Marie couldn"t believe her eyes. The captain chasing her had been her squad member who went missing three years ago, before she had formed her embodiment weapon. His light brown hair covered one eye while the rest was pulled back revealing grey eyes under them."Lawrence, how could you?" Marie felt deeply betrayed since Lawrence had been her most trusted aide. He had been there for her when she first established her squad and had always had her back in the battlefield. "You were like a brother to me… Why?"
"Because I was just a "brother" you-… Never mind. Isn"t it good to know that one of your squad members is still alive and kicking? Or did you want us all to die back then?" Lawrence"s cold gaze caused Marie to shudder slightly.
"What are you talking about? How could you defect over to Seruin"s side?" Marie"s guard was up for any sneak attacks Lawrence"s grunts might pull.
"Don"t play dumb. You know full well what I"m talking about. Even if you deny it, I know the truth." A dark shadow pa.s.sed over Lawrence"s face, distorting it. "Now, I"m going to take all that you loved as well." In an instant Lawrence dashed towards Marie. He lashed out with a kick but as Marie was ready to block it he stopped mid swing and curved his foot around Marie"s block. His foot collided with Marie"s right shoulder knocking her back a little. Hoping back from Marie, Lawrence jumped on his toes.
"It"s just a warm-up. Come on!" Lawrence attacked again. This time instead of blocking, Marie dashed towards Lawrence as well. He did a wide swing with his right leg, swinging and pivoting on his foot in a circle to bring his other foot around as well. Marie ducked his first kick and tried to land and uppercut. In Lawrence"s mid swing he stopped and his foot changed directions, aiming at Marie"s head. Before Marie could finish her uppercut she blocked Lawrence"s foot with her free hand and grabbed it. She changed the directions of her fist to land it on Lawrence"s leg. Smashing the leg with her fist Marie swung Lawrence"s leg away making him lose his balance and aimed for his stomach. Unfazed, Lawrence pushed off the ground with his good foot and leaped away from Marie. Marie"s fist grazed Lawrence"s clothes as he escaped her attack.
"Yep, still as strong as ever, if not maybe even better. The years were nice to you I see." Lawrence tested his hurt leg and found that it wasn"t shattered from the inside. He jabbed emergency painkillers into his leg, his crazed grin bigger than before. Marie spat at Lawrence, her eyes full of disgust and sorrow.
"It seems that you got worse Lawrence." Marie raised her fists again, preparing to fight. "But, just because you"re and old friend doesn"t mean that I won"t kill you." Her tone was cold and flat, rea.s.suring the other enemies around Lawrence that the message applied to them too.
"No no Marie. It seems you"ve misunderstood. We won"t be dying, you are." Lawrence put his fingers to his mouth and a loud whistle rang throughout the forest. Flocks of birds scattered, animals disappeared and soon the area was surrounded by enemies. They all aimed their weapons at Marie. "And just so you know, these aren"t just any ordinary soldiers, they"ve been trained to be brawler killers. For years these people have trained, endured, and been enhanced just to counter brawlers. Brawlers, like you." Lawrence snapped his fingers and from the dark trees three dozen of enhanced soldiers walked out in unison. Their fists covered in heavy steel plates. Their lower face each covered by a mask. Their mutated arms were wrapped in metal and chains. Each stood at about eight feet tall.
"I give Seruin"s latest human failures... the anti-brawlers."
"What monsters did you guys create?" Marie clenched her fists tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"Oh, these are just the failures. The real ones have already been let loose in your estate. And they are on their way now. Surrender or face the consequences." As Marie continued to look at the mutated men with disgust she noticed that each of the mutated men had a strange tube sticking out of their side. It seemed to pulse and move but it was hollow. Suddenly brown black mush oozed out of the tube, landing on the floor in a sick slippery pile. The smell of the brown black sludge almost made Marie barf.
