Beta Earth: Between Worlds 2.0 Edition (10 page)

Introductions

Vin looks around the room. Everyone is dead except him and the wounded attacker. Clave stands in the back of the room. He holds his shoulder as he pants. “You probably should have run when you had the chance,” he says.

“And let you kill everyone else during our escape?” Vin says. Clave takes his hand from his wounded shoulder and straightens his posture.

“An option.” Clave says.

“Who are you?” Vin asks as he walks toward the desk in the center of the room. Clave takes a few steps forward and then rests on his sword.

“You think an assassin is gonna give you his name?”

“Yeah … I guess you are right.” Vin says as he picks up his broken glasses from the desk.
Damn I needed these.
He thinks.

Clave used the little banter to recover his stamina. Now partially refreshed, he charges Vin with his sword extended and a grin on his face. “What does it matter anyway? You’re gonna be dead in a second.”

Vin kicks the desk toward Clave and jumps back. Clave slices the desk in two and the two men lock eyes. Time seems to slow and a feeling of excitement overwhelms both Vin and Clave. They feel like they are on a similar level and can feel each other’s potential for the first time.

“Or two.” Clave reconsiders his previous statement, grinning sinisterly.

Vin steps back.
He is dangerous. Very dangerous. I need to finish this quick.
Vin initiates his assault. He uses his shadow illusion technique and literally shifts into close combat with Clave. Caught off guard, Clave scrambles to defend against the hail of punches. He takes wild swipes at Vin with his sword as he runs around the room.

Clave jumps off walls and dashes left and right. It seems like no matter what he does, Vin is right there. He never gives him a chance to rest. Clave stops his defensive maneuvers and decides to engage Vin directly. However, Clave’s every swing on Vin seems to land in a smoke cloud.
How is he doing this?
Clave wonders.

Vin uses Clave’s moment of pause to knock his sword out of his hand with a quick, decisive attack. Clave spins to the ground from Vin’s attack. Without missing a beat, Clave manages to pick up one of the guards guns. He fires it at Vin haphazardly.

Vin scrambles behind a pillar for cover. Clave continues firing on Vin hoping to at least wound him in the barrage of bullets. Vin picks up and throws vases, artifacts, papers, and whatever else he can find at Clave as he runs around the room. Suddenly, Vin hears Clave’s gun click empty.

He immediately shadow-shifts into close combat with Clave. However, this time Clave isn’t completely surprised and successfully guards against Vin’s attack. “Now I see why she feared you.” Clave says as he spars with Vin.

Vin ignores the comment and launches an all-out shadow attack on Clave. Vin manages to shadow-shift in, out, and around Clave. He scores indirect punches on his arms, back, face, and torso.

Vin's increased speed and ferocity causes Clave to panic. He desperately tries to guard himself against Vin’s onslaught. Over time, Clave manages to calm himself down and regain his focus. “I don’t really like killing people. You know? This … this is what I’ve been searching for.” Clave says.

He is fatigued from Vin’s attacks. However, he is also excited to meet such an extraordinary person.
What the hell? This is taking too long. This boy can follow me. He can follow my movements. I wonder if he—
Vin’s thought is interrupted when Clave scores a heavy blow to his chest. A surprised Vin cringes as he slides back from the force of the blow. Clave bounces up and down with a smile on his bruised face.

“A challenge … It’s finally a challenge!” A wild expression crosses Clave’s face. His eyes brim with energy. “It’s been so long … I can’t hold back,” he says with a newfound passion in his voice. Clave charges Vin and engages him in hand-to-hand combat. They exchange blows equally. Slowly but surely Vin’s shifts are losing its effectiveness against Clave. He has learned how to follow Vin’s movements.

Vin has overexerted himself by using the shift so much. He is fatigued and Clave takes advantage of this by working him over hard. Clave laughs as he continues to punch a now-unresponsive Vin. “You’re pretty good, I’ll admit. It’s almost too bad.” Clave says as he pummels Vin over by the tapestry-covered window. Vin is dazed and struggles remain standing. “You are not ready … to face someone like me.”

