A.D.
November 29th, 2007. 4:26 p.m. I’m shot out of the portal and land on my butt. I feel like I want to vomit. My head’s spinning. My fingers feel cold. Why do portals always have to be so gross? I’m sitting beside Will in an… airport. Oh god no. I can’t tell what airport we’re in, but its definitely one of the bigger ones and it’s busy- real busy. There’s people walking and running in every direction save for a few that stopped to look at us.
Will immediately hones in on four older people briskly walking over to a terminal. They all look at least fifty. Kinda reminds me of mom’s book club.
A few seconds later, Janelle plops out of a portal and lands right on top of me. So… heavy… Feels like a sack of potatoes and toasters just smacked into me. It hurts so much. “Janelle… Please… get off me.” I tap her side.
“A.D.! Are you okay!?” She asks while refusing to move.
“No… So… heavy… aaagh…”
“No need to be rude about it.” Janelle rolls off me, dusts herself off, and stands next to Will. “So… which one’s the Conduc-”
Two dozen ethereal purple swords manifest around Will, aim towards the group, and fly at them faster than I can see. By the time I blink, two dozen people are skewered on the walls, floor, and even the ceiling. They’re all writhing and gasping as their bodies are slowly deflated. It takes everything in me to not vomit on the spot.
Immediately, the entire airport erupts into panic. Alarms go off, people start running in every direction, and heavily armed airport security starts sprinting after us.
Will spins his sword, sheathes it, and takes a wide stance. An evil-looking light engulfs his sword for a moment until he draws it and disappears.
shink shink shink
shink shink shink shink shink shink shink shink shink
Blinding purple lights violate my eyes as reality-warping cuts appear all around me. Space distorts, time slows, and all color is torn from the scene. Even warmth itself has been ripped due to Will’s new sword. I can barely breathe. I can barely think. I don’t know what outer space feels like, but this feels pretty close. My eyes glance around the airport terminal since that’s the only part of my body I’m brave enough to move. Certain parts of the place are just… gone. It’s not that Will cut out a pillar or removed a chair or two, he deleted the space between objects. Parts of the world itself are just missing. The room looks stitched together in ways that shouldn’t be possible- almost like a beautiful broken prism.
Will is in the center of it all on one knee slowly sheathing his sword.
click
crash
The moment he sheathes the sword, warmth and color return to the airport. The broken pieces of space all violently attach together to try and keep reality intact, producing a barely coherent shattering sound. We’re now surrounded by a sea of body parts. Calling them corpses would be too generous.
Will turns around to face us and slicks his hair back, causing him to rub blood over his face. “It is done.” He smiles like he just aced an exam. “Alright, Conductor’s dealt with. Who’s hungry for some pizza?”
Janelle mumbles something under her breath and holds her hand to her mouth. Her body looks like it's rejecting every source of stimuli, but losing.
“What the hell was that?!” I yell, but my body refuses to approach Will.
Will tilts his head before motioning to the carnage around him. “I purged evil from this world.” He says matter of factly, as if I asked a stupid question.
“Really?!” My eyes glance at some child limbs before looking back at Will. “How do you know everyone here was evil?! What did those kids do?!” I point to the limbs.
“The sword told me.” Will replies. He sounds genuinely confused as to why I’m upset.
“Damnit, Will!” My body starts to move on its own. I pivot towards him and ready up a punch, but another blade manifests under my chin. I freeze. If I as gulp, my throat’s getting sliced open. Glancing towards the tree, I see the swords impale the man on the far right and drag him back to us three seconds later. The worst part is that it's the wrong guy. He looks nothing like the Conductor.
“No… NO!” Janelle shakes Will, but his body doesn’t move. “Will would never do this!” She stares up at Will’s eyes. “Whoever’s in there, get out of my Will!”
Will flicks Janelle with his free hand, and she goes flying backwards like she just got shot out of a cannon. Even when she hits the ground, she keeps spinning and tumbling like a ragdoll for another good ten seconds. And that’s with her trying to break her momentum with fire. I shudder to think how that’d look without her Tech.
Will watches Janelle hit the floor and smirks for a moment before he stumbles backwards and clenches his forehead. “Hnngh… N-no…”
“Will!” I shoot an EX fireball at him and manage to catch him off-guard. He flies back a little with his shirt ablaze. “C’mon, man! You can fight this!” I stand my ground and start charging another fireball.
Will looks at me. His face twitches like it's being piloted by some foreign force. “I am not Will,” His voice sounds distorted. “I am a soldier for the Lord.” Will points his blade at me. “An avenger for the slain righteous. Will you join me?” The sword is now glowing with a menacing, violet aura that flows up to Will’s shoulders. His eyes have fully turned black. No pupils or irises can be seen. If I look closely, I can swear a small horn is growing out the side of his head. Large veins pulsate through his arms up to his chest. It’s sickening just to look at. It looks ready to burst at any second, but also indestructible. His skin appears paler than it usually is.
