Ex-Doctor Of Rhodes Island

Return of the King

Hey.

No, this is not a Lord of the Rings remake. 

I am in a slight rush here, so I apologise if there are a few errors.

Let's get back to it.

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"Damn it!" Penance cursed, looking around the large crowd for the two gasmask-wearing weirdos.

"Please don't run off like that, Miss Penance," A few of her support staff and guards catch up to her after running through busy streets, now panting.

Gritting her teeth, Penance stormed back to the main street where she first spotted the two people and approached the dead bodies the police officers had already surrounded and were inspecting. Pushing through the officers and crouching down to the beaten corpse with its skull split in two, Penance's eyes widened in surprise.

Even with massive cranial damage, she knew who this was. "Auran Costello..." Penance muttered.

"Auran Costello... T-The Patriarch of the Costello family!?" The support worker behind her squeaked in shock.

"Good riddance," One of the police officers standing around muttered with a smile. 

Penance was conflicted. This was not how she wanted justice to be served. They have a code and standard which must be followed. Otherwise, they are no better than the criminals themselves.

But the darker side of her mind cheered and whooped. Auran Costello was a scumbag above scum. Countless unconvicted murders due to lack of evidence, theft, beatdowns, sex trafficking, soliciting minors... Auran had a taste for the younger generations...

Maybe it would have been more fitting if he suffered more... Penance shook her head. She was better than that!

"Miss Penance!" One of her workers pushed through the crowds, watching the flashes in the distance. Her worker was waving something in the air frantically.

Catching her attention and the rest of her staff, "Jason? What's wrong?"

"Palermo, Miss Penance, it's gone!" The worker shouted. One of the guards raced over and covered his mouth.

"Foolish boy! You want to start a panic?" The guard growled in his ear.

Penance and the others frowned at the news, not fully understanding. "Explain."

"An unknown force attacked Palermo and others... The city has fallen!"

"..." Everyone stared at Jason with sceptical or shocked expressions.

"You sure it's not a catastrophe-" Another guard asked but was harshly cut off.

"It was guns!" Jason looks at the guard with erratic but angry eyes.

"Guns?" Penance asked with a questioning stare.

"Yes, guns... Big guns... like, um... Cannons! Something the Sankta could only dream of!" Jason pointed at the horizon where constant flashes and the distance sounds of thunder rumbled. "Palermo has been flattened, Miss Penance... The city is gone."

Everyone stared at Jason silently, trying to process his words. Is such a thing possible? A catastrophe is believable, but a ludicrous amount of guns and cannons to wipe out an entire city? And not even part of the Sankta, the only ones who could deploy firearms on mass...

"The firepower needed to do what you're suggesting, kid..." The same guard as before glared at him.

Jason clenched his jaw and wanted to sneer at the man but turned to look at Miss Penance with a pleading look. Usually, he would be a blushing mess in front of her, but the attraction was the last thing on his mind.