Nemesis

by Christian Kallias

  But Athena never finished her sentence.

  “Let it all out, just say what’s weighing on your heart.”

  This time tears flowed like rivers down the Olympian goddess’ face.

  “I had the right to be in this fight with all of you! I needed to be there, if only to protect our sons and…”

  “And Menelas.”

  She nodded.

  “We both know that Chase and Argos didn’t need protection. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I doubt your presence would have tipped the balance. Tanak’Vor was too powerful. It’s a miracle we survived.”

  “Still, I wish I had been there.”

  “Believe me you don’t.”

  Athena made a fist. “Damn you, Menelas!”

  “I’m not going to try to defend his actions. Instead, I’ll tell you this: I understand why he did it. In his place, I might have done exactly the same thing. And I think Chase regrets not doing so with Sarah.”

  “You can’t be serious? We both belonged in that fight, with the rest of you.”

  “Perhaps you did, perhaps you didn’t, we’ll never know. Do I think your presence would have changed the outcome of the battle? I honestly don’t think so. Tanak’Vor was too powerful. As a matter of fact, he killed me and mortally wounded Sarah.”

  “And yet you’re standing here telling me I shouldn’t have been there to try to put him down, you see the irony, don’t you?”

  “It was pure luck that Chase managed to grab and reintegrate my soul into my fallen body. Your son saved me; he saved all of us.”

  “Not all!” she spat.

  “I’m sorry, poor choice of words. But he did save everyone he could. I don’t understand why you haven’t tried to keep in contact with either him or Argos.”

  “We’ve talked. Chase paid a dear price, and unlike some people, I can tell when someone needs time alone.”

  Poseidon shook his head. “Very well, I can take a hint too. I’ll leave you be. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  Poseidon walked away, and Athena watched him go. She didn’t enjoy being sharp or dismissive, but she was still hurting, and as much as it saddened her, she didn’t know how to process that pain. Talking about it certainly didn’t seem to help her in any way.

  I’m sorry, Uncle.

  It only took a couple of seconds for the trio of Furies to catch up with the hydra. The beast was hurtling through space at full speed and would rip the Iron Fire into pieces, killing everyone on board with little to no effort.

  Chris attacked the back of the beast, while Chase and Argos split and attacked its sides and opened fire with salvos of fireballs, no longer caring that they could destabilize the very fabric of space and time.

  By all accounts, it should have happened already, so either this region of space was different, or the creature’s presence was the reason for the lack of a black hole forming as the Furies unleashed their full powers in space.

  They managed to infuriate the creature enough that it reluctantly turned its attention back to them. Then they concentrated their fire while flying around the hydra as fast as they could in order to disorientate it, but that was not an easy feat since the creature had seven heads and could easily keep track of all three of them.

  The Fury’s attack seemed to be more efficient against the creature than Earth Alliance weaponry but not strong enough to make a dent or get the massive creature to reconsider its strategy in favor of fleeing. As a matter of fact, Chase could sense that the creature was even more determined to kill everything and everyone in its path than it had been earlier.

  I’m running out of air, said Argos.

  So am I, confirmed Chris.

  We can’t take this much longer, but what choice do we have? Try to conserve your oxygen by holding your breath at the risk of damaging your lungs, we can heal later.

  That tactic didn’t seem to work very well for me earlier; in fact, the pain in my lungs made me lose consciousness quicker than I expected. It’s just a theory, but I think in Ultra Fury form we’re burning oxygen faster.

  Lights inside the Iron Fire came back to life, and so did the ship’s engines. That seemed to anger the hydra who immediately fired three plasma projectiles at it.

  We can’t let those touch the ship, warned Chase.

  On it, said Argos.

  He fired three small super-charged fireballs that detonated the plasma attacks before they reached the ship. The last one exploded so close to the Iron Fire it scorched a large portion of its paint job as well as causing structural damage to its surface.

  Chase sent a telepathic message to Daniel.

  Daniel! Can you beam us back? We’re running out of both oxygen and juice here.

  Transporters are offline, so is life support. It’s a miracle Yanis and Kvasir jump-started the engines just now. In the meantime, Cedric is working on transporters.

  Dammit! Chase swore in his head.

  Alright, try to put some distance between the beast and the ship.

  Understood, good luck. Hang in there.

  They would need more than just luck, but Chase decided not to let his mind sink to a dark place during the fight.

  The ship activated its sub-light engines and tried distancing itself from the battle. They clearly weren’t at full power yet and took some time to travel to a relatively safe distance.

  Perhaps we’re going at this the wrong way, said Chris.

  If you have a better idea, we’re all ears, said Argos.

  I do. Keep firing at it, I’ll be right back.

  Chris flew straight at the beast.

  He’s your son, alright, said Argos.

  Not exactly sure it’s a good thing in our predicamen—but Chase stopped short. What the hell does he think he’s doing?

  Chris aimed himself at one of the beast’s open mouths and disappeared inside the hydra.

  “Chris!!!” shouted Chase.

  Argos flew toward the head that had swallowed his nephew.

