by Ramy Vance
As Sandy stood, an orc from across the room saw an opening and fired. She barely noticed the plasma coming at her in time enough to cover her body with rock hard bones. The blast sent her flying across the room, toward Suzuki’s balcony. Suzuki leapt from the balcony and caught Sandy in midair, rolling across the ground, the both of them getting up as fast as possible as the orcs surrounded them.
Suzuki spun, Sandy at his back, and threw his axe at the closest orc. He pulled down his HUD and scanned the area. Fifty percent chance of success. In the back of his head, he was amazed. The Mundanes were grossly outnumbered, but there was still a fifty percent chance they were going to win. If that was the case, the HUD was a little pessimistic. “Chip!” Suzuki shouted. “Release the angels!”
Chip flipped through the air, hitting two orcs with her cannon before landing and taking off running as she flashed Suzuki a thumbs-up. The troll was still chasing her, and she yelped loudly when she saw that.
Suzuki pointed at the troll and grabbed Sandy. “Get that troll off her, all right?”
Sandy went after the troll, impaling two orcs and a goblin as she ran past them. A giant bone spear shot out of her back so she could catch it and knock over a few orcs before launching it through the air as a miasma of black death smoke flowed from her mouth in the direction of the troll. The spear sailed through the air and hit the troll in the throat, tearing a huge chunk out of its neck. The troll stumbled as it tried to stem the flow of blood, its arms swinging wildly. It fell against the wall, and its cannon went off as it hit the ground.
Down the hall, Suzuki could hear the screaming of the angels. He knocked an orc out of his way and headed toward the door the angels were running for. When he got to the door, he threw it open and raised his hand out in front of him. He could see the angels coming. They were racing as fast as they could toward him. Hope this fucking works, he thought before concentrating on a single thought: defend us.
The angels continued to run toward Suzuki. They showed no sign of slowing down. Suzuki had the briefest feeling they were going to swarm him. Instead, the angels ran right past. The one heading the pack leapt, its mouth hanging wide open, landing atop an orc and tearing into its face as another angel’s sharpened tongue pierced the orc’s crotch.
Suzuki flipped his HUD down. Ninety-five percent chance of success. Fucking perfect.
Stew was near Suzuki, and he reached out and grabbed him. “Hey, come with me! We have to get those giants free!” Suzuki shouted.
Stew nodded, and they fought their way through the growing mass of bodies, angels on top of orcs, ripping them to shreds. An orc ran at Stew, who took a step back, drew his blade, and cleaved the orc in half. By the time Suzuki and Stew got to the hosting gallows, they were covered in blood and gore.
Suzuki ran up the stairs of the gallows and peered down at the purple and black sprouts. He couldn’t tell if the giants had been infected yet. Just because the sprouts were closed now didn’t mean they hadn’t opened earlier. There was no way to be sure. It didn’t matter, though. They’d find out eventually. With that in mind, Suzuki raised his hand and concentrated on one of the few spells he knew. A jet of flame shot out of his hand, burning the sprouts to a crisp.
As Suzuki burned the plants, an odd screeching sound came from them, like the sound of water evaporating from a pan, a clear hiss as they ceased to be a part of the world. While Suzuki worked, Stew undid the bindings of the giants, chopping through anything that held them down with his axe.
By now, most of the orcs and goblins lay dead on the ground. As the giants tried to get their bearings, Suzuki grabbed one of them and pointed at Chip. “Go to her and she’ll get you out of here, you understand?” Suzuki asked.
The giant sleepily nodded his head. They must have been drugged. “Did that flower open in front of you?” Suzuki asked. The giant shook his head slowly, his eyes becoming more awake. “Good! Now go to Chip!”
The giants took off in Chip’s direction, staying to the sides of the room where there was less fighting. When Chip saw them, she motioned for them to follow her and took off down the hallway, the giants close behind her.
