The Fall of the Society

Chapter 71: Beyond Expectation

     "What the hell was that?" Scion said, trepidation in his voice. He was glancing around the chamber as huge chunks of cements crashed to the floor, showering them in debris. The ground trembled even more fiercely as new pulses of electricity charged the air around them. Scion placed his hands in front of him and a translucent barrier burst into being around him. Thinking this a good idea, the golden glow around Rose became more apparent as chunks of falling cement deflected off her aura.

     Rose's concern that the roof caving in was growing increased as the structure lurched violently under the rumbling of what she now knew to be whatever had come out of the incubation chamber. Anxiety swept over her, fear that an uncontrollable monster was now heading toward them. She was not afraid of it, but afraid of what she might have to do. The amount of death she had seen since beginning this journey was enough to make her sick, and her desire to inflict more death was nonexistent, which was exactly why she had not killed Scion.

      A surge of electricity burst from the corridor her and Sid had entered from, ripping the doors from the hinges as it was ripped to pieces. Debris from the blast rained down all around the room, the shards nearest Rose bursting into flame before turning to dust. Her golden aura obliterated anything that came to close to her, ripping chunks of cement to nothingness in the blink of an eye. Scion looked terrified as everything around them shook and showered them in a constant barrage of debris. An ear shattering rumble echoed from above, indicating the roof was about to fail, dropping untold amounts of dirt and rock on top of them.

      Just as the roof failed, something emerged from the corridor beyond the room. A bright yellow figure, encased in electricity, ripping the building apart as it moved through, debris getting caught in a static field around the person. Lightning arced across the room, creating a charged atmosphere, stopping the roof from falling on top of them. There was so much power emanating from the figure that it drove Rose backward as she leaned forward, her feet leaving black chard marks where they slid. She could hear Scion grunting as he pushed more power into his own barrier as he too was driven backward.

       A howl of fury rose over the sound of the crackling electricity. It was full of pain and anger, a voice completely consumed with rage. Rose could barely make out what appeared to be a face, but the details were horribly distorted due to the electrical field and heat around the figure, who was floating at least five feet off the ground as he moved further into the chamber. A yellow blaze was issuing from their eyes, giving the figure a very eerie look as they surveyed the room they had moved into. Power surged all around her, forcing her against the crumbling wall, causing her to focus more power into her aura to protect herself, but she never took her eyes off the figure.

       Ice began forming everywhere the lightning struck, sending a jolt through Rose's stomach. The figure in the midst of them was whatever came out of the incubation chamber. This was what Sid and she had created, and it appeared to be some sort of monster. It was completely out of control, and she could not currently see an opening in which to attack.

     A massive explosion shook the structure as an incredibly bright light flashed to her right, from the area Scion had been standing. She looked over and realized what had happened at once. Scion had attempted to shoot a blast of power at the center of the mass of electricity and it had detonated just clear of his freshly regrown hand. Scion had been blasted backward into the crumbling wall behind him, instantly being swallowed beneath the debris falling there.

     Her eyes darted back to the yellow figure in the center of the chamber, whose eyes just lock on the place Scion had been buried. Another roar filled the chamber, followed by a bright flash of lightning and then an invisible force slamming her against the wall, before moving through her and pressing against the wall. She had been forced to close her eyes from the brightness. As she opened them, she noticed the lightning had vanished, but the air remained charged, debris was being held static in the air. Rose attempted to move forward, but the invisible force she had felt seemed to still be holding her, resisting her motion. The figure that had come out of the machine had withdrawn the power into himself and was now stationary, suspended in the air, glowing yellowish orange in color.

     Scion reappeared from the rubble he was buried in and looked harassed and infuriated. He was glaring at the figure that he had attempted to attack. Holding up his hands, Scion roared his frustrations and shot a mixture of ice and lightning toward the figure, which stopped in midair, halfway between them, being forced inward into a swirling orb. The figure moved toward it and seemed to be fascinated by what he had just done. It reached out its hand and grasped the orb, holding it tightly in its clenched fist. Turning its head, it looked directly at Scion before opening its hand. The orb shot in a flash toward Scion and punched a hole in his chest, before detonating behind him. Scion was sent flying forward, landing roughly on the debris strewn across the floor. He glared up at the figure before him, lightning beginning to arc from his body as well. Small explosion kept detonating everywhere their arcs met, causing the structure to shake violently, but the invisible force was keeping everything in place. An eerie creaking and rumbling sound echoed through the noise of the two titans that were now clashing in the center of the chamber as the rubble all around them settled into place.

    Arcs of lightning mixed with ice shot across the chamber as Scion attempted to force a cyclone to form in between the two of them but was failing as the electricity coming off the figure was ripping the air in so many different directions.

    A sudden thought came to Rose, she had to try and reach Tripp. If he was in there, she would be able to break through to him, hopefully stop him from destroying everything in the area. She forced herself forward, lightning washing across her, causing the gold of her protective armor to spark and shimmer. It was all she could do to push herself off the wall and move herself across the room, the charge making the air feel as thick as water. If she was to call out from her current distance, he would never hear her over the chaos that was raging all around them.

     "Tripp! You must stop!" she yelled as she got closer. "Come back to me!"

     If he heard her, he did not react, his eyes still fixed on Scion as he continued to fruitlessly send attack after attack toward his opponent. Scion's eyes were wide with terror as every attack he attempted did nothing to phase the figure as he kept his gaze focused and his movement slowly edging forward. Time seemed to nearly freeze once more as a massive push of invisible force drove Rose back several feet but had a much more dramatic impact on Scion. His arms and legs were thrust outward as if someone had tied a rope to each appendage and pulled outward. If he had looked scared previously, he was beside himself with anxiety and fear now. Rose could see his lips moving as he pleaded with Tripp, but he once again did not react to the words if he heard them as he pulled continually closer to his target.

     "Stop!" Rose shouted again, hoping to finally get through. Her voice did not carry enough to be heard over the din of the roaring power that was coming from Tripp. She could barely hear herself yelling, so she knew he had not. Throwing caution to the wind, she summoned as much power as she could and floated upward into the air, buffeted violently as she climbed. Now on an even level with Tripp, she inched in toward him, fighting with everything she had to remain airborne. "Stop!" she screamed again. "Come back to me Tripp!"

     Blood spurted from Scion's joints as they were slowly pulled forcefully outward. Trying everything he could think of power shot from Scion in every direction, but it merely disappeared into the power of the figure in front of him or deflected harmlessly off the invisible barrier holding the roof in place. A high pitch shriek split the air as even more blood sprayed from his joints as the skin tore, exposing the joints, before they too separated. Shock burst into Scion's eyes, clearly unable to process what had just happened to him. A force she could not see began pressing in on what remained of Scion until there was nothing left of him except a small ball of viscera. Lightning surrounded the orb as it was burned from existence.

     "Tripp, you need to stop!" Rose yelled again.

     This time her voice made it through, and his head snapped to look at her. His eyes appeared blank yet menacing. He rounded on her and she froze. As she watched his aura began to increase in power and an invisible force closed around her, squeezing her tight. She was unable to breath and feared she would soon pass out.