Unshackled

The guards nodded, one marching to the controls set in the wall as the other pulled out its electrified baton, extending it with a flick of their wrist as they waited for their coworker to lower the gravity field. The field hummed as it powered down, the air slowly losing its distorted appearance and the Divine Energy vacuum sputtering to a stop.

The guard bent down and jabbed at Fate with their baton, aiming to incapacitate him and save themselves the trouble of fighting him. A cry of pain rang out from the guard, whose voice confirmed him to be a man.

Fate had rolled out of the way of the baton and jumped up, snapping the man's elbow with a well-placed knee. He followed up by punching the man square in his helmet, the guard's neck jerking to the side as he fell on his back. An unhealthy *crunch* was heard as Fate did so.

"Fuck!" he said, shaking his hand to ease the pain. With his other hand, he wiped as tore two sections of his jumpsuit off and plugged his nose with it, staunching the gushing blood.

'Note to self, punching people with a broken hand is not fun. Another note to self: torture is worse,' he thought, intercepting the other guard as they charged toward him.

He sidestepped the baton swing, only to earn himself an elbow to the face as the guard spun around. He staggered backward, ducking under another baton swing before rolling across the ground, snatching the fallen guard's baton off of the ground and springing to a stand.

He blocked one, two, three strikes from his opponent before jabbing his baton into the man's unprotected neck; the same way he killed the first guard earlier that day. His opponent convulsed, but fought through the pain, swiping at Fate with their baton in a jerking motion.

Fate relented his attack, bending backward to allow it to pass in front of his face. He grimaced in pain as his broken leg gave out during the gesture, and he slipped and fell onto his back. The guard raised their baton triumphantly as they stabbed downward.

Fate rolled to the left, kicking the side of the guard's knee. He fought back a scream as his broken bones grated against one another, waiting for the guard to fall before he jumped on them, holding the wrist down of the baton arm, the right arm, with his still-good left hand as he used his other to clamp down on their neck.

He bared his bloody teeth as the guard struggled and fought, slamming his neck and shattered ribs with their free hand as he tightened his grip. 'What a fool,' Fate thought as he watched the light of the guard's eyes dim through the helmet.

"For a bunch of so-called scientists, you lot sure are stupid," he muttered as the guard landed another hit on his ribs. "All those 'experiments' and 'tests' you did on me were horrifically painful. Compared to those, a few broken bones is like getting pinched on St. Patrick's Day. Despite that, you morons still try to intimidate me with pain—"

He let out an "oomph" as he was thrown off the guard and into the wall. He grunted as his body yelled out in pain from the impact, his struggles unable to break the hold on him. He looked up to find his face reflected in the visor of the other guard, who had one hand outstretched and pointed toward him.

"Ah, that's right. You're an Avatar. Silly me," Fate said sarcastically.

He used the small pool of Divine Energy he had managed to make during the battle to turn intangible, his Manifest Power trumping the Divine Energy of the weaker Avatar as he dropped to the ground, immediately rushing forward in a charge.

A surge of fire came out of the guard's hands and passed harmlessly through Fate as he closed the distance. He turned tangible at the last second, body-slamming into the man as he bowled over him, the two sinking to the ground. Fate, being on top, pushed himself to a kneeling position and started whaling on the man's helmet with his fists, uncaring of the pain he received.

After twelve hits, his fists bled. After fourteen, the tempered glass of the visor cracked. After seventeen, it shattered, the shards digging into Fate's knuckles and causing them to bleed even more. He shouted as he continued his assault, hammering into the man's exposed face until it was as broken and bloody as his hands. He stopped only when he heard a sickening *crunch*, the man's face caving in a fraction of an inch.

He kneeled there, breathing heavily. When he saw the other guard approaching, he forced himself to a stand, stumbling into a run as the other Avatar started glowing red, growing a size as he let out an angry yell. Fate used his Manifest Power to slip through the first punch, chopping at the man's Adam's apple before allowing a rush of Divine Energy to pass through him.

The man had obviously traded technique for brute strength, losing all of the sharp reactions and quick reflexes Fate had fought against earlier. He guessed that it was some kind of anger-fueled Manifest Power that increased his power proportional to his rage, at the cost of needing that anger to take the forefront of his mind, making him sloppy.

Fate simply had to dodge and weave, using his powers sparingly so his Manifestation made more Divine Energy than he spent.

When he saw an opening, he took it, jumping onto the man's back and wrapping his arms around the guard's neck as he squeezed. He ignored the searing heat radiating off the man, blistering his skin, just like he ignored the protests of the shattered bones in his arms and the heavy-handed punches of the guard. He yanked the man's head to the side, earning a satisfying *snap* as he broke the man's neck.

He caught himself, landing on his feet as he caught his breath and observed his work. Two guards lay on the floor, one dead and one at the very least close to death. His jumpsuit was more crimson than white at this point; it seemed the Advanced didn't put much stock into clothing that could self-clean when it came to prisoners.

He nodded, satisfied, before he was reminded of the elephant in the room with the strength of a Personification.

"Are you done?" Norman said. If he felt anything about the deaths of two of his employees, neither his face nor his voice showed it.