by Lucas Flint
“Your little temper tantrum was cute,” said Chaser. He held up a hand. “But ultimately, it accomplishes nothing other than angering me. And you know what I do to those who anger me.”
Christina snorted. “What are you going to do? Punch me with your holographic fist? I’m not scared of light.”
“I’ll do much worse than that,” said Chaser. “I’ll make you wish you were never born.”
As Chaser spoke, one of the tentacles from the ceiling suddenly lowered and wrapped around Christina’s neck. She was hoisted off the floor and she gasped for breath, her feet kicking wildly as she grabbed at the tentacle squeezing tightly around her neck.
“I may lack a physical body now, but that doesn’t mean I cannot control the Tower,” said Chaser. “Let your punishment be what you failed to inflict on Jack: A broken neck and a lifeless body that will serve as a warning to anyone else thinking of betraying me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I couldn’t stand seeing Christina like that. I flipped open the lid of the Trickshot Watch and smashed my fist down on ‘TRANSFORMATION’ button. In an instant, my costume was back on me and my powers were flowing through me.
I jumped to my feet and, pulling three disks out of my pouch, threw all three of them at the tentacle strangling Christina. The disks cut through the tentacle like butter, sending Christina falling to the ground. She hit the floor and lay there, gasping for breath as she removed the tentacle still clinging to her neck.
Chaser turned to face me, though he seemed completely unemotional. “Your reflexes are quite fast. If you had been but a moment slower, she would have died.”
“Well, I couldn’t just let you kill her,” I said. “Christina isn’t a friend, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you murder her in cold blood like that.”
Chaser shook his head. “You are a fool of the highest order, but I suppose I can’t really expect more from the grandson of Gregory. He would have done the same thing as you, if he was in your situation. It’s why I both hated and admired him in my youth, though for you, it’s just hatred.”
“I’m still going to stop you,” I said. “I’m not going to let you win.”
Chaser sighed. “Good God, have you already forgotten who and what I am? Allow me to display but a fraction of my power.”
Chaser held a hand out toward me. All of a sudden, my suit felt tighter than usual. I fell on my hands and knees, gasping for air, but it was becoming hard to breathe again. It felt like my costume had shrunk down a size in an instant.
“Being that I am the Trickshot Watch’s AI, I have access to all sorts of features you aren’t even aware of,” said Chaser. “Such as controlling the tightness of the suit. Normally, the suit automatically adjusts to fit your general body size and shape, but it’s possible to manually override it and deliberately alter its tightness. All I am doing is forcing the suit to tighten more and more. I estimate it will squeeze you to death fairly soon, likely with the next couple of minutes or so. It won’t be nearly as painless as a broken neck, but if that bothers you, you should curse Christina rather than me, given how I ordered her to do that.”
I gritted my teeth. I wanted to punch Chaser in the face, but my increasingly tight suit made it impossible for me to get up. Even if I could get up, I still wouldn’t be able to hit Chaser, because as a hologram, my fists would just fly straight through his head. All I could hope was that a miracle would happen, but I knew miracles weren’t real.
Chaser didn’t say anything, either. He just continued to look down at me, with not even the slightest concern on his face or in his body language. On the contrary, he seemed to be impatient, as if wondering when the suit would get tight enough to kill me. It was a bizarre sight, even a funny one under other circumstances, but right now all it reminded me was that I was dying and that I would be dead very soon if I didn’t figure out how to put an end to Chaser fast.
But if I couldn’t even touch Chaser, how was I supposed to beat him? He was virtually invincible, almost godlike, really. I wasn’t going to call him a god, of course, because I didn’t want to flatter his ego, but I couldn’t deny that he was my most powerful enemy yet. Very soon, I would be dead, and once I died, there would be no one to stop Chaser. I hoped that perhaps Uncle Josh might find a way to stop him, but even Uncle Josh might not be able to withstand Chaser’s might.
