Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion (29 page)

Then something
grabbed hold of him.

“Need a lift, my
friend?” said Chase, a big smile on his face.

“Hey! Thanks for
the help.”

“Anytime. Where do
you need to go?”

“Over there.”
Tar’Lock pointed at the gate through which the Titan had stepped earlier. He looked
behind and saw that the Titan had turned in pursuit. “I don’t suppose you can
fly any faster?”

“We’re almost
there.”

“Its eyes are
glowing strongly. Is that normal?”

“It’s about to
fire its lasers, then.”

“Oh dear.”

Chase spun around
to get a good look while still flying blindly towards their destination.

But when the
Titan was about to fire again a major explosion occurred behind it and it
turned its attention back towards Argos. It slammed a palm towards Argos who failed
to dodge it and was sent crashing into the nearest wall.

“I need to help
him. Hang on and trust me, okay?” said Chase.

But before
Tar’Lock could answer Chase had thrown his body as fast as he could. Tar’Lock’s
eyes widened at the sight of the fast-approaching ground. He shouted at the top
of his lungs, but when he was about to hit the ground he stopped short and was lowered
gently.

“Told you to
trust me,” said Chase, directly in his mind.

“Go see Ryonna at
once,” shouted Tar’Lock, hoping Chase would hear him.

Chase flashed him
a quick thumbs up while flying back towards the Titan.

Tar’Lock exhaled in
relief and smiled. But there was no time to lose. He checked his portable
device and resumed running towards the energy signature provided by Aphroditis.

*  
*   *

Argos impacted
the nearest wall and was literally embedded in it. “Ouch.”

He saw Chase
arrive behind the Titan and deliver a powerful, telekinetically enhanced kick
that threw the Titan to the ground face first, with a growl of disapproval.

Argos released himself
from his current, stony cast and powered a strong fireball that he threw at its
neck.

Chase flew past
him at top speed.

“Where the fuck
are you going?”

“I’ll be right
back. Keep it occupied.”

Argos growled,
clearly annoyed by the distraction his brother’s friends added to an already
chaotic situation. But then he smiled to himself. Perhaps if one of his friends
were to meet their demise it would awaken Chase’s ultimate power.

Something to keep
in mind, he decided, as he dodged the latest fist attack from the Titan, who
created a crater-sized hole in the wall where Argos stood a second before.

Argos flew down
and launched himself towards one of the Titan’s knees. He kicked it with all
his force, adding telekinetic energy to his momentum. It brought the Titan down
to one knee, but then it smashed one fist into the ground and a column of red
energy shot vertically from under Argos’ position into the air, engulfing him
in an instant.

When the column
of energy dissipated, Argos’ arms were crossed in front of his face, his skin
fuming from the power of the blast. Blood showed between his clenched teeth and
in his bloodshot eyes.

“You’re gonna pay
for this, you steaming hunk of smelly stones.”

Argos joined his
hands together and released a series of telekinetic shockwaves towards the
Titan. With each impact some of the stony, surface skin of the beast exploded
in small, rocky chunks but immediately resumed cohesion.

Argos unleashed a
shout of frustration as he watched the Titan rise to its feet and turn towards
him.

Argos waved his
hand, inviting the Titan. “Come and get me.”

*  
*   *

Chase landed near
Ryonna.

“Hey, you. You guys
shouldn’t have come, but I’m really glad to see you.”

She smiled.

“Tar’Lock said
you have a message for me?”

“Yes, you need to
use the altars. Aphroditis is certain it’s your only hope.”

“I wanted to, but
Argos kept blowing me off when I proposed it.”

“I don’t think just
the two of you can manage anyway.”

“Why?”

“There are four
altars. My guess is it will take four people to make this work.”

“Which means
you’ll have to take a serious risk when the time comes. Where’s Daniel?”

“He and Fillio
are waiting on board their respective StarFuries for Tar’Lock to blow the
shield generator. So they can provide cover.”

“That will take
some pretty fancy flying, but if anyone can do it, it’s those two. Don’t try
anything until the shield is down and the Titan is under fire from multiple
targets, Ryonna. I mean it! This thing is too fast. It would crush you in an
instant.”

Ryonna nodded
reluctantly.

