The trees closed in around Marcus, the underbrush thick and unkempt, but it didn't slow his progress in the slightest.
He powered through them, breathing heavily with anticipation, his uncontrollable laughter continuing.
The closer he got to the airstrip, the thicker the smoke became and the louder the sounds of conflict grew.
Until he finally emerged from the forest, breaking through the last line of trees and finding himself standing before a fiery hellscape.
What used to be an airstrip, had now become completely unrecognizable. Bodies and wreckage littered the ground like trash, and small fires were scattered along the broken and cracked airstrip, as what looked to be a large steel structure slowly began falling apart.
What few survivors seemed to be shooting at someone in the distance?
Squinting his eyes, Marcus noticed Volkov fighting off dozens of armed attackers, some charging him with melee weapons, while others shot at him from afar.
"Looks like Volkov could use some help," Marcus said while chuckling in amusement, his grin never faltering as he watched Volkov tear through his targets with various ice-based ether attacks.
However, before Marcus ran to join Volkov, he noticed a peculiar-looking woman.
She was armed with dual swords and dressed in a long, black trench coat. She wore a white mask that had a thin blue visor going across it horizontally.
Marcus' grin grew tenfold as he registered his new target.
Normally Marcus would have been afraid of such a ludicrous idea. This woman clearly outclassed him in almost every metric, but there was a certain thrill behind challenging someone of her caliber.
He sprinted into the burning hellscape at full speed. like a bullet train traveling through a tunnel. The wind that he generated as he ran by put out several of the smaller flames. Each stride he took was faster than the last. His heart began pounding with excitement as his adrenaline kicked into overdrive.
As he neared the mysterious woman, she quickly turned in his direction. Without wasting a second she drew her blades and crossed them together. "Great." She hissed, "another lap dog." Her voice was muffled, and void of emotion.
"Lapdog?" Marcus shouted with a grin, channeling his ether into his hands, transforming them into long silver blades. "Bitch I'm the devil himself." He exclaimed as he lunged forward with his blade hand.
The woman dodged Marcus's attack with a quick, swift motion of her right sword. She then plunged her left sword forward, aiming directly for Marcus's chest.
Marcus quickly reached for her attack, his grin growing wider as he pushed her blade aside.
The woman grunted as she leaped back from Marcus, she stared him down as she readied her blades once more.
Marcus laughed as he quickly realized the woman was scoping him out. Attempting to gauge his combat skills and abilities.
He decided that if she wanted the full meal, then he'd have to oblige.
Marcus retracted one of his ether blades and slowly began to charge an ether projectile in his palm. Its silver energy swirling in his hand rapidly, forming a sphere of pure ether.
"I can attack at a distance too, so I wouldn't recommend that strategy you got going for yourself," Marcus stated challengingly, aiming his hand at the woman.
Without so much as a peep, the woman quickly blitzed Marcus, closing the distance between them in an instant. Her movements were almost unnoticed, blurring into swift motion. A testament to her skills and ability.
However, Marcus had reacted immediately, almost as if it were on instinct. He leaned back as far as he could, allowing for the woman's blades to pass overhead, whooshing past him.
He then quickly stood up and turned to face his hand towards the woman. He shot off his charged ether with murderous intent. The woman quickly whipped herself around to dodge, barely escaping the direct hit.
Yet she didn't escape unharmed.
The shockwave created by the ether smashing into the ground sent her flying to the right. His body helplessly tumbled onto the ground as she rolled uncontrollably.
"Holy shit!" Marcus exclaimed with an impressed laugh, "I'm surprised that didn't kill you!"
The woman ignored him as she groaned in pain, she stabbed a sword into the ground, using it as leverage to support herself as she stood up.
Marcus chuckled as he charged another bolt of ether. If one wasn't enough to kill her, then maybe two were. He aimed his palm toward the woman, it crackled with intense heat and energy as he charged it.
Marcus couldn't help but be slightly disappointed, this fight had been almost too easy.
"Marcus, look out!" A familiar voice shouted from a short distance. Marcus turned to look in the direction from where it came, it was then that he noticed Volkov fighting his way towards him.
Marcus opened his mouth to speak, but the air in his lungs was quickly exhaled as a loud bang rang out. Marcus noticed his chest becoming moist with a warm liquid.
He looked down, realizing that he had been shot through the chest.
