Veronica looked inside the barrel and saw the bullet. A minor explosion inside its casing sent it propelling straight for her head.
It moved so fast that she had no chance to think. Luckily, as a Dancer her body needed no thought to move.
Her left hand was fast as lightning as it punched the gun, same as her body, which moved to the side.
In less than a fraction of a second, she was already standing. The bullet hit the bath where she was laying, but the gun went flying away from her previous punch. It hit the wall so hard that it broke to pieces.
A painful curse resounded in the chamber as her assailant held onto his broken finger.
Since he had his index finger on the trigger, when the revolver went flying, it broke that finger.
Veronica didn't wait for him to act, and with a quick move, she pinned the man. She pressed his face into the wall, strong enough to immobilize him, but not kill him.
"Who the fuck are you?!" shouted Veronica right into the man's ear.
The man groaned in pain, then began laughing with madness, annoying Veronica further.
"What is it little girl... You already forgot about me... You seem to forget many things, don't ya?"
As the man spoke, she recognized it immediately. It was that weird old man who she ran into a few times. He always said a bunch of strange things, like he was insane. His name was McLean.
In the semi-darkness, she couldn't recognize him, but she would never forget that insane tone he spoke with.
With a quick move, she turned the old man around and looked at his face with anger. A mad grin spread across the man's mouth. He had a few blackened teeth and a nauseating breath.
His face was hideous. It was full of pox marks, pimples, and rashes, like he was suffering from dozens of different diseases at the same time. His mouth was dry and his nose crooked.
McLean had grayish hair, which was close to falling out. But his eyes were the ones Veronica stared into.
They were different sizes, and deep brown, with a lot of red veins popping out. They were jumping around the room focusing on the nothingness... It was the eyes of an insane man... A Lunatic...
"You are from the Chaotic Order!" She didn't ask, but accused, causing McLean to laugh in amusement.
"What gave it away, my beautiful eyes, or my questionable behavior?... Ah, no matter! It is nice to meet you Miss Veronica. We have been wanting to get to you for quite a while now!"
His eyes jumped to the doorway for one second and he growled in annoyance. Veronica didn't take her eyes off of him, so she did not know what he was seeing.
"Why do you want to kill me? What did I do?" She asked in actual confusion.
By her knowledge, there was no reason for the Chaotic Order to want her dead. She didn't do anything to anger them or conspire against them.
McLean looked towards the ceiling with a thoughtful expression, then slowly a wide smile spread across his face. It was like someone told him some good news.
"What did you do? Nothing, of course!... Nothing yet at least... There is a big problem with you though. At first you were kind of normal, then at our next meeting you became cloudy, like you had no past or future!"
The insane man took a deep breath and began to laugh hysterically.
"But now! NOW!... Now even 'He' can't see you... That's not supposed to happen! 'He' should be able to see more than most, but you are a mystery... Everyone dislikes the unknown, especially when it interrupts plans that were in the making for thousands of years!"
Veronica listened to every word with a hint of salt, and she tried to comb through the useful information within the cryptic bullshit.
"What plans? Is this about the Theater?"
With that question, the man's smile disappeared, and for the first time since the start of their conversation, McLean's eyes focused. The sight was more disturbing than the insanity.
He wiggled under her arm, but she held on firmly, not letting him move. The expression on his face changed from thoughtful to grim, then he nodded to himself, as if in understanding.
"So you were the one... That makes sense..." he muttered to himself.
Veronica increased the strength of her push until the man grunted in pain.
"How much do you know about Him?"
McLean just shrugged... "A lot, but not everything. I know who He really is, and where He came from... I also know that you will die a horrible death, if you don't give Him the Theater..."
After saying this, the insanity returned to his eyes, and he began to giggle. Veronica knew she would get no useful information out of him, but she had to try... "Who is He?"
The mad man had a confused look on his face... "Why do you ask? You already know!... You are just a bit forgetful about the details!"
He laughed again, which was starting to irk Veronica.
"Okay, then let's change the subject. Why is the Chaotic Order escalating the protests? What's your plan?"
The man looked upwards again, and this time he began to mumble parts of a conversation. At least, that's what Veronica thought it was.
After a few seconds, his eyes settled back on the door, and just as he was about to speak, a bang and shout came from there.
"HEY! Veronica! Are you okay?" Said Suze, while trying to open the door... "Veronica! Open the door!"
Her voice sounded desperate, but as soon as Veronica spoke, she calmed down a bit.
"Don't worry! I'm fine, but my hands are a bit full right now! Get something to break down the door with!"
Below her hands, McLean wiggled again, but she still didn't let him move too much.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock... Time is running out... You ask why we cause mayhem and chaos? Because we are the Chaotic Order! It's in the name if you haven't noticed... And it's also very fun!... Just imagine! The entirety of Hammon will be like the Vile Quarter!... What a dream!"
Veronica stared into the insane person's eyes and leaned in close...
"No." was all she said.
McLean stared at her with confusion... "What do you mean, no?! That's not for you to decide! We will destroy this city, and you will watch as everything you cherish burns to the ground... Where they belong!"
On Veronica's face, a cocky smirk appeared, as she repeated herself... "No."
Her voice was even and calm, the exact opposite of McLean. Hearing her repeated answer, the man became angry.
"You little whore, who do you think you are?! This game you are part of has been going on for thousands of years! It's played by Angels, Gods and Beings beyond your comprehension!... What makes you so special?!"
As he spoke, spittle flew from his mouth, landing right on Veronica's face. Her smirk remained untouched.
"I'm not special. That's what makes me special... I don't even know what 'game' are you referring to, but if these Beings still haven't won it, then they must suck at it!... I'm special, because I'm the only one who plays, because they are forced to..."
Her emotions were boiling over, but she took control of them. From the door, a banging noises came again, much louder this time. At this rate, the door would be down in less than a minute.
"Also... I'm the only one with a Primordial Structure, which is older than the Universe and all those other Beings... That's quite special, isn't it?"
She didn't actually know if she was the only one with a Primordial Structure, but she lied without care.
McLean's reaction would tell her a lot. If he laughed and dismissed her claim, that meant there was someone else with such a building. But if he believed her, then there was no one else, at least by his knowledge.
He had the second reaction. His eyes went towards the ceiling in annoyance, then he nodded to himself and said... "Yes, my Lord... May Chaos destroy the world!"
Hearing this, Veronica's heart suddenly felt heavy, and a small voice appeared in her head.
"Run." whispered the male voice. It was familiar and sounded like the voices in her earring, but before she could think about it more, McLean moved again.
His wiggling grew a lot stronger. It was surprising, and Veronica didn't have enough time to hold on to him.
The old man put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a strange orb-like Item.
Seeing it, Veronica's heart became a lot more worried, and the voice spoke again, much more clearly this time... "RUN!"
She didn't think where the order came from and she ran to the still unbroken door, but as she took one step, a strange thing happened... She stumbled.
Since becoming an Ascended of the Dancer path, this was the first time she fell because of clumsiness.
Veronica prepared to use the impact as a bouncing board, and propel herself towards the door, but at that moment, something strange happened.
A dirty hand caught her arm, and as Veronica's pink eyes focused on McLean's brown ones... The world around them dissolved into colors...