by Abhisek Basu
“Like hell I will. You’re delusional and I will defeat you!”
A notification popped up in Josh’s vision.
________
Initiate Round 2?
Accept. Yes? No?
Round will be lost when health reaches 10%.
Natalie White is yet to Accept.
Josh Bones is yet to Accept.
________
“Before you click accept, think about my proposal again. We know we can’t kill each other, and the best solution to that is marriage. But you can hand over the key, and we can forget we ever fought. I’ll keep you safe and protected at all times, forever. We don’t have to fight,” Josh said.
The screen in his vision hadn’t changed, which meant that Natalie was giving it some thought. That was progress enough. If he could make her think about it, Josh knew that he could convince her.
“Just give him the key!” her uncle shouted from his dome. “Natalie! There’s no reason to fight like this. This is about life or death!”
“Don’t worry, uncle. I won’t let her die, and she cannot kill me,” Josh said.
“I’m not your uncle, you monstrous scum,” her uncle shouted. Josh didn’t bother replying to that.
“I need to leave,” Natalie said. “From here. I need to go somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“That’s not important to you,” Natalie said.
Josh knew that Natalie was trying to go and meet Ian. But he had a better proposal in mind.
“Okay, if you land one strike on me, just one strike, I’ll let you leave,” Josh said. “Just one. I’m a man of my word,” Josh said. He saw Natalie looking down at the ground and then looking up at him.
The notification changed.
________
Initiate Round 2?
Accept. Yes? No?
Round will be lost when health reaches 10%.
Natalie White has accepted.
Josh Bones is yet to Accept.
________
Josh clicked on Accept.
He waited for Natalie to come running at him again, but she stood her ground. Josh saw no reason to attack her.
“Come on. Or have you changed your mind about fighting me?” Josh asked and smiled at her, hoping she’d get angry again and charge at him.
But she didn’t. Instead, she saw Natalie rolling her eyes and accessing her screen. Within seconds, three large transparent ghosts appeared around her. The ghosts of Sister Ursulla, her brother Van Datlow, and the headless ghost of Dr. Howard towered around her.
Josh didn’t expect Natalie to do that, but he knew that those ghosts were always on the cards. He could avoid Natalie’s fireballs, her sword strikes and swings, and he could even do it all at once using repeatedly clicking his power dodge skill.
But Josh was wise enough to know that he won’t be able to dodge the attacks of all three ghosts together. He wasn’t fit like Natalie, nor was he half as fast.
“The strike has to be from you, not your ghosts,” Josh said.
“GO!” Natalie shouted, and the three ghosts started charging at Josh.
Josh smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As they came closer to him, Josh opened his eyes, pulled his screen down, navigated to his skills tab and pressed on his Ghost Whisperer skill.
_____________
Ghost Whisperer: Level 32
Skill Activated.
_____________
Chapter 16
Natalie didn’t have any time to waste. She didn’t know what stunt Josh was going to pull once he saw her ghosts. What didn’t occur to her was that he might have a similar skill in his arsenal.
As the ghosts of Dr. Howard, Sister Ursulla and Van Datlow rushed towards Josh, Natalie expected Josh to stand his ground and dodge their attacks. She expected him to open his eyes and shoot out lasers towards them. But he didn’t do any of those things.
Instead, Natalie saw his eyes flinch as if he was accessing his screen and behind him, a large grey outline of his ghost popped up. He had one ghost, but one was all he needed.
Large horns extending up to the top of the arena, a giant muscular body with the head of a bull, Natalie stared in horror as she realized that Josh’s ghost was none other than Moloch.
Even her ghosts, which were giants themselves, stopped in their tracks when the monstrous Moloch appeared towering above them. Van was the first one to go down as the ghost of Moloch swung his axe and severed his ghost body in half, making him disappear as quickly as he appeared. He swung his axe towards Sister Ursulla who dodged and tried to sneak up behind him. Using his other hand, Moloch swatted her away. Dr. Howard almost had the axe swing near his neck, but having no head helped him dodge that strike.
