Chapter 13 - Day One

The Subsido began its departure into the frozen deep blue surrounding Momodore Island. Weapon compartments opened within, as on demand, torpedoes shot out of the missile, crossing each other’s paths in the water, colliding and exploding against the edge of the frozen water surrounding the gulf. The explosion blanketed underwater, and rose above the island, creating an initial shockwave that tremble the foundation for the entire island. The torpedoes each attacked its own respective spot beneath the frozen support beams in the water. The ice beams wouldn’t give in right away, their basis being tougher than steel. The K.I. ships docked from merely meters away watched the situation intensify, the IMO agents continued their assault, bringing out the big guns in the 1^st squadron, which had enough power alone to destroy any opposition, the leader himself would simply soak in the blood oaths of the fallen.

Jesse understood that he was the only one capable of taking out the Subsido. He felt it in the water, pulling along the ripples and tides of the ocean. Jesse’s face cracked and crunched among Jesse’s skin, concentrating with a great amount of ability among the frozen ocean. Jesse, the conjurer of the frozen ocean, could sense the disruption among the attack, and furthermore even knew the location of the Subsido by the trajectory of the torpedoes. Jesse glared head on at Colonel Rash, the entire battlefield, and essentially the whole southern border, littered with battle scars, fragments of ice, and fractures in the earth, and even the ice. Rash adjusted his sunglasses, taking a profound glare among Jesse, noticing his body taking the icy form again, his body temperature drastically dropped.

“It appears I was lucky in getting paired with you,” Rash said coldly. “I’ve heard rumors about you… there’s no denying it. You’re Jesse, the Serpent of the Sea. Clearly, next to Sabre himself, you are the most dangerous member of Vault.” Rash adjusted his twin katana, flipping them skillfully over his shoulders and down his arms, wielding them in a perpendicular manner. “And there’s no denying you are the one who created the ice field around this island.”

Jesse didn’t answer right away, his serpent eyes glaring with a wild bloodlust, Jesse slipped out his tongue, licking the edges of his cheeks with his slit tongue, brushing against the ice among his defined skin.

“That’s true… I was the one who created the dome around this island… but…” Jesse began. “There is a whole party within our faction that is leagues beyond only me.”

“By the time this is done, you, along with your beloved faction, will be lounging down to the bottom of deep blue. You can choose to be with them when that happens, or I can kill you here.” Rash stared seriously at Jesse. “Makes no difference to me.”

Jesse grinned madly, his body began cracking with layers of ice shattering around his body. “As if you were intending to let me go in the first place. Even so, I’m going to finish what you started!” Jesse lunged forward, his body swerved in a zig-zag pattern to Rash, twisting irrationally with a heretical style. Jesse withdrew his sword, slashing for Rash directly in the head. Rash lifted both of his katana to block Jesse’s attack, the force of Jesse’s attack sending Rash’s feet sliding among the ground. Rash grimaced, overpowering Jesse with pure force, he spun for a kick directly across Jesse’s cheek, which Jesse easily countered with a kick of his own. Jesse used this momentum he gained to kick off of Rash’s own foot, floating along the air a good ways up with a super leap. Jesse flipped back, moisturizing the air around him, he created three ice pikes circulating around his body. Jesse, with a gesture of his hand, sent them spiraling forward in an articulate pattern, gleaming in the sunlight. Rash squinted, ducking the blows, yet directly above his left shoulder, he missed, the last ice spike glazing his shoulder. Jesse took notice of this, and landed on the ground smoothly, glaring up ahead.

Rash ignored his new wound, gripping both of his swords in the same perpendicular manner as before. He clashed them together, wielding them in a parallel stance, pointing precisely at Jesse from their short-ish distance, observing every aspect of his being.

“It’s been fun… but I’m growing tired of this game,” Rash callously stated, glaring at Jesse with his eyes, Jesse glaring back. Rash held out his arms widely, as he waved them coolly around him, tapping amount the ground with his feet, as if following the code of an interpretive dance. Rash leaned forward, as suddenly, six arms sprouted from his sides effortlessly, each wielding its own black katana. The vision was blurry for Jesse at first, but as he squinted his eyes, he seen it clearly. Rash stood tall and poise, glaring at Jesse with a serious intent, his six swords crossing each other’s paths.

“Mahkala Style; Ultimate Laceration!” Rash wasted no time, he lunged forward at a blinding speed, launching three of his swords at Jesse, two from his left side, one from his right. Jesse scowled and hissed, blocking Rash’s sword with Kahien, his icy blade.

“Sub-Zero Cleave!” Jesse moisturized the air around his hand, manipulating ice to form another blade that took on the appearance of a twin Kahien, although obviously this was not the same, being pure concentrated ice and not a steel blade underneath it was much more durable. His face sharpened, his eyes widened, he glared Rash dead on, Rash returning his glare with a scowl.

 “HEY-AAAAH”

Rash shrieked a battle cry, while Jesse hissed a solid shriek. They began slashing at an accurate yet impeccable alacrity for each other, sparks flying from their blades clashing at a blurring tempo. Mid-clash, Jesse bravely lunged forward, extending his ice blade attempting to impale Rash directly through the chest, with hopes of freezing up his organs inside of his chest as well, not so. Rash deflected Jesse’s ice blade with his right blade, aiming for a clean swerve for Jesse’s neck on his left. Jesse maneuvered away with a flexible slither, using Rash’s own own, flipping over his own arms, through his blades, kicking Rash across the face. Rash stumbled back, his sunglasses taking a direct hit, falling off of his face. As they landed on the ground, Jesse landed as well, and sent a wave of ice directly below his feet to freeze them to a state of uselessness. Jesse looked up, seeing Rash stand up, covering his face. He dropped his hand finally, revealing a pure black eye, and a pure white eye. Jesse’s eyes widened, as he immediately thought of the slash he gave him earlier on his left shoulder, the same eye he was blind off.

He’s blind in his left eye… that’s why he didn’t see my lance, and couldn’t react. Jesse smiled, slanting over, his back arched forward, licking his own chin. And… I think I’ve just figured out his little trick.

“Come, Sea Serpent!” Rash leaped forward, slashing with all six of his bladed arms promptly. “Mirage Lacerate!” Rash slashed, his swords now projecting the blades of over 32 slashes at once. Jesse merely grinned as he looked on, and coldly glared forward, his serpent eyes widened profusely as he leaped forward… running straight into the oncoming slashes… and closed his eyes Rash looked on in bewilderment.

No… he can’t! Rash leaped back, at that moment, Jesse took notice of Rash’s action, and smiled in confirmation.

That confirms everything. Jesse ran through… receiving no slashes at all. As the last two blades came around, Jesse leaped on the blunt edges of the blades, kicking them out of Rash’s hands in unison. As Jesse opened his eyes… Rash looked on in disgust. Jesse used the gained momentum, freezing Kahien, he slashed straight vertically down Rash’s left side of his torso. Blood gushed from Rash’s hefty wound, his face twisted in surprise and agony, and above all, defeat. Jesse grinned wildly, licking his lips with his serpent tongue. Jesse landed firmly, glaring ahead with a slightly crazed appearance.

“You… so you finally figured it out…” Rash said calmly, yet clearly on the verge of a temperamental breakdown. Jesse’s demented nature subsided, his eyes averted back to normal. Upon this transformation, Jesse’s stamina instantly drained. He got on one knee, panting heavily. He stared up rationally at Colonel Rash.

“Your left eye isn’t totally blind, is it?” Jesse asked.

“No.”

“Using that special eye of yours, you disoriented my movement perception. In turn, you made me believe I was seeing a barrage of blades. The whole time, you were never carrying more than two. Or, were.” Jesse said, as he stepped on the blades. The blades became incased in a mass of ice. The ground around Jesse began freezing, and cracking and fracturing with the ice. Rash attempted to stand back up, yet found the task impossible as he knelt down, gripping his chest, he noticed the large gash he received upon his chest was frozen.

“Another special property of my sword, Kahien,” Jesse began nonchalantly, holding it above his waist for demonstration. “It freezes all it slashes. In your case, your right lung should be frozen solid in a few minutes.” The ice frozen solid around Jesse’s blade thawed, as he sheathed his sword. He began walking away from Rash. Rash glared on, clutching his chest in pain, his breathing became more rapid. He stood up, glaring at Jesse with his not blind eye.

Rash reached inside of his pouch, drawing a little dagger barely bigger than his hand, its blade had a curved, grooved edge so as to penetrate with a twist, causing more pain and blood. “What do you think you’re doing? Turning your back on your enemy while he’s still standing? Face me during our final bout, son.” Rash spoke distractively, as he began twirling his swords in midair. Despite the frozen wound upon his chest, he stood tall and firm, ready for another battle. Jesse cut his eyes back to Rash nonchalantly.

“You’re a shriveled up man who doesn’t know when to quit. Fine, charge me if you wish.” Jesse said, yet refused to turn back to Rash, which only infuriated Rash more. Rash lunged forward, hurling one of his knives at Jesse, which Jesse deflected by the blunt force of his sword while turning it behind his body, without even glancing back. Rash flipped up, yet gripped his chest in pain. As Rash succumbed to the pain, Jesse grabbed Rash’s two hands, crossed them over his chest, and exhaled a frost out of his mouth.

