"Are you KIDDING me?! What sort of plan is that!" Dan's heavy fist crushed into Lucius' jaw, the impact sending the latter crashing from the stump to the hard, dusty ground. "I DARE YOU TO SUGGEST THAT KIND OF SHIT AGAIN!"
Kent draws his sharp silvery blade by instinct, but Dan pushes him away without a glance. Kent holds onto his weapon but retracts his half-hearted resolve onto the sideline.
The old man returned the attack with a steely resolve of his own, silent but unwavering as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"Why the fuck are you defending this crazy coot? Can't you see we're all expendable in his eyes now that the brat can control the titans or whatever?? Stand aside. I'll kill him, and then maybe we can work something out with those people in the trees."
Lucius gave a grim chuckle. "Heh. Good luck with that." He tilted his head back to indicate the trees behind him. "What would you do in their position? The only reason they aren't attacking now is because they're waiting to see to what extent we'll self-destruct."
Dan violently wrapped his two muscular hands around Lucius' collar, one step away from going past the edge, whatever the end result may be. "You... you set us up with all this!"
"Lucius." Kent asked in resignation. "Tell me the truth. Are we all just expendable tools to you at this point?"
The old man looked away from the two. "Listen to him well, Kent. He's right. I stand by what he says. I'm no exception. Everyone here is expendable except for Boro. Call me crazy, but for as long as I can remember, nothing on this land has ever changed. Not until now."
He screams upward into the air as if reaching out a prayer, "THE TIME FOR CHANGE IS NOW. THERE IS A NEW AGE INCOMING!" His expression was frantic, a mile away from his previous calm expression.
The proclamation was met with a heavy fist crashing into his old face, resulting in a large cracking sound. Kent looked away as Sid grabbed his own wrist at the sound of the impact. Boro looked away from the carnage, his eyes captured by the trees surrounding the group.
"You're actually insane... " muttered Dan, using his weight to keep the man in place. "Not everyone wants a place in this new order of yours."
"You just don't know what you want after all this time." Lucius glared back at the large man standing over him, spitting out a chunk of coagulated blood and fragmented teeth. Despite his ruined face, the flame in his eyes was only hotter after his maltreatment. "As you all know, we're in some serious shit with this position. There was never going to be an easy way."
"Hey, old man." Sid said, grabbing tightly onto the middle of his worn cotton shirt, as if to comfort himself, "you said this is the best chance we got, yeah."
Lucius nodded firmly. "Yes, without a doubt, this will be our best chance of success for everyone surviving. Rather, it's the only way."
Sid took a deep breath. "I'll do it."
"Wha-- boss! You can't be serious right now."
"Haha..." Sid laughed nervously. "I wish I wasn't either. I'm calm, rational, and self-preserving. That's the 'Sid' you know. This isn't like me, but... if this works, everything will change." He gripped the sword in his sheath tightly, as if his life depended on it.
"Sid, stop. Just take a step back. We can get out of this, then find some way to return to the..."
"I'm tired, Dan." he replied with a weak smile. His eyes were soft. He had made up his mind.
Quivering just slightly, Dan relaxed his stance.
Sid put his small hand on his teammate's boulderlike shoulder. "Aren't you sick of it all?" he said.
The shaking mass nodded slowly between tears. "Yeah, boss..."
Sid smiled, "Let's change it, yeah?" The large man could only nod.
"A hot meal... that sounds nice." he looked up as a wisp of his frozen breath danced up into the air and vanished.
After a pause, he turned to Kent. "If we stand here any longer they'll get suspicious. Hand it over."
With the beckoning gesture, Kent looked around uneasily, but Kent nodded to assuage his misgivings. He sighed as he handed the dagger over. "I don't know what's happening anymore..."
Holding the dagger, Sid examined the balance, tossing it in the air a few times across his hand before snatching it back. Comparing it to his other weapon, we sheathed the latter and nodded. "It's a bit strange, but it works."
"We have to move soon." said Lucius.
The group was silent. It was as if they were all waiting for something to break in the balance.
"They're coming." said Boro. Fen growled in the direction of the trees. Beyond the rustling leaves, the glint of scavenged blades and artillery lie at the ready to draw blood. His voice was as small and weak as always, but the men could all hear it this time.
As if on command, Sid threw Dan off Lucius. Caught off balance, the giant man rolled roughly on the ground. "Boss, what— "
"AUGHHHHHHHHHH!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Amidst the ringing of gunshots, the smell of steel and blood filled the air.
"MONSTER!! IT'S A MONSTER!!" Several screams just like this filtered out of the trees as the sound of metal ripped through the cool air. Bullets ripped through the soft flesh of the giant, but an influx of air and vapor quickly undid the damage.
The titan released a tremendous roar. It held such force that it seemed like it would take down the surrounding trees. The grotesque humanoid maintained its charge despite the onslaught of gunfire, cupping its hands tightly against its chest as if protecting somewhere precious.
Lucius was right. The safest spot to be in the upcoming battle would be alongside the incredible power of a titan. Next to him, Fen quivered maniacally, clawing at the bit of light that seeped in through the cracks of titanized flesh.
