Lucius casually walked back to the exact spot he had been in prior to rushing toward and kicking the gun out of James’ hand. A look of disappointment was edged on his face. “Such a pity, that a man with such a great reputation should be afraid of the beauty of unarmed combat. Still, you have never found yourself in a fair fight until now have you my vermin friend?”
James rushed up to his feet and without hesitation launched himself towards his enemy. His fists were clenched and he unleashed all of the unique quickness and strength he possessed, determined to deliver a knockout blow.
To the surprise of the agent, the white-haired man proved to be even faster than he was. He effortlessly blocked and dodged James’ attacks. A few of the agent’s blows did indeed land, but Lucius barely blinked as the fists struck him. Dodging a final punch, the white-haired man moved his right arm towards his left shoulder and launched forward his right arm, delivering a backhanded punch, which landed right on James’ chin. The blow seemed nothing more than a move to simply brush his opponent away; still James flew over ten feet in the air, crashing down onto the ground stomach first.
Laying flat on the floor, James coughed hard twice. Blood flew from his month as a result of the second cough, clearly showing that Lucius’ blow had done serious damage.
“A treaty of peace has cost you your strength,” Lucius declared. The man began to pace back and forth a few steps from the spot he was standing. “Your technique is flawed, weakened by them. Those of little significance.”
James struggled to get to his feet. Dazed and in pain, he just about managed it.
Lucius rushed forward, plunging his hand around James’ neck. “You are not one of them. If you were, I could crush your neck in an instant.” James tried to break free, but to no avail. He was no match for the white haired man’s great strength. “As it is, a vermin’s neck is annoyingly resilient,” said Lucius, who began to increase the pressure of his grip. “But not unbreakable…”
Sophie, who had been close to unconscious the entire time, began to come around. As her sight returned to her, she looked on, seeing James in some trouble. She reached inside her top and picked out a small bag, which she had stored within her bra. She untied the piece of white string that held the bag together and spread the bag open, revealing four pieces of small metal, which she quickly assembled into a knife. Sophie planned to use her excellent knife wielding skills to save the day and it wasn’t a moment too soon. Lucius increased his grip further around James’ neck as the female agent slowly rose to her feet.
The Irish girl, barely able to stand, took aim with the knife. During her training, she had hit a target whilst blindfolded with deadly accuracy; therefore her fragile state would be of no obstacle for her to hit the intended target. Sophie unleashed the knife from her hand. The blade spun around at great speed, cutting through the air with ease as it closed on Lucius’ skull. The white haired man reached out with his free arm and caught the knife within his hand without even so much as glancing in the blades direction. The knife did not pierce his skin; indeed, he even managed to tighten his grip on the shaft. Without taking his eyes off James, even for a second, Lucius threw the knife back from whence it came. The blade plunged into Sophie’s shoulder, narrowly missing her heart. This had been Lucius’ intended target. Sophie cried out in pain and was down and out of the fight once more.
Lucius began to laugh in amusement. “Nothing more than insects with toys. This world is so primitive.” Lucius began to address James again. He had loosened his grip slightly for the time being. “And look at you. You have become their champion?” Lucius raised James with one hand high above his head. “A clear example of how pathetically weak these people truly are.”
James reached deep within himself to unleash the most brutal kick to the face of Lucius he could muster. It worked! The kick rocked Lucius back slightly, forcing him to drop James, but still he remained on his feet.
Lucius grinned. “Still a little fight left in you? Good, only when your soul is broken will I end your life.”
James gathered himself and posed in a fighting stance.
“If you fight as they do, you will die as they do,” said Lucius menacingly as he slowly advanced on his foe.
A black helicopter appeared suddenly from beneath the side of the building and rose up high above the roof. A spotlight shone on the on-going battle between Lucius and James. Inside the helicopter sat Boris and Cody. Boris was at the helm of the controls and he kept the craft steady while Cody spoke into an electronic microphone device.
“Stand down, the building is surrounded, you have nowhere to go!” proclaimed Cody, whose voice echoed out through speakers which were attached to the helicopter.
Lucius looked around, noticing one or two snipers and gunmen beginning to take station on the rooftops of nearby buildings. Lucius began to smirk, showing little concern at the increasing number of agents he was attracting. A glow of white light emerged on him and the clothes he wore began to change. The suit he was originally wearing, slowly faded out and a white, cloak like attire began to form on him. The clothing was covered with strange, but impressively designed symbols and markings. Large, dark boots appeared on his feet, as did white, nimble pants. Most worrying for James however, was the appearance of a sword, which formed in Lucius’ hand.
The sword was the same one that Lucius had taken during his battle with Auron in the Dark Forest. Upon the sword was the red, cross markings of Alexandria. James had seen those markings before, for they were the same designs that were engraved onto his pendant, the only object that he possessed from his childhood.
Lucius now wore the same attire as he would have worn inside the Underworld realm, making him at his most powerful. Lucius noticed James’ curious stares at Auron’s sword, which he now wielded. “Yes, It’s nothing but a cheap imitation isn’t it?” said Lucius. He cared little for the sword of Auron. He much preferred his own sword, but that had been lost during the battle with the Alexandrian knight within the Dark Forest.
