Here is part II, fellas (」°ロ°)」
Happy reading!
Kenna looked at her surroundings, her adrenaline was still at an all-time high and she felt like her lungs had just functioned again. Apparently, Stefano had saved them. They have survived this round although Kenna knew the attacks wouldn't stop here. Knowing Theodore, she knew that he would do anything to stop them from reaching the machine.
"Right. I totally forgot about the camera," Kenna began easily, her eyes flicked over to her shotgun before coming back to settle on his face.
Stefano produced a handkerchief from his pocket and made his way through the corpses with a wicked gleam in his eye, looking for heaven knows what. His dagger still in hand.
"I told you," he smirked, but didn't meet her eyes. His gaze was focusing on something else on the ground. "My powers aren't a cliche, Kenna, dear. I hope you've realized that by now," he responded proudly.
"I prefer the flying dagger," Kenna should probably dial back the sarcasm, but she couldn't help it. His self-aggrandizement was plain ridiculous. Her remark earned her a scathing look from the artist and she laughed, like really laughed that she could feel his gaze intensified. "Oh my god, relax, it was just a joke."
Eventually, Stefano dropped the subject, went back doing whatever the hell he was intending on doing and knelt down over a female Lost. Fascination danced in his eye as he inspected the woman's arms.
"Her arms… ah, she had such lovely arms," he started, still hadn't taken his view from them. "It would be a shame to let such limbs wither away with its owner."
Kenna hadn't even had the time to think of an answer when the next thing she knew, Stefano raised his dagger and made a messy chop off of the corpse's arm. He made the second cut on the other arm with the same manner.
Kenna's jaw dropped.
"What the fuc— why did you do that?!" her visage went from comically blank to furious in a jiffy. Kenna could feel her stomach churned at this. Killing them was a different thing, but mutilation… this was just an atrocity exhibition to a whole new level.
Stefano rose to his feet casually, his crimson gloves smeared with the green substance as he handed the two mangled limbs to Obscura as if he was handing a kitchen utensil or something. He then proceeded to wipe the blade clean with his handkerchief.
"Perdono?"
"Why did you have to cut off her fucking arms?!"
"Why not? Her arms could be useful for my future projects," he said defensively, his tone helplessly bereft of any moral compass. "I had this sudden shot of inspiration of conjoining several arms together like a vase holding a bouquet of red roses on a chair. Set against a backdrop of rich velvet red curtains and an overhead lighting…" Stefano looked as if in the throes of his creative madness; hands spread, eye shone with enthusiasm. "Magnifico, don't you think?"
Kenna appeared to bristle at his answer, but she could only sigh. She didn't have the energy to try and argue with him right now. It was hopeless trying to talk with a madman anyway.
"Christ's sake, Stefano, you do really know how to give women the creeps, don't you?"
"Forse, perhaps," he shrugged. "But you are not like most women."
"That doesn't mean I approve this," she spat out, but with no real bite.
Stefano looked at her, his head cocked slightly, his brow furrowed, visibly confused by her sudden outburst. Kenna tore her gaze from him. Surely, he had to know just what exactly upset her, and if he didn't, she wasn't going to enlighten him. It wasn't like she could magically alter him into the beacon of goddamn humanity in a short span of time anyway.
Just like aforementioned, it was hopeless trying to talk with a madman.
"You know what, let's just—" she slapped a hand on her forehead. The image of the mutilation was now forever trapped inside her head and she gave an involuntary shudder. "Let's just go. The clock's ticking."
Kenna whirled around, not bothering to wait for him or his monsters, and scurried her way up the stairs towards the main entrance. Stefano fell into a step behind her in an unfathomable silence. He hadn't uttered a single word and she supposed it was better that way. Once again, he continued being a thorn in her side as if it was his second nature.
She took one last regard at the courtyard, making sure their enemies stayed dead and none more coming to surprise them. Kenna could tell Stefano kept stealing glances at her, but she refused to look at him.
Even when she said, "On the count of three, I'll get the doors open."
"Va bene. We will cover you, my dear."
He braced himself against the wall and dropped into a fighting stance. Guardian took the opposite side with its deadly arm raised.
