Jaxx brought his hands to his sides. He was bleeding, though Taz’s energy blast cauterized most of the wound for him. This was the last thing he needed.
Jaxx stood, leaning against the side of the van. He brought his Chi through his hand and to his wound. It eased the pain, but didn’t take it away. It didn’t matter. He had to get Taz before the asshole took out any more Marines.
He pulled the gun out of Segarra’s holster for the second time.
“Hey,” yelled Segarra.
Jaxx ignored him and peeked around the van. Taz was gone.
Not good, especially for the Marines.
23
Denver, Colorado
A car flipped over, thrown from a source other than weapon’s fire. It slid across the road, slamming into another car parked on the side of the street.
That had to be Taz.
Jaxx moved around the van, glancing from the other side.
Bratatatatat ratatatatat!
Machine gun fire went off and Jaxx saw Taz round another corner, bullets barely missing him. Another car went flying, smashing on top of a truck.
Jaxx held up Segarra’s gun. “Let’s end this guy,” said Jaxx, holding his side.
Segarra, leaning up against the van, still a little weak, unholstered another gun, flipping it a few times around his finger like a gunslinger in the old west. “Let’s not be gentle on him.”
A wry grin formed on Jaxx’s lips. “Not a chance.” He turned and raced into a small, four-story office complex behind him. He pushed his feet hard up a staircase. He’d had enough running up and down staircases for a lifetime.
He made his way to the top floor, kicked open a door and pushed over a table, flipping it on its side. He pulled the table to a ridiculously oversized window that spanned the office.
He pressed the table up against the window, stepped back, aimed, and fired.
Window shards splashed outward. He narrowed his eyes and looked down, seeing the splintered glass rain on top of the armored Marines. “Shit.” He should have warned them. He waived below, letting him know he was the culprit of the mess.
They weren’t fazed. They were too stuck on Taz and his maniac powers, throwing cars left and right.
Why was Taz doing that? It wasn’t effective, not one bit.
Jaxx ducked, sinking low, and crept up against the table for cover and pointed his weapon down at Taz.
Jaxx pulled the trigger, the gun recoiling back, slinging a hot seething photon blast at his arch nemesis.
Taz twirled to the side like a ballerina, and the shot missed wide. He laughed like a buzzsaw chewing up granite.
Taz energetically lifted another car, tossing it to the side.
What’s this guy doing? “Oh, shit.” It was simple. Taz was distracting them. But, from what?
Agadon Starfighters, as plain as day from Jaxx’s high vantage point, were coming in fast.
Jaxx dropped his gun and placed both hands on either side of his mouth, using them as a makeshift megaphone, “It’s a strafing run! Find cover!”
Zoopha! Zoopha! Zoopha! Zoopha!
Starfighters zipped overhead, gone in a blink of an eye, dropping ion bombs by the dozens.
Jaxx dove to the floor, covering his head and bringing as much Chi into his body as he could, shielding himself in case there was a direct hit to the building.
The small skyscraper shuddered, vibrating back and forth as if a train was passing by. The explosions hitting the street and buildings were loud, and cement and pavement rumbled from the impact, sounding like a buffalo stampede.
Then everything quieted, and Jaxx lifted up and got to his feet, dust and glass falling off of him as he did so. Glancing around, the entire complex was full of shattered glass.
He took a step forward, hearing the crunching of glass under his boots. He bent down and picked up his gun, holding it by his side.
He glanced down at the street, and his jaw fell. Men were lying face down, their battle suits scarred, some completely punctured. Legs or arms were bent in the wrong direction, and no one was moving.
“You mother fucker,” came a voice, loud and down below.
Taz stepped in the street, his face twisted in an evil smile. “I’m not your mother, human.”
Segarra was standing on the street, and a block away from Taz, holding a cannon at his hip, ready to poke holes throughout Taz’s body. “You killed all of my men,” he seethed through gritted teeth.
Taz didn’t move. “I dare you to pull the trigger.” He thrust his hand outward, and the cannon flew out of Segerra’s hands.
Segarra, baffled, took a few paces back, his hands up. “How?”
