Now here I am sitting in the Nevada desert with a tank top, boots, and black jeans on. I have no idea how long I have been out or how they brought me here. But I remember the smile in Zero's eyes. It's time to head back home.
They could have at least left me some cash. I had no form of ID on me. I dust myself off and walk to the nearest town. I see an army surplus and walked right in. The guy behind the counter eyed me the entire time I was in. I noticed the Confederate flag hanging above his register and sighed to myself. I grabbed some black fatigues and a few holsters. I put the holsters back after realizing that I had grown far too accustomed to the special guns used by the program and that using my index finger would be way too annoying. I needed comfort for this fight. I grabbed some blades and brought it all to the counter. The cashier, whose tag said his name was Bear, reached for the items.
“Not finished,” I said as I continued shopping. I had enough stuff to start a small riot. I grabbed a large duffel bag and began stuffing everything inside.
“You plan on buying that stuff ‘sista’?” Bear asked. He slowly reached under the counter no doubt looking for a gun.
“Don't waste your time,” I said as I made my way out of the door. Before he could bring the gun up I chucked a small blade in between his eyes. Not hard enough to kill him but painful enough to ruin his month. I walked out and made my way back to Los Angeles.
Running at top speed I could make it back in an hour or two. Judging from how quickly I handled Bear I could tell that the program was back on. Zero hinted at it but I could tell now that he had some kind of dampening system in him. That would explain why he beat me so easily. At least I hope so. I strap the duffel bag on and started running.
Damn, this feels good! I follow Zero’s advice and control the program. I don't let it overwhelm me. When it starts to burn I don't squint and wait for it to pass. I absorb it. I revel in it. I taste it. I pass cars so fast that I must look more like a phantom than a real person. My face inches above the ground as I practically fly to L.A. It is silly of me to assume that they are still in L.A but knowing the obsession Zero has with me and The Corps need to kill me as soon as possible it was likely they were still there. I reached Downtown and stopped near the New Union Station. It was time to make my presence known.
I started knocking people over left and right. I wanted as many cops and security guards here as possible. Ever since the bombing I read about during training security was upped 300%. Five of them appeared instantly and I began whipping their asses. More arrived. Soon I heard sirens. Good. That meant the news would be here. After that it would be moments before the program freaks arrived and I could end this.
The roof exploded sending glass and debris flying everywhere. Zero and his goon squad arrived before the news did. Zero looked like some sort of Hitler youth from Hell. He wore an all black program styled uniform that reflected none of the daylight that poured in with a red scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face. Purely for dramatic purposes. His squad wore the all black uniforms with guns at the ready. They began opening fire on everyone but me.
“Glad you’re back, Kendra,” Zero said over the gunfire and screams.
Zero practically floated to the ground near me. The squad stood to his back with their guns trained around the station shooting at anyone that left cover. I could still feel the program churning but held it at bay. I did not want to make the first move. Zero took a step forward and bowed to me.
“I did not think you would be so foolish as to return this quickly,” he said. “I told you...,”
“You don't tell me anything, chicken strip,” I said, cutting him off. “All of this bullshit ends now. Everything I ever had is lost. My family is dead.”
“So is mine,” Zero said. “You had yours killed,” I said. “Big difference. Well, at least I have something you don't.“And what is that, Kendra?” Zero asked.
“My skin.” He didn't like that. With all of the outlandish things he has had done to his body, all of the modifications, you'd think he would at least say “Hey, how about some skin?” He was forcing himself to live outside of society yet damning those who occupied it. He could not have it both ways.
“You’re actually semi-attractive when you’re upset,” he said trying to hide the anger in his eyes about the skin comment.
“Then I’m about to be downright fuckable in a moment!” I shouted as I appeared near two of the squad members. Zero was at my back immediately. He kicked and I ducked. He knocked one of the guys’ head clean off, a fountain of blood spurting out. Those who had not screamed because of the shooting now chose to scream about this. I grabbed the other guy and threw him at Zero. Zero blasted him with his false “Red Eye,” power. The guy turned to ash. I burst through the flaming remains and nailed Zero with a vicious right hook to his jaw. Apparently using the beams from his eyes caused a form of temporary blindness. He landed hard on his back and I brought my knee down into his chest.
“My turn,” Zero said as he shot a beam that barely missed my face. I slammed the tip of my elbow down on his nose. Dark blood spewed out. He grabbed me by the neck and head butt me on the brow. I was slightly dazed but recovered fast enough to dodge his next punch. He then punched me in the stomach sending me up about nine feet. I landed on one knee and smiled at him.
“Another thing you can’t do,” I said. His brow furrowed as he charged at me. He disappeared and I took the opportunity to take out the other two team members. Zero and I had only been fighting for less than a minute. They saw me coming and began firing at me. I drew knives from my pockets and hurled them at them. They were hit but continued firing as they fell. Zero appeared next to me and kicked me in the side. I landed against a kiosk sending magazines flying.
“This is so disappointing,” Zero said. “I needed this fight. I needed you at your absolute best. Beating you now will do nothing for me.” He actually looked like he was going to cry. Something wasn't right. He seemed different. Wait a second.
