CHAPTER 55

7243

CROSS

Cross and Alex have since rejoined and regathered on Sayar. They interrupted the supply run that Devon and Noah had gone on alongside the Breeton, Bartz, and Cardus Cæ. After confirming that Devon did in fact reside inside Roland Duschand's body, the two had a plan to finally seek revenge on the soul that had ruined their lives.

It had led them to gathering intel on the Sayarian's plans on how to handle Cross—a helpful fact nonetheless. It wasn't until they came face to face with Devon outside the crater that used to be Andem that Alex truly comes to terms with how she feels about Devon. Rage begins to swell inside of them as they look down on the unconscious Devon—he'd only just been transported away from his squadron. Fortunately, fate seemed to smile on them as it had also brought along Pamen, the irritating hive existence that had stretched its reach nearly everywhere around the planet.

"What are we going to do about that?" Alex asks.

"I've actually got an idea concerning that gun of his. If I can get it I can target that planet of theirs. The planet is what inherited the fragmented souls, all these here are just pale reflections of light."

"Why not take it now?"

"What's more fun than making him think like he has a chance to defend himself?"

Devon begins to come to, he looks around himself with a stupified half-grin. It disappears when he sees Pamen behind him and then turns to see Cross, who is doing nothing but stare at him.

"Well, I'd love to say that this is surprising seeing you here, but we both know that you can't leave things well enough alone, can you?" He asks, his voice half Cross's, half Alex's own building storm.

"Was that yours?" He asks, standing fully and taking in a deep breath. The attempt seems pitiable at most, insulting at worst.

"You mean my son? He's quite the charmer, ain't he?" Of course, Cross was talking about the gigantic sandworm that he had coaxed to attack the scent of human tissue—artificial or not. So Devon could rest easy knowing that it was his fault that his squadron had been attacked, and the filthy Illith's death had been in vain.

"Your...son?"

Cross looks downward and then back up to you, "You don't think I gave birth to such a beautiful boy?" He offers a small laugh. "Looks more like his mother anyway."

"You're crazy," He says, a determined sort of crazy look in his eye. Surely he wasn't going to try to pick a fight here? His power suit glows red as he enhances his strength. He dashes out toward Cross, grunting a loud sound. Cross simply raises his right arm toward the Queoquartzite at his chest, taking a bit of the glowing energy and applying it to Devon—sending him flying backward toward Pamen's unconscious form.

"This is the time we've been waiting for, Cross. Get in there and make him remember everything!"

"In due time. I can't let this end without getting some personal revenge in. Physical strength means nothing if you don't have the courage to use it." Cross walks closer toward him, stopping just before his face. "But you weren't ever brave, were you?" He bends down slow and brings a fist down to Devon's head, it sends the helmet slamming down to the ground and cracks the screen. Cross bends to his knees and speaks out like a surgeon over an operating table, "I know who you are. You see, it bothered me endlessly" he picks him up by your collar, "you were the first thing that I saw when I woke up. I'd known of you, Mr. Duschand—and I know that he's in there somewhere, so don't you worry—but it's you that caught my attention."

"Wha-?" Devon manages little other than the sound of a beaten dog before he's hoisted up further and tossed through the air off of the cliff. Cross jumps down after him with blinding speed and grabs him just before he falls, nearly snapping his neck. "Back at the Capitol I knew something was off. Mr. Duschand has been missing ever since our last fight, there was no way he could have returned from where I sent him, and yet there he was standing right in front of me." He drops Devon and kicks him hard, knocking him over. "Lo and behold I see what's going on," Cross walks closer to him as he clutches his stomach in pain. "I felt angry with you, more than I've ever felt for anything in my entire life."

"I-"

"YOU DON'T GET TO SPEAK." Alex yells out, taking over. Devon reaches for his gun, but Alex is faster, taking the gun as Cross regains stability. He shakes his head and heads to the edge of the cliff. "Hold on there, tiger. We're just warming up," Cross tells Alex, but she doesn't seem to listen, anger courses through her spirit.

"Well there is the tool of the hour. It's a shame I had to crush your friend's old ones, but I'd only then got the most glorious idea that required one of them." Cross says, handling two separate conversations at once. Devon only looks at you with the stare of an infant. "You must be so confused," he says, turning his head ever so slightly, "to think that you'd end up here of all places."

"I don't understand," He says firmly.

"Why did you do it?" Alex asks, and Devon doesn't answer. She yells out, "Why the fuck did you do it?!" There's a bright red glow from their eyes, but then they fade. "You...don't even remember, don't you? That's it then? No! It's not good enough!" She screams, slamming him hard to the ground, immediately dragging him back up. Cross regains composure, "So sorry about that. They got really angry with you and I couldn't hold 'em back. I thought things were different. I'm really in love with this feeling," he says, in everything but smile.

"You wouldn't let that slip if you didn't want me to ask, am I correct?" Devon asks. He tosses his broken helmet aside.

"My, my. Look whose human thought processes saw them to the truth. Yes, but I didn't bring you here to reunite. Think of it as a tease and nothing more. I brought you to give you a demonstration."

"Of what?"

He holds up the WaveBlaster in one hand while taking his other to his chest, ripping at the Queoquartzite. He breaks off a chunk with a grunt and shoots off into the sky, traveling down towards the crater. Along the way he adjusts the gun to the home planet of Pamen, and fire the gun into the crater's core—reflecting the signal back as if it were light against a mirror. A massive column of light erupts brightly into the night sky. It fills the planet with light all around you.

Cross flies back to the cliff to a horrified Devon. "How many do you think there were?" He asks. "That detestable creature of the dark. How many bodies do you think it had on this planet before I just wiped them clean?"

"Wiped them clean?!"

"Modifying your weapon allowed me to tune it to a very specific wavelength, the one of your friend—that is, if you were really friends yet," he says. "This planet is really something special, you know. It's core is very reactive to certain stimuli, it can even act as an amplifier for weapons like yours."

"That light in the sky...that's not Pamen, is it?"

"The very one in the same. Pamen's right on Sayar's front doorstep. So, when I just activated it's universal extinction code by using their singular existence against them, the whole shebang goes sheboom."

"Sheboom?" Alex asks.

"Hush it."

"Now what?" Devon asks, a defeated sound, "Are you here to break me? Make me cry? That isn't happening, because you're going to be stopped. Maybe not by me—hell, most likely not by me. I'm not trained for any of this, but you're not going to get away with this...even if you kill me."

"Kill you? I don't want to kill you. Don't you see? There isn't any way in the world I could ever do that. I can't live without you, and you without me...but you'll soon figure that out. We should get going, your friends should be arriving soon once they see the light show."

"And you think I'm letting you leave that easy?"

He cocks his head ever so slightly, "It's as you said, you aren't trained to fight. You can come with me awake or unconscious, it doesn't bother me personally, but I'm sure they'll get a kick out of hitting you a bunch."

"And where are we going?" Devon asks, realizing the hopelessness in fighting back.

Cross stares daggers, "Don't you ever stop asking questions?".Alex throws a harder-than steel punch that knocks him out. "Now is when the fun begins."