Chapter 10: S1, Ep 10: The Raging Flames Of Battle
Luz wasn't given a chance to avoid the incoming flaming helicopter kick that was aimed directly at the right side of her head. The best she was able to do was quickly move her arms up to block it. As the side of Cody's foot made contact with her two forearms, a burning sensation coated them as she bit back the urge to scream in pain, all the while she was launched to the side, slamming into the side of the tree closest to her about four feet away.
Her arms slumped to her side, the flames coating her arms as Vines sprouted in an attempt to smother the fire—which only worked due to how many and how hard they smothered the flames. Luz had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation, further compounded by the fact that Cody did not let up.
As a matter of fact, he launched forward, grabbed her by the throat, picked her up with minimal effort, and launched her into the air with a throw that no regular human should have been able to pull off without some form of super strength. Yet, Cody managed it.
For what felt like an eternity, Luz found herself floating in the air. For the split second that gravity did not permit her existence on solid ground, she was able to catch the bloodlust in Cody's eyes. It was ravenous, like a predator looking for food, and now that it had found its prey, it decided to wear it out. Play with it for a while until it was ready to eat.
And that terrified her.
Instead of floating there and doing nothing, in the split second that it took for Cody to seemingly begin to crouch down to propel himself up to her, Luz, despite her badly burned hands, flexed her charred fingers, biting down on her tongue to prevent a scream from slipping out, her face contorting in agony as she activated Vines. Cody stared up at her, incredulously, almost as if to tell her that what she was doing was stupid.
She knew that, instinctively, he would just burn them and make her attempt at defending herself pointless, but, she had to try something. As the vines extended, rather than go for Cody himself, they diverted to the two trees surrounding him. With relative and shocking ease, her vines ripped the trees out from the ground, catching Cody off guard, as they were thrown in his direction.
The two trees came dangerously close to Cody, and in response, he crouched into a ball, and just as the trees closed in on him, he sprung out from his balled-up form, throwing his arms wide out as if he performed a jumping jack without moving, prompting a burst of flame expand out from his core, vaporizing the trees in an instant, albeit with some shrapnel here and there.
Some of the scattered pieces of bark and wood stabbed into his shoulders and back, causing him to hiss in pain. Not too long after that, though, the bits of wooden shrapnel caught on fire and turned to ash, the shallow puncture wounds being cauterized alongside that. At the same time, Luz landed just a few feet in front of him, back first as she huffed out air, coming to her feet as a wave of adrenaline pumped through her.
Using the momentary distraction provided by Cody cauterizing his wounds, Luz shot more vines toward the nearest large rock about two feet away from them, wrapping them around it, pulling the rock out of the ground, and throwing it Cody's way in an attempt to smack him upside the head. Cody, noticing the attempt, in response, stuck his hand out toward the rock. A ball of flame generated in the palm of his hand, and not even a half a second later, the ball of flame shot out and blasted the rock into tiny little pieces.
Before Luz could follow it up with something, Cody cleared the distance between himself and Luz and threw an uppercut hitting her directly under her chin, and sending her off the ground and back into the air, if only by a few feet. Before she could try and reorientate herself, Cody blasted her with a short-range burst of flame, the propulsion of which sent her back down to the ground a good distance away. Before she could get up, Cody appeared in front of her in a burst of speed and flame, lifted his foot up, and stomped down on her stomach.
The force of the stomp caused her to spit up a few specks of saliva, mixed with blood, the sound of cracking echoing out around them. Her vision blurred, pain overloading her senses as she caught a rye smirk on Cody's face. "Is this all you've got?" Cody mocked, drilling the heel of his shoe into her, which let the pained wail escape her lungs, prompting Cody's smile to grow wider.
"I've always loved the screams of the dying. Call it a fucked up thing about me, but, I mean, it's like a final message, you know?" Cody said, before stomping down on her torso yet again. Another crack sounded out, blood spewing from Luz's mouth as it splattered all around her lips and the the collar of her shirt. "I could so easily kill you right here, right now. But, that would just be disappointing…" Cody drawled, a sinister twinkle in his right eye. "And unfortunately for you, I want to play some more~!"
And then, the onslaught began.
With the tip of his foot, he ripped her from the ground, all 100 pounds of her body without so much as breaking a sweat, and as she hovered in the air, Cody palmed her square in the chest. Where his hand met the impact zone, a faint orange glow emitted from underneath his palm, as the air distorted around the area.
A burst of flame, bright, orange, and red hot, launched Luz back even further through gaps in the trees. But, that wasn't all. Cody kept up with her propulsion as she flew through the air at easily over 100 miles per hour, landing blow after blow. Jab, punch, kick, followed by another punch, ended with a swift uppercut sending her into the sky. Blood trailed from her mouth and nose, a distorted look of pain coating her whole expression.
But Cody was not done. He stopped, just underneath her, and with that monstrous glare in his eye, and his all too predatory smile, his entire arm transformed into pure fire. Using his normal hand, he shaped the fire into the shape of a bow, his hand being the arrow. All of this was done in less than a second, her eyes having a hard time keeping track of his movements.
Cody got down on one knee, before loudly declaring what it was he was going to do. The name of his attack. And it sounded just as devastating as it was going to be.
"Armageddon Arrow!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the flaming arrow shot up at Luz, striking her in the stomach. The force of the attack was enough to cause her eyes to roll back and for more blood to come gushing out of her mouth, but that wasn't where it ended. The flame constructed arrow flew her high into the sky at speeds faster than the human eye could keep up with, before it exploded into a pillar of flames that congealed into a ball and imploded within. A shockwave loud enough to be heard across the forest echoed out, blasting away all of the nearby trees' leaves, and even knocking a few smaller trees down in the process.
