Weee! I told you I'd be faster! Anyway, before hand, I would think you'd respond to Malone as a sophisticated, note-worthy villain. Heh, you're wrong. You'll see exactly what I mean in the next few chapters, but here it is, Essence Thief.
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Malone smirked. Finally, someone understood.
Audrena recoiled, horrified, black/brown eyes traveling from crystal to crystal. Revulsion, already strong, began to grow even more. She whirled on him, but paused in seeing Malone's eyes. She shook her head violently at the sheer color shift from purple to lime green and back to purple again, shoving it to the back of her mind. This wasn't a time to ponder his changing eye color! This was a good time for revenge!
"You have people's souls in there?!...why?!" She choked, unbelieving. Kyle simply shook his head.
"Alright Malone, why do you have people stuck in there?" He said calmly, way too calmly for the situation. In truth, he was charging his mental abilities, having a strong feeling that he was going to need them later on.
"A freak show maybe? Company? Because if you wanted company, all you had to do was just go to Romeo City and go talk to someone-"
"Far from it Obscura." Their captor waved a hand to emphasize his point.
"You see, all of these people, in their own times, dimensions, and worlds, they held some importance. This made their spirits much stronger. These spirits give off a sort of energy, mental, physical, and spiritual. This was meant to draw more people of their kind towards them, causing the strong to join with the strong."
He gave the chandelier a fond pat, making it tinkle like a grossly over-sized wind chime.
"But, these energies, if harnessed correctly, can be used to fuel something or someone. This collection-"
"A collection?!" Audrena spat, now glaring at him with the utmost loathing. "These are people too, not historical items! Don't you have any compassion for your fellow human being?!"
Kyle snorted.
"You got to remember, he brought us here."
Audrena chuckled mirthlessly. The situation wasn't very humorous.
Malone simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head as well. These people never kept their mouths shut.
"This bunch can easily power a metropolis the size of Romeo City for two months when the residents are using every power source available."
To be frank, that caught both of his guests off guard.
"So, you use this to power your home?" Kyle asked innocuously, looking around the dark and dusty ballroom for some sort of wall electrical outlet. Audrena was about to ask something, but was cast into silence by the somewhat twisted grin that slunk across their captor's face.
"Oh no, it runs on it's own power…" Kyle tilted his head to the side, somewhat confused.
"Then what could you use them for if your home runs on it's own power?"
The two paused as Malone started to chuckle, his tone was rather dark. Audrena started to taste something acrid in the back of her mouth, and it took a moment for her to recognize all of these signals, the body chemistry changes. It was the fear index. Mentally slapping herself, she couldn't believe herself.
Fear. It was so strange to feel fear after so long. She couldn't believe herself for not recognizing it. The accelerated heart beat, the acrid taste in the back of her throat, increased breathing rate, the sudden rush of adrenaline in her blood stream, the breakout of sweat underneath her arms, the light headed feeling, everything.
It was incredible to feel fear again; it had been … years. Ages since a rush like this.
Kyle, on the other hand, had felt fear before, but wasn't one to be quick to panic. If what he suspected was true then?
"I use them for powering myself." Malone stated, smiling wildly. He seemed rather proud of himself. Audrena snorted, and began to snigger.
"Ahuh. Right. Sure, and I'm a Maytag rubber duck. They can only process mechanical energy, not BTU's!" She chuckled and shook her head.
"Baka."
There was a moment of silence, then Audrena went pale, clasping her throat as it visibly began to collapse. Malone snickered.
"Take that back, pretty Audrena. Take it back right now." He said calmly.
Kyle's own mental powers flared up, along with his anger, but it was almost like someone had slammed a trap door on his mind. He couldn't use them. Shaking his head violently,
Kyle decided that it would be best to use physical force.
His tackle froze in mid air, along with the rest of him. Malone didn't even bat an eyelid, all of his attention on Audrena, who was currently gagging and clawing at the invisible hands around her throat.
"Take that back." He stated again, insanely calm despite the fact that he was mentally strangling the life out of one of his guests. Kyle was now livid, and Malone dropped him to the floor, holding him there without much effort while maintaining Audrena at his eye level, which was a few inches off the ground for her. All this was fairly easy for him, even without accessing the Corona. Seeing she wouldn't respond, he dropped her carelessly, the woman crumbling on the floor like a rag doll. She sat up after a moment, her color returning after a moment. Kyle continued to struggle against his invisible bonds, despite the fact he knew it was useless. He had to get over there . . .
He had to . . .
"You know, you have a very bad taste in women." He droned, still holding Kyle to the floor as he talked to him. Audrena began to gain her breath, glaring evilly at Malone, planning horrible things for him in the future. No one chokes a Void and gets away with it! Just look at Mara, a prime example of what happens to a person who had the stupid idea of messing with Audrena Void! Starting to stand, she withdrew the dagger she hid in her boot, crouching and sneaking forward towards her enemy's exposed back . . .
Kyle glared up at him from the floor, now attempting to pry open that lock on his mental capabilities as he came up with a good retort.
"I guess you're so used to screwing the sluts that you can't recognize the best of the best anymore. I don't mean to brag, but I prefer a woman with a brain and a good heart, not if she's a Kama Sutra expert and spreading her legs is a common day task.?
Malone's left eye twitched; his placid but somehow frightening smile morphing quickly into a hideous frown. Unlike the times he had spent with Mara, he didn't regret saying that. Malone's eyes inked to an icy green, boring into Kyle's like a pair of electric green drills.
"Fine, I'll give that bitch some credit." He spat, his voice almost a hiss, completely unaware of the demonical woman sneaking up behind him.
This in itself instantly lighted Kyle's temper, but it was the NEXT statement that really struck the pilot light.
"She's a high priced elementary educated harlot."
