Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 14:15:07 GMT -8
The monster waded through the sea of humanity sitting at various tables throughout the warehouse-turned-club. The sheer mass of his bulk pushed some people’s chairs forward as he approached the ring. Cronos never took his eyes off of Anthony, who stared down over the ropes at him with apprehension in his eyes.
Cronos didn’t say a word as he reached up and grabbed the top ropes from the floor and used them to pull himself up to the ring apron. He climbed over the ropes, never taking his eyes off Sathanas. But when his other leg swung inside, Anthony darted forward, looking to take the fight to the tank of a man. Before he made physical contact, a voice rang out.
Romian: “What you see in the ring before you, ladies and gentlemen, is our final contest. We will break for a half an hour to give the fighter a chance to recover before the contest and give you all a chance to place your bets!”
Anthony slowly stepped back, his chest and stomach tight as the two men stayed locked on target.
Anthony Crawford: “We don’t have to do this.”
He said under his breath. The look on Cronos’s face shifted into a mask of confusion and even amusement.
Cronos: “Yes, we do.”
Anthony Crawford: “You want me? I’ll fight you, but after I get her!”
Cronos: “You don’t get it, do you? You can’t run from me now, Anthony.”
Cronos’s voice dropped into a whisper so no one beyond the two of them could hear.
Cronos: “You die tonight, Sathanas. Lucifer’s command.”
For the first time since Christoph had begun to look into the man across from him, he saw the truth of the matter in his face. Anthony’s expression darkened and his lips thinned. His jaw set and his right hand curled into a fist.
Anthony Crawford: “One of us does.”
**
So many thoughts ran through the beautiful woman's head as she stared down at the pair of men in the ring. They seemed to be speaking to one another, but the instant she saw Anthony’s demeanor change, she knew.
Something was wrong.
The wheels in her mind began to turn as she turned her eyes to the well-dressed man beside her.
Melissa Reed: “May I speak to the fighters? In private?”
Romian’s expression darkened and he lifted a brow.
Romian: “A last ditch effort to save yourself?”
Melissa said nothing though her eyes narrowed with a small hint of a scowl forming. She tipped her head as a sign she would say no more.
Romian’s face was unreadable for a moment before he burst out with a soft laugh and lifted a hand snapping his fingers. A single motion of his hand told those on the floor to bring the fighters upstairs to their respective rooms then he turned his attention to a well-dressed man at the door.
Romian: “Take Miss Reed up to see the fighters. If she tries to run? Shoot her in the spine.”
Melissa rose, smoothing out her beautiful dress, and followed behind the man who led her back into the bowels of the warehouse where she saw yet more people. Immediately, she noticed all of them had the same prison-style haircut. All of them, men and women both.
A chill ran up her spine while her mind worked through the reasoning… It had not brought on comforting thoughts.
Up a set of back stairs, they moved to the third floor where she was taken to the eighth room first. Her escort opened the door, briefly barked out that there was to be no funny business until the winner was decided, and then opened his hand to her.
The instant the door closed and the two locked eyes with one another, Melissa sprinted across the room and threw herself into Anthony’s arms. The two kissed passionately as he wrapped his slick, muscled arms around her and his hands got lost in her hair.
Melissa wanted nothing more at that moment than to stay lost in him, but she pulled back and stepped away, panting.
Melissa Reed: “Who is he, Ant? I’ve… never seen that look on your face. Who are we dealing with?”
Anthony Crawford: “His name is Cronos. Lucifer sent him. But that doesn’t matter; there’s only one guard out there, Mel. We make a run for it.”
Melissa considered the idea, and how good she was at disappearing. She was biting her lip at the realization of what she had really seen on her way up hit her. Both eyes shut with a pained expression. They couldn’t just run.
Melissa Reed: “We can’t, sweetness… The Children of Nephilim, the Demons, they surrounded us. At least two dozen backstage. You’d have to fight through them, and whoever Romian has. Ro’s men are on orders to shoot on sight if we tried any ‘funny business’.
