Authors: Dhayaa Anbajagane
Ten Hoods formed a circle around Jade. Q wondered what they were going to do. They thrust out their hands with their palms sideways, facing Jade. A purple barrier formed under Jade and they lifted their hands up slowly, raising it from the ground and lifting the griffin along with it. Q found that to be pretty impressive. Two other Hoods held onto Burke, and another two held onto Q.
“Back to the academy,” Taylor said.
The Hoods used their Elementa of Wind to fly Jade, Burke, and Q back to Aliea. Once they reached there, the Hoods wasted no time and took Burke and Jade into what Q assumed to be the infirmary. The building itself seemed like it had faced a pretty big explosion. One side of the wall had collapsed completely, making it tilt to one side.
Q looked around at the other buildings in this Anti-verse version of Aliea. He found it sad that the building they used for the infirmary was actually the best looking one. All that remained of most of the other buildings were but a few bricks and some debris.
“What happened here?” he asked.
Taylor turned towards him, “A certain devastating event.”
“Man, you’re just like the Taylor I know,” Q muttered.
“The Taylor
you know
?” she raised her eyebrow.
“Yeah, The Taylor from my Universe,” he said.
“Ah, I see. You are from a parallel Universe?”
“Yeah.”
“And this Taylor from your Universe. Is she similar to me?”
“She’s just like you. She never tells me anything and-”
“Well, it does seem likely that we would be copies of each other.”
“-interrupts me as well.”
Q swore he saw a smile on Taylor’s lips.
A Hood walked up to her, “Commander, we have treated the two casualties. No severities found whatsoever,” he saluted and left.
Q was amused at the saluting hood, and then he realized something.
“You’re the Commander?” he asked.
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“Harder than you think.” He wondered what kind of part Carlos played in the Anti-verse then. “Do you, by any chance, know a guy named Carlos?” he asked.
Taylor thought for a while. “The name does not strike me as one I have heard before,” she said.
Q’s heart tightened. This place wasn't like his Universe at all. Only the people in it were the same. The situations were all so different. He felt an impending need to shift topics. “Can you find out if Burke was treated?” he asked.
“Do you sense disloyalty among my people?” her voice boomed. If her eyes were like lightning, then her voice was like thunder, domineering and defiant.
“No, I was just wondering,” Q said cheerfully.
“Very well,” she said. “Elizabeth!”
Q stumbled.
Elizabeth?
he thought.
A Hood ran to Taylor. This one seemed different from the one who came before. She was shorter and much thinner. Her brown hair jutted out of the hooded robe in a short ponytail.
This is Elizabeth before she matured into a winged Seraphian
, he realized. The Seraphians all looked like regular humans until they hit the peak of adolescence, where they would undergo drastic physical transformations, the prime one being the addition of wings.
“What of the scientist?” Taylor asked.
“The last I heard he wanted some sort of food,” Elizabeth said.
Q controlled his urge to laugh.
“And of his wounds?”
“There were none at all.”
“Was he treated then?”
“The mages have provided him an energy suit to rest with ease in our world.”
Q felt relieved. The Hoods seemed to be quite knowledgeable about stuff like this. Well, they were the former Aliea academy after all. Q flicked his wrist, and felt his energy suit around Burke dissipate. He sighed in relief. It felt good to not use up all that energy.
“You may take your absence,” Taylor said and Elizabeth left.
“Q!” yelled a voice.
Q turned around to see Burke running towards him with about ten Hoods chasing right after him. He put his arms around Q and hugged him tightly, almost crushing him with his bear arms.
“I’m glad to see you too,” Q gasped for breath.
Taylor sent off the Hoods who had chased after Burke, “Come, let us get you two a place to rest.” She took them to a small room in a worn out building. Q found it quite rural compared to the amazing and lavish rooms they had back in Aliea, but it was still better than talking in the desert land outside Aliea.
“Just what happened to this place?” Burke asked.
Taylor walked to the window and looked out. This time she didn't seem like she would refrain from providing an answer.
“This place, Zygrade, used to be a wonderful planet. Mainly because of the Academy of course,” she said and turned around. “One day, we faced an intruder. He attacked us with a massive warship.”
