Hetalia - Axis Powers 1. The Escape

Basch stood overlooking the courtyard, arms behind his back and his hands clasped together in a militarian fashion. He could see young men and women walking through the courtyard below, all of them served under his command, the command of Lieutenant Zwingli of the Swiss Special Forces. Right now they weren't fighters though, they were friends, some laughed and kicked footballs around, others spoke in quiet tones with smiles on their faces, and some were even yodelling, an old talent, but still a very present one in this sector of the Union. Though there was one quality, one idea that all of these men and women

They hated him.

Not consciously, none of them knew his dark secret, but they all hated him and all of his kind, which included his little sister. Things had been growing even more tense lately, more and more accusations were being thrown around, and it was more often than not those people were never heard from again… Before they were simply deported, now, nobody knew what happened to them, not even Basch in his high-ranking position could find out.

His little sister was in the same position, but she was gone, he'd sent her away almost an entire year ago now under the claim she was advancing her studies, and while she was, it wasn't at any university he'd spoken of. He had yet to hear from her and he was glad for that, she was only supposed to contact him in case of emergency, but…. to hear her voice, would be the nicest thing right now.

He sighed at the people below, their ignorance depressed him; it wasn't their fault of course, their very government made certain to portray his kind as evil, villainous, terrorists, and all sorts of things that caused one to think negatively. There was a chance they would think differently soon, but no guarantee, only their personal ideals would reflect that much. For now, he had only time… time before things were set into motion.

Though that time would soon be cut short as he heard the march of footsteps outside his room, but he didn't even move, he only continued to watch his soldiers outside as they heard the same thing. This sound could only mean one thing… that there was someone in the complex, someone with so much power that it scared the government of the European Union itself, someone from a group of people that scared every country on earth enough to evoke mass deportation and forced migration of thousands, possibly millions of people.

Basch was one of them, and they were after him.

He heard the explosion go off behind him and his green trench coat flew forward, flapping in the force of the wind, but the man himself didn't move an inch from the explosion. He stared for a few more minutes as he heard the shouting of commands and the stomping of feet, he could hear them surrounding them… and so could everyone else in the compound most likely. He took one more moment to take one look at the courtyard before turning around, staring down twenty rifle barrels, ten shotgun barrels, and one single man with a pistol aimed at his face.

"Lieutenant Basch Zwingli, you are hereby under arrest for suspicion in connection to the race inhabiting New Olympus. You will be taken in for questioning and if you are found innocent you will be released, we have orders to shoot to kill if you resist," the man Basch was looking into the eyes of was a long-term rival of his and one of the few high-ranking officers who had opted not to go under the recent string of surgeries in order to enhance their bodies. Basch did not need it, besides, it would have exposed him, but this man… Ludwig Beilschmidt, had other reasons obviously.

He stood five foot eleven, quite a bit above the short man of Swiss ancestry, and his muscles were that of legend in the European Union, easily the most physically strong without any enhancements. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, signalling his coming from the Northern Areas of the Sector Germany in the Union, even more reason to dislike him… Now he had the support, and Basch was exposed.

The soldiers around him each had half their faces covered, their eyes covered ith goggles that allowed them better targeting, and an optional mask for the mouth for gas, but the fellow Lieutenant wore none of these things, only the Officer's hat and coat as any sort of badge of his rank and position.

"So, will you come quietly?" he asked, shoulderpads specifically placed to make him look larger than he was, but Basch knew this man, he was bloodthirsty and he wouldn't wait for Basch to respond. He could already see his finger going to squeeze the trigger, and their eyes met once more before Basch unbuttoned his trench coat slowly, the gloves he wore not impeding him in the least.

"Fire!" Basch's trench coat was opened up now and he sighed at the relief of cool air on him, he heard the sound of thirty one guns going off over and over again, but felt nothing. He could see the flash of their muzzle and see the men pulling the triggers, but the only result was the flattened bullets falling to the ground in front of him with seemingly no power behind them.

Although he felt no pain, every shot hitting his body felt like a shot of adrenaline, and pushed at his body, causing him to move just slightly. With so many shots at once all over his body he collapsed to the ground, staying there and allowing the bullets to shoot him until he stood up, a series of bulletholes in his clothes and his trench coat, but his skin was overall unharmed.

The men in front of him shook in fear, some of them dropped their weapons in shock at the almost unphased Swissman in front of them. It was lucky for him they didn't know his abilities or they'd have used different weapons, but now their fate was sealed as he stood strong, staring each and every man in the eye "My turn," he brought his leg up, bending it before slamming it down on the ground.

The ground in front of him shook with the power as the energy from every single bullet that was fired into him was sent straight into the ground at that single spot, causing the wood and even the metal beneath it to split due to all the power that had been accumulated into his body. The split shoot the troops in front of him and even shattered the window.

As the troops attempted to gain their footing, Basch threw his trench coat at them and lept out the window, diving down onto the ground three stories below. Most men would cringe at the thought, but Basch had done it many times before, and now he slammed down onto the round, one knee down and his fist steadying himself. He heard shouts from above, but what hurt him most, were the whispers he could hear around him.

"The Lieutenant's one of them!" he heard from one young man.

"Get him, we have to stop him!" he heard from another, but another quickly punched him in the jaw for it and Basch cringed, he would pay for that, be called a sympathizer… he could only hope he could talk his way out of it.

More discontent among the men and women in his service gave him the idea to possibly stay, explain to them that his kind weren't evil, but from what he'd done for them, and how much most of them respected him, just the knowledge he was one of them could be enough to change their minds. For now he had to run and he could feel more bullets coming into contact with his back, and while he moved as someone would when they were shot, he didn't feel any pain from it and he only continued to run.

As the men who had entered his room ran after him he could hear the shouts of fury as some were outraged that they attacked their commander like that, others shouted slurs such as "Freak!" and "Monster!" at him. He just hoped his men didn't try to tangle with the engineered soldiers of the Inquisition, he respected them and their abilities, but he didn't want to see them her or prosecuted for their crimes, despite their loyalty to him. He had to go it alone now, there was no hope for him to try to bring another with him.

He could hear the alarms going off as he sprinted forward, he was wearing running shoes at the moment, and underneath his trench coat had been a black undershirt which allowed the air to cool his body down, and then cargo pants that were unscathed, as they had not been a target of the bullets. His blonde hair flew behind him as others pointed him out, shouting his name in either encouragement or wrath.

Basch continued to run until he was met with a series of troops at the front entrance all aiming high-powered rifles straight at him, he could take the firepower, but it burnt his systems out, and he was already tired from taking thirty one clips straight into his chest. He would have to do it though, there was no other way out….

That's when he was pulled into a corridor which quickly closed behind him and he let out a sound of indignant, but a hand covered his mouth and shushed him. "Quiet Lieutenant!" it was a private, a young girl about Erika's age whom she was rather good friends with… and was obviously loyal to Basch. He didn't know what she planned to do, but he couldn't let her help him. "I'm going to get out out of here!"

He shook his head, grabbing onto her shoulders and looking her in the eyes "Not a chance Vargas, you aren't going down with me!" he stared her down, he'd known her since she transferred from the Italian Sector, more specifically, Seborga. "You know as well as I do Amanda, I can't involve you in this, you've got more ahead of you than I do!" He spoke in a hushed tone, but still with the force that a commanding officer needed to have.

Amanda only smiled at him and patting his arm, kneeling down and removing a damaged ventilation cover "I've used these to move around the base at night, remember when you commended me for sneaking past the guards to get extra snacks?" she smiled and then hunched down, Basch was small enough to crawl in with her, but it would probably be a tight squeeze. "Come on, I'll lead you to the outside and then you can escape, you know the mountains better than anyone, even the inquisition."

Basch stared down at her, he was about to say something, but that look in her eye… he could tell she was intent on this, after all, he'd spent the past year learning that exact same look while she was stationed here with him. He took her by the shoulders and stared her in the eye as he heard soldier's boots pounding outside. Either way, he'd need to get out soon, and if he left now, they'd see her in here with him and wouldn't care, she would be hurt.

"Fine, but only one condition," he pulled a Pistol out of his holster, it was thin, sleek, and a silvery color that blended in with the snow. It was a Laz-Pistol, designed to fire lasers out in both short bursts and a thin stream; it also had settings like an invisible beam, different targeting settings, and even different power levels. Then he pressed it against her back and gestured toward the grate "You're my captive now, at least if they see us like this, you'll be spared."

Amanda nodded and crouched down as the two heard shouts from outside the room and she began to crawl through the vents, then when Basch moved after her the footsteps came straight toward them and he pulled up the grate, closing off their entrance and then he moved after her. Since he closed off the exit he was forced to move backwards until he found a turn and then he did a three-point turn back to follow Amanda, who was smaller and able to move more easily.

Being a main military compound the vents were larger and able to carry more of the necessary air needed for the inside. Most people wouldn't crawl through the vents because of the danger involved, but Amanda obviously knew which way to move as she quickly crawled through, heading to what he assumed was the exit. He held out his pistol the entire time, he didn't know when they would exit and he would definitely not be able to retrieve it in these close quarters.

Basch's watch read fifteen minutes in the vent before he began to feel the cool outside air… the training yard, that's where they were headed. Well, more specifically the training yard armory, but it was connected to the outside, and that's all they needed. Once they reached the semi-outdoor armory Amanda knocked the grate open and it fell to the ground, crawling out with ease. Basch on the other hand wriggled out of the small space and stretched his arms out for a split second before holding his gun toward Amanda again.

There were soldiers around, all on high alert, but most of them were facing outward and on the far side of the training yard. Basch signaled to his gloves and Amanda nodded, and when Basch approached the door it quickly opened for him, they hadn't shut him out of the system yet, good, that was definitely good. He slowly walked out and quickly moved to put himself against the wall, feeling Amanda climbing up onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

His gloves began to heat up and he took a deep breath, placing his boot on the wall and it began to do the same. Then he began to climb, slowly of course, staying flat like a spider, he shivered as he climbed, feeling the hair on his arms stand up from the cold. There was no snow in the training yard, but he could guarantee there was some outside the compound, they didn't go so far as to control all of the weather in Switzerland, that would ruin it's aesthetic beauty. He was grateful for that at least.

Soon he gripped onto the edge of the building and he leaned up, allowing Amanda to climb off his shoulders and onto the building. Then once she crouched down he pulled himself up, his gloves cooling down now and the soldiers on the rooftops not yet noticing their presence. He didn't need to go out of his way to eliminate them, stealth was the most important thing now.

With the he creeped over to the edge of the building, taking deep breaths as he looked to the ground far below. Only just now did it occur to him that on this edge of the base overlooked a steep cliff and he groaned, he'd done this once before, but never with another person… much less from this height. He had no other choice, and he couldn't leave Amanda here, not after she helped him escape, if he left her, she would be under questioning.

She looked to him, unsure of what he was about to do, after all she hadn't seen his powers, but… she had heard amazing things about those like him, that they could fall down mountains and turn out just fine, she heard that even if you shot one they'd get back up. She could only watch him with amazement now, waiting to see what he would do.

Unfortunately Basch's time of thinking was cut short as one of the snipers spotted them and shouted out "I found them, he's got a hostage!" over his com, while he wasn't sure what their response was, his targeting him regardless made it obvious he didn't care. At least they bought his hostage situation… the propaganda around his kind only assured that, now he had only one choice. He wouldn't take Amanda with him, that would be irresponsible of him, and an insult to her, so he did the only thing he could do.

Before he heard the sound of gunfire he backed up, holstering his pistol and running forward, shoving Amanda back to add one final illusion before jumping, spread-eagle over the cliff of the mountain below, and then, the world was a blur.


	2. Upgrade

Basch crashed to the bottom of the mountain and stared up at the base far above, alarms were going off, but he knew full well that they would take time to acquire aircraft, and vehicles had almost no use here in the mountains, but he couldn't afford to linger. He stood up and twitched, falling into the tree and he started to shake. He could feel the force from that fall, repeatedly smashing himself into the mountain, every single impact was now in his body and it was starting to break him apart.

He couldn't hold it in, he shoved his fist into a nearby rock face, releasing every bit of energy he'd collected and when he released it a crack formed in the rock going farther up than Basch could see. When he removed his hand his legs wobbled and he dropped down to his knees, panting heavily as sweat dripped down his face. He couldn't afford another fall like that unless he needed to… Not even he could survive everything, but nobody else knew that, and he needed to head out now.

He attempted to stand, taking a few steps, but his legs buckled and he fell down once again. Then he took only a few moment's rest before he tried once again, staying low and walking forward through the snow. He was slowly recovering and within a few minutes he was able to walk normally and he took up a slow steady jog.

He could already hear the mobilization of aircraft nearby, the European Union had some of the best aircraft in the world, living with so many mountains and uncrossable terrain. They would find him if he couldn't find somewhere to go, and he knew exactly where… he continued running forward as the lights of the town in the distance grew closer, the only hope he had was the loyalty of his family…. and the bane he had was the racism of the entire country.

His military uniform-even without the trench coat-still commanded much respect and nobody questioned him for the moment, especially with a military search going on, that meant a powerful mutant was loose, since the inquisition would normally just conduct more quiet searches as to not interfere with the daily lives of the citizens. He sighed and once he was able to step out of sight he did just that, already hearing the announcements coming over the city intercom.

"_Attention all citizens, we have an Alpha-Level Mutant on the loose. Now Dishonorably Discharged Lieutenant Zwingli of the Glorious Military of the European Union was last seen resisting arrest and questioning of the Inquisition at the military border outpost, it is likely he will be heading South toward the disputed states of Africa. Retrieve him at all costs for processing… then deportation," _as he spoke, Basch huffed at the man, blatantly lying to his people, he would not be released at all, he would be experimented on, just like other mutants all across the nation that had been captured in the past few years.

Then once the announcement was over Basch stepped up to a back door, attempting to stay in the shadows as the door opened and Basch's eyes met that of his fathers. "Hallo father…." he sighed, it had been a long time since he'd even seen his father's face, much less spoken to him, and here he was, asking for help now that he was a fugitive. He was the only person Basch could trust though, and he had to trust him.

Basch's father looked down at him with that blank expression he always had, a disapproving gaze that he seemed to save just for his son sprinkled on top of it. He had long hair and green eyes, and most would say the two looked exactly alike, except that Basch was much shorter and took more after his Swiss mother…. Meanwhile his father looked more like his Germanic ancestors, but even with that mean expression, even with that disapproving gaze he stepped aside "Get in."

Basch couldn't say he had expected that, but he wasn't too surprised either, and as he stepped inside the feel of old surrounded him. His father was more than traditional, he reveled in the old ways of his people, even going so far as to wear an amulet to Thor at all times, and have a room enshrined to him. Despite worshipping a god of battle, and Basch being Lieutenant-well, ex-Lieutenant now-he still wasn't good enough. Perhaps it was because he was… what he was, but regardless, his father had still let him in.

The older man stepped inside and into the den where a series of fur pelts lined the walls and the floor. He looked up at his son with… was that a lightened expression? The question was, pity or grief? Nevertheless he stood up straight and spoke "You can stay here tonight, but after that, you must leave, I cannot risk the inquisition making the connection and tracking you back here…" and he took a mug of beer, taking a drink before setting the mug down, staring into the fire… as though thinking intensely.

Basch didn't expect to get anymore out of him so he simply nodded "Yes father… I'll be out by tomorrow…" he only hoped that his room hadn't changed much since he left a few years back, in fact… it held a few things that would be useful to him here in the mountains. He had an old trench coat, it wasn't like the one he had in the military, his own was more rugged, and had a much better fashion sense, at least in his opinion.

Then his father spoke up again, not turning his head away from the fireplace "Your…. motorcycle is still in the garage…" he sighed "And the keys are on your dresser, I had no one to sell it to and I can't ride it, so it should still be just as you left it." He took another drink of his alcohol, he looked almost… like a caring father right now, which was entirely alien to Basch, he had expected his father to go out of his way to sell it, after an entire childhood and teenager years filled with disappointment, and one last fight as soon as Basch claimed he would be joining the military, the same military that had taken his… previous son from him. Perhaps that's why he had always disapproved of him, Basch would never be Gabriel.

Basch paused on the stairs to look at his father "Thanks… dad," it had been his first time using that word since he was a child, foreign to his tongue he ran a hand through his hair, leaving the situation and stepping up the stairs, leaving his father behind with his thoughts. The man sighed and looked around at the house he lived in alone, perhaps… helping his son in this moment would be something he could look back on fondly, or perhaps, he could look at it as his greatest mistake, whichever it was, this would be a defining moment for him.

Basch stepped into his room… it was just as it was when he left it, his bed was perfect pristine, closet door still slightly ajar, and even the motorcycle keys on his dresser just as his father said. Basch was tempted to grab them, head out right now, but that would be a mistake, everyone was hyped up, even outside he heard heralds and policemen shouting to calm down the citizens, leaving now would be a bad move for his safety, he would wait until early in the morning when most people were asleep and most men in uniform were changing shifts.

Meanwhile in his room Basch removed his military-grade shirt and pants, both riddled with bulletholes, and while the boots were still good, they didn't allow him enough ankle movement to work his motorcycle well so he would have to leave them behind. Now he stood there in his boxers… white with the symbol of the military on them, he stripped them off as well and opened up his wardrobe, pulling out a comfortable pair of boxers and tossing them on the bed. Next came a black long-sleeve shirt that he tossed right on there with it.

Then he began to dress himself, out of the military uniform that he'd come to know and even enjoy from the past few years and into his civilian clothes, no, they were fugitive clothes now, he would be hunted to the ends of the Union to have his DNA, especially as an Alpha-level mutant. With that he walked into his closet and flipped the switch, pulling out a simple pair of jeans that provided the most resistance as well as movement. Then he tossed them into his room so they sprawled over his bed, now he was faced with something a bit more nostalgic...

