The Legion: Heartson

Lena. 

Just Lena.

The moment Simon Felix heard that name, goosebumps prickled up his arms. It was strange how a single memory could still have that effect, how something buried so far in the past could claw its way back to the surface with such raw clarity.

Back then, Simon had been just a boy. 

A boy with dreams, someone who aspired to be something great. He'd walked the halls of the training facility with his chin high, his chest puffed out.

And then she arrived.

A small girl, younger than anyone else in the program—hell, she couldn't have even been ten years old. Yet from the moment she set foot in that place, everything shifted. The other trainees, boys and girls twice her size, glanced at her as though sensing something in the air that they couldn't explain.

No, not the air.

The balance itself had changed.

Simon could still picture her perfectly—standing there in the middle of the room, her posture unnervingly straight, her face devoid of emotion. Those cold, unblinking eyes had fixed on him, staring through him like he didn't matter.

And it was then that Simon had realized, with a certainty that shook him to his core—

He was no longer the boss of that facility.

And now, the warrior—Lena—stood before him once again, over a decade and a half later.

Simon's breath hitched.

She was surrounded, his soldiers forming a circle around her. Their guns were raised, fingers hovering over the triggers, the barrels trembling ever so slightly.

Simon didn't blame them.

The lobby was a wreck—smoke swirled through the air in suffocating clouds, shards of broken glass glittered on the floor, and splintered concrete jutted out from the earth like broken teeth. What little remained of the overhead lights flickered erratically, casting the space in half-light, half-shadow.

Lena stood in the center of it all, her body low, her blade steady despite the gashes on her arms and soot smeared across her face. 

Simon stared at her and something twisted deep in his gut.

No one should look like that.

Not when they were surrounded. Not when they were staggered and outmanned, with nowhere to run.

And yet, Lena's gaze was cold. 

Don't underestimate her. 

He thought the words over and over again.

But that look in her eyes, that same look she'd had all those years ago, was impossible to ignore. Here she was, surrounded by his men, reduced to a vulnerable position on the floor of a ruined lobby.

And yet…

Why does it feel like I'm the one at a disadvantage?

He shook the thought off, glaring hard to steady himself.

How unfair.

That word again. It always came back to that.

Lena, the warrior who embodied perfection. Her existence was one of privilege. It was etched into her blood, carved into her bones, and refined to an art in the vessel of her body. The gift of natural strength beyond reckoning. Speed beyond comprehension. Endurance beyond the reach of human limits.

How does one contend with someone born as perfection incarnate?

The answer was simple. You don't.

Not as you are.

And so, Simon had improvised.

Years. He had clawed his way through the bowels of Obsidian, facing squad after squad of monsters who scoffed at his humanity. They'd called him expendable, tossed him aside, and dragged him back into the furnace of blood and steel. He worked. He trained. He bled. He crawled his way all the way from Obsidian's third division for this.

It was all for this moment.

Yaotl Mk.3.

His perfect creation. The suit hummed with energy as Simon adjusted the output, servos singing. This was proof. Proof that humanity, fragile and feeble as it may be, could rise to challenge the monsters who prowled this planet.

Simon's grip tightened around his sword, the servos hissing with amplified force. A warrior forged from nothing.

Lena stood before him. She didn't move.

Simon surged forward, Yaotl roaring as it carried him, the blade raised high to unleash a blow that could tear through stone and steel. The air cracked, the force of his charge shaking the ground beneath him.

But then, Lena moved.

The space she once occupied turned to emptiness, her body no longer there. In the same instant, she was in front of him. Before Simon's brain could grasp the shift, his blade met resistance―Lena's sword.

The clash of metal screamed through the air, sparks bursting into a fleeting galaxy between them.

Simon's eyes widened.

Lena held firm, her sword locked against his. She parried it cleanly. As if it were nothing.

Simon: ――――!

With a grunt, he shoved forward, the servos of Yaotl grinding as they forced his weight against her.

Lena shoved back.

Calm. Unshaken. Those unsettling eyes never wavering, even as Simon pushed harder, his teeth grinding in frustration.

Simon: You're still―!

She vanished.

Simon blinked. The sudden absence was disorienting, his brain scrambling to process what his eyes refused to accept.

Then came the sharp tug at his back.

Simon: ―Tch!

He whirled around, his sword cutting through empty air. Gone again. 

Simon: You―!

Desperation gripped him as he spun again, armored boots shrieking against shattered stone. His senses strained, searching for her.

And then he saw her.

Dancing.

She wasn't moving. 

