Arc 2 - Chapter 41: Benn and Loraine vs Pedro I

(Prominis 22, 58 / 11:04PM)

A couple of days after The Array…

‘It was my fault…’

She buried herself inside her blankets.

Entering the world she resided in, she escaped the reality that was laid bare to her. No responsibilities, no consequences, she tried to escape these two. Along with the humidity, it created a rainstorm of emotions that crashed onto the blanket walls.

‘I got Ryan killed…’

Curling herself into a ball, she placed her knees high onto his chest. Her hands tightened onto her knees, she continued to sweep tears that ran down the corners of her eyes.

‘If only … if only…’

Trapped in her own world, it was like she wanted to … what did she want? Biting the inside of her cheeks, and widening her eyes to the fullest, she growled her thoughts within the confines of her brain.

Because she wasn’t angry at the world … she was at angry at—

‘If only I wasn’t born.’

________________________________________________________________________

(Libertatem 1, 59 / 4:50AM)

Eren and Ada all saw the horde of zompires walking toward them. Taking in the clothing they wore, all four of them had their weapons on standby. Some of them swaying their heads from side to side, the other half had their mouths agape, like fear had indulged their bones.

Eren felt his beating heart, and it pounded his chest like a drum.

“Oh … oh…”

His grip on the rifle began to loosen, leaving his finger to stall on the side. Not bothering to look at anyone, some of his breath quaked in his throat, leading Ada to glance at him.

With her right hand, she pressed the butt of her palm onto his shoulder.

“Get your act together! Do you wanna be dinner for those bastards!?”

“But—”

“They’re not human anymore! If we leave them like that, you’ll know what they’re capable of!”

Stiffening his face, he held up the mucus that tried to escape through his nose. Turning his attention onto the zompire horde, he felt his hands tremble under the weight of his rifle. Trying to dig into the metal, he darkened his lower eyelids.

“T-Then what do we do…”

“We have no choice.”

“She’s right.”

Both of them turned to Benn, who had his pinned eyes on Pedro. Looking like he had the chamber loaded, and his finger on the trigger, he stared down lich who in return glared at him.

“You and her are going to deal with the horde, while me and Loraine handle the lich.”

Eren puckered his lips, and felt his grip on the gun loosening from his fingers. Looking like he was beginning to regain control, there was one woman who had the opposite effect.

“Who decided that?”

Ada took a step forward, and placed her hands on her waist with narrowed eyes. Her face scrunched up, she clicked her tongue and tightened her body. Benn didn’t bother to glance at her, given the fact that he could care less for her rude nature.

“I did.”

“So you think you’re better than us Sharky?”

“What do you think?”

“Oh you smart little—”

“Enough! He’s right Ada … let’s just get this done…”

Patting her shoulder with his right hand, he had his rifle held by his left. Gripping the fabric with his nails, it sent her rude state to be interrupted.

Turning her head to the silver-haired agent, she still had that glare on her face. Rolling her eyes, she brushed off Eren’s hand, and let her hands drop to her sides.

“Tch … Fine!”

Stomping her way toward the crowd of walking zompires, she saw it was mostly riddled with pouncers. Their feet dragging against the pavement, their behavior was more than unusual, leaving her to rub her chin with one of her thumbs.

‘Most zompires usually charge rather than walk. So why are they stalling?’

Stopping to the right of her, Eren had his barrel facing the crowd of zompires. His rifle already ready, he had his finger on the trigger, while he kept his eyes firm. Without turning or glancing at Ada, he calmed his breath.

“So … how are we doing this?”

Ada jabbed both of her hands into her pockets, and pulled out two brass knuckles. Tossing them up in the air, some of the light flickered and shone, until it began its descent. Having all of her fingers lined up, two brass knuckles lined up against her fingers.

Wiggling her fingers, and readying her fists, a cold frown continued to dominate her face.

“Same as always. Cover my back, and I’ll cover yours.”

“Got it.”

________________________________________________________________________

Loraine and Benn ignored the two agents.

Their eyes focused on the lich in front of them, they glued their boots deep into the hardened stone. Pedro, who had a smirk full of smugness, looked down at the two of them from the roof of the jeep.

“You know I won’t go down easy.”

“Remember your last fight?! David kicked your butt!”

“And yet I still got up.”

A plume of white gas began to excrement from his skin. Surrounding his body in white, the only part of his body that wasn’t blanketed was his head. Maintaining his grin, it pushed Benn and Loraine to take a step back.

“Once I’m done with you two, I’ll pay that chubby bastard a visit.”

“You wish!”

Loraine was the first to push off from the pavement. Denting it with the tips of her boots, her pigtails rippled through the air as she pulled back her right hand.

Her palm glowing a small yellowish light, it was none other than a nylon rope garnished in black. Seeing that he was standing still, even when she was taking charge, she growled and sneered…

And threw her rope.

“Gotcha!”

“You are actually that stupid…”

“No she ain’t.”

He widened his eyes, as a voice cold as frozen mint blew to his left. Hovering back, his feet didn’t grip the asphalt as he was one with the air. Pinning his eyes at the two of them, who in return tracked him down, he began to crackle like a mad man.

“Hahaha! You can’t get me can you?!”

“Benn, light him up!”

“Sure thing.”

Letting the barrel burn, the recoil of his gun trembled his body. From his bones, down to his own blood and muscles, everything shook from the tenacity of his fastening bullets. Zipping through the air, Pedro found himself in the storm of lead.

Instead of hovering in one place, he flew and twirled around with the polluted wind. Evading every single bullet, it led the shark-human to cease his firing. Although his gun wasn’t empty, he began to stock up another round of bullets into the chamber.

Which gave Pedro a good reason to fly down.

