The Final Reality (Alex Pella, #3)

by Stephen Martino

  Alex caught Jules’ boot as it struck him directly in the gut. Though the impact hurt, he held onto to it as he fell backwards. Alex’s left hand throbbed and ached in the process. Blood oozed from it and bones crunched in the process, making it difficult to maintain a strong grasp.

  Jules could not stop his forward momentum. As Alex held on to his foot, his other one slipped. Falling to the floor, he accidentally dropped his knife and was swept down the steps with his foe. The two grappled as they descended the staircase.

  With the superior position, Jules gained the advantage. Utilizing his MMA training, he interlocked his hands behind Alex’s head and squeezed the sides of his face between his forearms. As they slid down the last few steps, Jules exploited a technique known as a double-collar tie and pushed Alex’s head down while thrusting up his knee.

  The first blow connected with full force. Alex’s upper lip tore open. On Jules’ second attempt, Alex was able to flip him over just as the two rolled off the bottom step. With his uninjured hand, Alex thrust his palm upwards, striking the bottom of Jules’ nose.

  Crunch!

  Jules’ nose shattered as blood spewed down his face. His eyes watered from the impact, blurring his vision. With a keen fighter’s sense, he threw a jab directed towards Alex’s rib cage. Hoping to stun his diaphragm, Jules swung wildly forward. Without a clear line of sight, he missed his target as Alex easily dodged the blow.

  From behind, Alex could hear footsteps rapidly heading down the staircase. He could only assume it was the remaining WOG who had entered the room with Jules.

  Alex leapt off Jules and sprinted towards a silver statue of a bull’s head positioned on top of a slender pedestal. With his uninjured hand, he firmly grabbed the football-sized statue. Fortunately, it was far lighter than he anticipated.

  Feeling as if the presumed WOG were about to strike at any moment, Alex turned back just in time to see the butt of a rail cannon swinging directly towards him. Maneuvering to the side, he swung the statue headfirst and thrust it into the WOG’s side. One of its sharps horns punctured the soldier’s jumpsuit and impaled his lung.

  Alex pushed the statue further into the man’s side, forcing the bull’s horn to penetrate deeper. The WOG gagged on blood as his chest cavity flailed with each laborious breath.

  Alex continued to push the man forward until the soldier struck the railing behind him. Upon contact, the WOG flipped over it and fell to the ground floor, landing on a translucent sculpture. Shards of glass and crystal from the artwork shattered upon impact, impaling the soldier in the process. The WOG twitched a few times before letting out a final groan, signaling his end.

  After regaining his vision, Jules jumped to his feet and leapt forward, attempting to land a powerful roundhouse kick while his foe’s back was turned from away him. Alex spun along the railing before Jules could make contact.

  Alex’s dexterity was far greater than Jules had expected.

  Wiping blood from his upper lip, Jules breathed with exhilaration, relishing the excitement. Though he wanted Alex dead, he certainly appreciated both his foe’s intellectual and physical prowess.

  Alex then backed up and onto the steps, attempting to gain the higher ground. Realizing Jules would be too quick, he knew there was no time to grab another statue or simply run up the stairs.

  Expectation, Jules thought. Suspecting Alex would presume his next move would be a simple, direct frontal assault, Jules, instead, dove for his foe’s legs. With Alex on the higher ground, he needed to neutralize the advantage.

  Alex swung his fist forward, attempting to land a square punch on Jules’ face, which missed when Jules unexpectedly dove for his legs. Alex knew if they again were in a grappling battle, Jules’ MMA training would certainly be superior to his fighting skills. Though trained in the martial arts and with numerous wins in boxing while in college, Alex was better at a distance than locked in mortal combat.

  Jules tightened his grip on both of Alex’s legs. Before he was able to bring him to the ground, Alex broke one of his legs free.

  Alex spun his body up the stairs while thrusting the heel of his right boot down on Jules’ forehead. The blow caused his foe to lose his grip, giving Alex space to move further up. His left ankle twisted in the process; pain seared through the joint. Grasping onto the railing, Alex pulled himself up the stairs.

