CHAPTER NINE: I WANNA ROCK RIGHT NOW: PART V
ABYSUS
After The Cure, the skies retained its otherworldly hue and continued to be a canvas of crimson red during daylight hours — irreparably tainted with the heavy presence of Nantes and the blood of those responsible for the Native Event's occurrence. And with the ruins of a fallen kingdom as its background, it painted a simple portrait of the powerful and sinister kind that lived there.
Only this time the residents of the castle were a different set of pieces from the pawns that served under a king. And in the months following their devastating loss against Rex, the Consortium made the abandoned country their home and all the members were instead led by Black Knight.
However, Abysus was never known for peace and stability; and recently that ethos extended to the Consortium's opinion of their de facto leader — though it certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort.
After that fateful battle, Black Knight made it her mission to maintain good relations with the four other individuals who swore vengeance on her and actually had the power to see it through — with full understanding that the only way to truly secure her safety was by keeping a low-profile and delivering exactly what she promised them those many years ago, no matter how long it took.
Unfortunately for her, Reddick, Sir Scott, and Roswell weren't known for their patience — which made her all the more grateful for Xanubian who ironically had mastery over time. But even he had his limits, and she was starting to grow concerned that he wouldn't stay by her side for much longer.
And tempting as it was to simply overpower them and reestablish her superiority, Black Knight doubted she still had the potential to do so since the other four had the luxury of sparring with each other to maintain their abilities while she spent a lot of time outside of Abysus; fulfilling obligations and collecting any favors she could to complete the next phase of her plan.
As such, her powers weakened every day she didn't engage in combat and then it got to the point where she no longer had the strength to even maintain her armor transformation indefinitely.
And though her attire was as menacing as a mercenary could dress, her appearance was far less intimidating than the others still in their monstrous forms at all times — and she supposed that was the reason they looked down on her once more and disregarded all of her opinions during meetings.
That said, perhaps it wasn't the best time for her to reflect such details because the moment she got lost in thought Roswell snapped and whistled to get her attention, getting on everyone's nerves.
"Cut that out Ross." Reddick demanded before using his gravity manipulation to force Roswell's fist to the table, prompting the oil magnate to menacingly turn his head towards the estate mogul.
"You got a deathwish, partner?" He questioned with an outstretched hand that was set ablaze.
"Some decorum at this table would be appreciated. Not that you would know much about manners." Sir Scott added while dematerializing his EVO suit and adjusting the tie of his default clothing.
"Respect is a two way street, right at the intersection of discipline should you care to walk down that road!" Roswell fired back while slamming his fist against the table. As always, Xanubian remained silent and impartial to such trivial arguments — but while things were beginning to heat up between Roswell and the Reddick, Black Knight felt a migraine intensifying and excused herself.
However, walking away without unanimous approval or permission was exactly the sort of behavior they were just discussing; so the rest of the Consortium stood up immediately and pursued her to continue that conversation. And in her efforts to walk away and get some fresh air, Roswell vocally challenged her authority and continued to push her to the brink of insanity at the front garden.
"Excuse me! HEY! You can't slither away from our conference, missie." shouted Roswell, who marched in front of his three brethren in terms of physical distance and resistance to her power.
"It would be lovely if I could." She groaned while rolling her eyes. "I just need a moment to clear my thoughts, especially with an increasing number of them starting to involve hurting you, Roswell." Black Knight threatened with utmost confidence and transparency, which was met with a sharp pillar of ice erupting right in front of her — missing her face by only a fraction of a centimeter.
"Thoughts become words, words become actions." With a clenched fist she spun around and an energy blade materialized from her forearm, ready to strike. But before she could approach Roswell with her weapon, Xanubian stepped in and acted as a physical barrier between the two Meta-EVOs.
For the sake of their mission it was crucial that every single member involved was alive and in full productive capacity, no matter how headstrong or churlish any particular member might have been.
However, whereas the other three men were subservient or at the very least cooperative, Roswell was exactly the sort of individual that lead Black Knight down her path in life. Whether it be through his actions, attitude, or very poor choice of words, he often found new ways to test her patience and have her still contemplate the possibility of eliminating him in a very slow and painful way.
"There's no need to get testy with us, woman—" He started, but he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before Black Knight shoved past Xanubian and pointed the tip of her blade at his throat.
"Patronize me one more time and we'll see how you manage Hellfire." She hissed before withdrawing her build and continuing to march away, shattering the icicle spike in the process.
"If words hurt you that bad then I dread the day our enemies start throwing sticks and stones!" Roswell shot back before jogging to catch up to her side. "But whatever your issue is with me—"
"Oh, I have several."
