by Samuel Small
“Lennon!” Dante shouted, and the two flew into the sky, tearing after the creature. They were going fast, but that thing was quicker. Jake turned to Sara.
“Do you think you can create some ice deposits on that Malice? To slow it down?”
“Yeah, I think so,” Sara said, then extended her hands out. Jake could feel a chill in the air, so he knew she was using her ability. With all seeming to be taken care of, he tore at the ground, sheathing his sword and pulling his Sol rifle from his back. He felt the weight in his hands, and inspected the dial on the muzzle. It had several bars running up it, and the first three shone with a faint blue light. Not enough.
He continued rushing forward, the rifle swaying in his hands with each stride while Elizabeth followed behind. If he could catch up, he could collect Dante and Lennon’s Sol as they fought, and perhaps with all of it combined…
He clenched his teeth and ran harder.
***
A tail whipped through the air, and Dante found his body jerked out of the way. There was a constant up-current at his feet keeping him in the sky, which was pretty cool, but he didn’t like having no control over his movements. Still, when he asked Lennon to do this it was just a hopeful suggestion, he couldn’t have imagined that the guy could actually make two people fly and manage to dodge attacks as well. The two tore through the air as they chased the creature and steadily gained on it. Now they were locked in combat, the thing snapping and flailing its tail at them as they unleashed their Sol.
But the thing was pretty damn quick, much faster than Dante and Lennon when it took off. He couldn’t really imagine it running out of steam, since it just shrugged off blowing up, so he couldn’t figure out how they managed to catch it. Then Dante caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the light, cladding the creature’s black body. Ice.
“So that’s it,” Dante said, a smirk rising on his lips. The tail whipped at him again, but he was jerked to the side. He gathered energy into his hands, trying to coalesce as much as he could. Bedhead said to unleash as much Sol as I can, he thought, as his palms got hotter. He glanced behind him for just a second, taking in the island that he’d just been on. They were flying just off of its north coast, fighting the creature in the air. Dante turned his attention back to the beast and unleashed his energy. His arms hurt from withstanding the force of all those full-powered attacks at the request of a certain nerdy swordsman, and he wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up. He withdrew his hand, it shaking against his will, and focused on Lennon. He was making a good show of acting tough, but Dante could tell that his attacks were getting slower. He was good, yeah, but he wasn’t without limits, and he was giving these attacks all he had. Regardless of your stamina, you could only go all-out for so long.
“This shit better work, bedhead.”
***
Jake ran so fast he nearly tripped over his feet and went sliding into the grass. Dante and Lennon were fighting that thing alone and in the air – its own territory. He had to get to them and provide backup, but they’d flown across nearly the entire landmass they were on. Jake sped across it as best he could and soon arrived at the edge. A few hundred meters ahead the creature floated, Dante and Lennon’s silhouettes flying around it and unleashing their energy.
Jake dropped to one knee, inspecting the Sol rifle’s energy gauge. It was rising fairly steadily now and was pretty close to full capacity.
“What’s that?”
Elizabeth leaned in to peak at the gun Jake was inspecting, but she got a bit too close. Her hair rested on Jake’s shoulder and if he turned his head their cheeks would probably graze each other. Unable to move, he glanced at her. “Uh, it works by absorbing any Sol in an area, with it—” Jake began, but his eyes focused on a slight shifting behind Elizabeth, in the shadows of a building. A Malice perhaps? No, if it was it would have already attacked—
Beep!
Jake drew his attention downward once again, and saw that the rifle was at full capacity. It must have absorbed a ton, since they were so close to Dante and Lennon who were unleashing an insane amount of energy. He pointed the weapon at the giant creature that was lashing out at his comrades.
“Get back!”
The two figures flew away from the winged creature, and touched down on the land. Lennon leaned forward and collapsed. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake could tell Dante was eyeing him suspiciously, but he was more focused on getting the shot lined up. The dragon was still reeling from a goodbye blast Dante had sent it, so it was temporarily stationary. Jake shut his left eye, got it well into his sights, and placed his finger gently on the trigger.
