Retaking London Part 4

In the game, Genji makes it look so easy when he deflects so many bullets, especially on a turret form Bastion. In fact, it was anything but. The ability to move that fast even with his cybernetics was neigh impossible. 

I couldn't tell how long I was slashing. How long I was deflecting and shooting. How many times I was shot. I could tell that there were too many Bastions. 

I had long abandoned strategies, any plans laid out, and simply just began destroying whatever target was closest before moving on to the next. My body moved almost on its own as I killed Bastion after Bastion. 

Around me, the soldiers fought with resolve. They knew the situation they were in, knew of the sacrifice that we were making. But instead of giving up, we fought on. 

So, I became their tank of sorts. Letting the omnics focus on me to give them a chance. Taking the fire, and shots so they wouldn't have to. We all ignored the looming dread that filled us with every passing minute we were fighting. Until it became apparent, a fact we could no longer deny. We were overwhelmed. I doubted that we even put a dent in their numbers. 

I swung my sword, cutting through a Bastion, before dodging a flurry of bullets that passed where I once was and cut down another. Ducking behind a nearby car, I stick my pistol out and fire. I didn't need to aim; it was impossible to miss. Emptying the clip, I don't bother reloading. I didn't have the time to, unless I wanted my area to be overrun with omnics.

Coming out from cover, I instantly start deflecting as bullets come to meet me. I see all the bullets coming at me, in fact, I never stopped since the beginning of the fight. I prioritize shielding my vitals, letting bullets slam into my shoulder and arm. Ever since my healing sessions with the soldiers, my own healing has increased tenfold. My bioelectricity responds to new wounds in nanoseconds and heals within seconds after that. Ignoring the pain, I get back into the fight. 

I could only imagine that to the soldiers, I was just a blur, as my body moved on its own. Their emotions were laid out like a book for me to read, as I understood their questioning as to how I wasn't tired yet. I couldn't answer that, as I didn't know myself. 

I was aware of every bullet around me, every omnic, and every emotion felt. I was using so much energy to dance around the Bastions and deflect bullets, that I should have burnt out by now. In the Galvanic State, it felt like I was constantly wasting energy, but right now, it was more like I was using energy that I didn't know I had. 

With each bullet I deflected, I would feel a growing understanding. I was on the verge of realizing something once again. Seeking that enlightenment and the joys of a new power, I pushed back into the fight, with a new vigor. 

With a wave of Bastions before me, filling up the entire street, I stand defiantly in front of them. The front row transfigures into turrets and don't hesitate to open fire. I wasn't myself right now, as weeks ago I would have hidden behind a shield. But now, a smile displayed on my face, as I charged forward swinging my sword in front of me.

Nearing them, I toss an EMP grenade at them, shorting them out as I jump past them. In the air, I fire eight shots at where their heads currently are in turret form before swinging my sword horizontally, destroying two Bastions. My senses were the highest they've ever been as the adrenaline fueled my actions, providing me with even more speed as Bastions were falling by the dozens with each second of me fighting. 

The soldiers backed me up, targeting any that I miss, as they watch me zip through their ranks in amazement. There was something I still wasn't understanding, as I hadn't made my breakthrough yet. My focus was on every action that I performed, but there was something I just quite get. 

Among the soldiers, I felt a new emotion start with one, then spread to the others. Hope. The thought that maybe, just maybe, we could actually do this was among the soldiers. Poor fools.

An ATW Huntsmen reared its ugly head around the street we were on. I knew of its presence, so I quickly deal with the omnic in front of me before turning to confront it. Unfortunately, I didn't seem to be its goal. Taking aim, it shoots the building behind me to the left. A soldier's eyes grow wide, as he jumps from the building in time for it to evaporate into dust. Standing, he realizes, all too late, that he jumped into the fray of the Bastions. I could only watch as his body turns to red mush from all the bullets sent his way. 

His death doesn't sit right with one of the soldiers, who screams out in anger. Ignoring his companion's attempts to stop him. He comes out from his cover, shouting as he fires on the Bastions. He manages to take out three before a bullet passes through his head and his body drops to the ground.

With the pressure on the omnics lessening, I fall back, or I'll be cut off from the remaining soldiers. With the death of two soldiers and only three of us to hold the still massive numbers of the omnics, it was apparent that our death was imminent. Fear grips on of the soldiers, who, despite my calls to hold fast, takes off running, scrambling over the rubble of the collapsed buildings behind us. 

