Chapter 139 - Perfecter of Light
|Siege Engine Collision - 01:42:02|
*Blam-Blam-Blam!*
"Move it, everyone in!" Rayla rallied as she unloaded the last three rounds of her Hard Luck handcannon, flicking out the moon clip for a fresh one before Solaire appeared to follow Tekres, Hagakure, Kaneko, and Shinso. Drawing her knife, Rayla tossed the spare through the throat of a Vandal with a shock spear, bringing it down while sticking a CLG to the Dreg, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as she doubled back.
Solaire scanned the door's console, closing the door seconds after his Guardian rolled through, the bangs of the Splicers alongside their screams muffled on the otherside. "Man, those guys are nuts, good work, Solaire," She held her hand out as he nodded and vanished again.
"Their persistence grows, our target is close," Tekres noted, drawing his rifle again as he and Hagakure vanished without a trace to scout the flight of stairs ahead while the rest gathered their strength. Rayla reloading her carbon black shotgun slowly.
"Azuru's a real MVP, if not for her tweakin' my shock braces I doubt I'd have tanked some of those shots," Kaneko whistled at his slimmed down gauntlets, only a few scratches worn at the metal.
"Mm, Mei had modified my Kevlar with a few of Azuru's clusters," Shinso had to admit, he felt much lighter now, already proving to make his ability to sneak around the enemy undetected a breeze.
Kaneko, despite his mask hiding his expression, leaned forward with a curious noise, "Oh? First name basis, huh?"
That made Shinso sit upright, passing his flat stare over to the yellow and red teen, Shinso then turned his head the other way. "No comment."
"Sounds like someone's close to their mechanic...~" Rayla's singsong wasn't helping matters, and now Shinso had turned around fully to face the wall, arms crossed tightly. "Look at that, he's embarrassed!" She slapped the sides of her helmet, cooing at the reaction.
"Hey, ain't nobody judging, each to their own and all that," Kaneko brushed off.
"You're both reading into this too much," He hid his mouth under his Artificial Voice Cords mouthguard.
"He's totally into her," The pair silently agreed, nodding once at each other.
~I wish to inform you that Tekres and Hagakure have found something of interest. Also, let's spare our friend Shinso any possibly embarrassing questions until our mission is concluded, if you would be so kind~ Solaire sighed in their ears.
"Fine... we'll behave," Rayla eased with her hands out, spinning Hard Luck around her finger. "Romance later, Action, pending." They picked themselves up and jogged down the stairs to regroup.
The complex was diverse as the group were led through the maze of Fallen construction by the Eliksni in their party. They encountered their fair share of Splicers along the way, but with two heavily experienced fighters who have seen how the Fallen act, it made coordinating attacks far easier, saving them time and energy. During the lulls in combat, Hagakure asked a question.
"Tekres, were you around when SIVA was, y'know, bad?" She asked such a simple question with a million answers.
"No, I was still among my fractured House," He replied, recalling those brief days on the scorching sands of Mars. "After the defeat of Skolaskel, we fled and scattered, one however, Keldar, Archon Priest, survived and rallied us to Mars, we took advantage of the Taken War to usurp an old fortification from the Cabal, our Prime Servitor rebuilt. We had our chance to rise from defeat..."
"But that didn't last, right?" Shinso inquired, checking around corners before nodding that they were clear to proceed down the halls of the maintenance tunnels.
"Yes... we were... far too naïve again," His eyes flashed with gunfire and flames. He could see the Guardian in red lunge through the Wolves, burying her hammer through the chest of Keldar, bringing the once powerful Archon to his knees, her companions charged forward, flanking them from all sides. Lightning cracked the sky, space bent in passing twilight over Tekres' head as their Light reduced the Prime Servitor to scrap. "Once more, the even fewer numbers were left scattered, starved of Ether,"
"That's something I never got an answer out of you for, why the lack of Ether?" Rayla perked up, firing two shots to clean the heads off two Vandals above, their bodies collapsing from the scaffolding. Her radar was blank. "Only the Devil Splicers were exempt from Ether consumption, what about you?"
That made the young Splicer grumble in distaste, looking down at his right hand. "I... stole SIVA from them... that was my only experience with the Crisis, I was desperate, and infused it to myself to save only myself, I... am as greedy as those Kell's that lorded over my kin for decades, I survived... my House did not," He stopped, staring intently at his arm. The others felt the wave of shame over the Wolf, his thoughts plucking at his heart.
"Well I think you're okay!" Hagakure perked up, catching his hand in both of hers. Even invisible, he could feel her smiling. "Look at all the good things you've done. You helped Yuyu against Dren, helped Rayla, and all of us, you even gave me a way to start controlling my quirk so I can see myself for the first time in forever!"
Ah, he remembered that day well.
"I can turn off my quirk!? Seriously!?" Hagakure all but screamed in Tekres' face as he was forced to lean back in his chair, Ashido and Yuki tugging the girl's shoulders back. But she swung her arms so face they feared being knocked out. "Why didn't anyone tell me that sooner!? I've spent my whole life thinking this was Me!"
