Hello peeps. It's been a long time. At least three weeks and some change, that is. I sincerely apologize for the wait, but I had some distractions. For one thing, I tested positive for the Big C, so that put me out for a little while. Then I got started on Resident Evil... and that just went on and on lol. But now I'm back, and focused!
Now that we're at the end of Round 2, which I have dubbed the "Freeman Arc", it's time to lay some cards on the table. First of all, this was never meant to be this big. Freeman was originally planned to be a one-off assassin sent by Shion/Botan to take out the Bernstein siblings. But, some people were disappointed with how quickly Mary and Vanessa were knocked out of the running, and wanted to see them get more of a role in the story. When I saw the potential of these characters, I ran with it... thus, the Freeman Arc was born.
In a lot of ways, I failed with this. This was supposed to be a showcase for Mary, and her supporting characters like Vanessa, Ramon, Terry. But the tournament just took such priority, that I failed to give them the proper depth I had planned. As you can see, I struggled to balance the tournament with the Mary flashbacks, and Mary's real-time city pursuit of the killer. Freeman himself, I feel like I failed to really establish a threat. He didn't show up nearly enough for you guys to really... well... take him seriously. As for Terry Bogard, I'm highly disappointed there as well. I should have explored much more emotional depth with him, as his woman is literally out there risking her life, but he's been nowhere to be found for the entire Round.
In other words, this thing got out of my control. But here we are, at the end of it, and I'm prepared to salvage this thing as best I can, to give you a respectable climax. So without further ado... this is part 1 of the two-part Round 2 Finale. Enjoy.
NOTE: Very important note here, I also would like to thank illyrilex. She actually helped me a LOT with getting this done, because I was struggling big time. I couldn't have done it without her. So give her your thanks!
"MARY! MARYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"
He'd yelled her name until his throat went hoarse. Hours and hours, he'd wandered aimlessly… just hoping, BEGGING for a sign of her presence, the most minuscule strand of evidence she was still alive. All his wandering hobo years built up a tremendous fortitude for hiking, but he knew he was getting nowhere like this — just walking around in a place he didn't know, merely hoping to chance upon the one person most important to him in this world.
As soon as this Freeman thing started, he'd abandoned whatever delusions of grandeur involving the tournament he may have carried with him into Germany. It felt so irrelevant now… like some stupid schoolyard game that was long over. Funny, how the course of one night changed things so drastically; here he was, trying to recapture his former glory of championships' past… and now he was roaming the streets, looking for Mary, who may have been dead at the hands of a serial killer for all he knew. Maybe what she was saying all this time was right; maybe they were the damned, the ones destined to always fight the hard battles, never a time for relaxation or recreation. It never felt more true than it did now…
"Hey! Big guy!"
He froze; he recognized that voice…!
Not sure who it was, not caring, he immediately yelled in response, "OVER HERE!"
He turned, as he heard not one, but two sets of approaching footsteps: it was Vanessa and Ramon, both well-dressed from their grueling battles in Round 1. Ramon was still sporting some head bandages, while Vanessa was donning a big, ugly neck brace.
Terry took one look at them, and folded his arms with a wary look. "...You two shouldn't be out here right now."
Vanessa gave it right back. "Well, we are. So get over it."
"We're out looking for Mary too," Ramon chimed in with a cooler head. "Roll with us?"
"You two need to get your butts back to the hospital!" Terry thrust a pointed finger in the opposite direction of their destination. "I'LL find Mary!"
"Oh for the love of… look here, Wolf Man —" Vanessa stepped forward — "Mary's out there all alone, playing her little solo act, because she thinks everything has to be personal, and she has to protect her friends and such shit. And YOU'RE THE SAME WAY! God, you two are truly made for each other."
Terry, forced on his back foot, scratched his head awkwardly. "W-well I… Jesus, Vanessa, look at you!"
"I said the same thing!" Ramon chimed in with an inappropriately goofy smile.
That was the final nail for Vanessa.
"Grr... OKAY THEN!"
Much to the horror of the two men standing near her, Vanessa's face strained with intense passion… guttural groans from her lungs… until finally…
RRRRRIP!
"¡Carajo!" Ramon swore with amazement as he witnessed Vanessa, now holding two halves of the medical device issued to her by the Munich hospital.
"Now, can you two shut the f*** up and let's go get our girl back?"
She'd never underestimated Anton's nose, but she was surprised by how... easily... he picked up on it. Was a mere strand of DNA that strong? Or perhaps Anton had a sense... beyond canine... perhaps he could smell the bloodlust, or perhaps a more supernatural, coppery aura in the air; the stench of death itself. She couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to a dog to have such senses.
...Could it really be him? Could Anton be mistaken? No... not her dog.
...A scream froze her blood cold.
