“How cowardly.”
Abernathy’s eyes shot open as he heard the words echo is his head. The confused looks of his captors in front of him showed that he wasn’t alone in hearing the venomous words. Behind him, he heard the door to the first building slide open.
“You’ve shown nothing but laziness and cowardice. Now you’re just taking up space.”
A ball of purple energy formed above Abernathy’s head, out of his range of vision. Unable to see what was behind him, he cried out in terror, a cry that was cut short as the burst of energy shot down onto his head. Dee’s eyes shot wide open as she became a front row witness to Thomas Abernathy’s execution. His head was completely vaporized and the rest of his body shook in a sickening fashion as its life was ripped from it. Above him, Abernathy’s killer showed no emotion. He was quite incapable of doing so.
In the back of the group, the hairs on Cody’s neck stood on end and his hands trembled. A few feet in front of him, standing over the remains of Thomas Abernathy, was the object of his hatred, the source of a year’s worth of nightmares and suffering. In the dying light, The Baggins stared right back at him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The Vengeance
The sight of The Baggins standing in front of them sent a chill through Dee and Mathias. They had only seen The Baggins when he was barely able to move, hardly a threat. It was only now that he appeared before them as an enemy at full strength did the full effect of his threat sink in.
“Welcome,” The Baggins called to the group. “I’ve been expecting you for some time now.” He stepped over Abernathy’s body and onto the ground so that he would be level with the others. Adam rushed forward with his sword out to shield Dee. The Baggins paused and stared at him.
“Is there a problem, Adam Evans?” he asked. He raised his hand out and pointed to the open door behind him. “Your fight is through there. There is one other subordinate left within, and your other half is waiting in the final room of the complex.”
Adam hadn’t expected that, but nevertheless kept up his guard. “Are you letting us through?”
“I have no reason to fight with you,” The Baggins replied. “As I said, your battle lies within the castle. You may all pass, except for The Creator.” He raised his hand out again, this time pointing at Cody. “And you, Moon.”
“We’re not leaving them behind,” Adam warned. Unlike with Abernathy, however, Cody spoke up.
“It’s alright, Adam,” he said calmly. “This is why I came here. This fight is between he and I, and I don’t want to impede you against what you need to do. Move on, we’ll be alright.”
Adam turned back to Cody and saw that he was quite serious. Despite their agreement to fight as one unit, he could not deny that this fight meant as much to Cody as the fight with his alter ego meant to him. He gave Cody a nod, and stepped towards the gate. Mathias dashed ahead to catch up, as did Dee. They all slowed as they passed The Baggins, who didn’t seem to care about them anymore.
“Be on your guard,” The Baggins said to Adam. He was the only one to hear it, and kept his composure so the others wouldn’t realize. “Your double has grown more and more unstable. If you lose focus for an instant, he will destroy you. I don’t expect you to lose to someone like him.” Adam didn’t reply and continued on with Dee and Mathias into the interior of the complex.
At last, the three of them were left alone in the courtyard. From the darkening sky, a few snowflakes descended over the battlefield. The night‘s storm was beginning. Cody’s hands clutched the hilt of his sword while he locked his glare with The Baggins’ white eyes burning behind his mask.
“What’s the matter, Moon?” The Baggins finally said. “After all this time I don’t even get a greeting? That’s rather cold of you.”
“Shut up,” Cody said in a dark tone.
“How rude,” said The Baggins as he began to slowly pace around the entrance to the castle. “But I suppose with the kind of company you keep, your real personality was bound to be repulsive.” This last word came out heavier than the others, as The Baggins shifted his gaze to the Creator.
“Cody,” the Creator said, “I’m not sure if you could tell, but his powers have diminished significantly since the war because of the seal I placed on him. Regardless, don’t underestimate him.”
“What a stupid thing to say,” Cody snapped. “That much was obvious. If you’re not even going to do anything during this fight, keep your comments to yourself.”
