Chapter Twenty Three: Sunlit Night

Behind the sunlight, Ronin saw that the sky was dark, stars somewhat visible despite the glowing light.

A massive circle of glowing light floated just beyond the edge of the veranda, bobbing in the air as though it were in water.

Suddenly it was rocketing toward him, it's light and heat intensifying faster than he could process, when just as suddenly it was sent flying backward toward its source.

In front of him, Marcus had appeared faster than he could see, knocking the giant ball of light away from them before it could strike.

Marcus spoke, his voice as tired as before, but lined with steel, unbending, "Show yourself, coward."

A voice spoke from beyond the edge of the veranda, deep and menacing, as though it were itself going to strike them down, "Who are you to call me a coward, Marcus Orellius? You, who hides behind so so many children, shirking your responsibilities like the fool you are."

From beyond the veranda, a figure floated upward, draped in a cloak that could only be described as befitting royalty.

Pure white without even a speck of dirt, it fluttered about, reaching down to the man's feet. Edged with glowing white fur, the cloak seemed to push all other light away from itself, its very presence an affront to reality somehow.

Within the cloak, a man with pale skin, soft features and bright glowing white eyes framed by long black hair, crossed his arms and said, his voice resonating through everyone present, "I'd call this a case of the pot calling the kettle black."

Marcus motioned for everyone to leave, to run away, but Ronin couldn't tear his eyes away from the man, whose presence was so strong everyone but Marcus and himself could barely stand to see him.

Barely able to move, Ronin stood transfixed, watching the strange man's every movement, every action.

"Marcus, are you still wasting your time with these petty projects?"

 Glaring at him, Marcus said, "Just because you abandoned the cause, Daruik, doesn't mean any of us did."

The man, Daruik, laughed and said, "And I suppose you're still upset about 'Mother' aren't you?"

Marcus's eyes burned with hate and he said, "I'll never forgive you for what you did."

Daruik smiled cruelly and said, "Me? You'll never forgive me? Or do you mean you'll never forgive yourself for helping as long as you did? You know your brothers still haven't, even if my brother has. They'll never forgive you."

Marcus disappeared from Ronin's sight, reappearing in front of Daruik, punching him in the face and Ronin got excited, he could be beaten!

Except...Daruik had moved to the side before Marcus had arrived in front of him, pulling out a blade from what seemed to be the air and stabbing him directly in the ribs.

"How's it feel, my friend, to feel this same dagger once again? I've kept it for so, so, so very long to sheathe it in my betrayer's heart once again," Daruik said, his smile darkening into a frown.

Ronin regained his senses and whispered, "Activate: Speed."

The Aether energy in his body rapidly redistributed itself, filling his legs with unbelievable power and he moved faster than he ever had, faster than he'd thought possible, appearing beside Daruik in the fraction of a second, only to be backhanded by the man who was apparently well aware of Ronin's speed.

Landing on the veranda, he flipped so his feet were on the ground again and ran away, jumping up to and off of a nearby fountain, desperate to get close enough for a hit, the hit he felt would be all it took.

Daruik turned as Ronin flew toward him, looking him dead in the eyes and Ronin felt as though time had stopped.

 Smiling again at him, he turned and grabbed the dagger in Marcus's chest, using it to throw the man directly into Ronin's path, which sent the two careening down to the floor of the veranda.

Laughing at the two of them, Daruik said, "I'm genuinely surprised to see anything like that here. You researcher types keep surprising me, I'll need to keep an eye out for anyone else so interesting."

Marcus lay bleeding on Ronin, who was still recovering from the force of landing and Marcus's weight on his body.

Pulling them back to the doorway while Daruik watched patiently, a smile ever present, Ronin said, "What can we do here, Marcus?"

 In the doorway, Marcus pushed himself off of Ronin and rested against the frame of the door, looking down and thinking.

 "There's only one thing I know to do in this situation, Ronin, but it's a real emergency kinda thing, last ditch, no more chances," Marcus said as he gasped.

Ronin nodded and prepared to attack again when Marcus put his hand on Ronin's chest and said, "I'm going to make you a deal, ok?"

 Ronin looked at him incredulously and said, "This isn't the time, Marcus."

 Marcus pushed him back against the wall hard enough to stop him from moving and said, "I'm going….to...make you...a deal…"

Ronin looked into his eyes, set and hard, and said, "What's the deal, Marcus."

Smiling vacantly, Marcus said, "I'm going to do everything in my power to hold him back, and you need to get your team and get as far away from here as possible."

Marcus held his hand forward and tried to shake his hand, but Ronin said, "Fine. But you NEED to come find us when you can. You NEED to survive."

Marcus rolled his eyes and said, "Tough terms man...tough terms...but I think I can manage that. He seems to only be using a small percentage of his power right now...I don't know why...but he seems content to stay there."

He forced his hand into Ronin's and shook and said, "Deal's a deal, now get out of here." He looked at Silas and said, "Make sure you guys get where you're going."

 Silas nodded and grabbed Ronin, holding him up and said, "We're going to Neyk, Marcus. We'll see you there."

 As they ran, Daruik began to move closer to the doorway, apparently tired of waiting.

Marcus stood slowly, holding his chest and walked out to the veranda and said, "I guess when you're as strong as you've become, you can afford to be fickle, huh?"

Ronin stopped at the end of the hall and watched Marcus stand up tall, holding his hands together as though he were praying.

Daruik continued to move closer until Marcus's hands began to separate, seemingly pulling a massive sword from the palm of his left hand.

Seeing the sword, Daruik stepped back and held his arm up defensively by his face and said, "That's impossible."

Shrugging, Marcus took a defensive stance with the blade and said, "Hey, a deal's a deal."

He moved again and the sword was covered in black flame, a flame that grew from the blade and wrapped Marcus in fire.

As the fire wrapped itself around his arm, becoming what seemed from a distance to be armor for the arm, it became clear that Marcus was feeling much better, as he immediately disappeared and Daruik was forced backward, apparently struck by an invisible force.

Silas shook Ronin and said, "We don't have time for this, he's buying us time!"

Ronin nodded and Scalpel pulled them both onto the elevator, sending it downward toward the lab where the rest of the group waited for them.