Chapter Text
He was set to make finishing changes when he found that his wrench was missing and came back out of the workshop, about to ask about it, when he heard knocking coming from the front door. Mach hummed in question, briefly forgetting what he was going to say before his brother spoke up.
"Right in the middle of a match?" Leo griped, still focused on his game, before he spotted his older sibling out of the corner of his eye and turned his head. "Hey, big bro?"
When his sibling acknowledged him, he nudged his head towards the door where the knocking continued. Mach goes straight to it without contest, feeling that it wouldn't do to get the little slacker to do something as painlessly tedious as answering the door. If it were Mike or Ryuken, they would've already let themselves in by now.
Not that he was concerned about who was on the other side, of course, he was prepared for anything, but as much now ever since having to remove the security measures, so whoever was hacking them to work against him would lay off. He reaches the door and unlocks it before opening it up, releasing a sigh, and adjusting his scarf.
"Can I help..." His words trail off as he lays eyes on a man with scruffy beige hair, wearing a tank top, black gloves, cargo pants, and loafers. "You?"
He couldn't pin down why he had looked so mesmerized, but perhaps the menacing red eyes, ecstatic grin, and longsword hiked up on his back could be the reason for it. But for what reason, though?
The strange man cracked his neck back and forth before exhaling creepily, chuckling mildly. "I have something important to tell you. Would you mind stepping with me for a bit? I promise it won't take long."
This already gave Mach a suspicious feeling, and he could already guess why. "What for? Can't you tell me right here?" He responded calmly still, not helping the shiver coursing up his back. Something didn't sit right with him about this stranger, and he has a feeling he'll soon find out when he sees the guy's eyes glow red.
"No need, we can discuss it later outside," Then he grabs his hand. "Please, come with me," Mach grunted and pulled his hand away, stepping a few feet back into the house, prompting the man in the tank top to make a strangely eager face, albeit softly, not making it any better for the Noxian now that he was getting annoyed. What is up with this douche?
"No, don't touch me out of the blue like that," His voice sounded increasingly miffed than it did. He definitely didn't find it ok for a human being's eyes to glow this brightly red, especially when said being started to reach for the hilt of his sword.
Leo Cannon sat intensely focused on the game to notice the commotion. Mestello wasn't anywhere in sight, and this weirdo had overstayed his welcome. "Get out."
The red-eyed brunette's response was to storm in and grab him by the shoulder before he could react, squeezing tightly to the point where he felt his shoulder blades bend. He grunted, his eyes squinting past the intense red flooding into his vision. Mach muttered a curse and gripped his wrist, applying pressure until his grip began to let up. Despite this, the crazed man with the sword beamed at him with harmful intent, never letting his grip loosen.
"The name's Kutt. The Red Lord will pay greatly for your retrieval." He states, not minding the Noxian grabbing his shoulder and pushing him towards the open door. "Resistance is useless."
By then, Leo had noticed his brother manhandling Kutt and sat up. "What's going on?" He asked casually, pausing his game and standing up. His older brother waved him off with his free hand, his hair already turning a soft red.
"Don't worry about it, I got this," He dismissed, hissing from the mounting pressure in his shoulder before really squeezing the crazed man's wrist and prying it off, before Kutt took a swing at him and missed. Mach merely avoided the blow by leaning his head back, then shoved him in the chest with both hands with little force, watching him fly halfway across the yard.
With him outside, he turned back and closed the door so as not to alert Leo or anyone else inside any further. He'll only take a moment.
Mach glowered down at Kutt, who was getting up and dusting himself off nonchalantly as though he hadn't almost had his wrist broken before being pushed across the lawn.
"I was hoping you'd come quietly, but now I have to use force." He said unto the Noxian as he grinned and reached back with one hand, gripping the handle of his blade and unsheathing it, holding it menacingly. "Lord Armaccio didn't specify bringing you in with all limbs attached, you know."
This both confused and angered the brunette. "Red Lord? Armaccio? Who the hell is that? Some edgelord?"
Kutt's grin widened as he stepped forward. "No. He's your species' worst possible nightmare!" And then he takes off into a run, raising his sword with both hands as he shouts. Mach just stood there until he was in swinging range. When he got there, he swung down in a straight arc, and the Noxian jumped back, just narrowly avoiding it.
