74.
The Fractious Fracture
Storm clouds obscured the light of the moon as they swarmed over the
arena. Monstrous psynergy generators in the basement of the tournament complex
rumbled noisily, producing just enough power to keep the area illuminated.
Deep within the complex, one hundred psynergy specialists alternated between
shifts as they worked hard to sustain the protective barrier around the fighting
arena. They could hear Trunculo's voice, aided by his special ability to project
his voice across unfathomable distances, and knew that it was the final match of
the quarter-finals. The semi-finals were next, and they would no doubt be the toughest
to deal with.
The first drops of rain slid off the barrier, but hardly anyone in the
crowd noticed. They were all focused on the stage as Vance and Winslow leapt
violently at each other. Vance's dark purple aura clashed with Winslow's tawny
might, crackling and vibrating as their bodies collided.
Vance threw his right fist at Winslow, and the Rooster moved his left toward
Vance. Instantaneously, both of the young men snapped their other arms up to
block the blows.
"I watched your first battle," Winslow said with a smirk. "You
didn't have the balls to kill him, did you?"
"I don't bully the weak."
"It's the way of the world, Vance." Winslow's face twisted into
a violent smile. "The weak shall obey the strong!"
"Sorry." Vance shoved forward with his hands and pushed Winslow's
feet back a bit. "But I really don't feel like discussing philosophy with
you right now."
Vance abruptly changed positions and swung his right leg up toward Winslow's
neck. Winslow retracted his left hand and blocked the foot, then willed one of the
sickles out from his jacket and slashed out at his enemy.
Vance slipped his leg from Winslow's shoulder and spun away from the attack,
evading the first sickle but not the next, which had shot out from Winslow's jacket
soon after. He felt the curved blade slice through a chunk of his calf, reminding
him of that night in the mine when they'd first met. It seemed like it had all
happened eons ago, as if it was some far-off dream when everything was so much simpler
and less threatening. Now, Vance needed no one to protect him.
The sickles twirled into the air and came back around, aiming for his
jugular like mechanized dogs. Vance flipped backwards and coated his body in psynergy.
"You've got nowhere to run, Vance!" Winslow screamed. "You're
a dead man!"
From the stands, Edward watched his son scramble back and forth on the arena
floor. Vance attempted unbelievable spins and somersaults just to stay one step
ahead of the sickles, and the more Edward watched, the less he felt able to stay
quiet.
"Vance!" he finally shouted out at the top of his lungs. "This
is insane! You need to stop, before you kill yourself!"
One of Winslow’s scythes nearly sliced through Vance’s arm as his
father’s voice momentarily distracted him. With a frustrated grunt, Vance leapt
backwards and glanced up at his father.
"Dad, shut up! You’re ruining my concentration," he shouted
back. "Don’t worry! Once this is over I’ll come find you, and we’ll figure
all this out! Just hang on a little bit longer!"
"Vance!" Edward shouted again in desperation. "I’m
sorry...I’m sorry about what happened after your mother left us...I couldn’t take
it! I know it’s no excuse, but it’s the truth...I just don’t want to lose you
too!"
"You won’t," Vance said firmly, as he dodged another scythe. "Mom’s
the reason I’m here, dad. And I’m not going to give up on her now."
Edward’s eyes widened as the meaning of Vance’s words sank in, giving
Trunculo just enough time to interject.
"It looks like Vance Darcouver’s family has come out to watch him
fight! That can be pretty motivating...I wonder how Winslow must be feeling now?!"
"What’s that supposed to mean?!" Winslow roared at the
announcer. "Even you should know that normal people are watching this live
from home!"
"O-of course," Trunculo responded, shrinking back from the
young man’s raging aura. "And we’re very thankful for all our spectators,
no matter where they are..."
Frank studied the boy. "Vance seems so grown up and confident, and
he clearly knows how to fight. What happened to him?"
Dr. Phileas, who had returned to his seat with a basket of jerky, momentarily
stopped chewing and commented. "He is indeed a splendid psynergy user, but
I still refuse to believe he is your son!"
"He's my son," Edward insisted, with a mixture of fear, amazement,
and pride. "That’s Vance alright. It’s incredible."
Down below, another sickle attack gave Vance a stinging paper-thin wound
across his bicep. Winslow's magnetic psynergy flexed and fluxed with impeccable
accuracy, and the more Vance focused on dodging, the more he wasted his stamina.
"You're going to fall flat on your face before you know it, Vance!"
Winslow continued to heckle him from afar. "Just give it up and accept what
you are...complete and utter trash!"
Vance ignited his aura and blew the sickles away from his body.
"I'm sick of your bullshit, Winslow!"
"So be it!" Winslow whipped his sickles around and sent each
of them careening inwards from opposite sides. "I'll finish you right here!"