"Be careful," Stefano whispered kindly.
"I will." But there was a thick uncertainness in her words. They could be as well walking into a trap, but they couldn't turn back now. Not when they were this close to their goal.
The heavy oak doors creaked loudly as Kenna pushed them open. She cautiously peered her head inside, expecting company except she found none. Kenna signaled to Stefano and they all stepped inside, all on alert, after he had to mutter something to Guardian to stop it from cackling.
Kenna had her shotgun raised once more, feet making muffled sounds on the linoleum floor as she looked around watchfully, her shoulders hunched. If an enemy would spring out from the corner, she would be ready. And judging from the way Stefano's dagger glimmered under the dim lights, Kenna knew he would show no mercy as well.
Everything in the foyer was left untouched just the way she had first come here; from the drying blood trail to the shoe-prints— except that there was no Tchaikovsky on the loudspeakers this time. Shadows still loomed overhead, making the dimness seemed more ominous. Lightning flashed from outside, briefly illuminating the room and their watchful faces as the rain began to pour heavily.
They slipped through the brown doors behind the desk that led them straight into a larger hall. Though there was no gruesome Alice In Wonderland spectacle hanging in mid-air to greet her now, it was still hard for Kenna to come back. The last time she went here, the ground had swallowed her whole and brought her straight to this devil of a man.
What this place would her offer this time, she wondered gloomily. She wholeheartedly wished she didn't have to find out.
It was five minutes later when the group was bustling their way towards the stairwell. The corridor was even darker than the other rooms they'd been, save for little candles that barely lighted their path that Kenna had to stop short and squinted her eyes. She delved through her pockets, snapped her shabby lighter on and took lead. Kenna made a mental note to bring a flashlight for the next round. Stefano trailed her up the stairs with a hand on the railings.
Kenna nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a strange rumble coming directly from above them, loud and almost inhuman. They all paused in their place. Kenna held her breath, her eyes enlarged as she turned around to Stefano who was listening intently, his brow furrowed.
He looked up at the ceiling, trying to determine whatever the heck it was when it abruptly ceased.
"We're not alone," Stefano noted after a beat of silence, echoing Kenna's own alarming thoughts. He then signaled his Guardian and Obscura to take lead.
"Holy shit." Kenna felt like breathing again, seemingly appalled. "What the fuck was that?"
"I don't know. But whatever it was, it sounded enormous," he answered bitterly. "And whatever it was, we'll destroy it. We have my Guardian and Obscura with me, they won't stand a chance."
Kenna wanted to believe him, but something told her it wouldn't be that easy. This could be her hunch talking— or paranoia— but whatever it was, it made her feel nervous.
She only knew that they needed to reach the Emitter fast.
"I thought this place is some kind of your territory or whatever?" Kenna asked again as they resumed their climb.
Stefano's face scrunched. This must be a sour subject for him.
"It used to, but I think your arrival in Union piqued Theodore's interest. He had his people surrounded this place just after our first encounter." Kenna noticeably flinched at the memory, but kept still. "I had to leave before he had a chance to come and get me," he continued.
"Shit. I hope you aren't pinning that on me for all that," she mumbled hopefully. The last thing Kenna needed was for being the reason Stefano had lost his domain to Theodore.
"Che? Kenna, darling, don't be preposterous," Stefano looked at her, sizing up whether she was serious. "You are the least to blame in all this. It's him. It's always been him."
Kenna craned her head to the side, taking in his sharp profile and she couldn't help but wonder just exactly what Theodore had done to him. Somehow, she found herself almost feeling sympathetic for the devil.
Almost.
They reached the top, and Kenna couldn't be more relieved to see the dim lamplight that filtered through the enormous curtains greet her. Stefano held open the curtain for her as they slipped inside to another large room, Guardian and Obscura were waiting for the two humans by the doors— which had already left opened by either one of them to indicate the room was clear of any sign of hostile. Finally, they sped through the final hall and turned right.
Beyond the final doors, stood the Stable Field Emitter, surrounded by a myriad of hanging safelight bulbs that illuminate the whole room in deep crimson. The room felt colder and smelled different, like a mixture of strange chemical and death, which was quite unsettling.
