⁕ The Lynching Game (part 6)

In a jolt, Athena jumped up from her bed covered in sweat before hyperventilating in a panic. It took her a moment before realizing it was all but a nightmare. However, reality wasn't the better alternative she had hoped for. Ever since she committed mass murder as Mike ordered her, she wasn't able to sleep soundly. At first, she convinced herself that Mike must have his reasons to order this barbaric act but she was now starting to have her doubts.

After aggressively rubbing her face with her hands, she locked eyes with her cyberknight helmet on the counter in front of her bed. She remembered as if it was yesterday as Mike congratulated her for graduating from her cyberknight training with flying colours. The Mike she knew wasn't the Mike she had spoken to now.

[Athena] - "It's you, in appearance and mind, it's you. However, in my soul, I don't believe it. I know you died fighting Sniper as the virtuous hero you always were. So tell me, who are you now, truly? "

Said Athena while staring at her helmet.

Meanwhile, in his dimly lit office, Jagger threw on the corner of his desk Kadyn's diary with a look of disgust on his face.

[Jagger] - "Ugh! What a bunch of sassy love stories. It sounds as if this woman graduated from the University of high school drama. It's fucking disgrace, Mike. "

Said Jagger as he spat on the floor before getting out of his chair.

Jagger slowly walked in front of a mirror where he looked at his own face... or rather Mike's face.

[Jagger] - "You were standing at the top of this world, yet you chose to push yourself to such... lows. To mingle with this dumb bitch, using your precious time to care for feelings and exchange cringe-worthy words. Mike, you know why you are my bitch? Because you don't have what it takes to make use of your power. You were a waste of potential! "

The more Jagger talked, the more he felt confident about himself. In truth, he feared Mike and his power but by degrading Mike and everything about him, Jagger felt a sense of superiority compared to him.

[Jagger] - "Consider your body in my hands... a gift. I used your sorry face to spread dominance and present power. With me, you are no longer the weak-minded man you were! Heh! Watch me turn that prideful woman of yours into a slave, watch me as I make you the God you were destined to be. "

After his relentless slander, Jagger laughed confidently, convinced that the threat of Mike's return was simply a figment of his imagination. After all, the real Mike died in his fight against Sniper and there is simply no way to bring back a dead man as even Dane's machine proved to be a failure. As his eyes glanced at his desk, the sight of the diary sent a wave of nausea through his guts.

[Jagger] - "Shit, I need a pallet cleanser. "

Said Jagger with a grunt.

Later, Jagger aggressively slammed Kadyn's room door open with a predatory look in his eyes. Like a hunter stalking his prey, Jagger scanned the room with his eyes without moving his body before realizing that Kadyn wasn't present.

[Jagger] - "Is that so? Since when do slaves have a choice? "

Said Jagger in a cold voice with a sadistic smile appeared on his face.

During this time, inside Jerry and Harry's house, Oltevin abruptly charged through the wall. Without thinking, Oltevin rushed toward McCree and accidentally pushed Entity 13 off his friend. With his neck free, McCree abruptly took a long breath of relief. However, just as Oltevin turned toward Jerry, Entity 13 suddenly rushed to him and punched him in the face.

[McCree] - "Be careful... *gasp* Damn it! "

With an unfocused mind, McCree stood up before aiming his weapon at Jerry. In an instant, Entity 13 got off Oltevin and jumped in front of McCree to block the shots fired at Jerry. However, without rest, Oltevin jumped up and tackled Entity 13 onto the ground for another brawl.

[Jerry] - "Fuck me! These two fools are rabid! I better just... "

Whispered Jerry as he pushed one of his legs into the wall.

[McCree] - "Ya fucking inbred son of a gun! Ya think you can just leave after invoking your dead grandma's ghost to choke me? "

Suddenly, using his ability, McCree completed the wall with random materials, thus causing Jerry's leg to be crushed and severed. In a yell of agony, Jerry fell to the ground in a pool of blood. As McCree prepared to shoot Jerry, Entity 13 once again grabbed his arm before trying to wrestle the gun off him.

[McCree] - "Ya damn mother fucker! Get off my dick, would ya! "

Yelled McCree in anger.

[Oltevin] - "Hold on, comrade, I'm coming to help! "

Said Oltevin as his face was bloodied beyond recognition.

Due to his obscured vision, Oltevin accidentally punched McCree in the face, causing him to fall to the ground with a blackened eye.

[McCree] - "Damn you, CK, ya fucking Russian are just traitors! "

Cried McCree as Entity 13 took hold of his gun.

As Entity 13 prepared to fire, Oltevin instinctively jumped before McCree and took the shots for his friend. With the chamber empty, Entity 13 quickly adapted to Oltevin's physic before kicking him off McCree. With brutal efficiency, Entity 13 quickly wrapped his hands around McCree's neck before squeezing with his increased strength.

