by Ross Buzzell
“Who are you?”
Her voice is firm and low, almost as if a defensive growl, instinctively in an attempt to intimidate her attacker. The man takes a step forward. He points the head of the spear he holds in his right hand at the ring around her neck.
“I am Disa’ani of Boron and THAT belongs to my master.”
She smirks and shakes her head; her grip around the bat tightens so much she can feel her knuckles turning white.
“Does your master wear armor like you?”
Disa’ani’s eyes glance off to the side as he notices the cape around her shoulders. He begins to laugh to himself and nod his head. It causes Natalie to begin to feel even more fearful, but she will not strike until she has an opening and now is not that time.
“I see Konner survived the battle with my master, but why, pray tell, would he leave such valuable items in the hands of a human?”
She lifts the bat slightly off the ground as the menacing figure takes a few more steps towards her.
“He is too injured to retrieve them… which means all I have to do is take them from you and my master will be very pleased.”
As he looks at the ring and cape with a lust for power the likes she has never seen, Natalie seizes her window. In one swift, fluid motion, she knocks Disa’ani’s spear up and away from her. Stepping towards him, she spins herself, lining up a powerful swing, and slams the bat as hard as she can into the intruder’s helmet with a loud CLANG. The blow causes his head to jerk to one side, but it does not seem to hurt him. He releases the spear that was knocked into the air—it begins to float as well—before grabbing the bat with his bare hands. His gaze does not go to the bat, his spears, or even the ring around her neck, but directly to her eyes. She has never seen such rage and darkness in a single being before as a soft groan fills the air. Natalie glances up at the bat to see his fingers digging into the metal, causing it to collapse like foil in his hand. Disa’ani pulls the bat out of her hands and throws it away, which causes the would-be defensive tool to break into three pieces: the handle, the tip and the compressed portion in the middle where he gripped it tight.
“You are a brave one, I will give you that, but courage will not save you from me,”
He growls before he wraps his fingers around her neck. Natalie feels her windpipe close. She begins to struggle for air as her blood pressure rises. Her heart pounds so hard that it is deafening, but she will not let fear cause her to freeze. As her feet lift from the floor, she attempts to dig her nails into Disa’ani’s wrist with her left hand as she slams her right into his helmet as hard as she can. The contact hurts her knuckles, but it is a price she is willing to pay if she is going to survive this. She kicks her feet wildly but not without purpose; she noticed a few weak spots in the armor and she aims the toe of her shoes between the protective metal to the intruder’s exposed areas. Nothing. Her vision begins to blur, and in one final effort to save herself as she feels consciousness slipping away, she pulls her fist back and points two fingers forward. Ensuring that her aim is true, she thrusts her hand as hard as she can towards Disa’ani’s eyes in hopes that they are at least somewhat sensitive. Her fingers make it past his visor. She feels the tips of her fingers heat up as a soft blue light seems to flash at her fingertips just as they come in contact with the soft eyes of the intruder. She feels the moistness of his eyes dampen her fingertips, and with rage igniting inside her, she shoves her fingers even harder into them.
“AHHH!”
Disa’ani screams out as he falls back, releasing Natalie. She drops to the ground and takes a deep breath, her throat throbbing. She can still feel each finger on it as if he were still holding her. Her lungs burn as she fills them with oxygen and her vision returns to normal. Her body trembles, not out of fear—that has been replaced with a rage that not even she thought she was capable of—but out of the shock that has just been dealt to her system. The spears that are floating fall to the ground as the intruder staggers back, holding his eyes and grunting in pain.
Natalie’s flight or fight reflexes kick in and everything in her body tells her to pick up the spear and run the intruder through; she fights that urge. She manages to keep her emotions under control. She has been in potentially life-threatening situations before having lived through domestic abuse, which helps her to think clearly and stay focused. “He’s blinded; that won’t last long. Confused; again, it’ll be shaken off any moment. The door!” Natalie gets to her feet and charges at the open door, realizing that is her only realistic means of escape. Just as she is about to reach it, one of the spears flies into her path, floating before her for a mere moment before the sharp tip thrusts itself at her. Before the spear can sink itself into her chest, a blue field of energy forms between her and the weapon blocking its attack. The force of the blow still causes Natalie to slide backwards a few feet. Still upright, she glances over at the intruder, who has an arm outstretched. Pain and confusion are strewn across his face as he attempts to blink the water from his eyes and regain his focus.
