//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - The Battle for the Bank // Story: The Lunar Chalice // by Spirals95 //------------------------------// Chapter 14 A loud clank of metal on porcelain sounded as a carelessly tossed fork landed on an empty dessert plate, a wide smear of chocolate across it. Flaming Ivory reclined back, having enjoyed the best meal he'd had in ages courtesy of the senator. She had brought them to her favorite restaurant, a pasta place specializing in grilled vegetables on almost any kind of noodle one could imagine. “I take it you liked the layer cake then?” she asked the unicorn. “Probably going to regret it,” answered Flaming Ivory, reclining in his chair to alleviate the feeling of being about to explode. The long table set outside of the establishment was covered in a light blue tablecloth, now ruined by the questionable table manners of Techorse's friends, stacks of dishes from the all-you-can-eat spaghetti and fried mushrooms sat precariously close the edge. “Thank you again for all your efforts stopping that griffon,” Gaveler said, “if it wasn't for you, he would have gone on to destroy that whole city block!” “Hopefully once we get done here we can find Rosseth too,” added Techorse, placing his silverware crossways on his plate to signal the waiter, “it's starting to get dark and I'm beginning to get worried he might act.” “We have guards stationed at the crystal banks now like you requested,” assured Sharp with a smile, “he won't get in to any of them without us knowing.” While they were talking, Midnight pulled out his small notebook given to him by his father and started writing some more down in the crisp pages using a tiny quill he left inside. Shadow Breeze peered over from his seat at the table. “What are you doing, Midnight?” he asked curiously. The sapphire unicorn looked up from his writing and answered, “My father gave me this book and told me to write about our adventures in it. I figure it'll keep him happy until I can settle my new job with Princess Cadance...” “New job?” “Cadance promised to find me some kind of a desk job with the guard so that he'll finally shut up about me going into the service,” sighed Midnight, “I really didn't want to become a soldier, so maybe logistics work would be enough.” Shadow Breeze gave him an understanding look, “I see what you mean, even we tried to get him to stop... he won't budge. Maybe we should find out why he's so insistent on it, instead.” “Haven't had luck with that either, he's determined to keep it secret,” he replied while returning to his writing, “but maybe he'll tell me once I start helping out the Crystal Guard. Going to miss my mane, though!” The pegasus next to him sat back down, thinking about Midnight's family issues and what he could do to help him. Ignitus clearly wanted Midnight to be “a hero” and had expressed joy at Techorse being friends with him. Maybe all he had to do was prove himself. “What your dad thinks doesn't really matter, ya know,” he said, “we're your friends and we think you're a great guy, Midnight.” Midnight moved his mouth to speak, but he found himself unable to conjugate words as his thoughts were overrun by that voice again. “Listen to your companion. You don't need that worthless stallion judging you, he merely sired you. You'll show him what it really means to be powerful and strong!” “Hey, what's wrong?” asked Shadow Breeze, noticing the pause. “Nothing,” responded Midnight. Gaveler finished paying the bill, not too overwhelming despite Flaming Ivory's appetite, and stood up from the table satisfied. “I hope this meal has been a good apology for my behavior,” the senator told them, “the Crystal Empire is a lot safer thanks to brave ponies like yourselves.” “Hey, anything involving food makes me pretty quick to forgive, lady,” answered Flaming Ivory, the musician pushing out of his chair, “thanks!” From around the corner of the eatery, Techorse spotted Arbiter and Ignitus walking towards them, cross expressions on their faces. He wondered if they were upset having caught them goofing off with the senator, or if something else had made them irritated. “Midnight,” called out Ignitus, reaching the outside tables, other patrons nearby turning to look, “we've been looking for you all evening. There was an attack downtown a few hours ago, where were you during that?” Senator Gaveler walked up to Ignitus and said to him with her nose turned up, “If you must know, this stallion Midnight worked together with his friends to stop that attack!” The detective pulled back, his face lighting up as if he was actually happy for once, “Oh... I see. None of the locals mentioned it.” “It's not important, Ignitus,” said Arbiter, “what matters is that he did the right thing and aided Techorse in stopping that griffon.” Techorse didn't want Ignitus to go off again on his son, so he intervened quickly, “Any news on our friend Rosseth, Arbiter?” The captain shook his head, “Sorry lad, haven't seen him. The banks are now adequately defended though, so our job may be finished anyways. Guess we're just going to have to turn in for the night and start again tomorrow. We know nothing.