"No, I'm not just going to sit by and watch." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a smoke grenade, then launched it at Beleth.
As fast as Luke had been, Beleth, as always, was faster. He dodged the grenade and it bounced off the back wall and clanged to the ground behind him. He lurched forward, to get out its way, but got caught in the green fumes as it exploded.
Luke put his gas mask over his face and ran across the room, but Beleth grabbed at Luke's backpack and yanked it away as he choked on the gas.
Lucy could see from the monitors that the gas was dissipating too quickly. In a room that size, it just wasn't enough, but if Luke used more he wouldn't have enough to complete the mission, if that was even a possibility anymore. "Luke, screw the mission. Just get yourself and Hunter out of there."
Leaving his pack behind, Luke scurried across the room and grabbed Hunter's sword, steel ringing as he slid it off the floor. "I have to finish this. I will not let anyone down again."
Like two bulls in a stadium, Luke and Beleth charged each other.
Long spider legs reached for Luke's neck, even as sharp blades lashed at his torso, but Luke dodged and rolled into a somersault. He erected a force-field around himself.
Beleth's blade hit it and ricocheted off, and the giant man fell hard to the ground. The combination of the fight and the gas seemed to finally be affecting him, at least marginally. He recovered a fraction slower, but still so much faster than a normal human. With a look of desperation in his eyes, he pleaded to Luke, "Use the sphere."
Lucy's heart skipped a beat. Why would he bring that up now? What would using the sphere do?
Luke shook his head. "Nice try, but Lucy got rid of that booby trap in the valley."
Did Beleth want Luke to drain his own life energy? If that was the case, it was a convoluted way of accomplishing what he'd had many opportunities to do himself.
This clearly enraged Beleth. He roared and looked more like an animal than ever before, the sound of his voice filling the large space. "Leave!"
What? Yes, dummy, leave. She couldn't figure out why Beleth was giving her brother an out, but he'd better take it.
Luke raised Hunter's sword and crept closer to his pack. "Never!"
Damn fool, still trying to complete the mission.
Beleth turned away from Luke and walked to Hunter, still slumped over, unconscious. "Then he will pay for your decision."
What? Oh God! This just kept getting worse and worse. Lucy wanted to run and help, but she wouldn't make it in time. Why hadn't Robyn arrived yet? Lucy wanted to check on them, though she'd given instructions already, but she couldn't pull her eyes from the screen.
Luke had to help Hunter. Why wasn't he moving? She looked to Hunter and to the vents. Shit! This was Luke's only chance to get the sleeping gas into the vents, but if he did that, Hunter would die. If he didn't, those kids would die.
Luke stood, paralyzed.
Panic gripped her voice. "Do something! Now!"
Beleth moved closer to Hunter, each step a loud thud, his muscles straining as if fighting himself.
If Luke didn't move soon, he'd lose his chance to do anything, and Lucy would lose Hunter and her brother.
Luke whispered something. "Sometimes there are no right decisions."
That sounded familiar. Beleth... he'd said that in the plane when they'd first met. Now it had come full circle.
Luke sprang to action and ran toward Hunter.
Lucy cried in relief.
***
Luke darted through the room and struck at Beleth's neck with the sword, but Beleth turned and blocked with one blade while counter-attacking with the other. His blade stopped in mid-air, humming with tension.
Beads of sweat formed on Luke's face as he focused on Beleth, holding him with power.
A new look crossed Beleth's face. Pain twisted his usually calm features. The blade jutting from his hand started to crack. Beleth groaned, and the blade shattered, the pieces clattering like glass.
Beleth roared in pain and pulled away, but Luke stayed focused and erected an entire barrier around the man, then shrank it until it became tighter and tighter. Lucy could see the iridescent reflection of the shifting matter even through the cameras.
Beleth coiled into a ball, then his muscles bulged and he burst free of the force-field, tearing the air with a sound like thunder. His breathing came out harder than before. "Nice trick."
Luke staggered back from the exhaustion of pushing his para-powers so hard, but didn't give up. "Here's another."
One of Beleth's spider legs jerked forward with a crack, as if Luke had him on a string and had tugged. He must have been forcing a shift in the molecular structure. A brutal tug-of-war ensued, until the spider leg ripped off entirely. Beleth roared again, and for a moment Lucy believed her brother might actually win this battle.
Then Beleth's last blade extended and he plunged it into the ground, snapping the concrete tile like a board of wood. That made no sense, and then—