[MV] The Super Wizard From Space #59: Kilo Yuga, part 5

wilalambre at gmail.com wilalambre at gmail.com
Fri Jun 24 10:57:00 PDT 2016


# THE SUPER WIZARD FROM SPACE # 59

"And what's it cost us? Only the moral scrutiny of our so-called peers. All
of you, dripping with jealousy! All waiting for the chance to take from us
what is rightly ours!"

## KILO YUGA, part 5

Andy Dharma bent over the Stringer's prone body, wrapped both arms around
his head, and with a single fast wrench, broke the super-wizard's neck.
KRACK!

The alien salt flat was silent for long, dragged out moments afterwards,
with only the remnants of that final, brittle sound ringing in the air.

Finally, Brody Dharma released a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding
and said, "I cannot believe you just did that."

Andy looked at his brother in surprise. "The man was obviously crazed. If
he was not already planing to kill us both, his festering paranoia was
leading him in that exact direction."

"No. I mean... I cannot believe you _defeated_ him! You _killed_ a
super-wizard! No one's _ever_ killed a super-wizard before! I’ve... always
wanted to know if our family's space-kung-fu would stand up against a
super-wizard’s science-sorcery..."

"Yes. Yes! I know! Do you remember when we'd debate this _very thing_ with
our father? He said it was _impossible_ without first knowing a
super-wizard's secret name, but..."

"...but I knew, I _knew_ it could be done, yes! Only those few trained as
part of the Red Hand demonstrated any real ability to fight. Against any
_other_ individual super-wizard, I was supremely confident our martial arts
skills could overcome their power advantage..."

"...like his shield! He never believed we might slip through thier hardened
light. But I did _just that_! We were _right_!"

Andy felt exhilarated. Not just for vanquishing a super-wizard (but he
had!), but for the equal ardor his brother demonstrated. There was colour
in his shallow cheeks again! Energy in his frail hands! And the return of
child-like wonder in his eyes. It reminded him so much of his illustrious
father. With Buddy Dharma's passing, he acceded to the lonely fact that
he'd have no one to truly share a connection with, no one to share his
thoughts or philosophies, his curiosity and his doubt. Now though, now that
he had a brother, and _more_ than a brother, he vowed _never_ lose this
opportunity.

No tradition so sacred, no path so long, no foe so great that he'd ever
sacrifice his other self.

Brody's cheer eased, and was replaced with a reluctant sigh. "...still, we
may have been wrong on one point."

Andy furrowed his brow. "Which is...?"

"Our father _might_ have been correct as to what happens when a
super-wizard _dies_." Brody pointed at the Stringer's body. A orange glow
swelled from the vacant, bloody-black eyes. A plume of yellow-white smoke
rose up out of the gaping open mouth, flushed with incensed radiation. The
skin spat out electricity, the ferocity and frequency building with each
passing second.

Andy moved without hesitation. He picked up the super-champion's body and
draped him over the Stringer's corpse. He stabbed at the body with a apir
of pointed finger, hitting nerve clusters and pressure points in a precise,
reverse order. Then, without grace or dignity, he turned to Brody and threw
his brother onto his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Brody cried in surprise.

"I cannot carry you both," was all the explanation Andy had time for. He
cleared his thoughts of the germinating reaction, of his brother's dogged
protests, of the distracting _racket_ of the world around him. He calmed
himself into the cold cool cerulean of ultra-zen. And he began to run.

He moved as wind. With each step, he ran faster and _faster_. With each
stride, he covered more and more distance. His footfalls left impact
craters far behind him and left dozens of miles between them. He felt his
heart bashing and his lungs burning and legs fraying.

Just before his strength gave out, he found a ragged deep canyon, some
remanent of a long extinct river. He jumped in, and sliding down the steep
cliff walls to the bottom, he kicked at every loose stone he saw. He cause
a landslide of boulders to chase after them.

When he reached the canyon floor, he had just enough time to roll himself
and his brother into a narrow crook. He held as still as the avalanche came
down on top of them, burying them under an immense weight to rock and stone
and gravel.

Then, the Stringer's corpse _exploded_.

All the stored fusion power slipped out of its dead cage with the _nuclear_
force. The alien world shook, surface to core. A deafening screech sucked
in all the available air, held it for a half second, then expelled it with
unholy rumbling and ghastly heat.

Andy covered his frail brother. He prayed the canyon walls and rumble above
them would prove adequate cover.

