The Geo got pushed back with every blast of sound. After taking three steps backwards, he planted his foot and crossed his arms in front of his face. Onodera wound up to pitch something, and as she released it, a blast of neon pink slammed into the geos arms knocking them to the side. The sound waves continued, and he got pushed back further.

  "Sato, what are you doing?!" White shouted. "Don't make us get involved too."

  The Geo seemed to roar and attempted to charge the two of them again. The end result was the same. He would take a step forward only to take two backwards from the sound and projectiles. The more I saw the pink blasts, the clearer they became: they were baseballs charged with some sort of energy.

  Is there anyone that I'm going to meet that isn't a meta at this point?

  "Enough!" Black stepped forward.

  Her hair grew and twisted into needles before lunging at the two of them. Onodera pushed Yamato out of the way before dodging herself as the spears of hair pierced the ground where they stood. Without the sound waves keeping him in place, Sato charged once again.

  "I'm not about to stand by and be a spectator," Denki stood up and threw himself onto the field.

  "Here we go again," Nina sighed as she sped off.

  As Denki hit the field, something hit Sato who recoiled just enough to give Yamato an opening. He held out his hands again and released blasts of sound focused on Sato's chest. He dug his heel in as he was pushed back, but he was hit again losing his balance and falling.

  The woman pulled her hair back and tried again to spear the two in front of her. This time, as the two of them dodged, one looked like it would pierce Yamato's leg. It flew closer and closer, but as it was about to make contact, it disappeared into a small portal. It made contact with Black's leg instead as she yelped in pain.

  "What the hell?!" She pulled her hair back and saw her own blood trickling off of one of the ends.

  "How many of you are there? This is getting stupid," White remarked

  He flung his hand out to the side, and I saw a glimpse of his ability. An old black powder pistol materialized in his hand, and he pointed it at Denki. He wasted no time pulling the trigger, and a plume of black smoke filled the air around him as a thunderous crack rang out.

  The two others stood still once they heard the shot. All eyes looked to White who was surrounded by a black veil. As the smoke began to clear, I saw his bewildered face clearly. His pistol was pointed in the air, and my hand clenched his wrist pushing it up. A smirk creeped across my face, and I threw an uppercut into his stomach.

  "Nice one, buddy!" Denki exclaimed as he flanked White and hit him next with a cross to the face.

  I let go of his wrist and grabbed the pistol as he flew a couple of meters and rolled on the field. As I looked in my hand at the pistol, though, it faded away. Sato turned and roared as he charged the two of us.

  "You think he remembers us?" Denki asked as he readied his makeshift knuckles.

  "Probably," I quickly replied. "We should have covered our faces too."

  "Not like it would have made a difference," he said as he took off to meet the Geo.

  The two of them were on top of each other in moments. The Geo formed a fist and swung downward on Denki who jolted to the side and threw his weight into another cross that met the side of Sato's concrete-covered head. The sound was tremendous, and the Geo's head swung like a door as he stumbled before catching himself. As he did, another blow came from the side too fast for anyone to see followed by two more to his head.

  "Seriously, what the hell is going on?!" White exclaimed as he got up.

  He hit his knees and punched the ground with both fists. As he did, his skin began to glow, and armor began spreading over it. He looked like a cross between a knight and a samurai. The mask over his face was eerily reminiscent of Damien's, only the expression was anger instead of a twisted smile. His black armor gleamed in the sun. He flung his hand out again, and a sword materialized in it.

  "You kids have really pissed me off," he huffed.

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  He lunged at me, throwing his blade and fists in a furious barrage. His style was similar to one of the kung fu styles we had learned in the Prestige Program: tiger. His blows were heavy but fast. Having seen it for years, it was simple to catch the pattern and parry each blow. I didn't even need my ability to be on the same level as him. The longer we were in combat, the angrier he got since he couldn't land a single blow.

  I parried one slash, and snapped into an elbow to his jaw. As he recoiled, his eyes began to change color, and his pupil elongated. I stared into the eyes of a beast that moments before had belonged to a human. He threw down his sword and braced for more hand-to-hand combat. I broke off and jumped back, but he was back on top of me in a heartbeat. As he became more and more feral, his armor changed as well. His punches became slashes from claws and much harder to dodge.

