ISSUE #105

Southeast of the border of Mexico, Hovering miles above the dry grasslands were Ian and Bastion. The flight had taken quite a bit out of Ian. The energy that he had built up from resting was very nearly gone again.

" Congratulations. You managed to keep up." Bastion joked. " It's unfortunate that we met again so soon. I had this whole plan laid out and ready, but then that little wolf bitch had to go and mess things up. Oh well. You're here now so.... I guess I'll take what I can get."

" Just shut up and tell me where Noriko and my mother are." Ian demanded.

" Oh them? Don't worry, You see there's a base underneath the ground here. An old cartel cache. Used to smuggle drugs into the U.S. Until the pathway was destroyed awhile back. You want your family back? All you have to do is beat me. Beat me and they go free. Lose and you all die." Bastion explained to the man.

" Sounds simple enough." Ian replied.

" It does, doesn't it?" Bastion sneered. He looked at Ian and began to tremble with excitement. " Ah to be young again."

" Enough talk, let's go." Ian told the man as he cracked his knuckles.

" If you insist."

........

Down below the secret base, Sarah was still trying to free Noriko from her trap.

" You need to undo the locks on the sides." Noriko told the woman.

" I'm trying!" Sarah exclaimed. She tried her best to wiggle her fingers under the steel constructs, holding Noriko's gauntlets in place.

Her fingers were forcing their way along the cold metal, her skin was peeling, tearing, along the way. It was a tight fit, and it was painful. But Sarah knew that if she didn't do it, then she and Noriko would likely die.

Sarah grunted as she continued to pick at the locks on one of Noriko's gauntlets, eventually hearing a distinct clicking sound.

" AH! I got it!" Sarah exclaimed. She pulled her hand back and grabbed hold of Noriko's arm and slowly pulled it out of the gauntlet until it was fully free. " Okay, one more. Hold on Nori, we're getting out of here." Sarah told the girl. She then began to work on the next gauntlet, suffering pretty much the same as before Only this time with a newfound confidence in herself.

Though it took her some time, Sarah eventually managed to free Noriko's last arm.

The moment she did, Noriko began falling forward, immediately waves of energy began flowing into her body, most likely from all the electrical machines nearby.

" Oh, that's the stuff. I feel.... Better now." Noriko gasped. She took a deep breath and picked herself up off the floor. " Okay, we're getting out of here." Noriko declared. She raised her hands up to the cell door and released all of the energy she just drew in, destroying the door.

Noriko stumbled slightly from the sudden release; she was still feeling the effects of being drained.

" Are you okay?" Sarah asked the girl.

" Yeah.... Just, not used to having so much energy flow in and out of me in one day." Noriko replied. She took a moment to catch her breath, before standing up. " Come on, let's get the hell out of here, before that bastard comes back." Noriko told the woman.

Sarah nodded and followed behind Noriko as the girl started running down the halls of the base.

However, as they were running the entire base around them suddenly shook violently.

" What was that?" Sarah asked.

Noriko looked up as pieces of the ceiling fell down.

" I don't know." Noriko replied.

" Was your attack, maybe a little too much?" Sarah asked the girl.

Then again, the base shook, even harder than before.

" What the hell is going on out there?!" Noriko exclaimed.

.........

Fists, Forearms, Knees, Ian and Bastion went back and forth, their blows colliding with each other, finally they followed it up with a fierce headbutt. Finally, Bastion reeled. Feeling the force of Evan's head bashing against his own stunned him.

Ian used the opportunity to kick Bastion in the side of his chest, with as much force as he could.

The kick forced Bastion, to spit up a mouthful of saliva.

Ian saw this and smirked, spinning away from the man triumphantly, only to then be shocked as Bastion recovered and grabbed Ian's foot.

Bastion spun Ian around several times as fast as he could and then threw him straight towards the ground.

Ian hurtled through the air towards the ground. He gritted his teeth and threw his weight forward, going with the momentum instead of fight it. He then flipped forward and planted his feet on the ground.

Ian quickly turned around to face Bastion, just in time to narrowly dodge an energy blast the man threw at him. Ian backflipped away. Multiple energy bombs exploded.

