by Cohen, Bryan
The rumbling of the approaching army wasn't the thing that worried Cora the most. What topped her list of nervousness was seeing Erica's parents. She didn't want them to know that their daughter's body had died once and for all. But, she also didn't want them to see the real her. The woman behind the curtain. The person who had replaced their daughter.
As Cora walked toward the nearest communication station to transmit her message throughout the area, she heard a familiar voice.
"Excuse me, Miss." Ted's mother smiled like they were already friends. "Are earthquakes common on the Realm of Souls or is this something else entirely?"
Cora's breath caught in her throat. She had no idea what to say.
While Cora struggled to speak, Mrs. Finley's eyes widened.
"Wait a second. Erica?" Ted's mother placed her hand on Cora's. "Erica. It's you, I just know it's you. What happened?"
Cora was dumbfounded. "How can you tell—"
"It's the eyes. Or the aura, or whatever you'd call it. If you are dead, has anything happened to—"
"He's safe. Ted is fine. But, I need you to do me a favor."
She nodded. "Of course. Am I supposed to say I'm sorry about your loss? It's kind of a strange situation we don't have on Earth too often."
Cora smiled, despite her nerves. "You Finleys really are incredible. Those rumblings you feel mean we're in trouble. I need you to gather up everyone from Treasure. We're headed to a more secure location." Another tremor went through the ground, this one larger than the last. The army was getting closer.
"You don't have to tell me twice. Fortunately, I already have some cookies ready for the situation."
Cora shook her head as Ted's mom gave her a large hug.
"Thank you for keeping my son alive. He and I will always love you, no matter who you really are."
Cora gave Mrs. Finley a quick squeeze. "Thank you for that."
Between the subsequent announcement and Mrs. Finley's assistance, the people of Treasure were gathered and ready to head into an underground bunker. The rumbling had stopped from outside of the city, which could only mean one thing: The dark souls were in position to strike.
As the first set of refugees headed into the underground cavern, Erica's mother tapped Cora on the shoulder.
"Ted's mother told me… is it really you?"
Butterflies danced in Cora's stomach. "Hi, Mom."
Mrs. LaPlante teared up and hugged the woman who had lived inside her daughter. "Erica. I had a feeling something had gone terribly wrong."
Cora continued to gesture for Treasure residents to head down below. "I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, your daughter's—my— sacrifice could end up saving the world."
Erica's mom pulled back and smiled. "These last couple of years, the ones before you came along, I thought I was the worst mother alive. My daughter would have been long gone if it wasn't for your help. You gave her a second chance, and I'll always appreciate that."
Cora's warm feeling subsided as soon as the first explosion sounded.
The refugees ducked and hid, even though the attack was just outside the wall to the capital.
Cora helped her mother to her feet. "I appreciate you too, Mom. Let's get inside." She shouted to the rest of the town's residents. "We need to get inside, now!"
The explosion was only the first of many to follow it, but the people of Treasure listened to Cora. Almost everybody had gotten inside, when a blast of wood and stone rained through the air. Cora turned behind her to see daylight poking through a wall that had previously seemed impenetrable.
Mr. and Mrs. Finley were among the last few who hadn't yet entered. Ted's mom was doing everything she could to look strong. "What was that, Erica?"
Cora's hand twitched. "They've breached the walls."
Just as she was about to give the command for everyone else to get inside, a ten-foot-tall Lychos growled and ran toward them, his teeth bared.
The creature appeared to be headed straight for Mrs. Finley. Cora felt weak from her transition just a few hours earlier, but something about the way the wolflike creature looked at Ted's mom brought all the energy she needed back to her stores.
Cora crouched down low and waited until the Lychos was just in range. With a well-timed leap, the protector flew through the air and leapt right upon the back of the scowling creature. The Lychos whipped his head back and forth, but Cora's tight grip on the wolf's fur kept her exactly where she wanted to be.
