Friends

 “Charlotte, get inside. I’ll handle this one.” Lupus stepped forward, revealing the weapons he carried in his hands: Dual metal claw gauntlets which each spread their three long talons out to maximize their range while still remaining practical.

Without paying any mind to the woman who created them, Lupus dug his claws into both of the pillars at once and turned his gauntlets like a key in a keyhole, sending out blasts which dissipated the pillars. He rested his arms, now face to face with the woman right in front of him.

“Now, what is your name, lass?” He had a soft elderly tone to his voice. He found it tended to get him information easier. Unfortunately for him, this one was unaffected by his tone.

“April Fremont. Sitting commander of the Western States Wendigo Division.”

However, the result was the same, as the Wendigo’s leader is punctual and sees no issue with her enemies knowing who intends to kill them.

“In that case, Miss Fremont.” Lupus raised his fist and thrust his claw forward at her, missing as she jumped back and fired a counterattack blast of wind to blow Lupus back. His back was caught by a wall of ice, with a plant embedded in it launching him back into the fray.

April blasted the ground with wind, flying to her left and away from the building as the man broke through the doors and shattered every window in the first floor lobby from the impact. As she situated herself, the man emerged from the dusty debris of the first floor, his eyes piercing through the haze as he located his prey.

Paralyzed with the fear of a cornered rat, April stood still as she saw the beast of a man run forth with his claws outstretched in hunger. Hunger for a battle he hadn’t tasted in years. Looking into his ravenous eyes, April remembered a distant memory.

“Stop calling me that!” Droite had yelled. “It’s damn creepy!”

“I think it fits, knowing where it comes from.” April poured herself a cup of tea and sat down across from Droite, who was tinkering with his metallic legs, as the fragrance of her drink wafted to her nose and breathed it in.

“Where it comes from? Like, werewolves as a concept?” He stopped his tinkering just to indulge his curiosity.

“No, it’s an old story. The type parents tell their children will kidnap them if they’re naughty.” April responded, focusing on reading a report before her instead of her coworker.

“You think I’m a damn boogeyman?” He had a joking tone to him, but part of him felt a bit insulted.

“Yes, I do.” April was blunt, but did not stop there. “However, there’s more to the story of ‘The Werewolf’ than that. He was some child soldier who went missing after the war that left the States divided. He killed more enemies of the state than any other operative at the time. Rumors among the top brass say he’s still out there somewhere…” She trailed off, taking a sip of her beverage.

Droite cackled to himself. “April, it’s been decades since that damn war! There’s no way in hell that guy is still alive!”

“That man is a legendary fighter, I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a way to live this long undetected.” She stood up, walking off. No member of the Wendigos could handle speaking with Droite for too long. Before she left, though, she got one last word in: “If I did ever find myself on the other end of that beast’s claws… I think it would be much worse than having a bout with you.” She exited the room, leaving Droite to his own devices as he got back to work on his legs alone with her solitary unfinished cup of tea.

He didn’t want to reply, knowing it was best not to push April when she hit her limits. As he turned a small part in his legs, they clicked together as the luster from the material made it look like its own organism. Once it had settled, he shifted his position a bit. As he did, an electric pulse was sent out through his sole, blasting the teacup into the wall and pulverizing it. Droite quickly checked around to make sure April hadn’t seen, before standing up and jumping around to get a feel for his legs after their tweaks.

“Can’t wait to try these things out…”

The metallic leg dug into Blitz’s gut as drops of blood were ejected out of his mouth into an already drying puddle on the floor. The sounds of Blitz lurching from the pain as he gasped for air echoed throughout the empty floor of the building.

“Ah… It’s good to be reminded of just how much of a powerless kid you are, ain’t that right, Blitz?” He reveled in the fight of the boy’s blood on the floor.

“Didn’t… your friend… tell you to stop?” Blitz eked out, almost lacking the strength to.

“Friend?” Droite paused, looking dumbfounded. His look of confusion quickly turned to the raucous laughter he had made second nature. “I’d die before I considered one of those inhuman freaks a friend! The only thing I need right now are enemies, and you do quite nicely, Blitz… If they could make faces as delightful as yours when they were kicked in the stomach, I just might be their friend, but they’re all too strange for that!” He looked out to the window to their side, seeing a view of the arch in the distance and the red and blue lights clashing at its peak. “Axel is much too serious, he’s just a gross lab experiment they like to think is a human with actual purpose. Maya isn’t much better, she’s the same kind of thing, just way too emotive! At least you can hold a conversation with April, but she’s just a scared little girl who follows orders so she isn’t dragged off to get experimented on again.” He spread his arms wide as if making a grand announcement “Only reason I’ve ever been here is because I asked your father to pull some strings, because I thought back to our time in that alleyway… Remember that? When I said this would be much more fun with you alive?” His excited expression dropped completely, its only remaining vestige being a slight malicious smirk as he told Blitz with a wicked sincerity: “I changed my mind.”

With his brief break from being beaten, Blitz was able to recover enough to speak somewhat normally again. “You spent this entire time faking liking them? You always were two faced like that.”

With a self-deprecating giggle, Droite retreated from Blitz and put his hands in his pockets, approaching a window as he stared down at the battle that had now begun at the base of the building. He gave no answer, as Blitz continued to talk.

“Your ‘friends’ left you alone here with me, and mine are coming to save me. What do you think that says?”

Droite turned back, and gave his smirk again.

“Well, we’ll see about that, Blitz. First your friends have to get through April, and that freak can be the scariest of them all…”