[Jerry] - "Oh fuck... What the fuck is going on... "

Said Jerry as he watched the chaos that unfolded before him.

Suddenly, despite being stabbed, shot and punched, Oltevin still stood up as if he wasn't affected by the pain and injuries. As he advanced, he fell down due to his weakened legs but he kept crawling toward McCree. In his eyes, he saw his comrade from back in Wagner die, so he pushed himself no matter how intense his pain was.

[Jerry] - "Just stand down already! God, Jesus, I can't watch this shit! Just lay down, man, I'll fucking spare you! Just let it do its thing! "

Said Jerry as the scene of Oltevin's desperate crawl shocked him.

[Oltevin] - "I'm not doing this because I don't fear death but I'm doing this because I know it's the right thing to do. "

Whispered Oltevin as he grabbed Entity 13's face and painted it red with his own blood.

As the blood revealed Entity 13's invisible face, Oltevin could only watch helplessly as the creature's expression turned into anger before tackling him out of frustration. The sheer resilience of Oltevin has angered Entity 13 enough for him to hyper-focus on him to finish him off once and for all.

With Entity 13 off him, McCree reached down and pulled his revolver out of his left holster. Before Jerry could react, McCree stood up and fired at him, blasting a hole straight through his right lung and shattering his sternum. As the cylinder spun up the second round, Jerry began to seriously panic.

*In a flashback

[Harry] - "Jerry, in our fight earlier today, why didn't you use your ability to its full potential? "

Said Harry before he took a bite of his burger.

[Jerry] - "Well, I don't want to draw attention. If I were to fully utilize my ability's full strength, I might even accidentally kill the neighbours considering the proximity of this house to theirs. "

[Harry] - "Yeah, good point, man. "

*Back to the present

As Jerry stared into the void inside the gun barrel of his opponent, the life-or-death situation finally brought out Jerry's true self.

"You didn't think this was the right thing to do but instead, you are only afraid of the consequences. "

In an instant, the house's walls and structures shifted outward before the materials infested with McCree's ability were replaced with fresh ones from neighbouring houses. Meanwhile, inside one of the affected homes, children were gathering the candies collected from their Halloween night. As a little girl brought a red jello candy toward her mouth, the walls around her collapsed, mixing her blood into the crimson candy. Inside the other home, a family of four was having dinner. Each of the four members was still smiling, unaware of how this would be their last meal as masses of sharpened wood penetrated their kitchen.

The newly exchanged wood quickly formed a shield before Jerry, which blocked McCree's shots. Meanwhile, this inadvertently exposed the basement and the surrounding walls around Harry and his opponents. The violent shifting caused Senju to fall forward but he quickly realized that he wasn't cut. All parties were in shock as Senju got up without a single scratch.

[Senju] - "Would you look at that! Seems like your ability lost effect! "

Judging from the shock on Harry's face, Senju confirmed that he was free to swing his sword as he saw fit. However, just as Senju lifted his sword and inched his body forward, his limbs and body abruptly felt wrong. To his shock, he noticed the thin lines around his arm and torso which were confirmed to be slicing lines as he began falling apart.

[Harry] - "Trial Through Liminal Space, an ability which requires a fully enclosed transitional space to properly activate. My activation condition might have been broken but you should've stayed where you were. I formed an invisible wall using my second ability before our fight around you and when the ceiling opened up, 1 out of 4 surfaces was broken. However, by stepping into the shadow, you allowed all 4 conditions to be met once again as there is now a piece of the roof above your head! "

[Kadyn] - "Senju! "

As everyone expected Senju to die, his body parts suddenly stopped moving as if a strong glue was applied between his cuts.

[Audrey] - "Friction allows two objects to remain stuck, thus meaning your cuts don't do shit against him. "

Said Audrey with her arm extended toward Senju.

[Harry] - "So what? He will live, but his nerves are still severed! "

To Audrey's shock, Senju fell to the ground while barely being able to move his limbs and body.

[Senju] - "I have failed! I have dishonoured myself! "

[Harry] - "Now, as for you, Audrey, my versatility is simply superior to yours. You might be able to stop lethal injuries from my attack but you can't do anything about the oxygen around you. As for me, I've already got this figured out! "

Said Harry with a look of superiority on his face.

Suddenly, Harry used his second ability to create a cube around his injury and only allowed his flesh to pass through the confinement, thus meaning blood is contained without causing Harry bodily harm. During this time, Kadyn could only watch without the means to help. As she scanned Harry's body for anything Audrey could affect, Kadyn noticed the glow from Harry's earpiece. As Audrey felt the hopelessness of the situation, she suddenly saw Kadyn pointing at Harry and specifically at his earpiece.

