131

 

131.  In My Darkest Hour

 

You've always been your worst enemy.

 

The words echoed through Vance's mind as pain bathed him. The scab-spiked foot lodged in his back slid in deeper, and Dillion grinned.

 

Kill him... one side of him whispered. Kill them all.

 

Chromosomes of destruction meshed with Vance's subconscious and urged the young man to take a life. Enraged, he teleported his right hand once more and fastened it around the killer's leg. With a pained lurch, he yanked the extremity out of his back and blasted Dillion back into the crowd.

 

"No!" Dillion roared. "I've waited years for this! I want my freedom!"

 

The remaining prisoners reactivated their assault, seeking to take advantage of the gaping hole in Vance's back. But the wounds barely fazed him, dwarfed by the mental agony that throttled his soul.

 

What right do I have to kill anyone? the other side asked.

 

Vance looked down to Dillion. The man struggled to rise to his knees.

 

You've felt the urge to kill people before. What's the difference here?

 

Vance readjusted his gaze and focused on the remaining combatants. While the fury in their eyes was vibrant, their auras were minuscule.

 

They're weak, Vance realized. I see them as smaller than me. Pathetic beings worthy of pity. I think I'm better than them.

 

"Averyl," Vance called out as he raised his arms. "I'm grateful for you training me, but I'm done with this. You can't tell me what to do anymore. I'm handling this my way, and if you don't like it, you can come down here and fight me again for all I care!"

 

Vance Darcouver compacted metapsynergy inside his body and raised his fists in a defensive stance. The prisoners were upon him again. Dozens of malicious auras flashed in his brain, and ancient Albavitrean genes activated once more within his blood.

 

"I'm not going to let anyone control me," Vance said calmly. "Not even the voices in my own head!"

 

At that moment, for possibly the first time in his life, Vance felt truly unstoppable.

 

A shoe with a buzzsaw attached came within a millimeter of his eye before he caught it, swung the prisoner sideways and crushed her into five others. After sniping each one with tiny bullet-sized psynergy blasts, Vance shifted his heels outwards and dropped his hips, crushing two crawling killers before they could sever his Achilles' tendons. This move simultaneously allowed him to dodge a rhinoceros shaped mass of psynergy that had been fired from a demented-looking circus ringleader.

 

The futile battle continued on. Vance gave every desperate prisoner a chance just like he promised, entertaining a gaggle of arms, legs, and teeth that attempted to mutilate his body. The number of small portals in front of Vance soon multiplied, until more than half of the attacks coming toward him had been redirected toward someone else. Angered cries and roars of indignation sounded out through the chamber, and after five more minutes, only one more remained standing.

 

"Damn you..." Dillion seethed. "Damn you to hell!"

 

Screaming curses, Dillion came running, so Vance extended his pinky finger. With a violet spark, the criminal fell.

 

And so, the battle ended. Vance leapt up to the center of the ceiling, reached into space and ripped it apart. Once again, he searched through the threads of space for a familiar one. Passing by Earth's thread, he plunged deeper, bypassing countless lines bursting with energy until he grasped one unforgettable location: Enmetropolis.

 

"Vance!" Averyl called out. "What do you think you're doing?"

Purple tendrils of space flickered in and out from the dark void. Vance fell to the ground and glared up at his uncle with rebellious eyes. "Ending this my way."

 

"You're abandoning your training?" Averyl stared down coldly. "Don't you care about finding Eden anymore?"

 

"They have nothing to do with me," Vance went on, ignoring his uncle. "Killing these people will bring me nothing good."

 

"Wait!" One bloodied man lifted himself to his knees. "Don't send me off, Vance. You're amazing! Let me work for you!"

Vance chuckled. "No thanks."

 

"I'll never forget what you did to me!" a raspy voice screeched. "And once I heal myself, I'm coming back to claim your soul!"

 

"You are a man among men!" a black knight called out. "The name of Vance Darcouver shall go down in infamy!"

 

"Shut up!" Vance silenced the crowd. "I'm not doing this for you. Just consider yourselves lucky."

 

"Wh-what?!" Someone coughed, as the void above began to stretch open. "What is this?!"

 

"Therapy."

 

Vance clapped his hands together and released a purple wave that cleanly swept the rest of the criminals into the beyond. With his work completed, he allowed his psynergy to dissipate, giving matter a chance to flow back in and fill the void.

