It was raining inside of 1206 Stanton Road. Long spider web cracks that ran along the ceiling and walls spilled rusted drops of water like a slow drizzle. Vlad went inside first. Beyond the small entrance, everything was dim. There was a stairwell to their left that only went up and to the right, a door hung open revealing an empty room. He unsheathed his knife and headed up the stairs.

" That's far enough Vlad." said Koto from behind him. He cocked his sub machine gun emphatically.

Vlad froze. His lips spread into a wide grin. " I thought that you would wait a little longer. Wait for Cutter I mean." He turned around to face Koto, raising his hands in the air and letting the blade clatter noisily to the ground.

" That's ok, I don't have to wait for anyone." Koto motioned Vlad down the stairs with his gun. Vlad complied without objection. Koto led him into the empty room and instructed him to keep his hands in the air. " Just one question Vlad, how did you know that we were setting you up?"

" I didn't " Vlad said. " Not until you slipped up and made that phone call. That's when I knew that you were a part of it." The assassin searched the dim room with his eyes. There was only one door, and no windows. The only way he could get out was by going past Koto. The way the hairy man was training his gun on him didn’t make that seem like much of an option.

Koto shrugged. " So I fragged up. Ok, that still doesn't explain how you knew that Cutter wasn't dead. I mean you saw him get blown away."

" That didn't add up either. Cutter was supposed to be a pro. Any idiot off the street knows that if you get out your car and walk towards the cops, they're gonna know that something's up. I've been trying to figure out why he did that ever since."

Koto shook his head. "None of that matters anymore Vlad baby. Only thing you have to worry about now is whether or not anyone is gonna come to your funeral." He cocked his gun a second time and prepared to shoot.

" You should be asking yourself that question Koto." Vlad said quickly.

" What the frag are you talkin about, I'm the one with the gun here. You're the guy with his hands in the air." Koto grinned.

" You don't really think I'm the only one who knew about your plan do you? Cliff knew too."

Surprise arrived like a light in Koto's eyes. " That was what you were talking about when you went back to the car wasn't it?"

Vlad nodded, smiling. "And unless I call no joy in five minutes, he's gonna storm in here and take out anything that isn't already dead."

" Koto! Where the frag are you?" A voice called from outside. Vlad wasn't surprised to see Cutter enter the dim room a moment later. He wasn't even surprised to see the two men that followed him in. One of the two Vlad recognized. He was the police officer that had pulled them over after the job.

" The best laid traps…" Vlad muttered under his breath. Beads of sweat started to form near his temples.

" Why is he still alive? And where the frag is Cliff?" said Cutter angrily.

Koto turned back towards the doorway to regard his partner. " He says the Troll's gonna storm the place any minute now if he doesn't call him off. I didn’t know what you wanted me to do with him."

" He's full of drek. The Troll will probably circle back around for you two any minute. Shoot this--" Cutter looked up and pointed towards where Vlad had been, but he wasn't there. Except for them, the room was empty.

?" Cutter, we got company!" The false policeman screamed.

?" Cliff?" Koto said nervously and moved towards the doorway.

?" Worse!" The man screamed. He and the other false officer drew their guns. Cutter ignored their terrified cries. It was more important to him right then to figure out how the blade-wielding assassin had simply disappeared. Not until the first shots were fired did he even bother to turn around and find out what was happening.

?

?The street was filled with security officers clad in full body armor. The writing on their riot shields read Centurion. They swarmed towards the short building with blood in their eyes. " We've been had boys." Cutter cursed under his breath.

?Koto's sub-machinegun spat fire as he let off burst after burst at the security team. The two false officers joined his gunfire with thunder of their own. It was all for naught. The Centurion security officers charged the building, their riot shields carving a path through the oncoming wave of bullets.

?Cutter drew his own pistol but he didn't join the others. He hadn't expected to be outsmarted by Vlad and that damn Troll, but he hadn't come this far just to die in the barrens either. He fired four shots into the empty space where Vlad had been standing before taking off up the stairwell.

Chunks of plasticrete and rust fell from the walls as the Centurion Security forces returned fire. A bullet exploded in Koto's knee and he went down screaming. The false officer's weren't as lucky. The body of one of the false officers was ripped in half by Centurion gunfire. The second officer managed to back into the hall before being cut to ribbons.

" Take one alive!" A woman screamed from the back ranks. Centurion security officers poured into the hallway, sheathing their lethal weapons and training their stun guns on anything that moved. Koto's agonizing screams were cut short in a wild barrage of narcojet pistol fire. It was over in a matter of seconds.

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