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| Thanks for everyone who were patient enough to see me write 20 chapters of this. |
Chapter 20: Fear, Part 4
Maria and Sam were ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid the sudden insurgence of monsters, as she wasn't sure she could take them on by herself with such massive amounts. She pressed her back against the corner of a wall, Sam mimicking her somewhat but more panicked as she peered around the corner, finding a Riftfallen rat the size of a dog looking around for food. She turned to the kid, putting her finger over her lips in a silent way of her usual telling him to shut the fuck up. He nodded as Maria quietly drew her blade.
She walked quietly, trying to avoid a fairly large pool of water formed by the recent rain dripping from a leaky gutter of an apartment. She spun the blade around in her hand, stabbing it in the back of the head with little fuss in one swift movement. She pulled her blade and lightly wiping it off on her sleeve. “Okay, we're good.” Maria said loudly enough so that Sam could hear. He came walking out behind the corner as Maria leaned up against one of the walls.
“How much farther is the shelter, anyway?” The kid complained, Maria tapping the interface to check a GPS mapped area of where they currently are. “It's about a mile, but since we've been dipping back and fourth like dumb asses I suspect we've been walking twice as much as that.” Maria answered, lightly scrolling back and forth to figure out the route. “You know you just called yourself a dumb ass, right?” He mentioned, Maria looking up as her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you're right.” She realized, before leaning down and pressing another button.
“HQ, Any word on Lily's condition?” Maria asked, one of the intel staff responded quickly in side of Cpt. Geralt's scanning room. “She was extracted and is currently in serious condition as of 3:47PM.” He replied, Maria sighing and turning off the broadcast for now. “Well... damn.” Maria muttered, checking the map one last time. “Unfortunately we have no choice but to head down the street. It's another 1000 feet until the shelter, but we're completely shot when it comes down to dipping through back roads unless you want to go rummaging through peoples houses as a shortcut.” Maria explained.
The kid scratched his chin and adjusted his baseball cap for his favorite professional wrestler. “And what's wrong with going through peoples houses?” Maria turned around, glaring at him with a wide eyed glare. “...Have you EVER GONE TO SCHOOL!? No one likes it when you break in to their house, kid.” Maria complained, bending down to get eye level with him.. which was only a couple of inches.
“Uhh... Fine. So why were we not on the road again?” He asked her, She walked around a dumpster and looked around the other side.. And it was currently packed with Riftfallen... While she could spend time counting all of them, that would be both 1; A massive waste of time. And 2; kind of keeping her from actually doing her job. “Well I was going to say 'so we don't get turned into paste on the road,' but we have no choice but to make a b-line for the shelter.” Maria replied, the kid peering around the corner as well and realizing that there was at least a couple dozen Riftfallen between them and where they're supposed to go.
“Are you out of your mind!? Why can't we just call in a helicopter?!” Sam complained to her but Maria sighed and turned to him once again. “Extraction points are for large groups of people to remove them as efficiently as possible, they aren't going to pick up a single Spectrum member and snot nosed kid... It isn't a taxi service.” Maria scolded, the kid sighing and looking at the floor. “So... Are we screwed?” He asked her out of the sense of fear that was washing over him. Maria growled and looked back around the corner at the Riftfallen.
“No.” Maria stated, slowly lifting her wrist up to her face to speak into it. “What do you mean?” He asked, Maria hitting another button to open her communicator. “All members of Solstice and all remaining members of Equinox... I need you guys here right damn now.” Maria spoke, before continuing. “Hell, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY. There is a large mount of Riftfallen approaching the evacuation site and I need as many people as possible to help me cut a swath through them.” She announced, looking back at the kid before glancing up at the dumpster he was standing next to.
“This isn't an order, but if you don't want me to do my best ground beef impression, I suggest you help me the fuck out.” She finished, waiting for a reply. “You got it, Roth.” Erika replied, followed by Robin. “Me and Florence are going t-” She was cut off by her little brother yelling over her. “WE'RE GONNA SAVE YOU!” He shouted, Robin then sighing out of frustration. “I'll wake Caleb and we'll get there soon enough.” Jonah answered, before Maria turned to the kid and flipped open one of the doors to the dumpster.