“Oh, what’s wrong, Southern fried?” I asked. “Gonna cry?” Anger flashed in his eyes. That’s it! Damn it! Why didn't I think of this sooner? L.T did it all the time. Talking shit, even when you were getting your ass beat, threw people off. I wasn't one to trash talk until joining the program and being around L.T. Even in school I let my actions speak louder than my words. Could this bionic jackass be defeated with a combination of the two? That was one of the reason Tina/Tanika bothered me so much. It wasn't the fact that she was faster than me: it was her constant babbling. “Poor Zero,” I whined. “I joined the program and all I got was this lousy permanent tan!” Zero charged at me with his head low, gathering power for an uppercut, dragging his fist on the ground leaving a trail of blood and flesh. I stepped to his side and kneed him in the small of his back, followed through, and kicked the back of his heel. He tumbled to the ground. He started using his beam before he even stood up, burning his foot in the process. He screamed but continued firing.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with!” Zero shouted. “I'm...”
“Nothing but a crying bitch with bad aim!” I shouted as I rolled away from his repeated blasts. I threw two knives, hitting his knees. He buckled and stopping firing for a moment to pull them out. I appeared to his right, a look of shock on his face, and grabbed two of the program style guns from his holsters.
“Is that supposed to impress me?” Zero asked obviously in pain.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that,” I said. “I was too busy wondering how far I could shove these up your ass.” Then I was shot in the back.
I saw a chunk of my flesh land on Zero. Then another. Then another. I turned and saw the trigger man. Impossible. Some things in life, or people, are so evil that you just believe that if they were in your presence that you would just feel it. Like someone turning a TV on in another room. You couldn't hear it, see it, or smell it. But you knew it was there. Apparently things don’t always work out the way you think. Zero looked just as shocked as I did. Well, in his own non-eye
browed, non-
mouthed kind of way. I fell to my knees and coughed up blood. I hoped it got on his shoes. “Now,” The Corps said. “That wasn't so hard, now was it?” He walked over to me and fired three
more shots into my back as I fell to the ground. I could see him standing less than a foot away from me. But I couldn't move. He knew exactly where to shoot me.
“What are you doing here?” Zero asked. “This was mine!”
“Oh, stop being so dramatic,” The Corps replied. “Do you know how much it’ll cost the program to cover up your little game? Do you?!” I wanted so badly to just rise up and cut The Corps head off. “Well, I do. $254,243,977.00.”
“I don't care how much it cost!” Zero screamed. “You cannot put a price on honor!”
“And what do you know of honor?” The Corps asked. “You take eight graduates and dragged them along on your little game of cat and mouse!” I saw The Corps take a step towards Zero and heard Zero take a step back. “Tanika was one of the most promising graduates!”
“She talked too much,” Zero scoffed. I heard a smack. “Do not ever talk back to me!” The Corps shouted. Someone please kill me. I was going to die of boredom before loss of blood. Control the
program. Already I could feel it healing me. My brain was burning like never before. It hurt. This was the worst pain I had ever felt before. Was I dying? Then something happened. I can't quite explain it. My body got to a point where it couldn't understand the pain anymore.
“Un...” I muttered. “What?” The Corps asked irritably. “She's still alive,” Zero said with a combination of shock, excitement, and fear. “Impossible,” The Corps gasped.
“No...” I said as I slowly rose to my feet. “Uncontrollable!” So this is what Hollister must have felt like. No wonder he went insane. This is what it must feel
like to lose your mind and be totally aware of it. I was on top of Zero before I even finished the thought. I cut him off mid-scream with a punch in the stomach. The air flew out of him so quickly that his scarf fell off revealing the sick creature he had become. His top row of teeth was all that was left. Where his lower teeth and jaw should be was just charred flesh. His breath smelt of death. I grabbed him by the nape of his neck and pulled him backwards in an arch. The Corps shot at me but succeeded in hitting Zero.
“Hold still, damn you!” The Corps shouted. I didn't know if he meant me or Zero the way he was aiming. I vanished and appeared somewhere near Persian Square. My sudden appearance scared a group of nearby tourists. Zero twisted free of me and kicked me hard in the ribs. I heard myself laugh as I grabbed his thigh and squeezed until I heard a snap. Zero screamed and collapsed to the ground.
Uncontrollable. You hear the word so often but never truly appreciate it until you experience it. I had no choice over where we appeared. One second I am beating Zero's ass Downtown, the next we are in the Nevada desert. Zero grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in my eyes. Even blind I could still “see,” him. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him face first into the hot sand.
“Still think I can't beat you?!” I shouted at him as I rubbed his face in the sand. Now we were back at the New Union Station. We had to have been gone for less than a minute because The Corps was still standing there looking shocked. I tossed Zero at The Corps. He landed in a heap.
