Chapter 101

November 5th 8:41

A good portion of our arm had been cut off, yet it was able to be reformed with mass from the rest of us. Though it made us notably shorter, it was a necessary sacrifice. Until we could produce more mass.

…Hmm? Wait, produce mass?

That wasn’t something we could do, was it? Then again, the white fluid does seem to come out of nowhere and quickly multiply. It was technically possible-

Unnecessary thoughts were cut off as we suddenly darted forward. Our arms striking out and attempting to land a solid blow on Lady Shiva. Yet each and every single one of them was evaded by her. Causing frustration to slowly start mounting.

It wasn’t the fact that she was able to dodge that was the problem. No, that happens. It was normal to do so. What wasn’t normal was the ease in which she did so.

She maneuvered her body like a paper bag in the wind. Rustling and responding to the jabs, strikes, and slams before they even happen. The worst part, was that she wasn’t even bothering to use her sword. Like she didn’t need to.

…Calm down. Lady Shiva didn’t use her sword because she knows the same trick won’t work twice, and then she’d be down a weapon. The cocky smirk on her face and the way she was moving was all to convince us that she was stronger than she appeared.

She was playing mind games.

“Too slow. Too tense. Predictable. Honestly…are you trying at this point?”

She commented, before finally moving off to the side after we swept our arm wide. Backing up into a car, just as planned. Our arms quickly took advantage of her momentary pause, before cutting her down diagonally where she stood.

Only for her to have not stopped at all, and instead backflip over the car, dodging it completely. But that too was also considered, as we rushed forward. Slamming into the remaining pieces and chucking them forward at an alarming speed. The metal screeching against the pavement as it rolled and fell apart.

Its trajectory wasn’t even something we could guess as it wobbled before passing towards her. Only for her to simply stand off to the side, and simply wait for it to pass her by. Risking her life on the assumption that it wouldn’t just suddenly turn and paste her.

A risk that paid off, as it came within inches of crushing her to bits before passing by.

“Better than nothing I suppose. But you really should be more creative than that.”

The smug look on her face didn’t change for a single moment as her sword raised up. As it pointed to us, for some reason we felt as if there was a genuine weight against part of our chest.

Was this…some sort of power? It had to be. Something that we couldn’t easily perceive with just a glance. Clairvoyance? It fit, considering how she just dodged that. As well as our previous attacks.

Which just meant we needed to hit her with an attack that even if she saw coming, she wouldn’t be able to dodge. Something no human could evade.

She was right.

We needed to be more creative.

With a thought, tendrils shot out of our body, but instead of going for Lady Shiva, they went backwards. Snaking around before stabbing into the bodies, or at least what remained of the other assassins.

Lady Shiva seemed more than happy to watch and wait as the tendrils writhed and pumped. Causing the bodies that they were attached to, to suddenly bloat up. Pink looking slime started to pour out of their orifices or open wounds, until it replaced their blood completely.

Seconds ticked by as what little we could see of their skin turned flabby and bunched up. As if it was sliding right off the body, before their clothes started to tighten. The pink slime started to shift into a murkier clearish color, before brightening into a sickly white tone.

…The same color as us. We suddenly realized, as the tendrils bulged and enlarged before finally pulling back. The white liquid seemed to be leaking everywhere, as their clothes were drenched in the stuff, making it hard to even see as it continued to pool.

Until it suddenly stopped moving altogether. What we once thought was just a liquid moved with the tendril, causing it to bulge before suddenly returning to us. Causing a substantial increase in our mass.

As we passed another glance towards the assassins, we noticed that nothing remained. Not their blood, not their bodies, not even their clothes. The only thing that remained was our memories of them, as well as the severely wrecked environment.

What…was that…

We were being creative. Yeah, that’s right. That’s right...

“Interesting…”

Lady Shiva commented, seemingly to almost be complimenting us. Clapping in a mocking tone before stopping as we started to twist and turn. Our shoulder popping out and twisting before splitting in two. The forearm and upper arm elongating into something much longer. Our hands no longer existed, instead replaced with sharp points at the end.

Our back curled before our legs started to shift and writhe in the same way. The four protrusions that were our arms now helped hold us up until four more were made at the back. The process was…not even slightly painful. Likely because it wasn’t using our actual body within the mass. Still, we could completely feel and control the limbs as if they were our own.

After a few seconds had passed, we were finally finished. This time Lady Shiva said nothing as a large white fucked up looking spider gazed right back at her, before quickly darting in her direction.

This time she didn’t have a choice but to use her sword, as our many legs kept coming down. Piercing straight through cars and concrete at a blinding speed while constantly forcing her to move due to the many appendages that assaulted her.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Her sword rung out as she focused more on parrying and sidestepping instead of blocking. Likely because she lacked the strength to actually do so. She was darting up and across the entire parking lot before being forced up the ramp as we came through.

Yet instead of showing signs of being strained or nervous, she simply started to laugh.

“Hah! Now that’s more like it.”

