Intricately designed wall partitions separated the area into semi-private sections, where gold-gilded cages had been constructed. Velvet cushions were scattered across the interior, and sheer silk drapes hung on railings for additional privacy. A child was secured in every gleaming cage. The boys and girls were partially covered in indecent, filmy scraps of lace and silk. Their faces were painted, their hair perfectly coifed, their skin glistening with oil.
None of them looked older than twelve.
Figures moved about the room, draped in garish robes and cloaks, faces covered by intricate masks carved into a wide variety of grotesqueries. Most were fashioned after beasts of prey — lions, leopards, wolves, ravens, and more. The bejeweled masks were lacquered like wet paint, glistening in the dim light.
Some of them moved from one cage to the next, fawning over the children with gloved hands, silent and malevolent, drinking in the fear from the caged prisoners like vampires of lore. Others led selected children further back, where silken tents were erected, entranceways open like devouring mouths.
Security was barely visible, just silhouettes in the shadows. Armed figures in black, gleaming armor. It was difficult to tell if they were human or automatons.
Vigil glanced up at Joe Blow. The giant gazed around with distaste twisting his misshapen lips. Something glinted in his eyes. Jett recognized the same feral rage he felt within himself, so acrid he tasted it in his throat.
"Still feel like money is worth turning a blind eye?"
Joe Blow growled, face constricting in fury. "No. I didn't sign up for this. I'm outta here."
"Just going to walk away?"
Joe Blow gave him a searching glance. "You're not the original Vigil."
Jett nearly stumbled. "What… do you mean?"
"You don't got a clue what's going on, do you? Those masks? Council of Beasts. Inner circle of Diabolis. Top of the food chain. Untouchable. You get in their business, you don't just die. You put everyone around you in their cross-hairs. You don't know these people. What they can do. Even to someone like me. I can't interfere. But I'm not gonna stop you, either."
Vigil's fists clenched. "Then I have work to do."
Joe Blow took a last look around before exiting with a savage snarl. The heavy clop of his Oxfords faded as he stormed back into the tunnel.
Vigil walked around the steel partition. The Beasts paused, noting his approach. They stood still and silent, masks gleaming, hidden eyes regarding him as if disbelieving of his existence.
Vigil activated Intimidation Mode. His vision turned scarlet when his visor pulsed with red light. A visual panel sprang up inside the helmet, threat detection illuminating the black-armored guards.
His voice transformed into an electronic rasp. "Beasts of the Underbelly. You've feasted on your last victims tonight. You think you are safe. You think you are the ultimate predators. You are wrong. Tonight, you are prey. Tonight, you are mine."
The lights flickered off.
The chamber erupted in pandemonium. The Beasts scattered, blindly running for the exits as the guards streaked forward, armed with batons that hummed with every movement. Vigil activated an energy shield on his left g-span, absorbing the blow from the first guard that reached him. The impact rocked his arm; sparks sizzled from the impact.
Proto's voice buzzed in his ear. "Scanners indicate the guards are mechanical. Standard issue sentinel models, predictable in attack patterns. Feel free to use lethal force."
Vigil grinned. His fully-charged fist shot out, punching right through the guard's helmet. The automaton stumbled back, head completely disintegrated. A buzzing indicator alerted Vigil to another attack from his blind side. He ducked, narrowly avoiding a vicious baton swing. Grabbing the guard by the arm, he used its momentum to slam it to the floor. A thermal blast from his g-span finished it, leaving a smoldering crater in its chest.
Vigil glanced up. The Beasts shoved and clawed at one another in their haste to exit the room. He snatched the handgun from its holster, aimed at the leg area, and fired several shots. Screams of pain and bodies dropping confirmed the hits. Without slowing, Vigil caught the arm of a black-armored guard, stopping it in mid-swing. Switching the gun to thermal mode, he blew a sizzling hole through the guard's robotic midsection.
The threat indicator buzzed on his left, allowing him to drag the malfunctioning body to shield himself from the unseen assailant's attack. Shoving his gun through the searing cavity of the first guard, he fired a second shot. Both bodies fell to the ground, showering sparks from a writhing mass of intestinal wires.
He straightened, reactivating the lights. Startled faces surrounded him. The children shrank as far away from him as their cages allowed, eyes wide. They didn't speak or make any noise. Silence hung over the entire chamber like a soft blanket, making the soft shuffling and groaning from the fallen Beasts sound like scrapes and screams in the dark.
Vigil strode over. The Beasts clutched their wounded limbs while trying to raise themselves erect. One by one, he yanked their brutish masks off, exposing the faces beneath. They were not what he expected.
They were… beautiful.
Two men and one woman were crippled by his shots, abandoned by their brethren and left to their fates. The men were polar opposites; one as dark as the other was fair, but both sharing a fine-boned look of genetic perfection with flawless skin, striking eyes, and luxurious hair. The woman's features nearly made the men look ordinary. Red-haired with the skin the color of rich cream and eyes the shade of emeralds, she gazed up at Vigil with a mixture of revulsion and defiance. Her glimmering white teeth clenched together in a furious snarl.
"You dare to attack a Denizen? Whoever you are, you will pay for this disrespect with your—"
"You're in no position to make threats," Vigil said. "Whoever you are, you didn't listen."
"Whoever we are?" The fair-skinned man's shockingly-blue eyes widened. "You don't know what a Denizen is? We are occupants of Haven Core, you fool. You can do nothing to us. Harm done to a Denizen by an Outsider is a crime punishable by death."
Vigil punched the man in his beautiful face. It felt like hitting soft putty. The Denizen dropped to the floor as though his legs were broken.
Vigil turned to the dark-skinned one. "So you're from the Haven. But you have to come outside the reservation to indulge in your little… perversions, don't you? Too bad. Because you're in my world, now. And preying on children is a crime where I come from."
The man spat at Vigil's feet. "Do your worst, animal. Unless you kill us, there is no law to enforce. Nothing you can do to prevent us from walking away back to a world you can only dream about."
Vigil punched the man in his beautiful face. The result was the same as the first.
He stepped over the unconscious body, closer to the woman. She raised to her knees, grimacing as she clutched a hand over her wounded leg. She still managed a defiant grin when she stared up at him.
"Are you going to beat me too? It turns you on, doesn't it? How easily you can make a person submit to you with your enhancements and physical power."
Vigil hesitated, uneasy from the penetrating nature of her words. For a second, he almost forgot his face was shielded. She seemed to stare into him as if she saw him naked and vulnerable.
He gathered himself quickly, thrusting a finger at her. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't I?" She laughed, running her tongue across her gleaming teeth. "Look at you. Playing dress-up with your armor and mask. You think it makes you powerful. A white knight entering the dragon's lair to save the captured children. You naive fool. Do you see any locks on those cages? These children are guests, not prisoners. Ask them if they want to leave. Go ahead. See if they want a savior to rescue them."