by Riker Kane
I didn’t bother arguing. One step in and I was already in too deep.
“Working sporadically will also give you a chance to live your life. You don’t have to quit your job. You don’t have to stop drinking at that smelly bar or hanging out with strippers. Redgrave will keep on working. I’ll be here whenever you wanna head into Pandora.”
“My father’s waiting for me. I don’t wanna waste any time.”
“Your father’s been waiting for seventeen years. If Redgrave’s estimates are correct, a few more weeks won’t make much of a difference.”
The parameters of when to show up were simple enough but that was only just the beginning. “We work sparingly. You and Redgrave will be here. What else do I need to know?”
“Follow me.” Jade walked over to the side of the room and finally removed one of the tarps. Underneath it was a digital display that looked like two plasma television screens stuck together. There were some words and lines all over it but it was all gibberish to me.
“Pandora is what we call the other dimension. The other dimension is made up of different worlds. Every world is powered by a Mana Obelisk. Whenever an Obelisk is destroyed, that world collapses on itself.”
“Hold on,” I said as I put my hands up. “You lost me at Pandora.”
“Don’t think too much about it. All you need to worry about is this part of Pandora.” She pointed at a blinking blue dot on the left side of the display. “This is where we’re at now.” She trailed her finger from the dot along a green line. “Usually Omegas are sent into Pandora to destroy an Obelisk. Instead, we’ll be using the Obelisks as checkpoints to make sure we’re in the right location.” She stopped her finger from the line at another blinking dot. “Dr. Redgrave mapped out a path back to Anarchy. You’ll be traveling along this path until we get to our destination.”
I followed the line on the display from the left all the way to the right side then stood in front of it. There was a lone, blinking red dot. “That’s Anarchy… That’s where he is…”
“Keep in mind this map might not be scaled properly. It might take days, weeks, maybe months to traverse the entire line to get where we need to be. Not to mention, there may be other paths that open up. The LOD has been studying Pandora for years but they still haven’t figured out how exactly everything is connected.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. If Redgrave got my father to Anarchy, I can get there, too. Nothing will stop me.”
“I admire your determination. You’re gonna need it. Pandora doesn’t just get more unstable the deeper we get. It also gets more dangerous. The Shadows will be stronger. The environments will be less welcoming. This won’t be a walk in the park.”
“Are you trying to scare me now? After all the convincing you were trying to do?”
Jade’s lips cocked into a smirk as she looked me up and down. “I know nothing will stop you. I’m only telling you to expect the unexpected.”
“All right… This won’t be simple. I don’t imagine you’ll just let me wander into Pandora on my own.”
“Not a chance.” She held her hand out then walked with me toward Dr. Redgrave. The scientist was hunched over his workbench as he wiped his hair over his head.
I looked over his shoulder at what was resting on the table. I couldn’t see it clearly but when Redgrave stepped aside, there was no mistaking it.
A pair of silver steel gloves about five times the size of my fists sat there. Each one was nearly as big as my torso. The metal shined with rivets connecting all of the joints where the fingers would bend. Tiny ridges ran over the fingers. Along both wrists, there were blue displays the size of a cellphone touchscreen.
“Your father was smart,” Dr. Redgrave said. “Smarter than most people would give an Omega credit for. But there was no denying how capable he was with his fists. With his background as a young amateur boxer, he was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a more ideal candidate for the Slayer Project. I lost him. But you should know it wasn’t because he was ill-equipped in terms of his weaponry.”
I kept my eyes on the gloves as I walked up to them. My fingers moved over the cold, smooth silver. “Are these the same kind my dad used?”
“Not exactly. One-of-a-kind. The only blueprint that existed has been destroyed. This model has some minor adjustments. In addition to how much damage they can do, they’ll give you a small boost in strength. It’s not much but my attention was more on figuring out where your father was exactly.”
“I get it…”
“Oliver was the only man to wield the Slayer Gauntlets. I think it’s appropriate his son wield version two… Go ahead.”
“Wait. I’m just supposed to slip these on like boxing gloves?” I looked at Redgrave. He didn’t say anything. Just a subtle smile was enough to tell me what was on his mind. Even Jade’s eyes widened slightly with growing curiosity.
“All right…” I shrugged and moved my hands down. I slid my fingers into the over-sized gloves. I immediately felt some type of soft material pushing back. Something slick and rubbery.
“It’s malleable silicone,” Redgrave said. “Designed to mold to the shape of your hand.”
I raised my gloved hands up. There was a noticeable weight to the gauntlets, like holding up a couple of fifteen-pound dumbbells. But I was more focused on how the fingers began to move the same as mine when I flexed them.
“The material is synced directly to your nervous system,” he said. “You might not feel it but it will mimic everything your own hands do. The clenching of a fist. The curling of a finger. The gauntlets have all of the flexibility of your hand without the vulnerabilities of flesh and bone.”
“I could really knock someone out with these things.”
“You won’t be fighting ordinary people,” Jade said. “You’ll need every advantage you can get.”
“The power of the gauntlets can be improved and expanded upon as you venture toward Anarchy. You can keep track of their power on the display.”
I glanced at the display and saw the information.
