The Dawn of Destruction, Chapter Seven (Clean)

                    The Dawn of Destruction

Interitus 1 – Book One

            Chapter Seven

            As starlight glistened across the widespread wreckage, the sound of automatic gunfire pierced into the night. Seth and Phil stood near the overturned train car, using it to protect themselves from Naomi’s machinegun. However, their moment of safety did not last long; one of the enormous metal worms thundered toward them at an extraordinary speed. At the same time, the other worm started falling to the earth after soaring through the air. They were both too fast to escape. Seth knew that the airborne worm would fall right toward him and Phil, while the other worm was just seconds away from tearing them both to pieces. The knives attached to the gyrating worms spun inconceivably quickly; it would be impossible for Seth to Destroy either worm with his right hand.

But as he contemplated his next move, the worms still rapidly approached. Seth knew that Phil would die if he did not duck, but there was not enough time to say anything. Therefore, Seth swung his foot out and tripped his best friend. As Phil fell to the ground, Seth threw himself toward the earth with his right hand outstretched. He activated Destruction as soon as he touched the dirt.

            But this time, Seth did not use Destruction to carve a crater through the underground; he instead sculpted a series of short caverns within a single split second. The worm which charged horizontally along the earth’s surface fell through the opening of a cavern underneath it. The rocky entrance was just wide enough to let the enormous creature through, but its knives all snapped on the limestone tunnel’s walls. Because of the way Seth had carved the underground tunnels, he managed to redirect the motion of the worm. Meanwhile, Phil watched from the ground as Seth hopped to his feet.

            When the worm erupted upward from the other end of the cave, just seconds after it had first charged into the cavern, the other worm plummeted back down to the earth from its previous jump. The two worms slammed together in mid-air from opposite directions and at a very high speed, just meters away from Seth. However, Seth was prepared with a keen eye. In the chaos of the collision, the worms seemed to control a single aspect of their demise—they launched a huge component of the shrapnel toward Seth.

            Blades and steel fired toward the two friends. Seth used his right hand’s Destruction of matter to block a large scrap of spinning steel, though three broken knives flew toward him at head level. He ducked to dodge these, and then he threw his left hand out in front of his face, using the Destruction of energy to block a series of high-speed nuts and bolts. One of the worm’s spinning sections flew toward him through the air, but Seth was too disoriented to think clearly. He kicked his left leg to try to block the oncoming section, but its momentum overwhelmed him; it threw Seth across the wreckage while shrapnel pierced his skin. Phil had been ducking with his arms over his head, but two high-speed scraps of metal struck him in his upper back.

While Seth winced from watching his friend take damage, he kept his eyes open because he was about to land in a field of wreckage. He then saw that an ominous spike piercing through the debris; he knew he would land directly on top of the spike, and he had no way to avoid it.

            Meanwhile, Naomi stopped blindly firing her machinegun. When the echoes stopped and the two shattered worms fell to the earth, the entire field of blood and metal fell silent. There was no sign of life. Nevertheless, she was not convinced that it was over. For that reason, she Created a new worm beside the train car on which she stood. She Created it much like the other worms, though its head did not spin quite like the rest of it. Once it was done, she stepped atop its head and had it slowly carry her toward the place where Seth and Phil had been. It took a full minute to cross the distance because many obstacles littered the wreckage.

            During that time, Seth crashed against the spike and received a deep, bloody ravine across his left leg. Although the throbbing pain nearly knocked him out, he did not let it stop him from saving himself; he Destroyed the base of the metal spike. While Naomi moved carefully across the wreckage, Seth dragged the top of the broken spike through his torn shirt. After verifying that no one could see him, he used the spike to cut an incision in his chest, just shallow enough to not risk his life. However, Seth managed to lodge the spike between his cut and his torn shirt, making it look like the spike had stabbed through his chest. It appeared that the spike was holding him in place. He also decorated his exposed chest with blood from the wound in his leg.