If Kenna didn't know any better, she'd thought this room had used to serve as one of Stefano's darkrooms.
Kenna approached the Emitter, once again reminding herself that Stefano was on her side now and felt her wariness slowly subsided. Her attention shifted as soon as she heard the Emitter's mechanical voice came to life.
"Authorization required. Please connect an authorized terminal."
She fished out her communicator from her side, placed the device on the docking station to confirm her authorization as the both devices linked. Finally, Kenna grabbed the note for the activation codes and let out a deep sigh.
This was it, the whole point of no return. Their first move on the chessboard began here. Kenna paused and looked at Stefano, a silent permission, as he moved beside her, his creatures behind him. They exchanged glances, mirroring each other's expressions, scared, nervous, skepticism all melted together into a single pot.
Kenna was also worried for her own safety, for Juli's, for the Castellanos', for her fellow friends at Mobius.
And maybe even slightly for Stefano's.
She knew well the effect of exposing himself to the Emitter; his powers would be disabled momentarily until he wasn't within the machine's radius. He would be human, normal, in other words; like a king devoid of his majestic crown. Kenna would still occasionally hate him for numerous of reasons, but that didn't mean she'd take pleasure seeing him high and dry.
But then he uttered, "We've come here not to make second thoughts, mia cara."
And any trace of hesitation slowly faded from his features. Adorned with the harsh red light, he truly looked like someone who was facing a firing squad and refused to be blindfolded.
"Yeah, I'm afraid so."
All bets are off, Kenna thought resolutely. Her fingers made contact with the keypads, gathering courage. She needed to do this— she had to do this. If you're going through hell, the only way out is to keep walking.
Stefano backed away, his form was starting to be limned with the strange energy waves. The room witnessed as red and blue coalesced and danced on the walls like a neon show.
"Into the mouth of the wolf, Kenna."
For some strange and unknown reason, those words comforted her. "And may the wolf die."
And Kenna punched the codes in.
"Restart sequence initiated."
The machine emitted a steady whir and raised its radar antenna from the body. A bright flash brightened her face as she saw the antenna extended its arms and spun, generating some kind of electricity.
Kenna glanced back at the countdown on the terminal screen. They approximately had ninety seconds before the machine went online. It was time to go.
She spun around to him. "Alright, let's get the hell out of her—"
Suddenly, there was a pounding on the doors, violent and unforgiving that echoed throughout the chamber and they both froze. Kenna's mind screamed out a warning. The realization of any possible danger came only a millisecond before the doors were brutally knocked open with one final force, sending splinter of woods and hinges at her she had to throw her arm over her eyes to make sure it didn't reach her face. And by the time Kenna grasped at what was happening, it was already too late.
Stepping into the room with heavy thuds was the Harbinger, like the phantom coming to haunt you in the dead of the night, wielding its flamethrower and taking an aim straight at them. Its breath sounded unusual under its bandage-wrapped rebreather mask that was attached to the gas canister on his back.
Kenna, feet still deep-rooted in her place, simply gaped. Her hands fumbling with her shotgun, her nerves were on fire. This was bad indeed. From her side, she noticed as Stefano pulled his dagger from his back in one smooth motion.
"Harbinger," he seethed and stepped forward, his eye flashed dangerously. She thought if looks could indeed kill, Harbinger would die a slow, painful death. Guardian and Obscura both moved in-line with him, ready to pounce on the given order.
Honestly, she had no fucking idea how to defeat the hell out of Harbinger. The thing was twice her size! But Stefano and his monsters seemed to know what to do. And if their number was any indication, Harbinger should be the one who feared for his own odds, not vice versa.
"You must be cleansed!" It howled. And then Kenna saw as the strange ornaments on Harbinger's gas canister lit up like flashbulbs and radiated a powerful wave blast across the room that Kenna nearly tripped.
That was when all hell broke loose.
All the lightbulbs in the room trembled and exploded one by one, like dozens of cameras snapping pictures in her face at an insane rate. Darkness swept in once more like an old friend.
