Khutulun

Whoever was behind that sniper rifle, obviously had no experience with it. She had to consciously stop her body from dodging sideways so as to not jump into their trajectory. She jumped and smashed through one of the windows that gave entry into the apartment's corridor. The people were running away, fortunately no one was close by to the two Unknowns and even if they were, they would have ignored them. Hopefully.

“I think I have some shards on my back.” Said Chiyome.

“You do.”

“Could you take them out, sis?”

“Later.”

Clearly ignoring the pleading Ninja, Khutulun started to work on her cybernetics legs. Thankfully, her own wounds had healed enough for her to attempt such a dexterous task, though a searing pain that started from her head and spread through her whole body was making it hard to keep her mind sharp. She most likely had an hour of intensive activity before her brain fried. Wonderful.

Taking a hidden compartment in her chest, she took an omni tool and started working trying to repair the cybernetics.

“There is a switch inside the calves, press it.” Suggested Chiyome.

Khutulun took out the alloy plating on her calf and hidden under it, she saw a multitude of micro-capillary, all attached together like a webbed net and moved as if alive, flexing and extending like a normal.

“The red one.”

Using her nails to pierce through this somewhat viscous thing, Khutulun gently moved the red micro-capillary and found a little switch on it. Pressing it caused a purple liquid to flow from it and go toward her upper leg and into her whole body. A few seconds later, the Last Ninja started spamming violently. After she vomited a mix of blood and other weird fluids, she relaxed her body and started taking deep breaths. Her irises display a purple color.

“Now… Ugh… you can start the repairs.” Those were the last words before she passed out.

Khutulun curiously stared at the purple liquid now coursing through her body. Thankfully the mask she wore hid her disgust easily, even if, just for a split second, her vision flashed red and her mind imagined cutting the Ninja apart with a single swipe. She reigned the instinct, with some difficulties, she had gotten better… had to get better.

Her hands twitched and the knife she was holding fell, the blade piercing halfway through the floor. With a non-visible frown, she picked up the knife and started working on cutting away the molded part of her legs that impeded Chiyome’s movements.

“Yo sis… I feel like shit.” She muttered under her breath.

“How much ACE was that?”

“Enough to keep me up for a few hours…” - she stated - “...Ha…I am having a heart attack…”

“You have one?”

“I…Ha…Think so?”

“You are not sure?”

“I…” Before she could finish her sentence, she threw up again.

“...Done”

While putting her knife back into its place, her ears picked out some strange noises. Something was breaking the paviments downstairs, its step rapid and heavy. Khutulun readied her knife out again and prepped for the imminent fight.

In her mind, she feared the Iron Soldier had caught up to them. That was a fight she was not looking forward to. Unfortunately, what came up those stairs was much worse. The vibrations that she was feeling told her that it was not the mostly robotic enemy, although its steps were almost as heavy. Then came the breathing, quick and heavy, like that of some starved beast. Then a moment of silence, no sound coming from downstairs.

Droplets of sweat formed on her face as she became aware of her own out of rhythm breath and Chiyome’s. The shadow of a huge creature overshadowed their own. Then a howl threatened to burst her eardrums as she saw the creature run up the stairs and dash towards them.

“THE FUCK IS THAT!?” That was what Chiyome shouted before being kicked inside one of the apartments. Khutulun slided between the thing’s legs, her knife and nails slashing through its achilles tendons.

The beast did not fall down on its knees. It did however smash into the wall in front of it with a sonorous splat. The impact caused the whole building to shake and dust blocked her vision.

“Shit.”

“SIS! OD!” Yelled the Last Ninja from inside what seemed like the living room.

Khutulun felt it when her nails touched his skin. Glancing down at her hand, she saw blood dripping to the floor. Some of her nails had broken which was pretty worrying considering they could cut somewhat through steel.

“Compatible Vanguard MK II, maybe even III.” That was the only thing that could explain the hardness of his skin.

Her heart twitched as she heard the thing mutter something. Before she could sharpen her senses, a piece of the debri flew towards her. She dodged downwards, little pieces of debri falling on her hair.

