Hard Magic: Book I of the Grimnoir Chronicles

I must tell you, Kermit, of these three particularly remarkable Heavies amongst the volunteers. They come from brave stock, as their father had been with me during the advance on Kettle Hill. Though all three are exceedingly similar physical specimens, these Sullivan brothers could not be of more disparate temperaments. One is a simpleton, with the gentle soul of a child, yet a more diligent soldier you could not ask for. One is a killer of men, a force of calculated belligerence, I fear he is only obedient to his officers because a discharge would jeopardize his opportunity to murder more Huns. The last is a thoughtful young man, the quietest of the three. He shows great promise as a leader. Never before, in all my years of campaigning, have I come across such stalwart troops. I tell you, son, the three are a terror to behold in battle, and if I had a thousand more Sullivans, this war would already be won.

—General Theodore Roosevelt,

personal correspondence posted

before second battle of the Somme, 1918

Imperium flagship Tokugawa

Madi was waiting at the end of the twenty-foot-wide catwalk. He had been joined by two other Iron Guard: the wretched Lazarus, Hiroyasu, and the stalwart Nobunaga, a Brute who was also the Chairman’s champion sumo wrestler. Sumo was another weird Jap obsession that Madi had never gotten into. He found the whole thing kind of queer, with men pushing and slapping on each other in loincloths, but Nobunaga had been a tough guy before he’d picked up half a dozen kanji to increase his already formidable strength and vitality. Behind the three Iron Guards was the engineering section’s Torch and twenty of the strongest Marines on board.

Of course, it was his brother that appeared at the far end of the catwalk first. Jake looked a little scary in the red light, the foreign invader surrounded by the giant heaving bags of gas, and for just a moment, it was like the bags were lungs and the Tokugawa was a great living creature. Jake was the disease infecting it and he was the cure.

“Maybe I should start writing poetry,” Madi said.

“Huh?” Nobunaga grunted.

“Nothing . . .” Beneath the catwalk, was a two-hundred-foot drop to the armored section that separated the two top hulls from the bottom one. There were a few ladders that went all the way down, but he had a feeling that anybody who went over this rail in the next few minutes wouldn’t be taking a ladder. “Hiroyasu, fall back and animate the marines as they die. Marines, stay behind cover and use your rifles. Choose your shots carefully. Do not let anyone through. Protect the Torch. We don’t want a fire in here. Nobunaga, on me.”

Jake just stood there in the center of the doorway a hundred yards away, watching.

“Come and get me, Jake . . .” Madi whispered. The Geo-Tel had already been activated, and the Power was gathering, but his brother would be dead long before it fired, and he’d make sure this time.

A short, balding, pudgy, bespectacled man joined his brother in the doorway. The man scowled, as if sizing up the engineering section’s defenses. Madi recognized him. In fact, he’d even shot him recently. Damn Grimnoir vermin, they were harder to get rid of than cockroaches. The man cracked his knuckles. He’d been a little woozy from all the hits he’d taken at Mar Pacifica . . . What had that lump’s Power been?

And then he remembered. “Marines, cover your ears!” he shouted, but it was already too late. The Mouth had started talking. It wasn’t a voice, it was a Voice. It was too big to come from a man, it came from a god. It didn’t sound in his ears, it was like an ice pick driven through his skull and twisted around inside his brain. Madi ground his teeth together so hard that some of them broke. He had to steady himself against the railing to keep from falling.

His accent was off, the pronunciation was terrible, but apparently Japanese wasn’t this god’s first language. “Omaetachi wa kotei o shitsubou saseta. Watashi no meiyo wa hijyou ni kizutsuite. Watashi ga dekiru koto wa, mohaya jiketsu shika nai.” Madi could feel his own will surging against the command, but behind him, he could hear the bayonets clearing their scabbards and a scream as the Torch turned his fire inward and burned himself to a crisp. You have failed your emperor. I am deeply ashamed. The only honorable solution is immediate suicide.

