Number 7

Rodney was clueless.

No, he was beyond clueless.

He was mortified.

The scene which laid itself before him was surreal.

It was something so ridiculous that if he were to close his eyes he might have believed that everything around him was just a dream.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

Yet the horrible words of the girl - whose voice was laced with a corrupted innocence - flung Rodney back to this wretched reality.

His men, slaughtered.

Children as well laid dead.

There was no discrimination between the pile of bodies.

Yet Rodney was not a man who would be shaken by the body of a child. After all, he too was a man who would kill a child if they got in his way.

And that was what shook him.

The fact that Rodney was a man who would kill a child should have been obvious.

No, it was obvious.

The outfit he wore, the rowdy group of men who followed him - and most importantly, the fact that this child had called him out after threatening and facing HIS men - it was certain that this child understood what it meant to go against Hammerhead and everything it stood for.

Yet even so, she sat there.

A child.

On the playing field of adults.

As if it was nothing more than a mere game.

"If you're just going to stand there..."

"Don't move.", Rodney stated.

Yet despite this warning, the child hopped from body to body as the men behind him all pulled out their weapons, ranging from guns to bats to knives - preparing themselves for battle.

"I said don't move.", the man repeated. "Nobody here moves a muscle."

At this statement, the girl landed on a body with a squish as blood was spurted from it - coming to a stop.

"And if I don't move?", she asked as she tilted her head. "What good would come of listening to you here?"

"Are you insane?"

With all seriousness, Rodney asked this question.

Without a doubt, that had to be the case.

There was no other explanation.

This girl had lost her mind.

He did not know what she had been through to come to this point, but frankly he didn't want to know.

She had lost her mind in madness.

No human - and no child at that - would ever be able to act in such a manner and retain their sanity.

"You'll die if you take one more step. I have over 70 men here in this place. Make one wrong move and you're just going to become another body in that pile."

"So?"

Without hesitation, the girl asked this question - as if dying was something OBVIOUS.

"I was given an order. And I will follow that order. Even if it means... to die."

"Wait just a minute. Stop right there or we'll kill you where you stand."

The girl seemed to be about to step forth, however Rodney held out his hand as he thinned his eyes in suspicion.

'Just what happened to this girl to make her this way? No... haha... I shouldn't care. She killed my men. Therefore... I will kill her in exchange.'

"Hmm... I suppose that I could fulfill the orders given to me better if I were to NOT die. I'll give you a chance."

'I'll give you a chance.'

These were the words which exited from the mouth of the girl as she stopped herself from running into her own death.

'She... doesn't fear anything.', Rodney thought. 'Tch... insane ones are always the most difficult to deal with.'

"You're acting like you have all the power in this conversation... but I think it's time that I put you down to size-"

"Then show me."

It was only an instant, but it changed.

The expression which the girl held changed in that moment as her eyes were filled with a blank expression - completely devoid of any form of humanity.

And those eyes shook Rodney to his very core.

'She's just a little girl. She's just... a child....'

Rodney told himself these things, but his body did not listen to such logic - for there was an overwhelming presence which emanated from her - unlike anything he had ever known.

"If you have all the power in this conversation then prove it to me by beating me in a one on one fight. Weapons... are allowed. And if you rely on anyone else..."

It was at that moment that from underneath the rags she wore, the girl began to pull something out.

'A weapon?'

'What does she have hidden?'

'Some sort of trick that she used to kill the men?'

"Then I'll take them out here and now. Observe."

It was as she stated this that the girl pulled out from underneath her clothes - a gun.

No - not a gun.

A water gun.

A toy.

"You... really are insane."

Bang!

It was at that moment that a gunshot was heard.

All heads turned to the sound of the shot, at which they witnessed a man who had fallen on his rear, trembling in terror as he frantically gripped the pistol in his hands.

Yet even as he shivered in fear, the girl was unharmed.