“Get in.” Maria demanded, the kid looking at her like she is out of her damn mind. “...Why?” The kid asked, not sure he could come up with an insult for her from how out of nowhere this was. “I'm going to be fighting a bunch of shit that's going to murder you if you're ANYWHERE NEAR the action. You're gonna hide in here and only come out when either me or someone else says you can.” Maria explained, the kid still frowning a bit. “Are you sure?” He asked, Maria started to glare at him with annoyance. “Just get your scrawny ass in the dumpster already.” She snapped at him, he sighed and climbed into the dumpster which was luckily empty, though still quite putrid.
“Are you sure this is the only way I can be safe?” He asked, looking at the ground a bit and lightly stomping his foot. It was made of steel and gave a loud ringing sound. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” Maria said with some confidence, but he looked up at her with confusion once again. “So what are you going to go do?” He asked, not entirely sure of what hiding in a dumpster is supposed to help with. Maria reached up to grab the lid and look down at him. “Duck your head.” She stared, he was about to ask why, when suddenly he realized he should probably duck. Maria slamming the door shut on top of him and leaving him in complete darkness.
“Have fun in the dumpster, kid! I have to go stab some shit.” Maria said before walking into the street and visually counting all the monsters she saw in her head. While her combat training actually did help her fight the damn things, she wasn't sure how many she could actually take at once. She needs to think of something to make them come in waves so she can deal with them instead of being surrounded on all sides. She looked around her surroundings and found a rusted iron pipe resting on the side of the sidewalk near where some of the rain drains into the waterways beneath the streets. She grabs it and slowly walks away to a near by lamp post, lightly banging it and slowly getting louder.
This was her seeing how loud she could make the sound and lure some of the pack of creatures away by making the ones farther back or with worse hearing miss the sound. Four or five wolves perk their head and ears up and slowly come padding toward her, teeth bared as she grinned at them. “Come on, fuckers. It's playtime...” She said, trying to goad them closer to her as her other hand kept her sword pointed at them.
Maria and Sam were ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid the sudden insurgence of monsters, as she wasn't sure she could take them on by herself with such massive amounts. She pressed her back against the corner of a wall, Sam mimicking her somewhat but more panicked as she peered around the corner, finding a Riftfallen rat the size of a dog looking around for food. She turned to the kid, putting her finger over her lips in a silent way of her usual telling him to shut the fuck up. He nodded as Maria quietly drew her blade.
She walked quietly, trying to avoid a fairly large pool of water formed by the recent rain dripping from a leaky gutter of an apartment. She spun the blade around in her hand, stabbing it in the back of the head with little fuss in one swift movement. She pulled her blade and lightly wiping it off on her sleeve. “Okay, we're good.” Maria said loudly enough so that Sam could hear. He came walking out behind the corner as Maria leaned up against one of the walls.
“How much farther is the shelter, anyway?” The kid complained, Maria tapping the interface to check a GPS mapped area of where they currently are. “It's about a mile, but since we've been dipping back and fourth like dumb asses I suspect we've been walking twice as much as that.” Maria answered, lightly scrolling back and forth to figure out the route. “You know you just called yourself a dumb ass, right?” He mentioned, Maria looking up as her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you're right.” She realized, before leaning down and pressing another button.
“HQ, Any word on Lily's condition?” Maria asked, one of the intel staff responded quickly in side of Cpt. Geralt's scanning room. “She was extracted and is currently in serious condition as of 3:47PM.” He replied, Maria sighing and turning off the broadcast for now. “Well... damn.” Maria muttered, checking the map one last time. “Unfortunately we have no choice but to head down the street. It's another 1000 feet until the shelter, but we're completely shot when it comes down to dipping through back roads unless you want to go rummaging through peoples houses as a shortcut.” Maria explained.
The kid scratched his chin and adjusted his baseball cap for his favorite professional wrestler. “And what's wrong with going through peoples houses?” Maria turned around, glaring at him with a wide eyed glare. “...Have you EVER GONE TO SCHOOL!? No one likes it when you break in to their house, kid.” Maria complained, bending down to get eye level with him.. which was only a couple of inches.
“Uhh... Fine. So why were we not on the road again?” He asked her, She walked around a dumpster and looked around the other side.. And it was currently packed with Riftfallen... While she could spend time counting all of them, that would be both 1; A massive waste of time. And 2; kind of keeping her from actually doing her job. “Well I was going to say 'so we don't get turned into paste on the road,' but we have no choice but to make a b-line for the shelter.” Maria replied, the kid peering around the corner as well and realizing that there was at least a couple dozen Riftfallen between them and where they're supposed to go.
