Post by Disgraced Prince Nasu Hattori on Apr 20, 2015 21:52:43 GMT -5
I'm so cold..." The figure in the chair by the empty fireplace pulls its shawl closer to it and shivers. The man at the table sighs, picks a blanket up off the back of a chair, and brings it over.
"Can I make a fire? Please, please, pretty please?"
"No, no," the man says, draping the blanket over the shoulders of the old woman in the rocking chair. "We need to save your strength, remember? Magic always has a price and a fire would cost you too much."
Tears trickle into the wrinkles surrounding the woman's eyes. Her eyes are the only part of her that look young. Big and wide and blue and in pain, and set in a shrunken face that's crisscrossed with the avenues of age.
"Can you make a fire then?"
"No, because we don't have any firewood right now. And do you know why?"
The old woman looks down dejectedly. "I messed up again, didn't I?"
The man kneels down. "You did, sweetie. You did. It all turned to ash by the time I got to the market, and I couldn't just come home without any food. So I had to find work in order to pay for it." Behind him on the table sits a tiny bundle of pathetic looking carrots and a few hard potatoes.
The old woman throws her hands over her face and begins to wail. "I'm sorry," she says in between her cries. "I'm so sorry, Daddy!"
"Shh, shh, shh," her father says. He starts to stroke her straw like hair, but strands fall out and wrap around his hand with every stroke, Disgusted, he settles for putting an arm around her instead. "You'll just have to do better this time."
"I can't. I can't. I've tried so many times and it always goes wrong..."
"Hush, now," Father says, a little more sternly. "You do your very best. And each time, it lasts a little bit longer." He winces and squeezes her shoulder. "You can do better this time. I believe in you."
The old child sniffs, and wipes her gray snot on the corner of her shawl. The man tries not to notice.
"You think so?" she whimpers.
"God damn it, just-" The man's hand is raised in a fist, and he has to remind himself of who he's dealing with. He takes in a deep, shuddering breath, then forces out a smile. "Of course. Sweetie." He drops a bag into the woman's lap. "I believe in you."
The old maid sniffs again. Her clawed and knobby fingers fumble for the bag and drop it several times. It takes all of the man's self control to not smack her for being so useless. "Come on now," he says, through gritted teeth. "You can do it."
"Okay," the woman says, finally with the bag in her hands. "Okay." She closes her red-rimmed eyes, and a breeze ruffles first her hair, and then her shawl. Her brow furrows as she concentrates, and as the man watches he can see the wrinkles both spreading and deepening at the same time. There's a smell of sulfur and salt, and several strands of the woman's hair that were once gray turn a ghostly silver.
The woman gasps. "Here," she says. She tries to lift her arms, but they're too weak, and the bag is full. The man reaches in eagerly, taking it away from her as she slumps a bit in her seat.
"Yes," he says, dipping his hand into the sack and retrieving a fistful of small golden coins. "Yes, very good, sweetness, very good." He bends down for a kiss, then reconsiders once he smells the must coming from her scalp. Instead he pats her hair.
"We'll be able to have food with this. And firewood. And I'll bring you the medicine so that your hands don't hurt as much when the rain comes."
He's already on his way out the door, his eyes filled with visions of women and booze and games of dice and cards. He's stopped only by a tiny, frail voice that drifts over from the other side of the room, like the sighing of a settling house.
"And can we go to the river...and look at the ducks...like we used to do with Mommy..."
"Of course," the man says, his mind on the small fortune in his hands. "Whatever you like."
The door closed, and the father left behind his ancient daughter in their cold and broken home.
****
Nasu pressed through the city his simulator had created around him smelling the sulfur from the torches that lit the streets and the salt from the harbor. It was expensive to power a city and electric lights were far too much for the slums. So instead the poor made due with torches, candles, and the smell. It was almost overwhelming, and it was far too much for anyone of means to bear; it was the odor of the poor.
Not too long ago he had been one of them. Obviously not one of these people. They were nothing but simulations, ones and zeroes lined up to perfectly emulate human beings. Their touch, their energy, their smell. Everything was a perfect mock up, but they weren’t real. But Nasu had once been a beggar. Living off the streets of New Vegeta, only off what he could beg, borrow, or steal. Times had changed.
Now he lived in a literal palace, and he had long since left poverty behind him. Less than a year since his ascension to royalty and already these people disgusted him. He thought that was why his simulator had sent him here. His AI had always hated him. Nasu had dreamed of tearing it out and replacing it with a new AI, one similar to the one Kass had in her computer. An obedient, controllable AI, but everytime he went to uninstall his something came up taking priority. Nasu looked down at the metal replacement leg he needed that was his last “priority” and shuddered. There was always something.
He pushed through the crowded streets never stopping, his eyes firmly on the man ahead. He considered flying to try and catch up or at least get closer but the gravity chamber was now at x45 for him, with the addition of his heavy weighted clothing he felt each step was an effort. He might be able to get off the ground but it would draw every eye to him immediately. If he was surrounded he would be as good as dead.
He knew the simulation was meant to put him at a disadvantage, to force him to draw on the power that had been sucked out of him and blocked behind a set of eyes that never left him. But so far Nasu hadn’t been able to access anything more than his inner strength. A trait he thought had long since been rendered unimportant was now the best he had. But he wouldn’t give up.
So on foot, he trailed behind the man knowing he was going into one of the seedier sections of town. Finally the man stopped in front of a door to a dilapidated building and Nasu a few dozen feet behind walked into a small alley way out of site and put his back against the wall listening.
The street was dead quiet, he was lucky no one else was here but still he had to strain his ears to make out what he was listening for. He heard the man knock on the door clearly but to no response. The man’s pounding became more insistent, desperate even as no one answered immediately.
Finally after a few moments the door must have opened as the knocking stopped and a deep voice grunted.
“I’m...I’m here to play.” the man he had been tailing said his voice sounding higher than Nasu remembered. He was literally squeaking a bit in fear and Nasu had to suppress his own grunt of disgust.
The man grunted again and you could almost hear his contempt as if it were obvious exactly what the man in front of the door wanted, and his response was a questioning if not angry And? The bouncers tone making it clear something else was required. This was it, this was what Nasu had been waiting for, why he’d bothered to follow the man from his home.
“Pine-” the wind picked up and Nasu missed the second half of the password. Silently cursing his luck. Of all the fucking times! He swore under his breathe. The wind died and he managed to hear the jingling of coins as the prick paid his cover fee and walked into the casino.
Nasu had already spent two days finding this place, and another day and a half finding a regular whom he could learn the passcode from. And now all the effort was wasted.
Still he had half, that would have to be enough.
Nasu waited twenty minutes after the first gambler entered before knocking on the door himself. He didn’t want to seem like he had followed the first and he couldn’t afford to cause a scene.
The man who answered the door was the next best thing to a giant. Nasu stood tall at six feet even, but the man was a full head taller than him, on top of that he wore a dark black t-shirt that showed off his muscled frame, his arms as wide around as Nasu’s entire head. He could understand why the first gambler had been frightened and Nasu tried to put on an appropriate face.
He had never been much of an actor but if he didn’t seem afraid the bouncer would know something was off.
“Umm..” Nasu stuttered purely for effect. He had spent the last few minutes trying to come up with a plan. “I’m here to play.” he said to the wall of silence in front of him. The man eyed him up and down appraisingly. Nasu was suppressing his power level and with the addition of the weights the bouncer thought he would be able to handle Nasu easily. At the moment he wasn’t far from the truth. The beast of a man in front of him grunted. It was the same response he had given the first gamer and in his mind Nasu breathed a sigh of relief. Step one check.
Nasu glanced around feigning nerves again and noticed a camera directly above the door, it was set to alert the people inside to any disturbance large enough to make it past their bouncer. Even a seemingly tiny luxury like this must have cost the owner a small fortune. Electricity wasn’t cheap they must be making serious money to afford camera security. “Ummm…” Nasu said again meeting the bouncer’s eyes briefly before looking away embarrassed.
“Pine…” he stalled. “Pineapple, no pinecone!” he said speaking fast and stumbling over his words. The man in the door remained silent so Nasu barreled on. “I’m sorry, I knew it was pine, but I forgot the rest. I was a little drunk when I was told and my handwriting was terrible.” Nasu took out his wallet reaching for two 50 zeni coins holding them out.
The man never said a word. Instead his hand snapped out grabbing Nasu by the throat and lifting him off the ground with the ease you would see a normal adult lifting an apple. Nasu’s feet kicked the air ineffectively as he was held at arms length, his hands scraping at the monster’s wrists to no effect.
Again without a word Nasu was flung into a dumpster hitting his back hard against the sheet metal and raising a loud echoing crash. The bouncer bent slowly picking up Nasu’s coins before walking back inside shutting the door behind him.
Nasu stayed down for a few seconds not having to feign pain or worry this time. That hurt had hurt like hell. A moment later a window opened up on the second floor and a pair of glowing red eyes glared down. But seeing Nasu still on the outside and in the gutter the eyes vanished back into the building unconcerned and shutting the window behind them.
“So much for plan A.” Nasu grumbled pushing himself slowly to his feet and checking to see if he was bleeding. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of his mouth and he made sure to wipe up every drop with a clean handkerchief he took from his pocket.
He held pressure to his mouth until he was positive the bleeding had stopped, then with a spark of energy and electricity lit the handkerchief on fire and threw it on the ground. He paused for a moment staring, waiting and making sure that every inch of the cloth burned before he walked forward again. This time his pounding on the door was more insistent, but before it opened he stepped off to the side just out of sight of where the man would be standing.
A moment later the door opened and seeing no one immediately outside the bouncer made his only fatal mistake. He took one step outside clearly not sensing anyone dangerous he wanted to look around and see who had been stupid enough to prank his door.
Sprinting in quick making sure to stay close to the wall out of site of the camera Nasu ran and jumped on the giant’s back. With a small surge of power he wrapped one arm around the behemoth's neck, beginning to squeeze as he simultaneously kicked at the beast’s knees forcing the man backwards all while cutting off his air.
His own feet on the ground, the beast bent back providing leverage for Nasu, he walked back into the entranceway shutting the front door with his telekinesis behind him. The monster struggled to scream out his jaw working furiously. After a brief moment of panic the man seemed to get his bearings though and quickly began delivering elbow after elbow into Nasu’s ribs.
Nasu had to grit his own teeth to keep from screaming out in pain as he held on for his life to the man’s neck. After thirty seconds the blows started to become weaker. At a minute they stopped altogether as the man lost his footing and fell backwards entirely onto his ass. At two minutes the man’s head finally fell forward unconscious in defeat. At three minutes the man’s face had turned black and Nasu considered letting go. At five minutes Nasu was almost positive the man was dead. At seven minutes there was a knock from the outside of the door, Nasu dropped the bouncer to the ground and looked back at the face of the man he had just killed only to see the beast had no tongue.
The owner must have cut it out when he came to work for the casino. A bodyguard who would never be able to turn on you. Useful.
The knock came again louder this time. Unsure what to do Nasu opened the door.
A small woman stood in front of him and Nasu stepped up blocking the door. Doing his best to imitate the bouncer he had just killed he grunted menacingly. The woman took a small step back, and looked at him strangely, apparently his grunt had the desired effect.
“I’m here to work.” she said with far more confidence than he or the original gambler had seemed to have. And again Nasu answered with a grunt.
“Pine needle.” she said with some force behind it and Nasu silently berated himself. He had spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to think up pine words and he had forgotten fucking needle?!
The woman waited expectantly in front of the door, eyeing him curiously. Nasu couldn’t let her in, he hadn’t had a chance to move the body, but at the same time he couldn’t just let her go either.
“I’m really sorry.” he said to her and his hand snapped up to her neck the same way the bouncer’s had met his own neck earlier.
As soon as he spoke the woman’s eyes widened in shock and she took a deep breathe in preparation for a scream or some kind of warning. But the shout never got the chance as Nasu took firm hold of the woman’s throat.
He held on for a minute until the woman stopped squirming and seemed to pass out as well. It was just a simulation but still he didn’t want to kill the girl if he didn’t have to. Instead he ran outside and deposited her body in the dumpster he had been thrown into. A moment later he ran back inside grabbing the behemoth's body, this he had to throw over one shoulder and even still he could barely lift it. Walking back to the dumpster he tried to place it as gently as he could but still there was a loud thud.
Nothing compared with the crash he had created before but for a moment Nasu froze holding his breathe. He looked up at the window above searching for a set of eyes, but nothing came. First one minute then two passed in complete silence, Nasu afraid to so much as even move a muscle.
Finally he let out the breathe. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it until now. Walking back in he snuck under the camera again and shut the door behind him. All that work just to get in. This was not going as smoothly as he’d hoped.
Nasu walked down the hallway for about a hundred feet before it took a hard right turn. It was smart, if the casino was ever attacked people could stay just behind the corner and wait for the attackers to come through, as soon as they turned they could be gunned down by a waiting hit squad. He knew the owner of the casino was clever, Nasu was walking into a trap but there wasn’t much he could do.
Turning the corner Nasu looked up to see two more cameras, one facing him aimed to catch his face as soon as he turned into the hall. The other facing the way he was going designed to see anyone who was leaving. However security had not yet been alerted to the fact their bouncer was down for the count so Nasu looked like just another patron as he made his way into the main hall.
The casino itself was dark, candles were placed periodically on the wall and a large chandelier hung down from the ceiling providing light but the whole place smelt of smoke from the effort. It all left Nasu feeling dirty as he walked through like he needed a long shower just for standing in the room.
Still after almost 4 days inside the simulator with no apparent change of clothes to be found Nasu always felt dirty now, and he fit right in with the casino’s clientele. Walking over to the wall he leaned his back against the bar and looked around his senses out.
Three large power sources above him...His eyes tracked to a set of stairs leading to the second floor. Before he could come up with a plan however A shout from one of the tables drew his attention.
The entire casino came to a stop as silence filled the room. It felt heavy as every eye in the room turned to look at the man who had made the noise. It was the original man Nasu had been following. Standing now he had one hand on the back of his chair with the other held in the air by the dealer at the table he had been sitting at.
The man’s face was white as a sheet, he began shaking his head vehemently. “No, there’s been a mistake.” he said quickly, his voice barely above a whisper but in the silence of the room every word carried. The dealer’s eyes hardened and a moment later age lines began to appear in the corners of his eyes. Slowly the lines turned into crows feet and Nasu thought he saw the dealers hair turn slightly paler but that might have been a trick from the candle light. His attention was drawn back to the cowering man however as cards began to float up from various parts of his shirt. Pockets and sleeves all hid face cards that now floated high above him as the man squirmed trying to get away from the dealer’s vice grip.
“Please no. I’ll leave, I swear I’ll leave right now.” the man whispered desperation in his voice and the dealer let go of his arm. For a second a look of pure relief and greed shown on the man’s face as he scooped up small gold coins and shoveled them into his pockets. As he turned though he bumped directly into two figures in pure black suits. Each with an expressionless iron mask covering their faces. The man screamed, unadulterated panic in his voice as he turned and began to sprint towards the door. The men raised gloved hands and pointed at him as he ran. The would be thief made it two steps when his leg gave out from under him a strange rotting goo falling out of his pant leg.
The entire room was silent. They watched grimly as the man began to crawl his way towards the exit.
There was a sick fascination as every eye in the room stared down, watching the man’s skin rot and fall of his bones. First it was his hands but that didn’t stop the man’s crawl. Then the muscle fell off becoming nothing but a pile of meat on the floor. The man began to whimper but seconds later the skin and muscle in his throat gave out as well.
There was a collective intake of breathe in the room as the man rose up one final time arching his back in absolute agony before his body collapsed in on itself leaving nothing but a pile of rotting organs and dirty clothes.
