Throughout the facility of S.P.E.A.R., chaos has erupted at every turn and all soldiers within the area took up arms against the rogue projects. With alarms blaring and red lights flashing, it didn't take long for the entire base to go on high alert.

On one side, Arkham and Christa were pinned down by heavy gunfire. With their backs to the wall, Arkham tried to peek around the corner, but a stray bullet chipped the corner near his face. Christa, on the other hand, had her hands in the pocket of her coat as she was listening to music through her earbuds in order to drown out the sound of the bullet Hell before them.

"Hey!" Arkham yelled to gain her attention, but his voice couldn't reach her. "Earth to Christa!" He tried again, but no response. Frustrated, he simply shot the wall next to her several times.

Christa took out one earbud and looked at him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to, oh I don't know, charge at them?!" he asked as the opposing gunfire came to a halt. "Why'd it get quiet all of a sudden?" Arkham thought out loud.

She rolled her eyes and put the earbud back on. Christa stepped out from her cover and stood in the open.

"This is our chance for a promotion, boys!" yelled one of the soldiers in the back. "Open fire on Project Athena!"

The storm of bullets came toward Christa, but at most, she tilt her head and faced sideways to avoid the oncoming fire.

"Oh for the love of," Arkham groaned.

"Fine, I'll get rid of them," Christa sighed as she increased the volume of her music as the spray of bullets ceased. "But you owe me."

The enemy soldiers threw several grenades at them and each one released smoke, causing Arkham and Christa to disappear from sight. They opened fire once more and soon enough, their rounds came into contact with something metallic.

Out of the smoke, Christa rushed out toward them. With a large, circular shield in one hand and a spear in the other, she was reminiscent of a Spartan. She tossed her spear into the air and reversed her grip, throwing it like a javelin and it pierced through the chest of a soldier. As she continued her charge, Arkham followed from behind, firing away his own reserves of ammunition.

Together, they struck down the number of enemy troops into a small amount. With only four soldiers left, they dropped their guns and abandoned their post. Arkham sighed as Christa turned around and held her shield in place. Arkham ran and leaped onto it, allowing Christa, with monstrous levels of strength to launch him over and toward the runaways.

While Arkham was in the air, he gunned down half of them and landed in front of the last two before giving them a quick death. The duo left no survivors in their side of the uprising. Their weapons dematerialized into nothing as Christa removed her earbuds.

Arkham took his earpiece out of his pocket and switched it on. "Exit secure." He glanced over his shoulder at a massive hangar door designed for aircraft. "We'll keep the area clear in the meantime until we rendezvous here. Anything on your end, Q?"

"Hold on!" she yelled into her earpiece. QT was surrounded by several monitors as she furiously typed away on her keyboard with inhuman speed. While most of the screens showed camera feeds throughout the entire facility, whereas the one in front of her was rapidly scrolling through thousands of lines of code at once.

There were loud sounds of a struggle right outside her room. The door was suddenly burst open as Ven came through and shut it behind himself. He was dripping with blood from his forehead and down his arms. His left arm was riddled with gunshot wounds. He took a deep breath and one by one, the bullets lodged in his arm were forced out as they bounced off the floor almost like coins. His injuries were healing and closing at a rapid pace. With his back against the door, he tried to catch his breath.

"What's the situation?" QT asked him without averting her gaze from the screen.

"They're coming in pretty damn quick," Ven let out a deep sigh. "Thanks for caring about me so much, by the way."

"Oh come on," QT grinned. "Out of everyone, I'm worried about you the least."

"Again, thanks for caring," he said sarcastically. "It's not like I'm getting bored out there or anything."

"Just clear our way to the hangers," she ordered as she pressed one last button and a loading window popped up on the screen. "There. Once this finishes, SPEAR's security system and any backups will shut down. I thought a constantly changing algorithm would be difficult to deal with."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said sarcastically and rushed out the door.

Ven was almost surrounded instantly. Men armed with rifles cornered him as if he was prey, but it was already their worst mistake. Barehanded, he rushed at one as they opened fire. The first rifle within his reach was pushed upwards and shot the ceiling as he grabbed one of the soldiers. Rushing forward with a human shield, Ven threw the body at the enemy, causing them to fall to the ground. From the side, a cowering guard shakily fired his handgun, only for Ven to react with a raised fist toward them.

He took a deep sigh, "Look, I really didn't want to hurt you guys, but I had to defend myself somehow." He opened the palm of his hand and held the fired bullet between his fingers as he shifted his gaze toward the trembling man. "You people can fire all the guns you want, but does 'adapting to physical trauma' mean nothing to you dumbasses?" Ven flicked the bullet and it pierced between the eyes of the one who fired it. He took out his earpiece and turned it on, "Coast is clear, Q. This sector is ours for now. Let's hope things are going smoothly down by the Archives."

***

Large vines lined the walls and ceiling of an arched, dimly lit hallway. They appeared to be slowly growing and moving as if they were the tendrils of a parasite.

Squads of soldiers ran through with loud footsteps, but the vines sprung to life and subdued them before they could react. The soldiers couldn't do a single thing as they were clung to the wall and the vines slowly suffocated them to death by wrapping itself around their bodies like a snake squeezing the life out of its prey.

Zero and Gabriella dashed by the barracks of S.P.E.A.R.'s soldiers as they gathered the attention of every armed guard within the vicinity. In a matter of seconds, their path was blocked in front of them and the way back was filled with troops. Cornered, Zero and Gabriella stood back-to-back in the narrow corridor.

"I'll take care of them," she told him. "Once I open a window of opportunity, you take it and don't look back." Gabriella took a deep breath. "I'll catch up."

