Valeria Torres and the Midas Vault

Chapter 28: The Skirmish

The next few minutes passed in a blur, but Valeria did her best to remain focused as the confrontation unfolded. When she followed Hami and Xun into the room, shots rang out behind them and five of the Assassins dropped instantly. The three of them fired next, and three more Assassins dropped before they had a chance to retaliate.

Xun pounced on a nearby Assassin near the front; Hami removed a Bola and threw it at another. Valeria dropped the empty tranquilizer gun and ran toward Brigitte, who had already removed her pistol and aimed it at Xun. Valeria threw a smoke bomb at Brigitte's feet, and it detonated with a poof of smoke that altered her aim.

Xun took a hit to the shoulder and collapsed to the floor, while Hami incapacitated another Assassin with a second Bola. Another shot rang out – Valeria assumed it was Penny's rifle, Widowmaker – and another Assassin went down, leaving one more and Brigitte herself. The last Assassin aimed at Hami, but she threw a smoke bomb to disorient him. Using a judo throw, she took him to the ground and subdued him.

"That's enough!" Brigitte yelled, holding Sai as a human shield. She aimed the pistol at his head and said, "Drop your weapons, or I'll drop this kid."

Valeria and Hami were the only ones close by, and while she was unarmed, he had stolen a pistol. Sighing, he placed it on the ground.

"What's your plan Brigitte?" he asked, his tone sarcastic. "You don't have enough bullets to shoot all of us."

Valeria looked at Sai, and when their eyes met, he shifted them to his right and back. Before Valeria understood what his signal meant, he leaned backward and crashed his head into Brigitte's chin. A shot rang out, and Brigitte cursed and dropped her pistol. The shot came from Xun, who lay supine on the ground.

Sai fell to the ground as Valeria approached Brigitte. Waving her hands, she motioned for everyone to cease fire. "It's over," Valeria said. "You and Dontrell lost. Where is he?"

Brigitte released a hysterical laugh. "It's just beginning, sweetheart. The Master is already inside the vault."

Valeria cursed under her breath. She had hoped Dontrell wouldn't find the vault or the code to enter it. But he was Jada's brother; he was bound to figure it out eventually.

Brigitte removed a real knife and weaved it back and forth. "Come on, protégé. Let's settle this the old fashioned way."

Penny moved forward with her rifle. "No way! Drop your weapon!"

Valeria raised an arm, motioning for her to stop. "I've got this."

Brigitte laughed again. "You couldn't stop me before, and you won't stop me now."

Valeria removed Brigitte's diary and dropped it on the ground. "I let you win last time. Come at me, unless you're scared."

Brigitte snarled and unleashed a torrent of racist insults, but Valeria zoned them out. When she lashed out with a barrage of strikes, Valeria dodged two of them. She caught and disarmed her on the third, elbowing her in the face.

Rolling around on the ground, Brigitte laughed again. "None of this matters. The Master has already won."

Valeria turned toward Sai. He looked exhausted as Hami tended to him. She walked over and caressed his face. "Are you alright?"

"Better now that you're here," he said with a laugh. "I already said you can save me any time you want."

Looking at Xun, she asked, "how's your shoulder?"

"I'll live," Xun said, a weak grin across her face as she leaned on Penny for support.

"Can you heal them?" Valeria asked, looking in Erin's direction.

"There's no time," she replied. "She said someone's already inside the vault!"

Sighing, Valeria said, "She's right. I'm going in there."

"Are you kidding?!" Hami protested. "If Dontrell is in there, he'll kill you!"

"Why not wait to ambush him out here?" James asked.

Xun pointed in his direction. "The kid has a point."

James scoffed. "I'm not a kid - I'm a man."

"You don't understand!" Erin protested, "The Artifact is incredibly powerful. We can't let him get to it first. I think we can beat him to it! We have to try!"

Valeria exhaled impatiently and said, "Alright. I'll go in there and try to stop him. You all wait out here," she said, turning to Penny. "Be prepared to shoot anything that comes out of the Vault." She turned to Hami next. "Send for reinforcements okay?"

Hami padded her shoulder. "We will. Be careful in there."

"You're crazy as hell to go in there," Xun said, a grin across her face. "But I won't stop you. Prometheus watch over you."

Everyone offered similar sentiments, but Erin shook her head. "No way! We had a deal. I'm going in there with you. I can do more than just heal. We made a deal, and that's it!"

Realizing there was no way to change her mind, Valeria motioned for her to follow. She approached the illusionary wall near the entrance and heard the steady repetitive whispers.

"In...Anna...In...Anna..."

She passed through the wall and waited for Erin to pass through. Dusty footprints were noticeable near the vault door, revealing someone had been here recently. The three numerical dials were still set at: 0,0,0."

"Wow," Erin said, stepping through the wall. "That was a cool trick. The Artifact is definitely in there."

"You can hear it too?!"

"Yeah, it sounds just like ours."

With eyes narrowed, Valeria asked, "you've actually seen your Factions' Artifact?"

"I've done more than that," Erin said, examining the door, "I've used it. Come on, we need to move."

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Valeria asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

Valeria turned toward the dials, and slowly put the correct combination in one by one:

392.

Once finished, the door trembled and opened backward, revealing a massive dark cavern beyond. "Okay," Valeria whispered, "Follow me, and make sure you don't touch anything."

"Why?"

Valeria looked over at the clue next to the vault, along with its three names.

Be sure to recall this vault's name clearly, for respect is the ultimate currency.

The Strange Vault. Vault of Wonders. Midas Vault.

She turned back to Erin and said, "Just a hunch." She turned toward the vault entrance, took a deep breath, and led the way inside.