Bloodstained Rose

Chapter 16

The drones had remained invisible in the night sky as they approached the village from thousands of feet above. The dropship followed behind and sped on with Vic standing in its open hatch. In the distance, he could see several of the warriors outside of the shrine, all armed and poised on Hideo.

“Come now comrades, it looks like there’s a little bit of infighting among the knuckle draggers!” Vic shouted back into the ship. Some laughter had managed to ring out through the sound of the turbine. The two machine gunners on board had already locked in with their weapons. The drones above had finally been armed. “Attack!”

A few massive bonfires had been raging across the village, preventing the stars from shining. Outside the shrine, the number of warriors had doubled following the standoff from earlier. Hideo remained in the shelter as they continued to shout at him, still hoping that Rei and Jin will be returning soon.

“Hideo-Jin-Ni, this is your final warning! The bloodshed can end if you come out!” a voice called out.

“Naomi would still be alive if you had surrendered!” another shouted. Hideo had clenched Rei’s winter robe tight once he started to come to the realization—the only way out is with them.

“I give up,” Hideo finally shouted from below the stairs. He had already made his way towards the front of the shrine to see Naomi’s lifeless body before him. As his heart sunk, he tried to explain, “You can all arrest me, or we can take what little time you have and escape. They are coming for me. I will turn myself in, but I feel that they will not spare anyone.”

There was a blast in the distance. A couple hundred yards away, the monastery had erupted in a ball of fire as a mortar from overhead had crashed into it. The force of the explosion had pulverized every inch from the roof to the foundation, sending the debris tearing through everything in its path. Hideo had been knocked off his feet. His ears had rung from the blast. The many horrible memories of his allies who had been killed the war had struck him. The trauma reached back from the depths and glued him to the ground. Screams had started to erupt from the village only to quickly be silenced by the sound of gunfire. The troops on the ground had been rag dolled by the shockwave as the attack went into full swing. Bullets and artillery had rained down, making easy pickings of the villagers while the dropship swept through. Hideo felt another mortar land a bit further out, this time hitting the barracks.

“Get moving.” he muttered to himself before dashing towards the shelter under the shrine. It would be the only way to guarantee his survival with the bombing raid now under way.

Rei managed to track Jin’s quick steps as he whizzed past the trees. The new upgrade had started to prove too much. While trying to keep in motion, she had been blindsided as Jin rushed from around cover, swiping his blade towards her neck. The onboard AI of Rei’s suit had caused her to lean back, narrowly avoiding being sliced apart. Jin quickly swung back around but had only managed to collide with the air while Rei successfully dodged and came back with another strike. Her blade had passed through the blue steel of Jin’s katana, causing a loud clang once as it cut through his weapon.

“Stop this!” Rei screamed back. The severed piece of steel from Jin’s sword had spiraled downward, stabbing the grass. Jin grasped the remaining stub in disbelief.

“This ends when you take off the suit! Don’t make me have to kill you!” Jin had started to feel the suit react to his thoughts. Suddenly, a flash of azure had ripped through the black texture while the rest of the fabric along with his hair had begun to glow with it. Rei could feel her suit starting to reach out to her as he started to close in once more, this time much faster. In a blink, he had managed to drive his elbow into Rei’s solar plexus. Her mouth opened to gasp, but the air had already been completely knocked out.

The attacks had only continued. Jin had been completely taken off guard by the awesome power at his disposal. He had delivered a flying kick across Rei’s chest, causing her body to take off in a spin. This was the opening he needed as he drew a kunai from off his belt and dashed over to her. Rei felt her instincts beginning to take over. In a flash, her suit had switched to the blue-mode, giving her just enough of a speed boost to combat him. They collided again in the air as streaks of blue light had started blinking rapidly through the valley. The two continued battling at intense speeds, eventually tearing apart the forest around them.