It could only have been a minute at most. It felt like an eternity. Hiding
in the dark while atomic hell scorched the surface.

The rumbling passed. And eventually, so did the heat. The air felt sharp,
scratchy against his skin, but after a worried wait, that moved on, too.

They remained buried in silence. Hours passed. Andy had no way to tell if
it was safe to emerge. Truth be told, he wasn't certain they _could_
clamour out.

"I'm sorry," Brody whispered solemnly. "You were right."

Andy smiled and replied with as much humour as he could muster, "I'm sorry
I was right, too."

"This was my fault. You saw the battle. I let myself be moved by our enemy."

"I had help, reading between the lines."

"How were you able to use the Sting Of The Trigger Fish maneuver on the
Super Wizard From Space with the Schrivener nor the Stringer watching your
entire confrontation?"

"I simply didn't announce it," he replied with a shrug and a smile. He'd
hoped Brody would understand his intentions when placed with the Super
Wizard's body. He couldn't have been entirely sure his blackmailers hadn't
seen him hit all the necessary pressure points. Thankfully, they were wary
of the poisoned sunlight still leaking from the body, and with Brody's
help, they'd been distracted from doing a more thorough an examination.

"He's seen that maneuver performed. He'd be completely paralyzed. Conscious
and aware, but _helpless_. He _trusted_ you with this ruse?"

No. "He trusted _you_, I think."

"I would not have surrendered his Crown."

"I'm not my brother."

The rocks shifted above. Cracking and crumbling, with the angry wet sound
of liquid fire. A hole broke open, the night sky a welcome brightness after
the grim dark below. With a strong grip, the Super Wizard From Space hauled
them both out, and flew them out of the canyon.

Once up on the surface, Andy saw the devastation the explosion had caused.
Gone was the salt flats, the distant desert dunes, the breeze-swept sands.
Just black glass, as far as he could see. And in the distance, a brown-grey
mushroom cloud over a thousand feet tall.

The Super Wizard From Space made for a frightful appearance. His face
covered in caked mud and dried black blood. His uniform charred and ragged,
near unrecognizable. His eyes looked red and miscolored. His voice was
grainy, scratchy, like something important had torn. But his tone was
forceful. Blunt. "You killed him."

"I gave you what you wanted. I let you hear them. Their insanity. From
_your_ own race. From their own mouths." Andy waved at the nucleur
destruction on the horizon. "_That_ was supposed to happen to _me_. He
wanted you dead. He wanted _your_ death to be _my_ death as well. He wanted
Brody to be abandoned forever in a prison of dark terrors. You should
expect no sympathy from me."

"I expected _better_ of you, though," the Super Wizard replied, coldly.

"You do not get to judge me," Andy said.

"I get to judge _everyone_."

A faint, popping sound echoed far above them somewhere. Looking up, they
saw clouds being chased away by chaotic, unnatural winds. The sky groaned
in pain as fresh tidal forces battered it aside. A single cyclopean shadow
blotted out the half the starlight, and forced the other half to bend and
curve around its colossal size.

"It's Genovefa," the Super Wizard said. "You'd both better leave. Her
gravity will devastate this planet." Already, they could feel the ground
strain and shake as the tectonic plates peeled up against their own massive
weights.

"No. No. You don't have to fight her," Andy said.

"Of course he does," Brody said.

"No, he doesn't!" Andy yelled in frustration. "The Schrivener has the
Crown. The cosmic tournament is between him and Queen Buzz. Whatever the
outcome, its no longer your obligation. Whatever the consequences, its no
longer your responsibility. She thinks you're _dead_. Your own murderous
race thinks you're _dead_. This is an opportunity! Walk away from all this
devestation. Put an _end_ to this madness."

"That's exactly what I intend to do," the Super Wizard From Space said. He
crouched, took his bearings through the crashing gravities, and leapt up
through the air. A streak of fusion fire, a line drawn directly at the
great shadow.

Andy watched home leave. Feeling helpless. Embittered. Pointless.

"No one saves us but ourselves," Brody said, resting a hand on Andy's
shoulder. "No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path."

Andy turned Brody, ready to rail against his stubborness and his
stupidity... but he saw the soft face of his father looking back.

And suddenly, he was just... glad Brody was alive.

"Our part's done. Let's go home."

## NEXT ISSUE

The Super Wizard From Space versus Queen Buzz!
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