“Oh God…” Mike marvelled.
“Alright! My turn!” Rebecca hollered. Mike could barely take his eyes off Silver to look at Rebecca. With no visible effort, iodium covered the woman’s body, almost as quickly as it covered Copper’s. She then crossed her arms over chest that they intersected over her bosom. She released a stifled cry. Then, as she flung her arms open, two massive, slender, beautiful wings quickly extended themselves from her back. She laughed proudly as they gently and slowly moved back and forth.
“No way! There’s no way in earth you can fly with those things! They’re just for show, aren’t they?!” Mike dared.
Rebecca laughed. “There’s a special kind of Ionic energy within the Ionide race,” she explained, “about one in a thousand of us possessed this energy.”
“That’s right,” Silver confirmed, “Rebecca here is the last Soloid of our race. No doubt, when our race begins to revive, more Soloids will be born. Soloids, simply put, are Ionides with the ability to fly. They use the sun’s energy to power flight, so once the sun’s out, they will never get tired… Heh! As fine and dandy as she might look now, she weighs as much as a hundred men, and she’s as strong as a thousand.”
Rebecca made a propelling jump. Her wings seemed to glow as she ascended. After being about twenty meters off the ground, she steadied herself in the air like a humming bird. “I’m not slow either!” she boasted. She flew off quickly, her hands stretched out before her. They watched, some more in envy than in awe, as she made a turn and circle them in flight, laughing. Then she returned to the ground, landing just before the stunned Mike. The armour and the wings quickly faded from her.
“Wow! I dunno what to say…” Mike’s expression was enough to show how amazed he was. He laughed, unable to put his excitement into words. Rebecca grinned.
“Don’t be frightened, Mike,” Silver said, “you are of a more special strain than any of us, even than Rebecca, and your power will be much greater.”
Mike grinned with shining eyes. “Me? Why’d you think that?!”
“Well, you are the son of Amorphous! He was the only Ionide of his time to unlock the legendary state of our power.”
“Heh. So I’ve heard!”
“And this power we speak of is usually hereditary,” Rebecca said. “Besides, in every era which we exist, one Ionide has the capability of unlocking this kind of might. Had it been any of the four of us here, we would have known by now.”
“So… I will surely unlock the Legend State then?! And be a legend myself?!” Mike blasted in excitement.
Silver smiled. If he will be even half as strong as his father, he will be an invaluable asset to his race. With the son of Amorphous on our side, our race will finally see its revival.
“That’s right, Mikey!” Rebecca assured, “Your very blood will be transformed into Iodium, and you will be capable of mastering the legendary attacks.”
“The Ion Blast and the Ion Beam,” Silver named.
“The what?!” Mike remembered suddenly the legendary Ionide, his father, calling on one of those same attacks in the trance he was put under by the Oracle. I will hold such a power?!
“I’ll explain more of that later. For now, just show us what we’re working with. However weak you may be now, when I’m done training you, the four of us combined won’t be able to put a scratch on you.” Silver smirked with an unselfish pride. Mike looked around at the four. They all seemed to be in a state of agreement and definitely capability where training him was concerned.
He must be laying it on thick, saying something like that. Can one man become strong enough to outdo these four Ionides combined? Their powers are beyond measure! Mike suddenly became nervous. What if I’m not as strong as they think I am? Compared to them, my power thus far is nothing! He looked up at them.
“Thank you,” he said, “for bringing me in…. for showing me the way.”
“Well, you’re family, Mike,” Rebecca reminded in a warm, protective tone. He smiled.
Silver laughed a bit. “Power up! Show us whatever you’ve got!” he said, sounding like he’d waited long enough.
“I must warn you, though,” Mike said nervously, “don’t expect too much. What I can do is nothing compared to what I’ve seen you four do!”
Tiger laughed.
“Don’t worry, Mike. I will make you into the warrior your father was!” Silver said. Copper glanced over at Silver with uneasy eyes, like he knew Silver was making a promise that couldn’t be kept, or tainting the honourable name of Amorphous.
