- Peril

The monster hammered the ground with its front legs, fissuring the battleground. The squadron barely had time to leap out of the way and get into position. Charging directly at the creature, Alloy was approaching at a ferocious pace. Icy projectiles flew from behind her, grazing her ears, the frozen sharpness of Frostbite's attacks poking the Hollow's eyes and keeping her covered. 

Leaping astonishingly high, most definitively empowered by her unhinged and manic scream, Alloy found herself hovering over her enemy. As the beast tried to follow its assailant, it failed to notice Scope forcefully pulling the light string of his makeshift bow. Its bright clear light illuminating the side of his face, the Don swiftly let go of its string and fired a white spark.

The light arrow travelled with baffling speed and exploded on the demon's face. The burst of light created on impact acted as a flashbang, blinding the Hollow. Thankfully, his comrades knew of his tactics all too well and had time to divert their eyes, avoiding getting caught in the collateral. 

"Hahahaha! Oh, I missed this."

Possessed by a manic howl, Alloy felt the thrill of war energize her blood. As if alive, veins grew and spread along her right arm, cranked behind her. Her nails quadrupled in size and sharpened drastically. With all her weight and momentum, she descended on the blinded beast and shoved her biological daggers in the back of its head. 

Unsurprisingly, Alloy's attack barely dealt any damage. Now mounting the Hollow, her hand was shoved deep in the monster's flesh. Suddenly, she felt a pull. Looking down at her hand, she noticed the dark skin growing and morphing. Healing. 

"What the fuck?!"

The don forcefully removed her limbs and leaped off the back of the massive beast, landing right behind her icy partner. 

"Watch out, this fucker's got a tough coat!"

"We'll see about that."

Frostbite was finally finished charging his attack. He slid his foot forward on the layer of ice following his step and exhaled an icy mist. Far behind him, his hand was firmly gripping the cold rod of his newly created three-headed spear. The Don screamed loudly, piked with a not-so-subtle voice crack, as he hurled his frosty trident.

The vicious icicle rapidly reached its target and violently crashed against its solid frame. While the Don had envisioned the sharp spikes penetrating the beast, he was more than surprised to witness it shatter on contact. 

"We can't even scratch this fucker."

Spoke Scope from afar. All of a sudden, the Hollow let out a tremendous screech that brought the Dons to their knees. They could have sworn they saw the shockwave hit the walls of the cave. Surprisingly, the monster used its bag legs to leap into the air and slammed its fists where the soldiers had now gracelessly moved out of the way.

A fiery red rapidly overgrown and took over the clear light emanating from Scope's bow. His prey immobilized, he barely needed time to aim and fired a ruby arrow of light that exploded in flames on the demon's flank. Rapidly confirmed by a visual sight that it took no damage, the archer was not surprised. But he still needed to try.

"We might not be able to hurt it but so can't it. Bastard's too slow."

"Yeah well, it still doesn't help us if we can't kill it."

"Shut up for a sec, it's coming!"

As the small squadron had assumed their target was both sluggish and narrow-minded, they were caught off guard when the now biped slashed the ground mid-stride as it approached them, shooting a slave of rocks with lethal speed. Frostbite barely had time to erect a pillar of hardened ice in front of him to take cover. Further behind, Scope had more time to react and shot a barrage of exploding arrows, destroying the debris threatening him. 

As for the woman of the band, she had fewer defensive options compared to her comrades. She heightened her senses and swiftly dodged most of the earthy bullet flying past her. However, there was so much her patchworked body could acrobatically avoid. A handful of deadly stones pierced right through her abdomen and her shoulders. She was still standing up to this point until a bigger rubble violently crashed on her stitched-up forehead, knocking her cold. 

"Get the fuck back up, Alloy!"

Yelled frostbite with little to no concern as he dived under the still-charging giant beast. Backsliding on a thin layer of ice, the soldier grabbed his extended forearm with his other hand and morphed it into a sharp blade. He ran the acute tip of his frozen sword across the thing's stomach hoping to spill its guts. Now clear from under the monster, he was only rewarded by a dull and broken icicle.

"What's taking her so long?"

"I don't know, but she might need your help this time."

"God dammit!"

Scope annoyingly grunted. Alloy was famously known to them for coming back to life. Literally. However, her uncanny proficiency in avoiding death had nothing to do with her power. At all. It is all but a perk of hers.