Jake’s eyes widened as he saw light blue streaks of energy slide out of the muzzle, and begin to fuse together. Dante too seemed equally awestruck. The energy gathered and grew brighter, shining and radiant. Jake held the trigger tight, aware that as soon as he let go, it would unleash.
SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The entire rifle jerked skyward and sent Jake sprawling onto his back. He shook his head and looked forward, able to catch the instant the Sol made contact. The giant blue ball of energy tore into the creature and expanded into one large flash of light that left Jake momentarily blinded. In that blindness, the beast let out one final cry. There were no chunks of the creature left falling to the ground, the whole thing was completely vaporized into a mist of hot light. Jake looked at his own hands, not believing that such an attack could of come from him. He looked back up, Dante staring at the space where the dragon had been just moments ago. He turned his head to Jake, his mouth agape.
“The fuck was that?”
Parting
Everyone was silent. The space where there had just been a rampaging monster was now completely empty, not even a lingering puff of smoke remained. Everything was unnaturally quiet, but the creature did not reform. Dante peered at Jake’s weapon, although he didn’t get too close, probably because he didn’t understand how it worked. Lennon was on the ground, but his chest rose and fell rhythmically, indicating that he was just exhausted. He’d probably be awake in a few minutes, give or take. Sara stared at the space where the monster was, and Jake followed her gaze, but there was still nothing there. He looked down at the charred rifle smoking in his lap, then at his own hands. That power. It was unreal.
There was some shifting just in front of him, and Jake looked up, taking in Dante intentionally looking away while extending a hand. “Not bad, I guess,” he mumbled. Jake smirked and grasped his extended hand, slinging the remains of his Sol rifle over his shoulder with his unoccupied one. Dante hoisted him up with powerful force, and they took each other in with their hands interlocked, nodding. Sara leaned in between them, breaking their grip, and her face lit up. “Great job everyone!”
“Yeah, that wasn’t half bad at all,” Dante said, rubbing his nose with a finger.
Sara lifted her hands to the sky. “We did it!” she shouted into the air. Dante looked over to her then cried upward, “Take that you asshole!” Jake smirked and joined in the merriment, calling his own congratulations into the sky, although some uneasiness stirred in the back of his mind, as if something was missing from this celebration. The smile slowly fell from his lips, and he looked about for what might be wrong. Dante and Sara were there as always, Dante shouting insults at the sky. Sara smiled at him, then joined in, calling nothing in particular an ‘asshole’ then bursting into a fit of laughter. That guy was clearly becoming a bad influence on her. Lennon was there, but he wasn’t the source of his uneasiness. He looked back at the spot, fully expecting to see the dragon staring at him, but there was nothing but blue sky and drifting clouds. It wouldn’t be coming back. If it was going to reform, it would have done it by now so what was this—
Elizabeth.
Jake looked around, his eyes wide. She was here only a few seconds ago, asking about how the Sol rifle worked. He told her to get back, but she couldn’t have gone that far, and there was no way some wayward Malice could have taken her out
, but then why wasn’t she here? She wouldn’t have taken off again, not with—
Not with that cloaked group after her.
The uneasiness rushed up twofold, and Jake looked around more frantically than ever. Dante caught site of his odd behavior and ceased yelling at the clouds. An eyebrow raised, he stared at Jake.
“It’s Elizabeth! I can’t see her!”
“What? They’ll be plenty of time for you to put the moves on her—” but then he stopped, the teasing smile falling flat. He must’ve caught the look of panic on Jake’s face, and he looked around for the girl too. “She ain’t here. What’s this about?”
“That cloaked group, they tried to kill her a few days ago.”
“What—” Dante called, but then his head turned fiercely in the opposite direction. Jake followed, hearing the swift tread of footfalls. Coming sharply into focus was Elizabeth, her hair strewn about and a thin line of blood running down her forehead. She was looking behind her, but when she turned forward to assess her pace, her eyes focused on the group and she ran even faster until she was before them, hunched over and panting.
