Vates sat slumped against the door as he recovered from his long run to the stockpile. His breathing was still heavy and his pulse still raced; the fact that the child stood on the other side of the door slashing at it and screaming did not help. [b][i]“So Edward, are we just going to sit here in fear of a little child?”[/b][/i] mocked Janus in an unusually sarcastic tone. Vates response came in the form of a snarl. [b][i]“You claim to have gone against entire criminal organisations, and since my arrival we have been in more than a couple of scraps. Why are you so afraid of a child?”[/b][/i]

“What was I supposed to do?! Kill the child?! Would that make you happy?! Would that work for the [b]’greater good’[/b]?!” Vates yelled at his kage. He could feel Janus’ anxiety at this. It was rare the two disagreed, but when they did Vates always came out on top, being both more confident that his kage as well as controlling it’s vessel. “Besides,” continued Vates “Fighting grown men from the shadows with my equipment fully functional was a lot less scary than running through an apocalyptic city away from a demon [i]thing[/i] with nothing but a glorified torch. I’ll take the gangsters and thugs over this shit any day…” 

A long silence endured before Janus spoke up, [b][i]“The child has an Omikage Edward. If there is anything left of the child inside it is suffering. Killing it would be the kindest thing to do. There are weapons here.” [/b][/i]

Another long silence endured whilst Vates contemplated his options. He knew that Janus was right, but he wasn’t a killer let alone a child killer. One or two tears rolled down his cheeks, causing him to shake his head and rise to his feet in defiance. “No. I’m not killing the child. There’s food here, enough to last one person weeks. I’ll take what I need and then trap the child in. It’ll be safer locked in here anyway.” said Vates as he began scrabbling through the various crates and lockers for cores, food, water and rope. He filled his pockets and a military duffle bag, and replaced his gauntlet cores before approaching the door. 

Vates took a few moments to think about what to do before opening the door. He kept his right gauntlet forward at chest height as he used his left hand to quickly unlock and pull open the door. As it swung open he jumped back and used his gauntlet to emit a series of short blinding flashes. The child ran in screaming and wildly slashing, with one swipe managing to catch Vate’s tattered suit jacket. He circled around the child slightly before using his left gauntlet to push it back, sending it flying a foot back and landing on its behind. Vates quickly made it to the other side of the door and pulled it shut, causing the automatic lock to trap the child inside. To only people likely to know the code were Vates and the Military. [b][i] “You think this is better? To confine anyone in a small room - to take away their liberty - it is a cruel thing to do in any case. But a child? It will suffer endlessly at the will of her Onikage.”[/b][/i] 

“I won't be killer. I will not walk that path.”