            By the time Naomi arrived, her enemy looked so vulnerable that she let out an elated sigh. His ploy had worked, and the background was silent. Seth looked like a victim of a tragic puncture; Naomi triumphantly approached on the head of her servile beast. The stars in the sky shimmered across the scraps and corpses that decorated the barren valley. The spilled blood glistened upon the saturated earth.

            “I must admit, you did quite well, given the circumstances. It’s a shame you can kill with a single touch. I thought this when we first met too, but I would’ve loved to enjoy your body until it surrendered,” Naomi said.

            “Do what you wish. I can’t feel my arms or legs… I can’t move at all. But have you seen Phil anywhere? Will you let him live?” Seth gasped.

            “He will be fine as long as he does not try to stop me. But Seth Freeman, you have to understand that I cannot believe you when you tell me you’re beaten. It is simply too huge of a risk to take. Surely, I cannot allow myself to be Destroyed just because I wished to partake in some of my… extracurricular interests. Although, I must admit, that is the only voice in my mind telling me to resist,” she whispered with intrigue.

            “Since I’ll be dead in a moment, may I ask why you’re doing this? You told me some before, but it’s vague. What do you really want out of all this?” Seth asked.

            Naomi paused for a moment as she stood atop her monster, staring out over the smoldering wreckage. Smoke interrupted the glow of starlight. She contorted her face as she contemplated a response, and Seth let out a quiet groan so as to keep up the act.

            “I do this because I am disgusted with humanity—nothing more. I am revolted by what we have become. That said, I do not want to simply extinguish us; I don’t believe that anything is inherently evil. I only want to return our species to an extremely small number, so we can develop along a nobler path on our second try,” Naomi answered.

            “I see. Naomi, may I ask you one more thing? How is it that we obtained these powers?”

            “I’ll admit that I don’t know anything about you or the power you possess, but the truth is that I’ve known for a long time that this power is my destiny. Many years ago, an Astrodeus told me that I am the reservoir of Creation—that I would have the right hand that rewrites reality. I know this because the powers of God have been sent to Earth. Omniscience, Creation, Destruction… and there is one more Fragment of Omnipotence that landed in the waters of north Polynesia. We seem to be the center focus of the Astrodei’s plans, but the truth is that their intentions mean nothing to me. After all, I am the most powerful being on Earth. I have the weapon that redefines reality.”

            “And how do you know all of this?” Seth asked.

            “You would know if you spoke with the Astrodei, with the silent giants that lurk in the shadows of our world. They see everything, they influence everything. They know everything.”

            “Astrodei? What the hell is that…?” Seth asked.

            “Talking time is over.”

            Naomi placed her hands onto the worm underneath her feet. The entire creature radiated with an unfamiliar color and transformed into a smaller, humanoid shape; the transformation caused a loud sound of crinkling metal from the hollow worm folding in on itself. Naomi landed on the ground beside her android, and then it staggered toward Seth with its tongue outright, almost as if it wanted to devour him in his paralyzed state. Seth realized that Naomi intended to let him Destroy the doll as a substitute, just in case he was faking paralysis. In this way, she could test the waters without risking herself.

            Knowing that he had no other choice, Seth ripped out the spike and hurled himself toward the mindless drone. He crashed into the android and threw it at Naomi so that it could distract her. Naomi jolted in surprise; she was too distracted by the outpour of blood from Seth’s wound. She was only ten feet away when Seth started running toward her. She bounced and nearly tripped as she stumbled backward, lifting her right hand so that she could create a weapon which could intimidate Seth. However, he was unconcerned when she materialized a submachinegun; he knew that in her haste, she failed to even load it with bullets. He grabbed the barrel with his right hand, and with a split second’s thought, he realized that Naomi expected him to Destroy this weapon.

            Therefore, Seth did not activate his Destruction. Naomi threw herself backward without letting go of the gun because she thought he would Destroy it, so Seth pulled on the weapon instead. This sudden jerk stopped Naomi’s attempt at jumping away, and so she slammed against the dirt directly beside his feet. She gasped from the shock of her escape had gone terribly wrong. Seth pinned her to the ground with his right foot on her chest, and then he hurled himself to the ground.

