FLOOR 21: Judgement (The Tower Legacy Book 3)

by Jason Luthor

  “Do you truly believe you can kill that which is already dead, dark angel?”

  “I’ll do whatever I need to, Judge.”

  The room practically starts splitting open around us as dozens of tendrils break into the room, swinging through the air and flying at Jackie. It’s like a web forming out of the Creep, complete with dozens of claws cracking out of the walls. One cuts at her legs, and she practically summersaults backwards over it before she swings underneath another that’s lunging for her jaw. Her momentum carries her along the floor, and she snatches up her sword at the same time, bringing it up and cutting the tendril in half before jumping away again. Then it’s like she’s hovering. She’s not, but she’s moving so fast that there are seconds when it looks like she’s floating. Every time her foot plants off the ground, she’s flying through the air again, and that burning fire she’s carrying keeps filling up the space where she was just standing. Her head goes over her heels, and her hand sticks the ground, launching her up again. There’s this one moment when it’s just Jackie surrounded in a circle of flames. When she finally lands, there’s Creep everywhere, just chopped to pieces, and she’s on a knee, sword out, inside a ring of fire.

  “How?” Judge screams it, flying over the ground at her, that giant scythe of his growing from nowhere and into his hand. It swings for her head, but Jackie’s on her feet, her hand snatching her bat off the floor and bringing it up to guard her side. His scythe catches her bat, and you hear this ringing sound fill up the air before Jackie’s sword goes up in one clean slice. I almost can’t believe it when I see Judge’s arm sliding along the ground, but I can hear him screaming as he backs away from her. “You think that’s enough? You think that’s enough to finish this?”

  “Maybe not. But it’s a start.”

  And then I watch as Creep wraps its way up Judge’s body and travels along his chest, spreading down his shoulder and reforming his arm, like losing it was just an inconvenience. Before she can react, he throws himself at her, his leg coming right into her chest and throwing her back before he punches her hard enough to send her crashing through a wall. The dust has barely cleared before she’s flying back out in the clutches of a tendril. It carries her into the air, lifting her up toward the roof and holding her toward the ceiling. There’s a long second when it just squeezes tight around her before driving her back downward. You can hear the air rushing as it plunges her back toward the floor. When she hits, it breaks through the concrete and steel with so much force that it leaves a crater, and for a second, I stop breathing. It actually sounds like an explosion when her body goes smashing into the ground. Dust is fuming up from where she came down, and huge pieces of the floor are sitting in broken pieces. I’ve never seen a person dropped like that. That would’ve broken every bone in anyone’s body.

  Maybe that’s the scary thing about what I see next. Maybe that’s when I really have to wonder what’s going on. Because, when the gray dust clears, she’s standing there. She’s not in good shape. I mean, she’s got her arm wrapped along her waist, and there’s too much blood running down her face and chest. Her helmet’s been cracked right open, to the point that I see it slide to the ground, but she’s still standing. Then she just looks at Judge and says, “Think that . . . this is my turn to ask you . . . if you think that’s enough to finish this?”

  He’s practically shaking. “Impossible. Fractured leg bones from the femur to the fibula. Five broken ribs. Punctured lung. Internal hemorrhaging. Widespread organ trauma. How are you doing it? How are you standing? Can it be something as pathetic as your friends? Is it them?” He looks up at us, and suddenly we’re dropping even lower into the room. “Is this one of those fabled human moments, when your adrenaline gives you the illusion of superhuman strength and you think, in that limited sapient brain of yours, that you might survive all this? When a surge of hormones and neural chemicals gives your body enough strength for one last gasp before the curtain falls?”

  “I’m not the one . . . who worked in a lab, studying biology. You’re probably the expert on this one.”

  “A lab? How? How do you know that?”

  “I’ve . . .” She stops and takes a breath, but it looks like it hurts her just to do that. “I’ve got sources.”

