Chapter 6: The Brothers of Chaos

Part 1 of 2: Hell Walks Among Us

November 3rd, 2015

To say the recent events were unnerving would be an understatement. The rather sudden change of events not only caught the girls by surprise, but also terrified them greatly. They had known that they would most likely be met with a strong opposing force, but little had they anticipated such a force to arrive in such a horrific and hellish manner. As it now stood, the Living Nightmare was dead, crushed underneath a large, powerful boot. The girls were faced with the two men, who had only referred to themselves as the "Korbalovs". It happened to be rather unfortunate for the girls that, for once, none of them had the slightest idea of who these two men were. The only things that they had managed to gather was that they were Russian, they were strong, and that, apparently, the Korbalovs had every intention of killing every last one of them.

"AJ," Tara whispered to her friend, unable to hide the growing concern in her voice. "Who are these guys?" Tara, in the recent weeks, had come to greatly trust AJ with supplying ample information about their foes. However, as Tara noticed AJ's confused expression, she couldn't help but suddenly feel very scared.

"I told ya, already… I don't know," AJ admitted, staying in a fighting stance. This news certainly did not help the unease among the girls, especially since it became noticeable that AJ was equally worried of the Korbalovs. It was a large series of factors that caused such a disturbing presence in the air that night. The way the men looked was not very comforting. The man named Yuri had a cocky grin spread over his face, showing no doubt or hesitation in fighting. He eyed the girls like prey, a hungry wolf waiting to feed. The other man, Kristov, did not share the same joy as his brother. In fact, his face remained unfazed. Despite breaking through the rib-cage of the world's greatest assassin, he refused to show any emotion. In fact, he wasn't even looking at the girls, much more focused on a particular spot on the orphanage floor that was located slightly to his left.

There was something even more unsettling, though, and it was the clear lack of humanity present in both men. Tara could see it in their eyes. They didn't seem to particularly care about who they were killing. Tara wondered if they perhaps enjoyed the act, as she still had little idea of why the Korbalovs had suddenly appeared. It was actually rather concerning, as Tara thought about it more. How did they know where the girls were going to be that night? Had they known about Melanie Moon and McCarther, or was it just chance that they showed up to stop the vile creatures?

"Hey!" Dash suddenly shouted out, seemingly reading Tara's thoughts. "What the fuck are you guys doing here?" At this comment, Yuri shrugged, a smirk placed upon his lips.

"Isn't it obvious?" Yuri stated, as if it were supposed to be the most well-known fact in the world. "Let me spell it out for you. We. Are. Going. To. Kill you. Simple as that."

The girls tensed up, readying themselves for an attack.

"Tara," Rachel whispered, her voice shaking. "These guys are starting to freak me out."

"Stay calm," Tara ordered. "We've dealt with worse stuff than this. These two are just another bunch of psychopaths."

In truth, however, Tara felt quite nervous about what seemed to be an inevitable fight. She didn't know why, but something seemed incredibly off about the two men. It was more than just their crazed eyes and powerful builds. She thought about this rationally. They were six well-trained fighters, all of which knew how to effectively kill, and all of which were prepped and ready to fight. But the men didn't bat an eye. They didn't take up any stances, or pull out any weapons.

They just stood there, one with a look of sheer delight, and the other with a trace of boredom.

"Come on," Yuri taunted. "Aren't you going to strike? You can have first punch. We are very kind gentlemen. There is no need for you ladies to die so rapidly. I mean, we should first talk this out, mayb-"

"Yuri," Kristov suddenly interrupted, his eyes never moving from the ground. "Do you really have to go through this routine every time? Let' just do this job and go back home." Yuri scoffed.

"Jesus Christ, Kristov," Yuri said with a smirk. "Learn to live a little."

Yuri turned back to the girls.

"Anyway," he continued. "You look menacing. Slightly. I believe that this fight should be suiti-"

BANG

Yuri was interrupted as a bullet suddenly whizzed through the air, connecting with his forehead. Yuri barely had time to register the event before the momentum from the shot threw him backwards, as he landed on the ground with a thud. Yuri remained unmoving, blood running down his face, as Kristov finally moved his eyes away from the ground to look his younger brother. His eyebrows raised slightly, but he did not seem to be too affected by it.

However, the girls were quite stunned by this, and turned around to see Pinky holding the gun, her sights focused on Yuri's body. Noticing the rather shocked attention she was getting, Pinky nervously lowered the gun and looked around.

"What?" Pinky asked, confused. "Don't tell me none of you guys thought of that? He was begging for it!" Tara breathed a deep sigh of relief.

"Pinky," Tara said gratefully. "That was one of the wisest things I've ever seen. Remind me to buy you some cookies later, alright?" Pinky practically jumped for joy.

"Sweet!" Pinky said happily, already dreaming of the sugary snack she could enjoy later. Smiling, Tara turned her attention back to Kristov. He had not moved, simply staring at his brother with an emotionless glare. While Tara felt relieved that one of the unnerving men had been slayed, something else bothered her. Tara didn't know from experience, but she had the rather strong feeling that the death of a sibling would provoke a large range of emotions. Perhaps, it was more similar to the experience when Tara witnessed her classmates die, or Rachel as witnessed Spyke die: shock. But usually with shock, Tara figured, there would be some gape of the mouth, or shortness of breath, or anything indicating horror. And yet, despite his brother being killed right in front of him, Kristov remained uncaring of his brother's demise.

But why? What could possibly be causing him to suppress his emotions so greatly?

"Yuri," Kristov said, his voice containing no sadness or anger. "Are you alright?"

It was quite the ridiculous question. Clearly, Yuri Korbalov was not alright; anyone intelligent could see this. But the question was spoken with such normality and bluntness that it seemed that Kristov was honest in his questioning. Only Tara seemed to notice this question being asked, however, as the rest of the girls appeared to be only half paying attention to the surrounding events. The rest of their attention was focused on the sensational relief of Yuri's demise, with the exception of Pinky, who was still day-dreaming about the wondrous nature of large, chocolaty cookies.

And then, someone started to laugh.

It was a low laugh, starting at a deep chuckle before slowly rising up in volume, turning into a breathless cackling. As it grew, it couldn't help but draw the attention of the girls. The laughter held an almost evil quality to it, as if it would snatch the souls of all who listened to it. The source wasn't hard to locate, but when it was finally found, it didn't seem possible.

Unless Tara was horribly mistaken, it sounded to her like it was coming from Yuri's body. Now that she heard it louder, she was absolutely certain that it came from Yuri Korbalov. All of the relief Tara had felt was instantly replaced with feelings of unease and terror. Suddenly, Tara thought she saw Yuri's hand twitch. But it was impossible, so Tara knew she must have imagined it.

