Chapter 26: Magic, Machines, Memories and Monsters.

  So while Amy was having her epiphany, Rahab had trapped my mind on a makeshift dancefloor at a function room. My hair? Slicked. My suit? Fitted. My tie? Questionable. My age? Seventeen again. My condition? Getting the shit beaten out of me by Sebastian Giallo. I curled up in a ball as Sebastian rained blows on me, and students around me laughed at my troubles. And Sophie Kessler was there, egging Sebastian on.

  Wait, Sophie was there?

  Rahab, in his efforts to twist the knife a little further, had forgotten one glaring fact: Sophie Kessler didn’t go to my school. She’d never even been to Port Moonstone. Now, I knew this had to be one of Rahab’s illusions. In his haste, he’d just dropped me into a fake memory that he figured I would find traumatic or upsetting. But I remembered this place. I remembered what really happened that night, and how it all ended. So now that I knew that none of this was real, it didn’t hurt, like when you crash or get shot down in a VR pilot program. Now the only thing to do was work out how to break out of the mental attack.

  I stood. Sebastian’s strikes didn’t hurt anymore. I brushed the dirt off my suit, as Rahab’s voice rang in my ears. “Back where you belong! You belong on that floor!”

  I didn’t dignify what he was telling me with a response. There was no telling what he’d be doing while I was trapped here, so I needed to find a way to exit the dream early. I looked over where Amy was. Or at least, it was meant to be Amy. This Amy was all grown up and wearing her Crystal Guardian uniform, not the seventeen year old that would’ve been wearing a formal dress. A distraction, not the real thing. Even if I could have apologized to her, this wasn’t the place to do it. I knew that Rahab would be up to some bullshit while he had me here, so I needed to break out fast.

  Rising to my feet, I grabbed Sebastian by his throat. As he grabbed my arm to try and free himself, I pushed him toward a plastic table, covered in plates and cutlery. I grabbed him by the belt and with an animalistic roar, I lifted him, before slamming him down with all my might. The table collapsed under the force of the slam. I heard my fellow students crying out in fear as the world faded to white.

  When I finally awoke, I was face down as Rahab raked his claws down Silverback’s back. The sirens and klaxons were cutting out, as were the comms. The display was showing power levels dropping rapidly. 90%, 75%, 50%, so on. I bit my tongue. Rahab must have been attacking my power supply. I heard the sound of a skateboard whizzing past me. Emma must have returned. I have no idea what she did, but I heard a scream of pain as I saw Emma whizzing back off in the other direction, and Rahab following her, staggering a bit, leaking fish blood from the foot. I tried to get Silverback moving, but it simply groaned before remaining in place. I looked down. Power levels: 5%

  Amy arrived, touched my face as I looked up toward her. I couldn’t risk this being one of Rahab’s attacks as well. “Where the hell are we?”

  “Port Moonstone, you’ve been out maybe one or two minutes.”

  Police sirens were wailing in the background, and I realized that my breathing had been way too shallow. I gasped, forcing air into my lungs. “Fuck no. We have to stop him. Emma won’t be enough.”

  She began fiddling with my harness. I could feel something in my mouth, something a bit thicker than saliva. I slapped her hands away. “Comms are fucked again. Did The Major say there’s air support?”

  “No. Charlie Company's evaccing civvies at the casino.”

  I froze. No air support? When Rahab was on the loose? I swallowed. “Then Charlie Company’s fucked without air or Silverback. We need air support if we’re going to-“

  “We don’t have air support, Elias. The Major said that she’s trying but Canberra's not co-operating, but she needs time, and Silverback needs power…”

  She trailed off, before climbing away. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing. She sounded like she was behind me. “You remember when you told me you would be my fuel? Time to return the favour.”

  I was confused, and I wasn’t sure if it was internal bleeding or what the hell was going on. Suddenly, one by one, alarms started playing. I looked down at Silverback’s internal computer. Power level 10%, 15%, 40%, 70%. I rubbed my eyes. No way. Ain’t no fucking way. I smiled, began to laugh.

