Chapter 42———The Tundra Garden (50%)
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///Akina///
Everything has happening so quickly and the Spirit woman isn't helping more after I woke up.
I don't know anymore, but I can honor her by doing what she suggested me to do...Okay, little toes; let's fly.
My toes danced around from the sudden surge of raw, pure vitality coursing in me now. Before I performed the strongest leap I did, I made sure he was strangling me tightly as he could.
"I'm about to leap so far and so high! Are you alright?!?"
"Yeah: I'm good." He began to groan from this experience.
"At least if this is too much for you-u, let me know!!" Even yelling at him hurts my lungs so much. It'll be really nice if us Ultimen have telekinesis or telepathy, then again; I've a feeling that isn't our forte.
I'm not hurting when I'm using it. I feel completely fine.
My hair got in the way of Beri's sight, as he tried to find a way of moving my hair in the way without him falling to his unfortunate doom. At least he isn't choking to death with his thick gloved hands. That's a relief, given how we were starting to lose altitude, he must have mustered up the courage to speak to me while flying. "The Garden....It's nice if we weren't attacked but why aren't you stuttering to me. Are you comfortable with-"
"You? I dunno but I know I'm a lot more impatient while using my powers; so be quiet and try not to be scratch me in the back." I threatened him out of nowhere, I'm normally not like that.
What is going on with me? I need to ask Chief Apex about my mood but what's the point, since I'm up high in the skies?
I was starting to see little green objects that were indistinguishable for me but getting closer to the ground, it was trees.
Trees that are made out of wood and.
If I don't do anything—we're gonna die.
"OH CRAP!!" Beri shouted while his body was shaking. "WATCH OUT FOR THE TREES!!" Him yelling in my ear didn't help with our crash landing,
If we only panic; then it wouldn't give us a chance to live another day. No; it only gives a chance of staring at death in the eyes and losing that staring contest..
And I'm not gonna lose that contest.
I almost died by the hands of Don Sarbello's men, I was saved by Ryoji Kazama. A drifting ex-mercenary looking for a school to attend in.
I'm sick of being the damsel in distress. People looking at me with pity.
I want to save people. Just like the No.2 Hero.
I strive to be like you, Chief Apex holding a smile and saving twelve people on your back. I wanna make sure the most rotten of all villains end up in prison.
I will be the Ultimate Hero. I don't know yet,but I will give it my all.
Riled up from my determination, I devised a plan while not letting adrenaline overflowing my brain. Three, to be precisely honest.
Plan A: I could gain speed and momentum by closing my limbs and rolling on the ground before jumping again.
Plan B: Try to soften my landing by crashing to the trees, I don't really have a parachute.
Plan C: Improvise.
Those plans weren't really good, they all sounded like instant doom to me. Crap!
We're starting to land!
Akina's brain; we have a problem! I was starting to fear on what was to come.
I heard the spirit sigh in frustration, I didn't want to be indecisive but I don't really plan on dying now. Fine. Just. This. Once. You want to have complete control right now?
After that.. My body was hijacked by her.
How could I tell? It was the fact I couldn't move my own fingers, as she was doing it. When my face lit up a smile, it wasn't my own muscles doing it.
It was all her: She was controlling my body, mimicking my own movements and I was her puppet for a moment. So this is how it feels to be possessed by someone....How did Marcus managed to die in Silent Hill P.T?
I, or she, went to a elongated branch of the first tree we came across to.
Grabbing it with all of our strength, swinging branch to branch like a spider monkey while the base wasn't too far away now. I can see it clearly.
The brown towers of wood covered us by the military vehicle from the Empire.
Too many leaves. I put Beri down so that he could stand up and gotten his Omni-Scanner out like binoculars. "That's two soldiers,no," Beri was wrong about what he saw before correcting himself.
"three. Three soldiers. That's a small patrol. We can take them on. What's the plan?"
He was right: I only saw three soldiers with rifles and wearing Samurai like armor with purple lines on
Before I did the plan-making, she decided to speak for me. Albeit; with a stutter so reminiscent of mine, yet so different. "Easy-y. We'll follow the vehicle to where it makes a st-topping point. If they have a female in the car, I'll just finesse her uni-unifom and make one drive for us."
"What about me?"
"Do you have ." The spirit spoke for me by making her words into mine. I was here—in the black subspace.
