The soda can bounced once, the sound lost in the clatter of thousands of displaced goods thundering to the floor. Araxis deftly avoided the collapsing shelving, batting away a cereal box flipping by his head.

“I’ll repeat myself only once, Miru. You are merely delaying the inevitable.”

The reply came in the form of a soup can, hurled with deadly force at Araxis’ left eye.

Araxis sighed, lifting a hand. “Dissever.”

The can became a fine mist for the duration of exactly four seconds, reassembling itself well behind its intended target. It left a dent in the wall, clattering to the floor and rolling out of sight.

“Miru, this is a public place. A supermarket, for heaven’s sakes. It will not take long for the authorities to-”

An empty shopping cart, resting against a wall, suddenly crumpled, as if crushed by an invisible compactor. The pressure grew so intense, the metal began to superheat, turing a mottled black.

Sighing again, Araxis adjusted his necktie. “Dissever works on all physical objects. At the very least, you could do me the honor of remembering what I taught you. This is embarrassing.”

The mesh ball began to spin in place, picking up speed.

“Enough. This ends, now! Interra-”

The ball was humming now, letting out intermittent screeches as its whirling surface occasionally brushed the floor.

“…Ah, screw it. Dissever.”

The metal orb became a silver dust… which continued to spin, leaving long gouges in the tile below.

“Oh.”

The cloud lurched forward… and Araxis ran, although the word “ran” hardly did him justice. His feet cracked the white tile, his legs cycling faster than the human eye could hope to follow as they propelled him forward at remarkable speeds.

Behind him, Dissever‘s effects were wearing off. The metal shards regained their shape, dropping to the floor with a bone-shaking crunch. The newly reconstituted mesh ball began to roll, gaining momentum, pinballing down the aisle.

“Miru, you idiot! That’s a Live Magic! If it hits me, the explosion will kill us both! Call it off!”

There was no answer.

Muttering curses, Araxis charged past the rows of assorted fishing goods lining the walls, frantically running through what few options he had. The supermarket was quite busy, or rather, it had been. A rather complicated Moratorium had suspended the occupants in a dreamlike state, leaving them frozen where they were. That also meant that any and all actions taken would potentially affect the slumbering civilians. He couldn’t let that orb detonate.

“AI, how much do we have left?” he panted out. His burning lungs provided a painful reminder of exactly how little exercise had had been getting over the past few years.

A machine voice, emanating from the device he wore on his wrist, responded to his question.“Systema magic at %40. Recharge rate %5 per minute.”

“Blast. How did it get so low?”

“Blanket spell ‘Moratorium’, cast at 0915 hours this morning, resulted in a %55 drain.”

“Alright, alright. Let me think. Do we have any defensive spells in your mainframe?”

“Negative. You specified target-neutralizing Systema only.”

“Oh, it’s all my fault, eh? Well, you’re the military tactical genius, so tell me what to do!”

“Define.”

Araxis was beginning to turn red, and it wasn’t due to the running.

“How do I stop the freaking ball, you ridiculous machine?”

“Request is not within my present capabilities.”

“Screw you, too.”

Hopping a produce display, Araxis landed awkwardly, stumbling slightly to the left. The misstep saved his life; the deadly orb, now almost crimson with heat, decimated the display inches behind him. Corn popped like gunfire, joining the shattered wooden stand in a chaotic cloud of dust and shrapnel. The metal ball immediately spun in reverse, but it was slow to turn, fighting its own momentum.

Interlocking his fingers, Araxis hurled out another spell, “Friez, level two.”

“Insufficient power to complete level two. Downgrade?”

The orb caught, began to gain speed.

“Yes, yes, do it now, or it’ll be…”

A bolt of blue energy leapt from his fingers, spraying out like water from a hose. Wherever it touched a solid surface, the jet became a solid coating of ice. The murderous mesh ball froze over in an instant, stopping dead in mid-aisle.

“Systema at %10. Recharge rate %5 per minute.”

“Now why did I have to think of that? You were built to help me fight this kinda stuff, and you couldn’t even…”

“It was illogical to use an ice spell in such a fashion. Your power level is no longer sufficient to confront Miru head-on.”

