Brave Fear (boyxboy)

Chapter 19

Zane watched in horror and marvel as Marcus charged, his swords scraping the ground, his feet racing across the roof. The soldier's eyes widened through the thin mesh covering over her face. She reached for her belt, and Zane noticed a lethal gun tucked away behind her hip.

She never had time to grab it.

Her body toppled to the ground.

"Marcus, no!" Zane yelled desperately, hoping to stop further bloodshed. Marcus only hesitated momentarily before charging at another soldier. Zane turned frantically to Joseph, whose steel face was an impassive mask. "Get him out of there!" he screamed, his hand disintegrating from terror and ingenuity.

Joseph ran into the fray, and for a second Zane was terrified he would join Marcus in the killing, but he drove through the crowd, aiming for the red-haired boy. Darts deflected off his skin and tasers seemed to supercharge him, giving him more speed. Zane directed his own attention toward his left arm, which had completely disappeared. The sleeve of his shirt hung listlessly.

Joseph's arm wrapped around Marcus's waist, detaching his inhuman feet from the ceiling. The cowboy hat, which had miraculously stayed on his head while he'd been on the roof, slipped from his head as he thrashed. He screamed obscenities at Joseph and flailed his swords. They bounced harmlessly off Joseph's steel skin.

Zane couldn't bear to see the body of the soldier Marcus had killed. It reminded him too harshly of the man he'd killed. They wore the same outfit, carried the same weapons, followed the same orders. It was as if he was reliving the very moment.

Joseph stopped several feet in front of Zane, cautious to bring the viciously thrashing Marcus any closer. He noticed the absence of Zane's arm and nodded almost imperceptibly. He winked once before laying Marcus on the ground, pinning his arms.

Zane stepped forward past them, placing himself between them and the soldiers. A tranquilizer dart flew past his ear, and he threw his arm forward. His free-floating cells followed, flowing in a steady stream past him, replicating, becoming more populous.

Zane closed his eyes and pictured Joseph's metallic skin, the tunnel in front of him, and the soldiers. He opened the faucet.

He felt the cells knit together and reform, obtaining a different chemical structure. How science allowed this, he did not know, but he did not question it. When he opened his eyes, the tunnel was barred by a thick layer of steel, the same lustre and texture as Joseph's skin. He exhaled the breath he'd been holding.

His left arm was now the only thing standing between the soldiers and them. His thoughts were foggy. He had pushed too far with this unpredictable power, exceeding the breaking point. His vision blurred and he stumbled while turning around without his arm to stabilize himself.

Joseph was seated on Marcus's stomach, holding the boy's arms out to either side. The katanas lay forgotten further up the tunnel. Daisy, Mallory, and Anastasia watched from a safe distance as Marcus struggled against Joseph's brute force and size.

Zane watched in slight revulsion and horror at what Marcus had done. He knew Marcus had killed before, but he couldn't keep the look on the cowboy's face out of his head. The complete disregard for human life, the emotionlessness. Zane wondered if this was just another side effect of the experiments Wawrzynski had run on Marcus. He had wanted a weapon. Zane could now see how devastating of a weapon Marcus could be. How all of them could be.

If Wawrzynski had run those same tests on Zane, would he have been killing those soldiers? Would he be the one with no qualms about taking life, destroying futures? He only recently saw the possibility of his own future. It was so bright and hopeful, he couldn't imagine depriving someone else of their own.