Pete wrestled the uniform off of the unconscious guard as we waited impatiently. He dusted off the soot and put them on.
“They’re a little baggy,” Sai responded with a chuckle.
“Oh, okay,” Pete said inflating himself like a balloon. “How’s it now?”
I gave him a thumbs up as we all reconvened.
“No matter what, stick to the plan,” Pete said cautiously.
As he spoke I noticed a large vent on the wall. I hesitated before pulling out my map again. I tapped the map zooming in on the ventilation system and paused for second to take it all in.
“Pete take a look at this,” I replied calling him over.
He kneeled down with the lion style helmet of the Hannochs’ still on.
“Can you take that thing off?” I ordered annoyed. “That thing gives me the creeps.”
“Oh, sorry,” Pete replied apologetically taking the helmet off. “So…what’s up?”
“You see these vents they run throughout the whole base,” I pointed out as he nodded.
“So what, are you thinking of using them?” he replied with an inquisitive look.
“Yeah, Sai, Sam and I can you use them,” I replied. “It runs clear across the bridge but it still gives us the ability to keep an eye on you guys and give you support if you run into any trouble.”
Pete inspected the map nodding in agreement.
“I didn’t see that. Good idea,” he replied. “But, it has a couple of detours that’ll take you out of the way and you’ll temporarily lose us…but that’s actually a good thing, you see this check in, if you guys can take out the post center than we should be able to stroll to the bridge with no resistance. It practically saves us the trouble of having to hit it head on, which was probably going to be the hardest part of our plan.”
“Just doing my job,” I replied sarcastically.
“What job?” Eve replied.
“The Job of saving our butts, haven’t you been paying attention,” I replied flippantly.
“Hey, no bragging, it’s…I don’t know…lame?” Eve replied playfully bopping me in the head.
I smiled as they made their way to the door.
“I’ll see you guys on the other side,” Pete replied turning to leave.
He grabbed Eve and placed her hands behind her back. Jadon and Aurielle followed suit restraining Beth.
“We’re depending on you guys, don’t let us down,” Jadon replied as they disappeared out the door.
We nodded as we made our way over to the vent. It was high up in the corner of the wall. I grabbed a nearby table and cautiously pushed it over trying my best not to make too much noise then climbed on top of it.
“Sam, you think you can use your light energy to get us in,” I replied looking down at him. “That is your elemental affinity, right?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like faith energy. It’s electricity. I can’t use it like a blow torch. Especially seeing as in this realm we can only control elements at about five percent of our normal capacity. I don’t know if I can do it,” he replied trying to power himself up.
He was right. Whenever he tried to get a steady torch it would just spark then send an electric current throughout his whole body. I grunted frustrated then inspected my utility pouches and backpack before I stumbled across a hunting knife.
“Sai, do you think if I gave you a boost you could unscrew it?” I asked gun-shy.
She gave me a conceded grin then leaped high over my head ripping the vent off the wall with one hand. She landed in a playfully athletic stance twirling the vent lid like it was weightless.
“Or just pull it from the wall with massive strength, either way,” I replied flippantly.
“How did you…” Sam uttered pleasantly surprised.
“Well, I figured if you guys have affinity powers than why shouldn’t we, Doms have natural physical traits so I figured I’d give it a try. Obviously, it worked. Of course I’m at about five percent but it’s more than enough when you’re a Dom,” She replied smiling from ear to ear.
“Well, this thing will be a lot easier with you around,” I replied.
I signaled for Sam and Sai to follow me as I hoisted myself up. Sai gave Sam a lift then climbed in after us. It wasn’t as cramped as it looked. We had to crouch but it was so large we could actually walk in it.
“You guys just follow me,” I replied heading down the dark vent.
We walked for about a minute or two before the sound of Pete’s voice caught our attention.
“Is that Pete?” Sai replied placing her ear to the floor of the vent.
“I can’t tell,” I replied doing the same.
The voices were faint but I could still make out Pete’s voice.
“We’re taking the prisoners for questioning. This is the prisoner the lieutenant asked for and the other we found wondering around the cell,” He replied.
He spoke in a gruffly lowered voice in an attempt to sound more adult. It was horrible.
“Sure, just head back through security,” a voice replied. “They’ve been waiting on you guys.”
“Yeah, we got caught up chasing this one around,” Jadon added.
“How did she get out in the first place,” the man added.
“Must have been a short or something,” Pete replied quickly.
