Becoming the Dark Lord

Kruger raised his blades, ready to finish the kill. And then the whistle split the air. Everything happened at once. The phantom assassin lifted his weapons, just in time to take a hit to the shoulder. His scream tore through the rooftop as he staggered back. At that exact instant, Luke surged forward, a kukri carving a brutal horizontal arc that slashed across Kruger’s face. The assassin’s eyes went wide as his mask was ripped away, spinning into the dark.

Shock flashed across his features. He hadn’t expected Luke to even be able to move.

“Go fuck yourself,” Luke spat, and with his free hand he smashed an acid vial straight into Kruger’s face.

The scream was raw and guttural. Kruger clawed at his acid-eaten face, stumbling blindly as the corrosive burned into his skin. He reeled backward, lost his footing, and toppled from the rooftop. Luke heard the canvas tear and the heavy thud of the body slamming against the street below.

The poison Kruger had forced into his veins was strong, but Luke had only pretended to be weakened. His blood was slowly healing him, and his bluff had worked. All he wanted was the chance to hurl the Darkness Mixture into the bastard’s face, and he had. He wanted that moment, the stolen victory, the betrayal of trust, because it mirrored Angelica’s fall. Just like Paul’s death. They all deserved it, every single one of them.

But someone else had interfered. He sprinted toward the edge, intent on finishing it. An arrow slammed into the rooftop stone in front of his feet, halting him.

“Don’t move,” came a voice he recognized instantly. Eleanor.

She stood across the roof, a cloth mask over her face, bowstring drawn tight, arrow leveled at his skull. Something small clinked at his feet, kicked toward him. A glass vial.

“Drink it,” she ordered.

Luke kept his hands raised in mock surrender. “What is it?”

“The antidote to the neurotoxin he pumped into you,” she replied, eyes sharp, the bow unwavering.

“I don’t need it.”

His mind still buzzed with the rush of his plan, the image of Kruger writhing with acid seared in his memory. He had wanted that ending. He had wanted to crush Kruger at the last second, to let him drown in his own certainty before tearing it away. That was the justice he wanted, betrayal for betrayal.

But someone else had fired that arrow. Someone else had stolen the moment.

“You helped me,” Luke muttered.

“I have my reasons. You’re coming into custody. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you. We all want out of this tutorial, James. You know where the mechanisms are. There’s no need for terrorist theatrics. If we work together, we can beat it.”

Luke clicked his tongue and turned, heading toward the ledge.

“Don’t move, James!”

He ignored her. “Then shoot.”

He broke into a sprint. “I’m finishing Kruger!”

“I can’t let you!”

“I have to. He’s a lunatic, a rabid psychopath.”

“He’s my chance at getting back to Earth. He can handle the threats at the end of the tutorial.”

“No. He doesn’t want to finish it. He needs to die.”

Her tongue clicked in frustration. Another warning shot cracked against the stone where he was headed. He didn’t slow down. But when Luke reached the edge and looked down, the street below was empty.

“Son of a bitch,” he growled. “He ran.”

Eleanor’s bow was still fixed on him.

“I doubt he’d stick around after that,” she said coldly. “Not after getting tagged by that arrow… and whatever the hell you threw in his face.”

Luke held her gaze. “So that makes you my only enemy. What’s it going to be? You going to kill me?”

“I want answers. If you really intend to finish this tutorial, I can take you to Ronan.”

“That the guy I beat half to death?” His mouth curved in a dry smile. “Pretty sure he won’t be thrilled to see me.”

“He’s a good man. One of the most important figures in Bastion. If you let yourself be taken into custody, now that things with Marshall are over, we can focus on activating the mechanisms. We could all get out of here. You don’t need to go down this path of killing everyone. If we work together, we can leave this world.”

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Luke studied her, searching for cracks in her words, a slip of intent. Eleanor belonged to Bastion’s hunting group. Indirectly, that made her an ally of Kruger. Yet she didn’t carry herself like the others, the ones who clearly wanted to stay trapped in this hell. If she were just another assassin, she wouldn’t have hesitated to put an arrow through his skull already.

“You saved me because you know me,” Luke asked, “or because I’m the only one who knows how to get out of this tutorial?”

“D-does it matter?” Her voice faltered for the first time.

He exhaled, glancing toward the distant rooftops where squads of soldiers were fanning out, searching. Clicking his tongue, he turned toward the edge.

“Don’t run, James. Go back and tell the others about the mechanisms. No one actually cares about your past. Do you think anyone here gives a damn if you stole or killed in the Wild Zone? If you go back and give them a chance to escape, we can work together.”

