FF Chapter 35

All cards on the table, it's a fight to see who has the better hand.

Chapter 35

      “Oh, it must be my lucky day.” Captain Johnathan purred. “Rather than just slaying some weak old man, I get to eliminate both claims to the throne in one fell swoop.” With a confident swagger, he split himself into three, and charged the children.

      Frey activated her beast gift and took to their air, joining Indol in firing pot-shots at the armoured Captains, while Eira and Alex engaged them in swordfights. Alex was a whirlwind of blades as he brought both his weapons down upon two clones, keeping them pinned and away from his friends, but every time they managed to defeat one clone, the original John would just get stronger before spitting out another for them to face. It was a battle of attrition, and they were losing.

      They managed to take down three clones, but each was quickly replaced. As Alex was backed into a corner by two Johns, he spotted something shimmer out of the corner of his eye. What looked like a white bird appeared out of nowhere.

      At first he dismissed it as his eyes playing tricks on him, but it didn’t go away. He took a better look at it. It appeared to be a…!

      On a hunch, Alex bent his knees and protected his head. He fell just in time to dodge a boulder that flew directly at Captain Johnathan, knocking him back.

      The battle stopped as John investigated where the unexpected projectile had come from. To his horror, standing in the doorway was Future and Evil themselves! The Captain faltered in fear, giving the children a moment to regroup, but so did Johnathan. He recalled all his clones, and reformed; he’d need all his strength if he was going to survive a fight with them.

      Then…nothing happened. The Hands just stood there, staring at them. They didn’t speak or even twitch. They’re like statues! Johnathan realized. He fired a bolt at them, and the energy passed right through them. Unfortunately his epiphany came too late, as two young figures suddenly appeared behind him.

      The two newcomers struck the original Johnathan in the back, sending him reeling. The Captain decided a strategic withdrawal was in order, and ran down a nearby corridor.

 

      “Pathetic!” A girl’s voice spat. “Let him run like the coward he is.”

      “Maybe…but if we let him leave now he’ll just come back more powerful, and cause us even more trouble down the line.” A boy argued.

      The group turned to face their two rescuers; they definitely weren’t Hands.

      “Jack!” Alex exclaimed, slightly out of breath. “Malent, it’s good to see you too.”

      Malent turned her face away. “Well, we couldn’t just leave with things the way they were. Good thing too from the looks of it.” She smirked as the four fighters took full advantage of the temporary rest they’d been given.

      Jack stepped in “We also ran into someone on the way here. I think she’s looking after a few of the guards outside, but she’ll be here any moment.” Almost as if on cue, young Anastazia walked around the corner into the throne room, a pouch slung over her shoulder.

      “Ana!” Alex smiled.

      “Alex! Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?” She rushed in.

      Alex looked around, but all his friends shook their heads. “I don’t think so. We’re more exhausted than anything.”

      “Here.” She reached into her pack. “Future gave me some supplies. He said this would help with fatigue.” She pulled out a bag of dark beans.

      The aroma immediately filled their nostrils, and Alex spoke up. “I know those. They’re coffee beans right?”

      “Is that was that stuff is?” Malent held her nose against the strong smell.

      “Yeah. Winchester has them every now and then, but Future would never let me have any. He said I’d be ‘bouncing off the walls’, which I always thought sounded pretty fun.”

      “Well, he gave them to me, and I want you to have some.” Ana held out the bag to everyone. They all took a handful, even Malent, who plugged her nose and crunched the beans angrily.

      “By the way,” Alex turned to Jack while munching on the coffee beans “Thanks for the warning about that rock.”

      “I thought it would work.” He smiled.

      “What did you do?” Malent asked, washing the taste of coffee out of her mouth with water.

      “I made a bird appear in front of him.” Jack shrugged, not even trying to hide the goofy grin on his face.

      “What bird was it?” Eira asked, cautious. None of them had ever seen Jack with that look on his face.

      “A ‘duck’.” Alex barely forced the word out before being consumed by laughter, and Jack quickly joined him. The girls just rolled their eyes and went to check on Gaius.

      The king had been ignored by Johnathan in favor of Alex and Eira, so he was unharmed, but depressed. Having been forced to watch helplessly as his own daughter protected him. He felt like a failure, both as a king and a father.

