A "Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons" story
Chapter 8
Doctor Fawn entered the room in R&D,
clutching in his hand the small glass phial containing the antidote he had
prepared in his laboratory, with the help of the auto-analyser. Harmony, seated on a stool, stood up upon his arrival, and
watched as he came to a sudden stop in front of the tank in which Captain
Scarlet was imprisoned. The
doctor’s eyes were wide with astonishment and untold outrage. Up to this moment,
he had not actually seen the tank, and the whole contraption that had been put
in place to keep Scarlet in check; he had only received Harmony’s and Symphony’s
reports of what they had seen themselves.
Already, he had been angered by the whole concept; seeing it was a totally
different thing. It didn’t take
long for him to let go of his full anger and indignation at the scene presenting
itself to him.
“What a barbaric set up!” he lashed out.
“I can’t believe they would hold a human being against his will in such horrible
conditions! We have to get him out
of this thing, as quickly as possible.”
Harmony nodded, in total agreement with
the physician. She watched as he
carefully inspected the equipment - all the wires and cables connected to the
tank, the electronics and the life-support device.
He nodded his head in understanding – and Harmony reflected that he
probably grasped most of it much better than she did herself.
He made a stop in front of the seat in
which Captain Black was soundly sleeping and observed him for a moment,
thoughtful.
“What about him?” he asked scornfully. “Has he shown any sign of waking up?”
Harmony shook her head. “No sign at all, and according to the monitored data, he’s
not about to wake up any time soon.”
Fawn nodded his satisfaction. Black seemed as deeply asleep as
everyone else he had seen on Cloudbase so far.
So he considered it the safest course of action not to touch any of the
equipment to which Black was linked.
It was far better to leave him alone…
… for the time being, anyway.
Returning to his inspection of the tank,
Fawn asked Harmony for the injection gun he had seen on a table nearby, upon
entering the room; she quickly went to fetch it and handed it to him. He swiftly screwed his phial onto it, changed the needle for
a new one he had brought along, and gently pressed the trigger, removing all the
air from the needle. He looked at
Harmony.
"Shall we proceed?" he asked.
"Do we have a choice?" she replied. "As you said yourself, we have to get
him out of this tank. And hope that
at the same time, it will serve to resolve the situation for the others.”
He nodded in agreement. "If waking Scarlet up is the way to stop that game… this
would be the solution,” he said, indicating the gun. “I'm just hoping that we're
not making a mistake that might cost many lives."
"Will that be enough?" Harmony asked, pointing at the phial,
and looking with curiosity as Fawn turned to examine the tank apparatus again.
He nodded, as he introduced the needle
into a valve on one of the transparent plastic tubes attached to the tank. He squeezed the trigger gently,
slowly injecting the fluid into the tube.
"This is highly concentrated," he explained to the young woman.
"Yes, I think it should be enough to counteract the effects of this drugged
bath. In fact, it will change the chemistry of the drug, and dissolve it
completely from the tank. But… it will work slowly – as it has to,
for Scarlet’s awakening to be as smooth as possible.
I know he's supposed to be indestructible, but I don't want to be overconfident
that his relative invulnerability will keep him safe from – emotional ailments. We're dealing with the psyche here. And Scarlet is still very much human in
that respect, as much as you or me. Plus, we have to take into account what
effect his brutal awakening might have on the others as well. I still remember Bromwell's threat."
Once the phial was empty, he put the hypo-gun down on the table behind him and
sighed. "Right. I guess we'll just have to wait and see now."
"How long will it take?"
"I don't know," Fawn admitted. "An hour…
Less… The counter-effect will be
gradual, but when it comes down to it,
it might be up to Scarlet's unique metabolism and how it's fighting
against the drug. I'm hoping, just
like you, that it won't take too long."
A beeping sound from the comm.link
interrupted him before he could continue; then the voice of Symphony was heard,
with an edgy and urgent tone to it:
"Doctor Fawn, you'd better come back here quickly!"
Fawn moved to the comm. and pressed the
button. "What is it, Symphony?"
"Something is going on… The computer just started bleeping, and keeps giving alerts
about one of the participants."
"Who…?" Fawn asked with a frown.
"Colonel White, Doctor,"
Symphony answered promptly. "I checked the data – his vitals are
going down."
"Damn!" Fawn muttered under his breath. "He's in the Sickbay auxiliary Room of
Sleep. I'm on my way to check him." He strode towards the exit, turning one last
time to quickly give his last instructions to Harmony, pointing at Scarlet.
"Stay here and watch him. Monitor every change, and inform me if anything happens. One way or the other. AND…
keep an eye on Captain Black, in case!"
"You can count on me, Doctor."
Fawn was already out, before actually
hearing Harmony's swift reply.
* * *
Although valiantly fending off the
wolves' attacks, Odin's strength and determination
finally failed him, and he fell under the number and the sheer savagery
of the beasts; his thick, heavy clothing was barely enough to protect him
against fangs and claws that shredded it to pieces then tore into his flesh,
drawing blood, and sending the wolves into a renewed frenzy. Seeing their prey down in the snow
seemed to give them courage to confront the sharp sword he was still holding,
and to press their assault, nipping at any undefended part they could find, and
keeping the man down.
The sword finally escaped from Odin’s
hand when teeth viciously sank into his forearm, and he found himself
defenceless; it was all he could do to try to protect his throat, head and chest
with arms and legs against the relentless assaults.
In a desperate last attempt to get back on his feet, he stumbled again into the
snow – and stayed there, barely able offer any further resistance.
His fogging mind, tinted with red,
faintly registered a black mass of fur coming right at him, snarling, sharp
teeth bared in a huge, foaming mouth.
He was vaguely conscious that it was his own death approaching – yet, he
couldn’t even move; his eye closed tiredly.
The black wolf leapt, and was about to
victoriously tear into the downed man’s neck when, all of a sudden, two arrows
struck it in the flank. It yelped
in pain and backed away, missing Odin’s body by an inch when it fell down on its
paws. Another series of arrows rained on its
companions, forcing them to back away as well from their prey.
From beyond the gorge, two riders came
swiftly at them, roaring with such fury that the wolves quickly fled; that
didn’t save one of them from being trampled under the hooves of the first horse,
while its rider let go of a new arrow against another beast. The second rider,
discarding his bow in favour of his spear, charged the black wolf who was
limping away – the two arrows in his flanks had hurt it, but it obviously still
had enough life in it to evade the spear and snap angrily at the rider.
“Lo, Hel’s offspring!” Tyr jumped off
his horse, using his one good hand to steadily hold the spear aimed at the black
wolf now facing him. “This time,
vengeance shall be mine – I will
repay you for the hand you took from me!”
“Do not waste time with the beast, Tyr,”
Freyr called to his companion; he stopped his horse next to Odin and swiftly
dismounted to check on the injured man.
“Let it go. We have far more
pressing business to attend to.”
“Aye, it may be so,” Tyr replied grimly. “But this assault on Aesgard’s liege
will be Fenrir’s last sin, Lord Freyr.
This I swear.”
He had not noticed another wolf,
standing nearby, preparing itself to pounce at him; a new arrow, coming from the
gorge, struck the beast in the chest, killing it instantly before it could reach
its target. The animal falling dead
at Tyr’s feet provided a moment’s inattention that the black wolf obviously
thought it could use to its advantage. Fenrir leapt forward, fangs bared, ready
to tear its opponent’s heart out.
But Tyr was waiting for it, his feet well planted on the ground. He sidestepped and his iron fist thrust
forward – right into the wide-open jaws of the wolf.
“Try to eat THAT hand, hellish beast!”
Tyr snarled. His fist crushed teeth
and jawbones, forcing a gurgling sound from Fenrir who fell to the ground, blood
pouring from its huge jaws, offering its flank to the mercy of the spear that
Tyr, disengaging his iron hand from between the broken jaws, finally plunged
into the wolf’s heart with a howl of victory.
There was barely a sound from Fenrir, as it finally died at its
vanquisher’s feet.
At the same time disgusted and
satisfied, Tyr let go of the spear and turned his back on the beast, seemingly
not taking any interest in it now that it was dead.
From out of the gorge, a third, slim rider appeared, riding a white
horse, and Tyr went right to them. He bowed his head as he helped the rider
down.
“My thanks to you, my queen,” he said as
Freyja handed him her bow. “You
saved my life, with this last arrow…”
“How is Lord Odin?” she asked, directing
her steps towards the fallen man.
“Have we arrived in time?”
“He still lives,” Freyr answered as both
Tyr and Freyja lowered themselves to his level.
“We did arrive in time, my lady.”
“’Twould seem you were right about Lord
Vali, Queen Freyja,” Tyr remarked, looking around, obviously in search of the
missing warrior. “He is nowhere to
be seen… He has disappeared,
leaving Lord Odin to his fate.”
“I remembered that Vali was not happy
that Iduna had been betrothed to Hodur.
I thought he might be part of some conspiracy against him – and even that he was
an accomplice of Loki.” Freyja
huffed her disgust. “I feared he
might even turn his sword against Lord Odin himself, if he were to be alone with
him.”
“He did far worse than that…” Tyr
grumbled. “Delivering him to Fenrir’s brood… I could not think of a worse death.”
Freyr had carefully turned Odin on his
back, and laid his own fur coat on him, in order to keep him warm. While doing that, he examined the injuries the older man had
suffered. He didn't like what he
saw and grunted. “He is seriously
injured, Queen Freyja," he
announced, looking up to the young woman.
" ’Tis a miracle that we arrived when we did…
Or the wolves would have killed him."
A moan coming from the injured man
attracted Freyja’s attention and she knelt by his side.
Gently, she lifted his head, cradling it on her knees, mindful to avoid
the bleeding wound now cutting his cheek in two. He muttered something, that none of them could grasp clearly.
"“If we do not tend to his wounds soon,
I do not think he will survive," Freyr continued.
“He must live,” Freyja said fiercely. “We cannot leave him to die.” She leaned over the injured man who,
groaning again, was moving slightly.
"Lord Odin, stay still. We
will take care of you…"
Odin's one eyelid fluttered and opened
tiredly; he looked at her concerned face with a haggard expression. His lips trembled as he attempted to
force words out of them.
"D- Destiny…" His voice was but a murmur, and it was all he managed to say, with
this first – and last – effort. It sent a twinge of pain to his head,
his face contorting, and his eye closed
again.
"What does he mean by that… ‘Destiny’?" Tyr asked with a deepening frown. He was interrupted by the sound of a
horn, coming from the distance beyond the gorge they had just crossed, and all
of them raised their heads.
"Heimdall!" Freyja cried with hope in
her voice. "He must have found Thor
and they are coming this way… Lord
Tyr, go to them and bring them back here.
We might still have a chance to save Lord Odin…
But you must make haste, before it is too late!"
* * *
Running back to sickbay in a record
time, Doctor Fawn went directly to the auxiliary Room of Sleep.
He barely waited for the door to open to stride right in; squinting
against the pulsating coloured lights, he looked around to find the bunk on
which Colonel White was resting.
The unnerving, throbbing lights made it difficult for him to see, so he savagely
punched the button controlling the lights, killing the effect instantly, and
selected a normal light to take its place.
At this point, he reflected, we might as
well stop the light effects. We
have nothing to lose, anyway.
He went to White's bunk and checked on
the data displayed on the control panel over the head of the bed. The readings
Symphony had reported him from Bromwell's computer were repeated here, and
seemed to indicate that White's condition was deteriorating quickly.
"Damn," Fawn repeated in echo of his
earlier reaction.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn!"
He sat down on the bed, and made a quick physical
assessment of the Spectrum commander, cursing all through it – against that
blasted stupid game, against Bromwell, against the Mysterons… against the whole
set up that was keeping all his colleagues – and friends – from waking up and
coming back to the ‘normality’ of their already unusual lives.
“Come on now, Charles, you’re not going
to do this to me, are you?” he muttered under his breath, checking the pulse in
White’s wrist. It was far too fast
for his taste and neither did he like the irregular way his heart was beating. Even White’s breathing had became
laborious. So far, the symptoms
didn’t look like anything that had happened to Anna Preston – but Fawn could
read the signs. They were not good
at all.
Fawn unzipped the colonel’s white tunic,
and tore open his shirt, and started massaging his heart, hoping that whatever
efforts he could make would be enough to actually make a difference.
“You’re not dying on me, do you hear?”
Fawn reiterated, leaning over his commander and addressing him with as
commanding a tone as he could muster.
“I will not let you do that, Charles…”
A beeping sound made itself heard from
the comm.link.
“Doctor Fawn?”
“I’m in the auxiliary Room of Sleep,
Symphony,” Fawn answered without stopping his treatment.
“I’m tending to Colonel White – what is it?”
“Something new on the computer’s data…”
Fawn nearly groaned, hearing the concern
in the young woman’s voice.
“What now?”
“Nearly all readings on the Spectrum
senior staff are changing, Doctor. They all increased suddenly - nothing to
indicate that they are dying or anything like that – it seems to indicate that
they are… anxious – like if they were all going through some kind of upsetting
or distressing experience…”
“Something is definitely up, all right,”
muttered Fawn. “I do hope it’s not
related to our attempt to wake Scarlet up – that it didn’t bring something bad
down on all of them…”
“His data have risen the same as the
others, sir. If slightly higher. Maybe that has nothing to do with what you
did…”
“Then it might simply mean that the game
is going into the next – and maybe final – stage.
Keep monitoring – and inform me if that changes.”
“S.I.G…”
“Harmony!” Fawn called forcefully.
“I heard Symphony’s report, Doctor
Fawn,”
the voice of the Chinese pilot said over
the comm.
“No change in Scarlet yet?”
“No, Doctor.
