A cloaked figure rides, along the top of a monorail. The monorail cruises at top speed and eventually enters the impressive cityscape of District 11.
At the same time, not far away. Vin walks down a hallway on the top floor of Aton Art Gallery. On half of the hallway Syndicate members are posted along the wall. The other half of the wall has Faux Forsaken members.
Vette follows closely behind Vin.“I dunno, I might be having second thoughts.” She whispers to Vin.
“You arranged this meeting.” Vin says.
“I know … I-I just now remembered how powerful the Syndicate is.” Vin surreptitiously squeezes Vette’s hand which comforts her.
“We will be okay.” Vin replies as they continue down the hallway. Their destination is the main gallery to meet with Gaidon.
Meanwhile, a cloaked figure runs along the top of the monorail carts. He stops on the middle one. The figure leaps off of the monorail cart and plummets toward the ground. Mid-fall the cloak flies off. The figure is revealed to be Clave.
He equipped in full combat attire. As he barrels downward another monorail appears below him. Clave targets it, latches on to the monorail cart and continues to ride along at incredible speed. At the same time, Vin and Vette enter a large circular room.
Syndicate and Faux Forsaken guards are posted along the walls. Vin admires the scenery. The room contains giant pillars and impressive artwork. Two elaborate tapestries cover the very large windows in the back of the room. A large glass ceiling covers the top of the room. In the middle of the room, Gaidon and Eva, sit at a desk and wait for Vin. Gaidon observes his guards.
This is the first time he has used them for his protection. One stands apart from the others. He wears a suit like all the rest but he also wears a mask. The mask covers his mouth and nose. He wears thick gloves with the fingertips cut off.
And something about his posture is odd. He leans back with his arms dangling down and swaying slightly from side to side. His head bobs left and right, almost like he doesn’t have any bones in his body. Gaidon turns to Eva. “Who is the odd job over there?” he asks in a soft voice as he points at the guard. Eva knows who Gaidon is referring to and replies without looking.
“That is Faldo. He’s a very valuable guard.” Gaidon takes a good look at him.
“Interesting. This is all very interesting,” he says with a smile. Eva adjusts her glasses. “
Vin is dangerous. We need to be prepared in case he decides to be … aggressive.” Gaidon looks at all the Syndicate guards in the room. “So really, all these guards are to protect against him.” Eva adjusts her glasses and covers her mouth as she quietly announces.
“He’s here.” Gaidon stands up smoothly as Vin draws near. “Welcome! It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Vin approaches Gaidon without speaking. Vette stands at his side and the Faux Forsaken members fill the room. Gaidon holds out his hand to Vin and smiles. Vin pauses as he looks at the extended hand. Reluctantly, he shakes it.
“Good. There is no reason to be cold. We are both in this together.” Vin retrieves his hand.
“Except I have more to lose.” Gaidon shakes his head.
“To be fair ... and honest, any losses by cause of deception would be both great and equal for all of us.” Eva unwraps a leather binder that is on the desk and sets out two pens. Gaidon points to a seat and then takes a seat himself. “Shall we?”
Vin takes a seat and Vette stands next to him. Eva hands Vin the leather binder. Vin takes out his glasses, puts them on and reads the contract. As soon as he is done with a page. He hands it to Vette, who reads the same material. Gaidon watches the transaction between Vin and Vette. “Oh, you double-read contracts?” Vin doesn’t stop reading.
“Is that a problem?”
“Oh no, it actually makes me even more happy to partner with you.” Gaidon replies.
Meanwhile, Clave checks his mission data on his wrist panel. He is approaching his target destination fast. Clave jumps off the monorail and enters a free fall right next to a very large building. He looks up as he is falling and sees another monorail approaching vertically, heading from up to down.
Clave latches on and is carried downward with the monorail. He holds on tightly as the monorail barrels downward. Eventually he breaks through the clouds and can see the top of a building.
A reinforced glass dome protects the building’s rooftop. Clave’s hair stands on end. He can feel his blood boil with excitement as he nears his destination. When he reaches the correct position, Clave releases from the monorail and drifts toward the glass ceiling. “Here I come,” he says as he free-falls toward the building.
