The small, lab coat dressed man scurried nervously down shadow filled, the stone, high windowed hallway, ribbed with large arches that provided darkened alcoves of cover, many were home to ancient tapestries that collected eternities of dust, depicting the tower shadowed by a scythe.

Taking  cover in an alcove, the scientist tried to calm himself and call on his distant memories of Soviet Army Training camp, yes, he still had his old snub nosed magnum, small, and unimpressive looking, but not to be underestimated, just like the man who carried it. Pulling it out from under his coat, he recalled the weapon check routines; he opened it and counted six bullets, each one marked with .357 and the Hammer and Sickle of the New Soviet Republic.
“Good... good but hopefully I won't need this.” he thought, clicking the safety back on and proceeded to conceal his weapon again.

Lakanto Durakt was also tense, he did not like fighting alone  he kept checking his back every few seconds, he soon found a scent, human blood and a little gunpowder.

Pavel peered out from his hiding spot, rapidly snapped his head back into cover, the silhouette he saw didn't quite have a human profile, large ears and a tail, it was that armoured wolf-man he saw in the gathering hall.

“Can such a beast be reasoned with?” Pavel mused in his mind, “If it has the nose of a real wolf, then I am in trouble...”

Lakanto quickly became sure of his quarry's hiding spot, and began to move quicker, trying to minimize noise by taking long strides, boldly advancing down the hallway.

Suddenly the scent began to grow weak, fading away.

Lakanto paused suddenly, and checked behind him again, only see no one yet again.

Pavel breathed gingery, trying to stay as still as possible, he had bathed the bloodstain on his lab coat in the dust that had collected on the tapestry behind him, in a desperate bid to throw the wolf off course.

Tightly clutching his magnum, safety off, he began to tremble. He quickly realized the hastiness of his plan and knew he would soon give away his position by coughing, or a nervous twitch of his trigger finger, but he quickly devised a plan to compensate for that inevitability.

A loud series of coughs caught Lakanto's ears, the prey had finally slipped and given his position away. He lowered his halberd and darted forwards, closing in for the kill.

Pavel stepped out, gun drawn and ready.

Kabang! Bang!

The roar of the snub nosed magnum was amplified by the echoy qualities stone of the corridor, Lakanto flinched and dropped his halberd, and cursed, scrambled for cover, caught by surprise by the fearsome roar of the pistol, it was nothing like the primitive flintlocks of his world, he glanced at where the two shots had struck the stonework, though they had gone wide of him, the shots had hit close together, it was a great deal more precise than black powder.

Lakanto drew his secondary weapon; a keen bladed wakizashi , and tried to quickly devise his next move, he had a feeling that his opponent wasn't much of a fighter, but the human's stubby flintlock had some sort of mechanism that could rapidly reload it, a force to be reckoned with.

Leaning around the pillar, he could see his opponent fleeing down the hallway, and around a corner. Throwing caution to the wind, Lakanto broke cover to retrieve his halberd and pursue the enemy.

Pavel stopped in another shadowy alcove, and held his magnum with both hands, now fully reacquainted with the kick of his gun, he would be able to place surer shots this time.

Growling like an angry guard dog Lakanto came barreling around the corner, halberd lowered and ready to impale, unknowingly rushing past his prey.

Pavel swung out of the alcove, and took a second to aim at wolf-man, lining up the sights on its neck.

Click, click!

Lakanto turned.

“Dammit!” he cursed, most the bullets were spent already! He vaguely remembered firing it prior to his untimely death.

He saw the wolf-man racing towards him.

Pavel also turned and broke into a desperate sprint, and at the same time, he tried reload his gun, fumbling through his coat pockets for loose bullets.

He was getting short of breath, and the wolf-man was gaining on him. Still growling like a real dog.

A foot connected with his right leg, not enough to knock him to the ground, but enough to stumble and drop his weapon in panic. Hands, human like in size and structure, but with blunt claws in for fingernails with rough, leathery paw pads along the fingers and palm, grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around, bringing him face to face with Lakanto.

A blade hovered by his neck. For the first time, they got a good look at each other. Pavel trembled a little, trying to focus his weak eyes.

Lakanto stared at the human for a moment, then spoke,

“You don't seem like the fighting type... Pavel.” he began, briefly distracted by the photo on Pavel's ID tag clipped to his lab coat, wondering how someone could create a completely life-like image.

“True.” admitted Pavel, feeling his fear slowly shifting to desperate hope, seeing  how the wolf hadn't just cut him down at the first opportunity.

“So... normally I would let you go since you are beyond my jurisdiction, and many humans have accidentally attacked me in fear because of my appearance.”

“Understandable” Pavel agreed, the realization that his fate was sealed creeping into his mind again.

Lakanto nodded. Suddenly grabbing Pavel by the collar, he drew his blade back “...but we are in the Tower of Revival, so I must eliminate you. Nothing personal,”

Lakanto shook his head; this wasn't necessary...

Pavel looked up a hopeful expression, a nervous smile forming.

Instead, Lakanto, delivered a mighty punch with his left hand, Pavel was knocked out cold and collapsed to the floor.

Lakanto knelt down next to his defeated attacker and took his ID badge, and few other trinkets that he wanted to discover the function of if he ever got out of the Tower.. He then set eyes on the gun for a few moments, and contemplated taking it,

After pondering for a few moments what power it could unleash, he decided against it and kicked the cold steel into the shadows, now was not a good time to learn about new, exotic weapons.

Sheathing his wakizashi, readying his halberd, Lakanto walked away down the hall, seeing a doorway that opened to a spiral staircase that was lead upwards, wishing that he had spoke with his opponent for a little longer, bugged by questions he could have asked, for the man was clearly not from his world, what did the Hammer and Sickle mean? What was Pavel's profession? How did that exotic flintlock work? What was done was done, he reminded himself that such dawdling could be risky and leave him open to a surprise attack...



Pavel suddenly came to, cold sweat running down his forehead. He groggily sat up... it was that enigmatic man in the pinstripe suit again, looking down at him.

“I am afraid you have failed Professor, the window of opportunity has passed, the processes of your benefactor cannot be warped any further than this, your investment had turned bad and the bondage is now broken. You certainly did pass your zenith I'm afraid to say..” the man paused for a second, “...in... layman's terms, you have missed your second chance, professor, farewell”

The man turned and strode away, carrying a crumpled piece of paper...

As soon as he had departed, Death silently appeared from the shadows, bearing his trademark scythe.

“Pavel Khrushchev, you have been defeated and have lost your chance for revival, I commend you for fighting your fears and taking a stand, trying to use wit and surprise to defeat your foe. But it was simply not enough. Come now, Pavel, do you desire to remain in the tower until the rest play out their parts? Or do you wish to be on your way now and continue through the cycle of life and death?”