SWNOVELS Chapter Knock, Knock
After driving around for thirty minutes to find it, I made it to the ‘Hot Cups Cafe.’ I felt my anxiety increase the closer I got to it.
Why am I so nervous? I’m a superhuman for crying out loud.
It had been a while since I’d been nervous about talking to someone. So long that I thought my body had forgotten how to be nervous.
My hand was shaking as I reached for the handle on the glass door to the cafe. I peeked inside and saw a few people sitting around a table but didn’t see Sky.
I hope she’s working today, or I’m nervous for nothing.
I took a breath and let it out quickly to calm my nerves.
“Vincent, your heartbeat has increased quite substantially. Would you like for me to alleviate that issue for you?”
“No thanks, pal. My nerves make me feel more human. I appreciate the gesture, though.”
I checked myself in the door’s reflection to ensure I looked okay.
Nothing in my teeth this time.
“Wish me luck and keep quiet unless I ask you for help, okay?”
I walked into the cafe and was greeted by the smell of coffee.
Smells nice.
"Good luck, Vincent. I will remain silent as you requested.”
I scanned the cafe as I inhaled the sweet scent of coffee.
There was a homely vibe to it. It was quaint and welcoming. I checked out the five or six round tables arranged in the dining area, with four chairs around each.
I can see why people like it here.
Four patrons were sitting around one of the tables sipping coffee. They were laughing like they were recounting a comical story.
I saw a bookshelf filled with various books and magazines and could tell they’d been read quite a few times.
I walked past the bookshelf towards the counter. The counter was on top of a well-lit glass display case with various muffins and assorted pastries.
Is that her?
I tried to catch a glimpse of the woman working behind it who had her back to me. I straightened my clothes a little just in case it was her.
Let’s see what’s on the menu.
I looked up and immediately felt overwhelmed by the menu board on the wall because the drink names were written in Italian.
She didn’t tell me it was a foreign cafe. Great. How am I supposed to know what anything is?
As I was standing there like an idiot with my mouth open, I heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, Vincent. I see you finally made it.”
Sky was standing behind the counter wearing an apron, smiling at me as she set a cup of coffee on it.
I smiled back at her, frozen in admiration of her beauty.
Snap out of it, Vincent.
“Yeah, I thought I’d come by and check out the cafe and maybe grab a cup of coffee.”
I tried not to appear nervous, but the shakiness in my voice probably gave it away.
“If I can read anything on this menu,” I said as I glanced at the menu board.
She chuckled at my remark as one of the patrons approached the counter and grabbed the cup of coffee off the counter. He thanked her and made his way back to the noisy table.
How in the world am I supposed to read this?
She could tell I was having a hard time with the menu.
She stepped to her left, directly across from me and propped her elbows on the counter.
She smiled, knowing I didn’t know what I was doing.
How embarrassing.
“I take it you’re not sure what’s up there,” she said with a smile.
“It all looks like fancy Italian words to me.”
“What’s good to drink besides a boring cup of coffee nowadays,” I asked, smiling back at her.
“Depends on what you like. Do you like chocolate?”
My eyes lit up with the one word that makes my taste buds come alive.
Sounds tasty to me.
“I love chocolate.”
“Well then, how about a mocha?”
I shrugged my shoulders and decided to go with her suggestion.
She’s the expert.
“Okay. I think I’ll take a mocha,” I replied with confidence.
She gave me a wink as she punched numbers into the cash register.
Oh my God, she winked at me!
I couldn’t resist watching her concentrate on what she was doing.
I gazed at her flowing blond hair and watched the tip of her pink tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.
I thought about how cute she looked doing that because it reminded me of a child concentrating on riding a bike or some other menial task.
She’s beautiful.
I smiled as I watched her until she looked up, catching me staring at her.
Oh, god.
I flashed her a nervous smile and tried to act like I was looking at something behind her. Although, I can’t imagine what would be so interesting to look at behind the counter.
“That’ll be three dollars and forty-eight cents,” she said, acting as if she didn’t notice I was looking at her.
There was no way she could’ve missed it. It was obvious.
I handed her my credit card and tried to say something to make her forget what just happened.
“You look professional with that awesome apron on.”
She swiped my card and took a step back so I could see the full view of her brown apron.
She brushed a white powdery substance off the front of it as she replied, “Thanks. Brown’s not my favorite color, but I work with what I’ve got.”
