Steampunk CTs

I guess this could be seen as retribution for that day. Retribution for throwing Jabari to the wolves all those years ago. Trapped in this situation completely defenseless against the number of people attacking me. With the only way out being a horrific stemata that’ll destroy everyone in its path. With my current understanding of it, I’m certain that I’d lose control again and not only will the shelter be consumed, but this time all of Holy Land will be swallowed up by it. No one will be able to satisfy its hunger. It’ll only stop when it feels like stopping.

“I’ve got to say…” My thoughts were interrupted by Jabari’s slow clapping. “I didn’t take you for the altruistic type. Not so much as laying a finger on me out of concern for the people around you…and you do it with complete confidence…are you really the same girl from all those years ago?”

“I guess in a way…I’m still trying to meet you at the other side of that river…” Although I was in excruciating pain, I tried to put on a smile.

“What the hell’s wrong with you…” Jabari looked down on me. “You’re laying there with that smile on your face acting like you’re some kind of hero…You’re not! Hey everyone! Your precious Counter-terrorists helped a group of adults assault a little boy! You wanna know what happened after?! Those adults all made up stories about how the boy abused the girl! The boy’s parents didn’t believe a single word. They gladly fought the court case with him until one day…they ‘mysteriously’ died!”

“Jabari…” I couldn’t think of anything to say. To calm him and let him know that I was here for him.

“The boy was moved to a juvenile detention center. Everyone there called him a senseless beast for assaulting that girl. But what about the parents? No…everyone was too busy painting the narrative that he was a monster to give a damn about what actually happened at that river, let alone two unjust murders!”

Jabari pointed at me and projected his voice as if he was at the stage of a theater. Loud enough for everyone in the shelter to hear. As he did so, he circled around me and continued.

“It’s her damn fault! If the boy never met that girl, he wouldn’t be stuck in that detention center! That’s what the boy felt in his soul! That’s how I truly felt… “

Jabari’s arms dropped listlessly as he began to stare at the floor.

“He made a resolution that night in his cell…if he were to get out. He’d become that monster that everyone wanted. He’d show them exactly how evil he could be. He was going to make what those people think he did seem like a lucky break. He’ll show them the thing that they’ve created…” He turned around and gave both the crowd of civilians and I an overpowering glare. A look that made me completely hold my breath out of fear at that moment. Jabari truly suffered over these years. While I was laughing and playing hero, he spent every day of his life fighting for his life in a world that didn’t want him. And now that he had a chance, he was about to show us exactly how deep his hatred for the Holian people went.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Before I could even blink…before I could even register what was going on…Jabari closed the distance between himself and the crowd and pierced a grown man right through the heart. A woman shrieked. Blood began to pool out onto the floor. Everyone couldn’t help themselves and began to do the worst things in desperation for survival. Some people raced toward the door to realize Jabari locked it earlier. Others began to try and attack Jabari, only to find themselves skewered by his claws and thrown away. Only seconds were passing, but with each one, the body count kept rising. One thing I noticed though, is that Jabari didn’t outright kill a single one of these people. He left them alive, but in a state where they couldn’t do anything. They were doomed to die slowly as their life faded away. One of the men that were fighting Jabari and lost fell right next to me. His eyes were losing light every second that passed by. I must’ve been right above a drain, because his blood along with everyone else’s began to coalesce around me until it formed a pool. Is this what hell looks like? Is this how I’m going to die? Maybe Jabari is onto something…

There’s only one option: fall in line. A distant voice rang out to me.

Maybe I should just let everything go. Explode. And take everything with me…after all, that's what the Archon wants to see out of me…that’s what Natalia is hoping to see out of me.

I couldn’t help but envision that river between Jabari and I, its rushing waters filled with the troubles, baggage, and hatred from our peoples…is this feeling I’m having even a fraction of what you’re going through? Definitely not…

I began to activate my stemata. I have no other choice. In the BCT, lives come second…the eradication of terrorists comes first.

I casted away all of my previous feelings and focused solely on the destruction of everything around me…and activated my stemata—

You could fall in line, or you could make a path yourself. That familiar voice reached out to me again and filled me with warmth. I didn’t recognize it before, but now I do. Ori Haustoria was the one who told me that.

