by Cohen, Bryan
Riu felt the tears begin to stream down his face. He laid his head in Ted's lap and placed his hand in the hand of the living soul. In the midst of all the emotions, Riu failed to notice that the glow around him doubled in size.
Ted coughed. "Riu. Something is happening."
As Riu tightened his grip on Ted's hand, he felt his powers strengthen. As he concentrated on the source of his energy, he extended his hand forward. This time, the power obeyed his will, and he knew that at long last he had the ability to save the Earth.
Riu's eyes lit up. "It's not just the books." He looked down at his hand and then back up at Ted. "I can use my full powers just by touching you."
15
When nearly two days had gone by without any information about the seaweed, Yoshi decided to take matters into his own hands. The samurai waited until most of the ship was asleep when he began to follow up on a lead he'd gathered from one of his mermen. Before the supply had been stolen, one of Yoshi's soldiers had fallen asleep during his turn at guard. Or at least that's what he'd been told.
"I am sorry, god of the sky, but I did not give you the full truth when you asked."
Yoshi wanted to slice the sea creature's throat, but he hid his ire well. "I understand. You didn't want to disappoint me. But I need to know what truly happened."
The merman nodded. "I was attacked. It was from behind, so I didn't see it. I don't know who it was, but he was stronger than any human I've laid eyes on."
After eliminating Ted and Erica from the possible suspects list, Yoshi realized there was only one possible truth.
He touched his soldier on the shoulder. "I'm glad you told me the truth. There is no shame in your death."
With that, Yoshi plunged his sword into the stomach of the soldier. As he cut across the center, the creature slumped over and died. He turned toward his two other commanders. "Drag his body to the depths of the sea. I'm not interested in having Erica find out about this. Do you understand?"
His soldiers stood resolute, not even looking at their fallen comrade as they gave their assent.
"Good. Time to find a spy."
Yoshi knew he didn't have much time. If there was a covert operative aboard, not only could they point the General directly to them, but the dark soul could undermine their mission from within.
Yoshi crouched low and tiptoed along the deck. His movements were silent. "If the dark soul has been here all this time, it could already be too late."
Yoshi knew there were about four dozen humans onboard. None of them struck him as particularly strong, but anybody could be playing possum to keep the rest of them off the scent. Yoshi started with the most loose-lipped human he could think of.
When the samurai reached Dhiraj's room, he was surprised to see the door open.
Yoshi slipped into the room quickly and began lightly going through his things. While there was nothing out of the ordinary, a strange slideshow presentation on the teenager's computer gave the samurai pause.
The line between love and obsession can be especially thin.
When the door creaked open, Yoshi crouched in the shadows. Dhiraj walked into the room almost robotically as he placed something down on a towel upon his desk. Yoshi couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the long bloody knife glisten in the dimly lit room. Dhiraj turned toward Yoshi and extended his hand. He pointed right at the samurai's head. "I see you."
With lightening quick movements, Yoshi slammed the teenager against the wall. Even after putting his forearm against Dhiraj's throat, the boy wore the same expression he'd had when he'd entered the room.
Yoshi growled and spoke lowly. "You're the one. You stole our supplies. You attacked my soldier."
Dhiraj slowly shook his head from left to right. "You're getting warmer."
Yoshi looked to the knife and then back to the boy's face. "You're a pawn. Someone just needed you to—"
"I see you." The words exited Dhiraj's mouth as if they were sent from somewhere else. "I see you, samurai."
Yoshi realized his error too late. The dark soul was stalling him. As he pushed Dhiraj to the ground and ran for the door, a massive, shirtless angel slammed him in the chest. As Yoshi fell backwards, he rolled back into a standing position. While the tattoo was hidden, Yoshi could tell that the angel was no longer on their side.
The newly made dark soul spread his wings. "This is the end. But it could be a new beginning for you."
Yoshi pursed his lips. "Not today."
Yoshi ducked low as the angel reached for him. His feet flew through the air in a rapid succession of perfectly accurate kicks. By striking the point where the wings met the creature's shoulder, he caused the dark soul great pain and forced him to retract his feathered appendages. This opened the creature up for Yoshi to attack his arms. He landed seven consecutive kicks to the dark soul's right bicep and shoulder. When the angel reached with his left, Yoshi easily used the creature's momentum to toss him to the ground. Yoshi didn't look back to assess the angel's condition as he sprinted out of the room.
After a month of conditioning on the ship, Yoshi knew he had the speed and endurance to get to Erica's room in time. "I just need to get there before the dark souls do."
No longer caring about stealth, his feet pounded hard against the metal floors as he ran at top speed. He mentally tracked how close he was. Three floors away. Two floors away. One floor away.
As he made it into Erica's hallway, his heart sank at the sight before him. Jennifer Norris stared straight into his soul as she placed her hand on one of the books.
Yoshi made to scream, but his mouth shut tight as he floated into the air. He felt himself being pulled into a room across the hall and then pressed against the cold metal interior of the empty quarters.