Cora moved her hands to the sides of the beast's hairy face. "I might be wrong about this, but I think you'd be a much better asset on our side."
Blue electric currents shot through Cora's hands and went right through the brain of the terrifying creature. He howled in agony as he collapsed hard to the ground. Cora jumped off the wolf and attended to the Finleys. "Are you guys okay?"
Ted's dad looked petrified. "Would it be embarrassing for a grown man to say he wet himself? I'm asking for a friend."
Mrs. Finley touched his shoulder. "I brought some fresh underwear. Let's just get down to safety."
The wolf creature roared back to life, and stood in a hurry. As the Finleys backed away, Cora put up her hand.
"Don't worry you guys. He's with us now."
As several dark souls who'd breached the walls ran in their direction, the Lychos sprang into action. With a few slices of its knife-like claws, the mind-controlled creature cut through the invaders with ease. They lay slashed and dying on the ground.
Mrs. Finley raised an eyebrow. "If we make it through this, remind me to ask you how I can do that on my husband."
Cora chuckled. "You've got it. Now, get down there with the rest of them."
Mrs. Finley blew her a kiss as they held hands and sprinted down to the bunker in tandem.
Erica observed the fight happening all around her. Lycos and dark souls tore at the light soul guardians protecting the city. Above her, a war of the sky waged on. Planes fired against each other with eardrum-crushing artillery. The fight surrounded them, and all Cora had at her disposal were her wits and a ten-foot-tall wolf.
She nodded to the creature. "Don't let them anywhere near that door. We protect it with our lives."
The Lychos nodded his approval and set out his teeth in a snarl.
Cora took a fighting position. "There's no one coming to save us. It's us or them. Now, let's see how many of you bastards I can kill."
32
Ted was flanked by half a dozen Secret Servicemen as he walked through the White House. The last time he'd been in the building, he didn't exactly have warm, fuzzy memories. Being just a little too slow to stop the statesman of the world from being killed still irked him to this day. A part of him blamed his actions on Dhiraj's capture and Jennifer's murder as well. If he had only played things a little bit differently.
Ted put his emotions on hold as they reached their destination. The first guard opened the door to a long dining hall that seemed almost unchanged from the time the White house had been built. Sitting at the far end of the table were the dark soul who'd replaced the President of the United States and Ted's doppelganger. Only one of them was smiling.
The General gestured to an empty chair. "Our guest of the evening has arrived. I had a dream that you'd be coming soon. Isn't it always so nice when our dreams come true?"
Ted took a seat and the guards left the three of them alone.
The living soul leaned his elbows on the table. "I hear this place has good ribs. Any idea how backed up the kitchen is?"
President Blake growled. "You think this is all so funny. Killing thousands of our soldiers instead of letting this just all end peacefully. You should be ashamed, Dash."
"That'll be all, Mr. President."
Blake looked as though he wanted to continue his tirade, but the General held all the cards in the situation.
The president stood up. "If you'll excuse me."
As he made to leave, Ted called out for him. "Mr. President. I know you're not really in there
anymore, but your previous inhabitant sure made a terrible move trying to team up with this guy."
Blake fumed. "I was just trying to reach across the aisle."
"And you got your arm chopped off in the process. Enjoy the rest of your day."
The President stormed out, leaving Ted and the General alone.
The General laughed to himself. "You may be my mortal enemy, Living Soul, but that was well played." He licked his lips. "Now, is there any chance you're here to negotiate the terms of your surrender?"
Ted scrunched up his face. "Not today, I'm afraid."
The General pursed his lips. "Fair enough. Though you really have so much more to lose. A cease-fire could end that."
Ted attempted to read his opponent's mind, but when he came up empty, he imagined the seaweed from Yoshi's world had a strong supply in the White House.
"Do you really think I'd believe you if you proposed a cease-fire? The last time I tried to set up a peaceful resolution between us, you tried to take over my world."