The same trench coat he'd worn before joining the military stared him in the face, ready to be dorned once more by the Swissman. had a large cross on the back with four equal points and all the sides curved inward to make the old cross of the Templars that while old fashion, Basch still had always had a bit of an affinity for it. The outfit was still perfect, just as the day he left it… and he took it out, carefully placing it on the hook of his bedroom door, ready to be put on as soon as he needed to leave.

Now he stared at his bed, moving his jeans down to set on the footboard and laid down on it, staring at the ceiling. Here he was, and now he needed a plan, and that's exactly what he was going to do, he never needed much sleep anyway. So within moments of laying down he sat up again and began to pace the rather large confines of his room, thoughts running through his head of what he was doing, and what needed to be done.

A heavy fist slammed down on the table, causing the entire thing to shake and the men and women around it to stare up at the man at the head in almost fear, despite being on his side. "Scheiße! I let him escape!" Ludwig turned around, picking up his chair and throwing it against the wall, smashing it into a series of pieces, but that only seemed to enrage him more. His long-time enemy and rival had gotten away from him! "I held that scheisskopf by the balls and he managed to escape my grasp! This is impossible!"

Then nearby on the table a rather pale man with blood red eyes leaned back in his chair, snickering at his brother's rage, he found it a bit entertaining to see him break stuff like this. "Calm down bruder, you've still got that schwanzlutscher by the balls! He's a fugitive now, and all of our men are across the board, there's not a change he'll make it across the Mediterranean all the way into the Olympus-controlled zone of Africa.

Ludwig huffed, laying both hands at the table, glaring at him "That's not good enough! I want to look him in the eyes as he knows I've bested him!" he huffed and looked to the back of the table, staring the brown-haired man right in the face "I want to be signed up for Upgrading, immediately!" he was about to sit down, but remembered his destroyed chair and cursed to himself for his moment of rage.

Roderich looked up at Ludwig, blinking "But… you said you never wanted to go through the upgrade, that upgrading yourself with technology would take you farther away from being a man-" suddenly he was cut off by a piece of the chair flying by his face and smashing into the wall directly behind his head. Roderich had of course, dodged it, but only just.

"I don't care what I said before, sign me up, now!" and Roderich nodded in a fearful way, pulling up his phone and making a call as Ludwig stormed out of the room, leaving behind the room of all those who followed him. The look on his face was a scowl and he proceeded down the hall, every man stepping aside to make room for the large German man with smoothly swept back hair who seemed to take up the entire walkway.

Then he received a call on his earpiece and he pressed it, listening to Roderich speak "They are ready any time you want to head it, just… know that-" and then Ludwig cut him off before walking down toward the scientific part of the compound where they upgraded the more advanced soldiers and officers to do exactly what they needed to. Of course there were many choices, but Ludwig's was obvious with his bulging muscles and tall stature.

He stepped up to the scanner system and pressed his thumb and first finger up to the pad as well as opening his eye for the scanner. They read his thumbprint and took blood from his first finger, but pricked it so gently that he couldn't even notice. Then the door opened up for him and he stepped inside, meanwhile the five scientists inside looked up to the man, and the tallest of them gestured to a large table in the middle of the room with a large light over it as well as a series of mechanical devices hanging overhead.

"Head onto the device Lieutenant Beilschmidt," he said calmly. "I assume you already know the upgrades you wish to apply" then he turned to Lukas and Mathias, snapping his fingers as he wrote a few things down on his touch pad. Meanwhiles the others ran around, but paused, waiting to hear what the great Ludwig Beilschmidt was going to upgrade his body with. He could choose anything, anything at all.

"It's Colonel Beilschmidt now," he informed them, and he took off his jacket as well as his pants, tossing them onto the ground without care and standing there in his boxers… only to remove them as well. He was comfortable in his own skin, and he didn't care if another man saw him naked, besides, the clothing would only make it harder and he could put them back on later. Then he laid down on the cold bench and sighed softly, listening as the scientists worked.

He stared at all of them and then stared back up at the ceiling "I want the full front-line officer combat upgrade, and the experimental exoskeleton," he said, without stuttering once. The men looked back and forth amongst each other and shrugged before applying the different settings, and sending him into unconsciousness. They watched the man drift away as the machine began to walk into his body, changing him, for his own personal glory and revenge.

The man opened his eyes to the world around him and he sat up immediately, taking deep breaths as he felt the world differently. His eyes were the first thing he noticed, everything he looked at alerted him as to the systems, what to do and how to activate them if he wanted to work them. It was like when he looked at a lifesign detector on a gun, except… there was no scope in his eye, and it wasn't just indicating life signs, it showed him everything.

Then as he stood up and looked to the men in front of him he read their bios as well, listing off their full names next to them. This was going to take some getting used to… "I hope I can turn this off…" he said and then once he stood up he immediately went to balance himself, but then he felt no need to, his balance was… perfect, and he looked down at his muscles. They bulged no more than usual, but he could feel the strength in them, as well as the agility as he moved them around and flexed them.

His body had what looked like plugs in them, but so small most people wouldn't notice them, and he could see… not the veins of his muscles, but a flowing liquid running through his body, organic medical gel that would heal him if he were to be injured. He also knew they cured fatigue, making sure he would not get tired while he fought. He couldn't see them, but he knew there were implants that helped his breathing, allowing him to hold his breath longer, implants in his skin that made him able to resist fire and explosions, even resisting things like bulletfire and knives. Then the implants in his bones that kept them from breaking and made him just that much stronger, all working together to make a better human being.

He couldn't see why he hadn't done this before, he felt fantastic! He felt incredible! He clenched his fist and brought it up on a wall, his new vision alerted him it wasn't anything important and he drove his fist straight through it. Then he pulled his hand back, it was scratched up, but he saw the cuts fill with a strange substance and then his skin and flesh healed once more. This was just him, he couldn't wait to see the exoskeleton that he had requested as well.

He picked up his clothes and turned to the scientists as he dressed "You men have done me good," and then once he was dressed in his uniform once more he walked out of the room, a smirk on his face as he walked by, feeling like a brand new man. Nothing could stop him now, not even Basch Zwingli, after all, he was a man, a _creature_ like him wouldn't stand a chance, not alone like he was, and Basch was most certainly alone. That's what he got from closing himself off from others, and that will be his downfall.

Ludwig continued to walk forward and then looked down at his phone, thinking for a moment, information ran through his head about the man, but one piece of information he had learned through personal investigation rang first… The thought of it disgusted him, but it was his best guess "It's time to make a call…." he said and then he dialed the phone, bringing it up to his ear.


	3. The Mountain Camp

Basch walked into the garage the following morning, and as he stepped into the room the lights flipped on. He looked around, there was only one car there, no reason to have another with his father living alone, but the other end of the garage was taken up with a workshop, where animal skins could be properly cleaned. He should have know his father would never give up his hunting, how far he must go to retrieve some of the beasts he used to kill in his younger days, Basch had no idea.

He stepped past the car and a large mat was placed between the car and the workshop with a thin shape underneath. It was the right size and shape, but… he had never placed a mat over it? Perhaps he had simply forgotten, or there was the chance his father had done so, but he felt that was unlikely. Then he pulled the mat off and there it was. It was a heavy machine, built to take all kinds of beatings, whether you're talking off-roading, or even now when it might be taking bullet fire.

There was plating on it, reinforcing it quite a bit and while that was to protect it from crashes, it would work just as well for his purposes. Basch had almost nothing on his person, just a bag of food he had taken from the kitchen, he hadn't told his father, but he wasn't awake yet, and he didn't want to speak to him anyway. It was hard enough having to come to him for help, he'd rather just leave this all behind him… and go through with his plans.

He had thought about this moment ever since he became well-known in any sort of way, what he could possibly do, but only last night had he come to a final decision. A map appeared in his mind even now and he knew his path, he would pass through the Austrian sector, and then the Hungarian, that's where his destination lied, he couldn't leave now, not yet, he wouldn't feel right leaving like this, not when he was possibly the only person who could help, or do anything.

Though for now he turned to the present, he had to worry about leaving the area first, most people would be asleep by now, this was his best chance. He set his food down in the small case on the back and then he sat down on the seat he had specifically chosen. It still felt like he only last sat down there yesterday and he relaxed into the seat, bringing his hands up and inserting the key. Then he started it up, the sound of the engine inside silent except for the soft sounds you might expect with an advanced motorcycle like his.

He took a breath, ready to head out when the garage door opened in front of him, revealing the outside, but he hadn't hit the switch… He turned to the door, and there his father was, blank expression, staring his son down with a cup of steaming coffee in his hands. He wore a robe made of animal furs that Basch had never seen him wear before… it must be new. "You know, you could have asked me for some of my food," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Basch turned only slightly red with embarrassment, nodding "I didn't want to wake you father…" Basch could only speak with such formality, he felt that he was alone in that, speaking like that even to his father. Though he'd grown used to it, that gaze of his is what he'd never gotten used to.

"Hm, generous, but I would have preferred to know if I had to get more food," he stood right where he was, staring down at his coffee mug. "Your mother…" Basch cringed, they never spoke of his mother, not once since he was little and his father began to cry, he learned it was a sensitive subject. "She… told me this might happen, that you might end up like this one day, and she told me to make sure you were strong for that day. I won't make excuses, I'm not a 'dad', and I won't pretend to be, but your mother… she mattered to me, and that's why, I know she'd want you to have this."

He stuffed his hand in the pocket, walking toward Basch in a way… he hadn't seen before, reluctance was it? Perhaps, but Basch waited, not moving a muscle as he waited, and then out of his pocket, came a golden watch, it wasn't like modern digital watches everyone wore because they were more efficient, it was old. It had gears, hands, and a glass face on it, and the outside was fantastic, carved perfectly into a series of designs. Then he reached over, handing it to Basch, who took it tentatively, staring at it.

"Check the inside," he said, taking another sip of his coffee as he stood there. Then once Basch looked inside he saw a short quote inside. He looked at it for a few moments as the second hand ticked around each individual line around the outside of the watch.

"_Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument"-Samuel Johnson_

The more he stared at it, the more he questioned it… and by extension, his mother. Did she… know he would have to use violence? She must have, that's the only thing that quote could mean… he nodded and closed the watch, this had to be a sign, a sign that his mother supported him, even from the afterlife. He nodded in approval and looked up to his father, nodding to him "Thanks… dad" he simply was not used to the word, but it only felt right to use it now.

The tall man nodded, gesturing out the wide open door "Now, best be off while the sun's still rising… and good luck," with that he turned, walking back into the house. He would probably look back to this moment years later, he might regret it the next day, but he knew that today, he made his wife proud, and he was able to be a father. With that he stepped inside, closing the door and listening as the garage door closed.

Basch couldn't waste a moment's more time, he attached the watch to his pants and slid it into his pocket before adjusting himself, then heading out of the garage. He pulled out and the door closed behind him as he looked around the town, normally it'd be welcoming and inviting, but now every time he turned a corner he thought he'd find a barricade, or a patrol, but he saw nothing. He made a single close call on the main street, but they hadn't been looking his way and he was able to pull into an alleyway.

The street sensors weren't picking him up as a threat, that was good, if they didn't now, there was no reason to think so later. The scenery slowly changed from those of short-statured houses to the distant mountains and beautiful scenery you expect to see when entering the Swiss Alps. They relaxed him… he could remember as a teenager he would come out here at times, and simply relax, and once he became a more experienced climber he would head up the steep cliffs. The heights never bothered him, and he was labeled a mountain goat for it. Even after all this time, he was still calmed by the sights around him.

Basch continued to ride through the rural areas of Switzerland until he turned past a large rock and saw a group of men with guns ahead of him. They didn't wear insignias, nor did they wear any official armor, which meant they were either mercenaries or vigilantes hoping to stop the now infamous man who broke out of a military compound last night. He brought a cloth from his pocket, slowing down and placing it in front of his face, hoping to conceal himself as much as possible.

He drove up to the men, slowing down as they shouted at him in German, taking a deep breath as he looked down, hoping not to spark their anger. He was unsure whether or not these were kind-hearted samaritans, or men looking to abuse their power. They may be near the capital of the Union, but evil existed everywhere, especially licensed evil.

The men walked up to him, they all held automatic weapons and held daggers at their ankles. He observed each of them as best as possible from the position he was at, and while that wasn't much, he could see their feet and that's all he needed. He felt one prod his shoulder with the end of the barrel, and he heard him shout "Name, give us your name or we'll be forced to take you as our prisoner!"

He took a deep breath and with that he brought a hand up to his face, pulling down the cloth and then pretending to fall over, as though he was tired and his body was giving way. The man backed up just enough for his ploy to work, he drove at his legs, not taking them out, but he grabbed the knife, standing up and driving it into his throat before taking cover behind the body. The sound of gunfire range through the surrounding area, but the bullets that managed to get through the body barely had an impact on him.

He pulled out the pistol from the man's holster, lodging a shot in each of the three men in front of them, watching them crumple to the ground before dropping the gun and the man. He looked down at his trench coat and sighed in relief, undamaged… that was good, it was best not to have bullets in the clothing you wore, it tended to draw suspicion. He brushed his jacket off and nodding to himself, observing his handiwork, he wasn't a Lieutenant Colonel for nothing.

With that he began to drag their bodies into the snow nearby, dumping them into a low spot and searching them, pulling out a few chips on their person. That was lucky for him, he would be able to run these through and get the money out of them, yet another thing he happened to learn. It was a corrupt system he'd worked for, but it would play to his own advantage now as he used it for himself.

Then he observed their weapons, crossing his arms for a moment. He grabbed two of their knives immediately, they would come in handy, as well as the handgun. He retrieved the clips from the other men and removed one of their holsters, using it himself and holstering the gun. The rifles were tempting… too tempting, besides, a man in his outfit could be anyone at all, including a man with a firearm.

All in all once he was done removing their items it was a full five minutes later and he felt he would blend in rather nicely. He walked back to his bike and lifted it back up, sighing in relief as he saw it was undamaged, and then he hopped on, kickstarting it once more and taking off into the mountains. He knew he was nearing the border now, and he would encounter more men like that, but they were unlikely to be a real issue for him.

As he drove down the road at a reasonable speed the silence around him calmed him… too much, he couldn't afford that now, he had to stay as alert as possible, the border was close now, and he couldn't afford a single moment's hesitation. He knew full well he could take bulletfire, but there were plenty of things that could still harm him, knives, fire, and energy. He had witnessed the lasers that were in development firsthand, and knew quite well the pain they could cause him. Fortunately for him, they were far from being standard issue, the best they would have would be a large cannon, but aimed at him.

Then farther ahead he saw a pillar of smoke rising into the air and he stopped as he came to a cliff, looking down over the edge. He didn't have anything to see down into the valley, so he did his best with only his normal sight. He could see them on the next ridge, the came was small for a military camp, but still posed a threat, he couldn't just ride his bike up. He would be able to afford to get within a few hundred meters, but anything beyond that would risk his detection, he'd have to go on foot.

He sat back on his bike, riding down the side of the mountain and being careful not to attract attention to himself. The trees hid him once he got down to their level, but he still pulled his bike over to the side of the road and shut it off. Then he stared at the base, The midday meal had just passed, so they would be on high alert, he would have to be careful.

Crouching low to the ground he walked forward through the trees, staying hidden amongst the trees and the snow. The men inside the base watched the roads for approaching vehicles or people on foot, although some still glanced amongst the trees, and when they did he had to slow down. As he approached the base it was easy to see inside as the only thing protecting them as a chainlink fence. Whether or not it was electric… he looked down, picking up a small branch and rolling it up to the fence, and upon impact… nothing.

With that relief he stepped forward, making sure he was out of view of the soldiers around him as he took a deep breath, transferring only the amount of kinetic energy he needed into the series of chain links. Those bullets that impacts him before were doing him good now as he removed a small section of the fence and set it to the side, crawling in and removing both knives he had taken before. He peered around the corner to see two guards making their rounds, and coming straight to him.

He quickly took up position again, standing straight up and relaxing, taking deep breaths. This would need precision and speed, he couldn't let either of them alert the other guards, otherwise he'd have a firefight on his hands and then things would simply get harder. No, the best way to do this was with stealth and finesse. He could hear their footsteps on the gravel now… and they grew closer, ever closer to his position.

He flattened himself against the wall as much as possible, silencing his breathing as he kept his eyes wide open for the both of them. If they noticed him there was a good chance they would alert the other guards, it was a chance he had to take. Then he saw both of their forms, guns brandished and ready to fire at any time, but neither noticed him, only what they expected to be there, which was the wall of the communications building.

Then as they walked forward he brought up his knives and they glinted in the sunlight before he stepped between them, running them through their necks. Blood shot out onto the blades and his hands as he dragged the bodies closer to the wall, keeping them out of sight as best as possible. Then he wiped the blood off on whatever grass was there and put them back in their sheaths before taking a deep breath and relaxing.

He turned to both of them, inspecting what they had on their person, they had chips of course which he took almost greedily, and their rifles were better, much better than the one he carried now. He removed it from his person, sliding it under the crack between the building and the ground before taking their weapons from them, as well as ammunition. There were better weapons he would likely be able to collect along the way, but this would be perfect for now.

Then he found something invaluable, a silencer, compatible with most types of weaponry and he nodded, attaching it to the end of his gun. He nodded, his shots would be near-silence now and this might be able to go much faster than before. He held out his rifle and stepped over their bodies, looking up at the guard in the tower, taking a deep breath before letting loose a single round and seeing him slump over behind the walls. Then before the other guard could see he took him out as well, watching as he did the same thing.

