HA\\LF: Dead nor Alive

“Good morning, everyone,” Ruby greeted as she put on her gloves.

“Morning, Capt.” Everyone replied.

The sun wasn’t even up but the 102nd Division was already gathering in the headquarters. Archie who had no idea what was going on just stood there and listened to Ruby.

“Sorry that I have to bother your sleep this early in the morning. The reason why I gathered everyone here is that you have heard and seen the discovery of ExTP-4 that Prince brought a few days ago, right?” Ruby stared at each one of them while she rested her hands on her waist. “From today onwards, we might encounter a lot of them and because of that, we should start training and sharpen our skill and body.” Ruby crossed her arms as she explained that.

“Captain, the prediction is really happening?” Daniel asked as he raised his hand.

“Yes, it’s happening right now and we have seen it ourselves that those parasites are starting to leave the FalCon-2. Their population grows unbelievably fast and we have been letting them breed for whole 7 years now. No more place for them in there and now they’re starting to extend their territory outside the FalCon-2.” Ruby replied with a serious face.

Everyone looked at each other with a worried expression while Archie just stared at them and didn’t bother about that.

Ruby looked at Archie and she slightly smiled. “Oh, I almost forgot. We have a new recruit in the division that was picked directly by Marshall Marlon himself. Why don’t you come to the front and introduce yourself?” Ruby looked at Archie as she nodded at him.

Everyone looked at Archie as he walked forward, they didn’t know that they have a new recruit in the division until Ruby mentioned it.

Archie stood next to Ruby and he looked at Tommy and Daniel who were at the front. “My name is Archie Lancaster, you guys might not know me or haven’t seen me anywhere in the city, but I came from the Western Nation and I came here for a reason. I specifically was picked by Marshall Marlon because of my ability and my skill of survival. I think that’s all I can say right now, and nice to meet you all.”

Everyone nodded and introduced themselves to Archie while Ruby was staring at him from behind.

Ruby clapped her hands as they were still talking with Archie. “Alright, no more wasting time and let’s train until the sun is down!”

“Huh? The sun is not even up yet!” Tommy whined.

“That’s exactly why I said that,” Ruby replied as she smirked at him.

Archie ran around the whole city with the others and it was nice for him to be able to see every district of the city. He saw so many people but most of them were living in fear and worry because of their current situation. He didn’t feel any sympathy for them as he kept running with Ruby and the others.

Hours had passed and the sun was about to set, they were back to the headquarters and everyone was exhausted. Archie didn’t even out of breath as he saw them laying down on the ground, and Ruby was fine as well and didn’t out of breath from the training.

“Come on, stand up. The training isn’t even started yet.” Ruby looked at them as she clapped her hands.

Archie looked at Ruby with a surprised expression while the rest of them were complaining about it.

“If you’re complaining about this, why don’t you move to another division that only focused on guarding the walls?” Ruby stared at every one of them. “The 102nd division isn’t for people who would whine over anything, and I heard all your whines about them who got their power from the experiment and how unfair it was for you that they have more power than us.” Ruby crossed her arms and said that mockingly.

“But Capt, that’s the fact and we won’t even be able to reach their levels.” One of the soldiers raised his hand and looked at Ruby.

“Fact? You’re saying a fact as if it can’t be changed and you’re not even trying to get better than them, you’re just accepting your inferiority toward them like a crybaby,” Ruby looked down at him and she looked angry. “If you want to beat them, you have to try harder. They risked their lives to obtain that power, while you’re all just taking the power for granted,” Ruby squinted her eyes as she shook her head with disbelief.

Everyone looked down in silence.

“You guys should be ashamed of yourself if you think that this world we are living in is going to give a pitying look at you. The world will devour you if you’re not strong enough and when that happened you’re making things worse for the people around you,” Ruby said as she furrowed her eyebrows with concern. “Don’t do that to yourself, be strong and be the savior of the people who can’t even lift a weapon. That’s our responsibility as Axis Humans and you have to wake up and see the reality around you,” Ruby continued with her hands on her back clenched.

All of them nodded with understanding and slowly stood up then walked toward Ruby.

“Don’t lower yourself and become the best of the best, do you guys understand?” Ruby asked.

“Yes, Ma’am!” Everyone replied as they looked at Ruby.

“Alright, now is the time for the spar,” Ruby said as she walked toward the middle of the field.

Archie stood next to Tommy and Daniel as Ruby called two names for a spar.

Archie watched them throw punches at each other and slammed each other to the ground with blood on their face and fists. Everyone was fired up because of Ruby’s speech and they went all out in the training.

“Alright, Archie, now is your turn.” Ruby looked at Archie with her hands on her back.

Archie walked forward and stood in front of Ruby.

“Since you were chosen by Marshall Marlon himself, how about I give you a more challenge in this training?” Ruby asked and looked at Archie.

“I’m down for anything, Ma’am.” Archie looked at Ruby over his shoulder.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Ruby smiled as she patted Archie on the shoulder. “Alright, the first 5 people who raised their hands will be his opponent. Now, who wants to beat this guy up and show them what we are made of?” Ruby asked as she nodded up at them.

Tommy raised his hand immediately and then followed by the others.

“Alright, Tommy, Aiden, Ryan, Josh, and Nick. You guys come forward and start whenever you guys are ready.” Ruby pointed at each one of them and then walked back.

Archie looked at them and clenched his fists then readied his stance. Tommy looked at Aiden and Ryan, he then tilted his head to his left and they both nodded with understanding. Tommy looked at Josh and Nick while he nodded at them, they both nodded with understanding and stood next to him.

Aiden and Ryan ran toward Archie and moved to the sides, Archie looked at them both back and forth calmly. Aiden dashed toward him and as soon as Archie pointed his body toward him, Ryan swiftly dashed toward Archie from Archie’s right and threw a punch at Archie’s face. Archie leaned his head back and elbowed Ryan on the chest with enough strength to push him back. Aiden caught him off guard and punched him in the face really hard but Archie didn’t even flinch and immediately grabbed Aiden’s hand and slammed him to the ground.

Tommy, Josh, and Nick ran toward Archie and the 5 of them started to surround him. Archie put his hands next to his face to cover his face while he kept looking for every movement that they made. The 5 of them moved at the same time and it was impossible for Archie to dodge them all, and he decided to dash forward and pulled his fist toward Tommy. Archie threw a punch at Tommy that he couldn’t dodge and he ate Archie’s fist on the face and knocked him down.

The 4 of them stopped and looked at Tommy who was knocked down by a single punch with disbelief. Tommy coughed as he tried to stand up, he was still stunned from the punch and he covered his mouth with his hand. He spat the blood from his mouth and his lips were covered with his own blood.

“Shit, Capt, he’s a beast. No wonder Marshall Marlon personally picked him.” Tommy looked at Ruby while he shook his head to recover from the punch.

Ruby scoffed and smirked. “Is that so? This is interesting.”

Ruby was amazed by Archie’s strength because Tommy was the second-in-command of the 102nd division and there’s a reason for it. Tommy was the strongest compared to the others physically and he obtained himself a title, a “Tank-Man”. Tommy was so strong that even a heavy steel bat that was thrown at him at high speed wasn’t even enough to knock him down, but knowing that he got knocked down with a single punch was really surprising for everyone.

Ruby removed her gloves and cracked her fingers and knuckles. “How about I joined the fight as well?”