Chapter Winds of Change
The following day, we all got up, taking turns in the bathroom to shower and do whatever we needed.
Sky took the longest, of course. She said it was because she had more hair than the two of us, and it took a lot of work to look beautiful.
All that hard work paid off, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately, the only clothes we had to choose from were white shirts and blue jeans from my old wardrobe.
My wardrobe isn’t my most vital asset.
When Sky came out of the bathroom, she looked like the hot farmer’s daughter with blonde hair.
She filled out the jeans in all the right places. It showed the perfect curvature of her butt and thighs. She tucked her shirt into her jeans, showing just enough to make it evident that she had a lovely figure underneath it.
I had to close Jack’s mouth as he looked at her because his jaw almost hit the floor.
We looked like an Elvis impersonation band because we were all dressed similarly.
Breakfast was simple, thanks to Jack and his grocery shopping. Lucky Charms seemed like an okay breakfast.
After we ate, we all headed out to the front yard to get geared up for the fight that was coming soon.
I had some training to do.
“Okay, let’s see your outfit,” Sky said as she stood before me with her hand on her hip.
“All right,” I said before transforming into the Guardian Host.
She slowly paced around me, examining my suit from all angles.
“It’ll do for now, I guess.”
“What do you mean, ‘do for now,’” I growled back at her.
“Yeah, I think he looks pretty good,” Jack said as he looked at me, nodding in approval.
“Look at him,” Sky stated as she gestured towards me while looking at Jack.
“Don’t you think he looks a little plain?”
“Plain?” Jack responded.
“Yeah, you know, Like the old second-grade science teacher who always wore grey.”
“Wait a second,” I said as I crossed my arms. “I’ve looked like this for seventy-plus years. It’s my signature look.”
Sky cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms.
“Signature look? Is that what you call it when you look like you’re wearing your grandfather’s old clothes?”
“There may be some validation to her observation, Vincent. As we discussed upgrading your computer, I recommend you upgrade your look. I agree with Sky.”
“Of course, you agree with her. Why wouldn’t you?”
She raised an eyebrow and smiled at me, knowing Volax had agreed.
“Even Volax agrees with me? See, even someone not from this planet thinks your style is outdated.”
“Okay,” Jack said with a sigh. “What do you suggest?”
Sky rubbed her chin and squinted at me.
“Hmm. I don’t know yet, let me think about it,”
“You got us all worked up about my suit, and now you say you want to think about it?”
“Yep. Look, boys, you can’t rush style. You have to be inspired; so far, it just isn’t happening. I’ve gotta think about this one.”
I shrugged my shoulders as Jack shot me a smirk. Since she was a woman, we figured she’d know when the time was right.
You can’t rush perfection.
“Okay, what’s next,” I asked.
“Let’s run through your powers,” Jack said as he gestured towards me.
“Let’s see what you can do because I’m not that impressed so far,” Sky said playfully.
“Not impressed, huh,” I said as I levitated. “Let’s see if this will impress you.”
I grabbed her by the waist and levitated higher, watching her eyes widen in fear.
“What are you doing,” she asked as her voice quivered.
She wrapped her arms tightly around my neck and buried her face in my chest because she didn’t want to see how high we were.
I was sure that she was scared of heights.
“Am I impressing you yet,” I asked before transforming into my human form.
“Okay, you two,” Jack yelled at us, “I’m gonna go get something to eat because there’s way too much impressing for me right now.”
I laughed as I watched him turn around and walk towards the house in frustration.
I knew we were supposed to be going over my abilities, but I wanted to have a little fun. Jack threw his hands up in the air as he looked at the ground, then headed into the house as if defeated.
I whispered in her ear.
“Let’s go for a ride.”
“I’m not sure I wanna go for a ride,” she replied.
Her face was still buried in my chest.
I levitated higher, stopping at the tree’s height in the front yard.
Once we were level with the tree, I started to rotate clockwise to get a view of everything around us. I put my feet below hers, giving her a place to stand.
“You can look up,” I said as I placed my hand below her chin, gently lifting her face towards mine.
Her eyes were still shut tight. She was scared to look.
“It’s okay to look around. Go ahead and open your eyes. Trust me.”