Sat in the helicopter, Cody noticed that Lucius paid little attention to his earlier warning. “Right, have it your way,” he said, clearly not amused. He pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. A small hatch opened from the bottom of the helicopter and a large minigun emerged from within it. “I won’t ask you again!” echoed Cody’s voice from the speakers of the craft.
Lucius sighed, slightly annoyed that he had to waste time on such a weak creature. His sword began to glow red. Flames started to engulf around the blades shaft and led all the way up to his hand. James looked on in confusion, as did Boris and Cody from the helicopter.
“That can’t be good,” said Cody, taking station at the minigun controls. Cody opened fire. The mini gun began to motion around as bullets began to fly from it. The bullets flew through the air like a sea of rain down towards their intended target. At a great speed, Lucius held back his sword and then moved it in the direction of the oncoming bullets. A huge fire bolt shot out from the sword’s flaming blade and intercepted the bullets, burning them to dust. After disintegrating the bullets, the fire bolt continued onwards towards the helicopter. Boris tried to manoeuvre the craft out of the way and jolted the controls hard to the left. The speed of the fire bolt was too great however and it crashed into the front side of the craft.
The helicopter flew wildly out of control as the fire bolt crashed into Boris, as well as the helicopter. Boris was dead in an instant and the vehicle smashed violently into the side of another building before disappearing downwards out of view.
James stood in disbelief at what Lucius had just been able to do. He now realised the strange white haired man’s powers were far beyond his own. It was clear that the man had been holding back somewhat during the pairs brawl. Still, James had been left bloody and bruised from the battle. He couldn’t help but feel something familiar about Lucius however. Fighting him had been like fighting Chad, only somewhat more brutal. James could not dwell on this discovery for too long
though as the white haired man now drew his attention back towards the agent.
“You need not worry about this weapon,” said Lucius. “I wish to break you with my own hands.” The white haired man dropped the sword to the ground. “Come forth vermin of Alexandria,” said Lucius, who began to walk towards James.
Alexandria? James did not understand fully what Lucius had said, but he understood it to be another invitation to do battle.
The agent began to think about his friends in the fallen helicopter, Boris and Cody. His heart filled with anger. He wished nothing more than to unleash every last ounce of energy he had into charging at Lucius once again. He decided against it, however. James’ strength in battle had always been his mentality, his ability to think on his feet, and his composer. These were things that set him apart from Chad and were indeed the reason he was able to hold his own against his best friend during their simulated training fights.
This was no training simulation however; this was as real as it got. James knew he was facing a far superior opponent. Trying to fight blow to blow with him would only result in more punishment. He needed a smarter strategy. The agent pulled out the small device that was to have aided his escape, the device that controlled the power grid for the city. He pressed a small red button and in an instant, all of the lights in the surrounding buildings began to go out until the entire city was cast in darkness. James now had a few minutes until the emergency power grid would kick in and power would be restored. He had to make this time count. James reached into the inside pocket of his suit and slipped on his infrared goggles. He crept around Lucius as quiet as a ghost.
Lucius appeared unfazed and even somewhat pleased at the sudden darkness that engulfed the rooftop. “Ah yes, the shadows.” Lucius began to look around. “Do you really think this will save you?”
James threw a punch and kick combination, which to his surprise, Lucius easily evaded.
“Your notion that the darkness provides you cover is mistaken,” said Lucius in a cunning manner.
James unleashed another barrage of kick’s and punches which all missed their mark. Lucius then swept him to the floor.
He crawled back out of the white-haired man’s reaches as quietly as he could. A look of confusion was etched on the fallen agent’s face. He could not understand how Lucius was able to avoid his attacks in the shroud of darkness.
“I can sense your uncertainty. You fail to grasp how the shadows do not aid you in battle. Let me shed some light on this matter.” Lucius began to walk about calmly in the darkness as if he was walking in daylight. “You see, I come from a place where the darkness IS the light. We find comfort from it. The light repels us. You see, to me…the light IS the darkness.”
Lucius came to a halt, just a few yards from James. The agent remained still; he could hear the sound of his heartbeat, which pumped so fast it felt like it would burst through his chest. He knew time was running out. He had only seconds remaining before the power was restored to the city, and the lights would return.
Lucius began to speak once more: “In case you haven’t figured it out already…”
James charged forward, aiming a punch towards Lucius’ face. His enemy caught the fist in his hand.
“I can see you perfectly fine in the shadows!”
The emergency power kicked in and power was restored to the city. Slowly, the lights around each surrounding building began to return. There was clear visibility on the rooftop once more and Lucius thrust his hand around James’ throat. “You think yourself special on this world, but you are merely a weakened warrior.”
James struggled for breath as Lucius tightened the grip around his neck. “Who…are…you?” James forced out.
Lucius gave him one final smirk and looked towards the roof’s edge. He hurled James with all his strength. Such was the velocity of the throw, James flew back at least twenty-five feet and over the edge of the building.
