Created

Part 6: Assault, Chapter 26

Devin

CHESF base

Carter gasped, and as soon as he looked outside, Devin did too. His module took up the entirety of the right side of his HUD, so he was seeing half in the normal spectrum, half in UV. A blur of movement took up his UV light. Spectre was waiting outside! Devin thought with a huge amount of guilt and worry. The shadow appeared in the doorway, and Spectre stepped foot into the CHESF base.

"Finally. My fellow Created. It has taken me months to finally find you, and now that I have, we can now take this base together, and let the crimes against humanity come to an end. Join me, my friends, and you will no longer experience the unfairness of being burdened down by those unworthy of doing so."

"You know, for someone who used to speak like a shag in the dark ages, you do sure talk a lot." Leave it to Swipe to make a snarky comeback. Spectre's mask was a void black skull with white eyes and faint line for eyebrows. One of the eyebrows raised.

"Last time I met you, you stopped me. You were weak. You still are."

"If I beat you last time when I was sleeping, beating you when I'm awake should be no pro-" A ring of darkness appeared around Swipe's throat. He choked. He tried to grab at it, but to no avail. The ring lifted him up to the ceiling 15 feet above, and slammed him down onto the floor at top speed. The ring disappeared and Swipe was left rolling on the floor in pain.

"As I was saying, I have gotten stronger. It would not be wise to fight me, as you can see." He gestured to the prone Swipe. Carter's legs imperceptibly shifted, widening into a fighting stance. Spectre looked at them, and his eyebrow cocked again. "Even against the warnings I have given you, you still make plans to battle. So be it." Spectre spread his arms, and Devin and Carter both got flung backwards by a pulse of darkness. Devin quickly got up. He focused on a chunk of rock that made up a wall. The boulder ripped free from the wall and flew into Spectre's back, only Spectre ducked at the last second, leaving it to soar over his head. Devin looked at Carter, and Carter nodded. The boulder kept coming under Devin's power, and Carter hopped on top of it. The boulder swapped directions and hurled back towards Spectre. Specter shot out a black bolt of energy and vaporized the rock. Carter flew at him, shield raised and ready to punch, but Spectre simply stuck out his leg, and Carter flew right into it. The leg hit Carter's gut with a sickening crunch. Spectre was about to curbstomp Carter in the face when his leg was lifted into the air. Devin was focusing on him, and his energy swathed around the being's body. Devin started mentally pulling. Spectre was being torn apart, but then, all of the scarlet energy encircling him started darkening until it was all black. The darkness started spreading down the mental line towards Devin, who was unable to drop the link. It was about to reach him when the air fizzled with ozone, and there was a sharp ZAP. A brilliant flash of energy exploded from Spectres left shoulder blade, and the neural link dropped. Spectre turned around, now focused on his new enemy. Swipe sent another bolt of blue lightning hurtling towards Spectre, but this time, he was ready. Spectre's arm raised and the bolt fizzled out of existence. Swipe gasped shortly, just in time for a dark flame to hit him in the chest and send him sprawling backwards...again. It was just Devin against Spectre.

Devin shot a red bolt, and Spectre countered it with a bolt of his own. They were circling each other. Then, chaos erupted. They both started launching bolt after bolt at each other. It was all of Devin's tactical training that kept him alive. He survived onslaught after onslaught, occasionally sending a bolt of his own. Finally, after Devin's muscles were tired and fatigued, he mentally gave up. The fight lasted only five minutes, but it seemed like an eternity. Devin slowed unconsciously, and a piece of black oblivion hit him square in the chest. Devin's life flashed before his eyes. His childhood in Mexico, the cartel burning down his building, moving to America. He thought wistfully during his time at Aquamaroon, his rising through the ranks. All of his friends that he left behind, and the new ones that he gained. He thought of Carter, Lizzie, June, Swipe, and Skyler. Oh, Skyler. He never did get to tell her how he felt. All of these thoughts came rushing through his head in a millisecond. As the inky blackness rolled over his eyes, Devin's thoughts became slurred. He was out by the time he hit the floor.