He is still unconscious. But
the computer here gives me the same data about him as the one Symphony is
monitoring: His subconscious seems
to be experiencing some kind of traumatic event – and the scales keep rising.”
“Let’s just pray that he will wake
before they reach the critical stage,”
Fawn grumbled. “Keep checking on him.”
“S.I.G…”
“Now, Charles,” Fawn said, addressing
White again. “You’ve always been a fighter – you will NOT let a
stupid computer game kill you.
Whatever is happening in that blasted place, you will continue to fight – and
you will live, damn it – to tell me what the hell’s happening over there!”
* * *
Blue’s back hit the ground roughly,
expelling the air from his lungs; the viciousness of Scarlet’s attack was such
that it had driven both men down.
Scarlet had let go of his sword, obviously preferring to confront his opponent
with his bare hands, and was kneeling astride him, keeping him down under his
weight. Blue had trouble fighting him off; his
friend was like a man possessed, his grip was like steel, and his fist was like
a hammer, each of his punches connecting painfully.
At first, when he had seen him dump the
sword, Blue had entertained the hope that Scarlet didn’t really want to kill him
– perhaps hurting
him badly enough to punish him for whatever he imagined he was guilty of;
but seeing the mad way in which his friend was fighting, it seemed suddenly
obvious to him that Scarlet wouldn’t need the sword at all to finish him off.
He was quite capable of killing him with
his bare hands, if he wanted to.
Blue somehow found enough leverage to
push Scarlet off, sending him flipping over his head;
that obviously took the Englishman enough by surprise to compel him to
let go; he fell roughly onto his back and Blue took the welcome opportunity to
quickly scramble to his feet. He
staggered away from his friend, who was already getting up too.
“I don’t want to fight you!” Blue said,
gasping, presenting a calming hand towards
Scarlet. “Please, I don’t want to
hurt you!”
“It is too late, brother!” Scarlet
growled, his eyes flashing with anger.
“You already did hurt me! Now I want to do the same to you…”
“Paul, listen to me…
This is not you talking…
This is not you acting like this!”
“I do not have to listen
to you!” Scarlet raged. “Come and fight like a man, coward!”
As if he had decided that Blue wasn't
moving fast enough, he launched himself at him without any warning, and tackled
with the force and the rage of a charging bull.
Blue didn't have time to protect himself, and his stomach suffered the
worst of the blow. Scarlet used the
momentum to push him back, and Blue thought he would fall down again; instead,
his back roughly came into contact with the trunk of the tree to which Rhapsody
had been tied earlier. The impact
sent a wave of pain throughout his body, and he heard an audible crack;
something had given way – a rib, most likely.
At least, it felt like it.
Scarlet pressed the attack and brutally
pushed Blue’s head against the trunk behind. Blue saw stars, and gave a loud
moan; he could barely stand up, and was threatening to slide down the bark of
the tree. One last punch into his injured side
finished weakening him. Then Scarlet grabbed him and threw him into the clearing
where they had started the fight.
Blue slid down the slight slope into a flip, and landed none too gently
on ground covered with dead twigs of mistletoe and yew; it left scratches and
splinters in his beaten body, forcing a grunt of pain from his lips. Moaning, he stayed there, sprawled on
his side, scarcely able to move, stunned between consciousness and oblivion, and
fighting to get his focus back.
Through a fog, he could see the
victorious Scarlet, standing at the top of the slope, and looking intently at
him.
Scarlet gave a snort of contempt, before
slowly walking down, toward his fallen enemy.
Passing by his fallen sword, he leaned down to pick it up.
"You are not as big and strong as you
imagined you were, are you, my brother?
And you thought you would be able to hurt me!” He walked threateningly
toward Blue, a grim determination on his face, as he toyed with the sword. “Now it is time to end this charade…
dear brother.”
* * *
“Oh no…”
Still monitoring the data from
Bromwell’s computer in sickbay, Symphony Angel was suddenly interrupted in her
task when she heard soft moaning coming from one of the three bunks behind her. She only needed a glance to realise it
was Blue who had started agitating himself. She was off her seat and next to him
in less than three seconds.
“Adam?”
She could see his face, showered with
sweat, and frowning as if making a violent effort; his jaws were tight and he
was grunting, fighting against the restraints of his bed; Symphony thought it
was a blessing that he was strapped down, or he would probably fall off the bed
and hurt himself.
Was he in pain – or was he just trying to wake from that forced
sleep of his? Symphony wasn’t able to say, but she
didn’t like the readings she was seeing on the control panel over his head; they
were going off the scale; far higher than those of Rhapsody, who also seemed to
be agitating herself in her sleep.
As for Burgundy – the creep’s data remained very steady… as steady as his rest.
“Doctor Fawn?” Symphony called. The comm.link had been kept open, so she
knew that the doctor would hear her from the Room of Sleep. “Something is going on with Blue! The
readings have changed again…”
“I can’t leave Colonel White’s side for
now, Symphony. He’ll go into cardiac arrest if I can’t stabilise his condition.
Is there any indication that the same is happening to Blue?”
“No…” The best she could, Symphony tried
to read the information on the controls panel.
“No… It’s like previously – but it’s like whatever he’s experiencing in that
fantasy world has worsened, somehow.
And he’s getting restless.”
“Harmony to Sickbay,”
the voice of the Chinese Angel then said
over the comm.link. She had obviously heard her colleague’s information.“The
same is happening to Captain Scarlet here.
He’s starting to agitate himself in the tank.
More than earlier. Perhaps
he’s breaking free?”
“Keep monitoring, you two!”
Fawn instructed.
“Symphony, you have training in first aid.
If it should come to it, will you be able to attend to Blue?”
She hesitated.
“I’ll do my best, Doctor…”
Do I have any choice?
she added inwardly to herself.
She leaned toward Blue and stroked his
damp brow, gently brushing aside the sweat-matted fringe of blond hair.
“Hang in there, Big Blue,” she
whispered. “I’m staying here… Whatever is happening, you have to fight it… and
come back to me, safe and sound!”
“You are deluding yourself, my dear…”
The calm and sinister voice, so close
behind her, froze Symphony on the spot.
She turned around – to gaze, with untold surprise, into the pale face of
Technician Bromwell, very much alive, standing over her and looking at her with
a very cold expression. The side of his head was covered with his own blood, but
underneath that blood, the injury caused by the bullet he had put in his brain
seemed to have disappeared completely.
He had his gun in his hand, aimed at her, and his other hand was resting
on the comm.link control. He had
just turned it off, by the flick of a button.
She paled, understanding suddenly that
Fawn had been wrong about Bromwell earlier… and that he was not what the doctor
thought he was.
“You’re a Mysteron agent,” she
whispered.
He smirked at her.
“Of
course I
am. Did you
think the Mysterons would really leave a simple human to direct this operation?”
With that, without any warning, he
struck at her, hitting her violently over the head with the gun. She didn’t have time to react to avoid the blow, and fell
down to the floor with a gasp, between the two bunks occupied by Blue and
Rhapsody.
Bromwell looked down in contempt at her
prone body. The side of her head
was bleeding where he had struck her and she was either unconscious or dead – in
any case, apparently unable to put up any opposition to him. He could always use the gun to make sure she would not, but
the shot might attract unwanted attention – Fawn was still nearby after all, and
he had shown already he was a force to contend with. Besides - it seemed like it would be a waste of time. He had more urgent things to attend to.
He put the gun aside and came to stand
in front of his computer, before looking at Captain Blue, who was still
agitating himself in his sleep.
“Dear Captain Blue,” he said with an
evil smile, as he keyed a command into his computer, “I think it is about time
for you to fully join the game now… ”
* * *
"That is enough!"
Up until now keeping away from the
fight, and watching it unfolding with growing concern, Rhapsody thought it was
now high time for her to intervene. Swiftly, she stepped in front of Scarlet,
stopping his advance toward the barely-conscious Blue, and blocking his way.
He frowned deeply, and growled, "Step aside, woman!"
"No!
Not until you hear me out!" Rhapsody defied him.
"No more talk!" yelled Scarlet. "I have
had enough!" He pointed to Blue in an accusing way. "’Tis the second time today
you take his defence, Nanna. If this is not proof enough that you are lovers…"
"Oh, please! How wrong can you be!"
Rhapsody said, nearly rolling her eyes.
"Don't tell me you give credence to what Gerda told you? You were right the first time – Loki put
those accusations in her mouth – and then into yours! You would give credit to Loki's words?!"
"Loki has nothing to do with
this. Vali exposed both of you!"
"Vali is Loki's spawn," Rhapsody
replied, insistently. "Haven’t you
worked that out yet?"
"Did you and Hodur NOT run away
together?" Scarlet accused.
"We did not.
You don’t know everything that happened. I was abducted by Loki! He came after us," Rhapsody
said, pointing to Blue. "To stop
you from falling into the trap Loki was laying for you!"
"A likely story," Scarlet mumbled. "But I do not believe a word of it!
If it was true, Loki would be here!
I do not see him! But I see the two of you!"
"For God's sake, don't you realise what
this place is – the danger it represents to you?" Rhapsody persevered, gesturing around.
"Aye – and you think that scares me!?"
Scarlet made a step forward toward Blue, attempting to go around Rhapsody to get
to him. The young woman sidestepped to keep between the two of them.
"You won't listen to me at all, will
you?"
“Neither to you and nor to him! Step aside, woman!" he said again,
warningly. "The time to talk is done – now is the time to act!"
Rhapsody didn't like the murderous flash
in his eyes. She was genuinely
afraid he would hurt Blue. And the latter, as far as she was able to judge at
the moment, was obviously having trouble regaining his focus.
He would be defenceless against Scarlet.
She had to keep Scarlet – Balder – busy,
until Blue was back on his feet, and could join her in trying to make Balder see
sense. For now, she realised, she wasn’t making any progress at all.
Furthermore, she was upset – so very
upset that he would entertain such thoughts about Blue and herself, and wouldn’t
listen to her.
Of course, it isn’t Paul who’s having
those thoughts – but Balder… Paul would never think such things.
With Balder, however…
It’s another, different story…
And suddenly, she understood why her
attempts to get to him were not working:
she was trying to reason with him, as if she was trying to reason with Paul…
as if she were trying to reach Paul
that way. But Balder was nowhere
near as rational as Paul was, far
from it. That was a big mistake she was making and it was obvious now that she
would never be able to reach through to her fiancé that way.
And
that realisation made her suddenly change tactics; maybe she would be able to
make Balder
react to her – somehow – before he did something he – and Paul – might regret.
She gave him a violent shove that barely
made him step back, but obviously surprised him.
"You’re a fine one, accusing me – us – of disloyalty
towards you!" she snapped angrily. "Explain to me why you should care so much –
considering how fickle you are yourself with women!”
He blanched, and stared at her with a
strange expression on his face, obviously startled that she would speak to him
in such a way. “What…”
“You heard me, you cretin!” Rhapsody lashed out again, pushing him once more, this time
more forcefully, and this time able to make him back off a step. “You’re nothing
but a philandering scumbag, who thinks of nothing but taking your pleasure with
the first available girl, then moving on to the next bed!”
Whatever cold anger he felt towards her
suddenly transformed at that moment; he stood over her, almost threateningly.
“How dare
you speak to me like that?” he spat with irritation. “Do you not know who I
am, and what you are to me? I am Balder, Prince of Aesgard – and you are my
wife! As such you owe me respect and loyalty!”
Oh, big mistake, buster…
“I’m showing you the same respect
you’re showing
me, Prince Balder!” Rhapsody snapped again, looking up
defiantly at him.
“Oh, I see… Because of a few past
escapades, you would repay me in kind with my own brother!?
Is that the game you are playing?!”
“ ‘Few escapades’?” Rhapsody scoffed.
“That’s a rather elegant way of describing it!
I have a feeling that there were more than a few…”
“What I did in the past,” Scarlet
growled, his eyes flashing, “is in the past… We were not even together at the
time. And now, you should know my
feelings for you.”
“They do not run deep, those feelings,
if you think so little of me -
thinking I would have an affair with your brother?! This is what I’m
talking about – that insulting lack of respect you have for me, even to think I would do a
thing like that! How many times do
I have to tell you that there is nothing between your brother and I?”
Scarlet didn’t reply and contented
himself with glaring at her, his jaws tight and his eyes flashing. She was still
looking at him with defiance. It was all she could do to keep herself calm;
already, she could feel her emotions threatening to overwhelm her.
“What’s the matter, nothing to say in
your defence?” She pushed him again; he barely moved. “What will you do now? Send me to sleep in the stables, like
you did with Gerda?” Tears were prickling her eyes, tears of rage and
desperation – and of distress, as she didn’t know how long she would be able to
keep it up before crumbling down in front of him.
She gave another shove, and he still didn’t budge. “Or will you use that sword of yours and
kill me after you kill Hodur?”
“Kill you?” By the look on his
face, the very idea seemed to shock him. “How can you think I would be able to
do that?” he protested. “You are my
wife…”
“Whom you’re accusing of having betrayed
you with your brother!” At this point, Rhapsody was pounding his chest with her
closed fists. “And you are prepared to kill him.”
“Nanna, you should know that I would
never hurt you…”
“It’s too late for that!” She barely realised now that she was using the same words he
had earlier, while talking to Blue.
She was continuing to punch his chest, angrily, the tears now showing on the
brims of her eyes. “You’re hurting
me more than you will ever imagine.
Worst than if you ran me through with this sword!”
“Stop it…” he whispered.
“You are nothing but a barbarian,” she
continued, not hearing him out, “a savage who regards me as just a possession…”
“That is not true…”
“… who is ready to kill his own brother
just to remove an obstacle between himself and the object he thinks
is his… Well, I have news for you, buster…”
“That is enough…”
“… You DO NOT own ME!”
