Ch 18: Unlikely Heroes

Using himself as a decoy, Douglas has allowed Schmitt and Rufus to escape with the Void Drive. Facing off against Alastor himself, will he meet his end?

            Lying on the ground, Douglas grinned as he said, “Well, well, look what we have here. It took lyin’ here on the ground for me to sense it. I might just be able to drag this out a bit longer!” Staring down at him, Alastor said, “Perish…” Just as Alastor’s Deathsoul Summoning shot down at him, a sewer lid on the street burst into the air as a geyser of water shot out, and moving like a snake it intercepted Alastor’s attack. Douglas leaped to his feet as water rained down on their battlefield, the geyser destroyed as the dark energy storm exploded, and summoning more water from beneath the street, more sewer lids burst into the air as Douglas shouted, “Now we’re in MY element!” Alastor quickly started gathering EDE, and wind blades danced around him as Douglas called up his waterspouts. The whirlwinds of water shooting towards him, Alastor bobbed and weaved away from them as he tried to cut them apart with wind blades, yet Douglas’ waterspouts simply regenerated themselves with the seemingly endless supply of water Douglas was drawing from beneath the street. Actually looking slightly annoyed, Alastor said, “Your persistence is admirable, but I am in no mood…” 

Generating a massive blast of wind from his hand that swept across the area, Alastor literally blew away the waterspouts. Before Douglas could recreate them, Alastor vanished into a dark vortex and reappeared directly above him. Alastor dropped down at Douglas with a crushing downward punch, but skating across the shallow water that now covered the ground, Douglas evaded and Alastor’s fist struck the pavement, creating a crater in the ground and sending water flying. Quick to pursue, Alastor fired another powerful blow from his fist, and dodging Douglas fired a spinning kick that somehow caught Alastor in the face. Staggering a moment, as Alastor raised his hand and tried to summon wind, his eyes went wide with realization as he found he could not. Staring at Douglas, Alastor said, “What have you done to the air?” With a smug laugh, Douglas said, “Can’t figure it out eh? A master of air like you should know how water and air can go hand in hand in the right conditions! All I did was create a lil humidity! Can’t make too much of it, but usin’ it like this, I can create an EDE interference barrier. Get too close and no wind for you!” Skating across the water, Douglas scooped up his lost ice blade weapon and pressed his advantage with a jumping slash. Ducking aside, Alastor raised a hand and a blast of dark energy sent Douglas skidding across the water. Gathering EDE, Alastor called out, “You think you’ve accomplished something? I am far more than a simple wind user…” Raising a hand and channeling Corrupted EDE into it, Alastor fired spheres of dark energy at Douglas. Picking himself up, Douglas raised a wall of water between them, blocking his energy attacks. Then converting his blade into a gun, he fired ice spikes through the barrier at Alastor, who simply muttered, “Haste.” Weaving through Douglas’ fire as though they came at him in slow motion, Alastor drew near the wall and leaped over it. Aiming up, Douglas fired another ice spike, but catching it in his hand Alastor dropped down next to Douglas and used the spike to strike at him.

            Grappling against Alastor‘s ice spike, his weapon returned to the form of a blade, Douglas grinned and said, “Ya seem to be slowin’ down here Alastor! Ya aint feelin’ tired are ya?” Flashing his faint smile, Alastor said, “I’m simply saving my strength.” Sensing Alastor’s aura become more powerful, Douglas quickly found himself struggling against the ice spike as Alastor began to overpower him. Trying to aim his blade at Alastor, as Douglas moved to pull the trigger, Alastor leaped away from the unlikely hero and hurled the ice spike at him. As Douglas deflected the ice spike, Alastor formed his twin swords and said, “It’s been a pleasant reunion Douglas, but all good things must come to an end. I’ll give you a rare treat, I don’t use this often…” To Douglas’ eyes, Alastor seemed to fade and go out of focus, and then suddenly seemed to split into three shadowy forms that began zigzagging around him with lightning speed. Looking around warily as the shadowy blurs of speed circled him, Douglas said, “Now what ya go up your sleeve here?!” Alastor’s empty voice called out, “Doubt, regret, fear…” Then one of the shadowy figures suddenly rushed at Douglas with its blades, and although Douglas raised his own weapon to block, the blades passed right through his weapon and continued through his body. As pain and uncertainty racked his entire body, Douglas eyes went wide and he gasped, “Agh…!” Then another shadowy figure sliced through him, and a powerful feeling of regret and despair shot through his body. At last the final figure cut through Douglas, and fear coursed through him as he collapsed to the ground, shaking. As the shadowy figures vanished, Alastor appeared standing before him. Staring down at Douglas, Alastor said, “You say you live your life your way, say you have no regrets, no fear… It’s a lie. People are driven by the pain of our past. You are no different. You cannot defeat the doubt, the regret, the fear within you… and that is why you can never defeat me.” Alastor raised his blade to strike, but sensing an attack he quickly jumped away as a barrage of knives struck the ground where he’d stood. Turning his gaze in the direction of the attack, Alastor caught view of a hooded figure standing upon the top of the dried out fountain in the center of the plaza. Looking at the figure blankly, he muttered, “What now…?”

