"Watch your mouths, you lower tier trash!" Sierra snapped, flipping her hair back. "As if I'd soil my hands in your blood. You may go to this school but you're not a Goethe. When you marry in…give me a call. Till then? Find your own damn healer!"
~*~*~*~
Alex hovering over Daniel, glanced back at Melissa, whose expression was impassive her eyes focused on the floating black orb, held her silence. He wondered what she had up her sleeve.
"Release,” she murmured, lifting her right hand. A light purple outlined the sphere's dark form. "Gravitational Disturbance."
"Though I must congratulate you,” Takumi was saying. "Few have ever been so clever as to tie down the Crusader...underground."
Turning slowly, the sphere rose higher, its liquid form rippling, reflected the sunlight and attracted Takumi's curious eyes. "Oh? What are you attempting this time?" he asked, eyebrows raised, his tone amused, yet clipped. He was beyond impatience and slipping into bloodlust.
As if withholding its own personal gravity, the black ball, warping time and space, seemed to pull the sky inward before springing back out. Attracting first small things, pebbles and twigs, streams of Alex's particles and the dirt itself, were engulfed, drowned. The sphere grew rapidly in its absorption, uprooting saplings and trees and as it extended its range. The sphere sucked up fire, the bodies of the injured and dead, broken pillars, and roof tiling.
A girl amongst the rubble stumbled forward, a hand pressed to her bloody side. “Oh what is it this time?” she whispered, looking up at the growing black orb encroaching on the sun. “The hell?”
The words left her as her eyes followed the rise of a nearby tree. Feeling her own body start to lift from the ground, tugged on by another, stronger gravity, she panicked. Wrapping her hand around a metal spike, she held on for dear life as the pull became more insistent.
“What is this?! What is this?!” she screamed as tears began to run down her face and her grip began to slip. Cold sweat trickled down her brow as her hand was yanked from the spike. Twisting in the air she let out a shriek as she desperately clawed for the rubble. Swept into the air, she felt an imposing doom as the ground became further and further away. Cloaking herself in titus, her attempt to swim through the air was thwarted as the energy cloak itself was ripped away.
Gasping, she glanced over her shoulder, helpless as the black mass grew larger as she neared it. “Just what is this? What is this thing? Who made this?!” Her words were cut off as her arms snapped back and legs began to sink into it.
The oily black sludge slipped around her body as easily as the debris around her. Screaming and begging, her gaze turned down on the other students floating in various places beneath her. Their screams faded as her head went under and metallic substance washed down her throat and filled her lungs. Drowned, she joined the other bodies suspended in murky substance in dark silence. Her presence was like a pebble in the ocean added to the ball’s mass.
Takumi’s expression was astonished and his face paled. The last of the mound was swept up and the Crusader was revealed. Its raised hand, torn off at the wrist, was no sooner joined by the body. Drawn into the air, gold and silver, roots and debris, were indiscriminately absorbed. With the consumption of the Crusader, the sphere that was once no bigger than a tennis ball was now like an eclipse shrouded by the sun.
~*~*~*~
Takumi’s eyes snapped open.
“I didn’t expect you to follow right after me,” Akane said, looking back at him. She was standing on the edge of the cliff, her red cloak billowing around her as she watched the black mass hover over Corpus in the distance. “But with that thing in the air, I suppose it was only a matter of time.”
“The power of an eleven is incredible,” Takumi laughed bitterly.
“So incredible that we failed.”
“It indeed was unprecedented,” Vargus chimed in.
“It seems the only thing we managed to do was open more channels for them.”
“Yes…” Vargus said. “It’s clear that with this, the artificial girl opened her third.”
“It’s a good thing we didn’t go in ourselves,” Takumi said. “That orb seems to have a taste for titus.”
“Now we have only to wait for Haruki,” Akane said.
“I take full responsibility for the outcome of this mission,” Takumi said as he got to his feet. “I underestimated them and should’ve retrieved the rod and killed the elevens when they were pitifully conscious of my intentions.”
