Kirian was having a good night.

Covered in sweat and moving with practiced elegance, he felt right at home. Except, he wasn't at home, and sweat wasn't the only thing coating his face and arms.

He dodged swiftly as a wickedly curved knife flew through where he was just standing and struck at the hand holding it. The hulking figure grunted in pain and frustration as he dropped the knife. In two swift movements, Kirian sliced deeply into the assailant's shoulder and calf.

The man dropped with a satisfying thud and Kirian plunged the knife into his heaving chest victoriously. The last thing the man saw was a gleeful face covered in blood splatter.

This was a really good night.

Three men stormed into what must be the break room armed to the teeth. One particularly young man looked at the carnage strewn around the room with nausea, Kirian aimed for him first.

He bolted from his spot, weaving erratically to make himself a difficult target. A second after he started moving, shots rung out. The harsh sound bounced off the walls and the melody was enchanting. Kirian came up at the younger man from below and sliced straight up through his armpit, severing half of his arm. Kirian moved fast, quickly grabbing hold of his rifle and shooting it at the other two. He held the wriggling body up as a shield.

Kirian paused and stood silent. Faint, careful footsteps came from the door behind him and he swiveled fast, just in time as more than a dozen people come in blazing. Men and women in protective vests and typical security uniforms, all black with an unfamiliar gold insignia.

The young man-turned-shield was fully unconscious now. The boy was both the only thing between Kirian and their deadly bullets, and dead weight slowing him down. He thought for a moment before yelling out, "A shootout is so boring, anyone down for some hand to hand combat?"

He peeked out from behind the body hopefully and ducked back as another round of bullets flew through the air towards him. This was going to take some time.

"Lame!" He shouted tauntingly before dragging himself and the body behind a solid desk.

Kirian checked the rifle and decided there were enough bullets if he played this right. He stabbed a hole in the desk's softer rubber corner and pressed an eye up against it. He set a steady rhythm of finding a target's position, then sending a short burst of bullets in their direction. It worked for a while, and he was fairly sure that all of the security personnel were now badly injured, if not dead. He hastily ripped the vest off of the now long dead man in front of him and stalked toward the first group of bodies.

Besides one round of bullets from the opposite direction, Kirian met little resistance. Huddled behind a couch were three guards. Kirian checked their pulses quickly. Finding one is still alive, Kirian slit his throat quickly. There wasn't much time to savour it as shots kept coming from the group on the opposite side of the room. Once there was a break in the onslaught, Kirian dashed towards the largest group, all huddled behind and around a set of closed off booths. Thankfully, they were all dead.

Later, Kirian thought to himself. Now was not the time to enjoy the deaths. He finally sprinted toward the last stronghold, a vending machine that only two people were leaned against. One was in critical condition while the other spit in Kirian's direction.

"I'll end you!" she screamed, shooting what was left of her bullets towards where she assumed Kirian was. Unfortunately for her, he had snuck back the other way and came up behind her, steps hidden by the gunfire. In one swift movement he sliced her neck from one side to the other.

"I told you shootouts are lame." He chided, excited to continue cutting up the barely living guards when gunshots sprayed in through doorway. A large, burly man poked his head in and made eye contact before running out the doorway.

"Not so fast!" Kirian laughed and ran in the direction the man went. He could hear the heavy breaths and could practically smell his fear. Kirian turned a corner, and for a moment, he didn't see anything. But then, Kirian caught a flash of black cloth slipping into a room at the end of the hall. Kirian sauntered menacingly towards the room, knives spinning, as the anticipation grew in the pit of his stomach. He let out a disturbing laugh and ran into the room singing, "I'm gonna get you!"

The door automatically shut behind him.

Shit.

The room was empty and there were no windows or doors besides the one he walked in through. A black vest lay dejected on the floor. Screaming, Kirian pounded his fists on the door over and over.

"Come face me you cowards!" He roared.

The almost imperceptible vents at the top of the high ceiling started leaking a curling black smoke. It floated down, clouds dispersed like cotton candy in water. Soon the whole room smelled of something sickly sweet and acrid and Kirian's vision became tinged with dark grey. He held his breath, but it was too late and in a few minutes, he collapsed into the ground.