Arc 2 - Chapter 18: David and Loraine vs Pedro

(Quintiles 14, 42 / 9:11AM)

34 years ago.

Above and below, the ceiling and roof were saturated with chunks of dust. Along with the walls clinging onto tiny batches of mold, the room itself wasn’t by no means pretty.

Laying on a bed, was a frail woman, looking to be just skin and bones. And next to her, sat a skinny teenage boy, who had a bowl-cut wrapping around his head. Having his hands pressed onto the woman’s left hand, he rubbed the tips of his fingers amongst her porcelain skin.

[HIV is what contributed to her condition. Do you know how many partners she slept with?]

That question dawned inside of him, as what the doctor said. Leaving it to go back and forth in the inside of his head, he felt the back of his teeth grind against one another.

Until he felt her knuckles twitch.

Slowly turning toward the woman’s frail face, she began to open her eyes while blinking repeatedly. Trying to hold her eyelids up, she noticed her hand being pressed into something warm, leaving her to tilt her head.

“Boris…”

“It’s ok Mom, I got you.”

Boris scooted his chair close to the bed, as the smell of mold struck deep into their nostrils.

The windows were lavished in yellowish black, as if someone had been smoking in the room before them. And the bed looked to belong to a hospital, it meant the room they were in, was there for the frail and ill pale mother. Coughing wheezing, she placed her left hand to cover her mouth, while squeezing every stomach muscle within her body to do so.

Finishing up her cough, she pulled away her hand, and noticed specks of blood littering it.

‘Oh…’

Pressing her hand onto the white fabric of the sheet, she pushed up a quivering smile, which put Boris into a chokehold. Feeling his eyes began to water, he averted his head away, and let out a small sniffle from his nose. Swiping away a strand of mucus, he felt his scleras reddened, like they were stinging his pupils repeatedly.

“Boris … you should go.”

“I can’t leave. Not in your condition. You could get better right?”

A hint of hope sparkled in his voice, as he hunched his back and pressed his butt on the edge of his seat. Feeling his tailbone lose blood from his own weight, he gripped his mother’s hand tightly, as a twitching smile lingered on his face.

But the only thing she could counter it with, was her red stinging eyes. Feeling the water jumble up inside of her lower eyelids, she sniffled once, and tilted her head down. She couldn’t look up at her son, she knew it would burst the waterworks.

“You heard the doctor. I probably will never walk again, and my cough has been getting worse. Boris…”

She pushed most of her strength to move herself next to him, as she continued to feel his hands quaking. Shuffling through the sheets, she maintained her quivering smile, and pushed the corners of her lips to the halfway mark of her ears and jawline.

Feeling her son’s palms stain hers with sweat, she let out a small chuckle.

“Please live for me, ok? That would make me very happy…”

Closing her eyes, she felt her breathing slow down, and slumped herself back on the bed. Continuing to breathe in and out, but wheezing, her heart rate slowed. He didn’t know how long he held her hand.

But what he did remember, was that he pulled them away, once hers went cold.

________________________________________________________________________

(Quintiles 29, 59 / 7:55PM)

With Jenny and Jerry’s fight ensuing, it left David and Loraine to handle Pedro. Slowly placing his hands into his jacket, he straightened his back, as Pedro had within his hands…

“Why do you have Boris hostage? What truly makes him important for your goal?”

His grip on Boris tightening, he caged his stomach with his frail arms, leaving his heart to pump out less blood than usual. Pushing out a small chuckle, Pedro fluttered a warm smile, and flared his nostrils to be enlarged. While Boris’ body continued to emit sweat.

“Do you really think I find this fatass useful? It was my Boss’ orders to bring him in.”

“Like what exactly?”

Still having his hands in his pockets, he took a few steps forward as he stared intently at Pedro. Seeing Pedro open his eyes, but keeping his smile warm, it pushed David to rub his chin with his pointer finger.

“What’s the matter, cat-human got your tongue?”

With Loraine a few steps in back of David, she had her nylon rope out on standby. Gripping it tightly against her palm, she saw David tilt his head downward, as his voice went dark.

“You know, regarding your question about whether I’m a bigshot or not…”

Boris felt his face grow hot, as sweat began to build up within the wrinkles of his cheeks. Glancing to his right, David noticed that Loraine took a couple of steps back, and her grip on the rope tightened.

Sharpening her eyes at the lich, David didn’t have them narrowed, as he kept his face casual and light.

“My fight with Kenichi? I could’ve had an even match.”

“Ha! You’re bluffing! Kenichi reported that you were on the defensive.”

“Unlike you liches, us humans have a thing called humanity.”