Then, he counterattacked by kicking Kutt's legs out from under him, then quickly grabbed his face and brought him down onto the ground with a loud thud. Kutt made a cut-off noise muffled by the palm of his hand. He was then pulled off the ground, punched in the chest, and sent flying to the ground.
Kutt landed hard on his back, coughing up blood from the blow to the chest that not only knocked the wind out of him but had cracked a rib or two. He fights past the blooming pain and stands, using his sword to aid him, his unsettling grin undeterred and still held.
Mach grimaced but kept his guard up when the beige-haired human yelled and charged him again, swinging wildly but accurately at him as he side-stepped and dodged every attack. Almost every attack.
His cheek got nicked in one swift swing, and he felt the hot essence of his blood oozing before he got another cut on his forearm through his sleeve, eliciting a short cry out of him. Kutt wasn't letting up and spun, delivering an impressive side kick to his midriff aimed right at his solar plexus.
The wind was knocked out of Mach as the force of the kick sent him stumbling, struggling to control his balance as his hair turned a vivid red. The beigette didn't give him much time to recover as he leaped forward, swinging his blade down at the brunette's leg, scoring a good hit.
"Shit!" He growled, feeling more blood flow when he actually fell before quickly rolling out of the way upon catching Kutt jabbing his weapon down at him, catching on the dirt he was on. Rolling to his feet, Mach could clearly feel the sting of the cuts inflicted on his right arm and leg.
Granted, they weren't seriously damaged, but they still hurt. Plus, his blood literally stains clothes like paint would, angering him more than before. Kutt just stood there with a smug grin on his stupid face, reveling in the despair as he took his blade close to his face and stuck his tongue out, licking his strawberry-colored blood off the edge.
"Mmm, tastes like strawberries. I bet that's Armaccio's favorite, isn't it?" He chuckled, licking his lips. Leland growled deeply, his teeth turning sharper as he reared back his fist and grunted, throwing it forward. Kutt would've found that laughable if not for the air-like bullet shaped like a fist that shot toward him at an alarming speed.
He didn't stop laughing nearly quickly enough to dodge or block the projectile that then struck him clean in the face and knocked him back on his ass.
The brunette growl remained as he stood, tightly clutching his left fist used for that attack. "Is that so? Then taste your own, you bastard!"
The beigette across from him shook his head, reeling from the blow and sitting up shakily, tasting his own blood indeed that flowed from his bruised and bloodied nose, and laughing again, albeit quietly. His crazed eyes flash up at the Noxian advancing toward him, both fists clenched. "Hehe, it tastes like iron. And I fucking love it!" And then he jumps up again, longsword in both hands this time.
"Think you're hot shit?! Huh?!" He shouted, his weapon glowing faintly at the tip as did the latter holding it. "I haven't even shown you all I can do, c'mon!"
"Exactly what I plan to do!" Leland emphasized by indeed charging forth, having been goaded into Kutt's challenge, unaware of what his opponent would show him next. By the time he does, throwing a straight right, Kutt leans to the side and lowers his sword just enough for a clear thrust into his shoulder. But that wasn't his true intention.
The glow along the sword grew brighter, and before Mach could ever react, the blade extended. It shot out as a snake attack right through his shoulder, stopping just thirteen inches past him.
Mach froze. The sharp pain radiated from his shoulder before the pouring of blood down his chest.
Did that sword just...extend?
Mach, being stunned at the sudden blow, gave the human just enough time to shorten his blade to its original length of 6 inches and swing diagonally down his chest, cutting him deep and shedding more pink goo. The brunette groaned, stepping back, coughing up blood as he tried to fight past the burning and numbing pain in his right shoulder.
But then he was met with Kutt stabbing him right in his left arm, attempting to go deeper. He growled, then quickly spun to the side of the elongating blade that could've potentially disarmed him grotesquely before charging the bastard and backhanding him across the face, sending some red flying before throwing it back, clenched into a fist and knocking Kutt in the eye.
"Fucker!" He spat venomously as he retracted his sword and tried to use it again before Mach grabbed it and his hand, fighting to wrench it back or take his hand with it. Kutt growled in his face, and they wrestled around with it until he extended his blade again and pierced through the house.
