A light breeze caused trash on the ground to shift and sway back and forth. This continued until a larger breeze picked up the trash. The small scrap of newspaper now floated with the breeze down a destroyed neighborhood. The houses surrounding it were reduced to rubble and actively burning.
At the end of the street, where the trash floated towards, stood an exosuit user by the name of Gravedigger. And surrounding him was Infinium Elite Squad: Arazia's Reapers along with Infinium Agent Reaper. The soldiers stood on top the rubble of the destroyed houses, aiming experimental HCLR's down at Gravedigger.
Standing a couple yards away from Gravedigger was Reaper, who had a black exosuit with red energy running through it. He watched as Gravedigger grasped the black and red energy knife sticking out of his side. Ripping out the knife, his exosuit repaired itself almost instantly.
Gravedigger wore a tattered black hood over his exosuit, revealing only his glowing red eyes and a similarly demented smile. His exosuit was a standard silver with black energy running through it. Chains materialized out of nanotechnology from each of his palms that he them wrapped around his wrist. Raising his arms up, he began to spin each chain in the air around his body.
Each of Reaper's soldiers raised their weapons and began to fire at Gravedigger. Not that any of the energy blast could reach him because of the way in which the chains spun around him. Then, in a split-second motion, he shifted his arm aggressively causing a chain to jerk around and pierce through the head of an Arazia's Reapers member.
The chain then wrapped around the headless soldier's body and jerked them into another soldier. Unwrapping from around the soldier, the chain then retreated to Gravedigger. He then phased beside another soldier and grabbed them by the face. After raising them into the air, he crushed their head in his hand.
As the soldier's body dropped to the rubble below, Gravedigger caught them by their foot. He did this because a moment later, Reaper jumped out of the soldier's shadow, knife aimed to slash his throat. But instead of being able to slash Gravediggers throat, Reaper was sent flying back into the ground by Gravedigger using the soldier's body like a baseball bat.
The force behind Gravedigger smashing the soldier's body into Reaper completely eviscerated the soldier's body. This left only the soldier's ripped off leg in his hand and splattered blood and gore all around him. Gravedigger then tossed the leg to the ground then watched as it rolled down the destroyed building and landed beside Reaper.
At this point Reaper had already jumped off the ground where he had crashed into. And seeing the leg of the soldier roll up beside him only succeeded in pissing him off. Taking a step up the rubble, his shadow began to expand across the ground up towards Gravedigger. A chain suddenly burst out of the ground beside Reaper and flew towards his face.
Before the chain could reach his face, Reaper's shadow expanded under Gravedigger. This resulted in Gravedigger's foot falling into the shadow and coming out of the shadow beside Reaper. He then began to sink into the shadow that lay under him. Grabbing Gravedigger's foot that stuck out of the shadow beside him, Reaper tightened his grip.
Reaper yanked Gravediggers foot up, causing him to fall all the way into the shadow under him and burst out of the shadow beside Reaper. With him in the air, Reaper jerked his arm down, smashing Gravedigger into the rubble. Not that it would be enough to even leave a scratch on someone like Gravedigger.
Reaper jerked Gravedigger in the air again, hoping to get another attack in. But that would not be as Gravedigger whipped around in the air and kicked Reaper in the face. A shockwave of energy exploded from the impact, sending Reaper crashing back through multiple destroyed houses and even a couple buildings.
"Shit" Reaper thought as he fell to his knees after crashing through the last wall. "All he did was kick me and it did this much damage." He raised his hand and placed it onto where Gravedigger kicked him. The part of his exosuit that covered his left eye had cracked in multiple areas. "What a monster."
Before Reaper could stand, a chain burst through the building in front of him. It pierced through the air and hit what should have been his body. Yet the chain did not pierce Reaper's body, but the wall behind him. Landing on the ground hard enough to create a crater, Gravedigger saw how his chain had failed to pierce Reaper.
