The Guardian Host-Resurrection-Book one of The Guardian Host Series
Showdown

I woke up with the sound of Volax in my head.

“Vincent, it’s time to wake up. It is nearly time for your arrival in Pine Beach City.”

My eyes shot open, and I took a deep breath as Volax scared me out of my mind. I almost forgot where I was. I looked around quickly to get a handle on my surroundings.

“It’s time already?”

“Affirmative, Vincent. The destined time is upon us. In just a few minutes, the twenty-four-hour deadline will have expired. You must wake Jack up and vacate the premises immediately.”

“Not before I say goodbye to Sky.”

I jumped off the couch and shook Jack’s arm.

“Wake up, hungry man,” I yelled, slapping him on the shoulder. “It’s time to get a move on. We’re moving out in a few minutes.”

Jack woke up in surprise. His eyes widened as he looked at me. He looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.

“What the hell,” Jack screamed as he gripped the arms of the recliner, “Is this real?”

I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Of course, it’s real. Now get up while I get Sky.”

He seemed to relax as he stumbled out of the recliner and got to his feet.

He mumbled something unrecognizable under his breath as he put on his white shirt.

I left the living room and walked down the hall to the bedroom. I slowly opened the door to get a glimpse of her sleeping.

Just as I was able to get a view of the bed, I saw it was empty. The door flung open, almost hitting me.

I saw Sky dressed and ready to start her day.

Wow, she’s fast.

“You’re awake already,” I asked.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied.

She gave me a concerned look as she stood there in the doorway. It appeared to be the look of dread.

I knew she didn’t want me to face the Dondravens, but she also knew I had no choice.

“Is it time for you to go?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Is Jack ready,” she asked as she looked past me into the living room.

“Almost.”

It was uncomfortable talking to her because we both knew what I had to do, but we didn’t want me to do it yet.

We were between a rock and a hard place.

“Let’s see if Jack’s ready,” she said as she quickly walked past me without eye contact. I knew she’d probably break down and cry if she made eye contact with me.

I wasn’t upset that she brushed past me. I understood.

“Sounds good,” I replied, following her to the living room.

Jack was ready to go, standing in the living room wearing his Umbra suit. He looked like a fashion model again, and I was jealous of his looks.

“Let’s check the news before we go, buddy,” Jack said, shooting me a serious glance.

It sounded good because it’d give me a few more minutes to spend with Sky. I wanted to delay what needed to be done as long as possible.

Every second counts.

“Yeah, we better see what’s going on before we go,” I replied.

Jack turned on the television, and it was clear that chaos had taken over the city.

A news crew was on the scene by the demolished museum, and military helicopters were flying all around the city. About fifty Umbra Agents were standing near the rubble of the old museum. I could see Justin Carter in front of them, giving orders.

Military personnel were everywhere with guns, grenade launchers, and other weapons.

I ignored what the anchorman said because I was too focused on seeing if the Dondravens were there.

I didn’t see them anywhere, and I was about to say that it must’ve been a bluff when it happened.

The Dondraven with the large bracelets teleported in front of Justin Carter. I was surprised to see that Justin didn’t even flinch.

Justin held up his hand towards the alien as a gesture to stop.

The alien cocked his head to the side as Justin approached it. He started speaking to the alien, but what was said was unclear.

The agents behind him looked like they were preparing for an attack if something went wrong.

The helicopters started circling overhead like vultures homing in on a fresh kill. After about thirty seconds, the Dondraven took a step backward.

Justin turned around to face the agents and the military personnel. The news camera zoomed in on Justin as he appeared as if he were about to speak.

“It looks like this government agent may have diffused the situation,” the news anchor said. “He looks as if he’s about to make a statement.”

What happened next totally shocked me.

A different Dondraven teleported in between Justin Carter and the Dondraven. This one differed from any of the ones I’d seen before.

Instead of having the purplish gray suits like the other ones, he had on a black suit with grayish undertones, and I could see thin, green veins throughout the entire suit that were glowing.

He wore a black and gray helmet trimmed with bright green metal. The green trim was the same color as my eyes.

The helmet left a good part of the Dondraven’s forehead exposed.

It looked like a child had put on a helmet that was too small for his head.

The agents were caught off guard, and some of them scrambled behind the tanks that were close by. Others had drawn their silver metallic weapons from inside their jackets and held their ground.

Justin Carter, however, turned around quickly to face the Dondraven and held his ground. I’m sure he didn’t want to show any fear in the face of the enemy.

“Oh my God,” the news anchor said as he looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

“Did you just see that? That alien came out of nowhere, and the agent refused to back down.”

Then we heard the alien’s voice as it overtook the news station.

“Puny earthlings, my name is Dryservious, the Guardian of Darkness. Your underdeveloped intelligence has insulted me, and I will not tolerate your insolence. I will be the one to rule your insignificant planet, and you will be mine to control. Your punishment could have been far less severe. The only task set before you was surrendering The Guardian Host to me. That task was not completed.

I have come here to show you my power and strength, and you send this tiny military force to stop me. I am insulted by your lack of intelligence, and I will unleash a fury you have never seen before. I will start by making an example of these unintelligent government agents I have so easily been able to deceive for many years.

You will now witness what will happen to you if you decide to resist my rule over you.”

” Vincent, Dryservious is one of the most feared of the guardians. When the guardians were formed, we had almost unanimously agreed to destroy him because of the influence the darkness could have upon its host. However, with our race, it was not an issue because of our natural resistance to the effect of darkness.

We agreed to destroy Dryservious if he separated from his Volastian host. The Dondravens took him before we had an opportunity to implement that plan. This guardian is dark and will not hesitate to destroy living creatures for his enjoyment. There is no mercy within this guardian, and he will not stop until he has destroyed enough to satisfy his appetite. It is the nature of this guardian to dominate and rule over those incapable of defending themselves.”

