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Author's Note: Once again sorry for the delay-but many unforeseen things have delayed me. My goal is to get Volume 3 started by at most then end of March. Anyway thank you again for all who continue to read (or those of you reading for the first time). Please, please comment especially this chapter to let me know your thoughts on the conclusionof the fight. Now, finally, I bring you the newest chapter of GRIM!
GRIM Archives #5: Ambrose. A special kind of Reaper that is born maybe once in an age. Just like there are human prodigies with special talents, an Ambrose is a prodigy among Reapers. In addition to the normal powers of a Reaper they have also been granted the powers of super agility, lightning reflexes, and an increased resistance to pain. The main power that sets the Ambrose apart from normal Reapers, however, is the Touch of Death…
Chapter 7-Trust and Betrayal Part 2
Oma barely felt the shock of the punch due to the already numbing pain in his body, but the torrent of blood that erupted from his throat told him it was serious. The edges of the room became a red blur as he felt the short sensation of flying before colliding with the factory wall which splintered as if his body was a bomb. Sliding across the mud, Oma could feel the drowsiness of sleep starting to creep up on him, but he knew that if he gave into the temptation he would never wake up. At long last the noise came to a rest except for the soft plops of the rainfall which caressed his aching body with cool water. With the energy he could muster, Oma turned his head towards the hole in the wall to witness Topaz limping out after him, still in pain from the damage to his legs.
“Thought you would have me beat didn’t you?” Topaz mocked as he washed the blood of the victim from his hands in the rain, “I warned you my toy was better and I wouldn’t share; but you didn’t listen. None of you ever do.”
“You still think this is a game!” Oma shouted in response, “taking the lives of others and hearing their suffering as you torture them?”
“Kid,” Topaz stated as he fingered the little box on his belt again, “it’s the best game there is. Besides, what is the difference between what I do to you Reapers and what you do to humans?”
“You may not realize it, but humans and Reapers aren’t so different,” Oma gurgled through the puddle of blood and rain collecting in his throat, “when they are born, they always assume that they’re invincible. That, even though they see death in the world everyday, they never think anything bad can happen to them until it does. Death is inevitable which technically makes what you and other Reaper’s do the same, but when you torture them they lose the innocent feeling of invincibility. The idiotic notion that they can live forever, and for that I will not forgive you. For that I will crush your heart with my own hands!”
“Nice little speech,” Topaz stated as he hovered over Oma’s body with the wires sparking in the rain, “too bad words can’t save you now. You can’t hope to save yourself if you can’t even-“
Oma’s felt his body protest in rage as he flipped once again to a handstand and the combination of his bloody hands with the running earth sent a numbing fire to his arms. The look of surprise on Topaz’s face forced a smile from Oma, despite the situation, while he aimed the toe of his shoe into the crook of his enemy’s neck. Topaz only released a small squawk, like that of a hen, before flying back in a fit of coughing while Oma collapsed back to the ground, unable to support a handstand with his weak body. With a grunt he pushed himself to a sit as he silently rejoiced the victory.
He had finally figured out the trick to the man’s weapon by slowly gaining evidence through the fighting. When cut earlier, Topaz had not been electrocuted through the blood. Even though the wires surrounded the body they all led to a central point. The electrical wires sprouted from a small lump on his back, which he had observed when kicking Topaz into the air earlier. The evidence pointed to one thing, the cause of the electricity was a small generator on his back. The box he continued to flick on his belt was a switch that turned the power on and off, which was why he wasn’t electrocuted through the blood the first time he had cut Topaz. He had simply turned the power off. The one thing he was still unable to determine was why he wasn’t shocked by his own weapon when the power was on?
Instantly, Oma was ripped from his thoughts as Topaz emerged from a pile of broken equipment, his face streaked with dirt and tensed in rage. Oma watched Topaz as he moved his hand to the box on his belt and turned a tiny dial, “I don’t know how the hell you’ve managed to survive my attacks, but this will be the final round! One more hit and you’re dead-200 Volts!”
