Chapter 17:A few sins here and there
Alex~
04.07.19
5:53 a.m.
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The Warehouse had been made with an outer boundary-a five foot tall wall, guarded by a broken gate-and the main warehouse itself, with a single gate. Inside, the Londeners were having their meeting, unaware that the Reaper was standing at their doorstep.
"The moment they step past the main gates, we strike." Alex whispered to his 1st Division Leader, who relayed the message to the rest of the group.
There were fifty men in total, including Alex and all Division Leaders. Alex had decided against bringing a large number of people, as they would be difficult to coordinate and move in case of failure. A lot of new recruits were there with him, handpicked by their Division leaders. In total , there were 27 of them who were Giftless, which was to be expected due to the low number of people who knew how to use their Powers. Every detail of the Gifts of the remaining was inside Alex's head.
There was one among them who could increase his movement speed in two second bursts, with a cooldown time of five seconds. That's what the man himself had said anyway, but Alex suspected there was more to it.
He was spent a few minutes checking if everyone was armed and present. They had used Allie's power to create a large number of weapons, and everyone was armed with a gun and two daggers. Everyone except Alex, who just had his long barreled revolver.
Not that I need anything else. He'd thought.
He positioned the entire force in front of the gates, guns pointed, ready to mow down anyone who walked through.
He checked his phone. 5:58
"Anyone religious here?" he demanded. No one said anything, confused by the sudden question.
Surprisingly, it was another teenager, positioned right in front of the outer gate, slightly younger than Alex, who replied. "I am, Captain."
Alex smiled and walked up to him. "What's your name?" Alex knew the lad's name, of course, but he needed something to start the conversation. The boy called himself Jeff. He was Gifted, with the ability to manipulate the speed and direction of any projectile. He was raised by a single mother, and born in Birmingham.
"Jeff," he said, then realizing he'd said it a little too proudly, added, "Captain."
"Jeff," Alex repeated, "I'd like you to say a prayer for the men inside that Warehouse, because we are about to put them all in the f***ing ground."
He raised his voice into a shout." Aren't we, boys?" There was a roar of approval. The sound would surely alert those inside, but Alex didn't care.
Then, as if on cue, the gates of the Warehouse opened.
The first thing Alex noticed was the expression on the faces of the two people who opened the gates, and as he gave the order to attack , he crouched down to laugh first.
There were gunshots, and by the time he looked up both people couldn't be seen, their bodies trampled by the people emerging from the gates.
Then, the Londeners returned fire with a single bullet, which wouldn't have been a big deal if it was not headed right for Alex's forehead. A few centimeters away from Alex's head, the bullet was stopped in its tracks by Rose's wires. Alex reacted quickly. He extended his wires around him, pulled his gun from his holster, and took cover behind the wall, in one swift motion.
Rose was by his side in the next moment. "They know who we are." she said.
"Yeah. B*****d didn't even hesitate." Alex peeked out again, and pulled his head back as another bullet whizzed past his head. The Londeners were returning fire at full force.
"Captain!" Alex heard Andre yell. "Their Gifted are here!"
"Rose, cover me."
Alex jumped back in front of the gate. Four bullets were fired immediately at him, all stopped by Rose. No one had died yet, thanks to Rose. Alex shot twice towards the inner gate. One hit someone, the other disappeared into the Warehouse. Alex joined Andre, who was shooting madly at the Londeners. And yet, there had been no causalities on either side.
"They've got a sharpshooter, Andre. I'm the main target. And someone's stopping the bullets on their side." Alex looked around.
"So what do we do?"
"Wait here, don't cease fire."
Mr. Volkov had gathered six men , and Rose, and was heading into the Warehouse.
What on earth does he think he's doing?
Something flew out of the Warehouse's inner gate, making Alex snap his head up sharply.
It was a person-a young guy, white haired- with a trail if fire following his hands and legs. He'd stopped right above Volkov's small squad, who'd just entered through the outer gate.
Alex knew who it was. The fire user.
Alex didn't wait for a split second before firing at the man. His aim was slightly off, and the bullet hit the guy in the leg instead of the head. He turned around in the air, not giving up , ready to bathe Volkov and the rest in fire.