“Deep Chill.” With Jesse’s cold breath, he froze Rash’s arms onto his chest, and froze his entire torso. Rash shouted in ache, his arms and entire torso were frozen solid. A chilling steam emitted from Jesse’s body, as the ice around his body eventually cracked and sedated. Jesse looked down at the stubborn Colonel of IMO with no remorse, feeling completely numb at all he had done. In Jesse’s view, he had it coming way before this fight.

“So… that’s it, huh?” Rash asked through shivers of cold. Jesse simply stood back.

“I have no mercy for the feeble. If you get medical aid, you can still be saved, but since I’ve already frozen solid most of your unit, and their remains were tattered across the boundary, I wouldn’t count on it anytime soon. Until then, freeze in your glacial coffin.” Jesse said unemotionally, leaping out of the island border, sliding along the ice outside like a surfing platform, he glided down with his feet. He knew what his next task was, and he had to be the one to do it. It was time to render the Subsido inoperable.

---

“Well?! What are you guys waiting for?! Come at me! I’m right here!” the deranged, wide mouthed narcissist stood with his black fur captain’s cloak that distinguished and resembled his authority within IMO. The Vault soldiers remaining surrounding the vicinity trembled before the fearless, vicious captain of the 1^st division. They could only mourn and tremble at once for the loss of their comrades and at the menace threatening to take their lives next, respectively.

“All of our weapons… just like that!”

“He renders all of our weapons useless. What can we do against a guy like that?!”

“Worry not, my graceful subordinates!” a pink haired, flamboyant man walked in with a backwards swagger to his steps, luminescent shades flaring in the sunlight, bright golden-rod hair darker than Sabre’s, and a bright smile that completely contradicted the 1^st squadron leader’s demented face. He adorned a bright red and golden royal cape with a similar fur design of the 1^st squadron leader’s, albeit with no spikes. The flamboyant kicked up a rock, clutching it between his hands. He flicked it toward the crazed man at high speed, barely grazing by his right cheek.

“Bauh…well I’ll be. You’re that ungraceful leader of the FLS division of the IMO, aka Front Line Squadron of IMO. And these men in ungraceful poses behind you are your followers and accomplices?” the man tilted up his shades, staring down at the man with an intense passion in his eyes, and a bright wide mouthed smirk. “To think the notorious, former 2^nd division commander of the Nebelion Anarchy, Axill. would have swapped sides, just like that. Why is someone like you working for the world government now?”

The leader, Axill, looked up with an intrigued eye at the flamboyant yet audacious Vault member. “I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”

“True… and honestly, I couldn’t care less,” the Vault man said, cracking his knuckles. Axill tilted his head with a crazed sneer.

“Spirited, aren’t ya?”

The flamboyant man raised his royal red and golden cape above his face, covering the entirety of his body. Axill folded his arms and raised a brow.

“For IMO to resort to the likes of you, it seems their situation is getting more desperate… which means that currently, we are winning this war!” the flamboyant man declared with a perk of his chest exerting his masculinity. “It is time for I, Royce Whitehawk… to end this war with my own hands!” Royce declared with a finger pointing into the sky, slanted over in an awkward pose that only embarrassed himself; too bad he thought it was awesome.

“Shall I, commander?” a large man, easily standing over eight feet tall, a blank expression among his face, completely nonchalant to everything in his surroundings with an exception of commander Axill and Royce. His intent on Royce was merely a loyal act to IMO in order to take down one of the superhumans. Axill nodded his head forward.

“Don’t crush him completely. Leave enough body mass for survival.”

“Sir-“

“We need an example,” Axill clenched his fists with a wide grinned, blood-lusted smirk. The man simply looked forward and walked on.

The tall man walked forward, his arms behind his back, staring down at Royce with slanted, half-open gray eyes. Even his eyes were completely plain, the only noticeable feature about this man being his height. Royce seemed to think nothing much of him himself.

“I see, so this is the challenge bestowed upon me? I will make very graceful work of this!”Royce swung his cape over his body. The red and gold engulfing his cape seeped into a spiral of the two colors in a closing spectrum, until it completely vanished, and so had Royce. Axill laughed.

“A War-rune user, no wonder he’s so confident!” the new situation only ignited Axill’s laughter more.

Suddenly, a hand popped out of an expanding, spiraling continuum of red and golden directly behind the large man. The man held a gun directly behind his head. Royce’s head appeared out of the continuum ripped in space-time fabric using his cape as a teleportation technique. Instantly, he had the large man cornered, but he appeared to have forgotten one thing.

The gun began shaking and quivering in Royce’s hand. Royce, unable to hold the gun, played a small game of tug of war with the gun, until it instantly backfired among his face. The smoke covered Royce’s face as his body fell down, only his cheek grazed with a small trickle of blood from the bullet of his own weapon. The gun levitated in mid-air, circling around Axill, who with only a notion of his hand was manipulating the metallic weapon. Royce glared at Axill.

“Little weapons like that aren’t gonna work on me,” Axill motioned with his finger, a small static discharge of lightning ignited from his finger, which appeared to transfer to the gun. The gun faced Royce, and fired a bullet straight for his face again. Royce attempted to teleport by his cape, until he found the large man stepping and trampling over his cape while his guard was down. Royce squirmed for his survival, appearing to lose hope as he shielded himself from the oncoming bullet. A bullet that didn’t come.

The bullet itself stopped it midair, levitating directly in front of Royce’s face. Royce looked up, a look of bewilderment on his face. Axill smiled deviously, the gun and the bullet dropping down onto the ground. Axill laughed, as if seeing Royce’s torment and confusion was all delightful to him.

“Your face tells me you have no idea what just happened, or what we of the 1^st squadron are truly capable of.” Axill said with a authority yet intimidation. “A fish can never learn to climb a tree. It would regret for the rest of its life for flopping up the wrong tree.” Axill’s eyes widened with a delirious looking glare, the same wide eyed blood gored smile he always bestowed, the look that enjoyed the horror of others at his own expense. Was it really about IMO with this guy? He appeared to just be out for a good time. His eyes glanced back over to the large man’s.

“I’ve changed my mind. BigFoot, get rid of him. I’ll dump him in the scrapyard myself.”

“With pleasure.” BigFoot raised up his leg, so it was directly above Royce along with a towering shadow. Royce looked up, his cape completely battered and snatched away by the goons. He grimaced, closing his eyes and accepting his fate.

“Well, shit. Guess I’m dead!” Royce laughed heartily. BigFoot nonchalantly stomped at Royce with his foot, ultimately crushing him in the process. Well he would have, had his foot not been caught in mid-air. Axill and the others of squadron 1 looked on with a slight stagger.

Willy threw BigFoot’s foot back, as his feet were tremored through the ground by BigFoot’s intense kick. BigFoot regained balance, and stared at Willy apathetically.

“Ah… it’s the man of the hour! We’ve been waiting for you,” one of the squad members beside Axill exclaimed. “Such… ecstasy!”

Axill grinned madly. “Willman. Have you come to watch everything you love tremble and fall?”

Willy wasted no time. With a scowl upon his face and no fear at all, nothing weighing on his conscious stopping him. Willy kicked off the ground at an impeccable speed, he charged forward, punching Axill in the face. Axill’s face distorted from the blow, as he slid across the ground. The other members looked on in distraught, the idea of someone so boldly declaring a stand against their leader so brashly they couldn’t anticipate this lifetime.

Axill caught his fall, glaring up at Willy with a savage intent. “You’re pretty ballsy, I’ll give you that. Having balls isn’t the same as having sense.”

“Where’s Trav?” Willy simply asked, leaning forward in a sure attempt to be ready for an all out brawl. Even if it was against the world, Willy wasn’t ready to rest until he knew Trav was safe. Axill folded his arms and laughed.

“I’d be more worried about yourself right now, buddy,” Axill walked forward, moving his hands in an eccentric pattern in his front, a purple electrical field surrounded Axill. The bloodstained weapons scattered amongst the corpses of his earlier victims levitated in the air, and spun in an infinite loop around Axill, each one exerting their own electrical current as well, as if being guided by Axill’s.

“Willy…” Royce said, looking up at Willy, whose head blocked the sunlight. “Do not oppose them. You cannot win. As long as I am able, I cannot allow you to proceed to your end!”

“I don’t care,” Willy plainly said, a bitter yet determined expression plastered on his face, his eyes focused on Axill. “I’ll kick their asses until they feel like talking.”

One of the squadron members launched forward, expelling his hand forward aimed for Willy, merely 6 meters away. “Erase!” the man expelled a white blaster wave from his hand. Willy kicked off of the ground once more, leaping out of harm’s way before the entire blast nearly instantly desolated the entire vicinity of 10 meters, erasing all matter in its wake.

“Erasus, fall back!” Axill commanded from afar, as the metallic weapons and instruments from before began piling on Axill’s arm. The metallic objects jointed together to create what appeared to be an artificial, mechanical arm of a great wide proportion. The joints were locked together by bolts founded in the weapons as everything was literally disassembled and reassembled in a mere instant. Axill’s right mechanical arm was nearly the size of the Vault HQ. “You and BigFoot just make sure no one else gets through. I’ll handle this clown.”

They nodded, and ran off. Only a second later, BigFoot came crashing down, his body shredded from a magnificent, powerhouse punch to the chest. BigFoot merely groaned as if it were a simple sore, not as if he had just been sliced through the chest with a crystallized punch. Erasus glanced back, at that same second, a large tin-man appeared behind him, leaning his arm back for a charged punch, his arm launched out of its socket joints in a rocket-like manner. Erasus was slammed through a large rock, crushing it along with his face. The debris and blood rained upon the large tin-man and the small demon-girl as they walked forward. Willy’s eyes widened.