“ “Oh I wouldn't say that!” came a voice from above. Out of the sun, Limpwing dropped down, landing in front of Gaveler which made the senator leap back in shock. “Whoops, sorry about that,” the mare said to the official with a hint of nervousness, “I forgot I was still in stealth mode there.” “And who are you?” she asked, “Friends of Techorse as well I take it?” “Yeah you could say that,” Limpwing snickered, “so guess what? I figured out where Rosseth's going to strike next, it's the First Imperial Bank.” There was talk amongst the other ponies eating dinner straight away, having heard Limpwing blurt out where the robbery was going to be. She blushed, having given the secret out so quickly and so loudly without checking her surroundings. “Oops... guess I shouldn't have turned off stealth mode juuuuust yet.” “Limpwing, that's fantastic news,” congratulated Techorse, “now we can stop Rosseth from getting the crystals he's after.” “Exactly,” interrupted Ignitus, “we'll need to go back to the Crystal Palace and inform Princess Cadance immediately. We may be able to prepare for his arrival ahead of time, and that's when we'll stop this zebra.” “Without hurting him,” urged Shadow Breeze with a concerned look. “I make no promises,” said Ignitus, his gaze at the pegasus making him slink back. Techorse turned back to Gaveler, “Are you coming with us, senator?” She looked behind herself at the worried expressions of her citizens, then turned back, “I think I may need to reassure a few more concerned ponies, thanks to your little scout there.” “Sorry!” Limpwing said meekly. The inn Rosseth had chosen to stay at was a quiet, small place near the edge of the Crystal Empire, intentionally picked for the purpose of staying out of sight, and out of mind. With his cover so heavily blown, Rosseth hoped the inn keeper hadn't heard about his antics in town. He would need his “items” back from the room if he wanted any hope of completing his plans. Lighthearted was at his side as they approached the building, a flat building with a beautiful tiled roof and several columns holding it up. For a small inn, it looked very fancy and decorated, sparkling in the night as the street lamps reflected on it. Lighthearted pulled around the zebra to face her, “So, did you enjoy your tour? I hope I showed you everything the Crystal Empire has to offer!” “It was wonderful, thank you,” answered Rosseth with a twinkle in his eye, “I haven't had so much fun in years.” “Well...” she said shyly, “can I ask you something?” He approached her slowly, “Yes?” “Rosseth, can I... um?” she stuttered, looking at her hooves, “Can I call you Ross? Since we're friends now?” The nickname burned into him like a heated poker, but Rosseth refused to act offended about it. Lighthearted had clearly blurted that out to avoid saying something else, and she had treated him so kindly. There was something different about her that made her... special. “You can call me that if you want,” he answered finally after clearing his throat. She asked him another question, “Would you want to do something again tomorrow?” With hurt he answered, “I... I may not be here tomorrow. My work may call me back.” Immediately the light in her face drained, “Oh. I see. Well, if you ever come back in town, let me know Ross. This was fun.” “Yes, it was,” he said softly, “have a good evening Lighthearted.” Slowly the waitress turned away to go back home, the zebra behind her radiating the conflict in his mind. Eventually he couldn't take the feeling anymore. “I'll... I've got a week's vacation from my job soon,” he said, acting as if his job was the truth, “You've shown me how great the Crystal Empire is, so I'll come here.” The hope returned to the earth pony, and she ran up to him, embracing him, “Yay! I'll see you then, ok?” She skipped away from him, joy in her step. Now Rosseth felt the tugs of guilt again, after such hospitality and such love... he was going to go forward with his plans. “This is against Cadance, not you... forgive me friend,” he sighed as he turned back into the inn. After stashing his artifacts in bags, readying some potions and miscellaneous magic equipment, Rosseth informed the shopkeeper he was departing and left in the darkness for the bank. The building was just as he had left it, only dark on the inside. No guards were standing around, strangely, so it was easy to reach the building. Carefully avoiding sight by the few remaining ponies on the streets, he slunk around to the back of the building, and looked up at the window several stories above. His amulet sparked with energy, shooting out a flailing rope of electricity which snagged the base on the window, rapidly pulling him up towards it. Now he was seated on the stone ledge in front of the giant glass pane, the vault fountain just below in the main lobby of the bank. “This is too