Dark Earth: The Prophecy - 13. Chapter 13

“I ummmm… It’s not what it looks like Cristobel!” I said moronically as though I thought he would believe me. “I was just…”

“…getting ready to fuck her!” Cristobel snapped. “How can you do this to me? I thought you loved me!”

“Baby, I do love you. She just…”

“…needed a good fucking? You can have her, Julian. We’re done!”

I got up and ran after Cristobel, but he was not about to let me catch up. A powerful flash of light blinded me and I couldn’t move. This was the second time Cristobel decided to use the power he received from his mother upon me. This time, however, the flash paralyzed me completely. “Julian, it will be okay. It will wear off. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” I could sense Calista’s shame. I could not, however, respond to anything she said. “I know you can’t respond to what I’m saying. The flash can be devastating. It can cause unconsciousness, but it is not related to his other powers. It’s a great defense mechanism.” I was far from reassured, because the paralysis persisted. My entire body was numb. “It’s my fault. I will go talk to him.” I wanted to tell her not to do it.

‘Calista, you cannot do that. He will be mad at you too. Just give him some time. I think someone made that happen. I’m not sure how, but someone did.’ My telepathy was my only means of communication. Luckily, I had perfected it, or else I would have been in complete silence. ‘Find out if Lady Valentine has something to do with this. I do not know how she would have enough power to affect me like that unless she had help. Mystic Warrior! It has to be. Those two are going to pay for this. I will destroy them. Lady Valentine is spending her last day alive. According to the protocols, I can have her killed. I’ll be taking care of her myself. She is going to die before the end of the day. As for Mystic Warrior, he will be having a nice session with my brothers. They’re going to pay!’

“Julian, how do you know?” The look in her eyes indicated great puzzlement.

‘Do you normally feel tempted to start making out with someone who is in a monogamous relationship? Well, I hope the answer is no. Besides, I felt the need to comfort you as though I were somehow in love with you. Those two powers can boost one another. I cannot use both powers at once, but they can each use their own power to have increased effectiveness. Besides, Cristobel being here cannot be a coincidence. Everyone else was supposed to be in the training center. He was lured here. I had not seen him before I left the training center with you. He was off talking to Simon in another room. Simon wouldn’t have anything to do with this, but I have no doubt that they took full advantage.’

“They cannot get away with this! I have always hated Julia. She is going to be destroyed. I’m going to go get Adriana. She’ll know what to do.”

As I lay on the floor helpless and unable to move, I thought about my suspicions. I knew I had to find out why they were determined to destroy my relationship with Cristobel. Considering what had happened with Calista’s brother as well as Collin and Steven, I had become paranoid about treachery. Deep down I know I may have been incorrect about my suspicions, but I was looking for more traitors to appear. Collin and Steven may have been assholes, but I still never expected them to be treasonous bastards. There was something amiss, because Cristobel actually attacked. Before, it was more of a defense than anything else, because I had used a nightmare ball. There was some kind of evil force working within Cristobel’s mind ensnaring him in a web of hatred and despisal of me.

At the same time, I felt so very alone and I was unable to speak or move. Essentially I was helpless without any hope of improving until something could be done to free me. Simon was my only hope, because he had the same power. Their mother’s power was almost as unusual as the dream maker powers. While mind control often offset attraction and vice versa, there was a level at which someone with attraction power could gain influence over a mind controller. Long-term exposure to the lustful power could ensnare even the most powerful mind controller. Eventually, any victim would succumb to either power if the controller or attracted was determined enough. Lady Valentine had plenty of time to use Mystic Warrior to her advantage. Alternatively, he may have been a part of the plan all along, willingly participating in Lady Valentine’s plot. Edgar and Elliot Fritz could help me procure the answers I sought. My brothers’ power could drive the sanest person into madness.

A cloud of purple haze appeared after what seemed like an eternity. While I was accustomed to being on my back, I preferred having the choice to move. ‘It’s about time,’ I said to Adriana with my mind.

“Excuse me, but it took a few minutes for Calista to get to the training center. What the hell happened here and why aren’t you speaking?”

