Author's note: As i said the action is about to start. This is also the beginning to one of the sub arcs.
My wishes for the next day were, unfortunately, left unfulfilled. I woke to a commotion going on in The Engineer's room. I grabbed a Thompson that my neighbor had modified for an optional belt feed, increased bullet power, etcetera, etcetera.
I proceeded to repeat the earlier day's actions, kicking in the door, although lighting it on fire for distraction purposes. Behind the door, apparently, was a Spider, given away by his screams of flying doors, and his burning clothes. He was the first to go of the half dozen or so splicers. I pressed the trigger, and a volley of slugs were expelled from the weapon, sending the monster flying with an unusually great amount of force. I had never used the gun, but now I wondered whether I would ever use anything else again.
"Mon ami! Vite! L'exil de ces hommes de mon quartier!" He let out the French drabble faster than I could translate, but it was clear what he meant; get these people out. Next was a Houdini splicer running at me. Through some strange twist of fate, I managed to burn him to death before he got near me. Next was a brute carrying several incomplete weapons. The bullets fired from the gun did nothing alone, so, as they fired, I 'fired them up,' setting the brute ablaze.
"Hold it!" screamed a Leadhead, holding both my pistol, and my friend's crossbow. On the table were several parts, only one of which could be part of my pistol. The firing hammer. He brandished the pistol in the direction of The Engineer, and the crossbow towards me.
"Vous stupide, stupide, petit homme ..." mumbled Engineer, running up and punching out the stupid little man, while he attempted in vain to fire either weapon. Next up were three spiders. I sprayed a trail of bullets along them, only catching the first in my fire. One ducked to the right, and the other catapulted himself towards the ceiling. I peppered the one on the right, and turned to face my final adversary, but it would seem only a moment to late. The monster had one of his claws piercing my ally's chest, and the other dripping a miniscule amount of blood from his throat.
"Mon ami, should you miss, I will put in good word for you," I aimed the best I could, which, considering the sniper training I had gotten in the war, was fairly great. I pulled the trigger, but the monster ducked, effectively dodging the bullet, while separating the Frenchman's head and waist from his torso, and spraying me with enough blood to distract me while the coward escaped into an air duct.
"You son of a bitch! You goddamned motherfucker! I swear to god, if I ever find you, I'll rip your fucking head off with my own two friggin' hands!" I screamed. I looked down at the bodies, five splicers. All either shot or burned to death. Wait… two were shot, one incinerated, and one offed with a fusion of the two, but that was it, four people. I looked down at the Leadhead splicer, now regaining consciousness.
"What the fuck…" he said with a thick German accent. I walked over, and held him in the air by his collar. "Gah! Who the fuck are you?"
"Who are you working for?" I yelled in his face.
"I don't now what you are talking about, fuckface!"
"Who are you working for!?" I ignited a fireball in one hand.
"Fuck! I don't fucking know! The spider! He told us that he was hired by someone!"
"Which one!?" I threw him around to look at the bodies.
"None of them, the fuck must have split!" I spun him around again.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know!"
"Maybe this'll jog your memory…" I slowly put my hand onto his face, heating my blood at ever so slowly a rate.
"No! no! no, no, no…!" he said as the skin on his face began to bubble and pop…
He fainted before the first hour of torture was up, and woke a little later. "You fuck… you sick fuck… you fried my face… I hope you die…"
"I bet you do. Until then, though, this might hurt," I said, lighting another fireball.
"Wait, you could try checking where I found him. Apartment E-7, Pauper's Drop."
"Good, I'll let you live. Get out now, and if I catch you again, I'll melt your ugly goddamned face off," I untied the ropes that had him bound, and he ran from the apartment as fast as he could.
I noticed a pair of rolled and tied blueprints on the now dead apartment owners table. The man only tied blueprints when they were finished, so they looked pretty done to me. I unrolled the first. The model name was 'chasseur de sorcières,' translating out to 'witch hunter.' On the design was a crossbow, modified for a cordless drill as a power source. I pieced together the bits on the table, and the partially disassembled crossbow, and got, in the words of the late engineer, a spinning-shot crossbow. On the next schematic was the label 'slayer démon' which should be rather easy to figure out. My new pistol was on it. I refitted the firing pin, then noticed that the model included a newer, flush, firing pin, which, unfortunately, rquired me to dis- and re-assemble my weapon.
"Spider, I will find you," I said, walking into my room, "as soon as I get some sleep…" I collapsed in my bed, both my mind and body ruined from the fight.
Repeat note on top.