Chapter 414: The Enemy of my Enemy
Laz could only see stars as he opened his eyes, at least, he was going to call those flashes of lights in his vision stars since he had no idea what else to call them. His head felt like he had been hit by a truck and his body felt like it had been hit by a train. What was the difference? If his head had been hit by the train, it probably wouldn’t be attached right now.
When Laz regained his focus, he noticed that Ichpochtli was gone. Laz couldn’t see any trace of her which meant she was probably ok. Had he seen a body, he would have been worried. As far as Laz was concerned, if he survived, she survived.
Laz slowly made his way away from the crater that was left in the ground. Obviously something had been fired at them, but Laz was kind of confused as to why it was only one whatever. He had survived and so had Ichpochtli which meant that they had failed to kill them.
’They had to know we are still alive, so why the hell aren’t they raining down hellfire or whatever?’ Laz asked himself as he began heading towards the main gate. Since the place was surrounded and the girls were in the wooded area somewhere, he needed to go the opposite direction, even if that place was more dangerous.
Several more blasts rang out, surrounding the area that Laz was walking in. Strangely, they were far enough away that the blast itself didn’t affect him directly, but he did get hit by bits of shrapnel and rock. Luckily for him, his body was healing at an alarming rate and he was able to keep going. What was even better was this was his nature ability to heal as he could feel the energy coming from inside of himself to repair his body. It wasn’t something A’ruya was feeding him this time to keep him alive, something he was grateful for.
Laz wanted to run, but oddly the blasts from above kept him going at a rather slow but steady pace. If he tried to go too fast, the next blast would be right in front of his path, causing him to change directions.
’They’re fucking herding me... What the shit?’ Laz thought to himself as he came upon Tezcatlipoca laying on the ground like a dead dog. Oddly, the stakes had been pulled from his head and sat in a bloody pile a mere twenty feet from where he lay. It was obvious that he was no longer bound by them, but also obvious that something else had happed as his body had become a more normal size; around ten feet tall.
Laz wondered at why he was lead here when he heard the god groaning as he started to stir. Considering the circumstances, Laz felt that this old piece of shit didn’t pose much of a problem anymore and walked up closer to him, poking his stomach with his shoe to see how he would react.
Tezcatlipoca turned over and looked up, seeing Laz staring down at him.
"Heh," Tezcatlipoca laughed, although if he was laughing at his own powerlessness or the fact that the man he tried to eat was now standing over him, Laz didn’t know.
Instead of saying anything to the lump of useless meat laying in the dirt, Laz closed his eyes and spread his awareness. Dozens of troops, vehicles, and chosen were coming, just outside the perimeter fence and about to make their way inside. Laz also noticed a certain pull a few hundred feet away and raised his hand, focusing his sense on a certain point before ’pulling’ with his mind.
With a few cracks and splinters from trees now missing limbs, Sever once more landed in Laz’s hand as he drew the blade in front of him, resting the tip of the blade at Tezcatlipoca’s exposed neck.
"DO IT. You fucking any. Just do it..." Tezcatlipoca coughed as he tried raising his voice. He could barely speak as it was.
Looking at him, Laz didn’t know how he had ended up this bad. Whether it was the black lightning or Ichpochtli’s revenge, neither seemed as though they were enough to bring down a god. After all, Laz had survived the lightning himself, right? How powerful could it have been when it hit the old god?
"The tribulation... adjusts to the one it is trying to exterminate. Even if the will of the world wants you dead, it won’t be so unfair as to not give you a chance. Afterall, even the will of the world recognizes a need for strong fighters once in a while," Tezcatlipoca laughed, clearly reading the thoughts on Laz’s face.
"So you were this weak? You couldn’t even handle a bolt of lightning meant to kill me?" Laz asked, still slightly confused.
"NO... No... you idiot. That bolt of lightning was strong enough to kill me since I was right there in the middle of the storm. The world thought I was protecting you and was enraged. That bolt... was meant to take down an Asura god. Not a native Aztec god. My ancestors would have been much stronger than us... but even at our peak, we couldn’t compare to an Asura. And now.. because of my greed, here I lay. Even Ichpochtli only kicked me in my man parts a few times when she saw how injured I was... HA. To think she of all people would one day pity me." Tezcatlipoca’s voice seemed wild and deranged, but also weak and distant. It was only now that Laz remembered that even a god such as Tezcatlipoca could die.
