Let's go steal a Monarchy. (Nekrobear)

Each move the two fencers made was imprinted in Jack brain, like a series of photos, each capturing in high detail the form and movement of the two combatants. Jack’s excitement did fade however, as the match became more poking and prodding than actual sword fighting. He could understand their use of caution, but at the same time he was really looking forward to learning a thing or two from the sword fighters. Just as soon as it seemed like the match would pick up, the distinct sound of SMG fire echoed throughout the halls, which filled the spectators with panic.

Jack attempted to make his way to the grand hall against the flood of party goers who were trying to seek refuge in the depths of the castle. He fought his way through, only to reach the hall and the massacre that was taking place there, as several of the guards in one corner of the room had resorted to outright savagery to deal with the revolutionists. If he hadn’t seen what he had seen in the Middle East, this would definitely top his list in things he would not want to relive, as bodies piled up all around him. No would have been the perfect time for Jack to sneak away and do his investigation, and that’s exactly what he did.

As Jack moved towards one of the castles many hallways, one of the crazed guards stepped in front him, blocking his path and any progress he was trying to make. “Stand aside.” he said trying to avoid a fight. The guard however was hearing none of Jack’s words, and lashed out at him with what looked like a bloody cleaver. The attacks were sporadic and wild, which made it difficult for Jack to predict the guards movements, but just then the guards arm came crashing down. The cleaver cut deep into Jack’s arm, almost taking it completely off, but it was the perfect opportunity for Jack to strike, and just as the guard looked up in confusion as to why Jack wasn’t screaming in pain, Jack’s free arm punched clean through the guards chest, which killed him instantly.

The guards lifeless body hit the ground with a thud, and to Jack’s surprise, the guard wasn’t all human, but seemed to be a combination of machine and man. This had to be what Jack was looking for, but that would have to wait, as his attention shifted upwards as he heard the jewels on the chandeliers above chiming. The young fencer, that he had seen earlier, was bounding from one chandelier to the next, before sliding down one of the many marble pillars that supported the grand halls roof. She seemed in a hurry, and she was dashing in the direction that Jack was headed, before he got distracted by the guard.

He took a look at his left arm that was just barely hanging on by a few strands of muscle and skin. Using his other hand, he braced it back into place so that his healing factor could begin to repair the damage a he made his way into the heart of the castle, in pursuit of the young girl.

Jenna continues to move deeper into the castle, randomly taking turns in an effort to dodge anyone who was following them, assuming it to be the guards. Her threat to the queen was effective...for five minutes, then she started to talk again. "You won't be able to get away, we have guards that will be looking for us."

"So?" Jenna only glances at the queen, her threat being very ineffective. It was mostly the height, kinda hard to seem royal when you are short.

"So if you release us, we shall make sure your punishment is reduced." The queen didn't seem to notice the lack of fear, instead trying to draw herself up to make her seem more important.

"Oh yes, instead of being tortured for months, I'll just be put to death, right? Or is it the other way around?" Jenna pauses at a intersection of hallways, looking down each of them before pulling the queen down one, having picked it at random.

The queen pulls Jenna to a stop, stamping her foot in anger. "Our subjects would not treat a prisoner that way."

"Your subjects? Ha!" Jenna reaches over and pulls the queen's mask off, tossing it to the ground. "You aren't even...what the fuck?" It was like looking in a mirror. Jenna sighs and takes a moment to calm herself. "Okay, look, what's your name?"

"My name?" Jenna could only sigh again. "Yeah, you have a name right? I can't just keep calling you, well, you."

The queen pauses for a second, regaining her regal attitude. "We are Queen Amelia Grensworth Maxler Bellcolt the fifth. You may call us Queen Amelia."

"Right..." Jenna just rolls her eyes, wondering where the whole idea of a billion different names for a person even started from, it was stupid. "Well I'm Jenna, just Jenna, so you can call me Jenna." Jenna takes off her own mask, letting it hit the floor, ignoring the look of shock that appears on Amelia's face. "Now come on, we need to keep moving."