At the same time, she witnessed as Stefano instantly crumpled to one knee, his dagger slipped from his gloved hand. One hand clutching his bad eye, he let out a pained groan while his other hand balled into a fist so tight on the floor that he was uncontrollably shaking.
"Stefano!" Kenna quickly rushed to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking panic-stricken. "Stef, talk to me!"
He slowly raised his head, staring straight at her through his rheumy eye. In the dimness, she couldn't discern his expression, though the shadow of his visage suggested anything but acute pain. The flare in his mechanical eye starting to dim.
"My powers," he rasped through clenched teeth. Her mouth dropped open.
"H-how?"
Frowning, she looked around, only to find Obscura and Guardian's forms glitching, their movements slowing before they were completely phased out of the room. Kenna's stomach lurched. It had suddenly dawned on the mind of Kenna Kidman that her situation had just elevated from too-close-to-the-sun bad to as worse as exposing herself to its fiery halo.
And this time, she knew she was about to get burnt.
The countdown on the screen froze at seventy seconds. Kenna cursed miserably. This was a chaos. How in the world Harbinger could have done all of this, she didn't have the time to figure that out now, but it seemed it had something to do with the creature's gas canister. And the fact it only affected Stefano and his creatures and the Emitter troubled her deeply.
Kenna's eyes snapped wide in alarm when she felt something bright and scorching approaching her from on the back of her jacket. She didn't have to turn around to know what it was, for the reflection of the gush from the orange flame could be seen vividly in Stefano's eye.
Acting on instinct, Kenna reached to Stefano and used all her strength to roll the two of them to the side. She felt the furnace-like heat went passed by her hair just an inch and she hissed. Thankfully, she was fast enough to act just in time before the fire could engulf and burn them both to a crisp.
That was too damn close.
She braced herself against the floor, the cold tiles a counterpoint from the heat she was exposed earlier and quickly scrambled to her feet, grabbing Stefano's hand as she upped before wrapping her own arm around his back. Bearing his full weight, Kenna let Stefano leaned on to her like a lifeline and she steered them round the corner, her gait off-kilter.
"Stay with me, Stef," Kenna mumbled as she carefully braced him against the walls.
Harbinger's unusual breathing echoed in the background, though they were safe here just for a moment they couldn't linger for too long. She needed to form a plan before things went even further south.
"Are you okay?" The concern in her voice was unmistakable. Kenna stifled the urge to touch him again or make unnecessary advances or something.
Stefano nodded, still looking dazed and seemingly out of breath.
"I'm fine." He was not. His eye was slanted and frightened, his skin pale with a sheen of cold sweat. Stefano was the opposite of fine.
Kenna blew out loudly. Despair to the point that she nearly tore her hair out.
She withdrew her shotgun and leaned out of the walls slightly. Her eyes found the Harbinger making its way towards the Emitter, the flamethrower was trained on the machine this time. The ornaments on its gas canister were still aglow and Kenna was certain now that whatever had rendered Stefano and the Emitter to this state came from it.
Kenna calculated their options and risks. They could try their luck and kill the thing. The outcome would be very dicey— it was a crazy risk but they came here to make sure the Emitter was up and running. No ifs, no buts.
Or they could escape. Clearly, Harbinger's main interest was in the Emitter and given that Stefano was in no shape to fight, engaging a war with the beast was suicidal. Yes, the Emitter would be destroyed and all of their effort to come here would be futile, but at least they would be safe.
"The creature is burning down the machine."
Stefano's voice instantly pulled Kenna down from her train of thoughts. He stood next to her, frowning, his eye narrowed and the pair watched helplessly as the Emitter was being set alight by the Harbinger. Kenna cursed foully.
"Shit. It's gotta be stopped!" She knew she had to come up with a decision soon but her mind felt blank. It almost felt like seeing a person drowned but being helpless to plunge into the water and save them.
"I know. We need to stop it."
The woman turned, darted her gaze up at him. Those were the last thing she had expected to come out of his mouth, it sent her brows knitted. Though the color of his skin starting to reappear, he still looked spent.
"Can you fight?" She felt bad for asking this, but she didn't have a choice.
"I'll manage."
