Luca DR
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Edge of apocalypse 80
🕑 Added 2023-07-06 15:44:05 +0000 UTCLloyd mumbled as he watched Albert disappear from sensor range and approach the Pillar. Something had disturbed the sensors, before it too disappeared into the alien structure.
“There it is. The third party. SpaceOps just arrived.”
“That’s not good.” Samantha said.
“Wh—” Replied Lloyd, startled. “How did you get here so fast?”
“I have my ways.” She said with a smirk.
“You had him make you a wand. Damn you.”
Samantha cocked her head. “I couldn’t stay in an irradiated field, right? A nuclear weapon just went off!”
“Whatever.” The old man said, cutting it short. It was very out of character for him to do so, which told Samantha just how bad he thought the situation was with SpaceOps there.
“What can we do?” She asked. She knew the answer already.
“Nothing.” Lloyd said. “It’s up to him now. He must find the egg and take it before SpaceOps reaches it. Have you thought about where to store it?”
“Here, for now.” She said. “There is no Alignment going on in Erebus, which means that the fabric of reality should be strong enough to have an egg or two here. I really hope Albert’s quests get us somewhere before we have too many of them.”
“You hope? Never heard my daughter hoping for anything.”
She smirked. “I am obviously also moving along with one or two alternative options. One of which follows from my recent deal with Transit.”
“Oh yeah.” Lloyd said, glad to follow any conversation that didn’t involve him thinking about Albert stuck in the tower out of comms range. “How did it go?”
“I’ll tell you.”
***
Samantha Cromwell arrived at the door that led to the office of one of the most influential people of all of Temalas City. And, if her deal went through without a hitch like she predicted it was going to go, Transit Global’s CEO was about to receive a sharp increase in power.
She began by explaining what the events were, with the CEO not speaking a word as she talked. “…if we let them run unchecked, these events will speed up the invasion a thousandfold. That’s why we need to act in a timely manner, and why I am here. There is one such event unfolding right now in the south. A Tier Four, the first of its kind.”
Giancarlo D’Onofrio slowly rose from his chair and went to stare out the window, showing his back to Samantha. A display of power.
“Let me get this straight.” He said slowly, sipping on his alcohol. “Aliens are real. Magic is real. Magic aliens want to invade Earth. There was a super-secret organization that was supposed to deal with all that, but it’s gone to hell because these aliens have corrupted most of their officials. Now only you and your mysterious… ‘agent’ are left. Am I being accurate so far?”
She didn’t like how he paused to say agent. He knew.
“You are.” She said.
“And you want my help.”
She cocked her head. “It would be greatly appreciated.”
“You know how I love this world and everything, Samantha.” The man said. He was truly gigantic, but she was taller. Not that he cared as he sat back down on his expensive, leather chair and sipped on his drink. Samantha stood. “But what you ask of me is… quite a lot. And very sudden. Wouldn’t this put you in a position of negotiative disadvantage? Just asking.”
She smiled. “Let’s be real, here. You don’t know half of my—”
“Yes, yes. I was just saying. It’s weird. Perhaps you are proposing something more than just a transaction, aren’t you? Perhaps you would like us to evolve into something more like partners, mutual trust, mutual gain, the whole package.”
Ah, there he was. The man she knew. The man who was impossible to corner. Not even when she had all the power of magic at her disposal had she been able to keep him at bay for long. As soon as he saw an opening, he went for the jugular.
“Let’s say I am.”
“Then I would be listening very intently.” He said.
Fortunately, Samantha was of a similar making as Mr. D’Onofrio. She too had a plan.
“I want a research and development division, under my command. Unlimited funding, very limited questions asked. You get exclusive access to all the technology and magic I choose to disclose.”
The CEO snorted. “It’s going to take more than—”
“Even a stupid trinket is going to be worth billions and you know it.”
“Not. Enough.”
It was time to use the ace up her sleeve. “I’ll be here next Monday to check on your daughter. She will be wide awake and speaking before noon on that very same day. Is this… enough?”
She regarded him with her head slightly tilted. The man was about to speak, but when her head tilted one more degree to the left, he swallowed his words.
“Only one question. Show me something. Anything. I know you have a teleporter, but what is it you offer than we can use?”
“You will see Monday. No earlier.” She said. “And I get to walk out of here with a nuclear warhead. At least 55 kilotons.”
