I counted sheep. Not actually. Everything was black as my screen had cut out. Getting sliced in half by a sword made of alien metal will do that to you. But, everything came back into HD vision as my screen turned back on to the sight of a middle-aged Japanese man with glasses, Dr. Daichi. It wasn’t the first sight I was hoping for, though it was around 49th on the list. Thankfully, four of the most familiar faces I knew stepped into view. 

“Hello, thirty-one, twenty-three, fifteen, and four,” I said. 

“What?” Dex questioned.

“Nothing.” I switched my LED screen to “/:” as I remembered what happened more clearly. “How’s it looking, doc?”

“Not good. It’s possible you die from this.”

“Your bedside manner needs work,” I said. I looked all the way back to as far as my horizontal vision reached to see a cute brunette with a swoop of hair over her eye and a cybernetic left arm and tail. “Speaking of beds…and sides…” 

“Can I put him out of his misery, Hanshiro?” his sister asked him. 

“He feels no pain, so there would be no point, Addison,” Daichi told her, comforting me. 

“Can you explain what’s wrong with me?” Sidewind asked. 

“I already explained to your friends, but since you didn’t seem to hear…whatever metal material you were cut with was mixed with some sort of poisonous acid and is corroding the Virtuousium metal that created you,” Daichi explained. He paused before continuing. “I am quite impressed. I have never seen the Earth’s strongest metal able to be severed so easily.”

“What kind of metal could have done this?” Arid asked. The doctor paused dramatically before giving his answer.

“Nothing from this planet.”

There was a brief pause as the doctor’s words darkened the tone of the conversation about me dying. 

“Dramatic,” I said appropriately. The doctor’s face stayed stagnant as he leaned in to get a look at the bottom part of my top half and the top part of my bottom half.

“Addison, eyedropper, please,” he said, reaching out his hand. Almost as soon as he did, he received the item he requested, as if the brunette-who’s-name-I-forget already had it in her hand. The doctor took a sample of the poison--that miraculously did not corrode through the glass--and walked away out of my sight. 

“Uh, doc, what’re you up to?” I asked, though I honestly should’ve had an idea. 

“I am going to attempt to find a reverse reactive agent for this specimen,” he told me. “Give me a few minutes.”

The four hovering over me all looked back at me, like they were expecting me to say something. 

“What?”

“So, you’re, like, good?” Arid, our glorious, fearless leader questioned. I nodded, the back of my metal head scraping against the metal table. He looked to Dex. “Dex, your friend’s a bit of an asshole, huh?”

“Not my friend,” Dex corrected. They were referring to Titon. “And for doing this to Sidewind? Yeah.”

I was touched.

“If I had tear ducts, I would cry, Dexy,” I said, boldly calling him by a name I had never called him before. I figured he would give me a break since this could be my deathbed.

“Don’t ever call me that.”

“I figured you would give me a break since this could be my deathbed,” I said. Dex coldly shook his head. 

“Yo, doc,” Arid called back to Daichi. “Would it help if we were to try and find out what this poison could be?”

“And how might you go about doing so?”

“We have ways.”

“And by that, do you mean asking random people on the street with your scary mask, Airy?” I asked. Arid snapped his neck back at me, and since his mask could convey his emotions, I was a little terrified at the furious face he gave me. 

“Not even in the afterlife. Got it?” he threatened. I nodded again, scraping my head against the table…again. He left and Raven leaned in close.

“We’ll be back,” she said. She looked at Desolate. “Could you watch him? I don’t really trust…”

She pointed at who I assumed was Daichi and made a snarl. Desolate solemnly nodded and she left along with Dex. 

I made an exhaling sound as if I had lungs, looked up at the ceiling, and spoke to my partner. “What’re we gonna do with them, bud?”

I hear the door creak back open after the other three had supposedly left and heard Dex’s voice. I turned up my listening volume and eavesdropped. 

“Is there a way to bring back Juno like you did Armstrong?” he asked. His voice sounded depressingly desperate. I couldn’t blame him. I remember what our ex-teammate looked like. I remember being one for Kara, but Juno wasn’t half bad. 

