Sol Boxset

by Samuel Small

  Dante pulled both of his arms far behind his back and gathered as much energy as he could into each hand as the leader raised her arm high into the sky. A swirl of wind took on the whole battlefield. It was enough to send Dante’s hair flailing around and his jeans knocking against his ankles, but he liked the feeling. The air was almost kinetic, and he was happy to test this woman’s strength.

  He shot his left hand forward and a massive laser of energy tore out of it, rushing toward his floating foe who unleashed an attack to defend herself. The two forces launched into each other with a loud crash, and Dante felt resistance as her energy struggled against his. He put more effort into his output, then felt her push back. It was a big tug of war, and the girl’s energy slowly threatened to overpower his own.

  Just as he planned.

  Dante placed his right hand out and a second beam of energy launched out of it, swirling and matching the first one. The sudden burst of energy would be more than enough to stop her attack, but Dante doubted taking her out would be as simple as that. He emptied his hands of energy and ran to the side where he anticipated the girl would appear. As expected, she flew down toward him, and Dante wasted no time and launched a volley of attacks at her. This girl was insane though, she moved from side to side and avoided the many energy bolts with ease. In no time at all she had landed on the building and rushed toward him, her feet tearing across the top of the building with a speed that wasn’t quite human. You wanna go hand-to-hand, eh?

  She made two quick punches at Dante and he was able to catch both of them in his palms, although they hit with a certain amount of force that caused even his calloused hands to sting. He was already jumping back when she let her right foot out in a roundhouse kick, and he was inside and clinching up before she could follow up with a spinning attack.

  She was fast, sure, faster than him by a long way, but she wasn’t reaching the superhuman blitzing speed of that demon. And speed didn’t mean she was a better fighter either, at least not in hand-to-hand combat. She was good, Dante would give her that, but he was better and he was able to predict her movements and get in close. She struggled and grunted as she tried to free herself from him, but he held her in a firm death grip. She placed her hand on his face and tried to push him away, and that’s when he let out a roar, tore her head down, and laid a knee right into her stomach.

  He blasted them one after another, and the fight left the girl after about the third one, but Dante wasn’t done. He continued to pile them on, making sure to really dig into her with each attack until she went from standing to hunched over to really hunched over, and when she was on the ground, Dante firmly on top of her and ready to continue the beating, he stopped. She placed her hands over her injured belly and coughed, although no sound came out. Dante stood up and looked down at her, jamming his hands into his pockets. He felt bad for the girl, he knew better than anybody how fucking bad knees hurt, but it wasn’t like he could take it easy on her. He mumbled an apology as he left the shaking girl and walked clear off the top of the building, where Sara awaited behind a curved wall of ice, the minions blasting steadily into it.

  They didn’t notice Dante land on the ground behind them, he doubted they could hear him over the sound of cracking ice and rushing wind, so it was no problem for him to let out four heavy punches, sending out balls of energy that dug into the back of each woman’s head, knocking them unconscious without much trouble. It was a sneak attack and cheap, sure, but so was five on fucking one. He walked forward and past the unmoving bodies of the women, and stepped around the ice wall where Sara waited, her arms folded and her glare as icy as ever.

  “Now wait just a goddam minute,” Dante began, placing his hands up before his chest, but Sara didn’t wait a minute and thrust her arm out. Dante rolled to avoid being skewered.

  “I leave you alone for five minutes and you manage to find some kind of secret society to get into a fight with and get me dragged into it!?” Sara shouted.

  “Yeah, and I just got done taking out their boss so cut me a fucking break!”

  Sara looked on at him, fuming, and Dante knew that she was going keep it up, but he didn’t have time for the comedy routine. His brow was wet with sweat, and his back tingled with danger. Something was coming, something big. As if to confirm this, Dante heard a few soft steps, and when he turned he took in Lennon, whose fists were clenched at his sides. He was looking right through Dante, not the guy he wanted to piss off. Lennon’s feet left the ground and began to slowly hover toward him. He didn’t have much time.