“That’s
enough, I said!”
The last shouted word was followed by a
swift slap; on the brink of hysteria, Rhapsody never saw it arrive and so didn’t
have time to evade it. It struck her on the right cheek; the surprise more than
the force of the blow made her foot slip on the uneven and slippery ground. She
fell back, and even as she did, Scarlet grabbed her by the wrist, reacting just
in time before she fell to the ground.
She slipped forward and he pulled her up, bringing her roughly against his
chest, and he kept her there, forcefully.
Resting against him, not daring to look
up into his fierce face, Rhapsody’s heart was beating like a hammer inside her
chest. Well, if I wanted a reaction out of him, I just got it… she mused
inwardly, nursing her cheek with her free hand. The slap had been violent, but
hurt less than the fact that he had actually struck her.
She was trying to play down the act, and somehow comfort herself that it
didn’t mean anything at all. He
could very well have used his sword, but he had not. Surely, that counted for
something?
You’re deluding yourself,
she finally admonished herself inwardly.
This is definitely not Paul. Paul would never hit you.
This harsh barbarian could NEVER be the man you love… You will not reach Paul
through him…
“D-Dianne?”
The whisper she heard just over her
head, brushing against her hair, made her heart miss a beat; she swiftly looked
up to the man who was holding her so tightly; Scarlet was looking down at her
with a lost, almost horrified, expression on his face; he was shaking his head,
his brow furrowed, as if attempting to decipher what was happening to him.
“Paul?” Rhapsody murmured, not really
hoping that it was really him this time.
He shook his head again; There was a
guilty flicker in his blue eyes, as he raised his hand with uncertainty, and
caressed the cheek where he had hit her.
“I’m sorry… I- I didn’t mean to… I don’t know what…”
The voice, at that brief moment, devoid
of that lilting accent, was Paul’s; and hope flared in Rhapsody’s heart.
It died almost instantly.
A shadow suddenly came into view from
behind Scarlet, leaping like a panther toward him, with a roar of anger, sword
drawn and ready to strike; alerted to the presence, Scarlet had scarcely the
time to push Rhapsody away from him, sending her sprawling onto the ground, and
to parry the low blow that would surely have severed his right leg if he had not
reacted in time. The violent impact struck sparks from the two swords as they
locked together. Scarlet brought
them up swiftly, to find the face of his opponent only a inch away from his own,
distorted in complete rage.
Rhapsody gasped in shock, identifying
the clothes, but scarcely recognising the features of the man now clashing with
Scarlet.
Blond, untidy, long hair fell on his
neck and across his face, which was half covered with a short but unruly beard
of the same colour; bushy eyebrows surmounted pale blue eyes ablaze with fury –
but unmistakably familiar.
“Unhand the woman!” Blue roared into the
face of Scarlet. “I swear to you, I
will not let you hurt her again, my brother!”
A sinking feeling of despair hit
Rhapsody as she noticed in Blue’s voice that same lilting accent she had heard
from all those who were possessed by the game…
* * *
Locating Thor, Sif and Heimdall had been
rather easy for Tyr, as they were on the same trail he had first followed
earlier with Freyja and Freyr, while they were looking for Odin. Once he had joined with them, he only had to guide them back,
riding to the spot where they had found the king of Aesgard.
As soon as they arrived, Thor jumped off
his horse and strode purposefully towards the scene, eyes wide with something
akin to horror at the sight of a wounded Odin lying on the ground, being tended
by Freyja, while Freyr stood guard over them.
He crouched near the young woman and made a quick assessment of his sire’s
injuries.
They were bad.
He checked around, and noticed the
bodies of the wolves surrounding them, a huge black beast lying not that far
away, its skull crushed and its side pierced by a spear.
He looked up to Freyja.
“Fenrir?” he murmured.
She nodded.
“The foul beast led his pack against your liege,” she answered in a low
tone. “If we had not arrived, they would have devoured him alive. ’Tis a miracle that he is still alive.”
“He will still die if we do not tend to
him, however,” Freyr noted grimly.
“That is why you are here, Lord Thor,”
Freyja added.
“Me?” Thor asked with surprise. “I am no
physician, my lady… We would need Master Mimir to tend to him…”
Tyr stood over him, holding Thor’s
hammer in both hands; he presented it to its owner.
“You may not be a physician, but is it not true your weapon is imbued
with the power to heal?”
“We realise you are more accustomed to
use it to strike at your enemies,” Freyja added, as Thor took his hammer, with
an unsure expression on his face.
“But it is time today to use it differently…
and show us if the legends are true.”
“They are.”
Sif had knelt beside Thor, and her confident tone caused him to look in
her direction. “I am sure they
are.” She put a comforting and
encouraging hand on his stooped shoulder; he noticed the sheer gentleness of her
gesture, and it filled him with assurance.
He nodded in Odin’s direction, took his
hammer by the handle and brought it closer to the wounded man.
“Take his hands, and put them on the
hammer’s head,” he instructed Sif and Freyja.
“And pray to all the gods that you know… that it will work…”
"It may be a pointless effort, my lords
and ladies," Freyr then remarked quietly.
He was standing just over Thor who raised an inquiring – and annoyed –
eye to him. Freyr wasn't even
looking down. His head was raised, and he was scrutinising their surroundings,
his eyes narrowed with attention.
There was a low, but still audible curse
from Heimdall, as in turn he discovered what was attracting Freyr's attention
that much; he unsheathed his sword.
Everyone looked around then.
From the side of the hills to the edge
of the gorge, they could see shadows of men, standing in waiting, all looking in
their direction. Dozens of them,
all around, seemingly unbothered by the strong winds and snow that were lashing
at them.
Just waiting patiently.
Slowly, Freyja rose to her feet, a grim
expression on her face.
"We are surrounded," she stated coldly.
"It looks like we fell into a trap,"
Freyr commented.
"All of you, form a circle," Freyja ordered. "Around Odin. We
must protect him, while Lord Thor tends to him." As the warriors obeyed her and unsheathed their swords and
prepared their bows - except for Thor who, as instructed, stayed near Odin – the
Vanaheim queen turned a determined expression toward the enemies that had
trapped them.
"Prepare to do battle," she announced
with grim determination.
* * *
“Adam!
Stop it!”
Rhapsody’s protests fell on deaf ears as
she watched, in complete dismay, the two men – best friends in life, almost
brothers – trying to kill each other in front of her eyes.
She could scarcely believe the change
which had operated within Blue; he was now totally possessed by the character he
was meant to play in this lethal game.
Nothing so far had led them to suspect – even imagine - that the events
would evolve in that direction… although truthfully, Rhapsody told herself, it
was an obvious conclusion for the Mysterons’ plan to succeed. Blue would never have willingly played
their game and killed Scarlet as they wanted him to do. The only way for that to be achieved was indeed to suppress
his real personality and to replace it with that of ‘Hodur’, the Viking prince he had now become, fighting with
ferocity and rage, fully intent on destroying the enemy he was now facing.
As for Scarlet – if his real persona had
emerged for a brief instant, when he had held her in his arms with a contrite
and confused look on his features, it had now totally dissolved once again, and
‘Balder’ had reappeared almost instantly under Hodur’s attack.
Both men were exchanging savage blows
with their swords, each delivered with fury and strength behind it, and parried
with equal force and determination.
No quarter was asked, and none given, and neither one of the opponents seemed
willing to surrender or retreat. It
would obviously be a fight that would end with the death of one of the two
warriors.
“Stop it, you two!
You will kill each other!”
Rhapsody had risen to her feet, and was following the two warriors, as
they moved around the clearing that served them as a battlefield. She had to find a way to end this fight,
before one of them got hurt – or killed.
Each blow made her heart pound with dreaded anticipation. It could only be a question of
time before one of the two men would make a mistake that his opponent would use
to his advantage.
“Adam!” she called again. It was as useless as when she had tried to call to Paul
earlier, she realised. They were
both ignoring her calls – but at the same time, she noticed, they were trying to
keep away from her. They were
obviously both ensuring that they did not accidentally hit her, during their
fight.
This spurred into her a sudden and
desperate move; the second she saw both opponents pushing each other away, she
quickly stepped into the middle, disregarding the danger she could put herself
in by acting that way, before they could rush to each other once again.
“Stop this madness!”
she demanded forcefully, extending her hands toward each of them. “You are playing their game! They want you to kill each other!”
If there was but a faint hesitation in
Scarlet’s eyes, there was none on Blue’s part; rushing forward, obviously
deciding that nothing would stand in his way, he brutally pushed her out of his
way; she fell roughly to the ground again.
Scarlet only gave her a glance, and the hesitation disappeared from his eyes.
With a roar of anger, he precipitated
himself once more on his opponent – it was impossible for Rhapsody to decide if
he wanted to avenge the harsh way she had been treated or if he just wanted to
get at Blue. Either way, the result
was the same: he narrowly avoided
the blade of Blue’s sword as it slashed over his head and, forgetful of his own
weapon that he let drop at the last possible second, he violently tackled Blue
and seized him with both arms around his midsection.
They both tumbled down to the ground.
The strategy worked and gave him the advantage.
“No…!”
Eyes wide with horror, Rhapsody saw Scarlet, now kneeling over Blue, unsheathing
his dagger; with his free hand, he was keeping Blue’s armed hand down under his
knee, and was preparing to stab him in the chest. The blond man caught his wrist as he struck, and kept it away
from its target.
Both men struggled for brief seconds,
trying to break away. Rhapsody got
to her feet again and swiftly approached, again with the intention of stopping
the fight. That was when Blue finally jerked his
knee up and caught Scarlet in the groin, making him flinch; then Blue let go of
his sword to use his now free hand to get a good grip on Scarlet, and forced him
to roll over. They both hit
Rhapsody, who was too close to avoid them, and knocked her to the ground once
more; her head hit a root, half-stunning her.
For a brief instant, Scarlet looked in her direction, with obvious concern. It was
his downfall.
Now sitting with all his weight on
Scarlet’s stomach, Blue took advantage of his position and violently hit his
opponent on his exposed temple with his free fist, not letting go of the hand
that was still holding the dagger.
The rage within Blue, his desire to destroy his adversary, was such that he
didn’t hold back. It was with intense satisfaction that he heard the grunt of
pain coming from Scarlet’s lips and saw him wince.
With a cruel smile, Blue grabbed a rock lying on the ground nearby and raised
it. Scarlet did try to avoid it, but he was
just a second too late. The rock
hit him just over the cheekbone; stunned, he fell back, finally letting go of
his dagger.
Blue picked the weapon and looked at it
intensely. A dagger was not enough to finish Balder off – it would only stop him
temporarily. He glanced around, and
his eyes fell on a piece of dead branch lying just within reach; one end of it
was shaped like a jagged, sharp stake…
A piece of yew wood – Balder’s only weakness against death itself…
Blue swiftly picked up the piece of
wood. He was still pinning Scarlet down with
his weight, gripping his throat and pushing his head back. His opponent, still stunned, was now at his mercy, defenceless
against the killing blow. With a
roar of victory, Blue raised his arm high in the air, the jagged point aimed at
his enemy, ready to strike a forceful blow.
“ADAM!
DON’T DO IT!”
Coming from nowhere – or so it seemed to
Blue – Rhapsody, who had regained her senses just in time to see the tragedy
about to unfold, suddenly appeared nearby, shouting with all the strength of her
lungs. The stake went down like a flash…
And suddenly stopped, a inch away from Scarlet’s throat.
Panting hard, Blue – Hodur - was looking
down with blazing eyes at the helpless man sprawled underneath him. Balder – his brother… his enemy. The man he was fated to kill… The stake was pricking his neck and
Hodur would need to give only a strong shove to thrust it into his throat and
kill him – definitely. He blinked
in annoyance, faced with his own hesitation.
What was he waiting for?
Don’t do it…
The voice was coming from inside his
head now; a man’s voice this time – his own voice, calling to him, attempting to
tell him something. He grunted,
trying to ignore that voice, struggling to push it away into the recesses of his
mind. His hand holding the stake was
trembling, as if fighting with a life of its own to go down and finish the job
started.
DON’T do it…
“Adam…”
The whisper was not from inside – but nearby again.
A female voice… He glanced
briefly to his side. Standing there
was the Valkyrie princess he was trying to protect… Nanna…
No… Nanna was not her name…
Rhapsody…
She knelt beside him, hesitant to touch
him, almost afraid that even the slightest contact would break the spell that
seemed to have frozen him. She could see he was battling with himself, a part of
him – Hodur – wanting nothing more than to kill Balder, while the other – Adam – would not let him.
“Adam, do you hear me?” she said very
quietly. “Do not play their game, Adam... Do not let them win…”
Them… Hodur repeated inwardly. The
enemies of all humankind. Those who wanted to destroy them all, to destroy the
world… and who were planning to start with
Balder…
The Ice Giants…
No, not the Ice Giants…
Those ‘others’…
A moan coming from Balder made him look
down; he saw his brother slowly recovering, shaking his head from side to side.
Hodur’s hand trembled again. He should kill him while he still had the chance.
No… you can’t kill him… He’s your… He’s your…
Friend.
Paul… Oh no…
God… I came so close…
Hodur closed his eyes and exhaled
sharply; his trembling hand suddenly let go of the stake, as if it were a
branding iron, and it fell to the ground.
He moved off from Balder and crawled on hands and knees to a small spring he
could see three feet away from him.
When he reached for the so-desired and needed water, his fingers only grazed an
ice-covered surface. He grunted
with annoyance and hit it once with his closed fist.
The ice was thin enough, and he was able to take a handful of the water running
underneath. It was very cold, and
he drank from his hand, greedily, before splashing his face, in an attempt to
regain his senses.