The omnics focus their fire on him and his body comes tumbling down, freezing his face in fear. Taking cover as bullets fly past, I consider escaping and leaving the last soldier, who looks at me with uncertainty as to what to do. Looking at my options, I find that escape might be harder than I thought, as my only real ways of escape is either risking the rubble or through the omnics.

A gunshot echoes off behind me, shocking me out of my thoughts, as I figure the omnics found a way to flank us. But I see the limp body of the last soldier whose gun falls from their hand, and I understand they went on their own terms. 

Closing my eyes, I calculated the best route of escape. Thoughts cursing how things turned out clouded my thinking. I was so close to understanding something new, close to gaining a new power. Who knows how long until I would figure it out, should, I run. My eyes fly open, my mind made up on what to do.

Coming from my cover, I once again charge into the ranks of the Bastions, determined to discover the new power through escaping. Focusing more on offense, I only deflect to protect my head and spine as my determination translates to my blade. 

Even though it was the most reckless decision I've ever made, I could feel it was the right one as I once again felt the feeling that I was so close to figuring it out. Slashing down Bastion after Bastion, ignoring the pain as bullet after bullet passed through me, I questioned what I was missing. WHAT WAS I NOT UNDERSTANDING?

I raise my sword to cut down yet another Bastion, but a new gunshot ring out, this one echoing throughout the area as bullets tear through my chest and arm. I fall to the ground and hear metal clattering next to me as well. Struggling to breathe, I look at the source of the noise to find my katana and my arm attached. 

The Bastions surround me, ready to pelt me with bullets, but I can feel a current run among them, and they continue marching on. A Ravager approaches, his railgun smoking and purple eyes. 

"You should have joined me, Rose. You put up a good fight, but rest now, I'll take care of your omnic friend for you." Anubis says.

As he levels the gun at my head, my thoughts begin to accelerate. I begin to reflect on all that transpired the last hour. Thinking about my performance, a hundred scenes of me fighting play in my mind. Instead of focusing on my upcoming demise, I needed to know what I missed. All I can think of is if my body was faster, I could deflect all the bullets. 

Wait...

...

If my body was faster....

My body begins to shake as I hear laughter. After a couple of seconds, I realize it's my own. Even Anubis pauses as he is a bit confused but decides that in my final moments my mind broke. In a way, he was right. 

In a single second, I was aware of my own body down to the neuromuscular level. I knew every muscle in my body and every nerve. I knew every signal currently in my body and how many my brain could handle. At that moment, I understood what I was missing. 

In a battle between assassins, the one with the slower reflexes is the loser. Mamoru trained my reflexes, showed me how to continue increasing them. But every assassin was aware of a glaring weakness, no matter how much they increased their reflexes. No matter how fast your mind thinks, the body always has a delayed response. Which was a problem I too faced, until now.

When the second completed, Anubis took the shot, but I was already gone from that spot. With the enhanced bioelectricity coursing through my body, my arm regrew within seconds. The Ravager Anubis was using stared in confusion as it couldn't even process my movements to escape. 

He stared at Rose, whose was laughing manically with his hands in the air and his head cocked back. He couldn't figure out what changed, what caused him to be so fast. He orders all units to focus their fire on Rose.

I can sense a change in the omnics and snap into attention. I was currently surrounded on all sides by Bastion units who transfigured into turret form, but I couldn't be worried at all. With a smile still on my face, they open fire. 

My current situation didn't bother me one bit, as I just knew everything my body was capable of. I didn't need help from my visor to see the bullets anymore, I knew where they would go and when they would get there. My brain was already better than the average human's at calculations due to the bioelectricity, but now, I was at least five times that. 

I could only imagine how I looked to Anubis as not a single bullet touched me. It was hilarious the difference now, as I found that I didn't even need to deflect them, instead dancing in between them. The laughter escaping from my lips once more, I decide to try out my new fighting capabilities. Turning to the nearest Bastion, I charge.

As if I wasn't a problem before, now, hundreds of them fall to my blade within a minute. There was a clear difference from before, as they had yet to hit me. I was dodging anything they sent my way, as my awareness was like a full 360 view around me. It wasn't like Goku's Ultra Instinct because I was still thinking, and my body wasn't moving on its own. I went from I thought then my body did it, too I thought and did within the same moment. It was a technique called sensorimotor synchrony. 

Anubis could only watch as I began running uncontested through his army. Sighing at how time and time again, he would have me cornered, only for me to defy the odds and do the unthinkable, he gave final commands before turning his attention elsewhere. Soon, he wouldn't have to worry about Rose. Soon.

[A/N Tomorrow's chapter will be released on Monday due to personal reasons.]