As soon as the fighting erupted around him, Huey darted to the left side of the narrow alley, his strength enhancing Meta abilities propelling him with remarkable agility. His legs felt almost electrified, each powerful stride allowing him to weave deftly through the chaos unfolding in the alley around him.
The sounds of clattering footsteps and yells echoed off the brick walls surrounding him, creating a visceral backdrop to the conflict. He spotted a thug who had just regained his footing, after being thrown off balance by Edward's earlier rush, brandishing a large square barreled gun and preparing to unleash a volley of shots.
With a determined grin hidden beneath the visor of his helmet, Huey propelled himself forward, his blade gleaming ominously, reflecting some of the neon light that made its way into the alley. In a swift, controlled motion, he slashed his saber both forward and upward, the sharp edge slicing cleanly through the air.
The large hand cannon disintegrated in a shower of sparks, its severed halves clattering to the ground with twin clunking sounds. Seizing the moment of shock, Huey followed up with a powerful punch delivered with the hilt of his weapon, sending his target crashing to the pavement, unconscious.
But there was no time to revel in his first victory. Huey spun around, his senses heightened as he locked onto another member of the enemy group. With a shocking amount of precision and the ferocity of a seasoned warrior, he thrust the tip of his blade towards his next adversary, the action fluid and explosive. The adrenaline surged through him, sharpening his focus.
Huey felt an unsettling detachment creep over him. He knew good and well that he had been transported to a different realm. One where the usual constraints of morality and empathy no longer applied to him, or so he imagined. He had also noticed that these people weren't quite human.
Huey moved with a nonchalant fluidity and efficiency that bordered on brutality, his mind numb to the carnage he was starting to unleash.
The saber sliced through the enemy's mask with ease, the victim's face visible through the cracked mask showing a gruesome, pulsing wound. A wave of crimson erupted from the gash as Huey withdrew his blade, the metallic taste of adrenaline mingling with the sweet rush of power.
In an almost choreographed motion, Huey lunged again, his leg sweeping low to knock the next opponent off balance. The misty ball of ice forming on the thug's hand faltered, its formation collapsing as he crumpled to the ground. The ball of ice fell from his hand, leaving a patch of frost on the alleyway.
Huey's grin twisted into a wicked smile as he danced back to avoid a feeble kick from the downed enemy. "Wow," he exclaimed, his words dripping with sarcasm. "You guys really need to work on your reflexes!" There was a cruel glint in his eye, a spark of sadistic delight that hinted at a darker transformation taking place within him.
For a moment, Huey's thoughts strayed back to his sister, to the brutal violence that had taken her life. But suddenly, it was as if the grief had been submerged, lost beneath a rising tide of aggression, frustration, and finally excitement. He was no longer thinking about Norvin, Cassie, Edward or his new surroundings, it was as if a switch had been flipped.
As Huey leapt forward to strike again, his blade carved a small path across the alleyway, leaving a trail of sparks in its wake. The next thug's head was separated from his body with a swift, almost casual motion, the severing blow as clean and merciless as a slaughterhouse's guillotine. For Huey, there was now no mercy, no quarter asked or given. Huey was no warrior, but a predator; and this game was no longer about strategy or skill, or protecting the strange lizard man they were supposed to be helping, but about the thrill of the hunt, and this new intoxicating rush of power.
Lino also joined the fray, his elongated tail snapping out like a whip, striking holes into the legs of another coated man who had been charging towards Edward, with his head down. The thug cried out in surprise as he tumbled forward, crashing into the alley wall, imbedding the large horn that protruded from the top of his head deeply into it. The reptilian man laughed, emboldened by the unexpected alliance. He glanced at the trail of dead bodies Huey had just left behind, "You've really got my back! I like you guys! You don't hold back at all!"
Lino proceeded to whip the chin of the rhino-like man that was stuck in the wall with his tail, rattling his brain and knocking him out cold.
The rest of the group all unleashed different powers and weapons at the same time towards the three scary opponents they had decided to tangle with. One pulled a foot long knife out, as he did, electricity in the form of tiny black lightning bolts danced along its edge, three others blazed with a similar red aura that Edward had produced. A more slender figure suddenly ignited with flames on her palms, while a larger combatant beside her extended a sharp looking javelin like weapon.
"Why does he have a Fighters aura?!" The odd man out hurried back to his leader mumbling his question as he helped him to his feet. The leader staggered a few times before regaining his balance. He tore off his now broken mask, revealing an older man's face with a heavy beard. The man also had a large set of mouse-like ears instead of normal human ears.
The mouse like bearded man spat blood onto the ground and gritted his stained teeth, the front two that you could see were prominently poking forward as he answered his subordinates' question. "It's because he's a damn Fighter, not an Armorer...must be using some sort of high end Armorer gear, you see the red on his fist? These guys aren't low level. They are clearly a cut above baseline supers."
The mousy man raised a wrist to his face. He was activating a communicator to call for help.
The alley was now alive with the sound of battle, the air thick with tension and the metallic tang of spilled blood. Edward, fueled by his fury and determination, lunged forward, targeting the Meta with the electric knife. The man swung wildly, trying to catch the armored figure off guard, but Edward was quicker, dodging seamlessly and closing the distance.
