I cannot save you

"An illusion!" Jody gasped in terror. 

How could something so convincing exist?

However, Jody didn't have time to process what he saw or worry about his subordinate's well-being. Once the illusion vanished, he realized only four people were standing in this room. He immediately dashed forward and stood in between the two sides. 

Other than baldy, another figure was clad in an ominous black coat and boots. The coat's cuffs seemed to hug his muscular figure as if it were tailored for him. He held a powerful-looking gun with a metallic sheen that glowed eerily in the room's dim light. Jody had no idea how powerful the weapon was, but he felt a deep dread wash over him as he realized he was in grave danger.

He knew these gems were what the government had been researching. 'Magic Core' fragments were found in ancient beasts' corpses and recently excavated sites. From conversations with the female scientists working on the project, Jody had picked up on some essential information. How did these two get wrapped up with technology and secrets of this level? This quiet corner of the country was already abandoned long ago. 

Jody glanced back at the two women whose safety he had heroically rushed to protect. His earliest memories were of them; if he were to die today, at least it would be in their defense.

Sansa was an enigma.

As Sansa stared at Jody, her multicolored eyes entranced him, a mesmerizing blend of purple, red, and yellowish gold. Even in darkness, they shone brightly.

She was ageless, and even in her battered blue dress with its rips and holes, her voluptuous shape could not be hidden or disputed. Her ears were pierced multiple times, and tribal-style tattoos ran down her left leg, wrapping around her waist. From what Jody could understand, the tattoos depicted symbols of voodoo and the occult.

Her ample chest rose proudly, her slender waist curved gracefully like a snake, and her round buttocks were barely hidden behind an ultra-short leather skirt. Her dark features and long braided hair only added to her allure, while a bruise on her cheek and blood at the corner of her mouth spoke of hardship endured.

Lulu was equally, if not more, breathtaking.

Tall and around 25, the younger woman's curves could devastate. Her thighs were round and delicate like golden-colored jade, slender and straight with no gap, full of youthful vigor. Her black lipstick set off her face, which seemed almost otherworldly in its beauty. She was outstanding. Lulu didn't seem to have a single injury. An ultra-short leather skirt clung to her bottom and showed off the curve of her perfectly round buttocks.

Jody had never seen a more beautiful creature.

'She has certainly aged incredibly well,' Jody couldn't help but think to himself despite his current peril. After all, he hadn't seen these two in over a few years.

But he couldn't focus on their beauty for long; his life was at stake.

"Don't worry, you two. I'm here," Jody said to the two ladies behind him without looking back. Standing before the women, he raised his weapon, pointing it between the two men. "Who are you, and why did you do this to them?" he demanded.

The bald man with the goatee spoke first, his voice low and menacing. "We're just here to retrieve what was taken from us. And as for why we did this to them, let's say we like to have a little fun while we work."

Jody felt his blood boil with rage. These men were monsters, and they needed to be stopped.

Without warning, he lunged forward, firing his weapon at the bald man. But just as the beam was about to hit him, the man disappeared, vanishing into thin air.

"What the hell?" Jody muttered, turning to face the other man just as the baldy appeared behind him, the blade held at his neck.

Jody felt an inferno engulfing his body as the blade blazed brighter. He refused to be intimidated and slinked away with flexible agility as if he were made of nothing but liquid. The bald muscle head's eyes widened in surprise, evidently impressed by Jody's swiftness.

Wasn't this punk kid a mortal?

An oppressive silence descended upon the room as Jody returned to his post, standing vigilant in front of Sansa and Lulu.

"Operative Trill Jody: youngest man to achieve such honors in the past four decades of the United States Army, transferred to a 'special' CIA division after they discovered your metahuman abilities. We've been keeping tabs on you, kid. Do the smart thing here and step away from these witches now. Then, we can talk benefit packages." 

Beads of sweat trickled down Jody's back like raindrops; who was this stranger to know so much about him? But then again, who even was Trill Jody?