Malone was taken off guard by how hard he tried to get up, the expression on his face that of hateful wrath. He smirked though, pushing a hand down as though crushing something.
"Hoof!" That was basically the noise that Kyle huffed as he was slammed into the marble, one of his vertebra cracking and the rest of his spine creaking menacingly. Cracks radiated out in the rock floor, his body having gone down a few inches into the parterre. He let out a small groan, pain circulating around his muscles and bones.
Pressure also began to build in his chest, like two safes had been put on each lung and he had to breathe against the weight. His fists kept curling into fists and uncurling again before repeating the process in the effort to keep inhaling and exhaling. Malone withdrew his hands and crossed his arms, watching his victim start to loose consciousness.
"You're pathetic." He said, triumph in his voice. Kyle raised an eyebrow, each movement difficult.
"It takes one to know one." He rasped.
It was obvious by now that Malone didn't take insults very well, nor did he like people disagreeing with him or rejecting him or his ways. It either had to be his way, or the grim prospect of torture and death. Whichever one you preferred.
Kyle's statement wasn't exactly kosher.
Malone dug his foot into Kyle's ribs with one quick motion, the ancient leather books grayed and the treads worn down to almost being as smooth as glass. Kyle winced, noticing the tight shoe string tie. He must never take them off . . .
He quickly said a prayer so the guy wouldn't take off his shoes.
Pressure began to mount on his skull, Malone slowly curling his hand. Kyle shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the end . . .
It never came.
With a growl, Audrena jammed the dagger down into the base of Malone's neck. She smiled wickedly, hearing the vertebra parting and crunching together as she dug for his spinal cord.
Malone, unfortunately, wasn't about to be paralyzed willingly.
Spinning, he caught her wrist and twisted it, snapping the cartilage and bones easily as he grabbed the blade, his mental powers healing the wounds. Ripping it from her now limp hand, his back stroke was across her eyes, slicing both orbs and blinding her instantly. As her hands flew up to cover her eyes, a booted foot went out, hooking around her ankles and taking her down, the blade coming down for one last blow, raking across her spine and easily cutting it in two.
Malone watched her collapse with the utmost contempt and indifference, spitting on her as she fell.
"Bitch."
Kyle watched her fall with overwhelming shock and growing fury, struggling to get out of his captor's mental hold with even more strength then before, growling like an animal.
"Audren!"
Audrena herself simply felt herself fall, well, her upper body at least. Anything below her waist was completely numb. It wasn't fun to be paralyzed. Her head was exploding with pain, as her eyes were gone, and she could feel the liquid filling her eyes dripping down her face like opaque tears, blood intermingling with it and turning it to a thick pink fluid, running down her cheeks in a steady stream.
Rivaling her pain was a sense of failure. She had failed to defend herself. She had failed to kill Malone. She had failed to free everyone in the corona.
She had failed to help Kyle. . .
She was unaware of what was going on above her, only aware of the sheer pain in her face and the numbness of her body.
She also didn't notice that her body was being shrunk and taken away. . .
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Kyle found that he was finally able to move, as Malone's powers were now focused on placing Audrena in the 1st of the last two crystals on the chandelier. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking around. The first thing he noticed was the triumphant smirk on Malone's face, and the face that Audrena's writhing body was fading away rather quickly. . .
Malone slammed face first into the marble floor, Kyle's tackle easily sending him to the rock floor. Kyle rolled him over, sitting on top of him and letting his anger and rage take over, slugging him as hard as he possibly could.
"WHERE IS SHE!?!?!" He screeched, still attempting to beat his desired information out of his enemy. Loathing flew through his veins, he couldn't help it. It just happened automatically. He paused after his knuckles had started bleeding, his blood smeared over the right side of Malone's face. He was panting heavily, after thrashing his captor's face for about 5 minutes on end. His broken knuckles were healing quickly, but he didn't really care about that.
He was too busy being shocked at the fact that Malone was smiling at him.
Kyle made a small noise, his right fist frozen in mid swing as he went pale, staring at Malone with a look of incredulous astonishment. Purple eyes now switching back to a sickening and somewhat alarming dirty red, Kyle flew off of him, landing next to the Essence Corona. Malone pulled himself up leisurely, his canine teeth starting to stick out from underneath his lip.
Kyle's nose being tickled by a crystal, he took a moment to recover from being thrown, staring at the small semiprecious stone piece swinging just overhead. The rock itself was warm against his skin, and gave off a familiar aura. . .
"Oh my god. . ."
His fingers shaking, he took hold of the crystal and removed it from it's metal hook, hazel eyes wide with horror.
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Nitric paused, rumbling up to what seemed to be a massive temple. Kyle's DNA signal was almost radiating from this place, along with Audrena's. It was strange though, there was no destruction or explosions or bad smells or yelling or panicked people. There was only . . . Silence.
The stairs, although meant for humans, was easily large enough to fit him, as was the colossal roof. Deciding he might as well, he proceeded inside, leaving mammoth footprints in the stairs as he went, the ancient granite illuminated to a orange-red color by the sunrise.
His armor tinted by the colors of the daybreak, the fury glanced down at the various pillars. Holograms of people stood on each of these 3 foot pillars, staring forlornly at Nitric as he passed. Nitric blinked at them all, sort of unnerved by them all. As he went further inside, he started to recognize people, the more famous people from times long past.
One of his claws accidentally clipped one of the columns, causing it to bobble around a little. The noise disturbed the quiet, and Nitric swung around, hitting another one with his tail.
"Eeep!"
He froze with one foot clear in the air and his tail in a strange position with his front arms flailed out, not wanting to knock anything else over. The two pillars tottered back into place, but the holograms disappeared on both. A large screen appeared instead, just ahead of the pillars themselves. It was incredibly lifelike, and Nitric dropped a foot slowly as he recognized the person in the holographic movie he was facing, somewhat surprised and a little confused.