And yet, there it was again. A twitch in Yuri's right hand; just a subtle movement of the index finger, but enough to attract attention of everyone in the area.

And then, Yuri started to move again. A long groan was let out from the seemingly dead body. The right arm slowly rose, before collapsing on Yuri's head. Yuri's legs twitched, his knees shook a little as very slowly, he sat up, taking a deep breath, and then once again started laughing like a madman. Yuri's hand was clutched against his forehead. Blood ran down his face and his fingers. If Yuri was feeling pain, he was no longer showing any signs of it.

"Ow," Yuri finally groaned out. "That stung a bit."

Tara was unable to move. Neither was anyone else. Tara blinked once, and then twice. Shock was starting to come over her. Pinky, who before had been so proud of her shot, now stood frozen, her mouth gaping open and blue eyes unblinking. Dash held her hand to her own forehead, staring in shock at the men. Fiona, who was previously starting to feel comfortable, was now slowly retreating to the back of the group, feeling very intense anxiety. Rachel's legs shook ferociously, as the British girl felt like she was unable to move, too stunned to perform any action. AJ reassumed her fighting stance, trying to block out her confusion and fear with pure adrenaline.

Tara thought that it had to be some sort of trick. Perhaps Pinky had missed, or Yuri was wearing armor of some kind. Maybe, for whatever reason, he had pretended that he had been killed, because of some terrible sense of humor. Anything would provide suitable explanation for what she just witnessed. For if it wasn't anything else, Tara would have to accept the physically impossible as being reality, something which she wasn't sure she could comprehend. Slowly, Yuri adjusted his weight, and rose to his feet, his hand still held to his forehead. Kristov groaned.

"You looked like you were actually out for a few seconds," Kristov said, not very amused by his brother's apparent resurrection. Yuri shrugged.

"Well, I got to make it look convincing," Yuri flashed a grin. He gestured towards the bewildered girls. "They looked rather happy there for a few moments. I always enjoy the reactions."

Kristiov rolled his eyes. "You enjoy this far too much, brother," he said, rather annoyed.

Tara was still in disbelief. She was trying to register everything, but her brain kept refuting it. Yuri, who had just been shot in the head, was now conversing with his brother as if it were an everyday occurrence. At this time, Yuri now removed his hand from his head, and Tara looked at his head in shock, all of her doubt fading away into nothingness.

The bullet, now crumpled and bent, was lodged prominently into Yuri's skull. The wound itself was not deep at all, and the bullet mostly stuck out of Yuri's head. Tara realized that there was no way it could be some kind of trick. There would be no reason for it anyhow. The girls cringed as Yuri suddenly grabbed onto the bullet and, with a brief tug, yanked it out of his skull and tossed it to the ground. The blood continued ever more so, the wound now wider in his skin, as Yuri chuckled at the girls reactions. It wasn't anything any of them knew how to handle. There was only one thing perfectly clear to them, which horrified them ever more so.

Yuri Korbalov had just survived a bullet to the head.

"What… how…" was all Tara could muster out, barely a whisper. "He… he just…"

"Who the fuck are these guys?" Dash said, her calm persona now completely gone. She too had been in quite a state of duress. However, instead of being frozen in fear, her concern gave rise to anger, and a ferocious determination to fight overcame her. "You fucking freaks of nature!"

Dash took a step forward, challenging the two men.

"You think you're so fucking tough?!" Dash called out angrily. Dash understood that the Korbalovs were clearly trying to intimidate the girls. She refused to let these men scare her into submission. She didn't know how Yuri had survived such a wound, but she wasn't at all fazed by it. "Why don't you stop fucking around, and fight us already, you overgrown pussies!"

Yuri couldn't help but crack an even larger smile. At last, he took up a fighting stance, smiling away the entire time.

"Whatever you say," Yuri said happily.

Suddenly, as Dash got ready to attack, she felt someone quickly shove her aside. Dash nearly lost her balance as Pinky angrily pushed her way forward, now carrying two guns and pointing them at the Korbalovs.

"MOVE, DASH!" Pinky angrily commanded. Being a self-proclaimed expert in the field of firearms, Pinky knew exactly what a gunshot did to the human skull. Pinky couldn't say that she understood much in the world, but what she did understand was that it was impossible to survive what Yuri just encountered. She may have believed in many strange things, like a teleporting devil-man who wielded a katana, but she refused to believe that a .40 caliber bullet did not do the same damage as a .40 caliber bullet. Pinky knew that it had to be some sort of trick; some sort of shielding that prevented the damage. And if she were to catch him off guard, then maybe, just maybe, Pinky thought that she could break through the barrier. Convinced of this theory, Pinky wasted no time in unloading the clips into the two men before her.

Kristov was ready. Suddenly moving with great speed, Kristov slid in front of his brother, and raised his crimson arms in front of his face. The bullets bounced off of his arms like rubber. Every time a bullet struck his arm, that section of his forearms seemed to light up, almost as they were setting off ripples in water. As the firing stopped, Yuri suddenly sprang out from behind his brother, and made a mad dash towards Pinky. The blonde girl barely had time to jump back as a large fist impacted the floor where she previously stood. The rapid attack knocked Tara out of her stupor, and she finally regained rational thought. She immediately gave the order to charge at the two brothers. Tara lunged herself at Yuri, while AJ immediately charged towards Kristov. Dash leapt as Yuri as well, and, after a brief moment's hesitation, Fiona began to run after AJ.

Despite the attacks that were now being thrown at him from multiple angles, Yuri kept his focus on Pinky. He lunged at her once again, and once again she jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a powerful fist. Seeing a wide open opportunity, Pinky balanced herself one leg, kicking forward at Yuri, who was still following through with his attack. The goal of the kick was to deliver a stunning blow to Yuri's head, biding some time for the others.

However, her goals never reached fruition.

With great speed, Yuri unexpectedly reached upwards, grabbing ahold of Pinky's ankle with his left hand. He tucked Pinky's foot under his arm, so that her shin stuck out from behind. He raised his free arm, and then brought his elbow down hard upon Pinky's kneecap. The joint resisted the force of the elbow for a few moments, but eventually, it could not sustain the great pressure put upon it. The knee gave way, the elbow pressing the joint to the ground. With a sickening crack, the knee snapped backwards, now bent in the precise opposite direction in which it was supposed to be. The horror of seeing her leg contorted out of place reached Pinky before the actual pain did. For about a second, Pinky felt absolute numbness.

After that, she felt nothing but intense agony.

