51.
Destined to Die
Grayson stepped through the doorway of the brick room in the basement of
the Zexaron building and surveyed the empty chamber. His eve yes ran over the
chipped, decimated walls, worn down after extended use by his patrons and
victims. In the center of the back wall hung the æsotech manacles that Grayson
had installed himself. His bloody whip lay on the floor, still peppered with pieces
of Frank's flesh.
Yes, Frank's flesh, that was still here. The room was also still
colored with Frank's blood. And Frank's hair was pasted to the wall.
But in spite of all that, Frank himself was gone.
The events that had most likely transpired floated into Grayson's mind,
and the pure idiocy of it all caused him to break into a mad grin. Yes, there
was indeed a stupid genius to it all. It made Grayson bubble to the brim with
laughter, chuckling at the entertaining turn of events. He continued to cackle as
he walked out from the room and slammed his thumb into the elevator button in the
basement.
There was much to look forward to. Soon, he would be immersed within
the festivities of the Belmarcian tournament, where the day would come to a glorious
climax with the arrival of Edward and Frank. But first, he would have to deal
with Madeleine. Her expertise was necessary for the project they were still in
the process of working on, so he would need more creative means by which to
reeducate her.
At last the elevator reached the lobby, and the mechanized doors slid open
as they always did. There was something in the elevator, though, that had seemingly
been left for him: a small slip of paper, attached to the ceiling by masking tape.
Dear Grayson,
Whoops! Don't know how I let that one happen. Well, you win some and
you lose some, right? I hope you aren't too angry. Just in case you are, though,
I'm going to hide, so try to simmer down before you go looking for me, mmkay? I'm
sure you have better things to do anyway. Enjoy the tournament!
Love, Madeleine
Grayson smiled wanly, plucked the note and placed it into his pocket as
the elevator began to rise up. Yes, it was fine. Madeleine had played her part
for now, and would no doubt turn up just in time for the second act. For now,
the Snake was content to have the dark, empty building to himself, alone in the
abysmal Bakersfield wasteland, basking in his machinations.
*
"Vice-Captain..." Mephistoclessia rasped to Cliff in the
cramped alleyway. "You owe me something."
Cliff stood still, with his eyes locked on the woman's tiny hands. He’d
hit her several times now, and while it had infuriated her greatly, it hadn't seemed
to tire her in the least.
"If it wasn't for you, Captain Azuka would be in my possession at
this very moment," Mephistoclessia continued. "Can you imagine how it
feels to know such a valuable asset was knocked from my grasp by such an insignificant
variable?"
Cliff watched slowly as the Rat raised her left hand slightly from
where it sat at her side. The woman's psynergy threads were so tiny that it was
hard for him to see exactly what she was doing. Captain Azuka had spoken of her
strength, but that had been months ago. I've seen what she's capable of...I can
do this!
Cliff dove forward, prepared to stop whatever attack she was preparing
before she could follow through. As he took his first step, he felt arms grab his
body from behind and yank him backward. Cliff resisted, struggling to stay on
his feet, and heard a cacophony of sickening cracks coming from behind him. Lurching
to the side, Cliff freed himself, while hands remained clamped on his shoulders.
Reaching back, Cliff removed four dismembered arms from his trenchcoat.
Across from him were the bodies of two deadbeat citizens of Enmetropolis, now
glowing faintly with psynergy. Despite their listless faces and droopy eyes,
they pursued Cliff with a malevolent intensity.
"I picked up some friends on the way here," Mephistoclessia
said with a snicker.
Cliff whirled back around, loaded his shotgun with fresh, burning psynergy
and let it rip, demolishing the opposition. More bodies came pouring out from
the alleys, and he had barely destroyed five of them before he felt a
disturbance behind him. Cliff swerved sideways, stretched his free hand out toward
the Rat and constructed a barrier while he continued firing psynergy.
It took Mephistoclessia one tenth of a second to shoot out a miniscule
tendril from her body, which she strengthened the moment it touched Cliff's
shotgun. By the time Cliff noticed what was happening, it was too late, and his
gun was wrenched from his grasp. The Rat flung his weapon over the wall, far out
of his reach, and then began to quickly advance.
No! Cliff screamed
within his head. This is bad...I should have been concentrating more on her!
More psynergy tendrils leapt from Mephistoclessia's body as she zoomed
forward, and Cliff had barely enough time to construct a decent guard. Upon lashing
out, the Vice-Captain's defenses were instantly penetrated, and her slimy psynergy
prepared to take root in his body.
Cliff had little time to think, so he decided to go with his intuition
and take out the greatest danger by charging into it. Ignoring the zombies, he
shifted his body forward and charged at Mephistoclessia, trying to grab her thin
frame.
This is the key! I
can't let her get too far away from me, or else I'll be swarmed by her tendrils.
They move faster than I can shoot!
