Daniel followed the retreating gangsters to a room at the end of the hall. As he peeked in through the door, he observed its dimensions, surveying it for a possible ambush. It was a rectangular room of several meters in length and width with its walls painted brown. But as he entered, he found that the place was empty as all the doors quickly shut around him with steel barriers.

  "Valiant knight, I knew we would have to deal with you eventually," Andrea said over the speakers.

  “A man’s voice. Am I talking to Andrea Santini?” Daniel asked

  “Of course.”

  “I’ll say it once. Come quietly, Santini.”

  “I’m afraid not, new friend, but the offer is appreciated.”

  "Well then, if you're man enough, come here and get the beating you've earned."

  "I'm twice the man you are. So I feel quite secure in watching you die from here."

  The vents in the room opened, flooding it with purple gas.

  "Poison gas?” Daniel scoffed. “Hate to break it to you, Santini, but I'm immuned."

  "Shall we test that against our genetically enhanced hyper-concentrated botulinum toxin?"

  Daniel stood confidently as the poison washed over him. His alien blood indeed protected him from the earthly toxins. However, he slowly felt its effects as his vision blurred with pain enveloping his body. He realized that he had again overestimated his invulnerability to human weapons. As he hurried to the doors, all strength swiftly left him as he coughed blood, dropping to the ground.

  "K-Karen, Keiko, Charity, I'm sorry," Daniel whispered.

  Daniel hit the ground as a limp husk. Still, through his blurry vision, he saw the door inches away. As the poison’s effects intensified, Daniel used the memory of Karen and his other loved ones to stay conscious. He clung to the last scraps of his strength, forcing himself to stand and staggering towards it. And with each agonizing step, he reached the door, using his intangibility to pass through it to the outside.

  Daniel swiftly deactivated his intangibility, throwing a bench at the ceiling sprinklers, making them pour, and washing the poison off him as he dropped down.

  "Thank goodness.” Daniel groaned, thinking of Keiko. “If I die I might take her with me to the grave."

  "Well then, I'm afraid whoever you're referring to has run out of luck," Ophelia said.

  Daniel quickly rose to face his enemy, but Ophelia kicked his head.

  "That hurt," Daniel shouted.

  "Surprised? I take my vitamins."

  "Seems to be a lot of that going around."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Daniel charged at Ophelia, readying a punch, but she caught it as he swung at her, grabbing his other hand. Bending her head back, she swiftly drove it forward, landing a monstrous headbutt on Daniel. And he dropped to his knees as the shockwaves from the strike shook the corridor.

  "I thought this would be a lot harder, hero. At least give a girl a challenge."

  Daniel tried to no avail, pulling away from Ophelia's grip.

  "F-fighting someone doused in poison isn't a challenge? What a shock."

  "Poor thing, you're right. I'll put you out of your misery.

  Again, Ophelia bent her head back, swiftly driving it forward, landing a monstrous headbutt on Daniel. And he dropped to the floor trying bitterly to cling to life as the shockwaves from the attack shook the corridor.

  "Any last requests, hero?"

  "G-g-go to h—"

  "You first," Ophelia interrupted.

  Ophelia quickly took on a beastly form, corrupting her immense beauty. She grew several sizes, her hands and legs became reptilian, and she sprouted a long tail. And again, she bent her head back as long spikes protruded upward from her forehead, readying a final headbutt. But gunshots drew her attention, stopping her.

  "The coppers?" Ophelia asked.

  Daniel kicked Ophelia in the mouth, making her release him as she was distracted. Using his remaining strength, he picked her up, tossing her across the corridor at a support beam. And the corridor split in two as she crashed through it, sealing the passage with falling debris.

  Norio and the others ran to Daniel.

  "V-valiant knight, I can't believe we found you here." Tommy winked at Daniel.

  Elena pulled Tommy in close, whispering in his ear. "You're laying it on too thick."

  Daniel dropped to his knees, moaning in pain, and Norio hurried to help him to his feet.

  "Are you okay?" Norio asked.

  "I'll live, chief. I'm a fast healer. But what happened to the plan? You were supposed to give me fifty minutes to flush the rats out."

  "Officer Chavez kept mentioning a bad feeling. So I decided to move in a bit early."

  "No fooling? I can't believe I'm saying this, Officer Chavez, but thanks for not trusting me."

  "Any time," Elena said, giving Daniel an okay sigh with her fingers.

  More police officers quickly flooded the corridor. And one, Blake Wilson, a Caucasian man in his late twenties, hurried to the group.

  "Valiant knight?" Blake asked.

  "That's me."

  "We found him fighting one of the criminals. He was about to be killed," Norio said.

  "She won't get lucky next time."

  "Next time? I'm sorry, a Good Samaritan is one thing, but you're interfering with police business."

  "I'm helping you bring the Santinis down, and you'll like it."

  "Listen, you—"

  "Officer Wilson, please, we don't have time to fight two wars. Secure the upper levels while I handle this," Norio interrupted.

  "Yes, sir."

  Blake left the group, taking the other officers with him.

  "The jig is up, boss," Elena said.

  "She's right. We need the knight to win this battle, but if he helps us, our arrests might not hold in court," Fran?oise said.

  "Chief Fa, what do we do?" Tommy asked.

  "For now, let's focus on stopping the Santini operation. We'll cross the other bridge when we get to it."

  ***

  Ophelia left the elevator and rejoined her brothers in the restricted area.

  "Is he dead?" Andrea asked.

  "Unfortunately, no, big brother."

  "Well, let's hurry and prepare for battle. The knight and the coppers will be here soon," Marco said.

  "One thing first. Dr. Hiro," Andrea shouted.

  Dr. Hiro sprinted to Andrea. "Yes, sir?"

  "Prepare the doomsday pillar to fire."

  "Sir, before that, you should know I've discovered a problem with its power output."

  "Will it stop it from firing?"

  "No, but for the safety of the workers, we shouldn't fire it yet. The fuel leak might be toxic to normal humans."

  "I care nothing for their safety. Fire the damn weapon," Andrea bellowed.

  "Y-yes, sir."

  Dr. Hiro ran across the room to a large control panel as swiftly as he could. He hastily took three silver keys out of his pocket, placing them in keyholes lined directly beside each other in a straight row. And as he turned them clockwise, the doomsday pillar came to life with a booming sound that was comparable to the howl of a thousand wolves, surging with power as the ceiling opened and it emitted a brilliant white glow.

  "It'll be ready to fire in a few moments," Hiro shouted.

  Andrea grew a sinister grin. "Excellent."