My head, if I'm being more honest with myself. I met my Guiding Spirit, the one ghost that is actually reliable, who taught me on what I could with my recently found abilities.
The female soldier, looked at around before she stopped.
"According to Squad 4.58A, they have encountered a weird booming sounds located here, as if something entered the garden. We'll scout this section and then we'll head on to the next one. I check over there, you two; stay put and don't do anything stupid." She ordered them around, the other two stayed in their positions.
She had her rifle in her hands, ready for whatever that was coming to her.
"Give me one of your bombs." I whispered to him as he quickly gave me one of them; that is if I can remember how to activate it!
"Hey Dickinson?" Said the skinny soldier.
"Yeah, Rubbles?"
"Ever wondered on why Jensen hates us?"
"I don't think she hates us, Rubbles, I think it's because she's working today and she wanted to go to Hawaii instead."
"Why Hawaii?"
"To try some weird fish...What are you on about, Rubbles?"
Rubbles twiddled his fingers and confessed, "I don't know, Dickinson. I need another job."
This Dickinson, was an asshole he is, even though I have known him for two minutes, laughed under his helmet and made a joke. "Like what; being a garbage man or mailman?"
"I'm bein' serious, man! I wasn't made for this; to hurt people! I wanna do something that helps people; not to be hurting them."
All what this Dick guy could do was to stare at the ground, as if he was saddened or something. Shakeing his head.
"How old are you, Rubbles?"
"I'm twenty-six years old. You?"
"I was in college, in WKU."
"So you older than me?"
"No, you idiot!" He shouted at him angrily but not because of him; it was something else. "I'm twenty-one, Rubbles. I was studying to be an engineer, but nope. I had to move to Japan when my girlfriend because she got a job with this high shit company called ZiON, but in reality she turned me over to the draft and here I am... Pisses me off the most. People who lie to their loved ones, who betray the ones they love for money. Know what I'm sayin'?"
All what this Rubbles could do was lean on the truck and agree with him. "You're right, man. Some of them soldiers used me as a slave.... I hate the Empiruh; no-for-good dirty bastards."
Even the soldiers are treated badly? Yami sees them as maggots, a good empire would treat all those with respect.
Even I feel guilty now. Fighting these guys, now knowing his girlfriend turned him in for profit and the other one an actual slave; I can't face them head on.
Now; I know the whole truth.
Shinra needs to be stopped.
Here it goes. I bit my tongue nervously before leaping in the air. Crap, I can taste the blood.
If I calculate the speed I'm going as, which could be 35-mph, and the distance of the leap, also 170 feet away from and the time for Jensen to notice my big black shadow, gives me about of 5.7 seconds. Let's see, i a gentle kick to the neck that'll do it or a Navajo Impact could do it as well!
Falling mid-air, I can't just think only! I have to keep moving or otherwise I can freeze out here
I have to use my instinct now! And her body was starting to expand.
Good. I have been waiting to attack someone other than Kadoku, I really can't understand that guy. He's so full of himself, he reminds me of a ugly purple hot balloon.
I'm Falling faster than the human eye can follow, the sudden gales of my fall shocked her, I could tell from her standing still. For a split- second, it turned to feeling scared; raising her highly advanced gun.
According to one of my good friend Taig Thomas and the dark web, the guns the Empire manufactures are called Cutie-78, which is a very weird name for an automatic rifle. Inside of them, in the center of it is non-lethal plasma that can really hurt but not where you are going to lose limbs from one hit. From what I heard from this guy my mom works with, who works for ZiON, they are currently creating titanium alloy wrist guns and mounted shoulder cannons.
Just a rumor.
Holy-" The soldier of the Empire gasped while witnessing my amazing move, though it's a borrowed move from Chief Apex. But he's not here to judge me now! I moved my body into a frontal somersault to gather momentum.
HERE IT COMES, JENSEN!
The sudden adrenaline made me louder than usual.
"NAVAJO...IMPACT!!!" Screaming from the bottom of my lungs, before she pulled the trigger, my foot connected to the top of her head.
Her head jerked before falling down, she wasn't dead from the hit.
No. I made sure I wasn't using too much power into that kick. Her gun flew out of her hands, face mask in the snow. I didn't break any of her armor. Good, now on to phase two.
