Chapter 25

 A pile of debris stirred and fell away like an egg’s shell being broken apart. The shield emitter in her hand dimmed, and Hanabi stepped out of the ruins of what was once the house.

“Oh, you survived?” Apex’s voice caught her by surprise.

‘Of course he survived.’

He was still floating in the same spot he’d been before, the explosion seemed to only do minimal surface level damage. Some scuffs and scratches to his armor, but he was otherwise fine.

He floated down and touched down on the ground. He seemed to be searching for something, but for what, Hanabi didn’t know. He regarded her, but waved her off. “Damn Gatekeepers, you’d think an explosion of that yield would’ve killed you, but noooo, like damn roaches you just refuse to die.”

“...you’re still alive too.”

“...Did you just compare me to an insect you redundant pile of scrap and corpses?”

Some rubble fell, both of them looked in the direction.

“Oh well isn’t this a surprise.” Apex said as he walked around the other side of the rubble. Surprisingly, the terrorist was still alive. Apparently bombs weren’t worth shit when it came to killing people.

Though in this man’s, apparently he’d used his powers to turn himself into some kind of monster, his skin had turned into a hardened chitinous material which cracked and fell as he struggled to breathe. What little they could see of his face, was gray, wrinkled, and bloody.

“Hm… that’s a shame,” Apex said as he stood beside the fallen form. “Would’ve been easier if you died.” He stared for several moments. “Hm… looks like you’re an 97.5% friend. But I don’t see the device anymore, so where’d it go?”

If he could smile, he probably would. Instead, with great difficulty, he just flipped Apex the bird. The response was pretty clear.

“Well, I don’t really need you tell me. With the fog gone, I can just track where it went. But you though…” he lowered his palm to face him, a bright light started to form. “This is where your story ends.”

A bright flash of light followed a beam of destructive energy, and then there was that sound, that horrible sound, a high-pitched whine, and then a deep, abyssal drop as the beam atomized the terrorist, leaving nothing behind but a blackened stain on the ground.

A memory stirred, deep within her…

She was there in a field, at the edge of the dome. She wasn’t alone. Someone was with her, someone very dear to her, someone who’d been her companion for as long as she could remember.

They happened to be the first to arrive at a Starfall site, they thought they could grab some stuff and then sell it to someone important. Even a small scrap could set them up for a lifetime. Technically, the Starfall salvage belonged to whichever country it fell in, but they were sure no one would miss a few small pieces that two kids could carry.

It was here that they found a glowing device, it seemed valuable so they picked it up. They could see into the energy field, a strap sort of place. Creepy, but someone would pay for it.

And then… he came. She hid as her friend was caught. He was larger than person they’d ever seen, decked from head to toe in armor and technology they could never dream of. He made accusations, he made threats, he seemed to believe that her friend was an enemy spy. They tried to talk, tried to calm them down, try to explain that they were just a street urchin looking for salvage to sell.

He didn’t believe them. He hurt them. Badly. For what felt like an eternity as she watched and hid, completely helpless. And then… came that sound, and that light… and her friend and the device were gone.

Then he was gone. That monstrous metal man just left. He left her alone in the wasteland, and all that remained her friend was a piece of his tattered cloak.

Something was born in her that day. Hatred. A hatred that would persist even in death. A hatred that she could never let go.

And now here she was. Faced with the monster who took everything from her. And she felt… hatred. So it was nothing short of a relief for her when he suddenly turned his palm towards her, and then there was that sound then the beam. It meant she didn’t have to look for an excuse to fight.

Reaction Dilation was active, she ducked and weaved beneath the beam, kicked off from her back leg and dashed towards Apex. She leaped and delivered a flying punch directly to his face.

“Nanomancy Foundry activation conditions met…”

“Processing……..”

“Prefab-01 unlocked”

“Initiating metamorphosis sequence………..”

Before her eyes, that liquid metal substance closed around her hands, hardening, insulating, building. New functions were being unlocked as the metal fists formed around her arms.

“Prefab-01 complete.”

“Designation: Grimhammer.”

If only she could’ve seen the look on his face through the visor as her fist collided with the side of his helmet.