Chapter 29: War Across Dimensions

In truth, I died long before I started this journal. I was killed as per Chissler’s plan in order to save your life, Leon. For some reason, that fact completely slipped my mind until now. It’s not like I wished to keep that from you, I just totally forgot. Small details matter less when you’re dead, I suppose.

Leon avoided another devastating blow of insurmountable brute force as the orange behemoth came for him again and again. Though Leon’s blades did puncture the monster’s skin, it was so big that he could never get his swords in deep enough to matter. Besides that, the pain from his cuts only seemed to enrage the fat, orange monster instead of deterring it. If he could only get at the monster’s head, it would all be over. He would have, but he had more than just the stupid brute to deal with.

The top hat man and his Demihuman hybrids were still around. Though they didn’t seem to be allies of the orange beast and his scantily-clad comrades, they certainly weren’t on Leon’s side either. That wolf girl seemed particularly peeved as she sent wave after wave of ice attacks, and sometimes just as he was about to decapitate the orange monster. Her use of Ice Elemency was amateurish and obvious when compared to Éclair’s, but she was still annoyingly persistent all the same.

In summary, everything was a bloody mess. Éclair and that dimwit, Ryan, were still nowhere to be seen, and Leon found himself engaging in a three-way standoff with two factions of enemies with strange abilities and tactics. The ‘superheroes’, as he thought he heard Ryan describe them in his rants on Ancient Earth pop culture, fought random battles between members of Squad 99 and the newcomers from the top hat man’s faction. There seemed to be little discipline or military strategy employed by either faction as they used their abilities at random, mostly relying on brute force than any finesse. Their unorthodox methods presented their own challenges as Leon found it increasingly difficult to predict their actions. His mind was also far too scattered with thoughts of Éclair to infiltrate their psyches with his limited grasp of telepathy.

Tork spent most of the time engaging the flying woman in green and a man with wings in an aerial dogfight. The man was from the top hat’s faction, and traded blows with both Tork and the green-clad lady. Though the wings at his shoulders resembled that of a Prophetic Angel’s wings, his beak and bird-like claws on his hands and feet belied that theory, making him more similar to a Harpy.

The Sage at least made himself useful as he stayed in contact with Leon via telepathy and managed to capture a few of the combatants from the superheroes’ camp. He even had begun interrogating his prisoners discreetly while protected by a barrier of telekinetic energy. Kormal currently held the speeding superhero’s head, who was still partially submerged in Éclair’s ice. Kormal was attempting to ascertain the enemy’s motives and perhaps learn the true nature of their surroundings. That left Torsha to guard the Sage’s barrier, fending off any who came near regardless of their faction. Just as Leon had guessed, her powers were sublime for defense as the constructs she made with Light Elemency complemented the telekinetic forcefield perfectly.

The older Werewolf, however, was decidedly uncooperative as he picked his own targets, mostly those that got near the younger Werewolf. Leon asked him several times to get the hybrid with the ice powers off his back so that he could properly deal with the orange behemoth, but the bounty hunter paid no heed. Leon was beginning to question the wisdom of bringing along such an independent entity that was neither an Elemental nor a Light Monk.

At least Leon could count on Grafael. He feared that Éclair’s disappearance might put the Saurian in a panic, but Grafael had proved instrumental. The Earth Dragon took on both factions at the same time, using his newfound powers with Earth Elemency to establish a somewhat defensible position. Meanwhile, Leon did his best to organize everyone around Kormal so the Sage could get some answers from the captive. They had claimed a skyscraper near the outskirts of the greater battle between the other superheroes and the top hat faction. The top hat man himself seemed content to harass the one-armed superhero in the yellow suit, hitting the man with his cane - which seemed equally capable of wounding the overconfident muscleman as a Psionic Weapon. A good thing the top hat man seemed more focused on the heroes than on Squad 99. From what Leon saw of the top hat man, he was perhaps the most dangerous warrior of the bunch. Leon could only guess what the man’s abilities could be, but he feared competence more than brute strength.

That just left the insufferably infuriating fat orange man, and the angry wolf girl to deal with. Between the two of them targeting him at once, the best Leon could do was dodge, never mind striking back.

