“He’s coming! Go go go!!” The security guards cried out. A barricade was set up in front of the emergency door, allowing the last of the civilians to get through. Once done, they blocked it off with a large, wooden table and set up a defensive position. One turned around to see the door with a glowing sign reading “Fire Exit” in glowing, neon red lights.

“We have to hold him off long enough for them to break the door down and get out of here!” The rest of the team nodded and made sure their guns were ready and aimed their sights down the hallway. On the other side of the door. Dozens of people fought with the emergency door, trying to pry it open. With every attempt, they panicked more and more, the door refused to move a muscle. One of the guards pushed through the crowd, a large, heavy machine gun at his side.

“Make way, make way, I got this!” The ponies turned towards him and backed away from the door. The guard walked right up to the door and aimed his rifle at it, pulling back the spring to load the first bullet.

“Firing in three. . . two. . . one!” The guard opened fire at the door, holding down the trigger. The bullets spread out and hit dead on against the door. As he fired, the bullets bounced off the door and shot all around in every direction towards the walls, the ceiling, and even the ponies in the crowd behind him. The door shimmered with a dark purple aura were the bullets hit. They screamed as some stray bullets ripped through their flesh and into the ones behind them. The guard stopped and turned around after hearing them scream and spun around.

Seven ponies laid dead right behind him, and more injured. The guard gritted his teeth and slammed his hoof into the wall. He holstered his gun onto his back and made his way to the injured.

“What are we going to do?! The door is completely sealed off!” One frightened pegasus asked, limping to the wall.

“We have to stay calm. If we are quiet, maybe the attacker will pass us by without even checking,” The others did not believe his words, nor did he. The door opened and the two in the very back drew their guns. Silver Flash stopped dead in her tracks seeing the weapons in her face.

“It’s clear. It’s just Checks, stand down!” They lowered their weapons and allowed her in. She slowly and hesitantly walked in, closing the door behind her. The same guard who told them to back off walked up to her, wearing a weak smile. “So what is the situation like out there?” Silver Flash felt her eyes starting to water as she shook her head. The pony sighed in defeat. “So we aren’t doing so well. Alright, get into the back, we are still trying to-”

Gun fire was heard down the hallway, shortly followed by screams of terror and pain. The guard’s ears perked up at that, staring hard at the door. The team right outside were getting ready themselves. Everyone else could hear the noises and they all started whispering and cowering behind or under anything they could find. A couple little fillies were all hiding in a box, both of them wearing similar outfits as the dancers.

“Everyone calm down. The attacker is after the employees of this facility. He won’t attack unarmed civilians. Hey, Silver,” The mare looked up at him. “We are gonna get you out of this, alright? You’re gonna make it!” She nodded at him, trying to put on a brave smile. He smiled back at her, guiding her through the crowd. “Alright, colts! He is not gonna lay a single hoof on any of their heads, got that?! Protect them at all costs!” One of the guards grabbed his shoulder, making him stop.

“Our priority is to get them out, and we failed. We were told to ditch them or use them as shields if he came,”

“Not on my watch. Rat me out if we survive, but I am not abandoning these ponies!” He shook his hoof off of him and allowed Silver Flash to walk over on her own. “Miss Flash, we will be at the door if you need us, alright?” She nodded as calmly as she could, her knees shaking.

“Got it, th-thanks,” He smiled and noded once last time and made his way back to the front. The poor unicorn assistant turned around to see a pair of earth ponies moving aside some dead bodies. They looked as though they were shot. She gasped at that, feeling her stomach riding up her throat and her heart started racing a million miles a minute. One of the dancers grabbed her shoulders and gave her a good shake.

“Hey, hey. Shhhh, it’s ok. They didn’t mean to, it was an accident,” She pulled her to the wall and helped her ease down. “I know, hunny, I know. We’re all feeling it. We’re all scared, but we have to work together, alright? What’s your name?” Silver Flash looked at her with shaky eyes and gulped down her upcoming vomit.

“Silver Flash, I’m Chief Cords’ assistant,” The exotic dancer smiled kindly to her.