Cody stared up at the marvel of his handiwork, his chest heaving up and down as sweat trickled down his face. Despite the spectacle, all he cared about was seeing the results. And once the flames were gone, there was nothing but burning embers remaining. He looked around. No sign of the idiot anywhere.
Cody smirked, turning his arm back to normal, dropping it to his side as he stood up straight. The smell of charred skin and burning blood filled the air around him—a putrid smell to be sure, but one that he been slightly accustom too.
But as a few seconds passed, a frown took up his visage. "That was almost too easy," Cody commented, narrowing his eyes. For some reason, he refused to believe that this was the end. After what he had heard from Kennedy, he was supposed to worry about Luz Noceda.
But why? She was so weak. So unbelievably pathetic. He wanted to be proven wrong, especially because of the way that Kennedy spoke of her. As if she was a dangerous threat. And here he was being proven right about his previous assumption of her being nothing more than an ant to be stepped on. She was dead with nothing to show for it. Not even a single piece of clothing remained. That should have been the end of it.
So why, oh why, did he believe that it wasn't over?
Simple…
He had watched far too many anime and cartoons to know that someone with a power like hers wouldn't die as easily as they first believed.
And oh how quickly he was right.
Out of the corner of his eye, vines shot out toward him as they went to wrap around his neck. He burnt them to a crisp with the wave of a hand, before turning on his heel and blocking a punch by grabbing the fist that it belonged to. He stared down the person whom he was assigned to kill, the entire right half of her face practically burned to a crisp, and yet despite that, here she stood.
But that wasn't all that was burned. The entire right side of her body, save for anything past her mid-torso, was burned heavily. To the point where the skin was molten, or what was left of it anyway. She was even missing an eye, and the skin around the right side of her mouth was gone, only showing burnt muscle and charred teeth. And yet, despite the life-ending damage to her body, she stared him down, him holding back the fist that she had swung at him.
Only one question bounced around in Cody's mind, and it was a rather important question at that. "How are you alive?" Cody asked though he received no response. Just a simple grunt, and the flare of a single crimson eye. That caught Cody off guard, and not because there was only one eye, but because of the colour of it.
"Crimson? Weren't her eyes a golden brown?" And just as he thought that he was met with a strong enough force to push him back. He skidded back a few feet before being met with a whip across the face by five vines. They didn't hurt, but they did sting, leaving small cuts that trailed across his face.
"Enough of this!" Cody spat, before flinging another fireball her way. In response, she created a shield of vines just as tall as her, and when they burned away, Cody had to brace himself. Why? Because a giant fist made of vines was coming his way. It slammed into his stomach, causing him to go flying backward into a tree, only stopping from taking most of the impact by propelling flames from his back.
More sweat began to drip from his forehead as his breathing hastened. He was beginning to overheat. Pyrokinesis was a strong power, he knew that from the day he awakened it six months ago. But, it came with a heavy drawback. The more he used his flames, the more hot his internals would get, to the point where his body would begin to melt from the inside out.
Right now, if he were to put a thermometer up to his mouth, the mercury inside would skyrocket to the point where it would explode out of the other end. That was how hot he was right now. If he used his Pyrokinesis any longer, he would run the risk of overheating. And if he overheated, then he would most likely die from heat stroke or worse.
But, even so, he had to kill Luz Noceda. Both because he wanted to, and because the lives of his parents were being held over his head. Not to mention his freedom. And he would do anything to be free. Even if it meant killing everyone else, he wouldn't care. Besides, it wasn't like he gave a rat's ass about anyone else here.
Just as he was about to outstretch his hand to blast Luz with a wave of fire, his vision was blocked by a charred hand. In the center of that hand, smack in the middle of its palm, there was a hole. It wasn't even the size of a dime, and now, he was staring it down.
Time began to slow down around him, as he could make out every detail of the charred palm. It was so close to his face, and it was nearly touching him. Through the fingers, he could see Luz's sole remaining eye, and deep within it bore a hatred and rage unlike anything that had seen before.
It even rivalled his fathers at times.
At that moment, Cody knew he was going to die. There was nothing he could do about it. He had no time to react, and the worst part was that he knew that not only was he going to die, but he was also going to lose his power. The hole began to glow a deep red as the charred hand made contact with the center of his face. He felt the searing agony of the charred, molten skin burn his flesh, as Luz's fingers wrapped around the top of his forehead, and squeezed as if her life depended on it.
And finally, after all of that was done, only a single word left his opponent's face. One so chilling, so haunting, that it would be left engrained into his soul for the rest of his life. It wasn't just a word. It was a command. An order. From a higher being to another lower lifeform.
"Die."
And then, as that word entered his ears and filled his mind, he was met with a pain that he could not describe. Black and red lightning danced over the charred hand, as he felt the excruciating pain of what he imagined being torn apart felt like. A howling scream escaped his lungs, but it didn't last for long as he grabbed onto Luz's wrist, clawing at the charred skin.
But it was all for naught. His hands slumped, along with the rest of his limp body. The moment that he did, flames began to coat Luz's arm, travelling up it like a spiral as they burst to life, covering it from fingertip to shoulder. Before anything else could happen, the flames erupted from her arm in a thick column, reducing Cody and the center of every tree spanning for at least twenty feet into nothing but ashes in the wind.
When the fires died, Luz lowered her charred arm, narrowing her lone eye. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she knew the moment it ended, she'd collapse and more than likely die. As much as she disliked the idea, she needed to either force Arla to use her power, or, straight up steal it from her unprompted if she didn't.
It was a gross idea and one that made her feel sick. But, at this point, she didn't care. She just needed to be healed. That, and she needed to regroup with everyone else. And so, she reached inside of herself and pulled at the string connected to Pyrokinesis.
