As seconds withered, the chunk of smoke filled her lungs, making it difficult to breathe. Her face turned purple as she scrunched her face.
"Let her go, Alexis," Yang Lu commanded.
Alexis retracted her hand. When she did that, the nebulous smoke released Biance from its grip, and she fell face-first on the ground. She groaned in agony as blood trickled from the right corner of her lip. She coughed intensely as her body expelled the smoke from her lungs.
"Aw, but I liked seeing her choke to death," Alexis retorted.
"Even so, Lord Shai Ken wants answers. And if we can't give him well-grounded ones, he'll kill us..." Yang Lu pottered toward Bianca and crouched in front of her.
He grabbed her chin and lifted her head slightly. The texture of his leather gloves was rough and sharp; it was no surprise, as he had worn the gloves for as long as she remembered. The peeling leather fragments were like shards; fortunately, they were no harder than a paper's edges.
"She's our key to avoiding an early grave," He said with a deep voice and released her. He stood up and walked away, but she grasped his right heel.
"Huh?" He wondered and kicked her in the face. She released him from his grip.
Bianca looked at the ground briefly and looked up, "I will send you to an early grave myself. It's a promise I intend to keep, especially after what you did twelve years ago!" She snarled.
He rubbed his chin with his forefinger and thumb. "Remind me again what I did twelve years ago?"
"Don't play dumb, you know exactly what you did! Do you want me to jog your memory?"
"I think that you should, love, I've committed numerous acts that have led others to label me a monster," he said.
Her eyes welled with tears, and she clamped her teeth with frustration. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
"I was only fifteen when you and your soldiers chased after me, my father, and Xaviar..."
*********
Twelve Years Ago
Bianca sprinted down Halloway Road with her father, William Henry Mitchell. They were joined by her father's colleague, Xavier, the young, gaunt captain from the Battle Troopers, who was sent to recruit them before the Dark Raiders intercepted them in their apartment.
Halloway Road was a spacious thoroughfare with six lanes evenly divided by two yellow-painted lines.
She panted, and the muscles in her leg screamed in agony. She felt a powerful sensation snowballing inside her calves and quadriceps. It was the growing sensation of lactic acid building. She never ran this long, but her will to survive overwhelmed her pain.
As they ran, they heard a buzzing sound from behind. Perhaps it was an insect. The buzzing sound grew louder and deeper, suggesting that it was the sound of a large insect.
Bianca thought it was a bald hornet, and William pictured an overweight green fly. Xavier imagined a cicada. However, as they reflected, they realized that it was illogical for an insect to pursue them relentlessly, especially when they did not provoke it.
When they turned their heads around to look, they bulged their eyes with terror. A white drone pursued them. The drone captured their facial features with its camera and analyzed them with its clear Heads-Up-Display.
It released two cannons from its port when it identified the three. Xavier's eyes dilated in response, while Bianca's heart nearly halted.
William's lungs inhaled and expelled air at a swifter rate. They realized they were in deep water, and the adrenaline surging through their bodies restored their depleted energy. They ran faster than their average speed while the drone fired numerous plasma beams. An outburst of explosions erupted from behind.
A blast wave repelled them off their feet, sending them flying until they fell face-first. Meanwhile, Xavier took out his plasma cannon and sat up to face the haze of smoke that lingered. He poised the dreaded weapon in the direction from which the drone would emerge. While he waited patiently, wrinkles formed above his brows as he gritted his teeth and drew his finger closer to the trigger.
Once the drone emerged from the haze of smoke, he fired a plasma beam in its direction, destroying it.
"Take that, you piece of crap," He remarked.
"Nice shot," William responded.
"Thanks," he replied.
Xavier crawled to his feet, and so did William. He helped his daughter up and supported her by placing her arm around his shoulder.
"Let's keep going, there isn't much time left!" Xavier exclaimed.
As they advanced, a squad of Dark Raiders emerged from the left corner of a nearby junction. They stopped dead in their tracks and turned around, facing the direction they came from. While they did so, another squad of Dark Raiders approached them and marched leisurely, fully aware that they had cornered their prey.
The three were sandwiched by two squads of lethal soldiers from both directions, their front and rear view. There was no escape, and it was a matter of time til the Dark Raiders sealed their fate. They poised their plasma cannons at them.
William swallowed a hard lump as his pupils dilated. Bianca's heart rate increased drastically, and the speed acquired made it seem as though it would burst out of her rib cage. A bead of sweat formed between Xaviar's clenched fists and his temples.
"Well, we are cooked," replied Xavier.
Bianca grabbed William's upper arm and tightened her grip around his black leather jacket.
"Daddy? What should we do?"
He looked deep into her eyes, only stuttering.
********
The three heard a thundering and rumbling sound from above. The ground trembled slightly; whatever phenomenon was responsible, it reinforced the thought of a landing aircraft in their minds. They looked up and saw a black scoutship with grey stripes. As it descended, the trusters exerted a powerful gust of wind. The wind blew the edges of their garments. They crinkled to prevent the extreme wind from ravaging their eyes.