"I... understand your concerns," Tekres started slowly, turning to his desk. In three months, she still hadn't changed. "I had no concrete evidence to support my theory, quirks are a biological anomaly I have never seen before, much less one that acts in part to cloaking technology,"
"Which brings us to what he and Siva were discussing," Yuki had taken the time in her day of rest to address the topic she and Tekres had mulled over with Amanda, the Shipwright of the Tower, at the extension of cloaking technology the Wolves had created for the Silent Fang. "We think that cloaking tech and your quirk work the same way... sorta?"
"Really banking on mights and maybes, huh?" Ashido sweatdropped but was lightly slapped by Yuki as she nodded to the invisible girl with her hands close to her chest.
"Sorry, I just... I've never seen what I looked like since I was four, even then everything is all blurry in my head, I look like my parents, obviously, but... this is Me... the real me after years," Her voice was timid, afraid. "I... I don't know how to feel about this..."
Tekres stared at her for a time, then lifted a small diamond-shaped pad from his desk, it was thin and three blue lights were visible on the face. Then he held out his other hand, waiting for hers. "I have made many wrong choices in my life, for once, I wish to make the correct one, if you will allow me?" He waited, gradually, the sleeve moved and a force pressed to his palm. He closed his fingers around her petite hand, bringing the device against where her wrist was.
The two points curled, clicking into place as the tightness adjusted to its user's wrist, the three lights blinking. "My hypothesis is that you are unconsciously manipulating the index of refraction of your body to be indistinguishable from that of air, to be blunt, you bend light around you. Practice into consciously tweaking your refraction will help. This device will help to make this easier but it is by no means a solution, it will need to recharge as it doesn't function as stealth tech and more of an interference to it,"
He pointed at the three glowing buttons. "The middle tells you how much charge is left, the right and left help to adjust the levels of light refracted off your body by introducing a form of microwaves onto your skin, it is by no means harmful, just constant use will drain the battery quickly," With a long-winded breath, he sat back, motioning for her to try.
Hagakure stared at the device, again, fear flooded her body as she tapped the left button, nothing happened, meaning the left decreased her refractive properties. She took a breath, looking to her friends who offered supportive smiles, these three would be the first to see her properly, they... would they like how she looked? What if she had gotten uglier since childhood, she is a teen, that meant all sorts of bodily problems. No, she shook her head, this wasn't the time to start beating into her insecurities, she practically walked around naked for a costume so this was child's play... yeah... just child's play.
Keeping her finger pressed to the dial, she held her eyes closed as she heard her friends make small gasps of surprise, even the creaking of Tekres' seat made her nervous as she opened her eyes to see if she was fully visible, thankfully, she was wearing a pink shirt and a pair of black shorts and running shoes, that would've made this worse. To her own silent shock, her hands and arms were indeed visible. Hagakure raised her right hand toward her face, pinching her hair to bring it forward, seeing the turquoise-coloured locks curl back against her forehead.
To her friends, their friend had always had appeared to be slender yet fairly curvaceous. Now visible, her big round eyes were a bright turquoise like her short, wavy hair, and bushy eyelashes. Hagakure stumbled back a little, touching every inch of her body now visible to her again, like she had been blind the whole time. Then she rushed to the left-hand side of Tekres' workspace where a mirror was placed, she grabbed it, staring at herself with distinct lack of words, jaw unhinged.
"You look great, Toru," Yuki beamed, motioning to her own face. "Hey, no scars atleast," She joked but Hagakure was still speechless, was she even breathing?
"You okay, girl?" Ashido cocked her head, seeing the girl turn with a few tears running down her face, and the biggest smile they had ever seen.
"Mmhm!" She sounded like she was about to sob too, but not a trace of sadness could be seen as she quickly approached Tekres who was observing silently.
"Well... it appears the interference works, we'll need to run tests to see how quickly the battery is consumed and-" His forced diagnosis was cut thin when Hagakure pulled him straight into her arms, her tears running down his shoulder.
"Thank you... thank you..." She whispered, her heart racing a mile a minute.
Tekres was silent, hesitantly, his hand reached to rub her back, feeling very awkward, but she was happy, so his hours of theorizing had paid off.
Hagakure stepped back, hands to her hips. "So I'm glad you're survived, because we got to be great friends because of it, and... I got the chance to learn more about my quirk," That last part was tender as she spun around, waving her hands. "Right! Mission time! Let's move our butts!" She marched onward to the front, Rayla chuckling slightly as Tekres remained where he stood, staring at the hand still lingering with warmth.
"You comin', Wolf?" She asked, snapping him from his trance as he raised his wire rifle again.
"...yes, we are close, this place is similar to the Dreadnaught in scale but it is still Eliksni technology," He was certain of their route, pointing to a airlock door to the right of the fork in the road. "This way,"
"How are able to tell which direction is best?" Shinso was curious since no one had ever seen a place like this, or on such a scale.
