Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Page 341

Stoker gathered strength in his legs and jumped, rocketing up toward Karkash.

He would bet it all on this. Not just his arms. His torso, too. Beneath his skin, there was an icy core, waiting to be released. It was so much hydrogen that if Karkash chose to detonate it with lightning at this range, the explosion would certainly blow both servants to pieces; and if Karkash chose otherwise, the freezing would take effect.

Karkash chose the latter. He caught Stoker with one arm, held by the neck. The arm froze immediately, and Stoker reached out, replacing his hand entirely with liquid hydrogen. Not even bone remained. The invisible hand scraped Karkash’s face, and Stoker saw it freeze instantly.

But that was as far as it went, because before the hydrogen could douse his skull completely, Karkash cut off his own arm--the arm which was holding Stoker in the air. And that decided everything.

Stoker fell. Both feet hit the pavement. He tried to flee, and a bolt of lightning cut through his right leg, lopping it clean off. Hydrogen escaped all around him, some of it liquid, some of it gas.

So much of his body was gone now. He lay on the road in a heap, half-bloody, half-frozen.

Karkash descended, peeling the icy flesh from his face and letting it regrow anew. The metal vortex slowed, and the objects therein all crashed into the ground and surrounding buildings, invoking civilian shrieks.

It was over, Stoker knew. He couldn’t even run anymore--not that it would have made much difference now that the fog had dissipated. And with so much of his body converted to hydrogen, Karkash could detonate him at any moment with a simple spark.

I found Nize,’ said Hoyohté.

Karkash deliberated a moment, and then forewent the explosive deathblow. Instead, he made his way toward the building Hoyohté pointed to. Through the large window, he saw Nize among the group of terrified people. He raised a hand.

Before the lightning could flash forth, however, a sudden spire appeared and drew the electricity to it, dispersing it harmlessly into the ground.

And Stoker saw the person responsible--a young black man staring down at them from the adjacent rooftop.

“If you two want to kill each other, that’s fine... but please leave other people out of it.”

6 comments:

  1. "Before the hydrogen douse[d] his skull..."
    Or you could say could douse. Either one will work here.
    And I guess I could reignite some of the chemistry debates we have here. This might not really impact the story since some of this stuff has yet to been proven in a lab, but since it is the first element, hydrogen does have the ability to do some weird things. One of which is that upon reaching a liquid state, hydrogen begins to behave like a metal. Since this has not yet been achieved, I'm not certain if that metal would be magnetic or not (if only we could achieve absolute zero!). But the other interesting thing is that this metal is a superconductor, so it could be used to neutralize any electric shocks or even redirect them. Future generations may have a good laugh about all of this once our technology does improve and we know more, but I guess that comes with the territory.
    And returning back to the story, with just a bit of liquid hydrogen inside of his body, Stoker should be able to self-destruct to destroy his brain if needed (assuming Nize can escape on her own). The pressure and just a spark would take him out and depending on the quantity, probably the block he is on as well. This is assuming there aren't other safety mechanisms at work to prevent the servants from doing so though. The other possibility is if there is only a certain piece of the brain that is needed to prevent the servant from regenerating (such as the hypothalamus) that could just be taken by Karkash. Food for thought perhaps. Might be funny to see Hector win the fight only for Stoker to still explode.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the catch.



    Also, it was established a few pages ago that Nize is unable to move, so no, she wouldn't be able to escape on her own.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And Hector shows up and ruins all of Karkash's fun. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok even if I disagreed with getting involved in this fight, I have to admit, this entrance was badass!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Snowtail the KhajiitOctober 17, 2014 at 4:29 PM

    Our hero has [finally] arrived! X3 Looking forward to the next page. :D

    ReplyDelete