Fury 2.13

The Blackbranch administrative offices were located not too far from the Quirinal - official residence of the president of the Italian Republic. Close enough to the governmental building to try and signal legitimacy.Three floors, plus a basement. Public-facing ground level, operational and residential spaces above. The basement was reserved for training rooms and a Tinker lab. Security was extremely tight - there were multiple redundancies to stop anyone attempting to get into their virtual systems. Plus, many key parts of the security were disconnected from the outside world, placed in a closed circuit.All of this info was gathered by Weaver's careful scouting.There would be no 'hacking' our way in, it simply was not possible. I gave us good odds of breaking in through more mundane means if it came down to it, but hopefully it wouldn't.I walked at a slow pace through the streets close to the offices. My two javelins floated hundreds of meters above me, hidden in the clouds, together with Weaver's Wasps.Malacoda - Chiara - had just wrapped up a meeting with government representatives. It was about eleven in the morning, two days after we rescued Adriana.And speaking of…"We're in position." Adriana spoke into the comms, voice slightly synthetic. She could speak English if necessary, but was not fluent enough to not compromise operational security. It was easy work making sure she had an automatic translator to understand and convey information as efficiently as possible.She'd never chosen a cape name before, and didn't want to have one. She was Adriana.I glanced up to her hiding spot, just to the other side of the Blackbranch building. Julius was with her."Be ready. She's about to reach the target." Weaver said. She was much further away, at the edge of her range. I didn't want to risk her being taken by Malacoda. There likely was a way to artificially extend her range with specialised bugs, but I had yet to figure it out.Focusing on camera networks in the distance, I verified that the two possible failure points were not close to the building. One was Farfa, the teleporter. She sat at an office near Nuova Corviale, finishing up some paperwork regarding the incident. Even farther away, outside Rome, I had not spotted Cariddi leaving the premises of his new residence. With them accounted for, I switched my focus onto the Blackbranch headquarters.I interfaced with the security - even if most of it was inaccessible. But not all of it, namely the motion sensors placed on the outermost layer of the structure were not as guarded as the sensors on the inside. I did not want to risk a failure at this key point, so I only made a small modification to the ones placed near a single window, just enough to allow Weaver to act without trouble."Begin." I subvocalized to the comms.Two of Weaver's Wasps flew down and latched onto the side of the window, exactly parallel to Julius and Adriana's waiting spot on the other side of the street."Three. Two. One…" Weaver began to count down in our ear."NOW!"As Weaver's finished her countdown, the Wasps engaged their laser drills and made quick work of the outer layer of the building. They didn't drill a wide hole, but just enough to weaken the structure.Adriana shot out from a window on the other side of the street, holding Julius by the arm. Shattered glass exploded outward, threatening to fall upon the crowd, but Weaver quickly positioned her swarm to take care of it.Adriana positioned herself feet first as she struck the concrete wall, crashing through with ease. Exactly on the other side of the wall was Malacoda. Within the second she was covered by a black metal shell to protect against the attack, but before she could counterattack, she froze."Ada-"Malacoda recognized her sister. A moment's hesitation.Which was enough for Julius. He was thrown forward by Adriana's enhanced body, and the moment his palm made contact with Malacoda's metal it all turned to bronze.Malacoda was suddenly restrained by her own protective maneuver.Alarms began to ring out all over the building. People around me panicked in the street.Adriana kicked at the bronze, cracking it apart and creating a hole for Julius to reach through. He shoved his hand within the now broken shell."Got her." He spoke into the comms.With a simple touch he had turned her outer skin to bronze. She'd survive unharmed as long as Julius eventually turned her back.Taking out a thermal knife, Adriana began to cut through the outer bronze shell, carving away to get at Malacoda's statue within.Safety protocol disengaged.Steam shot out of my leg implants as I began to run along the wall, kicking down another section of the concrete wall of the office. There on the other side I glanced at police officers and two Blackbranch heroes. Scarm and Barbar, rushing towards the location where Malacoda had been ambushed.The former was the Breaker that I had already dealt with. He instantly activated his power, transforming into the