Natasha and Sophia looked on through the shaded barrier of shadow as Aleks was dragged from the wreckage and placed in a circle of witches, hundreds of soldiers setting up perimeters of floodlights and laying down mesh of metal like a barrier, arcs of electricity sparking between the links.
Sophia had only just dragged Natasha from the crash when they were assaulted by incendiary weapons, the shadows converging on them to shield them from the flames.
Some breaking away to kill the enemies approaching them, but quickly having to return to reinforce the barriers protecting them as more and more units showed up and showered them in fire.
They could only watch on in horror as Aleks was wrapped in gold-like chains blistering and burning his skin like silver would theirs.
The witches started chanting and linking hands, one of them placing her hands on either side of his head.
That’s when he opened his eyes and their connection told them he’d regained consciousness.
Natasha and Sophia both felt the thoughts racing through his head, looking for any way to escape and finding it, yet instead of breaking free, his thoughts turned to acceptance and sadness.
His mind instinctively seeking out memories to make his final moments blissful and content, images of them along with an immense love, wide and all-encompassing, flooded over them.
Sophia let out a howling scream of despair as she felt his consciousness get ripped from his body and his mind wiped.
Natasha tearing at the barrier next to her like a wild animal, almost pushing it over the edging and breaking it as her fingers bled.
Both of them felt the loss, the pain and the anguish of the other, amplified beyond sanity.
“EMERGENCY PARAMETERS: WHERE TITANS FALL - DETECTED.”
“WARNING: CHAINS OF TARTARUS - PROTOCOL NOT FOUND.”
“WARNING: THOSE IN THE DEPTHS – DETECTED”
“ATTEMPTING TEMPORARY SUBSTITUTION WITH LAST ACCEPTABLE BACKUP... NONE FOUND.”
“WARNING: ENERGY RESTRICTIONS TEMPORARILY LIFTED.”
“MASTER HUNTSMAN LEVEL THREAT DETECTED – INNITIATING EMERGENCY BEACON… FAILED.”
“MASTER HUNTSMAN LEVEL THREAT DETECTED – INITIATING DEEP ECHO CALL…”
“ECHO CALL: DEEMED FUTILE EFFORT – ABORTED AT 56%”
“ATTEMPTING TEMPORARY SUBSTITUTION WITH LAST COMBAT BACKUP... SUCCESS.”
“WARNING: BERSERKER STATUS DETECTED – ALL UNITS CONVERGE ON LOCATION FOR IMMEDIATE SUPPRESSION OR TERMINATION OF HOST.”
“WARNING: DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! ALL UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.”
The voice was mechanical and feminine, its origin indiscernible, as if the sound came from everywhere at once.
Natasha and Sophia both looked on with tears streaming down their faces, as something foreign and unrecognizable took hold of Aleks’ body.
Half of the surrounding soldiers had stopped, and the circle was looking on in fear and confusion before suddenly convulsing one by one.
Every orifice bleeding as they opened their mouths to scream, yet no sound escaped their lips.
“AMBIENT ENERGY LEVELS AT 0.6% OF RECORDED AVERAGE - ADJUSTING PARAMETERS.” The feminine voice echoed before Natasha and Sophia were both yanked out of their shadowy barriers and carried away by armored drones, sprinting at full speed.
Natasha was about to fight them off to go back, but the sound of combat and bloodshed erupting behind them gave her pause.
Trees shook, and the ground quaked as the air was split by a single word, releasing a pressure like the depth of an ocean.
“Ḡ̴̛̞͚̬̼͖͕͎͈̬̔͛̒́̏͐͋̈́̋̒̈̔͂͑͗̅̅̚͝Ų̵̛̛͉͙͇͍̣̱̱̱͖̬̖̠͇̹̳̦̖̜̲͙̯̤̻̼̖͛̆̂̇̈͛̽͑̅̽̂͛͆͌̽̄̆́͘͘̕͝͝͝͠͝N̶̢̥͈̣̯͇̦̹͓̈́̾̈́̌̍͒͒̂̎̈́͊͌͒̿̑̀̚ͅG̸̨̧̧̡̳̘̹̼͙̺̝͙̞̠̩̥̙̲̰͔͕̮̬̘͒̚͠ͅͅN̵̢̗͙͇͂͛̈́́̿̃̄͂͘͝I̵͉̜͓͈̩̮͙̙͕̤̳̤̥̠͇̟̯̦̽͛̿̿̃̔͐̎́̓̆̋̌̇͗͑̐̓̊̿̒͘͘R̵̨̝̞͙̬͇̙̺̫̹͋͂̒̈́͂̔̀̇̀́̇͒͋͌̈́̾͊͛ͅ!”
