Chapter 18

Casie’s Prophecy

            It has been two days since Jeff and the others have gone over their tactics for what to do if all four Horsemen of Apocalypse were to attack them at some point before they were ready.  Ness and the others are currently training to expand their abilities so that at least they might survive an all out assault and the final battle that they know is coming in about two weeks, if it even gets that far.

 

            Dave has been missing for about two days, since he saw that video his parents had left for him describing their own deaths and Dave’s destiny.  It is now heading on the third days that everyone has been separated.  Mike is currently in Twoson right now exploring the town and training in isolated areas of Twoson.  He didn’t want to go see the Apple Kid immediately because he felt he needed to train more after that fight with Jeff.  Mike needed endurance and that’s why he is currently training.

 

            Casie is currently somewhere on the outskirts of Belle Vernon as it seems, what’s left of it anyway.  She needed the most isolation she could get, and went somewhere she knew there wasn’t much of anyone left.  A bright flash of light soon appeared in the sky where Casie was at.  Showing the she had been training to do what she wanted with her powers.  “Two days straight will take it out of anybody I suppose.  I just need to rest now and wait for those two to get their butts down here so maybe I can explain what I need them to do for me, and everyone else” said Casie while drinking some water she got from one of the last standing, deserted homes in the area.  “Back to training I suppose.  Let’s see if I can do the Omega level of this technique now.  Psi Titan Omega!”

           

            Casie then unleashed her most powerful technique to try and raise it from the Gamma level she knew from her previous adventure up to the Omega level that she was trying to accomplish.  The Titan technique uses life energy from all around Casie to unleash a very powerful energy blast that she can do with both hands.  She can level an infantry with this technique if she could learn the Omega form.  She can spin around holding both her arms out to level an area of foes, combine both hands for a massive energy beam, or release it in a very close range shockwave as a last resort.  This technique is extremely versatile in that it can attack according to the current situation.  Because it gathers energy from both herself and any life forms around her, including plants, it can drain her very quickly.  If she does this mid-fight, it’s a one shot deal.  She’s extremely vulnerable if she can’t take everything out in one blow with Titan.

 

            “Damn it!  I still can’t do the Omega form of this technique!  Wow, that one took a lot out of me.  I don’t get it.  I’m gathering as much energy and expelling as much as I possibly can.  I should have gathered enough energy that time.  If I could just master this technique, it would be a lot easier to fight the four Horsemen of Apocalypse.  I’ll try again in one hour when I’ve recovered enough to try again” said a frustrated Casie to herself.

 

            “You know Casie if you would just calm yourself down you could possibly do the Omega form of that technique.  You’re gathering too much energy to concentrate into a more efficient blast.  You’re just blasting more energy.  Try to concentrate on efficiency instead of power.  It might help out somewhat” said a voice from not to far away.

 

            Casie soon turned around behind her to see who had said that but she saw nothing.  When turning around to go rest up again, she smacked straight into someone about three inches taller than her with a decent build.

 

            “Geez Nolan, must you always do stuff like that!  When did you get here?”

 

            “About a minute ago when you were doing that latest Titan technique, I brought Ryan along as you requested for me to do as well” said Nolan.  Nolan was around what Paula had described only slightly thinner on the muscle.  He also had a trench coat on that he always had on him for some reason or another.

 

            “Where’s Ryan then, I told you telepathically to bring him but where is he?  I know he was the one who made that comment just a little bit ago.  That was his voice.”

 

            “Look above you Casie, I’m up here” said Ryan hovering about ten feet above Casie’s head.  Ryan is the same height as Mike, so is Nolan, and had a very calm non caring look on his face.  “If you focus on the efficiency of your techniques like I did you would have learned the Omega form of that technique a while ago, especially since you use the life around you to use that attack.

 

            “Like you could do better Ryan.”

 

            “Actually, yes I can Casie.  Here’s a technique I learned over the last six weeks, since we defeated Godan.  Psi Eruption Omega!”  Ryan then extended his middle and index fingers on his right hand.  He shifted them upward without moving any other part of his arm.  A bright flash of light occurred about a good hundred yards away on an area cluttered by ruins.  He sent the ruins flying everywhere quite easily.  “If you gather the extremely high amount of energy I just did, I did it while I was in midair, from external life forces.  Make sure you only use that energy you gathered to raise the efficiency of how you use your own energies” Ryan explained and demonstrated very quickly.

 

            “Easy for you to say, that was quite the simple technique.  Even I can do that from just looking at it” Casie quickly did Ryan’s Eruption technique after just seeing it once.  Ryan and Nolan’s jaws were just hanging in pure amazement of what they just saw.  Not to mention Casie did a better job with that technique, even after just expelling a ton of energy on her Titan ability.  “The concept of Titan is quite different though.  I have to be able to change the usage of the attack on the fly, so I have to concentrate even more external energy into the attack because I have to use my own to control this thing like I do.  It just makes it harder to raise the efficiency level of a Psi technique.”

 

            “Okay Casie we get the point.  Now, what did you want us down here for?” Nolan said getting straight to the point.

 

            “First off, I need some help with my training here.  It’s just too hard to do alone.  That’s where you two come in.  I needed some help, and after seeing how you two faired against Godan.  I felt you two needed some more hands on training anyways.  Meaning you two can just sit back and each of you train by your own lonesome.  We need to train as a single group and not as single people if we want to get anything done in the two weeks we have until those four are back at full strength”  Casie explained very quickly.

 

            “What’s the other reason you want us down here though?  It doesn’t seem like training is the only thing on your mind Casie” said Nolan.

 

            “How should I put this to you guys?  Something very bad and very big is going to happen soon.  I don’t know when or how, but something is definitely up.  With Ness, Dave, Mike, and myself split up; it seems that the four might be plotting something to defeat us.”

