Click.
Her stomach dropped. The chamber was empty.
Across the room, Dwarven leaned against a stack of boxes, tossing the missing bullets in the air with a smirk.
"Can we talk now? Or are you intent on trying to shoot me?"
Jasper scowled, then slowly lowered her revolver.
Dwarven lobbed the bullets back across the room and she caught them all cleanly, eyes never leaving his.
He bounced off the crates "So, I was going through your stuff to see if you had anything worth sweeping. That's when I noticed the camera. Normally I keep to myself, but sometimes I get nosey. You've lived a full life, Courier. A lot of good memories in there. Bad ones too."
Jasper's jaw tightened. Fury simmered on her face—privacy violated, wounds prodded.
"Hey, I get it. I shouldn't have done that." He raised a hand. "But I was mulling over whether to free you. After the camera? I decided I would. But you were gonna leave the Mechanica you were hauling."
Jasper quickly loaded the bullets into the revolver and lifted again, steady as stone.
"Hold on—hold on." He chuckled nervously as she began to lower it again.
"Then I saw your destination." His grin sharpened. "You're heading to the Luzidterrauim in Tereliva, right?"
Jasper froze. Dwarven waited. Finally, she gave the slightest nod.
His whole body lit up, practically bounding toward her.
"I'm going with you! You don't get it—I've always wanted to see a Luzidterrarium. The place where the greatest Mechanicas are born? Saints, that's the dream. I'll be your security to Tereliva."
Jasper shook her head firmly.
"What do you mean, no?!" Dwarven barked, disbelief flashing in his voice. "Have you looked around? You think you're making it to Tereliva alone, I don't care how good you are with that revolver—with Shriek and her pack of idiots prowling? Get real."
Jasper's brow furrowed. She was starting to consider it.
"You've already seen my work," Dwarven pressed, stepping closer. "You know I'm strong. I can protect you."
She weighed the thought then— then the door creaked open.
"Hey, fucker," a merc sneered, stepping inside. "Bartender didn't have any new stock. What are you tryin'—"
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.
Jasper fired three rounds before he could finish, the shots ricocheting past his shoulder and driving him back. In the same breath she spun, dove through the window, and disappeared into Tyla's alleyway.
"Fuck! She's escaping!" the merc screamed, clutching the doorframe. "Shriek's gonna have my ass!"
He bolted, his voice echoing through the saloon. Outside, shouts rose as mercs grabbed weapons and scrambled to pursue.
Duo stepped in just as the commotion peaked. "Hey—what the fuck's all this?"
"Dwarven let the girl escape," one of the mercs snapped, shooting him a glare.
Duo's head whipped toward him. "Dwarven. What the fuck?"
"She just slipped out," Dwarven growled. "It happened fast."
"Well, fuck—go! Get her!" Duo barked, waving the mercs on. They charged out into the street.
Dwarven made to follow "This was my mess. I'll help clean it."
Duo shoved an arm out, blocking his path. His grin was sharp, dangerous.
"No, it's okay. You and me—" his tone dropped, playful but edged, "—we need to have a little chat."
"Okay."
Duo began to circle the room, fingertips dragging across furniture, bottles, the wall. Casual, restless.
"So we talked it over," he said. "Looks like we can't sell you the Sigil."
Dwarven snorted. "Oh, really? Shocking. Let me guess—she doesn't want me leaving with that bag of Luzid Metal either."
"Smart as always. Her deal is simple: you leave the bags, she won't let the Sage know you're here."
"How kind of her."
Duo's smirk deepened. "But me? I've already talked to the Sage. He upped the price when he heard "I've got you right in front of me."
Dwarven's eyes narrowed. "How much convincing did that take?"
"Not much," Duo admitted with a shrug. "I like you, Rokk. But you get pretty damn annoying. Shriek won't cry over her best-friend's protégé getting Cyc'd. Not when I come back with two bags of Luzid Metal and five hundred thousand Krits."
"Oh, so you told the Sage I'd already used or sold it, huh?"
"Absolutely. He probably doesn't believe me, but he doesn't have to. All he cares about is you dead. Don't bite the hand that feeds, right?"
Duo stopped across the room, leaning forward on the back of a couch, grin sharp and daring.
"Well?" Dwarven asked, rolling his shoulders. "You done touching everything in the room?"
"Yeah," Duo said, straightening. His eyes gleamed. "Always wondered which one of us was better."
Dwarven's hand hovered near his hammer. "Classic draw, then."
"Of course."
Duo slid around the couch, planting himself in front of it.
Across the room, Dwarven's fingers twitched near his hammer. A faint shimmer glinted—thin Luzid threads stretched from Duo's gauntlets to the couch's frame.
Seconds dragged.
When the clock struck twelve and the chimes echoed, they moved.
Dwarven snatched his hammer and hurled it straight for Duo's face faster than he could draw, but Duo ducked—whump—the weapon buried itself in the wall. At the same instant Duo snapped his arm, the webbed couch ripping off the ground and slamming into Dwarven.
The blow hurled him backward into a bed, splintering it beneath his weight.
Duo leapt, gauntlets sparking, ready to end it.
Dwarven yelled, driving a hammer into the couch pinning him. CRASH. Energy rippled, blasting the wreckage apart just as Duo's punch tore through the dust.
But a chair came spinning in on a hidden tether—smash!—catching Dwarven in the side. He rolled through the impact, shattering it against the floor, and clawed his way back to his hammer.
Furniture and glass flew at him from every angle, Duo's strings yanking debris like a storm. Dwarven deflected what he could, hammer ringing with every strike, slipping through the onslaught. A fist cracked against his jaw—he answered with one of his own. They traded punishing blows, both refusing to give ground.
Then Duo snapped a string taut behind Dwarven. The wall itself groaned.
"Let's see you stop this."
The whole wall tore free, rushing at him like a giant's fist.
Dwarven jumped into the motion, ripping his hammer loose from the wood, and used the momentum to launch himself forward. He slammed both hammers down.
CRASH.
The floor split, caving beneath them. Dust and smoke roared as they plummeted into the first floor, scattering bottles and sending working girls screaming into the street.
The two men rose through the haze, covered in debris, squaring off again.
Dwarven's arm cocked—another hammer throw. It hurtled across the room—whump—lodging deep into the wall.
Duo laughed, brushing plaster off his shoulder. "Hate to see it. If only you could bring it back." His grin widened. "Oh—and don't look up."
Dwarven's gaze flicked skyward.
Above, dozens of blades, held aloft by shimmering strings, glinted in the half-light.
"Good luck," Duo said.