The Fear of Chainsaws 4
The Protectorate couldn't keep their shit together when an agent of change finally crumbled the pitiful attempts at preserving the so-called status quo once and for all. It would have been amusing to see, if they didn't try and drag her into their equally futile attempts at running damage control. As things stood, an open war between Empire 88 and the ABB was bound to happen sooner or later, with the prospects and general gang members looking like it was going to be the former.
But honestly? Even with that in mind, Sophia Hess was having a blast in the world the Chainsaw Man had created.
The racist shitheads that had been so sure about their stupid group were slowly losing their confidence. The wannabes in Winslow were already rattled to the bone, as many of them were members in name only, and fights between them and the asian student body were bound to happen once in a while.
This meant Sophia had the chance to run 'damage control' at school, meaning that some broken ribs and teeth were just a sorry payment for keeping tabs on the gang wannabes there.
She almost didn't register Hebert's sudden absence, but Sophia honestly couldn't care less. With things being as they were, she even spent less time with Emma than usual. Focused on the task all the Wards were supposed to help with, but which she was the only one doing in a shithole like Winslow.
It was an all-you-can-eat buffet for the ravenous beast known as Sophia Hess. And all she had to do was to take care of doing her business discreetly and efficiently.
However.
However those fucking idiots.
The fucking loser clowns that were the resident streamer duo had to go on and find one of Sophia's secret 'stashes'.
Her vision grew red, and if she had been a lesser woman, she would have killed them then and there.
She didn't care what they were doing, who they were fighting, nor what the fuck that containment foam pillar was. All she cared about was that her good arrows were now scattered across the street below and these idiots had traspaced into something they shouldn't have.
She was in their face before even she realized. Holding back just barely so she wouldn't be charged for murder again. In a way, it was as if the last few days hadn't happened, and her bloodthirst had come back with a vengeance.
She considered just pummeling into pastes anyway. There was no way she could leave any witnesses, not even these two clowns could know about her hiding spots.
And of course, that was when she met face to face with her personal agent of chaos.
"Vam!"
Too fucking bad. If there was someone that was the closest to a legit fan of his, it was Sophia. Unfortunately, not even Chainsaw Man could know about her arrows. So she would have to do a bit of convincing if he wanted to get out of here intact.
Her instinctive reaction before hadn't been enough. Then again, she hadn't expected someone to just burst out of containment foam like that. Or had he been there all along? Honestly, Sophia already knew she was one scary bitch. But her anger was scary even to her sometimes!
Not.
Shadow Stalker spun around and aimed her crossbow straight at Chainsaw Man's face.
The guy didn't seem to care and swung his arms towards Shadow Stalker. Chainsaws extended but not spinning at all.
She dodged. The guy had enough strength to brawl with Hookwolf, or so the rumors went. Even if the chainsaws weren't roaring, she didn't want to take the chance of getting hit at all.
Chainsaw Man kept on swinging. Forcing Shadow Stalker to make more room if she didn't want to use her shadow state this close.
His swings were amateurish but fast. He didn't let her get in position to shoot. So even if Shadow Stalker wasn't getting hit, she wasn't getting any hits in either.
She hated stalements. To hell with gauging his strength.
She turned into her shadow state in a heartbeat after throwing herself back, further into the building.
Chainsaw Man followed her, trying to cut her to no effect. As no matter how sharp the chainsaws were, they couldn't just hurt something that wasn't there.
"Aaaaahhh!" Chainsaw Man groaned, letting Shadow Stalker get away when he realized he couldn't hurt her.
She turned solid a moment later and shot her crossbow with the precision of a hunter that had sharpened her craft through sword and fire.
Chainsaw Man took the hit on the shoulder, but the bolt bounced off of him without even making him flinch.
He gave chase to her, but Shadow Stalker jumped towards him and phased through while reloading her weapon.
Now, the question was: Was he strong like Aegis or like the Glory Bitch?