"Oh no...!"
That was the last inkling of proof she needed to know that Anton was on the right track... and that they were close. A block away? Even less? Maybe just around this corner…?!
Anton was running like a beast possessed. He was so far out in front of her that she lost him for a second as he rounded a corner, but, a few seconds later, she heard a threatening growl and a volley of ear-splitting barks...!
"ANTON!"
Mary finally rounded the same corner... and it all hit her in the face at once.
He was THERE, standing in front of her!
"F-Freeman...!"
Pale skin, hunching, twitching... a mop of red hair hiding a face that read only of emptiness. One arm hung at his side... the other arm was hooked around the neck of a TERRIFIED woman, his fingers rigid, as they rested on the surface of her windpipe...
The woman was shaking. Tears were pouring uncontrollably down her eyes. Mary had seldom seen a human being look so... so scared...
"DON'T... DO IT." Mary commanded Freeman as she whipped out her pistol and aimed it at him. Her hands shook with hesitation for only a split second... She quickly tightened her grip, enough to strain the muscles in her fingers, as she focused her eyes on him intensely enough to make her head hurt.
"Put her down now."
Silence. A bleak aura, an absence of life radiating from his pale form.
"PUT HER DOWN!" Mary screamed, thrusting the gun outward for extra emphasis. She fought hard to keep her hand from trembling...
The woman was too scared to make a peep. Fear paralyzed her to the bone; her tear-strewn eyes couldn't even look in any direction, but stare blankly forward... as if she were seeing something — a journey that no other human could witness...
"I'm not gonna say it again!" Mary screamed. Sweat was pooling on her temple. Her finger twitched against the trigger.
"PUT...HER...DO...W —?!"
...Red. Red everywhere. The asphalt, blackened by night, shone with a fresh ruby sheen. A small thud... followed by a much larger thud.
His hands shimmered disgustingly in the moonlight, stained... tainted... polluted by his handiwork... yet his face showed nothing. Not a crumb of self-awareness. Not a modicum of remorse. His eyes, too, saw a reality far removed from that around him... a domain where only he resided.
Anger, grief, repulsion flooded Mary's bloodstream all at once, sending an aggressive, adrenaline-fueled rage into her nervous system. Her skin felt hot... burning... like she could explode with the force of a nuclear device...!
"YOU MOTHERF...!" she screeched curses as she squeezed the trigger, firing wildly — indiscriminately — not caring where her bullets flew, as long as they went in his direction.
Before she knew it she was unleashing empty clicks. Even then, her finger never stopped its rapid mashing...
...The next thing she felt was the body of the innocent woman plow into her, and she hit the ground.
"F-F***! F*** SHIT!" Mary scrambled backwards, horrified by the firsthand view of the fresh-soaked corpse. She barely had time to gather her wits, and look up: Freeman was nearly on top of her!
Red hair fluttered with intensity as he thrust his hand downwards, attempting to pierce her. She rolled to the side in a timely fashion, and his hand connected against the hard asphalt... no scream. No pain. Was his hand broken? Either he'd never show it or he possessed abnormal appendages…!
She managed to return to her feet, pistol in hand. She ejected the clip, and started digging around for a fresh one. She started to insert it; her hands were trembling so bad, she missed the insertion point several times. Again... again... he was coming closer...!
...Finally, she silently thanked God when she heard the SNAP! of the cartridge entering the handle... but it was too late. Before she had time to aim the weapon, Freeman swiped with the back of his hand, knocking the gun from her fingers, sending it cluttering into the darkness...
A second swipe came, and it was far too close to being lethal... had Mary not juked left at the last moment, her neck would have been sliced open. She got away with a slight sting, as she felt the hand slide just below her breast, opening up the flesh on her upper ribs...
She could ignore blood well enough, but the STING... it was already flaring. It just made her angrier. Less calculated.
She barreled forward, swinging wild punches on Freeman; she saw naught but the entrancing weave of his hair as his head moved to dodge her punches. She kept taking steps forward, swinging on him with all her might...!
...She grunted. More pain. She looked down... another cut, just below the first one. She looked over and saw her blood, dripping off his fingers... it made her angrier.
She howled until her lungs burned, as she rushed in with a side kick to his stomach, setting him up... as he blocked the body shot, she dived on a single-leg and immediately took him to the ground.
She knew better than to mount him, and get near those hands... no... she had other intentions in mind. Seizing a leg, she twisted it like she had never twisted before: she wanted to pop his damn kneecap out.
She torqued and torqued, harder than she had EVER done... but something was wrong. Not a screech of pain, nor an utterance of discomfort. She was CERTAIN she was bending his leg out of place... but not a sound! Like the pain was nothing, an anomaly unregistered in his limited repertoire of emotions.
"Nghhh... nghhhh...SHIT!"