The samurai struggled with all his strength to get free of the hold upon him. While he was protected against mind control, nothing he did could break the telekinetic power that kept him hostage.
After Dhiraj arrived in the room, Jennifer closed the door with her mental powers. The Indian teen chanted rhythmically.
Yoshi once again attempted to scream, but nothing came out.
Jennifer smiled. "I'm not surprised you were the first one to figure it out. You have a killer instinct that so many people on board lack."
Yoshi looked deep into the dark soul's eyes.
"It's my understanding that you've always felt second best. Like you deserved power greater than anyone else. Well, you're about to get it."
The symbol appeared on Yoshi just seconds before Dhiraj pulled out his knife and stabbed the samurai. Yoshi closed his eyes and tried to shut out the pain, but after two more slices, the darkness took over his everything.
The samurai opened his eyes. He felt stronger than ever.
16
Natalie's patience was beginning to wear thin. The previous night, there had been reports of strange noises near some of the living quarters. When the soldiers attempted to get up to find out what it was, they were held in place by a telekinetic force. Whatever was happening that night, the person who'd stolen the books didn't want a soul to find out about it.
As she sat across from yet another one of the dark soul prisoners, she couldn't remember if she or Doren was supposed to be the good cop.
At this point, I think we're both pissed enough to play bad cop bad cop.
Behind her, the hulking light soul Doren paced back and forth. To her front, the dark soul smiled in shackles.
Natalie looked down at a file folder. "It says here, Craig, that before you died and got a new personality, you were a good ol’ boy from North Carolina. Is that right?"
The dark soul continued to look as happy as a clam. "Yes, ma'am. That's right. But the past doesn't matter so much now, does it?"
Doren grunted. "I'd say it matters. We're going to hurt you a lot less if you share some of your past."
Natalie nodded to herself.
Okay. I'm good cop. Duly noted.
She flipped through the fol
der. "Pretty impressive here. Air Force. A few medals. Any chance that someone in there is still fighting for his country, deep down?"
The dark soul laughed. "I'm afraid there's nothing left of the old me, ma'am. Y'all might as well move on to the next one."
Doren was faster than either of them anticipated. He slammed the dark soul to the ground so quickly, that Natalie needed to catch her breath.
The light soul bared his teeth. "You've been talking. And so have your friends. You've been saying that you have personal knowledge about you and the rest of the dark souls getting out soon."
Natalie knew this was her cue to call off the dogs, but she was enjoying it too much. "You were there during the battle at Van Housen's settlement. Did you see something there that you're not telling us?"
As soon as the dark soul opened his mouth, Natalie could tell she'd touched upon something. Maybe it was the way his face twitched or the way his eyes pointed upward as if he was trying to invent a lie.
"I'm just optimistic is all. Y'all have confused confidence with information."
Doren tightened his grip on the prisoner's shirt. "I'm not from around here, friend. I could find out where your family lives in the Realm of Souls and kill them all in a heartbeat. Is that worth your secret?"
Craig did seem a bit nervous at the mention of his family, but his snark returned soon enough. "I'm willing to die for my people. And that means some of you are going to die too."
Doren lifted the dark soul's chair back up and stalked away from him.
Natalie crossed her arms. "For a southern gentleman, you're not being very helpful."
The door to the makeshift interrogation room opened. Ted walked in with a grin on his face.
Natalie studied him.
How does he keep his teeth so white?
"You need something?" Natalie looked back at the prisoner. "We're kind of in the middle of something?"
Ted took a step forward. "I thought you might like to give me a crack at him."
Doren chuckled. "Be our guest. This one's starting to piss me off."
The dark soul began to cackle. "You think I'm afraid of you? You can't look in my head anymore, living soul. You can throw me around with your powers all you want, but I'm not going to tell you anything."
Ted's smile widened. "Actually, I misspoke earlier. I don't want a crack at him." He looked at the door behind him. "He does."
All four feet and zero inches of Riu walked into the room with the confidence of a bodybuilder. He was smiling too.
What are you clowns up to?
Craig laughed even harder now. "Oh wow. What is this kid going to do? Read me a bedtime story?"
Riu looked up at Ted. "Now?"
Ted extended his hand downward. "Now works."
The moment that Riu grabbed Ted's hand, Natalie could feel a pulse of energy shoot through the room. A glowing green light extended from the boy's body and directed itself straight into the torso of the dark soul prisoner.
Craig's body shook as the energy enveloped him. He screamed for a brief moment before it seemed like the life force had been sucked out of him.
Natalie's eyes widened. "You got it to work?"
Ted licked his lips. "We got it to work."
Natalie and Doren smiled at each other.
"It's too bad that you won't talk, Craig. Because we might just have to send you on home."
Craig's body continued to shake as the green light moved upward and toward the ceiling.
Natalie looked down at the boy. "That's enough for now."
Riu's grip tightened on Ted's hand as the green light pushed through the ceiling.
Ted tried to pull his hand away. "Riu, we need him alive if we're going to get his info."
