Irwin's Journey 359: Squish

Irwin glared at the two tiny forms as he tumbled to the ground, his thoughts spinning even faster. He could sense the power from the two figures, especially the Niox, who must have atleast four soulcards. It took him a fraction of a second to come to a conclusion.

I can't fight them here without destroying everything around us!

He clicked his tongue and shot across the soundwaves appearing right above the two figures. A mass of lightning covered the sky in every direction he could have gone, lighting up the sky but already fading away. The two figures scanned the sky, their eyes locking on him just as he appeared.

Irwin hurled his hammer straight down.

Without bothering to look at the result, he clicked his tongue and shot forward. If they were after him, they would follow. Worry flared up at the thought of having to fight both unknown figures and the Guidar. 

Barely two seconds and a few hundred yards later, Ambraz called out another warning.

Irwin cut off his ability and reappeared instantly and only just in time. Lightning crackled only twenty feet from where he was, creating a web of jagged blue energy. As he tumbled down again, two powerful soulforce signatures stood on a roof.

'One of them is a teleporter,' Ambraz shouted from his soulscape.

Irwin felt his anger flare up as he glared at the two figures. For a split second, he worried he'd be consumed again, but then he realized it wasn't the same all-consuming fury he'd felt before—just the regular, normal kind.

Irwin grunted, but this time he didn't move away. Instead, he moved down, landing on the roof of what had to be a stone warehouse. His feet were planted on both sides, and he could feel the stone crack below his weight.

Can't stay here long, he thought as he sensed the roiling mass of the Guidar fly behind him, rushing to catch up. It would be here in under ten seconds.

"Get out of my way," he shouted at the two figures before him.

The hooded figure in the long leather jacket barked a laugh and shook his head.

"Just surrender to your faith! Your course has-"

Three things happened so fast that Irwin barely noticed the first thing.

A sword flashed from the shadows ahead of a figure, aiming at the hooded figure's throat, which turned into a fuzzy blur that shot backward. At the same time, the Niox turned into a bolt of lightning.

That was all Irwin caught as something slammed into him with enough force to make him take a step back. 

His entire world went blue as pain coursed through him, and he didn't even sense how his foot caused the roof to crack dangerously. He seized up, feeling his body turn rigid as his kinetic energy filled up faster than he'd ever sensed before. The stone below and around him started to crumble as the constant crackle of lightning surrounded him.

Irwin had swam in lava, walked through fires, and caused conflagration that had wiped out entire forests.

During all of this, the worst he'd ever experienced was a cozy, warm feeling.

Now, for the first time, he felt himself grow hot… uncomfortable. 

"Get…. Lost…" he croaked, trying to move across the soundwaves and failing. 

Sensing his kinetic energy overflowing, causing a second layer of pain, Irwin did the only thing he could think of. He summoned his flame, which roared to live around him, causing the world to go from blue to orange with blue edges. Feeding his flame the kinetic energy, which refilled almost instantly, Irwin sensed it billowing out and away from him.

'Keep it up! This guy has crappy cards, and his energy won't let him do this for a long time!'

Irwin hoped Ambraz was right, as even with his body frozen by the arching electricity coursing through him, he saw his flame expand out like a miniature sun.

Atleast Lasther can't reach me like this, Irwin thought.

--

Elder Sigora woke slowly, opening her eyes and blinking around as she tried to recall what had happened. Why was she lying in some dark, dusty room? Why couldn't she sense her vines? What had-

She jerked upright as the memories of fighting Lasther returned to her with a vengeance.

"Roark!" she shouted, looking around worriedly.

"Here," a dull rumble muttered.

Sigora looked to the side and relaxed for only a moment as she saw the old bark-skinned fool sitting against the wall a few feet from her. Then she saw the deep wounds covering his arms, his missing left leg, and the scorch marks that had torn across his chest.

"You…" she whispered, pushing herself up and triggering her third soulcard. Instantly, tiny plants began budding from the wooden beams and the wooden roof they held up.