“Are you out of your mind!? Why can't we just call in a helicopter?!” Sam complained to her but Maria sighed and turned to him once again. “Extraction points are for large groups of people to remove them as efficiently as possible, they aren't going to pick up a single Spectrum member and snot nosed kid... It isn't a taxi service.” Maria scolded, the kid sighing and looking at the floor. “So... Are we screwed?” He asked her out of the sense of fear that was washing over him. Maria growled and looked back around the corner at the Riftfallen.
“No.” Maria stated, slowly lifting her wrist up to her face to speak into it. “What do you mean?” He asked, Maria hitting another button to open her communicator. “All members of Solstice and all remaining members of Equinox... I need you guys here right damn now.” Maria spoke, before continuing. “Hell, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY. There is a large mount of Riftfallen approaching the evacuation site and I need as many people as possible to help me cut a swath through them.” She announced, looking back at the kid before glancing up at the dumpster he was standing next to.
“This isn't an order, but if you don't want me to do my best ground beef impression, I suggest you help me the fuck out.” She finished, waiting for a reply. “You got it, Roth.” Erika replied, followed by Robin. “Me and Florence are going t-” She was cut off by her little brother yelling over her. “WE'RE GONNA SAVE YOU!” He shouted, Robin then sighing out of frustration. “I'll wake Caleb and we'll get there soon enough.” Jonah answered, before Maria turned to the kid and flipped open one of the doors to the dumpster.
“Get in.” Maria demanded, the kid looking at her like she is out of her damn mind. “...Why?” The kid asked, not sure he could come up with an insult for her from how out of nowhere this was. “I'm going to be fighting a bunch of shit that's going to murder you if you're ANYWHERE NEAR the action. You're gonna hide in here and only come out when either me or someone else says you can.” Maria explained, the kid still frowning a bit. “Are you sure?” He asked, Maria started to glare at him with annoyance. “Just get your scrawny ass in the dumpster already.” She snapped at him, he sighed and climbed into the dumpster which was luckily empty, though still quite putrid.
“Are you sure this is the only way I can be safe?” He asked, looking at the ground a bit and lightly stomping his foot. It was made of steel and gave a loud ringing sound. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” Maria said with some confidence, but he looked up at her with confusion once again. “So what are you going to go do?” He asked, not entirely sure of what hiding in a dumpster is supposed to help with. Maria reached up to grab the lid and look down at him. “Duck your head.” She stared, he was about to ask why, when suddenly he realized he should probably duck. Maria slamming the door shut on top of him and leaving him in complete darkness.
“Have fun in the dumpster, kid! I have to go stab some shit.” Maria said before walking into the street and visually counting all the monsters she saw in her head. While her combat training actually did help her fight the damn things, she wasn't sure how many she could actually take at once. She needs to think of something to make them come in waves so she can deal with them instead of being surrounded on all sides. She looked around her surroundings and found a rusted iron pipe resting on the side of the sidewalk near where some of the rain drains into the waterways beneath the streets. She grabs it and slowly walks away to a near by lamp post, lightly banging it and slowly getting louder.
This was her seeing how loud she could make the sound and lure some of the pack of creatures away by making the ones farther back or with worse hearing miss the sound. Four or five wolves perk their head and ears up and slowly come padding toward her, teeth bared as she grinned at them. “Come on, fuckers. It's playtime...” She said, trying to goad them closer to her as her other hand kept her sword pointed at them.
“A little more...” She said,
banging a bit harder as one came lunging at her with a leap so high
she was forced to look upward. She swiftly swung the pile and it
smashed into it's head hard enough to kill it. “By the way, I hate
dogs.” She said, drawing both her swords and launching herself as
the small pack of beasts charged her all at once.
Jonah and Caleb were sitting outside of
the shelter, he just got Maria's distress call and looked down at
Caleb. Who was sitting up against the wall of the building, hugging
his knees as he was taking a quick nap before the helicopter would
have arrive to extract him and the rest of his team. “Uhh.. Caleb?”
Jonah quietly said, bending his knees and looking at Caleb to see if
he would notice him.
