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Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

All days. All nights? Rota- rotations... Is rotation?...

Yes. Is called Rotation. They say 'Rotations'...

The white backs. Masters.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

...

What is rotation?...

No matter, slave not ask questions... Slave must work, slave must eat, work again, sleep... Then do it again. Masters need slave, the white backs. This one is good Slave. He do good. He do not diss-...

dissapaiint?... dissu-...Point?. Disappoint!

This one no disappoint. Slave good. Slave do good.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

Be this way for long time, be this way for many sleeps, always same faces, The white backs remain same, they not change. Other slaves... They sleep suddenly on work time, sometimes they not wake up. They not work anymore. Sleep forever.

They not useful, they not good slaves.

No matter, this one must still work. Masters need this one's work. This one useful. This one good slave.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

This one find something today... Tonight?

Slave find glowy rock, no smell, very glowy. Smol rock... Pretty. shine when slave touches. Hurt to touch... Slave show masters rock. Slave good, he gives pretty rock.

Masters happy, they say slave do good, they say Slave useful. They tell Slave to keep to work. This one sad.

This one want pets, like when puppy and smol.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work.

Masters tell to help with big word, 'ex-pee-ree-ment'. This one see pretty rock again. This one is tied down. force to touch rock and glowy glow... Why?

This one is good slave. why hurt good slave!?

Hurt. Hurt. Hurt. HurtHurtHUrtHURtHURT. HURT!

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. 'Expeereement'. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work.

Many days... Too many. Hurt so much, for so long. Slave good, why punish slave? Slave begs stop. Begs sleep. Masters angry. say this one deserves hurt.

This one bad Slave?... This one not useful anymore?

Maybe forever sleep better.

But can't... Slave can't forever sleep. half body gone... grow back. Arm twisted... it fixes. Tail crushed, burned, grow back again, legs and ears tear off... grow back. Heart pull out. Still move.

Glowy rock do this. Glowy rock fix this one all time. Always.

Hurt too much.

Why slave not good? Slave want to be good. Want pets. Not hurt.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. 'Expeereement'. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Work. Work. Work.

See new master today. New face... Different face, smol master. Weird master. Angry master?... Pretty Master.

Shows teeth to this one. 'S-mah-eel'?

"Smile!" He say. He show teeth... He pretty.

This one smile.

Dark. Work. Eat. Work. Dark. 'Expeereement'. Dark. New Master. Smile. Laugh? Yes. Laugh. Sleep. Dark. Smile. New Master. Work. Work. Work.

New master ask questions, This one responds, But slave dumb. He not know answers. This one sad.

New master smile. Teaches this one. This one try but fail. New master smile. Laughs. Slave likes the sound. Slave smiles and laughs too.

New master ask about glowy rock. This time Slave knows answer, slave says where rock is. New master happy. Praises this one and gives pets.

Happy... This one much happy.

"Aren't you a special one?" Pets this one again.

This one is in heaven

Dark. Work. New Master. Smile. Laugh. Happy. Pets. Eat. New Master. Smile. Laugh. Happy. Work. Dark. 'Expeereement'. Dark. New Master. Smile. Laugh. Happy. Pets. Hurt no more. Sleep. Dark. Smile. Dream. New Master. Pets. Happy. Happy.

Happy...

...

Not happy.

...

New master gone.

New master disappear.

...

This one scared. This one sad. This one worried

Old masters worried, scared. They tell slaves to protect rock.

Why? New master in danger, why protect rock? Why not find new master?

Dark. Work. No new master. Sad. Eat. No new master. Worried. Work. Dark. Guard rock. No new master. Sad. Dark. Sleep. Dark. Dream. No new master. Cry. Not sleep anymore. Cry.

Where is new master?

Screams. Blood smell. Guns. Metal sounds. More screams. Glowy blood things. Light. Blood light?

Is new master ok? Where is new master?

Old master order to protect rock, to guard it with life. To die for it. This one is good slave, This one will protect.

"Intruder!" They scream.

"He can't have it!" They yell.

"No matter what!" They swear.

Intruder is now in room with this one. Smell like blood. So much blood. Smell familiar too...

No matter, This one protect rock no matter what.

"I don't want to hurt you." New master?

"But if you don't get out of my way I will hurt you. Badly." No, new master wouldn't hurt this one, new master kind, he gives best of pets and scritches.

"Please, don't make me do this, big guy..."

This one is good slave, this one will protect the rock and be useful. be good... This one attack. No matter if Slave sleep forever. Maybe forever sleep is best... No. Forever sleep IS best. no more hurt. no more bad slave... Maybe see new master again, get pets again.

So slave pounces...

He fails...

Slave land besides glowy rock, The rest of this one's body is unmoved besides the intruder, This one's head separate from body by intruder... New master IS intruder...