Suzuki glanced at the room and took it all in. The battle was over. The only orcs who remained were stragglers, or those who had fallen in battle and clung to death. Suzuki concentrated on sending a command to the angels: return back to your cages.
The angels stopped what they were doing and bolted back down the hallway. Suzuki hoped it wouldn’t freak Chip and giants out too much when the angels went flying past them.
Sandy was walking around the room, finishing off anyone on the cusp of death. She looked as if she took the job very seriously. The rest of the Mundanes met up around the gallows. They were all covered in blood but there were no serious wounds. “Good job, Mundanes,” Suzuki said. “Now we just have to blow this place, and we’re out of here. Doesn’t even look like we needed those reinforcements. I wonder what Myrddin was talking about in that message?”
Diana pulled up the messages on her HUD and read through them. “You received the same message as Chip and me, correct?” she asked.
“Yeah, same one.”
“True, it does seem as if Myrddin anticipated much more resistance than we faced. Interesting. His intel is rarely off, even if a bit cryptic at times. Still, this is not like—”
A loud explosion went off and shook the room, causing most of the Mundanes to lose their footing. “What the hell? Why the hell is Chip setting off the detonators already?” Beth asked.
Suzuki looked at the spots where Chip had set primers and charges. “I don’t think those are Chip’s bombs,” Suzuki murmured.
There was another explosion, this one even larger than the one before. The ground began to crumble, then there was another explosion. The Mundanes fell into the darkness of the facility as the floor gave out beneath them.
23
Suzuki woke up underground in a cavern.
Caverns like those they had found inside the volcano. It was dark and cold, almost freezing. He shuddered as he struggled to get to his feet. The back of his head was throbbing. He must have hit it pretty hard.
As he looked around in the dark, he pulled his HUD down and selected a torch. When the flames of the torch illuminated the cavern, he saw he was the only one here. The rest of the Mundanes had vanished or been taken.
How far did we fall? Suzuki thought to himself.
Walking was painful. The drop must have been pretty long. More importantly, though, Suzuki knew the floors of extremely well-developed research facilities don’t just fall in on themselves. The Mundanes had been herded into that room with the giants, and the final trap had been sprung. This was too well-orchestrated for a random group of researchers to have been responsible for. Someone high up in the Dark One’s forces had planned this. Maybe another Viceroy.
Suzuki leaned up against the wall to catch his breath. As he shone his light around, he saw Sandy slouched over against another wall. He limped to her as fast as he could and knelt by her side. Suzuki shook Sandy awake gently. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared up at Suzuki, confused but alert. “Where are we?” Sandy asked.
Suzuki pointed up into the darkness above. “We’re underground. I’m banged up pretty bad. Are you okay?” Suzuki asked.
Sandy sat up straighter and checked her body. “Yep, looks like I’m pretty good. Here, let me heal you up,” Sandy said as she reached over and rested her hand on Suzuki’s forehead. “Nice thing about the class switch is that these powers don’t burn through my manna so fast. I spend a lot less time waiting for my manna to recharge, and healing costs a shit-ton less. There you go, you should be good. Let’s go figure out where everyone else is.”
The two wandered down the tunnels for some time before they saw any light. In the distance was what looked like a tunnel with a yellow light glowing within it. Suzuki pulled his axe out, made eye contact with Sandy to see if she was ready, and headed for it. They crossed the threshold and stepped into
what could have only been called an egg chamber, but there were no eggs. Instead, the area contained thousands of the black and purple sprouts.
In the middle of the room were the rest of the Mundanes. They were kneeling on a gallows, similar to the one they had seen earlier. The only difference was another smaller gallows meant for one person had been placed directly in front of theirs.
Suzuki looked around the room quickly for any obvious threats and then sprinted toward the Mundanes.
A thundering voice boomed from the air. It was in Suzuki’s mind, ripping through each and every one of his thoughts, making it impossible to concentrate on anything. He was overwhelmed by the existence of the entity, a force so strong it made him feel as if he were unraveling.
