by Andrew Ly
The doppelganger kicked Nick hard in the chest, knocking the breath out his lungs. “Or is it because you continue to hold on to your ridiculous human attachments?” he said mockingly, and delivered another punch to Nick’s face. “Love, friendship, and the rest of that stupidity you believe in has gotten you in this pathetic predicament, hasn’t it?”
Nick glared at him; he felt the burning sensation in his eyes. The burning was growing intensely, eclipsing the pain. Agrian was primed and ready to break loose.
“And that girl, that lovely girl you came to save.” Doctor Numerous leaned in close again, dropping his voice low that Nick was the only one who could hear him. “When she was brought here, she begged that your life be spared. Funny, isn’t it? Delusional more like it. A girl in love with a demon? That’s a recipe for disaster, wouldn’t you say?”
Nick stared blankly at the floor. Doctor Numerous was trying to provoke him, to draw him into a frenzy. The mere mention of Alyssa in association with the threat of danger made his blood boil.
“Nothing left to say? No more witticisms? I didn’t think so. But one thing’s for sure, at least she won’t have to be sacrificed this time. I’ll do the honors myself. How I will enjoy hearing her scream for her life. Begging for mercy as I peel the skin off her lovely bones.” Doctor Numerous slapped Nick across the cheek. “It’s rather sad really, you have to witness the death of your lover twice in a lifetime.”
“STOP!” Nick was fuming with so much rage that his body could barely contain it.
The Doctor Numerous doppelganger smirked. “Too much for your stomach to bear?”
“I’m done…” Nick said quietly.
“What? Speak up!” Doctor Numerous stroked his beard. “I can barely hear you!”
“I’m done,” Nick said again as clearly as possible.
“Done? Why, we’ve only just begun! Don’t tell me you’re giving up so soon?”
“No, I mean I’m done playing with you. Starting now, you’re finished.”
Doctor Numerous waved his hand is dismissal. “You’re delirious, the beating you’ve received must have affected your ability to think straight.”
“Because I know something you don’t know, something you’ve been dying to figure out. You’ve been waiting to see what I was truly capable of and when I went down so easily you assumed that I didn’t have the power you were searching for, didn’t you?”
“What are you getting at?”
Nick’s comment seemed to pique a sincere interest from him.
“While you were you busy going on and on about your power, the fact remains that I’ve been holding back.”
“You were holding back against me?” Doctor Numerous asked, as if it was the most ludicrous thing in the world.
“Yeah, and to be honest you didn’t exactly exceed my expectations either.” Nick shot him a smug grin.
“Y-You’re bluffing. I’ve beaten you! You’re finished!”
“All this time I’ve been keeping him inside of me, afraid I would end up a monster if I embraced evil with open arms.” Nick gazed at his hands. “I didn’t want to sell my soul just to have power. I didn’t want to live life knowing that these hands would be forever stained with blood. Because I know no matter how many times I’d try to wash them, it would never fade away. I cursed the Heralds for making this my fate.” He clenched them into fists. “But now I know why I was made this way. It wasn’t because I was a part of some cruel joke by destiny. No, the world needs the Inferno Bearer to make amends to scum like you.”
Nick yelled at the top of his lungs, the scream echoed throughout the chamber waking Garreth and Daniel. The power in his body intensified as he relinquished control over Agrian. In his mind, he visualized himself pushing away his own conscience in order to grasp his full potential. In order to reach this new plane of power, a tangible demon plateau that wasn’t accessed through just simple rage. It was a rage with purpose.
Nick couldn’t stop. He kept going, and the room kept shaking even more violently. The many Doctor Numerous clones struggled to keep from toppling over each other. The mechanical tentacles flew around like a can of worms tossed in the air. The heavy equipment launched to the other side of the room, smashing themselves into heaps of tangled metal. The entire laboratory was churning inside and out like a concentrated hurricane in this one spot.
“No! You’re ruining everything!” Doctor Numerous roared, but his voice was rendered to almost a whisper, drowned by all the mayhem.
