Chapter 87: 86 - Team Mission(Part 3)

I flew over the lake with my jetpack, as Mitchell swooped down and began to defend Katie from the incoming Mutants, while Suri and Seila were cutting down Mutants on either side of the lake, though they seemed to be going at a deliberately slower pace that they were capable of...oh, I get it, they want to delay converging upon the back end of the lake so that they don't have to deal with the Lubes. 

Well, whatever, it's not a big deal to me...and I'm not particularly grossed out or anything either. I mean, it's not like I'm going to be directly touching them. To start with...I'll try slashing with my X-Blades. As I began to close in on the shore of the lake, I activated my X-Blades and spun myself down and across as I neared one of the Lubes, slashing at it as swiftly as I could. 

My blade struck it...and slipped across it, failing to pierce it. I quickly flew back up with a frown...okay, I didn't like how that felt. That was so...unsatisfying. You know that feeling when you're cutting paper and the scissor just glides through? Imagine the opposite of that...but even worse. There's seventeen of them in total...and it looks like a lot of them are about to multiply again. 

Okay, I definitely can't slash them...in that case, let's try shooting. I put away my blade handles and activated my X-Blasters, setting them to maximum output on sniping mode, before taking aim and firing...alright, this is working! My shots pierced through their membranes and burst through, killing them...and when that happens, they just turn into colorful puddles of sludgy liquid that take about twice as long as water to evaporate. 

Alright, I was a little worried when I couldn't slash through them, but this is working great...these things don't move very fast so they're basically sitting ducks for me. Aaand...done! Below me was a huge multi-colored liquid puddle, all the blobs had been killed. I let out a quiet sigh and landed on the ground, just outside the puddle. 

As I powered down my jetpack, Suri and Seila reached me, right as Mitchell flew over while holding Katie's shoulders with his tails to carry her along too. My sister swooped down as well, as we all regrouped and gathered. Well, that barely took a few minutes to finish, I think it's safe to say that it went pretty well. 

"Wow, that was efficiently done, I'm impressed," Remarked Kilella, looking around at everyone with a grin. 

"Oh, uh, you really think so?" Responded Mitchell with an awkward, goofy look on his face. 

Well, I guess that's a normal reaction for someone getting praised by an Ace. The others were looking kinda bashful too...well, I couldn't really tell with Katie, but I think she was embarrassed too. 

"Yeah, totally! Electrifying the water was a great move...though I should admit, I was kinda hoping to see your Manifestation Overdrive in action," She said to Katie with a sheepish smile. 

"It uses a lot of XFE, so I don't use it much," Katie replied, averting her gaze a bit. 

"Well, anyway, I guess that completes the Mission, doesn't it?" I chimed in. 

"It's almost boring how easy that was," Responded Mitchell with a sigh. 

"Yeah, well, I think that boring is better than things going wrong," Argued Suri warily. 

"Um, I agree, it's nice that it went so smoothly," Agreed Seila. 

"I'm not saying that, like, an Ace Mutant should have showed up or something like that...but I'd have liked it if things had been a bit more challenging, you know?" Said Mitchell wistfully. 

"I can see some merit in that, I suppose," Katie reluctantly agreed with him. 

"How about you, Kilzachs?" Inquired Suri curiously. 

"The less problems, the better. Easier to stay in control that way," I replied objectively. 

I don't like it when things are chaotic and I'm unable to stay in control of a situation. 

"I mean, I guess you have a point there, but still...," Trailed off Mitchell. 

"You know, since you guys finished your Mission so swiftly, I have an idea...how about a little sparring session? The five of you vs me," Suggested Kilella with a smirk.

Hm, that's not a bad idea...it'd be useful to see how this team works together against a strong opponent. 

"C-can we really?" Asked Seila with a look of excitement. 

"Sure, why not? And besides...just staying on the sidelines and watching has made me restless...also, I kinda saw this coming, so I brought a Duel Field projector drone with me...so, are you all on-board?" Inquired Kilella, looking around expectantly. 

The others were all quick to voice their agreement, after which she turned to me with an inquiringly raised eyebrow. 

"Yeah, sure, why not?" I replied with a shrug. 

"Alright, great! Let's move away from this slimy puddle first though," She responded, the other girls immediately agreeing to that, and we moved a couple dozen meters away from it, "Okay, take a minute to strategize and stuff, and then come at me with everything you've got!" 

Hm, should I use my Anomaly powers? Oh, wait, no...Suri wasn't there when the Wights appeared in that training maze, so she doesn't know that I'm an Anomaly. I kinda feel a little bad that she's the only one in the team who doesn't know, but-. 