She finally felt her arms burn out, the lactic acid take effect... she had to let go.
They both returned to their feet... and Mary immediately felt it. She felt slower, her arms more labored in their actions. Could she still attack? Defend? Grapple?
She had to. Her gun was gone.
"Come on..." Mary muttered. "Come on, you murdering piece of trash... COME ON!"
Freeman said nothing... his eyes blank, desolate, like an empty husk, the words passing through like air in hollow, porous wood...
He charged in... his left hand, fingers straightened, thrust towards Mary like a charging lance; Mary sidestepped at the last second, and Freeman's body passed her, but the redhead spun back around with a wild, massive swing from his right...
"AUUGH!" Mary yelped in pain as she felt heat rake across her abdomen, and she knew she was cut once again. She could already feel the biting pain, the blood pooling... she felt tiny trickles down her now exposed flesh, where the crop top had been ripped away...
Freeman threw a kick low; Mary checked it, and she popped him with a short left jab. She threw a much bigger right, but the killer's arm blocked it, and he spun around with a massive kick. Mary wasn't fast enough,and his foot rammed into her midsection, right against the raw, bleeding wound...
Mary tried to stay standing... but the grimace in her eyes couldn't be denied. The pain overtook her; she collapsed on her back.
"BARK! BARK BARK BARK!"
Anton... no. Bad dog. Don't be a hero...!
...She turned her head away in horror when she heard a piercing whimper a second later. She wanted to scream.
Her head turned once more... a shadow, standing over her. His hair draping down, obscuring an already-blank face. His fingers, constantly standing rigid, dripped with tiny red droplets of her own blood...
She felt... fear. No... she wasn't ready to die yet. There was a time when, maybe... maybe she was ready to join dad and Butch. But not now. NOT NOW. Not when she finally found a reason to live again...!
He brought his foot down on her arm, pinning her there. She immediately tugged in desperation; when she couldn't pull free, she started hyperventilating.
No...not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!
His body slinked lower... lower... until she could see it: those eyes, and all the madness they carried...
"N...nuh... NO!"
Mary threw herself upwards, presenting a small, black object to Freeman's torso. She squeezed the trigger.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!
In his first human display, Freeman's body immediately recoiled, collapsing to the ground in a series of violent convulsions. He was stunned.
Mary wasn't even composed enough to get to her feet; she scrambled on all fours, not caring if the asphalt shredded her hands and knees. She crawled with every life-preserving ounce of instinct towards the darkness, towards where her gun lay... she all but THREW herself forward when she saw that beautiful shimmer of steel...!
Her hand found the grip, and she all but tore her clothes free of her body with the haste that she spun around against the coarse street. Finger on trigger, she brandished the gun and prepared to squeeze...
...He was nowhere to be found. No… how did he…?!
Pursuit? No... preservation...
ANTON!
Her immediate instincts were of her dog's well-being, as she scrambled to her feet to yell his name.
"ANTON! ANTON TALK TO ME!"
She looked everywhere, desperate for a sign of his brown and white patterned body, his tail, his ears... anything.
"Anton! ANTOOOOON!"
"BARK!"
Mary jumped as reality returned. She must have been standing there for several minutes, recalling the memories... the trauma... of the previous night — after the Dark Bout.
She looked down at her beloved companion; his tongue was out, panting with resolve as he turned his head in the direction of their designated route and barked with authority, a non-verbal command for them to keep moving. He'd held up extremely well, despite taking a blow from the serial killer last night... if the circumstances were even minutely better, Mary wouldn't dare take Anton any further. After almost losing him she wanted to lock him up in a place where he'd be protected from all harm, for the rest of his dog years... but Anton knew his duty, just like she knew hers. She had to have him.
"C'mon boy... this'll all be over soon."
NEAR LEOPOLDPARK...
As the afternoon set in to its latest hours, slowly creeping towards evening, Mary silently recounted how far she'd come in her search of Freeman: she'd left Castle Stronheim, hopped the first vehicle she could find, sped back into the city… and now here she was, wandering the urban streets, until the image before her finally shifted to a more green environment: a park. Tall trees, spacious green fields, a beautiful monument to nature even in this bustling commercial scenery.
Crossing the lush patch of greenery caused Anton to suddenly get very excited.
"Bark bark! Bark! Bark bark bark!"
Mary took notice, kneeling down to pet him. "What's up? Need to use a tree?"
Anton made no reply; simply took off towards the entrance to the park, barking all the way.
"H-hey!"
Mary ran after him, and her low gaze attempting to match his movements suddenly caused her to notice… a change in the grass. Green… green…
..Red?
"Huh?" Mary knelt down — to confirm she wasn't seeing something that wasn't there. But it definitely was: semi-dried flecks of a chestnut color, seemingly completing the transition between fresh and congealed. It was blood.