The room instantly burst into motion men and women alike moving around, laughing, talking like nothing had happened. Like a man hadn’t just died right before their eyes. The two masked and gloved men silently glided their way back towards the stairs a path through the crowd seeming to appear in front of them as people wordlessly got out of their way all without ever acknowledging their presence. Nasu could sense their power from across the room, they were two of the three upstairs he had come to see.
Pushing away from the bar Nasu made his own way towards the stairs, albeit more slowly. No one cleared a path for him the way they had the two sorcerers. The crowd burst into a million different conversations as if a man hadn’t just been murdered in front of them. The man had been scum, Nasu had seen him abusing an elderly woman to get the money he needed to gamble and whore, but to see people handling murder, torture like an everyday event was chilling to say the least. On top of that Nasu could still feel the combined presence. The room turning as one, every set of eyes, every focus on the man about to die. He shivered slightly.
Still he this needed to be done and he wouldn’t stop solely because a man had been killed. He’d seen men killed before and done his fair share of murder, it would take more than that to deter him, but still….the image of the man’s hand reaching out clawing towards a chance at freedom while his flesh rotted around him flashed through his mind again. Nasu reached the foot of the stairs and stopped. One step and there was no going back.
He looked around the rest of the room shaking his head. Go back to what? He pushed his way up the stairs. With years of practice he’d learned to suppress his energy, with years more he’d gotten it down to 1% of his base, with the addition of his heavy weighted clothing his energy was next to nothing. But it wasn’t nothing, that was a skill only the Earthman had ever possessed that skill and Nasu still had no idea how. As he walked up the stairs he suppressed his energy as low as it could go but there was no point in hiding. He’d grown too strong now, and anyone with even basic energy sensing would know something was coming. On top of that the stairs had clearly been planned to be in plain sight, there was no shadow to duck into or hallway to hide down. For now he need to act weak, so he played possum.
By the time he reached the top of the stairs two men were waiting for him, with a quick glance he realized they weren’t the silver masked men and he subtly let out a sigh of relief. They were brawny bald men, each in a suit that probably cost more than his spaceship, and each looked like their muscles were going to burst a seam through the suit itself. Still he smiled sensing their energy, he knew only had one shot at a surprise and he didn’t want to play his ace yet. He had to make it count. But these two wouldn’t be any problem if it came to that. Still maybe it wouldn’t...
He walked up the final step onto the landing only to be met with a hand to his chest.
“I’m sorry sir but you’re going to have to go back downstairs to the playing area.” Goon A said eyeing him the way a man sizes up a cut of meat. Nasu held up both hands a gesture of concession.
“Sorry,” Nasu said trying to put on his most disarming smile. “I know players aren’t allowed up here.” He took a breath to continue but Goon B cut him off.
“If you know then why are you here?” he asked his grunt almost identical to Goon A.
“Well I need to talk to your patron.” Nasu said flashing a shy smile again. “I have a bit of a probl-” before he could finish his sentence, the pair had grabbed him. Each taking an arm and bending it behind his back in a painful angle, while pushing his head forward so he was leaning over far enough he couldn’t see in front of him.
Nasu didn’t resist knowing this wasn’t the time, as he let himself be shoved forward. He made sure to walk in pace with the two blowhards, not making any sudden moves. Under his breath though he cussed them out and swore that if they twisted his arm again there would not be enough left of the pair to fill a thimble.
Still for the moment they walked him forward and he didn’t resist in the slightest giving no hint anything was out of the ordinary. Finally one let go of him to open a door, the man still holding him shoved him in and pointed to a chair in the center of the room, apparently enunciation and talkativeness weren’t traites HR was looking for when selecting security for this place. Hell at least this pair seemed to keep their tongues that was a plus.
Nasu looked around the room and couldn’t see much besides the chair. There was only one lamp beside it providing barely enough light to see a small circle of light...cliches were always so much fun…
Interrogation it was...he hoped it was someone more talkative than this lot though or it was going to be an awful boring interrogation session. One of the men left as Nasu took a seat while the other stood watch crossing his arms in an attempt to look menacing.
Nasu had just seen his bosses melt a man without breaking a sweat, as far as intimidation factor goes the wanna be bouncer just didn’t stack up. Still he remembered where his power level was supposed to be and did his best to look nervous. Hell he didn’t even have to try to hard. The man in front of him might not be much of a threat but there were at least two more people in the building capable of making him genuinely nervous.
The thought of the pair made Nasu fidget a little and the man guarding him seemingly ill at ease a moment before smiled slightly before putting his face back into the stern frown that Nasu wasn’t sure but supposed was supposed to be a cross of angry or constipated? Apparently the man took pleasure in making others uncomfortable and Nasu made an effort to shift more. Couldn’t hurt to make his captors believe he was wholly theirs.
A moment later the door opened up again and Nasu’s eyes burned, he threw a hand up to shield them as they had grown accustomed to the dimmer room he was sitting in. He heard the door clothes and dropped his hand to look up and saw the pair in the masks standing on either side of the door and for the first time beads of sweat began to run down the side of his face.
The Security Goon who had come in with the pair of sorcerers looked at him spoke up. “How did you find out about our patron?” he asked as the masked men silently watched. Nasu’s eyes never leaving the pair he replied.
“One of the working girls told me about him.” he lied and without waiting for any sort of signal the goon who had stayed with him backhanded Nasu across the face. Nasu’s head shot to the side not so in pain so much as surprise. He was shocked this man so far below him would do something as stupid as hit him and for a moment his head hung down and Nasu fantasized about the different ways he would kill the man before he remembered his role. For the moment he was meek little powerless insect just trying not to be killed. He lifted his head which had hung low from the pain of being hit.
As soon as his face raised the first goon spoke up again.
“None of the girls know who they work for. How. Did. You. Know.” this time he emphasised every word making it clear he would not be asking again. Nasu fidgeted trying to think of an answer and while he stalled the man punched him in the gut doubling him over.
Not slapped him which was disrespectful, but punched him full on. Nasu’s weighted clothing took most of the blow but it still pressed the wind from his lungs. The man didn’t fare so well though. Nasu might have suppressed his energy but that didn’t negate years of work entirely. The man swore as he clenched what had to be a number of broken fingers in his hand.
“The fuck was that?!” he swore glaring daggers at Nasu. If looks could kill, they’d still need to be a hell of a lot stronger than this man to hurt Nasu when he was prepared.
“You slapped me once.” Nasu said quietly, “That’s not going to happen again.” he said it to the security guard clutching his broken fist but the room was small and he knew everyone could hear the threat. So he held up his hands in supplication and smiled.
“Please.” Nasu said looking around the room that had suddenly gotten tense. “I’m really not here to fight. I just have a problem and would like to speak with the Proprietor.” he said the last like a title. In part because it was.
The Proprietor didn’t just own this casino, he owned the red light district outright, and three quarters of the rest of the city paid him protection if the rumors were to be believed. It was only an act of sheer luck that had Nasu find him, and led him to the den of sin he was fortunate enough to be sitting in now.
One of the masks made an almost imperceptible nod and the Goons lumbered towards him. Nasu waited until the first one was close, letting him aim a haymaker for his temple. People never seem to realize legs are longer than arms and without ever leaving the chair Nasu mule kicked the man directly in his ribs knocking the air from his lungs and sending him back a step. Standing up and grabbing the man by his hair all in one motion. Nasu brought the man’s head down to meet his knee breaking the bouncer’s nose with a satisfying crack. Still not letting go of his hair though Nasu steps to the side and tosses the man into the gut of the second bouncer with the broken hand who had been coming behind him.
The man had somehow found a metal club and had it raised above his head to bring down on the back of Nasu’s when his partner slammed into his stomach. The two fell in a heap a tangle of limbs and blood both gasping for air. Nasu looked over to the masked pair for some sort of guidance, neither had moved an inch. With a shrug Nasu walked over to the man with the broken fist who was trying to push his now unconscious partner off him.
“Sorry friend.” Nasu said as he drove a fist into the man’s face knocking him out as well. Standing up straight again Nasu turned back towards the door and the pair of sorcerers guarding it. Still neither had moved an inch. Raising his hands again Nasu smiled.
“Sorry about the mess, I promise I just want a word with your boss that’s all.” Nasu said looking for some sign, any sort of sign they had heard him. There was a long silence, but Nasu had said his piece and knew he couldn’t gain anything by continuing to talk. Fuck all he knew he’d only make it worse. Finally after what felt like an eternity of literally just staring back and forth they opened the door with one of the pair gesturing for Nasu to follow behind them.
It was the very next door over and Nasu should have known. The owner would have wanted to hear everything that happened. As the first mask pushed opened door proceeding him in, his partner stayed back choosing to follow Nasu into the room, leaving him with the distinct feeling that he was surrounded and outclassed at the moment.
He could maybe get the jump on one of them, but he would leave himself in no position to fight his partner before the magic he had no defense against took hold and Nasu was killed. The fact that the two worked in such perfect unison without even needing to speak about it left him with an even greater sense of unease as he walked into the room.
If the interrogation room before had been dank and intimidating this room was the polar opposite. There were lights everywhere, and expensive looking rugs covering hardwood floors. Rich plush couches lined the walls all combined to give the room a warm opulent feel. This room did share one similarity however, there was a chair directly in the middle of the room. Directly above the chair was a light shining down so brightly Nasu couldn’t look directly at it. The angle of all the lighting in the room had a strange effect though. It was so bright, that no matter where he looked, Nasu couldn’t find a single shadow. While he never particularly noticed his own or anyone else’s shadow before the sudden lack made him uncomfortable.
He shivered a bit and noticed the whole room felt just a touch off. As if it was designed to make the person walking in feel less at ease. The fact that he was surrounded now by two perfectly silent, perfectly in sync sorcerers who were prepared to kill him only multiplied the effect and that last bit made it click.
It was all an act, all intentional. Everything here was designed to give the casino’s owner an edge. And it had worked; as he walked forward Nasu had to suppress another shiver. He was figuratively in a den of lions, and if you show weakness in front of a predator they’ll only think of you as prey.
He wasn’t going to be prey, he might not be the most dangerous person in the room, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be hunted down and killed either. That thought galvanizing him Nasu stood tall and smiled wide as if he didn’t have a care in the world as he faced the Proprietor for the first time.
The man was sitting in the chair in the dead middle of the room. Like his two body guards the Proprietor wore a black suit and tie, with an expressionless mask covering his face. Unlike his guards however the Proprietor’s mask was gold to their silver. It wasn’t much but it showed he valued his rank. From everything Nasu had heard the man had earned his status as Underlord of the city, building his empire from the literal ground up and he clearly took pride. Where his casino looked run down from the exterior the inside was impeccably decorated, no expenses were spared for security or luxury, and giving the man another once over, even his common suit was fine in ways Nasu, growing up poor, could barely comprehend. While his body guards wore tailored suits, they looked to be wool or polyester. Their Master’s clothing while it looked the same appeared to be silk or something similar. The pair golden cufflinks each with a small diamond in the center, the Proprietor however wore cufflinks of black stone that caught the light from above and seemed to suck the excess light into them. Nasu had no idea how much those stones must have cost but once he saw them his eyes couldn’t leave without a conscious effort and that alone made him think it was more money than he’d ever had at one time in his life. He finished his outfit with leather gloves that prevented Nasu from seeing so much as a centimeter of the man’s skin but Nasu had heard the man had been operating for years. A sorcerer of his caliber had to be ancient by now which explained why he had his guards doing the magical lifting for him.
“It’s an honor to finally meet you.” Nasu started but an upraised hand cut him off. The voice that came from behind the mask definitely did not match the one in Nasu’s mind. He had pictured the gruff voice of an elderly man, instead he was greeted with a deep but firm solid voice, of a man still in his prime.
“You wanted to talk. And you didn’t kill three of my men now and challenge two more just to tell me what an honor it was to meet me. What do you want?” he said cutting to the point.
Nasu squirmed internally but never let the smile leave his face. Apparently they discovered his entrance and knew the doorman was dead as well. Still if he was still alive that meant the Proprietor either didn’t care or would exact revenge later. For now he had a chance to get the information he needed.
“I want to know how he doesn’t age.” Nasu said matching his opponents’ abruptness.
“He’s used more magic and faced more people than the rest of the city combined. He should be dead five times over and even if he somehow lived he should be old enough he can’t raise a finger without machines. How the hell is he still alive?!” The smile had left Nasu’s face by now. It was the first rule he learned when he came to this city. All magic has a price. It was capable of doing literally anything the user put his or her will behind. The will and the word could move mountains or wipe out whole armies if the will was strong enough. But the cost was extreme. For every action, every breathe of magic aged the user until they were nothing left but an old shell with the magic user trapped inside.
But somehow the Lord Ruler defied that rule. He cast magic’s that should have killed or crippled him with age countless times and yet his back stood straight his shoulders firm, he showed no sign that it had touched him.
The golden mask stared at him impassively for a moment as if in thought before finally answering.
“And why should I tell you that?” he asked finally. But Nasu had dangled his bait. Now it was Nasu’s turn to wait. Long ago he learned that people hate silence, that if you wait long enough, people will continue to talk, to tell you more than they might have planned just to fill the silence. And the trick had never let him down, so Nasu waited and stared as if the man’s words had not been enough. The silence hung between them for five seconds, then ten. Finally the man broke began to speak again and inwardly Nasu breathed a sigh in relief.
“The Lord Ruler had been good to me. Under him my businesses have flourished. I control over half the city now and his taxes never take more than their fair share. Why would I want to rock the boat now?”
Nasu smiled again, a real one this time. The man had given him everything he needed to reel him in. “Because you still pay, because you have half a city when you could have a whole. And because he still takes from you what he hasn’t earned just by the benefit of being the strongest.” He saw the Proprietor’s back straighten and he knew he had him. Time to real him in.
“And any shot I take has a chance of weakening him; even if I fail I could give you an opening for you when you take your own.” The last part was pure speculation, but no man ambitious enough to take over half the city didn’t have dreams of the whole thing.
Still at the words the Proprietor immediately sat up even straighter, the mask keeping any expression from his face but his tone one of contained anger and disapproval.
“You’re only guessing.” There might have been a hint of defensiveness about him too but Nasu couldn’t tell for sure. “But your guess hits too close to home. You wouldn’t even be an afterthought to Lord Ruler as you are now.” He shook his head as if to affirm himself of some thought he had. “Yes, but your guess is far too accurate and if one such as you knows then he probably knows as well…James.” The Proprietor snapped his fingers and the man in front of him in the silver mask raised his hand.
Instantly Nasu’s back began to ache and his he tightened up preparing to attack. But the Proprietor spoke again sharply.
“No. Not like that, you will do it the old fashioned way.” The man in front of Nasu never said a word but his head turned ever so slightly to the side questioningly. From the man who had been a wall of silence while he disintegrated another human being this might as well have been him screaming his question to his master. But when no answer was immediately forthcoming he dropped into a fighting stance, his power level shooting up strong enough to rival Nau’s own base strength.
Without waiting for an explanation to his own good fortune Nasu shot forward and was on top of James in two short steps. Nasu reached out to try and grab Jame’s head but instead the man calmly caught one of his arms and used his own momentum against him lifting Nasu and spiking him through the floor.
Nasu crashed through the rich carpeting and the second floor entirely landing back first onto roulette wheel below. The man above wasted no time dropping down letting gravity take him as he delivered a knee that connected with Nasu’s stomach leaving him stunned and winded.
Rolling off of him, James picked Nasu up by the neck with one hand bringing the other back preparing to finish it. Before he could drive the fist forward however Nasu lashed out with a leg, mule kicking the man in his gut and forcing him back a step.
The kick forced James to let go of his throat and that was all Nasu needed drawing a quick gasp of air as he stopped suppressing his own energy and let it rise to his natural base and matching James own fighting ability.
