by Cohen, Bryan
Natalie shot off a few rounds before diving behind a pile of crates. By this point in the battle, she'd almost become immune to the sound of gunfire.
Natalie quickly disengaged her pack and pressed a few buttons on it. "It was fun while it lasted." As soon as the dark souls paused to reload their weapons, Natalie got to her feet and tossed the weaponized jetpack toward them. Several of the sailors fired upon it as Natalie ducked back down. The explosion sent the crates flying into her, knocking her to the ground. When an angel helped her to her feet, she turned to see the carnage she had wrought. It wasn't a pretty sight, with a streak of blood covering most of the deck, but at least no one was firing on her anymore.
Natalie flipped her audio switch. "Deck's secure. My squad can hold here for a while. How are you doing, Princess Leia?"
The ricochets of bullets sounded on Christina's com. "Could use a little help here if you're able."
Natalie shook off the ringing in her ears and gestured for one of the angels to come closer. "Lost my ride, can I borrow your wings?"
The majestic creature nodded and Natalie leapt on.
Flying across the battlefield, narrowly avoiding waves of gunfire, the two of them landed on their side of the divide that had formed during the battle.
Natalie's heart sank at the dozens of human bodies that littered the ground. She spotted Christina and fired her weapon to provide cover. Ted's sister ran toward her, and they crouched behind a large rock together.
Christina shook her head. "I wouldn't say that this is going well."
Natalie peered in front of the rock. One of the rhinos had stepped right into the line of fire. When a dozen dark souls used automatic weapons on the creature at once, the brave rhino took out a few with his fists before falling lifelessly to the ground.
Natalie scratched at her neck. "I would have to agree with you."
Natalie pointed her laser above the rock and fired about a dozen quick shots. The dark souls who'd just downed the rhino fell to the earth beside him.
Christina wiped some dirt and sweat from her forehead. "The planes haven't left from the ship yet. But it's only a matter of time."
Just then, a grenade flew over the rock and landed by Natalie's feet.
She instinctively reached for the weapon, grabbed hold, and tossed it back in the same direction. It had only exited her hand for two seconds when it detonated. Natalie felt the heat against her face as the impact blew her backwards. She landed approximately 10 feet away, her head somewhat spared by hitting the sand. The sound of the battle left her, replaced by a humming noise brought on from the grenade. The pain in her head was immense, but she knew she was no use to the cause on the ground. Natalie stood, only to realize that three dark souls stood before her. Their weapons were drawn and aimed at her midsection.
I'm sorry, Ted.
As the weapons discharged, a blur appeared from the left side of Natalie's peripheral. The bullets streamed toward her, but none of them made impact. Landing hard to her right side was Yoshi the samurai. His outfit was stained with fresh blood.
Natalie didn't hesitate, diving to one knee and grabbing hold of the samurai's sword. She tossed it straight into the chest of one of the attackers. As the sharpened blade went through him like a knife through butter, Natalie found her weapon behind her. She discharged it twice before the dark souls knew what happened.
Natalie looked down at the samurai, his eyes laser-focused on hers.
"I figured out what I was supposed to do."
Natalie put her hands on the samurai's shirt and gripped hard. "That isn't the last thing. You are still fighting in this."
He smiled peacefully. "My fight is done. Good luck, Natalie."
Yoshi's eyes glazed over, remaining open to the horrors of the battle.
Natalie screamed and stood. She ran for the nearest group of dark souls and opened fire. The laser blasts hit their targets with great precision. After taking down seven opponents, a bullet struck Natalie through the shoulder.
The adrenaline reduced the pain, but it certainly didn't eliminate it. Attempting to hold the weapon up made her shoulder sting as she found new cover. She looked to her left, and the stunned Christina Finley joined her. "I can't believe that grenade didn't kill us. Your reflexes may be even quicker than mine."
Natalie laughed, though it hurt to do so. "You're welcome."
The sounds of gunfire continued to echo through the battlefield. In the distance, Natalie watched another dark soul ship arrive and open to reveal dozens of additional soldiers. And while they were immediately besieged upon by Yoshi's mermen, spears weren't enough to counter guns. Several of the sea creatures fell and floated on the top of the sea.
Natalie shook her head. "That fool of a samurai was right. We don't have a chance to get to those ships. It's over."
As Christina inspected and then held her hand on Natalie's wound, she raised an eyebrow. "You're half right."
Natalie pretended the pain from Christina's pressure didn't have any effect. She doubted anyone was buying the act. "Which half? Us being screwed or us never getting to those planes?"
Christina pulled a small detonator out of her pocket. "We knew we were screwed. We knew we would never get to those planes. That's why before we got here, a few of my men planted a bomb onboard big enough to take out a city."
Natalie looked down at the red button on the small device. "Which would take us out as well."
Christina nodded. "That's the side effect. If we can't pull this off, this button is our only option."
Ted came to and realized exactly where he was. The living soul sat in front of a large video monitor inside the Oval Office. His head was foggy from the gas, but he supposed he couldn't be too upset. After all, the General had kept him alive for some reason.
