Ch.7

The night was warm, not necessarily a strange thing to happen in what I guessed was the summer of this planet. It was just how unbearably hot it was that caught me off guard, shouldn't the sun disappearance give way towards cooler weather not away from it? Well it would have been cooler at least if I could activate that part of my armor. The power within my armor had started to drop to dangerously close levels, so shutting down parts of it was the only way I could even move it by this point.

I was half surprised when Roman gave the armor back to me after giving me more details about Cinder, if you were to say the three sentences he gave me were details. But as towards the armor, it was completely repaired, every bullet hole and sword slash missing from the history of the armor. Some of the deeper scars remained but still, it wasn't a bad job for what limited time they had. If that's the case it shouldn't take them long until I receive the materials I need in order to fix the Time Distortion Unit. Only a matter of time I guess, until I kill Cinder.

She seemed to be a strange woman, at least from the info Roman gave me. It wasn't much, and I suspect he is hiding a few things from me. The woman was strong, possibly one of the strongest on this planet, which would need to be seen. Roman feared her, that was for certain, but he would never outright express it or say that she was better than him, but I could clearly see it in the desperation in his eyes. From what I could gather she was a big player in the city's underground, and is gearing up for something. There were a lot of pieces missing, and every push towards more info was only retorted with a plea for patience. She was apparently protected at all times, and that this wasn't the time to strike apparently. What did he bring me here for if it wasn't to kill her already? Why was I here?

Why was I here indeed? I am following orders from a man who I cannot trust, to obtain what? To go home? To get Aura? I am not even sure what to do and yet here I am, lying down upon the rooftop of a building unknown to me, with people who I would rather throw off the roof than work with. Am I really that prone to accept to be told what to do? From the Freelancers, Church, Washington, and now Torchwick. Who will eventually keep their promise? Who can I trust anymore?

Standing upon the rooftop, I walked over to the edge of the building where two other men stood. Adorned in the white masks of the other goons, they looked down upon the street with unwavering eyes. A truck, garnered with a white snowflake. That was our target. It would stop at some point along an alley around here, and we were to follow to intercept its cargo.

The goon to my left looked down the street with intense interest. Leaning forward down the road before turning to the both of us. "It's coming."

I looked down the street, seeing a flurry of cars speed down the street, but not one to Roman's description. Turning to the two with a confused expression, they chuckled slightly, the right one unfortunate enough to speak first. "Humans, how you won the war I'll never know."

I clenched my fist in anger, biting my lower lip and pushing back the voices in my head. This wasn't the time, I had a mission, focus Maine, focus.

'Ah, I remember moments like these. Don't you?'

I don't want to remember those days.

'Why? Were they not happy? Or at the very least bearable? They were your family.'

You don't kill family. Family doesn't betray you. Family doesn't put fucking monsters in your head!

'Now that's harsh don't ya think?'

Carolina, York, North-.

'To be fair North's death wasn't our fault.'

Shut up!

"Human! We are leaving!"

I snapped out of my thoughts to see the two half-men I was with leaping across the rooftops, chasing a semi along the street, a snowflake emblazed upon the side. I immediately kicked into focus, gaining ground quickly and overtaking the two much to their surprise. The truck was easy to follow, its path already laid out for us hours before we even set foot upon these rooftops. The path something unknown to nearly everyone in the city, apparently not even the cops knew about this shipment. It was fairly smart on their part, to send several trucks that held smaller shipments, and then hide a bigger one within the deeper part of the city as they are paying attention to the other trucks. The entire plan was created to be unnoticed, to anticipate the small convoys every move. There was a convoy, two small black cars trailing the semi clue enough the truck had protection. With the amount of robberies that seemed to be happening by Torchwick's hands, I was surprised they didn't have more.