Pinky screamed as her nerves lit up throughout her leg. The scream was bloodcurdling, so much that the girls had suddenly frozen in place at the terrifying sound. However, the pain was not yet over. Yuri, smiling happily, removed Pinky's broken limb from beneath his arm, and raised her leg high in the air. The rapid movement sent shockwaves through Pinky's body, and she screamed again. She felt as if she was losing all of her energy. Pinky could no longer support her own body weight, and her other leg fell limb beneath her. She only remained suspended through Yuri's grip, which only doubled her pain. But just as Pinky thought that she had experienced the worst pain in her life, Yuri gave her the unfortunate pleasure of being wrong.

Suddenly leaning forward, Yuri lifted his left leg in the air. Shifting her broken limb, he suddenly kicked towards Pinky's left leg. His thick boot collided with her left knee, and soon, that too cracked under the pressure, breaking sideways, snapping the ligaments in the leg as it went, shattering the bones into fragments. Pinky wanted to scream again, but felt as though she couldn't. She couldn't muster any more strength for it; her brain was too focused on dealing with the unbearable pain.

Feeling contempt with his work Yuri released his grip on Pinky, letting her limp form fall to the floor. Pinky collapsed with a thud, her body shuddering in agony. Her legs lie broken on the floor, bent in two horrible directions. Pinky's fingers twitched and her lips trembled, as the pain caused her movements to spaz out of control. Pinky just stared into the ceiling, her once happy blue eyes now filled with tears, as Pinky waited for the moment when she would finally pass out from the pain.

It was hard for Pinky to not attract attention from the others. Her cries sent shivers down the spines of the P.O.N.Y's. Tara felt horrified. The situation seemed to be slowly unraveling before her. First, the Korbalovs come out from literally nowhere, and kill one of the greatest assassin's in the world with little effort. Then, one of them gets shot in the head, and survives. And now, one of her best friends was lying crippled on the ground, her legs horribly mutilated. It seemed almost too much to bear. But instead of letting her fear take over, Tara tried to bet imitate Dash, and let it become fuel for her anger.

Tara readjusted her grip on her blade, and with a ferocious yell, charged at Yuri. Yuri sidestepped the attack, only to have to dodge a punch from Dash. Tara slashed at Yuri repeatedly, hoping that anything would land on the behemoth. Every time Tara would miss a swing, Dash would come from behind the girl and attempt to land a hit as well, before retreating back behind the blade. It was an effective system that was starting to push Yuri backwards to the wall.

Meanwhile, the fight against Kristov was being met with rather mixed results, as AJ had no idea whether her attacks had any effect on the man. Kristov kept his arms raised in defense, but aside from that, he did very little to avoid any attacks. Fiona's constant kicks were blocked with his massive arms, the impact seemingly causing no impact to the man. Occasionally, Kristov would throw a punch, but AJ and Fiona were able to dodge the slow attacks with relative ease. The three found seemingly themselves in a relative stalemate, neither party able to inflict damage on the other. Yuri, on the other hand, was now clearly on the defensive, the rapid nature of Tara and Dash's attacks keeping him against the wall. However, despite being in a disadvantageous position, Yuri kept smiling away.

"Come on!" Yuri taunted. "Try harder than that!" Tara was swinging her sword as fast as she could, but Yuri somehow dodged every attack. Most of which he ducked underneath; on the occasions he tried to sidestep, Dash forced him back. The cycle repeated itself many a time, and during the entire period, Tara felt nothing but rage. Every slash of her sword was driven with anger; all of her attacks were carrying the pain of her friend with them. Tara pushed herself further, her strained arms burning as she fought Yuri with all the energy she could muster. But just as Tara was finally pushing Yuri to the brink, he suddenly called out to his brother.

"Kristov! END THIS!"

Kristov was still locked in battle with Fiona and AJ when he heard Yuri. Kristov paused briefly, and AJ saw it as an opening to attack. AJ's fist rocketed out towards Kristov's head, but Kristov was as frozen as he appeared. As AJ's right fist shot out, Kristov launched forward a punch of his own. With uncanny accuracy, Kristov's hand collided into AJ's, and the southern girl immediately felt the result. At the moment of impact, her knuckles shatter from the force, crunching her fingers back into her hand. The shock of the punch vibrated through her arm, cracking the bone as it went. When the vibrations reached her elbow, the joint was twisted out of his socket, springing outwards at a sharp angle. AJ was swept off her feet from the impact, and she fell to the ground with a hard thud. AJ yelped; despite her vast combat experience, it still hurt her very badly when her arm was splintered. As AJ fell to the ground, she couldn't help but notice several things. She saw Kristov quickly turning around assaulting Fiona at a lightning speed, so much that Fiona was finding it hard to dodge more of his attacks. AJ saw Yuri finally manage to roll away from the wall, leaping back to the center of the room.

And then, AJ noticed something she had never noticed before. AJ saw Rachel standing in the corner of the room, completely frozen. Rachel didn't get involved in the fight at all. All she did was stare at the battle with unblinking eyes, watching chaos unravel before her.

To be fair, Rachel was about to involve herself in the battle before Pinky got hurt. She had never considered herself a particularly good fighter, but she had felt like she needed to help her friends. But then, she saw what happened to her blonde friend; how Yuri snapped her legs like toothpicks. How he seemed to enjoy every agonizing yell that emerged from her body. How he took the utmost pride in Pinky's unbearable pain. After that, Rachel couldn't move. It wasn't like she didn't want to fight, but her body wouldn't respond to her commands. Her legs shook, and Rachel felt shame. Even Fiona, the most easily scared person in the world, was taking up a fight against these men. But Rachel couldn't do it. Just seeing Pinky sprawled out on the floor, barely moving, sent her into a state of near shock. To Rachel, everything seemed surreal from that point onwards. It was as if everything happened in a deep haze, one which Rachel simply couldn't escape from, no matter how hard she tried.

Rachel watched as AJ fell to the ground and clutched her arm in agony, trying to muster enough will to get back in the fight. Rachel saw how Dash's movements quickened as the rainbow-haired girl got more anxious with each passing second. Rachel saw Dash launch a risky attack towards Yuri's legs. She witnessed Yuri effortlessly dodge, and then, with brutal efficiency, deliver a swift kick to Dash's midsection. The force of the blow cracked Dash's hip, and she skidded across the floor, groaning in aching misery. Rachel saw Tara try to retaliate, bringing her sword down vertically upon Yuri's head. However, Yuri cupped his hands together, and caught the blade above his head, mere inches from striking his skull. Yuri smirked, and then kicked a shocked Tara hard in the stomach. Rachel saw Tara double over, as she coughed up blood over the floor. Rachel could tell that Tara had probably just ruptured another organ, seeing the glazed, pained look in her eyes. After a few seconds, Tara could no longer support herself, and collapsed to the floor, her blade hitting the ground with a clang. Rachel looked back at Kristov and Fiona, everything still hazy to her. Rachel saw Fiona stare at Tara's crumple form, before the shy girl immediately charged at Yuri in a full sprint, a look of anger that Rachel had never seen the likes of. It appeared as if Fiona shouted something at the Russian; Rachel couldn't tell. Everything was still too surreal to comprehend. Fiona dove after Yuri in a ferocious manner, however, Kristov grabbed onto her foot from behind. Using her momentum, Kristov swung Fiona around and slammed her into the nearby wall. Fiona was dropped to the ground, her nose broken in four places, and her face dripping with blood.