I shoot a fireball at him.
He blocks it with his blade and absorbs it. “Foolish, A.D. Foolish. You don’t have the strength to stop me.”
“C-c’mon… Don’t you wanna make this a fair fight?” I beckon him. “Let’s put that sword down and settle this like real men.”
“How annoying…” Will readies his blade and vanishes.
Don’t freak out. Scorpion can teleport and you can beat those no problem. Just relax. Relax… Focus. Did he do anything just before vanishing? Breathe… Breathe. Relax. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. There has to be a tell… There always is. Just wait for any change. A noise, a shift in air pressure… anything. I take a wide stance and raise my arms. My heart feels ready to explode and my lungs feel like they’re inflating out of sync. I know I will probably die. I know I’m outmatched… but heroes gotta try. Eventually, I can feel something moving to the right. Call it a read, an inkling, or just sheer luck, I move my arm to the right of me. Will emerges from nothingness and strikes his blade against my arm. No blood. No pain. Just good ol’ hitsparks and meter for me.
“What!?” Will continues pressing his sword into my arm, but nothing happens. “Impossible!” Will disappears.
“Not impossible.” I feel relief wash over me.
Will appears behind me and slashes overhead, but I spin around and parry that as well. “I’m just that good, baby.”
“GGAH!” Will gives up on teleporting and just begins slashing frantically.
Good… I’m in his head. Whenever Will gets mad, he always swings high, low, high, low, mid, high. Glad to see a weird sword hasn’t changed his fighting habits. I block each of his strikes with little effort.
“You call this strength!?” Will slashes at my head, but I duck. “You’re only parrying!”
“Well, yeah. That’s how you fight. You block when the opponent attacks.”
“Can you block grabs?” Will lunges forward, wraps his fingers around my neck, and lifts me off the ground.
“Hnngh… No… ya… ya got me there… Ack…” It feels like Will’s fingers are sapping the air from my throat. Even if I could breathe, I can feel my shoulders separating from my neck just from him holding me.
Will’s nails dig into my neck. This is bad. This is bad. I can feel his thumb searching for my artery… No parry in the world can stop that. He clenches my neck and pulls his face towards mine. “Do not impede the pursuit of just-”
FWOOSH
In a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a second, Will’s body explodes into blue flames. He drops me and starts flailing and wailing like a demon. His sword cuts deep fissures into the earth. Rips of space-time open and close where his sword slashes.
I roll the fire off me, get up, collect my breath, and get into another defensive stance. That’s definitely bruising… I’m amazed I’m not crying now. I can hardly see straight and my head feels a little light. There’s some blood rolling down my neck too… that’s not good… but I can still fight.
A few moments later, Will’s sword absorbs the flames, causing the sword to grow larger, thicker, and even grow some teeth at the tip. Yeah. Teeth. Complete with gums and everything. Even the handle changes. It’s hard to tell where his hand ends and where the sword begins. “Who DARES to obstruct justice!?” He looks around frantically before locking eyes with someone in the distance to the right of me.
Janelle’s standing tall. She’s got a black eye. Blood is dripping down her forehead. Her arms and neck are encased in violent, orange flames. Now that’s a good look on her. Her fire moves with the wind. It has this… warmth and jubilation about it. “Maybe he’s not strong enough to face you…” She points to me then to herself. “but we are!” The fire on her shoulders flares up in massive plumes, causing the floor and furniture around her to burst into flames and start to melt.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Who do you think you are?” Will asks.
“I’m Phoenix, you bitch!” Janelle points her arms at Will as the plumes around her shoulders settle into the shape of magnificent, glowing wings. Her fingers look ready to snap at any moment.
“I’m sure you are.” Will smirks and teleports once more.
I… I can see him. Just barely. There’s a small distortion in a space traveling towards Janelle. It looks like something should be there, but isn’t. It’s traveling above her.
“Janelle!” I call out and run towards her. “He’s above you!”
“Got it!” She looks up and sure enough, Will emerges from nothingness to pierce her from above.
Janelle’s left wing catches Will by the throat and starts smashing him into the ground over and over and over and over. Each smash leaves a small crater. Will’s body is entirely enraptured in flames, but that doesn’t stop him from flailing and trying to escape.
“I don’t care what you are! I’m going to KILL you for hurting Will!!!” Janelle roars out and moves to crush Will’s neck.
Just as I see her left wing begin to tense up, a purple ethereal sword emerges and severs Janelle’s left wing. Janelle jumps backwards and Will is sent rolling like a can of cheap pasta. He plunges his sword into the ground to stop, but it does nothing. The sword just cuts through the ground like warm butter.
“I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY!!!” Janelle blasts herself into the sky and starts charging a huge fireball in her mouth. Five seconds later, she shoots it at Will.
