Gemini Warrior

by J D Cowan

  Matthew transformed into mist and let her fly forward through him. There was no way for her to stop now. He flew back towards Jason, but even in his mist form, the force of the tunnel pulled against him. The invisible wind sucked him forward again when he reached the center.

  But Camille wasn’t so lucky. The momentum from Matthew’s move sent her into the side of the black tunnel where the light died. The spinning darkness reminded of the sides of a tornado. Her shrieks instantly silenced as she was ripped through it and she vanished from sight.

  The two remaining soared onward at faster and faster velocities. Just as before their clothes sizzled and Matthew’s skin burned.

  But their armor shined regardless. Jason even pumped his fist and laughed. “We’ll be okay.”

  “What were you talking to Zelana about, anyway?”

  “Just saying I was sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

  “We owe her a lot more than we can pay back.”

  Zelana’s magic held out. They would make it after all. The light ahead grew from a pinprick as they were launched onward into a veritable sun.

  The force shoved both warriors outside the gate and into the light. The brightness momentarily disoriented Matthew as he stood back up. Behind him, the shine of the Mirror Gate died out. They would not be using it again. They were back in Serenity City.

  However, his mood soon changed when he realized just where they were. They landed in a large dark room with fluorescent lights hanging overhead. Men in black suits lined the metal room before them. They had returned to Serenity City, alright—in the William’s Tech building. Shaula headed the men, wearing another fancy dress. A familiar smile glistened on her lips as she grinned at their appearance. It was almost as if they had never left the building to begin with. Her men blocked the door.

  “Shaula,” Matthew said. “It’s like we never left.”

  “You may call me Marguerite, Mr. White. But I am confused. You still wear your armor?” she asked with a raised brow. “How is this possible?”

  Matthew and Jason drew their blades from their scabbards, and the men in suits raised their firearms. Shaula’s uncovered arms sprouted flames that waved around like loose fur. The lights above her flickered violently.

  The pair charged forward and shots fired upon them. The heat from the woman rose as they closed the gap. Matthew charged regardless. He thought briefly about the bomb in his chest but put it to the back of his thoughts immediately. First, Shaula had to be stopped.

  Chapter 22

  Serenity

  Bullets slammed against Jason’s armor. Beside him, the shots tumbled off of Matthew just as easily as they did him. Zelana’s magic clung to their armor, swallowing the speed of all the coming projectiles milliseconds before they hit their mark. But the magic could not protect them forever.

  There were also no bones on the floor, and the other mirrors were nowhere to be seen. This Mirror Gate had clearly been moved to another room. Shaula—or Marguerite—had set them up to be trapped.

  “I’ll get out of here and find the controls for the bomb,” Matthew said to him. “While they’re distracted with me, you break this mirror. I’ll see if I can find the other ones outside.”

  Jason had nearly forgotten they needed to destroy the other Mirror Gates. While he slashed at the men in suits, Matthew transformed and flew toward the crowd. They continued firing on him, hitting nothing but air. Jason used the moment to turn around and punch the mirror. Pollux gave him that extra kick he needed.

  The glass webbed with the strike and shattered a second later. Pieces sprinkled to the metal floor.

  On the other side of the crowd, Matthew’s mist slammed against the sealed metal door and pushed through the cracks into the other side. Several of Shaula’s thugs opened the door, followed him outside and down the hall. The majority trained their firearms on Jason.

  Shaula screamed at her men to chase Matthew. They complied, bolting back out into the hall with the others. She gathered a handful of fire in her palm and threw it toward the boy.

  Jason dodged, and the flames slammed against the wall where the gate had been. Shards of the metal melted into an orange slag puddle on the floor. A cavalcade of red streaks flashed toward his chest. Three of the balls struck him dead on. The fire’s hiss burst like a grenade and threw out heavy pressure, flinging him backwards. He regained his footing, his armor smoking.

