Chapter 411: Needing Assistance
While the attack was being planned, Celes, Nora, Gia, Joan, Gretchen, Wilma, Renee and everyone else looked on in horror. They had gotten far enough away to escape the range of the lightning strikes, but even then the energy in the air couldn’t be ignored.
"What is he doing?" Celes asked, watching Laz look up at the gathering energy and not making a move. They had seen everything that had happened while making their escape and they knew just how deadly the attacks had been prior to this. Even that so called god didn’t stand a chance against that black lightning so they had no idea how Laz was going to survive it.
"I don’t know. I don’t even know if he has a plan. If he was smart, he would run and take cover under that crawling worm of a deity," Nora said, upset. She had seen Laz eatened and had almost lost her cool right then. But she trusted he wasn’t suicidal and felt like there must be a reason. Then, as she looked on, Tezcatlipoca had been hit with bolt after bolt of lightning eventually sending him flying. It was then that Nora understood Laz had been using the god like a shield and couldn’t help but laugh at how genius such an idea was.
Now though, seeing Laz ignore the injured god and instead face the oncoming barrage, she couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of plan he had... or even if he had one.
As the women looked on in worry, a voice came to them.
:He must face this if he is to survive. You all should witness it as well. For those of you who can still grow stronger in the future, you will have to face this kind of ordeal. Although, truth be told, I doubt it will be even a fraction of this kind of strength. It seems like the world hates Asura far more than I have dreamed possible,: the voice said, making them all jump at once.
As they turned to one another, wondering who said it or even if they had heard it, the voice came again.
:Worry not. I am not your enemy. I am the one who told him to face this trial. My name is... was, Ichpochtli,: the voice said.
"Ichpochtli? The goddess of maidens?" Nora, the most knowledgeable about these things asked.
:Well... yes.... although I do have other titles, I’m glad to see I am not forgotten.: Ichpochtli seemed slightly pleased by this response.
"Well... you kind of are. I just happened to have studied Aztec culture back in college for fun so of course I know of your name. I also know that you hate Tezcatlipoca? Is that why you are helping Laz?" While Nora might have been a bit more respectable in the past, right now wasn’t the time for such things.
:Yes. Well... I guess all things fade with time, do they not? Perhaps only the sun itself will last forever...: Ichpochtli mused, slightly sad that her name had been lost in time.
"Actually, the sun will most likely burn itself out in about five thousands years, give or take. And it wouldn’t be the first sun we have watched die either. But that’s neither here nor there. What do you want?" This time Celes responded, wanting to get to why they had been contacted.
:Yes. Well. I need your help. I told Laz I would rush to awake from my slumber to help him subdue that bastard, but after being asleep for so long, I find I am no longer as strong as I once was. Once the lightning of the tribulation passes, Tezcatlipoca will no longer be restrained by it. And even when Laz passes this trial, there is no way he could beat him. In the end, it will take everything we’ve got to destroy that bastard. And to be of help, I need to be out of the ground first.: Ichpochtli said, conveying her situation to the women.
"How do we know we can trust you?" Celes said, clearly not ready to believe a voice that just appeared in her head.
:Because I can swear to you the truth upon the will of the world. If I am lying, then the world itself will see me as a traitor and punish me with something far worse that what Laz is now going through.:
"That’s a thing? People have been swearing on things since the dawn of time and nothing ever happens when they lie," Gretchen asked, clearly not believing.
:That’s because they were too weak for the world to take notice. But for a god like myself, such a promise would bind my life. As for you, all of you, such a promise wouldn’t take your lives per say, but the retribution would leave you half dead. So in the future, I would advise you to watch just what kind of promises you make,: Ichpochtli said in a friendly, advising manner.
Despite everyone’s reluctance, Celes made a decision.
"Tell us what we need to do..."
...
Laz stared at the sky, knowing what he had to do next.
While there were many worries within his heart, he knew that now wasn’t the time for them. He needed to put them aside and focus on what was happening now.
As the world looked on unknowingly to Laz, Laz activated his battle form. His dark hair became snow white with a tint of red to it. His skin turned ash grey as the black tribal tattoos spread out. Taking off his jacket and shirt and stashing them away, Laz felt the air on his skin while the wild energy tore at his pores, making his entire body feel electric. As his blue eyes turned golden, he drew upon the power of the apocalypse ring, causing the massive red ring to appear behind him. Within it, the gold and purple palace appeared as well, causing it to seem like a mirror reflecting the world withing himself.
Every time Laz took a breath, the world within took a breath as well, perfectly in sync with one another.
Staring up at the sky that shook with the energy it generated, Laz simple said one word,
"Come!"
It might have just been spoken, but the word echoed out, like a command from a god. That one word alone had enough power to shake even Tezcatlipoca who had finally escaped from the danger zone.
The scene itself was dramatic in a way the general and agent Wallace couldn’t have predicted. While they had been watching from the beginning and therefore knew of the context, those who had just began watching the special event live had no idea what had gone on before. All they saw on the screen was a one hundred foot man crawling away from Laz as he stood in his full glory, ordering the sky and heavens itself.
Just as the word stopped echoing, the barrage began, striking down like the fury of heaven that it was.
For those watching, this would be the only time they would see it since the video was deleted from the internet soon after this day, an effort only made possible by all of the governments in the world taking action to ensure no trace of it existed.
And the stories they told about it seemed to grow more and more crazy in each retelling. In some tellings, a whole host of angels charged from the sky to combat this lone man standing firm. Other’s say they saw alien battleships unleash an other worldly barrage of interstellar weapons at him. And some would claim that god himself lifted his arm into the sky, pulled out and shot down the Lance of Longinus at Laz.
No matter what story was told, the one thing that was said was the same.
Laz laughed as he set his stance, brought his fist back and swung it forward, meeting the attack with a long fist that looked so small in comparison.
After the attack hit, the drone went dark, leaving the video stream to end as the general and everyone in the mobile command center scrambled to get the feed back up. Sadly though, the resulting energy storm caused all of the long range feeds to fail. The short range feed on the drone still broadcasted to the vehicle however, but even then the view was distorted as it seemed like several branches of trees were in the way. The drone operator quickly confirmed the drones navigation and engines were offline and only the camera in it’s electromagnetic shielding managed to survive.
The final pictures of the scene they could see before even that short range feed went dead was one man, chard black, standing in a crater of destroyed ground, his fist still held out before him as streaks of the black lightning still sparked off from his body.
As they watched on in horror, Laz brought his fist down from the sky, the ring and palace disappeared as his hair became black once again and his body changed back to that of a regular human.
They only knew this happened because the chard bits of flesh fell away like the scraps off a carving, leaving a perfectly molded statue in it’s wake.
The only thing that stayed the same on Laz were his golden eyes that looked down at his right hand and then his left as he curled his hands into fists several times.
Laz then looked back up to the sky and with a voice not his own, he roared.
It was then that the feed on the camera cut out all together, leaving the men and women in stunned silence.
