The Last Guardian

Chapter_62: The Brothers Dillinger

It was the darkest night of the year- the sky was pitch black- no moon, no stars either. Thunder began to roll in the skies- it was going to rain- again. There was about to be some violent clash inside the museum- Johnathan and Solomon were crouching against the wall near the lobby, awaiting for the perfect moment to attack the thieves who were trying to c***k the vault open. Solomon never expected them and he couldn’t get to the armour without alerting them- the room where the armour was kept was just beside the vault. Johnathan however observed blood on the floor- somebody had dragged a bloody body away, he wanted to check but it was too risky.

“Right- so there’s no place to hide in the lobby- we’ve got to approach them head on-”he whispered.

He wasn’t aware that Billy and Raven were close, busy looting some other stuff for extra cash.

Solomon loaded his guns and walked straight towards them- Johnathan followed him from behind.

“All right lads- fun’s over-”he said pointing his guns at the Dillingers.

The Dillingers turned around, surprised to see Solomon and Johnathan. They looked at each other- dropped their tools and raised their hands- they still had their masks on.

“Well, well – trying to hit the mother load are we? Anybody else with you- huh?” asked Solomon.

The brothers nodded in denial.

“On your knees then-”he ordered.

The brothers kneeled down.

“Johnny- keep watch- take this- I’ll check the room and bring the Armour-” he said handing him one of the guns.

Johnathan did as he was told- it was an odd feeling- to hold a gun after so long. Solomon went inside the room and searched for the armour. The brothers stared at Johnathan as he kept watch over them.

“What you looking at? Huh? Take off your masks-” ordered Johnathan.

Both of them took off their masks- Johnathan was surprised to see that both of them looked alike- they were twins- both had short blonde hair and grey eyes and mean chiselled faces. Suddenly a voice echoed from behind him-

“You know, nobody stayed alive after pointing a gun at those two-”

Johnathan turned and was surprised to see Billy approaching him with a gun.

“Oh Johnny boy- always at the wrong time and place-put that gun down- let’s talk-”said Billy pointing a shot gun at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”asked Johnathan.

“I could ask you the same question- now don’t make me ask twice- put down that gun-”replied Billy.

“Or what? You gonna shoot?” Johnathan smirked.

“Oh that’s right- I can’t hurt or kill you but I can still take you down-”said Billy pointing at his chest.

Johnathan looked down at his chest and saw a tiny green dot of light- it was coming from the scope of a sniper-

“Raven? She’s here too?” he remarked in surprise but before he could utter another word, Raven shot at him from far behind the lobby- it wasn’t a bullet but a small dart that hit his chest- it was loaded with a high dose of tranquillizer.

As soon as the dart hit his chest, Johnathan felt sleepy and within five seconds, he collapsed to the ground.

Billy looked at the brothers -

“Get your butts up! Anybody else with him?”he asked them.

Both of them unanimously pointed towards the door through which Solomon went.

“You two carry on- Raven, cover me-” he said entering the room, looking for Solomon.

But as soon as he entered the dark room, someone grabbed him by his collar and knocked his gun off and choked him till he turned blue. Raven entered the room and heard Billy choking in the dark. She turned on her flash light and searched for him but she was immediately greeted with a bullet. Her light fell off and she backed off from the door. She fell back and wondered if it was worth it. Johnathan was lying unconscious on the floor and the brothers had almost cracked the vault open. She knew that if Johnathan wakes up, he could finish this fight within seconds and his partner had already taken Billy hostage.

She had to make a quick decision now- she could save Billy or run away and save herself. She wasn’t obliged to save Billy but he had promised her riches beyond her wildest dreams- she’d never have to work again. Greed got the best of her and she decided to side with Billy, she just had to make sure that Johnathan doesn’t wakes up soon, the rest, she could handle. With cold eyes, she pointed her tranquillizer gun at Johnathan and fired six darts at his chest- enough to kill an elephant. She then took out a flash grenade from her sleeve and bit off the pin and threw it inside the dark room.

There was a loud bang and the room lit up for a few seconds. Solomon, who had almost choked out Billy was suddenly disoriented from the sudden flash of light and let go off of him. Billy immediately gasped for air and ran frantically towards the door and got out of the room. Raven then took out a smoke grenade and hurled it inside the room and closed the door.

“That should take care of him-”she said.

“My God- that’s a lot of darts-”remarked Billy looking at Johnathan.

“Don’t worry- he can handle it-who was that guy in the room?”she asked.

“No idea- he was strong-but I’m sure if Johnathan’s here then Farid’s somewhere nearby- C’mon we gotta get outta here- this job wasn’t supposed to turn out like this-” he said walking towards the vault.

The Dillingers took their hammers and hit the ice cold door that they had infused with liquid nitrogen earlier. It only took two blows and the entire thing came crumbling down like a slab of broken ice. Billy was impressed by their skills- Raven kept watch as he entered into the vault. He was pleased to see the Eye of Horus placed so conveniently in the centre of the vault, simply covered with glass panes- it shone brightly and the golden colour could hypnotise anyone- it exuded both beauty and power.

