The Speed of Darkness
Chapter 54 – End
SARGE SMILED AS HE CLAPPED.
The penguin's feathers was dotted in places with blood. Some of it was his own, some of it was Marlene's. His feathers were messed up and missing in several places. Still, he radiated fear and confidence as he smiled. Manfredi scowled.
"Yes, you have done a very good job, you two," Sarge said.
"We're not done yet!" cried Private. Manfredi could see patches of feathers missing on his body, too, but for the most part he was unharmed.
"I knew you'd say that," returned the blind-eyed penguin. "You're name is Private, isn't it?"
Private clenched his beak, tightening his flippers into fists.
"You're very brave, you know that? Standing up to us like this. Trying to stop me from getting the Sun. I hope you don't you mind that it's all pointless. I'm going to kill you like the others."
"Shut up!" the small bird called. "You haven't killed anyone. They're all fine. Except for your henchman, though. He's not looking too good."
Sarge glanced at Thurgo. He didn't even grimace as he looked at the mangled bird. "Pity," he said. "He was a very loyal soldier. Far more loyal than Kowalski... or for that matter, any of your friends."
"Kowalski's plan was never to turn on us," argued Private. "He only wanted to get you to leave and take the Sun so that we wouldn't be harmed. He was only trying to protect us! He was going to run away from you as soon as you left Antarctica!"
"So that makes him a coward and a liar. Too scared to stand up to us or tell the truth. He's weak, like you."
Manfredi locked his knees as he moved into his fighting position, getting ready to assault the two birds across from him. Sarge noticed his move and merely tossed the knife from one flipper to the other again. He didn't seem intimidated in the slightest.
"You know, Manfredi," he said. "I offered Johnson the option of joining up with me. I told him that if he did, I wouldn't kill him. He didn't though. He was loyal to you and Skipper. That was why I stabbed him with this."
Manfredi found himself unable to take his eyes off of his target. He was mocking him with the knife—his weapon. The item that symbolized everything and everyone had been fighting for. Johnson, Sarah, his child. It symbolized more now. Skipper, Private, and the others. The Sun, the redheaded woman, the entire world. Edgar. It didn't belong in Sarge's flippers.
Sarge glanced towards Private. "I'll offer you the same thing I did Johnson," he explained with a businesslike tone. "Join up with me, and I'll spare your lives. I'll spare all of your friend's lives, as well. All you have to do is help me kill Manfredi. I know you think he is as insane as I do. We both agree that the world would be a better place without him."
Manfredi exchanged a brief glance with Private. His eyes were narrowed, full of rage and hate. Manfredi couldn't tell if it was directed at himself or the small bird, though. Suddenly the hatred was replaced with something else, something like realization. The small bird turned to Sarge, lowering his flippers slightly.
"I understand now," he said, calmly. "You're the weak one."
Sarge looked confused at this. A brief moment of silence passed between the group, filled only with the shuffling of the injured animals that littered the platform around the four in the center. Manfredi took in every bit of peace that he could.
"You're nothing alone. You're just another penguin, as mortal as Manfredi or I. You'd never be able to get the Sun alone. You couldn't even navigate here without Kowalski's help. So you spend your time convincing innocent penguins to join your cause. To help fight for you when you don't give a bloody care about who they are, where they came from or what their life means. Once they've committed themselves to you, they're just another soldier.
"You never cared about Johnson, Manfredi, Kowalski, or any of those three thousand that died that day. You're only concerned about yourself, and you see that you're only a penguin. You want power, but you can't gain it alone. In fact, you're so power hungry that you go to the extreme of murdering innocent animals to get what you want. They don't mean anything to you. Just barriers standing in your way.
"You're the weak one. Not us."
Private paused for a moment, shaking his head slowly. "I'm not going to join with you. You'd just throw me aside like you did with Kowalski. You'd forget about me the moment I died like you did with Thurgo. You'd stab me in the back if you needed to, like Johnson. I'll never join you. I'll never help you take over the world with the Sun. And most of all, I won't help you kill Manfredi. In fact, I'm going to help him get what he came here to do. I'm going to help kill you."
The last two words rolled off the penguin's tongue darkly. Manfredi glanced at the younger penguin, who was looking up to him. His eyes looked determined, hopeful, and proud. The large bird nodded to the smaller one, mouthing, 'Thank you." The small bird nodded back, then again prepared himself for the fight that was about to happen.
"You'd die for a madman like Manfredi? Someone who's entire goal in life is to murder another penguin?" Sarge argued. He seemed shaken by Private's speech, but only slightly.