Folding his arms, he took a couple of steps forward. Being a few meters in front of Boris and Pedro, the lich unleashed sweat particles from his cheeks, leaving him no choice but to take a couple of steps back.

Tightening his hold on Boris, it quenched all the air from Boris’s black lungs. Noticing this, Loraine balled her left fist, and had her fingers snare at the shaking of her knuckles.

“What I mean by it, is that most of us remember who we put our faith in. Something you puppets don’t understand.”

His smile faded, leaving a cold frown to replace it once he began tilting his head down. Having both of his hands inside his leather jacket, David tilted his head upward, allowing his eyes to unveil his casual ones.

“Humans also have emotions too. I saw something that shouldn’t be considered possible, so I was taken aback personally.”

Sinking his eyes into his cheeks, he remembered the chains crackling against the blade of Kenichi’s chainsaws. His face darkened, he replaced his casual lips to form a frown, as he glanced at the dirty industrial floor; a floor with no reflection to look upon.

Taking the last couple of steps forward, David stood right in front of Boris and Pedro. Pulling out his hand from his jacket, his palm was drenched in metal, the butt of it being… His pistol. His finger on the side of the gun, he let his skin kiss the metal by his mingled sweat.

“And as for you liches; you’re just shells. No faith, no beliefs, no trust in anyone but an evil Boss to call you good boys.”

Steam unleashed from the top of his head. Noticing the cloud, Loraine spread both of her feet out apart, while David’s lower eyelids soon darkened into grisled shadows.

And the same went for Pedro, who clicked the top ends of his teeth.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

In slow motion, David jumped back, and moved the barrel of his pistol toward the slow moving Pedro. His finger twitched toward the trigger, he fired six times, leaving his hand to go numb in six repeated intervals.

Launching out of the chamber, with the bullets rippling through the dark filtered air, it edged closer to Pedro’s head. The lich closed his eyes, and let the bullets…

Traverse through his head, like air. The bullets lodging themselves toward the factory wall, it dented the metal, as David stalled his finger on the trigger.

“You’re too powerful to have a blessing.”

“Correct, it’s something vastly better…”

The cloud that continued to grow above Pedro’s head grew exponentially large. Having a smirk upon his face, he pushed his hands upward, leaving his fingers down to his wrist to be engulfed by the deadly air.

David began pulling out ammo from his pocket, and lodged six bullets into the magazine of his pistol. Hitting the back of the bullets to bridge them in place, he turned his head up to glance at—

“This is the pinnacle of power!”

With his hands grabbing the cloud, he threw it straight at David.

Like a soaring baseball, it caused Loraine to lunge to the right, and pulled back her right arm that wielded her rope. Leaving David to stand still, the cloud… David wasn’t there. Enacting a similar speed to that of a bullet, he had already pushed his entire body forward.

Barely taking notice of his speed, Pedro’s eyes widened.

‘Wait what?’

Reaching right in front of Pedro, his attack was useless, once he was inches from his face. Jumping back, with Boris in tow, he was unable to defend himself.

Having the barrel already pointed at the lich, he pulled the trigger softly, and fired six more bullets. His feet rusted with the metal floor, his grip on Boris loosened.

‘More bullets? Guess I have to use it again.’

Edging toward his head again, his breathing turned rigid, while his warm breath trickled the ends of Boris’s cheeks. Unable to barely comprehend what’s going on, he stared wide-eyed at the incoming bullets. And like usual, the bullets went through his head again, with no tar to be poured forth.

Smoke rising from the barrel of his gun, the tip of it burnt red, the metal slightly melted from him overusing it. But just as Pedro ceased his jumping, he felt something tighten around his waist, like he was trapped in a mousetrap.

‘Oh, wait … shit I forgot about her!’

Being in a standing position, Pedro turned his head to see the face of an enraged teenage girl. Her eyes bloodshot red, along with the grip on her rope convulsing with pure rage, he closed his eyes and lit up a smile.

“You know you’re daddy’s trapped with me. He’s in more pain than I am, so how about it?”

Veins stretched from her forehead down to her neck, leaving Boris to sulk his face blue.

Gasping for air, he felt like someone had used a hand to block his airways. Tears in his eyes, his quivering vision latched onto her, while his heart rate drastically dimmed from the lack of oxygen. Worst of all, no one heard his whimpers for air.

‘Ah! Snap out of it!’

Trying to bulge his arms, he couldn’t. Trying to push out a yell, his vocals worked against him. His eyes rolling into the back of his head, a sultry drool ran down his right lip.

‘You’re going to…’

“Thank you Loraine. Just as I planned.”

