Chronicles of Myth Volume One: Twisted Daydreams

Scene Forty-three

"The more I think about, we're just two sides of the same fucked up coin aren't we Louis". I placed my folder into the pyre, and flicked my lighter; "I guess we are". I placed in six fresh cartridges for my pistol, "Lex... how did we end up like this... the people we were... how did we break away from that". "I honestly don't know, for me it was the day I met Ashton; when he and I fought it gave me wakeup call, I looked at him and something woke up inside him... it's strange but I know he has that effect on people, to trigger something inside our hearts... to show us a new light, a new way of looking at things". I lit the pictures ablaze and watched Louis do the same, "A strange to make peace, isn't it"? "Yeah, if only the guilt burned away just as easily". "Such strange friends, such a strange family we've become a part of". I holstered my revolver, "You didn't have to do this with me, Lex". "I don't mind, personally this is what I wanted; I'm not the kind of person to face my own thoughts without breaking apart inside". "I understand what you mean". "Hey Louis what did you do before joining with us"? "I've spilled a lot of blood for money, I killed more people than I could; slowly as the bodies piled up, I started to lose myself... I started to lose the meaning of life, I lost the capacity to see how precious it is; I simply existed not feeling anything". Louis looked at my tattered chief's uniform: he nodded and sat down placing his back against the marble pillar of the church, "Tell me something... what does the world need more of"? "Justice, goodness"; Louis raised his eyebrow, "Or so I thought, the world is corrupt; I thought I could purge it clean of its evil, but I was wrong... I simply ruined the balance that was, I sought out to fix my mistakes; for a while, it worked out fine, but there was a crisis of faith, a crisis of identity... the sad part was... I just didn't care anymore, I was broken and was going to break the world around me; I wanted to watch everything burn to the ground... I couldn't accept the condition of the world and the people around me; it made me sick to watch"- "So you decided to fix it, how interesting". "Nothing wrong with taking matters into your own hands, so what are we going to do now"? "We break the world of course". Louis smiled, "I never had a reason to stand for anything, if it wasn't for a paycheck, I'm sure you've never stood for anything else besides your personal crusade", I took off my glove and put my hand forward palm side up; Lex held his hand above mine and we shook hands, and shoulder bumped into each other. "So partner, how about it: one last job together"? "We've worked together just fine before without tearing off each other's heads". I stood up and walked toward the front doors of the church, "We've made peace with ourselves, hey can you tell me something"? "No, I never hated you, Lex... in our line of work, I expected that to happen down the line". "No hard feelings". "After this". Louis walked up to me and kicked me the crotch, I doubled over; "Damn it", I struggled to catch my breath as I doubled on the ground, the shock from the impact made my brain bounce up and collide against my skull. "Now we're even". I stood back up and wiped the tears out of my eyes, "That was brutal". "If was anyone else, I wouldn't have let them off so easy". Louis caught me by my shirt collar as I was timber over and smack my face on the marble floor again, "On your feet". I limped out the doors of the church and lumbered down the steps, I stood in front of the fountain before sitting down on the circular ledge; the calming sounds of water flowed behind me and I took a deep breath. Hearing footsteps, I looked toward the main staircase and saw Reico walk into view; he sat down on the fountain ledge and looked me square in the eyes, "Beautiful weather today"; he saw Louis walk down the church steps, "You two worship"? "Not quite, just wanted to find some peace and quiet before all hell breaks loose". "Why don't you just attack already, none of us prepared for an onslaught"? Reico chuckled; "Don't you want the last" - He clutched his head, "Shanoa! Shanoa do you copy, come in what happened"? Reico shouted into his headset, singling for his teammate, "I swear she never listens". "I'm afraid, we'll have to continue sometime"- I punched his face and dunked his head into the fountain; Reico flailed his arms, his breath bubbled up to the surface of the water, I pulled his head up and smashed into the ledge; putting him on his feet, I turned on my heels and kneed him in the gut; I grabbed Reico by the back of the head and followed up with a head butt, I saw a sharp golden claw in my peripheral vision; I stepped back holding Reico by the collar of his sweater and the black leather belt keeping his jeans suspended; I hammer threw his body into Damien knocking them down the stairs, Louis sprinted next to me and we looked at each other, nodding our heads I slid down the rails of the stairs and dropkicked them further down onto to the streets; Louis slid down the second set of rails before flinging himself into a roll, to get me out of the way of a blue fireball, I saw Louis chase after Damien as I scrambled up to my feet and caught Reico's fist; I bent back his arm and kicked out his right knee with a sweeping motion from left leg, I raised my right leg above my head smashed my heel into his skull, I followed up with roundhouse breaking his collar bone; he skid leftward down the sidewalk turning his face into a bloody smear. He got back up and reset his jaw, I threw myself in a superman jab; he caught my right arm and threw me to the ground, placing his foot on my shoulder he snapped my arm with a quick counter clockwise twist; I spun on my back, with the sudden motion, his grip loosened; popping my arm back into place, I wrapped my legs around