easy,” he thought confidently. Taking out a small piece of metal, the zebra stuffed it into the window, jacking it open quickly. A rope was tied to the window frame, the rest of it thrown into the darkness. The stones mounted on the walls with symbols glowed a purplish color before spreading triangular shaped beams all over the interior of the bank. Once the sweep was complete, the rocks made a strange musical tone once and then returned to silence. As the zebra had suspected, the ward runes only picked up on body heat, and the magic security system had no interest in his rope. He would need to act quickly to disable the alarms once he was inside before they started their next sweep. Quickly he slid down the rope, slightly burning the fronts of his hooves. He took a braced stance on his legs as soon as he hit the floor, and his amulet launched bright pulses of electrical energy at each of the security runes. They were struck by the energy, sparking brightly before being destroyed in a spray of sparks. “That takes care of those, now on to the vault!” He reached the fountain and looked around for the control panel, finding it underneath the stone as Ledger had used it. The numeric keypad had buttons large enough for pony hooves, but Rosseth wasn't keen on entering in all the possible combinations. He fetched out a bottle of greenish liquid, and unscrewed the cap with his mouth. A stream of greenish, glowing goop seeped onto the keys, frying them. With a loud grating noise, the granite leading to the vault slowly opened up. “Just have to wait for the doors to open,” he said quietly to himself, “I just hope no one can hear...” Rosseth was suddenly blinded as the lights in the bank turned on all at once. The bright light pierced his corneas, and the loud noise of floodlights activating filled his ears. Once his eyes had adjusted, he found himself looking at a long wall of Crystal Guards armed with spears and shields. In front of them was everyone he hated most, Techorse and his friends accompanied by Shining Armor and Cadance. Above on the ledges of the bank sat Arbiter and Ignitus, glaring down. Aura-covered horns, spears, swords, and the odd pair of laser cannons were all aimed at him. “Rosseth! You are under arrest for the robbery of the First Imperial Bank!” shouted Shining Armor, “Give up now, you're surrounded!” The zebra made direct eye contact with the princess next to him, hatred in his eyes and concern in hers. “Listen to us!” begged Princess Cadance, “We can help you!” “Princess Cadance,” laughed the zebra, “you want to help me now? Where was that spirit years ago, when you failed to help me out in my time of need?” “I'm sorry, I was younger and less experienced!” the alicorn pleaded, stepping forward, “Please Rosseth, I don't know what you're trying to do, but it's not worth harming the Crystal Empire. Come with us!” He took a step backward, spears and other weapons tracking his movements. Rosseth guffawed, “I'll come with you... if you can find the real me!” Several dozen illusions spawned from his amulet immediately, flooding the bank with copies of the sorcerer. The real Rosseth dropped a smoke grenade at his hooves, creating a barrier between him and his clones so he could return his attention to the slowly-opening vault. Bolts of blue energy flew from the illusions' jewelry, smashing into shields and knocking over the guards as they charged forward. Cadance spread her wings and flew up into the inside of the bank to escape the Rosseth clones grabbing at her. She looked over the hordes of illusions charging towards the guards and her close friends. “No...” Thoroughly trained for such an event, the guards lowered their spears and shields and began the slow march towards the line of illusions, a perfect wall of armor and weaponry advances towards the vault. One of the illusions uncapped a small red potion and tossed the bottle high above into a cluster of guards, exploding in a fiery blast of heat that sent them flying and wrecked their armor. Techorse began to return fire with his laser cannons, blasting several of the images and shattering them as they ran. Soon he was joined by his friends, who fired their blue plasma, orange music magic, and shadow bombs at the oncoming horde. But for every clone shattered, dozens more appeared from behind the smoke. There was simply no way they could outpace Rosseth's production rate of the magical holograms. “Cadance! Tend to them!” yelled her husband, pointing to the pile of injured soldiers, “I'll get Techorse to the vault.” Braving the withering hail of beams, Shining Armor stepped in front of the four stallions and cast a long wall of purple-colored shielding, which soaked the blasts but prevented him from staging any kind of a counterattack. “Keep them off me and we'll get to Rosseth!” he commanded. They slowly marched forward, pushing back on the illusions. A cluster of them flanked left and tried to attack the five of them from the side, but Arbiter and Ignitus jumped down to deal with