Mike sighed. He folded his fists tightly and nervously, feeling inadequate. “Alright…” He clenched his teeth and shut his eyes. He felt iodium creep over both his fists. He kept focus, not wanting to seem excited over such little power. As he pushed himself a little harder, the iron-looking substance crept over and shielded both his wrists. He opened his eyes suddenly, breathing heavily and feeling a bit drained. He looked down at his hands in an emotion close to disbelief. “I got both hands!”
Tiger laughed. Silver sneered at the overconfident man, knowing he was scoffing at Mike for being excited and proud over such minute power. “That’s good, Mike! Vast improvement, there! While training here, you will even more rapidly excel. You will be drilled and be made stronger every single day. We only break for meals and four hours of sleep. There’s no idle time here!” Seems I have a lot of ground to cover with this kid before he’s safe on any battlefield… I shouldn’t worry, though. He is the son of Amorphous.
“Four hours of sleep?!”
“Not so many for you, at least! Not ‘til you’re completely covered with armour!” Silver set the first objective. “You will start with the two-hundred pound weights. They’re the lightest we have.”
“Two hundred?!” Mike sound frightened.
“Two-fifty,” Tiger corrected.
“Come on, kid! You wanna get stronger or what?! The stronger your body becomes, the more Ionic energy it will produce, and the more impressive your transformation will become. You think fifty pounders made us this awesome?! We’re lifting ten thousand in each hand at the moment, and that’s feather-weight compared to what we used to pump back in the day!” Silver boasted.
“TEN-TH—You’re freakin’ kiddin’ me, right?!”
“We’re not men, Mike. We are Ionides.”
Chapter 21: The Legend State
Mike released a roar of muscular strain mixed in with unbreakable determination. He made it. He raised the weights of twelve thousand pounds with his right hand for a hundred times without stopping. He rested the weights and lay there panting, drenched in sweat. The training had been going on for almost two weeks. His strength, speed, agility, and more than all, knowledge of his power and history increased at rates that even Silver had thought impossible. Silver had built him the new set of weights to test his limit, but his limit was not found. Mike’s rapid improvement over only the few days frightened them. No Ionide before Mike had become so strong so fast. He was certainly the son of Amorphous. He had far surpassed the others, who were still struggling to lift the ten thousand pounders ten times within a minute. Mike’s body was entirely transformed. His muscles were massive and beastly, more impressive than Silver’s and Tiger’s. Massive biceps and a ten-pack made him even tempting to Rebecca. There was now no slight doubt that he was no ordinary Ionide.
“Watch this!” he blasted, getting the attention of his companions. He sprung up to his feet quickly. They beheld him as he folded his fists tightly, a serious look of focus and concentration on his face. He felt the amazing rush of ionic energy course through his blood, and in a fraction of a second, his fists and feet transformed, receiving a thick coat of armour. The armour spread rapidly, though still not with speed close to Copper’s. Silver watched in satisfaction and anticipation, with much less jealousy and much more pride than Copper and Tiger. He saw his training and guidance take form. In seconds, Iodium covered his thighs and chest, his neck, his belly, his whole body!
Reb
ecca applauded with a grin. “You finally made it!”
“I’m not done yet!” Mike said, his voice distorted with strain. He was about to push himself even a bit harder. He felt the sweet sensation of pain as spikes crawled out from all over him. As he roared desperately, they slowly increased in length. Spikes covered his arms and legs, his chest, his back, his whole body! Mike relaxed finally, panting, grinning proudly. Never before had he made such a spectacular transformation.
He looked up at Silver, who was undoubtedly impressed. “Heh… Indeed you have surpassed us,” he admitted.
Tiger flashed a glance at the man with fiery eyes, a jealous and angry expression.
“Mike! You alright?!” Rebecca sounded panicky. Tiger turned back his eyes to Mike. He had fallen to the ground, and was shivering like a leaf.
“The energy!” Silver sounded. “It’s too much! He’s not in control! Spikes will go off! Suit up! All of you!” Silver commanded. The Ionides quickly conjured up their legendary armour. Silver finished last, and finished just in time.