“It was that or die, stupid!”

“The proper solution was to find and eliminate Miru directly. Upon his neutralization, the murder spell would have collapsed.”

Araxis straightened his suit coat, taking several deep breaths. When he spoke, his voice was deceptively calm. “Then why, pray tell, did you not inform me of the proper course of action as soon as you thought of it?”

“Your orders, as of 0700 hours this morning, were to ‘remain silent until information was specifically asked for’.”

“I believe my exact words were, ‘shut up when no one’s talking to you’.”

“Precisely.”

With a superhuman effort, Araxis forced himself to calm down.

“Very well. I don’t have enough magic to locate Miru. Can you do that much?”

“Indeed.”

Araxis was somewhat surprised.

“Miru is precisely five feet, six inches to your 6 o’clock position.”

Very, very slowly, Araxis turned around.

Miru brushed an imaginary speck of dust from his white overcoat. “You need to be more observant, Captain. I could have killed you several times over.”

Araxis tried not to make any sudden moves; nothing to set Miru off. The Systema Overdrive was clearly visible on Miru’s wrist, blinking as it drew in the quantum-level particles floating through the air. There was no sign of the Chaos chip, but it was only an inch in length, and could be in any of Miru’s many pockets.

“You stopped the ‘Furea’, Captain? Impressive. Live Magic is tough to counter.”

“Miru, you can’t escape. SWAT has the building surrounded. MAGE is on the way to back them up. They’re sending a team of Navy SEALs, for heaven’s sake! You may have stolen Overdrive, and that infernal spell chip, but you can’t get us all. In the end, there’s a thousand of us, and one of you. Now, if you’d like to surrender, I can guarantee that-”

“Shut up! Do you realize the power this thing has? I could level the world with this! Nothing scares me now, Araxis. Not you, not MAGE, not the whole damn world.” Miru’s hand came up, and the Overdrive screeched as it prepared to activate. “With this, I control everything!”

The floor erupted, tossing Araxis through the air. He had gone mere feet before the roof collapsed inward, burying him in rubble.

“Gravity, momentum, entropy! I own them all! I can do anything, captain! Anything I want!”

The debris became a cloud of atoms, and Araxis staggered up… only to be thrown back by a second explosion.

He landed heavily on a pastry cart, a bin of multicolored doughnuts cushioning his fall. Chocolate cream filling splattered everywhere, making the floor slick as Araxis scrambled to his feet.

“AI! What can I use?”

“Basic fire online. Basic water online. Two types sleep spell online, although Overdrive nullifies both. Ice available in seven seconds…”

“Useless, useless, useless!”

“Enemy is approaching from the left.”

Sparks danced like a million fireflies, and the tiny bakery became ash. Miru strode through, soot blackening his pristine coat.

“I have taken great care to avoid killing innocents, Araxis. The least you could do is stay still and let me kill you!”

Araxis took off again, a cacophany of magical blasts tearing apart the ground behind him.

“AI, can you talk to Overdrive’s AI? Maybe shut it down?”

“Possible. Overdrive does not give or receive transmissions, but it can have information uploaded to it via chip. Should a shutdown program be written to chip, the Overdrive should be unable to ignore it.”

“So I’d have to manually stick the chip into the Overdrive’s port, right?”

“Correct. Chances of successful completion; %0.001. Do not attempt.”

“What if you were able to touch Overdrive? Could you communicate through its shell?”

“Confirmed. I would require seven seconds of contact. Chances of successful completion; %0.00001. Do not attempt.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Confirmed.”

“Unless it’s vitally important!”

“Confirmed.”

“Good. Is telepathy online?”

“Please hold, switching chipset. Confirmed. Telepathy availible. Drain rate is %1 per minute use on small objects, %15 per minute use large objects. Systema at %16. Activate telepathy now?”

“Yeah. Let’s go with Seipium. And yes, I do know how to use it. No tutorials, please.”

Araxis ducked behind a cooler full of frozen hotdogs, trying to calm his breathing.

In the distance, Miru chuckled. “I can see you, captain. Come out and play!”