Reluctantly, he explained what had become clear to him. “Titus channels are stages of power within an individual. Magus, whose levels are between one and ten, have a total of four channels that they can open while elevens have seven channels. The more channels a magus opens, the more powerful they become and the more techniques they are within range to master.”
~*~*~*~
Blocking out the orbiting celestial body, the yin sphere extended its influence to the creek and began to suck forth scattered debris. The mass had essentially become a black hole. Earth's own suction cup, the yin metal was a void, an abyss, whose beginning held no end.
"The hell?!" Sierra said, her voice a harsh whisper, her face, shocked surprise and blank fear.
"What is that, a black hole?!" one student exclaimed.
"Where'd the sun go?!" another cried out.
"It blocked it!" someone confirmed.
"We're all gonna die!"
"It's the end of the world!"
"Sacrifice the tier ones!"
"Lynch mob?"
"What is this, ancient times?"
“Let’s kill the selfish bastards!”
"What are you, crazy? They're tier ones!"
"Screw the tiers!"
Aaron grabbed Sierra by the wrist. "We need to get out of here."
"Way ahead of you,” Sierra said, and taking to the air, she turned. "Run! Fly! Get out of here, you dumbasses!" she warned them before speeding away alongside her cousin.
The sphere's gravity roamed further and reached the creek’s other side. In the cool of the brook's water, the Corpus students themselves were all swept up regardless of their tier, gender or age. While some clung to one another, others tried to anchor themselves to the ground with conjured weapons, plants and minerals, rocks and grass, the list went on. A few tried their hand at manipulating the air itself, to no avail.
Far ahead the unconscious, Katelyn was in the air near the front of the pack. Nearby Haruki, whose titus cloak was continuously being ripped from his body, twisted in the air as helpless as the rest.
"It took his titus!" Alex exclaimed.
"It's made from titus,” Melissa pointed out. "Dog eat dog—the bigger one wins."
As his sister passed, Daniel came to. "Katelyn?" he said drowsily.
"Oh shit." Alex turned to Melissa. "Stop it! Take down the damn thing down; Katelyn's going to be sucked in!"
"I—I can't— it's too far gone.”
Yes, you can, her shadow said. You don’t want to. If you pull it down, you can’t put on your fabulous show…
“It’s following my original will,” Melissa said to Alex as she tried to ignore her second consciousness. “I don't have any control—"
Alex grabbed Melissa by her shirt front. "Don't give me that, crap. Save her!"
"It—it's out of my hands,” she replied, smacking his hand away. Helpless to stop her own power, she could only watch.
"We only have one Katelyn. Save her!" Alex demanded, fists clenched. He turned. What can I do? he thought, frantically. What use am I? I should've been smarter, should've reserved some titus for an emergency… Ah, I’m so stupid!
But he didn't know...how could he have known, have predicted such a disastrous outcome?
Daniel sat up his eyes wide. "Katelyn! Katelyn!"
The plant necklace hummed and a bright glow of his brown titus engulfed it. An enormous green root shot from the necklace. Pushing and prodding, shaking off the desperate and ignoring the helpless, it had o
ne purpose, one goal: Katelyn. Weaving through the multitude, and snagging on Katelyn's shoe, the root slid up her ankle before wrapping around her leg. Slowly recoiling, it drew her in.
"Why aren't we being pulled in?" Alex asked Melissa.
"I'm exempt, its creator,” Melissa explained.
"Exempt?"
"There's a five-foot perimeter surrounding me and within it, gravity’s normal."
"So we're in a bubble?"
"Pretty much."
Katelyn was nearly within the perimeter, scarcely a foot out. Yet clinging to her body in a chain were desperate students. Some broke off under the force and strain that the black hole exerted upon them.
Haruki, scaling the human ladder, held on, his eyes shrouded. He faced the impossible with unwavering fortitude.
"There are too many,” Daniel muttered in a trance-like state. His eyes were bloodshot and his nose streamed blood as he put his life on the line. "I only want Katelyn. Only Katelyn can be saved."
In response, tendrils, extending from the main root, began to stab eyes and whack faces. Just mere feet from the perimeter, people fell off like flies.
