Authors: Dhayaa Anbajagane
“Take out the guards,” he said. We can plan things out after doing that.”
The spacecraft touched down inside the mothership and the hangar door closed. A series of lights turned on, letting Carlos get a good look at the inside of the mothership. It was made of some sort of black metal with a bluish hue. On the walls hung an endless line of laser blasters and nuclear grenades. A shiver ran down his spine. If this was how well equipped a landing bay was, he shuddered to think about what the rest of ship would be like.
“
Overdrive initiated
,” the ship's computer systems said. The door to the spacecraft opened immediately.
Carlos tensed, “They’ve overridden the ship’s controls,” he cursed himself for forgetting that the mothership could do that. He heard two loud thuds come from behind him. Elizabeth stood in the doorway to the pit with two daggers in her hands. Carlos got up and saw two guards fallen on the floor, motionless.
“You killed them?” he exclaimed. Elizabeth wasn't exactly the ‘cold murder’ kind of girl.
“Of course not. I just knocked them unconscious.”
“No wasting time, you two,” Juliana said. She led them out, because of the three of them, she was the only one who talked with her mouth and not her fists in the face of danger. As soon as Carlos saw that the hangar was clear, he took the lead and hurried the pace.
“That way,” he pointed to a small doorway in the corner. They walked through it and into a narrow corridor. Cramped metal doors were situated symmetrically on either side.
“What do you think the rooms in this corridor are for?” Elizabeth asked.
“Storage rooms,” he said and kept walking. The corridor seemed endless. It just kept going on and on.
A quarter of an hour later, Elizabeth couldn’t take it anymore, “Do you even know where you’re going?” she asked.
“Do you have a better path?”
A door opened and a lone cadet stood there, a horrified look on his face. He quickly jumped back in, and slammed the door shut. Elizabeth rushed forward and tried to get through to the other side. It was no use. The door wouldn't budge. The cadet had locked it from the inside.
And then things got worse.
The corridor was bathed in red light. Loud alarms started echoing through the walls.
He sounded the alarm
, Carlos realized.
“
Warning. Warning,
” The P.A system blared. “
Intruders in cadets’ quarters. All cadets head to quarters.
”
“Cadet’s quarters?” Elizabeth turned to Carlos. “You brought us to the quarters? This place will be teeming with cadets!”
“You know what this place needs? A few signs,” Carlos complained.
“Oh yeah, that way the other intruders can find their way around much more easily!” she yelled.
“Quiet down, you two,” Juliana said.
“There they are!” voices came from behind them.
“Run!”
***
Kai stared at the two figures the Brain had brought up for him to fight.
“Why am I not surprised?” he muttered under his breath. He was really starting to hate the simulation he was inside.
Chris and a clone of himself stood before him. He felt weird telling himself he could take down Kai. It made him feel like some psycho who was fighting against his alter ego.
Chris held a sword in her arms, which was also weird because Kai had hardly seen her touch a blade before. She crouched low with her knees bent, a perfect attack stance. Her eyes watched his every movement, making him feel all jittery inside. The other guy kind of irritated Kai. The Brain had created an exact replica of himself. Physically they were the same, but mentally though, this duplicate seemed to be a little arrogant.
Kai-2 had a wide smirk on his face, like he was telling Kai that he should be honored to be killed by his hand. Kai knew the Brain was using his memories, but he could not for the love of him see how the Brain had reasoned that Kai-2 should be given an attitude like this.
Kai was pretty worried about his time limit too. Trish has said he would have five minutes to hack into the Brain, and he was sure he was very close to breaching his time limit.
“
Do not worry,
” the Brain’s voice echoed. “
The time in this realm passes by much quicker than the real world. I will ensure your five minutes are not up before you end this challenge.
”
“Thank you very much, Mr.Brain,” Kai chuckled and focused on his opponents. Now he could take his own time and plan his path to victory.
Kai-2 looked at Chris and nodded. She lifted her sword into the air and sank it into the ground. As soon as the tip hit the hard surface, a huge wave of light emerged. Kai shielded his eyes from the bright radiation. When the light died down, Chris and Kai-2 were gone. The scenery had changed too.
Kai was now in a multi-scenery battlefield. He was in a desert and to his right and left were a forest, and an ocean. There was no way the two would have reached the forest in time, and the ocean didn't seem like a place they’d choose. That left only one route left.
Up.
