EVOLVE 20 Chapter 19: Sometimes When You Pick A Fight They Punch Back

The air feels nice, all fresh and crisp and whatnot.

The others took a flight to head back home we got the information we learned from the improved Jacob to the people willing to fight with us in a few months time, although honestly now fighting seems a little bit futile to an extent, the window of victory has been narrowed down to the size of a pinhole and we need to figure out how to fit through -----

A s.h.i.+ver rolls down my spine like a spidey sense and I descend straight into the water, breath held I push through in an arching curve push in the water and shoot straight up into the surface and keep going up into the air whilst looking about, below me I spot a dark shape for a moment just before it disappears

Wonder what that w----

A sharp pain shoots down the small of my back courtesy of a stiff and powerful kick that sends me cras.h.i.+ng toward the water so fast you'd swear I was launched out of a canon but I'm able to gather myself before splas.h.i.+ng into the water, I hover inches above the ocean water and look up from where I fell.

Hovering high above from where I was is the seemingly constantly vibrating wispy shape of a person clad in a tattered hooded cloak that covers the legs with hands hidden within tattered sleeves. The air and feel of him feels familiar somehow.

I thrust kick making a boom splash sound sending water flying as I shoot toward this seemingly new yet familiar foe. I'm upon the hooded one in seconds coupling flight with strength to keep myself up as I throw a kick but the hooded one disappears leaving behind a fading bit of dark wispy smoke that quickly fades.

d.a.m.n.

A boney feeling hand vice grips the back of my head and my vision blacks out, in a panicked response both flight and strength go off leaving only energy projection and I let loose a powerful energy wave outward and I'm let go to crash hard and painfully into something solid, feels like I fell from seriously high up hit the ground and jacked up my knee a tiny bit.

That's not right, I was supposed to be above water.

My vision comes back as I push up on all fours with a groan. And indeed I am on solid hard ground, the earth beneath my fingers in warm and the morning sun is beating down from above.

Unexpectedly but maybe a little expectedly I'm kicked again, this time right in the gut and sent sprawling across the ground.

No real time to dwell on a little pain Terry, get up.

On the second slower sprawling roll I push off the ground and land on my feet sending a little dust flying.

A quick survey of my surroundings tells me wherever I am now its hot and dry for a lot of kilometres. I wonder where I am now anyway.

In front of me appearing and disappearing all around but getting closer is the hooded one.

He seems to be almost toying with me.

Two can play at that game or rather I'm bringing a new game to the table.

Before I move it's as though the hooded one read my mind, he's suddenly in front of me a short distance away hand raised, and I guess you could say the wispyness from its cloak gathers around its sleeve covered hand and fires toward me.

I dodge the first shoot barely but they keep coming, quick fire style.

In response I throw energy waves like daggers whilst lifiting into the sky, the hooded one dances around them for a bit before disappearing.

Which means you'll maybe appear right above me.

In a sharp turn and complete random hopeful attack I pick a random angle above me and fly toward it, the hooded one pops up just a little out reach, which means my guess was maybe three quarters right, I'm out of the hooded one's line of sight.

I gather my energy projection into a small ball like a tiny spirit bomb and fire it toward the hooded one, it connects catching it on the side of the head and sending it cras.h.i.+ng towards the ground, the hooded one hits the ground hard sending up a cloud of dust.

I land where it fell and it's gone.

"You're not half bad. But then again I was instructed to hold back." Comes a semi distorted voice that sounds part female and part male from behind me.

I turn to see the hooded one standing behind me, only the hood is down, the person is still vibrating and wispy but familiar. A smile rests upon a face that seems extremely familiar but I can't quite place it...

Wait a second this person is Jacob, the necromancer version but no... It's Lerato, I'd know those eyes anywhere. It looks like the both.... Of .... Them.

Sticking with dragon ball references, the person in front of me looks like a fusion of both Lerato and Jacob.

"Ahh there it is, the look that knows." Says Lecob? Yeah I'm gonna go with Lecob as the name.

I push forward rus.h.i.+ng Lecob and throwing a strength augmented punch which of course misses as Lecob disappears, Lecob reappears inches from my first hand raised and already firing one of their wispy shots which I can't dodge this time.

It connects going straight into my chest with no entry or exit wound, it doesn't even send me flying or anything it just has my chest feeling cold like I just drank a tub of ice cream and it somehow just went and sat in my chest cavity.

Then I scream in pain because now it feels like there's rats trying to eat their way through my chest, pain so excruciating it drops me to my knees and makes me sweat.

I look up in horror at Lecob and they kick me right in the face, this time I'm sent flying and slide across the ground to a stop, the pain keeps getting more intense.

"You'll be fine I hit you with a low percentage shot." Says Lecob in their distorted male, female voice mash up. "Mr Carmichael just wanted you to know that the timeline has been moved up courtesy of your little stunt which he is grateful for because it served as incentive to convince the owners to move it up and that if you wanna mobilise your little army you have about a week."