“I need to get
back to this fight. Stay safe.”

“You too, Chase.”

But he was
already gone, flying towards the Titan at full speed.

*  
*   *

 Tar’Lock entered
the gigantic room from which the Titan must have come. He ran towards the
energy signature and soon arrived at a smaller corridor. But when he reached
the end he collided with an invisible force field that threw him backwards and
to the ground.

“That wasn’t
fun,” he said to himself, as he got up and dusted himself off. He took a closer
look at the force field, but there didn’t seem to be a way through.

“Dammit!” He
punched the force field in frustration. It blinked just for second when he did.
“Hmmm . . .”

An idea formed in
his mind. He doubled back and found a fist-sized stone on the ground. He threw
the stone at the force field and ran after it as fast as he could.

When the stone hit
the force field, it blinked for just a millisecond, as it did when he had
punched it. Just enough for him to see an opening and run through it. Or so he
thought.

He arrived on the
other side of the force field but was immediately rewarded with a tremendous jolt
of pain. When he looked at his left hand, he was horrified to see it wasn’t
there anymore.

The throbbing
pain almost made him lose consciousness but he fought through it. Now was not
the time to pass out.

The room in which
he stood contained a console, and behind glass he saw the generator. He
approached the console, trying to figure out how it worked, but it was all
runes and symbols that were alien to him. He pressed a few controls randomly
but all he got back were negative-sounding beeps and red-blinking lights. He
punched the console in frustration. He took one of the grenades from his belt,
activated it and sent it towards the glass, immediately crouching under the
console.

When the dust and
smoke settled, Tar’Lock could see that the glass protecting the shield
generator was unscathed. Not even a crack.

“I don’t have
time for this shit!” he swore.

His mind raced,
trying to find a solution to his current predicament, as he heard the sounds from
the battle in the arena and felt the ground shaking.

He tried calling
Aphroditis on the
Iron Fire
but there was no answer. He was not really
surprised. His presence so near the generator probably made it impossible for
his equipment to send a signal.

“We’re screwed!”

“Not
necessarily,” he heard behind him.

He spun, startled
by the voice. What he saw made no sense to him. There stood the shape of a
humanoid, but it was made of bright, shining, golden energy, casting a warm, yellow
light around the room.

“Who
. . . What are you?”

“Not really a
good time for introductions, but I’m Ares.”

“Oh, Chase’s
mentor.”

“Former, yes. I
need you to trust me.”

“What are you
going to do?”

“I need to take
control of your body, if you’ll let me.”

Tar’Lock felt
uneasy at the thought but finally shrugged. “If it will help.”

“Whatever you do,
don’t resist. If you do, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive the experience.”

“This plan sounds
less and less to my liking.”

“Just don’t
resist. It may sting a little.”

Ares approached
Tar’Lock and grabbed him by the shoulders. “You’re tense. Try to relax.”

“Easy for you to
say.”

“Right, just
close your eyes and whatever you feel, ignore it.”

Tar’Lock closed
his eyes and felt a stinging sensation invade every part of his body, followed
by a strong warmth. Soon he lost the ability to think of anything. It felt as
though his mind was swallowed into a black hole and his consciousness
disappeared into nothingness.

Ares was now
fully in control of Tar’Lock’s body and mind.

When he opened Tar’Lock’s
eyes, they shone gold. He turned back to the console and entered commands with
one hand at lightning speed. The force field behind turned off. In the blink of
an eye he grabbed Tar’Lock’s severed limb, brought it near the cut and a golden
energy linked it back to his arm.

I will need
both your arms for this next part.

He then took the
grenade belt off and threw the grenades and the belt towards the glass. In the
following instant he created a golden fireball in each hand and threw them
forward. They impacted the grenades and the resulting explosion shattered the
glass, but the shockwave of the explosion catapulted him towards the nearest
wall, a stray piece of glass impaling his right shoulder.

Losing no time he
jumped into the next room. The explosion had not disabled the shield generator.
He approached the nearest paneling and ripped it off the wall.

This next part
won’t be fun, I’m afraid.

He yanked two of
the biggest cables from the wall. Sparks flew, lights blinked and a powerful
current ran through him as he was thrown to the ground. Upon impact, he was ejected
from Tar’Lock’s body. The generator stopped humming and the lights dimmed.

