“Waaah! Please don’t kill meee!” a girlish scream rang out.

William moved cautiously towards the person cowering in fear. Bright light flooded the room as Masako restored the electrical supply. He lowered his pistol warily while Masako ran to the lady, almost tackling her to the ground.

“Marianne, you’re alive! You’re really alive!” she cried out, hugging her tightly.

“Let go of me! W-who are you?” Marianne pushed Masako away roughly, staring wide eyed at both of them.

“Huh?” Masako looked at her in confusion. “Oh no, did you lose your memory from the fall? You’re Marianne, I’m Masako, and he’s William. We met after the mutation wave, don’t you remember?”

“What fall? I’m not Marianne.”

“What do you mean? You totally are Marianne! You’re our friend!” Masako grabbed her by her shoulders.

“N-no!” The lady shook her off, backing up against the wall again. “My name is Vivian and I don’t know you!”

Masako blinked rapidly, her face a picture of pure confusion.

“Pardon me lady,” William said, his voice almost dropping to a whisper. “But is ‘Cha’ your family name?”

“H-how did you know that?” the lady gasped, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Marianne once mentioned she had a sister,” William muttered to himself. “To think she was referring to a twin sister...”

“I-I have a sister?” Vivian looked surprised.

“Huh? Marianne never told me she had a sis- Wait, how do you not know you have a sister?” Masako casted a wary gaze at her.

“I… I can’t remember…” Vivian clutched her head. “All I can remember is that I have a master. I think he brought me here for some kind of experiment. It… hurts, but he still forces me to… to…” Her voice grew increasingly agitated.

“No! I won’t go back to him!” she screamed suddenly, grabbing a chair in front of her. “Get away from me!”

“Calm- just calm down, Vivian.” William raised a hand, trying to placate the hysterical woman. “We’re not here to bring you back to your master. We’re just here to look for our friend. Won’t you tell us what happened?”

“GAAAHHH!” a scream rang out from outside the room.

“Yuxia!” William shouted. “She must be in trouble. Look after this lady, will you?”

“But-” Masako started, but William was already out of earshot.

William arrived at the scene quickly. Yuxia was surrounded by three men in fighting stances. He could visibly notice her breathing heavily as she clutched her side, blood dripping onto the floor beside a bloody dagger.

The men leered at her before attacking in a coordinated fashion. Yuxia defended bravely against them but for every hit she deflected, she suffered two more punishing strikes. Her assailants kept their hands up with a slight smirk on their faces. It was obvious that they were martial arts experts. The Red Clover screamed in pain once more, toppling to the ground after one of them struck a well aimed kick to her wounded area. The three men walked menacingly towards her.

“Get away from her, you cowards!”

A huge blast of water hit them with the force of a water cannon, pushing them back. They coughed and spluttered, glowering at the man running to Yuxia’s side.

“It’s an enhanced mutate!” one of them shouted. He had scarcely finished his sentence before dropping dead with a gaping hole in the side of his head. The other two men looked upwards, distracted by the bloodied jet of water zipping around them.

Two gunshots rang out, dropping their bodies to the ground. William tucked the pistol back into his pocket and knelt down beside Yuxia.

“Yuxia. Hey Yuxia, wake up!”

Yuxia groaned, but she could barely move her body. Her stab wound temporarily stopped bleeding as William focused his mind on it. He took off her helmet. Yuxia looked at him weakly, her face paler than usual from the loss of blood. William carried her in his arms and ran back, not daring to take his mental grip off her blood threatening to flow out.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Masako, I need the first aid kit!” William burst into the room. He laid Yuxia on the bed as gently as possible and took off her suit while Masako rummaged through her bag.

“Is this even enough to treat her? We need to bring her back to Victor’s place,” she said worriedly, passing him the first aid kit.

“But I can’t stop her bleeding and carry us at the same time!”

“I-I can help, i-if you would let me. My master trained me to perform medical procedures,” Vivian said timidly. The two of them stepped back cautiously, making way for the stranger they had just met.