Kai threw his head back and saw a black silhouette against the shining sun, its size rapidly increasing. He instinctively held his sword up and a blade clashed into it with incredulous force. It took all Kai’s strength to just misdirect it to his side. The strangest part was that Kai-2 wasn't the one who’d delivered the blow. It was Chris.
He didn't know that Chris was this strong but then again, the Brain could have enhanced everyone’s abilities. Technically that meant that Kai-2 was everything that Kai was, but better. He wasn’t worried about that though. The Brain was using his friends as opponents. There was just one person he was really worried about. A dangerous one.
Kai blocked the fierce blows from Chris’ sword, the clashing sound of metal leaving a coarse ringing in his ears. They fought back and forth, slowly moving to the edge of the forest. Kai jumped back a few meters to get out of Chris’ range and take a breather. She was fighting a little too well for his liking.
He heard rustling coming from the bushes behind him. Kai-2 pushed apart the low branches and walked out coolly without a weapon on him. Kai was starting to hate this duplicate more and more. Where did that guy get this kind of attitude?
Kai-2 raised his hand. A million bits of gray came out of nowhere and wrapped around his arm. In seconds his arm had transformed into a huge black sword that extended from his shoulder. He slashed it at the air on his side, kicking up a gust of wind that pushed Kai back.
Kai-2 ran at Kai and landed a flurry of attacks. Kai managed to deflect the blows but the immense power of the strikes kept pushing him back.
I need to get out of this, and fast,
Kai thought.
Kai-2 suddenly stopped mid-strike crouched to the ground. Before Kai knew what was going on Chris had jumped over Kai-2 and had her sword pointed right at him. Kai pulled his sword up to block her strike, but she dropped her sword to the ground instead and punched Kai hard in the stomach.
Kai managed a weak parry and pushed her pack. He stumbled away from Kai-2 and Chris’s immediate striking range. He knelt onto the ground and held his stomach. Chris had completely knocked his breath out of him.
“If I die in here does the real me die as well?” Kai yelled out, hoping that the Brain would hear him.
The Brain’s laughter echoed through the silent air. “
We shall find out.
”
***
Kai desperately needed a break. Chris and Kai-2 were relentlessly coming after him. He fended off Chris’ strike and jabbed towards her arm. He was inches away from a strike, but he retracted his sword. His chest felt heavy, “Stupid feelings,” he muttered.
He looked at Chris’ emotionless face. He knew this wasn't the real Chris, that she was nothing but a stupid imitation.
Then why do I want to protect her?
he thought.
Okay. Concentrate,
he scolded himself.
Kai-2 and Chris charged at him. Kai knew he couldn't face both of them simultaneously. He needed to buy some time to figure out a plan. He looked around for a possible hiding spot. The thick jungle behind him was the only one he could use. He rushed into the greenery with his pursuers right behind him.
“
Hide. Run. What’s the use?
” the Brain said.
“Shut up,” Kai said. “I’m in the middle of running for my life.”
“
Yes, I can see that.
”
“I thought I asked you to shut up,” Kai said.
The Brain didn't bother him after that. Maybe it felt offended.
Kai focused on putting as much distance as possible from Kai-2 and Chris. He sped away at full throttle, calming down only when the faint sound of footsteps faded away into the background. He found it surprising that he was outrunning those two, considering that Chris had always been faster and Kai-2 was a genetically superior version of him. He hid himself behind a tree and concentrated on the situation.
What would Q do?
he thought.
Q only had one final gambit to every problem he faced. Create a devastating explosion.
An explosion
, he grinned. He had found a way out. He held out his hands with palms facing the ground. He reached deep within him and tried to summon his energy. All he needed to do was find a few metals.
Kai let go of the thoughts and focused on the task at hand. For a few moments nothing happened. He realized that he wasn't drawing out enough power and focused deeper within himself. He concentrated on every emotion that he was feeling. Hatred. Fear. Anger. Every trickle and drop he could find. Everything.
“
This battle is getting boring,
” the Brain said. “
Let’s make it a little more entertaining.
”
“What are you trying to do?” he said, his voice cold and harsh.
“
It shall be marvelous.
”
That didn't sound good. Kai heard the rustling of leaves coming from above him. He looked up to see Kai-2 and Chris slide down from the nearby trees. He realized he had never lost them. On the contrary, they had been right behind him all along.
Kai sighed in remorse. Maybe this really wasn't a winnable battle. He focused on his opponents, expecting an attack at any moment, but surprisingly, Kai-2 walked towards Chris instead.
Kai wondered what they were going to do now.
“
Watch,
” the Brain said, a scent of excitement in his voice.
