Marianne turned to me and smiled. A fierce, wicked smile of a warrior. "We crush them" She told me with that smile. Then she just started casually sauntering up to the reception boxes in front of us. I honestly wondered if she was insane. We might be a pair of skilled combatants but this is a bit much even for us isn't it?
Sure we may only see two receptionists and two guards but not only are the receptionists likely well-trained but there's also the fact that there are actually a number of guards waiting in an adjacent room ready to be called on by the receptionists for help at any time. She thinks we can just walk into this and get out unscathed?
This was my thought process and yet I found myself trailing behind Marianne all the same. Regardless of how reckless her choices are she saved me this time and that deserves some level of trust even if I'm still ready to bolt at a moment's notice. Tommy was also supposed to meet up with us here at some point as well right?
Hopefully we can have this finished before he arrives. Upon spotting Marianne and I casually walking towards them with a threatening air the mood between the receptionists and the guards changes. First the man who was sleeping on his desk immediately wakes up and looks at us.
The look in his eyes is fierce. I couldn't see his face when he had it planted on the table but I was right before. His face was covered in hair and he somewhat reminded me of the legend of bigfoot. His eyes were a hazel brown and right now they were staring at us with the intensity of a hunter.
The rest of his face meanwhile was covered in hair. The colour of that hair changed depending on where it was. The middle of his face for example, containing the nose and such, was a nice calm looking beige colour.
Meanwhile the sides of his face that somewhat resembled those of a monkey had were a deep black. They weren't covered in hair either but pads. The kind you see on the paws of a dog or perhaps the face of a chimpanzee.
His features appeared droopy at first glance but the look in his eyes changed my perception of him immediately. Before he seemed like a sleep obsessed lazy man but now he had the eyes of a warrior and his expression seemed to match for some reason.
He wasn't the only one to pick up the change in the air either. The peacock woman had her feathers straighten and her hands went to her sides. She seemed ready for combat and she was likely readying a weapon behind the counter.
The guards behind them meanwhile became tight like strings pulled taught. There wasn't any change in their outward demeanour they seemed perfectly calm as though they hadn't noticed the threat but I was trained to spot people's movements and I noticed all their muscles tense at once ready to spring into action at any moment.
The final preparation made appeared to be the peacock woman pushing a button and opening the door behind her. No one was spilling out from it yet but there would no doubt be a number of guards heading our way pretty quickly.
We meanwhile were completely the opposite. I was somewhat uneasy but attempting to hide that fact. My strides were long and confident. My muscles were also tensing ready for action. I even had my hand drift around the area of my laser. Ready to pull at a moment's notice.
Marianne looked serene. Her stride was not rushed nor was it dramatised like my own. It was calm. Her stride was steady. Like a mountain simply looming over you. It does not need to tense it's muscles to intimidate. It simply looms there imposing as it should be.
We continued to walk. Closer. Every step made the air grow more tense. Everyone's expressions grew harder. We walked until we were a few yards away. "Halt this is the server room. You are not authorized to be here." Came the shout from the peacock. Then. We stepped closer.
The moment we did pandemonium broke lose. The peacock drew a laser from her side and aimed it straight at my head. Pulling my own in kind I fired off a shot before she could. It whizzed through the air at the speed of light. It also hit nothing but air. The peacock had made the smart move.
My laser impacted the wall behind were she once was harmlessly. That drew attention to the fact that there was a stream of bodies coming through the door she opened. Seeing them I quickly aimed my weapon at them and fired. I heard the sizzling of flesh but didn't have time to check my kill. I just had to keep firing until they ran out of bodies.
I wasn't the only one who had started of course. The man who looked so slovenly before was now a crazed warrior. He charged towards Marianne not bothering with the laser pleasantries. The honey bear responded in kind her warrior's spirit on full display as she smiled. There was soon a clash of flesh.
Marianne's arm had taken a kick from the man while defending her head. This was the beginning of the barrage. Right fist to left cheek. Deflected by a left hand. Knee to the gut. Taken and shrugged off as though it was nothing. An uppercut to the solar plexis. Marianne grabbed it out of the air like plucking a butterfly's wings. Then she smiled.
