They rushed each other with speeds unable to be seen by anyone. Only the brief flashes of purple and the occasional fighter knocked into walls were any indicator of the duel the bounty hunter and psychic fought. An intensive "BOOM" sounded and Kisma saw Nathaniel careening through layer upon layer of walls. Valis wasted no time getting back into the fight. He furiously flew toward Nathan only to meet a large sphere of mental energy hurdling his way. Raising his arms in defense, Valis took the ball of power, exploding a massive hole around the two which shook the ship down to its core.
Nathaniel flew through the smoke and layed a full-blown punch on Valis' face, sending him back through the hangar and into space. Nathan wouldn't allow his opponent to recover from that and dashed off toward the Ivarc. Valis, now out of the ship's gravity field, activated the jets built into the armor's boots and flew away. But when compared to the psychic's speed, Valis was soon caught up to, allowing Nathaniel to ram fist after fist in a whirlwind of blows on the Ivarc. The final punch in the series, imbued with an extraordinary amount of psychic energy, sent Valis away, impacting through an asteroid, coming out the other side, then crashing onto the surface of another, forming a crater.
He got up and rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding a psychic cannon heading his way. It completely obliterated the rock, forcing Valis jet boot his way toward another one. Landing on it, Valis was immediately confronted by the psychic, who landed right in front of him. While Valis was mainly okay, Nathaniel didn't have a wound on him. However, Valis knew that all of the psychic's injuries were dealt to his mind. It would be a matter of time before he collapsed. Valis just had to stall.
"I'm impressed. You've matched me so far," Nathaniel said in awe. "However, this is where your life comes to a close."
"Your mistaken," Valis corrected. "I still have more winds left in me."
"Then watch as I scatter those 'winds'."
Nathaniel vanished, only for Valis to do the same and ram a fist into the psychic's stomach. The psychic doubled over from the pain, coughing up spit, stomach fluids, and blood. The fresh, ruby-red liquid sprayed over Valis' boot as the Ivarc gave himself a smile of satisfaction. Putting his hands on the rock beneath him, Nathaniel tried to pull himself together before he found himself flat against the asteroid, his face making an indent in the rock.
"Well well well, it seems I still have my 'winds'." Valis laughed maniacally, his bloodied boot pressing against the back of Nathan's head. "Although it seems yours are scattering."
Nathaniel had enough. A muffled roar resonated before a swirl of psychic power erupted from the human's fallen shape. This power sent Valis sliding backwards before the asteroid was destroyed. Up-righting himself, Nathan stared down the Ivarc, a murderous look in his purple eyes. The fight continued again with a mad dash by the psychic and each side gave off multiple series of strikes, blocks, and counters. A powered punch from Nathaniel blocked by Valis' fist sent out shockwaves that sliced anything within radius. It was here that the fighters glared at each other, waiting for the other to make the next move.
Neither person moved a centicubit.
"I thought we were finishing this," Nathaniel angrily spoke.
"We are. It's your move," Valis defiantly countered.
"Done."
Nathaniel withdrew his blocked assault and simply floated there, contemplating. Valis looked on, holding a stance, ready for any of the psychic's tricks. In space, the psychic had the field-distance advantage. In close or approximate quarters, Valis could hold his own. A minute rolled by in uncomfortable silence as the weary combatants gathered their final energies, ready for the final stretch of the fight.
Valis rushed Nathaniel, fist ready for the strike, only to have the psychic avoid the incoming punch. He threw a quick jab into the Ivarc's side. Turning quickly, Valis raised his knee to block the attack. It succeeded... or so he thought. Before impact, Nathaniel opened his hand revealing a small purple sphere. It made contact with Valis in a concussive blast, knocking him far from where he had been. Disconcerted, Valis looked around, only to feel an intense pain on his back as he was sent downward. Before the bounty hunter got too far, he felt himself getting knocked in a different direction. This happened again and again until he was stopped mid-flight, grasped around the neck by the psychic. The Ivarc was now a broken mess: his suit was battered, busted and torn revealing his face and most of his upper body.