Suzuki fell to his knees from the pain and held the sides of his head. As the pain subsided, he turned to see Sandy in the same situation.
The voice spoke again, but this time it was not as painful. Suzuki could understand each word as clearly as if he had thought it himself. “I advise you not to attempt to help your friends just yet, Suzuki,” the Dark One said.
The Dark One stepped into the light. In person, he was only a little taller than Stew. His body was smooth and without any blemishes, and the locks of blond hair flowing over his shoulders could be called beautiful if they were not so unsettling. He wore only a black skirt that had skulls dangling from it. His chest and arms looked no less spectacular than a Greco-Roman sculpture, yet the blank face, devoid of any sign of humanity—no nose, eyes, or mouth—destroyed any possibility of beauty. All through the Dark One’s nearly transparently white skin, his veins were visible, but they were not truly veins. It looked as if electrical circuitry ran through the Dark One’s body like a central nervous system.
As the Dark One moved forward, he started to float in the air. He raised his hands, and all around the cavern floating flames appeared.
Behind the Dark One was an angel. It was the size of a full-grown red dragon and its huge, leathery wings spread, sending a strong wind through the cavern. The angel’s face was blank as well, the familiar line running from its chin to its forehead. Each of its claws ended in a mass of black tentacles that swirled and wrapped themselves around each other. The angel opened its mouth and roared, fire spewing from its mouth.
The Dark One walked in front of the angel. “Who would have thought the Mundanes, the thorn in my side, would have been felled by something as simple as a fall?” the Dark One taunted. “I was under the impression there would be more of a fight from you.”
Suzuki and Sandy stood petrified and silent. This wasn’t the fight Suzuki was prepared for. He remembered the sheer terror he had felt in the place between realms, and how long Sandy had spent trying to hide from the Dark One. And now he was there in front of him.
“No brave speeches or retorts, child?” the Dark One boomed. “Has your courage finally failed you? Perhaps you have never been in the presence of a god.”
Something welled up in Suzuki—disgust. Utter disgust for the being he saw standing in front of him. “Fuck you!” Suzuki shouted. “It’s about time you decided to show your fucked-up face. What are you doing here? Come to get your ass kicked in person this time?”
“Your false display of fearlessness is admirable. Fighting with you is beneath me, unfortunately. I am here to make you a deal. As you can see, your friends are soon to become hosts to my beauty and order. Yet, you, Suzuki—you I want more than any others. I will give you their lives for yours. You take the position before the flowers and give me what is rightfully mine, and the rest of the Mundanes will go free.”
Suzuki knew it was a trap.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt.
But he didn’t know why the Dark One wanted him.
Something rang true about that statement.
He knew the Dark One was going to kill them all, but he didn’t know why he wanted to infect him with an angel so badly.
Then it clicked.
Sandy and Suzuki were the only ones who hadn’t been taken hostage. They were also the only two who had gone to the place between realms and seen they had the same finite possibilities as the Dark One did.
For some reason, it made them more desirable to the Dark One to have their genetic code written over. “I know what you’re after,” Suzuki shouted. “Why didn’t you just tie us up yourself like you did them? Then you’d have what you wanted!”
The Dark One came closer, although he maintained his distance. “Old magic,” the Dark One hissed. “Ancient works neither of you could understand in your infancy.”
Sandy raised her hand, and a bone spear shot at the Dark One. “We don’t want your fucking bullshit genes, you eugenic freak!” Sandy shouted.
The bone spear exploded a few inches in front of the Dark One. It never got close to him. “You will be put into order. I would have preferred not to kill you, but rather have you willingly chose a place within my order and beauty. But you have made your choice. Now I will erase you from existence.”
The Dark One raised his hand, and Suzuki was no longer on the ground. He was floating ten feet in the air. He reached for his axe, and his entire body went numb as he rammed into the wall.
