Chapter 11: A Rift Between Mutants And Humans

Sharp grunts could be heard echo underground at Crimson's villa. She was surrounded by fast moving dummies that charged at her, beads of sweat forming at her temples as she locked her eyes at her target.

*Whoosh*

A sword manifested of her own blood stretched out of her palm. Fast, light and sharp. It felt like an extension of her own body and with deadly fluidity and precision dodged the dummy and cut it's head clean.

No trace of her blood left as she transformed her sword into a spear, double edged as she used it not only for mobility but also defence and advancement. Vaulting with it, she was capable of dicing the chests of the dummies that blindly rushed to her.

Satiated with her results, she switched it up to projectiles. All kinds of artillery and ammo alike could be seen all over the place alongside armour and all that. Her targets ranging from a few feet away to much further.

*Chick-Chick-Chick*

All of her daggers landing precisely at their targets. Her aim was impeccable, of course as expected of an elite assassin from the once reverend Dark Hold. She learnt that she could alter the direction of the projectiles mid air but that required more training.

Satisfied with this as well, a rapier manifested in her hands. It was huge taking the same height as her but extremely light as she fired up the dummies once more. This time she incorporated her close quarters combat and her long ranged projectile attacks onto her dummies.

No easy feat on her end as the more she went on, the more drained and lightheaded she felt. The black tank top and light combat shorts she wore clung onto her figure, all of the dummies completely disposed off as she supported herself by clutching her knees.

Her breathes ragged but a satisfactory grim played on her lips as she stretched her limbs. 'It would seem that my endurance has greatly improved however a problem that I face is blood. Using my own in combat isn't ideal as I can pass out from overexertion and draining of my body.'

But recalling that the blood of her enemies were now weapons for her, that wouldn't be a problem. By now it was mid-day before taking another shower to freshen herself up once more. Stepping out of the bathroom and taking a long look at her reflection, the image persisted.

The other side of her that she initially rejected but now had slowly come to accept. Multiple eyes twitching in rhythm, teeth grinding her skin as flesh that revolted her to look at moved. It wasn't hideous to look at unlike before as she felt a strange sensation of calmness and serenity.

'The image is so addictive to look at.' She commented as she curled her fingers into a fist before brushing them across her face. It was the same flesh that she had had since her birth but her reflection showed her otherwise. After sprucing up, she made her way to her top balcony where a jacuzzi was already waiting for her.

Taking her phone in the hot relaxing water, she was shocked with how many missed calls and messages she had.

[{49 missed calls and 32 unread messages from Steven}]

So far she wouldn't be as negligent but given that the world was on the brink of extinction, her interest in what happened to the world around her was low. Sinking deeper into the water exposing only her neck and head, she phoned Steven.

"Hello Steven, do you mind explaining as to why you tried to contact me so many times? If it's for a mission then I'll have to turn it down. I've decided to take your advise of a holiday and so far it's working great for me." Her tone light and casual as she looked at the fracture in the sky.

The immaterial Fracture Plague spreading faster and faster claiming the lives of mutants and yet, she took a deep breathe of the late afternoon. "Crimson! Where have you been? Not important, we have an important client!"

His tone concerned and worried unlike hers. "I'll have you postpone or reject it." She went on as her toes swirled in the warm water. She could feel her body open up and melt under the euphoria, a sensation that she didn't want to end.

"Isabella Boylston. I, as the senator of this country, order you to make your arrival present at my office in less than twenty four hours. Any delay in this will result in your immediate participation in this crisis with or without your consent." Crimson's face frowned as she looked at her phone.

'Steven's a government operative inside the Dark Hold? But then again that little rat has a questionable set of morals.' She gave a light sigh, placing the phone on the edge of the tub, letting her red sapphire hair that was initially tied in a bun fall freely. "I'll be there tomorrow."