"Kovik may consider himself sharp, but he is still Eliksni, all follow a pattern of design," Tekres opened the door to a service stairwell. "If one wanted to hide a source of power not attributed to the engines of say a Ketch, the likelihood of the NARA Control Core being located straight beneath the main deck is likely, these pipes," He tapped a claw to the metal pipe with a few visible panes of glass showing them dark red energy flowing through them. "They are transporting nanites across the Siege Engine to commit to repairs and refunding of faux Fallen, this may not destroy those turned into Fallen but it will significantly decrease their numbers and damages to the ship will become irreparable."
"Hah, so we just need to break this Control Core to help those above? Sounds like the perfect job for me!" Kaneko punched his fists, then grimaced. "Ah, well, once we get a lay of what's waitin' for us,"
"Smart, 'cause something just came up on radar," Rayla quipped as they approached the end of the maintenance tunnel that connected back to the main hallways, to the very left was a large circular archway into their desired location.
~I'm detecting a massive density of NARA within the room, and as Tekres pointed out, much of the nanomachines are being funnelled from this chamber~ Solaire solidified with everyone nodding unanimously.
"No time like the present then!" Hagakure stood up, thanks to Tekres yet again, she swung her stylish blue cloak over her head, casting another layer of invisibility over her gloves and boots as Tekres had yet to make a more useful function to turn just her clothing invisible alongside her quirk. Tekres followed, the two stealth leads of the team stepping inside while Shinso held back on moving in until they knew no one would spot him.
Strangely enough, no Splicers were present despite what Rayla said, making them wary. The room was wide, no other entries visible say for the pipes and vents leading up parts of the walls. But the source of NARA was what they followed above all else, straight past the dim ceiling lights to the more ominous red pigment overtaking the back wall. A large, ever-changing mass of red nanomachines warped and bulged like an organ, suspended by prongs within four brackets. tubes fed out from underneath, but unfortunately, the Control Core was behind one of the Eliksni's toughest barriers, a lilac-white dome enclosing the 'heart'.
Tekres inspected the area, nothing, no security at all? He clasped his rifle tightly, something wasn't sitting right with him, Kovik wouldn't risk them coming this far, unless... He turned to where he saw the clear disturbance in light from the cloak over Hagakure, being around the stealth tech made it easier to spot the impurities. As such, it made it helpful when he needed to move fast.
"Back now!" He grabbed where he believed her waist to be, pulling her into his chest as his lower left arm was severed by something cold and sharp, the cybernetic clattering to the floor as he tumbled back, the invisible girl's cloak shredded from the strike but she was unharmed. He sat up, drawing his shock pistol to fire into the rafters above, the blue bolts flashing something large as it moved loudly, landing on the far side of the chamber as the others quickly funnelled inside. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, thanks!" Hagakure perked up, lifting herself off Tekres to stand behind him. "Guess that's why it was easy, huh?"
"Hrm... his senses picked up on us," Tekres grimaced as their enemy stepped forward.
"What the hell's that thing!?" Kaneko shivered at the scale of the beast.
"You dodged that, I'm impressed, but that's all you get, you wannabe heroes!" Spinner boomed at their approach. He was several stories tall, with an incredibly buff physique. He also had a larger version of his old sword made out of many swords together. NARA buzzed in the air around him, turning some of his veins bright red while wires merged parts of his weapon together. He then poised the massive blade at them. "I will safeguard this Core for Tomura's sake, until Kovik and he become one! This rotten world of yours will fall!"
"Good, get it all outta your system?" Rayla kept it brief, drawing her handcannon to puncture the air with gunfire, taking the heads off four cloaked Vandals approaching from the sides. "I got big, green, and ugly. Shocker and Masquerade with me, Tekres and Invis find a way past that barrier!" After relaying her message, she drew a blue CLG and tossed it as it became a stick in the air, sending forth a line of Arc energy into Spinner's face, he didn't even budge, swinging his sword down at them.
Shinso slid underneath a horizontal swipe, wrapping his binding cloth around Spinner's right shoulder, diving up to deliver a strike to the giant villain's neck only to nearly have his leg bitten off by Spinner who snapped his head around. Kaneko was quick, however, building enough vibrations in his gauntlets to blast Spinner across the cheek. He rushed forward as Shinso dove over Spinner's head, pummelling the right knee to bring it down.
"Get off me!" Spinner growled, carving a line through the ground toward Shocker who blocked the mass of swords with both arms, punching down to launch himself back. He bent his arms back, doing the same motion again to fling forward, striking Spinner across the muzzle as his cry was gagged by two bindings from Shinso, another three around his wrist to bring the sword down for Shocker to blast Spinner in the face with a large cone of green shockwaves.
He recoiled straight into the buckshot of Rayla's shotgun, she pumped it again, tearing through the giant mutant's side. But he didn't allow them a step further, dragging his sword wide to fling several swords in their direction, forcing them to evade as Kaneko gasped, "You heroes are too predictable!" His left hook caught the yellow and red clad boy, smashing him into the edge of the archway.
One of the lenses broke, revealing Kaneko's malice glare. "T-then it's good thing, I-I ain't your target!"
"What's that-" Spinner froze up instantly, mouth ajar as his eyes glazed over into a milky white. Shinso sighed, adjusting his mouthguard's vocal pattern slightly.
