Dan

  Even after his taunts, neither Ada or Natalia immediately took the bait and charged him. Dan knew Ada was the calmer and more level-headed of the two based on witnessing her battles against the Church and during their training. Natalia appeared to be the more brash of the two, typical of a Kodak agent. So when neither of them came at him, he knew this fight wouldn't be a straightforward slugfest.

  “So how do you wanna play this Ada?” Natalia asked.

  “A straightforward approach,” she replied. “We both have superior stats on paper. We’ll simply overpower him through superior stats and it being two on one. It’s as simple as it gets.”

  Dan didn’t see Natalia’s expression through her helmet, but her raising of her katana and spinning it around to show off was enough to get the point across.

  “Fine by me,” Natalia said with glee. “A good old fashioned squash match.”

  In an instant, both female Bloodknights rushed him. Dan pushed his legs immediately after.

  Warp dancer activated.

  Dan knew that both of these ladies still outclassed in terms of level and pure stats. And from what Ada told him about Bloodknight training, theirs was much more comprehensive and in depth compared to the flash training he received when he was first recruited.

  With Li preparing his shadow blade to kill Judith, he had to pull out all the stops to deal with his current opponents. If he died too quickly, he would leave his teammate screwed. As expected, both of Ada and Natalia’s movements were significantly slowed as their furious charge turned into a slow-paced diorama. Dan picked up on little details such as the individual sand grains kicking up behind both their feet, the whirls of sand off in the distance due to increasing winds from the incoming sandstorm, along with Ada’s Bloodluster leaving behind a purple trail.

  It didn’t take long for Ada to also activate her own warp dance. The young Bloodknight stopped mid charge and dashed off to the side, leaving behind the familiar multi-colored afterimages as her form sped away from the fight.

  The hell is she planning? He thought.

  Natalia still hadn’t responded. Dan didn’t know whether he had seen all of the Bloodknight’s tricks because of his time spent mostly with Ada. The fact that he stole back his Conservative from her didn’t leave a good impression on him. But he couldn’t afford to underestimate Natalia.

  Dan continued his charge toward the Bloodknight and lifted up his whole arm. In the next second, his arm slammed into her faceplate, knocking back the Bloodknight. He deactivated his warp dance and found Natalia flat on her back in the sand. Her helmet visor suffered hairline cracks and fractures from the successful clothesline.

  Dan didn’t have time to celebrate as he drew his Conservative from his scabbard and lashed out with a draw cut. The Bloodknight barely rolled away in time and Dan’s attack missed. Natalia got back on her feet. While Dan didn’t land the killing strike, the tip of his blade managed to break off a chunk of her helmet’s visor. She ripped the entire thing off her head and tossed it aside.

  “I’m gonna check your pockets once I kill you,” she seethed.

  The Bloodknight gave him no room to concern himself with Ada’s whereabouts when she charged him. About a dozen paces set them apart and Natalia crossed the space in the span of an eye blink. Dan ducked underneath a wide slash that would have taken his head off. He lifted up his Conservative and executed a diagonal slash, cutting the space where she stood a moment before. The Bloodknight had already circled around him, the sounds of sand being kicked his only warning. Natalia’s natural speed was impressive, scary even.

  Dan sidestepped another close call as the edge of a katana grazed the collar of his long coat.

  Warp dancer activated.

  Natalia’s movements slowed down once again and now it was Dan’s turn to get behind her. Once he got a few steps behind his enemy he spun around and and went for a basic jab, aiming to impale her through the torso.

  Dan’s simple plan was interrupted as Natalia’s silhouette became distorted and she began to move with gradual increases in her speed. She stepped out of the path of Dan’s Conservative just in time, leaving him dumbfounded.

  “Haven’t you learned by now?” she said. She swung with her katana and Dan brought up his Conservative and both blades clashed against each other. The small explosion of energy from his own sword snapped him out of the warp dance as the clash launched both fighters backwards.