      He embraced Eira. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for everything. I just wanted you to be safe.”

      Eira hugged him back. “I know. I love you too. And thank you.”

      “For what?” He asked.

      She smiled slyly, just like her mother did when Gaius was dating her. “You were my first opponent; challenging you made me who I am. You made me strong, and now I’m going to use that strength to help save our kingdom.”

      Gaius was almost speechless. She truly was the spitting image of her mother. He smiled and said “I’m so proud of you.” He kissed her forehead. “Please be safe.”

      “I will.” She rose and faced her friends. “Now let’s go. Johnathan was headed for the armoury.”

 

      The Captain wasn’t in the armoury, but they stopped there themselves to resupply with sharp weapons and pristine shields. While everyone prepared for the impending fight, Alex turned to Jack.

      “Hey Jack, you know Johnathan too right? Do you think he’ll just keep running?” He was concerned they were wasting time chasing after Johnathan when there was a whole other battle still raging outside the castle.

      Jack shook his head. “No, he must be leading us somewhere.”

      Eira thought for a moment. “All that’s in that direction is a courtyard with a dueling arena.”

      Jack and Alex locked eyes. “He’ll be waiting for us there.”

      “All of us against him.” Malent smiled gleefully and strapped on leather gauntlets.

      “All of us against all of him” Jack corrected. “He can multiply himself remember.”

      Indol busied herself with making more weapons out of scraps of metal lying around the palace. She couldn’t use powerful explosives with everyone else nearby, so she’d been stuck only using improvised firecrackers, smoke bombs, and flash bangs. “But his power is divided each time. We just have to think about this numerically. ”

      Alex smiled. “Yeah, I mean he felt strong, but how many beast marks does he have? Jack, do you know?” The gambler paused for a moment, but remained silent. “Jack?” Alex asked cautiously.

      “Look, I don’t know for sure, but it’s more than thirty, maybe as high as forty.”

      “Forty!” Anastazia gasped. They’d all gotten a few more beast marks while fighting in the city, but nowhere near that many.

      Jack hung his head. “I’m afraid so.”

      Alex gripped his two swords tightly. “My Uncle Erald and Aunt Lo have about fifty each, and I used to spar against them. If that clown’s weaker than them…it should be no problem…right?” He tried to sound confident for his friends, but they could all see he was as shaken as any of them. Still, they all tried to smile, and silently prepared to face their strongest foe yet.

 

      The royal courtyard had a beautiful garden and gorgeous fountains surrounding a large circular area. Captain Johnathan was at the far end of the circle when the group arrived. He smiled at them. “Welcome to my arena. It was here that I won my first duel, it was here that I won the honour of being Captain of the Royal Guard.” He stared them down. “And it will be here that I defeat Fate itself, and earn my crown.”

      As they all prepared to fight, Malent shuffled over to Alex and whispered. “I know this might not be the best time, but I’d appreciate it if you held off on using fire here.”

      Alex chuckled nervously. “I’ll try, but I might not have a choice.”

      Johnathan readied his sword and shield before splitting himself into eight clones to face his seven foes. Alex, Eira, Frey, Indol, Ana, Jack and Malent all braced themselves. This was going to be a long fight.

 

      They all faced one-on-one battles, except Alex, who was set upon by two Johnathan’s, including the original. That meant that every time one of his allies defeated one of their clone foes, Alex’s fight would get tougher until Johnathan spat out another.

      Anastazia stayed near the back with Indol and Jack, while Eira, Malent and Frey took the front line. Malent hurled rock and stone, forming walls to block the Johns from reaching the weaker fighters, while Jack would make illusory clones of himself and his friends to confuse them.

      Anastazia tried her best, mostly running and handing out treatment to anyone who needed it, but she had a trick or two up her sleeve thanks to Future. She reached into her bag and grabbed a large pouch of seeds. Breaking the seal she threw it at a Johnathan that had her cornered. At first nothing happened, but the seeds had managed to fly into the small seams in his armour. The small buds bloomed in seconds, and the clone Captain was quickly obstructed by a ball of vines that tore his armour off his body.

      Anastazia celebrated, but as another clone appeared beside her she quickly realized she’d run out of seed bombs! Eira stepped in and saved her though, summoning the water from the fountains to her side, she blasted her foes away with focused geysers.

