"Force is equal to the rate of change of momentum.
For a constant mass, force equals mass times acceleration."

Issac Newton

"The Fox of Calamity herself is marching towards our objective?!" Yuuka exclaimed, her voice sharp enough to draw Gordon's attention.

"…E-Eh… Nihaha… it's time to—"

"Oh, no you don't!"

"OW, WHY?!"

"…I'm a little lost. Miss Nanagami, could you explain…?" Gordon asks.

Rin clears her throat, and answers.

"Sensei, Kosaka Wakamo is one of the Seven Great Prisoners of Kivotos. Each one of them is extremely dangerous in their own way, but when it comes to sheer chaos and destruction… Kosaka Wakamo is unmatched. She's a walking, talking embodiment of chaos—fitting for her title."

She let that explanation to sink right in.

"I implore you and your escort to hold your position, and avoid going to SCHALE until your backup arrives."

"Forgive me for interrupting, Acting President." Hasumi raised her hand. "But are you sending the SRT to assist us?"

Yuuka let out a long sigh. Releasing the tension that had been growing after the bombshell of an information Rin had dropped. "Oh, then there's—"

"No." Rin interjected abruptly. Cutting the treasurer mid-sentence. "We're not sending the SRT."

"WHAT?! WHY?!"

"…Because I don't have the authority to deploy them. As a compensation, we're sending a portion of KSPD on your way."

"It'll only add to the casualties against the Fox of Calamity!" Chinatsu remarked skeptically. "I hope you know what you're doing, Acting President."

"It's better than nothing. Chief Kanna will arrive shortly to provide as your support. We have a plan, so listen well."

A holographic display flickers to life from the arm of the HEV suit. Creating a tactical, three dimensional map for easier visualization.

"This is the current blueprint of the SCHALE building. There's a way in through a hidden door right there." A green dot appears on a position right at the maintenance room. "To reach there, there is a maintenance tunnel that connected directly to the door, right under the secondary storage building here. I've sent the map to your HUD, sensei. Right about… now"

The map updated on the HUD in Gordon's glasses, sliding into view on the far-right corner as the marker leads the way.

"Isn't there another way…?" Koyuki slumps her shoulders with a sigh.

"Sure. You just need to fight through the gangs, and Wakamo herself. Does that sound good to you? Rin asked, arching an eyebrow.

"…No"

"Then this is your best option. The KSPD will act as your distraction while you slip in and jumpstart the security system. It was designed by the president herself, so it should be capable of at least driving Wakamo out from the building."

Gordon nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Oh, sensei, just in case things go awry, the president has left something else for you. It should arrive soon."

An iron crate laced with warnings and alarms descended down gently with a parachute as it glides down to the asphalt.

WARNING:

BIOHAZARD

CONTAINMENT GREEN, LEVEL 2

WHITE FOREST BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH DIVISION

NEW BLACK MESA

A blinking panel and a card scan security system adorned the crate and waited for him. Calling him like a siren with every blip and blink.

"Biohazard?! You sent us a biological weapon?!" Chinatsu raised her voice in disbelief. "Why on Earth would the president give sensei something like that?!"

"I don't know. Its up to sensei to open it or not." Rin sighs. "Don't shout at me."

"Sensei…! I highly advice you against it!" Chinatsu's continued. Her voice laced with worry and panic.

But their words became white noise to Gordon. His eyes were locked on the crate, and he couldn't care less about the words passing around left and right.

He froze. Staring at the crate and the words on it again and again.

White Forest.

New Black Mesa.

Maybe this White Forest is where Eli and the others had found another place to… settle. But this doesn't- no. He should've stopped questioning things.

It happened because it happened. Everything happened for a reason. All because of that-

"Sensei? Are you okay?" Yuuka warily taps on his shoulder, jolting him back to reality.

"…I'm okay." Gordon gave her a reassuring nod.

"Sensei, you don't have to open it if you think it's too risky." Hasumi urged.

The president left this for him. In his mind, it would be rude not to open it.

Gordon clenched his fists and fished into the HEV suit for something he had been wearing on his neck all this time as the tight Kevlar expanded by his input.

Employee #4176

Gordon Freeman

Level 3 Research Associate Scientist,
Anomalous Materials Department

BLACK MESA
RESEARCH FACILITY

"Black Mesa?" Yuuka mouthed.

With a swipe of his card, the crate popped and hissed. Cold nitrogen spills out through the opened crate as something… something frozen inside of it started to thaw. Shrieking and hissing as it started to twitch.

