38: Special Day
"It's incredible how, despite everything, they keep moving forward, don't you think?"
At the question, Cassandra, who had been watching the sunset strike the city of Warsaw, emerged from her reverie and looked at her brother, who had approached her side, standing next to her at the edge of the tall building where they were—one of the few high-rise buildings still remaining in the city.
She considered his words and looked down at the people below. Despite the approaching dusk, they continued to work with enthusiasm and joy, just as they had since the day began, and just as they had been doing ever since Warsaw was liberated.
Some children on the street seemed to notice their figures and waved excitedly. She and Charles waved back, watching the kids smile before returning to help however they could.
Not for the first time, a strange sense of pride welled up inside her. After all, it was thanks to their efforts that these people had been saved. Seeing their admiration, even adoration, felt surprisingly good for some reason, bringing a small smile to her lips.
But soon, that smile faded, replaced by a slightly bored expression—a look that had grown more pronounced as the days passed without anything interesting happening, without John returning.
"Although watching them rebuild this place was interesting at first, it's getting old quickly. This calm is really strange, don't you think?" After experiencing the battlefield and living almost every day in a fight, returning to something so "mundane" felt odd. The thrill of battle and the adrenaline it brought weren't things easily replicated elsewhere. While she wouldn't say she was obsessed with such things, she certainly preferred having something exciting to deal with rather than simply doing nothing.
Of course, it wasn't as bad as being back home. She'd much rather watch an entire city being rebuilt than take another stupid lesson on feminine etiquette.
Hearing his sister, Charles sighed a little, letting his shoulders drop slightly. In moments like this, he truly wished he had his sister's resilience and her ability to handle high-stress situations without appearing fazed.
"Moments like this, we need to appreciate them, Cassie. We might not find another like it in the future."
Hearing the nickname that hadn't been used since she was a child, Cassandra frowned slightly, casting an irritated look at Charles. However, upon seeing his face, that displeasure faded.
Charles... he didn't look so good. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his posture betrayed obvious exhaustion. She knew he hadn't been sleeping well, but it had been improving somewhat over the past few days—at least his eyes were no longer bloodshot.
Maybe the calm wasn't particularly appealing to her, but it was something her brother clearly needed. So, for now, she decided to stop complaining about it.
"Don't be so pessimistic, little brother," she said, patting his shoulder lightly—almost causing him to stumble forward. He shot her a hard look, but she ignored it and kept speaking with a smile.
"Remember whose side you're on. These Hydra guys might be irritating, but with John and us working together, this war only has one outcome, and you can be sure of that." Her words carried immense confidence, and Charles couldn't argue with them. After all, so far, they had been wiping out every enemy they faced, and while there had been some dangerous moments, they had always emerged victorious.
When you keep winning, it's hard to entertain the thought that you might lose. And for someone with his sister's ego, that became even more apparent to anyone listening to her talk.
"Ugh!"
A groan interrupted their conversation, and turning their gaze behind them, they saw a slightly battered Erik rolling on the ground.
"Get up! No time for resting!" James's shout rang out. Erik, clutching his stomach, cursed under his breath before slowly pushing himself to his feet.
"What the hell is the point of this?" Erik asked irritably, his body aching from the repeated beatings, nearby metals vibrating faintly in response to his emotions.
When John had told him that James would train him, Erik assumed it would be to refine his powers. But so far, the man had only been teaching him how to fight without them—something Erik couldn't understand at all.
Wasn't it his powers that were the reason he was here?
Hearing his question, James scoffed, taking a drag from the cigarette between his lips before replying, exhaling smoke through his nostrils.
"On the battlefield, relying solely on your powers will get you killed faster than you think, kid. Remember, your body isn't invincible, and you need to be able to move quickly and constantly," James began to explain. Erik listened, frowning deeply.
Watching how the two were having a fluent conversation in the same language, Cassandra couldn't help but click her tongue.
"Your power is really useful," she said, glancing at Charles, who responded with a slight smile.
Originally, no one besides him could communicate with Erik. But after John left, and tired of being unable to properly talk with Erik for training, James had approached Charles and asked him to do something to fix it.
At first, Charles had been a bit reluctant. Messing with people's minds was complicated and delicate—let alone adding knowledge they hadn't previously had. But with James's constant insistence, Charles finally agreed, albeit hesitantly.
It had taken him almost two days, but he managed to transfer everything he had learned about the German language by reading others' minds into James's. There were a few mishaps, but James's healing factor managed to cushion the errors enough to make the process viable.
Even so, Charles doubted he'd repeat the process with someone else anytime soon. The only reason it worked out was because of James's regeneration ability. Without it, Charles knew he could have caused severe brain damage to the man due to his inexperience.
It was surprising how he could shatter and break a man's mind with a single thought, but when it came to holding everything together, he barely managed.
This fact, not for the first time, made him feel slightly dejected for some reason.
"Of course, it's not as good as mine," Cassandra added, crushing the slight envy she felt inside. While reading and playing with people's minds wasn't bad, she still preferred her own power because, with it, she could do what she truly enjoyed.