"Ack!" Again, Spinner found himself knocked on his ass by the hulking giant in red armour more fitting for a fantasy world than their own. Yet, no matter how Spinner tried, there was no passing that tower shield raised just barely above the ground. He grunted, nursing his bruised arms with a bitter frown.
"You seem lost? Your mind clouded? Speak," Red Dragon's voice sounded raspy again, one of those days where speaking became harder for him. Despite NARA being abundant, Doryu turned down the offer from Kovik.
"It's nothing, I just..." Spinner crossed his legs, looking down at his katana's worn face, seeing the murky reflection. "...is this really what Tomura would want? All this is really what we set out to do?" He thought then continued what he was saying to the red giant, "I just feel like a liability, compared to Dabi or Drevis, even Toga, it feels like I'm the last anyone would put their faith in, what can I do?"
"Your strength, does not matter, your will, your mind," Doryu tapped his temple, "They are, your weapons, never forget that,"
Spinner scoffed, "Easy for you to say, you got a powerful quirk atop that 'strength',"
"My quirk, it erodes me, consumes me," Red Dragon took a long breath after that. "...my time shortened, power, chained to fate, imitates miracles,"
"I..." Spinner was about to ask what that meant when someone's heavy footsteps rattled behind them.
"You feel frustrated by your weakness? I understand, more than you know," Kovik spoke, toying with the dark red cluster in his hand, a faint, orange tinge crackling across the surface. "Doryu is right, your will is your strength, despite all that's happened, you still hold dear to your leader's beliefs, I admire that about you, no longer bound to the basic ideology Stain inspired within you,"
"What is that? Another cluster?" Spinner pointed to the tinged NARA cluster as it hovered above Kovik's palm.
"Yes, if you're willing to endure what follows, it can grant you strength from your will, you need only say the word, and I shall provide you with the strength to stand with your brothers and sisters," Kovik ushered as Spinner stood up. Doryu said nothing, watching patiently. "I had offered this to Doryu, but he wishes to fight on his own grounds, I have no doubts of his capabilities,"
"This choice, is yours," Red Dragon announced to Spinner. "Strength of will, given form, if you desire, it is yours," His tone was firm, this wasn't a choice he was comfortable with so he left it to Spinner.
"...what'll happen if I take this?" Spinner kept his hands close to his chest, warily studying the cluster.
"You will find Salvation," Kovik's tone was smooth and direct, he didn't lie or twist his words. He was openly honest with what he offered.
Spinner eyed his reflection again, that same, weak-link of the League that outgrew Stain's ideology to the figurehead of all people suffering from mutant quirks, who were treated like lesser beings for years. No more, he had seen enough pain and turmoil while society and its heroes remained blissfully ignorant. He hated them for so long, and now... now he had his chance to make it right, this was his choice!
"For Tomura's sake..." His hand reached for the cluster's chilling embrace.
"Got you," Shinso huffed, "Now, go sit in the corner for us and stay quiet like a good little villain," He ordered but while Spinner's legs did shift, they were in their direction, making the bluette's eyes harden. "Didn't you hear me? Move to the cor-"
"GRRAAAAAAAAAHH!" With an animalistic scream, Spinner had shook himself free of Shinso's mind control, eyes burning with hatred. "Like I'll allow myself to fall so easily! Kovik entrusted Tomura's well-being to me, and now the sake of NARA's Control Core to me, I will not fail my comrades!" He vowed bloody murder.
"His senses must've been heightened, or is it like with Midoriya and his will had a part to play in it!?" Shinso moved back, but Spinner easily closed that gap.
"Warp Refraction!" Hagakure appeared behind Shinso as Spinner's towering form craned toward the brainwashing boy, sword plunging down. A blinding light flashed the chamber, and Spinner recoiled in pain, rubbing the stars from his yes. "Rayla, Tekres!" She cried out.
"Thunder-!" With a blinding blue cone, thunder and lightning gathered at Rayla's fists and feet, propelling herself forward to slam a massive amount of Arc Light into the beast's chest, taking the wind from Spinner's sails as he reeled in pain, NARA easily mending the holes and burns in his armour. "-Crash!" The aftershock of the Super sent ripples of electricity through the beast while Tekres fired two powerful shots, blinding Spinner as blood dripped down his face, screaming.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" He wailed, stomping the ground wildly whiles swinging his sword in every direction. His eyes glowed red, and he managed to land a wide, diagonal swing on Rayla, tearing across her forearms while she flew back, gasping from the strength behind the blow. But she let out a humorous huff.
"Ultimate Move-" Below the unsuspecting Spinner, Kaneko stood tall, bringing both his hands together, clutching Rayla's signature greatsword, Crown Splitter. His shockwaves rattled the blade, turning its silver edges a forest green. "-Dragon Splitting Sword!"
He drew it around once, the force of the blow tearing up the ground beneath him as he felt his muscles tear, a few rips forming on his costume as the sword split in two, but the impact left a devastating mark on the chamber, a wide crescent stripped through the ground to his left, throwing debris forward and into Spinner's midsection, burying the villain in the wall under a heap of metal. "Grah, hah... crap, broke it... hah..."
