Rod Wars
Page 5
Melissa could only stare as fire erupted in the distance, followed by another as a helicopter plummeted from the skies in a twirling spiral, its plume of smoke waving like a banner as it crashed into the desert.
They’re dead. Melissa thought, her fingers slipping from the window as she recoiled from the glass and watched the flames dance upon the horizon with empty shock.
“Indeed,” Leptin said, gravely, hearing her thoughts. “I was hoping this wouldn't happen. Apparently I was a fool to think that someone wouldn't try to take advantage of this opportunity.”
“Do—do you think they were waiting for us?”
“Guessing will get us nowhere, Melissa. All I will say is to first swallow your emotions, stay alert and be aware of your surroundings. Your fieldtrip has become a battlefield.”
Something’s coming, Melissa’s shadow warned. Put your hands over your neck.
Launching into the sky, the fireball coming down struck the last car of the convoy and engulfed it, smothering the screams of the passengers as its fire consumed everything in its wake.
Melissa ducked, a shriek escaping her as the explosion that followed blew out the back window.
Lifting into the air, the ball of fire convulsed before pulling itself apart into two.
“The fireball!” Kevin said, frantically grabbing for the rearview mirror as panic set in. “It—it took out the car behind us.”
“What's it doing?!” Mr. Leptin demanded.
“It’s advancing…no, it’s right behind us now.”
“Damn it, it’s a tracer,” Leptin cursed, as he yanked a piece of glass out of his shoulder. “Prepare for—”
“Whoa, shit!” Kevin said slamming on the breaks as the car before them went airborne and flew off the road. Its side caved in as if it had been hit by a freight train and then began to melt as it was overtaken by the second fireball.
The car spun out and began to roll as Kevin lost control. As the remaining windows shattered and the car’s windshield cracked, Mr. Leptin clapped his hands together, and submerged the vehicle in a ball of water.
Touching her own hands together, Melissa opened her eyes as a hole opened up in the center of her palms and formed a black sphere on the back of one hand and a white sphere on the other.
Bending the metals to her will, she caused the black sphere to pan out and spread about her form, and encasing her in a large black ball.
Air, she thought and responding to the order, the water began to drain from the sphere.
Coming at the car in a pincher-like formation, the fireballs slammed into it from the front and rear. Encountering Mr. Leptin’ water sphere, a cloud of steam rose up and engulfed the car as shrapnel and debris flew out in all directions as it tumbled down the empty stretch of road. Sliding to its side, the metal shell came to a halt in the dirt.
Releasing what was left of the bubble, Leptin washed out of the car along with the remaining water.
What a mess, he thought glancing around at the metal skeleton.
“Melissa,” he called out hoarsely as he struggled to sit up. “Are you— “
“I'm fine,” she said as the black sphere rolled her out from the wreckage and unwrapped from around her. “A little pissed, but fine.”
Moments later gun shots erupted from the driver’s seat.
Spinning around, Melissa caught sight of a woman in red monk-like robes stalking towards what remained of the armored car. Raising a flaming katana, the woman stepped in quickly and retrieving the sword from the shattered window. Suddenly, a head fell to the ground.
Chapter 7
Titus
"Come on Alex,” Wilson said shaking him. "We're here."
Alex jumped, startled from his daydream. Climbing out the open door of the parked vehicle, he appraised a beach whose gentle waters rolled in and out like languid breaths. He scratched his head confused. The place felt so familiar somehow.
"Hey Wilson, is this—"
"Yep, the same beach you arrived on,” Wilson confirmed, nodding before stepping over the short wired railing and down the gentle incline of the pale beige sands. Glancing around, Alex noted that the beach was deserted.
Maybe Wilson rented the place? But for what reason? They were questions he assumed the man would answer soon enough.
"How did you pull off that trick with the chair earlier?" Alex asked, trailing behind.
The bodyguards had exited their own vehicle and were following them at a distance.
"Magic."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Can't you just answer the question?"
Wilson ignored him with a dismissive wave.
"Guessing that's a no."
"You're so persistent."
Alex shrugged. "I hate being ignorant."
"That's a good thing. That's a mindset that might get you far in the world."
"You're avoiding the question."
"Am I now?"
"Oh, come on,” Alex pressed. Walking ahead he turned and stopped in the man's path.
Wilson brushed by him. "Don't you just love the beach?"
Alex jogged after him. "What is it, a secret?"
"Fresh air, blue water...isn't it all just so relaxing? I mean look at those waves, barely enough to drown you."
"What, did you almost drown once or something?"
"When I was ten."
"Really? They held me up like Jell-O."
"I had a weight attached to me. Water drags down anything not living."
"Oh...That sucks. What about boats—hey, you changed the—"
Wilson stuck out his foot and Alex, tripping on it, nearly ate sand. "Awareness is a skill you know,” Wilson said looking down at him.
"So is evasion,” Alex muttered, getting up and dusting himself off. "You still haven't told me about what you did with the chair."
Wilson smiled back at him and Alex crossed his arms.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you."
"Forget it."