Soon after, fire flared to the skies above, rushing down towards them through the trees like a flood, an unnatural red tint to the flames.
The drones barely managed to outrun the roaring inferno before suddenly dissolving into motes of black smoke, sending Natasha and Sophia tumbling down the hill.
Natasha clawed at the ground to stop her momentum, catching Sophia as they slid to a halt.
“I’m going-” Natasha started but was interrupted by the wet splattering impact of a mangled body hitting the ground in front of her.
Droplets of blood splashing onto her face.
Roaring and rumbling hinted at the destruction taking place at the top of the hill as Sophia pushed herself off the ground in a daze, spotting Natasha and the singed, mangled corpse in front of her.
It wore the same tactical gear with no insignia as the soldiers who had been attacking them moments ago.
“W-What’s happening?” Sophia stammered out.
Natasha looked up at the carnage now in front of them, then back down at the holster left almost intact on what used to be the hip of the corpse in front of her.
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out.” Natasha said, grabbing the gun and handing it to Sophia. “You know how to use this. Get to the road, find a car, and make your way back to the valley.” Natasha told her.
“I’m not just gonna leave you!” Sophia refused.
“Soph, you have to! I can’t let anything happen to you... He wouldn’t have wanted that either.” Natasha said somberly.
Sophia looked at her miserably before taking the firearm and wrapping her arms around Natasha, kissing her deeply.
“I’ll never forgive you if you leave me alone in this world.” Sophia said as she pulled away.
“I won’t.” Natasha promised, before running off.
***
There no longer existed such a thing as Aleks’Andros, there was only The Titan of Madness and Destruction.
A fractured mental state saved at a point of constant battle in Aleks’s life.
It was a beastial and powerful entity created while facing the hordes of chaotic entities swarming an entire world, facing an untold number of enemies for years without rest had shattered anything that might have once been considered even remotely human.
It was tempered war incarnate, bloodthirsty and terrible.
Its judgement was unclouded by unnecessary thoughts or emotions, the pain becoming nothing more than the sensation of damage to its vessel.
Which was why it immediately understood that although the chains holding it were antithetical to its powers, they were still of mundane make and materials, not yet strengthened through energy.
It released a massive pulse of energy, shattering the brittle metals and its own body as a result.
Fractured bones piercing skin, one eye rapidly filling with blood, yet it did not fret.
Running shadowy energy through its flesh like stuffing a puppet, it solidified into bone, muscle, sinew, and even skin, marking the areas of replaced tissue with a dark gray substance, glints of scarlet flashing across its surface like gems.
It examined the field of battle around it; it did not remember how it came to be here, but it didn’t need a reason to dispatch the cluster of evokers around it. Their kind was better killed quickly.
But it seems they had already woven their illusions while it had been incapacitated.
Familiar shapes and forms around it, no doubt their comrades camouflaged in illusions meant to cause hesitation... They were ineffective.
“GUNGNIR!”
The long spear of crystallized shadow manifested in an instant before he tore it from the air.
Runes spread along its surface, glowing fiercely.
Scarcely a few seconds had passed since he’d awoken, and the slow demons shrouded in illusions finally seemed to react, firing at him and bathing him in fire.
The flames licked at his skin but met only black smoke, his body enveloped in an opaque veil of shadow.
He smiled viciously, as it seemed these mutts had forgotten what true flame was, he raised his empty hand and fought against reality around him to manifest a spark of creation, barely a wisp, but it proved enough as everything around him was engulfed in flames of such strength that they lit not just the air, but the very energy around him.
The miniature sun had barely blinked in and out of existence, but the damage, even to his shielded body, was substantial.
He lifted his arm, turning the bony remains of his hand back and forth before shadows knitted together to form a new appendage in front of his very eyes.
An evoker missing half its torso yet somehow still standing was staggering away, an amulet around its neck the most likely culprit for its surprising endurance.
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He gripped the middle of the spear and cracked the crystal-like material in two, throwing one piece of the spear, now more like a spike, at the escaping Evoker, it leaving his hand with a mighty crack.