"There, there, Fen... we're safe here," said Boro, staring through a finger gap into the hostile treeline. Outside in the immediate carnage, one shot sent an isolated splatter of blood flying from Jon's massive body, getting a bit on the child's face during his observation.
Immediately, the blood starts evaporating, but the sounds of violence don't stop.
"Jon.. go."
Upon hearing this whisper of a command, the giant throws its terrible body headfirst into greenery, crushing one of the ambushers on the frontline into a bloody mess.
"SHOOT! SHOOT!!!" cried one of the nearby attackers. As she screamed and desperately tried to find the strength in her legs to kick herself away from the bloodstained creature, it turned to her with nothing but an apathetic sort of malice in its eyes.
Its arms still restrained, the titan had no choice but to flail its body in the woman's direction by pulling against the rugged dirt with its teeth and kicking off the occasional tree. Despite its awkward movement, however, the large body moved with terrifying speed.
With half a scream still left in her lungs, the ambusher was devoured: gun, clothing, and all. Without even taking a brief respite to enjoy its meal, the titan threw around it large, black eyes to ascertain which member of the fleeing crowd should be its next victim.
Doing his best to ignore the sound of half-chewed flesh churning around behind him, Boro ascertained the situation once more. Yes, this was the safest place to be on the battlefield. At the same time, the most dangerous place was...
"Damn it!" cried one of the ambushers. His face was gaunt, with traces of scars underneath his short brown hair. His face was half covered by dirty wraps, but they had fallen off in the chaos and now showed his bloody mouth. He coughed out a mouthful of blood, pressing down to his neck wound with one hand while holding up the crude pistol with the other.
"RRRRAGGHHHH!"
As soon as the man made the shot, Sid plunged the dagger deep into his chest, all the way down to the guard. As his body fell away from the blade, the color faded from his crazed eyes. Although the shot had missed, there was still blood dripping from every part of Sid's body. How much of it was his, and how much belonged to others, was anyone's guess.
Collapsing onto one knee, Sid pushed the back of his hand deep against his abdomen. Despite the force, however, a ring of blood still pooled against the thin cloth he was wearing.
"Damn it... these blades are getting dull now. I can't handle them fast enough."
PING!
A stray bullet flies into the scene, grazing off the long metal pole strapped onto Sid's shoulder, just barely protecting him from another injury.
He almost laughs. Adjusting his belt to tighten around his wound, he slowly forces himself up against a tree with a wobble. Getting around the trunk provided some cover, but there were certainly still enemies on the other side as well. It looked as if there would be no end to them.
"Are you serious...? I think I'm done for real this time..." muttered Sid, who tried to take a breath but was interrupted by a painful hacking of blood.
"The giant is a decoy! If we can attack the rest of them on this front, we can still control the situation!" screamed one of the ambushers.
Sid's head tottered against the tree. The bark on his back was already starting to feel cool. In the corner of his eye, a small metal eye seemed to speak of the end, but the voice was soon silenced as the body behind the gun barrel toppled down lifelessly.
"Get up!" screamed Lucius, whose pistol was still smoking from the shot, "it's not over yet! You have to keep going!"
"It's the old man! He's not dead!"
Gunfire was redirected in the direction of Lucius, Kenton, and Dan, who were taking cover behind the wooden pile Jon had formed. Kent was taking the occasional shot from one of the pistols which Lucius had passed to him, while Dan was firing from behind blurred, teary eyes, shooting and reloading with frantic speed into every direction within the trees.
"These guys..." said Sid while leaving a red stain on the bark where he had lain, "...what a bunch of slave drivers. I'll haf ta give 'em a piece of my mind when I get back..."
With the sound of steam erupting from the mechanisms on his waist, two wired hooks flew instantaneously across the treescape. Before any of the attackers in the bushes could react, Sid was already pulling himself and his blades past them.
The edges were dull, but they still cut with enough force. With a chestful of air, Sid held his form tightly as his muscles struggled to pull the hard steel through pounds of meat and sinew. Although a couple of still-bleeding bodies lay on the ground where he took his last push, there were still a dozen more closing in on his direction.
The metal canisters sputtered weakly. Just like their wearer, they too were on their last legs.
"This should be alright, no...? I'm almost out of gas..."
His pursuers were closing in. "Get the swordsman! As soon as we take care of him, we can focus on attacking the gunmen over there!!"
One shot. Two shots.
Two more of the bodies fell as they closed in on Sid, but it wasn't enough. There were still more than ten, weapons drawn, ready to tear him apart.
"That's it..." said Sid, barely standing. "Get close. There's no more with guns amongst you all, huh?"
Just before the closest attacker could take a swing at him, with a final gust of wind, Sid threw himself several meters up in the air before his gear would carry him no further.
"Is that all...?" He winced. "I thought I could go a bit further up..." he murmured to himself while unclicking the metal stake attached to him.
Kenton looked away while Dan cried out with his hand outstretched. "SID!!"
After a brief moment of what seemed to be total silence, there was the sound of yet another tremendous explosion.
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