his waist and threw him over me, I smashed the top of his skull back into the pavement. I placed my hands on the ground and got my body into a sprinting position, I sprang up and leapt off my feet, Reico staggered up to his feet; I grabbed the back his head as he was about to stand up straight, I smashed my knee into his face; his teeth flew out his mouth, I heard the bones crack as he flew back to the ground; he bounced for a second, and skipped down the sidewalk for a couple inches, I landed; extending my arms out and grabbed him by the legs, I spun on my feet and smashed his upper body into the pavement, before tossing him up for a power bomb; I wrapped my arms around his waist and smashed his head into the ground, letting go I finished with a heavy kick to his chest, splintering his fractured rib cage into his organs; he spit out blood as he went flying back the opposite way down the sidewalk and crashed into Damien; they spun around in the air and flew back toward us, I was tackled to the ground and had a pair of metal claws pierce into my chest, I coughed at his face and punched him between where his ribs were supposed to be, a pain expression contorted on the pliable gold body; he breathed out a jet of blue fire: I quickly pressed the cestus' against his face, the intensity of the fire reacted violently with the blessed metal, it caused a loud bang and cloud of smoke; he leapt off me cupping his ruined face plate, I staggered up and braced myself; I turned back Damien's attacks, I blocked his rapid claw strikes as he darted through the shadow, jumping in front of me; I saw his flames burn a bright crimson, I held my arms against by body and countered his jabs, steam rose from his body as he continued the barrage of attacks; faster and faster, I turned back each punch with a quick jerk of my arms. He finished with single palm thrust, breaking my guard I found myself sliding backward down the sidewalk, I planted my feet and skidded to a halt, Damien charged toward in a shoulder rush; I rolled out of the way onto the street, before I could move I was turned by a quick scratch to my left arm and had my head smashed in to the side of abandoned muscle car door, I pushed myself out of the mold and smashed the back of my head into his face; I with a quick elbow to his stomach, I threw Damien over my shoulder and smashed him into the roof the car, I finished with a stomp and shattered his face plate completely driving the back of his head into the asphalt. I grabbed him by the collar of his armor and flung him down the road, he smashed into the large oak tree that grew out of the street; I watched the tree timber over him and flatten him into the asphalt. I took a deep breath; I caught Louis and planted him on his feet, I looked at Reico as he stormed toward us with his scythe drawn. I readied my sword and shield, "Take five... your old dancing partner is going to look for a punching bag when he comes to". "Are you insane, aren't you better off beating him down with your fists"? "Where's the fun in that"? "Besides I've had practice since the last time you've seen me using these". Louis tapped on my shoulder, I looked at the tree and saw that it had been incinerated into ash; Damien roared like a wild beast, before charging Louis, "On my mark". I held the shield in front of me and held the sword firmly in my other hand; with tight grip I pointed the blade forward, stood at my back with his sword gripped tightly, the ground rumbled as Damien rushed toward us; I saw Reico sprint toward us with his scythe hanging by his waist as he streamlined his body, "Three... two"- "Mark". We stepped out of the way and let them collide into each other, pulling Reico and Damien away from each other we engaged them while they were still staggered from smash their skulls into one another. I thrust my sword and sliced downward, Reico caught my swing with reverse swing from his scythe blade, we clashed blades for a few moments; I followed my string of alternating horizontal slashes with a heavy thrust, Reico pressed my sword into the ground with the tip of his scythe; I pulled my sword back and took a step back, Reico spun his scythe around his head and held it with one hand, I slashed forward; Reico simply sidestepped my swing gripping the wooden pole with both hands, again and again he dodged my attacks; he caught my sword as it reached near the ground with a back swing from his scythe; letting go he spun on his feet and turned his body, he straightened his arms bending them at the elbows ."So predictable... so naïve... someone like you using these elegant weapons, I appreciate the gesture to learn a new skill, but before testing out the basics on an live opponent please hone them some more would you". I had my sword disarmed from me; Reico pulled my sword out my hand, it impaled itself into the ground next to him and in the blink of an eye I had Reico's scythe positioned diagonally above my shoulder; I relaxed my shield arm and found that Louis stood next to me with the barrel of shotgun pointed at the back of his head, "Bang". Damien said as he lifted the barrel away from the back of Louis' head, they put away their weapons and let out a contented sigh; "Thank you for the workout gentlemen, but I'm afraid you're not quite ready for us". "What enemy waits for their opponent to be ready to stand against them"? Reico placed a hand on my shoulder closing his eyes, with a slight chuckle: "The kind who is strong enough to show mercy". I saw his demeanor change completely as he opened his eyes, he gazed through me cold and unfeeling... his piercing green eyes stared into my soul. He looked at Louis and tossed me back my sword, "You have a week and a half left before we come for you; prepare yourselves to fight, fight us as if you're trying to kill us... as for your swordsmanship, practice and keep practicing until you can hold your own against any opponent".

