How do I always end up alone?

Asked had his back to a large building. He watched the figure heading toward him with dismay. The way the creature moved was as though someone else was in control of its movements, but they hadn’t gotten it down yet. Arms and legs moved in jerky motions and Alex could hear bones creaking and cracking even though they were more than two hundred feet apart still.

Everything about this creature just felt…wrong.

Alex identified it.

Deranged Zotari

Level 79

This was the strongest Zotari that Alex had come across yet. It even surpassed the Sandstorm Djinn he had run into back in the oasis. Alex checked his status page quickly to see if he had gained any levels from the explosion. If there was ever a time for him to get a sudden power up, it was now.

Alex Sullivan

Race- Human

Rank- Private

Grade- F

Class- Shift

Level- 71

Strength-441 (518)

Agility- 329 (389)

Intelligence- 188 (227)

Durability- 677 (818)

Endurance- 416 (489)

Health- 6,302/8,180

Stamina- 2,991/4,890

P.E.- 5,367/8,180

He had gained five levels just from his escapades today. He probably would’ve gotten even more if he had been able to do it alone. Alex knew he wouldn’t have been able to. It was a good reminder that he wasn’t invincible. It was becoming more difficult for Alex to remember that with each level. The euphoria he felt from the influx of stat points surely didn’t help.

He was glad for the reminder, however. He was, for the second time, up against a more powerful enemy. Things had happened so quickly with the two giants and the commander that Alex hadn’t had the time to identify them, but he was sure they were all at least his level. On top of that, they had a numbers advantage. He had felt a sense of how strong they were, but the being in front of him now was stronger. Much stronger.

If not for his sudden level up, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance. He still didn’t know if he stood a chance, but at least he had a prayer.

The creature had just been staring at Alex. It hadn’t moved any closer for a while. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going through its mind. Was anything going through its mind? It was called a deranged Zotari. There was no way to know how much sentient thought it could have.

These variants are kind of crazy. Do they experiment on their own people? Do people sign up for this? I know I wouldn’t, especially if I saw this thing. I doubt they advertise with this type of variant. They probably use the brute or the giants. That would get a lot more recruits I think. I’d probably sign up if I saw that.

A few more moneys passed with nothing happening. Alex was starting to grow impatient. He didn’t want to turn his back to the thing because he still didn’t know what it was capable of, but he also didn’t want to just stand there forever. He had taken out the towers, but there were no doubt a bunch of angry Zotari that were looking for someone to take their frustrations out on.

“What do you want?” he called out.

The second he did, he regretted it. It shrieked once more and Alex fell to his knees. He could feel blood dripping from his eyes and ears this time. The close proximity of the attack made it much more potent. He didn’t want to know how much damage it would do if he were right next to the deranged Zotari. In an instant, the Zotari was right in front of him.

“Gah!”

It reached up and lifted Alex off the ground. He felt that queasy feeling he got from the grey Zotari. It then threw him into the wall with the force of the brute. Alex crashed through and into a large room.

Well I guess I know what it can do now. And the answer is everything, and at full strength too.

The only different power it had was that strange screech. Other than that, this was basically a stronger version of the commander. Alex was wondering why the commander only had inferior versions of the powers exhibited in the other variants. Now Alex wondered if this deranged Zotari was the result of adding too many abilities into one entity. He felt bad for whoever had to suffer this fate and he wondered if this was the only one. He hoped that it was.

The Zotari was behind him in the blink of eye and was already lifting him once more. It slammed him head first, again, and again, and again. Alex had gained a lot of durability, but he could feel his head start to split from the damage. If he didn’t do something, he was going to die. He charged up as much energy as he could into his hands and aimed it at the creatures midsection. It seared through and out the other side. The creature roared in anger. By this time, Alex felt like his head would actually explode.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

The creature dropped Alex as it reared back in pain. Alex caught himself to save his head from taking yet another blow. He quickly got to his feet and channeled energy into the soles of his feet and behind his elbow. He propelled himself toward the Zotari and empowered the force of his arm forward. He formed his Eonsteel into a small lance and aimed it at the creature’s head. He inched closer, but at the last minute, the Zotari vanished. It appeared behind him. Alex changed the form of the Eonsteel into a whip and lashed back at the monster. The end of the whip collided with its cheek, drawing blood.