  Sweat dripped down Shaula’s face as she flung fire. He began to understand her pattern. Her power turned on and off like a light switch. She couldn’t avoid destroying everything.

  “Do I amuse you, Jason? Whatever your armor is made of, it will not protect you forever.”

  “It was a gift from your daughter, Zelana. You threw her away, and she gave me the key to beat you. What do you think of that?”

  “I knew she would open the gate for you. I sensed her coming in the caves. However, your armor and weapons remaining unharmed? That was unexpected.”

  “You had more than one. Camille, the Cutter, and Rantan were real pieces of work.”

  “Those failures?” She snarled. Her disgust was palpable. “They are excellent soldiers, yes. But they inherited nothing of the blood. I respect their allegiance, but they are nothing compared to Zelana. She is the future of the kingdom, and what my love has lived so long for.”

  He smirked at her. “And we took her from you, huh?”

  “She was our prize, all that we worked so hard for. The king and I have had many failures over the centuries, but none were more than mortals no different than those you helped escape. They inherited nothing. She was different—she had the magic burned into her bones. All I needed was the Kharis Seed to complete her growth. But we could never find it . . . until you came along.”

  “It’s gone, Shaula. Your daughter is free from you now. All that’s left is to put you away, and your husband will rot away to nothing.”

  Fire flashed around her skin and against her clothes. The fiery red marker on her forehead grew as she furrowed her brow. Heat hammered against him like a charging bull.

  Pyrokinetic abilities could be used several ways. But her Prime power in addition to the magic Nieto imbued in her with made it worse. Her magic allowed the fire to spread further and faster than normal pyrokinetics.

  She lifted both hands perpendicular to her shoulders and bit her lip. Flames completely engulfed her, swirling out in a twister. And they were growing by the second. The metal floor, ceiling, and walls melted as the heat intensity pressed against Jason. The blaze crept closer.

  He scanned the room for ideas. Holes were melting open in the metal wall behind him. Jason decided to make a play for it.

  He beat against the melting metal as the heat built on his back, but he paid it little mind. The steel bent and crunched with every punch. No matter how many times he hit, it didn’t look like he would reach the other side. Sweat poured down his neck while he burrowed further into the metal hole.

  Sizzled steel burned as he pressed on. He grimaced and pushed his muscles and the bracelet to give their all. Pollux let out its full energy, and he crashed his fist forward.

  An explosion of metal shards erupted. Thick darkness awaited him ahead, and he dashed for it. Jason leaped and fell flat down, clanging on steel. Orange light flashed through the hole. Fire lit the darkness and showed him the door ahead. He charged through the new steel room. Slag melted around him. He kicked open the heavy door to reveal a long steel hall with dim fluorescents. Some of them flickered, but most remained at normal lighting. Thankfully none had burst yet, and he didn’t want mercury filling the air. He saw no windows so he could not tell what floor they were on. At the hole behind him, the metal melted. She was coming.

  Jason made a sharp right down the hall, his footsteps clanging. Now to find Matthew.

  Castor was far trickier to use than Pollux. Matthew didn’t exactly know how to use his powers while fighting. Of course, he could just disappear in a battle. That was always an option. However, h
e didn’t like to make that choice.

  Even if his body did harden for a few seconds after he solidified again, there were a few things he didn’t want to risk. His insides could be pierced by whatever passed through him at the same moment he transformed back. While his outer skin became tougher for those few moments, he didn’t know if the same applied to his organs, bones, veins, muscles, or brain. A single stray slice, gunshot, or poorly timed solidification could end him. He would stay as a human for now.

  He ran from the men in black suits chasing him through the halls. There were at least ten lizard men in disguise. The flashing alarm pulsing red in the corners of the steel ceiling meant more were on the way. He could lose more than a few by zipping in and out of the labyrinth of halls ahead. Matthew had the energy to spare.