There was a brief pause and though Nasu couldn’t see his face behind the mask he assumed it was from shock at the rise energy. Still not one to waste an opportunity Nasu flew forward again. This time when he got in close Nasu knelt down under a rushed haymaker and threw two hands forward into James’ stomach pushing him back again.
Not letting up Nasu pressed the attack pushing forward going almost punch for punch with the man now fists moving far too fast for the common eye to follow. All around them the casino had emptied out. Not used to seeing one of the Proprietor’s guards given a challenge the men and women who had only come to the establishment for vice fled knowing no matter who won this fight, they would lose in the end.
The two traded blows back and forth each careful to make sure they gave each other no extra momentum to use against them, every punch every kick precise, sure not to be extended enough to grab and turn into a throw. And as a result the hits that landed only did minimal damage. Nasu could keep this level up all day even in the increased gravity but the strain was starting to show on James as his suit became discolored with sweat.
The man was clearly not used to extended fights and this one was taking it’s toll. Finally he made a mistake throwing a kick that Nasu let connect with his side temporarily knocking the air from his lungs, but in exchange Nasu caught the man’s hand before he could pull it back from a misplaced punch.
With a yank he pulled the man forward and drove his knee into his gut causing him to double over before Nasu drove raised his elbow and drove that into the back of the man’s neck causing him to slam into the ground hard enough to bounce right back up to eye level.
Before he can fall again Nasu’s hand shoots out and grabs the man by the hair holding his head up while his body flops under him, with a quick motion Nasu lands two hard punches to the mask and he can see the silver begin to splinter and crack.
James wasn’t one to just take his beating quietly however swept Nasu’s legs out from under him sending him sprawling to the ground his grip on Jame’s head lost. On his back Nasu went to kick himself back to his feet but before he could James climbed on top of him and delivered a right hook across his jaw that had him seeing stars. The assault didn’t stop there however instead he followed up with dozens more punches at point blank range as Nasu covered his face as best he could.
Bringing his aura around him Nasu glowed red as James straddled him still delivering punches without stop. At this point James either was so focused he hadn’t noticed Nasu’s aura or knew that if he stopped to see what it meant he would be giving up his advantage. As punches rained down on Nasu’s face he reached deep within himself pulling on his own energy until his body was coated in a layer of electricity.
Immediately the punches stopped as James body stiffened, and fell off of him. On the ground he began to twitch and spasm as volt after volt of electricity flowed through him robbing him of any control he had.
Slowly Nasu pushed himself to his feet wiping away a thin trickle of blood that was coming from his nose before realizing his nose was completely crooked. Stopping he took a deep painful breathe, gripped, and set his nose as quickly as possible as a lightning bolt of pain shot through him.
Finally he looked down at the man on the ground who was just now regaining minimal control of his body, but he was clearly unable to continue the fight as his body lay on the ground smoke rising off of it.
Nasu looked up and saw the Proprietor and his remaining guard staring down assessing the situation.
A moment later the pair jumped down landing lightly, the guard a fraction of a step in front of his boss ready to intercede should Nasu charge. But while the man stood in Nasu’s path his head kept shifting over to stare at James who hadn’t yet regained his feet and who’s suit previously spotless was now spattered with red. Nasu could almost sense the desire to go help his friend but the guard held strong and blocked Nasu’s path to his boss instead.
The Proprietor for his part stood silently still assessing the situation. He looked around his casino that had been lively only moments before and now was completely deserted. With a sigh he walked over to the bar reached behind it and pulled out a bottle of whiskey that was older than Nasu and three glasses.
For the power levels of the two men fighting, the casino was surprisingly intact after the fact. Usually there was considerably more collateral damage during one of his fights and Nasu couldn’t help but be relieved that aside from the table he had been thrown through the rest of the establishment looked fine.
“We’re going to have to burn the place to the ground.” The Proprietor’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts and shocked him.
“But why? We only destroyed that one table really.” Nasu asked not bothering to keep the surprise from his face.
“No one will come back here now, they’ll all fear that they saw my men fighting and I’ll have them killed. This place is worthless now except for the insurance settlement after we burn it.” With that he reached up and stripped the mask off his face and Nasu’s jaw fell. The man in front of him couldn’t have been any older than 18. A man who Nasu had heard used magic to personally take out dozens of rivals, underlings, to kill anyone who had ever dared challenge him, and still he sat in front of him in the prime of his life. Nasu was speechless.
“Do you know why practitioners wear masks boy?” he asked pouring a small measure of the whiskey into each of the three glasses before letting Nasu pick which one he wanted. Nasu picked the glass closest to him and downed it in one long pull. The whiskey burned going down but it felt good and gave him a moment to organize his own thoughts.
“They wear masks so no one can see your age. A young practitioner has a huge advantage over an older one knowing how much magic they can use before they’re completely spent. The masks eliminate that advantage.” Nasu said parroting the answer he had heard dozens of times before.
“Yes that is exactly right. If another sorcerer knows your age, they either know your experience, or they know your limitations. Neither of which you ever want an opponent to see and live to tell the tale.” He gave Nasu a very pointed look. Nasu had now seen his face and age, if he couldn’t become an ally he wouldn’t live to the end of this conversation. And suddenly Nasu was acutely aware there were three glasses in front of him as the second body guard stepped forward and grabbed the remaining glass.
With a quick motion the second guard too pulled off their mask and long black hair tumbled out as a gorgeous woman in her late teens, early twenties took the cup and downed her shot much the same as Nasu had.
“You did a real number on my brother.” She said voice soft but firm. “If he dies you will too regardless of any orders I’m given.” She put the empty glass down on the bar loudly and walked over to tend to her brother.
Nasu looked back to the Proprietor but he just smiled. His face was young but his eyes seemed older somehow. Nasu had a million questions now but he just sat there dumb struck and waited.
The Proprietor didn’t down his shot the same way Nasu and the second guard had, instead he lifted it to his lips and sniffed, before taking a short sip and sighing again putting the cup back down content.
“Not everything in life is straightforward boy.” The Underlord said eyes on his cup. “It’s the people who learn to think outside the box that thrive, and the people who never think for themselves who become sheep to the slaughter.”
The Proprietor leaned over the bar again this time pulling out a bottle of whiskey that had only been aged three years. It was the kind of drink that you see near signs labeled “Dollar Shot Night” and such. He poured another shot into Nasu’s cup and this time Nasu lifted it to his mouth and took a small sip.
As he swallowed Nasu couldn’t help but wince. The burn this time wasn’t as gentle and not nearly as smooth. It must have shown in his expression cause the Proprietor laughed, it wasn’t a forced laugh, or a viscous one but a genuine belly laugh clearly thinking Nasu’s face had been the height of comedy.
A moment later the laughter died down but the Proprietor’s eyes never left Nasu’s face. Slowly he raised his hand up as Nasu had seen the two other guards do earlier in the night when they had been murdering the card cheat.
Nasu’s blood pressure spiked and his body tensed but he knew there was no time. He wouldn’t have a chance to fight back before he was killed.
Bracing for the worst Nasu was shocked instead to see the laugh lines around the Proprietor’s eyes straighten as the wrinkles smoothed out. The hint of five o’clock shadow that had been playing around his chin faded until nothing was left. And Nasu was left staring at the face of a man who couldn’t have been older than 16.
Completely shocked Nasu sat there motionless until the boy gestured to his cup. Nasu raised it to his lips the burn from his last sip already forgotten, this time the liquor that went down was aged perfectly, and smooth as silk.
“But how…” Nasu asked his voice barely above a whisper and the teenaged underlord smiled brightly at him.
“Magic can do anything you set your will too. Including stealing age.” He said simply.
*****
By the time Nasu had recovered from the shock James was back on his feet as well and his sister looked relieved. Her face which had been stunningly beautiful when angry was breathtaking now in relief and joy, and Nasu had to stop himself from staring at her.
He wondered why she went out of her way to wear a suit when almost anything would have suited her better. She caught him staring at her and frowned clearly noticing his attention and clearly not interested. He blushed and she walked away shaking her head as she supported her brother.
“So you steal age with your magic and no one ever noticed?” Nasu asked the Proprietor as they sat again in his room upstairs. They all pointedly ignored the whole in the floor.
“Yes and no. But it’s not nearly as simple as you imply either. First it requires the practitioner to be able to split their mind and their will into two parts, which is not something your average person can do. You need to be able to focus and keep your will while both syphoning age from a person or object, and while adding it to either yourself or another object.” With this the Proprietor held up his arms and pointed to one of his cufflinks. “And finally you need an object capable of containing raw magic. The expense of those objects limits the potential to just stumble on this kind of thing even further.”
He put both hands up in front of him and spread all ten fingers out wide. “Out of every ten practitioners, only three ever gain the experience needed with magic to understand basic principles before they grow old and die from use.” he folded in seven fingers. “Only one will have the talent, and the knowledge to split their mind and will as required.” he folded in two more fingers leaving one remaining. “And only one in ten thousand will ever have the means necessary to afford a gem that could store that kind of energy.” He pointed the last finger at himself. “I happen to be lucky enough to be a combination of all those traits but even if you possess one, there is no guarantee you possess any of the rest.” he finished simply.
Nasu was doing the math in his head. “But in a city of millions, you’d think more would have figured it out?” he said still questioning.
“Well of course more have.” the Proprietor said looking at him like he was an idiot. “Dozens have learned the secret over the years, maybe more. But they have followed one of three courses of action. They learned the secret and immediately drained everyone and everything they could. The Lord Ruler who had known for generations and has more energy than you could possibly fathom stored learned of their existence through their recklessness and killed them.” The man smiled at him as if that was clearly the stupidest of choices anyone could make. “Two, you learn the great secret to magic, you now know how the Lord Ruler has survived countless challenges, and years of devastating magical abuse. You go out in public, announce to the world you know his secret and how to kill him. The Lord Ruler uses generations of magical experience you don’t possess to outclass you and kill you.” he smiled shaking his head again, option two was clearly no better than option one. “Or three,” he said finally. “You learn this great secret. You tell no one, you are as always cautious with your use of magic to not raise alarms all the while you begin to acquire wealth, power and allies, you begin to store, energy and age much as the Lord Ruler has. And you prepare for the time when an opportunity to strike presents itself.” This time the look on The Proprietor’s face was absolutely vicious. “And when the opportunity does present itself, you burn the earth around him to make sure no act of magic will ever be enough to bring that walking atrocity back from the dead.” the room went still and no one said a word.
“So that brings us to our last question for the evening.” The Proprietor said very quietly his eyes, so much older than his face, never leaving Nasu. “Do you really think you can be that opportunity?”
****
Nasu stood in the center of the city outside the gates to the Lord Ruler’s citadel. He’d been to palaces, temples, mansions, and estates, but none of them rivaled the grandeur of the Lord Ruler’s Citadel. Part palace, part temple the stained glass windows all around depicted scenes from The Lord Ruler’s mythology. Him casting back the sea with a wave, him raising the city around them from nothing, him providing food to the masses. The scenes could be inspiring and for a moment he understood why people followed him, why some in the masses truly believed he was their god. But as Nasu waited and watched, other windows displayed a darker path. The Lord Ruler, fighting off invaders by melting an entire army in mass. The Lord Ruler stopping a rebellion by setting one of every three known practitioners on fire. The Lord Ruler stern face watching as his own people starved for their “lack of faith”. He had killed as many as he had saved over the years. Karmic balance, but maybe it was time to tip the scale, may be breaking even wasn’t enough anymore.
The bell in the Citadel began to chime out. It was 5 o’clock, the time all most of the city got out of work and was on the street. The time when the sun was still in the sky and people were out from home. The Proprietor needed a large crowd to witness his victory if he was to be the one to take over when the Lord Ruler finally fell. The world needed to know it was his victory, not just a strangers.
Nasu took a deep breathe and rose into the air above the gate. The gravity fighting him every inch of the way but still Nasu rose to twenty feet above the city when his red aura flared to life around him. It was a clear challenge to the man in the ivory tower and one seen now by millions of citizens.
Where before The Lord Ruler might have been able to send a flunky, or a guard, or even disintegrate him without ever leaving his chair the Proprietor had said he liked to make particular examples of those foolish to challenge him openly. Those dumb enough to mock his power usually died screaming...but Nasu would have help he hoped.
Nasu tried to scan the crowd for the two sorcerer guards the Practitioner had sent to help him. To keep the Lord Ruler’s magic occupied while Nasu fought the man himself. But the pair blended into the gathered crowd well and Nasu didn’t want to look nervous and give away his hole card by looking around wildly.
From the citadel he heard the sound of a door thrown open wide and then the fanfare that always accompanied the Lord Ruler’s arrival. Nasu looked in but the room behind the doors was pitch black and he couldn't make out anything. But though the door stood open, though the trumpets played and then fell silent, the Lord Ruler was no where to be seen. The silence dragged on until people on the street started whispering. Never before had the Lord Ruler been missing when challenged….
Nasu held his breath as he hovered high in the air, the obvious spectacle for everyone to see. Until finally, in heart of the black room, a man appeared coming more and more into focus as he walked forward. Walking down the dead center of the hallway The Lord Ruler came to meet his challenger.
Like every practitioner he was covered from head to toe, but his appearance was immaculate. His shoes shined bright enough to see his reflection. His pants pressed and creased enough for any board room meeting. His suit jacket was tailored and cost more than half the city earned in a year. The Mask the Lord Ruler wore was a combination face mask and crown, The mask bright gold, with a platinum circlet crown woven in about the forehead. It was only when staring at the crown that Nasu noticed all the gems. Each peak of the crown held a diamond similar to the cuffs Nasu’s own sorcerers wore. The tie the Lord Ruler wore had a clip with two rubies on either end, a pin with the country’s flag was on the suit’s lapel and it shined with a light leading Nasu to believe it was another gem. The cufflinks worn by the Lord Ruler were two of the largest diamonds Nasu had ever seen in one place. He wasn’t an overly greedy man by nature but even his own eyes widened as he stared at them, and finally the belt buckle was a large perfectly green emerald.
Nasu felt his mouth go dry. The Proprietor had given each of his guard a small arsenal in gemstones. They had two cufflinks a piece as well as small earrings and a necklace each laced with energy. But the Lord Ruler was on a whole different level. He easily had them ten to one in stored energy and now Nasu finally understood why options one and two failed in the Proprietor’s examples and for a moment he thought about running.
The image of the gambler in the casino trying to run even as his skin disintegrated and rotted around him sprang to his mind and for the first time he realized why the Proprietor had put him as such obvious bait instead of springing him a well placed trap.
If Nasu’s courage failed and he ran the Lord Ruler would kill him from behind while the Proprietor’s guards did nothing, they would stay in hiding and watch from complete safety as he was brutally murdered and no one would ever be the wiser that he was involved.
That bastard had set him up to die. Nasu’s energy spiked and electricity began to flow around his body as his rage grew. The Lord Ruler’s walk never quickened, he made his way down the long path to the front of his gate and only when he was steps away did he leap into the air stopping maybe fifty feet away from Nasu.
The man’s aura was impressive. Pure white with energy that rivaled his sister’s power before she transformed. He was out of his depth here, but he put on a bold front. He smiled putting his right hand into a fist and then slowly crossing it over his body till it touched his heart, being sure to make no sudden movements.
“My Lord.” he said loudly so the entire assembly could hear. “I’ve come to pledge my life and my power to you.” he said and there was a gasp from everyone in the crowd.
They had all expected to see a show, a fight between the challenger and their Lord and Master. In reality most had just stopped to watch what they assumed was going to be a very public, very brutal execution of another foolish challenger, but instead here he was offering his service to the man.
The Lord Ruler paused hovering in the air for a moment, until his head tilted to one side questioning, he was clearly confused. He hadn’t been expecting that either, but that was why Nasu hadn’t breached the gates, that was why Nasu hadn’t said a word as he ascended and powered up. He hadn’t technically offered any offense. But it sure looked like he was about to. And the Lord Ruler paused confused, he gestured towards his Citadel with one hand beckoning Nasu in, he might not know what was going on but he would be a fool to throw away the kind of power Nasu was offering in service without hearing him out as well.
