Blue Nexus #30 - Identity

            The entire building was in ruin. Evart stepped into the thick black smoke from the rising flames, gently falling down into the stairwell leading to the basement. Sirens wailed nearby, held off by a surprisingly fast response from the media. Adelita was the center of so much super attention that this was bound to grab their attention. He wondered if the reporters covering the Lightning and Thunder Tiger battle ever even left.

            Evart sucked in the rising fumes like taking in a breath of fresh air and sauntered down the stairwell. Even if someone found him down here, what could they really do?

            The smoke was thickest within the lab itself. He swung out his arm, dissipating it, and spreading it probably around the campus. Luckily, the campus was blocked off, so no other people would have to see him, nor would they get in the way anymore.

            He reached the lab at the base of the stairs, looking around. He frowned slightly at the dull sight of it. The pods were decimated, all of the papers turned to ash, and each of the walls knocked down from the explosion. There were piles of dark rubble around the area, too. He stepped over one heap of bricks and moved closer to the middle of the room, where there was the slightest bit of residue left over.

            Evart pushed some of the debris around, looking for any sign of a human body. Or, if his body was incinerated like the rest of the room, then maybe even he would find Hood Nexus’s bracelet. Wouldn’t that be something to barter with one of the War Gods? And he would shove it right in that idiot Boomer’s face, that he got to a Nexus bracelet first.

            As he heard footsteps and confident commands overhead, Evart rolled his eyes and placed his hand down, pushing away the dirt to touch the warm, weakened cement. With a shove, he felt the remaining Demon magic energy rush toward him, easing up his arm like a snake, then sinking into his core. He stood up, feeling as if he just swallowed something, and a gun clicked above him on the stairwell.

            Policemen in riot gear approached slowly. Evart smirked at the sight of them. Must be weird to see a high school English teacher standing in the middle of a decimated lab at this time of day, he figured. He was just waiting for one more arrival before the show could really start.

            “I’m curious,” he voiced over their commands. “What’s running through your mind right now? Is this what you expected when you woke up for work today?”

            “Evart, what the hell are you doing here?” Patton asked, moving down the stairwell. She was followed swiftly by Police Chief Ryles, freshly adjusted from Pacific City.  Ryles had a bullet-proof vest over her own clothing, holding her pistol out, aimed straight for his face.

            “How did you get past us?” asked Ryles.

            Evart grimaced, brushing away some of the debris. Ryles’s pistol clicked. Evart looked up at her, then over to Patton. He put his hands in his pocket.

            “I was waiting for you all,” he said, then flicked his head upward. A helicopter promptly arrived, shining a spotlight into the lab. Evart lit up. “Just so I could bring this little game of back and forth we’ve been playing to an end. I’ve set up my board and I’ve decided to make my last move.”

            Ryles stepped forward, cautiously. “You’re the one behind all of the recent attacks?”

            “In a way, yes,” Evart said. His eyes flashed and Ryles slouched over.

            “The gun, it’s so…heavy,” she said, grunting to keep the weapon up. Patton looked over to Ryles worriedly, and kept her own weapons down.

            “Evart, tell me what’s happening with you, I know the Blue Nexus, he can help us all,” Patton said.

            “Well, you did,” Evart said. “But I had him dealt with. And with the other members of the Zanderia preoccupied by my other little demon monsters…hmm…”

            Evart rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

            “You did that?” asked Patton. “You’re the Benefactor?”

            “Of course I am,” Evart said. “Who else could it be? Not that War God, Cata. She’s already played a large hand in how I was able to get here. Well, I also have that idiot Boomer to thank. Without his resources, none of this would have been possible.”

            “And what is…this?” asked Patton.

            Evart laughed, then glared straight at her. A shadow moved lingered behind him.

            “The systematic and absolute decimation of any hope your world has left,” Evart said.

            “Your world?”

            Evart held his arm out, and nodded. Patton looked over to his side, and the SWAT team immediately had their weapons raised at the sign of Evart’s shadow, emerging against the thick, dark grey walls behind them. The shadow reached out, touching Evart’s finger, and suddenly was sucked up into his body.

            Breathing out, Evart felt much better as his transformation began. His black hair reached down just beyond his neck, growing thicker. His skin turned slightly paler, his fingers also growing sharper while simultaneously bulking up, as was the rest of his body. It then fixed back into a somewhat lean figure. His shirt and pants ripped up as his body expanded, then depressed. He closed his eyes, allowing his black aura to overtake him. When they opened back up, they were beat red, staring right at Patton.

            “In my world, it’s the demons who reign supreme,” he said.

            Patton reached to her side, her arms trembling.

            “Y—you’re…Alucard,” she said.

            Alucard nodded. “The separation of my body and my magic was difficult at first, but I found that Earth’s bevy of disposable magic, particularly in this area, made it simpler on me as time passed. Not to mention that it was so easy to trick all of you. Boomer and Gargador have proven sound distractions, but, the night is calling me back. So I’ll take my leave to it.”

