100

 

100.  The Killing Hand

 

Averyl's body was nothing but a block of stone, lying helpless before the withered body of Zhang Guo. Off to the side, Saffron had his eyes closed in exhaustion, silently cursing the fate that had brought both he and Averyl to their deathbeds.

 

"Yes...it's all over." The monk hacked up a bit of blood as he savored his victory. "Rest in peace."

 

"Rest in peace?" Another Averyl called out as he crept up behind Zhang Guo and snapped both of the Boar's arms as if they were twigs. "No...that you will not do..."

 

The monk fell to his knees and let out a bellow of pain. "H-how?! I-I tracked you...your aura...I tracked it perfectly!"

 

"Not so..." Averyl stuck a heeled boot onto Zhang Guo's head and smashed his body onto the hard ground. "That petrified man over there is just another clone."

 

In disbelief, the Boar watched as the clone dissipated. "But its aura...its aura was easily the strongest of them all!"

 

"Exactly..." Averyl's grin widened. "During the fire, I emptied 90% of my remaining aura into yet another clone, which I knew would stick out as if it was the host. At the same time, I had a weaker clone use its remaining psynergy to quickly slice open a void to another dimension in the ground. This was finished approximately the same time I had the powerful clone dash over to the corner, knowing you would be focused on the strongest aura, as that was your only way of ascertaining which Averyl was the real one...which meant that you would most likely ignore the sudden disturbance of the tiny void in space. As the flames died down, I slipped into the void with only 10% of my power remaining so that I could escape detection and return when the time was right..."

 

At a loss for words, Zhang Guo could only blubber in response.

 

"Your 'third eye' has deceived you!" Averyl shouted, as he dug his spiky boot deeper into Zhang Guo's bones. "Shame on you for thinking you had outsmarted me, you old fool...a man of your experience should have known better..."

 

A small, creaking sound escaped from Zhang Guo's smothered mouth. It sounded like laughter.

 

"It's too bad..." Zhang Guo muttered. "All that hard work of yours is in vain..."

 

Averyl raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

 

"While you were wasting your time on me, Grayson has assumed control over the key to the space-time continuum. You have lost sight of the true war...the world is finished..."

 

"The world...?" Averyl echoed. "You actually think I care about saving the world...?"

 

A choked gargle escaped from Zhang Guo's throat.

 

"How stupid can you be? Oh, that's right, you sewed your own eyes shut..." Averyl bent closer, drawing blood as the point of his heel slipped through the soft flesh of Zhang Guo's cranium. "A vacuous mind like yours...is truly beyond help."

 

"Wait..." Tears rushed from Zhang Guo's eyes as his pain overwhelmed him. "I’m sorry, I..."

 

"I only care about one thing...destroying all those who stole my sister from me." With that, Averyl stomped straight through Zhang Guo's skull. A cacophony of grotesque squelches echoed loudly through the cavern as brain and viscera exploded onto the ground like the innards of a massive grape.

 

"A-amazing!" Saffron choked out, as he watched Averyl walk away from the grisly mess. "After witnessing that valiant battle, I am proud to die at the hands of such a magnificent warrior!"

 

Averyl smirked. "Who says you're going to die...?"

 

"B-but..." Saffron gasped. "I too am a Zodiac!"

 

"You had nothing to do with their crime, and you know it..." Averyl's gaze sparkling with a trace of pity. "The weak and the prideful are the only ones I cannot help but kill. You, however..." Averyl's eyes glowed. "You want to fight with Vance again, don't you?"

 

Saffron nodded slowly.

 

"You were instrumental in his development, and for that...there is value in leaving you alive. It'd be a waste if you died here..."

 

"What grace..." Saffron pinched his eyes shut. "'Zounds, what auspicious camaraderie! By the stars on Orion's belt, I–"

 

"Enough..." Averyl moved past the Dog. "I don't have much psynergy left, so I can't be responsible for you here on out...you and Rose can go through the portal I opened in the ground. It leads to friends who will heal you...and further opponents, potentially."

 

"What about you, sire?" Saffron asked, as Averyl began to hoist him up and drag him roughly across the ground.

