Chapter 71

Law PoV

Water was splashed into my face. But instead of choking and sputtering, I simply glared at my captor.

Normally such a fucking gesture would be met with my fucking foot up their ass, but unfortunately that wasn’t quite possible. Mostly due to my limbs being constricted by literal chains.

The man with the now empty bucket of water sneered down at me. His skin was distinctly brown, a trait shared by the others that I’ve seen. There was also the fact that the words he spoke were definitely a different language. Combined with everyone’s clothes being pretty unusual…

I’d say that somehow, someway, I was now in the middle fucking east.

How? Why? When?

Yeah, those are questions I’d like to very much know myself. From the moment I was able to wake up, I found myself captured by a people whose language and skin tone I did not share.

Hell, for all I know, that was the current reason they had locked me up and slapped me around a little. It hadn’t gotten to torture, but it was likely only a matter of time. They seemed all for it. The only thing that seemed to be holding them back was…something.

It would help if I was able to understand their language. Best guess I have is that they’re under orders to either not due that, or they were awaiting orders to do that.

Either way, I was not in a very good position.

Once again, I attempted to search my memories for any sort of clue to help me understand why I was in this predicament. Before I had woken up, I was…in Juvie. Same as the week before that, and the month before that. The government had stepped up their testing and were now treating me like a fucking pincushion for needles. Drawing my blood out and commanding me to change it to something they were interested in.

It fucking sucked, but at least it did have some benefits.

Not that it would matter. Ethan’s been thinking of a plan to bust us out, and considering how fucking clever he was with tech, I saw it as an inevitability.

…Of course, that was ignoring the fact that I was now somehow in a completely different nation all together. How the fuck does that even happen!? Was the government transporting me unconscious somewhere, and they just got ambushed?

I just didn’t understand.

My head ached whenever I tried thinking too hard on it. A dull thudding that felt like something was rattling around in my head.

Once more the man with the empty bucket attempted to communicate with me. In his own foreign language. Which made zero sense. As if I’d somehow become fluent in his language over the last several hours.

“…I don’t understand you stupid cunt!”

He didn’t understand what I was saying, but he didn’t need to. The aggression I was showing combined with my tone showcased more than enough.

My sincerity was rewarded by a beating. Punching me square in the middle of my face. Stomping his boots into my chest, and knocking the air out of my stomach.

It was incredibly stupid to agitate and rile up the captors. It didn’t benefit me in the least. All it served to due was vent my frustrations and anger in this moment.

But I never claimed to be smart.

“You…hit like a girl.”

He kept hammering his fist over and over on my face. Seeming to be aiming for my nose. Against all odds though, it seemed to resist. Another pretty strange thing I’ve started to realize after being here for a few hours.

I was fucking shredded.

And I know for a fact that I didn’t have these muscles last week. Did the government experiment on me? Was it these assholes? Somehow, I just knew it had to be some sort of dickhead behind this.

Either way, I did look pretty damn good now. Not to mention I was taking the beating pretty well.

Enduring pain was nothing new to me, but this was barely a blip on the radar.

Radar?

A flash of something flickered in my mind. A small yellow device with a T painted on it. I had been looking at it, and…talking to someone?

Some sort of sandy place was the backdrop. Was it the Middle East? It definitely looked like it. Had I come here intentionally? Why? And why couldn’t I remember?

“Seems like you’re in a tough situation…”

Hmm?

I looked around, trying to find the voice, only to get a raised eyebrow from the guard who had decided to take a break from beating my ass. Fuck, my arm was started to ache.

Shit, was I hearing voices in my head now?

“Yes, but don’t worry. I’m very much real.”

Oookay…

That was creepy as fuck. The kiddy like voice that was talking to me wasn’t helping matters.

“I don’t suppose you’d be kind enough to assist me out of this situation?”

“Of course, I will.”

Huh. Well, that was way too easy.

“What’s the catch?”

I ignored my captor who growled at me. Once again, his body language was doing all the explaining I needed. He was saying “shut up” or something similar. Unfortunately for the both of us, I couldn’t stand people telling me what to do.

“Hehe…all I need is for you to accept your place as my tether to the mortal realm.”

What the fuck did that even mean?

“You’ll be like…my champion.”

…So…like an underling? A lapdog? Was I really going to listen to…some kid? A goddamn child!?

“…Child, huh? I like the ring to that…”

“Easily the creepiest thing you’ve said so far.”

I commented.

Leading to me getting smacked by the guard. I glared at him for a moment as he seemed rather satisfied with himself.

How happy would he be if I started to pour some acid onto his face, I wonder?

…Calm down, Law. I didn’t need to be-

Wait, why the fuck did I say my name like that? Since when did I shorten Lawrence to Law? It felt…weird…

“I find it pretty amusing to be honest.”

Shush, you.

My eyes darted to the movement that was the cell door opening. The guard also watched on as several more guys started to come into the room. Carrying some sort of…run down tech?