The Lord Ruler’s never took his eyes off Nasu but Nasu floated forward towards the palace. He intended to hover behind Nasu and follow him in. Nasu was right next to the tyrant now. He could feel the man’s gaze on him. But there would be no time for him to react.
Without any sign or warning Nasu struck. Leg sweeping out he caught the Lord Ruler’s leg with his foot dragging it forward and sending the man horizontal to the ground. Winding up Nasu charges an energy blast in his hand and drives it directly into the Lord Ruler’s stomach sending him crashing into the ground in a blur, creating a massive impact crater and a pile of smoke where from where he landed.
Nasu can hear the crowd gasp in the background but he knew he didn’t have time to wait. If the twins were truly going to help him they were pushing through the crowd now trying to lock down as much magical energy as they could. Even so Nasu feared it would only be a drop in the bucket.
He could feel the Lord Ruler’s energy through the debri and the dust, he had taken a hit but he was just as strong. Nasu dove into the cloud cover not needing to see, using his other senses he felt the Lord Ruler’s position and delivered a spin kick to his face that sent him flying.
Or it would have had the kick landed. Instead his leg was caught in a vice like grip and he was slammed forcefully into the ground. Instinctually he reached for his electricity and the hand that had gripped his leg let go shocked, but unlike his fight with James earlier the Ruler didn’t start twitching on the ground helpless. Instead he backed off while his hand alone spasmed from shock and assessed the new threat.
All around Nasu electricity cracked as bolts of lightning lit up the dust cloud. Not wanting to give the man time to recover he charged again launching a barrage of punches and kicks each one punctuated by electricity.
The Lord Ruler ducked and dodged as best he could but for the moment he seemed unable to counter, and once every few blows Nasu would connect with a kick sending jolts of electricity into the God of their city eliciting cries of pain. Finally the dust cleared and Nasu could see tears in the formerly pristine suit. Spots of blood were spattered around the area they’d been fighting as well as on the Lord Ruler’s shirt.
Nasu grinned thinking for once this would be easy.
Eventually he would learn how fucking stupid it was to think that. Ever.
The emerald at the belt of the Lord Ruler glowed briefly and the scene changed. Lord Ruler stood straighter, the mask on his face that had been crooked and cracking was suddenly perfectly aligned and unblemished. The bloodied suit was once again spotless. Even the tears in the arms and shoulders patched themselves.
Not only did this bastard have enough juice to patch himself up. He wanted to show Nasu that he had enough extra to fix his fucking wardrobe as well…
The Lord Ruler straightened, fixing his tie slightly before shooting forward faster than Nasu’s eye could follow and landing a cross to his jaw that sent Nasu sailing backwards. Crossing his arms in an “x” in front of him Nasu prepped for a follow up series of blows but none came.
Instead the Lord stretched one hand out in front of him and flicked a finger up and Nasu felt like a sledge hammer had been driven into his back sending him flying into the air. Bringing his other hand into it as well the Lord Ruler shoved both hands down and like an anvil Nasu fell crashing into and through the concrete.
The fight had entered the magical spectrum and Nasu was no match for him there.
Where the hell were the twins! They were supposed to be here preventing just this from happening. If it was a purely physical fight Nasu could win. But magic…
A force he couldn’t see grabbed him by the back of the neck lifting him high into the air. He could feel it pulling his feet together and pulling his arms apart. Crucifiction without the cross. Before he lost complete control however Nasu formed his destructo disk in his right hand and flicked his wrist forward launching it at the Lord Ruler.
The man saw it coming but didn’t realize was it was until too late. Lord Ruler jumped to the side but a scarlet line appeared on his shoulder where the disk cut through and for the first time in the open the people saw their God bleed.
The disk had been enough to break the Lord Ruler’s concentration as well, freeing Nasu from his psychic prison but it had given him an idea. Gathering his own telekinesis Nasu found all the dust and debri still floating around in the air and condensed it all together into one funnel cloud bringing it down on top of Lord Ruler in a twister of debris and shrapnel. The mini tornado appearing out of the clear blue sky was taken by some as a sign from above that the tide had finally turned on the tyrant and some in the onlooking crowd even began to cheer.
It was all premature however. The tornado began to slowly move towards Nasu. It was approaching him with the same steady pace the Lord Ruler had demonstrated when leaving his Citadel in the first place.
Slashing his hand violently to the side the tornado dispersed and Nasu saw the Lord Ruler approaching him surrounded by a blue shield that had protected him from all harm. Not even a single spec of dust had landed on the man’s jacket. And again Nasu was forced to charge.
Ten feet before he reached the man however Nasu brought up his own shield. A living wall of energy and electricity, that he threw forward with him. It hit the Ruler in a wave sending thousands upon thousands of volts through the God and causing him to lose control of his muscles long enough for Nasu’s charging shoulder to drive into his chest taking him to the ground.
For a moment Nasu even had the advantage pinning the man to the ground and landing a few solid blows before magic grabbed him by the throat and violently threw him to the side. The Lord stood and flicked a finger to the side and a crimson line appeared on Nasu’s face and blood began to pour down. Another flick and another line, this one just under his eye. There was a pause from the City Lord to let the anticipation sink in. Nasu’s eye would be next, sacrificed to his poor choice in allies.
Just then James jumped out of the ever rising dust cloud and sank a dagger directly into the back of the Demigod. The Lord Ruler stumbled, taking two staggering steps forward before he threw his head back and let out a primal shout of pain and rage.
All around him a field of blue energy was thrown out shoving Nasu and James back violently. Nasu rolled once and sprung to his feet, but James was slower to get up and the Lord Ruler turned on him while he was on the ground.
When the man turned Nasu noticed the knife had been thrown from his back as well but the emerald belt buckle he had been wearing was now cracked and dim, the light from inside completely gone, used in the explosion of magic and rage.
Nasu raced forward knowing he needed to protect the sorcerer or his sister would stand back and let him die next but he needn’t have worried. The second guard stepped forward both hands swiping violently to the side sending the Lord Ruler flying like a rag doll. She pointed one finger at Nasu and gestured to the Lord Ruler pushing himself to his feet.
“GO!” she shouted while she lifted her brother. They stood and adopted not a fighting pose but one of intense concentration. Nasu could see the jewels on the Lord Ruler’s crown light up in response to their combined assault but other than that the man showed no obvious signs of distress.
Nasu flew forward again becoming tired of the straight forward approach. He knew there needed to be another way, think outside the box or die a sheep, wasn’t that what the Proprietor had told him.
Just before he got to the Lord Ruler Nasu pulled a dagger from his jacket. Looking forward he could almost sense the smugness radiating off the man. He had just had another dagger sunk into his back, this one wouldn’t harm him anymore than the last. Instead Nasu let energy flow down the blade and lines appeared all around the pair. Nasu slashed the blade sideways through one of the tears in the air and gravity flipped.
Suddenly the Lord Ruler was flung sideways again as gravity’s direction shifted with direction of Nasu’s knife cut.
Caught completely off guard the demigod went flying and Nasu gave chase launching energy blast after energy blast every time the man made contact with the ground sending him flying into the air again and again. Finally Nasu caught up and caught the Lord Ruler in a bear hug, with a small effort of will he covered his entire body in his electric aura and he could feel the man he held twitch and thrash in pain and frustration as his mind no longer controlled his muscles.
Nasu could feel the man’s heartbeat, it quickened and soon it would stop all together.
“Enough!” A voice boomed out from behind the mask. As another wave, this one red and full of pain as well as force threw him back into the dirt.
Once again Nasu rolled to his feet but this time as he came up his face was wet. He put a hand up only to realize his nose was bleeding, so were his eyes….and his ears? The force of the blast must have ruptured all the blood vessels in the upper layer of his skin as he looked down and saw that his body was red.
Nasu risked a brief glance to the side and saw that the twins hadn’t fared any better. Their masks had been blown off in the blast and their skin was bright red with blood. Worse yet their eyes were filled with blood from broken vessels giving them an eerie feel.
“So the Proprietor has finally made his move.” the Lord Ruler said turning to face them all at once. “I will be honest. I did not think he would hitch his cart to…” there was a pause as the Lord Ruler looked at Nasu pointedly assessing him as a whole. “this….” he said finally giving up on a better word and just settling for being insulting as a whole. “I expected better from him.” James spit on the ground in rage at the mention of his master being insulted. He flew forward in a blur but he was no match. With a casual cruelty the Lord Ruler backhanded James and Nasu thought he heard bones snap in the boy’s neck.
His sister let out a high pitched shriek of both rage and grief, instead of attacking though she sprinted towards James overcome by grief at the apparent death of her brother.
“This is really the best he has to offer.” Lord Ruler said to Nasu disgustedly. “After years of planning I had high hopes. Rivals are normally stupid barbaric creatures, but he seemed to have class.” He said it almost conversationally. Like Nasu was no more a threat than a curiosity. In reality Lord Ruler probably hadn’t had the chance to talk to anyone in a long long time. The fact that Nasu had survived the first few rounds with him was probably a welcome distraction from his boredom.
“The Proprietor.” Lord Ruler said the name testing it on his tongue. “Even the name reeked of scheming and plots. I let him take over half the city and never acted. Waiting for the second act so to speak.” he pointed to the pair, the dead brother and his sobbing sister. “And here we are with no climax to speak of.”
Finally he turned to face Nasu fully. “Then there is you. You’re a curiosity boy. You don’t seem to share our powers. But you don’t seem to share our limitations either.” he said pointing to the mask used to cover his age. “You made me an offer when you first arrived. Well now I have a counter. Serve me and I won’t turn you inside out, you won’t die screaming and be the subject of nightmares for generations to come. Bend the knee or die.” the offer took the wind out of Nasu far more than any hit he’d taken so far.
Could he serve the man he’d been sent to kill? What would happen-
His train of thought was cut off a moment later when the Lord Ruler flew into the air as if punched under the chin. Then slammed back down into the ground with more force than Nasu thought possible. The sequence was repeated three times before Nasu found the source.
Over to the side another man in a suit and golden mask stood facing the Lord Ruler his hands outstretched in front of him.
The Proprietor had entered the fight.
Nasu shot back a dozen feet giving the two sorcerers room to work. Each covered in gems worth more than a small country, each throwing magic around like there was no price to be paid. Flashes of light and half formed images danced as the two magicians faced one another tearing the fabric of reality to shreds with their wills.
The Proprietor was strong but Nasu could still sense his energy and the reserves he had were fading fast. The Lord Ruler however had secured his throne over literal millenia. He had been alive so long the concept of him not being the Ruler never even occurred to his citizens anymore than there not being a Winter this year.
He had centuries worth of energy, worth of reserves to fall back on. Nasu could sense his power and his rage grew. The electric field that surrounded his aura clung to him, to his forehead, to his heart and stomach, and to each arm. The electricity formed into a ball of rage and 5 bolts shot out from him leaving Nasu feeling weak under the strain.
The bolts all shot out tracking the Lord Ruler by his energy. Each a homing missile to a target, the Ruler ducked and dodged but one by one they found their mark. Little targets from Nasu to him. Each distracting him long enough for The Proprietor to land a blow. But never enough. Never enough delay for the killing strike to hit home.
Nasu saw each hit and the counter that came. But each time the Lord Ruler drained one of his endless reserve and healed himself.
Each time the Proprietor drained one of his reserve to strike and became weaker. Nasu flew into the air away from the fight. He put his hands in front of him blocking the combatants from his view. He couldn’t watch what he knew was coming next.
The final lightning bolt hit and the Proprietor threw everything. A wave of pure black energy surged from him like the tide and enveloped the Lord Ruler whose mask had fallen off at some point in their fight and for a moment seemed truly startled at the rush of power the man could still emit. The wave broke and took the Lord Ruler under as it surged forward a pure black tide.
But it takes time for a tide to break down a boulder. And the Proprietor was out of time. It took him by surprise when the first signs of aging began to show up on his face. Just crows feet around his eyes, followed by his hair becoming lighter, not gray yet, but light enough to see a difference.
He knew he couldn’t let up however. The second he let up from the tide it was over. The Lord Ruler would kill him on the spot. He had to keep the pressure on. But as he looked down his hand was wrinkled, he could see veins through his skin and moles were growing in rapidly.
His body felt weak, not exhausted, but tired like it was under a large strain. The tide began to ebb. From a surging ocean to a river. River to stream, stream to pond. Finally the Proprietor fell to his knees and the water of power dissipated. There was a moment of silence and hope before the Lord Ruler rose from his knee to confront the man who had challenged him more than anyone had in a millenia.
“You were close, do you know that?” he said admiringly. “I have no jewels of my own left. I will have to bring forth a massacre on the people the likes of which hasn’t been seen in centuries, but I want you to know your efforts were in vain.” he said as he walked towards the crippled old man.
The Proprietor had tried to rise to get away but he fell in his haste and one of his legs had broken at a terrible angle. Pain and horror merged in his eyes as he looked up at his executioner.
Nasu clenched his teeth together. The power he had been building his hands had reached near critical levels. He had never tried to charge a blast this much, let alone the blast his sister had taught him months ago. There was sweat on his forehead as he strained to contain it. A charge this big could destroy a planet and then some if he wasn’t careful. He seemed to remember a warning but his mind wasn’t focused on that. Only the power in his hands. Only the energy he had to contain.
The Proprietor stumbled and fell below and Nasu could sense his energy was all but gone. Take out a city, to save a world.
Nasu fired the blast. “BIG BANG ATTACK!”
The energy fell towards the earth like a comet of death. The citadel disintegrated under it’s power. The ground tore up instantly but the Lord Ruler threw his hands up and a shield flew up in front of him.
His belt crumbled away entirely, then his neckless, his earnings, his cufflinks, finally his crown fell off his head but still he stood. Still the blast marched on.
Driving him back into the dirt, his feet planted the blast pushed him back leaving tracks .
The Lord Ruler could feel his body aging as time took it’s toll, he kept himself in his late teens but now he could feel the rigors of age taking their toll. Little by little he was pushed further back 30’s, 40’s, his body was giving out and he fell to one knee. 60’s, 70’s, the blast pushed against his chest and he could feel the heat burn his skin.
90’s, 100’s, the fire burned off what little hair didn’t fall out of his head but finally the blast ran out of energy. With a last burst of magic he threw it in the air to fall harmlessly to the side.
“I did it.” he croaked unable to stand, to get off his knee to gloat. “Its over, that was everything you had and you know it.” the sentence left him gasping for breathe. He looked around to find the boy who had thrown that attack. To drain him of his life’s energy to feel young again but his world was going dark around him.
The edges of his vision were already black as he swivelled frantically trying to find the boy.
“Where are you?” he shouted into the darkness as it closed in around him. “Where are you? Where did you go?” he said his voice high pitched, panicked as he fell to the ground as the blackness took his sight from him. “But I won.” he whispered as his last breath left his body.
***
Nasu had fallen to the ground behind the Lord Ruler, he had been completely unable to maintain his flight anymore after expending that much energy at once. He fell to the ground and knew there was no chance he was getting up again when he heard the shouts. He stayed down and just hoped not to be found.
The shouts grew more and more desperate, panicked, confused, he heard pain and hurt in the voice and tears welled up in his eyes but Nasu stayed down. He knew he couldn’t rise if he wanted to so he stayed put and hoped not to be found. The Lord Ruler passed but Nasu never knew, he stayed hidden unsure of what was to come. Unsure of what had happened. Tears were falling freely down his face as the simulation ended and the gravity restored to normal but Nasu didn’t move.
He stayed there for a long time thinking about the Lord Ruler’s final words. His last statement on the world around him. “But I won.” doesn’t mean anything when you’re dead….
