PHASE 2 UPDATE # 5

ERROR.

MAINTENANCE ERROR.

REBOOTING…

UNABLE TO ACCESS SYSTEM RESTORATION.

ACTIVATING TEMPORARY HARD-DRIVE DATA…

OVERVIEW DISAB-

ENABLED.

…

This breeze…

It's soft… Just like that time…

Hey! Wake up! Wake up Sleepy Head! Wake-

"-UP!"

… ? Damn... Oh right.

I open my eyes and hear a voice. "Not like you to sleep in."

"Right, I had a lot on my mind last night all because someone messed up." I glare at my associate. I get up and look for my helm. "But you did wake me up before I had a nightmare, so thanks." He gives me my helm. I inspect it to make sure he didn't damage it and I put it on.

I look around for a bit. "Deceit, Where is Voodoo?"

Deceit motions over to Voodoo sitting down and staring at the sky. We both start walking to him.

"But, really Cross?" Deceit asks me. "What are the chances that blue mask of his can give sight to the blind!?"

"Because I remember now: Voodoo found a mask in the attack on Fort Kartol. It was after we killed the leader when Voodoo found something in his vault."

"Leader of Fort Kartol… Wasn't he that creepy collector of supposed exotic magic?" Deceit remembered.

"Yes. I remember Voodoo carrying and odd wrapped object with him; it was the same size as the mask he wears." We both walk over to Voodoo.

"I don't believe you." Deceit takes out four fingers in front of Voodoo's face. "Voodoo, dear chap, How many fingers am I holding out? Just answer me by showing you're hand with this many."

Voodoo faces Deceit takes out his hand and puts out four fingers.

"Well I'll be! The wonders of magic then?" Deceit said in awe.

"Don't think so…" I say. "Voodoo, you can't remove that mask anymore, can't you?"

He nods.

"I didn't see you remove it before you fell asleep. I know that masks don't really hinder your performance, but no matter how much you moved in the fight with the Shepherds that mask of yours didn't even seem to come loose." I explain.

Voodoo nods again.

"So he can't remove it? Guess having your new sight does have draw backs." Deceit holds his chin.

"Not quite, Deceit. There is another drawback to it: It's a mask not eye balls. For Voodoo to see something, he has to move the mask in one direction. Overall, Voodoo losses subtle and stealth like features for the price of artificial sight, which makes things harder for him to walk in the middle of the day without being spotted."

"Always the expert in these things, aren't you Cross?" Deceit tells me.

"Marvo expects this much from all of us at least." I tell him.

Voodoo stands up. He takes his hand out and reaches for the sky… he holds it up for a while and I understand.

"Ah, right. Sorry Voodoo. Guess you, of all people, are entitled to see the world since you were born blind." I apologize.

Voodoo only nods but he doesn't face me.

We all start walking in the main road and wear thick cloaks to hide ourselves.

"How long till we get to Cobalt Port?" I ask.

"A few days travel at most."

"And the closest town?"

"A trade city called Huless. So Huless City."

"We have a liaison there to some of the black marketers there right?" I ask.

"Count Losdar. Yep. I like his mustache."

"He might have some updates for us from The Benefactor, if not, I'll simply report our progress and say we are en route to Armed."

Over VieW Dis-ZZT-Abbble.

The trio walked into town. It was a very busy town with people walking everywhere and people bumping into each other.

"Look at all the faces!" Deceit laughed as he looked around. "I wonder which one I should try next. Hmm? Cross… You might want to take a look at that bill board over there."

Cross and Voodoo both looked over and saw a bill board in front of a bar. There were a lot of people crowding around it and whispering about some of the bounties. It was a bounty list and there were two bounties that stuck out the most.

Wanted: Marvo Cold, One of the Forty Assassins

$10,000,000 Dead or Alive.

Wanted: Cross, One of the Forty Assassins

$ 2,000,000 Dead or Alive.

"You and Marvo have been busy…" Deceit chimed.

Cross didn't seem to care. "It doesn't matter. We never cared much about the upper world. It was the Benefactor who funded us to make our recent moves. Besides, it only shows only Marvo's and My helm; our real faces should be fine." He then continued to walk away while the others followed him.