"Manfredi's not a madman. He was a good penguin before you ordered your men to slaughter his family. Before you bloody killed his best friend in cold blood. He might only wish to kill you, but its not going to be murder. I've learned something through all of this, and that's that killing isn't always murder. Some people deserve to die."
Sarge was now clenching his flippers tightly around the handle of the dagger, quivering. He looked darkly at Private before turning to Gier, his last remaining teammate. Surprisingly, the rock-hopper expressed uncertainty back towards his leader. Shaking slightly, the rock-hopper took a step away from Sarge.
"Gier? What are you doing?" Sarge cried.
The mute rock-hopper threw his flippers up before nodding his head to Private and Manfredi. Then he walked up to Private, offering his flipper. The two small birds exchanged a slow handshake. Gier's beak pulled into a small smile as he signaled that he was going to help them.
"Thank you," Private muttered, surprised.
Manfredi wasn't expecting the act, either. He only nodded as Gier glanced in his direction. Somehow, Private's speech had convinced the soldier that helping Sarge any longer was helpless. Manfredi wished that he could have done the same thing, those two long years ago in the communication room of the penguin.
Manfredi couldn't shake a strange feeling that overtook him, though. Gier had witnessed Manfredi pummel his teammate into the ground. Manfredi had not given Thurgo any mercy when he had slammed the bird into the tiles. Why would Gier help him after he had killed his friend?
"It looks like you're out of options," Private said to Sarge, darkly. "It seems that Manfredi will achieve his goal, after all."
Sarge's eyes bounced between the three penguins standing across from him. Manfredi knew what he was thinking as his eyes landed on the Sun which was still laying on the ground between them. He remembered that massive ball of energy that had traveled down the tunnel. He saw the smoldering clothes heap that had once been a living human being.
Manfredi lunged forward at the exactly moment Sarge did. They landed near the Sun Simultaneously, their flippers vying for supremacy. Sarge still had the knife, though, and he dug it into Manfredi's organic flipper as the fought. Manfredi pulled it back, feeling the intense pain that traveled into his body. Sarge pulled the Sun into his flippers because of this. He pushed himself onto his feet and somersaulted back out of the reach of a grasping Private. He threatened Gier, who was fast approaching him, with the knife. The rock-hopper backed off a bit.
From the glow of the Sun, Manfredi suddenly noticed Skipper trying to signal him, waving his flipper in the air. He had pushed the gauss rifle as close as he could, dragging himself across the tile to push it closer. The weapon glinted in the light as Manfredi raced to pick it up.
"It seems that I now have both Manfredi's knife and the Sun," Sarge said. His voice quavered on the edge of what could be insanity. "Both of the weapons that mean something. You must realize that continued fighting is pointless!"
"I will fight for what I believe in until either I'm dead or those I care about are safe," answered Private confidently.
Meanwhile, Manfredi reached the gauss rifle in his flippers. He hadn't held one of these in a long time, but he grasped its warm, wooden stock like he had never forgotten how to use it. He knew what he had to do. He rolled a short distance away from Skipper and the others, before bringing the butt of the gun to his shoulder, peering down the sight.
He knew what had to be done. He lined up the gun's sight with Sarge's head, prepared to pull the trigger. His heart raced as he slowly depressed the trigger, waiting for the recoil that signaled the shot had been fired. The lead was going to slice through the air and pierce Sarge's skull. It was all about to be over.
Sarge noticed him lining up his shot, however. A grin of insanity formed on his face as he quickly twisted the canister the Sun was in open. Before Manfredi had a chance to activate the firing mechanism, a white-hot ball of energy emerged from the Penguin. He became blinded by the pure-white light making its way towards him, but pulled the trigger anyway. He was unsure if his bullet had even made it through the ball of energy as he watched it get dangerously close.
Suddenly, with a shrill cry, he was knocked out of the way of the death-ball. He slammed into the tiles hard as the energy grazed his side. He looked up just in time to see Private's form get entirely engulfed by the ball of energy. His body turned into nothing more than a silhouette as the massive energy mass passed through him. He had a terrified look on his face before the Sun's energy blocked Manfredi's vision of him entirely.
"No, Private!" Manfredi hear Skipper shout. "Private!"
Manfredi used his flippers to push himself back from the searing mass of energy as he watched it pour from Sarge's canister. Moments later, Sarge twisted the container shut again, stopping the flow of energy. Manfredi prepared for the worst. He expected Private to be vaporized entirely. Nothing more than thin air at this point.
As the energy left the room, though, all of the animals gasped. Private was standing strongly, shielding his face from previously bright white light. He was still there! The force of the energy had pushed him back a few feet, but he was still standing there!
