Planet Chimera (21 page)

Lights came on, a bell gonging, and the four
doors, on each side, opening up wide. People were shoved inside the
room, one after the other, forced into a dirty room to fight one
another. Gasping slightly, I recognized Salyanna and Jutcer, and
the other two were probably the remaining members of the Vandrel
Guards. Where were Mrs. Craft and the other two soldiers? If Zad
had taken them down, assuming he could, then, I had severely
underestimated his physical power and mental prowess.

“What of the others?” I asked, turning my
head towards him, with both of my hands still pressed on my knees.
“I refuse to believe that you, of all the people in the world,
could take on the Vandrel Guards and walk out in victory. Did you
acquire some otherworldly power in the last three hundred
years?”

“It’s all about strategy, Rave, a thing you
lack,” he mumbled, taking a large sip into his hot tea, and chewing
with his mouth open. “While you might be immortal, possessing
powers others cannot even phantom, it all adds up to nothing if you
don’t have a brain in your head. That woman and her two men are
dead, taken care of, and they won’t be coming to your aid,
Rave.”

“That’s all I need to know,” I sighed,
popping my neck, as I waited patiently for my body to heal, and for
my true dark power to awaken.

A strange door opened,
beneath the floor, and two men and a woman, in blue jumpsuits,
crawled out of it, yelling words of profanity loudly. Their binding
chains had been removed, the shoes on their feet replaced, and
their hands wrapped in new gloves. All in all, they looked rather
rested and well-fed, a bad thing for the others against them. The
one of the left, with the short hairdo, strange X tattoos across
his face, seemed to be the most dangerous of them all. He was,
without a doubt, my second in terms of being the most wanted
criminal in our galaxy. He was a man of average build, with dark,
grey hair that reached his neck, and had piercing, gold eyes, and a
bushy tail
. He was either a chimera or
some other alien life form from a different
galaxy
, I thought.

“We shall prove ourselves to you, Professor
Roger Dozer, by taking their heads.” The female inmate screamed,
extended her hands out, her makeup all messed up. “Please sit right
there and enjoy, okay?”

“Stand down, Katherine, or I will be forced
to kill you,” one of the Vandrel guards yelled, taking a few steps
forward, with his pistol holstered. “I would rather take you alive
to Dead Planet, than to kill any of you in cold blood.”

“What makes you think you can stop us,
Guard?” the man, with the X tattoo, muttered, gazing up at us
without a hint of fear. “Without our shackles, we can use our
strength and powers to the fullest extent, and there is nothing you
can do to stop us.”

With Jutcer’s lackluster abilities and
Salyanna’s inability to fully transform into her true chimera form,
I would say this fight was over for them. The death-row inmates
were the worst matchup for them, and that was bad. The other
inmate, a man of muscular built, with odd, big eyes, a long tongue
like a snake, trudged forward with his back hunched slightly.
Sniffing the air, he exhaled deeply, ogling Salyanna in a dangerous
way.

“You there, I want you to be my wife,” he
yelled out loud, pointing at her with his right hand, a big grin on
his face. “If you marry me, once this battle is over, I promise to
spare your life for two weeks.”

“No way, you creep,” Salyanna laughed,
taking a defensive stance, pointing up her rifle at him. “I would
die than become your bride.”

“Then suit yourself,” he added, dashing
towards them, and jumping in for a flying kick.

Jutcer, surprised, placed his hands in front
of his face, planning on blocking the dangerous kick, but was
suddenly knocked back by an unknown force. The two Vandrel Guard
members leaped back, opening fire on Derick and Katherine, but for
some reason, their bullets fell to the ground before they even made
contact. It was like some sort of force field had been placed
between the two inmates, an invisible barrier that blocked anything
from harming them. One of the guards, removing his cape and helmet,
burst into magnificent flames, taking for the air, and firing a
bolt of fire from his hands. And like before, his attack was
deflected away by the unknown force, and sent flying in different
directions.

“I shall have your legs,” Katherine boasted,
running towards him, her fingers turning into sharp blades, and her
eyes glowing red. “You are mine, Vandrel Guardsman.”