Namely, fighting and being in the thick of the action.
Hearing her, Charles chuckled a little and decided to let go of his depressing thoughts for the day.
After all, today was special.
With that thought, Charles reached into the inside of his coat and pulled out a small box, about the size of his palm, which he had been hiding until now, and held it out to her.
Seeing his gesture, Cassandra raised an eyebrow and took the box. It had been wrapped in brown paper and tied with a slightly battered red ribbon, with a barely decent bow on top.
"I tried to find better wrapping," Charles said, somewhat embarrassed, then looked at her seriously.
"Happy birthday, Cassie."
Hearing his words, Cassandra froze, almost like a statue. It wasn't until that moment that she remembered today was her birthday. No, not just her birthday—her brother's as well.
Today, they both turned 18.
And she had completely forgotten.
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At the same time, elsewhere in Warsaw, not far away…
In one of the rooms of an apartment building that had been repurposed as temporary shelter for civilian families, a haggard-looking man stared with near-maniacal eyes at the wall in front of him.
More specifically, at the drawing he had just made with his own blood.
His name was Hans, and he had been one of Hydra's soldiers stationed in Warsaw before John and the Ak attacked the city.
Hans had only recently arrived in the city to carry out his duties as a loyal Hydra soldier, but that never happened. Instead, barely half a day after his arrival, he found himself caught in the armed conflict, fighting for his life.
He hadn't even managed to meet with his superior before everything unfolded.
But perhaps that was for the best. Although Hans had fought fiercely alongside his compatriots, he quickly realized this was a losing battle. Without a second thought, he discarded his uniform, left his weapons behind, and blended in with the refugees, effectively disappearing among them.
His cunning, above-average acting skills, and unremarkable appearance allowed him to integrate seamlessly without arousing suspicion. For several days, he kept his head down, observing his surroundings and gathering information.
Finally, after some time, he found the opportunity to contact the high command and report his survival, as well as everything he had discovered during his time in Warsaw.
He thought that all of this would serve to cleanse his mistakes, so that he wouldn't be seen as a coward who abandoned the fight but rather as an intelligent agent who knew what Hydra would need and worked hard for it.
There were no congratulations, nor were there complaints or punishments. Instead, only one order—a simple and strange order.
He didn't understand it. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't see the sense in it. But as a soldier, Hans only needed to follow orders, no matter what they were, and hope that this would be enough to atone for his crimes.
To allow him to return home.
Looking at the drawing on the wall and then at the drawing on the paper in his hand, Hans nodded with satisfaction and prepared to leave. But before he could do so, something caught his attention.
On the wall, his blood, originally red, suddenly began to glow with an increasingly intense ethereal blue light. Hans stared in awe at the inexplicable phenomenon, completely forgetting that he needed to leave.
The light intensified until it became almost blinding, and before he could react, a sound like fabric being torn was heard. From a dark void, a burning ball of fire shot out at bullet speed.
Hans didn't even have time to scream before the fire completely engulfed him and incinerated his body into ashes in less than a second.
Then it exploded.
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Cassandra looked at the gift Charles had given her, feeling a slight pang of guilt inside. He had brought her something, yet she had nothing for him. The discomfort, along with other unfamiliar emotions, filled her completely. She didn't know what to do.
Fortunately for her, she didn't have time to think too much about it.
BOOM!!!
With an almost deafening roar, an explosion engulfed the middle sections of one of the buildings in the distance. Flames rose, along with thick black smoke, and soon cries of astonishment and terror flooded the streets.
Whether it was Charles, Cassandra, James, or Erik, they all stared wide-eyed in total surprise in the same direction.
For a second, they were frozen.
"GRRRAAAHH!"
But when more than a dozen roars—ones they were intimately familiar with—began to echo, their state of shock broke.
"Hydra!" James growled, his claws shooting out from his knuckles. In the next instant, his figure vanished in a blur of motion that shattered part of the roof where he had been standing.
"Let's go!" Cassandra said as she waved her hand, causing one of the pieces of debris still present in the city to fly toward her. She leapt onto it along with Charles, and soon, she lifted them both into the sky, heading straight for the burning building.
Seeing them take off without hesitation, Erik blinked before clenching his teeth. With a flex of his powers, a large enough piece of metal floated in front of him. Imitating Cassandra, he jumped onto it and, guiding it, began to fly somewhat unsteadily.
He really should have practiced more with his powers.
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Of course, James was the first to arrive. Ignoring the flames, he charged through the massive hole that had been created. But before he could do anything, three monsters lunged at him in a powerful tackle, sending them crashing down toward the street.
Seeing his figure land on the ground below, Cassandra frowned but didn't worry. Instead, she focused on the burning building and, using her powers, began trying to smother the flames—or at least contain them so those inside could attempt to escape.
"How did they manage to get here?!" Charles asked himself, watching in horror as some bodies leapt from the windows, engulfed in flames—flames that shouldn't have been able to spread so quickly.
