by Erik Weir
Victor’s eyes took on a kind edge. “You were meant to love.”
Wynn looked to Victor, sadness touching her expression. “Vala is just another force, wanting control. I’m just a soldier in her army. I would still be fighting Xull if…” Wynn trailed off.
Victor’s head leaned forward, shadows covering his eyes.
Wynn touched his chin and lifted his gaze up so she could see his eyes. “I stopped fighting Xull because of you. The time we shared haunts me. I would have fought to my dying breath in that hanger, but you opened my eyes to peace.”
“Change is always hard, at first. I panicked when I was first brought to the Realms. I tried to joke and remain upbeat, but I was terrified. After a while, it started to feel normal. I felt normal. Now, we fight for Vala to bring her back and restore balance to the Realms. We may have been chosen but that doesn’t mean we don’t have our doubts.”
“You have doubts,” Wynn asked in slight astonishment.
Victor nodded. “I do, from time to time. When Vala returns, will she even need me anymore. Will I be sent back to my world or maybe, I will just be a soldier in her army? I don’t know. All I do know is, I made a promise to help her. I love her like I love so many. I can’t believe the goddess of love would only want us to just bring her back.”
The Champion took hold of Wynn’s hand and lifted it to his lips. With a light kiss to the back of her hand, he gazed into her wide eyes with love. “I need you, not as a warrior or soldier…but as my friend.”
“You don’t mean that,” Wynn said as she looked away.
Victor used his fingers to guide her chin and eyes back to him as he smiled. “Once I love someone, I love them for forever.”
“Lily? Dawn?”
Victor smiled, “You forgot to add your name, Buk and Diz and the rest of our friends.”
Wynn fought her forming smile and lost. “You truly are a Champion.”
“I’m just a guy trying to do the right thing,” Victor smirked.
Wynn’s eyes took on a sultry edge as she gave the Champion a wicked smirk. “There is a fire I may need you to put out. A request I can only ask a friend.”
Victor gave a slight nod, “We have some time before I have to go back to Vala’s realm. I will do everything I can to…put out the flames.”
Wynn stepped closer, wrapping her arms around Victor’s neck once again before kissing him deeply. Victor held her waist, enjoying the intimate kiss. Hearts sang as bodies continued to move and shift along the dancefloor.
***
Ema glanced out the car window to the club. Cebelius continued to stand like a statue, the street otherwise empty. Turning from the window, she listened in on Victor and Wynn’s conversation. Heart beating a little faster, the cat-woman with white fur couldn’t stop the warmth filling her ears. Thoughts shifting to a location where she could take Victor, Wynn, Buk, and Diz to, she figured they all would want to have some time together before Victor left the realm. Calling up a 2D display, she plotted out a short route to a safehouse for some much-needed private time.
Outside, black lines rippled over the empty street. The bull bouncer looked up to see a dozen black misty lines create a semi-circle in front of the club. A thick hand reached behind to a plasma pistol in his belt, the bouncer watched with intense eyes.
The shifting lines grew wider, purple energy flickering along the darkness. When they widened into oval holes, bodies emerged. Horns gleamed in the streetlight as long, black trench coats flapped to moving legs. Guns and rifles rose up as eyes hot as coals glared on the bouncer.
Cebelius activated his communication implant as he pulled his pistol and aimed. “We have guests! I repeat, we have guests,” the bull said as he pulled the trigger to his pistol.
The area lit up in plasma fire.
***
Wynn pulled back from Victor as the music immediately died. Victor looked around as did a number of club-goers. Several altered humans moved in Wynn’s direction while others started to move many of the Seproh to the exits. The smoky air took on an electric current, Wynn moving from Victor and shouting to the crowd. Buk and Diz moved toward Wynn.
“Move to the exits! Take the Seproh to the designated safe locations,” Wynn ordered.
“Wynn?” Victor asked when an explosion rocked the area.
“We have to go,” Wynn said as she grabbed Victor’s hand and turn her attention to Buk and Diz. “Make sure everyone gets out.”