Nick let out a giant burst of fiery energy that was sent from all sides of him. The blast destroyed the doppelgangers in an instant, leaving clouds of black smoke as they each dissolved into piles of ash. Thankfully his friends were safe, as they were too far from the battle to receive any harm. However, the real Doctor Numerous wasn’t so lucky. He was badly injured, trapped underneath a probe-like device and surrounded by broken test tubes and equipment.
“Finish him!” Paul shouted from afar. “Destroy that monster before he has a chance to retaliate!”
Nick was way ahead of him. He threw the smoldered metal pieces off the doctor with a single hand. It was over.
“To be defeated so easily…” Doctor Numerous muttered in disbelief. “I was too careless….”
Nick stared down at him, not saying a word. He grabbed the doctor by the throat and lifted him away from the scrap heap. “You had a backup plan for everything, but you didn’t think I could fight back, did you?” He slammed the doctor against the wall. “Didn’t you? Well that mistake is going to cost you, Cyclops. You should have done better research.”
Suddenly the alarm blared and bright flashes of red from signal lights went going off like he had won the lottery. That female generated voice from earlier crackled through all the damaged sound boxes in the laboratory.
Beep. Launch sequence commencing. Beep.
“It’s happening already?” Nick said.
“The Soul Eater had been programmed to launch before the moment you stepped into this room. I told you I had a contingency for everything. Even if you kill me, there’s no way you can stop it. You missed your last chance. You’ll regret that forever!” Doctor Numerous said.
Still holding Doctor Numerous, Nick turned to Garreth. “How much time do we have?”
“Ten minutes at most. It takes approximately ten minutes until the Soul Eater reaches the peak of the tower,” Garreth said. “Hurry, you have to get to the top and disable it before it’s too late!”
“How?” Nick cried.
“The G at the top has the manual override built into it. Destroy it, and you’ll stop the Soul Eater!” Garreth said.
“You have more important things to worry about, Agrian. Like yourself!” Doctor Numerous pulled a dagger from his pocket and slashed at him. “This isn’t over in the slightest!”
Nick leaned back, narrowly avoiding a serious cut to his throat. He heaved the man aside. Doctor Numerous landed on the floor and rolled back onto his feet. Then he began to shake violently as he did before. What was happening now? The alchemist was transforming. Nick watched on, mesmerized by how a simple man became a monstrosity.
His lab coat and undershirt tore from his body. His limbs grew larger in size, and then his bottom half. He took on the insect-like features of a scorpion. His arms retained their jagged demonic appearance, but his hands were replaced with razor sharp hooks. He grew a long, thick dark green tail with three blades fanned out on the end of the tip. Nick jumped back and distanced himself; the tail was swung around wildly as if it had a mind of its own. From a safer distance, he was able to get a better look at Doctor Numerous, who somehow managed to retain most of his humanoid characteristics.
His body was now covered in thick plated scales that seemed to emulate the image of a physically fit man. He retained his eye patch, but his beard was replaced with thick brown insect fur. His single eye was three times larger and completely red. His mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth and there were two long fangs that protruded at the
top. The man was dangerous with doppelgangers before, but now he was in his full demon form.
A fast tail swipe nearly cleaved Nick’s head clean off, but he managed to narrowly avoid it at the last second. Doctor Numerous knocked Nick backwards with his huge pincers, the force caused him to rebound into the rubble.
Nick was right back on his feet, and he charged his arms, summoning two fireballs, and threw them. They hit their mark, but Doctor Numerous merely shrugged them off. What happened? The destructive power of his flames had burned through him before. The alchemist’s new body must have doubled as a shell that made him impervious to attacks.
Doctor Numerous laughed mockingly. There was a hissing sound in his voice now to fit his new appearance.
“Looks like you’re tougher than you look,” Nick said, his arms radiating a brilliant blaze. “But I am too.”
He rushed forward, dodging the pincers and tail, and delivered a mighty fire-induced punch that knocked the demon off balance. Right after, he slid underneath him, grabbed Doctor Numerous’ long tail and swung him towards the ceiling.