Crouched down over the spring, he looked
down with glazed eyes at the image the disturbed and dark surface of the water
was returning to him; bushy beard, unkempt hair, falling freely all around his
face… Only his eyes were familiar, in the image of this stranger reflected
in the troubled water. He frowned
deeply, as the undulations he had caused slowly dissipated…
… And the image changed. He finally recognised his own face, looking back at him. No beard, shorter hair, surmounting a
very pale, confused and almost sick-looking face.
Still crouching by the spring, Blue
hugged himself with his arms, and shivered, thinking of what he had just
experienced.
“Adam, are you all right?”
Rhapsody was next to him again, and was
wrapping her arms around his shoulders; she could see the distress on his face –
the face of the Adam she knew, who had apparently succeeded in fighting off the
influence of the game to the point of regaining his whole persona. Why he had been able to do it, she could
only imagine.
That would be something to think about
later on…
“You’ve done it, Adam. You beat them…”
Blue shuddered, and shook his head; he
looked like a man in shock. “I nearly didn’t, Dianne…” He swallowed hard. “Now I
know how it is for them - the total
freedom… the absence of any restraint…
only the desire to give in to your most basic and instinctive needs… Then that hunger for battle and for
blood… The berserker rage in me… It
was so strong… I nearly killed him…
I wanted so much to kill him.”
“You were not in control,” Rhapsody
remarked. “You were not responsible.”
Blue shook his head again. “None of them are – I’ve only been able to fight this because
I…” He stopped, unsure. “… I don’t know, maybe it was because I
already had the knowledge that we were living in a fantasy world – that nothing
was real, least of all the role I was playing.”
Rhapsody nodded in understanding. “They
underestimated you. You’ve proved
stronger than the game programming.
You’ve won, Captain Blue.”
“Yeah…” he murmured.
“But it’s only the program I beat, so it would seem. We are still stuck here.”
Rhapsody didn’t have time to provide an
answer as, right at this moment, a fully conscious Scarlet appeared in her line
of vision, standing behind them, a sword in each hand.
Suddenly aware of his presence, Blue reacted too slowly, and couldn’t
avoid the kick that pushed him off-balance.
He fell on his back, nearly between Rhapsody’s arms, barely avoiding
sprawling into the spring. When he
tried to get back up, it was to be stopped by
the tip of Scarlet’s sword – he had extended his right arm and was
pointing it under Blue’s throat.
Leaning on his forearms, the blond man looked up, to see the sheer cold
determination in his friend’s eye.
He was obviously still Balder.
Not again…
“You two are controlled by the Ice
Giants,” Scarlet accused them sombrely.
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Rhapsody
answered. She was kneeling beside Blue, keeping
him half-risen, but like him,
didn’t dare move a muscle.
“She’s
right, Paul,” Blue said in turn. “We’re not.
But you most certainly are.
You, and everyone else. She and I… we’re the only people here who are not
being controlled.”
Scarlet’s brow furrowed. “Why do you keep calling me that?” he grumbled.
“It’s your name, Paul,” Rhapsody said.
“Try to remember… Please, you have to break free.
Don’t you remember earlier?
You called me ‘Dianne’. That’s
my name.”
He grunted, dismissing the assertion
with a shake of his dark head. “You
are speaking nonsense…”
“No, we are speaking the truth,” Blue
replied. He made an attempt to rise, but Scarlet
defensively moved the tip of the sword closer to his throat, making him stop in
his tracks.
His features grim, Scarlet threw the
other sword onto the ground next to his downed opponent.
"You spared my life earlier when I was
at your mercy. Now I am doing you the same courtesy.
Pick up your sword and get up.
We have a fight to finish."
"No," Blue answered, slightly shaking
his head.
Scarlet took a step forward, pressing
the tip of the sword even closer.
"Pick up your sword and get on your feet," he seethed.
"No," Blue repeated in a firm voice. "I won't fight you. Dianne was right earlier, don't you see?
We would be playing the Mysterons' game.
I won't do that."
"I will kill you where you are if you
don't defend yourself!"
"Then you will have to do it." Blue's
tone was calm and resolved, as was the expression on his face, as he looked
Scarlet squarely in the eyes.
"Because I won't be picking up that sword and I won't be fighting you – and run
the risk of killing you. If you
want to kill me, go ahead. I won't
do anything to stop you."
Scarlet seemed to ponder his words, but
was still obviously reluctant to believe him.
He took another step forward, and Blue felt the blade pricking his chin. Although apprehensive that his friend
would thrust the sword forward and plunge it into his throat, Blue kept his head
high, not lowering his gaze from Scarlet's, burning beads of salty sweat falling
into his eyes.
Scarlet broke eye contact for a brief
instant, to glance in Rhapsody's direction; she was looking at him expectantly,
still not daring to move, her hand resting on Blue's shoulder. Her eyes were telling of her inner apprehension.
Suddenly making his decision, Scarlet
swiftly removed the sword from Blue's throat and extended his free hand to him;
he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him a little roughly to his feet, before
the blond man could even sigh in relief.
"I must be as mad as the both of you to
even listen to what you have to say," Scarlet grumbled in an irate tone,
frowning deeply.
Blue finally let out a deep breath, and
grinned, as Rhapsody, a now relaxed smile on her lips, was slowly getting to her
feet and coming to stand by him, to look at Scarlet with an approving expression
on her features.
"Thanks for not killing me," Blue said
ruefully, squeezing Scarlet's hand, which was still holding his.
"Would I kill my own brother?" Scarlet's
tone was abrupt, but there was obviously more feeling hiding behind it. He looked at Rhapsody, and then at Blue.
He still had trouble keeping the doubts and resentment out of his mind.
"Tell me about these 'Mysterons'," he asked, trying to hide his
awkwardness, and not daring to look into Blue's eyes, for fear the blond man
would detect something was wrong within him.
"Well, it's like this, you see… We are…"
Scarlet suddenly interrupted Blue, well
before he was able to actually start his explanation; his eyes, hovering just
over the taller man’s shoulder, had detected something behind him in the
distance, a number of yards away – the silhouette of a man dressed in black,
standing just atop the slope – bending a bow in their direction.
Scarlet acted quickly and pushed Blue aside, stepping in front of him and
Rhapsody and presented himself as a shield, his arms extended.
"NO!!!"
There was a whistling sound, and a dull
thud as the released arrow struck Scarlet right in the chest; he grunted in pain
and fell backward – right into Blue’s arms.
"Oh no…" Blue murmured. This can’t be happening… He heard Rhapsody's fearful gasp, as
he held on to Scarlet, stopping his fall to the ground. He quickly scanned the area, from where the arrow seemed to
come – and saw the dark man standing on the hill
just in front of them, his bow in his hand.
"Loki," Scarlet murmured, clenching his
teeth.
Black…
"Let's get to cover!" Blue ordered.
He and Rhapsody pulled Scarlet behind
one of Yggdrasil’s huge roots, covered by thick bushes of mistletoe. Then, taking the wounded man under the
arms, they gently lowered him down, causing him to wince and moan in pain. Still conscious, Scarlet was looking
down at the arrow protruding from his chest, with some kind of astonishment in
his eyes. He grabbed the arrow in his trembling hand, and snapped it in two, before anyone was able to stop it.
"Yew," he whispered in a low tone, looking at the piece he was now holding, "freshly cut from a tree…"
His fingers opened tiredly and let go of the shaft that Blue took from his hand
to examine. Scarlet leaned back, and blinked his
eyes to clear them of the sweat falling from his brow, before looking up at
Rhapsody who was gently putting his head on her knees.
He could see her pale face staring down at him. "You were telling the
truth earlier… about Loki…"
"Did you still have any doubt, you
idiot?" Her words were harsher than
her gentle tone, which was displaying a concern he had no trouble discerning.
"That's where he disappeared to after he
left you here," Blue said, addressing Rhapsody. "He was making this arrow with a
twig – while waiting for Paul to show up."
"It missed the heart," Rhapsody realised
with some hope, carefully checking the injury.
"Yeah, but this stuff seems like poison
to him," Blue retorted, noticing
Scarlet’s pale features and his sweat-covered brow. He removed his fur cape to cover Scarlet with it, keeping clear of the piece of shaft
still stuck in his chest.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"Not… good," Scarlet answered tiredly. He was fighting to keep his eyes open
and not succumb to the darkness threatening to surround him. Rhapsody took his hand into hers and
brought it to her lips, to gently kiss the fingers.
"Fight it off, please," she told him
with a catch in her voice. "We’ll
help you…”
"Hang on," Blue said in turn, patting
Scarlet’s shoulder encouragingly.
He glanced around and saw one of the swords lying nearby; then his attention
returned to the top of the slope where he had seen Black standing. There was no-one there at the moment;
but quite probably, he was on the other side now – there were no traces in the
snow indicating he had walked down in their direction.
A blaze of anger passed into Blue's eyes
as a cold determination came to him, and he picked up the sword.
"Stay with him," he told Rhapsody, "and wait for me…"
"Where are you going?" Rhapsody asked.
"To get Black…
Loki," he added for Scarlet's benefit. "If there is someone who can tell us how to escape
from here, it's him. And I fully
intend to make him tell us."
"And if he refuses?" Rhapsody asked.
There was a short silence from Blue,
before he finally answered. "Then
I'll make damn sure that if we are to die, he will die with us."
He was about to get up, when Scarlet
swiftly caught his arm; his grip still had enough strength to hold down Blue,
who turned an inquiring look toward him.
"Loki is a dangerous foe to face,"
Scarlet said, with urgency. "I am
not worth being killed for…" He
nodded toward Rhapsody. "Take her
with you and escape… wherever you
have to go. Do not risk your life
needlessly."
"Let me decide if you are worth risking
my life for or not," Blue retorted.
"As it is – I strongly disagree with what you said. You might not be yourself right now, but
you're still my best friend – and I know you would do the same for me, if the
situation was reversed."
"Aye," Scarlet croaked, wincing against
a tingle of pain. "Maybe I would.
Maybe…"
Blue glanced in concern at Rhapsody;
Scarlet's voice was growing weaker by the second.
He could see in the young woman's face that she was wondering the same thing as
he was: if Scarlet were to die from
that arrow wound here, would he die for real this time, in the real world? And would the 'Prophecy' accomplish
itself and all of them follow him in death?
"Beside," Blue added, seeking to give
some encouragement to the fallen warrior, "even if I did follow your advice and
take Dianne – Nanna – away from you…
I don't think she would follow willingly."
He smiled sadly. "I might be
in even greater danger than facing Loki." He squeezed Scarlet's hand reassuringly, before getting to
his feet. "Wait for me, both of you."
The next second, he was gone, rounding
the enormous root behind which they were hiding.
Scarlet turned an enquiring look toward Rhapsody.
"So… you still have feelings for me?" he
asked.
She nodded her head, almost dejected by
his question. "Of course I do. They've never changed. I can't believe you even doubted
it for one second – and that you thought I could be interested in any
other man than you."
"Aye…" he whispered, sadness passing
into his eyes. "Then I must be as
stupid as you implied earlier…"
His teeth were chattering, and his eyes threatening to close again. "I am so cold…"
Rhapsody squeezed his hand. "Listen to me," she said urgently, "you will not
give up on me, do you hear? I
don't want you to fall asleep… You
will stay
with me… I know this is not the first time you died, but this time… this time might be different. You might not come back."
"I do know that…" he slurred tiredly.
"Then you will fight, okay? Fight as
hard as you always do. Not only for
me, but for everyone else.
If you die, we might all die too.
Do you understand?"
"I…
understand." Scarlet
blinked, trying to keep focus on the voice calling to him. "I will… try my best…”
But despite the promise of his words,
Rhapsody could also hear – and see -
that he was weakening very fast.
He was dying.
And she wondered with deep concern and sorrow if he would hold long
enough for Captain Blue to get to Captain Black – and find a way to get them all
out of the game and to safety.
* * *
Her brows puckered with concern, Harmony
Angel was watching as Captain Scarlet thrashed about inside of his watery
prison, more and more violently as the seconds were passing by. The data on the computer screen had gone wild, but the vitals
were still strong, if a little erratic, with breathing rate and heartbeat far
higher than they should have been.
And then suddenly, the data changed, and the vitals
started going down; The numbers on
the screen went from green to red, either increasing or decreasing, while the
heartbeat definitely slowed down.
Harmony glanced at the tank, to see that Scarlet, while still fighting
against his bonds, was growing increasingly weaker.
Something is definitely up,
Harmony thought.
Whether it was good or bad, she couldn’t say for sure, as she was quite
unable to completely read the data on the computer. She needed to inform Fawn, and tell him about this. He might know what it meant…
“Harmony Angel to Doctor Fawn… There is development in R&D concerning
Captain Scarlet…”
As she started making her report to Fawn, she failed to
notice the door sliding silently open behind her – to let a quiet shadow slip
inside the room and take cover behind a bank of computerised instruments…
* * *
Blue climbed the hill as fast as he
could, sinking with each step almost knee-deep in snow.
He could see no trace of Loki – Captain Black – as far as eyes could see. He suspected that his target could be
hiding just the other side of the hill, lying in the snow, getting ready to
stand and to bend his bow again – and to shoot straight at his upcoming pursuer. In other circumstances, that could have
worried Blue, but he figured that, considering the thickness of the snow, Black
would have to lose precious seconds to get his footing back, after standing up,
and be able to shoot accurately – which would give Blue time enough to plunge
down to safety, and avoid the shot.
He could also be lying in wait on the
other side, until I show up,
Blue reflected.
And then I’ll be an easier target for him.
It was very carefully that he crawled
the last yards leading to the top of the hill; but when he reached his
destination, it was to discover that Black was not on the other side.
