A/N: I think I'll be, from here on out, going to make an effort to write only in third person.
Insert MAN CRYING GIFS/PICS here - Most likes wins 😀(A/N: Only TWO Entrees Per Person!) Winner(s) will be announced in the next chapter. Please comment throughout the chapter, it incentivizes me to maintain my chapter updates constant and to keep on writing.
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***
Time had lost all meaning.
Ajax had always believed himself to be unbreakable, to be untouchable. Pain was something to be endured. Loss was simply a part of war. Betrayal? Just one of the things in his repertoire. But after seven days in Aspen's grasp, after watching Valina die over and over again, something inside him had started to fracture.
But it wasn't just that, the torture, it was unbearable. They were willing to use their regeneration pods on him, their resources to keep him perfectly healthy after every torture session. They wouldn't allow his body to adapt to the pain, they wanted him to feel it over and over again.
He had been cut over a thousand times, on the verge of death, and they healed him. Skinned alive, and they healed him. Burned, stabbed, shot, showered in acid, his bones drilled into, castration, dismemberment, torture methods he had never even imagined existing, and he was healed.
He had tried to resist, but it was of no use. The people holding him hostage were far stronger than he was, no, far more augmented than he was. But even if they weren't a part of this, the restraints alone were made out of a metal strong enough to keep him in place.
The room he found himself in had large glass panels that formed a beautiful view of cascading waterfalls. He could see mechs walking around, patrolling. VTOLs coming and going, the place was alive with activity, yet he was strapped and beaten senseless for hours on end.
But it wasn't being in that room, shackled down, that haunted him.
It was them. What he thought was just his mind messing with him as he heard a voice of someone who should've been long gone, was brought to reality by a punch to the ribs. A sharp explosion of pain assaulted him as he felt two of his ribs shatter. Then another slammed into his jaw, dislocating it and snapping his head sideways.
Blood dripped from his lips as he forced his eyes to concentrate through the trauma. And there he was. Simon, callsign Ghost.
Ajax's ragged breaths caught in his throat. It wasn't possible. He had made sure that Ghost was the first one to die due to his knack of disappearing in the midst of battle and reappearing behind the enemy, dealing devastating blows to enemy ranks.
His Mech had been targeted and ripped to pieces when the ambush on Apsen's forces began. The barrage from the rifles of over 150 mechs had melted through his armor, turning his cockpit into a furnace. He didn't even get a chance to scream. Ajax remembered it clearly. He had ignored it just as clearly.
Yet now Ghost was here, standing over him, alive, real, eyes burning with an old, unforgotten rage.
Another punch assaulted him as his eyes scanned for who had dealt it. It was Caroline, callsign Raven. She was also one of the first targets. A sniper as lethal as her was extremely dangerous for a prolonged fight.
He had set up a trap for her, knowing she would try to get a vantage point. Anti-Mech mines had been placed in all of them. He had watched from the safety of his own cockpit as her retreating Mecha's legs were torn apart by the blast, sending her crashing to the ground. She had begged for mercy as Aspen's forces fell back, but he showed her none.
Her glare now was colder than the vacuum of space. Her knuckles cracked as she drove another punch into his ribs.
Then another figure stepped into his field of view. A tall blonde man with bulging muscles and braids. It was Santos, callsign Viking.
He had been a brute, a titan in his Mecha, a heavy weapon specialist and strategist who excelled in larger conflicts. Ajax had rigged his Rakshasa and made sure that his shields would fail. He sabotaged his power systems, forcing his Mecha to freeze in place mid-battle. Defenseless. Helpless. The enemy had torn him apart, his confused shouts over his systems not working echoing through the comms.
And now, Viking's massive frame loomed over him again. His fists felt heavy like a sledgehammer as they dug their way into Ajax's gut.
The next figure to step into his sight was just as impossible. It was Maximus, their Roman.
He had been the most disciplined of them all, his Mecha was just like Santos', a fortress of armor, a moving Rakshassa strapped to the teeth in heavy weapons. Two shoulder-mounted miniguns paired with 2 120mm Autocannons in its hands.
He was an unstoppable moving wall, until Ajax made sure he wasn't. A backdoor in his targeting system, a false override in his thrusters, sending him careening into an enemy kill zone. It had taken them twenty minutes to finally put him down.
Roman cracked his knuckles before Ajax's face decided to run into them.
Then, the final figure approached. It was Jess, callsign Gray, for her eyes and silver hair.
She didn't hit him right away. Instead, she crouched in front of him, tilting her head slightly as she studied his battered face. Her fingers ghosted over his bleeding jaw, a sick mockery of tenderness before she whispered, "I always knew there was something off about you."
Then she gave him a backhanded smack across his face and then stomped down on his groin. Ajax lurched forward, choking on the taste of blood. Then they all started taking turns hitting him.
He had lost count of how many times they hit him. Every time his head drooped, a hand yanked his hair, forcing him upright.
He wanted to believe it was another one of Aspen's mind games. Another illusion.
