Eagle Strike 4A bead of sweat slowly trickled down the side of my face. I could feel my heart beating like crazy as I held a white knuckled grip on the swords in my hands. The moment seemed to last forever, my hood was pulled down low over my face concealing my features. My eyes bore into those of my opponent. A six foot tall robot that was equipped with swords across his back and two guns that would fire without warning. I’d have to make a move fast if I was going to get out of this one. I glanced over to where the boy who had somehow insulted this Police Robot lay unconscious on the ground. I had showed up just in time to watch the robot attack the young boy, and for once in my life. I was taking on more than I could handle. I visualization flew through my mind as my power surged through me sending a wave of energy toward the robot in an attempt to knock him back. The robot seemed unaffected by this attack and instead fired off three bullets toward me which I sidestepped as soon as I saw him bring the gun up. I raised my hands in the air, “Alright, you win; haul me off to jail or whatever you robots do with a criminal.” I said as I let go of my sword and it disintegrated as it was part of my aura. If a robot could smile, this one would be. It moved forward and with a mere touch I was paralyzed. I fell to the ground unable to move as it scooped me up and moved in the direction of the police building.That was two days ago.I now found myself in cuffs sitting in a metal room looking across the desk at the chief of police in Orland which I had learned was previously known as New York. “So, Aaron, I think we both know why you’re here.” I nodded.“If it wasn’t for this reason, you wouldn’t be here, and we’d have a dead robot. Wouldn’t we?”I was silent.“Wouldn’t we Mr. Brunaz?” he asked,“What do you suggest?” “We killed off the rest of your race; the Neamodians are a thing of the past there hasn’t been one alive for probably two hundred years. You’re no use to us anymore. Your weapons, we know how to make them, we can infuse a sword with electricity easily enough. We can make a robot that won’t even flinch when hit with a wave of energy. And if we really thought you were useful to us. We could clone you.”I looked into the man’s eyes as I brought my cuffed hands up and slapped them down on the desk.“Alright, listen. I am four hundred and twenty eight years old. I shouldn’t even be alive right now, have you figured out how to do that?”“Medical life transfusions.” He replied simply, I glared at him,“That’s murder, you can’t pull the life out of someone and put it into another person and call it a good thing.”“We do it daily.”“What’s to keep me from killing you right now?” I asked as I tested the metal cuffs,“Probably the fact that your powers don’t work in this room.” Replied the officer smartly, I glared at him then rolled my shoulders.“Alright, then how should I ‘modernize’ myself?”

“Well unfortunately, its bad P.R. to be a police force made fully of robots, and that’s why I pulled you out of your cell and brought you here.” As he said the words ‘pulled you out of your cell’ I grimaced. That dungeon was hardly deserving of the royal term ‘cell’. “We’d like to have you join the police force.” He stated simply, I laughed,“Sorry but, I actually have a team that works with me.” “Well they aren’t here now are they? So how about we grow up and make some decisions on our own shall we?” as he said it a knife slid down and lay against his throat.“You’re wrong. They are here.” Immediately the officer reached out for the alarm button but before he could reach it, it froze over with crystals. The officer gasped as he raised his hands in the air,“Alright! Your whole team is in on it!”

About ten minutes later we had all moved to the conference room instead of the two man office and were discussing the officer’s terms.“Alright, so you can use all our technologies, ray guns, drugs, stimulant belts anything you want, you’ll be paid by the amount of people you bring in and we’ll save you for the ‘special missions’ such as mass murders and what not. Deal?”I glanced around the table to Kraeoden dressed in his full black assassin garb, Vanessa in her tight purple outfit and swords parallel on her back. And finally Drake across from him his white hood pulled low over his face, he wore a bandanna covering all of his face except for his eyes and swords crossed his back in an ‘X’. As my eyes met his he made a slow nod and I turned to the officer and extended a hand. “It’s a deal.”

“Ray guns? Are you kidding me? I’m a soldier, not a space ranger!” Exploded Krae as the officer extended the high tech equipment toward him.“Your swords won’t stand a chance against a robot.” Replied the officer simply,“Want to bet?”“Sir, I’m just doing my job, if you have a problem, take it up with my superiors.”“Okay so what else do you have?” I asked, cutting into their argument.“Well… since you seem to like old fashioned gear…” mumbled the officer as he pulled open a large drawer and pulled out two large hooks about two feet long each with a long jagged point at the end of it. It had a close resemblance to a fishing hook.“What’s it for?” I asked as I grasped the handles of both the hooks and scrutinized them. “Faster transportation and combat.”“Transportation?” I questioned,“You can hook it onto a rope and slide into a building,” he replied“What about telephone lines?” I asked, the lines weren’t used for phones anymore, all phones ran off a different system now, however, there were so many telephone poles up they didn’t want to demolish them all, so they use them as backup electricity when the power goes out to a house. “I suppose you could do that, yes.”

June 6, 2521_Orland_America

“You ready for this?” came a voice from Vanessa as she put an arm over my shoulder and looked up grinning at me. My face was grim as I pulled the hooks from my backpack and dropped the pack on the rooftop. We stood on the top of a skyscraper in Orland looking down at the streets far below.“By now Drake and Krae should have that street locked down. You know what you have to do. Do it.” I said to her as I pushed her arm off my shoulder then stepped to the edge. Whispered a prayer. And jumped.

As Vanessa watched him fall she slowly shook her head. She knew he was trying to keep his eyes on the task at hand, but it broke something inside her every time he’d push her away like that. She started moving across the rooftop, her mind now set on her task. There were reports of a renegade robot running through the streets causing havoc and putting civilians in danger. They were asked to take care of the task with haste. The plan was to corner him on the street, that was why Aaron and her were both going down different sides of the skyscraper. She reached back and grabbed the small chord attached to her backpack. Then jumped. Skyscrapers were more than skyscrapers in this era, they were taller than most of the clouds. They were lucky to have such a clear day to do this assignment, however, with the new height to the skyscrapers, it made it impossible for a Neamodian to survive the fall. Thus the chord. As she yanked it her backpack exploded into a colorful parachute that slowed her speed till she slammed into the ground. Aaron however, had been wearing two backpacks. As she remembered him placing one pack on the ground and taking his parachute with him. She pulled a small gadget from her pack that looked like a PDA. As she navigated around the device she came to a screen that showed a sonar reading of all around her that was projected from the equipment in the backpack at the top of the building above her. Almost instantly the sonar detected the robot giving her exact directions to it.“This is almost too easy…” She mumbled as she ran down the sidewalk toward the robot.

“Ma’am you need to get behind the caution tape!” shouted Drake as he caught sight of a young teenage girl in the middle of the road facing away from him. He and Krae were clearing a four block radius of civilians so that Aaron and Vanessa would be clear to do what they had to do to kill the robot. Now as his job was nearing its end he realized he and Krae had missed this young girl when they were looking for stragglers in the streets. “Drake… Stand down…” Came a calm young voice from the woman ahead of him with her back turned to him. Drake came to a screeching halt at the deadly tone of the voice. His hand lay to rest upon one of the swords across his back.“She’s just a child!” came a scream from behind the caution tape behind him. Something was wrong.He began to hear his own name being echoed in his ears as he looked around him. About a hundred yards away a man in a trench coat and sunglasses stood next to a street light starring at him. In the other direction a man dressed exactly the same stood on a balcony looking down at him. He was able to count three or four other people all looking exactly the same in random areas surrounding him. “What do you want…?” He asked the girl. She slowly turned around to reveal a long scar going down the right side of her young face. She had long blonde hair that went down past her shoulders but she held no weapons.

“You and your friends have an essence of Cytrin in your blood from when you were reincarnated.” She stated, Drake’s eyebrows shot up, “You’re an assassin?” He asked with a laugh, “You have no idea how many assassins I’ve had to deal with in my life young lady, you should just go back to where you came from.”“Do you even know what Cytrin is?” she asked plainly,“Not really…” he replied dumbly.“It’s extraordinarily rare and has been also gone by the name the ‘elixir of life’.” When she said it, it rang a bell. Nicholas Flamel. The alchemist Miya had met back in the renaissance had been looking for the philosophers stone, which could also contain the secret to the elixir of life he had called it. Which he said was the secret to immortality. “You seek the philosopher’s stone?” he asked,“Yes.”“Why?”“Does it matter? I’m really not in the mood for talking; you hold a piece of what I need in your blood, so I’ll kill you and be on my way.” As she said it the men in trench coats slowly began moving in on him. As he drew his swords the only thing going through his mind was numbers… 10…9...8…

Krae ran at top speed, flipping off a rooftop, landing on another. His breath was ragged as he whispered numbers,“Ten!” he gasped as he flipped onto the roof of another skyscraper. “Nine!” As he looked down below him he could see an eruption of fire where Aaron and the robot had begun a battle. “Eight!” he kept moving across the rooftops. “Seven… six… five… four…” As he reached the end of the block the linking rooftops ended and there was a drop off. He ran to the edge and jumped off spreading his arms wide to slow his decent slightly. “Three!” He pulled the chord on his parachute a mere seventy feet from the ground. “Two!” he hit the ground right next to Drake. “One!” They said together as the earth began to shake violently. Cracks erupted in the road and the men in trench coats were thrown from their feet. Drake flew forward slamming the handle of his sword into the temple of the young girl instantly knocking her unconscious.“Is that Nessy?” Drake asked as he glanced back at Krae when the shaking stopped. The dark clothed figure grinned and nodded his head.“I feel sorry for what’s left of that robot.” Drake mumbled as he hauled the girl up over his shoulders and moved toward Krae.“What do we do with her?” he asked,“Take her back to Aaron, see what he wants done.” Replied Krae, Drake nodded and the two friends started walking toward the action.

I was locked in heavy combat with the robot when Nessy joined in. Nessy was a seven foot tall fifteen foot long genetically enhanced rat. The mere sight of the thing made me want to vomit. It exploded from the earth breaking through the pavement attacking the robot. The rat known as Nessy was used by the police force for exceptionally difficult tasks. And he never failed. Ever. Within seconds the robot was torn to shreds and Nessy was gnawing at the metal scraps.