Vette hands the last of the contract papers back to Vin. “Looks good.” Vin takes off his glasses and puts them on the table.
“Well then.” Gaidon as he looks over to Eva. She hands Vin a pen and he begins to sign. Suddenly gunshots are heard from the roof. Vin stops. Everyone is now sharply on guard. Eva looks up and holds her wrist com. “Report activity on the roof!” She orders.
There is no reply. With a loud crash the glass roof is shattered. Clave’s boots leave an impression on the glass but it still holds. The Syndicate guards move in front of Gaidon. Eva holds her hand out. “Hold fire. That glass is reinforced. It will take more than that to break it.”
Clave takes out his broadsword and cuts through the glass around him. He begins to fall. With a flick of his wrist, two glowing objects leave his hand. A Syndicate guard jump in front of Gaidon.
He dies as he receives two small glowing knives to the chest. Clave hits the ground hard. His battle suit lights up as it absorbs the shock from the fall and crushes the ground beneath him. Clave immediately jumps for cover as anyone with a gun starts firing at him.
Faldo stands back and keeps an eye on Clave. He breathes heavily through his mask. It makes a loud hissing sound. Gaidon pushes the dead guard’s body off of him and Eva grabs his arm. “We must leave.” Gaidon looks around. “Not yet. Vin!” he calls out.
Vin and Gaidon make eye contact amid the chaos. “Either the Syndicate found out about this or the government wants us dead. This should only strengthen our resolve to join each other.”
“Nothing has changed.” Vin says with a nod. Gaidon follows Eva, who is tugging at his arm. “We will continue this another time.” Eva leads Gaidon toward a large pillar. She opens a hidden panel and types in a code. Clave is on a rampage. He is deflecting bullets and slaying anyone in his path with his sword.
Clave flies around the room. This time, he uses his newly acquired parkour skills to navigate the room evasively. He also uses the dance moves he learned from Roni to disorientate and dispatch anyone in his way.
A bit flashy but effective. Vin watches as Clave slaughters the Syndicate and Faux Forsaken members. He whirls around the room, skillfully dispatching guards without stopping. Vette grabs him by the sleeve. “We have to get out of here,” she says. Vin nods but keeps his eyes on Clave.
“Head for the entrance and tell all of our members to retreat under my order.” Vin says. Eva steps inside the pillar and pulls Gaidon inside.
“A hidden elevator … clever.” Gaidon says. A clear door closes. It encases them in the pillar and allows Gaidon to observe the continuing fight between Clave and the guards. Gaidon watches in amazement.
“He’s good—amazingly good. Eva, find out who he is.”
“Of course but as of now we need to—” Clave throws two glowing knives at Eva and Gaidon. The knives crack the clear door but don’t penetrate. “We have to go! We won’t stand another hit.” Eva says. Gaidon stops Eva from pushing the button.
“Hang on.” Clave throws two more knives at the already-cracked clear door. Faldo jumps in front of the daggers and knocks them away. His arms flail about while he makes a hissing noise. Clave takes notice of Faldo’s strange posture.
Faldo leans back with his long arms hanging down. They swing back and forth in unison. Faldo cocks his head to the side and addresses Clave. “I know thossse m
ovesss.” Faldo awkwardly leans forward to get a good look at Clave. “You trained with Roni,” he says in a wispy voice.
“You wish. I was born with these skills.” Clave bluffs. Faldo hisses loudly.
“You lie! Those are her movesss.” Faldo charges Clave in a peculiar way. He runs at him headfirst with his arms dangling behind. Clave waits until Faldo is in range and attacks him with his sword. Faldo dodges Clave’s swings by contorting his body in weird and unusual positions.
They enable him to physically bend around Clave’s sword strikes. Faldo eventually gets close enough to Clave to attack. He bobs around sporadically and performs a combat maneuver called snake hands. Faldo’s hands and body move around like angry snakes ready to strike.
Clave, not amused by this performance, thrusts his sword at Faldo. The strike turns out to be ineffective. Faldo twists his body around the sword and moves in closer to Clave. He then purposely dislocates his shoulder. This gives him a longer reach and sends his knife hand directly toward Clave’s neck.