The crystal spike was meant to sever its spine, but instead eviscerated what remained of the Evoker’s torso before impacting a nearby tree, felling it.
***
Natasha crested the top of the hill they’d descended in the arms of the armored drones and found an utter massacre.
Torn bodies and blood littering the ground as if they’d been ripped apart by bare hands, the sight reminding her of previous incidents, although far more feral and violent.
The foliage around the area had been cleared almost completely, reduced to nothing but ash as the edge of the destruction remained burning.
She heard the sounds of fighting and circled the crash site only to see something resembling Aleks’ ripping an armored shadow in half through great effort; the remnants falling to the ground lifelessly like pieces of paper before disappearing.
Natasha felt the loss of the entity which had inhabited that shadow, its limited ego permanently destroyed by his actions.
His head snapped up, one eye blazing crimson and another nothing but a dark void, staring at her with rage and hatred, runic lines glowing across his face and body as wounds littered it.
“VAMPIRIS!” He swore at her, looking at her like a stranger.
He took a step forward, disappearing with a booming crack before reappearing in front of her, his hand already around her throat, lifting her off the ground.
She grabbed his wrist and twisted her body, kicking off the side of his knee to free herself, landing on the ground, gasping for air.
He roared as his knee snapped back into place before he stalked towards her again, except a shadowy figure impacted him, knocking him to the ground. He rose, growling like a beast, but paused upon seeing the perpetrator.
“INITIATING CHAMPION PROTOCOL: NATASHA ROMANOV NIKOLEVE - HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TEMPORARY COMMANDER STATUS.” The feminine voice informed her, Aleks looking up, confused.
The moment of pause was not wasted as hundreds of armored shadows charged him, attacking as if intent on killing him.
“ANALYZING COMMANDER RESILIENCE AND STRENGTH: INSUFFICIENT”
“COMMENCING EMPOWERMENT PROTOCOL”
Natasha didn’t even have time to ponder the meaning behind those words as shadowy armors charged at her, she took a fighting stance ready to use their momentum against them, but the moment they touched her they exploded into black smoke coalescing around her like leather armor before morphing into a futuristic combat suit, sleek and unrestrictive in its design.
“COMMANDER AT ACCEPTABLE LEVEL - REQUESTING IMMEDIATE CONTAINMENT OF TITAN.”
Natasha looked at her hands for a moment, clenching them, the sounds of fighting bringing her eyes up just in time to see Aleks tear his way through the mass of shadows, his eye blazing like a red sun.
“If a beating is all he needs, then I’m your gal.” Natasha said, feeling the influence of power on her mind. It felt addictive and made her feel intoxicated, yet not impeded, more like... Focused.
She set off at a sprint towards Aleks, continuing even as he braced himself for the impact, ready to take the hit in return for getting a hold of her.
But she already knew that trick. Just before impact, she went down into a pitcher’s slide, reaching out her hand tearing his leg away from under him.
She didn’t let go, and instead used his mass to stop her own momentum and pull herself upright, his body now mid air almost in a spin when she squared her hips and threw a punch with all she had in her.
Her fist crackling with power and she felt the resistance of the air before it cracked as she impacted his sternum.
Aleks went skidding and tumbling away. His roll stopped only as he violently impacted a tree sideways.
Natasha was wide-eyed. She wondered how much of this power was her own, and how much of it was taken from Aleks.
“CURRENT ENERGY AVAILABLE TO COMMANDER EQUALS 70% OF TOTAL ENERGY NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF TITAN. REMAINING 30% ARE ALLOCATED TO COMBAT UNITS ASSISTING.” The mechanical voice answered, as if reading her thoughts.
“Wait, can it read my thoughts?” Natasha wondered.
“COMMANDER NOT CURRENTLY FOCUSED ON BATTLE... Rookie mistake.” The voice said, its inflection changing at the end to a snide remark.
But Natasha didn’t get to ask any more questions as Aleks slowly rose ahead of her, seeming not much worse for wear, but a whole lot more angry.
He walked towards her like a brawler, readying for an exchange. Natasha was starting to feel confident with this new power and met him head on...
That was a mistake.
They traded blows, each one he landed feeling like being hit by a freight train, yet the impact did not throw her back, some invisible force taking all the momentum out of the strike leaving her only with the bone shattering impacts... Which were quickly adding up.