The Dons are all experiments. Not in the same way every other soldier is. Actual experiments. Originally powerless, they were given the powers of fallen soldiers; another of Doc's and Mob's deals. They were able to implement parts of deceased soldiers and earn their powers. Their powers aren't theirs to bear. They are but borrowers of heritage. 

As for Alloy, she stands out from even her partners. While the other two were each patched up with a singular prospect, she is instead the agglomeration of a panoply of specimens; her body is a representation of that. She had been tested on. Operated on. Experimented on. Cut open. Sawn back. Cut open again. Sawn back again.

Through her years in different laboratories, she had been declared clinically dead countless times. However, she was somehow able to steer clear of Death and come back to life every single time. On paper, her powers span across a broad variety of abilities that she can dabble and switch from.

Super agility. Super speed. Super strength. Anything, really. She has yet to discover all the abilities at her disposal. She is the second most omnipotent soldier in the entire Foundation, coming after only the Knight, the fifth and last member of the Pioneers. Her aptitude to resuscitate is but a convenient aftermath of the horrible treatment she suffered. 

"Stop dying, you dumbass!"

Scope shouted at the inanimate body as he ran around the huge monster. Now having sight of his friend's assumed corpse, his makeshift light bow turned yellow. The golden lust of his weapon began crackling as he was pulling on its string. Soon enough, he fired a beam in a perfect arc that pierced Alloy right in the middle of her chest. When the electrified arrow hit her in the sternum like a lightning bolt, her body arced itself and levitated off the ground for a brief instant before falling back down. 

The volts now juicing up her metabolism, her lungs were finally able to reopen as her heart began to pulsate again. Her perforated body was covered in blood, however, she was back for more. She pushed on her hands and kicked with her legs to flip back up on her large shoes. She banged on her temple with the palm of her hand as if to put her brain back in its spot.

"Holy fuck, that was clos-"

"Watch out!"

Alloy didn't have time to fully process her current situation when numerous asymmetrical spikes and horns were threatening to add more holes inside her body. Just in time, she hardened both her arms and grappled two of its spikes. When this unstoppable force clashed against this immovable entity, an energy field burst out. The beast's momentum pushed her back forcefully, her feet dragging and digging through the earth. Soon enough, her immense strength was able to match the Hollow's, pinning it down. 

"Woah there, bud. Not so fast."

Communicated Alloy to the feral demon facing her. Her stitched-up silhouette felt even more ridiculously small in the face of this gigantic monster. However, she stood her ground.

"Good! Keep it busy. Scope, help her pin it down!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do here?!"

The archer was already aiming his weapon at the temporarily immobilized freak. Now glowing a bright magenta, the bow shot a volley of arrows leaving a trail behind them. The projectiles dug all around the Hollow, their trails taking the properties of ropes, all connected back to the bow.

Scope forcefully thrust his bow into the ground and yanked on all the ropes. The pink strings, as they straightened, tightened around the huge body of the beast. The soldier then used the tip of his bow and his shoulder as leverage, his back against the fight, to put as much tension as he could to tangle their prey. 

"Whatever you're planning to do, you better do it quick cause' I ain't about to keep that thing in place for too long!"

"Shut up, Scope! I need to focus! When I say move, you get the fuck out of here!"

Frostbite grunted annoyingly as he had his eyes closed trying to center himself. The atmosphere began to shift around them. Humidity gave place for a cold dryness. The chilling air scratched the inside of their lungs.

The temperature drastically dropped as soon as his aura began to gather around him. His palms were strongly clasping before his chest, his aura spiralling around him like an icy hurricane. The gusts of pure energy emanating from him were fiercely blowing away his hair and his clothes. 

As he used all his strength to part his hands away, the Don naturally began to let out a deep scream. Within his hands, peeks of a bright silver and azure sphere began to show, its sheen illuminating the entire underground area. His battle cry showed no sign of letting off until he violently closed his hands back together, immediately opening his eyes, now completely glowing white. Silence.

"RUN!"

His two partners immediately teleported out of the area on his command. The Hollow barely had time to turn around when Frostbite let out another heart-wrenching scream and slammed his palm directly on the ground. As his howl kept reaching higher and resonating louder, his skin was fully letting through a frosty glow.

After a very short delay, a thunderous uproar pierced the area as ice started to spread rapidly all over the surfaces of the cave. In a flash, the entire zone turned into an arctic hellscape, icicles chaotically emerging in all and every direction.