Ares saw smoke rising
from Tar’Lock’s motionless body, and his heart had stopped.

He placed his
energy-based hand on Tar’Lock’s rib cage and generated a powerful electric
shock, trying to jumpstart his heart.

It didn’t work.

“Don’t you die on
me now!”

He shocked
Tar’Lock again and again.

The last jolt of
electricity did the trick and Tar’Lock gasped for air, his face twisted in pain.

“What the fuck!
Why do I ache, like everywhere?”

“Long story.”

“What happened?”

“The shield is
down. Thanks for trusting me.”

“I don’t remember
anything, but I’m glad you managed.”

Tar’Lock hailed
Daniel, surprised to see he had both hands again. He pointed at it. “Your
doing?”

“I needed it.”

“So do I, so thanks.”

“Daniel, here. What’s
your status, Tar’Lock?”

“The shield is
down. You can come in.”

“Great job,
thanks!”

 “What now?”
Tar’Lock asked Ares.

“Now you go help
your friends.”

“How?”

“The altars. Use their
power to immobilize the Titan.”

“Any chance you
know how they work?”

“You’ll have to
figure that out with your friends.”

“Alright, thanks,
Ares.”

“Go, now!”

“Right.”

When getting to
his feet Tar’Lock felt a tremendous pain in his back.

“Sorry about that.
You may want to leave the glass there until Chase can heal you. I’m afraid you
might bleed out if you take it out now.”

“Swell, alright.”

Tar’Lock ran back
towards the arena.

Chase and Argos
had been attacking the Titan with a series of fireballs when the StarFuries
arrived on the scene.

“More of your
friends?”

“We clearly need
the help.”

“Right. Somehow I
doubt their firepower will be enough to bring it down, though.”

“Perhaps not, but
they will provide a diversion.”

“For what?”

“We need to use
the altars.”

“Again with
that?”

“Look, we’ve done
things your way up till now and it hasn’t worked. Time for a change of tactics.”

“Do you know how
they work?”

“No, but now is
the time to try them. Ryonna will take care of the altar near the entrance,
Tar’Lock the one behind the giant gate. That leaves one for each of us at the
sides.”

“Very well. This better
work!”

“Not really like
we have a choice here.”

The StarFuries
deployed drones and started raining laser fire towards the Titan. It drew the
beast’s attention and it frantically waved its arms, trying to bring the
starfighters down. When it realized they were too skilled for it to smash them
with its bare hands it began shooting lasers from its eyes.

The StarFuries
went evasive and dodged the incoming attacks.

Chase landed near
the altar and had another vision. Four colors flashed before his eyes in quick
succession: yellow, green, blue and red.

He understood
immediately what that meant. He reached with his mind and spoke to Ryonna.

“You need to
touch the yellow sphere. Do it now!”

Ryonna ran
towards the altar, pausing for a split second to look at the chaotic scene created
by the StarFuries and Argos attacking the Titan. Then she resumed her run and
touched the yellow sphere of energy on top of the altar. A wooden staff with
shining runes materialized in her hand. The tip of the staff contained a
similar yellow energy, glowing through the elaborate woodwork containing it.

“What now?”

“I’m not sure. Point
it at the Titan and thinking of firing.”

Ryonna did just
that and a stream of yellow energy shot towards the chest of the Titan.

Upon impact,
solid brown stone formed around the chest and shoulders of the beast and seemed
to immobilize it.

Argos lost no
time firing a powerful fireball at its face, but the Titan blew it out of the
sky with a shot of his eye lasers. The StarFuries each sent a missile at the beast’s
arms. Its arms exploded for a moment, but almost immediately reconstructed
themselves.

The Titan
shrieked and cracks appeared in the brown, stony prison engulfing its rib cage
and shoulders. It finally gave away and rocks flew in every direction. Some of
the debris lit up the shields of Daniel’s StarFury upon impact and sent him in a
spin towards the nearest wall.

