"It seems as though my sources were correct."
Zion whispered into Soho's ear.
"There is a new executioner on the loose."
I watched as Soho's eyes widened from what he said, screaming aloud "Static—!"
But before the word could fully leave her mouth, and before the Fractal could establish itself on the ground that they stood on, Zion clapped his hands together.
"Switch."
He suddenly rose through the foggy air of the club and landed against the ceiling with his feet. From what I could tell, Zion had just activated his Fractal, presumably positioning his center of gravity to direct him in the opposite direction of gravity itself.
What the fuck!?
I panicked for a moment, realizing that our plan had gone astray. We were never supposed to let Zion activate his Fractal, let alone in a place full of witnesses like a club. When I made eye contact with Soho who stood among the people that had fallen, I could see her mouthing the words—
He. Knew.
My eye widened.
"What does that mean—?!?"
I tried to understand what she could have meant, but my train of thought was quickly interrupted when the music had suddenly cut and gone silent. A voice from up above spoke down to me.
"Seven years… Seven fucking years of waiting!"
It was Zion, who stood upside down with his feet planted on the ceiling. He looked directly at me.
"Do you know how long we have all been waiting for this moment?"
I was holding my breath. My fight-or-flight had been initiated. I didn't understand exactly what was going on, but what I did know was that me and Soho had been completely compromised. I soon started to pick up on glares from numerous locations. Glancing around, I found that all the people I'd deemed to prospectively be bouncers were all looking in my direction.
"For seven years we had to lay low and wait. All because of that fucking Sin of Discrimination. But with the sudden lack of its appearances, and with information from my sources, I've been well-informed with news."
Zion pointed at me, smiling malificently.
"That Heathen finally got a new executioner, but that he's fucking Fractless!"
He began to laugh ecstatically, and so too did the supposed bouncers situated around the club. The partygoers who'd fallen to the floor groaned with confusion as they remained stuck due to Soho's Static.
He knows who I am. He knows about Heathen. He knows that I'm Fractless. And he's exposing this in front of hundreds of witnesses.
My danger senses had never flared so aggressively before. For the first time in a long time I felt like I was cornered. I could see Soho standing there helplessly, looking just as confused about the whole situation as I did.
"You must think you're so special being an executioner for Heathen, don't you? And a Fractless one too!?" Zion scoffed loudly. "You probably don't even know the truth behind everything you're doing! You fucking punk!"
"What the hell do you know about me?!" I shot back, attempting to stand my ground in the spotlight I'd been desperately avoiding for months.
"I know enough to determine that it's about fucking time that we can get our hands on the Null!" Zion was shouting with rage and excitement. "Get 'im boys!!!"
A lot of people began running towards me—all the bouncers, and even the bartenders and the DJ from the heightened booth.
What is this 'Null' he's talking about?
Noting that all the workers of Cyber City were currently running towards me with knives, I'd deduced at least one thing.
This was a planned ambush. They knew I was coming.
Finally, Soho's words had clicked in my head.
'He knew.' She was talking about Zion. Zion knew I was coming.
The bouncers were soon to pounce on me, all from various directions, all equipped with lethal weapons.
Flow State.
I evaded the barrage of slices and slashes, equipping my own knife in the process. Sweat from my body made the blade slick and wet, the colorful lights of the club reflecting off of its surface and into my eye. I glanced wearily at the ceiling where Zion stood, who stared back down at me.
"Fuck you!" One of the bouncers said as he leaned towards me to attack. I weaved aside, and weaved again. As they missed all their strikes, I couldn't help but continue to ponder on what had gotten me in this situation in the first place.
Why is this happening? How is this happening?
I suddenly heard a clap in the distance. I could see Zion descending back towards Soho from the ceiling.
No.
I swirled my knife around and unleashed a flurry of slashes, each and every interval of my arm's maximum reach intersecting with the throats of my victims. In a bloody pool they all fell around me. I watched as Zion neared his descent towards a confused Soho who stood among hundreds of witnesses.
At this stage, is there anything left for me to lose?
With the next step I'd taken, I was already next to Zion, burning my glare into the side of his neck. As I stepped foot on the Static-studded floor, I felt the frictional forces deactivate as Soho realized I'd get stuck. Now with free footing, my blade naturally made its way towards Zion. Until he repeated the common phrase and clapped his hands again.
"Switch."
He twirled upside down and began to ascend towards the ceiling again, completely avoiding my attack.
"It's going to take more than that, Fractless boy."
He planted his hands together again as he looked at me. "Switch."
He flipped back around in the middle of the air, straightening his body with the pose of a pencil dive. His descent towards me resembled that of a missile. I sprung forwards, dashing both me and Soho out of the way before he slammed into the ground, forming a little crater where he landed. As if the fog in the club hadn't already impaired my vision enough, the dust from his landing exuded throughout the air. I couldn't see him anymore, nor could I tell if he was on the ceiling or on the ground.
"Pass me your shoes!" Soho suddenly said.
"What—?"
"I said pass me your shoes!"
Confused, I quickly slipped them off. Soho did the same, but passed me her pair. "Put these on. The soles are embedded with Kinetic already. Hurry, quickly!"
There was too much going on to continue questioning her tactics. All I could do was put my trust in her. I slid on the shoes which were a few sizes too small, slightly tight, yet barely fitable. As soon as she saw that they were on, Soho, now wearing my shoes, called it out.
"Static, 100%!"