"But you're still wearing it now." Deceit said.

"Unlike Marvo, I abandoned my first identity."

Some gasps were suddenly heard in the crowd. All three of the Assassins turned their heads back to the billboard.

A mercenary with dark red hair came up to the bill board and ripped of Cross' wanted poster off. People around were saying he was actually considering hunting someone with a two million bounty.

"There's no way he could have seen you here." Deceit said. He slowly slipped a knife, but Cross motioned him to put it away.

"Don't bring attention." Cross said. "It doesn't seem like he noticed us. It must be someone overconfident in their skills." He analyzed.

Deceit puts away the knife. "Well he is in for a sad time…"

"Hey! That was our prey!" A loud shout is heard. The crowd parts and a group of tough looking warriors and berserkers appear.

The mercenary stays silent.

"We carefully planned how we were going to aim for the second highest bounty! If you think you could handle him all on your own with your ego, go for the biggest one too, you jerk!" One of them says.

The mercenary just looks at them. "You misunderstand. I too have a plan: I take on the easier one before I take on the bigger one. But I can see, right now, that none of you will be able to catch him." He said in a serious manner.

Deceit whistled. "Cocky punk aint he?"

"Wait…" Cross said as he took one step forward and looked into the eyes of the mercenary. "Those eyes…" The mercenary's eyes were a deep red color as well.

"Why You- Let's kick this punks ego down a peg!" One of the warriors screamed. The group all charged at the mercenary and the crowd immediately ran away.

The first two attacked with their axes; the mercenary dodged both of them and punched one of them hard in the waist. The one that was attacked, fell over and clutched his waist in pain.

"That was a pressure point he hit…" Cross noted.

"Guess he isn't as bad as I thought." Deceit acknowledged.

The fight continued and the red mercenary continued to easily dispatch the enemies with skill and blows to pressure points. But after taking one more down, one of them was able to kick him in the stomach and sent him flying to the ground.

This lucky berserker raised his axe and said, "Ha! Not so tough after all! Hyya-"

The berserker tried to swing his axe, but something prevented him from moving it. He looked behind him and saw a tall dark cloaked man wearing a scary mask. The scary man was holding the axe back.

"Now what's going on here?" a soldier came in. This soldier looked rather buff and his uniform suggested he was one of the police forces here. "No fighting in the city! We have an important trade business here and we don't take kindly to violence here!" He banged his lance on the ground.

The warriors all get up and they run away. "Well get you for this you red haired freak!"

Someone extends a hand to the mercenary. "Here, get up."

The red mercenary looks up and sees a messy purple haired young adult with green eyes. But there was a scar across his forehead.

"…" The mercenary takes the hand of the stranger. "Thanks."

"That was quite the fight you had there, sir." The soldier says. "You beat most of those men."

"I held back. Still, I might need to re work on some of my forms. From the description, the one I'm planning to hunt makes close combat virtually impossible." The red merc says. He turns to the man in the mask. "You have my thanks as well."

Voodoo nodded.

"Well I'll be going now. Just keep out of trouble here, ya hear lad?" the soldier says.

"Right, sorry sir." The merc bows and leaves the scene.

The purple haired man puts on his helm and then he hides it with his hood.

"So why did we help him, Cross?" Deceit asked as he took off the soldier helm.

"… Because we don't want someone dying here and causing the security to increase in the city." Cross explains as he fixes his hood and helm.

"Well then. Before we meet with Losdar, we should get a bite to eat. Been a while since I had some good food." Deceit said.

All three of them walked to a nearby restaurant.

There, there… It's alright… Just cry your little heart out… Mummy is always going to be here for you…

"Sir?"

?

"Sir, what is your order?" A waiter asked.

"Water and a salad please…" Cross said.

The waiter writes down the order. "So one order of Pig Ribs, one order of Roasted Salmon, one order of salad, two drinks of water, and one order for wine… correct?"

"Yes, thank you." Cross says.

The waiter bows, "Your drinks will come soon. Enjoy your stay, sirs." He then leaves to get the food.

"So… Voodoo?" Deceit says. "How are you planning to eat your food? I thought that mask was stuck?"

Voodoo grabs the chin part of his mask and it opens up at the mouth part, showing his mouth.