Natalie realized quickly that if she remained standing or attacked Josh amidst this fight, the ghost of Moloch would quickly dispose of her ghosts and come for her, after which it would be impossible to take him down alone. She glanced at Josh, who was enjoying the fight between the ghosts and didn’t seem like he would attack her at any point.
She needed to land one strike on him, but that had to wait. If she managed to take down Moloch, she might have a chance at winning the round.
Natalie placed one sword back in her inventory and shot out a large fireball. The ghost of Moloch was about to bring his axe down on a fallen Sister Ursula when the fireball seemed to blind him.
Natalie took her swords out and charged towards him. But the fireball seemed to have made him angrier. He hurled Dr. Howard’s ghost at Natalie, and Natalie had to slow down to catch him. Sister Ursulla was busy kicking and clawing at Moloch, but that didn’t seem to affect him much. Natalie helped Dr. Howard up, who quickly joined the fight. Because he did, Moloch failed to turn around and focus on Sister Ursulla. Natalie rushed in too, shooting lines of fire with her swords.
Within a moment, Moloch had crushed Dr. Howard, who disappeared, injured Sister Ursulla to the point where she couldn’t get up, and was starting to turn her attention towards Natalie who had snuck up behind him. He turned. Natalie jumped and swung her swords sideways, aiming for his horns. With both horns shattered and the wounds open, Natalie knew exactly what to do. This time, the ghost of Moloch wasn’t untouchable. He wasn’t giving out a radiation that brought Natalie’s health down every second. With that gone, it was fairly simple to hold on and execute the killing attack.
Natalie held on to his neck with her feet. She drove in both her swords through the open wounds on his forehead where his horns had been, aiming to kill him just like she had done in Tholos.
It worked. The ghost of Moloch screamed and swung his head in pain, but Natalie held on to her swords, driving them in deeper. Moloch kept screaming and writhing in pain as he fell down to his knees. Then, Natalie felt a sharp blow to her back, near her left shoulder that sent her flying across the arena. She would’ve crashed face down on the ground, but in that moment, she used both her swords and drove them in the ground to stop her momentum.
Despite the horrible pain from her shoulder, Natalie looked ahead and saw that it had worked. The ghost of Moloch was disappearing, crying and screaming in pain. Her shoulder felt heavy as if something was stuck there.
She reached around and felt it, and realized that it was Moloch’s axe. When she had killed Moloch in Tholos, Travis had already severed his arm that Moloch used to wield his axe. Thus, Natalie had no reason to worry about that. This ghost of Moloch had both his arms intact, and he was swinging his axe throughout the battle, a fact that Natalie hadn’t considered. She pulled it out and realized that the pain that she had felt before was nothing compared to the waves of pain that came rushing in once she threw the axe aside.
The axe disappeared along with the ghost of Moloch. Josh had a sick smile on his face as Natalie struggled to get up to her feet. Her health had come down to 30%.
“Watch out!” her uncle shouted, and Natalie instinctively rolled out of the way and saw a beam of laser striking the ground where she was. She looked
ahead at Josh and saw him walking towards her.
“I know what you’re doing to move this fast!” Natalie shouted. Josh stopped walking.
“Yeah? How am I doing it?” Josh asked. Natalie used this brief moment to bring out a health potion. She quickly swallowed it and looked up at him.
“You’re using Power Dodge, and you’re using it faster than it is possible. You must have a shortcut in your screen or something,” Natalie said.
“A shortcut? Don’t mistake my virtues for deceit, Natalie. There is no shortcut. Like you, I am clicking on the skills tab, scrolling to the page and clicking on Power Dodge every time. Only difference is,” Josh said and grinned at her, “I’m doing it faster than you can imagine.”
He said that and shot out a laser beam from his eyes. Natalie tried doing what he was doing, trying to reach the Power Dodge on her screen, but it was too late. The beams struck her on her stomach and sent her flying to the floor.
