Chapter 7 Half-Masked Man

 

Goliath rubbed his right temple to soothe a pounding headache, only to find a warm liquid covering his fingers. He pried his eyes open to find himself in the corner of the vehicle at the back, his hefty body folded in half. Suddenly, reality struck him. “Lady Evergrand!” he bellowed.

“She’s fine, Goliath,” Roach answered hoarsely through the back.

“Are we good?” Goliath asked the rest of the team.

“Mute’s fine,” Roach responded.

“I don’t have any punctures,” Pointy said through gritted teeth.

Spike opened up the driver's door, stumbled around and threw up on the floor outside. “Fucking cunts,” he groaned as he tried to the vomit in. “They’re here!” 

The Ill-Favoured Five and Elora Evergrand were trapped inside a small parking lot. Four-story buildings and warehouses were on either side of them with thin alleyways travelling through. Dozens upon dozens of the Children of Discordia were piling into the entranceway with cars, vans, trucks and lorries, each carrying a variety of weapons, some even brandishing their fists.

Spike quickly hopped back into the vehicle and tried to turn the engine on— it only coughed and spluttered. He began to furiously hit the steering wheel. “Come on!”

Quickly, an offensive line was established against them, blocking their vehicle from leaving. Even if the vehicle did turn on, it wasn’t ramming through layers of cars with such little run up.

Goliath kicked open the doors as he slotted his knuckle dusters onto his fingers. He was seeing double but that was the least of his worries. His weight made the van bounce as he got out but the Children of Discordia didn’t flinch. “What do you pricks want, huh?” he asked, buying time for the team as he strode up to face them in the open.

Not a voice came from them.

In the back and front seats, the team were scrambling for their weapons. Spike hooked his guitar onto his back and grabbed a magical assault rifle. Whereas Pointy unhooked his bow and Roach had his fingers on his triggers, ready.

“Lady Evergrand, I will have to fight,” Roach told her. 

“I can fight too!” she announced bravely, her fists shaking.

“No fire,” Pointy said quickly and firmly.

“What?”

“No fire,” Roach repeated, then shaking his head. “Elora, you need to listen to me now. You are safe in here. Do NOT leave this vehicle under any circumstances. Your safety is our priority.”

Goliath smacked the vehicle twice and the team clambered out. Pointy and Spike ran around the side of the vehicle and gained a good shooting position, while Roach, Mute and Goliath stood next to each other in the open. It was odd, they weren’t shooting as of yet, there was a stalemate, or perhaps an order waiting to come through.

Pointy glanced at his watch.

“Do one of you lousy pricks want to say something?” Goliath asked them, slamming his knuckle dusters together.

Nothing again.

Goliath looked on either side of him, seeing Mute and Roach with weapons drawn and twitchy fingers. 

Under his breath, he whispered, “Moving Castle, no mercy.”

Roach nodded, whispering, “Roger, sir.”

Magical rounds suddenly flew through the air towards the trio. Goliath placed his forearms against his eyes and the other two stood behind his massive legs.. Each standard bullet that connected with Goliath’s skin bounced off— every magical round, however, left a hefty bruise but didn’t pierce his skin. Still, the mountain of a man kept trudging forwards, offering his teammates the needed moving cover. Every break in fire Roach saw he poked one of his pistols out and fired.

As soon as Goliath got fifteen feet away, Mute darted out from behind him, creating a distraction for Roach to move forwards and Goliath to charge. With supporting fire from Spike and Pointy, the team, far outnumbered, engaged the Children of Discordia head-on.

Roach moved left, putting purple streaking bullets through the heads of the Children of Discordia. He dove behind a saloon just as bullet fire came his way. As Goliath charged forward, they didn’t move back, only kept firing until a clenched golden fist broke their skulls. The Children of Discordia showed no fear or care for themselves. Their only goal was to kill and capture.

“Hydro!” Roach yelled.

A woman at the back held her palms up and runes projected onto them. Pressurized water was ejected and aimed towards the mountain of a man. Grunting and gritting his teeth, he held his forearms up to shield his eyes. The force from the water gradually slammed into him, his boots skidding across the concrete ground slowly.

“Take her out!” Goliath demanded with little breath.

Without thinking, Roach poked his head up with both pistols locked and loaded. A flaming bullet clipped the side of his forehead; bits of his brain and skull flew away and the man in the leather duster dropped to the ground.

“POINTY!” Goliath screamed as he was pushed further and further back.

“NO SIGHT, SIR!”

Mute wiped the blood off her blade on a corpse, grabbed it like a spear and lobbed it with precision. One of the Children of Discordia jumped in front of it, taking the blow and killing themselves.

