Basset refused to move from his spot, staring down the group. Tel looked more than nervous-- something about this man set him off, made him weak. What the hell happened? Why is he so scared? This should be possible, no...? Scary, butpossible.
Tel rushed in, blade folded out into a spear, swinging wildly at the man in front of him, who didn't seem to hold a single care in the world as each slice of his blade flew past. Toto rushed forward, nipping at the man, and once again, he easily dodged out of the way, even ducking a shot from Dorothy's pistol.
Basset leaned back, Tel's blade flying past as his foot shot out. Tel threw his shield in the way, the kick having enough force to stagger him. Tel was then kicked again, his shield arm thrown into the air before being completely kicked off his arm in a heap of metal. "Easy there~."
Thump!
Carmela rushed in, attempting to tackle Basset. "Almost!" He snickered, but that amusement cut short as he blocked a charged shot from my Anchorbow, blowing him back by a meter. "Oh?" In response, he tripped Tel, and they rushed straight at me, and only then could I understand why Tel's heart dropped just before the fight started.
"Bastard!" Tel screamed out, jumping back up onto his feet, getting a stab in on Basset, who used his trick weapon to catch the attack, pulling it up for greater difficulty on Tel's part to attack again, blade jittering against the open section of the weapon.
"I know now!" Dorothy shouted, "He's a Junior Rank Huntsman!"
"Oh shi--" He laughed, cut off by the sound of gunfire, too distracted to notice the rushing out wrapping its mouth around his ankle. "SHIT!" With a kick of his leg, he finally started using his trick weapon, cutting into Toto's side, eliciting a shrill yelp in response. "Fucking mutt!" I was prepared to run, believing that this was my chance, before the blade flicked out in my direction.
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Ariel had found herself in the most disadvantageous position she could have been in. She put one of her Anchorbows out instinctively to defend herself. For a moment, it looked as if she had made it in time, not cut by the cleaver from Basset's trick weapon, and she stepped back, a succinct slice running across her chest suddenly before being clocked over the head, knocking her out instantly as she spun into a nearby guardrail.
Thump!
Carmela snapped forward, claw firing out in a blur, crashing straight into his weapon, causing him to stumble back, a visible cut running along his weapon arm. Basset's balance had been thrown off, shocked by Carmela's speed and rage. "Fucking Beast!"
Basset threw himself past both the wall Carmela and Tel had made together and ran straight at Dorothy, attempting to grab her, failing miserably to do so as she ducked out of the way, running straight to Ariel's unconscious form.
Tel and Dorothy traded places, Tel suddenly halting right when he entered Basset's range, whilst Toto ran to support Tel, nipping at Basset, who narrowly blocked the attack, shoving the hound away from him. Using that momentum, his blade flicked out, cleaving straight through Tel's uniform, blood spraying across the concrete below before bending the blade against the ground, using that to rocket its mechanism straight into Toto's body.
Crimson sprayed everywhere, and as Tel dropped to his knees, he was kicked to the ground, dying with Dorothy's hound.
Thump!
Carmela flew out at Basset again, mask off, teeth digging straight into his neck as she wrapped both arms around his body, taking him straight into the ground below with a sickening crack, knocking the wind out of the man.
"Fucking...!" Basset struggled against Carmela, failing to break free from her grasp as she placed her entire bodyweight onto him, whilst Dorothy loomed over the wheezing and barely awake Ariel.
Dorothy sighed, concentrating on something before tapping her heels together, summoning a syringe in her hand that she drove straight into Ariel's body, who shot awake, wide-eyed, gasping for air. Dorothy redirected her attention to Toto, taking out her axe just in case of a hand-to-hand confrontation with Basset himself.
Dorothy passed right on by both of them, but not so lucky, Basset could feel Carmela let their guard down for but a moment, her teeth lifting from the wound, arms loosening their grip. He slipped out, shoulder be damned, and grabbed his weapon, rolling back up to his feet.
CLAP!THUMP! Two blows, one after the other, from Carmela against Basset's defenses, only missing a single stab with her claws as he dipped out of the way.
"Bastar--" He felt something was wrong. Basset spun around, an anchor flying straight at him, connecting with his collarbone. Time slowed for a moment, the barely conscious Ariel now to her feet, throwing this Anchor with the last bit of strength she had left. And it exploded.
His body splintered in all directions as what remained flew past the alcove they were all standing on. The area painted in the man's blood and viscera, one half of their head just behind Ariel, whilst the lower half of their torso lay still next to the bodies of their victims.
Ariel swallowed hard before vomiting over the side of the alcove and into Mars's ravine.
Dorothy took a breath, unable to be shocked in the moment as she stabilized her dog, hoisting them over her shoulder before remembering the unconscious Tel bleeding out on the ground right next to her.
Carmela turned to Dorothy, "Where did the kid go?"
"Shit..." She cursed under her breath. "Shit..."
The last time was virtually the corpse of a man. But this time, Ariel had killed a real human being-- multiple in fact, today. This time, in a worse way than before. She didn't feel guilty, but just like the gore that covered her now, it felt as if she had been stained. With a shaky breath, she stood back up, spitting out the taste of iron that clung to her lips before crossing over to Tel, placing a hand over his wounds.
Someone stepped into the alcove.
