Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion

by Christian Kallias

  When Chase entered the building, Argos was getting back up, blood, burns and bruises all over.

  Chase felt his anger quenching little by little with every bit of pain he inflicted on Argos. But the pain within his heart was still very present and the resulting hate overwhelmed him to the core. Would it end once he had killed Argos? he wondered. He checked his energy levels and noticed he had used about thirty percent of his pool of energy. This fight was only beginning.

  Argos spat blood on the floor. “Having fun are we? Think we can take a minute to talk now?”

  “As I told you before, I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Yeah I got that, like twenty minutes ago, but I have things I want to tell you.”

  “Not interested!”

  The floor they were on was a company’s open space, filled with desks and computers. Chase started throwing desks with his mind, one after the other, at Argos. He then kicked him straight in the torso and sent his brother crashing towards the nearest drink dispenser, which was flattened in the middle where Argos hit it. Soda cans rolled from the bottom, many exploding on their way out, sending soda spraying all around.

  When Chase arrived near the dispenser, Argos jumped, grabbed it and used it to smash Chase and send him flying through three sets of walls in nearby offices. Lights exploded, sparks flew, and sprinklers turned on.

  When Chase jumped back to his feet, Argos was behind him and had grabbed him by the hips, locking his hands tight, and they both flew through several walls before exiting the building. In midair Argos threw Chase away and kicked him in the face, sending him even higher into the air.

  Chase somersaulted in midair, regained his balance, joined his hands together and created a soccer-ball-sized fireball that he threw towards Argos. He promptly deflected it with a swift movement of his forearm and sent the fireball crashing into a nearby building. Multiple explosions occurred and the top of the building collapsed on itself, sending a ton of fiery debris and broken glass towards the street below.

  “Are we gonna play this game for much longer?” inquired Argos.

  “It’s not a game. These are your last moments.”

  “I don’t think so. I mean, you’re not nearly powerful enough. You control your anger, instead of channeling it as you did when I nearly killed your friend on Damocles-3. You’re nowhere near that level of power at the moment. Therefore we could fight all night and sure, we would make a lot of noise, probably kill a lot of innocent bystanders in the process too, but you won’t kill me with this pathetic display.”

  Chase wondered if Argos was perhaps right. He didn’t feel the same level of power as when he unleashed his full Fury power during their last fight.

  “It might just take longer, but I’ll end you. This ends here, tonight!”

  “Right, then I suggest you get properly pissed off. You’d think that killing the love of your life, Sarah, and your unborn child would do the trick, wouldn’t you?”

  As the words echoed within his unconscious mind, Chase went ballistic. The mere uttering of her name by Argos generated a blast of furious and destructive hatred in every cell in Chase’s body. His aura glowed ten times stronger and his long hair was thrown into the air, creating a beautiful, black, dancing flame effect. His eyes glowed orange and soon the tint of his aura changed from purple to orange as well.

  “There we go,” said Argos with a crooked smile.

  Chase pressed his fists against his hips and released an inhuman shout that generated a powerful shockwave. The buildings around Chase were incinerated. His rage was unbounded, overriding whatever control he had managed before.

  He flew so fast it looked as if he teleported towards Argos, and he unleashed a combo of punches and kicks at near light speed. Argos blocked only the first few but was soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks. He miraculously managed to fly away amidst a few hundred hits. Chase pursued, but Argos collapsed two nearby buildings on him as he flew past them.

  Chase pierced through their rubble with ease, to Argos’ surprise, and smashed him on the chin with a powerful, ascending knee strike that sent Argos flying for miles, destroying one building after another in his wake, until gravity took a hold of him and he hit water near the harbor. The impact sent tons of water splashing upwards.

  Chase pursed him underwater, throwing even more water into the air upon entry. He then he continued hitting Argos with fire-lit punches under water. Many underwater shockwaves created giant, illuminated bubbles on the surface.

  Underwater the fight was slightly slowed down. Fish of all sizes fled the area; many, caught in the wake of some of the attacks, were thrown into the air along with the water.

  Argos created a gigantic fireball and sent it towards Chase, who promptly did the same. Their attacks met in the middle. Water was driven away in all directions and soon they were standing within an air bubble they had created. Gigantic bolts of lightning flashed among the colliding fireballs. Then, at the center, an explosion threw both Chase and Argos into the air, spinning uncontrollably.

  Chase was the first to recover and he lost no time raining hellfire upon Argos in the form of dozens upon dozens of medium-sized fireballs, which all found their target. Not wanting to lose his advantage, Chase flew toward Argos’s face with his knee to the forehead and sent him crashing back onto the shore of Tokyo’s harbor.

  Chase purposefully landed with force on the bow of a petrol tanker, sending it spinning above him. He grabbed it by the edge and smashed it down where Argos had crash landed. The moment the ship impacted with Argos, Chase ignited it with a powerful fireball. The ship and everything around it exploded, and the entire area was engulfed in flames.

  Then he heard it in his mind.

  “Chase, help me!” That was Sarah’s voice.

  But it couldn’t be. He was simply going insane.