"Acknowledged," Zero answered as two daggers materialized out of thin air, one in each hand with a tight grip.

Without another word, Gabriella snapped her fingers. The soldiers were extremely cautious with their guns raised and aimed at them. Silence filled the air until the entire facility began to rumble. The armed guards murmured among each other as one carefully stepped forward with a metal collar in hand. They slowly approached Gabriella, who glared down at them as if she was looking at something worth less than trash.

The tremors came to a halt and the troops looked around in wonder, while others kept their sights locked on the pair of living weapons before them.

As one of the troops walked up to her with handcuffs in hand, Gabriella snapped her fingers. One of the walled sections of the narrow hallway abruptly moved and crushed the soldier against the other wall in front of Gabriella. She flipped her hair back behind her shoulder as the sectioned wall retracted back, revealing the crushed, bloody remains of what used to be a human being.

Some of the soldiers trembled in fear, while others became more determined to take them down. Gabriella motioned her hand at them in a "bring it on" fashion.

The first group let out a battle cry as they charged forward, but they were quickly silenced when the ceiling came down on them and retracted shortly after.

While the enemy was in disarray, Zero sprinted by. He avoided as many as he could, but cut down anyone who tried to get in his way. A severed leg to the right, an amputated arm to the left. In their war, mercy was nonexistent.

As Zero ran further and further down the arched hallway, he glanced back as he heard the screams of horror echo out from behind. Gabriella has turned the narrow corridor around her into a bone-crushing death trap.

Soon enough, the living weapon arrived in the archives. Folders packed to the brim with information were neatly filed on numerous shelves from the ground to the ceiling. Like a labyrinth hidden away in an unknown world, the archives seemed endless.

Zero traversed through the sea of information, searching for anything related to the Living Weapons Project. However, something was wrong. A blue flash of light and the sound of a female voice yelling in frustration was more than enough to cause the boy to tread carefully.

Peering between the files, Zero cautiously watched the strange arrival. A young woman with her fingers flowing through her silky, black hair as she was muttering and cursing to herself. A strange sword was sheathed on her back and pieces of her armor could be seen from behind. Steel pauldrons were on her shoulders and distinct vambraces on her forearms gave off a vibe that she was out of her time. Even with the slightest sway of movement caused the loose fabric of her black robe to follow suit.

"Damn that Pandora!" she yelled out of frustration. "If I ever meet that accursed Astral ever again..." She shook her head and quietly laughed psychotically. 

As quietly as he could, Zero tried to back away, but the slight brush of his clothing by a stack of overstuffed folders as enough to topple it over. He immediately froze in place and slowly shifted his gaze toward her direction.

Her laughter ceased and her posture was straightened. "Perhaps, this wasn't as bad as I thought." She reached for the handle of her blade and firmly gripped it. "After all, you Prophets are always a nuisance!" She drew her weapon and swung down at the shelf between herself and Zero, effectively slicing the shelves cleanly in half. 

Before the blade could reach him, Zero materialized a sword of his own and parried her attack to the side. Many papers and fragments of destroyed folders descended to the ground. As the sound of clashing metal echoed out from the archives and into the hall, Zero was slowly falling back. 

With each swing, they moved faster and faster. The stranger moved in, cutting him off from every escape he tried to make. It was as if a predator was toying with their prey. Their blades clashed once more against one another and they struggled to force the other down. 

Face-to-face, Zero caught a clearer glimpse at her face. Her eyes were as black as shadows could ever be and her irises gave off an amber hue. 

"Come now." A creepy grin flashed across her face. "Don't you know, I've come here to save you?"

"With that yelling earlier," Zero glared at her. "You're anything, but a savior." He pushed her back and tried to run away, but an extended blade was swung in front of him, forcing Zero to slide underneath it. When he turned, the metal of his sword was wrapped around by a bladed whip. His gaze followed it back to his opponent.

"Ah," she feigned disappointment. "I thought you'd be a better fighter in this timeline, but I see you're no different."

Zero didn't try to speak. His mind was too preoccupied in trying to figure out a way to escape, but no matter how many scenarios he played in his head. He wouldn't get away without a few wounds at the very least. 

"Answer this," she slowly walked toward him as pieces of her sword slowly reconnected with each step. "Have you ever crossed the unforgiving sea of time?" 

He couldn't answer. 

"Or even perhaps the name of Steele?" She placed her finger under Zero's chin and slightly lifted his head up, so their eyes would meet. 

Zero's eyes widened and another grin flashed across the stranger's face. 

"You don't even have a single clue to who I am, do you?" She looked down at him. "Perhaps the 'me' of this universe is already dead, if so, no wonder." She forced the weapon out of Zero's hands and it vanished into thin air as her bladed whip wrapped itself around the boy before he could react in time. "Don't forget the name of Karena Steele." 

The bladed whip began to tighten itself around him like a snake choking the air out of its prey as a sadistic smile was on Karena's face. 

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Author's Note: There was a ton of action in this chapter. Even more so than the average number of scenes in the original drafts. 

I felt that both Ven and Christa were really underutilized in the original drafts of LW, so I thought this was the perfect time to show just a piece of what they're capable of. Christa definitely went through a lot of redesigns in terms of personality and Ven became more than just QT's assistant. 

Karena's original role was pretty much scrapped. She's now one of the long-term antagonists of the IGU, so she'll be making appearances in other stories as well. 

The following is an amazing sketch of Arkham by korralistic! 

Thanks for reading, commenting, and voting! Violent winds are now upon us.

Comments before 07/08/2018 do not reflect upon the current version.