Rebehka
gasped as she tumbled out of the event horizon of the outbound Interstellar
Gate. She quickly glanced back at the large ring – it hadn’t been properly
aligned; the ground was lower relative to it than to the Nimalian ‘Gate, causing
the Cryotechnic to fall a short distance the moment she appeared. Where am I? For the ‘Gate to not even be
aligned, this can’t be any better than a Tier 5 world… She then looked
around herself at her surroundings. The ‘Gate stood by itself in a large
clearing, surrounded on all sides by dense forest. Rebehka stood up and
shielded her eyes from the sun high in the sky as she began looking for
Siyuakén. Where’d she go?
Suddenly,
she felt the hairs on her neck rise. She immediately threw herself to the side
and created more ice armor just in time to evade a lightning strike on her
position. She tumbled along the ground before quickly stumbling back to her
feet, ignoring the pain in her knee as she confronted Siyuakén.
“Why…”
the Electrotechnic trembled, her arms cackling with charged energy, “Why… why
did you follow me?!”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Rebehka countered, “You’re
my best friend! I can’t let you go!”
“If…
you were… my friend…” Siyuakén doubled over in pain and then lunged toward the
Cryotechnic, claws outstretched, “you… would have killed me by now!”
“I
can’t do that!” Rebehka dodged the lunge, slamming her elbow down into
Siyuakén’s back. She quickly attempted to freeze the Electrotechnic to the
floor, but she rolled out of the way and leaped back to her feet and began
retaliating with several lightning strikes. “I made a promise, remember?!
You’ll live through this!”
“It’s
too late for me!” Siyuakén growled, deflecting several ice spikes with her
corrupted arm, “I can’t control myself anymore!”
“But
you can still control your thoughts!” Rebehka countered, freezing the entire
clearing and both of Siyuakén’s legs, only for the Electrotechnic to shatter
all of the ice with a massive electrical pulse. “As long as you have that,
there’s still a chance!”
“I’m
already hearing voices!” Siyuakén lunged after Rebehka, missing and
obliterating the tree behind the Cryotechnic, “I’m hearing… his voice! Morcii’s! I… I can’t… resist… much longer!”
“Hang
in there, Siyuakén! Just a little longer!!” Rebehka shouted, nailing the
Electrotechnic in the gut with a block of ice. Siyuakén tumbled along the
ground and slammed into a tree before digging her claws into the bark and
launching herself up into the branches, disappearing from sight.
Rebehka charged forward, throwing several blades of ice through the trees and
cutting them down in an effort to reveal Siyuakén – only to be ambushed from
the left as the Electrotechnic leaped out of the trees and attempted to grab
hold of Rebehka with her grappling hook. The Cryotechnic easily deflected the
hook with ice, careful to not directly come into contact with Siyuakén’s
corruption, before snagging the hook in a block of ice and reeling Siyuakén in.
The Electrotechnic yanked her arm back, snapping the grappling line and
tumbling backwards, running enough current through her body to melt the ice
encasing that Rebehka attempted to summon. Siyuakén then jumped back to her
feet, reeling in the broken grappling line before suddenly forming a new hook
on the end and firing it at a nearby tree.
I can’t freeze her while she’s conscious…
Rebehka scowled as she dodged a log Siyuakén lobbed at her, I’ll have to knock her out first… sorry,
Siyuakén, but this is the only way!
The Cryotechnic quickly
encased the log she had just dodged in ice before throwing it back at Siyuakén,
who was forced to dodge to the side. Rebehka immediately froze the floor
beneath her feet, tripping up the Electrotechnic just long enough to hit her with
several ice boulders and send her tumbling. Siyuakén quickly jumped back to her
feet and began directing powerful lightning bolts in Rebehka’s direction,
forcing her to make several thick ice shields quickly in succession.
“Stop…
using… blunt… force…!” Siyuakén scowled, “Use ice shards! …Swords!...”
“I’m
not trying to kill you,” Rebehka
countered, slowly inching her way toward the tree line.
“You should be! You don’t understand-“
“Don’t
understand what, Siyuakén? That we’re
supposed to be friends?!”
“Exactly!
I don’t… want… to hurt you-!” the Electrotechnic suddenly dived to the side to
evade being smothered by a large sheet of ice before frying the two trees
nearest Rebehka’s position, “But… the longer we fight… the less… I can hold
back…!”
“Help
me out here, then!” Rebehka replied by freezing the two trees solid and then
launching them at Siyuakén, “I don’t have to kill you! Don’t shout; try to
conserve your energy! If I can just knock you out-!”