With a roar of power and a lack of control, Mike stood abruptly, his fists tightly clenched. At deadly speeds, the spikes that covered his body jetted out from him. There were short, sharp metallic sounds of zinging and piercing, then there was loud crying. Silver looked down at his chest. Three spikes had caught him, and had slightly pierced his armour. Impossible. Nothing before had ever scratched, let alone pierced his armour. He looked to his left and right. Rebecca and Tiger were on the ground crying out in serious pain. “What the hell?” Silver ran over to Rebecca. Copper, who was unharmed, tended to Tiger. “Oh damn it!” Silver gave out, an unusual tone of panic in his voice. He held the woman in his arms.
He grabbed the two spikes that sunk through her armour and punctured her belly. Blood was already all over her. Still shaking, Silver pulled them out hastily. With each tug, Rebecca gave out a shriek of agony. The Ionic armour vanished from about her slowly. Copper grabbed on to a long spike that had run through Tiger’s chest. A few inches of it jutted out from his back. This might be serious. Nervously, he removed the spike. Blood gushed from the man’s chest and flowed down his back. Did this boy’s spike really cut through two coatings of Tiger’s armour? I’m pretty lucky I wasn’t hit, then. I might have been killed. His armour vanished from Tiger’s body. He lay there on the ground unmoving. “Damn it, Tiger…” In everything, Mike just stood where he was, paralyzed by shock and fear and guilt, and even other emotions that came down on him.
While Silver stayed there with Rebecca, made foolish by nervousness and overcome by the fear of her death, Copper remained rational and went for some bandages. He ripped the cabinet doors off in a hurry and found what he sought. “Wrap her up!” he said to Silver, tossing him some as he returned to the scene. “Remember, Silver, she is an Ionide. She will heal herself once she doesn’t bleed to death.” As he spoke, he hurriedly tore off Tiger’s shirt and wrapped him tightly in the white bandages. The man groaned in pain. Copper pressed down on the wound in his chest. “You’ll be alright, Tiger,” Copper assured. Silver had just finished wrapping up Rebecca, who was breathing heavily.
Mike, still, was shivering in panic. Copper walked up to him, leaving Tiger on the ground shivering in pain. With his usual grim expression, he rested a hand of assurance on the boy’s shoulder. They were both still covered with their armour. “One thing Silver never mastered was keeping his head while everyone else is losing theirs. And that is often the key to winning a war. When you panic, you don’t think, and you lose everything.”
“I—I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to,” Mike stuttered, still shivering.
“Don’t worry too much; they’ll be alright. The Ionic energy in their blood will rapidly heal their wounds. By evening, their bodies will forget this ever happened.”
“What? Really?”
Copper laughed a little. “Still, you may not recover from a heart attack, so try and calm yourself,” he advised.
Rebecca and Silver had stopped groaning almost entirely, but their breathing was still unnatural, and the pain was still bitter. Copper walked over to Tiger and beckoned for Mike to follow. Mike followed and watched nervously as Copper unwrapped Tiger and wiped the blood off his friend with the same bandages. “Behold,” Copper said. Mike saw a mere scar where a deadly-looking wound was just a moment ago.
“Is this a joke?” Mike wondered under his breath in utter disbelief. “With bodies so incredible, how on earth did we lose that war?”
Tiger snickered a little, struggling to sit up.
“Take it easy, Tiger,” Copper said, holding on to his friend’s shoulder. “You lost a lot of blood and it took quite a bit of Ionic energy to heal that wound. Your body has a lot of work to do before you can be up and running again. Get some rest… You too, Rebecca!”
“Rest?! I hate rest! I’ll kill you, Mike!” Tiger threatened, hopefully jokingly.
***
“It’s really hopeless,” Clover despaired. “we must have searched through this whole damn town ten times already!” She looked over at Lex. As was becoming usual, he looked lost in thought. It seemed his mind was some distant world away. He’s been like this for almost two weeks. Why won’t he tell me what’s really on his mind? They were at a bar. They stopped there to rest and drink. Blade thought they should have the experience, so if they were to drink again, they wouldn’t get drunk so easily. The drinks Blade bought them were much cheaper and ‘weaker’ than what he bought for himself, but it didn’t matter to them. It was Clover’s and Lex’s first time drinking. Kyle had stolen rum from his grandfather many times before, so he felt quite experienced. “Lex… You alright? Lex… Lex!” The boy turned around abruptly, like he was just smacked out of a serious daze.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, a tone of annoyance in his voice and on his face.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine!” he brushed her off. Blade looked over at him. He chuckled slightly, thinking the bit of weak booze might have gotten the better of him. “Tomorrow is the day…” Lex finally mumbled.