“BULK SQUASH NERD WITH GLASSES!” screamed the ridiculous orange lunatic as he mindlessly lunged for Leon again with his overly large arms. “WHY NERD WITH GLASSES NOT HOLD STILL?!”

This bumbling creature is starting to remind me of Ryan, Leon thought with an aggravated smile.

When Grafael had driven off the bulk of the enemies targeting Kormal, Leon decided that enough was enough. After using a burst of wind to knock both the orange man off his feet and avoid another wave of ice shards, Leon sent a telepathic message.

Grafael, Leon said mentally. I think you would be better suited to deal with this raging idiot. Think you can keep him off me long enough so I can deal with the wolf girl?

Thought you’d hog that worthy adversary to yourself all day, replied Grafael mentally. Leon could just picture the maniacal grin spreading on the Saurian’s scaly face.

Leon had angled himself to jump off a wall directly ahead of him. Spinning in midair, he braced his legs against the building’s side and kicked off, changing his trajectory to aim directly at the wolf girl. If not for his Psionic Armor, he might not have been able to kick off the wall so easily, not at the Mach speeds he was going. As such, a good chunk of the cemented wall broke away as Leon kicked off from it.

The wolf girl, not expecting his sudden aggression, jumped away as Leon dashed sword first for her, shooting air bullets from his blades as he did so. She must’ve had keen senses as well, for she avoided his air bullets superbly. But even as he gave chase, the shadow of the enraged orange beast could not be easily overlooked.

Leon didn’t bother to respond as he felt rather than saw the orange beast attacking from his blindside. He didn’t have to look back as an almost equally large mass of muscle barreled into the orange beast, swinging a hammer heavier than most grown men. He didn’t have to look back as the colliding powerhouses threw up debris and dust with the crash that followed. Leon had asked Grafael to deal with the orange man, and the Saurian had agreed. Those who doubted the word of a Saurian did so at their peril.

That left only the wolf girl, who looked behind Leon at the struggle between the two colossal warriors with awe.

“You shouldn’t let yourself be distracted so easily,” said Leon, allowing a grin of satisfaction to cross his lips.

Payback time.

Leon pressed his advantage. As she possessed no Psionic Weapons or Armor, it was easy. True, she had an annoying habit of anticipating and avoiding his attacks, but when she tried attacking with long ice shards growing out of her arms, Leon easily dodged or melted the ice with his swords. The girl had to repeatedly grow new ice shards, or resort to throwing them. However, Leon never allowed her enough distance to throw her projectiles properly, so she was basically fighting unarmed. Leon wasn’t the kind of idiot to swing too hard or fight too aggressively just because his opponent was unarmed. Doing so would only give his enemy an opportunity to get in close and disarm him. He simply backed her into a corner with probing attacks, walking at a casual pace and not allowing her a moment’s breath as he battered away at her with swift, calculated strikes. Leon never understood how seemingly competent fighters in works of fiction could lose to unarmed opponents. To successfully defeat an armed opponent while barehanded, one had to possess at least three times the enemy’s skill, speed, and strength. Judging by this girl’s resistance, she was his inferior by a large margin in all three aspects, and now he could face her without the interference of that orange buffoon.

Finally, she did it. The mistake he’d been waiting for. She had run out of ice shards, which seemed more effective at a distance anyway. Just like any Elemental, there was a limit to repeated use of an element. Without any resort left to her, the wolf girl attacked with her claws. With casual finality, Leon took the girl’s hand with a leisurely swipe of his left sword. It was so boringly predictable that he almost yawned. Even Ryan would’ve had better sense than to attack like that against someone wielding a Psionic Blade ... probably.

As the wolf girl’s clawed but mostly human hand flopped to the ground, she screamed magnificently. Then she did another stupid thing. She turned her back on Leon and ran away. She should’ve known better than to turn her back on a Lurranna. When facing one such as him, it was either kill or be killed. There was no middle ground. She even made the mistake of jumping, her superior strength taking her nearly twenty feet in the air within an eyeblink. Didn’t she know that it was the worst possible thing to be caught in midair? Height might’ve saved her were she fighting an idiot, but it also meant she couldn’t adjust her course and dodge if need be.

