195 The Final Showdown

Have you ever played a game where some asshole puts a high level boss towards the beginning and you had no clue that it was not only unbeatable, but also you weren't suppose to challenge it at all? Like, there was no reason for it to actually exist other than to be a big, creepy boss that made you run away. When confronted with that, you might try to figure out a way to beat it, a way to get around it, or anything, thinking it's an obstacle you could overcome with a bit of creativity. But the truth is, as mentioned, it was just put there to look cool. Once you figure out that it serves no purpose, your just kind of annoyed about the whole thing? That's what Laz was feeling right now.

As the lightning and the thunder exploded in the sky, Laz got the feeling that it was going to be directed at him soon, strangely. It was like a mage channeling a spell. If you could get in close and do some damage, you would interrupt them. But, it was a little late for that. And besides which, those bastards with the guns weren't going to let him get anywhere near Brian. Combine that with him still recovering from the blast and things were looking pretty bleak.

Laz had never gotten hit with actual lightning before, but he was sure that it wasn't something he wanted to experience. Sadly, when face with the threat, he really had no idea what he could do. Even with his insane speed, he couldn't outrun lightning. As such, he could only brace himself.

The build up was huge as lightning streaked across the sky. The many security, swat and federal agents who were all aiming weapons at Laz started to get real nervous as it seemed like the ground was going to become a blast zone soon. Just when things seemed to reach a fevered pitch, everything stopped.

Everyone turned to look at Brian whose face was now freely dripping blood. Just when they settled their gazes on him, he smiled.

BOOM!!

An incredibly large streak of lightning boomed out of the clouds and came directly for Laz like it had been aimed right at him. The lightning hit Laz dead center in the chest and came out the other side, as though it had blown a hole in his body. The resulting force caused Laz to be blown backwards, sending him flying into one of the groups that had surrounded him.

There were many loud cries of shock as the various groups turned and noticed that several cameras were now pointed at their direction, although they had been specifically aimed at Laz and Brian's showdown.

"HA HA HA ha ha ha ha haaaaaa." Brian's harsh laughter rang out among the quiet crowd as the the cameras had captured his attack and heroic figure perfectly. The only problem was that he now looked like a complete madman as he stood there laughing while covered in his own blood.

But Laz had figured it out right before he had gotten hit. Power like that came at a price. Apparently these blessed sons of man could channel various powers of the elements without limit, but the price to pay was directly related to their own strength and ability to handle such power.

Brian's move was way above what he could safely do.

None of that mattered though as Laz had no way to act on that info once he figured it out and instead had to take on the bolt of lightning head on.

He had no idea how he was going to survive.

But somehow, he wasn't dead, although he could barely move.

Not only was he not dead, but he didn't see his alien savior either. Therefore he must had had just enough in him to resist it. But now he was completely spent.

His entire body was devoid of energy as he laid there, almost unable to open his eye lids.

Not only that, but the lightning was still rampaging around in his body like bugs underneath his skin.

The char marks on the outside of his clothes along with the gaping hole and exposed flesh caused everyone to think he was dead. That was probably the only reason why he wasn't being rushed right now. That, and the fact that people were still trying to figure out what the hell just happened gave Laz a little bit of breathing room.

The other thing that had people in shock was that the entire group of guards that Laz had plowed into were not moving either. They had all been knocked over like bowling pins and were now piled on top of each other so it was kind of hard to make out just which parts of the pile were Laz.

Since the had crashed into the wall, the pile of guards were very much near where the group of escaped girls were hiding. Seeing the person who had freed them being killed caused many of them to start crying while a few of the stronger ones ran over in full view of the crowd to check on Laz.

Just when the media, local police and firefighters couldn't have been more shocked at what had happened, they saw several malnourished girls jump out from the bushes farther up along the wall and go running straight for Laz. They reached him in almost no time and started to drag him out of the pile, as though wanting to help him get out of there.

No one knew what to make of what was happening.