            Walking away from Douglas, who was still collapsed on the ground shaking, Alastor approached the fountain as he called out, “Now who has come to waste my precious time? Another of Mr. Greyson’s ever growing fan club?” The hooded figure, his hood tailored with patches on the top that stuck out as though accommodating ears or horns, responded, “Claus. Assassin for hire.” Twirling his swords in his hands, Alastor said, “Than can I assume you’ve been hired to kill me? I would refuse such a commission if I were you…” After a moment, Claus said, “I have no orders to eliminate you, Alastor Bastille. Nor do I believe I could defeat you.” Turning away, Alastor said, “Then we have no business.” Drawing a sickle blade from within his robes, Claus said, “Not quite…” With an agile leap Claus came down on Alastor, but quickly Alastor moved aside as Claus struck with his sickle. Claus turned about and struck out again, but with a powerful swing Alastor met his blade and knocked him flying away from him. As the assassin recovered in the air and landed on his feet, Alastor said, “I do not know or care why you impede me, but I will only say this once. If you value your life, do not cross me.” Forming his throwing knives in his free hand, Claus hurled them at Alastor, the knives quickly reappearing in his hand, ready to be thrown again. Raising a sword, Alastor unleashed his Deathsoul Summoning from the blade’s tip, wiping away the knives that sailed at him. As the vortex of darkness barreled down on him, Claus dropped his knives to form his dark absorption field and charged into it. The massive dark energies were sucked into the absorption field harmlessly, and Claus quickly hurled his sickle at Alastor and charged at him. Deflecting the sickle, Alastor rushed at Claus as well and swung his blade. Leaping onto Alastor’s blade, Claus leaped up over him and gathered dark energy into his fist. 

Landing, Claus swung around with a Blackhand punch, but quickly Alastor restored his air pressure barrier now that Douglas was defeated, and Claus quickly leaped away as Alastor swung around with a swipe of one of his swords. Confident he had the advantage once again, as Alastor slowly moved towards Claus, he said, “I must admit that were it not for my barrier you might have injured me. Such a dangerous ability, it uses a combination of darkness and spirit energy to inflict internal damage on the body. I know of only one other person who has mastered the Blackhand. Your potential is truly wasted.” Standing his ground, Claus said, “Do you seek to recruit me to your Altera Veritas? Your words fall upon deaf ears Alastor.” Raising the absorption field again, Claus unleashed the Deathsoul Summoning he had absorbed, but raising his own hand, Alastor absorbed it back into his body. Drawing nearer, Alastor said, “Oh? How unfortunate. It is probably the only way you’ll make it out of here alive…” For a moment Claus laughed quietly at his remark. Pausing in his stride, Alastor stared at him blankly and said, “You find your situation humorous?” Claus simply replied, “I’m afraid you’ve been deceived. I have already escaped.” Quickly Alastor whirled around, and finding Douglas had disappeared, he faced Claus once more and muttered, “An energy clone…” Nodding, Claus’ clone said, “The real Claus and Douglas are far out of your grasp now. Farewell.” With that the energy clone disappeared. Letting his swords evaporate, Alastor opened a dark vortex. Hearing the sirens of the Celestis police’s hover cars drawing near, he stepped into the vortex and muttered, “To have wasted all this strength for nothing… No, I at least have Douglas’ vessel.” The police cars arriving on the scene, Alastor disappeared as he said, “I may have to move up my timetable yet again. The vessel must be completed…”

            Awakening in the backseat of a hover car outside Celestis, Douglas groaned and said, “Somehow I thought hell would be somewhat less pleasant. Not that I ain’t in pain…” Sitting in the driver’s seat, Claus laughed and said, “I’m afraid you’re quite alive Douglas. It’s been a long time, hasn‘t it?” Struggling to sit up, Douglas exclaimed weakly, “Claus, you old dog! Is that really you?!” Removing his hood to reveal his spiky, sand colored hair and pointy, cone shaped horns, Claus looked back at Douglas with his blood red eyes and flashed a grin as he said, “Just who else could bail out a fool like you against such odds?” Laughing, Douglas said, “Looks like we’re finally even then eh?” Chuckling as well, Claus replied, “I suppose a life for a life is a fair trade, but people like us usually don’t worry about the details.” Rubbing the place where Alastor’s shadow image had cut through him, Douglas replied, “Yeah, though after the sticky business I got myself wrapped up in, I’m startin’ to rethink that…” With a smug look, Claus said, “Heh, it’s only natural. You really bit off more than you could chew. Altera Veritas of all things…” Moving to sit properly in the seat, Douglas replied, “Well, a lotta stuff has happened. I needed the money…”