"I'll live," Roark snapped. "Though I'm afraid after this, I'll need to head to a hearttree after all. I'd…" the ancient Viridian's eyes dimmed as she sighed. "I'd wanted to wait for you. I'm so sorry."

Sigora let her body fall back as she stared at the only mobile Viridian that she knew who was older than her. Although the rapidly growing vines had begun repairing her body, and she should feel better, she suddenly felt so, so tired. 

"It's fine, you old nut," she whispered. "What happened? Why aren't we dead?"

"Greldo, that shadow-brat," Roark rumbled. "He brought everyone out of there, including our old rotting trunks."

Sigora nodded, realizing the floor below her back was shaking every few moments.

"Who is still fighting?"

"That smith of yours!"

Sigora frowned as she felt her soulcards knit her body together. It wouldn't take too long before she could get back up. Unlike Roark, her cards had always been better at repairing herself.

"He only has two soulcards," she grunted as she felt her lower back start itching. She'd get the feeling in her legs back soon, she knew from experience.

"Yeah, and just as much soulforce as ten of me," Roar replied, sounding amused. "He reminds me of Elder Towering Oak!"

"Don't call him that," Sigora snapped automatically before letting out a soft laugh. "You know Elder Trowerok hates it when you call him that."

"Yeah, well, tough luck," Roark said, laughing softly.

Sigora felt her legs, and before the pain could even register, she pushed herself up to look around. They were in some empty warehouse, cracked and broken crates lying around.

"Can he win?" she asked as she focused on her first card, connecting to the dead wood and implanting it with the tiny seeds of life.

"No. Zug'zir and Hardy have joined Lasther," Roark growled angrily. "That Smith was fleeing to the city outskirts, but they intercepted him. They… Ah."

"What happened?" Sigora hissed.

"Zug'zir reached the smith and locked him down with that infernal lightning cage," Roark said. "Greldo is fighting with Hardy, but I don't see how he can win that. He has only two soulcards, and even if they are great…" he shrugged.

"So, they are dead," Sigora said, feeling both sad and angry. 

She wished, not for the first time, that she had a card that allowed her to feel what was happening as well as Roark's did.

"Not yet," Roark said, his eyes narrowing before he grimaced and rubbed his head. "Ugh! That smith just burned everything within a mile radius of him, and whatever he is doing, that fire is growing."

Sigora walked to the nearest wall, and the vines covering the shutters pulled it open as she approached. She saw nothing and moved to the opposite side. Opening the shutters, a wave of hot air flowed into the room. She saw a familiar squire, which she knew was surrounded by closed diners and the warehouses that had held their food before the storm hit. Above one row, she saw a raging inferno of fire roaring into the air.

"What do we do," she muttered. "There's no way I can get close enough to help…"

"I agree, but there's someone interesting lurking about," Roark grunted.

"What do you mean?" Sigora said, turning to him. "Where?"

She listened with widening eyes as Roark explained who and what he sensed.

"I'll go to him," she grunted before glancing at Roark. "You stay put."

"No worries," the one-legged Viridian elder said, grinning at her. "Go. I'll be fine."

Sigora's vines ripped apart the stone below the window, and she crouched through the low opening.

As she vanished, Roark's eyes lost their energy, and he let out a pained sigh.

"And just when I learn the storm is stopping soon," he muttered.

--

Greldo barely dodged the blade aimed for his head, flitting through the shadows to appear a few feet away. Sweat was pouring from his head, and his breathing was ragged as he carefully watched the man with the two sabers approach. 

"You are pretty good! How about you stop fighting me and join my crew? I could use someone with your skills!"

"Sure, go kill Lasther for me, and I'll join your crew for a few years," Greldo snapped.  

The sabers lowered slightly, and then the man he'd been fighting for the last few minutes barked a laugh.

"You know, if I could, I would? But he killed all of the others, and most of those were stronger than me."

Greldo kept his attention on the man while Coal and a dozen of his clones hovered all around to warn him where the man might pop up from next. He'd almost lost his head twice already, and he'd decided that he'd much rather be on the giving end of surprising someone.

"What other ones?" he asked, trying to keep the man talking and asking Coal how Irwin was doing.