But the feeling of the punches made him sure it wasn't. And deep within him, something finally, irreparably, broke. One punch hit him in the temple and then everything turned to black.
***
It had been a day when he finally came to, the pain throughout his body was the reminder that he was still alive, once again gripped from death's embrace. How many times had he blacked out? How many times had he died, only to be brought back?
He lay bare, only in his underwear, on the pristine, cold floor of the same room. No shackles or restraints this time around. Just his own healed yet aching body lying still as he forced himself to breathe.
It took him a moment before he noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. There was someone else here with him. In the dark corner of the room stood a figure with his arms crossed.
Ajax was able to make out the face in the shadows after a little while, and to his shock, he realized who he was staring at. Aspen.
"Azrael, no," Ajax caught himself, his raw throat choking on the syllables before he pushed them away. "Aspen."
And for the first time since his capture, he had finally come face to face with him. The man who was once his brother, the one who had stolen the woman that was rightfully his because he saw her first.
His face was the only thing that allowed him to remember the man who once called him his brother, the man who had taken him under his wing since they were both kids, the man he hated most in his life, and the one whom he owed his life.
Aspen stood before him, his body larger, stronger, bulkier than Ajax remembered. The last time he had seen him, he had been broken, his mech and body split by the spear from Valina's mech.
But now? He didn't seem to need any prosthetics. His body wasn't replaced by anything mechanical. No, what stood before him was a man made of flesh and blood with raw power emanating from him. (Think of Toji Fushigoro's body type.)
His body was a canvas of inked devotion. Tattoos that should not have been there, marking his skin with words of faith and conviction. The skeletal angel of death across his back, shrouded in mist, its massive scythe glinting with judgment. A warrior of divine wrath.
And throughout his body, the inscriptions:
"Dominus Illuminatio mea."
"Deus meus et omnia."
"Fiat voluntas Tua."
"Cor meum Tibi offero, Domine."
"Miserere mei, Deus."
Each word was inked into his flesh like scripture burned into stone. This was not the same man he had betrayed. Aspen's eyes were no longer the green hazel he remembered, they glowed in a golden blue.
They were unnatural, terrifying, absolute, and they stared down at him with something Ajax couldn't quite place. Was it pity? Disgust? No. They were the eyes of Judgment, the eyes of an executioner.
"As a show of mercy," Aspen said, his voice steady, emotionless, "for someone so unworthy, yet was once my brother, you will die by my hands."
Ajax barely had time to react before Aspen threw out a punch that clocked him in the ribs. It was as if he had been hit by a cannon as his entire body lurched sideways, air violently ripped from his lungs as he crashed onto his side, gasping.
'What the fuck?' Ajax thought to himself as he staggered to his feet, throwing a wild punch. His fist connected squarely with Aspen's jaw. But to Ajax's dismay, Aspen didn't move. He didn't even flinch.
Ajax's eyes widened in horror as his knuckles throbbed from the impact, pain flaring through his wrist as he knew he had broken it. He had fought Aspen before in friendly spars, back when they were still brothers; he knew how tough he was. But this? This was different.
Aspen didn't allow Ajax to finish processing what was going on as he threw another punch, this one shattering Ajax's jaw and sending a bunch of his teeth flying.
The world exploded in agony as Ajax was lifted off his feet and sent skidding across the floor from the sheer force of the impact. His jaw was killing him, and he realized he could no longer move it.
He had no time to catch his breath before Aspen picked him up from the floor and threw him against the wall. He panicked as he realized that no matter what he did, Aspen was going to kill him today.
The door was slammed open as a crying Valina pushed her way to Ajax. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she cradled his aching body. Ajax looked up to her and realized that it was the real her. He was skeptical at first, but seeing the look she gave him, he knew it was the real her.
"And that, right there," Aspen spoke, his voice sending shivers down both Ajax and Valina's spines, "is my final act of mercy."
Valina was then dragged off Ajax by Santos, who had entered the room along with Ghost, Raven, Jess, and Maximus.
Ajax looked around, his eyes pleading for forgiveness.
Aspen stood over him, and neither his face nor his eyes showed any expression of satisfaction.
Ajax looked into his eyes, pleadingly.
"I know you're sorry," Aspen said. "But you're not sorry for the things you did."
Aspen stopped talking, his hand outstretched to his right as a gleaming Katana with a pure white handle wrap and golden decorative patterns on it materialized in his hand. The Katana had an inscription on its blade:
"Pro innocentibus, mors est misericordia. Pro peccatoribus, mors est damnatio."
(For the innocent, death is mercy. For the sinner, Death is damnation.)
Aspen's calm facade was betrayed by the anger he felt towards Ajax. With the Katana in his hand, Aspen stared daggers into Ajax's soul. "You are only sorry for the consequences your actions have brought upon you."
With those words, Aspen brought the Katana down on Ajax's stomach, ripping through his innards. He then pulled the sword out, Ajax's guttural scream filling the room before being quickly quieted down by a slash across his throat. The sound of Ajax drowning in his own blood caused Valina to cry even harder.
