The narrowing roads kept the soldiers of Appleridge at bay of their surroundings, but this far east from the frontlines made those worries fade away with ease. As long as this group was away from the chaos for as long as possible, would that be fine with them. Their long patrol consisting of around ten carrs and armored vehicles would normally make them a dangerous target, but the convoy couldn't feel any safer.
"Man, I can't wait for the next rotation to come in." one of the soldiers in the leading carrs took a sigh, "Better for those guys to move closer to "them" than for us to face that."
"I ain't even worried about a thing." another soldier yawned out next to them,
"We're constantly getting stronger, and they're quickly weakening. It's only a matter of time until the enemy eventually loses all of their initiatives."
Even with that changing reality, those pesky coastal city rebels wouldn't give up that easily. They've come too far from their homes and lives to waste it all away on failure. It would be life or death for them. As those thoughts of victory remained in their heads, a quick shout notified the group of an incoming threat.
Just a few hundred yards away, a lone figure was walking in the open, appearing to be unaware of the platoon ahead. The stature of this thing was moving as if such days were casual and a stroll had the soldiers in a state of alertness, knowing that a normal thing wouldn't be moving in such a manner.
"Identify yourself, or we will fire!" the soldier in the lead of the group reported, "You will have no warning!"
That caused the figure to stop moving, just right between the fifth intersection away from them, and revealing their true identity for the men to witness. With an impressive definition in their legs, almost unnatural-like, the male person only gave them a slight grin, before he disappeared out of nowhere, leaving a brief afterimage.
"It's has to be! It's one of those Viliginates!" a soldier pointed out, as the armored vehicles and troops fired a couple of rounds in the section their enemy was holding.
"Stay on the loo-" another soldier on top of one of the carrs managed to mutter before a shadow appeared over their head.
Without any warning or them even noticing, Hops had dashed through the space and was overhead the first vehicle of the line.
"What's up guys. Don't mind if I do." a sadistic smile appeared across his face, before his right foot crashed down against the hood of the vehicle using his full power.
A loud boom erupted, as the carr's front half practically crumpled up and killed the driver and lead passager surely with ease, as Hops's foot landed against the ground. A shuttering earthquake was quick to follow, forcing many of the soldiers to fall off their vehicles and raised dust into the air.
"Now!" Hops roared with a passion, "Go forth!"
A quick slice of light entered his line of vision, as the man pressed down against the soot-covered road. The recovering soldiers had little time to react, as the light went through their skin with ease, slicing bodies in half. Screams of agony and death were there to follow, as multiple footsteps came within hearing range.
The lead member of the attack was none other than Leon, fingers poised to launch tiny bursts of energy into their enemies if needed. Behind him were Sera and Fonda, the latter was concentrating on any of the survivors still able to fight, and the other gripping their blade and ready for more heat.
"It's the whole group!" a soldier in the back raised his rifle, pointing it towards them.
Just as his finger was placed on the trigger, a sharp slice of pain erupted off his back, forcing him to drop his weapon. Turning behind, the man could see a wolf-like creature huffing out steam, just as it launched itself toward his face. While the other Viligantes of Power couldn't see what was going on, it was safe to assume that Brat was taking him out of his misery based on the pitch of squealing and cries of desperation.
"Looks like we got almost all of them. Alice did tell us that a metal building was where Jamal would be at. Can't be much further from here if she was correct on its location." Leon stared down the street, with no new troops in sight.
"I completely trust her. We're getting close, and we'll be in and out in no time. Jamal will make sure we get there in time. I know it." Hops began moving ahead, only pausing for a brief moment to crush the head of a struggling soldier, "Let's move."
.....
"Have you decided your faith?" Hector Nerca looked at him once again, holding a small pistol in his hands.
Jamal kept quiet, not even listening to him. His shadowy figure had never left his side, and although it remained silent compared to prior minutes, did it give Jamal some sense of his awareness. Despite the condition that his body and mind were in, his survival instinct was still holding strong, and that spurt of activity was all he needed.