Why?

All slave wanted was pets. Scritches... Slave was good. why were there not scritches or pets. why was slave hurt so much?

Was he not good enough? Was he not useful?

"Don't cry..."

But not fair!

"I know..."

The glowy rock glows harder, yellow light hurts this one's fa- no... MY face.

"What are you doing?"

It's not fair, all I wanted... ALL I WANTED WAS-

"Hey, look at me, don't do whatever it is you are doing- NO!"

The glow disappears entirely, my head, the only thing remaining of me feels on fire like never before, searing pain is the only thing I feel in a sea of darkness. An infinite void of nothing.

I'm scared

I'm terrified

I don't want to be alone

I don't want to be useless

I want for once to be good.

I want to be useful to someone.

I want pets and scritches.

...

I want to be loved...

...

That's when I hear it, the first and only true command he has ever given me, the one thing to give me purpose, to anchor me.

"Live."

How?

"Just live your life. Survive."

Why?

"To... Help me."

...

I...

I will

_____________________________________

Stygian

Survive

I come to my senses with a groan, there is a throbbing in my head, I think one of my eyes fell out of its socket… Yup, the new eye is already forming. My skull, caved in by the little angry asshole has its bones snap back into place, brain tissue forming again… My thoughts become clearer, no longer in the memory of when I met Ace.

My light.

I touch the scarf he gave me, checking that no real damage has been done to it, luckily it just got dirtied by debris and dust, the familiar feel of the fabric bringing peace of mind that even soothes my physical pain. Good, I would have painfully killed the small guy if he had damaged my scarf. I start rattling away, I admit it's more of a subconscious thing when it happens, I don't really control it much unless I really focus on my tails, my rattles dance against each other in their menacing dance.

I wanted to tear out our target's spine from his body and use it to clean my teeth, but I guess he is a lot stronger than he seems, my fault for not thinking right, Ace has given me grief about it before but I still keep doing it. I'm about three to four times the Procylano's size, and he swatted me away like an insect, could have killed me too if I wasn't impossible to kill. I sniff the air a couple of times to find my human, I get a grip on his sweet familiar aroma and turn my whole body towards them. I see Ace talking to our target while he just screams and points a gun at the human. Ace is circling him, slowly guiding our target to turn his back to me.

My rattles shake harder, eager for prey. I stomp over to the Procylanos, claws out, jaws open. I tear an errant metal pipe from my abdomen that impaled me when I got bitch slapped to that store, the whole left behind closes almost immediately, it still hurts like hell but I have more important things to worry about now. Like the guy pointing a gun at my human. Ace doesn't look worried at all, in fact when I look at his eyes I don't need words to know what he is trying to tell me with his eyes alone.

Don't kill him

Fine, I'll just use my venom on him then. I know he hears me now, his whole body tenses up in fear. It's curious how I never knew what effect my kind has on others before I joined Ace-, they fear us, they sell us, they display us as attractions, they breed us like lab experiments… Parents tell their pups scary stories about how the Aswad'Yakul will come and eat them if they don't behave, I never cared about it before, but I'm not the dumb slave I was before. It makes me angry. My stings poke out of their rattles, the poisonous tips dripping some of my venom on the street as I close the distance between the Procylanos and me.

Just one small pinch.

It is all I need, I raise my tail in preparation, I don't even bother to hurry up, his body is already shivering. Small prey species tend to behave like this when faced with someone like me. You'll see Ace, I'll get this over quickly and then we'll chill and have some 'Me' time. I thrust my tail forward, aiming for the neck.

And hit nothing… His body moves at the last second.

So this guy is a brave one, huh?

“Don't you move, you little tick!" I snarl, my claws reach out and swipe at him.

He ducks down raising his rifle, and fires. The bullets piercing my body, and regenerating instantly. I try to jab him with my tail again and he grabs it just under my rattles, squeezing hard and keeping me from paralyzing him, with a violent motion and a growl he tears my rattles off along with my stings. I pounce at him again and he shoots at me yet again, the force of each blast knocks me back just in time for him to dodge out of the way. My jaws snap a hair's length away from his neck, my claws are slapped away by precise hits from his A.E.R. rifle, or my limbs are straight up shot off by the blasts. Each time he is saved by some kind of unknown force yanking him away from certain death.

Ace will be so disappointed that a simple mercenary is giving me troubles like this.

My wounds keep regenerating through the battle, I keep up my assault, the more I advance the more he backs up. In a way he is at a disadvantage, I cannot be killed by that fancy weapon of his, but he can get crippled by me if he makes even a single mistake and he has finite ammo and stamina. I use my natural flexibility to bend down suddenly and swipe at his feet, and just as I hoped he jumps up to avoid my claws. In that split second he is in the air, I use the momentum to spin around and smack him with my tail.