While nothing seemed to have even come close to injuring the gigantic animal, the spontaneous birth of this lethal glacier completely obliterated it. Bloody and oozing frosty spikes were impaling the demon and utterly dismembered it. The tumultuous tundra's horrific feeling ramped up now with the steamy vermillion sprayed at every corner, melting its outer layers. 

Unable to stand up, Frostbite was left on all four, panting. His heavy and battered breath blowing a thick fog over the frozen floor, his reflection staring back at him. While his vision might be blurry, he could still notice the suspicious amount of blood dripping over his mirrored face. His fatigued and trembling fingers were naturally drawn to his nose, feeling the warmth of his life leaving his nostrils.

He knew what that meant. He did not inherit this power; he adopted it. He still hasn't tamed this ability to its utmost. He might never will. But it was enough for him for now. It still does the job.

"Fuck."

"Sheesh."

"You good?"

"Let's just get the fuck out of here."

"Come on, pal. Catch some."

He didn't deliberate for even a second. He gladly grabbed hold of Alloy's helping hand. Completely giving himself to her, she carried him away effortlessly, followed by Scope packing away his equipment. Alloy gave one las look at the battlefield over her shoulder. 

"You owe me a new jacket by the way."

"Just. Shut the fuck up"

"Alrighty. ... But you still owe me a jack-."

"Oh my fucking Go-"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weird that they're late. I'm not really surprised, coming from him. Even if he never showed a history of being late. Ever. But it just doesn't surprise me somehow. But her. Not like I know her much. We've only recently met. But I mean, she's a Commander.

Even Slash is here, and he doesn't strike me as the organized and punctual kind of guy. Well, I don't really care. I'm not in a hurry or anything. The rest of the team seems to be more affected than me by their absence. Not like they're upset. Just confused I guess. I think we're all expecting them to show up soon anyway-

Yeah. Here they are.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Ace is walking at a hurried pace. Looking at her sour smile, I do think she feels bad. 

"We're aware."

"It's all good."

However, he looks totally unbothered. 

"I'm assuming you got drunk last night. In fact, don't bother. I know you were."

While it may be harsh, I don't think Rouge's totally wrong to assume that.

"Wow, alright. Can't even place a word and I'm already proven guilty. Sounds fair enough to me."

"Well go on then, explain."

"I- Um, well. Actually…"

"Right."

I guess he truly didn't have a good defense. But, I wonder why she's looking down and rubbing her nose like that. I think Slash noticed too. He walked right up to them. He's standing right in front of them, hunching over them with his hands on his hips. Why is he staring at them like that? 

"Hmm. Hmmmm… Hmmmmmmmm…"

He just keeps switching targets. They won't even look his way. 

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!"

What's so funny? The others look as confused as me.

"Oh. This is a fun little thing that happened."

"W- What are you talking about? What thing? And back off!"

Jab sounds as angry as he sounds flustered.

"A-Alright, Slash. We're already late on schedule. Nothing happened so, let's just, go on with our lives."

"Hahaha, ah yes. Of course. My honest mistake, folks. Nothing totally happened. At all. Ever. Not even close. In fact. It couldn't be more the opposite of a thing happenin-"

"O-Ok group! Time to head out. Hurray! Mission time!"

Ace's voice is so shaky.

"What thing happened, Sensei? And why are you guys so weird? Ace, you're all red."

"Ahem. No time for questions, Spike. Onward, people! Onward!"

She's already so far ahead. Something totally feels off but I have no clue what it is. Whatever. We started moving out. We have another mission. This time we don't have much equipment. Only the bare minimum if we randomly find some that need to be repaired or swapped.

It's an extermination assignment. For real this time. Doc located a Hollow wandering around. Savvy was told that it was no big threat and didn't seem to threaten coming closer. But it is our job to eliminate all of those things, so. Here we are. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ace is usually quite chatty. But she's leading the walk and didn't turn around at all. And we have been progressing well too. Rouge looks a bit tired. Savvy is helping her, but she's still having a rough time.

"Hey, um, Ace. I think we should take a quick break. We're not too far off from our location, I think it would be best if we rested before we meet with our target."

"Oh, y- yeah right. Alright everybody, break time."