Next second she jumped upwards, dodging yet again another piece of what she presumed was the wall. Finding herself mid-air, now Khutulun saw what she was dealing with: An enormous, asymmetrical and misshapen man, if you could still call it so. Even with the broken, currently regenerating nose, she could easily recognize him. What remained of his appeareal was in tatters, most likely it had been destroyed when his muscles grew to such disgusting proportions. His legs had become short and stucky, but his arms had become so elongated that they almost touched the floor. All of the limbs were as big as Khutulun. But the most impactul feature were his eyes: they were completely purple and oozing purple-ish liquid.

“Mad Dog.”

With an amateurish wind-up, the Mad Dog used his inhuman reach to puch Khutulun. She could not do much to dodge or even lessen the impact, so she just protected her stomach with her hand and was sent through the ceiling, crashing into the ceiling on the next floor.

“Ugh…”

The impact was not strong enough to make her go through it, but she still remained attached to the ceiling, staring down at the hole she had made.

“Should plan for more kinetic resistant armor next time.” She felt blood rising to her mouth. Most likely caused by ruptured organs. Her arms were broken, but it was not a compound one so it would take a few seconds for them to be usable.

“MISSED ME BITCH!?” - Shouted the Mad Dog -”I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS SINCE FOREVER!”

With a simple jump, he went through the hole and came almost face to face with Khutulun. Using her body flexibility, she used her leg to kick him in the head. Moments before impact, a blade appeared at the tip of her foot. It cleanly went in through his head and brain. The Mad Dogs' eyes rolled inward and fell back down, his weight almost causing him to break through the previous floor.

While his body was on the floor, Khutlun saw some blue lasers cutting the abominations legs and arms. Before it could cut the head, the floor finally crumbled under all that weight. Khutulun lost sight of the Mad Dog as the debri and dust covered his body.

A few seconds later, she heard someone coming through the stairs. Khutulun remained calm as she recognized that metallic sounding step.

“Could not cut the head in time, sis.” She said a bit ashamed.

“You always go for the head first.

“I wanted to cut his limbs in fear he retaliated.”

“I just put a blade through his skull, he was out for a few seconds.” The blade on her foot re-inserted itself under her

“Fuck, sorry sis.”

"Tsk, we need to get going before-"

The ground shook as the Mad Dog leaped through and swiped his enormous arm at them.

His nails ripped through the front armor of Khutulun's vest and almost cut the Last Ninja chest plate, some red light peeking through the scars.

"Fuck!"

"Fuck!"

Fortunately for them, the arm had not fully attached so the hit was not as powerful as it should have been, but it was still good enough to subtly tell the ladies to gain some distance on him.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Shouted Chiyome as a laser originated from her right forearm.

The high intensity beam pierced the abomination hand and into his eye socket. His body fell limp again, but instead of falling down the hole, his other arm regenerated and grabbed on the ledge. A white steam was emitting from the reddish-pink skin of the new arm. One of the first symptoms of the body temperature rising too much and too fast.

“42°… He’ll go Cannibal soon!” The Last Ninja relayed to Khutulun.

That would buy them some time. All that regeneration was obviously taking a toll on his body. After all, something cannot be made from nothing. Regeneration is a very resource intensive endeavor, you can lessen the drain by slowing the process, but sometimes that was not possible so one had to push their body to their limits. Their body temperature would rise abnormally and start affecting their mental capabilities. The best way to counter such symptoms was rest. Though gorging yourself with food could help offset it somewhat. They call someone going on an eating spree a Cannibal, since they would even eat other humans in their frenzy.

“Fall back and go towards the sniper.” Ordered Khutulun through her comms.

“What about the people escaping?!”

“What about them?”

Chiyome frowned deeply. Her eyes looked at Khutulun and then the Mad Dog. Mouth agape, words would not come out of them. The stone cold facade crumbled in front of her. Khutulun always thought that she was not cut out for the Unknown business. She was rarely wrong about such things.

“I…I..!-” She stuttered, but was rudely interrupted.

“We’ll keep him here for five minutes, not one more.”

Her face lit up, a wide smile appeared on her lips.

“I love you Sis!”

“Don’t you love a burly and strong man?” Teased Khutulun.