****
Ok that was really fun to write. Heavy weights, PL please.
Hope you like the new format. Trying to have an intro story thats a little different from the DBA world.
"Can I make a fire? Please, please, pretty please?"
"No, no," the man says, draping the blanket over the shoulders of the old woman in the rocking chair. "We need to save your strength, remember? Magic always has a price and a fire would cost you too much."
Tears trickle into the wrinkles surrounding the woman's eyes. Her eyes are the only part of her that look young. Big and wide and blue and in pain, and set in a shrunken face that's crisscrossed with the avenues of age.
"Can you make a fire then?"
"No, because we don't have any firewood right now. And do you know why?"
The old woman looks down dejectedly. "I messed up again, didn't I?"
The man kneels down. "You did, sweetie. You did. It all turned to ash by the time I got to the market, and I couldn't just come home without any food. So I had to find work in order to pay for it." Behind him on the table sits a tiny bundle of pathetic looking carrots and a few hard potatoes.
The old woman throws her hands over her face and begins to wail. "I'm sorry," she says in between her cries. "I'm so sorry, Daddy!"
"Shh, shh, shh," her father says. He starts to stroke her straw like hair, but strands fall out and wrap around his hand with every stroke, Disgusted, he settles for putting an arm around her instead. "You'll just have to do better this time."
"I can't. I can't. I've tried so many times and it always goes wrong..."
"Hush, now," Father says, a little more sternly. "You do your very best. And each time, it lasts a little bit longer." He winces and squeezes her shoulder. "You can do better this time. I believe in you."
The old child sniffs, and wipes her gray snot on the corner of her shawl. The man tries not to notice.
"You think so?" she whimpers.
"God damn it, just-" The man's hand is raised in a fist, and he has to remind himself of who he's dealing with. He takes in a deep, shuddering breath, then forces out a smile. "Of course. Sweetie." He drops a bag into the woman's lap. "I believe in you."
The old maid sniffs again. Her clawed and knobby fingers fumble for the bag and drop it several times. It takes all of the man's self control to not smack her for being so useless. "Come on now," he says, through gritted teeth. "You can do it."
"Okay," the woman says, finally with the bag in her hands. "Okay." She closes her red-rimmed eyes, and a breeze ruffles first her hair, and then her shawl. Her brow furrows as she concentrates, and as the man watches he can see the wrinkles both spreading and deepening at the same time. There's a smell of sulfur and salt, and several strands of the woman's hair that were once gray turn a ghostly silver.
The woman gasps. "Here," she says. She tries to lift her arms, but they're too weak, and the bag is full. The man reaches in eagerly, taking it away from her as she slumps a bit in her seat.
"Yes," he says, dipping his hand into the sack and retrieving a fistful of small golden coins. "Yes, very good, sweetness, very good." He bends down for a kiss, then reconsiders once he smells the must coming from her scalp. Instead he pats her hair.
"We'll be able to have food with this. And firewood. And I'll bring you the medicine so that your hands don't hurt as much when the rain comes."
He's already on his way out the door, his eyes filled with visions of women and booze and games of dice and cards. He's stopped only by a tiny, frail voice that drifts over from the other side of the room, like the sighing of a settling house.
"And can we go to the river...and look at the ducks...like we used to do with Mommy..."
"Of course," the man says, his mind on the small fortune in his hands. "Whatever you like."
The door closed, and the father left behind his ancient daughter in their cold and broken home.
****
Nasu pressed through the city his simulator had created around him smelling the sulfur from the torches that lit the streets and the salt from the harbor. It was expensive to power a city and electric lights were far too much for the slums. So instead the poor made due with torches, candles, and the smell. It was almost overwhelming, and it was far too much for anyone of means to bear; it was the odor of the poor.
Not too long ago he had been one of them. Obviously not one of these people. They were nothing but simulations, ones and zeroes lined up to perfectly emulate human beings. Their touch, their energy, their smell. Everything was a perfect mock up, but they weren’t real. But Nasu had once been a beggar. Living off the streets of New Vegeta, only off what he could beg, borrow, or steal. Times had changed.
Now he lived in a literal palace, and he had long since left poverty behind him. Less than a year since his ascension to royalty and already these people disgusted him. He thought that was why his simulator had sent him here. His AI had always hated him. Nasu had dreamed of tearing it out and replacing it with a new AI, one similar to the one Kass had in her computer. An obedient, controllable AI, but everytime he went to uninstall his something came up taking priority. Nasu looked down at the metal replacement leg he needed that was his last “priority” and shuddered. There was always something.
He pushed through the crowded streets never stopping, his eyes firmly on the man ahead. He considered flying to try and catch up or at least get closer but the gravity chamber was now at x45 for him, with the addition of his heavy weighted clothing he felt each step was an effort. He might be able to get off the ground but it would draw every eye to him immediately. If he was surrounded he would be as good as dead.
He knew the simulation was meant to put him at a disadvantage, to force him to draw on the power that had been sucked out of him and blocked behind a set of eyes that never left him. But so far Nasu hadn’t been able to access anything more than his inner strength. A trait he thought had long since been rendered unimportant was now the best he had. But he wouldn’t give up.
So on foot, he trailed behind the man knowing he was going into one of the seedier sections of town. Finally the man stopped in front of a door to a dilapidated building and Nasu a few dozen feet behind walked into a small alley way out of site and put his back against the wall listening.
The street was dead quiet, he was lucky no one else was here but still he had to strain his ears to make out what he was listening for. He heard the man knock on the door clearly but to no response. The man’s pounding became more insistent, desperate even as no one answered immediately.
Finally after a few moments the door must have opened as the knocking stopped and a deep voice grunted.
“I’m...I’m here to play.” the man he had been tailing said his voice sounding higher than Nasu remembered. He was literally squeaking a bit in fear and Nasu had to suppress his own grunt of disgust.
The man grunted again and you could almost hear his contempt as if it were obvious exactly what the man in front of the door wanted, and his response was a questioning if not angry And? The bouncers tone making it clear something else was required. This was it, this was what Nasu had been waiting for, why he’d bothered to follow the man from his home.
“Pine-” the wind picked up and Nasu missed the second half of the password. Silently cursing his luck. Of all the fucking times! He swore under his breathe. The wind died and he managed to hear the jingling of coins as the prick paid his cover fee and walked into the casino.
Nasu had already spent two days finding this place, and another day and a half finding a regular whom he could learn the passcode from. And now all the effort was wasted.
Still he had half, that would have to be enough.
Nasu waited twenty minutes after the first gambler entered before knocking on the door himself. He didn’t want to seem like he had followed the first and he couldn’t afford to cause a scene.
The man who answered the door was the next best thing to a giant. Nasu stood tall at six feet even, but the man was a full head taller than him, on top of that he wore a dark black t-shirt that showed off his muscled frame, his arms as wide around as Nasu’s entire head. He could understand why the first gambler had been frightened and Nasu tried to put on an appropriate face.
He had never been much of an actor but if he didn’t seem afraid the bouncer would know something was off.
“Umm..” Nasu stuttered purely for effect. He had spent the last few minutes trying to come up with a plan. “I’m here to play.” he said to the wall of silence in front of him. The man eyed him up and down appraisingly. Nasu was suppressing his power level and with the addition of the weights the bouncer thought he would be able to handle Nasu easily. At the moment he wasn’t far from the truth. The beast of a man in front of him grunted. It was the same response he had given the first gamer and in his mind Nasu breathed a sigh of relief. Step one check.
Nasu glanced around feigning nerves again and noticed a camera directly above the door, it was set to alert the people inside to any disturbance large enough to make it past their bouncer. Even a seemingly tiny luxury like this must have cost the owner a small fortune. Electricity wasn’t cheap they must be making serious money to afford camera security. “Ummm…” Nasu said again meeting the bouncer’s eyes briefly before looking away embarrassed.
“Pine…” he stalled. “Pineapple, no pinecone!” he said speaking fast and stumbling over his words. The man in the door remained silent so Nasu barreled on. “I’m sorry, I knew it was pine, but I forgot the rest. I was a little drunk when I was told and my handwriting was terrible.” Nasu took out his wallet reaching for two 50 zeni coins holding them out.
The man never said a word. Instead his hand snapped out grabbing Nasu by the throat and lifting him off the ground with the ease you would see a normal adult lifting an apple. Nasu’s feet kicked the air ineffectively as he was held at arms length, his hands scraping at the monster’s wrists to no effect.
Again without a word Nasu was flung into a dumpster hitting his back hard against the sheet metal and raising a loud echoing crash. The bouncer bent slowly picking up Nasu’s coins before walking back inside shutting the door behind him.
Nasu stayed down for a few seconds not having to feign pain or worry this time. That hurt had hurt like hell. A moment later a window opened up on the second floor and a pair of glowing red eyes glared down. But seeing Nasu still on the outside and in the gutter the eyes vanished back into the building unconcerned and shutting the window behind them.
“So much for plan A.” Nasu grumbled pushing himself slowly to his feet and checking to see if he was bleeding. A small trickle of blood ran down the side of his mouth and he made sure to wipe up every drop with a clean handkerchief he took from his pocket.
He held pressure to his mouth until he was positive the bleeding had stopped, then with a spark of energy and electricity lit the handkerchief on fire and threw it on the ground. He paused for a moment staring, waiting and making sure that every inch of the cloth burned before he walked forward again. This time his pounding on the door was more insistent, but before it opened he stepped off to the side just out of sight of where the man would be standing.
A moment later the door opened and seeing no one immediately outside the bouncer made his only fatal mistake. He took one step outside clearly not sensing anyone dangerous he wanted to look around and see who had been stupid enough to prank his door.
Sprinting in quick making sure to stay close to the wall out of site of the camera Nasu ran and jumped on the giant’s back. With a small surge of power he wrapped one arm around the behemoth's neck, beginning to squeeze as he simultaneously kicked at the beast’s knees forcing the man backwards all while cutting off his air.
His own feet on the ground, the beast bent back providing leverage for Nasu, he walked back into the entranceway shutting the front door with his telekinesis behind him. The monster struggled to scream out his jaw working furiously. After a brief moment of panic the man seemed to get his bearings though and quickly began delivering elbow after elbow into Nasu’s ribs.
Nasu had to grit his own teeth to keep from screaming out in pain as he held on for his life to the man’s neck. After thirty seconds the blows started to become weaker. At a minute they stopped altogether as the man lost his footing and fell backwards entirely onto his ass. At two minutes the man’s head finally fell forward unconscious in defeat. At three minutes the man’s face had turned black and Nasu considered letting go. At five minutes Nasu was almost positive the man was dead. At seven minutes there was a knock from the outside of the door, Nasu dropped the bouncer to the ground and looked back at the face of the man he had just killed only to see the beast had no tongue.
The owner must have cut it out when he came to work for the casino. A bodyguard who would never be able to turn on you. Useful.
The knock came again louder this time. Unsure what to do Nasu opened the door.
A small woman stood in front of him and Nasu stepped up blocking the door. Doing his best to imitate the bouncer he had just killed he grunted menacingly. The woman took a small step back, and looked at him strangely, apparently his grunt had the desired effect.
“I’m here to work.” she said with far more confidence than he or the original gambler had seemed to have. And again Nasu answered with a grunt.
“Pine needle.” she said with some force behind it and Nasu silently berated himself. He had spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to think up pine words and he had forgotten fucking needle?!
The woman waited expectantly in front of the door, eyeing him curiously. Nasu couldn’t let her in, he hadn’t had a chance to move the body, but at the same time he couldn’t just let her go either.
“I’m really sorry.” he said to her and his hand snapped up to her neck the same way the bouncer’s had met his own neck earlier.
As soon as he spoke the woman’s eyes widened in shock and she took a deep breathe in preparation for a scream or some kind of warning. But the shout never got the chance as Nasu took firm hold of the woman’s throat.
He held on for a minute until the woman stopped squirming and seemed to pass out as well. It was just a simulation but still he didn’t want to kill the girl if he didn’t have to. Instead he ran outside and deposited her body in the dumpster he had been thrown into. A moment later he ran back inside grabbing the behemoth's body, this he had to throw over one shoulder and even still he could barely lift it. Walking back to the dumpster he tried to place it as gently as he could but still there was a loud thud.
Nothing compared with the crash he had created before but for a moment Nasu froze holding his breathe. He looked up at the window above searching for a set of eyes, but nothing came. First one minute then two passed in complete silence, Nasu afraid to so much as even move a muscle.
Finally he let out the breathe. He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it until now. Walking back in he snuck under the camera again and shut the door behind him. All that work just to get in. This was not going as smoothly as he’d hoped.
Nasu walked down the hallway for about a hundred feet before it took a hard right turn. It was smart, if the casino was ever attacked people could stay just behind the corner and wait for the attackers to come through, as soon as they turned they could be gunned down by a waiting hit squad. He knew the owner of the casino was clever, Nasu was walking into a trap but there wasn’t much he could do.
Turning the corner Nasu looked up to see two more cameras, one facing him aimed to catch his face as soon as he turned into the hall. The other facing the way he was going designed to see anyone who was leaving. However security had not yet been alerted to the fact their bouncer was down for the count so Nasu looked like just another patron as he made his way into the main hall.
The casino itself was dark, candles were placed periodically on the wall and a large chandelier hung down from the ceiling providing light but the whole place smelt of smoke from the effort. It all left Nasu feeling dirty as he walked through like he needed a long shower just for standing in the room.
Still after almost 4 days inside the simulator with no apparent change of clothes to be found Nasu always felt dirty now, and he fit right in with the casino’s clientele. Walking over to the wall he leaned his back against the bar and looked around his senses out.
Three large power sources above him...His eyes tracked to a set of stairs leading to the second floor. Before he could come up with a plan however A shout from one of the tables drew his attention.
The entire casino came to a stop as silence filled the room. It felt heavy as every eye in the room turned to look at the man who had made the noise. It was the original man Nasu had been following. Standing now he had one hand on the back of his chair with the other held in the air by the dealer at the table he had been sitting at.
The man’s face was white as a sheet, he began shaking his head vehemently. “No, there’s been a mistake.” he said quickly, his voice barely above a whisper but in the silence of the room every word carried. The dealer’s eyes hardened and a moment later age lines began to appear in the corners of his eyes. Slowly the lines turned into crows feet and Nasu thought he saw the dealers hair turn slightly paler but that might have been a trick from the candle light. His attention was drawn back to the cowering man however as cards began to float up from various parts of his shirt. Pockets and sleeves all hid face cards that now floated high above him as the man squirmed trying to get away from the dealer’s vice grip.
“Please no. I’ll leave, I swear I’ll leave right now.” the man whispered desperation in his voice and the dealer let go of his arm. For a second a look of pure relief and greed shown on the man’s face as he scooped up small gold coins and shoveled them into his pockets. As he turned though he bumped directly into two figures in pure black suits. Each with an expressionless iron mask covering their faces. The man screamed, unadulterated panic in his voice as he turned and began to sprint towards the door. The men raised gloved hands and pointed at him as he ran. The would be thief made it two steps when his leg gave out from under him a strange rotting goo falling out of his pant leg.
The entire room was silent. They watched grimly as the man began to crawl his way towards the exit.
There was a sick fascination as every eye in the room stared down, watching the man’s skin rot and fall of his bones. First it was his hands but that didn’t stop the man’s crawl. Then the muscle fell off becoming nothing but a pile of meat on the floor. The man began to whimper but seconds later the skin and muscle in his throat gave out as well.
There was a collective intake of breathe in the room as the man rose up one final time arching his back in absolute agony before his body collapsed in on itself leaving nothing but a pile of rotting organs and dirty clothes.
The room instantly burst into motion men and women alike moving around, laughing, talking like nothing had happened. Like a man hadn’t just died right before their eyes. The two masked and gloved men silently glided their way back towards the stairs a path through the crowd seeming to appear in front of them as people wordlessly got out of their way all without ever acknowledging their presence. Nasu could sense their power from across the room, they were two of the three upstairs he had come to see.