I sheathed my blade and watched the giant rat for a few moments before I turned and began walking away. My aura flickered, and then vanished as my armor dissipated and I was back into my street clothes. Though calm in appearance, my mind was racing. Something had gone wrong, that was a fact. If everything had gone according to plan the whole team would be standing beside him. But none were. “Rex, get me linked in with Drake,” I said to the guardian inside my mind“On it sir…” came the reply from Rex, “Yo what’s up?” came Drake’s voice through the link most humans would refer to as telepathy. “What happened Joker? Nessy took down the bot, where are you at?” I asked, referring to Drake by his code name as it was not uncommon to be linked in to the wrong person when using telepathy.“A bounty hunter stalled us, were almost to your position, just hang tight, where’s Hurricane?” he asked, now referring to Vanessa by her code name of hurricane.“Last I saw her I was jumping off a building, she didn’t regroup with you?” as I asked this I crossed the street toward where I had last saw her and began scouring the area.“Nope, I haven’t seen her since debriefing.” “I’ll find her,” I replied, “Rex, show me Vanessa’s vitals.”“Vitals show Vanessa is currently unconscious, sir.” Came Rex’s voice, a curse slipped from my lips as I rounded a bend to almost run into Drake.“Woah! Dude! The bubble man! Don’t violate the bubble!” said Drake as he took a step back raising his hands in the air with a grin.“Oh shut up,” I replied rolling my eyes, “We have to find Hurricane right now,”“Why don’t you just ask her where she is?”“She’s unconscious.” “Now that would make it hard to talk to her wouldn’t it?” Drake mumbled to nobody in particular.“If you ladies would hurry up the chatter I’d like to put this body somewhere…” Krae cut in as he indicated the body of the bounty hunter he had slung around his shoulders.“Hey! Over there! It’s the freelancers!” came a shout from behind them,“Freelancers? Are you kidding me? That feels like we just got demoted…” Drake replied as he turned around to see three police officers guns drawn running toward them.“Who’s your target, were here to give you assistance!” said one of them,“Oh perfect!” Krae cut in as he stepped forward and dumped the body at their feet, “take her back to base and put her in a padded cell.”“Is she insane sir?” asked the officer as he took note of Krae’s mention of a ‘padded’ cell.“To be wearing all that Kevlar plating when she’s fighting to swordsmen she’s got to be!” he said with a grin,“On it, anything else we could help you with?” asked the officers,“Yeah, have you seen…agent… Vanessa?” Drake asked, still getting used to the new title. “Oh, yeah, I saw her just a few minutes ago going into that building over there.” He replied as he pointed across the street. By the time the man had finished the statement I was already halfway across the street.“Okay thanks!” said Drake as he darted after me. As we came up to the door of the place I drew my sword and glanced back at Drake who was whispering to Krae.“Got something you want to say?” I asked Drake as I watched their whispered conversation.

“Huh? Oh, no, sorry about that…” as he said it he gave a warning glance to Krae. I frowned then turned back to the door.“We go on three… one… two … three!” I shoved open the door and moved inside to the dark room. Dead silence. The three of us moved into the middle of the room slowly… then instantly the lights turned on and a couple dozen people jumped from their hiding places.“SURPRISE!” they all screamed together. My sword flicked up into a combat stance for a moment then realization dawned on me. I had been so busy I hadn’t even noticed it was my birthday… I turned around as Vanessa knocked the sword out of my hand and it disappeared as soon as it left my grasp. Instantly she tackled me to the floor.“Happy birthday you big monkey!!!” she screeched. I instantly found myself laughing as I pushed her off. I looked around the room with a huge grin on my face, then looked back at Drake and Krae,“You two knew about this?”“You could say that…” replied Krae as he moved over and gave me a hand up.“Rex said you were unconscious…?” I asked Vanessa, she laughed,“Aaron, I know guardians a whole lot better than you do, don’t forget who told you that you were a Neamodian, Rex can be bribed.” She replied with a grin, by this time people were mingling around the room, a few came by and patted me on the back wishing me a happy birthday.“Come on,” Vanessa said with a big smile as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away, “let’s go get some punch!”

“Status report!” Came the screech from behind the dark mask, the machine that kept him alive hissed as oxygen was forced into his lungs.“Bad news sir, the scientist has injected herself with the serum, it’s only a matter of time now.” Came the reply from the bug burly man in a white T-shirt and dark jeans. They stood in an underground room of the house belonging to the man sitting before him connected to some kind of makeshift life support. “What? How could you let this happen!?” “We didn’t realize she had the Cytrin, we thought our bounty hunter had taken care of that.”“Well obviously she didn’t, and now the scientist has it. I want you to go kill her yourself!”“Yes sir!” Replied the burly man as he turned toward the elevator that would bring him back to ground level. As he entered the elevator his partner in crime stepped in behind him. They had to kill this scientist before she killed them.

“Ah, Aaron my good friend how goes it?” came a voice from behind me as I turned around with a glass of punch to see a completely unfamiliar face, I decided to play along.“Very well, and yourself?” “Quite good actually, tell me… how’s project Arkata coming along?” As the man said the words Rex began freaking out inside my head.“Get out of there Aaron! Your car is outside! Get out of there!” Came Rex’s voice,“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about…” I replied, trying to ignore Rex“No, I’m sure you have no idea, but you will… very soon you will.” And with that he turned and walked out of the building. I felt Vanessa’s hand rest on my shoulder and I glanced over at her,“What was that all about?” she asked,

“Do you know him?” I asked, ignoring her question,“Nope,” she replied,“And do you have any idea what ‘project Arkata’ is?”“Nope,”“Right! Let’s go then!” I said as I sat my glass down on the nearest table and moved toward the door. On the way I tapped Krae and Drake’s shoulders motioning them to follow. As soon as we were all outside I moved toward where my blue Corvette sat parked outside.“What’s going on?” Asked Vanessa,“Dude we are so not all going to cram into your little Corvette!” Drake exclaimed, I glanced back,“No, just you and me,” I said as I motioned for Drake to get in, “You two watch the police scanner for any activity, let me know as soon as something happens!” and without letting them get in a reply I closed the door and sped off.“Aaron, what exactly are we doing?” Drake asked as he buckled his seatbelt,“Are you familiar with project Arkata?” I asked him,“Nope, sounds like a cool word though.” He replied with a grin,“Well that guy is,” I said pointing to the Lamborghini in front of us.“How come the bad guys always get the cool cars?” Drake mumbled,“I’m asking myself the exact same thing…” I replied,“So what is project Arkata?” he asked,“I have no idea,” I said with a laugh as I switched lanes as the car ahead of me did.“Okay and why does it matter to us?”“Because Rex freaked out about it, and that means it’s a key to this puzzle,”“This is a puzzle?” Drake asked wide eyed,“Metaphorically you idiot…” I replied glaring at him.“Okay so what happens when we catch this guy?”“We aren’t going to catch him, were going to follow him and see where he goes.” I said it he turned down a street to a downhill place in the middle of town.“Aaron, police scanner just said there was a report of gunshots two doors down from where you are right now!” came a blare from the radio in the car, Drake grabbed the radio to reply,“Okay thanks for the update!” he replied as he put the radio back, when he looked back his face turned white.“Aaron… What just happened to the car?”

Lydia Lawson pulled a pistol from the safe under her desk and checked the clip for bullets. Her heart raced as she got down on her knees and looked over the top of the desk, she watched the door with hawk’s eyes. She could feel the serum moving through her blood slowly changing her. She could feel her humanity being torn from her. Why were they after her? Before she could finish her thoughts the wall behind her exploded and two hands clasped around her throat her fist clenched with fear and the gun discharged. The burly figure lifted her with ease and hurled her across the room as she slammed into the wall with a scream.

I slammed on the breaks as I spun out slamming against the curb. I pulled the E-brake and jumped out of the car, the vehicle we had been following had disappeared right before their eyes.“What just happened!?” Drake shouted as his aura flared and his armor appeared upon him.“It was an AI, it wants us to go in this building”“AI?” Drake asked,“Artificial intelligence, it wasn’t real, just a projection. Come on let’s get in there!”

Lydia’s vision blurred as she hit the wall, a mere second later the huge figure was upon her again as he lifted her into the air, a fist slamming into her gut. She gasped for air but it seemed as if none was left in the room. The huge man threw her across the room again as she slammed against the wall on the other side, she was no longer able to scream as the man grabbed the gun she had dropped. Cocked it. And aimed at her head. “What do you want!?” she screamed but was interrupted as the door flew open and two men, one in all black robes the other in all white moved in with swords in their hands. Three gunshots rang out as Lydia screamed in pain and blood poured down her right shoulder and left leg.

I assessed the situation in a split second and spun around slamming my sword into the gut of the burly man near me, Drake sped across the room where a second one stood watching. The big man looked down at the sword with a grin as he grabbed it before I could pull it back and yanked it from my hand and it dissipated into thin air. In shock the man stumbled back. A visualization flew through my mind as the wall behind him fell forward upon him. A second later I was on top of the rubble pulling him out. I pulled a dagger from my side with the words fury engraved on the blade as I slit the man’s throat without a second thought. I sat there starring at the man’s dead face for a moment then let him drop to the floor as I turned to see Drake had just finished his opponent. I glanced over to where the young woman sat curled up shivering in her own blood. I quickly moved to her side as my aura flickered and my armor disappeared. I quickly pulled my shirt off and tied it around the bullet wound on her leg while holding my gloved hand over the one on her shoulder to attempt to slow the blood flow. “Drake! Go get help! Hurry!” I shouted back at him as he spun around and ran for the car. I tried to visualize the blood flow stopping but it was no use, my powers were no help when it came to something that had already happened. Slowly her hazel eyes opened as she starred into mine in amazement.“You’re the Neamodian they talk about…?” she whispered. I smiled and nodded as I stroked her blonde hair to try to calm her. “It’s going to be okay, my partner is getting a doctor.” I said as I tried to fake a smile, deep inside however, I knew she wouldn’t survive.“No… I’m not going to make it… I just wish I could have known what it is like…” she croaked,“What what’s like?” I asked as I moved my head a little closer to hers to be able to hear her slight whispers.“I just injected myself with Cytrin… I wanted to be a Neamodian…” she whispered. I slowly closed my eyes and cursed, “You mean to say that you have Cytrin in your blood right now?” she grimaced with pain then made a slight nod. I sighed, “Close your eyes.” As I said it she did so and my aura flickered to life. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” I mumbled.