“I’ve heard of you. You’re really pretty, dearing. My name is-”

Right outside the door they heard gunfire. Everyone went silent as they heard the team outside shooting and screaming out commands. The gunfire was heard for a while, followed shortly after a few explosions. Silver Flash finally started shedding her tears as they started flowing down freely.

“H-he’s here!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Upstairs Cords heard the gunfire and grinded his teeth in distress. He saw a group pass by him and he group their leader by the shoulder. They stopped dead in their tracks and turned to face him.

“Listen, I don’t care where you’re going or who told you to go there. You go downstairs and redirect the intruder away from the fire exit, got it?” The guard gave a crisp salute and nodded.

“Yes sir!” He turned around and started running down the other way, his team following closely behind him. Cords took a deep breath and continued his way down the hall. He made it to the top floor and went up the elevator, the only way to get there, along with a pair of guards who were guarding the elevator from the inside. The doors opened shortly after and found over a dozen guards aiming pumped action shotguns at him.

“Put your fucking guns down, it’s me!” The team backed off and lowered their weapons, giving him some space. “Good work, keep doing that though,” They waved him good bye and relaxed a little but stood at the elevator as it closed and went back down. Up the last floor, where Lust Dust’s penthouse was, were well over twenty heavily armed guards, a couple wielding double barrel rocket launchers and other heavy fire power. Cords was taking no chances with this one, and will tear down the whole building if it meant taking Grim down with it. He walked past them all until he reached Lust Dust’s metal double doors. He took a deep breath and opened it without warning.

“Sir, we have a-” Lust Dust was in the middle of having an intimate moment with four mares, all under the covers. The whole room smelt strongly of sex and the moans of his partners were anything but quiet. He sighed in annoyance, rubbing his forehead with his hoof.

“LUST DUST!!” One head that belonged to Lusts Dust popped out from under the covers. He had lipstick kiss marks all over his face and neck.

“Cords! Hey, my good friend! Come on over here and join the fun!”

“Sir, we have a serious situation on our hooves right now,” Lusts Dust looked at him confused and slightly concern.

“What kind of situation? Ran out of condoms?” He laughed a bit at his own joke, but Cords’ expression did not change.

“He’s here,” Lust Dust’s expression started turning grim. “That stallion who took our our thugs, he is here and he is killing all of our guards,” Three more heads popped out from under the covers to look over at Cords.

“He’s making his way up here?”

“As we speak. I’ve put up defensive positions at three key areas on each floor, but it’s not slowing him down much. It won’t be long before he gets here,” Lust Dust threw off the covers and jumped out of bed. Cords started walking up to him but stopped when he saw a little filly sitting at the table, red faced and really timid. “What’s up with the filly? Don’t tell me she is-”

“Yes, new recruit, hasn’t even been touched yet. Customers would pay a fortune to have sex with a virgin,”

“You know how I feel about that,”

“It doesn’t matter now!” The little filly looked up with pleading eyes, fear washed over her face. “We need to get up on the room, I have an escape route all ready and planned out, we just need to reach it!” Cords shook his head.

“All the doors are locked by some unknown magic caused by him! We have to find a way to-”

“Chief Cords! This is Beta team, we have intercepted Echo team and found them all dead,” Cords glared at his ear piece.

“Say again? Did you just say they are all dead?” On the other side he could hear controlled burst fire.

“Yes, I repeat, all dead. We found the target near the emergency door and are currently leading him away from it,”

“Good, now make sure he doesn’t turn back, lead him upstairs,”

“Roger sir, we will make sure tha-” The line suddenly went dead. Cords waited a minute for him to continue but the other line was dead silent. Cords shook his head and hung up himself.

“He is on the fourth floor. All but the stairway team are wiped out,” Lust Dust smiled to himself.

“If he get’s up here, we will be ready for him,” Cords rolled his eyes and looked at the mares in the room.

“I’m gonna have to ask you mares to leave. Go into the panic room, and Lust Dust, I advise you to do the same,”

“I would never! I will wait here for him and talk him down!” Cords glared at his lustful boss with concern and frustration.

