Juniper’s feet touched the edge of the rooftop, her body tilting forward towards the wind. She hovered in the air a bit, then surged forward, leaping across the gap between buildings.
The world came to a still for a moment, the smog had eased up.
Sirens were still screaming but the intensity had settled, much more controlled. The calm felt even worse, like the city held its breath, waiting for the next big thing to happen.
Her phone buzzed. Yanking her focus away, sharp and abrasive. She came to a halt, knees bending inwards as she landed legs crisscrossed on the rooftop floor.
She pulled the phone from the phone compartment, and her fingers trembled. The suit stuck to her like a second skin, it was fine at first, but now it became suffocating. If she weren’t in public, she would wear a full birthday suit.
The caller was Arkangeal–Evelyn.
It took her long enough.
She swiped, pressing the phone to her ear. “Yeah,” her voice came out raw, almost rude.
“Juniper!” Evelyn’s voice was sharp, but there was more than a hint of concern “I’m sorry—it’s been hell on our end. Communications were deliberately jammed. You called me earlier. Are you alright?”
Deliberate? Juniper’s brow stirred. Was she implying someone had deliberately stopped them from communicating?
“I’m fine,” she lied, her throat heavy, the events of the day weighing its worth. “Big sis.” The words still felt foreign, and awkward, like a borrowed jacket that didn’t fit right. She cleared her throat. “I, uh…I’m in the middle of it. The chaos.”
“What? Since when?” Evelyn’s became brittle with alarm.
“This morning,” Juniper admitted. “We were just—uh, just trying to do some shopping, and then the whole state of emergency thing happened.”
“We?” Evelyn inquired, curious.
She stammered, “I-I mean—” Her face burned, and guilt clawed at her, she knew she fucked up... She didn’t want to explain. Not now. Not over the phone. She’d let her identity slip to Kanako, her not-girlfriend? “Forget it. It doesn’t matter. I just…I need direction. Can you help?”
“Go home, Juniper.” Evelyn’s response was dismissive. “Or come to Motherbase. I can guide you there, but don’t get involved any further.”
The words felt like shackles, she didn’t want any. “I’m already involved,” she said quietly, it was the bitter truth, and here comes a surprise. “I was…registered as a temporary cape under SCRA jurisdiction.”
Silence. Then—
“What the fuck?” Evelyn’s voice rose, her shout making Juniper flinch over the phone. “Every fucking time I swear. This is what happens when I’m not directly involved!”
Juniper winced, it was the first time she had scolded her, and they had only personally met once. She pulled the phone slightly away from her ear. The growing tension lingered, and Evelyn’s frustration pressed down onto her.
“Okay. Okay. I can deal with this.” Evelyn exhaled sharply, the sound crackling through the line. Tickling her ears. “Where are you right now? If you’re dead set on being stubborn, I’ll send someone to you with instructions.”
Juniper hesitated. “Near Garnet District. There’s a camp here—makeshift, but functional. I don’t think I’ll stay for—”
A woman’s scream tore the air open, bloody raw. She snapped towards the source, three blocks away, she could hear it. People were scattering, running away from some kind of terror.
A scream tore through the air, high-pitched and raw. Her head snapped toward the source. A block away, figures scattered like startled birds, running toward her with terror etched on their faces.
Her hair stood on its ends. “Sorry, I have to go!”
“Juniper, wait! Keep the ph—”
She hung up. Slipping the phone away, her heart was already pounding.
She leaped off the roof, body shifting through the air, hurtling towards the chaos.
The scene below looks like a mess. A building was gutted from the inside out, walls torn open, and windows shattered, like some ‘thing’ had made a hole through it. She recognized the building: it was an enforcer outpost, the SCRA used to monitor a neighborhood.
People were fleeing in all directions, stumbling over one another. Then a group of young men all sporting gly buzz cuts, ran coordinated in a singular direction. Suspicious. But they didn’t resemble a building thrasher.
She snapped to a lone figure emerging from the rubble.
He was massive. A trench coat stained against his shoulders, heavy cargo pants sagging above crude metal shins, steel-toed boots crunching on the ground underneath him. Six foot five maybe. He was a hulking man but it was his helmet that caught her eye.
It resembled a cut-off steel beam, sticking out like a horn. Scrapyard punk, still very dangerous though. It glowed, faintly. Enough to know that he wasn’t normal.
A sudden shot rang out as a SCRA agent fired his weapon at the man with precision.