"Daniel, stop it. Just pull them all in!" Alex said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Stop it! Stop hitting them, stop—"
Daniel turned his head and jerking forward, he slammed it into Alex's forehead. Dropping back with a yelp, Alex placed a hand on his bleeding forehead.
"Only Katelyn will be saved!"
Daniel’s expression was desperate. He had eyes only for Katelyn and dully subtracted the presence of the rest. Reaching out, he grabbed for Katelyn's leg as the root snapped. He grasped air and without hesitation he leaped for her and wrapped his hands about his sibling's legs in a grip like iron.
Scrambling to his feet, Alex grabbed Daniel as he began to leave the perimeter, which allowed Melissa time enough to grab the blond.
Rooting itself in the frosty earth, the white metal grounded them. Snaking up, a strand of the yang extended from the rest. The metal wrapped first around Alex's middle, then Daniel's and Katelyn’s, and jerked them inside.
As they were drawn back, Katelyn opened her eyes and elbowed Haruki, the last to cling. Surprised, the man loosened his grip and because he was not fully within the perimeter’s net of safety, he was snatched back. Reclaimed by the black hole's gravity, he disappeared into its mass and was engulfed by the black. Electricity shot out from the orb as Haruki disengaged from his replica.
"Thank god..." Daniel breathed, slumping onto the ground with a smile as he glanced up at his bewildered sister. "The hell…just happened?" she asked, glancing back listlessly.
"You sent him to hell." Katelyn looked sharply at her brother, then down at her hands, a mixture of uncertainty and disappointment, frustration and anger, present in a jumble of emotional turmoil.
"But I wanted to kill him...the blue dude, with these two hands,” she said clenching her fists. "Pound him to pulp and cut him up like sushi...what is that?"
Her stormy gaze landed on the black orb. Blocking out the sun in its entirety, the sphere was like an entity within itself.
"I'm so happy,” Melissa said, her nose bleeding. Wiping her eyes, she winced as tears became blood. In a convulsion, she doubled over as racking coughs overtook her, and shaking, she dropped her to her knees.
"Melissa!" Alex cried as he scrambled to her side. His hands trembled as he hovered over her uncertainly. What should I do? He thought, feeling helpless. What can I do?
"That's enough Melissa...your—your body can't take it anymore,” Daniel said, sitting up. He glanced over his shoulder, and pressed a sleeve to his own freely bleeding nose.
"Just shut it off Melissa, stop feeding it your titus,” Alex said putting a tentative hand on her shoulder.
Ah, so you really are going through with it? the shadow said. You know, you’re really clever. Using your titus to create red liquid. Only the devious would think of that. Oh wait you are deceiving.
Shut up, you, Melissa thought back. This is necessary. I won’t find out anything any other way.
Unbelievable…
"I can't quit Alex,” Melissa said finally. “I don't have the right—"
"What do you mean you don't have the—"
"The sphere…I gave it permission to take—" She managed to say, then sucking in a shuddering breath, she held back an oncoming cough. Sitting up, her sad her violet eyes met his unwavering green and she continued. "To take…to take titus, my titus. It'll bleed me dry; suck every ounce from my body. When I die, it'll fall; this will end…and you will live."
There’s manipulation and then, the shadow began, there’s this.
Melissa ignored it.
Daniel and Katelyn stilled, their eyes lowered, expressions grim. Alex's face fell. His mouth twitched between a smile and frown. His eyes were a torrent of despair, denial, belief yet disbelief.
Melissa? Die? What a joke...what a...
"Stop...stop screwing around,” he said forcing a nervous laugh. "This – this isn't something to joke about."
"But I'm not—"
"You'll make it through this. No one's going to die. No one's going to die...?" He glanced back at the siblings who avoided his eyes guiltily. "Right guys?"
They didn't answer.
"Right?"
Melissa smiled thinly before lurching into another round of coughs, worse than the last. "My organs are—"
"Fine!" Alex said, turning back to her. "They're fine, you're fine. It's cold, you’re sick that's—that's right, a—"
"Alex,” Melissa croaked harshly.
