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carterthornton · 7 years

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The Third Wave | Chapter Eighteen: Capture the Flags (Part Three)

Ms. Wendell raced through the forest, using all her agility and speed to quickly bounce from tree to tree, looking for any students that still remained in the park. She had already rounded up most other teams, save for Team Twelve and some members of Team Seven; she feared that they might run right into the fray at the center of Mount Douglas Park. Without any communication, the officers had no way of knowing that students were encroaching on their position. It was Ms. Wendell's sole responsibility to watch over the students and ensure their safety, and now, the whole chaotic situation was out of her hands; her mind ached at the thought of losing a student. Despite the overwhelming dread threatening to consume her, Ms. Wendell did not falter in her advance towards the center, and she hoped to be there in time to redirect the missing students.

It was then, just as she stepped onto the next tree branch, that Ms. Wendell was thrown down to the ground by a tremendous force, but thankfully, she landed safely on all fours. She looked up, curious as to where the attack originated. "Hello...? If this is one of the students, don't worry! This is Ms. Wendell! I'm not one of the intruders!" She put her hands high in the air, hoping to get the attention of a confused cadet.

"Ms. Wendell?" Mura's head poked out from behind a nearby spruce tree and she deftly darted over to aid her teacher, dusting her off. "My most sincere apologies, ma'am; your form was muddled by shadows of the canopy."

"Ms. Wendell!" Aiko gasped as she raced over to the cat-woman, the rest of her group following behind her. "Where've you been?"

"I've been trying to find you all," Ms. Wendell sighed, her worries dissipating as she counted every student that was missing. "Thank God... I thought you all were nearing the fight just up ahead."

"We weren't trying to get into the fight, we were looking for any remaining students," Carlo chimed in, munching on one of the granola bars he kept in his jumpsuit.

"Oh, no, no... you're what's left of the students; I've already rounded up the rest," Ms. Wendell informed them as she picked dirt from her fur. "I've come to take you back to the bus. We're leaving."

"Isn't that ironic?" Aiko snorted to herself as she set her back up against a tree.

"But what about the officers still fighting?" Penelope asked, hearing explosions ring out in the distance.

"They'll hold them off for as long as it takes for reinforcements to arrive. With all these explosions, a task force is bound to arrive at any moment," Ms. Wendell reassured her, turning away from them. "Please follow me, I know the way back."

"Sounds good-..." Aiko stopped, looking back to where Maeve should've been— right behind her. "Maeve...? Maeve?!"

"Oh! There she is!" Yuko gestured over to a red-haired blur in the distance making its way towards the battlefield ahead.

"Maeve!" Aiko's feet moved on their own, steering her over to where Maeve was heading; naturally, Yuko tagged along as well.

"Ms. Schmitt! What are you doing?!" Ms. Wendell shouted as she raced after the runaway students.

"I've gotta get Maeve back!" Aiko hollered back at her unconsciously, her mind going on autopilot.

"Students, stay right here, I'm going to retrieve those three," Ms. Wendell ordered the others, who all nodded in response. "Maeve, Aiko, Yuko! Come back!"

As Ms. Wendell chased after her students, Jace sighed, slamming his head against a tree, "I should be the guy running after her."

"What's Maeve doing?" Brick inquired.

"Trying to be a hero, that's what she's doing," Mura scoffed, resting a leg on her knee as she sat on a low-hanging tree branch. "That moron..."

****

Damian's power was unlike anything Roderick had faced before. Not only could Damian seemingly teleport in an instant, but he could also redirect every attack Roderick threw at him; his defence appeared almost impenetrable. If Roderick tried to lunge at Damian with a bright ball of phosphorous in his hand, Damian would simply switch positions with a nearby rock or rotted piece of wood. This swapped object would then fall onto Roderick's head, stunning him for a moment. Although Roderick was unaware of the nature of Damian's ability, he could clearly see the difficulty Damian had with the bright light emitting from his attacks, as he would often shield his eyes before dodging.

Without hesitation, Roderick closed in on Damian— a globe of fire his hand. The flash of light from the flame blinded Damian, and he grimaced, gritting his teeth in pain. However, before Roderick could get a hit in, he felt his body jerk violently, and he found himself on the opposite side of Damian.

"What the-?! He can teleport people too?" Roderick thought to himself as he fell face-first into the dirt. Roderick got back on his feet, coating his hands in phosphorous and igniting them. "I almost got him... I just got to keep the pressure on."

"Pfft... idiot," Varg scoffed at Roderick as he sliced one of Abian's decoys in half. "Damian's almost unbeatable in a one on one matchup."