            But in the very short time before Seth had the chance to plant his right hand against her head, Naomi suddenly Created a dagger in her right hand; Seth had to stop falling and roll away, just to avoid getting stabbed. After a quick slam and roll, Seth and Naomi both lay on the ground, just a few feet apart. But since Seth tried to chase her, Naomi chose to escape. She rolled swiftly away from her assailant and threw her hand against the ground along the way; she Created a series of steel walls to protect herself. After making five barricades in about five seconds across a short distance, Naomi clapped her hands together and Created a magnificent longsword which shimmered in the starlight. However, she had mistakenly made it too heavy.

            On the other end of the steel walls, Seth rapidly Destroyed everything in between himself and his enemy. He hated that he had let the dagger ruin his only chance to stop Naomi, but he used that anger to charge toward her, ignoring the intense pain of his injured leg. After he tore down every wall and found her standing in the starlight with her sword in her hand, he was not afraid. Her sword did not scare him; he could tell with one glance that her thin arms could barely lift it, let alone bring it to do any real damage.

Without delay, Seth dropped to the ground and ascended very quickly, grabbing a dense, steel bar. With adrenaline and pain driving him forward, Seth sprinted toward Naomi and readied this bar to block her sword. However, his confidence was a critical mistake. Naomi knew that Seth intended to block her sword, and so she activated the left hand with which she held her weapon. And just like Seth’s left hand could Destroy energy and momentum, her left hand Created energy.

            Naomi’s sword suddenly shot through the air at an unexpected speed; it slammed against Seth’s weapon with enough power to break it. The force felt like a river’s current, and the impact threw him backward to the left until he stumbled to a stop. Suddenly, Seth was terrified of Naomi’s weapon; it was heavy enough to deal massive damage, and she could launch it into motion with no warning whatsoever. It was simply too dangerous for him to pursue Naomi at this distance.

            Once Naomi realized her enemy was both afraid and at a distance, she selected a circle in the ground through which she could materialize another one of her hellish worms. An intense light outshined the glow of the stars in the sky; the deafening roar of the rising creature began to resound throughout the trainyard. Everything felt lost in the wake of the emerging adversary, but Seth could not do anything to stop her. But while he watched the ascent of her monster, a metal blade shot through the air and struck Naomi in the lung. Streams of blood spattered from the incision, and then the summoning circle faded away.

Naomi dropped to the ground between Seth and Phil, and when her knees crashed to the ground, she saw Phil standing behind her with a knife in his right hand. She could feel her breath fleeting; she knew she would drown in her own blood if she did nothing to stop it. Her right hand clasped the ground, and then she Created a pillar of concrete beneath her feet. As it materialized, this pillar shot up into the sky so quickly that Phil had no chance to attack again. And as the tower pushed her far away from her enemies, she touched her chest in search of the puncture. When she found it, she repaired her lung by using Creation.

            “That was too close,” Naomi muttered.

            Naomi completed the regeneration of her body and stopped growing her pillar at a height of 400 feet. Phil sprinted over to Seth and searched his skin for wounds in spite of his own injuries.

            “Hey, Seth, how bad she hurt you?!” Phil asked.

            “I’m fine! Let’s get outta here, now! Naomi may be resting,” Seth said.

            “Ain’t it sad that we jus’ got our asses beat by some crazy hot Asian girl? She don’t look like she can even hold a gun, it’s a damn shame. But, yeah man, let’s go!”

            Phil retrieved a knife from the earth beside the massive pillar. Seth looked across the dark plain with an uncomfortable twinge. The smoke which lifted from the smoldering wreckage only further shrouded the light from the sky.

            “But how are we supposed to escape?” Seth asked.

            “Man, do I look like Houdini or some shit? You askin’ the dumb-ass who got lost tryin’ to cut detention in eleventh grade, and you expectin’ good ideas? Jus’ run like it’s the police!”