It was strange, how she immediately knew which one was which. And it was also strange how her stolen powers were categorized by strings. But, it made sense. After all, if powers looked like strings to her when they were still attached to their original hosts, it made sense if it remained the same way once she stole them. Either way, it was something she'd have to ask the nuisance in her head at a later date.
The fire began to build at the bottoms of her feet, and as she got into a sprinting stance, the flames began to build and build. "The others. Must make it to the others." And with that, a loud boom resounded from the forest, as an explosion of flame propelled her forward kicked up dust and left a small crater in her wake.
She would not let them die.
She could not let them die.
No matter what it would cost her.
And if they were already dead?
She would kill whoever killed them, and then, the rest of the sorry fucks who called them allies or friends.
Meanwhile, back where Stanley and the other attackers had been, Stanley swung a swift right hook aimed for Amber's face, the strength of which was enough to leave a lasting dent in the side of her head. Saliva rocketed out of her mouth as she was sent colliding into a tree, before being promptly kicked in the torso immediately afterward, rendering her unconscious.
Hilbert jumped backward, narrowing his eyes as swiped at Stanley's direction multiple times, sending several air-slashes his way, all of which washed over him, doing basically nothing other than making him flinch. Lucas followed it up by wrapping his right arm with string, pulling it up in the air. Lucas tugged, trying to cut into his skin… only for the strings to snap.
"WHAT?!" Both Lucas and Hilbert thought simultaneously, as Stanley smiled wide, a burning fury in his eyes as he launched toward Hilbert next. His golden eyes widened, as a fist came dangerously close to his face.
Luckily for Hilbert, he was able to hop over it using a precisely aimed cleave at the ground, leaving a deep trench in the ground as he hopped over Stanley, before twisting around in the air and firing a cross cleave in his direction, hitting him square in the back.
This, like the last time, did nothing. All Stanley did was turn around, pick up a rock and chuck it at Hilbert, who dismissed it with another cleave, which split the rock in half, the two halves flying past Hilbert's head. Lucas then fired more string at Stanley, keeping his high ground in the trees, the strings wrapping around his body to keep him still, even if it was only for a few seconds, as Hilbert narrowed his eyes.
"So, the gorilla's skin is more durable than a rock? That means I have to put more power into my Cleave then. But, doing so will cost me greatly. I have to time it just right…"As that thought ended, Stanley broke free from the strings, but before Lucas to fully retract them back to his person, Stanley grabbed onto the strings that had still been attached to Lucas, pulling him down from his high ground.
Hilbert's eyes widened, as Stanley wound up a punch aimed directly at Lucas's head. In response, Lucas created a string barrier around his face, the string coming out of his back. The fist made impact with the strings as they tightened. No matter how taut they became, Stanley's skin did not break. But why? How?
From what Hilbert understood, Stanley's power was something called Shock Absorption. It absorbed the shock of the attack. Not the damage. Unless his body was just that strong. But, then, if that was then how did that make sense? If his skin was more durable than a rock, then surely the string that Lucas was using would cut through his skin.
Regardless, Stanley powered through the barrier, snapping the string in twain, before his fist caved in Lucas's face, sending him flying into the tree across from Stanley. The power of the blow was so strong that it caused slight wind pressure to build up around the impact zone, and when Lucas hit the tree, he bounced off of the trunk, his eyes rolling back as he crumbled to the floor.
Now, it was just Hilbert and Stanley, who glared over his shoulder at him. Hilbert fired another cleave in his direction, only for it to brush over him as if nothing happened. Sweat began to build up on Hilbert's forehead, trailing down the side of his face all the while. In a panic, he sent three more cleave's in his direction, only for them to do basically nothing. All they did was stagger him.
"YOU FUCKING MONKEY! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Hilbert all but screamed, casting his arms wide, as if to do a cross-slash using his power. But, it wasn't just a cross-slash. This was a hyper-powered version of Cleave. The kind where it not just distorted the air around where Hilbert shot out of the attack, but bent it in such a way that its edge was sharper than a razorblade strong enough to cut through steel.
It had to work.
It had to kill the damn gorilla.
This lowly scum, who dared live through his Cleave.
Stanley got into a stance to brace for the impact, confident that he could not only survive the attack, but push through it, smash the bastard's face into the ground, and reduce it into paste for killing Arla. And so, just as Hilbert was about to launch his penultimate attack, and just as Stanley was about to get ready to block it…
…a flaming foot came crashing into Hilbert's vapid face, shocking Stanley, and confusing Hilbert who, upon glancing in the direction of where it came from, was met with the lone, glowing red eye of Luz Noceda.
"But… wasn't her power… just holes in her hands…?" As soon Hilbert's thought ended, and as soon as the fiery kick made contact, a large flaming explosion reverberated from the center of impact, knocking off Hilbert's now charred and burnt head as it tumbled to the ground along with the rest of his body. The small explosion kicked up enough wind to blow some bushes out of the ground and blow some leaves off of smaller trees.
Stanley could only stare at Luz, eyes wide and pupils small. Her body was burned beyond belief, and yet, she was still alive. Luz landed, just barely missing Hilbert's head by a few inches as the force of the landing knocked it away. Her sole eye glanced down to Arla's split-in-half body, and without saying a word, she walked over to the body, crouched down on her haunches, touched the left side of her split-in-half head, and activated her power.
Stanley dared not move from where he stood, only watching as Luz's charred and burnt arm sparked red with electricity. After a few seconds passed, Luz stood up to her full height, breathed in, and as she did, she placed her left hand on the right side of her face. A green aura began to glow around her hand, and as soon as it did, the burnt skin began to peel away and become replaced with fresh, non-burned skin.
