Chapter 13 - Justice…or Vengeance?

Day 8

After Dusk

The Antagonist had moved off from where he had kicked her, advancing on someone she couldn't see. He didn't even respond to her yell, either a lack of situational awareness, or perhaps he had tunnel-visioned. Either way, he responded when her heel drilled into the back of his knee, dropping him down a peg. Erin didn't stop there, though. She hammered at him from every side, moving faster than most combatants on the field could even track.

The flurry of punches and kicks she drilled into him would liquify a normal human being, but he just stayed there on one knee, not moving.

Then he started laughing. She was still punching and kicking him. Still hammering him with her Ki-empowered attacks. He didn't seem to care. Aside from the barest trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, he didn't seem bothered at all. When he struck out at her, it was so fast even her high evasion only avoided the brunt of the hit, turning it into a glancing blow that sent her tumbling down the street.

It took a second for Erin to push herself up on her hands. The HP bar in the top right still flashed, drawing her attention to nearly a third of her health missing. Someone got a hand under her arm, causing her to flinch before she saw it was Logan.

"Logan? What are you doing here?" The pain was evident in her voice.

"That's my line, Erin." He glanced over at The Antagonist who was brushing non-existent dirt off his body. "I told you, I promised Zack, that I would try to figure something out. I had a plan, Sydney and I did, and it didn't involve any civilians."

Now on her feet, Erin jabbed a finger at The Antagonist, "Thought you could take THAT on with some pistols, did ya?"

"I was planning to negotiate." Logan shook his head, "I guess we both came here with incorrect assumptions of what we could accomplish." Erin winced, and Logan mentally kicked himself.

Erin shoved him back one-handed, "Get out of my way, and stay there."

"What crazy plan are you cooking in your head?"

"I have something that might stop him, but it's a time-limited trick. Plus, if you got in my path you might go splat."

Logan gave a lighthearted chuckle, "That's bad for my complexion. Please don't make me go splat."

Straightening her uniform, Erin pulled one of her Potions of HP Regen received from the Level Up Box and downed it. Her health had already started a slow climb to full, but it sped up significantly with the potion. Squaring her body with The Antagonist, he just stood there staring at her, trying desperately to cock his head left and right, but failing due to his muscle mass.

"You're a self-righteous bitch, you know that?" He started flexing muscles in his body, like warming them up or testing them for how limber they felt. "This new world doesn't have room for self-righteous bitches. Strength will only get you so far as well. You need vision to go all the way."

"Oh yeah? Is your vision a bunch of women at your feet? You sound like the type to want that." Erin's voice wasn't as cordial as before. She started bouncing on her feet, shifting stances, readying her body.

The Antagonist started to respond, but all he got out was "Sure…"

The second Erin's Ki ticked full again, she flipped whatever virtual switch activated Dragon King's Wrath. The surprise on The Antagonist's face when she appeared in front of him, a fist buried in his gut causing him to bend over nearly to her height gave Erin the satisfaction to smirk at him. She didn't stand still though, bringing her knee up into his chin. The hit lifted him off the ground, snapping his teeth together with an audible snap that cracked a tooth and launched it from his mouth.

Flashing behind him, she dropped a mid-air axe kick down on him, sending his body into a two-foot deep crater that eviscerated the asphalt and dirt within. It didn't just crumble and blast out, the materials that made up that spot disappeared, vaporized, like they never existed. When she came in for her next hit, The Antagonist had re-established enough brain power to roll aside and let her punch stop an inch from the ground where he just lay.

He kicked out at her, attempting to sweep her legs. He was still marginally faster than her, but with the boost to evasion she received from DKW it didn't even matter. Speed could get you from Point A to Point B, but evasion was about economy of motion for the purpose of avoiding the person going from A to B. She evaded the attack, then continued the move using her speed. Erin spun through a backflip, landing outside of the crater.

Her opponent was still in striking distance though, and quick to use his kick to twist up to his feet. As she started to land, he prepared a punch aimed for her midsection. On instinct she brought her leg up to block the punch with the front edge of her bent knee, where it met the top of her shin. As she did this it occurred to her that he might cripple her and then she really would be his play thing. The surprise she felt was mirrored on The Antagonist's face when his fist met her knee and broke the outer two knuckles, fracturing with a gut wrenching crack of bones.

Erin had shifted her knee slightly just before they connected, aligning it with the two weakest knuckles. Despite what was likely an incredibly high Attack Power, her Defence, when used strategically, seemed up to the task of absorbing those attacks with DKW active. In Spite of her excitement at the revelation, her knee did still feel some discomfort from the impact, and her HP took a very slight dip..

Disregarding the pain, Erin grabbed The Antagonist's wrist and yanked him forward, leaping at the same time to put both heels into his nose. There was another snap as his nose gave way, and she shifted her assault to his arm.

He tried to pull his arm away from her, then quickly realized that she currently had higher physical strength than him. His delayed response was to her benefit. She brought her knee up once more, but this time pulling his elbow back towards her waiting knee. It snapped, bending the wrong way, and she got another dose of satisfaction as he cried out in pain, then looked into her eyes with pure fear.

"What the hell are you, bitch?"

Erin didn't respond with words. She wouldn't monologue to this monster. She wouldn't give him the pleasure of answering his question. Inwardly though, she said I'm a daughter, a student, and a friend. I've lost people I care about, and you took one of them from me, and I will have my vengeance.