The Creator took the insult to his honor in stride and returned his attention to The Baggins. Even after all this time, his malice was the same to the Creator. Things would go differently this time. This time, he would see that The Baggins died.
“You seem confident back there, Creator Most Foul,” The Baggins called. “I’m aware of your limits, so just sit back and watch. I’ll deal with you last.”
“You shouldn’t take your eyes off your opponent,” Cody warned, his sword ready to strike.
“Good on you, Moon,” The Baggins said. He raised his hand up and faced his palm towards Cody. “You’ve held on to that eagerness to kill me. That’s all I could have wanted from you.”
Through his anger, Cody controlled his breathing and focused his thoughts. His pupils began to brighten with a pale green light, and the same green miasma formed around his sword. It was a sight The Baggins remembered from their last battle. With the Creator’s powers, Cody was able to manifest his own will in a metaphysical form. It was with this that he had used to fight The Baggins, and it seemed that some of that power remained within him. The Baggins followed suit by gathering more dark energy in his palms. The two stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, and as the last bit of daylight faded into night, their ancient battle resumed.
“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Dee asked as the rest of the group hurried down the hall.
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” said Adam. “He’s been preparing for this for some time, and I think he’s just clever enough to pull this off.”
As the three of them advanced, the floor chirped beneath them with each step. It was as if there were birds trapped beneath the floorboards that called out to them as they made their way forward.
“What’s with the floor?” Mathias asked.
“I’ve seen something like this before,” Adam explained. “The floorboards are positioned in a certain way so that when they are stepped on they will squeak like that. It’s a preventative method against anyone who tries to sneak in.”
“That’s wonderful,” Mathias said.
“It’s not like we’re sneaking in anyway,” Adam said. “They’ve been expecting us.”
They continued onward through the complex, which was actually made up of several interconnected buildings. As they approached the third of these buildings, they had still not seen anyone else.
“There’s supposed to be another guy in here somewhere, right?” Mathias asked.
“”Maybe The Baggins was lying to us,” Dee suggested. “You know, to make us nervous.”
“I don’t see a reason for him to deceive us,” Adam said. “Like he said, his only concern was with the Creator and Cody.”
The third building came up as they conversed, and upon opening the door the three were alarmed by a room full of people. Adam drew his sword, only to see that once again he had been deceived. The room was full of mannequins dressed in the manner of nobleman of the era from which the castle was used. They all knelt on the floor, as if focused on the figure up ahead that represented their leader. However, the central figure was different. He was alive.
The young man looked up at the three as they entered the room. His head was shaved and there was a linear scar tracing his right eye. His eyes immediately fell on Adam and he scowled.
“It took you long enough to get here, Evans,” he said as he stood. “I was starting to get a cramp.”
“Are you the last assassin?” Adam asked.
“The last remainin
g, if you’ve already gotten past Abernathy,” he said, “though I’m the first one that the two of you encountered.” He pointed at Dee and Mathias, who looked at each other for clarification.
“I don’t recall ever seeing you,” Dee admitted.
“That’s because I’m good at what I do,” he said. “I disguise myself and hide within plain sight. You would have never seen me, in the park in Tokyo, when I shot Rogers in the alley, as I observed your pointless search all throughout Tokyo, on the bullet train, and even here in Kyoto. There hasn’t been a moment where I wasn’t observing you.”
It became quiet clear to Mathias now. This was the gunman from the rooftop that he had failed to catch on their second day in Japan.
“And why all of the attention on us?” Adam said. “To make sure we didn’t get to close to your plan?”
“Quite the opposite, Evans. I wanted to see that you arrived here right when you were supposed to.”
“So that my other half could kill me?”
“No,” he said. “So that I could.”
The others were stunned by the man’s bold statement. He paced forward as he explained himself. “I’m sure you remember the Gramstad incident, Evans. It was your crowning achievement after all, when you killed Seb Ommati and took control of the Khazaki all for yourself. Do you remember where you were just before that incident happened?”
