by R. J. Batla
“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” I said.
“I wish you would have sooner...what took you so long to, you know...make a move...” she said between more kisses.
“I couldn’t put you through it. My life has been a mess since we met. I just...didn’t want to hurt you,” I said. “Surely you’ve seen how I feel too?” She nodded. “Then why did you never...”
“Aurora moved first and you’ve had enough to think about. I didn’t want to add to that. I didn’t want to distract you. And I was scared you somehow didn’t feel the same about me. But I’ve been so worried during these fights, and if something were to happen, I couldn’t bear for you to go out there without knowing...without me trying...without...”
“It’s time, Dragon,” said the guard as he entered the room. “Miss, you’ll have to take your place in the stands.”
She kissed me quickly again, her tears falling onto my armor with little splashes. “Good luck, Jay. You’d better win,” she said and turned to leave.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her back to me one more time and kissed her as hard as I could while still being gentle. So much emotion was in that kiss. Months of it. We both got it, both understood. I squeezed her tight, then released her.
We held hands out the door, and she blushed as I held on as long as I could while she backed down the hallway, her hands still shaking. I didn’t move until she was out of sight on the way to the stands, the guard impatiently tapping his foot.
My game plan was lost – all I could think about was how wonderful and how right her lips felt on mine. How I wanted that to happen again and again. My heart was pounding, but it had nothing to do with nerves now.
I wanted to be with Leona.
And there was someone standing in the way of that now, gearing up to face me in the arena.
This punk wouldn’t know what hit him.
Chapter 39 – Jayton Baird
I QUICKLY MADE MY WAY through the scanner and my door opened, but I didn’t walk out yet. I was waiting on the announcer. An odd clanging noise reverberated through the hallway. It did it again, and I heard from one of the telestones on the guards. “Scanner’s acting funny on our side – must be malfunctioning. We’ll use the hand scanner once he’s in the arena. Requesting assistance, over.”
“Jayton Baird!” the announcer said.
This time I ran out to the middle circle of the arena and I put on a little performance. I flipped, back flipped, side flipped, threw fire in all the colors of the rainbow, froze and thawed water while arcing it through the air and using fire to blast it to steam and project rainbows over the whole arena. The crowd went nuts, each move pulling another cheer from their lips. I finally landed, did the most elaborate bow I had come up with yet, and then waved both hands, walking back to my red triangle, grinning like a maniac.
I searched the stands. Come on, where is she – there she is! I flashed my best smile and waved at her. Leona put her hand to her mouth, giggled, and waved back. Why in the hell did I wait this long to kiss her? I was such an idiot. We could have been closer this whole time, could have...
“And here he is, folks, your number six fighter. Hailing from deep in the forests of the Idithe Mesa. The Wild Man. The one, the only, Barry Temple!” the announcer said, the crowd erupting.
I hadn’t taken my eyes from Leona, and she visibly tensed. Oh yeah. That was why I hadn’t kissed her. I loved her so much, I didn’t want to cause her pain. Which meant I’d better win, so I’d better get my head in the game.
Turning to face Temple, I watched as several guards with thick black wands run said rods over the outside of my opponent, each scanner making odd noises. After a minute, the lead guard gave the thumbs up to the announcer, apparently satisfied that whatever they were looking for was nonexistent.
The guards cleared and I got a good look at ol’ Barry Temple. About my height, he was slightly tanned and was handsome, except for a huge scar from his right eye to the left of his mouth. Stark white, it actually pulsed as he breathed. Weird.
“Fighters, take your positions,” the announcer said.
Crap. Flash the Ignis and get the scorecard before we get going.
Barry was a five in fire, a ten in water, a five in earth, a ten in air, with ten fighting skills. His Quantums were significant – five in Lightning and Smokescreen, and ten in Blur.
