Twisted Empire - Episode 29&30

 

TWISTED EMPIRE

Twisted Empire - Episode 29&30

(Her Blade, His Neck )

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, or reposted in any form, or by any means without a written permission from the author.

Copyright © 2025 

by Naomi Cindy B.

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A clusterf+ckèd look balanced on Xanthe's eyes, but Teal's was worse.

Her shock-filled eyes are still on the man who just pronounced her as 'married' in front of a stranger.

And the craziest part? He looks normal—blank in the face like he's not the one who just blurted the shenanigans.

Four is not easy to read—no—he's not even readable but his dark irises are overly ominous right now.

Xanthe cleared his throat, his smile still latching to his expression as he shoved his right hand into his pocket.

"Did I annoy you, Mr. DeVille? Sorry, she was too beautiful to ignore at my party. Next time, hold your bride" he said, his voice bringing Teal back to the present.

"I'm not married, especially not to him" She quickly denied.

"Last night, by my damn door..." Four started, his voice damned, drawing a crawling sensation on her skin.

Her eyes widened again, and she quickly held him by her second hand, sinking her nails into the visible flesh of his wrist.

It didn't cause him pain—or if it did, he didn't show it.

She's not gonna have him narrate how he assaulted her last night to a stranger, which she's very sure he's capable of doing.

This man has no limitations whatsoever.

She was saved when a butler came to get Xanthe, and the president's son followed the butler into the garden.

Teal faced Four almost immediately...

"I'm not married to you. I dunno what dubious deal your parents made with my late parents, but I'm sure it was something corny and they had no choice but bend for your parents. I know my parents well, and they'd never betroth their fairy to a crazy man like you who assaults females by dipping their hands around their bodies" she said, unable to stop the incessant flow of breaths from her nose.

Now that she's standing in front of him, she's able to see him all and pay attention to certain details.

His hair is styled back, and he's wearing a tuxedo too, but his is tailormade, and it made his height sharper—like a businessman you'd see on the cover of Forbes.

His muted eyes are trained on her, and that alone should make her scared, but she has learnt not to show her fear in front of him even if she develops any.

He'd feed on it and taunt her with it later.

The calm timbre of his voice broke into the scene softly...

"You walked to my unit with your own legs, Ambrose. You started the game, and I simply played along. Are you still smart-mouthed like this because I didn't ram my fingers into your pusxy and finger your brains out?" He talked without minding the partygoers who're passing by.

The darkness in his eyes thickened, and Teal instantly felt bile rise in her throat at his rawness.

Will she ever win against him?

"You're shameless" she spat, and he gripped her forearm, pulling her closer with it so their faces are almost colliding.

She felt cold air licking her nape, and her deviant eyes spit fire at his face which he just put out with his icy demeanor.

"Since you know that, try not to provoke me. I don't like it, and I'll also make sure you don't like the outcome. That'd be 5 by the way" he gravelly said, releasing her.

The part of her arm that he held still burned even after he let go, and she had to rub it to kill the fire.

"5 what?" She found herself asking as she stared at his behind.

"Future punishments, we're still on the count... Ambrose" he replied, entering the garden and leaving her standing there like a homeless pup.

"Motherf+cker" she muttered, balling her fists as she looked around, still searching for hidden anomalies.

When she found none, she stepped into the garden too, and she was greeted by the colourful bursts of the bright lights and the memorable smell of the flowers...

Yellow begonia and orchid.

Their scents sprayed across every table, and Teal couldn't stop the smile that pulled her lips as she stared at the unreal beauty.

She loves orchids, but it's not supposed to be obvious, so she deleted that smile.

The party is in full swing. 

Men and women are dressed for the occasion and are chatting animatedly among each other.

Classical music played in the background, and somehow, the sound gave her a sense of serenity—a promise that everything is gonna turn out well even when it's obvious things would soon go south.

*No eating or drinking*.

That's the first rule, so despite the several servers lowering trays at her, she never touched the glasses.