CENTRAL SECURITY ROOM

A Royal Guard clad in black armor entered the Central Security room, coming from the Grand Hall, his smoking gun and damaged armor showing he had participated... and fled. He salutes Chancellor Roderigo. He reports on the situation. "Chancellor, the rebels and Amelia's loyalists are firmly engaged in battle... It's bloodier than we could have imagined. Lady Hilde though is attempting to put an end to the fighting."

"Good, keep that woman occupied. Her arrogant self-righteousness sickens me. Shame, but the deaths will serve our purpose very well. Do you have the Brat's location?"

"We are tracking her with the chip in her crown. She was taken by one of the guests."

"A small setback, nothing more." He dismisses the complication.

CLearing his throat, the calm Roderigo speaks into the PA system in a nervous, frantic tone. "This is Chancellor Roderigo! All available Guards find the Queen! We must protect her! Amelia, please, if you can hear me, just stay where you are, and hide. Your Uncle and Queens' Guard are coming." He said, sounding convincingly reassuring and concerned.

He turns off the PA mic and turns to his communication officer. Coldly he stated, "Issue Order Queensbane. And have the armory prepare my suit." Roderigo said, as he took a secret elevator that lead down to his private armory.


CASTLE HALLS

The reserve Guard units not deployed to the Grand Hall receive the message on their helm communicator and proceed to search for the Queen. The tracking signal made it easy, and the squads hustle towards the currently mobile target, from their multiple hiding spots.

One squad of four turn the corner and run into Diana. The moment they turned their heads and raise their SMG's to shoot, one already had his throat sliced open, the combat knife Diana had finding its mark in a gap of the Neckguard and helmet. Diana slips the knife into gap of the man's groinpiece a couple of times to get him to turn around. A disgusting gurgling sound "HURHHGHK" escapes from him, as blood pours out the neck and his crotch. Diana slips behind her first victim and gets his standard issued and located knife as bullets start pummeling their companion's body.

Using the not-quite-dead Guard as a shield, Diana pounces on the second man once he was in reach. She uses one knife to get the gun out of the way and the other to stab in his weak spots, stabbing into his elbow, into the armpit and a gap in the lower back repeatedly. She also stabs behind his knee a couple of times  and makes him fall over.

Diana meets the third man who had drawn his dagger, who came in with a swift thrust towards Diana's abdomen. She brutally deflects it at the wrist with one knife and sticks her other blade into his eye, then behind his thigh a couple of times. The man goes down again, when Diana sticks the knife into his knee.

The fourth watches in disbelief as the teenage girl simply steps out of the way of his remaining bullets, and audibly whimpers as he hears his magazine go dry. He back-steps to get clear, but Diana's murderous intent and quick pace put her within the Guard's reach in no time.

"Raptor squad under attack! need-" A flying knee makes the guard reflexively block. He tries to grab Diana by the waist as she was midair and slam her into the ground, but the knife pecked at his neck just as he did so. Diana hits the marble floor hard, the dead Guard's arms around her. She recovers from the awkward position, her back sore. She takes one of the Guards' helms that was still intact, and the HUD showed a real-time signal that designated who Diana guessed was pretty important.

Diana repeatedly stabs the surviving Guard who was begging for mercy, taking it in the neck. She leaves the site of her melee, leaving four perforated bodies in pools of blood and bullet casings everywhere. She'd better move quick, as the fight likely drew attention of anyone nearby, even if their objective was the Queen. This makes things alot easier, she thought of the helmet, trying better to sneak around. She gets herself a few combat knives and moves on, heading towards the blip. Said blip was a fair distance away, one floor down.

Jack mad his way down the large hallway, every other step looking down to see the progress of his arms regeneration. Most of the damage seemed to be clear, as he had regained the function of his fingers, but a large gash in his arm remained, and it was getting smaller by the second. Just then a familiar voice rang out over the PA system, it was the queen’s uncle, the chancellor. He sounded concerned for the safety of his niece as he told her to find a place to hide till he could get to her, but Jack couldn’t help but let a look of disgust creep its way onto his face, the young man definitely gave Jack the creeps.

No sooner did the PA click off, Jack heard gun shots ring out in the hallway ahead of him. He was in no hurry to see what was going on, or who was on the receiving end of the gunfire, till he remembered that, that was the direction he had seen the young fencer rush off in. Breaking into a full sprint, he arrived at the scene of the carnage, four guards all lying in pools of their own blood, multiple stab wounds in various vital arteries. One guard stood out from the rest, he was missing his helmet of all things. *Why would you not be wearing you helmet?* he thought, before removing one of the other guards helmets to see what made the helmetless one so special.

