City: Altérion
Time: 21:19
Sector: Alosad
Three silhouettes were advancing through a dimly lit alleyway. Two of them had red pupils glowing in the darkness, while the third wore a mask.
As they stepped into the light, the colors of the DH ARMY became clearly visible. It was Techno Rider, Big Zero, and Lame. Lame raised his hand, and the other two instantly came to a halt.
« There is the house. We have a gathering of super-terrorists. From what we know, they are trying to smuggle Nova and create new terrorists. Our mission is to prevent this maneuver at all costs. If an enemy proves uncontrollable and highly dangerous, eliminate them without hesitation. »
As they began to move forward, Lame added:
« Rider, you have three minutes to ask any questions you want. »
Rider reflected for a second, then a question crossed his mind:
« No questions about the mission, but I do have a question about Odin. Why doesn't he have red pupils and markings like the rest of us? Isn't he a Sigma? »
While advancing, Lame replied in a serious tone:
« No, Odin never took that substance when the drug was being distributed. He was already wanted back then and mistrusted everyone. So when the men in the hats approached him, he grew suspicious of them instantly. »
« Oh, so he was a super-terrorist long before joining the DHA? », Rider asked, intrigued.
« No, not really », Lame retorted. He continued: « Actually, he was more of a masked avenger. »
« A masked avenger? I don't really get it. Avenging whom? »
« He wanted to… » Lame started to clarify, but he suddenly spotted a man stationed on a roof. He stopped dead in his tracks and took cover. Instinctively following his lead, the others hid as well.
They locked eyes, then began communicating in their own sign language. Big Zero looked at Lame, raising his hand with his palm facing his own face. Translation:
(What do we do now?)
Lame showed him his left palm, then clenched it into a fist, pointing it toward himself:
(We must eliminate him stealthily.)
« What did he say? », Rider whispered, confused.
Big Zero, keeping a stealthy eye on the man, murmured:
« We have to take him out. He's alone on that building. If there are other people stationed where he is, as long as we target him, no one will notice a thing. »
Techno Rider unslung his bow from his back and notched an arrow. He said in a confident tone:
« I've got this. »
He slipped swiftly through the alleyways, dropped to one knee, aimed at his target, and in a flash, released the string. The arrow tore through the wind with an inaudible sound, piercing the man's head. The sentry made a muffled thud as he collapsed onto the rooftop.
« GG, kid », Lame muttered, peering slightly over his cover.
After a few seconds, they stealthily scaled the building. Reaching the top, Lame and Rider stayed low. Lame asked, checking his jacket:
« Zero, status report? »
« There are eight people gathered around a fire in the main alley, talking. Following the line of containers near them, there are four men standing guard, and three more stationed above. That's their army. »
Lame looked up, then opened his coat. Dozens of throwing knives were lined up inside his pockets. As he locked his eyes on the guards, several of his knives flew out of their slots on their own, hovering right in front of him, perfectly still. Without warning, they shot forward toward the men on the roofs.
From a distance, Rider watched the scene in absolute awe. The blades locked onto the men. They pierced the head of the first, the second was struck right through the heart, dropping instantly, and the last was impaled through the abdomen by two knives.
The blades leveled out and automatically flew back into Lame's pockets. He tapped Big Zero's shoulder and said:
« Zero, you go down with me. We need to take as many prisoners as possible down there, so go easy on them. You, Rider, cover us from the roof, understood? »
Rider notched three arrows simultaneously, securing them on his bow as he replied confidently:
« Understood. »
Lame and Big Zero glanced at the targets standing below, then both leaped off the edge at the same time.
Down below, the eight people around the fire were in the middle of a discussion. A lean man within the group said:
« Guys, I don't mean to kill the mood, but is this project really going to work? I've got a bad feeling about it. »
A highly muscular man standing nearby growled, crossing his arms:
« Don't sweat it, it's going to slide by easy. We pass the Nova, and then we head back to HQ, my friend. »
The lean man shook his head in disagreement:
« No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the other pl… »
A shadow descending from the air cut him off. Looking up, he saw two individuals landing heavily. One of them was massive, wearing a black trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat of the same color. The entire group stood frozen, mouths agape. As the figure stood tall in the darkness, the men were gripped with terror. One of them stammered in a whisper:
« A… A man in a hat? »
Lame performed a mock bow as several blades slid out of his coat:
« Good evening. I am Lame. »
The men instantly snapped out of their shock. One of them screamed:
« IT'S THE DH ARMY! »
The eight armed men immediately opened heavy automatic fire toward their position. Big Zero instantly conjured a massive wall of ice that intercepted the plasma rounds.
Like a freezing tidal wave, the ice lunged toward one of the men. The thug fired frantically at the approaching frost. Big Zero flanked to the right, then sprinted forward. In a swift, fluid motion, he grabbed the muscular man right by the face, freezing him instantly. With a flick of his wrist, he materialized an ice cage around him to secure the capture.
Panicking, the remaining hostiles began unleashing their powers erratically in every direction:
« I knew things would go sideways, I was right! »
One of them drew a heavy machete and delivered confidently:
« There are only two of them, and eight of us. They can't win. »
Right in front of them, a swarm of knives appeared, hovering motionlessly for a split second. The terrorists waited for the slightest movement of ice or blades to launch a counter-attack. Then, suddenly… everything escalated at lightning speed.
