Here is the final battle between Holden and Fuse everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter since I took so long to write it.
Chapter 56: Final Battle: Part 2: Fuse's End
Dexter, Dr. Holiday and The Professor sit down in front of three large monitors in the new forward base in the Darklands, near the bridge to Fuse's lair. Titan and Megas are patrolling the area, and the KND and SACT stroll along the parameter of the area with scanners to make sure they won't be surprised by attacks.
The Dexcarrier and Mandark's science carrier float overhead, beaming constant information back to the forward base about what is happening in the atmosphere. Soft beeps usher from the monitors as Holden's pulse and heartbeat are received at constant intervals.
"Holden is remarkably calm having been just transported to another world. I would have expected his pulse to be racing by now." Dexter replies as he begins to fiddle with his nancom to see if he could establish communications.
The young genius connects the device with two small wires to the main monitor and quickly turns it on, but only receives static. The beeping of one the monitors increases sharply and the Professor quickly looks at it.
"His pulse is racing and his heart rate has increased. He must have come across Fuse up there. Just keep it together Holden."
A moment later, a loud anxious beep emanates from the monitors as Holden's pulse flat lines and all the screens turn red. The Professor turns white and Dr. Holiday sits down at a keyboard that was in control of the Great Machine to get a nano to Holden.
As she finished her command, a voice issues from the device, "There are no nanos here at the Great Machine, you twit."
"Where have all the nanos gone to then?" Dr. Holiday asks the voice, while typing it at the same time.
"Why, with nancom 0, of course." The monitors that had been red, turns green and Holden's pulse returns and normalizes.
Dexter frowns and reclines in his seat, "What is going on up there? Why did the nanos suddenly disappear from the Great Machine?"
The three scientists stare at the monitors, but they fail to notice a small flashing light on the bottom right of one of the screens set up for the armor.
As the column of fusion matter continues to burst from the floor, Fuse laughs hardily, "So foolish in thinking one such as you could best me."
The large alien laughs again, thinking that everything is over and done with. Inside the column of caustic materials, the young man slowly opens his eyes to find his entire body surrounded by a cocoon of something warm. Through the tiny crack of the cocoon that enclosed him, he saw a green hue of light.
The fusion matter below Holden manages to poke into the cocoon and lap at his feet, but Holden feels no sensation of burning. Going unnoticed is a small spark near his heel. The light starts to slow dim and then vanish all together and the cocoon falls away, revealing to be the nanos.
Many of the nanos have turned gray and look sickly, and others have started to disintegrate and slowly turn into small piles of fusion matter. Something hits Holden's helmet and then bounces into his arm. It was his Bubble's nano, who was smiling up at him.
"Why, did you all have to sacrifice yourselves for me? You didn't have to do that!" Holden sobs in a sorrowful voice.
The nano gives a faint smile and coughs, before speaking its final words, "You've done so much for everyone already. You've watched us and treated us like friends when you weren't fighting and cared for us. You called us when you needed us, but now everyone needs you. This sacrifice is our way to care for you Holdie. Don't be sad about what we did, since even as we go, the last thing we do is for you. We will always live on in your heart."
Nano Bubbles slowly turns gray and falls out of Holden's arms into a small pile of fusion matter on the floor. Holden's chest felt tight as tears flow from his eyes. Holden felt as if something important was ripped from his body. A cry of anguish escapes from Holden at having lost so many of his friends.
Fuse looks down at the teenager and smirks, "So, the little pests have finally met the end that I was planning for them months ago. They may have saved you, but it only delays the end that will come for you in the end!" Fuse laughs and it echoes off the walls of the room as Holden looks up at the beast with tear stains on his face.
The look of sadness that is in his eyes turns to one of determination. "It's time to finish this Fuse, your reign of galactic terror ends here." Holden said, in a strong, firm voice.
Fuse stops laughing abruptly and peers down at the human, who had audacity to challenge him.
Fuse smiles menacingly as he looks at Holden, "Then come at me with your pitiful attempt to stop me!"