  His sixth sense was all that lead him on. The more he turned the halls, the more he recognized the layout. He reached that false apartment complex he had lived in before this whole mess began. They had originally taken an elevator to reach this floor. He now had an inkling of their location. They had to be very high up. But what mattered was that the mirror room had to be close by.

  Matthew made a sharp turn around one of the corners and transformed into water. He slid under the door to his left and into the office. The empty meeting room only contained one lone wooden table in the center and some potted plants around the perimeter. Six guards stomped down the hall past him and toward the next room. Matthew slid behind the pot. One of his pursuers threw open the door and scanned the room. After one second he left. Matthew streaked back out into the hallway and became whole. He continued in his original direction.

  He traveled down a few hallways to meet a familiar metal door. Bones lay on the floor inside, and that musty stink reminded him of their last visit here. The remaining Mirror Gates plastered against the walls sparkled against the dark of the room.

  A spark flittered on one of the broken shards lying in the corner. His sixth sense pulled him towards one piece in particular. A low heat warmed him as he picked it up. He pocketed it behind his back before bringing his attention back to the three remaining Mirror Gates.

  Now the question about breaking these things arose. Matthew’s strength was nowhere near Jason’s with Pollux. But he did have one advantage—the magic Zelana put not only into his armor but his shield and his sword.

  The three tall mirrors perched precariously on each wall watched him. Despite the lack of light in the room, speckles of some other starlight millions of miles away reflected in their glass. A distinctly alien vibe stuck to them.

  As he thought about what distant world these unholy objects came from, the blade in his hand grew hot. A faint white glow rang against the edges. It wanted him to act.

  Before Matthew could make a decision, the rough sound of a bursting bonfire blasted down the hall and shouts followed. The cold voices of the disguised lizard men remained harsh even in death. Thankfully he didn’t hear Jason among their symphonic screams.

  Not yet.

  Matthew slashed his sword against the mirror with as much strength as he could muster.

  Jason took the turn around the hall too fast and skidded down onto his side around the corner. A gust of fire flew over his head and scorched the potted plant where he had just been standing. The melted slag pooled while he regained his footing. Shaula had already found him.

  Around the corner she flew, her pyrokinetic abilities sending fire downward from her dress and legs in streams. Fluorescents cracked above her. She threw a football-sized blaze at him.

  He brought his shield up to guard. The power shot pounded against it. The force pushed him backwards to the metal floor. He tumbled, and his back hit the wall, stunning him. But there was a worse problem: the glow in his shield faded to nothing. After a few seconds, it warped and bent under the heat. The magic was dying.

  “That explains how you are so strong. My daughter’s magic aided you. It has already begun to leave you.”

  “Zelana saps her life every time she uses magic. She’s done enough. I’m not going to let you kill her any more than you already have!”

  The fireball whipped across Jason’s face, singing his helmet. The wall behind him erupted in flames.

  More fire exploded from her skin. “Why do you all insist on foolish posturing? My beloved does not have all the time in the universe to achieve his unified kingdom. You are all parasites.”

  “That’s a funny way of looking at things.”

  “I’m glad you think so. Now give me Pollux before I take it from your charred remains.”

  As she lifted her hand and the flames smoldered, Jason turned to the wall behind him. The fire swirled towards him, licking against the sides of the narrow hall. He punctured a hole through the metal layer. The heat brushed up against his armor and agony melted into him. Jason burrowed into the room through the new opening, armor smoking. Flames scorched out the hall. The blaze still burned while he ran through the empty room. He smashed open a hole into the next one. Soon enough he landed back in the hallway.

  Before she could notice he moved. Jason dashed down the complex and circled around the block to Shaula’s back. He watched her from a distance as her wall of flames died.

  “It is a shame that I must kill you, Jason. Pollux is quite useful, and I wish I didn’t have to find another to use it.”

  “It’s not just Pollux,” Matthew whispered.

  Jason flinched when he noticed Matthew at his side. The bearer of Castor held a small piece of mirror wrapped in cloth that handed it to the boy.