Josh walked up to her. Natalie saw her health go down to 15 percent.
“Now, for the final touch,” Josh said, and right when Josh’s eyes glowed, Natalie shot out a fireball. Josh dodged again, as usual. But this time, Natalie anticipated the direction of the dodge and delivered a sharp punch, aiming for his throat. Josh moved away almost at the last instant, but it was too late for him.
The punch connected lightly but her fists were glowing red hot with flames, her knuckles barely grazing his jaw, but it was enough for her swing a second time. Josh dodged again.
Natalie felt a sharp laser beam singe her flesh near her stomach. Her health went down to 10%.
A notification popped up in her vision.
____________
Round 2 lost
____________
Natalie downed a health potion and waited for the pain to cease. It was the last health potion she had. Each laser blast had taken a lot out of her, and she was losing massive amounts of blood from her shoulder.
“Here,” Josh said and held out a health potion.
“I don’t need your health potions!” Natalie shouted.
“Don’t be foolish. You’ve massive internal damage. One health potion wouldn’t help much right now, and I know that was your last one. Drink. I can’t let you die,” Josh said.
“I said I don’t need it!” Natalie shouted. Josh turned his back on her and walked back to where he was standing. The barrier appeared before her again.
“I’m going to assume you know what this means,” Josh said and waved his hands at Miss Tessa’s dome and then at Travis’ dome, the ROUND 2 letters lighting up with each wave.
“Normally, I would’ve given you the choice, but I know what your choice would be. You’d choose to save Travis. That I cannot let happen,” Josh said. He pointed a finger towards Travis’ dome. His body burst up into flood and flesh instantly.
“No!” Natalie shouted as Travis’ remains were being absorbed by the ground.
Not Travis. Not him. He didn’t deserve this. And it was all her fault. How many more people would die? How many would this maniac kill? Every moment that Natalie spent with Travis flashed before her eyes. Every bottle of whiskey shared, every cigarette passed around at a time when the world was breaking apart, felt a little better because she was with him. She didn’t much care for other people before he met Travis, and he was a true friend. A person that she knew he could trust, and now, all that remained were his memories and the horrible sight of him dying in front of her eyes. Natalie felt sick. Her stomach churned and she kept shouting, “No! Travis! No! Make it stop!” over and over, but it didn’t stop. Travis was dead.
“He was too righteous and mentally strong to let live. He would’ve figured out a way to make things difficult for us, Natalie. There is not anything personal in this difficult choice,” he said.
Miss Tessa’s dome disappeared from above her. “Mr. Bones, I thought you said today would be my last day.”
“It is your last day, Miss Tessa. You know what to do now. Do it,” Josh said.
Natalie watched as Miss Tessa pulled out a knife from her pocket and slit her throat. She did it voluntarily, as if she wanted to do it.
“Now, I’m sure you’ll agree that we don’t need Round 3. Hand over the key. You can’t win this, and you can’t defeat me. We’ve established that fact,” Josh said.
“Just give him the key, for God’s sake, Natalie! Enough is enough!” her uncle cried out from his dome.
“Listen to your uncle. Don’t let these be his last words,” Josh said with a smile on his face.
Natalie knew what Josh was doing, but it was impossible to defeat him. His advantages were numerous, but the one thing that stood out was that he knew what Natalie did in Tholos. He knew what her powers were. Knowing this, he was always a step ahead.
To win, Natalie had to know about Josh’s journey to figure out what his weakness was.
“I need some time to think,” Natalie said.
“Okay, take your time,” Josh said.
“Away from here. I’m leaving. You said if I landed a strike you’d let me leave this arena,” Natalie said.
Josh remained quiet for a few seconds, perhaps debating whether to let her leave. It was obvious that he didn’t expect that.
“Get your wound fixed while you’re out there. Don’t bleed to death. If you aren’t back in 5 hours, both these domes would open and I’ll personally strangle your uncle,” Josh said.
He turned his back and sat down.