"Oops. Looks like it was waste time." Sighing Lawrence sat down and waited with his arms crossed. As if a signal was given the thirty-five other mutants all released the same brown black sludge in unison. In some fingers could be seen while there was a half-chewed eye that rolled towards Marie. The disgusting smell of rot, old blood, carca.s.ses, and s.h.i.t filled the area. Each mutant was groaning as the brown black sludge continued to slip out of them. They didn"t seem to care about the sludge. Instead they relished in it. Grabbing handfuls and shoving it in their faces, smearing it across their bodies as well.
"I can"t believe Seruin did this! To modify humans to this extent, what was that Emperor doing!?" Marie tried not to gag as the winds shifted and she was surrounded by the sickening smell.
"Don"t blame me I"m just carrying out orders. Besides, what"s wrong with giving trash a purpose? Each of these men were killers, bandits, and thieves. They should be grateful that they even have the chance to repent for their crimes. Go." With a flick of his hand the mutants lunged at Marie. Where she dodged, their fist hit the ground a small crater etched into the ground. Seeing this Marie kept her distance and pulled out her hand gun. The pulsing blue beams shot out of the thin black barrel. Since her aim wasn"t that great two out of the five shots missed. The other three hit the legs and arms of two mutants. The blue beam seared into their flesh about two inches deep before dispersing.
"Grraahh!"
"Guwooh!" The two mutants. .h.i.t retreated to the middle of the bunch. The rest were unfazed as they continued their a.s.sault. Punching and kicking everywhere they had no sense of coordination. Blocking and parrying Marie was on the defensive. She couldn"t attack since the other mutants would charge at her if she stayed still for too long.
"Well? Difficult to deal with aren"t they?"
Marie glared at Lawrence for a second before continuing to battle against the mutants. As she was fighting she noticed that some were heading towards Lydis. Panic filled her and in an instant she plowed through the mutants. With one punch she blasted a hole into the chest of one mutant. Grabbing onto it"s shoulder she jumped on top and leaped towards Lydis. She pushed off the dead mutants body and shot towards the mutant nearest to Lydis. Her fist collided with the mutants head, shattering and spraying it"s contents everywhere. In midair she spun and landed on her feet in front of Lydis. Two down, thirty four to go. Marie was breathing hard, her right eye was beginning to bleed a bit, making it look like she was crying tears of blood.
"Overexerting yourself, are you? Looks like your wound is bugging you." Lawrence"s mocking face flashed in and out if view between the shuffling mutants.
"p.i.s.s off. That was just a warm-up." Marie wiped off the blood and readied her fists. Lawrence nodded to his right and a volley of small daggers and arrows shot towards Maire. Since Lydis was behind her she had to stand and defend instead of dodging. The mutants didn"t care that they were getting hit with the blades and arrows. They continued to move toward Marie and Lydis in a slow shuffle, slowly surrounding Marie and Lydis. Lawrence raised his hand and the arrows and blades stopped. Marie was surrounded by the mutants.
"Any last words?" Lawrence just wouldn"t stop tormenting Marie. He found joy in seeing his former overpowering squad leader cornered and in despair. Her troubled look as she tried to think of any plan at all but realizing that it was futile.
"p.i.s.s. Off." Marie spat towards Lawrence again, but it landed on a mutant instead. Sighing Lawrence raised his hand and all at once the speed of the mutants tripled. Faster than before their fists were on Marie in an instant. She tried to block the punches but where there was one another four would follow it. Marie was pinned to blocking. She enhanced her body with slyphir but the steel plates on the mutants were enhanced with layers of strengthening slyphir. Sensing this Marie tried to avoid facing the fists head on and aimed for their bare arms. Two punches were coming from the left and right. Marie"s arms warped and wrapped around their arms. In a short pause a flinch of pain flashed across her face and then in the next moment she flung them at the horde of mutants, knocking them over like dominos. Marie was breathing hard, sweat was dripping down her chin along with more blood from her right eye. She brushed off her hands and stood ready again. With the short amount of time she bought herself Marie recovered a bit.
"Come on." Marie beckoned for Lawrence to join in too but he stood his ground.
"d.a.m.n useless trash. Can"t even take out an injured woman." Lawrence went to the mutants who were struggling to get up and tossed them towards Marie headfirst.