Rebel against the world in your own way. Find a way to use that stemata to further your own goal. The only one that knows how to live your life is you, after all.

I remembered Ori’s hand rubbing my head, with the same warmth as an older sibling would give. She showed me that smile of hers and believed in me. Why wouldn’t she? Every day, they’re fighting their own battle. Paving the way for their people. Surely, I could do the same with something as simple as a stemata.

I used all of my remaining strength to get off my side and turn my back to the floor. Once I looked up at that ceiling, I raised my hand with my stemata attached to it and muttered.

“This’ll be…my rebellion…”

I activated my stemata, and stabbed myself in the heart.

I’ve decided. From this point on, I’ll rebel against the world in my own way. Just like she told me to. This stemata is one built for harm, but who decided that had to be the case? Who said that the cells have to be parasitic in nature? I’m going to make these cells work in a more positive way. I’ll test exactly what I’m trying to do by using the stemata on myself. It’ll be a proof of concept.

I’ll pour as little cells into my body as possible. Each one will go to injured and bruised parts of my body and devour the cells there, but that’s all they’ll do. I’ll stop using the stemata right then and there. In theory, they should act like normal cells. It’ll require a lot of precision and loose estimations. It'll be like trying to hit multiple bullseyes blindfolded, but I have no choice! I have to do it if I want to forge that new path for myself!

Right as I went to heal the first wound of mine, I already hit a block. I found it more and more difficult to immediately stop the cells from advancing to the next stage of their intended purpose. If they do that though, I certainly won’t be able to stop them. If I lose focus for even a second, these cells will completely consume me. Then that worse case scenario will actually happen…

I need to be more accurate in my visualization of my intentions. Otherwise, I’ll lose focus for a split second at some point and everything will fall apart. I need a phrase to repeat so that doesn’t happen.

As soon as my stream of consciousness arrived at that conclusion, I immediately thought about Arno and what he does. What was it? Blazing Soul? I’ll have my own phrase like that.

I briefly remembered one of the days I spent at that river so many years ago. It was one of those days where we just enjoyed each other’s presence in silence. That’s how close we were at the time.

“My mom’s pretty sick…” Jabari sighed as he looked at the river. “She just needs to stay at the hospital, but when I’d visit, I’d call the nurses and they’d brush me off until they’ve taken care of everyone else…”

“I-if I was a nurse, I’d take care of your mom!” I tried to reassure him.

“You would make a nice nurse. Your hair is so pretty. I’ve never seen hair in that kind of color. Kind of reminds me of strawberries.”

It was a passing comment he made while playing with a stick but it was the first time I heard anyone other than my own parents compliment my hair. It was also the first time that my heart skipped a beat. My cheeks flushed red as I couldn’t stop myself from blushing.

“Now that I think about it though, strawberries are more red than pink. Haha!” Jabari started to laugh, and I shared in that laugh out of nervousness.

I’ll never forget the fondness of that memory…

“Strawberry…Rebellion…”

Yeah…that sounds like a nice name…

As I used the phrase to keep me focused, I managed to replace the cells and stop the advancement of the stemata. I did it with every part of my body with as much precision as possible. I kept in mind my weight, my height, and age to make sure I was giving myself exactly what I needed. I would have to do this with the civilians on a much larger scale, so I took note of every feeling and every change in the amount of energy I put into my stemata. Regardless, it was working!

By the second, I was becoming more and more rejuvenated. It was as if every part of me was becoming easier to move and operate. When I felt like I did enough, I rose to my feet. People were still either fighting for their lives, or trying to break out of the shelter, completely ignoring me in the process.

“Proof of concept finished. Now it’s time for the first wave…”

I scanned the area and counted the casualties. About 28 injured and…4 dead. I won’t be able to help those that have already passed on, but I can do my best with people that are still alive.

I aimed my stemata and fired at everyone that was on the floor or gravely injured. With each activation of the stemata, I had to keep track of everyone’s age, weight, and height. The difference between them and me though is that I was working off of complete possibilities with them. Every single one of them were unique body types that I was just estimating on, so I worked solely on generalities.