"What- WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Yuuka shrieked, recoiling as its eyestalks turned toward her. "EW!"

"…Sensei what… what in the name of God did the president leave you?" Hasumi narrowing her eyes at the thing, and at the adult staring at the thing.

"It looks… almost like a squid…" Koyuki remarked as she raised her hand… before it was stopped by Chinatsu. Pulling her back from the iron crate.

"Don't touch it until s-sensei gave us the green light!" Chinatsu chastised to calm her beating heart. "S-sensei! Please say something!"

"…It's…"
Gordon put away the gravity gun back to inventory of his suit, then reached into the crate, lifting the writhing, whistling creature with a squelch as it squirms in his hands.

"A hivehand."

"A Hive- SENSEI?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Yuuka screams in horror and nausea as what he had just done. Gordon raised his hand, plunged it into the creature's… backside as it writhed and shrieked before finally fully attaching itself to his arm.

"SENSEI?!" Chinatsu claps her hand to stop herself from retching.

"…Ugh… sensei… I hope you know what you're doing." Hasumi muttered and averted her gaze. "…h-how… unsightly…"

"Nihaha… sensei…" Koyuki chuckled with a deadpanned expression.'

"Unidentified bioweapon acquired."

"A hivehand." Gordon repeated calmly. Ignoring their reactions as if their strange horrid disgust wasn't there. "An organic bioweapon that shoots hornets. Think of it… like gun that homes upon the enemy."

The hivehand twiched and slithers in his arm.

"Did you really have to insert it like that?" Yuuka asked, still in disbelief at what she had just witnessed.

"…Yes."

"I wish I could take back the seconds I lost by watching you do that, sensei." Chinatsu muttered.

"You and me both." Hasumi agrees.

"…Make it three." Rin added. "Then I shall leave you be. Good luck sensei. Everyone…" Rin glanced at the creature.

"…Hand."

And with that, she ended the call.

-=-=-=-=-=-=(λ)=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Freeman-sensei?"

"…Mhm."

"I'm Ogata Kanna. The current Director of the Public Peace Bureau. It's nice to meet you. And-" Her eyes shifted to the… writhing, slithering thing attached on his right hand.

"Ugh… nevermind. I'm not going to ask. Acting President Rin already explained the situation, so let's just get to the point." Her lips cracked into a confident smirk. "I hope you can sprint, because things are about to ramp up,

And we can't hold her off forever."

As soon as they step foot near SCHALE, a battalion sized horde of helmet gangers and masked thugs flow surged forward with a grin and cheer hidden under their masks and helmets—and hubris surrounding them like a horrible fog.

In the middle of it, stood a lone Panzer acting as their biggest obstacle as a menacing figure standing on top of it unfurled her folded arms. Brandishing her beloved rifle slung over her shoulders.

"Kehehe~. How interesting! So you're the fools sent to apprehend me? Good luck~"

She taunted… and snapped her finger.

And all hell broke loose.

"Go!" Kanna shouted, as she rallied her comrades with wave of her hand. "Goodluck, Freeman-sensei!"

"As planned, sensei!" Hasumi called. cocking her bolt action rifle and went to stand beside Kanna and Chinatsu. "Good luck!" Chinatsu said as well to make their stand against the raging storm that is Kosaka Wakamo.

For a brief moment, Gordon watch at how she moves. The way she shoots and fights like a deadly dancer, weaving among the strings of steel and gunpowder effortlessly. It was almost hypnotizing.

But sadly, there is no time to admire her chaos. They have a job to do.

The explosions soared, and the fighting continued on as the group moved swiftly through the unguarded storage building and down into the maintenance tunnels.

"It stinks…" Koyuki groaned.

"Oh, shut up! It's going to get longer the more you complain!" Yuuka counters. "Sensei, how much farther?"

"…A little more." Gordon replied.

The sounds of splashing murky waters reverberate across the iron pipes of the sewer. Lit by the dim red lights of lightbulbs—and the bright flashlight emanating from Gordon's HEV suit to act as their only illumination inside.

AUX POWER
[][][][][][][][x][x]

FLASHLIGHT

MYSTIC RESERVES

100%

Splash. Splash. Splash. Splash.

The minutes stretched into what felt like hours, punctuated by the occasional rumble from the chaos above, and dust trickling down into the stagnant waters.

"Just how BIG is SCHALE'S sewers?" Yuuka pouted. "Let's just- huh?"

Eventually, they reached a metal gate—with a missing valve. "How the heck had this happened?"

