Everything inside the would-be heroine trembled, with her emerging sixth sense Gwen could feel the power emanating from Augustus. This power came straight from his body and gently enveloped the weakened girl. The man's aura was like a soft blanket protecting the frightened Gwen.
Feeling the touch of the man's warm hands on her skin and feeling the deep rhythmic breathing, Stacy unconsciously lifted her head and looked up from under her fringes at the open face of Augustus. Hera's lover. The blonde girl's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and she smelled a foul odour emanating from herself. The kidnappers had kept them in the dank basement for a long time, the hostages having no way to keep an eye on themselves. Dirty and wet clothes and skin sticky with sweat. Gwen squirmed even more, hiding her eyes behind her fringes. Somehow she was embarrassed to appear like this in front of her saviour. Yes, her saviour.
August had saved her, and if only a little more had been done, the terrorists would have come down to the basement. Only one hostage fit the definition of "sick blonde schoolgirl". Gwen realised that the kidnappers wanted to get rid of her first. August came at the very last moment, like in fairy tales about knight girls and princes. Only their roles were oddly reversed.
The shootout at the meatpacking plant continued. Explosions rumbled, someone got to the grenades and decided to use them.
With Gwen in his arms, the mercenary climbed out of the basement and into the hole in the wall. They were followed by Petra and Hera. The other hostages had long since fled, leaving only footprints in the wet ground.
August wanted to get rid of the useless schoolgirls as soon as possible and try to fulfil some secret task given by the system. The task of rescuing the hostages he had already received and he felt his strength increase. The process of improving reflexes was not particularly painful, compared to improving perception by a hundred units, nothing at all.
"I'll carry her from here! - Hera stood in August's way and wrapped her arms around her friend. She could no longer look at Gwen's obviously enjoying expression. Hera wanted to nail her friend right now for such a betrayal, even though she realised that Stacey wasn't guilty of anything. Rather, Osborne herself was to blame for her friend's current predicament.
Gwen felt someone else's hands touch her. The aura protecting her immediately disappeared at the point of the stranger's touch. Stacy opened her eyes and came across Hera's infuriated face. Thinking quickly, the girl oohed to herself.
"August, thank you for your help," Gwen said, still embarrassed by her smell and basically dirty appearance, as Hera pulled her out of August's embrace.
"If you need anything else, you're welcome," the mercenary said jokingly. His action made Stacy's face blush even more.
"Okay.
"Take the phone, call your mother and have her pick you up," August handed Hera the phone he'd accidentally found. He checked it beforehand. The phone was working. - Have a good journey home.
"Are you, are you going to go there? - Gwen asked uncertainly and quietly, losing all her perky characteristic of talking to her friends. Shots and occasional explosions could still be heard in the forest belt, where they had managed to move away.
"Of course, what about it? - August smiled and put a steel mask on his face. - That's what I get paid for.
...
Machine guns rumbled from the darkness of the meatpacking plant. The Kingpin militants could do nothing, the deterrent effect of the machine guns suppressing their entire advance.
The terrorists had chosen a competent position, and after a short fight they retreated to a convenient place for defence. They could only be reached from one side, which they were effectively defending. At least that was the case until Vanessa, who had been silently watching from the sidelines, joined the fight. She made sure that there were no mutants among the enemies and so she decided to test her strength. Conventional firearms should not do her any harm. She was wearing a bulletproof suit, and her skin had recently become bulletproof as well.
Putting the closed helmet on her head, Vanessa slowly moved towards the battle. Some stray bullets hit her, but only bounced pitifully off the armour without leaving even a scratch. The closer Kingpin got, the more bullets hit her suit, until finally all the terrorists' fire was concentrated on her.
A pair of large-calibre machine guns and dozens of assault rifles rained down a hail of lead on the slow-moving Fisk. Approaching almost tightly to the terrorists' positions, Vanessa stopped. The bullets, making a loud sound, fell in flattened fragments near her feet.
For a moment Vanessa felt as if she were being shot not with real weapons, but with plastic toys. Picking up the splintered bullets, Kingpin squeezed them in her fist, forming them into a ball of lead. Spotting one of the machine gunners, Fisk threw the flattened lead at the terrorist's bulging face. With a wet sound, the girl's head exploded, chunks of bone, flesh and brains flying in all directions.
"Just like that? Am I really that strong now? - Kingpin asked herself thoughtfully as she watched the decapitated machine-gunner fall.
"Grenade! - shouted one of the terrorists and a fragmentation grenade rolled under Vanessa's feet. A few seconds and a loud explosion, dust kicked up in all directions.
"I felt the impact," Vanessa said, rising from the ground. The grenade didn't do any damage to her, but managed to knock her back. - The test of my defences is over, thank you for your help. Now you will all die a horrible death.
After her words Kingpin ran towards the terrorists. Fisk punched the first girl on her way through with a fist, broke her ribs and spine with a second leg kick, and squeezed her head with a third....