Gravedigger scanned the area seeing no sign of Reaper. "Where'd you go bitch?" He yelled in annoyance. "I was just starting to have some fun."
After Gravedigger took a step forward, Reaper's arm burst out of his shadow and stabbed a knife into his back. Unfortunately for Reaper, Gravedigger was expecting this. In a split second, Gravedigger whipped around, grabbed Reaper by the arm and yanked him out of the shadow.
Doing the same to Reaper as he did to him, Gravedigger smashed him face first into the ground. He then let go of Reaper's leg and grabbed the back of his head. Smashing his face into the ground, Gravedigger dragged Reaper's face through concrete for a couple yards until he raised him up and threw him into the air.
"I thought you were supposed to be strong!?" Gravedigger laughed as he jumped into the air to follow Reaper. "Right now, you just seem like nothing more than a-" He phased right up to Reaper's side and sent a devastating punch into his face. "BITCH"
A shockwave of black energy exploded from Gravedigger's fist, propelling Reaper towards the ground. But instead of crashing into the ground, he fell into his own shadow. And a moment later he rose from a shadow a couple feet away, arms crossed, and head held high as if nothing had happened.
Reapers exosuit was already repairing itself as he raised his head to look at the falling Gravedigger.
"What a monster." He thought as Gravedigger landed on the ground.
"You're finally starting to understand now aren't you." Gravedigger observed.
"Understand what?" Reaper questioned.
"Not the sharpest tool in the shed now are we." Gravedigger mocked. "What I'm talking about is the gap between your power...and mine. Not that it would be fair to compare such vastly different things."
"What are you trying to say?" Reaper asked angrily.
"It's just that" Gravedigger laughed as his smile widened sinisterly. "Your so damn weak."
As much as that statement pissed off Reaper, he could not deny the truth behind it. The gap between their power became quite visible after Reapers initial sneak attack. Everything after that moment had been an uphill battle that Reaper had no chance of winning. But that is what happens when you challenge the strongest.
Shifting his foot under a piece of rubble, Reaper kicked it into the air. After catching it Reaper drew his arm back and threw it at Gravedigger. Wondering if Reaper was an idiot or not, Gravedigger backhanded the piece of rubble. This broke the piece of ruble, sending pieces of it flying beside Gravedigger.
As those pieces of ruble flew past Gravedigger, he examined how Reaper still stood there. He was wondering what he was up to until a spike made of black energy shot out from a piece of the ruble into his shoulder. Then, from the shadows on the ground the rubble made, even more spikes of energy burst up aimed towards Gravedigger.
"Good!" Gravedigger yelled as he phased forward, dodging the spikes.
Gravedigger's outstretched hand reached out for Reaper but failed at grabbing him. Falling back into his shadow, Reaper jumped up out of Gravedigger's shadow. Flying up, Reaper kicked Gravedigger in the face, spun midair and delivered another kick into his face. The first kick only made Gravedigger stumble backward for a moment but the second is where Reaper attributed his power.
That kick sent Gravedigger flying back through multiple buildings. Hitting the ground hard, Gravedigger spun around and jumped into the air. But before he could get far, Reaper's hand grabbed his leg and dragged him into the shadow. A moment later the two burst out of a shadow on the ground and flew into the air.
Still grasping onto Gravedigger's leg, Reaper flung him down towards the ground. Instead of crashing into the ground, Gravedigger fell into another shadow. He then flew out of another shadow right into Reaper's fist. The attack yet again sent Gravedigger into a shadow on the ground.
Reaper was already waiting for Gravedigger as he flew out of another shadow. This time, Reaper threw a knife into Gravedigger's throat as he emerged from the shadow. While stumbling back, Gravedigger received another punch to his head. Then from the opposite side of his head he received a powerful attack from Reaper's knee.
Going in for another attack, an overpowering aura of darkness caused Reaper to hesitate. In that hesitation, he failed to react in time to Gravedigger's chain. The chain pierced through his chest, wrapping around him and jerking him into the air. He was then jerked back down into the ground multiple times before being flung to the side.