"It's very simple to predict where the bullets will go. All I have to do is keep an eye on the barrel and stand where I won't be shot.", the girl stated coldly. "But..."

"Shit... sorry boss... I freaked out there for a sec... I thought... I thought... agh...."

The man spit out these words of apology from the ground, frantically attempting to gain his bearings as he gazed to the ground in shame.

"Stand up, you wimp. Do you call yourself a member of Hammerhead when you can't even face a child?", Rodney reprimanded.

As he said this, Rodney approached the man with anger in his expression, beaming over him.

"Give me your jacket."

"Eh?"

"Give me that jacket."

Grabbing the man by the collar of his coat, Rodney glared at him as he dragged him up.

"You're not worthy of it."

Ripping the coat off the man's back, Rodney shoved the man to the ground in a brutal manner.

"Did you all fucking hear me!?", he shouted as he raised up the torn coat like a trophy - his back to the girl as he completely ignored her.

The man began to pace back and forth around the room, glancing up and down the expressions of his men as he crossed his arms with a serious glare.

"Do you all think that you can let a little girl get into your mind and still wear this jacket?"

'She's nuts.'

"Do you think that a fearless hammerhead would shrink away in the face of a hopeless rat... even if that rat carried some sort of feral disease?"

Stopping as he made his way to the end of the room, the man slammed his fist through the concrete wall.

"NO!"

'But even if she's nuts... that is no excuse.'

"Hammerheads are one of the only sharks to form groups during the day... of over 100 sharks."

Looking up and down, the men found themselves gulping as their leader lectured them.

"Yet during the night... just like other sharks... they find themselves hunting alone."

Closing his eyes as he let out a deep breath, the man turned around as he continued to pace.

"And that is because just like all other predators... we do not have a NEED to rely on the strength of another. Because we are strong even by ourselves."

Stopping in his tracks, the man's tone lowered as he spoke with disgust.

"Therefore... to see one of you cower even when we hold such an advantage in numbers... and against this child... regardless of how insane she may be... it is nothing more than disgraceful. You aren't a shark."

Coming to the man on the ground, Rodney slammed his foot into the stomach of the man, kicking him with a furious blow as blood spurted from the mouth of the man.

"Ugh!"

"You're a minnow."

Then, grabbing the man, Rodney threw the coward to the ground, laying him before the girl.

"You said you were going to kill anyone who interferes. Well?"

With a smile, Rodney turned to face the girl as he crossed his arms victoriously.

'Even if she is insane... we have no excuse to fear her.'

'Because she is nothing more than a child... a helpless rat... and we are the fearless Hammerheads.'

"You may think that I'm helpless... but you've forgotten one thing."

Stepping forward without restraint, the girl hopped off the body that she stood on, now standing above the beaten man who struggled to even turn his head.

His ribs were broken from the blows and even turning to look up at the girl was a struggle.

"Even if I am a rat and you are a shark..."

Pointing the toy at the man's head, the girl smiled.

Her smile was so deep that it wrapped around her face, revealing an expression that shattered the confidence which Rodney had held just moments before.

Then, squirting the gun, a clear liquid exited it as it coated the face of the man, rushing down his face along with the blood that covered him.

"We happen to be on land."

It was at that instant that Rodney knew that something was wrong.

However what happened next... was something that he never could have expected.

----

Sizzling.

"Ugh... ngh... agh! AGH!!! AGH!!! MY EYES!! MY EYES!! AGH!!!! HELP ME!!!"

Slowly at first, but gradually the sound of sizzling increased only to be overtaken by ear piercing shrieking.

"HELP!!! WATER!!! WATER!!! AGH!!!! GET ME SOME WATER!!!!"

And as soon as each and every man looked down to the source of the screaming, their hearts were immediately melted with horror.

Just as the man's face was melting away.

However, that was not the end of it.

The girl, who stood above the man as he writhed in his pain, looked down on him with annoyance.

"Loud."