A new eyeball began to form out of nothingness, filling the empty socket, and the rest of her face began to repair itself. The healing spread from her face down her neck to the rest of her body. Stanley was quick to look away, especially given how the right side of Luz's shirt was burned away. "Uh, Boss, I—"
"Not right now, Stanley," Luz interrupted as she breathed in deep. Her body was no longer aching, and any damage had been repaired using Arla's power, Repair. "Your shirt, please." Without another word, Stanley took off his tank top and handed it to Luz, who took it from him. When she did, she took off her damaged shirt and replaced it with Stanley's tank top, which was two sizes too big for her. Not that she cared. As long as it did its job to cover her body, that was all that mattered.
Stanley turned around, looking back at Luz. When he did, he was met with a frown. Before he could open his mouth, she spoke. "What happened." It wasn't a question, it was a demand. Stanley gestured to the scene around them as if that explained anything. It earned him a scowl, prompting him to speak.
"We got ambushed. Simple as. Once you were launched off who-knows-where the rest of that guy's buddies jumped us. We didn't have a chance to defend ourselves. I was only able to fend them off because of my Shock Absorption. Though, I'm pretty sure most of it was thanks to the other part of it."
"The other part of it?" Luz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, the other part of it. It is Absorption after all. It's a double meaning. It absorbs the shock and converts it into kinetic energy that I can use in both strength and defence. Meaning that the more that I get hit, the more I can dish out. It's why I asked Ronny to punch me back at base. Not just to show off, but to build up my tanks, so to speak," Stanley explained as Luz nodded.
"I see…" Luz muttered, before letting out a shaky sigh. She was too late. Judy and Arla were dead. But, in return, so was Cody and whoever that silver-haired guy was. Probably Hilbert, as Judy had mentioned back at base.
"Should we retre—"
"No," Luz once again interrupted, before walking over to Amber. There was a searing hatred in her eyes, unlike anything that Stanley had the displeasure of seeing before in his life. "We'll ask her what happened and why they decided to attack us. I don't care what you do with the other guy. Though, we should probably get rid of him before he wakes up."
"Why don't you take his power? Wouldn't it be useful for later?" Stanley asked as Luz shook her head.
"No. I'd rather not. Using All For One constantly is tiring, and I'm already tired as is. Now c'mon, help me restrain her before she tries anything funny." Without another word, Luz created vines that wrapped around Amber's unconscious form, and Stanley looked over at Lucas.
A part of him considered just killing him, but, then again, it would be more fitting if he was left to be killed by someone else. At the same time, though, if he tried to follow them…. "Damnit…" Stanley walked over to Lucas's unconscious form. He lifted him to his feet, and then, once he got both of his arms wrapped around the top half of his head, and the lower part of his jaw, in one fell movement, Stanley broke Lucas's neck, as his body crumpled to the ground.
Luz watched the whole thing, and just as she was about to move on, Lucas's body turned into string and disappeared. Stanley and Luz stared at the body, eyes wide in realization, though, it was Luz who vocalized it. "That wasn't the real one, was it?"
[XXXX]
"Cody and Hilbert are dead, sir, and my string clone is destroyed. Furthermore, Amber is also captured and if I am to be perfectly honest, she will most likely die within the hour. On the bright side, Judy Valentina and Arla Thatcher are deceased," Lucas's annoyed tone of voice was all that really needed to be heard to understand the severity of the situation.
Frankly, Kennedy had hoped that Cody would've done the smart thing and just assassinated the major player at the scene, but no, he should've figured that hothead was going to try and make it a spectacle. Hilbert, on the other hand, Kennedy expected more from him.
The last thing he wanted was for Luz to suffer. After all, he had considered her a friend. The problem was that he cared about his family more than he cared about someone he had just met. At the same time, though, that didn't mean he wanted her to die a long, drawn out death. Something quick and simple would've done the job just fine.
But no.
Cody just had to drag it out. Now? Not only was their third heaviest hitter dead, but their strategist and espionage expert was also dead. Furthermore, Luz had more than likely took their powers, meaning that she was now more than likely far stronger than all of them combined.
"Well, that was our only shot at a weakened Luz. Now, not only does she have Cody's power, but she also can heal herself," Kennedy noted, before shooting a glance at Emelia. "I should've asked for someone other than Amber. Tyrone would've been better than that useless sack of flesh."
"Don't look at me like that. Hilbert's smart, he could've been hard-countered. We know basically nothing of The Alpha Squadron. That, and Amber was our best bet against Stanley. His Kinetic Absorption power was something we weren't expecting. He said he had Shock Absorptionwhen we first met on that bus, not what he just admitted to having" Emelia spoke up, crossing her arms as Kennedy frowned.
She had a point, which wasn't exactly something that he was fond of. "Yeah, ya know what? Fine. Then I guess we don't really have a choice anymore, now do we?" Kennedy said, defeat in his voice.
He really didn't want to do this. But, The Governor wasn't exactly giving them any other options. The Alpha Squadron had to die, and that meant killing everyone there. Frustration boiled over in his mind as he tried to think of an excuse to give himself to justify what he was about to condone. After all, it wasn't every day that you chose to massacre a group of people, consequences be damned….
He knew that this would result in some sort of retaliation. The only way to prevent that would be to find and kill Luz, and the only one who he could trust to do that was… was himself. Looking down at his hand, he clenched it into a fist.
"Remember…. This is for Ms. Galiger…" Kennedy thought, reigning himself in. However, before he could give the order….
"Well, that's not entirely true," Another voice spoke up, as Kennedy turned to face its direction. Another redhead, though this time with slightly tan skin had been the one to speak up. She was dressed in an open-faced white leather sleeveless vest, a black shirt underneath the vest a pair of brown slacks and red runners.
Her hair went down her shoulders, she had a slight scar above her upper lip, and her vibrant emerald eyes shone like the gems they shared the colour of. Kennedy knew who it was, though mostly because they had been more than a little friendly in the past back at the orphanage. She was two years younger than him, her being 16 and him being 18.
