Chapter 12

Oh, the money my future therapist will make off me. The emotional therapy will last years, but if I act now, maybe I can save on physical…

My mental state may be diminished, but maybe I can at least save my physical state.

I push her back as hard as possible, but she doesn’t budge an inch. As my body begins to scream for air, my attempts to get free devolve into fleeting pathetic little slaps against whatever my hands can land on.

“Varialax…” I manage to whisper in a raspy voice. “Hel…”

The grip on my neck begins to get tighter. I see a prompt appear before me, but her grip tightens before I can read it. I croak out a yes, hoping for anything but death at this point.

The familiar green squares appear on my arms just as my consciousness begins to slip. As my vision gets blurry, I give one last shove with my now green and white arm.

A great relief washes over me as I fall to the ground with my arm automatically moving and catching me. Now kneeling with one hand on the ground, I feel a rush of air enter my mouth everytime I breathe. As my vision comes back, I notice my body is fully armored once again. I also notice the purple powder from earlier sparkling all over me.

“What are… why aren’t you…” I hear the raspy voice infront of me. The girl looks at me with raised eyebrowss that turn into a contorted manner. “What sort of sorcery is this? Did Wissen…”

As I slowly stand up, my hands move on their own. The green squares start to form in the space around my armored hands.

APC9K

FLAMETHROWER

My eyes widen as a smaller submachine gun appears in my right hand while a giant flamethrower appears in my left. My mouth gawks and my mind races as Varialax raises both of my arms, pointing at that assassin.

Her eyes narrow as she lowers herself to the ground, striking a menacing pose.

“W-WAIT!” I scream as Varialax locks on. “M-mam, we d-don’t have to- VARIALAX, DON’T KILL HER!!”

INTERPRETING….

APC9K (RUBBER VER)

BALLISTIC SHIELD LEVEL IV + FLASH

The squares briefly appear and disappear over the gun’s magazine while the flamethrower completely vanishes and is replaced with an imposing riot shield.

But as I argue with Varialax, I notice the woman has completely vanished. The machine snaps my head up, revealing the assassin on the ceiling looking down at me. A reticle appears on her as Varialax snaps my arm at her.

Even with full auto, Varialax only gets a few shots off before she latches onto me in the blink of an eye! How is she this fast? It’s like she’s… blinking somehow?

The assassin gives a flurry of ferocious punches, making me glad I’m wearing armor. It’s not hurting Varialax, but I can still feel forces traveling through my body. I might bruise after this…

Varialax snaps my arms to grab her, but she maneuvers herself to where she’s on top of my neck, using her legs to snap my neck. Varialax is having none of that as my hands finally reach her and throw her with tremendous force, only for her to land on the wall with her two feet sticking there.

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My arms shoot up in time before the submachine gun unleashes a hail of bullets, only for the assassin to vanish again. Shots and ricochets echo throughout the room as my body whips repeatedly, trying to land a single hit.

“MY LIFE FOR KYTAMA!!” I hear her scream simultaneously in all directions.

I can’t tell if she’s somehow faster than bullets or quicker than Varialax, but we’re getting nowhere like this…

No, scratch that we are getting somewhere. Varialax’s energy is at 38% and decreasing! Varialax is going to blow all the energy before we even scratch her! Think, Monarch! She might be faster than me, but what isn’t she faster than….

Hmmm… fastest thing I can think of…

!!!

“Varialax, Do you have anything with sound or light? We’re not gonna catch her like this!”

INTERPRETING…

I hear that familiar whining coming from just behind me as the memories from the sky battle start flowing in. I prepare myself as I briefly take off into the air, only to land in a corner of the room. Varialax then throws aside the submachine gun and raises the shield before me, only allowing my head to poke over it.

W-what is it-

“Allying with those imperialist…” the assassin says with a low, shaky voice as she lands before me. “And cowering just like them…” Her eyes narrow before charging once again at blazing speeds.

I hold my breath bracing for the worst, but Varialax quickly raises the shield as my vision flashes to complete darkness, only for a quick flash to happen, then the vision returns.

The assassin is yelling and groaning as she holds and rubs her eyes, losing the power stance she once had.

Varialax… actually listened to me? In a fight?

My arms toss the shield to the side as my wing thrusters power up. I crouch to the ground and feel tremendous force as I boost into the assassin at breakneck speeds.

Varialax uses my right hand to grab her by the throat as we speed through the air, slamming her into the top corner of the room with a loud thud.

But this assassin will not falter. Even with this helmet on, she looks me dead in the eyes, snarling. She desperately kicks me hard enough to bruise and tries to wring herself free with her arms.

But Varialax’s iron grip is absolute. Combined with the wing thrusters, the assassin has no way of escaping.

And Varialax is not alone in thinking that.

“Do you understand now? Everything you’ve done, doing, and will do is completely and utterly pointless.”

Varialax forces me to look back just enough to see Cruz and her security enter the room. She looks at the assassin and me smugly as the guards point their rifles up at us.

“Sure, you can scream your nation’s name, jump and flail at my men, and die a painful death, but I assure you, it’ll be a trivial one at best. We can simply move on to the next person of interest.” Cruz says as the assassin tries to yell something in return, but Varialax’s choking says otherwise.

“As far as we can tell, there are zero movements from any large-scale force or even a small squad that resembles anything like you. You have no rescue, no backup,” Cruz says as she looks at the spilled powder on the floor. “...And now zero resources.”

“But that look in your eyes…” She continues as she looks back up at her. “...tells me you’ve got something waiting for you. Or rather… someone?” Cruz slowly starts walking toward us.

“How would they feel… if they found out you died a pathetic death? That you didn’t even come close to your objective? That just like you, we could wipe em’ out in a blink of an eye if we wanted to? You’ve seen what we can do, right?” Cruz questions.

“But… we’re not monsters. I prefer to see myself as an… entrepreneur. I know a good opportunity when I see one. And right now, I’m looking at pure potential. Someone who can give us a little info. Someone who can save their country by cooperating. Besides…” Cruz says with a smile on her face. “Help us; we might just help you with your little ‘imperialist’ problem.”

The assassin sputters and gasps as she tries to say something. But I can’t release my iron grip…

“Can I get a nod?” Cruz asks as she tilts her head.

There is only choking and sputtering from the narrowed-eyed assassin. Cruz screams to her to nod, prompting the assassin to shake her head up and down, all while snarling.

“Excellent. Monarch, if you would~”

Snapping back to my senses, I ask Varialax for my arms, releasing my grip not a second after. The assassin saves herself on impact with the floor but immediately falls to her knees, catching herself with her hands as she coughs and sputters.

I witness the scene as I hover in the air, looking back between the woman and my armored hands.

I… wasn’t the one being choked, yet…

Why do I feel violated?

“So let’s start over…” Cruz says as she kneels down to the woman’s level. “What. Is. Your. Name.”