It was Kyle, 20 long years back. . .
~Sequence. . .~
Scene: A rather run-down looking cabin out seemingly in the middle of what looked like the edge of a pine forest. Parked along side this cabin is a purple Genosaur, all but lost in the darkness of the blowing snow. It is Christmas, and the forest around it reflects that. It's right around midnight, with both crescent moons full and the stars like candles against a funeral shroud. All but one of the snow-laced windows are dark, rustling inside tells that someone is up at this late hour.
Large hazel eyes awake at the sounds in his home, the 6 year old child groggy at this time of night. Brushing raven black hair from his eyes, Kyle sat up in his small cold room, trying to remember why he even woke up in the first place. He glanced at the clock. 12:07.
"Good thing I woke up." He muttered, rubbing his eyes with his minute fists.
"Stupid yucky dream. Why would anyone want to kiss a girl anyway?"
He shook off the premonition that would come to be 2 decades in the future, he continued to ponder why he woke up.
When it hit him that it was Christmas and that there was rustling in the house when everyone else was supposed to be asleep, a grin that only a delighted 6 year old can manage shot across his face in a rush as he shot out of his room, having to jump to get at the doorknob because of his height.
The living room was his first stop, skidding in his socks on the hardwood floor, but there was no red coated fat man, to his extreme disappointment.
"Ah darn." He spat, stamping a foot in his frustration. His voice wasn't all that different from his grown version, just higher pitched and infinitely younger and much more childish.
A thick clinking noise turned his head and his smile dropped for a moment, only to return again upon seeing his father, Joshua Obscura.
"Hey dad, did you see him?!" Kyle was just about bouncing, excited beyond rational thought. His father, whom he inherited just about all of his physical and emotional traits, looked down at his son with sadness and a little measure of contempt.
"Yeah." He muttered, his voice deep and haggard, worn by a hard life and too much alcohol. "He stopped by, asked if he could borrow my bourbon. He was freezing his ass off and he needed a drink."
Kyle blinked, staring up into his father's gaunt, unshaven, and sharply chiseled face with a confused expression. Santa didn't drink . . .
His father stared back with a look of indifference, turning back to his packing and leaving Kyle standing there, still confused. The child, now curious, moved to the table, where his father's duffel bag lay, stuffed with various things, mostly clothing and food.
Kyle's large hazel eyes were the only things to clear the table, along with his raven hair, which was already tied into a pony-tail, the style it would remain in for the rest of his life. It kicked up in the back, but the rest hung in his face or off to the side. He watched his father cram more things into his bag for a few minutes before his eyes slid to Josh, his irises gleaming like a pair of carved stainless steel circles.
"Whatcha doing dad?" He asked innocently, putting his hands on the table and attempting to climb up. Josh watched him with his own hazel eyes with amusement and disinterest, his own eyes more of a storm cloud gray then a light hazel. Kyle continued to try and get up on the table, which was as tall as he was, and kept failing. His father rolled his eyes, a slight royal purple glow enveloping them.
Kyle always enjoyed when his father hovered him around, and he giggled as he was put on the table. After all, this was no exception.
"I'm packing kid." Joshua stated, the glow from his eyes completely gone.
"Where ya going?" His son replied, fingering the duffel bag's zipper, all the while staring at his father.
"Well, first to go see Theo Void." Kyle's face split into a grin.
"Oh! You mean your bestist friend?" Josh considered this and chuckled. Kyle never failed to make him smile.
"Yeah. . . You could say that."
"Mom was saying something about him having been your best man. What does that mean?"
"I'll tell you when your older."
"Awww. . .she also said something about how she should have married him instead of you. What does that mean?" His father blinked, somewhat surprised.
"It means. . .that she likes his company."
"I like their daughter."
"Which one? Mara?"
"No!" Kyle stuck his tongue out at this. He was absolutely adorable when he did that. "Not here! She's mean. . . and she has too many guys in her room." That made his father laugh. You had to hand it to the kid, he was brutally honest.
"The other one?"
"Yeah!" He slid off the table, now with a thoughtful expression on his face. "What was her name? Aud. . . Audi? Audrey?"
"Audrena?"
"Her! Yeah. She's alright for a girl." Joshua regarded his son with a knowing but amused grin on his face as he hauled his bag onto his shoulder.
"You know, some people call that puppy love." Kyle blinked, then remembered what the word 'love' meant and he stuck his tongue out.
"No! Love is icky!" He shook his head, walking after his father as he moved towards the heavy wooden door.
"Besides, she's acts more like a boy then a girl. She beats me when we play Zoid Pilots, that's a really hard game. . ."
"I'm sure you'll beat her one of these days."
"But she's younger then me!"
"She's 6, Kyle, and your only older by about 6 months."
"5, Dad. She's 5 and. . ." He clutched his head and shut his eye tightly, trying to remember. Joshua paused with his hand on the doorknob, waiting for his son to finish.
"5 and 5/6 years old!" Kyle looked rather pleased with himself that he remembered his fractions.
"I had almost said 10/12, but that was divisible still by 2! You can't leave a fraction in it's unfinished state. And you can't leave your quadratic formulas like that too!" He then looked a little uncomfortable. "I still have to get the hang of those quadratics. . ." He said guiltily.
Josh smiled, proud of him. 6 and learning his fractions, square roots, and quadratic formulas. 9th and 10th grade math. Then again, that Audrena girl was 5 and she was attempting to prove one of her own scientific theories on the mathematical creation of the universe incorrect.
The rate at which these kids were learning was just incredible. He hoped Theo had just been over-exaggerating, then again, he had seen that child's room. . .