“Still thinking about that dream?” Clover sounded almost as annoyed as he did.
“The day I should die and be resurrected.”
“And even if it isn’t just a dream, you will be resurrected!”
“Well it didn’t say when! It could be on freakin’ judgement day! Damn it, Clover, I am going to die! Today!” Clover froze up when she saw the look of fright on the boy’s face, when she saw tears welling up in his eyes.
***
Copper went away to gather some herbs that were supposed to energize Rebecca and Tiger quickly. They claimed they had already recovered, but he insisted they stay in bed a while longer until he returned.
“Those spikes you expelled,” Silver said to Mike, who continually apologized to the two he had injured. Silver had drawn Mike aside to talk to him in private. “They pierced my armour… Nothing pierces my armour.” A tone of wonder and discovery was sensed by Mike.
“Maybe I just… got lucky!” Mike laughed a little.
“Got lucky?! Mike… you are no doubt the most powerful Ionide I have ever seen… Between you and me, I’d previously had my doubts about us Ionides re-establishing ourselves as the most powerful race in the world… But now…” Silver’s eyes lit up with an almost menacing look. “You, Mike, have given me the confidence I’ve always needed to begin our assaults!”
“Assaults?” Mike looked confused.
“Do you think we’re here to sit around all day?! What do you think we’re training so hard for? To avenge our race! To make this race mark the earth once more! To be a race that will not again be moved!”
“What are we talking about?” Copper’s whispery voice entered the conversation. Mike looked up at him. Silver turned and watched him lay the herbs he had gathered on the floor.
“Re-establishing our race.”
“Mhm? So early?”
“The only thing we were waiting for was the son of Amorp
hous! Look how strong he has become! You don’t think he’s strong enough to fight? Look at what those spikes did to the others! And they were in the Ionide State!”
“I can appreciate your excitement, Silver,” Copper said in a tone that said the opposite, “but we must start small.”
“Well of course!” Silver seemed happy for the compromise. On reading their tones of voice, Mike began to reconsider who their leader really was. “First, we go after the Icemaker and the witch. We will have the swordsmen’s heads as well.”
“What?!” Mike jumped up in obvious discontentment and disagreement.
“Mike, I don’t expect this to be easy for you,” Silver said, not sounding very sympathetic or negotiable.
“Why do we have to start with them?!”
“Many, many reasons, Mike. Firstly, we know them. We know how they fight, and we know just how strong they are. We know their weaknesses.”
“That’s right,” Copper agreed, “you will tell us all about them.” It didn’t quite sound like a question.
“More importantly,” Silver said, “what better way is there to test your allegiance to your true family? This test will show us all, will show you yourself how loyal you really are to your race… to your mother and father, who died by the brutal, merciless hands of sorcerers and Icemakers.”
“This is crazy!”
“They’re not your friends, Mike! They’re your enemies!” Silver said, sounding quite passionate on the matter.
“And you’re my friends?!”
“No, Mike. We are your family!” Silver stood up before the boy. He grabbed the boy’s right hand. Mike looked down and saw the familiar glow, though the frightening surge of power he had felt the first time wasn’t there. This time, Silver was feeling that surge. The man’s eyes widened. His energy is as pungent as his father’s was. “In this world, we Ionides only have each other, Mike,” Silver said in an earnest, intimate tone. “We will not stop until every witch, every warlock, every Icemaker is destroyed by our hands. They must pay for what they did to us… They must pay for the murder of your parents and mine.” Mike looked down in deep contemplation. He considered the life he missed out on because of the genocide of his people, the mother and father he could have grown up with. The more he contemplated how much he would have grown to love his parents, and how awesome it would have been to feel a mother’s warmth, and even a father’s flogging, the more his heart hardened against those he used to easily call his best friends, even family.
The Seventh Spirit Page 30