Meanwhile, Chris was hacking at the shields with his claws, but they kept holding.
You need to change your tactics, young Chris, said Tigris. Unleash the full power of the tiger in you. Focus on building up your energy to the maximum, then strike. Remember how you felt when your life was in danger with thousands of enemies marching toward you earlier, tap into that same power. You won’t have a second chance though, the energy left in my armor will provide you with one more shot, then the armor will fade away.
That’s not good.
I have enough power left for your next attack, don’t waste it, though.
But, before Chris could try and power up his next attack, the spider ship rotated fast, and one of the legs hit Sarah full force and sent her crashing nearby. A large cloud of red sand rose from the impact.
“Mom!” shouted Chris as he ran toward her.
Sarah had not lost consciousness, but she ached pretty badly. She could tell that her armor had protected her from getting severely hurt.
“Are you alright?” asked Chris as he extended his hand.
Before Chris could help her get back up, the spider ship unleashed a flurry of plasma fire at them.
Their position was engulfed in a mixture of red sand clouds and explosions, creating a furnace that lasted for a good twenty seconds at which point the spider ship stopped its onslaught.
When the dust settled, a yellow dome-shaped shield appeared from behind the dissipating smoke. Sarah was back on her feet, with both her palms pointing upward.
To her surprise, her armor disintegrated in front of her eyes, and her shield dropped.
“Chris, you need to get this emitter down, we can’t keep this up.”
“What about you? You don’t even have on armor anymore.”
“Don’t worry about me, just focus on blowing that thing to bits.”
Chris nodded with determination, turned around, and started building up his energy. His aura grew, and as it did, it morphed into a green tiger that encircled him and increased in size with each passing second.
Meanwhile, the spider ship readjusted its trajectory, preparing for another round of plasma attacks, and Sarah felt she needed to find a way to stall it long enough for Chris to be able to destroy the emitter. The tips of the spider ship’s legs glowed red, and she could sense it would fire a super charged shot this time since the flurry of blasts didn’t work earlier.
When she felt the buildup almost complete on the enemy ship, she smashed her palms forward and tried using telekinesis to immobilize the ship. It worked to some extent, and the ship’s legs made a grinding noise as they continued, albeit with great difficulty to position themselves for the kill shot.
Hurry up, Chris. Not sure I can keep this up for much longer.
Chris was still powering up his attack.
I need a few more seconds.
Not sure we have them, Son.
That’s when the spider ship fired a supercharged shot of plasma. Sarah felt her motherly instincts kick into high gear, she focused on the incoming bolt of plasma and pushed her powers to the limit. The bolt froze in midair similar to how Chase had blocked the attack from Miseo’s ship.
She had two children to protect, and she’d be damned if she’d let them die.
She clenched her teeth as two small lines of blood traveled down one of her eyes.
Chris roared and unleashed the tiger-shaped aura whereupon it smashed through the shields, devouring both it and the emitter. The resulting massive explosion engulfed the spider ship in flames.
Sarah couldn’t hold much longer and Chris picked up on that. While his armor was fading away, Chris joined his hands together and shot a powerful green fireball at the seemingly frozen plasma bolt. And, just in time too, as Sarah’s telekinetic hold failed and the bolt resumed its trajectory toward them. It was intercepted by Chris’ attack canceling it out, creating another explosion and a large shockwave that sent the spider ship flying into a spin.
It quickly recovered, changed its vector, and flew away at high speed.
Sarah exhaled deeply and fell to her knees.
“Mom!” he exclaimed as he rushed to her side.
“I’m okay,” she said between heavy breaths. “Good job on taking out the emitter, but that was too close for comfort.”
When Gaia regained consciousness, her head was throbbing with pain. Just before passing out, she thought that Achanes might have made good on his threat of killing her. She was relieved that wasn’t the case, but her thoughts filled with negative emotions.