Clave, at the last second, manages to shift to the left enough to avoid being seriously wounded. However, Faldo still manages to pierce Clave’s suit and draw blood from the side of his neck. Clave is paralyzed with fear. This is the closest he has ever been to death.“I sssee … you have good eyessss.” Faldo hisses as Clave’s blood drips off of his fingers.
Clave snaps back to himself. He grabs Faldo’s arm tightly and prepares to cut it off. Faldo hisses loudly and presses this thumb tightly against his hand. This releases curved grip claws located on the palms of his gloves.
Faldo then thrusts his hand downward, digging his claws into Clave’s shoulder. Clave cringes with pain. Faldo hisses loudly again as he pulls hard and tears his claws out of Clave’s shoulder. Clave grabs his shoulder as blood splashes to the floor.
Faldo runs away from Clave and reaches a safe distance. Clave watches him with fury in his eyes. “You wanna try that again?”
Faldo bobs back and forth. He stays at a distance.“You know my movesss now. I won’t chance getting closssse to you again. Besidesss, the one I had to protect issss gone.”Clave looks at the pillar and the hidden elevator containing Gaidon is gone. He then returns his attention to Faldo. Damn, I need to put a tether on my sword or something so I’ll have greater range but won’t lose my blade. Clave thinks.
Faldo jumps on a nearby wall. He scurries up the wall in a lizard-like motion and leaves out the hole that Clave made in his entrance.“That was weird. Seem there are many interesting opponents to face.” Clave says after watching Faldo scurry away.
The remaining guards resume their attack on Clave. He jumps out of the way and finds cover. At the entrance, Faux Forsaken members are trying to enter the gallery room but Vette stops them. “No, get out now! Vin’s orders.” Vette turns to see that Vin is still in the gallery room.
“Vin, what the hell are you doing?” she asks. Vin slams a nearby control panel and the gallery door begins to close.
“Vin!” Vette shouts.
“Get out, Vette. I’ll save everyone I can in here.” Vin says as the door slams shut. Vette touches the door lightly.
“Be safe, Vin.” Vette turns to run and standing in her path is Keith, panting heavily.
“Keith? What are you doing here?” she asks.
“Vin … I need to talk to him.” Vette looks down.
“You can’t.” Keith walks toward the door. “Vette, it’s important. I need to see him now.” Vette stops him.
“If you enter that room, you will die.”
“I don’t care!” Keith says. She can hear the desperation in his voice. Vette grabs Keith and stands between him and the door.
“You’ll probably get Vin killed in the process and I won’t let that happen!” Keith calms down and Vette lets him go.
“Tell me, what is it?” she asks.
“I can only tell Vin.” Keith replies.
“Then let’s go. You can tell him back at base. Right now, he has more important business to attend to.” Vette replies.
Chapter 27
Introductions
Vin looks around the room. Everyone is dead except him and the wounded attacker. Clave stands in the back of the room. He holds his shoulder as he pants. “You probably should have run when you had the chance,” he says.
“And let you kill everyone else during our escape?” Vin says. Clave takes his hand from his wounded shoulder and straightens his posture.
“An option.” Clave says.
“Who are you?” Vin asks as he walks toward the desk in the center of the room. Clave takes a few steps forward and then rests on his sword.
“You think an assassin is gonna give you his name?”
“Yeah … I guess you are right.” Vin says as he picks up his broken glasses from the desk. Damn I needed these. He thinks.
Clave used the little banter to recover his stamina. Now partially refreshed, he charges Vin with his sword extended and a grin on his face. “What does it matter anyway? You’re gonna be dead in a second.”
Vin kicks the desk toward Clave and jumps back. Clave slices the desk in two and the two men lock eyes. Time seems to slow and a feeling of excitement overwhelms both Vin and Clave. They feel like they are on a similar level and can feel each other’s potential for the first time.
“Or two.” Clave reconsiders his previous statement, grinning sinisterly.
Vin steps back. He is dangerous. Very dangerous. I need to finish this quick. Vin initiates his assault. He uses his shadow illusion technique and literally shifts into close combat with Clave. Caught off guard, Clave scrambles to defend against the hail of punches. He takes wild swipes at Vin with his sword as he runs around the room.