The sense of urgency was too much for me to ignore.

I knew we had to get to the city immediately or lose more than we bargained for. I was hopeful that Umbra would see that the Dondravens were a more significant threat than I was.

“Gotta go,” I said, grabbing Jack by the arm.

“I love you, and I’ll be back soon,” I said before kissing Sky on the cheek.

I teleported Jack to the third floor of a building close to the action. I dropped him off inside, where he was out of sight and could still see what was happening.

I transformed into the Guardian Host, and I was surprised at the new look of the suit. From where I was, I could see that Dryservious was about nine feet tall and looked very intimidating.

He had the same expressionless face as all the other ones.

He grabbed Justin Carter by the collar and tossed him into the side of a building with such force that it knocked him unconscious. Agent Carter bounced off the wall and landed motionless on the sidewalk.

Several agents ran to Justin’s aid and dragged him around the corner of the building.

Then I saw Dryservious extend his arms with his palms up as if he were going to meditate. The green in his helmet started to grow brighter and brighter, and I knew he was about to destroy something or someone.

This can’t be good.

I figured I could reason with him and buy time for the agents and the military to prepare for an attack.

His arms’ green vein-like material started to glow, indicating he was about to shoot an energy blast. I knew it was now or never. I had to see what I could do.

I teleported a few feet in front of Dryservious and yelled, “Wait! I’m here!”

Dryservious didn’t even flinch when I arrived. Instead, he cocked his head slightly to the right as if he wasn’t impressed by me at all.

He was even more intimidating in person.

“Don’t do this,” I yelled to him.

“These are innocent people, they don’t deserve this.”

In the blink of an eye, Dryservious flipped his hands so his palms were facing me. He shot me with two black energy bolts.

They left behind a trail of glowing green smoke that quickly disappeared. The impact sent shockwaves throughout my body, lifting me off my feet.

I was propelled backward so fast. It was as if I were teleporting.

I slammed into a tank with such force that not only did I leave a dent in it, but the metal folded around me as if it were grabbing me. The tank flipped over with me stuck inside the twisted metal.

With a loud crash, the tank and I slammed upside down into the concrete barricade a few feet away.

The concrete barrier broke apart like a fist going through a piece of Styrofoam. It happened so fast that I wasn’t able to react.

Talk about a surprise attack.

I immediately heard gunfire and grenade launchers firing in quick procession.

I teleported out of the twisted metal of the tank so I was standing next to the wreckage.

I looked at the dent I’d left on the side of the tank and was glad my suit was indestructible because that would’ve been a painful death.

Thank God for Volax.

I impacted the tank so hard that the wheel track was pushed into the hole.

I levitated so I was higher than the tank, and I could see Dryservious start to levitate a foot or two off the ground.

Great, he can fly, too?

He glided toward the Umbra agents as they shot glowing green bullets at him. His suit absorbed them, causing the veins to shine brighter with each shot.

The Dondraven behind him with the bracelets started to grow rapidly, and within two seconds, he was about 100 feet tall.

I was still determining who I should try to take out first because they both posed a severe threat.

The giant Dondraven grabbed a helicopter, swiping it out of the air as it tried to fly away from him.

He grabbed it by the tail, crushing the tail rotor and causing small pieces of crushed metal to fall to the ground.

I saw military personnel inside the helicopter, clinging on for dear life as it swung around like a flyswatter.

The Dondraven was using it to hit the other helicopters out of the sky.

At the same time, Dryservious aimed his palms toward the Umbra agents and fired two large black energy blasts at them. I teleported to an agent, grabbed him, and teleported behind the tank just before the energy blast hit him.

However, I wasn’t fast enough to grab the agent, who was about five feet behind him.

When the energy blast hit him, he vaporized, turning him into a black smoky dust that fell to the ground.

The blast continued through him until it hit the side of a jeep, causing it to flip a few times sideways until it slammed into the concrete barricade.

The other energy blast caused a stack of sandbags to explode into a large cloud of smoky dust. The soldiers hiding behind it flew several feet into the air and landed in the street.

I flew towards Dryservious while generating an energy sphere to maximum capacity.

Time to show this guy what I’m made of.

He saw me coming and shot an energy blast at me.

I rotated my body, causing it to miss me by an inch. As the black energy blast flew past me, I passed through the glowing green smoke trail.

The sphere hit the second floor of a nearby building, causing a large, black, smoky explosion that left a large hole in the side of the building.

I shot at Dryservious with both gauntlets.

Just before the spheres hit him, he turned into a ghost-like figure. I could see right through him.

What the hell?

I could see his details, similar to how I look when I teleport.

The energy spheres went through him as if he weren’t even there, hitting the street below him. The road erupted like a bomb had gone off, causing blacktop and concrete to fly into the air in a cloud of green smoke.

I stopped flying towards him and hovered in the air, trying to piece together what had just happened.

How am I supposed to fight against this?

“Vincent, Dryservious can change his molecular structure to avoid physical damage. I would suggest...”

Volax couldn’t even finish his sentence because the entire front of my body had been hit by a helicopter that the giant Dondraven swung.

He hit me like a professional baseball player who just hit one out of the park.

I was launched into the air at an incredible rate of speed after hearing the sound of metal hitting metal.

I assumed it was the sound of the helicopter hitting me. I tried to get myself under control while flipping head over heels in the air.

I caught a glimpse of the soldier who had been in the helicopter, hurtling in the air to me. He was screaming and flailing his arms and legs wildly as he flew.

I teleported to him and scooped him out of the air before he slammed into a building.