The spear lunges at her again; this time, she dives out of the way and towards her would-be assassin. She uses her entire body weight to her advantage. Grabbing the man’s wrist, she wrenches it behind him, slamming an elbow into him as hard as she can, causing him to buckle. She is able to twist his arm behind his back and pin it against his armor. Keeping her momentum up, she places one of her hands on the back of his head and begins to drive him forward with all her might, letting out a roar of the raging warrior within her. She has no idea how she has managed this; her body just seemed to react, but it is not something she is about to squander. Driving the man forward, she slams him headfirst into the opposing brick wall so hard it puts a hole in it. The man falls to the ground and his helmet tumbles off as red brick dust rains down on him. He turns his head to Natalie. His face is red with rage, which causes her to instinctively step back.
“I haven’t been hit like that since I faced him. That was a mistake!”
His voice is low, in an angry growl. He flicks of his wrist and Natalie notices something move from the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she ducks as a spear passes over her head, missing her, but then a powerful blow from behind accompanied with a blue flash of light sends her tumbling forward onto the ground. The intruder places the counter balance of his spear against the wooden ground; the small spike at the end penetrates the floor like a hot knife through butter. He pulls himself to his feet, slowly, deliberately, and cracks his neck, the sound of which sends a chill down Natalie’s spine; her luck has just run out.
With a powerful thrust, his spear is stopped from slaying her by the blue light that flares and saves her once again from a would-be fatal blow. She staggers back, only to be hit in the back again, making her stumble forward to be met by Disa’ani’s powerful hand gripping her wrist. He spins, contorting her arm in a way that it should not bend. A shock of pain reverberates through her body as she feels her shoulder being forced from its socket. She lets out a scream of pain while she is lifted from the ground; the world around her blurs and her stomach drops as her body spins through the air. She feels his vise-like grip loosen around her and release her. Another blue flash of light encompasses her when she slams into the brick wall, causing more of it to fall away. Coming back to her senses, Natalie is greeted by three spears jabbing at and slamming into the shielding that is protecting her.
“I’ve seen first-hand how long that shield will last, and at my hands, it will not be long.”
He slams his spears into the shield once again and as the light flairs Natalie’s heart sinks, cracks are beginning to form. She tries to push herself off the ground with her right arm but it collapses as pain shoots from her shoulder throughout the rest of her body. The relentless attacks from Disa’ani send her bouncing back into the wall. She tries to struggle to get free but with three spears berating her she is pretty much pinned in place. The ring around her neck begins to grow brighter with each powerful blow from Disa’ani. She tries to calm
her mind, but sheer terror grips her. The only name she can think of is the one he all but whispered when he arrived: Konner. Natalie closes her eyes; wrapping her fingers tightly around the ring, she pictures the man that saved her once before already as she yells out in her mind, “KONNER, I NEED YOU!”
The ring begins to strobe from behind her fingers and warm up. Natalie drops her hand as the ring lets off a bright explosion of light, which sends her attacker across the room. The spear in his hand is released and the other two drop to the ground while Disa’ani slides to a stop. In the blink of an eye, he is back on his feet, his eyes locked on Natalie like a lion choosing his prey. Out of the corner of her eye, there is yet another blue flash of light. Natalie turns to face it and sees the man who saved her standing in the doorway, his wounds healed and his armor looking brand new. Behind him to his left stands a tall blond woman who seems to recognize Disa’ani and on his right a shorter dark-haired woman with one bright blue and one brown eye. Her skin is darker than the other two and she appears to be in some sort of “suit” as well. The man in the middle she can only assume is this Konner makes eye contact with her. At that moment, all time seems to stop as she can see him clearly now. His eyes are soft and kind, his face relaxes as he gazes upon her, and a soft smile forms on his lips as her heart begins to race once again, not out of fear or anger, but this time, out of a magnetic pull towards this man. A spear passes right in front of the man’s face and sticks into the wall and his demeanor changes; his eyes narrow and change to those belonging to one of a ferocious being. His brows drop and furrows together, and his jaw clenches as his attention is drawn to the intruder.
Chapter: 9
The Bonding of Emma and Doug
There is a bit of tension between Konner and Danielle as Emma re-enters the room. She glances around her living room, perplexed at why there is so much sand everywhere and where it came from. When Danielle tells Konner she wants to speak to him in private and he compliments Emma on her suit, she feels her cheeks flush as a nervous smile forms on her lips. She spent months researching materials, weeks planning and designing the costume, and even did her own re-search on how to combined the desired materials to fulfill the overall aesthetic that she wanted. When the sliding door closes, Emma looks around at the sand once more.
“What did I miss?”
Her voice has a slight flare of agitation as she has just cleaned and sand is impossible to clean up.
“Konner just incited an international incident. Fortunately it was against a terrorist cell, so I doubt there will be very much backlash.”
Emma shakes her head; politics is not something she is interested in. Most of the time, it is people blaming others for their own mistakes or hiding inflammatory information, then acting surprised when it comes out and blaming their opponent, despite being the ones who caused the problems in the first place. Emma catches Doug staring at her as if trying to figure out what she is. His head tilts to one side.