Clave jumps off walls and dashes left and right. It seems like no matter what he does, Vin is right there. He never gives him a chance to rest. Clave stops his defensive maneuvers and decides to engage Vin directly. However, Clave’s every swing on Vin seems to land in a smoke cloud. How is he doing this? Clave wonders.
Vin uses Clave’s moment of pause to knock his sword out of his hand with a quick, decisive attack. Clave spins to the ground from Vin’s attack. Without missing a beat, Clave manages to pick up one of the guards guns. He fires it at Vin haphazardly.
Vin scrambles behind a pillar for cover. Clave continues firing on Vin hoping to at least wound him in the barrage of bullets. Vin picks up and throws vases, artifacts, papers, and whatever else he can find at Clave as he runs around the room. Suddenly, Vin hears Clave’s gun click empty.
He immediately shadow-shifts into close combat with Clave. However, this time Clave isn’t completely surprised and successfully guards against Vin’s attack. “Now I see why she feared you.” Clave says as he spars with Vin.
Vin ignores the comment and launches an all-out shadow attack on Clave. Vin manages to shadow-shift in, out, and around Clave. He scores indirect punches on his arms, back, face, and torso.
Vin's increased speed and ferocity causes Clave to panic. He desperately tries to guard himself against Vin’s onslaught. Over time, Clave manages to calm himself down and regain his focus. “I don’t really like killing people. You know? This … this is what I’ve been searching for.” Clave says.
He is fatigued from Vin’s attacks. However, he is also excited to meet such an extraordinary person. What the hell? This is taking too long. This boy can follow me. He can follow my movements. I wonder if he— Vin’s thought is interrupted when Clave scores a heavy blow to his chest. A surprised Vin cringes as he slides back from the force of the blow. Clave bounces up and down with a smile on his bruised face.
“A challenge … It’s finally a challenge!” A wild expression crosses Clave’s face. His eyes brim with energy. “It’s been so long … I can’t hold back,” he says with a newfound passion in his voice. Clave charges Vin and engages him in hand-to-hand combat. They exchange blows equally. Slowly but surely Vin’s shifts are losing its effectiveness against Clave. He has learned how to follo
w Vin’s movements.
Vin has overexerted himself by using the shift so much. He is fatigued and Clave takes advantage of this by working him over hard. Clave laughs as he continues to punch a now-unresponsive Vin. “You’re pretty good, I’ll admit. It’s almost too bad.” Clave says as he pummels Vin over by the tapestry-covered window. Vin is dazed and struggles remain standing. “You are not ready … to face someone like me.”
Clave leaps towards Vin and delivers a power punch to Vin's chest. The force knocks Vin through the cloth and sends him crashing through a window. Clave is stunned by the display because he didn’t realize there was a window behind the tapestry. “What the hell?” he says as he rips down the cloth and watches Vin fall.
Vin looks deeply into Clave’s eyes during his fall. Clave’s eyes seem to vibrate with energy. It's then he is sure of it. This boy has been to the area between worlds. Vin can see a monorail passing him from above. He concentrates hard on it.
“Come on!” He manages to shadow-shift onto the top of the monorail and latches on for dear life. All while Clave tracks the entire event.
“Interesting. They Gaidon and Vin both survived. But I still succeeded in stopping the alliance.” Clave says. He turns and looks around at the completely destroyed room. Clave walks over to his sword, picks it up, wipes it clean, and sheaths it. He touches the sides of his boots and they activate. He jumps on one of the pillars and run up.
After a short vertical climb, he is on the roof. Clave looks out over the city and listens to the sound of distant sirens as he pulls off his gloves. He then grabs his injured shoulder. It's still bleeding from his encounter with Faldo.
“I guess there are more interesting people in this world than I thought.” Clave rubs his head. He is dizzy and his eyes start to lose their fire. “Strange … I feel … tired. Very tired,” he says as watches the approaching storm.
Chapter 28
Fluctuations
Beta Earth: Between Worlds 2.0 Edition Page 9
