Disclaimer:

I don't own the characters that I took from the original stories, I only claim ownership on the

Characters and storytelling that has been invented and added by myself.

If you happen to find any grammatically incorrect phrases, or just have some ideas to improve

what I do here, feel free to message me.

Also be aware that my work might continue content that is not fitted for younger audiences or

might even offend members of certain minorities, genders or communities. If you are not okay

with that, please don't continue reading. Parental advisory is advised.

Authors Notes: Well, just wanted to make a quick note on this: I was not entirely satisfied with Ch2 and 3 so i rewrote both of them. Slight bits of story might have changed but the main change is some more details and little hints inbetween the lines. R&R and most importantly: Enjoy!

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GORE;BE WARNED!

Nightfall

The entire plaza was opened up wide into all directions.
It was shaped like a big circle, centering on a big
well. Built from white marble the statue upon it reached
a few meters into the air. It resembled three men, who
for some reason were fighting two snakes. This statue
was not the important part however. On top and around
the well were skeletons set up. Not just a few, no, there were
hundreds. Tall ones, small ones, some of them without cybernetics,
but most of them had been heavily augmented. And all of them,
without any exception, were clearly human. At least now he knew where
the residents had gone. The young man decided to ignore the dead
around him for now, even though the smell of death trenched the air.
These people had to be lying here for quite some time, telling from
their bleached bones and the rotten city around them.
He noticed some movement out of the corner of his eye, immediately
crouched down, his weapon at the ready.
A few streets further, just a little down the plaza, a young girl
stepped out onto the plaza. Black hair, the dark skintight outfit. Alita.
She took a few more steps in the direction of the well, further onto
the plaza. Then she just stood there, her head lowered. He holstered his
weapon and moved closer. No reaction as he came closer. She stood
still, not moving an inch. But he noticed it. The change in her stance. Her
hands being quenched into fists and the small blue flames licking around them.
He waited, knowing what this girl was able to do. Driven by anger and
hatred she had killed many before. He felt pity for this girl but it
was not his duty to save her from herself. People broke apart all the time.
So he just stood there, waited until her hands stopped burning and her
stance turned into a more relaxed mood. Surprising, he had expected her
to at least destroy a bit of her surroundings. That meant her self-control
was way better than what most people had to offer. He slowly began to
see how she could have won all these fights before.

She turned towards him: "Do you know who did this?"

He shook his head: "Not the slightest idea. I looked for clues before
but I found nothing except destruction everywhere. We should get going soon.
It is going to get dark and I don't want to stay in this place during the night."
That was not entirely true. He would have loved to sleep in a bed once again,
even if it had been lying around for years. But something told him that this
place was not a good location to spend the night. In a scenario like this he had
learned to listen to his gut instincts.
The girl looked at him. She had trusted his knowledge until now. He knew
for a fact that she didn't quite know the way things worked out here. So
he had used his knowledge of the wasteland and his experience in surviving the
wilderness to guide her up to this point. She was going to trust him this time as well;
he was sure of that.
"Where do you want to go? Towards the bridge?" She pointed towards the ocean.
"Yes. Every other way is gonna keep us running in circles. If we are able to cross this
bridge, we have an entirely new area to explore. Probably a place that no one has been in for years."
She nodded in understanding and they continued on their journey.
Moving further through the city, they passed buildings, towers and entire streets that might
have been beautiful once, but by now had been completely destroyed by the remains of war.
Then, as they passed a few last houses, there was nothing around them anymore. The sea laid directly
in front of them, just a few meters underneath their feet the waves crushed against the massive
granite wall that defined the end of the city. And now, they stood right in front of the bridge.
This close, its real size became obvious for the first time. It was at least ten meters wide and even higher
that. Its massive concrete surface was held in place by a thick metal frame. The metal bars might have been red once,
but by now the colors had been peeled off and replaced by dense rust particles everywhere. On both sides of
the street two metal signs guarded the bridge. The letters on them were decayed, barely readable:
"Atlantic Overbridge - measured length 53.7km - next stop 11.9km"
All across the bridge burned out wrecks were scattered. Most of them were deformed beyond
imagination, merely piles of metal scrap remaining. Only few looked like the things they were before: Cars.
Not like the ones used in Iron City, no these ones were way more advanced, high-tech was really the only word.
"So this is our way now? Where does it lead?" Alita almost had to scream to be heard over the waves.
He nodded: "I don't exactly know. On the maps I have seen a bridge like this connects two continents.
But as soon as we cross this bridge, I neither have a map or anything left to direct any further."
"This is the unknown then? Well, what are we waiting for?"
Without actually waiting for his answer the cyborg girl started to climb over the first wrecks.
He shook his head then followed her towards an entirely unknown world. And as the sun sank further
towards the horizon they made their way over the bridge.

