Preparations

Glide returned to the main room a few minutes after Icarcti, holding a sword. It looked similar to Magus, but a hammer was fixed to the hilt, half-hidden by the crossguard, and a trigger was positioned opposite it. A revolver barrel, the metal as black as that of Magus' blade and nearly invisible against the sword, was attached to one side of the blade, a revolver's cylinder a few centimeters back from it.

"Where'd you get that?" Niqi asked.

Glide shrugged. "It was in my room this morning. Far as I can tell, Magus and Johann's sword are gone."

Niqi took a moment to admire the blade. "Any idea what you're going to call it?"

"... R21." Glide replied, tucking the sword into Magus' old scabbard.

Niqi raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Glide smirked. "'Harmful in contact with skin'."

Niqi burst out laughing.

Eve giggled quietly. "Ah, science."

 

...

 

"Hey, guys? I hate to say it, but I've gotta ditch y'all." Hóu said. "I've got a job, and if I'm gone any longer, I'm so gonna get fired."

Glide snickered. "And we give a damn, because...?"

"Because if I get fired over this, I'm going to come back and kick the s**t out of you." Hóu replied. "Nobody else. You."

Glide rolled his eyes, waving a dismissive paw. "Go on, then. Go save your precious job."

"F**k you." Hóu muttered, grabbing his staves and vanishing.

 

...

 

Glide walked back through the door from Blackblood, a group of dossiers in his paws. He slammed them down on the table. "These guys need to be captured before we can handle those goddamn demons. They'll start too much s**t if we let 'em run around."

Niqi put her head in her hands. "This is just f*****g fantastic. Fourteen of the omniverse's most psychotic pyschos running free."

Glide flipped open the top dossier. "This is Donald Kerrigan. He's our first target."

"How will we find him?" Niqi asked.

"I already know where he is." Glide said. "According to the warden, he's on Malva."

"To Malva, then."

"Brangol team, you're with me." Glide said. "We're stopping that f****r before he gets his hands on another little bat."

Niqi nodded. "We're here to help."

"No." Glide growled. "Your job isn't to help, not with this one. You'll get your chance, just... not now. This guy is mine."

"Then what do you want us to do?" Ambree asked.

Glide turned to the human girl. "You're going to hook all of us up with the Children Of Oblivion's comm devices. That way, if one of us isn't with a certain member of our little team, they can still be called upon." He glanced at Niqi. "You and Micah are going to head down into the kitchen and locate salt and a cheese grater. If there's a metal plate down there, grab that, too."

Niqi nodded again, grabbing Micah's paw and dragging him down to the kitchen.

Ambree turned to Yasya. "Show me where you keep them?"

Yasya shrugged, gesturing for the human girl to follow him. "Sure, come on."

 

...

 

"Found the grater." Micah said, holding it up.

"Good." Niqi responded, opening a cupboard and locating a large, cylindrical container of salt. "Got the salt." As she pulled the salt down, she noticed something in the back of the cupboard. "Hey, check it out. Think that'll work for the metal plate?"

Micah walked over, taking a look inside the cupboard. "... Probably. Grab it and we'll get back to Glide."

Niqi nodded, grabbing the metal plate and following Micah back up to the main floor.

 

...

 

When Niqi and Micah arrived, Yasya and Ambree were already passing out small headsets to the members of Raven's Nest. The wolves took one each, fixing them in place.

"You guys." Glide said, addressing the gods gathered around. "You're to find any info you can on Johann, Gasteria, and these freaks we'll be rounding up. If you find anything useful, pass the word along." He turned his attention to his group. "As for you guys, we've already wasted enough time, so let's go." He approached a door marked 'Malva', grasped the handle, and threw it open, charging through, the rest of the group behind him.