If only TW was here … he could help. But it was TW’s absence which allowed Chaser to put his consciousness in the Watch at all. If TW hadn’t died, then Chaser’s plan wouldn’t have worked. That was another negative, though unexpected, side effect of TW.
My eyes darted to the Trickshot Watch. Unlike the rest of my suit, it wasn’t tightening at all, but there was no way I could remove it, because that would require dexterity that I lacked at the moment due to how tight my suit was.
But I didn’t need to remove the Watch in order to get my suit off. I remembered how, when I first got the Watch and was training in that warehouse with TW, I had ordered the suit to listen to me. Ever since then, the suit had obeyed my commands, but it had been a long time since I consciously ordered the suit to obey me. I also remembered that TW had once told me that the suit was like a living organism, in that it could understand commands and required energy to feed. That was why TW had been built in the first place: To keep the suit from siphoning the life force out of me.
An idea struck me like lightning just then, an idea I wasn’t sure would work, but I was almost over the brink of despair and was willing to try anything, no matter how outlandish it seemed.
I closed my eyes and heard Chaser chuckle. He probably thought I had closed my eyes in order to avoid seeing my own death, but he was about to be disappointed, assuming my plan worked.
“Suit,” I said in my mind. “I know it’s been a long time since we last talked. I know we haven’t talked or interacted much at all. And I know that Chaser is putting pressure on you to kill me. But please, I beg of you, listen to me. Stop squeezing me to death.”
Unfortunately, the suit kept squeezing me, as if I wasn’t talking to it at all. My head started to feel foggy and breathing became nearly impossible, a good sign that all circulation was being constricted. I probably had less than a minute left to live, so I had to make the suit listen to me.
“I know you’ve been hungry ever since TW’s death,” I continued. “But killing me won’t sate your hunger. If you want life energy—if you want to get rid of that all-consuming hunger—then eat Chaser. I promise you that if you do, you will get far more energy than you’ll ever need. You might even never need to eat again.”
I put as much confidence and passion into my words, being as persuasive as I possibly could be. I tried not to sound desperate, but it was hard, given how I was literally being squeezed to death. But one thing Dad had taught me was that desperation was never convincing and that I needed to remain calm and confident at all times, especially when I was trying to convince someone of something.
Then, all of a sudden, the squeezing stopped. The suit still clung tightly to my body—too tightly for my liking—but it wasn’t anywhere nearly as bad as it was just a few seconds ago.
Then, slowly but surely, it began to expand. Breathing became easier, my muscles didn’t feel nearly as tight as they used to, and I could start to think clearly again. My entire body ached, but even the pain wasn’t as bad as it had been a few moments ago.
Breathing in and out hard, I opened my eyes and looked up at Chaser. For the first time since Chaser had taken control of the Watch, he looked genuinely surprised, standing back as if I had just slapped him in the face.
“What is this?” said Chaser. “Why is the suit no longer squeezing you to death? I am in control.”
“No, Chaser,” I said, shaking my head. I put a hand on the TS symbol on my chest. “I’m in control of the suit. I can tell it what to do, not you. Do you want to know why?”
“W-Why?” said Chaser, his voice trembling for the first time.
I slowl
y rose to my feet, never breaking eye contact with Chaser the entire time. Chaser, to his credit, floated down toward me until the two of us stood face to face.
“Because I’m Trickshot,” I said. “And you’re not.”
Without warning, Chaser suddenly started screaming in pain. His holographic form began glitching out, blinking in and out of existence rapidly. He clutched at his chest, but there was nothing he could do to stop his death from happening.
“What … what is this?” said Chaser. “What is going on? What kind of trickery is this?”
“It’s not a trick,” I said. “I guess you must not know this, but when Grandfather first built TW and put him into the Trickshot Watch, it was to keep the suit from draining him of his life force. TW’s purpose was to give the suit something to chew on so it wouldn’t kill Grandfather. And because you took TW’s place, that means that the suit is now feeding on you. And let me tell you, it’s a hungry, hungry costume.”
