hua took each breath slowly, power rising up through her nostrils and spreading out into her body. She felt it gather at her core and spread back out into the cycle of internal energy within her meridians. Each pathway carried strength where it o go, each passing sed she felt her power build. She let the breath out arength stabilized. This will do for now, she thought before tapping her earpiece. “Amos.”
<”I’m ready,”> he said, <”Do me a favor and drag it out a bit, will you? Those three are probably part of her inner circle or whatever she calls it. Sonya and the Pandora ittee are gonna want footage of their powers. Might give us an idea of what we’re dealing with if there’s more out there.”>
She lowered her hand to her side and focused on the approag forasked soldiers, “Uood.”
A storm of footsteps came to a stop, the sounds of guns arming as hundreds of barrels were pointed her way. She stood up straighter, keeping her sword at her side. Instead of attag right away she drew in a breath and used an insignifit portion of her internal energy to broadcast her voice even as she focused her senses on her surroundings, listening for any idle chit-chat that might give her an edge. “I am Bck Lotus!” she shouted, “You are trespassing in a restricted area! Lay down your ons and submit to arrest!”
No one moved.
She frowned, “Worth a try.”
Amos chuckled in her ear, <”You heroes are hirious.”>
Your inner vilin is showing, she thought darkly. Fixing her gaze orio that roag from the rear. She readjusted her grip on her sword as a portion of the attackers spread out down the middle, making way for the three suspected members of Liberty’s inner circle. Two of them appeared to be dragging some kind of load behind them, she couldn’t quite make it out with the dimming light. Her eyes narrowed, what are they dragging-
She ched her teeth.
<”...Hey, take a breath,”> Amos said quickly.
“You…” she snarled.
<”...easy, you know they’re doing it this way on purpose. Calm down, Bck Lotus.”>
She felt tears sting her eyes as rage tried to create a cavern in her chest. It took every ounce of training and self discipli to sh out, not to explode, not to set aside all puns and turn this campground into a bloodbath. Even so, mastering herself in that moment was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life. The trio came to a stop just at the edge of the crowd of masked men and women who formed back up behind them. She looked at each of them in turn, barely able to tain herself as she memorized their features.
A thin man was on the left, his nky frame adorned with what she could only describe as monks robes or an exercise outfit. He had bells tied to his ahat rang with each step. His eyes were wide, manid his smile dripped with barely suppressed desire for violence. Opposite him was another man, he carried a bow slung over his shoulder. His expression was a bit more rexed, his eyes glowing with ruby-red light. In the middle was a young woman, while the other two were retively , she was haggard and withdrawn, her eyes sunken and her face filled with s. Yet that wasn’t what arrested hua about her.
She was a cultivator. hua could feel it. The internal energy cyg in the woman’s body.
She finally forced herself to turtention to what they had been dragging with them. Bodies.
The thin man tilted his head a bit, bending at the waist so he could meet her gaze as she looked down at the ankle gripped in his hand. “See something you like?” he snickered. He looked down at the anke in his hand and the foot attached to it before looking up at her. He held his hand over his mouth as if to say ‘oops!’. “Oh! You want this?” he asked and wrehe body up before hurling it to her feet. The corpse of an aspirant rolled across the ground before stopping, lifeless. She looked down at the bloody face, stri with horror, the wounds were terrible. Like the poor thing’s flesh had been rippled and torn, the chest caved in.
“Well, well, well, well, WELL! Isn’t this a goddamn flip!” the thin man ughed, spping his thigh and sauntering a few steps forward as she stared at the body, “Here I was thinkin’ we’d have to fight our way through those nobody pristructors to get to you. You owe me money, Sir Ewen.”
She flicked her gaze up at the kempt man with the red eyes. Her pulse pounding in her ears. He didn’t have the temerity to toss a corpse at her feet, instead he simply dumped it on the grouo him as if fetting to toss out a er. “It seems I do, Sir Ellis. I’m sorry to have doubted you,” he said and walked up to stao his patriot, “You know, if wets out that you were the one who blocked our path, that could nd you in some hot water, Bck Lotus. Aren’t you suspended? Did you get a taste of rebellion back at the Hague or something?”
She groueeth, “You… killed them.”
Sir Ewen furrowed his brow, “Obviously. That’s what we were seo do after all,” he said with a shrug. He paused and scratched his nose, “Oh, actually, we’re really only here for one person. I suppose if you hand them over then we could just leave?”
