Well, this chapter could be considered like a little "break" (you'll know what I mean whe you read the chapter). Hope you enjoy it!

When we left the gunsmith shop, I noticed that all was quiet. The bidder who was announcing jobs and the workers were gone. Even the policemen who were guarding weren't there.

'This is too quiet.' - As I looked around, I saw two men running down the street and I frown. Then I noticed a strong tremble. – 'What the hell…'

'HANDYMAN!' - Elizabeth cried and I looked up. The handyman was hanging on the roof and jumped towards me. I ran back and shot him with the machine gun but the giant kept coming at me. I threw a grenade and he stopped after the ball exploded. When the smoke cleared, I realized that he hadn't suffered any damage. I gave him an electric shock and he froze... but then he shook his head and the electric charge disappeared.

'Fuck...' - the handyman took an iron beam and threw it to me like a spear. I quickly ran to the side and kept shooting. If I kept attacking, maybe the bullets would hurt him... but I couldn't go like that all the time. Unlike other enemies, the handyman didn't seem to be affected by any attack. I needed to find a weak point and fast... Then I saw the heart covered by glass in the center of his body and pointed directly there. The giant quickly put a hand on means to protect it and run at him while shooting. When I approached, he threw a slap but I rolled and dodged the attack in the last second. After that, I ran to his back and threw a grenade across the glass. The handyman roared and suddenly grabbed my arm and threw me across. I fell into a job post and broke it by the impact. As I tried to sit up, I noticed a sharp pain and saw a protruding iron near mi hip. I saw the handyman advancing moving like a gorilla and tried to reach my gun. Then there was a flash and a flying turret began to shoot my enemy. He used one of his hands to protect himself and threw a large gear to the machine. When this blew up, there was another flash and a patriot attacked him as it moved faster. Elizabeth was desperately trying to protect me and looked everywhere, watching for tears. When the handyman destroyed the Patriot, he noticed her.

'The Lamb... Bring back the Lamb.'- Said as he approached to her. Elizabeth fell back looking at him in horror and called another patriot but the handyman beat it with a punch. I made a big effort and got my gun.

'Don't dare to touch her!' - yelled as I fired. He turned and roared with fury as he ran towards me. He threw one of his hands and went down to dodge. I shot at his heart and rolled to the side to dodge another attack. When I went to shoot again, my injury hurt again and I fell on my knees in pain. The handyman took advantage and hit me, sending me into a wall. After the impact, I fell to the ground and felt weak. My whole body ached, the iron was still stuck in my body and I hadn't been able to do any damage to the handyman. He approached to me and I tried to make a move to try to sit up, but my body wasn't responding. Then I thought about the shotgun that was in my back and I looked for it with my arm. While my enemy approached with fury, I took the gun and made a last effort to lift the weapong. When he raised his arm to hit me for last time, I shot and everything went quiet. The handyman froze and fell backwards with the hole that was containing his heart completely busted.

'I did it... I won.' - I muttered feeling exhausted. I dropped my hand and my whole body felt like surrender. My vision became blurred and started to see black spots. I wanted to sleep and my eyes were closing. Just 5 minutes...

'Marc!' - I heard someone calling me but I was falling slowly. - 'Marc! No! Stay awake!'

'E-Elizabeth...' – finally I said as I saw her kneeling beside me.

'I'm here... stay awake, please.' - I said as she examined my wound. He took a medical kit from the supplies bad and examined my wound. – 'It seems it hasn't touched any vital organs. But I have to get out the iron.'

'Okay... Just... just do it…' - Elizabeth took different materials that I couldn't see and then prepared everything. She picked up the iron with both hands and looked at me. I nodded and tried to smile to calm her. - 'Don't worry.'

She was surprised to see me smiling but quickly turned back to work. She pulled it with both hands and I made a great effort to not to scream. I grabbed a bar that was beside me until I felt my fingers hurt. Finally she took out the iron and quickly put a cloth over to cover the wound. My whole body was shaking and tears were falling down my cheeks, but I didn't scream anytime.

'It's okay… It's okay…' - Elizabeth whispered to calm me down. Although she looked like she was going to cry, she kept working and began to treat my wound. When she threw disinfectant, I moaned in pain. - 'Marc, I have to take off all your clothes from your upper body so I can bandage your injury.'

I nodded and Elizabeth helped me to take off the cloths. After that, I leaned against the wall and took a long breath. She finished treating and bandaging my wound, and finished her work.

'There's one last thing: we have to go to a safe place.'

'Do you see any?' - I asked sleepily. I was starting to feel really tired.

'Yes, it's next to here.' - she helped me to get up and went to the place she had seen. This was a warehouse full of boxes and some jobs posts. She took me to a corner that was all surrounded by boxes and well hidden. Elizabeth helped me to lean against the wall and took a long breath. - 'Here we'll be safe for a while.'

