NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Fracture
John ducked beneath the corpses of the dozens of monsters he'd just bisected with his lasers as they went flying past and sent out a deadly pulse of lightning, the current carried through the suspended blood in the air connecting to every beast crowding around him. Voices flashed through his mind; old memories replaying of him talking to those precious girls.
'Hey Sera what are you doing up here on the rooftop all alone again? Aw geeze, your not by yourself anymore, remember? You've got me now so please don't distance yourself anymore. I'm not going anywhere… C'mon, you can kick my ass at that pig game you love so much!… What's its name again? You have like eight of them… Wait why are you looking at me like that? Sorry but you can't freeze me with a look anymore, remember?…Oh crap! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me!'
He ignited the energy gathered under the balls of his feet to propel himself over their charred bodies, directly into the middle of the next group of mutants only for the same scene to repeat as it had for the last hour.
'So you really didn't betray me back then… I just refused to listen like i always do. I put you into the position where the only way you had to get through to me was to bring half of our grade to face me… Are you happy now that you're free of my reign? From having to be afraid of the monster I showed you I could be…. Good… I'm so relieved that you've moved on from the pain I caused you. I hope you don't listen to this voice mail when you realize who it's from I just needed to tell you in someway that I refuse to be that monster anymore. I relapsed at my new school and hurt a lot of people, including myself. So I've decided its time to accept this rage and the actions I've taken; it's about time to move on. I was given time off of school to put myself back together but I'm going back in the morning. I'm sorry I don't have the guts to tell you this in person, but thank you, for forcing me to face this.'
The people who this battle was meant to protect watched in stunned disbelief at the scene before them. How could they not when the small child's abilities were still working and had given them all a secret they would have never been able to guess as they witnessed this war fought in the name of their survival.
'Why are you still hanging around Sera, Elaine?! She no longer possesses any kind of sway over the school, not without her powers. What could you possibly get by continuing this farce of pretending to still care about her when she no longer has her powers?!… Stop…The tears, please stop them… You really do care about her huh?… I'm sorry… This isn't about you, it never was I was just projecting onto you about, someone else I used to know… They weren't a good person… I'm sorry, what the two of you do isn't any of my business… I wish I had someone who was just as loyal as you growing up. Goodbye Elaine, don't worry I'll stay out of your way.'
The boy…. No; the young man they were watching fight for their lives for the last thirteen hours, who's back stayed straight and strong as he defended them.
'Why are you backing me up against Arlo and the hierarchy that runs this school, Cecile? You have no idea what I can do, or what I want out of this fight; you don't even know if I was really the one who beat Arlo down. I don't have any mercy left for anyone, so what the hell do you want from this?!… Hope huh? That's all you have left? Hope that I'll change everything and that you'll finally be recognized for all of the dedication you put into everything you do… You didn't have to say it; it's written on your eyes and in your heart…You want change huh? Well, just stick around and you'll see it.'
The young man who seemed unstoppable even though his body was littered with open wounds and riddled with sharp fragments of mutant claws and debri, broken from the endless battle.
'What the hell do you know about being oppressed, Remi?! You've always been strong, strong enough to fight back and feel safe in your own skin. No one never felt like that if they weren't a royal, they were all thrown down; onto the ground beneath your feet. So what the hell do you know about pain, huh?!… So his name was Rei, right? He was a hero just like that in that story, Unordinary…I'm sorry for your loss but you need to understand that you are naive. No matter what you say you don't truly understand how ignorant you still are to the suffering of others… I'll see you tomorrow when I challenge you Remi, get some rest I can't afford to go easy on you.'
That broken child had lost consciousness when the horde leader had fallen. And yet his body continued forwards as if possessed. Those watching understood this was at least partially true for the connection was still going strong and they could feel the boys final prayer was still ringing through his heart, burning inside his unconscious mind and propelling him forward as his spirit rested, allowing his honed instincts to forge him into an efficient machine meant to carry out its task. As he stood once more nearly fourteen hours after he began this battle, the sun finally broke through the horizon and smog remnants from the previous days explosion. The stars rays landed on John and bathed him in warmth, as well as slowly beginning to unravel the monsters make up as the radiation and auras mixed together to create the beasts came into contact with the suns own radiation. The beasts reared back as if in shock as their weakest faded to blood and dust within seconds, and soon turned and ran towards the underground to hide from the deadly rays of starlight.
John swayed where his body stood, rooted to the ground, victorious yet beaten down; his body recognizing the battle to be over. As Seraphina dragged herself off of the ground and pushed through John's paper thin barrier that finally began to weaken at the same time the beasts had retreated. She continued forward towards the broken man that she had decided to give herself to entirely and managed to reach him in time for his body to finally collapse. Catching him and falling to her knees while cradling his bloody head to her bosom as she offered silent tears over his barely breathing form and dragged him back towards Elaine, praying to have been in time even as the connection broke and the small girl fell unconscious beside her own mother.