
He was dressed in a hospital gown, but if neither knew what had happened, they would think he was just here to chill.
"How are you feeling?" Skyler asked, taking his own food.
Kael pulled himself up, leaning on the headboard. "Surprisingly good."
Skyler smiled and nudged Thairon with his elbow. "Tell him."
"Tell me what?" Kael asked. He had an idea as to what had Sky so angry but didn't want to assume anything.
"We can at least wait for him to leave the hospital," Thairon grumbled, putting his paper plate down.
Skyler nudged him again. "Just tell him."
"He is right, tell me."
"Fine. "Arlene is dead," he blurted out.
Kael slowly put the plate aside and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.
"As are her parents and everyone beginning with the one who sold her the drug to the heads of the organization that were responsible for the trade," Skyler added.
"Please tell me you didn't burn my city to the ground," Kael whimpered. He might have been born in Thermion, but Aurum was his home.
Thairon raised his shoulders and dropped them. "Only a couple of buildings with drugs stored inside."
"I'll take what I can get," he muttered, reaching for the plate again.
His appetite was raging, and he managed to finish the wrap too quickly. "The doctor said I was in surprisingly good condition for someone who just overdosed," he said, cleaning his fingers.
"Nanobots," Thairon said as a black mass, a wiggling mass, covered his left hand. "I injected you with a batch to neutralize the drug."
"Creepy, but thank you."
"You are welcome."
Skyler rolled his eyes. Of course Kael would joke even in this situation. "I spoke to the doctor. They want to keep you for the night, and you can leave tomorrow morning."
"So, how many did you kill exactly?" the youngest child of House Kessler asked.
"I didn't count."
"The final tally is two hundred sixteen, but they suspect the number could be higher due to the bodies turned to ashes," Skyler explained, having nothing to do but watch the news.
"Right. Plasma weapons," Kael said, remembering the footage of the devastating weapons used against the Seteres synthetics.
They stayed next to Kael until night, upon which he shooed them out of the room to go and sleep.
Skyler was quick to leave, but not before thanking Thairon. Over-the-top retaliation or not, he was a great brother. Ten siblings were born to the same parents, yet only two would he ever call brother. Having brothers who would go to such lengths for one another felt great.
If only it did not require so much blood.
Tomorrow, they would get him out and celebrate.
—
Thermion
Moonrise Palace
Octavian let his head drop on the desk before him.
No definitive proof Thairon was involved in this massacre. He was found in the hospital, which was three hours away from the final location of the rampage, the Legon mansion.
Unless he teleported, Thairon had not taken any direct action.
Though he had bigger problems now. He watched the live footage of the protestors, stopping the firefighters from doing their jobs.
Which was merely the beginning.