With near-lethargic movement, Leon swiped vertically, sending a gust of wind from his right sword that knocked the girl out of the sky and slammed her to the ground. The girl gasped, struggling for air as her back slammed into the pavement. Leon had angled his wind on a downward spiral, meaning that she was brought down with much more force than just the power of gravity.

As she lay stunned, Leon went about to land the finishing blow. This part no longer excited him as it might have in his younger days. Unlike Ryan and Éclair, Leon was no stranger to violence.

The girl looked up at Leon, her white eyes going watery. Leon showed no sympathy as he raised his sword, its fan-like blades glowing purple. He was not a fool like Ryan who might show mercy simply because she was a woman. Leon knew better than to show mercy to females. Lucille had taught him that.

When Leon brought his sword down, he hit something just before he could cut her. It felt like his sword was meeting resistance with something. A modern alloy of some kind that was strong enough to resist even a Psionic Blade. This perplexed Leon as his sword hung in midair above the wolf girl’s face. It felt like he had cut through something, but he didn’t have enough leverage to follow through with the swing, not with one hand. He dismissed his other sword and put a hand forward. As he did so, he felt an actual metal wall. He couldn’t see it, but he felt it. Strangely, the wall didn’t seem to exist for the girl as she stood up and swiped at Leon with her claws, scoring a small cut to his hand.

Leon growled deep in his throat as he flung the blood from his hand into the girl’s eyes. She jerked back instead of following through with a counterstroke, another mistake. He then dismissed one of his blades and took hold of his stuck sword by both hands with the intention of forcing his way through the invisible wall. Then everything went dark after that.

Leon only dimly saw the imposing figure of the top hat man glaring down at him. The man leaned down and took the girl’s stump where her hand used to be. He wrapped a bandage around the bloody stump and traced a finger down her chin lovingly. She whimpered like an actual dog and licked his hand as if he had given her a treat, smiling up at her master with obvious affection.

Leon’s head ached. He felt so sore that he couldn’t move. He hadn’t even seen the attack coming. What did that well-dressed man hit him with? He only seemed to be armed with that cane. It was difficult to imagine that a simple craft of wood and metal could render Leon helpless, but that just went to reflect his father’s many lessons. Never underestimate one’s opponent even if they have nothing but a stick. The resolve to kill was not dependent on the means. He could just picture his father’s smug countenance now.

All that seemed irrelevant now as the top hat man stood over him while petting the wolf girl like a bloodhound after a good hunt. “You’ve made a mistake today, young man. You’ve assumed that I was a patient man. That I would sit idly by as you bullied my subordinates. It only goes to show, you don’t know Wroth. You don’t know a bloody thing about it.”

Even as the man spoke, Leon saw the masked men creeping up behind him and the wolf girl. For some reason, his first impulse was to warn them. These people who had clearly made their intentions as his enemies all too clear. Why would he warn them? But he knew why. Leon remembered now. He remembered when the Fallen first came. How they visited him as a child. What they did to his servant, Heinz, when he walked in. Heinz was a kind man that always comforted Leon during his father’s more violent tantrums. But even if Heinz had been a bad servant, Leon wouldn’t have wished what the Fallen did to him on his worst enemy, perhaps not even Chissler. It was the first death he had ever seen, and it had scarred him even though he couldn’t remember it until that moment. He had no idea how he could forget such a thing, especially given his mental abilities, but he did. Clearly, the Fallen’s abilities went beyond mere telepathy.

Hoarsely, Leon tried to tell them to look out, but he could not get the words out. He felt blood running down his face to pool around his head. All he could do was let out a croak as the two Fallen came closer and closer to the top hat man.

Just as they nearly reached him, the top hat man spun and swung with his cane. His cane passed right through the Fallen’s head as if it were made of smoke. When the cane came out the other side, it crumbled to dust in the man’s hand. The top hat man didn’t get a chance to be surprised as the two Fallen walked forward as if they didn’t see him at all. Leon wanted to close his eyes at what happened next, but he couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t shut his eyes to this even if he had the option. These warriors had fought well. The least he could do was witness their demise, no matter how distasteful he found it.