Jack took a peek inside the helmet to see a rather sophisticated HUD, with a blinking red dot on it, most likely the location of the queen if Jack had to guess. Just as Jack was pulling the helmet from his face, he heard the armored footsteps of approaching guards. “Great!” he mumbled under his breath as he looked at the bodies around him.  

“Sir! Chancellor Roderigo has sent me to fetch you. You are to come with me at once!.” Exclaimed a guard.

Jack turned to face the small group of three guards “Is that so?” he asked, looking at the heavily armed guards. “What’s with all the weapons boys? Feeling a little on edge?” Jack knew why they were really there. The chancellor had made it very clear since their first meeting, that he knew who Jack was, and what Jack had been up to. This was obviously an attempt at removing him from the picture……if they only knew.

One of the guards cocked his gun before taking aim at Jack “Were just following orders sir….no hard feelings.” The guard opened fire, only to find his bullets hitting thin air, as Jack’s lightning fast reaction speed, allowed him to move in close to the first guard, and passion him in between the incoming fire and Jack. Jack the tossed the lifeless guards body aside, before drawing both his light casters and firing off a shot each at the two remaining guards, killing them both as the high impact solidified light round, punched a hole clean through them.

With the distraction out of the way, Jack picked up the helmet he had been looking through earlier, and then picked up one of the guards bodies, and made his way towards the queens location, if his hunch was right, she was in danger.

"W-wait a second! You look just like me!" Amelia actually stutters for a second, the surprise of seeing someone with her face getting to her.

Jenna doesn't stop, still dragging the confused queen behind her, though she does spare a moment to give a mocking glance behind her. "Me? Someone dropped out of the royal speech." She says that with a sing-song voice, but skillfully dodging the issue.

Amelia quickly got them back on track through, single-minded in her pursuit of the truth. "Don't try to change the subject, why do you look like me?"

"We were adopted by different families when we were young and through the progress of our own lives we just happened to meet each other now, where I am saving your life." Jenna just makes up a story on the spot, not yet giving up on mocking her lookalike.

Amelia wouldn't give up though. "Really?"

"No, I made all of that up just now. I have no fucking clue why we look the same." Jenna rolls her eyes, stopping to peer around a corner before continuing on, though now she was just leading Amelia, instead of pulling her along like before.

"Why would you do that!? You have horrible jokes." Amelia complains to her captor, though it seems more like two friends trying to hide from the guards as a prank at this point.

"Really? I thought they were funny. Guess I have to work on them some more." They get to another cross section and Jenna peers around the corner again, then quickly backs out of view and slams her hand on Amelia's mouth, silencing her before she can speak. Peeking back again, she watches the guards stride towards them, not even bothering to check the rooms they were passing. Almost like they had a tracker or something...Oh shit. "Run!"Jenna doesn't even both with sneaking around anymore, turning and sprinting away, dragging Amelia behind her.

They manage to get to another turn as the squad turns the corners, guns up and ready. Spotting the Queen they shout, trying to get her to stop. "Your Highness! We're here to protect you!" Jenna, of course, doesn't believe a word, giving them the bird right before they turn the corner, now in a dead sprint away from what would have been their death.

GRAND HALL

Despite her best efforts, the fighting only slowed in intensity, but not stopped. Hilde had never seen people possessed by such fervor, such resentment.

It was only later in the fighting did she notice a stark difference in the intensity of the fighting- people were reluctant to get hurt on one side of the Hall, while on the other side they threw themselves into suicidal attacks. She went to investigate and found a sheathed katana taped to the table. She rips it off and draws it, only to feel sickened upon seeing the blade.

The PA system announced Roderigo's intention to protect the Queen, but nothing of dealing with the rebels. Seeing she could do no more here, she takes the sword with her and goes into the castle to find the Chancellor, Katana in one hand and a drawn saber in the other.