It was like a nightmare. That was the closest thing Rachel could compare it to. She was trying to understand everything that was happening around her. Rachel had just witnessed all of her friends being taken out one by one, painfully and mercilessly. Rachel didn't know how it could be real. She had seen her allies take on the criminal underworld, crazed assassins, and demonic warriors. It didn't seem possible that they could have fallen so easily. That didn't change the fact that as she shook in fear, her friends were slowly dying in front of her. Rachel didn't want to admit it t herself, but she seemed to slowly be accepting that as reality.

They were dying.

Rachel started to panic, even more than she already was. It was one of the worst feelings she had ever felt. She saw her friends in trouble, but she did nothing to help, and she could do nothing to prevent it. Yuri walked up to Fiona, and examined her. After deciding that she had not early suffered enough, Yuri stomped on Fiona's arm, hearing the satisfying breaking of bone beneath his boot.

"Yuri," Kristov spoke disapprovingly. Yuri ignored him, now walking over to Tara, placing his boot on her chest. He slowly applied pressure down upon Tara, hearing her breath rush out of her as her ribs were splintering.

"Yuri, that's enough," Kristov said more sternly. Despite his clear disapproval of Yuri's actions, he didn't even attempt to halt his brother. Yuri looked out of the corner of his eye, and saw AJ rising to her feet. Her right arm lay limp by her side, but she did her best to assume a fighting stance. She glared angrily at Yuri, however, AJ's focus was primarily on Rachel. Rachel saw AJ looking at her, but didn't respond. She couldn't tell if the experienced agent was angry at her or scared for her. Rachel felt humiliated once again. Now, even AJ was proving her worth, despite her gruesome injury. AJ snapped her eyes back to Yuri. Yuri prepared to charge at the girl, knowing full well that he could take her in her wounded state.

"DIE, YOU FUCKING SADIST!" a voice from behind him suddenly called out. Yuri lunged to the side as Dash jumped down from behind him, swinging the butterfly knife that was previously owned by Melanie Moon, that of which she stole from the base. Dash wasted no time in attacking again. Dash held the knife with the blade extended downward, as she took a series of slashes at Yuri's face. AJ soon joined in, and the two girls were now trying to keep up with the mad Russian. However, Kristov did not join to help his brother. Rather, he focused his attention on Rachel, who was still staring at the chaotic battleground in a nightmarish haze. Kristov hadn't bothered noticing her presence before, but now, all he could do was stare at her with the same emotionless expression she had seen all night. Rachel noticed him staring at her. She didn't try to run away or fight, and he didn't try to attack. Both of the simply stood in place, looking at the other; Kristov looking at Rachel with curiosity, and Rachel looking at Kristov in terror.

Meanwhile, AJ quickly discovered that she was fighting a losing battle. No matter how much training she had, being restricted of her dominant arm was a severe handicap. AJ could strike as accurately with her left hand, and when she was fighting an opponent that seemed to be near invincible to begin with, her chances of victory were slim. Dash didn't seem to slow down her attack, however. Dash didn't show any signs of injury. In fact, she seemed to be attacking even faster now, her muscles pushing themselves to the limit as they moved at a rapidly increasing pace. AJ almost stopped fighting completely to watch such an amazing feat of rage. With one broken hip, Dash moved with the speed and ferocity of a lion, and her cries of anger mixed with pain sounded equally animalistic. Unfortunately, even at Dash's ultimate speed, she still couldn't land a single hit. Eventually, Yuri got tired of dodging useless strikes. As Dash swung again, Yuri reached out and clutched her hand, crushing it in his own. Dash was forced to drop the knife from the pain.

AJ attempted to run in and help Dash, but Kristov suddenly reentered the fray. Grabbing on to the back of AJ's shirt, he slammed her against the wall with ruthless force. AJ was stunned for a moment, before her instincts started screaming at her to dodge. At the last possible moment, AJ moved her head to the side, as Kristov's enormous fist struck the wall. The red hand burst through the wall, and when he pulled it back out, some of the concrete came with it. Kristov grabbed onto AJ's shirt with his other hand, and forced her back into place, before kneeing her had in the stomach. AJ bent over, trying to compose herself, but Kristov struck her twice more, and finally, succeeded in knocking her unconscious from the sheer stress on her body. Dash didn't fare any better. While still holding Dash's arm in a tight grip, Yuri picked up the butterfly knife of the ground. Looking at it for a brief moment, Yuri smirked.

Then, he lashed out with the blade. He dragged the blade upwards across Dash's face. While she was able to dodge most of the attack, Dash's speed let her down in the end. The knife dragged across her right eye, piercing through her cheek, barely scraping the lid of her eye, and scarring up another inch across Dash's face. Yuri let go of Dash as she fell to the ground screaming, cupping her eye as blood poured from the wound. Her misery did not last long however, as Yuri kicked her hard in the side, eliminating the rebellious girl from the realm of consciousness.

"Well, that was enjoyable," Yuri muttered to himself. "But not nearly as enjoyable as it could be!"

Yuri went back to his prior work, walking over to the girls' bodies, and delivering more harsh blows. Rachel shook every time a hit was landed. The nightmare was in full effect now. No one could fight against Yuri's tremendous blows. Rachel watched in horror as Yuri kicked Pinky in her wounded legs, causing her to whimper. Rachel remained unblinking as Yuri decided to stomp on Fiona's other arm, shattering it like glass. As she watched, all Rachel could do was feel worthless. She watched blood erupt from mouths, bones burst forth from the skin, limbs nearly being torn away from torsos, and all she could do was stand and watch, like a spineless coward.

And then something finally snapped inside of her. She couldn't take the resounding feelings of terror and guilt. Rachel had gone through the last two years of her life feeling worthless. She had always pretended to be helpful, but in reality, her feeble excuses for generosity have never truly been of any worth; she had known it for such a long time, but she tried her best to ignore it. Now, as she hid in fear as her friends were having their lives beaten out of them, she knew she could take it no longer. Every truthful, horrible thought struck her as hard as her friends were being struck with punches. Rachel's hand curled itself into a fist, and suddenly, she saw the world clearly again. The Korbalovs weren't paying any attention to her. Kristov was busy looking disapprovingly at his brother, who was stomping repeatedly on Tara's chest. Her lips twisted into a scowl, her teeth clenched, and her eyes burned with fury.