 

"Do what you will, Averyl." Vance turned back to his uncle. "But as far as I'm concerned, I'm done."

 

"Indeed, you are." Averyl floated down to the floor with a wry smile. "Your training is complete, Vance."

 

"What?" A childish expression of shock surfaced on Vance's face. "But..."

           

Averyl smirked. "Why would I want to force you to do something I could so easily do myself? I just wanted some entertainment."

 

Vance snorted. "Convenient you would say that now. And here I was, assuming you wanted to train me to be some kind of cold-blooded killer."

 

"The reason I've put so much blood and sweat into you is because I know you are capable of things I am not – capable of thinking up possibilities that I never would. I simply wanted you to realize that as well."

 

"You could have just told me that!" Vance shouted.

 

"I could have." Averyl licked his lips. "But I wanted to do things my way."

 

After another quick rest and regeneration session, Vance and Averyl finally returned to West Virginia, both clad in brand new back cloaks.  Vance had only taken a few steps into the forested mountains before he felt a familiar, milky white psynergy creep up toward him.

 

Vance's face faltered when he saw Wendy Caskett step out from behind a tree. She wore a black-and-red lace dress with an underbust corset, and had an excited smile on her face.

 

"I missed you, Vance!" Wendy said, running up and throwing her arms around him. "How did your training go?!"

 

"Uh, fine..." Vance stammered, as he felt Wendy move up and give him an intimate hug. She placed a warm hand on the back of his head, the first caring touch he'd received in what felt like an eternity. He was shocked by how reassuring it felt, and couldn't help but hug her back.

 

She pulled her head back and looked deep into his eyes. "You look even more handsome than the last time I saw you," she marveled. "What happened?"

 

"N-nothing," Vance laughed awkwardly, hiding his embarrassment.

 

"You can't imagine how bored I was these last few weeks, Vance!" Wendy on. "The single spar I had with you was a thousand times more exciting than all the time I had to spend beating up those two lunkheads! What took you so long, anyway?"

 

"You know him." Vance nudged his chin over to Averyl. "Guy's really strong. And an asshole."

 

Wendy giggled. "Well, come on! I was afraid I was going to miss your special day, so I'm glad Uncle Averyl managed to bring you back in time."

 

"My special day?" Vance glanced over at Averyl with slitted eyes, looking for confirmation of yet another plot.

 

"Today's November 14..." Averyl said. "Ring any bells, Vance?"

 

Vance's eyes went wide. "My birthday...I turn 18 today."

 

"Ding ding!" Wendy said happily, as they began walking deeper into the mountains, Averyl trailing steadily behind. "I have a cake all prepared in our cabin."

 

Wendy casually slipped Vance's arm around her waist, and he felt resistance toward the idea of removing it. The sky was clear blue, with puffy clouds floating here and there, and he could hear birds chirping in the trees. The peaceful atmosphere felt almost alien.

 

Past a few more trees, Vance spotted the clearing where his second training session had first begun. Next to the two wooden cabins sat Winslow, emptying rocks out of his shoes with a frown on his face. He slowly turned his eyes up to Vance, but didn't make a sound.

 

"Hey," Vance called out. "How've you been?"

 

"Oh, just great," Winslow growled. "Your...whatever-she-is was nice enough to use me as a punching bag while you were gone."

 

Vance ignored the bleating and looked around. "Wait, where's Bruce?"

 

"Oh, him?" Wendy rolled her eyes. "He gave up a while ago and left."

 

"He left?!" Vance shouted. "Where did he go?"

 

Winslow coughed and lowered his voice. "To hell with this! I'm going to find Rose – and Grayson! I shoulda never–"

 

"Alright, alright, I get it." Vance waved Winslow off. "So he went off to California by himself?"

 

"After he lost like ten times in a row," Winslow muttered with a smirk.

 

"Well that explains things..." Vance looked up to Averyl. "Should we go find him?"

Averyl merely shrugged. "Vance, your training is over, remember?"

 

Vance furrowed his brow. "Um, yeah, I got that. Now answer my question."

 

"You're an adult now, Vance," Averyl answered sternly. "You're free to carve out your own path."

 

Vance accepted this in silence, calculating in his mind just how much time had passed since he had attempted to commit suicide.

 

"In fact, from this point on." Averyl placed a pale, bony hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I wish to follow you."

 

"You what?" Vance squinted. "Stop goofing around."