They all whipped their heads around to the sound of boots clacking against stone, only to see Nora looking around the corner. He tilted his head away from the carnage, "Come."
The team reconvened with one another, Chris immediately recoiling at the sight. "Holy shit, what happened to you guys?"
Tel, now conscious, shook his head. "Some... I don't..."
Dorothy put a hand forward, stopping him from saying more. "He lost too much blood..." Then looked to Chris, "We fought a Junior Huntsman. They were a part of Helsing. Most likely, the reason for the missing cases in Mutant Communes."
They weren't too far from the alcove in question, standing on a bridge, Ariel herself looking out to the ravine below.
Chris made a disgruntled look, "Yo! Glasses! You good!?"
Lined across the ravine's walls were bits of rebar or jutting concrete geometry, uneven and haphazard. Ariel pointed to one of these anomalies within the wall itself. "I found the girl..."
Tel went even paler than he already had become, simply averting his gaze.
Ariel had no other choice but to step away. Continuing to stare did nothing but make her stomach churn.
"Shit, what..." Chris stopped, grimacing at the sight. "What the fuck happened while we were separated... what happened to lead to that...?"
Dorothy sighed, looking at the horrid sight as well. Most likely cut open on the way down, it is now hanging loosely from some bit of loose fencing from an era long gone. "Seems self-explanatory."
Tel turned to Dorothy, "What does?"
"She jumped. Probably felt it was more convenient that way since nobody would've taken her here, would they? And if they did, there's only one organization that would, and they're known for conscripting youths to throw their lives away anyhow. Probably the best option for--"
"Don't finish that sentence..." He growled.
"Am I wrong?"
Chris recoiled at Dorothy's response, "What the fuck are you even saying, silver slips?"
"I have a nickname now, huh?"
"I don't remember your name, that's why. So what the fuck was that response, anyhow? What's your problem?"
"Tel threw us into danger, trying to help this girl when there was nothing that we could do for her. Simple as. The family died, and she had nothing left. That's all."
Chris scratched her head, "I'm not the hero type, but... what the hell are you talkin' about?"
"It was outside our jurisdiction."
"I'm not sure what's the best way to put this, but... That isn't the point, is it?"
"You weren't there, what would you even have to say?"
Chris kissed her teeth. "Yeah, you're right. I wasn't there." She waved off the issue, looking for Ariel, who was currently standing next to Carmela, with a hand placed on her shoulder.
Asher looked out to the ravine below, "What grim sight..."
Nora started walking past the group, "It's time to leave."
Valorie, amongst them, kept her eyes away from the ravine as much as she could, holding her gun close, looking sick to her stomach.
Dorothy caught up to Nora, "Nothing more to investigate?"
"No, you killed the reason why missing Mutants were occurring. We're going home."
"If you say so, sir."
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I'm not sure how necessary it was, but I believe I scrubbed myself down for nearly an hour straight. I didn't want a single spec of blood left on my body. The way it clung to me felt disgusting. It truly felt different than killing that apostle. I needed to find a way to calm myself down, so I decided to cook something up in our team's cafeteria.
Whenever I was stressed during my time within the palace, I'd often resort to cooking to calm my nerves. Not sure how much it helped here, my hands still shook, but it didn't inhibit the recipes I learned with the Piti Pwason, which didn't often require too much deft handiwork.
As I worked, Alex entered the kitchen. "Heard you all had a rough go of it last mission."
I threw some cut carrots and potatoes into a crockpot. "I... expected it to a degree, but I didn't think it would be that bad. Suppose that was naive of me."
"Well... I'm sorry, I have to add to your stresses..." I was suddenly yanked by the collar and thrown up onto one of the nearby cabinets, held up into the air. "I've been thinking for a while," She growled, "You seemed very familiar. Having a different last name wouldn't stop me from recognizing you, however..."
My heart raced, clutching her arm tightly, hoping that, if things go wrong, I can find some way out of this hold. I don't want to die. She could kill me right here, right now.
"You're my sister, aren't you?" A beat, "Did Neptune send you here?"
I shook my head, "No... I ran away. I... I was looking for you but..."
"You were just gonna... what? Forget about it? Just let it go? What was the plan? What was the purpose of looking for me if not to serve as Neptune's spy?"
"I-I just wanted to see if you were real..." My voice cracked, breath shaking. "A-Auntie told me about you... about you and mom and how you're great people... t-that I should find you if I wanted to escape, if I needed to escape..." I took a breath, "But I also wanted to hit you as hard as I could for leaving me behind with that man. But there was no way I could do that as weak as I am... Both of you abandoned me... but it would've been a single hit, nothing more... I don't think I can be emotional enough to do more." I deflated. I could feel the energy in my body leave at a rapid pace, my whole body shaking.
Alex had calmed down by now, safely placing me back onto the floor. Luckily, she didn't spill any of the ingredients I was using to make a stew. "I'm sorry, it's hard not to be a tad paranoid."
My breath hitched, and I tried to remain as calm as I could, white-knuckling the stove. "Lea-- Please... leave me alone."
Alex scanned my face, "What did he do?"
"He didn't do anything; it was more about what he planned to do. It doesn't matter. Please leave." I shut down any semblance of a conversation we could have at that point, attempting to focus all of my attention on my work now.
Alex simply and silently left as she was asked to.