Rachel Germain didn't know what she would be able to do, but she refused to be worthless any more.

With a painful vengeance, she charged headfirst at Yuri. Kristov looked towards her as she approached, but did nothing to stop her. Now merely a few feet away from her target, Rachel leapt into the air, her leg bent. With incredible velocity, her foot swung out, and collided with the back of Yuri's head. Rachel landed on the ground facing away from Yuri, a smile of achievement on her face. But as she looked back, she saw that Yuri was still standing, his head simply bent forward form the impact. He turned quizzically at her, and then, upon seeing her, started to chuckle.

"Hey, Kristov," Yuri said calmly. "We missed one."

As Rachel's mood rapidly dropped, and her panic came back in full force, she heard a strange sound. It was almost a loud humming; a vibrating that slowly increased in volume. Rachel nervously turned her head towards the source. The sound was coming from Kristov, or more specifically, his arm. Kristov's right arm was starting to glow, it color shifting from crimson to nearly white. Kristov clenched his fist as the humming increased in volume, now excessively loud. Kristov slowly pulled his arm back, as the arm itself was now nearly white, his fist still a light red. With enormous power, Kristov slammed his arm into the ground, and the floor shook as if an mighty earthquake was occurring.

The next thing Rachel knew she was flying through the air very rapidly, before she slammed into the wall with great momentum. She heard the cracking of bones, although she had no idea which ones they were. She slid down the wall, and remained lying still at the base of the wall, a large dent in the concrete now above her. Through her hazy vision, she saw Kristov's arm return to its crimson nature, as the large man walked over to Tara.

"I think that's enough fun for you, Yuri," Kristov said sternly. "It's time to put them out of their misery."

"Wait, wait, wait," Yuri said, waving rapidly in the air. His face was contorted into a wicked grin, one of which that was only worn by men with the most disturbing thoughts. "Who says we have to kill them? I mean, we could always-"

"No!" Kristov said harshly. It was the most emotion that he had shown all night, and it was clear he knew exactly what his brother wanted. "We have a job to do. A very well paying job. We are not disrupting our business so you can interact your sadistic thoughts on these girls."

"Come on, Kristov!" Yuri laughed. "I need to relieve some stress. Besides, that Discord guy said he wanted them to suffer, and die slow. He even said that the more they are in pain,and the longer it lasts, the more we get paid! Who are we to disappoint a customer?"

"They're just kids!" Kristov yelled. "Look at them! They've suffered enough tonight. Hell, they've probably suffered enough for the rest of their lives. Who even knows why someone would want to kill these little girls? Clearly, the punishment has been served. Let's kill them, and go home. I hate the States."

Yuri groaned, and then looked at Rachel. He suddenly regained his grin.

"She hasn't suffered," Yuri said, pointing at the girl. Kristov looked at the semi-conscious girl on the floor. "How about this, then? You want to be humanitarian? Fine. We leave these girls alive. Someone will surely find them, and maybe, they might get treatment, so they could almost walk normally again. But, in order to protect our code of trust, we take the busty one back with us to the place, and see what we can learn. I'm sure that girl could tell us plenty of good information. I would sure like to know what a girl like her is doing here. Who knows, maybe we could even find out who that Discord guy is. After that, once the girls recover, and we know why we should kill them, we end their lives (or beat them again, then let them die), get the payment for letting them suffer, and then everyone is happy. They live a few extra days, you get to be a good person, I get to interrogate someone, and Discord gets to see them in agony. What do you think about that?"

Kristov frowned. He didn't really know how to respond. His brother had never acted beyond his instincts for destruction. Kristov knew full well what would happen if Yuri didn't have someone to take his anger out on. Kristov was never entirely interested in their particular business practice like Yuri was. Honestly, the intense physical pain he caused never amused him, and he didn't enjoy letting his victims suffer, especially if they appeared to be six perfectly average teenage girls (albeit one of them was holding a katana, and another had incredibly accurate aim with a handheld weapon, which he couldn't explain). He didn't know how much the girls were suffering, but he knew that it could not be pleasant.

He was faced with two very upsetting options. He could let the girls live, although one would be taken as hostage, which, with his brother involved, was never good for anybody. The second option was killing the girls, taking the money, going back home, and enjoy life. However, Yuri would be rather furious with the concept of letting them off with something as simple as death. And Yuri could get pretty violent when he was mad.

With this in mind, Kristov chose the option that clearly seemed like the more humanitarian thing to do.

"Take the girl," Kristov said bluntly, watching Yuri's face light up with glee. Yuri strolled over to Rachel, and hoisted her off of the ground. Rachel moaned in agony as she was slung over Yuri's shoulder, her body completely limp. The two men, now having decided upon allowing the girls to live, had nothing left to do. As such, Yuri and Kristov casually walked to the steps at the end of the hall. Kristov begrudgingly walked down the stairs. He at least felt some relief in the fact that most of the girls were unconscious. At least for now, they could not feel the horrendous damage that had been done to their bodies. Although it seemed cruel, Kristov knew that by keeping Yuri happy, more people ended up being much safer than they would have been otherwise. Yuri followed his brother, but suddenly stopped at the top of the stairs, remembering something. He turned back to the girls with a grin.

"Oh, by the way," Yuri said, not caring that no one could hear him. "Discord sends his regards, or something. I don't really care. Anyway, great fight you girls put up! Hope to do it again, sometime!" Yuri laughed with delight as he hopped down the stairs, causing Rachel to moan in pain with each step. They left the room as it was, completely deserted, save for the five girls on the floor, lying dormant as if they lay in their own tombs.

__________

AJ sat quietly in the dark room. Her expression was vacant. With wide eyes, she stared at the black table before her. She couldn't think of anything else to do. Maybe she could pray, she thought. She thought that perhaps, if she asked God nicely enough, He could wind back the clock, and prevent all of this from happening. But even with the most pure soul, no one could undo the cruel fate of time. So AJ just sat there, staring at the table. If she listened closely enough, she could hear people talking on the other side of the wall. But even if she had the will to strain her hearing, everything would still sound like murmurs and whispers.

The door slowly opened, and a man stepped in. It wasn't any one she had ever seen before. He was a rather large man, his muscular physique showing through his black T-shirt. A mop of deep red hair rested upon his head. Dark stubble covered his face. And for some reason AJ would not yet understand, he wore a pair of dark shades, despite the fact that the room was already dimly lit. The man, very cautiously, sat down at the other end of the table. AJ only glanced at the man, before resuming her long stare at the table. The man appeared very somber, as if he shared the same pain that she felt.

"Hello, miss," the man finally spoke up. His accent was thick, and sounded foreign to AJ's ears. She had no idea where the man was from, although she assumed that it was from a place in which everyone talked equally strange. The man continued.

