"So you're from Earth forty-five," Pete said as he intertwined his fingers and nudged closer to the table in his chair.
Bianca sat across the table and slurped her birl of noodles hastily, spraying the watery gravy around her bowl. She closed her eyes and shook her head with pleasure. Her tongue passionately embraced the birls of noodles. She didn't know when she'd have another nutritious and delicious meal. It was like a buried treasure in a world of pirates.
"...Hmmm," she murmured as she chewed.
As she chugged her food down, Pete ran his eyes up and down her body to study her. He couldn't help but notice her facial skin; it hung tightly on her cheekbones and hollowed inward down her cheeks. He scanned her lean arms and saw a range of small biceps slightly arching over her upper arms. Despite that, they were not as round and firm as they should be, implying the lengthy time since she last ate.
When she swallowed, she wiped her mouth and looked at him, "Yep, a shitty place if you ask me."
"Honestly, I shouldn't be shocked. Yung Fu did mention that there are other Earths out there. It's just that it's one thing to hear about something and to see it happen before your eyes," Pete added as he watched her chug down more birls. He watched the steam rise from her bowl and wondered why she was unperturbed by the food's temperature. It could be that her hunger's intensity masked her nerve endings.
He heard footsteps draw closer and inquired, "How's Ace?"
"He should be fine. I injected him with multiple acupuncture needles to stimulate the circulation of his qi around his body. The effects of the Tetraplegic Spear should wear off after a while." Yung Fu answered as he entered the living room and pulled out a chair from the desk his companions occupied. He sat and tucked himself in. The table was a rectangle, Pete and Bianca sat on the shorter sides, while Yung Fu sat on the longer side.
"I hope for both you're sakes, you won't do anything so reckless again," Yung Fu retorted.
"I'll try to be on my best behavior," she smiled and shoved another birl into her mouth with chopsticks.
"So, what brings you here?" Yung Fu said as he leaned against the spine of the chair.
After swallowing, she set the chopsticks aside and sighed. She gathered her thoughts before speaking as the room was filled with brief silence.
"I come from a broken world, ruled by a powerful being. He calls himself the purveyor of life and death. He is the judge, the jury, and the executioner, and his word is law," she said, shuddering at the thought of this being's prowess.
"What's his name?" Pete said as he tapped his crossed arms with his forefinger.
"Shai Ken," she coldly answered.
"Shai Ken? Do you mean one of the six Overlords of the Elite Force?" Yung Fu replied, his brows creasing lower.
"I guess that's him," Bianca said, drumming the table with her middle and forefinger in vexation.
"The Overlords are the guys that Havoc put in charge to rule their universes to increase the Elite Force's military power, right?" Pete inquired as he pointed upward.
"Yes, you're right, Peter," Yung Fu responded.
The Elite Force is a large empire that has spread its influence across many sections of the Multiverse. Death Wrath once led the Elite Force to enact his vision to liberate the Multiverse from the Utopians' supposed false ideals. At the time, the Elite Force was still in its commencement phase and had not accumulated the military force it has now.
When Ken Sou, a powerful warrior of the Utopians, vanquished and trapped Death Wrath in the dark realm, his second in command, Havoc, took over the reins. Sovereign Havoc expanded upon Death Wrath's empire and nurtured six of his strongest subordinates to branch out from the Elite Force. The six figures conquered numerous universes under the Elite Force's banner. And thus, they were called the Overlords, the Elite Forces' Greatest Vessels.
"I don't give two shits about who they work for. What I give a shit about is that one of them has ruined my life and my world. And he has to pay for what he has done!" She slammed the table with the underside of her fist.
"How long has Shai Ken ruled your earth?" Yung Fu inquired.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, "For twenty years now."
"If possible in your history, haven't there been Utopians who visited your earth, to help you defeat him?" Yung Fu inquired, and he rested his chin on his clenched fist. His arm supported the weight of his head as it rested on the table.
For a moment, she pondered. Once her memories visited her, she spoke, "There was one Utopian, though. According to my father, they called him Azura, and he allied with the United Nations of my planet. He backed the United Nations with his military organization. His organization was called the Battle Troopers. Shai Ken defeated him and paralyzed my planet with fear. Since then, no one dared to defy him."
"Well, except you," Pete pointed at her.
A smile graced her stoic face, "Yeah, and a few others, who are still fighting to resist his rule."
"I presume you need us to help you stop him," Yung Fu said.
"Yes, and whoever you can rally to your side. I've heard about you guys, the Divine Guardians. I think you can help me win my world back."
Pete rocked his fists with excitement," Alright, I like the sound of that. I can already see it. Pete, Yung Fu, and Bianca set out for a great adventure. Let's do this!" Pete clapped his hands.
"Oh no, we don't," Yung Fu cut him off.
"What, come on? Don't you wanna take a break from training, and go out on an epic journey to stop the Overlord Shai Ken?"