"Who the hell cares? We just need to kill them," Cassandra growled, frowning in confusion at the flames that were unnaturally resisting her control.
She saw more monsters emerging from the hole in the building and dropping into the streets, where James had already begun a massacre. Its mechanical parts fired energy projectiles, causing increasing levels of destruction.
Clicking her tongue in irritation, Cassandra redoubled her efforts. Slowly, the flames began to recede.
"In-te-res-ting" a deep and guttural voice echoed. Cassandra blinked and barely managed to react in time, sending Charles flying to safety before a massive fireball struck her head-on with enough force to turn a war tank into molten scrap.
"Cassandra!" Charles screamed, watching what had just happened. But he had no time to worry as his body crashed through a nearby window, shattering the glass and landing heavily on the floor of the room.
With a grimace, he tried to ignore the pain from the blow and, with effort, stood up, stumbling toward the window through which he had entered, gazing at the sky now cloaked in an orange almost crimson.
More explosions followed, one after another, shaking the walls around him. Charles tried to make sense of what was happening, but his eyes quickly stung from the smoke and the blinding flashes of light.
"Damn it!"
Perhaps his only solace was that he could still feel his sister's mind, though it didn't tell him whether she was hurt or not.
Deciding he couldn't remain useless, he turned away from the window and rushed to the door. Throwing it open, he began descending the building, determined to reach the streets.
Whatever Cassandra was up against, he wasn't going to let her face it alone. He needed to help James deal with the monsters—and fast.
When he reached the streets, he saw people running, the wounded, and corpses engulfed in flames on the ground, cries for help as well as despair and fear assaulting his mind from all directions.
But he couldn't afford to focus on them—not now. Ignoring the horrors around him, Charles limped toward the area where James was fighting, feeling the ground tremble from the intensity of the battle.
When he finally saw the monsters, he didn't hesitate. With all his strength, he struck at their minds without mercy.
Three of them screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground and writhing, but there were still many more fighting James. Ignoring the strain on his mind, Charles gritted his teeth and kept pushing his powers, attacking more and more of them, battling against the control devices implanted in their brains.
"Illusionista!" the shout barely registered, but he didn't have time to pay attention. He needed to keep moving, to give James enough space to finish his fight quickly.
The man, of course, took advantage of the opportunities he was given and swiftly dispatched several of the fallen monsters, but those still standing didn't remain idle and began attacking with reckless abandon.
A streak of blue energy grazed Charles, but he paid it no mind and kept walking, a trickle of blood beginning to drip from his nose.
Soon, gunshots could be heard as well as the sound of approaching vehicles. The members of the AK joined the fight, though with little effectiveness.
The metal in the surroundings began to vibrate, and large pieces of it rose into the sky where the explosions started to increase.
"Illusionist!" This time the shout was closer, and before he could react, Charles was grabbed by the shoulder and abruptly pulled off his path, taking him to cover behind a half-collapsed wall.
"Come on, react!"
Charles growled with bloodshot eyes, but upon meeting Angelo's worried gaze, his mind finally found some common sense.
"Th-thanks," he said with a somewhat broken voice, and the slightly older boy sighed and patted his shoulder.
"It's okay, man, breathe a little," then the boy took one of the two rifles he had been carrying and handed it to him.
"I thought you'd want it," he said with a smile, and Charles nodded, holding the weapon.
It might do little against the monsters, but having it was better than having nothing.
"Oh God, this looks bad, really bad," Angelo said, poking his head out to look at the battlefield. Hearing him, Charles nodded and stepped closer to his side, also surveying the situation.
Calling it hell was an understatement. Somehow, more monsters kept appearing. Their numbers were unnatural—they shouldn't have been able to reach the city in such quantities without anyone noticing.
Swallowing hard, Charles looked at the building where it had all started. The fire continued to spread, but much of the structure was still standing. He debated with himself as he watched more monsters hurl themselves out of the massive hole.
There was something in there, something responsible for all of this. And if they didn't stop it, no matter how many monsters they killed, James wouldn't be able to help Cassandra.
"Angelo, I have to go in there," he said, pointing at the burning building.
The boy beside him blinked, glanced at the building, then back at Charles, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"Are you crazy?!"
"Maybe, but whatever's happening is coming from there, and if there's a way to stop it, I have to do it—and fast," Charles then sighed and looked at Angelo with seriousness.
"If you don't want to come, that's fine. I know it's dangerous. You can stay and help the civilians evacuate."
Hearing this, Angelo frowned and looked at him, almost offended.
"Dangerous, you say? Since when has that ever stopped me?" he exclaimed, then grinned.
"Even if you're a super, you still need someone to watch your back. Don't even think about leaving me behind now."
Hearing this, Charles felt a lump in his throat for a moment.
From the day they met until now, Angelo had always been there to support him—in every battle, in every moment—never backing down and always lifting his spirits.
Truly, one couldn't ask for a better friend.
"Alright… alright, then let's go!" He said, casting aside any fear or doubt, and soon both boys began running toward their objective.
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Note:
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