Shadow Stalker shot in her shadow state. The bolt phased through Chainsaw man and lodged itself in his shoulder this time.
He screamed in surprise, seeing the arrow stick to his flesh and probably exploding in pain all at once. Shadow Stalker made herself solid again and went straight to his hurt side.
Chainsaw Man swung his injured arm no problem, and Sophia phased through the chainsaw a second before it split her face.
If she had a heartbeat in that form, it would have stopped from the surprise. But she didn't, and so she moved on to get more distance and shoot again.
Like Aegis then. She should have suspected, given the chainsaws literally splitting his arms apart to come out, but one never knew with parahumans.
Chainsaw Man kept trying to cut through her shadow state. But it was useless.
Shadow Stalker was actually quite disappointed with his performance. This couldn't be the guy that supposedly killed Hookwolf at all! His attacks were awful, badly timed and erratic. Her so-called teammates would have been on high alert. But Shadow Stalker had some actual combat experience under her belt. She could tell when someone was just bad at fighting. And her expert eyes said his attacks were amateurish. Almost playful…
…
Shadow Stalker shot another bolt in her shadow state. When the projectile left her grasp, it remained in the same intangible state for a moment. Which meant that if it hit flesh as it was like that, it would re-emerge into normality inside her target if timed correctly.
Again, Chainsaw Man didn't bother blocking. He just let the bolt pass through. But as it materialized in one of the chainsaws a loud 'CLANK!' echoed as the bolt bounced off the chainsaw as if it had been shot normally.
Chainsaw Man laughed. He had only spun his weapons once to make himself look dangerous. But now, Shadow Stalker wished he was actually using them at all.
She spun on her feels, a roundhouse kick coming right to the face as she exited her shadow state without warning.
Chainsaw Man slapped it aside. An edge of her military-grade boot coming off cleanly at the contact with the inactive chainsaw.
"So this is the guy that killed the wolf fucker?! What a joke!" Shadow Stalker gave in and spoke. Testing the waters to see if she could get a raise out of him.
The Chainsaw raised his face and replied in fluent Fuck You I Don't Speak English. Kicking the ground at the same time and throwing Shadow Stalker's feet in the air without difficulty.
She activated her shadow state, repositioning in the air helped by her sudden weightlessness. She turned solid again and hit Chainsaw Man with her reinforced crossbow.
Her bones rattled. Chainsaw Man just laughed and retracted his chainsaws before punching Shadow Stalker straight in the face. She just barely phased through and repositioned to shoot once more in her shadow state.
She aimed at the neck, where the creepy wire-things were. The bolt once more rebounded, unable to stick even with the benefit of her shadow state.
Alright, time for the big guns.
Uber and Leet were nowhere to be seen. Gone at some point in between Shadow Stalker's changes of solidity.
It didn't matter. She could track them down later.
She scrambled to get her good bolts and load the crossbow before Chainsaw Man could close the distance again.
She noticed now that although he fought erratically, he wasn't in much of a hurry at all.
That would make him kiss his life goodbye.
What a fucking waste.
She shot in her shadow state again. Bolt straight to the heart.
Chainsaw Man stopped in his tracks, the bolt sticking to his left man-breast as he spat something and screamed.
He reached for his chest, and pulled on a cord that came out of the middle of his chest, starting his engine.
The bolts that had stuck to him exploded into splinters.
The air felt chilly all of a sudden.
"RAAAAAH!" Chainsaw Man charged. The distance between the two parahumans cut short in a couple of steps.
Shadow Stalker became shadowy again, her heart in her throat as one of the spinning chainsaws went through her arm a split second she changed.
It changed alongside her, though. And it reattached in shadow state, which meant there was no pain feedback from the cut.
Shadow Stalker phased through Chainsaw Man and towards the containment foam pillar.
He was right behind her, and she shot her bolts at point blank to the foam column, which would hopefully deter the parahuman a second.
