"I see," I said, realizing what the Plague Doctor meant. A memory flashed in my head, and I added in to his point. "And the gang might actually be big, right? He might have gone to get more gang members if he was lying. Ambush us as we’re about to leave or something."
"That’d be the worst case scenario. So it’d be safer to just leave him here, for now."
That made sense to me. I eyed the quickly dissipating gas and the small crater where the first vial exploded. "So, you’re an Alchemist?"
The Plague Doctor reloaded his weapon as he answered.
"I am."
"I see," I said, casting a glance at a glowing vial hidden in his coat pocket. "Was that how you cured the Noxeus?"
The Plague Doctor paused. He was halfway sliding a bullet into his revolver, but stopped right as the tip entered the chamber. "Does it matter?" he asked, finishing the movement.
"Mhm?" I made a weird sound. "If you have a cure, or antidote, or whatever for it, why not share it? Don’t you want to help everyone you can?"
I was making an assumption based on the fact that he was a plague doctor who was apparently going around philanthropically helping everyone. Whether or not that's true— I did not know. But I was going to find out now.
"No comment."
Or not.
I closed and opened my eyes in rapid succession. "Huh?"
The Plague Doctor raised his shoulders and arms to the side. "I don’t feel like I would give you any answer that would leave you satisfied. It would be like if I asked you— a child— what you were doing out here trying to fight a gang of loan sharks and kidnappers. You would either give a vague response, or tell me an outright lie."
"What? I— I mean…" I trailed off.
I could not really deny that since he was telling the truth. Sighing, I stopped pressing him on the matter.
"Could you at least tell me your name? I’d think calling you ‘the Plague Doctor’ the entire time would get tiring after a while." I put a hand out, and smiled. "I’m Melas, it’s nice to meet you."
The Plague Doctor hesitated; he stared at my outstretched palm, scrutinizing it for a few moments. Then he slowly took it.
"I’m—"
The Plague Doctor
jerked,
and pulled me towards him. I lost my balance, almost falling to the floor.
"What?!"
I yelped.
There was a loud bang. A small blast came from the side—
But it did not reach me. My gaze flung up, as I saw the Plague Doctor holding up his cane: the mana crystal at its tip glowing, and a yellow domed barrier covering us.
The smoke from the explosion cleared up at the front of the barrier, and through the translucent shield, I could make two dozen figures standing down the hallway. At the very front of them was a gruff man holding a glowing blade in one hand, and a small round bomb in the other.
He grinned savagely.
"Since we’re doing introductions, I'll join in: I’m the boss around these parts, and you’re on
my
turf."
Then he threw the bomb, and it exploded.
Chapter 8: Secrets Exchanged
The bomb exploded on the shield’s surface, forming a small crack on it. Nothing significant. Not enough to destroy the barrier even if you threw a dozen more of those bombs at the same spot.
But the thugs were not stupid. They realized this, and began spreading out around us. I turned to the Plague Doctor, as a few bullets deflected harmlessly off the domed shield around us.
"Do you have any more of those smoke bombs?" I asked hurriedly.
"Unfortunately not," he said, his gaze sweeping over the thugs around the large room; some of them were positioning themselves behind the wooden crates, tables and chairs, and barrels scattered throughout the lobby area. But the bulk of them were still down the hallway ahead of us. "I have not had access to any alchemical ingredients in a while. And I was… not expecting to use up my stock here."
"So what do we do then? We’re surrounded!" I pointed out the obvious.
"Not completely." The Plague Doctor pointed at my behind with his cane, the mana crystal at its tip still glowing and keeping the barrier active. I saw two thugs barring the entrance— no, exit to the warehouse. "Ms Melas—"
"Just Melas is fine."
"Melas, then. If we make a break for the outside, we should be able to escape their encirclement and they’ll be forced to funnel through that doorway. We would be in a more advantageous position than we are now."
My eyes flickered to the side, as more gunshots, crossbow bolts, and another explosion impacted the barrier protecting us. The thugs were getting more impatient now, and were bolstered by the tiny spiderwebbed lines forming around the translucent shield. "Hurry up and come out, you bastards! We’ll teach you not to mess with us!" the thug boss yelled.
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
The Plague Doctor reached for his coat pocket, pulling out a bottle I vaguely recognized. "With this," he answered, sloshing the liquid inside of it. "Can you take on those two men?"
I looked at the two thugs blocking the exit. Both of them were holding melee weapons— a club and an axe. Neither had a long ranged weapon on them.
"Yes," I said with confidence.
"Good." The Plague Doctor nodded, then slowly lowered his cane. "On my mark, you run for it and don’t look back."
"I got it."
I held out my dagger in front of me, aiming my pistol at the man with the wooden club. I waited with bated breath for the signal—
"Mark."
And I dashed forward, firing multiple shots at the thug waiting for me. The barrier dissipated, and there