The assault Erin leveled on The Antagonist next would become the stuff of myths and legends within a year. People watching from windows, or who risked going outside when enough of the fighting had stopped, would tell of the demon, the Gumiho. The Korean Nine-Tailed Fox. A whirlwind. A Dervish. Flashing around the leader of the Domus Nostra too fast for the human eye to track, her scream of anger and anguish growing with every second. Some would swear they could hear her halfway across town, others would say her voice continued to echo through that neighbourhood for years, as if imprinted on the very land.

Erin would eventually hear those stories and be reminded of another piece of innocence lost.

For now. she hammered on The Antagonist until he wasn't even recognizable as the inhuman monster he had become, all the while he would mumble and whisper, "Stop. Please stop." His pleas fueled her, drove her, satisfied her anger in ways nothing ever had.

Just as her Ki was about to run out, his pleas stopped coming, and in a final fit of rage she kicked him so hard he arced into the air on a trajectory that looked like it would take him clear out of Middletown.

Erin let out one last cry into the night, then fell to her knees, absolutely spent.

When Sydney came down from the roof, Logan saw the first real emotion on her face he could ever remember. Surprise, concern…at least a little fear. He sent her to bring the bikes around as he helped an exhausted Erin out of the crater she had made. In the back of his mind he registered that her clothing, albeit a bit dirty, was undamaged. Surprising given the fight, but a blessing. Straddling the middle bar of his bike, he held it steady while Erin numbly climbed on and wrapped her arms around his waist.

As they rode Erin back home, Sydney sent him a private message.

Sydney: What the hell was that?

Logan: I don't know.

Sydney: She's dangerous.

Logan: Yeah…

Sydney: I'm glad she's on our side.

Logan: Yeah.

Sydney: You like her, don't you?

Logan: Focus on the road before we both get in an accident.

Sydney didn't send another message after that, but she periodically checked over her shoulder to look at Erin. With her face turned away, the only motion Sydney caught from the girl was her hair periodically blowing in the wind.

When they turned onto Erin's street, Eun-ha was already waiting at the road, Noah and Mrs. McGibbons close on hand. Logan had messaged ahead of time letting them know Erin was safe, and again when they were a few minutes away. Eun-ha ran up and helped Erin off the bike, hugging her daughter tight enough to squeeze an unintentional grunt out of her.

Mrs. McGibbons tried to usher Logan and Sydney into the house, insisting they should get some rest before going anywhere, but they both insisted they had things to do before they could call it a night.

Eun-ha tried to get Erin to eat, but she just shook her head, then went out back to sit on the wicker couch on the patio. Bringing her knees up to her chest, Erin stared off at nothing until the annoyingly insistent notification flashing in her HUD pissed her off enough that she opened it. The System AI's voice almost seemed sombre as it read the message to her.

Congratulations…you have completed the following quest:

Save the Old Man.

You got vengeance for the death of your master.

You have been granted the following rewards: 600 XP, x2 for defeating an enemy more than twice your level; A Smack My Bitch Up Reward Box; A Stamina For Days Reward Box; A Student Surpasses The Master Reward Box; A bottle of Ryu Jin-Soo's favourite Soju; A copy of Ryu Jin-soo's Last Will & Testament as recorded by the System during his captivity.

As the message was read, Erin blurted out a tired but angry, "Fuck off with that bullshit." Eun-ha, who had just stepped out onto the patio paused for a second, but let the curse go, and just sat with her daughter.

Opening her inventory, Erin pulled out the bottle of Soju and held it up. The brand was nothing special, something regional, but printed in gold lettering was a few brief words in Korean Erin read them out loud. "진수를 기리며. In memory of Jin-soo." Erin twisted the cap off and took a swig, cringing at the taste, then poured a little out on the ground.

Eun-ha took the bottle from her daughter with her left hand, while pulling Erin closer with her right. She rarely drank, but tonight brought back her demons as well. Eun-ha took a little swig herself, also cringing, then poured a small amount out.

The dam broke, Erin buried her face in her mother's shoulder, and cried.

Day 9

Early Morning

Outskirts of Middletown

"Jesus Christ man, I told you not to toy with her. She's dangerous." The Stranger poked his foot at the misshapen lump formerly known as The Antagonist. "You're not antagonizing anyone now, except maybe if they've just eaten."

The lump let out a muffled groan in response. Grabbing a random part of the lump, the stranger started dragging it away from the city.

"Did I ever tell you the story about how I killed the Erin from my world?" The Stranger chucked. "It's a good story." Cocking his head to one side he added, "Kinda pathetic though. She loved me, ya know? Didn't believe I'd hurt her, even as I held her literal heart in my hand."

The stranger shrugged, "I wonder if that's why they say All's Fair In Love and War? No matter. Since you failed so horribly, and she's only going to get stronger from here, you are now going to be my personal bitch. Well, after I get a body sculptor to fix you..more or less." The Stranger laughed in a slightly unhinged way, "This is the beginning of a beautiful…oh, fuck off AI, or I'll reprogram you on this world as well! Can you believe that thing? Trying to hit me with a CIPS warning."

The stranger put his free hand into his pocket as he walked and started whistling, ignoring the grunts from the lump everytime it hit something.