"That's my Damian!" Reika giggled, barely noticing Roxie, who prepared to scream. "Oh, this looks bad," Reika plugged her ears and awaited the screech, expecting a long-range blast. However, Roxie used the force of her scream to try and tackle Reika, propelling herself towards her with incredible speed. "Oh, dear-!"

Reika's body was obliterated from the waist down, however, there was no bloody mess like Roxie feared she had just caused, but a puff of snow that spread across the ground. "Huh...?"

"My, my... how terrible!" Reika gasped as her snow-body began to reform, reshaping itself in mere seconds. "That's a very powerful Mark you have!"

"What the hell?" Roxie said, eyes wide in confusion. "What kind of Mark is this?" She let loose another scream; this time the blast carved a massive hole in Reika's chest. To Roxie's dismay, Reika reformed once more. "What are you-?" Roxie was cut off by Reika, whose fist became a hardened boulder of snow that smashed right in her face.

"You're blocking my view of Damian's fight... could you move?" Reika's voice seemed a little colder than before as she watched Roxie smash into a tree. "Thanks!"

"Rox!" Thomas cried as he slung Roxie's arm around his shoulder to try and prop him up. "are you okay?"

"Yeah..." Roxie nodded, blood trickling down her chin. "This girl isn't the airhead she wants us to believe she is; she's dangerous."

"These two... The Mother and The Father... they're both monsters," Thomas gulped, looking over to Abian, who was having an exceedingly difficult time dealing with Varg and Camila; he seemed almost out of energy.

"You gettin' tired, pumpkin?!" Varg snarled as he tore the throat out of another Abian decoy. "I ain't even serious yet! Is that all ya got?! Huh?!"

"Son of a bitch..." Abian muttered as he gasped for air, almost completely drained. "I can't keep this up."

"Come on, putas! I've still got plenty for all of you!" Camila cackled as she downed more and more decoys, wildly firing into the crowd with her Uzi-hands. "Keep em' coming, bastard!"

"Abian, look out!" Thomas warned his fellow officer as he tossed another boulder, this time at Varg.

"Huh-?! Arrrggh!" Varg growled as the massive stone impacted his body, hurling him far away from Abian.

"Varg!" Camila shrieked as she watched her dear friend get flung across the forest. She turned to face Thomas and the others, steam gushing from her ears. "You fuckin' cops!" She let loose a storm of rockets from her hands, blistering the land with destructive explosions.

"Camila, no killing! We don't want their blood on our hands!" Damian quelled Camila's rage. "Varg will recover like he always does, just keep stalling!"

"Just what the hell are you stalling for?" Roderick asked as he launched a fireball at Damian.

"Excuse me, I don't go asking you about your personal business," Damian said with a posh huff as he put his sunhat on. "This matter is private."

"You talk pretty high and mighty for a lowly Mark-trafficker, Dracula," Roderick scowled at the delicate fellow before him. "But that'll just make it all the more satisfying once I scorch that cocky grin off your face."

"Please, do try." Damian laughed lightly as he taunted Roderick, calmly waving him over.

"Bastard..." Roderick grumbled as he charged another attack in his hand. "You're gonna regret-!" Roderick stopped, hearing the angered roar of someone fast approaching. "Who the hell is-? Oh, shit..."

Damian's eyes widened as he saw a red-haired woman lunge at him with fists ablaze, ready to pummel him silly. Taking advantage of his distracted state, Roderick fired a blast of phosphorous right at Damian's head, hoping the enraged girl's assault would grab his attention long enough to prevent him from redirecting the blast. Sadly, Damian regained his wits quicker than expected, and backed away, swapping the fireball and the girl.

"Agh!" Maeve slammed into Roderick, knocking them both to the ground. "What the hell was-?!" Maeve cut herself off as she realized just who she was laying on top of. "M-Mr. Grey!" She stood up straight and saluted him. "My apologies!"

"Spare me the fangirl nonsense! What the hell are you doing here?!" Roderick shouted, steam billowing out of his nose.

"Maeve!" Aiko panted as she came to a screeching halt, propping herself up against Yuko. "What the hell is...? Oh, shit..." Aiko's face froze up as she saw Roderick and the destruction all around him. "R-Roderick Grey! I- um... I can explain!"

"You two need to get the hell out of here!" Roderick barged through both girls to face Damian once again. "This isn't your guy's fight!"

"We came here to help you!" Maeve announced confidently.

"No, no, we didn't! I came to stop this girl from getting herself killed!" Aiko interjected as she grabbed Maeve's arm.

"You both can explain this later once I file a report!" Roderick snapped at them, blazing phosphorous still crackling in his hands. "If you want to help, I suggest tending to the other officers. I've got this guy here."

"Wait, hold up..." Aiko paused for a moment, examining the face of Roderick's foe. "It's you! From the bar yesterday!"