She stood in the middle of the hall, watching everything closely.

Where the hell is Four?

She touched the bud in her ear at a point, connecting to the others.

"Any anomalies yet?" She asked.

"None seen" Rook replied from the compound.

"Not yet" Shannon replied from the top buildings.

That only upped Teal's restlessness, and when the president made his entry, she had to move out of the way, giving him a bow as the rich guests welcomed him with applauses. Her eyes shone with realization.

Did she just see the president of this country face-to-face? 

She'd have snapped some pictures to brag to her uncles later, but she's on duty, so she can only view.

President Spyros saw her even before she moved away, and the old man smiled benevolently.

"From the base?" He asked, taking a step closer.

"Yes, Mr. President" Teal said blankly, and he gave her a long stare which made her feel uncomfortable, then his eyes found his son who's in the middle of the crowd.

Xanthe came closer.

By now...the guests attention is on them.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" President Spyros said openly.

"I told her that already" Xanthe smiled.

"You both met already?" President Spyros said surprisingly.

"Yes dad" he continued his excessive smile which is now very unneeded.

"Hope you make fast moves, she looks like the type who'd keep a home together" President Spyros said, and the applause from the guests resumed as most of them laughed at his straightforwardness.

Finally...Teal felt him.

Four.

She felt him behind her head somewhere around the crowd, and she knows he's probably glaring daggers at her right now, but who cares?

In fact, anything to provoke him.

"I'd love to know you more too, Xanthe" she knowingly said, and Xanthe gave her a nod.

"You owe me your number before you leave this party" 

"Sure" she said without a smile, and Xanthe finally left with the president to the cake table.

Teal turned around, and her eyes clicked on Four's from across the garden.

He's standing in front of a pole, and he's even in a height competition with the pole as his eyes unraveled her like a criminal.

"6" he mouthed with a slanted smirk, and she was about to smirk back when she felt something else...

Someone suddenly walked past her, and their bodies brushed slightly.

The body felt different.

It's a joyous gathering tonight, so everyone is happy, and there should be no reason for anyone to be shaking.

But the body that just walked past has chills, and she could feel it within that millisecond, so she turned around, but the person already mixed with the crowd.

She saw no one around herself.

Four noticed her restlessness and within one sec, he was with her.

"A shaky body touched mine just now" she said.

Four tapped his bud, twice.

"First anomaly detected.High alert " he said.

"Copy that" Rook and Kash's voice came from the other end.

Four led the way into the crowd, and Teal followed as discreetly as possible.

--

[Compound]

Immediately the anomaly report came from the garden, Rook and Theo strengthened their defences in the compound.

Though...the tension rolling off the two of them is palpable, but that's definitely not a topic for now as their duty comes first.

Theo was the first to notice the second anomaly—the compound lights.

They're flickering, but it's not the normal type of flicker.

It's a faint one which would only be noticed by those paying attention, and at each dull flicker, the brightness decrease.

"Second anomaly noted" Theo said, tapping his bud.

"Copied" Kash replied very fast from the other side.

There are two powerhouses in this mansion, so Theo and Rook split, each going to the different powerhouses.

--

[Rooftop]

Everyone is holding their sniper rifles in place on top of the white bricks, and their index fingers are ready behind the triggers, their eyes ready behind their microscopes.

Kash is in the middle.

Shannon and April are by his right while Brent and Abbey are by his left, and they're all on a knee, waiting for any slight sign to come so they'd spring into action.

Everyone is calm except Abbey who's busy thinking about Axel's proposal.

He has to ruin this mission. It's already going too well.

Something has to happen to muddle everything. He has to make a move.

"Do not blink. Do not fuckin blink. Eyes on the main mansion" Kash sternly ordered, and everyone's vigilance got heightened.

And then it came, their own sign.

On the rooftop of the main mansion, a shadow wrapped in black jumped down the white brick.

He's covered by the shade of the double roofing, but thanks to their microscopic view, he's seen.