  He knew bedhead would figure out the hierarchy shit, he was such a history nerd that if Dante could he definitely would, so he had to give her hint. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lennon getting closer. “The fruit!” he yelled as Lennon plowed into him. He flew forward, slamming his back into something hard, Lennon gripping his collar tightly. Something fell to his side – that damned fruit. He looked on at Lennon, who was staring him dead in the eye, his expression twisted with rage. He looked to either side where his comrades lay, then back to Dante. He pressed him further into the tree.

  “What have you done?”

  Dante tried to pull the guy’s grip off of him, but as soon as he made contact Lennon slammed him back into the tree, pain shooting up his spine. There was a constant humming: that was Lennon’s wind keeping him in the air. He looked like some deity, and Dante wasn’t sure how he’d get out of this one.

  “Listen, they started this— OOF!”

  “They are specifically ordered to attack only when provoked. I’ve been very understanding, but that ends here.” He wore a rage, but Dante saw something deeper shimmering just below the surface. It was an act, one even Lennon himself believed, no doubt, but Dante still couldn’t help but bring it up.

  “This isn’t going to make them accept you.” Lennon’s mouth dropped at the words, and for a moment Dante wondered if he’d get it and let him go. Nope. His face once again hardened and he drew his lips inward.

  As Dante flipped all the way over, his skull dead set on ramming straight into the ground, the last thought that went through is mind was, denial, got it.

  Chapter 7

  A scene was the only way to describe what was taking place before Jake. As he rushed to the floating island, Elizabeth at his side, he took everything in.

  Spread across the area were the elite guards in long robes, as well as several women in tight fitting combat uniforms. The whole scene reeked of Dante, and as Jake leapt onto the mainland he caught the attention of Floff, who broke from the women whom he was talking to and walked over to Jake. His face was contorted with anger, and Jake knew that if he didn’t say something he was going to get caught up in this nonsense.

  “What did Dante do?” he said, just as the man reached him. Floff’s mouth fell open in surprise, then hardened as he thought. He must have recalled memories that indicated Dante was a troublemaker and Jake tried to stop him, and he relaxed.

  “We’re not sure yet, but he’s been detained.”

  “Thank God,” Elizabeth said. Floff shot her a raised eyebrow, but then quickly jerked his thumb backward.

  “He’s been detained, but I’d prefer not to drag the other lady into it. Apparently she showed up after everything started, and only tried to prevent what she perceived as an attack on her teammate. I’m sympathetic to her position and would like to let her go, but I can’t if she keeps acting the way she is.”

  Jake nodded and followed Floff, where a few of the robed people parted to show Sara, kneeling, her hair splayed out. She glared up at Lennon, who was looking down at her with equal displeasure. There were handcuffs around her wrists. Lennon turned from her to meet Jake, his happy demeanor now completely gone. Jake really wanted to know what Dante had done to make such a happy guy so angry.

  “You have my sincerest apologies for the actions of my comrade,” Jake began, but Lennon looked down and shook his head. Whatever Dante did, it looked like he injured the man’s heart more than anything
else. “What specifically did he say or do?”

  “I’m still gathering that myself. What I do know is that he attacked the Sisters—”

  “They attacked him!” Sara shouted.

  “You couldn’t possibly know that. You showed up not much before I did.”

  “He sent me away so he could—”

  “So he could attack them. Listen, I don’t have a problem with any of you individually, you all seem like nice people. Hell, I’m not sure I dislike Dante, even after all this, but the fact of the matter is that there are strict rules here that you all have to abide by, him included. Attacking the Sisters is a sacred taboo and I simply can’t help him.”