Anthony’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the Children.
Anthony: “So I have to fight Cronos, then the Children once you become my prize.”
Melissa Reed: “...We…”
Melissa bit her lip again and looked up into his eyes.
Melissa Reed: “...We fight them. I’ll apologize to William later. I know he’s friends with Lucifer, but… Anthony, I love you. I can’t just stand by and watch them hurt you…I should have never ran. Maybe we— “
Melissa couldn’t finish that sentence. The smile that touched Anthony’s face was brilliant and truly beautiful. As if he didn’t have a care in the world when he heard her say those words. He reached up with one hand and touched the side of her face and hair.
Anthony Crawford: “Go...I have a giant to slay.”
**
Many called him the Chaos Jester, but those who knew him well simply called him William. King J, the leader of the Jesters of Chaos, stood hidden across the street from the warehouse, hidden between two small buildings in an ally. Between his teeth was a cigarette on its last leg. He exhaled a large puff of smoke.
With him was only a small section of the Jesters, old friends, ready to storm the makeshift club to reclaim one of their own. The only reason they hadn’t already done so was a deal made with Lord Lucifer. They would use this chance to end a threat to the Children and ensure Melissa’s safety all in the same move.
A woman who looked like any other of the many homeless on the street began down one of the alleys. She was Asian and perhaps in her late twenties with long dirty blonde hair and dressed in rags.
As she approached, the Jesters tensed, ready to attack. A pack of wolves that were on a hunt. Strangers stirred up a primal defense. One Jester stepped forward until she pressed a phone into William’s chest. He looked down, grabbing the phone, and watched the woman disappear deeper into the alley without speaking a word.
The instant it hit his hand, the phone began to ring. The Jesters all looked at one another, confused and a little concerned as J hit the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear.
King J: “Yes?”
The voice that came on the other end was not only familiar, but it made his head whip around to the homeless woman when he realized who it had been.
The Devil’s Right Hand. Hidden in plain sight.
Sariel.
She had risked her own safety by approaching them without a warning. William wasn’t in a proper mindset to simply be approached by randoms.
Lord Lucifer: “Are you ready?”
King J: “You guys really do train to blend in, don’t you?”
Lord Lucifer: “I’m awaiting an answer.”
King J: “Not a safe move… and, as am I, if though you want to get down to it.”
Lord Lucifer: “William.”
King J: “Yes, we are ready, Lucifer. We can storm the place in two minutes.”
Lord Lucifer: “Shonn informed me he’s gotten Cronos inside and all that is left is for him to fight Sathanas. We get Sathanas and will leave with Melissa as Cronos’s prize. When you see us walk out the doors… the place will be free to storm.”
King J: “And what of those inside? Information on them?”
Lord Lucifer: “I have Demons in place to assist you. As far as I am concerned, every man and woman inside this building is guilty of aiding and abetting sexual slavery. There is no redemption for them. Kill them all.”
King J’s glared and eased the phone closed with an audible click as those around him began to prepare for battle. He wished to avoid spilling innocent women’s blood but how could they determine the difference? His head cocked to the side, signaling to a few of them. They all prepared.
**
When Anthony returned to the main floor, the ring had been removed and the tables had been moved back, creating a huge blank space in the center of the ring. High above him, Melissa’s heart was in her eyes as she watched him come across the floor.
Before Romian could even announce the match finale, Anthony sprinted across the floor and jumped up, kicking Cronos in the side with one leg and pushed off with the other, finally leading to a harsh kick to the side of his head.
Cronos, however, was completely unphased by the sudden brutal assault. Anthony hit the ground, expecting to have a separation between the two, only to find Cronos inches from him. The Giant’s arm darted out and grabbed him by the throat.
Cronos slammed a headbutt into Anthony’s face and kicked his leg out, taking Anthony’s legs out from under him. Sathanas hit the ground hard and looked up in time to see Cronos’s huge foot coming down and rolled out of the way. The foot slammed into the ground, inches from where Anthony’s head had just been.
