The blade smashed into the fire bolt, which was much more solid in form than James would have ever expected. It certainly would have done him a great deal of harm had it hit his body. The bolt was sent crashing towards a large selection of gas cylinders in the corner of the structure. Both James and Lucius realised the repercussions of what was about to happen and began to run as fast as they could.
The large fireball struck the gas cylinders violently, breaking them open. A huge explosion engulfed the compound. It ripped against all of the support structures within the facility and sent the whole complex plummeting to the ground. James and Lucius crouched down to the floor, trying to protect themselves as the building collapsed down on top of them.
James and Lucius lay beside each other as pieces of debris burnt all around them. Both of the men were physically broken. Even the rays of the sun were not enough to restore James’ strength after such an evenly fought contest. The building had crumbled completely as a result of the explosion caused by the gas cylinders. The structure was now nothing more than a huge pile of burning ash. The two men lay motionless at the top of the cliff in which the building had once stood. They were down for what seemed like an eternity.
James slowly opened his eyes. His body felt battered and broken. His face was black with smoke and when he coughed, blood came out of his mouth. He tried to move and found he still had the strength within him to do so. Directly in front of him lay Lucius, who was also beginning to come around. James spotted his sword lying in the rubble several feet away from the pair. He knew he needed to regain possession of the blade if he was to finish Lucius off. Both men gasped desperately for breath as they tried simultaneously to get to their feet. It was the white-haired man who rose first. With the little of the strength he had left, Lucius hobbled to the blade and picked it up.
By this point, James had only just managed to get to his feet. Lucius took aim with the blade, preparing to fire what he knew would be the killing blow to James’ mauled body. “You fought well Alexandrian, but this is farewell,” said Lucius.
James looked around but there was nowhere to go. He was near the cliff’s edge and the only escape he could foresee was the long drop down the cliff onto the rocks below. The blade began to form into fire, as Lucius was set to unleash the most fearsome fire bolt he could muster.
A loud cracking sound echoed out around the cliff as something struck Lucius with unbelievable force in the back of the head. The white haired man was sent flying several feet, all the way to the cliffs edge. Lucius stumbled over the edge, managing to grasp the foot of the cliff with one trailing arm. Lucius’ strength was now leaving him and his grip was fading. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, which hampered his attempts to pull himself up.
As Lucius hung helplessly over the cliff, someone walked towards the edge. Lucius looked up at the figure that now stood over him, however, it was the last person the man had expected to see. Chad stood over Lucius with the golden axe in hand that his younger brother had taken from him at the temple in Argentina. It was this weapon that had struck Lucius in the back of the head. Chad looked down at his fallen enemy.
“Did you miss me brother?” said Chad. He smashed Lucius between the eyes as hard as he could with the axe, sending the white haired man falling from the cliff. Lucius crashed into the rocks below. His body bounced violently as the man ricocheted down the side of the cliff. His broken body finally came to a halt on the beach below.
Chad looked down the cliff at the sight of his fallen brother. There was no hint of remorse on his face. James walked up alongside Chad to see the fate of the white haired man. The pair stared down for a moment before Chad broke the silence. “Sorry for stealing your kill,” he said, trying to ease the tension.
James shook his head and smiled at the same time. Only Chad could make light of such a situation, he thought.
The pair shared a manly hug, however, there was genuine affection in it. Although James had never confessed it to anyone publicly, he had feared the worst when Chad had disappeared. “Where the hell have you been Chad?”
“Don’t get mad, I just saved your life remember?” said Chad.
“I’ve been looking for you for weeks!”
“Yeah, I have my reasons for taking off…”
James waited for Chad to further elaborate; his short explanation clearly wasn’t going to cut it. Chad could tell from the look on his friend’s face that he wanted answers and so he explained the real reasons behind his disappeared.
Ever since the explosion of James’ apartment in Miami, which had resulted in Chad plummeting into the ocean, he had been suffering major blackouts. He had lost hours, sometimes even days at a time, waking up in strange places and having no recollection of getting there. One such time, Chad woke up outside of a strange place. It was a large castle-like building that stood against the side of a huge mountain. The building was dark in colour and looked like a section of smaller wooden houses that had been built together to make one structure. The building moved upward as the mountain ascended, meaning the top part of it, was not parallel to the bottom.
It was located deep in the snow mountainous terrain of Alaska. The temperatures in that place were bitter cold, well below the freezing level. Yet Chad had been roaming the lands wearing only standard clothing. He wore a small black T-shirt and jeans. Those temperatures would kill a normal man in that type of attire, however, Chad’s body showed great resilience to the cold.
Chad looked at the structure and then looked around at the surrounding area. He wondered how he ever arrived at such a place. Besides the mysterious building in front of him, there was nothing but snow and mountains in all directions. How did I get here? He had just awoken face down in the snow, having no recollection of his journey. However, during the small parts of his travels he could remember, he had been searching for the axe he had briefly come into possession of at the temple in Argentina.