Blood poured out of Reapers chest as he lay disoriented on the ground. Once his exosuit began healing him, he rolled on the floor and began to push himself off the ground. All the while the immense aura of black energy was bearing down on him like a boulder. And upon stumbling back to his feet, he witnessed something that sent chills down his spine.
Standing there with a sea of black energy surrounding him, was Gravedigger. The sheer amount of energy being produced from his exosuit was almost enough to make Reaper want to run, hide, do anything to get away from him. And then Gravediggers smile, that wide sick smile caused fear like Reaper had never felt before to course through his veins.
Gravedigger let out a sinister laugh as he began taking slow step toward Reaper. "Not bad, even if I was letting you get those freebies on me." With each step he took, the aura of misery surrounding him expanded. "Guess that means I don't have to hold back anymore, right!"
It was a long time of silence and boredom waiting for his reinforcements to arrive. But Vermont was patient. Even if he was bored, he had no problem sitting on a rock and waiting for Captain Lockley and Agent Warden. What he did have a problem with was how Dues Venandi simply stared at him the entire time.
To Vermont it felt like Venandi was peering into his soul. The beast did not move, breathe or even blink during the hour they had already waited. Not that the technological beast needed to breathe or blink. But the fast that it did neither of those things unsettled Vermont. A lot more than he thought it would.
"Where's Commander Preacher." Vermont thought. "Hellman said he was in the area, so where is he at."
Whether coincidence or not, the moment Vermont stopped thinking about how long Preacher was taking, Preacher suddenly appeared behind him. He had a silver exosuit with white energy running through it. In his hand he held a nanotechnical staff flowing with the same white energy as his exosuit.
"How are you doing Captain?" Preacher asked whole heartedly.
"As good as one can be in this situation." Vermont answered honestly.
"Thats good to hear." Preacher said in a warm tone. "Now let's get going shall we."
Vermont stood up and began following Preacher as he walked. "What about Lockley and Warden."
"Captain Lockley and Agent Warden have already arrived." Preacher informed. "But they decided that working in two groups would be faster. But that is just how Agent Warden is. He's never been a big fan of playing with others."
The two walked for a bit until Preacher realized Dues Venandi was no longer behind them. Turning around, he scanned the area, finding no trace of the technological beast. Vermont walked a couple extra steps before noticing Preacher was not walking beside him. Turning his head, he found Preacher looking back into the jungle behind them.
"Where did Venandi go?" Vermont asked.
Preacher turned around and began walking the way they came. "I have no idea."
Vermont and Preacher walked for around five minutes until they reached a a destroyed tree. To the left of the tree was a path of destruction that led on for a considerable distance. So, that was the path they decided to take. Although the two of them did not have the best feeling about this situation, neither of them could have predicted what they saw next.
Moving a leaf out of the way, a scene of gore and carnage lay before Vermont. Standing at the edge of a cliff was Venandi covered in blood. In its grasp was a headless body that Vermont recognized as belonging to Lockley. A moment later, Preacher walked up beside him and stopped dead in his tracks.
Not moving a muscle, Preacher examined the scene before him. He noticed how there was a glitch of purple energy in Venandi's eye that now stared back at him. As Venandi dropped Lockley's corpse over the ledge, Preacher tightened his grip on his staff. In only a second, the two had dashed forward and began to engage.
Swinging his staff up, Preacher smacked Venandi in the face, causing it to stumble back. He used this opportunity to dash under the beast and smack its leg out from under itself. Dodging under Venandi's wide swing, he smacked it in the face again. This time as it stumbled back, a small port on its shoulder opened and a miniature turret popped out.
The turret took a moment to configure itself and then pointed at Preacher. A small blast of energy shot out from the turret that Preacher could barely react to and block in time. Even though he blocked in time, the blast of energy exploded into his staff and sent him flying back. As Preacher was flying back, he stabbed his staff into the ground to slow himself down.
