Another day full of corpses and death. That has become her new status quo as of late, go someplace where many of the Kingdom live and bring unto them death. They don’t really kill that much, the three of them, if she were being honest, just the few scraps Jason leaves for them or doesn’t much care to kill himself. They kill perhaps a few dozen between them compared to Jason's hundreds. She wonders how good their information is, how many of the people in these apartments are well and truly part of the Kingdom. Not all of them wore robes, or purple. They die anyway.
As Alex slides her blade across some grunts' neck she contemplates what exactly it is she’s becoming. She wants to be a Scar that fights the hard fights, not whatever this is. Sure, without Jason this task would be impossible but it feels so wrong to have such a monster be here in the first place. Like throwing a babe in an enclosure of tigers, striped and clawed and violent.
She stabs another through the heart, weaving through the lethal bullets with her magic and impaling him like the kebabs she likes so much from Fadi. Fuck she misses Fadi. She misses her routine in Lost Hope, it was simple, structured, and didn’t require deep contemplation.
She’s pretty sure she’s evil now, if morality were a scale you could measure.
She doesn’t know how to feel about that.
She cuts off a woman's hands before blasting off her head.
There is just so much blood, Anya would have an aneurism if she saw the state of her clothes. They were her recommendation after all, the delivery job needed her to be out of gang colors, for anonymity and all that. When she called Anya saying she needed help picking clothes the girl was absolutely ecstatic, it was kinda cute, and the sleeveless jean jacket along with the white crop top and brown cargo pants actually fit her style pretty nicely. Now Alex laments that they went with white for the shirt. She doesn’t think any amount of rounds through the washing machine could fix what has become of it now.
A man tries to point a shotgun at her, but she pushes it aside with the flat of her blade before driving it through his skull.
When did she get so strong? She wonders, one handing a katana shouldn’t be this easy without enhancements. Nor should her instincts be so sharp, even with magical help. Did her little escapade in the warehouse cause this? Her body feels different than before, more and less sensitive. Less in the sense that fewer things can trigger a reaction, and more in that those that do are amplified. She assumed that would go away with time, but what if it doesn’t, what if whatever it was she did changed her in a way that’s permanent?
She exchanges a few blows with a man with a bat before cutting into his thigh, causing him to stumble, and opening him up for a deep gash across his torso.
Then she gets shot in the boob.
It doesn’t really do much of anything as Alex charges to her next target.
-
They settle into an abandoned home, bleeding and tired. Just because the apartments aren’t really a challenge doesn’t mean they don’t take injuries, she’s the worst among her friends, practically a mummy with multiple bullet wounds in her arms. Legs, chest, and a few marks on her head. Because she takes the most risks, hoping that it’ll ease the pressure on her friends who don’t have a magic danger sense in their head. It’s mostly successful, she doesn’t think she can maintain it for much longer.
“We need to stop,” Sasha voices for them, “maybe you can do this on the daily but we need something called rest.”
Jason stares at her for a moment then scratches his chin “huh” he says, “I hadn’t thought of that.”
The three of them look dumbfounded at the Scar.
“Oh don’t look at me like that, you don’t get to where I am with brains,” he says, then rubs his chin in contemplation and nods to himself, “Alright, you three can stay here for a week or two and get your beauty sleep, should be enough food stocked in there to last that long.”
“And what are you going to do?” Aki asks.
The Scar has a big and bright smile on his face “I’m gonna cut loose.”
-
It was gloomy for the first few days, the three of them having time to really think about what they’ve done. That gloom however, couldn’t deter Sasha who swiftly tried to brighten everyone's spirits.
“We’re gonna play Tic Tac Toe.” She declares to the confusion of both Alex and Aki. Alex spreads out her hands to point out the distinct lack of chalk “fucking how?” she asks. Sasha smiles brightly and takes out a graffiti pen from her back pocket. Alex and Aki’s confusion reaches critical mass.
“Where did you get that?” Aki asks.
“The bunker!” She says brightly.
“That old geezer had a graffiti pen in his bunker?” Alex asks
“Yup!”
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“Fucking why? Was he planning on practicing his art skills come the apocalypse?”
“I don’t pretend to know how our geriatric population thinks, who knows, maybe he wanted to relive his youth.”
Alex blinks.
“And you want us to play Tic Tac Toe?”
Sasha nods, “It’s better than moping.”
Alex and Aki look at each other, they both shrug.
-
Playing random ass games with the graffiti pen did actually manage to lift their spirits a bit, if only marginally. It doesn’t help for when she’s trying to sleep, but she’ll take what she can get. Now she’s practicing her magic again, with the image of flicking the pen in her mind she sets her soul to the task. It’s easier with a clearer image and intent, letting her flick the pen five times before she has to stop. She’s tried to teach her friends, but, well…
“Are you making us just stare at a pen for laughs?” Aki asks.