I teleported us to the ground, about fifty feet from the action. He thanked me while still having a look of being petrified on his face.

“Anytime,” I replied before flying towards all the action.

There were bullets, grenades, green glowing bullets, and rockets flying from all directions toward Dryservious and the giant alien.

The giant alien swung his helicopter at another one flying close by. The helicopter’s structure couldn’t take any more stress.

The tail broke off, sending the remainder of the helicopter flying towards another one that was flying away from the action.

I teleported to the large piece of the broken helicopter and grabbed it before it hit the other one.

I gently placed it on the roof of a building.

I was about ten stories high and could see the chaos on the street.

The giant Dondraven threw the helicopter’s tail in frustration, smashing harmlessly on the sidewalk in a small heap of metal.

I flew towards the giant alien and saw him take both hands and rip the roof off an office building. Large pieces of concrete fell to the street below with a loud crash.

He raised the roof above his head as pieces fell from the edges, hitting his body before bouncing off and landing by his feet.

Talk about raising the roof.

He held it above his head and targeted several Umbra agents on the street, shooting green glowing bullets at him.

Several bullets hit him in the face, and it was clear that it annoyed him because he made a growling noise as one hit him in the left eye.

He reared his arms back as if he was about to throw the roof at the agents.

Once the agents realized what he was about to do, they lowered their weapons and attempted to run.

About 75 feet from the giant Dondraven, I pictured the agents getting squashed like insects as the roof crushed them.

That would be messy.

I teleported underneath the roof the giant alien held in his hands, floating between it and the Dondraven’s head.

I made sure to stay out of his line of sight.

Just as he started to throw the large piece of concrete roof to the ground, I placed my hands on the underside of it and flew upwards with it.

The concrete made a loud cracking sound as it broke off where the alien’s hands were. I had the entire roof except for two remaining pieces in the Dondraven’s hands.

He didn’t notice the rest of the roof missing until he threw the two pieces remaining in his hands, missing his target completely.

I was about fifty feet above the alien, looking down while suspending the roof from underneath.

Just as the alien looked up, I teleported above the large concrete roof, thus allowing it to fall right into the face of the alien, who now had his left eye closed from being shot.

I put my hands on the concrete piece and flew as fast as I could towards him to make a more significant impact.

The roof hit the giant with tremendous force, breaking it into thousands of smaller pieces.

The giant Dondraven stumbled backward several steps before tripping over the museum’s rubble behind him.

He fell backward while flailing his arms wildly, grabbing at the air or anything he could to prevent himself from landing on his back.

I charged up my gauntlets and shot him in the face with two high-intensity energy spheres, causing him to slam hard onto the pile of rubble.

His head snapped back sharply before he hit the ground, causing his head to penetrate the street behind the museum.

The impact sent pieces of concrete flying into the air in all directions, creating a cloud of dust so large that I couldn’t see where his head was.

I looked away just in time to see Dryservious shoot four soldiers with his energy blasts as he levitated above them.

They were pulverized into a cloud of smoky black dust as the ground erupted below them, throwing concrete twenty feet into the air.

Helicopters were shooting at him, but the bullets were going through him, hitting the ground below.

I waited for the bullets to pass through him before teleporting directly behind him to gain an element of surprise.

As soon as he turned solid again, I shot him in the back of the head with two of the most intense energy spheres I could form. The spheres flipped him head over heels towards a cannon on the street’s left side.

I knew I caught him off guard because I could see his arms and legs flailing around just before he hit the cannon, creating a loud metal-clanging noise.

The cannon immediately turned into a heap of crumpled metal as it wrapped around his torso.

They both skip across the street, causing sparks to erupt each time they hit the concrete.

They bounced off the concrete about three times before slamming into a concrete barricade. The concrete exploded from the impact.

Dryservious and the cannon then slammed into the side of a building. They disappeared into the hole created by their impact.

Now, that was a good shot.

“How do we beat these guys, Volax,” I asked as I flew towards the hole in the building.

By now, the military and Umbra agents were shooting everything they had into the hole, causing more bricks and concrete to explode from the side of the building.

I wasn’t sure if they were even hitting anything because they were shooting blindly.

I didn’t want to teleport into the building because I might be caught off guard.

I reached the building and hovered over it, not wanting to enter the line of fire.

I heard men yelling, “Cease fire! Cease fire!”

Within seconds, the shooting stopped, followed by an eerie silence.

I slowly lowered myself closer to the hole. Just before I reached it, two black energy blasts came out of it, hitting the edges of it. More bricks flew toward the soldiers and agents.

I watched helplessly as the black energy blasts hit five soldiers and four agents, immediately turning them into dust that fell to the ground.

The blasts continued past them with a glowing green smoke trail until they hit the concrete barricade across the street. It lifted it off the ground and broke it into several pieces, slamming it into the building behind it.

“Behind you, Vincent!”

I teleported to the top of the building when I heard Volax warn me of something behind me.

I looked down to see a green energy blast fly through the spot I had just been levitating. It traveled for several blocks before hitting a light pole, causing sparks to fly as it fell over.

I turned to see that the giant alien was sitting and shooting at me with his bracelet.

As I was standing on top of the building, I pointed my gauntlet toward him to shoot him with a high-powered energy sphere.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed me by the ankle. I looked down to see the hand protruding through the roof of the building like a ghost hand.

It quickly pulled me through the roof, causing the spot I was standing on to collapse as I crashed through it.

I tried to teleport, but for some reason, I could not.

“Vincent, we cannot teleport while Dryservious has a grip on us. His molecular structure is making it impossible for us to do that.”

I was pulled through two floors before he pulled me out of the side of the building by my ankle.

He turned around and grabbed me by my throat with his other hand as he let go of my ankle. I tried to hit him, but my hands were going through him as if he were a ghost.