"That was too close, I had no idea he'd be able to break my mind control so quickly," Shinso apologized, nodding to Hagakure. "I owe you one..."
"We're a team, comes with the package," She held up a peace sign while Rayla summoned Solaire in passing.
"Now then, while big meanie takes a nap, let's see about cracking this shield generator," She noticed two were sustaining the barrier but the console in front of her probably kept everything flowing. "Ready for your part to play?"
"Give me a minute and I'll have the barrier down, but I fear this may draw some unwanted attention," He warned, floating toward the console with his Guardian keeping close.
"Noted, you heard the man, watch Spinner and the doorway for Splicers," The others took their positions, ready for another attack to surprise them, Kaneko watched over Spinner, holding onto the broken sword. "Don't worry about my blade, I got spares, good thing that wasn't my God Roll, yikes..." She sweatdropped.
"I'll watch from above," Shinso spoke up, wrapping his cloth around a pipe to pull himself upside down, putting his training to the test.
Tekres, however, stood still, his eyes scanning over the layers upon layers of machines beneath the Control Core, all had a purpose; fuel lines, energy transfer, waste disposal for excess energy, nanite distribution, all working machines had their place. But the more he studied it, the worse the pit in his stomach became. "All of this is far too easy, Spinner is a concern but what if it had been a stronger team? What angle is Kovik playing with? He has to be watching us, studying as I am."
Solaire scanned the controls, murmuring to himself, "We'll have to thank Yuki for her work with SIVA, it makes accessing NARA a little easier even if it were designed to be superior to SIVA's functions,"
"Yeah-yeah, we'll get her a cake after all's said and done," Rayla wasn't big on the science side of things but took it as a good sign.
"Hm, strange, these controls are all over the place, certainly not what I'd expect from Splicers," His curious hum drew Tekres' head around.
"Then what's it do?" Rayla huffed, growing impatient.
Tekres' arm reached before the words had left his lips. "Move now!"
Rayla was thrown into Solaire, forcing the small ghost to disappear into his Guardian less she landed atop him. Rayla cursed, only to find a wall of lilac-white energy between her and Tekres. The Wolf Splicer trapped within a dome with the console. It had been rigged, and Tekres had seen the nanomachines move before they triggered the console. He had briefly seen the flow himself. That precious second had saved them.
"Shit, Tekres, hold on!" Rayla ran around the barrier, looking for a generator that wasn't there. There was nothing but the machines linked up to the Control Core. "Hey, anything up there, Masquerade!?"
Shinso leapt down from the rafters, panting. "Nothing's connected to it, something else is containing him," He ran around the Control Core's front, searching below for any sign of a power source. "It's too dark, and I'm not sure where everything connects to."
"Detainment... Kovik...!" Rayla punched the barrier, hissing from the burn. "Just hang tight, we'll-"
"No," Tekres spoke hollowly, pulling his eyes away from the console. "It appears this was a plot was designed specifically for this to lure us in, this machine isn't connected to the Control Core shield generators, this... will destroy whatever is inside with nanomachine density, I will not survive,"
That single sentence shot like a cold mountain of ice down their backs, Hagakure took her eyes off the space where Spinner had fallen, stumbling slightly in her step. "What...? That's... we can figure this out, right? You... you can hack the system or something and break the barrier!" She spoke with desperate optimism, the likes of which brought something of a laugh up the Eliksni's throat.
"I don't think I can do that this time, Kovik locked me out," He rapped the metal surface twice, turning to look at them, leaving his wire rifle against the console.
"No... no!" Hagakure touched the barrier only to wince when sparks snapped at her hands, even through the insulated gloves. "Come on, there's a way out of this! Why aren't you trying atleast!?"
Tekres shook his head, "I cannot override NARA-"
"Yes you can! I know you can, Yuki can do it, so can you!" She punched the barrier again, streaks of tears falling from her transparent face. "You're a real Splicer too!"
Those words made his shoulders lose their tension. He never saw himself as a true Splicer, he failed his Kell, his House, he left them to die on Mars to survive. He was the lowest of the low. But they didn't see it that way, they praised his abilities, he shared his lessons with Yuki, a human who had become an Archon and Splicer, and she too shared what she learned from Silvis. He had people that didn't see a monster, she... never feared him.
"I'm glad," He spoke, hearing Hagakure gasp as she looked up. "Do not waste your energy, Shocker, this barrier absorbs and distributes energy, it would take too much time to overwhelm it," He saw out the corner of his eyes, the teen lower his fists, Tekres couldn't risk them wasting energy on him. "I am a failure of my House... but I'm glad to be,"
He pressed his hand to the barrier where Hagakure stood, his eyes glowing through the wall. "Because it meant I got to meet a new House I could feel safe with," Her tears flooded down her face, sobbing behind her hand. "Thank you for trusting me, Toru,"
"T-T-Tekres..." She forced her hand against the barrier where his was, only to recoil again.
"Rayla, Solaire," The Titan refused to meet his gaze, her shoulders trembling as she continued to punch the shield, cracking her gloves' knuckles, her Light extinguished moments after contact. The barrier rippled but nothing, not even a crack formed. "It's fine."
