Drone ships fired as they exploded, ten and twelve at a time. It was incredible how much damage Ragnarok had absorbed, and yet it fought on.
Just before the Trahzi released their attack, Ragnarok grew silent. All her cannons powered down.
Then the giant spider hissed, the sound carrying even over the vacuum of space, and launched a beam of black and violet energies at the Trahzi.
“It’s the special weapon!” Trahzi warned, looking on in terror.
The Trahzi confidently held their ground, releasing their combined powers into the approaching beam. The blackness gobbled up the sun they sent at it, boiling into its hateful surface, and then it hit them.
The Trahzi’s combined screams scattered debris and scuttled ships, extending out in a sphere that not only reached out into space, but down to the planet surface below. When it hit the ground, it kicked up a wall of dust that ran out for thousands of parns, stretching out across the entire continent.
“We’ve got to help them!” Trahzi screamed. She nearly took off herself, but Zurra stopped her.
“Wait! If you go in there you’ll be hit as well.”
Cha’Rolette sent in some of the drones and deployed nets. She scooped a few dozen Trahzi clear of the beam, but even as she pulled them free of the dark energies, their screams of torment didn’t stop.
“They’re coming apart!” Ilrica yelled as she pulled one out of the beam herself. The Trahzi’s body was disintegrating in her hands as if it were made of sand.
Trahzi looked out. All of them were disintegrating. Every last one. “It’s because they’re linked together!” she shouted. So long as one is being hit by the beam, they’ll all be destroyed.”
What is it doing to them? Cha’Rolette asked, sending in another wave of warships to scoop more free.
“It’s absorbing them into the machine,” she explained.
The Trahzi kicked and hollered in pain as their bodies slowly evaporated.
* * *
Inside Ragnarok, the ArchTyrant shouted for joy. “Even the Trahzi cannot stop me! You fools, I am the god of this universe. No one can stop me!
* * *
I’m running out of drones, Cha’Rolette warned. Nearly every window around her had gone red.
Trahzi looked down to the surface of the planet below. Then she looked up at her people wracked in torment.
“If I don’t do something they’re all going to die.” In her mind, she could hear the voice of the Oracle: “The needed is in your death. To save him, you must sacrifice his mind.” Tears formed in Trahzi’s eyes, and she made her decision. She was so scared she was trembling.
Covering herself in fire, she zipped down to the planet below, punching through the roof of the academy hospital, then streaked back up, carrying a bundle in her arms.
“What are you doing Trahzi?” Ilrica asked, collapsing to the ground.
“I have to save them,” Trahzi said as she flew towards the source of the beam of darkness.
“Don’t do it, Trahzi,” Zurra warned. “You’ll get sucked into the machine like the rest of them!”
“No,” Trahzi said, speeding up as she approached. “Not like the rest of them. I’m not connected to the other Trahzi anymore. If the beams hits me, the other Trahzi will be released. Get ready to pull them clear!”
Almost as if anticipating her move, Ragnarok opened fire. Trahzi sped up even faster, dodging left and right, disappearing and reappearing, slipping in and out of a hailstorm without letting a single beam hit her.
Tears streamed down her face, and she closed her eyes. “Take care of Puppy Trahzi for me.”
Trahzi rammed herself into the beam, and it wrapped around her and her alone.
“TRAHZI!” Zurra screamed out.
Cha’Rolette sent in every remaining drone ship, scooping up the injured Trahzi as they floated in space, and speeding them away as fast as she could.
Trahzi’s body kicked and bucked as it dissolved amid the dark energies. Her hair, her limbs, her body, the bundle she carried. Everything melted away— nothing more than vapor, drawn into the machine like a miniature tornado.
A single tear fell away from her face, but it too evaporated into nothingness.
And then she was gone.
One final drone warship swooped in and grabbed Ilrica, Zurra, and Kalia in a net, pulling them away as fast as it could. They looked at the spot where Trahzi had been long after it was too far away to see.
