Chapter Twenty-Two

Haruki and his team calmly waited in their interrogation rooms. Guarded by not one, but five soldiers, each empowered as Freedom’s Ring, they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. He had only his own awareness, which was odd. Surely, the broadcast pill would connect his two minds, but it wasn’t the case.

So, his other mind, hitching a ride in Rachel’s, would have to do the trick.

A man walked in, short office worker’s hair and big square glasses with edges rounded. Haruki laughed before he could help himself, and said, “so, they even give the interrogator Freedom’s Ring’s power?”

“I’m Major Edgar Tellings,” the man said, his nasal voice artificially deepened by the power, “I’m here to talk to you about the international incident that you caused.”

“Okay,” Haruki said. “Your Japanese is great, by the way.”

“Thank you,” replied Major Tellings. “the fact is, you stole one of our most important individuals, and violated the security of a top secret U.S. military installation.”

Haruki scoffed. “We saved her life. You ought to thank us.”

The Major paused to consider his next words. “What do you mean ‘saved her’?” He adopted a friendly expression that Haruki saw as hiding a vulpine desire to harm. “She was perfectly safe until you broke in. We’re still unsure how you broke in.”

Haruki shook his head. “All that military intelligence, and none of it seems to be all that intelligent.” The Major began to speak but he cut the man off. “Don’t you find Daniel Areston at all suspicious?”

The man’s shift in expression betrayed that, against all odds, this ultra-paranoid government hadn’t taken that into account. “Every scan we did of the man indicates he’s merely human, and our background check of him checks out.”

Haruki sighed. “No, he’s Aeriesai. He possessed the metal super that knocked me out, and he was the bad guy I lost to in the wilderness when I was helping Freedom’s Ring.” He saw doubt on the man’s face. He threw up his hands. “Look! We really don’t have time for this!” He gestured at the man’s borrowed physique. “You have the broadcast pills! Take one, and broadcast what I know into your mind. I won’t oppose you.”

The man opened his mouth to protest, but shut it and turned around. “Corporal, get me one of the A-17-Alphas.”

The enhanced enlisted man saluted. “Sir!” He left the room.

“If this is some ploy,” The Major said, “it’ll mean war between nations.”

Haruki didn’t flinch. “I didn’t fight to the last man, I surrendered.” He breathed in and out. “I didn’t want to injure your men, but if I hadn’t, we couldn’t have saved Samantha Bordman.”

The interrogation room flew open and the Corporal came in, and set a pill in front of the Major. “Sir, as requested.” The Major stared intently at Haruki before popping the pill into his mouth and crunching down. Faint tendrils of magic tickled the boy’s mind, and his interrogator’s face flashed between various stages of surprise, shock, and disbelief.

The Major stood up, his chair clattering as it fell. “I need to speak to the General at once.” He headed for the door. “Come with me.”

Haruki stood up. The two enlisted men at the door protested, but the Major overrode their concerns. “I’m glad you believe me.”

The Major shook his head. “I don’t have to believe you, your memories can’t lie with these pills.”

They passed soldiers baffled at the boy walking unshackled. After a minute and a half of hallways and checkpoints, they entered a carpeted hallway and a fine polished oak door. The Major shoved the door open.

A graying man with a gruff demeanor and a stern air shot to his feet. “Major! Why the hell is he…”

“Sir!” The Major shouted. “Read his mind!”

The General and his subordinate locked eyes and the commander’s face shifted subtly as he considered. With a nasal breath, he slid open his desk drawer, pulled out a lockbox, and opened it with a key from around his neck. Out of it came a familiar pill. One familiar crunch later, and pure horror painted itself on the man’s face. “Oh god, we’ve been blind this whole time!”

Just then, a knock came from the front. “General!

Just then, a knock came from the front. “General!” a serviceman shouted. “The clone is awake and broke free!”

The General gritted his teeth. “What about Lieutenant McKenzie?”

The enlisted man caught his breath. “Sir, him and Sergeant Danneson are engaging the clone as we speak.”

The General flinched. “Sergeant Danneson?” He glanced at Haruki, who made a teeth biting gesture. “Right.” He turned to the enlisted man. “Set the Japanese heroes free at once! We’re going to need all the help we can get!”

Six minutes later, Haruki and his team flew to intercept Aeriesai in his new clone body. As the wind whipped at them, soldiers enhanced as Freedom’s Ring flew towards him, but got knocked out of the sky. Kenshi flew up towards them and passed out pills. “Kenshi!” Haruki hugged him tight.

“I’m here,” Kenshi replied. “More importantly, He’s headed towards Japan.”

Aeriesai charged forward and knocked Operative out of the sky. “Don’t waste time talking, child.” He swung for Falling Star, who barely dodged using multiple speed powers. Haruki and Kenshi traded blows with the mad god, whose clone body absorbed the impacts easily. They, however, each felt the meteoric impact of his enhanced blows.

Gunman drew an M-16 and fired, each round hitting with railgun force, which only annoyed Aeriesai. He got a kick that bent him concavely and sent him flying. Push & Pull held their enemy in telekinetic stalemate while the rest pummeled him. He broke free and assaulted each one in a rush of flying bodies.

Free of them, the mad god shot straight toward Japan. They followed, but his artificially enhanced body soared out of reach. Haruki could only hope Kensuke’s government systems could pick it up in time. As the sun changed overhead, they approached the coastline of Honshu. As they did, not one, but twenty men in standard tactical hero gear flew up to intercept the god. Haruki couldn’t help but laugh at the ingenuity of the sneaky government man, holding such a secret even from him.