Ted looked on at the raging battle on the screen. When he saw the sandy beach poking through the carnage and the blood, he knew that the feed was showing Natalie and the army. It wasn't looking good.
"You still have the chance to surrender peacefully."
While Ted's arms and legs were bound, he could turn his neck just enough to see the General enjoying everything he saw on screen.
Ted stared down his doppelganger. "I don't understand why you want me to surrender. You've got all the firepower you need to lay waste to this world. What would you get out of a treaty?"
The General coughed, and Ted watched the blood dribble out of his mouth.
Ted's understanding grew. "You're dying. Like Erica was."
The General dabbed at his mouth with a handkerchief. "I'd like to think I used the books twice as much and lasted nearly three times as long. But yes, an unexpected side effect of using the books was a premature demise."
Ted wished the blood would flow harder from the General's body. "That's what you get. Why create a treaty if you're not going to live to see its effects."
The General looked toward the screen and then back at Ted. "I thought about destroying this world with the tools you've created. A few nuclear bombs and this supposed land of freedom would be uninhabitable for decades." He stood staring at the screen. "Uninhabitable for your people and for mine."
Ted shook his head. "You want me to sign this world over to you outright. You want me to stop the fighting and just let you take everybody. For what in return?"
"To keep your precious, sweet-tasting Natalie alive." He grinned. "And to stop the rest of the dark souls from killing your parents in the light souls’ capital city."
Ted's fists clenched tightly. "I won't let you ransom my world for my loved ones anymore."
The General laughed. "You'd rather everyone you care about be dead. Dhiraj Patel? Natalie Dorn? Your steadfast, loving parents? They'll all die today if you don't sign over this world to me. Surrender, or your whole world is over."
Ted yanked the restraints off his hands. As his blood boiled, his powers grew in magnitude.
"This isn't about Natalie or my parents." He pointed at the General. "You've had the dr
eams too. You know this doesn't end well for either of us."
The General licked his lips. "Then I guess there's no delaying the inevitable. I'll let you have the first punch."
Ted reached for his powers and used them on the walls that surrounded them.
"It's a little too stuffy in here, don't you think?"
The living soul extended his hand and tore the Oval Office right out of the building. He felt the floor fly beneath him as the iconic office of the president cracked and crashed through the building and landed with a powerful thud on the green lawn below.
35
Dhiraj couldn't believe his own eyes. He'd been scanning the area for threats when he saw the freaking Oval Office tear itself away from the White House. When it skidded to a stop just a few hundred feet away from him and Riu, he knew that the plan was drawing to a close.
Riu tugged at his sleeve. "I saw this in my dream."
Dhiraj raised an eyebrow. "Do you know what happens next?"
As Riu shook his head, a new wave of attackers converged upon their position. The Secret Servicemen opened fire, and Dhiraj and Riu retreated behind a short wall.
Riu began unscrewing the cap from his vial.
Dhiraj stopped him. "Wait."
"We're under attack. I can stop them."
"But you'll stop Ted too. We need him as powerful as possible if he's going to kill the General. If that bastard doppelganger gets away, the whole planet's screwed."
Riu resealed the vial. "Then what do we do?"
Dhiraj sent up a silent prayer. "We hope Jennifer's brainwashed goons hold out long enough for us to survive. If they don't, we better hope your powers are strong enough to stop the General."
Dhiraj peeked around the side of the wall, which gave him a clear view into the new patio version of the Oval Office.
He saw his friend from across the way. "Come on, Ted. We're all counting on you."
Cora felt the solid metal connect hard with the side of her face. She'd been expecting a fist not a gun when stepped into the 10th hand-to-hand fight since the battle began. Behind her, the Lychos she'd brainwashed was facing off against three dark souls of his own. When her opponent swung his weapon toward her again, she caught it and ripped it from his grasp. Ignoring the pain in her cheek, she swung the gun directly into his neck. The weapon bent as the dark soul crumpled to the ground.
That's 10. Not that they we're keeping track.
Cora turned to see that the Lychos was now facing off against six opponents. With blades in their hands, they took down the wolf. She couldn't sever her brain link connection in time to avoid feeling the stabs in her own body.
Cora gritted her teeth to stop from screaming. It's all in my head. It's all in my head.
When she opened her eyes, the soldiers who brought down her unwilling partner stalked toward her.
She stood. "Okay, they aren't in my head."
When the first attackers swung his blade toward her, she ducked and used her momentum to plant the weapon in the dark soul's own chest. Two more came toward her, but a spinning kick sent both of their weapons flying. One of them luckily landed in the leg of the fourth attacker.
But knowing they had the upper hand, the dark souls converged around her, slowly circling and waiting to strike.
Cora screamed at them. "Fight me!"
But her opponents continued to circle and close off her avenues for attack.
She could see that the end was coming. "Dammit. Dammit!"
A laser blast from behind her slammed hard into one of the four remaining attackers. As they turned to fight, the other three were met with similar fiery attacks. They went down hard, and Cora tried to see who her saviors were through the smoke. Emerging from the cavernous bunker were multiple faces Cora recognized. Travis Connor's mother stood beside Dhiraj Patel's father, each of them holding a laser like an expert. The Finleys were there as well, each sporting their own gun. And Erica's mom was the last one to emerge.
