Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance

Chapter 351: Final Stretch

Stanley felt a large wave of energy flow into him. Not only was the energy within the Space Nova now belonging to him, but he also had a large chunk of what he had just gathered sent into him.

He collapsed to the ground at the very moment, unable to handle the intensity of so much flowing into him at once. The amount of satisfaction he felt at that very moment, albeit clearly not a real emotion, was mind-numbing.

It was something he wanted more of. Something he could imagine himself going the extra mile to achieve.

However, he quickly grasped onto his thoughts and shook his head.

’No, get a hold of yourself, Stanley,’ he told himself. Even then, it took a moment for him to calm down. He was out of breath after the battle and slowly got up as Sheila pulled him up.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked, worried.

Stanley shook his head. "I’m alright. I just got a bunch of energy from him."

She held onto his arm, letting him rely on him. "How do you feel? Still tired?" she asked. "There should still be a few more minutes before my powers are over."

"It’s alright," Stanley said. "I can keep myself up."

He stood on his own, not relying on Sheila. Then, he felt something break inside of him, releasing something he had kept hidden.e

"My power!" he said softly. "It’s back."

"Huh? But it hasn’t been 10 minutes yet," Sheila said.

"No, not that," Stanley said. "My other powers, the ones I said were sealed away. They are finally back."

He could finally slow down time for himself once more. He felt happy.

"We need to leave. I think Gray is done with his battle too. We need to gather up and see what else needs to be done."

"We need to kill Raven," Stanley said softly. "I need to kill Raven."

"I can help," Sheila said.

Stanley thought for a moment and shook his head. "You need to stay away. It is too dangerous," he said. He placed his palm on the ground and felt the low rumble that was steadily getting stronger. "The crawlers are getting close. I need to go fight it."

Sheila didn’t stop him. "You need to change your shoes though. Get into your proper shoes."

Stanley looked down and saw that his casual wear had been torn down completely by now. It wouldn’t last him much. He nodded and walked into his room to change his shoes.

The room was in shambles, most of the objects inside it were either destroyed or all over the place. It was hard to find a single pair of shoes to wear.

Or so Stanley thought before he saw a pair lying neatly on the ground, having fallen from the closet where he kept it hidden. He paused for a long moment, looking at the shoe.

The leather boot with the thick iron sole was something Bradley used to wear. In fact, it was the very last thing Bradley had given Stanley before he had died that day.

Stanley felt emotional at the sight of the shoes. He sat down having taken off his destroyed shoes and began putting on one of the boots and then the next.

He tied it all off tightly and got up, feeling not just sturdier but also the courage he needed for the upcoming battle. Whoever he fought, whatever the outcome, his brother would be with him through this.

Stanley looked down at the shoes and said, "Today is the day I get my revenge, brother. Revenge for you, for mother, for all of them. I will kill her, even if I have to die for it."

Having made up his resolution, Stanley turned around and left to fight the upcoming battle.

Sheila and Stanley met up with a few other people. Caleb, Mona, Stella, and Gray made their way up the stairway.

"What’s going on? Why are you guys running?" Sheila asked.

"Why are you so young?" Stanley asked Stella.

Stella waved away his question, not answering.

"You’re awake!" Gray said loudly. "We need to get out of here. The steam is going to cook us if we don’t find a safe spot."

"Steam?" Stanley asked, confused at first. But then he looked down the side and saw robot arms with hoses pointed toward the lava that was slowly cooling now. It was going to start cooling it all.

"But we need to go out," Stanley said. "The swarm of Ink Crawlers is almost here. You can feel it, can’t you?"

"The what?" Gray asked.

"Ink Crawlers," Stanley said. "Monsters made from humans by the Shadow Nova. They are very strong and they are already coming up the mountain."

"Oh..." Gray said. "That’s bad. But there is no way out. The door is already filled with lava."

"I’ll punch a way out if that is what you need," a voice said from the stairs.

They all looked up and saw the director coming down, along with a woman who had her face covered with a piece of cloth.

"Sister Amy?" Stanley asked. "What are you doing with that shirt?"

He recognized the voice, of course.

"Don’t worry about me," Amy said. "I will make an opening for you. Go fight."

"Can’t you fight with us?" Stanley asked.

"They’re living humans, aren’t they?" Amy asked. "Then no."

Stanley thought for a bit and nodded. "We should get moving either way," he said. "Everyone should go up, and deal with the others. Gray and I will deal with the Crawlers."

"There should be people around the cafeteria. I haven’t checked what’s happening on the upper floor yet. We will need someone there," Hobb said, feeling depressed at the assault. "So many people died."

"The power is back on. I can check who is where easily. I just need access to the main computer," Caleb said quickly.

"Great, that’s it then," Amy said. "Let me open up a path for the two of you and you can leave."