After the events of Penumbral Guard, Gunter is meeting up with Tomoe in a bar called the "Orange Minotaur Inn". It was probably the single stupidest name for an inn he'd ever been to. It just happened to be the closest inn. That being said, even before Gunter arrived he'd already considered leaving just based on the name. Upon entering, the place smelled like the body odor of filthy warriors, and oranges, so he started to get an idea about the name of the place. He said faintly "What is this, an inn for cowfuckers?" Perhaps it was that the bartender had heard or perhaps because Gunter was new, but he got the stink eye from the bartender. Kratos walked in behind Gunter and said "Ah yes, a home for my people." Gunter looked at Kratos and asked "Hey Kratos you wanna get us some drinks?"

Kratos gave a thumbs-up and walked over to the bartender. The bartender, who was a short man that Kratos gave a horrid glare to. A horrible creature that needed to be eradicated from this earth, and so disgusting. It was a goblin. He looked up at Kratos, spat in the glass he was cleaning, and started polishing it some more. "I'll get three bottles of whiskey, minus the spit." Kratos said. The bartender looked at Kratos, spat in the glass he was cleaning, and continued. "You sure? It's free." And then spat in the ground at Kratos' feet. Kratos smiled and patiently awaited the arrival of the drinks. Gunter noticed this as off since Kratos isn't the kind type, and realized what Kratos was up to as he acted.

Upon the bartender's arrival, putting the drinks down, Kratos grabbed all three in between the fingers on his right hand. As he turned, he grabbed the back of the bartender's head and caved it into the bar. The patrons in the bar gave out a slight gasp. Kratos said "No, no, no, calm down my friends. It simply means drinks are for free." One patron stood up and headed for the door to leave, and Kratos simply got in front of the door and snapped the man's neck right there. "Is anyone else going to sit and drink? Or do you have somewhere you need to be in the next life?" Kratos asked. The patrons sat down, fearing for their lives, as Gunter gave a coy smile and a wave. "As you were." he said.

Kratos sat down at the bar, slid a bottle to Gunter and put one at the empty chair for Tomoe's arrival. Just as they cracked open their bottles, they heard the door open and looked to the door to see who had just arrived.

---

Word Count: 452/1,500

Tomoe had concluded his business at the Penumbral Guard guild hall, and what business it was. It had to be stated, for the record, that the guild's ashes brought with them the feeling of freedom not unlike putting on a new pair of underwear on a clear Spring morning. The screams of pain of those that stationed themselves at the guild, burning and being crushed or beaten to death... those were all things that contributed to the brand new 'him'. SHE would no doubt be pleased as well, as more recently he's felt that HER physical presence has strengthened. Where normally SHE would only speak to him, he would now catch glimpses of HER as he walked about, out of the corner of his eye; a dark shade filled with malice and love in equal parts that he could never truly look upon, as the figure would dissipate before he could center his gaze on it. To most this might be an unnerving development, but Tomoe was over the moon about it! Finally SHE could more easily and reliably materialize.

Anyway, Marigold was probably fucked. They no longer had a guild guarding over them, and even if that one other guild from Hargeon moved in to establish themselves, it ultimately wouldn't matter. This town was a turd fire waiting to ignite, and Tomoe was just here to make what money he could out of the place before leaving it to die. To that end, there was something or other about helping out some theater guy with a performance. He'd accepted, of course, but offered to bring Gunter along with him to get another perspective on the locals. They were hard workers that also knew how to play hard when they felt like, and that was admirable. It was so admirable that it made the Joyan want to puke - or perhaps that was from the whiskey, of which he was already drinking from a flask as he walked.

Eventually, Tomoe made his way into the 'Orange Minotaur Inn' as the sun shone overhead to signify it was about time for lunch. What a godawful name., Tomoe thought, sticking his hands in his pockets as he kicked open the door, accidentally using a bit too much strength and knocking the door halfway off its hinges.