 

            “Who’s Dave?” Ryan asked.

 

            “I forgot to mention that?  He’s the Horsemen of Power.  He follows the description that the Apple gave so I think it’s him along with everyone else.  I’ve never seen him in action yet, but we’ll find out later.  Back to the subject, I think we need to get it in gear here.  If and when they make their assault, it will be very soon.  The very second one of us let’s their guard down, especially alone, it’s over.  Second by second they are gaining power, and it’s growing exponentially.  I can feel their power growing as I am speaking to you right now” said Casie.

 

            “Then we should start right now.  When do you want to meet up with the others?” said Ryan.

 

            “Let’s wait to meet back up with everyone else.  I want to make sure that we come back when we’re needed” Casie said very firmly.

 

            “In that case, let’s start” said Ryan as he was starting to finally land on the ground.


Chapter 19

Life and Death

            “Well I guess I should see the Apple Kid now.  If I wait much longer I don’t know if I’ll ever get around to meeting up with him.  I’d better save this for later though, just in case.”  Mike started to talk to himself once again during his training session of nearly two straight days.  He knew that he couldn’t hold off his visit to the Apple Kid’s place any longer.  Mike was growing very tired and knew he needed some sort of break besides his usual meal or nap.  As he started to walk out of the woods near Twoson, he tossed some sort of round object into the woods.  Once he knew it was out of plain sight he started to walk straight for the Apple Kid’s house.

 

            Before Mike had landed a few days before, he easily saw the Apple Kid’s house in his Phoenix form.  Mike at least knew its location, but had never seen the guy walk out of his house once.

 

            *Knock, Knock, Knock!* The Apple Kid heard this on his door and got up a little slowly as he was woken up by a constant knocking.  <Geez, who could this possibly be?  I know Ness and the others aren’t coming today.> “Who is it?!” said a half awake Apple Kid.

 

            “Jeff sent me down here so I can show you something.  Would you mind letting me in?” said a voice behind the door.  The Apple Kid looked through the peep hole on his door and saw it was a red-head holding a CD in his right hand.  He decided to let him in.  <This lanky redhead probably couldn’t even put up a fight.> The Apple thought to himself as he opened the door.

 

            “You mean Jeff Andounts I presume right?”

 

            “Yeah I do.  He said you could break an encryption he couldn’t break for me.  I got this disk from a friend and I need to read it.  Unfortunately, it’s super encoded so I can’t even open it.”

 

            “Alright let me see the disk.  I’ll just put this into my computer and get started.  I’ll be done in one hour.  What’s your association with Jeff anyway?”

 

            “I’m Snow Wood’s new prospect.  The one with the inhuman analysis and the theory, I’m sure he’s told you about me somewhat.”

 

            “Yeah he has.  I see you had no math in yours theory so, I put it in.  It was a rather basic concept you saw and define.  I hope you can understand the math.”  Mike looked the sheet he submitted into Snow Wood and the corresponding math that went with it.  He couldn’t even understand it.  Mike’s theory was in words only, not in the tremendous math and such needed to go with it.  He was stunned at its true complexity.  If Mike’s analysis was as sharp as a tack, then this guy was like something so sharp that it had a microscopic point.  He now knew why Jeff had sent him up here.  This guy was a genius, plan and simple.

 

            “Um…my math isn’t even this good.  I only know up to trig. right now.  Once I learn this level of math I should be able to at least understand what you wrote” said a pretty astonished Mike.

 

            “Alright, this code is pretty difficult.  If Jeff ran this through his computer it would have done nothing to this.  It must have taken a sharp mind to make this but it isn’t that bad.  The base of this code is that it’s like nothing else out there.  It’s completely unique.  I can understand it but it might take me a day to do this on even my best day.  Which I can assure you isn’t today” explain Apple Kid.

 

            “Well, I was hoping not to tell you all of this but, I guess it will be okay” Mike told Apple Kid absolutely everything that he had told everyone else up until that point.

 

            “No big deal, I thought something was up when I saw those tattoos on your hands.  Are those real tattoos or what are they?”

 

            “I don’t know what they exactly are.  I’ve had these marking on my hands ever since we defeated Godan.  All I know is they aren’t tattoos” stated Mike as he looked at the weird markings that appeared on the back of his hands after the Destined Ones defeated Godan.

 

            “I was just asking.  You said you could speed up time right.  Could you possibly use it to accelerate my relative time frame?  I would be able to solve this code in about one hour considering how much you could accelerate me.”

 

            “I’ve never tried this on someone else before.  You are aware of that, right?”

 

            “Yeah, I thought as much.  Look if you can withstand it, I should be able to.  After all we are both human.  If I can trust you so quickly after telling me your tale, you have to trust me Michael.”

 

            “Alright, if this kills you though, it’s not my fault.  Psi Time Speeder Alpha!”  With that Mike started to very carefully accelerate Apple Kid’s relative time frame.  In simpler terms, Mike would accelerate time around the Apple Kid to make his movement through time much faster, while everything around him stayed the same.

 

            As Mike was watching him move at lighting speed, he couldn’t help but feel something was up, but <It might be just be that I’m dizzy from draining my power like that.  Oh well, I’ll be fine if anything happens.>

 

            In Threed, a boy was asking for directions of where to find directions to Twoson.  He was short but looked a little athletic but no one could tell by the baggie clothes he wore.  “Excuse me, could you tell me which way Twoson is.  I have some important business to attend to there.  I some stuff to deliver to my family there” said the boy.

 

            “Sure, it’s through that old tunnel over there.  I would take the bus if I were you, it won’t be here for another hour though” said the man he asked.