“Fel, go inspect the lock up, we don’t need any more prisoners getting out,” said a man.
It was hard to follow what was going on. I wish I could have seen them. From where we were all I could do was wonder. I couldn’t tell if they were in trouble or not.
“I’ll head there now sir,” said another voice.
“You guys need to get going as well. I’ll see you there,” said the man.
We heard footsteps heading off in different directions. I sighed relieved.
“Man, that was close,” I heard Pete say as his voice got further and further away.
“Let’s hurry, we have to secure that security check before they get there,” I commanded speeding up.
We shot through the vent maneuvering around like a mouse in a maze until we finally came to a vent exit that looked out on the security check room. I half expected it to be like a toll booth but it was huge and at least a hundred men were in the place. Good thing Sai had regained some of her power because we were going to need it.
“So, how we going to do this?” Sai replied looking at me.
I looked around. We had to isolate the room and make sure they couldn’t call for back up. If we did that we at least gave Pete and the rest of the guys a chance to give us a hand once they arrived. It sounded good in theory, but that was easier said than done. The place looked like a police bullpen with workers all over the place. I scanned the scene and smiled.
“We’re in luck,” I replied. “There are only about twenty actual guards, the rest look to be clerks and paper pushers. We just need to find a way to keep them from calling backup and we should be able to overtake this point.”
Sai looked at me impatiently.
“So, how?” she pressed.
“Yeah, how are we going to do that?” Sam added.
I scooted closer to the vent and peered in. I perked up drawing their gaze.
“What is it?” Sai continued to press.
“Yeah, what?” Sam pressed seconding Sai impatience.
“Electricity,” I responded. “Their whole base runs on electricity. I figure there has to be a conduit for it all. If Sam overcharges it he’ll knock out the power and it should give us enough time to mount an offensive.”
Sam nodded with an unconfident demeanor.
“C’mon, Sam, just like Jade taught us. Electricity is not like all the other elements. It’s supernatural. It comes from inside. It’s there, just channel it, and send it. You don’t need all your power to do it. It just needs a little. Just like sticking a fork in a socket, all you need is one shortage and should knock out the whole building,” I responded trying to give him confidence.
He nodded signaling he would give it a try. He closed his eyes as the light began to charge through him like a static bulb. Sai and I shield ourselves as the spark grew larger.
“Let it go,” I replied staring at him.
He opened his eyes and they were emissive filled with light. He struggled to maintain his state.
“What are you doing? Let it go,” I continued. “That’s enough to knock it off.”
He began to shake violently as if it was taking everything he had to contain the power raging out of control all around him.
“I can’t,” he said taking a deep breath and powering off.
I looked at Sai confused by his actions.
“What do you mean? All you had to do was release it,” she replied.
He shook his head.
“I can’t control it,” he replied confusing us even more. “It’ll go crazy.”
I stared at him trying to make sense of what was going on. Anger filled me as stared at him begging for a reason.
“What’ll go crazy?!” I screamed.
He looked down shaking his head.
“The white flame,” he replied defeated.
Sai stared at me sensing I was about to rip into him. She raised her hand and shook her head in protest.
“Sam, we are not at risk here,” Sai replied. “Our powers are weakened. It took everything I had to pull that vent off the wall. Out there my invisibility was stagnant. Here it’s useless.”
As she spoke her hand went in and out of visibility. She wore an empathetic smile.
“I don’t know if I over did it when we first arrived,” she responded. “Or if it’s this metal but my ability to bend light at will is gone. Eve can’t teleport at all. This stuff is strong. We’ll be safe. Trust me.”
He nodded solemnly and closed his eyes. Once again his body took on a static state. He held his hand in front of him as the electricity shot to his fingertips.
“Okay,” he replied struggling to maintain the light energy. “Where do I shoot?”
I surveyed the room and pointed down.
“Send the light up and down this wall,” I instructed moving my hand in a wiping motion. “But send a charge through the wall, not a straight shot.”
He nodded as sweat started to roll down his neck and face.
“Sai, could you take out the vent,” I replied.
She moved forward and slowly pulled the vent in taking a piece of the wall with it.
“Hurry, Sam,” I replied rushing him.
He moved forward and perched himself like a gargoyle on the cliff. He leaned back and released a steady stream of static electricity throughout the entire wall.
ZAP! POP! POP! POP! ZAP! The outlets exploded cutting the power in the entire room. The workers and security guards ran around the room startled under the dim emergency lights.