" HAAAAH!"

" HAAAAH!"

Ian and Bastion both fired a blast of energy from one of their hands.

The waves collided together, shaking the ground below them violently, in a beautiful clash of fiery red and bright yellow energy.

Slowly, Ian began to lift off the ground, pushing towards the man, with his arm fully extended while Bastion did the same, lowering himself closer to the ground and Ian.

The closer the two got to each other, the bigger their blasts became, and the more the area around them shook, until finally they were so close that the energy blasts had turned into one singular bomb.

" HAAAAAH!"

" HAAAAAH!"

Ian and Bastion both yelled.

Their energies exploded in unison, the result of which could be seen for miles. The smoke cloud left behind was similar to the of a nuclear blast. Suddenly, Ian and Bastion both emerged from the smoke, bleeding, but still fighting aggressively.

Ian lunged towards Bastion and punched him in the Jaw.

Bastion grunted and kicked at Ian with his right leg.

Ian raised his arm and blocked the kick, then Bastion used the other leg. Ian tried punching Bastion again, only for the man to block his attack with his forearm.

Each strike they landed on each other rumbled like thunder, the sparks flying off of their bodies, from the friction, resembled large bolts of lightning. The heat from their bodies and energy churned the air and sky above them, bringing forth thunderclouds.

If you couldn't see it for yourself, you would think all the commotion were merely a storm in the distance.

Bastion pushed himself off the ground and into the air to avoid one of Ian's punches. He then kneed the man in his stomach hard enough to knock the wind from the man's body, he then raised his arm and elbowed Ian hard in the back of his neck, before delivering a devastating knee to his face.

Ian quickly brought both of his feet up and kicked Bastion under his chin, knocking him off Balance.

Ian flipped in the air, landing back on his feet, and rushed Bastion hitting him with a flurry of punches to his face before Kneeing him in the chin and sending him flying.

Bastion tumbled along the ground, eventually using the momentum to kick himself back into the air, just narrowly avoiding an energy bomb.

Bastion soared high into the air and Ian followed after, stopping right in front of him.

Ian was panting heavily; he had quickly exhausted the energy he had built up on his trip and was now pushing empty.

" Good, Onslaught. GOOD! You're everything I heard you were and more. Quick on your feet, fierce, powerful, bold, deadly. Now that the warmup is out of the way, what do you say we get down to the real battle?" Bastion asked the man.

Ian smirked and wiped the blood from his chin.

" Would be a nice change of pace." Ian replied sarcastically, though on the inside he was preparing himself for the toughest fight he's had to date. Then a burning sensation began spreading throughout his body. He felt the urge to cry out in pain, but kept his feelings collected.

Raw energy began to emanate off of Bastion's body.

Ian knew he didn't have much time left.

He and Bastion, both charged each other, colliding. The force of the collision shook the ground. They traded blows back and forth with one another, more sparks of lightning radiated oof of their collisions.

" GuhhH!" Ian gasped. Bastion had managed to slip a strong Jab to his stomach.

Ian leaned forward, spitting up blood.

Bastion then wrapped his arms around the man's neck and waist and started plummeting straight towards the ground. Right before they both hit, Bastion released Ian and sent him crashing into the ground, cratering it below him.

Ian didn't have time to catch his breath before Bastion divebombed straight down on top of Ian, smashing him straight through the ceiling of his base.

Ian hit the ground and Bastion blasted the man in the face with another explosion that rocked the tunnels around them.

Not too far away, Noriko and Sarah could hear the commotion and made a dash straight towards the noise, hopping for it to be their salvation.

" Noriko what's happening?" Sarah asked the girl.

" I don't know, but I'll bet that's the way out. Just stay close and follow me!" Noriko told the woman. She took the lead once more and continued running towards the sound. Noriko didn't voice it, but she was beginning to draw in more and more energy and at a quick pace.

Without her gauntlets, she couldn't control how much she absorbed.

" Noriko? Are you okay?" Sarah asked the girl.

