Wild Wastes 6 -ch 3-

<Reload with audio>
Checking on his dad one more time, Vince gnawed at his lip.

He didn’t want to leave him here like this, but there really wasn’t any other options. The best they could do was all that they had already done.

Miles was tucked away into a warm corner with a blanket, hidden away from prying eyes. There wasn’t anything else to be done.

“Come on,” called Melody as she and Felix began moving off.

Rubbing at his jaw Vince followed after them. He really didn’t want to leave his father’s side but he knew he had a job to do.

The three of them entered into what could only be described as an office space. Vince had only ever seen the like when moving around Legion buildings.

Everything looked abandoned.

As if whoever had been here had left in a moment’s notice.

Vince spotted everyone huddled about Ryker and looking to him and Runner.

No sooner than Vince, Felix, and Melody reached the group than Ryker held up his right hand above his head.

Computers, desks, and chairs went flying off in every direction. Knocked about and blasted from one end of the room to the other.

Another part of the room began to tear itself up out of the ground. Forming itself into walls made out of carpet, tiles, and underflooring. The centers were then filled with earth and dirt.

“Earthworks to fire from behind. For those who use ranged weapons rather than up close and personal ones,” Ryker remarked, then threw his hands out in front of himself and then spread them apart.

The ceiling, walls, and windows were all blown out with a boom. Shattering, tearing it all away and obliterating it.

Beyond the computer lab they were in was the infinite nothing of space.

An endless blackness of nothing beyond beckoned Vince into the void.

It left him feeling incredibly small.

Small and insignificant and far from home.

“Here they come. Vince, Alina, Rene, you three will be doing hand-to-hand work. Felix, Edmund, Melody, Dorothy, use those guns please,” Ryker commanded. “Gus and Warner will be showing up just after it starts and handling their own tasks.”

“What about you?” someone asked from the side.

“Oh, taking care of my own business, of course. Doing exactly what I’m meant to,” Ryker laughingly got out while holding both hands up in front of himself again. Multiple glowing runes began to appear in front of himself.

Runner moved up and hunkered down behind a barrier, leaving Vince to wonder where he should go or what to do.

Looking at Runner’s positioning Vince could somewhat guess at where the enemy would be coming from.

Given that there would be some distance to close before there’d be people up close, Vince moved over to the far side of Runner.

“Should never try to out-think, or out-plot, a wizard. Wizards are conniving, deadly, bastards. Make sure you get a best friend who’s a wizard,” Runner suggested. “If they’re your best friend, you never have to worry about other wizards.”

“Ha… well, I suppose that makes me the mad master of this delusion,” Ryker declared while whipping up more and more runes. “Through ages and eons, I made the rules just to break them, tore down angels and rose up devils.

“While everyone else thought that they could see the end in the far distance, none of them heard the violins begin to play far earlier than they all believed.”

Kinda over the top there, bud.

As Ryker spoke, he continuously threw out more and more runes. They began to create a weird, almost impenetrable shell around him with the sheer volume of them.

Across the way, in the darkness of space, several blue colored portals began to tear open.

Vince watched as things began shifting and bending in the very air itself.

“Ah… and that’s all there is. The game is over, there’s no more moves to make, no more rounds to bet on, it’s time to pay for the game,” Ryker called, his voice taking on a strained edge. His volume was raising with every word he spoke. “And now, as the sun is gone and the skies have fallen, where the dark is our sovereign, we can all crowd together in the impenetrable cold of the night!”

“Well that’s not morbid or overly poetic at all. So who’s got the joker?” Runner asked with a nervous laugh.

“Me,” Ryker whispered a second before the world became a blazing golden blue flame.

Endless men and women with weapons began to pour out of the portals that’d opened. All of them had weapons of one variation of another.

Many of them had already raised them up and began firing immediately.

Vince held his left hand up and activated the Legion shield that was there. It wasn’t as good as the one in the Sword of Yosemite, but he could keep this one charged with his own power.

Constant rounds slapped into his shield and stopped. The bullets themselves mushrooming or flowering apart against the magical construct.

Then falling to the ground at his boots.