Chase grabbed the
ship with his mind and restored a safe trajectory to avoid collision. He then
plunged his hand into the red energy sphere and felt fire run through his
bloodstream. As a pair of finely crafted gold gloves materialized in his hands,
he punched the air in front of him towards the Titan and a powerful wave of
flames hit it with full force. It growled from the pain but the flames didn’t
last long. Soon smoke arose where the fire had touched the Titan. It screamed
and everything shook.

Wrong order
. But he needed to know what each altar’s power was to use them
efficiently. He reached Tar’Lock telepathically and asked him to use the green energy
sphere.

When he put his
hand inside the green sphere a trident materialized in his hand, glowing emerald.
He pointed it towards the Titan and a watery typhoon shot from the trident into
the Titan’s back.

“Argos! Quickly
use yours!”

Reluctantly,
Argos waved his hand through the blue energy sphere and immediately felt an ice
cold current inside his body. His arms shone with blue light and he sent a
shockwave towards the distracted Titan. The wave flash froze the water on the
Titan’s back forming a thick layer of ice, trapping the beast once more and
restricting its movements.

The StarFuries
came about for another round of laser fire and missiles, which only resulted in
the Titan screaming in frustration and breaking the ice. It slammed a foot into
the ground with tremendous force and all four of those on the ground lost their
balance. The Titan then screamed so loudly that the sound waves sent Ryonna
crashing against the nearest wall, cracking a few ribs in the process.

Then the Titan
turned towards Argos, who was back on his feet and already launching himself towards
the beast at full speed. He punched once more in the air but the glacial air
current had almost no effect this time, most of the water on the Titan having
being shaken off when it smashed the ground.

The Titan’s
reaction was immediate and it smashed Argos in midair with both palms. The
shock was so powerful that Argos’ body exploded on impact, sending waves of
body parts in every direction.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
shouted Chase as he fell to his knees. The full realization of what had just
happened blackened his soul once more. In thirty seconds Sarah would die and
there was nothing he could do. Argos had been obliterated and Chase could not
heal him.

Anger rose within
him, but the full power of his emotions was now useless. He entered rage mode,
but he didn’t know what to do with the tremendous amount of power running
within him.

“Chase!” said
Aphroditis. “Quick! Smash the stone on your pendant. It will reverse time by
forty seconds. Make sure Argos doesn’t get hit this time.”

A shiver running
through every atom of Chase’s body, he snatched the pendant and crushed it in
his hand. Then everything changed. Time seemed to slow down and then reverse.
When it resumed its normal course, Chase grabbed Fillio’s StarFury with his
mind, ejected her cockpit and threw the ship towards Argos, just before he was smashed
by the Titan, who hit only air this time. He then took control of Daniel’s
StarFury, ejected Daniel as he had Fillio a moment before and danced the
starfighter all around the Titan, firing every laser, missile and torpedo at
it, making sure the Titan devoted all its attention towards the craft.

He reached Ryonna’s
mind and told her to fire the staff at the Titan’s legs. She moaned, trying to
get back to her feet, but she managed to direct the staff as instructed and
shot another beam of yellow energy that struck the Titan right below the knees.
She held the staff and lowered it a little. Soon the Titan’s legs were trapped in
a thick layer of brown stone.

Chase then sent
the next telepathic command to Tar’Lock, who sprang into action and fired the
typhoon at the beast’s back with his trident. He ran as fast as he could. He
felt Ares’ presence again within him, which seemed to give his speed a
tremendous boost. In an instant he had circled the Titan fully and covered it
in water.

Argos did not
need any instruction as he flew in the air above the Titan, both arms glowing a
bright blue as he unleashed the most powerful shockwave he could muster, putting
nearly all his remaining energy into that blast. The result instantly
transformed the Titan into a statue of ice.

Chase then
touched the red energy and let it send more fire inside his body. Soon a
flaming dragon materialized and whirled around him. Lightning, sparks and embers
danced in the air as he took a fighting stance. He used the rage in him to
power up to the maximum, bringing his energy levels beyond anything he had felt
before. His hair flew upward, his eyes turned orange and in a fluid motion he
threw his punch forward, and with it the flaming dragon unfolded from around
him and shot towards the iced Titan. It punched through ice and stone and impaled
the Titan, before circling all around the beast like a boa constrictor. Chase
intensified his aura to the maximum, unleashing a deafening war cry, and the
Titan exploded from the fiery pressure unleashed upon its sub-zero, flash-frozen
body. The explosion released a powerful shockwave that blew ash particles all
around at incredible velocity.

