Crucible was pissed.

  That in itself wasn’t an entirely new phenomenon. She was infamous in the halls of the super soldier program for her short fuse and the explosive results from the aftermath that caused. But rather than being angry at the world for not having the decency to leave her the fuck alone, her fury was more focused inward.

  Things were going so well too.

  Infiltration into the building had been a cakewalk. Just like how ‘nobody ever looks up’, nobody ever expects someone to break into a building from the roof. In her experience, this was especially true when the criminals involved wanted to keep their secret base hidden. Half the time they don’t even put in a decent lock over the door or hatch because they can’t even imagine anyone actually climbing up there in the first place, and certainly not someone from any sort of law enforcement. Then again, it wasn’t like they had access to any locks that were effective against her in the first place.

  All it took was a quick mental flick with her power and she was in.

  High ceilings and exposed rafters allowed Crucible to easily scout out the majority of the facility in record time. While she would have loved to have taken a peek behind some of the more secure rooms that were fully insulated from the rest of the facility, she had to remind herself that she was both not alone and was under a time limit before the rest of her team came storming in.

  The amount of guards at the entrance was somewhat surprising. Normally these types of operations didn’t want to employ large welcoming committees because large groups of angry men paradoxically tended to attract more attention than they scare off. It was no matter though, the non-lethal weaponry worked like a dream, and within seconds everyone in the room besides her were sleeping like babies.

  Unsurprisingly, the sound of gunshots shortly followed by two very dangerous men busting through the front door attracted company. For her part, Crucible kept to the game plan. She kept high and out of sight, descending down to pick off the stragglers or silently intervening whenever she determined her teammates would be at risk of being overwhelmed. Once or twice she thought Do-Over had somehow spotted her dragging one of her victims into the shadows.

  The kid had sharp eyes on him, she had to give him that. Crucible was many things, loud and brash certainly being among them, but when she didn’t want to be noticed, even those with super senses had a hard time trying to locate her.

  And then she fucked up.

  Determining her allies had things well in hand, Crucible decided she would investigate the heart of the facility while the goons were busy getting put to sleep. What she failed to realize was that when criminal organizations get raided by other parties, their leaders tend to hole up in the back until things settle down. Even more crucial; This facility was in the process of synthesizing a damned super soldier serum!

  Needless to say, the results of her lack of foresight spoke for themselves.

  Crucible let out a hacking cough. “I’m alive.” She wheezed out from below the person sized dent in the wall. Snowpierce and Do-Over both looked like they may argue with her assessment, but she waved them off. “Punch cracked the plate on my chest. The wall got the one on my back. Still in one piece though.”

  “Punch?” Do-Over asked incredulously.

  As if to answer his question, a hulking figure stepped into the doorway Crucible had just crashed through. The man was obviously enhanced, with what little remained of his previously baggy clothes left in tatters as his impossibly large muscles tore out of them. Worse still, the cruel gleam in his eyes spoke volumes of just what kind of terror he would unleash if he was allowed to walk free.

  Do-Over made to engage but a bark from Crucible stopped him dead in his tracks.

  “No… He’s mine!” She said before rising shakelly to her feet.

  Do-Over looked like he wanted to argue. Thankfully Snowpierce threw an arm over the smaller man’s chest and shook his head. Without a word, the two moved towards the primary objective.

  “Hey! Where do you think-?” The muscle bound criminal attempted to say, but was interrupted by a hail of bullets pelting against his skin.

  The rapidfire sound of thunder boomed through the narrow hallways as Crucible unloaded her weapon into the man. Her arm held steady as she aimed, her power allowing the muscles in her fingers and wrist to make thousands of micro-adjustments in a split second to compensate for the recoil. The bullets hit all over his body, sadly bouncing harmlessly off his superhumanly tough skin, leaving only angry welts in their place. When her clip finally ran dry, Crucible clicked her tongue in disappointment before stowing the weapon back in her left holster.

  Seeing himself unscathed, the thug laughed. “Ha! Bet you didn’t expect me to be bulletproof, bitch!”

  Crucible sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a theatrical sigh. “Sadly… I did.”

  The nonchalant honesty threw the man off for a second. He recovered quickly though. “So are you doing the smart thing and giving up, or will I have to beat the lesson into you before I tear apart your little friends with my bare hands?” He raised his gargantuan arms out to either side of his massive torso. “It’s not like a weakling like you can do anything to me.”

  “You’re right.” Crucible said quietly. “I am weak. In a world of gods and monsters, I will probably forever remain at the bottom of the ladder. Yeah, I’m tougher than a regular human, but even then I can barely take a single punch from an asshole like you.” Her voice was rising in volume, growing more heated with each word until she was practically growling. “Even after all this time I still can’t lay a finger on the commander. For fuck’s sake, even the new kid’s going to be an absolute powerhouse once he has a bit more experience under his belt!”

  She looked up, her eyes blazing with fury. “But I’ll be damned if I let that stop me.”

  Without any further warning, she charged. Unimpressed with her resolve, the strongman made to backhand her out of the way, as if she was nothing more than a mere fly to be swatted away. What he didn't expect was for the slender woman to duck under the blow and to counter with one of her own straight to his face. Even more shocking was the feeling of his head snapping back from the force smashing upon it.

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  The man stumbled backward, shock clearly written across his features. Crucible smiled and set her posture into a fighting stance. There, he could clearly see the small loop of chain extended out from her wrist to wrap tightly over her knuckles.

  He let out a bellow of fury and charged. With her enhanced perception, she could read the emotions in his eyes like a book. The anger, the arrogance. Hell, she could almost hear his mind screaming ‘How dare this bitch actually hurt me!’. So she made sure to punish him thoroughly for each and every murderous thought running through his thick skull.

