Unbeknownst to Olivia, but very known to Oliver, they were in the medical ward. More specifically the place where they kept all the anesthesia. He let out just enough for Olivia to feel groggy, but not enough to knock her out. If he did leave her unconscious, she'd fall victim to the continuously collapsing structure. And this way, he could help when out of the building with little resistance. At least that's what he hoped to happen. However being the loose cannon that Olivia is, she took her blade, then stabbed herself. The pain was dulled of course, but it was just enough to jolt her back awake.
"What are you, some kind of video game character?!" Oliver thought to himself, extremely frustrated that his plan failed.
Although, maybe his plan did work. As Oliver had expected, Olivia went straight for another attack, however he didn't expect such sloppiness. Her attacks were much less refined, and much less strong too. Before, she had a strange sense of calmness in her attacks due to using her anger as a focus, but this time, all her thoughts were jumbled together.
"Damnit... Can't... Think... Wait did I forget something...?" Olivia said out loud.
It was clear she wasn't in the right mind to fight, but somehow she still did it anyway. As if her survival instincts were completely replaced with the thirst of revenge. This was a terrifying fact, but even still, she was in no way capable of fighting at full strength. With a quick dash, and light chop to the neck, Oliver put her to sleep.
Gently putting her down for a while, a sudden sense of paranoia overcame Oliver. He quickly checked Olivia's pulse, and was relieved to find she was still breathing.
"Thank goodness... I really thought I broke her neck or something... Now I just gotta get out of here, then drop Olivia off somewhere safe" Oliver thought to himself, picking Olivia up.
Turning around, he saw a tinted glass window in the distance.
"Right... The anesthesia room is near the garden..." Then a stupid thought crossed Oliver's mind.
Yes, a stupid thought. A thought that no intelligent, nor sane human being would think off. A reckless, stupid, flashy, awesome, incredible thought that would look so cool if it worked out!
As fast as he could he began running towards the stained glass. Like a little kid ready to jump into a ball pit, Oliver was ready to crash into the glass, and make a dramatic exit. Holding Olivia tight and using his scarf as protection, Oliver broke through the tinted glass window. Shards of beautifully coloured glass brushed off of him like water running off a rising swimmer. If he weren't wearing the suit, he'd probably be littered with cuts. However, with the soft glow of the moon enveloping him and reflecting off the falling glass, he couldn't help but feel amazing.
However happiness only lasts momentarily.
"Let her go..."
Suddenly, Oliver could feel a piercing pain where the left side of his stomach should be. Like a bird whose wings were broken by a careless child's rock, Oliver crashed down into the gazebo located in the center of the garden. He managed to cushion the landing for Olivia, leaving her with no more than just a few minor injuries. However his body, was practically broken. Half his stomach was torn to shreds, his bones were in places they shouldn't be, and all his organs were being ruptured by his own bones. He writhed in pain, screaming obscenities and gibberish to try and ignore the pain.
"Why won't it heal?! Why won't it fucking heal!" Oliver shouted.
"You're wondering why huh?" The same voice from earlier said.
As they got closer, Oliver could recognise his attacker as Ren. He tried to move away, but Ren stabbed his hand using his attachment unit. The screams of pain Oliver made rung out through the entire garden. The Investigators who were ordered to surround the gazebo cringed at such a sound. It was both pitiful and disgusting.
"Rank A attachment unit, Peine. Its attribute is to slow down the Fester regeneration process to a halt..." Ren said, digging the tip of the spear deeper into his hand.
Oliver screamed even louder, this time making him lose his voice. As Ren continued to torture Oliver, the other operators took Olivia away for urgent care. The constant squirming from Oliver made Ren sick.
"Stop moving... Just accept your fate" Ren said, stabbing Oliver in the back.
The pain was excruciating, and Oliver was barely clinging onto life. Just barely.... Which made it even more painful. If he could die, he'd avoid having to feel such pain. Why couldn't he die? It hurt too much! "Please just let me die! Let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die die die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die lemme die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me diele me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me dielet me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me died let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die let me die" Oliver repeated over and over again with such pain in his voice.
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The agony in each word he spoke, caused Ren to hesitate. He started to question himself. Why did he feel pity for a Fester. For all he knew, this Fester had taken many lives, yet he still felt horrible. Why? It's a disgusting creature. It should perish!