SP-002 SLAYER GAUNTLETS
*Amplified Melee Damage
*Amplified Strength
“Traditional Omega weapons are powered by Cores and crafted by engineers using Mana from Pandora,” Redgrave said. “This weapon can also be improved.”
“It’s not just the gauntlets,” Jade added. “You’ll grow stronger, too.”
“Red Mana,” I said. “I’ve seen some guys at the gym who used to be Omegas. It’s easy to tell because of how strong they are.”
“The effects of Red Mana to level-up fade over time without usage but you’ll wanna level as much as you can. Strengthen your weapon and strengthen yourself. You’ll need every advantage you can get if you’re gonna make it to Anarchy.”
I clenched my fists then lowered my gloves down. “I don’t suppose I’ll get some other equipment, too. Some armor would help.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have the same means an engineer in a Legion Crafting Bay has,” Redgrave said. “But the gloves should be everything you need. As long as you’re wielding them, it doesn’t matter what else you’re wearing.”
“Okay then. If all I need are the gloves, then that means I can head into Pandora right now.”
Jade walked over to the side of the room and removed the tarp from one of the bigger things it was covering. I wasn’t sure what I was looking at now.
A giant steel circle resting big enough to drive a car through sat right in front of me. It was chiseled with the kind of precision you’d see off an assembly line. Its metal base made it look like some sort of massive trophy. But in the center of it, there was something else. Not metal. And it wasn’t clear that I could see the other side. There was just some sort of light blue energy like water flowing back and forth.
The longer I stared at it, the less sense it made.
“This is a Junction Gate,” Jade said. “This is what we use to venture into Pandora. It’s what connects Earth and the other dimension
. All you have to do is walk through.”
“This thing safe?”
“There’s usually a display to indicate where you’ll be traveling. Dr. Redgrave will be calibrating it to make sure we’re headed on the correct path to Anarchy.”
“Right…”
I took a step closer and felt some of the energy resonating cool against my skin. For all I knew, walking through would just turn me into dust and it’d be the last thing I ever did.
“I wonder who the first poor asshole was who had to walk through one of these things to see where it went,” I said.
“I don’t know who the first person was,” Jade replied. “But from what I’ve heard of your father, he wouldn’t have hesitated.”
She knew just how to get to me. I looked over at her and shrugged. “When do we start?”
“I admire your confidence.” Redgrave walked up with another weird-looking device in his hands. Something like a black collar you used to stop dogs from barking.
I didn’t hide my reservations. “That thing isn’t for me, is it?”
“It’s a Recall Box. It takes a recording of your genetic data up to the point your HP drops to zero and you fall unconscious. Should the worst happen, I’ll be able to regenerate you completely from this workstation.”
I took the collar from him and sighed. “In for a penny, in for a pound…” The thing wrapped around my neck and closed down enough for me to know it was there without choking me. “How do I look?”
Jade looked me up and down. She raised her chin confidently as a smile came across her face. “How about a test run? Let’s see what you got, Enzo.”
6: Warm-Up
“Hmmm…”
The blades of grass were thick and untouched, rocking in rhythm from the breeze gently wafting through. The smell of the soil was fresh, filling my nostrils and flooding my head. That alone was enough to tell me I wasn’t in Newmire. But then there was the sky. It was so blue it looked like someone had painted it. The sun blinked behind the clouds floating by, not warm enough to bother me.
The small warehouse garage was gone completely. The only thing left was the metal gate and the woman I’d walk through it with.
I turned around and examined the steel circle. The same energy resonated like the surface of water with no sign of what I’d left behind.
“…Green grass. Clear sky. Fresh air. Is this real?”
“It’s real.” Jade crossed her arms, a smile on her lips as she watched me kneel down to touch the grass. “We just walked through a gateway into another dimension. Welcome to Pandora. A collection of worlds where humanity’s greatest threat lives.”
“Another dimension… How does the gate work?”
“Um…” Jade scratched the side of her head. “I’m not exactly an expert on interdimensional travel. But this Junction is able to exist here and back in our world. That’s how we’re able to cross.”
“Science was never my favorite subject either… For the place where humanity’s greatest threat lives, Pandora seems pretty peaceful.”
“This is a low-level Junction. Not very threatening. The deeper we go, the greater the Mana density.”
“I’ve been hearing you talk about Mana a lot. What is it?”
“Mana is the matter and energy that makes up everything in Pandora. When we get rid of the source of the Mana, the Junction will collapse on itself. That’s what Omegas do.”
“And that’s what my dad was trying to do. Go to the source of all the Mana and destroy every dimension at once. Stop all the beasts and monsters from coming through. Am I getting all this right?”
Jade nodded. “All hostile threats are called Shadows. The Shadows are made of Mana. Destroy the Mana, destroy the Shadows.”
“Seems simple enough.” I clenched my armored fists together and banged them together. “Dad’s waiting for me. Let’s get this show on the road.”
“We don’t have to rush into it. First, let’s make sure you know how to use those things. You see that.” Jade pointed in the distance. I looked toward the horizon and could barely make out a small structure. Considering how green the grass was, it was easy to see the purple energy resonating about a half-mile away. “That’s an Obelisk. Mana powering this Junction comes from it. Destroy the Obelisk and everything you see around you now is destroyed. We should encounter a Shadow before we get there.”