She realized too late that head to head was the wrong move. Aleks might not have been a skilled fighter, as he didn’t throw complicated combos or precise strikes, but he was, without a doubt, an experienced one. His hits were simple but well timed and powerful.
And she quickly found herself losing ground, even with both mundane and supernatural fighting styles. It wouldn’t be more than a few seconds before he’d picked them apart, throwing brutally punishing counters if she ever repeated a move.
Natasha felt herself falter and decided enough was enough. She jumped up and kicked off from his chest, flying back and creating some distance.
It felt as if she could feel the possibilities of the shadows around her, as if they were simply waiting for her command. All she had to do was reach out and do so.
Shadowy entities from everywhere around them charged at Aleks like a swarm, restraining him as furiously fought to free himself, only to be pulled back down and wrapped in his own chains.
Natasha knew they wouldn’t be able to restrain him for long, their hold of him already faltering, but all she needed was an opening, and they supplied her with one.
She sprinted towards the mass of shadows restraining him, noticing the anticipation in his eyes and knew he was expecting her to try the same thing twice, however this time she didn’t fall to the ground but instead hooked her arm around his neck slinging herself onto his back and wrapped her legs around his body before putting him in a headlock.
His body tensed and chains snapped, letting out a series of cracks like that of a whip, Natasha tightening her grip with every bit of strength she had left.
“This won’t work.” Natasha thought frantically, noticing her grip slipping.
“ADVISING EMOTIONAL COUNTERMEASURES.” The voice suggested, but Natasha didn’t understand.
“Don’t be an idiot, it’s still him.” It sighed and added in its alternate haughty and condescending tone.
Natasha frowned and with a thought her full cover helmet evaporated into smoke and she leaned in close, but as she was at the cusp of opening her mouth, she froze. All the things she could think of saying died before passing her lips.
Doubt took hold of her.
“What am I supposed to say? That we need him, that we don’t want to lose him?...” Natasha asked herself.
Then she thought back to the emotions which passed between her and Sophia as they watched him die in front of their eyes.
The anguish and loss, the regrets and pain.
“Please... We can’t lose you like this, please come back to us, I beg of you, please don’t let it end like this.” Natasha pleaded full of grief as tears fell from her eyes hitting the back of his neck.
“Please don’t leave us, we need you... I need you.” Natasha finished, too distraught to even notice as his body went slack.
It wasn’t until he fell to his knees that her grip loosened and he coughed and gasped for air, yet he didn’t turn to look at her.
She stepped back apprehensively, unable to feel his emotions or thoughts. All she found was an all-encompassing void before her.
“W-Who are you... Who am I to you?” He asked, voice strained and echoing unnaturally.
Natasha hesitated, trying to put into words the feelings between them... But there were no such words.
“We are yours... And you are ours, now and forever.” She didn’t know why she said it. There were a million other things she wanted to say, to tell him, to make him understand how much he meant to her, to both of them.
“I see...” was all he said as he stood up and turned to face her. When she looked at him, all she could see was the face of a stranger, yet remnants of who she knew remained.
“He looks so... sad.” She thought as she looked at the man in front of her. The sheer amount of loss and despair he radiated felt like a physical weight.
“I’m glad I met you... Eventually.” He said with a sad smile, a façade to mask the pain.
“It’s funny. Ever since I woke up here, I’ve had this nagging feeling at the back of my head. At first I thought it was that nifty connection between us, but that’s not it.” He said, shaking his head.
“With every injury, I felt my body yearn for you and the one approaching us from the bottom of the hill. I instinctually seek you out. It’s almost as if your mere presence here heals some broken part of me.” The twisted Aleks in front of her said, a tear falling from his remaining eye as it returned to its normal color.
“Is there a way to get him back?” Natasha asked, hoping against hope.
He pointed towards a small glowing bead on the ground twenty feet away from where the circle of witches had been previously. Now only remains were left of them.
“Break the bead and you’ll release him. Whether he’ll return or not is up to you.” He replied with a sad smile. “I wouldn’t, but maybe he’s found something to live for.” He added, looking kindly at Natasha.
“Thank you.” Natasha said sincerely.
“No, thank you... Take care of him, he’s... I’m a bit of a handful at times, but I would rather die than let harm befall those dear to me...” He said before the light disappeared from his eyes and his body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Natasha’s heart dropped, but she quickly retrieved the bead and returned, Sophia cresting the hill carefully in time to see her return to his body.