* * *
“Trahzi, no!” Gerald wept inside of his stone prison.
The ArchTyrant cackled maniacally. “Those idiots. They may have saved the Trahzi, but they have lost the war! Look, the mineshaft is complete. The ending now begins.”
With no ships left to stop it, Ragnarok turned her cannons on the cities below, sending up columns of fire. A tight beam of crimson light extended into the planet’s core, filling Central Core with dark consuming energies.
“It won’t be long now,” the ArchTyrant smirked, holding the glowing sphere in his hands. “Just a couple more minutes. Then I will reach out through Central Core and absorb the soul of every man, woman and child in the Alliance.”
As the slaughter raged on, Gerald could actually feel the deaths of the people attaching to his soul. With each crime his chains lengthened; his sentenced increased in severity. He was damned and becoming more damned by the second.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” The ArchTyrant asked as he looked over one shoulder. “Being powerless. I felt that way once, but not anymore.” His body was almost completely solid now.
“No,” Gerald said, his fists tightening.
Weak, Lyssandra looked over at him. Gerald flexed his arms, but the rock prison held him tightly.
“If Cha’Rolette can find the strength to give up her fortune...”
Gerald’s fists trembled, and the rock around his wrists cracked.
“...If Ilrica can find the strength to oppose even her own people...
The stone at his feet fractured.
“...If Zurra can find the strength to forgive the man who destroyed her homeland...
The rock around his neck snapped apart.
“...If Kalia can find the strength to override her programming... “
Cracks appeared all over the rock column, spreading around like a growing tree.
“...If Trahzi can find the strength to sacrifice herself for her people...”
His stony prison shattered, and he emerged in a cloud of dust, sprinting at the ArchTyrant.
“Then I can find the strength to fight you!”
The ArchTyrant took a step back, cradling the sphere. “What? Impossible!”
Gerald ran up and punched the ArchTyrant dead in the face. He reeled back, lifting up his hand to retaliate, but Gerald punched him again, snapping his head to one side and breaking his concentration.
“Take the sphere!” Lyssandra yelled, struggling to free herself as well. “Without it, he’ll lose his physical form!”
Gerald grabbed the sphere and pulled hard, nearly yanking the ArchTyrant off his feet.
“Let go!” the ArchTyrant screamed, purple lightning shooting from his fingers to strike Gerald in the chest.
“You kill me, you die,” Gerald warned as the two men fought and struggled over the ball of light.
The ArchTyrant sneered. “I don’t have to kill you to beat you. I can inflict pain directly into your nerves without damaging your flesh!”
The lightning became amber. Gerald screamed. His entire body, his entire soul was wracked with indescribable agony. It felt like every cell in his body was burning. Every inch of his skin pricked with needles, every particle of his person freezing cold.
But he did not let go.
Lyssandra struggled against her rocky prison, flexing her body and rocking from side to side. A crack began forming at her feet.
Keeping one hand on the sphere, Gerald reached up and punched the ArchTyrant in the face, knocking out one of his teeth.
The Ar
chTyrant was dazed. “How? How are you moving? That level of pain you should have lost consciousness!”
The intensity of the lighting increased and Gerald screamed louder than was humanly possible. He could feel his skin shriveling and pulling away from the fire. He could feel his lungs burning from within. He could feel his fingers and toes snapping off in frozen chunks. His mind was unraveling, coming apart from the pain.
But he did not let go.
Lyssandra rocked herself back and forth, widening the crack until it broke free of the ground. She fell over inside her stone casing. When she hit the ground cracks appeared everywhere.
Gerald raised his hand again and punched. The ArchTyrant’s head snapped back. One of his eyes swelled shut.
“Impossible,” he coughed, struggling to stay on his feet. “How? That is enough pain to kill a thousand people. How can you still be on your feet?”
Gerald raised his fist yet again.
“Fine then, I’ll give you everything I have, even if it kills you!”