Wilson stood before the water and put a toe in, his eyes fixated on the liquid. "It's simple really; I just built the object in my mind and brought it into reality with my will. Cause and effect. Ask and you shall receive. The laws of imagination."
He's delusional, Alex thought immediately. He has to be. His argument's logical, yet it's not. The guy's messing with me again; he's pulling my leg trying to get a reaction, trying to dupe me. You can't create things from your mind, let alone your will...not out of thin air anyway.
It was a stupid theory. A concept that violated the laws of nature, not to mention common sense.
"What are you, writing a book or something?"
Wilson shook his head with a sigh. "You oddities all the same. Why do you think that is?"
"We're logical?"
"No, you’re ignorant. You deceive yourselves, limit yourselves, and close your minds to the possibilities beyond reality as it is ordinarily perceived. And to that end, you go so far as to impress your ideals onto others."
"Right...okay." Be it Alex’s world or this one, dreamers were in no short supply it seemed. "I love how you just grouped us all together."
"Yes and...?"
"No some of you. No distinction whatsoever, just grouped us all in one big blob of Oddity."
The man nodded. "So what exactly are you complaining about?"
"We—oddities aren't all the same. Everyone is diff—I'm an individual."
"Ah...so, you're one of those self-conscious people. So caught up with you, you, and you, that you neglect the we to which, at the end of the day, we’re all a part of voluntarily...or not."
"I'm not self-conscious. I'm confident. So don't categorize me. I'm not an oddity. Stop trying to shelf me off with some convenient term. I don't conform, I won't—"
"Play by my rules? You're no different from the rest. Your mindset just about matches every other Oddity on record – freedom, individuality, can't be chained, yada, yada, yada..."
"You don't know anything. You don't know anything about me!"
"You've got nothing, no proof to back anything up. Magic my ass, I bet you—"
"Always proof,” Wilson interjected, shaking his head. "What happened to blind belief?"
"It's stupid."
"Is religion stupid?"
"Of course not, it's—"
"It's the same concept. Now shut up and watch. You might learn something." Staring at the water intently Wilson briefly touched his hands together. As he lifted one hand, a pale teal mist like emanation arose, enwrapping the hand in light. He flicked his fingers and the water responded. A small stream rose into the air, twisting on itself slowly like a tornado. "As Jamieh Cooper once said, a closed mind is a dead mind, Alex."
"Who—?"
"Keep yours open."
"No way."
"Yes way."
"How did you do that?"
"I manipulated the titus residing in the water with my own."
"Wait, wait...what? Titus...who?"
"It's a bit difficult to explain." Wilson placed a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Titus is...well, in essence, a life-force. It's energy. It's found in both material objects and living things but is most densely found in water and things that can be naturally transformed on a material plane. The opposite is seen in more spread out entities, like air, where titus is sparse. Titus can be seen by the naked eye as a mist, like an aura. An essence that unlike atoms can't be blown up under scientific instruments. Nonetheless it is an entity that, like time, has a presence that can't be denied."
"Why not?"
"You can't deny that I'm causing this water to spin any more than you can argue the effect the moon has on the tides of the oceans. Denying titus doesn't make this water still or the moon disappear, it just enforces your ignorance on the subject."
"That's stupid."
Wilson shrugged. "Stupid things make us human."
"I thought those were called mistakes."
Wilson smiled, blue eyes crinkling. "They're often the same. Anyway, titus, in the simplest sense, is an endless source of energy found in all things living and dead; material, elemental, and...so on. To that end, the average person can manipulate titus with little effort. As with anything though, some people are born with more ability, others are born with less. And then you've got the prodigies, who as with anything are gifted. They usually work with titus from a young age, either on purpose or by accident."
"So they just have more experience?"
"Exactly, they build up their mental fortitude to maintain titus, which as a result furthers their inborn capacity to draw it, even in its most difficult of forms."
"So I can use titus too?"
"You're alive aren't you?"
"Pretty sure..."
"Manipulation of titus is normally taught while young when the mind is still impressionable and less...fixed and opinionated."
"What'cha trying to say?"
"You're old."
"Look who's talking."
"Before you begin, you need to understand a few concepts involving titus." Wilson glanced absently at the still twisting water and as if in response, the water collapsed, falling back into an incoming wave.
"We're starting now?"
"Of course." Wilson held up a finger. "First, you can't create food or water for consumption. If you—"
"Why not?"
"Let me talk."
"Fine."
"If you do you'll die. Titus-infused foods and liquids are unnatural in the strongest sense, because while they look like the real thing, that's where the similarity stops. Molecularly, they couldn't be further from their natural counterparts when it comes to taste, smell, and touch...not to mention they harbor a potent and often lethal poison."
"Po-poison?!"
"It's called musane and if it gets into your blood stream it'll kill you within – twenty-four hours or so if left untreated."
“So if I make water, it’s not real water?”
“If you turn paper to water how can it be real?”
“Good point.”
"Now, titus users are grouped into categories. While the average person is ranked on a color code starting at white and ending at gold, prodigies are ranked by tier and level. The higher your level and tier the better you are. It’s all a system invented by the government. Anyway do you have any more questions?"
