Chronicle of Nautilus

Chapter 44: The Clash, Part 1

The Outsider struggled not to drift away.  He gathered himself from all places until he became a singularity. He then directed all attention and effort into leaching onto the vessel and pulling himself in.

He bashed against the invisible wall projected by the silly little drone once, bashed against it twice, it crumbled. He got inside and could see through the eyes of the vessel again, but the wind of energy coming from the drone, attempting to push him out, was almost unbearable. The drones that were ought to protect him did not come. And at an important moment like this, the Outsider considered it a bad sign.

The man and the little orb floating in the darkness stared at each other, fighting the invisible fight. The Outsider stepped forward and made the most effort demanding physical move of his life. It felt as if each cell of the body attempted to resist him. As if held by invisible chains he pushed forward, little by little getting closer to the little bastard. After getting into the firing range, in slow motion, he picked the laser cutter, activated it and directed the tip of the tool at the drone, shattering it into pieces. The pain went away. The Outsider was back in full control.

At the moment when all physical senses got back to him, without hesitation, he flung forward a couple of meters and turned. In the place where he had been standing, stood the man whose coming he had anticipated - Tom Landau.

"You never thought to be it so easy did you?" The Outsider sneered, looking at a black stick with a needle in one Tom's hand, a broken drone in another.

"Lights on!" Tom spoke up and the place filled with light.

The two stood at the end of a long grayish corridor, with walls made of flickering concrete, no more than five meters wide and three meters high. Large locked door far behind the Outsider’s back denied his escape.

Tom continued "This ends now, you failed. We caught all your men. The perimeter is secure. You will—" the comms device interrupted him.

Cheryl was on the loudspeaker. "Tom, we have intrusion on the opposite side of the tunnels, beneath the city. I’m pinpointing the direction to you. Dying sensors indicated that radiation is at lethal levels."

“Do we have anyone capable of handling the situation? And why have you noticed it just now?”

“We don’t. Someone must have dug his way to the place unnoticed. The radiation glitches the system, even now the computer shows that security systems down there are functional, but after checking cameras I know they are not.  We need to get radioactivity resistant suits or get someone working by the reactors, to go into the radiation zone."

“Understood. No one besides me will get there in time. I'll soon be on my way,” Tom replied.

"No you won’t. You’ll stay here with me!" The Outsider said.

Tom put the black stick behind his back and charged towards the Outsider. At full speed, he shot his hand towards the adversary's neck. The Outsider dodged it by sidestepping, whispering as he moved, “I will make you sweat for it.” He then ducked and unleashed his fist into Tom's chest. And as if hit by a speeding cab, the First Citizen was sent flying backwards.

He recovered and inspected the Outsider from the feet to the head. His vessel was pale, eyes colored in a light shade of red. Nano-bots, Tom figured. Robots of molecular level were feeding on the infected body, giving it strength. The vessel would die in half an hour or less, Tom knew.  But he had no luxury to wait.

"Amazing, isn't it?" The Outsider laughed, bending his hand by the elbow, showing a tight fist. "So much power!"

Tom charged again, launching the same hand as before. Only this time he stopped midway. After noticing the Outsider sidestepping and throwing the counter attack, he turned his back together with the elbow of another hand and smashed it into the opponent’s face, dodging the punch as he went, turning it into a failed hug.

 The Outsider succumbed. His nose was a bloody mess. He smashed his fist down in attempt to hit Tom's feet. But Tom was quick to react and took a small step back. Next hit coming from the Outsider was a wide uppercut, but again Tom dodged it with ease after a larger step backwards.

Tom extended his bent leg forward, rammed it into the Outsider's face and they both flew into separate directions.

The Outsider fell to the ground, got on his elbows and said with a stupid smile on his face, "I have waited for this for so long - the pain, the thrill of being alive, the joy of watching you fail. The expression on your face after I say this…” He wiped the bloody nose and continued, “The bastard you kept in the cellar. He’s not coming.”

“What are you talking about?” Tom asked, his face showing signs of anger.

“The boy, your last hope, he’s gone, burned alive.” The Outsider paused. “Oh, and you know who made me do it? You and only you! You knew I would stop at nothing, yet you put a small kid between us. What do you expect?" The skin of the Outsider was getting paler, intensity of red increasing in his eyes and blood vessels.

Tom froze for a moment, lowered his eyes, thoughts running in his head. Just as he lost the sight of the opponent, he was smashed backwards by a powerful kick.

He then lay on the ground gazing up into shiny grey concrete, digesting the words he just heard, feeling his head getting cooler. An invisible switch flipped and his emotions shut down. The thoughts and reasoning in his head became alien to him. As if he was a machine, he felt no regret. For seemingly no obvious reason his humane part disappeared.  He should have blamed himself for boy’s death. He didn’t.

 "You talk too much." Tom said and jumped to his feet.

The Outsider attacked again. He was met by a flurry of blows. He dodged or blocked each blow, missing only a couple out of what looked infinity.  He did not feel pain. The deadly wounds opened by the blows tickled him. When the Outsider figured he had enough, he unleashed his powerful right to the opponent's body. At least four hits struck him before the punch connected and pushed Tom away, breaking his focus. The Outsider used this moment of weakness and followed with a fast and precise left, left, right combination to the head and ended it with a hook.

Once again Tom found himself on the ground. Once again he got up and sprang towards the Outsider. This time he kicked midair. The Outsider dodged it with a swift sway of the upper body and Tom landed a couple of meters behind the adversary. He repeated the same move and was met by Outsider's double-handed block. The blocker did not budge. But Tom did not give up, he repeated the move with increasing speed, jumping around, kicking the undying man.

The Outsider said, “It's enough,” amused expression on his face, grabbed Tom by the neck, and slammed him down. Attempting to crush the neck, he continued, "I could do this all day."

To his surprise, his fingers stopped at some point. The amplified strength of this body was not enough to crush the genetically modified muscles of the ship’s sentinel.

Tom smiled. "You can't kill me, no one can," he said, choking.

"But I would be a fool if didn't try," the Outsider replied and froze.

Tom pushed the vessel away from him. For a moment the Outsider lay on the ground lifeless.

The vessel opened his eyes and said, "I finally found you! Sorry for coming so late. Quickly, finish him."

Tom crouched to the body and heard it mumbling silently, talking to itself, "You little bastard. You crossed the line. You will—" Tom dismantled the vessel's head and all life evaporated from it.

"Open the door! Open the elevator!" Tom shouted and the doors ahead opened in a line. He ran to the end of the corridor and jumped into an open elevator shaft.