The haggard woman scowled at him, “That wasn’t the pn,” she hissed.
He turned and frow her, “Learn to read the room a little. You know Liberty really just wants her sister back, the rest of ‘em will die sooner or ter anyway. What’s the big deal?”
hua closed her eyes, willing herself to find some measure of calm. She opehem and looked down at the body at her feet. There were fifty young people who signed on to bee heroes at this camp. Fifty. She sheathed her sword and the two men took a step forward just as she vanished. She appeared o Ewen and turo look him in the eyes before reag doig up the boy he’d tossed to the ground. Before he could react she was back where she had been standing before.
She picked the other boy up and slung both of them over her shoulders before vanishing again with a push off the ground. She returned only after leaving them yio the doors of the main building. “Ryan Stone, Darell Knight,” she said, the names sending an ache through her chest. It didn’t matter if they weren’t the most famous of the aspirants or the most distinguished. It didn’t matter at all. They’d stepped up, signed on, and even as things got tougher at the camp they’d stayed on. They were prepared to put their lives on the lio do some good in this world.
To her, it was all that mattered.
Ellis tilted his head to the right, his wild eyes staring at her in fusion even as Ewen’s expressio dark. “...who?”
hua exploded into motion, a siep carryihe brief distaween herself and the robe-wearing maniac. She brought her sword up in a diagonal artending to cleave him from hip to shoulder if she could. Her capacity for mercy was gone. Here, they’d find none. A sudden gleam of red light from below preceded a physical n of red light that absorbed the force of her strike, a shock rag through it that nearly shattered the struct as Ellis took a startled step back. She took aep and was behind him, driving a foot towards his spine.
The wild man whipped his head towards her with a ugh and vanished as her foot passed through where his body should have been. “Fire! Open fire! She’s a Mythic, don’t hold back!” Ewen shouted as hua kicked off the ground again, darting towards the main building as the rapid cracks of automatic ons going off began to fill the air. She nded half way between the main building and the dojo, darting towards her on-again-off-again home and around it, looking to disappear for a moment from their sight.
“Amos?” she called.
<”All systems go!”>
A loud meical whirring rose up from the main building. She turned in time to see parts of the roof rise up in the form of ders that sprouted loal tubes. The turrets swiveled and leveled their ons ohered cultists before unceremoniously returning fire, a hail of bullets raining down on the raiders as hua rouhe back of the dojo. Shouts and screams joihe chorus of gunfire. Now. She pushed off the earth into a leap, hurtling into the sky and pivoting her body, internal energy gathered at her feet and she pushed again the air being momentarily solid beh her feet.
She drew her sword once more only to spot the tell-tale fsh of red light from Ewen’s ability, an arrow of red light already moving to intercept her. Tch, she spun, flipping over once before nding on the ground and kig off again. She ighe bullets flying over her head, paid no mind to the scattering cultists as they sought cover. One hundred-
Ding~ Ding~
Bells?
The impact was so sudden that hua barely had enough time to even prehend what hit her. The palm-strike sending a rippling wave of sonic power through her side and chest before lifting her off the ground and sending her sprawling. Her head hit the ground and her vision swam just long enough for her to roll onto her back. When it cleared the wild eyes of Ellis were looking down at her, palm already moving down to follow up his attack. She cursed and rolled again, dodging a blow that left a crater in the grouh his palm. In the distance she heard something pop, a briefly lived fsh of light following it. She didn’t have time to think about it, though.
He barked out a ugh and she pushed up with her hands, twisting her body oo a sweeping kick that he leaped over. He drove his palms down at her again and she shoved against the ground, this time with enough force to get her to her feet. She swayed left and right, avoiding his wo palm strikes before he took aep and the sound of bells filled her ears again and he vanished from sight. She spuing instinct guide her and raised her sword, catg his strike as a fre of red bloomed in the er of her eyes.
She threw her head back, the arrow scraping across the tip of her nose as Ellis took a step backwards and disappeared again with that tell-tale chiming of bells. Sound based move- she didn’t even have time to think as he came in again, ughing wildly as palm-strikes were traded out for a series of kicks, her sword moved in response. Head, kidney, knee, shoulder, shoulder, head, she gave ground, letting him push her back. He’s moviowards Ewen.
