Lord Shadow

Earth 39

Tick tock.

Tick tock

Tick tock.

The clock keeps ticking and then it suddenly rings and Will open his eyes. He was not startled. It was like he was waiting.

His eyes were looking at the ceiling, looking at the fan spinning fast.

He was in a motel. A seedy hotel to be exact. He closes the alarm and get up. He was undressed.

Looking around his surround he sighed. Then cracking his neck he went to the bathroom and slowly bathe himself.

Then he shaves as he prepares to make his next delivery.

Clothing himself he seems to mutter to himself bitterly.

‘Since when did I become like this?’ He asked himself but he seems to be nonchalant about it. He looked at the mirror and he doesn’t even realize who he is looking at.

Where is the fearsome Dark Speedster?

Taking the keys he stores in the drawer, he walked outside.

Paying the establishment for last night he rides his truck as he got his delivery route on his smartphone.

‘It’s going to be a long day today’ he complained as he looked at the route he had to deliver today.

It was a normal day for Will. Looking at this small town in Kansas, he could see the town is slowly getting up as stores are opened amidst the rebellion happening all over the country

It’s like they don’t give a fuck.

Sometimes only when he lost everything he could appreciate the power he has been given. As he walked to his truck he thinks all of the adventures he has been on.

It was a glorious time.

Will have never understood Azief in certain sense.

Azief was always about conquering the next peak, always yearning for a great adventure and always would risk everything if that could raise his strength.

Azief would rather die a glorious death then to be useless.

Will had never understood that. He always thought as long as you are alive nothing matters. But now….now…he understands.

He was…once a God.

When he was running, when he felt the electricity running through his veins, like he was the embodiment of speed, when he felt time and space curls around him when he run, he felt like he was the fastest thing in the world.

He was a God in that moment.

A God of Speed.

But, to have his power stripped away from him….to be useless… to not feel that ancient source of energy coursing through his body, all he could feel now was emptiness.

He is useless. He is mortal.

To be a God one day and to be mortal the next day that change of fortune could drive one insane.

To reach another part of the continent, if he was the old Will, he could reach there in a couple of minutes just by running.

But now? He is no different than a mortal. And that gap of abilities….sometimes make him feel despair.

Will turn on a corner and he spotted his large truck as he walked listlessly to the truck.

When he watches the news last night he knows that his brother would not be affected by the collars…at least not like he did.

His power and his brother power are different. Azief power derives not from external source but from sweat and hard work, following the proper way, or in Azief case the path of perfection.

Will however, while he is faster than even Azief, he uses the Speed Source.

And like his brother always reminded him, that kind of power comes with a price. Azief has always detested using external forces.

It was not like he didn’t understand the benefit of using it, it was the fact he couldn’t trust that power. The power that he could trust is if only that power comes from him.

Will was used to the Speed Source or to more accurate; Will was one with the Speed Source. As one of the cosmic source of energy in the Universe, the Speed Source is as mysterious as it is powerful.

No one understands that better than Will.

All speedster in the Universe understand the power of the Speed Source and feared it for if you addicted to its power, entranced by the promise of speed that it promises, you would be consumed by it.

Even Hermes, the Messenger of the Olympians understand the power of the Speed Source since he himself once a speedster before he ascended to Godhood like the other Olympians and create his own cosmic energy.

Then Will arrived in front of his truck as he once again remembered he had work to do as he climb his truck and sit in the driver seat.

Turning on the ignition, he started the engine. Now his life is as boring as normal people. He once thought that a normal life is the best.

But now?

When you have battled Gods, Demonic Beings from other dimensions, Parasitic Overlord from other planets, Time Masters, Mind Controllers and beast of every kind, normal life seems to lost it appeal.

Now the only thing that Will fight is his landlord, his employer unfair treatment since he is an illegals, and worries himself about how to pay the rent and his car.

A year has passed and that glorious speedster that seems to play a pivotal role in the destruction of the Island of Peace is now just a truck driver.

With a sigh he rides again on the road. Opening the radio, Highway to Hell is playing and Will was smiling.

‘How appropriate’ he said.

