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Hunter glared at Zavala.
"The Reef was lost as soon as it lost its Queen," Zavala said, refusing to allow Ikora to take the Guardians into the Reef to hunt the Awoken who had killed Cayde, Uldren Sov, Mara Sov's brother. "So if another Sov wants a stretch of lifeless rocks, let him have it."
"This is Cayde we're talking about," Ikora said. "For us to do nothing is...is..."
"Say it," Zavala growled.
"...cowardice," Ikora finished in a hiss.
"I refuse to bury any more friends," Zavala said, walking to Cayde's side.
"You won't have to," Hunter snarled, the glow of his eyes intensifying with his anger. "Uldren Sov is mine!"
Ikora and Zavala stared at him for a long moment before Ikora nodded. Hunter turned to leave, only to stop as Ikora called out to him.
"There's something you should know," Ikora said. "Cayde's last will and testament left everything to you, including his spot on the Vanguard. You were to be his successor."
"However, it is our decision that you are not ready," Zavala spoke up. "You do not have the experience required to lead the Guardians."
"Excuse me?" Hunter snarled.
"Everything else of Cayde's is yours," Ikora said. "I've already given your Ghost a map of Cayde's caches, and Cayde's Sparrow has been placed in your jumpship. The Ace of Spades, of course, you'll have to go and get. However, his seat on the Vanguard is not yours. You are not ready."
Hunter trembled with rage for a few moments before turning and storming away from them, warping to his ship. He couldn't deal with this now. He needed to find Uldren Sov. Right now, that was all that mattered to him. He walked to his armory and stared in the mirror. He glared at his armor. It didn't fit him anymore. He wasn't a knight. Not right now. He didn't want to be. If he was going to be the last thing Uldren Sov saw, he was going to make sure that he made it as horrible a sight as possible. He focused, his entire body shining red as his SIVA responded to his instructions, growing into a new suit of armor.
The sleeves turned into black plates with five small black spikes on the back of his right forearm and a convincing replica of Ahamkara vertebrae running up the outside of his left forearm, the spine's blade-like spikes angled up toward his shoulder slightly, then a young Ahamkara's skull for a pauldron above the vertebrae with the four bones making up its lower jaw arranged around it in their rightful places. On the fingers of both hands were retractable black claws. His chestplate transformed into an all black version of his current cuirass but with huge cracks running through it, then focused and caused SIVA to begin running out of it in thick red streams, giving the appearance of blood, only for the SIVA to be reabsorbed at his waist, his leg armor turned black with three spikes along the outsides of his lower legs and convincing faux bone plating on the knees, then with what looked like ribs for plating on the outside of his thighs. Then, lastly, his helmet formed into a black ram skull, complete with the reddish-brown horns and no visible eyes, and a completely tattered and ruined black cloak with the black turning a dark red like bloodstains around a few of the rips and along the bottom.
He stared at his own reflection, a wicked smile growing on his face. Perfect. He turned, walking to the front as Spark appeared before him.
"I'm worried about you," Spark said. "I understand wanting to kill Cayde, and I can understand being mad at Zavala and Ikora, but look at yourself! You look like an agent of the Darkness!"
"Good," Hunter said, his voice now perfectly matching his appearance. "I want Uldren Sov having nightmares until we find him. But you don't need to worry. As soon as I've made him pay, I'm done looking like a walking nightmare."
Spark hesitated before nodding. "I'll trust you. And I'll always be by your side."
Hunter nodded, sitting down and taking the controls, piloting away from the Tower and toward the Reef.
Hunter glared up at the massive corrupted Fallen, what Ikora had said was being called Scorn, with the biggest ones and leaders that were with Uldren when Hunter found him being the Barons. They were aligned on the ridge, but as he drew his pistol, all but the tallest one, who held some kind of staff as his weapon, warped away.
"Perhaps you will give my children a better fight than your friend Cayde," the Baron said as flares of Dark Ether appeared around Hunter.