CASTLE HALLWAYS

Diana was converging on the Queen's position with other Guards, using the tracker to find her way, a reflective blade to check around corners, and hiding in rooms to avoid unnecessary fights. It wasn't so much as being unable to match the Guards as drawing unwanted attention to herself. She rounded another corner, avoiding patrols, but since she couldn't track Jack, she would almost bump into him.

Diana was almost ready to slice him to pieces, holding both daggers in reverse grips until she realized he wasn't wearing the uniform. "...Who're you?" she asked, holding both daggers ready to fight.

The conversation would have to wait though, as barelling past them was another squad of Guard. "Your highness wait for us!" they called out, meaning Jenna and the Queen were that close. One of the Guard saw Diana- and didn't live long enough to raise his gun. She fell on them with sadistic savagery, wielding standard combat knives to take them down one by one. Compared to wielding a sword, there was little elegance to knife fighting, little finesse. It was just about stabbing them in the right places. Diana stabbed wildly, smiling in exhiliration, getting blood on herself like a beast, for the Queen, Jenna and Jack to witness.

The last Guard, seeing his squadmates dead on the floor and bleeding out in a dozen places, dropped his weapon and asked for mercy.

"Please... please... I just started today..." he said, stammering. He did sound a bit young. Diana held the man by  his pale cheeks and prepared to stab him to death.

Jack moved down the vast hallways, following the HUD in the stolen guard’s helmet, he was sure to move quickly and stay relatively out of sight, though stealth was another thing. With each passing step the clanking of the dead guards armor, made Jack’s location echo throughout the barren hallways as he moved, so it was no surprise to him that he eventually bumped into someone. Coming to an abrupt halt before he could run into the young girl, Jack noticed that he had caught up to the young fencer he had followed into these hallways initially.

Jack raised both his hands up as if he was surrendering, mostly as a gesture to show he wasn’t there to harm her, half forgetting the guards corpse he held tightly in his grip. Before he could respond to the girls question he watched as the red blip on the helmets HUD passed by relatively close to them. That and the small group of approaching guards calling out for their queen to wait for them. Jack was ready to brawl, but he wouldn't get the chance.

The young fencer leapt into action and cut them all down with nothing but the two combat daggers she held tightly in her grip. She looked ready to deliver the finishing blow to the last guard, but Jack intervened at the risk of being stabbed. He Grabbed the young girls arm softly “I think that’s enough stabbing for one night missy.” he was referring to the group of bodies he had found earlier.

The guard tried to squirm free and retreat, which prompted Jack to drop the body he was holding, before throwing a crushing blow to the frightened guard’s helmet, knocking him out cold. “Now Then. Where were we?" he said with a quaint smile, letting go of the young girls arm. Jack then snapped his finger and pointed to the girl, remembering the question the girl had posed just moments before she flew into a rampage. "That's right! You wanted to know who I was. But I think the better question is, who the hell are you?"

Jenna was pulling Amelia along, trying to keep ahead of the guards, though they were in better shape and had the bonus of a tracker to know every turn they took and slowly closed the distance. Jenna was cursing up a storm mentally, hoping that she runs into a miracle and finds Diana or even some of the loyalists. Being arrested is better then being dead.

Jenna was, of course, not really paying attention to where she was going, just taking the path that didn't have any guards in the way as they ran, Amelia too busy trying to keep up to even question the fact that the people they were running from were her own guards, trusting Jenna far too much at this point. It was why when Jenna turns a corner, she runs right into Diana, slamming into her friend at full speed.

Assuming that Diana was knocked over by the two girls running into her, they all tumble to the ground, Jenna barely managing to keep her taser in her hand, getting ready to use it on the person that they ran into, that is until she figured out it was her friend. Shifting gears instantly, Jenna gives Diana a hug. "Oh thank god!" The hug only lasted for a few seconds before she let go and pointed at the guards closing in on them, knowing that they didn't stand a chance with Diana here. "Diana can you handle them for me? Thanks." She watches Amelia, getting ready to use her taser if she tries to do something stupid that would get her killed.

Diana realized for a moment just how utterly ruthless she had grown through pragmatism. She lets the guard go, only for him to crumple under a blow to the head from Jack. "At least this one's going home tonight."

