String - Identity 12.8

Danger.

Every sense and survival instinct screamed at me as I watched more Pandora Supers emerge from thin air. I didn’t know who was responsible, but there was someone within their ranks who was capable of transporting them here without anyone knowing. There was no way so many could have slipped out of the city unnoticed with Ajax and the ECU openly skirmishing with them.

One of them allowed this opportunity to come to fruition, and I was willing to bet they were responsible for bringing Mercury to New Elpis.

However, this situation came with a catch. Pandora’s forces would be divided, and Liberation being here meant Mercury was the one coordinating Pandora’s efforts back in the city. They couldn’t afford to be away from the fighting long, lest they risk Ajax overwhelming them. He had brought an army with him with the intention to intimidate or attack.

Either way, the situation had turned catastrophically bad for us.

“What do we do?” Prosperity muttered frantically under her breath. “Run or fight?”

Before anyone could answer, a low rumble escaped Prometheus’s throat.

“My loyalties…” Prometheus practically spat. “You all lost that when I recognized you for the starved beasts you are, clawing at whatever power you think this world denied you. You hide beneath the code our cause stood for, and every heinous action taken further spreads the rot. I tried to change things for the better, but I was shut down at every turn!”

“HERETIC!” One of the Pandora Supers yelled furiously. Everyone turned to look at the source, finding a woman dressed in various decorative pelts. There was a belt of small animal skulls, while their mask resembled the head of a stag. “You dare stand there and spew those lies while protecting our enemies?!”

“Traitor!”

“Coward!”

It didn’t take much for the Pandora Supers to get riled up. A few seconds, and they were all chanting in unison, throwing insults at the elderly woman, calling her all sorts of foul names.

“Stay together and stay on guard,” I said amidst the noise. “It doesn’t seem plausible, but maybe we can avoid a fight here. There’s too many,” I looked around and tried to get a rough count. I stopped after fifteen because I knew there were more that I couldn’t even see. “If we try and fight them all, they’ll kill us.”

“Shit. Tricky got lucky and made the smart choice,” Copycat lamented. “Wouldn’t be in this situation right now if I just dipped with him.”

“You would’ve left me and Seer with these guys?” Prosperity asked, sounding upset. “You know why we came here.”

“Oh, come on. Seriously—”

“Idiots!” Alice snarled through gritted teeth. “Can we talk about hindsight after we’ve gotten out of this alive? Focus the fuck up, or we’re dead.”

“They won’t kill us,” Seer muttered, sparing each of us a quick glance. “Not all of us, at least. The alternative is much worse.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks for reminding me what these sickos will do if they get their hands on me.” Alice growled sarcastically. “So let's not let that happen.” 

“Enough!” Liberation held up a hand, silencing his followers. They all fell back into line and quietly obeyed his order, but that didn’t stop them from gnashing their teeth at us. Prometheus had a point; they were all rabid animals. “As you can see, we are not too happy with you. If not for Wildfire and his unquestionable loyalty, we would have dealt with you a long time ago.”

“Your words are as empty as the Initiative's code is hollow. Spare me your idle threats; you all would have killed me if you were able,” Prometheus snarled. “Now, get to the point. Are you here for the same reason as this lot?” she waved a hand at us dismissively. “Because if you are, you will be leaving here disappointed.”

Liberation regarded us like we were a pile of trash someone had neglected to throw away, and had long since infested the area around it with a repugnant odor. I saw Prosperity and Vigil flinch at the gaze, while Copycat and Anomaly bristled. Seer stood like a statue, just like Alice; however, the latter wore thinly veiled anxiety.

“I do not know why they are here, but my intentions are as I stated. I am here to discuss your loyalties,” Liberation said plainly. “Augur, come!”

I watched as the crowd of Supers behind Liberation separated, each of them bowing their heads respectfully as a middle-aged man dressed in grey cleric robes strode forward. He carried with him a tome bound in old leather. 

“Just how many Supers did Mercury bring with him?” Alice muttered, clearly growing more concerned with each passing second. “And a precog Mentalist to boot. No wonder they’ve been able to hold off Ajax. They’ll be reinforcing every angle moments before it's attacked.”

Augur stopped a few paces behind Liberation and inclined his head.

“How might I be of service?” Augur’s voice was shrill and raspy like an old man dying of thirst. “Am I to speak of the victory I have read?”

“Tell her of our foretold victory with the flames,” Liberation boomed. “Tell our wayward progenitor of the role she could play if she came back to our side.”