'Okay... Just… give me five minutes...'

'Rest as you need. When you're better, we will continue.'

'But-'

'No time to argue.' - she said softly and took my hand. - 'I'll be here watching.'

'Be careful... Just stay...' - I couldn't finish and fell asleep.

I was standing in my room and looked absently at the window. Then I turned and saw Ethan in the middle of the room.

'Ethan?' – called him surprised.

'Not bad in that fight.' - Ttld me with a smile and headed for the door.

'W-wait!' - I said trying to get closer but I couldn't move.

'Don't give up, Marc. She needs you.' - after that he went out the door.

'Please stay!' - I begged. I wanted to talk with him, I wanted to ask... but he disappeared. After that, everything went dark.

'Ethan...' – I whispered while sleeping but my mind was returning slowly to the real world.

'Marc?' – I opened my eyes and saw Elizabeth with me. I blinked and looked around.

'How long I've been sleeping?' - I asked rubbing my eyes.

'One hour. I haven't called you before because I have seen np danger and you needed rest.'- She stood up and picked up a few things.

'Here. I picked up some supplies and your equipment. Since the handyman came, no one has been around here.'- Said handing me a bottle of water and some food. I took a long breath and smiled.

'Well, after all that we have suffered it was time we had a break.' - Elizabeth nodded and also smiled.

'When you were sleeping, you were talking.' – Said shyly.

'Let me guess… I called Ethan, right?' - She nodded and I sighed. - 'Well, after calling him so many times, I think it's time you know who is him.'

'Marc, you don't have to-'

'It's okay. Also, I can't always avoid to talk about him.'- I looked thoughtfully at the bottle and took a deep breath. - 'Ethan was… my big brother.'

'Was?' - Repeated frowning.

'He died three years ago after suffering a serious illness.' - Said with a sad tone.

'God... I'm so sorry.' - She said taking my hand. – 'You miss him, right?'

'Yeah.' – said as I started to remember everything. – 'Both played in a junior hockey team and together we were really good.' - Said with a smile. - 'Ethan was the tough guy and I was sniper and. Although we played different types of game, they always put us together. I got to have such good scores that rivals were watching me.'

'Why they were watching you?' - asked curiously.

'Well, as I was scoring so many points, they always sent their big guys after me.' - I smiled after remembering a special moment. - 'In a rival team there was a player who called him "The Ice Monster". The name was ridiculous but he was almost 2 meters and he was so strong than a handyman. He was known to have brought down many players and always tried to beat the small ones. Well, when we went to play against his team, everyone knew he was going after me. After a play, he run towards me and hit me against the boards without explanation.'

'Isn't that illegal?' – Elizabeth asked looking at me completely outraged and I couldn't help but smile.

'Yeah, in fact he was going to get suspended. The problem for him was that Ethan went after him and let him KO after a punch. For a long time they tried to beat him in all possible ways and my brother was the first to get it. And with one blow.'- Said laughing - . 'Some time later, an agent informed us that soon we would be eligible for the draft from the professional league. We were really excited about it and tried to show our best. I was told that I had more possibilities than Ethan but he didn't care. In fact he told me that if he had to sacrifice his place so I got a chance, he would.'

'Your brother had a great heart.' - Said with a smile and I nodded.

'Yeah, maybe too much.' - Said with a sad tone and looked down. – 'One day, suddenly... he fell ill. It was all so fast… he was feeling bad and days after they had to take him to the hospital... My father worked hard and made all kinds of tests but couldn't figure out what was wrong. He said it could be a type of cancer but it was so rare that nobody could specify what kind. One day Ethan fell into a coma and spent two months in which he gave no sign. The doctors suggested us to let him die as his health wasn't improving but my father refused. He continued to work, calling specialists and professionals to help him to discover what was going on. Then one day Ethan woke up and everyone thought it was a good sign...'

'Marc?' - I called softly to see what was shaking.

'But... Ethan said he wouldn't resist for more time. He knew it had to take a miracle to improve but it was clear. My family and I were so sunk. In my case, my game got worse and I was warned several times that my chance to get to the draft was in danger. But I had no strength... and instead Ethan was smiling. He said that everything would be okay, that I should be fighting like he was doing.

One day I didn't want to play a game because I wasn't feeling able. It was very important for the team but I didn't want... until Ethan called me and begged me to play it. He insisted that I should be there, that I had to show everyone I wasn't finished. I promised that I would score 3 goals for him... and I did it. I scored hat-trick goals and probably played the best game of my life. I remember how excited I was, how much I wanted to tell him...'- said looking down. Elizabeth looked at me worried and squeezed my hand.

'Did something happen?'