Drawing his pistol, Vince eased the muzzle of his pistol up past his shield and then began firing near randomly into the mass of people.

There was no point in aiming when he really just wanted to put rounds down-range at his foes.

Ryker acted finally and the blue flames that’d began to color the never-ending expanse were smothered.

The countless spells the man had prepared began to detonate, fly off, or vanish away.

Endless magical effects activated.

Explosions, holes in reality, columns of water, walls of fire, came and went faster and faster.

Even lightning bolts came from the sky and annihilated soldiers as they streamed out through the portals.

All the while, Ryker pulled more and more spells up.

“Come on out then, my beloved wife!” Ryker screamed at the top of his lungs. The slide on Vince’s weapon locked back and he casually exchanged the magazine with a fresh one. “Let’s get a look at you before this end comes for us all!”

“Ryker! My love!” called a voice from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

A beautiful woman with black curly hair and bright eyes stepped out of the nothingness. Forming from the nonexistence of reality directly rather than moving through a portal.

“Ryker!” she yelled out, her eyes landing on Ryker himself. She was wearing a smart black uniform that did nothing to hide her impressive figure. Even Vince couldn’t help but stare at her for several moments. “I’m so glad to see you! And… and I… yes! I’m so glad to see you! My love!”

“Claire?” Ryker asked aloud almost to himself.

The woman made no move or attempt to fight Ryker. Her eyes were locked on him.

She finally moved.

Vince watched as she flung herself at Ryker

She flew straight toward him. Her arms wide and a blazing smile on her face.

The look of shock and incredulity on Ryker’s face was prominent.

So off-track was the Architect that he didn’t do anything other than hug her back when she landed in front of him and wrapped him up in her arms.

Then she kissed him.

A pale blue bubble of magic encircled them as Claire apparently worked at stuffing her tongue in Ryker’s mouth.

Vince watched for a moment, shrugged, then started firing into the enemy ranks again. He’d sought comfort in his relationships in stranger times so he couldn’t fault them for their actions.

Portals boomed open as more and more soldiers of both sides began spilling out into the area. Both those in what looked eerily similar to Legion black and red colors, as well as uniforms that were black and blue, or white and blue.

Then the two sides closed within melee range at certain points.

Vince fired until the magazine was empty, stuffed into his holster, and drew his sword. Standing there for a beat he released the ever present control he had on his rage.

More often than not, he felt somewhat deadened to combat until he lost control, or let go of that control. When his instincts became dominant and his mind became second fiddle.

With a shuddering beat of his heart, the world gained a red sheen to it. A fuzziness darkening around the edges that quickly began to creep toward the center of his vision.

Everything gained a red hue.

In a flash he was in and amongst the enemy.

Slashing, stabbing, and cutting through anyone in a black and blue uniform. Anyone that stood out as not being part of the forces he was fighting for.

A frenzied attack took a woman’s arm off at the shoulder, only for Vince to stamp a foot forward and swish the blade back in the other direction. Taking the lower half of someone else’s leg off.

Not waiting, Vince pushed on. Deeper into the mad scrum.

His sword cleaving apart anyone close enough that he could get a hold.

Someone stepped up to Vince and unloaded an SMG into his torso and stomach. He could feel the rounds tear through his body.

Grimacing, Vince reached out and snatched up the shooter at the throat.

Jerking them forward Vince didn’t even think about what action to take.

He slammed his face down into the joint where the helmet met the armor, where there was a small section of flesh, and tore it out with his teeth. No sooner than he’d ripped out a chunk of flesh then he swallowed it whole.

The shriek of a woman filtered through his mind even as he pushed them to the ground and bent over them.

Tearing out another bloody mouthful of their throat.

He felt better almost instantly after another hard swallow.

Stumbling to his feet he found several enemies nearby.

Slashing downward with all the force he could master, he split someone from left shoulder to right hip in half. The strength of the blow knocking the living corpse apart into different halves.

Snatching up the heart from inside the shattered torso, Vince started eating it then and there even as he lunged forward at a new foe. His sword skewering them through the thorax and obliterating a lung.

Chewing, swallowing, and working his way through the heart, he fought on. A part of his mind regretted these actions but he relegated those thoughts to the trash.