"Then what do you suggest, Darlene?" Kennedy asked as Darlene smirked.
"We could always wait a few days. Let them collect the cargo, and while they're distracted, let's say, by tomorrow, we should head out and take advantage of their strongest not being in the area. We'll ambush them, and kill every single last one of them. Leave none of them standing. And then, we draw out the last two, and then it's over," Darlene explained as Kennedy raised an eyebrow.
"But why? Why not go now?" Kennedy asked as Darlene's smirk turned into a frown, crossing her arms just below her chest. Kennedy had a hard time looking away from it. He blamed his over sexual brain for not being able to look away. That, and she was surprisingly, uh, big for her age, to put it lightly. Looking past that, Darlene spoke.
"If we go now, then those two lug nuts would be expecting something. But, if we wait them out for a little while, we should be good to go. Besides, if I were a pair of people who were recently attacked, I would be expecting a follow-up immediately after the assault. Think as if this was a war, Ken. Because it is," Darlene noted as Kennedy nodded.
He understood what Darlene was getting at. But still, it was a little strange to have to wait. The violent part of his brain just wanted to go now and have it be done with. But the more rational side of his brain—the side that allowed him to think properly, and the side that had been slowly beginning to drown out due to the lack of his bipolar meds—told him to listen to Darlene.
"Alright, we'll wait. But only for two days. The distance between bases is already a day apart, but as a group, we can make it in less than a day. The center of the forest is 12 hours away with directions, but because this forest is a maze, they should be at the search for a little while longer," Kennedy said, before turning to face Emelia. "I hope you don't mind, but we're probably going to leave Amber to die. That good with you? If not, I can send Lucas to go fetch her," Kennedy said as Emelia shrugged.
"She's a bratty cunt, I don't care what happens to her. The sooner she's dead, the better," Emelia said as Kennedy nodded.
"Well, that's less skin off my back," Kennedy noted before glaring in the direction of his bases entrance. There wasn't much to do other than wait, and it was that tension that was slowly killing him. He wondered if Ms. Galiger was regretting her decision to send him, Stanley, and Darlene to this place?
"Whatever, it doesn't matter now…." Kennedy thought, watching as everyone else faded into the background, going about their day as usual. Kennedy, on the other hand, stood on the walkway between the rest of the forest and the base.
Confliction was something that Kennedy dealt with more often than not, constantly arguing with his inner voice to maintain sanity. Constantly switching moods and becoming erratic. Constantly having to worry about if he did something someone said he did. It was something that he found extremely frustrating.
It was as if he wasn't in control of his own life.
What made things worse was that the longer he was away from his bipolar medication, the worse it was going to get. He knew it, and he was pretty sure Darlene knew it, too. More than likely, he would be sane for only a little over a week after today, and after that, unless he somehow figured out how to reset his brain, then he would quickly unravel.
He shuddered at the prospect.
He didn't want to lose himself.
If that happened….
"This needs to end, and soon…." Kennedy thought, rubbing uncomfortably at his right arm as he stared up at the sky.
The fifth day was coming to an end, and with it, the death of four people.
[XXXX]
"Can't you just leave me alone for one day!?"
"No… I don't think I want to. In fact…"
"H-Huh? What are you—"
"I've already taken everything from you… Your happiness, your chance at a normal social life… Everything that would give you peace of mind. All except for one thing."
"What…? H-Hey…! Stop! Get back! Stay away!"
"I won't be satisfied until you lose everything. And by everything, I mean it. Jospehine? Chloe? Hold her still, please. I don't want her to be able to leave. Not until I'm finished."
"S-Stay back! Stay—Ah! Let go of me! Let go! Stop! Please! No! Stop! What are you doing?! Keep that thing away from me! Stop it! Stop! I SAID STOP!"
Luz woke up in a cold sweat, her body shivering as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her hands shook, and her breathing was ragged. The stars in the sky and the light of the moon was barely enough to keep the forest lit so that she could see her nearest surroundings. They had stopped in a dense thicket in the woods, a perfect spot to set up a small camp.
There was a tiny campfire that had long since gone out. Stanley was leaning against a tree, his head tilted to the side with his arms crossed. Light snores escaped his lips, indicating that he was fast asleep.
Over to his left, tied to a tree courtesy of Luz's vines, was Amber. She was still unconscious—or comatose, either or. Regardless she was still alive. Luz stared in Amber's general direction, her vision still hazy as she shakily wrapped her arms around herself, before looking down at the ground.
Why now?
Why was she remembering all of this stuff now?
Luz didn't know where these memories were coming from. She knew they were hers—obviously, she was in them. But she didn't know why they were all coming back now. She had already dealt with them, so why would they come back to haunt her?
That memory in particular…
"Why… Why is this happening to me…?" Luz thought, and she immediately turned to blame Shigaraki. But then, how could it be his fault? He was just a spirit stuck in her mind, secluded to one particular section without access to her memories aside from viewing them.
Was that what was causing this?
No… That wouldn't make any sense. Then again, her life hadn't made sense for the last few years. Everything was normal up until Papa had died, after that? It was as if the universe decided to punish her. For what? Luz didn't know. What she did know, though, was that Amber couldn't hurt her anymore.
Not unless she wanted to die.
"Luz? You good over there?" A voice, Stanley's, groggily called out. Luz looked over to Stanley, who was wiping at his eyes, flicking his wrist at the ground once he finished. Sitting upright, Stanley blinked, clearing his throat. "I heard you crying."
"Crying?" Luz thought, reaching up to her eyes, only to feel that her cheeks were wet. "Oh… hehe, sorry…"
"What's wrong?" Stanley asked as Luz frowned, looking away.
"Don't wanna talk about it…"
"That bad, huh?"