Vivian bent down, inspecting the wound. “Her vital organs aren’t damaged, so all we have to do is stop the bleeding and stitch up the wound.”

She placed her hand over the wound as tiny icicles began to form around it. Yuxia winced a little, but looked a lot more relieved. Vivian took out the stitching equipment from its sterilised packaging. A thin layer of ice gloved her hands as she started stitching professionally. William released his grip on Yuxia’s blood, watching anxiously.

Vivian finally got up from her position after what seemed like hours. Yuxia was snoring softly, having fallen asleep from the exhaustion.

“I’ve disinfected the wound and gave her painkillers,” Vivian spoke softly. “She just needs to rest for now.”

“Thanks, we really owe you one,” William said, but a disturbed expression still hung on his face.

“You really aren’t Marianne, huh…” Masako murmured.

“You were still doubting me?” Vivian exclaimed.

“Well yeah… but now I’m sure. You can’t be her. Your demeanour, your skills, your power even… It’s totally different from the Marianne we know.”

“You guys don’t seem too surprised at my freezing ability.”

William folded his arms. “That’s because we have powers too, just like you. But there’s a bigger question. From what I know, you’re supposed to be dead.”

The two girls looked at him in shock.

“Marianne told me she had a sister, but her sister died years ago,” William explained. “And yet, I can’t think of another explanation for why there’s another girl in front of me looking exactly like her.”

He stood up. “But anyhow, this just means I still haven’t found Marianne yet. I’m going back to the town we destroyed and investigate the train tracks Victor was talking about.”

“Not by yourself, you’re not.” Masako stepped forward, blocking his way. “You don’t know what’s waiting for you on the other end.”

“Exactly, it’s dangerous. No offence, but your abilities won’t keep you safe like mine will. I will get her back. I owe it to a friend this much at least-”

“Then let me come with you. She’s my friend too!” Masako raised her voice. “Will you stop running off on your own when we can help you?!”

“I don’t need help!” William retorted. “I won’t let another person get hurt because of me again!”

“Damn you William! This was exactly how Marianne died in the first place. She died trying to help you!”

William stared at her, speechless in shock.

“I’m sorry.” Masako looked away. “I know I’m the last person to lecture you about her death, but I can’t let you go alone. I was too afraid to help her when she needed it most; I won’t ignore another friend in need again.”

“Masako…” William lowered his voice. “No, you’re right. It was my stubbornness that got her killed.”

“Not necessarily,” Masako said, sounding a little brighter. “She’s only missing for now. We just have to find her.”

“Uhm sorry, I don’t mean to butt in, but are you talking about underground train tracks?” Vivian spoke up. “Because if so, those lead to my master’s place.”

“Who’s your master?”

“He’s the leader of Sector 163, Firdaus.”

“Count me in,” a weak voice interrupted William before he could react. William turned to Yuxia, who was already awake and sitting up.

“Yuxia!” he gasped. “I thought you were asleep!”

“Can’t really sleep with all the shouting, can I?” Yuxia mumbled, gingerly touching the bandage on her side. “Man, they really got me good. But I’m not missing this chance to get my revenge.”

“What?” William said. “You want to fight Firdaus now? He beat you once before, remember? How’re you planning to go up against him with your injury on top of things?”

“N-no! I’m not going back!” Vivian curled up her body, trembling as the air started to cool rapidly. “He’s going to punish me so badly for running away…”

“Sorry Vivian, you must be really traumatised,” William said, putting a hand on Vivian’s shoulder. “I can only imagine the things that bastard has done to you. Don’t worry, we’ll protect you.”

“You can’t… If you’re like me, you can’t. He can control mutates like us. It’s horrible, you’re trapped inside your own body but you still see and feel everything. There’s no fighting it…”

“Hey. Nobody said we were going to face him head on,” Yuxia said curtly. “I’m not that stupid to get myself killed before getting my revenge.”

“What do you propose we do then?” Masako asked.

“Like William said, investigate the train tracks and where they lead to. We’ll turn tail when things go south, alright?”