“So, that thing controls the Voltage of the generator on your back also,” Oma declared as he stood, using a pile of junk to support himself on his shaking legs.
“You’re smarter than I thought,” Topaz laughed, clapping his hands to send up a shower of sparks and creating a small cloud of steam, “you’re the only one to have figured that much out. I haven’t had this much fun in years.”
Without warning, Topaz charged with crossed his arms, the palms facing out like a cat ready to pounce on its powerless prey. For the first time in his life Oma had no plan, no idea of what to do, but his instincts told him one thing:
Destroy the power switch
Oma ripped a metal pipe from the pile of junk beside him, blood leaking through his clenched teeth. With the last bit of energy he had left, Oma ducked from Topaz's attack. He heard the pile of junk literally shoot away like a cannon with the prickle of electricity from the strength of the clawing attack. Not to be out skilled, Topaz twisted his body to a kick which Oma blocked, dropping to the ground on his back and stopping the attack with his feet-leaving the switch wide open. Being careful not to touch any of the electrical wires on the body, Oma jabbed the pipe into switch, crushing it with a small buzz.
“You idiot!” Topaz chortled as he realized what Oma had done, “you finally figure out how my toy works and this is all you do? Now there is no chance for you to win! All you did was made it so that I can’t turn the power off!”
“I know,” Oma stated as he rolled to the side and jumped up with the pipe still clutched in his hands dripping with his blood. Another streak of lightning purified the night, illuminating his tense muscular frame as he prepared for the final strike. In response, Topaz cracked his knuckles, still steaming from the previous attacks, and licked the bloody rain from his lips. With a slap of mud, Oma charged with the pipe raised in his hands.
“Did you really expect to win with a stupid charge like that?”
The voice of Topaz filled Oma’s heart with despair while the rusty pipe struck nothing but air. Topaz had phased through the attack and quickly twisted to deliver a karate chop to Oma’s neck. Instantly, Oma felt his muscles paralyze, causing him to fall face first in the mud and roll to a stop on his back. He tried to move his body, but the only reaction was the red vision in his eyes becoming darker. He felt the rain drops on his head stop, and heard the heavy breathing of Topaz as the man straddled his body.
“You’ve made it farther than any other who has fought against me-I’m impressed; but enough talking. This ends now,” Topaz shouted as he reared back for the final blow.
This can’t be how it ends, Oma thought, I still have things I need to do in this life! It was then that the answer came with a small twinge of pain from his hand.
He still clutched the metal pipe.
Instantly, the barrier of pain surrounding his body cracked with a bloody roar. Oma shot the small pipe in the air as he gripped a rock imprisoned in the mud with the other hand. Ripping it from the muddy cage, Oma struck the pipe, the rock absorbing the electric shock, and forced it into Topaz’s body.
The pipe glowed a bright cherry red while Topaz shrieked in pain, blocking out even the rumble of the thunder. Slowly he backed away, gripping the metal rod in his chest which caused a violent tremor throughout his body. Without wasting the opportunity, Oma crawled away as Topaz fell to his knees.
“Still think this is a game?” Oma questioned as he saw Topaz plead with his eyes, “now you know what it was like for your victim’s-bastard!”
With that, Oma kicked behind him, connecting with the pipe again and impaling Topaz through the chest with a gruesome crack of ribs. Oma watched the blood vessels in Topaz’s arm pop as he struggled to rip out the metal awkwardly trapped in his shattered ribcage. With one last cry, Topaz collapsed to the mud as the black, charred skin around the wound spouted dark blood and pus from the blisters and the rising of the chest finally came to a stop.
The struggle was over, and he had won. Finally, Oma succumbed to the weariness of his body and the bloodstained mud enveloped his world in darkness.
“Warden-sama! A survivor from Section B has been found!”
