Doorstep to Hell Pt. 1

Meanwhile, at ground-level of the now-decimated vehicle depot, Hela pinned Minerva to the ground by the neck. No matter how much she struggled, Minerva couldn't free herself.

"How funny is it that I find a stray Calypso here... in a military outpost, of all places," Hela smiled wickedly. "Weren't you girls hanging low? What's changed? Why are you here? Go on. Tell me. I am very curious."

Even if she wanted to talk, Minerva couldn't. The grip was far too tight. Her eyes then locked onto a nearby pistol. She reached her arm out for it, but Hela knocked it away.

"Ah-ah-ah. That's not allowed. I'm trying to ask a question here. Shouldn't you be a darling and answer it for me?"

Suddenly, the same pistol sprung aglow and lifted itself off the ground. With a flick of Minerva's finger, it opened fire. Hela pulled her head out of the way, releasing her hold of Minerva for just a second. That second was all she needed, as she latched onto Hela's arm and pulled her to the ground next to her.

"Code: Trojan Horse!" she shouted, finally able to speak.

Dozens of rifles lifted themselves off the ground and locked onto Hela. Minerva snapped her fingers, initiating a storm of bullets. While still under fire, Hela stayed in the exact same spot, only dodging when she needed to. Her head tilted left and right, her leg moved slightly, and she pulled her shoulders back while allowing the rest to simply graze past her.

When the rifles had expended their magazines, Hela stood perfectly unscathed save for a couple of small cuts. She reached her finger up to wipe a small drop beneath her eye.

"Gosh, and here I was thinking we could have a nice, friendly conversation," she scoffed.

"As you're holding me down by the neck?" Minerva grumbled.

"It's just a failsafe, darling. Not many people are willing to sit down with me for a nice bottle of alcohol, so I have to drink by myself. It got lonely after a while, so now I hold people at gunpoint and force them to join me. Not a bad idea, eh?"

"You're insane."

"Hm... It's kind of weird how almost everyone tends to say that about me. We only just met after so long, darling. Here I was thinking I'd grab the iron cell and leave without a problem, but then I find out that Calypso was aiming for it as well. Now, what could that possibly mean?"

Even though there was no way that Hela could've figured out Calypso's plan, something told Minerva that she knew everything and perhaps more.

"Nyx's code," Hela muttered. "You Calypsos have it, don't you?

Minerva maintained her ground in silence, her eyes glowing a subtle blue hue.

"Oh~ Looks like I was right. Now that... sounds like a problem, doesn't it?" 

Hela pulled out her flintlock at the same time that Minerva pulled out her hand cannon. Together, they pulled the trigger, one sending forth a ray of crimson-red plasma, and the other propelling a handcrafted high-caliber bullet—two different projectiles with the same force, colliding. The plasma was able to consume the bullet, and the bullet was able to block the plasma.

In the end, both Hela and Minerva were still standing, unscathed but withholding their fingers that were still looped around the triggers.

"Ho~? What a coincidence, hm?" Hela smiled.

Minerva led with a quick shot aimed straight for Hela's chest, but her reflexes were near-perfect. She sidestepped every shot, closing the gap between them.

They collided in a flurry of limbs, Minerva thrusting her pistol upward to catch Hela off guard with a point-blank shot. Hela immediately caught Minerva's wrist mid-motion, redirecting the barrel just enough for the shot to crack harmlessly against the ceiling.

At the same time, both of them jumped back into another stalemate. From a belt hanging around her waist, Keira pulled out a tiny, glowing energy cell.

"Hehe. You always were a good shot, darling," she giggled. "I'm curious if you're better than me, though. You see, I've always wanted to challenge you at the shoot ranging, but I wasn't allowed to. Protocols and whatnot. You'll entertain me for a while, won't you?"

She pushed the cell into her flintlock and pulled down the hammer, indicating that it was ready to fire once more. Minerva raised her hand cannon and fired two shots. Hela jerked her head left and right to dodge both shots, before lunging forward and closing the gap.

Before Minerva could get the third shot off, Hela retaliated with a hard jab toward her side, but Minerva twisted as she raised her knee into Hela's stomach.

Hela grunted yet still managed to counter, spinning on her heel to throw off Minerva's balance. In the same motion, she flicked her flintlock upward, aiming for Minerva's face. Minerva's instincts kicked in, and she smacked the flintlock's barrel to the side with her hand cannon, the shot going wide, echoing in the wide depot. Hela quickly pulled herself up and grabbed Minerva's wrist, stopping her from shooting for just a moment.

"Well, that's not fair, now is it, darling?" she smiled. "I can only shoot one bullet at a time. Would you be so kind as to let me reload before we continue?"

Minerva attempted to strike with her other hand, and right as Hela reached up to block it, she jumped back to increase the gap between them. With only one shot left in the chamber, she aimed her hand cannon at Hela's forehead.

In that split second, Hela reached for another cell, flicking it upward right as Minerva pulled the trigger. The bullet raced through the air, colliding with the cell and changing its trajectory. Both items flew off course, but Hela extended her arm off to the side, catching the deviating cell perfectly within the flintlock's socket and immediately pulling down the hammer.

With her gun having been reloaded just like that, she took aim and fired. The plasma bolt raced through the air. Minerva saw it, but she couldn't react in time.

At that moment, time froze. Zephyr appeared like a bolt of lightning, slashing at it with her sword. It rode upon the edge of her blade as she swung it back, redirecting the path. The plasma bolt slammed onto the ground, forming a crater that melted even further.

"Ah... Another rat to deal with," Hela sighed. "I should've—"

"Code: Eleventh Hour!"

A crack of lightning flashed as a faded time wave overtook the area, one that could only be heard and felt by Zephyr. She lunged forward and readied her blade for a strike. With a powerful step, she swung. The blade inched closer and closer until the plasma-tipped edge was but a hair away from Hela's neck.

Suddenly, Hela's eyes shook, and immediately after, the stars in her pupils flashed a bright hue of red. Her eyes rapidly snapped onto Zephyr, who began feeling a strange sensation, one she had not felt in many years: anxiety.

Keira's lips twitched, and her brows raised. Her eyes widened as the crooked smile on her face grew wider.

"Code... Overclock," she whispered.

Just like that, the distorted timestream cracked, and everything was normal once again. Zephyr slid back, her shoulder bleeding. All the while, Hela was standing in the exact same spot. The only difference was the devilish glow of her star-shaped pupils, as well as the smoke trailing out from the barrel of her flintlock.

"Trying to hit me when I'm talking is quite rude, don't you know?" she said while sliding a finger beneath her eyes. "But I guess it was worth it. You should see the look on your face, darling. Priceless."

"What... did you do...?" Zephyr growled.

"Surprised? I would be, too. I don't really understand it myself. Well actually, I guess I understand one thing now. Your little... 'time powers'... don't affect me. Very interesting, no?"

Hela stepped forward, a menacing aura surrounding her that was much more imposing than before.

"Now then... Shall we finish this, Calypso?"