Chapter 10 - Falling

Author's Notes:
-This is, what, the twentieth chapter in a row that I've had Brian doing? Yeesh, I'm such a bum. Well, the next chapter is going to be written by me, and it's going to be the final chapter!
-I absolutely love Kat and Dolosus. I squeal with fangirlish delight when they have their moments. And speaking of fangirlish delight, there's a line in here that I think would be an excellent jumping off point for some yaoi. Let's just say I might start shipping IkonuXDolosus pretty soon. What would that be called? IkoDolo? Like how there's NaruSasu and KuraHiei and those abbreviations...
-I'm ranting. Enjoy this chapter!


“Deedee, come!” Maion called.
The elephant strolled over to Maion and lifted her onto its back with its trunk. Maion patted the creature behind the ears as Mohajon approached.
“All of the guests are gone,” he said.
“Very well. Call for the cleanup…” her voice trailed off. She was staring at the front door of the mansion. Mohajon turned and looked in the same direction. The front door of the mansion opened and out came the silhouettes of three people. Maion couldn’t see who they were, but she did see them run down the driveway and hop into a limo.
“I thought you just said everyone was already gone?” she asked Mohajon.
“They are,” he replied.
The limo sped away from the mansion, its tires screeching at the speed. Maion furrowed her eyebrows. She kicked the sides of the elephant and the beast lumbered toward the mansion. It set her down on the steps with its trunk. She ran up and threw open the doors.
“WHAT THE HELL!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
She was met by the sight of her ballroom completely trashed. All of the tables were overturned, the chairs were smashed to pieces, the hors d' oeuvres, dishes, and cutlery were scattered about, a chandelier was in pieces on the ground. She walked down the stairs, drinking in the damage done by…something. Then a sight caught her eye. She quickly descended the rest of the way and sprinted over to one of the pillars. Lying on the ground was Cinta. Her skin was pale, there was a deep wound in her chest and blood was spilling forth. Her chest did not move up and down. Her eyes had lost all the luster of joyous, blissful youth. The only thing left was the haunting smile, permanently set on pale, frozen lips.
“She’s dead,” Maion whispered.
“Dead? How?” Mohajon asked.
“It was Demonic’s people. No one else could have done this,” she said emotionlessly.
They could hear footsteps slapping against the floor. They looked up and saw Kitty burst into the room.
“Crimson’s gone!” she yelled.
Maion and Mohajon stared at her.
“Didn’t you hear me? Maion, Crimson is-”
She cut herself off at the sight of Cinta. She staggered forward a couple of steps, and then screamed her lungs out as tears exploded from her eyes. Mohajon caught her as she was about to fall.
“CINTA!” she cried and heaved herself against Mohajon’s chest. Mohajon looked at Maion for help, but Maion avoided his gaze. Kitty’s crying was almost more than she could bare. Luckily for her, before she could start weeping, they heard a rustle behind them. The chandelier shook just slightly, and it seemed something beneath it was struggling to get free. Feebus emerged from the smashed glass and twisted framework of the chandelier. His feathers were ruffled, and one wing appeared to be twisted at an unnatural angle.
“I’m too old for this,” he grumbled, picking at a few crooked feathers with his beak, “I swear, the crap that bimbo puts me through. When I find her, I’ll peck right through that thick skull of—Kitty! What’s wrong?”
Kitty managed to stop bawling and went down to a mere sob. She bent down next to Cinta, refusing to look on the wound which had caused her death, and instead, took Cinta’s hand in hers. There was one ribbon left, wrapped around her wrist. Kitty pulled it off and tied it near the end of her furry cat tail. Just where Cinta had always said it looked so pretty.
Feebus watched this. He opened his beak, no doubt for some other insult or complaint, but he closed it. He walked towards her slowly. When he finally reached her side, he knew. He knew that she was dead. She was gone. His only trusted friend, the laughter in an existence defined by death, had now been taken by that death. He came closer, and nestled himself in the crook of her neck, surrounded by her golden hair. Closing his eyes, a tear fell from his eye and sank into his feathers.
“You…idiot…”
Maion had never seen anyone react to a person’s death the way Feebus and Kitty did. Her subordinates really cared about each other. For some reason she couldn’t explain that notion lit a fire in her. She was determined now more than ever to take Demonic down. With rage spilling from her eyes, Maion turned on a heel and marched out of the ballroom.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to my office,” she spat.