Luz nodded, as Stanley looked over to Amber, jabbing a thumb at her. "That the girl you wanted to "finish business" with?" Once again, Luz nodded. "Why?"
And wasn't that the question of all time? Luz chuckled mirthlessly, despondent. "Because she's the reason I'm even here."
"Whaddya mean?" Stanley asked, raising an eyebrow as he did. "Thought you said your Mom sent you here."
"Yeah, well, it's because of something I did, and it revolves around Amber," Luz spat, glaring at Amber's unconscious form. "She tormented me all throughout my first year at High School."
"Lemme guess, when you fought back, everyone else snapped at you, right? Treated you different because of what ya did?" Stanley said as Luz scoffed.
"That's putting it lightly," Luz mumbled, sighing. "Although… Maybe I… Overreacted."
"Depends. What'd she do?"
Luz paused. Talking about what Amber did to her made her feel sick. There were just certain things you didn't say to others. She didn't want to tell Stanley. She really didn't.
"She did a lot of things… she beat me, mocked me, and…. And she assaulted me in one of the bathroom stalls."
So, when it all came spilling out of her mouth, to say she was mortified was an understatement. Blinking, she looked over to Stanley, who stared at Luz, mouth slightly agape. "When you say… assaulted… do you mean…?" The question was left ambigeous, but Luz knew exactly what he was implying. All she did was nod, and that caused Stanley to immediately jump into action. He stood up, walked over to Amber, grabbed her by the hair, and slammed her face into the ground. Amber shouted, waking up instantly, as Stanley threw her against one of the trees.
Luz was shocked. She didn't say a word or move from her spot. She just stared as Stanley lifted Amber up by the back of her shirt collar. "W-What the—"
"You think it's funny to rape people, do ya?" Stanley said, snarling, as Amber squeaked in shock.
"H-hu—"
"Don't say a fuckin' word," Stanley snarled, dropping her to the ground as Amber tried to scramble away, only to fail as she struggled against the vines. "You people make me sick. You disgusting, filthy, animal. You're not even human. You don't deserve to die like one, either." Stanley spat, looking over to Luz. "You wanna do the honours?"
"W-Wait! P-please! W-We can talk about this, right?" Amber pleaded as Luz stared at her. Nothing but loathing gleamed in her eyes, her expression twisting into a sneer.
"This again?" Luz thought dryly, sighing. She did say she wanted to finish the job. There was no place better than here, was there. For all its deplorable garbage, this was probably the only upside.
"Nope," Luz replied almost instantly. Amber paled, her eyes widening as Luz stood up. Flames danced around Luz's left arm, surging like a heat wave as Luz calmly walked over to Amber. "And once I'm done with you, I won't have to ever think about you again. You won't be able to torment me, and I can sleep peacefully at night knowing that you're gone."
"N-No! P-Please! I-I—"
"Such pathetic nonsense," Luz interrupted, her eyes flashing red as she blasted down an explosion of fire point blank into Amber's face. The result of which nearly made Stanley flinch. Had it not been for what Luz had told him about Amber and what she had done, Stanley might've felt bad.
But no….
There were just some things you didn't do, and that was one of them.
The smouldering corpses of Amber languished under Luz, as she stared. When she thought about killing Amber, she thought she would've felt something. Happiness, contentment, or perhaps even vindication.
Except, she felt nothing.
She felt hollow. Devoid of feeling.
It unnerved her slightly. To feel nothing after taking a life… Even when she killed Cody, at least she felt rage. But here? Having ruthlessly, coldly, and systematically ended the life of the one person who put her in this place to begin with, all she could feel was nothing.
"Is it normal… to feel nothing after taking a life?" Luz asked as Stanley blinked.
"Uh… no, I don't think so. I mean… That kinda sounds like something a pyschopath would say, kid," Stanley said bluntly as Luz looked down at her hand, embers clinging to her palm as they fizzled away.
"A pyschopath, eh?" Was she a pyschopath? Maybe. It would explain a lot of things. Whatever the case was, this wasn't normal. At least the thought of taking another life still made her feel weird—uncomfortable, even. Amber was a special case, though. She deserved it. Cody was killed because she had no real choice, although she probably could've left him alive after taking Pyrokinesis, seeing as he wasn't much of a threat….
But, then again, all that would do was cause her problems in the future. That, and Cody saw no regard for her friends. Even laughed at the idea of them dying.
So, yeah, he deserved it, too.
As a matter of fact, they all did.
They all would deserve their own deaths eventually. Not to say she would actively hunt them down—that would go against her moral compass. She didn't want to infringe on that. Not unless she had to.
"Let's get some rest," Luz said, looking back over to Stanley. "We have to find that air package soon. Better to be rested than to be sorry about it later, right?"
"Yeah," Stanley said, looking over at Amber's remains. "What… are we going to do about that?"
"Leave it here. I don't want to touch it. It might give me some kind of disease. Corpses carry a lot of bacteria, and touching one with your bare hands can get you sick," Luz stated, kicking the corpse as it tumbled over to its side. "Just try not to look at it."
And while Luz's sudden shift in behaviour bothered Stanley, he didn't say anything. He nodded along and watched as Luz sat back down against one of the trees, and immediately nodded off.
If Stanley hadn't known better, it was almost like, in that moment, Luz had been possessed.
"Whatever, doesn't matter," Stanley thought. "Besides, possession isn't a real thing, superpowers are one thing, but ghosts? Nah…" As Stanley thought that, he sat down against the opposite tree adjacent from Luz, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
Tomorrow was another day.
[XXXX]
[The Next Day]
It was peaceful. Too peaceful as far as Julia was concerned. And it was in that peacefulness that she felt a wave of paranoia wash over her. It had been a day since the scouting party had left the base. A day since that loud explosion echoed throughout the forest. A day before Luz and the others were safe with them.