Lydia woke up in a hospital bed. As her eyes opened she saw the dark hooded figure sitting across the room from her. His eyes were starring directly into her own.“Why’d you do it?” I asked as I looked across the room to where the young woman was slowly waking up.“Do what…?” She asked with a groan.“You injected yourself with Cytrin. Why’d you do it?”“How’d you save me?” she asked ignoring his question,“Answer my question.” I said coldly,“I’m a scientist; it was for an experiment to see if it was possible to gain Neamodian powers without being chosen,”“How’d you obtain the Cytrin?” I asked,“The government has about three vials of it; they supplied me with one of them strictly for testing purposes. Now it’s my turn, two gunshot wounds like that should have killed me, how’d you save me?”“I performed a rebirth.”“You did a what?”“I split my aura and infused you with the half.”“But you don’t even know me, why would you do that?”“As a Neamodian, if I see another Neamodian in danger and I’m able to help them, I’m required to.”“Wait… so I’m a Neamodian now?” she asked, a look of excitement on her face. I nodded. “So what’s my power?” she asked in excitement. I sighed,“I don’t know yet, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with you.”“Take me with you! I want to go on an adventure or whatever you do…!” As she said it the door opened and a nurse entered the room, she glanced over at me with a surprised look on her face.“I’m sorry; I didn’t realize there was any visitors here,”“Oh its quite alright, we’re done here.” I replied as I stood up,“We?” asked the young woman, I glanced back and smiled, then turned away and Drake materialized behind me. Both the nurse and Lydia watched in shock as the two exited the room and shut the door behind them.

“Dude that was epic! We need to do hospital patient visits more often!” exclaimed Drake as he gave me a high five. And we jumped into the Corvette. “Robby, take us to the police station.” I said to the car as the engine rumbled and the car drove itself off toward the police station.“I’ll never get used to that.” Mumbled Drake indicating the robot that was able to take control of the car at command.“Oh you think it’s amazing now? I had that thing back 400 years ago when it was futuristic.” I said with a grin,“And now it’s vintage.” Replied Drake with a laugh. “Oh whatever,” I laughed then adjusted my seat to lean back more. “So down to business, what do we do about this girl who’s now a Neamodian?”“Her name’s Lydia,” Drake mumbled,“Oh you’ve been stalking her?”

“I pulled her file earlier today while we were waiting in the room for her to wake up; she’s one of the most respected scientists in the world. She invented that ray gun the police are so fond of using.”“Oh really? I’m guessing her inventions aren’t the only thing you’re interested in?”“Oh shut up, you were starring too!”“Yeah, but I did it menacingly so it looks cool… I’m pretty sure there’s drool on the floor where you were standing…” I said with a grin,“I will slit your throat.” Drake said sarcastically,“Oh I know you will,” I replied even more sarcastically. “I say you let her join the team,” said Drake in all seriousness.“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you?”“I am seriously about to kill you.” Drake mumbled trying to hide a grin.“She doesn’t even have powers yet, how would she be of any help?” I replied,“Dude! She’s like the best scientist in the world! She could create her own powers if she wanted to!”“Alright you have a point,” I mumbled as we pulled into the police station.“We’ll talk with the others about it,” I said as I shut off the car with a button and opened the door.“Just don’t tell Vanessa, she might get jealous!” Drake said as he had seen his chance and took it. I glared at him and he grinned.“Don’t tell me what?”Both of us spun around drawing daggers in defense and surprise to find Vanessa standing right there.“Drake, you want to take this one?” I said as I sheathed my dagger,“Actually… No… I don’t… “

“Well that’s quite the story Mr. Brunaz.” Said the captain from across the table in the conference room where the whole team sat with the captain.“I still don’t see why you couldn’t tell me that outside…” Vanessa mumbled,“Just didn’t want to tell it twice…” I replied winking at Drake who glared back.“What’s your plan of action Aaron?” Asked the captain, bringing the chaos back to order.“Well sir… There’s not much we can do… If we don’t take her in then she’ll be hunted down and killed for the Cytrin in her blood.”“Aye… sad but true…” He replied “It’s settled then?” Asked Krae,“Yeah, it’s settled we hunt down the man who hired the people who tried to kill her and bring him in.”“Wait how did we get to that conclusion? I thought we were discussing taking her into the group?” Drake spoke up in surprise,“Got a better idea?” I replied sarcastically, Drake shook his head and the room fell silent for a few moments before Vanessa spoke up.“Let’s get some rest and head to the hospital tomorrow morning,” she said as the group mumbled their agreement and got up and left the room for the barracks.

The next day came with a vengeance as dark clouds covered the sky and rain poured down on the city I awoke to Krae’s cold dark eyes staring down at me.

“Time to go.” He said as he tossed a shirt to me, I quickly got up and put it on, following Krae out of the room to find the smell of fresh baked food from the kitchen wafting through the corridors. It may have been the future, but people still loved good food. As we moved into the cafeteria we grabbed trays and moved down the line serving ourselves a generous helping of eggs, bacon and bread rolls with a glass of orange juice to top it off. I moved over and sat down at a table with three other officers, nodding my head in greeting as I sat down.“Good morning Aaron, how’d you sleep?” asked one of the officers as he chewed on one of the greasy bacon strips.“Good, any news for the day?” I asked,“A robot escaped, that’s about it.” Mumbled one of them,“That’s all you’re going to tell him?” Asked one of the officers to the one who had previously spoke, I raised an eyebrow and gave the officer a questioning look.“It was a Mark V Combat robot, designed for destroying entire armies… Captain wants it back ASAP but nobody knows where to look because it was programmed to not leave a trace of where it went… One of the sentry bots said that it saw the robot leave the south end of the city.”“How much of a threat does it pose?”“As I said, it can take out an army of trained warriors… so it could take out a city of civilians with little more than a thought.”“Why’d it leave?” I questioned further and I finished the rest of the food on my tray,“One of the technicians was doing some of the finishing touches on it when he accidentally hit the switch to turn him on, something went haywire in its programming and he killed the technician and escaped the building…”“Well that sounds like a fun morning activity.” Said Drake as he sat down next to me with a tray full of food. “Do we get to go robot hunting?” Drake asked with a hopeful look on his face.“I wouldn’t know where to start… Doesn’t sound like he left any trace of where he went…” I replied, and then added, “But we’ll keep an eye out for him…”“What’s your plan for today sir?” asked one of the officers looking over at me as he leaned back in his hard plastic chair trying to find a more conferrable position.“Well… I guess I’m going to visit the hospital then maybe do some rounds around town, see if I can find out anything about this robot.” I replied, the others nodded and mumbled in agreement.“And I’d better get to that; I’m wasting daylight sitting here.” I said with a polite smile as I stood up and nodded my goodbyes to the men as I tossed my tray in the wash tub and moved out of the building. As I stepped out I took a deep breath of fresh air then moved toward where my car had been moved to near the sidewalk down the street. I moved around the car, hopped inside and slid the keys into the ignition. I let out a short sigh as I turned the key and the engine of the Corvette fired up and I sped off down the road towards the hospital.

Vanessa watched as Aaron’s car pulled out of the parking lot, her face showed no emotion anymore. She could remember the ‘good old days’ where they’d just ‘hang out’ and laugh together, she could even remember way back when her family would hold little talent shows in their backyard. She almost smiled as she remembered all the people that would come to those. All were dead now. Not one of them was alive. Except for one of them… and that was Aaron. She watched the steam from the hydro powered

engine drift up for a moment before they dissipated into thin air. She had to find a way to live like that again… Somehow inside her she knew she’d see those days again.

“Here you go Mr. Brunaz, room 411, you sure you don’t want a beverage? Or maybe a tissue? I’m not sure how you know her but it can be rather traumatic to see a loved one is such pain sometimes…”“I think I’ll be fine,” I said as I smiled at the nurse who had led me to the door to Lydia’s room. She nodded with a kind smile, “then I’ll leave you with her.” “Thank you ma’am,” I replied as I moved toward the door, opened it, and moved inside.Instantly something in my mind went off and I was on high alert as a wooden plank came flying toward me. I spun around grabbing it, twisting it behind the person who wielded the weapon so their arm was stuck behind them in a painful position. It was Lydia. I let her go, taking a step back.“Feeling better I see?” I asked sarcastically looking around at the hospital room that was a complete mess. The sheets were all over the floor and a desk was completely torn apart which was where I guessed she had gotten the wood plank. “I want answers!” she screamed. I was quiet for a moment as I glanced at the door realizing it was sound proof.“Alright, calm down, take a seat, I’ll explain it all.” The dark blonde haired girl nodded and moved to the bedside where she sat and looked down at the ground. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was knotted and matted with blood. “How did I heal so fast?” she asked in almost a whisper.“Cytrin does that, it works through your veins at an amazing speed to fix anything wrong in your body.”“But a gunshot wound? That should take longer than a day… I’ve researched Cytrin and it doesn’t work that fast.” “That’d be your guardian trying to help you out.” “Ah, I’ve researched that too…”“Wow so what do you need me for?” I asked sarcastically, she was quiet for a moment as she looked at the floor then let out a sigh. “I don’t know what to do from here,” She whispered as she hid her face in her hands. I moved over to the bed and put an arm around her shoulder,“Hey, Lydia, that’s why I’m here… I’ve been doing this for like 400 years right? I should know how to do this by now,” I said jokingly, she grinned as she looked over at me with tears in her eyes, “so what do I do?”“If you’ll accept the offer… the rest of the team has agreed to let you join Eagle Strike…”“What’s Eagle Strike?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow, I rolled my eyes,“Okay so we didn’t exactly tell that name to the press did we? But it sounds really dorky to ask you to join our little group so let’s just say join the other Neamodians in this war?” I said with a grin.“That made absolutely no sense at all… but I think I know what you’re getting at, and yeah, I think I’d like to join.” We both laughed as I stood up,“So let’s try using those powers of yours,” I said as I moved toward the sliding window which I opened and stuck my head out, all that was there was a flat brick surface about ten stories up, and they were about three stories from the roof. I grinned and motioned her to follow as I stepped aside and let her move to the window.