"That's quite handy." Deceit commented.

"So let's review shall we? When we get to Cobalt Port, we need to take a boat to Jewel Island. Armed should be living there as of now." Cross said. "But because of Adrenaline's escape route, Cobalt Port has more security checking for Assassins."

"Can't we take another port to go to Jewel Isle?" Deceit asked.

"We could, but Cobalt Port is the closest to the isle. All other boats trying to get there all have to make a stop there to prepare incase for weather changes and occasional whirlpools in between." Cross answers. "So there isn't much of a choice."

"Can't we ask some of our fliers to go get him for us?" Deceit complained. The waiter came out and gave them all their drinks. He then went back into the kitchen and they all continued their conversation.

"Most fliers were sent to Valm to collect the others there. Adrenaline was the only flier left here in the Haildom of Ylisse. *Drinks glass of water.* And we all know that she was left to do the other fliers duties until they came back." Cross told.

"… That sounds annoying. But hey- nothing's ever easy." Deceit sipped his wine. "Hmm… Good stuff for a great price, we should come back here for a drink next time we're here."

"Your meals, sirs." The waiter came in and placed all orders to the men: salad for Cross, ribs for Deceit, and Salmon for Voodoo.

"This looks good, thank you!" Deceit went right in into eating it. After swallowing his second bite he asked something. "Cross, why do you eat salad?"

"Huh? I just like it. We need to eat healthy to keep our strength, don't we?" He asked.

"Well yeah, but we also need a balance of other foods as well. Because this is the only time I allow myself this kind of meat! … and if you think that's healthy, you should have gone for Voodoo's dish. Looks good and it says it's good for you heart." Deceit says while Voodoo nods in agreement.

"Maybe I should balance my meals better…" Cross wondered.

Despite being professional assassins, the three of them seem to all get along like old friends.

A beggar looking kid came to them and asked. "Sir, would you spare some alms?"

"…Sorry kid still eating, ask me again when we are done." Deceit said.

"Wait." Cross took out ten gold coins and gave it to the kid, "Here."

"Oh thank you, sir!" The kid then ran out.

"… Did you notice that kid?" Cross asked Deceit.

"Yep, he motioned closer to me and his fingers twitched. He was a pickpocket, and to think I was going to give him money anyway. But we could have just stopped him." Deceit said.

"We don't want to attract too much attention to ourselves. If we caught that kid, the authorities, who we would have turned him over to, might question us."

"Isn't most of the authority here under Losdar?" Deceit asked.

Cross drank water again before answering. "No, he is powerful merchant, but he also hides the fact he is with the black market. Especially now since the Ylisseans are cracking hard on our resources." Cross eat another piece of his salad. "This town doesn't have a mayor or leader. Despite being in Ylissean territory, this city is neutral or independent from the other countries. Lodsar needs to remain "Neutral" to the public. Let's finish this up and head there soon."

After they paid for their food, they generously tipped their waiter.

The trio entered a large and extravagant looking building.

"*Whistle* It's people like these that make me wonder how The Benefactor got so rich." Deceit said.

The three of them stood in front of a large door way. Before they could enter, the guards blocked their path with spears.

"State your business!" One of them said.

"When the sun does set…" Cross started.

"The moon shall bathe in red." Deceit finished.

"… Let them through." The guard said. They cleared the path. "Lord Losdar is on the third floor."

The trio walked up the stairs again and came to another fancy door. This time, the guards opened the door.

A voice came out as they walked in. "Who told you to let someone in? I am enjoying my meal- Oh! You must forgive me, Assassins. I was having a late lunch because of a stubborn trade meeting a while back. The economy these days…"

The voice belonged to a big boned merchant. He was in extravagant clothes and almost flamboyant colors. He was eating a delicious looking turkey.

Losdar snapped his fingers and his servants came in and quickly cleaned his mouth and hands. They put on another fancy robe on him and Lodsar stood up to great them.

Cross went over and shook hands with Lodsar. "Lodsar, are there any messages from The Benefactor?"

Lodsar thought about it for a moment. "Hmm… Actually he did send out a few messages, but…" he looks to the trio. "It wasn't meant for any of you three. He requested eight others."