  “What the hell?” he shouted.

  “Didn’t you realize it now after your fights against the cult master and Judith?” Natalia gloated. “When an opponent is sufficiently higher leveled than you, the disorientating effects of the warp dancer aren’t as intense. So unless you got some moves that are less basic, you might as well surrender now.”

  Dan glanced at his corrosia bar in his HUD. He was down to a dangerously low twenty percent of reserve left. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. The only combo left he had in his arsenal was using both the berserk and warp dancer together at the cost of draining his corrosia faster.

  Warp dancer activated.

  The colors greyed out around him as he performed his warp dance. Natalia still wore an overconfident grin on her face as she still continued to move at normal speed. But Dan knew what he had to do to end this fight and wipe that look off the Bloodknight’s face.

  Berserk mode activated.

  Furious arcs of red static shot throughout his body as the form further amplified his raw speed. Dan closed the gap between them and before Natalia’s expression could change, he placed his conservative back into his scabbard. He grabbed her sword-carrying hand with both hands and wrestled the katana out of her grasp.

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  With the katana in his hands, he winded his arms back and plunged the blade through Natalia’s armored torso and straight through her heart. The blade emerged out through her back as Dan sunk the katana all the way to its hilt.

  And just for added measure, he grabbed the hilt of his Conservative and lashed out with a furious arc backed by his warp dance and berserk. The blade effortlessly sliced through Natalia’s lower hip all the way to her upper shoulder.

  He powered down from both abilities and saw his corrosia bar fall to ten percent capacity. Natalia fell to the ground in bisected halves. Her katana was still stuck in her heart as she crashed into the sand.

  Only then did Ada join the fight. He witnessed her quick-moving form as she dashed into his view. Her afterimages disappeared as she came to a stop. She took a brief glance at her dead teammate before setting her gaze back on him. Her expression remained blank.

  A loud whistle from Judith caught his attention. “Huh, very impressive Dan. And you cut her into pieces which means she won’t be coming back.”

  He brushed off Judith’s sick enjoyment of watching one of her subordinates die in battle. He returned his gaze on Ada.

  “For what it’s worth, Natalia gave me no choice,” Dan said.

  “We weren’t that close to begin with,” Ada replied.

  “Will I also have no choice against you too?”

  Ada gave no response but her expression tightened. “You do, but I doubt you’ll like any of the options.”

  The Bloodknight grabbed the Bloodluster off her magnetic lock then stared down at the blade. She turned around and buried the blade halfway into the sand.

  “I made a promise to you when you gifted me that sword,” she said. Ada turned and faced him directly. “Once we become enemies again, you get the first move.”

  Dan stared at her dumbfounded. No enemy in their right mind would just hand out a freebie like that, knowing that a fight between two superhuman agents could easily end in a single move.

  “There’s no way you’re serious,” Dan said.

  But Ada slowly walked away from her sword and held her hands apart from her sides. “I’m dead serious. Even if you strike me down, you will fall before Judith. You can’t win against her. To defy Judith means death.”

  Dan glanced over to where Judith spectated their fight. The lead Bloodknight still had her arms crossed but now she was caressing her jaw at Ada’s incomprehensible move.

  “Is there really no other way than… this?” Dan asked softly.

  “This is how it has to be,” Ada stated coldly. The Bloodknight stood still and shut her eyes.

  Dan rushed his opponent and held the Conservative with both hands. He lifted his sword into the air and prepared for a downward slash. If Ada remained true to her word, then this fight would be over in an instant.

  He brought his Conservative down onto Ada’s shoulder piece. But the blade stopped. At worst, it was a shallow cut that sliced through the armored plating and maybe penetrated her skin. Ada opened her eyes and stared at him. She glanced at her shoulder and saw that his sword didn’t slice right through her. She looked back at him with her eyes wide.

  “What’s going on? You stopped,” she said, puzzled.