Hearing his voice from in back of him, Pedro turned to see the barrel of David’s gun yet again. Having his finger on the trigger, he pulled it, but he didn’t yank it six times like normal.

Instead, it was a single bullet, a bullet coated in red rather than black. Scarring the air, Pedro didn’t have enough time to dodge, leaving him no choice but to activate his power.

‘One bullet? Really? I could just—’

In slow motion, the bullet brushed against his skin, and then called itself home. Like a groundhog that paved its way into the dirt, the bullet burrowed inside his body, leaving the air in his body to be stuck in his throat.

________________________________________________________________________

‘W-What the hell!?’

Tar drenched down his chest, and stained his white fabric of cloth to black. Having it litter down to his thighs, the grip he had on Boris loosened greatly, allowing Boris to breathe slightly. Although Loraine kept her grip on the rope sharply, Pedro coughed out specks of tar.

David, who let his finger loose from the trigger, had it stalled on the side of the gun.

“Damn you! How did you shoot me!?”

“Your body acts like air, but you’re not exactly a gas. You could be using any type of gas to kill me, but you only use oxygen.”

The chamber was empty, but David was the only one who knew that. Using his left hand, he pulled out six special bullets from his pocket, and had them balled within his palm. Showcasing the redness of the metal, Pedro felt his head clam hot, all the while tar streaked his right lip.

“Your power can be used defensively, offensively, and supportively. Only blessings can have the power of max two things, so that means…”

Taking a single step forward, he clocked the six special bullets into the chamber. Hearing the sound of a reload, Pedro tilted his head down to the ground, his gaze hardened on the floor.

But he wasn’t angry. No, his eyes narrowed from pure fear.

“You're a curse user.”

His voice alone turned grisly and cold, Pedro’s body went numb. Feeling his breath go haggard, his eyes sunk down to his cheeks, more tar poured from his body.

“Those bullets are infused with CO2 gas, which is the opposite of oxygen. For the first time since forever, those bullets are now useful…”

Placing his right hand on top of Boris’ head, he cusped the entirety of his fingers across his forehead, and felt his oily hair. Digging into his scalp, his focus was entirely on David, making the chubby man quench his eyes. Which made Loraine widen her eyes, as she noticed his hand moving freely despite being bound by her rope.

‘How did he get out?!’

Like nothing, he ventured from the rope that bounded him, and pushed up a growling smile. Filled with cruel, vindictive evilness, his fingers dug deeper into Boris’s scalp.

“One wrong move, and your chubby daddy is going to pay the price.”

Pulling back her rope, she slithered it down near her foot, but she didn’t put it away just yet. Her palms coated with cold sweat, her strength began to diminish from her legs up to her arms, while her knees felt like tumbling her body downward.

With Boris in tow, he walked slowly toward Loraine, while David was nowhere to be seen.

“Girls like you are a threat to this world. You do things that suit you versus what suits others.”

Walking barefoot on the rusted metal floor, his feet squeaked, as footprints imprinted themselves on the metal. Showcasing the chubby man in front of her, her breathing hardened, and her lips flickered.

“Would you really go to lengths for him? A man that put you in a vindictive survival game?”

A pulsating of bullets tore his eardrums.

‘God damn it…’

Pedro arched his back, by bending most of his spine abnormally to dodge the bullets. Sending mini shockwaves to fill the air, it made its way into the abyss, as some of them breeze through the outer layers of—

No, some of them struck his body.

Only a couple pierced through his left shoulder, and burrowed deep into his tar filled body. As the two bullets settled themselves, another batch of bullets blew through as well, leaving his body to swallow up the bullets like he was eating metal by his skin.

“You can’t just kill me with bullets. Don’t you have something else besides shooting? Looks to me that you’re weak.”

“I think you’re mistaken.”

Jamming his pistol into his right hip, he rubbed the metal butt of it. Keeping his focused eyes on Pedro, David loosened his eyelids, and angled his head an inch to the right.

“I don’t shoot a gun because I’m a sharpshooter.”

Letting go of the back of the gun, he pulled his fingers away from it, and tucked his right arm into his armpit. Spreading out his legs to formulate a fighting stance, he then thrusted his left hand, which was enclosed into a fistbump. Straightening his back, along with his neck, he opened both of his palms…

—”I shoot a gun because I’m too strong.”—

Pedro completely loosened the grip upon Boris’ head. Beginning to walk back, Boris had no way to hold himself up, as he crashed onto the hard factory floor below. Barely opening his mouth to get a bash of fresh air, he quickly looked up to see David…

His face turned a ghostly pale, probably more than any other lich combined.

