The Children of New Earth (33 page)

“Round 1…start!” Rachel shouted.

And with that, she sprung herself into the air. I was a little concerned about what she’d use to attack the Titan, given that her Orb was aiding her flight. But my fears were put to rest when she made a rising motion using both hands and a dozen cars launched themselves into the air, rushing alongside her directly towards the Titan’s head.

Next, Aelia sprinted ahead and leapt off the building, continuing to run in mid-air as the flame launched her forward and upward. She climbed higher and higher, meeting the next Titan at eye-level. She then began her assault by attacking the Demon with massive bursts of flame whilst maneuvering swiftly around its head.

Soon after, Lynn jumped off the platform, disappearing over the side of building in human form and reappearing as a Dragon, flying up towards another Titan. Jared transported the others to one of the lower platforms, and Aaron began to fire upon the horde advancing towards us, leaving me to deal with the last Titan.

This universe exists in three dimensions of space and one of time. If I had control over one dimension, could I possibly have control of them all? After all, my dreams were simply a result of my subconscious mind travelling through the space-time dimensions of this simulation; I knew that now. But I wondered if I could do the same thing while I was fully conscious. I shut my eyes and concentrated. As I imagined the burning flames come to a standstill, the noise around me faded away. Then, I tried something I’d never attempted before. I imagined myself moving around the fire, observing it from all angles. I made a complete rotation, then stopped. It was surprisingly easy, but for some reason I’d never thought to try it. When I opened my eyes, I wasn’t on the rooftop anymore. I was in the middle of the air, standing on an invisible surface several feet in front of where I’d just been.

Then I looked ahead to see a spectacular battle, frozen in time. Rachel was floating inside a tornado of cars, wires, rubble, and street signs. Aelia’s Titan was blocking a ball of fire with its arm as she prepared another blast that had just begun to erupt from her hand. Lynn was just about to dive for her Titan’s neck, and the others below firing at the oncoming horde, a burst of yellow emanating from each of their guns.

I looked at the last Titan, still standing near the back of the Demon army. I shut my eyes again, and imagined the fire moving further and further away. When I opened them, I stumbled backward on the invisible floor. I was standing just in front of the giant Demon, looking right into those abyssal eyes. Suddenly, I felt a painful pressure in my chest, as if I’d been holding my breath for too long. I realized I was, ironically, running out of time. I quickly ran around to the back of the Titan’s neck and took out my Void Knife. I took a deep breath, then cut deep into the Demon’s flesh. Then I slashed again. Then again. Then again. I could see the blood as it stained my knife, but it didn’t flow as time wouldn't allow it. I reached a point where I couldn’t breath, and was forced to quickly leap onto a nearby rooftop. Gasping for air, I released my hold of time. The roaring and snarling came rushing back louder than before. The putrid air was suffocating and this windy elevation didn’t help.

When I looked up at the Titan, it was choking and clawing at the back of its neck. The gash was now pouring with blood. After a few moments, its arms dropped limp, and the Demon fell to its knees, shaking the ground. It looked at the sky one last time, then with a final crash, fell dead against the side of a building.

Too tired to move, I slumped down near the edge of the roof and looked over the battlefield. Aelia was fighting the Titan now covered in patches of fire. I could tell its movement were getting slower, weakened by the pain. It finally made the mistake of reaching forward to grab her with both hands, leaving its face vulnerable. Aelia, who was visible as just a tiny figure next to the massive beast, blinded the monster with quick blast of flame, and flew over its head. Before it could turn, she moved her hand in an arc, leading a bright trail of fire. It curved through the air like a whip and wrapped around the Titan’s throat. Still stunned and blinded, the Demon could do nothing as Aelia made a fist and pulled back, causing the flames to completely burn through the throat and sever its head. Both parts fell with a crash. Aelia floated there for a moment before flying off to help the others.

Rachel was bombarding her Titan with anything heavy she could find. However, it clearly wouldn't be hurt so easily. Every time she flew around to try and flank it, the Titan would either cover its neck or turn with her and counterattack. I wanted so desperately to help, knowing how easy it would be. But I was so exhausted from my last jump, I wasn’t sure I’d even have the energy to go back if things went bad.