 

            “Thanks, but I can’t wait that long and I need the exercise anyway” said the boy as he started to run off towards the tunnel that connect Twoson to Threed. <I need to get there soon.  If I don’t, things might be drastically different.  He has no idea what awaits him> he thought to himself as he entered the tunnel.

 

            “Well Mike, I finished with this code.  You feel alright.  You don’t look that good” said Apple Kid.

 

            “Maybe after I get some shut eye, I had to hold that time speeder on you so it could last that long.  I’m just sucked completely dry of energy right now.  I’ll just get some ice cold water and I’ll be alright” said a heavily breathing Mike.   As Mike was getting his drink of water, the Apple Kid screamed “Eureka!  Mike, you better come see this!  Whatever is on this disk is absolutely incredible!”

 

            “Hold it, you’re already done.  I’ve gotta see this” as Mike started to search through the disk’s contents.  He was looking for some sort of information that could help him figure out what he was seeing.  After about ten minutes he found a small document in the folder that said, “Mike, for your eyes only” and opened it.  What the document said astonished Mike completely.  “My God is this ever great!  I can’t believe what this is!  I don’t know how they pulled this off, but they did.  Oh man, those Horsemen of Apocalypse are going down!” screamed an ecstatic Mike as he was jumping all over the place.

 

            “Mike, why in the heck are you jumping all over the place?”

 

            “I didn’t think this type of excitement could ever revive my body like it has.  Anyways, back to the subject, this CD holds maybe the most valuable information this world will ever know.  Read this scroll first” said Mike as he threw the Apple Kid the scroll. 

 

            Once the Apple Kid had finished reading the scroll, he didn’t seem all that shocked.  “What’s your point then?  These weapons are only legend.  I’ve never heard that they actually existed.  I’ve investigated into their existence myself.  Mike, I’ve found no proof that they actually exist or where they have been hidden.”

 

            “Well, look at your proof then.  This is the proof that the weapons mentioned in that scroll do exist.  Every piece of ancient text has been put together to spot their locations.  I know the majority of these texts so they are legit.  If the guys I got this off of are right, the Four Horsemen of Light will be a force to be reckoned with once we get these weapons of light.”

 

            “What are you going to do now Mike?”

 

            “I would like to stay longer but I have to go now.  This is too damn important to even slack off on.  Look, if anything happens to me, relay the information you just saw to Ness.  We need to get those weapons.  I’m heading off to Onett now to gather some supplies at home and rejoin Ness and the others” said Mike rushing to get everything together to tell everyone the good news.

 

            As Mike started to say good bye, he thought he heard a scream of a familiar voice in the distance.  He decided to quickly investigate.  What he saw ticked him off severely, and heaven and hell would have no sympathy for the one doing what Mike saw after Mike was through with him.  “Let my sister go right now!”

 

            “Oh this is your sister, how convenient then. I thought this was a nobody I would kill to draw you out.  No, I want to use her as a bargaining chip.  You’ll do as I say or she gets it” said the person holding a weird looking weapon at Rachel’s throat.

 

            “Let her go, your fight is with me Gorin.  I won’t let you harm any of my family.  If even once hair on her body is out of place, I will tear you into shreads” said Mike as he recognized the face of Gorin’s human form.

 

            “It doesn’t matter to me if she dies or not.  I’ve already taken the rest of the town captive without you noticing.  I can kill many more people than your sister to make you do what I want” explained a now laughing Gorin.

 

            “Don’t bet your life on it.  The last person who ever messed with my family is still in the hospital on life support right now because I torn out every non vital organ in their body, and a few others.  Since you seem to be immortal, I could do much worse to you.  I not might be able to take a life, but I can sure as heck torture you until you don’t want to live anymore” Mike very sternly explained.  Mike eyes were now bloodshot from just pure anger.  His older sister was close to her death bed and if he made one wrong move it would be her end.  He had to be very careful, especially now that he was completely drained.  <Oh my God, he must have already known.  He must have been spying on me.  This is just too much of a coincidence to just have happened.  I shouldn’t have used that time speeder and waited a day.  None of this would be happening right now had I just been patient.  I can’t summon any energy or call upon that emergency energy I put into the woods.  One false move and Rachel’s dead.  I’m so screwed!>

 

            Mike had now just realized the error that he just made.  He let his guard down for just one moment and now his sister might pay for it.  If that was Ness’s family or anyone else, Mike would be just as ticked and motivated.  This level of anger was even more than usual.  Probably because he was angry at himself that he let this happen, this drove his anger further, but had no energy to tap into it and use ragin’ finale.  He was stumped.  Mike was completely out of ideas yet he wasn’t going to surrender.  Not with so many lives at stake.  Mike swore to protect all, and that was exactly what he was going to do!

 

            “My answer is still no Gorin!  I will not let you exploit me or my sister!  I would still have this same reaction for anyone else because you have no right to exploit anyone or to even be on this world!  I know I can’t kill you right now or I would otherwise without a single regret!  Those who hurt others need to pay, and you have hurt too many people to even be allowed to live!” an angry Mike screamed at top of his lungs at Gorin.

 

            “Don’t even try it, I know you’re completely drained of any and all power that you have.  That time speeder of yours is what you human’s say is your Achilles heel.  I know your full potential after watching that little fight you and the blond kid, Jeff, had.  Make it easy on yourself and just surrender and maybe I’ll let her live” said a laughing Gorin, knowing he had the upper hand on Mike this time.  “Even if you were at full strength, I have grown stronger than you now.  That Delta wouldn’t be able to scratch me now.”

 

            “I don’t care.  I will find a way to defeat you.  When I do, I’ll make you wish you would have never messed with me” said a very ticked off Mike.

 

            “Have it your way then.  She’s dead” Gorin started to pull the blade across Rachel’s neck but it stop before it could penetrate the skin.  “What in Hell is happening?”