"Who?" Deceit asked.

"I didn't memorize the names! It's somewhere in my office; I could get it for you if you would like." Lodsar offered.

"No thanks." Cross said. "But thank you for the offer. In this case then, just message the Benefactor that we are on our way to Cobalt Port to meet up with Armed."

"Alright. *Snap!* You heard him men! Send the message now!" Two servants left the room.

Lodsar turned to them again with a smile. "Ahh right! How would you all like to stay in our guest rooms for the night before you go? You can all re organize your weapons or something while you're here."

"Ooh! Could we have some of your finest wines?" Deceit asked.

"Ha, why not?!" Lodsar said.

They both looked to Cross. "… I do need to restock on arrows. I'm fairly low on ammo. So thank you for the offer."

"Alright then! Men, show our guest to their rooms." Lodsar went back and continued eating.

The servants all lead the Assassins away.

As they were walking away, Deceit whispered to Cross. "As much as I like wine, he was adamant in making sure we stayed here for the night. Should we be prepared?"

"…Just a little, Lodsar is a cautious man: ambitious but cautious. He wouldn't risk the entire wrath of the Syndicate and the Benefactor. I doubt he is going to try anything stupid." Cross thought.

After the Assassins left, Lodsar took out a piece of paper. "Hmm… two million bounty?" Lodsar said as he looked at a wanted poster of Cross. "Those poor fools who even try it…"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Yes, yes, come in." Lodsar says as he puts his hand on his head and rubs it.

Two soldiers came in restraining a beggar child.

"Let go of me!" the kid screams.

The guards salute and say to Lodsar. "Milord, we finally caught the pickpocket troubling the other merchants for the past month."

"Good job. Just put him in the dungeon." Lodsar said nonchalantly.

"When my brother hears about this he is going to kick all of your buts!" The kid whined.

"Yeah, yeah, I've face lawyers before…" Lodsar said sarcastically.

"AAAH!" Some screams were heard down stairs, along with the sound of weapons clashing and people being knocked out.

A red haired mercenary appears from the stair way wielding a blade.

"Let go of my brother." The merc comes in and points a blade at Lodsar.

Rather than being scared or surprised, Lodsar became curious. "Hey… did you just go through three floors of my personal guard?"

"…" The man didn't answer.

A smile formed in Lodsar's face. "What's your name boy?"

"Ton." The mercenary said.

"… Well then Ton, you see your little brother has been causing trouble for this city for over a month. And now you just so happen to come- "Blades a chargin!" into my home. I lost much of my guard to you and now you owe me money."

"…I'll pay you back later, just let my brother go now."

"That's a wanted poster tucked away in your pocket isn't it?" Lodsar noticed a paper sticking out of one of Ton's pockets.

"Yes, I'm a bounty hunter."

"Well then I have an idea that benefits both of us…" Lodsar's smile only widens as he starts to chuckle.

It's night now.

Cross is in his bed sleeping and dreaming…

Crap! It's the royal army! What do we do!?

…

Don't worry they won't attack as long as we have these hostages!

…

Bring that kid out and use him as a meat shield!

…

… I'm so sorry; I was a terrible father… I'm-

…

I can't bring them back, all I can offer is power: power to make sure this never happens to you again.

Here, take my hand.

"AH! *Gasp!* *Pant* Damn it! Stupid nightmares!" Cross get out of bed and puts on his helm. He takes out his cross bows and checks them again.

*Creak…*

Cross points his crossbow. *Click-Bang!*

The arrow dug near into the wall, but at the door was the same red haired mercenary Cross saw earlier today.

…

"How did you know I was here?" Cross asked.

"There were already rumors of Lodsar being a liaison for the Syndicate. One of the soldiers boasted about your location while being drunk in a bar filled with bounty hunters…" Ton explained.

"Cross! We need help here! *Kick-SLAM!*" Deceit's voice is heard.

Cross took out his second crossbow. Ton prepared his blade.

Tonight, one way or another, the moon shall bathe in red.

[Recommended Music=Position Music - Brand New Fist (Epic Action Hybrid Rock)]

Cross shot an arrow while Ton blocked it.