Soon they realized that progressing over this bridge turned out to be way harder than expected.
Everything seemed to work against them as they slowly made their way along the bridge.
Freezing winds tore at his clothes, every step was a battle against the force of nature.
As if that was not bad enough already, the wrecks spread across the bridge
stacked up into insurmountable piles of metal. No matter if he moved around or over them
the razor-sharp edges made it into a real torture. Multiple times he noticed the metal cut into his flesh;
leaving only small wounds, but still painful and annoying. As darkness started to collapse over them,
travelling became even harder. Then, when only the moonlight enlightened the dark bridge around them,
they decided to stop for the day. Inside a small notch between a few wrecks that was offering decent
protection from the winds they found themselves enough shelter for the night.

"Do you ever think what might be happening back home right now?"
He barely heard that question over the winds.
"No. I never think about it. If I did I would start to fear what I might find when I return."
For a few seconds he felt the sadness within her heart. She felt alone, as if she had lost someone.
"You lost someone there didn't you? And now you are afraid you might lose even more people that
mean something to you."
The girl nodded; her head slightly bowed down, like a puppet without strings.
What on earth was he doing here? Did he really develop feelings for this cyborg girl?
Having feelings in this world was almost as certain of a death as a bullet to the head.
Well, screw it. Rules were meant to be broken right?
He sat down next to her, leant his back against his backpack and patted her shoulder.
She turned her head a little, smiled and leant her head against him, thankful for
him just being there. He didn't say anything else, waited until she had fallen asleep.
That was when he allowed himself to fall asleep as well, questioning his decision to come here.

"From here on you are a part of the best trained units to ever be trained in this facility.
Wear your badges with big pride and prove worthy of them."
He watched the ceremony from his favorite spot, the roof of the main hangar.
Up here he could see almost everything that would happen down in the military base.
There was an excellent view of the huge exercise area as well as the airstrip, stretching far
into the red landscape of mars. The barracks and hangars were guarding the airstrip on both sides
and in between them, at the top end of the airstrip emerged the command center. It was the only
building that was actually bigger than the hangar he was sitting on top of.
From where he sat he merely
got a glimpse at the training center behind it, one of the high security facilities that were responsible
for the inhuman soldiers they called the berserkers. These monstrosities looked like humans, but instead
were fully robotic soldiers, the only human part remaining being their brains. They were supposed to be
the revolutionary soldier of the future, able to perform a new fighting style that was being looked at
as unbeatable in actual combat. He had been a part of those that tested the first prototypes when they
were first developed.
A loud horn tore him from his daydreams. It was about time to go and meet the command.
He jumped down into the hangar, landed elegantly on the wing of his personal C-11 Fighter jet. There were at least
fifty more around in the hangar, some were damaged but most of them were being prepared for another big attack.
Soldiers were hustling around everywhere. The war was waging and it was only a question of time until every
last one of them was asked to put their life in danger for something bigger than oneself. But something was changing.

He woke up from a wet nose touching his face. He opened his eyes just to stare into a pair of glowing red eyes.
These eyes were not just red, they were actually glowing, emitting a slight red light. The second thing that hit him
was the disgusting smell. And the animal they belonged to stood right on top of him. It was the biggest wolf he had ever seen.
It was at least five feet tall, a real monstrosity.
He felt another nose near his leg. The cuts! He had completely forgotten about those. These things must have smelled
his blood. Cautious not to move fast he lifted his head and took a look around; there were at least thirty other dogs
around him. All of them were much smaller than the one on top of him. His right hand slowly worked its way towards
knife in his pocket. The big beast left off of his wounds and moved further towards his backpack. He didn't seem interested
in his blood. But why were they here then? The answer to this question came quicker than expected as the Alpha took a bite of his
flashlight that had been mounted to the side of his backpack. The metal handle broke and electricity unloaded in a blast of energy.
The beast didn't seem to care at all. Instead it seemed to even enjoy it. They were looking for electricity! Where the hell was the cyborg girl?
He noticed her blade right next to him. There she was, surrounded by some of the smaller animals. They were just waiting.
Waiting for the Alpha to come over. And that was exactly what happened. The Alpha moved over to her motionless body, baring
its teeth.
His hand felt the metal body of his pistol and he drew it with a smooth move. The cold steel clicked, then the blast.
Most of the sound was caught in the silencer as three bullets hit the big wolf in the neck. Kill the leader and the others
will run right? He jumped to his feet as the Alpha turned around. This beast didn't even stagger from the bullets.
No blood was visible either. All eyes laid on him now. With his second hand he pulled out his second weapon.
Both sides sizing up each other. He was wondering how many he would be able to take out before being overrun.
If some of them came too close they would quickly gain the upper hand. So that could not happen.
The second problem was the Alpha. If that thing didn't even stagger from his bullets how was he supposed to defeat it?
Explosives would have been his best choice but unfortunately he didn't have any with him.
Well, no use in waiting. With this thought he raised his arms and opened fire. Before any of the animals even
reacted he had already hit five of them. Luckily the small ones seemed quite dead after being hit by the bullets.
Good. Adrenaline flooded his body as he gave in to the rush of the fight. Bullet after bullet left his weapon,
killing one after another. Blood splattered around everywhere, he heard bones break and animals bark and screech as they died.
His luck ran out as soon as his magazine did. He didn't even have time to reload when the first wolf already jumped at him.
Dropping his pistols he grabbed the beasts nose and held its mouth closed before he threw it back into the crowd with a swing.
A sharp sound occurred as the blade left its sheath and raised into his hand. Another dog came flying at him, he dodged, slit the wolf
open as it flew past him. The beast collapsed behind him, the razor sharp edge had cut its entire belly open, leaving
bloody internals seeping out.
He turned around ready to face the next one but the huge Alpha hit him in the chest with its entire weight.
The immense force pushed him back, throwing him to the ground. He hit the ground and all air was pushed out of his lungs.
The Alpha had his legs right on top of his chest as it snatched for his throat. His arm shot into the air, stopping the teeth before
they were able to get to his throat. Instead he felt the razor-sharp teeth tear deep into his flesh. The entire jacket he wore had been
reinforced with tiny metal plates that were supposed to protect from knives and most other sharp weapons. But these teeth just
pierced his jacket like it was not even there. His vision blurred out as the Alpha shook his head around, trying to rip his arm
off. Luckily his jacket held against most of the force leaving his arm where it was supposed to be. He felt the smaller beasts around him,
tearing off pieces of his armor, biting into his flesh. Almost none of them were able to pierce it. And during this moment that his life
was on the edge to the end, with these teeth right in front of his face and the unbearable smell covering up everything else, time didn't
matter anymore. Everything slowed down, as it slowly faded to dark. There was so much infinite peace in here. No fear, no cold, no wars.
Just freedom and peace. And this wonderful warm darkness.
NO! He was not going to die because he tried to save some cyborg girl he didn't even really know. Another wave of adrenaline
pulsated through his body as the force on his arm was gone all of a sudden.
Then the Alphas head slit off its shoulders, cut off with one perfectly clean cut.