Diana puts her combat knives away. "The name is Diana Mendoza. I'm looking for my friend who fled into the Castle when the attack started. I assume you're not with the guards then, and neither are you interested in killing-"

Diana saw Jenna come at her at full speed and used her Aikido to flip her friend up and over and through the air and back on her feet in a fluid move. Then hugs. Diana returned the pleasant hug, her hands unconsciously wrapping around Jenna's waist for a moment.

She was gonna go a bit lower but Diana had the presence of mind to stay in the game. "Jen, They're tracking the Queen somehow. She must be bugged."

Another squad came into view and Jenna requested Diana deal with them. Out of hard practicality Diana drew a pair of knives.

"Wait please don't attack! We're not going to kill the Queen! We're loyal!"
The squad pleaded, raising their hands. These four seemed to have seen combat, their armor showing signs of battle damage. One of them was being carried by his fellow; only two of them were a threat right now.

"Well isn't this a wonderful situation. We don't know who to trust. okay... If you're loyal, put your guns down!" Diana said.

"We can't... we've been fighting other guards to get here! The Chancellor gave the order to kill Ame-AAAAAAH!-" A magical energy came over the Guards, and Diana could feel it in the air. She watched as the men in their helmets clutched at their faces, as the very glass of their visors broke into pieces and buried themselves into their eyes and into their brains. They fall over dead.

The Queen watched in horror as her loyal men died in front of her.

Another figure came into view, taller and more imposing, wearing a highly customized suit of power armor decked out in royal colors, with the Chancellor's cape on his shoulder. He spoke up through the built in speaker of his helmet. "Ah. There you are, Amelia. Thank goodness I've found you at last. The Guards are instigating a coup! It's not safe. Please, come to me. I will keep you safe."

"Jack. If you please, help me detain our knife wielding guest and protect the Queen?" He asked of Jack, checking his allegiance, at least offering him a chance to prove himself.

Diana was in a sore spot. She was exposed, in a hallway, no sword, and a man in what may be the most advanced power armor in the kingdom brandishing magic on the other side.

And then, another player came onto the scene, Hilde. She carried saber in one hand and Diana's sword in the other. Diana looked at her hero and was totally relieved.

"Hilde! Thank goodness, and you brought my sword. Give it to me so we can beat this Chancellor."

Hilde's expression turned to utter disgust when Diana claimed ownership of the katana. "This... this is yours? Roderigo! What is the meaning of this?! Is the Queen safe?"

"Hilde. You are just in time! The Queen is being kidnapped by these... rebels." The Chancellor said, not showing any magic.

"You... you are behind this?" Hilde looked at Diana now with contempt, with anger. Diana's heart sank, a real fight with her idol now inevitable.

"Wait. No! Hilde! He's lying!" Diana's said, nearly in tears.

"Really? I see the evidence of Guards slain in hand to hand combat, and you are the most skilled I know here. I also found this evil, malevolent sword that drove men to savagery!" Hilde's sense of righteousness rendered her deaf to Diana's pleas.

"Oh crap." was the only appropriate reaction.

"In the name of the crown, I will bring down justice upon you, Diana Mendoza. You and your rebel allies. Surrender now lest you taste the full wrath of my blade!" Hilde entered a combat stance against Diana. To make matters much worse, she handed Diana's Black Katana to Roderigo, who was only to eager to draw it and use it for himself.

Diana looked at Jenna and Jack. The shit had officially hit the fan.

Jack flashed Diana a smile “The name’s Jack…..Jack Lockhart. Pleasure to meet you.” he said, offering a hand as a show of good faith. The moment was interrupted when two small bodies came barreling towards them. It wasn’t till Diana hugged one of the new arrivals that Jack realized that it was the small girl he had bumped into earlier and *Another guest?* he thought to himself seeing the finely dressed young lady. His look of confusion lasted a few seconds before they were interrupted once more, this time by a roughed up looking squad of guards that claimed to be loyal to the queen.

Jack looked back to the young queen, he hadn’t had the chance to meet her in person. Jack had only spoken with and met her uncle, so this was the first time he had laid eyes on her. The young queen seemed scared and nervous, as expected. Just as Diana had asked the guards to lay down their weapons to prove their claims, they began to scream out in pain, and Jack could see their helmets collapsing inward, crushing their skulls. As the squad’s bodies hit the ground, a single person approached them slowly. Jack shook his head slightly at the sight of the queen’s uncle approaching them in his ornate power suit.