 

            “I did!” said a person off in the distance.

 

            “You can’t stop me from killing her.  No human psychic powers can hold me in this position forever!”

 

            “It’s not a psychic ability I’m holding you with.  It’s magic you fool.  That can hold you for probably as long as I please.  The great thing is psychic class powers can’t fight magic class powers.  Only brute force can defeat this class of power.  I would highly suggest you let the girl go right now.  With your level of power, I could hold this for days right now and not wear out” said a person walking toward where Mike, Gorin, and Rachel were.

 

            <Magic class powers!  Now’s my shot.  Gorin was calling my bluff pretty well too.> After that thought Mike did a deed he was hoping to never do again.  He pulled his meteo sword out, and slashed with Gorin’s right human arms falling to the ground.

 

            “Yeow!!!!!!!!!  I’ll get you for that horseman!  Now I know your power is completely drained after that slash!  You and your sibling will both die by my hand!”  As Gorin started to make a move towards Mike and Rachel, the person who had helped them before quickly ran up and blocked Gorin’s next strike.

 

            “You two get a move on right now!  I can hold him off for the moment!  Hurry before he can heal his body!”  As he said that Gorin started to form a new human right arm.

 

            “Rachel just get on my back and we’ll be off.”  Right when Rachel got on Mike’s back, she did try and say something Mike with his last bit of power ran as fast as he could.

 

            “I guess it’s just you and me Gorin.  You know, I’ve wanted to do this to one of you four since I learned about what is going on.”

 

            “Who are you?” said Gorin while finishing the reforming of his right arm.

 

            “The name is Dave Evangale, the horseman of power.”

 

            In Onett, Mike had just gotten to a safe enough distance at the Onett Arcade when he finally stopped.  Mike started breathing very heavily from pure exhaustion.

 

            “Mike, are you alright?” said Rachel out of concern for her little brother.

 

            “Just short of breath, Rachel was Zach in Twoson when he started his siege of the town.

 

            “No, he’s at home right now getting some sleep.  He was exploring the town earlier and I went to Twoson right after he got home.”

 

            “That’s good to hear.  At least everyone I know is safe right now, except for the guy who just save our butts.”

 

            “Mike, you aren’t thinking about going back out there to help him are you?  I know you, and you will do it and without any regard for yourself.  You’re a mess anyway right now, even with your power you wouldn’t stand a chance against Gorin.  I know what you know remember.  He could easily eat you alive with his power!” Once Rachel was done yelling at Mike about how stupid it would be to even go and help the mystery person.  Mike just had to say something.

 

            “I left a Chrono Bomb in the woods about three-hundred yards away from where Gorin had you.  If I can assimilate that back into my body, it will give me some juice back.”

 

            “How long did it take you to form it?!”

 

            “About a minute” Mike replied to his sister.

 

            “You know that’s not enough.  You told me that thing can be used as a weapon or revitalization tool.  You also said that you needed at least five minute to make one of those things even respectable for reviving.  How do you expect to have enough power to content with Gorin even with help?!” screamed Rachel right in Mike’s ear.

 

            “I don’t care at this point.  I know it’s not much, but I’ll find a way to make it worth it.  Remember Rachel, I don’t give up.”  Once Mike finished his sentence he ran off back to Twoson as fast as he could.

 

            “That’s what I’m afraid about when you go back Mike.  You don’t give up, and that will be your fall” Rachel said to herself going the other direction back home to tell about what just happened and what to do about it.

 

            Back in Twoson, with the town nearly clear of any civilians because of Gorin’s hostage taking.  Dave and Gorin were going all out.  “I must admit it Gorin.  You’re more formidable than I first thought.  I never thought you had even physical power to break my paralysis magic so quickly” said a heavily breathing and sweating Dave while Gorin looked like he had just gotten done warming up.

 

            “I haven’t had I warrior of your class to fight in ages.  Join our side with your powers we would be unstoppable” said Gorin.

 

            “Screw you Gorin.  I wouldn’t join your side to save this planet.  I would rather die than to help someone as evil as yourself’ was Dave’s reply.

 

            Dave got back to work immediately on Gorin by pulling out his trust bow and about three hundred condensed arrows and started firing as fast as he could.

 

            “Is that all you have?  You missed me every time horseman.  Maybe you should check that bow” as Gorin said that he saw about three of the arrows go right through his human form.

 

            “I don’t care how much you think I can do.  I know what I can do and those arrows are my best weapons.  They’ve been condensed so that I can carry more and they’ll extend upon usage.  Not to mention I have endowed them magically to respond to my every thought against my opponent.  This means you have three-hundred arrows coming at you at all times.  I like to see you get out of this one.”  Gorin at this point was getting frustrated that a human was even able to last this long against him at his current level of power.  He started to gather energy once the first three arrows had hit him.  Dave at this point was randomizing the attack patterns of the arrows to make predictions of their movements impossible.

 

            This didn’t last long though.  Gorin quickly countered with a total assault destroying every one of Dave’s arrows in seconds.  Gorin at this point gained the upper hand and started pounding Dave in every way possible.  Dave tried using his speed and his swords to match Gorin but he was no match whatsoever.  Gorin had been just beating him into the ground to the point where Dave was actually starting to think he might lose.  Whenever Dave tried to counter with a slash of one of his swords, Gorin easily grabbed the sword and broke it in half with his bare human form hand.  Whenever Dave tried magic, Gorin just used shear force to break right through any attacks or blocks weakening Dave even faster.