"Brent" Kash ordered, and just when Brent was about to pull the trigger of his rifle at the shadow, Abbey staggered, acting dizzy.

He fell on him.

Instead of the shadow, Brent's bullet flew to one of the LED bulbs on top of the mansion, shattering it to pieces.

Kash was smart enough to cover up though.

He pulled his own trigger, shooting the shadow who fell on the roof and rolled down, landing in the mansion pool at the backyard.

"Brent, are you high?" Kash faced him.

"Abbey fell on me!" Brent defended.

"I didn't, are you drunk?" Abbey scoffed.

"You f+ckin fell on me when I was about to pull the trigger, f+cker! You intentionally did it!" Brent angrily slammed his rifle head on Abbey's forehead.

"Brent!" Shannon and April shouted from the other side.

"I swear he fell on me!" Brent shouted back as Abbey's forehead bled into his mouth.

"Drop your rifle and sleep on the ground, Abbey. Face the sky" Kash ordered.

"What!" Abbey gasped.

"Now!" Kash snarled, and Abbey left his rifle, laying flat on his back and facing the dark sky.

"Go check the body, April." Kash ordered.

"Yes sir" April replied, running down the roof.

Shannon and Brent stayed on either side of Kash, and they resumed their takeoff positions.

Abbey snickered on the ground, wishing he could push them all off the roof.

--

[Military Base, Axel's Unit]

The soft knock on the door made Axel come out of his room.

He hasn't stopped smoking since the squad went for the mission, and his only expectation right now is for them to come back with failure.

Even though he sent Abbey to ruin it, he's still restless, and the smokes did nothing to douse his restlessness.

His upper body is bare, and black boxers is the only thing hanging on his waist as he pulled the door open, revealing Cassie.

Her outfit is the first thing that caught his attention. A crocheted skirt and the matching tie-up top which hugged her breàsts and left out her hiplines.

And that innocent look is in her eyes again. Damn that innocent look.

She walked in, and Axel closed the door on them.

"Finally gave it some thought?" He said, keeping his smile intact like a treasure.

"Listen, Axel. This will end whenever one of us gets tired, and you must give me whatever I want anytime I want it—money or material things. Also... protect Shannon my sister" she said, her voice highly decisive like she has really pondered over this for long before coming.

"Fair enough" Axel replied, and she immediately slid her skirt away from her waist, letting it fall at her ankles before she stepped out of it.

She made to take off her top too, but Axel stopped her.

"No, not yet. I'd love to take this step by step. I get the low view today, then tomorrow the top one" he said, coming closer to latch his hands to her lace underwear.

He tore it away, and Cassie wasn't allowed to gasp before he shoved the shredded underwear into her mouth, blocking her breaths.

Axel pushed her to the wall and flung his belt apart, aggressively zipping down before freeing his length.

He didn't stroke, he didn't wait.

He just pushed the whole thing into her, and her teeth grinded against the p@nty in her mouth as he began moving.

He didn't go slow or nice.

Right from the first move, he slashed her, ruined her with every brutal thrust, moulding her against the hard wall.

Cassie's saliva wet the underwear, and her cries are heavily muffled as he s+xed her in the hardest way she has ever experienced, tearing her p+§§y apart.

The sound of their slapping skins is like an opera crescendo, and when the underwear fell from her mouth, her teeth scrapped against the wall as her cries rolled out with her tears.

"Go slow, Axel. Go slow! Go slow urggg!! A-xel...Aaa...go— ahhh gawd!!!!"

--

[Allegra's Suite]

The hourglass on the table seemed to be running faster than actual time.

The ballotini is pouring so fast that the watchers had a hard time watching it.

Sierra and Allegra.

The two are in different corners in the lounge, and as they watched the hourglass, their anxiety levels rose.

"Are you sure you'll get what you want this time?" Allegra asked.

"So far I remain Sierra" Sierra replied, and Allegra tried to calm.

Seconds turned into minute, and minute to minutes.

The hourglass was nearly at the finishing point when Sierra's phone rang, and she rushed to pick it up.

