8 --- 2

Nate fought back the urge to throw up due to the large splashes of blood filling up the floor and walls. At first he tried to go easy with the trained guards because they were mercenaries working for Victor plainly for money. They had responded in kind using non lethals like batons and tasers.

Then in a flash, a weird communication passed between them and they all went out guns blazing.

Nate had to humour them, he dodged a swipe of a knife and punched the guard in the gut, launching him away. He rolled to his side to dodge a bullet a little too late, the bullet grazed his shoulder. He had vastly underestimated how well trained these guys were.

Where the hell is Victor? This would all be over quickly if he just took out their boss. He knew Victor's plan was to make him exert himself on the guards so he would be too exhausted to fight him at the end.

He focused his will into his fist and punched the ground savagely. An energy pulse blasted those still standing off their feet.

Nate ran away from the bloody scene to search for Victor. A thought at the back of his mind made him search around for Amber, he desperately hoped she had gotten out. He wondered why he had brought her in the first place.

He suddenly heard gunshots ahead of him, he piled on speed but suddenly something big crashed into him, he rebounded off the walls and fell. It was a door thrown so fast he failed to sense it, he saw a flash of pink dart towards him, he rolled away before Minx followed up with a thick metal pole.

Ironically, fifteen year old Minx could be the toughest opponent he would face in the team except Victor. She was smaller but faster, he would lose any close quarters fight because of her smouldering fingers, it was also unwise to give her range because she was also adept at energy throwing.

"Hey Minx." He forced some cheerfulness into his voice. "This sucks, I was just starting to like you."

"You did?"

"Of course, you were the only person on the team that made me feel at home."

"Wow, I wish you had told me all this before I fucked up the other girl."

Nate's stomach dropped. "Amber? Did you kill her?"

"No, she is alive but I doubt she will stay that way."

"You have to let me go and get help for her."

She raised her voice menacingly. "You are not going anywhere."

Nate sighed. "Right, because you have to follow orders."

"I don't give two fucks what Victor wants."

Her comment hit Nate like a freight train. He could not keep the suprise out of his voice. "What? Then why are you doing any of this?"

"Because I am pissed, you turned me down when I told you to train me, you refused and then you go and train some new breakout who almost managed to beat me."

"How long have you known about Anna?"

"We always knew but Victor told us to keep quiet about it."

They knew but they were all playing him to see how loyal he was. None of that matters now, he had to try everything to avoid a clash with Minx, if he wants to beat Victor. "I promise if we ever get out of this, I will train you if you are willing."

"All that is irrelevant now, you are never going to beat Victor, he is too powerful. He also has Bennet and Genk are searching for the rest of your little breakout friends. It is going to be a matter of time before they find and return them to Victor. There is no part of this scenario where you win."

He had killed Bennet and Genk was out there, this should make killing Victor easier. He did not offer any of this information to Minx. "There is no way around this fight, is there?"

The seriousness went out of her eyes and the Minx he knew smiled savagely. "Sorry Natey, I am on the team than wins."

He had to finish this fast and unharmed as possible if he was going to be in any shape to face Victor. He noticed a bleeding wound on her shoulder, probably a wound from her fight with Amber.

Minx did not wait for him to figure it out. She fired a stream of energy at him, he rolled away and grabbed the metal pole she had first used used to attack him, he hit her on the shoulder with all the force he could muster, her scream was louder than the sickening crunch of bones.

She jerked in a reflex motion and raked her glowing fingers in Nate's cheek.

He jerked away before she could do more damage and was left with a burning sensation on his face. He gave a little space and she fired a ball of energy at him. He projected a shield that stopped it but it did not stop Minx from jumping over it and firing a small beam in mid air at his back, he tried to dodged it but it hit him at the side of his ribs.

Pain lanced from his body, it awoke pain from wounds that had not fully healed from last night.

Minx followed up with twin orbs of energy, Nate slammed the base of the bole on the ground and used the leverage to flip himself in the air and the orbs missed him totally.

Minx wasn't letting up, she fired stream after stream of energy at him. She was charged up unlike Nate who was already depleting his reserves.

He erected a very strong shield and pushed it at her, it pulsated towards her with speed and redirected her streams of energy back at her. She dodged most of them but one managed to hit her on the gut, she doubled over and the thin glimmer of the shield knocked her off her feet.

Nate ran to her right as she was getting up. He held the pole horizontally with pace, Minx raised a glowing palm to snap it into two to prevent it from hitting her head. That allowed what Nate's next move much easier.

He used one half of the pole to hit her hard on the side of her head and the other one in the back on the back of her knee, effectively severing the joint.

She crumpled to the ground, he unsheathed a knife to finish her off but he hesitated, it was harder to hurt her while she was defenceless.

A familiar sensation ran up his spine and tickled the back of her neck. He turned around and saw Victor in all his glory, he was glowing down to the tip of his hair, along with a long sword he was holding.

Nate quickly raised Minx to her feet and held her in front of him and held the knife to her throat. "One more step and I will kill her, Victor." He was only half bluffing, he didn't know if he was capable of killing Minx to appeal to Victor's humanity. He was certain Minx was still of value to him, he was running low on henchmen.

He was wrong. Victor held up a hand and fired a concentrated hot stream of light at them, the beam hit Minx squarely on the chest and knocked them backwards.

Nate's world went dark for a second, a loud ringing overloaded his senses. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. He turned to his side and saw Minx with a gaping hole in her chest and blood gurgling from her mouth. She was dying but there was nothing he could do for her.

He got up to his feet shakily, he had lost the knife in the blast but he still had both halves of the metal pole. He held them up to begin a fight he knew he could never win alone.