Sathanas reared back on his shoulders and kicked up hard, landing on his feet in a crouch, only to backflip when Cronos rushed in, kicking the giant dead in the face. Anthony landed on his feet, only to find Cronos still coming despite the kick.
Cronos didn’t have the skill that Sariel or even Ashley did, but he was built like a German tank and it was near impossible to hurt him enough to back him off. Cronos ate a right hook but ducked under a left, just for Anthony to get caught in the mouth with a brutal right cross.
Blood exploded from Anthony’s mouth, spreading across a couple seated at a nearby table. Cronos grabbed Anthony by the head and shoved his head down as he brought his knee up into his face with a sickening crunch.
More blood flew from Sathanas’s mouth and nose. Cronos released him where he collapsed forward, landing on the floor with a wet bloody splat. Blood began to leak out from where his face laid, pooling around him as it ran from his nose, eyebrows, and mouth.
Cronos turned and let out a roar of victory. Behind him, Anthony pushed himself up, blood running from his mouth like a river only to collapse back to the floor. He looked up, vision blurry, and found Melissa looking down at her hands.
Everything hit him at that moment. The blind hate and rage that Lucifer would use this, use Melissa like this! Anthony let out a scream of rage and drove his palm into the floor. Cronos slowly turned around and locked eyes on Anthony as he pushed himself up. When he got to his feet and stepped to the side, his leg gave way and Anthony stumbled, falling to a knee.
Cronos pulled Anthony up and threw a right hand that Anthony avoided and then a backhand with the same arm. Yet again, Anthony evaded the strike. The smaller man jumped and spun around, driving a kick into Cronos’s chest and forcing the big man back.
With some separation between them, Anthony rushed in with a kick attempt that Cronos seized by the leg and back. The big man didn’t even hesitate. Using the momentum and his new grip, he just turned and launched Anthony past him.
Sathanas hit one of the tables and smashed clean through it, showering those around the table in debris and wood. Anthony quickly pushed himself back up and slapped a hard right hand away, slipped behind Cronus, and jumped, landing a hard kick to the spine.
Leaning back away from Cronos as he spun around with an insanely fast backhand caused it to miss. Quickly, Anthony delivered a combo of rights and lefts into his stomach, ending with a vicious right cross to the jaw that snapped Cronos’s head around.
Ducking another backhand attempt, Anthony spun again, this time catching Cronos in the mouth with a tornado kick.
Cronos staggered away, leaning on a table as the fight began to catch up with him. On the second floor, Melissa had her hands over her mouth as Anthony moved in and tagged Cronos’s leg, yanking him away from the table where he crashed to the floor in a leg bar.
Anthony torqued and torqued until with a scream, a bone in the man’s leg resounded with an audible CRACK. Cronos screamed in pain but lashed out with the other leg, catching Anthony in the mouth as hard as he could.
The blow forced Anthony to roll away, while Cronos scooted backward, balancing more on his other leg as he rose back to his feet. Anthony planted his palm into the ground and used it to spin, planting his non-kicking leg, and launched himself into the air with it. A full spinning rotation in midair before he kicked Christoph in the face with all the force and momentum.
The kick landed with a cracking crunch as Cronos’s face slammed into a table from the force. Cronos stood straight and spun around, his arms raised, and he released out a screaming roar without moving his mouth. His jaw was dislocated, cracked, or broken.
Anthony seized his wrists with both hands and actually walked up the big man before throwing his leg over Cronos, flipping the big man clean over. Cronos landed on the table, the weight of both men more than it could handle, and it shattered. Anthony yanked back on the wrist, bending it back at the elbow until the giant let out a scream of agony as his arm snapped.
The audience was roaring as Anthony rolled backward and onto his feet. Cronos rose up to one knee, painstakingly cradling his arm. Anthony unleashed a flurry of rights and lefts, each one taking the big man across the mouth, more blood exploding from the orifice with each strike.