“There is no talking him down! He is here to kill you and is dead set to do it!” Lust Dust chuckled a bit at that, walking over to him.

“My dear friend, you must have trust in your boss and see just how smooth of a talker I am. Everyone has a price, you just need to find it first,” Cords gritted his teeth, placing his hooves at his temple. The allusive earth pony turned to the mares with a charming smile. “Could you fine mares give me and my friend a minute to deal with this misunderstanding. Love Lost, could you go as well?”

The mares nodded in understanding and made their way to the other room. The little filly hesitantly followed suit. Cords watched the poor, innocent mare walking over and once she was gone, he returned his attention to Lust Dust.

“Please tell me you didn’t,”

“Relax, I didn’t yet. She is still a virgin. I was trying to show her the ropes and show her what being on the job looks like before I. . . . let someone give her the ‘job’, if you know what I mean,”

“All too well, sir,” He shook his head in disapproval but said nothing else against it. He hated what Lust Dust doesn for a living, but tries not to say anything against it.

“Look, we don’t have a lot of time, I need to figure out what happened to the teams downstairs or else-” Cords suddenly heard his earpiece open up and heard gunfire on the other end, but it sounded different from the other times. This time it only sounded like only a couple guns were going off.

“Sir, this is the last remaining members of Beta Team. He has found the fire exit and is breaking through. There is only three of us here, we can’t hold him off for long!”

“Stay there! I’m on my way!” Cords shouted in reassurance. He ended the call and turned sharply for the door but felt a hoof grab onto him. He turned around to see Lust Dust holding him firmly with a sadden look on his face, shaking his head.

“By the time you get there, it will be all over,” Cords broke his grip and glared at him.

“Are you telling me to abandon my team and leave them for dead?!”

“What good would it bring to get yourself killed?

“I need to try! Silver Flash is-” Cords stopped his words as he realized he broke Lust Dust’s rule. The only rule he had for the chief of security was that he could not date anyone inside the workplace. Lust Dust tilted his head with firm eyes locked onto him.

“So. . . you have feelings for her. You two aren’t dating are you?”

“Sir, that isn’t important!”

“But it is! I told you not to, but that command didn’t process, now did it?” Cords pressed his hooves firmly into the fluffy, romantic red carpet.

“Sir, please, I can’t just abandon her. I promised that she would make it out!” Lust Dust stared at him cruelly.

“Don’t make a mare a promise, if you know you can’t keep it. Look Cords, I understand, but right now I can’t let you throw your life away for nothing,” A unicorn guard walked in levitating two large, heavy metal cases.

“Chief Cords! We lost contact with the fourth floor unit, all of them,” Cords turned sharply back to the door.

“What?!” He cried out fearfully, tears welling up in his eyes.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The ponies in the emergency door hallway watched in horror as the final security guard was lifted off the floor with a large, curved, sickly red blade prodding out of his back. He dropped his gun as the life was drained from his body, his blood dripping onto the floor. The ponies tried to back away from the intruder who took down their protection right before their eyes. Grim tossed the lifeless corpse to the side and glared down at the unarmed civilians with a hateful gaze.

“You all have been judged, not just the criminals here!” The ponies cried out in horror and fear as what was next to come. Grim took a slow step towards them, followed by another. His foot steps echoed in the tight hallway, implanting more and more fear with every step.

“Please, we are innocent!” Cried out one pony. Grim Smiled harshly to himself at that.

“Innocent? No, none of you are. All of you have been judged, and you all are guilty. Your punishment-” He showed them the blade that had blood running down the edge. “-Is still death!” Some ponies screamed in terror as he readied his blade. Silver Flash was in the back, hiding behind a cardboard box along with the exotic dancer she meet up with recently. They held onto each other for support and comfort as they heard every panic.

Grim pulled back the blade, his first target in his sights. Some of them fell down to their knees and started praying and some begging for mercy. Grim held a firm stare down at them, no emotions showing on his face. Finally he stepped forward and made the first attack, starting the massacre.

