The Bounty Hunter

April 1st, 2090

Kira’s POV

Terra’s done something again.  What makes me think this?  Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that the dead are no longer staying dead.  Terra has mentioned his necromantic abilities before, but seeing thousands of corpses getting up off the ground is shocking.  Not that it has stopped Susan though.  She’s been tearing through the near endless stream of zombies and other undead in her single-minded pursuit of me.

*Bang* I ducked behind cover just in time to dodge the railgun shot from one of the snipers who have been hounding me since just after Susan went berserk.  I’ve been unable to locate them due to Susan’s interference, and thus have been forced to rely on my intuition to avoid dying prematurely.  A swarm of spectral ghosts conveniently solved that problem for me, overrunning a nearby apartment building.  I heard screaming and the sound of railguns going off before it went deathly quiet.  Well, it looks like the snipers won’t be an issue anymore.

I looked over at the monstrous form of Susan, who had just finished dismantling the last of the nearby undead.  She blew out an icy breath, freezing everything between me and her.  I jumped high into the air, using Longfangs to maneuver away from the attack.  I landed on the top of a nearby building.  I then sent Farclaws to stab into Susan, but she seemed indifferent to the damage they caused.  She took another deep breath, giving me enough forewarning to run away as she turned the entire building I had been standing on into a block of ice.

I landed back on the cold ground, wincing a bit as I felt the chill bite into me.  The battle has been going on for a while now, and Susan’s effect on the environment has been wearing down my defensive artifact.  I can’t win in a battle of attrition, I need to finish this soon.  “Hey Susan, YOU SUCK!”  I shouted at the demon, hoping that my childish taunt would enrage her.  Surprisingly enough, it worked.  Susan bellowed in rage at my provocation.  She then charged, every step of hers causing ice to form and the air to frost.  I held out Longfangs in front of me, the tips pointed at Susan.  The blades shot forward, extending to an incredible length as they pierced into Susan.  I made the tips of the blades bend inwards, hooking into Susan’s flesh and preventing her from pulling them out.

She roared in rage and pain as her forward momentum faltered.  Farclaws floated in front of me, forming a tight circle.  I had them start spinning as fast as they could manage.  The knives soon resembled a buzzsaw, whirling through the air at a high speed.  I braced myself as I retracted Longfangs while simultaneously pulling with all my strength.  Susan was yanked in the air, and before she could react, she came upon my makeshift buzzsaw.  The yuki-onna was cut perfectly in two, her blue blood flying everywhere.

I stood over her mauled corpse, panting from the exertion of our long, drawn-out struggle.  It’s over at last.  I had no time to bask in my victory, opting instead to assist the undead in clearing out the Chinese ground forces and Pandemonium demons nearby.  No rest for the weary, I suppose.  I let out a battle cry as I dashed towards the nearest group of soldiers.

Irene’s POV

The beeping on the console of the jet gave me an annoying reminder that I’ve been trying to ignore for the last five minutes.  “I FUCKING KNOW THAT I’M LOW ON FUEL DAMNIT!”  I shouted at the console as I made a hurried loopty loop to avoid another blast of lightning from Sparky.  Another beep on the console indicated incoming anti-air fire, which I evaded by doing a steep nose-dive.  I wrenched on the joystick, pulling the jet out of its descent.  I scanned the vicinity, noting the nearby anti-aircraft emplacement.  I did a quick strafing run, destroying the set-up.  Tch, now I’m running low on ammo too.  I almost groaned at my predicament, were it not for the fact that I’m not a weak-ass pussy.  My mana circuits were nearly burned out under the strain of my Overclocking, so I’m put in a situation where I’m gonna have to do something drastic.

I maneuvered the jet to face Sparky, the annoying little storm demon seemed to be powering up a big-ass lightning attack.  Okay, let’s do this.  I put the thrusters on max, redistributing my Overclocking to focus on just the thrusters and the electrical insulation aspects.  This allowed me to increase their performance even further, at the cost of them breaking down immediately afterwards.  A solid wave of electricity surged towards me as Sparky unleashed his full strength.  I did not hesitate, plunging into the storm.  Even with my Overclocking, the attack tore the plane and myself up.  I gritted my jaw as the lightning coursed throughout my body.  Nevertheless, I kept the pedal to the metal and broke through.  Sparky was right in front of me, clearly not expecting my near-suicidal charge.

“EAT THIS YOU MOTHER FUCKER!!!”  I yelled as I rammed the plane into him.  Sparky got plastered onto the tip of the plane like a bug on a windshield.  I then punched the eject button, launching out of the plane as I withdrew my trusty Mark IV Lancer LMG.  A storm of Overclocked gunfire bombarded both the plane and Sparky.  “NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!”  Sparky screamed as my bullets pierced the fuel tank.

One of the most beautiful explosions I had seen in my short lifetime graced my eyes as the plane detonated.  I knew that low engine fuel light was lying.  If there was enough left for that blast, I would have had at least another 20 minutes of flying time.  The plane’s explosion was followed by a burst of lightning which I knew was Sparky finally going kaput.  No longer will I have to put up with the weird-ass speech of his.  The parachute opened up properly upon my ejection, letting me release my Overclocking as I slumped back in my seat. 

Warning:  Extensive Damage sustained, Emergency Deactivation and Internal Repair initiated… Deactivating… Deactivating… Deactivating… Deactivation Complete.  Repair in Progress…