Adam was amazed that someone this young was telling him about what had happened forty years earlier in the Other Universe, but he played along.
“I was patrolling with the rest of my squad when we ran into the supposed terrorists Seb had ordered us to kill, the ones worth burning Khanka to the ground for. We all realized what Seb was up to, so we joined forces there and marched to the Gramstad Manor to stop him.”
“But what happened before you actually went to the manor?” the man persisted. “What was the other building you visited?”
Adam paused to remember, and the memories came back. Before rallying support he had gone to the headquarters of a military contractor who was developing weapons for the government of Gravell. Their leader was believed to be in leagues with Seb, and was providing illegal weapons to true terrorists to further the war.
“I went to Sinnesloschen,” Adam said, naming the company. “I cornered the president and demanded answers from him.”
“And after he gave them to you?”
“I killed him,” Adam said.
“Do you remember that man’s name, Evans?”
“I can’t say that I do, I’m afraid.”
“Then I’ll tell you. His name was Wilhelm Gien, and his son is named Friedrich Gien. That is me.”
Adam’s eyes widened. Could this boy really be the son of that man? Adam’s eyes fell onto the scar on Gien’s face. He recalled what happened after he murdered Wilhelm. He was leaving the building when Wilhelm’s teenaged son passed by him and saw his father’s corpse. In a rage, the boy rushed at Adam, who swung his sword and cut across the boy’s right eye. He collapsed and appeared to have fainted, so Adam moved on and ignored him. Now that boy had taken on a few years, far less than forty, and stood before him once again.
“Have you figured it out then? The reason I was so insistent on coming on this mission, on making sure you came here tonight, was to get my revenge against you, the man who destroyed my family’s name and took my father’s life!”
“I see,” Adam said. “If you’ve really gone through all this effort then no atonement from me will make tings better. You won’t be satisfied unless I die, or maybe you won’t.”
“What makes you think I won’t be satisfied?” Gien asked.
“Because killing him won’t bring your father back,” Mathias cut in. Adam was surprised to hear Mathias address Gien, but let him speak. “You think getting your revenge will fix everything? What about all the terrible things you’ve done to get that revenge? How many people have you killed just so you could get to this point?”
“What business of it is yours, bounty hunter?”
“It’s very much all of my business, you little punk,” Mathias said. He drew his weapon and aimed it at Gien. “Listen, Evans, this guy’s just going to get in your way and wear you down before your duel. You and the girl keep going. I’ll deal with him.”
“Mathias, you can’t!” Dee said.
“It’s ok,” Mathias answered. “This guy doesn’t look like much, I can handle him alone. You’ve got bigger fish to fry. Besides, this just got a little more personal to me.”
Dee tried to convince him otherwise again, but Adam stopped her. He knew well enough what Mathias meant, and didn’t intend to stop him. As much as he owed Gien a chance at revenge, there were bigger things at stake.
“Don’t think you can just walk away from me!” Gien shouted, drawing his own weapon. Mathias fired a warning round close to Gien, forcing him to drop to the ground in defense. Mathias kept his weapon aimed on Gien as Adam and Dee watched.
“What are you two waiting for?” Mathias asked. “You’ve got a job to do.”
Adam nodded and grabbed Dee’s wrist to take her along. She looked back at Mathias as she was taken from the room and then back at Adam.
“I could have at least used a spell to paralyze him or something to help Mathias,” said Dee.
“He wouldn’t have wanted that,” Adam told her. “I’m sure he wants to do this on his own terms.”
Back in the room, Gien cursed as his prey slipped away from him. “How dare you interfere? Just who do you think you are?”
“I’m someone who didn’t turn into you,” Mathias said. “Now you and I have a score to settle. We left things unconcluded on that roof, and it was you I bumped into on the train, wasn’t it? I was hoping I’d get the chance to take you out, and the fact you’re out for Evans’ blood only makes this more perfect.”