After Beri saw me taking down Jensen, he climbed out the tree with ease, which was ironic of him; scared of everything but not scared of heights. He grabbed his Omni-Scanner, turning it on with a simple press on the top of the lens. "Okay. She's breathing, yet their some fluid in her.."
"Like what-hat?"
He opened his mouth and Rubbles was there, pointing his gun at us as we both had our hands in the air. "STOP!!! Don't move!"
Come on….If I could sneak attack the soldiers that…..
That is that maniac doing?! I wanted to pull him away and try to escalate the situation, but the way he's holding that rifle———That would the final nail in the coffin.
Beri was walking towards that soldier, who disengaged the safety on his rifle.
Is he insane?
"STAY back! I don't wanna shoot you!" The soldier warned him as he pointed at his skull before Beri made sure it was pressed to his forehead.
"That gun has no bullets. You're bluffing." Beri bickered, he has more kahunas than Ryoji….And Ryoji is one of the toughest boys I know.
"It does!"
"Does it?" Beri was playing with him, making him even more unsure of himself.
Beri played him like a fool, as Rubbles took the muzzle off Beri's forehead before checking and pulled the trigger.
The bullet echoed in the hallways as Beri disarmed the tall guy and then I remembered something: Always watch out for the small guys——They always can kick the balls like it's nothing.
This kid is a trip!
"The reason why she took too long to shoot: She has cancer, Akina. Pancreatitis."
Cancer. It hit me. That's why It took her a second to position her gun to shoot; she's probably all worn out from chemo.
Now I feel like dirt. How could I?
How could I hit a cancer patient with pancreatic cancer?
This woman is really messed up. All of this needs to be stop.
"Hey Akina."
I turned towards him, for some reason, he could tell on how I felt from the looks of his eyes.
"You shouldn't feel sorry for her. She chose this life—not the Empire's."
"But-"
"I know you feel bad but that rifle had a full clip. She would've showered us with bullets if that chance happened.....Yami could have lied to her and willingly went along....Now then, take off her armor, then's on to phase three. I look on the other side while you change."
Alright. I'll do that then, for Surwick.
His smiled
"Behind you." Beri moved his mouth slowly before he looked to his right, my left.
Damn it Dickinson...I said under my breath. I turned around quickly, two seconds and I made him flying with a solid punch.
"Word of advice, Akina: Don't be above in using any tricks in order to survive. Here in this wilderness, we aren't heroes: We're prey here, so it is best to do things that ain't right normally."
"Who taught-t you that?" I asked him as I put on my helmet, too cramped for me….
"My mom."
Your mom is a badass. I was impressed with this kid.
———Two Minutes Later———
After I told him I was done—there was only one problem——the soldier, known as Jensen, could die in this icy hell known as the Tundra Garden.
"What should we-e do? We can't leave them like this-is in the cold." I said, studying the insides of the helmet. There was a falcon emblem on
He answered while shaking his head, as if he was afraid to show me his true power. "Before I do this, I just wanted to let you know that my powers are a bit gross. Just turn away please."
"I don't really know-ow your power. What is it-t?" I asked while I noticed that his lower jaw started to inflate like a fro.
He seemed as if he hated his power. "I got a second stomach for my power."
I was confused on what he was talking about.
"I got two stomachs: One to eat normal food and another for my superpower. If I eat fruit or food that are beneficial to the human body: It becomes an adhesive, it's red. The biggest thing about it——It heals people and I'm going to enclose them in a thick bubble. They can still breathe, trust me——I tested that before and it works. Consider it more of a storage compartment, not a stomach."
I wanted to scream, "That's a really versatile power!" But considering we were in a rescue mission, I simply complimented to him, "cool-l power."
He blushed as I turned around quickly, I wish I didn't hurt Dickinson like that….Beri was right.
We aren't heroes-in-training here in this cold.
We're prey here, but we have to survive.
I was starting to get a little bit impatient, "hey, are-e almost-"
I should not have looked back. I'm never getting that image of out of my head ever.
"Done!" He chirped, poking me once before I turn in the opposite direction. I was weirded out by the fact their heads and bodies were covered in his adhesive.
As he explained it, he covered her head where it is a reverse scuba helmet of his liquid; an air bubble to where they can breath.
Still kicking in there. "Don't worry about them, my adhesive is super warm—They'll be fine."
Wait, I still need to ask you something. I mustered the courage and asked him.