  A second later, a bright-orange aura emerged from the creature’s neck and the neck exploded, spilling dark-purple blood and hydra flesh all around. In the center of the orange glow was Chris as the shockwave he unleashed to free himself from the beast dissipated all around.

  He looked ready to pass out as he had expended too much energy. Meanwhile, Argos swooped him up and returned next to Chase.

  That was ballsy as hell, but he’s not going to be doing that again any time soon.

  The creature didn’t appreciate having one of its heads blown off, and the other heads started unleashing a flurry of smaller plasma attacks at an increased rate.

  Fortunately, the Iron Fire was out of range. However, the Furies had to do some fancy flying to avoid getting hit.

  I don’t think I have enough energy and oxygen left to try and replicate your son’s maneuver.

  Chase felt an intense dread fill his soul as he realized they were at an impasse, and they had no way to get themselves out of there alive.

  Neither do I. I expended a lot of energy healing Chris earlier. But if I’m going down, I’m going down fighting.

  Chris was very low in energy at this point, but he nonetheless took a fighting stance. All three Furies’ auras shone brightly in the darkness of space like a tri-solar system.

  It acted like a beacon, and the creature eventually stopped its incessant firing, and all six heads fixed their gaze upon the light show.

  I think it’s pissed, said Argos.

  I could have told you that earlier, confirmed Chase. Perhaps if we get another head or two, it would reconsider and leave us alone.

  We’ll never manage with our current energy levels, not to mention the advanced carbon dioxide poisoning we’re all suffering from.

  Would you rather we let it kill us?

  Good point. Alright then, one last tango?

  Let’s go, said Chris.

  Chase wanted to say something meaningful to them, but they were running out of time. They had
to charge the creature in the hopes it would be enough to defeat it or at least force it to flee. He just hoped he would be given a chance to say how he felt later.

  16

  When a guard appeared at the cross section of the next corridor, Nyx slid on the cold floor. She reacted instinctively and telekinetically reached to crush the windpipe of the arachnoid crewman, making sure it couldn’t call for help.

  When he tried to reach for his wrist control, she sprinted forward.

  Oh no, you don’t!

  She fired a small-powered fireball to swat his hand away from the controls and used her telekinetic abilities once more, this time grabbing the entire arachnoid and drawing him toward her while at the same time she threw a punch with all her might.

  Her fist, followed by most of her arm, pierced his torso. His mouth opened wide, but he was unable to vocally express his dying pain. Nyx removed her arm from the guard’s chest with both disdain and brutality, and the crewman fell to his knees and then collapsed. Thick black blood coated the Fury’s right arm.

  Ares materialized in his golden energy form beside Nyx.

  “That was gross,” said Ares.

  Nyx engulfed her arm in purple energy, lifting the blood away from her skin before disintegrating it.

  “I don’t remember asking for your input.”

  “Any chance you could drop the big bad girl act for a moment? I get it, you’re a kick-ass Fury warrior. And perhaps that’s how you deal with danger, and I have no doubt that it keeps you alive; but just for a little while, until we get out of here, could we please at least try and pretend to act like partners?

  Nyx growled. “You’re a nuisance, but you know that already, Ares. Would you have preferred he called for reinforcements?”

  “Of course not!” Ares shook his head. “Now what?”

  “Well, you tell me, partner. I think we’ve established that for the time being this is your show.”

  “Can you read the arachnoid language?”

  “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m fluent, but I know some basics.”

  “Then we need to find a data terminal. Any idea where one would be?”

  Nyx nodded. “Follow me, your highness.”

  “Cut it out!”

  “You’re impossible to please, Ares. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  Ares sighed. “This is going to be one long day.”

  Thor jumped out of bed when the ground shook, and a deafening sound resounded in the area. An explosion lit the throne room, which Thor saw through his bedroom window.

  “What the hell?” he said. A sense of dread rose inside his soul. He commanded his armor, which attached itself to him piece by piece in the blink of an eye, and he ran out of his quarters. Expecting trouble, he conjured Mjölnir. The legendary hammer materialized as a green holographic shape before it solidified into his hand.

  It took him a couple of minutes to reach the center of the royal castle. There were sixty flights of stairs to climb, but instead, Thor swiveled Mjölnir and used its momentum to fly upward. He landed on the green-tinted marble floor.

  The throne room doors were wide open, and a lifeless body was in the middle of the room.

  Father? No!

  Thor ran, then slid on his knees and stopped in front of Odin’s slain body. His skin was gray, and Thor immediately knew that his father was dead. His forearms were missing hands, and there was blood spilled all around. Thor went to check for a pulse. But where he reached for a glimmer of hope, he found none.

  Tears filled his eyes as darkness swallowed Thor’s soul.

  Light, rapid footfalls echoed behind Thor, he knew to whom they belonged.

  Loki fell to his knees next to Thor.

  “What the hell happened?” he shouted.

  Did the Spectre do this?

  “I—I don’t know. The explosion woke me. I rushed here, but Father was already gone.”

  Why did they do this? They promised to leave Asgard alone. What…what have I done?