The first slash took out a poor pony’s arm that was held, trying to keep the monster at bay, in a clean cut. He cried out in agony as blood started squirting and the fallen limb landing on the ground in a soft thud. He jumped forward and came down in a downward chop, finishing off the pony with a deep gash slashing down his chest. Grim continued to step forward towards the unarmed ponies, his blade ready for another attack.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“I have to get down there!” Cords cried out in desperation, going into a full sprint past the double doors.

“Stop him!” Lust Dust commanded quickly. Three guards near the door grabbed Cords before he could make it three steps past the door, holding him in place. He fought hard to break their grips, even clocking one upside the head with a free hoof. A couple extra guards came out and tried to hold him in place as well. Lust Dust shook his head and slowly made his way to him.

“Let me go! Damn it! I need to get down there!”

“AND WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT DO?!?!” Lust Dust screamed at him. Cords stopped struggling and turned to his friend, shock on his face. He never yelled, he was always a chill, relaxed kind of pony. Cords could see tears building up in his boss’ eyes. “Do you think you need to die too? Is that it?! ‘My marefriend is in trouble, I better off myself too’, is that what’s going through your mind?!” Cords hung his head low, a single tear drop falling to the ground.

“Sir, I’m sorry, It’s just-”

“That you really like her, I understand, but please don’t throw your life away like that,” Cords clutched one of the guards’ arms tightly for support. Lust Dust waved them away and they let go of him one by one. “If this pony had gone through all these floors so far, I doubt anyone is alive. I’m sorry, I really, really am,” He walked over and wrapped his arms around him, giving him a gentle hug.

Cords was shocked, surprised, and confused. His boss never showed a gentle side of himself ever. He leaned into him, tears slowly starting to leak from his eyes. He was never attached to anyone until she came along. At first he thought of her as a little sister, but for the past week he could feel strong emotions arising from his heart.

“I’m sorry, I just. . . I just. . . I just don’t-” Lust Dust let go of him and Looked into his eyes. “I’m truly sorry, but let us deal with the situation at hoof here,” Cords took a deep breath, golding it for just a moment, and let it out.

“Yes, sir, I understand. I’m fine,” Cords reassured calmly, shaking his head. He took a quick glance around at the three guards around him and of the room before returning his attention back to Lust Dust.

“So. . . are we fucked?” Lust Dust asked almost jokingly. Cords shook his head and gave him a small smile.

“No sir, I don’t think so,”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“We are so fucked!!” Shouted one of the guards downstairs, shooting off his rifle. Grim dodged the shots coming through, dashing sideways over and over again. He left a small trail of black mist as he teleported over and over again to keep them guessing and to maneuver around the bullets flying around him. The small group tried hard to fight off their gruesome attacker, only to see that they couldn’t slow him down much. Grim smirked as he jumped over the barricade and slashed outward in the air.

The blade made contact with one of the guards up front and severed his head effortlessly. His head shot off into the air and his body started to fall. Grim landed gracefully and shot forward at them as they started spinning around to face him. Grim slashed off another one’s head, spun on his back hooves and jammed his blade through another’s throat then turned half way to slash across two of their chests, cutting through the flesh and bone and cut into the heart. The last two panicked and started firing, one ran out of ammo and started reloading while the other watched as a red blade was stabbed through his eye, poking out through the back of his head.

“So tell me, do you regret your life yet?” Grim asked menacingly towards the last armed pony. He tried backing away while reloading, unable to get the clip in. Grim chuckled lightly as he watched for a moment, only to lunge at him and swung his blade down at his head, splitting his whole body clean in half. His blood gushed all over as the two pieces fell to the ground away from each other. Grim examined the bodies to make sure he got them all and then nodded to himself.

