The Soul Conflict

Chapter 23: Confrontation

We walked into the next room cautiously, all of us wary to some degree of what we might see on the other side. I can feel my heartbeat rise to the occasion, the image of Senar still fresh in my mind. A part of me dreads seeing him again. Another part welcomes it. I turned the corner, and laid eyes upon the scene of a battle.

There he was, the metal cyclops himself standing over Peter as he lay on the ground pointing a pistol at him. Those metallic plates glistened from the sunlight leeching in from the windows, and his large horns added to his already intimidating height. His armor even seems to be a bit darker than before. Peter's helmet was missing, as was a large portion of the armor on his left arm.
Torren had a submachine gun pointed at Senar's back, and fired at him as soon as we entered. Torren too looked injured, as far as I can tell given that his biology seems to be quite different from mine. The horns on his helmet were cracked and several scratches were present on his own armor.

The bullet's from Torren's submachine gun flew through the air but ended up catching nothing as Senar disappeared within the blink of an eye. He reappeared behind Torren, and threw the poor man into a nearby wall so hard that it cracked.

A burning rage is welling up inside me. Here is this metallic freak again tormenting my friends and Torren...and winning yet again. I'm not going to let him get away with this this time. It's time to bring him to justice, whether he is part of the Unity Lance or not.

"Senar!" I yelled to challenge him. Senar turned to us, and that glowing blue slit in his visor seemed to shine a tiny bit brighter than before. He recognized us, that's for sure. He seems to be looking at Ibis rather than any of the rest of us.
"I see that the cavalry has arrived. Unfortunately, they too appear to be ineffectual." Senar said in that hissing, whispering voice.

"Enough chatter. Blow his brains or circuits out!" Nigel said, and he fired his shotgun at Senar. Marshall added to the attack by firing his rifle at Senar, substantially increasing the lead content of the room's air supply. Once again, Senar disappeared from view so fast it seemed like a bad effect out of an old movie. He popped up right behind Nigel, kicking him down onto the ground with a swift motion.

"I have neither, but the sentiment is noted." Senar said. Angela quickly and angrily hurled what looked like a giant ball of hail at Senar's feet. A cloud of ice and water vapor exploded on the ground, coating Senar's legs in a foot-thick sheet of ice. Hey, we hit him this time!

"If he's like Raza, He can't teleport through solid objects. He's vulnerable!" Angela said.

That tingling sensation is already boiling up inside of my arms. I didn't even have to think about my actions, it seems that just seeing Senar again is activating that part of me that has the power to destroy. The powerful river of adrenaline mixed with daya spread through my veins, begging me to start my fight. It's time to bring this asshole down.

I let go of my sense of control and let the daya carry me over to Senar as he struggled to get out of the ice. I raised the sword and lunged at the metal being; he won't be escaping me this time. I swung the sword diagonally across Senar's shoulder, and for the first time I actually felt my blade make contact with what I was trying to hit! It feels really good. The blade made a metallic grinding sound as it dug into Senar's metal exterior, though the sword did not go as nearly as deep as I would have liked it to.

"I see it now...that Jiwa is within you." Senar said as he looked at me with what I interpret as interest. He grabbed the hilt of my sword with his arm and tugged on it with superhuman strength. A massive rush of daya flowed into my arms to counteract the sudden force on instinct, and soon I was playing tug of war with a megalomaniac. "You were weak and without will before...but now you increasingly borrow the strength of a past champion. It would seem that many cannot create their own strength...but must transfer it." Senar rambled. What the hell is he talking about?