The night sky gleamed bright from the stars as Nabal ran toward James. He smirked as he countered Nabal punches and kicks. Nabal threw a punch, hitting the side of the building. James punched him hard in the chest, twisted his arm, and punched him square in the jaw. People who walked by recorded the incident with their cell phones.
Nabal got up with furrowed eyebrows as he clenched his teeth. "I'll make you suffer for that." He charged at James with punches and that was inches away from knocking his head off his body hitting a brick wall.
James bobbed and weaved from his attacks. "Too slow." James countered and pushed him from behind.
Nabal got in a fighting stance as his fists balled up and foot moved an inch forward. "When I get my hands on you."
"You got to do better than that!" James frowned as he kicked Nabal hard in the face with a jump kick. He gave a solid punch to his jaw that sent him flying at high speed as he plummeted against a tall statue of an artist, crumbling to pieces. A massive dust cloud hung in the air. The people around the statue ran away, hearts racing. Androids fired their weapons at James. He increased his blue aura as lasers bounced off. With super speed, James took out twenty androids with punches and kicks, shattering their energy core. Their green flashing eyes stopped blinking. Smoke swept through their dark skulls.
"That's all you got." James walked forward. "I was expecting more from Saladin's lackey. It's not too late. You can go and wag your tail between your legs."
"How dare you! I will have your head and deliver it to Saladin!" Nabal snarled at him.
James smirked."Why don't you just give up and call it a day?"
"Silence creature! I won't rest until you are destroyed." Nabal shifted his fingers.
James cracked his knuckles to the side. "Many have tried. I was gonna ask you to leave this planet in peace. If you insist on fighting, I would be happy to oblige you."
Nabal eyes glared at James with fury. He got into a fighting stance and his fist clenched together in unison. Slight air escaped his lips. His body hummed with desperation. The ground cracked beneath his feet. The people panicked and ran away as the sound of shoes pounded the ground. Buildings began to shake all around. James paused with a smirk for a moment not approaching Nabal. A loud shrieking sound passed from Nabal's lips. His eyes burned with a green glow. A dark cloud manifested from the sky.
"You will pay for your insolence, Creature!" Nabal spat out green blood at the ground that burns through the ground. The wind blew in James' direction. It pushed him back five inches.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" James asked. "I got places to go."
Nabal ran with speed, screaming as yellow lighting flashed in multiple directions. Acid rain fell upon the sky and melted everything on contact. The smell of fruit and plants reek an awful smell to James's nostrils worse than old man gym socks.
The wind blew hard against James' eyes as he felt a hard fist against his jaw. Before he had time to recover, Nabal scissors kicked him in the chest. James blocked the impact with his elbows.
"Time to die!" Nabal delivered his hard punch that flashed with green energy. James deflected it and jumped behind him. He placed him on the chokehold, squeezing hard against Nabal's neck. When Nabal ran backward against the building wall. He elbowed James in the stomach and went on his knees gasping for air. Nabal struggled as he lifted his hand, summoning yellow energy from his hand and fired at James's face. James deflected with his hand as he kicked down the back of his knee. James tugged tighter against Nabal's neck as his eyes closed and stopped resisting. The dark storm had passed and the acid rain had ceased. James sighed in relief, laying Nabal on the ground. He wiped the sweat off his face knowing that he bested one of Saladin's wards.
James glanced around at the destruction left in the wake of Nabal. His eyes glowed more green and blue, crunching his feet in thick concrete. Deep down inside he knew the war was far from over. A lot is at stake for humanity and he had the power to do what was necessary, to stop Saladin once and for all. He picked up Nabal on his shoulders and flew up in the air heading back to the ship. As much as James hated going back to Millennia, he couldn't risk leaving Nabal around. The war was not over and it was only a matter of time until Saladin gathered the remaining Crystals of Kondo.
* * *
Finder was looking through her wristwatch indicator, checking the status of the whereabouts of the distant coordinates of where Saladin would head next to find the rest of the Crystals of Kondo. After hours of scanning, the device narrowed it down to three places on different Earths. Earth 17, Earth 22, and Earth 39. But she pondered which of the three he would go to. Finder's eyes widened as she adjusted hair at the outcome of losing everyone she cared for, including Hard Drive if Saladin got his hands on the rest of the crystals.
"Ship, are you certain of these coordinates?" Finder asked for confirmation.
"Yes, these are three possible Earth Saladin would go. There are no other possibilities. Finder, you have a video message."
Finder looked at the monitor."On screenplay message."
An image of a man with red skin and black vein tattoos on the sides of his face appeared."Anora, it's your mother. She is sick. You must come home at once. I don't know how much time she has left. The doctors had tried everything to stabilize her. Please, come home. You have a duty to your people!"
"End of message," Ship said. "Do you want me to send them a message?"
Finder sighed, closing her eyes."No, that would be all, Ship."
Finder dreaded hearing from her father pleas to return home as she sighed holding a hand over her right eye. After the fallout, she never imagined her father would reach out to her. Finder tried so hard to forget the past, but the past had a way to rear its ugly head. Finder understands what her father meant. She had a duty to her people and she knew what that entails. Hard Drive approached through the glass door that slid open with a slight beeping noise as air entered the deck. "There you are, I have been looking for you. What is wrong?"
Finder sighed and stared at Hard Drive's eyes with her lips curved downward. "It's my mother, she is dying. I have to go home."
"She is dying?" Hard Drive asked in a worried tone. "I will go with you."
Hard Drive scanned for Finder's heart rate. "No, I must go alone. This is something I have to do."