them. The captain drew his sword, and his cousin took out his crossbow. With a wide swing of the magical blade, Arbiter cleaved through two of the images before being pounced on by a third. Ignitus took careful aim and sent a bolt straight through it, the illusion turning to magical dust instantly. “You were sure you weren't going to hit me, right Ignitus?” growled Arbiter as he bashed another Rosseth with the hilt of his weapon. “Of course,” lied Ignitus as he reloaded his next shot. The real Rosseth at the vault door was waiting with sweat pouring down his face as the granite stopped moving. Now the slow metal circular door was opening, and taking what seemed like an eternity. Blobs of energy left his amulet and continued to roll along the floor behind him, spawning more minions for his enemies to fight... but even he knew it would run out of power and need a cool down soon. Six bright yellow blasts of energy from Techorse's guns flew through the smoke and impacted the vault door, surprising Rosseth and making him turn around. They were only missed shots, but they were a reminder he was running out of time fast. As soon as the vault door was open wide enough for him to fit his body through, he jumped into the vault and went to rob the safe deposit boxes. The first one he came too was marked “Lighthearted”. Rosseth frowned and skipped over that one, heading straight for Mr. Lamplight's box. Surely he could part with what stones he needed for the next evening. Another potion of acid brought the door of the box open without a key, and the rogue quickly stuffed his saddlebags full of the sparkling crystals vibrating with energy. Outside, a few more images had manged to get behind Shining's shield and were beginning to harass Techorse's friends. One of them shot out a bolt of lightning and electrocuted Flaming Ivory, sending the unicorn over on his side and frizzing his tail and mane even further than what it already was. “Why you...” he muttered as he stood back up. He screamed, and a bright blast of orange energy shot from his horn in a ring around him, blasting away the hapless enemies. Nearby, Arbiter continued to hack and slash, helping the push forward. A blast of energy flew his way and he ordered the blade mentally to block, Midnight's mindstone on the hilt obeying and positioning the floating sword to deflect the blast. It bounced away harmlessly, but the force knocked him to the floor, and another three enemies jumped in front of the captain, intent on picking him off. A rain of kunai pierced through the aggressors suddenly, and Limpwing landed next to her friend with a smile on her face. “I suppose I owe you one,” said Arbiter, getting up on his hooves again. “I'll cash in on it, trust me,” she answered with a wink, immediately turning and throwing another spread of blades into a random batch of clones, “maybe I'll have you pick up my kunai after this.” The captain smirked, “We'll see Miss Limpwing.” Techorse switched over to his missile launcher and fired off another pair of projectiles into the horde, the explosion consuming most of the remaining targets. His saddle vibrated quickly on his back, informing him that the next pair of missiles was his last. “Oh no, not already,” he whined, “I should have noticed I was running out when I was fixing my cannons earlier.” “And you were going to just make some more missiles out here in the Empire?” teased Midnight Blaze, “You'd at least need some machine tools to get started, right?” “Well I could probably just go to the nearest fireworks factory and borrow their rocket press,” he answered with a smile, before laughing with friend over the lame inventing-based jokes. Shadow Breeze reached the smoke screen and swept away the smoke with his wings quickly, revealing the vault door just as Rosseth stepped out again with his bag full of gems. He grunted when he saw the ring of guards surrounding him, and a very angry group of stallions plus one spy mare. “All right, drop the gems,” ordered Shining Armor, “and put your hooves behind your back.” “My friends,” said Rosseth calmly, holding up a hoof, “I appreciate your tenacity in stopping my efforts, but there's simply no way you can prevent me from carrying out my...” His supply of air was cut off at once, Ignitus's horn glowing a furious red, the aura around his horn duplicated on Rosseth's neck as the zebra was strangled. The detective lifted him off the ground magically by the throat, strangling the caped zebra. Cadance saw what was happening from the back of the room, and let out a terrified scream, dropping the guard she was trying to heal and making a mad gallop for the vault area. “DAD, NO!” yelled Midnight Blaze. Ignitus throttled his quarry and brought him right next to his face, hatred burning in his eyes, “We told you to surrender already, zebra. This is what happens when you don't obey authority!” “Ignitus, stop!” ordered Shining Armor. Rosseth's life was draining from his face, sputtering and grabbing at his neck like a fish without