These girls shouldn't even know about Jody's torturous journey since donning that persona - the hellish training he had gone through due to his unique body composition, not to mention the heightened intellect he possessed - all results of a mutated gene pool. Being branded a mutant or meta-human depended on one's 'niceness' in conversation.

Jody's expression didn't reflect any internal emotions, though. Behind those emotionless eyes, vigilance ran at an all-time high as he said coldly, "I love making new admirers, but I'd prefer us to take pictures together another time. It seems like you two have some catching up to do. Please excuse us." 

The woman behind Jody and Lulu was the only one aware of their precarious situation. There was a bit of a helpless look in her eyes.

The middle-aged baldy that confronted them had an attitude of contemptuous arrogance. "Friend, let us take this witch first and then settle up."

His words were no sooner uttered when a menacing silver light emanated from the weapon held by the cloaked figure and, with a loud screech, eradicated the bald man, who dissipated into ash and dust before he could finish his sentence. 

The cloaked figure spoke with a deep, rumbling voice, "Because of you, this world has been enslaved for centuries, yet you still managed to escape our grasp all those times. These two will die, and you will come with me!" 

Jody and Lulu stared in horror at the destruction wrought instantly, completely unable to think or speak. In desperation, Jody swiftly fired off all his Noisy Flea's charges as he flipped through the air. When he landed, he instantly replaced the charge clip with another from his pocket, frantically emptying it. As soon as the smoke cleared, against all odds, the cloaked man stood unscathed! 

Jody stared in awe as the weapon blazed across the room, its light intensifying with each passing moment. Though he knew his chances of success were slim, he threw himself forward with reckless abandon and attempted a powerful kick. However, before Jody could come close, the cloaked man waved his arm and unleashed a burst of energy that knocked Jody back into the opposite wall.

The world in front of him turned silver briefly, but his thoughts were already elsewhere, wondering if this would be the end of his fight. 

As Jody struggled to regain his footing, he heard the woman behind him shouting something unintelligible. He couldn't make out her words, but her tone was urgent and desperate.

Suddenly, the cloaked man turned his attention to the woman, his silver weapon still emitting a blinding light. Jody saw the woman's eyes widen with what he interpreted as fear, and he knew he had to act fast.

Gathering his strength, Jody launched himself at the cloaked man again. This time, he aimed his attack at the weapon, hoping to disarm the man before he could harm the woman. But somehow, he seemed to phase right through the man, landing instead in front of Sansa.

Sansa was standing over Lulu, who was cradled in her arms. She had tears running down her cheeks, and Jody could see that Lulu was barely conscious.

Jody stumbled over to them, his heart sinking as he saw the extent of Lulu's injuries. Her body was slowly disintegrating.

"LULU!!" his wail was mournful and heartbreaking.

That was right. He got hit by that silver beam of energy. So, should he be dead? Shouldn't his body disintegrate even faster than Lulu, whom Sansa was protecting?

'Wait...how come Sansa wasn't disintegrated too?' Jody suddenly felt very puzzled.

Nothing that had happened since he arrived made much sense conventionally. But once his eyes landed on Lulu's disintegrating form once more...he lost it.

Jody gazed at the cloaked figure with unbridled rage in his expression, cursing menacingly, "If I survive this, I swear to kill my way back to you even if I have to burn down this world!" 

Jody screamed at the top of his lungs as he experienced the most terrible and excruciating pain he had ever felt. The pain of losing someone you love. It left a sour and desolate taste in his mouth. This was the taste of death.

The cloaked man made a low sound and appeared to be sneering at him. The screech of his weapon and the light beam both started to recede. Sansa floated above Jody as her eyes shined like they could see through time. She calmly looked down at Jody and said words that seemed to penetrate his mind directly. 

"Little Jo, my little lover, remember your words and beware. You are not a mutant, nor a so-called meta-human. It is not your body that is special, but your soul. This weapon, these people, they cannot destroy you. But....I also cannot save you."