Snowfall

This Isn't Over

"I'm the only one strong enough to grapple with it. You two flank," Ace said, not appearing the least bit surprised or interested in Sparrow's fire arms. Without waiting to hear from either of them, Ace rushed the Hunter and began to force it to stay on its knees, as it had not finished rising to its feet yet. "Now!" Sparrow quickly ran to its side and began throwing punch after punch, Angel setting up right behind the Hunter before firing the pistol attached to her sword rapidly. The Hunter angrily howled in pain. It moved to respond to its attackers, but Ace held it in place, barely. "You're not going anywhere this time. End of the ride." Angel and Sparrow continued their assault, the Hunter visibly taking damage. If Ace wasn't so caught up in holding the Hunter in place he would've been impressed. Most weapons are relatively ineffective in injuring the Hunters.

"Don't worry, just keep him still!" Sparrow said before unleashing a barrage of jabs. Suddenly the Hunter stopped looking at its assailants and turned to stare Ace in the eyes. The madness. The hunger. He could see it all. He knew it. Suddenly it spat in his eyes. Ace instinctively recoiled and fell back to rub his eyes. Sparrow began to back up but was not out of range. The Hunter immediately turned and smacked her into the wall. Angel switched to just the sword and leapt off the wall into the air, the Hunter turning and only taking a split second to catch where she went. By that point she was thrusting her sword toward its face midair. The blade broke upon hitting it, and the Hunter sent her crashing to the ground as well.

"That's it... I'm done holding back."

***

"Ugh... my head..." Sparrow groaned, stirring from unconsciousness.

"You're not the only one," Angel stated. Sparrow sat up and opened her eyes slowly. Angel was holding an ice pack to her head and Sparrow's, sitting next to her. Ace was furiously pacing. He was normal size again but his hair was wild and his shirt and jacket were absolutely destroyed. The rest of him appeared to have fared better. The tunnel was still lit up by her disc which hovered in the air near her.

"What happened? Did we win?" Sparrow asked, trying to stand. Angel gently kept her in place.

"No," Angel softly answered.

"Mettalion showed up and scared it off," Ace growled. "I would've had them all in pieces if they didn't..." he stopped pacing and froze.

"Didn't what? It's like the fight at the storage complex, isn't it? What aren't you telling us?" Sparrow asked. Angel and her gave Ace a hard stare.

"...They know my best tricks. They know how to stop me," Ace replied carefully.

"That's not a straight answer. How long can we continue to trust you if you keep hiding what we need to know?" Angel asked, placing Sparrow's hand on her own ice pack before standing up and approaching Ace. She got right in front of him. He awkwardly shifted his feet. She knew she was making him uncomfortable.

"If you knew the truth you wouldn't trust me," he replied.

"How can you be so sure? Either way it sounds like you lose, so you might as well try for the option that gives you the best chance we will trust you," Angel pressed. They stared directly at each other in silence for a long moment.

"You sound just like her..." Ace whispered. "You're not going to stop until I answer you, are you?" She only stared harder. "I'm not like you two. I'm not... without abilities..."

"I already knew that. You can see in the dark, you heal faster-" Sparrow started to list before Ace cut her off.

"No. I'm one of them," he stated. Sparrow raised an eyebrow.

"Them who?" She asked.

"The records say only two of those kids who were experimented on survived Mettalion. They were wrong. Everyone thought the third died in the explosion that blew up their big HQ... I got out alive," Ace explained. Angel stared but Sparrow wasn't done.