Venatores Mali: Anima

by Quintin Fortune

Zionus and Vendetta. Zionus nodded his approval. Genia turned back to Lady Grey. “Don't get yourself killed,” she ordered. “On three. One. Two.”

  Lady Grey was already out in the vast round room, firing her gun at Bobo. The man had his mouth pulled up in a permanent smile and looked like her hadn't changed his clothes in some time. A few bullets hit him in the chest and shoulders, but then popped out like they had just hit rubber.

  “That tickled,” Bobo chuckled. He cocked his shotgun. “Now it's my turn to tickle you.” He fired off a round, but Grey ducked behind a table. She watched as the rest of the team hurried up the stair.

  “Give them hell,” she whispered before she reloaded for round two.

  The team made its way up the stairs and suddenly found themselves in an empty room. Not empty in the sense that there was nothing in it, but empty in the sense that the room felt like it wasn't even there. “This is weird,” Vendetta stated. “My scanners are going crazy.”

  “Crazy how,” Genia asked.

  “NoBody is here,” Zionus said.

  “I can see that,” she huffed.

  “No.” He pointed at the middle of the room, and suddenly the emptiness took shape. Giant sliver claws grew from its hands. Something that once resembled a coat draped over its shoulders. “NoBody,” he reassured. “He does not exist in this world, thus it is hard to keep track of him.”

  “Not a problem,” Vendetta announced. “Once you dragged him into this world, my scanners were able to get a fix on him.” He fired off a blast from his gauntlet, but NoBody was able to block the attack with his claws. The being slipped away from sight, causing Genia to become confused.

  “What's going on,” she asked.

  Vendetta was moving his gauntlet around the room. He fired another blast, knocking NoBody off the wall. The being fell crashing to the ground before scrambling to hide again. “Go,” he ordered. “I got this.” He raised up his arm to block an incoming attack. He smacked the attack away and fired another blast from his other gauntlet. He turned back to them. “Go!”

  Zionus grabbed Genia and led her up the stairs to the next room. Vendetta stepped into the middle of the room, searching for his target.

  The two made their way up the stairs to a room that looked like an overgrown jungle. The humidity from the forest made this room warmer than the rest of the Tower. “This is a strange get up,” Genia remarked, looking over a large leaf. She moved it around a bit, and the tree reached out and smacked her away. “Attack trees?”

  The branches moved in to attack, but Zionus sliced off on of the branches. The tree screamed in pain. The branch shrunk and turned back into an arm. The tree transformed into a bald woman with no discernible features. She cradled the remains of her arm and glared at Zionus with death in her eyes.

  “You bastard,” she roared. The woman lashed out with her other arm that stretched out and tried to smash him away. He blocked it and knocked the woman away.

  “Who are you,” he questioned.

  The woman shifted, becoming the werewolf she was before. She charged at Zionus, but Genia jumped between them and blasted her with the gun. The energy knocked the werewolf away. It struggled to stand, trying to fight off the affects of the knock out blast.

  “Keep going,” Genia said to Zionus. “I'll keep this bitch occupied.” She fired off another shot. The werewolf barely dodged it.

  He paused, then took off up the stairs. Genia pulled a slender, white crystal from out of the gun and replaced it with a green one. She fired a shot. The werewolf ducked behind a tree, and the shot crashed into it. Moss and ivy began to grow from the spot.

  Zionus reached the top of the Tower. The malicious energy that was Agonil was almost overpowering. It was more than enough to turn any humans into a simpering fool. But he was no longer human. The monster on the other side of these doors saw to that. He held out his hand, trying to open the ornate wooden doors that stood between him and his prey. The doors would budge. He summoned more energy and sent the doors flying into the room, splintering into millions of pieces.

  “Well that was rude,” Agonil remarked from his throne. “Haven't you ever heard of knocking ?”

  “I know what you are doing.” Zionus announced. “I am here to put a stop to it.”

  Agonil sat back on his throne, taking a pose of someone who was bored. “Of course you are, because that's what you do. How long has this war between us been going on?”

  “Longer than it needed to be,” the Hunter replied.

  Agonil nodded in agreement, then leapt off his throne. “We keep going back and forth, fighting like a couple of comic book characters, neither one really gaining an upper hand.” He pulled something out from his cloak. “We should put an end to this. In fact, let's have a gift exchange. Catch.” He tossed a small, round purple gem at Zionus. He caught it and looked it over.