And her equation-covered walls. . .
He tried not to think about that as he opened the door into the darkened Christmas night. Kyle paused.
"Are you coming back after that? To come and open presents?" Josh viewed his son with a look of guilt.
"No."
This hit Kyle like a ton of bricks.
"But. . . It's Christmas. You can't go. . ." Kyle's hazel eyes began to tear up.
"What about me and mom? What are we gonna do?"
Josh didn't answer, just attempted to shut the door behind him. Kyle wouldn't have it. He threw open the day and ran out in the snow after his father, grabbing onto his calf.
"No! I won't let you!" His father's eyes narrowed, and with a purple flash, the 6 year old was thrown back into the snow. Pain exploded in his wrist, it had snapped under his weight. He didn't care about that right now.
He was too busy staring after his father with an expression of disbelief, tears now streaming down his face and freezing in the snow.
"Daddy!"
Joshua didn't turn around, or even look back, just disappeared into the darkness. Kyle attempted to get up to follow him, but his little body tripped and he fell into the snow again. He raised his head slowly, the melting ice intermingling on his face with the tears
"DADDY!!!!"
His voice was answered by only the howling wind, just as cold and unfeeling as his father was in his choice to abandon his family. . .
~End Sequence~
Nitric simply stood there, frozen in shock. He ignored the other one as it shut down, turning and leaving the temple, somewhat shaken by what he had seen.
It was no wonder why Kyle could sometimes be so desperate to hang on to the people he loved. One had walked out on him at a young age. Kyle had never told him about this. He had told him about when his mother was killed when he was about 16, but never about his father. . .
"Well . . ." He said, completely unaware of the battle going about 200 feet below his feet.
"This was a waste of time."
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Audrena stared back at him, blood running from the corners of her ruined eyes. It was just as it had been in his dream. . .
He sat up carefully, growling under his breath, now bent on getting home. Shoving Audrena's casing inside his pocket, he stood. Careful to avoid the chandelier, he paused, seeing that Malone wasn't anywhere to be seen. Trying out his mental powers, he found he could use them again. Smiling, his eyes shone electric blue, trying to pry into the defenses of the home.
It was only after the pain in his heart started did he realize that he wasn't alone. It was a ripping, tearing sensation, as though the heart itself was being torn in two.
His pain was telling his exactly what was happening.
Suspended above him, hanging by his knees, Malone had his eyes shut tightly, his hands balled into fists and pulling apart very slowly, trying to cause as much pain to Kyle as he possibly could.
Crying out, Kyle dropped to his knees, starting to bleed internally. Trying to get away from the pain, he concentrated.
Concentrated every cell of mental power he had on boring a hole through the teleportation shield.
It quickly became a race against time. Kyle collapsed on the ground, clutching his chest and groaning in pain as his muscles tore under the mental pressure. Though the hole opened enough. Just enough. . .
Kyle let out one last cry of pain before disappearing. Malone gritted his teeth, but smirked nonetheless. He caused enough damage. . .
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Kyle appeared inside the top floor hanger. He could feel himself dying, blood filling his chest cavity. His limbs aching and not wanting to move, he forced them to, pulling out Audrena's crystal. He stared at it for a moment, feeling his heart beat become sluggish. Holding it up, he let it drop, the glass shattering on the floor.
He didn't see, rather heard the thick mist reform Audrena's body. He felt her hand grope for his, and that was the last touch he felt for a long while. . .
(7 hours later. . .)
The first thing Kyle was aware of was the hard table under his back. The second thing was just how numb his chest was, except for pain every time his heart pumped. But he took heart in these little feelings. It proved that he was alive. Groggily opening his eyes, he looked to his right, and he let a warm smile cross his face.
Audrena looked so peaceful and timid when she was asleep. . .
He tried to turn over, but excruciating pain met him instead. Nope, that won't do. Settling back, wincing as he went, he heard Audrena's table shift a little as she stirred. He looked back over, reaching for her hand, gripping it weakly. Her bandaged head shifted, and that slender hand squeezed his back.
"Hi there." She muttered, attempting to smile.
"Hello again, Audren. . .How do you feel?"
"How would you feel if your eyes were gone?" He chuckled lightly, and hesitated, remembering something he had been meaning to do for a while.
"Um. . . Audrena? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Go right ahead, as I have nothing better to do then be involuntarily blind."
Kyle chuckled. Well, she hadn't changed much. He took a breath, which hurt, and concentrated on that little black velvet box, hovering it over into his left hand. Hazel eyes glittering with hope and suspense, he opened it with a pop, looking at the thin ring. He had designed it himself. White gold shaped to be ivy encircled normal gold, four of the leaves curling upwards to hold in the two stones, a sapphire and a diamond, each a karat apiece, also right next to each other. He stared at it for a moment with a small grin on his face.
"I've been considering this for a long time Audrena. . ." He said, taking her hand and turning it palm up, pressing the ring into it. She paused, rather shocked.
"Are going to do what I think you're going to do?"
"Audrena Void . . . Will you marry me . . .?"
The longest and most torturous pause Audrena ever pulled was right then. Kyle watched her face carefully, trying to read it, but that was as difficult as reading her eyes . . .
"Kyle . . . You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that."
That took him completely off guard.
"What?!" He said, the lack of air in his voice reflected just how surprised and joyful he was.
"It's about time you asked me, I was wondering about this, and you never really had to ask my consent. It was given long before this . . ."
Kyle had to stop himself from whooping, and instead stayed silent, slipping the circle of metal over her third finger. Somehow, he had a feeling things were going to be alright from now on, that nothing else would go wrong. . .
Boy oh boy, let me tell you how wrong he was!