Cronos was left wavering on the floor, kneeling and nearly unconscious, when Anthony, limping heavily from the beating, walked around behind him. He grabbed the big man by the forehead and bent his head backward.
Anthony Crawford: “...You shouldn’t have gotten between me and Melissa.”
Before Cronos could do more than shout into his locked shut mouth, Anthony brought his knee up into the back of the man’s neck, shooting his head forward with a sickening CRACK.
Cronos laid on the floor…blinking.
Anthony hadn’t killed him.
Anthony had paralyzed him.
**
Standing far back and in the shadows, Lucifer watched as Cronos fell beneath the brutal knee of his First Angel. He felt the hatred and rage welling up in him as he turned and locked eyes with his beautiful red-haired Harbinger standing beside him in the darkness.
Lord Lucifer: “Get them in here now.”
Xaria Linette didn’t hesitate to make the call. She needed to let King J know that things didn’t go as planned and he needed to storm the place NOW. Lucifer then turned his attention to the black-haired woman standing on his other side.
Lord Lucifer: “Plan B. Do it now.”
Zachary Sears and Maiko Adachi both looked over at their leader in confusion. Neither of them heard about Plan B, but before they could ask, Ashley Kenyon pulled out her phone and sent the already written text. They were three simple words.
**
Anthony rose up onto his feet and lifted his arms into the air, screaming in victory as a couple behind him pulled their phones from their pockets. The text message was simple but it was more than enough.
From beneath the table, they detached what appeared to be 2 X 4’s and rose up. Before the security Romian had in place could react, the two men acted. The one closest to the celebrating man swung his melee weapon, taking Anthony behind the right ear with the other end of the baseball bat-like slab of wood.
Anthony went down like a ton of bricks, his vision spinning. He began to do his best to protect himself from the blows as they rained down on his arms, stomach, chest, and sides.
While the two men wailed on him, the doors of each side of the “club” burst inward. Black-robed, hooded, and masked Demons came from one side, while King J, clad in military combat gear, and his Jesters followed, dressed the same.
And then all hell broke loose.
Cronos didn’t say a word as he reached up and grabbed the top ropes from the floor and used them to pull himself up to the ring apron. He climbed over the ropes, never taking his eyes off Sathanas. But when his other leg swung inside, Anthony darted forward, looking to take the fight to the tank of a man. Before he made physical contact, a voice rang out.
Romian: “What you see in the ring before you, ladies and gentlemen, is our final contest. We will break for a half an hour to give the fighter a chance to recover before the contest and give you all a chance to place your bets!”
Anthony slowly stepped back, his chest and stomach tight as the two men stayed locked on target.
Anthony Crawford: “We don’t have to do this.”
He said under his breath. The look on Cronos’s face shifted into a mask of confusion and even amusement.
Cronos: “Yes, we do.”
Anthony Crawford: “You want me? I’ll fight you, but after I get her!”
Cronos: “You don’t get it, do you? You can’t run from me now, Anthony.”
Cronos’s voice dropped into a whisper so no one beyond the two of them could hear.
Cronos: “You die tonight, Sathanas. Lucifer’s command.”
For the first time since Christoph had begun to look into the man across from him, he saw the truth of the matter in his face. Anthony’s expression darkened and his lips thinned. His jaw set and his right hand curled into a fist.
Anthony Crawford: “One of us does.”
**
So many thoughts ran through the beautiful woman's head as she stared down at the pair of men in the ring. They seemed to be speaking to one another, but the instant she saw Anthony’s demeanor change, she knew.
Something was wrong.
The wheels in her mind began to turn as she turned her eyes to the well-dressed man beside her.
Melissa Reed: “May I speak to the fighters? In private?”
Romian’s expression darkened and he lifted a brow.
Romian: “A last ditch effort to save yourself?”
Melissa said nothing though her eyes narrowed with a small hint of a scowl forming. She tipped her head as a sign she would say no more.
