The Clash (The Permutation Archives Book 5)

by Kindra Sowder

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” John said weakly, pulling in air between words.

  King rolled his dark eyes and said, “John Baker, do not make this more embarrassing than it needs to be. I am already going to devour you after I’m finished with my little girl. Do not ruin your memory by attempting to do battle with a higher evolved being.”

  “You going to bark all day, little doggie,” John groaned, his right hand moving to cover the hole in his chest that still hadn’t fully closed, “or are you going to bite?”

  “What?” King asked, turning to look at John with incredulity.

  John smirked with a small gasp of a laugh. “You heard me, pussy. You really think I’m afraid of you? You’re just a cheap carbon copy of me. This?” he gestured toward the hole in his chest. “This was just a mistake. I still have more than enough to stomp your ass like the bug you are. You’re nothing, and you knew that you were nothing. That’s why you let some cut-rate snake-oil salesman that was a genetic mistake himself take you over. All because you hoped that you could be anywhere near as good as me.”

  “Is that right?” the King-Newton hybrid asked skeptically. “I will show you just how wrong you are.”

  He charged at John, and before I had the chance to attempt to warn him, John threw himself to the ground to dodge the wild swing from the monster. Every blow John threw at the man when he stood again came in a blur of motion that I could barely make out. John raised his knee and cracked the creature in the ribs. Then he reached forward, gripping the hybrid’s head, and twisted it savagely. A loud crack resounded through the lab, bouncing off the walls as I felt my Nanos work slowly to repair my injuries.

  King’s head turned back around, doing a complete three-sixty before two massive fists punctured his chest, sending John flying backward and to the ground. King burst forward and slammed his knee into John’s chest, raining down punches on him faster than he could register.

  “Ready for another fun trick?” King chuckled as he straddled John’s waist. He raised his fist high over his head and spurs of bone forced their way out of his knuckles. “You’ve got something in your eye,” King laughed as he brought his fist down, showing the spurs into John’s eyes.

  I couldn’t see any more than that from my vantage point. I tried to stand but was still too weak. The blows I had received from King had been too much, and I needed longer to recuperate. Until the Nanos did their job, I was helpless to watch just like a baby bird.

  John mumbled some unintelligible curse word, and then spat, “Do you realize how many fucking eyes I’ve lost this week?”

  Rolling onto my back, pain lanced through my legs and my ribcage, causing me to gasp. All I could do was lie there, listening to their conversation as I watched the two enhanced men destroy each other – with nothing I could do to help John gain the upper hand while my power rebounded, leaving me in a haze as the pain ebbed and flowed.

  “I’m sure it’s been a few,” King chortled. “Look at that gaping hole in your chest, Mr. Griffin. I wonder if I can reach your Queen from here?”

  “Quentin Griffin is dead.”

  That last part was all I heard before I blacked out, falling into the pit of darkness while my Nanos hummed within me to heal me. I fought against unconsciousness, raking my nails against the dredges of it that threatened to drag me even deeper than I ever intended to go. My muscles pulled, and my entire body tingled – feeling pins and needles as if my entire body had fallen asleep. Inside, I screamed and pulled and trudged, dragging myself back to the surface with a sharp gasp – my heart jump-starting as if someone punched a syringe of adrenaline into it.

  Cries of agony – John’s cries of agony – ripped through the air and I turned to see King still on top of John, wrist-deep in his chest. Tears stained John’s cheeks while his fingers gripped King’s arm tightly, almost to the point of breaking King’s skin.

  “Where is that little bitch of yours, Quentin? Where is…,” I saw King’s back stiffen in surprise, “oh, here she is. Well, doesn’t this just feel wonderful?”

  “John,” I attemptied to shout, pulling myself slowly to my feet as my energy began to build again. I could save John. I could save us all now.

  “Oh, don’t you worry, Mila. I will be with you shortly,” King stated as his arm rotated within John’s chest. “I’m just going to have myself a little snack and…what in the Hell?”

  John gripped King’s wrist tighter and clenched his jaw.

  “Think you’re so smart, don’t you?” Baker asked.

  King’s eyes widened in shock, and I started to wonder why he looked so afraid. Except, I felt King and John’s Nanos working against one another, John’s beginning to gain the upper-hand. King raised his fist, turning it into the same tendril we had contended with before, but it fell limply at his side mid-shift as his body began to visibly weaken. His face went pale and rage burned in his eyes as he stared down at John. I was frozen to the spot, my power beginning to really come back as I watched their battle.

  “What are you doing to me?” King growled furiously.

  “Me?” John asked with a shrug. “Simply evolving.”

  John’s eyes glanced over at me as I watched in curiosity, smirking as the hole in his chest finally began to heal rapidly. It closed around King’s wrist, holding him in place as the Nanos inside of them both worked against one another. I felt the fusion taking place inside John’s body, and the shift of King’s Nanos beginning to slow, almost stopping altogether.