Shooting him a frustrated look, Claus said, “You’ve been gambling again, haven’t you?” Douglas started laughing hard, and then struggled to stop as his phantom injury started hurting again. Clutching his chest, Douglas wheezed, “Naw, naw… I made the mistake of tryin’ to settle down. Sadly, it was just a matter of time before I was found out by the Special Forces for walkin’ around with fake credentials. I knew if I stayed we’d wind up in a Sanctuary or worse, so I been tryin’ to support em from afar doin’ what I do best.” Shocked, Claus said, “A family?! You of all people?!” With a nostalgic look, Douglas said, “Yeah, I gotta admit it wasn’t so bad. Anyways, when I joined up with Alastor I was just a hired thug at first, but once I found out what he was plannin’, I moved up the ranks to Revenant and did everythin’ I could to sabotage him from the inside. Was worried he’d get wise though, so when those guys showed up, I made my exit. Still, I realized this was one time I couldn’t just leave it to someone else to clean up the mess. Maybe I’ve never been the hero type, but I won’t sit around and let that b*****d take away my kid’s future!” With a reluctant smile, Claus started the hover car and said, “Honestly… Your friends have already reached their airship safely. What shall we do now? Your injuries will keep you out of commission for a little longer. That was no simple attack he used on you.” Staring off into the distance, Douglas said, “I think I’ll keep an eye on the situation while we wait for the return of the great He of the Infinite. If he’s anythin’ like those friends of his, I think he might just pull it off…”

            Aboard the bridge of the Audentia, Schmitt looked out the window at Celestis, thinking, “Why? Why’d ya do it Douglas? After everythin’ I said…” Then the door to the bridge opened up and Rufus walked in, followed closely by Ian. With a grin and a thumbs up, Rufus exclaimed, “I think we’re set to roll! I looked through the files on that disk we made for instructions on how to set the void drive up, and I’ve set it to activate through a command program I installed into the flight systems.” Scratching his head, Schmitt said, “Uh… Whatever ya say bub. Long as it works.” Looking out the window at Celestis with a worried look, Rufus said, “Do you think he could have escaped?” Sighing heavily, Schmitt replied, “I dunno Rufus, I really dunno. I never woulda thought he had it in him to put himself on the line for us like that…” Turning away from the window with a determined look, Schmitt said, “I sure as hell ain’t gonna waste his sacrifice! We got ourselves some work to do here! We’re gonna find the others and put a stop to all this once and for all!” Rushing over to the pilot’s seat, Schmitt jumped into his chair and started powering up the ship as he said, “Time for the world’s first inter-dimensional flight! Hoo boy, this is gonna be a dream come true!” Laughing, Rufus placed Ian on his hat and rushed to the co-pilot’s chair as he said, “You and me both! Rufus Lenscap, Ace Reporter, with the exclusive, first hand coverage of the first flight to another world!” Both laughing up a storm, as the Audentia rose into the air, Schmitt finally said, “Ok, start up the void drive! We’re shovin’ off!” Punching commands into the command program, Rufus replied, “On it!” The ship started vibrating, an aura of EDE gathering around it. Moments later, Rufus said, “Void drive functional! Accelerate until we hit phase velocity!” Nodding, Schmitt looked at Celestis one last time as he thought to himself, “I promise ya Douglas… I’ll let Scott know about his uncle, an uncle to be proud of!” Punching the accelerator, Schmitt shouted, “HERE WE GO!” Speeding off into the sky, the Audentia started shining, and then with a bright flash of light it disappeared from the skies of Teramis.

            Flying through a kaleidoscope of color toward a point of shining light, Schmitt held fast to the controls with a look of determination on his face as the Audentia trembled. Holding tight to the co-pilot’s seat as Ian clung to his hat, Rufus shouted, “We’re not gonna make it! The Professor must not have calibrated the field to be strong enough! The stress is breaking the Audentia apart!” Accelerating even more, Schmitt shouted, “We’re almost there! We got this!” Trailing fragments of its hull behind it, the Audentia reached the point of light and burst into the skies of Gaia. The area they were in being cloudy, Schmitt could not see anything around them. Pumping his arm in the air, Rufus exclaimed, “We made it!” Slowing the Audentia down, Schmitt said, “Told ya! Now, where are we?” As he looked down at the navigation system’s sensors, Rufus said, “Uh one sec…” Seeing the information on the screen, Rufus shouted, “PULL RIGHT!” Pulling the controls hard right, the Audentia veered away as a mountain appeared from the clouds. The ship jolted as its side scraped against the rocky edge of the mountain, and all forms of various warning sirens blared through the bridge. Continuing to pull the ship right as best he could, Schmitt shouted, “D****t, we’ve lost the left repulsion engines! Oh boy, losin’ power! We’re goin’ down!” Pulling away from the mountain, the Audentia began descending rapidly. Breaking out of the clouds, it headed down towards the forest below, and quickly Schmitt activated the emergency landing gear and pulled the Audentia out of its nosedive. Sailing across the treetops, the ship started to slow as Schmitt reversed the direction of the remaining repulsion engines and poured all the remaining power into them. Finally the Audentia sank into the trees and came to a halt. Slumping over the controls with a sigh of relief, Schmitt muttered, “Can’t believe I crashed her again! Well, any crash ya can walk away from is a good one I spose…”