She had failed to acquire the blink drive tech. And if she simply returned to the AI’s virtual world, he would just finish her. Unless…
An idea formed inside her mind, and she came up with a plan on how to better prepare herself for a second encounter with the AI. Fortunately, she had recorded her encounter with the Atlantian AI, and she sifted through her logs trying to find a location for the different pieces of technology that its matrix contained. While her logs were incomplete, it did seem like the techs were stored by categories. She focused on drilling into the data from what appeared to be a compartmentalized folder that contained space travel related techs. Surely the secrets of the blink drive would be located there.
But knowing where to look and actually managing to access that data were two different things, and her human avatar projection inside the virtual world had been weak and could not defend itself from the overwhelming powers of Achanes. It was his matrix and his realm after all, so he was literally a god on his own turf. That’s what Gaia knew she had to focus on. She needed to create a much stronger avatar if she ever wanted to stand a chance in challenging Achanes.
That’s when it hit her, she had all the data she needed. Her matrix contained all the techniques from many Fury fighters, so she quickly created a new avatar sub-routine that she aptly named Super Fury Avatar. She downloaded all the fighting techniques she had observed from Chase, Argos, Chris, Sarah, and even Oryn, Miseo, and General Arkoolis. Loading this sub-routine before re-entering the Achanes matrix would grant her their powers in the virtual world, and hopefully, it would be sufficient to resist him long enough to grab the blink drive data and exit the AI’s matrix.
She felt she owed it to Spiros to let him know about her daring plan but reluctantly decided against it. He had been pretty adamant against her trying to access the data, and if he knew that she would try and battle a vastly superior AI, one probably even more powerful than Gaia 2 had been, he might not only disagree but do everything in his power to stop her.
Looking at the battle unfolding outside told Gaia that things weren’t going as smoothly as Chase had hoped. Erevos was still there, and the space battle didn’t seem to be dominated by either of the opponents. Her ability to get a new advanced tech to the Earth Alliance could very well be what tipped the balance of the war on this day, and as such, she knew she had to try at least, no matter the consequences.
Once she felt she had created the most powerful version of her avatar, she loaded the file and returned to Achanes’ matrix. Shortly after arriving, he spoke with his thousand voices once more.
“Looks like you’ve decided to die today. I won’t enjoy killing a fellow AI, even one as primitive as yours, but your actions leave me no choice.”
Tanak’Vor’s aura was a mixture of dark smoke and a bright white aura. His pupils turned a glacial hue of light cyan, which gave him a haunting look as they contrasted with the black around him. The room temperature dropped rapidly, and everything was covered in a layer of ice.
Chase knew what Tanak’Vor was doing, he was deliberately using Oryn’s power and even mimicking how those powers made her look. Was the Spectre taunting Chase or toying with him?
Even in Ultra Fury form, he still felt that the gap in power between them was massive. Tanak’Vor turned his forearms into two large icy blades and launched himself at Chase. Dodging the blades required Chase’s entire focus, and he felt like he could only react on defense, never findin
g a way to try and counterattack.
At least he wasn’t getting hit.
“Impressive, you’re much faster than before,” said the Spectre. “Let’s see how fast you can be.”
Suddenly, Tanak’Vor clenched his fists and the icy blades shattered. He sent the resulting hundreds of icy shards flying at Chase with a single thought. They came at Chase so fast that he knew he wouldn’t have time to dodge them individually, so he teleported behind Tanak’Vor and went for an elbow strike.
Sensing his opponent behind him, Tanak’Vor blocked Chase’s elbow and applied pressure. Chase’s bones broke like they were made of brittle wood. The resulting pain dropped Chase’s focus, and the Spectre unleashed a powerful combo of strikes that Chase couldn’t dodge or block. The speed at which the blows impacted with his body and the intensity of the pain weakened his resolve, and for the first time since stepping out of the time chamber, an intense sense of dread filled his soul.
“Ah, teleportation,” said Tanak’Vor as he kept pounding on Chase. “That’s the one power I look forward to acquiring from you. It may be the only thing of value you have to offer.”