The response was a mental image of fire so hot it was causing part of the district they were in to crumble apart. The central buildings had already been reduced to rubble, and Irwin's fire and lightning-wreathed form stood atop it like some giant elemental demon.

"So, you'd rather talk? That's fine… Lasther seems to be waiting for your friend to burn out anyway, so it's not like he can expect me to do more," the man said, taking another step back. 

He kept his blades up, though.

"The other captains! Zug'zir came in and just took them all out. I'd always known that muscle-bound oaf was hiding his strength, and with Lasther's shadewalkers helping him, he took out those old fools easy enough."

Greldo was surprised at how willing the man he'd been fighting was to talk. He didn't seem at all angry at Greldo for almost taking his head off.

"It's not all bad, you know. With that storm still raging, it means I'll be able to consolidate my power over what remains of the local Currant Hunters. That means I'll be the local admiral, and when we connect to the rest, they will have no other choice but to accept it."

The man laughed again, swaying his swords slowly.

"You don't think that Smith can win, do you? It'd be awesome if he could… I need someone to help with some cards, and there are no smiths left in the city."

Greldo snorted. "And whose fault is that?"

"Yes, there's truth in that," the man said, sounding not all bothered by Greldo's tone. "We didn't have much choice, though. That stupid ceasefire was never going to last, though I hadn't thought Lasther would be the one to break it. He was always so quiet… ah well, you know what they say about still waters!"

"Why don't you help us kill Lasther?" Greldo said.

The man was quiet for a few seconds, and Greldo almost felt some hope he'd agree. Then he sighed and shook his head.

"If I thought you could win… but then again, you two seem too bent on following the rules. That means I'll probably have to explain some things I'd rather not and perhaps even end up being locked up. Nah, I think I'll just take my chances with Lasther."

"You do know that he's a Guidar, right?" Greldo snapped, knowing full well the other probably had no idea what that meant.

"So, that's what his species is called? I always wondered," the saber-wielding man said, sounding amused.

"The Guidar are going to come here and try to take over this entire section of the Portal Gallery," Greldo said, listening to what Coal was telling him about the surrounding area. According to his friend, there was another person hiding somewhere in the shadows. "They will enslave us all!"

"Well, that sounds like some grandiose and unlikely occurrence," the man said. "Either way, I think it's about time I take your head off. Unless you would like to reconsider my offer?"

Greldo stepped into the shadowrealm, shooting back to hover in the air. He knew the man wouldn't believe him, but he also knew he'd sown the seed of the doubt- as tiny as it might be. With everything that would happen after, he didn't think it was a bad idea to start spreading rumors.

"Guess not," the man said, his voice soft and muted. 

His body turned into a blurry smudge that hovered in midair, seemingly ready to continue their fight. 

Just wait till you burst a blood vessel, Greldo thought as he turned and shot toward the fire Irwin was causing. 

Hovering in the deep shadow of a nearby building, he watched the faint figure of his friend, standing stock still amidst the cracked and destroyed buildings.

I hope everyone managed to get away, he thought, knowing Irwin would feel horrible if he found out he'd caused the deaths of innocents.

--

'Almost, kid! He has only a bit left!'

Irwin didn't respond, sensing his own soulforce slowly refilling. Unlike the Niox, he wasn't even using any; instead, he harnessed the kinetic energy his enemy's electricity was generating. The strange lull in the combat might have been pleasant if it weren't for the constant pain coursing through his body.

I hate being locked down like this, he thought.

He'd been standing still for minutes now, perhaps even longer, while Lasther hovered beyond the flames. He could sense the Guidar's own soulforce reserves slowly refiling, and knowing what he was likely doing was making his hatred for Lasther deepen by the minute.

The problem was he had no idea how to act. By now, the surrounding city was so destroyed that he knew he didn't need to move anywhere else to fight. Even if he did use his roar, there shouldn't be anyone nearby to hurt with it. But there was no guarantee it would even work.

No, what he needed was to safely grab the Guidar. Even without the Wizteriaz weakness to his consuming flame, he'd been making very sure to stay away from it. The problem was those black tendrils.