“The Shutters,” I replied pointing around the room. “Sai since you have your speed you take the far side. I’ll take the side to the left. They look pretty heavy so I doubt Sam will be able to give us help in that department but he can keep them occupied long enough to give us some time. Sam, you’ll have to divert them on your own until we can get these shutters closed.”
Sam nodded with a smile.
“Finally,” he replied. “I can fight someone. All this thinking crap is hurting my head.”
“I wonder if those words were ever uttered by King Solomon?” Sai poked.
“C’mon, you guys let’s go before there back-ups kick in,” I urged.
Sam reached in his pocket and pulled out a grappling harness and rope with a metal stud on the end.
“Excuse me,” he responded putting the harness on.
He crouched as he spun the rope with one hand gaining momentum with every twirl before shooting it at a wall on the opposite side of the vent.
“Wish me luck,” he replied securing the rope before leaping over the side.
He shimmied down bounding of the wall. It was so dark in the room that no one noticed him. As he got close enough to the ground he released himself.
ZAP! He let out an electric charge that crippled two nearby officials as he came down over their heads. He quickly dove into cover hiding underneath a nearby desk.
“C’mon, let’s hurry so we can help him,” I replied leaping onto a nearby beam that hung just in front of the vent.
I felt the wind as Sai shot passed me. I balanced myself before jumping to another beam then to another. It was at least three stories and it was giving me jitters that ran throughout my whole body. I tried my best not to look down as I scooted across the beam. My legs shook uneasily as I positioned myself and leaped onto the final beam.
BOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! I frantically fought to balance myself at the shock of the shutters closing on the other side of the room.
“That was quick,” I responded speaking out loud to no one. “Well, I guess that just leaves me.”
I leaped into the air and created a dense air pocket that extended across the massive row of shutters. Sai was right. It was so much harder to control the wind. Before it was as easy as talking, now, it was like I was doing a mental max out. I struggled to maintain the stubborn wind and released it at the speed of gravity.
BOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! SHOOM! The shutters came tumbling down with crushing force.
“UMPF!” I let out as I landed hard on top of one of them.
I rolled uncontrollably bouncing on the hard steel structure cringing each time I slammed into it. My momentum was only getting faster as I frantically reached for something to slow myself down but the platform was smooth and there was nothing to grab on to. I reached out in a last ditch effort as I went over. I was going too fast. My eyes grew as big as beach balls as I saw my fingertips narrowly miss the edge. I was done for.
“C’mon, man!” I let out frantically reaching.
GOTCHA! I couldn’t believe it. I looked up to see Sai with a grimacing look on her face. She was hanging over the edge crouched holding me with one hand.
“This is really starting to become an embarrassing trend,” she replied falling back as she pulled me to safety.
I smiled falling on my stomach as soon as my feet hit solid ground. We had little time to rest as the sound of converging forces caught our attention.
“There, intruders on the shutters,” I heard a voice say. “They’re on the shutters.”
PING! BOOM! PING! PING! I struggled to my feet and dove into cover as shots fired all around us.
“What are we going to do?” Sai replied shielding herself as the shots and ricocheting debris rained down on us. “Do you know any wind techniques you could use?”
I nodded grabbing her and pulling her close to my body as I leaped off the platform.
“Stay as straight as possible,” I replied summoning the wind.
I turned spinning with her body pinned against mine. The wind swirled and swirled until it became dense like the head of a power drill. PING! PING! PING! PING! The shots bounced off the dense wind sending the bullets back the other way.
“Tim!” she replied looking down frantically.
I smiled at her as she gave me a cynical glare realizing we were no longer in danger.
“Remember all that trend talk…well…consider this, my way of saying thank you,” I replied with a playful smile as we plunged downward.
BOOM! We landed hard sending a ripple effect that left the whole area in shambles.
“Well, it’s safe to say they know we’re here,” Sai replied pulling me as shots rang out again.
PING! PING! BAM! PING! We crawled away shielding ourselves behind a large piece of debris.
“This was not one of my best plans,” I replied shielding myself.
Sai stared at me like she wanted to knock me into next week.
“I guess that’s safe to say,” she replied taking cover. “Where’s Sam?”
ZAP! BOOM! A blue light of electricity shot through the entire area. It was like a cold heat sending a shiver up my spine that paralyzed me on contact. I convulsed violently trying to gain control of my motor skills. The shock had thrown my entire nervous system out of whack. When I tried to move my feet my eye blinked and when I tried to sit up I crinkled my toes. It was the worst feeling I had ever felt.
