NOVEL NEXT 128. The Black Strand
Morning arrived not with sunlight, but with a relentless drumming of rain against the hull of the CampShip. Inside, the air was heavy with the smell of rain and exhaustion. Angelo had spent the night wrestling with his sheets, but just as he finally drifted toward unconsciousness, a rhythmic groaning pulled him back.
"Ow... ah... mother of..."
Angelo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will the noise away, but it persisted.
"Ouch... stings... son of a..."
His left eye twitched violently. Giving up on peace, Angelo rolled out of his bunk, looking like he'd gone ten rounds with a caffeine withdrawal headache. He stepped into the main cabin, running a hand through his messy hair.
Sol sat at the central table, shirt off, dabbling Regenwater onto a patchwork of fresh bruises and burns.
"Was that you making dying whale noises?" Angelo asked, his voice rough with sleep.
"Ow, ow, shit!"
The cry came muffled from behind Neiva's closed door.
"Guess that answers that," Red chirped. He was perched on top of the table, swinging his legs like a toddler on a park bench.
Sol offered the bottle to Angelo. "Morning, sunshine. Help yourself."
"Thanks." Angelo took the bottle, eyeing the blue liquid. "Wait, shouldn't we save some for—"
The door to Neiva's cabin hissed open. Neiva stumbled out, looking like she'd been used as a punching bag for a heavyweight champion. Her skin was pale, and she held her arm stiffly against her side.
"Say..." She squinted at them, her voice raspy. "Does this magic juice work on third-degree plasma burns?"
Sol winced in sympathy. "Uh... I think so. Here, catch." He tossed the bottle to her gently. "Ashley really did a number on you, huh?"
"You can say that again," Neiva muttered, uncorking the bottle and taking a long swig. "A few more seconds in that beam and Red would have needed a new nickname for me."
Red's grin widened, showcasing too many teeth. "Way ahead of you, sweetheart. I was thinking 'Caramelized-Tits.' Has a nice ring to it too, don't you think?"
Angelo groaned, rubbing his temples. Sol just shook his head with a weary smile.
Neiva, however, just sighed. "It's so accurate I can't even be mad." She took another drink, the color slowly returning to her cheeks. "Oh, crap. Angelo, your jacket."
She reached behind the doorframe and pulled out the Trinergy jacket. It looked like it had been chewed on by a dragon. The black coating was seared away in large patches, revealing the silver underneath.
"And the Auranium under-armor is toast, too," she added miserably.
"You too?" Sol sighed, looking down at his own ruined shirt. "I thought the sales pitch said 'strongest metal in existence.'"
"By Auron standards, 'strongest' is a relative term," Angelo said, taking the jacket. He fingered a scorched edge. "This is going to be a nightmare to fix. Good thing Albert insisted we take the extra paint."
Red cackled, leaning back on his hands. "That's right, sugar-tits! You thought you were covered up, but that jacket is basically a network of cameras. We saw everything! Mwahahaha!"
Blue materialized instantly, his scholarly face pinched with disapproval. "Please disregard him, Neiva. While the sensory input is theoretically possible, we were entirely too preoccupied with maintaining the energy flow. We didn't—"
"I don't care," Neiva deadpanned.
Blue blinked. Red raised an eyebrow. Even Sol looked up from his bandages.
"I beg your pardon?" Blue asked.
"I don't care," she repeated, screwing the cap back onto the Regenwater. "Red said it himself—he doesn't feel attraction. Seeing me naked does about as much for him as staring at a wall."
Red's mouth hung open. For the first time in recorded history, he was speechless. He sputtered, trying to reclaim his ground. "T-then... then Angie-boy saw it! Yeah! He saw every curve, every—"
"I don't care," she said again, flatly.
"Oh come on!" Red threw his hands up. "What kind of reaction is that?!"
Neiva looked him dead in the eye. "He is my reason for living. You think I care how he sees me?"
The silence in the cabin was heavy enough to crush a tank. Angelo scratched the back of his neck, looking everywhere but at her. "This again...?"
"So!" Sol clapped his hands together loudly, desperate to change the subject. "I feel like you guys owe us some answers."