The hotdog cooler groaned as invisible fingers coiled around it, pulling it slowly away from the wall. Araxis moved with it, doing his best to maintain his cover.

“You have three seconds, captain!”

Araxis didn’t answer, lifting both hands. “Seipium,” he whispered.

“Three! Two! One! Zero!”

The cooler tore in two with a painful screech of metal ripping apart. Araxis snapped his hands forward, sending an entire aisle of canned soups hurtling through the opening. Miru was caught off-guard, but recovered before the attack could do damage. The cans burst apart, splattering across a shimmering crimson shield that rose up to protect Miru.

In Araxis’ head, AI spoke. “Systema at %0. No chance of recovery.”

“An amusing attempt, Araxis! But no physical object can-”

The Overdrive spoke, its voice clear and smooth. “Advisement. Enemy is attempting to damage my core with telepathy. Type of attack, Flat Magic ‘Seipium’.”

“Oh? Well then… Overdrive! Activate cycle two! Engage the Chaos chip.”

With a horrible groan, every object within a hundred feet of the Overdrive ceased to exist, leaving Miru floating above a smooth crater. Bisected boxes, shelves, and grocery items tumbled into the depression, only to meet the same fate; smashed apart at an atomic level by the Chaos program.

“Purge complete. All incoming signals erased.”

“You see, Araxis? You are completely powerless! I’m growing tired of this. You ruined my initial plans by showing up early. You’re an exceptional detective, I’ll give you that. However, it’s time for everything to go away. Overdrive, how long till full power?”

“Factoring the drain produced by the Chaos chip, thirty seconds to %100.”

“Enjoy your last thirty seconds on earth, Araxis. Overdrive, load Exendariaum World Bender.”

“Advisement. World Bender at top power will do sufficient damage to the earth to disrupt all known bio-systems. There is no logical reason to activate this at full power. Also; program is experimental, and may potentially injure you.”

“Disregard the safety protocol.”

“There is no logical reason to-”

“Disregard the blasted protocol!”

“Affirmative.”

Araxis stepped up to the crater’s edge.

“Ah, there you are! Pity I have no more Systema to waste on you. Trying to end the world and all, you know. What will you do? Chaos is still active. Nothing can get through to me.”

Araxis sighed, sitting on an overturned case of beer. “It doesn’t matter. My systema is gone. That was my last go.”

Miru frowned. “So sad. Are you just giving up, then? Not what I expected of you at all.”

With a sad smile, Araxis shook his head. “I never give up, Miru. Never.”

“Download complete,” said AI

“Download complete,” repeated Overdrive.

“What?” said Miru, an instant before he fell from the air, landing hard in the blast crater. He lay there a minute, uncomprehending, then rose to his feet with a roar.

“What did you do, Araxis?”

Araxis held up his arms, revealing his bare wrists.

It took Miru a second to realize what he was seeing. “What… Where’s your…”

“I threw it with the cans. Systema devices are magic-proof, Miru. It went right through your shield.”

Miru drew the Overdrive up to his face. Clinging magnetically to its side was a small, watchlike device; Araxis’ Systema collector, hidden amongst the coils of wires.

“What is this?”

“I had my AI tell the Overdrive to shut down. Contact was needed for that. You would never have let me get close, so I had to get it to you another way.”

Miru tore the collector free, crushing it beneath his heel. “That was a mad strategy, captain. What if I had opted to kill you right away?”

“Then I would have died, and the overdrive would still have been stopped. Now,” Araxis drew his sidearm, “You can come with me quietly, or I can shoot you in the leg and carry you. Which will it be?”

 

The first drops of rain cut through the muggy summer air, spilling over the glossy helmets and armored trucks below. Searchlights cut through the gloom; engines idled as, one by one, sirens ceased to wail. The MAGE commander barked a question into his radio, waiting sullenly for an answer as water dripped from his hood. In exactly one minute’s time, the radio came to life, transmitting a mix of words and static. The commander nodded to himself, taking a bullhorn from under his coat.

“This is MAGE commander Sorra; all units stand down. Captain Araxis has apprehended the rouge MAGE operative, as well as the stolen items. Weapons to standby, he’s coming out.”