Victors Quill

I didn't have time to think, just act.

My entire body was covered in repulsive charges. If anything got close to me, it'd be flung off with enough force to shatter a ribcage. It wasn't perfect coverage, but it kept knives, debris, claws and rope from tearing into me while I was blind.

Even then, I hated not seeing. The world turned into noise and motion. I felt boots slamming across rooftops through vibrations in the concrete. Heard weapons wind up, metal scrape. I heard Kael yell, it was distant. A grunt of pain.

The illusionist must've already gotten into position, probably somewhere in my line of sight.

I didn't need my eyes to fight, but I did need to know what was real.

I heard another noise. Something behind me hissed. I didn't waste time. Slammed a charge on my feet and rocketed towards it, crashing through a wall and into a choked stairwell.

The air smelt like blood and old rust. My ears rang.

I cracked my eyes open.

Infront of me, was a pile of flesh. Once human.

Okay, that's another down.

There was nothing blinding, yet. But I knew how this worked. Someone was feeding me visions. Illusions, stuff that simply wasn't real. And someone was blinding me in order to force me to look at them.

Pretty decent plan, would work if it wasn't me.

Blind me, confuse me, get me to rampage against something that's not real. Do they seriously think this will tire me?

It wasn't going to work, but that's if Kael wasn't in the mix. I could just rampage through the illusions and kill them with pure force.

But I don't know where Kael is, so I can't randomly expel more force and lash out.

I closed my eyes again. Pressed my back to the wall. A new tactic. Short bursts of sight, just a blink, long enough to identify, short enough to minimize exposure.

One… two… now.

A glimpse of the street through a gaping hole in the building, I darted out landing in the middle of the street.

Okay let's take a peak.

One… Two… Now.

A figure.

Standing right in front of me on the road.

You've got to be fucking kidding me…

The earth swallowed me, thousands of eyes looked down on me from the sky. Cries of children echoed in my head.

I closed my eyes again.

I slammed a directional push forward, angled low, and heard the crack as it blew apart wood and stone. I opened my eyes.

Nobody there.

Tch.

The real bastard was still hiding.

There was groups of people leering down at me from the ruined buildings that surrounded me.

Another blinding flash caught the edge of my vision, as some guys hands lit up like the sun. That light-finger idiot was trying again.

I gritted my teeth.

"Cheap tricks! You think this is enough?" I shouted, tossing a dellumite bar overhand like a grenade.

They didn't respond, just silence.

I charged a reverse pull midair, delaying the trigger.

It arced over the street and snapped downward when it reached the center mass of the noise.

A scream followed.

One less.

Then someone whistled—a shrill, piercing tone that cut through the air like a command. And I felt them coming.

Five. No, six. Rushing from every direction. They weren't trying to kill me. They were trying to hold me.

"Idiots."

I slammed my palms together, discharging a repulsive burst in a full radius. Dust blew outward like an explosion, lifting some off their feet. One guy hit a post and didn't get back up.

But the others adjusted quickly.

Fast.

They were well-trained.

Two of them closed from the left. I faked a retreat, then yanked the ground beneath them with two simultaneous pulls. Their feet slipped, both of them stumbling down. I launched myself, kicking one under the chin which sent him flipping down the street.

Another came in swinging—a jagged hook lashed to his arm. I caught it mid-swing with my palm, activated a static repulse at the point of contact, and the hook snapped backward into his face.

Blood sprayed.

Still—

I was burning through more energy than I'd like to admit, it's a lot easier for me to win fights with pure force then to dismantle people with precision.

There was a limit. Even for me. Too much back-to-back usage and I'd lose control of the finer applications.

I needed to reset.

I pulled myself upward, charging through the roof of a crushed shop. I smashed through floors and walls before breathing in the fresh air of the world. I opened my eyes, dellumite bars whirled behind me, orbiting like vultures. I recharged three of them mid-air, layering multiple forces on them.

Breathe. Don't show weakness.

I stopped on the roof.

Took a breath.

Okay, if I can see where he is for just a second. I can instantly launch a bar into his ugly mug.

Then looked down at the street.

The man was right there. Or so I thought.

Three bars launched at his after image like lightning only for it to pass clean through, crashing into the earth like thunder.

Damn it.

Thousands of people filled my vision, elderly, infants, sick. And then they all exploded.

I grit my teeth.

Maybe if I smash the entire city Kael will teleport away… Where the hell is he?

Metal scraped. A ripple in the wind.

I looked up—and saw him.

A man ran through the sky.

He was literally running above the battle. Boots just stopped in the air with each step floating platforms—no, not platforms.

He looks like a problem. Strongest here?

My breath hitched.

He was chasing straight after Kael.

And Kael… wasn't running.

He was still standing, face bloody, holding a rock.

Dumb kid.

My muscles tensed. I shifted my stance. Ready to bolt. The second he raised a weapon, I'd launch.

But something snapped in the air.

Kael was gone. No, he'd teleported.

A scream. The sound of wet meat.

I looked down at the street.

The illusionist's head was bashed in, Kael's arm was shaking, still clutching a bloodied rock.

Well, this is going to be easy now.

The static lifted from the air.

I stretched my arms out, shaking out my legs.

I turned.

SHIT.

The sky-runner was already above Kael. Blade in hand, reared back for the strike.

Kael looked up, still panting, blood dripping down one side of his face.

"Kael, MOVE!" I screamed.

But he didn't.

He stood frozen.

The blade came down—

I shot forward, flashing across the sky both hands out.

Right as the weapon dropped, I slammed my hands against Kael. I threw him clear with a forceful push charge to his side.

The blade fell on me instead.

My entire body was covered in repulsive charges, so it would shatter a mere weapon.

The sword met a wall of invisible energy, like trying to cut through a storm.

Except… it didn't bounce off.

It kept going, ignoring the force on it.

My breath froze.

What the fuck—

The metal didn't move. Didn't even shiver.

It was locked into its motion.

Pain flared white in my skull.

Which meant…

The sword didn't stop.

It went through my resistance.

Right against my head.

Pain burst behind my eyes.

I screamed—more out of rage than pain. I twisted, throwing myself to the left saving what I could.

But it was too late.

Warmth spilled down the side of my face.

My balance swayed.

Kael stared at me—eyes wide.

I touched the side of my head. Fingers came back red.

He got my ear.

The bastard got my ear.

"You're dead," I said softly.

The man in the air jumped backwards.

That made me angrier.

I ripped a dellumite bar from the air and threw it straight at him.

I layered two charges onto it, pull, push. It rocketed upward below him like a bullet.

Then it just stopped, frozen, unmoving. As if he just pressed pause on the bar.

"Well if it isn't the almighty Plor! Derab isn't going to believe I took an ear off the great hunter!" He said estatic.

"Well, Derab will have to read that story off your tombstone."

I applied charges to two bars and sent them to the left and right of him.

They stopped mid air frozen again.

"You're not much of a thinker are you Plor? Even your charity case worked out my power." He cackled.

And all I had to say to him was.

"Goodbye."

He exploded into red mist, flesh falling from the sky.

Two repulsive forces squashed him from two sides like a hydronic press, he was simply squashed like a bug.