CHAPTER ELEVEN
" Two birds on a wire
One tries to fly away and the other "

          STEVEN GRANT DIDN'T EXPECT HIMSELF to be eating soup with the enemy. But there he was, sitting next to Arthur Harrow, with the God of the Moon — Khonshu — waiting from afar. The hall with eating tables and a small vegetable garden. People were watching some whale documentary with headphones. Everyone seemed to be happy, all wore a smile on their faces.

The sanctuary he was taken to seemed almost too good to be true. It was peaceful, but too peaceful, because Steven had seen firsthand what Arthur could do.

He watched him kill a woman. He watch her disintegrate in a matter of seconds.

"Perhaps that's why he's banished," Arthur comments to Steven, about Khonshu.

"I only punish those who have already done harm," claims the god. His voice seemed to echo the hall and in Steven's mind. "I am real justice!"

"What's he saying now?" asked Arthur, "'I am real justice'?"

Steven didn't understand. Since he had been uncuffed by Harrow, he had been predicted what Khonshu had been doing and saying perfectly, to a T.

"Can you hear him?" questioned Steven.

"Not anymore. I was his former Avatar. Before you. I was the first of vengeance."

"I'm not the fist of anything. Th-That's the little... American man living inside of me."

"And that's... that's Marc?"

Steven avoided wanting to answer. "Soups... Yeah, it's very good. It's ace. Yeah, it's lovely."

"Khonshu punishes those who have already walked an evil path. His retribution comes too late," Arthur states, getting down to business, "By the time his fist of vengeance arrives, people have already suffered. Ammit knows this too well. She tears evil up from the root, casting her judgment before any evil's done. That's why we must resurrect her."

"Right," Steven says, hesitating, "But... Isn't that a bit dodgy? Like, trusting the judgment of a weird crocodile lady?"

"You don't need to doubt her judgment," Arthur assures, "Ammit will light the path to good by eradicating the choice of evil, which brings us to the scarab."

Immediately the atmosphere in the room shifted by saying that single word. Men had gotten up from their chairs and stared down at the two of them, waiting and stalking slowly toward Steven, like a lion to prey.

"That scarab functions as a kind of compass, leading us to Ammit's tomb. She's out there, waiting, longing to be freed. While the cruel masses deserve to face her judgment. And in the wake of their screams, evil eradicated."

The Grant started to see more men appear. His heart began to race, his palms had gotten to get sweaty.

"Steven, to exist at that moment? Heaven on Earth." Arthur puts his hand on the table. "So... the scarab."

"Oh. I don't have it," He tells him.

"No?"
"Honestly, I don't have it."

Harrow hums, "Well, maybe you know someone who does? Maybe Marc?"

Immediately, the voice with an American accent said, "Don't you do it. Don't you say her name. Do not give Layla up. Just give me the body."

"No, I don't," Steven denies to the man in front of him.

"May I speak with Marc?" Arthur asked, but still continued otherwise, "Marc, what has Khonshu promised you? That this is your last mission? Then you'll be free? Trust me when I tell you, Khonshu is a liar. There's always one last thing."

Feeling the tension in the room, Steven rambles, "Sorry. If Ammit judges people pre-evil, like, before the fact, then, isn't she judging an innocent person? I mean, a thought can't be evil, can it? I think about killing my boss all the time. I know someone who claims to do a lot of things. But we wouldn't actually do it."

Despite Arthur's calling his name, Steven started to spiral. "What about a child? Would she kill a child for something they might do in 30 years?"

"I'm glad you mentioned that. Sometimes, the cure is a little taste of the disease. The difference between medicine and poison sometimes is only dosage. Consider a diseased limb — amputation, horrific, and grotesque, is necessary for the larger health."

"But a child is not a diseased limb," argues Steven, "You're all into that, like, killing children and that? Maybe that's just me, but, I kind of draw a line there at child murder."

If only he knew...

Arthur gestures to his cane. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yep. That's a cane, yeah."

"This is... Ammit's gift to her first Avatar." The cane's twin crocodile heads started to glow, its eyes shining in violet. Everyone behind Steven took good sequent steps back. "It contains in it a tiny sliver of her power. I don't wanna use it. I don't."

Quickly realizing, Steven had gotten up from his chair and backed away also. "Then don't. I can't help you."

"Yes, you can. I need to know, where is the scarab? Where is the scarab?"

Arthur began to repeat and repeat the question to him. Truthfully, Steven didn't know. His fear struck him, as his hands began to shake with his body. What would they do to him for not answering? What will Arthur Harrow do to him?

"I have it."

Everyone's head turned to a woman with wild, curly hair, with her hand holding the tiny artifact. She looked mad but calculated. She walked, like eyes in the back of her head, seeing the group started to slowly pool together.

"You couldn't possibly understand the value of what you're holding," Harrow claims, "Let me have it. I'll keep it safe."