            Phil abruptly started running toward the perimeter of the wreckage. Seth followed, and before long, they approached the open plains that surrounded the battleground. Before they left the wreckage, Seth grabbed two huge sheets of inflexible metal. Phil smiled and took one, holding it to cover his back while they dashed away from the trainwreck. Naomi, however, did not want to let them escape. Since they had achieved enough distance that a machinegun might not pierce their shields, Naomi decided instead to Create a rocket-launcher. All she had to do now was target her enemy in the scope of her weapon, and in no time, they would burst into flames.

            However, after launching the grenade, there were two physical reactions which Naomi had not anticipated. The first was that the recoil of her rocket-launcher knocked her off of the narrow pillar. Secondly, even though she could not see this because her pillar blocked her sight, the rocket-propelled grenade did not go far enough. The weapon landed thirty feet short of Seth and Phil. And if it were not for her quickly Creating a bungee cord which attached to the rock tower, the five-second freefall would have killed her.

            Seth and Phil dropped to the ground as the grenade’s explosion echoed across the plain. They were not struck by the shockwave or any shrapnel, but the shock of the detonation still jolted them. Flames roared across the thirsty grass behind them, however the smoke diluted the starlight just enough for Seth to forge a plan; the smoke gave him a chance to convince Naomi that the explosion had killed them. Seth firmly attached his hand to the ground, while Phil quietly coughed and griped about the smoke that blinded them both. With the power of Destruction, Seth opened a small crater in the ground beneath them. The two friends fell and then pressed their backs against the interior wall of the crater. Seth stared up through the opening. The scarlet glow was already beginning to dim; the crackling fire dissipated much faster than expected. The smoke steadily faded in the air, until eventually it let the starlight pass through.

            By the time she returned to the top of her rocky tower, Naomi saw nothing but charred earth where Seth and Phil once stood. As far as she knew, her attack worked, and Seth Freeman had been killed. The wreckage had returned to silence just like before they first arrived, after the trainwreck had finally settled. The entire plain looked motionless. The thrill of battle was gone, so Naomi sighed with relief, knowing that she was safe. It was over. But something tugged at her. Something whispered to her that it would take more than that to kill the other Fragment of Omnipotence; it could not end in such a simple conclusion. It was partially because she did not watch Seth die. It still did not feel complete, at least not permanently. It was for this reason that she touched her hand against the peak of her pillar. Though her power had drained her during this battle, Naomi Created a thin bridge which led to the smoldering crater.

            At the other end where the bridge met with the earth, Naomi stepped onto a spot which was just a short distance from the focus of the explosion. Although the starlight began fading as morning approached, Naomi could tell that the crater was not there before her attack. Despite the substantial damage produced by a rocket-launcher, she knew that it probably did not cause a crater this big. It was merely an obvious disguise to trick her into thinking she had killed Destruction.

However, Naomi did not have enough energy to pursue her enemies and fight them again. As the edge of the sun emerged behind the mountains in the east, the sun-starved valley had achieved a dim, goldenrod glow. Naomi basked in the sunlight as she decided what to do next. In the meantime, a commercial jet plane quietly flew over the wreckage; the passengers were probably the first people to even know that the trainwreck had happened in the first place. Therefore, Naomi decided to leave, but now there was one advantage that she would have over Seth because of this: From now on, Seth would act with extra precaution, as if assuming that she assumed he was dead. This would undoubtedly slow his actions and decelerate any attempt to publicly defend his name, and it would all be in vain, because his assumption was wrong; Naomi already knew that Seth was still alive.

            Naomi’s plan of action was simple. As she Created a motorcycle to transport her back to her city, she devised an amendment to her previous plan. At first, she would publicly perform her miracles and then claim to be a prophet of God. From there, she could then levy strong support from the population to literally biblical proportions. Religion would be her next weapon. Meanwhile, she would slander Seth and his power of Destruction, declaring them the epitome of mankind’s sin. People would have an easy time believing that Creation is good and Destruction is bad. By her design, she would do more than just blame the beholder of Destruction for the damage in the area. She planned to make it such that Seth and his power would become tantamount to the devil.