《PERCEPTION (A New Begining)》61. 5365 days
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We stand on a rocky hill overlooking a half-destroyed cluster of buildings. Concrete rubble surrounds the few buildings that are still standing and you can see the foundations of many that were obliterated. This is just the type of place I would expect her to hold up in.
"T, are one of them here?"
"Yes, she is."
"She?"
"Don't want me to kill a girl?"
"No, I thought, because you have me looking after one you might view them differently."
"Jumper, there is only one person on this planet that I view differently. Everyone else doesn't matter."
"Even me?"
"Ha-ha, no I suppose you're a special circumstance because you have a connection with her, but even if you didn't, I find you entertaining to keep around."
"How many people do you think will be in there?"
"Not many, if any none will be men. She is more of a loner than I am, but it's to be expected after what she's been through."
"What happened to her?"
"Just think of this as a mercy kill. It's something I should have done a long time ago."
I can tell Jumper is thinking hard about something, he's always so conflicted. I wonder if I was ever like that. I must have been considering I left her alive, but I'll right that wrong today.
Jumper finally speaks up, "So this is going to be a quick mission then, just one kill."
I about fall over laughing at his assertion, or rather hope. It might seem that way based on numbers alone, after all, we've taken on dozens of men before.
"No, there's a good chance we'll both die here."
"But it's just one person!"
"This 'one person' was someone I handpicked and then trained, and if that wasn't bad enough she's fought by my side for quite some time. No worries, that's why I'm taking you with me this time."
"What's her ability?"
Hmm... How do I describe it so he'll be able to understand?
"Once you use your abilities she'll know exactly how it works."
He turned to me, fear in his eyes, "She's like you?"
"No, we're different. She can't predict anything, she understands anything she sees. You could build something that never existed before but all she has to do is look at it and she'll know how it works."
"I don't understand. That doesn't seem like a combat-focused ability. Why is she so dangerous?"
"I never said her ability was the dangerous part."
Walking into the abandoned building I don't see any lines. I continue cautiously, Jumper a few feet behind me. Coming up on a room I signal for Jumper to stay at the entrance while I move in.
It's not long before I see a line. Stepping to the side it misses me, but then I feel a line against my back. I roll forward to get away from it but I don't get enough distance to be completely safe. I jump into the air while spinning around and curling into a ball. I do my best to block as many lines as I could but It isn't possible to block them all. I hear the familiar sound of a grenade going off and I see the related flash of light.
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The pain of metal shards entering my skin pricks my forearms and legs, it's nothing I haven't felt before. The shockwave isn't enough to throw me back but shifts me mid-air enough that my landing is compromised and I fall to my back.
"I hoped you would come!"
"I figured I owed you a visit, it's been too long."
"I heard you found some bitch and settled down, did you kill her already. Not resilient enough for you! Is that why you've come back for me!"
"You're right, she didn't last too long, no one is quite as tough as you."
"Tough? That's what you call it! You've taken my body from me and call it tough?"
"Not your body, your mind. It's the reason your still alive to this day."
"The only reason I haven't killed myself is just for the chance to kill you someday."
"Don't worry, I'm here to put you out of your misery."
Two lines appear but this time I don't dodge. The ringing sound of the bullets ricocheting off my cuffs echos throughout the dark, empty room.
Her voice is filled with the same fury it was when I left her, "I want you to know that when I'm done with you, I'm going to find that bitch of yours, I'll see exactly how long she will last."
I guess she didn't buy my bluff. It doesn't matter, I never planned on her getting the chance anyway. Drawing my gun I hear another explosion go off, this one was further away though. If it was meant for me it definitely missed, but she doesn't miss so that means. I spin around to see the doorway collapsing.
"Don't use it." That is all I could get out before the falling concrete blocked my view of Jumper. Speaking in a lower voice I mumble, "You better not be dead."
"No T, I'm fine."
"Good, did you use your ability?" I speak as I block the incoming bullets and dodge the explosions going off around me.
"No."
Alright, we're still on track. I could use his ability for an attack if I wanted to, but I don't know what she has planned so the best bet is to save it for an emergency escape. I'll have to handle the rest.
"Not bad for an old man!" She says while I block and dodge all the incoming bullets. There are so many that I have to use my gun to block some, rendering it unusable now.
I can't tell if she's attempting to taunt me or is genuinely expressing her anger, but her voice is closer than before. I look in the direction of it and I see a silhouette come out of the darkness. It's her, I could recognize that scarred face anywhere. But if that's her, who's firing at me? No... is she working with someone else?