With a dry thwack, he goes flying towards a nearby alleyway, I hear the sound of an industrial trash can bend and collapse as he probably collides with it.

“Hah! Where did yo' mouth go, pipsqueak!?" I laugh, I see a copper light flash for a moment.

Huh?

“A light user?" Ace's contact didn't mention anything about a light user, just a medium to high-pay mercenary.

“No." I hear my human, suddenly beside me… Love it when he is all stealthy, gets me all excited, and the sound of my new grown rattles clearly shows it.

“Pay attention, big guy. That was a shield that was made from light, but it didn't come from him but rather from inside him." He continues, his sclera turning jet black and his red eyes glowing. At this moment he is seeing things that very few in the known universe can't even dream of ever seeing.

It's hard to pay attention when he is like this, all serious and sexy.

“Besides, don't mock his skill, he technically killed you twelve times…" He eyes the dozen or so holes still healing on my body… Mostly the one between my eyes that he probably can see through to the other side of my head. He raises an eyebrow.

“Make it thirteen." I laugh awkwardly in embarrassment.

“I was- uh. You know, distracted." I reply awkwardly.

“Distracted?" His eyebrow somehow seems to be raised even higher. “By what, exactly?"

“Uh- I… Uh…You?"

“Me?"

“...Yeah?"

“..."

“You know how I get when you are in danger 'Acey-boo'"

“..."

Okay, his unimpressed face tells me I'm not fooling anyone, only making a fool of myself… Wouldn't be my first time doing it though.

“Stygian, I've told you plenty of times to-"

“OH, FOR ALCOHOLISM'S SAKE, CAN YOU FUCKTARDS SHUT THE HELL UP!?" The Procylanos pokes his head from the alley, some weird fruit peel adorning his head like a nasty makeshift hat. “GET OVER HERE NOW AND I WILL FILL YOU FULL OF HOLES AND IT WON'T BE FUN!" he shoots wildly at us and I instinctively step in front of Ace, taking each and every shot meant for him. Luckily Ace is completely unharmed

“I'm getting tired of him, he yells a lot…" I say to Ace.

“You are pretty loud too…" he replies unfazed by the fact that we are getting shot at.

“Well, Yeah, But-" I hold back a yelp when a bullet hits one of my goddamn nipples. “I'm nice at least." I groan out through the pain.

“True, we'll have to do something about him-. What are you doing?" AS YOU WISH.

"LET'S DEAL WITH THIS ANNOYING FLEA!"

I pull out my minigun and get the barrels spinning, about to shoot.

“STYGIAN, NO!"

“STYGIAN, YES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" I laughed in what I have to admit is a pretty crazy way as I let my minigun shred everything with its torrent of bullets.

time to get this party started!

_____________________________________

Ripley

WARNING. TAKING HEAVY FIRE.

“Yeah, no shit!" I duck to the side, moving erratically while I try to find cover.

NO APPROPRIATE COVER IN RANGE

“Fuck!" I curse when a few bullets collide with my A.E.R. shield. The impact knocks me back on my ass, the force that the shield is withstanding translating to a huge migraine.

SHIELD AT SEVENTY PERCENT AND DROPPING.

Bullets fly all around me destroying concrete, metal, trash, and anything in their way. I try grabbing my rifle but the constant pressure on my brain as the shield loses more power makes me drop it. The deafening sound of the minigun's barrels spinning and shooting doesn't let me concentrate. As if a thousand nails were being dragged across a rough uneven metal.

SHIELD AT SIXTY PERCENT AND DROPPING.

No, it should NOT end like this.

I still have to-

SHIELD AT FIFTY PERCENT AND DROPPING.

I try to yell for Panini but another wave of pain from the shield taking damage cuts me off short. These shields were designed to withstand great damage one instance at a time. A constant torrent of bullets destabilizes their energy so bad that they don't have a chance to compensate for the next bullet when it crashes against it.

WARNING. SHIELD AT FORTY PERCENT AND DROPPING.

I cover my ears and head, instinctively curling in a ball as much as I can, the pain too great, the noise too deafening, the force pushing down on me too much.

“Look at him guys, he is scared!" That wasn't Panini.

“Poor little Pipsqueak is goona cry to the whore of his mother?" Ah, it's a memory.

“Get up weakling, are you gonna stay in the mud all day huh?" This is NOT the best moment to be having a flashback.

“Look at the weetle baby cry! Get a load of this guy, he is crying and I think he pissed his pants!" That had been so fucking embarrassing…why am I remembering this now of all times? Dark clouds, the sound of heavy rain, my broken nose, dirt in my mouth, kids laughing… At me.

WARNING. SHIELD AT TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT AND DROPPING.

“I bet the traitor of your mother and your siblings would have been better off without you." I guess. I-... Don't know, maybe? I was never much of a help at home anyway.

