Mission 3 Dark Reflections (part 2)
The hall upstairs leads to a dead end like she had expected but there is a difference. A large mirror at the end of the hall. It cover the entire wall, reflecting the hallway. A strange place for a mirror. And then it shatters. A dark figure smashes through the glass that used to hide a passageway. She dodges the fist that comes her way. Just barely. Jumps back to inspect her attacker. They seem to wearing armor. Like a knight .No, it's more like their body is armor. Black, crystal like. A black, hard mass covers them. They have no face. A black swirly patterns with glass like crystal, like a helmet. The mass is uneven, purplish crystal bits stick out like horns. Another swirl on the chest, on the shoulders. A tattered black cape flows behind them. Slight red glow can be seen thought the purplish black crystal glass on the chest. She had never seen anything like this before. She isn't sure if it's a bioweapon or something else entirely.
"Well. I don't supposed you're going to tell me where my brother has been hiding." She attempts to talk to it.
The creature looks at her. As if it was studying her. It looks at the sword she is holding in her right. it makes a motion with its right hand and a substance begins to flow out of hand, hardening into a rod about the same length as the blade. It dashes forward to stab her. Alex barely has time to react. Using the sword to block the strike. The impact almost knocks her down. She did not expect it to be so strong. It is fast. It has abilities she has never seen. Alexia never mentioned it. It was probably not something she knew off.
"What have you made, Albert?" She wonders.
Dodging another blow. Using her sword to block with one hand she reaches for her pistol. Shoots the creature in the face. It takes a step back. She swings the sword at it's chest. The blade connects but might as well have hit a brick wall. The armor is hard. The blade doesn't cut it. Just pushes the creature back further. It recovers faster than she anticipated. Grabs the blade with one hand and squeezes. The metal breaks into pieces. She jumps back just in time to dodge an incoming stab. Tosses the hilt of the broken sword.
Weapons don't seem to work on whatever it is. In speed and power it is at least evenly matched to her. She has no other options left. There is only one more thing she can do. She doesn't like it. But this is an emergency. Reaching deep inside herself she call upon the viruses that flow in her veins. Her eyes turn a mixture of red and pink. Two large petal chapped appendages grow out of her back. They resemble petals in shape but with their size they look more like wings. They are a brownish grey in color, like the bark of a three. On the inside they have eyes. Red with tiny black slits. Six on one, four on the other. From between the two appendages, tentacle like vines appear.
The black knight moves to stab her once more. The petals begin to close, covering her body in a shell. Just barely in time to stop the crystal rod. Catch it between them, inches away from her chest. The vines wrap around it and try to push it away. But it barely budges. They squeeze it, try to break it, but it's too hard. That attack had been much faster than her. Even in this form she can hardly fight. The petals may seem like they are made of tree bark but they are hard, like metal. They obscure her view. Just a tiny crack of light where the rod is stuck. Her back is still exposed, vulnerable.
Suddenly the rod flies out form the force of vines pushing it. The petals part. But too slow. She know what is coming. The knight is no longer in front of her. It is gone. She braces. Moves to guard her back but the attack slips past the closing petals. The kick hits her in the back. She can hear bones crack. Broken ribs. Her spines cracks, she can't move. The petals and the vines crawl back inside her. The knight picks her up by the neck. She needs time to recover. Just enough to move her hand. Just barely moves a finger. Her gun at her hip. It will have to do. She inches her hand closer to the gun. Pulls the trigger. The bullet hits it in the abdomen. The recoil burns her hip. It growls. It doesn't seem hurt. Drops her to the floor. And she gasps in pain when her broken bones impact. The floor boards crack as if about to break. It still grips her by the throat. Manifests another rod from the palm. Aims to stab her in the heart. Alex closes her eyes. Waits for death. It doesn't come. The knight stands there frozen for a moment. Then the rod vanishes, melting back into the black substance covering it's body. It slams her into the wall so hard that it breaks. She falls for a while before hitting the ground, only to feel it break beneath her. She falls again.
Something cold drips on her face. Water? Rain?. It hurts to breathe. It hurts everywhere. Her eyes open but she sees only darkness. Coughs, something red. There is a little bit of light coming from above. She can't tell if it's been hours or a day. Her back is against something hard. Slowly she moves her hand. Feels concrete. Tries to get up. Pain shoots though her body. She falls on her side. Alex stills again. doesn't move. Focuses on healing. Listens to the sound of water drip. Something else comes from further away. Cries and screams. She opens her eyes again. In front of her is a tunnel. She can't see where it leads. She must be somewhere underground.
She had never faced anything like that before. And she wasn't sure why it didn't kill her. Perhaps Albert wanted to finish her himself. But where is he? She wonders about that. The pain has subsided. She gets up. Moving still hurts but it not like before. She still has her pistol. But it won't do her any good against the knight like creature. Power is what she needs. That thing is faster than her. Weapons do no damage to it. If she faced it now, she would die for sure.
The tunnel leads to a corridor. The cries get louder. Inhuman sounding. She remembers something Alexia told her. They had experimented on their own father. Turned him into a deranged monster. That was probably the source of those screams. She looked through the bars in the door. The creature was bound to a chair, with it's arms behind it's back. Body bound with belts, eyes blind folded, mouth gaged. Yet it still screamed somehow. Strange appendages grew out of it. For a moment it stopped screaming. Almost as if sensing her behind the door. Alex backed away. Then there came another scream, fiercer. Something slammed against the metal door. Again. It bent under impact and opened. She knew she would have to fight. Resolved to finish this as fast as possible.
The creature emerged. Still bound. Using the appendages growing from its back to move, like a crippled spider. It launched one of the mat her. The attack was fast. The hallway was not a good place to fight, considering how narrow it was. She ran, back to where she had woken up. At least there was more room. The creature stumbled after her but then used it's appendages to launch itself at her. Breath got knocked out of her as it hit her back. Rolling away she moved to get up. She saw its breath come out, a greenish color. Alexia had warned her, that this poison could only be cure by a special serum. Getting close was not an option. She had now healed complexly either. But this could speed up the process.
Alex focused, calling on her mutated form again. Blocking the strike from the creature with the petal like growths on her back. Sending her tentacles to wrap around it. It tried to jump up. She saw it coming. Just as it had launched itself at her she caught him. The tentacles squeezed, crushing bones, wrapping around its body, piercing skin, moving inside. The creature screamed out of pain.
"Your suffering is over. Rest now" She said walking closer to it.
The tentacles emerge from the creature's chest holding its heart. A mouth like cavity appears between the petals like wings. The tentacles move the heart towards it. It vanishes into her. A new red eye opens on her wing. Now five where four had been. A rush of strength flows through her. Returning to normal she looks at the hole from when she fell. It's night now. The moon directly above it.
"Let's see what else lurks in these halls" she smiles to the darkness and goes back into the hallway.