Cross Conviction

Thirty meters down the hall from the group of candidates stood a mud-cached, vaguely humanoid figure. Were it not for its poor, hunched-over posture, it likely would have stood over two meters tall. Its emaciated form, in combination with its disproportionately long arms, gave the creature a silhouette similar to that of a starving chimpanzee. Perhaps most unsettling was the figure’s lack of anything resembling a facial feature. Instead, its small, oval-shaped head was dominated by a massive, toothless maw that claimed the entirety of its face. The monstrosity’s gaping mouth opened and closed rhythmically, gulping down air which, in turn, caused its damp brown chest to heave as it slowly continued down the hall.

“Alarm! Alarm!” the voice of the intercom exclaimed once more, “Multiple anomalies have breached-”

“Gustavo, what in the Lord’s name is that?” asked Magnolia uneasily, speaking up over the repeating warning playing over the hallway speakers.

Eyes briefly flicking to Magnolia before cautiously returning his focus to the creature, Gustavo monitored it for any sudden movements. “How should I know?” he replied.

“I-I think that must be one of those anomalies they’re talking about,” said Max, readying his claws for a potential confrontation.

“It could be…” added Gustavo, “Or an exceptional with a particularly disgusting aberrance.”

Just then, a powerful explosion from behind the two teams, around the corner in the direction Whirlwind had run off in. The force of the blast propelled a roiling, flame-lit cloud of smoke around the bend, which subsequently flushed the hall with thick grey smog.

Max jumped, startled by the sudden boom, and instinctively shielded his head with his wrist blades while Sturm and the other reacted in kind. Save Magnolia’s surprised yelp, none of the candidates had time to express their shock before the muddy creature let out a horrific, ear-splitting howl. Spurred forth by the sudden detonation, the monster charged forward as its sloshing footsteps left a trail of thick brown liquid in its wake.

Though initially unsettled by the creature's grotesque appearance, Max’s reservations quickly gave way to resolve in the face of danger. “Come on, you fuckin thing…” he growled, taking an aggressive step forward.

“No, Max!” shouted Sturm, holding out his arm to block Max’s advance, “We don’t know what it’s made of. Don’t touch it.”

“It’s coming this way!” cried Magnolia, “Shoot it then, Gustavo!”

“I already told you, they took my damned gun!” he snapped back.

“Sh-shit…” Max nervously stuttered under his breath as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.

With the monster just meters away, there was no time to formulate a cautious defense. Max hastily shoved by Sturm and, claws out to either side, rushed the beast. Despite its lack of eyes, the creature somehow sensed Max’s proximity and reached toward him with spindly four-fingered hands. While Max was surprised by its level of awareness, he was nevertheless able to duck under its grasp. Positioning himself behind the monster, the boy jumped up and spun back toward it mid-air, dragging his left claw cleanly across the back of its neck. Max’s blade easily dug through the creature’s sludge-coated exterior before meeting resistance buried deep within its spine. Regardless, the serrated weapon tore through the supporting structure, breaking it apart with an audible snap.

As Max landed on his feet next to the injured abomination, he glanced back to examine his brutal handiwork. Gurgling as its lanky frame buckled beneath it, the creature let out one final pained wail before crashing to the floor in a heap. Its previously firm form then began to bubble as it quickly deteriorated into a series of muddy blobs and puddles centered around a distinctly wooden skeletal form.

Sturm swiftly warned his friend of the foul mush running off toward his foot. "Get away, Max! Don't let it touch you!"

Previously unaware of the dark mess seeping in his direction, Max looked down and, now alarmed, hopped backward a few steps. The others then carefully surrounded the still-bubbling puddle. Gustavo knelt down and took note of the creature's internal support structure- it bore a strong resemblance to the thick, tough roots of a small tree. He then held one of his frogs close to the melted being and waited silently. After a few seconds, the frog began to call.

"Frogs are sensitive to chemicals in water since they're so vulnerable to them," Gustavo explained, "Naranja says it's just... mud."

"How could that be?" Magnolia contested, "Mud doesn't walk and scream."

"Um... if I may...?" Dominic spoke up from behind Gustavo, urging him to stand aside.

Gustavo stepped to the left and let Dominic take his place. After careful examination, he stood back up and turned to Magnolia. "It must be the roots," he explained, "Perhaps they have some extraordinary quality."

"Hey!" Max exclaimed from further down the hall, "Not to be the bearer of bad news, but that guy's got friends around the corner!"

