50.
No Right Turn
The remains of a two-lane street stretched down for miles, decorated by
potholes lined with charred heaps of concrete and metal. A dull blue traffic
sign hanging from a metal wire flashed in the corner of Vance’s eye as he led
Winslow down the street.
NO RIGHT TURN. Its surface was pocked with decay.
It wasn’t long before the road opened up to a wide dead end that housed
two broken-down dumpsters and a caved-in wall. Winslow was coming. Thanks to his
heightened psynergy abilities, Vance had captured Winslow’s tawny, pins-and-needles
aura from the moment the chase had begun.
Vance’s training with Averyl had taught him many things, including how
to seek a masked aura. When they first started sparring, his uncle had left no aural
barriers up, which is what allowed Vance to feel its magnitude. Later, Averyl
somehow changed the frequency of his aura and masked it, preventing Vance from
sensing it, unless he somehow matched his own aura to the same wavelength. Vance
had never been able to find Averyl’s, but he realized now that the skills he
had developed during that time would be of great use on opponents who he actually stood a
chance against.
The only reason I sensed Winslow’s is probably because he’s the weakest
of the Zodiacs...but it’s still something.
Cornered in the alley, Vance stopped and awaited his opponent. Excitement
roared through his veins, followed by fear and adrenalin.
Soon, Winslow's shadow crept along the edge of the opposing wall, barely
visible under the moon. Little by little, more and more of Winslow's body emerged
from its hiding place, and soon, his rosy cheeks and pale blond hair were visible.
He had a smug grin on his face, and his hands were shoved casually into the
pockets of his institute coat.
"Vance," he spoke. "We finally meet again."
Vance's face was firm. His cloak rippled in the night breeze. "Save
the talk, Winslow."
"Oh, but I want to clear some things up first." Winslow smiled.
"Won't be able to talk to you once you're dead, after all." He
paused, and after Vance did not respond, went on. "Your power has grown. I
wouldn't be surprised if you're twice as strong now. That's a pretty high
increase for just few months’ worth of training, and I doubt the cowboy is that
good of a teacher...so come on, fess up and tell me who did it? I'm curious."
Vance couldn't help but smirk. "If only you knew, Winslow. If only
you knew."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Winslow's lips furled, and his
body began to surge with energy. Metal of all shapes and sizes, from pipes to trash
can lids, began to shiver and shake, then rose off the ground and floated closer
to the Rooster. "I don't care if your mother was some legendary thief. She
was still no match for the–"
Vance was already upon him, smothering his vision with blackness. In response,
Winslow's sickles exploded from his belt and spiraled toward his enemy.
"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?!" Vance shouted,
irisless eyes raging.
Vance jumped, kicked off the sickles with psynergy-charged legs and
leapt even higher.
"Those things can't hurt me anymore, Winslow!"
Reaching the height of his jump, Vance raised his right leg and prepared
for a crushing blow. Compared to Averyl, Winslow seemed as slow as a snail.
Vance flew down like a dark torpedo, crashing and tearing through the
ground. The Albavitrean let a torrent of psynergy explode from his leg, shattering
windows and carving a deep crater with his own heel.
That's when Vance noticed that his foot had never made contact with Winslow's
head. Sensing the Rooster, he turned around. Sure enough, the boy genius had
expertly evacuated the area before impact.
"Not bad, I guess." Winslow grinned, then jettisoned a stream
of tawny psynergy out from his right hand. Vance held up his arms in immediate
defense. Still, Winslow continued his onslaught, cackling all the way.
This isn't gonna work...Vance quickly realized, feeling his barrier weaken. He's gonna break
through any minute!!
Vance dropped the barrier, feeling one of Winslow's blasts smash into his
leg as he dashed to the side. The synthesized threads of his guild uniform softened
some of the damage, but Vance could still feel the burning pain of melting
flesh as he ran.
"Come on!" Winslow laughed. "I was expecting more than
that!"