 

Averyl chuckled. "Don’t you have enough to worry about? You've managed to completely wreck your body twice within a very short timespan..."

 

"Forsooth." Saffron's eyes gleamed. "'Twill not happen again, I assure thee."

 

"There...crawl through that slit in the ground...it shouldn't hurt..." A glint flashed in Averyl's eyes. "Too much..."

 

"Godspeed!" Saffron called out as he fell through the floor. "I am forever in thy debt!"

 

Soon after, Madeleine appeared from the shadows, carrying Rose's patched-up body in her arms. "I managed to fix her up for now, but she needs medical attention quick."

 

Averyl raised an eyebrow. "My, how considerate of you..."

 

"I just didn't want Bruce to get pissed at me later," Madeleine said, averting her eyes.

 

"But of course..."

 

"Vance and Eden’s auras are gone," Madeleine said. "What happened to them?"

 

Averyl gazed down at the dark expanse. "Good question..."

 

*

 

Edward, Frank, Nathan, Tao, and Sasuke were frozen where they stood at the top of Sasuke's pagoda. In the center, drenched in the remains of Naomi stood the naked body of Grayson Lee.

 

"You opened a portal inside her body?!" Sasuke gasped. "How...how is that even possible?!"

 

"Now, now, Sasuke..." Grayson rasped. "It's been so long. I'd expect a warmer greeting from such an old friend."

 

"What do you want, Grayson?" Tao asked. "Why did you come here?"

 

"I suppose it was none other than my eminence that led me here." Grayson passed his eyes around the room. "Just as it led you to me. The last links to Victoria's machinations...ah, it feels so good to tie up loose ends."

 

Nathan stepped forward. "You won’t lay a finger on them..."

 

Flabbergasted, Grayson watched as the boy bit his own wrist. Nathan sunk his teeth in deeper, and tendrils of crimson psynergy shot out toward Grayson.

 

Grayson let the psynergy touch his skin, watching in curiosity as it began to fester and pustule, melting as if it had been drenched in acid.

 

"What the...?" Grayson wrenched his right hand up and ripped out a piece of Nathan's shoulder. Another geyser of blood splashed over him, beginning the process all over again.

 

With a pained scream Nathan fell to the ground and backed away. Frank and Edward sweated as they watched Nathan's blood eat through the Snake's hand and work its way up his arm.

 

"Please," Edward begged. "Please, for God's sake, make this work!"

 

Grayson let out a high-pitched scream as his hand was devoured and his body fell to the ground. Soon, he was nothing but a disintegrating pile on the ground.

 

Edward kept his eyes on the expression of excruciating agony on Grayson's face. He was so focused, in fact, that he didn’t immediately notice when Grayson reverted back to his calm smirk and started softly chuckling. But when his brain finally caught up, it made him want to die right then and there.

 

As Nathan’s power faded, soft white skin began to grow out from the gnarled stumps of Grayson’s body. He laughed, and his organs stretched themselves back out from within and reconnected tissue as if his entire life was being rewound. Green-and-citrus psynergy overpowered the Nathan's blood until it was no more.

 

"What an amusing ability. You've certainly whet my appetite."

 

Incredulous, Nathan looked back to his allies. "Why...why isn’t he dying?!"

 

"How..." Tao gasped. "How do you have that ability?!"

 

"Isn't it obvious?" Grayson's lean, muscular body looked pristine and spotless. "The Daughter's blood now flows through my veins."

 

"No..." Sasuke gasped. "But that's impossible!"

 

"No wonder I found Phileas in such bad shape," Grayson said with a smirk, then moved toward Nathan. "That's quite the power you've got there. Mind trying it again?"

 

Before Grayson took another step, Sasuke leapt out from behind his desk and grabbed him in a bear hug.

 

"Master Sasuke!" Roto shouted, then immediately followed suit and supported his employer from behind. The demonkin let his wintergreen aura rage, pushing back Grayson’s might.

 

"Everyone, get back!" Sasuke yelled, amplifying his chiffon aura as he spoke. "Run into the other room, now!"