“That man.”
“The fast guy?” Dante asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No, the—” then her eyes shifted to the side. Striding past Lennon’s unconscious body was the thin member of the cloaked group, whom Thanos had referred to as Raph. He walked leisurely, as if taking a stroll, and that only made Jake feel more uneasy. That casual manner, coupled with the fact that even though Elizabeth had been running away from him, he showed up in a completely different direction, scared the crap out of him. He walked up to the four youths, each of them on guard, and stopped just before them.
“You’ve had your extra time with her, now stand aside.”
“I won’t!” Jake yelled, and reached behind his back. Before his fingers even made contact with his sword, the man lunged for him, although on his way to Jake something rammed into him and knocked his body to the ground. It was Dante, giving him a solid shoulder check. The cloaked man got back on his feet, turning his attention on the orange-haired boy.
Dante looked suspiciously toward Elizabeth, who was standing behind Jake. There seemed to be some semblance of a memory sparking in his eyes, but then he turned his attention back to the cloaked man known as Raph. “What’s this about?”
“Classified. That girl must be eliminated is all you need to know.”
“So you’re in the habit of killing teenage girls?” Dante said, his voice flat. His was head downcast and his eyes were concealed by his dangling hair.
The man was silent.
“I think it’s about time you fucked off!” Dante shouted and thrust his arm outward. His energy flowed out of it in a violent burst and plowed into Raph, who made no attempt to dodge or block. His body was forced backward and he tumbled through the grass. Jake thought for a second that was all it took to take him out, but Dante’s fierce glare at the prone body made him realize it wouldn’t be so easy.
The man made a slow display of getting up, dusting off his cloak, then stood before the group once again. “You aren’t capable of hurting me. Just surrender the girl.” A few icicles bounced off his hardened body and tore into his coat. The tears swayed in the breeze, and Jake could see the skin beneath was glittering silver, but it was smooth – smoother than any armor he’d ever seen.
“It’s against my interests to harm you,” the man said to Dante, “and it’s not as if I have anything personal against the others. Just hand over the girl and the rest of you can go.”
There was a brief silence in the grass at the edge of this strange and tiny world. Dante and the cloaked man seemed to be locked in some kind of uncanny standoff. Jake didn’t dare say anything for fear of rousing whatever malevolent energy seemed to radiate from both of them.
“You know something, don’t you?” Dante said at last.
Again, the man was silent.
“About that group with the lightning bolts!” Dante said, charging for the hooded figure. He stood still, and awaited the boy’s onslaught. Dante punched into him several times, the attacks clearly powerful and enhanced with energy. It flattened the grass around them and caused the tails of the man’s cloak to lash out, but he didn’t budge. Dante took a few steps back, wincing from the pain that was no doubt screaming from his knuckles.
“If you won’t listen to reason,” Raph said, then his hands elongated and sharpened, tearing his gloves into strips of fabric that fell to the ground. His fingers were shining and glittering, that same silvery material that was visible underneath his cloak, and Jake realized that was his ability: his unique Sol. He swiped his clawed hand at Dante, who dodged back to avoid it, although he wasn’t done. He threw hands quickly and with ease, mixing in feints and changing the rhythm of his attacks. Dante blocked all of them, although his wide eyes indicated that he was just as surprised as Jake.
His combat skills were good, that was for sure. Jake unsheathed his sword and charged at the hooded man, who was still unleashing a combo at Dante, but before his sword could even make contact the guy sent a firm foot tearing into his gut. Jake coughed and doubled over, and Raph continued to attack Dante.
A few icicles whizzed past Jake’s head, but they did little to harm the man, bouncing off his armor-like skin. He continued to tear into Dante who was forced to back up. Thanks to this guy’s unique ability, it was pointless for Dante to counterattack since it did no damage, but Jake couldn’t think of anything else. Their attacks seemed to have no effect, so what else was there to do but delay the man’s inevitable victory?