 

            After about one hour of this, Dave was a bloody mess.  His face was pure red.  Tears were coming from his eyes while trying to just stand up.  The pain was so grueling now that Dave was screaming with just every movement.  Gorin was torturing Dave now.  Half of Dave’s bones were broken, he was bleeding profusely, and couldn’t even see now.  Dave was praying for a fast death now seeing that he couldn’t get any help.  <Maybe Mike had tried to mount a counter offensive since I was blinded by Gorin.  Maybe he was defeated, but I have to go on.  I can’t lose.  Too much is at stake now for me to lose.  If I lose, it will only be two or three Horsemen of Light then, depending if Mike is even alive right now.  I must fight for everyone on this planet!>

 

            Dave tried to get up at this point and was starting to get back onto his now completely shattered legs.  Gorin, knowing that any type of recovery could be permitted, grabbed Dave by the throat laughing knowing that he had just defeated the weapons master of the Horsemen of Light.  “Now, I will say this.  Your human race and all other life is a disgrace to even exist in this universe with us. We will rule over all of you to fulfill our every desire as we command.  Unfortunately for you though, I cannot leave one single Horsemen of Light alive because you might come back to resist us once again.  I shall start the extermination of your group with you Dave of Avalon by breaking your entire body starting with your neck!” Dave was faint at this point.  He was blind.  It was dark and he could only hear what was going on around him, which was nothing.  He could hear no sounds of children playing, or cars going across the roads like he had seen on his travels outside of Siberia before.  He felt that this was his end and all was lost.  He wondered about his parents and if this was the pain they felt when they were murdered.  <Mom, Dad, I will see you soon.  I wish I could have made you proud.>

 

            Dave could hear nothing and feel nothing with the exception he knew about his own existence still.  He felt he must be dead and this is what happened afterwards.  Just complete loneliness and silence.  He didn’t want to die.  He was afraid.  Dave’s consciousness started screaming that he didn’t want to die!  He still wanted to fight!

 

            “Everything is not lost yet Dave, you are still alive” said a voice in Dave’s head.

 

            “Who are you?” Dave spoke very shakily.

 

            “I am one you know not of but yet have depended on all your life.  The reason you feel nothing is because you are worn out, that’s all.  I am your soul Dave.  What you saw in that vision of yours was right.  Something big is about to happen but you shall only observe it.  Now open your eyes, the blood has been wiped away from them so you can now see.”

 

            “Who wiped away the blood?”

 

            “The hands of the one whose hands are clean of blood and whose hands can revive through the blood of another.”

 

            Dave opened his eyes and could not believe what he saw.  He could see the sun again.  The light woke his mind and saw that the world he was now in was not his own.  He saw a window and looked out of it.  He saw his own bloody body with a person in a beautiful black armor standing right next to it.  <Wait!  That’s my own body!  How is that possible?!> Dave thought to himself.

 

            “Who is that right beside my body?  Is that Zumon?  Is that being even human?” Dave screamed aloud.

 

            “Well Dave, it isn’t Zumon.  That’s Mike standing beside your body fighting right beside you.  If your wondering where you are, you are now in Magicant, the realm of your mind.”

 

            “First off how is Mike moving like that?  His body was more worn out than mine is right now, and he was with his sister.  How could have he recovered?  Second, who are you?”

 

            “I will tell you all of that later.  It is important that you now watch.  Mike has just arrived saving you from certain death.  I will fill you in on that once this battle ends” said the person now standing right next to Dave.  Dave now could only watch as round two between Mike and Gorin was about to begin.


Chapter 20

Round Two Begins

            Moments before Dave went into Magicant, Mike had supposedly arrived and saved Dave’s life.  Dave knew not what had happened.  Moments only passed before this happened though.

 

            Dave’s neck was being gripped by Gorin right hand with Dave dangling like a rag doll, completely lifeless, in Gorin’s hand.  “You horsemen aren’t the threat that I once thought you would become.  As my brothers and I have grown exponentially stronger back to our original strength, you horsemen have stayed at the remotely same level of power.  It’s quite disappointing though.  I thought I would face a challenge against our ‘strongest’ foes.  Looks like the Apple was wrong and we shall…where did your lifeless body go!  Whoever did this will pay!”

 

            Gorin was looking around aimlessly trying to figure out where Dave’s body went to.  He was about to make the kill, and Dave just vanished right out of his hand.  There wasn’t a human fast enough to move so quick that Gorin couldn’t even see or feel a body being taken right out of his hand, at least that was what Gorin thought.

 

            “Darn it man, I don’t even know your name and you helped me out over there.  You put up quite a fight to last about ninety minutes against him at that level of power.  You have to be the horseman of power, and I am having no doubts about that assumption at all.  No normal human could have withstood that level of a beating without being something amazing.  It’s my turn now.  I have the proper abilities to face Gorin right now.  You do not.  I just hope I have the strength to defeat him one on one this time” Mike said to himself as he laid Dave body on the ground out of plain sight.  Mike was in his armor at this point ready for a fight.  He had a serious look in his eyes with the head of his body the only thing uncovered.  “You gave me substantial time to make a second bomb after using the first on myself.  It was just enough time to fully revive me.  Now rest, you deserve it, my friend.”

 

            Mike got up and started to approach Gorin, but first ran to a completely different area to make sure Gorin didn’t find Dave’s location.  “Hey Gorin!  You looking for me!  I’m back at full strength and ready for round two.”

 

            “But how?  How can you still be standing?  I know you used that time speeder, how did you regain your energy back after using everything you had?” asked a mystified Gorin.

 

            “I’m the type of person who has had some training on how to use my techniques in many different ways.  One of those techniques I have is called the Chrono Bomb.  It is an amazing little device that I learned how to make.  I first make a small condensed core of energy to start.  Next, I gather every bit of outside energy around me that I can and convert it to my energy signature.  Since it is my energy signature, I can control the movement of the bomb when I release it with perfect accuracy.  I can also absorb the energy back into my body therefore healing myself.  How much depends on how long I make the bomb.”

