Child of Omens Ruination: Aftermath

Chapter 19: The Collective Consciousness

Ace's breathing slowed as he funneled his semblance's solar energy into King of Clubs. His heart raced, and his mind screamed at him not to pull the trigger. At first, Ace didn't understand why he was trembling like this. He had killed people less deserving without a second thought and went about his day as if nothing had happened. But this was Hawk Branwen. Out of everyone on Remnant, he was the most deserving person of death. Hell! Hawk deserved a crueler death than just getting a round of solar fire through the skull. But for some ungodly reason, Ace didn't want to kill him..but he had to. Less than 5 feet away from him were two of his teammates, Nero and Velvet. If Ace didn't pull the trigger, if he didn't kill Hawk, Winter would kill him and the other two and most likely eventually find Summer and Wolf and kill them as well.

Cinder: "Well, hurry up, gunslinger! We ain't got all day!"

Hawk: "It's okay, Ace." His words were calm and peaceful. Ace could tell Hawk was ready to go.

Ace took a deep breath as he looked down at Hawk; as their eyes met, he could see the determination as well as the acceptance within them. This wasn't the same man that had slaughtered his way through the streets of Vacuo during the Red Sun; this wasn't the same man who'd sacrificed the lives of countless innocent people to slay the Twin gods. The man he saw before him was more than willing to go on a suicide mission to save his closest friend, even if he knew he wouldn't be able to go home. As Ace pulled the hammer of his revolver back, Hawk closed his eyes, ready to die.

Nero: "Now!!"

As soon as Nero shouted, Sam lunged forward in an upward swing, severing Cinder's arms from the elbow down. Then in another fluid motion, roundhouse kicked her backward. And at that moment, Ace almost subconsciously knew what to do. Winter was about to intervene and cut down her once-trusted swordsman, but she felt the tremendous force of one of Nero's ethereal arms as it launched her not only to the other side of the room but clean through the window, causing her to plummet.

Cinder winced slightly as this wasn't the first time she had lost her arm, and it wouldn't take long for her to reattach her severed limbs and brutally murder every single person in this room. But what she didn't expect was as she looked back up, she was met with the bright golden barrel of King of Clubs.

Ace: "Eat this, you fucker."

Before she could even move to dodge the shot, the condensed bullet of solar power had already begun to tear completely through her skull, melting its way through brain matter, flesh and bone. And before she even knew it, the bullet had exited the back of her head, and soon the force of the shot, which had moved past the speed of sounds, caught up. The bullet's kinetic energy behind it utterly decimated Cinder's head, blowing clean through her head, leaving only the tiny bit of her left ear and the lower left of her jaw. The others glanced in disgust as her corpse collapsed onto the floor, blood flowing like a waterfall from the basketball-sized cavity that was the remains of her head.

Nero: "Holy fuck."

Sam: "Now that's...um...I think I'm going to be sick."

Velvet: "Woah...I am not going to be able to sleep tonight." As she sits up and sees the remains of Cinder.

Ace moves to help up Hawk as Cinder's glass spear disappears. Helping him to his feet, Hawk couldn't help but look at Cinder's corpse with a tinge of pity.

Ace: "Nero? Do you mind explaining what the hell all that was?!"

Nero: "Dude. How do you think I knew so much about the Blades of Destruction? Sam's my inside source. He is one of the team members himself."