(He should be at a disadvantage from here. I trapped him in this room. As long as I protect the doorway, I can easily force him into close combat.) Ton thought while waiting for Cross' next move.

*Thud!*

A powerful strike shook the room.

"I wouldn't stand there if I were you." Cross said.

Ton raised his brow but suddenly some dust fell on top of him.

*CRACK! CRASH!*

The ceiling right above Ton collapsed. Ton got out of the way. When the dust cleared, a man in a blue mask was seen standing over two bounty hunters.

Ton recognized that man. "Wait a sec- You're from this morning! Then…" He looked to Cross.

Cross shot another arrow, but Ton dodged. "We both know that doesn't change the situation." Cross said.

"…No it doesn't." Ton got ready with his blade.

"Hey! Cross, hurry up!" A shout came from above. One of the bounty hunters was standing right at the wall.

"Whose side are you on?!" Ton screamed.

"The Assassin's! Lad…" Deceit said. Ton then mental face palmed for realizing the obvious.

Cross ran to Voodoo and Voodoo gave a jump boost for Cross to go to the upper floor. Voodoo jumped behind him and the other two assassins caught their ally.

Ton went out of the room and talked to the other bounty hunters there. "Get to the third floor!"

*BOOM!*

Voodoo smashed a wall down. The three Assassins started running toward Lodsar's main room. As they all ran the house was under siege, smoke and broken walls were all over the place and the sound of soldiers fighting with bounty hunters was also heard in the bottom floors.

"Damn, this place feels like the assassination of the Duke of Heigo Dox, in western Regna Ferox, all over again." Deceit reminisced.

"Only with less frogs." Cross commented. They all went to the main door.

"Bust it open, Voodoo." Cross said. Both he and Deceit stepped out of the way and Voodoo spun his hammer.

BANG!-BOOM!

"Soldiers! – Wait! Ahh Cross! You have no idea, how hectic this all is! What are these bounty hunters doing here?!" Lodsar asked hiding behind his bodyguards.

"I was told that one of your men got to drunk on his shift off." Cross said.

"Blasted Fool! Well anyway, come on! I was just about to leave to my secret escape route." Some of the guards open up a secret stairway. "I will send some of my guards to distract them while the rest of us escape!"

"Didn't know you had a secret escape." Deceit said as Lodsar started walking down.

As soon as the Assassins moved in, the stairway hid itself.

Lodsar explained what this all was. "It's a passage way to an underground river. There is an ancient chamber that was found when I was constructing my escape route originally. My architects and geologists detected some odd ground pressure and decided to dig deeper. They found what seemed to be an old ruin long buried underneath from a catastrophic landslide. The ruins were very interesting. It seemed to be the remains of a water temple that control the underground river's flow. I was able to use it to filter my own supply of fresh water. I was planning to eventually open up an artificial river, but I could never come up with an idea on how to bring this all up to the surface."

As they left the stairs, they came to cave where a river flowed.

"This looks amazing!" Deceit exclaimed. Even Cross and Voodoo seemed to be in awe.

"We should have two boats large enough to carry us all downstream." Lodsar pointed over to a dock with two fairly large boats. "We should be able to reach that ruins chamber. There, I have another exit waiting for us." They all got into the boats and sailed across.

After a while, they came to the ruins. The ruins looked like the remains of something almost like a church. Tables and other construction equipment were seen on the side showing some of the ideas Lodsar had but could never use.

"I'm curious… What was this temple built for?" Cross asked.

"Well… I wanted to have a historian come by, but I didn't know any professionals who were my friends. I didn't want them to tell this secret, so I had some of my scholars learn some basic studies… they found this temple to be oddly curious." Lodsar said as he was pushing in some stones in the wall.

"What is curious about it?" Deceit asked.

"It was made in honor of three things: Naga, Grima, and an untranslatable third thing."

"This place honors both those gods? And something else?" Cross questioned.

"Cruelly, the information on the third deity was lost; however, it does spark an intriguing theory: is there truly something that borders Life and Death?" as Lodsar finishes his thought, he opens the door. Lodsar motions the Assassins in first and he and his guards follow in after.

They enter some kind of dark chamber. The trio walks a little further…

All of the torches in the room all suddenly lit at the same time. Showing on the opposite side of the room was a band of bounty hunters lead by Ton, the red mercenary.