The General linked his fingers on the table. "I've practically succeeded at taking over your world. I've taken everything from you. Travis, Sheriff Norris, even your dear, sweet Erica."
Ted fought hard against the hatred that welled up in him. "You're not taking anything else from me. Your tenure as Earth's emperor has come to an end."
The General smiled and looked into Ted's eyes. "It really is a pity that you stopped Jennifer. Those doe eyes were completely perfect for espionage. I was wondering, did you watch her die?"
That's when Ted realized he had him. There was something he knew that the General didn't. His lack of a poker face betrayed him.
The General's identical face twisted into a sneer. "You have a secret, Mr. Finley. Care to share?"
Ted raised his eyebrows. "Just a little secret I've been saving for this occasion."
The General stood up so quickly, Ted did the same just to keep pace.
"You think I don't know about your little golden child? There is no way I'm letting him leave this city alive. Everyone has orders to shoot on sight."
Ted smirked. "It's over, General. We'll let you go back to the Realm of Souls if you give up now."
The General laughed a little too long. "You think things are through? You should never let your guard down, Mr. Finley."
The moment that Ted detected the gas entering the room, the General was on him. With the General’s tight hold on Ted's arms and grip around his hips, the living soul's attempts to flee the room were thwarted. As Ted tried to use his telekinesis to swirl the gas away, the General clocked his opponent twice in the back of the head. The powerful punches got Ted's ears ringing as he tried and failed to throw the General off. The gas reached Ted's throat and lungs and he started coughing right away.
The General's mouth pressed against the living soul's ear. "Nothing is over until I say it is."
As Ted made one last attempt to send the gas in the room through a portal, the General's blunt force elbow, combined with the gas, allowed the darkness to settle in on Ted's consciousness.
33
Jennifer was still shocked by Ted's brazen blast into the White House, but it had provided a good enough distraction for her, Dhiraj, and Riu to slip in through the hole in the gate and find a decent hiding spot among one of the gardens.
Jennifer wasn't quite sure how well it was working, but whenever she could feel a camera nearby, she pressed her hand into one of the books and commanded the electronic device to explode. A few displays of sparks and fire seemed to indicate success so far.
Dhiraj kept hold of the other books, careful to not to touch the pages. "Are you feeling okay? If the books are starting to mess with you, we could stop this mission right now."
Jennifer looked into his caring eyes. Aside from a little dizziness, she felt perfectly fine. "You know that that isn't an option. We're in this, the three of us. Win, lose, or die."
Riu brought up the rear and padded Dhiraj on the back. "She's right. There's no choice now but to press on."
Dhiraj sighed. "As long as I've made my objections known."
Jennifer smirked. "Your objections are cute but irritating." Something blipped in her mind, as if danger was fast approaching. "Something's about to happen, you guys."
A group of secret servicemen quietly came at them from both sides of the garden. They pointed their weapons and screamed. "Hands up! Drop the books."
As Jennifer did what she was told, Riu quickly unscrewed the vial of blood he wore around his neck.
One of the guards looked right into the boy's eyes. "Don't you touch—"
Before he could get the words out, Riu's pointer finger made contact with Erica's blood. An explosion of green energy radiated outward and slammed hard into the Secret Servicemen. Of the eight guards who'd converged on their position, seven of them collapsed to the ground. The lone remaining human looked at his fallen comrades with fear and confusion.
Jennifer dove to the ground and opened one of the books. The human attacker fired toward her. About a foot away from Jennifer's face, the bullet froze in midair.
Dhiraj cursed at the guard as the others started to come to. Jennifer used her powers to pull the weapon away from the remaining human guard and opened another book beside her. As she placed her hand down in the second one, all the Secret Servicemen stood in unison.
Dhiraj looked toward her. "Don't you want to tell them what happened? They're all human now."
Jennifer shook her head. "There's not enough time, and we could really use some protection right now."
The guards spread out in a circular pattern around the three of them. They pointed their weapons outward, as if to deflect any oncoming attackers. They were safe for now.
