Chương 156: 69 - PAIN EXCHANGE

Cannon had shown up, ever the valiant hero that he always pictured himself to be. Jumped in at the last minute to punch the bad guy and save the girl. Happily ever after. He had been locked in combat, dealing with that giant white bear, and he hadn't been as useful in this battle as he wanted to be. But it was gone now, which left her free to answer German's call for Vienna's aid. He held his arm outstretched, still stinging from the impact of knocking Commander Hobbs silly.

But to his dismay, Vienna grumbled under her breath.

"You fuckin idiot…" She was holding her chest, suddenly coughing up blood. She was looking even more beat up than she had a moment ago, which was saying something, since she was near death. Cannon knelt next to her, unsure if he should move her.

"What's the matter? I'm here to save you." Her eyes were blinking in and out of consciousness.

"You haven't saved anything… I'm still bleeding out… from my wrists and now my lungs…" she said weakly.

"German, where's the doc?" Cannon asked.

"On his way, but he can't move as fast as you can leap. You'll have to give him a moment."

"Don't worry," Cannon said to Vienna.

"Just a little bit longer. Think you can hold out?" She didn't look like it. All of her strength was being spent just on keeping her eyes open, which was a battle she was quickly losing.

"Don't let… Don't… let…"

"What? Don't let what?" Cannon bent closer to hear her.

"Don't let Hobbs touch you." German finished. Then the man himself walked back through the hole in the wall, made by his body. Hobbs stretched his neck, looking perfectly unbothered by Cannon's arrival.

"It's cute, you coming to protect my little girl like that."

"Your little… Take another step closer and you be getting up after the next one." Cannon threatened him. Hobbs smiled.

"I'd think twice about that. Since any damage you do to me will be transferred right onto Vienna. You kill me. You kill her." Cannon squinted, trading glances between the man and Vienna.

"Is he for real?"

"I don't care… Kill him," she said, seething from the pain.

"I can't do that. I'm not gonna be responsible for—" Before Cannon could finish his confusion, he saw Hobbs raise his hands. Instinctively, Cannon brought up his forcefield as a flurry of razor wire attempted to cut him to shreds. But the field was encompassing, a sphere around him and Vienna. As long as he held firm, the wires didn't seem able to pierce it. But he could tell by the strain on his power that the wires were deadly.

"What a funky little dilemma we have here… sounds like you're not gonna be fighting me back. That's fine by me." Hobbs looked on, pragmatically, being familiar with the forcefield loot. He found one of his fallen soldiers' guns on the ground. It had a grenade launcher attachment underneath its barrel. And it was loaded. He fired, and it exploded on Cannon's invisible barrier. The fiery impact actually managed to put cracks in its transparent but glassy surface.

It pushed Cannon back a little bit, but not enough to make him falter. However, the force field did. Those little cracks were all it took for Hobbs to sneak the razor wire through like a worm through a burrow. The manipulated wire slashed against Cannon's chest, ripping his shirt and the skin underneath it.

"Hnnggg," he grunted. That sudden ripping pain caused him to drop his guard, dissipating the field for just a moment. Hobbs then flared the razor wire at him. Cannon had no choice but to block with his back, shielding Vienna with his size. The wires slashed deeply into him like whips, drawing stringent amounts of blood from him each time they slashed into him. Vienna looked up at him.

"Stop worrying about me… and kill… him." Cannon shook his head.

"No way. I ain't come to kill my girl with my own hands. Besides, you got someone to get back to, don't you? That redhead wouldn't be too happy with me if I let you go." He resummoned his faulty forcefield. And Hobbs tried the same trick again, sneaking the wire through its cracks. This time Cannon felt it squirming on the surface, and he grabbed the wire, its sharpness cutting his hand. But he squeezed tight, despite the pain, and yanked it with all his might.

Hobbs came flying towards him by the tug on his finger. Cannon geared up to give him that punch he promised, but he stopped when he saw the man's smile. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Instead, Hobbs flew right over him, tumbling across the ground. Cannon could see Vienna's skin actively reacting and bruising, and her mouth grimacing. And Hobbs started to laugh.

"This guy's starting to piss me off," Cannon said.

"German, you got any clue how I'm supposed to deal with this?"

"Unfortunately, No. Vienna is bound to him by the mark on her arm. The only way forward is to take the lesser of two evils." Cannon looked down, noticing the strange glowing circle on Vienna's forearm as she lay still.

"Nah. We're not doing that. We're finding another way."

"Don't be stupid. If you don't commit, you'll just get both of you killed instead of just her." Hobbs continued laughing.

"You talking to German over there? Give him my regards. I know how he likes to jump in people's heads, so ask him what I'm thinking right now."

"What's he talking about?" Cannon asked.

"Don't do anything brash." Hobbs took a handful of his own razorwire and proceeded to wrap it around his neck. It was sharp enough to draw blood as soon as it touched him. Though he hardly felt it since his skin was already repaired by the time he made another loop. Cannon reacted, jumping towards him with his strong legs as a propulsor. But again he had to stop short. Hobbs yanked the wire, just slightly, causing Vienna to wheeze.

