Rejuvenation, Pt. 2

"This is for JJ."

Lay took a full swing at the Mech's chest and barely made a scratch. As a result, the mech shot a beam right back at him. But Lay still stands. With a charred arm, he closes the gap between himself and his opponent. 

"Y'know...I've been meaning to use this for a while now..."

Lay reached into his jacket pocket. Nova's eyes widen. 

"That's a...."

In his hand, he held a small, bronze device.

"That's right, Extra. It's an Accelerator. Third Gen."

"How did you get your hands on that...."

Lay help the Accelerator up proudly. 

"Negative Reaction. Decay."

The bronze box had let out a few whirrs, before twisting and turning, which eventually began to glow bright. The brightness affected the Mech, as if it was some sort of radiation. It's once shiny plates rusted down to a dirty brown steel. The Mech, no longer functioning, dropped to it's knees, and finally deactivated. Then, the Glitch vanished without a trace, and so did the Accelerator.

After Nova attended to JJ's wounds (and the other unconscious Raiders too), he rushed up to Lay, who had now stumbled to the ground. 

"There's always a cost for using one of those things..." Lay grumbled. Nova took a look at the state of his body. The man was no longer the broad hero he was before. What sat before Nova, was a very skinny man.

"Lay..."

"Extra. Go scavenge that damn bot."

"R-Right."

As Nova made his way to the Mech, he spotted the last core of the raid, tinted with a unique, yellow hue. Kneeling down to pick it up, he turned around to look back at the man. But, something else caught his eye. Rather, someone. Behind Lay, was a person in a black, pointy cloak. The face wasn't too visible, but there was some sort of tattoo on their face, also in black.

"Hey, behind-!"

Nova couldn't even process what happened until Lay's head rolled towards his feet. 

"...Huh...?"

His eyes slowly began to widen, with fear and confusion. 

'When did...How...What....?' There were too many thoughts running through his brain. He looked at the figure, who now had a bloody blade in his hand, and two other figures - with the same cloak - by his side. Lay's body laid there, on the ground in a pool of blood. 

"Gather the remnant from these lambs." The first said.

Nova dropped to his knees and gazed at his hands. He was beginning to hyperventilate. Lay was dead, killed by unknown people. In an instant. After a few minutes, he was approached by third figure. The figure lifted his sword and prepared to kill Nova, but was stopped by the first one.

"Hey, he's got no remnant. No potential. He's useless. Let's leave."

With that, the three figures left, taking all the remnant - whatever that was - with them.

"..."

When he came to his senses, he stood up looked around...and then...he saw carnage. Every single Raider that was present in that raid, dead on the floor. Their limbs dismembered and their eyes gouged. Nova looked down to see a huge puddle of blood leak around his shoes. The area reeked of the smell. Panicking, he ran away from the scene. Sirens were already blaring everywhere, with many policemen holding their guns at the man. Nova raised his arms because he was innocent and he knew it. But the officers cuffed him as soon as they reached him.

After a couple days in prison, he was sent to court, where he had been sentenced to death.

***

The officers dragged him out of the courtroom and threw him back into a jail cell.

"Scum. Just scum."

One spat on him before walking off, chuckling.

'This world sucks. No matter what happens, I always end up on the negative side of things. If there is a God, then he really hates me. Or maybe, it's just my luck in this damn city.'

Not long later, he was woken up to the sound of rattling metal. The security guards were back, and whacking their batons on the jail bars.

"Wake up bastard! Time to die!"

They began laughing at Nova, who stood up from the ground. Following them, Nova began to wonder if this was really the end. Was he going to be executed now?

They led him to a dark room, two men in masks were holding large, man slaughtering cleavers and the head of the police department was setting up a camera.

'Great. My death is going to be broadcasted to the whole city.'

He knelt down in front of the camera and bowed his head. Then he felt two blades being held against his neck.

There was a beep, followed by the policeman talking.

"People of MoonLight City! This is broadcast is an execution tonight! This guy, a man who brutally murdered a whole team of Raiders, is going to die. This man is a serial killer!"

'Shut up.'

"People like him don't deserve to live. He will be executed right here and now!"

'Shut up.'

This was it. He couldn't do anything about this. Nova was screwed.

Or was he?

[ Project:Karma is currently being manufactured...

Recording Participant's K-Lvl...

Participant's K-Lvl is ---%. Participant's K-Lvl is corrupted. Participant is eligible for Project:Karma.

Does the Participant want to partake in Project:Karma? Refusing the offer results in death.

YES / NO? ]

A black screen with some writing appeared in front of Nova. He glanced up in suspicion. What was this? Some sort of projection? He read the details.

'Karma? A system? What...What the hell is this?'

He gulped at the sight of the word 'death'. It was obvious to him that he didn't want to die yet. He wanted to live a fair life. Would this screen really be able to save him?

'I want...I want to live. To live for revenge.' Nova focused on it. The word [YES] ran through his mind. His eyes lit with a red tint before he lost his consciousness.

***