The two unnatural forces of nature clashed
in the air, trading metal for fire, kick for kick, and landing on
the ground to resume again. While fighting, with his back turned
towards Derick, the guardsman did not see the bizarre gestures
Derick made with his hands, before he pointed them at him. To the
untrained eye, they looked like ordinary gun gestures, but to me,
there were something else. Flicking his thumps, making bang noises
with his mouth, I saw the Vandrel Guard fall to the gun, blood
stains on his back from invisible bullets. And as he tried to stand
up, coughing up blood, Katherine came at him from behind and
plunged her sword into his head, killing him in an instant.

“Nothing goes better than eating cake while
watching a death match,” Zad commented, taking another piece of red
cake, his eyes diverted to the fireplace. “Aren’t you hungry, Rave?
Take your arms off your knees and grab a piece—this cake is really
good.”

“If I do that, you will shoot my knees
again, won’t you, Zad?”

“Yes, perhaps, I might, but you won’t find
out unless you remove your hands from them.”

“I am going to kill you; I just want you to
know that, and this time, I will make sure to finish the job.”

“The feeling is mutual, Rave, but let’s
enjoy this bout in the meantime and reminisce about old times.”

“I have nothing I want to say to you,” I
replied, turning my attention back to the fight, as I felt the pain
in my body slowly recede. “I just want to see how this ends.”

Turning his head, Derrick pointed his hands
towards the remaining Vandrel Guard, who sensed the danger, and
leaped out of the way, whilst removing his helmet and cape. He was
an alien, with a scaled, reptile face, sharp teeth, black spikes on
his head, and had dragon-like eyes. He jumped left, pulling out a
long blade, and extending it out in front. Katherine, sneaking up
from his blind spot, tried to maim his from behind, but her blades
were blocked by the sword’s cross-guard, and she was pushed off.
The alien swiped his sword at her, in a swift motion, and placed it
by his side, a bit of blood on its tip. Katherine gasped, suddenly
noticing blood gushing from her chest, her eyes widening as she
fell down, dead. I could not believe it, despite seeing what had
transpired with both of my eyes—it just didn’t make any sense.
Considering the length of his blade, the distance between him and
Katherine, that final attack should have been impossible to
accomplish, unless there was some sort of deception or trickery to
his blade. He pivoted back and dashed for the long, tongued inmate,
hoping to strike him with one swing, too.

“Tommy, you fool, look out,” Derrick roared,
his hands folded above his chest, not moving.

Tommy, who had his tongue wrapped around
Salyanna’s left arm, glanced to his left, his eyes widening, and
saw the blade slice off his long tongue in half. He screamed out,
blood flowing from his mouth, his hands covering his face and
chest, and jumped out of the way.

“You will pay for that,” he roared in a
muffled voice, panting heavily. “I will make you pay for cutting my
tongue.”

The alien swung his blade down, wiping some
of the blood off his blade, looking at Tommy with a murderous
intent to kill. He lowered his legs, a frightening look on his
face, and stormed off for the finishing blow. Tommy shifted out of
the way, avoiding a fatal hit, spinning to the side in a desperate
attempt to retreat to Derrick’s side. But as he turned his back
towards the alien guardsman, he was taken down in one hit, when he
a good few meters away. It looked like the length of the blade had
extended, but, perhaps, it was my eyes playing a trick on me. This
alien was incredibly skilled. Tommy was cut cleanly into two equal
pieces through the middle—his left side fell backwards and his
right side fell to the right, in a grotesque, bloody mess.

“Surrender, Derrick, or I shall lay claim of
your life,” the alien boasted, raising his blade into the air, with
a serious look on his face. “You cannot escape from the strong arms
of the law, Derrick, and if you continue to defy me, I will cut you
down as I did your companions.”

“Take your best shot,” Derrick yawned, an
evil smile on his face, not moving. “Show me the power of justice
as you claim it, Vandrel Guardsman.”

“So be it,” the alien sighed, sniffing the
air, before roaring like a tyrannosaurus. “I will show you the true
power of the Vandrel Guards.”