Mary looked up; Anton was already way ahead of her, inside the vicinity of the park itself. It was then that she finally noticed… the park was empty.
"Anton!" Mary ran after him, curious as to what had piqued his interest. She crossed the threshold as well, officially entering the park, her immediate destination the small thicket of shrubs Anton was fixated on. She got closer… until she realized where the blood trail led to.
She gasped: two bodies lay, still showing signs of life, groans and weakened movements. They were definitely too hurt to leave the area, or even get to their feet…
...But it was their identity that surprised Mary the most. She knew these guys… they were two parts of the team of three, led by Heavy D: The American Sports team.
"Brian! Lucky!" She knelt down to first check their pulses: both had slow heartbeats…
"Ungh… urrgh…" Brian groaned weakly. "Th-the trees…"
"Can you tell me what happened here?" Mary interrupted. "But don't strain yourself."
"W-we… we set out to find that murdering prick… to avenge D…" Lucky spoke with a raspy tone. "We caught up with him, but he ran… we followed him…"
"We were so caught up in revenge, that we didn't realize… he was leading us to a trap," Brian carried on. "He… he used the terrain against us… he jumped us before we had a chance… urrrrghhhhh!"
"You said… the trees," Mary stated. "So he's… he's here?!"
A nod from Lucky.
"He was already wounded when we found him… bullet wounds… we thought we could take him, but he led us here and… ungh…"
"Where is he?!" Mary's tone was urgent; the longer he was out there…!
"He's in the park right now… th-that way…" Brian grunted as he mustered strength to extend his finger, in an outward direction: towards a heavily-forested area. "He's making a stand. You go in there and he'll… urgh… he'll kill you! We got lucky… so lucky…"
"You're about to get a hell of a lot luckier." Mary whipped out her phone as she dialed the emergency number for Munich services. "I need an ambulance, at Leopoldpark, and I need all available units here now! I got two badly wounded — they say Freeman's here too."
A pause as she listened to the words on the other end… her face suddenly turned to surprise.
"What?! What do you mean there's 'nobody?!' Urgh! Fine, I'll do it myself! Just get these two out of here!"
With an annoyed sigh she hung up the phone.
"Alright. You two are gonna be fine, but apparently law enforcement's bogged down trying to deal with that spear guy and… for some weird f***ing reason… a guy that sounds like Eiji…"
"Y-you're not gonna go after that freak… haaaghkkk.. A-alone are you..?!" Lucky wheezed.
"I'm not alone." Mary spoke, rising up. "I've got Anton with me." She looked down at her fellow crime-stopper. "Are you ready?"
"Bark!" Anton seemed to agree heartily, as he flocked to Mary's side.
FREEMAN'S SUPPOSED LOCATION…
With good reason, Mary was on edge as she ventured further and further into the mystery, the sinister seclusion of the trees deeper in the park. Some may have written it off as movie cliche, but heavily forested areas were a slasher's playground… and that inspiration couldn't just come from nowhere.
Besides, according to Brian and Lucky, the two mangled combatants clinging to life… he WAS here. He was using the terrain advantage to compensate for his injuries, of which were extensive. That was Mary's only saving grace.
"FREEMAN!"
Mary called his name with no discretion, welcoming the chance for him to come out and face her. Her handgun was brandished, aiming at every blade of green, every rough-textured pillar of wood… looking for the slightest movements in the nature around her. A shift in leaves, the snap of a twig… any slight alteration to give his position away.
Every step, heavy. Breaths, hot. A burning in her chest. The tension, the NERVES, of the unknown… behind that tree? To her left? If she turned around, right now, would he be behind her, and end her purpose on this planet?
Her palm felt sweaty, the grip on the handgun so hard it hurt, yet feeling like it could slip out of her grasp at any moment. She placed a second hand on it, just to be safe, despite knowing it would stifle her movements…
Eyes constantly darting, capturing every angle, every probability. Like a real-life rail shooter: the possibility of him jumping at her from any possible location meant she had to be prepared to drop him in a split second.
Crunch...crunch...crunch… all silence, save for the rhythmic melody of feet across grass.
"BARK!"
She jumped slightly, unprepared for a burst of vocals from anyone else. She looked down at Anton; he had his nose deep in the green, seemingly fixated on something, as he didn't pick his head up in response to her calling his name:
"Anton? Anton…?"
She finally had to lean down and gently nudge his head aside, to see what it was he'd discovered. As soon as her eyes recognized it, the nerves in her body slammed their brakes all at once…
...Blood. Still wet.
She stood up, turned around in every direction, gun brandishing. Left, right, rear, front… this tree, that tree…
She turned 45 degrees… a distorted blob of red and pale white clouded her vision.
"BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!"
She felt a hard, jarring impact; her fingers curled, to fasten around the grip…. Only to feel nothing there. She looked down, with horrified eyes, to confirm; she was no longer holding her most paramount defense.
Nerves buzzing like angry bees. Heart pounding against its confines, like a parasite trying to burst free… it was all she could do to focus her gaze forward, and dive left at the last possible second, to avoid a fatal thrust from his left hand, fingers outstretched and rigid.
Her head went erratic; she saw what appeared to be a brown blob plowing into his chest, and he stumbled backwards several steps. The brown figure scampered over to her, nuzzling her for support to stand back up.
She did. She returned to a fighting posture… and her eyes locked with those of her sworn enemy, for the second time this week.
The eyes that stared back shone as they always were; devoid. No concern for the multiple bullet holes riddling his body, even now bleeding fresh. His posture hunching, twitching… legs occasionally bending at the knees… but it was all exhibition. Pain, bodily damage, the functions of organs and muscles… these variables didn't exist to him. He was a walking, moving cadaver; a vessel of cold, unfeeling meat that served a single purpose, until the day his brain ceased his movements.
Mary, not having this luxury, grimaced at her own wounds, as they seemed to flare up back in this familiar setting. Bringing a hand to her abdomen for only a moment, she spoke persecuting words:
"It ends here, Freeman. You've taken enough blood… now it's time to see your own."
Freeman's lip twitched slightly… as it curved upwards to a smirk. "Persistent one, aren't you? But uninteresting. The ones who recklessly pursue me, desiring death, are far less entertaining."
"Because it's too easy?" Mary questioned.
"Because the ones who struggle hardest are the ones who are terrified… the ones who can't fathom the notion of their life ending, and would do anything in their power to shield from it. Not ones with a desire for peril… like you." Freeman mocked her with his twisted ideology.
"I don't have a death wish!" Mary shouted back. "I know what my place is in the world… it's to take down monsters like you, that threaten the peace! For that, I'll keep on fighting! I'll never stop coming at you!"
"You protect lives. I end lives." Freeman exposed. "Wouldn't it be more fun to part ways here, you go back to your realm, as I do mine… and see which volition prevails at the end of the world?"
"There is no end of the world." Mary fired, getting into fighting stance. "There's no contest of ideology, there's no… deeper game here. It's just you and me. You, a murdering menace, and me, the one who's gonna bring you down. Dead or alive, justice WILL take its course. Now let's go."
Freeman's body dipped creepily… before shooting back upwards to proper height. He lifted his hand, outstretched the fingers… they slowly, menacingly dragged across his lips, as his tongue "lubed" the tools of his trade. "You fail to understand the necessity of our places here, yours and mine. It's a shame you have to die."
Mary didn't dignify his threat with a response or show of fear. She instead stepped forward, placing a hand on her light brown, loose-fitting belt… she released it, letting it slip free of her hips, hitting the ground in a perfect radius around her feet. She stepped out of it… and rushed him.
FIGHT!
Freeman was unfazed by her head-on assault, not making an effort to even change his stance; he allowed Mary to sprint at him, full speed, until her body got close… that's when he lunged and swung his vicious slashing appendage.
Mary had other plans; her full-on sprint was just to gather speed, as she immediately went low into a sliding attack, taking Freeman out at the ankles, and putting the murderer HARD on the ground. Mere seconds after his body hit the dirt, she scrambled on top of him, placing a knee on his left arm to pin it down, then immediately putting her attention on the right arm. She straightened it out, and torqued on it, straining the limb against its socket… she had to take those arms OUT if she had any chance of stopping him.
Despite his arm being viciously cranked out of place, Freeman was surprisingly indifferent about the ordeal… even after a sickening pop of bone could be heard, and his shoulder blade visibly protruded against the flesh.
...A sickening display of teeth, as he flailed his full body weight from underneath Mary, bucking the rather small woman off of him, yet she continued to hold onto his arm for dear life. But his left arm was now free...and that proved troublesome for Mary.
Mary fought as best she could to maintain control, thrusting multiple knees into his stomach, before attempting to trip his leg and get him back down. But soon, she felt it: liquid fire coursing across her bare skin, as an open wound screamed with life in the air, like the resurfacing from a long drown.
The pain instantly rendered her attack lessened, as she was forced to let go to put a hand to the fresh cut. Her hand touched her ribs… she felt her fingers immediately wetten with warmth. She didn't dare look.
Freeman was game enough to sense an opportunity when he saw it; he rushed Mary, arms swinging like meat cleavers. Mary barely dodged a left, a right behind it… Freeman threw a leg kick, and Mary quickly checked it, but then immediately resumed his slashing combinations, throwing a deep left, and twirling with a massive spinning slash. Mary could see the faint blood-red contrails, whipping behind each strike… or maybe that was just her own stained on his fingers.