"Again, too slow! My students could beat you idiots." Edward growled again, his red aura flickering ominously and one of his helmet lenses flashed as he feinted to the left before unleashing a brutal right cross. The force behind the punch was amplified by the Pugilist energy within him, sending the knife-wielding thug stumbling backward, disoriented.
Meanwhile, off to the side, Huey was locked in a rapid exchange with another assailant, a woman with a fiery aura crackling around her hands. She unleashed a volley of flames, which Huey dodged with agility that would not have been possible when he was not wearing the oracle armor. He rolled to one side, creating distance while quickly assessing her next move.
The woman shrieked in anger and started rotating her hands, gathering and condensing her flames into a fiery orb.
"I knew you could do better than those tiny little fire farts!" Huey teased, twirling his sword before him. The smirk on his face—hidden by the visor—was equal parts amusement and new found...confidence. "Let's see you turn up the heat!"
He pulled at a seam of his sabers handle and a ring of cards on a folding tray were displayed on them. He grabbed one and swiped it past a slot on the sabers handle.
'It is too cool getting to use the 'Blay Rouzer'...Blade is too sick!' Huey was having the time of his life right now.
He picked a card with the image of a savage, monster-like deer on it. The deer had bright gold dagger-like structures instead of antlers.
THUNDER!
As he swiped the card, a mysterious voice called out from his gear.
'Classic!' The image on the card was replicated in front of Huey. It became a nearly translucent energy, sinking into Huey's chest. A wave of blue energy went up and down Huey's body; He thrust his blade towards the woman as she launched the dense, massive ball of flame she had been preparing at him.
A blinding, thick lightning bolt flashed from the end of his weapon and tore through the incoming fire.
She fell to the ground, her own flames starting to lick at the armored coat she had been wearing. She didn't make a sound however, her heart had stopped as soon as the high voltage energy bolt ripped through her body.
"Gotcha!"
Toward the mouth of the alley, Edward was engaged in a melee with the leader and his henchman. The mousy-bearded man snarled in frustration, lunging at Edward with a glimmering spiked baton he had produced while the man who had helped him up earlier pulled his own gun. Edward sidestepped the strike easily.
The henchman managed to get a shot off on Edward that merely deflected off his shoulder armor, barely leaving a small scorch mark. Edward barely moved at all from the shot.
'Was that a fucking laser?!' Edward paused for a moment. He had expected to be hit by a bullet, not a bright red light!
"Sorry, but I don't play nice anymore," Edward said, clenching his fists as energy swirled around him. He launched into a flurry of rapid punches—each one connecting with a sickening thud against the thug's armor, staggering both of them in rapid succession. He started swaying side to side, preparing to do a Dempsey roll.
Whoosh!
Lino ducked under a retractable spear that was being used against him. He used his tail and his arms to fight back, extending them at the right moments to mess with his opponents' depth perception, finally wrapping his tail around the mans neck, which caused him to drop his weapon. Lino raised him high in the air and then brought him back down hard.
SLASH!
The armor Huey was wearing called out another card effect as he slid it past the slot on the saber handle. The cards image enlarged, glowing blue and settled on his chest before being absorbed into him again, just the same way as it had before.
As the man Lino had seized with his tail headed towards the ground, Huey stepped forward to slash him cleanly in half with his now glowing saber, having empowering himself and his blade further with that card.
The screech of metal and the thud of bodies hitting pavement reverberated through the tight confines of the darkened alley, several screams were made before being silenced, mid painful wail.
BANG!
Edward unleashed a punch that radiated with energy. The attack connected with the leader's midsection, the force sending him flying against the wall with a sickening crack. He slid down, moaning weakly and clutching his ribs.
"Wow, we just took down a whole hunting crew! That was incredible..." Lino exclaimed, panting but exhilarated.
"...But it might get worse," Lino whispered, his face darkening as he glanced at the com device on the mousy man's wrist, which crackled ominously. "We need to go before reinforcements arrive."
"Let's move then!" Edward growled, urgency in his movements as he gathered himself. "We can't take any more risks, you're going to need to explain what we've gotten ourselves into, okay?"
"Indeed...first you two are going to want to ditch those insane power armors you have. Kinda eye catching to see two...Armorers out in the open."
Huey and Edward did just that. Their oracle totems were dismissed and sent back to reside in Echo's soul, not that either Huey or Edward knew the specific details about that. They were only aware that they could summon and unsummon their totems at will.
"I've got a contact I'm supposed to meet near the space port a couple sectors away from here. Follow me!"
"Spaceport?" Huey's eyes widened and twinkled brightly. He seemed to be back to his normal self. He walked over and picked up one of the guns that had been dropped before catching up to Edward and Lino, who were already starting to jog away. He tugged on Edward's sleeves to catch his attention.
"What?"
"Dude, they were totally using blasters!"
Together, the unlikely trio picked up speed and dashed deeper into the alley, leaving the chaos of the battle behind, as the flickering lights of the city pulsed above like stars in a strange, otherworldly sky.