9.3 - Light Asunder

In the blink of an eye, the arrows cut through the blood strings with ease, and Elaina landed on the floor of the docking bay, safe.

And just as quickly as they appeared, the arrows dissipated into thin air.

Vanessa wheeled around, surprised.

"What...What did you do...?!" She stared at me with fear and a sort of feral curiosity.

I couldn't answer her.

Elaina placed her hands on the metal floor of the docking bay, and a mixture of purple and green light encircled the ground in front of her.

"Spirit of Bravery, I implore you!
I invoke your presence. Your enemy is here!"

She breathed, as the purple, green, and now blue lights formed concentric circles—each of them lined with strange runes that glowed their corresponding colors.

"Stand, oh Guardian, and join me in this battle!"

"Kh!" Vanessa sneered at her. "You insufferable whelp...!"

The metal floor beneath the glowing circles rumbled to life, and its plates and sheets of iron and steel amalgamated to construct a large, bipedal humanoid. Its entire form emerged from within the Magic circles, and Elaina stepped to its side, while its head—using two bright security lights for eyes—regarded her.

Elaina nodded to her new friend, and I closed my agape mouth.

Vanessa took a step forward. "Anomaly...You dare hide behind a golem!? Your cowardice is an insult to Magic!"

"Your powers are the real insult to Magic, Vanessa Vilana! Or would you prefer I call you 'Bloodletter?'" Elaina pointed at her. "Well then, I'll make sure I put an end to whatever schemes you're doing for Iremn! Or do you serve another Abyssal God?"

Vanessa laughed. "It is not for you to know my master's name, Anomaly! What matters is—ACK! Yaagh!"

As the girls spoke, I placed my right hand on the ground and focused on the countless barrel pieces strewn about the docking bay floor. I then swiftly moved my right arm to point at Vanessa. At once, the debris followed.

Vanessa fell to one knee as she covered her face. She ducked from a large chunk of burned metal, and she raised her arms—her right hand pointed in the direction of the debris, and her left arm pointed at me.

"JAAACEEEN!" she bellowed, and a bolt of red lightning suddenly flashed to life in her left open palm.

"Oh, no you don't!" Elaina exclaimed, and the metal golem raised its arms above Vanessa.

"Tch! Hmph!"

Vanessa leaped out of the way, dissipating her lightning bolt, as the golem brought its arms down. The entire facility shook as its fists of steel and iron crashed through the surface.

The rocket also tilted a bit, and I remembered Mass Driver's plan.

I broke into a sprint towards the rocket—my eyes darting around the docking bay for anything that looked like a command console for it.

"VECTOR!!" Vanessa bellowed again behind me.

I turned in time to see two bolts of red lightning tangle around each other as they shot up into the air and angled down to me.

I raised my gloved hands to catch them both, and they slammed into my palms. I shook as the lightning tried to pierce through my skin and into my bones, but my mind found a focus in the energy, collecting it into my hands. Then, in one motion, I redirected the lightning back to Vanessa, who gasped as the red tendrils morphed into four solid light arrows. They roared with the same breath as the lightning, they changed their angles to my will.

Vanessa blinked once and narrowly missed the arrows as they obliterated the floor where she stood a second before.

Again, the facility shook.

One by one, the bright docking bay lights went dark, until only the emergency lights around the rocket, the "eyes" on Elaina's golem, and the tiny sparks from Vanessa's attack remained as the only sources of light around us.

Just then, I heard a crackling sound behind me.

Mass Driver stood up, leaning on a broken console—his body dimly lit from the emergency lights. He glared at me, then at Elaina and her golem friend.

He clasped his hands together and rubbed them, while the stripe on his right arm glowed as the kinetic energy charged up.

I wanted to believe his power had been cut by 75%. I knew I destroyed the mini reactors and railguns on his left sleeve and pant legs.

But I wouldn't underestimate even one of those railguns.

Mass Driver punched at the broken console, infusing it with kinetic energy and sending it flying through the air at the golem.

I tried to intercept it with more debris, but my timing was off.

The console exploded as it crashed into the golem's right shoulder, and the sound of creaking metal against metal and lumbering logs of cables echoed through the dark docking bay.