[Kadyn] - "If there is too much resistance in a circuit, the current will generate heat. "

[Harry] - "Shut up! I've had enough shit here already! "

Said Harry in a frustrated voice.

Kadyn's idea was immediately understood by Audrey who quickly activated her ability.

[Audrey] - "Resistance is friction. If the heat can't escape, if too much heat is generated... "

Whispered Audrey as she eyed Harry's earpiece.

However, air was already running thin for Audrey as she began to feel short-breathed. With resilience in her eyes, Audrey smacked herself repetitively just to stay awake. Senju's life and the path to victory are now all on her shoulders. No matter how sleepy and dizzy she felt, Audrey kept staring at Harry with bloodshot eyes, determined to fight to the end.

After a few minutes of watching as Audrey slowly choked, Harry reconsidered Kadyn's words and realized that she was maybe trying to communicate a plan to Audrey. As Harry turned around to look at her, Kadyn was simply pointing her finger at him.

[Kadyn] - "Boom, headshot! "

As soon as Kadyn uttered these words, a loud explosion blasted Harry in the face, knocking him unconscious. In an instant, all of Harry's abilities were disabled, allowing Kadyn to escape her prison. While covering her nose, Kadyn helped pull a barely conscious Audrey out of the nerve gas cloud. With a huge gasp of air, Audrey felt the life coming back to her before letting out a series of intense coughing.

[Kadyn] - "There, there, it's fine. "

Said Kadyn as she padded Audrey's back.

[Audrey] - "Merde! Ah, merde, ça me fait chier! *Spit* This son of bitch! "

Uttered Audrey before pulling out her pistol and aiming it at Harry.

However, there was a moment of hesitation as she stared at her opponent. As Kadyn watched the scene with a look of suspense, Audrey finally decided to put away her weapon.

[Audrey] - "I'll let the law take care of him. I won't be his executioner just as he chose not to be mine. It was a long-fought battle... I got my peace and he got his fair fight. "

Said Audrey as she picked up the jammed rifle from the ground.

Meanwhile, Jerry, after escaping the house, fell onto the hard driveway. As he tried to get up, the injuries inflicted by McCree proved to be too severe as he quickly lost consciousness. Inside the house, Entity 13 quickly disappeared, leaving Oltevin half-beaten to death.

[McCree] - "CK! God damn, it, CK! Talk to me, partner! "

Yelled McCree as he gently shook his friend.

[Oltevin] - "My name is Oltevin, McCree, enough with the nicknames, blyat! "

Mumbled Oltevin as he reached into his pocket.

Slowly, Oltevin gave McCree the vodka flask he kept from his comrade in Wagner.

[McCree] - "Oh, no, no! Hang in there, partner, you'll get out of this alive! "

Said McCree thinking Oltevin was dying.

[Oltevin] - "Don't misunderstand, comrade, it takes a Russian to kill a Russian. Your soft Westerner bullets and girly fists can't kill a true comrade who grew up wrestling bears. This is not Hollywood, so just help me drink. "

Said Oltevin sarcastically as his white teeth shined through his blood-soaked mouth.

[McCree] - "Ah fuck off, ya damn actor! Out here almost making me emotional. Gimme that shit! "

Cursed McCree as he snatched the flask out of Oltevin's hand.

After unscrewing the cap, McCree poured a mouthful down Oltevin's throat before taking a gulp of the vodka himself. As soon as the alcohol went down McCree's throat, he immediately coughed as if he had pneumonia before gasping for air.

[McCree] - "Ya tried to poison me or what, ya son of gun! "

Yelled McCree before another intense bout of coughing.

[Oltevin] - "I told you, comrade, Jack Daniel is for little kids. You should try hitting puberty before you try drinks made for real adults. "

Said Oltevin while smirking.

During this time, Jagger arrived before the house with an armada of Allied support units and media crew. Before anyone could reach the scene, Jagger grabbed Jerry who was trying to crawl away to safety through the grass.

[Jagger] - "Now where do you think you're going? "

[Jerry] - "Ah, master Mike! I was trying to get out of sight. I was quite injured as you can see, haha. "

Said Jerry with a nervous look on his face.

[Jagger] - "Hmmm... Seems like someone failed to do his job properly. You know, the funny thing is, I was watching the battle from afar earlier and I saw how... You held back. Care to explain? "

Said Jagger with a fake friendly smile.

[Jerry] - "I... I was trying to not draw attention or hurt innocent civilians. "

Upon hearing the irony in Jerry's words, Jagger abruptly bursted out laughing.

[Jagger] - "Jesus, you are fucking pathetic. You killed almost a million people just because I ordered you to do so, and now, you are telling me, you are afraid of collaterals? "

Said Jagger while letting out bouts of laughter.

[Jerry] - "You... You know better than me. You probably had a reason to kill them, right? "

Said Jerry, confused by Jagger's behaviour, which wasn't characteristic of Mike.