The floor beneath me suddenly gripped with heavy frictional force, yet I could walk just fine.
"Isolate the target, just like you kept telling me in our first mission, right?"
I looked at Soho, trying to understand what she'd meant for a moment. Then it registered.
Keeping the floor Static will force Zion to stay on the ceiling, since the ground will trap him if he lands…
I nodded at Soho, showing my gesture of appreciation for her quick-thinking. She'd passed me her shoes which were already imbued with Kinetic to counteract the Static on the floor, while she did the same wearing my shoes. Suddenly, I felt something approaching us from above. I moved Soho and I out of the way.
Smash—!!!
Metal scrunched and glass shattered all over the floor, refracting beams of multicolored light everywhere. I'd dashed aside, avoiding a massive spotlight that'd just landed where I stood.
"I know what you've done to the floor! I ain't stupid!" I heard Zion's voice echo from above. It seemed as though he concluded in staying on the ceiling, and opted to hurt us by dropping things from above instead. Me and Soho nodded, understanding what had to be done. We began to run around to avoid the things Zion was dropping overhead.
"He mentioned Heathen earlier. How does he know about us?"
"I really don't know," Soho replied. "He even got a bunch of the employees here in on it."
"No," I retorted. "The way he spoke… I think that they were all already in on it to begin with. I don't think this is just Zion we're messing with here."
"What do you mean?" Soho had a look of concern on her face.
"I think we're dealing with an entire group."
I sensed danger approaching from numerous locations up above. Zion was dropping as many of the spotlights as he could. I sprinted forward to lead Soho, ensuring I steered her out of danger's way.
Smash—! Smash—! Smash—!!!
They were dropping over the fallen partygoers, instantly killing lumps of them in the process. I watched as blood splattered from beneath the broken glass that shattered upon impact with the floor. It was such a gruesome sight. But there was one thing I noted.
Even though the music has stopped, the sounds of everyone on the floor screaming are enough to mask me and Soho's position.
I continued to lead Soho, now exiting the dancefloor. Zion would continue to drop spotlights on the innocent people below, but he wouldn't know if he'd gotten me and Soho or not since there were already hundreds of people screaming with pain.
"Where are we going?" Soho asked me.
"To Zion. We need to finish what we came to do."
We'd arrived to a dead-end. It was a tall wall that led to the club's uppermost ceiling.
I pointed at the wall, "We've done this before. We just need to do it fast this time," and gave Soho a look of certainty, letting her know through my expression that I placed my full trust in her. As usual, she looked unsure at first, but as she encouraged herself mentally on the inside, she was quickly on board.
"Static."
We both planted our feet along the wall, and we were suddenly perpendicular to the floor.
"Kinetic, 15%."
I felt the grip beneath my feet loosen almost a little too loose.
"Woah!" I felt gravity doing its work on me, but Soho quickly caught my arm.
"Don't clench your feet and curl your toes like that. It won't help you grip-on any tighter." She pointed at her own feet, which were planted flat against the wall. "The more surface area there is connected, the more force can be applied. You'll stick more easily."
I immediately planted my feet flat, desperate to get proper footing. Once I finally felt stable, Soho gave me a smile.
"Let's go!"
We dashed up the wall, quick yet quiet, nimble on our feet. It was clear to me now that Zion was not only aware that we were coming to Cyber City, but knew what to expect from us in terms of ability. Not only had he avoided Soho's Static twice, but he even expected the quickness from my Flow State.
Are you going to expect this though, Zion?
The wall began to curve towards the roof, and we were soon running upside down. By now, we'd reached a level equal to Zion in terms of positioning. I ensured my senses were heightened higher than ever, considering how little room there was for error in a moment like this. The moment I'd set my eye on Zion, my knife was going to surge through the air.
Where are you now?
I gripped my knife's handle tightly as I focused my single eye, peering through the fog pressed against the ceiling. With lackluster sight, I had to consider the other senses in my arsenal. I tried to pick up on the scent of cologne by chance, hoping I could track Zion's whereabouts assuming he'd sprayed himself heavily with one. But the air was full of it, and perfume too. Everyone wore something like that.
"Once I've got Heathen's executioner out of the way, Chrono can finally get their hands on the Null and bring about the Shattering!"
I heard Zion's voice echo from one direction through the fog. I could even feel the vibrations of his voice resonate along the ceiling. With two of my senses now keenly alerted—hearing and touch—I aimed according to my instincts, and threw my knife as hard as I could.
Zing—!
The sharp edge of my knife pierced through the air, producing a sound that sliced forth towards my target. Although I couldn't confirm it with sight, when I felt something disconnect from the ceiling, followed by a loud thump on the floor below, I knew I'd finished my job.
"Did you get him?" Soho asked.
"Pretty sure."
We went back down the way we came from and approached the bloody dance floor to confirm our kill, and surprisingly enough, I picked-out red hair among the crowd of the dead.
"That's him," I said, walking over to grab my knife that was embedded in his chest. The floor was no longer imbued with Static, and it no longer needed to be. The screams of pain and death had stopped, as everyone who once partied on Cyber City's dance floor were now all dead.
"Augh…"
I heard a groan in the distance, somewhere beneath a pile of debris and shattered glass. My heart immediately picked-up pace as I understood what had to be done. With what had occurred here tonight, and what had been exposed in terms of identity, I had to ensure that no witnesses were left to tell the tale.
I walked towards where I heard the survivor, unsheathing my knife for the last time tonight.