“You … fool …” Chaser growled. “I … will … not … die like … this …”
Chaser’s form was growing fainter and fainter. Bits and pieces of his holographic form were being eaten away. He was doing an admirable attempt not to scream, but then he suddenly burst into loud yelling that was occasionally punctuated by glitched audio that sounded like my dad’s old MP3 player.
Chaser looked me in the eyes one last time and reached out toward me. Even as a hologram, I could tell he wanted nothing more than to wrap his fingers around my throat and strangle me to death here and now.
But just before his fingers touched my neck, Chaser completely disappeared.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
I looked down at the Trickshot Watch. There was nothing on it to indicate that Chaser was gone, but at the same time, I could sense that Chaser was truly, finally dead. The suit had eaten him, eaten every last bit of his consciousness. Chaser as I knew him no longer existed. The only indication that Chaser had ever existed was his corpse, which still sat on his throne, its broken neck lolling like a discarded doll. Chaser’s corpse was still very creepy, but relief washed over me when I realized that Chaser was finally dead.
“Whoa,” said Christina, who was lying on the floor, staring at the spot where Chaser’s hologram had been just seconds ago. “That was crazy.”
I had almost forgotten about Christina. I looked down at her and said, “Are you okay? Do you need any help up?”
Christina waved off my offers for help. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and kicked away the remnants of the tentacle that had nearly strangled her to death, rubbing her neck. “No, I don’t need your help, but next time I go to a seafood restaurant, I’m going to make sure I don’t order any octopus.”
I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re alive, anyway. Even though we’re not friends, I didn’t think Chaser was in the right to kill you.”
Christina snorted. “Of course he was in the right. Didn’t you hear what he said? Icon agents aren’t allowed to disobey him. We’re his property, little better than tools meant to be used and discarded as he sees fit. He’s got a real winning personality, in case you couldn’t tell.”
“Right,” I said. “Well, he’s gone. He’s not going to hurt or kill anyone else ever again, whether in Icon or elsewhere.”
“Yeah,” said Christina. “Unless he comes back as a ghost, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t able to figure out how to do that before he died.”
I shuddered at the thought of Chaser returning as a ghost to haunt us. “Don’t even mention it. I’m going to have nightmares for weeks if I have to think about that.”
Christina smirked. “Then maybe I should bring it up more often, if it disturbs you that much.”
“Please don’t,” I said. “I value my sleep a lot and—”
I was interrupted by Uncle Josh suddenly bursting into the room, his gun at the ready. He swept the room with his gun until his eyes landed on me and Christina, a puzzled expression on his face. “Jack? Christina? What happened? When you didn’t come out of Chaser’s room, I came in to see what—”
Uncle Josh’s eyes fell on Chaser’s corpse in the chair. “What in the hell is that thing?”
“Chaser,” said Christina as she slowly rose to her feet. “Or his body, anyway.”
Uncle Josh grimaced. “Good lord. In all of the years I’ve known about Chaser, I was expecting something … taller, I guess. He looks pathetic.”
“Well, he’s dead,” I said, putting my hands on my waist. “And he’s never coming back. Ever.”
“No doubt,” Uncle Josh agreed. He suddenly pulled his phone out of his pocket, snapped a picture of Chaser’s body, and put it back into his pants’ pocket. “There we go. All the proof Ephraim will need that we killed Chaser. He’s going to be ecstatic.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Assuming we can get off Iconia before it blows up, that is.”
“Oh, right,” said Uncle Josh. “I got another call from Mack and Gina while I was waiting for you guys. They said a bomb disarming squad came down to disarm the bomb, but Mack knocked them out. We’ve got less than twenty minutes left to meet Mack and Gina at the top of the Tower.”
“Less than twenty minutes?” I said in alarm. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go. We’ll tell you about everything that happened with Chaser later, after we get off the island.”