Vanessa turned her attention to the golem and Elaina, and I chose to face Mass Driver.

But as soon as I did so, a green blur zipped towards me and punched me in the chest, knocking me back several yards.

Mass Driver reappeared next to a console. He panted heavily, then leaned down and started typing—

Could it be...?!

—A launch sequence?!

I forced myself up, as Elaina and Vanessa's battle continued. I had to entrust my friend to handle Bloodletter. Right now...

"SAMUEL! STOP!!!" I raised my voice.

Three arrows of red light manifested next to me again—this time, next to my right arm.

My eyes locked on to one target: the console in front of Mass Driver.

He ignored my call out and kept typing away at the keyboard.

I pushed off the ground and aimed my right arm forward. All of the arrows shot out in Mass Driver's direction. They curved sharply around the console and smashed clean through it. Two arrows pierced through his right arm, disabling his last railgun, and the third hit him square in the gut.

"AAAAGGHHH!!!" Mass Driver yelled, his voice gurgling with mucous and blood. "N-NOOOOO!!!"

I reached the console and saw the words on the damaged monitor: "Launch Sequence...Failed to initialize..."

I breathed a sigh of relief and stared up at the giant rocket. Small bursts of steam puffed out from several pipes lining the shaft.

But it wasn't going anywhere.

The pain in my chest caught up to me and I coughed up blood.

Mass Driver did the same, and I noticed him convulsing on the ground as I fell to my knees.

"No..." he mumbled to himself. "No, no, no...!" He glared at me as we both suffered on the ground. "You...! Vector...! You are...h-horrible...!"

I shook my head. "It's over...Mass Driver...Samuel. You guys...and Molecruel...won't be killing anyone today...!"

"Khh! You...don't understand...! The Doc, he...HAGH!" He coughed several times, and I did, too.

Flashes of cyan, violet, and green kept the docking bay alight, as Elaina worked her Magic to keep Vanessa at bay.

But the Blood Mage held her own. Three explosions erupted as the golem narrowly missed Vanessa with another punch to the ground.

I struggled to raise my arms and pointed them at Vanessa. Part of the light from the explosions shifted, and they morphed into clear-colored arrows that followed my hands' motion.

Vanessa's legs suddenly kicked up as two arrows pushed behind her ankles.

She rolled and got back up, confused, but she turned to a wall console and shot a lightning blast at it. The docking bay lit up again, bathing everything around us in light.

Mass Driver looked back and forth as most of the lights came back on. He looked at Vanessa. "You...Huughk! Ah-aaghk!...You damn idiot...! Bloodletter!"

Vanessa shot him a look of annoyance and dodged a light crescent from Elaina.

With a handful of red lightning, Vanessa destroyed the arms of the golem, and she strangled its body with her blood strings. The mighty soldier of steel burst into a pile of debris.

Vanessa turned to Mass Driver and shook her head.

She met my eyes and sneered as Elaina appeared in front of me, walking out of her Shadow Travel Magic. Shrouds of red and black smoke swelled around Bloodletter's body as she glared at the both of us.

"This...isn't over..."

Vanessa vanished.

"Coward..." Elaina muttered, and she knelt down to help me stand.

"We'll deal with her ass another day," I told my friend. "For now..."

We turned to Mass Driver, who shivered on the cold floor.

Elaina patted my back, initiating an automatic Healing Spell.

I squatted down to talk to Samuel; Elaina Shadow-Stepped to the opposite side.

"Now, tell us," I demanded. "What else is Dr. Ambrigado up to?"

"Nngh! Rrgh!" Mass Driver clutched the side of his abdomen, and his bare left arm sparked with a small hint of green electricity.

Elaina raised an arm, pointing her open hand at Mass Driver's head. A ball of cyan light engulfed her hand, enflamed with a blue inferno.

"I wouldn't do anything stupid, if I were you," she warned.

"Khh!"

"Now, answer Vector's question! What's Doctor Molecruel planning next?"

I met his eyes again.

Mass Driver glared from Elaina to me. "Don't be thinkin' that just because you guys stopped the rocket...that you'll stop what's comin' next...!"