“Afraid of heights?” I asked with a grin as I motioned her to look out the window,“Yeah,” she mumbled as she looked out and quickly moved back in. “Whoa that’s high!” she screeched.“Jump out.” I replied, my face dead of emotion. Her eyes seemed to shoot out of her head as she backed away from the window.“The worst thing that happens is I catch you before you hit bottom.” I said as I gestured once more toward the window. She breathed quickly as she slowly moved toward the window and peered out once more. Then she swung her feet out the window so she was sitting on the windowsill. I moved over and put an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll be right behind you… just be sure to land on your feet…” I said, and then gave her a shove and she fell off without a sound. My eyebrows shot up as I had expected her to be screaming the whole way down. I moved to the window quickly and looked down to find her leaning against the building at the bottom looking up at me as if to say “are you coming or what?” I let out a short laugh as I swung out the window and dropped down hitting the ground with a thud leaving an indent in the pavement where my boots hit it.“That wasn’t so bad now was it?” As I moved over to her, she grinned and we walked side by side down an ally toward the Corvette.

“Hey! It’s an officer! Get him to help!” came a shout from behind Drake, he let out a sigh as he turned around, there were times when he greatly hated the badge they made him wear on his shoulder. The mall was very packed and it took him a moment to find the person running toward him with a pale face filled with fright. “What seems to be the problem?” I asked as the man doubled over trying to catch his breath.“A… Gunman… store… back there…” he said gasping for breath as he pointed back behind him. In the blink of an eye two swords appeared crossing his back and daggers lined his waist. He pulled his hood up over his head and nodded his thanks to the now even more shocked civilian. With lightning speed Drake flew across the tile floors toward where he could hear screams of terror erupting from the end of the mall, then two gun shots fired off just before he arrived. When he entered the scene he found it to be in a jewelry store. Three clerks were lying in a pool of their own blood by the time he had arrived and he guessed they were dead by now. At the back of the store he saw the gunman looking directly at him, gun raised, barrel pointed at him.“Neamodian.” He whispered as the bystanders fell silent. Drake flicked out both blades.“Human,” Drake replied with mock sarcasm, the other slowly nodded with a wicked grin.“Not quite…” he replied as he dropped the gun and a sword appeared in his hand while at the same time his features were concealed by a dark mask and a hood that wrapped tightly around his face branching down into a dark cloak that was tight around his body. Drake’s eyebrows shot up, he was under the impression that there were no more Neamodians alive.“You don’t want to do this…” Drake said quietly to the other Neamodian, the dark figure nodded. “Oh yes I do.” As he finished he flew forward with a series of strokes that Drake easily deflected. The cloaked man flipped high above him landing behind Drake swinging his blade around being deflected at the last moment by Drake’s blade. For several minutes the dark figure kept repeating this fast moving way of fighting till he finally stepped back leaving a break in the combat, letting Drake make the next move. Drake gave a wicked smile as he opened his palms and his swords disappeared as they left contact from him leaving him defenseless. The cloaked Neamodian saw his chance and he lunged

forward toward Drake but at the last second a bolt of lightning out of thin air slammed into his chest sending him staggering back into another one from behind him. Then suddenly a gust of wind from above him slammed down upon him crushing him into the ground with a crunch of bones as he wasn’t even given time to cry out in pain before the life was pulled from his body. Drake turned around to where the police and EMT’s were standing there watching the whole thing in dead silence. And then as Drake started walking away the whole group erupted into applause. Drake shot them a glare but nobody seemed to notice as they began to cheer and he quickly escaped to the door where he ran outside. He had just killed a man, and they applauded him? He knew it was official now, he hated this place.

I pulled my Corvette into the parking lot of the police station; it had been a long day. After the hospital they had gone around the town testing out Lydia’s new power, but they hadn’t been able to figure out what her main power was, Vanessa’s was crystals, Drakes was weather, but her’s just wasn’t there… or it was like it didn’t want to show itself to them.“Welcome to your new home…” I mumbled as I opened the door to the car and got out. The two of us walked side by side up to the door and quickly went inside to find very few people in the building. However, that was normal for the time of day, they had come in while most of the officers were still out patrolling the city. Lydia was tired and hungry and I was too. We moved to the cafeteria and sat down for an early dinner while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.“So what’s your story?” I asked, she glanced up from her food then shrugged, “You want the one I tell everyone, or the real one?”“Probably the real one…” I mumbled,“I was one of your best friends about 400 years ago.” She stated flatly as she continued eating. I stopped eating and looked up.“You what?”“You heard me. My real name is Chelsea,” as she said it my memory flashed of all the times we had been together, we had been inseparable as kids, we took almost all our school classes together and went to the roller skating rink every month together. “What happened ?” I asked in amazement at the discovery.“That weird zombie thing killed my whole family. Aaron. I watched my little sister being dragged off into the bushes, I could hear her screams but I had to lock myself inside my house to keep from being eaten myself. I went through hell and back but I found a way out…”“What was that?”“The idol. Lots of the survivors had heard about your search for it, and when your group traveled through time, we stayed with the zombies. So I called together a couple of my closest friends and we set out to find the future idol to try to get past all this.“You found it?”“Well I’m here aren’t I?”“Yeah I guess so, how’d you become a scientist? Last I saw you; you were just getting into Law school.”“Funny thing about those idols, it gives you a new identity. I just popped up in ‘my laboratory’ and was surrounded by other lab workers asking me what they should do about such and such, I just played along for a while, apparently I was set up here as the greatest scientist in the world or something like that.”

“But truthfully you don’t know a thing about science?” I asked with a laugh,“You took that dang biology class with me Aaron, we dissected frogs and I almost threw up,” “Oh you wouldn’t believe what I’ve shoved a knife into since then.” I mumbled, she glared at me then continued eating.“Chelsea?” I looked up to see Vanessa walking into the building, Lydia glanced back then jumped from her chair and ran over to her embracing her in a hug like old friends. A smile creased my face as I watched the joyous pair laugh together not caring how either had gotten there but merely that they were. Lydia quickly led Vanessa back to the table where they quickly commenced in chatter. Lydia explained the story she had just told me to Vanessa and Vanessa explained our story in finding the idols and getting involved with the police force up till now. Then in the middle of their conversation the doors behind them flew open and Drake came flying through, both swords still in hand.“Aaron! Eyes on!” he screamed as he an enormous flying bat broke right through the doors and walls in its way and into the cafeteria knocking Drake off his feet and bringing its talons up to hit him with a killing blow. All three warriors jumped to their feet watching helplessly as the scene happened too fast. But before Vanessa or I could do anything Lydia flew forward, balls of dark matter erupting from her palms engulfing the giant bat in a cloud of darkness. I flew forward seeing my chance as I flicked out a sword and kicked Drake out of the way of the creature, putting myself in front of its enormous claws. The giant bat must have been twice my size and was a horrific sight. The dark cloud seemed to seep in through the skin and torture the beast from the inside. I watched in awe as it screamed in pain flailing around blindly. I stole a glance at Lydia who watched in raw horror at the power and pain she had commanded upon the beast. From the position Drake was in upon the ground he called fourth the his power as a lightning bolt shot out of nowhere hitting the bat turning it to dust before their eyes. I moved over giving him a hand up as he clutched his ribs.“Broken?” I asked, indicating where the beast had slammed its claw down upon his chest.“Just bruised,” he replied as he limped toward the seat.“What was that?” Vanessa asked as she helped Lydia who was still in shock back to her seat.“I have no idea… I was doing a loop around the mall looking for any problems when this Neamodian attacked a jewelry store and…”“Hold it.” I interrupted, “What the heck is a Neamodian doing here? Their all dead!”“Apparently not.” Drake said flatly, “I ended up killing him and on the way back here that thing just appeared out of nowhere and started chasing me!”“How did I do that…?” Lydia cut in,“Way to change the subject there Lydia,” Vanessa mumbled.“That’s your power, your apparently able to make those balls of darkness or whatever that was and torture little innocent bats.” I replied sarcastically,“Aaron you know why these things are after you don’t you?” She asked, ignoring my sarcasm,“Uhm… no?” “You altered time. This is why the government kept the idols hidden, if someone altered time it would mess everything up in the past, present and even the future.”“So how did you learn so much about this?” I questioned,“I have friends in high places,” she said with a grin.“And how do we fix this?”

“You simply reverse time.”“You’re saying… you just now decided to tell us this… and your saying… the fix is to just ‘simply reverse time’?”“Yes.” “Okay…? And how exactly do you reverse time…?” I asked trying to figure out in my head what had caused her to suddenly say this.“You find the idols and go back in time.” “Okay I give up, how do you know all this about these idols and reversing time?” “I have no idea to be honest, I just know it… like as soon as I used my powers something clicked and a wave of information flooded into my head… its weird…” she replied slowly shaking her head.“Yeah… weird is a good word for it… So where are the idols?”“The president knows, nobody else does though.”“Oh okay, so let’s just go walk into the white house and ask for the idol to reverse time and fix this messed up world? Sounds like a plan!” I laughed sarcastically,“Actually they don’t have a white house anymore Aaron…” came Krae’s voice as he walked into the room, “did someone decide to do some redecorating? Or were they just widening the doors?” he asked, indicating the gaping hole in the wall where the bat had broke through.“Drake brought a welcoming committee.” Vanessa replied as she got up and gave Krae a hug and invited him to sit down. “So… what’d I miss?” he asked,“Well… Drake killed a Neamodian, a killer bat followed him here, and we’ve decided to do some time traveling.” I replied with a grin,“Cool...?”“My thoughts exactly, so, where were we?”“The white house?” Krae replied, I glanced over at Lydia.“He’s waiting for you.” She mumbled,“Who is?”“The president.”“And I’ve got a car ready to take you to him!” came a voice from behind us.“We’ll never be able to get a secret meeting in will we?” Drake asked as he looked up at the Police chief who was holding keys in his hand.“I just got a call, your expected at the capital ASAP. No questions.”“Figures…” I mumbled as we all got up and followed him to the car

“Mr. President, there’s a group of five people here to see you, I wasn’t going to let them in… but… they claim to be… uh… well… you see…”“Get to the point Eddy,” said the president as he looked at his stuttering secretary. “Their Neamodians!” Before he had finished the president was out of his chair and halfway across the room. He threw open the door scanning the room, next to the door stood a FBI agent, the president spun around pulling the gun out of the surprised man’s holster as he pushed him back and spun back around to find himself starring into a dark hooded face.

