Chapter 8
As Resh and the drone army materialised in the realm of contentment, Resh found himself in Paris! He looked up to see the Eiffel Tower in the background. For a minute, he thought he’d been tricked after all, but soon he realised this was the projection of this particular realm.
They were in a large mall area where people were engaged in business. Resh scowled at how the Earthlings traded in such a pathetic and honest fashion.
He and the drones moved through the crowd, with no interest in the useless items they were passing. However, he could see something shining in the distance. When he finally arrived at the end of the mall, he saw a large array of things that got his attention. There in various stalls were riches such as bags full of diamonds, bars of gold, jewellery and piles of cash.
Elise and Marie hid behind one of the stalls, hoping that they could trap Resh and the drones long enough to vanquish them once and for all. Elise looked back and saw the market scene had disappeared, as she and Marie were left in this treasure trove with the greedy Centurion. She watched as Resh picked up an amulet from amongst the pile of jewellery. Elise looked closely as the amulet became dark and cloudy from Resh’s touch.
As the drones gathered around Resh, Elise and Marie started sending spirals of destructive energy toward the drones, many of them crashing back into the loot, others firing back.
Resh held up the amulet, and a spiralling dark energy shot out, as small static explosions crashed into some of the stalls. Then a barrage of energy was fired toward the women’s location.
“Did you see the amulet that Resh picked up?” asked Marie.
“I saw it. He knows conventional weapons won’t destroy us,” said Elise. “But I don’t think he knows totally how to harness the dark powers yet.”
“Well, he is kind of an apprentice Master,” said Marie.
“All the more reason why he needs to be vanquished,” said Elise.
Elise suddenly stood up as the Oracle formed into a large shield. From the centre of the shield she began firing a volley of spiralling energy balls toward the shadow army. Many drones were knocked over, while some were vaporised. In his urge to retaliate, Resh tried to activate the amulet again, but he was also hit and thrown back, crashing into the stalls. Elise ducked back down again as more energy weapon fire exploded around them.
“That was amazing,” said Marie. “That thing is full of surprises!”
Elise nodded as she threw the Oracle suddenly toward the drones. Many guns were knocked from their hands, as the disk did a wide arc and returned to her hand.
“Come on! Let’s get out of here.” Elise and Marie fired at the remaining drones, but a large group of them manage to escape.
“Resh must have escaped into the next realm,” said Marie.
“I’ll deal with him there,” said Elise. “See you later.” A mandala appeared, and she ran through.
***
Resh and the remaining drones emerged in the realm of security, in an old Japanese village at night. He was lurking in the empty lane-way, glaring down side lanes for a way out of this maze, when he heard laughter in the distance.
He glared at a house with a large verandah and paper doors. Flying across the clearing, he crashed through the paper doors and skidded over the tatami floor. The drones surrounded the house.
Elise materialised into the realm behind them and started to engage the drones.
Inside the house, Matsu was in the middle of hugging his young daughter.
“Goodnight, my little angel,” He noticed Resh’s sudden appearance with indifference.
His son looked at Resh curiously and said, “Okarsan, there’s a scary monster in our house.”
Resh was repulsed by the family bonding session and snarled in disgust. Matsu, noticing this, reached for his son and hugged him.
“I love you, son.”
His wife gently held his hand and whispered in his ear.
“I’ll put the kids to bed, while you deal with this uninvited guest.”
Suddenly, as Matsu’s wife and children went toward the stairs, Resh lunged at them. As he swung at one of the children they all disappeared! Resh went face first into the bottom of the stairs.
Furious, he sprang to his feet and dived at Matsu. Matsu backed up near a tiny dining table with cushions around it, firing at the angry Centurion with the powers of his ring.
The paper walls suddenly exploded at the front of the house, and a group of drones crashed through. More drones came in firing, and Matsu engaged them as the cushions around him exploded, with stuffing flying everywhere. Elise came in behind Resh and the drones and sent a large spiral of energy toward them.
Suddenly, a group of drones attacked Matsu in the corner. With quick thinking, he dived for the samurai sword hanging above the dining area. Spinning his body in quick movements, he struck out with the sword, cutting down the group of drones with decisive and deadly blows.
“You lose, Resh,” said Elise, looking around the house for more drones, but finding none.
Resh suddenly flew into the air and crashed through the paper wall. A dark anti-clockwise spiral of energy enveloped him, and he was gone. A handful of drones followed him from out in the yard and also disappeared through the gateway.
***
Resh, with his remaining drones, looked at the large crowd of people who had gathered in front of them.
He was in the realm of collectivity. He looked around at the city he was in and instantly recognised it. This was New York. But it wasn’t the New York he remembered in the final days of the Shadow’s dominion on Earth. No. The people were different. There were no Shadows here anymore.
Suddenly, from out of the crowd, a lone motorcycle came toward him.
Commander Mason looked at the Shadow Lord as his visor helmet automatically rose.
“Well, if it isn’t the illustrious Lord Resh,” said Bryan.
“Commander Mason,” said Resh, eyeing Bryan’s uniform.
“I’m not carrying a gun, if that’s what you’re thinking. Policemen have taken on a very different role in this day and age. See? My ring doesn’t even work in this realm.”
“That’s pathetic! How can you control people without force?” spat Resh. He reached inside his suit. “In that case, you have no way of stopping me from killing you.” He pointed the gun at Bryan triumphantly.
At that moment, the crowd began to converge towards Resh. He noticed Elise was also standing amongst the crowd. He paused.
“What is this trickery? How are you controlling them?”
“This isn’t control, Resh. They all have free will. The community of Earth is so united now. They have no fear of the Shadows anymore.”
“Tell them to get back or I’ll start killing their children!” Resh noticed the children weren’t even frightened of him or his drones. Even if he started shooting everyone, these people wouldn’t even die in this reality anyway.
He was holding a gun now, but he wasn’t holding it up. Unsure of where to retreat, he flew up over the top of the crowd. Looking back to see what his remaining drones were doing, he went head first into an electronic billboard.
***