Sure enough, Savvy made sure Rouge could rest for a bit. I guess we'll be sitting here for a while before we start heading off.

~~~~~~~~~

The troupe is quietly reposing, surrounded by damp and earthy barricades. Not wanting to waste the very few appliances they have, the tactician of the band recommended they light a modest fire camp to light up the area while they ease up; a recommendation immediately accepted by her two executives. 

While everyone seemed to achieve a certain level of peace, one could not stop fidgeting. Her eyes ricocheted across the warm reflection of the bonfire spreading on the floor and the laid-back figure lying on the other side of the flames. 

Jab took longer than it should before noticing Ace's strange behaviour. Unusual, more accurately. Not being the most emotionally and socially abled person, it took him quite a while to catch on her fidgety conduct. Moreover, she never struck him as the embarrassed type, not after falling prey to her intense and quick-witted personality on multiple occasions. 

But this time, she was. Embarrassed. He could barely notice her face through the burning flames and chirping embers. But he could just tell she was blushing, and not from the heat. He felt really nervous too, even more so after Slash's oppressive welcome. But he felt it. Deep inside. This is a one-time opportunity. He can finally get back at her. He smirked.

"Say, Ace."

"W-What?"

"I know they couldn't give more of a shit as to why I was late. But what about you?"

"M-Me? Why?"

"I mean, I'm sure we're all wondering. No harm in asking. Just making small talk."

"Well, I don't think I owe you an explanation."

Everyone was invested in their conversation.

"Fair. Just suspicious you can't say what it is."

"Like you can talk. What's your reason?"

"Our very own detective over here already figured that out, didn't she? I drink too much. Silly old me. Always drinking. But what about you? You didn't see the time pass 'cause you were in too good compan-"

"Alright! Hop, hop! Break's over. No time to slack. Savvy, you lead the walk."

"Right…"

The Illusionist was frantically kicking the dirt around the campfire, hoping to suffocate the flame and the discussion. She clapped her hands before sweeping and whooshing people away, getting them to move forward. The Shogun laughed as he walked past her.

"Hahaha!"

Jab made sure to give her his best smile as he followed after, almost sending her over the edge. The dead stare she gave him proved he succeeded. One would think this payback for her pestering and teasing nature would teach her a lesson. However, it did not. Quite the opposite actually. It but fueled her insatiable quench to taunt him. She'll get him back. Just he waits.

Although for now, focus is of the essence. They are getting dangerously closer to the hazardous sector. The lightheartedness of their trip silently wore out. Their last mission did not help them grow confident. If anything, it only fed their evergrowing dismay. Only one was not affected by this dread poisoning their morale; a seasoned warrior. 

Slash rarely spaces out. Quietness does not sit well with him. It is against his nature. However, silence does come to him from time to time. So do the memories. Often unwanted. Always haunting. Experience comes with confidence and assertiveness. But it also comes with apprehension and affliction. Corpses of forgotten comrades. Blood. Tons of blood. Just not his. The guilt of being unable to pay the price in blood, figuratively and literally, for his fallen brethren is subconsciously tearing him apart. 

The Shogun despises having to test his subordinates. He really does. But he knows it has to be done. He went through the same process. They need to be able to stand on their own or they will be otherwise doomed with unavoidable death. If only things were different.

Solely on a hunch, he stopped. The squadron walked a few more steps before noticing his sudden halt.

"Did you sense something?"

Ace questioned, unable to feel anything on her end.

"Hahaha! Do not worry! I can't sense anything yet. But…"

His honed intuition got beaten by the prodigy's flair. They heard the blind soldier unsheath his daggers before they heard the monster steadily approaching. Mute could envision the beast perfectly. Its position, its size, its speed. Savvy quickly followed his response and took the reigns. 

"Form a defensive line. Mute let us know when it's coming and from where."

The area in which they were now getting ready to fight was not as open as their strategist would have wanted. While it is quite large, there are countless pillars, boulders and walls littering the view, creating a concerning amount of blind spots.

Akuma and Spike took the lead, holding the front line. Savvy and Rouge stayed behind with the two Commanders, leaving the armed duo in the middle. Rouge placed her bag on the ground and withdrew a handful of scarlet vials. She took the time to precisely curate them for all her comrades. 

"Heads up peeps."

One after the other, she threw the glass containers with unconvincing aim at the rest of the troops minus the Lieutenants. 

"Only use those if you really need to. They're the last-resort type."

"Right."

