by Cohen, Bryan
The Final Battle
Bryan Cohen
Casey Lane
Contents
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
Co-Authors’ Note
Legal Business & Acknowledgements
The story of every Chosen One begins with a choice…
And Ted Finley wasn't always the top pick for the job…
Discover the story BEFORE the story.
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Prologue
The General ignored the tightness in his chest as he looked up at the digital display above him. He watched the course of Earth's final army. He could see exactly where the aircraft carrier and its group of alien sentinels were moving at all times. While inserting the dark soul version of Jennifer Norris amongst them wasn't his first plan, it had worked out exceptionally well. Everything seemed to be fitting into place, except for one tiny, nagging issue.
President Blake stormed into the General's office, flanked by the secretary who failed to stop him.
"You're letting my men die out there and you're doing nothing?"
The secretary looked absolutely mortified beside him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Finley. I did everything I could to stop him. It's hard to get in the way of the president."
The General made a mental note to replace the remaining humans on his staff with the strongest warriors left on the Realm of Souls.
He clasped his hands together on the desk. "Mr. President. What can I do for you on this fine day?"
President Blake's eyes looked as though they were primed to fire laser beams. "That'll be all, miss. I need to speak to the superhero alone."
The woman nodded and muttered under her breath as she left. "I don't get paid enough for this."
When the door shut, the replaced President of the United States stomped toward the desk. "How long have you known about the position of Ted Finley's army?"
The General smiled. "Have a seat, won't you? I keep reading on this planet that sitting is bad for your health, but I imagine that unwarranted anger is worse."
Blake stood his ground. "How long have you known?"
"Two weeks. 16 days if you want to be more accurate."
The president shook his head and stared deep into the General's eyes. "My soldiers have been dying out there. We could have reinforced their numbers. Hell, if we really wanted to, we could've blown them out of the water 16 whole days ago. I don't understand why you keep this information to yourself. Are you trying to get us all killed?"
The General worked over the words in his clouded mind and stood slowly. "Sit down and shut your mouth."
After resisting for a long moment, the president leaned back into a chair.
The true leader of the country remained towering over him. "You forget your place. Just because some blind idiots still think of you as the ruler of the free world, you aren't the ruler and there's no freedom left. You don't have soldiers. They're my soldiers. It's all mine, and I'm willing to have you replaced—" a fit of rasping coughs attacked the General's throat.
Blake was taken aback as he watched the dark soul who looked just like Ted Finley rendered helpless by the fit. After what seemed like a minute of near-vomitus throat clearings, the General breathed deeply. He wiped the corner of his mouth with a white handkerchief, and it came back stained with blood.
President Blake's anger turned into concern. "Sir, are you alright?"
The General narrowed his eyes. "To finish my thought, you can be replaced."
"Do you want me to get a doctor in here? Surely what just happened isn't normal."
The General placed his handkerchief gently on the ground on the desk. "I have a plan for Ted Finley, Mr. President. My men will not be dying for much longer. You need not worry."
The president stood up, but the look of concern remained pasted on. "What if I'm worried about you?"
The General shot daggers with his glare. "That will be all."
Blake nodded in the affirmative before exiting.
The General dabbed another droplet of blood, this one coming from his nose.
Sometime later, Blake received the call he'd been waiting for.
"Sir, we have found the body."
"I'll be right there. Don't tell a soul."
The General fed the secretary a line about leaving the White House for a bit, before he snuck around a few corners and down the hidden passageways that only the highest-ranking officials on Earth had ever known of. It took only a few minutes for the General to reach the infirmary. As he entered, the stench of rotting flesh took over his nostrils. He walked into the back room and firmly closed the door behind him.
"How do you expect to keep that secret with the smell?"
The doctor standing beside the body bag scrunched up his face. "We're working on it, sir. I'm sorry about that. Would you like to examine it yourself?"
The General pursed his lips and unzipped the black bag from top to bottom. Through months of decay, it was almost impossible to identify the corpse with his eyes.
"And you're sure that it's him?"
The doctor shuffled some papers in his hands. "The dental records check out. It's Albert Redican all right. The telepath who used one of the living souls’ books to enhance his powers."
The General looked down at a creature who'd had only one-fifth of Ted Finley's powers, and yet he'd been incredibly dangerous to the cause. The General wondered if he'd have been able to take the planet so easily if the man had stayed alive after Adam's attack in Philadelphia.