“You
can’t do that… if you’re… holding back,” Siyuakén grimaced, dodging the trees
and then attempting to jerk her arm away as she continued firing lighting
blasts at Rebehka, “You keep… underestimating… the corruption!”
Rebehka
ignored the remark and dived in close to Siyuakén, attempting to hit the
Electrotechnic with a massive ice club. Unexpectedly, Siyuakén reached out with
her left arm and sunk her claws into the club, grasping hold of it and jerking
it into the air – and Rebehka along with it. She then smashed it into the
ground, disorienting the Cryotechnic and allowing Siyuakén to close
the distance between them and hold her left palm up to Rebehka’s face.
“Rebehka-!”
“Overdrive:
ICE STORM!”
Siyuakén
was immediately frozen solid as dark clouds gathered overhead and the temperature
quickly plummeted. Mere seconds later, snow began to fall; seconds after that,
winds whipped up and the snow grew thick enough to reduce visibility significantly.
The Electrotechnic broke out of her ice prison shortly afterward and stumbled
backwards, squinting through the snowstorm in an attempt to find Rebehka.
“I’m
not the one doing the underestimating, Siyuakén…”
The
Electrotechnic ran a quick current through her body and then violently
discharged it, blowing away all of the snow within several meters and
increasing her visibility temporarily before snow rapidly took over again.
“I can
save you, Siyuakén. I know I can!”
“It’s…”
Siyuakén threw herself to the side just in time to evade a massive
chunk of ice. “Not…” She was then thrown forwards as another chunk slammed
into her back. “That…” Rebehka completely froze her to the ground. “Simple!” She freed herself with a
massive current run through her entire body. “Listen to me, Rebehka!” she
crossed her arms in front of her just in time to shield herself from another
ice bludgeon, “It’s because we’re
friends… that I know… we just stalemate each other!” She dived to the side and
made a dash for the tree line, “I’m… holding back… as much as I can! But it’s
still only so much! Kill me now…
before I lose to the corruption completely, because… because I know you won’t
be able to stop me then!!”
The
Electrotechnic was suddenly caught within a massive block of ice, but quickly
freed herself with a violent discharge of energy. Immediately she sunk her
claws into a nearby tree and stripped it of its bark, using the material to
shield herself from the storm as she climbed up into the branches.
“I
can’t give up on you yet!” Rebehka shouted back, her Overdrive enabling her to
easily track Siyuakén through the blizzard, “I’ll only give up once you’ve
lost. And I’ll have won before then!”
“There
you go again! Do you only think… about what you
want? Can’t… can’t you think about me for
just a moment?!”
“What-?”
the Cryotechnic exclaimed, just as she crafted an ice shield to block a sudden
lightning strike.
“Don’t…
let me… lose… to Morcii!” Siyuakén responded through clenched teeth as she
dashed back into the scene, lunging straight for Rebehka again. “I’m not… just
telling you to kill me so… so that you won’t have trouble later. I want you… to
kill me now… while I still have some control!...
Let… me die… with dignity!... …Please, Rebehka!... At least… give me… that!...”
“You’re
assuming that I can’t bring you back!” the Cryotechnic countered,
flash-freezing Siyuakén again – only for the Electrotechnic to quickly free
herself. “Just have a little faith in me, Siyuakén!”
The
Electrotechnic didn’t respond. Instead she disappeared back into the tree
branches, making it more difficult for Rebehka to track her. However, more difficult was not impossible – the
Cryotechnic immediately gave chase, dashing into the forest and launching
several ice blocks at Siyuakén in an effort to knock her out of the trees. Due
to their Relédiakian backgrounds, though, Siyuakén was easily able to work her
way through the branches and evade all of Rebehka’s attacks while
simultaneously retaliating with multiple lightning strikes. Eventually Rebehka
jumped up to the branches herself, crafting ice platforms to aid her ascent and
get close enough to Siyuakén to lay a hit she couldn’t possibly evade. But the
Electrotechnic was faster; just as Rebehka reached the same level of branches,
Siyuakén dropped down to the ground and let off such a massive electrical pulse
that all of the trees within four meters were pulverized. She paused for a
moment in an attempt to sense Rebehka but was simply smacked in the face with
another ice block, sending her flying into another clearing.
By then
the snow storm had calmed enough to see the other side of the clearing, but snow
was still whipping around the two girls as they confronted each other again.
