Destiny

Portia rejoined Ashen, Mistress and Abby. Memories she couldn't quite place flowed into her mind and her mouth moved without giving her time to think. She told them that she had discovered from the false god the location where their targets would be holed up and that if they moved quickly they could catch them there.

With no reason not to believe her they moved out and Portia led them, without quite understanding why, to a wharf. Vague memories of a warehouse somewhere in the area led her further in until they were standing in the middle of a small offshoot leading between two warehouses. It was at this point the trap snapped closed. A voice that Portia hadn't noticed building in her head spoke suddenly with the roar of trumpets and she screamed in pain as The Liar forced herself back into control as at the same moment the loading doors of the two warehouses opened. One empty the other with Muffin standing in the way.  Dr. Malice, and Portnoy revealed themselves on the roofs both armed with guns aimed down at Ashen and his crew and finally Megan stepped into the exit behind them blocking off their retreat.

"What the hell is this Portia?!" Ashen roared with anger. The Liar smiled and turned to him.

"You know, Sergei... Originally Muffin intended for me to just kill all of you myself, but I refused. I reasoned that it just wouldn't be fair and I'd already taken so much from you that you deserved to have at least a chance at dying in combat so I convinced Muffin this was a better idea." The Liar informed him.

Faceless' eyes would have narrowed had he any as he responded. "You... You're The Liar aren't you!"

The Liar responded with a mocking curtsy. "Guilty as charged. I'd offer to let you surrender, but I know you wouldn't accept and even if you did it would merely be a trick so I'm afraid it's time you died and this time don't come back," Portnoy and Dr. Malice opened fire and Ashen turned and ran towards the empty open loading doors.

It was obviously a trap. He knew it was, but the cold little girl scared him, The Liar was too dangerous, The Muffin Man probably wouldn't be a problem, but with the bullets raining down he didn't fancy his chances to get past him in time and besides... He figured he knew who was waiting within.

As he dashed through the doors they began to close behind him, but Mistress' tendrils lashed out catching the door and letting her pass inside before they slammed leaving only Abby outside. Bullets tore into her as she simply stood there and then she began running. She ran straight for The Liar. As she ran her mouth moved garbled sounds emerging and slowly becoming more clear.

The Liar began to back away in surprise at this sudden charge but stopped as the first clear words escaped Abby's mouth. "I remember you..." A bullet tore Abby's arm from her shoulder, but she barely slowed down and hit The Liar with a tackle that sent them both to the ground. "I remember what you did to me... What you made me do. You're the one who killed me!" She screamed as her hand ripped free from it's binding to her chest and wrapped around The Liar's neck strangling her. "It hurts. Every second hurts and every memory hurts worse. It's agony! You did this to me and you're going to make it stop hurting!" The Liar looked up into the girl's eyes and reached up grabbing her head. There was a moment of stillness and then The Liar's hands dropped lifelessly to the ground as Abby slumped forward.

Muffin rushed towards them readying to attack Abby, but her head raised and turned to him. "Stop. It's me The Liar," She stood up and looked at May's still remaining arm, "She wanted this... She..." The Liar chuckled. "She actually let me in..." Muffin stared at her for a second then turned to the closed off warehouse.

"The woman got in as well... Should we go help?"

"No... This is probably better than he hoped and if we in any way mess up his fight he'll never forgive us."

Faceless and The Grinning Reaper stood just inside of the warehouse and faced the figure standing in the center. "Sergei..." Harold said as he nodded towards Faceless and then he turned his head to the Grinning Reaper, "... and you?"

The Grinning Reaper smiled behind her mask. "Forgot me, huh? My name is Clarissa Lerouge," she turned angling her scythe out in a battle stance taking in both Harold and Faceless, "but you'd both know me better as The Grinning Reaper,"

Faceless reacted with shock at The Grinning Reaper's aggressive act and pulled himself a way from her getting into his own battle stance. "The hell are you doing?"

"I remember who I am. I remember that you killed me and this just became the perfect time to get my vengeance against almost everyone I have a grudge against. I'll kill you and the doll and then I'll be free."

"Well then I guess this just became a free for all," Harold stated quietly as he drew out his pistols and aimed one at both of the other two.

The three stood with their weapons ready and their eyes trained on each other waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Harold started the fight firing at both of them with his guns. Faceless and Reaper dashed out of the way and towards each other. Faceless caught Reaper's scythe blade with the machete and guided it to the side before attempting to land a punch on her mid-section but a tendril erupted from her body and caught his hand attempting to crush it. Unfortunately this forced off his glove and her tendril retreated from the flame that erupted out from his hand. They then both jumped back dodging another pair of shots and more of Reaper's tendrils launched towards Harold who dived out of the way and began firing at the tentacles that re-angled to catch him.

Meanwhile Reaper and Faceless continued their side of the fight. The tendrils were an advantage Reaper hadn't had last time, but they were also a disadvantage. While they added an extra, highly versatile weapon to her arsenal they restricted her ability to fight with the scythe as she had to avoid hitting them. The scythe isn't a very wieldy weapon at the best of times even in hands as skilled with it as Reaper's. Faceless made good use of this staying near her tentacles and staving them off with fire to restrict her ability to hit him with the scythe. Even so he sustained more than a small number of cuts with the scythe each one eliciting bursts of flame from the tears in his outfit. He dodged out of the way of another scythe slash and had his attack with the machete deflected as the scythe spun around for another go. He was left vulnerable in this second and Reaper took full advantage and three tendrils stabbed into his chest as the scythe came around and hit him in the head. His head cracked to the side and the welding mask fell off. Fire erupted from his face burning Reaper who backed away from the sudden increase in fire and heat.

Faceless let out a cry of rage and pain and the coat burned away leaving him naked just fire in a human form. He rushed at Reaper and tackled her holding her down and lighting her aflame. Tentacles launched out from her body and the one's pursuing Harold arced back. They pierced Faceless all over his body as Reaper screamed in pain and Faceless' roar increased in pitch and fervor. Harold tried to take advantage of this moment and fired a few bullet's into Faceless' body, but Faceless didn't even seem to notice. Reaper's screams ceased as she was reduced to nothing but a charred corpse and then Faceless stood, the tentacles impaling him simply melting away as he turned to Harold.

Harold emptied his guns into Faceless' body and Faceless stumbled back a bit but then began to charge. His machete was melted away, but he didn't need a weapon now. Harold tossed away his pistols and drew out the rifle on his back and fired. The bullet seemed to hit something still solid within Faceless and he was thrown backwards. Harold aimed again and fired and this time blood spurted out of the bullet hole but immediately evaporated as it exited the body.

"I guess you're body's still in that inferno, Sergei. Your fire is weakening and my bullet's can reach the real you. You can still die!" Harold yelled as he sighted on Faceless' head. The inferno obscuring Faceless suddenly changed in appearance, wings of flame spreading outwards from his head and eyes like a hawk appearing where Faceless' eyes would have been. The firebird lifted away from faceless' body and then flung itself at Harold. Harold's eyes widened and he fired at it but the bullet just passed through. The bird hit him with such force it drove him against the wall and set him aflame. He screamed in terrified agony as the entire warehouse began to light. The fire spread from him through the area and within seconds the entire warehouse was aflame.

Outside the rest of the group watched in awe as the fire rose into the sky. The Liar blinked and then swallowed. "I guess that's it then..."

"All three of them are dead?" Muffin asked with a pained voice.

"I can't imagine anyone surviving that blaze," she responded.

Muffin bowed his head. "Poor Harold... Still we have a lot more to do and we don't have time to mourn anyone. Let's get going," Muffin stated and they left before emergency services began to arrive.