Luke shook his head. “If Kruger really wanted out, he wouldn’t have tried to kill the only person who knows how. You saw it yourself, if I hadn’t faked being paralyzed, or if you hadn’t stepped in, I’d already be dead.”

Eleanor’s tongue clicked in frustration.

“And if you’ve figured that much out,” he added, “then you know exactly why I can’t go back. They’d kill me the moment I stepped foot inside. People like Kruger don’t want to finish this tutorial.”

He walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the street below. “Goodbye, Eleanor.”

“Wait!”

He didn’t turn.

“You won’t make it far without drawing every eye or leaving bodies behind. If you come with me, I’ll get you out of the Safe Zone. There’s a hidden route.”

Luke let his eyes follow the long stretch of rooftops and alleys ahead. It was a brutal gauntlet, and she wasn’t wrong.

“If you want me to believe you’re not a terrorist like Marshall or a lying bastard,” she said, steady now, “then trust me. I won’t lead you into a trap.”

She vaulted across to another roof, slid down its edge, and dropped into a narrow alley.

“Well? You coming?” Her voice echoed once before she vanished around the corner.

Luke sighed, crouched, and scooped up the vial she’d tossed earlier. The truth was, his blood was still fighting the neurotoxin, but the damage lingered, muscles stiff, lungs heavy. He wasn’t sure he could run at full speed while it still burned through his veins. Even so, he didn’t drink it. The antidote was too valuable now. He’d use it as a sample, craft his own versions later. He leapt into the alley, sprinting after her. Eleanor was waiting, leaning against the wall.

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

“Doesn’t seem like I’ve earned much goodwill with you lately.”

“After everything? Your goodwill’s in the gutter.”

They ran side by side through the twisting alleys, Luke keeping pace as she led. Eleanor didn’t hesitate at the forks or crossways, never second-guessed a turn. She knew the path by heart.

“This way!” Eleanor pointed and slipped through the window of an abandoned house. They crossed the dust-filled interior and exited out the back.

Down another alley, until they reached its end. She stopped at an iron gate, produced a key, and unlocked it. On the other side, they entered another house. Eleanor didn’t waste a second. She rushed to an old wardrobe, shoved it aside, and revealed a hidden passage sloping into the earth.

“If you follow this tunnel, it’ll take you to a house on the border, right by the Wild Zone,” she said. “From there, you’re on your own.”

Luke stared at the dark opening. “Why are you helping me? I’m a wanted criminal.”

Her lips curved faintly. “I still want a fair rematch in knife throwing.”

That drew a smile from him. “Thank you.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That day, at the gate to the new zone. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

She exhaled sharply. “I almost killed you there, you know.”

“I’m well aware. I almost died.”

Her gaze hardened. “You really plan on launching some attack with the Renegades?”

“You still don’t believe me?”

“With your record of lies? Not exactly easy to trust you.”

He couldn’t even argue with that.

“All I want is to finish this tutorial and leave,” he said, voice steady now. “I know the location of the three mechanisms.”

“If you activate the third one without a plan, you’ll wipe out everyone in this place. That’s why most of them are after you. They’re trying to prevent a massacre.”

“And who said that’s my intention? Did I ever announce my plans?”

Eleanor frowned, suspicion flickering across her face.

“This came from Bastion, didn’t it? Bartholomew?”

“I don’t know who started it, but yes… probably someone influential.”

Luke looked again at the hole, then back at her. “When I activate one of the mechanisms, I’ll prove to everyone that I’m not a criminal and that this tutorial can be completed. And when that happens, I’ll come back. Hopefully, they won’t try to kill me next time.”

“I hope this time you’re not lying… again,” she muttered.

He met her eyes. “I promise you. This time I’m not.”

Her arms folded across her chest. “So… your name really isn’t James Bond.”

“It’s Luke. Just Luke.”

“Funny. I thought you were just a scumbag. Didn’t imagine you’d be a famous scumbag.”

“I swear I had my reasons.”

She raised her hand. “Luke, when you activate one of the mechanisms… I hope to see you again. And next time, no lies.”

He took her hand and shook it. “I promise. No lies.”

Eleanor stepped back. “Until next time, Luke. And if I never see you again… just know I’ll still be mad at you.”

He descended the stairs into the tunnel, then turned one last time toward her.

“In my defense, of all the necks I’ve ever placed a necklace on, yours was the most beautiful.”

“Bastard…” she muttered, but the laugh that slipped out betrayed her. She pushed the wardrobe back into place, sealing the tunnel.

And with that, Luke pressed forward, heading toward the second mechanism, now carrying everything he needed to finish his plan.