Queen's Gambit (part 2)

"There is no darkness in the night as the burning city took over the role of the sun. There are no screams of pain as their voices are drowned under the flame—no rest for the tired and no peace for the deceased. Whether you are a criminal or a man of God, the destruction doesn't discriminate. Men no longer bathe in greed or violence; Only wishing to see their mother and family. Who am I in all of this? A helpless nobody looking for salvation just like the rest of them. "

Kadyn climbed through the debris to the doctor's office only to see a sight she never witnessed before. All that was left of the building was a massive crater created by something other than manmade weapons. The only comparison Kadyn could draw was that of a hit from an asteroid as a ring was left around the point of impact. 

*Somewhere in the war-torn city. 

[Leader] - "Listen, I need to speak to KD-554! "

Screamed the leader as he approached one of the cyberknights. 

[Leader] - "I thought this was a simple deal to conquer some land from my rival factions but this has so far accomplished nothing but useless death and destruction on both sides! "

The cyberknight simply stared at the leader without uttering a word. 

[Leader] - "Hey! I'm speakin' to yeh! "

Yelled the leader with increasing frustration in his voice. 

The cyberknight silently walked past the leader before grabbing a cigar from the box on the leader's desk. Furious, the leader ran toward the cyberknight before snatching the cigar from his fingers. 

[Leader] - "You better take this seriously or I'm pulling out of this deal! So far, this has cost me so many men that I don't even know how I would recover after the war. "

[Astroboy] - "It's ironic you think that way. "

Said the cyberknight in a calm voice. 

[Leader] - "That's it, I'm pulling out of the deal! "

Said the leader as he angrily rushed toward his seat on the other side of the desk. 

[Astroboy] - "How about I propose you a better deal? "

[Leader] - "Get the fuck out of my office! "

[Astroboy] - "I think you should hear me out first before- "

[Leader] - "OUT! "

Astroboy suddenly clapped his hands around the leader's head. In a bright flash of light, the leader's head exploded into tiny bits of sparks and flame. 

[Astroboy] - "Sigh... I'm sorry, I have a bad habit of keeping my cool when people don't listen. "

Astroboy took a few breaths to calm himself down before turning his head toward one of the leader's commanders. 

[Astroboy] - "Are you on board with... my new deal? "

The commander nodded in agreement as Astroboy approached him. 

[Astroboy] - "Then my terms and conditions are: Fight harder even if all hope is lost. "

As Astroboy talked, the commander didn't even dare breathe. 

[Astroboy] - "See? Wasn't that hard to listen instead of arguing. "

Said Astroboy as he tapped his hand on the man's cheek. 

After exiting the office, Dan, the other cyberknight, immediately confronted Astroboy. 

[Dan] - "What the hell do you think you are doing? You killed the other gang leader as well and now you just executed a second one! The boss won't be happy with you. "

Astroboy abruptly stopped in his tracks before turning toward Dan. 

[Astroboy] - "Arrest me then, Dan. This is how you thank me for saving Beth's life? "

Said Astroboy in a stern and unwavering tone. 

[Dan] - "I just don't believe in unnecessary violence! "

[Astroboy] - "This is why you can't get a promotion. Despite licking KD-554's boot for all these years, you can only carry her bags for her. I saw you carry that bottle of wine for her the other day. Don't you feel a bit pathetic as a cyberknight, Dan? "

Said Astroboy as his psychotic eyes stared directly into Dan's soul. 

[Astroboy] - "Now that is understood, let's go accomplish our next task. "

Just as the two started to walk again, Astroboy suddenly turned around and gave Dan a twice-fingered jab in the face. Although Dan was able to react and defend himself, he was immediately propelled through the room into the wall. Astroboy smirked as he walked away from the scene without an ounce of remorse.

As Dan pushed himself off the floor, he noticed that blood started to drip from his nose. As the crimson red drops covered his arm, he suddenly noticed a massive crack in his crystal. At that moment, Dan realized what kind of power Astroboy possessed. Earlier, with a simple clap, Astroboy was able to apply enough energy for the leader's head to spontaneously combust. One could only imagine what kind of energy he could muster if he can crack Dan's ability and crystal with a single jab. 

Back at the Allied base, inside the massive training room, Senju furiously swung his swords around. Suddenly, a few training dummies popped out of the ground but Senju was quick to dispose of all of them with a single swing. Immediately after that, a few metallic dummies appeared all around the room behind covers. 

With a deep breath, Senju pushed his sword back into his saya and forced his mind on his ability. As soon as the crystals on his arms started to glow, Senju quick-drew his sword and swung the blade around in a swift barrel roll. Instantly, all the dummies alongside their covers were sliced open with a hundred cuts. Not even a second later, all the dummies inside the room stood back up. 

With a steady breath, Senju tightly gripped his sword as the world around him gradually slowed to a halt. Within two real-time seconds, Senju managed to cut down 40 targets all spread across the room. Satisfied with his performance, Senju smirked before withdrawing his sword into his saya. 

[Senju] - "What do you think, babe? "

Said Senju as he raised his head toward the observation tower. 

[Angela] - "That's amazing, Senju, a new record! Doctor Dane is going to be happy with these results. "

Just then, McCree came into the training arena running with a holographic screen in his hand. 