Warship?
Q thought. This scenario seemed eerily familiar to the one back home.
She sighed deeply, “He and his army surprised us completely and took over the academy. But we did not accept our fate. We rebelled, revolted and finally won. But in the end we had lost what we had fought so hard to protect. The battle had been so intense that Aliea was completely obliterated, lost forever.”
“Just who were those people?” Burke asked.
“We do not know who they were but they were a powerful adversary. Some of their allies stayed back on this planet. What for, I will never know.”
Q felt an uncanny resemblance between what had happened here and what was going on back home in Aliea. All the more reason for him to try as hard as he could to stop the Aliea back home from turning in the sight that lay before him.
“These allies of the enemy must have been the ones who fired those missiles at us,” Burke said.
Q nodded in agreement. It seemed to be the most likely possibility.
“It has to be those fiends,” Taylor nodded. “They must have thought you to be our allies and fired at you. They will do anything to take Aliea back from us.”
Q looked around. He didn't have the heart to tell Taylor that this destroyed version of Aliea didn't seem like a place people would fight over. Instead he found something more constructive to ask.
“If they’re on this planet why don’t you go after them?” he asked. If the Hoods went after the so called ‘Allies of whoever invaded Aliea’ then they would ensure peace for a long time to come.
“It is not that simple,” she said. “The enemy outmatches us with their sheer strength in numbers. The only reason we have always been able to hold off their attacks is because of the strategic advantage Aliea provides us by being high above level ground. If we were to attack the enemy home base head on there is no way we would return alive.”
“What about a solo mission?” Q asked. “It’s harder for the enemy to properly detect an attack if there’s only one person attacking.”
“What? To even discuss such a plan is absurdity. There is no way anyone can succeed on such a mission.”
Q turned to her, a big grin on his face. “Watch me.”
***
Taylor opened her eyes. Everything around her looked like a primitive television set. Pixelated and blurry. She was able to make out a man in a white coat busily working in front of her. That image alone was enough to snap her from her primitive resolution and into crystal clear HD.
Dr.D
, she realized.
Her mind snapped out of its daze, and her memories came back to her. She had been taken captive by the enemy ship she had tried to infiltrate. Looking back at it now, she saw that the infiltration was a terrible choice of action for her to take.
She tried to move about but her arms and legs didn’t budge. She had been restrained. Her wrists and ankles were tied firmly to an inclined table. A huge contraption lay right above her chest. She didn't try analyzing what the machine was meant to do. She didn't want to unnecessarily instill fear in herself.
“
Are you okay?
” asked a voice.
“
Ruby!
” Taylor yelled out in her mind.
“
We’ve got to act fast. This guy is crazy!
” Ruby said.
“
What’s he trying to do?
”
“
He’s going to-
”
“Why you’re finally awake,” Dr.D walked up to her. He had a large syringe in one hand and some sort of remote control in the other.
Taylor completely freaked out. She desperately tried to break free of her bonds, wriggling and squirming as much as she could. It was only then she realized that she hadn't been restrained using regular bonds. These were energy bonds. They were like force fields; completely impenetrable.
The remote probably controls the bonds,
she realized.
A grin appeared across Dr.D’s face on seeing Taylor helplessly struggle. “You can try all you want,” he walked closer to her. “It won’t change a thing.”
“What do you want?” Taylor asked. She had to stall for time.
“You still haven’t figured it out?” Dr.D asked, “I was informed that you were quite a smart one.”
Informed?
she thought. That was clue number one. This guy was working for someone else.
“You still have no idea, do you?” he smiled.
He was right. She had no idea what it was that she was completely missing out on.
“Don't worry about it,” he said. “Right now, it’s the least of your problems.”
He swiftly brought the syringe to her neck and injected her with some kind of blue liquid. She howled in frustration. She couldn't believe how helpless she was. All she could do was watch while some crazy man injected her with a serum.
Taylor’s vision slowly changed. One moment she was looking at Dr.D, the next moment she was looking at someone else, a black haired boy with eyes as dark as space, and an expression as cold as liquid nitrogen.
