“Alright, people,” the masked figure in front of the large body of troops said, “Don’t forget what our goal is. We’re going to strike a heavy blow against the Nexuses today. Stay with your strike teams, and I better not see anyone playing the hero.”
Jemma pulled her thick gauntlets on and tightened the straps, not saying anything. She flexed her fingers experimentally, and the electric palm crackled, letting her know the equipment was working properly. It was an amazing device, created by engineers who shared Libera Terra’s hatred of the Nexuses. The gauntlets and boots she wore now weren’t enough to kill, but they could stun the strongest human for several seconds, so they should be enough to incapacitate a Nexian long enough to finish them off.
She felt a small smile curl across her face at the thought. It felt like decades, these past years of training and planning. Now it was coming to fruition, and she was going to make sure those demons got what was coming to them. It didn’t matter if their power came from another world, or even if they themselves did. They’d caused irreparable damage to the world, and now they would pay for their crimes.
“Each of our groups is targeting a different Nexus,” the leader said, having put his equipment on as well. He was covered head-to-toe in thick non-conductive, battle armor. Not possessing the martial arts skills that fighters like Jenna had, he would use his brawn and endurance to beat the Nexians in a fistfight, beating them down with his natural strength.
“I thought you were on the Fire Nexus team,” someone next to Jenna said, turning to look at her. “What are you doing attacking the Water Nexus with us?”
“Personal favor from the Commander,” she said, pulling her mask over her head to disguise her features. These mechanical masks, though lightweight and offering no protection against physical attacks, would ensure that she had no trouble seeing in thick fog or suffocating should she be frozen or fully submerged in water. “I’m here for revenge.”
She locked eyes with the leader of her group, and he gave her a discreet nod, and then addressed the others. “That’s enough talking now. We’ll be attacking in less than half an hour, so you might as well use this time to prepare yourselves.”
Jenna almost laughed at the thought. Prepare herself? She’d been prepared to get revenge for nearly six years, ever since she’d joined Libera Terra and started training. This last half hour would be more a matter of restraining her rage, keeping it in the back until she could unleash it on her hated targets.
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“We’re all clear on what the goal is, right?” Richard asked, glancing at the Nexus gathered around him.
“Of course, we are,” Emmet, his fellow Captain said. “The point of this game is to show just how big New Toledo really is.”
There were a few muted chuckles from the rest of the group, which fell silent as Richard gave them a serious glare. “That’s not the point. We have to keep our own headband safe, and steal one from the other Nexuses.”
“We know that,” Emmet replied, rolling his eyes. “You’re taking this too seriously, Rich. We’re the biggest Nexus, and we’re probably the second strongest in terms of power.”
“Yeah, we got a lot of firepower,” someone joked, and everyone laughed at that. Everyone but Richard, who pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. Still, he couldn’t entirely suppress the slight smile that formed on his face.
“Alright, that was a good one,” he admitted. “But back to business. I think we should go for the Earth Nexus first.”
“Not a bad idea,” Emmet said slowly. “They’re the only ones we know the position of.”
“That, and they have the most new members,” Richard agreed. “We can overwhelm their position and take their headband.”
“They might be the best at defense,” someone from the group offered, “But they’re also really good at trapping people. We’ll have to keep that in mind.”
“Good point,” Emmet said, inclining his head. “Even my brother would have trouble dodging all their traps and attacks. Not that I think he’ll be dumb enough to attack the Earth Nexus.”
Most of them nodded their heads. As the smallest Nexus by a hefty measure, they would never conceivably attack the Earth Nexus, which could defend against their attacks with ease. And the numbers difference would reduce their offensive advantage to practically zero. Water and Air also weren’t likely to waste their efforts on sieging the Earth Nexus, at least at first.
“It’ll all come down to you, Jerik,” Richard said, turning to include the newest member in the conversation. “Time to see if you’re worth your salt, or had a lucky hunch.”
A wide, feral grin crossed Jerik’s face. “Oh, don’t worry about that, sir. I’ve figured out a way to stay invisible and still be able to move. They won’t stand a chance.”
“Good,” the Captain said, nodding in approval. “Right then. Time to get a move on. I’m sure the other Nexuses are already on the move.”
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“Up ahead!” James called out, darting to the left to avoid a blast of solid air. Eric took a sharp right, bouncing roughly off a telephone pole, and running up the wall of a nearby building to reach the roof. They’d expected the Air Nexus to target them first, to get revenge for stealing a total victory from them on the first day. Even if they weren’t motivated by annoyance, the Thunder Nexus was still an attractive target, given their low numbers.
Edward landed on the rooftop across from him, and half a second later, James appeared on the other side, placing Eric in the middle. “You two know what to do! Focus on Kenta!”
At once, both Edward and James fired a blast of electricity at Eric. The rippling power filled him with a tingling sensation, but of course did no damage. For his part, he directed the excess energy, combining it with his own, at Kenta who had slid to a stop. He did it in short bursts, giving the man a chance to redirect each bolt at his own pace, adjusting his speed as he saw fit. With this sort of formation, Kenta was quick to knock two of the Air Nexians out of the air. But the Air Nexus reacted quickly and soon were firing on their position.