" Jack. If you please, help me detain our knife wielding guest and protect the Queen?" spoke the Chancellor.

Jack took a look at the frightened queen, and then at Diana before returning his gaze to the Chancellor. “I got one better. Why don’t you explain this shit!” He said tossing the dead guards body he had been carrying with him at the chancellor’s feet. The body hit the ground with a heavy thud, as a florescent green liquid poured out of the gaping hole in its chest, several wires and tubes also hung out of the hole as well. “Pretty piss poor job at creating a super soldier if you ask me.” He continued as he positioned himself between the three girls and the chancellor.

No sooner did Jack finish asking his question, Hilde came jogging up to them. She wanted nothing to do with anything Diana seemed to say in her defense. Instead she seemed completely oblivious or just blindly loyal to the Chancellor, and challenged the group to surrender or fight. Jack reached behind his back and drew one of his Light Casters. He had seen Diana fight first hand, but felt the need to interject and be the hero as always. “You think you’re fast enough to deflect a bullet?” he asked Hilde, giving her a wink, before quickly turning his gun at the Chancellor and firing off three rounds or solidified light at him.

Jack was fairly certain he could fight both of them, but not knowing what the Chancellor was truly capable of could pose a problem. Hopefully the girls were smart enough to use this opportunity to make a run for it.

Jenna was just kinda looking around as everything just goes to shit. The evil uncle is a mage and has power armor, which is just wonderful. Diana's hero wants to cut her and they are rapidly being surrounded by soldiers who aren't completely loyal. Let's not even mention the fact that Diana doesn't even have her blade, sneaking it in seems like a horrible plan now.

Jenna just looks up at the ceiling like she was asking god why all this shit was happening to her. It was about then that Amelia finally realized what exactly was happening. "Uncle, why!? I thought you were loyal?"

Jenna scoffs at Amelia, wondering how she could be so naive. "Really? You seriously couldn't see how evil he is!? Holy crap, not even I'm that evil and you could tell I was up to no good."

Amelia stamps her foot angrily.  "You had a mask on and just came out of nowhere. He has been around for years."

Jenna couldn't believe what she had just heard come out of Amelia's mouth. "Oh noooo, they have a mask, clearly they want to hurt me. It was a masked ball you dumb-ass."

That remark got under Amelia's skin, causing her to yell back.  "Don't call me a dumb-ass!"

Jenna doesn't take any shit from nobody. "Then don't act like one!"

It was about then that one of the guards steps forward and interrupts, feeling weird about killing two young girls who were just standing there arguing. "Um, excuse me..."

Jenna turns and snaps at him the moment he speaks, not feeling like dealing with more idiots. "Can't you see that we are busy? Wait your fucking turn." She rubs her temples. "Why the hell is everyone in this stupid castle so stupid. It's stupid."

Amelia decides to chime in again.  "You said stupid three times."

"No shit sherlock, what was your first clue?" Jenna gives Amelia an pained look.

Of course, during this whole conversation Diana and Jack were doing their own thing with their own threats. It was just about then that the rebels burst in, turning the whole area into a giant ball of chaos. Jenna pulls Amelia into cover, thankfully there being an alcove right by them and then just kinda sit there and watch, seeing as how there wasn't much that they could do against the odds stacked against them.

Once Jack produced the body of the augmented guard, things took a turn for a change. Three laser bolts came at him, but the power armor absorbed them like nothing, leaving scorch marks on the ceramic.

Hilde and Diana stopped from going all out, the White Knight seeing there was some more to this than meets the eye. Hilde and Diana quietly came to an understanding, turned her blade against Roderigo.

"I apologize for giving your blade to him. But it still reeks of evil."

"I know. But It was a real dumb thing to do, Hilde."

Too much was happening at once that it caused even Roderigo a massive headache. He called the guards to take the rebels elsewhere, but there was no response as the guards were being swamped, slowly killed one by one as the crowd turned it into a bloody melee.