"No it's not! Shut the hell up!" She barked, punching again and again, Solaire mending her fists just to see her break her wrists again. Her gloves were leaking with blood from the constant abuse, but Rayla wouldn't stop, even as her punches grew weaker. "You, me, Solaire, we're a damn team!" She punched it again, breaking her wrists a third time. "I'm your leader, so stop talking like it's over!" Again, her strikes were little more than a tap as she hiccupped. "You hear me!? Don't... don't you dare...!" She slowly collapsed to her knees, dragging her hands down the barrier.
Behind Tekres, he felt nanomachines starting to dig into his armour and barding, the density was starting to affect him. "Rise up, Lightbearer," He demanded, slowly, her head rose to meet his gaze as he knelt down to her level, watching her critically. "You have fallen far enough, your mission is not over, your allies still need you to succeed,"
"...Tekres..." She muttered, how, how can he be so calm about this? Why was he okay with this? "We... we can find a way..." The red glare was building behind him, pulling apart his armour like strips of bark.
"Not this time," He replied, "Before I met you, I was... just a nobody, I had minimal training as a Splicer, I watched as my House dwindled into extinction, I hung to the triumphs of the Devils, I scrounged for a way to set my Kell's path right, and then I met you, and through you I met Class A, Aksis' successor, and I confronted my Kell's killers who accepted me, who fought beside me... I had found my purpose, the reason I have survived as I have," He rested his crumbling hand to the wall between them, taking in how much she had grown.
His body was starting to break apart, but he didn't flinch, nor did he scream, he sighed a long-winded breath, looking to Shinso who placed his hand on Hagakure's shoulder, the girl sobbing into her hands, Kaneko's arms hung in defeat, but his fists were clenched, his visible right eye burning on and on. Then to Solaire, his shell bowed, eye staring straight at Tekres. And to the Guardian, to Rayla, his friend.
"My life was to be here... to save the Great Machine's greatest Lightbearer," Rayla's head now lifted entirely, gasping as Tekres chuckled lightly. "I could not have asked for a better Guardian to fall through the world with." The red glare overwhelmed the inside of the barrier, but Tekres' hand remained firm. "Do not... blame yourself... you are... all more... than I could... ask for... in a... house." His body disappeared into the haze.
"Was this enough... Skolaskel? Did I... did I do well?" He asked, wondering if this truly was the right path. "I hope... I hope it was, just like you... I would give my life for my House..."
Tekres closed his eyes, "I'll see you soon,"
Rayla's cry caught in her throat, wide-eyed as the blue dot on her HUD disappeared.
"TEKRES!" Rayla screamed, reaching out only for the barrier to shatter on contact, blasting them all away from the resulting implosion.
The dust and bits of rubble cleared, a buzzing in the air subsiding as they recovered to see the result of the blast. Nothing, the console was reduced to a smoulder pile of wires and shredded metal, and Tekres... there was nothing left, only the bent, charred remains of his wire rifle clattered across the ground, smoking as if it were still alive. Hagakure tried to stifle her cries, unable to accept that he wasn't there, the augment bracelet around her left wrist hugging her skin tightly as it reflected a small shade of dark blue off its body.
Shinso bowed his head, closing his eyes, there was nothing they could've done, yet, he felt as frustrated as Kaneko who punched the ground in fury. "Dammit... God Dammit!" He slammed his fists down again, eye burning with hatred.
But Solaire was by far the most attune to their surroundings, his shell widening, "Rayla!"
The group spun around with Kaneko the first to act, guarding Shinso with his gauntlet vibrating, tanking the mesh of blades as one hooked his right arm, tossing him into the side of a pipe suspended near the ceiling. It bent as a result, and Kaneko collapsed to the ground, coughing up a few specks of blood to stain his mask. Shinso rolled back from Spinner's slam, binding the lizard's right arm to vault over a wide sweep of the sword before kicking Spinner's snout, swinging himself away from danger as a few smaller blades dislodged, slicing across Shinso's right hip, left arm, and his shoulder.
He tumbled to the ground, holding his binding scarf tightly to defend himself. "That weakling thought he could trick us!? Shigaraki and Kovik are not so easily duped, you pathetic heroes!" Spinner roared, swiping madly to keep them at bay. Rayla was motionless. "That Fallen may have risked his life for you, but I heard what he said, he is selfish, he left his friends to die! One good deed doesn't erase the sins you heroes try to supress!" He thundered, stalking toward Rayla.
"...he's not a Fallen..." Rayla murmured, brining Spinner to a standstill.
"Why's the air getting hotter?" He pondered, glaring down at the woman who began to rise, small cinders dancing around her body in a gentle spiral.
"He was... the greatest Splicer... I have ever known, he's an Eliksni, he's a true member of the House of Wolves," Rayla's embers grew wildly, burning a ring around her as her breathing drew the flames upward, the air was hotter, the cracks in her armour filled with an orange tinge. "He was our friend, he was a member of my Fireteam, I... won't let you take anymore from me..." Her breath hitched, grinding her teeth beneath her helmet as the fires grew stronger. "You'll burn... I'll kill every last one of you...!"
