394: My World (Patreon)

He found Marlo, a hunched, shadowed figure, blood glistening on his face from the three ugly gashes on the side of his head, knitting together, fast as the wounds of the creatures. The man’s bared teeth and wild eyes shone white from the mask of blood, and Nicolai felt as though he looked at a different man. Marlo was emanating exhilaration and bloodlust and a hungry need to kill, all deeply familiar.

The man’s eyes found his own, and there came a spike in that murderous urge, and for a moment, it seemed Marlo might come right at him, and he hoped he would. Only for the moment to end when a monster came up beside him. And Marlo laughed as he took another big swipe that drew lines of red and the white of bone and metal shining on his chest. And he kept on laughing as he punched out, slammed his fist into the creature’s body, folded it over with the cracking of bones. Then his next came down, a hammer from above, slammed it in the back of the head, took it to the ground, burst its skull with a pop, and it was dead. Soul gone.

Marlo’s bloodthirsty grin found him again, and for the first time, Nicolai understood this man, knew how to communicate with him. He used the shifting of his body and a wave of his knife to say, let’s have some fun. They moved together, and the things came at them like moths to a flame.

The pair of them smashed and bashed, slashed and stabbed through the mass of white shapes, moving almost as though they’d fought at one another’s sides many times before. While Nicolai was busy stabbing one, another came at him, but he kicked it, caught it solid in the chest, launched it back toward Marlo just as the big man turned and met it with a right, straight through the middle of its face and out the back of its head.

Roaring, Marlo snatched another around the ankle as it flashed hungrily past in pursuit of Nicolai, dragged it stumbling to a stop, punched it once, caving its chest, twice, breaking its shoulder, thrice, halfway taking off its head, and it reeled, barely alive, away from him right into Nicolai, who finished taking its head off.

He slipped around Marlo, used him as an anchor, a big reliable block moving endlessly forward. Nicolai used the space he made, the distraction of his form and the barrier of his body, to kill the pale things faster than ever, and gradually they moved towards the others, where the monsters clustered thickest.

Yue was in the middle, arms raised left and right, eyes closed tight, lips spread in a grimace. Pale forms pressed forward from all around, but where they intruded into her green light, they slowed as though walking through syrup. But the shaking of Yue’s arms and the trembling of her soul suggested she would not be lasting much longer.

One of the monsters was speeding slightly as it advanced, slashing in slow motion at the air, driving through the green. Junko leapt in front of it, face stretched in a desperate grimace of her own, threw her hand up, and there came a great thump as she activated her Symbiote set, slamming out a burst of energy that caught the monster and tossed it off the roof.

Maverick had backed up almost to Yue, guns snapping on every side of him. Then one fell silent, and another, and another. ‘Reloading!’ the dog growled, and the robotic limbs around him began dipping into the storage on his back.

‘Nicolai!’ A cry caught at him, and he found Serrin going to the ground, spear outstretched between him and one of the pale things, holding back its claws. Yue let out a cry, and the outer edge of her wall of green faded like smoke on the wind, and Serrin was forced to twitch and dodge, struggling to worm out from beneath his increasingly lively opponent.

Things were going badly. Laughter reached him from the side, and he saw Marlo still slugging his way through them, seeming entirely unaware of the plight of the others, lost in his battle madness. It was up to him to save the day, insomuch as he cared to, which came as something of a surprise. His jets screeched and Nicolai rocketed forward.

He kicked out, took the full weight and strength of his enhanced body, buoyed by his rush, and put all of it into the side of the one on Serrin. It was launched away with a crunching of broken bones, tumbled into another and took them both off the roof.

He seized Serrin’s hand, pulled and the Hornet came up, took the momentum and used it, spinning off with spear whirling as he slashed through the tendons on the back of one of the creature’s legs.

Nicolai took the same momentum the other way, flinging himself toward a grouping of monsters labouring through the green. His course took him whipping past Junko, close enough to touch. Her back was to him, arm raised, and the others all busy with their own trouble. And he realised how easy it would be to lash out, carve a big red line through the back of her neck. It wouldn’t even be too difficult to make it look like one of the monsters had done it.

He raised the Knife.

And slammed it into a broad white chest again and again. The monster’s Soul came apart as he hooked around it, darted to the next.

He was behind a press of them, all half-frozen in Yue’s green glow, and he went down the line, stabbing one back after another. Away across the roof, Marlo was finishing the last of his own. He realised with sudden disappointment that they’d almost won.

‘No!’ screamed Junko, pulling his attention and that of everyone else as a whole slice of Yue’s green radiance died. Two of the monsters sprinted through the gap that was left. Junko stepped forward, determination writ all over her features as she raised her hand, and with another great thump she blew one of them off its feet.

But the other flashed straight past her, beady eyes set on Yue, clawed hands snapping up, eager to get to the bloody business.

Nicolai looked over the space between him and Yue, clogged with big white bodies. Not easy for him to help her, but he had options. Whip out his M99 or burn a weight of jet fuel, and he could save her.

But he was curious, and all the monsters between him and her gave him ample excuse for being unable to reach her. The blow probably wouldn’t be immediately lethal, if it even landed. He wanted to see what trump cards Yue might still be hiding and so, he simply watched.

