020

 

20.  A Palpable Phantasm

 

The arid oil fields provided no solace as Frank drove on. They’d hit a few highways so far, but he managed not to run into any accidents crossing over them. Despite Grayson's obvious speed advantage, Frank had been able to stay ahead of him by taking very sharp turns and keeping him on his toes.

 

Now, he had his cell phone pressed to his ear with one hand, while the other gripped the steering wheel and tried to keep the car from colliding with anything. After what seemed like an eternity, the ringing on the other line stopped, and someone picked up.

 

"Ed," Frank began, "it's me, Frank."

 

"Frank?" Edward sounded sedated and lifeless.

 

"I'm sorry we couldn't get together today and catch up." Frank hurried his words. "But I've been incredibly busy. In fact, I have a favor to ask of you. Are you still at the office?"

 

"Y-yeah." Edward replied, sounding as utterly confused as he did soulless. "I have nothing else to do."

 

Frank ignored Edward's hopelessness for the moment and continued. "Great, then you'll be able to help me. I need you to go to the fifth floor and take care of some business for me, but I need you to do it fast. Do you feel up to it?"

 

"I dunno, Frank." Edward sounded shaky. "Grayson told me that I should organize all my projects and get to know my workers before I go doing favors for other people."

 

"Grayson's a lying son of a bitch!" Frank screamed into the phone. "Get a hold of yourself! Has he told you where Vance is since you got here?"

 

Edward fumbled with a response. "Well, he said he was busy today, but we could talk it over at dinner..."

 

Frank ignored him and went on. "There's a certain room I need you to go into on the fifth floor. You won't be able to miss it. There are blank papers strewn all around in it."

 

"Okay," Edward said. "Bye, then."

 

"Wait!" Frank screamed, nearly swerving his car off its current path. "You have to stay on the line. There's no need to talk, because I have to concentrate on driving right now. But when you find the room, or if you need help finding it, say something!"

 

"Okay," Edward repeated again, and Frank could hear the man move out of his office.

 

Please, Edward... Frank prayed to himself, relaxing his grip on the phone and focusing on the road. Grayson's Benz was easily visible even through the dust cloud behind him, growing ever closer. Slowly but surely, he was catching up.

 

*

 

Freedom! Vance dashed down the right passageway, concentrating psynergy into his feet to increase his speed. Now I can finally let loose without Cliff or Eden hogging all the action.

 

He continued down the passage, on a bit of a runner's high. Vance could now easily send psynergy to any part of his body at will. He couldn't produce any of the volleyball-sized blasts he’d seen Cliff make, but he knew it would all come in time. Although he would never admit it directly, Vance admired Cliff’s strength.

 

What he enjoyed most now was charging his fist up with psynergy and then punching something – like one of the iron plates that lined the walls. He’d been able to make a huge dent in one with a single punch and eventually broke it with a couple more. Concentrating psynergy in his fist not only added power to the attack, but also created a barrier to dull the pain. He realized there were two ways in which to channel his psynergy, depending on whether he wanted more inward, defensive power, or more offensive power that exploded outward. The offensive psynergy was like the streams he’d sent out earlier to sense for auras: fickle, volatile, and much harder to control.

 

As Vance continued exploring his abilities, he suddenly became aware of a disturbance in the atmosphere. Concentrating, he slowly sensed them out: two distinct signals that felt very close.

 

There were no hiding spots in the tunnel, so he tried to stay calm and keep his guard up. A few nerve-wracking moments passed, until Vance saw two figures in black suits appear. One had short brown hair, and the other had dark beaded braids bobbing on his shoulders. As the duo came into view, they stared eagerly at Vance.

 

"What do we have here, Lyle?" The brown-haired one asked jokingly as he came to a stop.

 

Lyle flicked his braids over his shoulder and sized him up. "Looks like a lost kid to me, Kiev."

 

Kiev squinted his eyes. "I thought we cleaned up everyone on this end, though. How'd this little runt survive?"

 

"Goooood question." Lyle smiled, and yellowed teeth peeked through his stretched lips. "Let's find out."