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I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!! Heh, I gave you your own premonition, aren't I evil? Anyway, the next chapter is 'Truth Be Told'. I think you'll like it. See you there!
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Malone smirked. Finally, someone understood.
Audrena recoiled, horrified, black/brown eyes traveling from crystal to crystal. Revulsion, already strong, began to grow even more. She whirled on him, but paused in seeing Malone's eyes. She shook her head violently at the sheer color shift from purple to lime green and back to purple again, shoving it to the back of her mind. This wasn't a time to ponder his changing eye color! This was a good time for revenge!
"You have people's souls in there?!...why?!" She choked, unbelieving. Kyle simply shook his head.
"Alright Malone, why do you have people stuck in there?" He said calmly, way too calmly for the situation. In truth, he was charging his mental abilities, having a strong feeling that he was going to need them later on.
"A freak show maybe? Company? Because if you wanted company, all you had to do was just go to Romeo City and go talk to someone-"
"Far from it Obscura." Their captor waved a hand to emphasize his point.
"You see, all of these people, in their own times, dimensions, and worlds, they held some importance. This made their spirits much stronger. These spirits give off a sort of energy, mental, physical, and spiritual. This was meant to draw more people of their kind towards them, causing the strong to join with the strong."
He gave the chandelier a fond pat, making it tinkle like a grossly over-sized wind chime.
"But, these energies, if harnessed correctly, can be used to fuel something or someone. This collection-"
"A collection?!" Audrena spat, now glaring at him with the utmost loathing. "These are people too, not historical items! Don't you have any compassion for your fellow human being?!"
Kyle snorted.
"You got to remember, he brought us here."
Audrena chuckled mirthlessly. The situation wasn't very humorous.
Malone simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head as well. These people never kept their mouths shut.
"This bunch can easily power a metropolis the size of Romeo City for two months when the residents are using every power source available."
To be frank, that caught both of his guests off guard.
"So, you use this to power your home?" Kyle asked innocuously, looking around the dark and dusty ballroom for some sort of wall electrical outlet. Audrena was about to ask something, but was cast into silence by the somewhat twisted grin that slunk across their captor's face.
"Oh no, it runs on it's own power…" Kyle tilted his head to the side, somewhat confused.
"Then what could you use them for if your home runs on it's own power?"
The two paused as Malone started to chuckle, his tone was rather dark. Audrena started to taste something acrid in the back of her mouth, and it took a moment for her to recognize all of these signals, the body chemistry changes. It was the fear index. Mentally slapping herself, she couldn't believe herself.
Fear. It was so strange to feel fear after so long. She couldn't believe herself for not recognizing it. The accelerated heart beat, the acrid taste in the back of her throat, increased breathing rate, the sudden rush of adrenaline in her blood stream, the breakout of sweat underneath her arms, the light headed feeling, everything.
It was incredible to feel fear again; it had been … years. Ages since a rush like this.
Kyle, on the other hand, had felt fear before, but wasn't one to be quick to panic. If what he suspected was true then?
"I use them for powering myself." Malone stated, smiling wildly. He seemed rather proud of himself. Audrena snorted, and began to snigger.
"Ahuh. Right. Sure, and I'm a Maytag rubber duck. They can only process mechanical energy, not BTU's!" She chuckled and shook her head.
"Baka."
There was a moment of silence, then Audrena went pale, clasping her throat as it visibly began to collapse. Malone snickered.
"Take that back, pretty Audrena. Take it back right now." He said calmly.
Kyle's own mental powers flared up, along with his anger, but it was almost like someone had slammed a trap door on his mind. He couldn't use them. Shaking his head violently,
Kyle decided that it would be best to use physical force.
His tackle froze in mid air, along with the rest of him. Malone didn't even bat an eyelid, all of his attention on Audrena, who was currently gagging and clawing at the invisible hands around her throat.
"Take that back." He stated again, insanely calm despite the fact that he was mentally strangling the life out of one of his guests. Kyle was now livid, and Malone dropped him to the floor, holding him there without much effort while maintaining Audrena at his eye level, which was a few inches off the ground for her. All this was fairly easy for him, even without accessing the Corona. Seeing she wouldn't respond, he dropped her carelessly, the woman crumbling on the floor like a rag doll. She sat up after a moment, her color returning after a moment. Kyle continued to struggle against his invisible bonds, despite the fact he knew it was useless. He had to get over there . . .
He had to . . .
"You know, you have a very bad taste in women." He droned, still holding Kyle to the floor as he talked to him. Audrena began to gain her breath, glaring evilly at Malone, planning horrible things for him in the future. No one chokes a Void and gets away with it! Just look at Mara, a prime example of what happens to a person who had the stupid idea of messing with Audrena Void! Starting to stand, she withdrew the dagger she hid in her boot, crouching and sneaking forward towards her enemy's exposed back . . .
Kyle glared up at him from the floor, now attempting to pry open that lock on his mental capabilities as he came up with a good retort.
"I guess you're so used to screwing the sluts that you can't recognize the best of the best anymore. I don't mean to brag, but I prefer a woman with a brain and a good heart, not if she's a Kama Sutra expert and spreading her legs is a common day task.?
Malone's left eye twitched; his placid but somehow frightening smile morphing quickly into a hideous frown. Unlike the times he had spent with Mara, he didn't regret saying that. Malone's eyes inked to an icy green, boring into Kyle's like a pair of electric green drills.
"Fine, I'll give that bitch some credit." He spat, his voice almost a hiss, completely unaware of the demonical woman sneaking up behind him.
This in itself instantly lighted Kyle's temper, but it was the NEXT statement that really struck the pilot light.
"She's a high priced elementary educated harlot."
Malone was taken off guard by how hard he tried to get up, the expression on his face that of hateful wrath. He smirked though, pushing a hand down as though crushing something.
