William stood confidently with his arms crossed as water swirled rapidly around him. The heavily armed intruders showed themselves soon enough, led by an armoured man carrying a sword.

“Ah… a mutate stands in my way as usual. How very poetic,” Firdaus took his time to speak. He turned to the soldiers around him. “Find them. And kill whoever stands in the way.”

“Not so fast.”

Dozens of water jets broke off from the wall of water around William. They sped through the air at blinding speed, going through the lightly armoured men. They dropped dead to the ground with a hole in their skulls.

“Nice to finally meet you, Firdaus.” The blue glow faded from William’s eyes. “Where did you get that armour from?”

“Very impressive, mutate.” Firdaus unsheathed his sword, ignoring his question. “But I have no quarrel with you. Move aside. This will be your only warning.”

“No quarrel?” The swirling of water around William intensified. “I wager you’ve already picked a fight with me the moment you kidnapped Marianne.”

“Oh how very romantic,” Firdaus said sarcastically, getting into a duelling stance. “Then so be it. Marianne Cha destroyed one of my most important research centres and killed all my hydras. It’s only fair that I take away something of hers too.”

“Stay the hell away from my family.”

Masako stepped out beside William, electricity covering her whole body. She charged without warning, avoiding a wild swing as she closed the distance. Sparks flew as the armoured man stumbled back from her push. A blue electrical current darted around his suit as though it was sentient, shocking him intermittently. Firdaus dropped his sword, grunting in irritation.

Masako did not let up. She picked up the sword and started slashing at him. Firdaus dodged her clumsy swings with ease, though his sword occasionally scratched his metal armour. She was just wasting her own energy, and she knew it. Masako raised her leg instead, aiming at his side-

“Enough!” Firdaus caught her mid-kick and yanked the sword out of her hands. He swung her around, tossing the petite lady at William. A short exhale escaped from William’s teeth as he caught his friend, almost falling backwards from the collision.

“It’s okay, you tried.” William set her down and pulled out his plasma cutter. My turn. He ignited his weapon and prepared to attack, but Firdaus raised his palm at him. Masako’s eyes widened with recognition and quickly covered her ears. She tried to signal to William to do the same but a loud humming sound was already upon them.

“Argh!” Firdaus growled in frustration. “Should’ve known this thing was useless after all.”

William stood unfazed with his arms crossed, grinning arrogantly. “There was a spineless animal who tried attacking me like that too. A relative of yours, I presume?” he shouted above the sound. “Your mind games won’t work on me.”

William bent down slightly, preparing to rush the armoured intruder, but an arrow whizzed past his ear before he could move. It pierced the device on Firdaus’ palm, stopping the sound.

“GOTCHA, YOU BASTARD!”

The two enhanced people barely moved out of the way as Yuxia swung out of nowhere, throwing a knife at Firdaus. He flicked his sword up to catch it by its hilt and swung it in one fluid motion, deflecting the flying knife with ease.

“I’M GONNA MURDER YOU!”

The Red Clover pulled out another two daggers and charged at the swordsman. Metal clanged loudly as she darted around him, aggressively slashing him from different directions. Firdaus spun his sword around with immaculate grace, parrying the knives perfectly. The two armoured people moved about in a blur, making the scene look more like an elaborate dance rather than a battle to the death. But Firdaus was in no mood to dance with such a partner.

He leapt backwards while pushing Yuxia away with a strong heel kick.

“How many times must I kill the same woman?” he said behind gritted teeth. “Stop it, I don’t want to fight y-”

“I don’t give a shit what you want!” Yuxia screamed and took out her crossbow, firing a barrage of arrows at him. The arrows bounced off his metal suit harmlessly as Firdaus walked forward.

Come on, get a little closer…

“Block this,” Yuxia hissed, and threw a small grenade at him. The explosive stuck itself to his suit as Firdaus stumbled back in shock.

“YUXIA NO!” William yelled, quickly pulling her back. His mind worked frantically as he reached for the water around him.

But it was too late.

The explosion blew them away before a coherent shield could be formed, and the corridor broke off beneath them. William grunted as he landed on the second floor, though he barely registered any pain. He got to his feet and grabbed Yuxia angrily, whose armour had also cushioned most of the impact.

“Jesus Christ, Yuxia! You almost killed us!”

“I don’t care. I’m here for one thing only; to kill my father’s murderer,” Yuxia hissed coldly. “If you got in my way, then too bad.”

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“You heartless bitch!” William screamed at her. “What is wrong with you-”

“Guys!” Masako yelled, sweeping the dust off her clothes. “Now’s not the time to be arguing! We have more important things to do.”

“My job is done; Firdaus is dead.” Yuxia turned to face William, taking off her helmet. Her eyes stared soullessly at both of them. “Whatever else happens in this place is none of my busi-”

“YUXIA LOOK OUT!”

Masako pushed the Red Clover aside. Her scream warped into a blood curdling shriek as blood splattered from her open mouth. She fell limply to the ground, the tip of a sword protruding slightly from her stomach.

“MASAKO!” William screamed, kneeling by her side. “No, no, no… This can’t be happening…” he cried out, holding her body. His hands trembled as blood quickly stained them.

“Wh- why?” Yuxia sank to her knees in shock. “Why did you…”

Masako smiled weakly at her and gripped her gloved hand. “It’s because… you’re family too…” Her eyes closed slowly as her grip loosened.