Taz motioned all around. “How do you think I was throwing these cars every which way?” He laughed. “Magic?”
Segarra reached behind him and pulled a knife from the back of his armor. “Come and get it, blue-man.” He taunted him with his eyes and leaned forward, wiggling his tongue back and forth, egging Taz on.
Taz marched forward, heading for Segarra. Jaxx bent down, lining his gun’s sights onto Taz’s head.
Taz stopped as if feeling something. He turned and looked up at Jaxx dead in the eyes. “No, no, no…Jaxx. Don’t be a naughty boy. You’re next, so wait your turn. Okay?”
Jaxx pulled the trigger just as Taz sidestepped toward the van, disappearing from view. The photon charge ripped a hole in the van’s roof.
Jaxx dropped his gun by his side. He had to get down there. Segarra didn’t stand a chance against Taz, and for the sake of Mya, her father had to live.
Jaxx bolted out of the door, gun by his side, and down the hallway. He thrust the entrance doors wide open, busting them off the hinges.
“Taz,” growled Jaxx. “I’ll make a deal.”
Taz stepped around the Van. “Yes, Jaxx?”
“You let Segarra go, and I’ll let you live.” Jaxx looked at Segarra and cocked his head to the right, telling Segarra to ditch this party and run to safety. Instead, Segarra puffed up his chest and stood his ground. The stubborn bastard wasn’t moving an inch.
More metallic laughter and Taz put his hands on his hips. “No. I would prefer killing him and taking you prisoner. Deal?” A sly grin rose on Taz’s face. He had a gleam in his eye. He had something else hidden up his sleeve.
Segarra clipped his chest plate on, then slipped his helmet and armored mask over his head, clicking it in place. He dropped his hands by his sides, clenching his fist. One of his sidearms was in Jaxx’s hand. The other holstered at his side.
Segarra went for it.
Wapooh!
Segarra’s gun sparked and shot out of his hands, spinning wildly on the road.
Jaxx glanced at Taz. The alien’s upper back cannon was outstretched and over his shoulder, smoke trailing from its barrel.
“Segarra,” said Jaxx, walking out into the street and between the two. He faced Taz, squeezing the gun’s hand grip. “Leave.”
“We can both take this guy,” replied Segarra, his voice muffled behind his mask.
Jaxx shook his head. “No. You can’t. I can.”
Segarra didn’t budge. “I don’t think so.”
A sting from the wound in his side shot toward his midline, cramping his diaphragm and lungs for a moment. He didn’t blink or budge from the pain, but wanted to thank his body for the reminder.
“Get your daughter. She needs you,” responded Jaxx.
Taz took a step forward, and Jaxx went into a defensive crouch, his gun outstretched, pointing it at Taz’s chest.
Taz sighed. “I’m growing bored and tired. Why aren’t you using your Chi, Jaxx?”
“Leave, Segarra…now!” roared Jaxx.
“Shit.” Segarra slammed his fists together. His footsteps clanked, reverberating off of the buildings surrounding them as he walked away and around a corner. He finally got his wits about him.
Good. The last thing he wanted to deal with was keeping Segarra alive while doing his best to end Taz’s miserable exis
tence.
“Now what, Jaxx?” Taz circled Jaxx. “Do we just beat each other to a pulp? That wouldn’t get us anywhere. Shall we instead do something more important, more intelligent? You know, like run this entire galaxy together. We’d be unstoppable.”
“This isn’t a Sci-Fi movie, Taz.” He kept his eyes on Taz. “Get a grip. You think I’m going to suddenly change my mind and go ahead with your plan of killing trillions of souls across the galaxy?”
Taz moved his head up and down as if Jaxx was finally understanding the Agadon system. “That’s what we were bred for.”
“Who bred you?”
Taz stopped and stood straight, tipping his head to the side as if in thought. “Oh, the ancient race. You wouldn’t know them. They didn’t like what they created with the Agadon, Jaxx, so we ended them…all.” He shrugged. “We have that power and you can have it too.” He reached his hand out and moved his fingertips back and forth, a gesture of come and join me.