"So what's the plan this time Savvy?"

"I need to wait and see. Just stay in position as usual."

"No problem, I got you Blondie!"

Mute furtively indicated the imminent threat with the tip of his blade. Sure enough, a massive head poked around the dark corner at the end of the cavern. Its heavy steps were detaching the loose layers of rocks from the high ceiling. They all felt a piercing feeling in their stomach. Something was wrong. 

Similar to when the large Hollow showed up during their last mission, which only Slash himself could take care of, the mood changed. For the worst. It is drastically more dangerous and powerful than they were told; they can tell just from its presence. They saw it enter in slow motion.

This can only mean two things. Either this is not their target whatsoever; being a totally unfortunate turn of events. Or they have been lied to. Somehow, most seemed to believe more in the latter. Whatever the explanation, the outcome stays the same. They need to eradicate this threat. Quick. All the newbies looked at each other, horrified, as the figure was finally in full view.

On its two muscular legs, generously longer than its torso, the Hollow stared at the newcomers. Equipped with an extra pair of sharp limbs, its four arms added to his already imposing stature. The beast produced a deafening howl before slowly bending forward, slowly and smoothly digging its countless claws into the rocky floor. Red fluids flowing and pumping all over its muscles, fully tensed, it was ready to pounce. And it did. Rapidly.

In a fraction of a second, the monster vanished, only leaving behind a powerful shockwave. It immediately reappeared inside their first line of defense, already breaking into their position. Both Akuma and Spike felt their throat getting crushed as enormous grips squeezed around their spines. 

The demon's momentum made it fly, along with its too prey, across the cave and crashed into a large pillar, flying through every other soldier. Akuma and Spike got violently trashed into the rigid enclosure, sinking into the earth, still stuck under the Hollow's grip. Akuma's eyes immediately turned completely red, losing consciousness. Or gaining one. That was the fastest the new recruit had ever shifted into his survival state. Such was the menace. 

The soldier rapidly grabbed the dark arm threatening to snap his neck in half. His resilient partner instinctively took a similar approach, turning her forearms into solid cutters. They both tried with all their might to break free, failing miserably. Panic slowly began to poison Spike's mind, usually difficult to affect. Akuma would have felt the same if he was still behind the wheel. Lucky for them, they aren't alone.

"Hands off, your freak!"

Warping and distorting from the speed, the silver bat was rapidly menacing the Hollow's side. Under a thunderous crash, Jab's sturdy weapon violently sunk into the monster's rips. Or so he thought. The Hollow swiftly seized the metallic rod with one of his additional arms, absorbing the hit surprisingly well. It then quickly responded with a counter-attack, without even looking behind him, throwing a lethal slash with its last unused hand.

Undoubtedly aiming to slice right through the drunk warrior's head, the claws unexpectedly clashed against a cold blade. Mute barely made it in time into the feud to save his comrade. 

"Let go of me you little-!!"

As she voiced her discontent, bone shards erupted from Spike's face. She was now wearing a both sturdy and sharp bone mask. The ivory veil was equipped with razor-sharp teeth, which she did not hesitate to put to good use. Spike ferociously bit her assailant's arm, ripping through its skin and muscle fibers. 

In due time, the Hollow's grip loosened and she was able to slither away. Akuma used this distraction to bring his knees to his stomach and unleashed all his power, pummelling the beast right in its sternum with both his boots. A sonic boom imploded on contact before the Hollow was launched forcefully, finally letting go of the young man's throat. 

The dark body skipped and bounced on the ground repeatedly before regaining balance, all six limps digging through the rocks to break the momentum. Eventually, it stopped. Under the newly lifted-up dust, the monster slowly straightened up. Staring down the group of people facing it, it exhaled profoundly, blowing out a steamy fog. 

Strangely, it appeared as if the monster analyzed the room, focusing on the six assailants giving off murderous intent. The other two did not seem to trigger its survival instinct, acting inoffensively for the moment. Unannounced, the Hollow brutally shoved its claws arm-deep into its sides. Arising from this gory spectacle, the brute ripped apart some of its ribs and tore them out of its body. 

The soldiers could only watch as blood and fluids were cascading out of the large figure. Now equipped with crude and grime blades in all four of its arms, the Hollow was ready to charge again.

Battle-ready, the rookies repositioned as best they could. Watching from the sidelines, Ace had handfuls of coins at the ready while Slash had his arms crossed over his large chest plate, determined to stay out of it. 

Don't make me regret this, kids.