"There's no end to these fuckers!"
His bat smashed directly through the feral beast's skull as he yelled his exhausted anger.
"Just shut up and keep swinging!"
Responded Rouge, her knife struggling to tear off the Hollow's head under her boot. Even if she and Savvy are considered Supports, they cannot afford to sit back. Moreover, they are still full-fledged soldiers; they can fight. Their help is also very much needed. The cavern is flooded with crawling Hollows, frenetically charging at the intruders.
Somehow, the platoon was standing strong, pushing back the limitless tsunami of demons. Overwhelmed by their sheer number and the impossibility of letting their guard down for cause of lethal implications, the squadron failed to notice the agglomeration of monsters standing back. The streams of red fluids travelling their unsightly silhouettes began to heat up, releasing putrid vapors.
Savvy was the only one to pick up on this strange behaviour.
"Look out! Something's wrong. They're preparing something."
Her gut feeling was right; something eerie was occurring. The back row of Hollow started to crawl up on each other. They proceeded to gargle scorching liquid and claw at each other. The horrific festival's purpose was simple: merging. After a few seconds, the mountain of goo and flesh fused, and morphed, altogether. Coming through this merging ceremony was a giant beast. Jab was the first one to break the silence in the face of the unruly sight.
"What the fuck!"
"This can't be good."
Ace immediately noticed this was bad news before the newborn monster even initiated his charge at them. The Hollow dashed through the crowd formed of his kin without any care whatsoever, crushing them and pushing them out of the way. Fearing the incoming mass of pure destruction, Savvy had to think of something.
"We need to stop this thing! Spike!?"
"I'm busy over here! Just let go of me, you weirdos!"
The young woman was covered by a panoply of Hollows biting down on her and clinging onto her hard skin, unable to do real damage.
"Akuma!?"
"... I'll try my best."
Weirdly calm, or more accurately, void of any external cue of any emotions, the soldier kicked away the beast leaping on him and ran to meet the raging bull. As he was running towards it, something changed in him. The incoming threat alarmed his body, provoking its awakening. Now his eyes burning red, he clashed against the Hollow rushing him down. Their body crashed violently, both their momentum stopping in their track, crushing the floor under them.
As they were both wrestling for control, the strategist looked at their Commander.
"Ace, now!"
"On it!"
Recently out of coins from this unwavering assault, she pulled out a metal marble. Her hand shrouded in a light purple aura, she fired it. Like a bullet, the high velocity its body reached made it whistle as it was cutting through the humid air. The projectile immediately hit its target directly on its temple. To everyone's surprise and despair, it did not pierce through.
"This can't be! How hard is its ski-"
"Watch out!"
Distracted by her failure, she let her guard down, allowing a Hollow to leap at her. As she is very frail when it comes to direct contact, she knew this was gonna hurt. Right as the beast's sharpened claws were about to poke her ribs, she felt her body being pulled back. Immediately following that, the monster's entire body blew up in pieces. Her eyes widened, previously from fear but now from surprise, as she was looking directly at someone's back.
In this instant, it felt large, immense, and powerful. Time froze for an instant. Sounds deafened. She slowly looked up, noticing long strands of hair hovering in the air. Only after a brief moment did time flow back normally. Ace then noticed the tainted bat held by a firm hand. The young man turned back to look at her.
"You're ok?"
"... Y-Yeah."
"Good. Then snap out of it."
The commotion of the battlefield finally came back to her. So did reality. Jab rushed back into the fray, effortlessly smashing through the demons. At the core of the war, Akuma was still struggling against the giant Hollow towering over him. However, overwhelmed by the beast's strength, he rapidly lost his battle of might. The monster's massive hands grappled him, forcefully squeezing his body. The Hollow brought the puny figure above its head and began an attempt to pull him apart.
Spike quickly reacted and rushed to his aid. Weighted down by some Hollows clinging to her legs, she made her way to the massive demon. She swiftly formed bony claws, as she learned in her previous mission and tried to tear through the beast's flesh. But even her razor-sharp spikes were not enough.