Romian’s face was unreadable for a moment before he burst out with a soft laugh and lifted a hand snapping his fingers. A single motion of his hand told those on the floor to bring the fighters upstairs to their respective rooms then he turned his attention to a well-dressed man at the door.
Romian: “Take Miss Reed up to see the fighters. If she tries to run? Shoot her in the spine.”
Melissa rose, smoothing out her beautiful dress, and followed behind the man who led her back into the bowels of the warehouse where she saw yet more people. Immediately, she noticed all of them had the same prison-style haircut. All of them, men and women both.
A chill ran up her spine while her mind worked through the reasoning… It had not brought on comforting thoughts.
Up a set of back stairs, they moved to the third floor where she was taken to the eighth room first. Her escort opened the door, briefly barked out that there was to be no funny business until the winner was decided, and then opened his hand to her.
The instant the door closed and the two locked eyes with one another, Melissa sprinted across the room and threw herself into Anthony’s arms. The two kissed passionately as he wrapped his slick, muscled arms around her and his hands got lost in her hair.
Melissa wanted nothing more at that moment than to stay lost in him, but she pulled back and stepped away, panting.
Melissa Reed: “Who is he, Ant? I’ve… never seen that look on your face. Who are we dealing with?”
Anthony Crawford: “His name is Cronos. Lucifer sent him. But that doesn’t matter; there’s only one guard out there, Mel. We make a run for it.”
Melissa considered the idea, and how good she was at disappearing. She was biting her lip at the realization of what she had really seen on her way up hit her. Both eyes shut with a pained expression. They couldn’t just run.
Melissa Reed: “We can’t, sweetness… The Children of Nephilim, the Demons, they surrounded us. At least two dozen backstage. You’d have to fight through them, and whoever Romian has. Ro’s men are on orders to shoot on sight if we tried any ‘funny business’.
Anthony’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the Children.
Anthony: “So I have to fight Cronos, then the Children once you become my prize.”
Melissa Reed: “...We…”
Melissa bit her lip again and looked up into his eyes.
Melissa Reed: “...We fight them. I’ll apologize to William later. I know he’s friends with Lucifer, but… Anthony, I love you. I can’t just stand by and watch them hurt you…I should have never ran. Maybe we— “
Melissa couldn’t finish that sentence. The smile that touched Anthony’s face was brilliant and truly beautiful. As if he didn’t have a care in the world when he heard her say those words. He reached up with one hand and touched the side of her face and hair.
Anthony Crawford: “Go...I have a giant to slay.”
**
Many called him the Chaos Jester, but those who knew him well simply called him William. King J, the leader of the Jesters of Chaos, stood hidden across the street from the warehouse, hidden between two small buildings in an ally. Between his teeth was a cigarette on its last leg. He exhaled a large puff of smoke.
With him was only a small section of the Jesters, old friends, ready to storm the makeshift club to reclaim one of their own. The only reason they hadn’t already done so was a deal made with Lord Lucifer. They would use this chance to end a threat to the Children and ensure Melissa’s safety all in the same move.
A woman who looked like any other of the many homeless on the street began down one of the alleys. She was Asian and perhaps in her late twenties with long dirty blonde hair and dressed in rags.
As she approached, the Jesters tensed, ready to attack. A pack of wolves that were on a hunt. Strangers stirred up a primal defense. One Jester stepped forward until she pressed a phone into William’s chest. He looked down, grabbing the phone, and watched the woman disappear deeper into the alley without speaking a word.
The instant it hit his hand, the phone began to ring. The Jesters all looked at one another, confused and a little concerned as J hit the answer button and lifted the phone to his ear.
King J: “Yes?”
The voice that came on the other end was not only familiar, but it made his head whip around to the homeless woman when he realized who it had been.
The Devil’s Right Hand. Hidden in plain sight.
Sariel.
She had risked her own safety by approaching them without a warning. William wasn’t in a proper mindset to simply be approached by randoms.