"Let me go with you at least," Hard Drive suggested. "Besides, not every day I get to meet your parents."
A small smile creased on Finder's mouth. Her soft delicate hand rubbed his gold metal chest plate with tenderness and care. Hard Drive smiled back at her, smelling her scent with his synthetic nostrils.
"You know you are cute when you're stubborn." Finder batted her eyelashes. She reached behind Hard Drive's neck with her hand.
Finder leaned in and kissed Hard Drive's organic lips. A tear formed from her eyes when she pressed a button to deactivate him. She pulled away and looked into his eyes and kissed him again. "I'm sorry."
Finder pulled away and left Hard Drive. She picked up her backpack and headed to the teleportation chamber. Finder set the coordinates to her world from the guidance system. She asked Ship to power up the teleport system. Finder walked under the teleportation device, closing the glass. In a matter of minutes, she was gone in a flash of green energy.
James arrived at the ship. He was tired carrying Nabal on his shoulder and would rather throw him into space since he wasn't a light weight to carry. He landed at the main bay of the ship. James glanced at his surroundings and noticed no one was on board. He continued to walk past the silver doors of each room.
James' feet crunched on the floor. "Finder? Hard Drive?" He walked through the opening of a room and placed Nabal into an electrically charged orange forcefield prison containment.
James continued to walk until he saw Hard Drive deactivated. He ran toward him. "Hard Drive can you hear me? Hard Drive..."
James pressed on his communication device. "Millennia, we have a situation. It's Hard Drive. He has been deactivated and Finder is missing."
The doppelganger Uriee woke up from his sleep and started chanting "The End Is Near!"
Strange purple symbols shone on the ship. A loud sound pitched in the air that caused James to fall on his knees. He placed his hands over his ears, trying to block out the noise as it grew louder. A shadowy figure in a dark hood and cloak phased through the wall. He walked past James and went through another wall, leading into doppelganger Uriee's room. The doppelganger Uriee looked into the crimson red eyes of the mysterious hooded figure.
"You are too late. A new champion has been chosen and the prophecy will be complete," The Doppelganger Uriee glanced deeper at the shadowy figure. "Your evil is at an end!"
"Is that so!" The shadowy figure said. He removed the hood, revealing his identity. Uriee's doppelganger eyes bulged.
"No, it can't be! I watched you die," The Uriee Doppelganger stood back against the wall.
"Well, here I am alive and well! I can't say the same for you, "the man said. He phased his hand in red energy into the Uriee doppelganger chest, squeezing his heart hard as he yelled out in agony. Then silence. He took out his hand, dripping with purple blood.
The man whipped the blood off his hand. He searched Uriee's doppelganger body for something. He checked his pockets, even his ring finger. His eyes glared at the corpse. His teeth grinded together as sweat dripped off his head. He pounded his fist against the wall in disgust. Millennia flew in and tackled the mystery man from behind on the floor. The man elbowed Millennia in the face. While Millennia twisted his other arm. He turned over, kicking Millennia off him with red energy. Millennia couldn't believe who he saw. It was James' evil double from another world, from Earth 22. Unlike the James of Earth 1, Evil James was known to be a ruthless dictator of his home world. Those that opposed him met a quick death by his heel.
"Millennia, I thought you were dead!" Evil James said. "I guess I will have to kill you again."
Evil James' eyes glowed red with a red aura surrounding his body. His muscles tensed and tightened. Millennia punched him hard in the gut. "You can do better than that!"
Evil James pushed Millennia with his red aura shield, flinging him against the wall. Millennia charged at him, raising his blue power aura shield. His fist broke through the red aura shield. Evil James countered Millennia with hard punches and kicks. He flipped Millennia over his shoulder, hitting the floor hard. Millennia swept and kicked Evil James. He got on top of him, locking his arms around his neck. Evil James veins creased at his forehead as his eyes glowed a deep red at Millennia as he breathed hard.
Millennia increased the intensity of the chokehold, hoping he would pass out. "You can't beat me, just let go."
Evil James closed his eyes, he summoned his red aura. He took Millennia's hand off his neck and broke his arm, kicked him in the face hard, and sent him flying through a steel wall.
"Your power is nothing compared to mine!" Evil James walked toward Millennia as his feet clanked on the steel platform. "At least, I get the pleasure of killing you again."
Millennia got up, popped his arm back in place, and got into a fighting stance. "Why are you doing this?"
"I want to make my father proud. My true father Saladin! Once I get all the Crystal of Kondo, I will be the most powerful being on the planet. No one's power is equal to my own." Evil James pointed at Millennia.
"You forgot one thing. I'm the one who can stop you." James stepped forward as his feet crunched hard on the steel floor. His eyes glowed with green and blue as his blue aura surrounded him.
"I didn't expect you to be here. No matter. I can take you both on." Evil James formed an evil smirk, balling his fist with red aura energy.
James and Millennia looked at each other, knowing full well that they had to stop him. James moved in with fast punches and kicks. Evil James dodged and countered most of them. Millennia Jumped in, delivering an energy blue blast from his palms, damaging Evil James's chest. Millennia charged his blue aura to the max and blasted Evil James on the floor. Within seconds, an orange containment field engulfed his surroundings. Evil James hissed in anger.
"You can't hold me here! When I get out, I will kill both of you." Evil James pounded his fist hard against the force field. His eyes glowed redder with intensity.
"Wow, I'm glad I am not you." James turned his back on him, rubbing his hair."I am way better. Unlike you, I have a conscience, a soul. Something that you lack. Just remember it took two of us to put you in a cell."