If he had to eat to live, he would eat.

A towering monster of slime nearly appeared in front of Vince then.

So long in his work that he’d somehow missed it, which seemed rather impossible.

Without a thought he lashed out with all the force he could put into the swing. His sword whistling through the air and blasting into the creature.

Only to bounce off of it.

It happened with such a rebound that Vince staggered to one side.

Staring up at the creature there was an ugly feeling that rose up inside of him. One that made him feel like he was back home and fighting against The Hungry One.

Then Steve was there.

Moving past him with an axe raised back behind himself.

He swung that took for all he was worth at the creature looming over the two of them.

There was an incredible thump that accompanied a crack of force. It made Vince’s feet feel as if they were vibrating against the ground while at the same time his ears rang.

The monster’s indented around the axe.

Then an odd swirling motion accompanied the area and moved in a strange way.

There was a second noise that sounded as if something was tearing.

A great jet of goo shot out of the monster.

Unbelievably, the monster’s body began to turn inside out. Goop spraying out behind it as more of it was flung out of the hole that’d been rent in the back of it.

“MY NAME IS STEVE!” Steve screamed at the top of his lungs while planting his feet and stepping up behind Vince.

Glancing over his shoulder he looked to the man that’d given his instincts pause whenever he showed up.

Steve looked back at him, then grinned.

“I suck at dancing, you lead,” Steve remarked.

Vince laughed suddenly he flicked his sword to one side and then moved forward. Heading straight into the thick of combat.

Leaving his back to Steve, Vince foccussed entirely on what was in front of him. He took kill shots when he could, but was also happy to dismember or maim.

Anything that’d send someone to the floor.

Sneaking a peak at Steve, Vince watched as the axe was swung.

Anyone it hit was just about evaporated.

People were instantly turned into bologna and red mist with a single strike.

Yeah, instincts weren’t wrong. Would have been real bad to step up to Steve.

Somewhat behind them, Vince noticed a catgirl trailing along.

She was killing the wounded and unwary as she came on, though she didn’t close the distance. Her eyes were locked to Steve as they moved.

“No. This is not possible! IMPOSSIBLE!” declared a voice from where the portals of the enemy had opened.

“Very possible, Zeus you bastard!” Ryker called back. “I’ve worked hard to counter, fix, and fuck you over at every turn! Did you think we’d just sit here and do nothing?”

There was a strange warbling shriek that almost sounded as if it were an electronic device being dropped into a tub of water. Crackling and breaking up even as it hit the surface.

The battlefield became eerily silent, and everyone ceased in their activity.

Vince had wanted to continue, but his mind suddenly stilled and he couldn’t do much of anything.

A vaguely humanoid shape made out of static appeared in front of Ryker amongst the combatants.

With a casual swipe of its arm, it incinerated everyone around it. Each person that was struck being melted.

Or disintegrated.

They came apart in a weird way. As if they were being broken down into small squares and atomized.

Ryker shoved the two women who were surprisingly on each side of him, out to the sides of himself a moment before a massive blast of bubbling lightning was launched out of the static creature’s hands.

It was easily the size of a truck, and the heat it was putting out made Felix feel as if he were standing next to an inferno.

Ryker stood there with a shield in front of himself and it was struck by the attack.

A soldier with a wiry look, a savage and almost feral edge to him, dash toward Ryker. In his hand was some type of melee weapon.

He moved at a speed that was hard to comprehend. As if he’d shattered the limits of what his body could in fact handle.

He practically appeared next to Ryker.

Knocking the man off his feet and sending him to the ground just as his shield failed.

As quickly as the man had appeared, he was gone.

Vanished in the blast that he’d knocked Ryker partially out of.

Whatever it had been was indistinguishable now, as much of it had been disintegrated.

The colossal attack had struck Ryker at a glancing angle. Shearing off one of his arms and part of his torso. He was alive, but it didn’t look like he would be for long.

“RYKER! MY RYKER!” shouted one of the women, stepping toward the static monster. “I’LL KILL YOU ZEUS! I’LL KILL YOU! MURDER YOU! LIAR! TRECHEROUS!”