“No! Stop! It’s a trick,” but the blades flashed and his men died, gurgling and choking. The terrible Influence waned and his head cleared. Madi let go of the railing, having bent the pipe with his fingers. Only the Iron Guards had been strong enough to resist. Nobunaga had drawn his Nambu pistol, but Madi clamped down on his wrist. “No guns.”

The other Iron Guard’s eyes widened in understanding. With their Torch dead, they couldn’t risk shooting in here. Madi turned back to his brother. Jake was still standing there in a big black coat. The Mouth was at his side. A blond man in grey appeared to Jake’s left, and then he was joined by a female zombie to his right. The four walked forward together, side by side, ready to fight.

He could still beat all of them by himself without making so much as a spark, plus he still had an extremely powerful Brute, and already Hiroyasu was using his Power to raise the disemboweled marines. Jake and his Grimnoir were still dead, they’d just have to do it the hard way. He started walking. They’d meet in the middle. “Come on.”

That had been one of the most impressive displays of raw Power that Sullivan had ever seen. Daniel Garrett hadn’t just been fueled by his magic, but also by desperation, hate, and the burning desire to save the woman he loved. Dan was grey and shaking, sweat pouring down his face, and he looked like he might fall over.

“I didn’t know you spoke Japanese,” Heinrich said as he joined them.

“Just that one . . . been practicing.” Dan grimaced. It physically hurt to channel that much Power at once. “I can’t make people do something they wouldn’t normally do, but these Imperium elites are so honor-bound, I figured it was worth a shot.”

Delilah stepped up next. She was weaving as badly as Dan, but for an entirely different reason. “The Lazarus who . . . made me. He’s inside. I can feel him. He’s going to wake the dead.”

The UBF Normals were hanging back. This fight was way beyond them. In fact, now that they were down to just Iron Guards immune to his magic and unable to use his guns, their Mouth was out of his league too. “Dan, why don’t you take the others and go look for your girl.”

“The Geo-Tel comes first,” he stated with firm determination. “Jane would hate me if she found out I let a million people die to save her first.”

“Come on,” Sullivan said. The device had been activated. He could feel it within, like its dreadful magic was beating against his own inside his rib cage. They started walking.

Madi was dressed in some sort of red and black samurai robe, the traditional look thrown off only by the big revolver hanging in his shoulder holster. Next to him was a similarly attired, short, yet incredibly broad man with a round face and a top knot. “Look, they got a fat one,” Heinrich said.

“That’s not fat,” Dan answered. “That’s a sumo.”

“Sumo-schmoo-mo,” Delilah said. “I’m about to whoop his ass.”

The others didn’t realize it yet but he knew that his brother was too powerful to defeat, especially in a limited amount of time. “No matter what happens, get to that device.” He dared not share his plan because he was worried that Madi could already hear them. Sullivan looked at Delilah out the corner of his eye. “I’ll always love you.”

“Just remember your promise,” she whispered, and then she pushed her Power so hard that she seemed to grow. He’d never seen her do anything like that before. She was holding nothing back, running so much magic through her tissues that she was sure to destroy them when the magic wore off. There was no reason to hold back anything now.

Both sides charged.

Sullivan let loose with his magic the same time Madi did. Two conflicting gravitational fields collided between them. The air rippled like water. Delilah charged through the distortion, screaming. The sumo bellowed in return and hurled himself at her. He dwarfed her and kanji could be seen glowing through the open neck of his robe. At the last second Delilah dodged to the side, extended her arm like a clothesline, and hit the Iron Guard in the throat. His head snapped back, momentum still carrying him forward, and his feet flew out from under him. The landing was hard enough to shake the entire catwalk.

Madi extended one hand and Delilah fell into the air. Heinrich leapt over the downed sumo and went at Madi swinging. Madi threw one mighty fist clean through Heinrich’s chest as the German went grey. Heinrich came out the other side and slugged Madi in the back of the head. Madi didn’t seem to notice it, but gravity changed again and Heinrich was slammed to the metal floor. He cried out under the crushing force.