With this single word, the girl took the knife in the hand which the water gun was not, and bending down, held it above the man as his face rotted away - his screams becoming all the louder.

"WAIT!! AGH!!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!!"

Slice.

However the girl did not listen to such pleas, instead thrusting the knife straight through the skull of the man, pulling it out with a flow of blood as his flesh continued to sizzle away - leaving nothing more than a distorted expression which soon could no longer even be recognized as human.

Standing up, the girl flicked the blood off the knife as steam fizzed up from it within each blot that was formed.

"I have a question, gangster.", the girl said as she looked up to the man, holding up her water gun as she pointed it at him.

As she did so, the man froze stiff - unable to move.

For even though the weapon which she held was a mere toy...

It was something which had the power to kill him.

"I... underestimated you.", the man groaned.

Reaching into his coat, the man slowly moved his hand as he faced the girl.

"I thought that because you were a child... because you were nothing more than a demented little girl... that you weren't a threat."

Sliding his hand into his jacket, the girl merely watched with cold eyes - not stopping him as he did so.

"However... I was wrong. From the start... I should have considered you an enemy. Someone who needs to be killed. Someone dangerous enough that I can't allow you to live. And because I didn't... my men are dead on the floor there."

Pulling his hand out of his jacket, the man bore a handgun as he pointed it at the girl, both of them facing off against one another.

The first with a weapon that could instantly kill.

The second with a weapon which would cause a slow and agonizing pain - one which may not even kill unless it hit the vital points and dug into them.

"Put the gun down.", the girl stated without moving.

"Absolutely not.", the man replied firmly - unable to compromise. "Do you think I would put my weapon down when faced with someone that I've recognized as my enemy... no... as an enemy of Hammerhead?"

"If you truly recognized me as a threat... then you would agree to put your weapon down.", the girl replied.

Then, turning her gun, she sprayed it as she soaked her knife in the sizzling fluid.

"Metal... concrete... wood... rubber... plastic… This is a fluid which will not and cannot destroy anything. There is only one thing with which it will react."

Throwing aside the gun, the girl flicked the dripping knife as more piles of the sizzling fluid were formed on the ground.

"Flesh."

"Hey... what the hell do you think you're-"

As he kept his gun aimed at the girl, the man immediately found himself at a loss.

The girl had thrown away her only weapon.

She was too far away to take him on at this range with nothing more than a knife.

All it would take was a single shot and this would be over.

Snap.

However with the snap of her fingers, the sounds of shuffling soon surrounded the group.

And from every corner, every hidden sector, a child exited.

One by one, the group was immediately surrounded.

By children.

And each and every child was carrying nothing more than a water gun.

"Brother would benefit the most if the minimum number of people were to die in this fight... because that means he can gain more subordinates.", the girl stated as she slowly stepped forth.

"Hey..."

"Are they all..."

The men quickly turned to look all around them, some reaching for their pistols and firearms while the ones who didn't have any gripped their melee weapons.

"Therefore it would be best if we were to settle this one on one."

Pointing her knife at the man, the girl glared the gangster in the eyes with a gaze that made him want to shrink back.

Yet he could not.

"Are they all... filled with that stuff?", one man quivered.

"Hey... if they try to spray that all over... they'll be caught in it too, right!?", one exclaimed.

However even as the men made these outcries, the leader looked the girl directly in the eyes - unwavering.

'I truly underestimated this... thing.'

At this point, neither side showed any sign of backing down.

"Hey!! Put those things down!! If we all go down like this-"

"Do you think we would be concerned with our own lives?"

As one man shouted out, his scream was cut off by the cold voice of a young boy.

Yes, a boy.

Only 4 years old, just as the rest of the children within this place.

Yet each and every child present here had the eyes of a killer.

"Our lives only have worth if we can use them for the benefit of our brother.", a young girl added without the slightest hint of humanity. "If we can eliminate a threat... then wouldn't you say that's the best way to spend our lives?"