'After the game, I returned to Montreal and they told me Ethan had died. Hours after I went with the team, his health worsened and he died in a few hours. After that, I left hockey. I felt a terrible fear when they said I had to travel with the team. I was afraid that something bad might happen while I was playing...'- looked at my hand and sighed. - 'Although my family was suffering a lot, everyone could recover slowly. But... I couldn't. I was in treatment, I was about to suffer a depression several times and I isolated myself from the world. It was tough... until one day I decided I couldn't continue in that way. Ethan would have been furious if he watched me in that way. I focused on my studies and I've been helping my little brother with hockey so he can reach what I left and moved on... '- Following that gave another sigh and looked at Elizabeth. She was still holding my hand and was crying inconsolably. - 'Err, Elizabeth? Are you okay?'

'I... I…' - suddenly she hugged me and looked at her surprised. She leaned on my shoulder and sobbed loudly.

'Elizabeth, easy!' - I said, trying to calm her but she was still crying. I think I shouldn't have told her... She looked at me as tears continued to fall.

'I'm sorry you and your family suffered so much... Your brother didn't deserve to suffer in that way and you...' - went silent and cried again. I smiled and stroked her head gently.

'No need to put yourself in that way.'

'But it's... it's all so sad...' - she said while sobbing.

'I know but now he's in a better place.' - Said with a smile and sighed. I wiped her tears with my hand and she looked at me with teary eyes. - 'By the way, could you bring me my cloths please?' - Then her eyes widened and looked at my chest, realizing that I wasn't wearing my shirt. Her face turned to a bright red and in less than a second she was away from me. She took my clothes that were neatly folded on the top of a box and gave it to me.

'H-here, your clothes.' - Said shyly and looking aside.

'Thanks.' - Thanked her trying to not to laugh. I put on my clothes and tried to sit up but then my injury hurt. Although I felt better, the wound was still there. Elizabeth noticed and rushed to help.

'Can you continue with this injury?'

'I've done a lot of things while I was injured. I'll be okay.'- picked up my weapons and saw Elizabeth catching the supplies bag.

'I'll take this. So I can throw you whatever you need.'

'Try to not to hit my head.'

'Hey!' - Replied frowning and I apologized while laughing. Definitely she was cute when she got angry.

'Come on. We have to go to the Good Time and find Chen Lin.'- When we left our hiding place, the street was deserted. The huge body of the handyman was still in the middle of the street and saw the club in the background. As we went there, Elizabeth looked at me thoughtfully.

'What... what does the mark in your hand with what happened?' - asked shyly.

'When we were young, both created a brand and a salute we only know. We painted the mark on our hands and then put our arms together, making an X... We still used time after and our rivals were scared when they saw us making the salute.'- Said laughing.

'They knew they you were going to give everything, right?'- Said with a smile.

'Yeah, and we won almost every time we did it.' - When we arrived at the gates of the club, both look at the huge lighted sign.

'Here we are.'

'Well, ready for whatever is there?' – said looking at her with a smile and raised my arm. First Elizabeth looked at me confused and then realized what I was doing.

'That's... Marc, no! That's between you and your brother!'

'If he found out how many things we have overcome together, I can ensure that he would want you to be part of this.' - Said with a smile. Elizabeth looked at me in awe and finally raised her arm and put it against mine.

'I'm ready.' - Said with a big smile.

The club reception was very luxurious, with stairs on either side leading up to a door and accompanied by two golden statues Fink. In the center there was a automata receiving the visitors.

'Welcome to the Good Time Club, sir or madam! Where lions roar! The show is about to begin!' - then Fink 's voice sounded from a speakers.

'Ah! Clark, my boy! You know, the best kind of interview is one where the applicant doesn't know he's being tested! But I've watched you since the other day at the lottery. Heh heh...'- I wish I never entered in that raffle and meet that man. - 'You're a brute! And in times like this, I could use a brute!'

'I would rather live in poverty than work for you.'

'Oh, come on Clark.' - He laughed, like what I was saying was a joke. - 'We have labor unrest! Now... Fitzroy has got the jungle all riled up.'

'They are normal people who are suffering because of people like you!'

'Come on, Clark. Calm down a bit.' - he laughed. That man was really obnoxious. - 'A man like me could use an experienced mercenary like you.' - That made me furious.

'Don't dare to call me mercenary!' - Fink didn't reply and I thanked that because listen more bullshit from that man would make to do bad things. - 'Bastard... Son of... '

'Marc.' - Elizabeth took my hand and I looked at her. - 'Ignore what he says.'

'Sorry. I didn't want to react in that way'- Said with a sigh and forced myself to calm down. Both climbed the stairs and entered to the entertainment area. It was a huge room and luxurious. There were balconies in the upper zone, having a good view of the bottom, tables with armchairs scattered around the place, bar tops and a stage with a catwalk that had some big boxes. – 'Let's find Chen Lin and get the hell out of here.'- Suddenly the lights went off and a screen appeared above the stage, showing Fink's portrait.