He narrowed his eyes, raising the Joker and pulling a fan of knives from his knife belt. Then, as the Scorn charged, armed with energy pistols, rifles, and three-armed, energy crossbows, Hunter opened fire, slaughtering them rapidly. A trio rushed at him from the side, two with trays of flames, which Hunter could now make out as rounded lamp-shaped weapons that Petra had called Flame Censers as he explained what he'd seen on their way out of the Prison of Elders. The third wielded a pair of Flame Torches like clubs, but all three were on the receiving end of a knife and dropped instantly.
"Come, kill us," the Baron invited as Hunter reloaded, then hurled a fan of knives into the Scorn charging him, dropping them and tripping more, which he casually tossed an incendiary grenade onto as he returned to shooting. "Death...is our sword."
Then, the Baron warped away as well as Hunter shot the last Scorn. He looked around, then focused his gaze on a Servitor stuck in a sort of harness or trap that looked reminiscent of the Scorn's headdress. Spark flew over to scan the Servitor just as more Scorn began to appear in flashes of Dark Ether, this time being groups of the explosive ones, which had been labeled Screebs.
"They're sucking the Ether out of this Servitor, corrupting it," Spark said as Hunter began to shoot at the Screebs, detonating one every shot, allowing him to easily keep them at bay.
"Does this help us find Uldren Sov?" Hunter growled as the next level up of the Scorn hierarchy, the ones with pistols and some Fallen Maces, basically the equivalent of Dregs, began to appear and charge, only to be caught up in Screeb explosions.
"I'm still looking," Spark said, just as Hunter used the last Screeb to kill the last of the grunts.
Hunter looked around as three Abominations appeared around the boulders Hunter was in the middle of, opening fire. "Be careful not to get shot. That Servitor isn't worth your life."
He sprinted out from behind a boulder and jumped, drawing the monstrosities' attention, then formed his Golden Gun, shooting one of them three times to kill him, then the next three times. He turned as he landed and fired the two shots he'd regained from the kills into the third, then swung the arm holding the Joker around, firing quickly and filling its head replacement and the stump of its neck with holes until the Abomination finally collapsed. Hunter sighed, reloading again and walking back to Spark just as he finished scanning.
"Someone's hacking our comms," he reported.
"You're late," Petra's voice said. "Here I was thinking I'd be hunting Uldren alone."
"Not a chance," Hunter said. "Where are you?"
"Right behind you," Petra said.
Hunter turned, seeing her walking over, now wearing a dark shawl over her hair and shoulders, only for her to stop short.
"Fucking Hell!" Petra said, relaxing and shaking her head. "That's quite a look."
"I want Uldren to have nightmares of me in Hell," Hunter said.
"With that look, he will," Petra said. "I probably will, too. I see you're making good use of your SIVA. That blood's convincing."
"You know about that?" Hunter asked.
"Of course I do," Petra said. "Cayde..." she stopped for a moment, swallowing hard before continuing in a trembling voice. "Cayde and I talked about everything." She smiled sadly. "The number of times he talked about you, or bragged about your skills or accomplishments. You meant the world to him. I heard the Vanguard refused to allow you to succeed Cayde. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Hunter said. "I only care about Uldren right now."
Petra nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss."
"And yours," Hunter said.
Petra gave a small, grateful smile, nodding, then walked over to him, setting a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're only here for Uldren, and killing him is my primary concern, too, but...if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."
Hunter nodded. "Same to you. I'm here if you need me for anything."
Petra smiled. "Thank you. I say your fight, by the way. Cayde trained you well."
Hunter smiled, nodding. "Yeah, he really did. And I always took it for granted."
"He knew you were grateful," Petra said. "Always."
Hunter nodded, looking around. "So, where to?"
"There's an old acquaintance who says he can help us find Uldren," Petra said. "He wants him dead as much as we do. Unfortunately, the feeling's mutual, so he's in hiding. We can't leave any witnesses to his location."