The man immediately paled. He attempted to wrench his hand free of her grip but it was vice like. Seeing this method failing he attempted to punch her face with his remaining free hand even as off balance as he was. This failed even more spectacularly. Marianne tilted her head and his fist struck thin air.
The next sound was a crack. Marianne had taken advantage of his off balance state and moved behind him still holding his arm as though they were performing an intricate dance. Then she had put a seemingly mild amount of force on his arm forcing it upwards and behind his back. This had caused the shattering sound to ring throughout the room.
My fight meanwhile wasn't so one-sided and I most certainly wasn't smiling. After unloading a number of laser shots towards the door in an attempt to stymie the swarm of combatants they had realized the folly of all filing through the checkpoint one by one.
A man with a personal shield had stood up to take the role of vanguard. Something I was immensely annoyed by. My laser shots now only impacted a number of translucent floating hexagons. These were white rather than the typical blue suggesting this was a custom made model.
Thanks to this brave man's sacrifice of shield battery a number of combatants was able to slip behind him and draw their weapons. I was obviously without cover and though I also had a personal shield my pride would not allow me to rely on it. So instead I rushed them ducking to below the counter's height.
Hoping this would break line of sight and make it harder for them to shoot without coming out from the man's back. Then a shot impacted right next to me. I had the courage to peek up above the counter for a moment and saw a number of faces and arms poking out from the shield. I smiled at this sight.
My sweet maiden's smile appeared to frighten the battle hardened warriors. I nonetheless started firing at the exposed parts of their bodies and heard the same sizzling sounds as before. I was now only a few steps away from the counter. They were panicking inside a small area and some of the injured were flailing their limbs about and getting in the way of their colleagues.
Seeing my chance I sprinted the remaining distance. I had forgotten someone however. When I was nearing the desk a peacock suddenly vaulted over it and was now only a half-step in front of me. She smirked triumphantly and took out a knife from her belt that had been hidden by the desk. It had a number of tools I would've loved to examine on it but…
Before I got the chance to even try examining them one of them came towards my throat. Instead of moving out of the way like a good girl I used my forwards momentum and slipped under the knife. It singed my hair on contact and I was extremely lucky it didn't start burning. The woman in front of me, who didn't consider herself lucky, grimaced openly as she dropped the knife and attempted to knee me in the face.
She attempted to grab my head with her hands to smash it into her knee. Unfortunately for her I got there first. Instead of allowing my head to be bashed in I put my arms under her knees and lifted slightly. Not enough to lift her more than a few inches off the ground. Yet certainly enough to make her lose the already unstable footing she had.
It may have looked like a rugby tackle from the outside and perhaps it was but the idea served me well. She instantly started to fall and just as instantly attempted to correct her mistake. It was too late however. Her flailing only made her fall faster.
Seeing this she appeared to change tack and I could see her arms moving purposefully in one direction out of the corner of my eye. Not sure what she was going for but sensing danger nonetheless I let her go and jumped backwards.
The whizz of something cutting wind was all I heard for a moment. That was the only indication I'd made the right decision. Until a splattering sound was heard afterwards. A sound similar to a liquid spilling all over the ground. A similar feeling of warm liquid spraying over my face and clothes was what came next.
Wondering if I'd been injured and hadn't felt it I checked the source of the liquid only to find the peacock woman with the knife she was holding earlier stabbed into her own chest. The wound was sizzling in a similar manner to the ones my lasers had caused so the knife was likely a thermal one.
Her hands were grasped so tightly around the knife that her knuckles had turned white and she was choking on something presumably her own blood. Realizing she wasn't a threat any more I gave her a silent apology for causing her to stab herself and moved on to bigger fish.
I meant that literally. The man with the personal shield was rather large. He also appeared rather calm compared to his companions who were all battering each other in confusion. He meanwhile was staring directly at me and scowling.
I took a quick glance out the corner of my eye at Marianne's fight only to find her rushing towards me. Thinking I was in an unknown danger I turned towards the men in front of me and tried to sense my surroundings. Yet I felt nothing amiss.