"Ah, that's right... I nearly forgot about you," Damian snapped his fingers as he remembered Aiko, tipping his hat to her. "How have you be-?"

"You two know each other?!" Roderick cut him off.

"It's quite impolite to interrupt someone in the middle of a friendly conversation," Damian scoffed at Roderick with a scrunched nose, then he peeked his head over to Aiko. "You seem like a delightful young lady, but I must tend to this hooligan. Do be on your way."

"Just get out of here!" Roderick bellowed as he pushed Aiko and Maeve away. "I'll handle him!"

Aiko could see the hesitation in Maeve's eyes. "Let's get going, Maeve, we can help the others."

"I just-..." Maeve clenched her fist tightly as she turned away from Roderick. "Fine... let's go." She darted ahead of Aiko and Yuko, leaving them both in the dust once again.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Aiko wheezed as she ran after Maeve. "Oh, god... I should run more."

Roxie and Thomas were outmatched by Reika; every desperate attack they would launch at her was ineffective. Even if it caused any damage at all to her, she wasn't showing it. Every time her snow-body was demolished, she'd simply sigh and reshape herself as if it were as simple as breathing, then she would beat them both senseless with her icy arms that had been molded into blunt tools.

"Christ..." A dribble of blood spilled from Thomas' mouth as he got back on his feet, but Roxie was still on the ground, half-unconscious. "Roxie...? Are you alright?"

"Yeah..." Roxie picked one leg up, leaning on it for a moment before regaining her balance; there were severe bruises on her head and neck. "I'll be fine."

"You two are tenacious!" Reika hummed, crafting each sentence with a sort of whimsical musicality. "You remind me of my friends over there," Reika pointed over to Varg and Camila, who were tearing apart the last of Abian's decoys. "Well, save for being beaten-up like you two are, but still!"

"Will this bimbo quit runnin' her mouth already?" Thomas muttered to himself as he dragged his feet along the ground, sloppily readying himself for Reika's next attack. "Quit messin' around and fight us, ya daft witch!"

"Okie Dokie!" Reika snickered as her hand morphed and twisted into a huge, icy hand with razor sharp claws. "I made a promise to Damian not to kill you two, but I could maim you just enough so that you can't attack us anymore, sound good?"

Thomas tried to shield Roxie as he held her tightly, waiting for Reika's frozen claw to cut them to ribbons. However, as he closed his eyes, Thomas heard a horrific wail; it was Reika. "What the-?!" He watched as a red-haired girl's blazing hand dug into Reika's gut, bypassing her intangibility with the raw heat of her dragon fire.

"Rrgghh! You little-! Gah!" Reika was cut off by Maeve's fist as it slammed into her jaw, knocking her back into a tree. "Shit, she uses fire..." Reika looked to the north and waited for a sign from her comrades still inside the bunker. "Come on, Louise...we just need a little more time."

Not far from Reika's raging battle was Varg and Camila, who had depleted Abian's supply of dummies. He fell to his knees, exhausted and spent, then Varg grabbed his head of hair, lifting him off the ground. Abian grimaced, fighting the agonizing pain, but he could do no more.

"What a pathetic excuse for an IMOP officer!" Camila chuckled wildly as she watched Varg work his magic.

"Heh... you were annoyin' to deal with, kid," Varg smirked as he brought Abian closer, his clawed index finger just an inch from his forehead. "So, how about I carve my name into your head, huh? Just to make sure you don't get in my way again." A twisted grin stretched across Varg's face as his claw drew nearer to Abian's flesh. "I suggest you think happy thoughts while I do this, ki-... what the-?" Varg felt a metal hand clasp around his wrist, stopping him from disfiguring Abian. "Who the hell are you?"

"You won't hurt him." Yuko scowled at Varg, gripping Varg's wrist firmly as she slowly moved his arm away from Abian, not showing any signs of difficulty in overpowering Varg.

"Step off, big lady, or I'll put you in the dirt," Varg threatened Yuko, who remained unafraid of him.

"I suggest you listen to her, wolf-guy," Aiko chimed in as she drew closer to Yuko. "She looks pretty mad."

"Pfft, what a load of- bugahhh!" Varg coughed as Yuko drove her free hand into his sternum, knocking all the air out of his lungs and freeing Abian from his grasp. "She's strong!" He stumbled back, catching his breath for a moment. "Now... this might be interesting. How about it, tin-girl? You wanna throw down?" He grinned, his claws extending even further as he got back up. "Cammy, take the busty chick."

"Which one?" Camila asked, unable to tell which buxom lady he was referring to.

"Cammy, the- the short one!" Varg grit his teeth at Camila as he pointed over to Aiko.

