Off in the distance I see a girl with fiery red hair holding what looks to be a red electric guitar. Natalia zooms in on her with her visor and describes the girl to me in detail.
"Black eyes, white skin, red hair, probably dyed, that is messily put up into two side ponytails, pink and red jacket with burnt sleeves, fire retardant boots, a pair of pink headphones around her neck, a gas mask in her left hand and a modified Electric guitar in the other. She has a pistol strapped to her hip and a pair of goggles on her forehead. She's also wearing a piece of cloth around her neck which is covered by the headphones."
Natalia tracks the girl's movements as she walks around on top of a hover truck that has a bunch of speakers in the back.
Suddenly, one of the attackers hands the girl a microphone then proceeds to excitedly talk into it, "Hello soon to be slaves!" The crowd behind her starts to cheer, "My names Pyrrha! And I've come to enslave you all for the betterment of bandit society!"
I grit my teeth at her cocky words, "Everyone behind me! Ready?!" The bandits behind her roar in unison. The girl puts on her gasmask and goggles and prepares her guitar, "THEN LET'S GO!"
She strums her fingers across all the strings of her guitar quickly, causing a jet of fire to erupt from the top, somehow not catching her hair. The bandits start to run at the walls, weapons out.
I look at the defenders on the wall shivering in fear, "Shoot you idiots!" That seems to have gotten to them, as they start to fire at the oncoming bandits.
A few bandits reach the walls and pull out hooks on ropes, planning on climbing up the wall. I pull out my pistol and shoot anyone trying to climb up. I look off in the distance and see Pyrrha get in the hover truck and drive straight at the gate.
Before I could say a word, the truck slams through the gate, stopping as it was damaged, "Ok, so not my brightest idea, but hey it worked!" I jump off the wall and land behind her as she gets out, pulling out my plasma knife.
She must've heard me land, because the next thing I know she's facing me with her guitar flamethrower, aimed right at me, "Hi!!!"
She strums her guitar as a jet of flame shoots at me. The fire hits my raised arms and I end up dropping my knife, screaming in pain. The jet soon stops with Pyrrha giggling in delight. I quickly pat out the fires as my breathing quickens. I suddenly feel very angry at everything.
"Oh shit..."
---Pyrrha's POV---
'I did not sign up for this!' I aim my baby, Scarlet Melody, at what I can only guess is a monster and fire. The beast in human skin takes the hit head on and keeps walking, like the fire is just water!
"SHIT!" I strap Scarlet to my back and pullout my emergency weapon. I fire at her and slowly back up, beginning to feel an emotion I loathe.
Fear.
The beast just dodges my shots and begins speeding up. I soon run out of ammo and resort to throwing my gun at her, which she catches and crushes.
I decide to give up in trying to kill her and just run, 'Screw my army! They were never loyal to me anyways! I don't want to die to that thing!'
I get to the gate before I am grabbed by my leg and fall, "NO! PLEASE, NO!" I look behind me and see red, almost glowing, eyes.
These are not the eyes of a human. They are the eyes of a monster. The monster turns me over onto my back, grabs my gas mask, and rips it off along with my goggles.
Suddenly, the monster's eyes turn yellow, and they gasp while covering their mouth. They mutter a single word...
"Melody...?"
I could've used this chance to kick her off of me and run like hell, but for some stupid reason, my body decided to stay put.
'There's only one person who could know that name...' I feel my eyes widen at the realization.
"Zara..."
I hear heavy footsteps before a stern voice speaks, "Boss, what do you want to do with her?" Zara looks at the source of the voice with a serious face, "Take her to the infirmary and don't let anyone in unless I say so. And guard the door."
Zara gets off of me as another person clad in riot gear lifts me off the ground, putting me into a standing position. I feel Scarlet Melody be removed from my back by a curious looking woman. She looks at my baby like it's something to be studied, "Don't break her, please..."
I hear the gunshots outside and on the walls of this place start to die down. I can already guess who won.
I look behind me as I am being escorted to another place and see Zara staring at her hands. I frown, 'What happened to you Zara? You used to be so nice and caring... Not to mention all that monster stuff.'
---Zara's POV---
'What. The. FUCK!' I stare at my shaking hands in slight fear, 'What happened?! Why did I go berserk like that?! It's like I turned!' I let out a shaky breath, 'At least I can stop it when it does happen.' I look up at Opera who is holding Melody's weapon like it's a baby.
I look at my arm and sigh at the sight of burn marks, 'Least I know I can heal 3rd degree burns. Thats helpful.'
Natalia walks up to me and salutes before speaking, "All hostiles have been eliminated. We have four casualties on our side."
I sigh again, "Tell a group of people to bury our fallen, and to relocate the enemy dead. I don't want infected wandering to our base because of rotting corpses."
"Yes ma'am." And with that Natalia walks off to relay her information. I look back at the entrance to the infirmary and see Melody being shoved in, with Nathan following her inside.
'I'll check up on her after I assess the damage to the settlement.' I then pick up my plasma knife, which is thankfully undamaged, and look around with Opera, seeing if anyone's hurt (other than the dead ones).
Afterwards, I head to the infirmary and see Melody handcuffed to the medical bed with Nathan sitting in a chair in the corner.
Nathan notices me and walks to me, "Shes here. And she's been quiet the whole time. Even when I was interrogating her." I question Nathan on that last part, "You didn't beat her in any way, did you?"
Nathan looks at me with confusion, "Why do you ask? And no, I didn't." I breathe a sigh of relief at his answer, "Thats good. I asked because she used to be one of my friends. Back before the apocalypse."