Then he turned around, walking down the length of the building before hearing the door click and he backed against the wall, removing the knife from his person, his rifle going right over his shoulder. He walked up behind him, holding the knife along his forearm before standing up, driving the knife through his windpipe. Then he dragged him over to the wall, setting him down against the wall like the others. He checked once more for a chip and ammo, finding both and moving on.

He moved forward and looked at the towers on the other side of the base. He followed the same procedure as before, taking out the closer man and then the farther one, watching them both slump down. Now he would have free range of the base without having to worry about men looking and noticing him from above. He stepped forward, looking around and taking a breath, he would have to do this quickly, he couldn't just run through with a knife either, he would need to use his rifle.

He stepped behind a wall, aiming and picking off two men standing in front of the main coms building, they both fell down and before any other noticed him he took each of them out. By now all the men outside noticed him and he ran forward, taking fire from a few of them before diving, sliding across the ground as he let spray fire toward a group of three men who came walking around the wall. Then he looked down at the man on the ground, pulling a grenade from his belt and staring up at the door on the control building.

Soon it opened and he pressed a button on the grenade, tossing it into the door and watching as it exploded into superheated plasma. Their death was near-immediate, and with that, the camp was empty. The silenced after battle was almost deafening, but now he had free range, and would have enough time to cross into Austria before he was found out. On that note he began to search every man he killed, pulling off clips and chips from them, storing them safely until his ammo belt was full.

The buildings didn't offer him much, aside from more money and information on encampments around here. Lucky for him this was the only base on this road, he had one long home stretch before he was in Austria. He opened up the gates and trecked back down the road, unimpeded on his way back to his bike, then once he climbed on he looked around at the mountains of his home. There was a good chance he'd never see this place again. In his mind he spoke a silent goodbye before driving over the Austrian border.

He sighed, feeling the mountains pass behind him as well as the fields around him. Long after he was out of the smell of blood and bodies he pulled over to the side of the road and stared at the setting sun. It was rather beautiful here in the mountains… it even made him forget about everything he was going through, but only for a few moments until he looked down at himself, realizing what was going on, and falling back into his own life.

Before anything else he took out the ships he'd removed from the men, they were all small, but not invisible. There wasn't much protection on them, as they were meant to carry only the money someone needed on their person, so as he took them out be began to work on them. It wasn't that complicated, he just attached them to one another and the money transfers began almost immediately. Once he was done he took the rest of the chips, tossing them far into a deep ravine far off. No one would discover those for a long time.

Then he opened up one of the containers, pulling out the food he'd taken from his father's house. The meat was all dried up so it wouldn't go bad, the only other thing he'd grabbed other food items that wouldn't spoil easily. He began to a quick eating session, eating slowly and carefully, no need to overstuff himself. It was strange to go back to something like this after eating rather elegant and fancy foods as an officer. He didn't mind the taste of this dried out food, in fact, he thought it was better than that fancy food he ate before as an officer….

Once he was finished his meal he climbed back onto his bike, he needed to find somewhere to sleep tonight. He had gone to Austria a few times before and remembered some sort of border town nearby, that would do for now. He pulled up the cloth on his face, hoping to hide the lower half of his face, it was likely no one would notice him here, the border town was rather out of the way, and even though they had the technology to keep up, they assumed he would head south, so nobody would be expecting him.

Once the sun set he could see the lights of the town settling down in the distance, it was a rather modest town, with a population under a few hundred. He drove through the street and pulled into the town, no sirens going off yet, he could relax for now… The town was cozy enough, a few buildings for people, he could see a school near the center of town that rose above all the other buildings, and near the entrance was an inn.

He pulled up into the parking lot, removing the key and crossing the lot, there was no around around to look at him, so that was good, but he tried to keep his head low and out of sight of everyone else just in case. When he stepped inside his eyes closed and he breathed in the nice warm air of the inn, it was so inviting to feel that here. He walked inside and listened as a lady played music for the guests in a corner, she was rather talented, but… not his style.

Basch removed his chip from earlier and looked up at the man "How much for a one night room?" he asked confidently, pulling the mask down so the other could hear him. He didn't look suspicious so far, in fact, he had a smile on his face as he checked the computer systems in front of him, scanning through the available rooms.

He nodded, tapping on the computer and then turned back to Basch, intertwining his fingers "A room for the night should be about fifty euros," he said, tapping the system that would transfer the money from his chip.

Basch nodded, removing his chip and inserting it into the machine, watching as the money came up on the screen and he checked his chip, approving at the transfer. He had known some men to fudge the numbers on their systems, especially in places that might not receive much business like this. "Alright, that sounds good," The music still played around them as they spoke.

The man smiled and held out the key card to the room "Here is your keycard sir, though I suggest you stick around for a bit before heading up, our lovely pianist will be finishing up soon and she rather likes when people listen in," he spoke like a teacher would when talking to someone about their student, he sounded almost hopeful of her. Basch could only guess he knew she deserved better, perhaps she did, from what he knew about music, she was rather talented.

He nodded and took the key card "Alright, in that case, I'll have a sandwich then," he said simply, and then he walked over to one of the tables. He sat down and leaned back on the chair, relaxing as he listened to the music of the pianist, it was calming, soothing… Something he didn't experience too often, and it was nice. A lady soon walked over with a drink for him and he nodded "Thank you," before taking a drink and relaxing. The music would be over soon and he would head upstairs to sleep.

He looked out the window and stared into the distance for a few moments as the piece finished up, his mind wandering for a few moments. Then he felt a presence to his left and when he turned he blinked "Can I help you?" he asked, turning up to look past those glasses of hers. It had been the same woman playing piano, but whatever reason she had to speak with him, he had no idea.


	4. New Human

Three bullets blasted through the same point on a target and Ludwig stood at the other end of the range, nodding in approval. "I like it," he stated simply, a smug smile on his face as his eyes constantly scanned the room, he was still getting used to all the information that came up in his eyes, but it wasn't getting in the way, so that was good. Though the more he used it, the more he loved it, and the more he fought, the more confident he was that he could defeat his former rival.

The man next to him smirked, it was one of the same men from his surgery, he had a cross clip in his hair and a… strange floating curl, perhaps that was the result of an experiment, or the world may never know. Though right now he held a phone in his hands as he typed up with his thumbs, sending a message to his colleagues about the success of the Eagle Eye Sight, and how excited he was to see it be used in such a fashion.

Meanwhile Ludwig shouldered the rifle, pulling out the pistol he had picked out and brought the target just a bit closer, popping a few shots right into the head. He continued firing until the clip was empty and he nodded to himself in approval. This was good, this was very good, "Leave me for a while, I want to practice," and he exchanged the clip, firing at a specific point each time, and every time hitting his mark perfectly as he wished it. He didn't know how, but his accuracy had improved far beyond what he could do before. Sure, he was good before, but now he was beyond what any normal human, or even mutant could do.

He fired rounds into the heart, each kneecap, the shoulders, the head, the gut, and then back up to the heart, then the clip emptied and he switched it out once more. Then he went to the settings, adjusting the targets to be more lifelike, to move, and to slowly increase in difficulty… then he changed the looks, watching as the target turned into a crude copy of his rival and he smirked. Then he watched as it ran towards him, firing straight through the head and watching it crumple.

Two more appeared on either side of him and he dove to the sight, taking them both out and sitting behind the cover. He was unsure where the new targets had appeared, but he popped his head out, aiming and firing at both before they had a chance to react. Then he ran forward, the room moving with him as he fired off a few more shots, every enemy fell in front of him. This was perfectly, absolutely perfect!

Then he saw an enemy on the far side of the room, and he brought his gun up, firing a round straight towards the heart, and then… nothing. The enemy only cringed as the round impacted their shoulder and brought their gun up to return fire. Before Ludwig was punished with an electrical shot for being shot he fired a few more rounds, stopping it in his tracks and calling out "Computer, freeze program!" and the program stopped, all the enemies in the room disappeared and he looked down at his weapon. His abilities were still limited by the capabilities of weapons, he had to remember that.

He took a deep breath, changing the clip in his pistol quickly before changing to his rifle and starting up the program again. He stayed in the same program for a total of half an hour before everything from and he turned to the door opening behind him. The same man from before as well as his younger-and rather annoyed looking-brother stepped in, observing the man's handiwork. The elder replied "Wonderful… your skills are even greater than we predicted, yet more proof the training of the man will have an influence on the machines installed, make sure to note this Emil."

The younger nodded, writing down on a touch-pad board, both seemed interested, but Ludwig turned back to them, staring them in the eyes. "What is it?" he questioned them, he knew they could observe from the outside, so they must have wanted something. He wasn't about to beat around the bush either and he looked at the both of them, and while his eyes didn't tell him such, he knew they wanted something from him.

The younger spoke up first as he was still writing this down "Well, we were observing your abilities, and thought you might want to try out the special power armor you'd requested as well.. after all, I assume those nerve implants aren't just for show," and he continued to write with everything he said, seeming rather disinterested. Though deep down he wanted to see this, he wanted to see the legendary Ludwig Beilschmidt in the experimental power armor, and he wanted to see him destroy their enemies in it.

Ludwig on the other hand showed much interest in his face and he smiled like a man who had an evil thought bubbling in their mind, and nodding. "Yes, let us see this experiment of yours, after all, I've had to wait for it while you make your final adjustments," he looked at both of them and they nodded to each other, walking out of the room and gesturing for him to follow, and he did exactly that. His eyes switched from combat mode to travel mode and in response, began to display information of everyone they came across.

Every soldier's information was right in his face to see, nothing was hidden from him. The man with a worried look? He seemed to be having divorce troubles. The man who had a new spark in his eye? He was a recent transfer here and ready to serve. No doubt he'd been able to know some of these things before, but this was a whole new world to him, a whole new world he intended to use to the fullest extent possible.

The scientists in front of them even had information displayed, though… most of the science achievements were things he didn't understand, perhaps he could ask them to simplify things more when it came to that. Or maybe it was on purpose, to avoid being read. Nevertheless, he was growing to truly love all of his new abilites.

Speaking of which, he felt better than he even did before, he felt stronger yet lighter, he felt powerful, yet agile. Nothing would be able to stop him, and he could feel every muscle in his body, entirely aware of everything that was going on inside him. Meanwhile every touch sent so much information through his body, the only thing that hadn't been enhanced was his sense of taste… or maybe it had, and it was and he just hadn't noticed yet.

Meanwhile Lukas stepped up to a set of large complicated doors, he went through the same procedure as Ludwig had to enter their surgery room before; eye scan, blood scan, fingerprint scan, except now he also had to type in a codeword onto his pad he carried in front of him. Only then did the door open up to show a series of experiments going on, they were obviously in the final stages of testing, considering there seemed to be very few things going wrong.

The testing included different explosives, a new sniper rifle off to the far right, what seemed to be a type of truth serum, but right in front of them all was a perfectly displayed suit of power armor. It was perfectly black with an intimidating look to it, including a smooth cover right across the mouth, and the eyes were hidden behind a red glass screen that would display even more information and on it, and relay it back to his eyes.

Ludwig stepped forward as he heard Lukas speak behind him "It's in the final stages of testing, we can have it shipped to your ready room and you can dorn it once you leave for your next mission-" and suddenly he was cut off by an outstretched hand that indicated needing silence. Ludwig observed the armor, touching it to see what the texture was, he wanted to know what this could do, if just the skills he had now were impressive, think what he could do in this thing… "I want to put it on now."

The two men looked between one another questioningly, there was no real need to, so… why? "I… suppose so," Lukas spoke up "Though, be careful, like we said the product has just come out of testing, so it's entirely possible you may run into a few issues." While they spoke they observed this situation, and the famous man in front of them.

Ludwig tapped the suit of armor on the chest and as it read his biosignature it opened itself up for it, disassembling to give himself a comfortable way to enter. Then he stepped up and positioned himself as the suit reassembled around him, coming around his form perfectly. Then he felt a sting of pain as the suit connected with his nervous system so he could feel everything in the suit except for pain, that feeling was cut off.

Then once the suit closed around him he opened his eyes, everything looked the same, except he had all this information swimming around his body. It was almost overwhelming. Almost. Instead it energized him and he stepped down, able to do so just as gently as if he wasn't wearing it, despite all the weight he was now carrying. He could even hear perfectly from the outside, even better than normal.

"The helmet is retractable, as is the face mask in case you need someone to see your face," Emil smirked and looked to him "All you need to do is will it, and it will happen just as it would if you were moving a limb. You can also do things like contact people via voice, and the suit will deem whether or not you are speaking with those outside and speak appropriately. You can browse records, and even access UN files straight from that suit, if you have any question just ask."

Ludwig retracted the eye lenses and the mouthpiece, looking down at the two of them with a look of gracious in his eyes. Of course he knew all this already, he knew everything this suit could do before he had even requested it. "You both have done me very good…" he said, a smile on his face and then he nodded to them both "Now, I'll be off, I believe it's time for a meeting…" a smirk doned his face as the helmet covered his face once more and he stepped out into the hall.

His first stop? The training room, with his skills before, he couldn't wait to see the abilities he had now… He sighed and walked down the hall, stepping just as he did before, and just as light despite the armor likely weighing close to a ton on it's own. Most looked to him with surprise, others with awe at the pure power this man in front of them possessed, whatever it was, it was truly awesome.

He stepped confidently into the training room, and within a moment he spoke up, grabbing the large rifle from the stack nearby, no weight to it whatsoever. At least, none that he could feel in this armor, this was fantastic, he wondered what the upper limits of the suit were… Though for now he called out "Computer, set the difficulty to the Maximum, enemies to Maximum, Detection on Full Alert, Assistance: None," and the computer complied as the room began to change.

He watched as around him he was in one of their very own military bases, sirens going off as a group of rebels ran for weapons, wearing heavy armor and manning a series of turrets. Ludwig had almost no time to react, he dove to the side and took cover, he'd done this many times before, but it had never been easy, he'd been caught many times with that first fatal blow, but his reaction time… was instantaneous, if the suit could do this, there were no limits to himself.

He waited for the slightest of pauses before he stood up over the cover, blasting the men running the guns in the face, then releasing his fire on the supporting teams in order to keep them unmanned for a while. Then he made what should have been a fatal mistake, he stood up too long and he could see a man pull out from cover and fire directly at his face, except… no pain, normally it would have sent intense pain through his body and the simulation would have stopped. Instead he was protected, no damage whatsoever from that bullet.

He turned to the man, a series expression on his face and blasted him through the chest, and when he turned to the next he pulled the trigger, only to receive a warning signal on his systems, telling him the gun was out of ammunition now. He cursed before seeing something else, the systems said 'Use Armor Weapon Systems?' he hadn't read about these, were they new improvements to the system? He did the only logical thing as he took cover and said "Yes."

Then the suit expanded, the shoulders boldening out and the wrist gauntlets popped out, two high-powered guns on either wrist, he could feel two small guns mounted on his shoulders, and then his ankles had a gun facing downward… why would they have a gun facing downward unless…. he blinked, perhaps… Well, he had nothing to lose, better to test now than never.

He stood up behind his cover, leaping high into the air-it had to be at least three meters up-before landing in front of another man and he proceeded to punch him in the jaw which released a high-powered pistol shot in his fist. Then another man ran up behind him with a shotgun and without even thinking he spun around, kicking him in the chest and as he flew away a shotgun blast came out of the bottom of his foot, blowing his chest open.

Ludwig stared at the carnage his suit was causing, and all while under fire from mean nearby, well, best to take care of them. He brought up the guns at his sides and aimed toward the men behind their cover, and once he began to release his firepower he saw exactly why something so small were able to be on his wrists, they fired small explosive cartridges the size of a single pistol on burst shot, tearing apart the wall in front of him.

He took a second to observe the suit a bit closer, it was best to know the weapon he was using… The gun had two barrels, and they seemed to be able to move, he could only guess that there was a different mode to it. He brought up his arms again, but he called out "Full auto!" he could see the ammo clips on the side, he knew how this thing must work, with multiple modes on it. This was fantastic!

Though the alarms were still going off, he had to continue moving. He ran up to the door, normally he'd be in here with multiple men and he would cover them while they worked the panel, but he was on his own now. He reached forward, grabbing onto the steel doors and sticking his fingers through, crumpling the solid steel doors and creating an entrance for himself. The men on the other side stared at him, and all released their firepower at once.

He could feel their gunfire on the suit, but it didn't hurt, it did cause him to stagger a bit though, but he watched through the eyes as the men in front of him paused, going to reload their weapons, now was his chance. He brought his arms up and let out the fully automatic fire, the gun fired at such high intensity he knew the recoil had to be intense for anyone except him. He unloaded, spraying the entire courtyard down until all that was left were bodies and guns.

He didn't even pick one up, no need for it, not anymore, he stepped forward confidently, feeling as if nothing could stop him until he heard a series of shouts coming out from both sides. He saw men with lock-on rockets on either rooftop and Ludwig had nowhere to go. He froze up, but his suit was an extension of himself and reacted faster than he could. "Automated defenses, online," as though it could sense the tensing up of his nerves and realized something.

The mounted guns on his shoulders spun toward the rocketeers on both sides and fired like sniper rifles, but most likely with a much shorter range… They were effective though, as soon as the rockets were fired Ludwig thought he was done for, there was no way even his suit could hold up against those. Then the bullets went straight through the rockets on either side of him before blasting the men on the rooftops and he watched as they fell to the ground.

He felt… invincible! Incredible! This was a wonder weapon, just the power armor alone could allow him to face up against any mutant he found, even an Alpha-Level! Then again, he assumed it wasn't tested against them, so he would have to be careful, he knew full well of their capabilities. His thoughts ran short however as more men poured into the courtyard, shouting out at him, these men however, weren't mutants, and could be dealt with as he pleased.