She raised her head but kept her eyes closed as she faced me.
I figured I’d make it impossible for her to keep her eyes closed and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes popped open, and she looked shocked.
I pulled my face away from hers and smiled at her.
“That was unexpected,” she said as she looked into my eyes.
“Well, I had to do something to get your attention.”
“Oh, you got it now, honey.”
She closed her eyes and leaned in for another kiss.
I closed my eyes and slowly leaned into her.
Our lips met, and I felt my heart racing faster. I wrapped my arms tighter around Sky’s waist, pulling her in tight. She pulled her arms away from my neck, grabbed the back of my head with both hands and stroked my hair.
I heard her moan as our tongues touched for the first time.
After a few seconds, we pulled back from each other and couldn’t stop smiling as we looked into each other’s eyes.
“Wow! That’s one hell of a first kiss!”
“I was hoping you’d like it.”
“Like it? I loved it! How many women enjoy their first kiss while flying with their superhuman boyfriends?”
“Not many. So, are you impressed yet?”
“I think you’re getting closer,” she said playfully, stroking my hair.
I raised an eyebrow at her.
“Closer? I’ll have to try harder then.
I moved us into a horizontal position and continued to rotate as I picked up some speed. She let out a yelp when she saw that we were flying faster.
I flew towards an open field in the distance.
She smiled like a child as she watched the trees whipping by below her. Seeing her enjoying the moment made me smile as I watched her reactions.
She started laughing when the force of our flying started tickling her stomach.
When we were directly over the center of the lush green field, I moved us into a vertical position. I started to fly higher and higher until the area was just a green speck below us.
We looked below us and could see for miles.
Now, this is one heck of a view.
I slowed to a stop while continuing to rotate clockwise. I wanted to give Sky a view that she’d always remember.
Her eyes widened and glassed over as she looked at everything around us.
I kept my eyes on her as she looked around because I’d seen the view before. To me, she was more beautiful than anything that was around us.
“Wow,” she said softly, “It’s all so beautiful.”
I replied softly as I looked at her.
“It’s more than beautiful, it’s heavenly.”
She glanced at me, noticing I was talking about her, not the view of the Earth below. She blushed as she looked deep into my eyes.
I’m sure she’s impressed by now.
“You think so?”
“I know so. I haven’t seen a view this perfect in my entire life.”
“Me neither,” She said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me.
I slowly started descending while I continued rotating.
After a few moments, we touched down in the middle of the field. Once my feet were on the ground, she stepped off them and onto the green grass.
She stepped away from me and slowly looked around us, taking in the view of our surroundings.
We were surrounded by a forest in all directions. It was hard to believe that this green field was in the middle of all the trees.
“This is fantastic,” Sky said as she looked around.
“Yeah, I used to come here a lot to think.”
I bent down, picked up a daisy growing wild in the field, and gave it to her.
“This is for you.”
“Thanks,” she said, placing it behind her ear.
I got down on the ground and laid on my back, putting my hands behind my head.
“Yep, I used to lay here, watch the clouds go by, and enjoy nature all around me.”
“That sounds like fun. I’ll join you.
She laid down on her back next to me and placed her hands behind her head, resting an elbow on mine.
I looked over at her and smiled. I couldn’t help but look into her deep blue eyes as they sparkled in the sun.
It was much better with her here. We watched the clouds float by and remained quiet for a few minutes.
“So, when this whole thing is over, are you going to return to me, “Sky asked, breaking the silence.
I was shocked at the question.
I looked at her, confused by her question, as she stared at the sky without looking at me.
“Of course, I’m gonna come back to you. Why wouldn’t I?”
She turned her head, and I saw the look of concern on her face.
“Well, you have all these super abilities, and I’m just an ordinary girl with nothing special to offer you.”
I propped myself up on my elbow to face her more directly.
“What do you mean? Everything about you is special. For the first time, I’ve finally found something I can live for. Do you know how hard it is to find something to live for when you’re immortal?”
“Not really.”
“Trust me, it’s hard. You’re the only thing I want to live for, and I’ve never felt that way about anyone.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. When this is all over, there’s no one in this universe I’d rather run back to. I want you to know the real me as well as Volax does. He knows my thoughts, dreams, inner fears, and everything else. That’s what I want for you. I want you to be that close to me. Don’t ever think for a second that I wouldn’t travel through the depths of time and space to be with you.”