Caleb instantly planted his hands on the ground and jumped straight up onto his feet. “Yeah?” He asked, Jonah being shocked by his sudden awakening enough for him to shout and fall on his back. “AHH!” He shouted, Caleb crossing his hands and shaking his head. “What? I'm a light sleeper.” Caleb remarked, Jonah standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. “Give a guy a fair warning first, jeeze...” He complained, but Caleb lightly patted him on the shoulder.
“Well, partner. Why wake me up?” He asked, Crossing his arms and looking around as he saw team Solstice currently looking at the both of them. “Maria needs help, we're going to give her a hand.” Jonah answered, Caleb scratching his head. “Did she sprain her ankle?” He wondered, completely confused as he barely saw a monster on his way there. Morgan walked up, patting her finger-less gloved hand on Jonahs shoulder as she walked up next to him. “Nah, it's a shit load of monsters. Let's go and kill stuff.” Morgan spoke flatly, with a slight grin. Caleb grinned as well and pumped his fist in response.
“Alright, let's move!” He shouted, Jonah drawing his sword and raising his shield as he broke out into a light run along with the 5 other rookie students. Caleb taking the lead with Morgan, Jonah following just behind with Erika, Florence and Robin. “Do you see them!?” Erika shouted, Morgan squinting a bit and seeing the big pile of monsters congregating just on the horizon. “Got an eye on them, T-minus one minute!” She shouted, drawing her huge sword from it's sheathe strapped to her back, holding it in both of her hands to one side as she ran.
They blitzed to Maria, when they got close enough they noticed that she was in the middle of the frey, slashing defensively at whatever attacks her, even if there was a massive amount of wolves surrounding her on all sides, she was putting all of her effort into dodging and just trying to slowly whittle the pack down, even if they were faster than her. One of them launched up and sliced at her, with Maria promptly dodging to one side and slashing it so it shot a geyser of black colored blood onto her visage.
Another minute later, Morgan charged pulse into her legs and launched herself over the entire pack of monsters to crash land on one just about to attack Maria, she pulled her blade out and slashed through a wave of small nearby wolves. “The cavalry has arrived!” Morgan shouted, turning her back to Maria to watch her flank. Maria panting a bit as she was starting to run out of gas. “Took you guys long enough, dick bags.” Maria complained, Leaping up and slashing a monster, though getting slashed across the chest hard enough to slice slightly into her armor.
“We like to make it dramatic.” Morgan replied, launching herself forward and clearing another swath of monsters with her claymore. Caleb's mace surrounded itself with fire as he dashed in shield first, swinging it and causing a massive fireball to blast and burn the small wolves to a cinder several yards away. “Only small fries? What a let down.” He commented, smashing one upside the head with a squelching ping sound, sending it flying as he blocked another one's attack just to parry it into Maria's abrupt stabbing. “Hey, it's one on like.. fifty!” She complained, at him as well, he just chuckled a bit as he continued to attack the Riftfallen left and right, clearly taking the most out for himself. “Well, I just wanted to point out that these were all juniors.”
He joked, before one caught him off guard, pouncing him to the ground and snarling at his face. Maria booted him off quickly and looked down at him with disdain. “Yeah... Whatever.” She remarked with a sigh, spinning and slashing another two approaching her. The battle continued on as they fought the huge pack off. Normally this would be much more difficult but luckily enough this hasn't developed into the usual powerful force packs these big normally become. After about 20 minutes of straight combat, all of them were wiped out, a blood soaked Maria lightly panting and slowly sheathing her blood caked swords back into the scabbards.
“Fuck... I didn't think we'd ever run out of them.” She sighed, Caleb putting his mace back into his holster as he walked up to her. Maria leaning down to put her hands on her knees and pant heavily. “Be glad this only took a while.” He commented, oddly more serious than he normally acts. Maria stood up and shook her head a bit. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, he just glared at her. “Don't act like what we just did is what all Spectrum fights... These guys were bottom of the barrel and I don't think any of you should feel confident.” He answered, Maria looking at the floor before scoffing a bit. “What a load.” She complained, but he shook his head at her and pointed the finger.
“The largest Riftfallen ever recorded was over 125 feet and required over 20 different teams to properly take down.” He answered, Maria's eyes opened wide at that, her arms slacking as she looked nearly shocked. “How the fuck do you fight that!?” She yelled, but he looked away for a second, before looking back at her and placing a hand on his hip. “Really damn carefully.” He answered, before cracking his knuckles and taking a stretch. Maria felt her confidence deflate a bit.. even if this was a big group of wolves... These were small fries? What did she even get herself into?