Uncle Josh nodded and the three of us ran out through the back entrance to Chaser’s room. We burst out back into the main chambers, where I spotted Grandfather, still wearing the Atlas Armor, lying on the floor in front of the screen not too far away from us. He still looked unconscious, but I rushed over to check on him anyway.
“Grandfather!” I said, falling down next to him. “Grandfather, are you okay? Can you hear me? Hello?”
“He’s unconscious,” said Uncle Josh, who stopped beside me with a grim look on his face. “I hope your super strength is enough to carry him, because that armor is too heavy for me to—”
All of a sudden, Grandfather’s eyes flickered open. He looked up at me, Uncle Josh, and Christina with dull eyes for a moment, and for a second I was worried that he was still somehow under Chaser’s spell and that we were going to have another fight on our hands.
But then Grandfather blinked and he looked confused. “Jack? Is that you?”
I smiled, barely able to suppress the tears in my eyes all of a sudden. “Yeah, old man, it’s me.”
“And you’re wearing my old costume …” Tears formed in the corners of Grandfather’s eyes. “It worked. You got the Watch, just as I planned. I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “And Chaser is dead, by the way. I killed him.”
“Chaser …” Grandfather’s voice trailed off and his tears seemed to become even thicker. “Poor Chaser. He was a good man, ambitious and intelligent, but he never paired that ambition or intelligence with morality, which he always seemed to think he was above. I should have known what path that would have led him down, but I was blind and foolish and didn’t even think of stopping him until it was too late.”
“It’s okay, Grandfather,” I said. “You did your best. All that matters is that Chaser is gone. Now we just need to get you back home to where you belong. How does that sound?”
Grandfather smiled, despite the tears trailing down the sides of his face. “That sounds wonderful, Jack. Absolutely wonderful.”
“This is heartwarming and all, but we don’t have a whole lot of time before this place goes to kingdom come,” said Christina all of a sudden. “And I am not going to drag that old man around, especially in that heavy armor he’s wearing.”
I glared at Christina for ruining this perfect moment, but Grandfather just chuckled and said, “No, it’s fine, young lady. I think I can move on my own. Let me try.”
Grandfather sat upright all of a sudden and rotated his limbs. “This suit is amazing, but nothing beats the Trickshot costume. I will admit, though, that this armor comes very close. It’s just missing TW and it wo
uld be perfect.”
I considered telling Grandfather about TW, but decided that could wait until later. I just stood up and helped Grandfather to his feet. “Good to see I didn’t beat you too hard back there, old man.”
“I’ve taken worse beatings than that before, Jack,” said Grandfather, cracking his neck. “Trust me, your punches were good, but not that good.”
I was about to argue with him about that, but then Uncle Josh stepped in and said, “We can catch up later. Right now, we have a date at the top of the Tower, so we need to get out of these chambers before the bomb goes off.”
“Bomb?” Grandfather repeated. “What bomb?”
“A couple of our friends set up a bomb below the Tower,” I explained. “It’s going to blow up in less than twenty minutes, and when it does, it will take the whole island with it.”
Grandfather’s eyes widened in surprise. “Seriously? What did you bring with you, a nuke?”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Uncle Josh. “What matters is getting out of here, but the door is too heavy and thick for us to open. But if we don’t get out of here soon, we’ll be blown up with the island.”
“Door, eh?” said Grandfather. He turned his attention to the massive door on the other side of the room. “It is a big one, I’ll agree with you there.”
I raised my fists. “I’ll just use my super strength to smash it open. Everyone else can stand back and—”
“Sorry, Jack, but I think you’ve done enough for today,” said Grandfather. “Let your old man show you how we did things in my day.”
Grandfather stepped forward and held up both of his hands, forming a cup with them. A powerful energy blast suddenly exploded from his palms, striking the massive door head on and making the door explode. Chunks of stone went flying in every direction, forcing us to duck to avoid being hit, but when the dust cleared, I looked up and saw that the door had been almost completely decimated by the blast, leaving the door wide open for all of us to exit.