Coughing, Valis gave a small salute, then pointed to the psychic's head. Nathaniel looked at the finger with apprehension, unsure as to the Ivarc's wishes. Valis then tapped his head and pointed to Nathaniel. Now knowing that Valis wished to speak via telepathy, Nathaniel reached into the Ivarc's head. "Well, you beat me. Fair and square." Nathaniel heard Valis think upon entering.
"Of course fool, no one challenges me and lives to tell about it," the psychic responded, cocking his fist back for the finishing blow.
"If you could, however, do me a small favor?"
"I'm listening."
"I'd prefer to go out with a bang, not a run-in. Can you manage that?"
"Odd request... but I accept."
"Thank you," Valis finished before losing consciousness.
Nathaniel let go of the Ivarc and brought his hands together, gathering intensive amounts of psychic power into a sphere. Giving a cocky grin, he released it, obliterating Valis completely.
"At least you'll never feel death's release," Nathaniel thought to himself.
Placing his hands on his knees, Nathaniel let out a huge sigh and dropped back down to Psiwalk. The crown from the Ultimate transformation faded away and his hair lost much of its bright purple locks. His irises faded back to a dimmer purple and his aura followed suit. Giving himself a small break, Nathaniel remembered what Valis told him about there being more of his allies. The thought was a grave one indeed. But they'll take care of that later. Right now, he needed to get back to the flagship and check on his friends. He turned around and shot a small pulse, sending him toward the ship. When he arrived, he found Kisma standing just as she was when he and Valis had left the ship—shocked and frightened.
Making his way toward her, Nathaniel, despite his exhaustion, spoke in an even tone, "Listen. Valis is dead... and you had a chance to do the same to my friends. You didn't. For that, I'm going to offer you a chance to go free, without consequences."
Kisma slowly nodded and asked for the terms.
"Simple. You tell your employer that they made the biggest mistake of their entire existence and to make further aggression against us will only bring a world of hurt upon them. Tell them to abandon their search for Travel The Days, otherwise, they will all suffer a fate worse than death." The psychic's eyes glowed purple for a split second, allowing the gravity of his words to sink in. "And tell them that I'll deliver. Now get out of here."
Kisma left without any debate, leaving Nathaniel to tend to his wounded allies. Coming to Clank, he took a quick look at the robot.
"Painful electroshock; it shut down his systems. Wonder how that happened."
Running toward Talwyn, Nathan dropped down next to her and checked for a pulse.
"She's breathing, phew."
That just left the two lombaxes—the ones who actually took a heavy hit from Valis. Nathan stood back up and made his way for Zenith.
"Zenith, pop the trunk will you?" Nathan asked.
No response.
"This isn't funny... you ju... y... you can't hear me, can you?"
Seeing that Zenith was still hovering above the ground; Nathan knew that Zenith was still on, he simply needed a reboot of his own. Walking over to the nose, the psychic popped opened a flap on the left side. Taking a look at it, Nathan saw that he had overloaded the energy capacitors, frying them.
"Aphelion's probably the same way too. Talwyn's ship as well. Gah!"
Walking over to the lombaxes, Nathaniel placed his hand on Terin's head and read a full injury report, several bruised ribs and damaged intestines.
"He won't be waking anytime soon. How about Ratchet?"
The golden furred lombax was in no way better than the silver one.
"A concussion... shiz. The spinal cord was nailed too... I can't tell how severe it is."
Nathaniel stood back up and walked back to the markazian. Kneeling down, the psychic placed a hand on Tal's shoulder and gently shook her.
"Hey, hey Talwyn, wake up." Nathaniel said, putting more effort into waking the unconscious markazian. Once she started stirring, Nathan stopped and stood back up.
"Nate," Talwyn said groggily. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it is. Listen, we're all in a spot of bother," the psychic returned, offering the fallen captain his hand. Grabbing it, Nathan pulled Talwyn up and she asked him what the problem was.