Roach blinked twice and sat up, still with his fingers on the triggers. He thought they would be surprised but they instantly started firing at him. Mute was without her weapon and Roach had no openings, so Spike decided it was his time to give his team a break.

“Goliath!” Spike said, stepping out into the open. “Drop it!”

Exhausted, Goliath fell to the ground and the pressured water flew over him. It was met with a deafening sound wave that cut up the water. Spike was strumming on his guitar so fast his fingers became a blur. Even the bullets aimed at him seemed to stop in and were returned to sender.

“I can’t keep this up forever!” Spike announced over his music with a ragged breath and a sweaty brow. He looked over to Pointy who was slouched down against the back of the vehicle. The di-human returned the look and moved around to a more advantageous position - that was all they needed. Spike grimaced, glancing at the hydromancer once more before dropping to the ground.

Just in the split-second that Spike stopped playing, Pointy shot up with a translucent arrow in his compound bow packed with double the ordinary mana. There was no need to squint his eye or hold his breath—he let it fly. Before the hyrdomancer could change direction, a mana arrow pierced her heart. She dropped to the ground dead.

Silence only lasted a second as Roach aggressed with pistols at the ready. Goliath slammed his knuckles into the concrete and pushed himself up—he was more pissed off than ever. 

“I can fight!” Elora shouted through the thick glass. “Let me help!”

Spike and Pointy ignored her. Now was not the time to be a hero.

Roach dove under a falling body just before Mute’s glowing green sword. Goliath stepped over him and Roach yanked it out of the corpse. He skidded it across the ground and Mute flicked it up with her foot.

Now with the mage dead and their numbers dwindling, Goliath decided it was time for an escape. He turned his back towards the enemies and bent down under an SUV. Gripping it by the frame, Goliath upturned the SUV, kicking it with tremendous might that sent it smashing through cars, creating an escape.

“Get her started, Spike!” Goliath ordered.

Spike jammed a pointy part of his metal guitar into the gap of the hood and jumped onto the other end. A snap later, he whipped the guitar out and propped the hood up with it.

Spike rubbed his wet eyes and shook his hair. He admired the engine for a split second but went about troubleshooting. 

“High force crash to driver side - vehicle rolled,” Pointy told him after firing an arrow.

Spike took in the information but he couldn’t put his finger on anything; there was no smoke and nothing seemed out of place. Suddenly, he remembered that Boseman modified the pyro crystal. Sticking his arm deep into the engine, he found what was wrong; there was a break in the seal.

“GOLIATH, I NEED A BODY!” Spike yelled to him.

Without question, Goliath grabbed one like a toy and threw it in his direction. It landed against the window Elora was looking through. Spike ducked his head as he grabbed a limp right hand and dragged it over to the engine.

“Spike, what are you doing?” Pointy asked, heading over.

“You’ll see!” Spike yelled back. He began to strip the body of its skin, flaying it. Unfortunately, Elora saw the whole thing, watching with wide, horrified eyes.

“Spike!” Pointy yelled at him. “What sick joke are you playing?”

“It needs a sealant. The welding was shit!” Spike screamed at him.

“You’re using human skin!” 

“DO YOU HAVE ANY BETTER IDEAS?!”
Stressed, hot and wet, Spike grabbed strips of skin and pushed them down into the engine. To seal it with the skin, he needed pressure. However, it was hot— red hot.  “FUCKKKKKKKKKK!!!”

Spike yanked his smoking hand out. “Start the fucking cunt!”

Pointy opened the passenger side door and hopped over to the driver's seat. It roared to life.

“It won’t hold for long,” Spike told him.

“We don’t need long. GOLIATH, READY!”

“You two, go!” Goliath ordered, punching a kobold’s lights out.

Mute darted behind Goliath and b-lined it for the vehicle. Roach was closely behind her acting as a meat shield. Mute leapt on top of the vehicle and entered into the hatch. Roach skidded across the bonnet and let himself in with Elora.

“Fucking show-off,” Spike muttered angrily.

Goliath slowly backed up while drawing fire. His skin was red raw and hundreds of deep impact bruises covered his body. Once he felt he was a good enough distance away, he sprinted towards the back doors of the vehicle. He almost ripped the doors off the hinges while getting in.

“Ram them!” Goliath bellowed through the walls.

Spike revved the engine but quickly stopped and looked at the enemies approaching. More importantly, he was looking behind them. 

“INCOMING!”

It was the other box truck of the SGD assigned to protect them. One had blown up on the highway while the other quickly disappeared from view. Now it was back and ploughing through the Children of Discordia. It came to a skidding halt twenty metres before the vehicle.

“Maybe they weren’t so useless,” Spike said to Pointy, grinning under the mist.

Twenty guards hopped out with magical assault rifles at the ready and swiftly took out those already on death’s door. The driver of the lorry jumped out, heading straight for their vehicle. Mute quickly jumped out of the top hatch and dropped down with her blade pointing at the man.