“Fade out!” Sullivan shouted. Heinrich fell through the floor and Sullivan slammed his Power against Madi’s field. The extra gravities were forced away from Heinrich, leaving the German hanging by his hands under the catwalk. The sumo was sitting up, despite Dan futilely punching him in the face. Sullivan roared and headed straight at Madi as Delilah rebounded off the railing behind him.

Sullivan slammed a big fist into Madi’s jaw, then the other, then threw out a boot and kicked Madi in the stomach. The Iron Guard didn’t even seem to feel it and one hand shot out and grabbed Sullivan around the throat. He dragged Sullivan in close, crushing off his air. “I’m the strongest there is. You understand me? The strongest! You’ll never make it past me! NEVER!”

Sullivan used his Power, increasing his density, protecting his throat. “I know.” The railing creaked around them. He Spiked hard, slamming as much force onto them that he could muster. Madi threw it back, just as he had in Mar Pacifica, but his eyes widened as he realized that Sullivan wasn’t trying to crush him, but what was underneath.

“Jake!” Delilah screamed as a perfect circle of catwalk sheared away and the two of them fell.

They dropped like a pair of stones. Jake kept striking Madi in the face and Madi hit him back with bone-jarring force, but both of them were running as dense as iron. The armor-plate floor barely slowed their descent, and they ripped clean through the steel, crashing through beams and supports, tearing wires, and then ripping through the bottom hydrogen hull. They fell through the gas, in an empty, totally lightless space, kicking, punching, throwing knees and elbows, in a freefall brawl to the death. Sullivan held his breath.

Fighting through the pain, Sullivan flared his Power again. He didn’t want to fall through the bottom of the dirigible. Madi must have realized the same thing, and together they slowed, but still trying to kill each other. The bottom of the hydrogen chamber barely impeded them, and then they were rebounding through more materials—aluminum, steel, copper, and finally wood. Sullivan threw his hand out and caught hold of something as Madi tore free and kept falling. His brother crashed through one last darkened floor, highlighted in a circle of sudden light but shrinking away. Madi flared his Power before impact and landed in a heap far below.

He’d ended up in some giant wooden room. There were other people down there, and a circle of curiosity was closing in on Madi’s fallen form. Sullivan let go and followed. He landed in a crouch, boards splintering, reaching for the rifle slung on his back, but it was gone, torn free from its sling somewhere above. He reached instead for his pistol, and luckily it was still in its flap holster.

The Iron Guard came up off the floor, snarling. Sullivan was able to crank off four rounds before Madi threw a backhand that would have taken the arm off a normal man. The .45 went flying away. Sullivan stepped back, shaking his stinging arm.

Four holes began to drizzle blood down the front of Madi’s torn robe. His brother stopped, looking around, realizing where he was. “Well, I’ll be damned. Ain’t this appropriate.”

The room was huge and mostly bare, probably some sort of training room. The walls were glass, and beyond them was nothing but darkness. The floor was polished hardwood. He turned slowly. There was a mess of Imperium in this room, dressed in black uniforms with red accents and a big red sash. All of them were pointing guns at Sullivan, except for the ones that were ready to destroy him with the ice crystals collecting down their arms, or the jagged bones twisting between their hands, or the electricity cracking in their eye sockets, or the floating objects that they’d telekinetically picked up with their minds . . . He was in a room full of Iron Guards.

“Well . . . shit,” Sullivan said.

“Ahem,” someone gave a polite cough, and both he and Madi turned at the same time.

“Chairman!” Madi exclaimed, sounding embarrassed, just like back when Dad used to catch the oldest Sullivan brother doing something bad, like torturing animals or setting fires. He dropped to his knees. “Forgive the intrusion.”

Heinrich was nowhere to be seen. Delilah was picking herself off the ground from where she’d crashed through the railing hard enough to break every bone in her body. So it was up to him. Daniel Garrett had hit the fallen Iron Guard with everything he had. He punched him in the face until he felt his knuckles break, and then he’d tried kicking him, but the huge Iron Guard slowly got up from the grating anyway. Dan stepped back, shaking his stinging hands.