  Luckily, Alex was holding onto the railing when another earthquake struck the library. This time, its concussion was far greater than the last. The beautiful marble staircase began to crack as shelves and crystal smashed to the floor around the room. Pieces of the beautiful mosaic decorating the ceiling fell like rain as chunks of stone from the walls also collapsed onto the ground.

  Alex looked down the stairs and saw Jules running towards him despite the commotion. With great agility, the man ascended the steps without faltering.

  As Alex painfully made his way to the top of the staircase, Jules was directly behind him. With an overhead punch, similar to a baseball pitch, Jules greeted the back of Alex’s neck with his fist. With his injured ankle, Alex could not dodge the assault.

  The impact sent a lightning shock through his body when his spinal cord absorbed the blow. Alex’s legs went momentarily limp, and he was unable to successfully run any further.

  Seeing Alex stunned, Jules jumped forward, hoping to tackle him with a double leg take down. He grabbed Alex around the knees without much difficulty.

  Knowing he was caught, Alex threw his weight back and against the massive fallen bookshelf next to him. Not allowing himself to be tackled to the ground, he instead struck the marble rock with his back. Already sore, this did little to add to his already mounting pain.

  Alex then punched the side of Jules’ neck where it met his shoulder. With two strong blows, he hoped to injure the man’s bundle of nerves there known as the brachial plexus in order to weaken his grip.

  Lighting sharp pain ripped down Jules’ left arm. Despite the agony, he would not budge, even though his arm was now partially paralyzed. With his head in his enemy’s chest, he took his other fist and pummeled Alex’s rib cage with one quick jab after the next. With delight, he could hear bones break with the last punch. The sound only proved to rejuvenate him and fueled his will to fight even harder.

  Winded, Alex could hardly catch his breath. When he attempted to take a large inhalation, pain seared through his chest. He then landed a third blow on Jules’ neck. Feeling his foe finally relinquish his grasp, Alex took Jules’ head with both of his hands and thrust it against the bookshelf.

  Invigorated by the adrenaline rush of the pain, Jules spun and landed a direct roundhouse kick on Alex’s chest. Connecting with deadly accuracy, he threw his foe backwards and towards the tunnel leading out of the dome.

  Another rumble knocked Jules slightly off balance. Behind him, he could hear parts of the dome collapse to the floor. It did not matter to him if the entire placed collapsed. He had retrieved what he came looking for.

  Jules attempted to make two fists. However, with his left arm and hand still partially paralyzed, he had trouble coordinating its movements. Opening and closing it to hasten its recovery, he slowly walked towards Alex with a sense of impending victory.

  Alex fell to his backside. He could see the room collapsing behind Jules. His thoughts were more for his friends than himself. He knew there was only one option left—his fate at this point was sealed.

  Backing up quickly until he was at the tunnel’s opening, Alex crawled on his buttocks until he was outside the dome. The soot-filled air and dark clouds above only added to the ambience of death and destruction surrounding him.

  “Hold your fire,” Jules announced as he walked out of the dome. As if showcasing a prize from a safari hunt, he walked over to Alex and pulled out a rail gun from his pocket, smiling with pride.

  Both Alex and Jules were battered and covered in blood. If death had not overtaken them by now, it certainly appeared to be just around the corner.

 
Alex continued to inch backwards further from the door. To his surprise, two elite striker crafts were now positioned to each of his sides. There were also a few WOGS standing about ten feet around him, each with their rail guns poised and ready to fire.

  “Any last words, Alexander?” asked Jules.

  With a cocky grin and air of victory, Jules happily waited for an answer.

  “Expectation,” Alex succinctly responded. “Expectation.”

  Chapter 37

  Chapter_37

  “William!” Marissa shouted, hoping he was still alive, “Wake up!”