I wasn’t very knowledgeable about these kinds of things. But whatever it was, I knew it was bad. Especially considering the ravenous smirk on my captor’s face.

“Alright, I accept.”

“…What, just like that?”

…Huh!?

My eyes lit up in worry at her confused tone. The guards currently working on plugging in various cords to the electrical device. Oh fuck, please tell me this isn’t some sort of car battery torture thing.

Ah hell.

“Yep! Just like that!”

I’ve sat in a rigged up electric chair before. I did not want to endure something like that again. Especially when I didn’t see any other paths to take.

The guards seemed to enjoy how frantic I had to say that. Good, they thought I was just panicking to what they were doing.

…Which was kind of right, I guess.

“…I’ve thought about it, and I’ve decided to rescind my offer.”

What!?

“I mean, it’s what I want, but I also want my entrance to be a bit more…you know...”

“No, I don’t know!”

A snapping sound echoed in my head.

“Right! Climatic! Exactly. You know me so well. Even considering the rest of humanity, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have found someone as compatible with me as you.”

“NO ONE SAID CLIMATIC!”

I yelled out. Getting a round of chuckles from the guards. Who seemed to be finishing up setting up the device.

Taking a sigh, I calmed myself down. It was obvious that this voice was just jerking me around. I’ll have to just endure and wait for my chance to strike.

I was on my own.

“Hmm? Oh, I’ll of course help you. I just didn’t want my entrance to be so…lackluster. And lacking in terms of stakes, you know?”

“…really?”

“Mhm! Like a situation where you run out of options, and everything’s gone wrong. So, the only option left for you is to turn to me and pray.”

A guard was starting to approach me with something resembling jumper cables. Joy.

“I meant in terms of aid.”

“Oh that. You already have the power to break out of your restraints.”

I rolled my eyes.

“No, I really don’t. I don’t know any chemicals that could-“

Figures and chemical equations met my eyes. I observed them only for a second before I was intimately familiar with them. So much so it was like I had ingested them before…

Curious.

“But even without that you still have more than enough strength to rip yourself out of these feeble constraints.”

What? Seriously?

“…You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Allow me to help.”

Vividly white liquid seemed to pour out of my skin. Scaring both the approaching guard and myself. But my fear only lasted a few seconds before I felt strangely calm.

Our power was nothing to fear, after all.

Thick white arms ripped through the metal that bound them. Already we were on the clock and needed to act fast. Each of these guards had a gun strapped to their side, and getting shot didn’t sound like a good idea at all.

So, we darted quickly over to the closest guard, before our claws raked upwards. It was supposed to be an uppercut, but we hadn’t taken into consideration how our fingers were sharp claws. Thus, the guards jaw was quickly pierced through as if it was paper.

We could feel the claws making contact with his skull as his entire body sagged forward onto our hand.

…It was shocking how little he weighed.

The other guards shouted before rushing to their guns. Leading to us speeding forward. Throwing the dead guard at one of them before charging the other.

We were a murderer.

That much was a fact that was intimately familiar. It didn’t matter what the others said. Being a kid was no excuse. Creating chemicals for the express purpose of murder. It mattered not if it was the Government, or villains. There was no excuse.

Nor was accidently pumping people full of enough of a sleeping agent that it took their lives.

Yet even considering this…killing someone with these hands in this manner…

It was new.

Our claws sliced through the guard’s midsection. Once, twice, three times. It was like slicing through fucking butter. There was practically no resistance. Not even from their clothing.

As we had been gearing up for a fourth swipe, it finally became evident that the man was no longer alive. He likely had died by the first swipe, as the three jagged lines had practically divided him into three pieces that were barely hanging together.

The only reason we hadn’t noticed sooner was due to just how fast we were moving.

BANG!

The pain pinched in our shoulder. Causing us to wince. At least until the bone white liquid started to come up our arm and over said shoulder. The pain immediately dissipating as a result.

Then we turned towards the last guard in anger. He was quickly backpedaling towards the door, with his gun trained onto us.

We raised our hand to stop him, but he had already crossed a decent amount of area. It would be necessary to chase him down-

Our arm seemed to shoot out. Elongating and stretching as if it had been fired and pierced straight through the scared guard. The hand went straight through his chest, and through the door, before slowly coming back.

Rewinding like a tape recorder back to the right position.

…What was this power? Had we always been capable of this?

“Well, that’s enough of that!”

Immediately the white liquid left my arms. Leaving me with just my normal body. Sans a bullet wound in my shoulder. Though, there was a small little dint there…

“That power…is that because of you?”

I asked, squeezing both of my hands into fists as I inspected them. I was met with a mirthful chuckle.

“No. That’s all you. Or maybe I should say it’s you two.”

What? What did that mean?

“Just that I had no hand in the creation of that. Though I was the one who helped encourage it.”

“And the one who dismissed it.”

I commented. My eyes immediately darting towards the door. People were yelling outside, and already I could hear boots falling. Likely coming for my present location.

Shit…

“Guilty as charged, but I felt this was a good a time as any.”