Then she realized she stuffed a kid into a dumpster nearly half an hour ago. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, dashing over the strewn bodies of the wolves slowly turning into smoke around her and making it into the back alleyway. Propping the lid up and looking at the kid as he squinted to adjust to the brightness of the light of the world after being put in a dank box for 30 minutes straight.
He looked at Maria, her face, arms, jacket and red scarf all drenched in a deep black, oil like blood. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked her, climbing out and lightly trying to get the circulation back into his tired legs from just sitting there for so long, something an active kid his age doesn't normally do. “I didn't think Riftfallen bled that much...” She answered, Closing the lid and crossing her arms as he looked around the corner. “Is it safe?” He asked, noticing all the slain monsters and 6 other Spectrum members sitting just beside them for a short rest.
“No shit it's safe, now lets get you to your mom already.” She said, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him out to the rest of the Spectrum members. “Who's the kid?” Morgan asked, looking at the ten year old kid walking next to Maria. “I uhh.. rescued him, kinda.” She kind of shrugged off that part, the kid looking up at her a bit as Morgan sighed. “Uhh... You know that KLP were probably going to rescue him, right?” She mentioned, Maria casually lifting her middle finger up at her.
“...Well the mother wanted me to go get him.” She mentioned, looking away from Morgan since she was feeling kind of stupid. “His dad died.” She added at the end of that, Morgan frowned a little and patted him on the shoulder. “Well... Shit.” Morgan sputtered out, looking down at him and lightly pushing him so they could walk to the shelter. “I'm sorry kid, losing a parent is always hard.” She said, walking with him, but the kid glared up at her somewhat. “I lost my parents before I was even 4 years old.” She answered, the kid's leer turned into a frown as the rest of the team quietly walked back to the helipad near the shelter where people were filtering in to be extracted. They walked beside Sienna and Ashley, who were awaiting their respective teams.
Sienna walked up to Maria and grabbed her in a tight hug, Maria struggling in her arms but realizing that she was too tired to break free, sighed and just lightly hugged her back instead. “I heard about what happened, Sis.” Sienna said, giving her a squeeze before letting go, Maria promptly taking a step back to avoid another hug. “Heh... I'm fine.” Maria replied with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head as Sienna inspected her thoroughly. “I don't think I've ever seen someone covered in so much blood.” Sienna commented, Maria was drenched in so much Riftfallen blood that the black pools predominantly coated her milky colored skin, it stained her hair, her scarf, her gloves, her boots and her jacket all at once.
“I kind of.. went overkill.” She responded, not really using any discretion about how messy the fight could get. “...Just promise me you'll shower after this.” Sienna demanded, Maria glaring up at her and huffing just a bit. “What are you, my mom?” Maria stated sardonically, Sienna breaking out into a chuckle at that as she pat her once again on her shoulder. “Even worse than a mother, you're my little Mary-Wary-kins.” She said, the last bit in a sarcastic sing-song tone to embarrass her just a bit.
“If you ever say that again, I'll bend your fingers so far back you'll be praising me for being able to itch your own damn forearms.” Maria growled out, but Sienna just chuckled again at her. “Sounds fun, Maria.” She shrugged the entire threat as a joke, as the helicopter descended in front of them both. “Look... You did great, Maria. I'm proud of you.” Sienna stated, placing her hands on Maria's shoulders and looking at her straight in her eyes. Maria just quietly looking back at her with no malice, but not sure what to say either.
“Keep up the good work, sis.” She said, before climbing back into the helicopter. Maria looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her own chest. “Thanks... I guess.” She muttered, before looking up at both teams Equinox and Solstice, standing just behind her. “Hell of a night, huh Roth?” Caleb said with a smile. Maria turned to him and quietly walked past him. “You could say that.” She answered, walking farther away from him. He turned around and raised his voice as her as she walked away. “Uhh... Where are you going?” He asked her, Maria turned back to him with a calm face as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just need to check on something.” She responded, walking along the sidewal k and turning to the shelter.