Three Quantums, not too bad. Lightning presented a problem though, depending on how well he could control it. Might be hard to use in the confines of the arena too, as it required some complicated movements to use. Smokescreen, pretty simple as to what that was. Blur, now that was the big issue. It wasn’t quite illusionary, but it allowed Temple to confuse people, powers, machines, anything really. That might have been why the scanner went off before, actually...
“Fighters ready?”
We both nodded, and I took a centering breath.
“Fight!”
The crowd went nuts – since there were only sixteen matches to watch this round because we were so far into the tournament, they were on the edge of their seat already.
Temple immediately started the advanced Lightning sequence moves. Well, we couldn’t have any of that...
“Sonic Blast!” I said, rotating my arms in front of me, sending a swirling mass of energy right where Temple would be when it arrived, and covered my ears.
BOOM!
The huge explosion echoed everywhere, actually rattling the stadium and sending Temple flying back to his arrow. Drawing my sword, I ran to close the distance, shouting, “Ice Daggers!”
Dozens of needles of ice, each about the size of a railroad spike, burst out of the water sources on either side of the arena, flinging themselves at my opponent. He drew a battle axe so fast it looked as if it appeared out of thin air, then skillfully defended himself from the onslaught. I took the opportunity to close in on him, encasing my sword in energy.
“Energy Slicers!” I said, flicking my left wrist back and forth in front of me, each flick sending a speeding disk of energy at my adversary. He batted these away too, but it kept his attention. As he deflected the energy discs, I got close enough to thrust at his midsection with my sword. He brought his axe down just in time to block my strike, but I was already bringing my sword around at his feet. He jumped as I raised my left hand. “Concussion Air Blast!” The compressed air caught him square in the chest, launching him toward the wall of the arena.
“Cushion!” Temple said mid-flight. The air technique almost completely stopped his momentum, making the landing against the wall more of a light tap than a jarring impact.
Dang! Forgot he was a ten in air. No matter.
Sheathing my sword, I worked both hands furiously, completing the movements with ease. “Ice Spears! Energy Bars! Rock Rollers! Wind Prison!” The last one attempted to hold him still while the others shot his way, but he somehow managed to stop them.
All except that last ice spear. It was going to get him square in the chest...
Poof.
Poof? POOF? The damn spear just evaporated! Now, he was a level ten water Senturian, but he wasn’t even looking; there was no way he could have done that. There was something funny going on here...
Anyway, more offense, less internal monologue.
For the number six fighter, this guy seemed to play a lot of defense.
“Energy Blast!” I thrust my fists forward, pouring energy into two solid columns that launched at Temple. He had no energy powers. He had to do something else to counter.
And he did. Damn axe — must have been some kind of energy absorbing effect. He stuck that thing out, right in front of my streams of death, and they disappeared into it, the axe completely absorbing the attack. I shut that energy source off right quick; that was mine. For the first time, he grinned.
“Better put that away before I wipe it off,” I said. “Slab Slams!”
Four roundhouse kicks and four tons of vertical square stone rocketed their way toward Temple. He was moving, s
o I adjusted the trajectory to intercept him. The first one was blown apart by his axe, the second with an air concussion, but the final two were right on him and they slammed home! I stood there for a second, catching my breath — I was using more energy than I’d expected.
Or did the attack work? I pulled the stone slabs apart and he wasn’t there! Crap, the Blur Quantum. Where was... I ducked just in time. His axe whizzed by right where my head was half a second before.
“Concussion!” I said, blowing us both back, giving me room and time. That was too close. I couldn’t see him...
And now he used the Smokescreen. A thin gray mist emerged from Temple’s outstretched palms, slowly filling the arena. The smoke wall was five feet high.
“Air Wave!” I said, trying to push it around like fog.
“Ha ha ha, not gonna work, Dragon!” Temple said. “It’s impervious to the elements – the only way to get rid of it is to kill me! Good lu-uck!” He pulled some goggles down over his head that I hadn’t seen and raised his arms, the smoke rising to our shoulders, as he ducked down below it, out of sight.