Everything was not so good, though. Private lowered his flippers, glancing at them. It was like he, too, found it unreal that he was still in the real world. He smiled slightly before his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell to his knees and then flat on his face on the cold tile. Manfredi couldn't believe it. The Penguin had managed to withstand the energy that the human man could not, but it had still been too much.
The bird had saved his life, and sacrificed his own in the act. Manfredi felt a tear come to his eye, but he blinked it away. Now was not the time to mourn. He had been mourning for the last two years. Private had sacrificed himself so that he could complete his mission. So he could kill his target.
Manfredi turned to Sarge, who was now cackling like a madman. He lowered his brow, narrowing his eyes at the insane bird. He was going to make sure Private's death had not been in vain. Sarge had just killed another innocent bird, and Manfredi was going to be sure to make him pay.
Gier had just the same thing in mind. The small bird already charged at Sarge, trying to knock the Sun out of his flippers. He was swinging his own flippers insanely fast, but Sarge was still armed with the crooked dagger. Using it to defend himself more than attack, he eventually found the opening to whack his former teammate across the side of his face with the canister. Manfredi raced forward as he landed hard on the ground, determined to get there in time to help him.
He was too late, though. Sarge slammed the dagger down, driving directly into the rock-hopper's foot. He slammed it hard enough to be come embedded into the tiles below the bird's foot. Gier grimaced with pain as the knife penetrated his foot. He immediately struggled to pull himself away but was locked in place, the dagger acting like a nail.
"I'll deal with you later," Sarge told him. His sounded demented now, his voice cracking. Nonetheless, he turned to Manfredi just in time to block a powerful chop directed at his neck.
Manfredi wasted no time. He immediately used his other flipper to try to chop Sarge in the gut, but the bird used the canister to deflect the penguin's blow. Then, using Manfredi's own momentum, spun him around. Manfredi was forced into the ground, sliding a few feet. Sarge slammed his foot onto the penguin's back. Manfredi cringed with pain as he felt the air get forced out of his lungs.
"Your friend was fool, Manfredi," Sarge told him. "I'm not the weak one. I am powerful, more powerful than any penguin before me. With the Sun, I am unstoppable. I don't need anyone. The only thing I need is you to be dead. I'm going to enjoy this."
Manfredi looked above him to see Sarge ready to twist the Sun open again. Manfredi was unsure what it would be like to be engulfed in the massive ball of energy, but he knew it couldn't happen now.
Suddenly, Sarge grunted in pain as he was struck across the face. Manfredi immediately rolled and got up when he felt the pressure removed from his back. Nearby him was Skipper, clutching the hammer in his disabled wing. His other rubbed his shoulder, his face expressing great pain.
"Don't let him win, Manfredi. You can't. We're all counting on you," Skipper told him.
Gier whistled suddenly, making Manfredi turn. The rock-hopper had pried the knife out of his foot and had slid it across the floor to the robotic-penguin. Manfredi picked it up and felt the familiar wood between his feathers once again. It was now tainted with more blood than just Johnson's.
Sarge had recovered from being struck and knocked Skipper over with a powerful hit from the Sun's container. He chuckled as Skipper landed on the ground, exhausted. The flat-headed penguin inched himself away from Sarge, but the blind-eyed penguin directed himself towards Manfredi anyway.
"I don't understand why you continue fighting. I've got the Sun. You've just witnessed it end the life of your little friend over there, and yet you continue to fight. Why?"
Manfredi held the handle of the dagger close to his heart, looking down at the ground. Slowly, he brought his eyes up to Sarge and saw him holding the Sun, ready to use its power as many times as he needed.
"I fight for many things, Caspian. I began this fight for Sarah, Johnson, and my child I will never meet. It's changed, though, and revenge isn't my priority any more. Now, I only care about ending your life."
With that, Manfredi charged. Sarge struggled to open the container again, and was too late. Manfredi moved quickly and used the handle of the dagger to knock the container out of the maniacal penguin's flippers. Sarge was stunned by the action and Manfredi brought the handle of the dagger back, knocking him across the face. While Sarge was spun around, he drove the dagger into the penguin's back.
Sarge's cry of pain echoed around the antechamber. When it reached Manfredi's ears, he welcomed it. It was the cry he had longed to hear for so long. It satisfied him as he wrenched the dagger back. Before Sarge could even drop to the ground, Manfredi drove the crooked blade forward again and again. The robotic-penguin couldn't help but smile as Sarge grunted in pain. Manfredi watched the bird fall over in front of him, landing on the cold tile.
