"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." - Mahatma Gandhi

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Alard was quickly forced to face the reality of a Marked beefed up with muscles and significant size still being astonishingly fast.

Case in point, the Parasyte user they faced was currently holding his own despite the dual attacks he faced from Aura and Alard. He did just enough to evade one attack before switching to defending against the other attacker. Though his seamless defense kept them at bay, their frequent attacking kept him from doing any real damage to either of them.

Alard paused his fruitless charging. "Aura, we need to attack in sync." He pointed out.

He had realized that they were making the man's defense easy with their lack of chemistry. At the rate they were going, their stalemate would go on for pointless minutes.

Aura got up slowly after getting pushed back by a particularly bold right hook, she turned a venomous glare on Alard. "If you could keep up we wouldn't be out of sync."

"Oh really? From where I stand you're the one not keeping up."

"Then you stand in the realm of delusion."

Alard rolled his eyes and refocused on the problem at hand. Individually, the man was stronger than them and he was using that strength to push them away when they attacked before the other attacker could take advantage of his divided attention. So, if they timed their attacks together they could begin to break the man's defense theoretically.

He glanced at Aura who seemed ready to pounce back into action any second. Though he thought his plan was a good foundation for their victory, he figured explaining it to Aura wouldn't make much of a difference. Her dexterous fighting style reeked of solidarity and Alard decided it was highly likely she wouldn't know how to fight as a team.

Thus, it would be up to Alard to match her speed and create a more synchronized attack. In a way, she hadn't been wrong.

He had to keep up.

As Aura leapt toward their foe, Alard joined in, the two closing the distance like prowling tigers. The man stood up straighter, his lackadaisical demeanor disappearing. He pointed his fingers outward as they approached and slashed in a large deadly arc.

Aura being closest to where the arc started, was forced to resort to blocking once again. The man followed up with a kick to in between her guard, sending her flying back once again. Though he had dispatched her frighteningly quickly, for a brief second Alard saw the first sign of an opening in his otherwise firm defense.

Alard jumped towards the man's side and as he turned to face Alard after knocking away Aura, Alard extended his foot mid-jump, slamming it into the side of the man's head. The man reeled back, clearly disoriented and that was all Alard needed. As he landed he planted his feet, angling his body he swung upward, finding purchase right under the man's ribcage in a devastating liver shot.

He had never been able to pull off a liver shot before despite having the calculations in his head, but now, with his new precision, it was child's play.

The man grunted, falling to one knee and gasping for air that currently seemed to evade him. Aura didn't waste any time after recovering, finishing him off with a hard chop to his neck.

Alard admired their handiwork. He couldn't tell if the man was still alive or not but he didn't appear to be breathing anymore.

"Is...he dead?" Alard asked as Aura looked down at the man.

"No, it takes a more direct approach to kill a Marked," Aura replied.

"Oh...do we?" Alard asked. Unlike before during his first mission, he wasn't feeling bubbling bloodlust or an air of superiority. The weight of killing a person, Marked or not made itself known on his shoulders.

"Don't be naive," Aura hissed. "This isn't one of your comic books. The bad guys don't surrender when they lose and the good guys don't jail them, then wait for their inevitable escape and the casualties that will follow. This is the real world, and the real world requires the good guys to not be overly noble idiots."

Alard sighed, taking in the truth of her words. It was a truth that he had always known deep down, yet, it would still take some getting used to when he wasn't numbed by the sheer adrenaline and alien emotions.

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"How do we do it then?" He asked.

Aura picked up her dagger which had fallen at some point during the exchange. "The heart. My way is stabbing it through repeatedly until I'm sure the person is losing too much blood for their healing factor to save them. It sounds gruesome, but it's actually one of the least barbaric techniques available."

Alard was having quite a hard time imagining what could be more barbaric.

He stepped back, "All yours then."

A brief look of disappointment flashed across Aura's features. The inkling of expression came and went so quickly that Alard wondered if he'd imagined it.

"That hurt quite a bit," A voice suddenly whispered into Alard's ear.

Alard reacted before he could even process the words, twisting around and lashing out blindly.