They fared better than the Americans, but not by much. Even sharing Haruki’s spirit gifts, Aeriesai impacted like asteroids and moved around them like an eel slipping through the hand. Haruki joined the fight and absorbed dozens of hits to get one or two in. He might as well be punching a wall.

“Come on, Korazon,” Aeriesai taunted, “don’t you want revenge on me? I killed your mother.”

Haruki didn’t take the bait, instead continuing to trade blows. His team joined in, using openings he created to get shots in. Their attacks irritated and frustrated Aeriesai, but he wasn’t harmed. He broke free and shot downward, punching through dozens of layers of secure armor to penetrate the Japanese base.

Freedom’s Ring, the original, was in sight. The god shot forward.

Kenshi planted himself in between them, a glow surrounding him. “You’re not getting her.”

The god threw a punch, but the boy blocked it, which drew a shocked glare. “I don’t know how you escaped the mental health clinic, but that’s a mistake I can fix right now.”

“Get out of here!” Kenshi shouted, matching the god blow for blow.

Haruki arrived and began pummeling the god from behind. Aeriesai dodged and parried like no other. It became an exercise of catching a stray cat just trying to hit him. Kenshi’s enhancement allowed him to punch and kick hard enough to drive the wind out of the god.

Kenshi’s glow faded and Aeriesai caught his punch. “Looks like you’re done.” The god drove a flat hand like a spearhead straight through the boy’s chest, and shoved him to the ground.

Haruki didn’t know what happened next. His awareness faded into the background. He dropped to his knees and clutched his friend’s head. “Kenshi!”

The boy tried to say “run” but it came out like a gargle, and his body went limp.

The god prepared to take off, but stopped. Lines of glowing magma traced up Haruki’s body from head to toe. His semi-pale skin turned obsidian black. His blue hair went blood red and his eyes glowed.

Within him, the Spirit of Fire and the Spirit of Lightning snapped together in perfect sync.

The god turned and an expression of pure glee painted his face. “This is how the Earth ends!”

Haruki heard none of it. He let out a guttural scream of power like a volcanic eruption. Before the god could react, he plowed a fist directly into his face, shattering bone like glass. The god healed instantly, and Haruki chased him like a heat-seeking missile. They moved at unimaginable speeds, chasing each other. Haruki soccer-kicked his enemy, who skipped across thousands of miles of Asia and Europe like a stone across a pond. Daylight changed to night and back again as Haruki circled the globe roughly once a minute, trading titanic blows. Fists colliding with flesh sent shockwaves that flattened hundreds of acres of forest and scattered Sahara sand like a child blowing on a dandelion.

Finally, above the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Aeriesai positioned himself facing upward, his back pointed at the water. “Yes! Come on, Korazon! One last blow! One final blow! Come on!”

Haruki, Korazon, unthinking and unaware of anything except brute rage, a sheer desire to end the figure one mile below him, let out a growl. His rage faintly registered on Richter scales the world over. He launched downward, fists clenched, muscles taut, propelling himself with everything he had.

Aeriesai waited, arms extended. His foe would impact him at relativistic speeds and drive him through the Earth. Haruki didn’t think anything beyond annihilating his enemy.

Something hit Haruki, tossing him end over end. He stopped himself and reoriented.

“Calm down,” someone said.

Blind rage overtook surprise and he shot forward. The figure dodged with incredible speed and delivered a straight punch that rattled Haruki. He shouted and swung, but the figure latched onto him like an octopus. He writhed and shook, but could not break free of the grip. A vicious growl escaped his mouth.

The figure drew back and headbutted him. “Calm down!”

Haruki let out a roar, drew back to return the attack, then he froze, mouth dropping open. “K…Kenshi?”

“It’s me,” the boy said, releasing his grip.

Haruki’s vision cleared, his skin and hair changed back to normal. “How?” No sooner had the words left his mouth than a cry of anguished frustration cut through the rumble of the tide. He looked down and saw his clone, piloted by Aeriesai, shift from utter disbelief to frustration to anger. He looked at Kenshi, and the Spirits within him revealed to him what had happened. “The Spirit of Earth.”

Kenshi nodded. “Your battle woke it up.” They dodged as a frustrated god aimed himself like a missile at them. Fists and feet impacted with bodies, creating explosive shockwaves that jostled the tides about.

“I should’ve killed you!” Aeriesai screamed, pressing the attack.

Kenshi didn’t respond, simply dodged and returned fire. Haruki got the distraction that allowed his friend’s attacks to land. The boy knocked Aeriesai flying and then tapped his fists together.

Haruki got the message. The two boys positioned the god between them, about a mile apart, and flew. Aeriesai recovered from the attack just in time to see Kenshi flying at him, fist drawn back. He spun and saw Haruki coming at him from the opposite direction. He threw up fists to block.

The two boys slammed into each other at relativistic velocity, their fists smashing into each other in the space where Aeriesai’s head had been. The shockwave reduced the clone body to a red vapor.

In a bunker, Aeriesai crashed back into his Daniel Areston body. He shouted in frustration and reached for a pill.

“Hi there,” Rachel said, with the last vestiges of Haruki’s power and memories still in her.

Aeriesai swore. She splattered him against the wall.