Looking outside, he saw the trees and the houses that dotted the countryside. The same scenery. Every single day.

He is tired. He felt weak. He felt mortal. And it sucks.

‘No wonder’ he suddenly muttered as the image of his brother floated inside his mind.

‘No wonder, Azief was like that.’ Maybe the one thing that Azief didn’t want to become is being mortal again.

Azief constantly said that while many terrible things happen after the Fall, the fact that the world was given a reboot has given him a second chance.

Because he start at the same starting point.

Azief always believed if he could start at the same point as everyone else he would not be worse than any of them.

‘The world was unfair’ Azief once said. He inherits the flaws of his parents which are being poor and weak. And no matter how hard he tries he knows he can’t close the gap.

In the old world before the Fall, money equals power. But in the world after the Fall, power equals to power.

You work hard, and it will not betray you.

And believing that Azief risked his life to prove that sentence.

People might think it is easy, after all everyone would be also thinking the same thing like him right?

But did they become the strongest person in the world? Did they strive towards the path of perfection?

Of course Azief has a lot of luck with the World Orb and other stuff and artifacts he found and encountered.

People might say he is lucky. But having great luck does not mean one will become the strongest.

But only he knows.

He knows how much sweat and blood Azief had sacrifice to be where he is now. No one sees the effort he put in.

In their days of roaming the Multiverse in searching a way home, they almost constantly, narrowly missed death only by a breadth of hair.

There were only a few times they arrived at a planet or universe that is weaker than them. Earth Two and Earth 19 was that world.

And now also Earth 39.

Then he smiles. Thinking about Earth 19 he could not help but think of someone and her smiles flooded Will mind again.

Will remember his sister. At least she is safe there. When Will decided to run to Earth 19, he already had a plan.

There is a reason why Azief made him promise not to rip the space time continuum and create a portal to other worlds.

That is because Azief worries that some alien being could use the rip in the space time continuum to invade Earth Prime since that what happened at Earth Two.

Earth Two is now barren of human life, full of demonic beings.

Before they return to Earth prime, Azief made him promise never to rip the boundaries between universes ever again and at that time he agreed.

But when he realizes that his sister would never be able to live in Earth Prime, the peaceful and weak Earth 19 comes to mind.

Earth 19 is still in Renaissance era. With Lily constitution at Orb Condensing she was already the strongest in that world since that world has no magic.

He broke the promise because of Lily and Will knows Azief would understand. Because she is family.

Azief definition of family is different from normal people. People who were by you side, that helps in time of need that would risk their life for you, now that is family.

Not blood. And Will is his family like Azief is his sworn brother.

So he creates a rift on Earth Prime. But Will was already sure that Azief could patch the rift but even if he couldn’t it was a risk Will was willing to take.

When he arrived at Earth 19 he explains everything to Lily and gifted Lily the Pagoda asking her to uses it if she ever encountered trouble.

He left Lily at Venice and he disappears inside the Speed Source.

Then Will knows what he must do.

Since he open a rift in Earth 19 that means alien invaders could also come through the rift and Will of course could not let the world where his sister is to perish.

So, using the Speed Source he manipulates the rift to follow him bolstering him to run in his fastest speed he ever ran in his life as the rift was attached to his leg, swirling like some kind of unnatural cosmic energy and then he arrived at this Earth which he called Earth 39.

The reason he called this Earth, Earth 39 is because the name designation he and Azief agreed upon. Every parallel earth they encountered, they give a number corresponding to the number of earths they found before.

Since they already see 38 parallel earth this means that this Earth is Earth 39.

One thing however bothers Will when he was running through the Speed Source. He saw a silhouette of silver lightning speedster running parallel to him.

The silver lightning was running from a dark giant hand that seems to even invade the ancient energy of the Speed Source.

Will does not know what to make of it.

What is more terrifying in the images of the silhouette lightning Will could see that there is a speedster.

And what is more shocking that speedster appearance resembles Will slightly.

As Will was thinking of this suddenly something come out of the bush near the road and Will instinct kicked in and he step on the brake.