The rams nodded when an explosion rocked the building. From the corridor they entered, doors swung back as a large body stepped in, plasma fire lighting up Celebius’s form. Bolts rained against the edge as he promptly stepped back until he reached the corridor edge of the giant room.
Victor held out his hand as his gun-blade slid into it. Spending a Constitution point, the blade was charged with six rounds. Around him, many moved to the back exits while Wynn continued to shout orders. The minotaur continued to return fire, plasma bolts blasting holes into walls before one was too close. The explosion sent the large bouncer to the floor, smoke rising from his arm and pistol sliding across the floor to a halt.
Victor was already moving as Buk reached down for Celebius’s pistol. The Champion ducked down and slid across the floor as plasma fire entered the club. Reaching the bouncer, he pumped a point into Strength. Taking hold of the dazed minotaur, Victor was back to his feet, pointing his gun-blade at the entrance and pulling the trigger. The explosion was enough to silence the plasma fire for a breath of a second.
Buk appeared next to Victor and Cebelius, pistol up and firing into the black smoke. The ram-woman didn’t hold back, firing at any shadow until enemy plasma bolts fired back. Diz raced to Victor’s side. Strong hands took hold of the dazed minotaur. Victor watched as Diz helped the bouncer along, bringing him along to one of the back exits.
Victor tapped Buk’s shoulder and she began to step back. Victor held his gun-blade up but didn’t take any shots due to the smoke from the plasma fire. He wanted to make every shot count and firing blindly wasn’t going to help. Wynn appeared at his side and tugged at his arm.
“We have to evacuate,” Wynn ordered when an explosion ripped through the front entrance.
The shockwave knocked everyone down, Victor throwing his arms around Wynn as they hit the floor. Buk was knocked back, but kept her arm up and aiming at the now destroyed entrance. Seconds felt like hours as they attempted to get back to their feet when bodied rushed out of the smoke and destruction toward them.
Victor’s eyes widened a hair as demonic men and women rushed in. Horns gleamed in the stabbing lights of the club while armored coats flapped. Plasma rifles aimed as wicked and sardonic smiles formed. Gloved fingers pulled on triggers as manic laughter rose up.
“Kill them all!” a demon shouted before firing into the fleeing crowd.
The small horde of demons burst through the thick smoke, eyes wild and weapons firing. A seproh screamed as she took a bolt to the back that sent her crashing to the floor. Bedlam stormed as the demons rushed in, several of them aiming at Victor, Wynn and Buk.
Victor’s eyes narrowed as he spent five points of Will and an aura appeared around his body. Demons licked lips as they fired on the now glowing Champion. Wynn and Buk stepped behind Victor as bolts slammed into his aura. Energy flared as Victor was forced to take a step back. The Champion noted that even with a greater aura, the plasma weapons could still break through if they hit him enough.
Victor spun his gun-blade around and held it behind him. “Wynn, take it!”
The fox didn’t hesitate as she took hold of the gun-blade from Victor and aimed it over his shoulder. Pulling the trigger, the energy blast hit a demon, blasting him into flying limbs and striking the one behind him with equal power. Buk knelt down to one knee and returned fire into the approaching demons.
A bone sword slid into Victor’s hand as he charged it with a point of influence from his Strength. Aiming, he blasted out a roar, sending every invading demon to the f
loor. Walls and floor cracked from the roar as plasma bolts went wild.
The demons struggled to stand while more poured in from the entrance. A shadow appeared over them before they fired up at it. Victor came down, bone sword stabbing into a demon. Time fell into moments as Victor’s blade pulled from the dying creature and he charged into the fray. Plasma bolts struck faces as Buk continued with fire support. Wynn pulled the trigger of the gun-blade, demons blown into pieces.
Victor growled as he came at the invaders like a freight train. Aura flickering, bolts slammed into it at point-blank range as he sliced hard across chests and necks. Bodies were thrown or fell apart as the Champion crashed through them. Plasma bolts exploded against his aura and just as it was about to go out, Victor pumped five more points into it.