Siyuakén quickly crossed the clearing before turning around to face Rebehka,
who stood opposite her. The Electrotechnic then began raising the current
through her body, charging an immense amount of energy as Rebehka thickened her
ice armor and prepared a suitably large chunk of ice.
“Rebehka…
please!” Siyuakén begged, trembling
in an attempt to prevent herself from discharging her energy, “I…
don’t… have… much… more… …time…!”
“Neither
do I,” Rebehka quipped, “We’ve been fighting for long enough – I think I can
end this now!”
“Rebehka-!”
Siyuakén started, but was interrupted as the Cryotechnic suddenly hurled the
massive block of ice at her. The Electrotechnic immediately discharged all of
her built up energy into a single focused electrical strike, blowing the
boulder into debris and clouding the air with fine ice. Before Siyuakén could
react further, Rebehka leaped through the cloud of ice, club in hand as she brought
it down over Siyuakén’s head, prepared to knock her out once and for all –
– only
for the Electrotechnic to suddenly and unexpectedly discharge an incredible
amount of energy directly toward Rebehka, knocking the club out of her hands
and blowing her backwards several meters. The Cryotechnic was massively
disoriented by the shock, unable to feel her outer limbs as she attempted and
failed to pull herself up – only to freeze in place as Siyuakén approached, her
entire body glowing with cackling electricity.
“N…no…!”
her eyes widened in shock as her left arm lifted to direct her palm at
Rebehka’s face, “No…! Stop me, Rebehka!”
“But-!
I… I…!”
“Stop
me!”
“I-!”
“Kill me!!”
Rebehka
clamped her eyes shut reflexively, the only way she could bring herself to
respond. She tensed her entire body, prepared for the incoming massive
electrical shock – when it didn’t come, she slowly opened her eyes, and then
widened them completely, shocked at the sight before her.
Siyuakén
was standing in place, her arm still outstretched but no longer cackling with
energy as she slowly looked up at Davídrius – who had just stabbed her through
the chest.
“Sorry
I took so long,” he smirked grimly, “Your… ‘favor’
was a little hard to decipher.”
“No…
you were just in time…” Siyuakén slowly smiled, her eyes closed.
“…Thanks.”
“Yeah…”
he glanced away, “…No problem.”
And
then he ripped his sword through her chest, obliterating her heart and lungs.
“Si… Siyuakén!!” Rebehka cried, haphazardly
climbing to her feet and stumbling over to Siyuakén’s body before collapsing to
her knees next to it. “No… Siyuakén…!”
Davídrius
watched the Cryotechnic sob for a few moments before moving to place his hand
on her shoulder. “Rebehka-“
“No!” She
backed away from him reflexively, cradling Siyuakén’s head. “She’s not-! She
can’t be dead. She’s not dead! She- she- she fixed her arm earlier, so, so,
this, she can fix this, this isn’t-!”
“Isn’t what?”
“Morcii!”
Davídrius growled, immediately stepping in front of Rebehka as the Nanocreature
leader slowly strolled out of the trees. “What are you doing here?!”
“Is it wise for you to stand there and ask
that question?” he responded, eyebrow raised. “But, if you must know, I was simply on my way to retrieve one
of my more valuable prizes. Though…”
his gaze drifted to Siyuakén’s body, which Rebehka cradled even closer to
herself, as if to protect it from Morcii. “…You seem to have caused it irreparable
damage.” He turned back to Davídrius. “I
believe this calls for you to reciprocate me…
yes?”
In the
blink of an eye, Morcii cleared the entire distance between himself and
Davídrius. The Introtechnic immediately threw himself to the side to evade the
Nanocreature and then – instead of attempting to counterattack – he dashed over
to Rebehka, pulling her away from Siyuakén’s body and tossing her over his
shoulder before taking off toward the Interstellar Gate.
“NO!” she screeched, reaching for her
friend’s body as Davídrius fled the scene, “No, no, no! Siyuakén-! You’re
forgetting Siyuakén!”
“I’m
not forgetting her,” the Introtechnic replied quietly as they arrived at the
Interstellar Gate. He quickly moved to the control panel to input a new set of
coordinates, as the connection to Nimalia had expired. “Trust me, I’m not. I’ll
remember her for as long as I live.”
“You killed her! You-! She-! I could have
saved her-!”
“No,
you couldn’t,” Davídrius muttered coldly, waiting for the ‘Gate to activate
before hurriedly stepping through the event horizon. “You… we were too late. There was nothing else we could have done.”
* * * * *
==================== End of Chapter 52 ====================
* * * * *
Data Entry: {null}
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