Alex shook his head, questioned out. The world was fascinating. Complex magic, another world yet the same technology, a haze which barred anyone from returning and trapped those who entered...it was all overwhelming. But when it came down to it, there was nothing for him here. Back home he was rich and when he hit eighteen he’d inherit more wealth. Why would he want to start at the bottom?
Wilson clapped his hands together. "Good...now let's begin."
"Begin...what exactly?"
"Move the sand."
"What? But that's imposs—"
Springing up from the waves, in a short spurt, water blasted Alex in the face.
"Wrong!" Wilson said frowning. "The correct answer...is how."
"What was that—"
"Wrong."
Blasted again, Alex sputtered and using his shirt, wiped his eyes.
"Quit—" The water blasted forth once more, its velocity faster than the last. "How?!"
"Took you awhile. Now will the sand to move."
"Will it to—yeah, that's really helpful, real detailed there, Wilson."
"Isn't it? I think so too,” Wilson said and taking a breath, pointed at the sand before him, eyes fixed and finger steady. Alex, blinking droplets of water out of his eyes, began to mimic his imposed mentor halfheartedly.
"Imagine what you want the sand to do..." Wilson turned his finger over and lifted it up slowly. "Where you want it to go...and have it consent accordingly."
A steady stream of sand rose up, rising and stopping as Wilson's finger rose and stopped. Wilson accompanied his finger with a second one on the same hand and the stream of sand stopped, its bottom half cutting off, leaving a wispy line behind.
"Then shape it." Bending his fingers down in a claw-like motion, he caused the sand to spin in on itself. Then the sand flattened into a thin, almost pancake-like cylinder. "And when you want to end the manipulation, say end."
The sand fell to the ground.
"Imagine...what..." Alex turned his finger. Watching Wilson, a thought infiltrated his mind: if he mastered this, would he get to go home?
He lifted the finger slowly, ever so slowly, with concentration that seemed directed more at a chessboard than fragments of tiny glass. The boy visualized a sliver of sand breaking away from the beach and it responded to his wishes.
"Rise..." The beach's sand at his feet shifted slightly. Then a jet stream of sand erupted into the air, twisting upon itself rapidly as it reached for the sky. Bucket like swaths of sand showered down upon student and mentor in its wake.
"Alex, release!" Wilson cried over the roar of billions of grains of shifting sand, while trying in vain to shield his face. Alex, panicking, did likewise. As if on cue, three more sand streams larger than the first shot up nearby, erupting from the beach like lava from a volcano.
"End it now!" Wilson grabbed Alex by the shoulders, and turning the boy towards him, he shook him hard, severing his focus from the chaos.
"End!" Alex choked out. The sand froze, halting its impending advance and began to fall. Wilson held up a hand and yelled something at his bodyguards. Their hands were already raised, expressions tense. The sand came down in earnest, but instead of burying Alex and Wilson as its original course demanded, it avoided them, sliding down the sides of a shimmering teal tinted shield. As it fell, the sand piled up around them.
Wilson’s doing this? Alex wondered. He's strong enough to take on hundreds of pounds of sand with one hand alone? Who was he? And just how powerful was a prodigy? It was his last thought as his vision w
ent blurry, and as his legs gave out as all went black.
Chapter 8
Submerged
“Come quietly fledgling eleven,” Akane said flicking her blade to the side, as she began to round the car. “I'll make your death as swift as his.”
Shaking Melissa stumbled back a few steps, her eyes fixed on the headless body of her badly burned bodyguard.
“Ke-Ke-Kevin…?” She croaked, blinking rapidly as her eyes began to mist and throat began to close. “Your head…no, no…your head, it’s—”
“Melissa,” Leptin said sharply, getting to his feet as Akane lunged for her.
“Huh?” she said, glancing back at him as a flaming sword whipped around in an arc for her head. Fluid silvery white metals shot out from their sphere on the back of her hand and into four whip-like wires. In defense of its mistress, one of them swept forth and cutting through the fire, grated against metal as it parried the sword.
Damn it, her shadow snapped. Pay attention.
The other wires swung, in quick succession. Evading their whipping attacks of slashes and jabs, Akane made a clean breakaway, retreating. The wires halted their pursuit after extending themselves a fair distance from Melissa.
“I see,” Akane said straightening. Reaching back, she clamped a hand onto a hilt and drew a second blade. “You’ve opted for a more honorable death.”
“Oh…” The word left Melissa listlessly as she offered Akane a blank stare. “That’s right; you’re trying to kill me.”
“Oh, oh, oh,” Leptin said as he stretched his back, then putting a hand on his student’s shoulder he stepped past her. “Now I'm ready.”
“So you’d rather fight in her stead? Very well,” Akane said, pointing a blade at him. “The old sacrificing themselves for the young is commendable. As magus of the Viate Order, I shall grant you a duel to the death.”
“The Viate Order…” Melissa said to the principal’s back, her apathetic tone almost questioning.