The tension in the air was palpable. As the suspense reached its height, Mathew Bates lunged forward. With astounding precision, he drove his fist towards the face of the alien.
At the same time, Ijvesta dove in from below, aiming a punch straight for his guts. Each blow was backed by the power of the bionic suits.
The humanoid alien snickered and merely tilted his head, however completely ignoring the blow aimed for his lower abdomen. A resounding clang echoed as Ijvesta's fist collided with something that felt like titanium.
"Ah…"
The alien shifted forward suddenly and slammed his knee straight into Ijvesta's face, knocking the living daylight out of the man and driving him into the ground.
Mathew however, remained standing before the alien. He threw another punch, sincerely hoping the bastard's face wasn't as sturdy as his body. His punch tore through the air and grazed the alien's face– the latter had merely tilted his head once more.
Before the Marshall could plan his next move, he was yanked forward forcefully, before feeling a crushing blow slammed into his abdomen. The web-like crack on his bionic armour glowed with a faint red hue, before quickly returning to normal.
Mathew staggered backwards and groaned painfully, but he flashed a warped smile afterwards. The suit could absorb damage to a certain extent, and it could also spread shock, converting it to a momentary boost in strength for the user.
His second hand reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cube. The cube shook and expanded, before transforming into a steel baton that crackled with electricity.
The alien snickered and made a gesture of "Come on," with his hands. It seemed as though this battle was merely amusement for him. If it could even be called a battle at all.
Mathew didn't give in to the taunt. He locked eyes with the adversary and called out, "Ijvesta, can you stand?"
There was no response.
Dammit? A single hit to the face is enough to incapacitate us? Seeing as the bastard could rip tanks in half, I shouldn't expect any less. Mathew realised his partner wasn't getting up anytime soon.
He exhaled and carefully dashed forward, keeping both hands up to guard against hits to his face. With the steel baton giving him extra reach, his muscles bulged and his arm swung forward, releasing the boost from the previous attack.
Clang! The alien raised his right hand and blocked. The electricity didn't seem to have any effect.
Then, he raised both arms and grinned, openly inviting the human to attack whenever he wanted.
Mathew pulled back slightly and switched the baton to his right hand. He rotated, exerting more force, and slammed the steel against the alien's face.
Another loud clang resounded throughout the street. His face was indeed as durable as his body.
This didn't deter Bates, however, as he kept launching attacks. He slammed his fists against the adversary's body in an unending barrage of attacks, but the only feedback he got was a taunting smile.
Mathew, feeling hope slowly slipping away, pulled back and asked calmly, "If you're that strong, why not cut the bullshit and wipe us out?"
The alien retained his smile. After a while, he opened his mouth to say something, but at that very moment, Mathew's voice bellowed like a bull's call,
"Now!!"
Right there and then, the air sizzled and a figure materialised into existence right in front of the foe. It was a female figure. She wore a full bionic suit and in her hands were two fine blades.
Before the humanoid alien could close his mouth, the lady, strength coursing through her veins, drove one of the blades into the his mouth, searing tongue and driving it all the way into the throat.
"Ahh!" A pained shriek echoed far and wide as green slime spilled from the alien's lungs.
The lady pulled back immediately and vanished into thin air.
Mathew chuckled as he watched the creature writhe in pain. Earlier, the reason he kept hitting the alien even after knowing it had such a dense body, was so he could find any relatively weak spots. Having realised that its entire body was as hard as steel, the only option was to strike an internal area.
And, 'stupidly' attacking a body that was as hard as steel would pass on his message to the third, hidden Marshall.
Attacking exterior parts is absolutely not an option! Attack the bastard's mouth!
Mathew Bates had followed up by trying to get the alien to speak.
"Repulsive creatures!" The alien suddenly raised his gaze and growled in a tone that shook the heart of man. In the next instant, dense black goo seeped out of his body and swirled in the air. The goo expanded and separated into patches– which rapidly solidified into bizarre daggers of varying sizes.
"Die!" He yelled and the daggers descended upon the battlefield, raining down on everything present. This included Marshall Bates, Ijvesta and the invisible lady.
Shit! Mathew Bates leapt to the side in a struggle to protect Ijvesta's unconscious body.
…
Adam and Lyra ran across the paved road, desperately trying to get to safety before the chaos caught up to them. The house on the artificial hill finally came into view, and Adam's heart beat with delight.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a slight ache. Adam groaned and paused momentarily to shake the discomfort, but just as he prepared to take a step forward, he noticed something.
The street was eerily quiet. There were no screams, nor the pulsing sound of lasers from the distance. Having a terrible sense of foreboding, he turned around slowly.
Lyra was gone– she had disappeared from his side at some point in time.
Adam fell silent. He muttered, "Take me back."
Ahead, a beast-like figure garbed in a pure-white robe shrugged and said, "I didn't do this. Lack of control is what keeps throwing you into this state."
Adam's veins popped and his eyes reddened with rage. He took a staggering step forward and repeated, "I said… TAKE ME BACK!"
…
The alien-like creature, about to finish off the humans before him, suddenly paused. He grinned and turned his head so fast, it almost gave him whiplash.
"Found you," He said in a foul tone as his lips curled into a devious grin.