Chapter 20

The sight of Frank looking in my direction, with the husk that was the dead body of Frost’s ally, was an awe-inspiring sight, to say the least. Before my very eyes, the large hole in Frank’s abdomen seemed to close itself up, as if someone was sewing it shut!

I was in a daze as I kept feeling the pressure of Frank’s ability. His ability didn’t seem to discriminate between friend or foe, only caring to satisfy its own hunger for energy. Like a scene straight out of a horror movie, his body completely reversed the physical damage on itself.

I could only watch in horrific fascination as Frank’s body seemed to regain its colour, making me realise that his ability was replenishing his blood, all the while gathering energy from his surroundings. I was getting really alarmed by these proceedings because if things continued to go the way it had, the Untethered with smaller cores would be in serious danger of perishing.

Frank’s eyes were unfocused and he appeared to be in a daze. It was almost as if he wasn’t aware of the fact that he was unconsciously siphoning off the energy of the Untethered around him. When he came closer to my position where I was kneeling, I realised that he had eyes for only one man. Frost.

“Frank.”, I shouted out, hoping to break him out of his reverie but it was to no avail. He paid my words no heed as he made his way to Frost, who was standing with some difficulty, his energy still being siphoned off by Frank. He was on guard for any imminent attack by Frank, no doubt wanting to avoid the fate that had befallen his ally.

Frank had passed me by without so much as a single glance and I could feel my state deteriorating by the minute. Just when it seemed like Frank would walk all the way to Frost, Frank broke out in a dash. Before Frost could react in his weakened state, Frank already had him by the throat.

Frost was not a veteran in name only though. Before Frank could use his ability on Frost to make him meet his maker, Frost had already kicked Frank with all the force he could muster in his exhausted state. This served to create some separation between him and Frank, a fact he took quick advantage of, retreating a long way back so that Frank could not catch him unawares again.

Frost was forced into a corner where his only option was defence and evasion. Frank made sure to give Frost no chance for respite as he quickly rushed after him, intent on finishing this as quickly as possible. He quickly made his way towards Frost’s direction, with Frost still retreating with every ounce of speed he had in his legs. It was a shocking sight to witness, especially after he had demolished both Frank and me just a few minutes before with startling ease.

The more Frank made his way away from me, the less tired I felt, almost as if my core was finally replenishing my energy faster than Frank could drain it. That was when I realised the limits of Frank’s power and also the reason for Frost’s constant retreat.

Although Frank couldn’t control whose energy he absorbed, he was still limited in the area his ability could affect people. In that aspect, it was similar to how my time control ability worked. And it seemed like Frost had also deduced this fact about Frank’s ability. He wanted to buy time to replenish his own energy so that he could take out Frank in one blow. Because no matter how much energy Frank could absorb, it would all be useless if the people he was absorbing power from were all dead and he himself lay on death’s feet.

That was the absolute destruction Frost’s move which he called, ‘Absolute Zero’, could wreak on its surroundings. A pure force of nature that had covered the whole city in ice with everyone in its way encased in a tomb of ice. I had been a witness to the calamity that Frost’s trump card and I couldn’t help but wonder if Frank would be quick enough to stop Frost from employing said trump card.

That was when it became clear in my mind that Frank needed my aid in capturing Frost. I needed to help Frank box Frost, so to speak so that he didn’t have an avenue of escaping. The only problem was that my core wasn’t reenergizing me as quickly as I’d like. I could barely stand up and even that had my body hurting. My body seemed to be stuck in a quagmire and the situation wasn’t improving rapidly enough that I could aid Frank in his quest to catch Frost. My involvement in this fight at this time would only result in me being a liability that Frost could take advantage of, especially since I would once again be with Frank’s ability’s influence once I decided to insert myself into the fight.

My main goal when I did decide to make a move was to make use of my ability to slow down time where Frank was not affected so that Frank would have a window of opportunity to catch Frost. But even my ability would be hindered by Frank’s ability, meaning I could only use my ability for a short period of time.

That meant I would have to execute my plan perfectly, all without knowing what Frank was going to do and also without Frank not knowing my own motives. The timing had to be perfect as my window of opportunity would be too narrow for the allowance of too much deviation from my plan.

While I was still waiting for my energy to be replenished, Frank and Frost were still in my general vicinity, still involved in the game of cat and mouse. Frank seemed to be closing the distance somewhat but Frost’s tenacity and guile still rendered all of Frank’s efforts to get hold of Frost useless.

I had finally had enough of just sitting on the side-lines and decided to make my move, having judged that my current energy was enough for me to carry out my plan. I made sure to stay as far from Frank as possible so that he didn’t involuntarily interfere in my scheme. One thing that was working in my favour was that Frost was completely concentrated on Frank, having long dismissed everyone else as a legitimate threat, his whole focus now being on stopping Frank’s onslaught.