Toki could hear the carnage just over the hill. He could not imagine the horror that was unfolding before him as the dread of losing his tribe loomed. Even more so, he had thought of Naomi—she was the only thing keeping him connected to this world. She had to be ok. From the trees behind him, Yulia had emerged from cover. She did not take long to free herself from the ground. Still covered in dirt, she dashed in for a quick attack.

“Hey, wait for me!” Yulia shouted out. Toki sprung to the defense. His muscles had still been channeling the awesome energy from the Deep, so he tried a counter strike. Yulia rushed face first into his next punch, taking the hit without flinching. There was a crunch inside of Toki’s fist. With this power, he had been able to easily destroy rock and other metals, but Yulia’s body had completely neutralized the force. Following the strike, a red aura had started to emanate from inside of her body, enveloping her. Toki went for another punch only to watch his fist bounce off her face. All at once, Yulia’s eyes had shined red.

“My turn now!” Yulia shouted to him before breaking into a fit of laughter. She had quickly slammed her open palm into Toki’s chest, nearly draining the energy from him with her raw power. Toki wrenched back as she followed into another flurry of punches and kicks. Yulia had gone through the motions, delivering successful strike after strike. The simple boost of power and speed in this transformation had completely cancelled out all the power Toki had amassed. He was going to have to pull all the stops if he wanted to walk out of this fight.

Hideo had been swept off his feet by another blast. In the mere minutes of the rampage, bullets and other armaments successfully leveled most of the village. As the few survivors had started to make their escape into the woods, the dropship had followed up with another barrage of gunfire. The warriors on post may have had the powers of the Deep, but they had no idea how to fight against a bullet. The resistance was short lived. During the carnage, Vic rapidly made his approach to the shrine, cutting off Hideo before he could escape from the debris.

“Hideo, it's been so long!” Vic shouted to him as he reached for the pistol hanging from his belt. Hideo rose from the collapsing shrine only to take a brief glance at his foe. Upon seeing Vic raise his side arm, he dived backwards over cover to avoid the oncoming gunfire. Each projectile had enough force to pulverize the large pieces of brick between them. The shots continued tearing away at the remains as Hideo tried to get closer to the ground as the dust and debris rained down. Over the sound of the shots, Vic shouted, “Did you turn on your village too?”

He had pulled the trigger once more, feeling the slide lock in place—his magazine had finally been depleted. Hideo had not fought against anybody with a firearm in decades, but he knew that familiar sound. This was it. Vic traced his thumb across the side of the pistol, pressing down on the magazine release switch. The metal cartridge released from the handle, dropping to the dirt below. Hideo had used that opening to leap over the bricks and began to channel the Rising as he closed in. The chilly air continued to emanate from his body while his power surged. Vic anticipated the move, deflecting his next attack with a swipe of his hand. While floating off the ground, Hideo tried his best to throw as many kicks as possible to not give Vic any room to breathe.

However, despite his attempts, Vic had managed to gain the upper hand long enough to grab a hold of Hideo’s foot. With a simple swing, he had thrown Hideo across the remains of the villagers and towards the statue of Hideo-Jin-Ichi. The sheer momentum of his delivery had caused Hideo to smash directly through the statue, shattering it into millions of pebbles. Hideo’s heightened focus had helped keep him conscious during the impact. Sailing through the debris was Hideo-Jin-Ichi sword, still spinning towards him. Hideo instantly recovered, grabbing the weapon in flight before he could hit the ground.

“Wait, Vic, stop all of this!” Hideo cried out to him. “I know we killed a lot of people. I will never be able to atone for the lives I have taken, but please stop this. I am the one you want!”

“Are you begging now? After all the lives you’ve taken? For what?” Vic asked him.

“We were trying to bring freedom, real change!”

“Freedom!” Vic laughed at the thought. “How many people begged for their lives at your feet?”

“I know you want revenge, just please stop this now! I will come quietly!”