She walked up the concrete steps and lightly pushed the blast proof glass doors aside. Slowly walking along the polished wood floor as she saw the near hundreds amount of evacuee's sitting in chairs awaiting their numbers to be drawn so they could go to a safer area via helicopter. She quietly looked around, scanning across the room until she found Sam, who was currently hugging her mother, face right in her stomach. She looked at the floor silently, getting ready to turn around when Gale once again showed up on her shoulder.
“Maria, You worked your butt off to help him... You could at least say hello.” He mentioned, Maria sighed and lightly began to walk toward them. “Fine, but it's gonna be awkward as shit.” She muttered, slowly walking up in front of the mother as she looked away from her kid and gently released her son. “Oh...You're the girl who went after my son.” She mentioned, the kid turning to her and smiling. “There's the girl that taught me all those new words!” He shouted, the mother slapping Maria in the face very firmly.
“What the hell!?” Maria shouted at her, the mother frowning at her indignantly. “That's for cursing in front of my child!” She claimed, before her expression softened and she looked up at Maria, who was currently rubbing her cheek in a bit of pain from the sudden slapping. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.” She said with a somber voice.
Caleb instantly planted his hands on the ground and jumped straight up onto his feet. “Yeah?” He asked, Jonah being shocked by his sudden awakening enough for him to shout and fall on his back. “AHH!” He shouted, Caleb crossing his hands and shaking his head. “What? I'm a light sleeper.” Caleb remarked, Jonah standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. “Give a guy a fair warning first, jeeze...” He complained, but Caleb lightly patted him on the shoulder.
“Well, partner. Why wake me up?” He asked, Crossing his arms and looking around as he saw team Solstice currently looking at the both of them. “Maria needs help, we're going to give her a hand.” Jonah answered, Caleb scratching his head. “Did she sprain her ankle?” He wondered, completely confused as he barely saw a monster on his way there. Morgan walked up, patting her finger-less gloved hand on Jonahs shoulder as she walked up next to him. “Nah, it's a shit load of monsters. Let's go and kill stuff.” Morgan spoke flatly, with a slight grin. Caleb grinned as well and pumped his fist in response.
“Alright, let's move!” He shouted, Jonah drawing his sword and raising his shield as he broke out into a light run along with the 5 other rookie students. Caleb taking the lead with Morgan, Jonah following just behind with Erika, Florence and Robin. “Do you see them!?” Erika shouted, Morgan squinting a bit and seeing the big pile of monsters congregating just on the horizon. “Got an eye on them, T-minus one minute!” She shouted, drawing her huge sword from it's sheathe strapped to her back, holding it in both of her hands to one side as she ran.
They blitzed to Maria, when they got close enough they noticed that she was in the middle of the frey, slashing defensively at whatever attacks her, even if there was a massive amount of wolves surrounding her on all sides, she was putting all of her effort into dodging and just trying to slowly whittle the pack down, even if they were faster than her. One of them launched up and sliced at her, with Maria promptly dodging to one side and slashing it so it shot a geyser of black colored blood onto her visage.
Another minute later, Morgan charged pulse into her legs and launched herself over the entire pack of monsters to crash land on one just about to attack Maria, she pulled her blade out and slashed through a wave of small nearby wolves. “The cavalry has arrived!” Morgan shouted, turning her back to Maria to watch her flank. Maria panting a bit as she was starting to run out of gas. “Took you guys long enough, dick bags.” Maria complained, Leaping up and slashing a monster, though getting slashed across the chest hard enough to slice slightly into her armor.
“We like to make it dramatic.” Morgan replied, launching herself forward and clearing another swath of monsters with her claymore. Caleb's mace surrounded itself with fire as he dashed in shield first, swinging it and causing a massive fireball to blast and burn the small wolves to a cinder several yards away. “Only small fries? What a let down.” He commented, smashing one upside the head with a squelching ping sound, sending it flying as he blocked another one's attack just to parry it into Maria's abrupt stabbing. “Hey, it's one on like.. fifty!” She complained, at him as well, he just chuckled a bit as he continued to attack the Riftfallen left and right, clearly taking the most out for himself. “Well, I just wanted to point out that these were all juniors.”
He joked, before one caught him off guard, pouncing him to the ground and snarling at his face. Maria booted him off quickly and looked down at him with disdain. “Yeah... Whatever.” She remarked with a sigh, spinning and slashing another two approaching her. The battle continued on as they fought the huge pack off. Normally this would be much more difficult but luckily enough this hasn't developed into the usual powerful force packs these big normally become. After about 20 minutes of straight combat, all of them were wiped out, a blood soaked Maria lightly panting and slowly sheathing her blood caked swords back into the scabbards.
