Rufus goes to charge in as his eyes flash his pre cognition activates.
As he breaks out in cold sweats he stops frozen in time.
He sees himself nailed to the wall with Epicurus's giant spear in his chest.
His body hung there like a valued painting, a grim decoration pinned for display.
The room holds its breath. Rufus meets Epicurus's eyes — but doesn't flinch. No fear. Just calculation. Then, he lets out a faint breath through his nose, almost like a laugh.
"…No," Rufus says smoothly. "Not today."
He turns, brushing a speck of dust off his jacket, and walks calmly toward the coffee machine. Not defeated. Just delayed. His mascara slowly running down his face due to the sweat and the tension.
Darkened lazily asked. "So what do we do now? Osprey isn't confirmed dead..."
#10, still lingering by the edge of the room like a shadow, speaks up quietly. "But… if Mori's telling the truth — if they're both down — can't we just 3rd party it and finish Osprey off?"
Darkened leans forward, voice low but firm. "We walk into a shooting range with Osprey, and you're dead before you blink. One of my strongest—Zinn—took a round straight through the eye. Didn't even have time to flinch. That's how fast he is. That's one of my lieutenants gone like nothing."
He glances around the room, then continues, colder.
"I say we leave Mori to die. I was going to suggest we collect the God Stick off his corpse, but even that isn't worth the risk. If we enter Osprey's range—"
Epicurus cuts in with a quiet mumble, "Speak for yourself. If I gather my lieutenants, we're taking Osprey down without much trouble."
Darkened's demeanor shifts. The tall, gaunt figure stands, towering over Epicurus like a monolith at the table. His fingers tense slightly around a folded piece of black cloth, something about his appearance is soo uncanny its DISTURBING.
"You speak like I don't have three hundred cultists circling that entire state right now," Darkened hisses. "Do you take me for a fool?"
Epicurus rolls his eyes, clearly irritated. "I'm just saying — don't talk about him like he's some myth. He's still elite guard level. Same as the rest of us."
Epicurus yawns "As a matter of fact my assistants are spread out in Michigan right now.. I'll just do it myself."
Darkened slams his palm down. "We're in his domain. We'd be fighting his battle. If its one thing I know its is that you never fight your enemy in a fight that he's comfortable. I have killed so many powerful fighters because they chose to fight me in the dark, my domain. IF we fighthis fight we lose.
Epicurus stabs his steak, closing his eyes as he speaks. "Do you have a history with Osprey, Darkened? Why are you so concerned? I'm in control of this operation."
Darkened raises a brow, deadpan. "Because I don't want to be sent to my death?"
#10 timidly raises a hand. "Me either."
Epicurus's voice hardens. "I said I'd go myself."
Rufus, trying to de-escalate, gestures with one hand. "Okay, everyone calm down. Epicurus has trained with multiple members of the Top 5 Elite Guard.
Rufus says sarcastically "His specialty is single combat — we know this. We should trust his judgment if he thinks he can beat him he can. Simple."
But at the same time as Rufus twirls his mustache. "It's hard for you to protect all of us while you fight. So them being fearful is only natural. In Italy we have this phrase-"
Epicurus sighs "If you two want to be cowards then so be it. I'll send my remote control helicopter to pick Mori up. He's too valuable to die here.
Rufus jaw drops "So you said all that just to NOT go yourself? Your proving Darkened right, we simply shouldn't enter his shooting rang-
Epicurus yells "I AM NOT PROVING HIM RIGHT!"
Epicurus gets up out of his chair grabbing his trident spear from the wall "Osprey is the best friend of Mr. N. If i go to finish him off its highly likely by time I arrive Mr. N will be there. I'm not scared of a Elite Guard level threat. I am on the level BEYOND THAT. But fighting Mr. N and Osprey 2v1?
Now that's something even someone of my talent pool won't be able to overcome."
#10 apologizes "Sorry Epi... Rufus and Dark Dark can get a bit toxic sometimes. I'm sure they didn't mean to get you angry."
Rufus, angry, holds himself back. "The AI robot and the helicopter.... using it for the entire day takes over 3 million dollars. In this economy is it really worth-"
Epicurus claps back, rolling his eyes, "You guys spend over 45 million a year on sex trafficking, don't piss me off."
Rufus mumbles "do not include me….."
As Darkened opens his eyes with pure shock
'He should not have said that. If th-"
Epicurus walks off determined to go himself "Everyone knows, If you care so much about this country then you'll make the sacrifice to keep it safe.
Mr. N is the biggest threat to Mr. President's seat right now and Mori worked for him for years. If he really defeated Osprey, he's truly certified and deserves a place on our Elite guard. That's all there is to it."