  “What are you, dark angel? Because this knowledge . . .” It’s the first time I’ve seen him really hesitate. “You truly are something else. Edward Pygmalion must have seen that potential in you. That must be the reason he sent you into these depths. He knew eventually you’d find a way to kill David Marshall. After all, your ability to endure is beyond remarkable. You are truly a magnificent killer. But so am I.”

  Then I feel the tendril crushing down around me until I think I’m going to explode. It’s so intense that I can’t ignore the pain anymore, and soon I’m screaming. The air’s emptying out of my lungs and my bones feel like they’re ready to snap, and that’s . . . that’s still not the worst part. The worst part’s hearing Mike and Dodger doing the same thing. Screaming. At the same time that I can feel my lungs wanting to collapse, I can imagine them going through the same thing, and I keep trying to think of some way out of this. The problem’s that there’s just so much pressure that I can’t even grab my knife.

  “Judge!” I hear her screaming. “Let them go. You don’t care about them. It’s me you’re after.”

  “No, dark angel. I’ve taken everything I need from you. I have my keys to the upper floor. Soon, I’ll have adapted beyond the pathogen resisting me. No, all that’s left is to take my revenge.” He squeezes his fist, and the feeling that my body’s going to fold spikes up. I look over at Dodger, and she’s doing the same thing. She’s in so much pain that I can feel it. Her face is all twisted up and shooting red. Mine’s probably the same, and I just . . . It kills me to think she’s hurting so much. I want to say something, just tell her we’ll survive, but I’m too busy screaming. Somehow, though, we lock eyes, and there’s just this one second where I think that, at least the last thing I’m ever going to see is her.

  That’s when I hear Mike practically scream bloody murder. “Jackie! I’ve got this!” The second it’s out of his mouth, the air around us starts to vibrate, and I can see some kind of blue energy collapsing down on him. He’s screaming, and the whole room is shaking with his voice until, just like that, the tendril around me suddenly starts loosening up. I suck in a huge breath and feel my lungs filling with air before I realize I’m falling to the ground. There’s a long drop before I hit the concrete hard, and pain just starts bleeding through my shoulder to my chest, but I force myself to focus on the fact that I’m still alive. Not that I can really afford to care about the pain I’m feeling. All I can think about are Dodger and Mike, and I’m just glad to see they’re both still with me. Mike’s not okay though. He looks like he’s in a lot of pain, but whether it’s physical or not, I can’t tell. His hands are surging with this blue energy, his fingers are wrapped around his head, and he’s doubled over on the ground, like he’s just really focused on something. So, when I look at the Creep and realize it’s not attacking, I remember that Mike did something like this at least once before, during his fight with David Marshall. I swear he has to be holding back the Creep for us, but it’s taking a lot out of him.

  Dodger’s better, just not by much. I see her pulling herself off the ground and grabbing at her side, but I know she’s alright because she looks my way and gives me a thumb’s up. I nod back, then motion to the ground. “Protect Mike!” She shakes her head before limping his way. I’m limping too, but we’re not giving up on him. Behind us, I hear Judge roaring.

  “I’m beginning to understand why David Marshall and Edward Pygmalion wanted him so badly. The boy is precognitive. Psychic, and a particularly powerful one. It is a familiar feeling. His ability grants him control of the Creep. He can even hold off some of my assault. Now, let’s see if he can hold off all of it.” The minute the words are out of his mouth, I see the Creep sliding down and latching onto the sk
eletons around us. It molds around them in seconds, growing muscle around their frames until they’re fully formed Creepers, and it only takes them an instant to start charging at us. Their claws are out, and we don’t have a lot of time.

  I point a finger at Dodger. “Everything you’ve got, Dodger. Leave it all on the floor!”

  “Right!” She shakes her head at me as she tunes open a Pocket Space window and snatches out the rifles we’ve been keeping in reserve. She tosses one at me, and I’m already counting the number of spare mags I’ve got when I hear her say, “Tommy.”

  I shoot a look at her. “We’ll make it.”

  “I know. Just, I wanted to say thanks for getting us this far.”