"Good," Hunter nodded. "These Scorn need to be wiped out anyway."
Petra nodded, drawing her sidearm just as Scorn began to appear off to her right, Hunter's left, and he turned, raising the Joker.
"Shall we?" Hunter asked.
"Let's," Petra nodded, both starting forward, opening fire as the Scorn charged.
As they slaughtered any and every Scorn they met, Petra led him through the Tangled Shore, their contact sending Fallen to assist them as backup, the Fallen having arm'length black spikes on their backs, identifying them as belonging to Spider's gang. Hunter ignored how strange it felt to be working alongside Fallen, instead focusing on killing Scorn.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why are Fallen fighting against other Fallen?" Spark asked.
"The Scorn aren't Fallen," Petra said, dropping the Scorn around them rapidly with a pair of shots to the torso each. "Not anymore."
"They're undead monsters," Hunter agreed, dropping a group of Scorn with a fan of knives, all to the head, then another group with the Joker, also all headshots.
"You really are another Cayde," Petra said. "A Head Hunter to the bitter end."
"It's more satisfying when you blow up their heads," Hunter said.
Petra shot one in the head, making its head explode in a burst of Dark Ether. "You know what? You're right. That was satisfying."
Hunter smirked as they finished off the Scorn in the area, continuing toward Spider's hideout, Spider's Fallen, and a couple of Servitors, rushing ahead of them. A Scorn with a Flame Censer leapt at them from the top of a boulder nearby, but Hunter flicked a knife up into the Censer, making it explode and obliterate the Scorn's body. Finally, Petra stopped at a platform in the middle of a small town and Hunter took the hint, stepping up beside her as Dark Ether began to shine a hundred yards away, a wave of Scorn appearing and charging.
"The Barons' leader, the Fanatic, has the power to resurrect dead Fallen as freinzied, bloodthirsty puppets," Petra said as the two of them remained where they were, slaughtering Scorn as they charged. "And he believes Uldren gave him that power."
"If Uldren were powerful enough to give powers like that, he could have killed Cayde himself, rather than letting the Scorn do it," Hunter said, hurling a fan of proximity mine knives into a pair of clusters of Scorn, the explosions slaughtering them.
"Agreed," Petra nodded.
As the next wave appeared, it included an Abomination, only for Hunter to leap into the air and send a Shadowshot into its torso, the Scorn around it being tethered and all dying from an Incendiary Grenade a moment later. A larger Scorn, roughly the size of a Fallen Captain or a Hive Knight, leapt at him with a pair of Flame Torches, and he shot his last bullet into the Scorn's chest, slowing it just long enough for he and Petra to avoid its strike before Hunter grabbed a knife, realizing it was his last one, and stabbed it in the back of the head, severing its spine, then hurled the knife into a Scorn aiming a crossbow at Petra. He reloaded quickly before glancing around at the Scorn around them. They were dying quickly, but everyone else's attention was drawn to them. Hunter focused, and within a handful of seconds, his SIVA had formed a new complete set of knives, only Petra noticing and raising an eyebrow.
"Very useful," she said as the last of the Scorn died.
"Agreed," Hunter nodded.
They turned, continuing to follow the cliff to their left, as they had been for most of the way, and more and more Scorn appeared, only to die to one of them.
"So Uldren and the Barons murdered Cayde, then came here?" Spark asked. "What's so special about the Tangled Shore?"
"That's not my secret to tell," Petra said. "It's the Shore's." She stepped around a building, killing a pair of Scorn before one appeared beside her, only for Hunter to send a knife breezing past her face into the Scorn's, killing it, Petra barely flinching. "I will say this. Uldren sent the Barons here for a reason. I just need to confirm my suspicions."
