Chapter 11: Endgame

The large rectangular room inside the boathouse was lit dimly by light seeping in through holes in the badly decayed ceiling, and the floor below was mostly dark. Balto stood silently, waiting for Sorrow, who had not yet appeared. At the long wall to his right, Jenna, Abaddon, and the others stood in a line, wanting to be there to see the battle that would decide the fate of their friend. Blood trickled slowly from Balto’s eyes as he kept the Ebola active in his blood, making sure he would be fully prepared when Sorrow arrived. Then, a door banged open in another room, and he knew that his enemy had come. Sorrow came around a corner, and everyone in the line who hadn’t seen him before shrank back in fear. He was mostly white, using so much leprosy that he was nearly consumed by it, but it was obvious even on the surface that it made him far stronger. He turned his head and smiled evilly at those his servants had threatened, and they cringed, staring at his rotting body. He stopped, facing Balto, cracking his stiff fingers. “So it did eventually come to this,” he said. “I had wondered often how long you would survive. I would have never imagined that I’d even need to send Nemesis after you, but…you outlasted everything.” “I know. I’m ready to finish it.” Sorrow shook his head. “You speak with such confidence. Do you actually believe that what you have fought through already has somehow prepared you for this? I tell you now…” He raised himself to full height, letting leprosy bacilli flood over his skin, creating the ugly, reeking green smoke that had also appeared at the canyon. “You have seen nothing!” he roared, and he and Balto ran towards each other.

They met in the center of the room, trading and blocking high-speed punches, small white explosions erupting whenever they connected as virus and bacillus killed each other in a split second. Balto jumped into the air over a sweeping claw swing by Sorrow and lashed out with a virus arm, aiming for the advance form’s face. Sorrow, however, threw up one of his arms in a blur of speed, deflecting the blow, and swung back, punching Balto in the face, bringing him painfully to the floor. Balto hopped to his feet and gave Sorrow a double punch to the stomach, then smashed his thigh, knocking him to one knee. Suddenly, the advance form grabbed one of Balto’s virus arms and jumped into the air, pulling Balto up with him. He spun around in midair with a yell and kicked Balto in the jaw, sending him flying up and backwards into a pillar, which dented from the force. Balto fell to the ground, pieces of the pillar landing around him, his teeth clenched in pain, and for a moment, he didn’t move. The others looked on nervously, but their worry was unnecessary; Balto pushed himself off the ground with the virus arms, getting to his feet. He shook his head rapidly and brought the virus arms up to a fighting position again, then charged at Sorrow. He spun around, driving Sorrow back with a flurry of blows. Balto jumped over Sorrow’s head, punching even before he landed, but Sorrow threw an arm behind his head, deflecting the attack before spinning around and launching one of his own. Balto was prepared for exactly that move, however, and knocked it aside, leaving Sorrow completely exposed. He wound back and hammered a bone-crushing punch into Sorrow’s chest, and he flew backwards, skidding across the floor, driving his claws into the metal to stop himself. He stood up slowly with a hand on his chest, coughing painfully, then took one or two steps and launched himself through the air. Balto jumped to meet him, and they collided, grabbing each other and falling to the floor. For a few seconds, they were scuffling viciously, clawing and biting one another. Balto shredded the skin on Sorrow’s face, and the advance form grabbed his head and smashed it into the ground. He punched Balto in the muzzle, trying to stun him, then planted a knee in his ribs. He went to punch Balto in the face again, but Balto got a virus arm free and swung it upward, hitting Sorrow in the jaw. The advance form flew into the air, doing a backflip to right himself, and landed in a crouch, sending cracks running through the floor. Balto groaned, trying weakly to stand up, bleeding from many cuts and his nose. Sorrow smiled and laughed. “This is ridiculous! Just look at you. Even with all the power of Ebola at your disposal, you still are beaten! You’re absolutely pathetic. Why do you even think you deserve to live?” He laughed again, but stopped as Balto finally struggled to his feet. “The only one that can decide when I’m beaten…” he said, “…is me.” He poured Ebola through his body, restoring his energy, and stood ready to face Sorrow again.