“Not this time!” Will disappears.
The fireball lands where Will was, shrinks, and then explodes into a massive dome of flame. I had to run away just not to get incinerated. There’s yet another huge crater left behind.
Janelle descends back to the ground and I rendezvous with her. I cover her blind spot, but stay about two arm-lengths away from her. Don’t want to give Will an easy double K.O. Even at this length, I feel like my skin is melting off. Janelle’s fire flickers and flares like it has a mind of its own.
“How’re you holding up?” I ask.
“Never better.” Janelle wipes some blood from her cheek and flashes her teeth in a wide grin. “You?” She’s shining with this confidence and hatred that I’ve never seen before.
I can’t form a coherent thought, so my mouth just makes an unsure sound. I can’t stop hopping in place. Gotta keep moving. Gotta stay alert. I glance over to Janelle. Her skin is pale. Paler than Will’s. I can see her neck turn blue just a bit, but I’ve never seen her more alive.
“See him anywhere?” Janelle looks around with her arms encased with blue flames.
“No…” I fail to see any distortions. “Might wanna consider toning down the fire a little…”
“I’m trying.” Janelle grits her teeth and exhales smoke from her nostrils. Her flames do not die down. Hell, her remaining wing looks stronger than ever. “Goddamnit…”
“What?” I look up and see purple swords appear around us. One by one, the blades materialize in every direction and point directly at us. Within seconds, I’ve lost track of how many there are and my view of the sunset is obstructed by the sheer number of blades.
Will teleports behind the blades and waves his blade at us. “PERISH!” All at once, the blades begin flying at us. Volley after volley after volley after volley surround us, and yet I parry each and every one to come my way. Meanwhile, Janelle’s spinning around and incinerating every blade that dares approaches her. She eventually snaps her fingers, large blue explosions erupt around us, and the remaining volleys simply evaporate into nothingness.
Will waves his arm and another full army of blades appears around us.
“Janelle! I have full meter! Boost me up to him!”
“Got it!” Janelle grabs me with her remaining wing and throws me up there. “I’ll cover you!”
Despite its immense size and temperature, her wing was warm and beyond gentle.
“I said perish!” Will waves his arm and sends all the swords towards us.
Janelle spins around and protects herself with a vortex of blue flame.
“Golden! Sunset! Suplex!” I activate my air super. The swords bounce right off me and I grab Will by the waist. He tries to slice me and teleport out, but it’s no use. Once you’re in the super animation, it’s game over. “HHAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” I turn upside down, spin around and around and around. The world around me becomes a blur, and yet I feel just fine. My grip around Will’s waist never wavers. My body feels as immovable as Jupiter. I cannot lose. Our heads quickly collide with the ground, but we keep going. Crack open the tile. Pierce through the humus. Drill through the topsoil. Eluviation layer melts like nothing. Subsoil is gone. Regiolith cracks under Will’s skull. All that’s left is the bedrock. The best part. We spin and spin and spin until Will’s upper body has dug through the Earth’s bedrock. I free myself from the bedrock and kick myself off of him for good measure. “Please stay down…” I try to catch my breath.
Janelle flies past me like a meteor, but stops just short of my impact site. “A.D.! Where’s Will!?”
“WHAT!?” I look down into the hole to find Will’s body had disappeared. The hole was still there… I know I was holding him. There’s no way he could still be conscious after that. “I don’t know! I know for sure I hit him with that!”
“STOP, VILLAIN!” A voice calls out through a megaphone some distance away from us. Yells and cries quickly erupted afterwards. “We are the Alumni! Surrender now AAH! AAAAA-” Screams end as abruptly as they began.
Janelle and I turn to see Will slicing and dicing through a group of heroes in techni-color costumes. Some threw lightning at him. Others hit him with cars. Others still tried piercing him with their own weapons. Nothing worked. One by one, the heroes fell and were absorbed into his blade… Including Meteorman… Any injuries Will had disappeared. Heck, now he looked better than he did at the start of the fight. “HAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!” Will held up a man in a bright blue costume and crushed his skull between his fingers. The man’s grey matter and blood vessels spurt all over Will and Will’s skin absorbs it like lotion. Any remaining wounds Will had quickly closed. “You FOOLS!” Will points to Janelle. “If you had-”
“SHUT UP ALREADY!!!” Janelle roars and punches the Earth. Her body glows bright white and luminous cracks erupt from the ground around us. One second later, a blinding pillar of white flame erupts from the Earth and engulfs Will. “SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!” She holds her arms to the sky and continues to keep the pillar burning.
I get one glance at the flame and immediately fall to my knees and cover my eyes. It feels like someone just took a bat to the back of my head. Am… am I blind…? I’m shaking. I’d vomit if there was anything left in my stomach. My brain feels ready to melt out of my head. Hot… Hot… so… so HOT! Even covering my eyes does nothing! All I can see is white! What grass remains feels like burning hot coals latching onto my skin. Everything around me looks and feels like the surface of the sun.