Angelo smirked, grateful for the lifeline. "About what?"
"Oh, I don't know." Sol leaned back, flashing a charming, pain-killer-induced smile. "Maybe we can start with the elephant in the room. How exactly did you bend reality back there?"
The three duplicates exchanged puzzled glances. "I am unsure to what you refer, Solomon," Blue said.
Stolen novel; please report.
"You're kidding, right?" Sol laughed in disbelief. "The giant frozen lightning bolt in the sky? The thing that looked like you tore space a new one?"
"Giant... frozen lightning?" Angelo echoed.
"You didn't see it?" Neiva asked, wincing as she sat down.
"We were too preoccupied theory crafting and testing," Blue explained. "You claim we summoned a phenomenon?"
"Phenomenon?" Sol snorted. "Try cosmic event. It looked like a giant glowing vein connecting the sky to the ground."
"Wait!" Red jumped up, energy crackling. "A vein? You said a vein?"
"Yeah, like frozen lightning," Neiva confirmed.
Angelo and Blue stiffened. The realization hit them simultaneously.
"Holy..." Angelo started.
"Shit," Red finished.
"Okay, spill it," Sol demanded. "What did you do?"
Blue stepped forward, clearing his throat. "The theory was... unconventional. Angelo manipulated his own energy connection to the cosmos to allow Red and myself to draw power simultaneously through his link. Essentially, we used Remote Energy Manipulation to draw Trinergy directly into Angelo."
Neiva blinked. "English, please?"
Sol, however, was nodding. "But wait... wouldn't that just mean he's operating at thirty-three percent efficiency?"
Blue adjusted his imaginary glasses. "That was my concern. However, if you witnessed the connection externally... it implies Angelo altered the nature of the connection itself. He didn't split the flow; he expanded it."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning," Blue said, his voice dropping with awe, "during that fight, Angelo wasn't operating at a fraction. He was operating at full Trinergy capacity. Five hundred percent."
"And that's why we could see the connection," Sol breathed. "Brilliant!"
"So that silver aura..." Neiva murmured.
"Trinergy Mode," Angelo corrected, a hint of pride coloring his tone.
"Very original," Sol chuckled.
"Hey!" Red snapped. "Yours is just boring silver! Ours has cool colored veins popping out! Ours is way cooler, pretty boy."
"So Angelo is five times stronger than normal?" Neiva asked.
"No," Blue corrected. "Five hundred percent relative to the original Angelo. Since our current Angelo operates at fifty percent efficiency, Trinergy Mode makes him ten times stronger than his current base state."
"Ten times?! Holy crap..." Sol leaned back, looking at his own hands. "Starting to feel a little jealous, not gonna lie."
Red wiggled his eyebrows at Angelo. "Suddenly having us around isn't so bad, eh, Angie?"
Angelo met his gaze. "No. It's still terrible."
Sol laughed, but as the laughter faded, his expression hardened. "Alright. Fun's over. We need to talk about the other elephant in the room."
"There's another one? What is it?" Neiva asked.
"The tracking," Sol said grimly. "First, the twins ambush us on the road. Then they find us in Thunderclap. And now? They intercept us in the middle of nowhere on the way to SolThanor."
"A pattern," Blue agreed.
"Exactly," Sol nodded. "They have a tracker on us. It's the only explanation."
"Those bitches!" Red growled, crimson aura flaring. "No one spies on me! I'm the spy! That's my thing!"
Sol held up a hand. "Think about it. It couldn't be from the first ambush—they found us before they could have planted anything."
"Oh. Right." Red deflated, looking sheepish. Neiva stifled a giggle.
"Then it must have been the first encounter with Dray," Blue deduced. "He's the only common denominator."
Sol stood up and walked over to Angelo. "And since he can't track Red or Blue when you dematerialize... he must have marked you."
"Me?!" Angelo bristled. "I think I would have noticed a tracking device."
Sol rubbed his chin, studying Angelo like a crime scene. "Are you wearing anything you wore during that first fight?"
"What? No, of course not," Angelo dismissed.
