"You don't have to be this shocked," Kolya said, a snarky look on his face, "I do have friends other than you." He stepped to the side, letting them see the few people standing behind him. "These are some members of Henosis…" he started pointing behind him when a person stepped forward.
"So you're the new blood Nick's been hiding?" She asked her sharp yellow eyes meeting them. She had a seductive yet elegant figure, her white hair was tied in a bun, while similarly colored skin shone under the sunlight. Come to think of it, how was she able to stay outside? She was the only one not wearing a suit.
"Wow! You're gorgeous, she said inspecting Sasha." It looked incredibly awkward, she was walking in circles inspecting every inch of her body. Her eyes slowly glowed as she said:
"Woah, how many genetic modifications did you have?" There were so many questions he wanted to ask Sasha. Where did she go? Where did she get the weapon? How was her uncle involved with all of this? Who was that other person inside her head? But this was definitely not the time or place.
Regardless, the scene before him was quite heart-lifting. Even if they could be attacked at any minute, he wanted to see this scene for a little longer. The sight of the small woman circling around Sasha while asking question after question, not letting her answer, was pretty hilarious.
Wait, now that he thought about it, weren't all these people kind of small? Looking to the side his eyes landed on Kolya. Impossible! They were at eye level. Was this what he meant the other day? Shifting his eyes around, a virtual model of himself appeared before him. Zooming on the face, he noticed his eyes were now more grey than blue and his hair had white flocks mixed in with the blond ones. When it spun around, he was able to see the tattoo. It was no longer an empty circle. It now had a sideways hourglass at its center. It was surrounded by chains shackling it down…
"Seeing her makes me wanna know what's hiding behind that handsome husk." The image suddenly disappeared when he tilted his head down. The strange woman was now in front of him, knocking on the surface of his suit.
"Alright Angel, this isn't the time or place for this, please restrain yourself." Recognizing the voice, he slowly trailed his eyes behind her. They were all figures emanating their own domain.
Two suits, one glowing blue and the other grey, standing closely together yet looking away as if avoiding each other. The next one was confusing, it was fully black and didn't look natural in its proportions. Finally, the one who was talking wore a hood. It was a misty figure that threatened to dissipate at any second. He recognized that domain Serena called him…
"Yeah, Crow, you're right, I apologize," she said, stepping back, her demeanor turning serious. "You guys go," she looked past them, "we'll cover your retreat." Seeing them walk forward Slava was about to say something when Angel put her hand in front of Kolya.
"I might hate Thorn for what she did to us, but she was right, you go guide them back." He saw Kolya grit his teeth and clench his fists. He'd rarely seen him like this. He was about to retort when he looked down and turned around.
"Let's go," he told them, disgruntled. He knew Kolya well enough to know that this was a disaster for him. For a man who had lived his entire life improving his body to fight, not being able to do so because of it breaking down was world-ending.
Slowly walking off they were about to leap away when Sasha dropped to her knees. Fuck! Feeling a bad premonition, Slava rushed to her side.
"No! Fall back," she screamed, grabbing her head, closing her eye, the remaining one's blue iris flashing in a purple glow. Seeing that her voice didn't reach them, she reluctantly grunted, smashing her scythe into the ground. Cracks spread around them and in the next moment, a huge shockwave spread from the center of the city.
As it did, it distorted everything. The buildings began collapsing, everything was in shambles. Slava struggled to look up, it was the same as before, that purple pressure. Looking to the side, he saw a screaming Sasha struggling to maintain her kneeling position. It seemed like the space was being distorted. The wave that was supposed to pass through them simply spread apart before them.
Kolya was simply standing firm by their side. His whole body trembled but it didn't seem to bother him as his suit lit up.
How was he able to resist such immense pressure? The others were nowhere to be seen, but it didn't seem to faze him. He just looked up towards the sky as if waiting for something.
When the wave had passed, Slava felt drained, his body felt weak. Sasha seemed to feel the same as she struggled to catch her breath.
Meanwhile, on the horizon, a few figures descended onto the ground. Blackcoda, Lightbringer, Blood Queen, and… Godspeed? Wasn't he dead?
Gamma suit S. It had many names as it was the most common of them all, Scout, Speed, Space. But throughout all of its wearers, one stood out for his skills. He was nicknamed Godspeed. Looking closer he could spot a fine membrane surrounding them.
Standing back up, he watched Kolya walk past them. He was about to interrupt him when he heard his voice resound in his ear.
"Jack, are you still there? I need to borrow your toys." Wait, who was Jack and how was Kolya talking to him? After a few moments of static, a chopped-up voice finally answered.
"You… what are you… you're in no condition…" What was even asking for? What toys? What was he planning?
"That's exactly why I need them," he answered. There was no hesitation in his voice. Slava knew this demeanor of his, he was about to do something stupid.
"Fine… Crow… with Angel… help Mag… Zach… injured… no reinforcements," hearing the broken message Kolya slightly trembled. His suit began morphing around him. The familiar gauntlets formed around his fists as golden flames sprung up from his fissured armored suit. Simultaneously, a swarm of black particles flowed from the surrounding buildings engulfing him completely.
They were slowly molding themselves to his figure. When they finally finished, a reborn Kolya came into view. His whole body was now covered in pitch-black armor. The cracks covering it acted as a catalyst for the flames. Crouching down, he revealed a pair of flaming black wings spreading from his back.
"You…" he heard the unknown voice say. There was clearly something wrong, but Kolya didn't seem to mind.
"There is no other choice," he said, shutting it up and dashing towards the four imposing figures.
Slava wanted to follow, but he had trouble staying up and Sasha was in an even worse state. Her eyes were slowly dimming revealing a constant blue flicker in her irises. It was pulsing consistently, ticking like a timer. Hastily looking back and forth between both his friends, he murmured:
"Fuck!" Continuing, he crouched forcefully moving Sasha's head with his hand. "Sasha, listen to me." Hearing his words, she struggled to meet his eyes. "We need to cut you off from the network, it's fucking with you." So many things were happening at the same time, he had to deal with this so that he could go help Kolya. "I'm sure it knows it as well, your eyes are too dangerous." Whoever was in her head probably knew more than him. Sasha's eyes were engraved by her uncle at a young age. There was no way to know how much control he had over them.
Sasha didn't say a word, instead, she bit her lip closing her eyes. After some time she reopened them, nodding, a soft smile on her face. On the other hand, Slava's expression was cold, emotionless as he said:
"This is gonna hurt." Not letting her finish her breath, he let his suit dig into her eye sockets. What followed were probably the most painful moments of Sasha's life. Slava heard her scream louder than he ever had before, but he didn't let that distract him. He focused on the movement, carefully cutting the nerves, tendons, and muscles. Cold beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. When he finally removed her eyes, he guided his suit to leave a bandana to cover her eyes. Slowly moving her head, she extended her hand towards the sky.
"Wow, I never quite noticed how beautiful this view was." Those were her last words before she slightly tilted her head to the side.
Laying her on the ground, he looked at the two still flashing eyes in the palm of his hand. He could probably see him now from where he was. Taking a last look into them, he closed his hand, crushing them.