[MV] The Super Wizard From Space #55: Kilo Yuga, part 1

[wilalambre at gmail.com]

# THE SUPER WIZARD FROM SPACE # 55

"The philosophies of your unconventional brother go against your own... he
would do _anything_ to ensure your safety. With his assistance, we will
prevail."

## KILO YUGA, part 1

The Super Wizard From Space bursts out of sub-space, immediately
disoriented.
A thin atmosphere, a planetary gravity... where _was_ he? He could just
make out the constellations through the blinding sunlight, could see this
was the correct star system. So why was he so far _in_ it? He aimed for the
outer heliosphere but... an anomaly must have pulled him off course and
directed him at the inner most orbiting planet. Here, where the sun's so
garish and blazing that even he needs to shield his eyes. Here, where the
ground is composed of hard, cooked rock... with what looks like thin
sculpted lines carved upon it. Long patterns of flowing parallels.
With a grimace, he follows the artificial contours to their source.
At the equator, he finds a tall lizard wearing burlap robes and wooden
sandals. It chips away at the stone with the sharpened end of a long iron
pole. The lizard smiles with relief as he touches down. "Ah! Wonderful! At
last." It says, using a loose sleeve to wipe its brow. "I wondered if you'd
ever get here."
"We've met you before, haven't we?"
The exhausted lizard leans on his pole. "Yes, indeed. It was back on...
back when... oh! Dear! Has it been so _long_ since our encounter on planet
Amity? Time can be such a precarious breeze, passing with a light touch...
_'My life - How much more of it remains? The night is brief.'_ Let me
re-introduce myself: I am Andy Dharma, master villain of the Invisible
Monks."
"I remember you. You're Brody's duplicate. You tried to kill me." White-hot
power swells from the Super Wizard's skin. The air crackles around him and
the ground warps and melts under his boots.
Andy waves his hands in alarm, "No! No no no! Your feet! Your feet! You're
ruining the garden!"
Taken aback, the wizard douses his power and steps back. Andy goes back to
work on the melted rock. "Just like you. All heat and anger, with no
thought as to where you stand," he admonishes as he chips at the ground,
repairing the pattern.
"You did... all this?" the Super Wizard asks, watching the slow chiseling
match up with all the smooth lines flowing off over every horizon.
"I began at the north axis, just to pass the time until you arrived. I
didn't expect you to take _quite_ so long, but I knew you'd come
eventually. Your cosmic tournament. You've already gone to such lengths.
Just the one opponent left, yes?"
"Ah. _You're_ responsible for my sub-space tunnel being diverted here."
"With help, yes. I wanted to talk with you. I'd hope to convince you to
spare Genovefa Buzz."
The Super Wizard crosses his arms.
"She's out there right now," Andy says, "orbiting this very star. She's the
farthest planet in this very system... a sentient _world_, brought to life
by the transformative toxin of her swarm. She's their ruler and their home,
both, and as such, she lives with a clarity of purpose most of us will
never experience. She lives at a _scale_ we cannot possibly understand; her
universe is vast and cold and sparse. Without kin. Without contemporaries.
She's unique. And she's extraordinary." Andy finishes his work, the pattern
repaired. The divot of melted rock remains, but the lines roll into it,
 incorporating the wound into its long design. "This tournament the two of
you are caught in... it doesn't have to be your ends. Neither of you have
to die. If you yield your crown, she'll be the victor and you'll both be
free of this coercion."
The wizard scowls. "I don't entirely believe this is just about leniency.
Especially coming from you."
"You're correct that there are ulterior motives," Andy says. "The situation
has become more... _complicated_ since this tournament began. People making
desperate decisions, trouble brewing, _super-space-war_ on the horizon.
Buzz's presence acts as a windbreak on a prairie dustbowl, providing some
desperately needed stability. To cut her down now invites unprecedented
disaster."
"Buzz has struck at me _three times_ since this tournament started. She's
used her influence at every turn to try to have me killed. You _yourself_
were party to that." { Super Wizard From Space #21 }
"And you survived. Each time, you survived. You _frighten_ her. This
tournament _frightens_ her. She was created perfect. Immortal and
indestructible. When she realized death was a possibility, or worse, an
_inevitability_, she panicked. She lashed out. Are you so surprised at what
someone will do when left with no choice?"
"_Animals_ lash out; _people_ don't let their fear dictate their actions."
The wizard points up at the sky, toward the far circling worlds. "What do
you see? An answer? An ally? All I see is entitlement and abuse. I see
haughty expectations slapped down by stark reality. And instead of
confronting her situation with some amount of dignity, she's trying to put