WARNING. SHIELD AT TWENTY PERCENT AND DROPPING.

“One less mouth to feed. One less dumb kid who she wouldn't have to work her tits off to pay his school." I didn't have good grades anyway. I was never motivated to do anything in school even if it seemed easy.

“Not even your siblings love you, they think you are annoying and clingy. Poor little Rip, loved by no one." Maybe they were right, maybe I…

CRITICAL WARNING. SHIELD AT TWELVE PERCENT AND DROPPING.

Maybe I'm just better off-

“I SAID STOP, STYGIAN"

SHIELDS NO LONGER COMPROMISED, REGENERATING SHIELD

Huh?

ARE YOU ALRIGHT, MASTER RIPLEY?

I lurch from the spot I was totally not cowering on and puke out all the contents of my stomach. I preffer having a hangover than having my brain liquified by my shield getting absolutely violated, no doubt.

“Ah, fuck- shit. Does this answer your question?" I puke a little bit again. Not a pretty sight I know.

IT DOES NOT. ARE YOU ALRIGHT, MASTER?

I really need to install some sarcasm on Panini.

“Panini… Uh- Remind me later to…" An acidic burp escapes my lips. Disgusting… “Install a sarcasm module on ya." I stand on shaky legs, retrieving my rifle.

“Aaaaaceeeee, why did you stop me?" I hear the huge dickhead that nearly killed me whine in the distance when my ears stop ringing.

“We are supposed to deliver the goods, not a corpse!" I hear the human, named Ace apparently, does what he say mean they were after me and not the briefcase?... The fuck?. “Besides I have a job proposition for him."

“You ain't replacing me right, babe?" I walk from the dust and smoke left by Aswad'Yakul's assault.

“What? Stygian what are you on about? I'm not-" The human turns to look at me and static invades the edges of my vision once again, I hear Panini glitch too. “Thanks the Architect you're alive, I thought Stygian turned you into grounded Procy-beef with that." he mocked.

Fuck it, I'm gonna kill both of them.

“Panini, Coil Protocol zero-two" I say brazing myself for testing the A.E.R. coil I got from Sorano.

SHIELD IS STILL AT LOW CAPACITY. A.E.R. COIL HAS NOT BEEN TESTED. BODY HARM IS POSSIBLE.

“What is a Pah-knee-knee?" The Aswad'Yakul tilts an ear in confusion.

“Do it, Panini" I order my A.I. I'm done being nice… Not like I'm ever nice, but still.

REDIRECTING SHIELD ENERGY

I feel all of my shield's energy dissipate and go into my body. I wonder if this is how Light bearers feel, this whole heat pooling at the center of your chest. It truly is an addictive sensation I gotta fuckin say. I raise my hand not holding the rifle in a 'finger-gun' stance aiming directly at the pair of fuckers.

“Coil Protocol. Code zero-two. Big boom!" Okay, that sounded way better in my head. Light bearers make it sound way cooler when they announce their attacks, fuck me for trying to be cool, I guess.

“ACE, MOVE!" I see the dark Canine roughly push his companion out of the way before taking the brunt of the concentrated copper-colored blast that shoots out of my 'finger gun'. I swear to fuck humans make the weirdest of names. What kind of name is that anyway?

SHIELDS DEPLETED. RECHARGING.

Good, now I'm about to be done here, good thing that depleting my shields through power redirections doesn't fry my brain. Shit would be a lot harder if it did. “I fucking love that Coil." I comment looking at the hand that just shot out that big energy blast. I can still smell the burning flesh and see some copper electric arcs dancing in the smoke. I whistle in appreciation, wiping the blood from my nose with a sleeve. “Let's get the fuck out of here before-" Oh no.

A mangled silhouette walks through the smoke.

Lifeform still-...Bzzz… aCtiVE-...ErrOR… MaLfuNCTIOnti-...

Well, shit.

Now is not the time for Panini to glitch out.

The figure that comes out through the smoke is lacking an arm, burnt flesh, organs, and bones visible through bubbling, blackened flesh… So fucking gross, had I not emptied my stomach moments ago I would have vomited again for sure. But most of all I'm pissed off.

“HOW IN THE NINE FUCKING FUCKS OF FUCKAVILLE ARE YOU STILL FUCKIN' ALIVE!" I know I'm making absolutely no fucking sense, but COME ON!

“DIEEEEEEEE YOU FUCKING ZOMBIE!" I open fire at it, screaming bloody murder, why can't he just die? I feel the rifle in my hands heat up and start singeing my gloves. “WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY DEAD!?"

My rifle's safety lock activates before the heat damages its integrity. I'm panting, my whole body feels on fire, breaths get into my lungs in pained gasps. HE is still standing. He is full of holes, exposed vitals, lacking limbs and maybe half his face yet he is still standing… Was this the reason he was an ST-level threat? is this thing immortal somehow?