Fuse raises his arm, swings it in an arc and back hands Holden, sending flying across the room. Holden grunts in pain as he lands on the floor and skids a few feet, before coming to a rest, twenty feet away. Holden quickly rolls over and pushes himself onto his feet and then floating into the air.
The teen quickly scans the room and then reaches into his grenade bag and extracts his last five chili grenades.
Time to create some cover from the rubble of the columns in the room. I can do this!
Flying at top speed, Holden passes by one of the columns and throws the grenade at it, while tossing the second one at the other pillar nearby. As he flies off to the third column, the two grenades explode as they impact on the two targets and the two pillars topple over and leave a small field of debris scattered across the floor.
Fuse screams in rage and forms a humongous ball of fusion matter in his large claw like hand. Holden passes the third column and was about to throw the explosive, when Fuse pitches the fusion matter at the fuchsia haired warrior. Out of the corner of his eye, Holden spies the goop hurling towards him.
The teen barrel rolls to his left and the green goo sails within an inch of him and then slams into the wall near column. Large chunks of the wall fall to the floor as well as into the pillar, causing it to topple and break in half as it smashes onto the ground. Holden zooms off towards the last pillar and flies by it, jamming the grenade between it and the wall.
He jets away from the pillar, when Computress speaks up, "I should inform you that…."
The grenade explodes behind Holden, causing Computress to be inaudible. As the sound from the explosion dies and the pillar collapses to the ground, Holden hears, "should land soon," from Computress.
"I was thinking of doing that soon Computress." Holden replies as he dives to the ground and rolls behind some rubble.
Fuse screams in anger and throws globs of fusion matter at the debris Holden is taking refugee behind. The caustic matter splashes down onto the debris and the floor. Small patches of infected ground appear and slowly grow, while other pieces of debris slowly start smoking.
Holden peers over a part of the column he was behind, jumps over it and starts running over some of the infected ground. A burning sensation in the young man's feet begins and he grits his teeth in pain trying to clear the toxin beneath him. He raises his rifle and tries to aim at Fuse, but his vision blurs from the pain.
Ignoring this, Holden fires eight times, missing the alien overlord with half of his shots. Fuse raises his arm, balls his hand into a fist and smashes the ground, causing a shockwave to ripple through the floor. The shockwave connects with Holden's feet, launching him forward across the infection filled floor and right into a fragment of column that was free of destructive fusion matter.
Holden stands up slowly, gingerly holding his right side, "The armor sensors indicate you have a minor bruising. There is a chance you have broken a rib as well from that impact." Computress states in a crisp voice.
"Thanks for letting me know Computress." Holden grunts, scrambling away from the debris and strafing to his left to avoid a minuscule glob that Fuse just spit at him.
Several shots strike Fuse's torso and face after Holden reaches the next pile of debris. Holden plunges his armored hand into the bag on his back and draws the last two grenades.
Standing up tall, Holden throws both grenades at fuse, sidearm style. Both grenades travel towards Fuse, but the grenades hit each other in mid flight, causing them to ricochet off each other. One grenade goes high into the air, arcs, then falls towards the ground and detonates in Fuse's face, while the other lodges into Fuse's lower left arm, then explodes.
Fuse screams in pain and his lower arm falls to the ground and slowly melts away into nothingness, "You will pay for this, human! You may have been the first to hurt me out right, but you will be the last!"
Temporarily blinded by the other grenade, the alien swipes at Holden, in hopes of grabbing him, but the young warrior drops to the floor and avoids the claw. Fuse sways to the right after finishing his attack, having lost his center of gravity.
Holden uses this chance and kneels down to balance his rifle with his knee and opens fire upon the alien overlord. All of the twenty-three shots that Holden fires, hit fuse's right leg and leaves a moderate sized indention in the leg.
Several small clicks from the rifle echo around Holden and the small, "No energy cell" light pops on. Holden grabs a fresh cell from his belt, ejects the old cell, which clatters softly to the ground, and inserts the new one into the rifle.
"I am detecting a small amount of imaginary energy from the spent clip. You could, in theory, throw it at Fuse and still cause him some harm." The mini Computress said inside the helmet.