 

"I still intend to support you," Averyl continued. "But I'd prefer if you made the decisions from here on out. I'm confident that you will go to greater places than I could ever take you on my own."

 

Winslow scrunched up his face into a sour scowl. Wendy looked at Vance with enthusiastic eyes and nodded slowly.

 

"But there's no reason to hurry," she said sweetly. "Remember, today's our day to celebrate."

 

"Celebrate?!" Winslow shouted angrily. "Celebrate what?! I'm tired of camping out in the woods like some inbred ingrate! I want to go back to civilization already!"

Vance smirked. "Then why didn't you go with Bruce?"

 

Winslow crossed his arms and let out a long sigh. "I still remember the first day I saw you, down in that mine. You were pathetic! Don't go getting all cocky just because–"

 

A genuine laugh erupted from Vance's gut for the first time in a long while, and Wendy quickly joined in. "Come on, Winslow," he said at last. "Just relax. You're in good hands."

 

"I know I am. I'll follow you to the end of the earth, Vance," Wendy said, squeezing his arm a bit with her black nails.

 

Averyl escorted a highly reluctant Winslow into the other cabin, giving Vance and Wendy some alone time. After walking into their small cabin, Vance noticed the large bed that sat in the center of the room, followed by a table and chairs and an immaculate kitchenette.

 

"Did you bring all this stuff out of Wendyland?" he asked curiously.

 

"Of course," Wendy said with a smile. "I like being prepared."

 

They sat down at the table, and Wendy presented Vance with the small cake she'd prepared for him. After congratulating him with love and care, he took a bite, and a mixture of dark chocolate and cherries electrified his tastebuds.

 

"So, how did the training go?" Wendy asked in a concerned tone. "You seemed really calm when you came back...but before you left, Uncle Averyl told me it was going to be your most difficult training yet, so I was kind of worried."

 

"It's funny," Vance said with a laugh, sitting back in his chair. "I didn't feel calm at all – not until you gave me that hug."

 

Wendy faltered, then opened her eyes wider than usual as a surprised smile rose up on her face. "...Really?"

 

Vance turned to her. "Really. I was incredibly angry for most of it. I didn't know what to expect when I came back here, either. But seeing you reassured me."

"Vance..." Wendy murmured, reaching out and grabbing his hand on the table.

"I'm sorry for being such a jerk before I left," Vance said, shaking his head. "Everything just happened so suddenly, you know? I was dealing with a lot of stuff, and for some reason I felt like there was no way you could really know me, at least after all these years."

 

"Of course I do," Wendy said, squeezing his hand. "We grew up together, Vance. I know I probably came on a little strong, but," she shrugged with a laugh, "I was just so excited."

 

"I know," Vance said. "I understand that now. It feels like I can see everything so much clearer now. I'm ready now, Wendy, I know I am. I'm ready to confront Grayson and stop him once and for all."

 

"Me too, Vance," Wendy said darkly. "I'll be with you every step of the way."

 

"I know how powerful he is," Vance said. "But I won't give up. Not after all I've been through. Even if it kills me..."

 

"It won't." Wendy squeezed his hand again.

 

"I know. I'm not afraid," Vance said, biting his lip. "But there's one thing that still sticks in my mind...Averyl told me about it during my training. He'd kept it secret from me the entire time. I guess he knew it'd make me go ballistic."

 

"What?" Wendy asked, leaning in. "I hope you know you can tell me anything, Vance. I want to be here for you, no matter what it is."

 

Vance looked over to her, and in that moment, he felt like he really could trust her. There was no longer any doubt in his mind that Wendy loved him and was on his side. It's always been so apparent, so obvious, right from the start. But it was so unusual, I just didn't know how to react. I assumed there had to be some catch, that something so good couldn't possibly happen so suddenly. I was too busy being wrapped up in my own guilt, my own self-hatred.

 

"Okay," Vance said, leaning in. "It's about my mom...and Grayson."

 

Vance whispered the words into Wendy's ear then, and tears welled up in her eyes.

 

"Vance..." she gasped, then reached out and grabbed him. "I-I didn't know."

 

"Neither did I..." Vance murmured, as he desperately hugged her back, successfully stifling his own awkwardness and fears for the first time in his life, focused on nothing but reaching out for love. "I don't know what to do."