She stepped forward, handed me back my card, and flashed me a smile.
“Well, you pull it off pretty good.”
“Thank you very much. I’m going to make your mocha. You can sit down if you’d like, and I’ll bring it out to you when it’s done.”
“Sounds good to me.”
She grabbed a white ceramic cup and approached the espresso machine behind her.
I glanced at her figure from behind and was captivated by the shape of her body.
What are you, a perv?
I turned around after my glance to avoid any awkward moments. I Made my way to the table closest to the counter and sat down.
I glanced at the table with the young adults sitting around it.
Three guys and a girl sat at the table, talking and chuckling. The girl held hands with a guy I presumed to be her boyfriend.
They appeared to be in their early twenties, and I was sure they were college students. The small backpacks that sat by their feet on the floor gave it away.
They seem like great kids.
One of the guys saw me glancing at the table, and I gave him a half smile and a head nod. He returned a smile and nodded back.
The expression on his face indicated that he thought he was the most awesome guy on the planet.
Talk about being cocky.
I glanced down at his feet and saw a CASH logo on his backpack.
So much for being a bunch of great kids.
I turned away from him, rolled my eyes, folded my hands, and rested them on the table.
Maybe I should shoot him with an energy sphere. Nah, Volax would disapprove.
From where I was sitting, I could see Sky behind the counter moving around as she made whatever a mocha was. I felt like I was waiting an eternity for her to make it.
Time always seems to go by slowly when I sit alone with nothing to do.
After a minute or two, she emerged from behind the counter and walked towards me, holding a white ceramic cup in one hand and a few napkins in the other.
She flashed me a bright smile.
“Your mocha, sir,” she said, placing the cup and napkins on the table before me.
I eagerly picked up the cup and made a gesture of giving a toast.
“Thanks,” I replied before inhaling the scent of the coffee.
“Smells good, doesn’t it?”
“Smells wonderful.”
“Go ahead and taste it. Tell me what you think.”
I let out a small sigh and brought the cup to my lips, feeling the warmth of the steam on my lips.
I took a small sip of the hot liquid and was surprised at its taste. There was a strong coffee taste with just a hint of chocolate.
I could get used to these.
I was wondering why I hadn’t tried the concoction before. It was delicious.
I swallowed a small mouthful and set the cup down on the table. I wrapped my hands around it to feel the warmth of it in my palms.
“Wow, that’s fantastic,” I said as I licked my upper lip to remove a spot of chocolate from it.
“Thanks. I make a mean mocha,” Sky replied, winking at me.
“I’m sold. This is the best coffee in the world,” I said before taking another sip.
“So, how did your little meeting go at the museum today,” she asked as she twisted a napkin with her fingers.
I almost coughed with a mouthful of mocha because I was caught off guard by the question.
I quickly swallowed the mouthful of goodness.
I almost forgot about that. I can’t tell her the truth.
“It went pretty well. It could’ve been worse. I could’ve been sitting in a small office with a stiff in a black suit,” I said as I let out a small chuckle.
She nodded and chuckled at my response.
It was an inside joke. I don’t think she got it.
“You know, I thought you’d never want to see me again after what I said about the museum owner.”
“Oh really? I forgot all about it, honestly.”
“I’m sorry about what I said. I was trying to be funny, that’s all. I thought you’d throw my number away and forget about me.”
“No way. How could I forget about you? You’re beau... I mean a lot of fun to talk to,” I said as I stumbled on my words nervously.
Great job, Vincent. Real smooth.
She raised an eyebrow when she thought I would say beautiful, then flashed me a smile to hide her blushing.
“Don’t even worry about it. Apology accepted,” I said with a reassuring tone.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here because now I have someone to talk to who doesn’t think he’s God’s gift to women, like Romeo over there,” she said as she gestured to the man who gave me a nod a few minutes ago.
I’m glad she doesn’t like him. CASH supporting jerk.
I glanced at him and caught him staring at us with that weird grin.
Sky and I looked at each other and chuckled as we rolled our eyes.
I was starting to feel a connection with her, and for the first time in years, I was enjoying myself like a real human being.
We made small talk and got to know each other better since the cafe was quiet.
There were no customers that had come in after I did, which was good. We sat at the table for about an hour, talking and laughing without interruptions.
The four college students left about fifteen minutes into our conversation, so we had the entire place to ourselves, which made us more relaxed and comfortable with each other.