Holden scoops up the now empty cartridge, and pitches it high into the air, aiming for Fuse's other arm. The empty ammo clip tumbles wildly through the air, missing its mark and lodging itself in Fuse's chest.
Small vanes of pure blue energy slowly spread out from the clip, leaving scars on Fuse's chest. The energy slowly fades away and the clip falls to the ground with a clang. The alien king places his claw on his chest to feel the damage and a loud howl escapes from Fuse's maw. "Your pathetic family and friends will suffer for this outrage you have bestowed upon me! These scars can not be healed!"
The green monster spits a single sphere of goo towards Holden, who ducks down to avoid it. The goop grazes the shoulder of the armor, causing some minor damage to the surface of the armor.
The fuchsia haired warrior grimace, trying to think of a plan, when a thought strikes him, "Computress, would it be possible to coat the surface of the armor entirely with imaginary energy?"
A little image of Computress appears on Holden's visor, "It would take several minutes to coat your armor in the energy and it will drain all your weapons of their ammo. What are you planning to do?"
Holden sighs and then forces a smile and responds, "I'm going to let Fuse grab me, so the imaginary energy that is on the armor will be more effective against him. It's a risky move, but one I'm willing to accept."
The small image of Computress nods and disappears, "While this plan is risky, the success rate of your plan is ninety-seven percent. I will start pumping the energy onto the armor's surface now."
Several small hisses escape from the engine on Holden's back as the transfer process begins. After several seconds, the engine emits a low hum and Holden can feel the warmth of the imaginary energy as it slowly creeps across the armor, incasing him in its power.
Holden closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and slowly walks forward as a faint blue outline surrounds him. The young man realizes that this would be the final move for him as he walks still closer to Fuse. Holden comes to a stop and looks up into Fuse's face with determination blazing in his eyes.
The alien scoops the boy up and clutches him tightly in his vice like grip. The blue energy slowly spreads from the armor and onto Fuse's hand, but eventually stalls as it reaches Fuse's knuckles.
Fuse's face was twisted in minor pain and then smiles broadly as he lifts Holden close to his face, "Do you really think I wouldn't have built up some resistance to that infernal energy? Your life will end here, in a slow painful death that will be sung by my fusions for eternity!"
Fuse then laughs loudly and it echoes off every surface and amplifies the sound. Fuse's claw tightens and squeezes Holden, who grits his teeth in pain, trying not to scream as he feels searing hot pain run thought his body like no other pain he has felt before in his life. He struggles against the hand, but stops as fresh waves pain wash over him.
His eyes slowly close, unable to bare much more of the intense pain. A moment later, Holden stirs, struggles against the enormous hand and with all his strength, breaks free of Fuse's grip, leaving small imprints on the fingers and floating before the vile monster.
From deep within the armor, the joints begin to glow with an indigo light and the blue energy on the armor's surface swirls and mixes together until it changes to a dark blue. The young teen lunges forward, punching Fuse in the jaw several times.
The angry dictator growls and swipes his lone claw at Holden, who dodges and flies to the left. The dark blue energy eventually starts to shine as an unknown energy from inside the armor is added to the mix.
The young man tucks his legs and arms close to his body and releases all the energy that has built upon the armor into a beautiful pulse bubble of dazzling energy and light.
Fuse using all his power, fights to hold the pulse bubble back, but his arm and body are slowly eaten away and evaporate into nothingness.
As the pulse fades away, Holden falls to the ground and he slowly gets up, panting heavily and nearly out of breath.
Before Holden stands the remains of Fuse's head and chest with a curving arc where the pulse had ended, "Computress, what just happened? I remember being slowly crushed by Fuse and now he's dead."
The small image of Computress reappears on Holden's visor, "My readings indicate that pure plasma merged with the imaginary energy, causing a reaction that energized both and in turn caused the destruction of Fuse."
Holden frowns, needing to know more and after a second, finally asks, "Where did the plasma come from? The fourth state of matter just doesn't magically happen unless something produces it!"
"The plasma originated…"
Before Computress could say where the plasma had come from, the room begins to shake and pieces of the wall fall to the floor, "Holden, since Fuse's demise, Planet Fuse has grown unstable since and it is slowly shaking apart. We must escape the planet immediately!"
