As The Dust Settles (fem!Geten X Dabi)

Chapter 5: His Weapon No More

The southern section of Deika City was the last part to be repaired. While the north was the region immediately tended to, given a memorial and paved with grey concrete, the south received little to no attention. It was still a wasteland.

As Geten walked through the broken streets, coated with a layer of ash, she recalled that this was where the fight started, where the celebrants poured out from everywhere, where the Resurrection Festival had began. The curtains had parted here.

Yet it was a tragic end that befell the Liberation Army, the curtains closing mercifully upon the final scene. Where there was zeal and hope to light the fire of liberation of meta abilities, it had been snuffed out by their enemies-turned-leaders.

It made her angry. Still, she refused to believe it at first. But after spending a few days walking amongst these heathens, the ceasefire still in effect, she began to realise that: No, it was no ceasefire, but a total surrender. Seeing her Grand Commander in the hospital, reeking of defeat – the word was poisonous to think – only confirmed her fears. Still, her beliefs persisted.

No, it was not the end. I have yet to hear him speak, hear him retake control over his loyalists.

That was what she thought, until just now, when he announced the transformation of the Meta Liberation Army to the Paranormal Liberation Front. And he would be transferring his leadership to that boy.

"Idiot! He did not give it up. That boy forced Re-destro to abdicate his throne. That must be it! It must be..." She muttered to herself, fists clenching as she her pace quickened. Her legs shivered.

Weakling. The coward surrendered the throne, Another voice in her head snarled.

How Re-destro acted towards the boy disgusted her. She could recall it clearly. Re-destro offering the boy a drink, like a common servant. He was smiling with placation, not unlike the polite expressions the bellhops wore in hotels. The Re-destro she knew since her induction into the Liberation Army was dead.

She sneered, but she did not know if it was her rage against that boy for bringing Re-destro to his knees, or her pity towards Re-destro's lowliness. She could not bear to watch further, and hence left the celebrations early.

Which brought her here, kicking stones aside and letting the fire in her stomach burn. Images burnt like film into her mind, forever frozen in her memories, the ones that hurt her. Part of her was angry, a raging inferno, while the other was scared, shivering, at her thoughts of treachery.

She sat down on a fallen pillar, her breaths growing faster. These two sides of her collided, and she did not know what to do. Her fists were shaking, the ice in her pocket thrashing around, responding to her distraught mind.

Her hands grasped her parka, pulling it tightly over her head. She was his weapon, his will incarnate.

What did she have, if she was no longer Re-destro's weapon?

The answer came to her after a pause of breath. She exhaled slowly. The fire and ice within her embraced now.

She stood up; her arms fell to her sides.

I execute the will of the Liberation Army. Re-destro is not fit to lead and guide our principles, but the principles are unchanged. Strength is survival. I will ensure that.

Her mind was clear. She brought her right hand up. A pillar of ice erupted from the ground, obeying her commands. Clenching her fist, the pillar compressed into a giant sphere, and at the thrust of her arm, it flew forward into a brick wall, smashing it into smithereens.

Then she felt a surge in temperature from her side. A wall of ice rose to block the torrent of flame on her right, melting the wall and allowing her an unwanted view of the man who had unleashed the fire.