The Groundhog’s looked on, awestricken at the sight of Xole’s back standing in between the two, his arms outstretched.

  Anastasia’s irritable gaze met his face. “You…”

  She vanished to Xole’s eyes, but this time, he allowed his body to move; his knees bending and his elbows rising along his right, just barely blocking her knee to his head. The heavy ‘thwock’ sent him skidding back to the others. Anastasia glanced down, noticing the crackhead was back with the others. She brushed her hair from her face.

  ‘His objective was to retrieve the crackhead. I suppose rodents do travel in packs.’

  “Xole?” Patchwork said, “You’re up?!”

  “Yeah,” he said, “And I feel a whole lot better!” he looked behind him to where Snap and Salamander where recovering, then to Skinner. “Take care of the other three, I have an idea.”

  “What?’ Trix said, “Xole, what are you—”

  But he’d already darted off at the woman again. Abbas watched proudly, “He’s really doing it.” He looked at the other two, “We’ll follow his lead. I believe this is our opportunity to end this for good!”

  Xole’s elbow collided with Anastasia’s hand. The woman glanced at him with her returned calm gaze, “You’re slightly better than before, child.” She took his face under her hand and jerked him to her eyes, “What did you do?”

  “Gyuh!” He grunted, kicking his legs back as hard as he could and pivoting—nearly twisting his ankle and running around to her back. He leaped into the air, tensing his arm and throwing it at her—to which she sidestepped, flying rubble smashing to where she’d been standing. Landing, Xole shot left and reached for her this time, yanking the woman his way while squeezing his wrist even harder.

  ‘This time,’ he thought swinging his arm toward her flying body. ‘I’ll make sure it hits!’

  However, Anastasia’s face cracked into a familiar looking satanic grin. Her left hand at to her side, thumb covering her fingers while her right was now poised towards his face. Xole’s arm quickly drooped but his face tensed

  ‘No knockback? Damn it, what’s she doing?!’

  However before she could reach him a handful of rats jumped at her nails with a ‘chomp’. With an angry growl, she threw her leg in a wide arc in front of her, tearing through the rodents and revealing Skinner, who was standing up again at Xole’s side.

  “Wow,” he said, “you just keep surprising me, little dude.”

  “Wha?” Xole said, “But how are you—” he cut himself off, seeing rats burrowing into his torn stomach. The redhead gave him a thumbs up.

  “They’ll take care of the damage. Oh and the cat’s on the move again.”

  “On the—”

  ‘POW!’

  Xole flew back through the clothing rack of his backyard. Yesfir nearly spat out her drink, “Already?! You just left!”

  “I didn’t know what he was taking about!” Xole said, “Was he referencing something from earlier?”

  The woman groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose, “You need to work on your context clues…”

  Xole shot up from the ground, quickly rejoining Skinner who evaded the woman’s swipes, slicing though his rats with every dodge. The man scowled and hurled a white knuckled fist at her face, to which she attempted to dodge but Xole held her in place as his fist connected with her nose. Xole ran over and hit the ground, shooting his leg forward, ‘Now’s my chance!’

  Her eyes flew open and jumped over his slide, returning an extended kick of her own.

  ‘THWOCK!’

  As Xole’s unconscious body fell back, Skinner jumped over him and hurled a handful of rats at her—to which she whipped out her remaining handgun and fired through them all. Skinner hurled his fists at her in rapid succession, forcing the woman back as rats swarmed her feet in a two prolonged assault while she blocked, keeping each foot of the ground for less than a second.

  Crossing her arms past her forearms mid-block, she blasted away the rodents and caught his fist with her free hand. But before she could retaliate, Xole was behind her again, this time reeling his fist back for a heavy haymaker along with Skinner. The woman broke to the side as the two’s attacks barely missed her. She skid about thirty feet back and eyed her opponents.

  ‘Hmhp. One and a half Spiritual users it seems,’ she thought.