The only part of him that was solid was the wrist and hand that was holding me. I grabbed his wrist with both hands as he levitated higher while still grasping my neck with one hand.

I tried to use my ability to dissolve nonliving matter with my gauntlets, but it just made the veins in his suit glow an even brighter green.

“What do you want,” I asked with my voice restricted by his hand.

“Volaxion,” he said to me telepathically.

“I’ll never give him to you!”

" Puny, guardian.”

He held up his other arm and aimed his palm at my face. I could see the energy building up within his glowing green veins.

I couldn’t do anything to prevent myself from being blasted.

He shot me with an energy blast as he let go of my neck, and I felt the vibration of energy surge through my body.

I felt pain coursing through my entire body for the first time in years. I flew headfirst, facing skyward while whipping past buildings.

My shoulder hit the bottom corner of a building, causing bricks and concrete to explode from the building with a loud crash.

Instantly, everything went black.

“Vincent! Vincent, wake up!”

opened my eyes, and everything looked as if it were shaking violently.

I was looking up at the sky, trying to focus on a cloud overhead, but it quickly shook from left to right.

There was a high-pitched sound in my ears that was drowning out all the noise around me. I felt as if I couldn’t concentrate.

What’s going on? Where am I?

“I am trying to regain our molecular structure so that we are back to normal. It requires you to focus. Vincent, are you okay?”

“Wha...,” I said as the cloud I was looking at started to stabilize. “What happened, Volax?”

“Dryservious shot us with dark energy. That level of dark energy disrupts our molecular stability, temporarily disorienting us. I am attempting molecular stability.”

“You mean he stunned us?”

“Affirmative.”

I propped myself up on my elbows as my focus started improving. The ringing in my ears subsided, and I began hearing guns and explosions behind me.

“How long was I out,” I asked as I levitated into a standing position.

“For a few moments. We are now stabilizing Vincent.”

“Thanks, pal.” I turned around to see what was happening behind me.

“You are welcome. I recommend that you avoid a similar situation as the one we just encountered.

“I’ll do my best.”

I saw the giant Dondraven pick up a tank while bullets fired at him from all directions.

A missile hit him in the face, and it didn’t seem to bother him at all.

I noticed the only thing that bothered him was the green bullets. The giant alien squeezed the tank, causing it to crush like a soda can in his hand.

It didn’t look like anyone was in it, but I could’ve been wrong.

An Umbra agent was behind a concrete barricade, shooting glowing green bullets at the giant as fast as he could squeeze the trigger. One of the bullets hit the alien in the private area, and it affected him because I heard him let out a large growl and use his free hand to cover it.

He kicked the barricade before I could react, and it crushed the agent as it hit another concrete barrier behind him.

The giant drew back his arm and threw the tank at a helicopter, shooting him in the chest from a reasonable distance away.

I teleported to the sky and caught the tank when it was out of reach of the giant. I used my ability to dissolve a hole in the crushed tank that was just big enough for my hand to fit inside it like a glove.

I gripped what felt like a sturdy pipe on the inside of it and flew as fast as I could toward the giant alien.

He shot at me with his bracelet, and I teleported out of the way with the tank and reappeared close to the giant’s chest.

I held the tank above my head with my hand, flying as fast as I could towards his face. I hit him in the chin with the crumpled tank, delivering a tremendous uppercut.

The sound of clanging metal was deafening, filling my ears as the tank connected with his chin.

The giant let out a loud growl as he stumbled back a step and tried to swat at me, missing me completely. I felt the wind from his hand as it passed by my head.

I punched him in the face again as hard as I could, and he stumbled back two more steps and growled.

He swatted at me again with his right hand, and I was able to teleport out of the way.

I failed to notice his left hand swatting at me, and I reappeared in its path.

He slapped me on the right side of my body, sending me flipping through the air away from him.

I quickly gained control and turned to face him, ensuring I was safely out of his reach. He shot an energy blast at me and missed.

A green bullet fired from an agent hit him under his right eye, causing him to growl again as he looked towards the agent.

It gave me the opportunity that I needed to strike.

I threw the crumpled tank toward the alien’s face and fired my gauntlets at it with the most intense spheres I could generate.

Just as the alien turned to face me, my energy spheres hit the tank, allowing them to hit the giant in the face with lightning speed.

It sounded like metal hitting metal when it connected.

His head quickly turned to the right. His body followed, causing him to stumble a few steps to the right before falling to one knee.

“Vincent, below you!”

I teleported towards the giant before looking back to see two black energy blasts enter the same spot I was just in.

I saw the green smoke trails behind the energy blasts. It was Dryservious.

I’m really starting to hate this guy.

“I have a plan, Volax,” I said as I flew towards the giant alien as he was trying to stand up.

“Any plan you put into action must be better than what we are doing now, Vincent.”

“I don’t think I’m doing that bad,” I said, grabbing the left bracelet around the giant Dondraven’s wrist.

I pulled his arm towards the ground, causing the alien to lose his balance and fall on all fours, shaking the ground as he did.

I then used my ability to dissolve inorganic material, and my hand sank into the bracelet’s metal.

I’m finally catching a break. See, planning makes perfect.

I watched as that part of the bracelet turned to metallic dust and fell onto the ground.

I teleported to the other side of the bracelet and dissolved a piece of it, and the bracelet fell to the ground in two parts.

I heard a loud metallic crash as both pieces hit the concrete.

The alien let out a scream as he noticed what happened.

I watched in amazement as the left half of his body shrank down to regular size.

He fell on his left side, making him helpless to defend himself. I grabbed the other bracelet with both hands and dissolved it until it fell into two pieces.

He shrank down to standard size and was visibly scared. He was on his back, dragging himself towards a building as if his legs wouldn’t work.