Gerald was completely engulfed in the amber lighting. He screamed so loud it shattered the holo-tank. The clouds scattered above them. The mountain tops were blown away. The dried forests were engulfed in flame. The rivers boiled; the ground fractured and broke apart.
Gerald drowned a hundred times. He was burned alive a thousand times. He was boiled alive ten thousand times.
But he did not let go.
Lyssandra broke free and came up on one knee. She readied her pulse rifle and hit the ArchTyrant. Again and again her bolts of energy impacted his body, evaporating away large chunks and leaving the ghostly form behind, but he did not fall.
Gerald punched the ArchTyrant in the gut, folding him over. He kneed him in the face, snapping his head back. He punched him square in the throat, forcing him to hack and wheeze for breath.
The ArchTyrant’s eyes went wide. “Impossible! How? Tell me how! How are you doing this!”
Lyssandra’s shoulder mount spun to life, and she hit him with her laser cannon, cutting up and down his back. She loaded a fresh magazine and fired her rifle with one hand. With her other hand she threw out grenades that attached to his body and exploded, taking out deep chunks.
The ArchTyrant’s body was a swiss cheese of solid and ghost. She continued to hit with everything she had. He staggered and stumbled. But still focused all his energies into pouring pain into Gerald’s body.
Gerald pulled the ArchTyrant close, the sphere between them, and pulled back his arm as far as he could.
The ArchTyrant’s eyes filled with fear. “How is this possible? I’m giving it everything. Every drop of my hate. What can be stronger than hate?”
Gerald punched him in the face, throwing him backwards. The lightning ceased and the ArchTyrant lost his grip. He fell backwards to the ground, battered and splintered. Gerald stood over him triumphantly, the sphere in his hand.
“You did it, Gerald!” Lyssandra cheered. “You’ve taken Ragnarok from him! Now he’ll evaporate!”
There was a moment of stillness, but nothing changed.
The silence was broken by slow laughter that built up over time into a roaring crescendo.
The ArchTyrant stood up, his ghostly body undiminished. “You’re too late!” he cackled. “Too late! I’ve already absorbed too much power. I can exist on my own!”
Lyssandra’s face was awash with panic. “No!”
The ArchTyrant pointed his finger. “Time for a new plan. If I cannot create my own body, I’ll simply take over yours!”
Like a screaming banshee he struck out at Gerald.
“No!” Lyssandra yelled.
The orb in his hands pulsed and Gerald grinned. “Trahzi, NOW!”
The orb flashed obediently. The floor beneath them burst open, revealing the heart of the Ooinaru Juu-san below. At Gerald’s command, red particles rose up out of the reactor and he reconstructed Trahzi before him, bathed in fire. She held out the jar she had stolen from Dr. Klatta in her hands.
“No!” the ArchTyrant screamed, trying to change course, but it was too late. He struck the jar with the clone of Gerald’s brain contained within. His voice slowly dissipated, becoming softer and softer, until it was gone.
The three of them cheered. The orb in Gerald’s hands grew brighter and brighter, washing out and over everything, until Gerald couldn’t see anything anymore.
When the light subsided, he found himself floating in a white void. Nothingness extended out in all directions. A place without form or existence, except for him and his chains.
Gerald looked around at them. Their heavy weight cut into his flesh. They fanned out behind him, almost like a cape. Miles and miles of chains, all connected to his heart.
Before him floated a mirror image of himself, without chains. His doppelganger regarded him oddly, as if he were trying to figure him out.
“Where am I?” Gerald asked.
His copy seemed amused at the question. “You are where you have always been. In the universe.”
“Okay, that’s... unhelpful. Who are you?”
“I am the sum total of everything in existence. I am everyone who has ever existed, and so, I am also you. Each time a life is born, a little part of me breaks off, and through its life gains experience and wisdom, which is then returned to me when they die.”
Gerald noticed that his copy sported a long gash across his chest. “What is this?”
His mirror got a little angry. “This is the injury you gave me in your last life. Kharma was damaged; it has not functioned properly since.”