 

"Your mom must have had some reason," Wendy said, with pure, unflinching eyes. "I'm sure she did. She's the strongest, smartest woman I've ever known. And besides – it doesn't matter, Vance." She gripped his chin with her strong nails then, pulling his face in front of hers, staring deep into his eyes. "It doesn't matter what's in your blood. I love you for you – I always have, ever since I was a little girl. And that's all that matters."

 

Vance leapt out of his seat then, embracing Wendy and kissing her, desperately seeking more of the security, care, and love that seemed to emanate out from her. Wendy embraced him without hesitation, kissing him back. Slowly, their bodies sunk into the darkness, submerging and intertwining. It was a completely new dimension, one that defied all logic and words, and deep within it, they became one.

 

*

 

The next morning, Vance woke up with Wendy in his arms. The morning sun burst through the window near their bed, warming him with its soft glow. Every color, whether it was the blue of the sky or the brown wooden paneling of the cabin, somehow seemed far more vibrant than ever before.

 

It's hard to even imagine that I tried to commit suicide once, he thought, holding Wendy close and sinking back into his pillow. I have to keep moving forward, no matter what it takes. I'm so ready now. I'm going to stop Grayson, and save Eden-

 

...Eden?

 

The name rippled through his mind.

 

You had a special bond, one voice said. It's okay to keep caring about her. But what you have with Wendy is special in a different way.

 

She never needed you anyway, another voice said. You walk different paths.

 

Vance shoved the voices out of his mind and slipped back under the covers, wrapping his arms around Wendy and taking in her scent. She was all he wanted to feel.

 

As he traced his fingers along her body, he roused the woman from her slumber, and she opened her icy blue eyes.

 

"Good morning, Vance," she whispered softly.

 

"Morning," he replied, feeling her breath on his face.

 

The two gazed at one another for a long time, then kissed again.

 

"Do we really have to get up?" Wendy whispered, pulling hm closer.

 

Vance let out a sigh and closed his eyes, worried that if he stared at her too long, she'd be able to talk him into anything. "I don't want to move an inch," he whispered to her skin. "But you know we have a big day ahead of us."

 

"Well then, I'm going to go get ready." Wendy kissed him on the cheek, got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom. "There should be some breakfast in the fridge, so help yourself."

 

"Yeah..." Vance mumbled as he watched her glide across the suite. "Okay."

 

It took some time, but Vance finally managed to pull himself out of bed and help himself to breakfast. After Wendy finished getting ready, he took his turn in the shower, and the two of them eventually made their way outside. Averyl was outside perched on a tree branch, with Winslow standing under him, arms crossed and looking very impatient. Wendy gave them both a pleasant good morning as she proudly marched out into the grass. Vance walked at her side, feeling utterly at peace.

 

"Took you long enough..." Winslow muttered.

 

Averyl chuckled. "Where are we off to first, Vance?"

 

Vance rubbed his chin. "I guess we might as well go pick up Bruce. I mean, who knows what kind of trouble he's gotten himself into now."

 

Averyl fidgeted in anticipation. "Do you know how to locate him?"

 

"Since we're in the same dimension, I assume I can search out his aura and create a portal next to him, right?"

 

"Certainly." Averyl nodded with satisfaction. "Provided yours is stronger than his."

 

Eagerly, Vance closed his eyes and buried himself in his mind. It was easy to weed out all the auras that belonged to normal Earthlings – they all seemed to be subdued, much weaker than what he was used to. His fingers rippled through the threads of Earth, sensing, searching, until he found a bright fiery blow.

 

"Huh?" Vance's fingers twitched. "Averyl, do you feel that?"

 

Averyl caught on instantly. "Yes. Some of the Earthling's auras..."

 

"They're fluctuating," Vance continued, "while the rest are just barely there, like they've always been. I thought Earthlings couldn't use psynergy."

 

"They can't," Averyl agreed. "Without the assistance of a Greymatter, that is."

 

Vance shook off the foreboding feeling in the back of his mind and searched for Bruce's aura. After a few moments, he found it: a blazing, burst of fire hidden beneath the faint glows.

 

"Got him!" Vance shouted, quickly crafting a portal. "Ready, everyone?"

 

"At your service." Averyl smirked.

 

"Of course!" Wendy chirped.

 

Winslow frowned. "Do we really have to go pick him up already? Can't we go get some food first?"

 

"Not a bad idea." Vance grinned as the purple void began to spread open. "I'd kill for a pepperoni pizza."

Next: Providence