He has nine purple ones left and three black ones… 

If he could make him waste those, he could teleport in, grab the Guidar, and burn him… hopefully.

The lightning stopped as suddenly as it had started. The Niox dropped to the ground beside him and thudded to his knees before keeling over forward. Irwin blinked at the small figure, not sure what he'd expect. Definitely not that.

'He was held in place by your metal body and couldn't leave,' Ambraz said. 

Irwin frowned, then stepped forward and stomped on the Niox. He felt a few things crack below his barefoot, but there was no reaction. His kinetic energy was draining rapidly without the lightning to charge it, and he pulled his flame back. Within moments, it shrank from the enormous mass it had been to a cocoon of raging flames that wrapped around it. 

Irwin grimaced as he looked around the wasteland around him. No buildings remained unscathed, and all those near him had been reduced to rubble. Any wood was burned away, and the stone cracked and fractured. 

"Such a weakling, but atleast you should be almost out of energy now," Lasther shouted as he blurred towards him. 

Irwin wished he could laugh at the misconception. His soulforce was actually over half full, more than it had been before the Niox had attacked him. Sadly, he still had no idea how to deal with the Guidar. He had no idea what those black tentacles would do if they touched him, and he had no interest in finding out.

He began using his flame to replenish his kinetic energy, readying himself to roar as loud as he could. Part of him wondered if he would destroy the city layer's thick stone floor, causing even more destruction. 

As Lasther flitted toward him, he passed through a long stretch of shadows, and dozens of hound-shaped figures appeared around him. 

"Wha-" the Guidar roared as a blur of teeth and shadows surrounded him. 

The black tentacles around him stabbed around, exploding in condensed purplish mist, and within moments, all of Coal's shadow clones vanished, popping as if they were soap bubbles.

"Useless!" Latter roared, but Irwin knew it was a lie.

Greldo and Coal's attack had cost Lasther another set of black tentacles, and as Irwin watched three purple ones change into black ones, he sensed the Guidar's soulforce drop again. Now, Lasther had only six purple and three black ones.

If it costs this much, I don't want to know what would happen if they touch me, he thought.

"We need to get rid of the others," Irwin whispered, hoping Gredo could pick it up.

Ahead of him, Lasther was looking around, then growled as he shot toward Irwin again, the purplish mist around him now so dense they partially obscured his features.

Irwin blinked as he realized there were no more shadows. But that was because of his fire.

"Get ready," he whispered, counted to two, and stopped his fire. 

The shadows rippled back, and he took more than a little pleasure in seeing Lashter's eyes widen in shock as another cloud of canine jaws tried to rip his face off.

In a replay of the first time, his black tendrils exploded. 

Irwin moved in fluid motion, summoning his flames, wrapping them around his hammer, and throwing it at the Guidar with all the buildup kinetic energy he had. He'd hoped to catch him unaware, but sadly, the hammer stopped dead in its tracks. Irwin grunted, teleported forward, and grabbed his hammer. He lets his flame flare up and around it, bathing the enormous hammer in fire. He tried to have it grow as fast as he could, but Lasther was already zipping back. Irwin dropped to the ground, his landing causing the rubble beneath his feet to crack.

"How are you not out of soulforce," the Guidar growled, his horns pulsing with a dull red glow that brightened rapidly. Within moments, dissipated any nearby shadows.

Too bad, Irwin thought, realizing their trick wouldn't work a third time.

Before he could ask, the Guidar rushed, the now absolutely dense purple fog obfuscating Irwin's vision so much that he barely teleported away. Still, as he reappeared far enough away to glare at the Guidar, he realized something important.

He can't get to me… 

It wasn't just. With his flame and larger soulforce pool, the Guidar's only ability to get him would be the black tentacles, not that he had any idea what those would do to him. Something in his eyes must have given his sudden mental change away as Laster slowed down, stopping forty-odd feet away from him.

"Fine…" the Guidar said, the previous anger and annoyance fading. His hard-to-see eyes, blurry eyes, had a hard glint to them, radiating an unsettling red light that was far too clear compared to the blurry mess that was his face.

