Chapter 2 - A Deadly Dance of Destiny

It was a cool night, so I decided to walk the streets. In this land far from home, what else was there to do? Staying cooped up in my room would only stress me out. Unlike Hans, games couldn't really keep my attention for too long. No, what I enjoyed were stories. Yet, even that seemed like something that wouldn't help me right now.

I just... I just wanted to breathe. My breath was trembling and the cool air barely phased me. It wasn't the cold that was making me shake, after all.

Everything would be fine, I knew that. Yet, deep down, I couldn't help but feel that something was horribly wrong. Like the scraps someone remembers from a nearly forgotten dream, I just knew there was another shoe that hadn't dropped just yet.

The empty streets of Tokyo were a beautiful sight. Though, to tell the truth, that had more to do with the neighbourhood. The moment I started entering the busier part of the city, cars started whizzing by. Even late as it was, people were still out and about. The large, neon signs lit up the night and dazzled the senses. Even at midnight, this was a city that never slept.

I took a deep breath and stopped just by a random store. Reflected on its window was me. My eyes looked tired and it seemed like an invisible weight was bearing down on my shoulders. The amazing powers at my disposal did little to soothe my mind. It's something I'd normally be over the moon about.

I'm special. If I wanted I could pick up one of the cars passing by and toss it like a toy. Yet... it felt hollow. Why? Why did I feel like this? Was something wrong with me?

I let loose a sigh and turned around. Maybe it was all the blood and death I saw in that facility. If I'd just appeared here without all of that, I'm sure things would have been different.

The lights and buzz of the city slowly begin to fade as I start heading back to "home." Home? No. That place is no home to me.

...

The way back is silent and devoid of life. It kinda reminds me of a horror movie, to be honest. But, if a serial killer were to just walk up to me I could throw him away like a crumpled up piece of paper. It still didn't feel real.

I took a small breath and stopped, looking up at one of the nearby trees intently. With a thought, one of its leaves was pulled free and guided into my waiting hand. A second later, I rolled it up into a tiny ball.

I nabbed a few more leaves and started walking again, busying myself crumpling them up. It wasn't much, but it was fun. My constant frown seemed to rise just a tiny bit. It seemed powers were still cool enough to lift my spirits a tad.

"I guess I could try and make this fu-"

A loud, earthshaking rumble smashed into my ears. I nearly hit the ground, fearing that a bomb had gone off right next to me. Truth be told, it might as well have. The ground next to me and the wall behind me burst like a balloon, scattering bits of shrapnel in all directions. The pieces that flew toward me bounced off my skin or the barrier that was around my skin. I still had to figure which one of those was making me more durable.

Of course, the crash still pushed me back. A dust cloud billowed into the air and I waved away the bits from my face.

"W-What the hell?!"

I'd been walking up a small hill with a ramp to my right. Well, the ramp now had a big hole in it, but perhaps more surprising was the person buried deep into it. I could quite make out who they were, but they were almost certainly dead. People don't live through that kind of stuff.

"Y-You bitch!"

Of course, the growl that burst from the hole immediately proved me wrong. A girl leaped out of it and rushed forward, fist raised high. I only saw a scrap of red-pinkish hair before she charged the thing on the other side of the road. My blood nearly froze. It was another one of those robots I'd met in the facility. Except, this one was different. It looked less like a machine and more like the perfect silhouette of a girl. Was it even a robot?

"I'll kill you!"

The pink-haired girl roared as she approached. The robot raised a hand and fired off a concentrated beam of energy, which the girl barely dodged. Part of her clothes was burnt away, revealing the white bra underneath.

"Take this!" The girl shouted as she put the entirety of her small body into the punch. I obviously had no idea what the hell she was saying, but it probably wasn't very nice.

Her fist crashed into the robot's face like a sledgehammer. A spiderweb of cracks ripped through its head instantly, but that was just the beginning. The young girl roared, much like a lion and used her fist to pound the robot into the concrete road. The ground cratered on impact and shards of metal burst from the thing's head. It bounced and tore itself apart, spark flying as a small explosion rippled over the area.

"T-Take that, you bitch!"

She laughed triumphantly and stuck out her tongue, giving the robot a kick for good measure.

It was at this point that she turned around and noticed my presence. She blinked and let out a sigh. A moment later, she raised her fist and wobbled towards me.

Was... was she trying to pick a fight?

Behind her, I noticed someone else. It was another girl and she looked about ready to jump out and attack pinky. What the hell was going on? Something about all this seemed strangely familiar, but I'd never seen this girl in my life! What was it?

Naught but the crackling of flames, the light footsteps of the pink-haired girl, and the pounding of my heart can be heard below the moon. The cool breeze that rolls through the area has my breath coming out in as a thin mist. How? It definitely wasn't this cold a second ago!

"Look out!" My voice cuts through the mostly quiet night. I stretch out my hand and point to the person hiding a fair distance behind the girl in front of me.

"The hell are you saying?" The girl huffs and narrows her eyes. "Are you trying to distract me, you dumb ass? Cause you're failing!"

