Chapter 22: Mirror Mirror

The outer wall of the factory blasted apart as Rhug was sent through it and into the dust wastes of Elontra. Balakus stepped through the hole in the wall and cracked his stony knuckles. Rhug clambered back up to his feet. 

"So, traitor finally here," Rhug growled. "Long time, General. Krom family misses you."

 "You leave my family out of this, Overseer," Balakus threatened. He circled his opponent. "I don't play those kinds of games. They understand why I left. They believe in me to do what's right."

Rhug let out a knowing chuckle. "Do they? Hard to tell. Screams too loud. Family breaks easy."

Balakus felt his blood run cold. Rhug was known to do horrifying things to get under his enemy's skin. His reputation was notorious in every branch of the Kunar military. That aggression and ability to do whatever it took, no matter how underhanded, is what made Rhug such an asset in Regal's eyes. His ascension to the Regime was one of the many reasons Balakus knew that he had to leave. Even if Rhug was just saying things to get in his head, Balakus couldn't let his aggressor walk away without some form of payback.

"The only thing that's going to be broken is your body when I'm done with you," Balakus announced. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, then adopted a fighting stance.

"Will take one hit. Make it count," Rhug conceded. He spread his arms and a blast of orange ripples quickly encompassed him before soaking into his body. A thin, almost invisible, film of Kanutic energy shaped to match his figure and solidified into a barrier around him. 

"Are you so scared that you already feel the need to protect yourself?" Balakus mocked. "Fine then. Let's even the field."

Balakus focused on his hands and felt the waves of black particles assembling in his palms. His Kanushin spread around him, crafting the same type of barrier around his body as Rhug. He thought back to his days of charging into the brink of battle as a younger Reclaiment and the rush it gave him. The thrill of never knowing if he would make it out of the fight alive. That all changed when he became a General in the Kunar army. It was nothing but sitting and planning and ultimately letting the Regime have the final say in everything. As he stared down Rhug in his beady eyes, that familiar feeling of adrenaline and excitement coursed through him. Balakus enjoyed settling matters with his own hands.

"Come on!" Rhug bellowed and motioned Balakus forward.

Balakus obliged and took one heavy stomp forward, then another, building momentum as he rushed toward his challenger. He pulled back his fist and swung it into Rhug's jaw. The Overseer stumbled back, seemingly stunned by the fact that Balakus was able to land it. He shook his head rapidly and pointed at Balakus.

"That was your one," He muttered. 

Balakus primed himself as Rhug started his own charge. He shifted his weight to get a better defensive stance and spread out his hands, ready to latch on to Rhug as soon as he connected. Rhug side-stepped at the last moment and tried to throw a punch of his own. Balakus managed to catch the change in motion, but not fast enough. The two connected with each other, fists to opposing faces. Kanutic sparks flared as the two titans matched each other's blows. 

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Back inside the factory's rusted walls, Kirrik fired a shot through another fake Rhessian. He let out a huff. It was bad enough having to listen to the Kunar's incessant talking, but adding in all the wasted ammo was just a whole other slap to the face. Zaius and Diah watched over Imi's body in the corner of the room, the three of them rotating in and out of the fight against Rhessian. While he was thankful Balakus had stepped in and quite literally removed Rhug from the equation, there was still no strength in numbers for them, not when Rhessian could make as many copies as he wanted. There was the occasional hit that got through, but it was never enough to put the clown down for good.

"You have to try better than that," Rhessian cackled. "Your fiery little friend at least kept me entertained as I carved away her sanity. You three are just boring."

Kirrik didn't bother replying. His silent fury spoke for itself. There was no way that he would let the man responsible for hurting his partner - no, his best friend - get away with his life. That was forfeit when Rhessian tried to take Imi's. Kirrik felt her voice in the back of his mind, guiding his actions.

Rhessian, or at least what Kirrik felt was the real Rhessian, dropped down from the pipes. He stood in the center of the circular room, his smiling mask gleaming in the buzzing fluorescent light. Kirrik could already tell it was a trap, yet it seemed overly obvious. Rhessian split into five more copies.

"No more!" Kirrik shouted. "No more of this funhouse mess. No more jokes. No more copies. We end this here and now."

Kirrik turned to Diah and Zaius and gave them a nod. Zaius' eyes went wide and he grabbed Diah's shoulder. "Ears, now!"

Kirrik pulled his Kanutic energy from the air and spun it into the two crimson disks once more. This time was different, however. He channeled all of his fear for Imi's life, all of the pain at not being there for her, and all of the fury he felt toward Rhessian for making her suffer into the disks. They grew and pulsated violently until they thrashed out of control in Kirrik's hands. He crashed them together into a torrential explosion that rocked the entire factory in reverberating soundwaves. The screeching instantly dissolved all of Rhessian's copies and caused the real one to grab his head in immense pain. Kirrik manipulated the crimson disks back into a chain that he swung out towards Rhessian as the latter fell from the shadows above Diah and Zaius. He wrapped it around Rhessian in mid-air, yanked the Kunar down towards him and clotheslined him into the ground as he got close.