“Weapons are unneeded Mr. President…” I whispered, my face a mere four inches from his. As he took a step back he dropped the pistol and raised his hands in fear.“What do you want!?” he screamed as the FBI agents suddenly realized what was going on and recovered their composure pulling their guns and taking over the situation. “Call the guards off.” I said calmly, as I said it one put a hand on my shoulder. I spun around slamming a fist into his stomach adding a visualization on top of it sending the man flying back some fifteen feet into a wall. The rest took a step back as they rethought how to go about this opponent. “Put your guns down!” screamed the political leader as the agents did so. “I want to talk…” I whispered. The other nodded and motioned me into his office.

“The idol? Why do you want to know?” asked the president after I explained what I was after, I had expected it to be this difficult, so I had planned on just telling the truth.“In case you haven’t heard I’m from 400 years ago, and apparently this time travel thing messes with your reality because of things I did in the past that end up making the future more difficult.”“Even if I wanted to give you the idol… you have to understand… I can’t…”“Why not?”“I don’t have it,” he replied with a innocent gesture.“So where is it?”“Vietnam…” he mumbled, my eyes met his for a moment of silence.“Why is it there…?”“We wanted to put it somewhere nobody would find it…” he replied. “After Nova 9 we decided that would be the perfect place for it.” Nova 9 was an environment science project that went wrong, it mutated animals from the area it was put in. In this case, Vietnam. “We also put robots around it to protect it…”“Joy…” I mumbled, “So where is it in Vietnam?” “You’re going to go after it?” he asked in shock,“I don’t really have much of a choice…”“Alright… I’ll send you with a group of Marines; I’ll make sure a guide goes with you… We’d be very grateful if you cleared out some of those robots…”“Yeah I’ll see what I can do.”

“Ah you must be Aaron, I’m Commander Jackson, here in front of you is some of the bravest men I know,” said the Marine Commander as he indicated the line of about twenty marines standing at attention in front of us. “Alright, what’s the plan of action Commander?” I asked, respecting his rank.“We’ll go with what you want done, however, what we have mapped out so far is taking individual two person fighter jets to Vietnam, land on a marked landing strip where there will be two long trucks there for carrying all the men to the destination you designate.”“Well you’ve got that all planned out don’t you?” I asked with a short laugh,“Yes sir.” As he said it I shook my head,

“Mr. Jackson, It’s better if we stay on a first name basis… I don’t know what you’ve seen when it comes to combat, but the next few days will top it all. You’d better go get some rest.” With that I turned and walked away.

The low rumble of the car was comforting on the drive back to the hotel. The whine of the brakes was not, but Drake could get used to it. He had driven Aaron’s car many times and was very comfortable in it. As he kept his eyes on the road he could hear Lydia’s heavy breathing as she slept in the seat that was reclined far below regulation. Her hazel eyes hidden from view as dreams took over her mind. Drake let out a yawn as he pulled up to the hotel parking lot. It was Krae’s idea to get a hotel two hours drive away from the capitol. However, when he pulled into the parking lot he found himself faced with an odd dilemma, and as he pulled the keys from the ignition the problem was much worse… She was still sleeping… He glanced over at Lydia awkwardly as she continued her deep sleep. It seemed rude to just walk away… then it was creepy to sit there and wait for her to wake up… and even ruder to wake her up! He shook his head unsure of what he was supposed to do.

I awoke to the ring of my phone.“Answer.” I mumbled as the voice activated phone answered and I heard Drake’s voice.“Hey Aaron… I’m not sure if this is a good time or not… but I’ve got a little problem…” I sighed,“What is it?”“Well… Lydia is uhm… well… she’s asleep… in your car… and it’s kind of awkward…”“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me… You woke me up for this?” “Well it’s kind of awkward!” He exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down as not to wake up Lydia.“Dude, I swear I will tear the stuffing out of your teddy bear if you don’t hang up right now.”“What!? How’d you know I have a teddy bear!?”“Dude… My shaving kit was in your bag… And so was… oh what was his name?”“Coco!”“Oh gosh…” I let out a short laugh, “Yes… Coco…” “Okay fine! I’ll figure out something!” Drake said agitated as he hung up. I let out a short laugh then rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next day came sooner than wanted and Krae groaned when his alarm went off telling him it was 4 AM. He groaned as he rolled out of bed landing on his face on the wood floor. Instantly he was doing pushups. After twenty he spread his legs apart and moved to just one handed pushups doing twenty in each hand before he finally stood up. He walked into the bathroom that was connected to his room. It was a very nice hotel and he saw a bottle of cologne sitting next to the sink, he picked it up and frowned for a moment, wondering why people used the liquid. Then put it down realizing he didn’t have time to ponder human’s strange habits. He reached back and untied the knot at the back of the cloth he concealed his features with. He then proceeded to unwrap the cloth around his head revealing his pasty white vampiric skin. He let out a sigh as he splashed water on his face then moved back out to the bedroom and grabbed his cell phone. Only seconds later he had connected with Aaron.“What’s the plan?” Krae asked,“Did you pack a flight suit?”

“Okay were going to make the take off nice and slow, do you get motion sickness?” the voice was that of the Marine pilot in front of me, his voice crackled through the speaker in my helmet as I replied into the microphone while the boom of the jet engine outside the cockpit blared loud.“I’ll be fine, just don’t do anything fancy.”“Ten four… This is Greater Dawn to the tower requesting take off?” “Greater Dawn this is the tower, you are clear to proceed with take off. Have a nice flight boys.” Came the reply from the runway tower and instantly I felt my stomach turn as the ship propelled into motion reaching insane velocities and only a few moments later taking flight. We were airborne. It was several hours later that the radar began to beep as another jet came into view…

“Eagle eye to Greater Dawn, requesting permission to commence travel formation?” Asked Vanessa to the ship Aaron was in, she flipped a switch taking her fighter jet out of autopilot as she maneuvered it over behind the ship with the tag Greater Dawn.“Eagle eye this is Greater Dawn, I’d clear you but it seems you’ve done it yourself.” Came Aaron’s voice through the speaker in her helmet, Vanessa could hear Lydia giggling in the seat behind her.“Eagle eye to Greater Dawn… Double checking the plan… we are regrouping with the team at the drop off point?”“That’s correct Eagle.” “Okay so that means that…” Her voice faded off as her radar began to beep. She looked out the cockpit window, she could see Night crawler which was the ship Drake and Krae were in off to Greater Dawn’s right and she was in formation to his left. Then looking ahead she began to see other airplanes in the distance.“Greater Dawn, can I get a reading on your radar?”“This is Greater Dawn, Night Crawler offensive formation! Eagle, follow my lead!” Instantly Night Crawler swerved off to the right and dropped some two hundred feet to come from below. A few seconds later Greater Dawn swerved to the left.“Lydia you got the guns!?” Vanessa shouted back as she swerved to follow Greater Dawn.“Yeah I’m on it!” She screamed back as she began pulling levers and pressing buttons, “Lasers are charging up!”“Aaron what’s your plan?” Vanessa said through the microphone as she was beginning to realize this was no drill.“Night will continue with procedure, I’ll catch them in a tractor beam then you pick them off one by one with your lasers, got it?”“Your positive these guys are hostile?” as she said it laser blasts began to fly by their cockpit as the enemy began firing at them.“Yeah I’m pretty sure,” came a sarcastic reply through the speaker. “Greater Dawn going to plan previously discussed,” as he finished he pulled off to the left and sped up while Vanessa kept her fighter at the same speed and on the same course.

“Do you think this is going to work?” Drake asked Krae in the back seat as they swerved to avoid a laser blast.

“Honestly no,” Krae said with a laugh, “Aaron has never used a tractor beam before in his life and Lydia doesn’t seem like the killing type.”“Well glad you have so much faith in our little team here.” Drake said sarcastically from the front seat. Then all of a sudden red dots started appearing behind them.“This is Night Crawler to Eagle Eye, you see that?”“Drake. Were in trouble.” Came the reply from Vanessa’s worried voice. Drake could hear a click in the seat behind him as he glanced back to see Krae unbuckling all his harnesses.“What are you doing!?” He shouted back.“Improvising.” He replied as he pushed open the cockpit and jumped out into open air.

“Greater Dawn this is Eagle Eye! Forget the plan, Kraeoden is in trouble, were going to give him an assist!” Screamed Vanessa into the microphone as she spun the plane around to where the falling for of Kraeoden was now apparent. She sped up just enough to time it perfectly… and then he hit… Just as she went under he slammed into the top of the cockpit with a loud smack.“Krae! Are you okay!?” she screamed into the mic as she glanced up through the glass to see his form not moving above her. “Krae?!”“You do this to me on purpose don’t you?” came a groan through the headset. Vanessa let out a laugh as she pulled the jet into an attack stance head on at another fighter. She had no idea what he had in mind. But if it didn’t work they weren’t going to make it out of this one alive.

Krae stood up on top of the jet, leaning forward with his feet pushed against a crack in the jet. He drew both swords holding them upright as he watched the jets quickly getting closer. He hated improvising, it always ended in him falling off something that people shouldn’t be falling off of. “Vanessa, check your parachute,” Krae spoke into his helmet,“All chutes are ready for use.”“Okay, go head on for that ship in front of us and ram right into it…”“Do what!?”“Just do it!” as he said it he spun around almost being knocked over by the wind blowing by him. He slammed his sword into the thruster on the back of the jet. In his mind he kept telling himself he couldn’t do this and that it was crazy… but something inside him said it was possible… He looked up to where Aaron’s fighter idled and watched the scene play out before him. He expected Krae to survive. He wouldn’t be sitting there if he didn’t. Krae slowly turned back around, he was about three seconds from impact and he watched as the cockpit door flew up and both Lydia and Vanessa were ejected out and thrown high into the air, clear of any collision. Krae back flipped off the ship and a split second later was thrown back even farther by the explosion of the ship when a huge piece of metal slammed into his gut. Krae let out a shout of victory as he grabbed onto the top of the piece of metal. It was the thruster. It only had a little fuel left in it but the small amount it had was enough to send him an extra hundred feet in the air. He kicked the metal junk away as soon as it was done boosting him up and he looked down to where he was falling. A split second later he landed on an enemy fighter jet. He could see the surprised pilot inside begin freaking out as he realized someone was standing on his jet. Krae slid his sword into the small slit on the cockpit depressurizing it and making the glass piece fly back. When it did so a metal chunk sliced across Krae’s arm. Blood flowed down his arm as he let go of his sword and it flew off the

ship falling far below. Krae swore as he jumped down into the uncovered cockpit, dragging the pilot out and throwing him overboard. Krae quickly brought the jet to an idle as he glanced up to where a battle had commenced far above him with the other jets. Looking down below him he saw Vanessa and Lydia slowly floating to the forest floor of Vietnam, their parachutes fully deployed. “Greater Dawn and Night Crawler, this is Kraeoden, Eagle Eye has been disabled, I’m going down to help them, we’ll meet at the extraction point, Godspeed gentlemen.” As he finished he dove out of the cockpit into the air and spread his arms and legs out as he fell several hundred feet before deploying his parachute. A few moments later he hit the forest floor.