And with that, she ended the call. 'Steven...' She wanted to know where exactly his loyalty lay but realizing that it would be too much work, she didn't think much of it and let herself unravel in the warm steamy jacuzzi.

***

"We've been able to find a mutant resistant to the Fracture Plague." The senator started the meeting off. Looks of astonishment were thrown at him as they yearned to know who the individual was. "However it's member of the Dark Hold. I'm sure that some of you are aware of her. The Crimson Sythe."

The excitement that was in the air quickly melted away and replaced with disappointment. Darius however didn't seem bothered. "Have you confirmed this information, Senator Reynolds?" His hands clasped in between each other as he say across from the table.

"Absolutely Darius. And with the Dark Hold on the brink of demise, we can easily rope her in-" Before he could finish his statement, he was intervened by Renald who was skeptical of the situation and rightfully so.

"How can we simply pardon her so easily of the carnage and death she has caused?! She has killed a lot of Golden Lantern operatives and civilians. Sure we can try to examine her and study her blood but that doesn't mean that she gets to walk away scot free from her crimes." All eyes fell on Renald's figure, some contemplative while others callous.

"I understand your frustration Renald. We simply can't overlook what damage she has caused to the world because of this and she will be punished of her crimes but first we have to lure her first." Darius stated, his tone calm as always.

Of course some of them present could tell that Renald was extremely bitter about the Crimson Sythe given that she was the one responsible for Rafiq's death. From their perspective that was the only conclusion that they could come up with unaware that she suffered just as much as Rafiq.

The only thing that Renald had received at his mail unanimously was the pendant he had given to Rafiq. Unlike before, it was half burnt and the smell of sizzling flesh was still apparent. The message was clear and it angered him greatly.

"Please don't look over the fact that you tried to send a regular Golden Lantern operative to dispose of an elite assassin, Renald. We know that you had some sentiment towards Rafiq this giving him the location to be but you only sent him to his death." Another voice echoed through the room.

Renald's teeth gnashed and grinded in frustration and fury. Seeing how dissmisive they all were, he was about to storm our before Darius spoke.

"Renald, we've all lost a person near and dear to our hearts and that is why we formed the Golden Lantern. It was to ensure that those we loved remained safe and secure. It is not that we don't care about those who perish along the way rather we can't be focusing on every single death as we go. Our enemies will only grow stronger the longer we sulk on such matters. Not to mention what you did was extremely irrational of you."

Renald knew what he did was illogical and yet went along with it regardless as he felt that it was the right thing to do. "We simply can't act out of pure impulse Renald to prevent situations like these. However no one is stopping you from leaving."

And with that he gestured at the door. Renald was at a dilemma. He knew what he did was stupid in hindsight and blamed himself for the death of an operative. He let a light sigh before taking a seat. Seeing that he had calmed down, Senator Reynolds went on.

"She'll meet her retribution but first, we need to know how she's able to walk around so casually. If we can crack the code then we can finally decrease the mortality of the mutants." Darius looked at Reynolds with intent as he knew the real reason as to why he wanted the code to be found.

A hunch that he had was that Reynolds didn't care whether the mutants lived or died, he was confident that the senator wanted to use the mutants in the army for higher efficiency. A private black ops had been in training for a couple of months constituted solely of mutants however with the plague, they couldn't show their full potency.

From past discussions, the senator had always been passively hostile or against mutants and any laws and protections that they would enjoy. His hostility never seen but Darius could feel that it was there and now here he was, masquerading as a savior to a race that he had once condemned.

'Reynolds, you want to use mutants as pawns to be sacrificed in the upcoming war in the name of saving humanity. But your facade doesn't faze me.' Darius along with the rest of the mutants in that meeting, the minority, given that most present were government agents could tell that nothing good spelt for the mutants out of this ordeal.

However voicing it out was problematic as it would cause another contradictory state between the mutants and the humans distracting them from who the real threat was. The meeting went on as they planned about the upcoming war and the appropriate counter measures adopted.