Alex gives an affronted look “I would never! Okay, maybe I would, but I'm not right now.”
“I’m not sure I trust that” Sasha says with her arms crossed.
“C’mon guys! Why would I even do that?”
“To keep the fancy wizard shit to yourself” Sasha replies and Aki nods along.
Alex is genuinely offended, but realize their just fucking with her once they burst out into laughter.
-
There was something wrong.
It’s a feeling, but it aches, she’s not getting directions or any hints, just that something isn’t right. Alex turns to the bedroom door. She sees a person.
Hello, says the woman missing a quarter of her head, remember me?
Alex gets up slowly and nods.
The woman smiles something thin and brittle.
Good. Don’t ever forget.
-
“That’s the third time,” Aki says while looking through the window.
Sasha’s checking her Raptor and the few other guns they brought back from the apartments. Alex keeps walking in circles.
“If they aren’t going to fuck us directly, they’re calling in backup” Sasha says “We need to deal with them and leave.”
Alex picks up her Tengu.
“There they are,” Aki points.
Sasha, bless her heart, shoots the driver in the head, killing him instantly. Aki starts blasting the car with his Ramus until he needs to reload. No one gets out of the car.
Aki lets out a breath “We are so lucky they didn’t have bionics.”
-
They couldn’t exactly stay in the abandoned house after they shish-kabobed some Kingdom grunts, their location was probably already leaked, and they aren’t near the border. Any gunfire behind enemy lines would be like honey to bees. But they didn’t have a way to get out of there quickly.
Except, of course, the car they just shot to hell.
Turns out it’s a pretty sturdy car, now just to hope no one gets suspicious of all the bullet holes. It’s a war after all! Two in fact, There’s nothing to see here.
Aki drove them to an actual safehouse, with food, bedding, and a blessed shower. Only there are two caveats. One, they’re deeper in Kingdom territory. Two, it's a house owned by an young couple, who they can’t really trust that they won’t to sell them out.
They aren’t gonna kill them though so trust it is.
Aki had to drive a few blocks to drop off the car before walking back.
They texted Jason where they were then went to sleep.
-
The next day they’re all sitting around the kitchen table, Jerome and Samantha are out for work, both working at SadMine. They didn’t have any stakes to the game, mostly because Sasha would bleed them dry, so instead they’re just playing for the fun of it. It’s a nice way to pass the time.
Then the doorbell rings. They all look but none move, no reason to answer, they aren’t supposed to be here after all, and announcing their presence would be suicide. They go back to their cards but the doorbell rings again, Sasha seems annoyed by the distraction while Aki seems…worried? Why would he be-
Oh.
Oh no.
Just as the thought crosses her mind she sees the door break open from the kitchen, and a veritable giant walks into the house alongside a woman Alex recognizes, one with purple hair.
“Children?” the giant rumbles.
-
Even if it wasn’t for the golden embroidery on his purple robes, or the bronze band around his head, Alex would know who this is. Lost Hope teaches the basics of each gang's hierarchy, power structure, and in this case, elites. The Dragons use Scars, the Wolves have their Fangs, The House uses Segadors and Segadoras, and the Bastion of Truth has their Machines. The curious thing about the Kingdom is that their elite fighters and their decision makers sometimes overlap.
This is one of those cases.
Alex sends a prayer to the flesh abomination as the giant ducks into the kitchen.
She doesn’t think it’s a god, but it doesn’t hurt in the face of death.
“Where is the skeleton?” His voice is too deep to be natural, like the growl of a bear mixed with the engine of a truck, behind him the woman waves at Alex with a bright smile.
It’s silent for a bit.
“Who?” Alex asks perplexed.
The giant stares at her “The owners talked, and you were seen with him killing my people. I’d suggest against trying to protect him” he settles his hammer on his shoulder “Do you know who I am?”
Alex nods with the other two.
“Then you know I can be merciful” says the giant “and you also know I can be cruel.”
He cracks his neck, and the sound echoes through the house.
“Choose”
What follows is a long and deep silence.
He shrugs his hammer off and lets it hit the ground, it is a thing built to his proportions, making it ridiculously large. It is engraved with the story of this man’s title.
“Are you sure?”
He takes a step towards them.
Alex draws her Raison and shoots him in the face. It sounds…Kinda like a bee? A lot deeper though, and the recoils almost non-existent. It gives the giant a nice little bruise on his face.
He sighs,
“So be it”
Then he swings his hammer at Alex.