The two half-breeds with me were able to keep up fairly easily, although lagging at times from longer jumps between streets. Our chase continuing for the better part of a half hour. I wondered if they had Aura as well. Was it something that all of the people on this planet had? It would be strange to have every person in the world having this power. I doubt it is the same, other people must have a stronger connection otherwise this planet would be in an endless state of war with itself. No one would be on top, no leader to stand above the rest. Junior is an example of this, what he displayed is something I hadn't seen yet. And judging from the way Roman was talking about him some time back, Junior must be under him. So it begs the question, how powerful is Roman? How powerful is Cinder?

'Feel out of your element?'

Yes, I won't run away but I don't know if it's a fight I can win.

'Yet, focus on the task at hand, the power will come shortly.'

You have a point.

I stopped along the edge of the final rooftop, looking down upon an empty street, the semi standing alone in the urban jungle. We had stopped in what seemed to be a more empty part of the city. This part of the city reserved for warehouses and storage facilities for larger corporations, out of the way of the main city. It would take a while for the police to get here, more than enough time to finish the fight and leave. Looking towards the left, it wasn't long until the two black cars sped around the corner, one flying towards the trucks front while the other slowed towards its back end. Hearing guns click behind me, I turned back to the two goons to see them loading various weapons, one wielding a single pistol and silver sword, the pistol getting red bullets, while the other held a large rifle, filing glowing blue bullets into it. Where did they hide those? Better question, what was with the bullets in that gun, was it Dust?

"Ten men in the cars, two drivers, three in the truck, five more in the warehouse, a grand total of twenty men. You'd think Adam has lost faith in us."

"Getting this job done will raise us up a few ranks. Just don't screw this up for us huh Frankenstein?"

"Wonder if the brute even speaks? Freaking humans I swear. Just do your part ok?"

With a low growl I turned to the two half-men, the two instantly stopping in their tracks as they met my eyes. I'm starting to understand why this world's human race hates their kind. Walking up to the one loading his pistol, I growled deeply, getting into his face, I could see him quake in fear. He stopped in his tracks, gazing into my eyes with unbridled fear. The once confident demeanor he held shattered by only my body being this close to his. All talk no bite. What a fucking joke. Grabbing the gun from his hand with no resistance, I turned back to the scene of the soon-to-be crime.

Men were already gathered around the truck, the exact number one of the men described, save for the ones in the building and in the back of the truck. They were armed with assault rifles, all dressed in white suits, and all human. They seemed to be scouting the area, looking for anyone in the vicinity. This was nothing, what are we waiting for? This wasn't a test, this was going to be a slaughter.

Raising my pistol, both of the men behind me cried out, trying to deter me. I was tired of waiting; I was tired of hiding from weaklings like these. Firing the first bullet of the gun didn't seem odd; the force felt even, the action almost muscle memory by this point. The result however was less than expected, the bullet was aimed for one of the guards of the vehicle, but I missed and hit the vehicle beside him, a small miscalculation. What I didn't expect was for the car to explode in a ball of fire, throwing aside four of the guards in its radius and setting fire to the fifth, screams of agony and confusion filling the air in only a few seconds.

"Screw it go!"

The two goons behind me launched forward, landing on the road easily as the one with the rifle opened fire upon the group, dropping two before they knew what hit them. The one with the sword charged forward, but even with a majority of them down, the guards managed to regroup, hiding behind their one good car and opening fire on the man with the sword. To my great surprise, he was able to deflect a good majority of the bullets, but couldn't stop a few from entering his shoulder as he continued his approach.

Following their suit, I landed upon the ground with a thunderous wave. Watching the scene unfold infront of me, I turned to the exploded car, then back to the fight, and the goon's slow approach. There was no hesitation in my movements. Checking the bullet count in my gun, I saw four red bullets left. Turning towards the last car, I raised my pistol, firing once. The result was now controlled, the explosion expected. The devastation destroying what resistance was left from the guards, but also hit the goon with the brunt of the force, his body being thrown back to us.

It was obvious at first sight, he was dead, and the shrapnel imbedded within his body more than enough to attest to that. The second goon glared at me harshly, gritting his teeth. I could see it in his eyes, he was torn, between his hatred for me and mission at hand. He stared at me for a few moments, finger grazing the trigger of his gun, but eventually, he turned back to the scene of death. Fire rained from the sky as the two destroyed cars littered the surrounding area. I looked towards the warehouse behind the semi, expecting more resistance, and aimed my gun towards the door to the warehouse.

