She Was Just A Child (PART 2)

CHAPTER 31: UNLEASHED FURY

The tension in the mess hall thickened as the KorTac team closed in on Dian. She could feel the weight of their gazes—each member, watching her, waiting for her to break. But there was no breaking. Not yet.

Konig sat across from her, his voice carrying the quiet authority of a leader. "Dian, you've been shutting us out. We're your team. We need to talk about what's going on. You're not alone in this."

Dian's fingers dug into the edge of the tray, the metal biting into her skin. Her eyes were cold, distant. The words didn't matter to her. Nothing mattered anymore. Not the team, not their concern, not the empty feeling gnawing at her from within.

She stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor with a harsh screech. The movement was sudden, too fast for anyone to react to immediately. But in that moment, she was aware of everything—every face around her, every breath they took. They were too close. They were invading her space, suffocating her.

"Leave me alone!" she snapped, her voice a raw growl of suppressed fury. The words escaped before she could stop them, but it didn't matter anymore. They had pushed her too far.

Konig rose to his feet, his hands raised in a gesture of calm. "Dian, listen—"

But she didn't let him finish. The instant he moved toward her, something inside her snapped. Her emotions, everything she had buried deep within herself, exploded outward in a tidal wave of raw power. The walls she had so carefully constructed crumbled. Her rage and frustration turned into a weapon.

In an instant, she was on the offensive.

Dian's movements were a blur—fluid, and swift, honed by the training she had endured in the shadowy world she had come from. The first to react was Fender, stepping forward, his hands raised, trying to reason with her. But before he could speak, she was already on him—her knee connecting with his midsection, forcing the air from his lungs in a single, devastating strike.

He staggered back, gasping, but Dian was already spinning toward the next target.

Hutch lunged at her, thinking he could subdue her with sheer force, but Dian was faster. She sidestepped his tackle, her elbow catching him square in the jaw. The sound of bone cracking echoed in the tense silence. Hutch hit the floor hard, dazed but still conscious.

The team tried to react—Roze darted to her left, aiming to pin her down with precision, but Dian saw her coming. With a low, almost feral growl, she swept Roze's legs from beneath her. Roze hit the floor with a thud, her breath knocked out of her.

The entire team was now scrambling, trying to contain the violent outburst they hadn't seen coming. Zero and Calisto worked together, attempting to surround her, but Dian was a whirlwind. She ducked under Zero's swipe and kicked him in the ribs, sending him flying into the nearby table. Calisto wasn't far behind, but she barely had time to react before Dian launched herself at her, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the wall with a force that left Calisto gasping for air.

Konig was still trying to approach, but Aksel and Stiletto stood between him and Dian, attempting to hold her back. Aksel went for a bear hug from behind, but Dian was too quick—she dropped to the floor, spinning in a low, sweeping arc that took Aksel's legs out from under him. Stiletto advanced with a quick, precise strike aimed at her pressure points, but Dian anticipated it. She caught Stiletto's wrist mid-swing, twisting it violently, and sent her sprawling to the floor.

The last person left standing was Horangi. The team had underestimated her before, but not him. He was the one who could match her speed, her unpredictability. He moved in, his posture tense, calculating.

"Dian," Horangi said, his voice measured. "Enough."

But there was no stopping her. The fury, the emotion, the years of manipulation—all of it had built up to this moment. And in that moment, she felt unstoppable.

She launched herself at him with a speed that even he couldn't fully react to. Horangi managed to block her initial strike, but it was only a brief victory. Her knee slammed into his stomach, sending him reeling back, winded. The fight drained from him, and for a moment, the room was still.

Dian stood alone, breathing heavily, her body a tense coil of energy. Her eyes darted between the fallen team members, and then to Konig. His face was unreadable, a mixture of concern, shock, and something else—something that made her hesitate for a fraction of a second.

For just a moment, the world slowed.

Konig took a cautious step toward her, his voice low and steady. "Dian... it's okay. You're not alone. We're here. But this... this isn't you."

Her gaze flickered to the others, each of them now standing, albeit with difficulty. They were hurt, stunned, but none of them had been broken. Not entirely. And that thought—those faces, those people she had come to care for—made her falter for the briefest of moments.

But it was enough.

In that moment of hesitation, the weight of everything—her anger, her confusion, the crushing suffocation of emotions she could no longer suppress—finally broke free in a violent wave. Her stomach churned, and the overwhelming nausea came crashing over her.

Dian staggered back, clutching at her chest, but before she could regain her balance, she was hit by a surge of sickness so intense that she doubled over. She barely made it to the side before her body convulsed, her stomach rebelling against the chaos inside her. Vomit poured from her mouth, spilling onto the floor, as the world spun out of control.

She didn't care. She didn't want to care. The pain, the exhaustion, the emotions—everything had reached a breaking point. She felt broken in a way that words could never capture.

The room was silent now, the team watching her in stunned disbelief. Konig was the first to move, his face tight with concern as he stepped forward, reaching a hand out to her.

"Dian..." His voice was softer this time, filled with regret. "We're here. We're not leaving you."

But Dian didn't look up. She just stood there, trembling, her body heaving with each painful breath, unable to stop the flood of emotions that had overtaken her. She felt as though she was drowning.