‘Cristobel used the flash to paralyze me. Apparently, he used a much stronger level of power. I cannot move at all. Can Simon reverse it?’

“Yes, Simon can reverse it, but you had better be glad Cristobel didn’t use full power. You would be either dead or in a coma. Calista, go get Simon. Something isn’t right here. Why was he angry? Wait… did you and Calista… No, you didn’t! God damn it! You two were supposed to be faithful.”

‘Something overwhelmed me. They attacked my mind. I was not in control. That bitch! She is going to die this time. This is treason! I am the leader. How dare she do this to me.’

“Who?” Adriana inquired.

‘That fucking bitch Lady Valentine! That’s who. I’m going to torture her to death. I think Tortura and my brothers can help. She will beg me to rip out her fucking heart!’

“She must have used repulsion. Some attracters can also make the opposite happen. She is one of them. You’re right. If she is guilty, she must be destroyed. I think she might have had help. She’s been here long enough to have influence over Mystic Warrior. She must die! Besides, you should have repulsion power. That can be used to turn the clones against each other. In order to stop her, you’re going to have to make sure she does not know what we’re doing. Otherwise, she will use her powers. Now that I think about, she and Mystic Warrior returned to the training facility just after Cristobel did. This is definitely their work.”

‘I thought they had something to do with it. We must destroy her. If he was not under her influence…’

“Of course he was! He was gay until now. That bitch is up to no good. The only reason my parents wanted her was because of her rare powers. We must destroy her. I have a plan, but first we need Simon to restore you.”

“I’m here now,” said Simon. “What’s going on here?”

“Honey, your brother just paralyzed Julian with the flash power.”

“Why the hell did he do that?” Simon was furious. “I’ve told him to only use the power when he’s in immediate danger. He could have killed Julian with that damn thing.”

Adriana sighed before saying, “He was under the influence of repulsion.”

“That bitch has to die.”

‘Enough talking, Simon. Please help me.’ With my mind I was practically begging.

“Okay,” was his reply. “Close your eyes Adriana.” After Adriana complied I saw a flash of light. After the initial blindness disappeared, I was no longer paralyzed. I used telekinesis to rise onto my feet. “Now you’re good as new!”

“Okay, both of you need to touch me. I’m going to give both of you attraction and mind control powers.” Adriana touched my right arm as Simon touched the left. I had never shared powers to such an extent before. I fell to my knees as I continued sharing the powers with them. I felt as though I were being completely drained of energy. As soon as the powers were fully shared Adriana and Simon helped me stand. “Teleport me to the interrogation room. I am too weak to go myself. Then find Edgar, Elliot, and Tortura. Send them into the interrogation room.”

“One step at a time, Julian!” was Adriana’s reply. “Edgar and Elliot are already in there. They’re reporting their findings of a recent interrogation along with Empire City’s interrogators, Melanie and Melissa. Two sets of identical twins with the same power is rather unusual, but they all seem to get along. At least one twin from each pair dyes his or her hair. That makes them distinguishable. Edgar’s frost is awesome.” I rolled my eyes. “Okay, we’re going.”

After we teleported to the interrogation room, Edgar spoke. “Why it’s our brother the rock star! How are you, bro?”

“I’m not good.” I looked at Adriana and said, “Now could you go find Tortura?”

“Yes, I’ll find her.” Adriana did not wait for a reply. She and Simon teleported out with a quick burst of haze.

“I’m sorry about that, Edgar. Let’s get down to business. We’re going to be interrogating Lady Valentine. I need the four of you to bog down her mind. She must not know what I’m about to do. The four of you must create a new world in her mind in which she has no powers. Meanwhile, Tortura can use her powers to make Lady Valentine agonize. Her mind attack is more powerful than my own. I want Lady Valentine close to death from the torture. While all of that is going on, I shall be using electricity to increase her pain.”