“Rubie, Ten. You made it,” Willy said with a smirk, as if he expected no less from his teammates. Even if they were bruised and damaged, it made no difference.

“Go, Willy. Inside of the Vault HQ, you’re the only one who can save him.” Ten remarked. Rubie nodded, her Ruby Mail armor began to spread around her body. Lucky for her, she ran into Ten, who was able to clear the corroding poison off of her body with a pressurizer installed in his body.

“Leave these scuzzbags to us.” Rubie stepped forward, her arms encased in the ruby substance she adorned. Ten exerted a pod of blades from his torso and arms, which rang and spun in an infinite disk. Willy grinned and nodded.

“Just kick their asses,” Willy kicked off of the ground, dashing toward the Vault HQ. Axill’s eyes narrowed with a demeaning scowl.

“Where do you think you’re going?!” Axill launched his giant metallic hand forward, crushing the ground and leveling the island with its massive power. Willy dodged its assault before Rubie appeared on top, leaving behind a mere afterimage after her immense speed. Axill looked on as Rubie ran down her arm, encasing her arm in the Ruby Javelin, she aimed a punch directly for his face. Axill took the punch head on, falling back, his metallic arm slid along the ground, but due to his newfound massive strength, pulled himself back up, propelling himself in the air. He slammed down on the ground with his massive arm, causing a shockwave to emit with strength that easily surpassed Rubie’s. The shockwave sent large cracks and crevices along the island, nearly breaking it off from the edge down the center. The water from the tides streamed  and began flooding from the tipping impact. Rubie leaped on top of Ten’s shoulders, as Ten used rocket accelerators built within his feet to launch himself back just off of the ground. Rubie glared ahead as Axill walked closer, raising up his organic hand. Small scraps of metal began to compress around Axill.

“Shrapnel!” Axill bolted the metal bullets forward, exerting a small field of electricity from his hand. Ten took notice of this before both Ten and Rubie set up their shields, Ten’s hardened body and Rubie’s Ruby Mail were more than enough to defend them against simple bullets. However, Rubie felt the impact more than Ten, being organic. Infact, even though they didn’t pierce or cut her, she felt the blunt force. It was astonishing. Axill laughed like a maniac as the playground began lifting with many metallic objects, levitating around him.

“This isn’t looking as efficient as I was hoping,” Ten said. Rubie grimaced with a wide eyed glare.

“To think there’s two more with him, at least. These guys might be trouble.” For Rubie to admit she was in a tight pickle was not a good oath.

---

Dew stood atop of the Vault HQ, in the center of the hallway, where Trav was tied up in the corner. He appeared to be bound by a compressed steel pipe, most likely Axill’s doing. Dew unveiled his black hood, as he stood back, awaiting for the man he knew was to approach him for the final battle.

“It’s been a long time, my man Willy,” Dew added a bitter sarcastic remark to his statement. Willy walked forward, showing no fear, only an absolute resolve. He stood tall, as both the Sin of Perdition and the ace of Vault stared at each other with intense eyes. The world around them dissolved, it was only them. Trav looked on in astonishment.

Willy… you’re a hell of a guy.

“Let him go.”

“Make me.”

Willy decked Dew in the jaw, yet Dew didn’t budge. Dew grabbed Willy’s hand and began squeezing, much to Willy’s dismay. Willy leaped up, throwing a kick for Dew’s chest. Dew used his other hand to grab Willy’s foot. Dew gripped Willy’s body, and slammed him harshly against the concrete floor, a look of malice in his eyes. Dew stepped back, as Willy grabbed his head in pain, he simply jumped out, flipping a few times, landing behind Dew, so they were back to back. Outside, Willy appeared unphased. Dew wasn’t fooled.

“You’ve gotten stronger.”

“Let’s settle this the same way we started it… on the first day we met, we fought. Today, we define the last day.” Willy cut his eyes back to Dew, who turned around, doing the same his way.

“Then I’ll have the pleasure of demonstrating to you once more, just who is the superior among us.”

Chapter 12 - Expedition

The battle for the fate of the Vault island HQ prolongs in a trial of blood, sweat, and tears. The IMO have leaded their forces, with the leadership of Colonel Rash and Lieutenant General Velvetti, to secure the borders of the island. All of the borders remain captive except the southern line, where Rash and Jesse’s dynamite battle persists. Jesse understood the situation; he knows if he loses, the IMO will have complete control over the island, which would give them all the advantages they needed to overwhelm them. How did Jesse know the situation? Jesse had the best sense of smell in Vault, and Team Willy. He smelled the blood of his comrades from across the island. He smelt his comrades’ blood, sweat, and tears as a whole.

Meanwhile, the Subsido begins its venture into the surrounding chilled, stilled water of Momodore Island. The mechanism, which took the shape of a submarine, powered by a nuclear reactor, IMO insignia clear on the center. It had been deployed from K.I.’s ship. It was visible from ground level, creating ripples in the water. The Subsido stopped midway, as if waiting for another signal. Jesse felt the Subsido within the ocean. He squinted his eyes, the ground around Jesse and Rash scattered with fragments of ice, and whole bodies of ice. Yet, Rash stood in his one spot, his spot completely unaffected.

“Forget it boy, you’ll never reach me. You’re too far away,” Rash said, adjusting his sunglasses with his right middle finger. “This distance between us you will not break, if you cannot even fathom how inferior you are to me.”

Why can’t I hit him…? It’s like his body keeps fading to another course… and I can’t perceive it. Is he that fast, or am I that slow? Jesse gritted. This guy was something else, to create an illusion of wielding tens of blades, slashing surpassing that of mach speed. Rash stared nonchalantly at Jesse, whom was panting with exhaustion, sweat dripped down his nose, his blue hair drenched over his face. Rash wielded both of his swords over both of his shoulders in a cross-like fashion, mimicking an X again.

“To think an ice-man such as yourself would be emitting hot sweat. You had the choice of plunging into the ocean with your island, but you will be killed by me instead. Probably for the better, you are way too dangerous to be alive,” Rash stated coldly, raising both of his swords. His swords both began to increase in height and depth.

“Colossal Lacerate,” Rash’s tongue was sharp and concise. He withdrew both of his swords directly above his chest, which Jesse witnessed as a mirage of blades folding through means of what appeared to be astral projection. Rash connected both of the blades together by their hilts, creating a double sided black saber. Rash began twirling it, and charged head on for Jesse rapidly, which Jesse couldn’t decipher… now he was seeing projections of multiple Rash’s along a trail, however, the faster he went, the more he could not see. Before Jesse knew it, Rash was in front of Jesse, hurling his double bladed sword downward like a fan. Jesse’s eyes widened, creating a new layer of ice around his body, yet before he knew it, he, along with half of the entire southern borderline of the island, were severed in half… Rash’s hundred style slash came and went just like that. Luckily, all of the IMO soldiers around Rash had abandoned long ago, otherwise, there may have been many more casualties.

Jesse’s body fell, blood splashed yet again among the ice field. Jesse entire lower half was nearly bisected in half, which is where Rash was actually aiming, the simple backlash of his slash alone severed almost the entire borderline, chipping off a good portion of the island, and along with it, a good portion of Jesse…

Jesse coughed up blood, as he laid there, completely helpless, in a constant, building misery of anguish. Along with his midsection, his entire body was nearly severed into little snippets. What the hell kind of attack was that? Rash merely looked on, still not satisfied his target was still alive…

“I suppose I should have aimed for your head.” Rash calmly stated, twirling his double saber yet again, aiming it for Jesse’s helpless head. Jesse smiled and chuckled, Rash frowned. “Severed limb from limb, literally hanging on by a few threads, yet you still laugh. What’s funny?”

“Y-you…” Jesse started, blood seeping from his mouth. Rash raised a brow. Jesse clutched his hand around Rash’s sword. Rash’s sword began to sub atomically freeze from the core, spreading throughout the blade. Rash merely kicked Jesse’s hand, however, Rash would notice too late that Jesse had frozen his entire limb onto Rash’s sword, causing it incapable of moving. “Haven’t won yet…”

Jesse opened his mouth, it opened at preposterous lengths. Jesse’s eyes changed, revealing slits and a yellow iris. Rash grimaced, attempting to set his sword free. When he realized the effort was in vain, he disconnected the other sword by the hilt, now wielding one sword. “One or two swords, it doesn’t change the outcome of this battle.”

Jesse hissed, as within his mouth, hands began clutching his own mouth open, now supporting the influx of a new body. A ‘new’ body of Jesse clambered out of Jesse’s ‘old’ body, the old body now dissolving into the field of ice. Jesse had just shed out of his own body, snake-style. A coating of ice layered his entire body; his injuries in his new body were completely regenerated. Jesse glared at Rash, a new intensity and realization at his opponent bestowed upon his glare. He now knew and assessed what he was up against, as had Rash. Rash looked in on discord, yet didn’t seem too phased at the new state of affairs. To him, it didn’t seem to change a thing.

“Not gonna lie, I wasn’t expecting that in the least. You genuinely staggered me, if only for a little time,” Rash said, adjusting his glasses, finally taking out his blunt, throwing it on the ground against the blood of Jesse’s old, decayed body, where it lit out instantly. Rash stared. Jesse stared. It was on.

“Done with our warm up, are we?” Rash said simply. Jesse said nothing, which prompted Rash to smile once more. “Let’s give it everything we’ve got from here. However, the result will be the same, and this time, you won’t come back from my carnage.”