 

By this point, Vance had charged up enough psynergy in his leg that he felt like it was going to explode. Without warning, he made a mad lunge for Kiev. Twisting his body sideways mid-jump, Vance brought his foot around to connect with the right side of Kiev's head.

 

"Woah!" But Kiev brought his hand up, blocking Vance's foot.

 

Determined not to lose his momentum, Vance used Kiev's hand as leverage and spun his body around, whipping his other leg toward the other side of the man’s head.

 

"He's not half bad!" Kiev laughed, as he easily caught Vance’s other leg.

 

The psynergy Kiev commanded proved to be much stronger than Vance's, and left the teenager dangling by his legs. Still energized, Vance swung his arms out beneath him, pushed off the ground and wrenched his right leg free. Although it was a rather clumsy maneuver, Vance's energized hands acted as a pivot to propel himself backwards and onto his feet again.

 

Lyle leaned back against the wall of the tunnel, chuckling at the sudden turn of events. "You want me to just leave him to you, Kiev?"

 

"Yeah, if you don't mind." Kiev waggled his fingers together in anticipation.

 

Vance grit his teeth. They obviously didn't think of him as a threat, and it was no surprise. Even with the help of psynergy, the physical exertion required by that short maneuver had exhausted his weak body.

 

This time, he decided to take a different approach. Putting his fists up, Vance ran toward Kiev and started wildly punching at him. Kiev kept his palms open, catching each of Vance's blows with ease. Sparks of energy flew off both of their bodies as their auras clashed. Although Kiev's hands showed no sign of damage, Vance could tell that the force of his blows was taking effect. Soon, Kiev's heels began to skid backwards across the floor.

 

Vance continued punching, trying to look for an opening in his opponent's defenses, but he saw none. In fact, Vance didn't quite know exactly what he was looking for, let alone how to expose it.

 

"Just sock him already!" Lyle called from the sidelines. "You gonna let him push you around like that?"

 

"But he's trying so hard," Kiev said with a wry smile. "I didn't want to hurt his feelings."

 

In a flash, Kiev's foot connected with Vance's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Vance tried to scrounge up some remaining psynergy in time, but he had been ill-prepared. Pain seared through his body and he fell backwards, crashing to the ground in a sad heap.

 

It was the first time he’d ever felt a strong, physical blow straight to his body. Winslow's sickles had been sharp, but the Zodiac hadn't dealt any crushing attacks. Vance's stomach muscles screamed in pain and he curled over to on his side, trying to ease his suffering and catch his breath.

 

"Done already?" Kiev moved over to Vance's crumpled body, placing one foot near his right kidney. "I didn't even get to throw a real attack, you know."

 

Vance felt the pressure from Kiev's foot increase, and soon it dug into his side, amplifying his pain. He clenched his teeth shut as his eyes began to tear up. I'm not going to scream for these bastards!

 

"He looks like he's starting to cry." Lyle pointed a finger at Vance playfully. "I can't believe it, he's actually gonna cry, Kiev!"

 

"It's far too early for that." Kiev raised his foot and stomped it down hard on Vance's ribcage. "We're going to take this nice and slow."

 

Kiev raised his foot again and Vance tried to crawl away, but he was tragically slow. The foot came down a third time, sending shivers of numbness down Vance's waist. He had now taken four unprotected, psynergy-enhanced hits to his body, and wouldn't be able to bear much more.

 

Say it... A voice that reminded him of dark streets and parking garages whispered in his mind. All you have to do is say it, and your pain will disappear...

 

But then Cliff and Eden will think I’m weak...they’ll look down on me...besides, would it even matter at this point?

 

The foot came down a fourth time. Vance couldn't hold back anymore, and a blood-curdling scream exploded from his throat.

 

Say it! The voice echoed louder. It's just two words! That's all it takes!

 

He could barely hear the laughter of Kiev and Lyle now, and his vision was beginning to blur. I have no choice. I'm going to die!