Jaxx wouldn’t take his invitation even if it meant bringing back Kiyo-zan. Hell, Kiyo-zan would kick his ass if he did that.
A pebble, or something similar, fell and dinged against the ground somewhere around the corner and behind Taz.
Jaxx jumped to the side, shooting his photon energy weapon, slamming several blasts against Taz. Taz fell to the ground, holding his chest. He touched the blood and glanced at it, then rubbed it between his index finger and thumb.
“Aw, flesh wounds,” muttered Taz, standing. He waved his hand in the air. A dozen or so Agadon emerged from behind cars and back alleyways. “You caught my bluff. Very perceptive, Jaxx. But you won’t be able to stop an entire Agadon race from taking over your precious Earth.”
Taz thrust his palm at a car near Jaxx. The moment Jaxx saw it move, he rushed over and rested his hands on the tire, sending Chi to it, cutting Taz’s energy from moving or tossing it somewhere that might hurt him.
The car stayed in place.
“You’re getting good, aren’t you?” blared Taz’s tinny voice.
An anger screamed through Jaxx, taking over his muscles and central nervous system. He raged, blaring, “Taz, you end now.”
Jaxx brought up all the forces of good and evil into his body, his hands and his feet vibrated heat he could barely withstand, his body like a blaze of fire. He lowered his chin, keeping his eyes dead on Taz.
Taz spun in the air, grabbing energy, and flung it at Jaxx.
A wind flew into Jaxx as he took a step forward, and then another step, all to end this asshole right here and now.
Taz stepped back, clearly confused. Fear was in his eyes, something Jaxx had never seen from an Agadon before.
Jaxx rose the ball of anger and love, the alpha and the omega, and all that ever was and will be, swelling it in his solar plexus. His body trembled and he fell to his knees, slamming his palms into the ground.
A pulse shot to his heart and he gasped, his hands flailing backwards and his back arching toward the heavens. He screamed as hot hate poured from his mind’s eye — the anger he held on to from Slade’s evil doings, to the bad in life constantly overcoming the good, and to Taz and this Agadon invasion that was set before Jaxx.
At the same instant, beautiful, oxygen-rich love shot outward from his heart — from images of helping people with his life’s passion of archaeological work and giving them secret knowledge, to buying homeless people dinners throughout his life. Plus more images of beauty, of nature, of helping a dog that had fallen through the ice, to rehabilitating an injured bird he had found in his backyard.
An electric fire consumed him, blasting out of every pore in his body. He shook, his eyes watered, and he screamed to the high heavens and beyond.
And then it stopped and Jaxx was covered in sweat, his breath coming quick and heavy. He glanced up as his vision started to fade, only to see Taz and the rest of the Agadon on the ground as well, electrical sparks spitting out of their bodies in every which direction, their arms and legs twitching.
He smiled as he closed his eyes, his head slumping against his arm and his body outstretched in the middle of the road.
He raised his arm and extended his middle finger. “Don’t come back too soon, assholes.”
24
Denver, Colorado
The thrump, thrump, thrump of the helicopter rotors and wind blasting everywhere like a mini tornado, jostled Jaxx awake. He opened his eyes. His body was strapped to a gurney.
How did he end up here?
He yawned and wiggled around, his arms and legs still half asleep as if he was in the middle of a bout with the flu. What the hell happened? Did he fall asleep?
Marines were on either side of him, lifting the gurney and pulling Jaxx up cement steps. Was he back at the base?
“Get him inside,” said a voice. “And, has anyone seen my daughter?”
It was Segarra.
Jaxx squinted from the beaming sun blaring down on him and the gurney bounced up and down, nearly making it impossible for him to see everything he needed in order to assess the situation.
“Daddy,” cried a young girl.
“Is he okay?” came another voice, this one a woman, her hand resting on Jaxx’s chest. It was Megan.
“Where am I?” asked Jaxx over the commotion around him.
“At the library,” responded Megan.
The Marines carried Jaxx through the library entrance. Now he could see, and yes indeed, he was inside the library. Books were littered all over the ground, the shelves fallen, some broken. Men and women raced around, others were giving orders like their lives depended on it — and it did.