  “What is-” He was cut off when he suddenly felt drained of energy. He fell to one knee, dropping the gem. It rolled back to Agonil.

  “And you gave me a gift as well? How thoughtful.” The monster picked up the gem and walked over to an alcove beside his throne. He pulled back the curtain to reveal a set-up out of a mad scientist's dream. A body laid out on a slab while five podiums surrounded it. Various instruments that bore the marking of ZioTech lined the alcove. Agonil walked up to the podium that was directly at the top of the slab and placed the gem on it.

  “What are you doing,” Zionus asked, trying to regain his strength.

  “Take a guess. Think real hard. Why have we been fighting all this time? Why have I wanted to kill you for all these years?”

  Zionus tried to breath. Agonil's anger was causing the pressure in the room to increase.

  “My daughter died for you, and you threw it away!” He pulled the sheet away to reveal a young woman that looked as if she had recently died. Her hair had been shaved off, and a line was stitched across her forehead. “So, I decided it was time to make a new one, and I don't have the patience for making one the old fashion way.”

  “How did you...” He started, but couldn't finish.

  “Know what to do? Collect everything without you knowing?” Agonil walked over to the kneeling Zionus. He placed a hand on his head. “Come on, you're not that stupid.” He shoved the Hunter onto the floor. “You and I are Forces of Reality. How do you think I did all this?”

  Zionus focused. As a Force of Reality, everything operates differently. Time, space, reason, power. These things bowed to them. It was this Force that granted him the power he had. The ability to create ZioTech. The ability to see and fight the monster that threatened the mortal world.

  “You were able to, because you already did this,” he answered.

  Agonil held his arms out wide. “Ta-da. It's really interesting what you'll find out when talking to your future.” He turned back and grabbed the Tome of Blood. It hovered before him, opened. “You should try it sometime. Now, if you'll excuse me.” He began to chant a spell from the book. The five gems that represented the five elements began to glow and vibrate.

  'Talk to my future,' he thought. Why didn't he remember that? Unless he didn't make it through this battle.

  'Let him succeed.' A faint voice suggested. 'He cannot be defeated yet, but the spell will severely weaken him. In that moment, we will strike.'

  Zionus mentally agreed, then watched as Agonil resurrected his daughter. The spell did weaken the monster, but he still tried to help his new daughter's body up. “How do you feel, my child?”

  “I...I feel,” she started. Even her voice sounded like Ana's. She stopped, feel to her knees, and began to vomit. It was bile at first, then blood, then chunks of organs. She convulsed, then collapsed on the floor.

  “No! Not my darling child. Not again,” Agonil mourned, picking up the body and cradling it.

  Zionus felt his power returning. He slowly got up on one knee just as he say the spirit of Ana leave the body and walk towards him. She stopped.

  'Bowing to me, I see,' she
joked. She was speaking into his mind. She placed her hand on his cheek. 'Well then, my noble champion, bring down my father.' She glared back at Agonil. 'He won't rest until he's brought me back to kill you.' She then turned and walked away, fading into the ether.

  More power returned, and Zionus was back on his feet. “Agonil, it is over. Ana is gone, and you will soon join her.” Energy began to enshroud him. His trench coat began to billow from the effect. He flipped his sword around pommel side up and placed the closed eye up to where his third eye would be. The eyelid slowly opened. A great surge of power swirled around Zionus, and collected at the point where the eye opened. “Eye of Power, strike down my foe!”

  There was a mighty blast that shot out from the eye and slammed into Agonil. The monster tried his best to block it, but was ultimately knocked away. He tried to fight back, but another blast from the Eye ripped through his stomach.

  Agonil fell to the ground, clutching his wound. Oily black blood dripped onto the floor. “This isn't over,” he threatened. “I will still kill you this night.” Dark energy began to cover the room. The whole building was beginning to shake.

  'Attention all Hunters. Vacate the Tower immediately,' he ordered.

  'What about you,' Genia's voice replied.

  'I am right behind you. Go.' The energy was still around him. He used it all to summon a giant orb of energy. Agonil struggled to stand and do the same. The two fired off their orbs