“Hideo-san, after all these years, I never thought to see you become a sad, pathetic shell of your former self! Do you think I should just end it here? I will show you the terror of my revenge just as you brought us carnage in the name of ‘freedom.’”

Vic immediately slapped another magazine into his pistol and loaded up another round. With the Rising still flowing, Hideo went for a pre-emptive attack and slashed down towards his opponent. The edge had barely pierced through Vic’s glove and into the bionic implants of his hand as he caught the sword in flight.

“Impossible.” Hideo muttered in disbelief. His shock soon ended as Vic pressed the pistol into his ribs. With a quick pull, a round had been fired directly into Hideo’s chest, missing his heart by a few inches. The energy he had amassed from the Deep instantly dissipated. Hideo slumped to the ground as his back had exploded into a cloud of red. As his knees buckled, Vic had followed up with one quick strike from his knee, hitting Hideo directly where the bullet had previously landed. The kinetic force of the attack had launched Hideo backwards and over towards the crumbling remains of the monastery.

“Hideo, comrade, I’ll make sure that the rest of their fates are worse than yours,” Vic called out as he started to walk toward him. He flicked his arm, causing the sword in his grip to flip up and over. Once he caught the handle, he stepped over to examine his victim lying helpless. Hideo stared up at him, clinging onto life. He coughed up another glob of fluid, slowly caught his breath, and then faced Vic as his life began to slip.

“You will lose.” Hideo said in his dying breath. Vic gave his nemesis a final nod for his bravery.

“So long, Hideo.” Vic said before driving the blade down through Hideo’s heart. In the last moments, he began to twist the blade from side to side, ensuring that each second was as painful as the last. As the metal began to tear into Hideo’s heart, Vic gave the sword one last push. Hideo froze in place as he had started to drift back, staring in awe as the memory of Mizumi cradling Rei from her bed played in his head. He had felt at peace. Vic then pulled the blade from Hideo’s chest, causing another splash of blood to hit his uniform. Hideo let out a groan before finally slumping back into the dirt, lifeless as he continued to bleed.

The burn from using the blue-form’s speed had started to wear the two down. By now, Rei could feel her lungs burning from the massive speed boost and had no choice but to revert to normal. “I’m not going to ask you again,” Jin said loudly as his hair and robe started to shine black once more.

“Enough,” Rei interrupted him. “You’re not going to win this one, get a hold of yourself! Do you think Naomi would have wanted us fighting to the death over her?”

“You have no right to mention say her name, outsider!” Jin shouted before glaring at her. As soon as Rei had realized her error, she had started to feel an ominous presence.

“Jin, stop this!” Rei shouted again.

“Then take off the suit!” Jin’s voice had started to echo. She had been locked in his trap. Just like the battles time and time before, his body began to warp into multiple copies. The dark black robe over his body began to expand, and instead of leaving curtain-like apparitions in place as walls, the area around her only went black. In a scramble, she had barely managed to catch a few random apparitions popping in and out of view as she sunk into the new dimension.

“I think they may be attacking now; we have to stop them!” Rei cried out. Jin emerged from the dark, swinging his second sword toward her again. Rei swiped forwards, smacking Jin’s weapon in flight and shattering it. Just like that, Jin had been down another weapon, but he would not give up so easily. He jettisoned the broken sword before continuing the shenanigans. Under the moon, Rei had barely been able to keep track of her opponent. The onboard AI had also had some interference trying to react in this dimension, leaving her with only instincts. Jin went for one last ditch effort, aiming for her jugular with his last kunai. Rei had managed to spot him before he could strike and took a swing just as he drove his shoulder into her. The two had come crashing out of the other dimension and tumbled across the ground. Rei had rolled over on top of him with her pitch-black sword pressed against his throat.

“Stop it!” Rei screamed as she struggled to hold the blade down. In the distance, the gunshots and explosions had reverberated through the winter air as they continued wrestling over the weapon. Rei clenched her teeth as the gunshots started to ring out and finally said, “They’re killing them.”