The golden axe was all he thought about lately, even more than Stacey or James. Even now, he could feel its power. It seemed to be calling him, drawing him to it. He felt lost without it, consumed with a great desire to get it back. I need it. Holding it will make me whole. He seemed almost infatuated with the weapon. He wondered how he could ever have handed it over to Lucius so willingly. He felt the power of the blade now greater than ever. Chad looked at the dark structure that was before him once more. The power comes from within there!
If truth be told he had no choice but to enter. Even his own durable body’s resilience to the cold was beginning to wane. Chad began to shiver a little and his hands and face were red with cold. He walked up the foot of the mountain and came to a large wooden door. Chad pushed the door open with relative ease. The door was unlocked. Whoever resided in these parts clearly did not fear trespassers.
Inside of the mysterious building was lit by a number of candles, which were scattered all around the small corridor that Chad found himself in. He quickly closed the door behind him, shielding himself from the bitter cold outside. He advanced onward, keen to explore the building and find his beloved axe. With it he planned to put an end to Lucius’ reign of terror once and for all.
Walking on down the narrow corridor, Chad came to a second door. This one was much more glamorous than the old looking wooden door in which he first entered. It had one large symbol on it, a red cross with blades at each end. He had seen the same markings at both the temple in Argentina and during his first mission as an agent two years earlier. The mark of Lucius. The door opened automatically as Chad approached. He did not know how this could have happened as the door wasn’t electronic as far as Chad could see, and he was alone. Or am I? It was almost as if the house was inviting him in.
Chad was now on his guard. He realised that the white-haired man could very likely be nearby and he was prepared for a possible battle at any moment. However, look as he may, Chad did not find Lucius in that large wooden building. He searched many levels of the structure, high and low but the white hai
red man was nowhere to be found. The old castle-like structure was not abandoned, he knew that much. The place was too well kept to be unoccupied. Someone has been here recently.
After a while of wondering, Chad reached the highest level of the wooden construction. He opened a small wooden door, which led to a room that was much different from the rest he had seen. Unlike the rest of the rooms in the structure, this one was bright, colourful and extravagantly designed. The entire floor was covered in a carpet patterned by green, purple and white symbols that all mixed together. A bookcase was placed in the far corner, as well as shelves and tables that had exotic and expensive-looking objects housed upon them. A large Chandelier was on the ceiling above in the middle of the room. It had ten candles on it that lit the room up well.
Chad entered the room, almost feeling at home in the surroundings. A small oil fire burnt in the corner, making it much warmer than any of the other rooms. Chad began slowly exploring, still proceeding with caution. He walked to the bookshelf and begun to browse the books. Many of them were old tales of warriors, feuding brothers, and the story of the strong prevailing over the weak. Chad remembered Lucius’ taunts about him being his brother, and about wanting to prove himself as the superior son. Could he really be my brother? He had asked himself that question a lot since his last meeting with Lucius. If we are brothers then shouldn’t we be on the same side? Chad could not help but think that perhaps his brother had gained inspiration from these books in his quest to kill him.
At this moment, Chad noticed something else. Next to the fire, a long white coat hung up against the wall. The former agent recognised the clothing instantly for it was the coat the white haired man had wore during all of their encounters.
He wondered if this meant that Lucius was still present in the building somewhere, perhaps watching his every step. He realised this would be unlikely as in every other instance he had come into contact with his brother, he had felt the presence of a dark force within him. As he felt completely fine for the moment, Chad concluded that the white haired man was nowhere nearby.
He searched around for a little longer, however, there was nothing more of interest he could find. He was about to leave the room when he felt the power of the golden axe once more. It’s here. It gave him a soothing sensation and a feeling of control. It felt really strong now and very, very close.
Chad looked toward the bookcase. He examined it closely and then very aggressively pushed the whole thing over. It was just as he thought! Behind where the bookcase stood was another door. The door was locked, but this didn’t stop him. He kicked the door clean off the hinges with one boot. Nothing was going to stand in the way between him and his precious axe. It was all he thought about lately and he had an unyielding desire to get it back.
Walking through the door led Chad into a medium sized storage room. In it, numerous mystical objects were placed on wooden stands. Lucius had searched all corners of the world during his nearly two-year stay on Earth. His father Kanto had hoped that the retrieval of such artefacts would enable the realm of Underworld to become a fearsome force once more, a power strong enough to overcome Alexandria.
Various swords and objects of different shapes and sizes filled the room, however, there was only one item that had Chad’s attention. A gold sparkle in the corner of the room caught his gaze. There, placed neatly on a wooden stand in the corner was the axe. I’ve found it. At long last I’ve found it. Chad smiled. It was as if he had been reunited with a long lost friend. He walked slowly to the axe and reached out to it. As he wrapped his hand around the bottom of the axe’s shaft he could feel its power course through his veins. Chad gasped, feeling an almost exotic sensation as he gripped the shaft more tightly. He then rather bizarrely hugged the blade and stroked the handle of the axe. “I’ll never lose you again,” he said, speaking to the axe as though he was talking to another person.