Pushing away from the bar Nasu made his own way towards the stairs, albeit more slowly. No one cleared a path for him the way they had the two sorcerers. The crowd burst into a million different conversations as if a man hadn’t just been murdered in front of them. The man had been scum, Nasu had seen him abusing an elderly woman to get the money he needed to gamble and whore, but to see people handling murder, torture like an everyday event was chilling to say the least. On top of that Nasu could still feel the combined presence. The room turning as one, every set of eyes, every focus on the man about to die. He shivered slightly.
Still he this needed to be done and he wouldn’t stop solely because a man had been killed. He’d seen men killed before and done his fair share of murder, it would take more than that to deter him, but still….the image of the man’s hand reaching out clawing towards a chance at freedom while his flesh rotted around him flashed through his mind again. Nasu reached the foot of the stairs and stopped. One step and there was no going back.
He looked around the rest of the room shaking his head. Go back to what? He pushed his way up the stairs. With years of practice he’d learned to suppress his energy, with years more he’d gotten it down to 1% of his base, with the addition of his heavy weighted clothing his energy was next to nothing. But it wasn’t nothing, that was a skill only the Earthman had ever possessed that skill and Nasu still had no idea how. As he walked up the stairs he suppressed his energy as low as it could go but there was no point in hiding. He’d grown too strong now, and anyone with even basic energy sensing would know something was coming. On top of that the stairs had clearly been planned to be in plain sight, there was no shadow to duck into or hallway to hide down. For now he need to act weak, so he played possum.
By the time he reached the top of the stairs two men were waiting for him, with a quick glance he realized they weren’t the silver masked men and he subtly let out a sigh of relief. They were brawny bald men, each in a suit that probably cost more than his spaceship, and each looked like their muscles were going to burst a seam through the suit itself. Still he smiled sensing their energy, he knew only had one shot at a surprise and he didn’t want to play his ace yet. He had to make it count. But these two wouldn’t be any problem if it came to that. Still maybe it wouldn’t...
He walked up the final step onto the landing only to be met with a hand to his chest.
“I’m sorry sir but you’re going to have to go back downstairs to the playing area.” Goon A said eyeing him the way a man sizes up a cut of meat. Nasu held up both hands a gesture of concession.
“Sorry,” Nasu said trying to put on his most disarming smile. “I know players aren’t allowed up here.” He took a breath to continue but Goon B cut him off.
“If you know then why are you here?” he asked his grunt almost identical to Goon A.
“Well I need to talk to your patron.” Nasu said flashing a shy smile again. “I have a bit of a probl-” before he could finish his sentence, the pair had grabbed him. Each taking an arm and bending it behind his back in a painful angle, while pushing his head forward so he was leaning over far enough he couldn’t see in front of him.
Nasu didn’t resist knowing this wasn’t the time, as he let himself be shoved forward. He made sure to walk in pace with the two blowhards, not making any sudden moves. Under his breath though he cussed them out and swore that if they twisted his arm again there would not be enough left of the pair to fill a thimble.
Still for the moment they walked him forward and he didn’t resist in the slightest giving no hint anything was out of the ordinary. Finally one let go of him to open a door, the man still holding him shoved him in and pointed to a chair in the center of the room, apparently enunciation and talkativeness weren’t traites HR was looking for when selecting security for this place. Hell at least this pair seemed to keep their tongues that was a plus.
Nasu looked around the room and couldn’t see much besides the chair. There was only one lamp beside it providing barely enough light to see a small circle of light...cliches were always so much fun…
Interrogation it was...he hoped it was someone more talkative than this lot though or it was going to be an awful boring interrogation session. One of the men left as Nasu took a seat while the other stood watch crossing his arms in an attempt to look menacing.
Nasu had just seen his bosses melt a man without breaking a sweat, as far as intimidation factor goes the wanna be bouncer just didn’t stack up. Still he remembered where his power level was supposed to be and did his best to look nervous. Hell he didn’t even have to try to hard. The man in front of him might not be much of a threat but there were at least two more people in the building capable of making him genuinely nervous.
The thought of the pair made Nasu fidget a little and the man guarding him seemingly ill at ease a moment before smiled slightly before putting his face back into the stern frown that Nasu wasn’t sure but supposed was supposed to be a cross of angry or constipated? Apparently the man took pleasure in making others uncomfortable and Nasu made an effort to shift more. Couldn’t hurt to make his captors believe he was wholly theirs.
A moment later the door opened up again and Nasu’s eyes burned, he threw a hand up to shield them as they had grown accustomed to the dimmer room he was sitting in. He heard the door clothes and dropped his hand to look up and saw the pair in the masks standing on either side of the door and for the first time beads of sweat began to run down the side of his face.
The Security Goon who had come in with the pair of sorcerers looked at him spoke up. “How did you find out about our patron?” he asked as the masked men silently watched. Nasu’s eyes never leaving the pair he replied.
“One of the working girls told me about him.” he lied and without waiting for any sort of signal the goon who had stayed with him backhanded Nasu across the face. Nasu’s head shot to the side not so in pain so much as surprise. He was shocked this man so far below him would do something as stupid as hit him and for a moment his head hung down and Nasu fantasized about the different ways he would kill the man before he remembered his role. For the moment he was meek little powerless insect just trying not to be killed. He lifted his head which had hung low from the pain of being hit.
As soon as his face raised the first goon spoke up again.
“None of the girls know who they work for. How. Did. You. Know.” this time he emphasised every word making it clear he would not be asking again. Nasu fidgeted trying to think of an answer and while he stalled the man punched him in the gut doubling him over.
Not slapped him which was disrespectful, but punched him full on. Nasu’s weighted clothing took most of the blow but it still pressed the wind from his lungs. The man didn’t fare so well though. Nasu might have suppressed his energy but that didn’t negate years of work entirely. The man swore as he clenched what had to be a number of broken fingers in his hand.
“The fuck was that?!” he swore glaring daggers at Nasu. If looks could kill, they’d still need to be a hell of a lot stronger than this man to hurt Nasu when he was prepared.
“You slapped me once.” Nasu said quietly, “That’s not going to happen again.” he said it to the security guard clutching his broken fist but the room was small and he knew everyone could hear the threat. So he held up his hands in supplication and smiled.
“Please.” Nasu said looking around the room that had suddenly gotten tense. “I’m really not here to fight. I just have a problem and would like to speak with the Proprietor.” he said the last like a title. In part because it was.
The Proprietor didn’t just own this casino, he owned the red light district outright, and three quarters of the rest of the city paid him protection if the rumors were to be believed. It was only an act of sheer luck that had Nasu find him, and led him to the den of sin he was fortunate enough to be sitting in now.
One of the masks made an almost imperceptible nod and the Goons lumbered towards him. Nasu waited until the first one was close, letting him aim a haymaker for his temple. People never seem to realize legs are longer than arms and without ever leaving the chair Nasu mule kicked the man directly in his ribs knocking the air from his lungs and sending him back a step. Standing up and grabbing the man by his hair all in one motion. Nasu brought the man’s head down to meet his knee breaking the bouncer’s nose with a satisfying crack. Still not letting go of his hair though Nasu steps to the side and tosses the man into the gut of the second bouncer with the broken hand who had been coming behind him.
The man had somehow found a metal club and had it raised above his head to bring down on the back of Nasu’s when his partner slammed into his stomach. The two fell in a heap a tangle of limbs and blood both gasping for air. Nasu looked over to the masked pair for some sort of guidance, neither had moved an inch. With a shrug Nasu walked over to the man with the broken fist who was trying to push his now unconscious partner off him.
“Sorry friend.” Nasu said as he drove a fist into the man’s face knocking him out as well. Standing up straight again Nasu turned back towards the door and the pair of sorcerers guarding it. Still neither had moved an inch. Raising his hands again Nasu smiled.
“Sorry about the mess, I promise I just want a word with your boss that’s all.” Nasu said looking for some sign, any sort of sign they had heard him. There was a long silence, but Nasu had said his piece and knew he couldn’t gain anything by continuing to talk. Fuck all he knew he’d only make it worse. Finally after what felt like an eternity of literally just staring back and forth they opened the door with one of the pair gesturing for Nasu to follow behind them.
It was the very next door over and Nasu should have known. The owner would have wanted to hear everything that happened. As the first mask pushed opened door proceeding him in, his partner stayed back choosing to follow Nasu into the room, leaving him with the distinct feeling that he was surrounded and outclassed at the moment.
He could maybe get the jump on one of them, but he would leave himself in no position to fight his partner before the magic he had no defense against took hold and Nasu was killed. The fact that the two worked in such perfect unison without even needing to speak about it left him with an even greater sense of unease as he walked into the room.
If the interrogation room before had been dank and intimidating this room was the polar opposite. There were lights everywhere, and expensive looking rugs covering hardwood floors. Rich plush couches lined the walls all combined to give the room a warm opulent feel. This room did share one similarity however, there was a chair directly in the middle of the room. Directly above the chair was a light shining down so brightly Nasu couldn’t look directly at it. The angle of all the lighting in the room had a strange effect though. It was so bright, that no matter where he looked, Nasu couldn’t find a single shadow. While he never particularly noticed his own or anyone else’s shadow before the sudden lack made him uncomfortable.
He shivered a bit and noticed the whole room felt just a touch off. As if it was designed to make the person walking in feel less at ease. The fact that he was surrounded now by two perfectly silent, perfectly in sync sorcerers who were prepared to kill him only multiplied the effect and that last bit made it click.
It was all an act, all intentional. Everything here was designed to give the casino’s owner an edge. And it had worked; as he walked forward Nasu had to suppress another shiver. He was figuratively in a den of lions, and if you show weakness in front of a predator they’ll only think of you as prey.
He wasn’t going to be prey, he might not be the most dangerous person in the room, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be hunted down and killed either. That thought galvanizing him Nasu stood tall and smiled wide as if he didn’t have a care in the world as he faced the Proprietor for the first time.
The man was sitting in the chair in the dead middle of the room. Like his two body guards the Proprietor wore a black suit and tie, with an expressionless mask covering his face. Unlike his guards however the Proprietor’s mask was gold to their silver. It wasn’t much but it showed he valued his rank. From everything Nasu had heard the man had earned his status as Underlord of the city, building his empire from the literal ground up and he clearly took pride. Where his casino looked run down from the exterior the inside was impeccably decorated, no expenses were spared for security or luxury, and giving the man another once over, even his common suit was fine in ways Nasu, growing up poor, could barely comprehend. While his body guards wore tailored suits, they looked to be wool or polyester. Their Master’s clothing while it looked the same appeared to be silk or something similar. The pair golden cufflinks each with a small diamond in the center, the Proprietor however wore cufflinks of black stone that caught the light from above and seemed to suck the excess light into them. Nasu had no idea how much those stones must have cost but once he saw them his eyes couldn’t leave without a conscious effort and that alone made him think it was more money than he’d ever had at one time in his life. He finished his outfit with leather gloves that prevented Nasu from seeing so much as a centimeter of the man’s skin but Nasu had heard the man had been operating for years. A sorcerer of his caliber had to be ancient by now which explained why he had his guards doing the magical lifting for him.
“It’s an honor to finally meet you.” Nasu started but an upraised hand cut him off. The voice that came from behind the mask definitely did not match the one in Nasu’s mind. He had pictured the gruff voice of an elderly man, instead he was greeted with a deep but firm solid voice, of a man still in his prime.
“You wanted to talk. And you didn’t kill three of my men now and challenge two more just to tell me what an honor it was to meet me. What do you want?” he said cutting to the point.
Nasu squirmed internally but never let the smile leave his face. Apparently they discovered his entrance and knew the doorman was dead as well. Still if he was still alive that meant the Proprietor either didn’t care or would exact revenge later. For now he had a chance to get the information he needed.
“I want to know how he doesn’t age.” Nasu said matching his opponents’ abruptness.
“He’s used more magic and faced more people than the rest of the city combined. He should be dead five times over and even if he somehow lived he should be old enough he can’t raise a finger without machines. How the hell is he still alive?!” The smile had left Nasu’s face by now. It was the first rule he learned when he came to this city. All magic has a price. It was capable of doing literally anything the user put his or her will behind. The will and the word could move mountains or wipe out whole armies if the will was strong enough. But the cost was extreme. For every action, every breathe of magic aged the user until they were nothing left but an old shell with the magic user trapped inside.
But somehow the Lord Ruler defied that rule. He cast magic’s that should have killed or crippled him with age countless times and yet his back stood straight his shoulders firm, he showed no sign that it had touched him.
The golden mask stared at him impassively for a moment as if in thought before finally answering.
“And why should I tell you that?” he asked finally. But Nasu had dangled his bait. Now it was Nasu’s turn to wait. Long ago he learned that people hate silence, that if you wait long enough, people will continue to talk, to tell you more than they might have planned just to fill the silence. And the trick had never let him down, so Nasu waited and stared as if the man’s words had not been enough. The silence hung between them for five seconds, then ten. Finally the man broke began to speak again and inwardly Nasu breathed a sigh in relief.
“The Lord Ruler had been good to me. Under him my businesses have flourished. I control over half the city now and his taxes never take more than their fair share. Why would I want to rock the boat now?”
Nasu smiled again, a real one this time. The man had given him everything he needed to reel him in. “Because you still pay, because you have half a city when you could have a whole. And because he still takes from you what he hasn’t earned just by the benefit of being the strongest.” He saw the Proprietor’s back straighten and he knew he had him. Time to real him in.
“And any shot I take has a chance of weakening him; even if I fail I could give you an opening for you when you take your own.” The last part was pure speculation, but no man ambitious enough to take over half the city didn’t have dreams of the whole thing.
Still at the words the Proprietor immediately sat up even straighter, the mask keeping any expression from his face but his tone one of contained anger and disapproval.
“You’re only guessing.” There might have been a hint of defensiveness about him too but Nasu couldn’t tell for sure. “But your guess hits too close to home. You wouldn’t even be an afterthought to Lord Ruler as you are now.” He shook his head as if to affirm himself of some thought he had. “Yes, but your guess is far too accurate and if one such as you knows then he probably knows as well…James.” The Proprietor snapped his fingers and the man in front of him in the silver mask raised his hand.
Instantly Nasu’s back began to ache and his he tightened up preparing to attack. But the Proprietor spoke again sharply.
“No. Not like that, you will do it the old fashioned way.” The man in front of Nasu never said a word but his head turned ever so slightly to the side questioningly. From the man who had been a wall of silence while he disintegrated another human being this might as well have been him screaming his question to his master. But when no answer was immediately forthcoming he dropped into a fighting stance, his power level shooting up strong enough to rival Nau’s own base strength.
Without waiting for an explanation to his own good fortune Nasu shot forward and was on top of James in two short steps. Nasu reached out to try and grab Jame’s head but instead the man calmly caught one of his arms and used his own momentum against him lifting Nasu and spiking him through the floor.
Nasu crashed through the rich carpeting and the second floor entirely landing back first onto roulette wheel below. The man above wasted no time dropping down letting gravity take him as he delivered a knee that connected with Nasu’s stomach leaving him stunned and winded.
Rolling off of him, James picked Nasu up by the neck with one hand bringing the other back preparing to finish it. Before he could drive the fist forward however Nasu lashed out with a leg, mule kicking the man in his gut and forcing him back a step.
The kick forced James to let go of his throat and that was all Nasu needed drawing a quick gasp of air as he stopped suppressing his own energy and let it rise to his natural base and matching James own fighting ability.
There was a brief pause and though Nasu couldn’t see his face behind the mask he assumed it was from shock at the rise energy. Still not one to waste an opportunity Nasu flew forward again. This time when he got in close Nasu knelt down under a rushed haymaker and threw two hands forward into James’ stomach pushing him back again.