"How are ya feelin'?" the man spoke again.

AJ didn't answer.

"I understand ya must be havin' a rough time," the man said. "But it'll be real nice of ya to talk with us."

"You talk funny," AJ finally spoke up, without moving her gaze. The man couldn't help but smile at the observation made by the young girl.

"Yeah, people tell me that often," the man said with a bright smile. "That's what ya get for bein' raised in Dallas."

The room became silent once again, as AJ showed no signs of cheering up. And considering what the young girl had been through, the man couldn't blame her.

"So," the man started to speak again. "Ya… want to tell me your name?" AJ remained silent, not moving. The man placed his hand upon his chest, and smiled again.

"My name is MacDonnell Clive," the man said. "People call me Mac."

"Hi, Mac," AJ said softly. "My… my name is AJ."

Mac smiled brightly once more.

"How old are you, AJ?" Mac asked, happy that the girl was starting to talk.

"Fi-five," AJ managed to stutter out.

"Okay," Mac spoke. "That's a nice hat you're wearing, by the way."

It was an attempt to cheer the girl up, but it immediately had the inverse effect. AJ's eyes were starting to water. The hat that Mac had mentioned was the last gift her mother had given her. AJ remembered how her mother had won her the Stetson at a carnival game, beating out several other people in the county. The mention of the object on her head brought back memories of her parents, and the times that they shared together. It was simply too much for her to bear. Slowly, AJ lifted her head to look at Mac, her big eyes wet with hot tears.

"I…" AJ slowly spoke. "I… I want my mom."

AJ started to cry fully at this point, unable to contain herself any more. She had been trying to suppress her emotions since earlier that day, but she felt like she could no longer control herself. Her whole body shook intensely with sobs, and her face turned bright red as tears streamed down her cheeks. Mac didn't know how to comfort her. He had never dealt with children before. So he simply sat there, watching the young girl experience absolute torment. AJ had lost track of time when her tears finally slowed. It wasn't as if she became any less sad; she had simply run out of tears to shed. As her sobs died out, AJ had finally come to grips with the harsh reality of her life.

Her family was dead.

And she was alone.

__________

November 4th, 2015

AJ slowly opened her eyes, and immediately wished that she was still unconscious. The pain in her arm and stomach was nearly unbearable. It took her a few minutes for the painful haze to wear off, and she tried to recognize her surroundings. Everything was white. She heart a constant clicking sound coming from her left, and several people talking right in front of her. But when she looked up, she saw that it was only a television mounted on the wall, which was constantly being flipped through its channels.

"It's about fucking time you woke up," AJ heard a voice say from beside her. AJ tried to move her head, but she was too weary to move. However, she slowly managed to shift her eyes, and noticed Dash lying in the bed beside her. Dash's gaze was locked on the television screen. The remote was in her hand, and she was constantly clicking a button with her thumb, watching the images change. Dash's expression was one of seriousness, and AJ could plainly see why. Over Dash's right eye, a fuzzy white patch had been placed, and bandages were wrapped around it to keep it in place.

"Man, some crazy shit has happened in the past day, wouldn't ya say?" Dash said normally. She didn't give any clear expression that would suggest that she was in pain, but AJ knew from the tone in her voice that Dash was rather upset. "Doc's been saying that the blade cut through my eyelid. Says I gotta wear this dumb fucking patch for a while, but I should be lucky that I'll be able to see again. My hand was nearly broken, too, and my hip got fucked up. Can't feel it though; lots of meds."

"What…" AJ tried to speak out. "What happened?" Dash shrugged.

"Well, you've been asleep for about fourteen hours," Dash started. "Basically, we got jumped. Haven't seen Wilson or Celestia around yet, so I don't have a fucking clue who those guys were. But they did some fucked up shit to us. A doctor came in earlier; said your elbow was snapped out of place, your arm shattered in five places, your fingers were broken and your bottom two ribs cracked. Honestly, sounds like fun. In fact, I think the doctor said they even found your hat, and brought it back here."

"But what happened to the others?" AJ asked, still feeling horrible. Out of the vast pain she had suffered in her life, she could certainly say that this set of injuries had cracked the top three. Dash took a deep sigh.

"Well," Dash said, somewhat somberly. "I hear it's not too good. Pinky's been having reconstructive surgery done on her knees since we got here. They said she will be lucky to walk again. Fiona's bones were apparently sticking out of her skin in four spots. She's been out cold, at least as far as I know. And Spark…" Dash paused. "Spark's got it bad too. Her stitches busted like a balloon, her intestines got sliced, seven of her ribs are broken, and she's in critical right now. I think she might still be in surgery, trying to get one of her organs pierced back together. I really don't know; haven't heard anything in hours."

The two girls said no more, letting the sounds of the television fill the room. AJ somberly thought of her friends, all of which seemed to have it far worse than she was. She felt like a complete failure. After all, she was the one who had asked for them to take up such a dangerous assignment. She felt like each of their injuries was her responsibility, and it was a burden that no one should have needed to carry. But then, AJ suddenly realized something about Dash's description, which worried her even more so.

"Wait, Dash," AJ said, concerned. "What happened to Rachel? Is she alright?" Dash frowned, and lowered her head.

"That's the thing," Dash admitted. "I asked one of the doc's about that. But he said that when he found us, there were just us five lying on the ground. Rachel wasn't found with us. I have no idea what happened to her. She could be dead, for all I know." However, AJ smirked.

"I wouldn't count on it," AJ said, happily. Dash looked at her friend, confused. AJ elaborated. "See, when we were fighting, I saw her hiding out. The big guys didn't even notice her. She probably escaped, and is back at Camelot right now."

"That is quite the good theory, Miss Balle," came a voice from the door. Dash and AJ saw General Wilson standing in the doorway, a very disappointed look on his face. "But Miss Germain is nowhere to be found. We checked every one of her preferred locations in the city, but she is simply missing."

"Wait," Dash said, fearfully. "You don't think that-"

"We'll have to wait to continue this conversation, Miss Dawson," the General stated. "I simply came in to see how you girls were holding up. When the others regain consciousness, then we'll discuss details."

"Wait, does that mean that everyone's alright?" Dash asked, full of hope. "Is Spark out of critical yet? Is she okay? What-"

"Calm down, Miss Dawson," Wilson said strictly. "The others are going to be fine. Miss Sullivan was returned to stable condition about two hours ago. Miss Samswell has been staying by her bedside the whole time. Once Miss Patrikson is out of surgery and awake, we can reconvene."