 

      At his most, Johnathan had ten clones out at once. The kids were almost overwhelmed, but fought on. As the grueling battle dragged on, both sides began to weaken. Each clone was slower than the last, but the children had become exhausted too.

      After whittling down over twenty clones, John had no more strength to spare, but neither did his opponents. Everyone had collapsed, panting, except for the original Johnathan and Alex, whose duel had ground to a halt.

      The Captain glared at him. “How? How could you beat me? All my power; was it not enough?” He heaved. Clutching his side from strain and exhaustion, he fell over.

      Alex could barely stand, but he could talk. “Yeah, you’re more powerful than me, I wouldn’t stand a chance against you on my own, yet you’re the one on the ground. I don’t need power, I have family.” He smiled as all his friends shakily rose to their feet, and joined him.

      Cornered, Johnathan cried out the sky. “LUCK! LUCK! Where are you?” With the last of his strength he fired pitiful blasts of energy into the air as some sort of signal, desperately hoping someone would come to his rescue. Alex and the rest looked upon him with either pity or disgust. None of them had the heart to put him down, but a sudden arrival had no such hesitations.

      The sky answered the Captain, and a lightning bolt struck him with all the rage its mistress had bottled up.

      “Pathetic.” Luck spat, emerging from the flash of light.

 

      The Hand walked past her former subordinate without a second thought, and set her sights on the children.

      “You little brats!” She spat. “You’ve ruined everything! But I will not let this day be a complete loss, no. I can still stop Fate’s plan for this city.” She locked eyes with Alex. “I’m going to do what I should’ve done the first time I saw you!”

      As she prepared to fire a blast at Alex, Malent and Jack acted quickly. Malent pulled the ground at Luck’s feet as hard as she could, and prayed that it would be enough. Meanwhile, Jack created an illusion of Alex diving out of the way, throwing off Luck’s aim.

      Between both their efforts, her first shot missed, but they didn’t have enough energy for another miracle, not that Luck would fall for the same trick twice.

      “A bunch of ungrateful monsters, all of you!” She screamed at her two young former employees. “Just do me a favor and ALL DIE!” Her hands flared with chaotic energy that mirrored her own wrath.

      Before she could unleash her ball of rage the plants from the surrounding garden began to shake. The shrubs jumped up and surrounded the children, shielding them from the blast.

      Seeing her attack fail for a second time, Luck cried out “What? NO!” She turned just in time to see Future charging towards her. She dodged his strike, but the Hand of Fate landed directly between her and the children.

      Smiling, he mocked her. “You know, we were wondering where you were hiding, but your lightshow led us right to you.”

      “‘We’, ‘us’?” She asked suspiciously, when a chill of fear washed down her back. She turned around to see Evil standing behind her, flaming sword in hand.

      “Hey sis.” He smiled mockingly. “Come give your big brother a hug.” He bared his fangs.

      “E-Evil, what are you doing here?”

      The Hand of Death glanced at the kids and smiled. “I’m protecting my investments.” He turned back to his younger sister and gestured towards her with his sword. “You have no chance against us, so your powers don’t come into effect; even if they did, there isn’t enough weight in the world to tip the scales in your favor. Oh, but don’t let that stop you. Please, try.” He readied his sword with fierce eyes.

      Her eyes darted between her brothers, the children who’d ruined her years of planning, and back again. With a pained heart she realized there was no victory to be had. She clapped her hands above her head, and disappeared inside a lightning bolt.

      Future stared at the burnt spot on the floor where Luck had been standing, and muttered. “Well that’s a new trick.” With the danger seemingly passed, he checked on the children.

      “Is it over?” Alex panted.

      Evil shook his head. “Not yet. There are still those pests around the city, although with Luck gone the Dan’darun will return to being regular beasts. They won’t be a problem.”

      “So…do you need me for that?” He asked sheepishly.

      “Haha, no. You can rest.” Future laughed.

      “Oh good.” Alex sighed, and passed out on his feet. His friends scrambled to catch him before he fell, and gently laid him down on the ground.

      Future smiled at his sleeping face. “I guess even wild animals have limits.” He smiled, brushing dusty hair out of his young friends’ face. “Rest well, little wolf.”