Reaper Reforged
By Lore
- 120 reads
Narrow streets. Their Breaching point was a short trip away from The Rexian’s broadcasting tower but the maze like back alleys made it seem even longer. Their journey was also slightly extended by the extra weight Char had found herself carrying. Her outfit did its best to disguise the baby bump but nothing short of a miracle could safely remove the weight it added.
“Good thing we’re not in a rush then.” Lore jokingly sighed as they helped Char through a narrower section of alley.
“Hey, you did this to me.” She recoiled.
“I think you’ll find it was a joint effort between me and your daughter… Never mind, sorry.” Lore twitched at the peculiar reality of their situation. “Shame she couldn’t be with us.”
“Are you two coming or what?” Durien shouted back.
Lore finished helping Char through and allowed her to travel ahead of them. They hadn’t fallen too far behind Sukal and Durien so catching up didn’t take long. A left then a right then a final left later and they were back outside the broadcast tower. Circling from the front, they came to the fire exit. The door had long since parted from its hinges allowing them easy and silent access. In the background, they could hear themselves talking to The Rexian, preparing to leave for the station. Not wanting to cause any unnecessary damage to time, they skulked away upstairs and settled in. Unlike the decrepit downstairs, the upstairs was an entirely different building. The transition between the two was jarring with the smoked and peeling walls suddenly becoming a clean, near sterile environment; the two within centimetres of each other but looked as though they should never have touched. Lore apprehensively lowered their mask. The air, while perfectly breathable, had a tinge to it. It was stale yet sterile. They knew the smell but couldn’t place where they knew it from. They took a second breath in an attempt to jog their memory. What felt like a finger ran up their spine. They returned their mask to their face far quicker than it had left as the realisation moved from their subconscious to the forefront of their mind.
“It’s a clean room or at least it’s meant to be.” Lore thought it strange given the lack of airlock but then Char saw it.
“No. That’s a clean room.” She pointed to the far corner where, locked behind thick glass and staring right at them stood a young Rexian girl. As Char approached the glass the child retreated as if terrified by her presence. “This must be where the oxygen recyclers get their supply from.” She pointed to the vent above the room’s door. “Dumping the air from in there, out here.”
“Didn’t he say his daughters were dead.” Lore thought on it. “Yeah, when he mentioned them he definitely used the past tense.”
“He probably considers the plague as death. He’s killed his daughter.”
“We can’t do it here.” Lore gestured for Sukal to start back down the stairs. “None of us can guarantee that he’ll survive and I really don’t fancy killing a kids parent in front of them. That’s the sort of thing that screws a child up.”
“Then where?” Durien looked to Sukal for support. “It’s as good of a place as any.”
“We get him when his shuttle lands.” Lore agreed with themselves. “He has a private bay at a nearby dock. We’ll go there.”
Durien sighed. Sukal placed a hand on his shoulder. “Trust them.”
They met little resistance as they travelled the back alleys once more, stopping only to move debris from the path to allow Char to pass through easier. This changed as they neared the docks. The paths widened and the number of travellers slowly increased but as they did, patterns began to emerge. Natives to the Rexel system followed random paths between the amenities the area provided while those who weren’t travelled in only one direction, away. It was subtle at first but as they cut through the tension, the human exodus sped up until the streets were dominated by the locals. All of them staring at Lore and their party. Metres from the gate to The Rexian’s docking bay they were stopped, their path blocked by a fiery eyed Rexian with muscles on his muscles. He said nothing as he walked slowly towards Lore; his hands balled into fists, he was ready far before he begun. His first blow knocked them off balance but by the third, Lore was ready to drop. Before he could finish the job, embers from his burning eyes flew off and ignited those of the nearby locals who had been watching the fight. Their eyes now ablaze, they joined in the fighting. Lore’s fists glowed with a white light affording their punches a slight increase in power but that alone wouldn’t be enough. Durien and Sukal came together and burned with their blue light as they tried not to get overwhelmed by the number of combatants now in the fight. Lore held out their hand to Char. She took it and as expected, her golden light poured into Lore. Less expected was the flash of green that began streaming from her too. Despite losing Tay, their Reaper maintained its full potential. With all of the abilities of Time, they were better able to navigate the impromptu battlefield they found themselves on. They had mere minutes to wait before The Rexian would arrive but given their current states, they had been less conspicuous. Then the solution hit them. It wasn’t perfect but it would do. The Reaper’s hands filled with white light as they began throwing balls of energy at their foes. Space’s Paragon stood back against their pile of bodies as they watched The Reaper work. All combatants either frozen or otherwise incapacitated, they separated and began sweeping the bodies out of direct sight. Space’s Paragon caught on and so Durien and Sukal followed suit. Once the street had been swept clear and the alleys barricaded, they too disappeared and awaited The Rexian’s return. They were cutting it closer than they thought. As they reinstated their disguises, his ship blared overhead. It hovered over the street for a moment before opening its rear hatch. Lore couldn’t see what had fallen from it but it gave itself away. A dry, infectious cough echoed through the empty street.
“Pestilence.” Lore stepped from the shadows. “Fancy meeting you here.” They dropped their hood. The Rexian didn’t look that surprised.
He nodded. “Predictable. But perhaps you shouldn’t discuss your plans in your oppositions base.”
“Is this about her?” Char stood too. “Death screwed you so your screwing her?”
“No.” His eyes flashed from amber to electric blue as the flames intensified. “I couldn’t care less about Death. I took her power to do this universe a favour and rid it of the likes of you.” He clicked his fingers. Rumbling came from behind their makeshift barriers.
The four of them stood before The Rexian. His army almost through the barricade, they locked hands and blue and gold faded into white. An explosion of colour and light engulfed their half of the street. Rexian Rumble.
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