He ran forward, engaging in close hand-to-hand combat and when he did so long blades protruded on the outside of his arms and he began his slaughter. He used mostly his kickboxing skills, kicking men around and watching as a shotgun blast threw them into the air. Or he would grab them, smashing them against the wall and watching their body crumple like tinfoil, the enemy, this is what they had to fear. Him.

Once the carnage was over he looked around, then at his own hands, he wasn't even tired, no shortness of breath, no need for oxygen, he couldn't even smell the corpses around him like he normally could. He gripped his hands tight and nodded in approval, speaking to himself. "I was foolish to believe I could naturally be any better, I'm better than any many could be, I'm a new breed of human, a New Human race to impose itself dominant!"

He grinned to himself, and before he could continue the simulation for now he addressed the computer "Computer, freeze program, I have a call I need to make… Suit, contact the members of staff, we're going to have another meeting this afternoon, I want them to know what we'll be doing… and how we'll be moving out." The suit made a noise of confirmation and Ludwig could only smile, he would do great things.

Then he looked to the world around him, staring at the large base and speaking up "Computer, resume program," and then he dashed forward at top speed, running toward the concrete wall in front of him, sending a fist through the wall and gripping onto the concrete, and once he made the slightest pull he succeeded in knocking the wall down and staring at the preparing men inside. He could only smile and call out "Guten Tag Gentlemen…"

Roderich was the first to speak up "Where is Ludwig?! We have been waiting here for ten minutes already, and he was the one who called this meeting! We all have very busy schedules, and he should know that just as much as the rest of us, if he wants to take up our time it should be for a very good reason," though as he spoke a few others began to speak up either for or against him. It was almost chaos in there.

Then with none of them noticing the door opened and Ludwig stepped in, his helmet retracting in order to show his entire face and hair. His weapons were hidden once more and he relaxed as he walked into the room… then immediately tensed up again. The annoyance on his face was clear and he took a deep breath before shouting out "Everyone shut up!"

Immediately everyone in the room froze as they looked at the tall intimidating German man, most were too afraid to speak except the same man as before, his eyes red as ever "Hallo bruder! You look great in that suit, is that a new fashion statement?" he laughed almost like a snake as he grinned, but Ludwig only groaned and rolled his older brother's antics.

"No Gilbert, it is _not_ a fashion statement…" he said, and he held out his arm to reveal the guns that were hidden inside, as well as the reason for the suit's intense bulk. "This is how I'm going to personally hunt down Basch Zwingli, and bring him back here to meet his fate, and no one is going to stop me, especially not him." He pulled his arm back and the guns retracted as he put both his hands on the table.

"Now, I need information, I need anything any of you can give me on him, and his movements, and I want only the best men, the best tech, and the best vehicles to get where we need to go!" he spoke so loud and intensely that everyone in the room heard him, but none spoke up for the first few moments so he waited.

The first to speak up was a man in the back of the room with blonde hair and rather intensely large eyebrows who looked up at Ludwig "Well our best sources say he's heading south, that's where the closest border is to his home base in Switzerland, where you last saw him. After all, it's a demilitarized zone and he can receive all the help he needs there, but that's about all we know, we have no idea whether he's going to take a straight shot, move through Italy, or attempt the long trek to the Strait of Gibraltar. All have their advantages, so it's anyone's guess." He had an interesting English accent, and he looked like he would be friendly enough, if you approached him the right way.

The second to speak up was a man with long flowing hair that looked far too groomed to be true, and blue eyes that seemed captivating if you looked at them too long. "As for troops, we can spare everything possible to capture this man, but I assume you'd rather a small group of the elite, so that can be provided as well." Then the Englishman to the left gave him an angry glare, only to receive a mocking face in return. Obviously they were attempting to one-up each other with this information.

Then a man with hair that stood straight up stood up, speaking loudly, but calmly. "I hope you know full well we cannot let such a high-level mutant escape, that already happened once, it can't be allowed to happen again," he stood firmly, despite remind most likely the most dangerous man in the room right now that he cannot fail. Fortunately he did not receive a chair in the face, and Ludwig simply nodded.

"I know full well, that's why I will not fail like those before, he will be ours, and we will be able to run our experiments, and perhaps advance ourselves even further before war rises anew. New Olympus will not crush us like they did before, not with the advancements we've made…" he nodded to himself before standing up, looking around. "Now, I need a group of twenty men to do this, put together a team for me, I still have tests to run on this suit…" and he turned, walking out of the room and leaving the rest of these men with their thoughts.

He was not going to lose again, never again would he lose to the man who had beaten him every time before. This explained everything, how he had always been better, he had always surpassed Ludwig, but now he knew why, and he had finally fixed that, now he wouldn't lose, never again. He would remove his infection from this world, he was a disease, a DNA mutation, and they would be eradicated to make room for the New Humans of this world.


	5. 40 Years

The woman sat down in front of Basch, staring him down curiously, chocolate hair falling over her shoulders as those violet eyes pierced into him. Suddenly Basch sat up straight, the motherly look he was receiving making him feel more self-conscious about his appearance, despite it being completely foreign to him. He looked up to her, and as she sat down with him she sat straight herself, clearing her throat and speaking up "I just thought you could use some company… would you prefer to be alone?" she asked.

The waitress passed the two by and she leaned back, speaking up "The usual," and then she turned back to Basch, who was still wary of this newcomer to his table, he'd always been distrustful of strangers, it was an instinct he'd always had, and it served him well. Then she leaned forward on the table, relaxing herself a bit "I'm Anneliese by the way…" and she gestured towards Basch, now expecting to receive a name in return.

Basch scoffed at her arrogance, simply _assuming _that he would speak to her simply because she sat down and she was a lovely woman. Though at the same time he wasn't in any position to be rude and draw attention to himself so he took a sip of his-what he discovered to be-hot chocolate and nodded. "I'm…" he cringed, he was known too well by his professional name, he turned away, oh how he hated this name "Sebastian… Sebastian Vogel," The last name made it a bit more bearable, it had been his mother's maiden name, and reminded him of her.

She smiled softly and nodded "Hm… There haven't been many staying at the inn of late, we're afraid it's simply too cold this time of year to expect much company… and now, with the mess going on, it's a miracle anyone's staying here, but we appreciate it," it seemed as if she had been craving someone to talk to for some time, the way she simply poured out her thoughts like that.

Basch looked to her, attempting to seem surprised about the 'mess' she had mentioned "What do you mean?" just then his sandwich and her drink arrived, which he happily munched into, he could always go for a nice sandwich, and this was absolutely fantastic. Then he turned back to her, keeping up his screen of indifference to the situation that was on her mind.

Anneliese blinked, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she spoke "You haven't heard? There's one of those dangerous creatures loose… the mutations, you know what they say? They're a danger to us all if they aren't back in their own country…" she took a sigh "I'm barely old enough to remember the time when they first made their appearance in the world…"

Basch sighed, as much as he disagreed with her, he remembered that time too and his head dropped "I… remember that time clearly…"

_Basch had been five, looking up at his father as he cried in front of the television, the last time he'd shown any real emotions. His mother had been gone on what was supposed to be business for a few weeks now, she was normally only gone a week. Basch watched from his little crevice, he stayed there a lot, he learned things, and nobody ever bothered him there._

_On the television he could see one of those…. mutations that he had heard about a few times, only years later would he learn that they had been exiled from every country post their creation, but there they were, now considered a Global Superpower. There were hands being shaken… scaley hands, furry hands, and hands that looked human, but at the same time, didn't feel human._

_Basch looked down at his own hands, tiny as they were they had never felt like other people's hands to him, when he fell on the floor he was fine when his friends cried. Their parents of course fixed their wounds with kisses and hugs, but he himself never felt that. Even so young, there was never pain from falling. He'd scraped his knee of course, that hurt, but that was it, no bruises, nothing._

_It was the first time his father noticed him in his crevice, he sniffed. Basch expected him to yell, he yelled at lot when he was angry, or sad, but he only patted the spot beside him, ushering Basch over. He walked over, climbing up onto the couch as his father gently held him, "Mom… won't be coming back…" his father was never one to sugarcoat things, not even this "She's… gone…" he sobbed again and Basch reached up, patting his father on the shoulder._

_He heard a cry from the other room, his baby sister and then a call, a deep call "I've got it dad!" it was Gabriel, almost a grown man now, he was only Basch's half-brother of course, related through their father, but he'd always treated Basch like a brother and nothing less, and the same was true of Erika. Soon enough the crying stopped as Gabriel sung her to sleep in German and Basch drew a breath, the tears of his father dripping to the floor._

Thirteen years had passed since that day, since the day his mother died, he had barely any memories of her as his father didn't keep her picture anywhere in the house, but he'd found a few, she'd had a pretty face like his sister, and his shorter hair. They had only the coffin afterwards. They said she'd become the victim of a terrorist attack instigated by the mutations, burned by the chemicals that poured onto her face. He'd never believed it, he had gotten a look, a single look at her body, and now that he was older, it looked almost surgical.

Whatever they'd done to her, it wasn't natural, but for now he flushed it out of his mind, turning to the situation in front of him "My mother died in the attacks…" he said calmly, it seemed like a way for her to pity him, pity was always a good method of getting information out of people. "It's good to know that people like that won't be around much for long." He took another drink, his eyes gazing down at his food, suddenly not feeling very hungry after those thoughts crossed his mind.

Anneliese looked sad "Yes… my brother and I were separated from our parents and raised here," she smiled a bit "He always did like to play piano… I always preferred the violin myself, I like to play for guests, if you stay tomorrow, I'll be playing again, I left my Violin at home tonight." She smiled, leaning forward just slightly.

Basch shook his head "I won't be able to, I'm heading out after tomorrow, I'm afraid, but good luck…" he thought for a moment… he'd always hated the piano, too many bad memories, too much crap he didn't want to think about right now, not after his mother. He decided to keep the subject on mutations, "You know what they were, right?" he questioned, wondering if she knew the history.

Anneliese nodded "Yes… we're all taught it in school here, at least, after the war we were, apparently they'd tried to sweep it under the rug before that, I can see why…" she sighed, looking out the window and Basch thought about it himself, he'd heard the story too many times.

_Many years before, scientists attempting to create the perfect soldier developed a serum, and it was a race to make the perfect concoction, it worked, but only in very moderate doses, too few and there were no effects, too much and well… there was a problem, all of the gas they'd had to easily inhale the formulate leaked out, swelling to tremendous sizes in contact with Oxygen and settling in low-level towns and cities, rural areas, even some cities._

_An entire ten percent of the population had been effected, and that was only the official numbers. Many political parties came in, promising they'd fix this problem, saying they were dangerous as they were exhibiting strange abilities, muscle mass increase, increase in bone density, even other… even stranger properties that weren't publicly disclosed. A fear campaign was started, and within a year, nearly every political party in every country was in favor of sending these people out._

_They were all shipped to South America, where it was promised that their condition would be treated by highly trained facilities, while almost all of the South Americans left in fear of what was to come. They build a wall on the other side of the Panama to prevent them from crossing, things spiraled downward, but in the end, very few groups were left down there, and thousands, millions of people were now in South America, no food, but they survived, and endured. And apparently from reports, they thrived, and after a single generation, they had the power to defend themselves against the three world powers of the time-at least, the ones who had been involved._

_They had a material very valuable in South America, one that had almost leveled Africa to get, and that was minatium, a very potent resource that could be used in everything from electronics to medicine, and as was quickly discovered, military superiority. Massive wars were waged in Africa for the Material and the refugees-turned away by every major nation-fled to what was believed to be an uninhabited Africa, where they were met by large cities that were decorated almost entirely with foliage, having never once been spotted by Satellites due to interference from the technopaths living there, ensuring they wouldn't be disturbed._

_When the nation was warned about the material the other nations were after they realized that the very mineral they were after, was what was allowing them to rebuild so quickly. They prepared themselves, all of their abilities that the nations had feared were now being used to fight. Then the refugees from Africa stepped up as well, assisting them in any way possible and adding to the population by a good amount, as well as the Military Population. Most of the soldiers were enhanced using much of the excess material that existed in South America, and turned into Super Soldiers, all ready to fight the war._

_Then they returned to Africa, and the war was over within the month. The other nations with their mines barely up and running were no match for the Super Soldiers, and on top of it, the mutations were overwhelming. Then to ensure no hard feelings were had, despite their right to solely inhabit Africa they took only a portion-of course the portion with the best living, and the highest concentration-and split the remaining equal parts amongst the other three nations, leaving all four with fair amounts. The war was over, but the other nations learned a valuable lesson, and that's that they had much to gain from these new Super Soldiers, as opposed to biologically enhanced ones._

Basch now felt their generous offer to the other nations to avoid war, might cause an even greater war in the future, but there was nothing he could do about it now, absolutely nothing. He sighed and looked to Anneliese before standing up, taking his sandwich with him "I think I'll turn in for the night, it was good to meet you, perhaps I'll see you in the morning. He sighed, it had been forty years since the day that biological chemical was released, and still nobody knew who did it… or at least, the public didn't know.

Anneliese sighed sadly, she had hoped he would stick around, but unfortunately he seemed determined to play hard on this one. She shook her head and stood up, heading to the bartender and striking up conversation with him instead, but still, something lingered in her mind about that man, he was intriguing, and familiar at the same time.


	6. The Facility

Basch had left the inn before sunrise, speeding off into the distance as he crossed the countryside, staying away from major cities. At this distance there would likely not be any news reported about him, as they preferred to contain that sort of stuff, but he didn't want to take chances, so he laid low. No one he passed on the road questioned him, and he managed to stay overall under the radar.

He stopped a few times, inspecting his pocketwatch as he observed the words on it, they seemed to say that violence was the answer, but from what he'd heard of his mother… he didn't think this was how she thought. Every one of his father's stories painted her as peaceful and loving, not violence and quick to wrath, but he couldn't stop from thinking that.

Once he passed into Hungary he watched as much of the mountains turned to wide-open plains where horses once roamed, though he stayed out of the open, opting for the longer path into the wilderness, hidden by trees and foliage. Snow still surrounded the area, painting everything a lovely white for the sun to shine off the ground, and the roads stayed clear thanks to the heating system, so he didn't have to slow down at all.

He had been driving for several hours when he spotted something askew on the side of the road, a small mound half-covered in snow. He began to slow down, from quite a distance away, if it turned out to be a trap he wanted to have the distance advantage, but as he drew closer, and even at this distance he could see that this, whatever it was, was in no shape to fight. Then, as he drew even nearer he could see the shape of… a man.

Basch stopped beside him and climbed off of his bike, trench coat swishing behind him as he knelt down beside the man, he had long hair that draped down to his shoulders and it looked unkempt, as though he'd gone long times without bathing. His stomach was the same story, it caved in on itself and he could see bones, the cold had kept the body from stinking too much, but it was obvious he'd only recently gotten here, otherwise the snow would have buried him.

Basch reached down, attempting to search the man for anything useful, perhaps money, perhaps who he was to tell the family-even in his own time of peril, he couldn't help his heart of gold-when he pulled back suddenly. He watched as the suspected corpse moved, snow glazing over his arm as he did so, he wheezed as his eyes opened and he looked up at Basch, attempting to draw breath.

Basch couldn't believe it, this man had survived the cold despite the hunger, despite the frailty of his body. He reached down, speaking up in the common language "It's alright, I'm going to get help, I'll make sure you get to a hospital-" but the man reached out, his hand cold to the touch, and it didn't seem to be from the after-effects of snow, the cold was coming from him, he was the cold, the very source of it.

He gripped Basch's wrist, he could tell this man was safety, was safe to tell as he opened his lips, using his last drop of energy to speak up, most of his teeth missing "The facility…" he groaned, voice raspy, but understandable. "I left… their facility…." Basch's eyes widened, this man… had been tested on! He had found a victim, just like him and as he looked down at his hand it turned a cool blue as frost dripped from it, a Cryokinetic.

Basch immediately understood what he meant, he'd known for a while that the government had been doing experiments like this, he just didn't know where. He nodded slowly "I understand, tell me, where is it?" he asked, holding onto him, keeping his grip gentle, but firm, keeping the man awake, he didn't seem to have much left in him.

He pointed to the distance as icicles dripped from his finger, he was barely able to keep his arm up. Basch assisted him, gently placing his hand underneath his to steady it, allowing him to guide it as needed for specifics. Slowly he centered in on the most snow-covered area in the forest "There… the facility is cloaked by the trees, by the snow… I left…. I…" he coughed, hacking up dark purplish phlegm into the snow.

Basch rested him back down into the snow, turning him over so it would be easier for him to cough up the phlegm, it definitely wasn't natural, they had done something to him… He laid his hand on the other's shoulders, "Rest easy, your knowledge won't go to waste…" and he stared off in that direction adamantly, he wouldn't let this knowledge simply disappear into nothingness, he would make use of it, the lives of those inside were more important than his own escape and he knew that.

Once the man was finished he turned to Basch, letting out a "Thank…. you…" before closing his eyes and his body stopped feeling so cold, blending in with the snow around him. He hadn't said much, but he'd said enough, enough to save those still back there, he had made a difference, and Basch would carry that out in his stead, he had to.

Basch turned back to him, closing his eyes and speaking to himself in his native tongue "Goian bego… Rest in Peace…" he repeated to himself out loud and had a moment of silence before fixing the man to rest more peacefully in the deepest section of the snowbank. He closed his eyes more firmly and covered him with snow, setting up a small rock and using his powers to pound in a small engraving _"When snow falls, nature listens"._

Satisfied with his word he stood up, pausing once more before climbing onto his bike and trudging it into the snow. He hid it behind a set of trees, fully expecting it to be buried by the time he came back, if he did indeed come back. He only retrieved his weaponry from the compartments, adorning himself like a Soldier of Fortune going into battle and the look in his eye would put fear into the hearts of any man, or any beast he came across.