No time to think, Victor cut down each demon with little effort. Soon, all enemy rifles and pistols aimed on the advancing Champion. The force of the barrage slowed Victor down until Buk and Wynn cut down the enemy, one by one. The rain of plasma fire caused Victor to stop his advance and whip his body away. More demons charged in from the street, firing indiscriminately as Wynn and Buk backpedaled while looking for cover.
Victor’s mind became razor focused as he landed. Spending a point of Will, the Champion activated his Time Bend ability and gave the advancing demons a wicked grin.
***
Ema tapped a code under her seat as the horde of demons nearly filled the entire street. Tapping into Wynn’s visual feed, the cat-woman watched as Victor moved like a juggernaut through the demons. Touching the last digit to the code, a compartment slid out from under the seat. An armored vest and heavy plasma rifle gleamed in the small light.
Ema grabbed the vest and put it over her head. The vest adjusted and snapped into place around her torso and abdomen. Clawed hands reached down for the heavy plasma rifle while the drone driver turned its head to Ema in the back.
“Drones are on their way to your location,” the drone stated as it lifted up a pistol.
“Stay here while I even the odds,” Ema commanded as she opened the side door pointing away from the street.
“Do not engage,” the drone said before Ema slammed the door shut.
Ema hoisted up the heavy plasma rifle as it charged to life. Stepping around the rear of the vehicle, she aimed the barrel at the writhing horde of demons. At a quick glance, there was roughly a hundred demons in the street, all trying to enter the club and even firing plasma weapons at the structure.
The cat-woman picked her targets as her finger hovered over the trigger. A window slid down from the armored vehicle. Ema firmed her resolve as she squeezed the trigger. Thick plasma bolts blasted out, joining the roar of battle. From the open window, the drone assisted by firing into the crowd. Demon bodies lit up as energy blasted holes through them. Ema kept her stance, legs wide and arms tight as she methodically fired into the demon crowd.
Enemy demons turned their attention to the white cat-woman with the oversized plasma rifle and returned fire. The street flashed with deadly exchange of plasma bolts. Ema bent her body slightly, using the vehicle for cover while making sure every shot count. Energy bolts slammed into the vehicle, denting and blasting holes into it as the firefight fell into controlled chaos.
***
Time slowed as weapons moved like snails across a thick sidewalk. Victor moved normally, bone blade slashing and separating arms from bodies. Using a single point of Will caused time to slow down to a crawl. The Champion flowed into the standing demons, slicing limbs in quick succession. Powerless, the invaders could do nothing as an unseen force cut them up like a hot knife through butter.
Victor’s brow furled as he worked, decimating the invaders. An alert blinked in the corner of his vision and time sped up back to normal. Victor slid to a halt and pointed his sword down when a dozen demons screeched, limbs flying off their bodies. Black blood bloomed or squirted as they fell, clutching at bloody stumps.
“Surrender,” Victor shouted as more demons rushed in, and some of those he had missed, re-aimed at him.
The cold, terrible evil in their eyes spoke volumes as they continued, indifferent to his words.
“You fucking morons,” Victor hissed as he spent a point of Will.
Time slowed once again. Wynn watched with hard eyes as she aimed the gun-blade. Victor moved like a stream of light, cutting through the demons without remorse. Bodies exploded and, in a blink, all the demons inside the club were cut down. Many cried out in pain while others laughed in macabre indifference holding up bloody stumps. Wynn had seen this behavior before. The demons didn’t care that they were being killed. They fought like their lives no longer mattered.
Time returned to normal and Victor burst from the destroyed entrance and into the demon horde. They cackled and laughed, firing at the Blade. Victor’s aura held as he crashed into them and sliced through their bodies.
Ema saw Victor entering the fray and stood up to her full height, shooting into the crowd. The drone stepped out of the vehicle; every shot true as it assisted Ema. In a span of moments, the demons fell.
A demon growled its contempt as it waved a hand. A sliver of a portal appeared. The demon glanced back as Victor cut down two demons with one strike. The demon turned back to the widening portal when a plasma bolt struck it in the shoulder. A cry screeched as the demon was thrown. The portal flickered and closed in on itself a second later.