Serrin and Maverick had both turned at the scream, Maverick still slotting magazines into his weapons, Serrin turning away from one of the pale things which he’d just disabled. They both sprinted toward Yue, but it was clear neither would reach her in time. Until Serrin’s Soul Sense shot out, and with a surge of ripples, a spiritual stinger flashed into view.

It jabbed into the one rushing Yue, once, then again. On the first, all its muscles tensed up, and it slowed a little. The next, and it locked up completely, paralysed. But there was a lot of mass bound up in all that white flesh, and its momentum carried it forward.

That was when Maverick arrived on the end of a tremendous leap, slammed into Yue’s back, knocked her to the ground just in time as the paralysed monster went tumbling past.

And the fight was over. Nothing left standing except for them. Maverick and Junko rushed to Yue, checking on her. Serrin stuck close to them, spear at the ready, searching for more enemies. Marlo was off in the midst of the corpses he’d made, shoulders hunched, panting, staring at the blood on his hands.

That, thought Nicolai, was a good fight. He and the Modules came slow apart. One of them was replaying a few choice moments, the replay existing as flickers and sparkles of joy on one side of his awareness. Rare that he got to fight in such a simple manner, and against such willing opponents. The Thrill was burning in his chest like an ember, filling him up with a wonderful warmth, while the Dark was settling to bed.

The others were too absorbed to notice when Marlo slumped to his knees, but Nicolai did, and he watched with interest as he reached up and grabbed at his head, shaking it. Now emanating horror and shame, wide eyes staring at the blood and bodies all around him.

Nicolai observed, curious and confused by so unhappy a reaction to the wonderful moment they’d all shared.

‘All good?’ he asked, arriving near where Junko was kneeling by Yue, playing his knife through his fingers so it spun in slow circles.

‘I’ll be fine,’ huffed Yue, sitting up and breathing heavy. Junko was holding her, and she paused whatever she’d been saying to frown up at him.

Nicolai smiled down at her, kind like a saint, thinking it a shame she couldn’t see through his helmet. He felt full up, fit to burst with soaring waves of bliss that were rising to buoy him from below. So much so that even her sour face didn’t bother him. He had decided things were going very well. Cyberwarfare and Psychology agreed with him.

The air sighed as Sora descended, drifting side to side like a falling leaf. The elemental looked near dead, face pale and droopy. ‘I’m tired, Yue,’ he moaned as he settled over her like a blanket. She winced when she saw his miserable features.

‘Sorry, Sora. I know that took a lot out of you. Thank you, my friend. Go on. Return to your home.’

‘A little time,’ the elemental sighed, ‘a little time to recover, then bring me back. You need me out here.’ And Sora faded with a faint shaking of the Aura.

As the others talked and went over injuries and clucked and muttered about the danger they were in, and how awful it was out here, and how they had to go find somewhere to hole up because night was clearly too dangerous for travel—this while glancing at him, as though expecting argument, but Nicolai didn’t say a word because he was totally unbothered, just going with the flow of things—he could feel them right there, within the palm of his hand.

Out here, they were in his world, and he almost felt he could see the future of their actions over the coming days, just as he had with the monsters.

Thinking of monsters, Nicolai glanced over in the direction of Marlo, still sitting there amongst the bodies, head turned down. His features were visible as no more than grim, blood-stained lines poking out through the shadows over his face. None of the others looked particularly keen to check on him. Though Junko was throwing numerous uncertain glances his way.

Only Nicolai had actually tried to speak to the man. Buoyed by his expansive mood, he’d headed over prior to checking on Yue, and he’d asked, ‘Why so sour? There’s nothing to be unhappy about.’ But Marlo had merely scowled up at him and grunted that if he knew what was good for him he’d best fuck off.

Nicolai wasn’t bothered. He felt surprisingly kindly disposed towards Marlo now, having realised the man was a kind of kindred soul.

While the others wasted time still talking about whatever, he floated down and found the one Serrin had stung, paralysed. It was splayed out, apelike arms twitching, one eye staring up at him.

The Hornet appeared at his shoulder, thumped the butt of his spear on the ground with a clack, stood there silent, staring down at the monster. After a moment, ‘You going to kill it?’

Serrin’s Soul was guarded, but even so, he could clearly feel the Hornet’s desire to see it dead, the threat ended, knew witnessing such had drawn him over here, only there was something a little different in the Hornet. He wasn’t sure what exactly.

‘It could be useful,’ he murmured. Within his ear, Research and Development gibbered on, Killing it would be a waste! It’s a perfect test subject, and I want to find out how it keeps healing when there’s no sign of any Symbiote.

‘It’s dangerous,’ said Serrin, ‘and it’s going to wake up in a bit. Kill it now, or I will.’

Nicolai eyed the youth sidelong. He didn’t need Psychology to recognise the Hornet wasn’t entirely happy. ‘As you wish.’ He sank to his knees, stab-stab-stabbed it to death, and watched as its Soul dissolved.

Serrin was already stalking away as he rose, meanwhile Research and Development muttered angrily about bad decision-making and the excessive guardrails holding back crucial scientific discoveries. In fact, Nicolai would quite like to have investigated the creatures more closely, but he was well aware that the destructive and likely torturous tests would have done the opposite of endearing him to the others.