  “Thank me after we’ve survived,” I say as I saddle the rifle up to my shoulder and throw a look over at Jackie. “Hey! Jackie. We got this covered over here. Finish this guy off.”

  I see her look past Judge. She doesn’t smile or say anything, but she gives me this nod. I don’t know how to put it, but it just makes me believe she can get it done. The second I turn away though, my gun’s already opening fire. I’ve got a line on three or four Creepers. By now, the system’s simple: no body shots, all kneecaps or head. I space myself away from Dodger and fire off a few rounds, watching bodies hit the ground and just praying that these guys don’t regenerate. The first wave passes so fast, I almost don’t realize how much ammo I’ve burned through until I squeeze the trigger and get nothing from my rifle. “Reloading!” I scream at Dodger as I snatch a magazine from my belt.

  “Covering,” she says as she makes an arc toward me, popping off a few rounds that take out some Creepers at my back. I’m loaded back up in an instant and then turning, covering her and firing into the second wave that’s zooming at us. Dodger spots the same thing I do, just this line of Creepers pulling themselves out of the ground and rushing on our position. “Big wave incoming, Tommy!”

  “On it,” I shout back as I snatch a grenade off my chest. Pull the pin, lob the bomb, that’s all it takes. “Grenade!” She nods as she turns my direction, away from the blast as Creepers go flying.

  “Reloading!”

  “Covering,” I confirm. Then it’s just us switching places as we keep turning half circles and keeping anything from getting to Mike. It becomes one revolving circle of gunfire. Through it all, I keep seeing Jackie as she spins through the air, her sword and bat launching at Judge, who keeps deflecting her hits with his scythe one second and then with a wall of Creep tendrils the next.

  “How long can you keep this up, dark angel? How long does that will inside of you last? How long can the fire burn?”

  “I’m saving this Tower, Judge.”

  “For what purpose? To repeat the past all over again? To give it over to the same people who perverted this world?”

  “No. For my friends. For my family.”

  That must not be the answer he’s looking for. Judge dives under the cut of Jackie’s sword and grabs her around the waist. The next second, he’s falling backward, and you see him drive her into the floor so hard that her body crumbles against the pavement. You practically hear her body crunch, and when she stumbles to her feet, she’s reeling, like she’s drunk or something. Then Judge is on her. It’s not the first punch, or the second. It’s the fifth or sixth that makes it look like she’s about to pass out. I see those giant hands of his as he grabs her by the collar, and then his fist is slamming into her again. Once, twice, three times he hits her. Blood rockets into the air, and for a second, I almost think Jackie’s going to go unconscious. Her head rocks backward, and I see her eyes roll up into her head, like she’s given everything she has.

  Judge’s fist cocks back for the last strike, and there’s one second in all that mess when I see her suck in a breath, like she’s coming out of a coma or breathing for the first time. She’s dangling from his hand and practically bent over backwards, but somehow her eyes suddenly spot me. Then . . . then there’s one moment when everything feels like it freezes. She’s looking past me, at the crowd of Creepers closing in on my left. Maybe she’s staring at Dodger firing into them. She might be looking at Mike, who still looks like he’s barely holding back the Creep from completely rushing us. All I know is, nothing moves for just this one split second in time when we lock eyes. She practically stares through me, takes a deep breath, and mouths just one word:

  “Fight.”

  That’s when she grits her teeth, time starts accelerating again, and Jackie’s swinging her body back up. Her palm flies out at the last instant and catches Judge’s fist, then she turns his arm aside and lands a punch across his temple. It’s just enough to free herself up, but then she’s laying into him. The steel knuckles on her gloves keep cracking into his sides, and he’s bringing up his arms to defend himself. I cringe when I catch sight of him shrugging off her hits or guarding against them, then hitting her with enough force that it’d be enough to lay anyone else out. They land with so much power, you can hear the air breaking. Hell, half the room around me is shaking, to the point that I think the place is going to fall apart. Still, she staggers back, recovers, and goes back in. I’m able to catch sight of her when she finally catches one of his punches with her forearm. It stops him just long enough for her to land this uppercut that’s so powerful, I swear I hear bone breaking. The hit after that though? I hear Jackie scream as she reels back, pauses, and leans into a crossover so punishing, I actually see the metal on her gloves break off when she connects. Judge’s face turns hard as he absorbs the full hit, and I watch that skeletal jaw of his dislocate from his skull as his head gets jammed to the side. It must break his control, because it’s the same moment when all the Creepers we’ve been holding off suddenly start falling to the ground, collapsing back into the Creep. It even seems to snap Mike out of whatever he’s been going through. All I know is, I don’t waste any time looking back at the fight.