  “Wow,” Skinner said, rubbing blood from his lip, “You seem like…really good at getting beat up.”

  Xole began to nod, “We should probably—wait what?!”

  “It’s not really a bad thing,” he said, “If my friends were as good then maybe they wouldn’t be gone…”

  Xole glanced to the piles of dead rats and shook his head.

  “Look alive,” he said, bringing Xole’s attention back to the woman, “Cat’s on the prowl.”

  ‘At least I know what he means now,’ he thought. “How’re we supposed to stop her?”

  “Uh…” Skinner thought, “I just like…go with the flow.”

  Xole shot his head to him, “WHAT?”

  Anastasia charged the two. Rats scampered from the scattered rubble, shooting at her from all sides. She dodged and shot them out the way upon her approach. ‘He’s attempting to regather his numbers. I need to end this—fast, starting with the rat user.’

  “Here we go!” he grinned, putting his arms up.

  Anastasia stuttered in next to Xole, bring her knee to the side of his body, but Xole twisted, blocking the attack with both arms as rats leaped from beneath him at the woman. She jumped over, then, kicked off Xole’s shoulder, spinning in the air and dropping the back of her heel on top of Skinner’s head. The man’s body fell. She reached for his back but he suddenly rolled to all fours and kicked his legs behind him, sending the woman somersaulting to her feet where Xole leaped over head, hurling his leg at her face. She caught it and began to spin him, throwing him at the rubble but the mob of black rodents caught him and bounced him back to his feet, dispersing to join Skinner once again.

  Xole ran in, watching the woman leap back in the air. He extend his arm toward her, Now’s my chance—’

  Her body stuttered again, this time her fist meeting his face, where he noticed a pile of shredded rats where she once was

  ‘Did she use his friends to stutter step mid-air?!’ he thought.

  ‘CRACK!’

  “Whoops,” Skinner said, lowering his rats to the ground, “Maybe I am really bad at this.”

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  She opened fire on him, Skinner scurried to the sides and around with a few shots grazing his body. He bolted to the wall and leaped off it, landing near her in a deep crouch, leaving a crater as the woman jumped back. Suddenly, she was shot into the air.

  ‘Huh?!’ she thought, spinning to her back, ‘Now what?’

  Looking down she saw Xole again, his arms raised at her, his face determined.

  ‘How does he keep getting back up?’ she thought. She threw her arm to the side, a hidden wire shot from her fish-netted forearms and latched to a high wall, dragging herself across the Zone, lading only to feel a familiar spike of Gi again. Her head slowly turned at a colorful patch of wires a few feet near her.

  ‘So you’re back up,’ she thought.

  ‘BOOM!’

  Snap’s fist shook at the sight. “Darn it. She’s too damn slippery!”

  “I got’s it!” Salamander said, taking a massive puff of his black cigar, his chest expanding and his back arching. He threw his head forward at the entire wall, expelling blood-red flames and melting it to dripping magma. But they saw her zip away above, landing on top of Prime Hill.

  “You guys!” Xole said, “When did you—”

  “Patch’s a good doctor,” Spit-Take said, running past the older boy. He took a long sniff and fired dozens of bolts of saliva at the woman, blasting away pieces of Prime Hill while the woman simply jumped off. Spit-Take cursed, “Now she’s just trying to mock us!”

  Bullets suddenly screamed through the air towards Xole, who was yanked to the side by Spit-Take. Salamander ran past them, joined by Trix who took the lead, maneuvering through the destroyed Zone to the woman. Xole tried to follow but Spit-Take held his arm up. Abbas quickly strutted into view and handed him some bandages.

  “Young one,” he said, “hold fast and put these on. You’re crucial for what comes next.”

  “Next?” he said, applying the bandages.

  “That woman, I’ve been watching her fight closely. She exceeds all of us in nearly every regard whether it’s boxing or technique. However, she lacks a strong Aculty and relies on her weapons heavily.”

  “Basically,” Spit-Take said, “Every time she needs to switch up, it’s time to go in.”