"Over here." Gordon hoisted heavy valve with his gravity gun, inserting it into the empty spot where it once belonged.

"Wait, sensei, where did that- um… hive hand go?"

"Inventory."

"…I really want to ask how, but your suit already doesn't make sense."

"…Ditto."

With a spin, the gate opened into a deeper and longer maze of twisting tunnels. Left. Right. Straight ahead. Gordon led them through the waterlogged maze up and up to their eventual objective.

Footwears squelching and splashing without an end. Dampening the socks of the duo from the Seminar as the murky water seeps through and touching their skins.

Gordon was lucky that his HEV suit protected him from the discomfort his students felt.

By the time they reached a stairway leading to a locked door, exhaustion and discomfort was evident on his companions' faces. "We're here."

Gordon swiped his card through the scanner, bypassing the lock with a satisfying beep.

"Welcome, Doctor Freeman."

And it opens with a hiss, leading them into the maintenance room of the darkened building expecting them to march again… yet Gordon froze in his tracks.

"…Why is it quiet?"

-=-=-=-=-=-=(λ)=-=-=-=-=-=-

Outside, the KSPD had been utterly decimated.

It was like a storm had swept through to swallow them whole. Even if she was alone, even if the rest of her company was struck down, Kosaka Wakamo remains true as she carved through the Valkyrie students like a sharp scythe through tall grass.

Living up to her title as the Fox of Calamity.

Kanna gritted her teeth as the whirlwind of chaos made its way for her, and the butt of Wakamo's rifle met her face. "KH!" The taste of metal pricked her tongue as the feral hound stumbled from the impact.

Huffing and puffing as she wiped the dripping crimson from her nose.

"Heh, not too half bad, fox." Kanna muttered with a smirk.

"Hoo~ says you, hound." Wakamo rested her rifle upon her shoulders with a mocking grin only she could see—as she peers down upon the feral hound.

She's fun, but Wakamo has something else to do.

Her focus drifted on the mysterious building waiting for her, and the secrets it held inside the walls. Wealth? Power? Influence? Whatever it was, she'd just bomb it after she's done—or when she got bored exploring it.

BANG BANG BANG!

A flurry of bullets struck her body to pull her back into the present, followed by a shout and a punch as the feral hound charged forward.

"Oomph!"

Sharp fangs glinted as she raised her fists again to attack.

"Fufufu…" Wakamo staggered back, with a grin on her lips.

Perhaps she could play with the feral hound for a little more.

-=-=-=-=-=-=(λ)=-=-=-=-=-=-

Inside the SCHALE building, a group of gangers have made themselves in. Resting and laughing as they lounge around the comfortable interiors. Some rested, while some shook their spray cans and let their artistic minds flow into the pristine walls of the building.

"Hehe, now just a little more- ow!" A blonde thug flinched suddenly.

"What's going on Hotaru?" Her companion asked.

"Something nicked me." The blonde winces and stroked the part where the strange sensation had come from. Her skin feels itchy and somewhat hot.

Like someone had pressed a glass of hot coffee for a fraction of a second.

"Huh? Why are my clothes- OW! Again?!" Once more she felt the strange nick of pain.

She spun to feel the second spot only for her to be interrupted by a third, a fourth, and then she screams in horror as a swarm of buzzing creatures came like rain upon her. "WHAT IS THAT?! OW! OWW!" Piercing her body before it explodes, and unleashing its acid within.

Melting clothes, and burning her skin until she couldn't take the pain anymore.

One down.

More to go.

The hornets switched their targets as fast as lighting as screams filled the room as the hornets stung and explodes at every victim until they couldn't move. A hive mind, dedicated for destruction.

"AHHH!"

"OH SHIT- R-RUN!"

The gangers immediately dropped their activities to escape the same fate that had befallen their friends. Screaming and pushing aside anything that stood in her way to sprint out from this building with the deafening buzzing of the hornets tailing them tightly.

Undeterred in their one singular goal of existence.

BEEP BEEP.

AMMUNITION DEPLETED.

"Will they… be okay?" Yuuka peeked out nervously next to the scientist as he strode ahead to inspect the fallen ganger.

"She'll… be okay. Just some… huh." Gordon noted their resilient skin. Though bruised slightly like it was stung by a mosquito, there was little to no evidence from the acid the hornets unleashed.

"…Kkshh… hrr…" The hive hand assimilated in his right hand, wiggled and writhes pitifully from having its loyal soldiers discharged for the assault. Its exhausted, cranky, and if it's human—it could even cry by the tone of its low rumbles.