“Why?”
“Demonic went too far this time. Infiltrating my mansion and killing my employee…during my party is unforgivable.”
They had reached her office. She strode right to her desk and turned on her computer.
“Three months is long enough. If Ikonu hasn’t figured out how to use the scythe by now…”
“You’ve got mail,” the voice on the computer rang.
“He sent you a message,” Mohajon pointed out.
Maion moved her mouse over to the mail icon on the screen and opened it. Her lips moved silently as she read the e-mail from Ikonu. Slowly, they began to form a smile. She finished reading and reclined back in her chair.
“What are you smiling about?” Mohajon asked.


It had been about a week since the masquerade at Maion’s mansion. Crimson had made a full recovery from her injuries. She, Altojo, and Kat were happy being reunited with each other. Demonic had holed herself up in her room. The crows were cleaning out Nabin’s old solitary room. Dolosus spent most of his time reading and trying to avoid Kat. The two of them had not talked to each other since the…incident. She wanted to talk to him about it, that much was clear. However, he just didn’t know how to handle this situation. In the two years he had been alive on the planet, he had never kissed anyone. Now, because of a simple lip contact, all these feelings were exploding in him: uncertainty, fear, happiness, tension, nervousness. He hoped if maybe he never spoke with Kat about it that it would all go away. He was in his room when it all began.
He sat up in bed. He could have sworn he heard a boom from far off. The training sessions were done for the day. He thought maybe he imagined it. As he began to lie back down, there was another boom. He sat still, not moving a muscle and straining his ears. A minute passed by and there was another boom, this time closer than the last two.
Curiosity got over him and he got off his bed and walked over to his door. When he opened, the hallway seemed empty. Then, a tiny white ball zipped down the hallway and stopped in front of his door. It hung suspended in midair for a few seconds. Dolosus extended his hand out to the ball to grab it. Once his finger touched it, the white color suddenly turned to an orange yellow and began to luminesce. He gasped and quickly closed the door as fast as he could. The explosion knocked the door off its hinges and threw him against the wall.
When he opened his eyes, smoke and dust were filling the hall. A shadow passed by. Then another one. The sounds of yells and screams started filling the hallway. A man appeared in Dolosus’s doorway. It was someone he had never seen before. The guy, if it was a guy seeing as how the outfit was a bit androgynous, was wearing a blue and off-white tank top and rock climbing shorts with huge gloves that looked like giant bear paws. He roared and ran at Dolosus, swinging his paws. Dolosus leaped out of the way. When his paw made contact with the wall, there was rumble and blast of dust and a crater appeared.
Dolosus looked over to his scythe mounted on the wall. The enemy made another attempt to punch Dolosus. Dolosus ducked under him and ran to the wall. He grabbed his scythe, spun around, and slashed the guy’s head off in a single movement. The head rolled across the floor and the body limply fell to the ground.
Dolosus ran out of the room. It seemed he had been plunged into chaos. Almost every single member of the organization was out fighting against some person Dolosus had never seen.
“What the hell is going on?” he wondered out loud.
A razor sharp disk flew past his face and almost took off his nose. He turned and saw another man throwing the disks at him. Dolosus swung his scythe and jumped through the hole. He appeared in Demonic’s thrown room. Demonic wasn’t sitting on her thrown. Instead was gazing in a mirror. Dolosus ran up to her.
“Master! We are under attack!”
Demonic didn’t answer him.
“Did you hear me? We are under attack!”
“I know,” she whispered. “It’s Maion. I knew she would make a move, but I didn’t think it would be this soon.”
“How did she get in? How did all these people get past security?”
“I don’t know, but she found a way.”
There was a pause. Then, Demonic pulled out her paintbrush and started to draw something on the wall. It was like a fairy looking creature with tiny yellow horns and green hair, except its body looked like it was made out of a marshmallow. The creature immediately sprang to life and fluttered about. It landed on Demonic’s shoulder.
“Go around to all of the members of the organization and tell them that we are under attack. Tell them to fight and kill anyone they do not recognize, and don’t hold back,” she told the marshmallow fairy. The creature nodded its head and fluttered over to Dolosus and began to speak to him in a high squeaky voice.