"Ratchet, Terin and Clank are down; our ships are down; and I'm almost down. Can you help me open Zenith's trunk?"
"Alright."
They walked to the back of Zenith where the two tried opening the trunk.
No avail.
"Follow me," Talwyn commanded, signaling Nathan to follow her, "I have a set of picks in my ship."
"Why would you have that?" Nathaniel inquired, sliding off the top of Zenith, landing on the ground before slipping on his back.
"You okay?" Tal asked, wincing as the psychic failed his landing.
"To be honest, no. I feel like crud. My brain has been pushed too far. I've suffered physical damage, nothing so serious but yeah, I'm just going to lie here a bit. Go get the picks."
"Okay."
The markazian pulled open her ship's hatch and opened the glove box, searching it until she found what she was looking for. Returning back to Zenith, Talwyn climbed the ship and began picking the trunk lock. A click noise was heard and she lifted the trunk open.
"What do I need to grab, nanotech?"
"Yeah, that and tools." Nathan replied wearily.
Rummaging through the group supplies, the markazian found the nanotech canisters and the toolbox.
"Uh Nate, a little help here."
Turning himself over, Nathan looked up and saw that Talwyn was having trouble getting down without having a canister break.
"Hang on, I'm coming."
Pushing himself up, Nathan unsteadily made his way up on his feet and walked over to where he could grab the canisters. He grabbed one and put it between his left arm and side while grabbing another one with his right hand, giving that one to his left. He took a third canister and made his way for the lombaxes. After closing the trunk, Talwyn grabbed the tools and slid off Terin's ship. She walked over to where Nate was and helped him pour the contents on the silver and golden lombaxes. The strange blue orbs went through their armor and seeped into their skin.
"Well, they should soon be fine. I would use more but... we've got to save what we have. The more times we stop to replenish our necessities, the more time we give our enemies to find Travel The Days."
"That reminds me, what happened here?" Talwyn asked the psychic, looking around the ruined landing bay.
"Beside what I told you, nothing much more. I killed Valis and sent Kisma away with a message to tell her employers."
"You killed Valis?"
"I did."
"How?"
"Simple, I was able to match him... 'cubit for cubit', and then worked around it."
Hearing how Nathan put it, Talwyn decided to take a different route.
"What did you tell Kisma then?"
"Ahh the usual. Your standard 'Cease and Desist' command for when you've displayed that you're in charge around here."
"Okay then."
"Would you know how to reactivate Clank? He seems to have shut down and I don't know how to turn him back on."
"I don't. But I could try."
"Alright, but be careful though." Nathan advised. Yawning, the psychic sat down and rested his head on the wall. "And while you're doing that, I'm going to take a little 'me-nap'."
"Oka... wait, what?"
Surprised, Talwyn quickly turned around and found the psychic lying on the floor, snoring.
"Nate?"
No response.
"Nate?"
Again, no response.
Dropping the toolbox, Talwyn stormed over to Nathaniel. Kneeling next to him, she violently started to shake him, yelling, "NATE, GET UP!"
"I'M SORRY I ATE YOUR COOKIES!" Jerking upward, the psychic looked around with a surprised, guilty look on his face. A hard slap directed his attention toward the markazian. She was standing, hands on her hips, looking down at him. Her expression was one of exasperation. Immediately, the psychic stood up, He looked down at the markazian, arms crossed, his expression was a miffed one.
"Why did you slap me?" Nathan asked, indignant.
"You had the nerve to… t… to sleep when our friends are injured?!" Talwyn replied furiously.
"Look, I'm not going to complain about how I feel, but I need this, okay. These things happen when you have my type of powers."
"You can rest, but not right now. There are more important things to do."
"Fine."
Pivoting her heel, Talwyn turned from Nathaniel and walked back to the toolbox. Picking it up, she walked over to where Clank lay. Nathaniel soon arrived, taking his spot behind the markazian. As Talwyn went to see what was wrong with Clank, a stray bolt of lighting jumped from Clank and zapped the markazian's hand. A small, high pitched cry cut through the air as she pulled back from Clank quickly.