"Well, shit." Marcus said with a chuckle as he touched the large exit wound, "That ain't good." He said with a laugh.
He turned to look back at the woman with the swords, noticing that she hadn't moved from her spot.
Marcus realized that it wasn't her who shot him.
Turning around, Marcus was greeted by a woman dressed in military tactical gear. In her hands, was a bullpup assault rifle. "Get the fuck away from my sister!" The woman shouted as she fired at Marcus once more.
Marcus raised an eyebrow, as the bullet tore through his arm, ripping away his flesh and revealing bone.
Marcus expected the wounds to be painful, but they felt more like a minor injury.
Suddenly it clicked for him, he wasn't a normal human anymore. His very being had been altered by ingesting Luna's core, and further enhanced by the organization.
He was practically invisible!
A devious grin grew on his face as he laughed at the woman with the gun. "Two for one deal!" He exclaimed with a diabolic laugh.
He charged the woman with the gun, his laughter echoing loudly as he grew closer.
The woman's expression remained firm as she reached for a small tube-like cylinder on her vest.
"Marcus no!" Volkov shouted as he ripped through a mercenary, tossing aside the two halves like paper. "She's armed with–"
Before Volkov could finish, the woman had already lobbed the strange device towards Marcus. It twisted and twirled in the air like it was dancing. Shimmery white smoke emerged from both ends of the tube as it exploded, sending metal shards flying.
Marcus felt a fleeting sense of dread as three of the shrapnel pieces hit him.
They embedded themselves into his skin, burning him, with indescribable pain. He immediately reached to pull the shards out of his arm, yet as he grabbed them, he soon realized they burned to the touch.
"Fuck!" Marcus explained with a grin as he shook his hand. "What is this?" He asked.
The woman in tactical gear began charging Marcus, "A dissolvent, burns, doesn't it? You mutated freak!" She hissed as she kicked Marcus in his stomach.
He recoiled from the impact, however before he could retaliate, he felt a blade piercing through his chest. The pain was almost impossible to describe, but it was similar to that white-hot pain from the metal shards.
"Marcus get outta there, they're burning away your ether!" Volkov shouted as he shot several ice projectiles at the woman with the twin blades, forcing her to withdraw her swords from Marcus.
Marcus stumbled forward, clutching at his burning chest tightly. His vision had blurred briefly, and he began seeing double. That powerful energy he felt circulating through his body began to diminish where he had been stabbed. The dissolvant was working well.
The woman dressed in tactical gear wasted no time in swinging at Marcus with the butt of her rifle. The warm hard plastic smashed against his jaw with great velocity and force. He dropped to his knee in response, instinctively reaching for his jaw.
"You're done." The woman said coldly her expression full of determination, her eyes narrowed and focused solely on him. She used her rifle once more, smacking Marcus across the face with it, sending him crashing onto the ground.
Marcus' mind raced as he hit the ground. He could feel the strength leaving his body. His movements had become sluggish, his healing had begun diminishing, and his body was screaming and aching in pain.
Yet, he wasn't afraid.
He found it funny, hilarious even, that with all his power and potential, he was still just a scared kid out of his mind. Mortal and just as weak as everyone else.
It was then that Marcus began to laugh uncontrollably, grabbing at his face in a desperate attempt to hide it.
As he laughed. The woman in tactical gear straddled him. Arming herself with a knife made of the same material her sister's sword were made of.
Marcus watches the woman with a grin. "Well," Marcus said challengingly. "I'm waiting."
The woman's expression seemed conflicted, a flicker of sympathy flickered in her eyes. She quickly hardened her expression, and swung down her knife, stabbing Marcus in his chest.
The knife embedded itself deep into Marcus's chest with a sickening squelch. Blood splattered across the woman's face and the ground. The pain seared through his body like an uncontrolled wildfire. His breaths became shallow and ragged, and his once loud laughter became nothing more than a cough-ridden chuckle.
Yet he still smiled, his teeth bloodied and red as blood flowed down the side of his mouth.
The woman in tactical gear shifted uncomfortably, her expression a mixture of confusion and anger. Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths, as her eyes narrowed with deep intensity. "What…. What is wrong with you kid?" She asked. "Why are you laughing?"
Marcus coughed up a pool of blood as he attempted to chuckle once more. "Because…" he squeezed out, his voice hoarse and weak, "all my life I've met challenges with fear and retreat, but this time, this time is different." Marcus then coughed as he groaned in pain, "I faced my fear, and even… even if it cost me my life, I truly felt alive."