Rachel must’ve been quite irritated that two Titans were killed but she was still fighting. I wasn’t sure why, but all of a sudden she abandoned the Titan and disappeared into the streets below. The Demon pursued her for a only a moment before turning its attention back towards the Sanctuary. This was worrying, but I was slightly relieved to feel my strength returning.

With Aelia’s help, Lynn took down her Titan with relative ease. They collectively turned their attention to the last one, which Rachel had apparently given up on. As they approached, the telekinetic suddenly appeared out of the fog, flying straight at the last Titan. We thought she was suicidal. That is, until we saw the truck. It was massive, bigger than the Titan’s head. A large, gray cylinder was latched onto the tractor portion, swaying in the wind. The vehicle followed Rachel into the sky, accelerating incredibly fast. When she and the truck were level with the Titan’s head, she stopped and put her hands together, facing the vehicle as if she was pulling it with a rope. She then began to rotate, causing the truck to revolve around her. She spun it around several times, gaining speed with each circle. Finally, she released the invisible rope and the truck soared straight at the Titan’s head. That’s when I saw a thin streak of light jump from Aelia’s position towards the truck as it was in mid-flight. Upon collision, it released a blinding, earsplitting explosion.

I felt the wave of heat from here, and ducked to avoid any falling debris. Several Dragons were engulfed in the fireball, falling to the ground as their wings burned away. The blast expanded outward, surrounding the Titan upper body and sending a massive cloud of black smoke into the sky. The sounds of Demon forces were drowned out by the blast, and I struggled to regain my senses. When the flames finally cleared, I finally saw the Titan, or rather what was left of it. Its head, arms, and much of its torso were gone, nothing but bits of flesh scattered over the battlefield. The legs stood in place for a few moments before falling over with a loud thud, sending a large cloud of dust into the air.

With my strength finally back, I jumped back to the roof of the Sanctuary. To my surprise, it wasn’t nearly as draining as the first time.

“Whoa, where were you?” Isaac asked.

“You know, that building, this building,” I answered, trying to control my breathing.

The others came back as well.

“Did you see that?!” Rachel said excitedly.

“Yeah, ever heard of friendly fire?” Jared answered, out of breath. Luckily, those on the lower rooftop had escaped the fallout of the explosion.

Lynn roared as she flew in, shifting into a human upon landing.

“We did good, but what about the rest of the baddies?” Aelia said, referring to the thousands of Demons that were still charging towards us. If they reached the foundations of the this building, they had the potential to completely tear it apart.

Aaron jumped down from the turret, and Jared returned his airgun. “We need to get down there and hold them off!”

“But for how long?” Aeyla asked.

I just need a little more time
. Cora’s voice resounded in our heads.

“That’s ‘scientist’ for ‘I don’t know but probably a while,’” I said. “Let’s go.”

We made our way down to ground level. Jared carried Micah, Lynn carried Aaron and Isaac on her back in Dragon form, and Rachel offered Raphael a ride on her Orb. We all touched down on the street, near the banks of the lake in front of Sanctuary. Buildings towered behind us, and ahead was a huge, sandy expanse. Cars, rubble, and smaller structures were piled up before us. But the Demons were gradually breaking through these barriers, flooding into the city.

Their cries got louder as they approached. I felt anxious and no small degree of fear. But even more than that I was exhilarated. Maybe it was the fact that we’d just taken on four Titans without a casualty, but I was feeling rather confident. I found myself thinking that this really had to be the worst backup plan ever programmed by the simulation’s creators. The Demons would just attack indiscriminately. They were so uncontrollable that they would threaten other programs - namely, us - that we're trying to achieve the same essential goal as they were. Though I suppose what we were trying to achieve now was a bit beyond the protocol's initial expectations. After all, a computer can’t choose to save more humans when it’s been programmed to save just enough. We, on the other hand, wouldn’t leave our fellow Neogens and Parents trapped in this broken world.

After about a minute, the Demons were finally within range. And so, with our hearts racing and hands shaking, we began our assault.

“Round 2…start!” Rachel shouted.