Aspen crouched down and held Ajax's eyes open as death embraced him. "I will be the last thing you ever see."
Aspen stared into Ajax's eyes the entire time as the light rapidly faded from them. He could see how Ajax's heart struggled to pump enough blood as his pupils widened.
Ajax's vision began to blur, his blood pooling under him as the world around him blurred into a distant haze. Each attempt to breathe became slower, only drowning him faster in his own blood.
His vision began to swim, colors bleeding to gray and black in a dizzying swirl. His heart thundered in his chest, but it was a hollow sound now, distant, as if it were happening to someone else. The pain was overwhelming, yet it felt far away, like he was watching someone else suffer.
His brown eyes, once sharp and alert, had lost their focus. The world around him seemed to stretch and distort. His pupils, once bright and reactive, now dilated unnaturally, expanding into dark, unblinking pools. The light no longer bothered him; his body no longer responded to it. Everything was fading to black.
His gaze wavered, and he tried to blink in a desperate attempt to focus, but his eyes no longer obeyed. They were wide, unblinking, fixed in a vacant stare. The world grew distant, and the once-strong figure that had been him now lay still, his dilated pupils the only sign of life that lingered in his fading body.
Then, just as the sound of his pulse grew distant, so did the sensation of his own body. The cold that crept in consumed him, and the darkness finally swallowed everything.
To Ajax, it had felt like an eternity, but only about twenty seconds had passed since Aspen slit his throat. Aspen stared at the lifeless eyes that stared back at him.
All sound had faded for Aspen. It wasn't the first time he killed, it wasn't the first enemy he watched die, but staring into the eyes of a dying man all the way to the end was different. He remained in his crouched position, using his Katana to help keep him balanced.
"Take his body and burn it," Aspen ordered in an emotionless voice. "Kill her too, and every other fucking prisoner we took."
Valina was dragged out, her screams had gone silent, and sound failed to escape her mouth. Ajax's corpse was taken too.
All the while, Aspen remained crouched. He felt Jess try to comfort him, but he brushed her hand aside. "Leave me, I need to be alone."
Jess remained in place, trying to comfort Aspen, "I don't think that would be ide-"
"I SAID LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!!!!!!" He roared, his eyes starting to become bloodshot as the air around him dropped 20 degrees Celsius in an instant.
Jess was taken aback by his outburst, but it was clear to her that she needed to leave him alone. She left the room, the sound of the door sliding closed was the only thing in the room that kept Aspen company.
Aspen stays crouched down, his feelings foreign to his soul, but not his body. His eyes were vacant, his hands trembling ever so slightly despite the cold steel of the Katana still gripped in his palm.
These were feelings he had long buried beneath his purpose, beneath the killing, beneath the endless war that he had prepared himself for so long. But now, now that Ajax was gone, those feelings had come rushing back, flooding his senses in a way he couldn't control.
Aspen's breath came in shallow gasps, his chest tightening as he fought against the overwhelming wave of emotion threatening to swallow him whole. The golden sky blue tears the color of his blood streaked down his face.
His vision blurred by the mix of rage, regret, and an unbearable weight of guilt. He should have been stronger than this, should have been able to bury it all deeper. Ajax had killed his family for crying out loud.
"No you fucking bitch, don't you dare fuckign cry… don't you…. Fucking…" Aspen tried to hold himself back, but killing Ajax did not bring the satisfaction he thought it would. "Ajax deserved it… he fucking deserved it, theses aren't even your emotions, so why the fuck… why the fuck am I….."
Aspen stood up, trying to push his emotions down one way or another. He dropped his Katana, the sound of the metal scraping softly against the cold floor filled the room. His hands, still shaking, ruffled his hair as he walked around the room.
His body was stiff, but his heart… his heart felt like it was shattering with every breath he took. He had never thought that killing someone he once loved, someone who had been like family, would be the thing that broke him.
But Ajax, they had been together since they were children. They grew up together, orphans of war. His mind thought of the memories they had growing up, how Ajax had always looked up to him in admiration, how Ajax had always needed him. And now, he was gone, and Aspen had killed him.
"RAAAHHHHH"
Aspen screamed as he started punching the walls, the concrete immediately cracking, his fists beginning to bleed before the nanobots regenerated them. He repeated this action until the wall looked like it had been in a firefight with all the cracking.
Then, the silence hit. For the first time in what felt like hours, the pounding stopped, and Aspen stood there, chest heaving, sweat running down his face. The wall was a mix of golden sky blue blood, and cracks.
He thought war was hell, but hell, revenge against someone you knew your entire life was worse. Especially when what they had done was unforgivable.
Word Count: 2992 Words 👏
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AN: This Novel will go into a hiatus for a while. I'm thinking a couple of months, not entirely sure yet. I might be writing another novel as well, one focused on space warfare and travel. But don't take my word for it, I'm not hellbent on it yet.