Suzuki tried to get up but felt his body lose control as he rose into the air again and was slammed into the ground.
Bones crunched, and Suzuki wanted to scream in pain, but his voice was gone. He felt the sides of his throat closing in on themselves as he gasped for breath.
As his eyes blurred, Suzuki could see Sandy on her knees, clutching her throat as the Dark One slowly walked toward them. He grabbed Sandy by her hair and dragged her over to where Suzuki lay gasping for breath.
The Dark One knelt in front of Suzuki and forced him to look at him. “You have never been anything but an inconvenience to me,” the Dark One bellowed. “I could have wiped you out with a breath. The only reason you’ve lived this long was that I did not think you were worth my time to kill. Do you understand me? You are nothing. None of you are. And I will kill you all, and the world will be as if you never were. Then I will hunt down every version of you across all timelines and dimensions, and I will devour them. I will suck your very essence out of the multiverse. You will—”
There was a sound like a screech, and the Dark One looked in the direction of the noise.
A missile came flying down the top of the cavern.
The Dark One raised his hand, the missile exploding in his palm, the explosion somehow contained and evaporating into nothing. “Hm…” the Dark One murmured.
Suzuki felt the Dark One’s grasp on him relax. He noticed that Sandy had fallen forward as well, trying to take in as much air as she could. When Suzuki looked up, the cavern ceiling was full of missiles flying toward the Dark One. Suzuki grabbed Sandy and pulled her toward the gallows. “Come on, we need to get them out right now,” he shouted.
Sandy and Suzuki ran toward the gallows while the Dark One was busy stopping all the missiles, which exploded. The force of the explosions sent Suzuki and Sandy flying but they got up as fast as they could and finally reached the gallows. They chopped through the restraints holding the other Mundanes, and Suzuki torched the plants as soon as he could. Sandy touched each of the Mundanes’ foreheads to rouse them from their sleep. Once they woke, she healed them, and they turned to see what was going on.
An onslaught of missiles was still being fired at the Dark One. None of them could get close. He stopped them and either blew them up or disintegrated them, but it was enough to keep him distracted.
Diana grabbed Sandy by the shoulders. “His name!” Diana shouted. “You found it, didn’t you!”
Sandy shook her head as she squinted and tried to remember. “One of them. I found one of his names,” she said.
“That’s all we need. You need to get close enough that he can hear you, then you tell it to him. You understand?”
“Gotcha. Come on, Suz, we’re up.”
Suzuki followed Sandy, shouting over his shoulders, “
You guys get ready for a fucking fight!”
The Dark One’s back was facing Suzuki and Beth. He was thoroughly invested in the barrage of missiles being fired at him. “I’ll get his attention,” Suzuki told Sandy. “If he’s focusing on me and missiles, he won’t even notice you.”
Sandy nodded and left.
Suzuki raised his axe and threw it at the Dark One, who spun and froze it in the air. He snapped his fingers and the axe turned to ash, then he raised his hand again, exploding the missiles coming for him. Suzuki didn’t stop running and punched the Dark One in the face when he reached him.
The Dark One softly touched his cheek. “The insolence,” he bellowed as he stopped another missile. He grabbed Suzuki by the throat.
Suzuki felt his esophagus caving in on itself. He tried to breathe but it was impossible. His eyes were swimming as the Dark One held him up and looked him in the eye. “You are nothing to me,” the Dark One snarled.
Sandy leapt onto the Dark One’s back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shouted, “No one gives a shit, Bolverkr! Leave my friend the fuck alone!”
The Dark One dropped Suzuki, crouched, and grabbed his chest. “No,” he whispered, “How could you—”
The Dark One let out a scream of rage as the circuitry beneath his skin started to glow. There was a massive pop and reality folded in on itself, a portal opening and a giant vacuum sucking the air out of the Dark One.
As Suzuki watched, the god collapsed into himself until there was nothing left. Nothing.
