Showdown Part 7 (Gabrielle)
June 7, 2009 by sharppointythings
Ty watched the air hiss out into space, knew he had no life support back-up and realized he didn’t care. He fingered the detonator and watched Anna maneuver. She was almost in the right spot.
There! She flew into his trap and let off a burst of fire just as he detonated the very last bomb. The blast of this bomb caught her full in the underside, crippling her ship.
Ty yelled his victory and didn’t care how much oxygen it took.
“Now, who’s good, Anna?” he shouted to her.
“Still me,” she replied.
Ty check his damage report and saw that her last shot had taken out his engines. He was dead in space. He looked at her ship slowly rotating out of her control then at the still growing crack in his windshield that was still leaking his air. They were both dead in space.
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It was graduation day. Anna stood on a stage and tried not to think of Ty who should have been standing with her. She tried not remember all the times they’d talked about this day and tried not to think of him the last time she’d seen him. She’d looked in on him earlier that day in the gym. He had already beaten his hands bloodied and raw on a bag, but was still punching it with all his might.
Ann jerked her thoughts away from Ty and back to what she had accomplished. Soon she would be a pilot. A fully trained pilot graduating with honors. She shook her head, her blond hair an unfamiliar weight out of its usual ponytail. Then it was time and she walked across the stage to accept her diploma.
Later than night Anna and the rest of the graduates went to their favorite bar. She sat with the group and let their high spirits wash over her. The beer tasted good and she told herself she had worked hard for this night. She deserved to enjoy herself and to spare no thoughts for someone who might have been there.
When the song first came on Anna thought she was imagining it. It was that same song that had started their first fight so long ago. But then someone else noticed it. Anna looked around the room and finally spotted him sitting at the bar. He caught her eye and raised his beer bottle in a mock toast. Anna began to sneer at him to show him just how much she didn’t care he was there but four huge hands latched onto her. They hauled her out of her chair and then the owners of the hands held her while a third man built along the same lines hit her.
They hurt her just enough and then dropped her to the ground. Anna lay on the ground and tried not to moan. With a grunt of effort she pulled herself up a barstool and held herself up on the bar. Ty was still just sitting at the other end drinking. She staggered over to him, almost falling twice, but catching herself on the bar.
He was looking at her as if this was a pleasant surprise, but Anna knew him well enough to see the hate in his eyes. She made herself stand up straight and then she spit in his face. He wiped it off, almost amused, as she turned away from him and walked away.
“Happy graduation,” he said.