“That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me, but what makes me more special than any other woman out there?”
I leaned in as close as I could to her and whispered.
“Because out of all the women in the entire galaxy, you have something they don’t.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re the only one for me, and they’re not.”
She rolled over on top of me with tears in her eyes and buried her face in my chest.
After a few moments, she propped herself on an elbow and looked into my eyes.
“So, do you think you love me?”
“Sky, let me tell you something. The word love is a word that we use on this planet, and I’m sure they have another word for it on other planets. If you combined all those words, it still wouldn’t be enough to describe my feelings for you.”
She looked at me with those beautiful eyes, and I watched as a tear escaped the side of her eye and started rolling down her cheek.
“So, the answer is yes,” I said softly. “I love you.”
She smiled at me and leaned in close, directing her eyes to my lips as she kept getting closer.
“I love you too.”
We shared a passionate kiss as we lay in the large field, surrounded by all Mother Nature had to offer.
We lay there for a few minutes after kissing, and she rested her head on my chest as we looked up at the cloud-filled sky.
“I guess we’d better get back to Jack before he starts to go crazy in that house by himself,” Sky said as she chuckled.
“Either that, or we won’t have any food left to live on,” I chuckled.
We stood, and she stepped onto my feet before I levitated us high into the sky.
I moved horizontally and rotated us slowly as we flew towards the house.
It was different this time because we both felt a stronger connection.
“Vincent, I wanted to remain silent as you shared an intimate moment with Sky. You have made a wise selection, and I feel the emotions within you concerning her; it is truly love. Well done, Vincent.”
I nodded in agreement because I didn’t want to speak and ruin the moment.
I watched her hair whipping in the wind as she held a satisfied smile.
I heard nothing but the wind in my ears as we flew towards the house at a moderate speed. I knew this would be a moment that I would cherish for eternity.
After we arrived at the house, we called Jack out to the front yard so we could pick up where we left off.
I started by giving them a list of my abilities. I decided to run through them individually so they knew what we were working with.
For the next two hours, I showed them what I could do.
I demonstrated levitating, flying, sucking the light out of the air, making everything weightless with just a touch, and shooting energy spheres.
They were impressed because they’d never seen me do all those things up close before.
It’s always been on the internet or old news footage or something.
Just as I was about to shoot an energy sphere at a piece of old wood leaning against a stump in the yard, Volax interrupted me.
“Vincent, I have discovered a new ability. It will assist us in our conflict with the Dondravens. Shall we demonstrate it now?”
“You bet, pal.”
“Hey, Volax just told me I have a new ability.”
“Well, what is it,” Sky asked with anticipation.
I shrugged.
“Don’t know yet. Wait a second. He’s telling me how to use it.
“Your gauntlets can separate the molecular structure of any inanimate object. That would be any object that is not living. Once you activate this ability mentally and touch it, the object will break down on a molecular level and dissolve into dust.”
“Oh, we’ve got to try this one,” I said excitedly.
“Well, what is it already,” Jack asked in frustration.
I started to walk towards the piece of wood that was leaning against a stump.
“Watch this.”
I reached out and touched the board with my index finger.
At the place where my finger had touched it, it turned into tiny pieces of sawdust and fell to the ground.
I ran my finger across the length of the board, and sawdust fell to the ground, leaving behind a space.
I felt no resistance, as if the wood wasn’t even there. I ran my finger across the board until it eventually fell into two pieces.
Now that’s pretty cool.
“Whoa! That’s freaking awesome,” Jack yelled as the wood fell.
Jack and Sky walked over to where the board was lying. Sky picked up a pinch of sawdust to examine it in her hand before brushing it off onto the ground.
“Do you think it’ll work on those aliens,” Sky asked as she stood back up.
“No, it only works on nonliving objects.”
“Well, that sucks,” Jack chimed in.
“At least it’s something new,” I replied.
“Yep. Every little bit counts,” Sky said as she smiled at me. “It could be very valuable in the future. You never know.”