Jesse picked up his sword left behind by his old body, holding it above his head, directly in a vertical horizon. He ran his hand across the blade gently, yet passionately, creating a sphere of ice crafted among his blade. Jesse had new ideas about his abilities now, and although he knew he gave it all he had last round, this round, he would just have to pull a Willman; go beyond the limits. He glared with a penetrating gaze with his newly formed snake-slit eyes. “I’m getting rather tired of looking at your face.” 

---

“We… we have to retreat! We can’t beat him!” The Vault fighter declared, clutching his helmet on for dear life, beginning to take his run away for the fear of his life. Another soldier grabbed him by his uniform, glaring him in the eyes intensely.

“If we leave now, what kind of example does that set for the Vault?!” the other fighter angrily declared, yet the other soldier continued to tremble. “Our other platoons are out there, giving it their all! We have to do the same for them! No matter the opponent, this is what we risked by joining this group! Rise up and do your part!” the lecturing man shoved the other in disgust, who quivered. He stared him immensely in the eyes for a few seconds, before suddenly, a large detonation sounded off a few meters away. The two soldiers turned, as their comrades looked on from the sides, hiding beneath the crevice in the earth.

“It-it’s terrible… he’s destroying our entire squadron! The-there’s nothing we can do!” one of the men in the crevice cried out. The other two men looked on in disdain, as a lone man stood above the crevice, his arms folded, glaring down at them with penetrating purple eyes. He smiled cockily, raising his hands above his head.

“Seems I’ve been fighting these little foot soldiers… boring!” Dew exclaimed wildly, a mad grin plastered on his face. The Vault members looked on, their eyes widened.

“What the… that’s Dew… of Perdition! What is a member of K.I. doing here, let alone a Sin of Perdition?!” the second man exclaimed out loud. Dew grinned, leaning against the upper earth, resting his arm against his leg.

“I was bored… and I’m still bored! You guys just aren’t doing it for me, eh? You’re all a bunch of sissies… like damn. I thought Vault would hire better security than a couple of boneheads like you,” Dew leaped down into the crevice of the earth, stomping upon the first man inside, crushing him from the outside in, he yelped in pain. The other soliders aimed their weapons in scorn, shooting for Dew. Dew ran forward, leaping across the field, spin-kicking both guys side by side in the face respectively, using the other guy as a shield for the third guy’s bullets, and hurling the shield guy at the third guy, kicking him to him at an intense rapidity. Dew laughed heartily at the sight of the carnage of the battlefield. “Seems Vault is all speak, no treat.” Dew pressed on forward, before running into another tempted ambush, he leaped for the man hiding behind the Vault HQ walls, smashing his head against the wall, crushing the head and the wall in the process. Dew found it all hilarious.

He had just wiped out an entire squadron.


---

“Here I come little munchkin!” Kana waved her arms gracefully through the air, her white bracelets gleaming off of the sunlight, emitting a large glow around her body. As she waved, the bubbles began scattering across the entire area within 20 meters, varying in different sizes. “Bubble Bath!” The bubbles began to explode, once again, in a chain reaction. The detonation built up into the sky, and in a flowing event, chased down Rubie from where she stood, her ruby substance casing her entire body.

The lower half of Rubie’s body shifted back into a flesh state again, as she leaped up, avoiding a chain blast of bubbles as they decimated the terrain, all throughout the field, the explosions began leveling the entire ground. The island trembled as Kana lowered the explosions to ground level, most of the bubbles were nearly microscopic level, yet the explosions with the chain remained huge. Rubie, finally escaping outside of its range, hid behind a boulder. She looked down at the ground, cursing from the bottom of her tongue.

“That little cunt almost had me,” Rubie said to herself, barely above a whisper. She stood there, listening to Kana outside of the destroyed cavern. She sensed the smoke rising, smelling like burnt incense, which nearly made her gag. Rubie was used to being, along with Jesse, the sensor in Team Willy. As far as hearing went, she was the best. She listened intently, hearing Kana’s footsteps across the ground. She even heard Kana lick her lips. From the distance she was at, she could second guess where she was, an educated second guess. Rubie was never one to think most things through, usually relying on her instincts, bovine-like or not.

Rubie quickly turned around, layering her body with a casing of ruby substance once more, raised up her leg and violently yet swiftly kicked the boulder she was behind, down the hill, with minimal effort. The boulder revolved down the hill at an accurate trajectory and intense velocity.

Kana looked up at the boulder, her face scorned with a glance of fortitude. She took out her bubble blower pipe, and blew a gigantic, over human sized bubble directly in front of her. Kana hopped inside of the bubble, floating directly above the boulder only just as it rolled by her, extremely lucky she wasn’t just crushed. Kana floated in the air inside of the giant bubble, yet as she looked, Rubie was already gone. The boulder was there, so Rubie had to be too, right?

“Hey, little blossom! Where are you hiding?! You really think you can hide from me?! I’ll level this entire playground if I have to! I bet you’ll come out then!” Kana shouted with a terrifying tease. She assumed that Rubie couldn’t fly, so assuming more so she was safe up in the air. Kana sighed, knowing she needed to think up a plan on dealing with the little brute.

“Hey Bubble Boaster, down here! To your left!” Rubie called from Kana’s east, 45 degrees away at a distance of 30 meters. Kana angrily looked down, obviously mentally affected by Rubie’s shameless name-calling. Rubie simply stood down, awaiting Kana’s attack. Kana raised her arms, aiming her open palm from her distance at Rubie. An array of soap bubbles once again began forming around Kana’s body, the microscopic bubbles surrounding her increased drastically in size, now towering above average human height. The bubbles began to form an olive shaded ink-like substance inside, until they covered the entire bubbles.

“Acidic Bubble Array!” Kana launched the bubbles toward Rubie, whom simply ran forward in a zig-zag pattern, evading the bubbles as they popped on the ground. As they did, the olive acid leaked out, and completely corroded the ground beneath within mere seconds. Rubie looked back; her eyes squinted as she ran forward again. As she was distracted by the former acid, she looked up, Kana leaped out of her bubble, appearing directly in front of Rubie, a threateningly yet deceitful glare upon her face. Rubie hated that look, and glared menacingly back with a bloodlust in her eyes. She clenched her fist, indulged in ruby.

“Ruby Javelin!” Rubie threw a punch forward, which was dodged by Kana, averting her body away, she twisted back in a full 360, blowing another acidic bubble Rubie’s way, at point blank range. Rubie gritted her teeth, her eyes widened furiously, she decided to tank it, there wasn’t any other option at this range, all or nothing. Rubie charged through the bubble, popping it, yet drenched in the olive acid. Kana didn’t move, merely expecting Rubie to drop dead right there, her body corroding instantly from the acid.

Didn’t happen, she didn’t know just how reckless Redhorn Rubie was. Kana’s face distorted by the ruby-style punch she delivered right into Kana’s disastrous face, the crash of the blow reverberated through the island. Rubie glared with an imperious, menacing glare, her eyes widened with the intent of only watching Kana fall to the ground, conquered and defeated. Kana screamed as she flipped and spun across the ground, landing face first against the dirt with a final frontal flip, Rubie appeared beside Kana with an unwavering speed, drawing her leg back dynamically, the red ruby coated across her leg.

“Redhorn Punt!” Rubie exclaimed, kicking her across her ribs.

CRACK. Kana’s ribs were broken on her entire right side, causing Kana to spit out blood as she went spinning once again, unsympathetically, against the bitter, unforgiving terrain. Kana clutched her chest in pain, as she took a full fledged crystallized kick to the ribs. She was pretty sure one of her ribs had just pierced her right lung, receiving an unfathomable amount of pain in her chest, her breathing became rigid and corrupted, she barely could do it. Her mouth spilled more blood, as she closed her eyes, drawing back the tears in her eyes.

Rubie’s arm lifted out of the ground, pulling herself up. Her entire body was encased with ruby, which saved her from the corrosion; however, apparently corrosion wasn’t the only side effect of this acid. Rubie began panting, clutching her chest as the green olive-like acid was drenched over her body. She glared up at Kana, her attention turned away from Rubie, which only angered her more. She clenched her hands, as she held in the urge to vomit on the battle front. They both had just taken a huge toll on the front. Rubie coughed, her eyes began to gaze away, yet she stood tall. Internally, despite the ruby armor, she was still human. Rubie glared over at Kana’s body, watching her gasp for her breath desperately attempting to manage the pain. Rubie looked away, and began walking, yet noticed as she did, the world around her began to shift involuntarily. Rubie narrowed her eyes, despite the increased fatigue, it only motivated Rubie’s drive to stay awake, that was the kind of person she was. She began walking through the horizon, noticing the sun began to set.

Kana sat up, through harsh gasps, she placed her left hand over her right rib-cage, a white glowing energy emitted from her bracelets, repairing her internal damage. Kana’s healing abilities weren’t remarkable, so she wasn’t able to completely repair her lung. Knowing it would possibly bleed out again, she decided the best thing to do would be to play it safe, yet she knew she had to take out this Vault scum. Only left one option for her. Kana withdrew her bubble blower, struggling the blow the large bubble around her once more. As Kana began taking flight, she observed Rubie as she began walking, her step staggering with each one she took, looking like she might collapse any second. Kana didn’t care what happened, or was thinking much, she just wanted her gone. She waved her hands silently, then widened her eyes. Bubble Chain Parade!