Whilst Ren was distracted, Oliver’s mind slowly began waning. The pain made everything go white. Everything disappeared. The only thing he could see... No feel... Was himself. As if nobody else existed in the world. It was only him, and the pain. All he wanted was to stop the agony he was experiencing. He wanted to just make it go away, to run away from it.
"In that case, I wanna be a bird... because I want to be able to fly anywhere I want, with not even the world being able to hold me down..."
"Ah that's right... I really just want wings... That way... I can fly away from everything... I'm... Such a coward" Oliver thought to himself, a new type of pain taking over him. A pain of shame... And sharpness.
Oliver's scarf disappeared, and in its place, a wing protruded out from his left shoulder. Despite the appendage looking like a bird's wing, it acted more like a tendril. It writhed and squirmed around before slicing anything that got too close to Oliver. Ren was able to block a few of the slashes, but the recoil from each hit caused him to break two of his fingers. Ren took a step back before turning to an investigator.
"Call any AR tier or higher Investigator... This isn't a hyper class fester... This is a disaster level one" Ren said.
The cadet nodded, making their way out of the garden as fast as possible. Ren tightened his grip before getting into a defensive position.
"No matter how pitiful it is... This creature is still a Fester. We must eliminate it no matter what. That is what Investigators were made for. Remember... Remember that day... You will not let that happen again..." Ren thought to himself. This was his way of motivating himself, as he knew that a battle with such a high ranking Fester, is suicide.
As he was ready to attack, Oliver did something unexpected. The feathers that made up the wings shot at Ren like bullets. Ren cut down any feathers shot at him using his spear, but he knew it was only a distraction. Once the bombardment had stopped, Oliver was gone. All that was left was a trail of blood. Ren crouched down to examine the blood, realising the colour was red.
"A fester with red blood? Usually it's green or purple… Unless... That... Wasn't a fester..." Ren thought to himself.
Before he could continue his thought, he received a message from Sieg.
"Yeah I'm on my way... Is the guy still there?" Sieg asked.
"I apologize... However, it ran away" Ren responded.
Hearing the wavering tone in Ren's voice, Sieg paused for a moment before reassuring Ren.
"No it's fine! You did your best!" Sieg said, trying to sound supportive.
"Huh? Um... Thanks... Where did this come from?" Ren asked, a bit confused.
"Well you sound a bit disappointed, so I thought that would cheer you up..." Sieg said, a bit embarrassed.
Ren sighed, before pausing for a bit.
"What... What if a human could turn into a Fester?" Ren asked.
"That's completely impossible. Human and Fester biology are extremely different. That's like asking if a cat could turn into a dog. Now if you meant if a human could borrow a Fester's powers then... Well I'm sure you already know the answer" Sieg responded.
After taking a few moments to think carefully about his next few words, Ren took a deep breath before speaking.
"What would we do to said human...?" Ren asked, a lump forming in his throat.
"Well, if they're borrowed power is merely summoning or copying a fester’s innate technique, we would count them as contract holders. Although… if they're able to transform using their power... the course of action would be Annihilation, Testing or Entrapment... Whatever the higher ups deem necessary. That is their F.A.T.E"
Somewhere in the city, Oliver limped through the cold. It was pure luck that tonight was a snowy night, which meant most people were cooped up in their homes. Despite the luck, he didn't really know where to go. He couldn't go home, too many people would see. He couldn't go to school, it was closed already. Any stores would definitely report him as a Fester, that option was crossed out. For the first time in his life, he truly felt like he didn't have a place in the world... He was truly alone. He wanted to cry, but he was scared the cold would freeze the tears. All he could do was walk. Walk until he could find a place. One place... Just one place.
Oliver collapsed in an alleyway. His injuries and the cold weather had gotten to him. He crawled up to a wall, positioning his body against it. He couldn't do anything anymore. All his energy had been spent. He leaned his head against the wall as he looked up at the moon that was now framed by snow. He thought that if he were to die; dying in an alleyway while looking at the moon... Wasn't that bad. As his eyelids became heavy, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him. Lowering his head to see who it was, Oliver saw his aunt holding an umbrella. He laughed a bit, finding the situation a bit funny.
"Ah I got caught right before dying... My luck really is the worst..." Oliver said out loud, not even caring that she was there.
His aunt took a good look at Oliver before grabbing the belt on his waist. She ripped it off of him, causing the suit to fade away into feathers.
"What did I say about sleeping in alleyways?" She asked, smiling softly.
Oliver laughed, before passing out.
"Good night, you deserve it"