Riu continued to send the dark soul's essence upward until Natalie stepped in and broke the boy's contact with Ted. The green light shot back down into Craig's body and the dark soul's chair slammed to the ground.
The prisoner was frantic, shifting his body left and right as if he were drowning. "I'll tell you everything. I'll tell you everything, just get that kid out of here."
Riu looked down at his hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to stop for some reason."
Natalie smirked. "You did good, kid. Now get out of here before the prisoner wets his pants."
Ted gave a slight nod to Natalie as he led the boy out.
Doren's eyebrows danced. "That sure is easier than me punching the info out of him. Now where were we?"
"It's one of your friends." The dark soul's voice pitched higher with every word. "One of your friends is the mole."
Natalie's chest tightened. She ran over the possibilities in her mind. "And which friend is that?"
Before the prisoner could say a word, the lights in the room went out. And that's when the gunfire began.
17
Erica's throat was raw as she shouted out commands to her troops. She'd been in a meeting with a small group of human soldiers when the power shut down. She could feel the aircraft carrier drifting beneath her, but almost every other sense gave her nothing in the darkness.
"Ready positions for an attack!"
As most of the men stood at attention, she could hear three members of the company kneel down low.
The next sound was the cocking of three weapons all at once. "Look out!"
Erica pulled her desk down in front of her as three men she thought were allies began firing on their own people. She could hear the bullets connecting with several soldiers before the three attackers were finally neutralized. Erica pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight feature. Damage had been done, with five soldiers falling to the attack. She stepped up to one of the assassins who'd been pinned down. She untucked his shirt and yanked it up.
The familiar image of the dark soul tattoo stared up at her.
"Damn." She took the firearm from one of the soldiers and discharged bullets into all three attackers.
She shook her head and holstered the weapon. "Mind if I borrow this, soldier?"
The man looked down at the ones he thought were his friends before he handed over his firearm.
"I need you four with me." She gestured to her soldiers. "The rest of you rendezvous with your teams. Don't trust anybody except the ones you see in this room. Do you understand?"
The soldiers looked shaken as they gave their assent.
"Let's go."
As they left the room, Erica could hear the sounds of a battle raging on in the decks above. She gave the weapon back to the soldier. "You'll need this. I have something better."
Though she still felt weak from the repercussions of using the book, Erica grabbed hold of the railing at the edge of the deck and pulled herself over onto the other side. "You four stay together. I've got a weapon to find."
With a mighty heave, Erica threw herself upwards and grabbed hold of the next set of railings, even though she felt like it took every ounce of her strength just to hold on. She crouched low and leapt up once again. This time, she missed with her left hand before latching on with her right. Erica's adrenaline pumped as she held on with four fingertips.
This was probably a bad idea.
The sounds of gunfire and kicking and punching continued to reach her ears as she struggled to grab hold with her other hand. She looked up and saw there was one more deck to go.
She gritted her teeth and tightened her grip. "I've got this. I've got this. I've got this." With one more push, Erica flew upwards until her hands grabbed hold of the ship's top deck. She rolled herself on, though she wasn't sure she even had enough energy left to stand. "It's not too much farther."
Erica somehow found the strength to push herself up. Bullets whizzed through the air, and the protector had to keep low to stay out of the line of fire. After avoiding several confrontations, Erica reached an unassuming control panel beside an exhaust pipe. Erica opened it up and pulled out the powerful sword from the Realm of Souls.
She smiled as the metal shimmered. "Come to mama."
The remaining angel looked stupefied. "General?"
She turned the sword in her hand. "It's still me, soldier. Let's get some bad guys."
With the angel by her side, Erica made her best guess at which soldiers were hers and which ones were allied with the General. She sliced a few of her own men, but took out a half dozen dark souls along the way.
When she heard a familiar male scream, she turned toward it. There was Agent Vott with his gun pointed downward. It was aiming right for the man's human partner, Agent Harding.
Erica shouted in his direction. "Hey Vott! Catch!"
The former Homeland Security agent turned dark soul spun toward her as Erica threw the sword like a sphere. While he caught the blade an inch before it hit his chest, it was enough to make him drop his gun. Erica ran toward him and tried to kick the blade a little bit farther. Vott threw the sword to the side before she could and blocked her attack with his wrist.
He flared his nostrils. "Even when I was a human I wanted to kill you."
Erica punched at him, but he evaded every blow.
She wiped some sweat from her forehead. "You weren't my favorite either."
As Vott swung for her, something cracked him in the back of the head. Agent Harding stood above his partner with a red fire extinguisher. Erica looked up into the teary eyes of the man who just learned he'd lost his partner. "I'm sorry." She grabbed the sword off the ground and moved into position.
Harding held up his arm. "Don't. At least not yet. I need to see if he's still in there."
Erica huffed. This wasn't the first time she'd seen this happen, but there was too much going on to argue.
"Fine. Just chain him up."
As Erica reentered the battle, she took out three more dark souls before a familiar voice beckoned her.