"I didn't want to do this…" Lasther said, his voice turning hateful. "But I'll make you pay for it soon enough."

Irwin took a step back as the final three purple tentacles shimmered and turned as black as the other three. At the same time, the purple mist all around him darkened, and the last thing he saw of the Guidar were his burning red eyes before Irwin saw nothing but a black shimmering fog. His flame flitted out, and he felt his soulforce draining away at an unprecedented speed. 

Irwin grunted, trying to move away across the soundwaves, but nothing happened.

'Soulforce muting! Get out of there!'

Irwin was already turning and running away, trying to recall where he was. He'd not been this blind since he got his first card. Even the ambient soulforce he usually saw was gone. The only thing he had to go for was the songlike resonance, and as he stumbled across some debris, he closed his eyes, fully focusing on it.

He was ten steps away when he felt his soulforce dip to a third, the draining effect still speeding up. Worry turned to horror as he split into his two selves. His otherself grabbed the soulstrum guitar and began playing, trying to influence the soulforce as it was draining from his soulscape.

The only slight hope he had was that Lasther's soulforce resonance wasn't moving, still hovering where it was, to the side and up.

No tentacles!

The thought came instantly as Irwin realized the horrid Guidar had shattered them. He turned and ran toward him, but as he did, he felt the resonance back up. He tried to use his kinetic energy, but it barely helped. All he had was his physical power, but he kept stumbling and slamming into debris and parts of buildings. He took a deep breath and roared.

A ripple moved through the dense black fog, and he heard muted cracking and crashing as the building crumbled. Lasther's soulforce resonance dipped down and moved to the side, two hundred feet from him.

Irwin rushed forward, and as soon as the Guidar was back on his feet, he roared again.

There was an angry scream in response as he sensed the Guidar thud on the ground. 

A quick check showed his soulforce was down to a fifth while Lasther began moving away from him. The Guidar was slower, but slow enough?

Irwin roared again, unable to keep slight despair tainting the anger.

--

"Just leave, I'll be fine."

Sigora snorted as she looked at the one-armed, no-legged man.

"Fine, how?" she asked. "You can't even crawl!"

Scander looked at her, his eye narrow. "I don't need to crawl. The fight is at the final stage. All I need is one gap, one moment…"

"You can't even see anything," Sigora said, glaring at the horrible dark fog that covered the entire area before them.

"I can see enough," Scander said, his eye turning cold. "I see the monster I need to kill."

Sigora wanted to talk some sense into the fool when her ears popped from a thunderous sound. She clamped her hands over them as she felt her headache increase. 

What… 

She shook her head. She knew what that had been. The smith. How he was even still up and fighting was beyond her, but as she felt the dull thudding in the ground, she knew he was still moving.

She kept her hands clamped across her ears, which was a good thing as another deafening roar caused the building beside her to crack. She stepped in front of the one-armed form of Scander. The Yuurindi surprised her by merely shivering and not even bothering to cover his ears as he glared at the dark shadows. Pale blood dripped from his ears.

She saw his lips move. "What?" she snapped, removing her hands from her ears and shaking her head to clear it from the echoes.

"-slowing down. Finally. This is the moment…"

"The moment for what, you stupid fool?" Sigora snapped. "You need to get to a healer!"

Scander didn't even look at her as his single eye began flaring up. A blinding white light began glowing brighter and brighter. 

Could he even hear her? No, his eardrums must have burst!

"Finally, that shield is gone," Scander said, a nasty, hateful smile coming to his face. "I'll pay you back! You bastard! For everything you've done to me!"

Sigora took a step back as she felt a sharp energy ripple out of the small Yuurindi.

He's charging some kind of ship-to-ship attack!

She jumped back as flowing tendrils of pale light rippled along Scander's single eye. His body was wasting away as she watched, his face hollowing out and his single arm growing thin and emaciated.