The monster didn’t respond to her. Instead, it simply slid into the ground and vanished.

Disappearing completely.

“YOU! I’LL, I’LL CATCH YOU!” yelled Claire at the ground. Then she spun around and went to Ryker’s side.

A number of women were all clustered around the Architect.

Vince moved closer but kept his distance as well.

“I’m not dead?” Ryker asked suddenly and with shock echoing in his words.

“You’re dying!” wailed Dorothy.

“But I’m not dead!” declared Ryker with a loud and sudden laugh. “I’m not dead, I’m dying! Hahaha! That’s a world of a difference!”

One of the women shook her head, her shoulders hunching.

Then Vince lost sight of it all.

Combatants of both sides rushed about. Pushing, pulling, some of them even killing one another again. Leaving Vince without any idea of what was going on.

Shoving his way into the crowd he started working his way toward where Ryker went down. If he could help he wanted to.

He didn’t want anyone to suffer the fate he nearly had with his father this very day. Not if he could help it, at least.

Escaping the crowd Vince laid eyes on Ryker.

The Architect was dead.

Staring lifelessly at nothing above and beyond. In the short time it took him to get out of the mad din of bodies and blood, the Architect had passed.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t fix it,” growled Runner. Clawing at the air.

He ripped what looked like a medallion off his chest and flicked it at the ground..

He stomped on it twice, then made a gesture at it.

A strange phantasmal being appeared, swept through Ryker’s body, and then vanished. Slipping into the void beneath them.

A portal then began to grow not far away. Slowly rotating and forming into an oval.

“I took his soul and put it in an afterlife I can access even here,” Runner stated, staring down at Ryker. “Given time, I can get him back. Not any time soon though. Besides, he asked for a rest too.

“No one is ever really beyond my reach with enough time. Well… almost no one.”

“You can bring him back?” demanded a young woman, looking up at him.

“Yeah. Gonna be a bit. But yeah. Can’t leave my best friend dead,” Runner muttered with a shrug.

“I want to join him,” said the woman who had been trying to put her tongue down the man’s throat. She was holding onto Ryker’s remaining hand. “You can bring me back after, right?”

“I mean… yeah,” Runner agreed.

“I’m going to go fight Zeus. Take my soul away now so when I die it’s fine,” she demanded. “I don’t care if it turns me into a zombie or an undead. Just send me after him when I die.”

“I… you… alright. I can do that, Claire,” Runner agreed. It sounded like he was going to disagree until she turned and glared at him over her shoulder. “We need to move to the next part though. There’s a portal to go through and—”

Speaking of the portal, Vince looked over to where it had been forming.

It was gone.

“Uh… what?” Runner asked no one. He looked confused, concerned, and at a loss.

Ignoring everyone, he began to make finger movements through the air as if he were working a spell again.

Claire leaned over, kissed Ryker’s corpse, then stood up.

“My soul?” she demanded.

Runner grunted, pulled something out of his pocket, and handed it over to her.

“Just keep that on your person till you die. You can hold it in your hand or —”

Whatever he’d given her was popped into her mouth and she swallowed it whole.

“That-that works,” muttered Runner, going back to whatever he was doing.

Lashing out with a hand, Claire tore open a hole in reality.

“My spells are back. I’ll go see if I can’t kill Zeus. Then… then I’ll rejoin Ryker,” Claire said emphatically. She looked to the others. “I’ll give him your love for you. I’m sorry for everything that happened. I look forward to us being a family when I come back with Ryker.”

Claire stepped through the portal she’d made and vanished.

“Uh… now what?” Melody asked. She was standing off to the side with Felix behind a barrier. They were both unharmed. “Weren’t we supposed to do something or some such?”

Runner didn’t answer that question.

Vince rubbed at his mouth with the back of his wrist.

Blood drying on his face always left him feeling itchy. The sooner he got it washed off the better.

Walking over to Melody and Felix he gestured at his face.

“You guys got any water bottles or something?” he asked.

“The hell did you go, go bobbing for hearts in a chest?” asked Melody with a nervous laugh.

“Kinda?” admitted Vince. “I found a woman and started necking with her. It got messy.”