Although I couldn’t see through it, I glanced at the audience. They had no problem tracking my opponent. Interesting.
Two could play this game.
I quickly flashed the Ignis a couple times, giving me an almost strobe-like vision through the mist. Temple was to my left, sneaking in, drawing a bead on me with his axe. I was going to play possum here, so I looked right past him and kept my head on a swivel.
Wait for it...wait for it...
He lifted his axe for a two-handed sideways strike, and I thrust my fists into his gut.
“Energy Punch!” A jolt of power exploded when I made contact, sending Temple rocketing toward the wall again, the smoke swirling around him in his wake before coming back together. Then it dissipated all together.
I grinned. Liar. I didn’t need to kill him to clear the smoke. I only had to break his concentration. The crowd gave a cheer with my surprise attack, but I was already on the move. Following behind Temple at a run, I was ready to end this.
“Cushion!” I heard, as I’d expected, and he bounced off the wall.
He saw me rushing in, sword already swinging at his unprotected midsection.
I knew I was about to win this fight.
I saw in his eyes that he knew too.
With a yell, I energized my sword and put even more force behind the two-handed swing. There was no way for him to dodge. I’d timed my strike perfectly to where he was still in the air, grabbing him with my telekinesis to hold him still.
Soon I could get back to kissing Leona.
Suddenly flung to the side, a sharp pain exploded in the back of my head, and I faintly heard a loud siren-like wail. I crashed to the ground, my vision slowly fading to black. That was odd. Was I dying? No, I didn’t think I was dying. I wasn’t bleeding. And I was too lucid. I heard the announcers say Temple was the winner. How the hell did he do that?
Blackness...coming...
I’d failed.
Chapter 40—The Admiral
THE TOWN OF AGUFRE sat silent. Just a small stop on the rail line between Bayou Vista and the Divide Mountains, but an important one. Both the communication wires and the rail ran through here, so this was the ideal place for the army to hit and further disrupt the Race’s communications. Keeping Malstrak’s plans a secret. The admiral waited on the small rise right outside of town. No one was up at four am, but he didn’t want to take the chance.
“Admiral,” one of the alphas said behind him, in a deep rumbly voice that came close to a growl, clearly agitated that he had to be ordered around by this human. “What are your orders?”
The admiral took a deep breath and sighed. He couldn’t keep his army under control much longer if he didn’t let them kill and release some of their pent-up tension. This town was out of the way enough that he could let them loose and not attract attention. He also knew the only thing keeping the army in line was the fear of the two giant alphas. Not any fear or respect for the admiral’s position as the leader. They would just as soon kill the admiral as look at him. As long as he had the loyalty of the alphas, he was fine.
“Have the army cut the communication lines and tear up the rail tracks.”
“And then?” the alpha said, flexing his claws, his counterpart coming up to stand beside him.
“Tell them not to leave one stone standing or anyone left alive.”
Both the alphas grinned, mouths full of sharp needle-like white teeth a bright contrast against their rough black fur. “Wise choice.”
The admiral watched as they melded with the night, then heard whispered orders being given to the various creatures he commanded. With barely a rustle in the night, his army moved out. Shortly, there were several quiet twangs, as the communication lines went down.
After that, there were the sounds of large bodies digging, grunts of effort, and the almost silent shift of dirt before the railroad ties snapped, the rails bent back on themselves with a groan.
Silence. But mere moments later, the admiral heard the first scream, quickly cut off. Then several more.
A defense was roused, and the sound of steel colliding with hide and the shrieks of battle filled the air. Senturians and his army clashed, powers being thrown at each other, lighting up the night.
But they were over-matched, and soon the sounds and light died.
It was quickly followed by the bright light of fires and the sounds of buildings being torn apart and crashing to the ground.
Total chaos.
Chapter 41—Jayton Baird
“GUH!” I SUCKED IN A breath and sat upright in bed. Where was I?
