"Damn it!" Enjō yelled as he felt sparks ignite into flame on his arms, he threw both arms out towards the man, unleashing a beam of fire into the hallway.
The man yawned, his hands transformed into volcanic rock and spewed magma, blocking the flames.
"You're still negative," The man laughed as his arms turned into streams of water, "Cmon, keep up!" A fast tide of water crashed through the hallway. Omega stepped in front of the group. This has to work, he thought.
From the palms of his hands came another giant stream of water. Now manipulate it! Omega pinched his fingers together. Increase the pressure...
The streams of water formed into a line and shot directly from his fingertip through the man's tidal wave. He grunted and clutched his side.
"He's stunned, don't let up!" Machida commanded as he transformed his arm into a pistol. Iseri pulled out her pistol and began shooting through the fiery dark smoke. After a barrage of bullets seemed to land, the smoke cleared.
"Ah, that one hurt..." The man still clutched his side with his rocky hands, cauterizing his wound with heat, "...that's better. Now you're 1-1, thank that kid." He pointed at Omega with his regular hands.
"None of the bullets pierced his skin..." Uyama explained, "...I get it!"
"What is it?!" Machida shouted as he turned his arm into an assault rifle.
"His soul takes advantage of different natural disasters, but he can only use one at a time. If we want to win, we have to overwhelm him! Iseri!" Uyama yelled, "Aim for his heart from the front!"
"Are you serious?! What's the point of me doing that if you're just going to yell it?!"
"Just do it!" Uyama pulled out his gun and started blasting all over the hallway.
The man turned the rest of his body into volcanic rock, blocking all the bullets, "Woah! We're getting feisty?! I like it!"
I think I get it! Omega thought, as he prepared to create more water from his palm, a strain came up in his nerves, It already hurts...
"Here's a big one!" Enjō's hands released another burst of flames. "Now, Iseri!"
She muttered a curse under her breath before shooting her pistol straight at his heart. "Wooooh! This is crazy! You guys're making this fun for me!" The man exclaimed. As his body took a barrage of fire and bullets, he focused on protecting his heart.
From behind the man, Omega saw a snake reveal itself on the wall. Kuro! So that's what Uyama was planning! I have to do it, now! Omega stressed his hands painfully, his veins bulging as he created another stream of pressurized water and shot it through the fire.
Another grunt came from the man past the fire and smoke. Kuro transformed back and walked up behind him. In a swift move, he knocked the man's temple with his fist. He let out a gasp as he fell to the ground, bullets dislodging from his rocky arms.
"There, it's done." Kuro sighed as he flipped the man over. Everyone was silent for a moment, until Kitt threw his hands in the air. "Woo! Yeah! We did it!"
"Yeah, sure. You helped a lot." Iseri groaned as she got up and walked towards the man.
"Hmph, good job everyone." Machida returned his hand back to normal.
Enjō sat back down, and exhaled deeply, "Sooo glad that's over. Someone help me up in like a minute or something."
"A Lambda, but looks older for an Artificial. He doesn't work here." Kuro squatted down to inspect his pants, "This doesn't make sense..."
"Oh, so that's what that noise was." A woman carrying an umbrella appeared behind Kuro. Kuro kicked off of his squat and faced her, "Even more?!"
"Oh," She analyzed the room as she picked her lips, "This fight didn't look fair at all. Doesn't really matter though."
Iseri shot another bullet at her, the woman lowered her umbrella and blocked the bullet with a cling.
"Wha-" Iseri stuttered.
"Batilite umbrella, sorry..." She apathetically apologized.
"Valerona," A man walked up the staircase behind her, "Are they here ye-"
The man stopped in his tracks as he laid his eyes on Omega.
Machida's eyes widened, "It's Ael." He turned to everyone else, "We have to get out of here! We can't beat them both!"
"Wait. I know what you're here for." Ael put his hand out and revealed a set of keys. "Floor 2, Cell 237. Here are the keys."
Omega looked at Uyama, who was sweating profusely. "Uh-um, he's not lying." Uyama stuttered. Kuro loosened up, and walked towards Ael.
"Are you sure?!" Kitt yelled at Kuro. Kuro sucked his teeth, "Well do you got another option?!" Everyone remained silent. Kuro snatched the keys out of Ael's hand.
Ael furrowed his brow, "You can all go, but leave him." He pointed at Omega.
"What're you going to do to him?" Uyama walked forward carefully.
"Nothing." Ael stared at Omega. Uyama gulped and walked past him, "He's telling the truth."
Enjō got up and whispered in Omega's ear, "You get in trouble—just yell my name, eh?" He laughed as he wiped his sweaty face and walked off.
"Be careful." Iseri warned quietly before they all walked down the stairs.
Omega sat on his knee across the room from Ael and Valerona. "Are you afraid?" Ael asked, walking away from Valerona. Omega narrowed his eyes, watching him carefully. Ael stopped and exchanged another stare with Omega. "So you don't remember me after all." His eyes went blank.
"Please, leave us alone, Valerona."
"Hmph," Valerona turned and walked down the stairs.
Ael approached Omega and stood in front of him. "Do you want to stay seated?" He offered.
He doesn't seem like a bad person, Omega thought as he stood up and backed away a few feet, But do we know each other? Did we know each other?
Ael looked at Omega for a while and smiled, "Have you—perhaps, ever seen your soul before?"
Have I seen a soul? How would that even be possible? Omega furrowed his brows.
Ael's eyes looked to the ground, "I guess something of that nature is beyond your abilities now. Do you want to see mine?"