In a flash, Vance leapt up to the wall of a neighboring building, kicked
off it, and flew into the center of the alley. This time, he was determined to
keep a closer eye on his target.
But his ascent was soon interrupted as a large sheet of metal roofing
flew out in front of him, enhanced with enough of Winslow's psynergy to act as a
formidable barrier. Unable to construct a back-up plan in time, Vance crashed
into it, and felt even greater pain as something sharp ripped through the flesh
of his thigh. Pulling his head back from the metal sheet, he soon figured out what
was going on.
As Vance hit the ground, pointed scraps of rusty metal that Winslow had
positioned on the other side of the screen pierced his flesh. Winslow watched
his trap with glee, both hands charged and ready to point toward wherever Vance tried to run. But the Albavitrean didn't flee.
Averyl's words echoed in Vance's mind. The best weapon you can ever use
is your opponent's weapon. You have to be able to turn your disadvantages into advantages,
Vance...
Pain fueling his anger, Vance slammed his fist into the center of the
metal sheet and obliterated it. Dark psynergy burst through Winslow's tools,
shredding them into shards of metal that went zooming toward the Rooster.
Vance ran to Winslow's side as the Zodiac hastily used his magnetic
field to prevent the shards from reaching him. Seizing an opening, the Rooster
reached out and sliced at Vance with a sickle. But Vance's dark purple aura was
potent, and Winslow's blade was unable to rip completely through.
"When this is over and done with," Vance spat, "you're going
to tell me the name of the man who killed my mother."
Winslow guffawed. "I don't believe it! Vance Darcouver is trying
to order me around! You can't even hurt me, and you expect me to listen
to you?!"
Vance remained stone-faced, while the pressure of his aura grew ever heavier.
Winslow stood firm, but Vance could see his face falter as purple psynergy
continued to rage. Winslow let his own rage in return. This sudden increase in
pressure knocked Vance's balance off for only for a split second, but that was
enough time for Winslow to push through Vance's defenses, slice through his cloak
and knock him onto the ground.
"Weakling." Winslow's face warped into a devilish grin as he
looked down on Vance. "I always knew you were trash from the first time I laid
eyes on you!"
Vance remained on the ground, calm. Meanwhile, Winslow stood back, showing
mercy on Vance and reviving his frustration.
Slowly, Vance picked himself up. "Don't call me trash."
"Oh?" Winslow raised an eyebrow, face lit with pride. "What,
does that hurt your feelings, trash?"
"I won't tell you again," Vance growled, slowly stepping
forward
*************
onto the steel bridge. Now, the man who had been trailing Eden and
Azuka for the past few minutes stood on the other end, towering over a dry canal
that looked as if it hadn't seen water in decades. Bruce’s toned muscles
glistened in the moonlight with every step he took as he approached the two women.
"Eden," Azuka said, brandishing her sword, "stay back."
"Let me help," Eden replied. "I'm stronger now."
"That’s an order," Azuka spoke slowly as she stepped out to meet
the Zodiac.
Azuka watched Bruce’s right arm combust, erupting into brilliant orange
flames that licked and played at the air around them. His skin did not burn, and
only seemed to grow more vibrant from the flames enveloping it.
"Can't this wait a few more days?" Azuka asked.
"Sorry," the man boomed. "But you have something that we
want."
Azuka spread iridescent psynergy over her blade. "And what would
that be?"
"Don't play dumb. She's right behind you."
"Her?" Azuka stared into his beady eyes. "What's she to
you?"
"Let's cut the shit, shall we?" The man brought his arm up menacingly.
"Captain Azuka Ingram."
With a powerful shout, Azuka dove forward and slashed out at the
Zodiac. Grunting, the giant swung his arm forward like a battering ram, colliding
with the wooden blade and holding her back.
"You're a frisky one," he laughed.