The whole area around Rubie, without warning, exploded in a fiery flock of flames, ignited from around Rubie, the microscopic bubbles Rubie wouldn’t notice, detonated, once again, as a chain reaction. The entire island was leveled, the hillside collapsed, even the last half of the island nearly split apart from the extreme detonation. Kana wanted to laugh, yet found it impossible in her current condition. When the smoke cleared, Rubie was gone. Kana thought nothing of it at first.

Suddenly, a simple rock came flying from below, and then, the bubble popped as it phased through, also hitting Kana across the chest. Kana’s eyes broadened as she fell down. As Kana fell, her IMO vest was yanked by the collar, clutching, choking her where she landed. Her one eye open, where she met the intimidating glare of Redhorn Rubie, her azure eyes fixed on hers, craving to finish the battle, and put an end to this tramp.

“They’re only bubbles…” Rubie said in between rigid gasps of breath. “All I had to do was pop them. To beat you, all I have to do is pop your head.” Rubie clenched harder, Kana yelped. “You would have done a lot better had you just laid there like the trifling tramp you are…”Rubie declared frighteningly, her eyes boring through Kana’s soul, ripping it to shreds with its devilish glower. Kana’s eyes widened in fright, her lip quivered.

“Wh-what are you…?” Kana weakly asked. “Are you a devil…?”

Rubie, as if that statement ticked her off, clenched her teeth and fist, treating it as a personal attack. She looked Kana dead in the eyes.

“A friend to the people who want to make a difference in this forsaken world, and an enemy to the people who are corrupting it. Specifically, to you, I’m the girl who’s about to cap you dead center in the base of your bubbly head!”Rubie lunged forward, with her bull horn cap, head-butting Kana dead on in the head, ending the fight the same way she started it, with the famous Redhorn Head-butt. Kana’s head bled from the pure force trauma, as Rubie’s horns were tainted red, just as her alias suggested. Kana fell flat on the ground, her body sprawled widely among the crevices of the earth. Rubie panted as she looked down with her red horns, and turned away, rubbing her stomach as she began walking away with a stagger, keeping her ruby armor intact across her body, weighing down her steps, but reducing the effects of the poison, keeping her physical form unharmed. Problem was she wouldn’t last too much longer in that form…

Rubie wandered on, walking into the horizon, a red aurora glimmering throughout the island boundaries. Rubie smiled, assured that no one would see her like this. She raised her fist slowly in the air.

---

“They’re getting rather lively… calling us so late in the mission, yeah?” one of the men coated in the IMO garment cape said, approaching the battle front along a horizontal alignment of soldiers with the same uniform. They approached the base, walking through the path by the fallen soldiers clearing the way, carved by Sins’ Dew.

“Seems more like desperation to me,” one of the other men replied, expelling out his hand, emitting a large blaster wave of white energy, blasting through the debris in the battlefield, clearing the path more so, the Vault HQ right in front of their eyes. They looked on in a mix of amusement and accomplishment.

“For the 1^st squadron of IMO, this is no challenge at all! Child's play!” the one leading exclaimed, an extremely pale toned man exclaimed, his face resembling that of a dreadful reaper. “The HQ is ahead, kill'em all!” they shouted, emitting a battle cry, charging forward at an inhuman speed.

The Vault forces on guard stood in terror and anxiety. “A-all of them… are War-rune users!”

“Come on… what traitors would we be if we didn’t go down trying?! For Vault!!” one brave soldier charged forward, igniting a battle cry from the rest of the squad. The Vault soldiers drew their weapons… the center man weaving his hands in front of his torso, lifting up his fingers, emitting a blue electric pulse around his center. The swords, gun, along with all of their metallic instruments in their pouches, all began to levitate around the field. The Vault looked on as in an instant, anything metallic was levitating in the air, their weapons rendered useless.

“Metallic Massacre!”the demented leader laughed, as the metallic weapons rained down in a spiraling cyclone among the entire group, the leader mercilessly slaughtering all of the soldiers within a blink of an eye, by using their own weapons. He raised his hands up in the air, laughing with an ecstasy unmatched on the battlefield. This guy was wrecking havoc, and he loved it all to death. His fellow squadron moved forward.

---

Kaidoh panted, raising his wide open fingers above his face in a cross, staring at the Lieutenant General of IMO, who in turn stood poised and dignified, simply staring at Kaidoh with an unusually contempt air. Kaidoh began chuckling to himself, as he raised his hands above his head, pointing his finger at Velvetti with a fresh bow.

“Shall we commence, madam?” Kaidoh asked with a chivalrous tongue. Velvetti took her own elegant stance, her index and middle fingers extended, her feet separated resolutely positioned in a battle-ready stance.

“Give me all you’ve got, my handsome stallion.”

“Azure Shotgun!”Kaidoh shot back his hand like a firearm, his finger expelling a small, blue light beam, which exploded upon impact into a flock of mini fireworks, each shot resonating a Pop Pop Pop into the air. With each shot, he swiftly and coolly raised his hands, and began performing extensive spinning drills, 360ing among the vicinity, dancing along with his shots with a precise and stylish rhythm, adding flavor to his multiple shots.

Velvetti spun as well, as if moving along with Kaidoh’s moves as he took the lead, adding her own twist as she easily deflected the azure fireworks with her hands, simply swapping them aside, igniting behind her in a fiery azure blaze, lighting up the scenario among the both of them, creating a circus of lights. She stepped forward three times, elegantly kicking forward in the style of a conga dance, smiling with a wink to Kaidoh, blowing a kiss briskly and seductively, her body flowing majestically along the rhythm of what appeared to be performing an interpretive dance among the two of them.

Kaidoh grinned at Velvetti’s display, while Velvetti dodged the last blast with a graceful twirl of her body, her red hair swayed among the breeze, flowing royally along Velvetti’s dance. Kaidoh narrowed his eyes with an interested gaze, and began shooting more rounds in his own roundabout stylish ways. In those same manner, Velvetti added her own flavor to her aesthetically pleasing dance, deflecting Kaidoh's fireworks with an enticing twirl.

Kaidoh moved along with her, as if they were dancing together all along. He stylishly came to a halt as he fired three more rounds of fireworks from his fingers, smirking with a devilish, pretty boy charm about him. Velvetti flirtatiously evading with a sidestep, she narrowed her eyes with an intriguing insight. She immediately took control of the ‘fight’, as she merely raised her hand, all of the shots merely sliding by her, as if being misdirected with only a guidance of her hand, the new manipulator no longer being Kaidoh, she had seemingly taken control of his own technique. Velvetti dropped her hands, the firecrackers popped and cackled into the ground in varying distances around 20 meters apart around Velvetti. Through the light show, she smiled gracefully. Kaidoh stared with an intrigued smile.

“My dear, you are really quite astounding. I feel as if we are boogying upon the pedestal in the sky, above all else.” Kaidoh bowed before Velvetti, Velvetti smiling with an amused laugh. Velvetti instantly disappeared into the light, reappearing at seemingly light speed directly in front of Kaidoh, caressing his face with her finger, running it down his cheek; she grabbed his own hand, running it herself down her own back. Kaidoh looked down with an intrigued expression, but an enjoyable one. He stared at her, his eyes peeking at her figure up and down. Her pink lips carved into a devilish smirk.

“You are certainly worthy of mercy, darling, and you’re an amazing sport. For such contribution, I will leave your face unscathed.” Kaidoh closed his eyes and laughed with an easygoing edge.

“You see, my dear, I have no intention of giving into your enticement just yet.” Kaidoh extended his index and middle finger straightly, lightly tapping them directly above Velvetti’s left breast. Velvetti looked down, slightly taken aback by Kaidoh’s bold feat. Kaidoh beamed. “It burdens me so, but there is no other way. You won’t dodge this one, mon amour.” Kaidoh’s eyes twinkled through an unknown source.

“Azure Flare!” Kaidoh kicked back his hands immediately upon the imitation of the flare. Velvetti tilted her head back upon the impact, her body jolted back, exploding in a blue inferno. As the smoke cleared, Kaidoh looked down solemnly, clearly feeling remorse for shooting a beautiful woman through the heart.

Her body was gone. His eyes widened in shock. He looked back, a sudden fright in his eyes. Velvetti stood behind him, barely five meters away, calm and dignified as before, her right hand on her hip as she stood dignified. She stared with a strange eye at Kaidoh, a playful look and gesture among her face that Kaidoh couldn’t at first fathom. Kaidoh was playing along at first, and all along, he finally realized he was the one being played for the fool.

“You’re really something…” Kaidoh said with a gulp. Velvetti walked toward Kaidoh, a feminine sway to her hips, and the completely confident and calculating simper on her face. She lifted up her right hand midway, which began to illuminate a bright, crystal clear light that blinded the entire radius of nearly 20 meters. Kaidoh closed his eyes from the bright emitting light, grunting to himself.

“Sorry Boo, this is the end,” Velvetti’s light emitted from her hand condensed into an orb. As Kaidoh finally opened his eyes, halfway blinded temporarily, he did catch a glimpse of her orb.

