Labelled by Blood

      My eyes glitched. One second it was just Jesse and Parker. The next, the Collector between them. Jesse and Parker flashed their vestiges and the Collector looked at me. Even without eyes, it bore into my soul.       Alex Linnet. Jesse Hayes. Parker Atwood. I've been waiting for this. The garbled and scratchy voice of the Collector echoed in my head.       Jesse and Parker didn't waste a second and pounced on it. A soft static invaded my mind, and both boys were on the ground, writhing.       Alex. C'mon. Save them.       I reached for my stapler and tossed it, but before I could catch my rifle, the static boomed and I joined them on the mossy and squishy ground. My rifle landed with a surrendering thud. It's metallic finish reflecting the sunset orange.       Why the rush? We have as long as we need.       The static faded and we all stood up. I groaned and held my head. My stapler had returned, so had Parker's mace. Jesse's gauntlets were still out and he stood as tough as he could be but his strained eyes and haggard breathing told otherwise.       "What do you want?" Parker barked.       The Collector's neck snapped as it twisted to face him. Don't ask such insolent questions.       Jesse inched towards it and the same thing happened to Jesse.       I threw my stapler up and caught my rifle. The Collector didn't bat an eye. Let's make this as fair as possible. I know all your tricks and gimmicks. So I'll let you all talk up a plan and arrange yourselves in any order of your choice. Six minutes. Go.       Jesse and Parker sprinted up to me and we huddled together. The gravity of it all hit me late, but my legs became jelly and the world kept twisting before correcting itself. We came up with a plan. It wasn't a good one, but it was all we had. Then we got into position. Jesse and Parker led the frontline, parallel to one another. I was near the back to complete the triangle. My rifle was held up but I didn't bother looking through the scope right then.       Interesting. A minute remains.       I glanced at the other two. Jesse held a closed fist up. Don't do anything yet. I mentally counted down. Thirty seconds. Twenty. The Collector didn't move a muscle and then we hit the last few seconds.       3. 2. 1.       The Collector never came and hadn't moved since it got the boys off of it. Jesse's hand opened and fanned forward. I lifted my scope and trained on the Collector. Parker was in sync with Jesse and they both took a small step forward. Their shoes scraped the nearly-muddy ground. The smell of earth poured its way into my nostrils. My hand found the trigger and I lightly caressed it. This was actually it. And I was already unsure.       Jesse's hand chopped out. I pulled the trigger to a roar of my muzzle. Jesse's explosions were quick and frantic. Parker pushed forward, fire engulfing his mace with his swing. The Collector didn't so much as breath but twitched before blurring behind Jesse. Without hesitation, I retrained my aim and fired. Once. Twice. At the edges of my vision, I saw a pulsing blue. My bullets came one after the other, going where I needed them to before I even thought of it.       But the Collector was ready and twitched again with my bullets trying to desperately correct for their target moving at incredulous speeds and ultimately hitting the ground and a tree off in the distance. A hissing and steam rose from their victims. Jesse was able to throw a hand back and blasted himself out of there, pulling Parker along with him.       Fascinating. Reaction speeds so fast, I almost didn't predict it.       My heart throbbed and a chill ran down my spine. My breathing came in tremors and the Collector remained staring at the space Jesse used to be at. I raised my rifle to a scream of terror.       "Alex!" Jesse's voice roared louder than my gun.       The Collector had vanished and I lowered my gun and stumbled back into something that felt like a tree. Coarse and scratchy. A dulled point touched the small of my back before something hot swirled where the point poked and I was shoved to the ground. My energy felt sapped in an instant. Explosions sounded, footsteps followed, but then I heard Parker's yell and my energy rushed back to me. I rolled to my back and scrambled up to my feet. I aimed where the screams came from and found Parker held hostage by the Collector.       "Let him go," I screamed, squeezing the trigger on my rifle. The blue that frayed at my periphery grew and I snarled.       "Alex," Parker yelled, but then he groaned in pain, holding his head.       Jesse didn't wait for a call out and charged at the Collector. His body was a blur. It rivaled how fast the Collector glitched. The world around me was muffled out as Parker's scream echoed in my head. My finger released the trigger, sending a splay of countless bullets that scattered and swarmed the Collector. My vision enveloped by the blue.       Except when I blinked, the Collector was gone and Parker was crumpling to his knees. My bullets were too fast and I couldn't think straight. Jesse's smeared mass was on him. Something wasn't right.       In an instant, the blue tint disappeared and everything became unfocused. Jesse's back and arms were dotted with holes that all oozed crimson.       He cried out. The only sound to make its way to mind.       I. I. Friendly fired. I took a knee.       