The soldiers that sandwiched them from both sides stepped back to give the scoutship the space it needed to land. As the ship descended, Xaviar saw the D.R. insignia emblazoned on the side.
"He found us," Xavier said.
"Who, Yang Lu?" William inquired. Xavier nodded in response.
The ship landed in front of them, revealing its rear view. The rear ramp door lowered, and Yang Lu and more of his soldiers marched out of the ship. He smirked when he approached William; his narrow monolid eyes reflected a sense of darkness exuding from his void heart. As he drew closer to him, William tucked his hand deep into his pocket and grabbed a pocket knife.
When he looked at Yang Lu's black body armor, which had a fabric similar to Kevlar in appearance, he realized that it would take more than a pocket knife to penetrate it. Even a simple pistol wouldn't cut it. The armor Yang Lu was made of plasmathane; it had properties that gave it resistance to plasma beams.
"Colonel William Henry Mitchell. I am so happy to see you," he gestured at him.
"The same couldn't be said," William admitted stiffly.
"You always were a bum; you never lightened up for some reason."
Yang Lu then directed his eyes to Xaviar, "Ah, Xaviar, I see you recruited the old man back to the fold, ey.' I think it's all for naught. The days of the Battle Trooper's relevance are dying out. Most of the countries that were a part of your alliance abandoned you. They realized that by aligning themselves with you, they'd perish from hunger. Therefore, they chose life and aligned themselves with us. Lord Shai Ken blessed their lands with riches and food. You are on the wrong side, Xaviar."
Xavier chuckled, "So you want me to abandon my cause and leave the Battle Troopers just like you did? I'm not like you. I know where I stand."
"How sad, by joining us. Three lives would have been spared. Wouldn't you agree, little girl?" He said, a hint of darkness in his voice.
She didn't know how to respond to his inquiry. Instead, she looked away while Yang Lu ran his eyes all over her.
"A beauty you have there, Colonel. She'll grow up to be a beautiful flower. Who knows? I might taste that precious fruit she has tucked away," Yang Lu licked his lips.
William frowned, his face darkening. He took out the pocket knife and tried to slit Yang Lu's throat. Yang Lu parried the blow by grabbing William's wrist. William tried to pull his hand out of his grip, but failed; he gritted his teeth in frustration.
"What happened to you? You were never this strong?" William said, his hand trembling.
"Lord Shai Ken happened. He tenders his flock." With little to no effort, Yang Lu repelled the forty-year-old man off his feet. When he fell on his back, he groaned in agony.
"Daddy!" Bianca called out to him. She crouched beside him and grabbed his hand.
Yang Lu approached them and gestured at them. "Lord Shai Ken is merciful, Colonel. He knows about your contributions and accolades while you served the Battle Troopers. That's why he sent me here to recruit you. Such talent shouldn't be wasted on a meaningless death. Think about it, if you join us, you and your daughter will never know suffering again. Your struggles and fears will disappear, only if you align yourself with him."
"Don't listen to this traitor, Colonel. His mouth is full of lies," Xavier snapped.
"You have to put your faith in him. He knows what's best for you. Consider this: he owns the riches of this world and will make your ways prosperous. And when you submit to him, he'll reward you handsomely. Join us, and it will be the best decision you've made."
William got up to his feet and dusted himself. "A prosperous life, you say, I'll be rewarded handsomely, you say. Boy, I don't know what kind of crap your sorry excuse for a lord has fed you, but he roped you in real good, like one lost sick puppy!"
Yang Lu sighed, "I see, so you mock my Lord's mercy. Allow me to show you what happens when you defy him." He creased his brows lower, his eyes waning.
Then he stretched his hand toward his back and grabbed a large sword. The hilt of the silver blade was emblazoned with four metal skull imprints and a swirling pattern of lines meandering around them. The silver scabbard's swirling lines, skulls, and crescent moon carvings were part of the sword's embroidery.
He slipped the dreaded weapon out from the scabbard, and when he did that, the edge was serrated. The serrated blade was imbued with a field of energy, the color of golden syrup. Furthermore, the field of energy was surrounded by electric sparks.
"Meet Blood Bath, he is made from the strongest metal in the universe, dark metal. He is also encompassed by plasma energy. She is one of the finest and rarest blades in the multiverse, and Lord Shai Ken pulled a couple of strings to reward me with her for my satisfactory service," He said as he slowly rotated the blade to marvel at its majestic artistry.
Yang Lu transitioned away, utilizing rapid movement. He appeared in front of Colonel William and drove the weapon deep into his heart.
William widened his eyes with astonishment. He gasped as the weapon not only buried itself deep into his flesh but also liquefied the surrounding tissue. From the outside of his left chest, the wound gaped open as the plasma energy melted the area like fire to a marshmallow. Yang Lu forcefully removed the weapon from his chest as the Colonel fell to the ground on his back.
"Daddy! No!" Bianca screamed and rushed to his body.
She knelt beside him, not caring that the vindictive Yang Lu stood just a few centimeters away, watching. Her eyes welled with tears as she grabbed his hand and tightened her grip. She shook his hand and wept, "Please, say something, Dad! Please don't die, Dad!!!" William did not flinch; he was as stiff as a vegetable.