The Peacekeepers

Part Two; Chapter Twenty-Eight

Battle of Fate

"We gotta help him!" Alice yells. My protective instinct immediately kicks in.

"No Alice! This is my fight! All you can do is get killed! Get everybody to safety!"

"Don't delay the inevitable, Peacekeeper. You're all going to die anyhow!" One of them shouts at me.

I'm ending this now!

"You assholes want them? You gotta go through me first! Let's do this!" I shout.

The one in front of me comes at me with a right jab. I side step out of the way but I feel the wind off the punch. He's fast. Really damn fast, but I'm faster.

He tries to follow through with a left jab. I knock it out of the way, straight kick him in the knee, duck down and come back up with the heel of my hand slamming him upward in the jaw. The strike knocks him back and I'm able to deliver a heel kick to his head. He completely twists around completely and falls face first into the puddle of vomit left over from Russel. I almost feel bad for the guy but I can't shake this feeling of history repeating itself.

I snap back into my stance. "Anyone else wanna try me out? It'll make it easier if you come at me all at once. I'm getting impatient here."

This is the cue for them to charge me. I go back to Ren's training. I focus on my environment and my mind bends it to my will. They're going slow in my perception. I charge at one and headbutt him straight in the face. His head jerks back, I pull him forward and stomp his knee to the side. The knee snaps out of place along with the joint.

I dodge a punch from my left. I hear it cut through the air and hit a guy coming from my right side. I grab the backs of both their heads and slam them into each other and toss them aside from me tripping two others. I turn my head toward another opponent and I feel knuckles impact my chin. The force of the punch twists me around into another punch headed straight for my face. I dodge it, grab his wrist, snap it, pull him toward me and in two consecutive punches I shatter his nose and his front row of teeth. I push him away from me.

Out of the corner of my eye I see a kick headed straight for my head. I grab it at the same time another punch from the guy who hit me before heads straight for me. I catch the punch in midair. The impact shakes my arm but I ignore the pain. I turn and smile at him before kicking his leg, breaking it at his femur then lift my foot up to the guy's chin, knocking him in the air. He lands completely unconscious. I turn my attention to the kick I had caught by my head. I place my free hand at the tip of his foot and twist it violently. His ankle snaps and he spins completely around and lands on his back. I pivot around and stomp his groin so hard I hear his pelvic bones shatter. He'll be singing soprano for a while. Three left Drake. Just three more.

Fatigue is starting in. The bike ride, the fighting. It's taking a toll on my body. I have to win. There's no choice in the matter. It doesn't matter if the cost of victory is death. I have to take that risk. Not for The Peacekeepers, I could care less about these people to be frank. I'm fighting for Alice. She's all I ever fought for. All I ever will fight for.

Some asshole jumps on my back and starts wailing on me but he can't land a solid hit. They're getting desperate now. I grab his arm mid punch and flip him off of me. I twist his arm around and dislocate his shoulder and snap his humerus in one swift movement. I turn to see a lone Crimson Squad member standing behind me about ten feet back trembling. I see the terror on his face. I begin to walk toward him.

He starts stepping back, his shaking hands are out in front of him as if he thinks they'll stop me. He's stuttering trying to speak to me. He trips on one of his unconscious buddies. I pick him up by his collar and lift him off his feet. He urinates on himself almost instantly. I pinch his nose as hard as I can and start shaking and pulling it. Seems like a petty thing to do but I wanted to humiliate him. He starts crying. I shouldn't be enjoying this... but I am. I crack a smile and throw him away from me toward the gate.

"Get outta here and never come back. Start walking. Fuck off!" He immediately scrambles up and and begins to run toward the gate. A loud, slow, dramatic clapping came from the gate. The last member of the Crimson Squad stopped abruptly. He turns around and smiles ear to ear. "Are you ready to die Peacekeeper?" He says to me. "I sure hope so. Because Crimson is here now."

This mysterious figure gets more recognizable. He's about my size and stature. Short cut blonde hair and his face is heavily tattooed bright red in a tribal fashion. Every curve of the tattoos reveals a "C" in the pattern. He continues his slow clapping as he approaches me. He stops when he's close to me. Just close enough to talk.

"Do you know who I am?" He asks. His voice is crisp, deep and concise.

I nod my head. "You're Crimson. The head of this gang of thugs and murderers. Bunch of pushovers. I beat your dogs. Now it's time for the master."

He looks at me and smiles. "The disrespect was unnecessary my friend. I never disrespect a fellow warrior. I'm actually not here to fight you kid."

Call me "kid" one more fucking time asshole. I don't like you already, don't make it worse.

"Why are you in my home then? You're here unwanted, that's disrespect enough." I say to him buying myself a little time to catch my breath before we come to blows.

"I saw the entire fight. How you dispatched my men with such grace. It was like watching poetry in motion to be quite honest. With you by my side we could..." He's interrupted by a massive hand grabbing his ankle. He looks down to see Russel's bloody pulp that I beat him into.

"Crimson... Please show mercy. I didn't mean to fail you. He was just too..."

"Now Russel," Crimson says. "That was quite rude of you don't you think? You need to be taught a lesson in respect." He kicks Russel's hand off and stomps it. I'm in too much shock to even speak.

Russel is writhing in pain. Crimson looks up at me and says three simple words... "One moment please." He leans down to Russel and lifts his chin up, forcing him to stare into those eyes of his. Those eyes of evil. Cold, uncaring and without mercy.

"Russel you know I hate failure. You know the price of failure." I see Russel's eyes widen. His mouth opens to say something... His final words are cut off in one swift motion with Crimson stomping Russel's skull in. 

I scream "No!" at the top of my lungs. I've never seen such cruelty. I'm shaking as this... monster turns back to look at me. I've never seen this kind of brutality. Never seen a man's head caved in... Save for once.

"Now where were we before I was so rudely interrupted by this rubbish? Ah, I remem..."

"You fucking bastard!" I shout at him. He blinks in surprise. "Why! Why damn it? He was defenseless! There's no honor in that! You're a fucking monster Crimson! Murderer!"

"You hypocrite!" He shouts back at me. "You call me a murderer? There is not a blameless man here! Everyone here has killed before! Everyone! It is not only necessary to survive here but to thrive! Not one person in the world is blameless anymore! There are no rules! Just survival! You live or you die! If there is a blameless Peacekeeper here step forward! Step forward and I will leave!"

He just called out everyone in the compound, myself included. I remember the life I took. I look at my hands. My hands that punched a man until he breathed his last breath of life. I... I'm a murderer. But...

"I'm not like you!" I shout enraged at him. "Yes, everyone here has killed someone before! But every time there was purpose behind it! It was to protect themselves or a loved one! An innocent life! You kill for sport! You sicken me! You're barely human. You find pleasure in ending innocent life! You've even taken the lives of children. But by today's end I swear you'll never harm anyone again."

He laughs at me. "I want to see you try it..."