Mary halted his next advance with a jab, popping him in the nose. He froze up. Tried to rush her again; a spinning backfist to the same spot froze him again. He persistently tried to come forward AGAIN.
Mary threw her best kick to his midsection, attempting to repel him and stay at distance… but he caught her foot in his hand, and she quickly realized… she had offered her limb to him.
"N...nuhh...NO!"
Mary barely had time to pull it away, but she didn't escape unscathed; Freeman had managed to stab his fingers at least a half inch into the lesser flesh of her ankle, and Mary's abrupt pulling away only caused them to further rend the skin, dragging across it like a knife through cardboard…
"Urgh…!"
Mary immediately felt it as her ankle returned to her. The pain was nearly too great to put weight on it, and Freeman watched with delight as she tipped like a scale. She had a bit of pain tolerance, but she was merely human; every cut felt raw and the agony was enough to make her want to fall limp right there… not to mention the blood loss would creep up on her soon enough without treatment.
...There was something almost… envious… about the way Freeman simply approached a tree… slammed his shoulder against it, popping the bone back into place… and just stared at Mary with the most devoid eyes.
He hunched over, brought both hands up… beckoning Mary towards him.
"Anton, flank left." Mary quietly muttered to her dog… and she rushed Freeman head-on once more. Freeman welcomed her, lunging in with a thrust of his arm (it blurred with an uncanny speed, leaving black contrails behind it).
...But his arm missed Mary, and the next thing he saw was her legs around his neck as she plowed into him full force, knocking him down like a domino. She straddled him from atop, shifting as much weight on her crotch as possible to hold his neck down, as she immediately snatched his left arm to prevent it from being used on her.
He knew what she was doing; as soon as he felt his air start to leave him, and the tightening of her thighs, he knew she was trying to put him to sleep. She must have figured out pain didn't quite work. He lifted his available right arm, preparing to ram it into her soft, supple flesh…
"BARK BARK BARK! RRROWWWGHHHHH!"
His arm failed to complete its motion, as Anton leaped out of nowhere and sank his teeth deep into the limb, immediately breaking the skin and spilling blood. The dog's strength was enough to drag his arm down and pin it, leaving Freeman officially disarmed.
"Go to sleep, you son of a bitch... " Mary strained with every word as she squeezed for dear life. "Go.. to… SLEEP!"
She saw strain in his face. Arm quivering, fighting against the beastly jaws of the ravenous dog protecting his dear master. Anton was strong, but no match for a human, as he slowly started to lose the battle… the arm lifted higher… higher…
A whimper, as Freeman drew his arm back, and slung Anton off of him. The teeth clung as long as possible, leaving two blood streaks down the skin as Anton finally disengaged and was sent flying into the woods.
"ANTON!" Mary screeched.
A sickening grin. His arm restored, Freeman straightened the fingers out, into fine points… and thrust all four digits into Mary's thigh… and TWISTED.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Mary screeched as she felt a pain like none she had ever experienced in her lifetime. Like a rusty knife stabbing into her, mangling the tissue underneath to prevent it from closing properly… a massive draft of oxygen hit the wound all at once, and it rendered her body temporarily helpless as the pain overtook her.
Freeman threw her off, returning to his feet, looking down amusingly, condescendingly, as she crawled on all fours, struggling to get back up… even when she did, the limp was apparent, as both the ankle wound and now the fresh thigh injury were weighing her leg down.
It was the easiest thing in the world for Freeman to simply approach, draw his arm back, and backhand her across the jaw, sending her into a spiral that planted her face first in the dirt.
Hazy eyes looked all around, seeing the familiarity of her own blood. She slowly eased up… everything spinning… she tried to spin against it, to return to clear vision, until she could at least make out the black and red blur, mixed with pale white. Her fists tightened. Had to… keep going… even if she…
She threw her best punch; Freeman swayed his head, and she continued with a second one behind it. His body dipped to dodge, like a puppet whose master lost the strings… before his body slingshot upwards again with a gruesome slash, leaving yellow claw marks coursing behind it.
Mary was lucid enough to dodge back, but she felt fingers rake across her cheek… she stuck her tongue on the fresh gash… and could taste air on the other side.
Her body barely standing, she wobbled forward… and shot a weak and telegraphed takedown. Freeman easily sensed it, and a jumping knee nailed her stomach just at the peak of her tackle. Mary's arms helplessly slipped free as she tumbled to the ground, rolling desperately in an attempt to use the momentum to get away. She stumbled back onto shaky feet, uncontrollably moving backwards, until her back hit a tree.