“Early twentys, male, 5’11, 180 pounds. Child, female, 4’8, 120 pounds. Late thirties, female, 5’5, 210 pounds.” I muttered numbers that I had no choice but to completely ballpark while keeping track of where everyone’s injuries were.

It didn’t take long for me to completely heal those that were injured. Those that were fighting Jabari were immediately cut down, but were immediately treated by me. When Jabari realized that the damage he had just done was immediately healed, he went for the killing blow on one of the unconscious civilians, but I used my stemata to shoot another clump of flesh at him that he dashed backwards to escape.

“So you’re finally using your stemata…”

“I just needed to get the hang of it.” I said as I aimed my finger directly at him.

As the both of us had our standoff, not even a second later, the double doors that locked everyone in here went flying right between Jabari and I and crashed into the wall. Regardless of the sudden intrusion, neither of us flinched. The entire crowd however, flooded out of the shelter.

“Anna!” I heard Gollie’s voice amongst the crowd as the last handful of people made their way out of the building. I calmly explained the situation to Gollie. Once I did, he was about to come to my side to help, but I told him to stay exactly where he was.

“I got this…”

“So all of a sudden, you’re that confident that you can take me on? You’re that confident that you can kill me?!” Jabari stared directly at me with pure vitriol in his eyes.

“Jabari…I’d never attack you with the intent to kill—”

“Don’t give me that crap! There’s only two ways this could end! With you dying and becoming a stepping stone to my revenge, or you becoming the hero that killed another monstrous terrorist!”

I’ll never say that about you…I’ll never call you a monster. That’s why I’m going to save you here and now.

Jabari lunged at me with incredible speed. I fired off three shots of my stemata and he swiped them away while charging at me. I activated my stemata and blocked his claws that came right at me with a wall of flesh. When I confirmed that he was stuck, I tried to fashion the wall into a cocoon to encase him in.

“GRAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

To counter, he used every bit of his strength to pry his way out and got right into my face. It was like a predator finally catching up to his prey. The overwhelming aura of his desire to kill me made me almost freeze in place.

Regardless, it was too late. I’ve already won.

“What?!” Jabari’s stemata retracted his claws and changed his monstrous form back to his normal, human one. Not even a split second later, he dropped onto the floor.

“I…I can’t move a muscle…what the hell did you do to me?!”

“I temporarily shut down the part of your brain that controls your movement. Don’t worry. It’ll only be for a moment. Gollie, could you get some rope?”

“A-alright…” Gollie ran off to the back room of the shelter. I wasted no time and confiscated his stemata. The entire time, Jabari gave me the staredown of a lifetime. As if he was hoping that by some stroke of luck, he’d unlock powers to overcome this obstacle and kill me. Don’t look at me like that…my closest friend going down a path like this…this entire situation hurts me…

Once Gollie returned with the rope, he tied Jabari up. As soon as it was safe to do so, I returned his movement. Regardless of it coming back though, he didn’t try to run or fight back. He just looked to the floor with a look of contempt.

“Jabari…” I sat down right in front of him and told him…

“You should blend into the crowd. Afterwards, I don’t know how…try to find the group known as Anima.” A look of surprise flashed across both Jabari and Gollie’s faces. “You’ve escaped prison and have done dealings with the terrorist world. You won’t be able to live normally anymore. But you could at least try to redeem yourself. I heard that they’re more of a group that takes an approach to reformation.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Anna? If anyone finds out, you’ll have your rights as a CT revoked. You may even go to prison. You may even…” Gollie said. He didn’t even protest, which made me appreciate having him here of all people.

“I’m willing to risk my life on this.” I said resolutely.

“W…what the hell’s wrong with you! You made it very clear how you thought about me that day, so why the hell are you clinging to this idea that we were anything more than acquaintances! You make me sick! You sit there in pain and agony as if you were the one that had everything taken away from you! As if you were the one that had your reputation thrown in the mud while you were thrown in prison! How could you sit there and act like you’re this gracious god that’s come down to give me a second chance?! You’re nothing to me but the enemy! A worm to be crushed!”