  “Release me, you piece of shit,” King yelled. “Release me, or I will crush your heart in my…”

  Agony moved through King again, stopping his threatening words and replacing them with fierce screams. A muffled crunching sound came from within John’s chest, but it didn’t seem to hurt him. If anything, he smiled wildly up at King.

  “I don’t think you’ll be doing anything with that, Mr. President,” John said, using one fist to punch King in the face to emphasize his words.

  I couldn’t stop the look of shock as both men began to meld into one. Even more energy recovered within me, the Nanos finally doing their job to their capacity. King’s use of my power against me had damaged them a little, which explained the slow recovery, but all that mattered now was what I could do next.

  “Release me, goddamn you!” King shrieked as their bodies continued to turn into one, chocolate brown skin and tanned turning into a melting pot of hues.

  “Mila! Mila, do it now! I have him under control!” John yelled, ripping me out of my thoughts.

  He wanted me to use my power on him. The same extent of my ability I had used on Famke, on missiles, and on the men outside the door that tried to stop us, but I couldn’t. I’d kill him for good. I’d tear him apart at his most basic level, and I didn’t believe he understood what kind of suffering that would mean for him until the reaction had completed itself.

  I shook my head, still barely holding myself up, but coming back slowly.

  “No, John. No. I’ll kill you,” I protested.

  “Fucking do it,” he roared, his voice mixing with a female tone and that of Dr. Newton’s. “I don’t want him getting to Gaia. Or you. I have him under control as best as I can. Just do it while I can still hold him.”

  A garbled scream poured from King’s misshapen mouth, sounding as if multiple voices came from just one set of vocal chords. It was a terrifying sight, seeing John merging with my father and Dr. Newton in such a horrifying display of melting flesh, bone, and muscle. Yet, I couldn’t rip my eyes away from it.

  “I’m sorry, John,” I whispered when my chest hitched with grief, hoping he would hear me – tears burning at the backs of my eyes as they fell down my cheeks in a hot stream.

  Grief tore into me as I reached out my hand toward the massive mound of melting flesh. I felt the cells of each of them, molding into on
e another and almost becoming one as I meddled around inside them both. They were assimilating, and I could feel John’s pulsating against King’s and stopping his shift – my own reacting to the buzzing of energy. I almost couldn’t tell which was able to gain the upper hand, but it became clear quickly that neither one of them could.

  Calling on my power, I focused on the group of cells that felt familiar to me as King’s. I pictured the cells, down to the atoms, and moved as much energy as I could into them – causing them to begin to move. They rubbed together rapidly, building the heat that would work toward the fission reaction I sought to cause like a domino effect. I saw the cells begin to die, turning from healthy reds and pinks to dead and dying browns and blacks. The mixture of cells of the two began to swirl and shudder within the two men as they melded together.

  My own Nanos John gifted to me surged, forcing more power into me that I gladly accepted. If I was going to take King down once and for all, this would be the only way – accepting whatever aid I could get. I sent more power into the mound of flesh, barely able to distinguish between King and John anymore as they roared – like four voices coming from one set of vocal chords. My body began to tremble with the effort, each muscle in my body contracting painfully as using my power against three powerful beings at once began to take its toll. On instinct, I brought both hands to my chest and held them there to build more power within my ribcage – accepting everything the Nanos offered. Once I felt the familiar pressure and warmth under my breastbone, I threw my hands out toward my target with an animalistic cry, sending out a massive wave of kinetic energy and heat that struck the mound of flesh dead-center.

  The creature continued its high-pitched wail, shattering any glass that resided in the laboratory whether it be windows, beakers, or the glass in the microscopes on the tables. I could barely hear it beyond my own shouts as I screamed with the outpouring of power that felt like I could be ripped apart. I unleashed even more when I felt one portion of the creature begin to push back. I would not lose. I couldn’t lose.

  The iron taste of my blood moved across my tongue, filling my mouth at the same moment a warm stream of it began to flow from my nose, down my lips, and down my chin. It didn’t startle me. I knew this could happen, so I did what I could. I sent even more energy into the monster – and it was more than I had ever been able to call upon before. The Nanos of the thing continued to resist, but I could feel them start to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of my power – so I sent even more out to them. I couldn’t tell which cells were which anymore – John’s, King’s, Newton’s… Queen’s – everything was a mess of biomechanical matter. The brown hue of the creature began to darken, turning darker and darker as the blood within it began to thicken and die.

  The cries grew louder for a moment before the monster really began to weaken. Its movements twitched from the energy within it, but it did not attempt to fight anymore. The color continued to darken until it became pitch black. The smoking smell of flesh filled and tickled my nostrils as I sent another furious wave of power into it, and it broke into erratic movements as if it were having a seizure. It stood up straight in the air and then fell to the ground as the power continued to run through it.

  Sending another powerful wave of energy into the thing, it began to crack and explode into a dead husk. With a final push and a feral cry, I sent another wave of energy into it and caused it to explode into tiny meaty bits of decaying, radioactive black flesh, charred beyond recognition. They floated to the ground like macabre snowfall.