It's her mum.

"Yes mum?" 

"Done" the woman's voice came from the other side.

"Done?" Sierra said in disbelief.

"I'm Pedro's first love, sweetie. What Yulia can't take from him, I'll take. You're in, and you'll remain my sweet, sweet daughter for life. Update me about everything later" the woman replied, and the line went flat.

Sierra turned around to look at Allegra, and they both screamed out at once.

"Yes!!!" They hugged like besties from abyss, but the buzzing of their phones made them break it.

There's a new update on the base group, posted by the General himself.

General's Office: The 30th Promotion Ceremony of this base  is fixed for two days time.

"Yes!!!!" Allegra and Sierra hugged again.

"Gawd!!! I can't wait to see you wear that uniform!!!" Allegra shrieked.

--

[General's Office]

Pedro hasn't left his office since the squad left for the mission.

He's standing in the middle of the office, staring hollow at nothing in particular.

The only thing that can ease his tension right now is him hearing that the mission is successful.

Nothing else.

There's an Ambrose couple painting on the office wall, plastered carefully between the national anthem and the pledge. 

His eyes met with it, and he went closer, and he nodded at the tiger in the painting.

"Rue and Vaughn Ambrose. You both didn't deserve to die that way...I'm sorry" he muttered.

He stared behind when the door opened.

Yulia came in, and he gave her a smile which she returned.

"You didn't eat dinner, so I'm here to kidnap you. Go back with me and eat" she held his arm, taking off his cap also.

"I'm on the edge. If the mission fails, then the president mansion will blow up in flames, and the military will probably be diffused" Pedro replied.

Yulia stroked his cheek.

"I'm on the edge too, but not eating will only worsen the level. You should eat and make strength to take any news" she pulled him towards the door, and he followed.

"By the way, you didn't tell me the promotion ceremony would come that fast. Who's getting promoted this time?" Yulia asked curiously.

"It's a secret" Pedro replied, though his mind is webbed with contemplations.

Things will definitely get messy, but he'd wait till that day comes, and he'd handle it.

There's always a solution.

--

[President's Mansion]

Teal and Four traced the whole garden..., searching for the suspicious figure with their alerts blinking red.

Teal's mind's eye is excessively bright, and Four's own is probably an halogen.

Teal nearly collided into a server as she slid out from below a table, but Four pulled her out of the way, and he didn't let her go till the server disappeared into the middle of chatty guests.

Together, they cornered another angle, and then they saw a man sitting calmly in the middle of the guests with no friends.

No presence. Nothing.

He looks suspiciously calm that they began going to him.

He stood immediately, sliding out through the backdoor of the garden.

Teal and Four ran after him, bypassing guests and jumping over the garden door.

They met him behind the garden like he has been waiting for them, and they both pulled out their guns, aiming him from the same spot.

"Fine...fine." he turned around to face them with his arms raised.

"You know how human bombs work, right? You shoot me, you detonate the bomb. It's a ten minutes duration timer, so be careful" he said, his tone hopeless.

"How much did Usman pay you to make you into a human bomb? You planted a bomb inside yourself with surgery, and you'll kill yourself just to kill the masses? Are you insane!!?" Teal shouted.

"Usman doesn't need to pay. We're his followers, and dying for him is a sacred vow! Our life belongs to him!" The thin terrorist shouted back, grinning satanically.

"You're scared to die, aren't you?" Teal replied, and his grin paused.

"Your body touched mine earlier, and it was shaking. You're scared of death!" Teal continued, and then his grin returned.

"Bull, we're five inside this mansion, and I think one is already down at the rooftop 3 minutes ago, meaning in about 7 minutes, the first bomb will blow" he said.

Teal tried to use her earbud to alert Kash immediately, but seems all network has been flushed out of this mansion, so it's irresponsive.

She started trying to get the router out of her sleeves...

"Go over" Four ordered aptly.

"Yes, Master" Teal fastly replied, rushing off.