But Kenna wasn't convinced. "Are you sure?"
"I am certain, Kenna. Facciamolo," Stefano replied coherently, resolutely.
Kenna wanted to open her mouth to protest, but they hadn't much time to lose. She simply nodded in acquiesce.
She fished out her Colt pistol from her waist, remembering his dagger was still left lying about in the middle of the room and held it over for him. Kenna wasn't going to send him back into war without at least a sidearm. He took the gun from her hand and ejected the magazine to take a conscientious look at the bullets, counting.
"I only have one more mag to spare, though," Kenna informed as she handed the magazine to him, anxiety creeping into her voice. "I was going to use this for last resort, and obviously this is a case in point."
Stefano pocketed the magazine. "Capisco. And the shotgun?"
Kenna glanced down at the weapon and counted the remaining cartridges. She bit her lip to stop her from squirming.
"Six shells." And the two let out a loud, collective sigh of dejection. Anger compressing Stefano's lips into a thin line.
Six. Kenna only had six shots at this, she'd better not miss. She only hoped they could still save the Emitter before it was too late.
"Then we'd better make it count," he said, preparing himself.
Without tearing her gaze away from him, Kenna unloaded the shotgun and took her place by his side. She let Stefano's last words reverberated in her head. He was right, they would damn better make this count.
Kenna gave a signal to Stefano, a harsh line forming between her brows, her finger curled around the trigger. Without further ado, the pair stepped out from the corner and opened fire.
They laid a first couple lethal shots at Harbinger's head. The creature flinched in his place, causing for the flamethrower to lose from its grasp and the fire stopped immediately.
Harbinger let out a deafening roar and turned its attention to them. Kenna met its gaze, a challenge in her eyes. The thing was angry. Not very surprising. But before they could lay another shot at it, Harbinger suddenly lunged toward their position. The weight of its physique emphasized with each step it took and it just struck her just how large it was up close.
They both jumped out of the way just in time before the impact— Stefano to the left and Kenna to the right. Pain pierced her as she landed on her hip, scorching.
Kenna moaned and fixed her gaze on the floor instead, a hand rubbing over her side. She consumed the pain like a bitter pill, surprisingly, it helped muted the sting for a bit.
Out the corner of her eye, she felt Stefano staggered to his feet, one hand bracing on a nearby counter to steady himself. He still looked weak and Kenna was slightly worried if Harbinger would see that he had the lesser advantage.
Kenna lifted her head and opened her mouth to scream at Stefano to run. But whatever words she wanted to say died in her throat when she found Harbinger stood before her, her eyes settled on the end of its blade-like nozzle as a cold fear washed over her.
Kenna swallowed the lump in her throat and closed her eyes tight.
Checkmate.
An echo of a gunshot snapped her eyes open. She looked up, a spray of blood oozing from Harbinger's mask before whipping her head to the side to see Stefano was firing another series of shots at the creature.
"Kenna, correre! Run!" he shouted hoarsely. Kenna was somehow still too dumbfounded to move a muscle. "Run!"
The woman hauled herself up, eyes wide, hand making sure still holding to her shotgun and took off. She sprinted noisily down the aisle, skipping and skidding whilst Stefano went to the opposite side, the Harbinger hot on his tail. Gunfire and the sound of their shoes clomping were the music that encompassed the whole room.
It had struck her then, Stefano was playing the distraction. That realization brought an intense chaos in her mind remembering the state he was in, but at the same time, she knew she would have done the same thing if Kenna had been in his position. It simply irked her just how much she wished for Stefano to disappear from her head, but the thought of him dying patently bothered her.
The ball was in her hands now. If she wanted for them to win this game, she would better play it right.
Approaching the edge, Kenna's pace slowed down. The main entrance was on her right side. Her lungs burned, sweat trickled down her face and stung her eyes, her heart pounded harder than ever. She pressed her body to the high walls, took a quick glance around the corner and pressed forward where a large gap between the walls was facing the Emitter. Kenna noticed the Emitter was clearly in a bad shape, some parts of the body was melting but the screen was still flickering.
There was still hope.