I grabbed the collar of his damaged shirt. "Which is?! Spill it!!"

"Rrgh!...Hmph. As long as Ambrigado's still at large, there's nothin' you guys can do. He's got somethin' big prepared. Something wonderful for all the Normals in Ave Strata!"

"Talk, Mass Driver!" I raised my voice. "What's he planning?!"

"Want me to read his mind?" Elaina offered. "I can do it, ya know."

Samuel's eyes widened.

"No," I shook my head. "I want him to tell us of his own will. Dammit, Samuel, tell us! Vanessa's not coming back to help you!"

Mass Driver coughed. "You'll just...kill me after I tell you guys...w-won't you?"

"What?" I squinted. "No! Just tell us what Ambrigado's planning! We need to know!"

Mass Driver stared up at me. "Vector...you defend the Normals like they're the same as us...you say you protect them...and you act like you wanna be a hero for all Normals and Abnormals. But...they'll never accept us; they'll never accept you.

Just then, the blaring of police sirens roared in the distance.

Mass Driver gasped.

I looked back down to him. "Last chance, Samuel. Tell us what's next in Ambrigado's playbook. Now!"

His mouth quivered as he hesitated to speak, until—

"His world, his vision...It's a future that'll be great for all of—!!" Mass Driver blurted out.

"Damage in the main docking bay!" an officer above us called out. "What the—?! Contacts on the docking bay floor!! Repeat! Contacts on the—!"

"Jace!" Elaina spoke up. "We need to go! Now!"

I glanced back at Mass Driver, and I saw a silent fear in his eyes. The sweat on his face mixed with...a few tears on his cheeks.

"You'll...never understand," Mass Driver said quietly. "You don't know, Vector...what we really go through..."

I felt a tug at my left sleeve; Elaina tried to pull me away, but I pulled back.

Elaina went wide-eyed. "J-Jace?! What're you doing? We gotta go—!"

"Three contacts!" another officer yelled.

"HEY! YOU THREE!" said a female officer. "STOP RIGHT THERE!"

I turned to Elaina. "Block this."

She blinked. "W-What?!"

"Block this!" I repeated.

"Huh?! Jace, what're you—!!"

I balled a fist and shot a single red arrow of light at Elaina, who, thankfully, reacted in time to conjure a Magic shield to defend herself.

She stared at me in disbelief. "What the hell...are you doing?!"

"If I'm not back at your place by midnight...come find me..."

"W-...Where...?" she inquired, desperate to know.

I exhaled. "The police station...downtown."

Elaina couldn't find the words to speak.

"Go," I told her. "Trust me. Please. I got this. Hurry, Ela!"

I readied two more arrows to launch at her, and Elaina, with a confused look on her face, kept her eyes on me as she engulfed herself in another Shadow Travel Spell.

I felt relieved as I watched her shadow zip away.

I turned to Mass Driver, who was now the one with wide eyes and a confused expression.

"You told me I don't understand," I said to him. "That I couldn't possibly get what Abnormals really go through. Well then, I'll see for myself."

Lieutenant Vali and about two dozen Ave Strata police officers, accompanied by fifteen Sentry bots arrived in the docking bay.

Vali ran up with four subordinates and stopped just a couple yards from me and Mass Driver.

I stood with my arms folded.

"Vector," Vali said, his tone commanding, yet calm.

"Vali," I replied, unsurprised to see him.

He looked down at Mass Driver. "Is this guy...?"

"Still alive," I told him. "You can take him now."

Vali waved for two of his officers to grab Mass Driver.

Samuel kept his eyes on me as they put him into an armored hover van. I did not blame him for being curious. This was a gamble in and of itself.

But I knew it had to be done.

Vali walked up to me with the other two officers. "Now," he began. "I know you'll probably give me some more attitude, but in a few words tell me exactly what happened he—"

"At the station," I interrupted him. "We'll talk there. I can tell you whatever you need to know."

"W-...What?" Vali raised his eyebrows, shocked at my sudden compliance.

The officers were just as perplexed.

I glanced at all of them. "Did you hear me, you Neanderthals? Let's talk at the police station."