“So, how old are you?” She asked without giving it a thought.
“I’m one hund...or uh... I’m twenty-five,” I said as I stopped myself from saying 108.
“Whoa, for a second there, I thought you were going to say a hundred,” she said with a laugh.
I laughed nervously with her, thinking she’d have left the table long ago if she knew how old I was.
I’m sure she doesn’t go for really old men.
Moments later, I realized it was unusual for any business to be so slow during the middle of the day.
I casually glanced around the cafe, looking out the windows and the front door to see if anyone was around.
I just had a weird feeling in my stomach.
Sky followed my eyes around the cafe and looked at me curiously.
“Whatcha looking for?”
“Don’t you think it’s kinda weird that you haven’t had a customer in a wh....”
My sentence was cut off by the deafening sound of all the windows in the cafe exploding at once, followed by a tremendously loud, low-pitched humming noise.
Sky screamed as she watched the windows explode.
The glass flew into the cafe from all directions.
I leaped over the table and grabbed her, pulling her to the floor to shield her body from the glass shards flying towards us.
Her mouth was next to my right ear, and I heard her breathing heavily and whimpering softly as the glass hit the floor all around us.
Her breathing in my ear would’ve been good in any other setting.
I felt glass shards hitting my back as I shielded her.
“It’s okay. Stay calm,” I said as the glass slid past us on the floor.
After the glass settled, I propped myself up with my arms to get my weight off her body.
I glanced at her scared face; even with her eyes filled with tears, she was beautiful. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me through the matted hair covering part of her eyes.
She was still looking pretty hot to me.
“Are you okay?” I asked quickly. “Are you cut anywhere?”
She took a hand and pushed the hair away from her eyes.
“What the hell was that?” she asked hysterically.
“I don’t know,” I replied as I looked out of what used to be the window.
I got to my feet and helped Sky stand up. I was wondering the same thing.
“Vincent, I hate to interrupt your date, but as you can see, we have a situation that needs our most urgent attention.”
That’s obvious.
I ignored Volax’s statement so I could determine if Sky was okay.
“Are you hurt or cut anywhere?” I ask in a slightly demanding tone.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said as she brushed some glass off her apron and looked over her body for any cuts or ripped clothing.
“What was that?”
I watched a group of people run by the front of the cafe, yelling as if they were running from something.
“I’m not sure, but I’m gonna find out.”
“Vincent, you cannot disregard my comment. We have a dire situation on our hands. You will not be pleased with what’s happening out there.”
“What’s going on pal?” I whispered as I walked toward the blown-out windows of the cafe with Sky right behind me.
“Who are you talking to?” Sky asked curiously.
She was only half listening to me because most of her attention was focused on the crowds of people screaming and the sounds of sirens in the distance.
I knew I had to be careful, or I’d blow my cover and ruin everything.
“Uh. Nobody, just talking to myself, I guess,” I replied as I opened the door to the cafe.
I walked out onto the sidewalk to better understand what was happening.
What on earth is going on?
I was trying to wrap my head around what would make all the glass shatter like that.
As I looked around, I was surprised to see that every single window on the street was blown out. There was no sign of any other physical damage to the buildings.
This is weird.
I could hear the crunch of glass beneath my shoes as I took a few more steps down the sidewalk to look at the glass covering the street from the cars that had stopped because the windows blew out.
Was it an earthquake or something?
“The Dondravens have found us, Vincent. It is not safe here.”
“Dondravens? I don’t see any Dondravens,” I whispered as I surveyed the street.
A few people were walking around with cuts all over their bodies.
I saw a man holding a white shirt up to his forehead, covered in blood. He staggered around the corner and out of view as if in a daze.
Dondravens? No way. Volax can’t be sure about that.
“What could’ve done this?” Sky asked as she grabbed my right arm and squeezed gently.
As despairing as the situation was, I couldn’t help but get a warm feeling inside from Sky clutching my arm. I felt like a protector, and knowing she trusted me to protect her made me feel good.
The situation’s pretty bad, but the date’s going great.
Just as I was about to answer her, my cell phone started to ring in my front pocket. I almost ignored it but decided to find out who’d be calling me with all this going on.
I looked at the display. It was a number that had never called me before.I was about to send it to voicemail but remembered seeing the number.
Then it hit me. I searched for the business cards in my pocket.
It could be Jack’s number.
