"Oh, more super soldiers..."
In a fit of rage, Rebecca dashed at Charlotte.
"Wait!" Ethan warned, but she had already begun charging.
"Stupid..." Charlotte insulted her as spikes protruded toward her. They formed and moved at very high speeds, which alarmed Rebecca.
Taking advantage of her abnormal physical capabilities, Rebecca leaned her body mid-air to avoid the spike closest to her. She then hopped on each spike as she continued to Charlotte.
Surprised by her agility, Charlotte raised her hand, and a rock wall formed in front. Simultaneously, Rebecca performed a roundhouse kick but stopped by the wall.
Tsk! It's hard!
Suddenly, spikes protruded from the wall, shocking Rebecca. Although the proximity she had to the wall was small, she was able to throw herself out of the way, albeit getting grazed on her body.
"Tsk, we've got an annoying super soldier over here," Frank stated with an annoyed expression. Meanwhile, Charlotte was watching Rebecca to see her next move.
The way she's manipulating the ground is not something a regular person can do...is that woman a human blessed with powers?
"Who the hell are you people!?" Sebastian inquired in a demanding tone.
"We aren't here to chat with the enemy," Charlotte responded. "Frank, make yourself useful."
Suddenly, from the ground, a rock club was formed.
"Yeah, yeah," Frank said as he picked up the club. The club was rather long and had jagged sides like sharp rocks. Suddenly, his skin began morphing colors, becoming silver, surprising the trio.
What's happening to his body? Thought Rebecca.
"You guys are here to eliminate blessed users, right!?" Frank said before suddenly charging at Rebecca.
"Hey! What are y--" Ethan said but was interrupted by spikes heading his and Sebastian's direction. Narrowly dodging them, they shifted their focus on Charlotte.
"Damn it...who the hell are these guys..." Sebastian said in frustration. He looked over to the regular soldiers who were still in gunfire with the gang members. "We'll take the woman down, Ethan."
Simultaneously, Frank swung the club around at Rebecca, which she skillfully weaved. His swings were rather slow, which made it easier to avoid and for openings to be noticed by Rebecca, which she took advantage of.
After missing a swing, Rebecca countered with a powerful hook to his jaw, generating winds and causing him to recoil somewhat on impact. On his jaw were cracks, showing proof of damage.
It's hard...I knew it. This guy also has an ability...maybe a defense type. It feels like metal.
To her surprise, her attack was not enough to knock him unconscious - he was still up and swinging again.
"Ha! Stronger than the other soldiers too! Nice!" Frank sarcastically complimented as he continued his assault.
As Sebastian and Ethan focused on Charlotte, they had to avoid the many spikes protruding from the ground. They had to constantly move to not be run through by the spikes, even resorting to hopping on spikes to avoid other spikes.
It was a very tough task for them to get close to her. Charlotte was not underestimating her opponents.
"Damn! They're so fast!" Ethan exclaimed in annoyance. "We can't get close to her--"
Cutting Ethan off as he was hopping on a spike, the same spike protruded smaller spikes, stabbing his right leg, and left arm and puncturing his stomach.
"AAHHHH!!!!"
"Ethan! Damn it!" Sebastian yelled.
"Got one," Charlotte said before spikes elongated from the ground and coming to finish Ethan. With sheer willpower, Ethan removed his limbs and body from the impaling spikes, powering through the gut-wrenching pain, and narrowly dodged the spikes before they struck him.
Landing beside Sebastian, Ethan was in a bloody mess.
"Sigh...it's a shame I couldn't have finished you just now," Charlotte said. "But, no matter...it'll work out in the end."
Strangely, Charlotte glanced at Rebecca as she was fighting Frank, which Sebastian noticed.
Huh?
Left and right hooks, straight punches, and even uppercuts here and there, Rebecca landed attack after attack as she saw openings in Frank's attacks. Just like her first attacks, they didn't prove effective. In fact, with every attack she had landed, it seemed less effective, as his skin cracked less and less.