“Sidewind is not Armstrong,” the doctor replied coldly. “He merely has his memories and personality.”

There was a silence between them before the doctor spoke again, though he should’ve stayed quiet.

“Unless Juno’s body can be found and was preserved and you can provide a husk like Annihilation, then you are sadly out of luck,” he needlessly added. I would’ve said something, but I didn’t want him to fuck up my body further.

Another silence before slow, sad-sounding footsteps began to move further away.

“Hey, Dex!”

The footsteps shuffled to me and the sad boy came into my field of vision.

“Cheer up, man. There’s lot’s of other girls out there. You’re a nine at least,” I said. His face didn’t change, but it did once Desolate warmed up his vocal chords.

“Pathetic.”

Dex smiled, then chuckled at Desolate’s stab at me. 

“Harsh, man,” I said. Dex then slightly nodded at me and walked off to--I assumed--join Arid and Raven, leaving me to talk to my non-talkative partner.

“So, still no memories, huh?”

“No.”

“Not even a name.”

“No.”

“Did you ask the doctor?”

“Yes.”

“How many times?”

“...”

An appropriate response. I honestly felt bad for him. I’m the one that looked least human out of the two of us, but he was the one with no memories. Or personality, for that matter. 

After a few more minutes of laying in silence, the footsteps of the doctor and his sister approached me. 

“The reverse reactive agent is already ready?” I asked. I would feel stupid he said “no”. It would’ve been obvious if it wasn’t. 

“Yes.” Somehow, I felt dumber. “Unfortunately, I haven’t tested it, but I do not believe we have time for that.” 

Daichi poured it on my halves. I screamed out in pain and didn’t stop until he raised his voice above my scream.

“Sidewind, you do not have pain receptors!” I immediately shut up. I didn’t recall ever hearing his voice at this level. I was pretty proud that I got him to that point.

He finished pouring the rest of the agent and observed. The sizzling of the metal my body was composed of was unsettling. I’m sure I even heard some pops, though I’m not sure what would be popping. The doctor then said words I didn’t want to hear.

“I believe it is slowing, but it is still not stopping.”

“You--wait...you...what?!” I stuttered. “I thought you could fix this!”

“I never promised that I could,” he said. “But, I have an idea. Based on the fact that the elements are not entirely composed of known Earth elements, I have already summoned a being beyond science.”

Celeste, the Sentry of Nature aka Mother Nature appeared from nothingness, standing next to Daichi. To be clear, the Sentries are one of the highest tier beings in the universe. They share a tier with Arch Reapers--which are typically angels or demons stronger than most of the angels and demons--and Ophanim which are literally the wheels to The Creator’s throne. S’pretty high. Only third from The Creator itself, the fourth tier. 

To compare myself and, actually everyone else in the room, we are ninth from The Creator, the tenth tier. We are the tier of aliens, myths (mythological creatures), and superhumans. 

“What, doctor?” she asked. The doctor then explained the situation. She sighed. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. But this counts as me paying back a favor.”

“But, of course, Sentry,” he said with a grin spreading across his face. “However, you owe me many favors.”

“I’m aware.”

As Arid, Raven, and Dex returned, she hovered a hand over the gap between my top and bottom halves. 

“Ah, the Torpid Trenches,” she said, her eyes beginning to glow green. All except Daichi gave her a blank look. “In the Haven Gods’ realm--wait. Did you pick a fight with a god?”

“No,” Arid answered. “The guy wielded a sword coated in whatever you’re talking about.”

“Who would even be allowed access?” she questioned as her hand lit up with green magic sparkles and stuff.

“Titon, apparently,” Dex said. She placed her other hand on her chin and nodded, staring at nothing in particular.

“Hmmm. I’ve definitely heard the name,” she said.

“How well known is this guy?” Raven asked.

“He’s been hired by everyone from crime lords here in Haven to alien gods,” she explained. “None of us know his point of origin, however.” 