"What have you learned?"
"After running a series of computer models, which are never perfect because we're attempting to recreate a brain from a decomposed organ—"
"I'm a big boy, doctor. I can take the bad news."
The physician rubbed at his nose before looking the General in the eyes. "If he hadn't died in Philadelphia, his use of the books would've killed him in two months."
The General wanted to feel angry. Hundreds of years’ worth of fighting with total victory just weeks away from taking shape. And he wouldn't live to see it.
But he didn't feel angry. He felt a calm numbness take over inside of him.
"Thank you for your help, doctor. You can dispose of the body and erase all traces of your computer model."
"But sir, we really should run a scan on you to see— to see—"
"I used the books much more than our dear departed telepath did. Any insider knowledge of how long I'm suppo
sed to last may shorten my span. Needless to say, if you tell anyone of this, you will be set on fire and forced to burn a painful death."
The doctor nodded a few extra times. "Of course."
The General stepped out of the infirmary and went back through the secret path he'd taken there. About halfway through, he sat down on the steps and thought.
I'm not going to make it.
He adjusted the timeline of his plan to fit the rest of his life.
A dark soul smiled in the dim light. "If I go down, I'm going to take the whole Earth with me."
1
Ted Finley ignored the light rain and the gray skies as he walked up to one of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Despite his ability to fly and create interdimensional portals, this was actually the first time he'd been to London. As he approached the two guards decked out in red attire with large black, poofy hats, he wished his visit could've been made under better circumstances.
He smiled at the guards and tipped an imaginary cat. "Chip chip cheerio, old pals. Could I trouble you to let a former colonist inside?"
The guards remained silent. Neither of them deemed it worthy to look down at the lanky, annoying teenager.
The living soul put his imaginary cap back in place. "I suppose I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." Ted placed two fingers to his temple and used his powers to leap into the minds of the guards.
One of the sentinels who was a couple of inches taller than the other took off his tall black hat and bowed. "My pardons, right this way, Mr. Finley."
Ted grinned. "Now that's more like it. I promise I'll leave you guys a tip on the way out."
After the guard granted him entry, Ted used his mind to make sure the man returned to his post. He hoped his efforts wouldn't get the guards tried for treason or anything.
Ted stepped foot in a beautiful building that tourists hadn't been allowed inside of for the last few months. Despite his purpose inside, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the history inside those walls. He walked past paintings, sculptures, and furniture that screamed history.
Nearly a thousand years of rule broken up by a power-hungry dictator.
I guess that's just how civilization shakes out sometimes.
After using his powers to scan the building for his target, Ted nearly ran straight into an old, hunched over woman who was turning the corner. He stepped back at the last second and realized exactly who he was looking at.
"Your Majesty. I'm so sorry."
Sure enough, the Queen of England stood before him wearing formal attire. She studied him but said nothing.
He cleared his throat. "Of course. My apologies." Ted knelt and bowed his head.
He caught the hint of a smile as the Queen of England kicked the living soul in the teeth. Ted's body flew backwards into the nearest wall, shaking one of the portraits loose from its hook. He caught the artwork before it hit the ground, but the dark soul version of the woman in charge was on him in a heartbeat. Ted thrust out the painting, and the queen's fist of fury broke through the canvas just an inch in front of his face.
"I've never fought a queen before." Ted wrenched the painting to his left, flipping the surprisingly agile ruler as he did. Her Royal Highness landed on her feet and grabbed the painting by its frame. She tossed the portrait at his head, and he ducked just in time. The wooden frame slammed hard into the wall and stuck there. Ted rolled away from a spinning royal kick and grabbed the nearest thing he could: a heavy wooden end table. He kept the improvised shield between him and the queen, as she punched and kicked her way toward him.
With a flying elbow, she broke through the end table in front of Ted, and ripped each half of it to either side. "Afraid to fight the withered old woman?"
He put out both hands. "I would say freaked out is probably the better term, but I know that British English is different from American English."
The queen let out a royal yelp as she leapt for him once again.
This time, Ted used his powers to freeze her in midair. The queen struggled to her left and right, but she was no match for his powers.
"I'm really sorry to do this, Your Highness. If circumstances were different, I certainly would've asked for an autograph. Or maybe a knighthood?"