Once Adriana arrived with Tortura and Simon with Lady Valentine a few minutes later, our plan reached fruition. The two sets of twins attacked her mind with a vengeance and made her believe her powers had left her. Tortura attacked her mind and inflicted physical pain. I could see blood trickling out of her nose. Her screams became increasingly desperate as electricity flowed out of my fingertips into her body, increasing the agony even further. It was almost orgasmic seeing her in so much pain and suffering. Every ounce of revenge was like sweet nectar to me. After a few minutes I asked Tortura to loosen her attack. “Do you want to die?” The question I asked Lady Valentine was a question I had never asked anyone.

“Yes, I do,” was her reply.

“Beg for death! Say it louder. Beg me to kill you, bitch!”

“Please, have mercy upon me, Julian. Kill me! I beg of you to spare me this agony. Let me die!” As pathetic as her speech was, I was willing to fulfill what was to be her final request. I decided to make it quick and easy. I increased the voltage until her heart stopped. There she lay finally dead. Finally, all known traitors had been eliminated. Though she had her good points, Julia was a manipulative bitch. Destroying her was not my finest achievement, yet it was a necessary one. She had misused her power, and it was my job to protect such powers, even though I did not fully understand or even know about my responsibility at the time. I was still a naïve teenager with a bad temper and a strong sense of vengeance. As time would pass, I would learn more about my responsibilities and gain an understanding beyond most evoloids.

The new power filled me as soon as I attained the orb from Lady Valentine’s body. I felt as though hatred surrounded me. It was surreal, because I could swear that every single person in the room was starting to hate everyone else! “What the fuck are you looking at?” Edgar asked Elliot harshly.

“I’m looking at someone who shouldn’t have been born!” was Elliot’s hate-filled reply. I had to find out the exact level of hate and love to put into the room. I knew this power was one I needed to learn to control as quickly as possible, because there would be multiple murders if I did not. I closed my eyes and concentrated upon what I needed to do next. I felt the attraction power seeping out of me and attempting to restore the balance.

“You killed her!” Mystic Warrior screamed. “How could you? I loved her.”

“That wasn’t love, Gerald!” Melanie interrupted. “She used her powers to influence. Before she came along you were gay. Don’t you remember? She was using you to get revenge. I suspect that she was working with Quake all along. That would explain a lot. If she was part of the plan, perhaps she had something to do with Caprican’s disappearance. One thing is certain though. She never loved you. She never would have!”

“Don’t say that! She loved me more than you will ever know!” He was on the verge of tears at that point. Once again, I found myself having to use the sleep-inducing poison. I shot a small cloud of it towards him. Everyone else was behind me, so they were not in danger of being harmed. I used telekinesis to allow Mystic Warrior to slowly collapse onto the floor.

“This is going to take some time. He is a mind controller. This took weeks of manipulation on her part. Reversing it is going to be difficult. Cristobel is going to be even more difficult because he has attraction power. I have no idea how to restore him back to his former self. Apparently he is more susceptible to repulsion than I would have guessed.” I was unsure of what else to say. I knew little about the process because something like that had never happened.

“Julian, the answer is simpler than you think. Dr. Wilson can make the adjustments to both of them. It’s all psychological.” Melanie knew more about it than I did apparently.

“Okay, we will do that.” I pressed my comlink. “Adriana, do you have any idea where Cristobel is?”

“Yes, I do,” Adriana replied phlegmatically. “What do you want me to do?”

“I don’t care as long as he’s subdued but unharmed.” I paused for a moment before adding, “He is a danger to me right now. Anything you can do to reduce that danger will benefit me greatly. I still love him Adriana. I just wish things had not turned out this way. Mystic Warrior is unconscious, and Lady Valentine is dead. I have to report to White Knight City immediately. You’re in charge while I’m gone. Simon is second in command. That is all.”
I wasted not a moment as I teleported to White Knight City. My exact destination was the conference room. There were two guards outside the room. “Who the hell are you?” asked the female guard.

“I’m Julian,” I responded defensively. “I need to see the council immediately.”

“Oh, I’m supposed to be believe that you are the absorber?” she chuckled. “You’re just some kid with teleportation. Get the fuck out of here.”