And yet… a few seconds later, it all disappears. The heat. The pain. The light. Just. Gone. No screams. No swears. Just silence. I open my eyes and get to my feet only to see Janelle next to me on one knee. Her wing has evaporated. Any remaining fire around us has died out. Her limbs are a stark blue. Her breath sounds almost robotic.
“Janelle!” I run over to her and rub her shoulders. “Come on! Come on! Don’t freeze on me!”
“I’m… fine…” Her skin feels like dry ice. “Just... give me a moment…” She says before falling over. Her legs and arms are stiff as marble. Her skin flakes off when the wind hits her. She falls over and a chunk of her arm breaks off like a piece of old porcelain.
“Don’t you die on me!” I kneel down and continue trying to warm her up.
“It’s all useless…” Will’s voice emerges from where the pillar erupted. It’s a good twenty feet away from us. He emerges from nothing, licks his hand, and approaches us. “You heroes will never get it… If you aren’t willing to make sacrifices, you will never change the world!” Will slashes his sword.
The next thing I know, there’s a sword stabbed through my chest. How… I didn’t see him vanish. He didn’t run forward. No distortion. No tell. I’d call it a teleport… but even teleporting would be too slow.
“Just give up, A.D.” Will pulls his mouth close to my ear. “You are not a hero.”
My spine begins to contort and my muscles begin to melt. I can see my muscles, skin, and even bones begi-
Janelle
November 29th, 2007. 4:41 p.m. Airport. Legs are frozen. Chunk of my arm is gone. I can’t bleed out because my blood’s frozen too. I can feel sheets of ice growing in my lungs. Just… try to stop thinking for once… Just close your eyes and pretend you didn’t see A.D. get absorbed into the sword.
I hear Will’s foot clamp down on my stomach. “Please… Janelle.” He grins at me with sharp, foreign teeth. “It isn’t too late. Purge this planet with me.” Everything about him is sheer evil… His smile, his stance… everything but his eyes. I can still feel Will trapped in there. He’s right on top of me, but he’s never been further away… I’m sorry, Will. I’m so sorry…
“This isn’t you.” I can’t move what’s left of my body. All I can do is gaze up at Will. “Who are you and where’s Will?”
“No one’s controlling me.” Will shakes his head. “This is who I am.”
“Liar…” I would give anything to cry. “Why are you doing this?”
“I just… want to see my family again.” Bloody tears roll down his cheeks.
“I am your family.”
“Then why did you get in my way!?” Tears start to stream down Will’s distorted face.
I close my eyes and feel frozen tears pierce my eyelids. “Because I lo-”
CRACK
Will
November 29th, 2007. 4:41 p.m. Park. My body finishes smashing Janelle into shaved ice. My tongue licks my sword. “Aaah… that’s… exquisite. I was in the mood for some slushies.” I don’t know what I’m thinking, I don’t know what I’m doing, but my body and the sword insists otherwise. I hug the sword and caress it through my fingers. “Now I just need to purge Eagleburger from this world… and I’ll be able to face them again. The world… will finally know peace…” My body is no longer my own. My own hands and feet demolished Janelle… And I could do nothing. I need to find a way to cut this demon out of-
Don’t forget how this feels. You love my strength.
I don’t know what or who this thing is… but it isn’t wrong.
My body takes a step forward, and the world cuts back to my dorm room. The sword is gone. Everything is quiet. I feel… different. I’m lying in my bed. I feel as if I just woke up. Did… did I dream that? I pull my phone off my night stand. It reads “November 28th, 2007. 8:31 a.m.” O-okay… that… that was just a bad dream then.
bzzt bzzt
‘One New Message’
I feel a horrible sensation grow in my stomach. I open the message and read it, “Hello, William Lloyd Cruz. This is the A.E.G.I.S. mail service. You have a package awaiting your retrieval. Please retrieve it within one week from this sending or it will be sent back.”
I leap out of bed, sprint to the mail service room, retrieve the package, and retreat back to my dorm room and lock the door behind me in record time. I’m drenched in sweat, but I don’t care. I open the large white box and see a single sheet of paper inside. I pick it up and read it.
“Dear Will,
Oh my god you just got pranked! Betcha didn’t see that one coming, huh? Ah man, Junko was watching the whole thing and told me everything. Hoooo boy I wish I could see the look on your face right now. You must look like such a jackass. Anyway, give Suzy my regards if you see her. Tell her Patricia misses her.
Smell ya later,
Jimmy”
I put the paper back in the box, close the box, cut the box into tiny, unrecognizable pieces, then lie in bed. I’m not going outside today. I need to think about things. Many, many unpleasant things.