For a second, she wondered if she should stop him. Then she shook her head. He'd made his choice, and if it would get rid of Lasther, all the better. As the light pulsed and brightened, she jumped back, raising a thick mass of vines in front of her with only a slit so she could see what would happen. She was just in time, as a finger-thick beam of pure white light blasted from Scander's eye, partially blinding her and leaving her with the afterimage of a white beam that cut into the black smoke.

There was a startled and angry scream, followed by a crash. Then, nothing but the heavy thudding of something running. 

Did he get him?

--

Irwin stumbled the last few steps to where he felt Lasther's soulforce resonance. It was weak and growing weaker, but he didn't stop. His own soulforce was almost drained, but he still had enough to take the final two steps. He still didn't see the Guidar, but he knew he was before him, and Irwin knelt, grabbing for the soulforce resonance.

"You… can't…" a weak, gurgling voice muttered. 

Irwin's hands clasped around a tiny shape, almost like a doll. Small fingers tried to stop him, but without hesitation, he squeezed. There was a gurgled scream, then a soft splash and something wet dripped over his fingers.

"Sure I can," Irwin muttered as he felt his soulforce start to bottom out. The dark cloud was still everywhere, and he couldn't use his powers. 

He pushed himself to his feet, keeping the thing in his hand, and he began stumbling forward. He had no idea where the exit was, and he knew he wasn't going to get any help. Nobody could move into this area, and even if they could, they couldn't exactly carry him.

Groaning as he tried to clasp to his rapidly fading conscience, he kept stumbling forward.

Three more steps and his soulforce was no more than fumes, his mind dull. His two selves were all that kept him moving, but he slowly felt his mind go blank.

--

Greldo raged as he moved through the shadows around Irwin. The black stuff didn't prevent him from moving through it, but he knew if he popped out, he'd be unable to move back in! Besides, how was he even going to help Irwin?!

'Keep going!' he shouted. 'A few more steps!'

Irwin didn't hear him, of course, and Greldo watched his eyes start to roll in their oversized sockets. He was going to crumple in a bit and-

Greldo stared at the edge of the roiling mass—only two more steps.  A plan formed, and he was moving before fully thinking it through, shooting away a few hundred feet before shooting straight for Irwin's back. He moved as fast as he could and launched himself out of the shadowrealm, slamming into Irwin's back. 

His friend, as large as he was, was flung forward, arms forward as he slammed into the ground, his head and upper shoulders out of the mist.

Greldo rolled across the ground, an intense pain and cold wrapping around him. His energy was drained from him, and his connection to Coal was gone. 

He scrambled up, everything blind. Where was he, where was-

His ears picked up Irwin's breathing, and he turned and sprinted forward. Two steps for that bloody giant took him twenty, and he almost tripped and fell twice. Then he burst out of the dark fog. Instantly, the cold and burning left him, and he felt Coal- angry at his recklessness.

"No time," Greldo hissed as he knelt beside his friend, most of his body still within the black fog. 

"Here goes nothing," he thought as he grabbed the massive head and tried to pull him into the shadowrealm.

There was a shock as if he was punched, and for a tiny moment, he was there. Then he was jerked back out, his head throbbing.

"No, no!" he growled, grabbing Irwin's outstretched arm and pulling on it.  He barely noticed the squished, red-haired figure a few feet away. There was no movement, not even an inch, no matter how much he tried.

"Wake up, wake up!" he shouted.

A rustle behind him made him turn, two daggers in his hand, ready to kill whatever it was. Then he saw the old Viridian, Elder Sigora, run to him, vines flowing along her like the crest of a wave.

"Don't worry!" she shouted.

Greldo took a step back, watching her as the tendrils wrapped around Irwin's arms. A moment later, the giant naked man was dragged out of the dark fog, and Sigora knelt beside him.

Greldo almost held his breath until she nodded with a faint smile.

"He will be fine."

Greldo groaned and sat on his ass, his mind slowly winding down.

"Finally… it's over," he muttered.

Sigora sighed sadly, and he looked up with worry.

"Not yet," she muttered. "I don't know why none of the others interfered, but I'm sure they will be showing up any moment."

Greldo staggered to his feet, looking around.

"I'd like to see them try," he growled.