A thrill went up her spine, an instinctive rea she’d felt only during oher fight. An image popped into her mind of the roots of a massive tree in the desoted remains of Las Vegas. She clicked her tongue and disengaged, pushing back even further with a snap ki Ellis’ dire as spines of red light erupted from the ground and crisscrossed the spot where her heart had been just moments before. Another arrow nced in her dire and she whipped her sword out and to the side, sending the missile into the ground. She leveled Ewen with a stare befng towards the scattering mob. Some were trying to find cover to use to shoot back at the turrets Amos had unleashed while others were just fleeing into the trees or dropping dead.
In the brief heartbeat of stillness, she heard the chime of Ellis’ bells as Ewen drew his hand back, juring a new arrow that grew rger thahers. She felt Ellis appear above her at the same time a storm of red streaks exploded from Ewen’s bow.
She clicked her tongue, pivoted, and spun. She swept her attacks around herself in a spiral, Cye of Rose Blooms! Each strike collided with red arrows as her attacker from above was flung back up into the sky, pealing with ughter. She shot herself upwards, charging towards him auro look at her, snickering before vanishing with a crystal clear chime of the bells on his ankles. I o get rid of those bells, she thought and turned again, sweeping aside another series of frantic blows from the martial artist. This time she managed a good ki the chest, sending him back to the ground.
She went in for a nding herself, turning her focus towards the archer. She gripped her on with both hands as she neared him. He met her gaze, red eyes burning. His lips spread into a cruel sneer and he raised his right hand, sweeping it to the left with a callous gesture. Red s ripped up out of the ground but they weren’t aimed at her, instead, shouts of surprise and fusion rose up amongst the mob as several of this bastard's own men were dragged straight intle of attack.
One of them had the presenind to turn and point his gun directly at her. Shit! She swore, throwing her internal energy into a sudden ge of dire. The abrupt forces ag on her body made her muscles ache as she hurtled away, her rajectory ended as she slid to a stop among a small cluster of the masked soldiers. The turrets that had been firing in that diremediately ged targets and the soldiers didn’t miss a beat, they opened fire.
She took a slow and deliberate breath in the heartbeat it took them to adjust their aim, a scowl f on her face. You should have kept them out of this. She thought angrily. She let her inner energy cycle faster, moving it to her limbs as the st of blossoms filled the air.
“Scatter!” A woman’s voice called out just as hua charged, diving into the small army that had gathered and unleashing on them, o became thirty in an instant as she revved up, letting her momentum build. Screams of surprise and pain joihe chorus of gunfire. A fsh of red in the er of her eye drew her attention and she turo block as a rge arrow punctured two of the masked men in order to get at her. She snarled and swept it down to the ground with a bang, the energy it released sending more of the masked soldiers to an early grave.
“THEY’RE YOUR MEN!” She bellowed, hopping back to avoid another hail of gunfire as two more arrows unched in her dire. She swatted them away, retreating a bit more to get some distand noticed that the shooting had stopped.
Ding ding.
Her lips curled into a snarl as she turned around, faster this time, and found Ellis staring wide-eyed at her ining fist. She drove her fist into his nose a him careening through a dozen of the masked soldiers. She unched herself forward and grabbed him by the shirt in mid air, dragging him with her as she slid across the ground before hurling him to the dirt. He bounced off the ground once, grunting painfully and the bells on his ankles chimed again. His eyes opened only to widen as her sword turned into a blur. The s holding the bells on snapped.
She met his gaze, her eyes hard. She saw panic followed by mad excitement as he cpped his hands and vahey’re going to start shooting, she realized. She went to jump and found herself held fast, she looked down and spotted red s ing around her ankles, burrowed up from the ground. She scowled and smmed her fists together, pushing her internal energy out and to her skin as she furrowed her brows in tration. She felt the first bullet strike her cheek before boung off of her hardened skin. Another hit, then another, soon automatic ons were emptying themselves as she burhrough power to defend herself.
Golden Scale Teique! It was a not-insignifit drain on her resources but as she wasn’t going full tilt yet, even so, they kept firing until there was nothi in their magazines. A hail of guhat didn’t just hit her, but the soldiers around her as they wildly sprayed bullets in her general dire. When the shooting stopped she lowered her arms and turo look in the dire where she felt the two men, both standio one another and watg as their men literally killed one ao get at her.