The Fallen passed through the top hat man and the wolf girl as if they were ghosts. The two looked at each other. The wolf girl reached out her remaining hand to touch her master. Just before they touched, the skin fell off their bodies. For a brief moment, Leon could see everything, just like last time. All their organs and blood lay bare as their skin melted right off their bones. A moment of gore followed by nothingness as their flesh dissolved into black goop in an instant. Their faces bore the same surprised expression as Heinz before dissolving.

The two Fallen stopped in front of Leon now in the place of the top hat man and his hybrid companion. One bore the mask of sadness, and the other bore the mask of rage. Leon knew from past dealings that the one with the angry mask was their leader.

“Prince of Darkness. We expect more of you in the future. At your current level, you are next to useless to our master.”

Regaining some cohesion, Leon sat up and smirked. “I was a disappointment to my father, too.”

The Fallen reached down to touch Leon, but he had already sent a telepathic message to see to his rescue here. A pillar of fire passed through the two Fallen. Though the flames didn’t seem to hurt them, the Fallen still hesitated after the fires broke their line of sight with their target.

Leon mentally thanked Tork for his assistance. The distraction gave him just enough time to get his second wind as he summoned his Psionic Helmet over his head, putting the world in the greenish hue of his visor. The armor, once activated, was designed to deal with rudimentary wounds. It was nowhere near as effective as a Healer like Éclair, but it would do for now. A head wound was more difficult, but since Leon still retained consciousness, it couldn’t be too bad. He could already feel relief as the medical systems in the helmet sealed his head wound. In the same breath, Leon rose to his feet and jumped away, all the while sending a gust of wind at his feet to give him a burst of speed and height. He knew better than to fight these things head-on.

Listen, everybody! he called to all his peers telepathically. We’re leaving! Kormal, I hope you’ve finished your interrogation, because we don’t have time to-

As Leon glanced back behind him, he saw that the Fallen with the mask of rage was just standing there, not even bothering to give chase. But that’s not what scared Leon. The fact that he was standing there alone ... that scared him.

Where’s the sad mask? Leon thought to himself. I didn’t even see it move!

Leon, who angled himself towards Kormal and Torsha, lurched to a halt as the sad masked Fallen appeared in front of him. But the creature wasn’t coming for him. Instead, it was heading straight for Torsha and Kormal. The young Werewolf, who was engaged in battling the hooded superhero, had her back to the creature. The Fallen raised a hand, a black-bladed sickle appearing instantly.

“Torsha!” screamed Leon. And he wasn’t the only one.

The Werewolf, Mozar, also screamed out her name as he stepped between her and the Fallen. Leon knew that it was futile. The Fallen would plow through the old Werewolf and get at Torsha, just like it had with the top hat and its companions. Leon telepathically called on Tork and Grafael, but both were too far away and engaged in their own affairs.

Leon thought of what he might do. He quickly considered using his trump card, the last ability his father ever taught him. Besides the awful risks that came from using such a power, there was also his own personal convictions to consider. He promised himself he’d never use anything taught to him by that bitter old man, but he might not have a choice in this case. Not against the Fallen.

He hesitated only a moment, then decided to act. Just as Leon reached a hand forward, calling forth special psions that he hadn’t used in years, something flew past him. At first, he thought it must be the other Fallen, but then realized it was an object. He only got a quick look, but it looked like a large chunk of flying ice. No, not just ice. There was something in the center. Something glowing red.

The object smashed into the charging Fallen with the sad mask. The ice chunk exploded in a torrent of white mist and red-hot liquid that Leon realized was smoldering magma. Amazingly, it seemed to get a reaction out of the creature as the Fallen flew back, vanishing into what Leon assumed was another portal like the one that took Ryan and Éclair away.

Leon traced the source of the projectile to see Ryan and Éclair standing at a building top nearby. Their weapons were touching, blue energy from Éclair’s bow swirling through the red energy lines of Ryan’s sword. Ryan had his hand on Éclair’s shoulder, his gauntlet glowing bright red and feeding her psions as well. Leon surmised that the two had combined their elements somehow. He had heard of the concept in Elemency, but didn’t think it was possible between elements on opposite sides of the spectrum. Fire and water elements would always cancel each other out. The same was true for their counterparts of magma and ice. And yet, Éclair and Ryan had managed the feat anyway.