"What the heck is up with this thing?! I can't do anything!"
The monster was now ferociously trying to tear apart the lower and upper half of the young soldier. Akuma's body was flexing as best it could, hardening its core; it was trying to survive purely on brute force. Perfectly aware of his surroundings, Mute knew of his comrade's struggle and the threat he was facing. However, not wanting to repeat a past mistake, on top of remembering this morning's training and planning, he could not afford to leave his spot.
As it is now, he's the one doing the most. He is frantically dashing through the cluster of deadly bodies coming at them. While Savvy and Rouge are indeed able to defend themselves, the overwhelming number of enemies targeting them is too much. Mute was swiftly and brutally cutting through all of them without rest, his body covered by his enemies' steaming inner fluids. Someone else will have to help Akuma. Or Akuma will need to pull through on his own.
Savvy was trying her best to stay focused on stabbing the monsters coming at her while also trying to figure out a way out of this. But for now, her biggest menace was that large Hollow.
"Jab! You need to go kill that thing!"
"I'm trying!"
His bat was now held hostage by a feral Hollow, biting on it and clinging to hit. While his weapon was overrun by the enemy, his preoccupation gave an opportunity for a second beast to leap at him. Quickly, the mutilated man yelled in frustration and swung his bat, smashing the incoming threat with the body of his kin, completely obliterating in a geyser of goop the two monsters. Jab used this moment to charge at the giant beast detaining his comrade.
He rushed right to its side before cranking his metallic weapon and swinging it with immense power right in its abdomen. Unexpectedly, the beast did not move, only a heavy shockwave spurred out from the collision. Jab felt that in his hand and his shoulder; that monster was hard. As the vibration of the impact began to numb his nerves, the drunkard jumped back away. Savvy felt a cold shiver eat her soul.
This is bad. Even our biggest hitter can't hurt it. Think. Why did his attack do nothing? He has the power. Is it just truly impossible to harm this thing? No. There has to be a way. There has t-
The young woman was brought back into the moment as sharp claws lacerated the back of her leg, drawing a sharp screech out of her. Savvy rapidly stabbed the Hollow right through its brain, angrily kicking its corpse in order to free her weapon for incoming assaults.
Shit! All we can do is hold down. We just need to buy time until Slash returns. No. I can't make this assumption. We need to assume the worst. He might have died down here. He won't come for us. Should I send someone back to get reinforcements? Fuck! I need to stop thinking about backup plans. We can do this. We need to do this.
Her eyes began to move rapidly, looking in every corner of her brain. A light golden aura formed a thin mist over her irises. Jab quickly caught on to her sudden trance state. He rushed to her side to cover her, bashing and pummelling any and everything coming her way. It was the right call. She can't even notice him at the moment. She would have suffered more than just a bleeding wound on her calve this time.
However, she needed that time to think. She quickly processed the failure of Jab's attack. She realized it had to do with more than just an impenetrable coat on their enemy's part. And it wasn't a lack of strength from her friend either. To hit was to blunt. The area in which the force of the blow was distributed to the beast was too large. They need a blow of equal power but with a smaller area of effect; a point of pressure small enough to convey its strength into one tiny area. That would work.
That was Ace's power. That's why her ability is reliable, reliable enough to make her a Commander. Seeing her power for the second time now helped her get to that conclusion faster. However, Ace's ability also failed. Savvy had a hunch it wouldn't work either if Jab mimicked Ace's ability. Even if Jab's strength is immeasurable, his lack of practice and technique would probably bring down the power of his throw to be on par with hers.
Then ho-
"Die you fucker!"
Her friend's lousy mouth snapped her out of her meditating trance. She watched him bash a Hollow's skull with his bat before rushing back again toward the tall beast trying to rip Akuma apart. He leaped in the air and smashed the back of the Hollow's head. Yet again, the attack amounted to no real damage. However, watching manoeuver his weapon unlocked something in her.