“Delusion.” Prometheus muttered.

Augur straightened up and opened his book.

“Steadfast is the tide of heresy against your cause, unburdened by the crawling shadow, and fearful of the beast below.” Augur spoke as if he were chanting some kind of spell. “Look north as the untamed flames dwindle, suffocated by the grasp of the machine spirit. Find your salvation with the everlasting flame, beneath the wings of renewal.”

I didn’t need to understand much of the nuance to realize they were talking about Lucy. They had come here to bring Prometheus back into the fold, and Lucy by extension. Considering the hostility Lucy’s grandmother was exerting and the absolute disgust Lucy had routinely displayed for Pandora at school, I was under no illusions that Pandora wasn’t going to get what they wanted, not without some measure of force.

“Augur has spoken.” Liberation declared. “Our victory against the heretics requires your aid, Prometheus. It’s time to come home. Your power and guidance is required.”

Prometheus let out a bitter scoff before it evolved into a full-on laugh.

“You expect to just speak a command and expect me to bark like a loyal hound?”

“No,” Liberation replied swiftly. “You’ve made your stance abundantly clear. Your willingness to desert and spite our cause has marked you a traitor, and a heretic. Only death is a just enough punishment for your transgressions.”

“Our code permits me to die, but you require my help?” Prometheus snorted. “Make up your mind. The company you keep is giving me an eyesore. I will not stand here and talk in circles about politics, so say what you came here to say, then make your move.”

“Very well,” Liberation murmured lightly before clearing his throat. “Prometheus, it is my right as General of the New Elpis mission, and Minister of the Bayside Enclave to exonerate you, should you join with us to push back those who would seek to destroy all of our brothers and sisters. Do so, and your reward will be a peaceful exile.”

Immediately, outrage broke out among Liberation’s ranks.

“You can’t do this!”

“She’s a traitor!”

“Prometheus protects the heretics, she cannot be trusted!”

It was one thing to know about their cultish behavior. It was another thing entirely to see it.

“SILENCE!” Liberation boomed, and as if his word was law, the chaos abruptly died. He turned his back to us to address his followers, and my instinct to attack him flared up. One good shot… the compulsion bounced around in my head, but I knew that with so many Supers watching us, it would be the last thing I would ever do. I wasn’t even sure if I would be fast enough on the draw. “You all heard Augur’s words. If we do not unite, we risk annihilation! Think of your families, your charges! What will they do without you? They need your guidance!”

“That is precisely the root of the rot,” Prometheus scowled. “We tell those without our gifts that they are helpless without us—that we are the shepherds that will usher them unto a utopia, but if you fill their heads with such nonsense, what are they to believe when they receive their gifts?” Liberation turned and scowled through his helmet. “Is it any wonder we have so many problems when those within our ranks act out? They were most likely victims at one point by another higher ranking member. It is a sickness, and we allow it to perpetuate endlessly.”

“You are very quick to spit on my generous offer,” Liberation growled, seemingly taken aback. “Have you no pride left for our cause?”

“I once believed in the code—the mission.” Prometheus snarled as she turned her gaze to the rest of Liberation’s followers. “What about the rest of you?! How many of you play the role of the dutiful shepherd until your superior’s back is turned? Call me a traitor—a heretic all you wish, but I know without a shred of doubt more than half of you don’t care. I’ve seen it,” her words turned venomous as she began to seethe. “I saw it the day the real heretics butchered my husband’s family. Violated and mutilated beyond all recognition,” she breathed heavily. “Savage beasts!”

I shot a quick glance at Alice, unable to hide my shock. Her lips just thinned as she nodded grimly. The real truth about Pandora. It was utterly sickening.

“What happened was a tragedy–” Liberation started, trying to appear diplomatic, but Prometheus was quick to cut him off.

“I do not want to hear another lousy excuse! What happened–” Prometheus’s anger began to heat up the air, and I watched the temperature spike on my visor. “–was a consequence of the culture created by the founders—that we are inherently superior. We are not.” She hissed, and could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes. “If anything, we are made less for it. The weak are empowered, and they succumb to their darkest desires. I have seen it—seen it all too many times. I promised those responsible would burn for it.”

Sensing the threat, Liberation raised his shield. In a split second, everyone was looking for a way to escape the eruption about to occur.

“SO BURN!”

White flames exploded and engulfed everything, and we all reacted accordingly.

