Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 15: The Chase

Tom stood in the middle of the room, looking at the man in front of him. His gut told him that only death could stop that monster from doing any further harm to innocent people, people Tom had sworn to protect.

Tom’s most deadly weapon was his body, one of the greatest achievements in bio-engineering back on Earth. He could absorb more oxygen from the air and absorb calories and nutrients better than any common man. His muscles were dense and strong. If he focused inwards, he could make his body produce more adrenaline and remove the mental blocks that protected him from overexertion. When his subconscious safety mechanism was turned off, he could move at great speeds. The faster he moved, the stronger force behind each of his hit was. The only side effect of his power was that he had a hard time keeping track of his energy levels. He had never reached his limit before and had no clue what would happen if he did.

“I have no business with you!” the clone shouted.

“Yes you have!” Landau took a step back and slightly turned to the side. While looking at his opponent, he put his hidden arm into the pocket and started manipulating the comms device.  It took him only a moment to input the commands.  Now he had to keep Ermac from moving for a few more seconds.  “You think you are special? You think you can go around my city doing whatever you want? For me, you are just another piece of scum. I will put you down!”

“Do not underestimate me!” the clone pointed his large weapon at Tom. “Lucky for you, today I am not allowed to play.”

“Oh, don’t you just worry, I will make you play.” Tom smiled. “It was your mistake to come here, you will not escape.”

“You are very amusing but I will be—”

The clone closed his right eye and put his right index finger to his ear. He was listening to someone.

Landau knew who was on another end.

Ermac’s face expression changed in an instant. All of his confidence was gone. He swiftly jumped forward from the cab into the room. A split second later, a large object – the transport Tom had ordered via his comms device - arrived at maximum speed and hit Ermac’s cab from below, breaking it into large chunks. The remains of Ermac’s vehicle fell down in flames.

While Ermac landed and tried to regain his balance, Landau lunged forward, driving his right foot into Ermac’s temple. The clone blocked the blow with his left arm but it was too weak. The kick went through, yet the clone did not fall down.

“What did he do to you?” Tom asked. “Everything comes at a cost. What did you have to pay?”

“I paid with my life.” Ermac looked at Tom intensely, his eyes shining a bright green. “You should not have attacked me! You should have just let me go!” The veins on Ermac’s face enlarged. The look on his face was that of a mad man.

The clone sprang forward, trying to wrap his arms around Tom. He knew if he could prevent Tom from moving, the unnatural strength of his opponent would be weakened. Landau jumped back and threw his left hand forward at the speed of lightning. Ermac was lucky to stop at the right moment – a few centimeters more and Tom’s fingers would have been stuck in his throat.

Ermac knew that he had no chance of beating Landau in a straight fight.

The clone rolled back and jumped out of the building. Tom attempted to follow him but Ermac turned while falling, aimed the gun and pulled the trigger. Tom dodged the shot and it hit the ceiling. When the dust dispersed, Ermac was already far away, slowly gliding down towards the ground. Tom took out the comms device and checked if it still had connection with the cab. It did. He called for it and jumped onto the roof. Tom kneeled down and pierced the roof with his hand to get a firm grip.

He turned on the manual controls and transferred them into the device in his hand. He set the direction to intercept Ermac, who was still gliding, aiming to land on one of the rooftops. The cab took a second to reach its maximum velocity.

Ermac noticed that he was being approached and launched a bullet in Tom's direction. Just as the laser shot was about to hit the cab, Landau kicked away from the roof and jumped towards Ermac.

Tom got a hold on the clone and for a second they floated. Then, Landau slid his hand down and ripped off Ermac’s belt and in an instant they dropped like stones. Ermac managed put a knee between him and Tom. He used it to push himself away. They split up before reaching the ground – Tom fell on a flat roof of a lab, while Ermac got entangled in a tree.

Ermac recovered quickly and ran towards the city center. Tom stood up and walked to the edge of the roof. Watching the clone’s disappearance into the streets, he took a moment to regenerate the internal damage.

Ten seconds passed before Tom felt he could run again. He jumped down three stories and touched the pavement. He followed Ermac’s tracks, rapidly accelerating. A few explosions here and there in front of him broke the silence. He caught up with the monster near the beginning of the living quarters.

From time to time, Ermac closed his eye to get projections of the map given to him by Stacy. He knew that Tom was getting closer. He started running through the populated buildings, blasting his way forward and sealing entrances behind him. There were many civilians around the area but Ermac didn’t care, to him each casualty was a negligible loss.

Tom hit one dead end after another, each time needing to make a detour.

After a few minutes, they entered the entertainment district. The streets got wider and Ermac had no choice but to move in a straight line. The area was very crowded; he shot into the swarm of people in front of him. Some of them fell down, some ran away and the path opened up.  He was getting closer and closer to the place where he could finally escape.

Tom got Ermac in his sight and pushed himself to the limit. A few more seconds and he would get his hands on the monster.  Ermac lifted his weapon up, pushed the trigger and a grenade flew into the air, it exploded and emitted a blinding light. For a few seconds, Tom couldn’t see a thing but he was still going like a wind.  When his eyes recovered, he could almost taste victory. All he needed was one quick step and he would get a grip on the clone.

Again, a blast of light blinded him. This time it was followed by a hit to Tom’s face by a hard object, probably by the butt of Ermac's laser gun. Tom fell down and rolled away, he heard shots following him. As he got to his feet, he saw Ermac running into one of the shopping malls.

Finally, there it was - the escape point. Ermac ran to the second floor of the mall and blasted the wall to the outside. For a second he turned back and saw that Landau was just entering the building.  Ermac jumped out of the building and aimed at the manhole below. After a few shots, it blew open. He landed in darkness and disappeared.

Tom stood at the top of the hole, looking down, wondering if it was wise to follow. Before he could make a choice, he heard a loud explosion from below. The tunnels were sealed.

Tom took out his comms gadget to check where the tunnel led. It went towards the air circulation core. He tried running forward to find another entrance to the tunnels but after a few steps he stopped. It was his limit; perhaps he could have still chased the monster if he hadn’t stopped.

For the first time, Tom felt weak. He needed to rest.

Ermac ran through the tunnel, his eyes let him see in the darkness as if it was a day. Finally, he reached the place where he could escape his pursuer for good. He aimed at the wall in front of him and adjusted his weapon for minimum damage. After a precise shot, the wall crumbled. Behind it was a metal surface. He hit it once, hit it twice and breached it.

Ermac jumped through the hole. It led to a tunnel illuminated by dancing colors. He ran as fast as he could, thinking that Landau might be still pursuing him.  He was almost out of breath. He knew he could fall down from exhaustion at any time.

After running a short distance, he saw a silhouette of a boy standing in the middle of the tunnel. Not wise to leave any witnesses in this place, he figured. The clone kicked the boy in the chest, who in turn flew backwards for at least fifteen meters.

Finally, Ermac reached the end of the tunnel. He slowly stepped into the light. A man with a deformed face held the unmoving body of the boy, looking at the clone in disbelief, his eyes full of tears.