Lord Lucifer: “Are you ready?”
King J: “You guys really do train to blend in, don’t you?”
Lord Lucifer: “I’m awaiting an answer.”
King J: “Not a safe move… and, as am I, if though you want to get down to it.”
Lord Lucifer: “William.”
King J: “Yes, we are ready, Lucifer. We can storm the place in two minutes.”
Lord Lucifer: “Shonn informed me he’s gotten Cronos inside and all that is left is for him to fight Sathanas. We get Sathanas and will leave with Melissa as Cronos’s prize. When you see us walk out the doors… the place will be free to storm.”
King J: “And what of those inside? Information on them?”
Lord Lucifer: “I have Demons in place to assist you. As far as I am concerned, every man and woman inside this building is guilty of aiding and abetting sexual slavery. There is no redemption for them. Kill them all.”
King J’s glared and eased the phone closed with an audible click as those around him began to prepare for battle. He wished to avoid spilling innocent women’s blood but how could they determine the difference? His head cocked to the side, signaling to a few of them. They all prepared.
**
When Anthony returned to the main floor, the ring had been removed and the tables had been moved back, creating a huge blank space in the center of the ring. High above him, Melissa’s heart was in her eyes as she watched him come across the floor.
Before Romian could even announce the match finale, Anthony sprinted across the floor and jumped up, kicking Cronos in the side with one leg and pushed off with the other, finally leading to a harsh kick to the side of his head.
Cronos, however, was completely unphased by the sudden brutal assault. Anthony hit the ground, expecting to have a separation between the two, only to find Cronos inches from him. The Giant’s arm darted out and grabbed him by the throat.
Cronos slammed a headbutt into Anthony’s face and kicked his leg out, taking Anthony’s legs out from under him. Sathanas hit the ground hard and looked up in time to see Cronos’s huge foot coming down and rolled out of the way. The foot slammed into the ground, inches from where Anthony’s head had just been.
Sathanas reared back on his shoulders and kicked up hard, landing on his feet in a crouch, only to backflip when Cronos rushed in, kicking the giant dead in the face. Anthony landed on his feet, only to find Cronos still coming despite the kick.
Cronos didn’t have the skill that Sariel or even Ashley did, but he was built like a German tank and it was near impossible to hurt him enough to back him off. Cronos ate a right hook but ducked under a left, just for Anthony to get caught in the mouth with a brutal right cross.
Blood exploded from Anthony’s mouth, spreading across a couple seated at a nearby table. Cronos grabbed Anthony by the head and shoved his head down as he brought his knee up into his face with a sickening crunch.
More blood flew from Sathanas’s mouth and nose. Cronos released him where he collapsed forward, landing on the floor with a wet bloody splat. Blood began to leak out from where his face laid, pooling around him as it ran from his nose, eyebrows, and mouth.
Cronos turned and let out a roar of victory. Behind him, Anthony pushed himself up, blood running from his mouth like a river only to collapse back to the floor. He looked up, vision blurry, and found Melissa looking down at her hands.
Everything hit him at that moment. The blind hate and rage that Lucifer would use this, use Melissa like this! Anthony let out a scream of rage and drove his palm into the floor. Cronos slowly turned around and locked eyes on Anthony as he pushed himself up. When he got to his feet and stepped to the side, his leg gave way and Anthony stumbled, falling to a knee.
Cronos pulled Anthony up and threw a right hand that Anthony avoided and then a backhand with the same arm. Yet again, Anthony evaded the strike. The smaller man jumped and spun around, driving a kick into Cronos’s chest and forcing the big man back.
With some separation between them, Anthony rushed in with a kick attempt that Cronos seized by the leg and back. The big man didn’t even hesitate. Using the momentum and his new grip, he just turned and launched Anthony past him.
Sathanas hit one of the tables and smashed clean through it, showering those around the table in debris and wood. Anthony quickly pushed himself back up and slapped a hard right hand away, slipped behind Cronus, and jumped, landing a hard kick to the spine.