“…For what?”

“To show you just how far you can push your powers. Even after the body modifications, you haven’t been testing the limits of what you can do.”

…So, I’m more than just a bit stronger huh? The way the kid was talking, it sounded like I could endure a bit more than what I was normally capable of. Like being able to endure a bit of acid on my skin.

“And so much more…”

Alright, if she didn’t have my attention then, she had it now. Now all I needed was some fucking clothes, so I wasn’t running around in just my pants. I’d have stripped the guards, but not only was that pretty gross, two of them were now unusable due to damage, and one was soaked in blood.

The footsteps were getting closer.

The way things were going, I’ll have to either meet them when they were immediately outside the door, or wait till they come inside. The former sounded like a better plan.

“Yes, I think these humans will do quite nicely as our test subjects.”

“Not sure how I feel about you being so flippant with human life.”

The childish voice laughed at me in response. One that sounded it came from the heart, as it lasted for several long moments before she finally regained control of herself. Yet still breaking out in small giggles.

I raised my eyebrows as it didn’t seem like she was going to explain any further. Weird as shit.

…And yet I was going to take tips from her. Some kid who’s name I didn’t even know. Great.

“Happy to help!”

For some reason, I got the impression that she genuinely was. Goddamn it. Why did I always attract the crazies?

“They’re coming. Listen closely, here’s what you should do…”

*~o~*

It took the better part of an hour, but by the end of it, I had successfully cleared out the camp. As well as grabbing a relatively clean pair of clothes. Which was nice.

It was a little goofy and weirdly flashy. Like some sort of costume for a kids show. Even still, it was better than nothing. It was also better than anything they had back there. The quality was evident in this, even to someone like me who knows nothing about good fabric.

There wasn’t much else to take from the camp, besides a few guns but…well, it had become quite obvious that I didn’t really need them. Especially after the creative liberties I had taken with the camp.

If they did call for backup, I would feel a bit of pity for them. That place was now just a giant biohazard. It’d affect even me had I stayed there for a few more hours. Thankfully I was warned that I was largely resistant to it for quite a while.

It would take quite awhile for this place to become livable. For humans, at least.

I did happen to notice strange plant growth in the sand as I made my way out of it. So that was certainly interesting. It was very likely that I would have found myself attempting to inspect it further if it wasn’t for the voice of the girl nudging me onwards.

So, I started to trek through the desert on foot. Vehicles would have been faster, but it’d have given away my location in an instant. And it seemed that the voice didn’t care to tell me about where I was at all.

In fact, the voice hadn’t said much of anything recently. Not that I was complaining.

A few hours had passed, but all that really changed was the scenery, and not by much. Only getting more and more mountainous along with the sandy dunes. I’d never been in a desert before, but I was starting to really hate sand at this point.

Shit was coarse, rough, and very irritating.

Eventually I started to make my way towards one of the mountains. At the very least if I got to the peak, I’d be able to see fucking something, right? That’s how it worked in the movies at least.

Just as I was starting to get up the base of the mountain, I realize that there was a sound on the other side of it. A sound getting louder and louder.

Until it finally revealed itself as a tank that was going around the mountain.

A tank that had stopped, and was now looking in my direction.

Fuck.

“H-hey, uh, voice person thing? Are you there?”

The tank started to move again, unfortunately, it was doing so in order to get closer to me. Yeah, my body might be a lot stronger than it was before, but I highly doubt it was strong enough to take a full on attack from a FUCKING TANK.

“Hello!? Are you there!?”

I was greeted with silence. Oh god. This wasn’t the stupid praying thing she mentioned earlier, was it!?

With nothing else to do that was better, I started climbing the mountain as fast as I could. Hoping against hope that maybe if I got high enough, the barrel of the tank couldn’t point itself at me.

My heart started to quicken as I noticed the tank had stopped closer towards me. And was now trying to aim in my direction.

“HELP!”

Fuck my dignity. I did not want to die here in some god forsaken land. Fuck, I didn’t want to die period! What was this bullshit!?

The barrel finally focused on me and stopped.

An explosion ripped apart the air in front of me. Blasting me into the rocks with how hard it hit. I was pretty sure a few of them had cut into my skin. After a few seconds, of trying to focus, I was met with a large plume of smoke.

Looking down, I realized the smoke had come from the tank. The tank that was in fucking smithereens. Each piece having been tossed this way or that. There was even a pipe lodged into the rocks a few meters below me.

…Had they blown themselves up? Or had it been-

My thoughts were interrupted as two red lights peered out from the smoke. They slowly rose up and forward until they had finally emerged from it.

I had to do a double take as a busty blonde hair girl in a white suit emerged from smoke and was flying in the air. She gave me a rather strange look as she crossed her arms. Her eyes darted to several parts of my body, as if she was trying to analyze me by just staring.

She…she had just destroyed that tank, didn’t she?

And she didn’t even look the slightest bit phased…

Fuck, that was pretty hot.

(This chapter doesn’t count towards the poll.)