"Beri. Why-y did you enroll at Surwick?"
It took a second for him to complete my question with a detailed response. "What do you know about the Class of the Pegasus?"
The Class of the Pegasus? I asked myself.
They were before my time. They were legendary warriors that even Lino taught and they were also in the 2006 Incident and the U.S.N banned those that still lived from ever being a hero again. "They were the best-st of the best-t."
"Best of the best. My dad was their teacher: Taught them everything he knew. I want to become a hero to show the world how tough I am——The guy who got into a hard school because the last name of his father doesn't sit right with me. Life isn't easy, so why do I have to go the easy way when I can do it the honest way?" He explained and I had a feeling he wasn't done.
"When I get my hero name set up: it's going to be "Miracleberry". It's got a nice ring to it." I smiled at him—I felt the same way.
"I-It does."
We're both runts. We have that thing in common; yet he still needs to prove to others he isn't deadweight or worthless. Maybe I'm mistaken, maybe I'm the one who has to prove herself and Beri is a tiny badass.
Me too, Beri. Me too.
He doesn't need to prove anything to me, though.
I guess I'll be going now. I thought as he climbed back into the car, and I went to the driver's seat.
Wait…..Where's the power up button? How do you start up a car?
"I'm so-o sorry….How do you-u start up a car, Beri?"
I never seen so much disappointment from a person in my life.
"I'll do it. At least it isn't manual, sucks: I wanted to enjoy shifting gears." At least he was still nice about as I got out of the driving seat.
Manual?
I hope I don't say anything else stupid.
Beri pressed his foot on the brake and press the button at the same time and the engine roared with excitement.
"You knuckleheads….." A voice was heard from the back, in the back seats, there was a large cage covered up from the looks of it.
I slowly grabbed the cover and it was Cecilia Harmaajärvi.
She wore a black short-sleeve and brown pants on. She has to be a model or something, she smells…like cinnamon. It was a natural smell too, unlike that artificial perfume Jordyn wears. It also feels good to smell it, not to sound creepy as I ripping the straps off.
"Cecilia!" Beri shouted her name obviously as she looked up at him.
There was no key to the cage yet there are many straps on it and on her wings.
"Am I that famous?" She said like she didn't care that we were rescuing her before got her out from the cage.
"What happened?" Beri asked while cutting the straps off her wings with a knife he pulled out from his utility belt.
She looked at him coldly.
Cecilia was in a cage like a dog for a while, she couldn't feel her limbs. I could tell because she kept playing with her hands, closing them tightly and opening them fast as Beri backed off.
Jesus. Even Beri was intimidated by her and he had a literal gun pointed to his head.
Her eyes are pretty, if she didn't scare me so much. "I felt a nick on my wings, Sosa."
"Do you see blood on my knife?" Beri asked her
"No," Cecilia was going to say something snooty before she got cut off by Beri. It was really fun to see that, excuse my potty mouth dear God, bitch getting what she deserves.
"Then I'm going to ask you again. What happened?" Beri asked again while checking Cecilia before she swipe his hand away.
What the hell is up with her anyway?
Does she need….water? I reached for my back
Will she accept it?
Cecilia saw the bottle and waited impatiently about receiving my water.
I had a feeling this was the best moment in her life right now: She was guzzling the hell out of the water.
I couldn't imagine how thirsty she must have been.
"Thanks." She was out of breath from drinking all my water, at least she said thank you about the drink. "That's better…..After the surprise attack didn't work, I was teleported on the mountain range and saw a bunch of soldiers. One of the bastard sniped me in the leg and healed it up quickly, they're planning to kill Chief Apex with that….monster they call Infusco. I hope the Chief how's how to snap a neck quicker than he can count——He's going to need it."
"Chief Apex isn't-t going to kill that monster!" I came to Chief Apex's defense.
He's a hero, to kill is stooping as low as a villain would. And Mr. Walker is no killer!
"It's kill or be killed, Akina. I wish I didn't have to tell you that…..You also fell into their trap by using me as the bait." Her words startled me and Beri.
The car started to drag its wheel behind as I
"The entire time, the car has a magnet underneath it. You started the car, that means the car is going towards the base and there is nothing you can do to stop it." Cecilia stated before finishing her pessimistic statement. "You stupid girl."
I hate it when bitches are right.
———Track 42 Ended———