A couple of hours after the encounter with the thugs, Alice returned to the diner—or rather, to what was left of it. Everything had burned to the ground; nothing was spared. She shuffled over to the third floor of the inn, where the staff had been rushed. Some seemed indifferent, others were shocked and terrified, but the owner, sixty‑five‑year‑old Hal Rodgers, looked completely out of it, mumbling nonsense to himself for hours. "Hey, old man, you physically alright? No burns, right?" Alice asked in her usual deadpan tone. "W‑where were you? I‑if I remember right, you said you'd 'smash anyone that messed with the diner,' correct? So where were you?" Hal's temperament flared as his eyes began to glow red. "I was at school, and when I heard what happened, I rushed over and dealt with the thugs. I don't see what the problem is." Hal slammed his fist into the table, shattering it. "The problem is you abandoned all of us. You said you'd always be here to protect the shop, no matter the stakes, and you weren't. I gave you food, I did everything to help you, but you let this happen." The muscles in Hal's arm flexed uncontrollably. One of the staffers tried to calm him down, "Hey boss, take it ea—" but before anyone could react, the poor waitress's head was already rolling across the floor.
Alice freezes for a split second before demanding, "What have you done? What are you?" Hal answers with a wild scream, charging forward and swinging a punch at her ribs. She reacts instantly, kicking his arm aside to push him back, but he spins into a backfist aimed at her head, forcing her to sidestep. Good grief, how is this bugger so fast? she thinks, just as Hal closes the gap again with a kick to her ribs. With no time to counter, she braces her arms to block, yet the sheer force hurls her through the inn wall and into the street below. Coughing blood, she struggles to rise when Hal crashes down through the hole, trying to slam her into the ground. Alice narrowly dodges, regains distance, and catches her breath as Hal roars, horns sprouting from his head before he lunges with another kick aimed at her skull. She ducks at the last second, driving an uppercut into his jaw that staggers him, then seizes the opening with a roundhouse kick to his side, sending him crashing back through the inn. "Now we're even, prick."
Hal gets back to his feet almost instantly and howls again. Alice, not wanting to waste any time, presses the attack, determined to take him down in close quarters. She drives a left jab into his ribs, but he absorbs it and counters with a brutal uppercut to her chin, launching her into the ceiling. Before she can land, Hal hurls a right jab into her temple, sending her smashing through the inn wall and back onto the street. He stalks toward her slowly, intent on finishing her off, and raises both fists in a double axe handle aimed at her skull. At the last moment, a black aura erupts from Alice, halting his strike. Blood still pours from her head, nose, and mouth as she rises, locking eyes with him. "I don't know what happened to you, Hal, but I can't and won't let you leave here alive. I'll put you down right here." Hal steps forward to attack, only to find Alice's hand already gripping the top of his head. With a sudden motion, she slams him face-first into the ground, the impact cracking the earth and shaking the foundations of nearby buildings, including the ruined inn. Without pause, Alice hoists his body up, grins devilishly, and drives a punch into his gut, then his neck, before releasing his head and unleashing a roundhouse kick so powerful it sends him hurtling through three abandoned buildings west of the inn, finally crashing into a nearby landfill.
A brief moment passes before the black aura surrounding Alice fades, and she collapses to the ground, her blood staining the street beneath her. The rest of the crew from the diner seize the opportunity to flee, not sparing her a glance. Another moment drags by before a massive roar echoes from the direction of the landfill. Hal rises once again and charges toward Alice, his hand outstretched to deliver the finishing blow. Looming over her, he raises his arm to crush her skull—only to realize he no longer has a hand to strike with. A guttural cry tears from his throat as he frantically scans the area, his gaze locking onto a man clad in black, the lower half of his face concealed, baby-blue eyes gleaming above a matching glove on his right hand. "So you're Hal Rodgers, eh? Oh, how the mighty fall," the man taunts as he saunters forward. Hal lunges with his remaining hand, throwing a desperate haymaker, but the stranger catches it and severs the limb in an instant, forcing a beast-like scream from Hal. "Silence. Men who surrender to the demon plague don't get to cry or scream. Trash like you only get to die in anguish." With a single swift motion, the man in black decapitates Hal, strikes a match, and sets the body ablaze. He then tosses the severed head into a nearby dumpster before turning to Alice, hoisting her onto his shoulders. "You have great promise, girl. Can't have you dying just yet."