“Master Demonic says-”
“I heard her!” Dolosus snarled.
The fairy fluttered away. There was a brief moment of the sound of fighting and explosions as the door to her room opened. Then there was dead silence again. Demonic heaved a big sigh.
“Master, what can I do?” he asked.
“You’re job,” she replied.


Kat had to jump out of the way as a flaming yo-yo flew at her. She had been visiting Crimson with Altojo. The two of them were trying to decide what to do now that the three of them were together. Then, out of nowhere, the room seemingly exploded and all of these people came pouring in. They had no idea what was going on, until Crimson pointed out that she had seen some of them during her stay in Maion’s mansion. Now Crimson was fighting a very young, nun-like girl who was using a cross as a dagger, Altojo was up against a man with red claws and a woman who was throwing lemons, bottles, pieces of clothing and an assortment of other random items, and Kat was dodging flaming yo-yos being controlled by a shirtless man with light blue, almost white hair. She tried to blow him away, but every time she launched a gust his direction, he would just have a yo-yo wrap around something, like a support beam, and pull himself out of the way. Then he would throw the other yo-yo at Kat who would have to abandon her assault and get defensive. It was all so hectic.
She held her leaf behind her and focused her power to form a small whirlwind in the crux. The man pulled his yo-yos back and got ready for another round of attacks. Kat swung and launched a twister that was still connected to the leaf. He pulled himself out of the way, but the twister was still going. Crimson ducked and rolled away from the nun, and then threw her katana into the tornado. Altojo snapped his finger and a wall of fire sprang up around Crimson, keeping the nun at bay. Kat redirected the tornado back to her foe. He tried to pull himself out of the way again, but Crimson’s katana sliced right through the yo-yo string and he fell. Kat dispelled the twister. Then she swung the leaf as hard as she could. The man never even hit the floor. A giant gust hit him full in the chest and blew him all the way across the room and through the wall. Kat picked up the katana and threw it to Crimson who caught it, jumped through the fire, and stabbed the nun in the chest. The two of them turned to Altojo. The man with red claws was running toward him. Crimson jumped next to him and cut off one of his hands. Kat blew back all the lemons the woman was throwing at them. Altojo created two fire balls and threw them at his opponents, incinerating them.
The three of them paused for a second to catch their breath, and they smiled. It had felt like so long since they had fought together. Then, a tiny marshmallow like fairy unexpectedly came by and landed on Kat’s shoulders.
“Master Demonic says the organization is under attack,” it said in high, squeaky voice. “She says to fight and kill anybody you do not recognize. Do not hold back.”
Kat nodded her head in acknowledgment and the fairy flew away.
“So Maion is attacking the organization,” Kat said.
“Is this all because of me?” Crimson asked.
“Well, we won’t know until later,” Altojo said. “Here come some more!”
He was right. A couple more of Maion’s employees were running right toward them. They were led by the man in the gray and purple suit who greeted Crimson when she had first come to the mansion. The three of them stood their ground and got ready to fight. The man held out four fingers to them and arrows, red and blue, shot out and speedily came at them. Kat tried to blow them away, but the arrows just ripped right through the wind. Suddenly, a hole in space appeared in front of the arrows and swallowed them up. It closed, then re-opened behind the man and let all four stick into his back. He screamed out in pain and stopped running. A big mistake on his part, as another hole opened right beside his neck and the blade of a scythe popped out and beheaded him. The body fell to the floor and Dolosus appeared next to Kat and the others.
“I’ve been looking for you guys all over the place. I assume now you realize that we are under attack?” he asked.
“We realized, yes,” Crimson said.
The tiny fairy flittered back to them. This time it landed on Dolosus’s shoulder.
“My master has news for you,” it squeaked.
“I know, we’re under attack. I was there when she made you.”
“Not that. She says she and the crows have found out how the enemy has broken in. She says a hole has been opened in the storage area. She wants you to go close it.”
“Me? Why me?”
“She says you are the only one who can.”
With that, the tiny fairy flittered away.
“I have to go,” Dolosus said.
“I’ll come with you,” Kat said. “It might be a trap.”
“No, you should stay here and help them,” Dolosus tried to order.
“We can handle things here,” Altojo said. “You two go, now.”
Before he could say anything, Kat grabbed his hand and began to run with him, leaving Crimson and Altojo to face the onslaught.