“You asked for it.” I used teleportation to transport the guards to a location outside the dome of White Knight City. It was so dark, and it was extremely cold, but I wanted them to suffer. “Well, now that we’re out of there, I’ll leave now. I really do have a lot to do. Saving the world isn’t easy. Enjoy yours lives… what’s left of them anyway.”

“Please take us back,” the male guard pleaded. “We’ll let you see the council.”

“Who the hell do you think you are to make demands of me? I am now the leader of The Protectors from both Centropolis and Empire City. Now if you think I’m going to allow the two of you to stand in the way of my important business with the council, you are mistaken. The two of you are simply ants to me.”

“Please Julian! We’ll do anything you want!” The female guard sounded so pathetic.

“All right, I will take the two of you back, but do not question me anymore. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” they replied in harmony. I used teleportation to return us immediately to the conference room at headquarters. As luck would have it, Carculius was there.

“Why were the two of you gone?” he barked. “Julian, what did you do?”

“Well, I told them I needed to talk to the council, but they tried to say that I’m not who I say I am. That’s why I took them outside of the dome to teach them a little lesson.”

“Julian, please leave discipline of guards to me. You can discipline everyone under you in Empire City. So how did you like killing Julia? Was it satisfying?”

“I shouldn’t have had to kill her. I guess this means you were watching our activities then. Does Tempest want to talk to me about it?”

“No, that won’t be necessary. We’re not replacing her. Go ahead and make preparations for the assault on the EAS headquarters. That is all we want right now. We believe that she was, in fact, involved with Quake’s plans. They wanted you out of Centropolis so they could take over the city. For now, we want you to focus on Empire City. Empire City will be the new point of entry for the Dugamonian military forces. While you are attacking the EAS, the White Knight Army divisions are going to storm the city hall. Their job will be to eliminate the mayor and other government officials. We also suspect that Tiempa, The Weather Guardian of Empire City, will be at the city hall. Therefore, you or Talon Rider will need to face her. She is not going to be easy to defeat, but one of you can face her after you finish at the EAS headquarters.”

“I think we can manage as long as Cristobel and Mystic Warrior are awake in time. The doctor is working on it now. This is damage control. She really made a mess of things.”

“I said it from the beginning…” Carculius released a sigh. “I told Tempest that she was a troublemaker. He was adamant about having her impose a sexual commune. I love Tempest like a brother, but sometimes his ideas are not so good. He knows I feel that way. We don’t hold back with each other. I am free to say whatever I want to say.”

“You answered my questions before I even asked them,” I teased. “At first, I really liked the idea of a sexual commune. It was an 18-year-old’s dream come true. As time passed I realized how much I love Cristobel. Somehow the combined efforts of Lady Valentine and Mystic Warrior made Calista impossible to resist. In turn, that left Cristobel open for manipulation. I wish it had not come to that. As angry as I was, I realize now that I would prefer not to have to kill anyone who is a part of our organization.”

“You had no choice,” Carculius said plainly. “She was a treacherous bitch who had to die. You did what any one with decent judgment would have done. Stop questioning your decision, because it was the best one you could have made under the circumstances. Now I suggest going back to Empire City. There is work to be done, and you have to prepare. I know you have not had a chance to check the progress of the special training session.”

“You’re right.” I teleported to the training center to check the progress. I asked Talon Rider about the session. He said that everyone had been doing quite well, and that everyone so far, including Talon Rider, had managed to kill all five of their EAS clones. Talon Rider’s actions were far from a surprise to me, since he had all but destroyed Adriana in their fight. I was just in time for the final practice session. Shattero was ready for action. I had not seen him in action yet, and I was more than a little curious about what he was able to do.

