A squad of soldiers from the Central District searched the city for evidence of human activity. They held a set of kinetic rifles that were black. Silver was added as well, acting as a stripey garnish.

Agent D.R.2 came to a complete halt in his tracks and pointed his kinetic weapon at the glass entrance of a nearby coffee shop. He kicked up his foot and violently slammed the door. He walked around the house and looked around like an eagle, analyzing the branches of tiny woodland critters.

Then, from behind, his troopers pursued him while turning on a device outside of their helmets that made it possible to maximize any heat signature. They were rendered visually impaired by a yellow and purple image on the helmet screens. Agent D.R.2 examined the ground, and to his surprise, he noticed evidence of shoe prints that led them inside the store's kitchen.

He turned around and gestured at them to follow him. He led them to a metal door.

"Stand back!"

He instructed them as they prepared to engage in a shootout by positioning their firearms at the door.

He then pulled the trigger, causing the gun to discharge kinetic energy, which pulverized the door to pieces. After that, they went inside a nearby room, and much to their surprise, it was a meat locker.

An owner of a store by the name of Adrian hid inside a freezer. He wasn't alone; his daughter Helena, age ten, was also with him. Adrian was a tall, dark man with a black box beard and spikey black hair. Helena had blonde hair.

Their odor reeked of anxiety as their hands and legs trembled violently. The two gripped each other tightly as they embraced one another.

He then raked through her soft, delicate hair while she coiled her fingers on his leather jacket. She looked up to face him and spoke as a haze of mist hurried from her mouth.

"I'm scared, Daddy." He leaned his chin against her forehead.

"Me too, sweetheart. But don't worry. Everything will be alright."

He then ran his fingers through her delicate, soft hair as she curled her fingers around his leather jacket. She whispered as a veil of mist scurried from her mouth when she turned to face him.

The sudden drop in temperature roused her nasal senses, sharply awakening them despite her attempts to suppress them. She pressed her nose to appease them. Fortunately, her senses cooled down. She sighed with relief. Then, she dropped her guard and accidentally sneezed, drawing Agent D.R.2 to the refrigerator.

He opened the refrigerator, and when that happened, not a soul was present. It was only a packet of ice cubes stacked against each other. The door of another refrigerator, located behind the soldiers, was carefully unlocked by Adrian while they were distracted. With such an opportunity hanging from above, he seized it. This opportunity was like a rope that fell into a pit to rescue a poor person who was trapped inside. He climbed out of the freezer and scampered, holding his daughter close by.

Just as things began to fall in their favor, a trooper opened fire on him. His back was crisp-toasted by the kinetic blast, knocking him over.

Helena was overcome with anxiety, so much so that her immobility made it impossible for her to move. After a brief interval, she quickly snapped out of her frozen state. She appeared to have been overcome by grief, nevertheless. She gently brushed against his back with her hands while she did so.

"Daddy, get up! Please! Get up!"

The blood on her hands had a bright scarlet color.

A second layer of crimson flesh covered his burns. Then, Agent D.R.2 pushed a button on the left side of his helmet, which caused a red ray to be projected and eventually scan his body.

"Assassination is complete. The target is dead."

"What should we do with the spawn?" A fellow trooper then inquired.

He fixed his eyes on Helena, who broke down.

"Take it to Slicer. It will find comfort amongst the others."

With his fingers firmly gripping her neck, he forced her out of the shop. She kicked and punched him as she struggled to escape his tight hold. Heck, she even tried screaming, but her efforts were in vain. Afterward, the troopers led her out of the building as they marched past a formidable foe. She admired the glitz emanating from her nails as she perched on top of the roof of a velvet vehicle.

"Come now. How can you treat a child in such a manner? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Agent D.R.2 taunted Viper while aiming the kinetic space rifle at her. She rolled her eyes and blew a speck of dust away from her fingers.

"Who do you think you are to address me that way?!" He admonished.

When the former was about to press the trigger, something bizarre took place. He ran out of air. He then let out a series of coughs, which caused him to lose control of the rifle. He then kissed the ground with his knee. Helena stared at him in terror as blood dripped from his nose. Following that, a series of vines extended their entwined fingers from his alimentary canal. From that point on, the coil of vines grew into other branches and completely covered his head. The vines gauged out the latter's eyes and coiled around his body to bring about his death.

At the first sign of trouble, the other troopers struck back. They fell victim to the same circumstance as Agent D.R.2 had.

