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[b]|| Upstate New York, Earth[/b]

The forest was too quiet for his liking tonight. It made every branch snap underfoot crack like gunfire. Leaves brushed against Pierce’s legs as he pushed through the undergrowth, keeping his pace steady so the two kids behind him could keep up.

Tall, lean, and constantly alert, Pierce had learned early that being noticed could get you killed. His hair was tied back to keep it out of his eyes, his clothes were worn from weeks on the move. Along his forearms and shoulders, thin quills lay flat against the skin, pressed close until he needed them. A few were broken from earlier fights. A few were stained. His mutation was a gift that had saved his life more times than he cared to count, and a curse that had made him a target long before tonight.

He had not planned on taking care of anyone. Then he found the two kids three weeks ago in the ruins of a gas station, hiding behind a collapsed freezer door. They had been starving and terrified, convinced the armored men chasing them would appear at any moment. He had seen that fear before. He had lived it. Mutants did not get warnings. They got hunted. They got blamed. They got disappeared. He could not walk away from them.

Pierce had heard what the men chasing them called themselves. The Forever Knights. Some kind of secret order obsessed with that King Arthur shit. He had crossed paths with them a few times too many already. Whatever their gimmick was, it did not make them any less dangerous.

The older of the two, Manny, followed close behind him. He was big for his age, broad shouldered and heavy footed, with his mutant powers erupting in the form of an extra pair of limbs that jutted out of his sides. They moved in uneven rhythm as he tried to stay quiet. His skin had a rough, stony texture that caught the moonlight in dull patches. He looked older at first glance, but the way he kept glancing at Pierce for reassurance made it clear he was still just a kid.

His sister, Helen, was small and wiry, constantly fighting her own mutation. Every few steps she flickered forward in a short burst of speed she could not fully control. She would vanish a foot ahead, stumble, then hurry back into place. Her hair was tied back in a messy knot that had half fallen apart from running. She kept one hand on Manny’s sleeve whenever she felt herself slipping.

They were good kids. Pierce could only hope he could get them somewhere safe.

A metallic clatter echoed through the trees.

Pierce stopped instantly and raised an arm to block the kids. Torchlight flickered between the trunks. The sound of boots moved in perfect rhythm, closing in from behind.

[color=#A0522D]“Stay behind me,”[/color] he hissed quietly. [color=#A0522D]“No matter what.”[/color]

Manny swallowed hard. Helen pressed closer to him.

It was then that the Forever Knights stepped into the clearing ahead of them. The darkened metal of their armor cut out from the green of the forest. Some wore tabards marked with faded heraldic symbols. Others held a variety of weaponry. Spears. Swords. Even guns. Their faces were hidden behind metal masks shaped like stylised visages; cold and expressionless. 

The lead Knight raised his blade. His voice carrying around the clearing, filtered through the metal of his mask.

[color=#D3D3D3]“Stand fast, wanderers. The chase is ended. Yield, and your suffering shall be brief.”[/color]

If they weren’t in mortal danger, Pierce would’ve laughed from the ridiculousness of it all. 

Instead, he had to act.
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His quills snapped upright along his arms, and he fired a volley of them with practiced precision. They sparked harmlessly off raised shields. The Knights  merely advanced in formation, unshaken.

Pierce fought anyway. He moved with speed. With precision. He was someone who had been fighting for his life since childhood after all. 

He ducked a swing, drove a quill tipped elbow into a mask, and sent another Knight stumbling with a burst of force. For a moment it looked like he might break through.

But the Knights were trained too. And sadly they were better.

A Knight swept his legs out from under him. Another slammed a gauntlet into his ribs. Manny roared and tried to charge, but a crackling net wrapped around all four arms and tightened until he dropped to his knees. Helen tried to run, but a weighted cord caught her mid burst and sent her tumbling.

In seconds all three were pinned, wrists bound in glowing restraints that hummed with unfamiliar power.

Pierce struggled against them, breath ragged.

[color=#A0522D]“Where are you taking us,”[/color] he demanded, spitting towards them in anger. [color=#A0522D]“What the fuck do you want with us?”[/color]

The Knight who had spoken before stepped closer. His mask was different from the others, he could see now. Solid gold instead of the silver of his subordinates. His sword lowered, but the hum of its energy remained as he spoke.

[color=#D3D3D3]“You trespass upon sacred dominion. You harbor aberrations. The decree is ancient and unbending.”[/color]

He leaned in, voice dropping to a reverent whisper.

[color=#D3D3D3]“You shall be cast beyond the mortal veil. To your Annihilation. As was done in ages past. As shall be done again.”[/color]

And with that, the Knights hauled them to their feet and dragged them deeper into the trees. The forest swallowed them without a sound.