 

            “What does this have to do with anything?!  I should cut your life short right now!”

 

            “The reason I am telling you this is because I used that Chrono Bomb to heal myself.  I made one before I used my time speeder alpha just in case if I needed a recharge for some reason.  After taking my sister back to a safe distance I immediately when for the Chrono Bomb I left behind and assimilated it.  Then I created a much more powerful bomb and kept building it up until I absorbed the second one.  Ninety minutes is how long it took for you to beat my nameless friend over there into submission.  That was more than enough time for me to make a powerful enough bomb to recharge fully.  Then don’t even think that little conversation you had with my colleague’s lifeless body kept you from killing him.  It didn’t.  I just wanted to be ready to beat you down as much as possible and save him.  I also know that he wore you out quite a bit.  I can feel your power dropping Gorin.  Just leave now and maybe I won’t make you wish I would kill you” Mike explained with a look of death I his eyes.

 

            “Your ignorance is amazing.  I have never faced a stupider foe than you.  I will not let you leave here intact.  Godan has special plans for you.  I will be the one who will bring you in and get the first honors of bringing you to your demise!” screamed a very confident Gorin.

 

            Mike wasted no time making the first move.  He went for his old reliable, the meteo sword, “Gorin, you’ll be quite surprised at what I am about to do to you.  Come on attack me!”  Gorin immediately ran after Mike at supersonic speed with Mike grabbing Gorin and putting him into a submission hold.  “This is the move that I started to use to impale the last person who messed with my family.  The drawback of using that Mani-Mani statue is that you feel the pain a human feels as well.  This is painful isn’t it.”

 

            “Actually no, we improved on the Mani-Mani statue.  We no longer feel the pain of any of the forms we appear to use, we are just able to manipulate our forms into these bodies!”  Gorin blasted Mike with a tremendous amount of energy almost blowing the Titan’s armor right off of Mike that would be if Mike wasn’t invulnerable to it already.

 

            <Crap!  Manipulation, I had no idea the statue could allow its owners to do such things.  That’s why I’ve been wrong on their power calculations.  Let me see if I take that into consideration his power should be, oh $^*%!  It’s squared to my current level of power!  I have to beat him fast and now!  This might be my only shot right now with the energy I just gathered it maybe enough!> Mike thought to himself realizing the situation he was now in.

 

            Gorin immediately charge after Mike again and this time mike dodge and slashed Gorin, not without taking a hit himself though.  Mike sheathed his sword at this point seeing it wouldn’t do anything and went for direct hand-to-hand combat.  Mike first tried to pummel Gorin with kicks but Mike got his foot snatched by Gorin and got thrown to the ground and hard.  Mike once again tried pummeling Gorin hand-to-hand but couldn’t even touch Gorin.  Gorin then started his onslaught.  Mike had never taken such a physical beating before, even against Godan.  Gorin every punch was breaking something of Mike’s body.  Every bone in his body felt like it was crunching under the tremendous power of Gorin’s blows.  Every scream Mike let out was even louder than the last.  He was armored and it was doing nothing.

 

            “Now you know the pain I can inflict under with only twenty percent of my full power!  You horsemen don’t even stand a chance against us!”

 

            “That’s what you think Gorin.  Now that you have me in close range I can do this move!  Psi Counter Omega!”  Mike blasted his energy with and ear-piercing scream and with a brilliant flash of light Mike let out all of the energy Gorin had thrown at Mike.  This sent Gorin flying backwards but when Mike landed back onto his own two legs, he screamed in utter agony felling his legs giving way to his light stature.  He could feel every piece of bone scrapping against all other bone around his upper thighs and felt his entire body start to ache.  After only five minutes of fighting with Gorin he was already reduced to a animal being cornered with no way out.  Tears fell from his eyes as he remembered what he was fighting for.  His mother, his father, his sister, his brother, Ness, Paula, Jeff, Poo, Tom, Casie, Nolan, Ryan, and everyone else he knew came flashing back into his mind.

 

            Gorin was laughing at how pathetic Mike looked when he was astonished by Mike.  Not that Mike had gotten up, but the look in his eyes.  <That was the same look that knight gave me before he struck the final blow to me long ago.  His name was Lancelot, he struck the final blow with that blade that shattered my entire being in one stroke!  That look is one of when a human can reach their true potential!  If he unleashes his true potential, he could level me in a second!  Time to end this!>  Gorin charged straight towards Mike knowing what would happen if Mike were to figure out his true potential already, the one not even Mike can tap into with Mental Ascension.

 

            Gorin was about to block when Gorin’s fist stop just short of Mike’s head.  Mike had to of done something to stop his final blow.  Mike had to of done something to stop him.  “Gorin, if you are wondering how you couldn’t hit me.  Look at what I am surrounded in!”  Gorin then saw the strange light surrounding Mike’s entire body.  It was a bluish-green light around Mike.  “This is my aura in its extended form.  The technique is called REM Attack and it can manipulate my aura to withstand any level of punishment form any living body when pummeled hand to hand!” screamed Mike in a kneeling position with his head looking towards the ground with an unknown expression.

 

            “Try to block this then!”  Gorin took his right arm and formed it into a scythe form to slash Mike’s head right off!  Mike knew that the four Horsemen of Apocalypse had odd powers but he didn’t think that they were capable of mutating their own forms in the most disgusting and vile ways into any they wanted.  Mike nearly hurled at just how disgusting that small transformation was.  “What the, how are you still blocking this?  It should have gone right through you!”

