70.
O.D.ed
"Here's contestant #2499, Winslow Bandeaux!" Trunculo announced
as Winslow sauntered up to the platform. "Valedictorian of his graduating class
at the Vonnornoth Psynergy Research Institute – a genius for sure, but don't
call him a bookworm, or he might just be inclined to dissect you!"
Winslow placed his hand over the breast of his institute coat, bowed
extravagantly, and smiled at the crowd. Not many people smiled back.
"Coming up from the southern sector, we have Jordan Skye! He came
into the tournament with his trusty laser pistols, but due to a catastrophe that
happened during the final preliminary round, both of them were accidentally destroyed!
Will this experienced fighter be able to win the battle without his own weapons?!"
A short man with ear-length white hair and a curled mustache stepped up
to the platform. He wore a thick combat vest lined with vials of glowing liquid,
while straps on his leather leggings held two empty gun holsters.
"Alright, boys!" Trunculo called out. "Get ready, get set,
aaaaaand...fight!"
Winslow immediately removed a sickle from the confines of his jacket
and held it up to his opponent. "Here. You lost your weapon in the previous
round, didn't you? Take one of mine."
Jordan put his fists up defensively. "What are they, set to explode?
Don't make me laugh!"
"Come on, just take it." Winslow offered one of the sickles out
with an earnest expression on his young face. "It's against my code of honor
to attack an unarmed man. I just can't do it, and I'd be no good in a fistfight.
Let's have a fair match here."
Jordan raised an eyebrow skeptically. "How do I know it's not rigged?"
"Look." Winslow held the sickles up in the air. "See? They
both have nicks, scratches, and bloodstains on them. They are my beloved weapons
of choice. Would you rig your own guns to explode?"
Jordan inched a bit closer to his opponent. "So be it. Just throw
it in the center there."
"Fine." Winslow tossed the sickle into the center of the
arena. "I'll wait until you pick it up and move back to your spot to start."
"Most gracious of you."
Jordan walked carefully over to the sickle, then looked into Winslow's
eyes once more. He slowly bent down, reached out his hand to the weapon, and then,
without grabbing it, charged straight toward his opponent.
"Fool!" he screamed, releasing a psynergy blast from both hands.
"You actually thought I'd–"
But it was too late. The sickle had flown up behind the man, and since he
had focused his psynergy on his hands, his jugular was left completely open. Winslow's
sickle whirled in a clean arc and slashed straight through Jordan's neck. Blood
squirted out as he collapsed, and Winslow's sickle floated softly back across the
arena into his hands.
"What an idiot!" Winslow cackled, arching his back as his obnoxious
laughter reached its peak. "Stupid old fart! I can't believe he even made
it this far!"
"Yes, I know, I know, not much of a battle!" Trunculo spoke
up nervously over the booing crowd. "But at least you got some bloodshed! In
any case, Winslow has proven himself the winner of the seventh round! Congratulations!
Now someone get out here and clean that guy up before he stains the entire
arena!"
Winslow continued to chuckle as he spun his sickles around his fingers
and taunted the crowd..
"Vance!" he shouted as he brought one of the sickles up to his
neck and slid it across the air. "You're next! And your death will be a thousand
times more satisfying!"
"Alrighty then!" Trunculo sang. "Let's proceed on to the
eighth and final exhibition battle! Would contestants #2062 and #4001 please
come on down!"
Vance took one look back at the darkened Regeneration Tank. Eden was still
sleeping softly, perhaps for the better. He opened the portal and walked
outside.
"Say hello to contestant #2062, Krys Rundle! His line of work, is uh..."
Trunculo stopped suddenly as the screen flashed to a tall, bony man with grungy
blond hair, glazed-over eyes and snaggled teeth. "Err, um, well, anyway,
he's a very skilled fighter! Facing him in this match is contestant #4001: Vance
Darcouver!"
Edward and Frank stared in dead shock as they watched the 17-year old boy
make his way onto the platform. Time seemed to stop as he stood there, with a
face that looked ten years older from when Edward had last seen him. Ragged and
falling apart, the jacket Victoria had given him still sat on his shoulders.
"Vance Darcouver got pretty beat-up when he went head-to-head with
a psynergy-munching mutant in the preliminary round, but he managed to come out
on top! I'm sure he'll give Krys a run for his money!"
"Ed..." Frank gasped, staring at the close-up of Vance's face
on the holographic projection as if it was a ghost. "Could it really be?"
Edward didn't reply. All he could do was sit, frozen in disbelief as he
tried to make sense of what was happening. The reality of it all just seemed too
insane to be true. My son is in an alternate dimension...in a brutal deathmatch...and
made it to the finals?!