“You… Y-you-. Made a hole-." He struggles to speak with half his face gone. I also see him clutching a piece of cloth in his remaining hand. “I-I… I'm going to kill YOU" He finally plummets down, smoke coming out of his remains.

Good fucking riddance.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding until I actually breathed again. Never have I ever encountered an alien so hard to kill. Was this an Aswad'Yakul thing or is that what gave him a 'Special Terrorist' level threat? “Panini what's the closest route to the ship?, I'm done over here"... No reply. “Panini?"

WaR…Ni-...Loo–...Ou-...Bzzt

“Great, Now I gotta repair this too, can't this day be shitier?" I touch the collar with one of my fingers and find the thing sparking and almost melting. When did this thing take this kind of damage?

“I knew you were cheating somehow, now it makes sense" Oh no… “You had an A.I. with you." There is an arm around my shoulder in what would have been a friendly gesture… Except there is a knife pressed to my throat AND I don't have many friends I would let do that.... I don't have many friends. Period “Though I've never seen one in such a small device, amazing."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!

I had forgotten about the human. SHIT, he must have been the one to mess and fry Panini, maybe he has some E.M.P. device? No, I tested the collar against those, Panini should resist high energy outputs like an electromagnetic pulse. What did he use?

“He is gonna be like that for a while, you did a pretty good number on him. Not surprising, considering what you have here." he pats the left side of my chest, right where my A.E.R. coil is… Does he know about it? Did Serono sell me out? He was the only one that should know about it. “We still have some time, would you like to chat or…" He steps away from me, sheathing the knife. Hell no.

I use the opportunity to swing my arm at him. My rifle may be on lockdown and my shields depleted, but I could still crush his skull thanks to my enhancements.

“Whoa there!" He does an acrobatic move, creating some distance between us. “I will take that as an 'Or' then." I hear a beep signaling that my rifle is almost ready with its cooling period.

“Something tells me you are the more pathetic of the two." I'm lying through my teeth but I need to stall.

“Depends on who you ask." He pulls out more knives, playfully juggling them.

“Didn't your mother ever tell you not to bring a knife to a gunfight? Stupid human." My rifle should finish any moment now.

“Couldn't yours teach you better insults or were you raised by a boring goodie-two-shoes?" Ouch. He wins this one, I'll grant him that.

Oh, would you look at that my rifle beeped again-, It's kill-a-bitch o'clock!

“I'll have to end this conversation short since you win the argument and I. Hate. Losing!" I raise my rifle and shoot, aiming for the body. The potency of 'The Devil' should be more than enough to kill a squishy human even if I shoot him in a toe.

But I hit nothing.

“Fucking stay still!" Every time I shoot anywhere, he has already changed locations or evaded damage, twisting his body in fancy ways or doing impossible acrobatic feats that if we had been on the same side I would have been very impressed…

Okay, I'm still impressed but still.

“FUCK!" I feel a sudden pain in my right shoulder, I stop shooting to look at it.

“You were saying something about knives in a gunfight?..." I never saw him throw it, but sure enough one of his fancy blades is stuck in my shoulder. Normally, my shields would protect me from non-organic projectiles but they are offline for a bit while they recharge. I know better than to pull out the knife, I would start bleeding a lot, and I wouldn't like that.

“Lucky throw, next one won't be- AH!" I feel a sharp pain in my leg. Looking at it I see another one of those blades sticking out of my flesh. This is what I get for not shutting up.

“Any other remark?" His hand is still outstretched in the position of a throw. He is fast, very fast. He sighs.“Look, I don't really want to kill you. Like actually it would be so much better for us if you just do what I tell you to do and-"

“No!" I may have sounded like a bratty child, but fuck it.

He sighs. “It's always the hard way, why can't something be easy for once? Seriously." His sclera turns black and his eyes glow ominously red.

Don't fucking tell me he is a…

With a flick of his wrist, the two blades stuck on me roughly dislodge themselves from my flesh and fly through the air landing safely on his hands. The same red glow emanates from them.

A Fucking. Lightbearer…

A red one too… Great, Just great. My day suddenly got a whole lot worse.

“Now are you gonna get serious or what?" He taunts, and more glowing blades suddenly appear orbiting his form. Even If I shoot some out of the air I won't be able to shoot them all, especially without Panini helping me and bleeding buckets.

There is only one way out of here…

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" I point to a distant empty spot behind him. I do my best acting with a true horrified face.

He turns around expecting some danger, floating blades aimed in the rough direction of where I pointed my finger. Time to accomplish my plan while he is distracted…

I bolt for my life through the alleyway.

“ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?" I hear him yell distantly behind me.