Clave leaps towards Vin and delivers a power punch to Vin's chest. The force knocks Vin through the cloth and sends him crashing through a window. Clave is stunned by the display because he didn’t realize there was a window behind the tapestry. “What the hell?” he says as he rips down the cloth and watches Vin fall.

Vin looks deeply into Clave’s eyes during his fall. Clave’s eyes seem to vibrate with energy. It's then he is sure of it. This boy has been to the area between worlds. Vin can see a monorail passing him from above. He concentrates hard on it.

“Come on!” He manages to shadow-shift onto the top of the monorail and latches on for dear life. All while Clave tracks the entire event.

“Interesting. They Gaidon and Vin both survived. But I still succeeded in stopping the alliance.” Clave says. He turns and looks around at the completely destroyed room. Clave walks over to his sword, picks it up, wipes it clean, and sheaths it. He touches the sides of his boots and they activate. He jumps on one of the pillars and run up.

After a short vertical climb, he is on the roof. Clave looks out over the city and listens to the sound of distant sirens as he pulls off his gloves. He then grabs his injured shoulder. It's still bleeding from his encounter with Faldo.

“I guess there are more interesting people in this world than I thought.” Clave rubs his head. He is dizzy and his eyes start to lose their fire. “Strange … I feel … tired. Very tired,” he says as watches the approaching storm.

Fluctuations

Vin lies on his back trying to grip the roof of the speeding monorail. Lightning flashes in the clouds above him. “Could he have been like me?” Vin asks himself. The monorail picks up speed and starts to curve through the outskirts of District 11.

Vin tightens his grip. He tries hard to hold on to the monorail in his weakened state.
He definitely had an abnormal mastery of time. And his eyes … they started to—
Vin’s thoughts are interrupted as the monorail increases its speed. For a moment he fears he will lose his grip but he manages to recover.

Vin looks up at the sky as he speeds along. The clouds look thick and menacing. Light rain starts to pelt Vin’s face.
Could he be one of the Avatars Abel and Mizrahi talked about?
Vin laughs weakly.
It would be my luck. Out of all the people.
More light rain hits Vin’s face. It’s refreshing but Vin is afraid he may lose his grip on the slippery monorail surface.

Or maybe luck had nothing to do with it. This … could be the start of something bigger and all the players are entering the fray.

Vin loses his grip. He slides to the side of the monorail and struggles to pull himself back up. He is dizzy and having a hard time concentrating as he clings to the side of the speeding train. “I can’t hold on—” Vin loses consciousness.

He slips off the monorail and barrels toward the ground. As he does, his surroundings distort and fluctuate. Vin can no longer feel the outside wind as he opens his eyes slowly. He is in a small shack with one bed a bathroom and a mirror. Vin looks at his hands.
Where am I?

Vin looks around and notices a young boy sleeping in a bed next to him. The boy is tossing and turning as if in the middle of a vivid dream. Just then, another young boy enters the room. The boy walks right past Vin and doesn’t notice him.

Vin quietly watches as the boy walks over to the bed. “Wake up.” The boy says as he shakes the bed. “We are under attack.” The boy wakes with a yawn. Vin recognizes him right away.“Come on let’s go Abel.” The boy says.

Abel stretches and looks in Vin’s direction. “Did you hear me?” The boy says with a hint of rising panic in his voice. “Our village is under attack we have to leave.” Abel rushes to gather his pre-packed items and heads over to the shack door.

“Okay, I’m ready Exari lets go.” Abel says. They exit the shack leaving the door wide open. Vin follows them outside. He looks up to see a large purple sky. Air assault units are flying overhead in formation.

Vin looks around and notices he is situated in a large valley. People are running around in a panic trying to gather their loved ones, food, and items. Vin spots Abel and Exari and he runs after them. Abel and Exari stop next to a little girl holding a doll.

Vin catches up to them and listens to their conversation. “Are we are heading for the rift?” The little girl asks. Abel nods in confirmation.

“It’s time we went home.” The little girl turns to Exari.

“Are you going with us?” she asks.

“Yes I am.” Exari replies.

“The rift will take me to my mom and my soon-to-be born sister… Lana.” A group of adults carrying travel goods walk past them. One of the adults stops and picks up the little girl.

“Hey!” she screams as she kicks and struggles. Abel runs in front of the adult.