I pulled them out, and after looking at the back of each one, I saw Jack’s cell phone number written on the back of one.
Yep, it’s Jack.
I accepted the call and put it to my ear.Before I could say anything, I heard Jack excitedly yelling into the phone.
“Listen, buddy, you gotta get away from that cafe, like yesterday!”
Sky looked at me. “Who is it?”
I placed my hand over the mouthpiece.
“It’s a friend of mine.”
I removed my hand from the receiver and put my finger in my other ear to drown out the sounds of the yelling people and the car alarms going off.
“What the hell’s going on?” I asked Jack with a stern tone.
“Vincent, Move!”
I heard Sky scream as what felt like a jolt of electricity hit my body, lifting me off my feet and throwing me backward into the cafe.
My phone flew out of my hand and slid across the cafe floor when my back slammed into the counter.
What the hell just happened?
After hitting the counter, I wound up in a sitting position on the floor. I didn’t feel any pain, thanks to the alien suit.
I kept my back rested against the lower half of the counter as I looked around the cafe for what had just hit me. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
What was it?
“What’s going on, Volax?”
Sky jumped through the window pang and rushed towards me. I could see the worry in her eyes as she ran towards me, glass crunching under her feet with each step.
“Oh my God! Are you okay,” She shouted as she reached for my arm to help me up.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I’m okay, just a little shaken up, that’s all,” I said as I made my way to my feet.
“Vincent, our battle has come to us sooner than anticipated. We must reach a safer vantage point and assess our next action.”
Sky looked over her shoulder at the blown-out windows for a split second, then focused her attention back at me. I could see that she was just as confused as I was.
“What was that thing that shot at you?”
“I’ll find out in a minute,” I said, grabbing her by the arm. “But right now, we gotta get outta here. Is there a back door to this place?”
“Yeah. Follow me.” Sky led me around the counter towards the back of the cafe.
She ran as fast as she could towards the back door with me behind her.
After running through the maze of coffee machines and cleaning supplies, we reached the back door, and she flung it open before jolting outside into the alleyway.
Wow, she’s pretty fast. My kind of...
“Move, Vincent!”
Just as Volax said those words, I felt an electric volt surge through my body, originating from my back.
I immediately flew over Sky’s head and across the alleyway, slamming into the opposite brick wall upside down.
What the hell?
I heard the bricks break as I slammed into them with tremendous force. I was stuck to the wall upside down inside a body-sized crater.
Sky screamed because I hit the wall with so much force that it would’ve killed the average person.
My instincts took over, and I levitated upright, landing on my feet quickly.
Sorry, Sky, I can’t hide it from you now.
Sky opened her mouth in disbelief as she saw me do what seemed impossible. I tried not to focus on her because I had bigger fish to fry.
I peered through the back door as I pushed Sky out of the line of sight so that she wouldn’t get hurt. I wasn’t expecting to see much of anything because I was still in denial.
I was wrong.
I saw a Dondraven standing in the cafe where I’d just been sitting, and it was facing me.
Holy crap! Volax was right.
I was surprised because, by his calculations, they shouldn’t be here for another seventy years.
How’d they get here so fast?
The lumpy, brown skin and uneven eyes made it look more intimidating in the flesh.
My suit automatically formed a gauntlet over my hand so I could defend myself.
I immediately raised my arm to chest level, extending it with my palm towards him. I quickly formed and released the most intense energy sphere I could make.
Take that, you turd.
As it released, I heard the humming sound and watched it hit the Dondraven in the chest. The impact caused him to fly out of the cafe and into the street without touching the sidewalk.
Well, at least I know my powers work against them now.
Sky screamed after she saw me shoot an energy sphere from my hand.
I grabbed her arm before she could have an opportunity to run away from me. I had to get her out of there before more of those guys showed up.
“Hang on,” I said as I concentrated on teleporting us away from there.
Her screaming fell silent as the world wrapped around us like a blurry tunnel.
Her face indicated she was still screaming, but there was no sound.
I was thankful there was no sound behind the veil of this dimension because I couldn’t imagine hearing her scream the entire time we were teleporting.
I held her firmly as we traveled through the veil at light speed. I glanced at her and saw an expression of pure terror on her face.
It almost made me laugh because she looked so scared, but I smiled to myself instead.
She’s gonna remember this for sure.
Once the dimensional tunnel collapsed around us, we emerged in front of the Guardian Host exhibit.