"What?!" Deceit screamed as he and Voodoo got their weapons out. "What are they doing here?!"

The bounty hunters all drew their weapons. And the body guards of Lodsar did as well.

"So is this the part you betray us, Lodsar?" Cross said. Deceit and Voodoo looked back and saw the body guards pointing their weapons at them.

"Darn, I was sure I could fool you this time. What gave me away?" Lodsar took out a tome and magically warped into a balcony looking from above.

"I have to admit Lodsar. You actually did fool me. The fights were so realistic, but there were a few details that did make me question the situation." Cross said.

"The fights were actually real." Lodsar said. "I only told a few of my men this plan and paid the other bounty hunters to kill my men. I knew the fighting had to be real in order to trick you, Cross. But please, what tipped my hand?"

"The bounty hunter you chose to fight me. He knew exactly where to find me. I doubt a drunken soldier knew that exact location of where we were when it was your servants that showed us into the rooms. You seemed a little too quick in being angry over said employee. And I knew what type of person the mercenary was because I met him before this event."

"Hmm? You did?" Lodsar asked and Ton seemed confused.

"When I helped him up… let's just say I've seen eyes like that before…" Cross takes out both of his crossbows.

"…"

[Recommended music= Extreme Music - Wake Up Call)]

"Whatever! Kill them!" Lodsar said as he activated a lever. Water started flowing in the chamber.

"Is that man mad?" Deceit said. "You'll drown us all!"

"Deceit, take a closer look at the people in here. None of them even seem scared… of us." Cross looks up to Lodsar. "How much do all these people owe you?"

"You'd be quite surprised at the prices of the world's economy these days." Lodsar laughed.

The warriors all charged at the Assassins.

Despite what looked to be a forty five on three, the Assassins all fought like demons slowly picking off their attackers, dodging steel and breaking bodies of their opponents. With the rising water levels, all of the fighters had their leg movement significantly reduced.

This especially trouble Cross as everyone decided he would be the easiest target.

Ton attacked first, trying to slash away at Cross. Cross ducked and weaved in close range. Ton tried to slash him one more time, but Cross was able to fire his crossbow right at his leg.

"Aah!" Ton screamed as he kneeled down. Cross then shot his second bow to knock his blade out of his hands.

"Big Brother!"

Everyone looked up and saw a little boy tied up near Lodsar.

"Hurry up now Ton. If you died, what would happen to your brother."

"That's low Lodsar." Deceit said.

"Deceit!" Cross screamed.

Deceit looked behind him and was tackled into the water with two people.

After a while none of them came out.

"Voodoo, look for Deceit!" Cross yelled out. Voodoo nodded and dove in to the waist deep waters. Leaving only Cross left with the last of the warriors.

Cross kept shooting, the waters slowly filled to be red. Before Cross could shoot again, he was grabbed from behind. He looked over and saw Ton trying to choke him to death.

"HAHA! The mighty Knight of Strife falls this day!" Lodsar cheered. "Hurry up and kill him, Ton!"

Cross elbowed Ton in the waist continuously until he let go. Cross hurried and spun his body around; he tried to aim right for Ton, but Ton kicked up his crossbow into the water. Cross tried his other one, but Ton once more smacked it out of his hands. Ton followed it up by punching Cross and almost causing him to fall.

"This is taking too long! Catch!" Lodsar threw something off the balcony.

"AAAAH!" *SPLASH!*

"Buile!" Ton yelled for his brother. And went after him.

Cross looked up. "Why are you doing that?!"

"Please, I can't risk anyone knowing what really happened here! I planned to kill you all from the start!" Lodsar opened his tome. Cross widened his eyes in horror since he saw it to be an Archthunder tome.

"Archthunder!" Lodsar zapped the red pool. Causing an immense pain to all the remaining warriors. Slowly the last of them all fell one by one, hearing only Lodsar's laughter and wails of pain from people around them.

"Bu-Bu" Ton Tried to pick up his brother but he was into much pain.

"HAHAHA- WHAT!?" A knife came out of nowhere and knocked the tome out of Lodsar's hands.