“Laser Carnival,” Velvetti said tranquilly. Suddenly, a large barrage of multi colored lasers spanned out, releasing from all directions. The lasers spanned from colors of red, green, and violet, filling the locale with a laser light show. Not only that, they traveled at instantaneous speed… by the time you even caught a glimpse of a laser, there was no way to react. Kaidoh looked on, his eyes widened. How the hell was he going to dodge that? Attempting to make a leap away, yet in that same instant…

Kaidoh was struck by a montage of lasers. The lasers multiplied with each passing second, striking Kaidoh multiple times, burning through his flesh straight through, leaving no matter or mercy. Kaidoh’s body was pierced and burned by the lasers across his torso in over seven spots. Kaidoh’s eyes widened, his pupils shrunk. He squinted his eyes with a twinge. He fell on his knees, his body beginning to fall back into the ground, utterly defeated, so effortlessly. She’s…a monster. Never have I fought such a beautiful abomination…

Velvetti caught his head as he fell. She reached down from above, her face parallel yet upside down to his. He looked on in anguish and curiosity.

Velvetti kissed Kaidoh on his lips. Kaidoh couldn’t move, not that he much wanted to. He smiled mid-way, as did she. She slowly pushed Kaidoh off of her after the exchange of their willing tongues, she kicked him to the ground, face first. By the time he hit the floor, Kaidoh had already lost consciousness, edging through death’s door. Despite this, he went down with ecstasy, as if he had just lived the best experience of his life.

Velvetti glanced back at Kaidoh with flushed cheeks. “As promised, Handsome Stallion, your gorgeous face remains unscathed. Thanks for the fun, honey-bunch. Sorry to end this so abruptly. I would have liked to play with you a little longer.”

As Velvetti turned, her crimson hair turned into strands of pink hair, her eyes turned from green, to red. She grinned almost madly. “Vault is lynching on its last filament of hope. Disaster has emerged. Go forward… Willman. You’re the only one who can stop them, and stop him. Despite anything, however, you will never stop us.”

Velvetti’s eyes cut back, as she swiftly ducked forward, dodging a double edged, golden-carved slash, cutting through the atmosphere itself, lashing out in a vicious wave across the island. Shockwaves from the slash could be felt harshly beneath Velvetti’s feet. Velvetti flipped forward, turning her body fully around, staring up at the golden-rod haired man wielding the infamous twin edged saber Velvetti instantly recognized.

“Striking while the iron is hot, Vault’s Golden Eagle?” Velvetti stood up straight, a gleaming, intrigued look in her eyes. Sabre stood big, glaring at Velvetti with a clearly cruel intent.

“I come back to HQ to find a couple of rats had infiltrated our island?” Sabre said coldly, while Velvetti simply stared back, her scarlet eyes completely focused on her new opponent.

“Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, sir Sabre,” Velvetti walked closer, immediately, Sabre withdrew his sword, pointing directly for Velvetti in their short distance.

“Let me personally show you what it means to mess with a man’s pride and family.”


---

Willy stood alone, resting against a large rising stone; he caught his breath, staring down at the ground. An entire squadron, he had just eliminated himself, and only a few visible bruises and scratches on him. Willy took out his medical kit from within his pocket, applying a bit of first aid to his arm and sides, wrapping up his arm in a bandage and applying an ointment to his sides. He inhaled deeply, staring up at the horizon, a red aurora filled the dusk, circulating around the island. Willy brushed his hair out of his face, glaring with a focused stare across the façade. The IMO soldiers were dwindling in number. Vault were driving back IMO from the core, yet, they couldn’t escape. The situation was getting no better. Willy was vexed, only hoping at this point that his team would pull through. He had no doubt, that was his team, they each could hold their own, and they were the best the Vault had. Willy stared up into the sky, a serious intent in his eyes. “There was someone behind this attack… unless I or the other guys in the team find them first; it could spill all colors of trouble for Vault as a whole.” Willy wiped off the sweat on his forehead. He stood up, and began wandering forward.

“It’s time to end this conflict.” Willy began leaping forward, until he heard his belt buckle vibrate. Willy flipped up his pager.

“Ten? Is that you? Are you clear?”

“Yes, Willman,” Ten replied with his usual monotone robotic edge. “There is one problem.”

Willy continued looking ahead, a deadpan expression upon his face. “Yes?”

“We now have reason to believe that K.I. is the one responsible for this assault. Also, Trav was apprehended by a member of K.I.”

Willy’s eyes shot forward, widened with a fierce determination, nearly dropping his pager. “Where did they take him?”

“Inside of the HQ. Willy, you should get over here now. I have a bad feeling… our situation is about to get severe.”

Willy knelt down, placing his hands on the ground, his feet propped up, he kicked off of the ground multiple times, dashing toward the HQ in a blazing speed, leaving behind only a trail of dust, only one thing on his mind.

Chapter 11 - Disco Before the Breakdown

Their swords clashed, reverberating through the island boundaries. A brief shockwave emitted from the impact, hurling those IMO soldiers back who were surrounding Colonel Rash from behind. Rash puffed on his smoke, taking notice of his fallen comrades inadvertently. Jesse narrowed his eyes, his entire dominant, right arm coated with a layer of skin-deep ice. The ice began diffusing up his blade, generating an ice-stricken blade. The ice began to further diffuse through Rash’s sword, whom didn’t seem to take immediate notice to this incident. Jesse took advantage of his opening, and, while not letting off of his sword, aimed for a horizontal crest-like kick for Rash’s abdomen. Upon hearing his movement, Rash attempted to retaliate by withdrawing his blade and dodging, yet had a harsh attempt at removing his blade. Rash’s eye widened as Jesse kicked him, the blow forcing Rash to discard his own sword, while still stuck to Jesse’s ice blade. Jesse looked down nonchalantly, gripping both swords by their hilts, breaking them apart, the ice dispersing into water that once combined them.

“Nice hoax,” Rash said, standing up straight. Jesse continued looking on, showing little emotion, only the usual cold glare from his intense cobalt eyes. “You intentionally forced me to clash, drew my attention away with my men, and then froze my blade, knowing I would react by attempting to withdraw my blade, you used that opportunity as an opening. I’m impressed.” Rash complimented his opponent, clearing showing his newfound interest in his target. If freezing thirty of his forces on the spot didn’t convince him he was dealing with a serious hazard, managing to catch him, himself off guard certainly did.

Jesse kept his eyes locked on Rash, he held up his hands. The atmosphere around the both of them began to dampen, which Rash took immediate notice to. Rash’s eyes tapered with an intrigued observation.

“Crystal Ice Hail Storm,” Jesse raised his open palm above his head, holding his hand high above his head. Rash took a firm stance, suddenly drawing his other sword strapped to his back with great tempo. His eyes plastered around the field, observing every aspect, expecting anything. Sure enough, it would come. A large flower-like construct of sheer ice began moisturizing in the air, using the external water from outside of the island. The ice flower shattered, raining down multiple morsels of ice on the field, all at their trajectory, would easily impale Rash, and probably kill him effortlessly.

Rash realized the situation he was in, and, with a simple slash of his black katana, everything within an unseen radius of 5 meters was completely sliced and mutilated to bits and pieces of harmless shards of ice. The ice rained on Rash through his general vicinity, holding his sword above his shoulder carelessly, he eyed Jesse with his good eye. He’s even capable of moisturizing the atmosphere, allowing him to manipulate his own ice from the air. This guy is dangerous.

“You’re good; I’ll acknowledge you’re actually really good. Implying that I never expected anything less out of a fellow War Rune user is a little preposterous, though.” Rash stated, gazing seriously at Jesse, whom simply folded his arms and made no outside expression that he was intimidated in the slightest, even at the indication that Rash had a War Rune in his possession as well.

Rash hurried forward, making a quick dash for his other half-frozen sword on the ground. Jesse took notice of Rash’s intentions, lifting up his hand, he created a large cluster of spikes of ice propelling out of the ground. With a simple forward slash, everything within that same five meter radius as before was slashed into pieces. Jesse’s eyes widened slightly, noticing the blood seep on his right arm, where he had it lifted forward manipulating the ice. His whole arm was mutilated. Jesse merely bit his tongue, clutching his arm with his good arm, a layer of ice began covering the whole arm, which made Jesse cringe slightly. Shit. Had I not coated my body in a thin layer of ice, I would have lost my arm... Jesse cringed, glaring at Rash, who was making a clean sweep for Jesse, now wielding both of his blades, he diagonally slashed for Jesse’s whole upper  body with a double sever with his swords.

“Mirage Lacerate.” Suddenly, Jesse noticed a projection of ten blades, swerving and dancing around Rash as if he were a master of ten swords instead of two. The slashes appeared nearly translucent, only visible through the sunlight’s rays. Jesse made an impetuous decision, deciding that a solid defense was his only way to combat this at such a range, without fully knowing what Rash was capable of, Jesse had clearly underestimated him. Jesse placed his hands on the ground, a large blockade of ice spikes shot up from the ground, the spikes constructing and molding into a dome around Jesse. The slashes from Rash’s attack proved to be too fatal, when they shattered through one of Jesse’s strongest defenses. Jesse’s eyes widened, holding his arms above his head in a defensive position as a last resort…

Blood soaked the ground, before splattering into the air like a gory parade, painting the ground, mixed with Jesse’s ice, an awfully twisted canvas. Jesse fell on his knees, panting, his body slashed from many points, yet they were shallow cuts. Rash observed this, taking notice of Jesse’s hardened skin, all while Rash turned his back, staring ahead, the sunlight gleaming off of his sunglasses, basking in his ‘victory.’ Rash received a call, which he took immediately, flipping the pager in his hand tastefully.

“What’s the status of the blockade?”

“Not good, sir. The ice is too thick for us to demolish. However, the Vault forces appear to be dwindling in number. It seems we’re down to their main platoon now. What are your orders? Should we commence with the regular operation?”