Gerald tried to move, but the weight of the chains attached to him was incredible. “I’m pretty sure I know what these are.”
His copy nodded. “That is the negative Kharma attached to your soul.”
Gerald looked down. The glowing sphere was still in his hands. “All for the creation of this.” He shook his head sadly. “What a waste.”
“A waste?” his doppelganger asked, slightly offended. “For the first time ever, a part of me has rebelled against me, injured me and forced my hand. It’s not a waste; it’s sheer arrogance.”
Gerald looked at the sphere. “No, it’s sadness. So many people died, and no good came of it.”
“You mean no good yet. You could use it, you know?”
Gerald wasn’t sure he liked that suggestion. “What could I do with it?”
His copy spun around. “All is illumination, all is matter. All is life. The more you have inside Ragnarok, the more you can do with it when it is released.”
“You’re very cryptic. Is it intentional?”
“Had you absorbed all of the Trahzi, with that much power you could have done anything, even taken my place. As it stands, you can still do quite a bit.”
His doppelganger floated in close, and grinned impishly and shook Gerald’s chains. You know, you could use it to make yourself immune from Kharma, lift your curse.”
Gerald looked back at his endless chains. The temptation was overwhelming. Somehow he knew it would be simple, like flicking a switch. Then he would be free of his curse.
“No.”
The other Gerald was surprised. “Why not?”
Gerald looked back at the glowing sphere. “The souls inside of this sphere were gathered against their wishes. I cannot simply use them for my own gain as if they were nothing more than an energy source. That would be wrong. As sentient creatures, they deserve respect.”
The other Gerald threw back his head and laughed.
Gerald looked around. “What is so funny?”
“You have beaten me. If you had made a selfish wish, if you had used that aenergy to benefit yourself, there would have been a kharmic rebound, and everything would have been destroyed.”
Gerald was shocked. “You mean, like, all of existence?”
The universe laughed. “Yes, but you didn’t take the bait, it’s amazing. Gerald Dyson, you have managed to really tick me off.”
“What? So you wanted me to destroy
all of existence? Wouldn’t that bother you?”
The other Gerald shrugged. “I have always been. It might have been fun to try something different.”
“That is pretty reckless of you.”
“Look at you. You stand there, facing down all of existence, and then you lecture it. You snotty little brat.”
“I’ve been called worse. And what about back there, inside the machine? If the ArchTyrant had opened Ragnarok and used it for himself, there would have been a rebound. And you just stood back and did nothing!?”
“You still don’t get it, do you? You were there opposing him, and so was Lyssandra. You are both pieces of me. And so, I was there opposing him.”
Gerald pinched his nose. “You’re right, I don’t get it. How can I be talking to you if I am a piece of you?”
His copy floated in close. As he neared the sphere, the wound across his chest glowed brightly. “So, you’ve won, what will you do with it?”
Gerald looked down at the ball. He could feel its power. Time and space were at his command. Life and death were as nothing before him. The universe was little more than building blocks for him to rearrange at will. Just the realization of it almost made him pass out.
“Where would I even begin?” Gerald asked quietly. “Hee’hidzin started off with the best of intentions, but the power turned him into a monster. If I use it, won’t the same thing happen to me? They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Perhaps it is best to not use it at all.”
“If you don’t use it, the energy will dissipate over time. Those people will have died for nothing. What will you tell the others? That you had the chance to help people, but then decided not to? Perhaps you really are the villain after all, then.”
Gerald sneered. “If I use it, I become a monster. If I don’t use it, I’m a villain. What kind of choice is that?”
“It is the choice you are presented with.”
“Is there no third option?” Gerald looked up, his face alight. “That’s it. A third option.”
The other Gerald furrowed his brow. “I don’t follow.”
“Hee’hidzin was trying to use this power for himself. That’s why it corrupted him. But if I use this only for others and not at all for myself, then I can keep it from going to waste without corrupting me.”
Kharmic Rebound Page 81