Wilson left the room, leaving the girls to wait alone. They assumed he went to check up on the others, but they honestly didn't care much where he went. It was quite obvious that there was a far more concerning matter at hand. AJ knew that the likelihood of all of the girls surviving this program was slim, but she didn't think that something like this could happen so soon. Worse, she didn't even know if Rachel was dead. AJ knew that the man named Yuri seemed to get great joy from causing others misery. It drove the most terrible ideas through her mind. What if Rachel was being tortured? What if they started ripping her limbs off one by one? What if they tore her throat open? The many "What if's" was too much for AJ to deal with. She stopped thinking about, and tried to focus on the task at hand. AJ only needed to wait a couple of more hours, and then, she could finally learn what the two monsters really were.

__________

Tara groaned. It was really all she could do. Breathing hurt her too much. Every time words came out of her mouth, it felt like fire was erupting from her heart. Tara took solace in the fact that she was not alone at this time. Celestia paced across from her, and Fiona sat on the edge of her bed, sorrowfully watching her as she lay. Fiona's arms were carefully wrapped in bandages, and were placed in casts to rest comfortably across Fiona's chest. Fiona's angelic face was now covered in a bright white bandage, which wrapped tightly around her recently adjusted nose.

"Tara, is there anything else that we can do for you?" Fiona asked, softly. Her voice sounded clogged and distorted; an unfortunate side effect of the injury to her face. Tara shook her head, not wanting to speak. Fiona lowered her head, and stared at the floor. Celestia, who was still pacing, appeared to be deep in thought about some relatively unknown manner. It had been two hours since she had been told that AJ was awake. It was now a simple matter of waiting for Pinky to arrive to discuss the very urgent business before them. Luckily, they did not have to wait long. Within the next half-hour, Pinky, AJ, and Dash were slowly wheeled into the room; a strange request that befuddled several of the nurses at the hospital. The room was now very cramped, having to fit five beds inside of it, making it very difficult for anyone to move around. Celestia settled by leaning against the far wall, gazing out the window. One minute afterwards, Wilson strolled into the room.

"Has the security camera been muted?" Wilson asked Celestia. Without turning away from the window, Celestia responded.

"Yes," she simply said. Wilson nodded, and turned his attention to the girls.

"Alright, ladies," Wilson said, very formally. "We have much to discuss." Immediately, a barrage of questions was thrown his way.

"What happened to Rachel?"

"Who were those Russian guys?"

"Why did they have superpowers, and why the fuck don't we have them?"

"Calm yourselves!" Wilson suddenly demanded. The room went mute, as Wilson sighed. "I understand that you have many questions regarding yesterday's events. Please, give me a moment to try and answer them to the best of my ability. This is all very difficult to explain."

Wilson took a deep breath.

"For starters," he began. "In case none of you are aware, Rachel Germain has gone missing. The last time we have heard from her was last night. Now, we have thoroughly searched through every possible destination Miss Germain may have gone to. We've searched every corner of Camelot. We've searched every major fashion retailer in the city. Hell, we even searched back at Ymerton for her. But unfortunately, nothing has come up. We figure that there are two possibilities for her whereabouts. She could be seeking refuge somewhere deep in the city. However, we believe that it is far more likely that the two men who have attacked you have taken Miss Germain captive. Based on what we've seen of these two men, we believe that is the more likely case."

"Do… do you think that she's…" Fiona said, fearfully. "You know….g-g-gone?" Wilson shook his head.

"No," Wilson stated. "If they wanted any of you dead, then you would be. For whatever reasons we cannot comprehend, they have taken her away. Speaking of which, this brings us to our next problem: the attackers. You may be saddened to hear this, but… we don't know anything about them."

The girls all moaned with gradual disappointment. It seemed to them like the Intel was progressively getting worse. First, it was The Beast which they knew nothing about, then The Unknown, and now, it was the two men. The girls had encountered strange things over the past month, but whenever it came time for an explanation, the chairmen always fell short. Wilson was now going on about what they did know. Based on Dash's descriptions, the two men were named Yuri Korbalov and Kristov Korbalov. They were both Russian-born, gigantic in size, very strong, very quick, and had an unmatchable bloodlust. As Wilson described this information, all of which the girls had already known, Tara noticed something strange about Celestia. Celestia never once joined Wilson in explaining things, something which seemed rather odd, seeing as how she had always done it in the past. Instead, Celestia stared out the window, her lips pulled tightly back into a scowl. Tara had seen this expression once on Celestia's face before, but she was unsure where. However, Tara was quite sure that she knew what the assistant chairwoman was feelings.

Celestia was feeling guilt.

"Now, for the strange powers these men possessed," Wilson continued. "We are working on an explanation for that. To say that these powers were real would be preposterous. Gifts such as these are not possible for any human to maintain. Our best current guess is that they received knowledge of these illusions at the same place where they received their training. We still don't have any idea of where it may be, but our top men are working non-stop to determine-"

"He's lying."

Wilson froze in place. All attention suddenly turned towards the woman leaning by the window sill. Celestia never looked up, but was quite apparent to everyone in the room that she was the one who spoke. Celestia turned her head away from the window, and looked Wilson dead in the eye.

"He's lying to you," Celestia said sternly. "He knows everything you need to know, and if he refuses to tell you the truth, then I suppose that I will."

"Bridgette," Wilson said, disapprovingly. "You know what your mission parameters are. We agreed upon this."

"General, with all due respect," Celestia said angrily. "We cannot allow them to be deliberately misinformed at a time like this. We have one of our soldiers taken hostage. This calls for a break in parameters."

"They don't need to know," Wilson said forcefully.

"Wilson, if the Korbalovs are involved in this, then it is crucial we tell them who and what they are. The Korbalovs are a threat to their lives, this entire operation, and, unless you have forgotten, you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up," Dash interrupted. "What the fuck are you guys talking about?" Celestia looked back and forth between Wilson and Dash, being met with stares of anger and confusion. She knew that she could be expelled from the assignment for what she was about to say, but she refused to risk the girls' safety again. Celestia settled her eyes on Dash, and sighed.

"Yuri and Kristov Korbalov," she began. "Are arguably the two most dangerous men on the planet. They are a pack of mercenaries, who sell their services around the world, under the name, 'The Brothers of Chaos'. They refer to themselves as 'The Iron Hammer', and 'The Red Fist'. Yuri carries a sledgehammer around with him for assignments, and Kristov… well, you can probably guess where he got his nickname from. They were born poor, and started committing crimes by the time Yuri was eight years-old. Yuri commits his actions to take out his rage on those around him, or for sheer enjoyment, or for some other reason no sane person would ever comprehend. He is an absolute psychopath. Kristov, on the other hand, from what we've seen, only helps his brother because he doesn't want to risk his brother's safety, or, perhaps even more so, because he doesn't want his brother to stray too out of control. He doesn't appear to that horrible of a person, in general, but it still doesn't change the fact that he has been responsible for the deaths of a hundred or so people. The two of them have been arrested twelve times, and have escaped from prison twelve times. The KGB has orders to shoot them on sight. The younger one, Yuri, is a sadist, and he has Rachel captive to torture her. Slowly. In fact, he'll probably keep her alive for at least another two weeks, just for fun. Getting Rachel will be of utmost importance. Obviously, we would much rather prefer Miss Germain to be alive than deceased. However, there is another massive problem at hand. If Rachel slips during her torture, says anything at all about this operation, then we will all be at risk even further."