The weight of the Alpha collapsed on him immediately, leaving him locked underneath the massive weight of this beast.
From the corner of his eye he saw Alita slaughtering through the beasts without mercy. Bloody parts flew in all directions as
the blue glowing blade cut them in pieces like paper. Her movements were unbelievably elegant; a real dance of death; a whirlwind
destruction. He heard the animals scream in pain, breathed in and felt all the blood trenching the fresh ocean air. This bridge
had turned into a bloody battlefield within minutes. He brought both his arms underneath the huge body that was still lying on top of him;
But he quickly realized that thing was too heavy for his anyways exhausted muscles. So he laid back his head and waited until
the screams became silent.
A short time after silence returned to the bridge, Alita entered his field of view. She was sprinkled in blood but seemed neither
hurt nor exhausted. She kneeled down right next to his hand, a worried expression in her face. "You are bleeding. How do I stop it?!"
He heard the panic in her voice; but he managed to keep an encouraging smile. The blood loss was starting to get to his head. She
was right, something had to be done quickly. "Can you get this thing off me please." He heard his own voice crumbling as he spoke but
the girl had understood him. She jumped up, grabbed the huge wolf; and with a single pull the weight was gone off his chest. This sudden
event caused him to deeply cough; but he was not off the edge just yet. The bite wound in his arm stood wide open and he could
feel how much blood he was loosing. He started to talk while he took off his jacket.
"Alita. You gotta help me here." He made sure to establish eye contact with her as he explained her what to do.
She pulled out the medical supplies from his backpack; within it was a small sewing kit. A needle and some thread.
There was also a small bottle filled with high-proof alcohol; the closest thing to sterile you could get down in the slums.
He gasped for air as he poured the liquid onto the wound; it felt as if his arm was being torn off straight away.
This was the easy part. He made sure to get something to bite on as the cyborg girl started to sew the wound.
The adrenaline still running through his veins made the pain bearable, but it was obvious how much she hated to
see him suffer whenever the needle pierced his flesh.

After a few minutes the wound was mostly sewed off. Not an experts work but good enough for him.
"Thank you. I appreciate the help." She was already back; helping him to wrap his arm with some bandages.
How could she have such a good heart he wondered. "You know I can't feel pain." That was a
surprising statement: "I really wish I could." Her sadness was overwhelming; was this really the
same girl that just slaughtered an entire horde of wolves?
"What makes you say that?"
She looked at him with big eyes: "All those feelings... They make you feel alive don't they? The wind, the cold,
I can't feel any of that. I just wish I was human enough to feel more of them."
"It is not the body that makes you human. That part is entirely up to you. And if you really
want to, I'm sure there is a way out there that could turn you fully human again."
"You really think?" "Of course"
"If we succeed in this journey, do you promise me to help me find this way?"
He locked eyes with her:

"I promise."

The sun rose over the horizon wrapping their world into warm light as they sat there together.