"How's it goin', guys? Drinks are on m-"

Tomoe stopped upon entering, seeing that the small, green, rodent-like 'man' behind the counter had his skull caved in. Blood dripped freely from his head, which meant of course that the drink would flow just as freely. What, was anybody going to stop them? Of course they wouldn't. They were almost like demigods in their own right in this town of weaklings. At that point, the crimson cutthroat spotted Gunter and Kratos already taking seats, leaving one open for him. They even prepared a bottle! Perfect. The Joyan moved over and took his seat next to them, drinking deeply from the bottle and then letting go with a satisfied sigh.

"Whiskey? Good shit. I got my own supply, but the best price is free, at the end of the day. Here's to free shit!", Tomoe shouted with a gleeful smile as he raised his bottle to clang against those of his fellow drinking partners.

After a while longer of drinking, Tomoe remembered the time and realized that they were probably going to be late at this rate. He wasn't all that enthusiastic about the job, but money was money still. They'd show up plastered or at least tipsy, probably, but they'd still need to actually show up.

"We should get goin' soon here, yeah? Over to the theater. That guy wants his shoes shined or... or somethin'. I don't even know. We'll see what 'e wants when we get there, y'know?"

Tomoe sat up after finishing his bottle of whiskey. He'd toss it towards some random guy's head, nailing him right in the eyes as shards stuck themselves all across his face, up his nose, and of course in his eyes. He'd instinctively rub and close his eyes, ensuring that the glass shards would crunch and dig themselves further into his sockets as he rolled around and cried out in pain. Tomoe chuckled as he grabbed two more bottles of whiskey from behind the counter, tossing a single Jewel from his pocket at the dead goblin's face.

"Let's get this job started, yeah?"

And with that, Tomoe was out the door towards the theater.

---

WC: 745/1,500

With that, Gunter stands up and follows Tomoe outside of the bar. Just as he's sitting up and walking out, he looks over to Kratos and says "You mind cleaning up the place?" Kratos gets the hint and as Gunter steps outside, from inside the bar Kratos then slams his hands into the ground, causing stone spikes to rise up and be sent forth from the ground outwards, impaling everybody in the bar. One guy even takes a stone spike up his ass and out his mouth. Kratos was proud of this, it was some of his favorite work. Kratos dusts his hands while leaving the bar, and gives his comrades a thumbs up as they continue down the theater where the performance will take place.



As they arrive, they can hear some jazzy music coming from various performers outside the theater. Gunter, Kratos and Tomoe would stand there listening to this performer for a little bit, but they do have work to do, so after hearing a few lines and would enjoy this performance more than the one inside more than likely. Gunter cracks open a cigar from his case of twenty, and also tosses one to Tomoe and Kratos, the three of them being able to walk in while enjoying not only the fine arts, but some good tobacco as well.

Gunter also pulls out a bottle of expensive sea lord wine, purchased from a merchant ship along his travels. Apparently this wine is supposed to be the nectar of the gods; or the sea gods, anyway. He cracks it open, the fragrances bursting from the bottle, hitting the senses like a bullet train. This was the moment where life was gonna be getting good. Gunter passed the bottle to Tomoe and Kratos and drank himself; Kratos accepted, and as he handed the bottle to Tomoe he said "I'll talk with the main performer and get us seated as backstage help." As Gunter goes in, Kratos turns to Tomoe and says "I dunno if we had bad blood in the past, but your battle prowess during the raid on Penumbral Guard was commendable." With that, Kratos reaches out a hand to shake Tomoe's, should he accept, while saying "I may serve the big boss, but I got your back."

Gunter goes inside and talks with the performer, who's eager to have any help he can and says "Absolutely! I can use some hands to help deal with the lifting of some equipment and the moving of boxes." He asks how many people will help out, and Gunter says "Just two." The performer says that's perfect, says to knock twice and the guy will let them in. Gunter heads outside, looks at Tomoe with a thumbs up, and then signals for him to follow around back.