We all nodded in agreement as we stood there looking at the two pieces of wood lying on the ground with sawdust all around it.
It could save my life one day.
Over the next hour, we tried the new ability on all types of objects to see how they looked when they all turned into dust.
We tried a car door, which turned into metal dust. I tried spreading my fingers and raking them as fast as possible across a large piece of sheet metal we found in the backyard. It looked as if a razor-sharp glove had been raked across the surface, separating it instantly into several parts before they fell to the ground.
Jack compared me to the alien version of Wolverine at one point during the day.
Jack decided to test my capabilities even further. He picked up a piece of crumpled metal off the ground.
“Hey Vince, do this one.”
He threw it at me, and I held out my right hand while spreading my fingers like a baseball glove towards it.
As soon as it touched my hand, it turned into metal dust, like a dust cloud in the wind. The dust flew past me as it continued on its path.
That was cool.
Jack jumped with excitement and yelled, “That was freaking awesome!”
“Pretty impressive,” Sky said as she gave me a wink.
“You think that was cool? Check this out.”
I walked towards Jack and casually held out a finger, brushing it across the middle of his shirt as I walked past him.
The shirt split open, and cloth dust started falling towards the ground. The split ran from the right side of his shirt to the left at his midsection.
“Very funny,” Jack said as he raised his arms and looked at his bare skin through the opening in his shirt.
I kept walking past him towards the house, laughing as I did.
Sky chuckled as Jack tried to hold the two shirt sections together.
“Hey, where are you going,” Jack asked.
“Bathroom,” I yelled back before walking into the house.
After I used the bathroom, we all felt the training was complete because we were all a bit tired from standing out in the sun most of the day.
It was time to recheck the television for an update on the Dondraven situation.
We all gathered in the living room, and I turned on the television. It was already on the 24-hour news station, so we didn’t have to wait long for an update.
We were all shocked at what was happening in Pine Beach while we were away.
The anchorman was explaining what new situations had developed, and it seemed like he was high on adrenaline by the level of excitement in his voice.
Behind him was a video of some explosions that had taken place within the city, and he was talking about evacuations as if a natural disaster was taking place.
We listened intently as he began to speak again.
“As you can see by the video footage that was captured this afternoon, the negotiations that had been taking place between the alien race that arrived here last week and the government officials took a turn for the worse. Chaos ensued throughout the city as buildings were destroyed by the alien race officially identified as the Dondravens. Jim, you were there as the events unfolded this afternoon. Can you explain the details of what occurred?”
The screen zoomed in on an older anchorman standing on a sidewalk with burning buildings behind him as the sun began to set.
“Yes, I can, Steve,” he said with excitement.
Another explosion occurred in the background, and he ducked out of frame for a second. The camera shook, and he returned to the shot once it had passed.
“Whoa! As you can see, it’s still going on,” He said like he was out of breath.
“From what I understand, the incident occurred right here on this very spot I’m standing on. A confrontation occurred between the Dondravens and a secret division of the government. As you recall, negotiations between the two occurred for several days. We were under the assumption that things were going well. That doesn’t seem to be the case, as we were told just hours ago.”
The screen zoomed out; the reporter was now in a smaller box on the right-hand corner of the screen, and the previous anchorman was again shown behind his desk.
“Jim, do we know why the negotiations fell apart?”
“From what I gathered from my sources, the Dondravens decided to withdraw from the negotiations after what seemed like a heated argument between them and the secret government division.”
I glanced at Sky and Jack to see their expressions as they watched what was happening on the news.
Jack looked at me, giving me an ‘I told you this would happen’ look before he turned back to the television.
Sky looked shocked. I was assuming it was because the city was being destroyed again.
She glanced at me with concern in her eyes.
I assured her that everything would be fine. I looked back at the television to give her the impression that I wasn’t worried, although I was very concerned.
“Jim, something is going on behind you. Can we get a close-up of what’s happening?”
“I think we can get a...”
He went silent as he looked behind him and saw a giant Dondraven walking around, smashing at things that I presumed were Umbra Agents.
“Holy cow! Are you getting this?” Jim asked as he finally got his speech back.
The camera zoomed in as close as it could.
Even though the images were shaky because of the unsteady hands of the cameraman, it was clear what was happening.
