Chapter 26

 She watched him tumble and turn through the air, finally landing with a thud several feet away. He laid there for several moments, it was hard to tell if he was actually hurt or if he was just shocked at someone actually landing a hit on him.

He sighed.

“Ya know… if you would’ve just stayed still, this could’ve been over much quicker.” He slowly rose to his feet. “Look I don’t have time to explain why you have to die right now, it’s way above your pay-grade. So, be a good little machine and die.”

Before he could fire, Hanabi had thrown a large piece of debris at him, forcing him to defend himself by blasting it. However, he didn’t see Hanabi ducking down below his range.

She uppercut him beneath the jaw, then while he was in mid air struck him with her fist right in the abdomen. And once again, he tumbled, twirled, and twisted in the air, colliding into a piece of standing rubble.

Hanabi returned to her fighting stance, but Apex didn’t move. There was no way he was beaten though, not after two hits. “Get up!” She demanded, he didn’t budge. “I SAID GET UP! I’m not done with you!” Hanabi advanced. “I’m not gonna let you go, not gonna let you pass out, or die, or talk your way out of it. I want to know. Twelve years ago, there was a Starfall, within Soluna’s border. You were the first on the scene, there was a kid there, a boy. You beat and tortured him, believing he was a spy. I just want to know one thing…” She stood at least a foot away from Apex. “Why? What possible reason could you have had for killing some kid who was no threat to you?”

“Hm…” Apex stirred, pulling himself out of the indentation he’d been knocked into. “Is that what this is about? Some old memories you think you remember?” He cracked his neck and shook out the stiffness. “By the stars, it’s amazing. They wipe your memories when you get turned into this freakshow. But SOMEHOW there’s a memory so ingrained in whatever’s left of your brain that it breaks through the veil of death to remind you of something that insignificant? That’s hilari-” He was punched in the face before he even finished the sentence!

“Don’t you dare call what you did, insignificant!”

He moved his head back into place, that was the third time he’d been struck by someone beneath him. “Look, did I kill your precious friend? Maybe. I’ve killed a lot of people. The healthy, the sick, the poor, the rich, friends, enemies, the weak, the powerful, and everything you could possibly imagine. Do you have any idea how little the question of, “did you kill this person,” narrows it down for me?”

She could hear the condescension in his voice, and felt as though she knew the exact smug smile he was putting on through his visor. This man, this supposed paragon of everything Soluna stood for… he was listening to this dressing down of his prior behavior, and he, not only found it not even worth a damn, but also he was amused by Hanabi’s anger.

Apex was never going to apologize, never acknowledge that he even did anything wrong, nor was there any force in the world that could possibly hold him accountable. Hell, for all Hanabi knew, what he did might’ve actually been perfectly legal under Soluna’s laws.

No one would ever punish Apex for killing someone so dear to Hanabi.

A Gatekeeper’s emotions were often dulled and muted, it helped them do their jobs, helped them from reacting emotionally, to keeping a cool head.

Hers must’ve been malfunctioning.

She screamed, a sound of hate and anguish, knowing that while that day was a defining point in her life and what lead her to where she is now. But for Apex… it was just another day, and another victim of his unchecked authority.

There was only one person who could possibly make Apex pay for what he did. And that was her.

She stepped forward and threw a punch, it shattered the debris into chunks but it missed Apex, who’d dodged just before it hit.

Before she could respond, he shot out an overhand punch, knocking her to the ground. Her vision buzzed and crackled. As she tried to get up, he felt Apex’s boot dig into her abdomen and knock her several feet away.

“Heavy damage sustained… auto-repair protocols in progress…”

“That’s two hits for three. Do you know who I am? I’m Apex there is literally no one more powerful than me.” He taunted while advancing on her, arms held out wide as if he found this whole situation ridiculous. That this pile of metal in the shape of a person could dare challenge him. “Bitch, I’m a god, and you’re just some spare parts the Consortium put together.”

“Only…” she coughed up whatever functioned as blood for her body, even as her body repaired itself. “Only because of that suit. You didn’t… you didn’t earn anything for yourself, all you do is rely on that suit to pretend to be a super.” Hanabi stumbled to her feet, taking her stance and keeping her guard up. “You’re just a pathetic boy with super-envy.” Now it was Hanabi’s turn to smirk, poking that obvious complex with a metaphorical knife.

Apex stopped, he just stared at her with an imperceptible gaze. But, the killing instinct and hatred he had for Hanabi’s words were clear, it bounded off him in an almost visible field. He clenched his hands into a tight fist and cracked the soreness out of his neck. “Ya know, I was just gonna end this real quick, because I have something way more important to do than pull the legs off an insect. But ya know… I’ve changed my mind.” He got into a fighting stance. “I’m going to dismantle you, piece by piece, melt you down into scrap, and use that to build a giant fuck-you statue to your entire regiment.”

“...Shut up and fight, asshole.”

The time for talk and taunts were over, now it was time to fight. They charged!