The advance form snarled and ran at him, but was totally unprepared for what he faced. Balto ducked Sorrow’s initial attack and grabbed his left arm, spinning him around and twisting it brutally behind his back. As Sorrow screamed in pain, Balto stiffened his other virus arm and smashed it sideways across Sorrow’s shoulders, knocking him to the ground hard, smashing his face against the floor. The advance form moved to a crouch and turned around swinging, his claws headed right for Balto’s face. Balto leaned his head back as far as he could, balancing on the virus arms, and Sorrow’s claws barely missed his neck. He leaned forward again and struck Sorrow in the face twice, and the advance form kicked his ear, drawing a yelp. Sorrow lunged and tried to bite Balto’s throat, but Balto seized his neck and flung him away. Sorrow rolled a few yards from Balto, then stood up, shaking his head to get some of the blood out of his eyes. Once more, he came at Balto, who wasn’t able to time his defense correctly this time. Sorrow stabbed his claws through a virus arm, pulling him off balance, and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him flying straight up. However, when Balto was at head height to Sorrow, he caught onto a water pipe with his virus arms and swung around it, coming down, then up, extending a virus arm to smash Sorrow in the jaw. The advance form flew into the air with a yell and landed hard in the middle of the room. Balto spun himself once more around the pole and let go, hurling himself toward Sorrow like a stone from a sling. Just as Balto was about to crash into Sorrow, the advance form stood up and extended a stiffened palm, letting Balto’s jaw smash right into it. He caught Balto’s body, letting the momentum spin him around, and threw Balto headfirst into a pillar with a mighty yell, falling down after he let go, his body weakening. He crawled across the floor towards Balto’s prone body, growling as if insane, and reached for him. Then, a virus arm shot out and seized Sorrow’s hand, yanking him toward Balto, while the other virus arm grabbed one of his legs when it was close enough. Balto jumped to his feet, spinning around, holding Sorrow by his feet, letting the advance form’s head take a chuck out of each of the four pillars holding up the ceiling, after which he let him go, allowing him to fly into a wall and fall to the floor. Sorrow groaned and tried to stand, but he didn’t get the chance; Balto stood over him, pounding his face and body with the virus arms over, and over, and over, until cracks were spreading through the floor beneath them. He finished by bringing both virus arms down at once with a vengeful roar, splitting Sorrow’s head open.

Then, Balto stopped. He stared at the helpless, gasping foe below him. “Balto, finish him!” Abaddon shouted. “Kill him! Now!” Balto looked again at Sorrow. “Haven’t I done enough to him?” he thought. “He has nothing left but his life.” As unbelievable as it was, Balto actually had pity on Sorrow, and stepped back, turning away. “No!” Abaddon shouted. “He’s too…” Suddenly, the sound of metal scraping came from behind Balto, and he whirled around to see Sorrow holding a steel beam. “I'm not the type for gratitude," growled the advance form, and flung the beam over Balto’s head. It struck Abaddon, stunning him and pinning him against the wall with its weight. Balto went to attack, but then, Sorrow snapped his fingers. Now, Balto realized that he had been set up. The place was a trap, and he knew what was about to happen. “NOOO!” he yelled, leaping for Jenna, desperate to reach her and keep her out of Sorrow’s hands, but as he was halfway to her, and she was leaping to him, a staph advance form crashed into him, carrying him down to the floor in the center of the room, where five other staph advance forms joined in. “Never go without reserves!” Sorrow yelled, and seized Jenna’s scruff. He yelled and jumped straight up, crashing right through the ceiling with the force of his jump, and was gone.

Down in the building, everyone watched the fray in a near panic; they couldn’t see Balto in the mass of whirling claws and flesh. Suddenly, one of the advance forms flew like it had bounced on a springboard, crashing into the wall, dead. The other advance forms rapidly began suffering similar fates, and the group finally saw Balto, spinning and swinging the virus arms so fast it was difficult to see them. The last advance form died, and Balto stopped swinging, a long yell from his lips finally ending. He stood there, breathing sharply, drenched in his own blood and the blood of the advance forms, speaking softly in a desperate, angry, and despairing voice. “Jenna…Jenna…no…” The breath left his lungs, and he collapsed, barely taking in air, as his eyes closed.

A strange voice came from somewhere in the endless darkness, saying something muddled and vague, like it was coming through water. “Ahmo…Bado…Balto…Balto?” It became clear at last, summoning Balto out of unconsciousness, and he opened his eyes. Abaddon was standing there, with the others all around. Abaddon had been the one speaking to him. Though his body was sore, Balto could feel that most of his cuts had healed, and he assumed that Abaddon had