hook-fingered beast. The latter was the Tinker, wearing his power armor, beneath an oversized formal black suit. His armor looked more like it was made out of a dark brown exoskeleton rather than metal."BLACKWALL." Scarm's demonic form shrieked so loudly that the walls began to vibrate. The police officers to his side covered their ears in pain.Both the heroes lunged towards me without any hesitation.A quick scan of Barbar's gear failed to give me the details of his technology. Too far removed from what I understood.With my right hand I unsheathed my blade. The edge turned red as it began vibrating.I couldn't risk it.The world slowed to a crawl around me as my speedware fully engaged. Steam began shooting out of the sides of my neck as my processors threatened to melt under the intense load.With a single step I walked in the middle of the two heroes. My sword vertically bisected Scarm's breaker form. My left hand reached for Barbar's helmet and began to tighten. I applied increasingly powerful pressure, until I felt the power armor begin to crack. Another small push was all it took for it to shatter in my hand without harming Barbar's skull.As the world began to speed up once again, Scarm's power caught up with the deadly blow I had just inflicted and turned him back to human form. I kicked at Barbar's chest, sending him flying backwards.By the time the police had fully unholstered their guns both heroes were out of commission. Scarm knelt down on the ground, hands clutching the sides of his head as he began to shriek in utter agony. Barbar hit the far wall and bounced from the concrete, hitting his head on the ground and falling unconscious.A bullet hit me right in the eye, dead center. Too precise. I glanced towards the police officers:Black veins spread from underneath their uniforms. Tisiphone was here, which meant... My sensors quickly confirmed what I feared as I glanced up, beyond the building."Blasphemies." I spoke into the communication channel, not even bothering to hide my words. Tisiphone had finally overplayed her hand, as planned."God preserve us.""They're looking straight at Julius."The Three Blasphemies flew in the sky, circling the structure around us.Weaver did not let them be.A thin blue line cut across the sky, striking the frowning Blasphemy right in the middle of her abdomen. Alabaster skin turned to charcoal before she dashed to the side to avoid the rest of the attack. Around them, Wasps disabled their invisibilities as they began swarming each of the Blasphemies. Regular bugs began floating up from the city below, tendrils of black reaching to the skies."Focus on frowning. Don't split your focus, I'll deal with the other two. Julius, Adriana, retreat. Post-haste."The policemen around me truly weren't pleased at my words as they roared in feigned anger and rushed me. I could hear muscles tearing and bone breaking under the strain of the forced movement.This time I knew that they were already corpses. There was no saving them.Any of the controlled policemen that reached me was quickly beheaded by a quick slash from my sword. I tried to make it painless, just in case the person was still trapped within the corpse puppet.With my other hand I unholstered my own gun and pointed at the Blasphemies in the sky. Aiming at the snarling one. I pressed the trigger.The bullet pierced through the layers of floors and ceilings in between us without any resistance. With uncanny grace the Blasphemy dodged just as the last moment, turning a headshot into a grazing blow that clipped her ear.I did not let up, continuing to shoot through the ceiling at the two Blasphemies that weren't being attacked by Weaver. I made my way to the hole in the wall, then jumped to Julius and Adriana. The latter had just finished taking Malacoda's statue out of the bronze enclosure. She carefully handled her sister's unconscious body.The two Blasphemies took that as the signal to attack. They dived towards us, swirling in a spiral pattern around each other. Their pale white arms turned to dark gray claws as they slashed through concrete. As I shot a bullet towards them one of the Blasphemies blocked it with the gray skin.There is little sense in using the gun. I holstered it back and grasped the sword with both hands.My javelins kept to the sky, waiting for my command."Go." I told Julius and Adriana. They nodded and jumped out of the building.The Blasphemies reached me.Fission engaged.Keep output under half capacity.I pushed my speedware to half strength. Barely enough to keep up with them, and I couldn't afford burning through my reserves too quickly. There were still too many Blackbranch unaccounted for, not to mention that Aquila and other members of the Swiss Guard could soon reach us."The Employer is rather angry, Blackwall!" The smiling Blasphemy cackled as she approached."This shall be mighty unpleasant, you forced their hand." The snarling one spoke without emotion.Their voice was fully clear even as they continued to speed up.