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Heavy thuds sounded through the village. The ground rumbled and snapped with vigorous tremors. Terrified villagers scurried from the scene, praying they were not the target of the beast that was ravaging the town. The sky was dark red as fire lit the horizon and smoke clogged the afternoon light. The creature tread through the village, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. In spite of the chaos it was causing, it had only one target in mind.
A hunter in a white, ghostly robe scrambled from the bulking ravager, frantically pushing through panicked crowds of people and piles of broken objects. His long, white hair frenzied in the air as he ran, and the translucent Ghostwalker loosely attached to his waist quivered with fright. The only thought running through his mind was to escape the horror chasing him. Amidst his distress however, he collided directly into another person.
“Agh!” The man shouted as they both stumbled back. “Watch where you’re going, you little sh-!”
He stopped as another tremor shook the both of them. As everyone else fled, they both turned to the catalyst, and their eyes widened.
From scattered rubble and crowded smoke, the shadow of a hulking, titanic copper diving suit emerged, dragging an anchor chained to its body behind it. Rust stained across the metal gauntlet on its left arm and the steel pauldron on its right. Cuts bruised the copper across the main body, and the belts wrapped across the living conduit were worn down. But despite the damage it had taken over years of living on the surface, the metallic titan persisted. It was an anomaly—a walking, breathing, talking body filled with water, but inhuman and devoid of emotion; a living machine of destruction. It marched through the debris toward them, each step quaking the souls of the men that watched.
The suit gripped the chains of its anchor with both of its hands. “Move,” It calmly ordered the bystander in an unclear, inhuman voice.
It stomped the ground, sending tremors across the village. Buildings collapsed, and a thick dust enveloped the two men. They lost balance and fell flat on their backs, and they were unable to see what would happen next.
Then, the suit lashed its anchor into the air, and the echoes of metallic chains rang out. As both men got up and tried to run, it crushed down the anchor with full force between them, crackling the ground with a thunderous crash. The road cratered, and nearby buildings collapsed. The slam staggered the two men, and they fell to their feet once more.
Having its target grounded, the colossus retracted their anchor and began to whirl it in their hands. Before the hunter could get on their feet, the armor shot the anchor in a straightforward motion at their chest.
If this strike hit him, it would definitely mean his end. Thinking quickly as the anchor inched closer, he noticed his Ghostwalker had become almost opaque again. So, he unsheathed his blade, charged up its power…
…and vanished in a cloud of mist.
The anchor whipped through the mist and instead crashed into a fruit stand. Perplexed, the suit searched around. It noticed the bystander who was attempting to flee from the scene.
Suddenly, the air pulled at the bystander’s shirt, hanging him in the air. And in the next instant, his throat was lacerated, spraying blood along the road. His skin turned a ghostly, petrified white, and a soul emerged from the leeched corpse.
The colossus winded its anchor and swung at the body, but it didn’t catch the hunter. Instead, it heard the sound of something unveil behind it.
It barely had time to turn before being struck by a heavy horizontal slash. The suit staggered back, its armor dented slightly. It retracted its anchor and swung it again in an arc, but the hunter vanished once more. He appeared behind him again, grinning wildly. This time, he unleashed a ranged Spectral Slash. The slash cut through the heavy bronze of the suit, and water began to seep out of the tiny cuts. It stumbled backward, clinging onto its slashed armor.
The suit lifted its head up, but the hunter had already lunged at him. He brought his Ghostwalker back, then thrusted forward…
Suddenly, an explosion blasted the hunter away before he could hit it. He slid onto the ground, flame trailing from his clothes. The suit gazed at the predicament, and noticed someone to its left.
“Aquatos!” A woman in a red dress yelled, running to the suit’s side. Her hair was styled in two twin black tails, and she wore fingerless gloves and purple slippers. Aquatos relaxed their posture, welcoming her to the scene.
“We were waiting,” they greeted. “How did your battle go?”
“It was tough,” she replied, tired. “Ghostwalkers are confusing, but I was able to deal with it! I disarmed him and left him tied in a basement somewhere.”
She noticed the leaking water on Aquatos’ suit. “Oh, Aqua, let me help,” she offered, unsheathing the Firebrand on her back. She lit its edge and began to weld the cracks on Aquatos’ bronze suit back together. The light flames reflected gracefully in her blue eyes.
“Much appreciated,” they thanked.
The hunter stared in disbelief at the sight, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. “Rachel..?!” he exclaimed, shocked at their sudden appearance.
Rachel finished welding Aquatos’ armor. “Renegade…” she scowled, turning toward him.
Renegade gritted his teeth. “What the hell are you doing with that thing?!” he cursed.
“HUNTING YOU!” She asserted, pointing her Firebrand at him. “I never expected you to team up with other ghostwalkers and start killing people after we parted ways! I thought you were a bounty hunter too! What’s gotten into you?!”
“You don’t understand! I’m not killing for the fun of it! I need power!” he exclaimed.
“Power?! For what?!” She shot back. “You’re becoming just like everyone else who turns wretched!”
“You’re just as blind as all the other hunters!” He cursed. “Don’t you know what PWNER does to everyone you sent them to?! The torture they must face after?! The torture my family had to face?!”
“I- Wh-what..?” Rachel stuttered, confused at Renegade’s insistence. Before she could say anything more, Aquatos stepped in.
“Stop spouting nonsense,” they demanded. “You’re killing innocents. You’re not any better than the supposed ‘corruption’ there.”
Renegade’s face twisted into an angered glare. “And you dare team with THAT? The monster that killed Rath?”