Kai realized that something big was going to happen. He held onto the hilt of his sword and alerted his senses. Kai-2 swung his arm and hit Chris with the flat of his blade. She flew straight into a tree. Her emotionless face suddenly flooded with pain. She held her arm and groaned in pain.
His watched in horror as Kai-2 walked towards Chris, his blade threatening to do more than just bruise her. Kai’s mind flooded with emotions. She might not be his Chris but he couldn’t let this Chris be hurt, whether she was his friend or not.
His body started glowing. He could feel the power surging through him. He could feel an immense amount of anger swelling up inside him.
No one was allowed to hurt her.
No one.
“
Yes!
” the Brain exclaimed, “
Unleash your true potential.
”
Kai-2 lifted up Chis’ chin using the tip of his blade. Her eyes were dull and blank. She wasn't even trying to fight back to live. Kai tried hard to fight back tears. His inner voice yelled out at her, asking her to fight, asking her to live.
Kai-2 drew his hand back as far as he could. He paused for a moment and smirked at Kai with a look of pure evil. Kai charged at his clone but it was too late. The cheap imitation drove his blade straight through Chris.
She coughed hard, her breathing turning loud and frantic. And then it stopped.
She glowed with a blue light and her body dissolved into a sparkly powder, floating away in the wind. Kai grasped at bits of the glowing powder but they disappeared as soon as they touched his hand.
This is just an illusion
, he told himself,
this isn’t the real Chris
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He threw his arm up to the sky and the ground around him trembled.
Kai could feel the air around him heat up, his hand went completely numb. A tornado swirled around him, made of nothing but specks of metal from the ground. They all converged into his hand, and reassembled themselves. Kai jumped out of the twister, a gray sword in either hand, the sharp blades spouting electric sparks all along their surfaces.
Kai flipped them both in the air to check their weight and balance. “Just perfect,” he grinned.
Kai-2 looked at him in horror.
“That’s right, kiddo,” Kai said. “My turn.”
He jumped into the air and rammed the blades into the ground. A huge tremor exploded, and shook the forest. Kai-2 desperately tried to stay on his feet, going as far as to jump high up into the air to escape from the vibrating ground. Kai took advantage of the situation and surged at him, catching him in mid-air, and throwing him to the ground.
He landed softly onto the ground and turned around. Kai-2 lay in the middle of a mini crater, his body wounded and weak from the immense power of the blow.
“Work on that attitude,” Kai said and slashed at Kai-2. The sword went right through the clone, disintegrating him into sparkly powder. A shiver went down Kai’s spine. He had just killed himself. That wasn’t something you did every day, or even once for that matter.
“Final level,” the Brain’s voice echoed through the air.
Oh god
, he thought. He had been ready for this from the moment he had battled Carlos. Well, he had tried to be ready. Was he actually ready? No.
“Hello there,” a voice said.
A boy emerged from the shadows amongst the trees. Kai cowered in the powerful aura radiated from him.
“Pleased to meet you,” he said. “I am Q, the Wielder of Light.”
***
Q was well aware that the Anti-verse was a copy of his Universe. He was aware that the Anti-verse would house copies of people he knew in his Universe. But all that still didn’t prepare him for the situation he now found himself in.
He stared at the blond-haired, blue-eyed girl who stood in front of him. “Taylor?” he asked.
“Yes. I told you already. My name is Taylor Quasar.”
“But… I… How?” he stuttered.
She looked at him in confusion, “Did you not say something about your friends?”
Q immediately shifted towards Burke and Jade, “We’ve got to go help them,” he said.
“Cadets march ahead!” Taylor said and turned to Q, “Lead us to your friends.”
He took them through the tunnel, until he came to the opening he had fallen through accidentally.
“We’ll have to go up there,” Q said. The Hoods spread out their arms and chanted. The air around solidified and lifted them upwards. The Hoods put Q back up on the surface, and he could see the towering stature of Jade at a distance.
“They’re only a little further away,” he said and ran forward. Burke and Jade lay in the exact same position as Q had seen them before he left. Not a good sign.
“Great Neutrons! What happened to them?” Taylor asked.
“The Griffin took a direct hit from a missile.”
“A missile?”
“Is...um.. something wrong?” Q asked. “The missiles were from Aliea’s defenses weren't they?”
“Aliea does not have any planetary defenses.”
“Then where did the missiles come from?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
A few Hoods ran over to Burke and Jade.
Burke had stopped muttering ‘doughnuts’ over and over again and switched to saying ‘cupcakes’ instead.