Alice and Vigil were already two steps ahead of me, the former having switched to Pink, and the latter leaving behind a statue. I backpedaled, grabbing hold of Seer and Prosperity, who both stood stupidly rooted to the spot as if they couldn’t believe what was happening. Anomaly extended his body around us in an attempt to act as a shield against the heat, which surprisingly worked in our favor, although it wasn’t long before his gelatinous body began to boil.

“Fuck! Would it kill her to give us a bit of a warning?!” Copycat exclaimed over the chaos. There was a lot of screaming and yelling, which could only be coming from the Pandora Supers. “Don’t suppose any of you can teleport us out of here? I would really appreciate that.”

“I could if I could see the destination. Purple is lazy like that,” Alice coughed as the air became harder to breathe. My oxygen supply actually kicked in and started feeding me. “We need to get out of here, it’s getting harder to breathe.”

There wasn’t much in the way of exits. We were completely surrounded by fire, and the only way out that wasn’t completely engulfed by white fire was through a dome of light. However, there was an issue with that. Liberation was occupying it, along with Augur, and the two seemed to be conversing rather casually, considering the dire circumstances.

“You will not take the only family I have left!” Prometheus roared over the inferno. “I will not fight your battles. I will not accept your false promise for peace. You will leave my home, or I’ll scatter your ashes in the wind!”

Liberation seemed unconcerned with her threat as he raised his hand. In one swift motion, he gestured toward her, and the counterattack began.

A storm of power was thrown at Prometheus from all angles, and we were just far enough away from her to escape the onslaught.

I saw lances of ice hurled at her from beyond her conjured wall of white flame. Giant beasts made of shadow spawned from the air and tried to rush her down. Metal rained from the sky, and the ground threatened to swallow her whole. Various other armored Supers leaped over the rising wall of flame and landed with resounding crashes—those with enhancement ratings high enough to withstand the savage heat—tried to attack her from all angles.

There was too much, and I could only describe the onslaught as a concoction of hatred directed solely at Prometheus.

She stood, unmoving, weathering every single attack without flinching. The lances skewered her. The beasts ripped at her limbs, and every other attack took their pound of flesh. However, it wasn’t enough to kill her. Prometheus regarded every attack like they were nothing but buzzing insects waiting to be swatted—and swat she did.

Her wounds and mangled limbs disappeared in a flash of white flame, leaving her whole again. I watched her breathe in and exhale, and the white inferno mimicked every movement, contracting and expanding. 

Then white flame erupted from her like a volcano and washed over everyone in the vicinity. 

We were lucky that Anomaly’s body withstood the burst of fire; otherwise, we would have been incinerated.

“She’s alive…?” Prosperity gasped. “How?”

“She’s old,” Alice grunted as she crouched down in the middle of our little circle. “Take one look at people like Gaea and Grim. They’re old and experienced. Powers evolve over time. Sometimes they get stronger, and sometimes they change.”

We all looked back at Prometheus.

She still looked like a frail old woman, but she stood firm, glaring down at Liberation with a look of disgust so visceral that describing it as ‘hate’ wouldn’t do it justice. 

“The everlasting flame…” Seer murmured, remembering Augur's words. “She doesn’t just control fire. She is fire.”

It suddenly occurred to me why Prometheus probably decided to live out in a cabin surrounded by a forest. Her mastery over her power allowed her white flames to burn just about anything, but wood was one of the most renewable sources of fuel for fire to consume. Wildfire got stronger as his flames grew, and I realized he probably inherited that aspect of his power from his mother. With all these trees around, she could turn everything to cinders in just a few minutes.

It was the ideal battleground, and if what Seer said was true and Prometheus’s power had evolved to the point where she had become fire… then the only way to stop her was to starve her. Fire needed oxygen to burn, and we were out in the open. There was an abundance of it to draw from, so unless Pandora had a Super that could manipulate the oxygen levels in a certain area, Prometheus couldn’t be killed.

They don’t.

It was obvious they didn’t, because they would have made sure that Super was on the frontlines and ready to act. So, either they didn’t know Prometheus’s powers had evolved to this point, or they had another tactic up their sleeve.

Why is Liberation so calm?

Even now, he stood with Augur in his protective dome. It had a similar look to Comet’s sparkling bubble, but this appeared more radiant and less ethereal. He was glaring at Prometheus with arms crossed while Augur spoke, reading from his book. Then, the Mentalist snapped his book shut and retreated. Liberation nodded and pulled his gigantic sword from the ground.