The man darted back, cursing under his breath at where Alard's fingers had connected. He had copied the man's earlier fingers outstretched technique, his eyes immediately picking up the sharpness fingers were capable of when traveling at such a speed. Now he had clear evidence with a rip across the man's chest and a new bleeding wound to boot.

"You have a lot of potential, kid," The man crowed as he studied his new wound. "You're an ember that needs to be put out before it fully ignites."

The sudden aura he emanated held Alard firmly in place, the short-lived confidence fading away into the depths of a new understanding. The new speed and aura all but confirmed Alard's fear, the man hadn't been going all out. Now, his threat loomed in the air, inducing fear and just waiting to be acted upon.

"...sadly, this is neither the time nor place. My presence is needed elsewhere." The man announced. He offered them one last smile then dashed in the direction they had come in - toward the main fight.

Alard released a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Aura next to him did the same then quickly masked it with a sigh.

"Should we be worried about him going?" Alard asked, realizing how much he could turn the tide of battle with his strength.

Aura had regained her composure swiftly, her disinterested tone making a return. "No, their target was always Jarek. He was probably tasked with killing us within a certain time limit and then joining to team up on Jarek."

Alard followed her as she pushed open the heavy door. "You seem to know exactly who they are."

Stairs winded upwards as far as the nonhuman eye could see. The inside was pitch dark, not that it was a problem for Alard's vision anymore, but it still offered a certain ghostly aura which was further enhanced by the symphony of the creaky stairs as the pair ascended.

"I do. We all do," Aura replied. "This is the strongest task force that the Peacocks have and they've been on our case for months. Jarek, being one of the strongest Parasyte users ever understandably makes him a target. Thus, they try to lure him out with traps like this one."

"You mean you guys knew this was a trap?"

"Of course. Lighthouse location leaks are very rare and it usually takes months of investigating after a rumor for it to be confirmed. This one's location was pretty much handed to us on a silver platter."

Alard wasn't sure how he felt about being dragged into a trap unknowingly.

"Then why the hell are we here?"

Aura stopped suddenly, causing Alard to almost bump into her on the next step. She turned, her eyes ferociously locked onto Alard's. "Why? Why, you ask?! Because there are innocent hostages being held against their own will. Experimented on, locked away, mistreated. Trap or not they don't deserve that experience. In some ways, it's much worse than death."

Her passionate tone surprised Alard and as she started storming up the steps, he followed in stunned silence.

"Wait, shouldn't we be worried about Jarek? He's already fighting that guy that totaled our boat and now that guy is heading there to help," Alard asked after a while of silent step climbing.

"Did you miss the part when I said he is one of the strongest Parasyte users ever? He'll be more fine than you or I would be even being close to one of his fights."

Alard decided to trust in her confidence and dropped the matter, traveling the remaining stairs in creepy silence.

Finally, they reached the top and sure enough, eight humans were tied up in the top room. Aura quickly scanned their faces as she untied them, seeming to be searching for something - or rather, someone. Her expression darkened briefly after appearing to be unsuccessful before it settled back into its usual neutral state.

"Follow us," she commanded the hostages before darting back through the room entrance without a second glance.

Alard was a bit surprised at how willing they were to obey a Marked's orders, even in their current frightened state. Back in his district, any member would've been hesitant to follow a Marked because of the carnage-loving reputation they had built for themselves, even if they were supposed to be the allies of humanity.

They once again reached the base of the lighthouse without incident and the hostages in tow.

"What do we do now?" Alard asked.

As if to answer his question, the sound of a helicopter's whirring blades came into earshot. Naturally, his earshot was now quite impressive so they still had to wait quite a while before the helicopter finally landed.

Alard wondered how all eight of them would fit into the helicopter without crushing themselves in the process but the hostages eagerly waited for it to land, discomfort a forgotten privilege in their sea of misfortune.

A man hopped out of the helicopter lightly, his feet touching the ground so softly it would put a ballerina to shame. He wore a bright purple two-piece suit with a matching jacket and extravagant smile.

As Alard took in his ridiculous attire and utterly handsome features he couldn't help thinking it was the most comic book-like person he had ever laid eyes upon.

The man's maniacal grin widened as he surveyed his surroundings.

"Someone called for air support?"