Chapter 23: 23. Battle On The Bridge II

Zayn’s heart was beating fast with anticipation. The atmosphere was thick with the smell of blood and death and fear.

All around him men stood pointing their guns at Corad, all the while trembling like little mice, unaware of what would come next.

Zayn and Yessica had been given a very clear mission but that didn’t matter right now. In fact, nothing mattered. Zayn only wanted to see what kind of carnage was about to unfold on this bridge.

Zeff suddenly burst into (obviously forced, and slightly over-dramatic) maniacal laughter “You fools.” he began, putting a hand over his eyes as though he couldn’t believe how dumb the surrounding police were. His voice suddenly took on a more sinister and darker tone and he added, “Do you think that any of you are going to walk away from here with your bones unbroken?”

*Buzz-B-buzz-Buzz*

Zayn tilted his head in amusement as first person video of men running for their lives, being torn in half by Zeff, and being killed in various ways filled his head. He had seen Yessica’s thoughts and couldn’t say for sure whether she had lied about her and Zeff’s first encounter, but now he had no reason to doubt it. All around him the officers were undoubtedly more afraid than they should have been. It wasn’t natural. Even S.A. Petticoat, still on top of the police car, was shaking noticeably.

What had Zeff done to illicit such a response?

‘It has to be the ring…’ he thought.

“I will make every officer here a deal…” Zeff cried out so that everyone could hear him. “If you walk away, just jump off the bridge into the water below, you will escape my wrath. You have 30 seconds to make a decision.”

*Buzz* shown a video of Zeff seemingly pleading with a large group of officers to run. It was, funnily enough, from Zeff himself.

*B-Buzz* shown another half dozen visions of men running and jumping over the edge of the bridge.

No body moved, despite the certain desire among many to do so.

The distress on Zeff’s face was likely only evident to very few. ‘Idiot. What are you gonna do now?’ laughed Zayn inwardly. Zeff didn’t want to fight and he didn’t want to run now that Sylvan had been taken. So what was keeping him here on this bridge at all? According to what Yessica had reported, Zeff could take bullets like it was nothing. So it should be no problem for him to get his buddy and escape.

Unless…

*Buzz* flashed images of Zeff fighting Sylvan in the woods. A strange blue window popped up in front of him that read, “Level up!”

Zayn couldn’t help but chuckle. ‘Human complexity at it’s finest… The desire to run meets the desire to grow. The fool.’

If Zayn had been honest with himself, which he usually was, he would have admitted that there was a part of him that wanted Zeff to run. A part that never wanted to see the dragon again.

Suddenly Zeff sighed and mouthed something that was too low for anyone to hear.

*BUZZ!*

Suddenly a lot of information, more than he had ever received at one point, flashed through Zayn’s mind in a fraction of a second as though Zeff was thinking in hyper speed. First he saw a blue screen with columns and rows of small blue and red dots. Then the view shifted to another screen. On that one, the point of view zoomed in on the words ‘Dawn Treader’ and then on a larger group of words just beneath it that seemed to be a description. It was moving to fast to see everything but the image had focused in on something that read, “…without moving or breathing for 10 hours while in darkness. (05:04:48 / 8:00:00)” Suddenly, for only a split second, a giant question mark appeared hovering over the screen followed by a video of Zeff laying under the water with his eyes closed in some dark bathroom.

Zeff seemed to rejoice at hyper speed, then he tapped a button with his finger, and the readout at once read, “(05:04:48 / 5:00:00) [satisfied]”

The next moment, another screen popped up that read, “Conditions to unlock <<Active Skill: Dawn Treader I >> satisfied. SP Cost: 5 (prepaid), Unlocked. Effect: Create a white cl—”

Zayn was not able to read the entire description before the video stopped and Zeff cried out loud, interrupting his thoughts. “It would appear that no one is going to take me up on my generous offer?”

Petticoat yelled out in response, “This is your last warning, Zeff. Turn yours—”

“No, officer!” growled Zeff with authentic anger, interrupting Petticoat, “This is *your* last warning. Either: bring my friend back here before he bleeds to death and walk away to see another sunrise? Or: stand there shaking in your boots, acting like you’re man enough to pull the trigger, and get broken in half.”

For a second, it seemed like the silence that followed was louder than the many police sirens.

Zayn felt for the first time to be a bit uneasy… He didn’t know much about the ring and even now, though they were targeting Zeff on Leo’s behalf, Leo refused to give him any details except ‘Zeff could unlock and use various skills’. He hadn’t understood or cared to understand. But seeing Zeff unlock something right before his eyes, even mid-fight, was unsettling. And now, he seemed to be many times more confident, even fearless… What sort of skill did he unlock?