"Ah, shit..." Aiko gulped as Camila slowly made her way over. "H-hey! I don't really have anything to fight with, s-so... um..." Aiko sweat profusely as Camila's hands reshaped themselves into light machine guns, pointed right at her head. "Uh, um..." Aiko tried to think, but her mind was flooded with thoughts of her own corpse riddled with bullet holes. "Gotta think!"

Aiko thought back to her fight with the Mark-user in her convenience store. Quickly, she adapted the memory to her situation, formulating a desperate strategy. Just as her back was pressed up against a wall, she tapped her left hand against a nearby boulder, waiting for Camila to come into range. Then, just as Camila was about the mangle her legs, a fist flew out of the rock at incredible speeds, upper-cutting Camila just under the chin. She flew back onto the ground, and Aiko took the initiative, attempting to retreat over to Yuko. However, Aiko felt her hand gravitate towards the stone arm she created, and like a parasite, the rock appendage latched onto her, molding around her own arm. Surprisingly, the arm felt like nothing, almost as if it were a weightless, secondary layer of skin.

"How the-?" Aiko was almost stumped by the strange new feature of her Mark, but then she remembered lifting Yuko in Combat Training. "Of course! This arm weighs nothing in my hands!" She grinned like a child on Christmas Day as she marvelled at her modified limb. "Now, I'll be able to help Yuko in a fight!"

"I'll turn you into red paste!" Camila grumbled as she stood up, her hand morphing into a grenade launcher.

"Uh oh!" Aiko snapped back to reality as Camila aimed at her with malicious intent, hoping to blast her into the stratosphere.

Aiko's body once again moved on its own and she shifted into survival mode, trying to protect herself from the explosions; she hid behind trees, rocks, anything to shield herself from the devastating shockwaves. While Aiko was running for her life, Camila unknowingly provided a method of attack for Aiko. In her blind rage, Camila neglected to take into account a large amount of dust she began to stir up around her, and Aiko used this to her advantage. Just as Camila turned away from her, Aiko ducked into the dust cloud and lunged with her left arm pulled back as far as it could go, ready to pound her foe into submission. Although Camila caught on to her own mistake, it was far too late for her to react; Aiko's stone-encased fist had already crashed right into the side of her head, sending her flying backward into another tree; it nearly snapped in half from the sheer force of the blow.

"Cammy!" Varg howled at her in horror, hoping for a response, but she was unconscious.

On Roderick's side, things were looking grim. He had not even made a dent in Damian's delicate face, nor had he wiped the grin off his face like he promised he would; nothing was working. If Roderick fired a volley of flares, Damian would simply warp away, and if he fired a single shot, Damian would calmly redirect it.

"You really should run, you know," Damian sighed, growing tired of their endless game. "It's clear you won't get the upper-hand in this little brawl of ours."

"Don't get cocky," Roderick snapped, jutting his lower jaw out in frustration. "You haven't landed a decisive blow either."

"I don't need to," Damian replied, taking a deep breath of the fresh forest air. "What a shame I had to spoil such a lovely day with this senseless violence, but you've forced my hand." His calm expression disappeared as he saw Camila lying face down on the dirt. "I do not wish death on your agency, but I oh so detest the system we Mark-users must live under. Do you not see the inhumanity in labeling those with Marks, branding them? Secluding them from the gene pool as if they were subhuman? All of this war and violence wasn't caused by the Marks, but by the people that feared them."

"Mark-users are dangerous, that's why the IMOP exists— to stop them," Roderick avowed, confident in his stance.

"And what makes you immune to the IMOP radar? Your alignment? No, Mark-users are seen as tools by the United Nations, nothing more." Damian scoffed at Roderick's obtuse viewpoint, pitying his incapability to digest his perspective.

"Mark-users are still human, nothing has changed," Ms. Wendell spoke up as she jumped down from a tree branch in Roderick's defense. "The only difference between then and now is where the weapons lie— not in our hands, but on our bodies."

"Funny..." Damian raised a brow at the cat-lady baring her teeth at him. "It seems the wielder of a Beast Mark is telling me that humanity hasn't changed."

"Ms. Wendell!" Roderick exclaimed, knowing full-well why she intervened. "Did you come for the students?"

"Yes, where are they?" Ms. Wendell asked, a motherly firmness to her voice.

"Those two girls are taking on members of The Kin with the other officers!" Roderick answered, directing her attention to the fight between Reika and Maeve. "You gotta get them out of here!"

"Oh dear..." Ms. Wendell mumbled to herself as she sprinted towards her students. "I'll be back for you, Roderick!"

"You must hurry, Louise... Alistair... we can only hold out for so long." Damian quietly pleaded to his dear friends as he looked towards the mountainside.

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