Trunculo quieted down the crowd. "Alright! On your mark! Get set!"
Edward watched as Vance held two psynergy-charged hands out. That’s
my son...my one and only son...
"Vance!" Edward suddenly shot up from his seat, tears running
down his eyes. "Vance, it's your father! It's me!"
Vance could barely hear the man bellowing from high up on the stands,
but he turned his head. It was hard to recognize at first, but there was no mistaking
the sound of his voice.
"No way..." he gasped, as his eyes focused in on the tiny
figure of his father. Then, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. "Dad?"
*
Once it grew to the size of a blimp, the gravity vacuum above Enmetropolis
finally ceased its expansion. Then, like a hungry titan, it slowly drew trees,
cars, and stray fragments of buildings into its gaping maw.
Below it, collapsed and bloodstained on the ground, Cecilia stared up to
her creation with tired, albeit proud eyes. Next to her stood Ravi, gazing at
the gate of death in disbelief.
"Where does it lead?!" Ravi asked the collapsed Sheep.
"You created it, didn't you?! Where does it go?"
Cecilia coughed and got a hold of her breath as she prepared to answer
the question. "My research tells me that it leads to a self-sufficient pocket
dimension which, upon reaching critical mass, will release an equal amount of
antimatter, thereby destroying all it's absorbed in the blink of an eye."
"And when's critical mass?"
"Good question," Cecilia replied with a hollow laugh.
"You're insane," Ravi growled. "How could you do something
so irresponsible?! It must be closed!"
"But I don't know how," Cecilia said. "I've never attempted
this before. Only you, Ravi...only you have pushed me this far. And I thank you
for it."
Ravi took a deep breath, considering her options. She could feel the
traction from the void growing stronger with every second. If it continued to
spread into the city, more innocent lives would be lost for nothing.
"Come, lay with me," Cecilia murmured. "Let's get swallowed
up together."
"I have other plans," Ravi spat, as she summoned up all the
psynergy within her body. "Seal #6...Anja...I release you!"
A blue light shot out from the area just above Ravi's eyes, and she took
to the skies. This time, it was not arms that shot out from her back, but wings:
two shining wings that carried her toward the abyss.
Ravi's body was on fire as she shot forward. I honestly don't know
if I'll make it out of this alive...but such is my duty. I'd rather die honorably
than live out a coward's life. I have no regrets. Great Teacher...lend me your
strength!
Cecilia cackled, coughing up blood as Ravi zoomed toward the void.
"Even if you do manage to bring it to critical mass, the dispersion of all
that extra energy will kill you. You'll die, just like me!"
Ravi reached the edge of the void, feeling gravity sucking at her body.
Prepared for death, she looked down on the rift with a calm, serene expression,
and then opened her mouth one last time.
"Final Seal...Sahasrara...I release you!" she howled, as all of her remaining energy
loosened the last harness from her body.
A crown of light shot out from Ravi's forehead, and her body went numb,
bathed in a golden glow. She felt nothing and everything, and her mind was at
total peace. Each element that made up the matter around her seemed perfectly
shaped and interlocked with the next. It all made sense, and it felt so calming.
In that moment, Ravi knew that she was one with the universe, and felt truly
enlightened.
"Chidakasa..."
she murmured, then extended a shining golden arm and shoved it into the void.
Overloaded with energy, the void exploded brilliantly into the early
evening sky like a psychedelic firework. Cecilia raised her arms, waiting to be
immolated along with all the other matter.
As the last of Cecilia's consciousness slipped away, she was left with
one final image. Among all of Ravi's enhanced beauty, there had been one abnormality
in the center of the woman’s forehead: framed by the beautiful wings, shining
crown, and golden luster of Ravi’s skin, she could see a shining third eye.
*
Vance took a shaky step toward the stands, eyes focused only on Edward.
"Dad? What in the hell are you doing–"
The Albavitrean let out a surprised cry of pain as a fist connected with
the side of his face. His body skidded across the arena, and he nearly slipped
off into the grass.
"Vance!" Edward shouted, reaching out from his seat to his
endangered son.
"Who is this boy you keep prattling on about?" Phileas asked
with an irritated frown.
"My son," Edward answered proudly. "That's my son down
there – Vance."
"What?!" Dr. Phileas croaked. "Surely you jest!"
"No," Vance's father continued. "I lost him two months
ago, but now...I finally found him."
"This is impossible!" the doctor exclaimed, in clear and honest
denial of Edward's words. "Look! Just look down there!"
The three watched as Vance picked himself up from the ground and fired
a blast of retaliation back toward his opponent.