What? Why does his body...feel tougher?
"Die!" Frank shouted as he performed a downward swing, which Rebecca narrowly avoided by moving to the left. Upon missing, Frank struck the ground with the club, breaking the ground apart on impact.
What powe--
Not letting up, Frank swung the club sideways, straight at Rebecca's face. Reflexively, she shielded her face with her arms.
BAM!
Taking the brunt force of the club to her arms, Rebecca was knocked back several feet into a nearby railing. Rolling her sleeves down to check, her arms were shaking and bruised as the sharp edges of the club had struck her directly.
Ouch...this sharp pain...
Dragging the club behind him, Frank approached her with a smile.
His face has many cracks...if it's just like metal...I'm sure I can get past his durability if I keep hitting him...
"Haha, look on you. So sad." Frank said, much to Rebecca's confusion.
"Tsk...what the hell are you talking about now?" Rebecca responded as she got back up.
"Risking your lives to kill us while your superiors made deals with the same people you call criminals."
"What?" Rebecca said with a stunned look. Suddenly, Frank started charging at her.
What...does he mean by that?
"Poor little puppet...you don't realize that your superiors only care about themselves!" Frank mocked her as he swung at her. Snapping out of her confusion too late, Rebecca had to block his swing with her hand again.
Urgh!
Keeping her pain inside, Rebecca avoided her next swings. Seeing as his swings were still slow to hit her, Rebecca clenched her fist.
Even though my arms hurt from taking those strikes...it isn't too bad...I'm thankful...that I'm a super soldier!
Using all her power, she delivered a straight punch directly to his jaw, which already had extensive cracks.
"Shi--" Before Frank could react, the metal surrounding his jaw was shattered, and he was blown away by the force of Rebecca's attack, sending him violently as he bounced across the street.
"Sigh...phew." Said Rebecca as she took a deep breath. "Time to help my--"
Suddenly. a large spike protruded from the ground and was inches away from skewering Rebecca from behind. Right before piercing her, however, she was pushed out of the way.
Shplort!
Rebecca was confused by the sudden push. Her confusion quickly turned to horror as she realized what had taken place. While Charlotte was attacking the duo she sneakily targeted Rebecca with a spike. Sebastian had saved her, but he had been impaled right through by the spike.
"SEBASTIAN!" Rebecca yelled.
"You aren't...killing...Rebecca." Sebastian weakly said as the spike was removed from his body and returned to the ground, causing him to fall over. Rebecca had caught him before he hit the ground, though.
"D-Don't..die..." Rebecca pleaded.
I...I have to get him medical attention quickly! But I can't leave these criminals!
Rebecca was stunned, hyperventilating even. She knew she wanted to eliminate the threats, but she didn't want Sebastian to die.
"Tsk, so annoying! Just die already!!!" Charlotte shouted before six smaller spikes were sent towards Rebecca.
Damn it!
They stopped short, however, as Ethan followed Sebastian's actions and protected Rebecca with his own body. He was impaled by all six of them.
"NO! ETHAN!" Rebecca shouted with a look of despair.
"Sigh, so annoying," Charlotte said. "At least those two are done now. You okay, Frank?" She said as she turned to Frank.
"Ugh...what do you think..." Frank said. His jaw was swollen, and he was bleeding from the nose.
The spikes were removed from Ethan's body. Catching Ethan before he fell over, Rebecca's breathing rate increased dramatically.
"P...Please...hold on, guys!"
"It's fine...you're the...strongest...of us...anyways..." Ethan struggled to say due to his injuries.
With blood filling Sebastian's mouth to the point of leaking out and the large hole in his stomach, with Ethan's body covered in blood as they both were straying in and out of consciousness, Rebecca was distraught.
While she hated Nathan and his gang for what they had done to Rachel and Malcolm, it was because they were comrades. Super soldiers weren't allowed to associate with society due to the danger they could pose to regular life, so Rebecca had gained a sense of camaraderie with her super soldier allies.