Just then, a pair of much larger Scorn wielding a pair of grenade launchers appeared, Hunter and Petra both choosing one and opening fire rapidly, Hunter using his knives to thin the crowd of smaller Scorn around the bigger target as he went. Then, just as he managed to kill his, Petra shouted in frustration. Hunter turned, seeing her giant Scorn was glowing purple with a barrier, except that instead of coming from a Servitor like the Fallen used, it was from an odd, glowing purple device with black leg-like pieces jutting out from the top and bottom of it. Hunter hurled a knife into it and it exploded, the Scorn's barrier vanishing instantly. Then, in a handful of shots between himself and Petra, it finally went down.
"Looks like we're all clear for now," Petra said. "Let's go. Quickly."
Hunter nodded and followed her to a console beside a cliff face. Spark hacked into it and a section of the cliff faded. Petra led Hunter inside as Spark cloaked himself again. After a few turns and a set of stairs, they stopped in front of Spider, an Archon sitting in a throne deep inside the cave.
"Well, if it isn't Petra Venj, the worst jailer in the solar system!" Spider laughed, reclining. "What brings you to my home away from home...away from home? On the run, are we?"
"I heard you lost the Shore," Petra countered.
Spider made a noise of irritation, surprise, and outrage, then growled, sitting forward. "You lost my Shore!"
"Thought you might want some help getting it back," Petra smirked, gesturing to Hunter.
As Spider looked at Hunter for the first time, and Hunter stepped into the half-light from the lamps around Spider, Spider recoiled slightly before chuckling. "Interesting look for a Guardian. You almost look like a cold-blooded killer."
"Would you like to find out?" Hunter growled, fingers closing around the Joker's grip.
"I'll pass," Spider said, waving a hand dismissively. "So, I take it you're the one who was Cayde-6's apprentice. I suppose I have no need to ask you what you want here."
"Uldren Sov's head on a spike," Hunter growled.
"We want the same thing as you, Spider," Petra said. "Uldren and his Barons. Dead."
Spider chuckled. "I see." He sat back, sighing. "Despite our clear, mutually-aligned interests, I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel like it is I who will come up short."
"The other option we're offering is for you to come up six feet deep," Hunter threatened, the Dregs to either side of Spider tensing. "Or maybe just thrown out as bait for the Barens and Uldren."
Spider stared at him for a moment, Hunter forming a pair of throwing knives in his left hand, hidden behind his fingers as his other hand gripped the Joker again.
"You're very different from Cayde," Spider said. "Cayde would have gambled, or made a bet."
"Fair enough," Hunter said. "I bet I can kill your Dreg bodyguards and put a bullet between your eyes before you can grab that Scorch Cannon beside you."
Spider's head turned slightly toward where the cannon was hidden. Spider hummed interestedly before turning back to Hunter. "Very well. As I prefer to be alive, I'll accept your...proposal. I'll tell you where to find the Barons. And in exchange, you remove them as obstacles for me."
"Good," Hunter said, releasing the Joker but keeping a hold on the knives in his palm. "Where?"
"The location is my previous hideout," Spider said. "Clear those vermin out of my home. They should all be there."
"Good," Hunter said, letting the knives drop into view, only to slide them into his knife belt. "Then we'll be on our way."
Petra nodded, and they headed outside before Petra looked over at him. "Threatening him like that probably wasn't wise. Effective, but potentially unwise."
"We'll be fine," Hunter said. "At a minimum, he won't risk us dying until after we kill the Barons and Uldren Sov. And if he turns on us, I'll just kill him."
Petra smirked, nodding. "So you really were gambling."
"I couldn't killed him until he told us where to go," Hunter said. "If he'd called my bluff, there would have been very little I could do."
"But he didn't, so we won," Petra said. "You're more like Cayde than I gave you credit for."
Hunter smiled before stopping and summoning Cayde's Sparrow from his ship, running a hand over the extended nose before sitting in it, glancing at Petra. She smiled, sitting behind him and wrapping her arms around him.
"Let's go and make those bastards pay," Petra growled.
"With interest," Hunter nodded, then sped away from Spider's hideout.
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