The bullets hit him on their mark, but the man didn’t care. The rounds bounced off like little pebbles. Then the beastman grunted, swatting the agent away, sending him crashing into a nearby car window. The agent slumped, then fainted.
“Shit!” Juniper said, mortified.
The rhino-like man readied himself and with an ungodly burst of speed charged at the car. His frame makes dust and debris with every step.
Juniper’s fear kicked in. Was he planning to finish him off?
She surged forward, energy crackling from her as the sunlight broke through the smog. Her charged and condensed power hummed with her movements. She collided with him head-on, the energy collision made a thunderclap as she felt her bones rattle.
She was sent hurtling backward, her body twisting in the air as she fell on the street. She scraped her shin on the asphalt, the suit protected her from potential bleeding. Her ribs ached, but she came to her feet, coughing.
The brute had stumbled but he did regain his balance, he approached.
“Who dares challenge the Torque-Panzer?!” His roar was guttural, it left a soft echo in the air.
“You want a name?” she spat, forcing a psychotic grin. “Call me bazooka, because I'm going to penetrate your ass!”
Torque Panzer let out a vibrating laugh. "HAHAHAHHAAHAH!!!"
[Quick! Insult his weight or something. He’s probably insecure.]
“You’re a brainless fat brute,” she added with a touch of mockery.
For a moment, his expression faltered. Beneath the helm, his frown deepened. He shook his head in irritation, horn glowing like a rainbow.
“I, Panzer—one of the Sons of Mythril—will send you to the lower realms, girl!” His voice rose, his words tinged with unhinged fervor. “Prepare yourself!”
Without warning, he charged like a wild animal, screaming a German phrase “Achtung, Panzer!”
His horn shot to her, barreling like a missile. She twisted out of the way at the last second. Panzer crashed into the building behind, his impact sending concrete and bricks flying in all directions.
Then all for still, for a moment. The rubble shifted, and then a groaning Torque-Panzer emerged like a devil from a grave. Debris went out exploding, sending metal shards and stones flying everywhere. A piece of rebar barely whizzed past her head.
“What’s your aim here, you fat tank?!” she shouted. “Are you with the pyromaniacs? What do you even gain from all this senseless destruction?”
Torque-Panzer laughed again, a sound like a lion’s roar, deep and guttural.
“I’m not with flamers. I came to free my brothers in arms—unlawfully arrested by this pathetic system. The opportunity presented itself.” His tone was proud, his chest puffing out as he spoke. “We Sons of Mythril seek only to better ourselves, yet the world and its lesser peoples would drag us down with them!”
His body flexed, in exaggerated poses. Mocking her with an obscene show of force. There was no humor in the movements. His posture was deliberate, sizing her up like she was prey.
Then his eyes focused on her, unblinking and intense. “You girl, you have the potential inside you, but you chose the wrong path.”
Did I now?
He kept ranting on and on, about his morals and beliefs, then his body started swelling, muscles budging, his clothes half in tatters. The ground shook, and cracks formed on the pavement.
Juniper’s eyes narrowed. She could feel the energy radiating off him—it was dangerous.
Observe him right now.]
She obeyed, scanning him as her HUD displayed his stats:
[Torque-Panzer: Amped Up]
- Power: 80
- Endurance: 70
- Dexterity: 25
- Reflex: 15
- Durability: 105
- Energy: 25 (rapidly depleting)
[Amped Abilities]
[Overclocked Bulk Amplification: Body swells; skin hardens. Durability heightened temporarily.]
[Enhanced Charge: Can crush heavy structures with ease but leaves him vulnerable from the rear.]
[Momentum Monster: Attacks grow stronger with continued movement.]
[Reckless Engine: While amped, impervious to standard attacks. Energy rapidly depletes. Once exhausted, the body becomes fragile.]
She frowned. Perhaps this was out of her depth, but if she fled, he probably was going to kill civilians or the SCRA man trapped in the window.
[Calm your upperchest, Jun. This fool is easy. He’ll burn out soon enough. Just keep yourself like a carrot on a stick.]
“I don’t find that comforting, Syschan.”
[What other choice do you have?]
She locked eyes with him. The helm covered only so much, he was exposed. A risk, but she would take it.
Torque-panzer stomped towards her, steps shaking the ground with a thunderous march. He was slower now that he bulked up, his breath hard and labored.