Not educated in the world of science, she had no prior knowledge of elasticity, momentum or kinetic energy. And yet, the extremely active neuron activities and the electric influx present in her brain computed similar concepts to come up with an answer purely based on instinct.
"Jab! Run behind it! Ace, I need you to shoot your thing at Jab!"
"What?"
"You want her to shoot me?
"Just go! Jab you need to hit her throw with your bat!"
"Alright. Get ready, Jab!"
"You sure that's gonna work Savvy?"
"It has to! Just make sure you aim at its head!"
"Got it. Bring it on."
While the team was quickly getting in place to execute Savvy's impromptu plan, they rapidly put themselves under the spot. Their firepower plummeted, even for just an instant, letting the wave of enemy quickly overwhelm them. Trying his hardest, Mute was slashing through as many of them as he could, always trying to make sure to stay by Rouge's side. She noticed it herself.
"Don't mind me! Go give them cover, I got this."
The man stood uncertain for a second, but he trusted her words. He quickly blitzed toward his other friends to protect them while they were busy positioning themselves. Rouge quickly regretted her decision as she immediately saw the consequences of her action, a huge number of enemies closing onto her.
"Fuck me."
The young woman said she got this because she truly thought she did. However, it was only a flimsy intuition. She immediately initiated makeshift meditating conditions. She focused on her inner body. Her veins coursing through her limbs. The blood, slowly and quietly, flowing through them. While well aware she would not achieve much, even the tiniest change in her can make a difference. Save her life. She could feel her red fluid and its properties. She could sense it.
She augmented its debit and its richness, provisionally doping herself. Even just a little. Her muscles swelled and her body appeared to have a faint reddish taint. Her gut feeling paid off, she was successfully able to control her blood in the midst of the battle. She then proceeded to cut through and chop the Hollows crawling and pouncing at her, their blood spilling on her face at the same tempo as she was grunting from her efforts.
"Now!"
On Savvy's last effort command, Ace readied herself and shot her solid marble with extreme force. The projectile barely grazed the beast's body desperately trying to snap its prey in half. The ball grazed their enemy and continued its course toward Jab. It seemed to have slowed down in Jab's eye, now shining an emerald glow. He cocked his arm and bat back before swinging it with immense power. Even with the marble's solid frame, its shape warped and squished in contact with the bat.
The impact propelled the projectile with unthinkable momentum. The ball burst through the Hollow's head and lodged itself in the rocky ceiling before the sharp clank of the hit echoed in the cave. After a short while, the monster dropped dead on the floor, its grip finally letting go of its prey. This victory was small at sight, it was anticlimactic. However, this victory was huge in concept. This win reinvigorated the troops' morale, now giving them momentum to finish the job.
Slowly but surely, they were getting rid of every last threat. Covered in mucus, wounded and out of breath, they finally did it. Calm and silence slowly came back to visit them.
"Fucking hell."
"Is everybody ok?"
Ace was making sure to be aware of her subordinates' condition. Her biggest concern was Akuma.
"Are you wounded?"
"No, I'm good."
"That's pretty crazy, but that's good then."
"Yeah. I don't know how I managed to stay unscathed."
"Wait. What about Slas-"
Before Spike could express her concern for her newfound sensei, a giant beast leaped out from the opening where Slash was headed. The Hollow violently crashed on the floor and began to run. The squadron was all overtaken by utter fear. If this monster was able to resurface, it meant only one thing.
"N- no, way. Is Slash…"
"No."
Only Ace was able to truly understand the situation, thanks to her experience. She noticed the chaotic behavior behind the Hollow's movements and maneuvers It was not running at them.
"It's running away."
Under a deep roar resembling thunder, a ruby lighting bolt blitzed out of the darkness and pierced the monster. The beam finished its course behind the group of soldiers. They all quickly turned around to see what that was.
"Hahaha! Can't believe this fellow was able to slip out from my watch."