I immediately heard her scream like a wild woman who saw a mouse run across her lap. She was shaken up about being teleported.
I’ll never hear the end of this one.
She grabbed her hair with both hands and screamed again. I retracted my gauntlet and grabbed her by the shoulders.
I gently shook her to get her under control.
“It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” I said as I tried to get Sky to look at my face.
She let go of her hair, and with a dazed look, she gave me a firm slap across the face as if it were an instinct.
I’m firmly convinced that every woman has an instinct to slap a man when they do something unexpected to them. Of course, I didn’t feel the pain, but I was caught off guard.
Okay, I deserved that.
“What the hell did you just do,” She asked hysterically as she quickly brushed the hair away from her face with both hands.
“I’ve got to tell you a little bit more about myself,” I said calmly.
“Oh really? It’s more than a little bit. It’s more like a lot a bit!”
She turned around, mumbling as if to figure out what had just happened.
“I’m different than most guys, okay,” I said, slightly overwhelmed by her reaction.
“Wow! Really? I couldn’t tell!”
“I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
“Vincent, this date has not gone according to your initial plan. You need to tell her what’s happening before she loses her ability to process information correctly.”
” You mean go crazy,” I whispered to Volax with a half-serious tone.
I stepped towards her, and with each step, I heard glass crunching beneath my feet.
Are you kidding me right now?
I noticed that all the glass in the museum, including my office above us, had been shattered into a million pieces.
My museum. My precious museum. Now I’m pissed.
“So, who are you exactly,” Sky asked as she started to get a hold of her emotions.
I was about to tell her when I decided to be creative and tell her without using words.
I pointed to the wax Guardian Host statue and raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a subtle smirk.
She followed my finger with her eyes until she saw the statue. Her mouth opened wide, and her eyes almost bulged out of her head.
I could tell she was surprised.
“What,” she said as she looked back at my face. “Are you serious? You’re The Guardian Host?”
I nodded my head and took a few cautious steps towards her.
This is going well.
She laughed so hysterically that she bent at the waist with her hands on her knees.
“What’s so funny,” I asked annoyingly.
Her laughing died down to a chuckle.
“Out of all the guys in the city, I had to pick the only Superman out of the whole bunch. Just my luck.”
I hope that’s a compliment.
I don’t know what to say to that.
“So, is that a compliment? Because if it’s not, I have to tell you something.”
“It is, but what were you gonna say?”
“I could take Superman with my eyes closed.”
“You think so?”
“Totally. So, does this mean we aren’t going on any more dates?”
She walked up to me and grabbed my hands gently. Her face lit up as she smiled.
“Are you kidding? This is the best date ever. I mean, you saved my life, for God’s sake. Besides, you don’t seem creepy and have a super personality. Which means you’re a great kisser.
Yes! She’s even talking about kissing.
After she finished her sentence, she focused on my lips, and I could see her face getting closer to mine.
I started to lean into her as her face got closer to mine. I closed my eyes as I tilted my head to the side. I could feel her breath on my lips as they were about to touch hers.
My first kiss. This is the best date ever.
“Vincent! Vincent! Are you here,” I heard a man yelling at the top of his lungs inside the museum.
Not now. Just go away. I’m so close.
I could hear the loud clicking of dress shoes echoing off the walls as they hit the floor in quick repetition, indicating that the person wearing them was running towards me.
I knew it was Jack by the sound of his voice.
Go away, Jack. Give us, like, five more seconds.
“Vincent! Are you here?”
I opened my eyes to see hers in front of mine. Sky rolled them in annoyance because of the perfectly timed interruption.
I rolled my eyes in response and straightened my body back up, sighing in frustration.
I was frustrated at the interruption, but I knew he had to tell me something. After all, we were dealing with an alien crisis.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I yelled loudly with annoyance.
Sky smiled at me as she let go of my hands to sit on the bench next to the exhibit information podium. I smiled at her, letting her know I wanted to kiss her.
I turned around just in time to see Jack rounding the corner. He was jogging towards me, and it was apparent he’d been running for a while because he was out of breath.
“Thank God I found you,” Jack said as he walked towards me.
He placed his hands on his hips while trying to catch his breath.
“I thought you’d been killed or something. Your phone went dead.”
“I’m still alive, and I see our friends have arrived a little early, though,” I replied.
He took a few seconds to catch his breath while holding up his index finger towards me, signaling he’d reply in a second.