  Ada willingly giving up the first attack and abandoning her weapon to allow her opponent to strike her down was a ridiculous move. Dan had chosen to do something equally as logic defying but refusing to capitalize on his opponent’s freebie. He lifted his blade off of her shoulder armor.

  “I told you I don’t want this fight,” Dan reiterated. “Is that so hard for you to comprehend?”

  Ada reached for her shoulder and inspected the damage herself. Then she glanced back at her boss who still stood with her eyes glued to their fight. She walked back to where she buried her Bloodluster and grabbed the hilt of her sword.

  Dan studied her face and saw her expression harden once she picked up her sword but then softened as her eyes rested on him.

  “Have you ever disobeyed Michael Cynosa and had things end well for you?” she asked. “As I said before, to defy Judith means death.”

  Dan briefly contemplated her question and he never once recalled ever directly tell Jane or Michael to kick rocks after receiving a direct order from either of them. While he knew he would get into some deep shit with either of them, he was sure that he wouldn't be executed over insubordination.

  But then again, Judith Blight was nowhere near as sane as either of those two.

  “Well, I’ve never told him to fuck off before,” Dan said, trying to lighten the mood. “But it sounds like Judith is just batshit insane and a terrible boss for you. Look what happened to Kate.”

  Dan had never tried to deescalate a fight before. Every encounter with an enemy agent in the past ended in bloodshed, whether Dan was defending himself or because it was simply part of the mission. He knew that with only ten percent of corrosia left, he was barely in any shape to take on Ada as an equal, let alone win.

  “You're stalling,” Ada said. “You’ll only prolong our suffering if you keep this up.”

  “You said “our”. So you don’t want this either, do you?”

  The Bloodknight opened her mouth, but before she spoke, Dan caught something in the corner of his eye.

  Judith still stood and watched both Dan and Ada when he noticed the silhouette of something over the burning wreck of their strider tank. In what Dan could only describe as a brilliant surprise attack, a floating shadow blade matching the length of an average katana swung at the lead Bloodknight. To Judith’s credit, she still reacted to the strike, but not fast enough.

  By the time she backpedaled away from the shadow blade, she was missing her entire left arm as the limb laid severed in the sand next to the burning wreck. Ada looked back with genuine shock and bewilderment as she saw her boss without an arm. Dan squinted and could make out a faint almost invisible humanoid outline through the fires. He recognized it as Li’s cloaked form. What truly gave away his presence was the floating dark blade that unfortunately wasn’t cloaked.

  Ada looked back at Dan, still in a state of shock. “Impossible. D-did you plan this?”

  “I don’t care how powerful Judith is,” he said. “Everyone has a weakness.”

  Judith angrily summoned her golden blade in her only functioning hand left. It was difficult keeping track of where Li was due to his cloaking. But somehow, Dan saw the stealth specialist’s shadow blade behind the lead Bloodknight ready for an impalement from behind.

  Good shit Li, he thought.

  Dan’s internal celebration was short-lived as Judith swerved her body out of the path of Li’s shadow blade and both clashed their blades of energy. Judith’s brilliant glow of her golden blade contrasted sharply with the barely visible form of Li’s shadow blade. The size difference between the two was like a regular sword up against a comically sized blade only seen in fantasy stories. The length of Judith’s golden blade matched or even exceeded her own height.

  The two briefly clashed blades, each blow sounding like the collision of metal against metal. Dan was initially impressed with his teammate’s courage and ability to take on Judith in a direct swordfight. But then he remembered that Li couldn’t maintain his shadow blade for very long.

  Li’s shadow blade disappeared and Judith still continued slashing what seemed like air. The stealth specialist managed to evade most of her strike except for a final one. The lead Bloodknight lashed out with an elbow and seemingly smashed into something. A second later, Li’s armored form decloaked and soared through the air towards Dan’s direction.

  “Shit!” Dan shouted.

  Without thinking, he rushed in the path of his teammate and caught him in his arms.

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