Spinner recoiled, hissing from the intense heat that radiated from Rayla. "It's like Dabi or Infernal, what is she!?"
Like a match to a powder keg, flames exploded from her form, coating her armour in a radiant haze of molten flames, from the burning ground, her right hand clasped a long staff as it formed from hardened flames in the air, the white hot core of a sun took shape at the end of the staff, forming into a thick, burning block of molten Light. Rayla swung it down, the butt of the staff against the ground unleashing another furious ring of fire that encompassed Hagakure and Shinso, they watched as wounds and bruises were soothed under her heat, but for Spinner? It was like he stared into the heart of a sun, Solaire vanishing as Rayla stepped forward, her body expelling an abundance of flames.
"You hear me, lizard?" She hissed, two white orbs following her visor. "I'LL INCINERATE YOU!" She brought the war hammer down, sending a crashing wave of flames across the chamber that Spinner narrowly avoided with a jump, his tail burned at the tip. The trail of fire struck the wall, exploding into a small column of flames.
"I won't let you stand in our way!" Spinner howled, swinging his mass of blades with untold fury to match. Rayla roared back, bringing her hammer into an upswing, sparks and arcs of flame spewing from the contact, several swords dripping within their melded state as Rayla charged, summoning a smaller Hammer of Sol into her left hand to toss at Spinner's chest, the fragmented hammer shredding into his armour as she shoved the top of her war hammer into his gut, seeing his mouth widen as spit flung from between his teeth.
The ring of fire sent him flying back, grinding his claws into the floor to stabilize. "How is any of this saving people like you!?" Rayla demanded, shaking her head sharply. "All this pointless death just to feel better!?"
Spinner's pupils contracted, the blood vessels visible. "Don't speak to me about what's right, you humans treated us like mistakes!" He slammed the ground, the buster sword blocked by the hammer held above Rayla's head in both hands. He swung down again and again, pushing her back a few inches as he threw all his anger into his strikes. "We weren't given a choice to look this way! We were ostracized and discriminated! Abused and neglected for years as society and heroes turned a blind eye to us!"
"When something bad happens, we're the easiest to blame!" He spun around, his tail striking Rayla who blocked yet again, leaping to bring her hammer down, releasing another streak of exploding flames, but they missed, so she sent one left, again, Spinner evaded it for someone as big as he was.
"And you think this is helping anyone!? Have you seen what you've done!?" She screamed at him, that anger translating into her Light, her flames tempered. "People's lives are ruined because of you! Families are torn or grieving for doing nothing wrong! You say this helps the mutant humans in this world, but most of them have already been turned into monsters by Kovik, can't you see that!?"
"Stop talking... LIKE YOU UNDERSTAND US!" Spinner charged suddenly, taking the burns and gashes with his left arm as his full body weight slammed into Rayla, throwing her against the opposite wall. She pressed her feet into the wall, melting and breaking down the steel only to vault back, bringing the full weight of her hammer down as it exploded in a massive spiral around her and Spinner's sword mesh. She flipped back, dodging his thrust.
"And killing innocent people will make things right!? They don't respect you - they fear you! And when the balance tips again, that hatred for people like you will only explode! All this is doing is proving them right! First at Jaku and now here!" She bellowed, tossing her body into a spin with her war hammer outstretched, sweeping the whole area as small balls of Solar Light fell from the hammer, exploding into Sunspots around them. Spinner didn't relent, smashing the ground where Rayla once stood, her body gliding above the strike.
"If fear gives us the peace we deserve, then I will shoulder their pain for them all!" He declared, thrusting his sword forward to grind against the side of her hammer, the force grounding her again as one of the sword bent against the war hammer, holding them in place. "There's no end to her flames, this power shouldn't have lasted this long, so why does it feel like it's getting stronger with each blow?"
"Tekres hurt many people too, killed them in cold blood, but he chose to do better, he took their punches and lived through discrimination and prejudice," Rayla pulled back, flames swirling around her fists as it turned the staff of her weapon hot white. "He didn't just find a place to belong, he fought to make one by working with the people who he feared would resent him, he didn't terrorize and destroy the lives of people he never met based on those that hurt him. He put his all into making a better life where his kind weren't seen in black and white but many shades in-between, he was already miles ahead of you..." Her flames gathered and grew.
"Tekres found a way to live in acceptance that you refuse to accept!" Her hammer wrenched itself down, and the dozens of swords and blades wrapped to a single, massive sword clattered and flew across the chamber. "I WON'T LET YOU DESTROY HIS MEMORY!"
"Shut up... YOU STUPID HUMAN!" Spinner roared in a blind rage. He wasn't listening anymore.
"YOU'RE HUMAN TOO!" She screamed back. Her Light reaching unparalleled heights.
~Do it now!~ Solaire ordered as above their gruelling battle, Shinso, Hagakure, and Kaneko had made their move. Now above the Control Core on a catwalk.
Shinso wrapped his binding cloths around two pipes, straining himself as he eventually tore them from their suspension cables. As they fell, he drew his arms close to his chest, pulling the two pipes so close they ripped out several panels from the ceiling, specifically, the white spotlights above, exposing the room to an abundance of light in the rafters above. Kaneko stood at the ready, stretching his palms out as wide as he could.