But the girls didn't care that they were being stared at. In fact, they didn't even recognize Brian watching them with cold, blood covered eyes as they tried to pulled him out of the pile.

"He has help. They must be infected like him. Open fire and take them all down," Brian ordered, thinking quickly. He had no idea how they had gotten out, but he knew that they couldn't be left alive.

Despite the order, no one moved or even took aim.

Only an idiot would believe that these malnourished, barely dressed young women were the backup that Laz had planned. They had no idea who they were but it didn't take long for a few people to get a few ideas, including the police, swat and federal agents.

They were there to stop a national threat, but they had discovered an entire group of what looked like beaten prisoners. With the suspect in question clearly dead, they began moving in an effort to assist the girls. Brian looked on with a murderous look on his face before turning to agent Wallace.

"I suggest you play along and get everyone away from those girls, or I swear you will burn with me."

Hearing Brian's words, agent Wallace instantly put the pieces together as he resisted pointing his gun at Brian.

Seeing the agent not doing as he asked, Brian lost his patience. The group of first responders was still a ways away as they had come in the front gate that was left unguarded thanks to the last orders issued. He knew he needed to act before they got in front of him. Even thought things would look bad, it was a lot easier to spin a tale when the others involved were dead.

Brian walked over and grabbed a semi auto rifle out of one of the security teams hands and pointed it towards the girls who were dragging Laz's body before taking aim. Brian was as spent as Laz at this point and had no choice but to rely on a normal gun. Even this little bit of movement caused ruptures along his skin, making him burst out bleeding in various spots. But Brian ignore this since he no longer felt it.

Sensing the looming danger while feeling himself being pulled, Laz turned his attention away from his body for a moment, only to find himself with a red dot pointed at his forehead. The girls who were dragging him noticed this too, but didn't stop. They wouldn't leave him here to just die.

Laz knew he was in trouble. Not only him, Laz knew that the girls would be a target of Brian's shooting as well, something he could then claim was just a result of bad aiming. If the world was normal right now, then maybe Brian would face justice for such a thing. But Laz knew better than that. He didn't know whether or not Brian was going to be able to live with his injuries, but he didn't want to take a chance.

Despite, the pain he felt and the lack of energy to even lift his body up off the ground, Laz wasn't totally without movement. As he felt the three girls drag his overly heavy body, Laz's arm felt something metallic hit it as he was being moved. Without much thought, Laz move his hand in to grip on to the object and fortunately, found the grip of the gun.

Yes, it was one of the security guards weapons that had been dropped when he had hit the group. Using what little strength he could muster, Laz moved the gun down and leveled it with his sight before taking a quick aim. The only reason he hadn't been shot by Brian yet was because with all the injuries that Brian had sustained, even though he was still upright, he was finding it hard to aim and the laser sight kept drifting all over the place. Just as he had it focused again on Laz and was about to pull the trigger, he noticed that Laz had taken a small hand gun and was currently pointing it at him. The distance between them made it hard to even notice that Laz had moved.

Now that he was focused again on Laz, he could see a smile on his face. One that made Brian's entire battered body turn cold as he made to pull the trigger.

BAM!

Agent Wallace had no idea what just happened.

The guards, swat, and federal agents had been frozen before, watching everything that was happening as though it were a movie in front of them. But now they finally regained their composure.

The rushing police, firefighters and media ended up coming to a complete stop as they reacted, not knowing what had happened.

For a moment, one could have heard a pin drop as silence covered the entire compound.

As everyone looked around, they noticed that Brian, who was originally clutching the rifle in his hands, dropped it to the ground. Before anything else could happen, Brian himself ended up falling over backwards, his now lifeless body jetting off the final streaks of the lightning that had still remained on him.

Thanks to their training, the police, swat and agents all pointed their guns over towards Laz who still had the gun aimed at Brian. Just as they thought to yell out for him to drop the gun, his hand went limp and fell to the side, causing the gun to fall from his fingers while he still had a smile on his face.

Everything just blew up at this point.