“Tim,” Sai replied running to my side.
I couldn’t move and I felt like a prisoner in my own body. I stared at Sai vacantly trying to speak but nothing came out.
“I got him.”
I couldn’t turn my head but I could tell it was Sam.
Slowly I felt a warm sensation move through my body as I gained control of my body limb by limb. I moved my jaw from side to side and stared at my fingers moving them in an exhibition.
“What in the world was that?” I replied trying to get my bearings.
Sam smiled and saluted with a tilt of his head.
“Cool, huh,” he replied. “Jade taught me that. Electricity controls the body’s nervous system. So as Elementals we control the body’s nervous system. Maybe not to the extent of a Virt but we have our tricks.”
I turned to Sai confused.
“Why didn’t it affect you,” I questioned still moving my limbs as if I was going through rigamortis.
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “It just didn’t. Maybe it’s because of our ability to control such dense light energy…maybe it makes our immune and nervous system stronger.”
She looked at Sam for confirmation.
“Don’t look at me,” he replied shrugging his shoulders. “I have a hard enough time with the basics. I just know how to do it and judging by the way I just deep fried Tim, I barely know that.”
I nodded looking at the carnage. The room was covered in sizzling bodies convulsing all over the place. It was amazing. Based on the things we had been doing since we arrived it was fairly common, but Sam wasn’t like the rest of us. We were all products of Angel Haven. Our intelligence was beyond that of normal kids our age, but Sam wasn’t. The technique was extremely complicated.
“Sam, how did you do that?” I replied still looking around in awe.
“What do you mean? It’s like I said, Jade taught me,” he replied starring at Sai with a sarcastic smirk.
She cut her eyes shaking her head ignoring his actions.
“No, this technique took control. It dealt with frequencies, elemental composition, trans-dimensional calculations,” I replied surprised. “I never knew you…I mean, you’re a lot smarter than you lead on.”
He shrugged his shoulder helping me to my feet. Maybe it was like Sai had said earlier; maybe we were rubbing off on him.
“Well, what can I say; sometimes it pays to be a nerd,” he replied knocking the dirt off his uniform.
We made our way over to the check in window making sure to stay hidden. The place was an absolute mess.
“Why isn’t this place being flooded with troops?” Sam wondered out loud. “I mean, we were really loud.”
I crept over to the window and peered out.
“Jadon said this place has certain frequencies it can’t account for because at the time all this happened and in the realm where it took place, certain things are impossible,” I explained looking frantically for Pete and the rest of the guys. “So, I figure this would fall under that title.”
He and Sai nodded signaling they understood as Pete and the rest of the gang came into view. They looked around frantically making their way to the check point cautiously. I waved my hand signaling for them to hurry. They sped up their march to a trot.
“Sai, if you would?” I replied signaling for her help with the shutters.
She walked over to one and with little more than a sighing strain she lifted it allowing the others to pile in.
“Alright,” Pete replied pulling off the armor and powering back down.
He dropped to one knee wheezing as he shrinked back to his original size. Beth mimicked him collapsing on the floor next to him as she slowly morphed back to her normal body.
“Are you guys alright?” I questioned coming over to help them out.
Beth sat up as Eve cuddled her like a mother treating her child. I gave Pete a leaning shoulder as use me to stand up straight.
“Yeah, Yeah, we’re fine it’s just this place…when I transform I can’t sustain it. It’s like holding my breath. We had to keep stopping so that Beth and I could recharge,” he replied still taking deep breaths between every word he spoke. “It got real dicey a couple of times.”
He tossed the heavy armor to floor causing a loud thud to echo throughout the newly vacant room.
“What in the world happened here?” Eve replied looking around amazed.
I smiled as I grabbed Sam and Sai under each arm.
“We did our job?” I replied with a sarcastic smirk.
Sai shrugged hugging me back. Aurielle walked over to one of the bodies. She inched over cautiously and touched one of them before recoiling, fanning her hand in the wind as if she was trying to put out an invisible fire.
“Man, that’s hot,” she replied in agony. “How did you guys do this?”
I smiled and pointed at Sam.
“Sam, you did this?” Eve replied amazed. “When…How did you…I didn’t even…”
“I’m really starting to think you guys think I’m a complete idiot,” Sam replied tongue and cheek.
“The fact that your still thinking about that lends credibility to the argument,” Eve replied playfully bopping him on the head. “In the meantime though…good job.”