We waited for what seemed like hours, an eternity passing in only a few minutes. Something was wrong, did he miscount? Turning to the final goon, he growled at me before sighing. "I don't know what the hell is going on. There was supposed to be more according to the report we got."

Well the report is wrong jackass.

Walking towards the back end of the truck, I studied the scene around me for a few moments. These guys were armed, but they didn't seem prepared for anything major. Maybe it was the supposed secret of this path that allowed them to be skimpy on security. What a horrible decision for them.

Stepping upon a few bodies, I arrived at the doors to our bounty. Turning to the goon beside me, I gestured towards the door as I crossed my arms, waiting for him to open the door. The grunt sighed slightly, walking up to the door and putting his rifle away. Attaching it to his back as it started to decompress itself into a smaller block of metal, that was certainly interesting.

Breaking away from this, I turned back to the scene. These guys, something still seemed off. They seemed to lightly equipped even with the hidden path that they tried to take. Did they not care about the shipment that was supposedly bigger than the rest? Ok think, what would I do in this same situation in security. Well, I would do the same thing I did with the shipments. Hide the real…oh shit!

"Well, you kept me waiting."

Turning just in time to dodge a gunshot aimed towards my head. I backpedaled, rolling along the ground and came up with my pistol, aiming it at the back of the truck, as I saw a barrel aimed directly at myself. The goon before him did not have the same reaction speed as me evidently, his body riddled with bullet holes and lying upon the ground with the rest of the corpses. His rifle behind me now, launched away from the sudden hail of bullets.

Out of the truck stepped out a man, dressed similarly to the other men, white suit and tie. But he was without the dress jacket they all wore, and his tie and shirt seemed to just want to come off at how poorly done it was. He was young, black, with short hair and eyes that could cut through a normal person. The gun he currently had pointed at me was a revolver, glowing yellow with a small streak of silver down the barrel, the glow of several dust rounds emanating from the weapon. He spoke softly, but the voice he carried still managed to cut easily through the midnight air. "To send only three, the Schnee family should see this as an insult. I know I do. To the last one of the group that managed to survive the cannon fodder, my name is Cry. It is respectful to know the name of your killer, may I know yours?"

He's stalling, for what I don't know, but I'm not going to wait around for what he has planned. Pressing the trigger on my pistol, the bullet traveled true. The bullet meeting the man and erupting in an explosion rocking the area, but something was strange. The explosion's path, it wasn't right. It was like it was bending around, oh great.

True to my fear, the man stood tall among the flames, a small blue aura emanated around him in a small bubble, disrupting the explosion. He turned slowly to the Dust storage behind him, then back to me, his eyes and voice lacking any emotion. "And here I thought you might be reasonable."

He raised his gun faster than I could react, the bullet he launched hitting my chest before I could even blink. The explosion that followed sent me sprawling, my body flying and landing on the street hard. I struggled to breathe, the air gone from the lungs as I stood slowly. Fire Dust, that shit really hurt.

Watching Cry walk slowly towards me built my rage up further, how dare he! This little prick is getting on my nerves! Raising my pistol, I rapidly fired every bullet left in its clip. The explosions hitting true once more but warping around him still, dispersing into the air as he continued to walk forward, aiming his gun at me and releasing two more shots. These were differently however, one struck the ground before me and with a rush of air, I was actually pulled forward towards the guard.

Cry, covering part of his face from the rubble blasting back towards him unleashed another shot, hitting my chest again. This one didn't explode, but instead unleashed a torrent of electricity throughout my body. It was agonizing, part of my flesh burnt as the electricity fried the systems in my armor, my H.U.D. disappearing entirely as vomit threatened to escape from my throat, my body going into lockdown.