“What happened?” inquired Jaxx. He went to move, to get up, but the straps were too tight. “Get me out of this thing.”
He’d just break the straps, but damned if he wasn’t drained of all energy.
Segarra walked over, looming over Jaxx, a happy Mya in his arms.
“Let me down, Daddy.”
Segarra kissed her cheek and lowered her to Jaxx. “Unstrap him while I heal his body.”
Segarra ordered several Marines to unclip Jaxx from the gurney. They then lowered the gurney to the ground. Mya took several steps toward Jaxx and put her hands on his feet. Her warm energy spread up his legs. His body tingled as fresh life crawled into every cell and his eyes became less heavy and his breathing came easier.
Within minutes, he was back to normal. His vision was no longer blurry and his muscles were strong, ready to take on the entire Agadon armada.
Speaking of which.
He went into a seated position, glaring up at Segarra. “What the hell happened?”
Segarra folded his arms across his chest. “It seems you can do what my daughter does. Somehow, through some sort of magical —” he put his fingers up in quote marks, “— energy thing that I can’t comprehend, you can cause a malfunction within the Agadon wiring, short-circuiting every Agadon in range.”
“You mean, the Agadon are gone, or better yet, dead?”
Segarra frowned, shaking his head. “No, not a chance, but right now we’re at a moment of calm as all Agadon units in the city are face down, twitching. We know from past experience that those bodies are out of commission for good. We’ll have a short time of peace until the Agadon can get another fleet overhead and continue pounding us below.”
Jaxx lowered his shoulders. “And that’s what they’re doing? Bringing another fleet our way?”
“As we speak.”
“Crap.”
Segarra nodded. “Crap is a very good word for our situation. But you have given us a breather, Jaxx. Thank you.”
“How long?”
Segarra picked up Mya. “Maybe twenty minutes.”
Jaxx looked at Mya. “Where are the other two children?”
She gestured over to Drew, who was slouched in the wheel chair, his eyes closed, drooling like he was a little kid knocked out from a sugar overdose.
A young girl, sandy-blonde hair, stood next to Drew and smiled. Damion
, on the other side of Drew, dipped his head like one samurai warrior to another.
Jaxx stood, walking over to his nephew, putting his hand on his forehead. “He’s clammy and cold.” He turned, worry on his face. “Any doctors around to get this bullet out of him?”
“They did,” said Megan. “A Corpsman pulled it out.” Her eyes lowered. “We don’t think he’ll make it, though.”
Jaxx stiffened. “Even with these three kids healing him?”
“Nothing seems to be working, Jaxx. I’m sorry,” replied Megan. Her lower chin trembled. She was keeping strong and holding in a cry.
“Dammit.” He punched his leg, turning, eyes ready to kill more Agadon. “When the next wave comes,” he told Segarra, “put me in a room with these three children. They’ll heal me after I send out an energy blast that will make the Agadon think twice before coming back.”
Mya wiggled out of her father’s arms and dropped to the ground. “No, Jaxx. That’s harmful to your body. It shortens your life.”
“So what. I’m not going to live through this anyway. My job is to give my life for the benefit of others.”
Mya shook her head. “That’s not right. You’re supposed to fix the pyramid network, and we have time, right now, to go to the key pyramid. Your life isn’t for giving to others. It’s for righting the wrong that others did, and in that way, you’ll be giving others a gift of your selfless service that will last their entire lives.”
Jaxx was stupefied. Since when did six-year-olds talk like this? Nonetheless, she didn’t add, “…and, like the prophecies say, your selfless act of fixing the pyramid nexus will also end your life.”
Mya walked over to Jaxx. “Don’t be scared to die.”
Jaxx patted her head. “Thank you for being concerned. My mission has changed.” He was sure of it. “I’m here to help the people on Earth fight back against these Agadon, okay? I can do that one city at a time, no matter how long it takes, but I can only do that with you three by my side, healing me after each time I blast these buggers out of the sky and out of their bodies with my energy.”
The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga Page 101