The sudden outburst caught Keiji by surprise, the cup slipping from his grip. Keiji squealed like a little girl as the steaming liquid fell to his lap and burned his genitals, turning the focus in the room on him. Awkwardly rubbing away the moisture on his crotch with a handkerchief, Keiji turned to the man, his ears burning red with fury.
“Officer! How dare you make such a loud entrance-especially at a crucial moment such as this. And have the courtesy to knock before bursting into the room like some uncivilized beast!”
Retreating in fear, the lanky officer bowed his head, “I’m sorry Warden-sama.”
One perk of the job that Keiji despised was his control over the officers. His word was law and their submission gave him power. One desire of almost every Reaper was power, and he had achieved it. Keiji’s anger dwindled as he tossed the stained handkerchief into the trash and stepped forward with his shoulders stretched, chest puffed out, and jaw tensed-what he liked to call his “authority” stance.
“Bring him to me,” Keiji’s voice boomed, cutting through the static of the screens.
Immediately, the man dashed out of the room and returned a few seconds later with another young officer trembling from head to toe and covered in blood. Keiji felt his chest deflate at the sorry site, and moved a loving hand towards the officer’s shoulder to which the man recoiled as if it was a venomous snake. With a nod, Keiji sent the other officer out of the room, leaving him and the victim swimming in the light of the vigilant monitors.
“Now, officer,” Keiji pacified, “you must not be afraid to tell me exactly what happened. Any information that you have is vital to-“
“It was horrible!” the man cried out suddenly, “all of the guards and officers...down in a matter of minutes. Each red flash of the alarm showed another scene of carnage. The prisoner-the Ambrose-he’s a demon!”
It was then that Keiji noticed that the man had sustained no wounds, yet the blood clearly stained his clothes, “Then how did you escape, officer?”
“The Ambrose…he let me escape. He said to come here and tell you everything that happened. He told me to tell you that this was a duel, and if you were up to the challenge-come and get him.”
Keiji let out a long sigh and laced his fingers around his neck. He remembered the Ambrose from several years ago, trying to plead his innocence with some measly scrap of paper apparently signed by the older warden. Keiji recalled little of the old warden, but knew he was too soft with the criminals. He let his relationships with them become personal and affect his judgment. The criminals got what they deserved, and for that reason Keiji had taken the role of warden, whether the old man wanted to give it up or not.
“Well?”
“Well what?” Keiji responded to the young officer, releasing himself from his personal thoughts.
“Well aren’t you going to do something!” the officer exploded, “the man is up there escaping and you haven’t moved an inch! Why don’t you try to stop him-you have all the information you need! My comrades didn’t sacrifice their lives just so he can escape!”
“Officer, I can tell you’re new at this job. Do you even know how our security system works-or even how this building is managed?” Keiji turned to the man who only responded by hanging his head in shame, “Well I’ll tell you. The building is comprised of 26 sections, or floors, each ranging from A to Z. Each section has 9 hallways surrounding it, full of cells where the criminals are kept. The earlier the section is in the alphabet the further underground it is. The more notorious a criminal is, the higher their letter rating and the further underground they are. The only exception to this is floor Z, which is the entrance and where the court room is located, and floor A, the Security Office where we are right now. Are you following me so far?”
“Sort of,” the officer said weakly.
Not to be discouraged, Keiji continued as he stood and watched the others at their stations below him, “Through the center of the building runs an elevator shaft which goes through the middle of each floor. When a criminal escapes the elevator immediately stops working no matter what floor you are on. There are stairs to each floor, but they can only be accessed by security personnel. Since the building is underground there are no windows and doors to escape from except for those on floor Z. The walls are made specifically so that Reapers cannot phase through them. All in all, there is no possible way the criminals can escape their section-giving us time to think over a strategy and capture the prisoners safely and efficiently. Whoever this man, this Ambrose is-no matter how powerful he is-he won’t escape and I’ll make sure of it. You must trust me officer. Now, from the beginning, tell me everything that happened.”