[Jagger] - "No, you absolute, idiot! You killed one fucking million because I told you! These people are completely innocent and serve nothing more than sacrifices. Oh, god, I never expected Mike's disciples to be such fucking brain-dead morons! "

Mocked Jagger while shaking his head.

[Jerry] - "Mike's disciples? What do you mean? You... "

Said Jerry, confused, before he abruptly realized the truth.

[Jagger] - "There's no point hiding it anymore, now. You've outlived your usage. "

Said Jagger in a cold voice while Jerry stared at him in disbelief.

Before Jerry could do anything, Jagger reached down and stabbed his finger into his neck. With surgical precision, Jagger crippled Jerry by specifically severing the nerves responsible for his voluntary movements while leaving the vital nerves intact.

[Jagger] - "Now, you want to scream but you have no mouth. "

Said Jagger with a satisfied smile.

As the medics evacuated Kadyn and her team, Jagger exited the rear garden while holding Jerry's limp body in one hand. Upon seeing Jagger, the soldiers on sight quickly rushed in and took Jerry in custody. Meanwhile, after helping Audrey and Senju onto evacuation vessels, Kadyn quickly rushed to Jagger before jumping into his arms.

[Kadyn] - "I'm so happy to see you. You got the other one, dear? "

[Jagger] - "Yeah, he was easy prey. Now, tell me what happened. "

After a brief explanation, Jagger quickly thought of a way to deal with the situation.

[Jagger] - "Now, woman, wait for me. I've got something to deal with. "

After moving out of Kadyn's sight, Jagger quickly moved to the evacuation craft where Harry was being treated for his injuries. After showing a hand signal to the chief medical officer, Jagger and he quickly moved to a secluded area behind the ship.

[Jagger] - "Execute him. Don't let him wake up and tell the press that he succumbed to his injuries. We can't risk him talking when he wakes up. "

Whispered Jagger with a frustrated expression.

[medical officer] - "Roger that, sir. I will make the necessary arrangements. "

Said the medical officer as he quickly pulled out his phone to make a call.

Meanwhile, the propaganda instrument was hard at work reporting on the situation. The news crew quickly set up multiple cameras pointed either toward the ship where Jerry was detained or on McCree and Oltevin who were just being pulled out of the disfigured house.

[Reporter] - "Dear God! "

Said the reporter as he looked at the house which was a mix of three homes smashed together without logic.

"Two of the three cyberknights responsible for the attack on the Appalachian Allied Command Centre have been apprehended thanks to the efforts of Team KD-5 and the effort of our new star, former cyberknight, Mister Jagger. It was a monumental day for all of us as we saw justice being served and retribution being dealt to these enemies of humanity. Even though one more of these vile criminals is still on the run, we are sure our heroes will soon bring the perpetrator to justice. Meanwhile, your duty on the homefront is to:

- Report all suspicious activities and ideas

- Record the actions of all suspicious individuals

- Reject all ideas which confront our values

Do not let your hesitation be the catalyst for another tragedy. Act now, and protect peace for the sake of your friends, family and country. Every voice counts, only if we hear it.

This has been the Allied Global News Network, I'm your reporter, Abby, signing off. "

Inside the prisoner transport, Jerry could stare silently at the wall as he reflected on his mistakes. Suddenly, he saw Mike sitting on the bench from across him.

"I've learned nothing. You were right about me, I only ever care about the consequences. "

Said Jerry in his mind despite not being able to speak.

[Mike] - "Isn't it a bit late to learn? Training was over a long time ago. "

Said Mike in a neutral tone.

At that moment, tears ran down Jerry's eyes as regret and guilt washed over his heart.

"What should I do? What can I do to make this right? I killed... I killed so many without thinking about if this was the right thing to do! "

Cried Jerry in his mind.

[Mike] - "For someone who emphasizes consequences, you should face them without fear. After all, your train is already on its way to the last station. "

In the blink of an eye, Mike disappeared before Jerry, leaving him to deal with the aftermath of his own actions.

To be continued...

*EXTRA

- Profile: Senju

- Real Name: Senju Yamashita

- Ability: [Fury of The 47 Ronins]: "An ability which allows Senju to project a strike of his blade onto a target further away by motioning an attack with his sword. A noteworthy effect of Senju's ability is the fact that he can easily bypass ranged barriers created by any enemy crystal users. However, as a weakness, Senju must maintain visual contact in order to strike an enemy with his ability. Also, if an opponent is protected by a barrier of any sort which directly binds to the body, Senju's attack will still be blocked. As of now, Senju is still working on improving his ability. "

- ABILITY STATS:

Power - D

Speed granted - E

Speed of the ability - B

Range - A

Durability granted - E

Durability of the ability - A

Precision - B

Potential - A