Not in reach, anyway…
The only sign that Black had been there
was traces in the deep snow, first of a man, leading to larger ones, that seemed
to have been left by a horse…
Raising his head in the direction they
were heading, Blue could see the man on his mount, riding
away, toward a nearby hill - and too far for him to reach him on foot.
Blue got to his feet and let out a
frustrated cry. He couldn’t believe
that his enemy had escaped him…
… And with him, the chance they might
have of leaving this God-forsaken place was also gone.
Suddenly, from nearby, a voice, with a
mocking sound to it, rose over the whistling wind.
"The plot thickens, don't you think?"
Blue turned on his heels; standing just
a few yards from him was Burgundy, looking at him with a sardonic smile on his
lips, his arms crossed on his chest.
The man had obviously been lying in the snow, out of view, and had just waited
for this moment to stand and show himself.
Upon seeing him, Blue saw red, and
jumped at him with fury. Burgundy
didn’t even make a move to escape, until Blue reached him.
"YOU…
Bastard!" Blue took Burgundy
by his collar and pulled him up with a single hand, nearly lifting him off his feet, his
anger was giving him so much strength.
He was unable to wipe the smirk off the man's face.
"Where is Captain Black going?!" Blue shouted into Burgundy's face, holding him so tight his knuckles were completely white.
"Calm yourself, Captain," Burgundy
advised in a remarkably calm tone, his voice devoid of the lilting accent common
to all the other participants of the game.
“And please, excuse Captain
Black. He has been… called away on
a mission.”
"I knew it!" Blue hissed, pushing
Burgundy away from him. "You were
playing it all along. You’re
just like Rhapsody and me. You
are yourself in these settings – you are not ‘Vali’."
"Did you ever doubt it?" Burgundy inquired. “Surely, Rhapsody
must have told you about my involvement in her kidnapping?”
“She did, yes,” Blue continued, pointing
an accusing finger at Burgundy.
“And Black… he’s like us too, of course. He never was Loki. Always has been Captain Black, all
along… Planning, scheming… following the plan of his masters – the
plan of the Mysterons.”
“Of
course,” Burgundy answered simply.
“And you came to participate in this
game,” Blue realised, “just to give
Black a helping hand.”
“Yes,” Burgundy admitted again. “In the guise of the warrior Vali… and as you probably know by now,
Captain…”
Burgundy suddenly unsheathed the sword
by his side and slashed the air in Blue’s direction; anticipating his move, Blue
took a step back, avoiding the blade, and pushed it aside with his own sword.
“…‘Vali’ is destined to kill ‘Hodur’,”
Burgundy continued, putting himself on guard, a thin smile appearing on his
lips. “It will be my pleasure to fulfil this…
‘Prophecy’.”
Blue presented his sword, holding it with two hands, his face grim with determination. “You’ll find I am not as easy to kill as you imagine, Lieutenant,” he announced defiantly.
“Don’t over-estimate yourself, Captain,”
Burgundy said with a chuckle. “As
you probably know – I’m quite proficient with a sword.
I’ve been practicing fencing a lot these last few years, when I was human – even
with Rhapsody Angel – and Captain Scarlet, who are quite the experts
themselves.” He smirked. “I do not
believe I ever saw you in the fencing hall, Captain Blue…”
Blue put himself on guard, not even
deigning to answer Burgundy’s taunting.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Black, stopping on top of the other
hill, and standing there, his back turned on them.
He was drawn out of his temporary
distraction, when Burgundy came into attack…
and he had to parry, rather clumsily, the next strike against him.
He would need to keep his mind on the
fight, if he wanted to survive it…
* * *
"What are they waiting for to attack?"
Standing in a circle around the wounded
Odin, their weapons at the ready, Aesir and Vanir warriors were looking
expectantly at the multitude of armed men surrounding them in a vast, but close
ring from which they knew there was no escape.
None of their foes had made a single move so far; they indeed seemed to be
waiting… for what exactly, the
defenders would not be able to say.
"We are at their mercy," Freyr said in
answer to Heimdall's remark. "They
can take all the time they want…”
"They just want for us to sweat then?" Sif said between her teeth.
Tyr spat on the ground meaningfully. "It is too cold to sweat," he remarked,
with a near-chuckle. "I reckon they
are simply waiting for a signal from their leader."
Freyr nodded his assent. "I think you are right.
They are Svartalfheim men.
Unable to think for themselves."
"Ice Giants' minions," Freyja noted. "Then the Ice Giants are behind this…"
"Of course they are, my queen…" Freyr
said. "They used Vali to lead Lord
Odin into a trap – they probably orchestrated the wolves’ attack."
"Are you saying that Vali was the
instrument of the Ice Giants?"
Heimdall asked with a growl. "That he himself led our liege here and left him to
die?"
" 'Twould seem so, brave Heimdall. You know that it is not beneath the Ice
Giants to use mere mortals to do their bidding," Freyja remarked. "He probably lied to Balder as well,
concerning Hodur and Nanna… And we
still don't know what happened to those two – or to Balder, for that matter."
"I smell Loki's doing in all this," spat
Heimdall.
"And you would probably be right at
that," Tyr remarked. "It would be
like the villain to manipulate all of us like that…
All for his masters’ benefit.”
At this point, Thor got to his feet,
leaving Odin’s side, and stood between Freyr and Sif, holding his hammer firmly
in his hands.
“How is Lord Odin?” Freyja asked him.
He shook his head grimly. “I did all I could for him,” he answered. “I believe I was able to buy him a
little time – but whether he lives or dies now will depend on him.”
“And on them,” Sif added, nodding
towards the line of warriors surrounding him.
“Them, as well,”
Thor agreed. He addressed a
faint smile to Sif. “ ’Twill be an
honour, my lady, to fight beside you.”
She answered only with a smile – a faint, but genuine smile that went
right to his heart. He looked
around and nodded to everyone, Vanir and Aesir alike, surrounding him. “To fight beside all of you,” he added
quietly. “And to die by your side.”
“Aye,” Freyr added with a grim smile. “We will surely die, but we will take
many of our enemies with us to the doors of Hel…”
There were approving murmurs all around.
Up on the hill surmounting the scene,
they saw a lonely, dark figure appear on a horse; they tensed suddenly,
realising that the leader of their foes had arrived.
Now the attack against them was imminent.
Heimdall’s sharp gaze did not leave the
lone rider for one instant. He
watched as the rider stepped down from his mount to stand very casually beside
it, looking in their direction.
Heimdall narrowed his eyes at the newcomer.
He thought he recognised…
His eyes grew wide.
“Loki…” he whispered under his breath.
And all of a sudden, pure rage took hold
of him, and a roar emerged from his throat, as he lunged forward, holding his
spear for the attack.
“LOKI!!!!!!”
His unexpected action took everyone by
surprise, and though many shouts called for him to come back, he didn’t hear
them. He was running, directly towards the man
standing on that hill…
Beyond the enemy line – which had
started moving forward.
Behind him, the rest of the Aesir and
Vanir readied themselves to dearly defend their lives.
* * *
Doctor Fawn blew a deep sigh as he
checked once again the data displayed on the control panel over Colonel White’s
head. The vitals had stabilised to a normal
rate. He checked the pulse in his
patient’s wrist just to make sure; it was beating regularly, if a little slower
than usual. The breathing was easy
and regular too.
“You must have an iron-cast heart,
Charles,” he muttered, getting to his feet.
“You’re out of danger – at least, for now,” he added inwardly. “If only I knew what’s going on in that
game right now…”
He turned his attention to the
comm.link, thinking that he could safely concentrate on other matters. He had to check on Scarlet now – the latest report from
Harmony, a few minutes ago, was
causing him some concern.
“Harmony, how is Captain Scarlet now?”
“He has calmed down considerably,
Doctor,”
the voice of the Chinese Angel
announced. “All the
readings are lower.”
“Vitals?” Fawn asked with a frown.
“For now – lower than when I previously
called you. But still within normal
range. Although only just.”
“I don’t like it,”
Fawn muttered. “Colonel
White is out of danger. I’m on my
way to check on Scarlet, now.”
“S.I.G.”
“Symphony?” Fawn called again.
There was no answer from the comm. Fawn’s brows furrowed. It had been some time since he had heard
from Symphony. He went to the comm.
controls to check on them.
“Symphony, do you hear me?”
There was still no answer; Fawn realised
that the contact with the room where Symphony was standing guard over Rhapsody
and Captain Blue – and Bromwell’s instruments – had been cut from the other end.
Why would Symphony do that?
the
doctor asked himself in wonder.
A thought suddenly came to his mind.
Oh no…
And what if…? Bromwell? Could I have been wrong?
His mind raced.
If he had made a mistake,
then something might have happened to Symphony – and that would not be
the only problem, he realised.
He pressed the comm.link button for a
direct access to the R&D room where Harmony was watching Scarlet.
“Harmony, I might be delayed a bit,” he
informed her.
“Something still wrong with Colonel
White, Doctor?”
Harmony asked with concern.
He hesitated, wondering if he should
tell her. He decided against it. Someone might be monitoring their
radio exchange. “I’ll explain
later,” he answered briefly. “Just
keep close to Scarlet, until I arrive.”
He barely waited for her answer and
strode out of the Room of Sleep, directing his steps towards the sickbay
reception desk – behind which he knew he would find something of which he might
have need.
* * *
From his vantage point on the hill, Captain Black had a perfect view of all the dramas unfolding around him, and was still at a safe distance not to be implicated in any of the action.
On the North side of the hill, just
under the shadow of the huge tree Yggdrasil, he could see Rhapsody Angel tending
to a dying Captain Scarlet, while a short distance from there, Captain Blue and
Lieutenant Burgundy were locked in a furious battle that could only end with
death for one of them – it was a duel that, obviously, the more expert Burgundy
was winning.
Towards the South, just before the gorge leading to the edge of Fenrir’s Forest, there were the Aesir and Vanir defenders, grouped around a fallen Odin, and besieged by Svartalfheim warriors.
Soon, it will all be over, he realised,
and the Mysterons would have won this round – perhaps, a very important round,
that could decide the outcome of the War of Nerves, if the Spectrum senior staff
was wiped out, and Earth left without sufficient defence.
Somehow, that thought didn’t trigger any particular feelings within Captain Black – no satisfaction, or elation of any kind for a job well-done. If anything, the little part of himself that was still human, hidden in the far recesses of his mind, could only feel sorrow and despair over the doomed fate of old friends and colleagues. And also – a bit of selfish hope that his masters would perhaps – finally – permit him a little rest now – or even free him?
His conscience
would never truly allow him to be free, even if they did let him go –
which he knew would never happen, and somehow that was his punishment for all
these unspeakable acts they forced him to do…
That flicker of a thought disappeared from his mind as quickly as it came, and Black turned cold, unfeeling eyes towards the scene unfolding not far from the opening of the gorge. As if he had given a mute message, the Svartalfheim men slowly started to move forward, towards the trapped men and women they were surrounding.
Black saw one of the defenders peel off
from the defence line and charge forward towards the attackers, a spear in his
hands. He narrowed his eyes, wondering which
one it could be, that had seemingly decided to be the first to die…
It didn't really matter; they were all
condemned anyway.
They would all die shortly.
* * *
For the nth time, Blue parried
Burgundy’s new attack; it was obvious the man had not lied earlier, and that he
really had a good knowledge of fencing – far better than Blue’s.
So far, Blue had succeeded in keeping
clear of the sharp blade – but he was growing frustrated at not being able to
hit his opponent, and his moves were clumsy and unexpected. That frustration was wearing him out, and causing him to make
mistakes… He realised it, as soon as the tip of Burgundy’s sword cut through his
shirt, grazing the flesh underneath, and drawing blood. Blue slashed his weapon up, forcing his
opponent away and took a step back himself, carefully keeping clear of another
attack.
“You are growing weaker, Captain Blue,”
Burgundy taunted him. “Your earlier
battle with Captain Scarlet has tired you out…
and you’re moving too heavily – without any style.” He pointed his sword toward Blue. “I just need to be patient and I’ll have you. I have control of the fight, you see…”
“You think you have!” Blue growled,
still keeping his distance and trying to gain some time to get his breath back.
“That’s your mistake, Burgundy. You
and Black never were in control of this game…
My colleagues proved too… ‘unstable’ for you to control. Their actions – and reactions – were too unpredictable,
right?” He blocked a new attack
from Burgundy and tried one in turn, but his sword was easily pushed aside. He stepped back again.
“There were many imponderables,
granted,” Burgundy sighed. “Despite
Mister Bromwell’s claims that his plan was perfect.
That’s why we had to take direct action…
to guide your colleagues – and take full advantage of their unrestrained,
basest… ‘human’ instincts.”
“Like
putting in Scarlet’s – Balder’s - mind, those suspicions that led him to
mistrust Rhapsody and me,” Blue spat.
Furious at that thought, he attacked again, but Burgundy parried easily and
pushed him off.
“Nice touch, wasn’t it?” Burgundy chuckled.
“We had to give you a pivotal role in that… Wagnerian saga, Captain. Pitting you against your partner… It was I who pointed him
in the right direction – leading him here to find Rhapsody and yourself in what
would look to him like a ‘compromising situation’. Oh… Didn’t you
know? It was you all along we wanted to follow Captain Black
here. Never Scarlet.”
“I should have realised,” Blue said. “The note… It was signed ‘Black’. Not ‘Loki’. Balder would never have
known who Black was. So it was
addressed to me.”
“Exactly.
It was a simple matter, you see, to prepare the ground. Pushing Scarlet and you to fight... We at least hoped
that one of you would kill the other…” Burgundy sighed.
“We even arranged for you to be possessed by… ‘Hodur’s persona’, so to
speak, so you would fight more ferociously.”
“So you did…” Blue noted grimly. “But you failed! I didn’t kill Scarlet –
and he didn’t kill me.”