Jin had tuned her out while trying to push the sword away. By this time, he had realized just as well as her that the village was already in danger. They had been too late.

“I give up,” Jin said to her. There was nothing left he could do; he had spent too much energy trying to fight her. As Rei lowered her weapon, he dropped his hands and asked, “Alright Rei, what now?”

“We have to go back to the village. Hurry,” She lifted herself off him, extending her hand, “we don’t have long. We need you.”

Jin took another deep breath and reached forward towards her to pull himself off the ground.

Toki had taken dozens of hits over the course of a millisecond. Yulia’s inhuman powers had no limit or breaking point—she was the immovable object in the way of an unstoppable force. Toki delivered another jab but had been caught in flight.

“What’s the matter? Am I too fast?” Yulia asked him as she began to squeeze his fist.

“How are you so strong?” Toki replied. Yulia only snickered as she pulled a serrated blade from off her belt. Before Toki could pull back for another attack, the weapon had been stabbed through his right arm. He screamed in pain before instinctively grabbing hold of her hair. With what strength he could muster, he had cranked his arm around before launching Yulia across the battlefield and towards the dropship.

Vic had begun to make his back to the ship. The gunfire had begun to cease with the number of villagers dropping. He stared back towards the hull of the TKY-7, lifting his hand to speak into his receiver.

“We got him team, let's go for a final sweep,” Vic ordered into the device.

“Roger that sir,” a voice responded just before there was another loud crash straight ahead. Yulia’s body had smashed directly into the dropship’s hull, instantly tearing apart the fuel line. Just as she entered, a ball of fire had escaped, causing a chain reaction that ended with the dropship exploding. The night sky above had shined bright while shrapnel from the exterior of the ship had completely shredded everything in the area. Vic had been viciously thrown to the ground by the blast. Disoriented, he fumbled to his feet after taking the shock head on. He had not expected everything to go sideways so quickly. The flames from the fuel started to fill the area around him as he stood. Still dizzy, he reached for the receiver and asked, “Yulia, are you still there?”

It was highly likely that she would survive the blast, given her inhuman durability. As for the rest of his team, there would have been no chance—their fleshy bodies had been blown to pieces. Vic braced himself as he began to detect Toki charging at him from the flank. His massive power had been easy to sense, but at this point his speed had increased so much that tracking him with his eyes would be impossible.

“You will pay!” Toki screamed once he had finally reached striking distance. Vic managed to sight in on Toki with his pistol, lining the sights into his chest. After a firm squeeze, the muzzle from the pistol erupted in a ball of fire. Vic followed up as rapidly as possible, ensuring that his aim was center mast. The bullets had crashed into Toki’s chest, but instead of going through they had been lodged into his flesh. Vic had never seen a man be able to tank a full barrage of ammunition directly. The power amp was too massive. Toki swiped his hand across his chest, knocking the pieces of metal to the ground.

“Alright big guy, let's do this!” Vic said to him as he lifted his arms to square up. Toki’s fist had immediately been launched into Vic’s face, whipping him to the ground. The immense strength had nearly severed his jaw from his skull. In the milliseconds he had been airborne, Vic had barely managed to make the decision to call a drone strike. His bionic enhancements had given him the ability to order strikes at any moment—Toki could have never predicted what was coming next. He had grabbed a hold of Vic’s neck in the brief instant, clenching down.

In that time, Vic had started to feel light-headed. Soon after, the dizziness began to settle in once more as he battled for air. The number of mechanical enhancements he had received could give him countless advantages over another human, but at the end of the day he was just that—human. During the standoff, one of the drones from overhead dropped its payload just a few feet away, releasing its destructive energy. The blast consumed the two, however Toki’s grip had not relented during the explosion.