Flames leapt from his bicep down to his solid knuckles. Azuka's wooden
sword burned with a red glow of its own, effectively countering the energy of
the Zodiac's flames. The tip of her blade sat lodged between the crevasse of his
second and third knuckle, but made no progress forward.
Eden stood frozen by the edge of the canal. The psynergy of the man who
had approached them was terrifying, both in its abundance and intensity.
Azuka’s eyes burned. "Who are you?"
"Bruce Wernhart." Bruce shoved forward with his fist, causing
Azuka's sandals to slide back a bit. "8th of the Dark Zodiacs."
Azuka's eyes were drawn to a tattoo of a faceless tiger, glowing in the
flames on Bruce's right bicep.
"Well, are you gonna hand over the girl or what?" Bruce muttered.
"I'm wondering if I need to smack you first."
"What do you want with her? She's just a Knight!"
Bruce snorted and looked to Azuka's companion. "The hell she is."
As visions of Van Kaen's inhuman glare resurfaced in her mind, Eden frantically
tried to fortify her psynergy barrier. Judging from Bruce's words, the Zodiacs
really had been after her this entire time. But why?
"Wait...don’t tell me you know?" Bruce turned back to Azuka with
a smile. "Come on, why else would you be traveling with her?"
"Whether she's the Daughter or not," Azuka declared, "she
is my ally, and you will not have her."
"Without her, we'll never achieve what we set out to do." The
flames on Bruce's arm began spreading out along Azuka's blade. "She's the
key to the Space-Time Continuum."
"No," Azuka insisted, trying to block out Bruce's psynergy
with her own. "She can't be!"
"We didn't know about the Daughter either, until the Snake got a hold
of Caskett's research." Bruce continued. "It was one hell of a puzzle."
"I don’t care," Azuka spoke gravely. "She isn’t yours to
take."
"We’ll take whatever we want!" Bruce bellowed. "There's
way more of us than you right now. You can’t take us all on at once!"
Sweat rolled down Azuka's forehead. He’s right...we can’t fight here.
The tournament must go as planned, and the Zodiacs all need to be there when it
starts...I have too much invested in this!
Azuka pulled her sword back, allowing Bruce's fist to follow through.
His massive hand collided with her breastbone, crushing her psynergy barrier
and sending a blinding bomb of pain through her body.
The 4th Captain's body flew backwards across the bridge. Eden took a
powerful step forward.
"Stop..." Azuka said weakly, picking herself up. The streets were
dark, leaving Azuka little light to channel with her ability.
"What's wrong?" Bruce continued to stand his ground on the
bridge. "I've heard a lot about you, Azuka. You're supposed to be a real
powerhouse."
The next instant, Bruce's forearms were blocking another attack. Azuka
had leapt upon him once more, but Bruce was ready to swallow her up. With a roar,
he let his flames flow outwards, surrounding the woman and engulfing her.
That, however, was exactly what Azuka wanted. As the flames swarmed her,
she did not run. Eden watched with bated breath as the auras of the two warriors
mingled and converged, struggling to keep up with her mind. It was night, and
there was no sun to aid Captain Azuka, so she had to use what she could.
The brilliant flames Bruce's aura produced were much brighter than anything
else in the vicinity, which allowed Azuka's fluorescent psynergy to utilize the
bulk of the energy he was emitting. The psynergy flames burned at her thin
barrier, but she kept it up, simultaneously charging up her blade.
After a few seconds, Azuka could take the heat no longer. With another
powerful bellow, she leapt out from the hellfire with a blazing red sword. The energy
enhancing her weapon was just powerful enough to let her move in close and thrust
out.
A crushing blow smashed the Tiger's wall of flames, penetrating through
to his gut. Bruce let out a grunt of pain and flexed his muscles, then reached out
and grabbed Azuka's burning blade with scorching fists.
"Why don't you put down that toy..." the Zodiac growled,
"and let me show you how psynergy's meant to be used?"
Next: Destined to Die