Colonel Rash paused for a minute, drawing his blunt in between the ridges of his index and middle fingers. “Deploy the 1^st squadron, and the Subsido. The situation is getting worse.”

Jesse panted; his face began soaking in his own blood. His whole body was drenched, yet he felt numb, he always felt numb, completely frozen and devoid of emotions and feelings of attachment. He only had one loyalty, and that was to Willman first, the Vault second. Willman ordered him to guard the island perimeter, and that’s exactly what he was going to do. He stood up slowly, extending both of his arms in a circular fashion, glaring at Rash like the vermin he was, the air dampened, he molded a long spear of ice into his hand. Jesse threw it at Rash, directly from his back, head on. Rash looked back, barely avoiding the ice spear, giving him a cut across the cheek. Rash glared back at Jesse with an intrigued eye.

“Boy, you’re begging for death, aren’t you?”

“Get the hell back over here.”

Rash fully turned around, and nodded. “Even if you beat me, this whole island is going to sink anyway, crushed by the pressure of the deep blue. There’s not a damned thing you, or your little guild of revolutionaries, can do about it. For what you’ve had so long, you’re finally getting your day of reckoning.”

Jesse stared at Rash for a full few seconds before replying with a rare smirk. “As long as we’re all still standing, as a team, unified for one ultimate ambition, we’re not going to let that happen. A little lowlife group like yours can’t touch us.”

---

“It’s Redhorn Ruby! Everybody get the hell out of here if you wanna live!” one soldier called to his companions clearly outside of range. The small group of remaining soldiers escorted themselves away from the cavern, rolling down the hills, aghast and terrified expressions on their faces, holding no attempt to hide their appall and panic in the presence of the purple haired little devil in front of them. This devil glared on with intense azure eyes at only one person.

Major Kana grimaced in disapproval, wiping her face of the blood spilled by Rubie’s powerful headbutt. More than Rubie’s actual head was the pure blunt impact of her horn hat, which, if it didn’t impale, still had a ton of blunt force trauma. Kana received it all, though she wished she hadn’t.

“You’re the infamous Redhorn Rubie, huh? You’re a lot smaller than I thought you’d be,” Kana said, a seemingly unimpressed look on her face while observing Rubie. Rubie narrowed her eyes, as if in annoyance, and with a need to wholly throttle Kana by her own bra-strap. If there was one thing Rubie hated, it was being reminded of her less-than-average height.

“You have a big head. Really makes me want to burst it with my foot,” Rubie said. Kana gritted her teeth, as if she was being sassed by a first grader.

“My head is average sized, for your information!” Kana angrily declared. “Are you really going to throw insults at me?! What are you, a child?!”

“Did I light the fuse on your tampon?” Rubie taunted, fiercely glaring at Kana. Rubie stepped forward, her shoulders bulked up, she slanted forward slightly, her right leg bent behind her left which was positioned forward, preparing for a full speed sprint. She revealed her rather sharp fangs with a carved, blood lusted smile. Kana observed her, taking a stance of her own, preparing for anything Rubie thrown at her. Clearly, she was merely trying to get Kana worked up, a drastic change from her quite sadistic approach only a minute ago.

“At least my chest isn’t as flat as my back!” Kana furiously threw back at Rubie in the heated exchange.

Rubie’s eyes widened, her face snapped, turning as red as a cherry. She clenched her fists, glaring threateningly at Kana, her face stricken with intent to maim and mutilate Kana. She wiped her face with the blood of her previous victims, clenching her blood drenched hands. The other thing Rubie hated even more than her less-than-average height, was comments about her less-than-big bosom.

“Then take out those socks in your bra!” Rubie charged forward, dashing with an immense speed at Kana, whom appeared to be caught off guard at first. Kana withdrew a tanto knife, hurling it in a straight line with accurate precision aimed for Rubie’s head, even taking into account her movements, which moving in a straight line was easier to forecast. Rubie was struck dead on in between her eyes. The knife phased through her head... her body dispersing into thin air. It was an afterimage.

Kana’s eyes widened. “What the? An afterimage?!” she looked around north, west, and east, before taking a complete collision to her back, nearly cracking her whole back as Rubie head-butted her back with an impeccable speed, causing Kana to immediately cough up blood. She skidded against the ground a long way, flipping and rolling along the cavern before she finally landed against the wall, leaving a large dent and crack in its structure, and a body-sized crater directly behind her, buried within the crevices. Kana growled, attempting to move her body from its wedged position, to no immediate avail.

Kana suddenly felt her heart stop. Rubie appeared in front of her, clenching her right fist, a scarlet coating of ruby-like material glazed her whole body, adding an immense density to her entire being, which would only fortify her blows over ten times, at least. Rubie grabbed Kana by her throat, holding her in place. Kana broadened her eyes, a look of unparallel terror began spreading on her face. Rubie's face was written in disaster. She was about to beat the hell out of Kana with one blow. This thought settled really well with Rubie.

“Ruby Javelin!” Rubie dashed forward with a vigorous punch, not only crushing and impaling Kana’s abdomen, but sent her spiraling through the cave walls, causing the cavern to lose any other support it had left.

“AUGGH!” Kana’s blood filled scream echoed through the cavern. Blood splashed across Rubie’s small, frail-appearing body, yet this small body was capable of shattering the earth with a single blow, and apparently just easily took out a high ranking officer of IMO. Rubie snarled as the cave came crashing down, only concerned with taking down the whore of IMO. Rubie’s immense durability allowed her to simply walk out of the debris, not a scratch on her, barely even tickled her. She tilted her head with a growl as she flipped her purple hair back, exhaling noisily, proud of her accomplishment. She certainly had that coming.

“Choke on that, bitch,” Rubie began walking away, setting her sights on the whole north boundary of the island, thinking nothing else of Kana. The IMO soldiers had taken off after Rubie’s raging display.

Suddenly, before Rubie could depart and advance with her task, a large array of bubbles began appearing from underneath the rubble, condensing into small, miniature suds, surrounding and stranding through the air aimlessly, scattering into the wind. Rubie fully turned around, folding her arms.

“Bubbles? I was expecting a surge of smoke… would have been more dramatic,” Rubie sarcastically told herself. Before she could hardly react, the little duds of bubbles began exploding as a sort of chain reaction. Rubie’s eyes widened. “Ruby Mail!” she attempted to coat herself in her ruby exterior for an added defense, the ruby material solidified over her body. She was still blown back, her body sprawled through the muddy terrain, clashing with the underside of a hilltop. Shards of her ruby armor fell off, as she wiped off a layer of blood dripping down her mouth. She glared menacingly at Kana, as she stood up. Kana was there, standing up in the debris, a large field of bubbles circling around her body, and an extra coating of bubbles covering her entire stomach. Her mouth was filled with blood, she got on her knees, coughing while clutching her exterior wounds. Rubie glared.

“Exploding bubbles? That's different, I guess, but you're annoyingly persistent,” Rubie shrugged and stepped forward, lowering her head, lifting her eyes Kana’s way. Kana wasn't normal, any other person would have been crushed and impaled by the impact, let alone get back up. Kana stood up straight, her body quivering, clearly weakened from Rubie’s earlier attack. Rubie smiled.

“Your overconfidence and low bust size have completely sealed your fate! You messed with me, Major Kana, a ranking officer in the IMO division! Don’t think you can get away from me!” a sheet of bubbles began filming around her body, beginning to sprawl and grow in size. Rubie simply glared at Kana, and smiled, holding up a pair of socks. Kana’s eyes widened furiously, as she examined her own breasts. They had decreased in size.

“You IMO officers have way too much pride. Too bad yours was socked inside of your bra, no pun intended,” Rubie tauntingly said with a teasing grin, holding out her tongue. Clearly, Rubie was enjoying this. “Want your boobs back? Come get them.”

“That’s it sister! You’re going down!!!”

---

“Hang on, Trav. Try to buckle up,” Trav heard Ten faintly from inside of Ten’s own stomach compartment. Trav tapped once inside of Ten’s steel armor, as if to confirm something.

“Kay.”

Sergeant Hawk flew down, approaching Ten (and Trav) at a dangerous trajectory, the purple poison mist began picking up in the air, becoming more like a dense vapor. Hawk flapped his wings down, unleashing a large whip-like wave of blue slashing waves from the wind generated by his wings on his back. “Hacking Torrent!” The cutting waves began slicing through the ground with crescent-like slashing waves. Ten held up his hands directly beside each other. Ten created a force field around himself and Trav, repelling all of the cutting waves within his and Trav’s vicinity. Ten glared on as Hawk came down closer, every second of the way.

He’s tougher than he looks. I have to get Trav out of here; this is way too dangerous for him. Ten took a solid stance as Hawk made a declarative, daring swing with his wings.

“Rocket Punch!” Ten’s fist, connected by a spiral chain, launched forward like a small rocket. Hawk’s eyes widened in shock. With no time to defend himself, Hawk took the hit dead on in the stomach. Due to the spiral twist of Ten’s punch, Hawk was sent whirling and skidding through the ground, breaking apart the ground as he landed, his mouth wide agape in anguish.

“Kawww! That hurt you rusted up tincan!!” Hawk screeched, standing up, glaring up at Ten, whom was only a few meters away. Hawk opened his mouth, hurling a great number of eggs into the air. The eggs cracked, and busted open yolk. The field began raining egg yolk. “Heavy Yolk Farm!” Hawk raised his arms and wings into the air. As the yolk landed into the ground, Ten took notice that the yolk crushed the ground. The density and hardness of the yolk was incredible. Ten quickly opened the compartment in his stomach, hurling Trav outside, before Ten himself was crushed by a yolk wave. Trav rolled across the ground, clashing his head with the outside wall of the Vault hideout, groaning in pain.