As they ran, Kat suddenly realized she was holding onto his hand and abrubtly let go of it. They both blushed, but did not stop.
“So, I haven’t really talked to you in a while,” Kat stated.
“I know,” Dolosus responded. “I’ve been busy.”
“Oh, busy, I see. Well, do you think we should talk about what happened at the masquerade? You know, between the two of us?”
“I really don’t think there is anything to talk about. We were both wearing masks, we both thought we were with strangers, it was an honest mistake.”
“What if it wasn’t a mistake?”
Dolosus did not reply to this but kept his silence.
“What about the dancing? What about you saving me from that creep? What about the ki-”
She was unexpectedly cut off as Kitty appeared out of the blue and kicked her full in the chest. Kat went flying through a door into what used to be somebody’s private quarters. Kitty clenched her dagger as she landed and went into the room. Dolosus stopped running.
“Kat!”
“Go, Dolosus, quickly,” Kat coughed out as she tried to stand up. “You have to close their entrance. Besides, I can handle her.”
Dolosus didn’t want to leave Kat to deal with Kitty alone, but there was some truth in what she said. He had to stop Maion’s people from getting into the mansion, or else there would be no end to the invasion. Plus, if Kat fought Kitty she would most likely forget what they were talking about, thus saving him from an awkward and possibly regrettable conversation. Without another word, he turned and ran.
“You killed my best friend,” Kitty snarled.
“I did not, but I’ll willingly fight you,” Kat corrected and swung her leaf.


Dolosus made it to the storage area. It was basically a giant warehouse, almost empty except for a couple of crates here and there. It was where the organization stored its goods. He had been expecting there to be some sort of hole in the wall with enemies marching in. However, the hole the fairy had talked about was a hole that looked almost identical to the ones he made in space with his scythe. It was a wormhole that connected Maion straight into the organization’s headquarters. But how? The headquarters’ location was supposed to be a secret. Even if she had figured out where they were located, she could have never copied his ability. It was a one of a kind power.
The place was empty, leaving him to believe that most of Maion’s people were already there. This must have been set up since early in the morning. He darted over to the hole and stuck the head of his scythe into it. A short burst of power sprang from the hole. Slowly but surely it began to close. The space distorted itself as it tried to go back to what it used to look like. He pulled his scythe out and the portal was completely gone.
“Hey, did you close that?”
Dolosus whirled around. In the doorway stood a man with tanned skin, medium length brown hair, a red bandanna around his head, and a red necklace that glimmered in the light. He wore a mesh t-shirt with a karate jacket with torn sleeves and olive green pants. Dolosus also noticed he was wearing huge weight tied to his ankles and wrists. He would have been perplexed by this, but after working with Demonic’s creations for so long, nothing perplexed him anymore.
“And you are?” he asked.
“My name is Ikonu. Say, are you Dolosus? Demonic’s top assassin? I can tell because of that scythe you’re carrying. Plus, you would be the only person who could close the hole I made.”
“You made this hole?”
“That’s right. Maion brought me a scythe she said you lost while you were in Guatemala. I analyzed it forever, but finally figured out how your power works.”
“Well, then, I guess I have no choice but to kill you,” he said and ran at Ikonu. As he got closer he started to notice a strange sensation welling up inside of him. His feet felt so much lighter. His hair began to stand on its ends. Blood was rushing to his head. He could literally feel all of his internal organs suddenly shift upwards. Then, in a strange phenomenon, Dolosus fell…up. He felt like he had just been dropped off a cliff, but he was going in the completely wrong direction. He looked up and saw the ceiling coming up to meet him. He twisted his body around and braced himself for impact.
He landed and rolled across the ceiling, finally stopping. Gritting his teeth, he tried to go against the pain and stand up. His eyes looked around. Everything seemed like it was normal except that he was now on the ceiling. It felt just like being back on the ground. He looked up…or down. Above…or below him was Ikonu, smiling and waving.
“I bet you’re wondering how you got all the way up there, huh?” he yelled. “Well, let me save you from confusion. This is my power. Somehow, I have the ability to manipulate and change the gravitational pull on things, including humans. It’s a power I discovered back in high school when I accidentally made a bully fly up into the sky and never come back. Maion found me and taught me how to control my power and use it at my own will. I haven’t really been able to ever explain it. That’s why I wear these weights, to help anchor me to the ground. Look, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a bone to pick with Maion.”