Stefano was on the other side of the room already, panting and darting about while trying his best to fire blind shots at the Harbinger. The zealot was lethal, she noticed, spraying fire everywhere it went, swinging its sharp nozzle at him, trying to knock the artist down to his feet, but Stefano didn't miss a beat and was quick to dodge though struggling to maintain his agility.
In which, Kenna opined it wouldn't be for long judging how he'd become slower and slower.
A bullet entered the Harbinger's skin once again, and still, the thing had not yet to fall to its defeat. Their effort reached stagnant. Her headache tripled. Obviously, Harbinger must have worn an armor underneath, Kenna should have known. Bullets wouldn't be enough to take them down. Theodore wouldn't let his pets walked free terrorizing Union without a proper protection, no, he wasn't that reckless.
They needed to up the ante. Something that could do more damage than just headshots, something that could spread in an instant like…
Fire.
The gas canister. Shit, Kenna should have thought. She could turn its greatest weapon against it. Now if only she could sneak up on its back and destroy it while Stefano was playing mouse...
She heard them approaching her position in full-speed and Kenna forced her mind to focus. She pivoted, jogged back the way she had come from and ducked in the corner. She knew what she was going to do now. Using the darkness to her advantage, Kenna let her body melded with the shadows like the wraith.
Kenna waited for them to pass her. When they did, she stood up, stepped out of her hiding place with teeth bared, nose flared, and directed her shotgun at the fuel tanks on its back and let her shotgun did its job.
Harbinger must have been aware of her position this whole time because it suddenly turned its heels to her, dodging effectively from the bullet that had nearly grazed its head. Kenna hadn't anticipated that. Her action also seemed to aggravate the creature even more as it raised its flamethrower at her once again, ready for the kill and fire.
"You will never escape me!" Harbinger roared, its distorted and humanoid voice gave a bloodcurdling effect.
She yelped, this time skilfully evading the burst without hurting herself and dropped her body flat on the ground. Smoke billowing out around her causing for her to cough.
"Stefano, the fuel tanks!" Kenna exclaimed roughly, making sure the Harbinger's interest was on her— only to her as she dragged herself rapidly across the floor, putting some safe distance between her and the walking bomb. "Shoot the fuel tanks!"
Stefano's gaze darted up to the gas canister, somehow understanding exactly what she had meant as if it was being written all over her face and took a step back. He was about to deliver the shot when the Harbinger growled, spun and gave its weapon a powerful swing at Stefano. Alas, the artist was too slow to evade the blow, hitting him square in the stomach.
The contact hurled Stefano backward across the room, as fast a catapult launching a pebble in the air. His back crashed against the Emitter in a loud, painful crunch. He grunted and lolled his head forward, unmoving. Kenna gasped in horror at the sight, fearing the worst.
"Stefano!"
Kenna was on her feet already, sprinting her way towards him amidst her panic haze. The world around her blurred, swallowed by the noiseless vacuum of slow motion and Stefano was her only focus point at this juncture.
She was well aware that she was within Harbinger's proximity. And in her haste and desperation, Kenna foolishly thought that she could simply outmaneuver it. Which turned out to be a fatal mistake as soon as she felt something solid and heavy hit her torso, violently sending her body flying like a ragdoll.
The back of her head banged against the concrete wall, and a surprised cry escaped her lips. Her ears rung from the concussion, pain beginning to flush into her system, as unpleasant as you imagine it would be, making her dizzy and her vision swayed. The room looked like it was tilted and for a second, she nearly blacked out.
Her shaky hand slowly made its way up to her head, gingerly feeling the physical trauma and hissed loudly. It was only fortunate that Kenna didn't bleed out.
She stared ahead, forcing herself to focus despite a throbbing headache, finding her shotgun was a foot away from her. Stefano sat far on her blurry eyesight, still retaining the same worrying position, his hair splayed over his face. Kenna tried to call his name, but the first syllable stalled on her tongue.
So, she kept her gaze on him, afraid that if she let go he would fade away when Harbinger stepped into the frame and completely blocking her view of Stefano. Kenna tried but failed to snarl.