Omega watched as Ael took off his jacket dress shirt to reveal his scarred, toned torso. He gently placed his hand over the right side of his chest, as if it were a fragile child. "This is where the soul is found—to the right of your heart. What may surprise you is that an Omega's is no different than an Alpha's. Frankly, I don't like to be labeled Alpha."
His voice got slightly more passionate, "An Artificial is no different from another Artificial, you have proven that, and I'm proud of you." Ael's fingers digged into his chest, emitting a blue light as he plunged his entire hand inside.
Don't tell me he's actually...
"Doesn't that hurt?" Omega quietly asked. Ael started to bring his hand out, his chest emitting a flash of light whilst he held a pulsating bluish-green orb.
"Not unless I want it to." He looked down at his soul in his palm as it began to smoke, before looking up at Omega again. "So what is it that you really want? Why are you here?"
"We're releasing—"
"Why are you here." Ael tensed up.
Omega's eyes body shuddered in frustration, Why does everyone ask me that? Why do I have to answer? Why can't I not know?
"Let me provide a possible answer, then." Ael presented his soul to Omega, "Look inside."
Omega cautiously walked forward and leaned in. An image came up, an endless rural town, surrounded by nature. Mountains, rivers, and a vast ocean. The beauty stretched across every corner of this imaginary world. What is... what is this?
"It is Alsaama, The Third Sky. I have had visions—visions for so long, ever since we were split apart." Ael looked up, as if he saw the lowering sun from inside, "It is called the Third Sky because there is no sunlight or moonlight, it's paradise."
Uyama hinted at something like this, could this be a real place?
"What does this have to do with anything?"
Ael lowered his head and carefully stuffed his soul back in his chest, causing him to lose balance for a second, "This part pains me the most." He looked at Omega in the eyes, "The Benno Corporation plans to go there. They want to bring all of humanity with them, to live in the 'glorious' paradise."
Omega stared at Ael with wide eyes, This is...this is too much. I don't understand.
"Even if that was true, how is that—is that supposed to be a bad thing?" Omega breathed heavily. Ael sighed and pulled the side of his shirt's collar, revealing his Alpha symbol on the side of his neck.
"We are not human."
———
Kuro lead the group toward Enjo's fathers cell. "This should be where his cell is, but there are walls in front of all of the cells," He felt around the material, "Batilite."
"I thought this wasn't your first time?" Uyama sneered. Kuro didn't bother to look back, and tried to push the wall out of the way with no avail.
"How're we going to get through..." Iseri groaned as she held her head.
"Oh, sorry—again, I guess. I didn't want to manage the prisoners, so I just put a wall in front of the cells." Valerona yawned and appeared beside them again. "Straight out of a creepy-pasta or something," Kitt whispered in Iseri's ear.
Valerona tapped her umbrella against the wall, making the wall dissipate. Light flooded back into the cell, Enjō's father groaned, "Crazy lady...I could barely breathe. Oh, hi there. I haven't had visitors in a while."
Kitt whispered, "He's so scrappy...what's the point of us breaking him out again? Ah!" Iseri smacked the back of his head.
"They're here to break you out, so uh..." Valerona grabbed the bars and easily bent them wide enough to fit through, "You're free to go."
"So then," Enjō's father squeezed through the bars, "Where is my son?" He peppily asked. The others looked around at each other cluelessly.
"He stayed behind, he's at the staircase." Valerona sighed and chewed on her chappy lips, "You need an escort, or something?"
"You need to stop doing that," Uyama blurted out. Machida eyes bulged at Uyama threateningly.
"That chewing your lip thing, it's not good for you, ya know." Uyama frowned.
Valerona stopped chewing and stared at him for a moment, before pulling her umbrella back up to cover her face. "Be careful, damn it." Machida whispered through his teeth, "We don't want to fight more than we have to."
"Here, have this," Uyama dug in his pocket and handed her a tube of lip balm under her umbrella, "It's peppermint flavored—sorry if you don't like it. Just don't eat it, okay? You might be fine for a bite or two, but you get nauseous after three bites, trust me." He chuckled and waited for her to grab it. She cautiously drew her free hand up and snatched it out of his hand. "Your friends are leaving. Hurry up."
Uyama looked back to see the rest of the group already passing the corner, "Oh! Oh yeah, thank you—and you're welcome. Trust me, that thing'll save you." He giggled before booking off behind them, nearly tripping when a strong gust of wind blew past him. He looked up to see a burly arm charge for a punch behind
Enjō's father.
"Behind you!" Uyama yelled. Kitt snapped his head back, "Get down!" He grabbed the back of Enjō's father's neck and brought him down to the ground. The burly man flew across the hall, his sneakers screeching himself to a stop.
"G'day everyone," The man dusted off his pants and stood firmly across from them, "I wager ya weren't supposed to make it this far." He put his hands on his sides and frowned at Valerona, who looked away and covered her face with her umbrella.
"How can you be—" Iseri and Machida said at the same time, cutting each other off.
"But he's supposed to be dead," Iseri whispered.
"Don't what ya talking about, sheila," Hunter shrugged, "But I'm not here to play games this time." Enjō's father groaned as he got up, "Sorry, but I can't fight like I used to. You three are on your own."
"Fine by me! I've been wanting to fight!" Kitt readied himself.
"Hold on, all of the walls are Batilite, you can't use your glitch well here." Iseri pushed him back, "Let us handle him."
Machida walked behind Iseri and turned his body into metal, "Do you think you can handle him yourself?" Iseri brought out a pistol with a switch from her belt. "I got this."
Hunter laughed boisterously, "Ace! Confident, I like it! Come at me then!"
Iseri aimed her pistol at him, sweat dripping down her forehead, I guess it's time for round two.