            Ryles dropped the gun and dashed toward Alucard. He didn’t even bother looking over to her. Patton watched with growing horror. Ryles lunged at Alucard, ready to tackle him. She slammed into him, not even managing to budge him. She punched him across the face, though he hardly even flinched.

            He raised a pure black hand, and gripped her face. Easily, he picked her up, and moved her out of his view, so he could continue to stare at Patton.

            “Inform whoever you may that tonight, in East City, all heroes of this world will have fallen and all hope will be extinguished. I leave it specifically to you to inform the red mage and that other Nexus specifically, they intrigue me the most.”

            He dropped Ryles, who fell limply to the ground. Patton nodded, shuffling her feet back.

            “We need to leave,” she muttered.    

            “No, you need to leave,” Alucard said, holding out his hand. Dark circles appeared under the feet of the SWAT members. Patton looked hopelessly back to Alucard as he raised a second hand up toward the helicopter.      

            “Please, they’re innocent,” Patton said.

            “No, they’re fodder,” Alucard said, and clenched his fist.

            Instantly, the six of them faded away, and the helicopter began to spiral out of control. Patton followed the helicopter with her eyes, and dashed out.

            Alucard began to float up, toward the surface, into the still rising smoke. He looked up ahead, toward East City. With his dark aura surrounding him and the poisonous air swelling in his lungs, he laughed and launched toward East City.

            Boomer could only barely remember what’d happened before he blacked out and awoke in the hospital. Evart, nearly gutting him. The house coming down at an incredibly fast pace. Some civilian, calling an ambulance, asking for his name and covering up the wound as best he could.

            A pair of tender hands wrapped themselves around his left one. That was what woke him, instead of the beeping of the nearby machines or the shifting of doctor’s feet near him. He could hardly open his eyes and had some difficulty breathing, until he sucked in a large breathe and his chest swelled up, then he exhaled and felt better.

            His vision cleared and he saw Luna sitting next to him. She was pale, but not as pale as he’d seen her before. He knew she was admitted to a hospital, updated by the hospital as he was her emergency contact, so at least he knew where he was. She was smiling faintly at him, gripping his hand slightly tighter.

            “It’s funny,” she said, looking off to the side, the light from the mirror reflecting off of her. “When you first told me about the Nexus, introducing me to all this…nonsense, I suppose…I thought you were talking about the phone. It was really, really weird.”

            “Hello, Luna,” he said, softly.

            “Welcome back, Boomer,” she said. “You’re making a speedy recovery, I see.”

            “Speak for yourself,” Boomer said. “It hasn’t been that long since you were put here. At least you’re on your feet.”

            Luna nodded, and rested her head on his bed. Boomer tried to sit up, and found it easier than he expected.

            “Has anything happened while I’ve been out?” asked Boomer.

            “There have been reports of a few house-fires in Adelita, but nobody’s been hurt by them,” Luna said.

            “But something else?”

            “I’m sure you already knew about the lab.”

            “Of course. How bad was it?”

            “Worse than we could have imagined,” Luna said. “Apparently, a task force went in to investigate, and guess who was there?”

            “Evart.”

            “Alucard.”

            Boomer smirked. “So, Alucard and the Benefactor really have been the same person all along. How did we miss that?”

            “He killed a SWAT team and a press helicopter, and he’s apparently going to make his way toward East City by tonight,” Luna said. “Which, by the way, isn’t too far off, since you’ve been out of commission for a little while. So whatever those ghouls were that have been showing up around the world, well, they’re on their way here.”

            “So we leave town,” Boomer said.

            Luna propped her head up slightly. She pursed her lips, and looked out the window to the fading sunlight, the Sun dipping below the buildings now.

            “Yeah, but, we should come back tonight, to help clear the city,” Luna said.

            Boomer looked to her wildly. “What?”

            Luna nodded. “I was in a dark place before I found out you were here. When we got to the city, Alucard messed me up pretty bad. I wasn’t sick like you thought. It was like he was trying to apply some sort of pressure on me. But then, Blue Nexus came and helped me. And Alucard was the one who hurt me, but, Alucard promised he would help us in our quest to meet Cata. And, I’ve gotten to thinking: we’re on the wrong side, aren’t we?”
            “We’re on our side,” Boomer said.

            “It’s wrong and has gotten us almost nowhere now,” Luna said. “Cata noticed us, yes, and we were blinded by looking too far that we didn’t even dare look right in front of us. Boomer, what the hell have we missed by looking up at the stars? This goal that we have, it’s so close, yeah, but now the lab is destroyed. We’re both in a hospital, and our little helper is the strongest being on the whole Earth. We messed up pretty bad.”

            Boomer stared down at his partner, but couldn’t feel it in his heart to be entirely mad with her. But, still, the Benefactor did help them in their fight against the Nexus, and they needed a Nexus bracelet in order to get to Cata.