“You should have never come here.” Toki said as the dust settled. As he clenched onto Vic’s neck, Yulia had emerged from the wreckage to deliver another attack. The spike ball from her weapon had slammed down on Toki’s forearm at massive speeds, shattering the bones instantly. The crunch and cracking caused him to erupt in pain and release Vic. As Vic finally snapped back to life and gasped for breath, Toki had started to panic. His hand had hung off his arm, clinging on by crumbling bones and tendons. The cable from Yulia’s weapon had been whipped through the air, this time wrapping itself around Toki’s neck. Yulia gave the weapon a pull, further causing the cable around Toki to get tighter.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Vic immediately groaned after getting his breathing under control. The shock of facing death had taken him away from the battle. It was worthwhile taking down Hideo, but the losses were too much now. He continued to rub his neck, taking some pleasure in being able to enjoy the air. After seeing Toki struggling to keep conscious, he signaled to her, “Finish him.”

Yulia cackled, finally jerking backwards with all her might. The cable had been forced towards her before letting out a loud snap as Toki’s neck had been severed. Toki dropped onto his chest and into the ground without a sound. He had not been able to save Naomi or the village. His legacy had been snuffed out. The large metal cable around his neck had loosened before retracting towards Yulia.

“Are you ok sir?” she asked him. Vic took another breath but stopped short—there was something calling from the Deep.

“We have company.” Vic replied.

Rei and Jin had made it to the top of the foothill just in time to see the tail end of the destruction. What was once a small and peaceful encampment had been baptized by fire. The village lost in time had fallen with hardly a whimper—its people would have never been able to stop this. The might of the Global Eurasian Initiative had no limit and would only continue forward.

“We’re already too late.” Rei said, feeling her heart become heavy at the sight.

“I’m going in. There’s got to be somebody still here!” Jin exclaimed while making his way across the village. Rei’s chest was still burning from the intensity of events. There had not been any time to rest.

Rei immediately yelled to him, “There might be more of them!”

Jin was unfazed. His mind raced as fast as his heart while he continued forward. There was hardly anything recognizable left in the village as bodies and rubble littered the ground. On the ground in front of him, Naomi’s lifeless body remained barely disturbed by the carnage. She deserved better. He knew that she was not coming back. He had to stay calm. Fires all around had raged, crackling in the night. There were still some signs of life—somewhere he could hear voices.

“Is there anybody there?” Jin asked loudly. He knew it was an unwise decision in hindsight. This level of stress would affect anyone’s rationality.

“Jin, look out!” Rei screamed from the distance. Yulia jumped out from the rubble behind him, barely giving the onboard AI enough time to react. Jin dove to his left, attempting a shoulder roll to switch directions and evade the attack. As he moved aside, Rei had closed in on Yulia to take a swing at her. Even with the battle robe’s advantages, she had been too worn down from the constant battling to effectively attack. Yulia very offhandedly reached out towards the blade in flight, clamping down on it with her bare hand. Rei felt as if she had struck a wall. The kinetic energy had travelled back down through the weapon and towards Rei’s hands, immediately forcing her to release it. Jin closed in, putting all his might towards delivering one final kick towards Yulia’s head.

His foot had been planted into her face, but just like Rei, he had felt as if all his power was being forced back on him. There was a loud crack as the area above his heel snapped, causing his foot to roll off his leg. Jin had been unable to scream before Yulia struck back. In a blink, she had knocked both fighters off flying in the distance with one clean swipe of her hand. Rei had slammed into the shrine, sliding across the ground and towards the remaining piece of wall.

Yulia flipped Rei’s weapon over her head, taking aim towards the shrine. Just as it fell, she finally grabbed hold of the blade, swinging and releasing it in Rei’s direction. The sword slashed through the air, whistling all the way towards the shrine. Rei had nearly fallen unconscious before hearing the bricks to her right explode. Her weapon had missed her face by just a few inches, bringing her back to consciousness.