Mrs. LaPlante spoke first. "We were tired of letting you kids have all the fun."
Cora felt a certain pride for not only her parents but for all of humanity. They just never stopped fighting.
She smiled. "Thank you guys. But if you don't mind, I'm going to take control of your brains for a little bit."
Mrs. Finley let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God. I was just as close to shooting you guys as I was to shooting them."
One by one, Cora used her powers to take hold of the Treasure parents' minds. She left her control loose, just giving her enough of a window in to aim and shoot with all her expertise.
After setting them up, something caught Erica's eye from across the battlefield. Another wave of dark souls had entered through the wall, and this one contained a veritable celebrity. The de facto leader of the dark soul army, Pluric Xanivere, limped his way inside.
She touched her mother on the shoulder. "I need to stop him. If he goes down, the army may just fall apart."
Her mother nodded. "We have your eyes and ears, go do what have to do."
Erica smiled and took one of the weapons. She walked toward the General's second-in-command and fired her weapon with blazing fury. Every personal guard who attended to the high-ranking official fell to the ground with a hole burned through their chests.
Pluric turned and smiled. "Protector. I felt you cross over when your earthly body died. It's a shame the living soul is doomed to fail without you."
As she pointed the weapon toward him, she pulled the trigger but nothing happened. When it failed to fire on a second attempt, she tossed it to the ground and crouched low in a fighting stance. "You've got bigger things to worry about than whether or not Ted Finley feels lonely."
Pluric prepared himself for battle. "Indeed I do. Enjoy your second death, Cora."
As the two charged for each other, Cora felt something tingling in the back of her mind. She had a feeling that someone she knew and loved was about to enter her life again.
36
Jennifer arrived through the portal and into a dimly lit room that all seemed to center on one thing. The large silo structure in the middle that housed a secret nuclear weapon.
Holy crap.
Even with her feeling faint from the use of the unnatural powers, Jennifer could detect every brain and body in the room. About eight dark souls rushed toward her as soon as she set foot next to the nuke.
"This is my planet, you bastards."
Jennifer stretched her fingers and all of the attackers immediately flew backwards into the nearest wall. The sound of broken bones and dented walls barely registered over the ticking countdown clock.
Jennifer's vision was starting to become fuzzy, but she could make out the image of the numbers above her as clear as day. In five minutes and counting, the city the world knew as Washington, DC, would no longer exist.
One of the dark souls stood up from his position and fired his gun toward her. Jennifer nonchalantly froze the bullet in midair and sent it right back into the attacker's forehead. As he collapsed in a heap, several of the other conscious dark souls fled the room.
She looked at the deadly weapon and her insides felt cold. "What am I supposed to do with this? I'm not exactly the bomb squad over here."
Jennifer.
She turned toward the noise, but there didn't seem to be a source.
Jennifer, there isn't much time.
As she did a full turn, Jennifer realized that it was Ted speaking to her using his mind.
The Realm of Souls is under attack. Everyone from Treasure is in danger. Bring the nuke there.
Jennifer took in a deep breath. "Okay. I think I can do that."
She checked her nose, and the bleeding appeared to have stopped for the time being.
"Here goes nothing."
Jennifer felt for the full weight of Ted's powers. As she began to float into the air, the room beneath her started to rumble. Cement cracked and glass broke as the entire room surrounding the bomb began to separate from the building.
Jennifer could feel dozens of stories' worth of dirt above her being dug out as she and the bomb floated skyward. Jennifer ignored the metallic taste of blood in her mouth as she and the room reached daylight.
Every muscle in her body felt strained, but she knew that there was no letting go now. She had the fate of a city in her hands.
As Jennifer and the bomb cleared a safe distance over the White House lawn, she squinted her eyes shut. "Now for a portal big enough for the two of us."
Creating the gateway brought on a burning pain inside her head. The stinging and pounding sensation was worse than any migraine, but once she opened her eyes, she could see the swirling blue above her.
"You took my father. You took my friends. You're not taking any more of us."
With a great effort that made her head pound even more, Jennifer lifted the bomb and herself straight through the portal and into the Realm of Souls.
Ted stared down the General. He didn't seem the least bit scared or impressed by Ted's powerful display.
The General looked bemused. "I suppose it's just the two of us now. A pity we couldn't find a peaceful solution."
Ted took a step toward his doppelganger. "The person in charge of a thousand-year war isn't interested in peace."
The living soul reached for his powers in an attempt to float into the air. But nothing happened. It seemed his secret weapon was too close for comfort.
The General smiled and stalked toward him. "Your eyes betray you, Ted. It looks like you'll have to stop me au naturel."
Ted clenched his fists. "With pleasure."
Before he could react, the General dashed through Ted's defenses and landed three quick punches on his jaw. Ted pushed his opponent away and stepped back quickly to recover. The pain in his mouth seemed to indicate either a dislocation or a break. Ted ignored it and put up his hands. "Is that all you've got?"