I approached him and almost shot him with an energy sphere, but an Umbra agent shot him in the head with a green bullet, saving me the trouble.

The Dondraven went limp and lay motionless on the street as purple blood trickled from the wound on his head.

“Your plan was effective, Vincent. I must commend you on your ingenuity.”

“Of course it was. Planning makes perfect, Volax.”

I turned to face Dryservious, who was a reasonable distance away, shooting energy blasts at soldiers and agents.

“I must warn you that your plan will not work on Dryservious because his helmet is organic material. We must replace a new strategy to deal with him. I have not seen the other Dondraven soldiers, but I am certain they are nearby.”

“Understood,” I said as I started flying towards Dryservious.

He didn’t see me flying towards him because he had his back to me.

Just as I picked up speed, I was struck by green lightning and went completely limp. I fell to the ground, skipping across the concrete, before slamming at full speed into a fountain in front of a municipal building.

Water splashed about ten feet in the air as I demolished it, making the rest spill onto the brick sidewalk.

Are you kidding me right now?

" The rest of the Dondraven party has arrived to demonstrate their abilities, Vincent.”

“Whatever gave you that idea? I would’ve never guessed that if you hadn’t told me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Dondraven with the metallic boots teleport and reappear 20 feet to my right. I was still lying on the ground, brushing off the pieces of the bronze fountain from my chest.

Can’t he wait a second?

” Watch out, Vincent.”

The Dondraven shot another green lightning blast at me. I teleported out of the way and reappeared behind him.

I shot the back of his feet with an energy sphere, causing his feet to come off the ground.

He did a complete flip before landing on his back on the sidewalk. I teleported so my feet were on either side of his legs and facing his feet.

I quickly grabbed his right ankle firmly with my right hand. His ankle was small enough that my fingers almost touched.

I dissolved his boot until it broke into two pieces. He propped himself up on his elbows and tried to pull his foot away from me. My grip made that impossible.

He kicked me in the face with his other foot while trying to break free. As he pulled his other leg back to kick me again, I grabbed his left ankle with my left hand.

He struggled to break free as his legs were wiggling around, trying to break my hold on them. I dissolved his other boot, causing that one to split into two pieces.

I knew he was powerless to defend himself.

I let go of him and stepped to the side of him. He took that opportunity to turn over and quickly get on all fours.

He was trying to get to his feet when I grabbed him by the back of his neck and picked him up. I started to levitate when suddenly, two black energy bolts shot the Dondraven I held.

The bolts hit him in the chest, causing him to disintegrate into black dust.

The blast continued through him and hit me in the chest.

All I could see was green smoke surrounding my face as I felt the impact of the blast. A shockwave coursed through me once again, and I landed hard on my back in the disabled fountain.

The tiny amount of water in the bottom caused me to slide across the surface, and I slammed into the inside wall of the fountain.

I hate this fountain already.

I teleported to a standing position on the other side of the fountain wall. I saw Dryservious looking at me as he levitated a foot or two above the ground.

I saw an agent running towards him from his left with his gun drawn, and he started to shoot at him.

Dryservious teleported in a green puff of smoke. He reappeared directly behind the agent, grabbing him by the top of the head.

The agent was caught off guard, dropping his weapon and grabbing Dryservious’ wrist.

He frantically tried to break free of his grip. I knew something terrible was about to happen.

Dryservious looked directly at me and shot an energy blast into the top of the agent’s head, causing him to turn to black dust. The ground exploded below him into a cloud of black and green smoke as concrete erupted.

Oh God.

The fact that he looked at me while he killed the agent made me aware that he did it out of spite and enjoyment.

I’m sure he would’ve been smiling from ear to ear if he could. I was furious at what I saw, and I wanted to go over to where he was and turn him into dust, but I didn’t know how, and he knew it.

“I’ve gotta replace a weakness, Volax,” I said in frustration.

“I am trying to locate one Vincent, but his genetic structure differs from Volastians, so it is challenging.”

“Hurry it up, will you, pal,” I said as I teleported to get behind Dryservious.

I was teleporting as usual, and objects were flying past me with lightning speed when suddenly, I was stopped by a hand around my throat.

Dryservious was somehow able to catch me and pull me out of teleport with his hand.

He slammed me to the ground by my throat. I felt the concrete break as my back hit it.

He was on one knee, pinning me to the ground with his right hand around my throat.

How did he pull me out of teleport?

“I will have Volaxion, earthling.”

“You’ll have to kill me first.”

“I know.”

He pointed his other hand at my face, and I could see the green veins in his suit getting brighter. I tried to break free, but my hands went through his body again as if he were a ghost.

I tried to levitate and got maybe an inch off the ground before getting slammed back to the ground.

I saw a green flash come from his hand, followed by darkness.

“Vincent! Vincent! Get us out of here!”

After being shot by a dark energy blast, I opened my eyes after what I perceived as a second or two.

I could see Dryservious standing over me with both legs straddling my body as he looked down on me with both hands pointed at me.

I was too stunned to concentrate on what I should do.

I heard the loud ringing in my ears. Because I was stunned, Dryservious looked like he was vibrating from left to right.

Then I saw green flashes coming from his hands.

Boom...Boom...Boom...Boom...Boom...Boom.

“Vincent, he’s shooting us. Move now!”

All I could do was lay there helplessly as the blasts hit me in the face and chest, causing the concrete around me to break apart as I sank lower and lower into the ground.

I tried to shield my face with my hands but was having trouble moving my arms. I finally felt my body go limp, and everything went black.

“Vincent, wake up, buddy.”

I heard Jack’s voice as if he were in a tunnel.

I opened my eyes to see a blurry image of Jack pulling debris off my body and throwing it as fast as he could.