The Fallen in the raging mask hissed angrily as he glowered at Ryan and Éclair beneath his mask. “ABOMINATION!”

“Oh! Feeling left out, Jason?” scoffed Ryan as he and Éclair angled their newfound weapon at the seething Fallen.

Globs of magma trailed from Ryan’s sword tip as he hurled it at the monster. Éclair shot an arrow, hitting the flying lava ball in midair. In a flash of blue light and freezing mist, the arrow vanished to be replaced with a chunk of ice like the first one. The ball of ice contained the glowing embers of the somehow still hot glob of molten lava at its center.

As the ball of lava ice assailed the Fallen’s leader, his black katana appeared in his hands as he cut the projectile before it hit him. The Fallen then vanished in the explosion of ice, mist, and lava that followed. Leon didn’t know if the blast had singed the Fallen, but by the way he had swatted the projectile so the explosion would angle away from him, he doubted it.

Ryan, obviously satisfied with his newfound combo attack with Éclair, tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Or was it Michael Myers? I could never tell the difference between those two.”

Stifling a pang of annoyance at Ryan, Leon said. “I hope your little getaway was invigorating, because there’s still work to be done here.”

Although, that wasn’t entirely true. More superheroes flew across the sky, but they seemed more preoccupied with fighting the top hat’s forces now. The green lady and the bird man fell to the streets below in smoking heaps as Tork landed next to Leon, panting with a sad but victorious smile on his face.

Kormal still concentrated on his mental interrogation from behind the barrier. The only ones still fighting were Grafael and the orange giant, still wrestling each other in a battle of raw strength. For some reason, Grafael had foregone his battle hammer as he fought the orange giant with his bare hands.

“Leon!” called Éclair breathlessly as she took up position near Kormal with the other members of Squad 99. “There’s something you need to know! These illusions ... these places we’ve been shown! They’re not illusions at all! These people we’ve been fighting, they’re real!”

Leon noticed Ryan keeping an irritatingly close distance between him and Éclair as he trailed behind. He tried to let it go as he focused on what Éclair was saying. “You’re sure of this? I thought these people were just a defense mechanism of the Fallen’s ship.”

“Actually, you are both correct,” called Kormal. The Sage captor finally released his captive, who fell to the ground unconscious. “I’ve just confirmed from reading the mind of that one that he is indeed a real, sentient being of flesh and blood. Not some artificial illusion or telepathic trick. Through him, I have been able to make some contact with the souls that control the vessel. The ones who are also responsible for creating these little pocket universes.”

“How did you manage that, father?” asked Ryan, his voice sounding off.

Leon stared at Ryan in shock, then looked to Éclair for some kind of explanation.

She only shrugged. “It’s a weird story. Just remember not to equate logic whenever Ryan’s involved with anything and just go with it. That always helps me keep my sanity.”

Leon, though accepting Éclair’s words, carefully felt for Ryan’s mind. The two were familiar and had shared a bond before, so it was quite possible to...

I’m really sorry, but there’s not enough room in here for anyone else right now, mister. I’m sure you can understand, said a girl’s voice into Leon’s head.

Judging by her confidence, she was obviously a competent telepath. Leon decided then and there to take Éclair’s advice. The least one involved oneself with Ryan’s demented brain, the better.

Kormal smiled at Ryan in a fatherly manner. Ryan allowed Kevla to take over for this part of the conversation. It was becoming easier to let Kevla intermix her actions with his, and harder to distinguish his personality from her own. They both became slightly concerned at that thought.

“I knew you would be alright,” said Kormal. “That is why I stayed like you asked. You were right when you said we should divide tasks as telepaths. I have learned a lot about this place ... as have you, apparently, beloved.”

As they spoke, the others gathered around the pair with their weapons raised. A good thing, too. The Fallen were still nearby. Both Kevla and Ryan could feel that much at least. The Fallen were more wary, apparently surprised that their impenetrable defense had somehow been circumvented, though hardly near to giving up.

“You’ve yet to answer my question,” Kevla said, using Ryan’s mouth to speak.