“Are you through?” The Corps asked. “Not yet,” I said. “I was not addressing you, Hecksford,” he said as he fired five shots into Zero’s head. “Jesus
Christ, what a massive failure you turned out to be. Millions spent to make you perfect and you get beat by some girl from the slums of Los Angeles. What would your father think of you?” He kicked Zero in the face. Zero shifted slightly, barely alive.
“I want answers from you,” I said to The Corps. “But I am now willing to forget all of them for a price.” The Corps chuckled slightly.
“Just to humor you,” he said. “What is the price?”
“Your head,” I said as I landed a hard kick to his face. He literally flew. He landed against a glass door shattering it. He landed outside coughing up blood. He began laughing as he tried to stand.
“If I knew how strong you would become I would have had your father recruit you out of junior high,” he said. “He wanted your brothers but they were too afraid. Especially after seeing what the program did to your mother. Yes, Hecksford, she was very essential to the growth of the program. She literally gave gallons of blood to ensure its success. Gallons.” He was obviously trying to goad me. It wasn't going to work. Even though the program was pleading with me to kill him dead I wanted to know more. I still planned on taking his head. “You were going to be groomed to replace L.T. He had long since worn out his welcome. I knew that he was plotting to start his own group eventually. You were to be his third recruit. Hollister and Raves being the first two. I nipped it in the bud by killing him,” he said while squeezing his small finger. “Ever wonder why the weapons are fired with this finger? Your father. He had an elongated small finger. Took years for soldiers to get used to these damned things. But not you I'm sure.” I looked at my finger and sure enough it was longer than most. Kids made fun of it when I was younger but stopped around high school. I felt sad for never holding my father’s hand often enough to recall anything odd about his fingers. “You don't want to kill me, Kendra. I can answer so many of your questions. Let us lea-,” he said as he fell to the floor, blood gushing from his neck.
“No,” Zero said as The Corps clutched his bleeding neck. “We are not done, Hex.” “Son of a bitch...” I muttered. “Aren't you dead yet?” I was this close to losing my fucking mind. I was finally getting the answers that I needed when
this reject from Hell killed the one person still living that could give them. Zero looked even worse with blood pouring from him and his scarf missing. He stumbled towards me and collapsed forgetting that I shattered his thigh. His bone had to look like shattered glass right now and the program could not heal it fast enough. Suddenly Zero made a “face” and ran. A moment later I did the same. The Corps exploded. Almost forgot about the damned bombs that seem to be in all members of the program. Speaking of which. The other members of the squad starting vibrating as I ran past their bodies as if they were timed with The Corps. I dove through a glass door and landed with my guns drawn as Zero ambled my way.
“I need...to finish this,” Zero muttered at me as screams could be heard everywhere. “I must be the best. I have no other option. I must beat you.”
“Beating me won't make you the best,” I told him. I felt the program healing every wound on my body. I was feeling recharged. Zero looked like he was having trouble breathing let alone trying to fight me. “I want you to train, Zero,” I told him with a smile on my face. He stopped dead in his tracks. “What You’re feeling now is hurt pride. When you told me that I wasn't good enough to beat you it did more damage than pride. It hurt my mind. I am not used to being second. I have lived my entire life being number one. The program has ruined that for me.” Tears streamed down Zero’s face as I spoke. “You choose to lose everything. I let it slip away. Now I am left with nothing. Not even the need to be a better fighter than you. All I had left was the need for answers and you took that away from me. The last thing left for me now is to remove you from the face of the earth. You’re the abomination.”
“How is the view from your high horse?” Zero asked me. “If you were to step foot before God he would not recognize you. You have nothing left of what he gave you.”
“I still have my skin,” I said trying to lessen the sting of his comment.
“I am not ashamed of what I have become,” Zero spat. He began ripping pieces of his uniform off. His chest smelled bad from a distance. He tore his clothes off to the waist. His body was a Thomas Guide of scars. “I chose to spit in the face of God. You allowed others to do it for you.” I stood silent. “What?” Zero asked. “No witty comebacks? No L.T like smart ass comments?”
“I think I am done talking,”
I said as I appeared behind Zero. As I expected he thought that was
where I'd be so I ducked and cut him short behind the knees with a forearm. As he buckled I fired six shots into his back. He shouted in pain. It sounded more animal than man. He began to fall and vibrating. The bomb. Zero panicked and tore his arm off at the elbow. He threw it across the street where it thumped against a van. It exploded sending fuel and burning metal into the air. He spun on his knees and began firing “Red Eye,” at me. I dodged it with a slow back flip and landed on one knee. Uncontrollable. My fist was buried in Zero’s chest before I finished the thought of doing it. My face was over his shoulder and I could see my hand coming out of his back. Zero convulsed and began to slump against me.
“No...” Zero muttered. “Yeah,” I replied. “Not like this...” he whispered. “Exactly like this,” I said into his ear. “This is exactly how you die. With my hand buried in your
chest in the middle of Downtown L.A. You lost.” “But...” he slurred. “...I'm the best.” “No,” I told him as he slid down and landed on his back, eyes staring to the sky. “No one is the
best. We were disqualified as soon as we sold our souls to The Corps.” I fired a shot into each of his eyes.
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