Obviously, a fight had broken out. She knew that Luz would be fine—after all, why would she need to worry about someone like Luz? She had the power to take someone else's powers. That explosion was probably caused by Luz taking someone's power and using it. Right?
Even so, that didn't change the fact that she was still extremely nervous about what was potentially happening out there. What if that wasn't the case? What if Luz was gravelly injured? Or worse? What if she was—
"No… don't think like that. Luz will be okay. She has to be…" Julia thought, frowning. She would be fine. After all, she put her faith in Luz. And when she put her faith in someone, only good could come from it—one of the only good things her father taught her. That being said, she couldn't wait for Luz to come back. Everyone was getting a little restless. They all heard the explosion too, and Johnny along with Theodore were worried sick about Arla.
Ronny was also concerned about Judy and Stanley, but most of everyone there was worried about Arla. She was the youngest, after all. Everyone had faith in Luz to be alright. Which, honestly? Made sense. That still didn't mean that she couldn't be worried.
That anger she displayed against Judy… she could tell it was only a fraction of a pent-up rage that had been building up inside; and that rage ran deep. It almost felt generational, as if her rage made up for at least two or more people's worth. Whatever could've happened to cause someone as seemingly sweet and innocent as Luz to have that much hatred aimed at someone was something she didn't want to know about.
Whatever the reason was, though, she just hoped that Luz was okay, mentally and physically. Her worry, as obvious as it was, also gave way to something else. Concern—not because of the worry but because of something else. It had to do with Luz's anger. This whole situation was bringing out the worst in everyone, Luz included.
Julia feared that Luz would lose herself out there. Being made to kill… it didn't exactly inspire any good feelings to come with it. While Julia herself had never shed blood of others, The Wittebane Family were known for their… less than stellar acts against those it perceived as enemies.
In the past, they had done whole lynching's. Something that Julia was repulsed by. Doubly so when a lot of those lynching's happened to be darker skin folk like Luz. Julia knew her families history was substantially different than most, what with it being tied with a lot of blood money and dirty money, Mob affiliations and other heinous things.
Knowing half of what she did, she was ashamed to be called a Wittebane. But the small shred of good that existed in her family kept her from being completely disgusted by it.
Which was exactly why she was worried about Luz, and her slow decline. And with Luz not here… Without her friends to monitor her—because only God knows what could've happened after that explosion—she had no idea if she had anyone with her to keep her in check. Julia hoped for the best, though.
Still, even with that in mind, there was another thing that was bothering Julia, separate from the whole "Luz's mental decline" issue. Call it a sixth sense, but she felt as if something bad was going to happen. No, worse than bad. Something downright horrible. She didn't know why she felt that way. She just did. Like an oncoming calamity was going to rock them like nothing ever before.
It was understandable, too. Considering nothing had happened, aside from that explosion, for the last week and some change, it only made sense that something was bound to happen. What that something was, though, she didn't know, and that was what frightened her. She was always known for having potent gut instincts. Back when she was still going to school, that same gut instinct got her out of a lot of trouble. And now, it was telling her to start running.
A part of her wanted to ignore that gut instinct, but she knew, deep down, that listening to it was the correct choice. Julia looked up at the sky, the sun beginning to rise off in the distance. Everyone else had gotten up earlier than normal. Stress was starting to get to everyone, and the rations that their kidnappers had given them from the beginning of the week were starting to disappear.
They needed that care package, and they needed it sooner rather than later.
Leaning against the wall of the girl's cabin, Julia looked out across the front of the base. Carla was grooming herself, Ronny and Theodore were boxing, Johnny and Marcone were looking out past the wall, and Jean was sitting at the campfire, seemingly lost in thought.
Which left Julia, who was pretty much acting as a supervisor. Now, it wasn't that Julia didn't mind being a supervisor, but it did make her feel useless. She had nothing to do, especially considering she had wiped down both cabins with a spare cloth that was found in the rations crate that they started with, along with a bottle of spray cleaner.
Needless to say, it wasn't a fun five hours yesterday. But, at least everything was clean. The less she talked about the putrid smell in the boy's cabin, the better. But, at least it was no longer putrid. It was still a bit stinky, but that was just a natural man smell. Body Order and the like. There was nothing she could do about that.
Overall, things had been going pretty well. And while she was bored and people were more than a little antsy, at least things couldn't get any worse, right?
Oh, who was she kidding?
"Huh, what's that?" Johnny said, catching Julia's attention. She looked over to where he was standing. He was leaning forward, a hand raised over his forehead to block out the daylight to look at what was in front of him.
In a world full of superpowers, and those who would seek to use them as weapons…
"Johnny? What's going—" Julia wasn't able to finish her sentence, when, without warning, an icicle burst through the center of Johnny's chest, leaving a large, gaping hole in its stead as the icicle exploded into fragments.
Things could always get worse.
Julia stared with horror painted over her expression. Johnny's body fell from the spot on the wall, before hitting the ground with a sick thud. Carla lunged over to Johnny's body, horror on her face as the realization that they were being attacked, in their own base, dawned on everyone.
"Shit!" Marcone spat, going to pull something out of his pocket, but not before he found himself blasted by a beam of what looked like plasma. When he fell, his body seemingly disintegrated, as if what had hit him was unwinding his cellular structure. Not even his clothes were safe when he touched the ground.
Ronny stood up, as did Jean, and they got in front of Julia faster than she could blink. Carla scratched herself, transforming into a panther, feline eyes narrowed as Julia pressed herself against the cabin wall. In the next moment, a tapping sound echoed from the draw bridge. And when it did, the whole thing blew apart into tiny fragments.