  “It’s-it’s working! WE’RE BACK, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

  Emma’s voice came through the radio. “Crystal Guardian Amethyst, come in! We need help!”

  I radioed through. “Loud and clear, Crystal Guardian Emerald. Be advised: Amethyst and Silverback are on their way, be prepared for danger close.”

  "Hurry!"

  I began moving carefully, as not to dislodge Amy. “What’s the plan?”

  “I don’t know, you’re the soldier!”

  I nodded. What was that strange taste in my mouth? I didn’t have time to think about it. The Major’s voice came crackling through. “Silverback, what the hell’s going on?”

  “Rahab tried psychic warfare, we have Crystal Guardian Amethyst powering Silverback. Still requesting aerial support, over.”

  “Roger that, Silverback. Be advised, Rahab is almost at the casino. Police have evacuated civilians and Charlie Company is dug in. Be advised: I'm going to try another tactic to get some support, but it may take time.”

  “Roger that. Tell Charlie Company to hold on: we’re on our way. Amethyst, Emerald, prepare for danger close”.

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  I grit my teeth as I rounded a corner. Without Silverback’s visor, I would have to rely on the targeting laser, and my own calculations. Finally, I got visual confirmation on Rahab as he charged toward the casino. Now that I had range, I marked Rahab with my laser, before launching a full barrage of missiles, each striking him. He dropped to his knees. I could hear cheering on the radios, but I was sceptical. I checked my ammo count. Low on chain guns, fresh out of missiles. Shit.

  “Looks like we’ll need to close to melee again.”

  No response. I spat. The liquid that came out wasn’t saliva though: it was blood. My blood. Fuck. I paused. “How are you holding up, Amy?”

  “Holding. Are you okay? You don’t sound well.”

  “Fine”, I lied. Rahab was beginning to stand, although he didn’t look steady either. “What about you?”

  “This is harder than it looks. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep this up.”

  I nodded. “Not too much longer. Charlie Company, this is Silverback, be prepared to lay covering fire for Crystal Guardian Emerald. Let’s finish this old catfish bastard!”

  “Roger that, Silverback. Crystal Guardian Emerald is in position.”

  I stared Rahab down. With internal bleeding, and with whatever injuries Amy might have sustained, I was on a time limit. We would have to be precise. Nothing fancy. I swallowed more blood. I was sweating bullets. As Rahab stood and advanced toward me, I dropped Silverback into a tackling position, like a rugby player in the scrum. I just needed Rahab to slow down, just a little bit.

  “Now, Emerald!”

  Emma came whizzing up behind Rahab one more time, slicing his Achilles’ tendon with the skate-sword. As Rahab screamed and turned, Charlie Company opened fire, peppering him with small arms fire. As Emma began dodging Rahab's desperate stomps and grabs, I opened fire myself, with the last of the chain-gun ammo. I charged, focused. As Rahab turned toward me, I lowered Silverback’s body to tackle him at the knees. He must have worked out what I was trying to do, because he knelt himself, meeting my tackle. My mech shook like getting hit by a truck. I stared into his eyes. Gold iris, like the eyes from my dream. A long, thin scar above the eye, the kind a kangaroo might leave after kicking a human. Jumper Two must have gone down fighting.

  I roared, and had Silverback punch Rahab in the stomach, but that didn’t have much effect. His eyes looked up and over me. Fuck. He’d seen Amy. I grabbed Rahab’s elbow and began twisting, trying to break his arm again, but he was resisting, and a cruel smile crossed his face, with rows upon rows of needle-sharp teeth. He reached toward her. I caught his arm, but he pulled Silverback closer, opening his jaw. His breath was awful: smelling of rotten fish and death.

  Silverback’s power levels began to drop briefly as Amy switched to blasting him with her umbrella, screaming as she did so. Another round of gunfire sprayed Rahab. He shoved me and swatted Amy into a building, through a window. My jaw dropped. No. Not her. Not Amy, too. Not the whole reason I was able to be a mech pilot again. Not the woman I’d set out to save. Not the one woman that I could be honest with after all these years. I screamed in fury, tears beginning to roll down my face.

