Endgame (Book 3)

Chapter 44

What surprised me the most was that I didn't even feel it.

There was a bright flash of light, and I closed my eyes. I felt dirt and grass spray up around me. Zero was obscured from my vision.

I did what I could to redirect the energy and act as a conduit for it to be released into the atmosphere, but I didn't stand a chance of absorbing it all. I knew burns were forming all over my body.

As bad as it was, it had to have only lasted a literal second. Numbness creeped into my limbs and I fell face first on the ground.

I was frozen. My eyelids wouldn't even open.

I was vulnerable. How was I supposed to know that lightning could hurt me? Or that Zero could summon the real thing?

Luckily, I could pull in the heat and light my clothes were giving off- I was on fire- but not much else worked. My entire system was fried, powers included.

It would take a little time for everything to start working again and for the feeling to return to my skin. I could only hope Zero wouldn't rush to finish what he started, because as of right now, I had lost.

It was the strangest sensation. I felt unconscious, but could still hear. Presently, I could only make out a loud ringing in my ears, so that didn't help much, either.

I guess all there was to do was wait.

****

There was no way to tell how much time had passed, though it seemed like an eternity. It was enough for me to regain the feeling in my legs and arms. I just had to hold on a little longer for my eyes.

First, I wiggled the ends of my fingers. Convinced they worked correctly, I then tried to shift my arms a little.

They couldn't move. Either I was wrong about the receding numbness, or something was holding them in place. My legs felt the same.

The ringing in my ears had dulled considerably, so I tried to listen for anything that would clue me in to where I was.

This time, I heard nothing. Exactly nothing.

That didn't make sense. I couldn't even hear ambient noise. There was just cold silence.

Any day now, eyes, I thought. I had to see what was going on.

I sat- or stood, whatever position I held- in silence, anxiously attempting to open my eyes.

This wasn't what I had expected the biggest fight of my life to come down to: a battle between my will and my eyelids.

At least I won this one.

Feeling like I had just lifted a brick using my lashes, my eyes slowly opened enough for me to make out what what in front of me.

Why did the first thing I saw have to be Zero?

He was way too close for comfort, only a few inches away from my face. The last time I woke up like this, he had a sharp appendage poking into my chest. He didn't have any weapons leveled at me now.

"Glad you're finally with me," he said calmly. I was surprised his breath didn't reek. Bad guys usually had rancid breath, but his was actually decent. It almost smelled minty.

"I did give you until tomorrow to challenge me, so you could still bank on that if you want to try again..." He trailed off, looking for my answer.

What was I supposed to say? 'Yeah, even though I just had my ass handed to me, I'm going to try again tomorrow. Maybe I'll be ready then!' Fuck no.