"But," says Lecob raising a finger. Clearly Jacob is the one in the driver's seat, "He didn't say anything about not breaking a few things off you or testing what other kinds of pain you can be put thro------"

They were walking toward me gathering more wispy stuff around their hands before they just suddenly stopped and turn their attention from me.

"Yeah I know," Lecob says, clearly now talking to themselves, "I know what the orders were but he's gonna die anyway, might as well soften him up a little."

Now's my chance, I've already lost a few fingers Lecob I'm not looking to lose more.

Doing my best to ignore the crippling chest pain which is intensified when I turn off my strenth augmentation, I switch to energy projection and press my hand to the ground then fire explosions of energy into the earth itself sending violent vibrations that break the ground and send up a ma.s.sive dust cloud obscuring my view of Lecob and hopefully their view of me.

That done I shoot myself into the sky and power fly away as rapidly as I can, I'll figure out where I am later, right now I gotta outrun them. It doesn't look like they're following me anymore.

Now to get home to Toni so he can make me feel like I'm not dying.

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It took a long while to get home, it's dark out as I land barely able to see straight let alone stand straight.

My breathing feels short and I'm about sure if I try walk down those stairs I'll definitely fall, so I float myself over them and land in front of the door into the living room section. After opening the door and only now do I realise it's dark inside, dark and empty.

s.h.i.+t. They're not home yet.

"I'm just gonna lie down here for a second." I whisper collapsing to the floor and pa.s.sing out.

_________________________

My eyes snap open and I'm staring up at a brightly lit ceiling and for some reason I think I'm in a fight so I fire off an energy outburst that sends things flying all over the place, the instruments on the other end of the room crash all at once with the piano and drums being the loudest, somethings crash into the gla.s.s which fortunately seems reinforced because I don't hear anything go through.

I hear people groaning and a few 'owws' which makes me sit up to see everyone sprawled on one area of the room Toni, Marc and Winter are pus.h.i.+ng a couch off them, Carla, Nicole Janice are peeling themselves off the floor, Nicole is rubbing her head furiously with a pained expression I'm guessing something hit her on the head.

Oh c.r.a.p... I guess everyone's back.

"What the h.e.l.l man?" Asks an angry looking Marc, as he stands and gives his limbs a stretching before helping the others to their feet.

"I'm.... Sorry." I say quickly getting up and helping out as well.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask

"We'll be fine, that question should have been for you considering we found you sprawled by the entrance. Even after Toni used healing hands you didn't wake up. Was it Marlea again?" Says Carla

Toni used healing hands, I turn to look at him and he's again a little older about fifteen now, much taller, at about Marc's height now.

"Does it hurt, growing?" I ask him

To which he shrugs.

"Terry, what happened?" Asks Carla

"I ran into Lecob," I reply absent mindedly a.n.a.lysing Toni

And he's exchanging confused looks with everyone else.

"Who the h.e.l.l is Lecob?" Asks Nicole finally

"Oh right, it's this name I came up with for the fusion of Lerato and Jacob that I had a bit of an exchange with." I say as I simultaneously remember what Lecob told me.

"Fusion, like we thought? As in one body but two minds?" Asks Janice to which I nod.

"How strong are they?" Asks Marc.

I turn to him with a serious look. "Pretty strong and they said they were holding back, whatever they hit me with left me in excruciating pain which is why you found me out cold. But that being said there's more important things, another bomb of information was dropped on me by them." I say with a pause.

Everyone waits expectantly.

"Well?" Asks Marc

"Well.... We've got a week." I say and everyone sort of leans in like they didn't hear me right.

"What do you mean we've got a week?" Asks Winter with a half chuckle even though they all know what I mean.

And the silence confirms it.

"Thats..... Crazy." Says Toni.

"Anyone remember when it was just about us being the chosen ones and something in our DNA being super important to them? Ah the good old days." Says Nicole sarcastically.

She's got a point still though, it was a tiny bit easier before I decided we cry war.

"I know.... Carla you gotta get on the phone with O.R and talk to him about that you have some kind of appeal." I say to which Carla raises an eyebrow but nods.

"Couldn't we get him to go back in time and warn us that we won't have as long as we think though?" Asks Marc

"No, we made a deal that he wouldn't." I reply

"Yeah but this feels like the sort of thing that should supersede the deal." He says

To which I shake my head. "We go on.... Somehow," I say switching my gaze between Janice and Winter, "I need you two to work on something, anything that could help whilst you get the word out worldwide as well."

"We'll leave you boys to clean up." Says Nicole grabbing Carla by the arm and walking out.

The girls leave Toni, Marc and I stare at the mess that I created.

"Hey uhm guys I know it's approaching crunch time and all but I'm experiencing... Things that are probably too soon for me considering my age but considering I'm in the body of a fifteen year old... Well It's weird." Says Toni fixing his gaze to the floor.

Marc and I exchange a wide eyes look, neither of us looks like we know what to say to him. Technically he's still a kid and much too early for the birds and the bees but what do we say?