The woman's expression fell as she looked away from Marcus. It was obvious her mind was churning in thought.
Marcus turned to look where the woman was looking, it was then that he noticed the woman with the twin blades had Officer Volkov on the ropes. She would charge him, he'd dodge and then a mercenary would open fire, pushing him back towards the woman with the twin blades.
"You are a broken child." The woman said as she turned to look back at Marcus. "But I can help you."
"Help me?" Marcus asked skeptically. "How so?"
"Join us." She stated, looking down at Marcus, her voice firm and unwavering. "And we can offer you a life better than dying for some faceless organization."
Marcus blinked, his blurry vision still present and playing a major part in his disorientation. However, even in this dazed state, Marcus could sense a real, genuine offer from this woman.
Still, there was no way that she offered could be anything different from what the organization offered. In the end, both parties would use him as a means to an end.
Marcus coughed as he turned his attention toward the woman. "You sound like a nice lady." He responded with a smile. "But I've chosen my side."
The woman nodded her head as she reached into her vest, pulling out a black, plain card. She then sighed as she slipped it into Marcus's pocket.
"Is that going to kill me?" Marcus asked as the woman rose from him. "Kinda cruel to take out my lower half like that." He said with a chuckle.
The woman smiled faintly. "It'll save you, if you let it."
Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted out in desperation. "Marcus!" It cried out. Marcus turned to look towards the forest where the voice had come, his eyes widened with relief when he realized it was Luna. "Get away from him!" She shouted angrily towards the woman in tactical gear, flying towards her at a high speed.
"Shit." The woman cursed as she scooped up her rifle. "Dina, more officers!" She shouted, "We need to retreat!" As the woman and tactical gear called out to her sister, Luna arrived on the scene and immediately focused her attention on Marcus. Her hands frantically moved around his body as she searched for each of his wounds.
The woman in tactical gear had a surprised look on her face as if she expected a Confrontation with Luna. However, she quickly turned her attention back toward her sister, Dina. "Move out!" She shouted as she began firing at Volkov to suppress him.
Suddenly, another figure emerged from the forest, Sang-hee. As she looked out upon the chaos-ridden battlefield, an excited grin played on her lips. She immediately began charging the first person she saw, which was a mercenary hiding behind cover, who was taking pot shots, at Volkov.
"Are you ok?" Luna asked Marcus, attempting to remove his shirt. It stuck to his body like it was glued down, forcing her to cut it.
"I'm ok," Marcus answered. "Just be careful to avoid that knife and those shards, they can hurt you."
Luna shook her head. "Now Is not the time for jokes." She said as silver tears streaked down her cheeks.
Marcus smirked despite the searing pain. "I'm serious Luna, these will burn the ether right outta your system."
"O-ok." Luna stammered as she finished cutting open his shirt, revealing his blood-soaked torso. "Just hang on, you'll be alright." She said reassuringly, more to herself than Marcus.
The airstrip's chaos began to simmer down.
Volkov was weakened and exhausted, his body was riddled with dozens of those same metal shards that had slowed Marcus down, yet he still continued to fight the last of the mercenaries.
Sang-hee meanwhile, relished in the chaos tearing through the few able-bodied soldiers that dared to face her. She wasn't proficient with her ether and the others, preferring to fight with her bare fists, charging them with decay touch.
The sisters, who were presumably the twins Volkov was after, were long gone. Fading into the background and leading their troops to fend for themselves.
The battlefield continued to simmer down as the last of the mercenaries were dispatched. The flames began dying down, and the smoke that filled the air seemed to partially dissipate.
Volkov began making his way towards Luna and Marcus. He covered from head to toe, with blood, ice, and shards of metal shrapnel. "Luna…" he called out in a hoarse voice. "Is… is he ok?" He asked, barely managing to keep himself steady.
"Barely." She answered with a saddened expression. "I can't get these shards out, do you have something I can use?"
Volkov shrugged as he looked down at his badly bruised body. "I don't." He answered weakly, "But maybe Sang-hee…." Volkov's voice trailed off as he looked over in her direction.
Sang-hee was finishing off the last mercenary, placing a hand on either side of the mercenary's head, and ripping it clean from their shoulders.
She then laughed joyfully as the mercenary's blood went flying.