Would they be able to get rid of such a powerful enemy?
For a fleeting second, Chase thought he heard Ares again.
You’re not strong enough on your own, just get the hell out of here.
But with more punches crushing Chase’s bones every millisecond, it felt as if Tanak’Vor’s earlier words had set the stage and that Chase had already lost.
When the Spectre stopped attacking, Chase couldn’t stand anymore, and he fell on his back, his bruised body ached as much as his wavering hopes.
Tanak’Vor took a couple of steps forward and put his foot on Chase’s chest, immobilizing him on the floor. He aimed an open palm at Chase’s head, and a crackling black fireball came to life. Chase remembered the vision Sarah had thanks to unborn Chris’ pre-cog abilities. In her vision, she mentioned Chase hearing footsteps. And, sure enough, running footsteps could be heard, making Chase smile.
Was Chris coming to his rescue? Where they all coming?
Tanak’Vor looked up and saw a silhouette emerge from the shadows. Before he could adjust his aim from Chase’s head to the new opponent, Argos’ fist smashed Tanak’Vor’s face with such force that he was catapulted away and crashed into the wall. Large cracks created around the point of impact.
26
Argos still wore his armor, which Chase thought was good news.
“Are you alright?” asked Argos, as he put his right palm on Chase’s chest to heal him.
“I’m better, now. We gotta go, though, we’re still no match for him, and you may not know this, but your armor can disappear at any time.”
“I know, but Python’s armor still has a bit of juice.”
“That won’t matter, Argos, I’ve unleashed my most powerful attack on Tanak’Vor with the help of Drakos. It consumed half of his body, but he recovered from it like it was a mosquito bite.”
“Who’s Tanak’Vor?” asked Argos.
“I am,” said the Spectre as he got back to his feet and dusted himself off. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at the black blood before returning his gaze to the Ultra Furies. “This day gets better and better, first I get my hands on the soul ships, and now I’m given the opportunity to kill the two strongest Furies.”
Argos growled. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“You don’t seriously think that you rival your brother, now do you? We both know that you’re not even a close second. So, if Chase hasn’t managed to defeat me, what do you think your chances are?”
Argos grabbed his brother’s forearm and brought him back to his feet.
“Who said I intended to face you alone.”
We should go, said Chase.
No, let’s face him together. I have a plan. Just follow my lead. Distract him for a few seconds, that’s all I need.
Chase grew his aura and launched himself at Tanak’Vor. He unleashed a series of combos that the Spectre had no trouble dodging and blocking. Meanwhile, Argos was powering up his aura to the maximum, and it morphed into a crimson snake that swirled and danced around him.
Tanak’Vor went on the defensive rather than just countering Chase’s attack. Argos roared, but before Tanak’Vor could turn to see what he was doing, the snake energy swirled around the Spectre and began constricting him. Tanak’Vor clenched his teeth as he tried ridding the energy hold on him.
“Chase!” shouted Argos. “Now!”
Chase teleported next to his brother, and they both unleashed a powerful column of energy. The energy streams intertwined and shot toward Tanak’Vor, who was still struggling to get himself free.
The throne room was plunged into chaos as the attack landed, creating a massive explosion followed by a shockwave. The walls shook, the ceiling and parts of the floor cracked.
The armor on Argos disintegrated as both he and Chase panted heavily.
“Good job, Brother,” said Chase.
“Right back at you.”
Once the post-explosion dust cloud faded away, Tanak’Vor was nowhere to be seen.
“I think we did it,” said Argos.
Chase felt a pit form in his stomach, and before he could voice it, they heard a voice coming from behind them.
“You fools!” exclaimed Tanak’Vor.
As they turned back, the Spectre clocked both of them with his forearms extended at his side. The impact was devastating and sent Chase and Argos careening into the wall. Tanak’Vor fired a column of black energy at them. While Chase had been unable to sense the Spectre’s presence ever since he had taken possession of Arakan’s body, he could now feel the incredible amount of power coming toward them. Argos, who was first back on his feet, prepared himself to block the attack.