Cliff flailed for Mephistoclessia, feeling the zombies latch onto his
back as he did so. Finally, his hand found her bony wrist. Grabbing on tight,
he pulled her downward, hoping to somehow break her concentration. But she was
surprisingly strong, and the gunman lost momentum as the dead crowded him. Now they
were coming at him from every angle.
Cliff felt a set of jaws clamp down on his arm, signaling to him that things
were truly getting dire. Taking one more second to center his power, Cliff let
psynergy explode outward from his arms, knocking the lesser puppets from his
side like flies. Mephistoclessia's barrier crackled as it dissipated his energy.
Now, there was no question about it: she outclassed him both in physical strength
and psynergy capabilities.
But she must have some weakness... Cliff thought desperately. If only I knew what it was!
Cliff floundered. "How cowardly can you be? Quit playing around and
fight me one-on-one!"
"Physical didn’t work, so now you’re going for psychological tactics?"
Mephistoclessia scoffed. "Sorry, but I only want you dead. I don't care what
*************
it takes, I'm not leaving without the Daughter!" Bruce roared.
The bridge that he, Azuka, and Eden stood on began to whine in protest.
Flames and fireballs leapt up from the steel, engulfing them within a prison of
ember. Burning spires erupted from the canal, leaving them with nowhere to
escape.
Then, Bruce leapt toward them, fists aflame. He aimed for Azuka's chest,
and she knew that if he made contact, she wouldn't be getting back up. The
Captain tried to move her sword fast enough to parry, but quickly realized she
wouldn't make it in time. She could feel the heat of the flames burning away
not only her psynergy, but her resolve as well.
But he didn't follow through. Bruce's fist stopped centimeters before
Azuka's garments, and the flames disappeared. Instead, the Tiger spun around to
face the northern edge of the bridge. There, at the other end, stood two figures.
"Roufas?"
"There you are, Bruce," the Rabbit said tiredly, stepping out
of the shadows. Cecilia trailed behind him. "Find anything worthwhile over
here?"
"The Daughter." Bruce motioned over his shoulder. "This
is gonna save us a hell of a lotta work."
"Indeed, it might." Roufas stepped forward, looking at the two
women with calculating eyes. "In the long run, however, this may not be
the best course of action."
"What are you talking about?" Bruce moved closer to him and
lowered his voice. "How could it not be?"
Azuka flinched, focusing in on the old man and listening closely. Next
to her, Eden stood poised, aura blazing, both eyes focused on the men who
seemed to know so much about her.
"Think about it carefully, Bruce. Remember what happened with Van
Kaen. He couldn’t take her, yet you think you can?"
Bruce’s eyes went wide. "But...she's right in front of us." He
glanced back. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
"There’s a reason we never sent anyone after the Dragon," Roufas
said, glancing at Azuka and Eden. "We learned our lesson. And besides, the
Church knows we'll be here at the tournament – but I suspect they don't know
about the Daughter yet. We don't want to go biting off more than we can
chew...the Daughter can come last, after we’ve gathered the remaining clocks."
Bruce grit his teeth. "But..."
"We will face the Knights all at once, in a battle royale,"
Roufas declared. "The day after tomorrow. That was the original plan, and
we will stick to it."
Letting out a long sigh, Bruce shook his head in affirmation. "You
heard the man – you get a truce for now. You and your Knight buddies don't attack
us until the tournament, and we won't lay a finger on you, Eden, the cowboy, or
even Victoria's son. Now is that a deal or what?"
Azuka studied his eyes, then glanced to the man and woman. As odd as it
was...they did seem earnest. But something didn’t sit right with her. How
could it not benefit them to kill me now? This seems too good to be true...
"Why would we ever trust you?" Eden spoke up.
"We'll leave first," Bruce said, then turned around and put
his hands up. "And we'll call off all the others, too. So you can regroup with
your friends and go back and have a nice night in your hotel. Besides...what
choice do you have?"
Azuka grimaced, then looked to Eden with sorry eyes. "I hate to say
it...but we have to trust them here."
The Daughter looked between the adults with uncertain eyes. "Fine.
We accept."
Bruce looked to Eden. "You held off Van Kaen pretty well back in
Elysiana. I bet you're a real firecracker." He smiled one last devilish
grin, then moved to join his teammates.
"Captain Azuka..." Eden said shakily, knowing that her mentor
was equally shaken. "Please just tell me the truth already! I'm tired of being
left in the dark here!"
"You are the daughter of God," Azuka blurted out. "As much
as I wish it wasn’t true. The Seneschal said so himself. There’s great power sealed
inside of you, Eden...think of a powerful bomb capable of decimating an entire
city, then multiple it by a million dimensions. You have the power to end it all."
"What?!" Eden shouted. "I can't be that strong. I can
barely use my own psynergy!"
"I tried to teach you what I could," Azuka explained, as tears
rolled down her cheeks. "I tried to give you something to stand on, but your
power is beyond anything you and I know. It's the key to channeling the clocks
and accessing the Space-Time Continuum. If they're all brought together, and you
make contact with them...you could destroy the universe."