Unfortunately, none of the unfamiliar words coming out of her mouth seem like anything an understanding person would say. She takes a step forward, not bothering to heed my warning.

And she pays for her ignorance.

A javelin of ice about as thin as my arm practically materializes in her stomach. It had shot out so fast from the other person that I barely saw it coming. One second there was a small light and the sound of cracking, and then the pink-haired girl was violently pushed forward as the lance ripped through her abdomen. She slumped over the pike of ice, casually pushing herself back and tearing some of her flesh free in the process.

The disbelief on her shook me.

I'd been standing right in front of her and narrowly missed having the spear's tip punch through my groin. It must have been about as long as a bus.

"W-What?" the pink-haired girl said, coughing up a mouthful of blood. She slowly turned her head, staring at the hidden assailant. "Y-You b-bi-"

Clearly, the assassin had no desire to let her live. I stood up and started rushing forward. Why? This person was a complete stranger and she was clearly trying to take her anger out on me. So, why?

Shelly's face comes to mind. We left her. Back then, there was nothing we could do. No, we chose to do nothing. We could have waited.

Not this time. This time I'm not about to let another person die in front of me; not without trying to do something.

I take in a lungful of the frigid air and reach for the dull buzzing in the back of my mind. This strange, psychic gift of mine responds easily enough. If the amount I needed to curl those leaves was a teaspoon, then I'd just unleashed the floodgates.

When the next missile of ice came our way, I was ready. I reached out, sending a hammer of pure force in the direction it was likely coming in. I wasn't as quick as Hans and my reflexes definitely weren't on his level either, but I didn't need to be that fast. A veritable flood of force smashed into the thin spear, shattering it like glass. The lance exploded like a shotgun shell, picking up the thin shards and sending them hurtling towards the stranger. At least, that was the case for a split second. I made out some form of movement in the distance and then the shards changed their trajectory, rushing back straight at me. A part of me saw myself being ripped to shreds, but even though I tried to move, I was just too slow.

Shards of tiny, sharped ice raked across my body, tearing off small chunks of flesh. When all was said and done, my body was drenched in blood. The small t-shirt I wore had been painted red and now sported dozens of tears. Thankfully, I don't think they hit anywhere immediately lethal.

I might still bleed to death, but that wouldn't be happening within the next ten minutes at least.

Why? I know I had some form of barrier!

I cough and take a wobbly step forward, moving in front of the pink-haired girl. A quick glance shows that she's lost a lot more blood than me. The ground beneath her feet is a small, red puddle. The hole in her side is acting as a sort of faucet, just spilling all her blood out into the pavement.

"W-What?" She coughs, her face growing even more pale as the second's tick by.

The moment of distraction costs me. Another spear of ice flies through the air, this time aiming to skewer us both. I'm too slow, yet death fails to take us. The spear crashes into me, but instead of going straight through, it shatters and its shards dig into the ground. There! My barrier worked! Why this time?

For the first time, I go on the offensive. The enemy's been darting around, but that last shot was one full of confidence. She had taken a step out to get a better view and now she was within my sights.

I reached out with my unseen will and squeezed. That's all it took. A crushing force slammed into her from all sides, and though she might have been able to precisely shoot deadly spears of ice, that did nothing to stop what happened next. An agonizing scream echoed through the empty street and was then abruptly cut off by the sound of cracking bones, popping organs, and bursting sacks of meat. I hadn't gotten the best look at the girl, but what remained now as a clumpy sphere of blood and flesh. The occasional bone poked through, telling the world that this thing was once a human.

I dumped the contents of my stomach onto the street. It mixed with the blood, making me gag and throw up again.

"N-Nice one!" The strange girl said, pulling my attention to her. She looked like a talking corpse. "B-Biiiitch..."

Perhaps she could have said something else as her last word, but for some reason, I thought that fit just fine. The way she stuck out her tongue and used the last of her energy to show her killer the middle finger was certainly endearing. Unfortunately, that's where everything started to go down hill.

I fell to my knees and the spear holding up the strange girl crumpled. She fell as well, landing on her face and spilling even more of her blood. I could see the life leaving her dull eyes, and If I didn't do something, I'd likely go as well.

With all my focus, I reached out and tried to push the blood back into her and stop my bleeding. It's a strange way to use Telekinesis, but it was all I had.

It took me all of five seconds to reach her side, but it felt like an eternity. I carefully flipped her over and my hands landed on her chest, searching for a pulse. Surprisingly, there was one, but it abruptly stopped.

She was about to die.

Most would consider her dead already.

No! I wasn't about to give up and leave her!

A new buzzing appeared in the back of my mind. I reached for it, uncaring of what it was.

I needed to save her. Now!

The strange energies within me responded and I started to see her flesh knitting itself back together. Blood began to rush back into her body, and within a minute, her pale skin took on a new, healthy shade of pink. She started to breathe and her heart began to beat once more.

Unfortunately, that's about the time my own loss of blood started to catch up with me. The corners of my vision started to fade.

No...

Have to...

Stay awake...

Everything went dark and I dreamt of-