Using his staff to push himself off the ground from, Preacher pointed his staff at Venandi. With a couple swings, a gust of wind began to form around him. After a moment of swirling his staff around himself, he swung it up, pointing it at the sky. Following the lead of his staff, the gust of wind flowed like a wave and flung Dues Venandi into the air.
Preacher outstretched his hand towards Dues Venandi and white energy began to emit from his exosuit. This energy warped and formed into the shape of a right hand, then shot up towards Venandi. Grabbing hold of Venandi, the hand of energy began to squeeze tightly. With each passing moment the grip increased in strength, causing Venandi's left arm to be crushed.
Upon its left arm being destroyed, Dues Venandi let out a technological alien roar. As it roared, energy began to pulse from its core. Then at its peak, a shockwave of energy exploded from Venandi that destroyed the hand of energy and sent Preacher flying back. With the hand destroyed, Venandi fell back to the ground, its landing shaking the ground.
Outstretching its crushed arm, Venandi simply stared at Preacher as its arm began to repair itself. It twisted and turned, eventually having every bit snap back into place. It then aimed that same arm towards Preacher and let out a beam of energy. But Preacher was ready for this and deflected the beam by smacking it with his staff into the air.
The beam of energy spiraled into the air before exploding and sending a shockwave of energy across the sky. That energy then began to dissipate and float back down to the earth. Dues Venandi then took a step and while it did that, the armor covering its body began to reconfigure.
"How is that possible?" Preacher said in astonished horror.
"Is that damn brute doing what I think it's doing?" Vermont questioned in horror.
"It's...adapting." Preacher stated.
Raising its right arm and pointing it at Preacher, another attack began to charge up. Unlike the last blast, this one transferred energy from the core. It took a moment longer to charge up but when it did, the amount of energy released was beyond grand. A beam of energy far larger than the last exploded from Venandi's arm and pierced the air towards Preacher.
Preacher stabbed his staff into the ground and outstretched both arms towards the beam. His exosuit began to pulse with energy as a wave of white energy flowed over him and formed a hexagonal based shield around him and Vermont. Luckily for them the shield finished forming the moment before the beam hit.
And when the beam hit, it hit hard. Preacher and Vermont were immediately pushed back by a couple yards. Then after a couple seconds of direct contact with the beam, the shield began to crack. As the shield took the continual beam of energy, its cracks began to grow larger until it shattered.
Before the beam could reach Preacher, he was suddenly pulled back out of the way. Then in a flash, an obsidian black katana slashed through the beam. Surrounding the katana was an aura of white energy that overpowered the beam and caused it to fade away under its power. The white energy then exploded from the katana into a slash of energy that sliced off Venandi's arm.
Fear was the only thing Preacher could feel towards the exosuit user that stood between him and Dues Venandi. From their sleek black exosuit flowing with white energy, to the obsidian black katana with a chain connected to its hilt that wrapped around their hand. Or maybe it was the nanomechanical tail connected to their exosuit that ended with a hand.
The same exosuit user that most called a monster, demon or something of the likes. But to the members of Apocalyptic Returning, his name was Boss. Raising his sword into the air, Boss then slashed it down. His katana released a slash of energy that pierced through Dues Venandi, cutting the beast in half.
Boss took slow steps forward until he reached the upper half of Dues Venandi. Outstretching his left hand towards Venandis face, he pulled the trigger of the revolver in his hand. Energy charged up in the revolver for a moment, then released a blast of lightning into Venandi's head, leaving it disintegrated.
Then, shifting his foot back, Boss kicked the remnants of Dues Venandi's body of the ledge into the clearing below. With that finished, he turned around and another exosuit user emerged from the jungle behind him. That was Rook, a member of Apocalyptic Returning with a silver exosuit with green energy flowing through it.
Resting his katana on his shoulder, Boss turned his head to examine Preacher. "Was that an Infinium Commander getting bitched around by their own monster I saw?" He mocked. "Oh, how the times have changed."