My four teammates exchanged baffled looks. Arid summed up our thoughts perfectly.

“The fuck?”

“Wait, back up,” Raven interjected. “There are Haven Gods? Like Egyptian, Greek, and Norse mythology?”

“You…apparently were unaware,” Celeste says as my body is returned to its original state. “But, yes.”

I sat up, feeling whole again. Nature Lady stared at me.

“Count yourself lucky that I’m one of the only beings above the Haven Gods that can stop the poison,” she said, extracting the rest of it from my body and letting it form into a floating ball above her palm. “And that your creator cares about you.”

I looked at Daichi and changed my screen. (: 

He rolled his eyes and approached me, examining the repairs to my waist. He grabbed a tool, did a little bit more tinkering and said I was good to go, but not before some parting words as we nearly walked through the doors.

“You all owe me.”

We left, thinking nothing of it at the time. 

 

We returned to our hideout and discussed what Arid, Raven, and Dex found out by asking around about the poison, though at this point, it was kinda pointless. I think Arid just wanted to discuss his time at The Bloodbath, Raven wanted to talk about her boyfriend, and Dex--oddly enough--about the people he was listening in on at the train station. 

As I began to turn my listening volume down, I saw their faces change and look towards the stairs and at the door. I turned it back up to normal volume, and as I did, I heard tires screeching above us. We grabbed what weapons we could in a few seconds and filed upstairs and outside. A car sped by followed by several black SUVs. As I turned to look at my team, Dex was already starting up the van. 

We hopped in and gave chase to the chase. We followed for a few yards before the SUVs caught on to us and began firing. Luckily the streets were empty and we took advantage of that by returning fire. 

I heard another screech at the front of the chase, with it abruptly being cut off by glass shattering and metal crumpling. They crashed. The SUVs lined up horizontally, blocking us from making contact with those that just crashed. As Arid, Raven, Desolate, and I stepped out and behind our van, Dex stayed in the driver seat with the bulletproof windshield protecting him. 

I saw a young girl crawl out of the wreck and stumble to her feet. Looking back at it, I’m sure my team was upset at me for only focusing on the girl’s combat, but I knew they could handle it.

All the soldiers that were cluttered in the SUVs stepped out now, firing on both sides of the barricade. I was worried for the girl’s sake, but as soon as the thought came into my head, she swiped at the air in front of her with claws extending from her fingernails, creating a portal. The bullets fired at her entered the portal and she swiped at the air again in a different spot. Miraculously, the bullets reappeared and hit the soldiers that fired them, killing most of the soldiers focused on her. 

Three soldiers that felt the need to switch to their combat knives instead, slowly approached her at her 12, 10, and 2. She stood there, breathing heavily, glaring at them. I honestly expected laser vision to come out of her eyes or something with a look like that, but no, all she had was the portal thing. 

The one at 12 got close enough to swipe at her and she created a portal in front herself, causing his hand to fly through. She balled her other hand up in a fist, causing the portal to close on the soldier’s hand, severing it. He screamed in pain like a wimp as he bled out and the ones at her 10 and 2 spread out to her 9 and 3. 

Three swiped first. She dodged and looked like she was about to counter attack but 9 tried his luck as well. She kicked 9, stopping him in his tracks and snatched a grenade from him. She swiftly swiped through 3’s armor, spilling his guts, but also forming a portal either on or in front of his stomach. I’m not sure, her portal power still confuses me to this day. 

She tossed the unpinned grenade she snatched from 9 into 3’s stomach portal, before jumping off 3 and slashing a portal into existence over 9. Three dropped to his knees, basically dead and the grenade exploded above 9’s head, blowing him up and super-killing 3. She then stood with the explosion in the background like a bonafide badass. 

She apparently wasn’t alone either, as a soldier that looked similar to the ones that attacked her climbed out of the wreck as well. He looked in worse shape. But not a bad shape that would stop him from having a staredown with the final soldier that exited from the SUV convoy. He was someone we would get to know very well over the next few nights: Kingsnake.