The black sphere continued its rapid and unrelenting growth.
Dr. Fletcher sighed as she turned her attention to Marcus and Luna. "Luna, with me." She commanded, reaching her hand out.
Luna stepped away from Marcus and accepted Dr. Fletcher's hand, much to Marcus's confusion.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
A small explosion rocked the ground under the sphere and sent the ground shaking. The surrounding construction began to buckle and rock as its steel beams wined.
Dr. Fletcher frowned as she turned her attention toward the barrier. "This is far beyond Luna's capabilities, I won't risk her life here."
Marcus' eyes widened.
If these were beyond Luna's abilities, then wouldn't that mean….
"W-what about me?" Marcus stammered.
"What, you scared kid?" Sergeant Daniel snarled. "If you can't fight with a little girl protecting you, then maybe you should hide with them'."
Marcus shook his head. "No that's not…. Luna isn't."
"You'll be fine Mar–"
Before Dr. Fletcher could finish speaking, another explosion rippled off from within the barrier, causing it to glitch and falter slightly.
Marcus felt his heart racing as his adrenaline started pumping. His breathing grew ragged as his eyes widened with fear.
Marcus looked at Dr. Fletcher for an answer, but she simply gave Marcus a sincere nod before turning to leave with Luna in hand.
Marcus watched as they entered a black supercar that was parked a little ways away from where Alfred had dropped him off earlier.
Marcus couldn't believe it, they left him.
"Get your head in the game Marcus," Kael said as he gripped Marcus's shoulder. "We need to focus."
Marcus turned to Kael with a frightened expression.
Kael sighed, before pulling back his arm and punching Marcus in his jaw. The punch connected, and hard. Marcus' head followed the direction of the punch, blood, and saliva splattering on the split and broken concrete.
Marcus was dazed, yet his jaw quickly began to heal itself. "What was that for!" Marcus asked in confusion and hurt.
"To snap you out of this fearful ass you've turned into," Kael responded. "That is not the Marcus I know, the Marcus I knew was a fearless asshole."
Marcus narrowed his eyes as his expression grew perplexed. Yeah, he was fearless before, but that was before he got his head smashed into the ground repeatedly.
"But–"
"Bring that Marcus back right now!" Kael demanded.
Marcus frowned, he couldn't just–
Just then, another explosion rocked the ground as the sphere within the barrier began to spin rapidly.
Its violent and chaotic energy began clashing against the barrier. A spectacular eruption erupted from within the barrier creating a massive explosion that rapidly broke down the barrier containing the sphere.
The released explosion sent everything and everyone crashing backward.
Marcus rolled and tumbled against the concrete, his bones breaking and cracking as large slabs of concrete, dust clouds, and steel beams flew around him.
He was blown a far distance away from the site, nearly a football field away.
A loud hiss echoed through the surrounding area following the explosion. Marcus' eardrums burst at its sound, causing his already painful and disoriented situation to worsen.
By the time Marcus stopped tumbling from the kickback of the explosion. He noticed that the surrounding air began to cook with an intense heat.
Attempting to understand its source, Marcus looked towards the direction of the sphere.
Only, instead of a sphere, Marcus' eyes lay upon what looked to be a massive, towering serpent-like creature. Its skin was covered in hard, black scales, and just beneath it was what looked to be lava or some equivalent.
Marcus' eyes followed the monstrous serpent until he eventually saw its head. The serpent's eyes were narrowed and burned with fury. Its long snout was filled with razor-sharp teeth that looked to be covered in blood and charred.
Marcus' eyes widened to the point of practically popping out of his skull. Though his body had already healed, it was shaken with fear.
He couldn't move a muscle.
"Holy shit! You're a big bitch!" The officer with the Mohawk shouted with amazement as she pushed a large slab of concrete over herself, quickly rising to her feet. "Daniel, you see this shit!?"
Sergeant Daniel groaned as he rose from the ground. "Hard not to." He replied, his tone serious.
"How the hell do we fight that?" The ginger-haired officer asked, her tone curious as her gaze rose to the large serpent, who still looked to be examining its surroundings.
"I do not see any viable weaknesses," Kael called out. "Those scales look unbreakable."
Sergeant Daniel chuckled as he unholstered his twin pistols, twirling them in his hands as he rose the shoulder high. "Guess we'll just have to wing it."
Kael smirked as he readied to massive air vortexes in his hands. "If I had to guess sir, its core is in the upper neck, near the head."
Sergeant Daniel nodded. "You heard the boy!" He shouted to the other two officers.
The officer with the Mohawk grinned as she reached for the rifle on her back, it was similar to the one Elissa used.
The officer with ginger hair rolled her eyes and readied what looked to be a staggered knife.
Marcus watched as the other officers prepared themselves. His mind shouted at his body to get up, to join them, but his body wouldn't budge.
And maybe that was for the best.
As the officers began to charge the massive serpent, Marcus watched in horror as heat surged from the serpent's body, like a large gust of wind.
The air surrounding the serpent cooked everyone besides Kael. Their skin blistered and tore apart before becoming completely charred and black.
Marcus felt himself growing sick as the smell of human flesh filled the air. His gag reflex kicked in causing him to vomit. He struggled to process the rapid and horrific situation unfolding before him.