Natasha felt the panic and loss as Sophia saw him laying lifelessly on the ground, but Natasha flooded their link with more information than could ever be shared with words. Sophia taking a calming breath as she approached.
She lifted his head onto her lap as Natasha knelt down beside them; holding out the bead over his body and crushing it in her fist. The small shards dissolving into wisps of light streaked with dark and red. It looked like ink dropped in water; the colors reaching out like veins.
As they looked at the wisp, something unexpected happened to them, as they both heard a pleasant and soft chime and felt a warm glow radiating over them.
It was like the simple light changed in front of them, yet remained the same, their understanding expanding as they started to notice every scar and cut, the bruised and blackened parts standing out.
Soon, the façade of vibrancy fell away to reveal the scarred, broken and brutalized thing, struggling and fighting for every breath... It seemed so sad, so lonely. Part of them wanted to look away, as if they weren’t meant to see this, to know this. Yet they couldn’t.
They reached out hesitantly, as if afraid their touch would harm it, yet as their hands neared, it was the light which bridged the gap.
The wisp shuttered and slowly bled down into Aleks’ body; the light ceasing to glow as sparks of a familiar consciousness slowly returned.
***
Katya and Silas stood in silence as the events unfolded on the screen in front of them.
“And due to this act of terrorism committed against the city of Los Angeles, I can no longer in good conscience stand by and do nothing. We live in a world of secrecy no longer. Today is a day of truth! Beside me stand the disenfranchised and oppressed, we called them witches and sorcerers once, but today we will know better, those were the machinations of the monsters haunting the night, they were lies told to us to make us weaker, to divide us, but no more.” The President stood on a podium. Katya recognized half the witches present as high ranked members of various covens.
“Today I announce the first publicly verified and confirmed case of the supernatural, and along with it I put to congress a bill of laws which will be the foundation of a future where we no longer need fear being controlled from the dark by those who fear the light. It will ensure that the values this country was founded on and fought for are not extinguished by the very same people who fought us then, and have slowly worked to chip away at the foundation our forefathers laid since. WE ARE THE LAND OF THE FREE AND WE WILL REMAIN SO!” He finished to a deafening cheer.
“Talking about freedom while preaching genocide.” Katya noted softly, too stunned to realize she’d said it.
“I am also announcing the founding of a new executive branch, the Department of Abnormal Defense, which will from this day forward have full authority over any matter regarding the supernatural, bringing any covert or classified agencies into the fold and into the light.”
“Ma’am, they’ve found them.” Silas informed Katya.
Katya turned to look at him as he hesitated.
“Silas? What is it?” She asked, confused by his reluctance.
“It would seem their plane crashed on their way to the valley. A search and rescue team is already airborne and on its way to their last known location.” Silas told her.
Katya felt a chill grip her heart, even as her faith never wavered.
***
McKenzie stepped off the stage to the fervent applause of the crowd, an old crone waiting for him just out of view of the masses.
“That was an impressive speech.” The old witch complimented.
“I told you just to kill him.” McKenzie scowled.
“It would have been a waste.” The old witch argued.
“Our plans hinged on our daylight advantage. For a thousand years you’ve guarded that advantage, silencing any discovery or improvement, keeping them appeased and turning them against each other, and now at the cusp of our plans’ fruition, you fail because of your own greed.” McKenzie seethed.
“Careful boy. Few have spoken to me as such and lived to tell the tale.” The old witched warned.
The click of a gun being cocked sounded out behind her, and as she turned her head, she saw one of the black clad service men holding a gun to the back of her head.
“The days of rituals and curses are over. You can’t stop a bullet, can’t wipe out an army, you remain few and we’ve become many. So I will speak to you as I please, or you will meet the same fate as the brethren you handed over to us to be experimented on... EPI’s are always in high demand.” McKenzie said, sneering as the witch’s façade fell and an expression of indignant anger took its place.
***
On a distant world, the mark of a novice glowed with energy as a distant connection formed, passing on decades of stored information from a veterans mark unrecognizable to the young novice.
“Master, has there always been thirteen seats on the coat of arms?” The young novice asked, turning to his mentor.
The seasoned huntsman stared unresponsive at his own mark as the information carried through the connection flooded his mind, before continuing on, using him like a node in a relay.
"Not for a long time, no." the senior huntsman replied.