"There is no deal in this, Marc," Khonshu says, "Fix this. Fix this!"

Layla mutters to Grant, "Summon the suit."

"Sorry, what?" Steven furrows his brows. "'Summon the soup'? What are you saying?"

She walked to him, she began to have a slight panic. "The suit. Summon it." Layla pressed the scarab on his chest. "And keep this safe."

°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°

     THE two ran together. They sped up the stairs into a storage type of place. As soon as they turned around, Layla had to try and ignore the wrapped, fresh corpses in the room, but she stopped as one being stood out from the rest. Steven didn't care about them, had his eyes widened at the sight that mattered to him.

"Toni!" He shouts.

Antonia was unconscious on a metal table. Her limbs were strapped down on a table, her nose was plugged in plastic tubes. Layla and Steven quickly went toward the girl.

"Who is this?" Layla asked, but he didn't answer her.

The man gently took the tubes out of her, not answering her question. Layla followed the tube and saw what it was connected to. "She's under anesthesia," Layla tells, "She should wake up in a few minutes."

Steven held the girl's head, shaking her head to wake her up as softly as possible. He could feel his eyes slowly pool with water. "Toni. Toni, sweetheart, wake up."

Layla looked confused and yet stunned. She had never seen the man in front of her be so gentle. He held this girl as if she was fragile porcelain or glass. He looked at her like she was something to him.

"Come on, Toni. Wake up. Wake up."

But that wasn't like Marc.
Marc would never be so emotionally close to someone — let alone a kid — that he would practically almost cry at the sight. He struggled to even try to be emotionally close to his wife, as much as Layla knew Marc would try his hardest.

Soon enough Antonia woke up, her sight was a total blur, and her body felt out of place. Her eyes drew tears, but she wasn't sobbing, she looked confused as she stared to the man that held her.

"Mr. Steven?" She called, with a raspy voice, "What the hell happened?"

The Grant grew a smile and hugged the girl, even kissing the top of her head. "Thank god, thank god you're okay!"

Layla looked down at the tank, deciphering how much she was given. The woman held her breath, she was given more than needed to stay under. "She's going to be messed up for a while. Loopy, dizzy, you know the drill. We have to get out of here."

Antonia turns to the woman. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Layla tilted her head. "Are you... Are you the girl on the phone?"

"You're Layla!" recalls the girl, "Mr. Steven, you found Layla?"

"It's a long story——"

Suddenly, the big bolted doors pounded. They had found them. Antonia's mind was still foggy, she knew she was tripping out. But in the shadows, she swore she saw a tall bird silhouette, along with a woman beside it. She shook it off, blaming the drugs.

"What do we do?" Steven asked Layla, slowly letting go of Antonia and moving in front of her, as he stared to the door.

"Listen to me. Listen to me." Layla grabs him by the collar. "Yo-Your name is Marc. There's a suit. I've seen you use it. You bring it out."

"Who the fuck is Marc?" Antonia asked quietly, stumbling out of the table.

Steven's mind was all over the place. He didn't want Marc to take over. He didn't want Antonia to be here. He didn't know how to bring the suit. He didn't know what to do. "N-No."

"We need you to fight!"

But Steven shook his head. Antonia could tell his was breaking down. His body started to shake, his body stiff as a board. Antonia would've said something, but she was too preoccupied with the banging door and trying to get her body to wake up in time.

"N-No. I can't," tells Steven, "Stop.  Stop, please, both of you. Please, stop!"

"Listen to me." Layla grabs Steven, to look at her. "Your name is Marc."

Antonia blinked a couple of times, looking anywhere around her. She saw a hammer along the wall and quietly crawled toward it.

She had to ignore Layla's pleas, ignore Steven's silent signs for help. If Antonia wasn't drugged up, she would demand an explanation, but for now, going with the flow was her only option.

As she grabbed the hammer and pulled herself up, she saw Steven crouch down and begging Layla to stop. She walked toward them, sloppily, as Layla pleaded with him to bring out 'the suit' and to fight.

"Leave him the fuck alone!" Antonia screams to the woman.

Layla was stunned to see the slight of a drugged teenager, strong enough to wield a hammer. She claims, "I'm trying to get us out of here!"

"You're pulling him apart," Antonia corrects, slurring her words, "You're making this worse!"

Steven looks to Layla, in defeat. "I'm sorry. I can't. I can't do it."

The woman saw the look in the man's eyes. She saw his fear, his conflict. "It—It's all right. We'll just find another way."

Antonia looked out the window. If only she was mentally stable enough to conjure her suit and fly them out of her. Her eyes drew tears, again.

Layla grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her to a ladder that led to the roof. Antonia looked to Steven to tell him to come along, but the door burst open.

Antonia gasped in seeing a monster. It was a type of lanky, demonic dog, like it was created straight out of hell. She had never seen anything like it.

"Jackal! Jackal! Jackal!" shouts Steven.