“That’s why we had our back-up plan,
Captain.” Burgundy lunged forward, wildly striking
at his opponent. Surprised by the
sudden fierceness of his attack, Blue could only parry, as best as he could, to
avoid being cut in two. He quickly
back-peddled in the snow, and finally managed to push Burgundy’s blade off,
stopping the assault. He had the
impression that his opponent had allowed him this small respite, when he heard
him laugh.
Burgundy stepped back, looking at Blue,
whose left hand had now let go of the handle of the sword; he was now keeping
the blade down, as if his right arm was growing tired of holding it up. The Mysteronised agent smiled wickedly,
seeing his victory so close.
“Soon, Captain Scarlet will die from
that arrow wound Captain Black inflicted on him – and then, everyone else will
die too. As we speak now, your entire senior
staff is about to be slaughtered in an ambush… they have no hope of escaping. And I, Captain, will have the
honour of killing you, as it was meant to be – exactly according to legend.”
As he said these words, he lunged
forward anew, even more furiously than he had before.
But this time, Blue was ready, as he had studied Burgundy’s previous attack
carefully. He sidestepped, and
leaned down to avoid the sharp blade, which slashed the air just over his head –
he was sure he lost a lock of hair in the process. But he had no time to waste
over that thought; the hand that had previously let go of the sword was now
firmly holding his dagger, that he had taken from his belt and kept out of view
from his opponent until now. Burgundy’s belly was now exposed, just within
reach. Without any hesitation, Blue
plunged the dagger into it with great force.
Burgundy gasped, as the blade sank deep
into his flesh. His advance was
automatically stopped, and he nearly leaned over Blue’s shoulder, as the latter
fiercely pushed the knife up and twisted it.
Burgundy’s sword fell harmlessly from his hands and planted itself in the
snow behind Blue’s feet.
With disgust, Blue pushed Burgundy off
him and the Mysteronised agent fell onto his back in the snow, like a cut tree. His eyes wide open with obvious
surprise, he looked down at the knife handle, protruding from his belly - then up to the grim-looking Captain
Blue, who was standing over him, his sword in his hand.
“H-how…?”
Burgundy said with a croak.
Blood started pouring from the corners of his mouth. He coughed.
“I was supposed to win…”
“You changed the story, Burgundy,” Blue told him quietly, as he regained his breath. “You weren’t fighting a blind Hodur, powerless to fight and guilt-ridden because he had caused the death of his own brother. On the contrary – Hodur was now a man determined to get revenge upon those responsible for his brother’s fatal injury. The conclusion is therefore different.” He raised his sword, tip down toward the man’s chest. “Sorry – but I’m afraid you lose.” Without even blinking an eyelid, he stoically plunged the sword into Burgundy’s heart.
* * *
Lieutenant Burgundy sat up straight onto
his bunk, suddenly gasping for air; Bromwell raised his head over the screen of
his computer, looking at the man’s reaction with obvious disbelief. He saw Burgundy’s hands flying to his
throat, his fingers twisted as he clutched desperately for much-needed air, and
his eyes wide. Then, as suddenly as
he had risen from the bunk, he fell down on his back, with a gurgling, agonising
sound.
Bromwell quickly left his station and
strode towards the bunk of his accomplice; he looked at him, noticed his
wide-open mouth and glassy eyes, and knelt down, to check the pulse in his neck. There was none.
“No,” Bromwell murmured, shaking his
head. “It can’t be possible…” He shook his accomplice, as if expecting
to be able to wake him up. “It
can’t be possible!” he shouted. “How can you let yourself be killed, you
idiot?! It was you who was
supposed to kill him – not the other way around!”
Bromwell got to his feet, and looked
fiercely towards Blue, who, after agitating himself so much on his bunk over the
past few minutes, seemed now to be
resting quietly. “It looks it’ll be
for me to do it, then,” he muttered, with a murderous glow in his eyes.
He took his gun from his belt and
levelled it at Blue. At the same
moment, he heard a groan, that made him stop.
He watched as, from between Blue’s and Rhapsody’s bunks, Symphony Angel was
stirring, and starting to come to.
Still half-stunned, she raised herself into a sitting position, holding herself
upright against the side of her fiancé’s bunk. There was blood pouring from the
injury on the side of her head, and she obviously looked concussed, as she
raised confused eyes in the Mysteronised agent’s direction. He smirked evilly.
“You’re just in time, Symphony Angel,”
he said in an affable enough tone.
“You will join your lover in death – in just a few seconds.”
He cocked the hammer of his gun.
“Don’t thank me… I’ll be
more than happy to oblige…”
* * *
Captain Black was still standing on the hill, monitoring with attention the battle taking place below his feet. The first men from Svartalfheim had fallen against the defence of the Aesir warriors, who were fighting them off with swords, spears and arrows, with a desperation such that, temporarily, they seemed to have been given a slight advantage. The crazy man who had broken from their defence line earlier had disappeared into the waves of advancing warriors, and Black had not been able to find him again in all the confusion that followed.
Black was figuring out that the Spectrum
senior staff turned Aesir warriors would not be able to repel their enemies'
attacks for very much longer and that it would soon be finished.
That's when he
sensed
it.
A strong,
mute signal, that announced Lieutenant Burgundy's death
and made him turn suddenly on his heels. An improbable sight offered itself to his view.
He watched,
as a victorious Captain Blue, his sword in his hand, was standing over his
vanquished foe lying in the middle of blood-reddened snow.
Impossible!
thought Black, as a first faint
sign of emotion passed through his normally unaffected features. Burgundy had the advantage over his
adversary – the odds were all in his favour – and he had been killed by the
inexpert Blue!? How could that have
happened?
He saw Blue
turning his attention to him, and staring at him defiantly. Black's jaw tightened, as his hand reached for the bow and
quiver of arrows hanging from the saddle of his horse. Blue was still at a good distance from him, and it would take
time for him to run in this direction, if ever he would attempt to do so. But Black didn't have any intention of
giving him that time; it didn't matter that Burgundy had failed. Since it had to come down to it,
he
would have to do the job himself.
He didn't
even have the time to put the arrow into the string and bend the bow.
He felt a sudden, sharp pain tear into
him, as he was brutally struck from behind; he gave but a faint grunt, and
staggered on his feet under the violent impact.
Eyes widened in shock, he looked down at himself…
And saw the
point of a spear covered with blood –
his
blood – emerging from his
mid-section.
What the…?
With a
grunting effort, he stumbled forward and gave a sharp pull, extracting himself
from the weapon that had impaled him.
His hands instinctively went to cover the large wound, but he could barely stop
it from bleeding. He was still on
his feet, although unsteadily standing, and managed to slowly turn around,
finding the strength not to fall yet.
Just over the
side of the hill, kneeling on one knee and supporting himself on one hand while
the other was holding the spear that had struck him, Black discovered with
surprise who had dealt him this terrible blow.
“Green,” he
whispered.
Heimdall – Lieutenant
Green – was looking up at him with hatred – and triumph – flashing in his eyes.
He had somehow managed to get through the lines of enemy warriors, fighting his
way up just to get to the loathed ‘Loki’.
He was breathing with difficulty and his body was covered with multiple
wounds, obviously sustained during his arduous passage – and he was obviously
running on his last ounces of strength – but he had nevertheless accomplished
with success what he had set himself to do.
“If we are to
die,” Green said in a strained but satisfied voice, “you will die with us,
villain.”
Black coughed
and fell on his knees, wincing slightly at the pain in his belly.
No… it couldn’t end like this…
He couldn’t be allowed to die here… It wasn’t the plan…
His masters still needed him…
His work wasn’t done yet.
He had to escape.
He had to be saved, and return to the real world, before he died in this fantasy
world…
For if he was
to die, it would also mean Spectrum’s victory…
No…
All was not
said…
“The game is not over yet,”
he said in a
defiant monotone, looking straight at Green.
And it was as if he was not addressing only him – but the entire staff of
Spectrum, presently fighting for their lives.
Green just had the time to see him evaporate into thin air, but
was already too weak to even be surprised by this strange phenomenon; he fell
forward, his draining strength now barely able to keep him up…
* * *
As she was
still checking on Captain Scarlet’s condition, Harmony Angel turned in alarm
when she heard a groan coming from behind; it was with much distress that she
saw Captain Black stir in his seat, shaking his head from one side to the other.
He’s awakening,
she thought,
instinctively backing off a step.
This man was, after all, the most dangerous enemy Spectrum had ever had to meet
– not counting his Mysteron masters.
The man they feared the most – and the one they
wanted
the most.
Great. He’s
here, on Cloudbase – probably thinking we’re all powerless against him – while
he is unarmed and awakening…
It was an
unhoped-for chance for Spectrum to capture him now – the main thing was to act
quickly, while
he
was still defenceless and
didn’t suspect a thing.
Harmony drew her weapon – the gun she
had taken from Petrie earlier – and took a careful step toward Black. She stopped at what she considered a
safe distance from him, and watched him cagily, gun levelled at him.
She was just
thinking that she would have to contact Doctor Fawn again and inform him of the
new development after she had secured Black, when Harmony felt something cold
suddenly resting against the back of her neck.
She froze instantly, as she heard the distinctive click of a gun hammer
being drawn back.
“Drop the gun,” a voice – decidedly
female - ordered her implacably. “Do it quickly – or I’ll shoot.”
Knowing
better than to resist, Harmony let go of her gun, which clattered to the floor. The weapon resting against her neck was
removed, and the person holding it pushed the Chinese pilot to one side. With one swift kick, the gun on the
floor was sent sliding out of reach.
Harmony
watched with anger and frustration as her assailant came to stand in front of
her, the gun now levelled straight at her heart.
Surprise flashed in the Angel’s eyes when she recognised the woman standing now
in front of her – wearing the uniform of one of sickbay’s nurses.
“Anna Preston?” Harmony murmured with a
deep frown. “I thought Doctor Fawn
said you were…”
“Dead,
Earthwoman?”
Preston said with a brief smile.
“Doctor Fawn was right. Anna
Preston died in that game world where your colleagues are doomed to be
destroyed, too. That’s why I am here now.”
“You are her
Mysteron replacement,” Harmony said, with barely a nod.
“Very clever
of you to have deduced that,” Preston said coldly.
She saw Harmony eyeing the speakers, and guessed the idea that had surged in the
Angel’s mind. “Don’t bother to call
out – I closed the channel.”
A groan from
Black made Preston give but a glance in his direction.
“Stay where you are,” she advised Harmony. “You know I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Keeping
totally still under the threat of the gun, Harmony looked on as Captain Black’s
eyelids fluttered and finally opened, after his long slumber.
Automatically, his almost lifeless black eyes scanned the room, in a cold
assessment. He took note of the
Mysteronised Anna Preston’s presence, without a single sign of surprise – or any
emotion whatsoever - passing on his features. Then his attention was drawn to
Harmony and he stared intently at her.
The Angel pilot could barely keep a shiver from running down her spine
at the intensity of his gaze. He said nothing, however, and put his feet down on
the floor, before standing up, slowly.
If he felt any stiffness due to his sleep in the same position for so long, he
didn’t show it at all.
“The mission
has failed,” Anna Preston told him, and he hardly turned his head in her
direction to acknowledge her words.
“You barely escaped with your life.
You must now flee.”
Captain Black
slowly shook his head at the suggestion.
“No,” he said, and that single word, spoken in that inhuman
voice that Harmony had never heard before coming from him, but that others had
described to her so often, was enough to freeze the blood in her veins.
“The mission is not finished yet.”
Black scanned
the room again, and Harmony saw his eyes stop; she followed the direction of his
gaze, and discovered he was now looking intently at the tank that contained the
still unconscious Captain Scarlet.
Her eyes opened wide with horror, when she turned back to face Black, and could
see nothing but cold determination in his pale, stone-like features.
“There is still a way for us to win,” Black
declared in a detached tone.
He stepped
forward, towards the tank.
* * *
From down in
the valley, Captain Blue had seen Captain Black being struck down by the wounded
warrior who had came up from behind him; but he was too far away to do anything
about it. And if he had to be
honest with himself, he had to admit that he wasn’t that unhappy about what had
just happened to Black.
However, he
was still concerned that if Black were to die, it might also mean that he would
never be able to make him talk, in order to reveal how they could escape this
fantasy world. So it was almost
with desperation that he took a few tentative steps towards the top of the hill;
as far as he could see, Captain Black wasn’t dead yet, so maybe he would be able
to reach him before…
He then saw
Black fall on his knees and vanish into thin air, and that made him stop right
in his tracks.
He wondered
if Captain Black had not, yet again, escaped them – inexplicably, like so many
times before. But this time, his
escape could very well mean he was leaving them all to their fate…
"Adam!"
The cry
behind Blue made him turn on his heel; he saw Rhapsody, still tending to Captain
Scarlet, gesturing wildly in his direction.
Right then, he forgot about Black – and ran back to his friends. When he arrived next to them, completely
out of breath, Rhapsody raised despairing eyes to him.
"He's getting
worse," she informed sadly.
"And what he says…"
Blue noticed
that Scarlet had his eyes closed and was feverish; he knelt beside him, and put
an hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently.
"Paul?" he asked.
"Can you hear me?"
Scarlet was
shaking his head from side to side.
"Cold…" he whispered. "So cold… "
"Hang in
there," Blue urged him. "You will
get through… Like you always do."
"Can't
breathe…" Scarlet murmured.
"Listen to
me," Blue insisted. "You
are not going to die from that arrow wound.
You are not Balder! You are
not
vulnerable to yew…
Never have been and never will be.
You are Paul Metcalfe – Captain Scarlet – and you are trapped in a fantasy world
where you
believe
you are Balder."