“Wait! Maion is here?” Dolosus yelled.
“That’s correct. She was one of the first people through the portal. She promised my freedom and I’ve got to go make sure she completes her promise.”
“Freedom?”
“Yes, I’m kind of working for her against my own will. Once she taught me how to use my power I tried to leave but she wouldn’t let me. She beat me into submission and kept me her prisoner.” As he said this his hand clasped his necklace. “That’s why I don’t really want to kill you, because I have no animosity towards you. Once I’m free, I promise I’ll come back and let you down.”
He turned and headed back toward the door. Dolosus knew he couldn’t let him get away. It was a direct order from Demonic to kill anyone who worked for Maion, and that meant this guy too. He thought maybe if he got his feet back on the ground he could get his gravity under control again.
Quickly, he swung the scythe and cut open another portal. He jumped through it. Usually when he went through the portals he felt fine. This time, however, because of the change in gravity, he felt immensely sick and almost like his body was contorting itself. When he came out of the exit, he was out of breath. He had to stop and pant for a couple of seconds, but he was back on the ground. Ikonu was stopped in his tracts. He was wide eyed and in complete shock that somebody had made it back to the ground against his power.
Dolosus regained his composure and charged forward for an attack. Ikonu regained his wits and held his hands up for defense. Dolosus swung his scythe. Ikonu swung one of the weights. The two met each other. There was a huge clang as metal clashed against metal. The force coursed through their bodies, separating the two of them.
Ikonu swung another one of his weights. Dolosus ducked and made to slash right through Ikonu’s ankles. At the last second, Ikonu changed his own gravitational pull and flew up towards the ceiling. He landed gracefully on it and threw his hand out to Dolosus. Dolosus felt the strange sensation come over his body again and felt his inside shift forward. He suddenly went flying, this time toward the wall. He swung the scythe in front of him and fell into another hole before he could hit the wall. Again he could feel his body contort. The first time it was a shock to his system, but this time he was prepared for it. The portal opened up at level with Ikonu. Dolosus couldn’t walk on the ceiling, but the momentum he had from falling into the wall propelled him forward in great range for another attack. Ikonu jumped and changed his gravitational pull again, this time back to the floor. Dolosus missed, but cut another hole and appeared where Ikonu was about to land. Ikonu, seeing this, changed directions and landed on the wall.
The two starred at each other.
“So is this how you fight? Just run away from your opponent?” Dolosus instigated.
“Well, it always worked before,” Ikonu said. “No one has ever been able to get out of my power before.”
“Huh, well there’s a first time for everything.”
He cut another hole that exited right above Ikonu’s head. Dolosus came out and swung his scythe. The blade cut though one of the fastens that tied the weights to Ikonu’s body. The weight fell to the floor as Ikonu fell to the opposite wall. Dolosus felt the sensation again as he fell back towards the ceiling. He cut another hole and jumped out onto the floor.
“It’s your power!” Ikonu yelled. “That’s how you’ve been able to get back to a regular gravitational pull! My power focuses on a singular object, but if that object disappears then there’s no gravity to change. Furthermore, because of your ability to manipulate space, you can automatically get back your original gravity!”
“You’re pretty quick when it comes to analyzing your opponent,” Dolosus sneered.
“Well it helps to have such an interesting target to analyze. I don’t suppose we could stop this fight and I could do some more research on you?”
“There’s no way I would ever let anyone poke and prod me!”
“Too bad. There’s probably a lot more to your power than you currently understand,” Ikonu sighed. “Alright then.”
Dolosus felt a wave of energy suddenly hit him. It was coming from Ikonu. As the wave spread out in all directions, the windows in the room all began to shatter. The shards of glass fell to the floor, but they never landed. A few feet off the ground, the shards changed directions and all flew at Dolosus. He cut another hole to escape, but when he jumped out the other end, the shards all changed direction and followed him.
“Remember, I’ve mastered my power!” Ikonu called. “And that includes making objects be gravitationally pulled toward a single source…like a person.”