“Is she okay? Is Elora Evergrand alive?” the guard questioned, a panicked look on his face.

“She’s alive,” Goliath said, stepping out the back.

The man breathed a sigh of relief, “We feared the worst. Whoever are these people?”

“That’s not your job. Is your comms up and running?” Goliath questioned.

“Urm … I’m not sure. It cut out after and our only priority was finding you,” the man replied. “May I see Elora?”

“No,” Goliath responded bluntly. “Back away from the vehicle and remove your lorry, we need to get out.”

“But what if she’s hurt?” the man pleaded. “We have a healer among us.”

“She’s fine,” Goliath reassured.

Elora who was sitting inside and seeing it all, felt like she needed to calm everyone’s nerves. After all, she was Elora Evergrand. Roach went to restrain her but it was too late. She opened the door and ran out.

“I’m fine, everyone!” she announced with a wave and a bittersweet smile.

Then the unthinkable happened; the guard aimed his gun and fired. Roach dove in front of it while tackling Elora to the ground. Mute took a shot to the shoulder and her light body was thrown backwards against a wall. 

“GET HER IN!” Goliath shouted.

Elora opened her eyes to see Roach’s misted face. For some reason, it was more detailed up close. He wasn’t moving and shots were peppering his body, blocking them from hitting her.

“GET HER IN!” Goliath shouted louder as he covered his face and walked backwards. 

“WE CAN’T!” Pointy yelled back after a bullet trimmed his ponytail.

Goliath couldn’t take much more. He was exhausted and his body was on fire. Every inch hurt - the ambush and now another -Guards - Guards abandoning their oath - relentless enemies with no halt in sight. Goliath’s veins started to flicker golden.

“NO GOLIATH! NOT NOW!” Pointy yelled.

His irises flooded with gold.

He began to grow. 

His toes poked out of his boots.

Right before their eyes, Goliath was what they called, ‘turning gold’. His height soared to two stories tall. All of his clothes had torn off him bare the mist on his face. The shocked guards turned their attention away from Elora in utter horror, aiming at the enormous man.

“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Goliath bellowed with a far deeper and reverberating sound. It echoed through the buildings and shook the spines of the small guards beneath him.

“Kill it!” one of the guards yelled, aiming their weapon.

Another guard dove into the lorry and retrieved a device. It was small and cylindrical, tightly wrapped with duct tape with a few buttons on the outside. While aiming, the guard pressed a button and threw it towards Elora. With a slowed reaction, Goliath’s hand moved upwards, knocking it from its trajectory and into himself.

It exploded, covering the area in thick rubble and golden-laced blood.

Pointy stumbled around with bloody ears and wild eyes. Everything was on its head. “Goliath!” he shouted though to him it was muffled. “GOLIATH!” A loud ringing only returned to him. He slammed against the bonnet of the six-wheeler and clutched at it to hold his balance. 

“Where’s Elora?” a muffled voice came behind him. Spike crawled past him with bloody hands that soaked up debris. “Elora!” he yelled. 

“Get rid of the dust!” Pointy shouted to Spike.

Spike clambered to his feet and opened his mouth wide. Visible sound waves were ejected out of his mouth and began to disperse the debris in the air. There she was, curled up in a ball on the ground in Roach’s arms. Spike tripped up on himself getting over to her. He pulled at her shoulder, feeling a resistance. “Elora,” he muttered.

Elora was shivering. Spike began to check her for wounds as she seemed dissociated with reality. Her eyes were wide open but they didn’t respond to movement. 

Roach’s mangled body began to stitch itself back together. The parts it couldn’t, it regrew from nothing. He breathed in deeply and sat upright. “Elora,” he said, looking at Spike over her. 

“She’s in shock,” Spike stated, feeling her pulse.

Roach nodded and jumped to his feet. Unlike everyone else, he was wide awake and hyperfocused. His eyes locked on the exploded bodies of the guards that attacked them, and embedded into a three-story house was Goliath who hadn’t shrunk down to his lesser form. On his right side below his peck, his skin had been blasted away exposing a portion of his ribcage, and golden blood was pouring out at an alarming pace.

“He’s still golden,” Pointy worriedly told Roach, “but alive.”

Half-naked, Roach made his over to him. But, he took a step backwards when he saw Goliath twitch. Despite the devastating wound, Goliath removed himself from the hole he was in, tensing his ripped physique. It didn’t mean he was sentient, however.

“Easy there, Goliath,” Roach said with his hands up sparingly.

Goliath stumbled and clutched at his side. “ROOAAACHHHH,” a deep noise came from him.

“It’s me, Goliath,” Roach said again.