I watched as Krae jumped out of the plane down towards the two parachutes far below.“Do what you have to do Krae… Just bring them back alive…” I said under my breath,“They’ll be fine with him.” Drake said over the speaker,“yeah I know… come on, let’s get out of here…” I said as I directed the pilot to pull us out of the battle and put it at full throttle toward the extraction point some twenty miles off.

“This is Greater Dawn to extraction point! Were hot up here can we get some cover fire to land?”“Greater Dawn this is extraction! We have turrets set to the sky! You are clear to land!”“Ten four extraction! Awaiting mark!” As I finished talking on the radio a flare began to spark on the ground far below and the Marine pilot swerved the jet down toward it for a fast and abrupt landing. As soon as our jet was still we were surrounded by Marines in full military fatigues. Guns in hand they stood to defend, seconds later we were out of the airplane and moving in toward the tents set up as a temporary military base.

“Where are we…?” came Lydia’s voice from behind Krae as he finished wrapping cloth around his sprained ankle from the landing. “Hell. Now get moving.” He said as he got to his feet and pointed in the direction of the camp some twenty miles off.“I highly doubt that,” she mumbled as she started moving in the direction he had pointed.“You won’t in a few minutes…”“What do you mean?”“You’ve heard about Nova 9 haven’t you?” he asked with a glance back in her direction.“Nope.”“A experiment that went wrong… It was supposed to make this a more livable habitat for the animals in it…”“Seems livable enough without it,”“Yeah well nature lovers didn’t think so. So they dropped a Nova 9 bomb, it sent the gas out all over Vietnam… It messed with the minds of the animals and instead of making it livable it made it a nightmare… it enhanced aggression and mutated the creatures… Everything from a tiger to a cockroach is out to kill us…” Just then a twig behind them cracked.

“Sir! First lieutenant Johnson!” Shouted a man as he ran up and saluted me, I glanced over to the Marine next to me, unsure of what I was supposed to do.

“Formalities dismissed soldier,” said the Marine,“Yes sir!” Said the man as he went to an ‘at ease’ position. “I’m under orders to tell Commander Brunaz that we’ve located a odd cave off to the north of this position and believe his artifact might be near there.”“Thank you lieutenant, I’ll get right on that.” I replied and dismissed him as he ran off. The camp was small, but it was chuck full of military personnel. “That was awesome!” Came a voice from behind me, I slowly turned around finding a grinning Drake. I let out a short laugh then moved over and embraced my friend in a hug.“Drake, I’m going to go ahead with a small group of marines and investigate this cave. I need you to wait for the others and come after me as soon as they show up… and if they don’t show up… come after me tomorrow morning.”“Got it, Aaron. Be careful. Courage is knowing that there is something greater than fear. Stupidity is thinking you’re that thing greater than fear.” He said with a smile as he gave me a pat on the shoulder. “Amen to that, shadows hide your steps friend,” I said as I turned and walked toward where Marines were already piling into the back of a truck, I hopped into the back with them and seconds later we were moving down the road.

“Don’t move.” Came the voice from behind the three warriors as they heard the click of a gun. All three raised their hands in the air and stood still.“Turn around.” Seconds later they had done so to find themselves starring at a marine in full fatigues. He eyed them cautiously.“What’s your names?”“Krae,”“Vanessa,”“Lydia,”“Where’s the one called Aaron?” Asked the soldier as he lowered his gun,“We were shot down; he’s back at camp… You are with the U.S. right?”Krae asked, unable to see his shoulder from the angle to see if he had a American flag on it. The soldier nodded as he made a high pitched whistle as 3 more marines appeared from the bushes.“We have a Humvee off on the road over there, we’ll get you back to camp in no time.” Said the one who had confronted them as he went up to Krae and extended his hand.“Sergeant O’Conner,” he said as they shook hands,“Pleasure to meet you, let’s get back to camp.”

“Sir, that sword won’t do any good against the opponents around here, that can’t cut steel. Take this, it’s an extra. “ Said a marine standing near him as he handed him a pistol, as Drake accepted in with a smile,“Honestly, I don’t know a thing about guns… What type is this?” Drake said with a laugh,“An MEU sir,” said the Marine,“I’m going to smile and nod my head and act like I know what that means…” Drake said with a grin,“It can kill.” Replied the soldier with a laugh,

“Works for me!” Drake laughed in reply as he strapped a holster for it to his side and slid the pistol into it. Just then the two men looked up to see a humvee pulling into the camp as four soldiers jumped out, soon after followed by Krae, Vanessa and Lydia. Drake moved over and greeted them all then explained the situation.“Aaron’s gone on ahead, we need to catch up with him and give him backup at the cave.” He said,“What are we waiting for then? Let’s get moving!” exclaimed Lydia as she led them toward where the rest of the Marines were piling into the back of a truck to head to the cave. Seconds later they were all piled in and heading down the bumpy road toward where Aaron was.

I grabbed a metal rail that went alongside the truck to hold myself inside as we drove down the bumpy path. Just then the long truck skidded to a stop as they reached a fork in the road. I hopped out followed by two other Marines as the rest stayed put. I walked up to the driver’s window which the driver had rolled down as I looked up through the window at the man.“What seems to be the problem sir?” I asked, inquiring on why we’d stopped.“This is it.” He explained, “Both paths lead to the cave, just different parts of it.”“Alright… well then lets…” My voice trailed off as I slowly turned around to see another military truck sliding in behind them as the other Neamodians jumped out guns in hand.“Trying to get a head start on us are you Aaron?” Asked Krae with a short laugh as he moved over to me and all the marines began piling out of all the trucks.“Alright here’s the plan,” I said. “Drake and Lydia are with me up top, Krae, you and Vanessa go the low road…” Krae nodded and I turned around then stopped and glanced back, “Krae… Keep her safe…”“I’m going to bleed the guts out of anyone who lays a hand on her…” Krae said as he checked the clip in his gun then motioned for Vanessa to follow him as the two took the low road. The area was very simple, it was a forest. Plain and simple. There was a danger sign with Vietnamese writing on it off in the bushes to my left as I moved up the high road. I pulled out the gun a Marine had given me and quickly but silently began moving up the road. Behind me I could hear Drake, Lydia and several other Marines. A bird flew across the road and my gun flew up as my finger went to the trigger about to shoot. I shook my head with a grin as I tried to calm myself down. I felt Drake’s hand rest on my shoulder.“I’ll lead, you take a break,” he said as he moved ahead of me. Only a few minutes down the road the cave came into sight. It was made of pure metal. Drake glanced back at me, his eyes were cold as he held a hand up in the air signaling everyone to stop.“Aaron and I will go ahead, you all are backup for whatever attacks us when we get inside.” Drake said,“What if nothing attacks you?” one of the marines asked,“Oh believe me… something will…”

Krae and Vanessa moved silently down the trail, six marines followed close behind them. Only a few minutes later they came across the same sight the other group had come across a few moments before. Except this cave was in a different location. Without a second thought the eight warriors moved inside. The ceiling of the cave went up roughly a hundred feet and was supported by long metal pillars.“Sir…” One of the marines began but Krae held up a hand in silence as he listened to the room for a moment.

“Were not alone soldier… I suggest silence…” Krae whispered back to him as the group moved through the room to the other edge and entered through a doorway into another room much like the one before. But this one was different. All along the walls, robots stood starring directly at the group. In the middle of the room a stronger robot then the drones on the wall stood facing them.“Strangers of the citadel…” Said the drone in a robotic voice. “I am the gatekeeper to paradise… those who wish to grasp paradise must pass by me… Before we begin, do you have any questions?”“What’s paradise?” Krae asked the robot as the group looked around getting a feel of their surroundings.“Paradise is the key to a past realm known only by the creators.” Said the robot, Krae nodded as he realized the robot only knew as much as was programmed into his system,“Who are the creators?”“Invalid question.”“Alright… How do I reach paradise?” Krae asked, frustrated with the robot’s lack of knowledge,“You must pass a series of tests to see if you are the chosen.”“The chosen?”“The chosen warrior to break the darkness that has plagued paradise and made it into desolation.”“Desolation?”“Our realm is a fiery madness known to its inhabitants as Desolation, it was formerly a peaceful place with grassy hills and laughter… Then the warriors of evil came… they brought with them an infection that destroyed the world we once knew and turned it into Desolation.”“Infection? Like zombies?” Krae asked as he glanced over at Vanessa whose face was stern as she was realizing what he was.“Invalid question.”“Who were the warriors?”“Invalid question.”“What about the idol?”“Invalid question.” As it said it Krae let out a sigh,“Alright… Let’s do this test then and get us into this Desolation place.”“If you pass the test you will be transported to Desolation where you must discover a way to turn it back to Paradise, once you succeed you will be returned here. Are you ready?”“Yeah,”“Then let’s begin. You are commanding an army… You are on your last stand and you’re trapped inside a castle that is surrounded by your enemy… what is your plan of action to win?” As the robot said it Krae chuckled at the use of a castle.“Well…” He began,“Invalid response.” Replied the robot, Krae glared at it then continued,“I go to the tavern and grab all the alcohol I can find. I have my men dump it on the castle gate then light it on fire, this will scare the enemy away from the gate but not burn down the gate. Then I attack the enemy from a distance with arrows until they retreat from inability to attack due to a moat and fire at the gate.”“There is no moat.” Added the robot,

“Okay forget it, I use my power and deploy a shield around the entire castle making the enemy unable to attack.”“Correct.” As he said it Krae’s eyebrows shot up and he looked over at Vanessa.“It thinks I’m Aaron…” He stated as he glanced back at the robot. Aaron was the only Neamodian he knew of that was able to do something like that.“Next question.” Began the robot, “You’re exploring a cave in the woods when you discover a robot inside it. He explains to you that his world is being destroyed and he needs to test you to see if you’re the chosen one… You answer a question wrong and he attacks you… What do you do…?” Said the robot more as a statement then a question.“I don’t like this…” Vanessa whispered, Krae slowly turned his head and looked around at the drones lining the walls to find the dark empty eye sockets had been replaced with red eyes. And instantly over a hundred drones came to life.