So that means those shards are going to follow me no matter where I go, Dolosus thought. He teleported himself out of the way, but the glass just made a u-turn and headed right back to him. He turned and ran as fast as he could. As he looked over his shoulder he could see the shards were hitting the floor as they approached him, closer and closer. He teleported himself on top of the crates and jumped from crate to crate to get some more distance. He had no idea what he was going to do. The shards turned around and followed him, sticking into the crates whenever they missed him.
Dolosus swung his scythe again and jumped through the portal. He wasn’t concentrating on any specific location, just as long as it wasn’t in the storage area. Surprise dawned on him as he saw that he had teleported himself to the room where Kat and Kitty were fighting. The two stopped their clash for a second as the sight of Dolosus running by, chased by a couple hundred pieces of flying glass was not something either of them saw every day.
Dolosus didn’t want to get caught in their fight, so almost immediately he cut another hole and ended up in the cafeteria. He thought moving away from Ikonu would stop the changed gravity of the glass, yet as he looked back at the hole that was still open the glass came flying through. Quickly, he overturned one of the tables and ducked behind it. The shards all struck the wooden table and wedged themselves deeply into the wood, so much so that the tips began to pop out on the other side. Dolosus cut another hole and went back to the storage area. He turned around and closed the hole as quickly as possible so the shards couldn’t follow.
After the hole had closed he felt another blast of energy. Ikonu hadn’t moved from his spot on the wall. This time, all the crates rose into the air and floated there, no longer bound to the earth. Ikonu pointed to one of the crates and it flew en route for Dolosus. Dolosus jumped out of the way as the crate smashed onto the floor, scattering hundreds of pieces of wood and a couple of tools of various shapes and sizes. Ikonu directed another crate to try to smash into Dolosus. He jumped out of the way again, but not before getting a couple of splinters.
It’s pointless to try and dodge all of them, Dolosus thought. I have to focus on killing him.
He leaped out of the way as two crates collided into each other and teleported himself on top of one of the floating crates. Ikonu directed crate after crate to fly into him as Dolosus jumped from one to the next, all the while getting closer and closer to Ikonu. Ikonu noticed this and changed Dolosus’s direction again. Dolosus had to grab onto the crate he was currently standing on to keep from falling. Now he was facing the floor as if it was a wall, and the wall that Ikonu was on became the ceiling. Dolosus climbed onto the right edge of the crate and looked up in time to see another one about to smash into him. Instead jumping out of the way he opened another portal which sucked the crate up and released it to hit Ikonu. Ikonu was able to move a little bit to the right, but the force of impact was still enough to blow him away a couple of feet. Dolosus saw this as an opportunity to cut another small that led to the place where Iknou would land and stuck the blade of his scythe all the way through it. He would have been able to kill him, but the crate he was standing on suddenly lost its floating ability and fell back to the floor. The unexpected movement jerked the blade out of the hole and Ikonu safely landed on the wall. Dolosus teleported himself onto the final floating crate, this time standing upright with normal gravity.
That scythe is keeping me from stopping him, Ikonu thought. I can’t let this drag out forever but I don’t want to kill him either.
He looked down at the floor and scanned all the debris from the smashed up crates. A sword caught his eye. He smiled.
Dolosus steadied himself. Without anymore crates to jump on he would have to open another portal that would be pretty close to Ikonu. He gripped the staff and held the blade behind him, getting ready to swing. At that moment, Ikonu focused his power on the scythe itself. The weapon instantly grew immensely heavy. It was so heavy that Dolosus couldn’t swing. Instead it dropped right down toward the ground. He held onto the staff to keep it from falling, but it was so heavy it felt like he was holding onto a couple hundred pounds of weight.
“Mastery over my power has led me to have a few tricks up my sleeve,” Ikonu gloated. “If my enemy has a weapon, I can make that weapon’s weight grow too heavy to hold. Right now that scythe feels like it weighs about three hundred pounds. Let’s see if you can hold onto four hundred.”
The scythe suddenly got heavier. Dolosus gritted his teeth, but his arm felt like it would detach itself.
“Oh you are persistent,” Ikonu said. “Well how about eight hundred pounds.”
That was too much. The scythe tore from his hands and plummeted to the ground. There was a huge explosion and a cloud of smoke rose and covered everything. When the smokescreen cleared they could see the scythe lying in the center of a huge crater.
“That’s a good scythe,” Ikonu said, surprised. “It didn’t break. Whoever made it should be proud of his or her work.”
