Chapter 21 #2
Kenzo’s eyes widened. “Lena’s precision cascade of bubbles. I could turn those thousands into millions and maximize their effectiveness.”
“Precisely.”
“Not bad, Frost.” Kenzo aimed his static at Lena’s bubbles. “I take back half the times I called you a dumbass.”
“To be fair, you only ever thought it.”
“True.” Kenzo grinned. “But we both know you heard me.”
“What are you doing?” Lena watched as static coiled around her attacks.
“Helping,” Kenzo answered. “Pay attention.”
Lena scowled before realizing her bubbles had multiplied. She fired off a few others, aiming for Kenzo’s hexing static. A few swelled in size, others split into copies, and a few grew a thicker sheen to contain more acidic damage.
“About time, pipsqueak.” Lena leapt into the fray of combat, belting Grim with her bubble magic and lunging for Kenzo’s static strikes.
Each one amped up her strength, making it impossible for Grim to catch her.
At every turn, she broke off his spiked appendages, tore through his bone shields, shattered his extra limbs, and left a wake of destruction in her path.
“Enough of this.” Grim roared, casting telekinesis from his mouth. It was such a powerful burst that several of his sharp teeth snapped off.
Lena managed to withstand the telekinetic strike and evade the jagged teeth projectiles, but in that slowed moment, Grim used one of his tails to throw her back.
As Lena flew back, propelled faster than she could pivot, Grim thrashed about, slamming his hands in every direction to destroy what remained of the facility.
Gael was caught directly in Grim’s path. The behemoth aimed his open palm at Gael. His muscles were too sore to move. The strain in his body had caught up to him as he’d overexerted himself, using up nearly all his spikes.
“Gael!” Kenzo screamed, unleashing a massive bolt of white lightning.
It struck Gael before Grim’s hand. Instantaneously, Gael’s spikes protruded, twisting around each other, forming layers upon layers of armored protection. In a matter of seconds, Gael’s trembling body transformed into a fully armored suit of spikes.
Name: Gael Martinez
Branch: Augmentation (Spikes)
His chest and back were covered in overlapping spikes flattened out.
His forearms and calves were coated in small prickles.
His shoulders held massive spike plating twisted into deadly curls.
His head was protected by a mask of carefully adorned spikes.
Two twisted into horns similar to those of a bull.
Grim’s open palm slammed down onto Gael, but met fierce resistance. Spikes darted out, reinforcing Gael’s stance as he fought against the hand twice his size.
“Aaaaahhh!” Gael roared, unleashing a flurry of spikes from his arms and chest.
Each one tore through Grim’s hand, climbing up the giant skeleton, and impaling his bone arm until the spikes snapped the joints at the shoulder.
Kenzo stared in awe at Gael. His boyfriend fired off large spikes as explosive projectiles aimed at Grim’s chest. They exploded, creating a thousand needles of destruction.
Grim shrieked, swinging his other arm at Gael. Instead of running, Gael hunkered down and refused to give an inch. With the reinforcements of his spikes and added pulse of telekinesis, Gael withstood the massive swing and sent Grim tumbling backward.
“You think that does anything?” Grim bellowed. “I’ll repair myself in seconds and beat you to death.”
“Not happening.” Kenzo unleashed another bolt of lightning, but this one was black. It struck Grim’s fallen arm and completely disintegrated it.
The arm shook, gathering the broken bits together, and slowly lifted itself off the ground in an attempt to return to Grim.
Kenzo’s branch had evolved, grown to a whole new degree. With white static, he could perfectly amplify other magics. With the black static, he could completely shatter another magic. What incredible power.
“I’ve had enough of you,” Kenzo shouted, firing off another bolt of black lightning.
It crackled and sizzled against Grim’s body. He thrashed about, swinging and kicking erratically, but it didn’t matter. Kenzo’s targeted strike already took effect, shrinking the grim reaper witch back down to his standard size.
“You think I can’t win this?” Grim’s jaw chattered as he spoke. “I’m a pillar of the Celestial Coven. I’m unstoppable. I defied Death. I defiled Life. I am depravity incarnate. I don’t get defeated by some pathetic hex witch.”
“Would you settle for a hex witch and his arcane mentor?” Lena asked, hovering behind Grim.
Before he could turn around, she fired off thousands of bubbles, each one eating away at Grim’s bones, popping with acidic damage.
A white bolt struck one of the bubbles and then pinged between all the others, amplifying Lena’s attack a hundred-fold.
Grim vanished entirely, leaving behind only a few dust particles that Lena’s bubbles quickly went to work searching for and detaining. If the witch somehow survived this onslaught, he wouldn’t escape.
But something told me Grim was gone. The last time he was broken down to this level, his thoughts were fragmented beyond deciphering. Now, the dust of his remains held a silent hum. A vacuum of being. Emptiness trying to find itself.
“How amazing!” Gael shouted. “We were so cool. Total badasses.”
“You were okay,” Lena said. “Mostly in my way.”
“Please.” Kenzo scoffed. “If anyone was in the way, it was you and your whining.”
“Excuse me?”
“Leave my girlfriend alone,” Kenzo whined, imitating Lena. “Leave my boyfriend alone. Wah.”
“Oh, you want to talk about crying over boyfriends?” Lena asked, her stare pointedly locked on Kenzo’s reddened face.
He hadn’t cried, but his eyes did tear up for a second when he believed Gael was about to be crushed. It left his face a little splotchy.
“At least my boyfriend was useful in this battle.” Kenzo folded his arms and turned his head away. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?” Gael held out his arms, showcasing his full suit of armor. “Look at me. I was a baddie. A total king. You can’t deny it!”
Kenzo kept his pouty expression, mainly because he got a silent giggle out of Gael flailing about for his attention. Lena went to check on Ellie and Hayden.
“Thanks,” Kenzo thought. “For your lame idea, Frost. It was helpful or whatever.”
I smiled. “You’re welcome.”
Then I proceeded to drift away toward the presence of my core self.
With all the other magics finally settling and the threat of the Celestial Coven diminished—at least here—I followed the pulse of my telepathy.
My core self was nearby, resisting some type of trap.
If I could interact and free myself, then I could enter this battle and put an end to the invasion.