He was wearing a black suit again, just like the one he wore when we first met. At first, I thought he was an agent, but I quickly came to my senses.

“You gotta get outta here fast,” He said as he tried to pick me up by my arms.

“What? Where am I,”

“Don’t worry about it. Get up before he comes back!”

I realized I was in a deep crater caused by my body.

I must’ve been inside the body-sized crater three to four feet down. Jack jumped out of the cavity and gestured for me to get out.

“Come on already,” He yelled impatiently.

I levitated out of the hole and looked around to see what was happening. Jack had a look of worry on his face as he checked me over to see if I was okay.

“You know how long you’ve been down there?”

“A few seconds, I guess.”

“Ha. Try about thirty minutes,” Jack said as he looked around nervously.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, everybody thought you were dead meat. I had to check it out for myself.”

“Where have you been, Jack?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been taking care of some loose ends with the Umbra Department.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You’ll see,” He said, brushing off his suit.

“Where’s Dryservious?”

I scanned the area, looking for any sign of him.

“He’s on a killing spree. He’s killed almost all the agents and most of the military force that was in the city.”

I noticed that some buildings standing before I was knocked unconscious had been destroyed or damaged.

There was fire and smoke all around the city, and I could make out the faint sounds of explosions from my right in the distance.

“I’ve got to stop him,” I said as I levitated.

“No offense, buddy, but you’re not doing a very good job of that so far.”

“I’ve gotta try, or this planet’s gonna be in a world of hurt.”

“You do what you gotta do, and I’ll finish what I’ve been working on...”

An energy blast hitting him in the chest cut off his sentence.

He was lifted off his feet and launched about ten feet backward until he hit the ground with a loud thud.

It wasn’t a dark energy blast, so I knew it wasn’t Dryservious.

Please don’t be dead.

“No,” I yelled as loud as I could.

I knew Jack couldn’t have survived that.

He was lying motionless with smoke coming off his chest.

I turned to see the Dondraven with the metallic belt looking at me with his palms facing me.

He shot at me, and I deflected it with my gauntlets, causing it to hit the pavement to my right, and the concrete exploded.

He shot a couple more blasts at me, and I walked towards him as I deflected four more to the ground. Concrete exploded with each impact.

Suddenly, he sped past me as a bright blue blur in the blink of an eye.

I turned around quickly as he was rounding the corner of a building. I was angry that I couldn’t reach him before he disappeared, but I had a hunch I’d get another opportunity soon.

I turned around and teleported a few feet behind where I’d been standing.

As I exited my teleport, I saw him emerge near the same spot I was in. He had his arms towards me, expecting me to be there so he could touch my shoulders like he had done earlier.

I shot him in the face with an intense energy sphere from both hands.

He flew back about twenty feet and slammed into a light pole. The pole bent as he hit it.

Surprise!

He stammered to his feet as the light pole fell behind him. It was clear that he was disoriented by the way he was stumbling.

I teleported in front of him, and he placed his hands on my shoulders, but nothing happened. Just then, we heard something metal hitting the sidewalk.

He quickly looked down to see what it was.

His belt had fallen to the ground because I had grabbed it and dissolved a hand-sized section before he could react.

Surprise again, a-hole.

He looked at me, and even though his face was void of emotion, I could tell he was scared.

I took my right hand, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and quickly shot a large energy sphere into his chest with my left, and it exited through his back.

He looked into my eyes as his body tensed up momentarily before going limp in my arms.

I dropped him to the ground, and he fell like a heap of flesh onto the concrete. I felt somewhat satisfied with the revenge I’d just dished out on this heartless alien.

“Vincent, I apologize for my silence. After being shot by multiple dark energy blasts, I was working on our molecular structure. I am truly sorry about Jack.”

“Me too,” I said as I walked past the alien body lying on the street.

I approached Jack as he lay motionless on his back with green smoke coming from his chest. I knelt, placed my hand on his chest, and examined his injuries.

Please don’t be dead. Please.

In my mind, I knew there was no way he could be alive.

“Vincent, I am truly sorry, but I do not detect any vital signs. I am certain that Jack is deceased.”

The feelings of anger and sadness overtook me.

I can’t just leave him here on the street.

I teleported Jack to a hospital still in operation, left him there with a doctor, and informed him that it was my friend.

I let him know he was dead, and I wanted his body well taken care of, or when I came back, I wouldn’t be happy.

I told him I would return later to claim the body because he had no other family members.

The doctor laid him down on a gurney, and I teleported back to the middle of the city.

The sun was about to set, and I wasn’t sure how to beat Dryservious yet.

I’m batting zero for two right now and hate losing.

I followed the sounds of chaos in the distance and teleported to a building overlooking the action below.

Dryservious was levitating about ten feet off the ground and was shooting dark energy blasts at a tank, trying to hit him out of the air. T

The tank shells passed through him and hit an office building on the sixth floor, causing a large explosion of concrete and papers to spew onto the ground below.

Dryservious shot the tank repeatedly, and with each impact, the metal caved in more and more until the tank eventually tore into two pieces.

Sparks and metal flew from the center of the two halves. Soldiers started spilling out of the tank and onto the ground as the two pieces spun slowly.

I teleported to the soldiers, grabbed all three of them, and teleported them to a spot several blocks away from the action.

They thanked me as I flew away from them towards the area the Dryservious was in. Once I saw him, I felt like a child looking at a bully who’d beaten him up on the playground.

I was afraid to approach him.

I turned around and flew away before he saw me so I could gather my thoughts and courage.

There’s no way I can beat him.

Dryservious moved on to psychological warfare. I heard his voice inside my head.

“Where are you, puny guardian?”