Parker rolled out from under him and popped to his feet. His eyes were wide. Scared. Jesse didn't move for a second. My mouth tinged sour.       "Jess," Parker yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders. Blood leaked from the holes.       But. I couldn't think about it. The Collector reappeared right behind Parker a second time. I forced myself to stay calm and stabilized my arm and gun on my knee. My aim wasn't true, but I pulled the trigger anyways. The Collector became more animated than before and raised an arm up like it intended to club Parker and my bullet whizzed right for it. Its arm radiated a blue as steaming water bubbled over it. It came crashing down, but my bullet hit home, leaving a gaping wound. An oily substance blew out of its arm. A red deeper than tarnished garnet. There was an audible pop.       The Collector screeched in agony. The garbled mess sounded like someone had shredded sheet metal. Something rose up from my stomach and an acidic burn ran from my throat. I fell down on one knee and fought the urge to shut my eyes. My body had gone numb. I lost control and any amount of effort to move only hurt.       I heard flames ignite. An explosion sounded. I analyzed the mess on the ground before me. The smell of burnt moss wafted.       "Alex," Jesse called out. "I'm alright."       This brought me back. I gasped in a breath and looked up to see Parker's mace buried in the Collector's shoulder. Jesse was behind, winding his fist back like the Collector had done against Parker. The Collector didn't give in, though, and a full body twitch splashed water all around it. Jesse and Parker inhaled sharply and backed away.       All very impressive, the Collector's voice grated. Let's really push you all.       The arm I hit was wrapped in a cream-colored light and the wound squelched with muscle and gray flesh reforming. A twisted and sweet iron smell filled the air. I cringed and shrank. Parker's mace was pushed out of the Collector's shoulder and dispelled when it hit the ground. The boys didn't seem to notice and were looking at their burns.       I raised my rifle. Only two bullets left. The Collector noticed and zoned in on me as fast as lightning. Déjà vu. I didn't pull the trigger. I raised the butt of my rifle and held it as it grew closer and closer.       You're already-- but it stopped mid sentence.       My rifle had swung down, but I knew where this was going. I rammed it behind me and the Collector's hip met it. It twitched and disappeared. Jesse and Parker got back to it and were on high alert. Sweat beaded down my brow and neck. Then, from above, the Collector landed right in front of me and jammed its pointed arm in my stomach. All air escaped my lungs and a dull pain fired through. There was a searing hot pain bubbling at my stomach and a jet of boiling water erupted, sending me to the ground. My head smacked the ground and I didn't know where was for a second.       I fought back the blanket of sleep that loomed. The Collector towered over me, lifting an arm up. But it staggered forward, off balance and floated over me. An hand grabbed mine and yanked me up and away. Jesse saved me. My clothes had been burned, and my stomach blistered. I almost couldn't feel it.       "You okay?" He asked.       I nodded, unsure.       Your love for each other is upsetting, the Collector mumbled.       "Jess," Parker cried, "I need you, man."       Jesse put me down and was gone in a flash of orange. I sat up and winced from the raw burn. I didn't look at it, though, and got up to my knees. I grabbed my stapler and threw it up. My rifle looked up. Blue crawled along my vision. I was done with this thing. It needed to die. Here and now.       "Jesse, Parker," I barked.       They were in a standoff against the Collector and it stood motionless against them. They nodded in surprise.       "Hold it down."       They nodded. Jesse's posture changed. He went from offensive to restrained. Parker didn't move. Then they glanced at each other and nodded. Like the trees we practiced with, Jesse flanked left, Parker right. I held my trigger as tight as I could. Blue continued to tint the world but grew in intensity. I aimed up. Fired. Once. Twice.       The Collector glitched, but Jesse got to it first. He held it in a nelson. Parker had thrown his mace and pillars of fire spewed from the ground to keep the Collector as locked down as we could. My bullets moved faster than ever. They streaked up then turned in a tight U right back for the Collector. It growled, screeched, and I saw its entire body steaming. Jesse winced but didn't back down. Parker engulfed himself in a flame that burned bright and held the Collector at the waist.       Burning and smoke rose and made me cough, but my aim was true. My thoughts clear. The bullets drove deep into the Collector's chest. It spasmed and a wave of water washed over the boys. They cried as steam and fire collided in a hazy fog. I lost track of everything. My rifle diluted into a gray light and became my stapler.       The world went silent. The wind stopped. I stood motionless with it all. Then my feet carried me to the carnage. The smog cleared with a wild wind that picked up and carried it away. The ground was smoldering an ashy taste made me cough some more. Breathing was hard. Jesse laid heaving. Parker didn't move.       The Collector crumpled to its knees, but remained upright. Its neck snapped to me.