The Plasma Master

by Brian Rushton

  Chapter 2∩

  The robots did not attack again, nor did Ned feel Dark Viper’s influence. He walked for a long time in the direction from which the strange sensation had come, but the corridor seemed to stretch on forever, its grey walls interrupted only by the occasional door or intersecting passageway. The thought crossed his mind that he had not eaten in quite some time, but he was pumped too full of adrenaline to feel hungry now. Still, the monotony of the walk was beginning to grate on his nerves as much as hunger would have. He was rather relieved, then, when the passageway opened up into a large chamber. Ned could not figure out what it was for, but wide, metal pillars rose from floor to ceiling in fairly even rows. Ned looked around the room in hopes that he might find something of use, such as a computer console, but there was nothing. Finally he decided to continue on his way. He was almost to the open passage opposite the one through which he had entered when a massive door came crashing down in front of him, sealing him in. Ned spun around just as another door sealed the other passageway as well.

  Ned turned around, intending to rip through the door with a blast of Plasma, but there was something wrong. It was like the Plasma of the door and the surrounding wall, floor, and ceiling was solid; Ned could not control it. Then suddenly there was the sound of laughter behind him, harsh and rasping. Ned spun around to face it. There was no one there.

  Ned froze. The Shadow Master!

  “I see you are not one to listen to wisdom, Nedward Simmons. I must say I am disappointed.” The voice was coming from somewhere in front of him. “I must give you some credit, though. You served me quite nicely, bringing your friends here to their doom, just as I said you would.”

  Ned wanted to say something, but his mind was blank. He wanted even more to run, but that option seemed impossible. What should he do? Stand and fight? His thoughts lasted only a moment and were cut short by a slow darkening of the air before him. Once again, a humanoid form seemed to absorb all light as if a black hole had just formed in the middle of the room. This time, though, the figure did not remain that way. Light slowly began to reflect off of its surface, and within a few seconds Ned could see the figure clearly. It wore a battle suit similar to his own, although the metal was black. Even now it reflected almost no light at all. The helmet was featureless except for a thin, glowing-red visor. It gave Ned the impression that the figure standing before him was glaring back at him hatefully. Seeing it as a solid being relieved some of Ned’s fear, however; perhaps he could fight this creature after all. Bringing his thoughts under control, Ned spoke.

  “I don’t have time for this. Open this gate, now.” He managed to put a degree of authority into his voice, despite the fact that he was trembling under his battle suit.

  The dark figure hissed mockingly at him. “Confrontational, are we? Have you forgotten your lesson already?” The Shadow Master extended its open hand toward Ned, palm outward, and a bolt of black fire erupted out of it. Ned was ready, though. He rolled out of the way before the blast struck him, blaster already in hand. He quickly regained his balance and fired at the dark figure, but it was far too quick; Ned’s shot went wide. Ned jumped behind one of the metal pillars, dodging another beam of black energy. When he peered out from behind the pillar to fire again, the Shadow Master was gone. Ned realized too late what had happened, and a blast of Shadow Plasma from off to the right knocked him down. He tried to fire at the source of the blast, but already his invisible attacker had moved.

  Ned was not about to fight like that. He sent a thin haze of blue light outward to fill the room and quickly discovered a hole in his energy field. The Shadow Master was caught off guard, and this time Ned’s shot hit. He ducked behind the pillar again, but he did not evade all of the wash of Shadow Plasma fired back at him.

  When the Shadow Master attacked again it had dropped its shield of invisibility. Still, it moved in complete silence, and Ned was caught completely off guard as the bolt of black Plasma struck his suit from behind. He turned around too late to catch his opponent before it disappeared behind a pillar.

  This wasn’t working, Ned realized. The pillars were serving his enemy more than they were him, and despite all of Mirana’s battle training, Ned was having a terrible time getting his laser blasts to make contact. Even without invisibility, the Shadow Master possessed more speed and stealth than he did, and probably more experience and marksmanship as well. If Ned fought it on those grounds, he was going to lose. There’s only one advantage I have over that thing, Ned thought as he was struck again by an unanticipated Plasma blast. He switched his blaster to his left hand, then charged a bolt of Plasma in his fist as he scampered among the room’s metal pillars. Judging by the attacks his opponent was using, Ned guessed that he was a great deal more creative in his use of the Plasma force. Bending quickly to the ground, Ned slammed his glowing fist into the floor. Jagged sparks of blue light ripped outward from where his fist struck, splintering the floor from wall to wall. Ned heard a low grunt as the Shadow Master lost its footing. Tag!