"Hoof!" That was basically the noise that Kyle huffed as he was slammed into the marble, one of his vertebra cracking and the rest of his spine creaking menacingly. Cracks radiated out in the rock floor, his body having gone down a few inches into the parterre. He let out a small groan, pain circulating around his muscles and bones.
Pressure also began to build in his chest, like two safes had been put on each lung and he had to breathe against the weight. His fists kept curling into fists and uncurling again before repeating the process in the effort to keep inhaling and exhaling. Malone withdrew his hands and crossed his arms, watching his victim start to loose consciousness.
"You're pathetic." He said, triumph in his voice. Kyle raised an eyebrow, each movement difficult.
"It takes one to know one." He rasped.
It was obvious by now that Malone didn't take insults very well, nor did he like people disagreeing with him or rejecting him or his ways. It either had to be his way, or the grim prospect of torture and death. Whichever one you preferred.
Kyle's statement wasn't exactly kosher.
Malone dug his foot into Kyle's ribs with one quick motion, the ancient leather books grayed and the treads worn down to almost being as smooth as glass. Kyle winced, noticing the tight shoe string tie. He must never take them off . . .
He quickly said a prayer so the guy wouldn't take off his shoes.
Pressure began to mount on his skull, Malone slowly curling his hand. Kyle shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the end . . .
It never came.
With a growl, Audrena jammed the dagger down into the base of Malone's neck. She smiled wickedly, hearing the vertebra parting and crunching together as she dug for his spinal cord.
Malone, unfortunately, wasn't about to be paralyzed willingly.
Spinning, he caught her wrist and twisted it, snapping the cartilage and bones easily as he grabbed the blade, his mental powers healing the wounds. Ripping it from her now limp hand, his back stroke was across her eyes, slicing both orbs and blinding her instantly. As her hands flew up to cover her eyes, a booted foot went out, hooking around her ankles and taking her down, the blade coming down for one last blow, raking across her spine and easily cutting it in two.
Malone watched her collapse with the utmost contempt and indifference, spitting on her as she fell.
"Bitch."
Kyle watched her fall with overwhelming shock and growing fury, struggling to get out of his captor's mental hold with even more strength then before, growling like an animal.
"Audren!"
Audrena herself simply felt herself fall, well, her upper body at least. Anything below her waist was completely numb. It wasn't fun to be paralyzed. Her head was exploding with pain, as her eyes were gone, and she could feel the liquid filling her eyes dripping down her face like opaque tears, blood intermingling with it and turning it to a thick pink fluid, running down her cheeks in a steady stream.
Rivaling her pain was a sense of failure. She had failed to defend herself. She had failed to kill Malone. She had failed to free everyone in the corona.
She had failed to help Kyle. . .
She was unaware of what was going on above her, only aware of the sheer pain in her face and the numbness of her body.
She also didn't notice that her body was being shrunk and taken away. . .
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Kyle found that he was finally able to move, as Malone's powers were now focused on placing Audrena in the 1st of the last two crystals on the chandelier. He propped himself up on his elbows, looking around. The first thing he noticed was the triumphant smirk on Malone's face, and the face that Audrena's writhing body was fading away rather quickly. . .
Malone slammed face first into the marble floor, Kyle's tackle easily sending him to the rock floor. Kyle rolled him over, sitting on top of him and letting his anger and rage take over, slugging him as hard as he possibly could.
"WHERE IS SHE!?!?!" He screeched, still attempting to beat his desired information out of his enemy. Loathing flew through his veins, he couldn't help it. It just happened automatically. He paused after his knuckles had started bleeding, his blood smeared over the right side of Malone's face. He was panting heavily, after thrashing his captor's face for about 5 minutes on end. His broken knuckles were healing quickly, but he didn't really care about that.
He was too busy being shocked at the fact that Malone was smiling at him.
Kyle made a small noise, his right fist frozen in mid swing as he went pale, staring at Malone with a look of incredulous astonishment. Purple eyes now switching back to a sickening and somewhat alarming dirty red, Kyle flew off of him, landing next to the Essence Corona. Malone pulled himself up leisurely, his canine teeth starting to stick out from underneath his lip.
Kyle's nose being tickled by a crystal, he took a moment to recover from being thrown, staring at the small semiprecious stone piece swinging just overhead. The rock itself was warm against his skin, and gave off a familiar aura. . .
"Oh my god. . ."
His fingers shaking, he took hold of the crystal and removed it from it's metal hook, hazel eyes wide with horror.
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Nitric paused, rumbling up to what seemed to be a massive temple. Kyle's DNA signal was almost radiating from this place, along with Audrena's. It was strange though, there was no destruction or explosions or bad smells or yelling or panicked people. There was only . . . Silence.
The stairs, although meant for humans, was easily large enough to fit him, as was the colossal roof. Deciding he might as well, he proceeded inside, leaving mammoth footprints in the stairs as he went, the ancient granite illuminated to a orange-red color by the sunrise.
His armor tinted by the colors of the daybreak, the fury glanced down at the various pillars. Holograms of people stood on each of these 3 foot pillars, staring forlornly at Nitric as he passed. Nitric blinked at them all, sort of unnerved by them all. As he went further inside, he started to recognize people, the more famous people from times long past.
One of his claws accidentally clipped one of the columns, causing it to bobble around a little. The noise disturbed the quiet, and Nitric swung around, hitting another one with his tail.
"Eeep!"
He froze with one foot clear in the air and his tail in a strange position with his front arms flailed out, not wanting to knock anything else over. The two pillars tottered back into place, but the holograms disappeared on both. A large screen appeared instead, just ahead of the pillars themselves. It was incredibly lifelike, and Nitric dropped a foot slowly as he recognized the person in the holographic movie he was facing, somewhat surprised and a little confused.