As they get to the side of the building, Gunter looks at Kratos and says "As soon as the performance starts, I want you to come rushing in and butcher everyone inside. Make sure that you cause a huge commotion, and I want you to come in through the front." Kratos gives a nod, and starts making his way back towards the front of the building, waiting for the music of the performance to start as his cue. Gunter heads up to the door, knocks twice, and with that some random dude opens up and says "You two must be the guys. Time to get to work." He then points to Tomoe and says "You deal with those boxes. And you, I want your help with some machinery." he says while then pointing to Gunter.

---

1,065/1,500

Tomoe would accept the cigar, drink and handshake in order. "Much obliged. We're on similar wavelengths now so I think we'll get along alright. No need for bad blood anymore, the whole 'hero' routine was a shitshow anyway.", Tomoe would reply to Kratos while shaking his hand.

Afterwards, Tomoe would follow Gunter out to the place where they'd do the boring part of the work. Up until now, Tomoe felt like he was riding high on life today. At first he'd stepped into a shitty bar and established his place as a king and conqueror of the town in a way, allowing lesser beings to cower in fear and be splattered with glass from broken whiskey bottles as he merely existed as a demigod. And then on top of that, fine cigars, fine wine, and some good buddies? Truly, Tomoe was unmatched in his abilities as a champion of all that was good and just in the world. He and Gunter had pissed on the ashes of an outdated 'justice' and brought forth a new concept that was lacking among the people of Marigold for a while: fear. True, wholehearted fear that consumed them, made them uneasy and paranoid, and caused them no end of despair. Their protectors were a pile of piss-stained ashes in some backwater mountain range, and even if Blue Pegasus moved in, that wouldn't change.

What did that mean, though, for the future of Southern Fiore as a whole? Well, of course it meant that the other towns would soon hear word of this and follow in turn. More than that, the destruction of the Penumbral Guard guild hall meant that eventually, those that escaped its destruction by being away from the tower itself at the time of the attack would likely find their guild tattoos disappearing over time; faded, much like the memories of the guild itself. A fragile corpse that had been living on borrowed time right from the beginning.

At that, after those thoughts, Tomoe and Gunter arrived at the place for their actual work. Tomoe was to lift boxes - what a boring job that was, wasn't it? But Tomoe complied. "Alright.", he would utter briefly to the man ordering him around, before getting to work lifting equipment and boxes to the places they needed to go.

While doing so, he would await Gunter's next plan begrudgingly.

---

WC: 1,139/1,500

As Gunter and Tomoe continue to move boxes and equipment around, they start to see more of the staff rushing around and getting into positions. They see the man that they were supposed to deal with start getting ready. He's clearing his throat, testing his voice, and then goes out on stage. Gunter looks at Tomoe with a wink as if to say for him to get ready. With that, the performance begins. The man goes on stage, and applause roars as he stands in the middle of the stage and bows. He's wearing a suit and raises his hand, hyping up the performance. He's a man with tanned skin, balding hair, wearing a nice black suit. The performance begins. And Kratos acts.



Kratos, who was hanging out by the front of the building, cracks his knuckles, walks right up to the security guard at the door and says "Hey buddy. How's your medical bill?" Before the guy can respond, Kratos slams the guy's head into the wall. Kratos then kicks down the front door, seeing various staff and personnel at the front, and a couple late arrivals. Before they can turn to see what's happening, Kratos slams his fist into the ground, causing spikes to rush out and impale everybody up front.

Meanwhile, Gunter looks at Tomoe and starts rubbing his pocket dimension ring. With that, Gunter walks into a back storage room and activates his ring, bringing forth his equipment. He then comes out and as the music continues and the voice of this performer fills the entire theater with his booming song, Gunter is hanging around back and killing off the staff members. He chokes them to death with his sheathed sword, dragging them into the storage room. Gunter looks over to Tomoe to see what he's doing, and as that's happening, Kratos dusts himself off and sees a man coughing up blood, impaled with a hotdog in hand.