Chainsaw Man cut right through the containment foam. Striking in a way that got in the way of the bolts and smashed them as they materialized.
Shadow Stalker landed just a step away from the edge of the rooftop.
"You tried to kill me." Came Chainsaw Man's voice from behind him.
It actually surprised the both of them a little, though the rogue parahuman quickly composed himself and went to retrieve a black box that was obviously tinker-made to anyone with a Tinker in their team.
He stuck it between his waist and jeans.
"You tried to kill me." Chainsaw Man repeated. The translation device even carried the coldness in his voice.
"Fuck you, you killed Hookwolf too."
Chainsaw Man stomped the ground, creating a small crater and sending debris everywhere.
"It was an ACCIDENT! I only kill devils!" His chainsaws roared alongside his voice.
Shadow Stalker flexed the hand she almost lost to him.
Chainsaw Man cocked his head.
"You're like me." He stated. Realization filling his voice like fresh water in a thirsty traveler's mouth in the desert "Perfect."
This time she did feel the pain. For a split second, at least.
The chainsaws ripped through her stomach, but she transformed before her lower body could be cleaved entirely.
This split second allowed her shadow state to piece her back together. And as she threw herself off the building, Shadow Stalker couldn't help trying to roar in that state even without lungs or air to do so.
The chainsaw devil howled in laughter, and threw himself after Shadow Stalker heedless of the height they were at.
He threw his chains into a light pole and pulled. Beating Shadow Stalker in speed given he still followed the laws of physics.
"Come darkness bitch! Shoot at me! Use your power to rip at me! Hurt me a little more! Kill me a little more tonight!"
Shadow Stalker shot her crossbow again. Becoming solid to let gravity do its thing and get closer to the bolts scattered on the road.
The chainsaw devil cut through her projectiles. Malice oozed out of his laughter as he threw himself at the floor without a second thought.
Shadow Stalker landed in shadow state, but had to turn solid to get a handful of her good bolts for an instant.
Chainsaw Man was there to capitalize on it. He cut through her right leg and almost got her face before she changed. Forcing the Ward to abandon her severed limb and try to backtrack with only one foot before the chainsaw could be on her face again.
She really, really wanted to scream. But her shadow state forced her into silence. She shot the crossbow and the change in lighting helped her projectiles stick to his flesh. Yet he made a point of covering his heart with one of the chainsaw arms.
Chainsaw Man kicked the ground to rush at her. The limb Shadow Stalker left behind crunching under her opponent's strength without resistance.
Chainsaw Man cut her shadow state, but did no damage like that.
He kicked off and away from her. Running around her like an animal trying to trap its prey so it wouldn't run away.
It was bait. He wanted her to become solid again to get a hit in, knowing her bolts were scattered all around them.
Shadow Stalker answered by shooting again. She might not have a lot of ammo at hand. But she would make every single one of them count.
She shot and shot again.
His reflexes weren't good enough to parry or dodge all of them. And in the dark it was a miracle he had managed as well as he did.
Shadow Stalker raised her crossbow and became solid.
Blood exploded from her body as she rolled to get more bolts, knowing Chainsaw Man was right on her face already.
She changed, and the arm holding her weapon reattached to her body. A silent scream left her as her shadow state forced the air in her lungs out, and no cords meant no voice to scream in that state.
She couldn't even pinpoint what she was screaming for. Anger? Pain? Her alternate form didn't help with its un-feeling schtick. And her brain was already in too much chaos to actually acknowledge the subject.
She was being hunted down. Sheep herded in the way only the most sadistic sons of bitches could pull off. The power she was so proud of was ill suited to fight head on with a deranged freak that shrugged off getting his flesh pierced and laughed at her attempts to get some distance.
His only obvious vulnerability was his heart. So much so he stopped sandbagging the moment she hit the bullseye. She needed to get another in, but his guard was up now and even when it didn't look like it, he always made sure to protect it with one chainsaw or the other. Even with something as simple as lowering his head while the three chainsaws in his body spun wildly with a hellish roar.