  He turned specifically to Sara, addressing this next bit at her. “The Sisters are taught to keep to the shadows and watch. They would not have done anything without being provoked.” Again, he turned to Jake and Elizabeth. “I think we can all agree that it’s quite in character for him to pick a fight. I understand that you are all new here and may be unfamiliar with our customs, but attacking the Sisters is far too grave an offense for me to forgive. He’ll have to accept his punishment. You lot are welcome to stay as long as you want, we will not hold the hostility of your brazen comrade against you.” He knelt down before Sara, who kept her eyes on the ground. “All of you,” he said, then touched each ring of her handcuffs. They clicked and popped, and Sara’s hands were free. She rubbed her wrists, and slowly rose to a stand.

  “Dante’s currently in lock up. You can visit him tomorrow, as long as he’s been well behaved. I’d ask that you please leave this place, however, as we are a bit busy.”

  Jake thanked him and walked away, making sure that Sara followed. She was hesitant at first, taking only a few small steps, but soon realized that sticking around there wouldn’t do much good and she hopped between the platforms with Jake and Elizabeth. As they walked back to their hotel, silent and digesting the situation, something about the scene in Jake’s mind was off – very off.

  The entity known as the Sisters drove him insane. He could piece together that they were a special force, intended for spying, but the name bugged him, as did the behavior around them. This society celebrated women so much that they had a special elite squadron composed entirely of them, yet despite them being elite warriors they were like a protected class as well. Dante got away with fighting Floff scot-free, but one attack on them and it’s off to the slammer, coupled with the unbridled rage of Lennon. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense. He’d have to ask Sara for specifics.

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “We went to look at those monuments, he said that something about them was bothering him, but before we actually reached them he started acting really rude and sent me away. I think that’s because he noticed those Sisters following us. I did like he wanted and was heading back when I noticed a commotion, I’d imagine the same one you guys did, and came to help. By that time he was already fighting them, and he managed to defeat the whole group once I was a decoy,” she scoffed and crossed her arms, but there was a twinge of a smile on her face. “Almost as soon as they were unconscious, Lennon showed up and arrested him.”

  “So you didn’t get any information out of him before he was arrested?”

  “He said something about fruit.”

  “That makes no sense. My guess is,” Elizabeth said, “once he realized he was being followed, he sent you away so he could cause all the violence.”

  It sounded like a total Dante move, and Jake agreed with her hypothesis but something still bugged him. “Why were they following them in the first place though?”

  “Because they’re foreigners, obviously,” Elizabeth said.

  “Yeah, but they weren’t following us. If they were, they would have jumped in when…” Jake trailed off and looked at Sara, who was staring on curiously. He gave an uncomfortable smile, “…when that hooded guy attacked us.”

  “You mean they’re back?”

  “It appears so. One of them just tried to kill us, but fled once that boy interrupted him. I suppose I owe him for the outburst.”

  “So after helping us, now they’re trying to kill us?”

  “No,” Jake said, and locked eyes with Elizabeth. She looked solemn, but he had to tell her no matter what. “He was after Elizabeth, and just Elizabeth. He only went after me because I got in the way.”

  Elizabeth stopped midstride, her mouth agape and her eyes wide with horror. Jake and Sara stopped, his heart hurting for her. She grimaced and clenched her fists.

  “So my presence here is putting you all in danger?”

  “Don’t worry about it too much,” Sara said. “Dante’s presence puts us all in danger.” Elizabeth looked up in shock at this casual write-off of the problem, but then smiled. Jake joined in.

  “Yeah, he’s gotten us almost killed way more than you ever could. Don’t worry, we’ll handle them.”

  “Still, I think we should take care of Dante first,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t like to admit it, but if we’re going to have to go up against a strong opponent like that man, I’d like his assistance.”

  “The people here seem reasonable enough. As long as he doesn’t act like an idiot while in lock up they’ll probably let him go.”

  All three stopped abruptly at the suggestion and winced. They knew they were going to have to break him out.

  ***

  Several shadows branched out over Dante’s body, courtesy of the torchlight just outside the door. The cell was musty, dark, and smelly. He wished he hadn’t put up a fight when they took him here so that he had a better idea of where he was, but based on the temperature and the cold air, Dante ventured to guess that he was underground.