I didn’t hesitate in moving forward. The grass was folded underneath my sneakers. The soil was soft. As the breeze picked up, the peace of the scenery consumed me and made me forget about why I was here in the first place.
Jade walked just a few steps behind as we moved closer to the Obelisk.
Suddenly the soft crackle of thunder broke the serenity of the grassy valley. I looked up at the sky and saw the lines of white energy appearing right in the middle of the air.
“What the…” I narrowed my eyes in confusion at lightning beginning to swirl around. A burst of white energy flashed and blinded me. I shut my eyes and reopened them to find a figure standing in the distance.
I thought it was a person at first. Maybe a small child about three-feet tall. But I only had to look at it for a second to see that I was wrong. Its skin was as green as the grass it stood on. It wasn’t really skin though. More like lizard-type scales with a wet sheen. Its feet were exposed with two long toes with pointed claws at the end. Its hands consisted of three thick fingers with the same pointed claws. And its face… The large forehead on its smooth head bulged out. Two fangs extended from its bottom jaw a few inches into its upper lip. Its eyes were empty and yellow.
If it was a child, it was the ugliest child I’d ever seen.
It leaned forward in nothing but a loincloth, a round belly flopped over it. It kept a finger pointed at me as it took a step closer.
“I’m guessing that’s a Shadow,” I said.
“Everything hostile to us in Pandora is classified as a Shadow. That looks like a goblin.”
“A goblin… Never thought I’d see the day.”
“It’s not anything you shouldn’t be able to handle. The Slayer Gauntlets should do all the work. You should know—”
I slammed my fists together again. “I think I know how they work.”
I ran forward before Jade could say anything more.
“Ahhh!” The goblin’s screech was high-pitched, filled with the same hostility I saw in its eyes. It charged to meet me with both of its claws. We closed the distance between each other quickly and the creature leaped into the air.
Despite the weight of the gauntlets, I was able to swing faster than I expected. My right fist shot forward like the gauntlet was being pulled by a magnet in front of me. Before the goblin could claw at me, its stomach collided right into my steel knuckles. I pushed against its fat belly. My fist didn’t stop. It kept going until I’d ripped through the goblin completely.
“Holy shit!”
My eyes widened at the sight of my fist punching a hole through the goblin’s back. A splatter of warm green blood sprayed against my face and spilled on the grass.
“Ahhh—” The goblin’s screech was suddenly gone. The blood and its stench had disappeared along with the rest of its body. In its place, small glowing orbs the size of baseballs appeared on the ground. They were blue, red, and green, shimmering underneath the sunlight.
Jade calmly walked up next to me. “Mana orbs. When a Shadow is defeated, it’s broken down to its bare essence. Omegas use communicators to absorb it and level themselves up.”
“I heard about Red Mana. Strange seeing it for myself. What about the blue and green?”
“Omegas use the blue and green for abilities and crafting gear. Dr. Redgrave built a special refinement tool for the communicator in your gauntlets. It doesn’t matter what color the Mana is. It’ll all be used to level you up. All you have to do is move your gauntlets close to collect it.”
I raised my arm and watched all of the orbs float into my gauntlet. “Nice.”
“There’ll be
two ways to grow stronger on the way to Anarchy. Strengthening yourself and strengthening the gauntlets.”
“Okay. Mana to gain levels for myself. And the gauntlets?”
“The gauntlets are powerful weapons. They can’t be improved by normal means.”
“So?”
I expected an answer but all Jade did was shrug. “Dr. Redgrave never explained it to me exactly.”
This whole situation wasn’t the simplest thing to understand. It didn’t help that the people I was supposed to be working with didn’t know how things worked either.
“It’ll be all right,” Jade said. “Dr. Redgrave is intelligent. If he could get your father to Anarchy, there’s no reason he can’t get you there, too.”
“I guess I’ve got no choice but to trust him,” I sighed. “It looks like the gauntlets are pretty self-explanatory on how they work. Let’s go check out that Obelisk then get outta here.”
“There’s one more thing you should practice. Let’s see if we can find another Shadow.”
We resumed our walk through the empty valley. The weight of the gauntlets didn’t bother me. Even the material inside kept my hands cool. I hadn’t been wearing them for very long but I was already used to them.
A minute hadn’t gone by when more of the energy began to swirl in front of us. A burst of light flashed and another small goblin appeared before me.
“Another punching bag.” I tapped my fists together in preparation.
“Don’t kill it just yet. Let it attack you.”
“Huh?”
“The gauntlets aren’t just used for offense. Try defending.”
“There’s no point in defense when I can just punch a hole in its chest.”
“Against a goblin. The Shadows won’t always be so simple to deal with.”
I sighed a deep breath and shrugged. “All right…”
Jade stepped aside as the goblin began to approach. I stood my ground with my fists up, waiting for the goblin to make a move.
“Ahhh!” It screamed to signal its intent before charging forward. Both hands reared back, it swiped with its inch-long claws.
