Chapter 33: Hollow Requiem
His chest pounded, hard enough to crack ribs.
Not from strain. Not from pain. Not from excitement.
He didn't realize, but Levi's chest pounded because he was worried.
'Shouldn't have left them!'
Crimson Song's pained scream ripped through the night, raw and unrelenting. He didn't see an attack, didn't feel an impact—but the sound alone made his heart seize.
'Faster!'
His Pneuma Core throbbed, vapor compressing and surging through his mesh. His muscles tensed, coiling like a spring. Then—release!
His foot slammed into the ground, launching him forward just as Edmond's voice cut through.
"Run!"
New light. Not the glow of sanctioned tech. Not the flash of steel.
Fire.
Crimson Song's eyes burned, and deep in her throat, a second glow was building—swelling—ready to tear the night apart.
"Shit!"
Skidding to a stop, Levi's hand snapped to his blade. A twist at the base—click.
His arm cracked like a whip, the knife screaming through the air.
Just before it struck, Crimson Song's head wrenched back, her mouth opening wide.
She didn't scream at him.
She screamed at the sky.
"EEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The force erupted outward like a shockwave, rolling through the earth, kicking up dirt and rock as it expanded.
Edmond and Rufus didn't stand a chance.
The blast hit hard, hurling them into the distance like broken dolls.
Levi's breath hitched. He saw them go down.
He knew there was nothing he could do.
Didn't help that she was standing between them.
Crimson Song tilted her head, her gaze locking with his.
Levi didn't meet her eyes, but he saw the dirt streaks—tear tracks stained dark from the dust.
"M—Michael?"
His grip tightened around his remaining bowie knife, Vaporguard hissing. He exhaled slow, crouching, every muscle in his body tensed. He was ready to—
"I've missed you. Where have you been?"
His chest tightened. His charge faltered.
The pain in her voice. It was like a blade through his ribs.
It wasn't the crazed shriek of a Waster, wasn't the unhinged wail of a killer. It was raw. Real.
It forced him to stop.
He hadn't let himself look—had refused to—but now, slowly, he lifted his gaze.
"No..."
He saw it.
His fists clenched, his jaw locking, teeth grinding.
"Stitchers..."
His voice came out low, a breath away from a growl.
"They took your eyelids."
She stepped forward, arms raised slightly, metal hand and bleeding stump reaching for him like a sleepwalker caught between dreams.
"Why weren't you there?"
Levi stepped back. Instinct. Reflex. He didn't know what else to do.
"Michael, why are you looking at me like that?"
He had charged in, knives ready, mind set—prepared for a fight.
But this wasn't something he was ready for.
Her voice, warped and cracking with static, couldn't mask the weight behind it. The sadness. The desperate, undying sorrow.
Something he knew.
Something he feared more than death.
"Why?! Michael... please... they hurt me. And you weren't there. I didn't want to, but you said! You promised!"
Levi couldn't breathe. His foot caught and he went down hard, knife slipping from his grasp.
"I'm not Michael!"
The words tore from his throat, raw and panicked.
Scrambling back, hands clawing at the dirt, his skin had gone pale, chest rising and falling too fast. His head pounded, his stomach twisting itself into knots.
Trailing blood, she stepped closer. Her body twitched, the broken mechanisms in her limbs firing off at random. Her hair, wild and untamed, caught the moonlight, glowing like liquid fire.
She was his deepest fear made flesh.
Lost in pain. Lost in regrets. Left to rot. Left to go insane.
"Michael!"
She screamed the name, her throat igniting with a molten glow, the light burning bright beneath the endless, falling tears.
But he didn't hear it. He didn't even see her—not really.
His mind was trapped. Caught in the image of what he might become.
A Waster.
His breath strangled in his throat. His body locked.
"Move!"
Edmond's voice cut through the fog. Levi's eyes snapped back into focus.
The red glow—blazing hot, building, ready to be released.
His body moved before he could think.
He kicked out, a sharp snap of his leg sending dirt and sand flying straight into her face.
Her mouth opened to scream—choked. She staggered back, hacking, rubbing at her eyes.
Levi rolled back, expecting the worst. Expecting pain. Death. A scream that would tear his body apart.
But it didn't come.
He sprang to his feet, chest heaving, pulse hammering in his ears. His 'heart' started beating again.
She was still coughing, still wiping at her eyes with one hand.
He shook his head. Heat surged in his chest, replacing the cold knot that had strangled him before.
Anger.
Embarrassment.
At himself. At his weakness.
His first Waster bounty, and he froze.
His jaw clenched, his teeth grinding together.
"I'm not Michael! I'm not you!"
SHINK!
A burst of vapor. A sharp exhale of pressure.
The blacksteel blade shot out from his elbow—long, curved, almost hidden in the moonlight.
He crouched.
And then—he moved.
A blur in the dark, a breath between heartbeats.
His blacksteel blade sliced straight for her throat.
TCRRK!
Sparks spat from the point of impact, the metal grinding uselessly against something harder than flesh.
His eyes widened.
'Didn't cut.'
Crimson Song jumped back, her hand still clawing at her face, but her body—her instincts—moved faster than thought.
She landed, feet skidding through the dirt, throat flaring—
"HAAAH!"
A short, clipped shout.
A shockwave slammed forward, a tight burst of sound, compact like a hammer driving for his skull.
Levi barely had time to brace.
He raised his left arm—
BOOM!