Not letting up Nasu pressed the attack pushing forward going almost punch for punch with the man now fists moving far too fast for the common eye to follow. All around them the casino had emptied out. Not used to seeing one of the Proprietor’s guards given a challenge the men and women who had only come to the establishment for vice fled knowing no matter who won this fight, they would lose in the end.
The two traded blows back and forth each careful to make sure they gave each other no extra momentum to use against them, every punch every kick precise, sure not to be extended enough to grab and turn into a throw. And as a result the hits that landed only did minimal damage. Nasu could keep this level up all day even in the increased gravity but the strain was starting to show on James as his suit became discolored with sweat.
The man was clearly not used to extended fights and this one was taking it’s toll. Finally he made a mistake throwing a kick that Nasu let connect with his side temporarily knocking the air from his lungs, but in exchange Nasu caught the man’s hand before he could pull it back from a misplaced punch.
With a yank he pulled the man forward and drove his knee into his gut causing him to double over before Nasu drove raised his elbow and drove that into the back of the man’s neck causing him to slam into the ground hard enough to bounce right back up to eye level.
Before he can fall again Nasu’s hand shoots out and grabs the man by the hair holding his head up while his body flops under him, with a quick motion Nasu lands two hard punches to the mask and he can see the silver begin to splinter and crack.
James wasn’t one to just take his beating quietly however swept Nasu’s legs out from under him sending him sprawling to the ground his grip on Jame’s head lost. On his back Nasu went to kick himself back to his feet but before he could James climbed on top of him and delivered a right hook across his jaw that had him seeing stars. The assault didn’t stop there however instead he followed up with dozens more punches at point blank range as Nasu covered his face as best he could.
Bringing his aura around him Nasu glowed red as James straddled him still delivering punches without stop. At this point James either was so focused he hadn’t noticed Nasu’s aura or knew that if he stopped to see what it meant he would be giving up his advantage. As punches rained down on Nasu’s face he reached deep within himself pulling on his own energy until his body was coated in a layer of electricity.
Immediately the punches stopped as James body stiffened, and fell off of him. On the ground he began to twitch and spasm as volt after volt of electricity flowed through him robbing him of any control he had.
Slowly Nasu pushed himself to his feet wiping away a thin trickle of blood that was coming from his nose before realizing his nose was completely crooked. Stopping he took a deep painful breathe, gripped, and set his nose as quickly as possible as a lightning bolt of pain shot through him.
Finally he looked down at the man on the ground who was just now regaining minimal control of his body, but he was clearly unable to continue the fight as his body lay on the ground smoke rising off of it.
Nasu looked up and saw the Proprietor and his remaining guard staring down assessing the situation.
A moment later the pair jumped down landing lightly, the guard a fraction of a step in front of his boss ready to intercede should Nasu charge. But while the man stood in Nasu’s path his head kept shifting over to stare at James who hadn’t yet regained his feet and who’s suit previously spotless was now spattered with red. Nasu could almost sense the desire to go help his friend but the guard held strong and blocked Nasu’s path to his boss instead.
The Proprietor for his part stood silently still assessing the situation. He looked around his casino that had been lively only moments before and now was completely deserted. With a sigh he walked over to the bar reached behind it and pulled out a bottle of whiskey that was older than Nasu and three glasses.
For the power levels of the two men fighting, the casino was surprisingly intact after the fact. Usually there was considerably more collateral damage during one of his fights and Nasu couldn’t help but be relieved that aside from the table he had been thrown through the rest of the establishment looked fine.
“We’re going to have to burn the place to the ground.” The Proprietor’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts and shocked him.
“But why? We only destroyed that one table really.” Nasu asked not bothering to keep the surprise from his face.
“No one will come back here now, they’ll all fear that they saw my men fighting and I’ll have them killed. This place is worthless now except for the insurance settlement after we burn it.” With that he reached up and stripped the mask off his face and Nasu’s jaw fell. The man in front of him couldn’t have been any older than 18. A man who Nasu had heard used magic to personally take out dozens of rivals, underlings, to kill anyone who had ever dared challenge him, and still he sat in front of him in the prime of his life. Nasu was speechless.
“Do you know why practitioners wear masks boy?” he asked pouring a small measure of the whiskey into each of the three glasses before letting Nasu pick which one he wanted. Nasu picked the glass closest to him and downed it in one long pull. The whiskey burned going down but it felt good and gave him a moment to organize his own thoughts.
“They wear masks so no one can see your age. A young practitioner has a huge advantage over an older one knowing how much magic they can use before they’re completely spent. The masks eliminate that advantage.” Nasu said parroting the answer he had heard dozens of times before.
“Yes that is exactly right. If another sorcerer knows your age, they either know your experience, or they know your limitations. Neither of which you ever want an opponent to see and live to tell the tale.” He gave Nasu a very pointed look. Nasu had now seen his face and age, if he couldn’t become an ally he wouldn’t live to the end of this conversation. And suddenly Nasu was acutely aware there were three glasses in front of him as the second body guard stepped forward and grabbed the remaining glass.
With a quick motion the second guard too pulled off their mask and long black hair tumbled out as a gorgeous woman in her late teens, early twenties took the cup and downed her shot much the same as Nasu had.
“You did a real number on my brother.” She said voice soft but firm. “If he dies you will too regardless of any orders I’m given.” She put the empty glass down on the bar loudly and walked over to tend to her brother.
Nasu looked back to the Proprietor but he just smiled. His face was young but his eyes seemed older somehow. Nasu had a million questions now but he just sat there dumb struck and waited.
The Proprietor didn’t down his shot the same way Nasu and the second guard had, instead he lifted it to his lips and sniffed, before taking a short sip and sighing again putting the cup back down content.
“Not everything in life is straightforward boy.” The Underlord said eyes on his cup. “It’s the people who learn to think outside the box that thrive, and the people who never think for themselves who become sheep to the slaughter.”
The Proprietor leaned over the bar again this time pulling out a bottle of whiskey that had only been aged three years. It was the kind of drink that you see near signs labeled “Dollar Shot Night” and such. He poured another shot into Nasu’s cup and this time Nasu lifted it to his mouth and took a small sip.
As he swallowed Nasu couldn’t help but wince. The burn this time wasn’t as gentle and not nearly as smooth. It must have shown in his expression cause the Proprietor laughed, it wasn’t a forced laugh, or a viscous one but a genuine belly laugh clearly thinking Nasu’s face had been the height of comedy.
A moment later the laughter died down but the Proprietor’s eyes never left Nasu’s face. Slowly he raised his hand up as Nasu had seen the two other guards do earlier in the night when they had been murdering the card cheat.
Nasu’s blood pressure spiked and his body tensed but he knew there was no time. He wouldn’t have a chance to fight back before he was killed.
Bracing for the worst Nasu was shocked instead to see the laugh lines around the Proprietor’s eyes straighten as the wrinkles smoothed out. The hint of five o’clock shadow that had been playing around his chin faded until nothing was left. And Nasu was left staring at the face of a man who couldn’t have been older than 16.
Completely shocked Nasu sat there motionless until the boy gestured to his cup. Nasu raised it to his lips the burn from his last sip already forgotten, this time the liquor that went down was aged perfectly, and smooth as silk.
“But how…” Nasu asked his voice barely above a whisper and the teenaged underlord smiled brightly at him.
“Magic can do anything you set your will too. Including stealing age.” He said simply.
*****
By the time Nasu had recovered from the shock James was back on his feet as well and his sister looked relieved. Her face which had been stunningly beautiful when angry was breathtaking now in relief and joy, and Nasu had to stop himself from staring at her.
He wondered why she went out of her way to wear a suit when almost anything would have suited her better. She caught him staring at her and frowned clearly noticing his attention and clearly not interested. He blushed and she walked away shaking her head as she supported her brother.
“So you steal age with your magic and no one ever noticed?” Nasu asked the Proprietor as they sat again in his room upstairs. They all pointedly ignored the whole in the floor.
“Yes and no. But it’s not nearly as simple as you imply either. First it requires the practitioner to be able to split their mind and their will into two parts, which is not something your average person can do. You need to be able to focus and keep your will while both syphoning age from a person or object, and while adding it to either yourself or another object.” With this the Proprietor held up his arms and pointed to one of his cufflinks. “And finally you need an object capable of containing raw magic. The expense of those objects limits the potential to just stumble on this kind of thing even further.”
He put both hands up in front of him and spread all ten fingers out wide. “Out of every ten practitioners, only three ever gain the experience needed with magic to understand basic principles before they grow old and die from use.” he folded in seven fingers. “Only one will have the talent, and the knowledge to split their mind and will as required.” he folded in two more fingers leaving one remaining. “And only one in ten thousand will ever have the means necessary to afford a gem that could store that kind of energy.” He pointed the last finger at himself. “I happen to be lucky enough to be a combination of all those traits but even if you possess one, there is no guarantee you possess any of the rest.” he finished simply.
Nasu was doing the math in his head. “But in a city of millions, you’d think more would have figured it out?” he said still questioning.
“Well of course more have.” the Proprietor said looking at him like he was an idiot. “Dozens have learned the secret over the years, maybe more. But they have followed one of three courses of action. They learned the secret and immediately drained everyone and everything they could. The Lord Ruler who had known for generations and has more energy than you could possibly fathom stored learned of their existence through their recklessness and killed them.” The man smiled at him as if that was clearly the stupidest of choices anyone could make. “Two, you learn the great secret to magic, you now know how the Lord Ruler has survived countless challenges, and years of devastating magical abuse. You go out in public, announce to the world you know his secret and how to kill him. The Lord Ruler uses generations of magical experience you don’t possess to outclass you and kill you.” he smiled shaking his head again, option two was clearly no better than option one. “Or three,” he said finally. “You learn this great secret. You tell no one, you are as always cautious with your use of magic to not raise alarms all the while you begin to acquire wealth, power and allies, you begin to store, energy and age much as the Lord Ruler has. And you prepare for the time when an opportunity to strike presents itself.” This time the look on The Proprietor’s face was absolutely vicious. “And when the opportunity does present itself, you burn the earth around him to make sure no act of magic will ever be enough to bring that walking atrocity back from the dead.” the room went still and no one said a word.
“So that brings us to our last question for the evening.” The Proprietor said very quietly his eyes, so much older than his face, never leaving Nasu. “Do you really think you can be that opportunity?”
****
Nasu stood in the center of the city outside the gates to the Lord Ruler’s citadel. He’d been to palaces, temples, mansions, and estates, but none of them rivaled the grandeur of the Lord Ruler’s Citadel. Part palace, part temple the stained glass windows all around depicted scenes from The Lord Ruler’s mythology. Him casting back the sea with a wave, him raising the city around them from nothing, him providing food to the masses. The scenes could be inspiring and for a moment he understood why people followed him, why some in the masses truly believed he was their god. But as Nasu waited and watched, other windows displayed a darker path. The Lord Ruler, fighting off invaders by melting an entire army in mass. The Lord Ruler stopping a rebellion by setting one of every three known practitioners on fire. The Lord Ruler stern face watching as his own people starved for their “lack of faith”. He had killed as many as he had saved over the years. Karmic balance, but maybe it was time to tip the scale, may be breaking even wasn’t enough anymore.
The bell in the Citadel began to chime out. It was 5 o’clock, the time all most of the city got out of work and was on the street. The time when the sun was still in the sky and people were out from home. The Proprietor needed a large crowd to witness his victory if he was to be the one to take over when the Lord Ruler finally fell. The world needed to know it was his victory, not just a strangers.
Nasu took a deep breathe and rose into the air above the gate. The gravity fighting him every inch of the way but still Nasu rose to twenty feet above the city when his red aura flared to life around him. It was a clear challenge to the man in the ivory tower and one seen now by millions of citizens.
Where before The Lord Ruler might have been able to send a flunky, or a guard, or even disintegrate him without ever leaving his chair the Proprietor had said he liked to make particular examples of those foolish to challenge him openly. Those dumb enough to mock his power usually died screaming...but Nasu would have help he hoped.
Nasu tried to scan the crowd for the two sorcerer guards the Practitioner had sent to help him. To keep the Lord Ruler’s magic occupied while Nasu fought the man himself. But the pair blended into the gathered crowd well and Nasu didn’t want to look nervous and give away his hole card by looking around wildly.
From the citadel he heard the sound of a door thrown open wide and then the fanfare that always accompanied the Lord Ruler’s arrival. Nasu looked in but the room behind the doors was pitch black and he couldn't make out anything. But though the door stood open, though the trumpets played and then fell silent, the Lord Ruler was no where to be seen. The silence dragged on until people on the street started whispering. Never before had the Lord Ruler been missing when challenged….
Nasu held his breath as he hovered high in the air, the obvious spectacle for everyone to see. Until finally, in heart of the black room, a man appeared coming more and more into focus as he walked forward. Walking down the dead center of the hallway The Lord Ruler came to meet his challenger.
Like every practitioner he was covered from head to toe, but his appearance was immaculate. His shoes shined bright enough to see his reflection. His pants pressed and creased enough for any board room meeting. His suit jacket was tailored and cost more than half the city earned in a year. The Mask the Lord Ruler wore was a combination face mask and crown, The mask bright gold, with a platinum circlet crown woven in about the forehead. It was only when staring at the crown that Nasu noticed all the gems. Each peak of the crown held a diamond similar to the cuffs Nasu’s own sorcerers wore. The tie the Lord Ruler wore had a clip with two rubies on either end, a pin with the country’s flag was on the suit’s lapel and it shined with a light leading Nasu to believe it was another gem. The cufflinks worn by the Lord Ruler were two of the largest diamonds Nasu had ever seen in one place. He wasn’t an overly greedy man by nature but even his own eyes widened as he stared at them, and finally the belt buckle was a large perfectly green emerald.
Nasu felt his mouth go dry. The Proprietor had given each of his guard a small arsenal in gemstones. They had two cufflinks a piece as well as small earrings and a necklace each laced with energy. But the Lord Ruler was on a whole different level. He easily had them ten to one in stored energy and now Nasu finally understood why options one and two failed in the Proprietor’s examples and for a moment he thought about running.
The image of the gambler in the casino trying to run even as his skin disintegrated and rotted around him sprang to his mind and for the first time he realized why the Proprietor had put him as such obvious bait instead of springing him a well placed trap.
If Nasu’s courage failed and he ran the Lord Ruler would kill him from behind while the Proprietor’s guards did nothing, they would stay in hiding and watch from complete safety as he was brutally murdered and no one would ever be the wiser that he was involved.
That bastard had set him up to die. Nasu’s energy spiked and electricity began to flow around his body as his rage grew. The Lord Ruler’s walk never quickened, he made his way down the long path to the front of his gate and only when he was steps away did he leap into the air stopping maybe fifty feet away from Nasu.
The man’s aura was impressive. Pure white with energy that rivaled his sister’s power before she transformed. He was out of his depth here, but he put on a bold front. He smiled putting his right hand into a fist and then slowly crossing it over his body till it touched his heart, being sure to make no sudden movements.
“My Lord.” he said loudly so the entire assembly could hear. “I’ve come to pledge my life and my power to you.” he said and there was a gasp from everyone in the crowd.
They had all expected to see a show, a fight between the challenger and their Lord and Master. In reality most had just stopped to watch what they assumed was going to be a very public, very brutal execution of another foolish challenger, but instead here he was offering his service to the man.
The Lord Ruler paused hovering in the air for a moment, until his head tilted to one side questioning, he was clearly confused. He hadn’t been expecting that either, but that was why Nasu hadn’t breached the gates, that was why Nasu hadn’t said a word as he ascended and powered up. He hadn’t technically offered any offense. But it sure looked like he was about to. And the Lord Ruler paused confused, he gestured towards his Citadel with one hand beckoning Nasu in, he might not know what was going on but he would be a fool to throw away the kind of power Nasu was offering in service without hearing him out as well.