 

            “I can also multiply the power of the shield the envelopes my body right now into something that can block higher forms of matter form breaking through.  It’s called the REM Attack multiplier.  I can do this Fate at will and you can’t stop it while I recover!” While Mike was talking to Gorin, Mike had been putting something into one of his wounds after Gorin had blown off a piece of armor, it was an elixir in some sort of syringe and Mike was injecting straight into his blood.  “This is a little something one of my friends has made me just in case of this situation.  It’s called the elixir of spacetime.  The reason’s it’s called that is that it’s supposed to heal anyone with that class of energy as the main source of their powers.  This is slowly healing my body to a full recovery.   Now that I know how strong you are through this shield, I won’t have much trouble taking you out!”  Mike seemed to be bluffing at first but Gorin could easily see the uncovered part of Mike’s left leg that he had personally torn apart healing slowly.  It was still a painful process for Mike, but the rewards were well worth it.  Mike just stay in that kneeling position for about a half-hour while everything in his body was healing from Gorin’s first onslaught.  All the while Gorin was trying to break Mike’s REM shield but, he couldn’t he even break through no matter what he tried.  When Mike was fully recovered, Mike downed his shield and ran away dodging Gorin’s next move.

 

            “I wasn’t bluffing Gorin.  I told you what that elixir could do to someone with the spacetime class of powers.  I’m not playing around with you anymore!  You will see why the dragon level of techniques is one of the most dangerous classes of Psi techniques!  It’s not their natural versatility that is their most dangerous part!  It’s their natural power that makes them so dangerous!  I hate using this technique, but I must.  Psi Galatical Beta!”  Mike immediately fired a beam of energy straight towards the ground and the beam bend upward causing a sphere of energy to envelope Mike.  Mike just grinned because he knew what was coming.

 

            Dave was completely mystified by Mike’s tactics.  <Why did he attack head on and not just use that…whatever he is doing in the first place?>  “I really don’t get how Mike fights.  I’ve seen everyone else fight but him and his tactics are weird.  I’ve never seen anyone use nothing but kicks when attacking.  I’ve never seen anyone run at mach before in my life.  Not to mention I didn’t know the rumors of classes of energy were true.  If that’s the case Mike should have an equal advantage of winning right now as Gorin.”  Dave knew he had to do something and now.  He was in another realm, called Magicant, and he was looking outside a floating window at Mike’s fight with Gorin.  This was all just a little too weird for him.

 

            “Dave you shouldn’t worry.  All will be revealed to you soon enough.  You need to watch this battle though.  You will be the only one on Earth to know its outcome!  The outcome of this battle is more important beyond your wildest imagination.  This outcome must be known by someone, or the horsemen of light will no longer exist!”  Dave did not know what the outcome being spoken by this long-bearded man was all about.  Something was telling Dave that he should get back to watching now.

 

            If anyone could see this battle in person, they would have saw a huge flash of light just now!  When the dust cleared, Gorin was blown away about two hundred feet from his current position with Mike running straight at him.  “This is for what you did to that stranger who helped me and my sister!  This for the people in Twoson you took hostage!  This for all the people you took hostage and the entire town of Belle Vernon, the hometown of mine you leveled!  This is for all of my friends!  Who’s lives you four Horsemen have made Hell by even coming here and tormenting every part of our lives!  I will not let you win, not by any stretch of the imagination!  Today is the start of your fall!”  Each blow Mike dealt while saying all of that to Gorin was absolutely off the chart in speed and force of impact because of that speed.  Mike seemed to be much stronger because of that elixir, a seeming supercharge, would be the obvious assumption for Mike’s strength.  “The second advantage of the REM Attack is that it can increase my powers dramatically when used in tandem with my multiplier even more than what only a regular REM attack can do!  You’re dealing with a much more powerful Horsemen of Time than you were before!”  Mike had just revealed the first secret of his energy increasing techniques to Gorin.

 

            “You have just sealed your fate then.  I didn’t think I would have to do this so soon but already sick and tired of you horseman.  If I draw this out much longer I might have to face another one of you!  You horseman are like roaches!  You never stop coming unless the first is wiped out!”

 

            Gorin started a weird transformation.  He started to glow red and growing much bigger.  He then started to envelope Mike and a good section of the entire town of Twoson.  <Oh my God!  I didn’t think they could transform into their true form yet!  I screwed!  I can’t keep this up against his true form!  I get him and run right now or neither of us is going to survive!>  Mike tried running as fast as he could but Gorin was growing too fast and he had completely surrounded Mike.  Mike tried slicing through Gorin but the two kodachis he used broke right on contact.  He then tried his meteo sword that couldn’t even move right on the instance it struck Gorin.  Gorin actually tried destroying the sword but couldn’t.  Mike was able to withdraw the blade and sheath it fast enough to keep Gorin from taking a second shot at it.

 

            Mike was now completely surrounded by Gorin.  All Mike could see was the red and black light that made up Gorin’s true form.  Mike was so afraid he couldn’t even move his legs.  It was the most horrifying thing he had ever seen.  All the light and the constant cries that sounded like those that a person who expect to from from the bottom of Hell, then moans that got into his head and started to drive him nuts.  Mike couldn’t take this anymore.  The horror was enough to kill most people.  Just looking at Gorin now would make Mike draw upon tears.  He had thought Godan was horrifying when he saw Godan’s true form.  This was not even close to that.  He at least had his friends to comfort him and each other in the darkness that truly made up the Horsemen of Apocalypse.  Not this time though, Mike was all alone, scared and with no options left he became a corner animal.  He was going to fight to the end now.