"That explains why you didn't kill her when you went feral. Why did that happen by the way?" Nathan asks, "I'll tell you and your sister after I talk to Melody, or 'Pyrrha' as she calls herself now."
Nathan takes that as his que to leave as he exits the room. I look at Melody and sigh, 'Been doing that a lot today.' I pull the chair out of the corner and bring it to the bed, "So, 'Pyrrha' how's life been for you?"
Melody looks at me with tears in her eyes, "Lifes been really shitty since you and I got separated a year back."
"But why did you become a bandit? Why did you become the very thing you said you would never become? Why?!" I must've scared her because she started to tremble, "I didn't have a choice! I did what I had to do in order to survive!"
I grit my teeth in annoyance, "I should just kill you." I pull out my gun and press it against her head, her eyes widening, "Z-Zara...?" She whimpers while tears begin to form.
I put my finger on the trigger...
... And lower the gun, "Damn it..." I turn around and cup my chin with my free hand, thinking.
'She's my old friend. And I owe her a lot, so I can't just kill her like that. Hmm...' I turn back around and look at Melody with a cold gaze.
"I can't let you out of here without good reason, so here's a trade: You tell us where your whole operation is, and I'll try and talk with my inner circle about letting you go. Deal?" Melody brightens up, "Of course! The people back at my place weren't very loyal to me anyways, so I don't really care what happens to them."
'Thats probably why they aren't loyal to you!' I leave the room and call Opera, Nathan, and Natalia to my room.
After everyone is gathered up, I explain to them what I told Melody, "You just want to let her go?!" Natalia yells, "I agree with her on this one, Boss. We can't just let someone like that back out into the world." Nathan says.
Opera has been quiet this whole time up until now, "I think it's a fair trade. One for many." We all look at Opera, "Are you serious?!" "Really?!"
I nod, "It's not like we're keeping her. We're just letting her live." Nathan sighs, "Thats exactly the problem. Bandits like her should be put down. Who knows how many people she's killed."
"She didn't have a choice. I know her too well from before the apocalypse, she would never do something like this willingly." Natalia speaks, "You say that, but did you see her face as she tried to burn you alive? As she said the words 'Enslave for the betterment of bandit society'?"
I narrow my eyes, "If you saw her burning me, then why didn't you kill her right then and there?" Natalia looks away in irritation, "My railgun ran out of power, and I lent my sidearm to someone who didn't have a gun."
I sigh, "We're getting off track." Natalia sighs in annoyance, "You're right." I think for a moment before getting an idea, "How about I bring her in to talk with each of you. No. Guns."
Nathan cups his chin in thought before letting out a sigh, "Fine. Let's hear her case." Natalia looks at her brother in shock, "Nathan...?!"
Nathan looks at his sister, "It's only fair to hear her side of the story. Justice should be enforced. Even if the world has ended."
I nod and Natalia groans, "Fine." I walk to the door and gesture for Nathan to follow. We reach the infirmary and enter.
Melody is just sitting there lightly humming an old song from earth, "Pyrrha." Nathan says coldly. Melody looks at Nathan, "What?"
Nathan sighs, "We're going to uncuff you for a moment. Don't try anything." Nathan moves to uncuff her. She just looks at me while being uncuffed, "Now get off the bed." She does just that before Nathan puts her cuffs back on.
Nathan and I then escort her to my room. When we enter the room Nathan pushes Melody into the center, with us surrounding her. I am the first to talk, "So, 'Pyrrha'. Me and my inner circle have allowed you to defend your actions."
Melody looks scared, but soon regains her composure, "R-right..." She lets out a breath and begins talking, "I never wanted to become a bandit. I was forced into it by a man named Hogan Shackleton. His men captured me when I was separated from you Zara."
I see Nathan scowl at the name, as the memory of that day comes back to me.
---Flashback---
I was 15 when we got separated. Melody distracted the bandits while I got away. I hid nearby and watched as they tackled Melody to the ground and hoisted her up by her arms, one man putting a collar around her neck.
They release her and she immediately tries to attack one of them. But the man who put the collar on her brings out a remote and pushes a button on it, causing her to yell out in pain, begging for them to stop.
I manage to sneak away, regretful at the fact I just left my best friend behind, 'I'll rescue you one day. I swear it.' I thought at the time.
---Flashback end---
I sigh and walk over to Melody, who backs up slightly out of fear of what I might do. I reach for the piece of cloth wrapped around her neck and pull it off, revealing that damned collar.
I hear my comrades all gasp at the sight, with Natalia looking guilty. Opera walks over and inspects the collar, "This collar is not made very well. I could remove it pretty easily."
Opera then runs out of the room without a word, soon returning with a bobby pin and a screwdriver. She goes behind Melody and tries to pick at the lock on the back of the collar.
Melody opens her mouth to talk, but soon yelps in pain as Opera recoils back in shock. Her body twitches as if she had been hit with a taser or a stun baton.
After a bit, Melody and Opera stop twitching and Melody explains with a grim expression, "Hogan made these damned things so that if someone tries to lockpick them they get a nasty surprise. Bastards' evil, but he's smart. The only way to get it off is with the master key, which he never lets out of his sight."
I growl, annoyed that I can't help my friend, "I... I know it's not much in return for what I want... But if you guys want to get back at Hogan, I know the layout and defenses of his main base. The place he keeps all his 'Favorite toys'" Melody shivers at that last part before turning towards me, "All I want... Is to join you guys."