’Perhaps there are immortals in the world... but they are not here...’ Laz thought to himself as he moved the blade away from the man’s throat.
"You... You’re not going to kill me? After I almost killed you?" Tezcatlipoca asked, surprise mixed in with his raspy voice.
"You didn’t kill me though. And besides, I benefited from your stupidity. Think of this as my thanks and my farewell." Laz replyed with a weird half grin on his face.
"Farewell? You’re not worried I will come after you? To finish what I started?"
"If you get out of here, it will be contained in the back of a transport vehicle. I can’t say for sure, but somehow I think that those crazy bastards would just love to get a hold of an infected like you," Laz responded before taking another step away.
Doing so resulted with another explosion happening close by, causing Laz to stop moving forward.
"I don’t understand...."
"Chosen and infected. That is what the world is divided by currently," Laz started.
"I know that. I’ve been awake and listening for a while."
"Well, you fall under the infected category. You’re blood is a key to your power and you no longer look completely human," Laz explained, refencing Tezcatlipoca elongated noise and mouth like a wolf.
"Because of that, you will be treated like one of us. As such, you will be captured and studied. Possibly dissected. You are strong and while I don’t think that the chosen and the government could take you on at full strength just yet, I don’t doubt that they will lock you up and find ways so that you never regain your strength again. You will be a lab rat for the rest of your life..." Laz finished his explanation and looked for understanding in the broken gods eyes.
"They would never treat a god...."
Laz saw it, the understanding taking place. Tezcatlipoca was related to mystical beasts and as such, his bloodline was the beginnings and ends of his power. He followed the rules of strength like other infected, even if he was years and realms ahead of everyone. The chosen would know this and see this and consider him a treat. Tezcatlipoca wouldn’t fear these mortals in normal times, but with the limited energy available to him, he would spend a long time trying to regain his powers of a god realm.
And even he was able to see and understand just how strong humans without energy could be as there was no way he didn’t noticed the blasts going on around him and Laz.
"What?"
"I’m sorry?" Laz responded, a smile on his face.
’Got him.’
"What do you want from me?" Tezcatlipoca asked through clenched teeth.
"They will be here soon. Hundreds of mortals with weapons that can pierce my skin and dozens of chosen with powers that are in direct contrast to ours. Flying war ships of all different types and even unmanned drones to watch us while the leader of these men give them orders from a safe distance. Currently, I have been at war with them for six years. As for you, I haven’t even known you for six hours, at least the real you. Therefore, my hatred of them is immeasurably stronger than my hatred of you. So, if you want to live... then I purpose an alliance. You and me. If you want to get out of here alive, well... this is the only way." Laz wasn’t sure even he believed the words he was saying. After all, he was a wanted fugitive and had been the one causing problems. Still, it wasn’t like they were going to leave him alone, even if they weren’t actively hunting him down all the time. Therefore, there was truth in his words, if only a little bit.
"And Ichpochtli?" Tezcatlipoca questioned.
"Gone. And the women here with her."
"So you stayed behind to be a distraction boy? Tell me, did she seduce you as well?"
"Hardly. We have a deal. I take the heat off her and she makes sure the girls get away safely."
"I don’t believe you... but it seems I don’t have a choice."
"FREEZE. NEITHER OF YOU MOVE OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" Came the order over a bullhorn. Laz and Tezcatlipoca had been surrounded and Laz finally understood why the gunship hadn’t targeted him directly.
They wanted him alive. And if they couldn’t have that, they wanted proof he was dead.
"I guess blowing me up would make it hard to identify enough pieces to prove my death, huh?" Laz asked out loud to no on in particular.
"Boy... You are smiling. Are you enjoying this?" Tezcatlipoca asked as he tried standing for the first time.
"Maybe... if only a little," Laz said, his smile widening as he gazed into the face of death yet again.