He stalked forward with hostile intent, and the shining dome receded, allowing the last of Prometheus’s white flame to cut off the last avenue of escape. Her fire was everywhere, but her focus was solely on the approaching threat.

Liberation raised his shield just in time to block one beam of solid white fire. It struck with such force that it pushed him back several steps. The fire washed over him, but the titanic-sized man held his ground. When he came to a stop, he matched the force acting upon him and began to overwhelm it. The solid beam of white flame faltered, and Liberation began marching forward against the concentrated beam of fire.

He was trying to close the distance.

Why?

The answer was on the tip of my tongue, and it only took me a few more precious seconds to remember what Lucy had told us about his powers. 

Touch-based power nullification. 

The ace in the hole he planned to use against Grim if he survived long enough to try. He was going to do the same thing here, and Prometheus would be as good as dead.

I couldn’t let that happen. 

Prometheus wasn’t like Wildfire, despite her beliefs. The relationship she appeared to share with Lucy seemed far more stable than it had been with her father. Lucy always spoke kindly about her grandparents. I wasn’t about to stand by and let one of them die, especially when I actually had the means to help.

Leaping up from behind Anomaly’s body shield, my movement systems propelled me to a broken, charred treestump. I slung my sniper rifle off my back and lined up Liberation in my crosshairs. He had armor and an enhancement rating to consider, so I made the calculated choice to push the kinetic amplifier to its limit.

“Upgrade!” Alice called, but I ignored her and focused all my attention on Liberation.

The weapon surged in my hands before a crack sounded. The first shot fired and landed, leaving a nasty dent in his shoulder guard. The impact actually seemed to knock the man off balance slightly, but he recovered far too quickly for my singular effort to amount to anything.

I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger again.

I fired repeatedly, leaving brutal dents in Liberation’s plating. Despite the sheer force of each shot, it still wasn’t enough to penetrate his armor. Not only that, but his enhancement rating would make his flesh harder and more resistant to damage. My sniper wasn’t enough, but I was making a difference.

Prometheus summoned more living fire behind him and at his feet. White flaming tendrils curled around his body and trapped him in place—at least, that’s what they tried to do. Step by step, Liberation ripped away any resistance with nothing but his raw strength. I wasn’t sure how sturdy those tendrils were, but Liberation made them look like wet paper.

My interference was noted, and I suddenly found myself the target of various Pandora Supers.

“Full Body Kinetic Dampening: Engaged.” 

First, a storm of steel rained down on me, and every shard that impacted my armor shattered like glass. When their attack proved to be ineffective, they tried different angles. I was hit everywhere, and still their projectiles broke into brittle splinters.

They were trying to find a weak spot in my armor, and they failed.

The barrage ended just in time for two more Supers to attack me directly. I didn’t have time to identify them, but they both had matching costumes with red and white color themes. 

They blitzed me with inhuman speed and monstrous strength, knocking me off balance and kicking away my sniper rifle before trying to grab at my limbs.

My shoulder-mounted turret extended and tried to snipe one with a laser, but they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

They were too fast for my eye or my software to follow, which allowed the speedster to land a hit on my shoulder-mounted turret, damaging it enough to cripple the hardware responsible for targeting. My visor flashed me a warning that the device was rendered inoperable.

The speedster grabbed my arms and tried to lock them behind my back, while the one with super strength grabbed my waist.

“Break him!” The speedster growled.

I felt the pressure immediately, but they didn’t get the chance to follow through. My armor was thick enough to soften the pressure, and those precious few seconds allowed me enough time to direct my drones.

It was then that I realized they could switch their powers. Super Strength and Super Speed were interchangeable between the two of them. It was like fighting Red and Pink at the same time. 

Fortunately, they didn’t seem as intelligent as Alice.

A whirling came from above before a crescendo of cracking sounded. I directed my drones to open fire on my position, and the speedster holding my arms behind my back took a few shots to his spine. With no enhancement rating to protect him, he screamed and tumbled to the ground.

With my arms free, I extended my blade and plunged it into the side of the one trying to shatter my spine. The pressure around my waist slackened as my enemy gasped and fell backward. There was a shimmer around his body for a second as he tried to roll away. He was suddenly fast, and I realized that was the tell for them switching powers.

I fired my grapple, and it caught his leg before he had a chance to stand up and retreat.

I pulled him right back to me—ignoring his panicked cries—and skewered his thigh for good measure. 

Blood spurted from the wound and momentarily obscured my visor as he screamed. I didn’t even get a chance to take a breath before something wrapped around my neck and yanked me backward off my feet.