[McCree] - "You... gotta see this. "

Said McCree as he struggled to catch his breath. 

[Senju] - "No, no, hear me out first, buddy. "

[McCree] - "Is that... a goddamn Conagher system on yer back? "

[Senju] - "The latest of Dane's creations. The Conagher MK.8 with even superior performance to Kadyn's venerable MK.7M. "

With a concerned face, McCree suddenly put his hand on Senju's shoulder. 

[McCree] - "Senju, old pal, listen! I hate to break it to ya, but you can't keep pushin' upgrades into your body! This gon' killed ya! Do you even know the dangers of the Conagher system? "

[Senju] - "Relax, friend, I will be fine. You see, I want to be like Kadyn. The first time I met her, she managed to defeat me in a single second. And remember how she defeated that lava guy without any ability? I want to be just like that. Besides, if she can handle a Conagher MK.7M, why can't I handle a MK.8? "

[McCree] - "Will you stop being a goddamn child? You are like a darn little kid admiring some superheroes on TV. Kadyn ain't like us! She was a machine made to kill from birth with a brain capable of handlin' nerve damage. You are a human for fuck's sake! You already lost most of your body and yet, you still keep throwin' away the rest of your humanity! There are machines trying to become human and you keep wantin' to become a machine. "

Senju remained unfazed by McCree's rant.

[Senju] - "I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Now, why don't you give me the message and ride into the sunset, Clint Eastwood. "

[McCree] - "At least I can still ride into the sunset not lookin' like a real-life inbred transformer toy. "

Senju snatched the holographic projector from McCree's hand.

[Senju] - "If you are a character in the good, the bad and the ugly, I'm sure they had to add "The extra ugly" to the title. "

[McCree] - "Commit seppuku, Samurai Jack. "

[Senju] - "Man, fuck you! "

[McCree] - "Fuck you as well, I rode yer mother into the sunset. "

The two of them suddenly busted out laughing. 

[Senju] - "What kind of comeback is that, haha? "

[McCree] - "I don't know either. Just somehow came into mind. "

[Senju] - "Alright, enough messing around. What's the message about? "

[McCree] - "It's Kadyn. Something happened to her. "

Senju's face immediately turned serious. After playing through Kadyn's call for help, Senju lowered the holographic device and seemed indecisive on what he should do. 

[McCree] - "So? Are you in? "

[Senju] - "I'm not sure... "

Said Senju as he sat on the ground. 

[McCree] - "What, are you not comin'? "

Said McCree as he joined Senju on the ground. 

[Senju] - "She left us. Now that she's in trouble she's asking us for help. "

[McCree] - "So what? She still fought with us. She must have a good reason to leave. "

Said McCree in a relaxed tone as he lay on his ground. 

[Senju] - "But she still ran away! We trusted her! "

[McCree] - "She's fighting for something bigger than herself. The last part of the message reminded me of my youth. Do you know I went to prison for killing someone in my youth? "

[Senju] - "You never told me this. "

[McCree] - "People may judge me differently based on their opinion. There was a family beside my house. A couple and their 4 children. The wife was a damn bitter person. She once put my dog in the vet for droppin' a turd in her yard. Then I found out the husband was abusive toward his whole family and regularly beat his wife and children. Darn neighbours were so scared to call the cop cause he was the landlord of the whole street. So one night, when the beating was so severe that he almost killed his wife, I busted in with my old man's twelve gauges and shot the bastard dead. "

[Senju] - "You American and your guns. "

[McCree] - "I love my guns. They are tools of justice. Anyways, turns out, I did the right thing. After getting out of prison, I returned to my neighbourhood to find out how things had changed. The woman became the sweetest person in the neighbourhood and her children all became great people. Although I lost many years of my life rotting behind bars, I never stopped to think how my life would've been if I never intervened that night. People broke free from their fate because I followed my heart. And today, I felt the same feelin' I had that night when I saw Kadyn's message. "

Senju abruptly stood up.

[Senju] - "I misjudged you, my friend. I thought I knew you enough but you just opened me to a new perspective. Fate and despair is the true prison of all souls. Your heart was free when you pulled that trigger and you were free when you were shackled in your cell. "

[McCree] - "Well... you could say so... "

[Senju] - "I see now. Let's go save our friend. "

McCree smirked as he stood up and grabbed his hat. 

[McCree] - "Let's go spread some freedom. "

To be continued...

*EXTRA:

- Profile: Beth 

- Ability: [The Queen's Gambit]: "Beth's ability allows her to create a grid of 8x8 just like that of a chessboard on any ground. Once the grid has been laid, the cases will all be separated by invisible walls created by Beth's ability. Anyone trapped inside the grid will be given a random chess piece's movement abilities. To exit the grid, a person has to successfully move through to the other side of the board. Beth also has the ability to override a person's movement inside the grid. When two people collide on the grid, they will be trapped inside the same zone. The ability does not possess any offensive capabilities but the walls are extremely resistant to damage. "

ABILITY STATS:

Power - E

Speed of the ability - B

Speed granted by the ability - E

Range - C

Durability of the ability - A

Durability granted by the ability - A

Precision - B

Potential - A