She growled and continued to thrash against his abilities. Ted looked around and spied a shield with two swords mounted on the far wall. He floated the elderly woman through the air and used his brain to bend the swords like shackles around her arms. She continued to fight back, but the queen, or at least the dark soul who had replaced her, had been mounted on the wall.
He bowed low. "Once again, my greatest apologies. I'll be back to take care of you later."
With the queen dispatched, Ted continued on to his mission. After taking a few wrong turns, he finally reached the relocated office of the prime minister.
When he opened the door, he saw half a dozen guards, ready to attack. Behind a large mahogany desk sat Britain's highest official.
"We've been expecting you, Mr. Finley."
Ted smiled. "I appreciate the small talk, but I feel kind of weird after fighting a queen, so I hope you don't mind me ending this quickly."
With a swipe of his hand, Ted used his abilities to pin all six guards to the walls. He invaded their minds quickly and left them as docile as a house cat. He quickly bridged the gap between him and his target.
The prime minister stepped back quickly and tripped on his own chair. He fell to the ground and put his hands in front of his face. "Please. I'll follow you instead of the General. Just don't hurt me."
Ted smirked. "I won't hurt you, but I'm also not going to trust you."
Ted reached deep into the prime minister's mind. He felt strange doing what had been done to him just months earlier, but he knew that unless the official's mind was replaced by another set of goals and ideals, the world could fall at any time. Ted erased the persona that the dark soul had given to the prime minister, and he replaced it with the thoughts of an ally.
As he tidied up in the man's mind, he also just so happened to find out where the nukes were and how to disarm them. He hoped he could get to them in time.
As he finished his work, Ted reached down and helped the new Prime Minister to his feet.
The man smiled. "I suppose that means operation Crumpet One has been completed?"
Ted's eyes glowed. "In my defense, Mr. Prime Minister, Dhiraj was the one who came up with the mission name."
"It's very funny. I'll take things from here, you keep fighting the good fight."
Ted shook the prime minister's hand and looked for the nearest exit. Britain had been the third country on a very long list. He mentally checked it off in his mind.
"Three rulers down. Time to go recruit some more."
2
Erica LaPlante felt the wind blow by her face as the angel she rode atop dashed through the air. When the turrets from the naval ship below fired projectiles in their direction, her winged ride easily spun to the right to avoid any damage whatsoever. This was the third attack Erica and her army had initiated in the last few weeks, and much like the previous two, the forces below had no answer for the interplanetary battalion.
I wish Ted could be here to see this.
As the angel ceased his spinning, Erica looked to her left and right. Two dozen similarly bare chested and powerful angels were ready to follow her every command. As she glanced downward, she could see the mermen gather under Yoshi's command. While she still had some misgivings about the former enemy in their midst, the samurai was almost unbeatable as a general. The incredible sea creatures were in the midst of assaulting the side of a warship with their spears. Their close range made it nearly impossible for the dark souls of the General to fight back. When the ship had another round of projectiles ready, Erica pointed in their direction.
"Take out the guns and we take out their last defense."
With her own angel giving a slight nod, the aerial company dove toward the ship in sync. Their motions
were precise and rehearsed. She imagined that if she were watching the angels from below, she'd be both terrified and mesmerized at the same time. The sulfurous smell of fired weapons reached her nose as the heavenly creatures brought hell down upon the dark souls. Easily evading the base's last attempt to fire upon them, Erica's angel and the other high flyers brought their flashing swords down on the turrets. The half a dozen readily firing machines bent and whimpered under their tempered blades. Without the ability to fire bullets, some of the dark soul sailors leapt off the boat in hopes of safety. Several of their enemies fell right into the grasp of the impressive mermen below. Erica saw one of them make a one-handed catch.
I bet these guys would be good at water polo.
As her angel landed on the deck, she leapt off him and stood by his side. A few sailors remained and attempted to fight back with their fists alone. When one such sailor ran toward Erica, her angel easily snatched the man from his sprint and tossed him into the ocean. His scream was vaguely reminiscent of a video game character plummeting to his death.
Erica smirked. "You guys never let me have any fun."
The angel put his hands on his hips. "I'll let you get a punch in next time."
The rest of the angels cleared the deck with ease, taking prisoners whenever possible as instructed. Erica considered their progress. They had successfully conquered the ship, but she hadn't heard much from the ground side of the battle. She tapped her earpiece. "Dhiraj, how are we doing toward the west?"