“After this floor, there should only be one more before the penthouse. I assume that’s where they are saving the best for last,” Grim laughed darkly to himself, stepping over the freshly done in corpses, talking to himself like nothing was wrong. He looked back down the hallway to admire his handy work. Blood was splattered all over the walls. Some organs laying on the floor either cut apart or “It matters not, they will all fall no matter what they throw at me. No one has ever been able to-”

“Die, mother fucker!!” One guard screamed out in behind Grim. He turned to see another pony with a grenade in his hooves, the pin was already pulled out. He chucked it at Grim and it landed past his front hooves and under his hooves. Grim signed and shook his head, looking up at the desperate creature who stood confidently in front of him.

“You know, you guys are really cute sometimes,” Grim stated calmly, smiling at him. He took a step back confused while Grim just stood there smiling, staring at him. The unharmed guard couldn’t see his face but could feel a pair of icy cold, dread filled eyes staring back at him. The grenade exploded, creating a cloud of smoke and dust. He was a bit too close to it as he was thrown to the ground onto his back. He slowly got up and smiled at where Grim once stood.

“Hey! Let’s see you get up from that!” He exclaimed with pride.

“So that’s what it looks like from this angle,” A dark voice said calmly behind. He froze in place, his body over encumbered with fear. Before he could move, a red, curved blade shot through his chest and lifted him up in the air. “I grow tired of this game. I think I am gonna have to start being serious with you ponies!” Grim smiled as he threw him to the side with his blade. Looking at the staircase behind him that the pony must have came out of.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the penthouse, the last of the guards were preparing for a final stand. They moved around desks and chairs for a barricade and were equipping heavy weapons. Cords was inside Lust Dust’s room with four other security guards, all unicorns with two automatic assault rifles and Cords placed his two large metal crates onto a table.

“Alright, now we have to get ready, he will be here at any moment. Sir, are you ready yet?” Lust Dust chuckled as he pulled out a 44. revolver, loading in each bullet in it one by one.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Are those your new guns?” Cords smiled proudly at his cases, unlatching them.

“Yes, yes they are! I spent all my money on them. After doing some research I had them customly made to deal with an intruder like this one,” His expressing turned to sadness as he thought about everyone they had lost so far. “I just wish we had enough time to equip everyone with these weapons,”

“Look, I don’t know what you think he is, but he is not some mythical demon or something. He is just a pony who’s got some skill, that’s it. A normal bullet will kill him like any other pony,” Cords rolled his eyes at that.

“Yeah yeah, I get it. You don’t believe what I do, but this is real. Just humor me and play along, will ya?”

“Ok, fine fine, I’ll play along,” Lust Dust said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he placed the last bullet in his revolver. “But I still think you’re crazy,” He jerked his revolver to the right and the wheel went in the gun, locking it in place.

“Alright, I think we still have one team left guarding the elevator. I gave them our explosives and told them to set up traps, so that should slow him down quite a bit. I also have a small recon team going through the building to find any sort of way to get out of here. There is no way he could have sealed off the entire building! Only an alicorn could seal off a whole building AND cut through our entire staff. So for now, we just have to wait and-”

“Chief Cords! The elevator is coming up!” Cords snapped his attention to his earpiece.

“Did anypony call you first?”

“No sir, it just started moving,”

“Then get ready to fill that elevator with everything you have! Don’t wait for the doors to open. Once that thing gets up there, you blast it to hell and back! I don’t want there to be an elevator anymore once you are done!”

“Sir yes sir!” Cords hung up the call and opened up his metal cases.

“Alright Lust Dust, it’s show time!”

“Already? I was hoping I’d have enough time for a quicky,” Cords shook his head, smirking. He turned to him with a teasing smile.

“Sir, with all due respect, there is no such thing as a ‘quick session’ with you. You always go back for seconds and thirds,” Lust Dust burst out into laughter at that, slapping his knee.

“Oh that is so true. It’s a little fearful on how well you know me,”

“Well sir, I have been under your service for five years now, so I think I would pick up a couple things here and there,”

“I guess so,” Lust Dust agreed passively. Cords studied him carefully, and for once he could see some fear revealing itself inside of him. It must have finally hit him, knowing there is a chance none of them are gonna walk out of here alive.

“He’s here!” A voice cried out from behind the double doors of the penthouse as well as gunfire.