"There's only so long we can ignore the elephant — nay, the whole effing whale in the room!" He exclaimed with his arms raised high; which prompted a tired Black Knight to stop and humor him.
"We listened to you, ran with our tails between our legs to Abysus, and learned as much as we could about nanites to build a new machine that would unite our powers. And you keep saying that our Meta-doohickey is going to solve all of our problems, but it's only a matter of time before that boy moves up the supply chain and goes from targeting our remaining suppliers to the five of us! So when are we gonna start doing something about that blasted EVO and the rest of his buddies?"
"Let them eat cake for all I care. What Providence does from this point on is none of my concern."
"But it should be, lest you've forgotten they're the last thing keeping us from immortality!" Sir Scott intervened. "And it appears that your excursions for new parts are starting to become fruitless!"
"Are you two dense? That's not the main issue at hand!" Black Knight argued defensively.
"And for once I'd have to agree with you, Eve! See, I've been thinking long and hard about why we're still stuck here in Abysus when we could be taking what we want, and you know what? It don't take too many whispers to conclude our biggest problem isn't that boy or Providence, but you."
Black Knight stared in disbelief before scoffing and arrogantly grinning at the rest of her allies. "Listen to yourself cowboy. Does Roswell truly speak for the rest of you, Gentleman?"
Though she was confident in her ability to rally the more amicable members to her side, her faith in them quickly wavered upon seeing the other four men, Xanubian included, surround her slowly.
"...Enough playing around." She whispered with slight shakiness while taking a step back.
"Do you believe this to be a game, Black Knight? It has been months since we've achieved anything!" Sir Scott yelled to the audible approval of Reddick, Roswell, and even Xanubian in a slight mumble.
"Not to mention you've been sneaking off to supposedly prepare this machine, when for all we know you could just be stalling for time until you can finally book it!" Reddick concluded before increasing the gravity on Black Knight who was beginning to turn around and run away from the quartet.
But despite how much she struggled, she sunk deeper and deeper into the ground without any hope of breaking free. Leaving her with the only option of pleading and appealing to their sensibility.
"Our machine is nearly COMPLETE! Once the interface is finished, our powers will be combined and we all become Gods! Why turn on each other when we're so close to achieving eternal greatness?"
"Sorry Jennifer." Xanubian spoke — for the first time in months, even. "We are not turning on each other. Only you." With those few, simple words, Black Knight felt her blood freeze over from the chilling betrayal. There were no words to describe that long-forgotten hurt she felt, only misty eyes and sorrowful resignation to the forces that be.
And so, without opposition or dissension she closed her eyes and accepted her fate. And for once, Roswell stepped forward and had nothing to say — only a deed that must be done, and the flames to do it. But right as he placed his hand on her skull to unleash his full inferno, an explosion was heard at the highest level of the castle, sending debris and rubble flying above their heads.
"Hold your fire." Reddick commanded Roswell, who begrudgingly released his death grip.
"What in tarnation was that? Something we ought to know, Knight?" Roswell accused, though Black Knight slowly shook her head sideways and said nothing of the disturbance at the castle.
"Like Hell you don't. Xanubian! Take all of us to the rooftop of the castle, and don't let this one out of your sight." With a silent nod in agreement, the master of space-time gently grasped Black Knight's wrist while the other three members placed their hands on his back. After looking up at the top of the castle and focusing on his destination, he began to glow brightly and the group found themselves instantly teleported with his brightness back to its normal intensity.
"I'll never get used to that sensation." Sir Scott commented while shuttering slightly and walking towards the newly made hole in the ceiling, crouching down to get a better look of what landed.
"Now, let us see who decided to crash our castle." With a single hand gesture he was able to command the nanites bellow to disperse and clear the fog caused by the collision — and when the rest of the group walked over to see what was revealed, they were horrified to see none other than Rex Salazar.
"Providence is here!" Reddick whimpered.
"No, only Rex Salazar. He's come here alone by the looks of it, yet hasn't figured out we're here." Black Knight observed with her usual disposition. She was still shaken from being nearly executed only moments ago, but with a common enemy before them she had a chance to prove herself.
"Seems like he finally moved up the supply chain, don't it?" Roswell grumbled.
"We must dispose of him at once. Tell me, Eve, is it necessary that Rex continue to live?" Sir Scott asked with devastating arcs of electricity crackling in his hand.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves. Eliminating Rex will only invite the reckoning of Providence." She advised. Although she was happy to see him since it afforded her a scapegoat, she was reluctant to confront him and risk the possibility of losing everything they built over the past several months.
"These days? I think Rex is the only reckoning Providence got left!" Roswell declared while standing. So with the other three members confidently standing up to join him, all eyes were on Black Knight to command the initiative and finally be free of their greatest adversary.