Freeman approached with no urgency, as if relishing in the sight of her anguish… like a show he didn't want to end. Perhaps killing her now would only end the entertainment. Maybe, for that reason, Mary felt she still had a chance…
...Of course, Freeman destroyed that theory with his next attack. Arm raised, turning horizontal, chest-level, fingers flexing… she saw his body shudder as a terrifying power built up, engulfing his body with red chi…
….A screech.
"HYEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Mary, with good fortune, ducked, and she saw naught but a HUGE, coursing stream of red, in a slashing contrail, soar over her head.
The next thing she heard was a crackle; the severing of wood from the base it proudly stood upon.
A loud thud.
She pivoted and saw the tree behind her, no longer where it once stood.
She turned back around… Freeman was in her face, close enough that she could see every malicious square inch of those eyes, and the madness they held… from the spherical white, to the blood vessels perimetering the retina, to the black void of those irises…
She hadn't felt fear many times in her life… but perhaps this was the biggest.
Th-thump...th-thump...th-thump…
His hand raised, fingers out…
Th-thump th-thump th-thump th-thump th-thump th-thump th-thump!
"BARK BARK BARK BARK!"
Suddenly, Freeman halted his attack, being forced backwards by...
...that majestic sound, like an angel's harp… she loved that damn dog.
Freeman turned his back to her, and she could see the saving grace; Anton's teeth were sunk into his lower calf, clinging tight even as Freeman tried to wag him off. His strength was keeping Freeman at bay, preventing him from moving forward on her.
This was her chance! In the time it takes him to shake Anton off…!
...There. Freeman finally managed to fling Anton loose, but not before a visible chunk of his leg had been taken out, leaving a gnarly red crater, blood gushing from the new orifice. Anton himself had to spit several times, to remove the undesirable meat from his jaws.
By the time Freeman was able to focus back on Mary… there was a fist in his face.
Freeman was rattled by this one. He must have felt it in his brain… he was officially on the retreat, and Mary was coming forward, screaming with each hit she threw on him. A left found his cheek… a right under the chin… she hit him to the body, right where the bullet holes were still fighting congealment… her right hand flew back up and cracked his chin once more…
Freeman threw a push kick to her stomach, halting her advance, and he lunged at her with his left arm drawn back..
"BARK BARK!"
Before he could swing, Anton pounced and bit down on the wrist, dragging Freeman's arm back down.
Mary took advantage, throwing a spinning backfist that sent Freeman into a wild stumble, as it connected clean on his nose… he growled with annoyance as he pushed forward, throwing a massive combination right, spinning around into a wild backhanded left. Each stroke carried lethal intentions behind it, as a metallic silver contrail whooshed behind the strikes… the color of a steel blade…
Mary dodged the second strike, and nailed him with a body shot to the ribs. She wasn't as potent a puncher as her partner Vanessa, but she was no slouch… and Freeman must have felt it, because his body locked up upon impact. Maybe, just maybe… with the bullet holes there… maybe pain was registering to the sociopathic killer.
Freeman's desperation showed, as he lunged at Mary with a rather sloppy strike; one that Mary was able to actually CATCH, and the next thing she knew… she was holding the equivalent of a murder weapon in her hands, inches from her vital areas.
Instead of lingering for too long she sprang into action. She tugged the arm her way, sending Freeman's body stumbling towards her… and she vaulted atop his back, spinning around until she was behind him. Her arms immediately found his neck for leverage, and the serial killer was now carrying Mary's weight on his back, desperately spinning around as the woman atop him tried to sink in a rear-naked choke.
Naturally, his first idea was to attempt to stab behind him...Anton's timely intervention ceased that, as he ran forward heroically and RAMMED into Freeman's stomach, knocking the killer off his feet and grounding both of them. He pounced on one arm, pinning it down to prevent use…
Mary wasn't able to get a respectable body triangle on him, because she had to use one of her feet to pin down his other hand. However, she tightened her arms around his neck, squeezed… and prayed.
"Go to sleep. Go to sleep, you f***ing bastard… go to sleep…!" Mary whispered venom into his ear as she squeezed with everything she had. Her heart pounded, insides flooded with anxious warmth… she was so close… so close…
She grimaced; she could feel his hand starting to slip free. Her foot couldn't generate enough force to keep it down… slowly, the fingers began to slip out… one at a time… until finally the hand popped out. Freeman wasted no time ramming those lethal digits into the first thing he could; her toes.
"Aghhh...shhhhit…!" Mary cursed aloud as she felt the equivalent of a stake being driven into her shoe, right through her foot… but still she squeezed, strength bordering on hysterical… she was blowing out her reserves at this point, sapping her muscles to their fullest extent to choke him out…
Freeman planted one foot. Another foot. He slowly pushed, exercising pure leg strength… until his body, defying the laws of nature, managed to spring upwards, like a tree leveling out from a strong wind. He was back on his feet, carrying Mary on his back… and carrying a snarling Anton on his wrist. He felt his vision begin to blur… head growing light... had to shake her off…
He slowly inched himself to the nearest hard object: a tree. His feet grew more sluggish, breathing compromised, darkness closing in… this was his last chance. With one sharp twist, he spun and slammed Mary's back against the tree.