The entire area was covered in sand. Talon Rider informed me that Shattero had gathered the sand himself. First he used the sand to elevate himself into the air. It was as though a fountain of sand were beneath his feet. I had never witnessed something so amazing in my life. Suddenly, shards of glass appeared throughout the sand fountain. I noticed the shards then shifting away from the sand fountain and surrounding an unsuspecting clone. They circled around and came closer and closer to the clone’s delicate skin. My anticipation grew until the first slash on the clone’s forehead. Then there was another on his right wrist. The blood slowly trickled out of the obviously hurting clone’s body. Then it came! There was a flurry of slices and dices all over. Muscle, bone, and blood surrounded where the clone’s body once was. From the remains and the glass, a monster made of glass, bone, flesh and blood was formed. The monster changed its right hand into a sledgehammer, and smashed one of the clones to bits. The blood, bones, and flesh soon were absorbed by the monster.

Shattero commanded the fountain of sand to slowly dissipate as he gradually descended to the floor. Dwarfed by the creation made of bloody glass, Shattero stood nonchalantly, ready to take on the four remaining clones. Suddenly, a piece of the monster broke off and took the shape of a sword. Shattero went on the offensive as he sliced off a clone’s right leg. The sword simply absorbed the blood and grew. The clone’s cries were so beautiful to me. Shattero’s powers were absolutely amazing. His next move was to slice the clone’s neck off of his shoulders, thus absorbing more blood into the sword.

With two clones left, Shattero used another fountain of sand to launch himself onto his creation’s head. The monster shattered into pieces, revealing a staircase in its place. The remaining clones ran up the stairs to meet him which was a grave error on their parts. The first one reached the top only to be kicked into the other. Shattero quickly ran down the stairs. Shattero singled out one of the clones and gave him a huge shard of glass through the heart, one that pierced all the way through his back. The final clone was now all alone. The glass that had previously been a small part of the staircase broke off and transformed in shackles for the clone’s wrists. “Boss, would you like to finish him off?” Shattero asked as he looked directly at me. “After all, you deserve a piece of the action.”

“Nah, you kill him,” I replied. He did just as I instructed. A tornado of sand quickly emerged and Shattero quickly launched the tornado into his victim. As the tornado dissipated, a skeleton was revealed. Not a single muscle or organ remained. It was a magnificent sight. Shattero was truly amazing. I knew he would be one of the biggest assets for my team. If anyone were close to matching my power, it was Shattero.

“How did I do?” Shattero asked.

“That was amazing,” I said enthusiastically. “You have an extraordinary power. I have never seen something so amazing. You manipulate glass and sand so well. I’m so… like… wow!”

“Careful Julian,” said Talon Rider. “If you’re not careful, you’ll boost his ego.”

“That’s exactly what I am trying to do. I still can’t believe what he can do. Did you see that?”

“Yes, I saw that. I’ve seen him in action before. Still, I can remember how amazed I was the first time. I never thought anyone could make violence so beautiful.”

“Ummm… thanks,” he whispered. “It took a lot of practice to get to this point.”

“I’m sure it did,” I replied. “How does it work? I know you can control the glass and sand, but how does that translate into being able to add blood?”

“The blood and everything else is absorbed into the sand and remains when I change it into glass.”

Before I could respond, the alarm to my comlink beeped. “Yes?”

“Hi Julian. This is Doctor Wilson. You can see Cristobel now. He is fine now. Dr. Kirschner is almost done with Mystic Warrior too.”

“Thanks doc.” The message ended there, and I used teleportation. Cristobel was resting but awake. I walked over to him and immediately grabbed his right hand. I was so relieved as a warm smile crossed his tempting lips.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. His smile had faded as he said that and tears began to flow. “I had no idea she was capable of something so evil. I should have known not to go into the living quarters when she called me. I want to kill her.”

“She’s already dead. She suffered a painful death. You should have seen the effects of Tortura’s attacks. You would have loved it!”

Cristobel did not laugh. “I wanted to kill her. I wish you could bring her back so that I could kill her.”

“If I had a power like that, Gabrielle would be alive again.” I knew Calista would want her sister back as well. Lady Valentine had taken advantage of her vulnerability and what compassion I had which was not much at that time. Looking back I can see how much living in that dark world affected me. The only thing that really separated us from the Dark Knights was our concern for each other and our desire to save the world from them.

“I know what you mean,” Cristobel said gloomily. “I can’t believe she’s dead. What are we supposed to do without her?”