He smiled as we loaded up and prepared to embark on the last leg of our attack on the base. We had to move if we had any chance of annihilating that bridge before they found us out.
“Let’s go,” I replied making my way over to the shutter.
“Hold on a second,” Pete replied stopping me. “You guys this is going to be a straight shot. We won’t have any room for error. As soon as we come out we’re going to have to book it.”
We all nodded as Sai forced the shutter open. The place was swarming both behind the check in and in front of it. Luckily no one approached the check in or we were done for.
“On the count of three,” I ordered. “One, Two, Three…”
I darted from around the corner with the rest of our rag tag team close behind.
“Intruders, the prisoners are free. Sound the alarm,” ordered one of the guards.
It wasn’t a second after he spoke that the alarm sounded sending me into over drive. My senses were going crazy. I was so nervous I felt as if I was about to throw up. It was a wonder, for me, that I was even able to maintain my sprint.
“There’s the tunnel,” Eve pointed out hot on my tail.
PING! PING! PING! The shots ricocheted off the tunnel wall as we sprinted into it. I ducked for cover using my wind to create a barrier. But with all the energy I was using to run, it was nowhere near dense enough to block the shots but it did divert the bullets away from where the guards were aiming.
“We’re almost there,” I exclaimed inching closer and closer to our goal.
PING! AHHHH! I heard a familiar scream that stop me in my tracks. It was Eve. She had been shot. She limped trying her best to keep up.
“Eve, are you okay?” I replied sympathetically.
She forced a smile and gave a confident head nod. It was a façade. She looked like she couldn’t take another step as she slowly lagged behind. She wasn’t going to make it.
PING! PING! PING! I dodged from side as I turned and let the others pass me.
“Tim, what are you doing?” Sam asked stopping next to me.
“It’s Eve. She’s been hit,” I replied making my way back to her. “Go ahead; I’ll meet you guys once I have her.”
“No way, I’m going with…” Sam managed to utter before I sent a gust of wind that sent he and the rest of the team sprawling forward.
WHOOOSH! The push was just enough to clear the bridge.
“Tim, just go. I’ll be alright, it’s just a game,” She replied curled into a tiny ball as light bounced off the wall and ground all around her.
I sprinted over and used a dense wind bubble to cover us.
“That doesn’t matter,” I replied. “This is a chance for us to gain experience in a situation like this, and the fact that I can’t die gives me more of a reason to turn around, not keep going.”
She turned to me with an adoring glare.
“Besides I got this,” I replied shifting the weight of the balloon. “Hold on to me.”
I flexed straining as the wind shifted to our backs. The guards were gaining ground fast. We had to move quickly, and I had an idea. I let the wind build up force until it literally started to burrow into the solid ground. Then all at once I let it go.
KAPOOM! The momentum of the wind sent me and Eve spiraling toward the rest of the team. They stood watching before narrowly diving out of the way as we came screaming across the other side of the bridge. I landed turning my body to shield Eve as we slid across the hard surface.
“Thanks, Tim,” Eve replied in obvious pain.
“Pete, can you fix her?” I replied hoping he was able to use his power.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! I grabbed Eve and rolled to safety as chunks of debris came spiraling at us. The cavalry had come to greet us.
“They closed in sooner than I figured they would,” Pete replied as shots pinged in front of us and behind us. “We have to take out that bridge—now.”
He reached out with one arm. Eve jerked as a piece of scrap metal came out of her shoulder. I watched as her body seemed to be fixing itself. She rose to her feet moving her shoulder forward and backward pleasantly surprised.
“How did you do that?” She replied. “I thought you said you couldn’t use time manipulation in this place?”
I turned to Pete with a puzzled look as he crawled to cover.
“Time manipulation?” I questioned. “I thought that was your healing ability.”
PING! PING! PING! He shook his head as he shielded himself from the incoming fire.
“No, I can’t use my healing here,” he replied still covering as he spoke. “I could barely use my time manipulation ability, but I figured if I continued to stock my faith energy I could exert enough of it to use it accurately. It wasn’t easy, but if I hone in on an event, for instance, Eve getting shot. I don’t have the power to stop time with the command that I normally do, but I can reverse the happening of an isolated event like the shot, so, I reversed time isolating that particular incident making it so the shot never happened. It wasn’t easy and I've been stocking my faith energy since we arrived on a whim, hoping I could use the little I had. It never hurts to have an ace in the hole.”
