Gods of the Game #3, Chapter 21

Jessie flew at Charn Chai, her form blurring as she tapped Ramming, her blades incandescing as she engaged Conductive. Shadows wreathed her frame as if night were coalescing about her limbs, and with the speed only a mörderin’s turbine boots could afford, she hurtled with unstoppable power at her bemused father.

Who drifted backward, not making any overt moves to dodge, and took her sword strikes upon his lance, causing his weapon to leap first to one side, then the next, parrying both strikes.

Jessie’s blades detonated explosively with Thundering, the blast sending Charn Chai flying back, only for Jessie to appear by his side, her own Stutter Step repositioning her perfectly so that she could strike again.

And again.

She moved with magnificent economy, and over their private comm channel Lance could hear her almost sobbing with effort as she battered at Charn Chai, trying to get a clean strike in at him so that her Phase Strike could unload Conductive electrical build-up directly into his frame.

But she couldn’t land it.

And Charn Chai was laughing. Not in mockery, but delighted.

“You’re not bad!” he said as he drifted back at last, his lightning lance notched and marred but still functional. “Really, I’m quite impressed!”

“Screw you,” gasped Jessie, drawing her blazing blades back. “Damn you to hell!”

Lance shook himself out of his stupor as Charn Chai also grew wreathed in shadows. He had to get into the fight, but how? His lightning blast was indiscriminate. Wasn’t this Jessie’s fight, after all? Surely there were other players who could use his help—

Charn Chai burst forward as he activated Speed, and before Jessie could react he slammed the butt of his lance into her faceplate. She fell back, only for him to Stutter Step in turn and appear behind her to slam his fist into the small of her back.

“Impressive,” said Charn Chai, “but weak. What’s your gamma? Have you even broken into the hundreds?”

Lance raised his weapon, but again he hesitated, then darted to the side. All he needed was a clean angle, but Charn Chai was too canny; he kept Jessie’s floating figure between them.

“But enough of this,” said Charn Chai. He caught hold of Jessie’s wrist as she fell away, pulled her up short, her arm extended, then backhanded her across the helm with such strength the visor shattered. “You’re wasting my time if you can’t hold your own.”

Lance engaged his hopper pack, and leaped through spacetime to appear above Charn Chai, hoping to loose a bolt directly into his head.

But Charn Chai was waiting, and the moment Lance appeared, her activated Shockwave.

Such was the power behind the detonation that Lance flew upward, head over heels, and nearly lost his grip on his weapon. Gritting his teeth, he activated Blink to reposition himself, and emerged just in time to see Charn Chai press the prongs of his lance into Jessie’s stomach, his grip on her wrist still holding her fast.

Black energy had coalesced around the lance, even as its length glowed with livid white light.

Bane combined with Brilliant Energy.

An unholy combination.

Almost Lance raised his weapon to strike down Charn Chai, but again, the knowledge that he’d savage Jessie was more than he could bear. And the sound of her gasps of pain and humiliation over the comm were too much.

Suddenly, more than anything, he needed her to win.

Reflex kicked in before cognition. He activated his list of potential Quantum-ranked powers, and chose Harmonizing for his Armor and Disruption Wave for his Weapon:

■      Harmonizing: The user can lower their own Hz momentarily to bolster an ally’s by half the amount dropped. Each player can only benefit from one Harmonizing Ability.

■      Disruption Wave: Releases a forward-propagating energy wave that destabilizes the gamma signatures of all enemies in its line of travel.

Without hesitation he unleashed a Disruption Wave at Charn Chai’s back. His gamma had momentarily dipped with his fear for Jessie, but now it surged again. A wide, rippling wave of gamma shock-front flooded forth, powered by his 165 Hz gamma.

Charn Chai had Centering.

Normally that would have been enough to cause him to shrug off the assault. But he’d probably never faced disruption of this intensity.

The jäger’s entire body stiffened, and he darted a look back at where Lance hovered.

Who then engaged Harmonizing.

With his gamma riding high, he grinned, and cut it back as much as he could

The readout in his visor dropped instantly from 165 to 55 Hz, dropping him right into the Serene Zone.

Half of what he lost went to Jessie, who gained 55 Hz instantly. Lance couldn’t guess what that pushed her to, but the reaction was immediate.

She snapped her wrist free of Charn Chai’s grip as shadows completely engulfed her. Charn Chai hopped away, the air around him shimmering with rainbow hues, but the moment he appeared above them both, Jessie engaged Ramming and hurled herself skyward.

If she’d been blurringly fast before, now she was a comet. She slammed into Charn Chai even as he emerged from his hop with another thunderous explosion that sent the jäger flying upward even faster.

She pursued, blades gleaming, and with her augmented Hz flew as fast as if she’d activated Speed.

Charn Chai kept his wits about him. He rolled, recovered, and unleashed an undiscerning blast of his lightning right at her.

But Jessie had chosen, so many moons ago, to ward off jäger attacks with Conductive. The lightning blazed over her, but to no effect; she flew straight through the storm, blades drawn back, and then slammed into Charn Chai again.

The heavens rumbled as the Wolf of Terra was blasted away once more by the sheer intensity of Ramming combined with Thunderous and her insane gamma.

“Get him!” yelled Lance, pumping his fist, then took off in pursuit, intent on not falling out of range so that she’d lose Harmonizing. With his own gamma in the mid-fifties, he could only use Speed and Shock, and now tapped the former just so he could keep up.

Jessie pursued her father, and with each drawing cut of her blades or thrust she let out a bark of savage fury.

Somehow Charn Chai managed to parry, spinning and flourishing his lance about him, but he couldn’t muster the pause needed to hop. Time and again he tried to lose himself in shadows or to lash out with Bane infused fists, but Jessie just didn’t let up.