  Tears flowed from his eyes and were thrown into the air by the intense, pulsating energy Chase’s aura was radiating.

  He flew within the flames and found Argos motionless in the furnace. He saw Argos’ body on the ground, flames burning his limbs and blood gushing from a deep cut on Argos’ scalp.

  This is it, thought Chase. Now I finish this once and for all.

  He approached Argos. The flames burning all around were repelled by Chase’s aura. He grabbed Argos by the hair, set his fist on fire and started power punching Argos again and again. With each punch he could hear facial bones cracking and breaking under the pressure. Cuts opened and blood flew all over the place.

  When he released Argos, he fell like a rock on the still-burning ground, with a satisfyingly crushing thud. Chase kicked Argos and sent him flying yards away. With a thought he sent a powerful shockwave that promptly extinguished the fire around them.

  Argos tried getting back up but stumbled back onto his face, now a bloody, pulpy mess. One of his eyes was so bruised it was completely hidden. Argos used telekinesis to lift himself up, but his legs were shaking.

  The moment I have dreamt of for so long is finally here, thought Chase. He approached him calmly and raised his hand with his palm open. Time for some decapitation.

  “Any lasts words, asshole, before I put you out of your misery?”

  Chase’s rage was palpable. He was a paroxysm of fury. Logic and kindness were a long lost memory. In this moment he was the pure expression of his inner hate.

  “Ye . . . yeah. Sarah’s still alive . . . But she will die if you swing your arm.”

  “I’m not falling for this a second time!” shouted Chase.

  “I . . . I wasn’t lying back then, and I’m not lying now.”

  “You made me kill Sarah and my unborn child, and now you will die, you hear me!”

  “You killed a clone!”

  A series of lightning shivers traversed Chase’s body from head to toe and paralyzed him to the core.

  “WHAT?”

  “I cloned her. Her psyche was too strong. I tried torturing her. I even killed her once, but when I brought her
back to life, I felt the child inside her. I knew I would probably kill the child if I kept torturing her, so . . . so I made a clone, a perfect duplicate of her and your unborn child and broke the clone instead. I don’t know how the cloned child survived the abuse, but it did. I saw the opportunity to get your attention right there. Once I broke her and invaded the clone’s mind, it was mine to control fully.”

  Chase fell to his knees. Tears flowed like rivers and his hair fell back down as his aura receded.

  “What are you saying? I . . . If . . . If you’re lying—”

  “What? You’ll do what? Kill me? I got that, believe me. You’ve demonstrated not once but twice the ability to do so. I needed to confirm you could access that power again, though.”

  “Why? What is it to you?”

  “I need your help with something.”

  “You think I’m ever gonna help you?”

  “Well, if you ever want to see Sarah again and hold your child in your arms, you will do exactly what I ask, for as long as I need you. Otherwise you can kill me right now. But if my heart stops beating for more than thirty seconds, she dies instantly.”

  Chase clenched his teeth and fists. His brain still couldn’t fully process the news. Hate had consumed him for so long. It had become his only companion lately. Right at this moment, though, he felt light re-enter his blackened and scarred soul. Little by little, a glimmer of hope he thought gone forever slowly permeated him from within.

  Sarah and Chris are alive!

  Chase looked down at the ground, his gaze fixed on the broken and burnt concrete. His mind raced. All the future he thought gone forever, the happiness he thought he would never feel again . . . All these emotions raced through him and he had trouble dealing with their overwhelming force hitting him all at once.

  “Now what?” he muttered, his voice trembling.

  Argos healed himself by engulfing his body in red energy. Soon it looked as though the long fight had never happened. He dusted his dark and burned clothes.

  “Now we need to get Aphroditis and get to the Tartarus system.”

  “Why there? And why do you need Aphroditis?”

  “Why does it matter? You’ll do as I say, and that’s all there is to it.”

  Chase rose to his feet and healed himself as well.

  “Don’t push your luck, Argos. You will tell me why you need Aphroditis or . . .”

  “Or what, brother? Say goodbye to Sarah and your unborn son?”

  Chase swore. “I . . . I want proof of life.”

  Argos smiled, searched one of his pockets and took out a small, spherical device. He pressed something on it and threw it into the air, where it floated. It projected a holo-video stream.

  “This is live,” he said, pointing at the floating hologram.

  Chase looked at it and his heart grew heavier; but at the same time hope rose from the inner depth of his broken soul.

  There she was, exactly like in his dream, standing in a pod filled with green liquid. Her eyes where closed but he could see she was breathing. A Zarlack guard stood on either side of the pod, each armed with a rifle.

  “How do I know this isn’t a deception? You could have recorded this beforehand.”

  “Ah, ye of little faith.” Argos shook his head from side to side. He approached the video stream and waved his right palm in front of it. An interface overlaid itself on top of the video. He entered a couple of touch commands.

  “Guards! Take aim!”

  Both Zarlacks took a firing stance and aimed their rifles towards the pod in which Sarah stood.

  Chase’s blood froze. “What are you doing? Stop this at once!”

  Argos smiled sadistically. “So, do you want to see her die in front of your eyes now or should we get Aphroditis?”