"Yeah." Jamal croaked out, although it was as loud as a soft whisper.
"Really? That's a surprise in itself right there. Am I right, men?" Hector looked among his guards, who simply remained on guard and didn't lose focus on their main prize.
"I'm done with this," Jamal spoke again, with a little bit more energy this time, "Of all-, all of this."
"Huh?" Hector was confused, "I knew you couldn't think in your current state, but I think we've made you lose it."
"You did, but-" Jamal stopped himself, taking a quick sigh.
"But what?"
"I'm not done yet." Jamal huffed out, just as his last two good fingers lit up in weak flames.
The guards within the room were quick to aim their weapons at the man, and even Hector took a quick step back in surprise. Even after everything they had done, Jamal still had a little bit of fight left in him.
"Wow, Jamal Wrint, still giving his all." Hector regained his composure, the pliers in his painted a dry red, "I must respect that."
Without waiting any longer for ideas to come through, the Defense General gripped the man's right ring finger and snapped it awkwardly to its side. Jamal hissed in pain, as the finger cracked and the fire died instantly. The only remaining finger was his pinky, glowing ever so weakly.
"Damn you." Jamal tried to focus on the chain holding his hands above him, barely able to feel a thing.
"I mean, I just can't let you get through this that easily, can I now?" Hector chuckled, as the dirty plier grabbed tightly onto his last working finger.
No, I can't give up like this, Jamal angrily knew, as he was quick to shift his body ever so slightly. Pain shot from every corner of his body, but it didn't matter as the man managed to land a weak kick against Hector's side through the bars.
"The fuck?" Hector rubbed his pants, disgusted at the crease that Jamal created. "Oh, you know what. I'll give you something to remember."
With Jamal expecting him to break his last working finger, the shock couldn't have been any worse. Realigning the plier towards the finger's end, did Jamal get the memo for what was to come.
"Wait, no, no, no, no, no." he began to mutter and shake, as the flames died down from what he believed was to happen next. "Don't."
"Yeah, it's not like it's going to matter anyway." Hector shrugged, just as he began applying pressure.
Unlike before, where the motions were usually quick and clean with a single flick, the twisted man began to press tightly against his finger, squeezing out blood and bone, and had Jamal gasping for mercy.
"Serves you right," Hector said with no more remorse, as he clenched the sides of the tool as hard as possible before a soft thud hit the ground.
If Jamal's mind was managing to hold for as long as possible, this was the true breaking point, as his right pinky finger was a bloody mess lying on the cell's floor and him in agonizing pain.
"Oh my, fucking powers shit, shitty fuck, fucking me shit!" Jamal was rambling out at this point, trembling from the new loss of blood and clearly lost mind.
"Now, I think I finally do what I should have done hours ago. Put the dog out of his misery." Hector didn't even turn back, as he made his way to his desk to grab the one weapon that could take him out in one go, guaranteed.
.....
"There it is! That has to be it!" Brat managed to point out a gray building, pieces of fur still popping through his skin.
Ever since getting past that first line of obstacles, had the Viligantes of Power not faced any more foes yet. Which was good, and bad, because it gave them a bit more time to strategize their exact entry and exit points as well as deal with their imposing threats. At the same time, there was a growing chance that the patrol group would have likely been reported as missing or found out by now and alert the area of a looming threat to do that much damage. One of the two had to happen first.
"Perfect, Alice was right." Leon took a breath of relief, "Let's hope things go as smoothly as possible."
"But always, and I mean always, expect the unexpected." Sera stared at the few spics and spots of blood remaining on her ancestral blade, "This is Youden's people we are dealing with after all, and with a prize that big, they won't want to keep him in a good condition for long."
"Welp, I'm not going to wait another second for y'all to get him out." Hops paced himself toward the looming structure and by the building's entrance. "Okay, here we go."
"Don't we wan-" Fonda began to clarify, just as the man kicked the door down with one swift attack. "Nevermind."
"Welp, let's get to work and stay on guard. We shall not fall again." Leon finally grinned, teeth flashing for once. "Jamal, you're coming back with us!"