“Q!” she yelled.
Taylor jumped forward. She expected to be held back, but her bonds no longer existed. She was no longer in the lab. She looked around her. All she could see was bright white light coming from all directions. Where was this place? Had she been teleported?
“Q, what’s going on?” she asked. Q didn't even blink. He didn't turn his head. Nothing. Not a single reaction. It was like he hadn't even heard what she said.
“Q!” she clutched his shoulders. She watched in horror as her hand just went through him like he was an illusion.
“No… No…” Taylor’s eyes widened as panic hit her. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster. What was going on? Q walked away from her. She tried to run after him but she couldn’t. Her feet refused to move. She helplessly watched him walk farther and farther until he faded into nothingness.
“
Taylor,
” a voice called out to her.
“Ruby?”
“
Taylor you have to listen to me. You’re in a simulation. You have to get out of this. Now!
”
“A simulation?”
“
No time. Get out…. fast,
” Ruby’s voice broke off.
A simulation
, Taylor’s mind clicked. Everything made sense. She was seeing things that her brain was creating for her. She was trapped inside her own mind.
The scene changed again. Darkness flooded into her world and surrounded her completely. Hundreds of voices reached out to her, their husky tones making her shiver inside. Screams and cries for help filled the deep dark void around her. She clamped her ears with her hands but the voices floated into her unhindered.
“Stop it!” she screamed.
“
Stay calm
.” Ruby’s voices floated into her mind.
She knew her griffin was right. Screaming wasn’t going to get her anywhere. She focused on the voices she was hearing. The pleas of the dead, the cries of the tortured. She heard every word, every letter. She took in every single voice, staying calm and silent the whole time.
The scene before her cracked like broken glass and fell to the floor. When the darkness disappeared, she saw that she was back in the lab, still strapped to the metal table.
Dr.D walked up to her, “That was just marvelous,” he clapped. “I did not think you would escape so quickly.”
Taylor looked at him in disgust, “Why would you do that?”
“That isn’t something you need to know,” he said, “But what I can tell you is that you passed the test. Congratulations, you will now be subject to a blood test performed by yours truly.”
“Don’t you dare,” she glared.
“Now where is that pet of yours?”
Taylor’s heart skipped a beat. What did this man want with Ruby?
“Ruby?
” she called out with her mind.
No reply.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. “
RUBY!
” she yelled out.
“
Whoa. What was that for?
” A startled Ruby answered back.
“
Whatever you do, don't come here. This guy seems to be after you.
”
“
Can you escape on your own?
”
“
I think I’ll manage,
” she said.
“
I’ll be waiting by the pool.
”
“
They have an indoor pool?!
”
“
Just get here.
”
Taylor looked around the room for any other potential captors. It was just Dr.D and her. For once there weren't any unnecessary complications.
“
One last thing,
” she asked, hoping Ruby would listen. “
How am I supposed to get out of these energy bonds?
”
“
Oh, I forgot about that.
” the griffin said. “
You need to stop the energy flow to break them apart right?
”
“
Yeah.
”
“
The machine that’s above you is an energy beam ray.
”
“
Gotcha.
”
She eyed the table opposite her. Dr.D’s remote lay there completely unprotected. She twisted her hands until her palms faced the remote. She summoned her life force from within, and shot out a thin beam of dark energy. The beam pierced the remote, and a shower of sparks spread around the device. She had successfully short circuited it.
Time for part two
, she thought.
The huge machine above her hummed loudly. She looked around, hoping the noise wouldn’t alert Dr.D, but he seemed to have disappeared from the spot. A huge orange laser beam shot from the device onto the table at her side, and slowly move towards her. It harmlessly passed over her suit, and cut the cuffs off of her. She jumped off the table, and landed with a soft thud.
“Look what I found,” Dr.D happily looked at the empty syringe in his hand.
“Enough with the syringes already,” Taylor charged.
He had just enough time to turn around before she punched him in the stomach, and he slumped to the floor breathless.
“Just returning the favor,” she said, and ran out of the horrid lab.
Pool side. Pool side
, she thought as she searched the lower regions of the ship.