“Let her go!” he demands. The adult stops and looks at Abel.

“We have to leave now. You kids stop messing around or you’re gonna die.” 

“She’s not going with you!” Abel shouts.

“We are going to the rift.” The adult laughs.

“The rift is a myth boy,” he says as he tries to subdue the struggling girl.

“There is no rift and there is no Paradise.” Vin walks over to the adult.

“Put her down,” he says. The adult doesn’t notice him at all. Vin tries to grab the girl but his hands go through her.

“What is going on?” he says while looking at his hands. Abel suddenly charges the adult and tries to knock him down. The adult kicks Abel and he falls to the ground holding his stomach.

“What is your problem kid—” Exari slams into the man’s ribs hard. It causes him to fall over and release the little girl in the process. The little girl runs over to Exari.

“XR!” she yells as she hugs him. Exari holds on to the little girl’s hand and turns to Abel.

“They are waiting for us Abe, let’s go.” Abel, Exari and the little girl run off in a different direction from the rest of the people. They run up a large slanted bridge that leads to the top of the valley. The rest of the villagers run into a cave that leads underneath the valley. While watching the villagers run into the cave.

Vin witnesses a large flash that brightens the entire sky coupled with a massive explosion. As Vin’s eyes recover from the flash. He sees the cave collapsing. “Oh no,” he says softly.

The villagers run around and scream in panic. Vin runs over to the cries for help but before he can reach his destination he is shifted to a different location. Vin is now standing next to a U.F. soldier. After taking a moment to orientate himself he takes a close look at the soldier’s uniform. “This type of uniform was used by the U.F. soldiers during the Beta Earth rebellion.” Vin says.

Abel and Exari walk up to the soldier. Not far behind, eight children are trailing in. “But this all happened nearly 17 years ago, what’s going on?” Vin says. He takes a good look at the children as they struggle up a fairly steep path towards the soldier. They are dirty, tired, hurt and have the look of desperation on their faces. Vin realizes some time has passed since he last saw them.
I must be warping around time
.

Abel approaches the soldier cautiously. “Please, just let us by.” he begs. The U.F. soldier shakes his head no.

“I cannot let you pass. We have been instructed to take you in.” The little girl steps forward.

“But the rift is so close!” she says as she points.

Vin looks in the direction she is pointing. He notices a large and very deep scar in the ground. A strong wind blows by them. The sky above the scar shimmers with the aurora borealis. The chasm light up with electromagnetic activity, making a colorful display.

“The rift! It’s here!” the little girl shouts. Abel pleads with the soldier.

“Please, we’ve come so far.”Exari walks towards the soldier. “Stop—” the soldier orders. Exari picks up his pace toward the soldier.

“We don’t have time for this.” Exari says with a charge. The soldier braces for impact and manages to hold his ground as Exari pushes him.

“Go now!” Exari shouts. All the children run toward the scar. The soldier subdues Exari and some of the boys running for the scar stop. They turn back to help Exari escape the soldier. This leaves only four children left running for the scar.

“Stop.” The soldier shouts.

“You don’t know what you are doing! If you run into that pit you will die!” the soldier screams to the children. A concerned Vin chases after the children as they run towards the edge of the scar. The wind is blowing fierce and the scar itself is now shimmering bright with electromagnetic activity. 

Abel looks to his friends. “Are you ready to do this?” he asks. The children confirm their conviction with a nod. Abel glances back. He can see, the soldier from before running after them. Behind him, a group of soldiers are gaining fast. Vin enters a vigorous sprint in his attempt to reach the children. The children hold hands as they run alongside the scar.

All of them look down into the deep darkness of the crevice. “Don’t do it!” Vin cries out as he finally reaches the children. They don’t hear his call and leap feet first into the scar while still holding hands. Vin, without giving it a second thought, leaps in after them. As the children fall they are carried by the strong wind and enveloped in the electromagnetic storm.

Vin reaches out to Abel’s arm.
Please let me save them
. He thinks as he stretches to reach Abel. Abel looks back and notices something has grabbed him but he doesn’t know what. The colorful electromagnetic storm grows so bright that Vin can no longer see anything. “Please let me be in time!” Vin says just before his surroundings fade to white.