Fifteen minutes earlier

I breathed heavily, Damien pressed forward with a series of magic bolts; I deflected them away from me with my sword; with the last parry I thrust my sword forward piercing into Damien's chest, he fell on his knees before the apparition turned into ash; I felt sharp piercing pain in my side, Damien pulled back his fist and kicked my chest, I flew down the street and smashed into a lamppost hands first, I swung around and kicked Damien in the back of the head; I let go and broke the momentum with a combat roll, I rolled out of the way onto the left side of street; I saw Lex fight off Reico in the distance, I stood toe to toe against Damien as we clashed our hands against each other, I pressed forward and threw him down into the worn asphalt making a small crater. I crushed his chest plate with a hard stomp, I spread out his legs and stomped him in the crotch and kicked him up the asshole; he flew down the street writhing in pain. I watched him stand back up, he charged toward me; within arm's reach I held him down by the head before smashing his jaw into the ground; I hit his face plate on the street, three times; I let go and swung leg down on the back of his head, sending him deeper into the crater from a couple minutes ago. I flung him down the street with a hammer throw and watched him crash into Reico, using their opposing momentum they flew back toward us as angry living projectiles. "Seems legit". Reico went into a pinwheel with his scythe drawn, he sliced down the road; I stepped out of the way just in the nick of time, I spun on my feet and punched Reico the face and stopped him in his tracks; I grabbed his face and smashed the back of his head into the street, I felt the warm blood as he spit it out his mouth; I lifted him up and smashed the left side of his head back in the ground; I pressed my hand downward crushed the entirety of his skull. Reico swept me off my feet with my hooking his feet behind my legs, I was flung over and landed on my back, "Shit"; I rolled to my feet my feet; I drew my sword and clashed blades with Reico's scythe. We traded slashes, neither of us gained any footing over the other; the rhythm of our attacks flowed beautifully with each other, I broke his focus with a kick toward the lower hamstring; knocking him off balance I drove my sword down and he rolled his body in the air to dodge my stab, I got on one knee swung at him, he motioned himself to stop and landed on his feet as the rest of his body was bent back straight; he landed on his hands and thrust his feet forward to kick my chest and throat, I flew back the down street. I felt a hand catch me and heard a peaceful exhale, Lex caught me and I was planted back on my feet. We looked at each other as our opponents came chasing after us, teeming over with rage and bloodlust.

They recovered from their motion stupor, and I was stunned by quick chop to the back of my neck by a golden hand, I felt a sharp knee cover stab into my gut before; I had my back broken by a hammer fist; Damien kicked my gut as I keeled over and me crashing into a rusted park bench. I hit with a loud clang, I staggered up and was turned on my feet... with a quick punch I felt a sharp pain in my back. I fell on my both knees with two quick kicks, I found myself next to Lex kneeling with my hands held next to my head; I heard the pump of a shotgun: "Move and I'll blow your brains out on the pavement". Damien barked out, I looked at Reico; he motioned a no to Damien with a shake of his head, "Ha. You lucked out today". Damien helped me to my feet and I let my arms relax; as he pulled the gun away from the back of my head, "Bang".

"Thanks again for the workout", Reico and Damien left us standing on the empty street speechless; "What the hell just happened". I looked at Lex cocking my head, "I can't even right now". Lex said rubbing his temples: "That makes the two of us".