Dolosus glared at Ikonu.
“I’ve already lost two other scythes. I’m not about to lose a third!”
“Well, too bad!”
Ikonu held out another one of his hands. The sword that was lying on the ground, below Dolosus’s crate, twitched and then fell upwards. Dolosus pulled his head back to avoid getting hit in the face with the sword. However, Ikonu had changed his gravitational pull as well and was now in the air behind Dolosus. He grabbed the sword as it flew by and swung it. Dolosus screamed as the blade slashed across his back. Before the blood could finish spraying out, Ikonu changed his gravitational pull again and flew up to the ceiling. He landed and looked up at Dolosus.
The wound wasn’t nearly enough to kill him. It had been cut to fast and in a sloppy manner. Yet it still hurt and shocked him. It took a couple of seconds to recover. Over the past year he had been punched, kicked, burned, blown away, choked, slapped, poked with a dagger, and had his shirt torn with a sword, but it had been a long time since someone had cut his skin and made him bleed with a blade. It took a couple of seconds to recover. He looked up and glared at Ikonu.
“Are you ready to give up,” Ikonu asked.
“Never!”
“Fine,” he sighed. “But I’m not like the assassins that you work with. I’m just here to get free. Maybe I can make him pass out through blood loss,” he mumbled to himself.
Ikonu jumped in the air and changed his gravity again. He fell toward Dolosus, sword ready to cut him again. Dolosus stepped back and tried to grab him but he was too fast. Ikonu hit the floor and, without stopping, fell again. Only this time he fell diagonally toward the wall. He hit the wall and flew straight at Dolosus again, spinning in the air to avoid getting caught. Dolosus wanted to grab him again, but he had to avoid getting hit by the weights. As he dodged the weight, Ikonu found his opening and sliced his arm. Again it wasn’t deep, but it still hurt.
Ikonu jumped from wall to wall to floor to ceiling, always coming back to Dolosus and always giving him a new cut. Most were shallow and some didn’t even bleed. But others were deeper and bled out awfully. The wood of the crate was showered with his blood. Dolosus tried to think of something but nothing came to mind. He was too high up to jump and even if he did Ikonu could have easily turned that against him. He felt powerless without his scythe.
Ikonu landed on the floor. He jumped up again and held his sword ready. As he flew by Dolosus he swung and left a long and deep gash going up Dolosus’s front, showering blood about them. He kept going, but suddenly stopped. There was a tug at his leg. He looked down. Dolosus had grabbed onto the weight that was tied around his ankle. The two of them were nearly the same weight. The force of Ikonu’s momentum had pulled Dolosus off the crate, but now two different gravities were keeping them suspended in midair. They could do nothing but struggle as they both felt like they were going to fall.
Dolosus tried to climb up Ikonu’s leg. Ikonu kicked him, Dolosus grabbed Ikonu’s foot and held it away.
“Get off!” Ikonu yelled, but Dolosus refused to let go. Ikonu tried to make Dolosus heavier. He slid down off Ikonu’s leg but still held onto the weight. Ikonu slashed the sword through the tie and finally separated them. Dolosus fell a couple of feet back onto the crate, but Ikonu had a lot longer to fall and the force of impact felt a lot harder. The wind got knocked out of him as he hit the ceiling.
“You…jerk…” he tried to gasp.
That’s it, he thought. No more mister nice guy.
The funny feeling came over Dolosus again, but it was slightly different from before. Instead of his organs shifting in a direction, they felt lighter. His feet left the platform and slowly began to rise in the air. He was floating, weightless.
What’s going on, he wondered.
He floated up until he was level with the windows. Then, in an instant, his body fell to the side and out of the window.
The sun was so bright out. It was a wonderful, cloudless, blue sky day. It took him a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the outdoor lighting. It still felt like he was falling though. He looked below him to see where Ikonu was sending him. His heart nearly stopped. Below his feet was the sun. The yellow orb was shining brightly, and he was heading right for it. Above him he could see the building of the organization getting smaller and smaller.
Dolosus screamed. It wasn’t a cry of anguish or rage like he was used too, but a cry of terror. For the first time in his life he was truly afraid. He was going to die. His scythe was gone, he had no way of getting back down, and he was getting closer and closer to the sun. Images began to loop in his mind. One was of him burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Another was of him suffocating in space. There was nothing he could do, except continue to scream as he fell into the sky.