  She watched as he continued to helplessly orbit the large metal coil. Stony debris and the remaining crystals obscured her view. However, she continued to yell, hoping her dear friend would respond. Still pinned against the Vimana, she could do nothing else at the moment.

  “I’m stuck!” Terzin yelled. Futilely, she struggled to grab a large slab of marble next to her and pull away from the Vimana. Her grip slipped at every attempt.

  “I have to turn that thing off!” she bellowed.

  The more she attempted to pull herself forward with her one uninjured arm, the more exhausted she became. Despite the mounting fatigue, Terzin continued to fight the invisible forces holding her back but had no success.

  Multiple sparks shot out of the coil, sending electricity simmering throughout the room. With each new barrage, Marissa could feel her skin crawl and body tingle.

  “William!” she tried once more.

  This time, her friend seemed to respond as he slowly raised his dangling head. “Get out of there!” she then insisted.

  “No!” Terzin yelled. “Turn off the cradle! It’s our only hope.”

  More crystals began to crash to the ground as the floor shook once again. Fragments of the ceiling came crashing down in different parts of the room, adding to the chaos. With each new rumble, the coil’s once barely-audible hum grew more mechanical and louder by the second.

  A sudden jolt of electricity struck William, causing his whole body to tighten and his teeth to clench. It was a searing pain more powerful than anything he had ever felt before. Breathing became laborious as he recruited accessory chest muscles just to inhale a pittance of air. The intensity was so brutal that it awoke him from his semi-conscious state.

  William saw the shield at arm’s length just in front of him, also orbiting the coil. The speed to which he spun around this massive pillar produced an intense sense of nausea and motion sickness. He had never known such misery.

  Got to get the shield, he thought as Marissa’s and Terzin’s voices echoed in the background. Though he could not decipher what they were saying over the coil’s commotion, the sound provided him with the moral support he needed at such a time.

  William reached out for the shield. It felt as if shards of glass were ripping through each of his muscles. He yelled out in pure anguish as his hands took grip of the ancient artifact; adrenaline helped him override the pain and dizziness he was experiencing. He understood that this was his last and only opportunity to turn off the coil.

  As he spun around the massive monolith, William noted Marissa and Terzin plastered up against a Vimana, frantically attempting to move. He could hear their pleas but could not decipher what they were saying.

  I’m not going to let my friends down, he thought as he willed himself to remain conscious. I won’t fail them.

  William began to rotate more quickly around the coil. Vertigo gripped him. In order to see without double vision, he closed one eye. It helped his vision but did little to curb the growing nausea. After a few dozen rotations around the coil, he noted a glass control panel attached to the base.

  That must be where the shield goes.

  He had to reach the glass display. What he would do at that point, he did not know.

  One step at a time, William said to himself. The thought of a multistep plan was too much for his already overwhelmed senses. It was enough just to stay conscious, let alone create a complex strategy.

  William stretched out his body, hoping that somehow it could change his orbit around the coil. His muscles and joints ached in the process, but the more he moved them, the less stiff they became as the aftereffects of the electric shock diminished.

  A crystal shard of broken marble pelted his back. The jagged stone further tore apart his shirt and ripped a large gash in his back. Despite the injury, William barely felt the impact. Already experiencing sensory overload, the trauma added little to his already mounting agony.

  William’s attempt was futile. As he continued to spin, he took note of the four long metal poles positioned around the coil in an upside down triangular shape.

  William reached out with one hand, attempting to grab one of them. By the time he extended his arm, his body was far past its intended target. He was spinning too quickly. Despite repeated failure, he kept trying. Occasionally, he would touch the metal pole. His hand vibrated in pain at each instance.

  I need to take a different approach, William thought.

  His heart pounded vigorously, and his carotid arteries pumped so dynamically in his neck that it created the sensation of choking.

  William lurched his body to the side and reached out a leg. With the shield tucked tightly against his chest, he again stretched his body, hoping to make contact with one of the poles.