It was Kyle, 20 long years back. . .
~Sequence. . .~
Scene: A rather run-down looking cabin out seemingly in the middle of what looked like the edge of a pine forest. Parked along side this cabin is a purple Genosaur, all but lost in the darkness of the blowing snow. It is Christmas, and the forest around it reflects that. It's right around midnight, with both crescent moons full and the stars like candles against a funeral shroud. All but one of the snow-laced windows are dark, rustling inside tells that someone is up at this late hour.
Large hazel eyes awake at the sounds in his home, the 6 year old child groggy at this time of night. Brushing raven black hair from his eyes, Kyle sat up in his small cold room, trying to remember why he even woke up in the first place. He glanced at the clock. 12:07.
"Good thing I woke up." He muttered, rubbing his eyes with his minute fists.
"Stupid yucky dream. Why would anyone want to kiss a girl anyway?"
He shook off the premonition that would come to be 2 decades in the future, he continued to ponder why he woke up.
When it hit him that it was Christmas and that there was rustling in the house when everyone else was supposed to be asleep, a grin that only a delighted 6 year old can manage shot across his face in a rush as he shot out of his room, having to jump to get at the doorknob because of his height.
The living room was his first stop, skidding in his socks on the hardwood floor, but there was no red coated fat man, to his extreme disappointment.
"Ah darn." He spat, stamping a foot in his frustration. His voice wasn't all that different from his grown version, just higher pitched and infinitely younger and much more childish.
A thick clinking noise turned his head and his smile dropped for a moment, only to return again upon seeing his father, Joshua Obscura.
"Hey dad, did you see him?!" Kyle was just about bouncing, excited beyond rational thought. His father, whom he inherited just about all of his physical and emotional traits, looked down at his son with sadness and a little measure of contempt.
"Yeah." He muttered, his voice deep and haggard, worn by a hard life and too much alcohol. "He stopped by, asked if he could borrow my bourbon. He was freezing his ass off and he needed a drink."
Kyle blinked, staring up into his father's gaunt, unshaven, and sharply chiseled face with a confused expression. Santa didn't drink . . .
His father stared back with a look of indifference, turning back to his packing and leaving Kyle standing there, still confused. The child, now curious, moved to the table, where his father's duffel bag lay, stuffed with various things, mostly clothing and food.
Kyle's large hazel eyes were the only things to clear the table, along with his raven hair, which was already tied into a pony-tail, the style it would remain in for the rest of his life. It kicked up in the back, but the rest hung in his face or off to the side. He watched his father cram more things into his bag for a few minutes before his eyes slid to Josh, his irises gleaming like a pair of carved stainless steel circles.
"Whatcha doing dad?" He asked innocently, putting his hands on the table and attempting to climb up. Josh watched him with his own hazel eyes with amusement and disinterest, his own eyes more of a storm cloud gray then a light hazel. Kyle continued to try and get up on the table, which was as tall as he was, and kept failing. His father rolled his eyes, a slight royal purple glow enveloping them.
Kyle always enjoyed when his father hovered him around, and he giggled as he was put on the table. After all, this was no exception.
"I'm packing kid." Joshua stated, the glow from his eyes completely gone.
"Where ya going?" His son replied, fingering the duffel bag's zipper, all the while staring at his father.
"Well, first to go see Theo Void." Kyle's face split into a grin.
"Oh! You mean your bestist friend?" Josh considered this and chuckled. Kyle never failed to make him smile.
"Yeah. . . You could say that."
"Mom was saying something about him having been your best man. What does that mean?"
"I'll tell you when your older."
"Awww. . .she also said something about how she should have married him instead of you. What does that mean?" His father blinked, somewhat surprised.
"It means. . .that she likes his company."
"I like their daughter."
"Which one? Mara?"
"No!" Kyle stuck his tongue out at this. He was absolutely adorable when he did that. "Not here! She's mean. . . and she has too many guys in her room." That made his father laugh. You had to hand it to the kid, he was brutally honest.
"The other one?"
"Yeah!" He slid off the table, now with a thoughtful expression on his face. "What was her name? Aud. . . Audi? Audrey?"
"Audrena?"
"Her! Yeah. She's alright for a girl." Joshua regarded his son with a knowing but amused grin on his face as he hauled his bag onto his shoulder.
"You know, some people call that puppy love." Kyle blinked, then remembered what the word 'love' meant and he stuck his tongue out.
"No! Love is icky!" He shook his head, walking after his father as he moved towards the heavy wooden door.
"Besides, she's acts more like a boy then a girl. She beats me when we play Zoid Pilots, that's a really hard game. . ."
"I'm sure you'll beat her one of these days."
"But she's younger then me!"
"She's 6, Kyle, and your only older by about 6 months."
"5, Dad. She's 5 and. . ." He clutched his head and shut his eye tightly, trying to remember. Joshua paused with his hand on the doorknob, waiting for his son to finish.
"5 and 5/6 years old!" Kyle looked rather pleased with himself that he remembered his fractions.
"I had almost said 10/12, but that was divisible still by 2! You can't leave a fraction in it's unfinished state. And you can't leave your quadratic formulas like that too!" He then looked a little uncomfortable. "I still have to get the hang of those quadratics. . ." He said guiltily.
Josh smiled, proud of him. 6 and learning his fractions, square roots, and quadratic formulas. 9th and 10th grade math. Then again, that Audrena girl was 5 and she was attempting to prove one of her own scientific theories on the mathematical creation of the universe incorrect.
The rate at which these kids were learning was just incredible. He hoped Theo had just been over-exaggerating, then again, he had seen that child's room. . .
And her equation-covered walls. . .