 

"B-but..." Nathan desperately tried to send out more blood from his body. "But I..."

 

"That is an order!" Tao screamed, as Sasuke and Grayson's clashing auras caused the entire pagoda to shake. "As a Knight of the 4th Division, you must obey!"

 

Grayson smirked, flexed his green might and slowly coiled it around Sasuke and Roto’s bodies. Realizing the imminent danger, Tao rushed up and grabbed Grayson from the front, interlocking his arms with his brother’s and further stifling the green tendrils with his own honeydew aura.

 

"What are you doing?" Sasuke growled. "There’s a makeshift portal set up in the other room...you can all use that to escape!"

 

"Come on, brother..." Tao said darkly. "You won’t even allow me this kind of retribution?"

 

Nathan only got one last look back at his mentor before Frank grabbed the boy by his collar and rushed him into the other room. Inside the small study, a portal shimmered on a hanging curtain that was attached to an aesotech contraption.

 

"Go on," Frank said, helping Nathan through the portal. "You still have your whole life ahead of you, kid. Don’t throw it away here!"

 

"B-but..." Nathan stammered. "The Seneschal...I can't just..."

 

"Don't think like that!" Edward shouted, face flushed and sweating. "You have parents, don't you, son? They must be worried sick about you. Now, go, damm

 

*************

 

it..." Sasuke heaved, still paralyzed by Grayson's psynergy in the main room of his office. "Edgar and I should have killed you back when we had the chance!"

 

"Tao, Sasuke you’re both alone now..." Grayson cooed. "While you've been hiding, I've been very busy. Everything you worked to achieve has become mine – including the Daughter. In the end, all your hard work has done nothing but benefit me. How does it feel?"

 

"Grayson..." Sasuke growled. "If the Daughter's psynergy really has been attached to you somehow...then I should be able to remove it!"

 

But Grayson continued to laugh. "Within months, that planet you love so much will be a chunk of wasted rock...and I will be your new God."

 

"Grayson!" Veins bulged on Sasuke's forehead as he expelled all of his aura in a single instant, trying to negate the Daughter's gift. "Die!"

 

"I'm sorry..."Tao whispered softly. "Victoria, Edgar, Roufas, Sasuke...I'm so sorry!"

 

The pagoda shook violently as Sasuke's psynergy converged on Grayson, then exploded through the room and crumbled his haven into the sea. Floor by floor, the pagoda collapsed, until the top room landed softly on top of a mountain of rubble, suspended solely by the force of Sasuke's psynergy.

 

Finally, his power dissipated, revealing a mountain of ruin that stretched along the coast of the small island and into the sea. Edward and Frank's bodies lay nearby the totaled remains of the portal, both protected by a layer of green psynergy. As the smoke cleared, Tao struggled to pick up his battered body from the rubble. Beside him lay the gored bodies of Sasuke and Roto, who seemingly took the brunt of the blast.

 

"No..." Tao moaned, scanning the landscape frantically. "No!!"

 

Grayson was perched on a rock nearby, looking perfectly unharmed. "Looking for something?"

 

Tao moaned. "I should have stayed by his side...if only we’d kept working together..."

 

"The power of God runs through my veins," Grayson declared loudly. "Worship me or die."

 

"Worship you?" Tao burst into a laugh. "You’re an insane psychopath!"

 

Grayson grinned proudly, then opened his palm and vaporized the body of Tao Fukunaga. A sadistic grin spread onto his face, and he moved over to the unscathed bodies of his two co-workers. Trapped within Grayson’s eminence, the two of them could do nothing but stare back in horror.

 

"Well?" Grayson asked eagerly. "Aren’t you going to thank me? I just shielded you from that whole mess, you know. Now that I think about it, I kept you safe during the tournament, too..."

 

"What are you going to do now?" Frank spat. "Kill us?"

 

"Kill you? Oh no, I would never do such a thing," Grayson said sweetly. "You see, I'm a fair God. I would never exterminate one of my own servants. That’s right...I need you to serve me. Since the beginning of time, this has been the only reason I have kept you men alive. Your voices will ring out to the people of Earth, heralding the joys of the second coming – that their God has sent a new disciple to save them. They will flock to me, like the mindless sheep they are, and assist me in my quest to free our world from the inferior God who holds it ransom. A new age has begun, gentlemen: the apocalypse is nigh."

