--- Part 5: The Sum of All Fears ---
With an almost casual movement, Kireek tossed the object in his hand at Ash who traced its lazy arc through the air towards him. As it came nearer he recognised the markings on it... it was a mine!
"Zonde!" Ash commanded.
A split second later a thin bolt of yellow-tinged lightning streaked down from above and struck the mine in mid-air. The event was expected but the outcome not so. A brilliant flash lit up the room and Ash's eyes felt like they were on fire even as his vision disappeared in a blur of white noise. He stumbled backwards hoping to put some distance between himself and the killer android before him, but he tripped on something and fell on to his back heavily, winding himself.
Desperately trying to recover, he crawled backwards blinking furiously in a vain attempt to have his vision return faster. Colliding with a wall and with tears streaming down his face he held up his arms hoping to ward off the inevitable final strike.
It did not come and after what seemed like minutes the burning white became darker and formed recognisable blobs of colour. The 'thing' he had tripped over had been Meow's body but Kireek was nowhere in sight. Had the android fled? His question was answered when Kireek once again stepped from the shadows to confront him.
"It is time to claim what is mine."
This time Ash was determined to show Kireek that he was no longer a victim, he stood upright, formed his Last Survivor and swung hard at the android, hell-bent on cutting him in two! Kireek caught the large sword in full swing with one hand, stopping it dead. Ash's mouth gaped open at what he had just seen. However Kireek was not done yet. The air was filled with the creaking of metal experiencing great stress and without warning the sword's photon blade casing shattered into many pieces.
Ash could only stare in sheer disbelief at the remains of his once almighty weapon. The android's strength must be phenomenal. With Ash powerless to act, Kireek walked over to him and with a simple backhand knocked Ash to the ground and the weapon from his hand in one go.
"How? Why?" Ash cried out as he propped himself up.
"After I was defeated by that Hunter, I was consigned to the scrap heap ready for recycling. However, I have powerful friends in high places."
When Ash frowned at that statement, Kireek elaborated.
"As Black Hound even I have to report to someone... Black Arm."
"Black Arm?"
"Do not concern yourself with such matters now, the secret will die with you."
"Even if you kill me, they'll catch you and deactivate you for good."
"I can leave anytime I wish, I have been equipped with the military's finest. It's amazing what you can find on the island..." He paused briefly. "But you would not know, would you?"
Ash knew he referred to a hidden island, available only to Hunters that had passed stringent examination requirements. He had tried for it between seasons but during his test a malfunction of the VR environment had resulted in all the teams taking part to fail. There was a rumour that the legendary Hunter had passed the exam that same day, but Ash had decided to quit and return to training for this show.
Kireek stood astride of Ash and sat on his chest, pinning him to the floor with his weight. He rolled his wrist in a dramatic fashion and out of thin air materialised the sinister purple scythe of Ash's nightmares. Kireek leaned forward so that his face was almost above Ash's and then proceeded to scrape his free hand downward across his own face, the screeching noise enough to set Ash's teeth on edge. The white paint flaked off readily to reveal the familiar dark blue of Kireek's true colour. Beneath him, Ash struggled to search his inventory for the item he needed.
"And now I will claim that which is rightfully mine."
"What? What's rightfully yours?"
Kireek's voice rose to a crescendo.
"YOUR SOUL!"
As Kireek raised his Soul Eater scythe high to bring down on the helpless Ash below, Ash activated a telepipe module and flicked it up on to Kireek's back. Kireek recognised the noise but was unable to react in time.
"NNNOOOOOOoooooo...." He screamed as the energy vortex above him dragged him up and inside and he disappeared from view.
With Kireek gone the vortex fluctuated wild before dissipating. Ash breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed back to the floor to await his rescue. He was unsure of where the telepipe would take Kireek, but he knew that this was not over, not even by a long shot.