Back on the mountain cliff, James awaited Chad’s explanations for where he had been all this time. James spotted the axe in Chad’s hand and started to work it out. “I see you got your precious axe back,” said James, not kindly.
“Yeah,” said Chad holding the axe up. His face was full of joy. He reminded James of an excited child who had just learned that school had closed for the summer. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Chad so happy.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you. Stacey has been worried sick,” said James. The tone in his voice was clearly annoyance.
“Yeah? How is she…” Chad paused mid -entence as he noticed something down below them at the foot of the cliff. “He’s still alive!”
James and Chad made their way hastily down the cliff, jumping from rock to rock. Lucius crawled across the beach very slowly, in a last desperate attempt to escape. Before he knew it, his two foes were standing over him. Lucius began to laugh, blood gushing from his mouth as he did so.
“What are you laughing at?” asked Chad, showing no compassion for his fallen brother.
“It’s started,” said Lucius.
Something about the tone in which the man spoke gave James cause for concern. A strange sound could be heard high up in the sky. James picked up on the sound first and looked upwards high above his head. The sky began to turn black and the biggest formation of dark clouds had formed together that James and Chad had ever seen as the wind began to slowly increase in density.
#
Inside of the World Order’s headquarters, Sergeant Cooper and Professor Milton maintained a watching brief on multiple fronts as they continued to oversee the progress of the agents battling with Lucius’ henchmen. A female member of staff turned around to look at the sergeant. “Sir, something strange is happening,” she said.
“I’m well aware of that,”, responded Sergeant Cooper. The man had seen more unexplained things in the past few hours than he had ever seen before in his entire life.
“Sir, it’s something else. There’s something strange happening up in the sky!” said the woman.
Sergeant Cooper and Professor Milton shared a quick glance and looked at the computer screen.
“What the hell is it?” said the sergeant.
#
In New York, Cody, Sophie and several other agents accompanied by the army and the police department, continued to battle Lucius’ forces. Sophie stopped mid-punch and looked up at the dark night of the New York skyline. Cody, who had been fighting at Sophie’s side, noticed the Irish girl’s sudden halt and wondered what had happened.
“What’s wrong?” asked Cody.
“What’s that up in the sky?” asked Sophie.
Cody looked upwards toward the sky, which began to fill up with large white flashes. The flashes were increasing in size and number at an alarmingly fast rate. Lightning?
#
Back in the World Order’s headquarters Professor Milton and Sergeant Cooper, along with numerous agents, were frantically trying to figure out what it was that was appearing high in the sky. “It seems like lightening sir, but its density is incredible,” said a female agent who was sat at a computer.
It seemed the occurrence was happening everywhere. The sky turned black over every land, every sea, and every continent. All over the world, lightning began to crash into buildings, setting them ablaze as the bolts struck them violently. Looking up from the ground, one would think it was raining lightning. The sky was dark for a moment, and then fork lightening lit up the sky. The lightening struck down into the lands below with unnatural regularity; setting a light anything they came into contact with. An agent helicopter that was flying high above Mount Etna to aid the evacuation of the erupting volcano in Palermo, Italy, was struck down as a bolt of lightening ripped through the craft. The impact sent the helicopter crashing into the mouth of the volcano itself. Hundreds of people ran for cover as lightning crashed down all around them.
“Milton, what do we do now?” the sergeant whispered to Professor Milton who was stood beside him. This time, even the normally brilliant professo
r was lost for words.
#
“You’re all going to die!” mocked Lucius, as he lay battered and beaten in the sand on the beach. By this time, one or two bolts of lightning had crashed into the sea nearby. James and Chad were now well aware of what was happening. Chad angrily scooped Lucius up off the ground and held him with both hands.
“What have you done?” he shouted almost enraged.
Lucius began to laugh, spitting out blood from his mouth as he did so. “It’s over. The will of these weak people shall be broken and Kanto will rule this world, just as he rules ours.”
The beach began to get darker all around them suddenly, almost as if all the light was going out of the world. The three of them glanced over their shoulders to see a large tidal wave approaching the beach at tremendous speed. It appeared a Tsunami wave had reached the shores of the English coast, for the first time in history.
The wave stood over four hundred feet tall, larger than any Tsunami wave ever recorded. With the addition of the lightning, the wave had been charged with electronic currents, which would prove fatal to any who came into contact with it. James and Chad took a couple of backward steps as the wave approached them. There was not enough time to escape. Even with their great speed it would have been impossible for them to reach the top of the cliff in time. The wave towered over the cliff anyhow so it would not have made any difference.
Chad turned to James. “Do something!” he shouted.
“What?” asked James, not understanding what it was that Chad wanted him to do.
“You can control water right?”
James nodded
“So stop it!”
“Yeah, I can move small amounts of water, but not this,” said James. He knew this because he had tried to do as much when Chad disappeared beneath the Miami Ocean. He had tried to create a gap in the water to enable him to look beneath it, but his efforts only left him drained and fatigued.
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