  The side of his calf smacked one of the poles, sending him spinning as a result. A crystal smashed against the nape of his neck with a thud. The jolt made his vision blacken for a moment as he fought not to pass out. Blood oozed from his leg.

  He felt so disoriented. Between the spinning and pain, he could barely focus. Not wanting to give up, William again lurched his battered leg forward, hoping to make better contact with one of the metal poles.

  He barely knew which way was up or down. Other than fleeting glimpses of the poles as they whipped by him, he could not focus on anything else. Everything was a blur.

  William’s leg again struck one of the poles. Hitting just behind the kneecap, he instinctively bent his leg in an attempt to stop. However, his momentum was too great, and he spun once around the pole before slipping off of it.

  The ordeal fortunately slowed his orbit and changed his trajectory. Before he began picking up speed, William’s back slammed against the adjacent pole. With dwindling awareness, he intuitively removed one hand from the shield and locked his elbow around the metal edifice. As his body spun around it, William interlocked both his legs around the pole and pulled himself closer to it.

  To his surprise, he was facing downward towards the glass console. As some of the spinning in his head began to subside, he could slowly bring his mind back into focus and concentrate. Bits and pieces of debris continued to pelt his body, tearing through his clothes and momentarily diverting his attention.

  Sparks of electricity spewed out of the coil every few seconds. Occasionally, William could feel its energy course through his body. The searing pain would temporarily paralyze him. He could smell the acrid scent of flesh burning and macabrely knew that it was his own.

  Seeking strength from the depth of his soul, William inched himself forward. Each movement was painfully laborious.

  I’m not going to fail my friends!

  ***

  Tears streamed down Marissa’s face as she watched her dear friend swept up in the whirlwind around the coil. She could only imagine the agony he must be enduring.

  “Turn off the cradle!” Terzin continued to yell with a hoarse voice. Completely exhausted by her futile attempts to climb towards the coil, she was left drenched in sweat and pinned against the Vimana.

  Marissa watched as William slowly pulled himself closer to the coil’s base. She could not see what was there but knew it must be significant. She could almost feel every time her friend’s body was pelted by debris or struck by a bolt of electricity.

  “William!” she yelled more for moral support, hoping her words might bring him comfort of any kind.

  Tears contin
ued to flow down her cheeks. She could not believe William was taking such punishment yet managing to remain conscious. His clothes were ripped to shreds and exposed skin appeared deep red and bloody.

  With a roar, she heard William yell and slowly extend his arm holding the shield. The sound of his voice reverberated throughout the space and sent chills down her spine.

  The closer the shield approached, the brighter it began to glow. Like a beacon of hope, its radiance lit up the coil and made all the remaining crystals rotating around it sparkle with dazzling radiance.

  Marissa struggled to place her hand above her eyes. The electromagnetic force pinning her against the Vimana had become so overwhelming that it made any movement virtually impossible. Squinting to overcome the glare, she watched William reach further, extending his body. Debris and crystals continued to ricochet against him. Marissa marveled at such mental and physical endurance. It was far beyond what she thought any human body could ever tolerate.

  With a brief flash of blinding white light, Marissa felt the massive weight on her chest lift. Though her eyes were closed, she could still see the light even though it was gone. Its image was etched on her retina and showed no signs of dissipating.

  The crystals rotating around the coil slowly faded until no light radiated from them any longer. As their orbit slowed, they, along with the other debris, gradually descended to the ground. The mechanical hum of the coil also faded away in a slow rumble, replacing the thunderous noise once echoing throughout the entire room.

  Marissa fell to her knees and gasped for air. Her chest and abdomen ached. It was a relief finally to take a deep breath and expand her lungs without such immense electromagnetic force pressed up against her.

  “Terzin,” Marissa gasped, “are you OK?” While awaiting the answer, she crawled in the direction of the coil. White spots filled her vision, making it impossible to focus.

  “It is done,” Terzin wept in happiness. “The curse has been lifted.”

  Marissa continued to crawl. Jagged shards of marble cut through her palms and dug into her knees. The pain did little to deter her.