The Dondraven was punching and kicking at buildings as green laser bullets fired at him. The shots didn’t seem to affect him. They seemed to make him angrier.
The Dondraven picked up something large. We couldn’t tell what it was at first, but after getting a close-up of his hand, we could tell it was a black helicopter on fire.
The giant alien tossed the helicopter to the side like a piece of trash he was discarding on the street.
The only problem was the helicopter was launched in the direction of the news crew.
“Oh my God,” Jim yelled as he moved out of frame.
The cameraman must’ve been right behind him because he was filming the back of the anchorman as they both ran. Jim couldn’t say anything but, “Oh my God, Oh my God!”
After about two seconds of running, the cameraman turned around to film the helicopter skipping across the street where they had been standing.
It crashed into a supermarket that had been directly behind them.
A horrendous explosion quickly followed, launching glass, bricks, and metal from the supermarket into the street.
Flames erupted from the front of the store, like a dragon blowing fire from his gullet.
“Oh my God! That could’ve been us,” Jim screamed as the camera panned back to capture the look of fear on his face.
He was clearly out of breath.
“Jim, are you guys okay?” Steve asked, even though it was obvious that they weren’t harmed.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“We’re fine, Steve,” Jim said, still shaking from what had transpired.
“I’m glad we moved when we did. Thank goodness the store was empty. This situation is getting out of control!”
“I agree. Things are getting worse down there. One can only wonder where the Guardian Host is during all this chaos.”
“We haven’t seen him anywhere,” Jim said while slightly distracted by the action in the distance behind him.
“But it looks like the government could use his help in dealing with this mess!”
Jack and Sky looked at me to see what I would do or say, but I remained silent as I glanced at them and turned my attention back to the television.
Oh well.
“Vincent, I know you feel that you need to be in the city fighting off this attack, but the time to act is not here yet. We must be patient until the moment to strike presents itself to us.”
I closed my eyes to communicate telepathically to Volax so Sky and Jack couldn’t hear what was said.
I didn’t want to stir up their emotions.
“How can you say this isn’t the time to strike? They’re destroying the city!”
“I am imploring you to heed my advice. The city is not ready for your return. They must see the origin of where this destruction is coming from. You must be a true savior to the city for those who want you to save them from destruction.”
“How long do we have to wait?”
“I will inform you when we should interfere. Remember what I told you about true power. True power is being able to hold back until the proper time, even though you may want to advance prematurely.”
“Okay, pal. I’ll trust your judgment. You just let me know when.”
“Jim, it seems that the giant alien has shrunk back down,” Steve said as he watched the video footage from his desk.
“l believe you’re right. It seems the fighting has died down.”
The cameraman panned the city behind them, and all that could be seen were three helicopters flying around where the alien had just been.
They had spotlights scanning the area.
“I think the alien has disappeared,” Jim said as the camera zoomed in on the buildings in the distance.
“I don’t see him anywhere, and from the looks of it, the helicopters can’t see him either.”
I picked up the remote and turned off the television.
We all sat there and looked at each other for a few seconds before Jack spoke, breaking the silence.
“I knew they couldn’t flush that big turd. So, when are you going down there to get rid of it?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“What do you mean you don’t know yet? The city needs you to wipe those turds off the map before they leave a bigger skid mark.”
“It’s not time yet,” I replied.
“Volax wants you to wait, doesn’t he,” Sky asked.
“Yes.” I’m not making a move until he says so.”
“I guess Volax is right,” Jack said with a smirk. “Let those Agents get a taste of what it’s like to be outgunned and outmatched in every way. I’d like to see the looks on their faces tonight when they realize all they did was make things worse.”
“So, when he says it’s time, you’re gonna let us know, right,” Sky asked.
“Don’t just leave us in the dark, buddy.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be the third to know,” I replied.
“The third to know?” Jack asked.
“Yeah. First, it’s Volax, then it’s me, and then it’s you.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right, crap rolls downhill. I almost forgot.”
We all had a small laugh at the joke, but deep down inside, I knew they were just as torn up as I was about the city being in distress.
As we did every evening, we decided to go out on the front porch and share stories as we tried to put the news out of our minds as much as possible.
