Death Angel

Chapter 28: Null and Void

It didn’t take me long to come up with a solution.

After all, I was a woman who made up her mind quickly.

When faced with a hundred or a thousand changing variables, the key was to oversimplify; reduce the myriad shifting possibilities into a single puzzle with far fewer variables. Break down the complexity of the tesseract to a cube, and further reduce the cube to square. If you can pare a problem down to the bare essentials and choose the two or three variables that are most likely to influence the outcome of a situation far more than anything else, out of the several hundred that you threw away, then you were that much closer to coming up with a solution to your problem.

Still, there was that nagging feeling of doubt the bothered me.

It was one thing to be playing with the stakes of a publicly traded company, and an entirely different thing altogether to be playing with the lives of people. Under the circumstances, however, I knew I was making the right choice.

I ran various scenarios in my head, each time considering the ramifications of each alternative. I knew that the risky gamble I was about to take had the greatest chance of saving everyone in the building.

But if turned out I was wrong - utterly and catastrophically wrong - then people would pay with their lives.

This was certainly no time to doubt myself. I breathed in deep and put my plan into action.

The best part about the plan was its simplicity. I knew there was nothing I could do within my power, Van Dyke magic included, that would save all of the people in the Hunter Robotics Building with certainty.

There was only one entity with the power to hold up that building. And right now, he was plummeting to the ground below at breakneck speed.

No, the Van Dyke magic wouldn’t be enough in this scenario. Chanting words and phrases would take far too long. And so, I elected to resort to something far more primitive.

I reduced my Nether Void.

Reducing the reach of the Nether Void meant that the people within the building were suddenly conscious, cognizant of what was going on. I could only imagine the uproar that ensued inside the building as the occupants regained their free will, only to realize with sudden horror that their lives were in peril. Still, reducing my void without undoing it altogether gave me the much needed boost in energy and power I needed to put my plan into action, while allowing me to continue to protect the building’s residents where it mattered - shielding them from the outside world.

In other words, the little part of my void that was still in place acted like glass in place of the one that was shattered.

Just in time for what I needed to do next.

A split-second after I released most of my void and reclaimed my energy, I dove straight down, unleashing all of my remaining energy and abilities, focusing on one thing and one thing alone: rapidly increasing my speed.

I began chanting as well, just in case the Van Dyke magic would be able to kick in before it was too late. I hurtled to the ground at top speed, but Death was still far ahead of me, a mere speck in the distance. Everything was a blur, and yet things continued to occur in slow motion for me.

It was now or never.

If Death hit the ground, I didn’t really want know what the consequences were. There was nothing on this earth that was supposed to be able to harm a being such as Death, but the power of Katsujinken was not to be trifled with. I doubled my efforts, pouring all my willpower into what I was trying to do, hoping against hope that I would be able to catch him and stop his fall.

The air whipped around me, and pockets of air lashed all around, painful and cutting, the winds fickle and unrelenting, almost cruel in their indifference, but I paid none of it any heed. All I could think about was that I needed to catch up to him. I needed to catch him before everything was too late.

I hated to admit it, but Death was my only hope now. This was not a battle situation Vanessa Hunter could win on her own. This was something that hinged almost entirely upon the being that I now struggled to save.

At first I thought I was imagining things, but gradually, things appeared to get better. I was getting just a little closer every time, Death was getting a little closer.

I planned to unleash a small void in the small space where Death and I continued to remain in freefall. I took heart, as it appeared I was closing the gap between Death and I, giving me further hope that I could catch Death in the narrow opportunity that I planned to put myself into.

My plan hinged upon yet another unpredictable variable: would I be able to do something I haven’t been able to do before? I only prayed I knew enough about how it worked before to get it working in my favor.

I held my breath, closed my eyes, and released my Void.

A negative Nether Void.

The entire world turned white and black all around. Like the silhouette of a bas relief sculpture rising out of the confines of its original frame, the world appeared three dimensional against the backdrop of a frame of darkness. I noticed with amusement, that time had stopped for Death and I. I glanced above me and didn’t see any sign of either from Donovan Hunter or Rina. Free we were, at least at the moment, from our would be pursuers.