“Roachhhhh!” the giant man mumbled again.

“He’s losing blood!” Pointy exclaimed.

Roach responded to Pointy by holding up his index finger. “Goliath, it’s alright.”

Goliath tripped on a car and fell into another building, ripping the roof off in the process. His giant hands clutched at anything to hold himself up but nothing could. They then landed back on his wound, catching pints of blood pouring out.

“ROOACCHHHH,” Goliath groaned, turning his head towards him.

“You’re hurt, mate,” Roach said, walking towards him slowly.

Goliath fell onto all fours, heaving and wheezing as blood seeped out of his wounds and mouth. Gasping, his body began to shrink, returning to its original, smaller size.

“We need to get him in,” Roach said urgently, his voice laced with concern, as he rolled the massive, unconscious Goliath onto his back. The man's hulking figure seemed even more imposing in his current state of vulnerability. 

Pointy nodded in agreement and together they began the arduous task of dragging Goliath towards the still-running vehicle.

Meanwhile, Spike, his face etched with worry, continued to comfort Elora, attempting to coach her into the back.

Mute, groggy from her recent bout of unconsciousness, regained her senses and quickly assessed the situation. Her entire right arm was unresponsive to her thoughts—a bullet had struck her and the adrenaline had worn. Nevertheless, with her left hand, she picked her blade up from the ground, eyeing the entrance to the car park.

 "I can heal this," Pointy said through gritted teeth. "We need to secure Elora first."

“On it,” Roach replied, leaving the back of the van and approaching Elora. “Get her up, Spike.”

Just as they thought the chaos was over, the sound of approaching vehicles shattered the tense silence. Trucks, cars, and lorries thundered into the area. Spike's face contorted with anger and frustration, expressed even through his mist. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" he cursed, his grip on Elora tightening as he pulled her behind the vehicle.

Roach's eyes widened with fear and urgency, hurrying Spike. “Pointy, stay in there with them, she comes first.” With a simple, single nod from Pointy, Roach slammed the back doors. Glancing at his two teammates, he asked, "I'm assuming leadershig, any problems?" His eyes darted between them. Neither disagreed.

Like before, the Children of Discordia had blocked the entrance with their multitude of vehicles. Different races exited with a variety of weapons and stood before them. However, it was different this time, there seemed to be a true leader among them, not just an old slave with an earpiece.

In the centre stood a man, his face partially concealed by a theatre mask. With an expression that remained neutral, he emanated an aura of enigma and intrigue. Draped in a simple black cloak, akin to the uniform of the Unwanted, he defied expectations by not brandishing any weapon. Despite his stature, his presence filled the car park, suffocating the air with an indescribable intensity.

“He’s not someone we can fight,” Spike whispered raggedly under his breath.

“I’m not aiming—” Before Roach could finish, a ferocious itch invaded his back. Snapping his head directly to the leader, Roach hastily asked, “What’s your name?” The question echoed around the car park amidst the tense silence.

The leader stepped forward, saying, “Give us Elora Evergrand.” It was an English accent but there was a slight twist to it. It was familiar to Roach.

“What’s your name?” Roach asked him again, cocking his pistol and pointing it at him.

The half-masked man opened his arms welcomingly.

“Really? Tell me your FUCKING NAME!” Roach demanded, stepping forward.

The man tilted his head, his face void of expression. “My name is not important. I am a Child of Discordia and that woman is of the greatest importance to us. Are your lives worth such a person? Someone who looks down on you— someone who scoffs at your very existence?”

Roach had abandoned all mission objectives at this point. He was infatuated with the man’s identity—he knew him; it was the voice, the body language; bells were ringing loudly in his head. Aiming his pistol with a shake in his wrist, he shot at the man twice. The bullets connected, offering a squelching collision but the man appeared unfazed, remaining stationary.

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!” Roach screamed at the top of his lungs.

The cry fell on deaf ears—the half-masked man turned his back, leaving Roach in a pit of anger and despair.

In a sudden, synchronized crack, half of the Children of Discordia present fell limply, their bodies dropping lifelessly to the floor. Above them, a hovercraft glided to a halt, carrying a battalion of figures, their faces veiled in mist.

Mercy appeared in a purple flash in front of Roach. “Is Elora alive?”

Roach nodded slowly. 

“You may rest now.”

Roach slowly lowered his gun and fell onto one knee. It was him, the man he was after. The man who tormented and created him.

Countless more misted faces materialized in the car park, their arrival orchestrated by a skilled space-time mage aboard the hovercraft. Among the first to descend was Boseman, whose hands collided with a thunderous clap, releasing a devastating shockwave that overturned cars and burst eardrums. In the face of the Unwanted's overwhelming power, the Children of Discordia became mere prey, defenceless and leaderless.