Each one of his words burned away at my insecurities and made me drop my head. I didn’t want to show them my tears, but I couldn’t help it. I was utterly frustrated. I’m physically right in front of him, but it feels like I’ll never reach him again. Is this just something that happens in the real world? Are there things that happen that you’ll never be able to take back? It’s not fair. I want to share my secrets with him again. I want to share my hopes and dreams…I care for him so much…but he’s turned into a person that just seems…unreachable…

“Grah!” Jabari yelled out in pain as Gollie punched him across the face.

“What’s wrong with you?! Do you have any idea how much she thinks about that day? How many times she wanted to turn back the clock?! If you had any decency, you would know that people can change! They can regret! And they can forgive…Are you willing to do that?”

Upon hearing that, Jabari got up and told Gollie to untie him. When Gollie did, he began to walk off toward the exit. There at the door frame, it was as if the hostility he held was beginning to wash away as he asked his question.

“Did you actually think of me…as a friend?” His frame was shaking as he asked the question.

I ran as fast as I could to him, almost tripping in the process, and gave him the tightest hug from behind that I could muster.

“Of course!” I said, choking back my tears with every word.

This is the moment I was waiting for this whole time. I feel like I’ve finally met him on the other side and can understand him. Jabari stood there for a moment before finally moving away from me and leaving. He went down an alleyway to avoid running into any other allies of mine. Hopefully he’ll meet with those members of Anima and turn a new leaf. That’s asking for a lot though…

“I believe in it…” as if reading my mind, Gollie cleared my doubts. “The ability for people to change, that is. The BCT is too harsh with their no tolerance policy in my opinion.”

Gollie has been so patient and helpful with me this entire time. Ever since I came to the academy, he’s been by my side, supporting me every step in the way. It’s really sweet.

“Annabelle…” Gollie faced me head on and grabbed me by the shoulders. All of a sudden, it felt like the tone shifted drastically.

“Y-yes?!” It startled me. He said my entire name while giving me the most serious expression. What was he going to ask me?

“I…I! I lov—”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!”

Both Gollie and I jumped at the sudden intrusion of our moment. Both of us looked sheepishly toward the door to see none other than Ori Haustoria there with an annoyed look on her face.

“After fighting for my life against another stemata user, I come to the area I assigned you both to and find the civilians running around like chickens with their heads cut off! Because of that, I come to the emergency shelter to see what happened and I find you two having a makeout session!”

“It’s not what it looks like!” Gollie threw up his hands in surrender and went on the defense while I went on the offense.

“Ori I figured it out! I figured out how to make my stemata my own!” I ran up to her with a smile on my face.

“O-oh! Is that so? Well, I’m happy for you…”

As usual she was taken aback by my overwhelmingly friendly nature. That’s just the type of person she is. She puts up all of these walls when talking to people because she expects hostility, but when I give her the opposite, it throws her off. I do it as a joke sometimes, but it always made me feel bad whenever I chatted with her. It made me want to be her friend even more in a way. To show her that she can trust in people just a little bit more. That she could be more vulnerable.

“So how does it work, exactly?” She asked.

“Like this!” I stabbed her with it and said “Strawberry Rebellion!”

Ori’s expression suddenly changed in a roulette from panic, inquisitiveness, to understanding and relief all while my stemata worked its magic. Once it finished, all of her wounds were healed and she let out a loud sigh in relief.

“Please tell someone you’re gonna stab them before you do so…”

“Oh right! My bad!”

“So what’s the next move?” Gollie asked.

“We do what I said earlier on the radio: meet at the hall of the rosarian council.” Ori turned around, her sniper stemata slinging around on her back, and began walking off.

“Got it!” Gollie and I said in unison as we followed.

[Annabelle Hotch Vs. Unknown Terrorist: Annabelle Wins via disarming the terrorist. Sadly, the enemy got away at the last moment. Casualties: Severe injuries of almost every civilian in the Holialand emergency shelter along with various bruises and punctured organs. However, all of the above injuries were healed due to a completely improvised use of the counter-terrorist’s stemata.]