*Buzz* played the video of the blue-eyed man through Petticoat’s thoughts. The next moment, another image from Zeff shown the words ‘(178/122) Phobia 0’ floating over Petticoat’s head, as Zeff looked at him with a slightly frustrated, even annoyed, expression.

“You’ve given us no choice, Corad!” Roared Petticoat so that all could here. “Do it!”

In the moment that followed several things happened at once.

First, *BAohhh—Tinck!* came the wail of a rifle firing followed by the sound of a bullet striking Zeff’s skin.

Zeff at once turned violently and doubled over as though he had been slapped in the face or hit hard in the shoulder. The next instant, *Buzz*, an image from Zeff of a blue terminal shown in Zayn’s mind. It said, “Armored III >> Armored Hide IV (Max). +7 SP. Upgrade available. Upgrade cost : 14 SP”

Zayn didn’t understand any of that, naturally.

Then, Zeff slowly stood to his full height. On the left side of his chest a massive hole had been blown through his shirt. And through that hole, embedded in his bear chest, sat a single bullet fired from a sniper’s rifle. His chest wasn’t completely unharmed, however, being a light purple hue as a result of the impact, but there was no blood at all.

A collective murmur went through the officers as Zeff flicked the bullet off of his chest like it was little more than a bug, “Is that all you got?” Zeff said with a half smile, looking at Petticoat with fire in his eyes.

*Buzz* shown an image from Zeff’s mind. Floating just over Petticoat’s head was the readout “Phobia I”.

“Open Fire! Open Fire!!” Wailed Petticoat, but it was already too late.

*Pooum*

Thick, white smoke exploded from Zeff’s body, filling the air and quickly covering the whole bridge and trapping nearly every officer within a stone’s throw from Zeff in a dense mist like what you might see in the early morning before the dawn.

All of this happened before any officer could get even a single shot off. But that didn’t stop them from shooting now.

At once the sound of countless guns firing filled the air as the cloud of smoke began to spread further and further, until it finally reached Zayn himself.

When it finally did, *—*, there was utter and instant silence, the gun of every officer being drowned out, the sound fading into nothing, as though the officers themselves had disappeared. Just to Zayns right there had been another officer, and even he was practically invisible now with only a slight, gray silhouette being perceptible. The lights from the sirens, as well as their sounds, were all gone and only gray silence remained.

Zayn felt that unfamiliar twinge of panic tug at the back of his neck.

He could still see everyone’s thoughts, however, and through this video feed he knew that nearly every man within the range of his gift was totally terrified, even more so than earlier.

*shwhiz* There was suddenly a sharp pain across Zayn’s cheek. He instinctively lowered himself into a crouch and rubbed his cheek to investigate and found that he was bleeding from a small cut.

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“Sh*t.” He said allowed. People were still shooting their guns into the mist in fear and one of those bullets had nearly struck him!

The reality that he just nearly died from a frightened officer’s stray bullet was a sobering one. Now was not a time to joke or play, he realized.

“Can anyone hear me!?” screamed an officer to Zayn’s left. “Someone, anyone! Please! I—Ughahh!” Wailed the officer as his words word cut short.

“W-who—W-hat’s going on!?” cried another cop. “D*mn you, Corad! I’ll kill y—Ahhh!”

Zayn was surprised to hear a voice when he couldn’t even hear a gunshot or siren.

He tapped his foot on the ground to see what would happen. But there was not so much as even a muffled thump. He even snapped his fingers. Nothing. Even when he moved there was no sound from his clothes rustling. “Special Agent Petticoat?” He called. His voice rang clear.

“Poopenheimer!?” came Petticoats shaky voice from Zayn’s right. He had jumped down from the car at some point and likely crawled through the mist until he got to Zayn’s position. “It seems all sounds except for our voices are completely muffled and I seem to be experiencing fatigue… I can hardly move…”

“Ahhh!!” Screamed another officer from the midst of the mist.

Petticoat, looking apprehensively into the mist as the man’s horrified scream faded away, was trembling now and his eyes were wide with concern. The only thing on his mind, surprisingly, was not the blue-eyed man, but a young man with olive skin in his mid-twenties lying in a casket as it was being lowered into the ground. On the young man’s left breast was the name “T. Petticoat”.

Zayn ignored the video for now and said, “Petticoat, we can’t hear the gun shots either! We need to calm everyone down somehow. Someone nearly shot and killed me a second ago.”

Petticoat hesitated for a second then cried out in a booming voice, “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!! This man took a sniper round to the chest and shrugged it off! There’s no point in shooting!”