The sheer impact
of the explosion broke most of the arena’s walls and sent everyone but Chase
and Argos flying. He caught his friends with his mind and held them in the air,
protecting them with orange force fields.

When the dust
settled, only a pile of melted ash stood in the center of the arena where the
Titan once towered, a round, obsidian gem on top of it.

Argos grabbed the
fist-sized stone with his telekinesis. He looked at Chase and nodded, a wide
smile of contentment across his face.

Chase saw
Tar’Lock fall to his knees and flew towards him.

“Are you’re alright?”

“Well, Ares
helped but he suggested you help me with this.” He turned to show the large
piece of glass firmly planted in his shoulder.

Chase took the
glass out without warning.

“Aaaarg.”

“Sorry, the pain
won’t last long. Hang on.”

Blood spilled
from the wound at an alarming rate, but soon Chase’s healing hands patched it up
and energy rushed back into Tar’Lock.

“Thanks, Chase,
feeling much better.”

“No, it is I who
thank you, my friend. Without your intervention, I don’t think we would have
defeated the Titan.”

“I must admit I
had my doubts about that. I didn’t see what we could do that you two couldn’t,
but I guess powers aren’t everything.”

Daniel, Fillio
and Ryonna all approached them.

“Thanks, guys. I
would say you shouldn’t have come, but I would be lying.”

Daniel smiled. “A
little heads-up before ejecting us from our starfighters would be nice next
time.”

“I second that. I
almost soiled myself,” said Fillio.

“Sorry. In the
heat of the moment, I didn’t really have time to do anything but act on
instinct.”

“Well, it turned
out for the best, it seems. That was quite the take down.”

Chase nodded,
realizing that the most difficult part of recovering Sarah was now over.

Ryonna stayed
silent but Chase could tell she was in pain.

“Mind if I take
care of your wounds?”

“It’s just some
broken ribs. I’ll be fine.”

“Be that as it
may,” said Chase, approaching her and resting his palms on her side. “It will
just take a second.”

“Laiyos! When
you’re done celebrating with your friends, we have to go,” shouted Argos from
afar.

“He’s a hoot. Felt
like closing his yapper much in the last few hours?” asked Daniel with a
chuckle.

“You have no idea.
He’s insufferable.”

“Still, you seem
less hateful towards him, or am I reading it wrong?”

Was he? Chase
didn’t know. For now all that mattered was to make sure he would hold Sarah and
the unborn Chris in his arms soon. The rest seemed to be background noise, no
matter how difficult it had been.

“I think he’ll
get what he deserves soon enough. Right now I can’t think about that, not while
he still has Sarah’s life in his hands.”

“About that. He might
not fulfill his end of the bargain. You realize that?”

“I’ll make him. I’m
no longer afraid of him. I know I can beat him now.”

“I hope you know
what you’re doing.”

“So do I, my
friend, so do I.”

*  
*   *

Chase arrived back
on the bridge of the
Iron Fire
.

“Welcome back,
Chase,” said Aphroditis with a smile.

“Thanks, and
thank you for the pendant. I’m sorry I had to destroy it.”

“It was
unavoidable under the circumstances. I’m glad you succeeded in your mission. Now
we should go get Sarah. I . . .”

“What is it?”

Argos was only a
few steps behind, so she decided not to tell Chase about her latest vision.

“Nothing, I’m
fine.”

She caught a
glimpse of the obsidian stone in Argos’ hand. “So that’s what he wanted, the
Pandora stone.”

“Do you know what
it’s for?”

“All I know is
that nothing good can come from his possessing it, otherwise it wouldn’t have
been protected by one of the last Titans in existence.”

“I see. I wish I
knew what he intends to do next, but I must admit all I care about is seeing
Sarah again.”

“I understand,
Chase. And soon you will.”

Argos cleared his
throat to get his brother’s attention.

“What do you
want?”

“We should get
going.”

“I have some
conditions, though.”

“I already have
what I want. You’re unable to impose anything anymore.”

“Nonetheless, am
I right in assuming that you still need Aphroditis’ help?”