“We just move on,” I sighed. “That’s all we really can do. She’s never coming back. Once we know Mystic Warrior is ready we need to have our meeting about the assault on the EAS headquarters.”

“How do you do it, babe?” Cristobel asked prosaically. “You’re all business. Don’t you ever give yourself time to grieve?”

“Ever since Tommy died I just try to numb myself from all pain. It doesn’t always work, but at least I try.”

“You don’t have to be strong for my sake,” said Cristobel warmly as his right hand gently caressed my left cheek. “It’s okay to grieve for her in front of me.” Somehow his words caused a tear to trickle from my left eye. Tears began to flow liberally from Cristobel’s tear ducts. Soon I began blubbering unceasingly. Cristobel sniffled before whimpering, “It’s okay baby. You can cry.”
“I don’t like to cry,” I whined. “I don’t like feeling these emotions.”

“None of us like them, but that doesn’t mean we need to pretend they don’t exist. You have these emotions for a reason.”

“It makes me feel weak, Cristobel. I don’t like being weak.”

“Baby, it’s not weakness. It’s part of being human. We lose people we love, and we mourn for them. Would you prefer not to be human?”

“I never said that,” I replied defensively with a sniffle. “I just don’t like needing to cry. I’d rather kick some ass.”

“So would I, sweetie.”

********************

The meeting for the assault on the EAS headquarters was just to inform the team of the plan. I knew the assault would be challenging, yet I had no doubt we would prevail. I had no idea if we would emerge unscathed or not. The information I had was about some unsavory characters with dangerous powers. Thornos was supposed to be a powerful plant manipulator with a bad attitude. Reaper had the ability to absorb someone’s life force and use it to become younger. In fact, he could not survive without at least one life force in a given week. Radia was able to create blasts of toxic radioactive energy.

The EAS headquarters was a tall pyramid-shaped building in the Manhattan sector of Empire City. Hundreds of years before, The Empire State Building stood in its place, a building that was once the tallest building in the world according to historians. Unfortunately for the EAS, their building contained plenty of glass. I knew this was to our advantage with Shattero ever ready to bend the glass to his will. “Do it, Shattero!” There was a sudden explosion of glass. None of the glass was wasted either. Before us, two giant glass monsters began forming. The glass monsters were there to distract and kill some clones while we went inside to battle.

Cristobel, Talon Rider, and I ascended into the sky. I had not seen Talon Rider’s power until then. Not only was he an eagle feral, he seemed to have weather related powers. I could feel a chill in the air. Even in the domed environment he could manipulate the weather. Snow began to fall, and we swooped into the top floor of the building. The plan was for the three of us to work our way down while the others worked their way up.

The top floor was a small room. We only saw one clone. Talon Rider dispatched him with a quick lightning bolt and we ran down the stairs to the next floor. There were only two clones there. Cristobel blasted one with a nightmare ball. The other managed to cut Cristobel with an electro sword from behind. In agony Cristobel fell to the floor. As Talon Rider dispatched the clone with an icy wind and a peck to the face, I knelt down onto the floor and began healing Cristobel’s wound.
“That hurt really bad,” Cristobel whined. “I would be dead if…”

“Baby, there’s no time to think about that. We have to keep going. There are probably a lot more clones in the floors below us. The clones also have three bosses. We have a lot of work to do.” I used my searching ability, the one associated with teleportation. On the floor below I saw nothing, so I kept descending, but there no clones at all. About six floors down I spotted a lot of them. “We need to teleport about six floors down.”

“Let’s do it!” Talon Rider replied. I used teleportation to send us to the place where I saw more clones, but when I got there they were exiting the floor. That meant that they were going after the others.

“We have to follow them!” I shrieked. “There are so many of them. I must have seen at least 20 of them!” We did not run! We took flight and literally flew down the stairs. As soon as we caught them, Talon Rider shot them with a powerful bolt of lightning through his talons. One took a direct hit. He was fried instantly. It was obvious how powerful Talon Rider was. The remaining clones made a huge mistake. They became angry. I could feel the aura building. I lost control of telekinesis as all the floors above us were completely ripped away. I taunted them with an evil laugh that would have made The Devil cringe with fear. Had I been able to look into a mirror, I know I would have seen that my eyes had turned red.