Antonia tried to go to Steven, but Layla still had her grip. "What jackal?"  She whispered.

Antonia furrowed her brows but looked back at Steven. The man slowly backed himself away, but the jackal jumped, making it and Steven fly out the window.

"Steven!" cried Antonia, her mouth opened in horror.

"We have to climb!" Layla orders.

"B-Bu——"

"He'll be fine, he has the suit. You have to climb now!"

Antonia winced as she climbed her way out and through the fire escape. Layla had to say words of encouragement, 'just don't look down', 'you're doing good', 'i'm right behind you.'

Antonia waited for Layla to get off the ladder, before offering the girl help. "Hold onto me and don't let go."

As the two walked, Antonia asked herself, "Where the fuck is Steven?"

Suddenly, a blur of white was thrown through the wooden gate. Antonia gave a confused huff, seeing it was a person. It was a person in a white suit, with an all-white mask, and illuminated eyes. They grabbed the bumper of the car and ripped it out; they had incredible strength.

Layla stammers, "Y-You look d-different."

Antonia screams, "Watch out!"

The jackal grabbed hold of the suited person and started throwing them around like a rag doll. Layla slowly got go of Antonia, as the teen tried to pull the woman back.

"Stay away from me!" The person shouts.

Antonia recognizes the voice. "Steven?! Steven, what the fuck?"

Layla didn't listen and tried to get closer, but was thrown back, as it was attacking Steven. Antonia slowly tried to help the woman up. "Are you fuckin' insane?"

"Insane? Marc is being thrown against the air."

"How do you not see the giant demonic thing right there?!"

"Where?"

Antonia looked, seeing Steven trying his hardest to get away, but Layla didn't see anything.

The girl rolled her eyes at the back of her head — this is something mythological.

Steven was getting pinned against a car, struggling to get away. Antonia saw her chance, she hurried and swung the hammer. The tooth end of it lodged in its back.

"Toni, get away from it! Get away!" shouts Steven.

The jackal screamed in pain as she pried it roughly out to hit it again. As she hit it again, Layla threw a half-full glass of alcohol. The liquor showed the curves of his face, and Layla looked horrified at the creature.

The jackal grabbed Steven and Antonia and flung them back. The girl groaned as her entire body was hit by the brick wall. It took every fiber of her being to not throw up.

Layla saw the broken half of the bottle and stabbed it seeing the light splashed of liquor left. She managed to hit it on its chest. She was smacked out of the way.

However, seeing the jackal go after Layla, Antonia jumped in grabbed the hammer, and started hitting it on the other end.

Steven slowly got up and watched the teen fight. She was sure as hell fighting hard and all her might. the more she hit the jackal, the more of its blood started to get on her.

The jackal finally grabbed Antonia by the arm and hosted her off of him. She cried feeling its grip slowly trying to break her arm, while his other claws were trying to stab her.

Steven went into action and grabbed the rim of a tire, but the jackal caught it in time. The two were thrown again, this time Antonia could feel her lungs start to spasm and the world started to shift.

Layla went toward the girl, putting her back to the jackal. "You need to stop. You're over-exerting yourself. You need the drugs to pass through her system."

Antonia didn't want to nod and admit defeat, but her body did it anyway.
The two turned around as they heard Steven yell, "Get away from them, you!"

Antonia watched as Steven started to jump like one of those boxers in the movies, as he fixed his hands to fists. "Yeah, I see you, you plug-ugly coyote."

As he jumped, he started to move back, making the jackal move away from the two girls. "You're in the wrong ends, mate. You're in my yard now."

When Steven threw off his coat and really getting ready, Layla slowly got Antonia up, who was doing her best to try and keep in her laughter.

"You're really laughing?" Layla whispered, confused.

"Fuck yeah, I am."

The masked man saw the jackal ready to pounce. "Floating like a butterfly, sting like a bee, my name is Steven with a V." The jackal jumped to attack, but Steven punched him down.

Antonia's jaw dropped. Her arms were thrown up in victory. "Yes!"

Steven was just as excited. He exclaims, "I did it! You got planted! Toni! Toni, did you see that?"

But victory has died as the jackal attacked Steven and flung him across the street. Antonia huffed, "I should've taken a video."

Layla gasped as she watched Steven get knocked down by a car, the jackal included. Antonia did her best to run toward the scene, but Layla had to limit her. The woman stabilized the teen and the two stopped once Steven got up and changed his suit.

There was no more clean suit but a wrapped, solid armor (that looked a little Assassin's Creed to Antonia). He pulled out weapons that looked like crescent moons. His body was more confident, more intimidating. This wasn't Steven.

The person was straight right at Layla, and Layla knew that he was. Her eyes held familiarity, she knew exactly who she was looking at. Antonia couldn't help but tense and frown, where was Steven?

Layla tells him, "Get it out of here."

And so he did.