“I’ll see who strangles who, you sick…” her uncle mumbled in his dome and turned to Natalie again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back,” she said.
“That is what I’m worried about, kiddo. Hand him the key. What have you got to lose? You have seen you can’t defeat him. He’s too fast. It’s impossible,” he said.
“I know. I’ll figure something out,” Natalie said.
Her uncle bowed his head. “You’ve always been stubborn, but now’s not the time. Stay safe out there. And if you don’t want to come back, just remember that I will be okay with that decision. Get on a plane and disappear somewhere. I have contacts that can arrange for a jet in…”
“I’ll be back, uncle. Don’t worry,” Natalie said. He turned around and saw that Josh was sitting on the ground with his eyes closed. Clutching her shoulder with one hand, trying to prevent the bleeding, Natalie started walking out of the arena.
She had reached a long road before she saw that her health, despite her drinking a health potion, had remained steady at 11%.
“Are you alright?” a familiar voice said from behind. “I found someone who might be able to help you.”
Natalie turned around and saw Ian. “Who?”
“Someone called Dr. Alice. She’s right around the corner there,” Ian pointed towards the lane in front of him.
“Why are you still here? You should’ve left,” Natalie said.
“I thought you might need help. I told Dr. Alice everything and we…” Ian stopped speaking.
Natalie saw bursts of blood erupting from his mouth.
“No!” Natalie shouted as Ian’s head fell over. Behind him was a man in a red mask.
“That was the boss’s orders in case he saw Ian near you. You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” he said and used the knife in his hand to slit his throat. He fell over like a rag doll, bleeding out in the middle of the street. Masked men behind him started dragging his body away.
“Ian! Ian!” Natalie shouted but her voice gave away. Tears streamed down her face. Another person, dead. Another person she cared for, dead, just because of her. Just because she couldn’t do anything to save him. It all happened so quickly, and yet, seeing Ian die felt like the last straw. She couldn’t do this anymore. Not anymore. It was too much. These were real people losing real lives, all because they cared for her. She closed her eyes, and finally, summoning all the will she had in her, got up on her knees. Numb. Feeling nothing, shutting her emotions away like she had done countless times before,
she stood up on the empty road and turned around.
Natalie, knowing nothing else than what Ian told him, started walking towards the lane that Ian pointed him at. She saw Dr. Alice, who came running to her as Natalie closed her eyes momentarily.
“Hold on. I’ll get this wrapped up,” Dr. Alice said as Natalie lay down near her car.
“Do it fast. I need to go somewhere, and then go back,” Natalie whispered. She thought about Ian, reluctantly, trying to shut away the image of him dying in front of her eyes.
“Where?” Dr. Alice asked.
Natalie didn’t answer.
“Where?” Dr. Alice asked again, and Natalie turned to face her. She looked scared, desperate, and Natalie knew that she had to be strong. She couldn’t break down. She had to stop Josh, and she was going to make him pay for what he was doing.
“Evan. He’s the one who has been helping Josh. That’s how he knows about everything I did in Tholos. We need to find him and figure out what he knows about Josh. That’s the only way to win,” Natalie said.
“Win what?” Dr. Alice asked, raising her eyebrow.
Chapter 17
“Win what?” the question echoed in Natalie’s mind.
“Win what?”
Was she going to tell Dr. Alice about how she lied to her and everyone else to reach Quanti Valley? Was she supposed to tell her that she’s fighting for the same thing that Josh wants- unlimited power that would let her rule over Earth?
“It’s complicated, Dr. Alice. We don’t have much time,” she said.
“You’re not telling me something, right? You look like you’ve been mauled by a bear, and yet, you want to go back to that place?”
“I need to find Evan, find out what he knows and then go back. Just trust me. There’s a way to stop all this and I’ll be able to stop him.”
“How?”
“I can’t tell you how.”
“We have to report to the entrance,” Dr. Alice said. “And we have to do it fast. Any moment now, these masked men will discover this location.”
