Chapter 2: Face-off
Mark
"To see whether you are worthy to go to this school, we're going to have a little competition, you will all fight in an arena against each other. May the best man, or woman, win" Goodwitch stated, before walking off to sit down and watch. We went to go get ready.
"Are you ready Mark?" Morpheus asked, pulling on his trenchcoat. I nodded. "Dont be afraid to let loose, the arena's probably seen worse" I tilted my head to the side, the universal look of confusion "You remember Nat Kane? He melted half the wall and floor" I gulped and finalised my armor. I took off my right glove and curled my metal fingers, heraing the satisfying metal clicks, and seeing the reflection of my bright purple eyes. Luckily they werent fake as well. I loaded the ammo, dust rounds and stun darts, then extended the short blade from my wrist. It was only the length of my lower arm, but thats all the extra reach I need. I stood up and walked for the arena entrance.
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"Who're you afraid of fighting?" Tex asked Ashley, who glanced around and spotted me, then dropped her voice to a whisper
"Everyone, since I know you're all really good at fighting. Morpheus is a profesional hunter, Mark over there is a professional killer..." She began
"And me? I'm just a random girl who can shoot!" Tex pointed out, Ashley glanced around again, and I smiled kindly "Mark is creepy though... but... he is kinda..." Tex looked around as Ashley had done, saw me and blushed heavily. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Morpheus standing there.
"Hey, uh, when I said earlier... dont take that too literally..." He began, I realised he meant 'Dont kill everyone please'. I put a hand to my heart and nodded. "Ok, thanks. And why are you blushing?" I guess I blushed more at that, because he laughed and walked away.
"Alright, free for all fight, lets see how that goes shall we?" Goodwitch said over the loudspeaker.
Tex
Ok, I can do this. Morpheus and Mark will go straight for eachother, so I should take down Ash while they're doing that, assuming I can take her down.
"Begin!" Goodwitch commanded. As I thought, Morpheus rushed Straight for Mark, slamming his weapons into Mark's arm. He pushed it off and punched him, his arm steaming from some sort if compression mechanism. I almost forgot about Ash. She swung her sickle around and I dodged it by pure luck. I drew a pistol and my sword and fired off some rounds, which she dodged. Morpheus ran in, kicking Ash to the ground. Mark stood up slowly a short while away. I fired another round at him, forcing him to stick to the ground, and slammed my hilt into the back of Morpheus' head. He collapsed.
Mark
I dodged the round, laying low. And crawled towards the carnage. Tex knocked Morpheus out with her sword, and began to fight Ashley. Sword clashed against Sickle, sparking as the two fighters leapt back and forth. I stood up, staying crouched, as Tex fired a shot at Ashley, breaking her aura, and causing her to resign. I dashed in, grabbing her ankle and flipping her over. She leapt back up, readying her assault rifle. I changed my arm into shield form and deflected the hail of bullets. I threw dust, freezing her weapon solid. She picked up her sword and walked forwards, swinging her sword from the left. I extended the blade in my arm and blocked the attack, knocking her sword to the ground, before pushing her to the ground. I crouched low, and brought my fist back to finish her. Then it happened again.
()
"Finish him" I stood over the body of the man i'd just taken down, a criminal, who'd stolen from a wealthy organisation. I dropped to one knee, and raised my fist. I looked at my victims face. The man was middle aged, with wrinkles appearing on his head. His expression was what I saw first though. His eyes were wide with fear, not a trace of the usual defiant hatred of his normal foes. This man seemed to know he deserved it, but knew he couldnt go yet, he had a purpose he needed to find. My fist relaxed.
"Leyano, I gave you an order. Do it. Now" My master commanded. I stood up and faced him.
"No" I said quietly
"What?"
"I said, I wont kill him" I said again, louder. Master knocked me to the ground
"I'll deal with you later, now its time for this man to die" I heard Master drawing his dust pouch, and the man screaming as he undoubtably poured fire dust into his eyes
"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The man wailed "PLEASE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"SHUT UP YOU PATHETIC WORM!" Master yelled. I couldnt let him kill the man. I stood up, and crept over to Master, and kicked him off the man, who scrambled to his feet and ran, as fast as a now blind man could. Master turned to face me. "You... boy... you just made a very bad mistake"
()
He took me back to his house, and tied me to his chair. The persuasion chair, he called it. I looked down to see him holding a saw. I tried to scream, but only a faint croak came out. I spat blood out.
"Ah, yes, I decided you shouldnt speak again. Would you like to see?" The master pulled out a mirror, reflecting my neck, which had a long thin scar on it, stitched up badly. "Now, so you cant hit me again, how about we take your limbs too?" My eyes widened, I tried to scream again. "Lets start with... ah, the right arm. Try not to flinch my boy!" He drove the saw into my right arm, just below the elbow. I tried to scream, and failed once again. As the blood in my arm left me, so did my sanity. One drop at a time, my old persona was lost, leaving me with a person I barely knew. Whether he's better than the old guy, I do not know, for I only remember as far as that night onwards.
Tex
I dont know whether I technically won that. If the guy you're fighting passes out, is that a win? Mark lay in the infirmary bed, his mouth moving as if he could speak in his dreams. He stayed asleep and unwakeable all night, and I'd stayed with him. If i'd caused it, I had to say sorry.