I didn’t see who or what it was before I attacked the offending appendage with my drones. 

I saw something long and dark through their cameras, pulling me across the ring of fire Prometheus created. They were standing at the other end, surrounded by a shroud of darkness. Whatever was around my neck was coarse, thin, and had thousands of different layers to it.

The appendage was resistant to physical damage, so I directed my drones to fire at the source.

Explosions rocked the ground where my attacker was standing, enveloping them in smoke, and whatever was pulling at my neck slackened. I ripped it off with my hands and threw it to the side before springing back to my feet.

Every neuron in my head was firing on all cylinders. 

Everywhere I looked, there was a new enemy looking to kill me. 

Liberation was getting closer to Prometheus, all the while her ring of white flame appeared to keep the majority of Pandora at bay. Only the strongest figured out a way to make it through to aid in the fight, and as time went on, the fight would only get more tiring.

Something solid hit me in the head. 

I quickly shook off the momentary confusion, only to feel six more strange hits all over my body.

Part of my head suddenly exploded, which threw me off balance. Six more explosions followed, all coming from the spots where I felt the strange, invisible attacks emanate from.

I was left dazed, staggering, and out of breath, but somehow I managed to stay standing. 

I felt one more invisible hit come from my back, and I lashed out violently.

My extendable blade cut a wide arc around me, and a shrill scream sounded. There was a mismatch of color where the scream came from, like reality had turned to water. When it toppled over backward with a grotesque red gash, I realized it was chameleon-like camouflage.

It disappeared to reveal another Pandora Super in a black and green leotard with a domino mask. However, there wasn’t much left of the mask. My blade caught her across the face, and I had unintentionally gored her eyes.

It was hard to ignore her visceral wailing as she thrashed around on the ground. It wasn’t long before her thrashing turned into a desperate attempt to crawl away from me. I found myself momentarily stunned that my wild attack had even hit someone, let alone done so much damage.

“Warning,” my visor flashed red and distracted me. “Armor integrity: 76% Power remaining: 66%”

Something big flew over my head, and I ducked out of reflex even though I didn’t need to. It landed with a crash, and I saw shining golden skin lying motionless on the ground. Except… it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t skin. It was a polished metal, crackling with electricity. 

“Multiple system vulnerabilities detected.” My suit sounded.

I watched as it struggled to make it back to its feet, its metallic body sparking and shaking from violent electricity. It was missing an arm and half a head, and at first glance, I thought it was an automaton. 

I found out it wasn’t when I launched a vicious takeover of the machine’s systems, and the back compartment sprang open, ejecting someone high into the air. They were thin and lanky, wearing greased overalls and a welding mask.

They evidently didn’t account for a vertical launch, because they went up and came straight back down.

Except they didn’t make it to the ground.

Pink zipped in and hit them so hard they went flying like a ragdoll, collapsing in a heap of limbs only a few feet away from the wall of white flame surrounding the impromptu battlefield. In the blink of an eye, Pink was gone, not even taking the time to stop for a quick quip. She was back in the fray, zipping back and forth, taking pot shots at Supers that got close to the group.

Speaking of the group, they were all engaged in their own fights.

Anomaly was fighting three different Supers, and was joined by a second Anomaly crashing into the fray. All I could gather from my brief glance at the chaos was that Copycat had synced with Anomaly and taken his powers. Problematic, considering he took in memories as well, but that was an issue to deal with later.

Prosperity was the size of a station wagon, growling and snapping at two attacking Supers. Her blue flames stood out against all the white and served to intimidate her attackers. They had managed to get in here by avoiding Prometheus’s flames, only to come face to face with more fire. The only thought that occurred to me was that those two were not in for a good time.

Fortunately, Prosperity was standing between them and Seer, and he looked rather lost amongst the conflict.

I couldn’t fault him for his inaction. Mentalists like him weren’t the combative type, so there wasn’t much to expect there.

That left Vigil, and she… was gone.

I couldn’t see the statue she had left behind anywhere.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to investigate that as I was attacked yet again.

More shards of metal struck me from above. I desperately searched for the attacker and found no one that I could see being responsible on the ground. I couldn’t look directly at the sky without risking damage to my visor, so I scanned it with my drones.

There was a rotating ball of black obsidian hovering several feet above us, and my drones were frantically avoiding all the razor-sharp metal being shot their way. I attacked with them first, unloading a barrage of explosives on the metallic sphere.