  Ned rushed to the source of the noise. The Shadow Master was invisible again, but the blue haze was still lingering, so Ned spotted his opponent anyway. He hurled a grenade at it and leaped for cover, grinning victoriously as the grenade detonated just feet from its target. Not wanting to give the Shadow Master a chance for escape, Ned brought up the Plasma force again. This time he sent out a beam of energy, but not as an attack. He sent the blue tendril arcing out away from him and then back to where he could hear the crunching of the Shadow Master’s feet against the ruined floor. The energy bolt did no damage, but it enveloped the Shadow Master in a mass of seething blue light. Before it could break free Ned ran past it, firing several shots at its helmet. The Shadow Master had been temporarily blinded by the blue light striking its visor, so none of its shots hit Ned. By the time it crushed the blue aura with its own power, Ned was hiding again.

  Ned had temporarily run out of creative ideas, though, and he was hit several more times in quick succession without getting off a successful shot. His suit’s warning alarm sounded in his ear; it was reaching its limits of energy absorption. He had to finish this fight quickly. He paused for a moment, thinking of his limited past experiences in combat situations like this, then ran toward one corner of the room.

  Along the way Ned passed a proximity mine the Shadow Master had left on the floor. It exploded, throwing Ned to the ground. Although his Plasma shield absorbed the blast, the Shadow Master took the advantage of Ned’s temporary immobility to emerge from hiding and burn into his suit with a wave of black energy. Ned fired his blaster, driving his enemy into cover once more, then dashed again toward the corner of the room.

  When he reached it, he planted his back against a nearby pillar and waited, facing the corner. He wanted to force the Shadow Master to approach him from the front, at close range. Ned was caught a bit off guard as the pillar abruptly exploded, hit by one of the Shadow Master’s grenades. Quickly Ned adapted his plan. He turned around and ran though the explosion, ignoring the beams of black fire streaking toward him. He sent beams of Blast Plasma into the floor to the left and right of the Shadow Master and brought them together directly behind his target. The floor where they met exploded, showering the Shadow Master with large chunks of metal. It backed away from the flying debris, and that gave Ned enough time to catch up to it and fasten his hands onto its shoulders. In each hand were three grenades, all activated.

  Since he had been ready for the blast, Ned had no trouble diverting all of the energy from the exploding grenades downward, into the Shadow Master’s battle suit. Ned could hear a rending crack as the black metal began to break apart. A tremendous blast of Shadow Plasma burned into Ned’s suit, but Ned maintained his grip with one hand. With the other hand he reached for his blaster, ready to empty it into his opponent’s helmet, but another wave of Shadow Plasma hit him full in the chest, and this time he was thrown back.

  The Shadow Master did not attack again, though. It vanished on
ce more, and by now Ned had completely neglected the blue energy field he had used to detect it. He lay there panting for a moment, stunned with the shock of the sudden attack and the unexpected battle. But there was no time to stop and think, he knew. He got up and ran to the closed door. It opened briefly and then slammed down again just as Ned stepped into the doorway; Ned was caught underneath. Although he was not able to willfully control the Plasma in the door, the Shield Crystal redirected the door’s energy in an effort to protect Ned, and the entire door crumbled to dust. The path was clear.

  Ned stood up, startled by the abrupt attack, and scolding himself for falling for the trap. He stopped for a moment, scanning the corridor for any further signs of danger. As he did, he took the opportunity to draw to himself as much of the surrounding Plasma as he could. The exhilaration he always felt when using the Plasma force was coursing through him again, but this time it was more controlled. He had won; he had survived a battle with the only being in the galaxy who could cancel out his power. As he reached out to the surrounding Plasma, Ned could feel something up ahead, something powerful. He hoped with all is heart that it was Dark Viper. The Emperor’s reign was at its close.

  The hallway ahead was long, straight, and completely black. With blue Plasma sparkling up and down his body, Ned Simmons approached his destiny.