"Go to hell for abandoning me! You and your Lilith!" Serena declared as she posed with her arms out.
"Huh--"
BANG!
Nathan had no time to voice his confusion as the squad of soldiers unleashed an onslaught of bullets in their direction. The blank look on their faces changed as their eyebrows quickly furrowed with shock as the bullets soared toward their heads.
With quick reactions and reflexes, Nathan and Lilith bent their bodies and avoided the bullets at the last second before immediately darting off. Serena, who didn't immediately perceive their movements, watched them run with shock. They were already a far distance away.
"W-What? They're still alive?" Serena questioned. "I wanted to take them out for Ms. Ada, though..."
*
Although Serena succeeded in luring the duo to a specific alleyway, she was by no means the mastermind behind this. The true orchestrator was watching from a television in the comfort of a house several blocks away.
The television display synchronized with Serena's eye view, suggesting that Serena may have a hidden camera on her person.
"Tsk, of course, she failed at killing him," John remarked as he and Ada observed the television. "At least she put up a good act, I guess..."
"Heh, I knew she wasn't going to kill them. That wasn't the mission I had for her anyways," Ada replied as she munched on a bowl of grapes. "She just needed to lure them to this place, and she did it successfully."
"Yeah, that's true. I wouldn't allow a nobody like Serena Collins to kill them, too," John stated. "But she did make it easy to bring them here."
"Exactly. Nathan wouldn't have let his guard down and approach an area he doesn't know," Ada said. "For the minimal role Serena had, she played it well."
"Well, everything's set up, so I suppose it's my turn now," John remarked. "It's time for my long-awaited revenge."
"Yeah, make sure you bring Claw," Ada reminded. And so it begins. Ada pondered. Thanks, developer, for being such a team player, fufu.
*
Like deers narrowly escaping from a predator, the two ran at supersonic speeds without ceasing. This was the second time they'd been betrayed by Serena, and for seemingly no reason.
"W-What...what the hell...is going on," Nathan questioned as they ran. "D-Did Serena...plan this!?"
"Damn it! She is a snake! She couldn't settle for ruining your life, but now she wants to end it!" Lilith angrily remarked. "I can't believe she put up such an act just to do this again!"
"B...But why did she double-cross us this time?" Nathan wondered. "And did the goddamned developer know about this?"
"...We should have known the developer wouldn't have given us some normal mission, but it doesn't matter," Lilith replied. "If I see that bitch again, I'm going to kill--"
Although Nathan shared the same anger Lilith currently had, he had no time to listen. What caught the peripheral vision of Nathan's eye was a missile speeding through the air towards them.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"Watch out!" Nathan yelled as he quickly grabbed Lilith and hopped onto a building.
BOOM!
The rocket missed its desired target, but that never stopped it from causing destructive damage to civilian property after exploding. The cause was clear to the duo as they witnessed more military forces and armored vehicles closing in on them.
"Tsk, there's even more of them," Nathan remarked as they crouched over the building to observe the soldiers' movements. "How did she do all this...no...it doesn't matter. We gotta get outta here."
Nathan suddenly materialized Lilith's jet-black katana that was sheathed and handed it to her. This action visibly surprised Lilith.
"What? You're giving me this?" Lilith questioned. "So you're okay with me fighting?"
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to let you kill anyone. I won't let you get any more blood on your hands," Nathan declared. "But as you said, we can protect each other. So I will let you fight."
"Fufu, thank you," Lilith replied as she took her weapon.
"Alright, those soldiers are in the way...and they're trying to kill us," Nathan replied as he manifested two gas masks and handed one to Lilith. "Here, put this on."
The soldiers waited patiently, pointing their firearms at the top of the building. They desired for the duo to peek their heads out so they could squeeze the trigger of their artillery.
Their patience was rewarded as something did pop out from the top of the buildings, but it wasn't quite what they wanted. Instead of Nathan and Lilith, many gas canisters popped out of the building's roof.
These canisters soared toward the military forces with high velocity and carried a large cloud of smoke onto them.
"What!?" A soldier yelled as they watched the cloud descend onto them with shock. They attempted to run and drive their vehicles out of the large plume of smoke, but they had no chance.
Nathan followed up by jumping down with Lilith, manifesting a flamethrower from his spatial inventory and shooting a stream of flames into the smoky area.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" The ear-splitting shrieks of the soldiers were audible as the flames ate up the apparently flammable smoke, frying them in the process. Neither Nathan nor Lilith bothered to check on the status of those men as they immediately darted past the raging fire.
Well, they never needed to check, as roaring explosions were audible as the military vehicles caught in the flames were destroyed. Behind Nathan and Lilith were the carbonized corpses of soldiers scattered across the area by the destroyed vehicles' blasts.
"...Sigh, I didn't want us to stay in this area where we're being pursued by Serena, so I thought the best way was to kill them," Nathan remarked in a low tone. "Sorry...if it rubs you the wrong way."
"Come on, I've seen you kill plenty of soldiers. Why would I be angry now?" Lilith questioned. "I've made the stupid mistake of leaving you once...I'm not going to do that again. Plus, you're doing it to protect us."
"...The bastard developer hasn't said anything since he tricked us," Despite his face flushed with red, Nathan attempted to change the conversation. "I can't wait to see what he'll say about this...I swear I'm going to murder him!"
"To be honest, nothing he does surprises me anymore," Lilith replied. "I'm more angry at that woman for--"
BOOM!
It was as though they were magnets for rockets as one soared through the air and struck the ground they ran on. The duo reflexively shielded their faces, expecting an explosion, but were instead enshrouded by a massive plume of smoke.
"Ugh...smoke!?" Lilith uttered in shock.
"Tch, cough...what the hell!?" Nathan uttered as he narrowed his eyes due to the heavy smoke. "Quickly! Get out of--"
BAM!
Nathan felt a sharp pain at the side of his face before he was suddenly launched many meters away.
"Ugh!" Nathan grunted as he crashed into a convenience store a good distance away from his partner. He slowly pulled himself from the destroyed food isles he crashed into and began observing his surroundings.
A searing pain coursed through the side of his face as Nathan clenched it. The right side of his face had visible bruising.
"Ouch...what the hell. No, forget that," Nathan thought as he quickly darted through the shattered glass of the convenience store's entrance. "Where's Lilith--"
"Oi, you shouldn't let yourself get distracted," The voice of a familiar individual spoke, stopping Nathan in his tracks. Familiar was an understatement, as Nathan immediately recoiled upon witnessing their presence. His jaw dropped, and his eyes widened with bewilderment.
The man he thought he had already taken care of was in front of him and casually spoke to him. It was none other than John Walker.
"Hello, Nathan," John greeted. "You remember me?"
Nathan did nothing but gaze at this man with utter dumbfoundedness. I suppose he has something in common with Jack as they share the same shock after witnessing someone who they thought to have killed confronting them.
"W-What...h--how are you...alive?" The stunned Nathan questioned with an audible stutter. "And why...are you wearing...the super soldier...uniform?"