She looked over the railing on the corridor. The pool was there smack in the middle of the ship. It was a circular body of water about a hundred yards in diameter. Many people jumped in and out of it, laughing and smiling. She wished she could just escape from all of this and trade places with them.
“Stop her!” Dr.D half-ran, half-limped towards Taylor, his arm clutching his stomach. She looked down at the pool. It was easily a fifty yard drop. Her suit would considerably lessen the severity of the fall, so she took the risk and jumped off the railing. The floor raced up to her. She rolled as she hit the ground to lessen the impact but she was still knocked breathless by the sheer force of her drop.
She picked herself up and ran towards the pool as fast as she could. “
Where are you?
” Taylor called out to Ruby in her mind.
No answer.
She felt a claw on her shoulder and something scooped her off the ground, throwing her into the air. The world spun around Taylor like a roulette wheel and when it finally stopped she saw that she was sitting on a familiar female griffin.
“Hello Ruby
,
” Taylor smiled.
“
Don't you hello me,” she said. “We’ve got to get out of here right away.
” Ruby landed on the highest floor of the ship, which happened to have just one massive door. A gunshot rang through the air. The bullet nicked her ear and buried itself into the wall behind her.
Taylor was stunned. It didn't seem like the shooter had missed her. It was more like he had nicked her ear as a warning. How amazing was this guy to have that high a level of precision on his shots?
“
Are you ok?
” Ruby asked.
“I’ll be okay,” she said.
A laugh rang in Taylor’s ears. A man in a piece of pure-white battle armor walked out of the shadows. “Oh, I wouldn't count on that.”
***
Kai still lay inside the simulation, waiting to face up against the final opponent the Brain created for him. From the moment the Brain had first made him battle Carlos, Kai knew there was only one person it would make him fight as his final opponent.
His final opponent had called himself, ‘The Wielder of Light’. There was only one person Kai knew who was called that. The one he had been expecting all along.
“Hello, Q,” he sighed.
Q’s clone stepped out of the shadows. “I pray you surrender quickly,” he said and got right into the battle. He vanished from view and appeared to Kai’s right, and his left, and several other places too.
“No way! That’s an-”
“-illusion turn,” Q finally appeared behind Kai and knocked him to the ground.
Kai remembered Taylor telling him about an illusion turn before. It was an attack that only people with the Elementa of Light could use. It was so fast that it would seem like the user was in many places at once.
Kai stood up and brushed the mud off his face. He moved his hands to his sides. “I have some tricks up my sleeve as well,” he said and threw his hands up to face the sky. Nothing happened.
“Wait for it” he said nervously. Q looked at the sky cluelessly, actually waiting for something to happen. Nothing happened. “Something should’ve happened,” Kai sounded like a disappointed little kid.
“You probably did something wrong,” Q told him. “I’m sorry, but I can’t wait any longer.” He charged at Kai. With every step he took, he seemed to glow brighter and brighter. Kai recalled every time Q had had a glowing aura around him, it ended with a huge blast and Q going unconscious. An explosion did sound grim, but at least there was a good possibility of Q becoming unconscious.
Kai tried to run away, but his legs felt heavy, his slow and heavy steps making it seem like he was moving in thick syrup. The constant battling was finally taking a toll on his body. He flexed his muscles and willed himself to move forward as fast as he could. He felt a tremor go through his body. He turned about and saw the ground around Q vibrate intensely. In a flash the ground cracked and rose up, taking Q along with it. A huge metal pillar, as thick as a building, shot high into the sky.
“Couldn’t you have come up earlier?!” Kai yelled at the pillar.
“What are you fretting about?” Q said.
Before Kai could turn around he felt a fist bury deep into his stomach. He grabbed his stomach and knelt to the floor, breathless.
“How?” Kai stuttered.
“Such trickery won’t fool me,” Q said.
Kai winced as he stood up. His stomach hurt pretty bad. That was expected though. Too many people had punched him in the stomach in too short a while. He looked up. Q stood next to him, a shadow on his face. Kai thrust out his hand and a swarm of metal pieces rose from deep within the ground and flew towards Q.