"What happened to the loner that I knew, you've got a friend now?"
"I hate people, they disgust me because of you, but not as much as I hate you!"
"My little punching bag has grown up." Even through the darkness, I can see her expression change, the rage on her face would be visible even if it was pitch black. She charges at me and the gunfire pinning me down stops.
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"Don't you fucking call me that!"
She is faster than I remember. More precise too. She's been keeping up with her training, I can tell by the number of lines that are popping up and disappearing. Nobody can do this but her. If I'm honest I'm not quite sure how she's doing it even though it's my own ability. She understands it better than I could have predicted, to think she understands it better than even me. She truly is amazing. However, it's just adding extra lines, it still shows me her actual attack lines. I weave through her attacks, even in her rage they are expertly executed. She is just a woman so I have the advantage in size and strength, I could probably take her attacks head-on without taking too much damage... if it weren't for her ability. She can understand anything, that includes the human body. Not just the general anatomy of a human body either, she understands my specific body and all its flaws.
There is always the possibility that she could attack a weakness in mine that I don't know about, just like she is doing with my ability, so I have no choice but to dodge, and she knows that. I've seen her take down men bigger and stronger than me with a couple of precise strikes, just as she has seen me kill groups of people without taking a scratch, so what's her plan then? If she knows she can't hit me then...
A line appears from her, but it's not hers. The line passes over her shoulder and beside her neck, the rest of it is blocked by her hair. This line, it looks like a gun's line.
I bring my arm up in just the nick of time and a bullet hit's my cuff but doesn't ricochet. My arm is thrown back by the force of the shot. These must be special bullets designed to combat my deflective capabilities. How does she have the resources to make such a thing?
I feel her fist contact the side of my throat as I jump backward to put distance between us. I saw its line of course, but with my balance being thrown off by the shot, I couldn't dodge. The best I was able to do is make sure she couldn't hit the exact spot she was aiming for.
As I put distance between us more gunfire focuses on me. These are normal bullets however, I reflect them with ease but it's still a fight to keep up with the amount of them.
She must not have many of the specialized bullets. If I had to guess I would say the bullets are made extra soft so when they make contact with the metal around my body they flatten out easier and make it harder for me to deflect the force of the shot. I hope she doesn't have too many of those bullets
My biggest problem might actually not be the bullets themselves, but the person who can make a shot through her hair and still hit me without touching her. I lunge forward closing the distance and catching her off guard. The main gunfire stops and another line appears from behind her, but this time it's through her shoulder.
Did she figure out how to create a false line for a gun? If that's the case then the real one is coming from somewhere else.
I focus on my peripheral vision to scan for any other lines, despite not finding one I hear a gun go off and feel a sharp pain in my chest. Focusing my vision back on her I see there is now a large hole in her shoulder. She's as crazy as ever! I feel my chest and notice a lack of blood. I'm definitely bleeding, but not as much as I would expect from a shot to the chest. Listening to my body I notice the pain in my chest is large and shallow.
It has to be because the bullet was soft, it expanded in her shoulder and because of that, it couldn't penetrate too deep on me. She grabs her shoulder, something falling out of her hand as she does. It looks like a trigger of some sort, one you would use for a remote bomb. It was small enough that I didn't notice her holding it when her hand was a fist. I quickly stepped forward, kicking her away and grabbing the remote.
Why would she have something like this?
"Wanted to go out with a bang did you?" But if that's so, why didn't she press it as soon as she saw me?
After thinking, and her making it back up on her feet, I decided to press it. I saw a bunch of lines appear over my shoulder and then bullets rained down on the ground, it was in the same spot I kept getting bombarded at every time I put distance between us.
I see, so she never did have anyone here. Looking at her I go to tease her for the fact that she bluffed, but I'm greeted with a smile. She holds up her hand and I see she has another trigger just like the one I'm holding
"T!", "T, where are you!"
I can hear footsteps, the footsteps of an idiot who came in here without my permission. "Did... I tell you to, come in!"
"T is that. Oh, no! T..."
"If you think I look bad just look at the other guy!" I'm able to lift my arm high enough to point at the remains of her body. I then hear gagging sounds, "Damnit, you better not throw up on me!"
Jumper turns away from me, vomiting in the other direction. At least it wasn't on me!
I guess I can understand why he would have that reaction. Her body was basically turned into swiss cheese with the amount of those soft bullets that ripped through her. Each one leaving a whole three times its original size. I was covered in chunks of her and the flat bullets. It was all I could do to keep myself alive.
"Come on T, I'll get you back to base.'
"Yeah, well hurry up... why... don't you..."
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