It was different with Sebastian and Ethan. Unlike the rest of the super soldiers, those two were ones Rebecca had called friends.
You know. I've always admired your care for every super soldier, Rachel. Said Sebastian in a memory. The memory involved them sitting around a table and eating what seemed to be lunch as other super soldiers were sitting around different tables and eating.
Yeah! You'd stop at nothing to get revenge for a fallen super soldier! No wonder you're strong! Added Ethan, I'm sure you could get promoted to a blessed hunter!
* * *
"Please...just...hold on!" Rebecca pleaded as tears started to run down her eyes.
Suddenly, Frank approached the trio with his club.
"Poor super soldier. Having to go through this because of your superiors' disrespect for calling our amazing boss a criminal." Frank mocked as he raised the club in the air.
"Thanks...for being...our friend..." Ethan said as they both weakly smiled at her, breaking her even more. The moment was interrupted, however, as Frank swung the club and struck Ethan and Sebastian's heads in a single attack, knocking them away.
"G...G-Guys?" Rebecca asked in disbelief. Her friends...were dead.
"Haha! How you like that!" Frank gloated. Slowly turning her head towards her friends, Rebecca saw as they lay unresponsive on the road, blood pooling from their bodies.
"You know, you should have probably gone for the woman first," Charlotte said.
"Hu--"
"RRRAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
Suddenly, Rebecca tackled Frank to the ground in a massive burst of anger. She pinned him to the ground.
"DIE!!!!"
Rebecca declared as she attempted to strike his face, but he shielded with the club. Upon impact, it created a massive burst of wind, which even the soldiers nearby could feel.
WHAT THE HELL!? THIS POWER!!!
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!!!!" With tears running down her face, Rebecca repeated as she continued striking at him. With every blow, it created strong force winds.
"Sigh...told you so," Charlotte said as she facepalmed.
Despite Rebecca's knuckles becoming bruised, the club was increasingly becoming cracked. Not to mention the point on the club at which she was punching had contained holes. At this point, Frank was breaking out in sweat as he was scared of her rage.
SHIT! SHE'S GOING TO BREAK THROUGH! I'M GOING TO DIE!!!
Before she could break through, a large spike was thrusted at her face, which she narrowly avoided by jumping to the left.
Tsk! Stay the hell out of my way and wait your turn!
Strangely, the spike began to break apart. It shattered into countless tiny little shards that were floating in the air.
Huh?
"That's enough outta you," Charlotte said as she made a swiping motion with her hand. Simultaneously, the shards flew towards Rebecca at very high speeds. Due to there being a ridiculous amount, Rebecca could only protect her face.
"AAAHHHH!!!" She yelled as she was blown away by the shards, sending her a few blocks down.
"Ugh...I thought I was going to die..." Frank said as he got up.
"Don't worry, I wasn't going to let you die," Charlotte assured him. "Despite your bad decisions, you played your part pretty well."
"Sigh...Did you make sure that she was dead from that attack?"
"I doubt it...she seems quite physically capable," Charlotte said.
How annoying.
"Well, let's help our boys and move on," Frank suggested.
* * *
Rebecca was sent to a building, which had been damaged, presumably by the ground shards. She was limping up to the hole she had created from making an impact and looked out.
Rebecca had cuts all over her body, and her uniform was in tatters.
Suddenly, the memory of her failing to stop Jack when she had run into him surfaced in her mind.
Useless...
Then the memory of her failing to kill Nathan and letting him escape.
Useless...
All culminating in what just happened. Now, her friends had died because of her mistakes. With clenched fists, she began to tear up again.
So...damn...useless...
* * *
The scene changed to the sight of Lilith after she had slain the soldier, committing her first murder. The bloody katana, the trauma-inducing look of the soldier as he bled out, and most importantly, Lilith's broken expression. It was all vivid.
Lilith...I'm sorry...
Suddenly, Nathan woke up. Tears were running down his eyes, which could indicate that he'd been crying in his sleep. Looking around, which left him in confusion.
Where am I?