As the Shogun finished his sentence, the Hollow exploded in pieces, caused by an unfathomable number of slashes that simultaneously cut through its body. The entire squadron was holding their breath, not knowing how to react to what just happened. Ace then broke the silence.
"Slip out? You just let it get away so you could show off in front of us, didn't you?"
"Hahaha! You got me there!"
"Woah, that was so cool!"
"Hahaha! Right? I knew at least you would appreciate it."
"I can't believe this."
"You really were out there playing around while we were trying not to get killed out there."
"Hahaha! Don't give me that! You would have died if I didn't take care of this guy for you. It was quite strong!"
"You sure didn't make look like it was."
"Let's just get the fuck out of here."
"Wait, is there any Hollow left around here?"
Savvy made sure to be thorough. She did not want to make a mistake. The bandaged soldier tilted his head for a short instant. Before nodding negatively. He could not hear anything hiding close.
"Alright then, let's head bac- argh!"
As she tried to walk, she was painfully reminded of the severe wound on her leg, until now dormant because of the adrenaline. As she loosely lost balance, Rouge was able to catch her before she fell.
"Whoa there. I got you."
"Thanks."
Rouge used her last vial with healing properties she had. She will need to go see Venom to replenish her stock. A little further away from them, The Illusionist slowly made her way to the drunk soldier, rewarding himself with a lukewarm drink out of his flask.
"We made a pretty good team back there."
"It wasn't too shabby, I'll give you that."
"Though, it's all thanks to me."
"Is it now?"
"I mean, I told you to pick up that bat didn't I?"
"True."
"And you were only able to make it happen because of my flawless throw to you."
"Gosh, you're right. It's truly all thanks to you, oh your highness. I would have been so useless if it wasn't for you."
"Haha, you're damn right!"
The young soldier scoffed and laughed lightly. She smiled, happy she could make him laugh. Even a little.
"No, but really. I meant to thank you."
"For what?"
"You kinda saved my ass."
"Come on. Killing these things is quite literally the whole job."
"Is that so? You're just doing your good ol' job."
"I am."
"Right, right. But still. Thank you."
"Sure."
"Well. Let's go. We're done here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can't do this shit.
Fevered by seamlessly never-ending tension, Adam was holding his head in his hands. Only now did his torment end. Sitting in Doc's office with the owner himself and James, he was watching a live broadcast of Slash's mission. They only now just eliminated all threats
"Fuck me, man. Why they're all so strong now? I wish I could take the shot."
James could only grow jealous.
"You know this is forbidden by regulations."
The old scientist shut down any hope he had.
"However, I must agree. These new Rookies really proved to be useful. They are making my investment worthwhile.
Doc proudly said.
"Excuse me, sir. You're telling me they don't know we can see them."
James could not shake his concerns.
"Of course not. They do not have any concept of comprehension of any of these technologies. Hence why I can monitor their every move and every word in the vicinity. And wherever I have eyes on the field, thanks to the recognition missions I have them run,"
"Right."
How did we get to this point? How did it happen? We're now spying and controlling the same kids we forced into warfare. And I'm forced to sit here and watch them fight not knowing if they're just gonna fucking die right in front of me.
Adam never doubted his life decisions more than right now. The Lab's history was but an unfathomable tale of times for him. Only granted glimpses into its vast saga, he did not know of the many sacrifices and war crimes that conceded this level of prosperity for humanity.
Prosperity is indeed the correct description despite the horrors continuously befalling their existence. The Inside City is a fabulous miracle of humanity's craftmanship and adaptability, a direct causality of the past civilization's technological advancements.
All the knowledge archived and the abundant amount of technical and scientific expertise that has been passed down and survived for the last centuries truly is a wondrous miracle. A miracle built and sustained by every human survivor's strenuous hard work and sheer will.