A rebel strapped with explosives ran at Roderigo, screaming at the top of his lungs "FREEEEEDOOOOOM!" Roderigo waved his staff, and sent the man crashing and flying out the window, to explode midair a second later in a shower of blood and gore. This caused the remaining rebels to stop what they were doing for a moment.

Roderigo was going to address the Queen, when he had about enough of all the things happening. "Imbecile. This is all... such a terrible mess. Let us have some order shall we?" He looked at the bodies of the dead guards and rebels present in the wide hallway.

"Return and serve your master!" Foul energies came upon the modified guardsmen and the fallen revolutionaries, a black mist that seemed to roll up from the very ground. And then they slowly got up, zombified.

"YOU. ARE. ALL. WASTING. MY. TIME! ATTACK THEM!" This got the attention of every rebel in the room. The ghouls lunge into the crowd, indiscriminately attacking Guard and rebel alike, causing every unnamed person to flee. The rebels flee from the scene, leaving only the Chancellor, the Queen, Jenna, Diana, Hilde and Jack.

"Now that that is dealt with... Jack, I am under no obligation to share my plans with you, since you seem to have it figured out. I am not some villain who will explain his machinations for you to foil them. Suffice it to say, none of you are leaving this encounter alive and you will not even know why."

"Roderigo. I should kill you right now. Black magic? Usurping the Queen? Unforgivable." Hilde threatened, having changed her tune.

"You are of no consequence to me, and your righteousness is sickening. Hilde. So be it." Chancellor Roderigo waved his staff at her and Hilde was surrounded by an aura of dark energy. The Chancellor flash steps beside the knight and skewers Hilde in the chest with Diana's own sword, totally bypassing her armor.

"No!" Diana couldn't believe it, and moved to Hilde's aid. But Roderigo, being a cheesy overpowered sorcerer, simply flashed away once more, leaving Diana attacking the air.

Roderigo re-appeared a full two seconds later, beside Jack. He attempted the same trick, trying to slash at him with the Demon Sword. He reeked of unholy power, of his own sorcery, and the sword he possessed.

Jack watched as his three shots seemed to just hit the chancellor’s armor with no effect. “Figures.” He said, rolling his eyes. After Jack’s little outburst it seemed to cause Diana and Hilde to stop their small skirmish, and reconcile, at least for the time being. In the midst of all this one of the rebels had managed to get past the palace guards and within close proximity to Roderigo, but only for a moment before being tossed out a nearby window by a burst of Roderigo’s dark power.

The explosion rocked the side of the palace. The loud boom was enough to get the rebels to stop fighting for a brief moment, before Roderigo once again called upon his dark power to reanimate most of the dead guards in the area. The zombified corpses swarmed rebel and guard alike, causing everyone to flee the palace except for the small group. The chancellors grotesque display of power seemed to cause a stir in Hilde, as she openly challenged him. Jack was actually surprised to see such a display, as most people would have been discouraged by the monster that stood before them. Their odds seemed to improve for the moment as it looked like they all had a common enemy, surely he couldn’t take both Hilde and Jack on, could he?

Hilde sudden change of loyalty provoked Roderigo into lashing out, as he waved his staff through the air. A mysterious aura engulfed Hilde, and in the blink of an eye, the chancellor was at her side, with Diana’s sword buried in her chest. Diana retaliated with an attack of her own, only to find herself swinging at air as Roderigo performed his little teleporting trick once more. Roderigo then reappeared before Jack, while taking a swing at him with the sword.

The whole time this had been going on, Jack was only thinking about ways to get under or through Roderigo’s armor, and it wasn’t until he flash stepped the first time that Jack saw his way through the corrupt chancellor, but it was going to take him a bit to recognize the madman’s patter of movement. For now Jack had a sword to avoid, and putting his super powered muscles to work, Jack narrowly avoided a lethal blow, instead the sword made a decent cut through Jack’s right pectoral. As the chancellor’s arm came downward from the swing, Jack reached out and grabbed the blade of the sword, but for lashing out with his other hand and clutching Roderigo by the neck.

Roderigo shot Jack a look of surprise at his lightning quick reaction speed. His face also began to turn red as Jack’s grip tightened around his neck. He struggled to breath or think for just a second, but then in the blink of an eye he vanished from Jack’s clutches, leaving him standing there with Diana’s sword clenched tightly in his bloody hand.