A massacre and no other, was taking place in front of Kingpin's bodyguards. They silently watched their mistress with fear. She had already inspired fear and respect in their hearts before, now this compulsion had crept into their very souls.
Swordswoman ordered the bodyguards to cease fire. Her older sister wanted to test her strength, and this fight was just a routine training session for Vanessa. No need to get in her way. Perhaps later her sister would thank her for taking such an initiative.
Kingpin grabbed another terrorist by the arm and kicked her in the chest. The arm came off with a wet crunch. Vanessa wanted to continue the fight, but she was stopped by a wave of fire from the side, knocking her completely off her feet. The heat from the fire was felt throughout her body, Fisk felt her regeneration and adaptations kick in. The resulting fire was able to heat the suit to high temperatures and burn the girl's skin. Vanessa felt a particular pain in the chest area, that's where the main wave of flames arrived.
"Did you think you were so special? - The girl grinned as she came out with three others. Flames were rising from their bodies, arrogant smiles on their faces. They didn't know who was in the black suit, but they didn't care. The main thing for them now was to get rid of the unknown raiders as soon as possible and move on to plan B, to attract Anita Stark in the prepared trap.
What the terrorists didn't know yet was that one cunning mercenary had already kidnapped their hostages.
August returned to the meatpacking plant through the same gap. The firefight was still going on, he was going to help his "temporary allies". Having a hidden mission motivated him. Perhaps the purpose of the hidden mission was to eliminate all the terrorists. He was going to try and test his theory.
The meat processing plant was divided into several sectors, the separator being a thick concrete wall. The mercenary was now in the third sector, in the upper left part of the building. He needed to get to the second sector, and the second sector was in the lower right part of the meat factory.
Simply put, he needed to run through the entire building. Breaking down walls wasn't an option, it would take much longer. Especially he was going to exterminate all the terrorists to test his theory about the hidden mission.
Moving into the first sector, August was in for a surprise. A derelict machine gun with a full box. He wasn't going to leave such a gift behind, so of course he took it. Intending to use it in sector two. But unfortunately, he had to use the machine gun much sooner.
A black shadow swept across the line of sight, the mercenary's brain quickly processed the information and August reacted to the sudden threat. The machine gun rumbled in his hands, empty shell casings snowballing to the floor. A girl in black clothing, similar to the other terrorists, was hit in the chest by a machine gun. The bullets pierced through her, but had no effect.
With his eyes bulging under his steel mask in surprise, August watched as the girl running at him caught the endless machine-gun bullets with her body and never stopped. Flames burst out of the through holes left by the bullets. And the through wounds slowly regenerated.
"Belgian shit," the mercenary snarled angrily as he heard the clink of the machine gun. The firing had stopped, needing to dismantle the machine gun and shift the ammo properly.
Running close enough, a woman with an army knife at her side jumped up and aimed the deadly weapon at Augustus.
To avoid injury and buy a little time, the mercenary set up a machine gun under the knife's strike. The combat knife scraped viciously across the machine gun's hull, leaving a deep mark. Taking advantage of the respite, Augustus put the terrorist who had attacked him in a grapple. She was no match for him in melee skill, in principle, nor was she physically capable.
"Damn fire elementals, where the hell did you come from? It's not fair to regenerate! - Augustus snapped the terrorist's head and toppled her to the concrete floor, breaking her spine with his foot. To make sure she didn't get up yet, it was necessary to determine her regeneration level. Wolverine's spine would take ten to thirty minutes to regenerate, Deadpool's would take several hours. From the rate of regeneration, you can tell how deep in the arse August was in, and whether or not there was a light of hope in that arse. He didn't know the nature of the terrorist attacker's regeneration, but if she was as "immortal" as Wolverine and Deadpool, the mercenary was in bad shape. No matter how tough he is, there's a limit to what he can do.
The terrorist's fractured body was completely engulfed in flames. Apparently the flames were responsible for regenerating the body or something.
"Yeah, maybe we should go get some meat and have a barbecue-picnic. - August grinned, removing the wedge from the machine gun and pointing it at the burning terrorist.
After one last glance at the burning body, the mercenary pulled the trigger. The machine gun rumbled again, filling the regenerating body with lead. Dozens of new holes formed in the already fractured body. After firing all the remaining rounds, Augustus walked over and stepped on the girl's head with his foot, crushing it into a paste.
Whether it was the foot's magic or something else, the flame-covered body began to swell dangerously, filling with a red liquid. Augustus honoured something wrong with his heel and darted for the nearest shelter.
When it swelled enough, the body exploded with a wave of fire, spewing out a lava-like liquid. It quickly melted the concrete floor beneath it, and when it cooled, it evaporated without a trace.
"It went off," August whistled, watching the aftermath of the explosion. Black soot was smeared everywhere in the epicentre where the body had been lying before. Apparently the soot was all that was left of the woman who had attacked him.