Yuxia moved towards her. “Masako, I-”

“Get away from her!” William yelled, pushing Yuxia away roughly. “You’ve done enough!” Yuxia toppled to the ground without resisting, stunned at the sudden turn of events. William carried his friend in his arms and hovered swiftly away towards the underground carpark.

“Pity…” a dry voice croaked from behind Yuxia, breaking her from her shocked daze. “I liked that sword.”

Firdaus stood up slowly, using the surrounding rubble to support himself. He coughed violently, spasming as though he had gotten a sudden bout of tuberculosis. The man took off his helmet and spat blood onto the ground, clutching his chest where the grenade had exploded.

“H-how…?” Yuxia said weakly, not realising her voice had been reduced to a whisper.

“I’d kill you for pulling that stunt, but I don’t have time for this,” Firdaus said with a hoarse voice, limping away. A voice screamed in Yuxia’s head to stop him, but her body no longer listened to it. She watched helplessly as he disappeared out of sight.

----------------------------------------

The door burst open. Another empty room. Marianne ran down the corridor, checking every room on the floor. Her heart pounded furiously as she quickened her pace. God, where is she? She stopped abruptly in her tracks as a group of masked men appeared in front of her, blocking her path. Marianne raised her fists hostilely.

“Vivian? What are you doing here? Return to Zacharias immediately. Do not resist.” one of them, presumably the leader, spoke in a slightly muffled voice.

So this WAS about her.

Hot fury exploded within Marianne. She opened her fists, expelling her fiery anger at the unfortunate men. Their lives were snuffed out before they even realised their mistake. She breathed heavily, smoke puffing out of her nostrils.

“Marianne-” a muffled cry was cut short from the room beside her. Marianne rushed in, breaking down the door in her haste. A familiar face stood before her yet again.

“For once in your life, will you stop GETTING IN MY WAY?!” Mr Cha screamed in frustration, seizing Vivian roughly and pressing the knife deeper into her neck. Marianne stepped back quickly. She raised a placating hand, though she knew full well the futility of the gesture.

“Dammit, dammit I was so close! No, you won’t stop me. Not today. I’m taking her back, no matter what!” His body trembled as though he was about to explode. The crazed father suddenly pulled out a gun with his free hand and pulled the trigger.

A deafening blast rang out and Marianne fell to the ground, clutching her right arm. She breathed raggedly, holding in the pain threatening to overwhelm her senses. Endure, Marianne. Endure it for her… The pyrokinetic lady looked up defiantly, raising her other arm at her father.

“Keep still, girl.” Mr Cha gritted his teeth. “This ends now. You won’t be bothering me anymore.” He pointed the gun at his daughter again, but yelled in shock and pain as a layer of ice suddenly encased his hand. Vivian tore herself from her father’s grip and rushed to Marianne’s side. She placed a hand over her wound, freezing it to staunch the bleeding.

“Father, stop!” Vivian pleaded. “You don’t have to do this. We can run away, and we can live happily together. Please don’t hurt our family anymore!”

“I bred you so that you could be useful to me, and now you turn your back on me?” Mr Cha growled, his veins popping out of his forehead. “Useless child. Both of you are useless!” He raised his gun to fire at them again, but quickly realised that it was frozen stuck to his hand. Mr Cha let out a grunt of frustration and lunged at Vivian’s throat instead, who flinched backwards and instinctively bit him.

“Argh-Ow! How dare you bite me?!” Mr Cha yelled, stumbling back in both pain and shock.

Vivian bawled loudly as she wrapped her arms around her sister. Why? Aren’t we family? Aren’t we supposed to care for each other? Why does father hate us so?

Blood stained his knife as their father pulled it out again, holding it in his bitten hand. “Never mind. If you won’t go back with me, I’ll just take your corpse back instead! That’s what you- ARGH!”

The knife dropped to the floor as Mr Cha collapsed to the ground, his body twisting and contorting in pain. “What… is happening… to me?!”

Marianne looked on knowingly as her father’s eyes began turning milky white. Vivian screamed and tried to reach for him, but Marianne pulled her back. Mr Cha crawled on the floor painfully, stretching out towards them as bluish veins started decorating his body. He opened his mouth, uttering his last words. “No… I… I’m…”

“One of us...” Marianne muttered as she locked eyes with her father for the last time.

His corpse flipped over on its side, letting out an all too familiar screech as if agreeing with her. Marianne hastily raised up two fingers, aiming at the zombie stumbling to its feet. Her eyes lit up with strain as she tried to focus her overwhelming heat into the tiny surface area. Vivian shrank back, trembling in fear. “Oh my god…What have I done…What have I done…”

A loud gunshot rang out from behind.

The reanimated corpse dropped to the ground with a hole in its head before it could make another move. The sisters turned their heads back at the man hobbling towards them.

“Thought I’d find you girls here,” Zacharias tucked his pistol back in his pocket. “Figured your father would go for Vivian the moment he escaped his restraints. Looks like I arrived right on time too.”

“Thanks for saving us. Where’s William?” Marianne asked anxiously. “And the others?”

“I’d be more worried about that bullet wound if I were you.” Zacharias pointed at her arm. “Everyone has already evacuated to the basement. Let’s now dawdle any longer, shall we?”