He must’ve been running for a while.
I looked back at Sky, and she flashed me a nervous smile as she winked at me. I winked back at her, then focused on Jack as he started talking.
“Oh yeah, those turds are everywhere, man. They showed up like an early morning pimple on a teenager’s forehead, and they need to be popped before they leave a scar,” Jack said between breaths.
“Do you know how many there are,” I asked as he caught his breath.
“I’m going to guess about 3 or 4 of them. But judging by the way they move, it’s like a hundred. You’ve got your work cut out for you, tapeworm.”
I gave him a confused look. I didn’t know what he meant by that comment.
“Tapeworm?”
He was still bent over slightly as he pointed at me.
“Not you, the alien parasite you’ve got living in your little brain.”
“I think he has been misinformed. I’m not a parasite. I am an alien being that has merged with another to enhance physical and mental abilities beyond its inhabited planet to survive.”
” He’s joking, Volax. Just calm down,” I said as I looked at Jack sternly.
Jack started to speak louder and slower than usual, like someone trying to communicate with somebody from another country.
“He’s right. I’m trying to calm myself down by joking around. Sorry if I offended you, Volaxion. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head because of how dumb he sounded.
Sky walked over to us, stood beside me, and gripped my arm like before.
“Are you two gonna bicker all day, or are you gonna get down to what’s going on out there?”
Jack looked at her, then back at me as if to say,′ Who’s this chick, and why is she here?′
“It’s okay, Jack. She knows who I am, thanks to the whole Dondraven situation.”
“Jack, this is Sky. Sky, this is Jack, our secret government agent friend.”
They shook hands quickly as Jack began to speak.
“Look, Vincent, this is a surprise to the whole agency. They weren’t expecting this for another 70 years, man,” Jack said as he looked around the museum.
“You know that sound that knocked out every window in the city?”
“Yeah. What was that?”
“Oh, that was the locator blast they used to find out where you were. It’s like sonar or something. They use it to ping their target. That’s how they found you so fast.”
“He’s correct, Vincent. The effects of the location blast are different for each planet. It appears that glass cannot withstand the sound of the blast.”
I suddenly felt a vibration surge through my body, and I looked down to see all the glass on the museum floor jump about a foot into the air before crashing to the floor again.
Sky and Jack jumped as they were caught off guard by it.
"They have found you again, Vincent. That was the location blast. Judging by the intensity of it, they will be here within a minute or less.”
“Was that what I think it was,” Jack asked as he looked at me with concern.
“Yes,” I replied before I transformed into the Guardian Host.
Sky let out a gasp as she let go of my arm.
“Holy crap! You’re really him,” Sky said with a whisper.
I looked at Sky with my glowing green eyes and could see the look of shock on her face.
“I am, and I’ve got to get away from you two before you get seriously hurt. Jack, take Sky and meet me in the bank in a few minutes.”
Jack looked at me and smiled like he was a little kid.
“You sound so awesome right now,” Jack said, grabbing Sky by the arm.
“I’ll meet you at the bank. Now go kick some ass, tape... I mean you guys.”
“Be careful out there. I want a second date, you know,” Sky said before kissing me on my cheek.
I teleported to the sidewalk in front of the museum so my two friends wouldn’t be in the middle of the confrontation I knew was coming.
What was about to happen? I’d never been in an alien fight before, so this was new.
I saw the glass on the sidewalks and the street jump and crash to the cement again as I felt the familiar vibration surge through my body. I was getting nervous.
I hope I don’t suck at this.
“That’s not fair,” I said as I scanned the surrounding buildings for any sign of the Dondravens.
“They are extremely close to our vicinity. The intensity of that blast would indicate that they’re almost right on top of us.”
Just as Volax finished his sentence, I heard police sirens from my left.
I looked but didn’t see a police car, so I assumed it must’ve been around the corner.
The police are busy with a situation of their own right now.
I continued to scan the area for the Dondravens.
Suddenly, I heard about eight or nine gunshots, followed by people screaming. I started to levitate towards the corner where the sound came from. I listened to the squealing of tires on the pavement coming from that direction.
What’s going on over there?
The police car started to come into view as the squealing stopped.
I saw the front of the police car first, but what surprised me the most was that it was a couple of feet off the ground.
I cocked my head to the side as the car looked like it was being pulled back around the corner by someone lifting it.
That’s when I saw what was happening.