 

            “That’s it!  I can’t stand this anymore!  I will beat you Gorin!  The deeds you have done cannot be forgiven!  I know I can’t kill you now but I will defeat you right here and now!  I know this is only a battle that’s a part of this war!  I shan’t go down without a fight!  Psi Galatical Beta!”  Mike got desperate and quick.  He quickly set up galatical for a quick and powerful strike.  In only a second afterwards, Mike set off this galatical which was the sphere that enveloped Mike expanding at amazing rate of speed.  The winds around Mike inside of Gorin picked up tremendously and anything that before Gorin’s now energy like body was and torn completely to shreds by just the pure power of this technique.  Trees, buildings, cars, anything that was in there was being completely twisted and torn apart.  The sphere is actually moving like a very intense shockwave, like that of a nuke, over a five-hundred foot radius.  The shockwave’s potency dissipates with distance but it isn’t much.  Mike can target anything he wants so that things that should be hit aren’t, but Mike wasn’t concerned with that now.  It is one of the techniques that hold the spacetime attribute making it an extremely powerful shockwave without much effort on Mike’s part.  Mike just has to have the right energy amount of energy surrounding him to trigger this massive energy shockwave.

 

            When the shockwave hit Gorin’s body, the shockwave had just disappeared without even making any marks, distortions, or visible signs of damage anywhere.  It was useless.  One of the most powerful Psi techniques known to all the world was just rendered completely ineffective, even if it was just the beta level.  Mike didn’t know a higher form of the technique and he knew time speeder couldn’t work.  Gorin was just too much to handle.

 

            “You…like my…new form.  This is… the form I naturally had when…I was created along with my brothers.  You have…no chance of surviving” said Gorin breathing deeply and using that with a horrifying voice to talk.  “With…all…my brothers…alive now…I can…use this form…without losing all…awareness!”  That last scream at the end of his last speech was something like a person would expect to hear while in the lowest pit of Hell.  It was very high pitch and loud, like a scream of a bat only slightly lower pit and earthshakingly loud.  Mike was in utter torment now.  He was crying and covering his ears.  He couldn’t take the screams, the power, the breathing, the darkness.  The world he was now in was nothing more than a dark abyss with a red form scattered all around him just moving around him.  He knew that blood red light was Gorin.  Mike regained enough composure to try one last attack but…

           

            “Psi Black Hole Omega!” screamed Gorin in a high pitch scream then an earth shaking roar.  Mike didn’t know what this attack was, but he soon found out he couldn’t absorb it.  It was one of the twelve, and seemingly something powerful enough to finish Mike in one blow.  Mike was thrown into the air until he was about a hundred feet off the ground.  Energy started to gather at a single point in space until it became condense into matter then a superheavy piece of matter until it was pure black.  It was blown apart and fired directly at Mike in a pure bombardment of superheavy matter and a tremendous amount of energy.  Mike’s armor shattered and most of it was completely destroyed.  His glasses shattered and were annihilated into pure energy as they blew off his face.  The wounds on Mike’s body were critical now and his entire body was now blood red from the blood spilling all over him from his wounds.  The screams of horror and pain Mike was emitting were enough to even warm the coldest person heart to bring them to tears.  The pain immediately knocked Mike out cold.  Mike was on his death bed after he landed to ground with tremendous impact.  Gorin then reverted to his human form thanks to the Mani-Mani statue.  “I did it!  I don’t care about that other horsemen or where this wimp put him!  Mike is now on his death bed, the Horseman of Time has been defeated!  Fortunately for him, I have been ordered to bring this one back alive by my brother.  I’m sure he would love to torture you and see how you are now!  Your human body couldn’t even take the slightest bit of punishment from that attack!  You’ll be the one wishing your own death when we’re through with your torture!”  Gorin picked Mike up and teleported out of the area with his prize.

 

            “Paula what’s the matter!  Why do you look like that?  I’ve never seen you in so much pain before!” screamed Ness after Paula had started screaming in pain out of nowhere.

 

            “A tremendous energy came out of nowhere.  It was so much that I felt it all the way out here.  It’s gone now, but it was so intense that it caused me pain from this distance!  It was definitely a good distance away but that could have killed one of us if we were unshielded or didn’t have some super strong armor protecting us.  I want to check it out right now.  I have a feeling something very horrible has just happened from where that amount of energy just came from” said Paula shaking still from the horrible pain she just felt.

 

            “Okay, I have a feeling your right.  Let’s get the others and go check it out” said Ness holding Paula close to him to comfort her after the tremendous stress she just went through.

 

            “Casie, why did you take that hit?  It’s not like you to take a hit from me that easily.  You can usually block everything I throw for the most part” said Ryan with a concerned look on his face.

 

            “Something horrible just happened.  I was right.  I wish I wrong though.  That energy I just felt was absolutely incredible.  It must have been about a thousand miles away and I still felt it” said Casie speaking very softly and horrified by what she just felt.

 

            “We can’t worry about it now Casie.  We have to keep training.  I’m sure the others are looking into it now.  I felt it too Casie, but that doesn’t mean we should drop what we are doing right now.  You have techniques to master along with Ryan and I.  We’ll help out when we are good and ready, and that time is not now” said Nolan very sternly to Casie.

 

            “You’re right Nolan.  I’ll keep going, but if we feel another disturbance like that I’m going to see what happened, got me!”

 

            “Yeah, now let’s keep going” said Nolan taking off his coat looking for some hand-to-hand combat practice.

 

            “Now you see why you needed to see that outcome Dave.  You’re the only one who knows what just happened to Mike.  You have to conquer this realm so you can tell everyone about what just happened.  Mike needs your help once again.  If you don’t rescue him, the Horsemen of Light shall fall because only three of you don’t have enough power to defeat them.  All four of you have what it takes but it must start with your journey through this realm of Magicant!”

 

            “Alright, I’ll go and conquer this realm.  If that’s what those four are capable of then they must be stopped.  They will make every form of life in this universe suffer at their own hands!  They must be stopped before can ever start!” said Dave triumphantly as he now knew what he had to do.