Not letting up, Kirrik stomped on to Rhessian's leg to send him into a howl. Kirrik covered his fist with the chain and delivered a devastating blow to Rhessian's face as he popped up in pain. Kirrik kept striking, delivering blow after blow as the dam that held back his anger broke down. The sound of Kanutic chain against Zanathum metal rang out across the room, each punch cracking Rhessian's mask. It shattered completely. Rhessian's scarred face emerged, his eyes pale white orbs and the healed-over remains of deep gashes across his cheeks and forehead. It was a face that would normally fuel nightmares, but it was Rhessian's turn to be scared.

Rhessian summoned a puff of particles to temporarily obscure Kirrik's vision. Kirrik rubbed his eyes and Rhessian rolled away, turning invisible. The sound of his laughter grew increasingly manic as it echoed around the bounty hunter. Kirrik could tell Rhessian thought he had the upper hand when, in reality, he couldn't have been further from the truth. 

"You broke my mask," Rhessian's voice carried between laughs. "How unexpected. It doesn't matter. You've seen my face, and now you have to die."

Kirrik dodged Rhessian's wrist blade as it swiped past his head from behind. It clipped the edge of his ponytail, its razor sharp edge cutting a small chunk of blonde hair off. Kirrik swung his Kanutic chain out and upward, wrapped it around Rhessian's extended arm, and yanked it down with a sickening crack. Rhessian screamed and Kirrik used the momentum to spin his chain around Rhessian's torso next. He pulled the Kunar in and whipped the butt of his pistol across Rhessian's right cheek. Kirrik spun the pistol around his trigger finger and pressed the barrel against the Kunar's exposed temple.

"No!" Rhessian shrieked.

 Kirrik pulled the trigger and silenced Rhessian permanently.

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"Ready to give up?" Rhug huffed. Blood dripped from his mouth and swollen forehead. His Kanushin had long since dissipated from the endless barrage of hits it had to endure.

"Heh, I've been fighting long before you were even a thought in your birther's mind," Balakus replied. He wasn't much better off himself. The muscles in his left arm felt strained and he had taken a rough kick to the back of his right knee. He knew there was only one way their fight would be over. "This doesn't stop until one of us is buried in these sands."

Rhessian's shriek and a loud crack echoed from within the factory, halting the advances of both colossal Kunar. They gave each other a knowing look. Balakus had lost a number of soldiers in his time, so death was unfortunately all too familiar a concept for him. He never expected for an Overseer to be brought down, however, and by such an eclectic group as well. 

'Maybe I made the right choice backing them up after all,' He pondered. 

"Friend gone," Balakus heard Rhug mumble under his breath. "Rhug alone now."

"Stop fighting while you can," Balakus advised. "I'm in the mood for mercy. Don't end up like your pal."

Rhug gave Balakus a venomous look. A look of deep contemplation formed on his face. Balakus walked through his next steps in case the Overseer decided to continue fighting to the bitter end.

"Will get revenge," Rhug grumbled. "But not here. Not now."

Rhug tapped the side of his gauntlet and took a few steps back. A loud clunk rang out from above the two Kunar, and Balakus looked up to see a sleek black Kunar fighter uncloak and drop from the ceiling. It tumbled toward the ground, flipping around and activating its thrusters right before impact. It hovered behind Rhug, a scorching wave of heat produced by the blue flames expelled from the ship's bottom. Rhug made a running leap onto the fighter as Balakus moved to chase him. He was too late, and the Kunar Overseer entered the fighter's cockpit and shot off further into the wastes. As it neared the cavernous walls of the city, it disappeared without a trace.

An enormous brown cloud kicked up in the wake of the fighter and swallowed Balakus up. He threw his arms up to shield himself from the dust and sand thrown into his sole eye. As he stumbled toward the factory, he heard voices calling out his name. Diah and her companions were waiting patiently for him outside of the hole in the factory wall. Imi, still unconscious, was tucked into Kirrik's arms. 

"Did you manage to stop Rhug?" Diah asked. The cuts and bruises on her body were a lot more visible in the bright Elontran cavern lights. The group as a whole had definitely seen better days. At the end of it all, though, they had managed to take on two Overseers and survive. In Balakus' eyes, that alone was a near-impossible task.

"I whomped him, but the zenerken coward managed to escape. Blinked completely out of existence," Balakus explained.

"Do the Kunar have that capability? I've never heard of anything like that," Zaius inquired from behind Diah.

"Not that I know of, and I was in the loop for almost everything," He answered.

Diah raised a black wristband up and shook it. "Do you think this might have any information on it? We took it off of Rhessian's body after his death."

Balakus pinched the tiny band between two plate-sized fingers. He knew exactly what it was and what made it so important. If there was any way to get to the bottom of what the Regime was truly up to, it was tucked away in the band. There was just one thing they needed.

"That's the Regime's way of ferrying data to and from one another. Since Rhessian was the Overseer of Special Operations, this will tell us everything, but we need someone to crack into it. Someone who's good with tech and ciphers," Balakus informed them. Diah, Zaius and Kirrik all looked at each other.

"I think we have the perfect person," Diah said.