A Dondraven walked around the corner holding a police officer in the air by the back of his shirt with one hand and carrying the police car by the back bumper with the other.
Okay, so they have super strength. Perfect.
The officer was flailing his arms and kicking the alien to get free. Still, the alien didn’t even pay him any attention.
The Dondraven wore thick metallic bracelets on his wrists that looked like they could weigh a hundred pounds each.
No wonder he’s so strong.
The rest of his clothing looked like a purplish-colored body suit. I could see him looking at me with his crooked eyes without any expression on his face.
These guys are uglier in person.
Without warning, it quickly threw the police officer at me. The officer flew like a fastball toward me, flailing his arms and legs wildly.
Oh, God.
He hurtled towards me with super speed, flipping head over heels.
Don’t panic, Vincent.
I extended my left arm towards the officer and braced myself for the catch.
I caught him by the chest plate of his bulletproof vest, causing him to groan as he stopped.
Luckily, I could make him weightless, allowing me to catch him without flinching. We were face to face, and he looked at me, terrified.
I’d be scared, too, buddy.
“You’re okay now,” I said, setting him on the ground behind me.
He put his feet down and looked over my shoulder as his eyes widened with shock as he yelled, “Look out!”
I quickly turned my body and saw the police car flying at me, flipping through the air towards me.
I remained calm as I extended my left arm again and caught it by the roof, crushing what was left of the lights, as it instantly became weightless.
That’s the fastest any police car’s ever responded to anything.
Again, my body didn’t even flinch. It was as if the police car hit a brick wall.
I shifted my focus onto the Dondraven, now walking towards me with its heavy bracelets.
“Nice catch, Vincent. You must retaliate to show you have no fear of these creatures.”
I turned towards the police officer.
“Get out of here!”
I lifted the car over my head and widened my stance before throwing it at the Dondraven as hard as possible.
I followed it up with a high-powered energy sphere because I knew the car wouldn’t do much damage to him.
He didn’t see me shoot the energy blast because the car was in between us, flipping wildly towards him. He swatted the vehicle out of his way as if it were nothing.
The car slammed into a flower shop with such force that flowers and debris flew out of the shop and onto the street.
At the same time, the energy blast hit him in the face, lifting him off the ground and slamming him through the side of a brick building.
Bricks and dust erupted from the hole he created and spilled out onto the street and sidewalk.
As the dust settled, I noticed a hole the size of the Dondraven in the side of the building as several loose bricks fell from the top of the hole onto a pile below it.
“I am impressed by your strategy, Vincent; however, you must continue your assault before he can regain his composure and adjust to your fighting patterns.”
“Gotcha, pal,” I said as I teleported into the building through the hole.
After teleporting inside the building, I was shocked to see the Dondraven standing in a ready position instead of lying on the floor.
He was standing on a small pile of rubble created when he flew through the wall.
How’d he get up so freaking fast?
I took a moment to size him up.
His legs were shoulder-width apart, and his arms were positioned like a professional wrestler waiting for his opponent’s next move.
He stared at me with an expressionless face, waiting for me to make my next move. If I weren’t a superhuman, he would’ve intimidated me.
Now that I was closer, I could see that his body suit was a grayish-purple color made of material that hugged his skin, revealing the lumpy texture of the alien’s body beneath it.
I reacted as he raised his arms slightly as if to attack me.
I shot an energy sphere from each of my gauntlets, but he easily deflected them with his enormous metallic bracelets.
The spheres ricocheted off his bracelets and destroyed the wall to his left, ejecting debris from the hole and onto the street.
Okay, so I can’t damage his bracelets.
He cocked his head slightly to the right as he looked at me with dark, lifeless eyes.
His bracelets started making a noise like a motor.
I watched as the outer metal band on his bracelets started spinning faster. I didn’t know what to make of it, but whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
I took a step backward to ready myself in anticipation of an attack.
“Is this a Guardian, Volax,” I ask quickly.
“This is no guardian. He is a Dondraven soldier. Since they have merged with Volastians, they have acquired some advanced abilities. It appears they have reverse-engineered some of the guardian technology. This one has special wrist attachments. His molecular structure is growing at a very rapid rate. You should exit this building now!”
You don’t have to tell me twice.
I teleported out of the building as fast as possible and emerged on the sidewalk outside.
I watched the building start to fall apart in front of my eyes.
