Zack
dove forward and painted a Shield
with Light then one with Shadow. Two hazy layers of armor-like fields encased
his body.
Boom! The pavement behind
him exploded into dust, filling the air.
He landed on his belly. Thud.
He gasped, and a moment later, he rolled to his back and stared at the two who
had dragged him from the school — the only two in the alley itself. “Why
are you attacking me?” He crab-walked
backwards.
The rain of energy and
knives followed his movements to the mouth of the alley. When the first wave of
attacks made contact, the Shadow-Shield split down the middle. Crack.
The fuck is wrong with them? Zack scrambled to his feet.
Something smashed into the
side of his head and destroyed the Shadow-Shield.
His body lurched to the
left and crashed into the building. Vomit climbed up his throat, and the world
spun. He glanced behind him.
The woman swung a massive
sword at his neck. Angel, as Keiko had called it, whizzed through the air like
a bolt of lightning.
Adrenaline surged through
Zack’s veins. Fuck. He tumbled away
from her and released a large glob of Light.
She hesitated.
He snapped together a pair
of Beams and wrapped them around his left hand. He aimed at her.
A squeal escaped her
mouth, and she stumbled backwards.
Zack grimaced then whipped
his hand into the air and fired a massive beam of energy into the far rooftop.
Rip. The Light-Beam parted
flesh.
His heart skipped a beat
as he turned to glare at the rooftop.
A blond-haired woman
stumbled forward, blood pouring from her missing arm. She swooned, and her body
toppled over the edge. The seven other Artists on that rooftop leaped forward,
catching her with Chains of Light and Shadow.
Thiefsy’s dead eyes
flashed through Zack’s thoughts.
His mouth dried, and tears
rolled down his cheeks. His knees weakened. The leftover power in his white
glove dispersed. I —
“Snap
out of it!” Shinji’s worried
voice cracked, rattling Zack’s thoughts.
Released Shadow and Light
darkened the alley.
Natsumi and Keiko appeared
in his mind. Their love warmed his soul and returned strength to his muscles.
Their words, “Sometimes you have to kill to preserve your ideals and dreams,”
echoed in tune with Shinji’s prodding.
The man in the alley juked
around the wide-eyed woman and brought down a two-handed slash with a jagged
sword, demon as Natsumi had called it.
Zack leaned backwards, and
Demon ripped through the Light-Shield, shattering it.
Demon changed directions,
and the swinging blade caressed his neck as it passed, leaving a thin, red
line.
“Get yourself together!” Shinji’s voice riveted Zack’s body out of
apathy.
Zack kicked the man in the
gut and spun, backfisting him across the jaw.
The man crumpled for a
long moment, and the woman sprang forward.
With open hands, Zack
raised his arms into the air and widened his stance into a grappling form. For
two groups at war with one another, their teamwork isn’t half bad.
For some odd reason, Shinji panted. “Part
of the treaty with American forced Japan to create one of these groups. They are basically American Artists in Japanese bodies.”
The woman shifted into guillotine
form and stabbed at Zack’s chest.
He twisted his hips and
batted the blade into the wall behind him. Sizzle. The flesh on his palm melted
away, and he gritted his teeth. A scream forced its way from his mouth, and his
uninjured hand shot for the woman’s throat. Thump-thump-thump. His heart raced.
His breaths became frantic. Sweat rolled down his face. As his joints began to
freeze, he pulled the strike up short and shoved the woman to the ground
instead. Then, he clambered backwards.
“Just kill them,” Shinji said.
No.
“But —”
“Stop attacking me! I’m not Japanese!” Zack
painted six Blades — three with Light and
three with Shadow — and stacked them atop one another. If I
can … . He moved to
combine the two Masterpieces, and
his body became a statue. The strain of several forces pushing him in
different directions created a boiling heat around his eyes. Would they pop?
With a grunt, he brought the two Masterpieces closer to each other.
“No!
I forbid it!”
We need the extra boost that I’m sure combining
the powers will give us.
“I
said no!”
Shinji … .
“I will not change my mind. I cannot allow you to act as a — True
Abomination.” Shinji forced the last words out as if he were holding
something back.
Zack
sighed. Fine. When the
pressure around his muscles slacked, he reached into the Light-Blade with his right hand and the
Shadow-Blade with his left. His gaze met that of the man and woman in front of
him. “Doesn’t being American
count for something?” He drew a pair of longswords.
“No,”
the two said while they adopted fan form and closed in on Zack. The woman swiped high. The man swiped low.
Zack
defended Light with Shadow and Shadow with Light then twirled like a quarterback in a ballerina class. His heart leaped
into his throat, but he kicked the woman in the sternum anyways. Vomit filled his mouth, and his vision blurred. It had to be done. It had to be done. He swallowed, and his chest
burned. It had —
Boom! Beams of Shadow and
Light filled the space where the woman had been, sending a spray of debris to
shred Zack’s suit and flesh. Another blast of energy slammed him into the wall
behind him — fraying his tie — and an explosion sent him reeling forward.
There’s just too many of them. Zack pressed his longswords into the
ground to regain his balance then twisted. His muscles tensed, and both blades
shot through the air around him like a marry-go-round.
Nothing.
The
woman climbed to her feet then lunged
forward. “Die, Abomination!”
He parried a moment too late, and she
gashed him across his arm. A squeal
sprang through his quivering lips before his blade of Shadow dispersed. He raised his Light-longsword
and flailed it like a three year old with a wooden spoon, fending her off.
Demon ripped through
his gut. Splatter. Blood gushed from the gaping wound in his middle.
His eyes glazed, and he
stumbled backwards. Dizziness slapped him
across the face. Impossible. He clutched
his wound while he released the
last of his ecstasy as both Light and
Shadow.
Last night with Natsumi
and Keiko pushed against the pain, clearing his thoughts.
I no longer care if I kill them, but I need to mix the powers or I’ll
be the one who dies. His chest ached as his heart wrenched.
Shinji growled. “No. We will die a much worse death if you do.”
Death is death. Stop being stubborn! Zack painted a Light-Beam and a Shadow-Bridge.
“He’s
trying to run!” a man on the roof shouted.
All twenty visible enemies painted Beams. Had
Zack managed to injure more than one in that blind shot earlier? Black and
white streams of power flooded into the alley.
Zack huffed then blasted
the stones beneath him with all the energy stored in the white glove, filling
the air with debris. He Shadow-Stepped around the corner and then again. After one more time, his blood-soaked pants clung to his legs.
Smoke rose into the sky
behind him.
According to Keiko, this should be far
enough that they can’t catch my
Ecstasy Trace. Zack coughed up blood when he drew Light from his
body. His insides twisted, but he set his jaw and maintained his hold on
the power. He painted a Bridge,
and he became pure, white energy.
Shinji screamed. “You have not —” His
voice trembled. “— even set up a recall point!”
Fire raced through Zack’s veins. What
do you care?
“You
act as if I do not care if we live or die.”
Do
you? Darkness closed in around Zack. Only wanting to get as
far away as possible, he zipped
into the air without releasing more
Light. Thung! His head hit something metal, and his eyes fluttered shut.
Just after the smell of rotting
garbage assaulted his nose, his body went limp.
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