Chapter five: the arrival

A strange being emerged from the sphere. It had the body of a young girl, around seven or eight years old, dressed in a white and silver dress. 

The anomaly had long silver hair that was tied in a large bun with long elf-like ears and silver eyes.

Marcus watched the anomaly with eyes of enchantment. For some reason, he didn't immediately feel fear. He felt a rather strong urge to talk to it.

The anomaly looked around the room with a mystified expression. It stared at everyone and everything with eyes filled with a deep curiosity. Eventually, its gaze landed on Kenji, who was staring it down with an intense gaze. 

"Elissa now!" Kenji shouted as he teleported away in a cloud of blue embers, giving Elissa the perfect shot.

Without a word, Elissa fired a High-density round straight for the anomaly's head. The shot was loud, the bullet flew towards the anomaly with a pink trail flowing behind it. 

The shot landed perfectly, leaving a large hole in the anomaly's head.

"Direct hit!" Elissa shouted as she loaded another round.

Unfortunately for Elissa, the anomaly wasn't to be killed so easily. 

Strange tendrils began forming inside the hole and began combining with each other, as fast as the hole appeared in its head, it disappeared just as fast.

"Shit!" Elissa exclaimed as she hastily pulled the trigger again. However, the anomaly wasted no time in teleporting away. Reappearing directly behind Elissa. 

"Elissa look out!" Kenji shouted, but it was too late.

Before Elissa could register what happened, the anomaly grabbed the back of her head.

The anomaly began charging black energy in its hand before blasting Elissa toward the ground at a mind-boggling velocity.

Elissa crashed into the ground with a massive impact, leaving behind a sizable crater in the ground right where Kenji was standing a mere second ago.

The anomaly narrowed its eyes in frustration as it began searching for Kenji.

"It appears I missed."  The anomaly's voice was deep, a stark contrast to its small feminine appearance and features.

"I'll have to correct that." It said coldly as it spotted Kenji.

The anomaly then disappeared, causing panic within Marcus as he began searching for where it could reappear. 

When Marcus finally saw it, he immediately shouted Kenji's name.

"Kenji!" He shouted as Loud as he could, reaching deep into the gutter of his throat.

A black flash of energy appeared behind Kenji, however before it could hit him Kenji had disappeared.

Marcus breathed a quick sigh of relief as he turned his attention back towards the anomaly. 

The anomaly looked down at its empty hand, tightening it into a fist. 

"Running is futile," it said in a frustrated tone as it glanced around once more, spotting Kenji standing beside Elissa.

"You good?" Kenji asked as he kept his eye on the anomaly.

"… Yeah," Elissa said weakly from inside the crater, "my healing has kicked in…. I just need a moment."

"We don't have a moment," Kenji said with strain, as he quickly disappeared, the anomaly reappeared in the spot Kenji was just in moments ago.

Damn, that thing is just as fast as Kenji! Marcus thought to himself.

The anomaly sighed as it closed its fist once more, and looked down at Elissa, "you should have died." Its tone was full of frustration and it began to charge another blast.

Kenji swiftly appeared behind the anomaly and sliced his blade in an upward arc, sending the anomaly's hand flying off in a different direction from which it was pointed.

"You insolent brat." The anomaly said angrily as it turned to press its other hand against Kenji, fortunately, Kenji had disappeared once more.

With a snarl the anomaly flew back into the air, the same tendrils returning from before and began healing its hand.

It studied the factory once more, eventually turning its gaze towards Marcus, "you haven't moved since I got here," the anomaly said curiously, "why is that?"

Marcus froze immediately upon hearing the anomaly address him directly.

His expression grew perplexed as he tightened his grip on his sword. Should I tell it the truth? He asked himself. 

No, that's stupid, he'd be killed within a second.

But if he can't fight it, then what's wrong with bluffing, appear strong when weak right, Sun Tzu? 

Marcus looked up towards the anomaly stoically and crossed his arms, "Because you're beneath my caliber."

The anomaly's eyes widened with the same curious intensity it had when it first emerged.