Alex broke into a run towards them and saw Jack out of the corner of his eye, moving to help.
"Jack, support them!"
Jack quickly smashed his hands into the ground. A portion of the ground near Volkov's group moved and formed an arch above them to shield them.
The man extended his hand towards them nevertheless, and fire spewed out of the palm of his hand and onto the earthen shield. But by then Alex had gotten close enough. He extended his wires, grabbing the man by his left leg-the one he had shot-and threw him onto the ground towards his left. The fall would surely have broken a few bones.
Alex entered through the outer gate, trying to give chase.
There was a sudden movement ,and the man stood in front of him like a ghost. Alex didn't know how he could have moved that quickly.
Time seemed to slow down. He could see Volkov moving behind the man. He could see his enemy's fist moving towards his face. He could see a hint of worry entering Rose's face.
Crack.
The fist crashed into his face with such force that he felt like he might blackout. He would have blacked out, had he been slightly less resilient.
He managed to remain on his feet. He saw his enemy swinging again.
Nope.
He closed his left fist, and his wires closed around the man's left arm ,stopping the punch. In the next heartbeat Alex, swung out with his right hand, slamming the barrel of his gun on the man's chin.
His enemy's left palm began glowing.
Oh no you don't.
Using the wires on the man's left arm and leg, Alex threw the man onto the wall behind him, cracking it. His body went limp.
"What the hell were you thinking Volkov?" Alex snapped after taking a moment to breathe.
The gunfire had almost ceased. Both sides were running out of ammo. Volkov didn't reply, but pointed at the inner gate. Alex followed Volkov's gaze to see that more people- Gifted, most likely- had come out. And they looked pretty angry.
What made Alex smile was the among the new guests was the man he was looking for. The Leader of the Londoners.
Wasting no time, Alex shot at him, but as expected, the bullet was stopped. Only now, he was able to see who did it. It was a kid, shorter than even Rose. He extended his hand in front of him, and the bullet froze.
"What madness is this, Dark Knights!" Roared the Leader. He was old, not a hair on his head that was black, but donning a suit and holding a walking stick gave him a powerful, almost proud appearance.
Alex lowered his gun.
"It seemed to me that the God of Death had forgotten to take you. So I thought maybe I should lend him a hand."
"Oh?"
The Leader tapped his walking stick on the ground. There was a terrible tremor. Alex felt the vibrations inside his bones, but he stood calmly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jack go down on his knees and touch the ground, trying to use his power to stop the tremors, but Alex knew it would have no effect. The Leader's ability to create vibrations was feared as much as it was respected. He'd heard accounts of him shattering bones and collapsing buildings, and as he saw the Warehouse trembling in front of him, Alex didn't doubt the rumours.
The gunfire was over now. It was time to battle it out using their Powers; something Alex wouldn't even have imagined a few months ago.
The leader looked at the man who had attacked Alex a few moments ago, leaning against the wall, either dead or unconscious.
"Have you finally lost it, Alexander King? Have the years of killing and killing and killing," the Leader said, walking towards him, "finally caught up to you?"
Alex replied with his usual cold, hard stare. The tremors increased in intensity.
Everyone had gathered behind Alex now, waiting for an order.
"This will have consequences."
Alex wasn't paying attention to him. What occupied his mind was that the attack had not yet been completed, and the Chopper was sure to arrive on the scene if they stalled too long. And the cause of that was that there was no information regarding the child who froze all the bullets. Now the element of surprise was gone too, and it was too late to back out.
"Andre." Alex said without looking back, not loud enough for the enemy to hear. "Move as fast as you can. Kill him. "
The other Division Leaders opened their mouths to protest. Killing the enemy leader, to them, was stupidity. The Londeners were sure to grow uncontrollably vengeful, but Alex had known Andre for five years, and he knew that that man's brain was made out of muscles.
The distance between the two groups was about 15 meters. It took Andre exactly one second to leap across the entire distance, with his right arm pulled back, ready for the killing blow. But he did not expect the enemy leader to react as quickly as he did.
The old man swung his walking stick upwards, hitting Andre on the forearm, and Andre withdrew sharply.
It took Alex one look to realise that the blow - most likely infused with powerful tremors- had broken Andre's forearm. That one attack set the two groups into motion.