For a moment there was no response. There was no sound at all until, Wham! Somebody ran full sprint into Zayn and Petticoat, knocking them both to the ground. The poor officer, who appeared to have gone mad with fright, had the look of someone who had just seen himself die, as thick beads of sweat streamed down his face. He didn’t stop or apologize or even look at Zayn or Petticoat. He only gathered himself back up and sprinted off into the mist, away from where Zeff had been.

“Smart man…” came a familiar voice.

Zayn and Petticoat turned to find Zeff staring down at them, his saffron eyes gleaming and filled with contempt. He was several paces away and, based on how Zayn had not been able to see anyone before, he should have been concealed by the mist. But it was as though the mist gave way for him and only him.

“If only you—” he pointed at Petticoat. “— had been as smart as that man, you could have saved several men’s lives tonight.”

Petticoat was still obviously scared, but he managed to speak nonetheless. “W-what did you do to my men, b*stard?!”

“I haven’t done a single thing.” Responded Zeff coldly, but there was a pity in his eyes now. “I tossed a few guys into the lake who were shooting their guns like madmen… But…” He trailed off but Zayn could guess what had happened.

“Don’t stand there and lie to me, Corad! I know who you are! You’re a murder! You all are! You kill with reckless abandon without regard for—”

Fast as light, Zeff had closed the distance between them and was standing less than a few feet away. In a flash he had taken Petticoat by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up off of his feet like he was made of bread and cotton. “You’ve been lied to Officer—” He looked for a name tag or badge, but when he found none he went on “—Officer Guy… I haven’t done any of the things they say I have.”

“Lies!” declared S.A. Petticoat as he struggle futilely to escape from Zeff’s iron grip. “There’s video!”

“You have no idea how deep this goes. Think: secret cults and shadowy organizations.”

“Let go of me!” was all Petticoat would say as he fought with every ounce of strength to get free of Zeff.

Zeff only sighed and said, “Look. You can believe whatever you want to… Just tell me where they took my friend and I’ll get out of here.”

Petticoat didn’t hear a single word. He was in his own world now, striking Zeff in the stomach, punching him in his face, and even kicking him between his legs, but Zeff didn’t so much as blink.

“Where is Syl—”

“You’re the same! You’re all the same! Murders!” Petticoat suddenly began to weep. “I’ll never forgive you monsters! I’ll wipe you all off the face of the earth!”

Zayn had been sitting idly by, enjoying the show, for a while now. Thanks to his mask Zeffhadn’T recognized him, but it was about time to act and this was a perfect time to catch Zeff unaware.

Just when he was about to make his move, however, something caught his eye. A faint yellow light from the corner of his eye that was getting brighter every moment.

He turned to see where the light was coming from and blinked hard in disbelief. “Petticoat! You—”

Zeff, finally noticing the light, could only look on dumbstruck, amazed and perplexed by what he was seeing.

Zayn covered his eyes. The light was so bright now that he could hardly see. “Petticoat!” Zayn cried. “You’re—”

“I’ll—I’ll never let him get away with what he’s done!! NEVER!” Petticoat yelled. As he did the bright yellow light that had been shining from his eyes burst forth like a supernova, dispelling the Dawn-Treader-Mist and releasing all the sound that had been held at bay.

Zeff didn’t release his grip, but he closed his eyes to protect them from the brilliant light.

The next moment Petticoat had grabbed his arm and, with little to no effort, broke free from Zeff’s grasp.

Zeff, not understanding what was going on, could only reel back in shock. But not for long, as the next second Petticoat had stepped around him so that he was in Zeff’s blind spot and grabbed him around waist with both arms.

He grunted and, with inhuman and inexplicable strength, he body slammed Zeff backwards over his shoulder like a pro wrestler with a loud and thunderous boom that shook the whole bridge.

Zayn was in utter disbelief.

Zeff, who had just taken a sniper bullet to the chest, was sprawled out, *ss up, in a small crater bleeding profusely from his head. While Petticoat, his eyes still glowing yellow, stood over him, seemingly unaware of the change that had taken place in him.

Zayn at once knew that this was no gift. And Petticoat was no G.I..

Every person in the Underworld and Overworld with a gift would have had it since they were born. The latest Zayn had ever heard of someone discovering their gift was five years old and that would only likely be because the gift wasn’t something flashy, but something rather subtle, instead.

But here stood Petticoat. Exuding an inhuman, bright yellow light from his eyes and, as Zayn looked a bit closer, from his whole body.

There was only one thing this could be…

“Get up, Corad!” yelled Petticoat. “I’m taking you in, be it alive or dead.”

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