The cyborg let him fall onto the tile. The bird fell, holding his gut and cringing in pain. He rolled when he hit the ground, looking up into Manfredi's face. Immediately, a pool of blood began to form underneath him. Manfredi didn't grimace, though. He merely looked down at the bird solemnly. He finally done it. Finally reached his target. Finally stabbed him.
Manfredi let the blood-soaked dagger drop to the ground beside him. It didn't mean anything to him any more. It was nothing more than hardened wood and steel at this point. Crooked and useless for anything that it had originally been created for. Manfredi closed his eyes, turning away from Sarge.
Was it finally done? Manfredi couldn't believe it; the feeling was unreal. He felt his flippers relax as an icy cold wind ruffled his feathers. Sarge was dead, and he had no reason to regret it.
"Manfredi, the Sun!" Marlene called suddenly. He glanced down and saw Sarge pulling himself closer to the closed canister, his blood forming a thick trail behind him. His face was screwed up and determined as he took it into his flippers once again.
"If I'm g-going to d-die here," he choked, blood filling his mouth, "then all of you are too."
Instantly, the bird twisted open the container, pulling the ends apart. He tossed both sides of hit to his sides and watched as the glowing orb floated above him for a few moments.
Marlene and Skipper's gasps could be heard as massive waves of energy began to come off of it, rocking the room. They weren't anything like the concentrated ball that he had sent towards Private, but they were enough force to make Manfredi shield his face. He watched as the glowing orb began to glow brighter and brighter, rising slightly above Sarge.
Sarge was laughing in the meantime. He laughed until it sounded like nothing more than a hoarse gargling noise. The penguin's eyes shut for the last time as he stared up at the item he had fought so hard, and so wrongly, to obtain.
Manfredi was struggling to maintain his balance as the waves of energy coming off of the orb began to increase in intensity. He looked at Skipper who looked confused at him, wondering what it was that was happening. Manfredi wasn't sure, either, but he knew that he had to gather the ends of the canister and close to Sun, otherwise all of them were going to wind up like Private.
He knew that it wasn't that easy, though. He had no idea if the Sun could even be closed again. He had to find a way, though, for all of their sakes.
"Gather the others and get out of here," he shouted to Skipper as the hissing noise of the Sun grew deafening.
"We're not leaving without you," the bird shouted back as he struggled to his feet. "C'mon, lets get out of here together."
"No!" Manfredi commanded. "I need to close the sun again! Get out of here!"
Skipper nodded as though he already knew what had to be done. Wasting no more time, he went over to Kowalski and began dragging him by his flippers, trying to get him away from the open Sun. Manfredi knew it was going to take far too long. There were far too many disabled animals for them to get out of there in any amount of time.
Thinking quickly, he launched himself onto the Sun. Pulling it down into his body, he tried to shield the surrounding area from the powerful waves it was emitting. Instead, Manfredi felt them pulse through his body, rocking his internal organs. It sent massive waves of pain through his body as he felt his flimsy bones shatter from the massive force the Sun was emitting. It accomplished what he had hoped to do, though, and the energy waves were no longer reaching the rest of the room.
Looking up, he saw a strange light floating through the room. He was able to make out a stout man in a business suit running around the platform. In his arms he gently held Julien and Marlene, and was picking up Private. To Manfredi's other side, he saw the redheaded woman holding Kowalski, Rico, and Skipper. He saw Gier find the strength to pull himself to his feet as he began limping away from the platform, waving his flippers towards the two humans that were racing away. They didn't notice, though, and exited the antechamber as quickly as they could.
When Manfredi saw they were safely out of the chamber, he rolled back over. He felt a warmness grow from inside him. It mixed with the immense pain he was feeling, and he knew that his internal organs had been shaken to hell by the Sun's pounding. Still, he found the strength to move onward.
His organic flipper didn't respond when he tried to move it, and neither did his legs. They were either two broken to be moved or he had lost control of them from the vibrations that had destroyed his innards. His mechanical flipper still did, though. Even though he heard servos seizing and bolts breaking off, he was still able to pull himself forward.
He grabbed the half of the canister that was nearby him, using it to help pull himself towards the other side of Sarge's dead body where the second half laid. The Sun was still pounding on his back, though, and he found it hard to see as his vision was jarred each time a wave of energy transferred from him and into the ground.
It made it difficult to continue. Manfredi felt his flipper give out and laid on the ground for a moment, his breaths coming choppily. Eventually he found it impossible to breath and stopped trying, hoping that his internal oxygen supply was still functional. Even so, he did not try to push on as the Sun's waves grew more omnipresent, it rising into the air.