“No!” protested Chase as he teleported in front of his brother. Before Argos could complain, Chase drew a perfect circle with both his hands. “Perseus Mirror Shield!”
The attack thudded against Chase’s mirror shield and boomeranged to Tanak’Vor faster than it had left the Spectre’s hand. Tanak’Vor blocked his own attack as the column of energy morphed into a crackling black sphere with red lightning sizzling on its surface.
Tanak’Vor seemed to struggle to reassimilate the energy of his own attack when Argos jumped to the side and fired three fireballs in quick succession toward the center of the black sphere. The fireballs acted like detonators causing Tanak’Vor’s attack to blow in his direction and take out the upper half of his body. Smoke rose from his exposed entrails, but the lower part of Arakan’s body still stood on its two legs.
“Die, motherfucker!”
Chase couldn’t believe his eyes. But his rising sensation of victory was short-lived. Hundreds of black tendrils suddenly shot from the wound and started undulating frantically. They began rebuilding the top half of the Spectre’s body.
“What the fuck does it take to kill that thing?” spat Argos.
Apparently, it was a rhetorical question, as he had no intention of letting the body reconstruct. He extended his palms forward and started shooting fireballs by the dozens.
Some of the black tendrils morphing into Arakan’s upper body extended forward and swiped the incoming fireballs away.
“Stop wasting your energy, I don’t think we can win this way,” said a resigned Chase.
Before Argos could protest, Chase placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder and teleported them away.
Tanak’Vor’s black tendrils took another minute to rebuild the top half of Arakan’s body.
I hate this meat suit, the flesh of this pest populating the galaxy is so frail and disgusting.
Once his body had returned to full health, Tanak’Vor cracked his neck.
I didn’t expect that only two Furies would be able to inflict that much damage.
Tanak’Vor had reasons to worry as he could feel that he expended way more energy than he felt comfort
able with recreating Arakan’s meat suit. Not once, but twice. Never before did the Spectre need to use more than a fraction of his energy pool, and today he had consumed almost a third. But he was confident that he still had plenty of energy left to deal with his adversary later if that was even necessary.
By now General Vega should have killed the other two Furies, secured the soul ships, and be on his way back. Tanak’Vor marched toward his destroyed throne and looked at the rubble. He pointed a single finger, and a strong red light flared at its tip. The rubble levitated and the throne reassembled itself. Soon the damage in the devastated throne room was mended, and Tanak’Vor sat down.
He pressed a control and opened a channel to General Vega.
“Report.”
A second later, Vega beamed in front of Tanak’Vor. The Spectre could read from the look on the Fury’s face everything he needed to know.
I can’t count on anybody in this wretched universe.
“Supreme Commander, I’m sorry to report that we were unsuccessful in preventing the destruction of the emitter. I take full res—”
Tanak’Vor flicked two fingers to the side, and an invisible force decapitated General Vega. The Fury’s head remained in the air as the rest of his body fell to its knees, large quantities of blood shooting from the severed neck before falling forward.
The Spectre sighed.
He summoned the floating head with his telekinetic powers and grabbed it by the back of its skull. Vega’s face was locked into a look of terror.
“Your soul, as pathetic as it is, is now mine.”
Tanak’Vor opened his mouth wide. In its center, a strong siphoning force resembling a miniature black hole started sucking the soul from the room. Part of it had stayed in the general’s body and traveled to the Spectre’s mouth in a split second. Tanak’Vor then oriented his mouth over the severed head in his hand. The other part of the soul, which had been splintered in two by the brutal Spectre attack, exited Vega’s head from his livid eye sockets and formed into two streams of blue-colored energy. Once the entire soul had been assimilated by the Spectre, Vega’s head lost all color.
Into the Fire Part II: To End All Wars (Universe in Flames Book 10) Page 25