Like an idiot, he charged
head-first towards Derrick—his powerful sword angled slightly
behind him, and skidded in his track to swing in a vertical motion.
But for some reason, he glanced at the ground, halting his attack,
and retreating back from something. The ground exploded beneath his
feet, forming small crates in the floor, as dust and debris began
to take refuge in the air. I watched closely, unable to figure out
the mystery behind their abilities, and it was rather aggravating.
The alien moved with precise speed and agility, attacking with his
magical sword from a distance, but he could not maim Derrick, who
was still standing in the same spot. And on the ground, there
appeared to be invisible mines buried beneath the floor, making
close combat impossible. It made me so mad that I couldn’t figure
out their tricks, and I just wanted to jump down and challenge them
both.
On second the thought, why wasn’t I
doing that?

“Enough of this,” the alien roared, turning
on the invisible cloak on his armor, disappearing from view. “Two
can play at that game, Derrick.”

“Have it your way,” Derrick smiled, looking
bored, as he faced the ground. “You can do everything that you
think will help you, but you will never be able to touch me.”

“We shall see about that,” a voice roared, a
set of loud, heavy footsteps following after.

Something attacked the air behind Derrick,
the invisible tremors making a thundering noise, and the floor
shaking a little. The more I watched the fight, the more I saw what
looked like some sort of spherical glass shield all around Derrick,
and it looked like it protected him from any physical attacks. His
abilities were truly marvelous, truly worth of being called the
second, most wanted man in the galaxy. And as I blinked, I heard
something smash against the invisible shield, and a second later I
saw something being repelled back at an astonishing speed. When the
dust cleared out, I saw the alien kneeling on his right knee, the
tip of his sword buried in the ground, and both of his hands around
the cross-guard. He was bleeding from his forehead, a few of his
sharp teeth missing, with only one eye open, and terribly, twisted
ankle. Panting heavily, he spat out a fatal amount of blue blood
onto the ground, the sword clanking down, as his pressed both of
his hands into the floor. He was done for, I knew, and if he was
lucky, Derrick would finish him up quickly. Looking up, completely
exhausted, he gazed at me with eyes filled with contempt, before
turning his eyes back at Derrick.

“Let’s help him,” Salyanna argued, trying to
pry away Jutcer, who seemed to be making the rational choice of not
engaging carelessly. “If we don’t help him, he will die.”

“No, Salyanna,” he pleaded, not letting go,
as he held her waist to stop her from moving. “That man is already
dead and he will do the same to you—if you rush in carelessly.”

The alien guard struggled to stand back up,
but he failed to even lift his right knee off the ground. He looked
at his sword, a desperate look of courage on his face, and reached
out for it; however, he was stopped by some unknown force. He
screamed out loud, when he saw his hand begin to burn away like it
was dipped in a pool of magma fire. The burns spread up his arm,
the tormenting cry of the alien truly devastating, but at the last
minute, he made a daring move and cut off his own arm with a small
dagger. Moving back, panting heavily, sweat pouring down like
water, he stood back up to his feet and smiled. To be honest, I was
impressed with his tenacious ability. Not a lot of people would
think and act that quickly under that kind of pressure.

“I will face my end like a true, honorary
member of the Vandrel Guards, the true watchers of Justice and
Peace,” he shouted, bowing his head down after, before dashing
towards Derrick with his last remaining strength. “I will take you
down with me, Derrick Lucy.”

“You are more than welcome to try,” Derrick
grinned, raising his right hand up, and glaring at the alien with
intense focus. “But, Guardsman, this is truly the end for you.”

And as the alien blitzed
in, his jaw wide open, he was flung back in a great ball of fire.
He screamed out loud, moving randomly in every direction, unable to
put out the flames that were around him.
Those flames are real
, I
thought,
so what does that even mean? What
sort of trickery is Derrick using?

“Are you going to try the cake?” Zad asked,
extending the tray with the cake towards me. “I am about to devour
the whole thing by myself and it would be rude to not leave you
some.”

“I appreciate the generous hospitality, Zad,
but I am okay,” I replied, swallowing a lump full, whilst listening
the tormenting cries of the burning alien. “By the way, what
happened to Baron Smith and his butler?”