Nick dropped down then used the momentum to spring up and propel into a tackle that took him and the insect demon through into the first floor.
He got to his feet and darted to the elevator, frantically pressing the button and waiting for it to open. As the elevator descended, Doctor Numerous snapped out of his daze and charged forward, the sound of his feet clipped on the marble floor. Nick managed to slip into the elevator and close the door just as the demon reached him. A crash! Pincer dents formed on the inside. He hit the button for the highest floor and was shot up, well on his way to reach the Soul Eater.
He sat to catch his breath and collect his thoughts. Nick glanced through the glass elevator and saw the Soul Eater coming up also. At the top, right above Garreth’s office appeared to be the location of the launch. He’d have only a few minutes to disassemble it, but he didn’t have any other choice. It was a race against time and he was in the lead for now.
The rate of the elevator took a sudden nosedive as a heavy weight seemed to be sucking it down. Outside the Soul Eater was catching up. What was going on? A sharp tail slashed through the bottom of the elevator inches from his face. Through a small hole a single red eye peeked through. Doctor Numerous hissed at him. Nick’s first instinct was to send a fiery blaze straight below him, but held back because a miscalculation could cause him to plummet to his own death.
A momentary pause. The tail stabbed through again, almost skewering him whole. This continued several times. Nick avoided each swipe as best he could, but the next time Doctor Numerous might not miss. The bladed tail retracted and sliced upward. Nick melted a hole in the ceiling, leapt through, and landed on top. The slashing tail had punctured the ceiling. Before it could rear back for another swipe at him, Nick latched on to it. He was swung side to side, banging the walls hard on the sides, the rugged metal screws scraping harshly against his skin. Still, he clutched on desperately until the elevator drew to a stop. He punched through the wall and tumbled in Garreth’s office. A crash and he spun around just as Doctor Numerous tore down the elevator door. The insect demon whipped his tail. It wrapped around Nick’s midsection and slammed him into a glass table.
He staggered to his feet, his backside was cut deep with shards of glass; fatigue weighed heavy on his body. He’d made it to the top in one piece, albeit with more blood loss than he originally wanted.
He glanced out the window to monitor the progress of the launch, but with the position of the room he couldn’t see a thing. He had to stop Doctor Numerous before he could get outside onto tower roof and deactivate it. Unfortunately, no visible stairways or elevators led to the top. His situation looked even bleaker.
“Great. Now what?” Nick muttered. He had seemingly hit a dead end.
“AGRIAN!” Doctor Numerous hissed.
Nick spun around as the demon barged in, tail thrashing about, tearing most of the furnishings and anything else left of value. “There is nowhere left to run! The only way out now is through me or as a fifty story drop!”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Nick leapt at Doctor Numerous, but the alchemist’s powerful tail darted at him like a spear thrown at lightning speed. Nick redirected the tail into the floor, wedging it deep. Trapped in a tiny room with nowhere to go, he had only one option left. He lit his fists and came in close to engage the alchemist in an old fashioned slugfest.
He pounded the insect demon’s body relentlessly, blocking the large swinging pincers and keeping his focus on damaging Doctor Numerous’ thick hide. If his fire couldn’t pierce through, he hoped applying physical pressure would do the trick. No effect. The punches merely bounced off his rock hard body.
Even with Doctor Numerous pinned, Nick was at a complete disadvantage. The insect demon’s sheer size and reach was enough to keep him at bay. He dodged and ducked the barrage of strikes, but time was not on his side. If he continued at this pace, they’d all still wind up dead. He needed a new strategy.
Then it dawned on him.
For a demon, Doctor Numerous retained many of his human characteristics. The inner layer between the scaly muscles had a softer tissue. If there was some way to puncture it, he could finally dish out some pain. Unfortunately, Nick’s hands couldn’t reach behind the thick armor plates. He glanced at the wriggling tail and it all came to him.
Nick slid underneath the insect demon and unplugged the tail from the floor. He ran circles around Doctor Numerous’ legs, tripping him over and toppling him on his belly. Nick flipped him over, stood firmly on the demon’s arms, and stabbed the thin opening between his pectorals.