Riu screwed the cap back on the vial and wiped the blood remaining on his finger off on his pants. "What now? Do we continue to wait?"
Jennifer let the mental powers of the book flow over her. "Let me see if I can hear what Ted's thinking."
As she reached out to the surrounding area, she sensed a trickle of blood dripping out of her nose. She turned away from Dhiraj just quickly enough to hide it.
A shiver went through her.
This is all for the greater good. He'll understand if something happens.
As she ignored the increasing dizziness, she couldn't find Ted's thoughts, but she did see something just as pressing.
She gestured toward Dhiraj. "Give me the others. I need to see if I can absorb their powers."
Dhiraj shook his head. "No way. That's way too much power at once."
Jennifer pictured what she saw in her mind. Deep beneath the White House was something nobody expected to ever find or use. In a secret bunker, a nuclear weapon that could level all of Washington, DC, counted down from 10 minutes.
She pointed more forcefully. "Ted is busy and you two need to be ready for him. I've got you these guards, but the General set up a nuke."
Dhiraj’s eyes widened. "How much time do we have?"
Jennifer ripped the other two books from his hands and placed them all down on the grass next to each other. "Less than 10 minutes. And I'm the only one who can do anything about it."
Dhiraj looked like he was trying to speak, but instead tears came out. "I—You can't—You might die."
Riu took Dhiraj’s hand. "We all might die. But it is her destiny."
Jennifer braced herself as she prepared to touch the books. "Yeah, what he said. Here's goes nothing."
Jennifer pressed her hands and forearms down on all four of the books at once. A burning sensation went through her body as the powers entered her. She could feel all of them at close reach. When she stood up, even without the books pressing into her, she could do everything she needed to do for this one last mission.
Dhiraj put his hand to his forehead. "Jen, oh my God, your nose."
The trickle from Jennifer's nostril had become an all-out stream. But she was nothing if not prepared. Jennifer took out two rolled up wads of gauze and stuff
ed them in. They went from white to crimson in a hurry.
She used the powers of the book to float herself toward Dhiraj. "I'm going to make this right. You keep him safe until all of this is over. Can you do that for me?"
Dhiraj nodded. "I need to tell you something."
As Jennifer lifted her head slightly, Dhiraj went in for the kiss. He pressed his lips up against her, barely avoiding the gauze as he did it. Jennifer felt her power grow as she smiled into the lip lock.
Dhiraj was the first to pull away. "I needed to tell you that being a hero looks good on you."
She smiled. "Ditto." She sighed and wondered if she'd ever see her first love again. "End this thing for me."
Riu grinned awkwardly. "You two are so gross."
Dhiraj patted the boy on the back. "You'll understand when you're older. We've got this."
Jennifer's instincts put her hand out in front of her, where a small blue portal just large enough to fit her standing formed in the nothingness. The mind controlled Secret Servicemen didn't even look back to see the spectacle.
As her world started to spin, Jennifer pretended that absolutely nothing was wrong as she mouthed the words "I love you" and flew into the shimmering gateway.
34
Natalie twisted through the air to avoid some heavy rounds of artillery as she flew beside her squadron of angels. She pulled out her weapon, the blaster her friend Doren had saved this very occasion.
"This shot's for you, man."
She lined up her target and fired twice. The laser blasts zipped through the air and slammed right into the weapon that'd been firing upon her. The explosion was just one sound of many in the midst of the chaos.
Natalie wished she had time to celebrate, but several other large weapons pointed in their direction. She avoided the next set of blasts, but the angel to her left wasn't so lucky. The round pierced through one of his wings, and he fell from the sky like a rock.
"Damn!" She tapped the com in her ear. "We're taking too much fire up here, let's get to the deck."
The angels beside her performed evasive maneuvers until all of them landed on the deck of the opponent's ship. While their long-range weapons wouldn't have much effect, dozens of soldiers were more than happy to open fire.