"What?!" cried Magnolia, "More of them?!"

"Come on!" Max continued, "What the hell are you all standing around for?! Shit's blowing up, we got to push through!"

After taking a deep breath, Sturm attempted to take control of the situation. "Alright, we need to move," he explained, "No matter how many of those things there are, it doesn't matter. Max took it down easily."

With some hesitation in her voice, Magnolia answered, "I... suppose that's true enough."

"Look," Sturm continued, "We need to get out of here and find the Captain. The academy is under attack, he must be on his way."

Shakily, Emmy inquired, "What about Metzeld?"

"Who?!" hollered Max, "Forget about it, just come on!"

"Whirlwind," she clarified, "He ran off to the armory... in the direction of that explosion."

"Fuck Whirlwind, who cares?!" Max ranted callously, "Let his own bastard team worry about his jerk ass!"

Emmy's face shifted a warm red as she was visibly upset by Max's comments. "Max, we are Metzeld's teammates! He's on the recovery team!"

"No," said Dominic, without giving Max a chance to respond to the brown-haired girl's plea, "He's right, Emmy. Metzeld has never given a damn about us."

Sturm could hear the suppressed anger in Dominic's voice. He watched as the spectacled boy, whom he knew in the past to be cheery and upbeat, dismissively walked past Emmy and toward Max.

With tears forming in the corners of her eyes, Emmy began to shiver. "I know he's rotten, Dominic, but we can't just leave him..."

For a moment, Dominic paused in place. Then, he slowly turned his head back to face his teammate. "So go find him, then."

Without another word, Dominic continued over to Max, refusing to look at the rest of the recovery team.

Emmy pawed at Eduard's forearm, hoping that he would see her point of view. "We can still find him, right?"

After a brief pause, which itself was quite painful to the girl, Eduard spoke up. "Whirlwind can handle himself. Besides, he made his choice."

The five candidates who had remained huddled around the now stagnant puddles of mud in the hallway were suddenly alerted by another loud crack. Sturm urgently looked over to see Max cleaving through another creature that had rushed him from the adjacent hall.

"Piece of shit..." Max started under his breath, straining as he ripped his serrated right blade from the collapsed monster's wooden sternum, "stupid mud-man..."

Over Max's shoulder, Dominic stood wide-eyed in response to the close call.

"I've seen enough," said Magnolia, starting down the hall toward Max and Dominic, "I'm leaving before I become a meal for one of those disgusting abominations. Your lab rat friend is your problem."

With their collective sense of urgency growing, the group finally resolved to move forward. Emmy, however, was left frozen as her peers began to march on.

Thick anxiety blocking her throat, Emmy was barely able to speak. "S-Sturm, you'll g-go get him, right...?"

Sturm stopped walking and glanced back at her. After some thought, he answered, "Yeah, I guess I will."

Magnolia stomped her boot on the tile floor to grab her ally's attention. "Are you truly that soft, Arthur Sturm? Certainly, you aren't about to abandon your team in favor of someone who has made it his mission to usurp your birthright, are you?"

"Your birthright?" asked Emmy, wiping the wetness from her eyes.

Sturm paid no mind to the assertion or following question, instead directing his attention to Max. "You can get everyone out of here, right? I'm going to go after Whirlwind."

Nodding, Max flicked the mud from his claws. "No problem, buddy. Do what ya gotta do."

"Ridiculous!" scoffed Magnolia.

The muffled sound of gunshots rang out from the direction of the medical wing, adding further concern to the minds of the candidates. As he had agreed, Sturm split from the others and followed Whirlwind's path in the opposite direction. Emmy initially followed behind Sturm but stopped when he waved her back.

"Go with the others," Sturm said firmly, "Your odds are better with my team. They know what they're doing, I promise."

Emmy shook her head defiantly. "I can't ask you to put yourself in danger and then run away, Sturm."

"I'm not asking you to run away," he explained, "I'm asking you to stick with my team and help them out. You have an aberrance, don't you?"

Emmy looked down at the ground. "I-I do."

"Then watch their backs so I don't have to worry about them okay?" Sturm requested, staring confidently into her eyes.

She gave a strong nod in response before hurrying off to join the rest of the group. Satisfied, Sturm waved to Max, who returned the gesture. The young swordsman then darted off in search of the missing Whirlwind, unsure of what might lie ahead.