At these cold words, the sounds of men dropping to their knees slowly filled the ears of the man who led them.

'Cowards.', he thought. 'But... tch...'

Not able to take his eyes off the girl before him, the man grit his teeth in irritation as his gang slowly lost the will to fight.

For a fight with an enemy willing to destroy themselves was no fight.

It was nothing less than a massacre.

Pushed by the threat of a victoryless massacre, his men had fallen.

'We lost... to a bunch of children.'

Taking in a deep breath, the man let out a sigh.

'Then... there is only one way to win this.'

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots.

'If I take the victory myself.'

However, as soon as the man thought this, his eyes widened in surprise.

'She... dodged?'

The man had aimed directly for the heart, head, and throat of the girl.

Yet for whatever reason, she had been able to predict this.

Moving just enough that she could avoid those fatal injuries, three bullet holes lined the girl's arm.

Her hand.

Her arm.

And her shoulder.

'Shit-'

"It looks like you've committed to fighting me on your own."

The girl made this statement as she moved like lightning, quickly making her way around the man.

"However... even if you take out my arm..."

In that single instant, the man felt a cold blade tear into his side.

"Then I have another."

The blade sliced through his side and to his back, then hitting his spine it was pulled out of him.

"UGH!"

Turning quickly, the man felt an onslaught of pain as he tried to catch the girl, aiming his weapon with a shaking hand.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots missed, flying off as they hit a couple of children in the surrounding area.

"And if you take out my arms... then I'll still have legs to run around you."

With this statement, the man felt a blade enter his thigh as he toppled to the ground on his knees.

"AGH!"

Twisting about as he tried to get a line on the girl, she continued running around him without mercy.

"And if you take out my legs... then I'll crawl on the ground."

A burning sensation exploded in the shoulder of the man as the blade was stabbed into him again, and soon the sizzling sound filled his ears as his body was burned away at the acidic fluid which had entered him.

"And if I have to, then I'll bite you to death."

Then, without mercy, the man's arm was sliced off.

The gun which he held tumbled to the floor, and the men around him could only watch in horror as their boss was torn to pieces while they could do nothing more than watch - lest they be subject to the suicidal attacks of the children who surrounded them.

"And if you were to rip out my teeth or stitch my mouth closed..."

At that moment, a knife entered the vision of the man - before such vision was halved.

For the knife had been stuck straight in his eye.

"UGH!!! BLERGH!!"

Bending over with half of his sight gone, the man could do nothing more than throw up with a volley of blood as he was raced around by the girl - completely defenseless.

"Then I would kill you with my glare."

Then, as he fell to the ground, the man looked up as the heat filled his body with a pain unlike anything he had ever experienced.

And he witnessed it.

The coldhearted eyes of a demon.

No, worse than a demon.

For a demon would take pleasure in the destruction of a man.

Yet this girl took not a single bit of pleasure.

Instead... She was completely indifferent to his suffering.

"You... blergh..."

The man's voice weakened as his sense of feeling numbed, and he felt his life slipping away from him.

"And even if you poked out my eyes...", the girl stated in a robotic manner. "Then I would still find a way to win. Because brother... ordered me to."

With this, the man's vision went blurry and his entire body went completely numb.

The burning sensation no longer flowed within him, and instead everything became cold.

"So... cold..."

Just as the eyes of the girl who slayed him, the man felt an overwhelming iciness overtake him.

And soon, nothingness.

He died like that, unable to do anything.

"You didn't lose because you underestimated me.", the girl stated as she slowly looked down upon the man.

And for a second, just for a moment, a tear formed in the eye of the girl.

It dripped down her face for a moment before she wiped it off.

"I wonder what this is?", she asked as she flicked the water with her finger.

Then, looking at the men before her, who had been terrified beyond all belief, she spoke.

"The reason you lost was because you had to face me in the first place."