  Loki never expected this to be the outcome of the deal he made with the Spectres. He wondered why Odin had been in the throne room in the first place so late at night. Could it be?

  And then it struck him. Loki had used the controls on his father’s throne chair. He hadn’t given it a second thought, but perhaps there were safeguards in place to inform Odin when someone else tampered with his chair.

  How could I have been so careless? This…this is all my fault.

  Thor took his brother in his arms and squeezed him hard. Loki could barely swallow as he let his tears express his sorrow, and the guilt threatened to swallow his heart and soul.

  The pain inside Chase’s body was intense and the damage to his lungs extensive. It didn’t matter how much he tried to heal them, they felt like they had been plunged into a sea of molten lava, and soon the lack of oxygen in Chase’s brain would make him lose consciousness. Then he’d die; him and the rest of his family.

  When he decided to set out for the unknown regions, he never thought they would be populated with creatures so massive and powerful. All of a sudden, being an Ultra Fury wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.

  Stay focused! complained Chris.

  Chris was right, if they were going down, they at least should stay focused on trying to make their last attack count, if only so the Iron Fire would survive. Chase didn’t have to tell his family how he felt, and they didn’t need to tell him in return. In their last desperate charge against the monstrous hydra, they were all very attuned to each other’s feelings.

  I’m sorry, Sarah, thought Chase as they approached the head all three of them had targeted.

  But then everything changed, and something large struck and catapulted them off course. It took them a couple of seconds to recover from the jolt, and when Chase visually reacquired the hydra, his brain had trouble interpreting what his eyes were seeing.

  A dragon with blue crystal formations around its arms, neck, and legs, about half the size of the hydra, was engaged in battle with it. The dragon incinerated one of the hydra’s heads, burning it to a crisp.

  The hydra retaliated with multiple salvos of plasma, but the dragon deflected them with its wings and inflicted more damage to another head by slashing through it with its razor-sharp claws. The hydra’s blood flew away from the wound before flash freezing.

  At this point, the monster finally decided to turn tail and flee the scene just as a blue light engulfed Chase, Argos, and Chris.

  A second later they were on the bridge of the Iron Fire, on all fours, gasping for much-needed air. Chase’s lungs burned so badly he nearly passed out from the pain. But he needed to see if what had happened outside was a figment of his imagination due to oxygen deprivation or if a space dragon had saved their asses.

  Chase’s energy pool was dangerously low, but now that he didn’t have to maintain a force field, fight pain, or fly in space, he managed to heal his burning lungs enough to get back to his feet, albeit with difficulty. So did Argos, who helped Chris up and gave him some of his energy in the process.

  “Boy, it sure looks like we were right on time fixing the transporters. You guys look like you are at the end of your ropes,” said Daniel. “Are you going to be okay?”

  Chase flashed his best friend a trembling thumbs-up as he walked toward the viewport. He hadn’t been dreaming, the dragon was still firing what looked like warning shots toward an already fleeing hydra, making sure it kept going. Eventually, the beast entered hyperspace.

  What else awaits us in this part of space? I wonder.

  The space dragon adjusted course and flew toward the Iron Fire.

  Daniel was still sitting in the captain’s chair. Ever since they had returned, Chase stood by the Iron Fire’s main viewport, his attention focused on the approaching dragon.

  “Should we prepare for combat?” Daniel asked.

  “Not just yet,” said Chase. “Let’s not forget it saved our hides. I don’t think it wants to do us any harm, and
I’m not sensing any aggression toward us.”

  Argos joined Chase by the viewport.

  “Are you alright?” asked Argos.

  “I’ll live, just a little shaken that we almost got killed on our first day out.”

  “We’re either getting too old for this shit or perhaps we’re a giant magnet that attracts trouble.”

  Chase had already reached the same conclusion about trouble following him wherever he went, and ever since after that first day Aphroditis had contacted him.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, at least about being old,” said Chase with a smile.

  I know we said we’d have that talk later, but you’re over two hundred years old already, said Argo telepathically.

  Chase barely looked to be in his late twenties, Earth-wise years. The Olympian blood running in his veins most likely granted him immortality or at the very least a long lifespan, but he would never have guessed it had already been over two centuries. Perhaps he needed to have that talk with his brother to learn about his past. Which as far as he was concerned was made of only about a dozen years worth of memories.

  You can’t be serious?

  Well, technically, if we don’t count the time we both spent in stasis that is. Otherwise, we’re both over ten thousand years old.

  They heard Chris laugh in their heads. You both are definitely too old for this shit, then.

  That was an information Chase wasn’t ready to deal with, but deep down he knew that had to be the case. After all, Menelas had fathered them during the first Fury War, so it couldn’t have been any other way.

  Chase decided to not let his mind go down this particular rabbit hole for the time being and focus on the fact that they were alive and still needed to find a cure for Sarah. He just hoped the next encounters wouldn’t all turn out to be such close calls.

  “I hate putting you all in such danger, though.”

  “You have done no such thing. We came of our own free will, Chase. And look on the bright side, we’re still alive. Though I predict in a short time, our future will involve time in the regen tanks to recover from this battle.”