The scientist sighs and draped fallen blanket rolls over the unconscious gangers. Turning to his two companions he asked, "…Anyone got a candy bar or… something?"

"Huh? No?" Yuuka blinks in confusion. Clearly caught off guard by the strange question/

"Nope. I left my snacks in-" Koyuki slaps her lips. "I mean… nihaha! I don't have any snacks on me… o-or anywhere else!"

Yuuka narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "…Right. Is it for the… um… hive hand? God it's weird calling it that." She sighs. "You need to come up with a name for it, sensei."

Gordon shrugged. "…Hive." He said half-heartedly with a small, teasing smile on his exhausted lips. He knows this is something that he shouldn't do, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He opened a random bag and started to rummage through its contents

"W- hey! C'mon sensei…! Are you seriously going to…?!"

"It gets cranky and… won't produce any hornets." He explains nonchalantly as he kept on rummaging until a small bag of jerky surfaced from the bag—and the assimilated bioweapon seem to brighten in its own, bizarre way. Eager for its "payment" for the hard work it had done.

Gordon ripped the bag open and shoved its content into the mouth of the gaping maw of the living creature as it giddily scarfs down the dried meat. Chewing and munching before it spits out some piece of plastic akin to a trading card out.

"Burp."

"…"

"…"

"…Nihaha…"

BEEP BEEP.

AMMUNITION RESTORED.

"Let's continue." Gordon said as he turned to the stairwell and began their hastened ascent up to the objective with the noise combat that still roars outside to serve as a distant ambiance.

But as they climbed the stairs toward the second floor… the noise stopped.

No noise but the slow movement of the air conditioner and faint flickers of fluorescent lights filled their ears.

No exchange of bullets, no rumbles, no distant explosions, and no screams—as if a noise cancellation dome had swallowed the entire building.

The deafening, unadulterated eerie silence took the place of what should've been activity outside of the building.

Thick and unbroken, yet could shatter by an innocent drop of a pin…

Or the sound of approaching footsteps.

An elegant figure emerges with a white Kitsune mask donned on her face, and her tattered kimono that flow elegantly with every graceful step she took.

The girl rests her rifle on her shoulders as she let out a sultry, sickeningly corrosive sweet voice that melt even steel to break the stillness of the building.

"…Oho~ I knew I heard something from here."

Her overwhelming, oppressive aura leaks from her like a pungent miasma. A primal sense of fear and dread that clung to the air as she shifts slightly in her pose.

"Let's see… that you GSC ants could entertain me in this dull building like what the mad hound did.~"

There goes the security system plan.

-=-=-=-=-=-=(λ)=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Stand behind me!" Yuuka shouts as she raised her shield, as powerful bullets struck the barrier, while the trembling hacker stumbles with her LMG.

"Uaaahhh!"

"Hyah!"

RATATATATATATATATATATAT!

The duo unleashed the hailstorm of bullets, yet hitting nothing but walls and doors as the fox danced through the barrage. So fluid and precise, it was… terrifying as she returned fire at the same time into the blue barrier of the treasurer with each shot slamming into it.

Yuuka held onto her shield as it cracks began to form across its surface and the warning beeps from her calculator growing more frantic as the numbers ticked down.

Then it shatters greatly.

Without wasting a second soon, Yuuka was hit again and again until her halo flickers and disappears.

Everything moved too fast.

"Yuuka!" Koyuki emptied her magazine, hitting air and grazing the edges of the fox's already tattered kimono. Dealing little to no damage as Wakamo weaved to pass the bulky frontliner and into the panicked hacker. Hands outstretched to grasp the muzzle of the pink LMG, and to yanking it to pull Koyuki straight into the fox.

"Uwah?!"

Striking the hacker down with a swift strike with the butt of her rifle, finishing with a clean shot to the head.

Her halo flickers, and she was down for the count.

Too fast.

The fox's glowing eyes shifted toward him, and Gordon felt the weight of her attention.

Calm yourself.

AUX POWER

[][][][][][][][][x]

SPRINT

MYSTIC RESERVES

100%

A burst of speed surged through Gordon as he dashed to the side, his hand raising the symbiote to aim and fire.

BLETCH BLETCH BLETCH!

A swarm of hornets erupts from the hivehand as Gordon beckons the symbiote to unleash its minions. Each one homin on the fox as it pricked her skin in her brief moment in confusion, before she started to swat the hornets out of the air.

"Ow! What kind of-" Wakamo said before she was interrupted by several hornets struck and explodes violently. Burning her clothes and searing her flesh. She snarled, returning fire as Gordon scrambled to dodge.