Billy reached for it and place his hand on the glass panes- normally that would have sounded the alarm but the entire alarm system had already been shut off- thanks to Raven. For a moment, he bathed in it’s aura-

“Hand me that wrench-”he said.

Then he carefully hit the bottom of the glass pane and cracked the case down. After carefully removing the broken pieces of glass, he grabbed the object and placed it in a small black bag.

“Let’s go- we’re done-”he said and began packing up.

Suddenly a voice echoed from behind-

“Ah! Billy you sly, stinking, old vulture-”

Everybody turned around and saw Johnathan standing behind them. Billy’s mouth opened wide in shock. He knew now that there was no way out.

“So this is how low you’ve stooped- burglary? I always knew something was wrong with you-”said Johnathan.

He called upon his metal arms and his hands glowed with energy- there were intricate carvings all over his arms. He realized that Brother Solomon was trapped inside the room. With one punch, he broke a hole into the door and it fell to pieces- Solomon came rushing out dragging the huge armour with him.

“Listen to me Johnny- this is not what it looks like- I need this to fight evil- let us pass-”begged Billy.

“You could have just called me you know- I would’ve helped but judging by the looks of it all- this just seems to me like a burglary-Raven- you would have killed me, if you could and you almost choked him out-”he replied.

Raven sighed.

“Just leave that thing and walk away- I don’t wanna hurt you-”Johnathan warned.

“Oh you couldn’t even if you wanted Johnny boy-”said Billy.

Before anybody could realize, the Dillingers turned on Johnathan. Both of them rushed at him like hungry wolves-with their sharp claws and teeth. Solomon fell back while Johnathan kicked both of them away with amazing speed. Both of them fell a few feet away. But then they changed- wings came out of their shoulders and their teeth grew longer. Within a flash of a second, they flew at Johnathan. But he saw their movements and punched them hard and knocked their teeth off. Both fell down again.

“Why do they keep changing? What are they?”asked Johnathan.

“Shape Shifters- on steroids- be careful, there’s no limit to how many forms they can change-”replied Solomon from behind.

Billy and Raven took advantage of the situation and immediately sneaked out leaving the Dillingers to handle Johnathan. Billy knew exactly how the Dillinger brothers eluded the police for so long and successfully stolen priceless goods. He knew the truth about them and he chose to bring them along on this heist just in case Johnathan showed up, even though there was low probability of that he never took any chances. His plan worked and now he and Raven just had to get to his car and run away. He could do anything to succeed in his plans, even side work with monsters.

The brothers stood up again-this time they joined hands. To Johnathan’s surprise, they began to morph into each other- it was a weird sight. Two human bodies, melting into one another? Johnathan have read about shape shifters and how they could easily change forms and appearances. But this was something new- Solomon was right- they do appear to be on steroids!

Within seconds, the morph was complete- the result was horrifying. They appear to have changed in to some kind of hybrid lion-monster. It had the body of a giant lion with the head of a goat protruding out from its back and a monstrous snake in place of a tail. Johnathan stood in awe of the beast that stood in front of him. This was the Dillinger’s final level of attack- if Johnathan could destroy this form, then the Dillingers would be destroyed for good but it didn’t looked that easy.

“Dear God! The Chimera!” exclaimed Solomon.

“The what-”remarked Johnathan.

Before he could say another word, the Chimera monster spewed out a huge stream of burning fire at him. Johnathan barely managed to get out of the way and the fire burnt his jacket. He rolled to the side and took off his jacket. The Chimera roared loudly- the sound was a strange and creepy mix of a lion’s roar and a goat’s scream with some of the snake hisses. It startled Johnathan for a moment.

“Help me out here Brother- How do I kill it?” yelled Johnathan as the monster slowly walked towards Johnathan.

Solomon was thinking and trying to recall what he had read in the scriptures- the Chimera was a fearful monster, almost invincible – it couldn’t be cut or killed and it’s only weakness was it’s heart. The heart of the Chimera was always exposed, meaning there was little to no skin covering it’s heart. The only way to kill it was to stab it’s heart. He had the royal armour in his hands-

“Johnny! Absorb the armour-”he yelled back at him.

Johnathan could hardly hear him beneath all the roaring and grunting of the hideous monster. He jumped on his feet and re-energised his metal arms and ran towards it. The monster spewed out hot fire again but Johnathan shielded it with his left arm and with his left arm, he punched at the monster’s face. The Chimera fell back a few steps but got up again. Johnathan was surprised- this time he took out his sword.

“Johnny- the armour!” yelled Solomon again.

He was too far away from him. Johnathan stood boldly holding his sword against the Chimera in the lobby. He didn’t know that nothing would work against it.

Outside the museum, Farid was awaiting anxiously for them to return. He had heard strange noises coming from the inside but he chose to stick to the plan. He had called Solomon several times but no response- he paced up and down the empty street, thinking of what to do next. Suddenly, he saw two shadows exiting the building-