Leaning back away from Cronos as he spun around with an insanely fast backhand caused it to miss. Quickly, Anthony delivered a combo of rights and lefts into his stomach, ending with a vicious right cross to the jaw that snapped Cronos’s head around.
Ducking another backhand attempt, Anthony spun again, this time catching Cronos in the mouth with a tornado kick.
Cronos staggered away, leaning on a table as the fight began to catch up with him. On the second floor, Melissa had her hands over her mouth as Anthony moved in and tagged Cronos’s leg, yanking him away from the table where he crashed to the floor in a leg bar.
Anthony torqued and torqued until with a scream, a bone in the man’s leg resounded with an audible CRACK. Cronos screamed in pain but lashed out with the other leg, catching Anthony in the mouth as hard as he could.
The blow forced Anthony to roll away, while Cronos scooted backward, balancing more on his other leg as he rose back to his feet. Anthony planted his palm into the ground and used it to spin, planting his non-kicking leg, and launched himself into the air with it. A full spinning rotation in midair before he kicked Christoph in the face with all the force and momentum.
The kick landed with a cracking crunch as Cronos’s face slammed into a table from the force. Cronos stood straight and spun around, his arms raised, and he released out a screaming roar without moving his mouth. His jaw was dislocated, cracked, or broken.
Anthony seized his wrists with both hands and actually walked up the big man before throwing his leg over Cronos, flipping the big man clean over. Cronos landed on the table, the weight of both men more than it could handle, and it shattered. Anthony yanked back on the wrist, bending it back at the elbow until the giant let out a scream of agony as his arm snapped.
The audience was roaring as Anthony rolled backward and onto his feet. Cronos rose up to one knee, painstakingly cradling his arm. Anthony unleashed a flurry of rights and lefts, each one taking the big man across the mouth, more blood exploding from the orifice with each strike.
Cronos was left wavering on the floor, kneeling and nearly unconscious, when Anthony, limping heavily from the beating, walked around behind him. He grabbed the big man by the forehead and bent his head backward.
Anthony Crawford: “...You shouldn’t have gotten between me and Melissa.”
Before Cronos could do more than shout into his locked shut mouth, Anthony brought his knee up into the back of the man’s neck, shooting his head forward with a sickening CRACK.
Cronos laid on the floor…blinking.
Anthony hadn’t killed him.
Anthony had paralyzed him.
**
Standing far back and in the shadows, Lucifer watched as Cronos fell beneath the brutal knee of his First Angel. He felt the hatred and rage welling up in him as he turned and locked eyes with his beautiful red-haired Harbinger standing beside him in the darkness.
Lord Lucifer: “Get them in here now.”
Xaria Linette didn’t hesitate to make the call. She needed to let King J know that things didn’t go as planned and he needed to storm the place NOW. Lucifer then turned his attention to the black-haired woman standing on his other side.
Lord Lucifer: “Plan B. Do it now.”
Zachary Sears and Maiko Adachi both looked over at their leader in confusion. Neither of them heard about Plan B, but before they could ask, Ashley Kenyon pulled out her phone and sent the already written text. They were three simple words.
“Take him down.”
**
Anthony rose up onto his feet and lifted his arms into the air, screaming in victory as a couple behind him pulled their phones from their pockets. The text message was simple but it was more than enough.
From beneath the table, they detached what appeared to be 2 X 4’s and rose up. Before the security Romian had in place could react, the two men acted. The one closest to the celebrating man swung his melee weapon, taking Anthony behind the right ear with the other end of the baseball bat-like slab of wood.
Anthony went down like a ton of bricks, his vision spinning. He began to do his best to protect himself from the blows as they rained down on his arms, stomach, chest, and sides.
While the two men wailed on him, the doors of each side of the “club” burst inward. Black-robed, hooded, and masked Demons came from one side, while King J, clad in military combat gear, and his Jesters followed, dressed the same.
And then all hell broke loose.