"That boy's using psynergy!" Dr. Phileas explained. "The
very power that no being born on Earth can use!"
"But it's him." Frank stared down at Vance. "I've known
Ed for many years now, Dr. Phileas, and his son as well. It doesn't make sense,
but I'm sure of it too. That's Ed's boy."
Below, Vance watched as his foe dodged his blast. "I hope you enjoyed
that punch!" he shouted. "Because that's the first and last one you're
gonna get on me!"
Krys giggled, giving everyone a good glimpse at his snaggled, yellow
teeth. "But we've only just begun..."
Vance struggled to keep his eyes on his opponent through his urges to look
back at his father. His mind remained muddled as Krys pulled a long, fat syringe
out of his pocket. When he stabbed the long needle into one of the pulsating veins
on his neck, he sighed in ecstasy.
"Yes...." Krys groaned, as his muscles pulsated and grew to
twice their original mass. His sickly demeanor disappeared, his eyes lit up,
blood returned to his face, and his mouth twisted into a triumphant smile.
"Woah!" Trunculo shouted. "What gruesome concoction did Krys
have in that syringe?! He just transformed into a bodybuilder from Hell...and
yet Vance is hardly even paying attention! There's no telling what either of them
are going to do next!"
Why is dad here?! Vance
screamed within his mind. First, Averyl tells me he's my uncle, then Naomi
shows up, and now, my own father! Why is it that wherever I go, I can never
escape my own family?! This is too much of a coincidence. What is he–
Vance's thoughts were severed again when Krys's bulking fists crashed
down upon his head, throwing him to the ground.
"Vance!" Edward screamed. "Get up, Vance!"
With a frustrated growl, Vance pushed Krys's monstrous arms off and lifted
himself up from the ground. "Okay, I was wrong. That was the last
hit!"
"If only you knew..." Krys moaned as he injected himself with
another syringe. "But you wouldn't understand, boy. It's too beautiful...too
beautiful..."
Vance put his fists together and struggled to concentrate psynergy. But
it was no use – he was far too shaken up.
"You're weak!" Krys roared. "I'm in heaven, and you're a
lowly maggot!"
The bulking man slammed his leg into Vance's chest and lifted him off
the ground.
"Ohhh...the beautiful lights!" Krys stared up into the sky as
he followed through with his attack. "They're calling to me!"
Vance's body crashed back onto the stone in a crumpled heap. He cringed,
rubbing his abdomen, then staggered to his feet once more.
As his muscles continued to quiver and expand, Krys lumbered over to
his prey. "I'll teach you the beauty...the beauty of my..."
"Vance!" Edward shouted, watching as the brute attacked his only
child a fourth time. His mind was racing, and he shouted the first thing that came
to his mind. "You can do it! Kick his ass!"
Something snapped within the 17-year old. In a flash, Vance held up his
right arm and blocked Krys' massive fist with the palm of his hand. His dark eyes
burned with a violet glow, and the sheer density of his roaring aura caused his
opponent to stumble backwards in surprise.
Vance pulled back his arm once more. "My turn."
The crowd was silent as Vance swung his fist forward, unleashing his
psynergy just as he made contact with Krys's cheek. A shockwave erupted through
the arena, and the man went flying backwards across the landscape. Trunculo barely
dove out of the way in time as Krys cleared the surrounding grass area in an
instant, then finally came to a stop deep within the æsotech wall below the stands.
A symphony of snapping bones sounded through the man's body as his momentum was
displaced.
"Wh-whew!" Trunculo slid back into his seat and stared at the
crater in the wall behind him. "Well, there you have it, folks! With a
single punch, Vance has subdued his opponent and won the eighth round!"
Trunculo crept over to the beaten man and poked him. Slowly, Krys's body
fell out from the wall and crashed to the ground.
"Yeowch! That's gonna leave a mark! Looks like he's still kickin',
though! Get him outta here!"
"He won..." Edward watched as the camera followed his son's peaceful
face. "But how?"
"He must have used psynergy," Frank said.
"A single punch..." Phileas muttered. "He’s really that
strong?"
"What'd you say?" Edward spun to face the doctor.
"Oh, um..." For the first time, Phileas seemed a bit flustered.
"Your son is indeed very strong. Why, I'd say that his aura was one of the
strongest we've seen so far – nothing compared to that girl who transformed
herself into a living energy bullet, but still."
Edward turned back to the arena. "He seems so different."
"He looks just like her," Frank chimed in. "He's got her
strength."
"Victoria." Edward whispered. The very sound of her voice brought
him to tears. "Even after all this time, she's still with us."
Next: Chill My Bones