  “You know…” She mused aloud after slamming a fist into one of his kidneys. “I don’t even have to beat you in a fight to win.”

  The brute tried unsuccessfully to swat her away once more, and was rewarded for his efforts with several more sharp blows to his vitals. “What the fuck are you talking about?” He wheezed.

  Crucible hopped back and stood straight. “That strength you’re feeling right now, the invincibility? That’s just temporary.”

  She dodged several more blows that would have cracked her skull open like an egg before using the muscled jerk’s own momentum to send his head crashing through the nearby wall.

  “Take it from someone who’s already gone through the process. Right now that formula you took is raging through your body, overcharging it with power. Once that’s done, you will be left tired and weakened.” She gave a slight shrug. “Oh sure, you’ll still be way stronger than you were before, but if you want to get back to blocking bullets with your balls, that’s going to take some effort.”

  “Shut the fuck up you weakling!” He roared.

  Crucible sighed and slammed her fist into his temple once more, causing him to drop like a punching bag knocked off its hook. “You don’t get it, do you?” She growled. “Yeah, I may not be able to chuck a car across the street. But have you ever stopped to wonder why I’m not scared to fight you?”

  She crouched low, allowing an appropriate angle for him to look her in the eyes. “You’re not the first strongman I’ve fought. For fuck’s sake, you’re not even the strongest strongman I’ve fought. Listen here buddy… there are monsters walking around in this world that would make your worst nightmare seem like a holiday vacation.” She leaned close, her voice barely a whisper. “And I’ve carved their hearts out through their bloody chests.”

  In the blink of an eye, she drew her knives. With the precision of a surgeon, she carved thin red lines across his limbs, slicing important ligaments and tendons like a hot knife through butter. And with that, he was helpless before her.

  Struggling valiantly, the thug tried to move, to grab the cocky woman in front of him and make her pay for the humiliation. But nothing worked, she had thoroughly removed any and all control he had over his own body.

  Crucible could see the change in his expression. The moment when anger and determination transitioned into pure, primal fear. She drank it in, savoring the flavor. It had been too long since she last had a taste. As easily as she had taken him down, this man was dangerous. It would be all too easy to just slipped her knife right behind the neck and–

  No!

  Crucible sucked in a deep breath and reigned herself in. Her powers had taken so much from her life, she would be damned if she let them take her humanity as well. She had fought too damn hard for too damn long just to just let herself become a monster in a moment of weakness.

  Yes, the man was dangerous, but he was also thoroughly contained, she made sure of that. Plus this guy was more than likely the leader of this whole operation. Which meant that he had crucial info locked away in his skull. He was better off alive, and thankfully, the choice in executing him was not hers to decide.

  She had done her job. Now it was time to join the others.

  …

  She found them in what appeared to be a server room.

  As if sensing her approach, Snowpierce turned around, only to notice the extra baggage she was dragging behind her. “Tough fight?” He asked.

  Crucible shook her head. “Nah… The first blow just shook the rust off.” She nodded her head at the wall of monitors. “You boys almost done here?”

  “Sending the final data packet… now!” Do-Over announced. He turned around and flinched when he saw her. “What the fuck did you do to him?” He cried, pointing at the unconscious thug wrapped up in chains on the floor.

  She gave a noncommittal shrug. “The formula caused him to crash a couple minutes ago. But don’t worry, he wouldn’t be able to break through my chains, even if he was at full power.”

  Before the smaller man could say anything further, the commander cut him off. “We’re done here. Crucible, did you find any more of the serum lying around?”

  “Negative.” She said and tossed him a small injector. The glass vial inside was empty. “I believe this was all they managed to create before we barged in, and it looks like this guy used it all on himself. And based off the abilities he displayed, it wasn’t even a full dose at that. The shit is hard to make, even when you got all the proper tools.”

  Snowpierce gave a curt nod. “Let’s just hope it takes a lot longer for them than it does for our side. I would hate it if we just got lucky and hit these guys before they could ramp up production.” He faced Do-Over and motioned toward the chain. “Grab this guy and prepare him for transport.”

  Do-Over saluted and took the prisoner off Crucible’s hands. She noticed with no small amount of satisfaction that it took him a tad more effort to lug around the extra weight than it did for her. She made to follow but a strong hand clamped on her shoulder and held her back.

  “How you holding up?” Sam asked.

  “I’m fine.” She lied. “Just a bit rusty is all, like I said.”

  Cold blue eyes bored into hers, and she could feel her defences crumbling. Finally, she gave in. “During the fight… I…” She heaved a shuddering breath. “I almost regressed.”

  Sam’s eyes grew wide. “Shit! How bad was it? Do we need to call a hospital?”

  She stopped him with a firm hand on his chest. “I’m… Fine. I’m fine.” She said softly, in an attempt to convince herself as much as her friend. “As I already said, I’m rusty. It’s been too long since I’ve been in a fight where my urges could come out. Don’t worry. I’ll keep them locked up tight from now on.”

  He searched her eyes for any hint of deceit for several long moments before visibly relaxing. “Thank goodness… I would never have forgiven myself if you had finally lost the fight, especially since it was my idea to bring you back.”

  For one heart-aching moment, Ash wished that things could have been different between them. That she was the one who could melt his icy heart and offer the comfort they both desperately needed. But they had already tried, long ago. She was not the one. But for once, that thought didn’t bring her pain. Her dear friend had found love amongst the blood and darkness that had swallowed up their lives all those years ago.

  Perhaps one day… she could find the same happiness.

  “It was my decision to join you.” Crucible said, her voice becoming more firm. “I may be a little off my game, but I’ll be damned if I let myself become soft.”

  Snowpierce let out a small chuckle. “Understood. Let’s wrap this up and finally go home.”