“Fuck... I didn't think we'd ever run out of them.” She sighed, Caleb putting his mace back into his holster as he walked up to her. Maria leaning down to put her hands on her knees and pant heavily. “Be glad this only took a while.” He commented, oddly more serious than he normally acts. Maria stood up and shook her head a bit. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, he just glared at her. “Don't act like what we just did is what all Spectrum fights... These guys were bottom of the barrel and I don't think any of you should feel confident.” He answered, Maria looking at the floor before scoffing a bit. “What a load.” She complained, but he shook his head at her and pointed the finger.
“The largest Riftfallen ever recorded was over 125 feet and required over 20 different teams to properly take down.” He answered, Maria's eyes opened wide at that, her arms slacking as she looked nearly shocked. “How the fuck do you fight that!?” She yelled, but he looked away for a second, before looking back at her and placing a hand on his hip. “Really damn carefully.” He answered, before cracking his knuckles and taking a stretch. Maria felt her confidence deflate a bit.. even if this was a big group of wolves... These were small fries? What did she even get herself into?
Then she realized she stuffed a kid into a dumpster nearly half an hour ago. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, dashing over the strewn bodies of the wolves slowly turning into smoke around her and making it into the back alleyway. Propping the lid up and looking at the kid as he squinted to adjust to the brightness of the light of the world after being put in a dank box for 30 minutes straight.
He looked at Maria, her face, arms, jacket and red scarf all drenched in a deep black, oil like blood. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked her, climbing out and lightly trying to get the circulation back into his tired legs from just sitting there for so long, something an active kid his age doesn't normally do. “I didn't think Riftfallen bled that much...” She answered, Closing the lid and crossing her arms as he looked around the corner. “Is it safe?” He asked, noticing all the slain monsters and 6 other Spectrum members sitting just beside them for a short rest.
“No shit it's safe, now lets get you to your mom already.” She said, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him out to the rest of the Spectrum members. “Who's the kid?” Morgan asked, looking at the ten year old kid walking next to Maria. “I uhh.. rescued him, kinda.” She kind of shrugged off that part, the kid looking up at her a bit as Morgan sighed. “Uhh... You know that KLP were probably going to rescue him, right?” She mentioned, Maria casually lifting her middle finger up at her.
“...Well the mother wanted me to go get him.” She mentioned, looking away from Morgan since she was feeling kind of stupid. “His dad died.” She added at the end of that, Morgan frowned a little and patted him on the shoulder. “Well... Shit.” Morgan sputtered out, looking down at him and lightly pushing him so they could walk to the shelter. “I'm sorry kid, losing a parent is always hard.” She said, walking with him, but the kid glared up at her somewhat. “I lost my parents before I was even 4 years old.” She answered, the kid's leer turned into a frown as the rest of the team quietly walked back to the helipad near the shelter where people were filtering in to be extracted. They walked beside Sienna and Ashley, who were awaiting their respective teams.
Sienna walked up to Maria and grabbed her in a tight hug, Maria struggling in her arms but realizing that she was too tired to break free, sighed and just lightly hugged her back instead. “I heard about what happened, Sis.” Sienna said, giving her a squeeze before letting go, Maria promptly taking a step back to avoid another hug. “Heh... I'm fine.” Maria replied with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head as Sienna inspected her thoroughly. “I don't think I've ever seen someone covered in so much blood.” Sienna commented, Maria was drenched in so much Riftfallen blood that the black pools predominantly coated her milky colored skin, it stained her hair, her scarf, her gloves, her boots and her jacket all at once.
“I kind of.. went overkill.” She responded, not really using any discretion about how messy the fight could get. “...Just promise me you'll shower after this.” Sienna demanded, Maria glaring up at her and huffing just a bit. “What are you, my mom?” Maria stated sardonically, Sienna breaking out into a chuckle at that as she pat her once again on her shoulder. “Even worse than a mother, you're my little Mary-Wary-kins.” She said, the last bit in a sarcastic sing-song tone to embarrass her just a bit.