The dark clothed figure stood the gap between Kenna and Stefano. And she knew, oh, she fucking knew that Theodore must be feeling all smug somewhere out there in his fortress right now. To catch two fish on one lure. That was quite the achievement. Kenna wasn't exactly the type that loathed defeat, but this riled her up.
But as for now, there was nothing that she could do. Staring into the mouth of hell that was Harbinger's weapon, Kenna appeared jittery and silent. Her shotgun was too far from her reach and given her condition, she couldn't swiftly move in time to get it without getting swallowed by the flames first.
Kenna heard it then— a swish waving through the air. Then she saw as the Harbinger abruptly jerked forward from its place with an animalistic growl, obviously a pained one. Her brows furrowed, positively puzzled by the lurch.
After Harbinger somehow managed to awkwardly secure its footing, it twisted around briskly, giving Kenna a full view of its back when she instantly saw it, something gleaming in the wan light that was buried deep in the back of Harbinger's skull.
It was Stefano's dagger.
What the…?
Across the room, there was Stefano, propping on one elbow while breathing heavily, his other arm was still outstretched in Harbinger's direction. His Kubrick stare was as deadly and sharp as his weapon, his anger rising. He truly was an avenging soul.
"Come to me, you worthless scum," said Stefano, abhorrence coloring his words.
It did as he'd asked. In a flash, Harbinger was once again charging toward Stefano, anger thundered its footsteps that even Kenna could practically felt it.
Stefano remained stock-still in his place, seemingly unfazed. His eye briefly met Kenna's in urgency and gave a curt nod and she immediately understood.
"Kenna, now!"
At that, she shuffled forward and grabbed her weapon in a desperate, staggering race to victory despite the pain that continued to gnaw at her head and fired the remaining rounds she had on its fuel tanks.
The gas canister exploded and fire was quick to claim Harbinger's skin, tendrils of smokes reaching up to the ceiling. The creature howled in agony and for Theodore's help. As if anything or anyone could help it escaped the blazing inferno and Kenna simply watched, at its face that was beginning to melt away.
Finally, the thing collapsed on the floor and succumbed to its demise.
Nobody said anything nor even moved from their places. Even when the Emitter came back to life, resuming its countdown. Kenna simply sat where she had fallen, panting and wheezing while Stefano splayed his legs and rested his head back to the machine, closing his eyes as if he could fall asleep right there.
Kenna gave one final look at the now-dead Harbinger, at its charred skin and it never came to her mind that it was actually a human male.
Another victim of Theodore's scheme, she thought before retrieving a small part of Harbinger's gas canister that sat near her leg and held on to it. She would inspect it later once she had the energy.
Right now, Kenna wanted nothing more but to go back to Stefano's place and hide from the rest of the world.
Magnifico: magnificent
Perdono: pardon
Forse: perhaps
Va Bene: alright
Facciamolo: let's do it
Capisco: i see
Correre: run
Firstly first, I have to say this is a beast of a chapter to write. Writing fight scenes is definitely, definitely not my forte so once again, I apologize if everything seems off :/And as you may aware by now, yes, the device on Harby's fuel tanks (that's my nickname for them lmao) is my own personal head canon and everything will be explained in later chapters. Though critics and suggestions are more than welcomed! It would be nice to hear your thoughts about this^^
Next, I would like to thank the coolest human being on earth ever, TheBaffledBeef, for beta-ing this chapter and once again, to continue amaze me with her never-ending talents LIKE DUDE ARE YOU EVEN HUMAN? I mean, first, not just that she has drawn another AMAZING piece for this story (see cover image), but she also has 5 more ideas in plan for Kenno— yes, you read it right, FRICKKING FIVE. Oh, and she has an awesome taste in music. Seriously, you are amazing, Grann-pal. Love ya!
And of course, I would like to thank my baby bro who is celebrating his 17th bday today! Happy bday, bro! He's basically my brainstorming partner and has given me so many suggestions and ideas that ended up in the story and he's currently writing a piano piece for Kenna & Stefano that'll appear later in the story! Thank you, baby bro. You are awesome :')))
Next up, we'll get to see how's our favorite duo holding up in the aftermath of the battle, which is basically would contain lots of fluff. I promise to update asap.