"Ungh!" Mary felt her head conk against the solid wood, and she hit the ground, immobile. With freedom of movement, Freeman was able to easily pry Anton free.
"RRRRRRGH BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BAR-"
Anton's furious retaliatory barking was silenced by a kick to the face, knocking him out, right beside his beloved mommy.
Freeman checked himself out. His wounds were numerous; that damn dog had torn into him. He was missing several chunks from his arms and legs. The blood was still gushing. The bullet holes had reopened. He felt slightly dizzy…
...But now wasn't the time to sleep. There was still fun to be had.
He approached the unmoving woman, and her dog, flexing his fingers threateningly… he could instinctively feel his tongue trailing across his lips, relishing in the taste of death, wafting in the air, coating his tongue… a most delightful sensation.
"I was honest in not wanting to kill you."
Freeman spoke to his downed "nemesis", still battling her consciousness. "There's much more for you to contribute in life, than death. You and that… cousin of yours. I suppose I could just leave you here… but my hands thirst. The craving is so powerful, I could nearly cut myself to stifle the agony. My body is too weak to return to the city and engage the law enforcement… so you'll have to tide me over for now."
Freeman raised his hand, preparing to bring it down on her and end this feud once and for all...until a noise stopped him. A faint rumbling, overhead, growing closer in earshot with each second… the rapidly constant rattle of… blades…?
Aircraft. A chopper, sounds like.
He ran out of the obscurity of the trees to get a clearer view of the open sky; that's when he saw it. Black and white, "POLIZEI" emblazoned on the side…
"FREEMAN! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
A female voice spoke overhead, through the powerful PA system…
Freeman's interest was piqued. The chopper continued to circle the sky aimlessly… they didn't know where he was. But he could see inside the aircraft's open door: a beautiful young woman. Even from here he could smell her… nobility.
The red-clad blonde woman stood with pomposity; reckless abandon for safety as she stood in the open without even the simplest of safety equipment. The wind blew her pristine blonde hair to loose, disproportionate strands, her dress blown to outrageous angles, yet she ignored it as she continued to talk:
"I, Rose Bernstein, will not allow you to harm the people of my country, my brothers and sisters, any longer! You want blood? Then I dare you… COME TAKE MINE! Meet me at the main square of Odeonsplatz if you're brave enough to answer my call. I'll match you one on one: a fair contest, to the death! And you have my word, on the honor of the Bernstein name… the police won't interfere."
Freeman's eyes narrowed. The promise of blood - HER blood - was enough to tune his ears to the rantings of the skybound woman. She certainly looked like a catch: much more desirable than the last dozen he had cut down throughout the city.
He focused more intently now, as the woman above continued:
"You see, I know your type, Freeman: I know you can't resist the urge to spill the blood of a noble, to sunder the high-nosed, hierarchical constructs that separate a maiden of the purest breed, such as myself… from an unkempt-haired, filth-coated commoner like your kind. I give you the chance now… come and slice my fair, delicate skin! Carve me into fine silk… or die unremembered, like the coward you are… wallowing in the shadows like a rat! The choice is yours! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOO~!"
The cackling of the noblewoman droned out into the distance… as the helicopter at last escaped his field of senses.
Freeman stood in silence for a moment, his face donning its usual emptiness, but perhaps of a more... reflective nature in those eyes. He heard her words well… and despite how utterly implausible it sounded… his blood was rushing.
He turned once more to the incapacitated duo still in and out of consciousness. His lips crept to a grin.
"Of course, there are exceptions to the 'chasing death' philosophy I spoke of. Even I'm guilty of it when I get excited enough."
On that note, Freeman turned his back to them, and walked away… out of his forest sanctuary… back towards the city, to answer the call of Rose Bernstein. An obvious trap? Maybe. But something couldn't stop his feet… a sensation so powerful, it quivered in the most acute tips of his fingernails. Her words hit powerfully… all the right spots. All the most pleasurable sensations, triggered. Like an animal pursuing its most base instincts, the desire to ram his fingers into Rose Bernstein's soft, immaculate bosom, and devour the beating heart of her high-strung roots overtook him completely.
His life, the soul of his ideals at stake… no force, mortal or divine, would stop him from this kill.
Next chapter: Things finally come to a climax, as Freeman sets out on a one-way mission to answer Rose's call. Who will finally rise up, to put an end to his mayhem once and for all? Find out next time, in the bona fide conclusion to Round 2!