Chapter 32: Zap ‘Em To The Extreme!
WARNING: This chapter contains the death of a character. Reader discretion advised.
Jace catches a tail and melts it away by vaporizing it. He then charges his fist and begins to punch the rest of the tails. Every tail broken makes Henry step back more and more until he’s only feet away from the electrifying cage. Jace walks up towards him before raising his arm to inspect it.
Henry: “You bastard! You were actually able to touch the generator! I thought I had you!”
Jace: “You said it yourself. If you were a second faster, you could’ve ruined this entire plan for me.”
Henry: “Then I won’t make the same mistake twice!”
Henry lunges forward and summons two Aura Stingers before crossing his arms into an X shape. Jace tries to step back, but Henry’s speed advantage is able to close the gap. In an instant, Jace swaps to Freeze and manifests a blade of ice from his arm. The two powers clash as Henry continues to walk forwards towards Jace. This sudden bright move Jace has doesn’t last long as the icicle blade shatters, leaving him open for an attack. Henry redirects one of the stingers towards Jace’s neck, but he’s able to catch it before it can pierce his neck.
Henry: “You’re using your good arm to hold that one? What’re you gonna do about THIS?!”
Suddenly, he jabs the other stinger right into Jace’s side. He yells out in pain, but focuses back on the fight at hand by gripping Henry’s stinger with more force. Henry looks up at Jace, puzzled by this sudden extra force. Jace uses some of his remaining strength to smirk as the air around his left arm begins to crackle.
Henry: “Shit!”
Henry attempts to retract the stinger Jace’s holding onto, but Jace is able to successfully shatter it away using Zap. He goes for the other stinger too and does the same before stepping back. He tries to stand straight, but the effects of the stinger that pierced him are starting to take effect. He drops to one knee and coughs up some blood.
Henry: “Now this’ll be a fun test. Your silly android healing crap versus my toxins. I’ve always wondered which one would win.”
Jace: “Remember, it has to be a fatal blow if you really wanna do damage to me…all your toxins do is slow me down…”
Henry: “I don’t think you understand the type of enemy you’re dealing with here.”
Jace: “You’re not my enemy. We’ve been over this.”
Henry: “I like to play with my food, y’know? Intimidate it and exhaust it. Once it’s exerted every ounce of energy it has, I go for the kill.”
The audience ooohs. Jace scoffs as he tries to stand up again. His vision begins to cross and the surroundings begin to get quieter as the toxins continue to set it.
Jace: “Just how much of your toxins did you inject me with?”
Henry: “Enough to kill someone, but you’re no ordinary someone. I can see that your body is doing everything it can to repel the toxins, but it’s no use. You will soon be left without any senses before landing yourself in a state of paralysis until time passes, or I kill you. Cool? Cool.”
Jace: “I thought we were friends…”
Henry: “Friends? I have no friends. All the real friends I had died forever ago because of me.”
Jace: “So, why are you actively trying to do the same to me? I’m trying to help you…”
Henry: “Because I don’t want any new friends! I don't want your damn help! I don’t want to put anyone else in danger besides myself.”
Jace: “I don’t give a shit about what you want! Friends are supposed to be there for each other, even if it hurts. You never told me what happened, but I’m sorry for your losses. Now’s the time to correct that though. Now’s the time to have a friend that’ll stand next to you and protect you, as you’d do the same for them.”
The arena goes silent. Not because of the toxins muffling Jace’s hearing, but because of the moving words. Nor Henry or his audience knows how to respond at this very moment.
Jace: “But, if that’s not what you want…”
He uses all of his strength to stand himself up, even if it means being hunched forwards. Henry looks at him in fear. Did the toxins get nullified that fast?
Jace: “Then kill me and get this over with.”
Henry: “Are you sure you’re ready to tap out? Just like that?”
Jace: “Just like that.”
Henry: “It’s a good thing your speech didn’t move me, or else this would hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you!”
Henry makes a mad dash towards Jace. In his head, Jace thinks of multiple attacks Henry may go for. It’s either going to be a tail or a stinger, but at which angle will it be coming from? Before he can think any further, Henry leaps up in the air towards Jace. He unhinges his jaw to show his amalgamation of fangs and other razor sharp teeth. He’s about to rip Jace apart like a piranha. All of the previous thinking leaves Jace’s head as his instincts overtake his body. He lets his left arm hang before using another burst of energy to whip it forwards at Henry. The punch automatically shoots out a burst of electricity, most of which hits Henry’s skull. He falls to the ground with his head sizzling from the attack. Everyone falls silent again. The real question begins to float around the arena, then down to Jace. Is he dead? Did he just fry his brain? Jace crouches down and places two fingers on Henry’s neck. After a few seconds, he steps back and looks at his fingers as they begin to tremble. There was no pulse. A tear quickly runs down Jace’s face before he collapses to the ground and screams out in both pain and sadness. He just accidentally killed his friend, even if their time together has been rather brief. Flashes of the things they did together continue to enter and exit Jace’s mind as all he can do is keep crying. After hours, Jace finally lifts his head up. The audience left, possibly a long time ago. He stands up, noticing that the toxins have been fully nullified. He looks back at Henry one last time before gripping his fist and walking back to the tavern. Once he returns, he doesn’t say a word. He returns to the empty apartment room, shuts the door, and collapses again onto the hallway floor due to exhaustion. If that was only one of them, what are the other four going to be like?