The Iron Guard twisted his head and he could hear the vertebrae pop. His little black eyes were far too small for the size of his head, and they zeroed right in on Dan. The sumo growled.

“Sure you don’t want to talk this over?” Dan asked. The bridge shook as the Iron Guard lumbered at him. Guess not.

Delilah shoulder-checked him out of the way. “Pick on somebody your own size!” The two Brutes crashed together; one dead, one alive; one huge, one tiny; but both of them very angry. They stood toe to toe, hammering each other.

Dan landed on his side with a grunt. The Iron Guard hit Delilah so hard that he felt the vibrations travel down her body and through the floor, but she didn’t budge. Delilah responded by putting one hand on his shoulder, shoving herself into the air, and bringing her elbow down in the center of the sumo’s head with a blow that could have killed an elephant. That staggered him a bit.

“Get the device!” Delilah screamed. “I’ll hold fatty!”

Struggling to his feet, he saw Delilah throw a backhand at the Iron Guard’s head, but he was too fast, too martially skilled, and he caught her arm while simultaneously bringing his other hand around. Delilah’s forearm shattered, bone visibly ripping through the flesh. Dan gasped at the horrific wound. Delilah stepped back, looked down at the jagged bones sticking out of her forearm and the delicate hand dangling uselessly from the skin and tendons. No blood came out. “Move your ass, Garrett!” she ordered as she stepped forward, ducked under the Iron Guard’s swing, and drove the bone shard into the sumo’s vast belly.

Dan heard the Iron Guard gasp as the bones penetrated his body, but was too busy running for engineering to look back. A hand appeared over the edge of the railing. Heinrich! He was alive and pulling himself up. He didn’t dare stop to help his friend. He could feel the air humming with the Tesla device’s energy.

The lights were no longer red. He was in the engineering section. He jumped over the dead bodies of the Imperials he’d murdered and the pile of twisted bones and smoking fat that had been their Torch. There was a single man standing in his way, wearing the same red and black robes as the other Iron Guards, but this one wasn’t nearly as physically intimidating. Skinny and ratlike, this had to be the Lazarus. He was blocking the steel door. Dan could feel the Geo-Tel on the other side.

But then the Lazarus moved a scabbard around in front of his body and drew a sword. His English was perfect. “I am not the warrior my brothers are, but I am more than a match for the likes of you.” He tossed the scabbard away and lifted the blade in both hands. The eviscerated bodies were starting to move, groaning and whimpering on the floor as they came to. Even the ashen pile of bones was stirring. The dead soldiers began to cry out in agony.

The Lazarus hissed. “I am Hiroyasu of the Iron Guard, and my magic is based in suffering.”

There was a grey flash as Heinrich surged past. Hiroyasu swung the sword through the blur. Heinrich rematerialized, blocking the weapon before it could come back up. “Suffering?” Heinrich asked, grabbing the surprised Iron Guard by the robe. “I’ll show you suffering.” Then the Fade spun him around, both of them going grey as they sailed into the wall.

Heinrich totally disappeared, but he must have let go of Hiroyasu partway through. The Iron Guard re-formed, solid, but his body had fused with the metal. The left half of his body and his head were still visible, but his flesh had become one with the bulkhead. Hiroyasu began to scream, incoherent with pain.

There was a clicking as the door unlocked from the other side. Heinrich held it open for Dan. The Fade saw the thrashing Iron Guard and admired his work. “That was for Delilah. Hurry.” Dan stepped through after him, noticing that the Iron Guard’s other arm and leg were flailing madly on this side. They ran down the hall. “Think we can use guns in here?” Heinrich asked.

They were surrounded by solid walls and away from the heaving bags. “Probably.” Dan pulled the .45 from his belt.

“About damn time,” Heinrich answered as a Luger appeared from inside his coat.