Vance closed his eyes, then recalled all his psynergy from his defenses
and focused it on his two fists. The sickles closed in, and Vance followed them
with his mind. Then, he punched outwards. In an instant, his burning fists crushed
through Winslow's dense psynergy barriers and shattered the metal blades.
Winslow's eyes widened, but he soon regained his composure and redistributed
his aura. A few seconds later, the tiny, sparkling pieces of metal clumped together,
as if drawn inwards by an invisible magnet. With a frustrated grunt, the Rooster
sent a spiked ball of metal shards zooming toward Vance's head.
In another act of defiance, Vance pulled his hands back in and released
a shockwave of purple psynergy, vaporizing the remains of Winslow's weapons.
Winslow stared down the line to the Albavitrean's cold, feral eyes and
had no choice but to stagger back. Gritting his teeth in
*************
frustration, Bruce propelled his battered body toward Zeigfried. The Tiger’s
entire body ached, but the pain only made him more determined not to fall.
Zeigfried stepped out of the way with ease, and Bruce stumbled past on sore
legs.
"How sloppy," Zeigfried commented. "Are all the Dark Zodiacs
this weak?"
His gravelly voice echoed through the deserted, ruined streets of
Enmetropolis, reaching the ears of every Knight and Zodiac alike. Standing tall
before the exhausted, Zeigfried raised his hands nonchalantly, as if awaiting
an answer.
Ravi used this opportunity to extend the eight new arms she'd materialized
out of her body straight toward the Apostle. With a flick of his wrist, Zeigfried
used his left hand to slap each of the arms away like irritating flies.
"You, on the other hand," Zeigfried said, "lack conviction."
After he regained his balance, Bruce threw out an uppercut, but as soon
as he thought his fist was actually going to hit his opponent, Zeigfried was
gone. Bruce stared at the empty space in disbelief, and then felt breath on the
back of his neck.
"I didn't come here to play with you." Zeigfried flicked the back
of Bruce's head, throwing the Tiger's body down to the ground with a painful
crunch.
Ravi could still feel psynergy coursing through her veins as a result
of her sudden awakening, but she had doubts about her body's ability to keep up
with the new power. As the rain increased and Zeigfried turned his attention to
her, doom began to creep into the yoga master's heart.
Then, a rumbling sounded in the distance. Ravi and Azuka turned their heads
and spotted Zhang Guo's massive turtle, Xuan Wu, lumbering down the highway. Upon
its back rode Rose, Kamo, and Zhang Guo.
"My," Zeigfried commented. "You're really making my job
easier."
"Bruce!" Rose instantly spotted her downed lover and leapt down
toward him. "Who did this to you?"
Zeigfried changed targets and lunged toward Rose, who reverted to her aquatic
form and mixed in with the rain at just the last second.
"Interesting," Zeigfried said with mild interest. "Another
elemental body."
He crouched down and began scanning the water on the ground, working furiously
to pick out her minute psynergy aura from the mundane water molecules.
"Let's see...you should be around here somewhere."
Wincing through the pain of his beaten body, Bruce leapt up from the
ground and tackled the Apostle. Growling with rage, he pushed his muscles to the
limit and tried to force the priest into a choke hold. Meanwhile, Rose shot up
four aquatic tentacles from puddles on the highway and wrapped them around the
man's limbs.
"Hey!" Bruce shouted. "Someone give me a hand down here!"
Zhang Guo looked at Bruce and motioned for Kamo to get off.
"Uh, okay." Kamo shrugged. "Aren't you coming too?"
Zhang Guo shook his head. "The Rabbit has stated we must not fight
the Apostles. I have done my part, and it is now time for me to meditate."
Seeing that the giant turtle was turning to leave, Kamo quickly slid
its neck and spotted his allies. "Ravi, Azuka! What the hell’s going on
here?"
"It's rather complicated," Ravi replied. "Where's Maximilian?"
"I have no clue," Kamo replied anxiously. "I haven't
seen him since we split up earlier."
"In any case, we need to stop that man."
"What?" Kamo shouted. "But he's attacking the Zodiacs, not
us!"
"For now," Ravi explained quickly. "He means to kill the
Seneschal!"
Bruce took a swing at Zeigfried, and then let out a moan of despair. Zeigfried's
body had become transparent, and the Tiger's thick arms slipped right through him.
Gradually, the Apostle's figure became hazy, and steam rose from every inch of
his body. Bruce fell to the ground with Rose's tentacles as Zeigfried rose higher,
until only his head floated on a cloud of hazy steam. He levitated above them
all, staring down like some ghostly apparition.
Kamo's jaw dropped. "Did he just vaporize his own body?"
"Fire and water are powerless against vapor," Zeigfried boomed.
"Now, prepare to face God’s wrath."