it back the way she wants it. Well, _too bad_. The universe doesn't work
that way.
"You want me to spare her... why? Because she's unique? Because she might
correct some self-inflicted crisis? Ridiculous. What of the next time she
tries to _kill_ someone...? Or the next time her monsters overrun a
_world_? Or the next time her so-called empire wipes out _entire
civilizations_? No. I won't allow it. No one is so significant that we
_have_ to forgive their callousness. No one is above _judgement_."
Andy give an exaggerated sigh. "I was warned of this. Of your reaction.
That trying to change your mind would be like willing an ocean to still
itself. Still... I had to try." He takes up a wide stance and twirls the
iron pole around him. It spins in wide arcs in his nimble hands, up and
around one shoulder, back and and forward again around his waist, finally
snapping still in both hands. His right foot slides behind the left. His
knees bends at the ready.
"What are you doing?" the Super Wizard asks.
"Please surrender your crown."
"You can't be serious."
Andy nods. "I'm afraid I am. I don't wish to hurt you."
"Last time we fought, you had a cosmic weapon _and_ I was incapacitated by
inter-dimensional travel. Now, I'm at my full strength, I have the power of
this system's sun to draw upon... and you have a _stick_."
The lizard draws a deep breathe, crouches, and leaps up into the air. He
brandishes the iron pole above his head like an axe ready to come down. As
he reaches the height of his jump... he vanishes. Completely! One second
he's there, the next, _gone_.
The wizard only has a moment of confusion before a painful **CRACK** on his
shoulder!
He twists away, and there's another! A slicing **TWACK** to his ribs! And
an rising **CRACK** to his skull!
He staggers back, clutching his temple. When he looks at his hand, there's
bloody spatters from a forehead gash.
Andy re-appears, several feet away, twirling his iron pole. He's a
transparent blur, a half-imagined mirage. "You wouldn't be the first to
underestimate the martial abilities an Invisible Monk. If you attempt to
leave this planet without relinquishing your crown, I'll strike you down
with my _space-kung-fu_."
The wizard growls and reaches at the sky. He grasps at the sun, tugging at
its magnetic field, destabilizing the surface. With a wide whipping motion,
he drags a spitting river of fusion out from the star, snakes it along his
arm, and snaps it out in front of him.
Andy flings himself to away as manhandled flare **SLAMS** the planet's
surface.
Rock _instantly_ liquified. The ground _splits_ open. Mountainous pieces of
the surface are tossed into the air, torn apart by heat and gravity, flying
everywhere in a hurricane of magma rain. The planet's thin atmosphere
_screams_ and _storms_ with purple lightening; the noise topples ageless
ranges a continent away.
Andy tumbles widely a distance away. Battered and bruised. An arm twisted.
An eye swollen shut. It takes all his will not to cry out. Instead, he
draws that sharp feeling back into himself, tucking it down into the colder
places of his chi, and forcing himself back onto his feet.
The Super Wizard From Space marches through the cacophony, like the storm
and destruction around him didn't exist. His veins glow with fusion stolen
from the nearby star. "Its only out of respect to your ancestors that I
hold back. You think you're doing the right thing, but you're not. Your
mercy's wasted. Buzz doesn't give a _damn_ for you; you're dust on her
back. She doesn't care for anyone but herself. Selfishness at that scale
_must_ be stopped."
Andy picks up his iron pole. The incredible heat has shortened and bent it,
but he can still wield it as a club. Favouring his good arm, he again takes
a fighting pose.
The wizard stares levelly at the broken lizard. "People like her don't
change, no matter how hard you wish it. It _has_ to be this way."
The lizard spits on the ground. "Now you sound like my brother."
The wizard shakes his head with incredulous frustration. Drawing more of
the star's power into himself, he strides toward the lizard.
On the second step, his legs feel unsteady.
On the third step, he staggers. A tight sensation crawls up his stomach.
The sensation knots in his middle and drops him to his knees. Suddenly
gnarled agony makes it hard to focus, to concentrate, to do _anything_ but
be aware of the pain.
"Oh, my goodness!" Andy croaks in relief, "Oh, thank my long line. I was
afraid it wouldn't work..."
"What... what did you...?"
"What you were saying before... yes. Though it embarrasses me to admit it,
yes, you were right. Even with all my lifetime of training, even through
the perfection of my martial art, the glorious _space-kung-fu_ of the
Dharma family line... I am no match for your cosmic crown. With all the
power you can draw upon, it would never be a fair fight. So we had to even
the odds.
"We cheated. We poisoned the sun."

## NEXT ISSUE

"I can free you from your burden, as you once did for me."
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.eyrie.org/pipermail/racc/attachments/20160330/549590ae/attachment-0001.html>