Oh, back in my room here in the stadium. Good. I can find Leona, and we can start prepping for the next round...
Oh.
Oh shit.
I lost.
I lost.
I freaking lost.
What was I gonna do? What were we gonna do? I was the only hope. I was the only hope to win the war. And I lost.
Okay, calm down. You’re still alive, Jay. That means you can function. You can help. There’s something you can do. Just not, you know, deter the pending slaughter of millions of people like you were supposed to.
The door burst open with a slam and the whole crew crowded into the room. Seeing me awake and sitting up, they all started talking at once, yelling about this and that, some guy hitting someone, the rules, more fights. Leona found me, sat down, slipped her hand in mine under the covers, and smiled. And the craziness faded.
“QUIET!” Royn boomed, everyone freezing mid-motion/conversation, in various stages of animated talk. It was actually pretty funny, all of them pointing, hands in the air, hands on their head, ridiculous looks on their faces. I laughed, and after a couple of seconds, everyone else did too.
It died quickly, so I said, “Well, since I lost, what do we do now?”
Leona’s grip tightened on my hand, but nothing more.
Again, everyone burst into conversation at once, and Royn yelled to get everyone settled. After giving everyone the evil eye, he finally said, “Yes, Jayton, you lost. But the guy you fought cheated.”
“WHAT?”
“Yup, cheated,” Anton said, glancing at Royn as if for permission, “he was so scared of losing to you that he actually snuck another person into the arena, and right before you beat Temple, the man he snuck in clocked you with a viscous energy attack that slammed you into the wall.”
“Oh, wow. Well that’s good news, right? How’d they figure it out? How come I never saw him?”
“He was invisible the whole time, just waiting,” Celeste said. “But when he decked you, he lost his concentration, and his power faltered. The alarms went off, and then the officials sorted it all out.”
“But how did he get in?” I asked.
“Blur,” Leona said beside me as if it was obvious. When everyone looked at her, she shrugged. “Guide Power. Plus, it’s the most logical explanation.”
“Of course,” Royn said, shaking his head. “So simple. The Blur power couldn’t completely fool the scanner, but it could make it give a false reading. And once it did that, Temple knew the guards would switch to scanning him with the wands. But his man would already be inside, so the wands would find nothing.”
Euless said, “Pretty smart, actually.”
“Yeah, except it almost got me killed,” I said. I did a double take. “Euless, you shaved off your goatee?”
He smiled and bounced on his feet, “Yeah, figured I’d try something new.”
“Looks good, man,” I said. “So what happened to Temple and his accomplice?”
They all grimaced.
Josey said, “The Lords of the West were extremely angry, and they had the Uland execute them, right there, using his Piston Punch power.” She shivered. “There... wasn’t much left of them.”
“Sounds...gruesome...” I said.
The air left the room slightly, everyone probably thinking the same thing I was: would that happen to me when/if I had to fight the Uland?
Not wanting to dwell on that thought, I kept talking. “Okay, so now what? Where do we go from here?”
Royn walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “First thing, after we all leave, Josey will give you a once over and fully heal anything that’s wrong. Second,” he said with a smile, “you need to get ready to fight. Since Temple cheated, you’ve been declared the winner by default. Round seven is in a couple of days.”
I grinned. “So I’m back in?”
“You’re back in.”
“Awesome!”
So I didn’t fail! We still had a chance, we still –
Gilmer busted through the door, out of breath. “Guys,” he managed between gasps. “I figured it out! Oh, hey, Jay, glad you’re up. They tell you you’re back in the tournament?”
I smiled. “Just did, buddy.”
“Figured what out, Gil?” Morgan said, bringing him a cup of water and putting her arm on his shoulder. Gil?
He gave her a grateful look and gulped down a couple of swallows before he continued. “Temple. Why he brought the other guy in the ring. He wasn’t scared – he was paid.”