He stepped off into the snow, determination on his face as he trudged on, he kept himself warm with his powers, emitting small amounts of kinetic energy to move around the molecules in the air to heat himself up best he could, and managing to keep his body heat at a stable temperature. Though he didn't dare heat the snow up in front of him, he didn't want to alert anyone to his presence, and with so many trees around and so little skill at this art, he was afraid he could set the damn place on fire, so he trudged on.

Then within a few hours and as the sun began to set he saw it in the distance, a facility hidden by trees and snow just as the man said. There were no fences, in the middle of nowhere like this, there was nowhere to go, only to your death, you were simply trapped. Though there were small guardposts outside where about three guards were keeping warm, drinking hot cocoa at their leisure. Even from here he could hear their laughter as they cracked jokes with one another, jokes about the prisoners…

Basch grit his teeth, but stayed quiet, he could pull this off without setting off an alarm. He sent his kinetic energy into a tree, feeling quite weakened after keeping himself warm so long, but a large block of ice fell down and crashed, causing silence. Within a few moments Basch was a few branches up and poised with his knife as he heard the door slide open and one of the men walked out.

He immediately saw the ice block and rolled his eyes, calling back inside "Damn branch snapped, we're fine, but I'll make sure there's no evil squirrels so you ladies can rest easy tonight," and he chuckled to himself before heading over to the ice pile, mostly doing it for show despite the other two going back to their fun times with one another. He poked at the ice block, his guard loosening up as he realized there was nothing there, or so he thought.

Basch fell down without cracking a single branch and entirely silent, absorbing the fall as he landed on the man, sending him to the ground and stabbing him in the throat. Blood dirtied the snow red as Basch stood, wiping blood off on the man's outfit. He didn't take it, there was no need to, though he did grab his firearm as well as his ammunition, explosives, and of course his identification card, all would come in handy later.

Then he approached the small compound, now with the man dead he carried himself casually into the front door and it opened with his handy dandy ID card and as soon as he stepped into view a knife flew into the chest of the man farthest away and Basch stepped up to the second who had yet to even set down his cocoa and punched him in the face, which carried the force of Basch's entire fall centered on that one spot, shattering his skull and sending him leaning on the floor dead, both kills completely silent. He grabbed any spare ammunition and explosives he could carry, cleaning his knife off on the man's clothes as well.

He was about to believe before he paused, looking at the large pot full of hot chocolate… He should really hold off on it… but he couldn't resist. He took a free cup and poured himself a nice tall mug of it, sipping it up and relaxing immediately. Then he spoke to himself as he leaned against the wall "My chocoholic ways are going to get me killed one day…" and he took another sip, entirely casual in a situation with two dead men next to him.

He had finished his enjoyable drink within a few moments and he set the mug down, sterning back up and stepping outside. He pulled out his assault rifle, switching the mode to semi-automatic and holding it up, ready to fire it off quickly if he needed to, and bring it up to his face for more accuracy if he had the time. He had lost his scaling gloves and there was nowhere to certainly enter the building at the top so he spun around to the back entrance that the guardhouse had been apparently guarding-albeit poorly-and using his keycard to step inside unnoticed.

So far no guards inside, they must all be taking care of the prisoners in the cells. He seemed to be in an unloading area so he kept it quiet, knowing his footsteps would echo otherwise. As he walked forward he went into a cover position behind the wall, breathing deeply before listening in, footsteps. There was a man on the other side, closer… he was coming closer. Basch quickly shouldered his rifle, taking out his combat knife once more, staying silent as long as possible as he held it over his chest, ready to take the kill.

As soon as the footsteps reached their climax he spun around the wall, the man not even noticing Basch as he wrapped his gloved hand around to cover his mouth, stabbing him in the throat and quickly dragging the lifeless body around to lean against the wall, as it would go unnoticed here in the docking bay. Within a moment his knife was clean and he kept it out, pulling out his handgun to cross his forearms, his arm with a handgun pointing straightforward and resting on the horizontal arm with the knife.

He approached slowly, searching for the stairs as he passed a patrol of two men facing him dead-on. He fired a shot into the first, watching him drop and he tried to do it again but it was too late, he'd called into his speaker before falling to the ground and Basch ran. He sheathed his knife and pulled out his assault rifle, holding it in front of his face as he turned right down a long corridor. It had a series of rooms going off to the side, each seemed to be scientific rooms which all closed off immediately upon his passing them.

A single room remained open on the far side of the corridor, he sprinted forward, moving at full speed and sliding in, turning around just as he saw a squad of fully armed guards turn the corner to face him, but it was too late. He slid under the door just as it close and he was trapped, but safe for now. Though as he turned to look into the room he immediately realized why these rooms had been shut off as his jaw practically dropped.

In the middle of the room was a stasis chamber, and floating in the chamber was a woman.

Anneliese spent a good part of the next day thinking about that man that left, he had been so mysterious, so quiet, and… dangerous all at the same time. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it certainly distracted her from her work, which was of course, practicing in her home. Then once she made it back to the inn she greeted the usual comers, if it wasn't for her this time of year nobody would come to drink and eat, and possibly stay at one of the rooms for a night or two while they recovered from their night of partying.

She loved it though, it wasn't a chore or a burden to her at all, just to show off her musical talent was a joy. Her brother had left many years ago to join in the organization that did so much good, keeping people safe. She supposed it did indeed suit him with how tidy he was and how well he worked with a budget, but still, it would do her good to have a piano as a backup.

As she finished one of her songs she stepped up to the bar, grabbing a drink of water and nodding to the innkeeper thankfully. The young man next to her scrolled through his pad, surfing the internet and the news and suddenly, her eyes widened and she dropped her glass. It shattered to the floor, causing everyone to look at her suddenly. Her body was shaking and her face was full of fear, she couldn't believe it, right on the front page of the article was the same man as before. The man whom she had shared a short conversation with, she had been that close to a traitor, and a killer.

She quickly stood up, shouting an apology as she ran out of the inn, promising to come back for the show later tonight before sprinting out towards her house. She'd never run so fast in her life and most certainly not during the day, but she had to, she had to call someone, anyone, she had to warn people. Once she was in her house and she had her cellphone out she leaned against the door, dropping to the ground. She was still shaking, who could she call? Not the police, he was far above their league…

Then she dialed the phone as fast as her thumbs would move, not even using her speed dial as she held the phone up to her ear, waiting for him to answer "Please answer… please…" she muttered and then she heard the voice most others considered snide on the other end of the line "Roderich!" she shouted suddenly "He was here, that man who was on the news, he came through here, he left this morning, but he was here! He was heading east!"She barely paused to breathe as she went through the entire scenario, recounting her entire conversation with him as her brother attempted to comfort her.

At the end Roderich looked at his hands, he couldn't believe it, and then it dawned on him as he stood up "Thank you Ann, I have to tell Ludwig, he's probably made it to Sicily as we speak, I promise we'll make sure we get this guy!" he shouted and before he hung up he spoke once more "You've just saved a lot of people Ann, call some of your friends to help you calm down and I promise I'll be back before long." With that he hung up, making another call.

The loud voice answered within moments, it was clear he was on a transport full of men as he spoke even louder than he usually did just to speak over them. Then Roderich spoke those words, those six words that caused silence in the man as he'd never experienced before "He's heading to the Soviet Republic!"

For a few moments Ludwig was silent before he shouted out "INTERCEPT HIM, STOP HIM, I WON'T MAKE IT IN TIME, GILBERT IS THE CLOSEST, SEND HIM, SEND HIM NOW BEFORE HE MAKES IT TO THE BORDER!" he screamed in pure fury and rage before hanging up, shouting at the man driving they needed to turn around, turn around immediately, and head for the Soviet Republic.

Gilbert sat at the inn, raising a tankard above his head in excitement "Another, give me another, I plan to break my record tonight!" and with that his men slammed their hands on his back in excitement. He received cheers of encouragement and shouts of joy. He held a busty woman in his left arm and who sat in his lap, cheering on with her own tankard in her hand. She didn't look to be anyone special, just a fan of the Prussian's.

He immediately chugged his tankard and once it was gone he slammed it onto the table, another round of cheers and applause from the crowd around him. He raised his hands in victory, he was close, definitely close. Though as he reached for his next tankard his communicator went off and he listened, leaning on the counter. He listened to the ramblings of the Austrian man for a minute as his infamous smirk crossed his face, and those… dark, red eyes shined with a bloodlust.

Gilbert stood up, grabbing his tankard and setting the woman on his seat, who pouted at the loss of her Prussian. "Men, tonight we have a hunt on our hands!" he shouted, chugging his last tankard before slamming it down. "Tonight…" he continued, looking at them all "We hunt ourselves a prize! We're going after Zwingli! Now let's get going!" He rose his hands in the air, looking quite dramatic if he did say so himself, might even put that Frenchman to shame.

The roar of approval and applause was deafening to the inn as every man grabbed his weapons and Gilbert walked confidently out of the bar, looking out into the snow, somewhere nearby was Basch Zwingli… "Run little goat man… You can't hide from my eyes." Suddenly they glossed over, quickly darkening again as he switched between sights, almost as if he could see him right now, and was savoring the taste of the hunt.


	7. The Hunter, The Prey, and the Dead

Alarms went off around him, but Basch stared in amazement, taking the time to observe the scene in front of him. Although he was less focused on the woman, and more focused on the technology they were using. From what he could see on her status reports she was in a state of induced coma, combined with the minerals around her and flowing through her body keeping her young. It didn't say how long she'd been there, and he couldn't tell by her age, but he could only guess she'd been there a while.

He inspected the instruments, she was obviously like him, a mutant. That meant only one thing, he had to get her out of here. He had little time before they made their way through the door, he could hear an angry German man with an almost shrill voice on the other side of the door, coming closer and barking orders. He couldn't make out any words, but it was clear just by the sound that he was in charge.

He heard them attempting a forced entry as he scanned the files, nothing was keeping him back, not after his years in the military, he knew all of their computer codes, he knew how to get into their systems, the problem was he didn't see a release function anywhere! Though some of the ones he did see… gruesome to say the least, and thankful she wasn't conscious to say the most.

Halfway through now, he had to hurry, he looked up at her, her body floating in the container and he looked back to the door, then to the glass. A normal human wouldn't be able to hit hard enough to break it, and bullets might cause damage to the woman inside, but Basch wasn't a normal human. He brought his fist back and slammed it straight into the glass, watching it spiderweb and crack open. Then he realized, he should probably get out of the way.

Basch dove behind one of the consoles, taking cover as the glass shattered and the golden liquid covered most of the floor before slowly dispersing. He stood up immediately, running over and picking her body up, lifting her and setting her down on the ground. He didn't shake her, he realized that she probably wouldn't wake up for a while now, so he opted to stash her behind a large console instead, taking cover there with her to make sure he had personal oversight.

Three-fourths of the way through, he pulled his rifle out again, looking down at her, he bit his lip, she hadn't been wearing any clothes in there and he felt… rather immoral leaving her like this. He took the few precious moments and removed his trench coat, going to place it over her body when the unexpected happened, her eyes opened and Basch froze.

He was about to say something, ask who she was and what had happened here, but he never got the chance, receiving a massive punch straight to his jaw which sent him flying to the other side of the room. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, the pain of a punch, that was… impossible. He had never been knocked back by a kinetic force before, only physical force could throw him back like that, which meant… this woman, was someone to fear, someone he should fear.

She was no longer in the nude, but was instead wrapped in a thick silvery cloak with a cape flowing behind her, an outfit made of pure energy. That should have explained the punch, but she was only just now emitting that energy, and that meant… she'd knocked him back with pure strength, she had not used her energy yet, that was amazing. An aura shrouded her body as she stared down at Basch who held his gun up, switching targets between the door and her now, they were so close, but she was the immediate threat… "I am Basch-"

He never finished, she was on him in a second and he only just barely managed to dodge her strike, she was impressive, unbelievably impressive. Not only strong, but fast, he gripped onto her shoulder, performing a textbook flip at full force as he threw her into a wall, creating a full dent into the next room, the prison cells. The commotion had moved most of the guards to the door, but the prisoners weren't contained any more than usual, and they stared down at the scene, unsure of who to cheer on in this fight.

She didn't pay the prisoners attention for now, focusing on the fight as she lashed forward, sending multiple fast-paced kicks, strikes, hooks, and spinning kicks at him. If Basch didn't have his kinetic pulses to push him out of the way he would have been toast by any single one of those strikes, if anything, because of the pure energy and hate he could feel radiating off of her. Though neither paid attention to the door now, putting full attention on the enemy in front of them.

Basch attempted to speak, sacrificing much-needed breath in an attempt to end this "I don't want to fight you!" he shouted out, sending the both of them far apart as he send out a large wave, either of them slamming back into opposite walls. "I came here to help you!" Though her expression didn't soften. She walked forward slowly, the look of death on her face.

"You? Help me?!" she asked furiously, the first words she had spoken to him "Help me by moving me to a new prison?! Experimenting on me more and trying to suppress my powers?!" She was obviously distrustful of people, but before Basch could say anything the noise of the door slamming open rang through the halls and the prisoners shouted jeers at their captors, cheering on the woman who seemed to be on their side.

The pale man stood in front of them as his men swarmed the room, covering the entire wall with fire and aimed at both of them. Then from a position only Basch could see, they were setting something up behind him. Something big. And it was aimed straight past the man and towards the woman he had just freed, obviously they either perceived her as the bigger threat, or they already had the means to easily deal with her.

The woman snarled, now on the defensive from two angles, not noticing they were aiming towards Basch as well "You!" she shouted, aura flaring up even more. "You sold me out! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be here!" her eyes blazed with a red hot fury as some of the troops, stepped back in fear of her ever-growing aura. "Gilbert Beilschmidt, _**I'll kill you!**_" Her aura changed to a deep red, the color of blood, she was no longer fighting for herself, she was fighting to kill.

Basch saw it happen in a split second, she ran towards him at full speed, no regard for her own safety as Gilbert made the movement to step aside. They would blast her, he couldn't let that happen. He propelled himself forward, slamming into her at incredible speeds and burning himself on her energy. He wasn't used to pain, he could avoid energy weapons most of the time, and bullets never hurt him, but her aura… it was like nothing he'd ever felt before, but he endured, he would tolerate it.

The woman beneath him stared up, she saw this man at first and was about to tear him apart, but then a large blast of energy flashed above him, illuminating his body and his arms. She could see his face clearly as the rage subsided, turning into realization that she may have been wrong and she laid there for a split-second, her raging flames disappearing in pure shock of what just happened, though the clothes stayed.

Basch cringed, his flesh already burnt, but he didn't feel anymore, her flames had died down, he felt regret, he hadn't managed to save her in time, and he had only injured himself in the process, now he was a sitting duck. He tried to move, but found it impossible, the pain flashed through him immediately and he let out a noise of pain. He would heal, he always healed faster than others did as his cells sped up the process, but it would take minutes, minutes he didn't have on his own.

The man named Gilbert sneered as he looked down at the pair of them, at one time he'd have killed Basch just for touching her, but now, he would simply kill them both because they were a threat, and he hunted down threats. His eyes glazed over again as he saw the heat of both of their bodies, and the burns inflicted on the man's skin. He smirked, raising his arms up in a nonchalant way "Well, well, well, the golden boy Basch saved your life twice today Elizabeta, you should be grateful, unfortunately, you won't be able to return the favor… Men, open fire! Shoot to maim!"

Every man brought up his or her firearm and they all pulled the triggers, Elizabeta's eyes widened along with Basch's. Basch was simply surprised she was alive, and Elizabeta was surprised that Basch was not here to transfer her. She had only a moment to react before holding up her arms, shouting "NO!" and a large field appeared above the two of them, absorbing the energy of their shots, gunfire or energy.

Basch looked down at her in her moment of defense, the aura around her had changed, it was the color of iron, a dull, defensive color and Basch rolled off of her, allowing her to stand in a more advantageous spot to defend them both, and he felt his skin slowly healing up, and while he was still a bit still, he could deal for now. He still had his rifle so he pulled it out, aiming for the man named Gilbert's head for when she lowered the shielding, if she ever lowered it.

Confusion ran through Gilbert's mind as he looked at the two, they should have been torn to shreds, but that ability… she'd never told him about it! She'd told him about a plethora of other abilities, but never that one! He glared, stopping his men to conserve ammo "Since when could you do that?!" he shouted in rage, he switched back to normal vision, unable to see either of them beyond her aura of blinding light.

She gritted her teeth, but a smirk spread across them as she stepped into another position. Basch immediately stepped back, she wasn't feeling defensive anymore as her aura switched back to the silvery color of before. "Since fuck you!" and she send her aura straight into the men, a few were sent back into the hallway, the others were crushed against the wall, knocked unconscious for the time being.

Basch didn't bother hunting the man down and shooting him, he was already getting up and he didn't have much time before Gilbert retaliated. He send a wave of energy that looked like an explosion straight towards the door which closed it again, causing a scream of fury and rage from the Prussian before he began barking orders again.

Basch turned to Elizabeta, unsure of how he should react to her now, but she stood, a smile on her face as she sweeped herself off "That felt good… come on!" she shouted, running towards the hole he'd made just a few minutes ago. They ran through it, only minimal resistance stood in the next room and Basch brought up his rifle, firing off shot after shot, taking each man in the head. He originally thought it was his powers keeping him from feeling their gunfire, but no, this… Elizabeta, had created a field around the two of them, protecting them both, but she seemed to only be able to focus on that.

He took that as a sign she didn't want to kill him anymore.

