Imperium

Chapter 12: What You Love Most

"Stop!" Colin cries.

Jane whips her glare to him and storms over, just to punch him across his cheek. He doesn't even flinch thanks to his pain receptors still being deactivated. "Shut up, Sovereign. I don't have to take orders from you anymore," she growls.

Colin growls and deepens his glare. "You know you can't hurt me, so don't even bother trying," he snaps.

She smiles. "You're right. But I can hurt her," she instantly turns back towards Edith just in time for her to almost rise to her knees again, but Jane knocks her back to her side by kicking her in the stomach.

Edith yelps and curls in on herself, trying to cover her stomach with her knees and turning her gaze up to Jane to burn a furious glare into her eyes, which gets Jane to simply nod with a patronizing smile. "Oh sorry, did I hurt your baby? What are you going to—"

Edith throws herself off the ground and slams her shoulder into Jane's throat, causing her to cough and gasp as she stumbles back a bit. Edith utilizes the moment to jump towards her, knocking her down with her legs and pinning her down with her knees.

Jane growls and punches Edith across her cheek just as she had done to Colin, only Edith is able to feel it and she goes down, Jane rolling over and pinning Edith down with both hands tightly gripping her throat, watching Edith thrash and kick, trying to break out but can't with her restraints.

"EDITH!" Colin tries pulling his restraints apart, but the metal is too thick and he only ends up denting his arm. "Let her go!" he demands, but Jane focuses only on Edith and smiles sadistically as her face starts turning purple as she struggles to find a moment to catch a breath.

Even without her Hex ability, Jane has always been stronger than most people. She was easily able to overpower John, Peace, and Cree without even breaking a sweat. Edith knows she can't take her on in her current condition, even if she wasn't restrained. She just had surgery, her EPC is apparently damaged and she's pregnant, making her sore, nauseous, and feeling a burning and sharp pain in her chest.

Jane sees her fighting lessen a small bit and she grins, loosening her grip on her throat enough to let her breathe a little. But it's not long before her grin turns downward, deepening into a glowering frown backed by eyes laced with spite and hatred and some semblance of pain. "It's your fault I lost everything. They took my ability and left me with nothing. I was knocked down from Val'Guard, cast out of Validity, and now look at where I am," she scoffs and looks around the compound. "Overseeing shipments while Kylen and Fritz have the honor of leading missions that will change the world," she shakes her head and looks back down at Edith. "While I do nothing but try crawling my way back up to the top. I lost the one thing I cared about, because of you," she hisses, tightening her grip on her throat again.

Colin huffs and pulls against his restraints, never looking away from Jane and Edith. "What? Power? Is that what you love most?" he spats.

Jane's scowl returns and she looks back at him while keeping her hands around Edith's neck. "Respect. My dignity. When I lost my ability, I was laughed at and Fritz Covett of all people was given my place at Corbin's—" she snickers spitefully. "At The Director's side. But if I give her what she's been having both Fritz and Kylen hunt down, then she'll have to give it back... She will," she looks down at Edith again as she keeps gasping and thrashing around.

"There are so many things I could do to an SRL that would normally kill a person. I can choke you out, take off your head, tear you to fucking pieces and it wouldn't matter so long as your core is fine. Maybe I should do that. Maybe I should rip your EPC out of your chest and send that to The Director, while I'm free to subject you to the hell you deserve, you little bitch," she pushes more of her weight onto Edith's neck, seeing her eyes close but she keeps fighting.