James began to fall down several storeys. It felt like he was falling in slow motion. The ground below becoming ever bigger by the second, looming like a grim reaper waiting to collect his soul. James had plenty of time to think about what was going to happen whilst falling. He even had time to look down the street at the sight of the broken remains of the helicopter that Lucius had destroyed only a few minutes earlier.
James fell for what seemed like an eternity. He glanced through each passing window of the building as he fell. The agent looked down and saw a car rushing towards him. It’s not rushing towards me, I’m rushing towards the car, he realised. He covered his face, knowing there was nothing he could do to change his fate. This was it… James crashed into the roof of the car as…
#
…Kara dropped a glass of wine down onto a tiled floor. The glass shattered into a hundred pieces. Kara had been inside the dining room of the Alexandrian palace. Several maids ran to her aid. Kara held her head, as if in pain.
“My lady, are you alright?” said one of the maids.
The princess was far from ok. Kara held her head in pain as the maid’s struggled to keep her standing. She began to weep uncontrollably. The maids began to panic, not knowing how to handle the situation.
“Get the king, quickly!” one of them screamed.
#
Lucius had remained stood in the centre of the roof since tossing James off the edge. He basked in his glory. He wanted to be sure that he has finished the job however and so he picked his sword up from the ground. He looked at the Alexandrian markings on the blade and laughed to himself. Lucius began to walk slowly to the building’s edge. Unbeknownst to him, an unknown figure had emerged on the rooftop of a neighbouring building. The figure had appeared on the other buildings roof, just as Lucius had tossed James off the buildings edge and onto the car several hundred feet below.
The figure defied the laws of gravity by jumping from one building’s rooftop to another. The figure flew through the air, descending towards Lucius. The white-haired man became aware of something fast approaching and turned around quickly. He was too late however as the man launched a thunderous kick into Lucius’ chest as he landed. The kick was so fierce that it sent Lucius crashing through the wall near the door entrance to the roof.
The figure, whom after kicking Lucius, landed down onto the roof on one knee, rose to his feet. The figure was Chad. He had set off for Sydney shortly after James sent him the details of the files he had discovered back in Tokyo. He may have arrived a little too late though as the damage had already been done.
Lucius rose up and gave out a cry of annoyance as he smashed back through the remains of the wall to stand before Chad. The pair exchanged no words but examined each other thoroughly.
Chad stood ready, prepared for the fight of his life. If he’s taken James down, he must be tough.
Lucius considered facing off with Chad here and now. Then suddenly five more helicopters appeared from nowhere. All of them were piloted by agents and were armed with miniguns that locked onto Lucius in an instant. Ropes emerged from the chopper hatches and agents swung down onto the roof. Chad now had eight agents behind him as backup.
Now is not the time,” said Lucius. The white haired man held out his hands in front of his face and spread them out sideways. The man then vanished leaving a thin dark mist behind that soon evaporated into nothingness.
The group of agent’s gasped, unable to believe the sight of a man disappearing into thin air in front of their very eyes. Many thought it was magical tricks, smoke and mirrors perhaps? Some of them even searched the roof, continuing to look for him. Chad did not join in with the search, however. He knew in his heart that the man had gone. Chad noticed a sword on the ground. It was the sword that Lucius had been wielding during the fight with James.
Chad began to get a fuzzy feeling inside his head. He began to hear a loud humming in the distance, similar to what he had heard in his nightmares. Chad began to feel light-headed and became drawn almost magnetically towards the sword.
An explosio
n from the ground below could be heard. It was the burning helicopter than Lucius had sent crashing down. Chad’s attention was instantly taken from the sword as he rushed to the building’s edge. He wasn’t looking for the helicopter, instead searching for his friend. After several moments of looking around he noticed and crumpled car on the ground. On the car’s roof, lay a motionless body. James…
Chad’s face turned pale with fear. He knew that he and James’ were tough. Their bodies were resilient; significantly more resilient in fact than anyone else they had ever come across. Still, Chad had doubts in his own mind as to whether even James could have survived the fall, a drop of over fifty storeys. The rest of the agents joined him on the buildings edge, looking on in horror at the destruction that the mysterious white-haired man had caused.
Chapter 10: The Connection
King Zeris, of Alexandria, walked hastily along the hallway inside the royal keep. The floor of the hallway was lined with flamboyant silk red carpets. The walls were lined with paintings of kings from times gone by, showing eight generations of Alexandrian royalty. Glorious tapestries gave the hallway life, as well as the splendid chandeliers, which gave them light. The hallway was indeed a thing of beauty. The king walked with urgency, clearly troubled by the news that his daughter had taken ill.
Servants and maids stood in the hallway, bowing as the king passed them. Zeris noticed the grim worried looks on their faces as he walked by them. Finally, he arrived at Kara’s chambers. Stood outside was Auron, accompanied by two guards. “How is she?” asked the king. Zeris was concerned, so worried in fact that Auron had not seen the look of fear upon the king’s face in over a decade.
Auron tried to ease his master’s fears. “My king, Rokk is with her now. He is performing his healing magic to keep her stable. She is in no immediate danger.”
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