Manfredi suddenly felt a flipper pull his beak up. He glanced above himself to see a small penguin looking down at him. His eyes were glistening with innocence, fire, and intelligence. His feathers, mostly still gray and soft, swayed with each passing wave of the Sun. Johnson. He smiled down at Manfredi, nodding in an approving matter.
Manfredi found strength in his organic flipper again and used it to pull himself forward further. Johnson faded into smoke above him as the waves from the Sun began to grow hot on his back. He felt the warmth burn into his skin, but pressed on.
He came onto Sarge's dead body. He used all of his strength to push it out of the way. Behind him stood a female penguin. She looked down at a baby, green-eyed penguin that ran up and snuggled itself into her feathers. Then, she smiled up at Manfredi. Her green eyes were glowing with a radiance Manfredi had never seen before. Sarah. Manfredi was able to push himself onto his flippers and found the strength to stand once again as her figure faded into smoke.
The Sun threatened to knock Manfredi over again, but he pushed forward. He came upon the other half of the canister and took it up in his flipper. He put the ends together and noted how they connected. Separating them again he pushed forward to the Sun. It was rising high now, and would be out of his reach soon if he didn't hurry.
The waves became unbearably hot, though, and he felt his feathers become scorched on his face and chest. Nonetheless, he pushed forward. He felt his legs grow weak, but he steadied himself as he felt a flipper push into his back.
Behind him a small was pushing him forward, a determined look on his face. His crystal blue eyes showed determination as Manfredi glanced back at him. Private. The bird smiled before disappearing into a wisp of smoke. Manfredi waddled forward, not noticing the pain that ran through his flippers and feet as he did so.
He approached the Sun, looking into its intense brightness. He cupped his robotic flipper around the floating energy ball, bringing it closer to himself it was very hot and he smelled the metal on his flipper begin to warp and melt and he pulled it closer.
He held the world's greatest power in his flippers, floating in mid air right in front of his face. This is what his loved ones had died over. It was what they had fought so hard to protect. This tiny little speck of pure energy. It was what drove a penguin to murder. Earth's life energy.
He saw a figure walk out of the whiteness that surrounded him. It was the pigeon that Manfredi had killed all those months ago in the ally. He smiled slightly before closing his wings around the robotic-penguin's flippers. Manfredi took one end of the canister, and with the pigeon's help, closed them around the Sun. Manfredi glanced up to the pigeon, who only nodded.
As soon as the container was closed once again, Manfredi felt the heat disappear and the waves that rolled through him disappeared. The pigeon vanished in a puff of smoke and the room fell dark. After a moment the Sun stabilized and began glowing red-orange again. Manfredi was left in silence, holding the canister.
He wasn't done yet, though.
He limped forward, feeling his body grow very weak. He was only a few feet from the pedestal, where the Sun needed to be replaced. He felt his legs give out and fell onto his face, the Sun rolling a few feet in front of him.
Using his melted, robotic flipper again, he dragged himself forward and retook the Sun. He heaved himself up, using the pedestal to support his wait. Then, with the last of his strength he slammed the container down into its slot. As Manfredi fell to the ground he saw it levitate into the air a little bit above its resting place. After a short while it began to glow white-hot again, and the torches in the hallway came on again.
He had done it. He had ended the life of Caspian Fishslader, his target, his vile enemy. He had closed the Sun and returned it to the pedestal. Manfredi felt a slight smile pull at the edges of his beak as he thought about these things. It was finally done. Two years of hunting, and he had finally finished what he had started.
Sarah would be happy for him. She'd be happy to see him come home after such a victory, and hug him. They'd celebrate with a fish dinner as their child ran happily around the table. He'd promise never to leave them again. She'd like that.
Manfredi felt a tear form in his eye as he thought about her. He knew for sure that this was his end, though. Maybe where he was going, he'd be able to see her again. Last time he had died, he had been resurrected for a reason. This time, he had nothing left to continue living for. He was happy to let himself slide into eternal blackness.
The tear streaked down his cheek as he smiled widely. "I did it, Johnson," he spoke to himself. "We did it."
As he felt his eyelid grow heavy and darkness overcome him, he felt all of his pain, all of his grief and sorrow, leave his body. Death was like a gift to him, he thought, and then his mind grew blank.
Moments later, his red, mechanical eye began its slow flashing. Shortly thereafter, it went entirely dark.
~Author's Note: This chapter is a little late, sorry about that. document uploader was down last night it seems! Day 11, I made it! Hope you enjoyed reading a chapter every day! Going to slow down to a more reasonable speed now that I'm back in school.
Hopes this chapter was pretty epic and did Manfredi justice. I know many of you have been waiting for this chapter for months now. Don't worry, though, its not the last chapter of the book. There's a few more resolution chapters coming up!