Orange fire and smoke blanketed the sky above us as the rain of metal briefly stopped. When the smoke cleared, the sphere had visible cracks, but it began rotating faster and moving more erratically. 

That brief respite allowed me to see that the metal being fired at me and my drones was growing out of the sphere. They weren’t being fired randomly either, because I could see the shards shifting their position before they launched. The projectiles were being aimed.

The sphere fired with renewed ferocity, and I detected a hint of desperation behind the attacks. They were faster, but considerably less accurate. Whoever was controlling that sphere was inside it, and they weren’t comfortable moving and attacking at the same time.

I set my drones to chase it down while I searched for a means to take whoever or whatever that was down. If explosives wouldn’t do it in, I needed something stronger with more penetrative power.

I searched for the discarded sniper rifle that had been taken from me and rushed for it. It was lying next to the groaning, crippled form of the Super that had pinned my hands behind my back only a minute ago. There was someone new kneeling at his side as I closed the distance.

They saw me and panicked, raising their arms desperately in defense.

“No! Stop! I’m a healer!”

I stopped, my blade leveled at the girl’s neck. She wore black robes with a darkened veil. My visor identified her, but I was too distracted by the sheer amount of terror in her eyes to pay any attention to the name. I couldn’t follow through here, and my lie detector sounded no alarm.

Not a threat.

I made a split-second decision and withdrew my blade before redirecting my attention to the sniper rifle. I picked it up and did my best to ignore how the girl trembled as I lined up my shot. The healer let out a scream when I fired upon the rotating sphere of metal, my shot piercing straight through it, leaving a trail of gunmetal gray splinters and crimson red.

The metal sphere unfurled to reveal another Super as they fell back to the earth. They crashed into the ground, twitching and coughing violently.

The healer gasped, horrified.

“T-There’s no way. How could you—?”

I was already moving, my movement systems thrusting me forward. My heart thundered in my chest as I saw Liberation closing in on Prometheus. She was getting more desperate in her attempts to ward him off, actually moving around to put some distance between them.

However, Liberation was no slouch. 

He moved like someone experienced in the art of warfare. He was slowly whittling down her avenues of escape, pushing her closer to the wall of white flame she had created. On the other side, more of his support stood waiting to pounce the moment the searing heat vanished.

I landed next to her and fired another shot that bounced harmlessly off Liberation’s shield. I knew it wouldn’t hurt him, but I got what I wanted when I halted his advance.

“You’re going to need something a lot stronger if you’re going to break his armor,” Prometheus wheezed, sounding tired and out of breath. Given her age, I could only imagine she felt much worse than she actually sounded. “I hope you’ve got something else up your sleeve.”

“I’m sure I’ll think of something,” I said. I wasn’t entirely confident in it, but I felt like things had a tendency to fall into place if I managed to survive long enough. Maybe I would be able to spot a glaring weakness if I confronted him head-on. “Are you able to keep things going?”

“I’m old,” Prometheus muttered sourly. “I’m not cut out for fighting anymore. My power might be strong, but my body is weak.”

So much for Augur’s everlasting flame comment.

“It disgusts me how quick you are to side with these wayward children. There was so much promise in our reunification, but I see now you are just like you were when you left us.” Liberation sneered as he continued to push against Prometheus’s flame. His armor was still as pristine as ever, despite how much abuse it had taken since the fight began. The only obvious signs of damage were the dents from my bullets. “I’ll make sure you suffer for this.”

“There is no suffering you could inflict on me that would be greater that what I have endured for time immemorial.” Prometheus said. “Your words are wasted trying to condemn me.”

Liberation snarled, and I saw genuine hatred in the way he gnashed his teeth at us.

“If you do not fear your own suffering, then perhaps you will for another—the one you’re so desperate to protect.” Liberation growled. “We will have our salvation, and she will give it to us one way or another. The Phoenix will carry us to victory.”

“No, she won’t.” I rebuked his claim with as much ferocity as I could muster. “Because none of you will be around long enough to make that demand.”

Liberation regarded me with a menacing glare.

“Besting the Reaper has made your little group far too arrogant. Are you so eager to die, boy?”

I stared down the goliath in glowing armor, wielding a sword that could cleave me in two, and a shield that could flatten me.

“Are you?”

My enemy’s eyes narrowed as my words seemed to have an effect on him.

I didn’t care. No matter how much my muscles ached, how ineffective my weapons were, or how damaged my suit was.

His threat promised Lucy more pain, and I wasn’t going to allow any more of that.

Liberation had bloodied the water, and now I was hungry.