He dropped all of the guards, all of the doors to the cell block were also locked, which gave them time. He listened to the cheers of the prisoners, though it was mixed with confusion, but none of them questioned their rescuers. Elizabeta ran up the stairs and sprinted towards a large box on the far side of the room that could see all of the prisoners at once. They ran up opposite stairs, Basch taking a more military-style approach to his assault, making sure no reinforcements came, while Elizabeta took a berserker approach, not caring who or what got in her way, but she would make it there.

She got inside the booth first, punching the guards inside straight through the glass and then Basch came in, taking out those who had barely survived her onslaught and were drawing their weapons to take her out. Once all the guards were down he shouldered his rifle again, walking over to her "What are you doing?" he asked, inspecting the controls, he'd never been in a prison before, he hated them, so he had no idea what did what in this facility, but apparently she did.

She took his question as though she'd been asked what she was having for lunch today. "I'm freeing the prisoners on all three cell blocks, they should cause enough chaos for more to make their escape than none…" she stared down at them as the cell doors opened and she stood up. They all ran out, some flew, some even crawled along the walls. Those who were let out of specific energy-dampening fields or constraints sped off at incredible speeds or teleported away, hopefully to somewhere safe.

He was about to interject, but he realized she was right, mutants in these numbers would send any amount of guards fleeing, and should they try to take the entire guard on by themselves, reinforcements would be there within the hour, and they couldn't hold them off on their own. He nodded in approval, though one question still dawned on him "How do you know how to operate the controls?" he asked her curiously.

She turned back to him, huffing "How do you know how to shoot a gun?" she snarked back, watching as the prisoners left and the doors all across the facility opened up, the guards were in some kind of trouble now. Almost no gunshots were heard as it was nearly impossible to fight against this onslaught, or see some of them coming. Basch just hoped most of them survived, or at the very least, knew they had died fucking over the men who had imprisoned them.

Basch quickly took off, not saying a single word as he jumped off the balcony, taking a sigh of breath as he landed as though he'd just taken a breath of fresh water, it always felt good when this sort of energy surged inside him, it helped him immensely. He was about to retrieve his jacket when a blur sent it his way and a young lady with a ponytail and a curl winked his way and made a movement with her hands before running off, obviously he way of saying thank you.

He nodded in return, and once he had placed his jacket upon his shoulders once more, he sprinted off at top speed into a lesser populated direction, but then he saw Elizabeta running beside him once more, blue surrounding her as she practically skated over the ground in front of her, keeping up with his speed. It looked to him like her powers could do a lot of things, he was definitely curious how they worked… perhaps that's why she was hooked up differently than all the others.

Basch was about to question her, but she interrupted him, as though she knew what he was going to stay "I need a place to go, and you're a guy who knows where he's going, best I stick with you, right?" she suggested before spinning the corner, observing the dead men that Basch had taken out on his way here with a bit of intrigue, though said nothing.

Basch stepped out the back door again, sprinting past the guardpost and into the wilderness as he watched many others doing the same, but at the same time he watched as explosive powers took down the facility from the inside. He could see explosions from all four of the towers and the command center, they sure were having fun, and it was always nice to see people like that get what they deserved.

Basch ran for about twenty minutes before reaching a small clearing where the snow had fallen lesser than elsewhere. Basch went to sit, the snow beneath him melting quickly as he sighed, attempting to catch his breath while Elizabeta did the same across from him. He didn't normally smile, but when he looked at her he allowed himself the ghost of a smile, and she could obviously sense it because she smiled back wider than he could ever think possible. When she wasn't so murderous, she looked like quite a happy woman.

"So…" he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm Basch, Basch Zwingli…" he said, holding his hand out to her, as they were just close enough for the both of them to shake hands. Snow around them began to fall again, not in the downpour that had created the unbreachable wall of snow around them, but in a sort of calming way… Basch had a feeling that this was that man's way of thanking him, thanking him for accomplishing the mission that he could not.

Elizabeta returned the hand, grasping his own firmly as she nodded "Elizabeta Héderváry, pleasure to meet you, my golden knight~" she laughed to herself, finding the comment Gilbert had made earlier of him being a 'golden boy' would be quite a nice source of an entertaining nickname. She was almost an entirely different person compared to the one she was earlier, he knees pulled up as she leaned against the tree, taking deep breaths as she enjoyed the fresh air for once.

Basch raised a brow at first, but couldn't help snorting at her joke "I do hope if you plan to follow me, you won't be calling me that the whole way…" he said, though he honestly wouldn't mind, it was better than the nickname of 'Swiss Cheese' he had received from some non-Swissfolk over the years. Besides, he could get used to being a knight… Felt a bit more respectful than traitor to the European Union, or Mutant: Danger to the entire world at least.

She laughed once more, tilting her head "I dunno, we'll just have to see how knight-like you truly are," and with that they both sat in the silence, enjoying the snowfall, and enjoying the peace. Though that peace was soon shattered as a shot range through the woods that hit Elizabeta right in the shoulder, sending her to the ground and Basch reacted quickly, he received a shot in his forehead, but it affected him little as he dove to cover Elizabeta, who was wincing in pain. A small golden aura covered her as she closed her eyes and Basch's eyes widened as he shook her "No, don't you lay down and die already!"

Basch gritted his teeth as Gilbert stepped out from the foliage, a large pistol in his hands as he aimed at Basch "Oh, and here I forgot bullets don't work on you…" he threw his gun to the side, his eyes switching again. turning back to their normal gaze "My brother wanted to be the one to do you in, but I guess I'll have to finish you and take the scraps back. Me, Gilbert Beilschmidt! Not even you can hide from my sight, Basch! I am infallible!"

Basch was still covering Elizabeta defensively, hovering over her as Gilbert began to strut across the snow, pulling out a long hunting knife that practically looked like a rapier from where he stood. "I always knew you weren't to be trusted, you weren't _awesome _enough to be around the rest of us, and your aura was always strange, now I know why, it's just good to remind people that I am the hunter, and your kind!" he pointed at the two of them. "Are the prey!"

Elizabeta tapped Basch's arm twice, they didn't have any signals set up, but he got the point, keep the idiot talking. "And how do you plan to take me out Gilbert? Only your eyes are enhanced, the rest of you can be blown away easily!" he couldn't of course, he was exhausted, he would be lucky if he could use his skills to have an edge in speed and strength over him, and with that sword… he would need a lot of luck to get in close.

"Dummkopf!" he said, pointing the sword at him "I know you can still be cut, you can still be burnt, and you can die, you are not immortal Basch Zwingli!" he grinned, he looked so victorious, so smug, and he was toying with his victims. "I will hunt down every last one of your friends you set free, I will force you to watch as each of them are thrown back into a cell, and I will force you to watch as the whore you stand over is put right back into her pod! Only then, will I allow my little brother to kill you, only then will I allow you to die! Face it; I win, you lose, because I am an awesome force you cannot stand against!"

He raised his sword dramatically into the air and Elizabeta took his wrist, holding it, she was ready anytime "An awesome force of stupid is more like it," and he rolled over, allowing Elizabeta to send herself forward at his open stance, her silvery aura turning red once more as she beat him to a pulp. Basch turned away, he had shot many people and seen much blood, but he was still affected by this. He let out a breath, running his hand through his hair and once the energy dissipated he turned back to see her.

Elizabeta had crushed something in her hand and she tossed the bits into the snow, standing up and taking the body, hurling it into a thick snowbank, a rather informal burial if you asked him. "Was that really necessary?" he asked her, scratching the back of his head as he inspected the gun, it was a powerful hand cannon, a Kobra. He dropped his own pistol into his spare pouch and picked it up, no reason he shouldn't upgrade himself every now and again.

Elizabeta nodded as Basch inspected the pistol and he focused back on her, he could sense a story coming "Yes… after all he did to me, that was necessary… If it wasn't for him, I never would have been caught in that damn place…" then she sighed, waving the matter off "Don't worry, you won't always see me that violent… unless you really tick me off." She sounded serious, but the tease at the end and the small smirk underneath her anger showed that she was ready to leave the matter behind her, so he would too.

"Alright, it's late, we should rest for now and head out in the morning, sound good?" he asked her this as he leaned back against the tree, letting out a soft sigh of relief as he stretched, looking up at her as she gazed out to the land beyond the Facility. He still had no idea who she was or what connection she had to Gilbert, sure he hunted down mutants all the time, but this sounded… personal. He wouldn't pry, but it still itched at him, perhaps he could ask her once on their travels.

"You sleep, I'll keep take first watch," she said, leaning against a tree, she had just woken up, and had no intention of going back to sleep, at least, not for a while.


	8. Partners

Many passed by them throughout the night, so many that Basch decided that sleep might just be impossible until they had all passed through and the way seemed silent.

At one point a young man with a ponytail came by and inspected the sword Gilbert left behind, taking it for his own as he greeted Elizabeta. They talked like old friends and Basch stayed awake through this singular encounter, watching the interaction between the two. He seemed to be urging her to go south with him and many of the others, but she stayed adamant that she would go her own way. Basch didn't get any of the specifics, but nevertheless they left as friends and a hug was exchanged.

When Basch woke early in the morning he stretched, he was plentifully rested for his own needs, he needed little sleep, though whether it was natural to him or due to the energy always bouncing around his system he had no idea. Though Elizabeta seemed to enjoy that he was awake, in fact, she had food for the both of them. A lot of food actually.

Basch sat up, blinking a few times as he stretched himself out "Where'd you get the food?" he asked within a yawn, adjusting to the bright sunlight above him. After a few moments he observed the plate of meat that was cooking over a warm fire, she had been busy this morning, he almost felt a little bad for sleeping through it before he remembered that he'd saved her just a previous night, perhaps he could let this one slide.

She handed him a flat rock with meat on it and tossed him a water bottle, which he caught with superb efficiency. "A little present from a few of the people we freed passing through, they'd looted the kitchens and the storehouses and dropped us off some food, I assumed we could take it with us… that is, assuming you actually do have a plan?" he asked, raising a brow as she munched on her own food, sighing happily, she didn't have too many spices to work with, but she made do and it was excellent.

Basch shrugged, munching on his food for a few moments before speaking up "I saw you conversing with a young man this morning, anything happen that we needed to know about?" he asked, taking a sip of his water, but he relaxed as he saw that Elizabeta didn't falter, there was nothing wrong with his visit, good, they wouldn't have to deal with the consequences later.

"Just a friend of mine, he insisted I go with them down South, they're making a break for the border, I politely declined and said that I've got plans already," she smiled, taking sip of water "After all, I think I feel safer with you than any of them…" and she proceeded to eat, staying silent the rest of the meal. The both of them felt safe with them running off towards the south like that, it was much safer around without Gilbert to hunt them down, and with all of the chaos that will likely ensue after a massive jailbreak.

After they were finished eating Elizabeta stood up, tossing her rock into the trees and tossed her water into the small case of food and water. She lifted it up easily over her shoulder and gestured forward "Come on, let's go!" she said, a grin on her face and the spark of adventure in her eye. It was intriguing, someone who seemed capable of being so many different people, yet all of them were equally strong. Not in body, but in spirit.

He nodded, collecting his weaponry as he stood up "Let's get moving then," and he nodded, heading towards his motorcycle, it would be about an hour walk before they made it there so he looked at her curiously, "So… your powers back there, you seem to have a lot of them," he said curiously, munching on the last piece of meat in his hand.

Elizabeta nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear "Yes, my abilities tie into my emotions at the time, when I'm feeling defensive or attacked I can create large shields, when I'm feeling excited and joyful I can speed up, when I'm feeling calm and sweet, I can heal others, and when I'm angry…. well, you saw me when I'm angry, most people don't like me when I'm angry," she laughed awkwardly to herself, covering her mouth as she did so.

Basch looked at her and raised a brow, shaking his head "On the contrary, I was rather amazed when you were angry, it takes a lot of power for someone to match me in close combat like that, your speed, your strength, your strength alone managed to overpower me, you must be incredibly strong," he spoke of her with admiration in his voice, definitely admiration. Though he didn't flatter her, he felt no qualms about speaking up about that.

Elizabeta laughed, shaking her head and socking him in the arm-none too easily, athough still in a playful manner. "Oh, quiet you," she shook her head, playing with her hair and moving it in front of her face for a moment before Basch could look back at her. He rubbed his arm and shook his head as the two walked on and he continued to speak.

"I have the ability to absorb and redirect kinetic energy, but heat, cutting wounds, and stabbing wounds can all still hurt me. Though, it comes in rather handy, a rain of bulletfire will do nothing to me, and I can redirect the power into a shockwave to give them a taste of their own medicine…" then he pulled his rifle out, admiring it "Though when worse comes to worse, I can always rely on my weaponry, they've never failed me."

Elizabeta smirked just a bit "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?" she asked, prancing in front of him with a bit of a teasing attitude painted plain on her face. Basch shook his head. Things certainly would be more entertaining with Elizabeta around…

Within an hour they were back at the street and Basch's bike was still hidden amongst the bramble, and as he pulled it out, pushing it back onto the perfectly clear road Elizabeta seemed fascinated with it. She didn't look innocent, but more in the 'I wanna see how fast this thing can go' type of way. When Basch saw this he felt a sense of pride, and waited for a moment as Elizabeta packed the back compartments with food, displacing the ammunition stores in there, but Basch would have to deal with it for now.

Basch made sure no snow had accumulated in any vital areas before climbing on when he realize "I just realized I don't have a backseat for this thing…" There was only one actual seat on the motorcycle, the back was normally reserved for backup firearms. He didn't know what to say to that, he'd hate to ask her, practically a stranger, to sit in a compromising position with him. Though obviously, he didn't know this woman who was 'practically a stranger'.

Elizabeta raised a brow, crossing her arms "Oh? You're not getting rid of me that easily, Zwingli," she said adamantly before climbing onto the same seat as him and wrapping her arms around his waist, setting her chin on his shoulder with a grin on her face, ready to feel the wind in her face after being in that facility for such a long time, not even counting the time she spent in stasis. "Alright, ready!"

Basch felt surprised at her actions and moved up just a bit to give her a bit more room, and tried to feel the balance of the motorcycle with the new weight added to it. Once he got his footing he started it up and sped off, both of their hair flying back behind them. The road was open and ice-free due to the heated tiles of the road, which also glowed with the roadlines, lighting up the road like an old-time sci-fi movie.

While on the road, Elizabeta spoke up, attempting to strike conversation despite the sixty mile an hour winds blasting their faces. "So, other than your name I don't know anything about you, how about a little story time?" She spoke loudly of course, which immediately struck the Swissman's ears like a hand grenade, causing his head to pound. Though Basch had no reason to deny her his origin, so he spoke up, hoping to avoid bugs in his mouth.

"I was Lieutenant in the Swiss Branch of the military, and _before_ you get mad I was aiming for a high position for the money, not the job, I had… someone else to send away before I did this," he didn't elaborate on that last part, but he was just thankful she didn't hit him. "After they discovered who I was, I ran for it, I've been going east for the past few days when a man…" he paused, taking a moment to wish for him to rest in peace before continuing "Told me about the facility, and that's where I found you."

Elizabeta looked impressed at first, but then she tapped his side "Not that! I meant you! What do you like? Any family like you? But it is good to know I've got a badass on my side~" she laughed, it sounded somewhere in between a princess and a country girl, but it was definitely a laughed that belonged to her. Then she looked at him, chin on his shoulder again as she waited for him to respond.

Basch didn't exactly know what to say to say, so he just blurted out something he thought sounded right as a respond "Well, I like chocolate-" he said quickly, and immediately regretting it, wow, that was probably the dumbest thing for him to say in a situation like this. Of course it was true, his love of chocolate bordered on addiction. Of course he shouldn't going to say that out loud.

Suddenly she perked up, still holding onto his sides "Chocolate?" she asked, a grin on her face. She leaned forward just a bit, looking around, it was nice to see the scenery again, anything except the inside of her cell for the very few times she'd ever opened her eyes in the past few years. She sighed softly, relaxing as Basch went on about his love for chocolate, not tuning him out, just allowing the words to flow.

The two stayed on the road for quite some time before the sun overhead began to beat down on the both of them and Basch's stomach made a noise akin to that of some monstrous creature. Elizabeta could only laugh as she spoke up over the engine "Pull over, we should both take a lunch break!" she said.

Basch nodded, slowing down and pulling over to the side of the road, the snow oh the higher mountains disappearing in favor of the trees of the lower altitudes, providing them some clear room to take a break. It looked quite lovely out today and the sun overhead displayed clearly that it was just around noon, they would probably take a short time to eat and then be back on the road.

Basch stood and ran a hand through his hair, leaning against the bike as Elizabeta opened up the storage compartment, pulling out some of the food they'd had stored up from the facility and tossing one of the pre-made sandwiches to Basch, taking another for herself. It certainly wasn't last night's sandwich, but it would do. He unwrapped it, catching a whiff of cafeteria food that was slightly above what they served in prisons, but he shrugged, taking a bite out of it, no better or worse than the food he used to eat at his military compound.

Elizabeta sat on the ground to eat, crossing her legs and enjoying the sandwich in front of her, now wearing a pair of black jeans and the same color jacket. She'd used her abilities to create quite a few energy dresses while they'd been driving, switching from jeans and a leather jacket to a flowing dress-that Basch shouted would get caught in the wheel-and as far as Basch knew, she'd been nude for a few seconds, but he was pretty sure that was her messing with him… probably.

Though for the moment she'd settled on this, and ate her newfound food with vigor, apparently when you're fed through tube nutrients for years on end, you found a plain ham sandwich to be a Godsend. When Basch was halfway through he finally spoke up "We need a plan… I'm heading for the Soviet Republic border and now that I've caused all that commotion with you and your… friends, the military-and more specifically, an old friend of mine-will be on my tail. You wouldn't happen to remember something around here, would you?"