They reached the last door, both of them automatically taking up positions on either side. They’d worked together for a long time. There was a round glass window, and when he risked a glance through, he could see a strange device crackling with electricity sitting in the middle of a table. That’s it. There were a bunch of men in long black coats surrounding it. He tried the latch. Locked.

Heinrich nodded, knowing what to do. He Faded, but as he did so, two Shadow Guard appeared, took the Geo-Tel between them, and Traveled it away.

Faye woke up, groaning. She felt nauseous.

“Hold still, you lost a lot of blood,” Francis told her. She looked down. Her pant leg had been torn off, and her calf had been wrapped in a bandage. It really hurt.

There was more gunfire. She checked her head map. The Tokugawa was in chaos. Grimnoir and pirates were spread all over the big ship. The pirates were headed this way, being chased by Imperium. Some of her friends were in the middle of the ship, looking for the big, evil, magic superbomb, but it had just Traveled to the very bottom.

She was having a hard time seeing down there. At first she thought it was because of the blood loss making her silly-headed, but then she realized that the black fogginess came from the Chairman. His Power was so big that everything around it was cast in shadow, but the big, evil, magic superbomb was dragging so much Power up out of the middle of the world that it illuminated even him. Somehow she knew they only had minutes. The illumination showed that a couple of her friends were down there, surrounded by Iron Guards.

But there was something else. The Power wasn’t just being attracted to Tesla’s invention. There was another spot in the middle of the ship. It was glowing too. She concentrated harder, trying to figure out what was going on, and that’s when she realized exactly what was happening.

She smacked her hands onto both sides of Francis’ face. “We’ve got to get everyone out of here fast as we can!” She let go and tried to get up.

“Stay still, you’re in no shape to move.”

“No, you don’t understand. It isn’t what anyone thought it was! Everyone is wrong! The Chairman is wrong! We’ve got to go. I’ve got to bring everyone onto the Tempest.”

“What? Don’t move. You’re still bleeding from—‘

“Aarrggh! You are such a boy! You know I see the world different than everybody else. Listen, do you trust me or not?”

Francis was perplexed. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Then get a bucket and fill it with nails and broken glass and anything else you can use to stab people with your brain, and get that blimp in the air. We’ve only got minutes.”

He nodded. She could see it in his eyes. He didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, but God bless him, Francis actually trusted her. She kissed him on the cheek and Traveled before she could see his reaction.

Chairman Okubo Tokugawa was sitting cross-legged on a simple mat, watching the brothers curiously. Jane was standing a few feet away in a white kimono, flanked between two robed Iron Guards. “Sullivan?” she asked in surprise.

“You okay, Jane?” he asked. She nodded. She sure didn’t look okay. Poor thing was scared to death. “Don’t worry. Dan’s here. We’ll get you home.”

The Chairman spoke. “Rise, First Iron Guard.” Madi jumped to his feet with superhuman speed.

“Sir, Grimnoir threaten the Geo-Tel,” Madi said quickly, much more worried about that than the bullets lodged in his chest.

The Chairman nodded politely, as if to say, tell me something I don’t already know, stupid. “I am aware. I have been watching. I dispatched Shadow Guards to retrieve it. They will Travel back here shortly.”

“Well, if it ain’t Mr. Fancy-Pants,” Sullivan said. “What’re you doing down here? Hiding?”

The Chairman studied him carefully. He was wearing a simple, comfortable robe, and his feet were bare. “As I said, I have been watching. This is a most interesting time for me, Mr. Sullivan. If I so desired I could send my personal bodyguard up and your friends would be dead in seconds, or perhaps I could just destroy you all myself.”

“Then why don’t you, big shot?”