A misty tendril snaked out from Zeigfried's body and tightened itself around
Bruce's neck. The Tiger brought up his arms to try and shake it off, but golden
psynergy held it firm.
Zeigfried remained focused on the Zodiac, letting his maroon aura rage
as he tightened the tendril even further. Without an ounce of wasted movement,
Zeigfried deftly cocked his head to the side as a yellow psynergy arrow went
flying right past him.
"Hey!" Kamo called out. "Who said you could barge in here
and beat our enemies for us, pal?"
"Silence, Knight!" Zeigfried commanded, shooting another tendril
out toward Kamo. The 2nd division captain dodged swiftly, but the
steam took quick pursuit.
"Bruce!" Rose screamed, trying to use her ability to pry Zeigfried's
hand away. "Hold on!"
As Bruce gurgled and struggled to breathe, his eyes were only focused on
one thing – the shivering body of Azuka, who had yet to move from her spot in
the center of the highway.
"Azuka!" he grunted. "We could use some help here!"
But terror had taken hold of the woman's heart. Since she had been a
child, Tao had taught her to fear the Church of Holy Truths and the Apostles that
sat at the top. They were more than human, on a completely different level of
existence, and she knew she didn’t stand a chance.
On top of that, night had also fallen, crippling her powers. From the moment
Zeigfried had appeared, she’d been locked tightly in a cage of despair, and the
intense guilt and regret that filled her soul only twisted it tighter.
Azuka clenched her fists and stepped
*************
forward. Vance's eyes were calm and composed, while his opponent fumed.
"No more games, Winslow. If you have something to settle with me,
then let's settle it. Face to face, hand-to-hand...like true warriors."
Winslow threw his head back and laughed obnoxiously. "True warriors?
Are you kidding me? You, a true warrior? A coward like you, who doesn't even have
the guts to kill someone?!"
"You're half-right," Vance replied. "I'm not a murderer.
But trust me, Winslow, that doesn't make me any less powerful than you."
"But that's exactly it!" Winslow called back with glee.
"You don't know what true strength is, Vance! You don't even know the
first thing about psynergy!"
Vance sighed. "The greatest difference between you and I is the way
we look at the world."
Winslow furrowed his brow, but kept his mouth shut.
"When I first met you, we were exactly the same. I admit it. I was
an annoying, stuck-up little brat who thought that that no one understood him.
I constantly felt sorry for myself, and used pride as a shield. We fought then,
and you beat me, fair and square."
"So he admits it!" Winslow screeched. "Go on, admit your
weakness, Vance! Admit that I'm stronger than you!"
"I'm not finished," Vance went on. "The difference between
you and me, Winslow, is that I've grown since then. I know I have a lot more growing
to do – I'm reckless at times, I get impatient and annoyed, and I still shirk responsibilities.
But I've matured. Even if it's just a little, I've matured."
Winslow twitched, visibly seething as Vance went on.
"I know there are things I can't do myself. Sometimes it's better
to listen to other people's advice on things and work with other people in order
to get things done. I acknowledged that I was wrong, Winslow, and I took the
steps to make myself a better person. I did it, and I wondered if you would
too. But you're still just how you've always been: a spoiled, bitter child."
"He's grown up," Frank said, as he watched from the stands.
"But you know who he reminds me of, Ed?"
Vance's father let out a sigh. "Victoria, right?"
"No," Frank answered. "He certainly has many qualities
that she does, but the slightly awkward, candid way he speaks...that’s all you,
Ed."
Edward Darcouver turned Frank's words over in his mind. "But I was
never that strong."
Down below, Winslow was barely able to contain the immense rage that
boiled within his body. "How dare you?" he screamed. "How
dare you try and patronize me?!"
"I'm not!" Vance shouted back. "I'm just saying: I wish
you’d stop being such an ass!"
"Shut up!" Winslow hollered. His face was beet red and distorted,
like an infant having a tantrum of nuclear proportions. "Just shut up! You're
wrong! You don't know anything!"
Vance heard the sound of bending, twisting metal as the lining around
the walls of the arena began to slowly peel off and fly toward Winslow. Within
moments, they clumped together into a mass of metallic objects that floated over
the young man's head.
"You think you understand me?!" Winslow shrieked again, crackling
with psynergy as he poured his power into the colossal ball. "You don't
know the first thing about me, and you never will!"
A smile crept across Averyl's face as he watched the two boys from his waiting
room. Winslow's ball cracked and clashed with the psynergy barrier around the arena,
piercing it at its highest point as the mass continued to grow larger and more
powerful.
Averyl couldn't keep himself from shaking with anticipation as he focused
in on his nephew. "Now, the final portion of your training begins, Vance.
Don't let me down. Give me a glimpse the power that lies dormant inside you...the
limitless power of the Nephilim!"
Next: Severance