 

"Help me!!" he shrieked with all his might, spitting out saliva in desperation. "Someone, please help me!!"

 

Almost immediately, Vance saw a brilliant red flash erupt from above. He noticed that the laughing had ceased, and Kiev's foot was no longer stamping down upon him. He turned over, staring up at the bodies of his two attackers.

 

Both were impaled in numerous places with slender, hiltless blades, shining like brand-new mirrors. Kiev and Lyle’s eyes stared upward around the blood-splattered hallway, faces contorted in horror, as if pleading with God for some sort of divine intervention.

 

Their bodies were stuck there for some time, and Vance felt as if he was frozen, perpetually lost in this violent spectacle. Then, the blades faded into nothing, and both bodies crashed to the floor. Vance craned his neck and squinted. Not only did it seem completely absurd, but the inexplicable quality of it all filled him with a greater fear than what the two bullies had wrought.

 

Gliding down the alleyway with a shiny red apple in one hand was none other than Averyl, the Monkey of the Dark Zodiacs. His long coat rippled as he stepped forward, long black hair twisting and twirling behind him. The man stopped inches from the corpses, then stared down at Vance with inky black eyes.

 

Vance didn't know why blades had suddenly appeared in the bodies of his assailants, but what confused him more was the fact that Averyl was standing here, right in front of him. The teenager's body was paralyzed with a mixture of pain and fear as he felt all the power drain out of his body.

 

Minutes passed, and the two were still. Vance tried to read some sort of emotion on Averyl's face but could find nothing. It looked completely blank, like the chiseled, frozen face of an old sculpture. Finally, his curiosity gave in, and he spoke.

 

"What are you doing here?"

 

"I've been following you..."

 

For some reason, the ghostly words relaxed Vance. Or perhaps he had become so frightened that he could no longer process any new fear. "But where are all your allies? You know, Winslow and them?"

 

Averyl raised a thin, black eyebrow. "I do not follow..."

 

"You're a Dark Zodiac, aren't you?" Vance asked in a confused tone. "Aren't you, like, the leader?"

 

Averyl smirked. "No. I'm afraid you're mistaken, Vance. The Dark Zodiacs have no leader, you know..."

 

"No leader?" Vance asked. He was trying to waste as much time as he could in hopes that someone, anyone, would come and interrupt them. "How is that possible?"

 

"Everyone is free to do as they please, within reason..." Averyl explained in his spectral voice. "Although some members do have more influence than others..."

 

"So then, why were you following us?"

 

"Not them," Averyl said, "You. Because you interest me. I've been following only you, since around the time you entered the Kantor District..." he reminisced, tapping his long face. "Yes, I believe that was when I first sensed you..."

 

"That far back?!" Vance shouted.

 

Averyl chuckled. "So you didn't know I was here? Then who were you screaming to?"

 

Vance quickly realized that he was being toyed with. "Alright, whatever. Can you help me up now?"

 

Averyl complied, reaching down a long, pale arm to the young man. Vance grasped it, and immediately felt a chill rise up from within.

 

If Averyl was following me, then how did he appear from the other end of the hall? And how did he escape being seen by Eden and Cliff? It makes no sense!

 

Vance tried to stretch his body. Pain flared up from every angle.

 

"Hmm." Averyl looked Vance up and down. "Are you going to continue, or...?"

 

Vance sighed, staring at the two corpses on the floor. "You know, I think I'd better go catch back up with Cliff and Eden."

 

"Oh? And why is that?" Averyl had devoured most of the apple.

 

Vance begrudgingly answered. "Well, you know. I shouldn't be running around by myself. It's not really, uh, the best idea," he said awkwardly.

 

"Hmmm..." Averyl turned around and looked back, tapping his cheek again. "You know, this tunnel converges with the other two, up that way..." he raised his arm. "Would you like to accompany me?"

 

"Didn't you just come from there?" Vance asked.

 

"Yes...but I'm following you..." Averyl declared, as he began to walk away.

 

"What?" Vance paused for a moment, utterly confused. "Hey, wait up!"

Next: Violate the Dead