'Now, now! All I ask is that you finish what you started, Clark... Wouldn't want to disappoint the other applicants!' - then a spotlight lit up and pointed to the curtains while the screen disappeared. I didn't like this... - 'Our first candidate is a veteran of Peking... He's something of an old hand at handling explosives. Only man I know who hasn't... Heh heh… lost a limb working with them... Heh heh… yet...'- then the curtains opened and an army of armed men appeared with a fireman. I took my rifle and shot the men were climbing the stairs. I threw several explosive traps on them and focused on the fireman who was still down. Although he threw grenades, these didn't reach me and I took the opportunity to shoot.

'That's it! That's it! Well, son, you could use such ambition in Fink Industries!' - said Fink really excited as I was still attacking my enemy.

'Just shut up, idiot!' – yelled as I was still shooting. The fireman was running to avoid my attacks and approached from below. I quickly sent him a electric shock and I kept shooting until he was dead. I heard footsteps approaching me and changed the rifle for the shotgun. I turned and I saw the last enemies running to me. I killed all them quickly and the lights went off again.

'My, my, my… quality work!' - Fink said while a light illuminated the curtains again. - 'The next candidate is a former devotee Lady Comstock... but without the old gal, they doesn't know quite what to do with themselves. Picked this one up at a Hiring Fair. For a song!' - he laughed . While I was reloading my shotgun, I heard crows and hurried to finish my job. Then I turned and fired. The Crow froze with his sword raised and fell dead to the ground.

'More are coming!' - Elizabeth warned me and I saw several enemies up the stairs. I kept shooting as I backed up to a bar.

'Get a cover!' - I said to Elizabeth while I was shooting and covered behind the bar. The enemy separated in two groups who had come from both sides of the room and we were cornered. I reacted quickly and continued attacking until I used all my ammo for my shotgun. I quickly took out the revolver and kept shooting.

'Marc!' - I turned and saw one of the enemies approaching to Elizabeth who was cornered in the wall. I shot at him without hesitation and the bullet hit his head, splashing blood to the wall. I ended up with the last men and finally had some calm. While I was trying to recover my breath, I reloaded the rest of my guns. Elizabeth approached to me.

'Has ended all this?'

'I don't think so...' - the lights went off and Fink spoke.

'Now! Enough of the opening acts... Your true rival is an expert with the automata...Wants to replace all our security with machines! I'll give the old boy credit, though, it would be fewer mouths to feed!'

Suddenly the boxes opened and in the background were two turrets, while in the catwalk a motorized patriot appeared and two flying turrets. Seeing the patriot advancing quickly to the stairs, I put several electric traps and sent possession to all turrets.

'Salts!' - Elizabeth gave me a bottle and took it in the air. Then I saw a tear with a RPG.

'That tear!' - I pointed it and Elizabeth called it. As I drank the salts, I ran to the gun and got ready. Before the turrets could attack me, I ended up first with the flying ones with one attack to each one. Then I focused on the turrets from the bottom and, while my shield was protecting me, attack directly. While I was reloading the ammo, I saw the patriot approach some fuming. Although the traps and the turrets damaged him, he kept moving. I pointed directly and, after I shot the last missile, it went down. I dropped the RPG and leaned against the wall. I was tired and angry. While I was fighting the men, I heard how Fink was laughing. I wanted to kill that bastard, I really wanted to do it... Elizabeth came running to me and looked at me worried.

'Are you okay?'

'I will be when beat I beat that damn bastard...' - Said furious and Elizabeth took my hand. I looked at her and gave a long sigh. - 'Sorry. I'm just tired of all this and that man.'

'Congratulations, Clark!' - exclaimed Fink from the speakers. - 'You know, when your name was first passed to me I wasn't quite sure you were the man for the job, heh heh. But now, I can say with certainty that I was quite wrong!

'I won't work for you, Fink. I'll never do.'- I replied defiantly.

'Now, now, I know all about your little job for Fitzroy. But do you really want to take her offer over mine? Do you know how many people would kill to be Head of Fink Security?'

'I'd rather kill myself than work for someone like you. And if you keep saying bullshit, I swear I'll go to where you are and kill you!'- I yelled feeling more furious. The man really knew how to annoy me.

'It disappoints me you feel that way, Clark. It really does... - said clearly disappointed and then his tone changed to a more menacing. - 'But I promise you this: I will get what I want.' - After that, the curtains opened and no enemy appeared.

'Let's finish this.' – I prepared my revolver and both moved inside.

Here it is. Maybe the part in which Marc explains who is Ethan is a little longer (and also somewhat typical) but I hope you liked it. If you have any ideas or suggestions, just tell me. I'll be glad to hear any opinions about this. I'll try to update soon!