The coms. She needed to turn solid and get the Wards to track her location. Maybe even get Armsmaster in it. But she needed to turn solid to get actual distance away from the chainsaw devil.
She would have to gamble on her timing to not get her head chopped off.
She turned solid. The chainsaw devil threw his chains at her while she kicked the ground with her only leg. Blood gushing again before she turned shadowy, the momentum of physics applying to her for a moment carrying her far enough for her to glide away.
"Don't run! Are you a fucking coward?! Activate you power! Grow back your leg and face me!" Chainsaw Man rushed, trying to follow her while she was indistinguishable from the darkness around her.
She mentally gritted her teeth when she came close to a window and turned solid.
Pain exploded again and she kicked off to get even more altitude before turning shadowy again. She continued to glide like this even after the chainsaw devil noticed the noise of blood dirtying the wall of that building.
The roar of the chainsaws drilled her skull almost like an actual physical force. Shadow Stalker could almost hear wolves accompanying it in the hunt. A maddened pack trying to rip her apart before she died.
...Wait. Those were wolves. Or dogs. Just monstrous enough that they mixed with the chainsaw roars behind her.
The Undersiders.
Shadow Stalker turned around and glided towards the sound of Hellhound's hellhounds.
It took a moment for Chainsaw Man to correct his course. But he cursed and screamed the whole way to clear the distance faster than he had before.
Shadow Stalker had no idea what these fuckers were doing around, but she knew they would buy her precious seconds for her to call the PRT on the Chainsaw's ass. It was just a matter of getting close enough to those loud howls for Chainsaw Man to notice them.
A burst of darkness appeared several blocks in front, and Shadow Stalker mentally prepared for collison. She wasn't fast enough in her shadow state to clear all the way there, but given how the world had turned on her tonight, she was better off preparing for that fucking power interaction sooner than later.
Chainsaw Man kept on dancing around her. Loosely tracing circles around her gliding form as he momentarily lost track of her between light poles.
The howling and barking intensified, and as Shadow Stalker drew closer her mind rushed to list all the ways she could get to Chainsaw Man if he escaped, or if she would get away with murdering him if the heroes caught him.
She figuratively breathed a final lungful in her rush to get to her nemesis' team when the darkness cleared out.
Shadow Stalker would have blinked if she had eyes to do so, but her surprise changed to being creeped out as a verifiable end of the world swarm danced around the Undersiders while the dogs fruitlessly tried to get it to back off.
Hellhound, Tattletale, fucking Grue and even Regent. They were all pinned either to a wall, to the floor or to a light pole with white thread and had several spiders crawling all around them ceaselessly. Tattletale even having her mouth shut tightly while she struggled against her bindings.
Chainsaw Man caught up to them but stopped. As confused as Shadow Stalker had been before noticing the mutant dogs fighting the swarm.
"You mean to tell me those ain't devils?!"
"No! They are my fucking dogs, asshole!" Hellhound screeched with all her might, even though she was bound just like the rest.
The dogs leapt at him and Shadow Stalker prepared herself to kick a wall and go in the opposite direction.
Chainsaw Man mimicked them and leapt into the air. His chainsaws ran cleanly through the face of the first dog, no amount of mutant bone capable of stopping the roaring blades from cleaving it in one swing.
The second dog caught one of the chainsaw devil's arms, but it too fell to them.
The third stopped in time to get its whole head chopped off, as the chainsaw devil spun in the air with practiced grace and no little amount of demonic screeching.
Shadow Stalker didn't kick the wall. She bodily hit it after seeing Hellhound's monster killed in but a couple of seconds. And just remembered to go back into shadow state because of the pain of her lost limb.
Hellhound's wrathful roar added to the chainsaw devil's as he howled in triumph. The dark-clad, ex-vigilante that attacked him was forgotten as easily as a mote of dust in the wind.