Kratos walks over, grabs the hotdog out of the man's hand and says "Good, I was hungry!". He takes one big bite, looks back at the man and says "You know what? You also look hungry." and crams the hotdog down the man's throat with force, choking on a weenie. Kratos rips two late arrivals off of spikes with such force that it simply cuts them in half, holding their upper halves in his hands. Kratos then kicks down the door at the tail end of the first performance when everyone is clapping after hearing the first song. He simply takes the upper halves of those two people and tosses one into the crowd, and one over top of everyone's heads onto the stage. Kratos roars and bumrushes the closest person, tearing them apart with his bare hands as people are screaming and wailing in pain, digging his claws into people and ripping them apart.

The performer turns to escape out the back, but unbeknownst to him, Tomoe and Gunter are right there waiting for him. At this point, some people are getting out of their seats and running for the front. Kratos launches a boulder at the ceiling above, causing rubble to block the entrance. No one is leaving alive. Gunter lets Tomoe deal with the man. As soon as the entire theater has been butchered by Kratos and no one has escape through the back entrance, and once it's only them, they would head for the employer and they get their money.

---

Word Count: 1,500/1,500

Exit

The chaos went off without a hitch. In a flash, hell had broken loose and there was little time to think about anything other than the mission at hand. When Tomoe saw Gunter reveal his ring, he knew what had to be done. In one moment, Tomoe was casually lifting around boxes and doing mundane manual labor, and the next there was black leather armor covering him and a bow on his back. There was no time to waste, as this was an operation that needed to be carried out with proficiency and elegance. All at once, the Joyan had turned from a loyal laborer into his usual self.

"Take this box and shove it up your ass!", Tomoe shouted as he tossed the wooden crate filled with various stage props towards the prick who had made him do all of this in the first place.

The crate would smash into his face and send him to the ground, covered in various props and foam swords. Caught off guard, the man began screaming and stumbling in a panic, unsure why the person he had hired started going rogue all of a sudden. He was so slow on the uptake that even as he regained his vision and saw Tomoe approach with his bow drawn, he had no idea what to think. The pulling of bow strings was the last thing that could be heard in the man's life, as in the next instant, an arrow was through his forehead and out the other side. A pool of blood would form, but whatever. That was for the janitors to clean up, and Tomoe sure as fuck wasn't a janitor anymore. Didn't pay well enough. Janitors never got the bitches. Janitors weren't tough. Janitors cleaned up misplaced shit towels or empty lube bottles. What would a janitor even do in this situation? They'd shut up and clean up the blood like the good dogs they are, that's what.

Tomoe allowed Gunter and Kratos to handle most of the carnage, up until the theater was mostly cleared out. Once it was just Tomoe, Gunter, Kratos and the performer... well, Tomoe knew what he had to do. The Joyan took aim while the singer was still in shock, and blasted an arrow into each of the man's kneecaps. Howling in pain and cursing that he was ever alive, the singer tried to crawl away past Tomoe and Gunter out the back exit. Amused by this, the Joyan kicked the singer out the back exit and against some garbage cans.

Tomoe stomped against the man's crippled knees with a wicked smile and crushed his bones, then dragged his foot along them with pressure to make sure it was a messy break rather than a clean one. He let out a chuckle and decided to give the man a verdict. "You sing alright, so I'll give you a chance here. You crawl for your life like a little cockroach and seek medical attention, dragging yourself along on your hands and stomach. Cry and despair and cling on to life. You'll probably never be in the proper mental state to perform here again, but that's okay! Just let people know who did this to you. Let them hate and cry and pursue, and let them run to their deaths to try to avenge you. That's your life's goal."

With that, Tomoe would let the man crawl to his survival and then be on his way to collect his money, knowing he had successfully ruined a man's day today.

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WC: 1,500/1,500

- EXIT -