“Because I am bored,” he answered truthfully. “I have been alive for a very long time. I have lived for over a hundred years. I was born the youngest son of a minor samurai lord. My home was destroyed in a revolution, my family put to the sword, and I became ronin. I had seen my share of conflict by the time the Power came to me. Together we learned how magic could interact with mankind. Since that day I have traveled the world. I have learned its secrets. I have seen the heights and depths of magic. I have been to every land. Spoken every tongue. Learned everything. Fought every war. Led men into battle and killed legions with my own hands. I’ve lain with ten thousand women and sired a thousand sons. I sculpt nations as other men sculpt clay. I have traveled beyond our world and seen the others. I have spoken with the Power face to face as we speak now. I have seen the terrible being the Power fled from and I have protected our world from it in battle beyond your mortal comprehension. There is nothing truly new to me.”

Sullivan could sense he was telling the truth. If the Chairman was anything, he was perfectly straightforward. “So, we’re an interesting diversion?”

“Yes. I could kill you all with a thought. The Geo-Tel was never in danger. My plan will be fulfilled.” As he said, that two black-clad ninjas Traveled in, holding a strange device between them. It sparked and buzzed with energy and Sullivan could feel the magic in the room distort toward it. “It was only a matter of time. But you and your people interest me, Mr. Sullivan. Your strengths, your flaws, your hates, your desires, your loves and dreams. You are one of the most powerful natural Actives ever born. Your young Traveling friend is even stronger, though she does not realize it yet. We should stand as one, united for what is to come, yet instead you will fight me to the end. Such purity of struggle is bitter, yet beautiful in its way. I wrote a poem about it. Would you like to hear it?”

“I’d rather slit my own wrists.”

“Fair enough.” The Chairman turned back to Madi. “I am disappointed in you, First Iron Guard. Were it not for my preparation, the Geo-Tel would have been lost to the Grimnoir. And not only that, but it would have been lost to the forces of a man that you had thought you’d killed.”

Madi bowed deeply. “Forgive me, Chairman. I can make it right.”

Sullivan was surprised just how much genuine devotion there was in his brother’s words. At least he’d finally found something that he could truly love.

“Very well. How much longer until the firing?” the Chairman asked absently.

A man in a long black coat answered. “Approximately ten minutes, sir.”

The Chairman nodded. “Very well, First Iron Guard Madi. You may redeem yourself.”

Madi bowed his head quickly, then moved to the side, shrugging out of his robe. All he was wearing now were a pair of very baggy black pants. Madi’s torso was covered in kanji scars. Nearly every inch of him had been burned, and every one of those made him more dangerous. He shouted something in Japanese, and a moment later another Iron Guard hurried forward with two swords, one made of wood, and one made of killing steel.

Sullivan knew what was happening. He removed the tattered remains of his coat and canvas vest and tossed the rags on the floor.

Madi smiled. “Let’s go then, little brother.” He picked up the steel katana, swinging it back and forth so quickly that the air whistled, then he tossed it gently through the air. Sullivan caught it by the hilt. Madi grinned as he took up the wooden sword, testing its balance. “I’m literally thirteen times the man you are. Figure I’d keep it fair.”

The Chairman nodded, appreciating this act of chivalry. Jane looked like she was about to puke. The Geo-Tel was steaming along behind five Iron Guards and two ninjas. The Chairman saw where Sullivan’s eyes had wandered, and he shook his head softly. “I would not allow you to stop me . . . but I will not meddle in your family business. Carry on.”

Madi was limbering up. His body was thick with muscle. Sullivan had seen him tear through hard men like they were nothing, and that was before he had been magically augmented and trained. Sullivan held up the unfamiliar sword. “I don’t exactly know how to use one of these things . . .”

“You’ll figure it out pretty quick,” Madi said. “You always was the smart one.”

“Not always,” he muttered. Sullivan was the youngest. Jimmy had been the smart one growing up, until he’d been struck with a bad fever that had nearly killed him and had left his mind feeble. After their daddy had died, he’d stepped up, trying to take care of his mother and his dimwit brother, while the oldest, Matthew, had done nothing but cause trouble. He’d been a bully, a thief, a jerk, and was only happy when everyone else had been scared of him. Sullivan watched the light reflect down the razor edge of the sword. “Hell, we should’ve done this a long time ago.”