Doctor Numerous screeched.
It worked! Nick dragged the tail like a knife to cut an outline in the demon’s own chest. Nick shoved his hands in the newly formed crevice and tore the shell apart, revealing even more soft padding of skin underneath. Now it was time to go to work.
A flurry of strong fiery hits made contact on the newly exploited weak point. Doctor Numerous was no longer able to attack, forced instead to lie there like a worn-out punching bag. Nick finished his assault by tossing the demon in midair. When he dropped back down, Nick drop-kicked him against the wall, breaking the Pailean paintings Garreth had hung on the over the fireplace. The damage to the wall revealed a large flip switch.
On the floor, an unconscious Doctor Numerous had reverted back into his human state. As much as Nick and the demon inside wished to kill Doctor Numerous, his duty as a knight was to stop the launch. He hadn’t realized until now how out of touch he’d become by letting go of his inhibitions. How apathetic fighting made him. How fast he could fall. Thankfully, he caught himself before going too far.
“Consider yourself under arrest.” Nick knelt and put Orichalon-coated handcuffs on the demon. He stepped over the alchemist and flipped the switch. A portion of the wall and fireplace sank into the floor. A short spiral staircase rose up. He climbed to the top and pushed open the tall rose-colored door. He was at the very top of Graves Tower now, the thin air made him woozy. It was still cold and dark, but some light peeked over the edge of the mountain ridges in the distance. The blackout earlier made sure the giant G that was no longer lit, but that didn’t stop the Soul Eater from rising up the building. Nick ran circles around the oversized letter but could not find the manual control box Garreth had mentioned.
Beep. Soul Eater launching. Beep.
The weapon was setting itself up, and humming loudly now as the Soul Eater formula was being prepared. Panicked, he raced around the G again searching desperately for the control box.
There it was! Within arms-length! He went to grab it, but was repelled by only a mere touch, the violent jolt of holy magic ran up his arm and he pulled back from the stinging pain. Judging by the throbbing and smoke coming from his burnt hands, this wasn’t just Luxilight. No, it must be another layer of Holy Shield—a contingency only one as cautious Garreth could think of. Nick threw a seri
es of fireballs at the box, but they ricocheted off the ethereal barrier, one almost striking him in the torso. His demon powers were useless now. The countdown began.
Ten…
Nine…
“Slag it!” He rushed to the G and rammed his arms against the shield. Immediately he felt the intense burning sensation of the holy magic trying to push him back. Damn his corrupt soul!
Eight…
Seven…
His arms were losing all feeling, but he had to reach it before it was too late—no matter how much pain it caused him!
Six…
Five…
His whole body was inside now, and as he was moving in closer and closer, every inch of his flesh felt like it was being stabbed by millions of needles.
Four…
“ARGHHH!” He had to close his eyes and bite down on his lower lip to keep from passing out.
Three…
He felt the box in his hands.
Two…
He ripped it out and crushed it with all his might.
Beep. Launch sequence canceled. Beep.
Nick collapsed onto the floor and allowed himself a couple moments for it to sink in. Complete silence. He did it. The world was safe. The shield was gone, but at least everyone else still lived. There was only one loose end left to tie. Doctor Numerous.
Doctor Numerous let out a braying cough, his hands on his throat, trying to regain his breath when Nick reentered to room.
“Did I do it?” Doctor Numerous croaked.
“It’s over, Numerous. You’re coming back with me to Glenhaven,” Nick grabbed Doctor Numerous by his cuffed arms. As te pushed his captive towards the elevator, the ground began to rumble. He ran to the windows just as they all shattered simultaneously. A cold draft rushed into the room.
Nick barely had time to react to the flicker of silver that streaked through the air past him. It sliced through Doctor Numerous’ leg, cleaving it clean off just like what happened to Vermeek. Nick recognized the blade and spun around to see him standing there on fifty stories of ice, with a look of amusement upon his face.
