"Please don't tell me this guy is Rist."
"It's not; besides, he's been dead for quite some time now. I'd say about 4 days."
"It matches up with the time Ramsey said he disappeared."
The house gave no insight into his character; there was a small table and chair, a lamp, and a little futon mat. The scene was truly chilling, but a thought that couldn't leave my head was how similar that man's suit looked to those of the men who were with Rain. Could they be the ones who came after Rist as well, and if so, why?
"Come on, kid, we're leaving."
"Next up on the list is this little island. Ramsey said that he'd go there sometimes."
"Hey, hurry up, kid. What, you desecrating bodies now?"
"No, that's not it. I just had to see something."
I knew it; these guys were definitely the same ones from the pawn shop. He had on a thin chain that resembled the one Rain wore. I didn't think he'd need it where he's going, so I decided to add it to my "collection." We soon arrive at what truly was an island; we had already traveled so far out into the sea that there were actual land masses for the pathways to run ashore. The front was pretty barren, and then deeper in there were trees and bushes that made a little forest, but not big enough to escape to. Maro and I made our way through the trees; I tried asking him a question, but he quickly put his hand over my mouth. He must have picked up on something. I hear rustling in the trees above, a shadow hopping from branch to branch, descending directly towards us. It was another man in a suit; this one wore weird sunglasses. He then pulled out a rather large crimson red magnum from the holster across his chest and began unloading from above us.
We both jump away from each other and take cover behind some trees. I felt lighter on my feet, and I was thinking clearly despite being seconds away from death. It must have been because of the chain that I took earlier; that means that it was a hex. The man lands on the ground, taking a knee.
"I don't know who you people are, but I'll have you know that your pursuit of Rist will result in your death."
"we saw you at his residence and knew you would come here next."
"We!?"
A second man shows up behind me; he was dual-wielding karambits and went directly for the back of my neck. I managed to duck away in time; I then called out for Maro, but there was no answer. The men meet up side by side in front of me before sprinting and then splitting off. The gunman keeps his distance and fires two shots at me, which I evade in a ballerina-like motion; directly after, the other one starts with a barrage of punches, twisting his wrist and the end of each one to extend his reach with the blades. I block a few but get nicked a couple of times in the process; the gunman hasn't fired in a while, so he must have been reloading and repositioning himself. I take that opportunity to create some distance and flee up a tree.
Before I could catch my breath, that glasses-wearing fool let off a couple of shots in such rapid succession I thought the weapon was automatic. I get a chance to hide around the trunk on one of the branches. The shots cease, so I could tell that his Achilles heel was the number of rounds he could fire before reloading again, running around the trunk and jumping directly towards him on the other tree. I grab the barrel of the gun and veer it away from me right before he pulls the trigger, and then in that same motion, pulling it and striking him with my elbow, this then gives me control of the gun and knocks him to the ground.
I try to scour the ground for the other one, but he makes his presence known by getting the drop on me and stabbing my forearm, but it didn't hurt. Like before, my pain tolerance is abnormally high. In his moment of disbelief towards my stoic demeanor, I jump back and fire two shots, but he deflects them with his weapons and withdraws.
I decide that I'll keep the gun, so I holster it to my waist. I then jump down from the tree, but the guy I knocked down disappeared as well.
"No, please, please! I told you everything I know; spare me!!"
Just then his head rolls out from behind a tree, and his body falls after; I take a step to the side to see Maro walking out from behind the same tree.
"Where the hell were you? I had to deal with those guys by myself.
"Chill out, pops; I knew you could handle it."
"Besides, don't you find it strange that there was nothing on this island besides those two assassins?"
"I mean, yeah, but they said they tracked us here."
"It's not my first rodeo, kid; I'd know if I was being followed."
"They were already here; they knew we'd come."
"so what are you saying?"
"Well, based on the little chat I had with our friend over there, he said that he was ordered to wait here and ambush us."
"But who could have…"
"That's right, that son of a bitch Ramsey set us up. Who knows how many other people he 'set up" in the past?"
"So he's after Rist as well?"
"Or he already has him; we gotta get to this third location as soon as possible. I'm willing to bet there are even more of these guys there."
"I hope you're ready, Gramps."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up."
....
"I'm going to ask you again, Faux, who are those two men looking for you?"
"Now how the hell would I know?"
"General Ramsey"