Kormal gestured to the one behind him. “The souls that created this place, they have to be intricately linked to these worlds in order to manifest in them. Some of them even come from these other realities. Not all are from our universe. But through the mind of one of the denizens of this place, I have made direct contact with a soul that is willing to talk with us. Just one. The others are either too afraid or too confused. They no longer perceive the world as we do. They are dead, after all. We appear as little more than ghosts to them. Only purpose keeps them tethered to this world ... keeps them from vanishing into the afterlife. The purpose charged to them by the Fallen to run this vessel.”

Ryan and Kevla leaned forward as one, gripping Kormal by his cloak in both hands. “There’s a soul willing to talk with us! Are they going to help us against the Fallen?”

Kormal frowned. “Actually, he is only willing to talk to one of us. He refuses to say anything further to me unless he is allowed to speak with Ryan alone. I am ... hesitant to allow such an arrangement. There is a certain amount of risk involved ... to both Ryan and to you, my beloved.”

This time, Ryan spoke for himself. “Who is it? What’s this soul’s name?”

Before Kormal could answer, a roar tore through the air. Two roars, in fact. One from a giant orange man, the other from an enraged Saurian. They continued to grapple incessantly, throwing up rocks and debris with every movement as they hit each other over and over. Grafael wasn’t using any of his long-cultivated techniques in hand-to-hand combat as he simply traded blows with the orange beast like a drunken brawler. The two even bit each other occasionally. Grafael, who was wearing chromovite armor, came out the better on this end, but blood still oozed down his neck where the orange man had bitten him.

“Grafael!” screamed Éclair. “That’s enough! I told you! These people are real! There’s no need to fight them anymore!”

The Saurian paid Éclair no heed as he traded earth-shattering blows with the beast, shaking the building they stood upon. Ryan quickly surmised that the building would soon collapse if nothing changed.

“GRAFAEL!” screamed Éclair, running to him.

Something about the way Grafael was acting had Ryan on edge. It reminded him of something ... something that Grafael said should never happen under any circumstances. Even worse, Grafael seemed to be getting bigger. His muscles bulged and his face looked feral and wild. Ryan doubted he even heard Éclair as he growled with his mouth foaming and dripping blood. He bit into the orange giant’s bulging neck over and over again, tearing off huge chunks of flesh.

Before Éclair could reach the two giants, Ryan grabbed her hand and held her back. She struggled, but couldn’t break his grip with his superior strength. As the building shook beneath them, Ryan realized that it was time to go.

“There’s another portal just over there!” Ryan pointed, dragging Éclair behind him as the others followed.

Éclair tried to kick Ryan off her, but Leon grabbed her other arm and hauled her off with Ryan’s help. A huge crack split the sky as Grafael slammed the orange monster down on his back into the building beneath them. The earth teetered and the building began to crumble. Then everything went dark. They found themselves once again in the maze of tunnels that made up the Fallen’s ship.

Éclair finally jerked out of Ryan’s grip and slapped him hard across the face, tears brimming in her eyes. Her slap hurt, but not nearly as much as the look of betrayal that shone on her indignant but still beautiful face.

“You’re just like him in the end. Willing to betray each other at the drop of a hat,” she said scathingly.

Ryan traced a hand over his burning cheek. He had to explain it to her. He didn’t want to leave Grafy either, but he had no choice. He had to tell her about that savage look in Grafael’s eyes ... why it frightened him so much.

“Éclair, you don’t understand. That look in his eyes. Grafy said that something might happen to him. He said-”

Grafael shot through the portal back first as if someone had hit him. He slammed to the metal floor at Éclair’s feet.

Éclair immediately pushed past Ryan to kneel beside Grafael’s huge head, which also looked larger than normal. “Grafy! Grafy, can you hear me!”

Grafael’s azure eyes opened as he jerked up with a savage snarl. He rose so quickly, knocking Éclair aside like she were a doll as he dove for the portal and vanished again.

Éclair could only stare in shock from the floor as she and the others waited for him to return. They didn’t have to wait long.

Grafael appeared a moment later, but he wasn’t alone. He had the orange giant by his arms held behind its back while pushing its head to the ground with his tail wrapped around the giant’s throat. Grafael was once much smaller than the orange beast, but now they were just about the same size. Grafael had definitely grown in size. Once he was under nine feet tall. Now he was closer to twelve feet, his huge bulk almost filling out the large corridors of the ship.