The anomaly then narrowed its eyes as it faded away, in an instant the anomaly appeared before Marcus with an amused smile, "So you're the strongest?" It asked in an eccentric tone, "Or was that just talk?"

Marcus hadn't even flinched, his expression not betraying any of the panic that was coursing through his mind, "talk is cheap."

The anomaly's grin widened as it reached a hand towards Marcus. Marcus's heart was pounding against his chest like a prisoner trying to escape their cell, but he remained stoic, praying for Kenji's or Elissa's intervention.

His prayers were quickly answered, a cloud of blue embers appeared behind the anomaly, followed by a quick neon blue arc slicing through the anomaly's neck.

The anomaly swiftly took a step back as it guarded its neck, "you–" 

Before it could finish speaking Kenji had appeared in front of it and sliced the anomaly in half with one swift stroke of his blade.

A strange metallic liquid began spraying from the severed halves of the anomaly.

"Elissa! Full auto!" Kenji shouted before disappearing.

On cue, there was a barrage of gunfire coming from high above the anomaly. 

Marcus quickly looked up to see Elissa unloading round after round into the anomaly, her gun went from a sniper rifle to a fully automatic assault rifle.

Liquid Metal went flying around the factory as each of Elissa's projectiles found their mark. 

"Dr. Fletcher, Elissa isn't in the best shape and we're not getting any closer to killing this thing, do you have any ideas?" Kenji asked as he reappeared behind Dr. Fletcher.

Dr. Fletcher shook her head, "No, the barrier has been destroyed, you have to kill the anomaly here and now."

"Got it," Kenji said as he disappeared once more.

Dr. Fletcher then turned her attention to Marcus, "You need to join them." 

Marcus looked at Dr. Fletcher with a bewildered expression, "I can't fight that thing." he hissed.

Dr. Fletcher narrowed her eyes, "Your job is to protect me, and the best way you can do that is to help Kenji, now go."

Marcus hesitated for a moment, as he turned his attention back towards the fight, both the anomaly and Kenji were battling near the crater in the center of the factory.

Elissa was hovering directly above then firing potshots to keep the anomaly in Kenji's range.

The fighting was intense, with Kenji slashing at the anomaly faster than Marcus could see each strike, only taking brief breaks for Elissa to fire HD rounds leaving massive gaps in the anomaly's small frame.

Marcus could feel his heart racing, his training was basic at best, he knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this felt like a suicide mission. 

Both Kenji and Elissa have some kind of implant and even they look to be at their limits.

Marcus was just a normal human, he doubted he'd even last a second, but when he looked back at Dr. Fletcher, she was giving him a knowing look, so perhaps she knew something he didn't.

"Ok." Marcus said as he took a deep breath, "I'll do it." 

He then turned back and unsheathed his ether blade, its neon blue blade shimmering brightly against the backdrop of the dimly lit factory.

Marcus charged into the fray. 

When he got closer, he saw the strained and bruised face of Kenji. 

He was trading blows with the anomaly, each hit several times harder than the last. Blood and Liquid Metal lay splattered across the bullet-riddled concrete floor beneath them, it was clear the fight was reaching its climax.

The anomaly's attention flickered as it received a massive blow from Elissa's rifle, causing its head to spin a hundred and eighty degrees. 

It locked eyes with Marcus, half of its head missing entirely, "you!" The anomaly shouted in fear as it outstretched an arm.

Marcus didn't respond, the moment he got into range, he sliced his sword in an upward arc and connected with the anomaly's metallic flesh almost instantly, slicing right through its outstretched arm.

Liquid Metal went flying towards the ceiling and began raining down moments later. Marcus swung his sword once more, this time downwards. 

He cut directly into the Anomaly's shoulder, causing it to screech in pain loudly.

Kenji was initially taken aback by Marcus's sudden appearance, but after a short pause, he immediately went back to attacking the anomaly.

They both continued slashing their swords at the anomaly. 

Kenji's swift and honed strikes are a stark contrast to Marcus's raw and unpredictable strikes, making it even harder for the anomaly to adapt.