Yeah, nope. I ain't fucking with a Lightbearer. No uh, fuck that shit.

MUCH LESS A RED ONE!

Nope.

A zombie unkillable Aswad'Yakul is more than enough.

To hell with it.

I would rather live.

As I run through the dark alleys I can hear the Lightbearer taking chase. By some miracle, I turn a corner just as a glowing blade was hurling towards the back of my head. The disturbing sound of metal striking the iron and concrete walls around me drowns out the sound of my own steps as I run for my life. I feel a blade nick the side of my muzzle as it flies past me.

"Fuck you! You fucking space wizard!" I yell behind me, laughing as I do. Thanks to my enhancements there is no way in hell a mere human catches up to me and-

…

Fuck

…

I can't move.

I feel some really thin circular zones of pain across my body, squeezing my limbs very hard at the point of contact. I can barely see the soft red glow radiating from the thin strings holding me in place. I try wiggling my body, managing to pull on them and even snap a few but not free myself completely.

"Redshift" I hear the human's voice and steps behind me getting closer. "Charlotte's Grasp" More strings come out of the walls to either side of me. I'm tossed and turned in the air barely able to fight the incredible strength of the red strands and avoid getting sliced by them. I'm bleeding more from my wounds and some new ones from where the string had cut through my clothing and into my fur and skin.

The strings turn me around while I struggle in vain against their hold. I see the human walking casually towards me, his glowing red eyes upon his black sclera made for a menacing sight. He snaps his fingers and more strings come out of the walls, though these serve as ladder steps for him as he effortlessly steps on them getting to the same height as he is holding me suspended.

I feel like a fucking insect in an Arachnocid's nest.

I hate the bloody things.

"You are giving me more trouble than I originally thought." He says, standing in perfect balance over a line of red light.

"Mhmh!" He has my muzzle shut with that nasty creepy stuff, I could disintegrate this stuff with my shields if it's made out of Akasha Energy. Such a bloody shame Panini's port is fried. Now I can't know when my shields recharge. It shouldn't be long from now but I would have to wing it, and doing it without her help is harder on me.

"Ah sorry, guess I got so used to you spewing lame insults that I subconsciously shut you up." With another snap of his fingers, my muzzle is freed.

"YOU BASTARD SON OF A-" The strings shut my muzzle once more.

"You know what? Forget it, guess you really had nothing else to say." He leans closer and I really, and I mean REALLY try not to look directly at his eyes, but they are very distracting. It's like watching a bloody red sun burning in the void of space. "Will you cooperate? Or do I have to be more… Forceful?"

No, I ain't doing whatever the crap you guys want.

With a sudden surge of strength that I don't know where I got from I manage to free my right arm and sucker punch him in the face with the full force of my enhancements. I see him go flying towards one of those industrial shit-collectors that his boy toy threw me off to before. The huge thing deforms and breaks under the force as the human crashes into it, metal pieces and some red sparks fly from the point of impact.

I land muzzle first on the floor, I think punching him in the face broke his focus enough to dispel whatever magical skoodoodle he was doing, cuz' I've never seen a Lightbearer do that before… Then again I usually avoid those.

"That…" I see his figure pulling itself from the deformed metal. There was trash and gunk all over him, his hair and clothes drenched in whatever garbage was in that thing… You deserve it bitch. "Hurt..." Red flashes from his body, and all waste and garbage drop off of him as if it was offending him.

…

Show off.

Wait. How is he alive? Humans are squishy as far as I know.

"You should be dead ya' know? Don't tell me you're like your boyfriend and I have to kill you twelve times for you to eat shit and die." I vaguely remember the punch I gave him didn't feel as satisfying… Did he cushion the punch somehow?

"First of all, while he would fight to the death to have that be true, no. He is not my boyfriend." He raises a finger. "Second of all, he is not dead. I think I told you that already." He raises another finger and I growl at his attitude… The audacity of some idiots. "Third of all, it was fourteen actually."

Oh, so he is trying to be a smartass on me now?

The sheer audacity…

"Fuck you." I snarl at him, not my best insult but my most reliable one.

"Do it yourself, you coward." He winks at me.

Damn, how is he beating me with insults? I'm like the god of those!

Blasphemy I say!

I raise my rifle to shoot his face off but he is too quick. In the literal blink of an eye, he closes the distance between us with a hand he pushes the rifle's muzzle away from him. I end up shooting at the wall as he uses the momentum to turn his body and kick me directly on my bleeding nose.

Why is it my nose that's receiving all this mistreatment?

I drop my rifle as I stumble back from the hit. I see him raise an eyebrow in what I assume is a mocking gesture. I should run, but something tells me he would catch me and pull that web thing on me again… Also my need to put an overconfident jerk in his place is greater than the need to hear the rational part of my brain. I crack my knuckles and my neck. I'm hurt. I'm bleeding. I'm tired.