Kael meanwhile, was struggling under the serpent's heat. His skin blistered and popped with puss, yet his healing factor worked overdrive to keep him alive. He was shocked to see the death of his comrades, yet it lasted only a short second.
"Unfortunate." He muttered to himself as he threw his air vortexes into the ground, launching himself upwards.
Then, at the height of his leap, he created two air spears and launched them into the serpent's stomach, one slightly higher than the other.
The serpent hissed as it finally looked down, its long tongue slapping against its snout. Its pupil's dilapidated as it watched Kael climb its stomach.
Kael continued to climb the serpent's stomach, it was an act of acrobatics and skill.
He created a series of air vortexes and air spears, he would launch himself up with a vortex, and then land upon an air spear.
The serpent pulled its head back as Kael climbed its stomach, and without warning, began blowing a white fire down upon Kael.
Kael's eyes widened as he was greeted with the white flames, but he acted quickly and pushed himself back from his stomach.
He flipped in the air and he began hurling back towards the ground, his body twisting and twirling with skill and determination.
Kael created two vortexes just before hitting the ground and landed safely near Marcus.
"I can't get near its core." Kael hissed in urgency, kneeling beside Marcus as he narrowed his eyes.
Marcus remained silent, his gaze focused solely on the serpent that was now hurling directly towards the duo. Its eyes narrowed with hatred and anger.
Kael's eyes widened at the speed at which the serpent moved. There wasn't enough to do practically anything as the serpent had reached them within literal seconds.
MOVE DAMN IT! Marcus shouted to himself, yet his body remained stiff, stuck firmly in place.
Kael looked over to the frozen Marcus, his expression determined and serious. In an act of selflessness, Kael used an air vortex to blast Marcus away.
Marcus once again found himself tumbling and crashing into the concrete. Kael's powerful vortex launched him a good distance away from the serpent's attack.
As Marcus tumbled, he couldn't help but hate how much of a coward he had been. If only he wasn't so afraid. If only he could've done what was asked of him, if only…
If only.
If only.
If only.
By the time Marcus had stopped tumbling against the concrete. His body had already healed himself from the hard impact. Yet Marcus' mental scars had only grown, cutting deeper than any blade, and causing more suffering than any bullet.
Marcus lay in the concrete, dazed and afraid.
He slowly looked over to where he had just been.
His eyes widened at what he saw.
Kael's legs, which were severed from his torso collapsed on the ground, oozing crimson red blood that reflected its burning surroundings.
Marcus' eyes darted around for Kael's other half, only to be equally horrified upon spotting it. Kael impaled on a long steel beam that was erected up from the ruined concrete.
Kael's expression was horrified. His hands wrapped around the steel beam that entered through his back and out of his chest. Blood dripping from every hole on his body.
It looked as if Kael's legs attempted to regrow, but couldn't, his muscles extended themselves but there was nothing for them to form around.
Above Kael was the serpent, who looked down at him with an unyielding rage.
Marcus watched as it slowly lifted its head back, its black scales glistening with the chaos and flames of their surroundings.
The serpent was going to burn Kael to a crisp.
Kael looked up to the serpent with an unreadable expression, yet his eyes were filled with fear and uncertainty.
As the embers of white flames began to escape the serpent's mouth. Marcus could feel something rising within him. It was fear however, it was something more…. Raw and untamed.
As the serpent spit its white flames towards him, kael gave Marcus a brief smile, before being engulfed.
"NOOO!" Marcus shouted as he reached out a hand towards Kael.
But he was met with nothing but the crisp remains of what used to be his old partner.
Marcus slowly lowered his hand as he looked upon his friend's charred corpse.
It was then that something within him snapped.
"Y-you… you heartless, worthless creature," Marcus muttered angrily as he pushed himself off the ground.
Rising to his feet Marcus' legs began to shake, yet that didn't matter to him. Marcus couldn't stop the hatred that filled him, and he wasn't going to. "I won't let you get away with this…."
Marcus felt his core swirling violently with energy, his chest growing hot, and his mind raced with thoughts, hatred, abhorrence, and revulsion.
Hate.
Hate.
HATRED!
"You won't leave this city alive!" Marcus shouted with all his might, his lungs and throat burning as he released his hatred through his voice. Marcus' hair flicked between silver and black, and the iris of his eyes gained a silver border. "I'll rip you apart with my bare hands! My bare fucking hands!"
The massive serpent looked towards Marcus with a matching hatred. It hissed as its long tongue slapped its snout.
The ground beneath Marcus began to shake and break beneath him. His veins flowed with a monumental amount of energy and rage.
His newfound resolve was greater than anything he had ever felt or known before.
Marcus continued to scream as the air around him sparked and crackled with silver energy.
It surrounded him like a force field of pure energy.
Marcus's hair continued to flicker between silver and black until eventually settled into a salt and pepper mix, with white and silver hair intermingled.
Marcus narrowed his eyes as he stared the creature down.
His fists were balled so tight that his knuckles turned white. "Say your fucking prayers." Marcus hissed, before charging the massive serpent at incredible speed, appearing as a blur to the naked eye.
The serpent coiled its body, shaking the ground beneath its colossal mass.
The serpent hissed loudly before springing forward to meet Marcus, Its speed and power were almost unbelievable.