“What the hell?! How is that possible?! I didn’t even hear the gunfire from the elevator!” Cords looked over to the inside of his case and finally pulled out his brand new toys. Two powerful light machine guns that had a silver trimming and seemed to naturally glow. Lust Dust looked over in awe.

“What the actual fuck are those?!” Cords smiled proudly as he wrapped some straps around him for support and put in a barrel magazine in each gun.

“This, my dear friend, is the latest, state of the art, Dsi belt fed RPD light machine gun. These bad boys use belt fed barrel drums for magazine clips, red dot reflex sights, holy steel outer trim, and uses 7.62x39mm round ammunition forged with holy steel bullets and holds a hundred rounds per drum. These babies fire 650 rounds per second and are armour piercing. I don't think this pony is going to walk out of here unharmed!”

“Well, somepony likes to brag,” Lust Dust said teasingly. He shook his neatly styled mane around a bit and walked over to the doors. “You guys build us some cover, and Cords? Get those puppies ready, we are gonna need them,” Cords smirked back at him and placed the clips in. Cords perked his ears up and noticed that it was quiet, the gunfire seemed to have stopped.

“Looks like he finished them off, every-” The doors exploded open, slamming against the walls and cracked the door. A dark, inky black mist started pouring in slowly, completely covering the entrance of the now open door way. Cords steadied himself, readying his new guns.

“Come on! Come on!” Cords chanted to himself furiously. He had a score to settle, and he didn’t plan on screwing it up. Lust Dust took longer to collect himself but within a minute, he had his pistol aimed at the open doors now.

A chain shot out from the inky shadows and hit a guard in the chest. The chain stuck to him with spikes that appeared to be coming from the end of the chain, which looked like the handle of a demonic looking weapon. The chain pulled back and pulled forth the unlucky guard with him, disappearing into the inky void. His screams could be heard shortly through the darkness but was ended by the sound of a sicking slash through flesh.

“FIRE!!!” Commanded Cords in a battle cry like scream. The remaining forces shot outward their guns but were quickly ruined when Grim appeared right behind a pair and slashed their heads off, disappearing once again. The last guard spun around and opened fire blindly were the deviant attacker went. A roll of mist stopped behind him and ripped through his back side, the blade poking out of his chest. “You damn bastard!” Cords cursed in panicked anger.

Lust Dust took careful shots at him, trying not to waste his ammo. Cords aimed his guns and smirked cruelly at him, Grim turned to meet his murderous gaze.

“I’ll send you straight to hell!” Cords fired and his bullets missed wildly. Grim dodged left and right and flew over in front of him, knocking the guns aside with skilled and graceful kicks. They flew out of his hooves and slid across the floor a few feet away from him. Cords glared back up and felt a blade enter his side.

He looked down to see the long, curved blade just barely in his left side. He squeezed his eyes shut from the pain that washed over his body like a raging tidal wave, blood trailing down his uniform and onto the floor.

“Hey, I’m over here!” Lust Dust called out angrily. Grim turned just in time to see a flying chair aimed at his head. He pulled out the blade and slashed the chair into pieces. Lust Dust panicked as he tried to reload his revolver, slowly putting one bullet in at a time. Grim smiled and tossed Cords aside. He hit hard against the wall and fell onto the ground. He looked up to see one of his new machine guns laying on the floor.

“Well done. . . well done. You have defeated me and all of my henchman. What now?” Grim lunged forward and grabbed Lust Dust by his neck, pinning him against the wall all the way on the other side of the room.

“You have been judged and have been found guilty. Your punishment. . . is death!” Lust Dust smiled weakly and clapped his front hooves.

“Well done, I thought this day would never come, but why stop here? Or better yet, why not just not kill me?” Grim glared down at the weak earth pony struggling against his grasp.

“Why should I spare your life?” Grim asked coldly, readying his blade at a moments notice.