The Lord Ruler’s never took his eyes off Nasu but Nasu floated forward towards the palace. He intended to hover behind Nasu and follow him in. Nasu was right next to the tyrant now. He could feel the man’s gaze on him. But there would be no time for him to react.
Without any sign or warning Nasu struck. Leg sweeping out he caught the Lord Ruler’s leg with his foot dragging it forward and sending the man horizontal to the ground. Winding up Nasu charges an energy blast in his hand and drives it directly into the Lord Ruler’s stomach sending him crashing into the ground in a blur, creating a massive impact crater and a pile of smoke where from where he landed.
Nasu can hear the crowd gasp in the background but he knew he didn’t have time to wait. If the twins were truly going to help him they were pushing through the crowd now trying to lock down as much magical energy as they could. Even so Nasu feared it would only be a drop in the bucket.
He could feel the Lord Ruler’s energy through the debri and the dust, he had taken a hit but he was just as strong. Nasu dove into the cloud cover not needing to see, using his other senses he felt the Lord Ruler’s position and delivered a spin kick to his face that sent him flying.
Or it would have had the kick landed. Instead his leg was caught in a vice like grip and he was slammed forcefully into the ground. Instinctually he reached for his electricity and the hand that had gripped his leg let go shocked, but unlike his fight with James earlier the Ruler didn’t start twitching on the ground helpless. Instead he backed off while his hand alone spasmed from shock and assessed the new threat.
All around Nasu electricity cracked as bolts of lightning lit up the dust cloud. Not wanting to give the man time to recover he charged again launching a barrage of punches and kicks each one punctuated by electricity.
The Lord Ruler ducked and dodged as best he could but for the moment he seemed unable to counter, and once every few blows Nasu would connect with a kick sending jolts of electricity into the God of their city eliciting cries of pain. Finally the dust cleared and Nasu could see tears in the formerly pristine suit. Spots of blood were spattered around the area they’d been fighting as well as on the Lord Ruler’s shirt.
Nasu grinned thinking for once this would be easy.
Eventually he would learn how fucking stupid it was to think that. Ever.
The emerald at the belt of the Lord Ruler glowed briefly and the scene changed. Lord Ruler stood straighter, the mask on his face that had been crooked and cracking was suddenly perfectly aligned and unblemished. The bloodied suit was once again spotless. Even the tears in the arms and shoulders patched themselves.
Not only did this bastard have enough juice to patch himself up. He wanted to show Nasu that he had enough extra to fix his fucking wardrobe as well…
The Lord Ruler straightened, fixing his tie slightly before shooting forward faster than Nasu’s eye could follow and landing a cross to his jaw that sent Nasu sailing backwards. Crossing his arms in an “x” in front of him Nasu prepped for a follow up series of blows but none came.
Instead the Lord stretched one hand out in front of him and flicked a finger up and Nasu felt like a sledge hammer had been driven into his back sending him flying into the air. Bringing his other hand into it as well the Lord Ruler shoved both hands down and like an anvil Nasu fell crashing into and through the concrete.
The fight had entered the magical spectrum and Nasu was no match for him there.
Where the hell were the twins! They were supposed to be here preventing just this from happening. If it was a purely physical fight Nasu could win. But magic…
A force he couldn’t see grabbed him by the back of the neck lifting him high into the air. He could feel it pulling his feet together and pulling his arms apart. Crucifiction without the cross. Before he lost complete control however Nasu formed his destructo disk in his right hand and flicked his wrist forward launching it at the Lord Ruler.
The man saw it coming but didn’t realize was it was until too late. Lord Ruler jumped to the side but a scarlet line appeared on his shoulder where the disk cut through and for the first time in the open the people saw their God bleed.
The disk had been enough to break the Lord Ruler’s concentration as well, freeing Nasu from his psychic prison but it had given him an idea. Gathering his own telekinesis Nasu found all the dust and debri still floating around in the air and condensed it all together into one funnel cloud bringing it down on top of Lord Ruler in a twister of debris and shrapnel. The mini tornado appearing out of the clear blue sky was taken by some as a sign from above that the tide had finally turned on the tyrant and some in the onlooking crowd even began to cheer.
It was all premature however. The tornado began to slowly move towards Nasu. It was approaching him with the same steady pace the Lord Ruler had demonstrated when leaving his Citadel in the first place.
Slashing his hand violently to the side the tornado dispersed and Nasu saw the Lord Ruler approaching him surrounded by a blue shield that had protected him from all harm. Not even a single spec of dust had landed on the man’s jacket. And again Nasu was forced to charge.
Ten feet before he reached the man however Nasu brought up his own shield. A living wall of energy and electricity, that he threw forward with him. It hit the Ruler in a wave sending thousands upon thousands of volts through the God and causing him to lose control of his muscles long enough for Nasu’s charging shoulder to drive into his chest taking him to the ground.
For a moment Nasu even had the advantage pinning the man to the ground and landing a few solid blows before magic grabbed him by the throat and violently threw him to the side. The Lord stood and flicked a finger to the side and a crimson line appeared on Nasu’s face and blood began to pour down. Another flick and another line, this one just under his eye. There was a pause from the City Lord to let the anticipation sink in. Nasu’s eye would be next, sacrificed to his poor choice in allies.
Just then James jumped out of the ever rising dust cloud and sank a dagger directly into the back of the Demigod. The Lord Ruler stumbled, taking two staggering steps forward before he threw his head back and let out a primal shout of pain and rage.
All around him a field of blue energy was thrown out shoving Nasu and James back violently. Nasu rolled once and sprung to his feet, but James was slower to get up and the Lord Ruler turned on him while he was on the ground.
When the man turned Nasu noticed the knife had been thrown from his back as well but the emerald belt buckle he had been wearing was now cracked and dim, the light from inside completely gone, used in the explosion of magic and rage.
Nasu raced forward knowing he needed to protect the sorcerer or his sister would stand back and let him die next but he needn’t have worried. The second guard stepped forward both hands swiping violently to the side sending the Lord Ruler flying like a rag doll. She pointed one finger at Nasu and gestured to the Lord Ruler pushing himself to his feet.
“GO!” she shouted while she lifted her brother. They stood and adopted not a fighting pose but one of intense concentration. Nasu could see the jewels on the Lord Ruler’s crown light up in response to their combined assault but other than that the man showed no obvious signs of distress.
Nasu flew forward again becoming tired of the straight forward approach. He knew there needed to be another way, think outside the box or die a sheep, wasn’t that what the Proprietor had told him.
Just before he got to the Lord Ruler Nasu pulled a dagger from his jacket. Looking forward he could almost sense the smugness radiating off the man. He had just had another dagger sunk into his back, this one wouldn’t harm him anymore than the last. Instead Nasu let energy flow down the blade and lines appeared all around the pair. Nasu slashed the blade sideways through one of the tears in the air and gravity flipped.
Suddenly the Lord Ruler was flung sideways again as gravity’s direction shifted with direction of Nasu’s knife cut.
Caught completely off guard the demigod went flying and Nasu gave chase launching energy blast after energy blast every time the man made contact with the ground sending him flying into the air again and again. Finally Nasu caught up and caught the Lord Ruler in a bear hug, with a small effort of will he covered his entire body in his electric aura and he could feel the man he held twitch and thrash in pain and frustration as his mind no longer controlled his muscles.
Nasu could feel the man’s heartbeat, it quickened and soon it would stop all together.
“Enough!” A voice boomed out from behind the mask. As another wave, this one red and full of pain as well as force threw him back into the dirt.
Once again Nasu rolled to his feet but this time as he came up his face was wet. He put a hand up only to realize his nose was bleeding, so were his eyes….and his ears? The force of the blast must have ruptured all the blood vessels in the upper layer of his skin as he looked down and saw that his body was red.
Nasu risked a brief glance to the side and saw that the twins hadn’t fared any better. Their masks had been blown off in the blast and their skin was bright red with blood. Worse yet their eyes were filled with blood from broken vessels giving them an eerie feel.
“So the Proprietor has finally made his move.” the Lord Ruler said turning to face them all at once. “I will be honest. I did not think he would hitch his cart to…” there was a pause as the Lord Ruler looked at Nasu pointedly assessing him as a whole. “this….” he said finally giving up on a better word and just settling for being insulting as a whole. “I expected better from him.” James spit on the ground in rage at the mention of his master being insulted. He flew forward in a blur but he was no match. With a casual cruelty the Lord Ruler backhanded James and Nasu thought he heard bones snap in the boy’s neck.
His sister let out a high pitched shriek of both rage and grief, instead of attacking though she sprinted towards James overcome by grief at the apparent death of her brother.
“This is really the best he has to offer.” Lord Ruler said to Nasu disgustedly. “After years of planning I had high hopes. Rivals are normally stupid barbaric creatures, but he seemed to have class.” He said it almost conversationally. Like Nasu was no more a threat than a curiosity. In reality Lord Ruler probably hadn’t had the chance to talk to anyone in a long long time. The fact that Nasu had survived the first few rounds with him was probably a welcome distraction from his boredom.
“The Proprietor.” Lord Ruler said the name testing it on his tongue. “Even the name reeked of scheming and plots. I let him take over half the city and never acted. Waiting for the second act so to speak.” he pointed to the pair, the dead brother and his sobbing sister. “And here we are with no climax to speak of.”
Finally he turned to face Nasu fully. “Then there is you. You’re a curiosity boy. You don’t seem to share our powers. But you don’t seem to share our limitations either.” he said pointing to the mask used to cover his age. “You made me an offer when you first arrived. Well now I have a counter. Serve me and I won’t turn you inside out, you won’t die screaming and be the subject of nightmares for generations to come. Bend the knee or die.” the offer took the wind out of Nasu far more than any hit he’d taken so far.
Could he serve the man he’d been sent to kill? What would happen-
His train of thought was cut off a moment later when the Lord Ruler flew into the air as if punched under the chin. Then slammed back down into the ground with more force than Nasu thought possible. The sequence was repeated three times before Nasu found the source.
Over to the side another man in a suit and golden mask stood facing the Lord Ruler his hands outstretched in front of him.
The Proprietor had entered the fight.
Nasu shot back a dozen feet giving the two sorcerers room to work. Each covered in gems worth more than a small country, each throwing magic around like there was no price to be paid. Flashes of light and half formed images danced as the two magicians faced one another tearing the fabric of reality to shreds with their wills.
The Proprietor was strong but Nasu could still sense his energy and the reserves he had were fading fast. The Lord Ruler however had secured his throne over literal millenia. He had been alive so long the concept of him not being the Ruler never even occurred to his citizens anymore than there not being a Winter this year.
He had centuries worth of energy, worth of reserves to fall back on. Nasu could sense his power and his rage grew. The electric field that surrounded his aura clung to him, to his forehead, to his heart and stomach, and to each arm. The electricity formed into a ball of rage and 5 bolts shot out from him leaving Nasu feeling weak under the strain.
The bolts all shot out tracking the Lord Ruler by his energy. Each a homing missile to a target, the Ruler ducked and dodged but one by one they found their mark. Little targets from Nasu to him. Each distracting him long enough for The Proprietor to land a blow. But never enough. Never enough delay for the killing strike to hit home.
Nasu saw each hit and the counter that came. But each time the Lord Ruler drained one of his endless reserve and healed himself.
Each time the Proprietor drained one of his reserve to strike and became weaker. Nasu flew into the air away from the fight. He put his hands in front of him blocking the combatants from his view. He couldn’t watch what he knew was coming next.
The final lightning bolt hit and the Proprietor threw everything. A wave of pure black energy surged from him like the tide and enveloped the Lord Ruler whose mask had fallen off at some point in their fight and for a moment seemed truly startled at the rush of power the man could still emit. The wave broke and took the Lord Ruler under as it surged forward a pure black tide.
But it takes time for a tide to break down a boulder. And the Proprietor was out of time. It took him by surprise when the first signs of aging began to show up on his face. Just crows feet around his eyes, followed by his hair becoming lighter, not gray yet, but light enough to see a difference.
He knew he couldn’t let up however. The second he let up from the tide it was over. The Lord Ruler would kill him on the spot. He had to keep the pressure on. But as he looked down his hand was wrinkled, he could see veins through his skin and moles were growing in rapidly.
His body felt weak, not exhausted, but tired like it was under a large strain. The tide began to ebb. From a surging ocean to a river. River to stream, stream to pond. Finally the Proprietor fell to his knees and the water of power dissipated. There was a moment of silence and hope before the Lord Ruler rose from his knee to confront the man who had challenged him more than anyone had in a millenia.
“You were close, do you know that?” he said admiringly. “I have no jewels of my own left. I will have to bring forth a massacre on the people the likes of which hasn’t been seen in centuries, but I want you to know your efforts were in vain.” he said as he walked towards the crippled old man.
The Proprietor had tried to rise to get away but he fell in his haste and one of his legs had broken at a terrible angle. Pain and horror merged in his eyes as he looked up at his executioner.
Nasu clenched his teeth together. The power he had been building his hands had reached near critical levels. He had never tried to charge a blast this much, let alone the blast his sister had taught him months ago. There was sweat on his forehead as he strained to contain it. A charge this big could destroy a planet and then some if he wasn’t careful. He seemed to remember a warning but his mind wasn’t focused on that. Only the power in his hands. Only the energy he had to contain.
The Proprietor stumbled and fell below and Nasu could sense his energy was all but gone. Take out a city, to save a world.
Nasu fired the blast. “BIG BANG ATTACK!”
The energy fell towards the earth like a comet of death. The citadel disintegrated under it’s power. The ground tore up instantly but the Lord Ruler threw his hands up and a shield flew up in front of him.
His belt crumbled away entirely, then his neckless, his earnings, his cufflinks, finally his crown fell off his head but still he stood. Still the blast marched on.
Driving him back into the dirt, his feet planted the blast pushed him back leaving tracks .
The Lord Ruler could feel his body aging as time took it’s toll, he kept himself in his late teens but now he could feel the rigors of age taking their toll. Little by little he was pushed further back 30’s, 40’s, his body was giving out and he fell to one knee. 60’s, 70’s, the blast pushed against his chest and he could feel the heat burn his skin.
90’s, 100’s, the fire burned off what little hair didn’t fall out of his head but finally the blast ran out of energy. With a last burst of magic he threw it in the air to fall harmlessly to the side.
“I did it.” he croaked unable to stand, to get off his knee to gloat. “Its over, that was everything you had and you know it.” the sentence left him gasping for breathe. He looked around to find the boy who had thrown that attack. To drain him of his life’s energy to feel young again but his world was going dark around him.
The edges of his vision were already black as he swivelled frantically trying to find the boy.
“Where are you?” he shouted into the darkness as it closed in around him. “Where are you? Where did you go?” he said his voice high pitched, panicked as he fell to the ground as the blackness took his sight from him. “But I won.” he whispered as his last breath left his body.
***
Nasu had fallen to the ground behind the Lord Ruler, he had been completely unable to maintain his flight anymore after expending that much energy at once. He fell to the ground and knew there was no chance he was getting up again when he heard the shouts. He stayed down and just hoped not to be found.
The shouts grew more and more desperate, panicked, confused, he heard pain and hurt in the voice and tears welled up in his eyes but Nasu stayed down. He knew he couldn’t rise if he wanted to so he stayed put and hoped not to be found. The Lord Ruler passed but Nasu never knew, he stayed hidden unsure of what was to come. Unsure of what had happened. Tears were falling freely down his face as the simulation ended and the gravity restored to normal but Nasu didn’t move.
He stayed there for a long time thinking about the Lord Ruler’s final words. His last statement on the world around him. “But I won.” doesn’t mean anything when you’re dead….
****
Ok that was really fun to write. Heavy weights, PL please.
Hope you like the new format. Trying to have an intro story thats a little different from the DBA world.