Final Battle
by Ed Frazee
She's had enough. All these years of fighting General Dursagon have
taken their toll. Countless lives have been wiped away because of him.
Too many innocents have perished, many foes been subplanted. Flareback
can't help to also think it might be partially her fault for not being
strong enough to defeat Dursagon. Or maybe that she needed to end this
long ago. Regardless, she is here today and the destruction will end
one way or another. For too long have the people on this planet
suffered. No longer will that be the case. Flareback will make sure of
that, one way or another.
"Alright, you bastard, I am here. Let us end this RIGHT HERE, RIGHT
NOW!" Flareback states defiantly while her powers flare up in
anticipation of the battle.
“Then bow before me so that I may rend your head from your body
and I'll be on my way" Dursagon retorts coldly but confidently. He
appears out of the darkness with the dim light of Flareback's power
glistening off his cold armor.
"The hard way it is!" She replies. Then in a flash of motion Flare
sends out a fireball that explodes on impact just as six robots appear
beside Dursagon, lighting all seven on fire. Without hesitation,
Dursagon follows with a gesture and black gooey smoke slithers out from
the ground around Flare. She just glares as her body flames wildly and
the ground around her begins to boil and flames flicker around her. She
jumps up and quickly she flys to Dursagon and his robots. Her fury at
it's peak, she no longer holds back. Flames shoot out from around her
as she hits the formation burning all the robots. She fires flaming
bolts at a couple of the bots just as they fire at her with explosive
laserfire. Flare is hit a few times in the armor, but that's enough to
send her flying toward the ground. She gains control and flies up so
that she is between the bots and the sun. The manuver blinds the bots
temporarily and Flare makes good use of the moment. She soars straight
towards the bots firing off a volley of Flaming plasma at them setting
them ablaze.
"Oh, crap!" she whispers, knowing that she has lost sight of Dursagon.
She also didn't realize that the bots were not the same bots that she
started fighting. He was sending in bot after bot and she was just
wasting her energy fighting them. Flare scans her surrounding intently
looking for him. She quickly decends and when she's in the middle of
the bots she throws her fists downward and a conflaguration erupts from
the ground engulfing her in flames. Another blast at the ground, and
all the bots blast apart as they are sent reeling from the bonfire
Flare is producing. She scans around, and from the fire several bolts
of flame shoot out. The last one makes contact and Dursagon grunts as
he's hit. He starts to fly back away from her when a mighty trail of
fire shoots out from the column of flame that is Flare and hits him
truly. Dursagon flips in the air several times before he can gain
control but it's too late. Flare is in his face and she's in control
now. With anger, determination, and years of heartache, she holds on.
She hits him with all her power putting dents into his dark blue and
gold trimmed armor. Again and again, she lashes out, a blast for her
son who Dursagon caulously discarded like a piece of trash when he was
a baby. Another for her brother, Greg, who is forever changed because
Viceralia severely wounded him causing his powers and personality to
change more ominously. And lastly for all the lives lost because
Dursagon would not let go of his obsession for Flare. Now she won't let
go, and he begins to feel what she felt. He begins to feel every pain
she has ever felt, every pain he has inflicted on her.
Armor, cracking under the force, mists of darkness whisping out only to
be blown aside by heat and fire, Dursagon digs deep and fights back
against his rival. He calls upon the forces of the netherworlds and
unleashes them at Flare. He is reminded that by releasing such forces
that he could be consumed by them. He doesn't care. All he cares about
is the death of this woman before him. She has resisted him time and
again. Now he's at the point that he'd gladly give up his well laid
plans at destroying the world he's been forced to live on. Proudly,
he'll resign the idea of going back home to Dragonus just so he can see
it explode into billions of tiny shardsby his hand. All he wants is to
see her lifeless body before his eyes. All he wants to see is her and
her alone. A tiny voice from within catches his attention.
"Are you sure you don't love her?" It whispers.
"No, this is all hate! Shes cost me everything. I've lost my first life, my first purpose and my first looks." he replies.
"She gave you a new life, a new look, a new purpose, and a new destiny." it replies.