"Ah ah ah… You know what happens when I pull this, don't you?"

"Wait!" Cannon shouted.

"Don't." Hobbs tilted his head, stroking his beard with one hand, holding his own noose with the other.

"I might consider it… if…"

"If what?"

"You're kind of a hoss, aren't you, big buddy? That first shot knocked me clean on my ass. You've got a couple strength loot in you, I'd wager. That's the kind of strength I don't particularly care to deal with."

"Go on! Say what you mean!"

"Alright. I can only pain-exchange with one person at a time. If I put that mark on someone, it'll disappear off of anyone else I've got it on… You strike me as an honorable man. Someone that might take one for the squad. How about it?" Hobbs asked.

"I'll even let that little doctor behind you finish healing her." Behind him, Ellie's doctor, Dr. Sharon, was bent over Vienna, attempting to heal the damage to her wrists. Though she was already unconscious, barely hanging on.

"Or I can finish her right now, and you and I will just have to duke it out." He yanked on the noose again. And again, Vienna choked. Cannon hesitated.

"You think I'm up to something? Ask your mind reader. I'm a man of my word, ain't I, German?" German chewed his tongue.

"It will free her. But it'll only make you his next victim. And then there's nothing stopping him from killing her anyway while she's unconscious. Think about this. Do not buy into it." Cannon smiled.

"That's where you and I differ. This ain't a business deal. And I ain't in it for profit."

"Don't… you idiot, you—""I'll take you up on that deal!" Cannon shouted to Hobbs.

"Then by all means," the man said.

"Show me your hands." Hobbs raised his open palms, showing that the rings holding the razor wire were not on them. He held them like that for every step Cannon took towards him. Their eyes then met as Cannon posed to shake his opponent's hand like a man.

"Cannon… I know what you're thinking, and I would advise against it," German said. Cannon remained silent as Hobbs extended his hand back and shook. The tight space between their palms started to emit a golden glow, and Cannon knew the deed was done. He and Hobbs intensely locked eyes for a while.

"Doc… is the mark on her forearm still there?" Cannon asked. Dr. Sharon checked.

"No. It's gone."

"Good, then take care of her." The doctor hadn't been fully filled in on what was happening yet, but he did his job and continued healing her wounds.

"See. Man of my word," Hobbs said. Then the man grimaced as suddenly he felt the bones in his hand begin to crack. Cannon was squeezing it to the point of shattering. But Hobbs forced a smile, knowing that the crushing pressure was applied to Cannon's hand as well. He could see it, turning purple and malignant. However, Cannon did not shake his gaze. When the pain grew too much, and the squeeze didn't allow his bones to reform in the right place, Hobbs attempted to equip his razor wire.

Cannon grabbed the man's free hand and headbutted him in his nose, knocking the man back thirty feet and through a wall with just his forehead. Cannon grimaced, his own nose shattered and unable to breathe. But he kept standing.

"You're 100% right about me. It ain't hard for me to justify taking one for the team. If I gotta go down then so be it, but best believe you're going down with me." Hobbs sat up from the ground outside, nose cracking as it reformed, dried blood still splattered all over his face. But he couldn't help but laugh again.

"Say what you want, but that headbutt hurt you way more than it did me." Cannon shook his head, brain rattled. This was the path he committed to. He was going to fight this man no matter what it did to him. he couldn't let pain stop him. He had to ignore it. But there was only one surefire way to make that happen. Back before all this, during one of their strategy meetings, everyone was in the library discussing how to distribute their loot.

Throughout all their thinking, there was one particular piece of loot that none of them could decide what to do with.

"It's called the rage loot." Tyene had said.

"It makes you ten times stronger, but at the same time you lose all your senses until it deactivates. Honestly, it feels like you're in a coma. You don't feel pain. You don't feel much of anything but an urge to kill whatever's in front of you."

"That sounds dangerous," T'balt said.

"If you're not in your right mind, then what's there to make you deactivate it?"

"It's not ideal. But if things get too hairy, then someone might have to be the guinea pig."

"Is it that strong?" Tyene nodded.

"Cannon, why don't you hold on to it?"

"Me?"

"Yeah." T'balt handed the loot to him, unaware of how heavy a weight it put on Cannon's shoulders.

"You're probably the only person I trust with something like this. I know you wouldn't hesitate if our backs were against the wall." Tyene scoffed.

"You serious? You couple that with his multiplier of strength loot, then he'd probably crack the whole island in half by accident."

"That's why it's a last resort. We can rebuild the island. But we can't rebuild its people. Not without another Redemption." T'balt then met Cannon in his eyes, like they were equals.

"Can I trust you with this?"

"What in God's name…" Hobbs stood up, a sudden shred of fear in his eyes as Cannon's had gone completely blank. Parts of his body began to heat up profusely, his muscles bulging, his veins pulsing, his teeth clenching. Black smoke leaked through his teeth as the air around his body began to shiver. Then, no different than Emil's beasts, he let out a feral roar.