Gunfire and roars filled the air. Mists of red began to erupt from the front lines of the army. Bullets mowed down the Swarm as it advanced with waves of monsters replacing each other one after another. Two Minotaurs crushed their way to the front and began their charge. One of them headed right for Aelia, who stepped forward to meet it. She extended her arm, and when the beast was just seconds away from trampling her, she snapped her fingers and it exploded into a cloud of ash, fire, and blood.

The other Minotaur was going for Rachel. She morphed her Orb into a long, sharp spear and ran at it head-first with her weapon levitating alongside her. After waiting patiently for the beast to get close enough, she quickly dashed aside while allowing the spear to ram straight into her adversary’s chest. She continued to run past the Demon, and upon reaching the other side she pulled the Orb along until it pierced clean through its body, helped along by the speed of the Minotaur itself. Not long after, it slowed to a halt and let out a final, defeated roar before falling with a hard thud on the concrete.

Within seconds of this small victory, a dozen more Minotaurs emerged from the horde, flinging smaller Demons aside as they did so. They were flanked by many more crazed Sirens, not nearly as interested in poisoning our minds as they were in simply ripping us apart. With this new wave, I felt the ground wobble slightly, and loose concrete fell off the nearby buildings, forcing us to take evasive action. Those of us with offensive powers advanced forward, while the others provided cover fire. I would run at a Demon, freeze time, slay it with my knife, then repeat. I didn’t want to overuse my power, not knowing how much strength I had in me.

I was lost in the fray for what seemed like hours, trapped in a storm of fire, quantum metal, cars, rubber, bullets, and of course, Demons. Every so often I’d risk a glance around, making sure the others were alright. Once or twice I lost sight of them, but I’d only let myself be afraid for a second before I returned to the battle. They always turned out fine the next time I looked.

Aaron was firing with two weapons, and both seemed to act independently of one another. The airgun on his right arm would be slaughtering the Swarm while his left was taking out Sirens one at a time in a completely different direction. He wore Cora’s shield on his wrist, activating only momentarily when his power told him he needed to. It seemed that he knew where every single living thing was standing, or going to be standing, relative to his position. He didn’t miss a single shot.

Aeyla was disintegrating Demons one after the other. She’d gotten so much stronger since I’d last seen her. Granted, at her original strength she single-handedly took on a Titan, so she always had the potential. Now, she could burn through waves of the Swarm with pillars of fire and blow up Minotaurs with a snap of her fingers. Catching a quick glance of her eyes, I saw that they were completely black.

On the other side of the street, Rachel was slicing down Demons with her Orb, manipulating the metal to rush around her and swiftly cut through anything it touched, akin to a blade dancing over the battlefield. At times, and I’d like to think it was on a whim, she’d take control of one Demon and use it as a projectile against others. In addition, when the fight was getting too hectic, she’d simply use the surrounding environment to her advantage, launching nearby cars a hundred feet into the air before smashing them back down over a cluster of Demons.

Jared was hovering over the battlefield, staying just past the reach of the larger Demons. He fired his gun from above, occasionally swooping lower for increased accuracy. At one point in the haze of battle, he flew down and picked up Micah just as she was surrounded by a circle of Sirens. And that wasn’t his only rescue of the day. The wind picked up and the ground seemed to shake every time he beat his wings. Seeing that image: a Neogen with a charmingly boyish face, held in the air by a pair of ghost white, feathered wings and raining death to his enemies from above while saving those in need. For some reason, the word “angel” came to mind.

Lynn’s fight took place further ahead since, as a Dragon, she needed more space to take on more targets. Her primary methods of attack were clawing and biting anything that got too close. She’d also project cones of fire, burning everything in an arc in front of her. The attacks of the Swarm and intermingled Sirens were futile against the Dragon’s scales. The occasional Minotaur’s charge would have some effect, but she seemed to have a special affinity for decapitating this breed of Demon. Some part of me wondered why the Demons would attack their own kind. But I soon realized that they weren’t actually living things, they were programs trying to delete another program, and computers don’t have the same instincts as animals. Another worry was this constant, subtle earthquake that’d been rumbling in the street since this fight started.