I could hear my heart pounding in my chest as I stepped inside the cave. Beside me, Drake motioned to move up and the two of us quickly moved forward to cover where we cocked our weapons then moved out form cover. The cave was incredibly silent. I glanced back and motioned the marines in but as I turned around I found myself starring at a pile of dead bodies. “Uh… Drake…” I whispered as I tapped him on the shoulder indicating what had been marines a few minutes before. Lydia had apparently moved up with them and hadn’t noticed the Marines yet.“That’s bad isn’t it?” Drake replied as he started glancing around the room for anything that could have caused the massive death toll in a silent killing stroke. “Let’s finish this.” I said as I nodded in the direction of a doorframe that we walked through to the next room. Across the room there was an assortment of random robots all lined up in two long rows. The ground was a mixture of white and black tiles that were approximately five feet each. As we walked in metal bars slammed down behind us locking us in. Drake and I glanced back then moved forward a few steps before a hologram flickered to life directly in front of us. The hologram was that of a young woman with short dark hair. She wore a long white robe and walked elegantly toward them.“Warriors of the eagle…” She whispered, her faint voice filling the room to be easily heard. “Welcome to the games… You will have your wits and strength tested in these next few minutes. Before we begin, do you have any questions?” I glanced over at Drake,“She’s computer generated, she’ll only tell us what she’s been programmed to tell us.”“Really? I don’t believe you…”“No honestly, she’s not real,” I replied,“Hey uh… white hologram thingy… What is five plus one?”“Invalid question.”“Oh wow, guess you’re right.” Drake mumbled,“Told you…”“Okay what should we ask her?”“What happens if we beat your game?” I asked,“You are brought to Desolation.”“Oh! That sounds… fun…?”“Shall we begin?” Asked the hologram,

“We shall…” I replied and she nodded,“Good luck to you then, you army is assembled, may the best program win.”“Best program? What?” I asked as she disappeared. Instantly a variety of robots coated with blue paint appeared around us. Then holographic armor plating appeared around each of us painted blue. I glanced over at the enemy robots to find them painted red.“So it’s just killing each other? That should be easy enough…” I replied as I moved forward to attack the enemy robots, but after moving to the next square on the ground I found myself unable to move.“Drake… What’s going on…?” I asked as I tried to move my feet but they seemed to be stuck to the floor. Across the field I saw one of the enemy move to the next square.“Aaron, I get the feeling this is more like a chess board than a battlefield…” Lydia replied,“Oh, well I was always good at chess.”“You always cheated at chess,” Drake mumbled,“Did not!”“Well if you don’t count moving an extra space or two cheating then yeah you didn’t”“Let’s just focus on the task at hand,” I mumbled with a grin as I slid my pistol into its holster and pulled both swords out. About a minute later our team of robots had moved up to being head on with the enemy team. Just then a voice spoke out through the entire room.“Unleash carnage in 3…2…1… Carnage unleashed!” as it finished I felt free to move. And obviously so did everyone else. Instantly lasers began blasting everywhere, I lunged toward the nearest robot as I pulled my pistol in one hand and had my sword in the other. I swung around the leg of the twenty foot tall robot I assumed to be equivalent to ‘the king’ in chess. Climbing up its back searching for a break in its armor to slice some chords that kept it working. Once I got high enough I reached a ladder that came off its back and led to what appeared to be much like a cockpit on a jet. I climbed the ladder to find a lever at the top. I pulled it and the lid to the cockpit lifted to reveal a seat inside, I hopped inside and the lid closed. Instantly the robot turned blue. I moved my arms around and as I did the robot did the same, I imagined myself moving in a direction and the robot did so. Quickly realizing what was going on I spun the robot around and began knocking down the red robots. I glanced out the glass to where Drake had hopped into a smaller robot and was locked in combat. I glanced around the cockpit to find several buttons. As I began pressing them different weapons began cycling. A machine gun turret was the first to come in use. I spun the bot around knocking down another bot with my arm then slammed the barrel of the gun into the top of it and let loose a hail of bullets frying it instantly. “End carnage in 3…2…1... Ending carnage.” Came the voice again and instantly my bot was frozen and the cockpit flipped up. I hopped out and landed on the ground, to my surprise I was still able to move. I walked over to Drake and Lydia and the three of us faced the hologram of the woman again as she had reappeared.“Well done warriors. You will now be transported to Desolation. Please restore the land to its former glory. Paradise will reign once more.” As she finished my vision began to blur and I fell to the ground into blackness. Seconds later I awoke in the dark fiery realm of Desolation.

Gunfire hailed down upon the robots as they came in swarms around the warriors. Guns drawn the group formed a circle facing outward so that they couldn’t be surrounded and held their ground. After

several minutes of combat all the drones stopped attacking and resumed their position around as the lead robot came back to his position in front of the group.“Very good. You may now enter the realm of Desolation as you are the chosen one. Restore paradise and you will find what you seek.” A split second later Krae’s vision blurred and he fell to the ground to wake up in the realm of Desolation.

“You too eh?” I rolled over groaning to see Krae and Drake looking down at me. “Yeah…” I mumbled as I rolled to my feet. “Where’s the girls?” I asked as I looked around, the three of us looked around surprised to find our companions gone.“Guess the robot was selective?” Drake replied, Krae shrugged,“They’ll just get in the way anyway,” he mumbled,“They’ve got more power than you,” I mumbled in reply,“But they’re still girls…” he replied, I shrugged in reply then grinned as I observed my surroundings.“I assume the robot gave you the talk about Paradise as well?” I asked, attempting to change the topic.“Yeah… I guess we will probably find the idol after we restore paradise.” Krae replied,“Yeah I guess so, so how do we restore paradise?” Drake cut in,“No idea.” Krae and I said in unison,“That’s comforting… so were stuck here until we figure it out?”“Yup.” I mumbled as I turned around and gazed off into the fiery dimension.

“Ah yes… Lydia isn’t it? We have special treatment for you…” Said the hologram as she watched her friends disappear around her. Two hooded figures climbed out the back of enormous robots the size of three grown men. The dark characters moved over toward Lydia and each grabbed one of her arms.“Hey! Get your hands off me!” She screamed as her aura flared a violent red and the two men were thrown back. The hologram let out a short laugh,“You must realize Lydia… none of us are actually robots… We too are Neamodians like you… We are the ones your race knows as the Elders… And we have the power to kill you if we decide to. It would be safer for your neck if you just went along with our plan…”“You’ll be carrying my dead body…” She said in a chilling tone. She had no idea she could be so cold and she had surprised herself momentarily but she kept her domineer. Her eyes scanned the room as she watched several men all hooded in the same garments the other two had been come climbing out of robots. Now ten of them stood before her.“Come with us Lydia… Or it will be your dead body…”“I sure hope you’ve said your prayers…” She replied as she closed her eyes. And turned invisible.

“Let’s go for a walk, shall we?” I said as I motioned the other two to follow me. We walked down a path with fiery lava on both sides of us for around an hour before we came to the tower. The door was sealed with an evil looking symbol and there appeared to be no way of opening it. “So what do we do now?” Krae asked dumbly,“Maybe we should knock?” Drake asked with a chuckle,

“Couldn’t hurt.” I grinned as I moved over to the fifteen foot high stone door and slammed the butt of my sword against it a couple times. As soon as I hit it, the stone began to crumble away and after three hits I had broken right through the door. I glanced back at the others, then started pounding on the stone and tearing it to the ground. Seconds later it was rubble. The three of us entered the tower with swords drawn. In the first room there was a large table that appeared to have a holographic map of the entire dimension. It showed where every living thing was on it and it also showed them moving. “That’s legit.” I said as I pointed the tip of my sword toward the three dimensional map that we were all looking at. “Yeah it is… I know a lot of computer companies that need to come up with that…” Drake mumbled, as we moved to a staircase on the side of the room. As we started moving up it we could hear a deep growl from upstairs. We all froze for a moment as we kept our eyes glued on the top of the staircase, expecting something to come walking around to see them. But nothing came. I motioned the group to keep moving and we slowly started moving up the staircase… By the time we looked back it was too late…

Vanessa swore as the robots raised their weapons once more. She stood alone in the room now. “You’re coming with us…” Said the lead robot,“I don’t think so.” As she said it crystals formed on the joints of the robot and a slit of solid diamond formed over the barrel. A second later a man jumped out the back of the robot in a hood and long dark robes. He held a katana in one hand and surged forward at Vanessa swinging wildly. Instantly a sword appeared in her hand and she blocked her opponent with ease. Then the thought struck her… what if this was a distraction? There were dozens of other robots around her, what if one of them was about to kill her? And just as she began to turn around she felt a slight pain in her neck and she brought a hand up to feel a dart that had just penetrated her skin. As the poison from it quickly seeped into her veins she fell to the ground unconscious.