Basch knew she had been in a tube, but things hadn't changed that much in just those few years, not to mention, he'd never actually come through here before, all of his missions were centered in western Europe, the provinces of France and Italy mostly, and he'd been stationed in Switzerland, so he knew nothing of the Eastern EU. So he waited for her to think of something, taking another healthy bite of his sandwich.

She nodded to herself, laying flat on the ground now and looking up at the sky quite carelessly as the grass beneath her was pressed down. "There was a train, I'd used it once or twice to visit the German Province back when… well, that's not important, what's important is, it's fast, and it goes straight into the Soviet Republic…" she reached back, scratching the back of her head "I think…"

Basch raised a brow, leaning forward "What do you mean you think?" he asked curiously, a train sounded like a good idea, he'd probably have to leave his bike behind, but it would be worth it, besides, once he was in the Soviet Republic he would be able to ask for safe transport to New Olympus, the Promised Land for his and her people. He took a deep breath, his sister was there now, he hoped he could see her soon… to hold her… he missed her more than he thought he would.

She elaborated, sitting up once more as she finished her sandwich with her first few words. "The last time I was on the train there was lots of construction, for a military outpost," she said ominously. "Going through there might be bad for our health if they decide to stop us… But, it's the fastest way I know, unless you wanna take this beauty all the way over the border?" she asked, patting his motorcycle with a grin on her face, almost suggestively.

Basch sighed, looking down at his bike "It's our best shot, where could we get on?" he asked, finishing up his sandwich as well. He climbed onto his bike at that point and scooting forward for her as Elizabeta climbed onto the back, wrapping her arms around his waist once more.

"There's actually a station nearby, we can be there in about an hour," she said confidently, readying herself for the ride once more, it truly felt good to be out in the world again. Some would be hoping that this journey wouldn't end with her in another prison, but she had faith in the man in front of her, she'd shown him exactly what he can do, and with her there to help him, she knew they could do it.

They were at the station within the hour and Basch stayed far off in the corner, watching the entire situation from the darkest shadow. He couldn't show his face, not with that exact same face plastered over every most wanted poster on every news site. So he allowed Elizabeta to acquire the tickets for the both of them.

Elizabeta walked up to the ticket station, money that Basch had given her in her hand as she leaned forward, a smile on her face as she saw that same woman from many years back, now looking five years older. "Hestia! It's good to see you again! How've you been? How are your cats?" she asked, slipping the money for two tickets into the little money counter. "Two tickets for the train into the Soviet Republic!" she said happily, her brightest smile plastered on her face.

The sleepy woman smiled at the familiar face, nodding slowly "They're doing good, and I'm just filling in for an old friend today, I actually started another job as an animal doctor," she smiled happily, it had been her dream job since she was little, and she was finally living it, but she didn't mind filling in for an old friend, especially when the people were so nice. "But you, you don't look a day older! I bet that research you were doing really did wonders, huh?" she asked, going back to her usual habit of talking and relaxing.

Elizabeta laughed a bit nervously, waving it off "Oh, I'd say it sure did something, but my friend and I are in a bit of a hurry so we'll just take our tickets now and catch up later! I can call you sometime, right? You've still got the same number?" she asked, feeling quite excited to run into an old friend, but knowing very well that chatting wasn't the smartest idea right now.

Suddenly Hestia's face dropped and she nodded "Well, tickets I can do, but the train stopped going to the Soviet Republic a few years back… It stops at the border and you have to go through security before getting on another train, I hope that's not a bother, right?" she asked, reaching to grab her a ticket, but waiting until she really confirmed it's what she wanted.

Elizabeta set off a long string of curses in her head as she heard that, but kept her happy attitude up for everyone to see "That will be just fine," she said happily and nodded, and when Hestia handed her the tickets she took them quite politely "I'll call you, tell Pythagoras I said hi!" and with that and Hestia waving goodbye she turned towards Basch who walked out of his corner, attempting to stay inconspicuous.

Basch looked to her as she held up their tickets "Here we are!" she said, and then looked to him, attempting to seem nonchalant "Basch, we may have a problem… I'll talk to you about it once we get a compartment on the train…" and with that she stopped talking, making it very clear that she was worried for the both of them, but they both knew that with very bad people on their tail, this was likely their only choice of action, besides, it was a gamble anyway.

She gestured for him to simply follow as she walked towards the gates to the train. She slipped the tickets in for both of them and Basch stepped through after her, looking around curiously. The walls were all glass and they could see the green grass outside, it was beautiful, but nearby he could see a very high metal beam, yeah, he knew exactly where this was gonna go.

As they walked up the stairs higher and higher he saw the entrance to the shuttle, which was suspended high in the air as not to interfere with the land around it, and it also meant that you couldn't escape the shuttle if you were trying to leave the country unless you wanted to become a pancake on the ground.

The two boarded the round and pure white shuttle that gleamed with the early afternoon sunlight, and once they climbed on board they saw that not only was it modern in outside design, but more old-fashioned inside, allowing private compartments, of course it did, it was meant for international travel, that was good at least. Behind them the doors sealed themselves shut, keeping everyone in for the duration of the ride with a suction force strong enough to hold an elephant.

Basch sighed as the two found a compartment and Elizabeta locked it, looking out the window and biting her lip. "Yeah, there's a military stop at the border," she said quite bluntly, hoping he would take that well. For now she just tried to relax herself, despite the fact her entire head was in panic mode, they would have to find a way to fool the border guard, and if they couldn't, well, this mission of theirs would end as quickly as it started.

Basch looked out the window at the ground far below and nodded "Right… don't worry about that, I've got a plan," and he nodded to himself, scenarios running very rapidly through his mind, he hadn't gotten to his position in the military just for skill, he was a tried and true tactician and knew how to formulate complex plans in his head in very short times, and at this point, he had to say this one was a kicker. "But for now, let's just relax, we can always talk about the plan when it comes to."

With that, the train began moving and they were off, straight towards the Ukrainian Province of the Soviet Republic.


	9. The Train

Ludwig slammed his fist down on the table, rage on his face as he spoke to his superior through the com channel "My team has to go back?! What?!" he shouted, rage boiling in his face despite the man in front of him. "You said this was the most important thing we needed to do, that we couldn't let this mutant escape!" he smashed his fist through the desk, luckily his superior couldn't see this temper tantrum.

"It _was_ the most dire situation at the time, now we have an entire facility leaking mutants into the world, a facility close enough to the border that should they find a way to leave, there will be no stopping them. They've already taken down two other facilities, _and _our best hunter. We need them contained, your unit is the best of the best, they'll be the ones to carry this out. I'm still leaving the mission to you, with your new enhancements you shouldn't have much of an issue, right?" he asked, tapping his fingers on the desk, staying calm.

Ludwig couldn't argue that, so he stayed quiet, for a moment, allowing his rage to quell and taking a deep breath "Yes sir… My team will be turned over to collection immediately," and he let out a groan, "Beilschmidt, out." and with that he shut off the coms, he knew the stop at the Austrian base wasn't simply to resupply, it was too easy, now he'd lost his team, and he couldn't even ask his brother for assistance, his chances were nearly ruined!

From the hall a young soldier called out, saluting "Sir, my apologies for the interruption, but we do have news for you," he said, waiting for Ludwig to turn and pay attention before he continued "We have Basch's father in custody here, and he's ready for questioning at any time." With that he stood, hoping the man's mood would improve quickly.

Ludwig perked up, well, that was good news at least. He nodded "Good work soldier, I'll be at interrogation in five minutes," the young man nodded and left Ludwig to his brooding, who thought to himself for a few minutes, trying to think about what was going on, the wheels of the world were changing, and he needed to be the one to change them in the right direction, and Basch would be the key, a man with that level of power, and that level of military training, could be more valuable than anything their tech could bring to life.

Ludwig made his way down to interrogation, hands professionally behind his back as his power armor revved and whirred with each and every step he made. It wasn't loud enough to really bother anyone, but it was definitely noticeable enough for people to take a look in his direction. Then he took a step through the door of the interrogation hall and looked towards the main desk, who pointed him to the room farthest to the right.

He walked inside and looked at the tall man who looked like he belonged in the era of the ancients, closing the door behind him. He retracted the entire helmet so he could see his face, as well as his displeasure and it locked itself in place on top of his head, the chinpiece moving itself to the side of his face, and the helmet continued to move until the entirety of his head down to his neck was exposed. He glared down at the man and spoke very plainly. "Where is your son?"

He stayed quiet, refusing to even utter a word towards the man and facing forward, he had his honor, and he still felt the love of his beautiful wife, even in the afterlife. He wasn't willing to give it up before, nor was he willing to give it up now, even to the young man right in front of him.

Ludwig leaned down, forcing the man to stare him in the eyes "I don't think you heard me, tell me where your son is, or I'll have you locked in a hole so deep that the sunlight will be a fading memory, then burn your house to the ground until it's nothing, but cinders, got it?" he asked, rage in his eyes, he wasn't in the mood to play games with another nameless face, he wanted the information and he would get it, no matter how many bones he had to break.

The man in the chair stared up at Ludwig, speaking clearly in that low tone of his. "My son had a hatred for me that extended beyond what all your modern technology can tell you, had didn't tell me where he was going or what his plans were," he said, defiance in the man's eyes, he had always been a fighter, he refused to go down and stay like that, and facing the group of people who he knew for full certainty took his wife from him, he had no intention of saying anything.

Ludwig pulled his arm back, ready to strike the man in his smartass jaw, but he stopped himself, lowering his arm. Then he took a deep breath and instead, rammed his fist into the man's chest, cracking at least three ribs with that single punch. He felt the man coughing and heard the splatter of blood on his armor, he would have it cleaned once he walked out of here. "If he really hated you, then I suppose there's no reason to keep you around any longer.

And with that he stood up, sending him a superpowered kick to the leg, effectively snapping it fully in two and he turned out of the room. Though the defiant man was not done, certainly Basch's father "Your mother…" he said weakly. "You have her eyes…" and with that he let his head lower as he struggled to breathe, trying not to move so much as to avoid puncturing a lung, that is, if it wasn't already punctured.

Ludwig paused for a moment, he turned, tempted to question him more, but no, there would be no useful information from that man, only deceit, he knew full well a man like that, father of a genetic freak would never know his mother, a scientist who worked against them, and was killed by them. He walked out of the room, speaking to the man at the desk "I'm done here, throw him in a dark hole, or wherever, I don't care…. I have a freak to hunt," and with that his suit whirred to life once more, covering his face in the armor plating and he made his way outside. He'd been supplied a one man aircraft for his mission, it would have to do.

The train wasn't bad for the most part, they had about a half hour before they were in the Soviet Republic and Elizabeta saw no reason they shouldn't grab something to eat, despite every objection Basch made that they could be spotted in so many ways. Though there was no convincing her and Basch begrudgingly followed, his stomach seemed to be against him too as it growled quite a bit, he hadn't had chocolate for a good full day now and he was started to crave it once more, and this was proof enough he needed to work on his addiction.

Once they sat down in the dining car Basch tried to relax, but every time the TV switched to a new commercial he expected his face to pop up and everyone to turn to him. He just had to take deep breaths, focus on something else, and ignore his instinct to be nervous and fearful. For now, he just thought about the chocolate dessert he could order, and when he looked at the menu, oh God yes he wanted one of those desserts.

He scanned them carefully, making sure to pick out only the very best and set his menu down, relaxing in his seat, yes, now his mind was at ease. Elizabeta snorted as she saw this, setting her menu to the side "Already decided, have you?" he asked, raising a brow. "After hearing about your love for chocolate, do I even have to ask whether or not you plan to have an actual meal?"

Basch let out an indignant huff, shaking his head "No, you do not, but I already had a sandwich, and I'm barreling straight towards the military at incredible speeds, I deserve a bit of chocolate," he said, and he took a breath, though in reality he wasn't too offended, after all she was entirely right, he just decided that acting like that was better than worrying.

She laughed, a smile wide across her face at Basch's antics "Well, well, well, fine, if you're so adamant about it, I'll have what you're having," and with that she set her menu down and leaned back in her chair. "I still can't believe you stopped to drink some hot chocolate outside that facility," she said, trying not to laugh once more at the fact.

Basch nodded, giving a shrug before the waitress walked over with a wide, but obviously fake smile across her face. "Hello, so, what'll we be having today?" she asked, tilting head head and bouncing up joyfully.

Basch looked back to Elizabeta to confirmation that she wanted what he was having and nodded "Two hot chocolates and two brownie vanilla sundaes with hot fudge," he said and Elizabeta tried not to crack up at all the chocolate this man was suggesting and the waitress even blinked, not sure if she should question the man, but deciding that it was best not to and wrote it down, walking away from the two of them.

Elizabeta took a long hard look at Basch "Was the hot fudge necessary?" she asked, of course she didn't object, chocolate was probably one of the best things in the universe and nobody could ever tell her otherwise. Basch just seemed to take that love to a whole new level.

Basch nodded "Of course it was necessary, that's like asking if cheese is necessary for pizza," and he looked to her quite smug as the lady dropped off their hot chocolate, which was topped in a very lovely whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Basch brought it up to his lips, blowing gently before taking a sip, seemingly immune to the heat, even as steam billowed up with his next breath "Ahhh…."

And the two enjoyed their dessert and overwhelming amount of chocolate together, spending a good first amount of their time talking about stories each had, Basch's time in the military and Elizabeta's time researching the Serum that gave the both of them their powers. Then Basch straightened up as he looked at the TV, which displayed that they were almost to their destination, knowing that this talk couldn't wait any longer. The train car was abandoned and there was no one to listen in, hopefully.

"Now, I believe I said I had a plan…" he said, taking a sip of the water he'd gotten, as a break from the massive amount of chocolate. "And now's the best time to talk about it…" he said, and he watched as the surrounding countryside moved along at blurring speeds. "Those doors are the challenge here, it'd be like trying to open a car door underwater, but I've got an idea…" And he smirked to himself, he did pride himself on his ideas at times like this.

Elizabeta leaned forward, drawing things with her finger on the table. As smart as she was when it came to genetics, she wasn't exactly someone for strategies like this. "Alright, let's hear it," she said confidently, she said she would follow him and she would, and she would follow any strategy he decided they should implement.

Basch looked to the door in the dining hall, gesturing towards the window on the door "If one of us were to shatter the window, not only would the train slow down, but it would unseal the doors, at which point we could open them and take the fall," he said, taking another sip of his water and stretching in his suit.

Elizabeta looked impressed, but suddenly a question popped into her mind "How are we going to survive the fall? And how do you plan to shatter the windows…" she said, tapping one with her knuckle. "From what I know, they're bulletproof, and without your heavy firepower we won't be able to pierce them anytime soon…"

Basch cursed, he had to leave his assault rifle behind when they left their bike behind, and now it was just his pistols and two knives, but none of them would be able to pierce the glass, she was entirely right. "I have a plan for both… before I met you, I was able to survive a massive fall from a cliff, this would be like child's play," of course he didn't elaborate that he felt his insides being churned by the pure kinetic energy inside his body, but this fall wasn't nearly that height. "As for the windows, just follow my lead…"

She was tempted to question him a bit more, but decided against it, leaning back in her chair and rocking it back and forth "Alright, if you say so…" she said, quickly standing up and looking at the map again, less than a mile from the border and coming up on a turn quite soon. They would be within sprinting distance within the next few minutes so they needed to act fact. "But whatever your plan is, better get it started now or _we'll_ be facing down the barrel of a gun."

Basch nodded and stood up, walking towards the large door and leaning against the wall, running his hand across it, sending small bursts of energy through it to inspect how it reacted. He nodded and pulled his hand from the glass, turning to Elizabeta "Hit me as hard as you can," he said confidently, taking deep breaths.

She looked at him like he just asked her to to slap a child, "Wait, what?" she asked, utterly confused as to the purpose. Though with one more look from him she shrugged, punching him directly in the chest half-heartedly, not really putting too much effort into it.

Basch groaned, shaking his head "No, punch me like you did in the Facility, make me hit the wall!" he shouted out angrily, trying to spark an aggressive feeling in her heart. He knew those punches could do damage, but he didn't want her going full psychopath in such a small confined space, which is why he needed to take those punches himself and direct them into the window, that's how he'd overpower them.

She growled at his taunting, "Oh, hit the wall?" she asked, punching him much harder this time and following it up with another punch to the shoulder, feeling as though she'd given him what he wanted. "How about that?"

Basch nodded "Again!" he said, opening his body to more strikes from her, he could feel the energy surging in his body already, damn she was strong, even without any of that energy sending shockwaves through his body. He just hoped he timed it right and he didn't make a hole big enough for the both of them to be sent through it, that wouldn't end well.

Elizabeta saw what he was doing and nodded, sending a series of punches straight to his body, shoulders, and arms. Then she stopped, watching as Basch stood there, twitching like a hamster on expresso. "Ok, I think I've got it…" he said, and the map they were on showed they were dangerously close to the border.

Basch quickly made his way to the door, pulling his body back, taking a deep breath and controlling his energy and then moved his body into the punch, restraining the energy to just the rectangle of the window and it shattered, all of the glass flying out the window and the train slowly slid to a stop, the border in the distance and armed guards all over the energy fence, they were just short of passing the border.

The sound of the door releasing itself was heard and Elizabeta took hold of it, ripping it open and sending the piece of metal far down to the ground. She looked far below as the alarms sounded and the overhead female voice told people not to panic, and they would be underway shortly. "So… how are we gonna get down?" she asked, leaning over the edge, unimpeded by the height, but not exactly in the mood to flatten like a pancake.

Basch looked to her as he stepped to the edge, holding out a hand "Do you trust me?" he said, taking hold of the edge of the bus as the lady over the intercom continued to tell the passengers to be calm, security guards would be at their location soon, and while Basch didn't mind beating some ass, he'd rather them take a while and think that it was simply a faulty door, as opposed to someone ripping it off.