"It's all in
your head," Rhapsody added quickly.
"Nothing of what is happening in this world is real."
Scarlet shook his head, without opening his eyes.
"I feel the cold… The cold… is real…"
"Yes, I
know," Blue sighed. "Everything
seems so real here – and if you believe it, and if you die here – you will die
for real. You
just
have to
convince yourself it's
not
real.
You have to
listen
to us…
Believe in us
instead…"
"The cold is…
real," Scarlet reiterated obstinately.
"Please
listen…"
"Adam,"
Rhapsody suddenly cut in. She had
noticed something that Blue obviously didn't.
"Listen to his voice… The accent is gone. It's not
Balder
answering you."
Understanding dawned on Blue.
"The cold is real," he repeated, remembering what Rhapsody had already told him
about Scarlet's first attempt to break free of the game control, the previous
night – how he was obviously himself for a few seconds, saying he was trapped –
and cold. He leaned closer
over his friend, and called in a stronger voice, "Paul! Can you hear me?"
Only a faint
grunt answered him.
"Paul!" Blue tried again, even stronger this
time. "Answer me! Do you hear me?"
Scarlet
opened his eyes, like a man waking up badly.
He blinked several times, looking into Blue's face with attention. "Adam…" he finally said in a whisper,
fighting not to fall asleep.
"Attaboy, Paul!" Blue said with a grin.
"You're getting back into control."
"Di-Dianne…"
Scarlet continued, his eyes finding Rhapsody, leaning over him in concern.
She wiped his
sweaty brow with her hand, very gently.
"Keep fighting, Paul. We won't give
up on you…"
"Paul," Blue
continued. "Where are you? Can you tell us?"
"C-cloudbase," Scarlet slurred.
"I'm so cold… Trapped…"
"Trapped?
Where?" insisted Blue.
"Water… all
around... Cold water…" Scarlet's eyelids were drooping
drowsily. "I'm sleepy…"
"Can you
break free?"
"Don't know… so sleepy…" Scarlet’s eyes closed again.
"They're
somehow keeping him under sedation," Rhapsody realised. "With some kind of drug." There really wasn't any other
explanation.
"Fight,
dammit!" Blue encouraged his
friend. "Fight it, whatever it is.
Wake up, for Heaven's sake! Wake up into the real world, before it's
too late or you'll die in here!"
"Don't know…
if I can…"
"JUST DO IT!"
Blue almost barked.
There was but
a faint nod from Scarlet before his chin drooped down onto his chest. Then he sighed deeply, as if he was
taking his last breath.
Before
Rhapsody Angel or Captain Blue could realise what was happening, they saw his
body shiver, and suddenly… vanish into thin air.
Like if he had never existed.
Just like Black before,
Blue mused.
With eyes
wide with shock, Rhapsody was now staring at her empty lap, where Scarlet's head
had rested a second earlier. She
looked up in concern to Blue. "Is
he dead?" she asked with a quiver in her voice. "Or… is he back to the real world?"
“Damned if I
could say for sure," Blue answered gloomily.
He was
desperately hoping for the second
alternative.
* * *
“Bromwell! Drop it!”
The door
leading into the room slid open, and Technician Bromwell twisted around to see
Doctor Fawn standing just in the doorway, aiming a Mysteron gun, strapped around
his shoulders, straight at him.
“I think not,
Doctor,” Bromwell said, his tone still very quiet, and his gun still levelled in
Symphony’s direction. “I think you
understand that one false move from you will mean the death of your precious
Angel.”
Fawn grunted
with irritation; he could see it was all too true. Bromwell would have plenty of
time to press the trigger before Fawn would be able to shoot him with the
Mysteron gun. It seemed like a good
idea to begin with, when he had taken the weapon from the security locker, just
behind the sickbay reception desk. Only he, the head nurse, the Spectrum senior
staff and the security guards assigned to sickbay knew the numeric code to open
the locker – a code that was changed regularly. So the enemy didn’t have access to it, when they had taken
the base, and had not removed it from the locker.
Most probably, they were not even aware of the gun’s existence.
“Nice of you
to join us,” Bromwell continued.
“But I’m afraid this new… ‘toy’ of yours will not be useful to you. You will not shoot me.”
“Are you so
sure about that?” Fawn asked dryly. “You
still think I would be unable to shoot you if I have to?”
“You wouldn’t
risk Symphony Angel’s life, would you?”
“What would
killing her give you, Bromwell?” Fawn asked coldly.
“It’ll be one more death to your credit… Haven’t you killed enough?”
“Never
enough,” Bromwell seethed. “The aim
of this operation was to kill every person onboard Cloudbase…
So don’t think I will not be ready to start with this meddling woman…”
“You kill
her, I will
definitely
shoot you.”
Bromwell
laughed. “I don’t think you’re able to.
You
were quite unable to shoot me
earlier, Doctor,” he reminded him.
“I had to do the job in your stead, putting a bullet in my head by my own hand,
don’t you recall?”
“I thought
you were human. Your… ‘suicide’
threw me off, I admit it. That was
crazy enough to come from a deranged and naïve human being…
You manipulated me.”
“Yes, I believe I succeeded in
making it… realistically dramatic, didn’t I? I particularly liked the line about
how the Mysterons would reward me…” Bromwell added with a grin.
“But you were not that far wrong, mind you, Doctor.
And your logic was without flaws.
Stephen Bromwell
was human when this operation
started, weeks ago. He was human
all the time, when, following his instructions, he set up the equipment, and
prepared the ground for the fateful day when the Mysterons would strike. He certainly didn’t imagine that he would finally be killed,
three days ago, in order for him to be replaced by… well… me. The operation was entering its critical
phase – the Mysterons would
certainly
not leave an
Earthman in charge of it. It was
too risky. Earthmen are so… unpredictable.”
“Whose
instructions was he following?” Fawn asked.
“The Mysterons’? And how was he killed?”
“It doesn’t
matter, Doctor,” Bromwell retorted. “You can’t act on that newfound
knowledge anyway… And I’ve lost
enough time as it is right now. It
is time for the Mysterons to have their just rev…”
Bromwell didn’t have the time to finish
his sentence; there was a swift gesture from Symphony, as in a last desperate
resort, she grabbed the wires lying on the floor – one end of which were
connected to the projectors over her fiancé’s and Rhapsody’s bunks. During the
exchange between Fawn and Bromwell, she had noticed that the Mysteron was
standing on them; when she pulled them up roughly, they entangled round his feet
and threw him off-balance. The gun
went off and the bullet lost itself in the projector over Blue’s face, sending
white sparks of light falling everywhere like fireworks. Symphony buried her
face in the bunk’s mattress and covered her head against the rain of sparks –
and from under her arm, witnessed as Doctor Fawn triggered the Mysteron gun that
sent a mortal flash of light – blue this time – towards Bromwell. The high voltage generated in the gun hit Bromwell squarely
in the chest and sent him crashing roughly against his own console. His eyes
wide open with what looked like an expression of total bewilderment, he then
slowly slid to the floor, where he sprawled, his now lifeless features staring
at the ceiling.
Doctor Fawn walked over to Symphony, and
gave her a hand to get to her feet; she swayed, as a wave of nausea hit her, and
he helped her to sit down, on the side of Blue’s bed.
He quickly examined her injury.
“You might have a concussion,” he noted
briefly.
“That makes two of them in one day,” she
muttered darkly, wincing. “First in
that fantasy world, and now…”
Symphony glared viciously at Bromwell’s dead body.
“I will really have to brush up on my fighting skills…”
“You’re been through a lot, and you are
tired. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Thanks
for saving my life, Edward… I know
how you feel about weapons, and how much it must have cost you to actually pull
that trigger…”
“Yes, well… I didn’t have much choice,
did I?” Fawn murmured, lowering his gaze.
“It was you or him – and it was this Mysteron’s mistake to think I would
hesitate one second to kill him, if it meant saving you – and the others.” He leaned his head to one side, looking
at her. “I will have to check
that more closely…”
“Later,” she said, waving his help
aside. “We have other problems to attend to at
the moment, don’t we?” She gestured towards the console. “I hope it wasn’t
damaged by that electric shock? We
might still need it…”
Fawn walked to the console and checked
it out briefly. “No, it seems
perfectly all right. Thank goodness.” He sighed. “Come on.
We’d better contact Harmony.
She hasn’t heard from us for some time, and she must be wondering if everything
is all right.”
* * *
Captain Scarlet’s first reaction upon
regaining consciousness was panic.
He had awakened with water – cold water
– all around him. He was immersed
in it, completely. Worse, he
couldn’t even get to the surface; something was keeping him down, underneath the
water – restraints he could feel on wrists and ankles, and around his waist. His first instinctive response was to
fight against them, trying to break free to escape this watery grave – escape
the death by drowning that somebody had obviously designed for him.
Then in the space of a few seconds, the
panic had given place to surprise, when he realised that he wasn’t in danger of
drowning. There was something in
his mouth, strapped onto his face – something that permitted him to breathe
freely underwater – a respirator.
Scarlet opened his eyelids slowly and
let his eyes getting accustomed to the pressure of the water against them, while
forcing himself to calm down. He
felt weary, with almost no strength, and there was the residue of a strange
numbness in all his muscles – he could barely feel his fingers or toes. He looked around himself, and his
surprise – and anxiety – grew as his exact situation revealed itself to him.
The icy-cold water in which he was
immersed had a strange blue tint, but was clear and he could see through it, and
through the bubbles caused by his own respirator. He could see into a room which
looked like a laboratory. His
heartbeat increased when he realised he was a prisoner inside a glass tank; tentatively, he reached for the surface
of his prison with his fingertips –
the tank was large enough to contain him, but his movements were restricted,
even if he had been free of the restraints holding him down. He couldn’t hear anything at all –
even if there had been sounds surrounding him, his water-filled ears wouldn’t be
able to pick them up.
He was completely isolated inside this
tank.
Where am I?
What is going on?
Scarlet’s mind was trying to comprehend
his situation, but he was still too confused to fully grasp exactly what could
have occurred for him to find himself in this tank – and even less the full
extent of what was happening to him.
The last thing he could remember was a dream – such a very strange dream – that
felt so real when he was living it – and yet seemed so improbable right now…
He felt, more than actually heard, a
vibration, as something – someone – started tapping a steady beat against
the surface of his prison; that seemed to be coming from the other side of the
tank. He turned his head around, to see what it was
– and froze instantly.
His heart rate increased again.
Beyond the blue-hued water, he could see
the sinister features of Captain Black, looking unemotionally at him.
* * *
“He has awakened,” Anna Preston told
Captain Black
“I can see that,”
Black responded in his cold and ominous
tone.
His eyes had locked with those of the
prisoner inside the water-filled tank, who was staring at him through the glass,
upon discovering him standing there.
There was still that spark of defiance in those indomitable eyes, even as he
found himself in such a precarious position, totally defenceless and with no
obvious way of escape. Black
couldn’t help but feel some admiration for his masters’ most relentless enemy. Today, they had the chance of getting
rid of him – definitely.
A pity.
“We have little time to spare,” Black declared.
“Now that he has left the game, the others will do the same
shortly.”
So Doctor Fawn was right,
Harmony Angel reflected grimly. She was standing right next to Anna
Preston, who was keeping her gun levelled at her.
The young Chinese pilot had
been able to do nothing else but watch helplessly, as Captain Black had
approached the tank earlier, just as Captain Scarlet was finally regaining
consciousness to find himself held prisoner in the water tank.
“We have but a few minutes to turn
everything back again,”
Black said, turning to Preston.
“We must kill him before the others wake up.”
“And then they will all die during the game, like they were supposed to,” Preston said.
Black nodded.
“The senior staff was already in a… delicate situation
when I left the game. Killing Scarlet will secure their fate. Doctor Fawn will not have the time to
save them – and the Mysterons will have won.”
Black walked around the tank slowly,
followed both by the eyes of the prisoner inside and by those of Harmony, and came to a stop next to the cylinder of oxygen to
which Scarlet’s respirator was linked.
Methodically, he turned the first valve, regulating the flow of oxygen;
Scarlet’s eyes became wide, as he understood what his enemy was up to. He began straining against his
restraints, desperately. Water
started splashing over the sides of the tank under his efforts.
“This will be too slow,” Preston pointed
out. “And Scarlet being indestructible, he
will revive from it, even if the others die.”
“Then we must find a way to kill him –
permanently,” Black agreed, as his hand started
turning the second valve on the oxygen cylinder.
Preston was looking around, searching
for something she had seen earlier in the room – something she knew would be
perfect to ensure Captain Scarlet’s final fate.
There.
She found it.
The electric rod lying on the control
console, only a few metres from her.
“I have exactly what we need,” Preston
said with an evil grin, as Black was closing the second valve tightly. She grabbed Harmony by the arm and
pushed her towards the console.
“Start walking, you…”
Touching Harmony and keeping so close to
her was a mistake Preston didn’t realise she had made before it was too late. As swift as a cobra, Harmony twisted
around, and her open hand dealt a karate chop at Preston, while her other hand
gripped the wrist holding the gun.
The force of the Angel’s attack was enough to shatter Preston’s cheekbone,
blinding her temporarily. Harmony
slipped her foot between the woman’s feet and sent her down; Preston’s head hit
the floor with violence, stunning her; the gun escaped from her hand and
clattered away.
Barely three seconds had passed, and by
that time Harmony had turned around again and made a step towards the console to
take the electric rod herself; Captain Black suddenly appeared before her, and
his hand clutched her wrist, just as she was lifting the weapon up; she gasped
in surprise, as she gazed into his cold, emotionless face.
“Resourceful as always, Harmony Angel,” he said, and before she could react,
his other hand snapped around her throat and held her like a vice. She gasped again, and struggled to escape him, but his clutch
was too strong. He backed up toward
the tank, still holding her, as effortlessly as a cat holding a mouse.