Lydia’s vision was blurry but she knew where her opponents were. It was a strange feeling being invisible, aside from the fact that she couldn’t see normally it was fairly easy to do things. She pulled a dagger from her belt and ran around stabbing and slicing. She had taken down about five of them before one of them caught her, her boot scuffed against the cement floor and one of the warriors spun around slamming his sword into her gut. She screamed as her invisibility vanished and she fell to the ground holding her stomach as blood seeped into her hands. The figure sheathed his sword and grabbed her upper arm dragging her across the room to a staircase. “Get up.” He said in a strong Scottish accent. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed in pain. She tried to get to her feet but her strength was completely drained and she was unable to. “I said get up!” He screamed as he pulled a dagger and slashed it across her arm slicing cleanly through the flesh. Blood streamed down her arm as she screamed in pain. The hooded figure let out a grunt as he gave her a kick and she tumbled down the stairs to what she now realized was a dungeon…

Krae let out a shout of surprise as he flicked his sword out. Drake and I spun around to find a demonic looking troll swinging its hand around trying to grab one of them. Drake threw his hands up sending

lightning from all around the creature as Krae closed in on him stabbing his sword into his chest and ripping out his gut. I shook my head,“Why do you always have to make it messy? That’s going to smell really bad by the time we decide to leave this place…” I grumbled,“Sorry,” Krae said with a grin as he motioned for me to keep moving. I walked up the staircase to find a cage in the middle of the room. A man lay on the ground inside the cage. The only sound he made was soft moans. I walked up to the cage and tapped on the bars.“You there… can you hear me?” as I said it the man rolled over groaning as he looked up at me.“Kill me… please…” he whispered, I frowned as I wondered what this man had gone through to wish for death. “How do we restore paradise?” I asked him,“Paradise is dead…” He whispered, “The glass of paradise must be turned…” He groaned, I nodded my thanks as I pulled a dagger out and slid it through the bars dropping it on the floor inside the cage. The man smiled, “Thank you sir…” he whispered as he grasped the dagger, I turned my head and looked away as I heard a sigh of relief and then silence. Krae and Drake stood in shock as they watched what had happened.“What type of glass do you turn?” I asked rhetorically.“An hour glass,” Drake replied.“So where do we find an hour glass?” I asked,“Aaron. You’re an idiot.” Drake said as he starred at me dumbly, I raised an eyebrow and he nodded toward a table beside me where a large green mystical looking hour glass sat.“Oh…” I mumbled as I walked over to it.“This was incredibly easy…” I replied as I grasped the hour glass and flipped it over. Instantly everything around me began to change. The darkness became light and evil became good as everything bad became untrue. Then the walls around us fell down and disintegrated to dust as we found ourselves standing in the middle of a marketplace.“What have you done!?” Screamed a woman as she ran up to me and grasped my shoulders. I took a step back pushing her away, “What are you talking about?” I said in shock,“You’ve created a portal for the demons to enter reality!” She screamed,“I told you this was too easy…” I said as I glanced back at Drake, “ma’am, how do I get back to reality?” I asked, she pointed to a huge red portal in the middle of the market. I nodded and motioned for the group to follow me as we ran through the portal and our entire world changed. We were back in the cave. We all stood in the chess room, the passageway that led to the dungeon was now open as was the door behind them.“Both of you go back there and get the idol, I know its back there somewhere! I’m going to go get the others!”“On it!” Drake said as he slapped Krae on the shoulder and the two of them ran back. I flew towards the dungeon staircase, speeding down them to be stopped by the guards. I drew my sword about to attack but as soon as I did I felt my powers being drained and I fell down to the floor. I let out a cry of pain as a dagger slammed into my shoulder and the guards picked me up.“Now where might you have been going?” one of them chuckled,

“Bring him to the torture chamber,” said the other as they started moving down a corridor. We moved down a long staircase and I could see blood stains on the floor and walls of the corridor. As we reached the bottom of the stairs we passed through a gate which was shut behind us. We then rounded a corner to find Lydia bent over a bench in the small room. In the corner behind a large gate there were devilish looking dogs with blood seeping from their teeth… On the ground behind the gate lay the bloody remains of Vanessa’s armor…

Drake and Krae ran through the corridors with lightning speed, it didn’t take them long to find the chamber with the idol in it. As they entered two guards drew swords and lashed out at them, both Krae and Drake flicked their blades around decapitating their opponents in a mere second. As they spun around they moved up to the idol. Krae reached out and grasped the artifact as he lifted it from the pedestal it stood upon in the center of the room.“How do you use it?” he asked,“I don’t really know…” Drake replied, “it always just… did it without…” he trailed off as suddenly the world around him began to blur…

“Skip the torture and kill him,” grumbled one of the guards as he moved over to what was obviously a guillotine. I looked back at Lydia who was chained to the bench, a man nearby held a knife near her face as he whispered something in her ear. I closed my eyes for a moment then opened them hoping it was all a dream. But it wasn’t. I was thrown down on the guillotine as one of the guards moved to the lever to let the blade down. Then my vision began to blur… I watched in what seemed like slow motion as the guard pulled the lever and the blade came down… But it never touched me…

I found myself starring into Vanessa’s eyes…“You just seem… Nevermind…” she said with a cheery smile, then looked around amazed… We were on roller skates… we both kicked our heel back and hit the brake on our skates as we came to a stop in the middle of the rink.“Is this real?” She asked as she looked around,“I guess Krae and Drake found the idol…” I said in shock. She let out a laugh as she threw her arms around me in a hug.“We did it Aaron…” She whispered into my ear, I let out a big smile as he held her tight, “We sure did…”“I don’t mean to crash the party but I was told I could find you hear…” Came a voice from the side of the rink. Vanessa and I moved away from each other as we looked over to see Krae and Drake standing there. I moved off the rink and embraced both of them in a hug. Then felt a tap on the shoulder as I turned around to find Lydia standing there with her arms open. After hugs and laughter had been exchanged by all the four of us sat down at a table to discuss what to do next and relate stories.“The woman said we created a portal to let the demons into reality… that means they should be here right now…”“Aaron I’m going to point out right now… We can’t do much anymore, I mean… your 14 again… you can’t even drive…” Drake said, I hadn’t even noticed how I had changed; I laughed as I realized I had braces again and was a lot less muscular.

“Drake… I killed Zerka when I was 14… I think I can kill a stupid little demon.” As I said it there was an explosion and half of the building erupted in flames.“Oh now you’ve ticked it off…” Krae mumbled as everyone’s armor appeared around them as we moved through the charred debris from the explosion to face what lay outside. As the smoke cleared we found ourselves starring into an army of evil…“Aaron… What’s the plan?” Drake asked more as a statement as the five warriors made a line. Their faces showed no fear as they faced the unstoppable odds. I smiled,“What’s that thing I’ve always told you Drake?”“You’re an idiot?”“Not that, the other thing”“Courage is knowing that there is something greater than fear?”“So why are you asking me for a plan?”“Because a plan has nothing to do with fear…” Drake mumbled,“You know… you really fail at making an epic moment…” I said with a laugh, “the plan is simple. Stay alive.”“Sounds easy enough,” replied Drake as we watched the demon horde move closer and closer.“If I don’t make it out of this…” I began,“Bury your body and scatter your ashes in Romania, we know the drill.” Drake replied with a grin,“What? When did I say that!?” I glared at him but our conversation was cut off by the scream of a demon as he charged us. The battle had begun.

I surged into the thick of the demon horde my swords slicing cleanly through fiery beasts as they swung out at me. I spun around just in time to knock a hell hound away from me before his jaws wrapped around my throat. Visualizations flew through my mind as a wave of energy flew out from around me sending my opponents sailing to the ground. “Vanessa!” I screamed as she flew into the air.“Airborne!” she yelled back as I raised my hands sending a wave of energy toward her. As the energy hit her feet it sent her sailing up into the clouds. Krae and I met eye contact as he nodded toward a nearby building.“Drake! Hit the deck!” I yelled at him as the four of us ran for the house nearby. As I reached it I slammed my foot into the door knocking it down and moved inside followed by Krae. Drake turned around at the last second and let his power come down upon the sky as lightning filled the clouds, and then he moved inside.

Vanessa could feel the G forces pushing in on all sides as she plummeted into the air high above the clouds. She let out a quick prayer that this plan would work. In all honesty the whole team was improvising, Aaron had no idea what she would do and she had no idea what the others would do. Just then electricity lit up the clouds below her as she realized Drake had gotten busy. She made a quick visualization as the clouds below her turned to crystal… She waited a moment as she still plummeted upward now slowing down. She swore as she realized the clouds had stopped moving and as soon as she hit that crystal she would die.

Lydia moved to the corner as she shook her head in an attempt to reason with reality. The demons were a dark race that demented the mind and the rest of the group could see it was taking a toll on her.“Whoa… Aaron look up…” Said Krae as he motioned me toward the window, I looked out it to find all the clouds above them had been turned to crystal. But none were moving.“Now’s our chance!” I yelled as I ran out the door and held my hands in the air, I clenched my fist and yanked my arm down as pieces of the sky came crashing down upon the demon horde. Lightning rained down from the sky electrocuting the pieces of crystal that fell upon the horde. The warriors of darkness ran around blindly as the unfamiliar power struck them with a vengeance. “Drake, get Vanessa down safely!” I shouted over at him as I saw a dot way up in the sky that was plummeting toward us that I assumed to be her. Drake sent a gust of wind up toward her to slow her decent. He continued the blowing wind until she reached the ground and dropped without a scratch. Meanwhile I continued tearing down crystals from the sky. All around the demonic horde ran blindly toward the portal they had come from till every last one had escaped. When the final demon ran through the portal the portal closed behind him never to be seen again. I let my arms drop to my side as I surveyed the destruction that had happened in merely ten minutes. I let go of my sword as it dissipated into thin air and turned back to the group with a big smile on my face.“You realize what this means?”“Everything’s back to normal?” Vanessa asked hopeful, I nodded with a grin.“So the question is… what do we do now?” Krae asked,“Oh that’s simple,” I said as I walked up beside him and put my hands on his shoulders spinning him around.“We try to explain this whole thing to all of them.” I said as I pointed to all the people who had walked out of the skating rink and houses nearby to see the battle.“I’ve got this…” Drake said as he stepped out in front of everyone.“Oh gosh… kill me now please?” I said sarcastically as I shook my head,“Ladies and gentlemen!” Drake began, “We’d like to thank you for your participation in our drill! In the event that this had been a real emergency we would like you to have stayed inside the building, however, you all did very good for amateurs!”“Oh I’m out of here!” I said with a laugh as I turned to be followed by Krae, Vanessa and Lydia as we began walking off down the street.“Hey! Where are you going?” Drake shouted back at us as he started running after us. The three of us laughed as we began running away. Life was back to normal… At least… as normal as it would ever be for a Neamodian.