Cristobel and Talon Rider quickly dodged shrapnel and went on the offensive against the clones. I opted to let the clones come to me if their damnation was desired. Three clones came for me just as I thought they would. I decided to use repulsion to turn them against each other. It was a source of great pleasure to see one clone slice off another’s with an electro sword. His screams almost made me have an orgasm. Moments later, the third clone chopped off the screaming clone’s head with his own electro sword. There was blood everywhere as a crimson fountain burst forth from his body.

Before the remaining clones had a chance to destroy each other two more clones entered the fray. I produced my trademark bow staff and commenced the ass kicking. I did not wish to take a lot of time, so I decided the bow staff required shockwave. To my right was one of the clones. He swung his electro sword, but I stepped to the side and spun the bow staff around so that it struck the back of his neck. The energy made his entire body explode. I quickly changed the power to nightmare energy and struck the clone behind me in the face. The blow made him immediately collapse onto the floor. I uncharged the bow staff and put it away. Telekinesis elevated the remaining clone’s electro swords into the air and I sent them flying far away. Next, I grabbed both clones and ascended into the air. With superhuman strength I threw them into a nearby building.

Unfortunately, Cristobel and Talon Rider had dispatched the remaining clones. They really spoiled my fun! I wanted more clones to kill, but such gratification would have to wait, at least that was what I thought. However, at that very moment a woman with black hair and glowing green eyes appeared before us. I recognized her from the picture. She was Radia. “You fools dare attack here? I will destroy you all!” Her arrogance made us all laugh.

“You foolish cunt! Do you have any fucking clue who you’re dealing with?” I asked mockingly. “I am an absorber. Do you know what that means?”

“It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me,” was her reply. “I’m going to kill…”

She could not finish her statement because I sent her flying down the stairs. “I’ll take care of this stupid bitch,” I hissed. “I want her fucking powers.”

“No Julian! You can’t use such a power. Do you have any idea what she’s capable of? She could poison the entire city? She may already be doing so. You can’t handle absorbing such a power.”

“You’re just trying to ruin my fun. I just want to kill her and prove her wrong.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Radia shouted after crawling up the stairs.

“You’re dead,” Talon Rider said as he transformed into an eagle and produced a powerful whirl wind. “Cristobel, use a nightmare ball.” Cristobel complied immediately and it was ‘lights out jackass’ for Radia.

“Now I will kill…” I started to say, but Talon Rider shot her with a powerful lightning bolt. To say I was annoyed would have been insufficient. “I was going to kill her, damn it! The last time I checked I’m in charge of this mission.”

“I’m sorry your royal highness,” Talon Rider laughed. “I was only trying to…” I heard a gasp from Talon Rider. There was a charge of energy running into his body, and Tentica was behind him.

“What the hell are you doing, Ashlea? Stop this instant.” She released him soon after and Talon Rider fell to the floor. “Why?” She did not respond. Instead, she shot me with a tentacle. I could feel the same energy traveling into my body, but Cristobel used a flash of light to stop her from doing any more damage.

I fell onto the floor. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t even move. It was the second time in that day that I was unable to move. “Baby, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Cristobel asked with concern.

“The pain is unbearable. Just kill me now.”

“Share the healing power with me,” Cristobel ordered. “That’s the only way I can save you.”

“Okay, I will share it with you, but this might kill me. Just make it stop.” Cristobel touched my forehead. I could feel my body sharing the power with him. The pain was even worse than it had been beforehand. That was all I could handle. I was unconscious from the pain.

When I woke up minutes later I was surrounded by everyone who had started on the lower levels. “Is everything okay? I’m still alive.”

“Yes, you’re alive Julian,” Adriana assured me. “However, I have some bad news about Talon Rider.”

“Oh no! Please don’t tell me he’s dead!”