  “But she’s too fast for that,” Xole said, “Every time we’ve tried—”

  “That was before,” Abbas said, “Now that we all understand the objective we can work fully in tandem.” He ran for the frontlines to join the others, “Young one, stay close to Spit-Take and follow my lead. Ensure you guard Patchwork and Snap with your position.” He gave Xole one last glance, “It will be up to you.”

  ‘Me?’ Xole thought, watching him leave.

  Waiting for Abbas to get far enough, the hunched man tapped Xole’s shoulder, running ahead, “C’mon, we only got a few more minutes before our Lash runs out!”

  Xole ran alongside him, “Wait, you took more enhancers?”

  “Patch gave ‘em to us while you and Skinner took on that Collar alone.” he explained, “Gotta admit, I’m pretty impressed.”

  Xole thought a moment, “Give me one.”

  The man stopped in his tracks, turning slowly to the older boy at his back. “What?”

  “En…” he gulped, squeezing his fist, “Enhancers, Spit-Take, gimme one!”

  “Kid…”

  “No, no, no, absolutely not!” the doctor exclaimed storming toward them. “Do you have any idea the damage that could be done?!”

  “Oh so now you wanna talk about humane ethics!”

  “Guys,” Xole said. “They need me. I can’t afford to lose again.” His eyes met theirs, his gaze determined. He hit his chest, “I’ve gotta do this. It’s all on me.”

  Patchwork looked on, “No. Sorry Xole.”

  He looked down, clenching his fists.

  “Well I say yes!” Spit-Take said, slapping Xole’s shoulder, “so you’re outvoted again, Patch!”

  “Gyuh?! A Melmar are you serio—?!”

  “He’s go that look in his eye, Rivers.” He winked, grinning, “Kid’s just like us now!”

  The doctor could only gawk at the two. Then, with a heavy groan, he reached in his coat pocket and produced a small palm full of green glowing crystals. His hand shook, but thrust it to Xole anyways.

  “Don’t snort,” he said, “Swallow.”

  Abbas and Trix furiously slapped and slashed at the woman, who parried the simultaneous attacks while dodging the occasional blast of fire. Salamander continued to run around them, looking for an opening. Her gaze caught Skinner near the back, lying on his stomach, arms stretched and a few rodents scurrying to rejoin him.

  ‘I’ll need to prioritize the Spiritual one,’ she thought, watching a ball of fire fly for her face. Her eyes however, looked elsewhere, ‘I’ll have to keep an eye out for the other,’

  She stuttered, letting the attack hit Abbas, who was behind her. Trix’s eyes widened, watching her take off. “Skinner!” she cried, whirling back and following.

  “Trix wait damnit!” Spit-Take exclaimed taking off after her. The two pursued—Trix in the lead. But in that moment, Anastasia turned around, bolting for the two, hand behind her back. Spit-Take tried to call out but Trix furiously swung her blades at her, to which the woman slid under it on her knees. He saw her hand briefly shoot up, sending his gaze there—only for her foot to meet his stomach.

  “Gyuh!” he coughed, blood spilling from his lips. Trix was already charging back, her weapons in an X-shape over her chest, but the Collared woman stuttered—just as something came down. Trix looked.

  ‘Are those…marbles—?’

  “Guys look out—!!” Patchwork hollered.

  But it was too late. Acid popped and burst from them, casing the two to howl in pain. Skinner looked, standing up from his rats. “Huh? Trix?”

  ‘SHUNK!’

  The man mouth opened, looking down to his blood soaked stomach and a set of long purple nails piercing through. He tossed a weak punch, but she leaped back and he stumbled, falling on his rats. The woman raised her spiked heel over his head.

  ‘I’ll deal with the other after this—’

  ‘WHOOSH!’

  Crimson red flames collided with her body, burning away even the nearby rodents. The chain smoker laughed from above a walkway, “Ha! How’d ya like dat, Colla?!”

  ‘FWOOOM!’