Jack watched Roderigo just pop right out of his grip, but it didn’t matter, as a matter of fact Jack was counting on it, the more Roderigo moved around the better Jack could analyze his movements and predict his moves. He looked down to his bloody had, it was wrapped tightly around the blade of Diana’s sword. He felt odd holding it, like if it was more like the blade was hold him and not the other way around. He found it hard to focus, like if something was egging him on to just start attacking Roderigo, but Jack shook the thoughts from his mind and quickly rushed over to Diana and held the sword out to her “Do you mind?” he said, taking a quick nod at the sword, the sooner it was out of his hands the better.

Jenna and Amelia sat in their little hidey hole, watching the people fight each other, chaos reigning everywhere except for the one small place that the two girls were sitting. Jenna was resting on her hands, looking super bored as everything happened, knowing that she'd get wrecked if she tried to do anything besides wait.

Just then a person goes flying across the hallway, slamming into another person and causing them to both hit the ground. "Eh, I give that one a six, only got one person."

Amelia turns to look at Jenna, confusion on her face until she realizes what Jenna was commenting on. "Those are people you know?"

"Yea, so?" Jenna rolls her eyes at Amelia, having already calmed down from her earlier rage.

Amelia glares at the other girl. "So you should be nicer."

Amelia was stared at for a second, before Jenna just shook her head. "No, I am not doing this now, go find someone else to preach to."

Amelia puffs up in anger, not as quick to forget and forgive as Jenna is. 'I am not preaching to yo-argarghahgahg" Amelia was quickly cut off with a taser to her side, making her slump over. Jenna holds her taser up and lets it crackle a little, a small smile on her face. "Some people just don't know when to shut up."

Jenna looks over the battlefield again and sees that her friend was crouching over someone, who was clearly wounded. Sighing slightly to herself, she waves her hands as she calls out. "Diana, over here! Bring her over here!" Hopefully nobody sees her yelling and decides that she is an easy target and goes to take them out. Of course, Amelia can't exactly run right now either, woops.

Roderigo coughed vehemently, as Jack had nearly crushed his throat. He assessed the situation, having been deprived of the demon sword and it finding its way back to its owner. The throat attack was pivotal, as unable to invoke words of power his power was reduced.

Diana quickly dragged Hilde over to Jenna when she called out for them. Leaving Hilde in her friend's capable hands. Approaching with Jack, she carried the demon sword menacingly. "What's the matter, did the baby run out of magic?"

Roderigo could not retort. He could feel the demon blade's displeasure for using sorcery. Subtly his power was dulled the moment he held it in hand.

And so, without another word, chaos energy coalesces around him as he bails, like a total wuss. In his stead he leaves the ghoulified Queens' Guard to buy him time. A mindless horde of armored zombies they were, filling the hallway, trying to drown Jack and Diana in bodies. She deals with them by attacking and moving back, decapitating multiple corpses with clean strokes, taking care not to get caught. "We should make ourselves scarce from here... unless you got a bazooka there, Jack."

Jack let out a loud sigh of disgust and annoyance at Roderigo’s blatant cowardice. With the corrupt dictator vanishing into the wind, with his tail between his legs, all hopes of Jack finding clues to Sionas’ whereabouts went with him. There was a new issue to deal with now however, as the coward left the small group with another hoard of undead to deal with. Jack’s frustration was clearly visible in his face, as he grabbed one of the decapitated bodies, and chucked it with all his might at the front row of the unyielding hoard.

There was a loud crash of metal as the flying corpse mowed down the first few rows. Jack then reached for his Light Casters, and unloaded into the hoard. The 12 shots pierced body after body, until the very last one fell to the ground motionless. Putting his guns away, Jack turned to Diana with a smile “Who needs a bazooka?”

Jack looked back at the hall filled with bodies, still upset that Roderigo got away. Now he would have to hunt down that madman, and end him before he could hurt anyone else. He turned his attention back to the other three that were in the hallway with them, the unconscious and badly hurt fencer, the princess, and the young girl he had bumped into earlier in the evening. “Well this has been quite an eventful evening for everybody. Wouldn’t you say?”