But some pass through to his armor as the fox closed the distance thinking enough is enough.

Closer.

And closer.

AUX POWER

[][][][][][x][x][x][x]

SPRINT

MYSTIC RESERVES

87%

The fox spun and swung the butt of her rifle.

CLASH!

Her rifle struck the armguard of Gordon's HEV suit. Sending sparks of blue and red, and wooden shards from the impact. "!" The scientist pushed his speed boost further to dodge another and another as the hive hand replenished its swarm.

AUX POWER

[][][][x][x][x][x][x][x]

SPRINT

MYSTIC RESERVES

67%

He was losing momentum, the gap between them shrinking and shrinking with every exchange of bullets and strikes she used.

She may as well finish him right then and there, if not for his own experience and skills from the endless lines of fire he had found himself in.

AUX POWER

[][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x]

SPRINT

MYSTIC RESERVES

51%

His speed boost was nearing its limit. The hornets, while a useful, they weren't enough to defeat her. He couldn't defeat her this way, there's must be a better option to do this and coming right at the top.

Think…!

He needed something… stronger.

An idea.

"Yuuka! Throw me your shield!" He shouts to the groaning treasurer as she blinked herself awake. "…Gh..! Okay!" The treasurer tosses the calculator to him as it blinks alive.

It's charge a hundred percent ready to be unleashed.

Just a teeny tiny more seconds. That's all he needs as he fired more of the hornets before swapping to his gravity gun.

PEW.

The fox broke free from the swarm's distraction just as the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator caught the device.

3.

2.

1.

NOW!

Jolts of orange lightning surges from the Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator enveloping the calculator as it was shot at the fox.

Overwhelming, overcharging it as the numbers mixed and fell apart into one singularity. Breaking to the usual azure barrier into an unstable overcharged barrier of orange coming right at her with the speed of a car.

"!"

CRASH!

With a deafening CRASH, the empowered shield slammed into Wakamo like a wrecking ball. Sending her flying and through walls of concrete and steel, crushing furniture and tearing doors from their hinges far beyond before detonating in an explosive finale of unstable energy as the calculator couldn't take the overwhelming energy.

KABOOM!

"…You're going to… pay me back for my calculator, sensei." Yuuka spoke with a deadpanned expression as she hauled the still unconscious Koyuki from the ground and onto her shoulder.

It's over.

The entire building, this hallway is a mess as rubble fell down, and some of the upper floors had collapsed down into the floor underneath. Nothing was left of the once pristine halls of SCHALE but the destruction if carried.

"After we're…done." Gordon replied, taking Koyuki off from Yuuka's arms. It didn't feel right to make her carry Koyuki as the adult here.

Crunch.

His HEV boots stepped on something delicate—out of place in this very place they're in. Pink petals fluttered down onto the floor, scattering across the rubble in the destroyed hallway of SCHALE.

An ominous, warm spring in the middle of chaos.

"…Kehehe… that smarts."

The voice of the fox sends chills down their spines.

From the deep dark abyss of rubble, the masked kitsune emerged. Battered, yet unbroken as her kimono hung in tatters, and a wide crack now decorated her mask.

Yet she still stood tall.

Eyes glowing bright from amusement and determination as she raised her rifle and returned the favor.

A single powerful shot, as the Sakura flower above him blooms.

MYSTIC RESERVES

21%

BEEP BEEP.

WARNING!
BONE FRACTURE DETECTED.

MORPHINE ADMINISTERED.

The world spun and spun as Gordon rose slowly rose to his feet. Raising his head at the figure emerging from the far end of the abyss. A shadow, a destroyer without restraint. Humming a small tune as she shot Yuuka unconscious before she could act.

Nothing in his arsenal could save him now. Not the Hivehand, nor the Gravity Gun.

Either of them could do anything as Wakamo got closer and closer, ready to finish him off once and for all.

"It's been fun, strange adult~ but I have to wrap this up~!"

He raised his fists in one final desperate action. He would fight her barehanded if he must…!

Thud.

Until something heavy landed the broken ceiling next to him with a loud, metallic clang.

Heavy duty, pure iron, and painted in red, as a pair of glowing emerald eyes stare down from at him from the second floor with a mocking smile before leaving.

"…"

Like a moth to a flame, The One Free Man held the weapon that struck undiluted horror to the hearts of the Vortiguants when they stepped into Black Mesa for the first time.

And that dark cloud of adrenaline and the fight for life and death swallowed his mind.