***
SpaceOps was a frail-looking diminutive man. True to his looks, he wasn't much of a fighter but he was one hell of a teleporter. According to the information he had read, observed and otherwise learned about Albert, about how the boy liked to rely on distance and only closing the gap when necessary (SpaceOps was there when PsyOps was brutally gutted after all), he knew that he could rely on his superior teleporting skills to keep him at bay.
What he didn't know was that Albert's fighting style had changed dramatically since the last time the two saw each other. The pivoting point being the afternoon Albert decided he wanted to spend eight hours, and several more the following day, learning, testing and trying all sorts of martial arts.
Now not only could he close the gap between the two - a thing he could already do before but much less efficiently - but once he did there was no escaping his grip. His mastery of the techniques was not great, but he could still execute them perfectly as he had seen them, only lacking in improvisation.
Against a skilled opponent who could somehow counteract Bullet Time and Strengthening it might have been a problem. Against a cocky teleporter who didn't really know his opponent, it was another story.
All these factors combined together when the two met in the chamber right outside the room where the egg was manifesting, making their battle quite unique. Getting here had been easy for both of them, the whole Pillar being mostly empty rooms and corridors waiting to be filled, slightly translucent and see-through. They followed the energy of the egg at the center of the structure, and were both right outside before long.
None of the two expecting the other. SpaceOps because Albert had been much faster than predictions, and Albert because he had no idea SpaceOps was even coming.
Albert lunged at the man without even a word of challenge or greeting, enveloping him in a snake-like grip and restricting all of his movement in one swift motion. They were in the chamber leading to the Egg room, but there was no door and the Egg was right there for the taking.
SpaceOps did not expect the sudden lunge, instead thinking his opponent would have chosen to keep the distance like he did in all the fights he had seen so far.
Fortunately for him, he could still teleport away. There were no restrictions to his magic, only a few loose rules he needed to follow in order to make it work. For instance, he hadn’t been able to teleport to the Egg right away.
Right as his head was beginning to feel light from the choke, SpaceOps disappeared. This left Albert all alone with the Egg. He didn't waste time, immediately scrambling to grab it as if fearing that SpaceOps would return, and rightfully so.
SpaceOps appeared again right above the Egg, but a fireball was ready to meet him and he was forced to teleport away to safety after only a split-second. The speed of his jumps was impressive, but with each subsequent one he was showing signs of fatigue, his face and brow filling with sweat. He was also slowing down, allowing Albert to study his technique and build upon the knowledge he accumulated in the sewers during the PsyOps fight.
On the other hand, Albert couldn’t teleport nearly as fast unless it was in a five meter sphere around him, but he kept the pressure on the Egg as he walked towards it. Fireballs and earth shards were cast with one hand, while the other kept taking full-automatic rifles out of his inventory and unloaded their contents on the empty space above the treasure, only to store the empty weapon and take out another immediately after.
SpaceOps tried to return a couple of times, even attempting to sneak behind Albert. But he found that the boy was somehow ready for him, firing at the space mage as soon as he felt the tachyonic energies at the edge of his perception.
The fight went on, and Albert inched closer to the Egg one step at a time.
"Fine." SpaceOps voice came from a corner of the room but he was gone before the fireball hit him. Albert emptied his inventory, drawing upon his last twenty crystals and topped up his mana.
"If I can't have it--"
Gone again.
"You won't--"
Albert turned around but once again the man was gone.
"Have it either."
The next time SpaceOps appeared, he was carrying something with him. He left without a word, and Albert had to quickly scramble to dismiss the fireball he had shot at the man as it was flying through the air, activating the 100-fold buff to Bullet Time to be able to do so. There were explosives where SpaceOps stood. And if the fireball had hit them...
This thing with teleporters and explosives was beginning to be quite the nuisance. Now Albert could see how the dragon must have felt.
There was less than one minute left before Bullet Time went on a five-minute cool down. Albert turned around, saw SpaceOps once again try to snatch the egg, and ran at him. This time he saw him teleport away, disappearing bit by bit. With time slowed down 100 times he could see how the teleportation worked. SpaceOps disappeared in chunks in the span of a fraction of a second, starting from his head all the way to his feet. The things he carried were the last to go.
Albert threw himself towards the Egg, still visible even as the rest of SpaceOps vanished. And when the man was completely gone, Albert felt the weight of the artifact in his hands. Without even celebrating, he clutched the egg tight, closed his eyes, and teleported as far away as the last of his mana allowed him to. Then from the safety of his hiding place, he waited until he had enough mana, waited the two minutes for the long-range teleport, and delivered the very first tier 4 Egg to Erebus. Triggering a quest in the process.