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement."I will see her soon."I took the first move.My sword left a red blur behind as I dashed towards the smiling Blasphemy and slashed towards her neck. She raised her claws and stopped the edge of my blade, though I still managed to chip at the grey skin. The snarling Blasphemy took this opportunity to lunge for my head, index finger sharply aiming at my eye.I barely took a step back just in time. The claw still clipped my cheek, slicing beneath my skin and cutting a wire. Electricity briefly jumped out of my face before my nanomachines got to work fixing the damage.In an encounter of such speed I would not be able to repair my body fast enough. I needed to avoid glancing blows like this.With a kick I sent the snarling Blasphemy flying back. I heard the crack of her bones crushed under the strength of my attack, but not enough to cripple her. The smiling Blasphemy swiped at my head. I crouched below and then slashed upwards with my blade.The edge of my sword hit her right in the arm, melting the skin and digging deep into the flesh. It got stuck halfway through, before I could lop the limb right off. I had to let go of the handle as the snarling Blasphemy shot towards me and went for my outstretched arm.With a flicker of thought my right arm opened up and extended into a mantis blade. That took the snarling Blasphemy by surprise as I shoved the blade through her chest, right where her heart should be. Skin melted off as the edge of the mantis blade began to gather heat.The smiling Blasphemy cackled once more:"Aim for our head or don't aim at all!"My left arm opened up, revealing a cannon. Aimed straight at the smiling Blasphemy's head. She stopped laughing."Thank you." I could not resist answering as a shockwave echoed through the air, an explosive bullet shot towards her head at a speed comparable to my own movement. The kickback sent me flying backwards, with the snarling Blasphemy I was still spearing through.She couldn't move out of the way in time, but managed to shield her head with her arms. The explosion vaporized both of her arms, including my sword which had been still lodged in her forearm. The shockwave spread outwards and cracked the floor and walls around her. The building began to collapse on itself.I immediately turned my attention back to the snarling Blasphemy. Suddenly a red alert crossed through my hud: looking at my right arm, the Blasphemy had latched onto it, claws digging deep into my arm implant and threatening to tear it off. The mantis blade was stuck in her chest.Debris exploded behind me as the smiling Blasphemy flew upwards. She was missing both her arms, and half of her crystal mask had been broken off, revealing a human face beneath. Her eyes were of the same ruby-red color of the decoration on her mask.Her feet turned into two sharp spears as she dove straight down towards me.I pulled back from the snarling Blasphemy, but her grip was too strong. She latched onto me and did not let go. I would not be able to avoid the incoming attack.I still had options.A blue line crossed the sky suddenly, hitting the smiling Blasphemy right in the chest and enveloping her in blue fire. The sky lit up under the blue explosion as one of my javelins shot the Amaterasu right at her.She plummeted from the sky. Her skin was mostly charcoal around her chest and arms. But she was still alive.As the snarling Blasphemy let go of me to try and swipe at my face, I jumped back and placed my feet against her chest then began to pull: my mantis blade cut across the side of her torso as I fully freed myself. Another kick right into her mask sent her tumbling backwards.In the sky, the frowning Blasphemy struggled to dodge in between the barrage of attacks from the mechanical Swarm. Her vision kept being blocked by the bugs, meaning that she would occasionally get clipped by one of the Wasps' attacks. Her body was covered in black burn marks.Suddenly, Weaver's swarm stopped moving in sync. Rather, panic rippled through the bugs as she shouted into my ear:"BLACKWALL! FARFA!"My head snapped upwards. There, at the edge of the roof, stood the Mover parahuman. A device was strapped to her chest. Made of the same dark exoskeleton-like metal that Barbar had around his armor. It sank into her flesh.Farfa couldn't teleport herself. Barbar had found a way around that limitation it seemed. I checked the cameras: they showed Farfa still sitting in her office. They had tricked us. But we still held the advantage.Farfa pointed her arm right at the frowning Blasphemy in the sky. From her vantage point she could likely still see the fleeing Julius and Adriana. I went to unholster my gun, aiming at Farfa, but the smiling Blasphemy suddenly recovered from her fall and placed herself in between, raising her legs to protect herself.Weaver desperately attempted to hide the frowning Blasphemy from sight with her swarm, but she simply dove downward to make herself easily