Raising the bar,
The One Free Man steadied himself for a single solitary objective inside his mind.

For her to feel the first and full experience of humanity,
running down in a steel corridor.

And for the first time, the Fox of Calamity… felt uncertainty.

-=-=-=-=-=-=(λ)=-=-=-=-=-=-

The adult sprinted at her as he swung his crowbar with a powerful, unrelenting force. The crude, inelegant bar of steel clashing against her most cherished rifle as the weight of the impact reverberating through her arms, and into her spine.

'How did this adult get right back up? Where did this sudden surge of power come from?!' Wakamo thought to herself as her mind raced to understand the sudden dire shift in the situation. She had been so sure that he is done right then and there and yet…! There he was.

Relentless. Wild and aggressive like a desperate beast locked in a cage. Burning with intensity and silent a-anger behind those cloudy glasses that set her heart thumping.

She swallows a pit in her throat. Leaping back to make some distance for a clear shot as her she pulled on the bolt… and fired.

BANG!

She aimed for the head, yet he dodged with a swift sidestep as he kept on coming. Sprinting faster and faster than she had anticipated.

She couldn't let him get close.

BANG!

Another shot that this time struck his armor as it sparked blue and orange before she dodged a powerful side swing of the piece of iron. Missing its mark and breaking into the wall beside Wakamo. Creating a deep hole on the concrete.

She leapt again to try and find a way out, for her to fire her powerful rounds and cast her skill yet he was there every step of the way. Again and again, he closed the distance with a terrifying speed without giving her any single opening.

Every missed swing of his crowbar send chills down her spine. Inches from her face, her sides, her abdomen as the metal almost come into a blur.

No time to aim.

No chance to fire.

"…Tch!" She clicked her tongue in frustration, gripping her rifle to support her rising tension.

Close quarters it is.

CLASH!

The wooden stock spat splinters as it met the crowbar's steel once more. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Even if she would find amusement every now and then with close quarters combat, this… this is not her forte.

She hated this. She hated every clash she struck against the cold steel of the heavy-duty tool. It had done nothing else but degrading her beloved weapon!

Yet there was no other choice but this. Sure, she could always run away. But does she really want to do that?

Not in a million years.

A swing, a thrust from her bayonet, kicks and a few elbows—every technique she knows in her arsenal floods through her systems to meet his might. His attacks are either heavy or fast, he was unpredictable but she was lucky enough to live in chaos.

She weave though his attacks easily enough. She just needs to keep herself out of reach from his swings… or so she thought.

Dodge.

Swing.

Leap.

Swing.

Dash.

Counter.

She moves fluidly as she slowly had gotten used into his wild attacks. Just a little more. Just a few more moments so she could fully adapt…! And there it was.

There it is. There it is! A delicious opening for her to exploit and finish this ridiculous fight!

He had his back on her, his easily exploited back without a chance of retaliation. A simple decisive strike with the butt of her rifle would end it him right here… and now.

She lunged and held her beloved weapon tightly as her grin grew wider.

Simple and qui-

"Oof?!"

Her thoughts and dreams of victory were cut short as his armored body slammed into her with the weight of a freight train.

'H-HE JUMPED… BACKWARDS?!'

The weight of the armored bash sent her stumbling and struggling to regain her balance as everything started to spin and spin and-

Before she could recover, The One Free Man spun on his heels as his eyes locked into hers—and he swung the terrifying steel right towards her face.

Coming down as fast as a bullet, yet with the might of a heavy truck.

Inches by inches as it crept closer and closer.

No.

Her heart raced. Beating a thousand miles per second.

NO!

Time couldn't get any slower.

And with a sickening, deafening crack, the steel bar struck her mask—breaking it apart into a thousand irrepairable pieces.

Leaving her face open for all to see.

Author's note:

IMPORTANT

As a note... this was uploaded in Ao3 for the anniv at 17th of November 2024, plus an extra 20th Anniversary Special Chapter.
I'm sorry, I'll post it here as well but I really, really recommend you to check it out in AO3 for a very pleasant surprise.

You'll be missing out.

Anyway,

HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY GORDON FREEMAN!
Sorry this has been late. But I've been keeping my focus on Hans, and other projects in mind. Either way... bless GabeN, and bless the Half Life Series.
Did you expect the fight between Wakamo and Freeman?
When the crowbar came into his hand... all of the pain came back as a tidal wave.

See you on the next installment!
Also, I have a discord server now. If you're interested to chat or sneak peeks, join me!