Weirdly enough, I actually understood what he was saying.
BOOM! I shielded myself as a chunk of wall narrowly missed my face. We were running out of time. Our cover was getting smaller and smaller by the minute.
“Eve,” I replied signaling for her to do her thing.
“Okay but you’re going to have to give me some room,” she replied. “Go on the other side with the others, hurry!”
I nodded pressing my back up against the wall. I took a deep breath and peaked around the corner waiting for an opening. When one finally presented itself I barrel rolled to the other side with the rest of the team.
“Cover your ears, and make sure your fingers are so deep that you can’t hear a thing,” She replied motioning with her fingers.
We all followed her instructions giving the okay when we thought we were ready. She gave a nod then walked over to the entrance still making sure she was shielded from the shots coming from all sides.
WHIRWHIRRLLLLLLL! She let out a howl that was so dense it was visible. It was a beautiful soft blue wave that seemed to meld with the wind, but there was nothing soft about the power of it; it was devastating. We watched in awe as the solid structure came crumbling down. Her power was unreal.
She sprinted to our side as the last part of the bridge crashed.
“Good Job, Eve,” I replied congratulating her with a pat on the back.
She bent over still recovering from her massive show of power. It had taken its toll.
“We have to go now,” Pete ordered. “That sound wave had to take out anything within its radius. We should be able to mount a push toward the console.”
He shot around the corner pulling out his side arm and sprinting into action.
“Pete,” Sai moved reaching to grab him.
She was too late. She sighed turning to us with a relenting glare. I shrugged my shoulders and returned her look with an exhausted glare of my own.
“Why should things be any easier now,” I replied pulling out my guns and sprinting after him.
I turned to see Pete maneuvering through the mangled bodies left in the wake of Eve’s attack. I sprinted to catch up with him stepping through and around them. She had taken out the entire guard, bodies were everywhere.
“Remind me to stay on your good side,” I replied turning to her.
“Tim, lets not set unobtainable goals,” she replied with a smile. “I’m no fortune teller but this is tamed compared to what will happen if we leave that in your hands.”
The rest of the guys chuckled as we came to a fork in the road.
“The console is straight ahead,” Pete replied gleaming.
“We’re going to actually do this,” Jadon let out excited.
“Seems like it,” Sai replied.
We sprinted down the corridor and noticed that everyone in the control room had felt the effects of Eve’s assault.
“I have met many sound users in my time as a recruit,” Aurielle replied. “But this…it’s unreal. How could an attack working at about five percent be this powerful?”
We all stood staring at the carnage unable to wrap our heads around it ourselves. It was ridiculous.
“I know you’ve heard this since you guys were brought together but I’ve never seen an Earthborn…forget that any legion with this type of potential,” Jadon replied starring at the bodies. “I know teams who have been training for centuries who can’t do half of the things you guys are doing.”
Pete walked over to the console and began to punch in the coordinates. He stared at us then back at it as he finished.
“That’s it,” Pete replied stepping back. “That should be the end.”
“Well, this was a jib,” Sam added surveying things.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I was expecting it to be a little more—grandiose.”
CROOOOM! As I spoke the room began to change. The walls began to fidget like a television channel trying to get a reception before a holograph of Ethan Dunst appeared, it walked across the floor surveying the layout before turning to us.
“I walked these halls willing to sacrifice everything I had for my planet, my family, and my comrades,” he replied shaking his head serendipitously. “But God was never my focus. So, I killed myself hoping that I would have the opportunity to die a warriors death, and I succeeded, but what lay on the other side wasn’t the warriors welcome I had always been told would be waiting for me by my radical religious leaders.”
As he finished his sentence raging flames erupted all around us. We cowered as the heat from the flames nipped at our necks. Mangled bodies of people adorn the walls of this pit. I was beside myself with panic and fear. I shielded the rest of the team as a large Minotaur appeared out of nowhere across the room.
“What greeted me was a rioting, depressing, cesspool of evil. I could smell the rotting flesh, but as I neared the hellish prison the words of my sister comforted me. She stated that through the power of Jesus Christ I’d be saved. She stated that his sacrifice for the Earthlings gave everyone in the universe redemption. I ignored her that day. I took her words as mere ramblings of a weak human being who was too cowardly to take up the sword and die for Zeus as I did, but now her words were my only hope, and redemption, so I said the prayer she sent to me every week hoping that one day I’d say it. Those words filled me with anointment and I took on the sin I had fostered. That sin was wrath.”