“If you ever say that again, I'll bend your fingers so far back you'll be praising me for being able to itch your own damn forearms.” Maria growled out, but Sienna just chuckled again at her. “Sounds fun, Maria.” She shrugged the entire threat as a joke, as the helicopter descended in front of them both. “Look... You did great, Maria. I'm proud of you.” Sienna stated, placing her hands on Maria's shoulders and looking at her straight in her eyes. Maria just quietly looking back at her with no malice, but not sure what to say either.
“Keep up the good work, sis.” She said, before climbing back into the helicopter. Maria looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her own chest. “Thanks... I guess.” She muttered, before looking up at both teams Equinox and Solstice, standing just behind her. “Hell of a night, huh Roth?” Caleb said with a smile. Maria turned to him and quietly walked past him. “You could say that.” She answered, walking farther away from him. He turned around and raised his voice as her as she walked away. “Uhh... Where are you going?” He asked her, Maria turned back to him with a calm face as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just need to check on something.” She responded, walking along the sidewal k and turning to the shelter.
She walked up the concrete steps and lightly pushed the blast proof glass doors aside. Slowly walking along the polished wood floor as she saw the near hundreds amount of evacuee's sitting in chairs awaiting their numbers to be drawn so they could go to a safer area via helicopter. She quietly looked around, scanning across the room until she found Sam, who was currently hugging her mother, face right in her stomach. She looked at the floor silently, getting ready to turn around when Gale once again showed up on her shoulder.
“Maria, You worked your butt off to help him... You could at least say hello.” He mentioned, Maria sighed and lightly began to walk toward them. “Fine, but it's gonna be awkward as shit.” She muttered, slowly walking up in front of the mother as she looked away from her kid and gently released her son. “Oh...You're the girl who went after my son.” She mentioned, the kid turning to her and smiling. “There's the girl that taught me all those new words!” He shouted, the mother slapping Maria in the face very firmly.
“What the hell!?” Maria shouted at her, the mother frowning at her indignantly. “That's for cursing in front of my child!” She claimed, before her expression softened and she looked up at Maria, who was currently rubbing her cheek in a bit of pain from the sudden slapping. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.” She said with a somber voice.
Maria frowned a little, reaching up to
rub her arm as she tried to speak softly... But seriously, that slap
to the face annoyed the shit out of her. “I'm sorry about your
husband.” Maria muttered somewhat nervous to the mother's reaction.
The mother frowned and wiped a hint of a tear that was forming in her
eye. “If what Sam said was true... He died trying to protect him.”
She replied, Looking down at Sam as he fiddled with his baseball cap.
“That's something only a father could do... Give up his life so no one could touch a hair on his son's head. I couldn't be mad at anyone, even if I will mourn him dearly...” She said, sighing a bit as she gently rubbed her son's shoulders. “I know... I just wanted to apologize I couldn't do more.” Maria closed her eyes, turning away before she started feeling any more emotions... She wasn't a big fan of getting sappy around other people. “Wait!” She shouted at Maria, making her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulder back to look at them.
“What's your name?” She asked suddenly, looking at her somewhat nervously. “I just want to know the name of the person who brought my son back.” She explained, Maria sighing and lightly raising her hand up to wave at them both. “The name's Maria Roth.” Maria answered, before spinning on a heel and beginning to walk away backwards from them and pointing an accusatory finger. “And you two better take care of yourselves, because I'll be annoyed as shit if I have to rescue you again!” She added to try and save some face before heading to the helicopter and returning back to her academy.
“That's something only a father could do... Give up his life so no one could touch a hair on his son's head. I couldn't be mad at anyone, even if I will mourn him dearly...” She said, sighing a bit as she gently rubbed her son's shoulders. “I know... I just wanted to apologize I couldn't do more.” Maria closed her eyes, turning away before she started feeling any more emotions... She wasn't a big fan of getting sappy around other people. “Wait!” She shouted at Maria, making her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulder back to look at them.
“What's your name?” She asked suddenly, looking at her somewhat nervously. “I just want to know the name of the person who brought my son back.” She explained, Maria sighing and lightly raising her hand up to wave at them both. “The name's Maria Roth.” Maria answered, before spinning on a heel and beginning to walk away backwards from them and pointing an accusatory finger. “And you two better take care of yourselves, because I'll be annoyed as shit if I have to rescue you again!” She added to try and save some face before heading to the helicopter and returning back to her academy.
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