But I can still do this.

My shields should be back online anytime now, and I should last enough to patch my wounds up. He somehow cushioned my punch before and there's the thing with the floating blades and red strings that are very hard to see, also the guns on his back that for whatever reason he hasn't used yet. Oh, and he does crazy acrobatics too… Fuck, this is why I hate messing with a Lighbearer. There is so much shit to be careful of.

I really need my Panini right now, bloody hell.

The worst thing of all is the eerie way in which he is just standing there. He is completely calm, not even in a fighting pose or drawn weapon. He is just watching me with his creepy eyes, I do not doubt that he sees some shit I can't… So fucking disturbing.

Wait… He is being overconfident.

Maybe…

"All Lightshitters are the same, busting out their fancy space magic on us common folk." I taunt. "Pretty sure you wouldn't stand a chance in a fair fight! You are nothing without your powers."

He chuckles "It's quite obvious what you want to do." The glow from his eyes dies out. "But I'll humor you since this will actually help me in my mission." He does some stretches, preparing for the fight to come.

Can't believe that worked.

I square up, raising my fists as the human begins casually stepping up to me, his menacing stride will most likely end in his death.

So you have chosen death.

Bitch.

I swing at him only to have him duck under and launch an uppercut at me. I barely dodge and try jabbing my knee at him, he hooks his arm under my raised leg and sweeps at the other, effectively throwing me off balance and sending me to the ground. Before hitting the ground I manage to grab onto his grey jacket and launch his ass across the alley. The motherfucker does a fancy backflip and lands on his feet in perfect coordination.

Such a poser, man.

I barely have time to get out of a diving kick. I go for his torso. He grabs my arm, using it as leverage to get to move in time. I end up punching through the wall, getting my right hand a little stuck on it. My face forcibly turns to the side when he lands a punch. I swing my leg at him but he jumps over it, landing another blow in the process. I pull on my right arm with no success as he lands another hit.

"Feeling a little stuck?" He mocks.

With a growl I feel energy release from the wall where my right hand was stuck, exploding in a show of copper-colored sparks. He jumps back into the air, grabbing onto some pipes quite a few meters above the ground. I manage to pull my hand free from the weakened wall, twisting and tearing the metal-concrete mix.

My shields recharged, sweet.

Time to kill a Lightshitter.

"I thought you wanted a fair fight," he says, now sitting on the pipes with bored eyes.

"I thought you wanted a fair fight." I mockingly imitate him. The motherfucker is still calm even though A.E.R. energy is flowing out of my body thanks to the coil in my chest. "Life isn't fair." I can't discharge my shields on him as I did to his friend, he is much quicker, plus the element of surprise is lost already. He knows what to expect. I bash my fists together.

Guess that leaves bashing his skull as the only choice.

“Coil Protocol. Code zero-five. Brawl!" I use the newfound power the coil gives me to jump from one wall to the other and reach him in no time.

The human manages to jump down right when I crash onto the spot he was just mere seconds before. I feel a few knives bounce off my shield. Stupid human still hasn't realized that inorganic material is bounced off my shield easily. I chase him some more, breaking and crushing metal and concrete alike. I take some pleasure in turning the tides and having him run away from me. We get out to the streets where there are Hovercars going to and fro. I see a parked empty one on my side. I grab onto it as if it weighted like mere paper.

I love being strong like this, even though it will hurt like hell later on.

“CATCH!" I throw the Hovercar at him. Aliens scream around me.

I watch in what's basically slow motion as he jumps and twirls through the windows of the Hovercar that I didn't realize were down before. He moves his body so gracefully that there wasn't a single scratch even though the thing crashes and explodes some meters behind him.

I gotta admit that's cool… Fucking ninja space wizard.

Another round of knives bounce off my shields, the prick in my head from the hits is nothing compared to the sheer agony I felt with the constant stream of bullets his friend unloaded on me before. “Don't you realize that ain't gonna work?"

“This?" He throws another one, this one this time gets stuck on the shield… Glowing the same copper as the shield.

Well, shit.

In a few seconds, four more knives get stuck on my shield. I feel a burn in my chest as my shields are being forced to remain active, they are supposed to protect and then immediately disappear, but he shifted the energy frequency in his knives to match that of the A.E.R. coil that feeds the shield. He does a motion as if he is pulling on a rope and suddenly I'm thrown forward. The knives on my shield are pulling on it strongly, I feel the Coil as if it's going to be pulled out of my chest.

Well if he wants me to get closer I will!

I jump forward right when he pulls again, I land stomping on the ground, sending debris all around us. The human dodges it again with a hop, I turn toward him when he lands. He turns towards me too, raising his leg to-

“AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH" My hands quickly shoot out to cover my groin. The high-pitched scream that comes out of me is totally not girly, I swear to the Architect it was only… A little feminine… Just a bit.