As he spoke he pointed toward the Minotaur.
“This should be a small feat for prospects like you, but for me, without the powers I now possess, it was far from that,” he responded dispersing.
I sighed staring at the humongous monster unable to fathom how we were going to take it down without our powers.
“Is this grandiose enough for you…Tim and Sam?” Eve cut.
BOOM! The monster lunged forward slamming his fist into the ground as we narrowly dodged the attack.
“Well, we tried,” She continued pulling her side arm out. “But clearly this game will be over soon.”
“Pete, please tell me, you have a plan,” I let out aiming my guns as it crept closer to us.
He looked at me with an agitated glance.
“What am I a computer?” he replied. “How can I have a plan already?”
WHOOSH! BOOM! The monster took another swing before leaping in the air and coming down hard with an axle handle barage as we ducked and dodged for our life.
POP! POW! POP! POP! I let out shots in his direction but they bounced off of him like they were made of rubber.
“Well, this is useless,” I replied tossing the guns to the side.
WHAM! Before I could react Sai leveled the monster with a powerful right hook.
ZAAAAP! ROOOARRR! Sam let out an electrical current that cause the monster to scream out in pain.
“Keep it up you guys,” Pete ordered. “I think I have an idea?”
WHOOSH! I summoned up all the wind I could muster.
“Element Delta, Wind Command, Slicing Wind,” I replied letting off one of the few attacks I could manage.
FIP! WHIP! FIP! WHIP! ROOOOARRR! The beast let out a blood curdling cry as the wind sliced into him.
POW! POW! POW! POOOW! Eve let out sound aided shots from her side arm that knocked him off balance. He groaned punching the ground sending a large boulder in her direction.
"Eve, watch out!" I warned knocking her out of the way just in the knick of time.
BOOM! ROOOOARRRR! The demon let out punching the ground right in front us. I backpedaled shielding Eve as it inched toward us.
"Is there a surrender button on this thing?" Eve replied rushing to her feet.
ROOOOARRRRR! The beast let out inches away from our faces.
"I don't know but if there was, I doubt he'd be the one to tell us," I replied shielding her.
"I'll take your word for it," she replied aiming her guns from behind me.
"Eve?" I replied as the two barrels appeared over my shoulders. "Maybe we should..."
POOM! POOM! ROOOOARRRR! She fired two point blank shots knocking the beast back forcing it to cover it's face.
ROOOOOARRRR! It let out once again.
"I think you made it angerier," I replied readying myself for an attack.
BOOM! We both dived in opposite directions as he took another swing.
"Take this!" Sai screamed leaping into action.
WHAM! WHAM! UMPF! She let loose with a barrage of punches that sent him sprawling across the floor.
BOOOOOOM! I struggle to balance myself as the ground tremble around us. It was Jadon. He sent an earth shattering earth quake that engulfed the beast and trapped him in the surrounding stone. The only thing that remained above ground was the beast's upperbody.
ROOOOARRRR! It screamed fighting to free itself.
“Elemental, aye,” Sam let out noticing.
Jadon smiled confidently. He stomped hard causing a chunk of the ground the size of a car to sail high in the air catching it with one hand. He bounced it like a pebble and fired it like a pitcher from the mound.
POOOOM! The rock nearly took the things head off.
ROOOARRR! It replied tossing the boulder to side and charging angrily yet again.
“We’re hitting him with everything we’ve got,” Eve replied letting out more rounds. “But none of it is having a lasting effect, at this rate, will become exhausted before we do any real damage to it.”
She was right. No matter how hard we hit the thing it just continued to attack.
“Where’s Pete?” I replied searching for him.
BOOM! BAM! BOOM! It dove with another barage as we narrowly escaped yet again.
OOOF! WHAM! OOOF! Sai attacked again with another barrage.
BAM! The beast finally connected sending her into a nearby heap of rubble. My heart sank at the sight. The blow was devastating. Everything seemed to move in slow motion after that. I stood staring at the scene for a second as Sai's body lay lifeless before I finally came down off of the shock.
“Sai,” I let out turning to the beast angrily.
ROOARRRR! The beast cried staring me down almost as if to be taunting me. My blood boiled and from that moment on everything around me seemed to slow down. My muscles and senses seem to go into overdrive.
I covered myself with wind as rage filled me.
“You stupid…,” I replied charging him head on.
ROOOOOARRRR! It let out cocking back to hit me. It swung with everything it had, but he was too slow, and I was a kid possessed.