“Because. . . . Grim is it? I mean that is your- oh it doesn’t matter. Anyway, because I can make you very rich. More rich than you could possibly imagine! I can get you all the mares in the city in your bed! A year working for me and you will live like a king for the rest of your life. Come on, let’s work something out, huh?” Grim stared at the crime lord blankly, raising Lust Dust’s confidence.

“I’m not interested,” Lust Dust chuckled lightly at that, patting his arm softly.

“Oh come on, think about it! You will have as much money as you will ever want or need. You will be the strongest most well protected stallion in- AH!” Grim’s blade had met Lust Dust’s chest finally as it was forced in. Lust Dust stared down at the blade in shock and horror and back up to Grim.

“I can not be bought, I can not be bribed, I can not be reasoned with. Your money can not touch me, nor can your corruption!!” Grim cried out in anger. He lifted Lust Dust up from the wall and slammed him into the floor, making a small splatter of blood. Cords watched in horror as his former boss was looking up at him with pained, weary eyes, life fading away from them.

“Sir. . . “He called out weakly. He lifted a hoof out towards him, and Lust Dust did the same, extending a hoof out to meet his. They were a good twelve feet apart what seemed like an endless distance of soft, blood stained carpet. Grim walked over slowly while they helplessly reached for one another. Grim stopped in front of Lust Dust’s body, looking down at his helplessness, and slammed the tip of his blade into his back ruthlessly. Cords watched as the life vanished in his friend’s eyes instantly, his hoof fell lifelessly onto the floor with a soft thud.

Grim looked down at Cords now, lifting the blade out of the corpse’s back, pulling out a stream of blood with it, trailing back towards the source. Cords slowly brought his hoof forward to grab the gun.

“It’s pointless, mortal. Your weapons do not hurt me, your bullets could never slay me-”

“No-” Cords interrupted with a smirk, grabbing the large gun and unsteadily aimed it at Grim who stood there unimpressed. “But this sure can!” Cords stared down the iron sights and held down the trigger. He sprayed a wave of bullets towards the darkly figure. A single bullet grazed him across his face and that’s when he felt it. A small trail of red blood leaked out of a small cut given to him by Cords’ mysterious weapon. Grim was frozen for nearly a moment before he lunged at him, placing the blade at his throat, ready to slash it gaping open at a micro second’s notice.

“How did you do that?!” Cords smiled smugly, coughing up a bit of blood.

“My secret. . . I will carry. . . to my grave!” Grim glared down into his eyes and started searching for all of the crimes he had ever committed within his soul.

“You have been judged. . . and have been found. . .” Grim squinted towards the side as he looked through his soul where he normally found monsters, shades, and demons, but this time it was quiet. He felt warmth from his soul and saw a blazing, blue fire glowing brightly in the sky. Grim eased the stallion onto the ground and gazed at him dumbfounded.

“You. . . have been found. . . . innocent!” Cords looked up at him confused. “You posses no evil, no sin. Your actions were only done through an element I thought long to be gone!” The little filly from before walked out of the doorway leading to the panic room, and into the open. She looked around in horror as Lust Dust and four of his greatest body guards laid on the floor, their corpses bleeding away.

“You posses a very strong presence of loyalty, something long forgotten here. You stayed with your boss for all those years not because it was your job, but because you thought him a good friend, and swore your loyalty to him personally. You hated what he did but overlooked it in the meaning of being friends, and for that I can not kill you!” Cords leaned against the wall, painting and glaring up at The cloaked figure.

“You can’t kill me? Because I had a friend? So you just kill that friend, the one thing I held dear? Is THAT my reward?!?!”

“I do not expect you to listen or understand, but he was painted with sin, so many at once. It is my duty to remove the corruption in this world, and he was a source of it. I had to kill him,” Grim left Cords on the ground, walking away from him. He looked over and noticed a little pegasus filly standing by an open door. Grim smiled at the little filly with kindness.

“I am glad to see there is a filly here not touched by this infection of corruption. I found some little fillies down stairs and they were filled with sin and corruption. In fact I found a lot of that here. Who would have guessed that I would find innocence here of all places!” Cords glared furiously up at Grim, putting a hoof up to support him.