After several hours, we called it a night.
We each went to our separate sleeping spots and tried our best to go to sleep. After the nightly routine of Volax using his abilities to stop Jack from snoring, I laid down and went to sleep.
The following day, before anyone else woke up, I checked the news to see if there was an update on what was happening.
I turned the volume down as low as possible so it wouldn’t wake Jack up as he slept comfortably in the chair.
As I struggled to hear what was being said by the anchorman, I happened to read the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen.
A message that read, ‘The Dondraven’s address the world by hacking the television networks’ came across the bottom.
I shifted from reading the scroll bar to listening to what the anchorman said.
“...was issued by the alien race, called the Dondravens,” he said while shifting in his seat, “We’ve been replaying the message over the major networks. If you missed the original broadcast, we’ll replay it for you right now.”
The screen switched to the face of a Dondraven with his crooked eyes, small nose hole, and undefined mouth.
Even though his face was expressionless, it looked cold and calculating. His mouth never moved as his voice was heard over the speakers.
“Puny inhabitants of the Earth, we are the Dondravens, the most powerful race in any inhabited universe. The negotiations with your unintelligent and unstable government have failed due to their lack of compromise. We have prevailed over their feeble attempts to constrain and undermine our super-evolved intelligence. We assisted them by providing them with far superior alien technology, and they attempted to use that same technology against us. Our intelligence is far too advanced to give your government any weapon that could be used to their advantage over us.”
The Dondraven barely moved a muscle as he projected his telepathic thoughts at the citizens of Earth.
He looked as if he shifted slightly before moving closer to the screen to drive his point home.
“From this moment on, we are your new government. We are the ones who will direct you. We will be the ones to govern your insignificant planet since you are too fragile to protect yourselves. Unfortunately, we acknowledge that you will resist this change at first, so we have no option but to demonstrate our power over you in the form of destruction. You will be resistant initially but willing to serve our requests as time passes. We are not as forgiving as your previous democracy. Our justice is swift, and our punishment is severe.”
I was shocked at what was being said by the Dondraven.
It seemed that the Guardian Host was an afterthought, and they had planned to dominate this planet from the beginning.
I clenched my fist in anger as I thought about the nerve of those aliens coming to our planet and taking control of innocent people, only to use them as enslaved persons.
“There is one more matter that we will address at this time. The human citizen that you call The Guardian Host will be unable to save you. He will not have the power to stop us from ruling over this planet. The Guardian Host has already exhibited his feeble attempt to destroy us, and the outcome was evident. We remain unharmed and unmoved by his so-called superior abilities. We will allow this feeble Guardian an opportunity to surrender his abilities to us and spare any unnecessary violence and destruction to befall this planet. We will start with the location you call Pine Beach City. At this time, we will demonstrate our ability to show mercy and kindness by giving the Guardian Host 24 hours to surrender his abilities to us. If, after 24 earth hours, we have not obtained what we have requested from him, your punishment will begin. Your punishment will be severe and well deserved. If you surrender what we have requested, our retribution will be far less severe but necessary to demonstrate our willingness to rule.”
The screen zoomed in on his face until it was the only thing I could see. His eyes looked cold, and I could see the evil within them. There was no reflection on the entire black surface of them.
“Puny earthlings, there is no escape from our wrath. There is no escape from your new government. No one can save you from your imminent future under our rule. Resistance will be dealt with swiftly. You have 24 hours to prepare to transition into your new future.”
“Well, there you have it, folks,” The anchorman said with a slight hint of concern in his voice as the screen zoomed out and showed him sitting at his desk,
“That message was delivered to all the major networks two hours ago, so the clock is ticking. We have twenty-two hours left on the countdown.”
The news anchor removed his thin-framed glasses and set them on the desk. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked back into the monitor.
“The big question now is, what will the Guardian Host do?”
I heard a female voice, and the camera zoomed out to show the brunette anchorwoman sitting next to the original anchorman behind the desk.
“There’s a lot of CASH rally groups out there demanding the surrender of the Guardian Host to these hostile aliens. However, there are others out there who say the Guardian Host should try to put a stop to this outrage.”
The camera zoomed in on the female newswoman.
“Guardian Host, where are you?”