A short while later, she hopped out of the car and embraced Helena.

"They killed my father! Please help me!"

Viper rubbed her back with sympathy and said, "My deepest condolences. But there is nothing that I can do to save him."

She crouched and placed her hands on her cheeks. "I promise you this, though. Once I return, I'll see it to the end that I take care of you."

She embraced her once more.

"What's your name, dear?"

"It's Helena," she whimpered.

"Return to the building at once, Helena. I must uphold my duty. " She nodded and returned to the building.

Kuhn Lau appeared behind and said, "My Vanessa, I didn't know you had a heart?"

"Darling, you should not expect anything less from someone of my breath," she smiled.

"We found out what Slicer's lap dogs are up to," Ace said, approaching them from behind.

"What did you find?" Inquired Kuhn Lau.

"They are hunting down people. Possibly, planning to hold them as hostages."

"What do you think he wants to do with them?" Inquired Kuhn Lau.

"I believe he wants to kill them as some form of redemption," Yung Fu said, appearing from the side.

"What makes you say that?" Viper asked as she raised her right brow with bafflement.

"One of the Elite Force's important laws encourages them to exact vengeance when their foes wrong them. Since we tricked Slicer into thinking, he completed his mission by retrieving all the talismans. Now, he is responding by killing innocent people."

Max then stepped forward with his finger under his chin.

"I thought that this Slicer guy was smarter than this. This is petty of him. Well, so much for being an elite assassin, I guess," he said.

Indistructo then landed on the ground and stood before the other four.

"I found Slicer's hideout! I think I know where he is!"

"Where is he then?" Kuhn Lau asked.

He clenched his fist and said in a deep, broad voice.

"Right there! Waiting for us." The others followed his gaze, directed at the Central District, the tallest building.

Yung Fu placed his hand on Pete's shoulder, "Are you ready, Pete?"

He looked forward and clenched his fist.

"I was born ready."

Ace poised the sharp end of the scythe towards the central district.

"Well then, let's get a move on. Our friend Slicer is waiting for us. It wouldn't be so nice to keep him waiting."

*************

At the Central District

At the tallest building in the city, the Guardians and Max pottered towards the central district in harmony. The apocalyptic environment around them contrasted against the harmonious aura exuding from their bodies. A fleet of cars was unsympathetically lying on the tar upside down, as there was complete anarchy with no pedestrian in sight. Their engines were consumed by a hungry blaze as numerous buildings leaned against one another.

A haze of smoke covered each street that occupied the city's last remaining remnants, not to mention the view of the harrowed ground where the road had been completely torn apart.

And if you were to think about it, this massacre was caused by just one lightning strike, thus teasing the user's true potential.

A gust of wind brushed the seven Guardians' skin as they stood three kilometers from the structure. The whiff of wind caused their hair to fly backward and tossed the loose end of their clothing to the side. They fixed their gaze on the sky simultaneously and were mercifully rewarded with a timid sight. At lightning speed, a tornado made of lightning dropped to the ground.

Finally, the whirling lightning bolt shook the ground, creating what was practically a crater. Then, after rejecting its tornado form, it surrounded Slicer, whose facial features were directed toward the tar. He turned to face them and strode over. Due to their earlier impetuousness, doubt penetrated their optimistic minds when they confronted him for the first time. It pierced their brains with its teeth, and they all swallowed a stiff lump when they saw that.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Peter Xavier Atkinson. I see that you have decided to join your fellow Guardians."

Slicer then looked at his hand and leisurely moved his fingers

"...How interesting. I suppose they want me to seal your fate. Just as how events were supposed to unfold back in Oklahoma. You remember, don't you? My blade was supposed to peer through you and set your soul free. However, as we all know it, fate wasn't so kind. It spared you, and for what reason, I wonder?"

His remarks caused his hands to tremble a lot. He was sweating severely. He was about to recall the incidents that had occurred in Oklahoma City. He resisted the thoughts by clenching his fist. Nevertheless, his anxiety persisted. Slicer then turned to face his foes.

"What do we have here? The rest of the Guardians and a washed-up military soldier. To think all seven of you allied as a coherent unit to defeat me? This is a joke! None of you can hope to hold a candle to me. So what gives you an idea that you stand a chance against me this time?"

Pete stepped forward and said, "When life knocks you down. You rise from the ashes!"

He suddenly extended his right palm toward Slicer and unleashed a yellow ki blast. The ki blast's power caused an explosion that rose two levels in the air.

To Be Continued