seen.Farfa tightened her fist.The frowning Blasphemy suddenly disappeared.Then she reappeared in between Adriana and Julius.Adriana immediately reacted and kicked at the Blasphemy, piercing through and leaving a gaping hole in her chest.The wound didn't seem to bother the monstrous creature.The frowning Blasphemy's right arm reached for Malacoda's transmuted form, while her left claw sank deep into Julius' head and pierced his skull.No.The moment the Blasphemy touched Malacoda's bronze skin, it began to turn pink once again. Bronze turned back to flesh. Black metal appeared all around and lunged for Adriana, pinning her to the ground. I heard their exchange through Julius' fallen earpiece:"Ada… Why are you doing this? You know that we had no choice, please don't force us to imprison you once again."Adriana scoffed, even as the black metal pinning her down began to crush her windpipe. She could barely speak: "Why… why am I… saving people? I… don't need… a reason."Scarm and Barbar both immediately stood up from their position, eyes blank, the moment awareness came back to Malacoda's eyes. Farfa's expression went slack, though she kept her guard up. Scarm turned into his Breaker form and began rushing towards me, while Barbar used his power armor to jump up and reach Farfa."You're killing more than you're saving Ada. We are so close to changing the world. Another couple of years, maybe three or four, and then Bea will finish building her army. Then we'll be safe, truly safe. Not even Leviathan will be able to stand up to us. Not even Cariddi."Adriana began to wheeze as the black metal crushed her ribcage, but she still managed to laugh at her sister."Ahahah… You'd make… the Simurgh proud…"Those words hit Malacoda like a freight train. She took a step back, suddenly confused by the shock.With the Blasphemies still here, we were not going to win. Julius could not heal as long as the Blasphemy pierced his brain, and I wasn't sure what the limits of his regeneration were. There was the possibility that he'd die if he didn't manage to heal his brain within a certain time limit.But even this was still within our plans. One of the worst possible outcomes, but still within our plans."BLACKWALL! DO IT!" Weaver shouted into our communication.I hesitated."...do it." Adriana softly spoke, shaking Malacoda out of her shock. "Chiara… I will miss you. Who you once were."Between her wheezing I could hear her beginning to sob.'She wasn't always like this.' What she told me in her bedroom echoed in my mind.The frowning Blasphemy raised her free hand. Pointing. In the direction Weaver was hiding. Malacoda turned and took a single step.My ears began to ring.I recognized the true price of what I was about to do.'What else have you done in your twisted pursuit?' My own words tore through me like a knife through flesh.Far above the fight, hidden between the clouds, my second javelin activated, aiming below. Magnetic resonance hummed to life as energy thrummed along the barrel of the rifle.The Amaterasu fired.The cloud parted as a blue line of flames split the sky in half.The bullet struck Malacoda right in the head.Fire enveloped her body and turned it to ashes within an instant. The explosion kicked the frowning Blasphemy away. In the nick of time, Adriana kicked at the Blasphemy's arm, tearing it off of Julius's head and freeing him from her claws. He began healing the damage to his brain and looked around dazed.As if the string holding them up had been cut, Scarm, Barbar and Farfa suddenly fell to the ground. Lifeless. More reports pinged my interface, of other parahumans all throughout Rome falling dead. Followed by reports from outside of Rome, then outside Italy. Within minutes more than fifty known parahuman heroes in Europe had died as Malacoda's power turned off.Silence fell upon the ruined streets.Then, chaos.Black threads of metal speared the stone and asphalt street from below, all around the building, striking at each civilian they could reach. They pierced their flesh, black veins spreading from the wound and overtaking the body. Killing the host in the process.Hundreds of lives snuffed with a thought. Each of the puppets's heads snapped towards me, tears flowing from their eyes. They shouted in anger and grief, foaming at the mouth.Tisiphone's raw scream resounded from each of her corpse puppets. The tears falling from their eyes began to turn black.With a thought, I hacked the city security system. The Endbringer siren suddenly pierced the air, sending a wave of panic through the city and informing the rest of the world that Rome was about to become a battlefield.The Blasphemies, all three of them, began to cackle in glee at me. Their laughter somehow reached me over the deafening siren.I closed my eyes. My internal implants clicked and whirred to life.Red lightning began to crackle over my skin. Power filled me. I glanced towards the Vatican in the distance.There was no coming back from this.The stage was now set.