Chapter 22: Full Throttle
Kien’s arms manifest as Mythril goes in for a tackle against Ben. With both his and Kien’s arms wrapped around him, they topple him over before he can stomp Ana. Mythril backs away from Ben, his hoodie now even more rugged than before. Ben stands up again and wipes the dust and rubble off of his suit.
Henry: “Are you insane?! You’re gonna die being that risky!”
Mythril: “I’ll worry about myself after I reduce this bastard to bone.”
Luke: “We’re not here to kill him, just kick his ass until he surrenders and talks to us again.”
Mythril: “Then I’ll make this hurt as much as possible. Kien, do you know the plan?”
Kien: “Operation Twig?”
Mythril: “That’s the one. Get ready for my signal.”
Kien: “You might wanna plug your ears for this one!”
Mythril once again rushes towards Ben, but this time he doesn’t plan on attacking. Ben assumes it as nothing and winds up a punch before firing it towards Mythril. Before it can reach his face, Kien manifests an arm that quickly uppercuts Ben's forearm. The snap of his forearm bone echoes throughout the penthouse. Jace and Mythril wince at the crack, but Kien continues the assault with a Superman punch straight to Ben's face. A true parry.
Ben Jr: “HOW DARE YOU! THAT FUCKING HURT!”
Kien: “Oh? Did I hear you say you wanted us to crack your other forearm?"
Ben Jr: “RRAH! I WON’T LET YOU LEAVE HERE ALIVE!”
Mythril: “Kien, let your arms heal one last time. Now we go for the final blow. Remember your knockout techniques?”
Kien: “The forehead, not the ear, right?”
Mythril: “Right.”
The two rush towards each other at blistering speeds. Mythril’s thinner physique lets him accelerate faster whereas Ben needs some momentum before reaching speeds far surpassing Mythril’s. Ben lowers his arms and drags one behind him. With a lunge, he throws a thunderous gut-punch towards Mythril. The other three try to catch up to Mythril’s onslaught.
Henry: “Mythril, you can’t survive that! Ana barely could and she’s the strongest we got, get outta there!”
Jace: “Give ‘em hell, Mythril!”
Luke: “Dodge it, now!”
Suddenly, Kien’s arms manifest as they hurtle their hands towards Ben's head. They extend their thumbs and ram them into Ben's temples. The immediate shock knocks him out and sends him skidding across the sleek, marble floor. Mythril side-steps the body and lands on his feet, sliding a few inches himself.
Henry: “How did you-?”
Luke: “There’s no way…”
Jace: “It’s over?”
Mythril walks over to Ana and grabs her wrist. He props her up on his shoulder and smiles. With a faint gaze, she looks over at Mythril. She's shocked, but gives him a weak smile back.
Mythril: “Are you gonna be alright?”
Ana: “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll live. Did we win?”
Mythril: “Hopefully. Kien poked Ben quick enough in the temples to knock him down for the moment.”
Ana: “Thank you…for helping me.”
Mythril: “You did the same for me earlier, it’s only fair.”
Luke: “How long until Ben wakes up?”
Mythril: “Minutes? Hours? I’m not sure. It all depends on one’s willpower.”
Henry: “I give us five minutes then. What do we do with the time?”
Jace: “I dunno. I didn’t think we’d get this far.”
Suddenly, the phone on Ben's desk begins to ring. The noise echoes throughout the silent room. After a few rings, it goes to voicemail. There’s a pause before a voice begins to speak.
Secretary: “Benjamin, your debt collectors are here. You better be on the dance floor if you’re not answering this message. Byeeee.~”
Luke: “That was weird.”
Henry: “Debt collectors?”
Jace: “There’s no way, right?”
Behind them, the elevator in Ben's room chimes. The doors slide open and two figures step out. One of them is dressed in velvet. How does a velvet hoodie and beanie exist? Ask them. They have a gold chain around their neck too, they are not one to mess with. The other is a giant of a person. They tower over the group and even Ben. They’ve covered themselves in a black trench-coat, one even longer than Henry’s. They both aren’t human however, their skin is shiny and reflective. They’re androids, just like the few Jace and Luke fought almost a week ago now.
???: “What the hell happened here?!”
???: “Looks like these punks beat us to the punch.”
???: “Aww, that’s not fair! I wanted to take his head!”
???: “You can, don’t worry. He doesn’t seem to be dead.”
The group turns around and gets ready to battle.
Jace: “Identify yourselves! We don’t want to hurt you!”
Luke: “This is bad. I don’t like the vibe of these guys.”
Mythril: “Ana, do you think you can fight again yet?”
Ana: “Are you kidding? I’m ready whenever!”
Kien: “That’s the adrenaline kicking in. You’ll be feeling this in the morning.”
Henry: “So, that’s them…the Duo of Demise.”
Vayne: “Woah! Slow down, man. The name’s Vayne. I don’t want to hurt you little pricks yet either, just tell me what happened first.”
Dredd: “I'm Dredd. Your turn, tell us who you are.”
Luke: “Luke Holmes. I’ve had bad experiences with people like you.”
Vayne: “Calm down on the xenophobia, dude. Dredd, I don’t like the vibe of these guys.”
Henry: “Henry Grimes. I was an assassin under Breakdown before revolting with these four.”
Mythril: “Mythril. I don’t have a last name, but I do have my friend, Kien.”
Kien: “Hmm…?”
Mythril: “(That’s completely uncharacteristic for Kien, are they scared too?)”
Jace: “(I’m getting tired of introducing myself.) Jace Knight. I’m with Luke, I’ve lost half of my family because of people like you.”
Ana: “I’m Ana. I have a last name, I’m just quickly losing the energy to speak…”
Dredd: “What happened to her?”
Mythril: “Ben's Breakdown.”
Dredd: “And she lived? impressive.”
Vayne: “I’m impressed by something else. Let me see that arm, Jacob.”
Jace: “It's Jace. Jacob was my fath-”
Vayne: “Yeah, whatever, Jackson. The fucking arm, please?”
Jace raises his arm forward for Vayne to inspect. They grab his wrist and rotate the arm around to get a better view. After some pondering, Vayne lets go and smirks.
Vayne: “Are you the kid of the engineer we splattered all those years ago?”
Jace: “Am I…wha-?”
Jace freezes in fear as a quick flashback occurs again. It’s not as severe as Morning Glory’s, but he instantly remembers the features on the androids that killed his father that night. They were Dredd and Vayne.