While it was best for them to leave while the Mad Dog was busy with the civilians, a side of her was happy that Chiyome was here to keep her on the somewhat morally good road. At least one should try to do good if it is in their power, even at their own expense, for that is what it means to be a good person… right?

“That is a different sort of love!” Answered the Last Ninja defensively.

“Sure.”

“I take it all back”

Under her mask, Khutulun smiled too. The blood dripping from her nose and lower lip was the first onset of physical exhaustion. If things went like this, she could last thirty minutes, maybe a bit more if she pushed herself.

Khutulun’s hand lingered on the side of her mask, wondering if she should call the Grinning Devil to come and help them.

“Pfff!”

She resisted her instinct to laugh. When the world would have a second sun will she ask that damn guy for help. Hell, in the past he came to her with his tail between his legs, begging her to calm down her brother.

“Sigh”

Tapping twice on the side of the mask, she sent her live coordinate to the Devil, so that once he was done dealing with that Iron Lady he would come to them.

The Mad Dog consciousness came back, if it could still be called so. It heaved itself upwards and ran towards the two ladies. His legs were still in the process of being regenerated, but his arms were long and strong enough to work as a makeshift way of movement, although the image was grotesque.

Nevertheless, Chiyome aimed her left arm at the incoming monster. A compartment from her left forearm rose and from it a bright yellow-red breath of flame engulfed the hall they were in. Before the smell of gasoline could overwhelm Khutulun’s senses, she activated her mask's respiratory systems. The Last Ninja then turned and sprinted down the stairs, her masked companion following shortly after.

From the billowing and raging flame, the abomination did not see the stairs and crashed at full speed. The impact was strong enough to shatter the wall and make a hole in it.

“I am starting to see a worrisome pattern here”

Chiyome rushed to check if his fall had hit any civilian below. The second she poked through the hole, an enormous hand grabbed her waist. Her metal body creaked and deform under his monstrous grip. Khutulun rushed to help her, knife in hand, ready to stab and slash. But before she could reach her companion, the cyborg was thrown into the stratosphere.

“SHHHHHHHHHHH IIIIIIIIIIII TTTTTTTTTTTTTT!” Yelled Chiyome flying through the air.

The now free hand went to grab Khutulun, but she deftly dodge by jumping over it. Once outside, and currently free falling, she saw the Mad Dog attached to the side of the hole. His finger burrowed deep into the wall, allowing him to stay somewhat attached to it. Looking at the fall’s height, she thought that it would not be a problem to hit the ground even while doing a roll, although her knees and ankles would hate her for it. She ignored Chiyome since she was sure she would somehow deal with her situation herself.

Unfortunately, disregarding all of Khutulun’s plan, and human common sense, the abomination jumped from the wall and grabbed ther masked woman with his other arm. The feeling of such steamy, hot and pulsating meat touching her, made her gag for a moment. But she had much bigger concerns than her being disgusted.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING' BITCH!?” It screamed, his vocal cords being so thoroughly damaged made his voice deeper,more guttural… more beastly.

“DIE BITCH! DIE!” His other hand came to grip Khutulun's body. The strength he was exerting enough to steal her breath and crack her bones. A silent scream escaped from her lips.

Quickly, before he could squish her like a toothpaste tube, she used her free hand to cut at the tendons of the fingers. The skin was blistering hot and as hard as steel, but thankfully the knife did its job well and Khutulun was able to free herself.

“Broken ribs and dislocated shoulder…”

She knew she could not try and keep her strength, it was time to go all out or risk death. The moment their bodies hit the ground, she focused all of her senses inward. Her blood thickened, all sorts of chemicals flowing through it. The wounds she had sustained all healed at an abnormal pace. She was in top shape, at least for a few minutes. It would be enough.

“AFTER I AM DONE WITH YOU, I WILL KILL THAT BOYFRIEND OF YOURS!”

Khutulun rushed with her knife in hand towards the beast’s chest. It tried to swat her away with his arm, but she vaulted over it. His other arm tried to smash her, but she was too fast even for its enhanced senses. Her blade stabbed deep into his armor-like skin, penetrating it easily and hitting the aorta. But she did not stop there. She crouched as low as possible, and then spring upward like a human shaped rocket. The blade traced a line all over his torso and later his skull, cutting through the jaw and his right eye socket. While she was in the air, Khutulun dropped the knife and did a spinning kick directed at the knife’s handle. The weapon embedded itself on top of its skull.

