Icarus Guild: The Renaissance Incident

HEY! WHO STOLE MY AI?

Reno felt like he had just dropped potash into water. He kept waiting for that “BAM!”  moment. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to hide behind a well equipped SWAT Team as the masked guy and Wallace faced off.
“ My, my. The moderator himself! What an honour!”, the Mr. Mask bowed.
“ Is this what CERO has become, Sakyo? A direct attack?”, Wallace gritted his teeth, without replying. It did kind of  seem rude  to Reno.
“ Refrain from speaking about CERO with your filthy mouth. “, Sakyo growled,” CERO has greater plans than you could ever imagine. This is just a fragment of our power. And you are about you become just another sacrifice in its goals. “
“ You think the Guild would let you do as you please? Don’t forget about the Geneva pact. I don’t care if you think you are the archangel something. Your very presence here goes against the agreement.”, Wallace’s features changed to fury
“ The Geneva Pact? Seriously, Wallace? You think those half-assed fools in UN could do anything? All they do is play games with their make-believe  policies.”
“ They maintain peace. And the guild will fight alongside them. We stand by a righteous cause.”
” You need warriors to fight, Wallace. The guild had warriors before. But, now? You want fight with these pigs?”, he pointed at Reno, his laughter reverberating through the stone walls.
Reno had once watched a Chinese movie with Indonesian subtitles. Watching Sakyo and Wallace seemed like a flashback. It confused the crap out of him. All the stuff about CERO and Geneva what-not made him miss his Physics textbook. At least, most things there made sense.
On top of that, a guy (who he didn’t even know) was trying to insult him. Reno bit back some of his innovative cuss words.
“ I am fighting with one.”, Wallace spun his scythe into a stance.
“ Very well. A fight it is.”, Sakyo propped his black blade on his shoulders.

Wallace charged head on, his scythe flashing shades of golden. Reno’s eyes could only register a blur as he raced past. Rubble flew out of the way from the sheer force of air pressure that he created. Sakyo watched his movements closely, his hands gripped tightly on the leather hilt of his cleaver. Reno instinctively sensed what he wanted. One blow. A single strike would decide the game.
Wallace closed in excellently, manoeuvring past the ghostly canines and stooping in low. Sakyo hammered down his cleaver with full force, missing Wallace by a hair's breadth. At the very last moment Wallace changed course. A feint.
But Sakyo was prepared for that.
“ RISE FROM THE DARKNESS OF THE UNDERWORLD.  You, who rule death, you, who master shadows. Let your wrath seep into this crown of fear. AWAKEN, HELM OF HADES!”

Even being a safe distance away, Reno felt his blood turn cold.
Fear. It had no rationality. No logic. Just the kind of fear that got your excretory system active.
Reno could have spent the day frozen in place. However the deep, canine growl round the corner spurred him back to reality.
Wallace and Sakyo shifted to peripheral vision as his eyes focused on the new danger  in front of him.

Let’s back up and a take a moment to appreciate how hideous this predator was. Imagine the ugliest thing you have seen. Now add a disproportionate head, upturned eyes and fur shaped like barbed wire. You will come nowhere close to how it looked. It took “ ugly” to a whole new level.

Reno tried his best not to throw up . It was hard to concentrate on strategy when your enemy smelled like the Manhattan sewage system. He managed to flip open the book of Thoth. Reno summoned all his courage and yelled
“ SHOO!”
Honestly, Reno had thought it would work. Hey, it did work with most street dogs. But his new friend didn’t seem to like the reception. Mr. Ugly growled a deep rumble. Reno translated it to – I don’t like cats. Are you cat?

Out of the corner of his eye, Reno could see the battle raging in every direction. The Guild members had managed to overcome the element of surprise, slowly pushing the ghost army back towards the walls.
Lanza sported a killing frenzy, using his weapon as a staff, knocking down groups of hounds  with a blow. Elisa was right behind him, The Sceptre of Apocalypse razing the shadows to ashes. Elsa and Kai stood side by side, which for some reason made Reno feel down. They were the perfect team - Kai raining down arrows and Elsa fending off the attacker's sharp fangs with her gargantuan shield .
Keir slashed through ranks of monsters, her red hair in perfect sync with the trail of blood she left behind.