Aquatos appeared shocked, looking back at Rachel. Rachel was petrified. She could hardly muster words, frantically moving her hands to make them come out.
“I… that… Aqua isn’t a murderer…” She stammered guiltily.
“He was your boyfriend. He was my best friend! You disgrace him by not seeking vengeance. Are you REALLY the one doing the right thing here?”
Tears began to leak out of Rachel’s eyes. “I…” she began, but she couldn’t voice anything more. The shadow of guilt engulfed her mind. What was she doing..? Is he right..?
She fell to her knees, sobbing in her hands. What should she do..? Renegade continued to yell and shout angrily about her actions. Aquatos, in the middle of this, contemplated to themselves.
Suddenly, Aquatos stepped forward in front of Rachel. “Don’t blame her for the problems we caused,” they ordered. “She’s innocent. We’re only making amends for her now. If you want to be angry for Rath’s death, direct your anger to us instead.”
Renegade turned toward Aquatos. “Tsk. You murderer… Why are you trying to act heroic now?” he mocked.
“We’re not acting heroic,” they stated calmly. “We’re just fish in a suit. We made a mistake that we did not know the consequences of. Yet, Rachel saw past our mistake; she saw humanity in us, even if we weren’t truly human. That is why we’re accomplices.”
Aquatos stared down Renegade. “You, on the other hand, never repented for the innocent lives you’ve killed. What makes you right in this situation?”
Renegade’s eyes widened. He began to back away. “You can’t be serious…” he muttered.
Rachel looked up at Aquatos. She remembered why they had become friends. Aquatos always helped her at her lowest points, and she was always their helping aid too. They weren’t murderers—they simply just didn’t understand human emotion at the time. But now, they were a powerful duo who covered each other’s weaknesses, and they needed to back each other up.
She took a stand too.
“They’re right!” She shouted, lashing out her Firebrand and thrusting it at him. “You’re not any different!”
She and Aquatos backed Renegade to a wall. Renegade frowned as he tried to think of a way to stall. “W-Well,” he began, discreetly hiding his left hand behind his back. “You still don’t understand why I do it..! The abuse they suffer in PWNER’s prison… Haven’t you seen?!”
“Nonsense,” Aquatos brushed off. “We don’t want to hear anything about that from a murderer.”
“Look, just believe me and-“
Rachel speared her Firebrand into the wall next to Renegade’s head. He winced at the crunch of the wood.
“Shut up already!” She demanded. “Nothing’s coming out of you! We’re just gonna turn you into the deputies' office now!”
Renegade shakily eyed the two of them. Suddenly, he scoffed, and his eyes shifted to an opportunistic stare.
“Alright… if you’re not gonna reason with me… then I don’t have to deal with you!” He shouted, revealing his hand of ghostly knives. He hurled them all at Rachel, each one cutting deep and ricocheting off her body.
“Agh!” She yelped as she stumbled back. Aquatos winded back and threw a sluggish, heavy punch at Renegade, but he cloaked away and their gauntlet instead blew through the wood wall.
Renegade unveiled, but he was already a speck in the skyline. Rachel began to run toward him, but Aquatos put their hand in front of her.
“There’s no point,” they told her. “He’s too far for us to catch up. He’ll just disappear again.”
“Oh, dang it!” she complained. “We still need his bounty, or else we’re gonna have trouble paying for our bills!”
“Don’t worry,” they reassured. “You still have the other one tied up, do you not?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s over this way,” she directed, pointing them to a building in the distance. As they walked to it, they began to converse.
“I can’t believe that’s what happened to Renegade,” she remarked gloomily. “That was Rath’s best friend. We used to be an unstoppable trio.”
“You don’t seem fond of him, though.” Aquatos noted.
“Yeah. We hardly talked. He hung out with Rath much more. I don’t know why he decided to leave us…” she trailed on.
“You and Rath appeared much closer together.”
“Yes… maybe that’s one thing. He became more distant as our relationship went on. Maybe he felt excluded?” she wondered.
“Possibly. But he rambled about other things too, like his family and ‘corruption’ in the justice system.”
“Well, I’m not so sure then,” she replied. “Speaking of… how would the system be so corrupted anyways?”
“Not sure.”
“Huh… I mean, they’ve never actually told anyone what it’s like in that prison right?”
“What are you implying?” Aquatos asked.
“Well, I’m not agreeing that PWNER and the others who run it could be bad people, but I’m curious what the inside of their prison is really like. I mean, most populated prison in Bladelands, but no one’s allowed to see what the inside is like? And no one’s allowed to speak about it either?”
“Hm, you have a point. Almost no one comes out of that prison once they’ve gone in. Perhaps it’d be worth investigating,” they agreed.
“Yeah, he’s certainly a suspicious councilor. Maybe once we turn this guy in to Pwner’s court, we could somehow peek in or something..?”
“We’re not very sneaky,” the bulking, 7’4 bronze and copper suit reminded her.
“Oh, right,” she sheepishly smiled. “I guess we’ll have to figure out another way. Maybe we’d have to have someone help us. But for now…”
The two stopped upon the concrete rubble marked with a ghostwalker stabbed into it. Rachel pushed the rubble, and revealed a basement door. They could hear thrashing and footsteps beneath it.
“This is where you kept him?” Aquatos asked.
“Yeah. I know, it might be a bit crude, but whatever’s gonna pay for our food, right?”
“Sure,” they agreed carelessly. “We’ll decide how we’ll look into the prison after this.”