Carla, in her panther form, lunged toward whoever first walked through the door, and Julia was the first to recognize Kennedy. Her eyes widened, betrayal written all over her face as Carla went to swipe at him. Kennedy, without so much as a care in the world, swiped Carla on the snout. And when he did that, her face blew up in a splatter of blood, gore, bones and grey matter.
Ronny was the next one to die. He charged forward, cocking his fist back to punch Kennedy in the face. Julia knew that he was going to die based on how Kennedy smirked. But, it wasn't him to do the finished blow. Ronny was wrapped up in string, and cut into tiny pieces not even a moment later, falling apart at the seams.
The person responsible for that was a boy with grey hair and green thick-framed glasses, steely cold blue eyes filled with zero emotion was the expression on his face. A stone cold sociopath, with zero positive intentions. The lack of emotion after murdering another fellow human being… it looked like something ripped straight out of a horror movie.
"You piece of shit!" Theodore roared, charging toward the boy who manipulated string, his arms transforming into two broadswords. Before he could make the distance between himself and his target, a redhaired, pale-skinned girl jumped out from behind Kennedy and String Boy, and extended her hand toward Theodore, before large, thin, jutting blades came out of her fingers and impaled him through his neck, chest, and between his eyes.
It stopped Theodore in his tracks, killing him instantly as he crumpled to the ground. That just left Jean and her, and the last thing that she wanted to do was die. So, in an act that she would grow to regret, she shoved Jean forward, pushing him toward the now crowd of 18 pouring into the base, Julia ran, hot-footing it away from the building group….
Only to be stopped when she felt someone grab the back of her neck. "Nuh, uh, uh! You're not going anywhere!" The voice belonged to someone who she knew was enjoying what they were doing. "Uh? Oh, you don't have a power? I take it the parasite took it from you? How unlucky." When she looked over her shoulder, she was met with a pair of brown eyes, short black hair, and pale skin.
"L-Let me go!" Julia begged as she saw in the distance that someone leapt over the wall, landing on Jean, who had been fighting the girl with extending fingers. When they landed on him, he was flattened, his head crushed under what looked like a boot.
"Aw? Now why would I do that? The parties just getting started. You know what they say, they can't have a party without something to eat," the boy said, as Julia's eyes widened. Was he saying he was going to eat her?
"H-Huh—"
She wasn't allowed to finish her sentence before she was forced to the ground. She had no idea what was going to happen, but it didn't look good. Maybe she was a bit naïve to assume she could've escaped, but she had to try, damnit. She kicked him in the chest, but it seemingly did nothing.
When he licked his lips, dread sunk in. "Oh no…! I'm going to die!" As she thought that, he opened his mouth to say something. "I'm gonna enjoy—"
"The fuck do you think you're doing?" Kennedy's voice was the last thing she wanted to be hearing right now. The boy scowled, looking up at Kennedy, who loomed over them both.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to have some fun here! Give me a break, Boss," the boy said as Kennedy narrowed his eyes.
"Fun, huh? And what exactly was your idea of fun?" Kennedy demanded. Julia remained silent. Maybe, if she just faked being dead, she'd be left alone. That was her only shot at surviving this, at least, she thought so anyway.
"What do you think? I was going to—"
The boy didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before having his upper body, save for his head, popped like a zit, his lower body slumping to the ground as Julia felt the boy's blood splash all over her white summer dress. "Disgusting. I can't believe I didn't kill him sooner.
Julia had no idea what either the boy or Kennedy had been talking about, but it was enough to disgust Kennedy. Frankly, Julia didn't care about that. She cared about surviving this, and so, she feigned being dead.
At least, she tried to.
"I know you're alive, Julia. Turn and face me," Kennedy said as Julia froze in her place on the ground. Slowly, she turned to face Kennedy, who was flanked by the girl with spear fingers and the string boy. "You seem to be having a bad day."
"Fuck you," Julia spat, glaring up at him as Kennedy sighed.
"Aw, that's cute. I just saved you from being raped and that's how you thank me? How lovely," Kennedy said as Julia flinched. Was that what the boy had meant when he was going to…. The realization twisted her expression into one of fear and disgust. "See? Now she gets it!"
"Tell us where Luz Noceda is. The Governor wants her dead," the boy with the string power demanded as Julia shook her head, sneering at them. Saved her from that or not, she didn't owe them anything. Besides, it wasn't like she actually knew where Luz went. She just knew that she went to get the care package.
"Even if I knew where she was, I would never tell you!" Julia spat back, glaring up at the three. Kennedy shook his head, disappointed.
"Come now, Julia. At least try and be honest. A lot of people are wagering on your friends death. You don't have to lie," Kennedy said, his voice smooth, his tone calm, and his eyes reflecting honesty.
Did the Governor kidnap their parents, too?
"See? You realize it, too, don't you?" Kennedy said, kneeling down to look Julia in the eyes. "So, let's try this again. Where is Luz Noceda."
"What part of "I don't know" did you not understand," Julia spat, glaring at Kennedy. "And even if I did know, like I said, I wouldn't tell you a thing!"
"So, you'd be willing to let our parents die?"
"Our parents could get shot tonight, and I wouldn't blink. They left us to die here, so it's only fair they got to face the same fate," Julia growled as Kennedy chuckled.
"You wouldn't be wrong about that…" As Kennedy said that, he clenched his hand into a fist, before glancing over his shoulder, back at the massive group of people, who were ransacking their base. "Honestly, I'm only doing this because I have no other choice. Unlike everyone else, I don't particularly like this. But, then again, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions."
Kennedy's eyes gleamed with a venomous glare, his eyes narrowing. "I don't want to kill you, Julia. Don't make me do it."
"You're not getting a thing out of me."
Kennedy sighed, "Very well." Kennedy raised his right hand, aiming to slap Julia. Julia braced herself, her heart racing a mile per second.
And the next thing that Julia knew, the world turned black.