The tires screeched and the truck halted as the smoke from the tire clouded the appearance of the thing that was rushing from the bushes.

When the smokes settles, Will finally get a good look at the thing and he frowned.

It was a man. The man was muscly with bald head. He was wearing military boot and a black t shirt with trouser jeans.

The man has a scar on his forehead, a horizontal slash mark.

The man was smiling mischievously at Will. Will sighed as he opens his door and climb down from his truck.

They met each other once before. It was a deserted road on Wyoming. That day, Will teaches this guy a lesson that he will never soon forget.

‘Kruschneko’ Will said.

‘Will. It has been a long time’ he said in English but with thick Russian accent.,

Standing there on the road, the two men stares at each other, then sighing with a defeated expression will asked.

‘Who sent you? Is it Karl?’

‘Him? He is a lousy employer. Always going on about equality for Evolvers. A bore if I have to say so myself.’

‘Heh’ Will snickered.

‘Since it is not him, then it’s the Russian, right?’ As Will already got a hint.

‘You know, he doesn’t like to be called that.’

‘You know Kruschneko, I never understood why you like your job as a mercenary so much. You could be so much more.’

‘Hmph’ he snorted as he touches the scar on his forehead

‘People are always saying that to me. Why do people care what I do? People pay me money, I make things happens. It’s a good job’ Will just snickered.

‘Other people may not know but you know I have no powers right now, right? What use do I have?’

Hearing this Kruschneko smiles.

‘Oh, I guess you don’t know. Will, you are a hot commodity right now.’

‘What? What do you mean?’ Will ask puzzled.

‘Oh, of course. You have been living like a Normie for a year of course you are not that informed as the rest of us. Someone is searching for you so much so that he accesses your files at the Pentagon and the Russian caught that information. So,….you are now very valuable to everyone’ and Will understand.

There is only one way to access the Pentagon secret files and that is to go inside the Pentagon.

And Will know that Azief had just occupied the Pentagon so, he could guess what some Evolvers that is unaffiliated is thinking right now.

That he and the Omega Level Evolver that is forming his own base in Washington DC know each other.’

‘Your value right now is going through the roof. I believe even as we speak right now, Karl is sending his operative to track you down. You did well in hiding yourself after that fiasco but you know my abilities.’

‘I do know.’ Will said

‘Good. Then this would make things easier. You know I am honorable. I do not kill Evolvers. I do not enslave Evolvers. And I do not kill kids. You should be grateful that you are caught by me and not by others’

‘I know. So what does the Russian wants?’

‘He wants to talk.

‘That’s it?’

‘Yes. That’s it.’ Kruschneko nodded

‘I’m free to leave if I don’t like what I heard?’

‘Anytime.’

‘You have made sure of this?’

‘Ah, come on Will. You know how detailed I am with these kind of stuff.’

Will know even if he refuses, he couldn’t escape this man grasp. He is not a Speedster anymore. He is no more than just a simple person now.

What he is doing now is putting a brave front.

Nodding Will said

‘Let’s go meet the Russian’ Smiling Kruschneko walk slowly towards Will and hold his wrist before suddenly the space around him twirled and they disappeared instantly leaving only the melted tar road, full of dark smokes because of the heat energy signature emitted by the warping of space by Kruschneko

A while later a few men arrived at the scene

‘Tch’. One of them clicked their tongue

‘We’re too late. We have to retreat by today before the Americans know that we are here.’ One person said in German.

The other nodded and after collecting a few samples they quickly disperse themselves from the scene.

Will on the other hand was transported somewhere in Russia, inside a dark warehouse.

Opening his eyes as dizzy spell assault his mind he saw a round table and one person sitting on the chair smoking cigarette.

‘The Russian’ Will said.

‘Dark Speedster. Please sit and let’s talk about something’ Will smiles and then he sit.

Looking at each other both of them tries to gauge each other intention and then they both began conversing.

A new partnership is being born that day as the Russian allied itself with Will.

A few days after that alliance was sealed, the Kremlin was bombed by an Evolver killing hundreds of civilians.

A rebellion has started in Russia.

***