  For the first time, Judge’s legs look like they’re going weak. Jackie doesn’t waste any time. She snatches her weapons off the ground, braces with her back foot, then swings her bat with so much power that I could swear Judge’s head nearly comes clean off. Jackie’s sucking wind from all the fighting, but she finds enough energy to rush him as he’s falling backward. He’s on his heels, and her sword’s dragging the ground and creating a road of fire. Then she brings it up and plunges it straight through him. They slam into each other with so much force that she practically carries him off the ground, rushing straight toward the back wall until she finally drives Judge into the front entrance. The blade cuts right through that thick steel wall, pinning Judge in midair, and I cringe as I hear him screaming while fire burns into his clothes. Those clawed hands of his are squeezing on Jackie’s shoulders and digging into her back, but she just stands there and keeps pushing the sword deeper into him.

  “This still isn’t enough. Do you understand? This still won’t be enough!”

  “Then I’ll keep fighting until it is.”

  “No, dark angel. You’ll be dead!”

  I can’t hold back the scream when I see two clawed tendrils erupt from his back, turn toward Jackie, and fly straight through her shoulders. The air fills up with red mist when they do, and suddenly Jackie’s being lifted off the ground. I see her lose hold of the sword as Judge pries himself off the wall. The blade’s still burning into him, and he’s staggering, but he manages to keep Jackie lifted away from himself. One of his clawed hands grabs at the hilt, and you can hear him groaning as he rips it out of his body and throws it to the side. Jackie though . . . I can see her struggling as she holds onto one of the tendrils that’s holding her up, while her other hand struggles in the air. “I’m . . . not done either, Judge.”

  “Why. Why, why, why?” He pauses. Maybe he doesn’t breathe like us, but I know he looks exhausted. “This is a dead world. This Tower and everyone in it will soon be forgotten. Your family and friends will be dead. All you are fighting for is dead memories. So, tell me, why do you still persist? Do you ev
en know what drives you? What is the purpose? Why wage a war for something long dead?”

  “They’re worth it. You said . . . said you understood me. So, why don’t you get it?”

  He drags her so close that they’re practically face to face. “Explain it to me! Help me understand. How is a dead thing worth so much? Why do you keep fighting?”

  “Because . . . I love them.” Jackie says it at the exact second that she rips three needles from her pouch. I recognize them. They’re the same kind she used to put down David Marshall. Then she drives all three right into that meaty neck of his. He looks surprised at first, and for a long second, he just stares at her. But the sick thing, the thing that makes my stomach get turned over, is when he starts laughing. It’s this deep, rumbling laugh that soaks the room, and it’s just dripping with disappointment.

  “You don’t think I already know what that is? About the chemicals your dear daddy gave you? I’ve already adapted to them, dark angel. I’ve already absorbed all I need to know about them from David Marshall’s mind. Nothing so pathetic could stop me. This is simple evolution.”

  “You . . . don’t get it. Those aren’t . . . the chemicals my dad gave me.”

  “What?”

  “I know why you can’t get to the upper floors . . . I know there’s one person almost as strong as you. And I realized . . . she might not be as strong as you face to face, but on a smaller level, on a cellular level . . . she’s got you beat. I know. That’s why you haven’t been able to take the upper floors. David Marshall wrote about it too. He called them Sally Cells. The same thing that poisoned Geller.”