Without lingering in this sector of the meatpacking plant, August ran to the second sector. He could no longer hear any gunfire there, and that made him uneasy, what could have happened there?
What had happened August learnt as soon as he arrived. At the centre of the action was Vanessa in a melted suit. Around her lay three bodies covered in fire, and the girl herself was on top of the body of the fourth terrorist. Sitting on top of her opponent, Kingpin placed her hands on her neck and slowly began to apply pressure, gradually strangling her.
Judging from the current situation, his help was not needed here. The only thing left was to simply, repeat after Kingpin's fighters, stand back and do nothing. The mercenary even enjoyed it, doing nothing and watching your work being done for you.
"Slacking off here? - August did not miss the chance to speak caustically about the Kingpin fighters. A little revenge for being captured in the woods.
"None of your business, mercenary," the Swordmaiden spat out the last word angrily.
"Wow, I can sense some kind of evil aura from you. Did you take offence at me for scolding you, Vanessa? She did the right thing.
"I'll slit your throat and make you choke on your own blood," the Swordmaiden drew her blade, furious at August's words.
"If you talk to me like that, I'll tell Vanessa. I think she's gonna be mad at you again.
"You're afraid of me, so you threaten me with my sister?
"Yes," Kingpin and Swordfang stared at August in bewilderment, not expecting him to say that. - I was joking, you're too gullible....
"Walk and look back now, mercenary," Swordswoman said with her hands shaking with anger. She was filled with hatred at August's bullying and his disrespectful attitude towards her older sister.
While August was bullying Swordswoman, Kingpin had finished off the last terrorist and was now just sitting on top of her. Watching as the breathless body of her opponent was completely engulfed in flames. The flames that appeared didn't do any damage to Vanessa, its temperature was lower than the fire she was attacked with. Compared to that fire, this one was many times weaker. Perhaps because that fire was used to attack, while this fire was responsible for regeneration.
"Interesting.
Fisk was curious about the abilities of the four, would it be possible to use their blood to reproduce a serum that gave the same abilities as theirs? With such a serum, she could reproduce an army of immortal performers. However, controlling such an army would be a problem, and it was necessary to come up with some method of deterrence and intimidation.
[The requirements to activate the hidden task are complete!]
This message awakened August and he immediately accelerated his perception tenfold. The world in his eyes slowed down. Looking around the sector, the mercenary saw nothing suspicious. So it was about Vanessa or the terrorists? Definitely the terrorists! Those crazy creatures could have blown themselves up! Presumably they blew themselves up when they hit their regeneration limit and Fisk beat them up! True enough, one of the bodies began to swell, not much of a swelling yet, but it had already started, so it was about five to ten seconds before the explosion. Could the hidden mission be to save Kingpin? Could the system be favouring this villain? There wasn't much time to think about it, and in any case, the option of saving Vanessa was now the most logical.
"Get out of here immediately, it's going to explode! - August shouted to the standing militants. At first they didn't realise what was going to explode, but then they saw the bodies of the enemies defeated by the lady start to swell.
The mercenary rushed to Kingpin, the girl sitting on top of the terrorist was already beginning to suspect something wrong. The temperature of the regenerating fire began to skyrocket. She was about to get up off her body and run away to a safe distance when she felt someone else's hands on her hips. Vanessa was furious, she thought the bloated terrorist had grabbed her and was going to bury her with her, but no, that was not the case.
Behind her stood Augustus, his hands firmly on her hips. A wave of pleasant electricity ran through the girl's body and she froze, staring at the mercenary's mask with incomprehension. Trying to see what he was thinking through the only slit for the eye. Vanessa's eyebrows rose as she felt one of the mercenary's hands slide down to her intimate place between her legs and grasp her firmly there. For the first time Fisk felt terribly vulnerable, she wanted to push Augustus away, but she didn't have time.
Meanwhile, the mercenary didn't care what he grabbed Vanessa by, time was short, he couldn't drag Kingpin away. The only thing left to do was to throw her like a projectile towards the exit of the meatpacking plant. His head was now full of calculations as to how and with what force he could send Vanessa flying so as not to break her too badly, but still throw her outside the meatpacking plant.
Augustus didn't know about Kingpin's abilities, so he calculated based on the capabilities of a well-trained person. Which he thought Kingpin was for the time being.
With a rough calculation, the mercenary threw Vanessa towards the exit and she successfully flew out of the meatpacking plant. Landing hard on the street. The Kingpin's fighters had already left the building, the latest being Swordswoman, who first made sure her older sister had left the meatpacking plant and then enjoyed August's desperate situation for a moment.
There was a single loud pop, the second and first sector completely filled with fire. And as if that wasn't enough, a whole cascade of explosions sounded belatedly. The terrorist trap had slammed shut. The supporting structures of the plant were undermined and the building collapsed like a house of cards.
***
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