She gathered what energy she could, into a radiant glow, charged it in her hands, and shot at his face with everything she had.
She circled him, staying just out of reach, if he could stop moving, she had a chance to attack him from the rear.
Stay sharp, Juniper.
She took a shot aiming for his back, miscalculating. The beam struck him but didn’t stagger his bulking state. He adjusted his stance, then his hands shook from the strain of the attack.
Then Panzer closed the gap, his fist suddenly colliding with her torso like a battering ram. The impact blasted all the air from her lungs sending reeling on cracked pavement.
Pain hit her stomach, spine, chest. Her vision blurred as she hit the ground, rolling in agony and coughing blood.
Her mind screamed.
Why did I come here? She said to herself, standing up.
Her body screamed in agony. Her mind screamed even louder.
“Mmmnnnhhgffgg…” she moaned, disoriented, weak, and barely holding it together.
[Don’t give up! He already finds it hard to move without charging. You can contain him.]
Panzer stood like an inflated balloon, his body growing with every breath. His muscles bulged again monstrously, veins became as thick as pipes on his exposed skin. His armor fell off, the chunks of the crushed road, cracking under him.
The ground trembled as he took a step.
She faltered. She had no strength left to clash blows. He was too strong, even with serving as punching weight.
She swapped power sets, summoning the gravitational distortion. The effort felt like trying to lift a collapsing building with her bare hands. Her vision swam as sweat poured down her face, her muscles screaming in protest.
Torque Panzer slowed to a crawl, legs buckling beneath the sudden weight of several times gravity. His face jerked like was undergoing pilot maneuvers. The ground cracked beneath forming a horrid crater. He roared, clawing at the ground trying to escape the area of effect. Each movement chipped away at the road. Gravel was sent flying.
She dropped to her knees, barely holding it together. The pull of the gravity was fine, maintaining it while keeping Panzer under was straining. She was drawn closer to it, like a collapsing black hole.
“I can’t… I can’t keep this up…” she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her arms shook, and her body wanted relief.
Panzer sank into the ground, pinned like a cornered beast. Then he surged into the air, Rising with a guttural cry, he swung himself, lunging at her with terrifying speed.
“Fuck!” she cursed, scrambling to move.
His horn glowed faintly, thrashing wildly, as he flew through the air, pointing straight at her. She put everything into her back, shifting at the last second, like lightning, dodging the attack, the move sent her into the air.
Panzer hit the ground with his head first. His horn stabbed the earth. The impact shook the street, creating a mini fissure. He thrashed violently, clawing and digging, screaming to free himself, the strap helmet, kept him tight. His monstrous energy started fading.
Then he let out his last defeated groan. Torque Panzer had been defeated. She actually won.
[System prompt: You fucking did it. You beat your first cape.]
Juniper didn’t feel like celebrating. She coughed violently, blood splattering on the ground as her body swayed like a swing.
[Solar-Powered Sentinel LVL 7 → 9]
[Gravitational Distortion LVL 4 → 5]
[Power +3 for defeating someone stronger.]
[Dexterity +1 for using ambidextrous wits.]
[Reflex +1 for inhuman reactions.]
[Durability +3 for holding out against severe pain.]
She felt the changes in real-time, like her nerves and cells were working overtime to reprogram her. Her muscles were torn apart and reformed, and her bones stretched and realigned like her whole body was being built from scratch. It was uncomfortable, painless but weird. She convulsed, clutching at debris for support, anything as her flesh reshaped itself into something stronger, faster, better.
She let herself collapse on her back, breaths labored and weary.
“I hate this,” she groaned, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Syschan stayed silent for a moment, the usually chatty AI unnervingly quiet.
Finally, as Juniper glanced at Torque-Panzer’s crumpled form lying in the crater, Syschan spoke.
[“This was just the first. There will be more.”]
Juniper stared at the defeated brute, her battered body trembling as the weight of those words sank in.
Somehow for some reason, she was still alive. She’d come out on top, stronger. But it didn’t feel right. There was a toll to be paid. Something deeper. Something deeper than her skin.
She flexed her fingers. Watching them tense as she balled them. Something was off, every point she gained, chipped away at something intangible. Her powers were intoxicating, but what was the price she was paying?
“Am I still me?”
[Yes, I think so. -(◠‿◠)]
Was she?
Syschan? She was part of the problem, changing her, making her alien, and inhuman.
She asked herself again.
“Am I still me?”7Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjwWM6YPsg6