            “We have a means of helping these people,” Luna said. “I’m sure that wasn’t destroyed, it’s pretty well guarded. If we ran home and back, we would make it in time for—”

            “I’m lying in a hospital bed,” Boomer said. “You’re still in a hospital garment. Luna, please. We’re not safe here, I get that, but if we leave town, it’s so much better for us. We can’t do that much against Alucard. The suit isn’t built for that.”

            “It isn’t the suit, it’s the person behind it,” Luna said. “What if everyone has that mentality? What if everyone decides to leave town and not help evacuate people? How many people will be left behind?”

            “Since when did you get such a code or moral justice?”

            “Since I realized that we’ve been dealing with the devil for the last several months,” Luna said, and stood up. Boomer tried to reach out for her, but his arm fell short. He clenched a fist.

            “Luna!” he barked.

            “I’m leaving,” she said. “Stop me, I dare you.”

            “He doesn’t have to,” Hood Nexus said as he turned the corner, his hand glowing blue. Luna fell back, surprised, as Boomer felt his chest tighten in fear. Oh, no.

            “How’d you find us?” asked Boomer.

            “I followed you from your house,” Hood Nexus said. “And I’ve been eavesdropping. What do you have that can help you fight Alucard?”

            Great, he’s desperate,” Boomer thought.

            “It’s something of a weapon,” Boomer said. “Only I can use it.”

            “Then let’s bring you to it, now,” Hood Nexus said. “We’re running out of time.”

            “A little on the aggressive side, aren’t we?” asked Boomer, meekly climbing out of his bed. “I’d rather not be dragged out by force.” He looked over to Luna, who he noticed had a slight glimmer in her eye. “And don’t get optimistic.”

            She shook her head, but he saw in his peripheral that she pumped her fist to herself.

            The trio nimbly, and without any issue, left the hospital. A car was, horribly, parked out in front. Hood Nexus ordered Luna and Boomer in, and then they were off, Hood Nexus hovering just overhead of them.

            Once they were out of the city, breezing through traffic as everyone scrambled back to their homes, Boomer finally spoke again to Luna.

            “Think this is just his way of trying to be nice to us?” asked Boomer. “I mean, he has to know by now what’s been going on, how we’ve been involved.”

            “I don’t think that matters much to him anymore,” Luna said. “If he wanted to attack us, then or right now would be the perfect time. He needs our help, Boomer, because both sides are kind of running out of options right now. He needs us as much as we need him.”

            “We just need to leave,” Boomer said. “Hunker down in Adelita until the Zanderia deal with Alucard. Think he’s a match for them?”

            “Yes,” Luna said.

            Boomer shook his head. Unlikely, he thought.

            They were halfway home when Hood Nexus pulled up next to the car, pointing forward. The sun was ducked down behind the hills, and there was surprisingly hardly anyone on the road, despite it being a little past rush hour. Luna dozed off for about twenty minutes, but she was wide awake afterward.

            Boomer leaned forward as he tried to see what Hood Nexus was pointing at. When he saw, he panicked, and swerved hard to the left. The purple arrow just missed their front right tire. Luna gripped her sit.

            Hood Nexus shot forward toward Sandy, who nimbly dodged his first attacked and lined up another arrow. Boomer slammed the brakes and tried to dodge the next arrow, only for him to hear a loud POP! and the car spun around.

            They ground to a halt, Boomer hearing the Hood Nexus’s fist hitting the ground before the felt the highway tremble. He stumbled out of the car, following behind Luna, who ducked behind a large light pole.

            Boomer whirled around as the fight continued, Hood Nexus trying to land a single hit on Sandy but being completely unable to, she was moving so fast yet also so powerfully. Boomer shivered as he felt the force of Hood Nexus finally connecting a hit. Sandy blasted back, lay on the ground for a moment, then managed her way back to her feet.

            “You shouldn’t have stopped!” Hood Nexus shouted back at them. “You’re kind of in the way at this point!”

            “He’s right, we need to find a way around this, we’ll group back up somewhere along the way,” Luna said.

            “Not a chance,” Boomer said.

            Luna pushed off of him. “Fine, then I’ll do it, you stay here and hide!”

            Boomer fell back, watching with a scowl as she ran back toward the car. Hood Nexus shouted something, and as Boomer comprehended it, the car exploded. Boomer blasted back against the railing, his ears ringing.

            The ground shook again as fire rose from the car. Boomer’s vision blurred, and he knew that he was just repeating the same thing over and over.

            “Luna…Luna…”

            Sandy came flying across his view, crashing against an oncoming car before flopping down on the ground, completely knocked out with her body splayed out limply.

            Hood Nexus landed in front of him, prying him off the railing. His vision returned, but the ringing didn’t. He still screamed at the top of his lungs, waiting for her response.

            “Luna, LUNA!”

            As they burst away, Boomer noticed the faintest black dot in the distance. And he knew it was laughing.

            That it was winning. 

Next time: Kyle and Jericho continue their training as Kyle waits for something, someone, to get him out of the Nether. And, a familiar face finds its way over to them, with a bit of a proposition for Kyle. See what and who it is in "Blue Nexus #31 - One for One"!