With a tinge of regret and a desperate conviction, Black Knight clenched her fist and made up her mind. Summoning her armor with the full expectation of using it, she slammed her headpiece shut manually and looked directly at Xanubian to provide them an opening for their surprise attack.
"Xanubian. Kill him."
With full knowledge of what must be done, Xanubian disappeared without a trace — ready to strike.
SWOOSH
Consumed by a cloud of dust and mortar, Rex coughed out his fair share of smog and uselessly waved his hands around to clear the air. Fortunately, he still had his goggles on or else he would've been blind too, and unable to see that the jet and its pilot were both okay after the collision.
It was a very interesting reaction to Rex finally catching up to the jump jet and witnessing it stall mid-flight after trying to interface with it using his nanites — possibly as a sort of safeguard designed to keep him out in the days Knight commissioned the fleet with no trust in Rex; which made his mission all the more ironic considering everything that happened over the past two years.
"You know, emergency landings typically involve you doing the landing part right." Rex taunted the barely conscious jet thief, who was slightly bloodied from the impact even with Rex's Block Party absorbing most of the kinetic force; even so, Rex's build might not have been enough to secure his safety completely since he started involuntarily coughing out blood upon trying to speak.
"Oh God. That's bad." Rex muttered before rushing over to the jump jet and prying open the cockpit.
"Don't say anything. My nanites should keep you stable for now, but you'll get help once Providence arrives for backup." Rex instructed after taking his hand off his chest. "So don't think about going anywhere. I'm going to look around and see how badly you dinged Six's ride, kay?"
With the thief passing out and being too unconscious to object, Rex began inspecting the vehicle for damage, awaiting further instructions with the skill and professionalism of a highly trained soldier.
"...Huh, that actually applies to me now." Rex realized. And before he could think too much of it, he felt the familiar buzz of his communication device in his ear and answered the call immediately.
"What's up? I crash landed at Abysus and the guy needs medical attention fast. Aside from that, the jump jet still looks like it can still fly and I think we're here alone. No signs of the Pack." He briefed as succinctly as possible. If there were any chance that Van Kleiss and the others were involved he would've seen them by now, and to some extent he slightly wished that he did.
It wasn't like he missed them—or most of them, anyway—but not having any signs of their whereabouts after such a long time did make him worry about them and what they could still do. With Breach in particular being the greatest threat to Providence and herself, he often wondered what became of them and seldom had the time to investigate places like Abysus.
That being said, he knew his priorities in that mission and understood that it didn't involve them if they didn't show up. So instead of searching around he maintained his post and stood guard in front of the jump jet, repeating his message into the comm and awaiting a response that finally came.
"—ex? Do you cop—! I re—peat, Do you copy, Rex!" He heard in between the static and interference.
"You're cutting out, but I hear you Beverly." Rex responded. "And it sounds to me like you're yelling. Is everything okay over there?"
"Who—with you—Abyus?"
"Come again?" He suggested while moving to the area underneath the exposed ceiling for better reception, since the fog seemed was starting to spread out instantly.
"Who else—at Abysus?"
"No one, as far as I can tell. Wasn't my first choice of landing, but I didn't have any choice—"
"Listen Rex! You're not a—" She was starting to sound frantic, but her cries were drowned by static.
"...Bev? I couldn't hear you, are you still there!"
"YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"
The audio was as clear as the red skies above him, and he too would've turned red from the outside in if it weren't for Beverly's warning. He was unsure how to respond to her message, but as he stood there motionless he felt the familiar shiver of the fabric of the universe being torn apart.
Except Breach wasn't doing it this time.
Instinctively, Rex knew to use his nanites and summon his block party as fast as he humanly could. But despite him forming his build in advance to any indicators of an attack, his arms were only glowing by the time he turned around and saw Xanubian appear right in front of him.
The Meta-Evo swung his palm at Rex in a slicing motion, and with only his bare arms to protect himself Rex brought them up and blocked the strike to the best of his ability.
However, the kinetic force of the attack was still too much to bear and the impact of the assault sent another cloud of rubble scattered all throughout the level.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
True to my word, I actually managed to write 2 chapters (4,600 words) in less than a week and finished in time to post an update today! However, in the chapter where it seems like we might FINALLY, some action...I end this episode and move the fated rematch between Rex and the Consortium to the next.
...Partially because I want to dedicate a whole chapter solely to the fight, and mostly because I have no experience writing fights and want to do some reading before giving it a try myself, HA! So enjoy these back-to-back update I guess, and don't forget to like, comment, and share!
(Also for anyone reading this near the time of publishing, don't forget to check out the update for the previous chapter! New stuff has been added in the second half after Rex flew off!)