“Oof, sorry. I thought we weren't being fair anymore." He mocks again. I try to hold back my tears, as I struggle to get air into my lungs and reply.

“I'm- ah!. g-going to k-k-ill y-y-ou" I barely manage to reply in a voice I'm not proud of. You don't kick a man in the balls when fighting them. That's just low… Not even in live-or-die situations. Truly despicable behavior.

It's common sense among males!

He walks up to me, his palm outstretched close to my face… Architect, now what? Wait, is he touching my shield with his hand? That shouldn't be possi-

“Redshift." Shit.

“Disruption" Double shit.

I don't even feel my shield completely shatter into a million sparks. I'm too busy being launched and pummeled as I go through walls and buildings, my body battered and tossed in a straight line from my original spot. I'm pretty sure if I wasn't enhanced I would have turned into a bloody mush. I come to a stop in what I assume is some sort of support beam holding up the last part of the structure that is barely still standing after I crash-landed into it.

My head is killing me.

My ribs are killing me.

My ass is killing me.

My balls are STILL killing me.

Fuck.

I manage to pull my body out from the rubble with some heavy effort, coughing dust and some blood along the way. The structure groans and quivers, it probably won't hold for long until it collapses on itself. Better get out of here. I look around and see only one exit and that is the spot of entry I just made with my fat ass when I got trashed by that ninja space wizard.

Never messing with a Lightbearer again if I survive this.

I see that the briefcase came off from my back in my forced entry into the building. It's laying some distance away from me in the debris under a broken water pipe. I better get it before that asshole swipes it away or it gets submerged in water under a huge ass building that is seconds from collapsing onto itself. I really need the money despite how I treated Serono… Or rather my sister does, and I ain't about to lose this chance. I wobble my way toward where the briefcase is. The ceiling above me is getting closer to the ground each second which means also squishing me like a fucking 'Puncake'... Or was it 'Pencake'?

“Note to self. If I live. Ask Panini whether that human-squished food is called 'Puncake' or 'Pencake'." I try to hurry up a little skipping on one leg as the structure collapses even more.

“MOMMY!!!" You gotta be fucking kidding me. “MOM!" A child!? Are you serious? Can't this day get any worse? “HELP, MOMMY!" Just keep walking Ripley. you really need the money, it's not really for you it's for your sister, the single mother of your nephews and nieces. Someone else will help the kid. They will be fine. “MOM!" right?

“PLEASE!" Get it together, Ripley! It's either you or them, NO ONE helped you when you were a kid, you don't need to help anyone else. You don't owe anyone anything!

As I say this to myself I can't help but look around until I see the kid. The little boy, no older than eight cycles old has his leg stuck under a piece of the ceiling. This is not my problem. My sister needs me for a change I can't let her-

“MOM!“ More chunks of the ceiling fall. He is sobbing…

Just walk towards the briefcase, you don't have time Ripley.

“Neither does he…"

Turn around, Ripley. Get the briefcase.

I turn around from the kid.

"Walk. You idiot. WALK"

I walk, taking heavy steps… Away from the wailing child.

That's it, now-

“AAGH!!" The huge chunk the size of a truck falls from the ceiling over the kid's head.

I ignore every screaming muscle in my body and manage to arrive just in time to stop the huge chunk of debris over my head… It's heavy… It's incredibly heavy.

“Kid!" I call out to the child, who looks at me with desperation in his eyes. “Can you find a way to get your leg out of that!?" He tries to desperately pull on his leg, to no avail. “Not like that! Find something to put under it and push!" What am I doing explaining leverage to an eight cycles old? I should have just gotten the briefcase.

“I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING, SIR!" Fuck, I grunt in effort as another chunk falls on top of the one I'm already holding over me. My legs are shaking. I'm tired, bleeding, probably have some cracked or broken bones and my shields were broken by the human… I can't do this for long.

“FUCK, FIND SOMETHING!" The child sobs harder. I've never been good with kids.

“JUST-" I get down to one knee from even another piece of the ceiling. I barely feel my arms anymore. “TRY IT!". I know it's no use. I just killed myself for no reason. The kid is just crying. Panic and inexperience not letting him think rationally in a situation like this.

I can't get out of this now. I let Rika and the kids down, won't be getting the money for them. Serono will hunt them down in revenge for me not managing to do the job, and this boy right here is going to die along with me, crushed under tons of concrete and iron. Mangled beyond recognition… Where was this boy's mother anyway?

“ARHG!" I drop to both my knees. It doesn't matter. I'm going to die here, and I managed to help neither this kid nor my family.

I truly am fucking useless.

Along the boys screams my arms finally give out.

I see a flash of Sapphire.

...