Without saying a word, Holden darts towards the open door, jumping over pieces of debris and enters the hallway. As Holden traverses the corridor, the planet shakes again, causing a few of the columns to topple, causing Holden to crash into a wall. The teen regains his balance, ducks under the nearest pillar and continues down hallway.
The passageway ends and Holden finds himself in a large room with a vaulted ceiling. On the other side of the room, pure sunlight is shining in through windows and a single open door. A low rumble shocks the building and the sound of a loud crack is heard and Holden looks up.
The vaulted ceilings supports had just failed and the roof starts to collapse, causing a cascading failure of the other supports, causing the building to rumble. The young man's face turns white as a sheet and dashes quickly to the open door. The vaulted roof is nearly on top of him, when Holden jump through the door and rolls onto the ground.
Tired and panting slightly, Holden stands up to witness the Earth coming into view as Planet Fusion was crumbling around him. Unable to admire the sight he has just witnessed, Holden slowly floats into to space from the dying planet and flies towards the Earth.
Computress appears on Holden's visor once again, "We should reach the Earth's atmosphere in ten minutes." She then disappears from view as the Earth grows larger and larger.
Back on Earth, Dexter and Professor Utonium and Dr. Holiday monitor Holden's vital signs, when one of the screens they are watching, switches to live feed from the Dexcarrier. Planet Fusion appears on the screen and it is slowly shrinking and breaking apart, while a faint light moves away form it.
"Fuse has been beaten! What is that light moving away from the planet?" The Professor asks the younger scientist.
Dexter nods with a small smile, "The Dexcarrier scanners believe it be Holden." Dexter replies as he leans his elbow on one of the keyboards by accident and the armor display pops up, showing the damage that has been done to the jet boots.
The three scientists' mouths drop open and a second later Dexter manages to speak, "How did he get off Planet Fusion if the boosters in the boots have been compromised?"
The Professor sits down and types something into a computer, as the Dexcarrier tracks the light, "Based on the data from the carrier, Holden will reenter the atmosphere in a few minutes, but with no way to slow down, he will crash into Pokey Oaks. At the speed that he is reenter the atmosphere at, there is no way for the girls to get to him in time!"
A look of despair enters the Professor's eyes as he spoke. The other two scientists grow quiet and look at the screen as the light passes from view, wondering what is going on.
Holden enters the Earth's atmosphere over North America and feels the resistance of it as he plummets through layers of air and pressure. The W.A.R.D. armor heats up and inside Holden is sweating profusely.
"Computress, when I'm at a safe altitude to breath and not freeze, I want you to jettison the armor. If you can, relay all information to Octus and the Professor."
Computress appears for the last time on his visor, "Command confirmed. Data will be transferred as soon as I am in range. Armor jettisoning commencing in fifteen seconds."
The seconds that ticked away feel like minutes to Holden, but soon enough the armor is propelled off of the young man and it falls towards the ground. Holden is left wearing only a black shirt with the same color shorts.
The teen takes off the helmet and allows it to fall towards the city below him. The teen soon falls through a layer of clouds and wind whips through his hair and his eyes begin to droop.
Why do I feel so tired? I felt like this ever since Fuse was killed. What caused this to happen!
Holden tries to keep himself aware of what is going on and a building starts to grow larger in the distance as he feel towards the ground. Even from this high up, Holden recognized the top of the Pokey Oaks Kindergarten building.
Ironic, the place my life truly began is the place where it's going to end. I have no real regrets, I'm sorry that I won't come back safe everyone.
As Holden finish thinking, his eyes finally close and an indigo flying trail appears behind him. A minute later, Holden slams into the building and deep into the substructure. A white dome of light rises up from the school and blowing away everything outwards onto the street and the surrounding area.
The light fades, leaving a small crater and in the distance, the sound of car alarms, dogs barking and the soft gushing of water from broken pipes are heard.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to make the fight as perfect as I could, while still making sure Holden wasn't being a mary sue. The final chapter should be up in a week or so to end the series.