Elizabeta blinked, looking up at him and thinking for a moment, did she trust this man? Did she really trust him to get the both of them down and keep her safe? She took a deep breath as she looked at him and nodded, taking his hand "Yes," she said simply, offering a confident smile as she waited for whatever Basch was going to do, letting her body relax as she waited to fall into the motions.

"Then jump!" he said and he took hold of her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her body close to his own before he lept out of the door, his back facing the ground as the wind whipped their hair upwards, and while only a few seconds passed between the jump and the landing, as Elizabeta opened her eyes to look at Basch they were wide and the world seemed to move in slow motion, he intended to take the fall himself?

Then they impacted the ground, little more than the sound of a baseball tapping the ground was heard as Basch landed and he laid there for a moment, letting out a groan, not from the fall, from the massive amount of energy that was now inside his body. He sighed and gestured for her to get up as he shook his hair out, the grass tangled up in it quickly falling to the ground.

She quickly stood up, leaning over him in a caring fashion "Are you ok? I mean, that fall had to hurt, right?" she asked, she had seen him fall only two stories before, but that drop had to be at least, five, maybe even six stories from the train car! Even he had to be phased by that, but she just watched him stand and brush off his jacket as though he'd been laying down in the grass for pleasure.

"Before we met up I jumped off a cliff, about a hundred or so meters to the ground, I'll be fine," though he didn't mention that drop had filled him with so much energy that he felt his own body vibrating against itself, but that wasn't important for now. "Let's get going!" he said and then he sprinted forward, each time his foot touched the ground he used a bit of the energy from the fall to propel his footsteps.

Elizabeta looked at the man in front of her, confidence flooding her face as she nodded "Got it!" she said and she followed him, not happy enough to increase her running speed, but she was able to keep up with him for the most part, the train soon behind them as they made their way to the Soviet Republic border, they were gonna make it, there was nothing to stop them now!

They were close, within a hundred meters of the energy fence, it would be child's play to knock one of the posts out of the ground and disrupt the energy fielding before breaking through, but a noise went up, interrupting their concentration as the base nearby went on full alert, alarms going off and the gates opened up, large military vehicles pouring out, Basch knew this wasn't just because of a broken down train, this had to be because of them, they'd been spotted.

"We need to move, we're close enough to the fence to make it before they get here!" at least Basch hoped so, he sprinted as hard as he could, the fence was getting closer, it was within fifty yards and he could hear the engines of the military vehicles now, but not their guns, they probably didn't want to risk hitting the fence and triggering a dispute with the Soviet Republic, and that worked in their favor.

Twenty meters, they had it, the trucks were close in behind them fast, and they would need to work fast! Basch took a deep breath, he had enough energy in his system to take out the thick foot-wide post that held up the fence structure, but then a noise overhead caused him to give pause and he looked up, eyes widening.

He slammed to the ground in front of them, causing a small crater in the ground, having jumped straight out of the plane. He stared them down with glowing eyes filled with hatred and the need for vengeance. More sirens blared as the cars behind them pinned them between this man and massive machine guns.

Standing between them and the fence, was Ludwig Beilschmidt in full power armor. He retracted the faceplate, staring them down with a victorious smirk as he spoke up "Guten Tag ladies and gentleman…"


	10. Cyborg

Basch and Elizabeta stood their ground, Basch glanced around, looking at their situation and honestly? It wasn't good. On one side they had the firepower of an entire military base, on the other, well, Basch had no idea what Ludwig was capable of wearing that. It didn't even look like standard EU Power Armor…. He gripped his knuckles and stared him down, he was all out of kinetic energy, he'd have to fight smart, fight fast… and probably fight dirty.

"Under the order of the European Union, you are hereby under arrest and will be transferred to an official facility meant for detaining genetic mutations like yourself, if you come quietly you will not be harmed, you simply need to be kept from the public…" Basch had heard that before and he knew it was a lie, every last word of it, he had no intention of turning himself over.

Ludwig stepped forward, holding his arms out to his sides, feigning peace at the moment "Just give it up Basch, your stunt back in the Swiss Sector was bold, but this is just reckless, you don't have a chance of beating us, just give up so the both of you can come out of this encounter with your very lives…" he spoke, but he smirked, his helmet sliding in front of his face, making him look faceless, evil once again. "If you don't, I am fully authorized to use deadly force…."

Within seconds of him speaking, Basch moved forward, even without all the energy of the fall he still had enough left for a strike. He moved forward, sending his fist into Ludwig's chest and he stepped back a few feet, but he otherwise unphased. Basch's eyes widened, no, that was all of the energy he had left, there wasn't anything he could do…

He didn't know what to do, but then a sudden energy rose through him as his eyes widened and he felt the muscles in his body twitching, and it was all centered around his lower back, his kidney. It still hurt, even with his energy absorption, but it was what he needed. Behind him he heard a volley of shots firing off and he sprinted forward, he was going to finish this, right here, Ludwig would never chase him down again.

Ludwig went in to grab him, but Basch dropped to the ground, sliding between his legs and sending a massive amount of energy in both of his ankles, toppling him over face-forward. That would have send any other man crashing down, but Ludwig wasn't any man, he rolled over and brought up his wrists, a spark igniting and then, flames engulfed Basch within moments. He had only miliseconds to react as he leapt backwards, skidding across the ground. Flames danced on the edge of one of his bangs but he blew on it, too close.

Across the way, Elizabeta had engaged the massive number of troops and he watched as one of their troop transports went up in flames, followed by one of their assault vehicles, the former flattening it and everyone inside. Elizabeta appeared like a demon out of the flames, seemingly immune to them as the energy engulfing her body spread amongst them, turning them a deep green color. She wasn't in a mindless rage like she had been when fighting Basch, now she was focused, destructive, and powerful.

She moved in with blinding speed, bullets and energy bouncing off of her and she dodged the blasts from the assault vehicles, each time responding by sending her fist through it, the pure energy of the strike blowing the vehicle apart. She was incredible and Basch caught only a glimpse of this fight before he focused once again on his own conflict.

He sprinted forward, trying to engage in close combat once more, bringing the fight in too close for those flamethrowers to be of much use. Even with power armor, Basch still held the skill and speed advantage and he used this, ducking attacks, grabbing onto Ludwig's waste and tossing him aside before moving in with a flurry of kicks and punches.

The two continued to clash and Ludwig struck Basch with a powrful kick straight in his gut, Basch didn't manage to catch it, and instead took the full force of it, but then a seering pain struck him and he let out a groan as he moved back. Only now did he register the sound of the shot that rang in his ears and he looked down, a crumpled bullet laid on the ground in front of him and not only had it caused Basch intense amounts of pain, but when he looked down he saw that it'd torn apart the top layer of skin.

The power of that shot, it had been enough to hurt him, guns weren't even supposed to affect him, but he couldn't sit on that, he had to continue the fight. He sprinted forward, it may have hurt him, but now he had plenty of power to use, and he send a series of strikes towards Ludwig who continued to try and back off, bringing his arms up to fire large amounts of automatic bulletfire and it phased Basch, but not once did it cause him any sort of damage like the buckshot in his stomach did.

A fluke? Perhaps, but he didn't intend to keep it up, he avoided every kick of Ludwig's, every strike, but this man was too powerful, he wasn't going to be able to get through that power armor he had. He backed up and Ludwig stepped forward menacingly, not a single scratch on that beautiful armor of his. Basch couldn't do this, not with that armor on him, he took a deep breath and sprinted forward again, leaping in the air and landing with his foot on the other's forehead, sending out a massive energy blast, enough to go through the helmet and hit him directly.

While the helmet itself absorbed too much force for the blow to be lethal, Ludwig staggered, holding onto his head and taking a deep breath, cursing through his helmet. Basch couldn't keep strikes like that up for long, but he could see hear the bulletfire behind him, Elizabeta had that shield of her's up once again and was going on the defensive, it looked like she was having the same problems as him, too much firepower and only the two of them. Even Basch's abilities could only absorb so much of the energy of Ludwig's punches and they were starting to take their toll.

They backed up into each other, both panting for air and Elizabeta spoke up, her shield now enveloping both of them and Ludwig growled, unleashing a solid stream of bullets straight into Elizabeta's shield, causing her to stagger. "I've got an idea," she said, trying to focus herself, in the time they'd been fighting the base had sent out one of it's heavier hitters, with enough artillery power in one shell to take out a full city block, it had definitely forced Elizabeta on the defensive.

Basch raised a brow, collapsing down to the ground on one knee, taking the moment for breath as he looked back at her. "Let's hear it, it's gotta be better than anything I've got," he said, standing back up, but still hunched over just slightly, holding onto that spot on his gut that had been shot, it was slowing him, and causing him massive amounts of pain, and it wasn't allowing him to think as clearly as he normally did.

Elizabeta smirked, allowing the shield to weaken for a moment "It's easier if I just show you," and at that moment the shield broke, but Elizabeta was prepared, she ducked down, both sides ceasing fire for a moment, waiting to possibly confirm the kill, but Elizabeta's fire lit up once again and she lifted Basch into the air, kicking him straight in his rear end towards the artillery set up a few hundred yards away, sitting with the other artillery vehicles.

Basch felt the wind in his face as he flew towards the artillery, it took less than a second for him to arrive and he let out all of that energy, blasting not only the artillery itself apart, but one of the trucks parked just a bit too close to it. Basch stood up after two seconds of the blast and he looked at the men who had him surrounded, all of them wielded standard firearms. He smirked and stretched his shoulders out "How fun…." he said, feeling quite refreshed from the impact.

Then he made his move. He had yet to use any of his small arms as it would have simply been a waste of ammunition against Ludwig's armor, but against these men? It was perfect. One of his hand cannons were nearly falling out of it's holster, but Basch quickly swiped it out as well as its twin, holding them straight out in front of him. He heard their commander give the order to fire, but he felt no pain as the bullets were unloaded onto him, only a bit of indecency as his clothes were ripped to shreds.

Then he returned with his own firepower, blasting each and every one of them with a high-powered shot to the head, the chest, anywhere he saw an opening. He ran across the ground as he did so, strafing towards the right and towards one of the assault vehicles, whose drivers had both been taken out by the shrapnel of Basch's previous exploit. Each man he shot fell to their knees, leaving only a few left to shoot back at him once they'd reloaded, but Basch already dove into the assault truck.

He climbed up into the minigun seat, not taking the time to reload his pistols at the moment, besides, they wouldn't be enough to take out the other vehicles. He unleashed a massive load of firepower on the men blasting the ground at their feet to pieces before turning his attention to the other vehicles, they were lightly armored, meant for speed so this gun was enough to destroy each and every one of them after a few seconds and when he was done, only three bullets remained.

Then he looked across the way, only feet from the energy fence Elizabeta and Ludwig were battling it out. He watched Elizabeta closely, her technique, abilities, all of them matched his own and watching her from a more third person view he could see why she was able to match his own skill. Every strong and rigid movement Ludwig made to strike her she moved like the water out of his way, and then struck him like the very earth itself.

The energy around her fists began to slowly rip apart Ludwig's armor at the seams and Ludwig seemed to be helpless before her abilities. He made a strike, attempting to hit her once more in the gut, but she only responded by rolling out of the way, sending a powerful punch straight towards the same kidney area where she struck Basch, but these strikes were doing much more damage, and he watched as the electrical systems began to spark.

Inside the suit Ludwig could see these problems firsthand, 'Systems Failure' blared across his screen and he cursed out, shouting to the suit itself. "All power to electrical defensive systems!" and at that very moment Elizabeta picked him up by the scruff of the neck-or at least that equivalent on the armor-and held him up in the air, preparing to toss him straight into the fiery inferno that was his former support, but the armor kicked in, sending out a massive electric shock that Elizabeta could not defend herself from.

She let out a scream of pain and used her strength to throw Ludwig into the poles of the energy fence before dropping down, electricity visibly coming from her body, and her abilities over energy the only thing keeping them from overloading her heart or brain. She took deep breaths, trying to control herself during the moment of silence in the fight. Her chest was convulsing and she was twitching, muscles moving on their own, she was trying to dispel the energy, but it was becoming too difficult for her.

Basch took the chance, putting those three bullets in the gun to use as he unloaded them on Ludwig, it wasn't a massive amount of damage, but he sure as hell caused some, sending him a full fight feet past the energy line, and on top of that, sending the entire section of the grid down without that piece of fence to keep the line going. All along the way he could see the energy backrush causing each and every pole to erupt, each time in a more spectacular manner.

Basch then climbed out, sprinting over to Elizabeta, caring more about her now than anything and as soon as he touched her he received his own electrical shock, but nowhere near the lethal capacity. Though it did seem to give Elizabeta some relief and she breathed normally again, her chest no longer convulsing and Basch breathed a sigh of relief. He helped her to her feet, her legs refusing to work after being used so hard. He lifted her up, throwing her arm over his shoulder and lifting her up, allowing her to walk just slightly by herself, working out her muscles.

She looked up at him, a grin on her face and one eye open as she laughed to herself. "Heh…. Told you it was easier to show you…" she said, then she flinched, holding her arm to her chest, showing that it hurt to laugh like this, but she didn't stop smiling, helping herself along. She could let Basch help her, it would certainly be easier on her, but she had her pride and she knew she could do it, besides, forcing herself to work would pay off more in the end.

The two crossed the official border, standing in the Soviet Republic and Basch let out a breath of relief, it had taken three full days, a high body count, and the both of them nearly dying, but they were finally over the border. Not only that, but Ludwig and the rest of the European Union wouldn't be able to hunt them down anymore, they were free. Though that caused something to flare up in Basch's mind as he looked to the ground, he didn't see Ludwig lying anywhere….

Right in front of them, Basch heard his suit whirr up to life once more and out of his left shoulder was a large device, it looked like a small rocket, and it was aimed at the two of them. His facemask had been ripped off and you could see where the mask itself had ripped off part of his flesh, showing off the bits underneath. You could see the blood shooting out from the tiny blood vessels in his face, but you could also see the implants made under his skin, that stuck straight through the bone. Everything he'd done to become equal and superior to Basch, out for the world to see, he was a cyborg.

He shouted out, the rocket firing up "Now, I have permission to use deadly force!" he said and Basch watched in slow motion as the clamps to the rocket released and it flew through the air. He closed his eyes, dropping Elizabeta and sprinting forward, he could absorb most of the blast, but the heat… he had no idea if he could survive it, but he had to try, it was their best chance to keep them both safe.

He stood defensively, waiting for the blast, but it never came and when he looked forward again his eyes widened, in front of him was a massive wall of shadow and only a glimmer of the explosion meant to kill him. He dropped down at this point, sitting on his knees as the shadows dissipated and he couldn't believe the next image he saw.

Ludwig was as dumbfounded as Basch was, his eyes wide when he turned around, facing down a large man, probably a foot taller than Ludwig himself walking towards the small group. He held a long staff made out of heavy metals that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. The man himself was probably the exact definition of intimidating, with a long trench beige coat with quite a few medals on the chest, short silvery colored hair, a hat with a golden star and a few thin red ribbons spun around it, showing off the mark of a Soviet Union Officer, what rank Basch couldn't tell at the moment.

The face feigned happiness, a false smile thrown across it like what you might see on a sociopath, and the best way to tell? The eyes, they were filled with fear and murderous intent, the violet orbs moving around within themselves like a purple mist. He looked quite muscular as well, and easily towered as Basch, walking straight towards Ludwig, that permanent smile still on his face as the shadows beneath him seemed to move, floating around seamlessly, almost enveloping him, obeying his movements and thoughts.

He stopped a good ten meters away from Ludwig, holding the long staff horizontally across his waist as he looked Ludwig down. The fields around them blew the tall grass around like in an old Samurai movie, and this was about to get real. Basch slowly backed up, checking on Elizabeta while Ludwig was distracted, she seemed fine, but she did whack his arm and spoke quietly "That's for dropping me…" but the way she said it, Basch knew it was just a tease, but then the both of them turned back to the fight in front of them.

Ludwig pointed at the man "Leave now soviet scum, this is business of the European Union, if you continue to interfere I'll start a political scandal so great that your little Socialist head will spin!" he said, glaring at the man in front of him, chest rising and falling under the armor, which still sparked and creaked as he moved, but he was undeterred, and he wasn't going to stop for any reason.

The taller man smiled, tilting his head, allowing his eyes to close in what for a moment seemed like a genuine smile "Oh, but you forget your place _fascist pig,_ you aren't in European territory anymore…" he said and when his eyes opened they were a dark shadowy black and suddenly the shadows of the inside of his coat reached out, sending themselves straight towards Ludwig, wrapping around him, immobilizing him. Only his head was left visible as the tall man lifted Ludwig towards his face, only a few inches between them as he spoke up. "You're on Soviet Soil."

Then with that he began walking towards the border, lifting him higher and higher into the air "But luckily for you, I'm willing to forget this transgression under the conditions you leave, _immediately,_" and with that he threw Ludwig a good hundred yards past the border, making a decently sized crater before retracting the shadow-like tendrils of his body.

He turned to Basch and Elizabeta, that smile still on his face and Basch immediately prepared to fight, he got to one knee, clenching his fists. He wasn't sure what he could possibly do against someone who controlled shadows like he did, but he would fight to the death, he wouldn't go down because of something as stupid as this.

Though a hand was quickly raised and Basch relaxed "No need to fret, comrade, I'm on your side…. Welcome to the Soviet Republic, I am Ivan Braginsky…" he said, the shadow finally disappearing from his eyes to reveal their purple mist once more. "... Leader of the Deviants of the Soviet Republic~ And you are both welcome here in our country." With that Ivan nodded, walking up and holding out a hand, leaning on the long metallic staff, all aesthetically of course. "Now come with me, you'll be safe in this country."


End file.