Jin’s landing was much worse. The impact caused him to tumble for several yards, constantly irritating his freshly broken leg. When he came to a stop, his fighting spirit had been extinguished. There was no way he could keep going. His hindsight had never been clearer—he should have listened to Hideo and Rei; all of this could have been stopped. Vic had come out from hiding from behind the rubble of the monastery to observe the two.

“Well, I guess I will have to cut your revenge short,” Vic said to Jin before stepping over to him. He pressed his boot against Jin’s broken leg, causing him to scream. “I take it you’re the son of Hideo-Jin-Ni? Was his plan to use you to carry on? Figures.”

“He never had it in him to finish his own battles.” Yulia quickly added. Vic let up on the pressure, allowing Jin some time to breathe.

“I guess his plan had not accounted for one thing,” Vic said as he pointed the pistol towards Jin’s face, “me.”

The muzzle of the weapon erupted in a ball of fire. Jin had been struck in the forehead by the bullet, taking him from this world with a loud bang. Vic lowered his weapon, keeping on guard as he focused on the last survivor. Farther back, Rei stepped out from the shrine with her sword high. At this point, everything that had connected her to this world was gone. Why did it have to happen like this?

“You still want to fight?” Yulia asked aloud.

“Come now, I expected a woman might be the last person standing. Such a shame that Hideo would doom you to this,” Vic said as he shook his head. Rei remained silent while blood trickled down her face. Her hair remained completely disheveled; her body still covered in bruises. Vic observed her face closer, seeing the face of an old foe staring back. Alarmed, he shouted over to her, “You have to be Mizumi’s child!”

Rei’s eyes had shot wide open. Vic pointed towards her, shaking his finger in the air as he continued, “This day could not get any better.”

“My mother, she is still alive, isn’t she?” Rei asked.

“No,” Vic replied quickly, “she never had a chance. Just surrender, save the trouble.”

“You liar!” Rei screamed at him. There was nothing to lose now. She blindly rushed forward, carelessly failing to keep her guard. Yulia had rushed around, dashing hundreds of yards in the blink of an eye. She had gotten the jump on Rei, slapping her across the face and to the ground in one clean swoop. Before letting her get back up, Yulia brought her foot down on Rei’s back. The astonishing amount of pressure from this small woman had dwarfed anything she had felt up to this point. She recalled days earlier, being squeezed by Yuuma—that behemoth of a man could not compare to the power Yulia had at her disposal.

“Such a primitive being,” Yulia said softly, increasing the pressure. Rei could feel her ribs cracking under the weight. She had released her weapon only to hear Yulia rambling, “Clinging onto humanity and the things that make you weak. We have evolved past you, past the need to feel, past the fear of death.”

She lifted her foot off Rei, reeling back for one final kick. Rei took it. Now that she had been knocked back into the shrine and towards the steps, Vic had signaled for Yulia to stop.

“This one’s mine,” Vic said, drawing closer. He reached down towards Rei’s jet-black weapon, lifting it off the ground. “I did not want to make this personal.”

Vic inched closer towards the stairs to see Rei hanging over the edge, covered in blood, and broken. He then pushed the heel of his foot up against her face, sending her tumbling down the steps, striking each one harder and harder. After a few more grueling moments, Rei landed at the foot of the stairs just inches away from the fallout shelter. As she looked back up to him, her sword had been tossed down by her feet.

“However,” Vic said alas, reaching into his pocket for the plastic container. He popped a small capsule under his tongue and finally finished, “I’m making it personal.”

Vic reached over to his belt to grab a small, spherical object resting upon it. He pressed a switch over the top, causing the device to light up and emit a series of beeps before dropping it into the well and walking back to safety. While sailing down, there was a faint cadence of clanks, another beep, and then a blast. Smoke and flame had ripped through the stairs and upwards, consuming everything in the stairwell. Vic and Yulia stood motionless as the debris began to rain down upon them.

“Come now, it’s done.” Vic muttered softly. He stepped away from the destruction with Yulia and began to make his way back to the Litvyak, leaving the village lost in time to burn.