water. Techorse considered subduing Ignitus to get him to let go, but all he could do was stand with his mouth open. The unicorn in front of him was angrily choking out the zebra, but there was nothing they could do about it but yell and hope he'd listen. “That's enough!” pleaded Midnight, but his father refused to budge. And then, something motivated him to take action... “Stop him now, Midnight!” A bright blast of light blue colored magic toppled Ignitus, pushing him to the ground suddenly. Midnight stood there panting, his horn smoldering. Rosseth coughed and gasped on the floor, air returning to his lungs. The other ponies in the room looked on in shock, Midnight had actually stood up to his father's rage for the first time, and Cadance rushed over to make sure Rosseth was ok. Ignitus stood up and growled, knowing his son had been the one to push him over. He stared down at his son, not saying a word to him. “I said... that's enough!” he said firmly. “Midnight... you'll never learn,” slowly came the response. “I think it's you who doesn't learn,” interrupted Shining Armor crossly, “Cadance told me everything about your attitude towards your own son, and this proves it. Why'd you have to start choking that guy?” “He was attacking us,” countered the massive stallion, thinking it justified his cruel behavior. “He was holding us off to get the crystals,” sighed Cadance, having trapped Rosseth in a floating pink sphere of healing energy, “what you just did... goes against everything we believe in.” Ignitus pushed forward, “Princess Cadance, he's a thief and a possible murderer!” “Take another step towards my wife and you'll be sorry,” threatened Shining. “Oh like you could do anything to me Shining Armor, the living shield who mistook a bug for his spouse,” Ignitus replied with a mixture of growling and laughter. “I was talking about Cadance,” smirked the captain. Ignitus slowly looked back to Cadance, who seemed to burn with anger, mane flowing and her horn sparking. Her eyes glowed white, burning into him. Worse was the fact that all of her friends and supporters stared at him with the same sense of disapproval. “I want you out of the Crystal Empire tonight,” Princess Cadance boomed pointing for the exit of the bank, “do not come back until you are ready to sit down with me and discuss things with your son. You have no room to tell him how he should behave when all you do is torment him and act brutally towards your enemies!” “If you say so,” he grunted. “I do say so, detective,” snapped the alicorn. His trenchcoat burnt and his red fur ruffled up, Ignitus Enflame snorted a long puff of breath out his nose. Picking up his crossbow and stashing it back in his tattered coat, he tipped his hat and bid his companions goodbye, pushing past the guards and leaving the bank. Once he was gone, Princess Cadance let out a peaceful sigh, and her body returned to normal. “Oh, poor Rosseth,” she said, turning around slowly to look at the bubble, “I'm so sorry he did that to you...” She gasped, the bubble was empty, Rosseth had poked his way through using his amulet and was now on the ground in front of her. “Apology accepted Cadance!” he laughed, “Of course, you still owe me another million for your past, so I'd prepare your subjects for a new age of darkness!” The zebra threw down another red potion, creating a burning oil slick across the floor as he dashed for the emergency exit nearby. Techorse opened up with a volley of lasers, but his shots missed, poking holes through the door just after it slammed behind Rosseth. A loud ringing filled the bank as the fire sprinklers went off, drenching the war-torn bank. “After him!” said Arbiter. “We'll go for Rosseth, you stay here and... try to resolve things,” said Techorse. “Good plan, go get him Tech!” said Shining, nodding. The four stallions ran out the same door in chase of the zebra, leaving them alone. A few burned guards, and some property damage, but no serious loss of life or limb was the result of the robbery, but that did little to make Princess Cadance feel any better. Rosseth was never going to forgive her... A large, half-frozen river stood at the east border of the Crystal Empire, supplying a lot of its water, the ice melting just as it crossed the thermal barrier provided by the Crystal Heart. It was here that Rosseth ran to escape the city with his crystals in tow, along with his artifacts. Unfortunately, the zebra noticed there was no bridge, and he stopped short of the bank of the deep river, cringing. Techorse and his team were catching up, the inventor's lasers drawn and ready to go. Rosseth nervously looked back at the water, and stuck his hoof in, the room temperature liquid making him nervous and afraid. Thinking fast, he started to run parallel in hopes of finding a bridge. Just up ahead, a wooden arch could be seen, Rosseth pleaded with himself to reach the crossing point in time. A number of elongated energy projectiles impacted behind him as Techorse failed to lead his