  Chase’s eyes flashed brightly for a moment, rage again coming to the surface, and the entire city of Tokyo started to tremble.

  “Easy, brother.” He touched the video stream again and added, “At ease.”

  Both Zarlacks lowered their weapons and resumed their guard position on either side of the pod.

  Chase let a deep breath of relief escape.

  “Look, Laiyos, while I admit I want to kill Aphroditis for her actions, right now I need her for the next part of my plan. Alive.”

  “She won’t comply with anything we ask of her. You know that?”

  “Who said she had to be compliant? She just needs to come with us, by force if necessary; but I’ll let you handle this any way you like, as long as she comes along.”

  “Alright, I’ll do as you say,” said Chase, resigned.

  That’s when he heard Ares’ voice in his head. No, Chase! You promised. You can’t obey Argos. He will kill her!

  Chase answered telepathically. “I won’t let him, but for the time being, I have no choice. I’m sorry, Ares. You’re going to have to trust me on this.”

  Chase heard a growl of discontent within his mind but Ares didn’t push the issue any further.

  “What are we waiting for?” inquired Argos, losing patience.

  “You have a ship in orbit I suppose?”

  “The Dark Star is in the Iron Fire’s docking bay, but let’s take the Iron Fire with us.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s less likely to be fired upon than mine these days.”

  “I thought you could cloak?”

  “My ship’s cloaking abilities are limited, just like yours.”

  “Very well. Let’s go find Aphroditis, then.”

  “Yes, let’s.”

  * * *

  Spiros Malayianis exited his quarters and went towards the nearest lift. When the doors split open he entered and pressed the touch controls that would bring him to the nineteenth floor. He didn’t like being summoned in the middle of the night like this.

  But he wasn’t about to complain. His time aboard Damocles-3 during its occupation by Argos’ forces had been very stressful, as well as painful near the end. So he appreciated the fact that he could now sleep soundly. Most of the time anyway.

  When the lift opened he stepped out and soon entered General Adams’ office.

  “You asked for me, General?”

  “Yes. Thank you for coming. Please have a seat.”

  “What can I do for you, General?”

  “I suppose you’ve heard of the latest Zarlack attack?”

  Spiros nodded. Of course he had. Millions of people had lost their lives again. It seemed that Earth was cursed. Every few months a new attack scarred the planet.

  “All these lives . . .”

  “I know. Nothing we can do about this now, but I want you to start working on a new project soon. We can’t let this happen again. Ever.” The general’s tone was heavy and filled with a mix of determination and sorrow.

  “I understand, General. What do you want me to work on?”

  “A planetary shield.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that, actually, in my spare time.”

  “And? Is it doable?”

  “I believe so. There are two ways of achieving it in my opinion.”

  “Which are?” said Adams, raising an eyebrow.

  “We can leverage the satellites already in orbit and create an interlink shield between them that would extend all around the planet; or we can build a specific shield, distinct from the satellites.”

  “Many satellites have been destroyed during the attack.”

  “I know, but not all of them, right?”

  “Correct. Those orbiting above the American continent mostly. Which of the two solutions do you recommend?”

  “Depends on your timeframe, really.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, if you want it sooner rather than later, then we need to leverage the technology we already have. So the satellite link shield would be the fastest to build.”

  “I see. Any advantage in building a dedicated shield from scratch?”

  “Many, actually. We would have more freedom regarding what could be
done.”

  “What about doing both?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, first we build the linked shields, replacing the destroyed satellites in the process, then, later on, we can worry about making a custom shield around the Earth. Heck, both could be used. If one fails, we activate the other.”

  “The power requirement will be off the scales.”

  “Whatever it takes. What happened on Earth today can never happen again. We can’t lose millions of lives every time the enemy shows at our doorstep.”

  “This is the nature of war . . .”

  “Please don’t lecture me about war!” said the general swiftly.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend, but understand our people suffered even more losses.”

  “And you brought the enemy to our doorstep. Perhaps they would have come anyway, but humans are really wondering if this Alliance wasn’t a mistake. Before we met you, we were safe.”

  “I wasn’t here when my colleagues made first contact with Earth, but I can tell you that Argos and his forces would have found you eventually.”

  “Perhaps. It’s no longer important. What is, however, is that we do all we can to protect ourselves now. Argos’ new move, sacrificing his entire fleet, was unpredictable, but I want us to be prepared the next time he thinks of something new.”

  “While I wholeheartedly agree that we need to be prepared, we can’t possibly imagine what his next move would be. Perhaps his next crazy idea will work even with both shields.”

  “We have to do something!” said the general, hitting his desk with his fist.

  “Easy, General. I understand how you feel.”

  “Do you?”

  “I lost my entire family to the initial Obsidian-Zarlack attack, so yes, General, I know.”

  “I’m sorry. I apologize for losing my temper. It’s been a very long, hard day.”

  “No need to apologize. I will start working on the shield projects immediately.”

  “Actually, I need you to do something else first.”

  “More important than the shields?”

  “We don’t know yet, but it could be. Please report to Cedric in the engineering lab on the seventh floor. He and Yanis Tixichos are working on an AI interface device, and they could use your help.”