She was dancing.

Lena wasn't even trying.

A single soldier staggered, his gun slipping from his grasp as his body hit the ground. Another screamed―a shrill, fleeting sound―as her sword carved through his armor, the spray of blood casting thin crimson arcs through the air.

Simon's head snapped around.

Simon: Focus on her! Don't stop shooting!

But the order was meaningless.

Lena moved.

No, she cut through them.

Another fell. And another. The gunfire faltered.

A soldier screamed as Lena vaulted over him, her blade cutting a clean line across his chest. Another turned to flee―only to meet her, sword already piercing his stomach.

Simon's chest heaved, the rage within him bubbling over. The suit hummed as he overclocked the systems.

Simon: Enough!

With a sharp hiss, Simon's gauntlet snapped open, releasing a compartment at his wrist. A small device shot into his palm, a compact sphere, its surface pulsing with faint blue light.

He hurled the device at her, the sphere splitting apart mid-flight into a whirlwind of fragments.

CRACK!

The air warped as electric arcs burst outward, a net of searing blue energy expanding toward Lena. Sparks hissed and screeched as the cage of light closed in around her, targeting her movement, matching her speed.

BOOM.

The shockwave exploded outward―a violent surge of power. The ground trembled. The air cracked. Fractured stone and glass erupted in all directions as the building groaned in protest.

The blast caught her mid-dash. Her body was thrown back, smashing through the remains of a half-collapsed pillar. The force carried her into the side of a crumbling building, the wall crumbling in a storm of dust and debris that swallowed her whole.

Simon staggered, his armor hissing as it recalibrated, steam pouring from the vents. Sweat trickled down his brow as silence fell, broken only by the hesitant footsteps of his soldiers.

Simon: Close in. Now.

Their weapons raised, the soldiers advanced cautiously. Simon followed, his boots crunching over the shattered glass and stone.

Simon: She's not invincible. She's not a monster. Do not be afraid! Advance!

He said it aloud. To himself, or to them, he wasn't sure. But even as he spoke, the thought felt wrong.

The stillness, the quiet, it was wrong.

Simon slowed, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the wreckage. He searched for any trace of her, but the smoke obscured everything. His soldiers piled on top of the rubble, preparing to dig through in search of Lena's body.

Then he saw it.

A faint glow.

Simon: ――――!

Before he could react, the building erupted.

A shockwave of fire and smoke burst from the wreckage, a crimson hurricane that tore through the soldiers like ragdolls. Screams echoed, bodies flung aside, weapons scattered as the flames consumed everything in their wake.

Simon stumbled back, raising an armored arm to shield his face. Heat scorched the air. The sound of fire, of destruction, roared in his ears.

And then―

She emerged.

From the inferno, Lena stepped forward. Her silhouette wreathed in smoke and ash, her blonde hair streaked with soot, fluttering like a banner of war. 

She was smiling.

Simon froze.

That smile, it was not triumphant. 

Not cocky. 

Not smug.

A memory of the earlier encounter when Lena had gotten behind him, the brief tug he had dismissed in the heat of battle.

His eyes widened in shock.

Simon: No... it can't be...

His hand shot to the back of his armor, fingers fumbling over the now-empty clasp where it had been secured.

The Tezcatlipoca

A compact, advanced directed-energy weapon designed to unleash concentrated electromagnetic pulses. When activated, it emitted a high-energy pulse capable of ionizing the surrounding air, creating a plasma channel. Through this channel, an electromagnetic pulse could travel with dispersion, delivering devastating energy to the target area.

The result: instantaneous combustion of materials, structural disintegration, and electronic systems rendered inoperative. His trump card, the pride of Yaotl. A weapon that could only be used once. A weapon that had taken years to develop, and…

She used it against us.

His mind raced, piecing together the sequence of events, the shockwave, the flames, the utter devastation that had befallen his unit. How had she known about the weapon. How could she have moved this well against Yaotl in the first place? No human, no soldier should have been able to do all this. It was as if Lena herself was…

Lena: Well then…

She rolled her shoulders, that unsettling smirk widening as she tilted her head to meet Simon's gaze.

Lena: Do you care to begin?

Simon's breath hitched. Rage coiled in his chest, a futile attempt to smother the chill running through him.

Simon: Monster.

Her expression did not change.

Those eyes fixed on him with an intensity that set his heart pounding.

The Yaotl came to life, the servos straining as he lifted his blade once again.

Lena tilted her head.

Lena: After you, then.

And so, the vice captain's duel began.