LOGAN
Finally. We made it through all those traps.
Out of the fifteen soldiers I brought with me, only four made it this far. The rest are probably lying unconscious somewhere behind us.
I have to admit it. That Nightingale has one hell of a mind when it comes to war or whatever is left of it. Most of our army has been taken out in less than an hour.
And the most humiliating part? They aren't even killing them. They're just knocking them unconscious. That is... unexpected.
The only two bots we encountered near the residence were different. Those things actually knew how to kill. The rest of the defenses seem to have been designed specifically to incapacitate rather than eliminate.
Whoever planned all of this knew exactly what they were doing. I should have brought more troops. I underestimated this place. And now I can't even contact anyone outside. Every communication channel has gone dead since we crossed into this area.
That wasn't an accident either. Of course it wasn't. Everything here seems to have been planned several steps ahead of us.
Sigh.
This is humiliating.
At this point, I already know we're probably going to lose.
Still... It would be nice if I could at least kill that Rosen. That would make this disaster feel slightly less embarrassing. At least we'd have something to show for it later.
Now all that's left is finding him. I moved forward and finally got a proper look at the residence.
Whoa. The house is huge. A massive lawn. A greenhouse.
And... A cat.
A very big cat.
I stopped.
Black fur.
Large enough to make me question whether someone had accidentally brought a panther into their house.
Damn it.
I hate cats, and this here is indeed a panther.
I pointed toward two of my remaining soldiers.
"You two deal with that cat."
They stared at me.
"Don't let it come anywhere near me."
I wasn't going to have some oversized feline ruining the little dignity I had left by going red and swollen all over.
We continued toward the entrance. Time to go inside.
I left them... to what they do best, not disturbing me.
I took a few steps. Then I heard a noise behind me.
I turned. Only two soldiers remained.
I stared at them.
Four had entered this place with me.
Now there were two.
Wonderful.
At this rate, Rosen wouldn't even need to fight me himself. His house was doing all the work.
All that stands between me and him is this door. It would be nice to make a dramatic entrance. I opened the door with a kick and entered.
Hold on, what? I assumed there would be an entire army to deal with inside too.
That concludes my dramatic entrance.
There is just one person standing on the top stairs instead of the army I had anticipated. He must have noticed my entrance.
I believe my jackpot is waiting for me to kill him because that person appears to be watching over the top door.
"You two go and get him out of my way."
I can't get my hands red just yet.
But there was only one with me now. Which made me CURSE inside.
"Just deal with that man up."
I chose to stay back.
In less than two minutes, my soldier was lying on the last stairs. I should probably stop keeping track at this point.
Instead of focusing on the fight, my attention drifted toward something on the wall.
A picture.
I stepped closer.
Three people.
A young woman stood in the middle, holding the hand of a little boy.
Rosen. At least, I assumed it was him.
He looked younger, obviously, but there was no mistaking those features.
Beside them stood a handsome man.
Leon Nightingale. His father.
I studied the picture for a moment.
The woman was beautiful.
I wondered who she was. And why she looked familiar.
My eyes wandered toward the other photographs hanging along the wall.
There were more. A lot more.
For a second, I wanted to stop and look at every single one.
But this wasn't exactly the time for sightseeing.
I glanced back toward the man at the top of the stairs.
He was still there.
Waiting.
And somewhere behind that door...
was the person I had come all this way to find.
I turned away from the photographs. I shouldn't keep him waiting.
I climbed the stairs one step at a time, and the closer I got to him, the more I remembered what she had told me about this idiot. She had been right about one thing.
Physically, I was better. She had also said he was more handsome than me, but apparently he was so unpleasant that I wouldn't even want to look at his face. I almost laughed at the thought. I wouldn't have to worry about that for long. I was going to wipe that mask off him myself.
I advanced toward him and launched the first attack, throwing punch after punch in an attempt to drive him toward the door. He dodged every one of them, slipping past my fists with irritating ease, even avoiding several of my kicks.
I stopped for half a second, genuinely impressed.
Fine.
Maybe I shouldn't take him lightly. I increased both my speed and my strength, attacking again. Yet he kept dodging, moving from left to right with a strange, almost effortless rhythm.
Interesting.
This was going to be more difficult than I expected.
So he's good at dodging.
Fine.
Let's see how good he is at attacking.
I backed away, giving him enough space to make the first move. He didn't hesitate. He came at me, and I had to admit, his speed was impressive too. His fighting skills were far better than I had expected.
But something caught my attention. He wasn't using his left arm.
Not even once.
Why?
If his right arm was perfectly fine, then surely the left should be useful too. Unless...
Weak spot.
I advanced again and went straight for it. I caught his left arm and twisted it behind him. He screamed, and I immediately froze.
Wait. Did he just scream like a girl?
No.
There was no way I was fighting a girl. I released her arm at once and stared at her in confusion.
Then I noticed the blood running down her arm. Where the hell had that come from? I hadn't even touched her hard enough to cause that. Which meant she had already been injured before I grabbed her.
"Move aside."
"NO."
"I don't fight girls, so move."
"That's not my problem. Besides, I do fight guys."
Before I could process what she meant, she lunged at me. One quick movement was all it took. I lost my balance and hit the floor with her landing on top of me. For someone who was already injured, she moved far too quickly. Then she pulled something from somewhere beneath her clothes.
A dagger.
Where the hell had she gotten that?
I shoved her away and immediately reached for my gun. I fired, but she twisted aside, and the shot missed. Before I could fire again, she knocked the weapon from my hand and sent it sliding down the stairs.
For one ridiculous second, I thought she was going to pick it up and shoot me.
She didn't.
Fine.
Forget the stupid rule about not fighting girls. This was the first girl I'd ever encountered who could fight like this.
I charged at her again, keeping the pressure on as we moved higher and higher up the staircase. She kept retreating, but I refused to give her enough space to recover.
Step by step, we reached the top.
I landed a punch across her face.
She staggered, losing her balance for a moment. I caught the opening immediately and grabbed the dagger from her hand before she could recover.
Her eyes widened.
I moved to restrain her, using the dagger to force her wounded arm back. She cried out and struggled against me, trying to push me away.
She was stubborn.
Far too stubborn.
I wasn't going to let her get another chance to attack me.
I pulled the dagger away and struck her legs, forcing her down onto her knees. She finally collapsed there, breathing heavily and struggling to stay upright.
I stepped toward her.
She had fought well.
I'll give her that.
But she had lost.
I raised my foot, ready to send her tumbling down the stairs.
Then the door in front of me suddenly opened.
"Rosen, don't go out." He stopped midway. So the person beside Jackson is Rosen Nightingale.
I need to compose myself now that I've seen him and do what I came here to do.
"Pleasure to meet you, Rosen Nightingale."