This momentary respite was enough for me to gather my thoughts. It was true that we weren’t any better in this situation than the last. After all, we were stuck in free fall, suspended in the air, unmoving; sitting ducks as it were for any unknown threat that might seek to capitalize on our weakness.

However, it did give me the opportunity to go and wake Death up.

Come on Vanessa, move!

Death was within arms reach now, the roughly textured cloth of his black robes appeared so close now. The cloak was frozen in time was well, the normally flowing nature of the black robes suspended in time, captured at the perfect moment, much like an artist captures the hedgehog, emerging on the first day of spring.

“D, can you hear me?” I screamed in a voice loud enough to wake the dead.

No response.

I reached out as far as I could.

I found that if I exerted effort, I could move in the negative void. Just ever so slightly. I needed to do this quickly. I had no idea how long the negative void would last.

I reached out again, and finally made contact with his cloak, the material felt rough, and cold. It felt wet with Death’s blood. I exerted more force, using my lone arm to bring myself closer to him.

“D, it’s Vanessa. Can you hear me?”

Death stirred a little.

“Well done, Vanessa,” I heard him finally say as I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Like I just died, oh wait, I am Death, I can’t die.”

I rolled my eyes, but I was thankful that his sense of humor was still intact.

“Listen, D, we’re running out of time.”

“The next time you try and invoke a negative Nether Void, cherie, remind me to walk you through the finer points of this,” said Death. “Invoking the Void on a subject who’s largely unaware of your intent causes such subject to feel like he got his ass handed to him. Plus, you didn’t do it right. We’re both supposed to be able to move freely.”

“Fine, I apologize. It’s not like I had much choice here, D.”

“Very well Vanessa. Under the circumstances you have done exceedingly well, and I must say, I rather owe you my life, don’t I?”

“Let’s just say we’re even,” I said. “Now, how do we get out of this?”

“That crazy sword did a real number on me. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite harmed in that manner,” said Death as his red eyes flickered open once more. “These are no ordinary mortals.”

“D, I’ve got an idea,” I said suddenly, glad I was able to realize it in the moment.

“I’m all ears, cherie.”

“Okay, if that sword…” I paused to think, “If Katsujinken is powerful enough to cut you and I, and Donovan Hunter’s technology is largely predicated upon the Van Dyke magic, that is to say, agents of Death…”

“Then it just might be able to harm Donovan Hunter’s nanomachines.” Death finished for me. “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Your father truly is a cunning man. Now we know why he allied himself with Tanaka Pharmaceutical.”

“Do you think Rina knows?”

“I can’t see any sign of that at this time. It’s worth a shot.”

“Problem is, how are we gonna separate that crazy bitch from her sword?”

“Well, first things first,” said Death as he put his massive scythe in front of him. “Let’s get my Void back in order and protect those people.”

Death paused.

“D?”

“The moment I unleash my void, those two will realize that you and I are back in the game. Your negative void won’t hide our presence any longer. You and I are going to have to come out guns a blazin’.”

“So we tag-team Rina,” I said.

“Easier said than done, cherie. Ever try to go after a rabid dog with a lion in the room? You don’t go after the weaker link and leave the bigger predator untouched. Those two went after me first because they knew you were the small fry.”

“We’re going to have to pretend to go after my Dad.” I said.

“Exactly, cherie. And when the time is right…”

“We move and take Katsujinken away,” I said with a smile. “Okay D, I’m ready. Let’s put this little plan into action.”

“There’s just one slight problem,” Death said.

I looked at him quizzically.

“We haven’t got much time. That sword really does deserve it’s reputation. It’s done a real number on me.”

“D, what are you talking about?”

“I think I really might be dying, cherie.”

----

Thanks to everyone who provided their amazing ideas to help get Vanessa out of her situation! Everything was so good, I might use a few more of them as we near the ending.

For now, the big winner is @StandingProhibited! Her guess was closest to what really happened.

Runners Up (who each had elements of what happened in their suggestions):
@Xx_Phraso_xX
@Mirthe
@PetraLysette

Thanks so much for participating! I love all your ideas! Keep them coming and if I use any of then, I'll give you a dedication! :D

While we're at it, vote (click that star!), add to your library, SHARE this story and comment! Thanks everyone!