I'm stuck. I failed. I couldn't stop the mutant. Now he's going to get away, and I'm going to die. The mutant spared nothing from me. He punched my face. I lost my teeth for sure, and it look everything in me not to lose consciousness. My eyes were almost swollen shut, and both my arms and legs were broken. That didn't keep the monster from throwing me around like a ragdoll, though. I crash into a building, my body smashing through the glass. I roll to a stop in a carpet of glass shards.
I can feel my body giving up. I feel the heavy footsteps of the mutant approaching behind me. I don't want to die, but there's nothing I can do. I let my consciousness slip a little bit. I'm so tired. So… I hear a low whirring heading towards my direction. Hovercar? No, the engine sounds too small. What could it be…
The whirring gets closer, and I use the last bit of strength in my body to turn my head to see who it is. Glass shards scratch my cheek. I see a figure on a police force hoverbike pull up. Backup! The mutant takes his eyes off of me too take a look at the new challenger. Wait no… they're going to be slaughtered by this thing! The biker stops and steps off of it. They are mid-height and dressed in an officer's combat uniform. A police officer's combat uniform is meant for sleek defense. It's not bulky but can take a hit. They turn to look at me and survey the damage. After a moment they take off their helmet. Oh my gosh… It's Ray.
Her face goes pale when she sees me. "Evan… Are you…"
I left out a weak cough to show her I'm still breathing. She exhales and the color returns to her face.
"Just hang in there," she says, putting her helmet on her bike. "I'll finish the mission, and we'll get you medical attention."
No… she's going to get herself killed. I try to move, but my body is too far gone. I'm not moving. All I can do is watch.
Rachel cracks her knuckles, walking towards the creature.
"You really roughed up my buddy here, huh ugly?" She asks.
The mutant is locked in on her, ready to counter and strike at the drop of a hat.
"A man of few words I see," she chuckles. "I respect that."
Then to my surprise, she gets in a boxer's stance. Does she actually plan to fight this thing? She's fighting a creature on a rush overdose. It'll crush her! I try to move again. No luck. She's not even armed… She's going to die because I was too weak. Too slow.
After a moment of silence, Rachel throws a fast left jab. Like… really fast. I was shocked. If my jaw probably wasn't broken it would have dropped. I barely saw her throw the punch. That's insane. The creature tries to weave around the strike, as usual, but Ray's fist clips him below his eye. The mutant staggers back, obviously stunned.
"Heh," Ray chuckles. "You seemed faster earlier."
The monster tries to close the distance, but Rachel throws another fast jab… or so I thought. I saw a left punch be thrown, but in a blink a right hook was already connecting with the mutant's temple. The blow spins the monster, then it staggers around to regain its footing. Deep blue blood is running down the side of its head where it got socked.
"Oh, man! That felt good," Rachel says, bouncing from foot to foot. "C'mon, don't pass out on me now!"
The monster roars at her, losing its cool. It charges her, prepared to rip her apart. Ray tightens her guard, ready for the creature. It wildly swings its right arm, Rachel fluidly ducks the attack, bobbing under its arm and connecting a left hook of her own. POW! The monster is stunned, but quickly, recovers and throws a left attack. This attack is visibly slower. Rachel then tears into her opponent's chest with a 3-hit combo. Left! Right! Left! The creature staggers backwards, but Ray isn't done.
"You're wide open now!" she shouts, diving in with a wide haymaker.
The blow connects, sending the monster flying backwards a shocking number of yards. The mutant hits the ground and ceases moving.
"Oh yeah! Knockout!" Rachel yells, raising her fist triumphantly.
That was insane. I knew she was strong, but this is outlandish.
Rachel hurries over to me.
"Oh my gosh, Evan. He got you good."
I cough in response and accidentally cough up blood.
"Oh shit," Rachel says. "Let's get you out of here."
I must've passed out on the way back, because I had no recollection of the commute back to Ray's lab. When I come to, I'm in hospital pod. Was I really hurt that bad? Hospital pods are only used on patients who are in the most critical condition. Then I slowly remember the fight that I was just part of. Maybe I did almost die…
I feel around my body and wiggle my fingers, all of my broken bones from before were restored. The only thing ailing me was the fog in my head, but that was just a slight side-effect of the rapid cell regeneration. I push the lid of the pod, and it flips open. I sit up and look around. The lights are dim, but everything else seems undisturbed. Then I hear a low rumble to my left. I whip my head around to face the sound. Then I exhale, it's just Rachel asleep. She's in a chair slumped against the wall next to me, snoring with her mouth wide open. I chuckle and hop out of the pod.
The police uniform is rolled down to around my waist so that the healing could be focused on the broken ribs. I roll it back over the rest of my body and zip it up. My body feels way better than it had before. I still can't believe how badly I was beaten, though. That one mutant almost killed me. I'd fight multiple mutants before, but that one was… intelligent maybe? It seemed to have bad thoughts behind it's movements. Why is that that particular mutant could think but not the other ones? I hear shifting behind me.
"Evan?" It's Rachel. She sleepily sits up to stare at me.
"Yeah, that's me," I say back.
"I'm glad you're okay," she yawns. "I thought it would've taken you longer to heal."
I nod. "I'm surprised I even recovered. I thought I was a goner."
Rachel smiles. "I'm too smart to let you die."
I chuckle and shake my head.
Then she aggressively leaps up and stomps toward me. I instinctively take half a step back. She gets right in my face.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you couldn't fight?" she yells.
"I… uh…" I stammer.
"Ego maybe? Because you're fast and strong now you think you're invincible? Well, you got your ass knocked into next week, AND you could've died! What do you have to say for yourself?"
I start to say something, but she cuts me off. "I don't care! If you die, your life isn't the only one affected, got it? So, dust off that brain of yours and put it to use, got me?"
I nod.
"Good." Then she hugs me… hard. I feel the majority of my bones crack. "And you better not scare me like that again."
I pause. "I won't." I whisper, carefully hugging her back.
"You better not. But you do owe me."
I pull back to look at her. "Owe you… what?" I ask, afraid of the answer.
"I'm gonna teach you to fight. And you don't get to say no."