Armament

 It felt as if a vehicle ran right into her. Above Lillian towered a man, donning the white-cloak she had become sick of at this point. A chestnut beard obscured most of his face’s features, but it was prominently dotted with tiny scraps of potato. His eyes, likewise, were also hidden behind think chestnut eyebrows, meaning the only feature visible on his face besides hair was slightly tanned skin. His face wasn’t where Lillian wanted to focus though, as she still felt the sting from his strike in her abdomen. Her eyes did eventually find the arm which had hit her sticking out of his cloak. Once she found it, her eyes did not leave it.

Strapped onto the man’s arm was a silver gauntlet. Normally, this would be a simple accessory to improve the destructive power of one’s punch, but this was different, as poking out of the back end of the gauntlet was a slightly growing brown orb. Paired with that, the knuckle of the gauntlet was covered in spiked rock.

“Great, an armament-type core…” She whispered to herself. Against an amateur projectile user, Lillian could easily overpower them with mobility and take them out. This man, however, was focused purely on defense and short ranged attacks. With a combo like that, Lillian was perfectly countered. “If I could get it off of him, I might have a chance, but with it being an armament-type…”

Another punch came from Lillian’s right, this time barely avoided, no thanks to her strategizing. The thrusting stone pillar grazed her hair, taking a couple strands with it.

“Crush—“ The man said, not impressing Lillian with his speaking abilities. He continued swiping at her with simple, yet effective attacks. Lillian was straining her muscles just from dodging them all consecutively.

He’s resorting to simple punches, and he doesn’t seem to talk much, so I can rule out his core being a hybrid at least. Continuing her analysis of the battle, she finally saw through the man’s cycle of punches. The man lunged forward for a punch to her abdomen once again, but before it could hit, Lillian placed her hand on the top of the incoming fist. She flew into the air, an upside down acrobat balancing on the moving hand of her adversary. She brought her body down behind him, wrapping her legs around his neck. Now mounted on his shoulders, she immediately went to try and take the gauntlet from the juggernaut.

Her outstretched hand almost got a hold of the weapon, but instead, a sharp pain hit the surface of her arm. A small jagged stone had just bounced off her skin. Instinctively and without thinking, she turned to the direction it had been thrown. Standing, hand fallen after a strong pitch, sweat dripping from her face, the woman who had been just shy of pummeled by Lillian had made her final resistance. Unfortunately for Lillian, this momentary distraction was all the large man needed to throw her off his shoulders, and in one tossing motion, smack the desperate sister against the pavement and pin her down.

She tried as hard as she could to push up off the cold stone ground, but the force of the behemoth above her proved to be too much.

“Dammit—“ She let out, hitting her fist on the ground. Whenever I try to do anything, whenever I try to fight back—I always end up powerless!

The weaponized fist raised into the air, preparing a final strike to finish off Lillian. With a short moment allowing Lillian to come to terms with herself, she closed her eyes as the arm thrusted downwards towards her head accompanied by the cloaked man’s simple farewell.

“Good… Bye.”

There was a crash and a thud, and with that, Lillian embraced death. At least Slater can continue our mission… She thought. Then she stopped a moment. She had just thought; shouldn’t that be impossible if she was dead? Opening her eyes, she noticed she was very much alive, with the man no longer pinning her down no less. The man was now pinned against one of the walls, struggling against a muscular man in a military uniform that had placed him there. She may have only been able to make out his back, but it was a back she could recognize nonetheless.

“Elijah!” Her voice called out. Normally, Lillian would’ve composed herself in a moment like this, but a brush with death had softened her attitude slightly.

He was a well-built dark-skinned man with his black hair in a buzz-cut, one you’d come to expect from a man in military attire. The only out-of-place detail was his dark goatee giving way to strands of silver, not doing him any favors but reveal his age. Similar to Lillian, he also had his hands wrapped for fist-fighting.

The man turned back in response to his name being called. “Now come on, the least you could do is call me Mr. Walker for once!” He turned back only shortly though, as the hostile man began shifting out from under Elijah Walker’s arms.

“Must… Pay…!” The large man bellowed, with his gauntleted hand raising once more.

“Fancy tool you have there!” Elijah acknowledged. “Lillian, would you mind taking a look at it for me?” He thrusted the arm into the wall with a force greater than what Lillian thought would’ve cracked her skull moments prior, making fractures along the surface and a small indent.

Hearing the prior command, she perked up instantaneously and began to rush forward, but her path was promptly blocked.

“My core may be gone, but that doesn’t mean I just have to sit in watch!” The woman from earlier spouted, one of her eyes poking out and bloodshot.

Lillian slid across the stone floor, preparing her fists, but had her attention drawn to another voice to her right.

“She doesn’t have time for you.” Said a familiar voice, accompanied by a bright blue flash arcing right where the woman’s stomach was, but in self-preservation had dodged at the last minute. She had saved her life, but not the small slit above her belly button the blade had barely cut. Slater hurried forward, exchanging a voiceless nod with Lillian, blocking the woman from once again getting in his sister’s path.

Rushing towards the still-pinned arm, Lillian swung her body around in a tornado-like motion, with her foot kicking the gauntlet neatly off of the man’s arm. It clanged to the ground, spinning out into the center of the area. The clang hit Elijah’s ears, giving him a signal to reel his head back and bash the pinned man’s head into the wall with his own. Once the head had been smashed just as the arm had been, he withdrew and scooped up the gauntlet as he ran away.

“Fall back!” Was his simple command, causing Lillian and Slater to jump backwards, maintaining eye contact with their enemies even as they grouped up next to Elijah. “It’s been an honor entertaining you two,” Elijah said, a tinge of patronization in his voice. “However, the three of us have more important business to attend to. Ciao!” The man raised a hand to bid them farewell, and soon after a puff of smoke erupted from below the group.

The woman, not wanting to come back empty-handed, made a desperate jump into the smoke in an attempt to catch her prey. However, all she caught was the cold chill of the stone floor, with the smoke clearing revealing the area to now be completely empty. The only things which now resounded through the area were the intermittent pounding of a fist against rock and the echo of a strained “Damn it!”