The force crashed into his Vaporguard, rattling through his bones, but the plating held. His boots scraped back through the dirt, heels digging in to keep his footing.
The pressure eased. He sucked in a sharp breath.
His arm still tingled from the impact.
That was just a shout—her throat flared for a moment but cooled almost instantly.
He couldn't give her the chance to build up something bigger.
'Move!'
Levi lunged in, weaving side to side.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Sonic bursts punched through the air, chasing him, missing by inches. The force kicked up dirt, tore through rock.
Her throat was heating up.
Just like with her larger attacks, each shout heated her throat. He guessed if he kept the pressure up, she'd have to stop—forced to recover before she burned herself out.
He dropped low, swept his leg.
She jumped.
Follow.
He twisted with her—brought his foot around mid-air—
BOOM!
His boot slammed into her stomach. A shockwave erupted from the impact, blasting her backward.
She spun, limbs flailing, before slamming into the dirt—her glow fading in the dust cloud.
'Don't stop.'
"HAAAH!"
SCHNK!
Elbow raised, Levi sliced through the air as he charged, splitting the attack down the middle.
"You took everything from MEEE!"
She whipped her head as she screamed the last word, twisting the force into something sharp.
A slicing wave of sound.
'Too fast!'
Levi dropped.
Hit his knees, skidded under the attack—
Dove to the side—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Rolling. Jumping. Dodging.
He advanced. Kept her on guard. Kept pressing. But he wouldn't rush it. Wouldn't make the same mistake.
He'd wait for the right moment. This time, he wouldn't commit until he was sure.
Crimson Song's breath poured out in thick bursts, steam twisting the air. Her skin cracked. Her dress curled, stiffening from heat.
Blood poured from her severed wrist. The heated fluid dripped uneven, sizzling as it met the cold sand.
She was unraveling.
Too distracted. Too much memory.
Too much pain.
She felt it—her throat nearing its limit, the heat clawing up her windpipe. She needed time. But more than that—
She needed him.
Tears spilled, body trembling, every fractured thought breaking against the man in front of her. The one who had abandoned her. The one who had left her to this.
"Michael? Why?! I loved you!"
Levi faltered. A flicker, a hesitation—then steel returned to his eyes.
She leapt back, raising her mangled arm to intercept his blade. Sparks burst between them, steel on crude steel. She landed hard, stumbling, staring at the rusted frame of her metal limb.
A memory seized her.
Her voice cracking, the taste of blood spilling from her lips on stage.
Gasps from the crowd, twisted into murmurs of shock.
Revulsion.
It turned her stomach, wrenched her back into the now—just as he struck.
CRUNCH!
"HAAH!"
His Vaporguard arm swung, a devastating punch. She braced, throwing up her own—too slow. The impact crushed her, launching her like a streak of red through the night.
She slammed into the broken bluffs, rock splintering on impact.
But as his hit landed, even as her arm shattered—she attacked.
A raw, furious shout—directed at his open chest.
The soundwave exploded, striking Levi directly. He didn't even register the force ripping through his chest before it sent him hurtling backward, crashing into the dirt.
The desert fell still. Only dust and steam remained between them.
Then finally, Levi shifted.
"Yuahhhhhhh!"
Drawing in a deep breath as he shot up, he felt like his chest had caved in. Fire burned in his lungs.
"...I'm alive?!"
He rolled to his knees, coughing blood into the sand. His chest ached like hell, but when he looked down, the blacksteel plating was still vibrating, absorbing the shock that should've turned his ribs to dust.
Maggie had said her work would help disperse impacts, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time. Now?
Now, he owed her his damn life.
Crumble.
He groaned, pressing a hand to his ribs as he turned toward the pile of rubble where she landed.
"Why can't you just stay down—?"
Movement. Behind him.
He stiffened—but quickly exhaled.
"Guess it's a good thing you don't listen for shit, kid."
His shoulders relaxed just a bit as footsteps approached.
"'Bout time you two showed up. Thought I was gonna do this myself."
He smirked as Rufus and Edmond came up beside him. They were ragged, bleeding, but standing. And for the first time since his fight started, Levi didn't feel like he was about to die.
"You did good."
Edmond's eyes stayed locked on the shifting rocks ahead.
Levi blinked. He couldn't help but frown as face began to heat up.
"'Thought I was gonna die, almost shit myself."
"'Bout shit myself watchin' ya."
Rufus spat blood into the sand, his red eye glowing hot as his bolter arm hung loose at his side.
"Now let's get this over with. Think I'm 'bout done with this bitch."
Edmond agreed, readying his sabers, the glow of his arms dull but building steam.
And then—
She stepped forward.
Her eyes, once burning, now dull.
Her arm, sparking at the elbow—everything below was gone. One side of her dripped blood, the other leaked steam and broken cables.
Levi frowned.
"Hold on..."
Rufus strained, raising his bolter.
"She's stunned. I'm takin' the—"
"Hold it!"
Levi's arm shot out, blocking his hand as he stepped forward.
Rufus snapped.
"What the hell're you doin'?!"
"Levi, get back here!"
Edmond barked, reaching for his shoulder.
But Levi shook him off.
"Wait a second!... Look at her."
She stood there, swaying, broken, bleeding.
Steam sputtered from her ruined arm, blood dripped in thin rivers from the wrist of her other. Her chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths.
The fire in her eyes was gone. No rage. No madness. Just something hollow.
Her lips trembled, voice barely more than a whisper.
"Your name... it's Levi?"