Despite Achilles’ ferocious assault, Yen managed a confident smile. In a moment, Achilles had annihilated four of Yen’s best soldiers. But, simultaneously, he had shown something Yen had waited a long time to see: Achilles had a weakness.
Turning back toward his prey, Achilles frowned at seeing Yen pushing himself to his feet in the cold water. “I would have guessed that by now you would have had the common sense to die.”
Yen coughed, his chest still aching from Achilles’ last attack. “I never was a very quick learner.”
Achilles strode forward dangerously, a predatory look in his eyes. “I’ll just have to do a better job of teaching you this time.” The air around Achilles began to flicker as he let the psychic energy build.
Yen backed away until he was near the short end of the rectangular lake. Behind the stalking Terran, silhouetted in the darkening sky, Yen could still see the large stone monument watching like a sentient judge of the day’s battle. Surprising Achilles, Yen didn’t show a level of fear that the Terran would have expected. Instead, Yen smiled broadly. When he had been suspended in the air, Yen had wanted nothing more than another opportunity at revenge against the Terran. Given that opportunity, he wasn’t about to let it pass.
“I think it’s about time I taught you a lesson instead,” Yen replied.
Reaching to his belt, Yen quickly unclipped one of the grenades hanging there. In a swift motion, he pressed the grenades activation button as he tossed it forward, its trajectory taking it straight toward the Terran’s chest. Red lights flared to life around the equator of the grenade as the short fuse counted down toward detonation.
Opening his hand, his palm facing the grenade and Yen, Achilles laughed as the grenade came to a stop in mid air, hovering only a couple feet in front of the Terran. The circling red light stopped flickering around the explosive as Achilles let out a hearty, crazed laugh.
“A grenade?” he said in disbelief. “The two greatest psychics in the universe face each other and you insult me by attacking with a grenade? What’s wrong with you?”
Yen heard the faint cracking as the shell of the grenade broke apart along it’s seams. The individual outer plates floated away from the grenade’s core, floating in an orbit around the rest of the explosive. From where Yen stood, he could clearly see the rest of the grenade’s inner workings. Hovering, encased in red psychic energy, the detonator was separated from the rest of the explosive, pulled apart by Achilles’ will.
“I had such high hopes for you, Yen,” Achilles mocked as he began dismantling the core of the grenade. First, the explosive components fell harmlessly into the cool water at Achilles’ feet. Then, he pulled apart the more volatile detonator and explosive caps. “I thought that you would show up on Earth like Death riding his pale horse. You would stream through the cities, leaving piles of Terran soldiers in your wake, piled like lost souls caught in eddies on the River Styx.” Achilles let the last of the components drop into the water before returning his gaze to Yen, his eyes flaring angrily with inner red light. “But instead, you come to me with little control over your vast power. You are easily defeated without even so much as a strain on my part. Then… then when you finally show some inner strength, the best you can do is throw a meager grenade at me! You don’t deserve to exist in my universe!”
“I’m not done yet,” Yen growled. In rapid succession, Yen unclipped the other three grenades from his belt and launched them at the infuriated Terran. All three flew through the air in perfect arcs, guided by Yen’s psychic power. And each of the three, much as the single grenade had done previously, were stopped before coming in contact with Achilles.
One by one, the lights went out around the circumferences of the grenades as Achilles deactivated their detonators. Howling in frustration, Achilles waved his hand and the shell around the first grenade exploded outward, exposing the core within. Yen didn’t flinch as the shell rebounded off his psychic shield, glanced away, and disappeared into the surrounding darkness. Above the pair, as if in response to their own brewing anger, lightning split the dark sky.
“You’re not even listening to me!” Achilles yelled as the rain grew heavier, splashing across the surface of the pond. “You have incredible untapped potential, yet you struggle to think of anything except the most mundane of attacks. I can’t believe you would even waste my time with these… things.”
“One of your…” Yen began before the words faded away. He could feel his power building inside of him, rising like an unchecked tide coursing through his body. Swallowing hard, he continued. “One of your… biggest faults… is that you… underestimate people too much.”
Blue tendrils of power arced across Yen’s body, rolling as though his body were a lightning rod, conducting unseen sources of psychic energy. In front of Achilles, the grenades inched forward and the one of the far right flickered back to life. Snarling, Achilles focused deeper, shutting down the grenade once more.
“Here you are, nearly killing yourself, and for what? To inch a grenade just a little closer to me? In the end, I’m still more powerful than you will ever be. You’re just delaying the inevitable!”
“Nothing… is inevitable,” Yen gasped. His eyes watered as pressure built in his temple and the strain began to cause physical pain in his spine. Yen’s cornea was consumed with blue as the energy saturated his body. From within his mind, Yen could hear the joyful chorus of the psychic power crying out at its freedom. Shivering from far more than the cold, Yen concentrated harder.
The metal casings that had been blown free from the first grenade launched across the surface of the pond, reforming around the grenade’s core. With a flash of brilliant blue light, the shell reformed and fused together.
“Stop that!” Achilles yelled as the casing blew apart once more. This time, Achilles didn’t bother angling the shards of metal toward Yen. Instead, the shell flew away and splashed into the water, joining the remains of its previously dismantled brother. “You’re wasting both our time! You’re a fossil, Yen Xiao! You’re a has-been. You’re little more than a footnote in this war! When I’m done with you, history books won’t even remember you! Just lie down and die like a good puppy!”
Psychic power roared through Yen’s core. His head whipped backward in surprise as the energy shattered through Yen’s controls and countermeasures. Never before had Yen pushed himself so far or so hard. The anger which he struggled to contain merged with the psychic power and fed it, letting it grow like a sentient leech, feeding off Yen’s own essence in order to defeat so strong an opponent. Blue tendrils broke free of the yellowed skin on Yen’s back, reaching out like the legs of a spider. They reached around his body, snapping out toward Achilles like chained animals. At their tips, they elongated into razor-sharp spines and blades while still others formed hungry maws filled with row after row of saw-like teeth. Yen’s power was free of his control and was eager for retribution against Achilles.
Even the Terran seemed startled by Yen’s sudden transformation. He stepped backward in surprise, his feet skimming the water. The grenades before him gave chase, remaining only just beyond a foot away. Yen’s lips pulled back into a malicious snarl as blue light poured from his eyes.
“Impressive,” Achilles said breathlessly. “It looks like you’re finally accepting who you are and who you have the potential to be.” The Terran’s eyes narrowed as he continued. “But it still won’t be enough. You’re wasting all this energy and you’re still no closer to detonating these grenades!”