Elissa spared no effort either, hovering above the fight she kept laying the pressure on. Her projectiles punched fists-sized holes into the anomaly's frame, and the metallic liquid that sprayed from the anomaly created a nightmarish scene.

The anomaly's regeneration ability struggled to hold the anomaly's form underneath the pressure of the relentless assault.

For a moment all seemed well. 

The tide of battle was changing in their favor. 

The anomaly was withering underneath Marcus's and Kenji's relentless slashing.

The anomaly let out a powerful rejuvenated roar as it hastily turned toward Marcus with rage and desperation in its eyes, "You're the strongest right!" It shouted with a sickening grin.

It lunged at Marcus and reached out towards his face with its remaining hand. It began morphing into a small sphere. 

Marcus was recovering from a wide arc strike leaving him completely unguarded.

The anomaly's morphed hand connected with Marcus's face, covering his mouth entirely.

"Marcus!" Both Kenji and Elissa shouted in unison, but it was too late, the anomaly began forcing something down Marcus's throat. 

He couldn't help but swallow it down. Its texture was smooth and spherical, with a hefty weight.

"What, what did I just eat?" Marcus asked in a panic as he dropped his sword to grab at his neck, a cold sweat began running down his back.

The anomaly began to laugh triumphantly, "You ate my core you fool," it then continued laughing as it spread its arms out wide, "Good luck killing me now you worthless maggots, because if I die, he dies!"

The entire factory fell silent, with only the manic laughter of the anomaly, and the quiet humming from the swirling sphere of darkness the anomaly emerged from. 

The news hit everyone like a truck, Kenji and Elissa exchanged concerned glances, Dr. Fletcher watched from the far right corner with an expression of slight frustration and Marcus could barely concentrate as he dropped to his knees.

What did I just eat? He asked himself repeatedly, what did I just eat?

"Not so tough are we now you cocky bastard!" The anomaly shouted at Marcus as it completely regenerated its form.

"Now, here's how this will play out." The anomaly spoke excitedly as it approached Marcus, "I will take this boy with me and be on my way, in return you'll never see me again."

"or alternatively, you can kill us both." 

The anomaly chuckled as it said the last part, clearly expecting them not to accept the latter.

Kenji glanced at Marcus with a worried expression, "dammit, is there any way we can get that thing out of him?" He asked Dr. Fletcher as he tightened his grip on his sword.

Dr. Fletcher shook her head as she approached the unfolding scene, "No, most cases of humans sharing cores with anomalies have been permanent, separation would lead to an instant death." 

"So what, we just let the damn thing go?!" Kenji shouted angrily as he focused his gaze on the anomaly, who was standing beside Marcus with an expression of glee.

"It'll wreak havoc the moment we let it outside!"

Dr. Fletcher sighed as she glanced over at Marcus, whose expression was blank and emotionless. 

She then turned her attention toward the anomaly, "what was your goal here?" 

The anomaly grinned, "goal?" It asked mischievously.

Dr. Fletcher narrowed her eyes, "Don't play coy, it's obvious you had a goal from the beginning, otherwise you'd have started killing the moment you exited that rift."

The anomaly nodded, clearly impressed with Dr. Fletcher's intuition, "It was to escape the space between reality, now I have achieved that, so I'm quite satisfied."

"You're wrong if you think you're staying here." Kenji said coldly as he clenched his jaw, "I pray for your forgiveness Marcus, but I refuse to let this thing roam free." 

Kenji tightened his grip on his sword as he lowered into an attacking position.

"No!" Dr. Fletcher exclaimed, "I will not let you kill this boy." 

She then pointed her finger at Kenji and Alexander immediately ran over and stared him down, his piercing blue eyes focusing directly onto Kenji, "now stand down."

"You should listen to her." The anomaly said mockingly.

"What's your alternative!" Kenji asked with a shout as he slowly rose up pointing his sword towards Alexander.

"To negotiate, you failed to subdue the anomaly, I refuse to let you kill an ally as well." Dr. Fletcher said coldly.

Kenji turned his head and growled, "Tch."

Dr. Fletcher then turned her attention back towards the anomaly, "Now let's talk."