“Scatter!” Kenta shouted, abandoning his position and racing into an alley. “Keep moving and firing where you can!”
Eric scaled down the side of the building quickly, having figured out the trick for running down a flat wall with ease by now. The trick was angling your body so that you were perpendicular to the ground by the time you landed, and maintaining your speed. If he were any slower, he’d trip and stumble. If he were too fast, his legs would rotate his body too fast, and he’d end up on his back or flip himself over.
The Air Nexians split apart as well, pursuing the Thunder Nexians. Most of them were pursuing Edward, as he had the headband. He was also the fastest of them all, and stood the best chance of avoiding capture. Eric’s job was to defend him against attacks and distract pursuers. Matt and James were focused on offense, trying to pin Nicholas down and steal his headband. Kenta, the second-fastest and most experienced among them, would move between the two teams, reinforcing both where needed.
Eric couldn’t help but wonder what their plan was if they succeeded. Even as he raced after Edward, shooting a bolt at one of the pursuers, he thought of how the game would last for eight hours. Securing a headband didn’t equal an automatic win this time, and they’d have to avoid other Nexuses until the end. The Air Nexus would obviously chase them down to try and retrieve their headband if it was stolen. Could they keep them off or avoid detection for what felt like an entire day?
Up above him, he caught a glimpse of Nick flashing over the gap between two buildings, with Kenta and James in hot pursuit. Ahead, Edward ran up the side of a building to avoid a swooping Air Nexian, whom Eric ran into at full speed. The force of that impact was like a professional football player tackling him, and by the time he hit the wall of the building, he was out cold. Eric continued on undaunted, but he realized quickly that he’d lost sight of Edward and the Nexians chasing him.
Two blasts of air rained down on him out of nowhere. He dodged the first one easily enough, but the second caught his leg, and knocked his feet out from under him. In no time at all, two Air Nexians were dropping out of the sky to capitalize on the moment. Eric rolled to the side to avoid the next blasts, then he was back on his feet and running toward a building. He got halfway up the wall before seeing that they’d expected that maneuver, and had fired at a spot near the roof. He changed direction too quickly and lost his footing, but recovered just in time to run away again.
Trapped in an alley and outnumbered at least three to one, he was at a stiff disadvantage. They could blast air down at him from three directions, and it was all he could do to dodge. His best chance was to move in a way that they couldn’t predict. He certainly couldn’t fire back. And all the while, the other Air Nexians would be chasing Edward and defending Nick. He had the strongest offensive power with his charged bolts, but he couldn’t get out of this situation to aid his friends.
“Damn,” he cursed quietly, heading for the mouth of the alley and being forced to stop as more air came crashing down. “What would Master Ehran do in this situation?”
His mentor, the current Grandmaster of Issho-Ni back in Ahya, was a legendary fighter and could fight odds three times as bad as this without breaking a sweat. Even after six years, and being known as a Master in his own right, Eric still found that he couldn’t top his teacher’s skill. But this question had helped many times in the past, so who was to say it wouldn’t prove useful once again?
A series of images flashed through his mind as he thought of his mentor. In their training, they’d practiced nearly a dozen styles of grappling. The great thing about grappling was that it reduced all advantages to nothing, and became a matter of strength and dexterity. If you were more durable and slippery than your opponent, you could generally win a grappling match. He wasn’t sure how the rules of grappling applied in this situation, as he couldn’t see his attackers, but maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t a totally useless idea.
It was only as he ran up a wall and was forced to change direction again that he realized the significance of the memory. Grappling was really, at its core, all about momentum and stored energy. The way you positioned your body, the direction in which you moved and attacked, it was all a factor of multiple small changes that brought about larger results. If Eric couldn’t run in any one direction without being trapped by an attack, maybe he just had to change direction mid-sprint. That wasn’t possible down the alley in either direction, of course, but on the walls…
No time to think about it, he told himself sternly. He had to pause his run at some point, and it couldn’t be in this alley, where he’d be an easy target. So he threw his misgivings away and relied on his instinct, as he’d done to great effect so many times in the past. His body had been finely tuned before he’d joined the Thunder Nexus, and the training Will had given him had only made him stronger. It would do what it needed to do without his conscious orders. Bracing himself for the move, he ran up one of the walls.
Another attack. Instead of changing direction and running down, he pushed off of the wall with all his strength, sailing the eight to ten feet gap to the other wall. His feet slipped, scrabbled, then caught, and he raced up the wall again. He heard a shout of surprise from the roof of the building he’d jumped too, and knew it had been the right choice. An Air Nexian appeared over the lip of the roof’s edge, too late to fire. Eric barreled into him in another tackle, quickly carrying both of them safely onto the roof and slamming him to the hard surface.
James, Kenta, Nick, and Matt were visible now, and in the middle distance, so was Edward. He’d rejoined the fight! He didn’t even waste time taking on the other two Air Nexians that had pinned him for so long and dashed forward to catch up with Edward, clearing the gaps between buildings with ease.