I was apprehensive about fighting Dryservious since he’d beaten me twice today. Both times, I was too helpless to defend myself.

His taunting continued.

“When I replace you, I will not be as merciful as before.”

His voice was cutting into my mind like a knife. Although I wanted to respond, I didn’t.

Why won’t he just shut up?

“By the end of this night, Volaxion will be mine, and you will be dead. I will put your tiny body on display for this entire world to see. They will see there is no hope for them either.”

Although I didn’t want to admit it, he intimidated me in a way I’d never felt before. I could feel the fear welling up inside me, and I was defenseless against it.

I don’t even have a plan to execute against him. I’ll never win this fight.

“What should we do, Volax?”

“Come to me, earthling, so I can end your worthless life, and this will all be behind you. Surrender Volaxion to me, and I will kill you quickly.”

“I still do not have a plan of action. We should rest for a moment until we decide on one. It has been said that sitting in solitude for several minutes opens the mind to new ideas.”

“I’ll try anything at this point, pal.”

I scanned the area for a safe place to rest without being seen by Dryservious. I spotted an apartment building with a set of stairs that were hollow underneath them.

“There’s a good spot.”

I teleported under the steps into a sitting position.

I’ve gone from being the guardian of a planet to being a scared little boy sitting in the dark under a set of steps.

I felt defeated, and I hadn’t even battled him yet.

I sat there for several minutes, thinking about anything I could’ve missed when I was getting my butt handed to me by Dryservious.

I couldn’t think of anything right off the top of my head, and it frustrated me.

“Where are you, little guardian? You cannot hide forever. I will replace you, and I will take Volaxion from you. I will kill you and take him from your cold, dead hands.”

“Vincent, the search is still on for us. If we stay here too long, we will eventually be discovered.”

“Shut it, Volax! I know! I need some time to think!”

“Earthling, I am losing patience! You will die a slow and agonizing death! I will rule this planet with Volaxion after you’re dead!”

I wish he would shut up so I can devise a plan. There’s got to be a weakness.

“I am reading your thoughts about the events of today. I cannot locate a weakness or a way to resist the dark energy that Dryservious possesses.”

“Thanks for nothing, Volax.”

“I apologize. I want to shed some light on our current situation.

That’s it!

I had a thought that could be the answer to all of this and put the ball in our court for once.

Why hadn’t I thought of it before?

“I think I’ve got it. You’re a genius, pal.”

“What is your plan? And thank you.”

“You’ll see, pal.”

I teleported towards the sounds of chaos.

Where’s that turd?

I spotted Dryservious Shooting dark energy blasts at buildings, abandoned cars, and soldiers when they were brave enough to show themselves and take a few shots at him.

Buildings were exploding where each blast hit them, and cars were flipping over in puffs of glowing green smoke.

He was constantly shooting without any breaks in between.

I was on a nearby rooftop, about ten stories up, watching as fires erupted from overturned cars. From where I stood, I was to the left of Dryservious and almost behind him.

He levitated about ten feet in the air, letting loose a relentless barrage of dark energy blasts at anything he could see.

“My patience is growing thin, earthling. Must I destroy this entire city before you dare to show your puny face?”

A soldier popped his head up from behind a car tipped over on its side. He aimed a rocket launcher at Dryservious and fired it before quickly ducking his head back behind the vehicle.

The missile flew down the street and went through Dryservious’ chest as if he were a ghost and slammed into the side of an office building.

An explosion the size of a small bomb destroyed an entire wall as a ball of flame erupted from it.

Dryservious followed the rocket's smoke trail and picked up the car, tossing it to the side as if it were nothing, exposing the crouched soldier behind it.

I watched and waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Just a few more seconds.

“This will be your fate, human guardian. Pay close attention, for your death will be much slower than this."

The soldier stood up and started running towards a nearby building, hoping to escape what Dryservious had planned for him.

Dryservious held up his arm and aimed his palm at the soldier but didn’t fire. I could tell he wanted to wait until the soldier was close enough to the building that he thought he was in the clear.

I saw Dryservious building power through his glowing green veins, and it was then that I teleported about ten feet away and to the left of Dryservious and waited for a second.

Dryservious was about to shoot the soldier, who was now in the doorway of the building.

It’s now or never, Vincent.

I shot two energy spheres, hitting Dryservious in the wrist, causing his arm to fly to the right.

His energy blast hit an overturned car instead of the soldier.

The soldier made it inside the building and disappeared out of sight.

Planning makes perfect.

Dryservious quickly in my direction.

“I see you have come to surrender Volaxion to me.”

“I will not surrender Volaxion to you.”

“Then, I will take him from you!”

Dryservious quickly raised both palms towards me and shot energy blasts out of them.

I watched the dark energy with the green glowing smoke trails head towards me. I waited until they were close before raising my gauntlets and deflecting them towards the ground.

When they hit my gauntlets, I felt a tremor go through my arms, but it worked.

They hit the ground on either side of me, causing the concrete to explode into a black and green cloud mixed with concrete.

Bet you weren’t expecting that were you, turd?

“I believe it is time to implement your plan before it is too late, Vincent.”

“I know. Here goes nothing, pal.”

I teleported.

My destination was behind Dryservious.

Just as before, Dryservious grabbed me by the throat, pulling me out of my teleport.

This time, I had anticipated it.

He gripped my throat so tight that if I were human, I knew he would’ve been able to touch his fingers, quickly crushing my neck and causing my head to pop off.

“Typical unintelligent earthling. Had you the slightest bit of intelligence, you would have remembered me doing this and almost killing you before!”

He spun around with his hand around my throat and slammed me into the side of a building, pinning me to the brick wall as we levitated about ten feet off the ground.

I felt some bricks give way behind me and fall to the ground as I sank slightly into the wall.