“Oh no…”

A bead of sweat rolled down from Boris’ right cheek, as his legs shook uncontrollably from the floor. By just seeing Boris’s pale face, Pedro gulped down whatever tar that stuck to his throat, once he soon ceased his backwalking.

“W-What? Is he portraying his full power?”

‘Now for the final step of the plan.’

Turning his attention back onto David, who continued to build up all that aura like a bank, he felt his vision flicker in one-second intervals. And because his vision went awry, Loraine took the chance to let out a devilish smirk and stand up straight, as her right lip reached her ear.

Cocking her head to the left, she stuck out her left thumb, and pointed it toward her chest.

“You should always check where your feet are, mister!”

And Loraine had her right hand low to her thigh, the rope she held in her palm was already slithered to somewhere. Turning his flickering vision to Loraine, he saw her just standing there.

Because of the many bullets from earlier, his strength began to diminish by each second. Finishing the last of his tracking, he noticed that the rope was already…

‘That little shit!’

Where his ankles were.

“Hehe … go get em David!”

Not being affected by the bind, Boris ran off, as he felt his lungs being stabbed repeatedly by his ricocheting ribcage.

Pedro on the other hand couldn’t walk if he wanted to. Having no ways to attack or defend, the CO2 fumes that coursed through his body began to jumble out tar from his mouth. Turning his head towards David, he noticed that—

“W-W-What?! W-Where is he?!”

Like a speck of dust in the wind, he disappeared. Leaving only a cloud of dust and rust, to spoof above, Pedro looked around the area for anything. His breath caught in his throat, he even looked toward the other fight climaxing on the other end of the building.

“W-Where are you dumb fu—”

Time growing ever slowly, his right cheekbone crackled and broke like a crumbling cookie. Unleashing a demonic pain to detriment his cheek, his entire head arched back unrealistically. But the object that struck him wasn’t metal. No, it was warm, too warm for any cold stain of iron or steel.

‘Was he holding back all this time?!’

A sonic boom brazed the floors and walls of the building. Creating a deafening thunder, they all felt their eardrums pinch once by the sudden gust of wind. Without any delay, Pedro’s body flew through the air, just by the inertia of the punch. Instead of flying straight, he looked like a beyblade, with his arms and legs carrying the same momentum of helicopter blades.

It was so fast, that inches of white pigment were scraped from the wind. Slamming his back against the rusty wall, an unforsaken crack grizzled his ears, leaving his breath to forcefully push out through his throat. Since the wall was weak, the inertia was too much for it to handle, leaving the wall to instantly crumble apart like sand.

‘Just one more finishing blow.’

His left hand coated with white pigment and tar, David spread out his legs again, as all of his weight situated at the tips of his toes. Followed by his arms, his muscles didn't expand or contract, all the while his body loosened like a feather. And yet, his look was menacing; once he vanished yet again.

Clutching his cheek with both of his hands, his fingers trembled as tar gushed from it.

‘No way … he made a hole!’

Feeling the dirty air seep into his rotten gums, it burnt and flourished his teeth to grow even blacker. Being outside the factory walls, he clenched his eyes shut from the pain, as he dug his fingernails into the outer layers of the hole.

‘That bastard will pay—’

He felt something clogging his throat. Unable to comprehend air breezing through his nose, he then saw the world slowly growing smaller, while his height grew higher. He knew he was flying, and he let the motion of inertia take him up at a great height.

Glancing down at the ground, a middle-aged man looked up at him, seeing him go into a crouching position with balled fists.

‘Wait! What is he doing!? Don’t tell me he’s…’

“It’s been a while since I last did this.”

Having his feet grip on the concrete surface, he let his hands turn pinkish red from excess strain. And by command, all of his muscles from his forearms, up to his shoulders, expanded vastly from his jacket which could be seen with the naked eye. He then did a circular arm motion, as his left arm moved clockwise, and his right arm moved counterclockwise. In such a rapid speed, the air around his arms formed air bubbles in between every circulation he did.

Soon, gravity fell upon Pedro, as he began his descent toward the ground. Unfortunately for him, David was already ready for the large raining rich from above.

At the right position, he waited just as Pedro was within a meter above him.

—“Divine Slab.”—

He thrusted his knuckles into Pedro’s stomach. All of his strength used in this one attack, a surging amount of air splashed in all directions, leaving the walls, floor, and ground to reverberate. Everything swayed by his punch, as even the windows from the upper floors were shattered by the colossal force.

And then he flew, soaring high into the air with an empty stomach. Flying so high through the darkening clouds, David only watched as the lich was far gone into the sunset. Or rather, he saw him heading west.