“What did you do to them?!” Grim turned back to Cords and gave him a firm stare in return.

“Their very souls were buried in sin. Regrettably they had to be put to rest,” Cords gritted his teeth, his vision turning red. “Do not be consumed with wraith, or you too will have to be put to rest with the others. Now, I must tend to the remaining three sinners in this building in the other room,” Grim turned towards the filly and walked towards her. She cowered in fear from his approach, her eyes shaking with panic. Grim stopped in front of her and patted her head softly, kneeling down to her eye level.

“Would you mind tending to the wounds of that kind stallion over there? I have to wrap things up here. The med kit should be near the bar over there,” He turned over and pointed to the bar which now had no one tending it. The little filly looked over to it curiously then looked back at Grim, giving him an unsure knod. Grim rubbed her mane softly and got back up, walking into the doorway and disappearing.

“Damn it! Damn it all to hell!! Damn it!” Cords repeated to himself in anger, tears dripping down onto the floor. The little filly came over to him with a little red box and placed it down next to him. Cords stopped her and opened it himself. “I got this, little one. Just stay by me,” She nodded and sat down next to him, looking back towards the room that Grim had walked into. “How did you get out? I thought it the panic room was closed,” The small pegasus shook her head.

“No, they left it open. They said they were waiting for Lust Dust,” She explained innocently. Cords’ eyes shot open in horror, now facing her.

“You left it open?!” Distant screams were heard from the hallway, but for only the smallest of moments before it went to silence. The quiet atmosphere was almost sickening to him. Before all of this he would do anything for such peace, but now it only meant that everyone he had ever known and worked with is now dead.

“Wh-what happened?” The little filly asked fearfully, her body shaking. She leaned over and hugged his arm loosely as if seeking permission to touch him. He didn’t make any move against it, only glaring over at the open door. Grim walked out of the hallway, slowly walking to the middle of the room and dropped to one knee and held his head down low.

“The blood of the innocent flows out of you and has been returned into the earth. What lives you have ruined shall be repaired. Rest now, for your life of sin is over. Rest in peace and may the gods have mercy upon your soul as you ascend to the great beyond” Grim chanted softly to himself.

Cords was stunned at the sight. It sounded like a prayer of some kind. He thought this unknown being was simply killing for the very sake of killing with a delusional sense of religion, but here where he sat, he saw a stallion who prayed for the poor ponies he had just slain. Kindness dripped from his words, not that of a careful act, but that of true care.

Grim rose back to all four legs and steadily walked past Cords and the filly and towards the large double doors he had previously stormed through. His black mist was gone and any sign of battle was gone from his being.

“Wait!” Cords called out. Grim stopped but did not turn towards the two. “Why did you do all of this? Who told you to do it?” Silence replied back to him, bothering him further. After a few moments of silence Grim turned slowly to him as if time had slowed down. From the darkness of his hood, he spoke back to him.

“No one sent me, no one hired me to do this. I am here because I choose to be here. I vanquished the sin here because it is my job, my destiny, to do so. I have been created to remove the evil of this world, and I will never die until it is done,” After he had spoke, he turned back and walked out of the doorway.

“Wait!” Cords fought with everything he had left to pick himself up and unsteadily walk over to the doorway. Once there, he placed one hoof on the frame to steady himself and looked past the doors, only to see a sea of bodies and blood spewed over the floor and walls but the mysterious, dark figure had vanished without a trace, as if he was never there.

Author's Note

There, finally! I was stuck on this for so long! I am deeply sorry about this, guys. I have had a very powerful blow on my financial standing and it has been very stessful as of late. Normally I work one these daily, but with new things coming up I have been stressing over a lot of things. Chrismas is coming and I am not gonna have any money to buy any gifts for my family and blah blah blah, so on and so forth. I won't bore you with my life, but do know that I will be posting more often, although not as often as I use to. No matter what, I will try to post a chapter in one of my stories every week at the least! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to see you all in the future chapters ahead. Have a great morning/day/evening. Bye bye for now, my friends.