I watched as he aimed his palm towards my face.

I acted as if I were struggling like before to get free. Little did he know, I’d planned everything up to this point, and everything was going according to plan.

“I will cherish this moment, puny human.”

“Whatever your plan is, you should implement it soon, Vincent.”

Time to turn the tables.

My gauntlets started to make a whirring sound as they absorbed the light from around us.

“Your desperate attempt to defend yourself is useless, earthling. Absorbing light will not help you. I will show you the true meaning of darkness.”

A pure black cloud surrounded us as I absorbed the light, but it looked like heat waves.

I saw his glowing green veins grow brighter. Just before he released his energy blast into my face, I raised my hands and shot a sphere of light from my gauntlets into his face.

The spheres were the most brilliant white light I’d ever seen.

They were so bright that I would’ve needed a pair of sunglasses if I had my human vision back.

I couldn’t see Dryservious through the light as the spheres hit him directly in the face at point-blank range.

He released his grip on me.

I watched as he flew across the street and into a parked car. His face was still covered in light.

Glowing green smoke trailed from my hands to his face. He slammed into the car so hard it folded almost entirely in half. The two halves folded around him, pinning him inside the twisted metal like a sandwich.

The impact of him hitting the car sounded like two cars crashing into one another.

The car slid back and hit the curb behind it, flipping twice before crashing into the side of a building.

“You are truly more superior when it comes to improvising than I am.”

“That’s not improvising. That’s perfect planning, pal.”

I teleported to the wreckage and saw Dryservious’s feet sticking out of the bottom of the folded car. I used my ability to dissolve metal into two pieces.

The two pieces fell to the side, releasing Dryservious, spilling his limp body onto the sidewalk. I looked at him lying on the sidewalk.

Seeing him with a helmet that looked too small for his head made him look like a child. He started to move his arms up to his head slowly, and I could see he was disoriented by how slow he was moving them.

“Puny earthling. I. You have only managed to enrage my fury. I will still have the....”

I’ve heard enough talk from this lumpy turd.

I quickly straddled his body as he had done to me before and absorbed the light with my right gauntlet.

I released it in the shape of a sphere.

The brilliant white light hit him again in the face, and I could see white with glowing green smoke slam into him, causing the concrete to break apart around his head. I did the same with the other gauntlet.

I kept shooting him, alternating each hand.

Blam...blam...blam...blam...blam...blam!

Soon, his entire body looked as if he were standing on his head because the top half of his body had sunk into the sidewalk about five feet or so.

I stood over him momentarily as the green glowing smoke surrounded my hands.

That’s one way to get him to shut up.

“Planning makes perfect,” I said as I looked at the unconscious alien between my feet.

“You have only rendered Dryservious temporarily unconscious. He is still a guardian, so we cannot eradicate him.”

“I know, but at least we’re doing something besides getting our asses handed to us.”

I stepped away from him and turned to look at the city.

What was left of it.

I walked to the middle of the street and placed my hands on my hips so that I could think of what to do next.

“What can we do to kill this guy, Volax?”

“You need a splitter device to do that, Vincent, and from what I have gathered, humans do not possess such a device.”

“Where can we get one?”

“I’m afraid that the only ones to possess one would be...”

We were cut short by what felt like a ton of bricks hitting me in the back of the head.

I immediately saw black and green smoke surround my head as I slammed into a light pole ten feet above me. I felt the pole give way and snap off at the point of impact. I heard a loud metal clunking noise as I hit it.

I got up on all fours as I tried to fight off the effects of being stunned by the dark energy blast that hit me in the back of the head.

My ears were ringing, and I could see my hands on the sidewalk vibrating left to right very fast. H

how did he get up so quickly?

“We are stunned again. Please get up, Vincent, before it’s...”

" Too late. That’s right, Volaxion, you are too late. Now watch as I destroy this human guardian.”

I felt a hand grab me by the back of the neck and pick me up. I tried to grasp the hand, but my motor skills were still incapable of capturing it.

Dryservious slammed me face down onto the sidewalk, causing it to crack around my face as I hit it.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything to defend myself. Even if I could absorb the light around us, I couldn’t move my arms into a position to shoot him.

I turned my head to the side so my face wasn’t being pressed into the sidewalk.

I didn’t plan this far ahead.

“I would ask you for any final words, earthling, but anything you say will be insignificant.”

“I am truly sorry for my inability to assist you, Vincent. I wish that I could do m....”

Suddenly, I saw a brilliant white light surround us, followed by a high-pitched electric guitar sound. Then I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Pain.

My entire body was in excruciating pain within a split second.

Dryservious let go of my neck and fell limp on top of me. I lifted the top half of my body slightly with my arms.

I glanced at my arms and noticed I wasn’t wearing my guardian suit. I was naked, lying on my stomach in the middle of the sidewalk, and I couldn’t figure out why.

“Volax, what’s happening?”

There was no reply.

I looked down at my right hand and saw the pod I had obtained from Avlandrix lying next to it.

I looked to my left after hearing footsteps.

I was surprised to see Avlandrix walking towards me in his silver skin-tight suit covering his bluish-grey skin.

I could see that his eyes were fixed on me as he got closer. There was a brilliant white light coming from somewhere above him, causing a shadow of him to be cast upon the ground.

I was too weak to raise my head to see where the light came from. Whatever was generating the light made no sound at all. I was surprised and confused all at the same time.

He knelt and reached out his right hand to me, and I immediately felt calm.

My old friend had come to save me. I felt a wave of emotions sweep over me, almost making me burst into tears.

I tried to reach out to him with my left hand, but my arm was too weak to raise it.

“Avlandrix,” I said with a smile before succumbing to the pain and passing out.

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