She spat on the ground, “Done pying tricks?” she demanded and pointed her sword at them, “Is this all Liberty’s people have to offer? I’m surprised anyone’s even worried,” she said and swept her bde down, cutting through the s around her ahey dissolved only for a pilr of red light to shoot up towards her face. She threw her head bad kicked aikes exploded from the earth, red edges looking to tear through her flesh. Her lips twitched down into a frown as she reached the edge of the treeline ing around the camp. Her eyes shot towards the building, wait a minute. Her eyes widened, NO!
The woman, the cultivator, was moving towards the on building. She’d drawn her sword and was flig it left and right as the turrets fired down at her, casually sending the ining fire away.
<”Hey hey hey, hua! Get over here!”> Amos shouted.
Internal energy turned into fire in her veins, the trees behind her exploded as she pushed far beyond what limits she’d set for herself in this fight. She rocketed across the gap, her eyes burning with power. A mog face appeared in her way, both hands outstretched. She snarled as he brought both hands together. Her on rose and fell, the sound wave he created colliding with an arc shaped fsh. She split the wave in half and pushed through, her hand grabbing his face before he could react. “OUT OF MY WAY!” she roared and hurled him at Ewen.
The woman had drawn her sword at this point, raising it up over her head only to whip around just as hua neared, she snapped her foot out and it collided with hua’s jaw. hua felt a bone creak uhe force of the blow as she was sent skipping across the ground. She nded in a heap, pulling herself up quickly to block the follow up strike from the woman who jumped out of the way just for a barrage of red arrows to e raining down. hua leaped out of the way and in a fsh of movement nded in front of the building again, breathing hard.
The trio approached, all eyes on her.
“Not bad! They say you’re the world's stro, gotta admit, I am impressed,” Ewen said.
She whipped her bde out and to the side, catg her breath and immediately beginning to cycle pain. I uand their abilities now. That man with the red light create structs and beams, like Bluestar. Simir power? She flicked her gaze towards Ellis, He teleports with sounds and use sounds to attack, the teleportation depends on a distinoise though. If it ’t be heard by his target, basically, it’s of no use to him. But if it’s a scattered sound like gunfire, he ’t take advantage of it. Or maybe he has to make the sound himself.
“W out our abilities?” Ewen asked.
“I think you three know you’re outmatched,” she growled, “Stow the bravado and leave before I am forced to kill more of your men.”
“How generous,” Ewen ughed, “Thoughts, Ellis?”
“Pretty sure Liberty would tear us to pieces if we did that,” Ellis said, “Besides, she’s already winded.”
“She’s holding back,” the woman cut in with a terse snap of her voice. The two men g her but her eyes were fixed on hua, “Restraining yourself to epic-tier, right? Against two Heroics? It’s insulting.”
hua stood up straighter, meeting her gaze as her fiightened around her sword, “You have good senses.”
The two men scowled but hua ighem, “What about you?” she asked the woman.
“I think you know,” the woman said a her hand on the hilt of a sworn on her belt, “But I don’t think you o worry about me right now. My friends are angry now that they know the truth.”
hua g the two furious men, “Anger is false strength.”
The woman’s lips parted in a wicked smile as she leaped backwards to get some distance, “Strength from Liberty isn’t.”
hua’s eyebrows furrowed, “What-”
“STRENGTH FROM LIBERTY! I am Sir Ellis of the Round Table!”
“STRENGTH FROM LIBERTY! I am Sir Ewen of the Round Table!”
Both men bellowed their decrations at the same time, a copper n of light smming down from above as if sent down from the heavens. Their bodies glowed, their skin tensing, muscles expanding, their eyes gleamed as renewed vigor flooded through their bodies. She could feel pih their skin, waiting to be unleashed. Did they just… jump a tier? She thought as the two men moved. A pilr of red light erupting from the grouh his feet and sending him flying backwards for distance as Ellis darted in with a blur of attacks. She blocked eae, but the gap had narrowed signifitly. Fshes of sound were hitting her body, leaving small spots of pain here and there.
She hissed and snapped out a kick that he twisted around like a snake, moving intuard to try to nd a strike with his palm.
No choice.
She pulled her body back around his extending arm, the world around her slowing down as her senses went into overdrive. The internal energy p from her core turned from a stream into a river as she respoo their spike in strength with her own. The words spilled from her lips as she took a step forward.
One-hundred eighty petals!
The jabs came out like a blur, a ripple of strikes that caught the man a cuts across his tough body before throwing him back towards Ewen.
She entered her ready stance more, “Find all the fake power and false might you want,” she decred, her on gleaming, “You will not pass me!”