  Underground… in the sky? he thought.

  He fidgeted with his hands a little more, but it did little to affect his restraints. He figured these guys would’ve used rope bindings or something similar, but these translucent shackles were something else. They glowed dimly with a pulsing light and kept him from using his Sol. He was somewhat familiar with the technology though, as Montasir used to brag about it all the time at the gym, but this shit was unreal.

  The worst part was there wasn’t a chain, just two circles intersecting. If there was one, Dante could pull it as far back as he could and kick, it was an escape method he’d been taught at the gym. Likewise, if it was made of rope, well – that would be even easier.

  But no, it had to be some hard-ass plastic that kept his Sol suppressed.

  There was a metal clang, followed by several footsteps coming toward him, and Dante looked up from his shackles and stared at the door. Initially, they put him in a basic cell with iron bars and a bed, but he was a fairly unruly prisoner so they soon tossed him into solitary confinement. That was a bad move, as it only served to piss him off further.

  The footsteps stopped just before the door and lingered for a moment. Go on, open it you fucker, Dante thought as he rose to his feet. He glared at the door, his knees bent and ready to spring as it creaked open. It inched further and further, allowing more flickering light in from the hallway. Once it was open fully, Dante leapt forward and gave the guard a solid kick to the gut. He bent over and wheezed. Dante ducked as some wind rushed just over his head. As expected, they brought back up after Dante’s repeat behavior.

  He wasted no time, and gave the second guy a solid kick to the temple, knocking him out cold, then he came back and finished off the first guard, who was grasping his injured belly and trying to sit up. He looked up and down the long hallway to see if there were any more takers, but it seemed like two was all they had for now. He shrugged, then bent down to the guard’s waist, grabbed some keys, and fumbled with them. It was hard to keep them in his grasp with his wrist bound together like this, but he managed.

  There was a set of five keys, and after trying them all Dante swore to himself. None of them fitted his handcuffs. Still, one of them had to be for the door, so he smirked and walked down the hallway until he reached it – bi
g and made of iron, super-intimidating if Dante didn’t have the key. He tried the ring, and the lock clicked open with the third one.

  He grasped the handle and flung it open, jumping into the new hallway and looking in both directions frantically. To his surprise, nobody met him on the other side of the door. An eyebrow raised, Dante crept down the poorly lit hallway, careful to snuff the noise beneath his feet. There had to be some trick: there was no way that asshole warden was going to let him break out this easily.

  Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking Dante found the corridor open up into a large circular room. The walls were adorned with torches, a steel gate at the other end. It was a battle arena if Dante ever saw one. In the center, that asshole warden stood with a shit-eating grin on his face. Dante walked further into the room, annoyed as the man extended his arms out wide, the cuffs of his robe swaying.

  “If it isn’t my little problem prisoner. A tenacious one for sure,” he grinned. Dante didn’t want to dignify the guy with a direct response. Instead he played it cool, making an intentional show of surveying his surroundings.

  “Quite the battle arena you’ve got here, but I guess you won’t undo these handcuffs so we can have a fair fight.”

  “Of course not. You’re a prisoner.”

  “Your security seemed a little lax, though. It’s almost like you let me escape.”

  The warden threw his head back and cackled, the disgusting sound bouncing off the walls and echoing throughout the room. The sound felt hot, as if the bastard was whispering right into his ear. It made Dante even angrier, and he clenched his fists tightly.

  “We hardly ever get prisoners in this docile country, let alone rowdy ones like you. I love having an excuse to get out of the office and exercise.”

  Dante bent his knees and readied to charge the guy. He hadn’t gotten a good chance to size up his Sol before: he was busy kicking the shit out of his employees and this asshole just went and blasted him from behind. The next thing he knew, he woke up in solitary. Still, he had a general plan: rush down and knock ’em the fuck out.