It dashed forward and unleashed an attack of its own at Alex. He felt like he was going to pass out. He couldn’t stand the combination of abilities in conjunction with the concussion he likely had. He wasn’t able to react quickly enough to defend himself against the creature. It laid waste to him. Each blow bringing him closer to oblivion.

Just when Alex was starting to feel like he had enough, the Zotari decided to change its tactics. It went for Alex’s eyes. It started to try to gouge them out. He struggled against the pain he was feeling, the vertigo the creature unleashed on him, and the fear he had of losing his eyes.

Why is it trying to take my eyes out?

It wailed again, but this time, it wasn’t imbued with the crippling sonic attack the others had been. This time, it had been a normal scream. One that Alex had heard before. It was exactly like the one from that crazy Zotari he had encountered in the power station.

I have to be imaging that right? There’s no way.

Alex channeled heat into his hands and grabbed the Zotari’s arms. Steam began to hiss off of it. It screamed again, this time back to its usual screech, but Alex held fast. It struggled against his grip, and eventually just gave up and kicked him in the chest. It sent him flying across the room, crashing through shelves and desks.

Alex got up and grabbed one of the fallen shelves and flung it back at the Zotari. It didn’t react quickly enough and was struck. It barely seemed to have done anything as the Zotari didn’t budge from its previous location. Alex peppered the creature with his finger guns, but when he saw that they too had little effect, he switched to the death rays. He charged one in each of his palms and blasted them as frequently as he could. These had a much greater effect, but it also garnered a more ferocious response from the Zotari.

It once again began to toss him around the room. The room looked like it was some type of library. It had been beautiful, but after Alex’s visit, was nothing more than a pile of rubble. He had crashed through every piece of furniture in the large room and nothing remained upright. Shards of wood and other materials were strewn throughout. Alex grabbed a couple rods that had been turned into spears by Alex flight. He flung them across the room. One embedded itself into the creatures shoulder and the others missed wide, clattering harmlessly to the ground.

It pulled the rod out of its shoulder and threw it back at Alex. He spun out of the way and dashed forward. Again he formed his Eonsteel into a lance, this time aiming for the creature’s chest. It connected much to Alex surprise. He was about to crack a smile when the Zotari started for his eyes once more.

Ok. I feel like this is personal at this point. I still don’t get the fixation it has on my eyes.

He defended his poor eyes with one arm, and with the other he reached up to grab at the creature’s face. When he had a good hold, he once again channeled energy into his hands, burning the Zotari’s face. It howled before launching Alex into the air. Alex used his normal strategy when he got sent flying into the air—he propelled himself down to increase his damage. Instead of damaging the Zotari however, it grabbed him at the last second and buried him in the ground.

Alex was lifted repeatedly out of the ground before being slammed back down. He could feel the Zotari’s grip around his ankle, but everything else went numb. He didn’t know how long this went on for, but he knew that he needed it to end. For the second time today, Alex was against the ropes and he didn’t think that anyone was going to save him this time.

He wasn’t sure what he could do to get out of this. His death rays and finger guns only did so much and his empowered strength only went so far. He was outmatched and alone, but he wasn’t beaten. Not yet anyway. He had things that he still wanted to do, people he still needed to see again. If it had to be the Zotari or him, Alex was going to make sure that he made it out of this no matter what.

He had one idea that had been bouncing around in his head for the longest time. He didn’t know how he was going to pull it off, and he had no way to practice it either. He could practice it if he survived. Otherwise, this would be the first and last time this would be done.

He channeled energy into his chest. Once the pressure started to solidify the energy, Alex transferred the energy into his leg and started moving more energy into his chest. He had to keep the energy circulating in his leg while he worked the new reservoir he was forming in his chest. It took an exorbitant amount of focus, which was hard for him to muster as he was being thrashed about.

Alex popped a couple health bombs into his mouth. He didn’t know how much damage this was going to cause, but he wanted to make sure that he had as much health as he could get. He didn’t have free use of his hands, but guided it to his mouth with the Eonsteel.

The Zotari’s clobbering intensified until Alex wasn’t sure how much longer he could maintain focus. It had stopped whipping him around and had changed to pounding its fists into him. Alex was at least five feet into the ground already and steadily descending.

Alex maneuvered the swirling energy around his body. He tried to steer clear of his vitals as much as he possibly could. The energy reached the tipping point. Abruptly, it was all expunged from his body. Alex’s entire body illuminated with blinding rays that filled the entire room.