How big is this guy going to get?
The walls fell outwards and crashed to the ground, almost hitting me.
The roof of the building suddenly lifted with a loud crash before it broke in half and fell onto the street in a pile of rubble.
I knew I’d be fighting aliens, but I didn’t know there’d be giant ones.
As I looked at what used to be the top of the building, I saw the Dondraven emerge from it and watched as he continued to grow. The building before me had now been reduced to a pile of rubble.
Holy crap! How am I supposed to fight that?
I watched in amazement as he grew to about 100 feet in height, allowing the bracelets that used to be too big for him to fit him perfectly.
Now I know the reason why the bracelets were so big on him. Talk about growing into your clothes. Bad joke, I know.
His bracelets stopped spinning as he looked down at me with the same expressionless face.
There’s nothing more intimidating than seeing a giant, ugly alien looking at you like he’s going to eat you or something.
He lowered his arms and pointed his hands at me, and I wasn’t sure what would happen next.
What’s he doing?
I saw energy blasts shoot out of the blue slits in his bracelets towards me.
I teleported to the top of a small building to my right before the blast hit the sidewalk and part of the street where I had been standing.
You gotta be quicker than that if you wanna get me, buddy.
The blast sounded like a bomb going off, and I watched as concrete and debris were thrown at least 75 feet into the air.
Chunks of concrete landed all around me as I watched the display of power below me.
I noticed not only a large crater in the impact zone but also half of a destroyed building to the left of it. I was amazed at the level of destruction he caused.
I could see a large hole created by the explosion on one of the remaining building walls.
After about two seconds, the building fell over like a tree when a wedge was cut out of the trunk, spilling a large pile of debris into the street.
He had destroyed several buildings in a matter of minutes. I couldn’t imagine how much destruction he would cause when we finished our conflict.
“Volax, we’ve got a big problem. This lumpy guy has a lot of power for just being a soldier. What do you suggest we do now?”
“I agree with you, Vincent. This Dondraven is testing your abilities, so try not to make many repetitive movements, or he will adjust his strategy accordingly.”
The Dondraven noticed me and stepped towards me, crushing a streetlight and a car with his foot.
He lifted his right arm above his head and made a fist, and I could tell he would try to pound me with it.
There’s no way I’m letting you squash me, you turd.
I levitated and quickly flew to the left, moving closer to the alien as his fist slammed into the roof, destroying the building with a loud crash.
I felt the wind from his arm as it flew past me.
The whole city will be destroyed at this rate.
I flew towards his fist as he pulled it out of the rubble and grabbed his bracelet with my unbreakable grip.
I used my other hand to push on his forearm as he became weightless, causing him to flip over my head and slam onto his back onto the same building he just destroyed.
When he hit the ground, it was like an atomic bomb went off.
I watched the cars on the street jump about 4 to 5 feet into the air and crash back down to the pavement like toys.
His legs came down and destroyed two other buildings as they landed on top of them with a loud thud.
Great! Now I’m destroying buildings with this giant alien.
I let go of his bracelet and flew slightly higher as I pointed my gauntlet at him.
I drew as much power as possible into my gauntlets because I knew I would need powerful energy spheres to damage this thing.
Time to go night, night.
The energy threads generated spheres that glowed a very bright fluorescent green color in a fraction of a second.
Just as I was about to fire, I was knocked out of the Sky by what felt like an electrical charge coursing through my body.
I flew a good 50 feet before smashing through the wall of my museum, destroying several exhibits as I skipped across the floor.
I was stopped by a large, round column in the museum’s center. I slammed into it hard, cracking it from the ceiling to the floor.
No! Not my museum.
When I sat up, I noticed that I had the upper half of the wax Einstein statue on my lap. It was lying face up in my lap, looking straight at me.
“Way to go, Einstein,” I said, brushing it off my lap and standing up.
“I find it difficult to understand how you can find humor in this situation. I am now thinking that it is a coping mechanism for humans.
“Yeah, it takes the edge off.”
I surveyed the damage to the museum and wasn’t happy with what I saw.
The gaping hole in the wall destroyed exhibits and a crack in the column. Not to mention all the windows being blown out.
When I took in the sight of my precious baby, I started to get pissed.
You wait till I see that giant turd. He’s gonna get flushed, big time.
“Come on, Volax. Let’s get back out there and flush these turds.”
“We do not have to, Vincent. The fight has come to us.”