The ice surged toward them. Instinctively, the men jumped to the right to dodge it. Simultaneously, the floating knives vanished and reappeared at leg level. Without losing momentum, they tore through the heels and knees of the four hostiles present. The knives, still in mid-air, looped back and pierced them a second time. The four men collapsed to the ground, entirely unable to move.
From behind the ice wall, Big Zero emerged once more, but this time wielding two dual ice sabers. He charged toward two of the hostiles. The remaining three armed men, catching Big Zero out in the open, targeted him immediately. Just as they were about to pull their triggers, one of them was violently blindsided in the face by Rider, who had just dropped down from the roof.
The other two immediately switched targets. As they opened fire, Rider slid agilely across the concrete while throwing a smoke grenade. The area was instantly flooded with dense smoke, rendering everyone invisible.
The hostile wielding the dual machetes ignited them into flames and sprinted toward Big Zero. Abruptly, without warning, he felt an oppressive weight behind his back. Spinning around, he caught sight of Lame holding a knife, with several others circling him. Lame brought his blade down with immense power and surgical precision.
The man managed to dodge, but one of the telekinetic blades pierced his shoulder while another slashed his calf. He retreated for a moment, then saw Lame looking down at him with an incredibly confident smirk. Extending his hand, Lame delivered arrogantly:
« Come on, jackal. »
Frustrated, the man cranked up the intensity of the flames engulfing his machetes and lunged at Lame. Lame smiled faintly as all his knives deployed from his trench coat. There were exactly twenty-three of them, forming a literal kinetic shield around him.
The man paid no heed to the number of blades. To him, the only thing that mattered was seeing Lame dead. He threw himself at Lame, launching a relentless, non-stop barrage of attacks from all angles: a flurry of flaming blades accompanied by an unbearable heat wave.
Lame, with his arms crossed, simply hopped backward, letting each of his knives block the incoming strikes effortlessly. The violent impacts echoed through the alley with deafening metallic crashes.
The man executed an agile slide toward Lame's left flank, attempting to sever his ankle. Lame lifted his foot slightly, allowing one of his hovering blades to intercept the flaming strike mid-course. At the exact same time, Lame sent three knives flying forward with a mere glance. The man parried two, but the third pierced his shoulder. The hostile collapsed onto the floor, blood pouring heavily from his hands.
When he tried to move his arms, they refused to respond. They felt completely paralyzed. What he didn't know was that Lame wasn't striking randomly; he had deliberately severed the neural pathways of his limbs to incapacitate him. Lame walked over to him, holding two knives in his hands. He delivered in a chilling voice:
« You could have surrendered and avoided all this, but no. Next time you pick a fight, buy yourself a real blade, because yours are garbage. Take a look at mine: they can't break, and they never miss. Now these are real knives. »
When Lame looked up to assess the battlefield, he saw that every super-terrorist present had been neutralized. Big Zero had frozen most of them, and Techno Rider was busy tying up the last one. Off to the side, the lean man was the only one left standing free. He was trembling violently as he looked at his fallen crew. Lame stepped forward, grabbed him by the throat, and hoisted him into the air, asking in a menacing tone:
« Hey, you. What exactly did you come here to do? »
Terrified, the man began to stammer through his shaking teeth:
« I… I don't k… know, I don't remember. »
Big Zero and Rider walked over. Big Zero manifested a blade of pure ice while Rider aimed his plasma pistol straight at the man's head.
Lame continued:
« Listen up, friend. You have three seconds max. You explain what you came here to do, and we won't touch you. We'll just leave you for the Armored Units. Or, we can beat you so badly that you'll die a slow, agonizing death choking on your own blood. Or better yet: we can keep you in our underground prison where you'll be tortured twenty-four hours a day. Take your pick. »
Hearing those words, the man went into deep shock:
"No way… these guys aren't heroes… They're absolute psychopaths!"
Quietly, Rider leaned over to whisper to Big Zero:
« Zero, do we actually have an underground prison? »
« No, it's just a bluff », Big Zero whispered back.
Lame, tightening his grip on his victim, added pressure:
« Well, I see you've made your choice. But since I'm feeling generous, I think I'll go with option one, option two, and option three altogether. Let's get to work. »
He raised all his knives into the air in an intimidating display. The man nearly suffered a heart attack. He waved his hands frantically in absolute terror:
« Wait! Wait! We came here to smuggle Nova drug! »
« Nova? For what purpose? », Lame demanded, drawing his blades closer to the man's face.
« It's for new Sigmas. »
« To what end? », Lame pressed.
« It's for… » The man froze for a brief second, his face going blank before gasping: « I… I can't, I can't say it. »
« Why can't you say it? »
« King… He will kill me! »
« What do you mean he'll kill you? Nothing can happen to you as long as you're with us, and you'll be safe in the Armored Units' high-security cells. Come on, explain to us who King is and why you need more Sigmas. »
« No, they are everywhere! Even in prison, they will kill me! »
« Friend, listen to me. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just tell us what you know. »
The man remained panicked for a moment, then suddenly went eerily calm:
« Fine, alright. It's to prepare for the Cold W… »
Abruptly, he began to thrash wildly, gasping for air. Lame released his grip, but it made no difference. The man still couldn't breathe. In an instant, his skin turned a deep blue and his veins began to swell violently. He started contorting in every direction. The three DHA members stood back, entirely unable to comprehend what was happening. Then, suddenly, he stopped moving. Bizarrely, his body flushed a deep, unnatural red.
Rider stood completely stunned by what had just unfolded:
« What on earth is that? »
Lame stared at the corpse for a moment, then a dark smile formed on his lips:
« The onset of trouble. »