27. ICANTDOITALONE
ICANTDOITALONE
Before anything could happen, Dustin was already screaming.
“Chris, I know you can hear me in there! Fight him!”
… that was the final moment anyone had to say anything before the carnage unfolded.
Without warning, Chris lashed out, sending a blast of flames straight for the group. If it weren’t for Bailey’s quick thinking and quicker reflexes, they would’ve been immolated instantly. But thankfully the rising wall of asphalt under her command shielded them.
Chloe didn’t waste a moment, and neither did James; they sprinted from behind the asphalt barrier on opposite sides the second they saw an opening.
James’s frame rapidly changed shape as his bark-armor grew into place over his skin, while a gleaming layer of metal encased Chloe’s entire body, giving them the appearance of elemental knights as they charged forward.
James stretched out his arm, sending branches and vines surging forward from his wrist like Spider-Man’s webbing, wrapping Chris in a crushing hold in a matter of seconds.
Chloe quickly followed up, swinging her heavy metallic fist in an uppercut that connected with shattering force.
A hit like that should’ve knocked him on his ass, but Chris just smirked at them as the veins in his face glowed neon red.
“This form, so powerful, so vibrant, can handle quite a bit more punishment than the corpse I was forced to steer. You will simply have to push beyond your limits,”
With a surge of heat and fire, Chris blasted free of the restraints, setting fire to James’s armor in an instant and making Chloe’s red hot.
“FUCK!” Chloe screamed, forcing the metal off her skin as quickly as she could, revealing the rapidly forming blisters and burns underneath.
James’s thicker armor provided a tiny bit more protection, giving him enough time to fire it off himself in the form of bullet-like wooden projectiles.
They riddled Chris’s body; the intensity of the impact forcing him to slide backwards several feet, but not doing much real damage to him otherwise.
Dustin’s breath came in shallow waves as he scanned the area, looking for anything he could use to give them an edge.
And that was when he saw it; a huge, cylindrical water tank on the warehouse rooftop.
“Bailey, cover Chloe and James! Get them back to the truck!”
“What?” Bailey’s brain short circuited at the request, “I’m not… we’re not leaving you!”
“No time to argue!” Dustin fired back. Whether it was Wu Xing or Pokémon rules, it was clear that fire beat both metal and wood in this fight, and he wasn’t about to risk their lives, “I have a plan, but you gotta trust me, alright?”
Bailey’s eyes cut between Dustin and Chris at least a dozen times before she finally relented, running over to Chloe and helping her to her feet.
“I’ll make sure they’re okay and then I’m coming back for you,” she said through clenched teeth as the three of them made a break for it, leaving the twins alone in the warehouse lot.
“Preparing to make a heroic final stand? How noble,” Chris snickered, “in my time, nobility meant nothing. Scholars and generals spent centuries warring fruitlessly because of their reverence for nobility, honor, and procedure. It was why only I was able to bring the fighting to a close. To unite all under heaven beneath MY banner. I was the only one willing to go to the lengths necessary to accomplish greatness. What a shame that my own bloodline has been reduced to such folly,”
“You know,” Dustin said, his breath turning into puffs of white as the rush of his power washed through his darkening veins, “I really wish you’d shut the fuck up,”
With that, Dustin reached for the water in the cylinder, forcing it through its casing with sheer force of will.
Metal creaked and groaned and snapped as it smashed through, shooting forward with the force of a freight train and slamming Chris into the wall of another building on the far end of the lot.
Dustin didn’t give him even a second to breathe or recover; freezing the water into solid ice and trapping him in place, pinned helplessly against the wall as Dustin closed the distance.
“Let my brother go, NOW!”
Chris just… laughed. A horribly wicked sound that was like two voices battling for dominance. One dismissive, laughing Dustin off with the same disdain that he’d regarded Bailey with earlier. The second layer though… sounded almost, prideful? Like it was proud of Dustin for finding his voice.
“Look at him, playing at being a leader. You have no idea how out of your depth you truly are boy,”
Chris’s veins surged with familiar red light… but it quickly twisted, changing into a bright, ominous purple.
Before Dustin could react a current of white-hot lightning surged through the ice, breaking it apart in a forceful blast that sent him reeling. He skidded across the pavement, brutally scratching up his arm and shoulder before rolling to a stop.
He groaned in pain, trying to force himself to stand, but completely unable. The wind had been completely knocked out of him, and his body felt like it weighed a million pounds.
Suddenly, Chris was looming over him; staring down with that predatory glare that had been etched on his face from the moment the emperor took control. He raised his hands, lightning sparking and arcing around them erratically.
“It is time for this to be at an end,”
However, just as Chris prepared to fire a blast that would undoubtedly erase Dustin from existence… he stopped.
Dustin looked up, only to see Chris’s right arm clamping over his left, as if he was physically restraining himself. His face was morphed into a mask of pain as his entire body trembled.
“D-Dustin…”
That… wasn’t the emperor.
“Chris?! Chris, you can hear me?!”
“N-no time… the ring. You gotta t-take it… stop him from using my p-power,”
Dustin looked down at the bright red ring on Chris’s middle finger, and despair settled over him.
“But if I take it… it’s the only way we were able to find you before. What if...”
“T-trust me. Like I trust y-you,”
Chris clearly wanted to say more, was clearly still trying to, but the emperor’s influence was obviously strengthening. His grip on his own arm was rapidly loosening, and the tremors were getting worse.
Dustin knew he had to move if he wanted to stop this; he wouldn’t have another chance.
He summoned all the strength he could muster, pushed himself to his feet and lunged forward, grabbing Chris’s hand and pulling the ring free. There was a time when they couldn’t be removed, but the possession must’ve disrupted Chris’s connection to it just enough to allow it to be pulled off.
The moment it was off his finger, it was as if there was some sort of aura disruption; a blast of powerful red energy erupted between the twins, forcing Dustin back to the ground and sending Chris flying across the lot, landing in a motionless heap about ten feet away.
“DUSTIN!”
Bailey’s screeching voice was the last thing Dustin heard before the darkness lurking in his periphery finally pulled him into unconsciousness.
But even as he succumbed, he made sure to grip the Fire Ring as tightly as he could.