“This is for mother!” she cried, and hewed his lance clear in half. Then, without hesitation, she spun, second blade swinging around, and screamed, “And this is for Charoen!”

Her sword slashed open Charn Chai’s armor, split it clean open so that blood gushed forth, and the Wolf of Terra fell.

Lance slowed. He felt savage satisfaction on her behalf, knew that she’d not named him in her vengeance, but their dead relative.

The huge Nullpoint stadium went quiet as Charn Chai plummeted and then hit the field like a sodden sack of produce. Medical drones immediately swarmed forth.

Jessie was staring down, sobbing, the back of one wrist pressed to her helm, when a figure uncloaked beside her just as a sword punched through Jessie’s chest.

Beatrice, the Bleakest Star.

Nullpoint had released their mörderin, and Lance had been so focused on the duel before him that he’d not registered the shouted warnings.

“Jessie!” He flew forth then halted as Beatrice tilted her blade so that Jessie’s weight could pull her off the gleaming length. Gasping over the comm channel, Jessie fell to the ground some twenty yards below, to crash into the turf beside her father.

“Impressive,” said Beatrice, flicking her blade so that the blood flew from its length. “But not impressive enough. Brutal Deluxe has lost.”

Harmonizing came to an end.

Strength and certainty swelled within Lance. It felt like a puddle growing into a pond, endless waters of calm fury rising, rising, unstoppable, capable of drowning the world.

He raised his lance. “You hurt my second cousin-in-law.”

Beatrice hesitated. “What?”

His gamma read-out surged up. 145 Hz. 155. 165. His whole body thrummed like a weaponized tuning fork. Nothing existed but Beatrice. For a second dead Charoen’s memories of her swarmed forth—betrayal, lust, desire, confusion, horror—but then he cut them away.

Not his memories.

Not his lover.

Just a bitch who’d hurt his cuz.

Beatrice laughed, also disappeared within shadows, then flew at him.

Like a bat out of hell, combining Ramming and Speed.

Lance smiled.

He engaged Speed as well, and hopped once, twice with Blink, and unleashed a blast of Disruption Wave of such size and breadth that Beatrice couldn’t avoid it. She turned her shoulder, the rippling light washed over her, and shuddered.

Whatever Quantum-ranked powers she might have tried to use where denied to her now. Again he hopped, doubled it with Blink, and appeared directly beneath her, lightning lance aimed up.

Shock, Conductive, and Berserker caused the world to shatter as he immolated her with vision-searing lightning.

Beatrice screamed.

It had happened so fast.

A moment later Lance cut off the attack. The Bleakest Star hung there, armor completely charred, smoke wafting her frame, and gazed down at him.

“It’s… it’s fitting that you be… you be the cause of my…”

And then she fell.

Lance watched her drop, and felt nothing.

“Not fitting,” he whispered. “You’re nothing to me.”

Medical drones were already tending Charn Chai and Jessie, and more now came to take care of Beatrice. With effort Lance tore his gaze away to take in the state of the game.

Brutal Deluxe’s opferns were besieging the enemy schloss’s. Catori and Aadhya were down, but so was the other Nullpoint jäger.

Virgil was struggling up the field, flanked by Samira and Hammer, as they cut right toward the Haalberg.

Lance inhaled sharply and took off.

Speed gave out, leaving him sluggish, but he was still more than fast enough.

The twin Nullpoint schloss’s saw him coming. One sacrificed their hammer by spinning around once in a complete circle, knocking the Brutal Deluxe players back before launching their weapon up at him.

Their aim was fantastic, but Lance simply hopped right through it to appear above them both and blast them with his lightning.

Once.

Twice.

On the third assault, both schloss’s collapsed.

Harper lunged forward and slammed into Haalberg, driving him to the ground.

The buzzer sounded.

The arena grew still.

There sounded a few faltering cries, a shout or two, then silence.

Virgil limped up, leaning heavily on Samira’s arm, and crossed over the bodies of the fallen to stand over Haalberg, who was levering himself out from under Harper.

“Well, well, well!” Virgil’s grin was implicit. “Fancy meeting you here, Martin! On your back! Why, what a strange position to take during a game of krieg chess. Don’t you know what’s at stake?”

“Damn you, Sutherland,” snarled the enemy könig as he rose to his feet. His voice shook. “This isn’t over. This isn’t over, I tell you!”

“Au contrair,” said Virgil. “I think the match is decisively won!”

The air above the stadium filled with Brutal Deluxe’s logo and colors, and an announcer hesitantly said, voice ringing from one side of the stadium to another, “Ladies and gentlemen, it is… it would seem…”

A second, more authoritative voice cut in: “Brutal Deluxe wins!”

Meager shouts and cheers sounded from the crowd, but the team comms went nuts. Clovinn raced up to embrace Harper, who was then hoisted up onto Samira’s shoulder as Langley descended to join them.

Lance also flew down to the turf, and there was swarmed by hugs, players yanking off their helms to toss them into the sky, grinning and whooping as the automated victory sequence began to play overhead, showcasing Nullpoint’s best moments and clips of the players holding up the League cup, only for the pre-taped media to be cut.

“Brutal Deluxe!” roared Hammer, pounding Lance on the back. “I love this team!”

“Brutal Deluxe chanted the other players, and together they formed a circle, arms layered over each other’s shoulders, to leap and dance as one. “Brutal Deluxe! League Champions!”

Lance couldn’t help but beam. As he surged up and down, laughing and feeling delirious with victory, he couldn’t help but realize that he’d never felt more alive.