“NO! You're just doubt creeping in. I will not give in to the
idea of love. I do not love!" He retorts stoicly and resolute.
A flash and he's pulled from the darkness of his mind just as a shadowy
fist hits Flare in the face knocking her off himself. Dursagon finds
himself on the ground with half his armor pulled off or melted from his
technologically enhanced body. Flare too is scratched and bloodied from
the fight. Slowly they get up, Dursagon's dark servant waiting on
Flare, then just as before all those years ago when their lives first
came together and bound them to a life of misery, Flare explodes in a
blast of white fire. Like an atomic bomb, shockwave lash out, then
everything is consumed by the all burning fire. Dursagon felt this
before, but this time he is less flesh and more darkness and
technology. Still the fire burns away at his systems, reduces him to a
skeletal form, but he survives like he did before.
Panting from the effort, Flare looks up in shock as Dursagon still
moves and the last wisps from the dark servant floats away. But it
wasn't the servant, just a phantom of the real servant that now stands
before Flare. She's hit hard, and she knows she can't fight. This is
it, she's given it her all but he'll still beat her. Another hit and
she's on her knees, another and darkness starts to cloud her vision. At
the same time, Flare say's the word "no" weakly as the servant hits
her, sending her into total darkness while Dursagon hissed out a "yes".
"Fiona?"
“Hmm?" she replies.
"That was rather stupid, don't you think?"
"Yeah, but it's over." she replies.
"Not for you it's not. You still have great things to finish."
"Who are you? What do you mean great things? I AM finished!" she fires back harshly.
"I am of no consern. I am the First One, but it is you who is of most
importance. It is you who has a family that needs you. It is you that
several fragile worlds depend on to protect them. It is you who is the
giver of light, and the banisher of evil."
"But I'm dead, I can't go on." she retorts while looking sullen.
"Chuckle" "You are not dead. You still have a flicker of fire still in
you. You ARE fire and you'll never be snuffed out. You just have to
embrace what's left and force it to grow anew."
Then by a force of will not her own, she begins to consentrate and in
her darkness a speck of light comes into focus. She's glides to it and
she cups it into her hands. Mentally, she wraps herself around the
flame and recites to herself, "I am the flame". Warmth envelopes her
and her darkness slowly turns to grey and then finally turns to white.
She erupts and her body is lifted off the ground, head flung back and
back arched, while wings of pure flame jut out to either side of Flare
like the wings of a phoenix. Her eyes burning intensely she looks down
and sees the last remains of the servant be consumed by her
resurrection. Dursagon is in a heap, against a pile of melted metal,
twitching. The flames flickering off Flares body disapates and she
looks at Dursagon intensely.
"You will not beat me!" she states defiantly as she stands stern before him.
A forced “no” issues out from Dursagon as a light
from his Cyber eye slowly fades to darkness. Flare then shutters and
stumbles. As if on cue, her son, Chris, catches hold of her and
supports her. She looks into his eyes and she smiles as she thinks he's
the most beautiful thing in the world.
"Come Mom, your done for the day. Let's get you home." her son tells
her. Then she looks over towards where Chris is guiding her and beside
the vehicle is the rest of her family. Blake, Chloe, Tammy, Shawn, Amy,
and Greg, all look conserned as Flare is helped into the vehicle. As
they all get in Greg is the last to enter and he turns to Flare to say
something to her.
"I still think that was rather stupid" he says with an air of distain.
And back at the scene of the battle, a deep, hard thunk is heard
repeatedly. The body of Dursagon shifts slightly at the reverberation
from the heavy footfalls. Another bot walks slowly up to the remains of
Dursagon and stops short. A metallic claw reaches down to the body and
gingerly picks it up. The other arm cradles the body to the chest of a
large robot that is green and drab in color. This robot is Dursabot X
and it seems to be holding Dursagon like a mother would hold a child.
Clawed hands smooth over the body and when the robot finishes brushing
over the charred remains, it rests its hand over Dursagons chest. Then
suddenly a flash of light appears and a portal opens up in front of the
robot. Turning sideways, the robot shuffles in and the last thing seen
is the cyber eye of Dursagon fickering on, contrasting against the
color and brilliance of the portal.
Review this story