“That’s the spirit,” Madi said.

Sullivan raised the sword. “I’m gonna cut you in half.”

Madi grinned savagely. “Reckon you could try that and see how it works out for ya.”

“Begin,” the Chairman ordered.

They met in the middle. The Iron Guards formed a circle around them. Sullivan swung as fast as he could, the blade driven by his vast strength. Madi moved out of the way easily. He cracked Sullivan hard on the shoulder with the wooden sword. “Try harder,” he said.

“Go to hell,” Sullivan snarled, hurling his Power, trying to make Madi fall toward him. Their magic clashed, neutralizing each others’ forces. The swords met, and then they were face to ruined face, and Sullivan was staring into that dead white eye. Madi grabbed him by the arm and used some movement to duck and hurl Sullivan over his hip. He hit the ground hard, but was already coming up when the wooden sword nailed him in the ribs. He gasped.

They went back and forth. Every time he tried his Power, Madi came back with an equal amount. The Iron Guard was stronger, faster, and had more skill. The wooden sword swept in low and hit him in the leg, and even with his long-magically hardened bones, he felt the fracture. Distracted, he wasn’t as fast, and Madi’s Power dropped him backwards where he hit the floor and skidded away. On his knees, he swung the sword, but Madi easily leapt over it, and drove the wooden weapon through his shoulder.

Sullivan screamed, and Madi used one foot to shove him off the end of the wooden sword. Blood sprayed freely. He tried to rise, but Madi kicked him in the face. He rolled onto his back, and drove the sword upward, feeling it pierce flesh.

Madi paused, looking at the sword driven into his ribs. He stepped back as it slid cleanly out. “Nice shot, Jake.” Then he shattered the wooden sword over Jake’s skull.

Sullivan was crawling away, blood pouring out of his shoulder and head. The scar on his chest was channeling Healing magic, but not near fast enough to keep up with this. Madi tossed the broken hilt away and it clattered across the floor. “You idiot! You fucking idiot. I told you. I told you. I’m the strongest there is. I beat you with a bokken! You ain’t done yet. Get up! Get UP!”

He rose, shaking. Madi punched him across the room. He collided with two Iron Guards, taking them all down in a heap.

Madi wasn’t satisfied. He needed more. He looked to the Chairman, who was sitting there, showing no emotion. “This ain’t good enough.” Madi ran toward Jane, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her across the room. She cried out in pain. “Fix him! Now, damn it. I ain’t done yet!”

Sullivan crawled off the Iron Guards. Madi shoved Jane down next to him. He could feel the warmth of her hands on his head. The hole in his shoulder closed. Somehow he knew that his skull was visible through the top of his head, but the skin pulled together and the blood quit flowing. He got back to his feet and picked up the sword.

Jane scrambled away. “Thanks,” Sullivan said, tasting nothing but coppery blood.

Madi was pacing back and forth, unarmed, but deadly anyway. He saw his brother standing. “Again!”

They clashed. Sullivan feinted with the sword, and as Madi moved away from it, his boot collided with the Iron Guard’s knee. It was like kicking a railroad tie. Madi punched him in the chest, breaking his sternum, then uppercut him so hard that he thought his face was going to come off. Sullivan landed on his back, but reversed gravity, and dropped himself into the air. He lashed out with the sword and caught Madi through the chest with the tip. Sullivan landed on his feet, and pushed the blade in deeper. Madi roared and grabbed onto the steel even as it sliced through his hands.

They were face to face again, with a foot of sword sticking out Madi’s back. “You still don’t get it. I’m the strongest there is!” Sullivan’s nose broke as Madi’s forehead slammed into it. Down was now up, and Sullivan fell ten feet into the air before the Power tapered off. He used his magic to cushion his fall, but by the time he hit the floor on hands and knees, Madi had already dragged the bloody sword from his torso. His brother raised it in both hands and bellowed. “Strongest THERE IS!” The sword cleaved through Sullivan’s back, through one lung, out his chest, and dug deep into the floor. It was a brutal killing blow. Blood erupted like a geyser.