Lodsar looked behind him and saw one of his soldiers holding several knives and giving him an angry glare. And beside him, a tall black cloaked man with a blue mask.

"Voodoo, deactivate the water flow." Deceit said as he held a knife to Lodsar's neck.

*Click!*

The water started slowly flowing out.

Cross slowly got up.

"You OK Cross?" Deceit asked from above.

"…I felt worse…" He got back up and saw his crossbows. He picked them both up and looked around.

"You the only survivor?" Deceit asked. Voodoo went up to Lodsar and threw him over to his shoulder.

"Uh hand me-"

"You'll stay as humanly quiet as possible." Voodoo said in a deep voice.

"You're in for it now, Lodsar." Deceit said. "Voodoo's wrath alone is enough to send the hounds of Grima afraid with their tails between their legs."

Both of them jumped off the balcony and went to Cross. Cross was staring in one direction.

The others looked in his direction and saw Ton, the red mercenary. He was still alive… but his brother wasn't.

"Buile…*Sob* you fool… *Sob* I told you… I would feed us…"

Cross motioned to Voodoo. Cross spoke out, "Hey."

Voodoo tossed Lodsar to the floor.

Ton looked back to the Assassins then he saw Lodsar and stood up.

"We were going to handle him, but you can have him." Cross said. He tossed one of his bows to Ton. "But I need that weapon back."

Ton just looked at Lodsar. Lodsar was scared and afraid. "You- You can't kill me! You owe me!" Lodsar tried to say.

"…" Ton bent over and shoved the crossbow into the mouth of Lodsar. "Then I'll pay you back in hell."

*Click!- SPLATTER!*

…

With the deed done, Ton feel over and tossed the crossbow to Cross.

"Now what Cross?" Deceit asked.

"…" Cross walked over to Ton. "I know how you feel." Cross removed his helm and Ton looked up.

"I got this scar on my head because I trusted someone like Lodsar. I lost my family and the people that would care for me so. Let me tell you what I was told at my lowest point."

Cross extended his hand to him. "I can't bring them back, all I can offer is power: power to make sure this never happens to you again. Here, take my hand."

Ton took the hand and stood up to meet Cross. "Now this one is optional: you can tell us your name which we can use, or you could tell us what you want to be called now and abandon your old identity."

Ton thought it over and said to them, "You may call me… Crimson."

The trio bowed and then all extended their arms to him.

"Welcome to the Forty Assassin Syndicate, Crimson."

After the new baptism from blood, the four of them left through the secret passage. When they came out they saw it was late at night and that it was all under a red moon.

They all walked away to Cobalt port under the red night, all while the town was set ablaze from the fighting Lodsar had caused.

Yo guys!

We have a new recruit for the F.A.: Crimson.

I would have loved to put more detail into the Origin stories of Cross and Crimson in this chapter, but I was a bit pressed for space. I don't want a chapter to be too long, so maybe I'll get into it in another chapter.

Maybe now I'll put a list of all the Assassins known.

Marvo

Cross

Thayer

Zul

Dadlam

Arson

Deceit

Psych

Adrenaline

Voodoo

Armed

Crimson

And we are potentially going to hear about even more of them.

OK this next one is about the second Slot for the cross over event.

Congrats on Pikapikaluv for taking the first slot!

Now we talk about the second slot.

But before I do, I need to talk about a new rule.

You see, some of the OC's I was sent didn't come from their own stories. In fact, the characters I was sent were just characters...and nothing else.

I will accept these types of characters but please…

NEW RULE: If your OC doesn't come from your own story then please include a summarized version of how they came to be or meeting the other characters. Like a short intro story.

I want your characters to be your characters, if I don't have some idea of where they come from or who they were, chances are that they may not come out well if I write them with that lack of info.

So if you already sent me information about your character from the last rules, add this new one too!

For the second slot: you guys don't need to answer a question this time. (I may sincerely regret this decision.) But the info above is almost mandatory along with the rules of the previous chapter.

With that out of the way, Thank you to all those that sent me their characters! You guys are so creative and fun, I wish I could choose you all, but we all know that wouldn't work.

Sorry! But Rock on readers!

I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.
Ron White

Thank you for your time and please review.