"Damn that hurts! Cmom, man, just come back with me and talk with us. My name's Eddie, and I promise I don't mean to hurt you. Even Lucas is back at the camp waiting for you!"
As he spoke, the wound on his arm slowly began to patch itself and rapidly disappear.
'How the hell is he healing that fast… is that his ability?'
"I'm not coming back; tell them to forget about me."
Eddie sighed.
Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped forward, closing the distance before Cullen could even react. Eddie swung his left arm, aiming a punch at Cullen's gut. Since he could dodge quickly enough, Cullen could only block the blow.
A devastating force struck Cullen's side, sending him flying into a tree. Unfortunately enough, he also made contact with a vine. The Island didn't seem too happy about this.
A familiar feeling came over Cullen as he watched all the vines around him come slithering at him, attempting to constrain and kill him. On top of that, there was also Eddie. Luckily, the vines also seemed to be mad at him.
"Did you have to go flying into these things? I didn't even hit you that hard!"
'Who does this guy think he is?'
Injured, Cullen was still able to fight off the vines with his dagger. He found it much easier than last time, when his strength was far weaker than now.
'Maybe I can use this chance to escape… but I need a minute. There's no way I can outrun him right now, especially after that punch.'
Cullen sliced vine after vine, as Eddie ripped them apart with his fists. Slowly, the area was becoming clearer.
Then, Eddie took his eyes off Cullen for a second in order to swat away an approaching vine. However, when he looked back, nobody was there.
'Damn it… he's slippery.'
Eddie quickly chased after him, using his overwhelming speed to catch up before Cullen could escape.
They had both escaped The Island's vine attacks by now, their only problems being each other. Even though Eddie was faster, Cullen's mastery of moving through The Island was far greater. As a result, it took Eddie some time to reach him.
But when he got close enough, he noticed a scarlet compass had replaced the dagger in his hand.
'If the closest Abomination is a Kamikaze, I can use that to escape. Otherwise, it might just have to serve as a distraction… hopefully it isn't one of the powerhouses.'
Although he originally couldn't tell how far away it was, Cullen finally sensed an Abomination in front of him. Similarly, Eddie also felt the presence.
Now, within a meter of each other, Cullen dashed through a bush and straight into the Abomination—secretly praying for a Kamikaze.
It was, however, not a Kamikaze.
'Shit.'
Cullen attempted to run away, but his body stopped before he took action.
"Slit your throat."
The Cursed Child first spoke to Cullen, not wasting any time like before.
'Is this the same one? If so… that explains why it went straight for the kill this time.'
Struggling, Cullen was able to slightly resist the order. But he still couldn't stop it.
The scarlet compass fell from his hands as they reached into his pockets, pulling out a black dagger and raising it to his throat.
'NO!'
As he pressed it against his neck, a hand suddenly reached out and stopped Cullen from taking his life.
"Eddie!"
Panicked, Eddie slapped Cullen in the face.
'Ow! Wait… the command over me is gone? Can a slap really do that?'
Taking time to think was Cullen's biggest mistake, as the Cursed Child had already prepared another order.
"We need to get out of here, Cullen! Now! It will ki-"
"Kill that man."
Its words echoed through The Island, somehow more oppressive than before.
'Can he resist its orders? I can't rely on that… I need to defend myself before he attacks!'
Cullen prepared himself for Eddie's attack, but his body didn't move the way he wanted it to. That's when he realized the order wasn't for Eddie.
He slashed his dagger at Eddie's throat this time, cutting clean through and sending blood pouring through the forest. Leaves around him were slowly covered in red, and the vines it touched also started to react.
'Damn it… did I really kill him?'
Any normal human, no, even any Gifted, would die from a sliced throat. Yet the blood from his wound slowly stopped pouring out, and the gaping gash began to close.
'That ability… is strong! Do normal attacks not work on him?'
Eddie snapped back to his senses and grabbed his healed neck, seemingly in pain.
"Damn it that hurts!"
But instead of attacking Cullen, all of his anger was directed at the Abomination.