Sullivan fell facedown in a pool of his own blood.

Failure. He could see the Geo-Tel sparking, the Chairman watching curiously. All he could hear was a buzzing noise. As his vision darkened, he saw Madi’s legs pass in those swishy samurai pants, and then he saw Jane being dragged across the floor by her hair again. Madi was screaming something, and then he felt the burn as his wounds were stretched tight and flesh was welded together again.

“Please, leave him alone,” Jane was crying. “You’ve won. Quit torturing him.”

Madi shoved her out of the way and grabbed Sullivan by the throat. “Last chance, Jake. Third strike and you’re out.” He shoved Sullivan back down and returned to the center of the room.

Sullivan climbed to his feet. It felt like there was a ball of molten lava in his chest. He didn’t bother to pick up the sword. Madi was the strongest. But even the strongest can lose. He gathered all of the Power he had left. “No matter how tough you think you are, with all your Imperium bullshit, and all your fake magic, and all these punks looking up to you, you’re still that same low-as-dirt bully you’ve always been, and I’ll never be scared of you.”

Madi watched him with his good eye. He was furious, the living half of his face red. Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed, “AGAIN!”

Sullivan threw every piece of magic he could. Gravity shifted ten times in as many seconds. Iron Guards fell up, down, and across the room. The Chairman, nonplussed, put out one hand to steady the Geo-Tel. Madi threw up his hands, countering magic with magic, every kanji on his chest glowing bright, burning so hot to keep up that the wood around his feet blackened and smoked. Every loose item in the room fell to the ceiling. Windows shattered. The light bulbs all exploded and dropped sparks until the room was lit only by glowing kanji and the pale blue light of the Geo-Tel.

And still, Madi kept getting closer, teeth ground together behind his destroyed lips, tears of blood leaking from his ruined eye. Sullivan stood his ground, feeling the pressure as Madi hammered him back. One of the bodyguards fell screaming out a broken window. Madi finally reached him and backhanded him across the face. It was the blow of the mightiest Iron Guard, and it shattered Sullivan’s teeth and wrenched his neck around.

Sullivan landed on his back ten feet away. He started sliding away on his rear, crawling on his elbows, pushing himself back with his feet. Madi walked forward, following him, ready to finish it once and for all. They continued for several feet, Sullivan grasping along, desperate, while Madi took his time strolling after him, savoring the moment. Finally, Sullivan stopped, raised his trembling hands, and looked up at the killer towering over him.

“Why the sad face?” Madi asked sarcastically.

“Not sad,” he spat around his broken teeth. “This is what I look like when I’m concentrating . . .” He cut his Power.

Madi’s eye flicked up, realizing what was happening just as the katana dropped from where Sullivan had been holding it against the ceiling. The blade fell, the tanto tip piercing through Madi’s skull, through his brain, down his throat, until it pierced his heart in two. Overloaded, the healing kanji exploded with the light of a bonfire.

Sullivan surged off the floor and grasped the hilt protruding from the top of Madi’s head. He pulled his brother’s face in close and whispered, “You’re right. You always were the strongest.” Madi’s good eye was twitching madly in its socket, trying to focus. His hands came up, curled into useless, spasming claws. He was trying to say something, but the only thing coming from his mouth was foaming blood and a gacking noise. “But I’m the smart one, remember?”

With a roar, Sullivan pulled the blade toward him. The razor steel cut through the rest of Madi’s skull, appearing right between his eyes, then through his nose and teeth. He wrenched the sword all the way out, opening him from top to belly button, and Madi’s organs spilled out in a gushing heap. Somehow, he was still standing, the front of his head split in two. One side was the face of a human, while the other was the shredded white-eyed face of a monster.

No amount of healing magic could fix that. Sullivan raised his hand, palm open, and activated his Power.

“So long, Matty.”

Gravity changed direction and Madi plunged across the room, through the window, and out into the night.