With unyielding force, Four and the terrorist lunged towards each other, and a step before Four would get to him, he went down, so the terrorist's fist flew past his head.

Opportunistically, Four threw his knuckles into his belly, punching him with an inhumane energy.

He flew some meters away, landing on a pile of fallen flowers and spurting blood from the mouth.

He looked at Four shockingly, definitely not expecting that insane strength from someone who lived in his room for years.

Four stood straight, straightening his stance with ease.

"I can't kill you, yet. But you can take some lessons. I've been keeping this shit in for a long time" he said, his voice lacking warmth or coldness. It's just there like a duplicate.

The terrorist suddenly pulled out a gun from nowhere, his movements sharp and carefully cut as he fired at Four's legs.

Four flung himself to the side, hitting his own back on the flowery garden wall. Yellow orchids plucked off, falling like rainfall.

His earbud fell unnoticed.

He snuck into the shadows of the flowers, kicking the gun away from the terrorist before backhanding him on the throat with thick lethality.

His mouth opened as more blood flooded out, and Four gripped his tongue, forcefully pulling it out of his free throat. 

His gurgles splashed Four's ironed face with crimson, and together, they slammed into the garden, bursting into the party and startling the guests who stood to their feet with horror beaten to their faces.

"Protect the president and the guests!" The mansion guards shouted through a loud voice aid.

A bunch of them formed a circle, and President Spyros was immediately covered together the the guests who're now in one side of the scattered hall.

Without giving them audience, Four picked a fork from a table and stabbed the terrorist's tongue, tearing it out with intended cruelty.

The terrorist's shaky body fell on a table, then it rolled off, landing on the ground.

Blood pooled around it.

Four wiped his bloody lip and eye corner with his thumb, then he slowly looked up, his eyes clashing with Xanthe's.

--

Teal hasn't even gotten close to the rooftop when she was blocked by another one of the men.

Fearlessly, she drew out her knife and went flat, swinging the blade around in a practiced swirl which made her hair sweep the ground.

Her heels are out of her feet, and as her knife sliced through the leg of the terrorist, he stumbled but maintained his stand, wanting to crush her head with a fire extinguisher which he plucking from the wall.

Teal's moves were madly calculated as she swirled on the ground again, moving with the air before flinging him back with her legs.

Shocking him, she pulled out the wifi router from her shoulder pad and quickly connected to the rooftop...

"Human bombs! Do not kill!!" She shouted before throwing the wifi away.

She stood and received a stinging face kick, but she turned back with the third swirl.

It was nasty and wild as she shoved the man to the garden wall before stabbing him in the neck—in a non-dangeous spot, just to render him immobile.

His hands fell inert at his sides, and then...

Gore.

Blood. 

It soaked Teal's gloves.

--

[Rooftop]

"Human bombs? Then the one we killed at the double roof!" April said, wide-eyed after they received the Intel from Teal.

Kash made to go down immediately, but Brent got in his way.

"I'll go, let me. Trust me" he said, and Kash gave him a nod.

Brent rushed downstairs.

"But Brent is weak!" Shannon said urgently.

"He'll be fine " Kash stressed confidently. "We're going downstairs"

He took Abbey's rifle together with his own.

April and Shannon hung their rifles on their shoulders, going downstairs with him.

Abbey stood from where he has been lying, and he kicked the brick in annoyance as he took off his suit and threw it at the mounted chairs.

He ran downstairs too, and he was met with numerous party guests who're already getting escorted out by the mansion guards.

He went to the park and looked around carefully to make sure no camera is in sight.

He messed with the first front tyre of Four's car.

--

When Brent got to the back pool, he jumped in and pulled the terrorist body out.

The bomb on his body is already reading -5.

Meaning he has to get him out of this mansion in five minutes before he blows and kills people.

He carried the bastard on his back, dragging the bloody dead body down the poolside with difficulty.

On getting down, he continued dragging him to the park, delving through the crowd of running guests till he got to the car.

He tucked the human bomb into one of the base cars and got in with him.