“Dolosus!”
He looked up. There was a tiny spot above him that was growing bigger.
“DOLOSUS!”
He recognized that voice. It was Kat! She was flying on her leaf. Air streams were shooting out before her and she was riding on them like a surfboard.
“Kat! Help me!” Dolosus screamed.
“Hang on! I’m coming!”
The air streams circled around him. She went as fast as she could and was finally able to catch up. He reached out and grabbed her hand. She pulled him onto the leaf, but she couldn’t stop him from falling.
“What’s going on?” she screamed
“It’s this guy’s power! He has a mastery over gravity!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll save you!”
She closed her eyes. Marks and tiny translucent wings appeared on her ankles. The wind around them grew stronger and she was able to stop his ascent. They hovered for a second as the wind below the leaf built up, and then they plunged back to the building. Kat held onto him the entire time.
“Listen,” Dolosus yelled over the wind. “I’m sorry I was avoiding you before! I just didn’t know what to think or do about that thing!”
“I’m not sure now is an appropriate time to discuss this!” Kat yelled back.
“Just know this: I’m not sorry it happened! I’m actually glad it did!”
Kat looked at him, blushing.
“We definitely need to talk about this some other time!” she yelled.
He nodded his head and looked back at the building. They were getting closer. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he refused to lose.
Kat soared in through the window. The wind whipped around the place and blew all the shattered pieces of debris everywhere. Ikonu had come off the ceiling and was on his way out when he got caught up in the gale. Kat let go of Dolosus and he fell back onto the ceiling. She soared over to the corner and landed onto the floor, preparing to stay back and let Dolosus handle this but not if he needed her help again. The wind died down and Ikonu stared at Dolosus.
“I’m glad you’re still alive. I was afraid I had killed you.”
“You can’t kill me that easily,” Dolosus growled. “This fight isn’t over until I say it’s over.”
“Listen, I am getting tired of this. I just want to go see Maion so I can get the hell out of here.”
He ran over to where Dolosus’s scythe was still sunk into the ground.
“And I’ll take this with me!”
“No! Don’t!” Dolosus yelled, but it was too late. Ikonu had grabbed onto the handle of the scythe. Images and hallucinations flashed in front of his eyes. Memories of people he knew like his friends and family. Yet the mirages were being twisted and distorted into monsters and horrors. Ikonu let go of the staff and screamed while clutching his head. Whatever power he had over Dolosus and the scythe was now gone. Dolosus fell off the ceiling, his fall broken by a gust from Kat. He quickly ran over and grabbed the scythe. Ikonu got over his momentary madness. He was just in time to see Dolosus get ready to cut his head off.
In a flash Dolosus swung as Ikonu leaned back. The blade soared just over his head. Ikonu jumped backward and landed on the wall again, afraid for almost losing his head.
“I said the fight isn’t over until I say it’s over,” Dolosus said. “And I say it’s over…now!”
In a huge motion he swung the scythe, leaving a giant tear in space. Instantly the air in the room started getting sucked into the hole like a vacuum. Dolosus stuck the blade into the ground and grabbed a hold of Kat before she could get sucked in. All the debris started flying in the room and into the hole.
“What’s going on? What have you done?” Ikonu yelled.
“You wanted to send me into space, right? Well, fair is fair. This particular hole leads to a black hole somewhere in the universe. You can’t escape it!”
Ikonu’s feet began to lift off of the wall. He closed his eyes and focused as much of his power as he could to stop the gravitational pull of the black hole, but it was too strong. The ties around his ankle and wrist broke and the two remaining weights flew into the hole.
“NO!” he screamed. “I…WON’T…GO!”
He tried to fight it, but his struggling grew weaker and weaker, until finally he couldn’t fight it anymore. He got sucked into the wormhole and his screams became lost. The hole closed and everything went back to normal. Dolosus and Kat tried to catch their breaths. They were now standing alone in the nearly empty storage room.


Altojo grabbed his enemy’s face and lit a fireball in the palm of his hand. The foe went down, no longer distinguishable. A tiny fluttering sound caught his attention. The fairy landed on his shoulder and whispered into his ear.
“My master needs to see you…in private,” it squeaked





Owari.

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