WHAM! BAM! BAM! WHAM! My wind aided punch landed flush. His attack on Sai repeated in my head as I hit him with punch after punch. I was seething with anger as I rose high in the air. I mimicked my earlier routine as the wind swirled into a dense hammer like state.
“My name is Timothy Eli,” I replied hovering as the beast fought to recover from my attack. “This is for you, and anybody who may be listening. Hear me and hear me good, if any of you are dumb enough to harm one of my friends, you’ll have to deal with me. And my aim is to destroy anybody stupid enough to do something that dumb. Get it.”
ROOARRRR! The beast cried angrily in my direction. I plunged feet first with reckless abandon.
KABOOOM! The force was crushing. When the dust settled I stood on the beast chest holding it by its neck as the rest of the team looked at me like I was from another planet.
“There’s no way,” Jadon replied staring at me in awe. “How is he doing that?”
ROOOARRR! The beast cried again trying to break free. I held him in place with one hand like he was nothing. My powers had somehow superseded the simulation. My eyes were so bright I could actually see them shining off the beasts face. A sadistic grin covered my face. The power was intoxicating and I was drunk with it.
“Shut up,” I replied.
WHAAAAAM! I landed a punch that literally left a hole the size of a small crater behind the demons head.
“Tim,” Eve let out pointing at me with a flabbergasted demeanor. “Your hair…light is in your hair. How can light be in your hair?”
I looked myself over. I could see my veins and muscles pumping light throughout my body. The constant flow of light made me look like I was tattooed from head to toe.
“Sai,” I replied remembering her.
I flash stepped to her side as she pulled herself upright.
“Are you okay?” I asked kneeling at her side.
“Outside of a broken shoulder, collarbone, couple of broken ribs and bleeding internally, I’ll be fine,” she replied with a smile. “Nice look.”
Her pain had to be unbearable. She balanced herself on one arm as she fought to breathe.
ROOOARRR! I sighed. What did I have to do? I thought not wanting to leave Sai’s side. It fought to it's feet shaking it's head like it was trying to clear the cobwebbs out from my last attack. It seemed madder than ever as it zoned in on me charging full speed.
“Tim,” said a voice.
I turned to see Pete running toward me.
“Use this,” he said tossing me a trident like pitch fork. “Go, throw it.”
I caught it with one hand, cocked back, and threw it with all the power I had in me.
ZZZZZOOOOMMM! PUMPF! ROOOARRRR! BOOOOM! The fork connected full force causing the demon to whimper in pain before colliding into the sea of mangled bodies that made up the walls. He trembled violently before collapsing in on himself with an explosion. I recoiled covering Sai as the explosion let out.
When the dust settled the room began to morph again. A holograph of the Minotaur and Evan Dunst appeared. We stood watching as the battle between he and the Minotaur played out right in front of us.
“Is this really what happened?” Sam replied walking up to the hologram.
The Minotaur hit him with a blow that sent him sprawling across the floor. He crawled helplessly trying to get away from the hideous beast. We watched in horror as the beast lunged forward ready to pounce.
I went to shield my eyes as it came down unable to watch what I was sure was an execution but to my surprise the beast hung lifelessly bent over at the waist. A moment past before the beast doubled over next to Dunst. He had impaled the beast with the exact pitch fork Pete had tossed to me. He rolled over exhausted. He stared around the place frantically before letting out a blood curdling cry. He was breaking down in front of us. He fell to his knees in a relenting manner and began to say the Lord’s Prayer, as he did a light shot through the sea of bodies and locked on to him. He hovered for a second then disappeared into the light. As he did the room changed once more.
“Awesome,” Sam let out.
“Finally,” I said sighing.
“Good because I was going to quit if we had to face another challenge,” Eve let out.
We all stood on the opposite side of the ride we had entered what seemed like an eternity ago. Our clothing had returned to normal and we didn’t have a scratch on us. I took a deep breath happy to see that it was finally over. I had little time to bask in it as an unsettling feeling fell over me. If this was a ride at the celebration, what were the trials like?
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*To all my fans, I will now be uploading every Sunday. Please leave comments and let me know what you think of the character progression, the story progression, i always go through and do a clean grammar check so I don't need those comments. I don't get paid to do this, I am a graduate student and I work, so, the comments really energize me and inspire me to write so please make sure you leave comments for each chapter just so I know I'm doing a relatively good job.
Thanks,
Navagator29