  A beam of dark blue shot straight to where he was, tearing through his chest.

  “GACK! SHIT—” he cried, opening his mouth for another desperate shot, but he caught sight of her face—infuriated and charred filled—just as her leg dropped onto his chest, shooting him through the walkway and back to the bottom.

  ‘BOOM!’

  His body went limp, his vision blackening to the sight of her small body and outstretched clawed hand quickly descending on him. However, Abbas burst from the side, knocking the woman away, leaving them both in the air. The woman switched to her gun, only to see the large man raise his hands, his body brimming with a red steaming aura, outlined by a sickly yellow.

  ‘Enhanced,” he said.

  Her eyes flew wide,Her eyes fHer ‘No way,’

  ‘Ten Thousand Slaps!!!” he bellowed.

  The air flashed and thundered, filling with sonic booms clapping throughout and rumbling all of Haven. The side wall was blown to pieces, blasting away like a set of explosions. The woman was pin-balled from corner to corner around the Zone, shooting through anything her body came into contact with. Finally, she hit the ground hard, feeling even more strikes pound into her body, destroying the earth beneath her. But Abas wasn’t done yet. He dropped. His left shoulder and side of his body aimed where she lay, dragging his flailing hand behind him, which began to grow red. He threw his hand into the ground just as he landed.

  “HMMF!” his deep voice grunted.

  ‘BOOM!’

  The pressure of the impact was immense. So much it even tore Snap’s remaining traps from the ground. Patchwork ducked the flying explosions, doing his best to finish bandaging Trix and Spit-Take. He crawled to his hands-only to nearly screech.

  Slowly, the woman rose her feet, battered and bloodied. Her hair a mess against her face and clothes torn, yet her arm over her head held Abbas’s limp body, who could only cough blood. The doctor dropped to his knees.

  “No,” he said quietly, “No, it’s not—”

  “Squeak,”

  The low sound was enough to send Anastasia and Patchwork’s gazes to the ground, seeing a carpet of rats at her feet—but more horrifying of all, Skinner camouflaged under them, his bony hand holding her by her ankle, his weak bloodshot eyes looking at her and moaning, “Squeak…squeak…”

  With an angry growl, she stomped her on his wrist, her heel going straight though his forearm, but his finger found their way around her boot anyways.

  “Can you…hear them?” the redhead said weakly, “The sounds of my friends?”

  “Yeah.”

  Anastasia’s eyes opened wide in horror, slowly turning behind her to see Xole slightly crouched. His body quivered as if he were to collapse at any moment, while gleaming the same yellowish aura the others had. His eyes met Anastasia’s, reaching for her, squeezing his left wrist.

  “Loud and clear,” He spoke.

  ‘He’s taken enhancers!’ she thought, feeling herself being lurched towards him—faster than ever before, watching his reeled back arm swing her face.

  ‘Splurch!’

  Xole cried out, his left arm erupted with pain as it swung past the woman, missing her face by inches. She landed on the wall across the zone, glancing behind her at clawed nails stocking out of his dangling left arm.

  ‘It was prudent of me to launch those at the last second.’ She thought.

  Her feet left the ground, and she was dragged backwards again.

  “Tch!” she grunted, watching him comeback to view, his right arm tensed. She gritted her teeth, ‘He was using his right this entire time?!’

  Xole stepped forward, raising his gaze to her. His fist clenched so tight the skin on his knuckles bled. It took all he had to lift his right arm an inch higher, feeling as if it would fall through the floor at any moment. He spied Yesfir from the corner of his eye watching, her eyes solemn and fearful.

  “Xole…”

  But he turned back to Anastasia, taking one final step and swinging his arm.

  “This one’s for Gus.”

  ‘WHOOOOOOOOOOM!’

  His bones crunched before losing all feeling as he collided with the Anastasia. His body carried them both forward, crashing through entire rows of stands, booths, rubble, exploding behind them as they shot through the Zone into the front of Zone 3.

  And then, silence.