 

*

 

Holy psynergy cast a warm light over the Daughter's body as she softly slept on the hard rock. Not a trace remained of the killing machine that had once been Van Kaen. The caverns of Pandemonium were quiet and dark, save for the glowing golden being who stood above Eden.

 

Zeigfried crouched down next to Eden, placing a gentle hand on her naked chest as it slowly rose and fell.

 

"Finally..." A single tear dropped from Zeigfried’s eye. "Finally, we have found you. My son has betrayed not just me, but the entire human race, and God himself...but all is not lost. Now that you’re with us, we have more hope than ever. You will assist us just as God intended...you will lead us to paradise."

 

*

 

Vance awoke to cold hard tile. His bones ached, as if they had been frozen for ages. He could remember the black void spreading out through the fiery depths of Pandemonium, swallowing matter into its dark mouth, but that was all.

 

Peeling his eyes open, he adjusted his vision and stared ahead. Blue and white tiles stretched out along the floor, blackened with decades of grime, dirt, and decay. He rolled his eyeballs up, not yet ready to shift his right arm from its awkward position between his left arm and torso. Directly above his head was a small puddle of transparent liquid, dripping down from a toilet bowl caked with a thick amount of human filth.

 

Resisting the urge to sniff what was surely a putrid stench, Vance gripped the grease-slicked floor with his bare hands and pulled himself up. He was surrounded by four navy blue walls, each decorated with different messages. "TERRY SUX COK" – "EAT MY SHIT" and other colorful derivatives filled his vision as he rose to sore, shaky feet.

 

Vance nearly knocked the stall door off its hinges as he burst out and stared around the dimly-lit bathroom. Yellowed, cracked walls enclosed two urinals and a solitary sink.

 

As soon as Vance moved over to the sink, he realized his body was covered in dried blood. He hurt from head to toe, and many of his wounds were still open. He turned on the faucet with a screech, and brown water trickled out over his crimson hands.

 

At that moment, a middle-aged man with a University of Pittsburgh sweater and a fanny pack came walking in. He took one look at Vance, dropped his jaw, and quickly retraced his steps.

 

That sweater. It can't be...

 

The Albavitrean raced out of the bathroom and felt the warm sensation of sunlight wash over his body. Around him, green hills were peppered with thick evergreen trees and heavy foliage, surrounding a four-lane highway. Next to the tiny bathroom was a rest stop, complete with a Sbarro restaurant and a nearly-deserted parking lot.

 

I've been here before.

 

And he knew exactly when. Four years ago, he’d driven down this highway with his father and mother. They stopped at this exact rest stop and ate pizza right before they took Victoria to the airport for what she had claimed was going to be a rather lengthy business trip. Vance saw it all in his mind's eye again: his mother bent down and kissed his forehead, looked at him with glowing, dark eyes, and said farewell. That was the last time he’d ever seen her.

 

The memory cut off, and Vance felt something hit him. It was more powerful than any psynergy blast he had ever experienced, and dropped him to his knees. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he slammed his bruised fists down on the pavement.

 

Sitting on the floor of his living room, watching the cars drive down the road outside, hoping that his mom would be in one of them, coming home from work.

 

Holding her hand tightly as she led him to the park, where they would sit together, and he would pick flowers for her.

 

Having a nightmare as a young boy and running into her room where she would embrace him with arms stronger than any monster.

 

The memories continued on, flashing one by one until he came across a scene he didn’t remember. Vance and Eden standing in the living room of his old house, smiling over to Victoria and Edward. Held in Eden’s eyes was a small baby girl with black hair and green eyes. It was nothing he’d experienced before, yet there it was in his heart, a vibrant fragment of a dream, just as real as any other memory. Then, as soon as it had appeared, it faded into the void of his subconscious: a shattered remnant of an impossible dream.

 

Vance grit his teeth as his lower lip began to tremble.

 

I failed...I failed them all.

Next: Home