He jumped toward the Cursed Child, reeling his fist back for another attack. Planting his foot right next to it, he launched a punch that would surely devastate the Abomination, but…
"Stop."
Eddie froze in place, unable to finish the strike. However, his momentum took a bit of space to come to a halt completely.
'Again, it can't magically wish something into existence. Even though it said to stop, Eddie could only comply to the best of his ability.'
And although it seemed unbeatable, its weakness was clear to both of them.
While Eddie still couldn't move, Cullen approached the Cursed Child with his dagger. He crossed his right arm in front of his body, ready to slash its flesh with a single cut.
"Stop."
But as soon as those words came out, Eddie was free. Realizing its position, the Cursed Child got up and moved for the first time. It staggered backwards, desperately trying to escape the situation it was in.
"Stop."
"Stop."
Slowly, they each began to gain on the Abomination. While it was still fast and strong, its fragile body couldn't escape both of them.
"Run away."
Cullen broke free from the Cursed Child's previous command, but looked over to see that Eddie was carefully walking away. Even when he was told to run, his mental resistance was able to fight back.
'Damn it… this stupid Abomination may be able to escape after all.'
Like usual, Cullen had just arrived within striking distance when the next order came.
"Run away."
He turned around and started walking, yet noticed something strange.
'Where did Eddie go? Did he leave me behind?!'
It was like he suddenly vanished into The Island. At the pace Eddie was walking, it should have taken him much longer to escape out of view.
'Unless… is he planning to strike from another angle? Either that, or I'm screwed.'
Cullen mustered enough strength to turn his head. The Cursed Child, who was looking around, appeared equally as confused as he was. Then, something emerged from the bush behind.
Eddie came flying out, this time with his leg cocked back as he prepared a kick.
"Stop."
Because he launched himself, it took much longer for Eddie to come to a complete halt.
He, along with Cullen, also realized something.
'The speed at which it speaks is constant. It can't utter words faster, meaning it may not have the time to give longer commands. That's why it said "stop" instead of "run away".'
Eddie was frozen, this time only a few feet away from the Abomination. However, it didn't have any time to pay attention to him. Quickly swinging around, it saw Cullen barreling towards it with his dagger in his hand.
"Stop!"
Now surrounded, the Cursed Child knew how much trouble it was in.
"Sto-"
Eddie's fist made contact with its face, crushing its bones and sending it flying towards Cullen. The injured Abomination landed inches from his feet, black blood splattered on nearby plants, and its withering limbs sprawled across the ground.
Through a muffled voice, it tried to use its ability.
"S-"
However, Cullen's dagger plunged into its head before it could speak. He felt it make contact with the core, yet it didn't shatter completely. He put more force on the hilt, shoving it into the Abomination as it slowly slid in and finished the job.
Eddie and Cullen both collapsed to the ground, mentally and physically exhausted from the battle.
But to Eddie's surprise, the Cursed Child didn't stop moving. Suddenly, its whole body was sucked into a single point. Even the blood siphoned into the broken core, leaving a single object behind.
'A mask?' Eddie thought.
He then remembered what Lucas had told them about Cullen's power.
"Wait!"
Cullen brought the mask to his mouth and aimed it at Eddie, uttering a single word.
"Stop."
A sharp pain instantly shot through Cullen's head, but he wasted no time escaping. He quickly retrieved the scarlet compass he had dropped and then ran into The Island while Eddie was struggling to move.
'This pain must be a side effect of the command. Maybe it will lessen over time when I use it more…'
It took Eddie a bit to move freely again, but he immediately went after Cullen. However, he was too far behind and completely lost his trail.
'Did he really use me to escape? And just when I thought we were getting along…'
Eddie felt completely defeated. Not only had he failed to bring Cullen back, but he had also injured him and sent him back into the wilderness. If he died, Eddie would certainly blame himself.
'I guess I have to go back and tell everyone what happened. Wait… how will they even believe me? Every bit of the corpse is gone, along with my bragging rights for killing a Grade-B!'
Eddie dragged his feet back to camp, preparing himself for another boring shift.