This time she darted underneath a car. Causing our legs to quickly cut and rip it apart in seconds as she came out the other side. This time however the many bits of shredded metal came rolling at her at the same time as the legs coming down to pierce her body. The room she had to dodge was no longer freely given.

She grunted as she decided to take the shredded ball of metal instead of one of our arms. It was the smart choice, but not less damning as blood pooled at the edge of her lips.

“Not bad, boy. Not bad.”

She returned, before a certain glint entered her eyes. Even then our many legs didn’t stop and kept slicing her-

We felt our legs become detached before we actually saw it. The lightning quick slices wasn’t something we could even really see as she made quickly work of our body parts. Cutting them off from the main mass so they could no longer be controlled.

Our remaining legs attempted to both keep her away, as well as regain our former mass. Only for them to be targeted as well. Sliced apart before finally rushing to our main body.

W-what was this power? Was she Batman or something!?

As Lady Shiva rose her sword in the air for one last stab, she paused. Her eyes twisting as she looked into our own. Finding something amusing about the way we looked back, before slowly lowering-

Only to immediately raise her guard, as a screech ripped through building.

Black Canary’s voice was something she talked about, but it wasn’t something we had ever seen. Not until now, when she used its full force against Lady Shiva from atop the nearby stair way. The bulk of it was targeted to Lady Shiva, which meant that only a fraction of it was directed towards us, but that fraction was more than enough.

That is, more than enough to make us feel true agony.

The white liquid that formed my body quickly fled back inside my body, as I quickly fell to the ground. Not a single one of my limbs had any ounce of strength in them as the bones inside felt as if someone had taken a hammer to them. Leaving them rattling inside and tearing at the nerves.

My own blood started to rush out of my body, as if demanding to leave. It was an amount that was practically impossible to lose in such a short span of time, yet lose it I was.

I had always thought I had a high pain tolerance, but I was quickly learning that I had never truly felt suffering before. My ability gave me a constant level of control and awareness over my body, but even that felt attacked, as I could no longer feel my own innards.

It was as if every single organ in my body had stopped at once. No longer performing its job or even having my blood move through the veins. It was a level of pain that I couldn’t even scream because of the shock, even if my body was capable of it.

Well, even though I couldn’t scream, that didn’t mean there wasn’t one resoundingly loud in my head. As the sound of the little kid who kept adding their own two cents was practically blaring like a siren.

Until it got quieter and quieter…with my vision becoming increasingly blurry…

Then, Black Canary stopped screaming.

And my vision suddenly cleared up.

The first thing I felt was pure confusion. My muscles and joints popping and twisting as I attempted to put force in them. It ached and felt absolutely sore, but it was something I could push through.

What…the hell was that? It was like I had been unplugged or something. Just…my entire body shutting down completely. My arms struggled to even push my body up, and my legs were still having trouble receiving signals to move. Meaning I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Aaaah…hahahahaha! That was…absolutely dreadful. Is that what humans call pain? How enjoyable!

The voice that had been screaming my head off, quickly turned it into laughter.  Causing me to shudder at how quickly it seemed to shift gears.

Black Canary seemed to have cut her scream short, after seeing what it was doing to me. At least, if that concerned look was anything to go by. Ah, right. That was a worrying amount of blood around me.

Lady Shiva on the other hand finally seemed worse for wear. Her hair finally showing signs of being frizzled and out of place…

Good lord, how fucking sad was I to be counting something so small as a win?

At the very least, she also seemed to be wounded, as blood leaked out of her ears.

Black Canary attempted to capitalize on her pause by getting into a better position. One that wouldn’t catch me in its path, but Lady Shiva moved as well. Pulling something on her hip before letting it hit the ground.

Causing a mountain of smoke to suddenly rise from it.

…Either that was the strongest smoke bomb in all of existence, or that was just straight up magic. Because such a small looking bead causing such thick and billowing clouds to suddenly appear was just not feasibly possible.

At least, as far as I was aware.

Lady Shiva, and in fact everything around me quickly became obscured. Not that I could really do anything, as my arms were still struggling to even pick me up. Making me look like I was doing the worlds most pathetic push up.

Or at least I was, until a womanly figure suddenly rushed forward and picked me up. Black Canary hoisted me on her shoulders before darting forward as fast as she possibly could. My ears were still ringing, but I could at least notice that she seemed to be making an effort to be as quiet as possible. Not even allowing herself to breathe loudly as she made her way down the parking lot path at top speed.

I on the other hand couldn’t do the same. Gasping and panting as my body struggled under the pressure of her handling me. My insides protested with the motion, and I was pretty sure I was mere seconds away from vomiting until she finally pulled out near the front of the building.

She set me down from her shoulder, and started to prop me against the wall. Which is when she finally started to breath.

It was also the moment I realized that the person who had picked me up…wasn’t actually Black Canary at all.

Nope. Instead of being saved, it seems like I had been kidnapped. As Lady Shiva’s narrowed eyes stared me down.

…I should’ve vomited on her back when I had the chance.