"AYE, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!" An enraged shriek came from inside, meaning, to Mach's relief, that this dipshit had only hit the TV instead of anything and anyone important, but he didn't breathe easy just yet. He pushed Kutt away and launched a foot into his side, doing little to deter the crazy bastard, even though he nailed him straight in the kidney. He wasn't so tough as he was completely unhinged.
Instead, he whipped his sword diagonally up, almost catching the Noxian in the face as a way to throw him off when he avoided the swing and took a step back, allowing him to capitalize and step through, throwing his foot out into his target's chest, sending him reeling off balance onto the ground that was discolored with his blood. Instead of rushing over to finish the job, Kutt took his sweet time circling the brunette who held his still-bleeding chest that had soaked most of his shirt by this point, having been affected at last by the effects of losing blood.
"Getting tired? I can run five marathons in a day from my end. You?" He scoffed, watching the Noxian struggle to rise to his feet while holding his chest, panting heavily. "You look like you're going to take a bit of a nap standing over here. If you're lucky, Lord Armaccio might give you a painless death after he's done with you."
"I'm not done yet..." Mach panted, bits of his face forming cracks that crumbled and smoldered away. "Not by a long shot. You think I'm easy prey?"
Kutt scoffed, "Yeah, you're bleeding worse than I am."
"Doesn't mean I'm tapping out," Mach spits back as the door behind him opens, drawing his attention towards who stood in it as Kutt sported a twisted shit-eating grin, coupled with blood running down from his mouth and nose. Leo stood there, pissed off. with a club molded perfectly from his mesh that glowed as vividly as his crimson hair.
"Who. The. Fuck. Stabbed. My. TV?" He asked calmly before his demeanor changed, seeing his brother covered in blood, facing the beigette in the tank top, blood-covered sword in hand. "What the- Big bro? The hell's happening out here?"
"Leo, I told you, I got this, just get back inside!" Leland assured desperately before he spotted Mestello witnessing the scene out of the corner of his vision, and his eyes widened.
Shit.
Shit!
SHIT!!!
Kutt closed one eye, his psycho grin almost inhumane as he extended his arm slowly, aiming past the brunette towards the other and the ginger coming up behind him. Mach's eyes darted to the tip of the blade that was beginning to stretch outward, which gave Mach a matter of seconds before it shot out.
"Leland, what's going on? Who's this bloke you're facing off against..." Then she trails off when she sees Kutt point his sword back towards her boyfriend. Her legs are already moving, just as he does the same in front of her and his brother.
"No, get back!" He cried, arms out to block them from coming any further.
But it was too late.
The blade elongated again at full speed, having everyone in sight aligned. First, piercing Mach right through his chest.
Leo hardly had time to use his buster shield when the blade curved and stabbed him right through the second, barely missing his vitals, and going out his back, before finally curving and hitting Mestello through the stomach.
It all happened so fast that the brunette didn't perceive the damage caused until just a few short moments later, and he choked, vomiting more pink blood from his agape mouth.
He gasped at hearing Mestello's and Leo's pained screams, shock barely registering with pain wracking through his body from his many wounds or even the amount of blood he lost as his red hair turned back brown, and his vision began to blur and distort with black dots.
"Ow, fuck! What the fuck is this?!" His younger brother's words rang distantly in his ears as he grabbed weakly onto the blade Kutt was digging further into his side and twisting around, trying and failing to dislodge it as he groaned and coughed. His breathing labored and gradually became shallower.
His legs shook, and his quivering stomach was doing flip-flops over the amount of blood he saw on the ground as Kutt's maniacal laugh rang out mixed with Mestello's pained voice calling out to him.
"Leland! Le-l-l-land! It hurts! It hurts...so...much... Please, help me..."
"Not so tough now, are ya? When you just so happen to expire, we'll be using your waste-of-hot-gas brother as a substitute while your bitch in there can be used for...other purposes." Kutt cackled, twisting the blade back and forth.
Mach's closing eyes widen, and his body is wracked with an overwhelming force of fury and a yearning to live at hearing her fading calls and the beigette mouthing off what was going to happen with those he cared about. There may be things he was content to take lying down, but what he won't take sitting down is a piece of shit hurting his Mestello and his brother, no matter who they were.