"Why is that?" AJ asked.

"Because they want to kill me," Wilson responded. The girls immediately look his way, and saw that he stared at the floor. "I was one of the men who locked them in jail for the first time. It was nearly fifteen years ago. Until then, they had mostly been able to get away with their crimes against humanity. However, the Russian government contacted us, and asked for our help. I was able to track the men down, even with their extraordinary abilities. They've been seeking vengeance against me all of these years. If Miss Germain tells them where to find men, then basically, my time on this earth will be finished."

"Wait," Tara suddenly said. It burned her throat to talk, but she needed something to be said. "I get all that, about the Korbalovs past and whatnot, but there's something we need to know. Yesterday, we saw Yuri take a bullet to the head, and live. You said you had the answers to what we needed to know. So please, how did he do that?"

Celestia sighed, and Wilson stared at the floor. It was quite clear to Tara now that they knew the secret behind the Korbalovs but desperately did not wish to answer. However, Celestia decided that it was necessary to tell Tara the truth.

"The reason why the Korbalovs are like they are," Celestia said. "The reason for the strength, the red arms, the invulnerability, all of it… is because they are Macers."

"Wait…they're what now?" Dash asked confused. Celestia took a deep breath.

"It's a long, complex story," Celestia said. "One that you probably wouldn't full understand."

"We've got time," AJ said. "If this is really that important, then you should tell us."

"Alright," Celestia said, cautiously. "I'll try. See, many years ago, there was this scientist. Brilliant man, he was; one of the brightest minds of the century. But unfortunately, he discovered that he had brain cancer, and he was terminal. This doctor, Dr. Murphy, attempted to create a device to possibly reverse the effects of his illness. After years of development, Dr. Murphy finally finished his design: the Molecular Adjustment for Continued Evolutionary Reform Device Module, or the MACER Device, for short. The machine attempted a revolutionary idea: reconstructing the human genome; changing the DNA of a human being by adding an extra nucleobase to the sequence."

"So, their DNA would get all fucked up, essentially," Dash confirmed. Celestia nodded.

"In basic terminology, yes," Celestia responded. "But it's much more complex than that. The machine worked by emitting gamma radiation at high velocity, which carried the extra particles in its waves. The radiation would penetrate through the cells, deep into the helices of DNA. The nucleobase would attach itself in the most efficient way possible to the rest of the DNA. After the process was finished, the subject would essentially not be human anymore. The entire genetic code would be altered, and when all was said and done, the subject would be fully affected by whatever change the altered RNA sequence caused. The grafting process was rather intense for the subject, as they would be transformed into something entirely different."

"So," Fiona said, trying to understand what the assistant-chairwoman was saying. "What would happen to the Macers? Would they be alright?" Celestia shook her head.

"That's one of the main problems," Celestia explained. "Since everyone has a different arrangement of genetic code, each individual is affected radically different. From what we've seen, we have witnessed changes as subtle as the altering of eye color, to obtaining an STD, to growing a third arm, to changes as extreme as what happened to The Beast. Some effects are permanently active, while others need to be triggered by conscious thought. Unfortunately for us, the Korbalovs have similar DNA, which means similar effects, and they both appeared to fall on the far right side of the spectrum."

"Both experienced a massive change in their genome," Wilson continued. "They gained a passive effect from the machine. It restructured and reinforced their muscles and bones. They were already strong to begin with, but after their exposure, they became, on a practical sense, walking tanks. With six times the density of normal muscle and bone, and five times the hardness, they can perform astonishing feats of strength. They can tear through the human body with a single punch, or rip the walls off of safe doors. Bullets just bounce off of them, or get lodged inside of their bodies, planted just beneath the skin. Theoretically, they should be able to die if they withstand enough damage, but we don't have the resources to bring actual tanks to battle against them. So, as it stands, they don't fear any of their opponents, because they have yet to face someone who ever had the slightest chance of killing them."

"But if they really had that muscle structure, they would be in constant agony," Tara mentioned. "Their bodies wouldn't be able to handle the stress. No one was meant to have those physical powers."

"But there is more to them than that," Celestia said. "The increase in muscle and bone density also had a dampening effect on their nerve endings. They probably are in constant pain; they just can't feel it anymore. Every sensation had about fifteen times less of an impact than on normal people. And on top of all of that, Kristov seemed to have his arms converted into two energy reactors. He can just absorb any or all kinetic energy that connects with his arms, and redistribute it as he sees fit. It was as if God decided to build the two most dangerous monsters on the planet."

"Well, how did they get to be Macers in the first place?" AJ asked, confused. "I mean, this Dr. Murphy guy or whatever should have kept the project to himself. How did it get out and, now that I think about it, how many of these damn Macers are there anyhow?"

"Unfortunately, all great advancements must be uncovered sometime," Celestia said, sadly. "Murphy's plan did not work out; his cancer wasn't cured. He grew angry at society. He nearly went mad, and started selling instructions on how to build the device on the black market in rage. The devices were mass-produced, and criminals started using it on themselves. We did our best to contain the entire epidemic. In the end, we believe we re-obtained most of the MACER devices, which we immediately deactivated. The Korbalovs most likely got their powers from one of the reproduced variants. All in all, we estimate that about one hundred Macers were created during the time, and they all probably remain around today, either suffering with their diseases or enjoying their gifts. As for Dr. Murphy, we arrested him shortly afterwards. He was near-death by that point. Three weeks later, we were interrogating him to see if he could make a machine to reverse the effects of the device, but he was too weak to think properly anymore. We watched him succumb to his illness right before our eyes, taking the only chance to erase the Macers with him."

"So… there are just a hundred of these super-powered freaks walking about the entire fucking earth?" Dash questioned.

Celestia somberly nodded. There was no more to explain to the girls. All information that needed to be told was said. However, it didn't provide any happiness to the young women. In fact, it made them feel worse. The simple thought of knowing that there were people existing in the world that had such devastating power was too much to bear. In truth, they could have been anywhere, and they could have capabilities far beyond anything they could ever dream of. What was worse was that two of the most powerful ones were holding their friend hostage, slowly torturing her and probably planning on killing her.

And there was practically no way to stop them.

To Be Continued…