  “Keep this safe. I think there’s something about this piece. It had a weird tint when I saw it.”

  Jason placed it behind his back and his armor. “You destroyed the Mirror Gates?”

  “They’re gone. The stairs are all blocked, though. Guards are in all the staircases, and the elevators are down. I found the apartment we were kept in when I was looking for the mirror. If I recall, it was high up in this building. In other words, we can’t just jump out the window and hope for the best. If we want out, we have to get through the witch. There’s no other way.”

  “I can’t get close enough to hit her. Zelana’s magic is wearing off. We’re only going to get one more shot at her before she can scorch us away. We need a plan.”

  Matthew scratched his chin in thought. “There’s one thing I can try. I can’t promise it will work, but it’s all I’ve got. If you distract her, I’ll get behind her in puddle form, then I’ll—”

  “You’ll get her in the back!” Jason glanced around the corner. The woman waited in the hall, perfectly aware that they had nowhere to run. They would have to face her again. “If that fails I’ll hit her with everything Pollux has. Either way, I’m dead getting that close.”

  “No, you’re not. But we don’t have that much time if we want to do this before the magic is gone for good. I’m heading in.”

  “Wait, what about the bomb? Did you find a way to stop it?”

  His grin faltered for a moment. “Long story. I checked around. I can’t disarm it, but I can use it.”

  “I don’t understand. What are you going to do?”

  “Stay safe, Jason.”

  Matthew melted into the floor and zipped back around the hallway that Jason had come from earlier. He quickly slid out of sight.

  Jason took a deep breath and moved out. The boy turned the corner in time to see Shaula raising each of her hands in a different direction. Orange light flashed, and pyrokinetic streams flowed in flamethrower waves along the halls. He slid on his knees, and the fire flew over his helmet, sizzling the metal.

  But the rooms on the floor suffered. Hot orange puddles of slag filled the space where the metal walls had been. Rooms melted to nothing. The wide open area trembled and groaned under the heavy weight of the weakened ceiling.

  One stream of fire crashed against his sword, his last guard. Sweat splashed his skin. His last weapon had been destroyed.

  The armor warped and the fire beat against
him. His consciousness faded. Just before the air left him, a flash snapped out behind Shaula.

  Matthew sprang up and rammed his sword into her back. The blade stuck out through her chest. She howled as flames gushed from the wound, knocking Matthew down and backwards. His blade melted away into the pyre.

  Shaula turned toward Matthew, her injury instantly cauterized. Their plan had failed.

  What Jason did next was not what he expected to do—he ran towards her.

  The witch breathed hard, purple fog slowly drifting from her mouth. Perhaps her internal injuries ran deeper than the boy thought. He could not let her have the opportunity to slink away.

  Jason brought his fist back when he reached her. She turned back on him with her raised hand, ablaze . . . and in his face! The fire flickered as she grinned. Jason was dead.

  Matthew leaped upon her back, throwing her shot off its mark. Jason skidded to stop under a pyro blast. The flame shot lashed into trembling ceiling, shattering whatever fluorescents might be left. Puddles of metal splashed out from her shots. Matthew’s armor smoked, and the shield on his back dripped to useless soup on the floor. He yelled in pain while he held her tight.

  “Matthew!” he shouted. “What are you doing?”

  “My trump card, Jason. Use Pollux and go down! At least one of us should get out.”

  Jason shouted back, but it was no use. Matthew misted and the air changed around Shaula. His typical white mist form started to morph. The air became wavy and started to smell.

  It was gas.

  Jason wasted no time punching the floor, bursting out the metal below. The metal floor gave under him, and he jumped through.

  But the gas was not enough. Through Matthew’s haze, Jason glimpsed a small metal object where his heart should be. He used Castor to leave the bomb exposed.

  Shaula realized it much too late.

  “Get off of me, worm!” Shaula flashed and let her body burst with even more flame.