Hagakure stood at the front, twisting her palms as if to smooth a ball in her hands. "We believed in Tekres, human or not, he was our friend!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, she wouldn't fail Tekres or Rayla that fought so hard. She wouldn't let all this pain be wasted. "Please, please let this be enough!"
"Thunder Clap!" Kaneko did the same, slapping his palms to unleash a wide, destructive wave of green vibrations that battered the shield around the Core. That was fine, as Tekres said, the energy would simply be dispersed, but the generators were suspended on platforms not shielded by the barriers, so when they started to buckle, the density of the barrier thinned.
"Warp Refraction - Prism Core!" She concentrated the light to the point it burned the fronts of her gloves off, but that was fine, a few burns weren't stopping her. "Hyraaaaah!" She released the light into a small, solid beam of white, it erased anything caught in its way without restrain, the force making her stumble as the beam sliced through the barrier like a hot knife, carving a deep line through the middle, completely disabling the wall of hardlight between them and the Control Core.
The pulsing heart of NARA darkened and bled into itself, squeezing and compressing from the sudden assault as it pulsed three times before bursting, spilling dead clusters and swarms of NARA into the air only to die within seconds of contact with the air.
"No... NOOOO!" Spinner gawked in horror, taking his eyes off his opponent for one second too long.
"THIS IS FOR TEKRES, CHOKE ON IT!" Rayla let out an almighty cry, bringing her hammer around only for Spinner to lock eyes with her and slash at her head with his tail, knocking her helmet off. Through her radiant skin, a solid line of tears were evaporating constantly from her resentful eyes, her hair whipped up in her Light as she steadied herself, carving a deep, molten scar through the earth and up in a sharp vertical slash.
The hammer's face dug against Spinner's lower jaw, snapping his head back as he crashed to the ground, a streak of flames burned down the middle of his body as the hammer unleashed a column of flames that expunged through the ceiling, burning through several layers of the Siege Engine until it burst through the top again, dispersing into cinders in a magnificent blast.
The last of Rayla's Light began to quell, Spinner was knocked out cold, even if he were to awaken, his body slowly began to shrink, NARA's nanomachines dying inside him, clusters falling from his barding as he returned to his smaller, human size. Rayla exhaled, her throat dry as her hands felt numb beneath her gloves. Her hair settled as the last embers trailed off from her right hand held ahead of her.
"Did we do okay, Tekres?" She croaked, the last flicker fading as her sad smile remained, trembling as fresh tears fell down her cheeks, staring up at the light peeling through the hole she left in the fortress, her eyes covered by her bangs as she stifled a cry. "Was that... enough?"
"H-hey, are ya kiddin' me!?" Kaneko broke the mournful atmosphere, clenching his fists toward the archway entrance where several growls and the wind-up of arc energy could be seen. The Splicers had caught up to them, those not made entirely from NARA. They yelled at them, Dregs and Marauders moving slowly with shock daggers and spears at the ready. Kaneko tisked, punching his fists with a tremor of green light. "You wanna go, come on then!"
Invisible Girl, stay behind me," Shinso waved but the girl remained unresponsive, still turned in the direction of where Tekres once was. The indigo-haired boy grabbed his binding scarf, tugging it loose. "We'll cut a path through them."
"Right..." Kaneko growled.
The pair fidgeted a little, trying to gauge which of the Fallen would make the first step, effectively throwing them back into the chaos of battle.
*FWOOM!*
All bodies flinched sharply when a rocket flew and impacted the group of Devils as their screams were absorbed into the hellfire. From the blast, several blue motes of light scattered into the air, homing in on those still too close to the blast radius, smearing cybernetics and fluid over the walls in another chain of blasts. Behind the students, Rayla stomped forward after slinging the large silver rocket launcher onto her back with a distinct lion head on the barrel.
Tear stains dried across her cheeks, and her eyes were a little red as she drew forth both her handcannon and a spare Crown Splitter in both hands. She cocked the hammer, and raised her sword forward with a dark glow to her gaze. "New orders as your Fireteam Leader, forget evacuating to the deck, we're going to slaughter them all, any objections?"
The boys, while a little disorientated from the blast, shook their heads, returning to their stances as the eerie sounds of the Fallen echoed down the halls, alerted by the explosions. Hagakure, who had been completely silent, stood until the unobstructed spotlights, gathering a ball of light between her hands even as it almost immediately became too hot to maintain.
"Okay then..." Rayla nodded, setting her body ablaze with Light Enhance. "...fuck 'em up."
"ON IT!"
To Be Continued...
I'm heartless! So, that just happened, very interesting parallel with Tekres and Spinner since both have been discriminated against and both had done horrible things, only taking different routes to approach the problem. Oh, I think the name Masquerade for Shinso's hero name would be cool since I haven't seen one. And poor Rayla and Hagakure... Welp, ain't getting any deader. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support as always; seeya in the next chapter, Heroes!
Next Chapter Intermission: Red Riot's Perfection
Those left on the deck of the Siege Engine must overcome the abomination of Dren and Vosik infused into one...