"Are you okay?" Nathan inquired, looking over the captain's shoulder, seeing if he could see where she had gotten zapped.
"I'm fine, it's just a mild sting." Talwyn asserted, risking a glance at her glove. It was singed, showing her index finger which was slightly red.
"Are you sure you're okay?" The psychic ventured again, seeing the slightly burned skin.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What was that though?"
"Should I state the obvious?"
Rolling her eyes, she tentatively reached for Clank again, only to have the lightning attack her again.
"Oww!" Talwyn exclaimed, pulling away again.
"Whoa, the lightning was purple," Nathan stated, a goofy smile plastered on his face.
"Well, duh," Talwyn said irritably, wiggling her hand.
"You can take a break if you want; I think I know what's wrong with Clank now."
"Oh, really then. What?"
"Clank is fine. However, for some strange reason, my psychic powers are in his system, preventing a reboot. I'll have to draw the power out of him."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Not exactly, but assuming that you were attacked twice, the same magnitude each time, I can only assume that there is good amount of energy still in him."
"How would you get it out?"
"Just watch."
Nathan reached for the small robot's head when suddenly, he pulled away.
"What's wrong?"
Looking toward the Polaris captain, Nathaniel let out a breath and gave a warning. "If what I suspect is true Talwyn, then I'm going to overload myself drawing the energy out."
"Meaning?"
"For you, it means that I'll be having my 'me-nap'." Seeing the annoyed expression of the markazian, Nathan added quickly, "On the bright side, you'll have Clank to keep you company."
"Fine, go ahead."
"Thank you."
Nathan put his right hand on Clank's head and his left hand on the robot's ventilator. The psychic's irises took on a purple hue as sparks of energy climbed from Clank and across Nathan's arms. As the seconds passed, the sparks' number and power grew in intensity and static soon filled the air, giving off a series of methodical snaps and crackles. A violet glow emanated from both the Zoni and human, glowing brighter as time passed. In a final flash of power, Nathan let go of the small robot and fell to the floor unconscious with dark purple sparks leaping about him.
Opening his eyes, Clank took a look around the hangar. Seeing Nathaniel on the floor next to him and Talwyn kneeling on the other side, the small Zoni robot ventured a question. "What has happened here?"
"A lot of things apparently, Nathan defeated our opponents and the lombaxes are down." Talwyn replied, pointing to the two lombaxes.
"Oh dear."
Struggling to get up, Clank finally succeeded, only to wobble and fall again.
"Well, this seems to complicate matters. Uh, Miss Apogee, if you please?"
"Sure Clank, hold on."
After lifting the robot up, Talwyn watched as Clank took a cautionary step forward, then another, and then another. Seeing that he was okay, Clank started running toward to the fallen heroes. When he arrived he knelt next to Ratchet and put a hand on the lombax's and grasped it firmly.
"We gave both of them some nanotech. How well is it working?" Talwyn asked, letting Clank scan both lombaxes. His antennae flashed as he began the procedure. Once he'd finished up Ratchet's diagnostic, Clank turned around and scanned Terin.
"This does not look well," the Zoni said after a few more seconds.
"It's that bad?" Talwyn asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"They have both suffered serious wounds and Ratchet has it the worse of the two."
"Will they be okay?"
"I do not know."
"Will giving them more nanotech help at all?"
"No. It will not. The dosage given will be fine."
For some reason, Talwyn knew Clank was hiding more information. But why?
"Clank, I want to help. Now, tell me everything."
"If you want to help, we need to send an SOS out to any friendly ship in range. Otherwise—" Unable to finish that thought, Clank clammed up, moving to sit on the ground. He pulled his knees up to his chest, locking his hand together in front of him, looking like an oddly-shaped ball. Seeing the Zoni's anxious expression, Talwyn pulled Clank into her embrace, squeezing him gently, whispering, "It's okay, Clank, they'll pull through… I know they will."
AN: (11-22-17) Edited.