  “NOT HER, YOU FUCKING CATFISH ARSEHOLE!”

  Power levels were dropping, and I didn’t have much more time. I grabbed Rahab’s face, and forced him to look at me. I didn’t have any cool lines, just murderous spite. I placed Silverback’s thumbs over the eyes, and began pressing. Rahab screamed as he realized what I was doing to him, but it was too late: he couldn’t’ even stand from the pain I was putting him in, just kneeling before the might of an angry gorilla god. I can’t even being to explain how satisfying it was for me to watch those eyes pop under the force of Silverback’s might. But I wasn’t done yet. When the eyes gave way, I dug Silverback’s thumbs in as far as they would go, and began pulling with as much force as Silverback could muster. Rahab was screaming, clawing at Silverback’s arms, but there was no use. I had waited a decade for this, and I was going to make damn sure that it would hurt. I hooked Silverback’s thumbs into the eye sockets, and I pulled until the skull gave way.

  Finally, the head split. Watching Rahab’s skull separate was messy, with blood, fishbone, monster brains and flesh going everywhere. I should have been happy, ecstatic even. This had been 10 years in the making. But celebration could wait. Right now, there were more important things. I radioed through to The Major.

  “Major, Emerald, this is Silverback. Rahab’s dead, but we need medivac near the casino, and on floor 10 of the Dunsany building! Amy’s hurt!”

  I powered down Silverback, locked it, before I heard the wailing of sirens: ambulances, police, even a fire engine. I tried waving my arms, but they felt like lead, and I couldn’t do much. A firefighter fished me out of the mech. I couldn’t stand, not enough energy.

  They laid me out on the ground. My head flopped as I stared into the space where Rahab’s head should have been. The neck was still oozing. I didn’t know where Emma had gone, probably to go look for Amy. Charlie Company’s medic looked me over. I told her about the gunshot outside the casino. She waved over a paramedic, had them take off my shirt. Their eyes widened.

  “We need to get you to the hospital, now.”

  “But what about Amy-“

  If they heard me, they weren’t listening. They waved down an ambulance, then strapped me to a gurney. I wanted to stand up, go to Amy, get her to the hospital too, but my limbs weren’t cooperating. My eyelids felt heavy, too. I can’t remember what I radioed to The Major, but whatever it was, it couldn’t have been too important. The painkillers were wearing off now, and all that pain was seeping back into my body. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline wearing off, I don’t really know. In the back of the ambulance that was taking me to the hospital, pain seemed to be the only thing that was keeping me alive. My heart was still hammering in my chest. One of the medics took my temperature.

  “Cool skin. Possible hypovolemic shock.”

  I had no idea what that meant, of course, but it didn’t sound good. Charlie Company’s medic had taken my headset and was yammering to The Major. I couldn’t make head or tail of anything that they were saying, so I focused on the light. For a moment, I thought I heard Emma’s voice, then Amy’s, but they were far away, and since I wasn’t wearing the headset anymore, I couldn’t make out anything. The only thing I could do was breathe. The medics took me out of the back of the ambulance, and rushed me through the hospital. Nobody was answering my questions about Amy. I feared the worst. I’d failed. Even if I had managed to finally kill that old catfish bastard, losing Amy wasn't worth it.

  The doctors prepped me for surgery, gave me anaesthetic for the pain before they put me under. I didn’t think I was going to make it. I was under the impression that I would fall asleep, and that I’d get to have a nice dying dream, kind of like Russell Crowe at the end of Gladiator, when he sees his wife and child again in the Roman version of heaven. But it wasn’t like that. My dreams were back to normal. When I woke, I was still in hospital, and still exhausted, but the beep of a heartrate monitor confirmed I was alive. My headset had been taken, and my phone was dead.

  I leaned back into my pillow. Rahab was dead. It was finally over. All the mind games, everything that he’d put me through, all of it was over. Rahab was dead, and would trouble nobody else ever again. And in the hospital bed next to mine, lay Amy ?ojjell, chest rising and falling as she slept. And before I slipped back into unconsciousness, I heard, for the first time in my life, a news anchor on the hospital TV actually talking about Port Moonstone.