“What has that got to do with it?” Gien asked.
“Because I used to be a lot like you,” Mathias admitted. “It wasn’t until I came to this place that I realized the mistakes I’ve been making with my life. Fighting for revenge is meaningless. That’s why I’ve decided to fight for a purpose. That’s why when I woke up this morning and prepared to come to this fight, I made a promise: I would either give my life tonight to protect this country or live on so that I can go home and defend my homeland. It’s very fitting that I should run into you then, Friedrich Gien. I’ve decided that you embody everything I’ve come to hate, about the world and about myself. That’s why I intend to make you the last evildoer I ever kill.”
Gien sneered at Mathias. “You’re bold, bounty hunter. Don’t talk like that until you’ve won!” From the ground, Gien fired a bullet that nicked Mathias’ shin. As he stumbled from the blow, Gien leapt up from the ground and rushed forward firing. Despite his injury, Mathias dodged and fired at Gien. A glancing shot hit Gien’s ribcage, causing him to tumble and knock over several of the mannequins.
Mathias fell to the floor and continued to fire into the mannequins. There was a flash of motion in the dim light as Gien moved aside and fired again. Mathias took cover behind a mannequin and returned fire until his clip was empty. Taking his chance, Gien jumped towards Mathias and fired only feet away.
To his infuriation, his gun clicked empty. Mathias reached for his other gun, only to find it had become dislodged when he fell. He reached for the next nearest weapon: the dagger he kept in his left breast pocket. He rushed at Gien, who caught his arms and the two began to grapple. Gien kicked Mathias’ wounded leg and pinned him to the ground, trying to get the dagger out of his hands.
Gien grunted with fury as he struggled to keep Mathias pinned down. His eye became very focused on killing the bounty hunter, and as he struggled Mathias was grateful to Adam that he would never end up that way.
Finding an opening, Mathias lifted his knee and jabbed Gien’s wounded ribs. The spy let out a howl of pain as Mathias flipped him and with a swift motion stabbed into Gien’s side. Mathias held the knife in place as Gien gasped a
nd wheezed. A moment later he was still and flopped over. Still breathing heavily, Mathias released his hold on the dagger and left it in Gien’s body. The crooked dagger he’d held onto for more than a decade had served its purpose once again, but it would not be taking another life again from that day forward.
Mathias turned and covered his face with his hand as he continued to recover himself. He had already allowed himself to get injured twice, and if things kept up he wasn’t going to be much use later on if the battle got out of control.
While he was thinking, Mathias didn’t notice the slow movement behind him until it was too late. Gien’s eyes shot open, and he ripped the dagger from his side and slashed the back of Mathias’ ankles. The bounty hunter screamed in agony as he could no longer support his body weight and fell to the ground. He turned around to see Gien, bloody and panting, crawling towards him with the dagger. Mathias reached to his side for another weapon, but it was clear he wouldn’t need it. Gien fell forward onto the floor, his strength drained.
Mathias tried to move, but the pain in his ankles was too much. The tendon had been severed, and even if he could be brought to his feet he would no longer be able to support his body weight. His fist hit the floor as he cursed. There was nothing he could do for the others now, nothing but wait.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Damaged Mind
A wave of green light crashed down against the ground in the courtyard, destroying the remains of one of the Dogu. Cody swung his sword again, sending another wave of the light at The Baggins. The black figure shot his own wave of energy out that cut Cody’s in half, sending the energy off and exploding upon contact with the castle walls. All the while, the Creator watched apprehensively as the snow fell. The situation was definitely more worrisome than he had imagined. With the dramatics of the battle, someone was bound to see what was happening inside of the castle grounds. If anyone else were to get drawn in, it would be a terrible problem for everyone involved.
The Kyoto Ordeal (Tales of the Other Universe Book 1) Page 29