Sounds of a gun reloading filled my ears as three more impacts filled my mind, one on my shoulder, chest, and left thigh. With the impact came another sensation to flood my senses, a bitter cold, my body rapidly encased in ice, only stopping at the lower part of my helmet. I couldn't move, my senses and body fried from the shock he gave me. Even as I willed with everything I had to push against this ice, my body failed to move to my command. I'm going to murder this prick!

He kneeled next to me, a small sigh escaping his throat as he shook his head, disappointment more than present in his voice. "Don't bother; the ice is made of Schnee's strongest Dust. They knew you were going to come; it's why they hired me. It's disappointing; I expected more of a resistance. I do have one question though-."

Do I have anything? I have to have something to get out of this ice. I can't even get enough momentum to move the armor. The small cracks that started to line the construct did not give me hope towards escape. I wasn't going to get out in time before he killed me. This is bullshit! He can't do this, not to this prick! We cannot die like this!

'We can help.'

'You're limited, we aren't. Let us take control.'

No, not again, I would rather let him shoot me.

'Good, because that seems like what he's about to do.'

'Do you really want to die here? To a nobody?'

…Do it.

The thoughts roared in intensity, I could feel them, in my heart, in my body as I surrendered to their will. This wasn't the time to fight it. As much as I hated it I wasn't going to get out of this, but they could. They…we…we were more powerful. Focusing upon our arms first, they burned with intensity akin to the sun, straining more and more against the ice as Cry stopped his speech that we had long stopped paying attention to. His face turning into one of slight confusion as our body started to convulse, and push against the ice. Bones popped, twisted, broke, growls of agony escaping our throat as we pushed against the weakness of this body, threatening to tear every muscle in it.

At this Cry shook his head, a saddened look upon his face as he turned back to us, gun pointed at our helmet. The flames roaring behind him hiding most of his speech as well as the sounds of the ice around my form cracking. We smiled, he underestimated us for too long, he stalled for surrender, and we shall not. "Well, it's been a pleasure."

'Do it.'

The ice around our form exploded, our right arm partially free first as muscle tore from bone, the loose limb flailing like a cudgel towards Cry's arm, barely grazing it. The gunshot went off next, the sudden shock of our escape apparently enough to change the direction of the bullet, flesh tearing from our right shoulder as the bullet went clean through armor and bone. The vast majority of the shoulder shattered from the impact, along with the ice around our left arm. Reaching out with our left hand, we were able to catch the man before he tried to retreat, grabbing onto his jacket with what strength this form had left, and we pulled him closer.

Seeing this however, he moved to aim his revolver to our head. He was a mile behind me however as our right hand collided with his temple first, the ice-encased fist shattering against his skull. Cry left staggering from the hit gave me the time I needed. Breaking the ice quickly with our left hand, several bones snapping from the impact our fist made in the material. We launched forward towards the man, grabbing the rifle with our right hand, we descended upon the man in a flurry of blows. Savagely, we beat the man into submission with the gun, flesh and blood splattering across our armor as the gun fell again and again. Eventually, we had had enough with just hitting him with the gun. Opening his mouth, we made sure he wasn't able to block this round of bullets. It turned out his shield only effected what was already outside of him.

We breathed heavily, savoring the kill, the wanton destruction that we…I…stop. Stop, we saved…my…my name is Maine. My name is Maine.

'You can't keep doing this.'

'We don't like being used.'

'Let us be human!'

You are not real. You are not real. You are not real. You are not real. You are not real.

Feeling the pain return in a flood, I grasped my right shoulder in pain, only to feel more come from my left. This was going to have to be nursed for a few days at least. Looking upwards, I focused upon the only thing that mattered at the moment, the back of that blasted truck. Keep focus, keep moving.

I stood slowly, moving even slower to the back of the truck. My vision blurry, balance hard to keep ahold of, but I was finally able to make it. Grasping one of the doors, I threw it open. Sighing internally, I turned back and quickly found one of the goons that had traveled with me, finding what I needed in only a matter of moments. The message to the getaway driver was sent in only a few seconds, his arrival assured in the same amount of time. Roman had better pay up at the end of all of this.