Aiming to once again step forward and punch at Dante, Raph looked down, just then taking in the ice that was spreading up his ankle. He turned his hood to Sara. Jake regained himself and brandished his sword, ready to tear into the cloaked man now that he was trapped.
“Let ’em go!” Dante shouted. Jake lowered his sword and looked at the boy, his mouth agape. He turned to Sara, and she seemed to be just as confused.
“What do you mean? He’s going to hurt you.”
“So what if he does!? This shit don’t concern you, so stay the fuck out of it!” His distant eyes focused on Sara, his chest rising and falling with anger, and the ice entrapping the cloaked man’s feet melted into a pool that spread through the grass. Confused, Raph straightened up.
“Then I suppose you have some sort of plan?” he asked.
“Why don’t you come and find out?” Dante said, and dropped his posture down low, his hands at his sides, hardly a proper fighting stance. The man accepted this challenge readily, and placed his fists up before his face. In an instant he stepped forward and swung at Dante, but the boy avoided it.
Looking at the battle now, Jake could see a clear skill gap between Dante and this man. Sure, Jake thought he was tough, but that didn’t mean Dante did. Despite the boy’s less than stellar posture, the reason for which Jake didn’t understand, he was still dodging every one of his opponent’s attacks, even the tricky feints and odd angled ones. What Jake thought was especially strange was that despite this obvious combat advantage, Dante wasn’t taking advantageous angles of attack or moving the fight in his favor. Quite the opposite, in fact – he was allowing the cloaked man to back him up, closer to the edge of the floating nation.
Dante’s foot scraped along the very limit of the land, but his face wasn’t the shocked expression that Jake expected to see. Rather, he smirked at his adversary, then dropped low and attempted to grab the guy’s legs. At the last second, the man dropped his hips and scooted his legs out so they were just out of Dante’s reached. He pressed his chest into Dante’s head, pinning the boy.
Dante muttered something at his hooded adversary, struggling to raise his head, and Jake heard the soft muffle of a reply but they were too far away to hear properly.
“I know you have info on them!” Dante shouted and hoisted himself out from underneath, trying to take his opponent’s back. Raph spun around and faced Dante, then kicked the boy off
of him. He rose to his feet, and the two charged and began to grapple, the roles reversed and the cloaked man now on the verge of falling off the edge.
Jake now realized that was likely Dante’s plan all along. The low stance, the way he allowed himself to be backed to the edge. Strikes were no good against this guy, even a full swing of Elizabeth’s sword did nothing, which is why Dante opted for grappling moves. The unfortunate thing, however, was that this man also knew how to handle himself in this manner, and since Dante primarily focused on striking, his grappling was therefore lacking, leaving the two fairly evenly matched. Jake took a step forward. Now that he knew the plan he could certainly help, but Dante called out to him and locked up with the man.
“Stay out of it!” he ordered.
The two fought for dominants grips on each other, grasping at wrists and then pulling away, frantically trying to get any kind of advantage over the other. Their clothes were the most optimal, and soon each had two hands locked into the other’s collar. Face to face, the two had yet another inaudible exchange, then Dante turned his eyes away from Raph’s shadowy hood and to Jake, but for only a moment. His eyes glimmered with confusion, but there something just underneath the surface. Jake thought it was rage, before the boy faced his opponent once again and grabbed him.
The man grasped Dante’s lead arm with both of his hands and dragged the boy forward, then spun around. Now it was Dante facing the edge. They locked hands and smashed foreheads. A line of blood dripped down Dante’s face and ran down to his chin, but he didn’t seem to notice at all, too busy glaring at his shadowy opponent. He pulled his arms away and locked up with the man again. Dante had one arm deep within his opponent’s armpit, so deep that he hoisted the man up and to his side. In close, he said something to Raph once again, who responded. Dante’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, then he clenched his teeth and turned into the man, throwing him over his shoulder and off the island. Raph offered no resistance, and seemed to allow Dante to land the final move. Dante watched him plummet.
