My Fault...

I failed.

I failed all of them.

I was out, running some errands for the people at the hideout. Wilson and David were accompanying me. David's been keeping an eye on me since he figured out my right arm is useless now.

We finished getting the supplies they needed and started heading back. We were just out front when the bombs went off. The entire hideout, and everyone in it, were wiped out. The whole place came down. I stood there in shock for a moment before charging in to try and find survivors. No one. No one was left.

“Did you enjoy the fireworks?” a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Bill Dawson standing among the rubble.

“You!” I said. “You did this!”

“Took a while to set up, but yes, it was me,” he said.

“Why!?” I demanded.

“Because I knew you would hate me for it,” he said. “Was I right?”

I clenched my fist, and realized it wasn't empty. I was holding the wakizashi. I have no idea how it got there, but I wasn't complaining. I gripped it tightly and charged at him. He blew a gust of ice cold mist at me. My sword burst into flames, spreading warmth through my body. I cleared the distance between us, and swung the sword. He summoned a blade made of ice and parried my attack. I kept swinging, but I couldn't get a hit in. The air kept getting colder, and I started feeling fatigued. Eventually, he managed to disarm me and grab me by the throat.

I was thrown into my subconscious, on the deck of the flying ship, where a giant woman made of solid ice was standing over me. So this was Silvermist's subconscious body.

“Where is Black Vice?” she demanded.

“Like I'd tell you!” I said.

Funny thing about my subconscious; both my arms work there. So I was in condition to fight. Which is exactly what I did. Problem was, I was fighting a cryokinetic eldritch abomination. As soon as I started moving, my feet froze in place. She summoned this giant hammer of ice and whacked with it so hard I was sent flying straight into the ship's mast. I was frozen there, unable to move. She approached me, slowly.

“I'll ask again,” she said. “Where. Is. Black Vice?”

A massive hand, with chitin-like black armor and sharp claws, appeared from behind her, and grabbed her. It was so large, it was able to grip her entire body. The hand belonged to a humanoid thing that didn't seem to have any consistent shape. With the exception of its arms, its body was constantly shifting forms. Sometimes looking masculine, sometimes feminine  One second it was muscular, then it was slim. It's right arm was gripping Silvermist tightly, while its left arm had taken the form of a large Gatling gun.

“I'm right here, Silvermist,” it said, raising its gun to the back of her head.

“Black Vice,” she said. “I've been looking forward to this.”

They began fighting. There's not really any way I could describe it, other than fast-paced and chaotic. I could barely keep up with what was going on. I tried struggling to break free of the ice, but it was too thick. I couldn't move anything except my head.

“Need a hand?” a voice asked. I looked down to see Justin standing before me.

“Justin!” I said. “Um, yeah, I could use some help here.”

Without saying a word, he drew back his fist. Dark energy accumulated in his hand, and he threw it forward, smashing into the ice and shattering it. I fell to the ground.

“Thanks, man,” I said, getting to my feet.

“No problem,” he said.

I looked up and saw that Silvermist and Black Vice were still locked in battle. They were going way to fast for me to do anything. After a little while, Silvermist pierced Black Vice throw the chest with an ice tentacle. Black Vice screamed out in pain, as its body dissolved and was absorbed into Silvermist.

“Finally,” she said. “I've been after that one for a long time.”

Silvermist disappeared after that.

“Sorry, I've gotta wake up now,” I said to Justin. “I can't let her get away.”

“Alright,” he said. “Get going.”

I woke up to see Bill walking away. I got up and ran after him, but something tackled me from the right. I still had on Black Vice's headband, so I had a pretty big blind spot. I felt claws digging into my already fucked up arm. I cried out in pain. The scream echoed louder than anything that's ever come out of my mouth. The creature backed up. I got to my feet and saw a creature clutching its ears. It looked like a naked human, but its eyes were sunken and black, its mouth was filled with pointed teeth. Where its fingers should have been were blade-like talons, dripping with blood. I ripped the headband off my face and picked up my sword. It charged at me faster than I could have imagined and slashed my left arm. I dropped the sword just as it lashed at my legs. It then vanished. I fell to the ground, in pain. David ran up to me, holding his sword in his hand and dripping blood down his chest and right arm. Wilson followed behind him.

“Where did it go?” he asked me.

“No clue,” I said. “It and Bill are both gone.”

“You think they were working together?” he asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “That thing... the Rake... it was against Bill during the whole ten plagues thing. Why would they be working together now?”

“No clue,” David said. “I'd also like to know why it just attacked us but left without finishing the job.”

“Who knows,” I said. I looked around at all the rubble and carnage. “We should get out of here, before the police show up.”

“Good idea,” David said, cutting open a rift into the Vision's domain. “Let's go.”

…

We're hiding out right now.

I can't stop think about this. Me and Black Vice were the ones Bill was after. All those people died because of me. This is all my fault.

Damn it. I have to stop him.