Without even looking up, Leland grabs a firm hold of the human's blade, ignoring the cuts it left behind, and pushes it further in right when it began to draw back from the bleeding ginger, who dropped to her knees as did Leo, dragging him closer. Kutt was still too busy cackling like a hen to notice until he saw that the handle of his sword was now deep in the Noxian's gut, and he looked up, still laughing, before his face fell and he stopped.
"Huh?"
Mach looked him straight in the face, undaunted by the additional pain he was causing himself. His eyes were white and glowing, and his hair was a more pale shade, flowing in the air as though he was underwater.
"Whoa..." Leo muttered while clutching his chest to staunch the bleeding while tending to Mestello, who watched with dilated pupils. She's hardly ever seen him this way, except for a few select moments she could recall as though they were yesterday.
Kutt wasn't looking as jolly and psychotic as he did before as he stared back into the glowing eyes of the Noxian with awe, never breaking hold of his sword, except to take it out and step back. Mach stepped forward, no words leaving him, before Kutt decided to stab him again, seeing no other option.
He aimed to go through his stomach this time and jabbed his sword there, only getting an inch of it inside, with Mach showing utterly no reaction. This, he saw for himself, as the Noxian palmed his shoulder and squeezed. He hissed, already feeling the joints in his shoulder bend and almost disconnect.
Mach's eyes narrowed, staring deep into Kutt's deranged eyes, then squeezed harder before he yanked. Hard. And with it came a vicious, gory rip that filled his ears.
"Ghk- AUAAARGH!"
The sword in his gut loosened and fell out, clattering on the ground as Kutt staggered back, wide-eyed and face frozen in stark shock. It came so fast, he couldn't believe the brilliant, sharp pain settling in until he looked to the left, and saw a bloody stump where a part of his shoulder, plus his arm, used to be.
He looked up, and his face went pale, breaking into a cold sweat, his agape mouth twitching.
He held his dismembered arm by the ripped-off shoulder in his grip, blood dripping to the ground.
"No more cutting. Not anymore," Mach said, his voice deeper and more menacing than before. He threw the arm aside, quickly closing the distance between him and the once sword-wielder, and grabbed his throat, holding him still before he got any further.
Before Kutt had any idea what was going to happen next, still stunned, the furious brunette slammed his forehead right into his face, his nose with a loud crack, blood spewing from all sides following the impact. The others watching cringed, already taken off guard by the dismemberment taking place.
Mach felt his face around where he headbutted him crack, then cave in, following the wheezing grunt that came after it. He pulled back, showcasing Kutt's busted-in face, his bulging eyes twitching and shedding tears, then raised his hand above the weary maniac, whose head leaned back. He gave him the perfect angle for the final blow.
With a feral scream, he releases his hand from Kutt's face, then brings his hand down onto his broken face, cleaving it in half and going down to his chest with a gory, wet crunch. The psychopath only twitched, the force of the deadly chop splitting him down to just past his pectoral area, with copious amounts of blood and brain matter splashing to the ground.
Mach withdrew his bloody arm, watching the corpse fall back, hitting the ground with a wet thud. He had done to Kutt as he had done to him previously.
"Leland!" Mestello's voice cuts through, and he jerks his head towards the source of the voice to find Mestello leaning against the doorframe, holding her glowing hand over her bleeding wound. His eyes go wide, and the glow in his eyes disappears as his hair returns to normal.
"M-Mes?" He stuttered, like he was stunned, seeing her well again despite the vicious kill made earlier. He turned around, coming to her as the severity of his wound intensified, and he stumbled. He would've fallen had Mestello not pulled him into a hug beforehand.
"Mes...Mes, I'm here." He then whimpered, shedding fresh hot tears as he tightened his grip around her to return the hug, lowering to the ground with her. "Mes..."
Her gentle shushing silenced him to an extent, but his grip on her was still that of a vice. "It's ok, love. We're alright now. Just..." She grimaced at his blood getting all over her clothes, mixing in with some of hers, willing herself to ignore what was left of Kutt lying outside.
"Just rest now, I'll take care of the rest."
He nodded tearfully, having little energy left over to express his relief as his eyes gently closed and he steadily drifted off. His greatly burning wounds felt like small scrapes when sleep overtook him.