  I fell to the ground, my body spent. I was covered in sweat that poured down my body as if I had taken a dip in the Atlantic Ocean, the taste of blood growing stronger in my mouth as it continued to pour from my nose – running from my ears and down my neck as well.

  I stared at the spot where John had once been, warring with the King-Newton hybrid that ultimately caused me to take his life along with it. A sob chocked me, and pure exhaustion took over before I blacked out again.

  I never felt the impact with the cold linoleum.

  Chapter

  THIRTY-THREE

  “Mila!”

  The shrill sound of my name ripping through the air tore me from unconsciousness, and I gasped awake, eyes blinking past blurriness.

  “Mila,” Gaia screamed, her footfalls charging in my direction.

  “G…g…Gaia?” I whimpered, barely able to make a sound.

  Footsteps stampeded toward my prone form, but I could barely look around to see who it was.

  “Oh, fuck, Mila,” Ryder cried out.

  “What the fuck happened…? Oh, God…” Ruckus yelled, his gruff voice echoing.

  I heard the footsteps grow nearer, and the warmth of a few as they knelt next to me, but I couldn’t register any of their faces past the fog of wariness.

  “Oh, no! Where’s John? Mila?” Gaia screamed again.

  Someone’s fingers grazed my arm, and when I used every bit of energy I had left to look at who was touching me, I saw Ryder. His face was sullen, and his eyes roved over my body trying to assess the damage. He knew there wouldn’t be any. Even I knew that. I just had to wait for the Nanos to do their job, which I could already feel them beginning to do. His eyes were filled with terror and blood had begun to congeal as it continued to flow from my eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Reaching forward, he pulled me against his chest and began to rock me back and forth. He was trying to comfort me, but he didn’t know that wouldn’t do any good. Not now.

  “Mila? Can you hear me?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I responded weakly. “I can hear you.”

  “What happened?”

  I looked up, but could only make out the vague shapes of my companions. My vision hadn’t yet completely recovered from the onslaught of my abuse of my power yet.

  “John…he…saved us all,” I said, unconsciousness pulling at the fringes. My chest heaved, and I could barely breathe – could barely keep my eyes open.

  “Where is he?” Gaia cried again.

  “He was dying,” I replied. “He tricked King into trying to assimilate him. When he put his hands in his body, John did the same to him. He began to absorb him. He kept King under control so that I could…so that…”

  Each word became more of a struggle to expel.

  “John’s…?” Gaia sobbed.

  I couldn’t make out the expression on her face. I could only see the hunched, horrified figure that I assumed was Gaia because of her blonde hair. It could’ve been Doctor Aserov, but there were two figures with the same pale shade, so I assumed the smaller of them was Gaia. Directing my face toward her, a silent tear escaped, mixing with my blood.

  “I’m so sorry, Gaia. He wouldn’t,” I swallowed, trying to wet my throat as I choked the words out, “he wouldn’t hear anything other than keeping you safe.”

  Gaia stood there in disbelief. The shape I assumed was Ruckus reached forward, placing his hand on her shoulder to comfort her as her shoulders began to shake with audible sobs. I wished there was something I could do to comfort her, but all my effort was being used to hold my head up, and my strength wasn’t returning as quickly as it had before.

  “Come on,” Ruckus sighed. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Yeah,” Ryder hitched in his chest.

  His arms came around my back and under my knees as he pulled me closer against him and rose to his feet, carrying me so that I could lean my head against his chest. As he did so, I watched as Gaia looked around the room and wiped tears from her face. My vision was beginning to clear, which was a good sign.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” Ruckus said gently. “You can cry if you want.”

  “No,” Gaia said firmly, suppressing another sob. “I’m not going to cry for him. He wouldn’t want that. He died the way he wanted to be known. As more than a monster. A man. My man,” she looked at
Ruckus with a smile despite what I knew was emotional torture.

  “He was…” Ruckus started.

  “He was a hero,” Julius finished from behind everyone.

  I was shocked to hear him speak since he hadn’t done much of it since killing Nero, but he was right nonetheless. Baker had gone out a hero. Because he was one. It didn’t stop the grief I felt deep in my chest as I looked at my little sister, her teary and bloodshot blue eyes coming into bitter focus.

  “Gaia,” I began.

  “Stop,” Gaia said, glaring unintentionally. “You did what he wanted you to do. Don’t take that from him by apologizing.”

  “It’s over,” I said, letting my head fall meekly onto Ryder’s chest. “It’s finally over.”

  “Finally,” Doctor Aserov confirmed.

  Then, suddenly, I felt something deep within my mind and my gut. Something I hadn’t felt since the room went eerily still when John and the hybrid creature exploded into oblivion. It was the familiar buzz of a Nano – a familiar genetic blueprint.

  “Wait,” I said with a sharp intake of breath.

  “What?” Fairbanks asked, reaching for the gun on his hip and eyes darting in all directions.

  “I feel something,” I stammered.

  “What? Where?” Gaia shrieked, looking around the room.

  “Over there,” I said, pointing toward the largest scorch mark on the floor where John had been.