The demon whined, hands clawing at the street as it tried to crawl away. Seeing a darkened alley, he tried to crawl toward it when a boot stepped on its leg. The demon turned his head to see Victor staring down, the tip of his bone sword inches from the creature’s demonic face. Glancing to the side, he watched as Ema and a drone stepped closer, weapons trained on him.
“What’s the hurry? All this effort to come here, you might as well stay awhile,” Victor said with a wicked smirk.
Thirteen
Armed drones filled the streets while worker drones began the grisly task of removing the bodies. Mechanical limbs worked, picking up bodies and body parts, placing them in a truck, ready to haul them away.
Inside the damaged club, smoke still rose up from holes as drones moved to injured Seproh and altered humans. Drones administered injects to any wounded living creature, nano-drones rushing to affected areas and weaving them closed. Normal lights glowed on as a small cluster of bodies surrounded a demon tied to a chair.
Victor rubbed his jaw as Buk and Diz stood on either side of the demon. The foul thing hissed and growled, glaring at Victor with vile contempt. Wynn and a drone stood on either side of Victor as the demon continued its impotent growls.
Wynn stepped closer, eyeing the captured demon coolly. “As far as anyone knows, demon-kind on Night Sun do not have plasma technology. Where did you get the weapons?”
The demon grinned and snarled before cackling a laugh.
“Answer her,” Victor said firmly.
The demonic creature continued its snarling and giggling.
The drone’s digital face changed and Xull’s feminine features appeared. “Reports have finished coming in. Multiple areas were attacked across Xull Prime. Casualties are at two hundred and thirty-four individuals from indiscriminate weapon’s fire. Drone casualties number over two thousand as key areas were attacked.”
“Which key areas?” Victor asked.
“Better to show you,” Xull said as the smooth glassy surface of the drone’s face turned into a video feed.
Victor and Wynn watched as demons surged into a hanger where a dreadnought was housed. The feed flashed with plasma fire before the demons boarded the ship. A cloaked figure led the attack, firing into the drones before making their way inside. The feed changed to another hanger, a thick monster of a man with three eyes storming in with hundreds of demons at his back. The feed changed a third time, a blonde warp spawn laughed as she attacked drones. The video ended as she boarded another dreadnought.
“Holy shit,” Victor said and whistled.
/> Wynn looked to the Champion, “Who are they?”
“Three Champions. The robed one is Xix, he works for the demon god Redarr. The large guy with three eyes is Kaiser. He is Roorh’s champion. The warp spawn with the crazy laugh is Vayne. She follows Tantia.
“I tangled with them on Eddor. There was a fourth one, but he didn’t make it.”
Xull continued, “The enemy Champions knew the locations of the three dreadnoughts. Once they boarded the ships, they were able to overcome my defenses and activate the dimensional drives. Calculating the severity of the attack and the locations and defenses, the demons and Champions had prior knowledge and access codes. There is a seventy four percent chance the demons and Champions were aided by those who were formerly part of the Resistance.”
Wynn’s ears bent back as she turned her attention to Xull. “The Resistance never made deals with any other realm, especially demons from Night Sun. Your calculations are off.”
“The invading force used Xull technology and weapons. All weapons and codes are accounted for except those stolen by the Resistance before the cease-fire,” Xull said without emotion.
“They wouldn’t do this,” Wynn growled before Victor moved to her side.
“Wynn, we have to get to the bottom of this. We don’t know the whole story.”
The fox shook her head, “This is what Xull wants. A reason to stop the cease-fire and go back to hunting my people down.”
“I have no desire to hunt allies. Logic and evidence dictate the enemy has received an edge and are using it to their full advantage. Three dreadnoughts were stolen and in the hands of the enemy. We are now at a disadvantage.”
The demon laughed long and hard. All heads turned to the prisoner as he continued to chuckle his amusement.
“The mighty Xull and Vala’s Champion have lost. Praise Redarr!”
Victor eyed the demon. Wynn stepped over and punched the prisoner in the face. The demon’s laughter stopped as he licked black blood from his split lip.