“I have got to ask, what is that?”
A wide smile forms on her lips as a swell of pride forms in her chest.
“It’s my costume; every hero needs one.”
Doug laughs a little bit and stands up as he continues to inspect the costume. Leaning in, he pokes her shoulder to feel the material.
“Where did you get it?”
“I made it for a convention. Thought it would be fun to go as a custom made hero.”
Doug pooches his lower lip as if impressed, nodding while he does.
“What is it made out of?”
“Well, there it is a bit complicated. It is a blend of Kevlar and a very dense yet flexible and fire resistant substance called Drake’s Skin.”
Doug raises an eyebrow and laughs in mild confusion.
“Where did you manage to get all of that Kevlar? And how did you manage to turn it into an entire suit?”
Emma shrugs as she runs her fingers over the rubbery yet slightly coarse suit.
“One of my ex-boyfriends was military and got busted for stealing Kevlar vests. I tried to return them, but the military for some reason would not reclaim them. I did some research and figured out how the vests were woven to give them their bulletproof properties, very VERY carefully de-constructed the vests, treated the fibers with melted Drake’s Skin and pieces of micro titanium, then re-assembled the individual strands into my costume.”
“How long did it take you to make that?”
Doug asks, his mood changing to fascinated. Emma begins to feel a little vulnerable in his presence. No one has shown this much interest in her work before outside of a convention. A strange sense of attraction grabs her, not of a romantic nature; more like the bond of a blossoming friendship. She holds up her hand; the sleeve covers down to her knuckles with her thumb poking through a hole in the side. Doug reaches out and runs his fingers over the material once again.
“It took me about two years from start to finish.”
“And does it work?”
Doug asks. Emma smiles and nods. She lowers her hand and walks over to the door that leads to the garage. Opening it, she leans in and grabs a square piece of material whose dimensions are two feet by two feet; it is charred but still whole.
“This is my test subject; I used a blow torch on it for almost five minutes at point blank range. The material only blackened, so I would say it is fire resistant. I used a few of my dad’s guns on it too. It held up really well against most of them.”
Emma points at a small hole in the upper right hand corner of the square.
“It held up until I shot it with a .50 caliber handgun at point blank range.”
“So what happens if someone shoots you in the head or that window on your chest?”
Emma lets off a nervous laugh and shrugs.
“Let’s hope that I don’t have to test that out.”
Emma sets the test patch back down where she grabbed it and closes the door. Doug leans against the door frame on the far side of the room.
“Either way, it is very impressive and impressionable.”
“Thank you,”
Emma says softly. Walking over towards Doug, she looks out to the balcony to see Danielle speaking with Konner, who appears very distraught.
“What do you think they are talking about?”
she asks. Doug pushes off the wall and makes his way by her side, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I don’t know, but whatever it is, I don’t imagine it is good.”
As he speaks, he touches her shoulder with his unintentionally. There is a bright flash of light and Emma feels a strange pull from within her as well as the sensation of growing considerable stronger. As the flash subsides, she looks around the room. Doug is nowhere to be seen. She catches her reflection in a mirror and notices she appears slightly different. Quickly, she moves to the mirror and looks at her reflection. Her skin is a little bit tanner than it usually is, her raven hair has a tint of brown to it, and one of her eyes is brown instead of icy blue like the other. From within her head, she hears a voice, but not one that matches her own inner voice. This one is masculine and sounds almost like Doug. “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!” the voice screams. This startles Emma, so she leans closer to the mirror and speaks out loud.
“Doug?”
Again, from inside her head, the voice cries out. “YES IT’S DOUG!!!!”
Chapter: 10
Meeting an Old Friend
After complimenting Emma’s suit, Konner leaves the room and exits onto the patio. Leaning against the railing, he glances over at Danielle, who turns around, facing the house, and sits leans backward on the railing. He can tell what is coming, so he figures he will get in front of it.
“I am sorry I was so public and cavalier about the situation with the terrorists, but my duty is to protect my people and you out of everyone should know that they ARE my people.”
Konner looks over at Danielle. Pushing off of the railing, he turns around and leans against it in the same fashion as her as
to better hold a conversation. She nods in agreement with his words before contributing herself:
“I know, Konner, but it would be like you landing on a Trigzell planet and immediately getting involved in a violent confrontation that the natives had been engaged with and have tactics on fighting for years. You have been on diplomatic missions, your sister is a diplomat, and how would that look from their point of view? Would that be how your sister would suggest handling the situation? I mean you know that we are part of your people… but nearly nobody else does.”
Konner nods. It is a good point, a typical first-contact scenario, and he may have just screwed it up badly.
“I know… wait, how do you know about the Trigzell?”