The Abomination head jerked upward. His remaining purple eye blew out, making the creature effectively sightless if it was still alive. Khutulun heaved a sigh of relief as she fell back to the ground. Though the abomination was not done yet.

His tongue elongated to inhuman length and tried to grasp at the Unknown. She was able to initially dodge it and keep it at bay, but fatigue was building up and her vision dimming. In a lapse of judgment, it got hold of her arm and started crushing it. It tried to move her but she was holding on through her own strength.

“Right arm is gone!”

The damage was too extensive, trying to regenerate would knock her out and possibly kill her. She used her knife to cut through the tongue but it was too thick and regenerated too fast for her to cut through. While the idea to cut her arm came to her, an even more insane idea came to her mind.

She wrapped her arm around the tongue as much as she could and brought it closer to her chest, much to her disgust. Then she started pulling as hard as she could.

The abomination, initially surprised, reacted immediately and started pulling her towards her. A malevolent grin on his face.

"1,2,and…Mhf!"

The ground under them cracked as this tug of war continued. But then, she stopped pulling. The sheer momentum made her fly toward him at breakneck speed. What remained of Mad Dog was found flat-footed again and was not able to defend himself as the blade cut through his neck, then his cervical spine and then out.

It was not a clean decapitation. A little stretch of skin was all that kept the head attached to the body.

"That should do it…" She thought while sitting on the ground. Her breath labored as her own blood filled the lungs trying to suffocate her. One of her eyes had a capillary ruptured and blocked sight from it. She had cut it close.

It had been many years since she was in such conditions. Not being on the frontline for so long had rusted her skills…she needed to get back into her training routine, that Devil too.

"If you are referring to that kind of training, I'm in~"

She imagined he would say that, coupled with that trademark shit-eating grin of his. The sound of her giggling filled the air.

Glancing at the Mad Dog, she noticed that his body was standing rigidly upright. She would worry but she saw no attempt of the body to try and repair itself. It was most likely in a sort of rigoris mortis, or maybe the high temperature of his body had tensed his muscle in a way that allowed him to stay in such a position.

Nevertheless, she walked to the dead corpse, ready to fully decapitate it and take out its heart. Just to make sure.

Once she was in front of it, she noted some movements from under his skin, close to where the cut she had made, going from his navel to his upper chest. She readied her knife.

A thin tendril erupted from the wound and aimed at Khutulun. In her eyes it was easy to parry or even cut before it even touched her, but her body hardly could follow so all that she could do was do a hasty parry. The tendril continued on its way and toward one of the fleeing civilians.

"No!"

Before the guilt of what was going to happen filled her heart, Chiyome appeared in front of it. The fleshy tentacle pierced through her shoulder and then started to pulsate violently.

"It's Cannibalizing her!"

That would be the worst case scenario. He would absorb her biomass and heal all of the damage his body had suffered. Worse even, since his brain had been damaged so much, he would go totally ballistic and devour everyone.

"Worry not sis, I am 90% machine…" - she stated while pointing her right arm at him - "...but 100% badass!"

The laser ripped the last stretch of skin connecting his head to his body. But she did not stop there. From her forearm a blast of energy was unleashed that vaporized the abomination's head and most of his body. After that, she fell down on the ground like a puppet who just had its strings cut.

Khutulun rushed to her side and took out the still squirming tendril out of her.

"Hehe…ah…I did good didn't I?"

The Masked Unknown did not answer but gently patted her on the back. The smile on Chiyome's face right now could melt even the coldest of hearts.

"Thank you…" Said one of the fleeing civilians, grasping his child as close as possible to their bosom. They had temporarily stopped because of the fight but nevertheless they wanted to express their gratitude before leaving.

"All in a day's work ain't that right sis?

Khutulun just shook her head but under the mask a tired smile was plastered on her lips. But before she could answer, she felt something hit her mask, then her skin. It happened in the span of less of a second, but thanks to her enhanced senses she could feel the bullet touching her mask. It was impossible to do anything about it. She fell limply on the side as Chiyome shouted her name and the civilian began to run away again.