  What's happening? He's more of an animal than anything now. Is this his ability?

  I barely got my ability activated before his claws cut into my face. I maneuvered out of the way and went around behind him. The armor around the back of his neck and head seemed thick, too thick to transfer much force unless I went drastic. I borrowed the sledgehammer from Nina and delivered a single solid blow before returning it. I backed away further and released my hold.

  I can only hope that armor protects him.

  He went from attacking to stumbling and crashing as the flow of time resumed. He writhed in pain and roared similar to how the Geo did. He rolled over and coiled up like a cat or a snake before clawing at his skin, tearing the armor and his clothes off. Once the armor and his suit came off, I saw the cause of his animalistic behavior. The tiger tattoo was glowing, and the eyes were shining the brightest.

  It's like he took the power and speed of a tiger, but he's becoming one now!

  He snarled for a second before pouncing again. I jolted out of the way, but he was back in the air before I could turn around. As he came down on top of me, a line of wind screamed by, and he went flying across the field again. In front of me stood Nina holding her sledgehammer.

  "Having fun?" She asked with a smirk.

  "Does it look like it?"

  "His tattoos each give him some sort of extra ability, but with a cost," she went on.

  "I can see that; what do we do about him?"

  "Do you want the realistic answer, or the flowers and rainbows answer?" She glanced at me.

  "Shit..."

  He rolled over and charged again. Nina sped off to meet him. He never saw her coming. One hit came from the front, another from the side, and a third from the other side. Finally, she stopped in front of him and wound up swinging again. I wasn't fast enough to activate my ability before she swung a complete baseball-style swing with every intention of caving in his chest. His body almost rippled as the shockwaves pulsed through it. Even without my ability, everything seemed to move in slow motion as he flew backwards and slammed into the wall.

  "What the hell are you doing?!" I yelled at her. "We don't kill people!"

  "YOU don't kill people," she glanced back. "You don't know these two. They're ruthless and relentless. If they see tomorrow, they'll come after us again then."

  With that, she turned and ran back to the fight between Denki, and Sato. Onodera had been holding off Black and her endless flurry of spears while I was fighting White. Yamato and Natsu switched which battle they assisted in, pushing the Geo back when needed or warping hair back on its origin. It was a lot to take in: it reminded me of the Purge.

  I walked over to White's body. His facial features still mimicked a wild tiger, even with his eyes rolled back. Without his armor or clothes, his bare chest showed. I saw how his sternum and ribs had been shattered inwards leaving a sinking hole in the middle of his torso. The indent in the wall that he rested in further showed the raw power that Nina had summoned to finish him off.

  I'm so sick of death. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why? How?

  I turned back to see the battle still unfolding before my eyes. Onodera had picked up a couple of metal pipes and ran energy through them to fend off Black's hair. Denki seemed to dance around Sato who took the pummeling with little ability to fight back while Nina often sped by with a sledgehammer blow to further beat him down. Natsu bounced between reflecting the steel hair back to its owner and sending it to the cracks in the geo's concrete armor. Even Yamato contributed to the growing violent scene through blasts of sound when least expected.

  I was lost in the battle. In my wandering, I felt something cold touching my back. I snapped back to feel a cold steel blade being pushed through my back and out my stomach. The burning of being impaled coupled with the liquid fire of my blood pouring out was intense and agonizing, but no sound came out of my mouth.

  Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Come on, breathe! Come on!

  The pain in my back reached its peak, and suddenly, it was gone. I stood staring at the battle again almost gasping for air and spun around to see a horrifying sight.

  Anthony White began moving, and his eyes rolled forward. As he took a step, his disfigured torso began pulsing and twitching, regaining its original shape. His jaw had been dislocated when Nina had hit him previously; it snapped back into place, and he moved it from side to side. On his forearm sat a snake wrapped around the sun and doubling back on its own tail. The tattoo glowed as the snake bit its tail.

  The Ouroboros. Death and rebirth, the never-ending cycle. So that's what she really meant by unnatural abilities.

  He pulled his head to the side and moved his jaw around with his hand. He was back to himself before the tiger tattoo. After rotating his neck and shoulders, he looked at me with piercing eyes and a wicked smile.

  "Ahh, nothing like a quick brush with death to bring you back to your senses." He drew his sword again. "Well, kid, ready to die?"