By now, the bomb is reading 2 minutes.

Roughly and bravely, he screeched out of the mansion.

--

[Second Powerhouse]

As expected, Theo met one of the bloody terrorists in the powerhouse, messing with the wiring and trying to soak the mansion in darkness.

The terrorist gave him an impossible smile, and he smirked, hatred inhabiting his eyes as he remembered how these same terrorists visited his happy home last year December.

How they made his father sleep with his junior sister and how they did disgusting things to him.

"F+ck y'all!! F+ck You All!!!" He shouted with all his strength, aiming his rifle at the terrorist to shoot, but his finger began shaking on the trigger, rendering him useless.

He continued shaking,and his index refused to curl under the trigger as he stood there, his face reddening with the anger he's supposed to fire out.

"You're an idiot! Think you can escape Usman?" the terrorist laughed, pulling out a gun to blow him off, but Rook appeared, shooting him in his two legs.

The bastard fell to the ground with a bloodbath to his legs, and Theo's riffle fell from him as he backed the wall, sweating like crazy and clutching his shaky hands.

Rook gave him a short look before pulling the shit terrorist out of the room.

He met a terrorist in the first powerhouse too—a minute ago—and he had shot him in the legs too just like this one.

With bloodstained hands, he dragged the two outside, meeting the rest by the park.

Four already tucked the body of the tongueless one into the second car and Teal threw the body of the one she stabbed into that same car.

Rook tossed the bodies of the remaining two, making four human bombs inside the same car.

"They're not dead yet, bombs aren't active, but Usman might activate it anytime at all, so they need to be out of this compound now" Kash said.

"Stay here, everyone" Four said, fishing out the car keys.

"I'll go" Kash offered.

"It's an order, stay here with the rest" Four replied, giving Teal a short stare before getting in the loaded car which drove out of the compound roughly.

Abbey smiled secretly at the back.

"You think he'll be able to get the car out of the streets before it blows up? I don't wanna imagine losing Master Sergeant, but gawd knows I can't stop imagining" Shannon said.

"He'll be fine, and Brent too" April replied.

"Wait... Brent?" Teal faced them.

"He drove the first human bomb away" Shannon replied.

"What!" Rook and Teal chorused.

"Brent is weak!" Rook said alarmingly.

"I don't think that's the main issue right now" a passing guest said, facing Abbey.

"I saw you, you messed with the front tire of the Hyundai." She said, and Abbey frowned, masking his shock.

"What are you saying!"

"I saw you! I saw you messing with the tire when the mansion guards were ushering us, and that's why I wasn't able to stop you!" The guest pointed out.

Abbey pushed the woman away.

"I don't know you! The f+ck are you talking about!"

"Wait...you mean to tell me that...apart from the human bombs in the car with Snowman, his front car tire is also faulty?" Rook said.

"Yes! He deflated it!" The guest shouted, and Abbey locked the guest by the chest this time.

"Stop lying on me! I didn't deflate tire!" He shouted.

"She didn't say you deflated it, she only said you messed with it" Teal smartly said, and Abbey gulped, swear bathing his temples.

"You deflated his front tire?" Rook's eyes widened with the rest.

By now, Kash is already trying to contact Four's earbud, but he's not responding. He's not even picking his calls too.

"Kneel" Teal suddenly said, snatching a rifle from April which she pointed at Abbey, her demeanor mean.

"Kneel!!!" She repeated, shoving the gun barell into Abbey's mouth.

Abbey fell on his knees, and the others just looked on.

Kash is still trying to contact Four, so he's not even concerned with this conversation.

The gun is still in Abbey's throat, and his hands are up as he smelled death in his nostrils.

"Teal..." April and Shannon chorused.

"Battery... don't shoot" Rook said, but Teal's focus remained on Abbey who's already freezing with the gun in his mouth.

"Now shut your f+ckin eyes and start praying for his safety, cos if he dies in that car... you'll be the first person I'll ever kill" Teal said.

TBC.

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