“Special delivery!”

Loraine widened her eyes, and leaped back to avoid the gust of white air barreling to the floor. Swishing her hair with the motion, some of the pure oxygen gushed like a leaking hose.

Leaving her vision to slightly blurry, and her breathing to hardened.

Coughing two times, she spat out saliva. Upon instinct, it was as if the oxygen was rotten food. Leaving her legs and feet to wobble, she let her right arm be pulled back.

While honing her eyes at Pedro, who happened to fly straight at her.

“I said special delivery!”

Thrusting his fists, she leaped to the right, and was barely able to dodge in time. And because it spread, it led her vision to blur once more.

‘He’s too fast … he’s too fast …’

Jumping to her left, her right foot twitched—

She collapsed.

But that didn’t stop Pedro.

Soaring high in the air, he then angled his hands that were raised high to the heavens. Culminating a cloud of oxygen and smoke, he honed his all-black eyes on the teenage girl, who happened to close her eyes. He could see through her, as her breathing was normal.

“You think you could just play dead!? Do you really think that!?”

Like an anvil, he fell with gravity and weight increasing bit by bit. Honing all of it into the bottom of his heels, his hair and skin rippled and flapped the longer he soared—

‘Good job Loraine.’

His body weight firm on the pavement, he pushed the trigger, and let the barrel flare like a candle.

Sending another storm of bullets, it tore through the very air and tension that Pedro had pulled. Lifting up his head, he turned it toward Benn.

“You—”

Soaring himself to the left, Benn only had to shoot half of what he shot prior. But given this, he didn’t just strike once…

Bullet holes littered his body. Last but not least, most of those bullets released a certain gas. Coughing out tar, he felt his clouds and body weaken the longer he inhaled. Along with tar dribbling out from his eyes, and even his ears, it rolled down into his chest.

Softly landing on the pavement, he rolled two to three times before coming to a stop. As black sludge continued to graze his throat, he grappled his chest with one of his hands, and flickered his eyes erratically. Turning himself to the two of them, he saw Benn and Loraine slowly walking toward him.

“Both of you are vile! Stains to society! You should face the absolute horror of God’s jokes!”

“Quiet.”

Benn had the barrel of his machine gun pointed at Pedro, who groveled on the ground like an angry homeless man. Clutching the pavement with his fingers, some of his nails chipped from the excess pressure.

His finger on the trigger, Benn only had a frown.

“This is for the best.”

Just as he was about to fire, his entire face boiled up in sweat.

—Pedro was nowhere to be seen.—

Gritting his teeth, Benn closed his eyes and felt his soul be of no use in this world. Seeing black, hearing nothing, feeling static, everything was gone as if he was pulled away to another dimension. Being just himself, he whispered into his soul.

‘Lend me the eyes of a pet cheetah.’

Placing his soul into the nearest pet possible, there was one thing different amongst this world. Tigers, bears, lions, cheetahs, leopards, wolves—anything that looked wild was domesticated. Meaning a killing machine was domesticated into submission.

Blinking its eyes, the cheetah scanned its surroundings amidst a free open space. Looking like it escaped from its kennel, the building wasn’t too far from where Benn was, given that it was on the same street. Tramping across debris, the cheetah let its eyes zoom across the field of war, given the fact that tigers could see in the dark

And upon squinting its eyes, and gruffling air through its coarse throat, it took note of a large cloud zipping toward…

‘Got to hurry…’

With no time to react, given he couldn’t, he wouldn’t be able to speak to Loraine. The cloud being bastioned in the dark, it was a trump card that Pedro used.

Zooming through the air like a bullet, all of its bones and muscles gleamed and lubricated its blood like an engine. Dragging the floor with its claws, it gruffled saliva from the tips of its fangs.

As it even zoomed past the soaring gas cloud.

“You think you could save yourself!? Cheetahs aren’t built for strength!”

Narrowly reaching both Benn and Loraine, the pet honed its beading eyes onto the both of them. Benn, who had it under its control, began to gleam with sweat the more he used his blessing. With Loraine gripping her nylon rope, she aimed her eyes at the cloud of dust.

“Don’t attack Loraine…”

In slow motion, she saw a blur of yellow and black zoom straight at her.

Having no time to react, she widened her eyes and loosened her footing with the ground. Being taken by her collar, the cheetah dragged the gasped Loraine toward a store, with the butt of her boots scraping the pavement. Unable to extend a hand, or call out a voice, she saw Benn standing still.

‘Oh…’

Once she was free from his eyes, he ceased his control, all at the same time the gas cloud submerged him.

Rising up to his head, it clogged and stormed through every hole within his body. Molesting, assaulting, caressing, molesting, assaulting, caressing, he felt like he was being smuggled by the hideous air.

Up until he crashed onto the floor, with his chin bruised from the pain.

“Benn!”

Squeezing her vocals, she sponged out his name from within the store. Getting up from the floor, the cheetah that was beside her soon stormed out of the store. Running away from the conflict, it sped off into the darkness, and left the teenage girl to see Benn’s pale body.

A body that was infused with lethal amounts of oxygen.

“Ah…”

She couldn’t breathe, nor could she push out air.

Her nylon rope tightening upon her grip, it was like she was squeezing a lemon. Trying so hard to break it, crush it, turn it into pieces of leather … She then hardened her eyes.

While small clouds of white entered through.

“You…”

Entering into the gas station, was another customer that had an appointment. Being in a gaseous state, the creature soon began to mold its face into something more realistic. Molding his feet, then his calves and thighs, he went up the ladder all the way toward his face.

Blinking twice, he pushed up a grin, and stared down at the teenage girl who trembled viciously.

“Who’s going to save you now?”