"Hey, dude, you should totally use your Anomaly abilities for this. Everyone here knows about it, right?" Said Mitchell, as we gathered. 

"Wait, what?" Inquired Suri incredulously. 

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"Hm? I'm talking about-...ohh, crap, you weren't there in the maze," Realized Mitchell, his eyes widening. 

"Huh? What are you talking about? I'm totally lost," She remarked with a confused expression. 

Well, shit. This isn't ideal. I don't have any recent Save points, I think my last one was sometime yesterday...fuck it, one more person won't hurt, I guess. I let out a sigh before turning my gaze to Suri... 

"He's talking about the fact that I'm...an Anomaly," I remarked, before placing a hand on her shoulder and chanting inaudibly, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Two: Pause>." 

"Is this a joke or someth-...," She began, before trailing off as she realized that time was frozen. 

"Don't move, if I stop touching you, you'll get frozen in time too. So, uh, yeah...," I replied awkwardly, not sure of what to say. 

"...you can freeze time!?" 

"Yeah...remember the first teamwork exam? Sorry, but I didn't actually outrun two Two-Headed Serpents while carrying three people," I answered sheepishly. 

"That...makes a lot of sense, actually...dude, if you'd used this power more, you'd be unstoppable," She remarked with wide eyes. 

"I suppose so, but...at first, it was just that I wanted to rise to the top while pretending to be a regular Paragon, but now it's more than that...I value the abilities that I worked hard to gain more than the abilities I gained by random chance and didn't earn myself. Unfortunately, lately more and more people have been finding out, I think like, thirteen people know now, including you."

"I...wow. I kinda don't know what to say. First off, I totally get why you'd hide it, if I could freeze time I'd probably also keep it to myself."

"Yeah, I can only imagine how easy it'd be to frame me...doctor a crime with no evidence trail and claim that I must have frozen time and committed the crime, so that there wouldn't be any evidence...or something like that, I guess. Or maybe that's a paranoid assessment on my part," I shrugged wryly, "Anyway, this costs a fair bit of XFE, so I'm gonna unfreeze time now." 

"Oh, alright." 

I took my hand off her shoulder and resumed the flow of time...I've got about sixty percent of my XFE left now, maybe I shouldn't have shot the Lubes at maximum output...eh, no point crying over spilt milk, I guess. 

"Okay, everyone, instead of coming up with elaborate plans, let's just see how we instinctively fight as a group...we've worked on combos and stuff in training classes, but the only thing that each of us really need to keep in mind...is to avoid inadvertently striking each other with our attacks. We'll also avoid using the comms. In a real fight, we probably won't have time to strategize, and talking to each other in a fight can be distracting and fatal, so let's not use the earpiece communicators, in order to simulate that kind of situation," I relayed, looking around at the others, who had bemused looks on their faces.

"Wait, hold on a sec, you're just abruptly jumping straight to it?" Interjected Mitchell, glancing at Suri. 

"It's only abrupt for you because you were frozen in time," I replied with a shrug, "Anyway...if everyone's okay with that plan, shall we get started? I'll attack first, and you guys follow up at your own discretion, cool?" 

The others still looked a bit confused but agreed to my suggestion, and we surrounded my sister, as she activated her Primary Manifestation with a grin and activated the drone to project the Duel Field barrier around us. I decided against using my jetpack...the more handicaps, the more effective this is going to be as training. 

"Alright, ready when you guys are, make the first move!" She exclaimed, keeping a wary eye out on each of us. 

Time to try out a couple of the new tricks that I can do thanks to Tier Three... 

"<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Copy>," I chanted inaudibly, selecting myself as I pretended to adjust my X-Blasters, before selecting the area to her direct left with a smirk, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Paste>." 

Suddenly, as I finished my chant, a copy of me appeared to my sister's left, driving it's fist towards her as a look of alarm appeared on her face and I fired a couple of shots at her, taking advantage of her confusion and... 

"<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Cut>," I chanted as I selected myself again, and then focusing on the area to her right and slightly upwards, as she began to fly up to avoid my clone and my fired shots, "<Activate Anomaly, Tier Three: Paste>."

Right as she flew and evaded my clone and XFE bullets, I vanished and reappeared to her right, in the air...

"Wha-...," She blurted out in surprise and alarm, as I pulled out my Square Blaster and took aim. 

"Gotcha," I remarked with a triumphant smirk, as I pulled the trigger... 

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