shots, clearly going for his legs. He obviously wished to take him into custody, where who knows what Princess Cadance would do to him. Rosseth reached the bridge at about the same time the other ponies did, just as a blast of orange magic smacked into his hind legs and tripped him. He stood back up weakly, still recovering from his collapsed trachea, legs shaking. “Rosseth, stop!” ordered Techorse, the weapons on his back following where he was looking, “We're not letting you leave.” “Well that's a shame Techorse, because you're about to...” The zebra took a step backwards, exhausted. If he ran away now, he'd just be pursued outside the thermal barrier, where they'd all suffer from the extreme cold. He had to lose them... somehow. Putting his leg back down between planks on accident, he stumbled, and the bag containing the metal artifact box landed on the bridge, opening up. The metal box sprang open, and the contents rolled into view of the ponies, who either gasped or recoiled in horror. A large, black and orange curved chunk of unicorn horn, smoking with an impure haze of black lay on the bridge. King Sombra's Horn. “No, it can't be!” whimpered Shadow Breeze. “You sick puppy,” spat Flaming Ivory, “that's a severed horn, isn't it?” “Not just any horn, my musically inclined friend,” laughed Rosseth, “King Sombra's. I hope my secret's not totally spoiled.” Midnight Blaze could feel his heart pounding in his chest, the horn seemed to be whispering too him with an all-too familiar voice, one just like his father's. He pointed at the horn and shook his head in terror, “Your goal can't possibly be to...” “Bring him back!?” cried Shadow Breeze. Rosseth snatched the horn quickly and stuffed it into his bag, ignoring the metal case, “And there goes the secret. Perhaps this will teach Cadance what it means to experience pain and loss, just as I did!” “You're insane, Rosseth,” said Techorse slowly. “You haven't seen the worst of it yet,” he answered darkly, “I'm sure the king will have things prepared for each of you. Until then, it's been 'real' as you might say.” The zebra dropped another cloud of heavy smoke from a powder in his bags, trying to make a getaway. Shadow Breeze thought quickly and flew over them in hopes of pouncing on the real zebra, but when he landed on the other side, all he could find was his cape, laying on the ground. Rosseth had evaded them and escaped into the cover of night beyond the thermal barrier. The smoke lifted, and the four ponies stood with incredulous looks on their faces, staring at the energy screen yards away from them. “We need to warn Cadance at once,” commanded Techorse, “back to the palace, guys!” “There's no way he's gonna be able to pull it off,” argued Flaming Ivory, “what's he gonna do? My ma always told me growing up that there is no such thing as necromancy! Rosseth is just bluffing and is gonna sell that horn, along with Luna's cup after he makes us freeze out there.” “I'm with Flaming, Rosseth's just nuts and probably wanted to use the horn to scare the crystal ponies,” agreed Shadow Breeze, “we shouldn't chance, he can't actually bring King Sombra back... right?” They stood silent for a few moments, Midnight thinking heavily. He had experimented with so many magical devices and lesser artifacts over the years, and he couldn't help but go over what Rosseth had. The Lunar Chalice, some energy crystals, and the horn. He then traced his eye up at the moon, the celestial body shining down on them under Luna's control. It was nearly full this evening, and tomorrow it would be for sure, making that cup in the zebra's possession able to absorb energy and work once more as a means of dark potion brewing. “There might be a way,” Midnight Breeze said gravely, “we ought to go with Techorse's plan and report back to Princess Cadance.” “What? Are you serious?” groaned the other unicorn, “Come on, Midnight...” The dark blue unicorn stamped his hoof on the ground gently, “I am serious, Flaming, and I appreciate you trying to be realistic, but... I think given Rosseth's hatred of Cadance and the magical artifacts and tools he's stolen... he may actually pull it off.” “We don't know where he's going,” said Shadow Breeze plainly. “Then we'll have to figure it out,” answered Techorse, “I say we listen to Midnight. He's our friend, and this is what he's good at. Magical tools and artifacts has been his line of work and hobby.” Flaming Ivory rolled his eyes, “Oh, ok... we'll play it safe and go chat with the princess again.” “Thank you guys,” Techorse said, smiling at them. They turned around and left the bridge, Shadow Breeze bringing Rosseth's cape with him as a souvenir. The bank robbery would likely end up upsetting the residents of the Empire, but the news of the horn would send them into a panic if they found out. Tomorrow was the full moon, and Rosseth had everything he needed to carry out his plan. Techorse could only hope in silence that they would stop his plot before he unleashed evil again on the peaceful city.