"I got him!" Shouted a voice below. I watched as the titaness had swooped by the house and caught the man before he hit the ground. "Get the hunter!" She yelled.
I sighed with relief. Without hesitation, I ripped the arrow out of my bionic arm and got to my feet. A roof away, the hunter, Guun Ji was stringing another SIVA arrow. With my adrenaline pumping, I began running across the burning building. I could hear the thud of the bow string in the distance, losing tension. I raised my arm up and created a SIVA shield to block the arrow. It pinged off and fell to the ground.
I slung a cable of SIVA and grappled a crane above me, then used it to swing over to Guun Ji. The hunter turned his bow into a staff, then hit me across the face just as I reached him. I fell onto my back, but I was quick to my feet. I turned my right arm into a small sword, then watched the hunter across from me. Behind Guun Ji, the burning house collapsed, but luckily, everyone was clear of it.
Here, on a more stable roof, a hunter and I stood apart from each other, wielding our weapons of choice. We both lunged at each other at the same time; it was like we were synced. I cut his bow in the middle, but the SIVA nanites reconstructed it. The hunter hit me in the gut and knocked me back. I ran and jumped into the air. I took my arm-sword and swung across the Exiled's chest.
Guun Ji twisted around, then fell to the ground on his stomach. He pushed himself up, then threw a swarm of nanites. I tried to fight them off, but they seemed to carry me off of the roof. With my free arm, I grappled the parapet, then ran along the wall until I was back on the building. "You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?" I asked.
Guun Ji fired an arrow at me, but I deflected it with my arm-shield. I ran at him, but the hunter spun on one foot and tripped me with his bow. I fell, with my head hanging over the edge. I gazed down at the distant street, then felt my heart drop. I rolled on my back to see Guun Ji swinging his weapon down like an axe. I raised my arm-sword up and blocked it. However, he had the advantage; he was able to use his whole weight to push his weapon down. Nonetheless, I literally held up my defenses.
I beared my teeth as his blade inched ever closer to my face. Finally, I got my feet under the hunter's stomach and launched him off of me. He dropped his bow beside me, which I picked up and snapped like a twig. Guun Ji climbed back to his feet and created a sword too. He ran at me.
I ran at him too. Our SIVA swords clashed, knocking nanites off both blades. We both staggered back, but Guun Ji was quick to charge again. I double jumped into the air and kicked him in the face. He stumbled back and tripped over an air duct. Guun Ji turned around, then ran up a wall. I watched as the hunter did a back flip over me.
Guun Ji stared intently at me. I noticed that he swallowed. The hunter looked down... at the sword that was driven through his right lung.
The hunter dropped his weapon and staggered around. He began walking away from me, and fell off the roof. He had caught the ledge of the next, then began roof-jumping, dripping blood as he went.
"Oh, no you don't!" I yelled as I pulled an actual smithed knife. The hunter was already two buildings away, but I threw the knife as hard as I could. The hunter jumped for the next roof, but my knife struck his shoulder blade. Instead of sticking the landing, he collided with the wall and fell into the street.
I ran over to the building where Guun Ji had fallen, then looked over the edge. Once again, I pounded my fist in frustration. Guun Ji was gone. Someone had to have helped him. It didn't matter. What did matter was that another SIVA attack was--successfully--fought off.
A few minutes later, the titaness flew up to the roof with me. Like last time, the warlock showed up to, but by stepping through a portal. "It's time we introduce ourselves properly," the titaness said. "I'm the Guardian Angel--Angel for short--and this is my partner, Silajir. We're the Protectors..."
"Guardian Angel? Silajir? What is that, comic book names?" I asked, mockingly.
"We are beacons of hope for the City. That's a fancy way of saying superheroes, yes..." The warlock, Silajir, answered.
"What is your name?" Angel asked.
I didn't feel comfortable with saying my actual name, and these two seemed fine with aliases, so I said the first thing that came to mind. "Paradox,"
"Para..." Silajir gawked. "What are you, nine?!" The warlock exclaimed.
"Nine[i][b]teen[/b][/i]!" I shouted back.
"How about... 'Maverick'? Since you want to use an alias..." Angel said after cringing from hearing my idea.
"I guess I could use that," I said trying not to admit that I actually liked it better than 'Paradox'.
"Well, 'Maverick', we want to stop the SIVA just as you do. However, it's obvious their arsenal is not limited. Once we learn more about what they are capable of, then we can fight it at the source. Until then, these small victories are all we have," Angel said as she crossed her arms.
"I see the rogue on the roof!" Yelled some Guardians from down below. I turned to see a squad on sparrows moving in for us.
"You can run off and go into hiding again... Or, you can join us!" Silajir said as he waved his hands around and opened a Void gate.
"You can leave like last time and be the lone wolf... But if you join us, Maverick, then you will be a Protector," Angel said to me as she stepped through the portal. I looked down at the Guardians that were entering the building, then at the two standing with me. As if by impulse, I jumped through the portal with Angel and Silajir.
"What about me?!" Colt yelled, but the portal closed without him. "Typical..." he groaned. Suddenly, a portal opened again and Silajir pulled Colt through.
"Where did they go?!" A City Guard asked as she reached the roof. They were the only people up there... Anywhere.
SIVA nanites were swarming around the tower standing in the Archon's Keep. Lady Sif carried her wounded hunter teammate down into the Citadel below.
"Has the hunter broke yet?" Vanessa asked as she watched several monitors in the back of her throne room.
"N-no... my Lord," Guun Ji groaned as he held his chest. "He won't stop fighting us... He cannot break..."
The warlock, Vanessa slowly turned around, revealing the rage in her eyes. "No one is unbreakable..." she said in a menacing voice.
-
Hehe he couldn't do it