Noriko cringed a little. Her face twisting up in pain and discomfort.

" Yeah... I'm fine. Come one." Noriko told the woman. She then started running again.

Sarah didn't say anything, but she could tell that Noriko was in pain. How much she didn't know, and it didn't matter. Sarah knew in her heart that Noriko had saved her life. She would not leave the girl behind for anything.

Eventually the two came to a destroyed pathway. The halls ahead of them were completely collapsed and the ceiling gone. Though they finally had their escape path.

" Alright, we're free. Come on, let's get the hell-"

* Crash!

Before Noriko could finish her sentence, a large object crashed right beside her and Sarah, throwing debris in their faces.

" What was that?" Sarah asked Noriko.

" I don't know but be ready to run!" Noriko told the woman.

The smoke began to clear away, and Noriko raised her hands, ready to defend herself and Sarah if necessary.

But when it finally did clear away, the two women covered their mouths. Ian was bleeding heavily from head to toe. There were multiple gashes all over his body, and there was a hole blown through his stomach.

" What a shame? Looks like the game is finally over." Bastion spoke. He floated down over the girls and Ian with a look of content on his face.

" Son!" Sarah yelled. Terror filed her body. Leaving her completely stunned.

" Ian! Ian get up! You have to get up!" Noriko cried. She crouched down over the boy's body and held it in her arms.

" I'm sorry, dear. He can't really hear you right now. You see, the thousands of sentinels I have flowing through his body right now, have drastically weakened him. He's barely holding on by a thread right now. He doesn't even have any more energy in his body to stand up." Bastion gloated. He looked down as the girl tried to rouse Ian and laughed maniacally.

Noriko didn't know what to do. Ian was bleeding badly, and she couldn't help him. He was going to die, and she wouldn't be able to do a thing to save him.

But then she had a thought. If it was energy, Ian needed. Then she had the answer. She was beginning to draw in too much energy, she was close to overloading and needed a source to release all that energy into.

" You great big lug. You can't die on me. I need you. Damn it, you fool.... I love you." Noriko told the man. She smiled softly and started releasing energy.

" Ha! What do you think you're doing girl? You intend to fight me?" Bastion asked.

Noriko looked at the man and smirked.

" This isn't FOR you." Noriko told the man.

Bastion's eyes widened when he realized the meaning behind the young girl's words.

Noriko leaned down and kissed Ian, a bright light of electricity erupted from the girl's body.

' Come on, you big lug. Wake up! You gotta wake up and kick this guy's ass!' Noriko's mind was like an open book. Ian could hear her practically yelling inside of his brain.

" DIE!" Bastion yelled it out loud, he tried to take Noriko's head off with his hand but was pushed back by the raw energy erupting from the two." DAMN IT!"

Ian's eyes shot back open. The pure electricity Noriko injected into his body refilled his energy. Even with the sentinels still floating in his blood, they were hardly a problem right now. Slowly but surely, Ian started to claw back up to his feet, placing Noriko down on her side.

" I came to save you, and somehow you end up saving me." Ian spoke.

" Yeah, now do me a favor and kick his ass." Noriko groaned.

" That is the plan." Ian replied. " I've got a fire in my belly and I'm ready to throw down."

Bastion was not pleased. Poor god damned planning, that's what he thought. He believed it would be too easy, that his initial trap would be enough to completely finish the man off. That was the whole point of trying to drag out the scenarios for as long as possible. The point of the trip to Ireland. The messages, all meant to stall. But he had miscalculated how long capturing the ladies would take.

" Now then, you had me pretty good in round one. But what do you say we start round two?" Ian asked the man.

" Primary target= Omega class threat. Terminate!"

Ian and Bastion both glared at each other, before springing forward and colliding headfirst.

" NGHHHHH!"

" NGHNNNN!"

Both Ian and Bastion grunted.

The force of their head but sent out a shockwave that kicked up a mighty sandstorm.

They stood their locked in place, face to face. Ian grinned at the man, while Bastion simply glared at him.

The heated conclusion of the Prelude to the Messiah complex begins finally comes to an end next TIME!!!!!!