Confused I looked back towards Marianne and finally noticed the prone man with a neck twisted in a direction it shouldn't be on the floor. Apparently she had finished her fight and wanted more. She was smiling her fierce smile and heading towards the men in front of me.
This made the large man with the shield scowl even more. Regardless he stepped forwards and shouted at the men behind him. "Do not be alarmed we still have the numbers advantage. Now hurry up and kill them." Not the most rousing of speeches I've heard.
Regardless I joined Marianne in her rush assault and soon reached the reception counter. Attempting to vault over it however was met with a number of swords. Seeing the electricity arcing off their blades I immediately pushed off the desk attempting escape.
The blades appeared almost as though they were sentient and wanting to cage me. They came towards various vital points at tremendous speed and time slowed in front of me. I watched as they approached my neck. As they were about separate my head from my shoulders my momentum managed to stop and I begun travelling backwards. I watched as the blade gauged a small cut into the front of my neck.
Then time returned to normal and I stumbled backwards placing my hand over my neck. Looking at it I was expecting to see a large amount of blood but luckily I was mistaken. There was blood on my hand certainly but it was hardly a sizeable amount. Must have missed the artery lucky me.
Regardless this wall of blades will be a problem. I was about to try and think of a solution when Marianne decided we didn't need one and attempted the same manoeuvre I did a moment ago. Thinking this foolish I was about to pull her back when I noticed what her hands were doing.
A number of the blades had veered off target. Looking at Marianne's hands explained how. She was deflecting them like a passing breeze. Certainly there were a number of them that managed to get through her defences. But they left shallow wounds at most and some of them didn't even leave a mark on her skin.
Seeing this I was just as stunned as the men who were now confused and off balance thanks to the sword attack. A chance Marianne did not waste. She proceeded to charge into the men I did not bother to count and pummel them as though she was beating up dolls.
A fist to the face knocked out one man. A knee to the gut got another. One attempted to punch her in the face and got thrown towards me for his trouble. Of course I sliced his head from his shoulders for the insolence. The tsunami of destruction that was Marianne continued to mow down the clearly useless guards in front of us.
Realizing I had been standing still if only for a moment, in silent awe, I vaulted the desk behind her and joined in on the fun. The only problem was the man I came face to face with. The one with the personal shield. Shields do not work against flesh on flesh contact as they do not see it as harmful enough to deflect so long as it's not lethal but it does mean that all my weapons are useless against the man.
Regardless I square up, fists partially clenched in front of my face and legs shoulder width apart. The man squared up with a slightly different stance. His appeared to be more fluid than my own. While mine was targetted to destroy with force in vital areas his was made to flow with your opponent and crush them along the way.
Then we clashed. A fist came towards my face and the feeling on my palm after deflecting it was the only conscious indication it was ever there. Sending one of my own in turn I was surprised when my fist was suddenly pulled forwards and I was put off balance.
Capitalising the man kneed me in the stomach and I coughed up a bit of bile. He then proceed to continue the throw as though I was a piece of trash. I managed to stay on my feet and turn to face him once more but I was now slightly hunched from the pain in my abdomen.
Annoyed I channelled my anger into a similar punch to the one before. He appeared to sneer at me for attempting the same simple punch a second time as though it would work. However I was able to sneer back this time.
As he attempted to pull me off my feet I went with the momentum and crashed into the man. I wrapped my arms around his neck to make sure I didn't fall over. I then proceeded to attempt a choke hold.
Feeling his breath and blood leaving his brain he panicked. He threw elbows into my side attempting to get me to let go. The pain caused me to almost stumble but I held on. Every few seconds pain would radiate from my side and I would attempt to ignore it best I could.
Eventually however the bouts of pain began weakening. Though I was now in pain and out of breath I managed to watch as the consciousness faded from the man's eyes. Turning around I found a number of similar men unconscious or just straight up dead on the floor with Marianne standing over them and staring at me warmly. I let the unconscious man fall to the floor from my arms and smiled weakly at my partner for this battle.