"We should strip him naked right here to be sure!" Red cackled. "Cover your eyes, sugar-tits!"
"Shut your trap, you idiot!" Angelo snapped. Neiva turned bright red.
Blue stepped closer, his eyes suddenly flashing ice-blue as he scanned his original. Angelo shifted uncomfortably. "Can you quit it? Seriously."
"Well, I'll be," Blue murmured. He reached out and plucked a single hair from Angelo's head.
"HEY!" Angelo swatted at him, but felt no pain. "What the...?"
Blue held up the strand. It wasn't hair. It was a thin, black filament that glowed faintly blue in his vision.
"Is that what I think it is?" Neiva asked.
"Another mystery solved," Sol said, hands in pockets.
Blue held the strand of sticky black fire up to the light. "Dray's hellfire."
"THAT BASTARD!" Red shouted. "I want to go to hell just to punch him again!"
"But wait," Neiva asked, her voice trembling. "If that stuff still exists... doesn't that mean he's still alive?"
Blue shook his head. "Negative. This is permanent matter. It persists regardless of the creator's status."
"But if he found you with that," Neiva pressed, "does that mean he can use Remote Energy Manipulation too?"
"No," Angelo said, finally getting a grip on the situation. "Sensing your own element is a basic technique. I did it back near Ashford, remember?"
"Vaguely..." Neiva frowned. "So I could do it? Create metal and just... know where it is?"
"Correct," Blue said, eyes reverting to normal. "It is not an advanced technique."
"So what do we do with it?" Neiva asked the uncomfortable question.
Blue examined the black strand. "It seems Dray had control over its properties. That explains the cape he wore even with his aura off."
Angelo snatched the strand from Blue and flung it out the open door into the rain. "Just looking at it makes me sick."
Blue stared at him with silent disapproval.
"Guess that's the last we've seen of them," Sol said with careful optimism. He clapped his hands once. "So? Do we hit the road, or do you guys need a spa day?"
Angelo looked down at his own injuries, wincing as he rolled his shoulder. "A bit of rest wouldn't hurt."
"Haha, alright then."
They spent most of the day licking their wounds and watching the rain, blissfully unaware that their downtime was already running out.
Leilani Lake
Milo gazed out over the water, her expression softer than anyone had ever seen it.
"Something on your mind, Ms. Marinez?" Clay asked from beneath his hood.
Ritto turned his mechanical head, his single human eye fixed on her with interest.
She shook her head, a sad smile playing on her lips. "It's... nothing. Just silly."
"What is it?"
She sighed, pointing toward the shoreline. "This place... it reminds me of home. Look at the sand, the rock formations... even those trees are native to Maridian. Everything about this place..."
Clay nodded, a knowing smile hidden in the shadows of his cowl. "Ah, yes. Human resilience is quite innovative."
Ritto made a grinding noise in his throat. "Looks like... the ex-Inferni... brought... their home..." He coughed, a thick, wet sound, and blood oozed through his metal teeth.
Clay was at his side in an instant. "Easy, brother. Don't overdo it."
"Mm," Ritto grunted.
"Is he... alright?" Milo asked, genuine concern breaking through her tough exterior.
Ritto looked at her. His human eye, surrounded by nightmare metal, looked incredibly vulnerable.
Clay stood up, placing a hand on Ritto's shoulder. "Do not fret. Ritto simply has gears in place of a larynx... It was the best the good doctor could do." His eyes burned with a mix of appreciation and pain. "We were both born defective. But Dr. T showed us that even defects can live with purpose."
Clay turned to Ivan, who was scribbling furiously in a notebook. "Which is why we will hunt our target at night. My skin is... particularly sensitive to UV radiation."
Ivan's mouth hung open. "I was just about to ask—"
"I gathered," Clay said solemnly. "We will intercept the target tonight. I can feel it." He addressed the group. "We need a strategy."
Milo pulled a cigarette from her pack, lighting it against the wind. "Hope that eye of yours works in the dark, Ritto."
Ritto nodded once. "Mm."
They prepared to move out, their goal clear. They were on a collision course with Angelo, and this time, there would be no wall to save him.