He tried not to think about that as he opened the door into the darkened Christmas night. Kyle paused.
"Are you coming back after that? To come and open presents?" Josh viewed his son with a look of guilt.
"No."
This hit Kyle like a ton of bricks.
"But. . . It's Christmas. You can't go. . ." Kyle's hazel eyes began to tear up.
"What about me and mom? What are we gonna do?"
Josh didn't answer, just attempted to shut the door behind him. Kyle wouldn't have it. He threw open the day and ran out in the snow after his father, grabbing onto his calf.
"No! I won't let you!" His father's eyes narrowed, and with a purple flash, the 6 year old was thrown back into the snow. Pain exploded in his wrist, it had snapped under his weight. He didn't care about that right now.
He was too busy staring after his father with an expression of disbelief, tears now streaming down his face and freezing in the snow.
"Daddy!"
Joshua didn't turn around, or even look back, just disappeared into the darkness. Kyle attempted to get up to follow him, but his little body tripped and he fell into the snow again. He raised his head slowly, the melting ice intermingling on his face with the tears
"DADDY!!!!"
His voice was answered by only the howling wind, just as cold and unfeeling as his father was in his choice to abandon his family. . .
~End Sequence~
Nitric simply stood there, frozen in shock. He ignored the other one as it shut down, turning and leaving the temple, somewhat shaken by what he had seen.
It was no wonder why Kyle could sometimes be so desperate to hang on to the people he loved. One had walked out on him at a young age. Kyle had never told him about this. He had told him about when his mother was killed when he was about 16, but never about his father. . .
"Well . . ." He said, completely unaware of the battle going about 200 feet below his feet.
"This was a waste of time."
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Audrena stared back at him, blood running from the corners of her ruined eyes. It was just as it had been in his dream. . .
He sat up carefully, growling under his breath, now bent on getting home. Shoving Audrena's casing inside his pocket, he stood. Careful to avoid the chandelier, he paused, seeing that Malone wasn't anywhere to be seen. Trying out his mental powers, he found he could use them again. Smiling, his eyes shone electric blue, trying to pry into the defenses of the home.
It was only after the pain in his heart started did he realize that he wasn't alone. It was a ripping, tearing sensation, as though the heart itself was being torn in two.
His pain was telling his exactly what was happening.
Suspended above him, hanging by his knees, Malone had his eyes shut tightly, his hands balled into fists and pulling apart very slowly, trying to cause as much pain to Kyle as he possibly could.
Crying out, Kyle dropped to his knees, starting to bleed internally. Trying to get away from the pain, he concentrated.
Concentrated every cell of mental power he had on boring a hole through the teleportation shield.
It quickly became a race against time. Kyle collapsed on the ground, clutching his chest and groaning in pain as his muscles tore under the mental pressure. Though the hole opened enough. Just enough. . .
Kyle let out one last cry of pain before disappearing. Malone gritted his teeth, but smirked nonetheless. He caused enough damage. . .
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Kyle appeared inside the top floor hanger. He could feel himself dying, blood filling his chest cavity. His limbs aching and not wanting to move, he forced them to, pulling out Audrena's crystal. He stared at it for a moment, feeling his heart beat become sluggish. Holding it up, he let it drop, the glass shattering on the floor.
He didn't see, rather heard the thick mist reform Audrena's body. He felt her hand grope for his, and that was the last touch he felt for a long while. . .
(7 hours later. . .)
The first thing Kyle was aware of was the hard table under his back. The second thing was just how numb his chest was, except for pain every time his heart pumped. But he took heart in these little feelings. It proved that he was alive. Groggily opening his eyes, he looked to his right, and he let a warm smile cross his face.
Audrena looked so peaceful and timid when she was asleep. . .
He tried to turn over, but excruciating pain met him instead. Nope, that won't do. Settling back, wincing as he went, he heard Audrena's table shift a little as she stirred. He looked back over, reaching for her hand, gripping it weakly. Her bandaged head shifted, and that slender hand squeezed his back.
"Hi there." She muttered, attempting to smile.
"Hello again, Audren. . .How do you feel?"
"How would you feel if your eyes were gone?" He chuckled lightly, and hesitated, remembering something he had been meaning to do for a while.
"Um. . . Audrena? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Go right ahead, as I have nothing better to do then be involuntarily blind."
Kyle chuckled. Well, she hadn't changed much. He took a breath, which hurt, and concentrated on that little black velvet box, hovering it over into his left hand. Hazel eyes glittering with hope and suspense, he opened it with a pop, looking at the thin ring. He had designed it himself. White gold shaped to be ivy encircled normal gold, four of the leaves curling upwards to hold in the two stones, a sapphire and a diamond, each a karat apiece, also right next to each other. He stared at it for a moment with a small grin on his face.
"I've been considering this for a long time Audrena. . ." He said, taking her hand and turning it palm up, pressing the ring into it. She paused, rather shocked.
"Are going to do what I think you're going to do?"
"Audrena Void . . . Will you marry me . . .?"
The longest and most torturous pause Audrena ever pulled was right then. Kyle watched her face carefully, trying to read it, but that was as difficult as reading her eyes . . .
"Kyle . . . You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that."
That took him completely off guard.
"What?!" He said, the lack of air in his voice reflected just how surprised and joyful he was.
"It's about time you asked me, I was wondering about this, and you never really had to ask my consent. It was given long before this . . ."
Kyle had to stop himself from whooping, and instead stayed silent, slipping the circle of metal over her third finger. Somehow, he had a feeling things were going to be alright from now on, that nothing else would go wrong. . .
Boy oh boy, let me tell you how wrong he was!
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I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!!! Heh, I gave you your own premonition, aren't I evil? Anyway, the next chapter is 'Truth Be Told'. I think you'll like it. See you there!
