DAYWALKER | n.romanoff

SIX

CHAPTER SIX
'DON'T MAKE ME SEND YOU IN A COFFIN.'

The Blade's feet left the floor, tables and monitors sliding across it with the sudden drop of one side of the ship. Shockwaves rattled the ship, and she descended towards the shattered glass where Romanoff and Banner had dropped. Just in time, she managed to grab the frame, fingers and arms igniting in pain as the shards of glass tore through her clothing and skin.

With a hiss, she dangled over the decline into oblivion. Her grip slipped briefly, her mind still foggy from the quickness of it all, but her muscles easily held her weight as she glanced below. The fall was deceiving, or it had reduced Romanoff and Banner to shattered bones at the bottom. Inhaling sharply, the Blade hauled herself up and over the ledge.

Immediately, the helmeted woman was in action, sprinting past Fury and after Stark and Rogers. Instead of following after them, she turned down another hallway, heading towards the detention centre.

A bullet passed her ear, and within an instant, the Blade had dropped low to avoid another shot and ripped a dagger from her belt. While spinning, she unleashed the weapon in the direction the bullet had come, and it lodged into the neck of the shooter. Several more flanked them, and she straightened.

Tugging down her coat, she pulled her sword from its sheath. Then, she was gone. She moved so quickly while angling her body so the possible bullets would hit her helmet instead of the soft flesh and put all her force into speed. She gave a wide arc of her sword and severed the hand of one of the blue-eyed soldiers. The gun clattered to the ground, and she shifted the movement of her weapon upwards, and the tip of the sword made contact with the underside of their throat.

She made the most of her momentum and turned on her heel, letting the sword's movement spin her in a circle. On the way, the razor edge sliced along the final soldier's side just under their bulletproof vest.

With the three collapsed on the floor, the first was dead and lying in a pool of blood. The others gripped their wounds, and the Blade stared down at them. She twirled her sword in her hold before stabbing them both through the chest.

The Blade was still and stared down at their faces as shadows curled around them. The dead soldiers' eyes snapped open, and their mouths opened to reveal razor teeth. Quickly, her gaze flickered away, and when she looked back, their bodies had returned to normal.

Exhaling laboriously, she went to return her sword to its sheath when heavy footsteps thundered behind her. Slowly, she let her sword hand drop and turned to face the direction.

Smoke drifted along the ceiling, and suddenly, red flashing lights arrested the hallway. The shriek of the fire alarm shot through the silence, and the Blade's head angled away slightly. A group of soldiers rounded the corner, and their footfalls became splashes as the sprinklers spurred into action.

Water cascaded down the metal of her helmet and splashed onto the slowly gathering water at her feet. Blood dripped from her sword and mixed with the liquid. The Blade rolled her shoulders and then sprinted forward.

She skidded across the ground, throwing the sword into the air to free her hands and pulled two small disks from her belt. As the weapon flipped through the air above her, she launched them across the floor before catching the steel again. As she kicked the legs out from underneath one of the soldiers, water sprayed from her movement. The Blade leapt to her feet, twirling her sword while she kicked the gun from another's grip. Grabbing the gap where the armour finished, she hauled them in front of her and backed away, the bullets from one of the assailants puncturing through the armour of their comrade.

An explosion - from her disks - erupted behind the soldiers, launching many forward and into walls where sickening cracks followed. It propelled her across the hallway, but she orientated herself, and after using the force to pull herself into a backflip, she landed on her feet. Immediately, she sank into a defensive stance and pounced again.