Beyond the face of her opponent, Harmony
could see Scarlet, thrashing about inside the tank, so wildly that it was
rocking on its supports, and that large amounts of water was spilling onto the
floor. Surely, now that he couldn’t breathe
through the respirator, he was suffocating – and trying frantically to escape
that fate.
Black was barely taking any notice of
the splashing sounds so close behind him; all his attention was on Harmony, whom
he was holding so tightly, it was hurting her.
His hand squeezed around her throat and she gave a faint whimper.
“All your efforts will serve nothing,” he intoned as she looked with terror
into his dark eyes.
“Tonight, all of Cloudbase personnel will die – starting with you.”
There was a sudden, more violent
splashing sound behind, that made Black turn in surprise; with a last, desperate
effort which called on reserves of strength he didn’t even know he had, Captain
Scarlet had snapped his wrist and waist restraints to finally burst through the
surface of the water. Holding himself against the side of the tank, he
immediately removed the now ineffective respirator from his mouth and gasped in
much wanted air, shivering against the cold, and his teeth chattering
uncontrollably. He was pale, weak and barely able to
move, but there was still the same spark of defiance in his bleary blue eyes, as
he glared at Captain Black.
The latter’s jaw tightened dejectedly.
“You have not won yet…” He let go of Harmony’s throat, and tried to take the
electric rod from her hand. This
was the opening she was waiting for, and she hit him with all of her strength
with her free hand squarely on his temple. He blinked under the impact and
pushed her away from him, before stepping back, almost by instinct – straight
into Scarlet’s reach. The latter, despite his present state of weakness, swiftly
grabbed him, wrapping his arms around Black’s neck to hold him in the strongest
lock he could manage at the moment.
“As long as I live,” Scarlet gasped in a
strained voice into Black’s ear, “I will never let you hurt anyone in
front of my eyes ever again…”
As Black struggled to free himself from
Scarlet’s tightening clutches, Harmony took a step forward to help her colleague
– just as Anna Preston, who had got to her feet in the meantime, launched
herself at her with fury. The
violence of the attack pushed Harmony against the console behind her; her back
bent painfully, as Preston held her down with her weight, trying to pry the
electric rod from the Angel’s hand.
“Give me that, witch,” Preston seethed
under her breath. “If I have to
kill you to have it, I will…”
As Preston, like Black before, put her
hand around Harmony’s throat, the latter propped herself against the console, to
get some leverage and raised her right leg.
She aimed a strong kick at Preston’s midsection, freeing herself, violently
pushing her opponent away from her.
Unbalanced by Harmony’s kick, the
Mysteronised nurse fell back.
To Harmony’s horror, the force of her
shove had sent Preston right into Captain Black; the latter’s struggles, in the
meantime, seemed to have been successful in freeing himself from Scarlet’s hold
and he was turning around to deal with the Spectrum officer when the full weight
of Preston came crashing onto his back. The tank, already unbalanced by
Scarlet’s efforts to free himself and then by the tussle between Scarlet and
Black, slid to the other side of its support and finally tipped over.
Scarlet had seen the danger, seconds
before it actually happened; he had at once let go of Black and was already
leaning over the side to escape the tank when the latter started tipping; he
didn’t know by what miracle the restraints holding his feet gave way at that
moment – maybe the strain he had put on them while trying to free himself and
the following struggle with Black had done the job – in any case, he just had
the time to jump free of the tank as it finally fell off its support, pouring
out an enormous quantity of liquid, and finally smashed down onto the floor,
with a thunderous crash.
Scarlet roughly crashed to the floor,
thankfully clear of the falling tank. His naked body was actually sliding on the
slippery floor, and he felt shards from the broken glass hit his right leg; he
gave a low grunt, as he was pushed away by the momentum of the wave of water
escaping the now broken tank. Coughing and breathing hard, and dragging his
wounded leg behind, he crept as far as he could from the glass debris and
electric cables lying on the wet floor…
to finally fall on his belly, exhausted by his efforts, ten feet away from where
he had fallen.
Captain Black had miraculously stayed
clear of the accident, managing to stay on his own two feet and jumping to the
side to escape water and falling broken glass.
The worst he had to suffer was to have his boots splashed with water.
He backed away, and looked on as Anna Preston, propelled by the force of the
earlier thrust, tumbled over the prop which previously supported the tank – and
fell onto the water-covered floor, straight into the glass debris.
She gave a loud shriek of pain as the biggest glass fragments cut deeply
into her – and sliced into the soaked electrical cables lying underneath,
sending a massive amount of voltage through her injured body. There was a sudden flash of white light
and smoke – and a burning smell that made Harmony, who was witnessing
everything, look away in disgust and horror.
The door slid open right at that
instant, and Doctor Fawn, carrying the Mysteron gun, stopped at the entrance,
shocked by the scene – and the stench.
He watched with eyes wide with revulsion as Preston’s half-burned body gave a
last, silent shudder before finally lying still on the floor.
Captain Black was hugging the wall at a
safe distance, watching the grisly death of the Mysteronised woman with eyes
that were still unemotional. He
just raised his head upon Fawn’s arrival, and glared at the doctor, who had not
seen him yet, through the thick smoke mounting from Preston’s body.
Black then looked at Harmony, whom he
discovered staring straight at him.
Before the Chinese pilot could make a
move, or even decide what her next action should be, she watched, with untold
astonishment, as he literally started fading into thin air.
She was still staring in deep surprise
at the spot where he had been standing, when the voice of Fawn rang loudly
through the room:
“For goodness sake, what the Devil
happened in here? Harmony, where
are you?”
“Over here…”
Harmony coughed through the smoke.
“We’re over here…”
Shaking herself from her moment of
shock, she moved around the tank, avoiding the many puddles of water, glass
shards and wires, to walk towards Scarlet.
Thank the stars, and his incredible luck, he had been out of reach of the
electrical surge that had killed Preston.
He was still lying on the floor, barely conscious and almost unable to move. She leaned down next to him, as Fawn
carefully made his way towards them through the mess the room had became.
Scarlet coughed and stifled a groan, as
pain from his injured leg assaulted him when Harmony gently turned him on his
back; his eyes fluttered and he looked up, tiredly.
He gave her a weak, but genuine, smile.
“Harmony,” he slurred.
“Thank you, Angel… You…
saved my life…”
“I think you saved mine,” Harmony
answered with a brief smile, stroking his wet hair soothingly.
“Now rest. You have been
through a lot… You need to heal.” She was unable to say if he
actually obeyed her, or if he simply passed out due to exhaustion, when she saw
him nod weakly at her words and close his eyes, just as Fawn came to stand over
them.
“How is he?” the doctor asked with
concern.
“I believe he will be all right,”
Harmony answered. “Now that he has
escaped that awful tank…”
“That’s… Anna Preston,” Fawn said with a
deep frown, looking in the direction of the dead, still smoking, body lying on
the floor a few metres from them.
“They Mysteronised her?” When she
sadly nodded, he muttered under his breath, “Bastards. I knew there was trouble the minute I saw communication was
cut to this room…”
“That’s why you came with the Mysteron
gun?” Harmony asked.
He nodded.
For now, there was little point telling her that something similar had happened
in sickbay for. He would keep that
for later. He glanced around,
suspiciously, and noticed the empty seat that Captain Black had occupied
recently. “And what about Black? Where is he?”
Harmony shivered, almost despite
herself, finally raised her head toward Fawn.
“Believe it or not, Doctor,” she said with a quiver in her voice, “but he vanished into thin air. Just like… a phantom.”
Fawn simply acknowledged the information
with a brief nod. It wasn’t the
first time he had heard report of that happening, in the case of Captain Black,
and frankly, he couldn’t say he was that surprised…
In any case, he was far too busy right
now to devote time to that new mystery. He had other things to do at this
moment..
“Now,” he murmured moving to the control
console, “let’s hope that everybody else onboard will be all right…”
* * *
As they could do nothing but worry about
the fate of Captain Scarlet after his disappearance before their very eyes,
Captain Blue and Rhapsody Angel came to the conclusion that the best course of
action for them was to keep busy – while waiting for something to finally
happen that would mean their escape from this fantasy world – or their doom that
they’d be staying here and die shortly.
When Blue told Rhapsody what had
happened to Captain Black earlier, and considering that he had disappeared in
much the same way as Scarlet, they thought they should investigate the event. Finding the horse that Black had used to
bring Rhapsody to this place, tied up not that far from there, they mounted it
together and rode towards the hill where Black had vanished into thin air. They found there the warrior who had
struck him down, lying face-down in the snow.
They had no trouble recognising him as they approached his still body –
the colour of his hand, still clutching the sword by his side, was eloquent
enough. Rhapsody was down from the
horse before Blue had properly stopped it, and she was already down on her knees
by the warrior’s side by the time he dismounted.
“Green!”
She carefully turned the warrior over onto his back and saw the closed eyes in
the still, hairless face of Lieutenant Green.
He moaned faintly and she sighed with relief, before probing his
injuries. Blue came to stand by her
side and she looked up at him.
“He’s alive, but barely,” she explained.
“He’s been badly hur…”
Rhapsody stopped suddenly when she saw
the grim expression on Blue’s face, as he stared down the other side of the
hill. It was only at that moment that she
detected the clamour coming from there; almost afraid to discover what Blue
could be watching so intently, she slowly turned her head around…
… And finally saw the multitude of
ill-dressed barbarians, all armed with swords, spears and bows, doing battle
down the hill, surrounding a very small group of warriors who was fighting off
their assaults with a strength born out of desperation for a lost cause.
“Oh my God…”
Rhapsody gasped, her eyes opened with horror. “Is that…?”
Blue nodded grimly.
“I’m afraid it is,” he murmured, remembering Burgundy’s earlier words.
“The last stand of Aesir and Vanir… where they all are destined to die.”
“Then… all is lost,” Rhapsody said
sadly. She had spotted a cluster of barbarians,
who were now climbing the hill in their direction.
They had probably noticed their presence now – and fully intended to make
them share the fate of the others.
Blue slowly unsheathed his sword, for
the last upcoming battle. “At the
very least,” he said, “we would not have gone down without a fight.”
There was a faint smile on Rhapsody’s
lips. They had never stopped fighting until
that moment – they would certainly not do it now.
“Spoken like a true Viking,” she said, looking up to Blue.
He answered with a huff, and then took
his position to defend the ground.
Rhapsody was about to stand up with Green’s sword, when she heard the injured
man moaning again. When she looked
down to him, his eyes started fluttering.
He stared up at her, tiredly.
“Seymour…” she started, and stopped –
there wasn’t much that could be said in the circumstances.
“R-Rhapsody…” he whispered, much to the
young woman’s surprise, his eyes beginning to close again.
“D-Dianne… What is going
on…” His voice slurred away and his
eyelids closed.
Suddenly, he vanished into the air –
much like Scarlet had done earlier.
Rhapsody nearly jumped to her feet, her eyes riveted on the empty spot on the
snow where his body had been lying.
Just as the clamouring enemy warriors were reaching the top of the hill, getting
closer to them, she turned shocked
eyes to Blue – hardly daring to think what Green’s disappearance could mean.
“Adam…
What does…”
“I don’t know!”
Blue shouted over the uproar of the approaching warriors and raising his
sword. “Prepare yourself!”
And just as Rhapsody turned around,
sword in hand, to face the warriors who were now on them –
- They both thankfully vanished into
nothingness.
* * *
“There are too many of them!” Tyr yelled
to make himself heard over the battle cries and weapons clashes surrounding
them. He used his sword to push yet another
blade away from him and took a step back.
“They will overcome us soon…”
That none of the Vanir and Aesir
defenders had been killed so far was nothing short of a miracle from the gods,
but none of the valiant warriors had any illusion of what their ultimate fate
would be. Soon, they would fall under the sheer
number of the enemies closing in on them.
Thor looked around in Tyr’s direction,
maybe to reply to his comment but he didn’t have time, as suddenly, before his
very eyes, he saw his ally fading away, just as he was pushing back the attack
of a new assailant. Where he stood, there was now but empty space, nothing left
to even indicate that Tyr had been there.
Before the astounded Thor was able to
voice his surprise, he saw Freyr disappear in much the same way, along with
Freyja. There was only himself left, and the
Lady Sif, standing with him over the wounded and still unconscious Odin.
When Thor looked down at his liege, he
then saw him too vanish – as if he had never existed.
What sorcery is this?
Now alone with Sif to repel the enemy’s
assault, Thor smashed his hammer against a warrior who had come too close to
her, and took her by the hand to make her back away with him. The warriors from Svartalfheim stopped their attack, and
watched as the last Valkyrie and Aesir prince stood their ground, readying
themselves. It was but a brief
respite, that would be followed by the last assault.
Breathing hard, Thor turned to Sif and
locked eyes with her. “I love you,”
he said quickly between two breaths.
“Do you feel the same for me?”
“Of course I do,” Sif answered as
swiftly. There was a sad, but genuine smile on
her lips, as she finally told him the words she knew he hoped he would hear from
her. “I have loved you from the
first moment I laid eyes on you.”
He nodded, with intense satisfaction
obvious on his face, then turned around to fiercely face the warriors now very
close to them. “Then let us die
together, as one!” With that, he
roared with fury, imitated by Sif and both charged the enemy.
There was a violent crash of thunder in the sky…
- And they faded away, just like their
allies had done before them, and everything surrounding them – Svartalfheim
warriors, horses, trees, snow, even the landscape itself, and Yggdrasil last, started dissolving, as if it was but a
water-colour picture being washed away by the rain…
TO
BE CONCLUDED IN THE EPILOGUE
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