Tears slipped down Alex's cheeks, flowing freely from his eyes. Ducking his head, he tightened his grip on her shoulder.
Melissa offered a gentle smile and touched his hand with hers. "I'm—I'm dying. I'm sorry."
"Stop…stop screwing around,” Alex said, trembling. "You said your organs are failing? No, no they're not...you're just sick—just...sick. So stop lying. Please...just, be okay?" He raised his head, eyes wild and desperate. He was like a child seeking comfort, in need of security.
"Oh, Alex..." Melissa said softly. "I'm sor—"
"Who told you to die?! Who told you, you could?! You don't have the right? Bullshit. Kill the damn black hole! Kill it! Take the bastard down!" Turning her towards him, he shook her. "Cast some voodoo, grab your wand, and undo the goddamn spell! Do it now, Melissa! Now! Now...?" Removing a hand, he grabbed the wrist of the other. Unnerved, he stared at it for a moment, at a loss.
Thrown into another round of coughs, the air caught in Melissa’s windpipe. She paled, hunching over as she reached for her throat. Heaving, blood spurted from her mouth, painting her lips, dyeing the earth and splattering clothes.
Wow… the shadow commented. Just, wow.
It’s for the greater good! Melissa thought back.
You’ve gone too far.
In shock, Alex froze. Staring wide-eyed at the blood decorating the grass like dew, his tears stopped. Tilting his head back, he looked at the sky. "What is life?" Alex said.
"Life?" Melissa rasped. "Well..."
"What is purpose?" he continued. "Why are we here? Why you?" He looked at Melissa. "Why do you have to die?"
"In life…there are sacrifices,” she said simply. "For you, for our friends...I chose that path, I was our last resort."
I didn’t know you were a poet, the shadow said with genuine surprise.
"Damn it Melissa!" Alex begged. "Stop it! Don't kill yourself over something stupid."
"Something…stupid?" She croaked; her laugh turned into another bout of hacking. "It's...it's for you, stu-stupid. For you and that rod, it’s linked with your goal...that one tied up with—with that girl."
"Girl—girl?" He just about choked on the words.
She laughed hoarsely at his expression. "So I guessed right."
“What girl?”
"I knew it, I knew—huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Yo
ur—your reaction told it all, Alex. It told it all..." Her eyes becoming ever so distant, began to wander. "There was someone chaining you down. Oh, there was something...something that always seemed to nag at you. A weight you were always lugging at the back of your mind; some sort of...pestering conscious poking at you, keeping you a foot away from me at all times."
"Stop it. Where did this come from?"
“How important she must be to you...” Melissa seethed, grabbing him by the collar. “That girl, that bitch."
Alex’s eyes widened in surprise at her sudden recovery and he had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. His mirth however soured as suspicion crept in.
“Wait, what happened to your fit of dying?” he asked coldly and removed her hand from his shirt. “You suddenly seem healed."
"Uh…” she said and threw herself back into another round of hacking.
Alex simply stared at her and dropped his hand from her shoulder. Then he raised it and smacked her across the face.
“You lying bitch. Do you have any idea how worried I was? Is playing with people’s feelings a game to you?!”
Melissa lost her focus on the black orb, let it slip from her mind, and it began to fall in the background. “You know something Alex? Faith is a virtue and intuition a skill. Do you know what mine says?"
"What are you—?"
"Persistence wins in the end."
“Stop, just stop it already. I don’t think my heart can take any more of this drama.”
"I love you."
"Love?” Alex said pulling away from her. “I can't—I never asked for that...you—you can keep it."
"Ouch,” Katelyn murmured. "Rejected..."
Melissa glared at her, before falling into a patterned cough that was the result of hacking so much before.
Katelyn pulling out her phone turned it on. "Don't cough up a lung."
“Melissa did you plan all of this?” Alex demanded, looking down on her. “Did you sacrifice our classmates and the school just so you could find out how I feel?!”
“Alex, Alex, Alex listen to me—”
He turned his gaze from her, shaking his head as he watched the orb continue its downfall. “You could’ve fought those guys yourself. You didn’t have to kill so many. Am I wrong?”
Rod Wars Page 25