The Lab itself is no exception. The amount of biochemical and medical progress is a fantastical show of scientific breakthroughs. While more than inhumane and cruel, Doc's development of his enhancement compound undoubtedly proved itself to be useful. He witnessed it upfront this very instant, watching a squadron of young soldiers obliterating a horde of flesh-starved monsters that had been threatening to bring humanity to complete extinction.
My hunch was indeed correct. This time. This year. This is the one. At this rate. We will truly be able to make it. We will make it through.
Content of his soldiers' effort, he was done overseeing their mission.
"You may leave now, James. Good job on your report today."
"Thank you, sir!"
"Adam, I'd like to have a word with you."
"Yes, sir."
Nervously uttered the suited man, watching his partner nonchalantly leave the room.
"So, I guess pinning her every so often wasn't enough for you. She must really have a premium cunt."
"What?"
Adam was completely caught off guard by the old man's sudden and crude words.
"Your favorite prostitute. You know who I'm talking about."
"What are you getting at?"
Has he been spying on me too? That fucking creep.
This time around, the man did not try to keep any resemblance of obedience or formality in his responses.
"Don't worry, I haven't been spying on you. At least lately. I have more important matters to focus on than the luxurious quarters. I am but assuming."
"And what are you assuming exactly?"
"You'll watch your tone with me, son."
Fucking asshole
'Sorry, sir. I am merely confused at what you are implying here."
"You will also stop taking me for an imbecile. Am I making myself clear here?"
The old man had this faculty to appear extremely frightening despite his age. His tone was severe, his eyes bloodthirsty.
"... Yes, sir."
Adam had no choice but to bow down. He could not even fathom the consequences that could strike him.
"Good. Words came to me. Her family is searching for her. She disappeared in the middle of the night. If it wasn't for her belongings missing, I would have thought a sick client of hers got a little too excited. I would have expected one of my men to find her obscene naked body lying somewhere, bled out like the animal she is. But no, this is clearly premeditated. If I had to guess, she left her domain crying her heart out to regroup with the guy who somehow tricked her into thinking she's loved and she's more than a sex doll. But, I don't think I need to ask you if you are involved in this, do I?"
"..."
At this point, he could barely hear. A deafening ringing was piercing his eardrums. He felt the veins pop in his eye, one by one, slowly tainting his eyes red.
"Your response says it all. And your behavior betrays you. I am constantly making sure that everything, and I say everything, is in order. Always. I am the reason we made it this far. I am the reason you have a place to sleep. I am the reason you are still breathing. And I sure am the reason you have some lowlife chick to bang at your leisure. So when a piece goes missing amidst this perfectly modulated system, it throws the balance off. And I cannot allow the system to fall. I cannot. There is no telling how many more of these whores will do what she did. And if I don't have enough hookers to satisfy the needs of all these filthy businessmen holding the economy through their monopoly, it will cause tension. They will let in on their emotions and impulsions. Everything is in place. Everyone has a role. I will not allow anyone to mingle with anything or anyone that they shouldn't. Everyone will stay in line, like they always did, and let me govern this place like I always did. I will not let anything, anything, threaten the system, my system, that I built. Do you understand?"
"... Yes."
"Yes what?"
"... Yes, sir."
"That's fucking right. Now, I will let it slide. If fucking that selfish woman on a daily basis means you will do your goddamn job, I'll accept it. But I will no longer condone any more of your egocentric, self-absorbed and vicious behavior. All the more behind my back. I will not let you make of me a blind fool. You owe me everything. And I will not hesitate to throw you and your sluty girlfriend out of these walls so you can starve and get eaten alive. Is that clear?"
"... Crystal. Sir."
"Great. You're too smart. And you're trying too hard. Be more like that moron. Don't think. Just do I as say. You'll have an easier time. Trust me."
James felt like he lost track of reality on multiple occasions. He could have sworn he even lost consciousness at some point. His utter disgust and anger rose to his head, murderous instinct blurring his vision.
I swear on my life. I will destroy you and everything you ever cared for. I will fucking end you.