“What the hell?!” Trav looked on in disbelief, Ten’s body had been completely crushed underneath the yolk, but before that he noticed the entire area within 10 meters was completely covered in yellow and white gooey yolk, while Sergeant Hawk stood outside of the radius, laughing deviously and hilariously, slapping his own gut on a job well done.

“Kawawawaw! Looks like there’s only one little piglet to go. He looks fairly frail… I think I’ll cook him up reeeaal good!” Sergeant Hawk turned his attention to Trav, smiling pleasantly. Trav glared back at Hawk before backing up into the walls of Vault. He merely glared at Hawk, not knowing what else to do. He’d feel like a loser if he just left Ten there. Hawk threateningly stepped forward briskly as if attempting to scare Trav. Trav jumped slightly, only riling up Hawk’s laughter, having the time of his life teasing Trav. Trav growled, he couldn’t stand when he was looked down on. Common sense would tell Trav to high tail out of there, but he wasn’t about to leave Ten. He didn’t know what exactly he planned on doing next, just cheesing like he did against his and Willy’s first fight against Sidian 12 years ago. Sounded good to him.

“Alright… you want me,” Trav stepped forward, heavily glowering at Hawk. Hawk raised an interested brow. “Come get me. I ain’t gonna stop you… but I will warn you… I am a black belt at taekwondo.” Trav took his untrained stance. Hawk merely laughed heartily and obnoxiously, as if having the time of his life.

“Wow, you’re a real crack case there, buddy ol’ pal. I almost feel bad for killing you,” Hawk laughed. Trav grinned.

“I could have sworn I seen you at the zoo yesterday, or maybe that was the Crackerjack Convention,” Trav taunted, raising his hand in the air. Hawk stared on, now, not so amused anymore. He narrowed his eyes in anger.

“You want to pick on the man who is about to kill you… that’s not wise, young man!”

“One of us has to be the man here.”

Hawk’s eyes flustered in anger. “Alright you little jackass that does it! I’m coming at you fast as lightning!!! Here I come!!” Hawk propelled his body forward, opening his mouth (beak), he launched an array of three eggs from his mouth. “Egg Mortar!”As the eggs approached, they began to ignite in a fiery red flame. Trav braced himself, placing his hands above his head in a defensive position, clearly expecting the worse. Looked like this was the end. Hopefully he had at least brought a little time to Team Willy, and Vault as a whole. He cursed himself for being so useless, even at the end. But, it seems good fortune would not be on his side today. He was going to die here.

He would have, had the kind hearted cyborg not intercepted the eggs, taking the explosions from the eggs head on, shielding Trav from the debris of the explosion, allowing Trav to keep going, without a scratch, burn, or any injury on him. Ten glared at Hawk, whom gritted his teeth in annoyance, narrowing his eyes.

“You darn robot! I thought I was rid of you!”

“Ten…” Trav slowly said, at a loss for words. Ten simply stepped forward, and began unsheathing a long, thick butcher knife from his chest.

“Don’t worry, Travis Reid. This will be over soon,” Ten said nonchalantly, yet again, Trav could feel the kindness and reassurance in his voice. Ten was finally getting serious, his dark green eyes glared at Sergeant Hawk. Trav laughed quietly to himself, and slid down against the Vault wall.

“Son of a bitch.”

“Sergeant Hawk, was it?” Ten slowly said. Hawk looked up curiously, his beak widely gaped.

“Yes?”

“How do you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled!” Hawk propelled a large amount of Egg Mortars for Ten, over ten eggs this round. Ten simply ran forward, taking the blasts head on, his steel armor hardly being dented. As far as durability went, he was only second behind Rubie. Hawk began shaking as he seen Ten’s figure approach him through the billowing smoke, his most powerful egg attacks had been thwarted, no, brushed off. How the hell could that be? “What… what?!”

Ten wielded his chef’s knife skillfully, appearing behind Hawk in a brisk step. A moment later, Hawk’s whole body spewed blood, his head staring up into the cloudless dusky sky, his eyes widened and lost in color, gazing lifelessly, yet hanging on to life by only a thread. His whole body collapsed face first in a claret pool of his own blood. Ten simply re-sheathed the knife, staring ahead coolly.

“I prefer them scattered and shambled in a chop suey dish.”

Trav looked on from afar, trembling at the intense sight he just witnessed. Ten, a member of Team Willy, so easily defeated a ranked officer of IMO, albeit the lowest official rank. Trav slowly stood up, a strange sensation of helplessness and relief overcame him. He didn’t know how to feel, but right now, he did know that he was safe, and so was Ten, who had saved the day. Ten approached Trav, as behind him, the purple fog finally cleared up from the venomous eggs used earlier. Ten held up his hand at Trav, which confused him at first. Ten smiled, or so Trav thought he seen a smile. Either way, the compassion was still there.

“Good work, Travis. You’re a fine member of the Vault, and an accepted member of Team Willy.”

Trav stared up at Ten, Ten acting like nothing at all had just happened was astounding to him. He was still shaken up by the confrontation. Ten being a cyborg may have had something to do with it. Trav shrugged it off, not accepting Ten’s shake. Ten looked down at Trav, saying nothing, which said a lot to Trav. Trav sighed.

“But what did I do? I hid like a pussy while you fought like a man.”Trav said, only just realizing the irony of his statement after he said that. Ten clapped Trav on the shoulder, surprisingly gently.

“You’re still alive, or at least you are in my biomass reading,” Ten said, as the pitch in his voice began to change. Trav looked on in revelation as Ten began speaking in Willman’s voice. “Just keep living for your dreams. Live for what you believe, and you are an accepted member of Team Willy. You made the vow, and you’re in.” Ten gave the thumbs up. Trav stared, dumbfounded, for a minute. “This is why Willy stuck you with me. Besides me being the friendliest member, of course. If anything were to happen to him, he at least wanted me to give this message to you.”

Trav looked down, his shoulders sagged, his face covered by his brown hair. He gritted his teeth, attempting to hide the lone tear running down his cheek. Of all times to be emotional, this wasn’t Trav’s ideal time; that would be the bathroom. Trav began chuckling, soon beginning to riot in laughter. "That guy..." Trav looked up at Ten finally, sniffling, he shook his hand.

“Whatever you guys go through… even if you venture to the ends of the Earth… I’m in with you until we fall.”

Ten smiled. “Then follow us, Travis Reid.”

---

“Aha… it seems our detour was a success,” a lone, buff man, yet spoke with a sharp, yet smooth tone, that you would expect out of a typical late teenager, stood atop of an approaching warship, marked with a dark insignia, the same insignia Sidian adorned on his shoulder. He placed his hands behind his back, staring at the approaching island of Momodore, reaching the frozen ocean ahead. Two crew members stood behind the man, wearing dark cloaks.

“We’re approaching the shore, sir. It seems IMO have already begun their initiative. They call for us.” The man on the left bowed. The man in front, apparently the leader, raised his head; his dark eyes glowered with an ominous stare.

“Deploy the Subsido.” The man commanded suavely. The man on the left nodded, and set off inside of the cabin. “And sink this forsaken island into Hell!” the man laughed, both of his arms extended below his waist, his fingers curled up, he laughed maniacally.

“With all due respect sir… Willman and his crew are on that island. Are you not interested in seeing them?” the remaining K.I. recruit asked. The man ahead looked back, cutting his eyes back at the man.

“Of course I want to see Willman.”

“Then why sink-“

“Because he will come to me,” the man replied calmly and confidently, suddenly, the air about him got intense. At the mention of Willman’s name, his demeanor thoroughly distorted. “If I’ve learned anything during my past friendship with that man, it’s that he’s extremely persistent and eccentric, and he will not let this incident go. He will survive, and he will face me.”

The man looked on in silence.

“Dew… I think-“

The leader, Dew, abruptly turned around, a horror stricken face intact. The man backed up at the sight of Dew’s rage face.

“I am a member of K.I.’s elite branch… I am one of the Sins of Perdition… you dare speak to me in that disgraceful tone?!” Dew angrily exclaimed, placing his hands behind his back, looking down at the man, as if to say, ‘I’m better than you in every way.’ That appeared to be the kind of guy Dew was. The man trembled in fear, shaken up, he shook his head.

“My apologies… Lord Dew.”

Dew turned around. “Stop the ship at exactly one meter up ahead, only an inch away from the frozen cubicle. I’m going to join the fray.” The cloaked man stood up, his face astonished.

“But sir, the island!”

“Is about to sink, I know.”

“You can’t go! Even IMO are sacrificing their men for this mission! But you!”

“You really think an explosion and tipping island will be enough to stop me? That’s an insult…” Dew angrily snarled, which sent the man aback. “I’m going to have some fun, you guys stay here and do boring stuff, and listen to IMO’s orders, we’ve teamed with this on them… they want the Subsido deployed… don’t hesitate!”

“Very well, sir.” The man stood up, running into the cabin. Dew smiled, his mouth carved by his twisted ego.

“Let’s see how you get yourself out of this nasty predicament, Willy!” Dew leaped out of the ship, sliding against the ice, he began sliding toward the island, a battle-ready expression plastered upon his face. “Let’s do this!!”