Yung Fu shook his head in disagreement. "We already have our hands full with one Overlord! Have you forgotten about Killertron? I'll never forget how he overwhelmed Ace with a glare from his visual attack. As he said, his voice, shouting with frustration.
Pete then had a recollection of the day the Divine Guardians encountered Killertron.
*********
"Who...who... are you?" Ace inquired, his hand firmly clutching onto the hilt of his scythe. The crescent metallic part of the scythe was shattered when it came in contact with Killertron's finger.
"You do not know? I am Killertron, one of the most feared beings in the multiverse," he answered. Killertron donned a human skull mask. It covered the entirety of his head while a scar was carved on the edge of the mask's right socket.
Ace clenched his fist in an attempt to propel a shockwave. Just as he was about to do so, Killertron pushed an air-pressure projectile attack at him from his eyes. The projectile attack temporarily paralyzed him. At that moment, he fell to the ground unconscious.
*******
"Oh, right," Pete answered dubiously, returning from his memories.
"Killertron is still out there! We must brace ourselves for the day he decides to strike. Not only that, Peter, we can't make such rash decisions without consulting Ken Sou!" He snapped.
"Alright, alright, I heard you, geez. You're a pain in the ass, you do know that, right?" Pete said, rolling his eyes.
"So, you guys can't help me?" Bianca inquired.
"We still can. We need to contact Utopia about your situation. I hope they will send as much backup as they can."
*******
The hours drew by, and the black velvet sky continued cloaking Hong Kong with its darkness. As the cold winds dispersed, the crescent moon waned into the caliginous sky; the imagery was impeccable and likened to a crocodilian submerging into the river after carefully studying its prey.
In his bedroom, Yung Fu sat on the matress on the floor and crossed his legs as his feet stretched toward his thighs. He closed his eyes and rested the upper part of his hands on his knees. His forefinger touched his index finger and straightened the others. He breathed through his nose slowly, filling his lower and upper abdomen with air. He exhaled, slowly releasing the air through his mouth. His mind was tranquil, and he only concentrated on breathing. His soul was weightless, perhaps lighter than a feather, as the circulation of qi around his body strengthened.
As he partook in this exercise, he squinted his closed eyelids. His concentration weakened as he sensed a drastic change in the atmosphere. The change was dark and cold, and he tried to ignore it, but couldn't in time.
"I know that you are here. Show yourself," he said as he opened his eyes.
A peculiar scent climbed into his nostrils, and he coughed as more of it entered his respiratory system. He got up quickly and turned around to face his back. When he did that, he saw a red nebulous gas ascend to the roof. The gas advanced past him and filled his room as he wondered what was happening. His vision became blurry as he became disorientated. He tried standing on his feet but lost his equilibrium. He looked at the sliding door of his room and ran for an escape. He tumbled against the ground face-first and lost consciousness.
Meanwhile, the same nebulous gas that put Yung Fu to sleep formed simultaneously in Ace's and Pete's rooms, leaving only Bianca's.
She twisted and turned under her sheets. The bed she slept on was an adjustable bed with a wooden oak frame; her soft mattress was fifty-four inches wide and seventy-four inches long. It was also thirty feet off the ground.
With such an array of dimensions, it was very peculiar for her to linger away from a deep slumber. This was because she used to sleep on a metal frame bed, with a matress as thin as a sheet of paper. She succumbed to back problems regularly, especially when she slept in a bad position.
Bianca groaned and grabbed the edges of her silky sheets.
In her dreams, she was in a desert. Next to her ankles lay a Texas longhorn cow skull. And ahead, she saw a leafless tree with crooked branches that wove a spiral integrated structure, similar to a web.
She ran across the desert, dust rising from the cracked ground. She was pursued by a shadow from behind, bull horns protruding from the temple of its skull, its teeth barred open ready to clamp her, and a cackle that was from hell. The shadow had the likeness of death.
As she stormed across the desert, thunder cracked the scarlet sky, the color of a blood bath. She tripped over a log and fell face flat on the ground. The shadow grabbed her heel, and she felt it. She tried to kick the shadow but failed as her foot fired through it. Since she failed the first time, she tried again but was hopeless as her foot failed to make physical contact. She clenched her teeth with frustration and panted, the shadow somehow, and somehow pulled her. It dragged her across the dirt as she dug her nails through the ground to hold on. That endeavor was fruitless; the shadow then pulled her into a dark pit as she screamed for help.
She opened her eyes instantly and sat up straight. She was profusely soaked with sweat. Her heart drummed against her chest as she panted.
"It was just a fucken dream," she said as she wiped her face with her hands. She kicked her sheets aside and slipped into her shoes. She went to the wall and switched on the light. She approached the door and pushed it to the side as the light that illuminated inside her room cast her shadow across the vinyl wooden corridor flooring. She slid the door closed and walked to the inner yard of the compound.
Once she arrived at the crucifix brick pathway that divided the grass fields, she approached the fountain fixed at the path's intersection. She stood in front of the fountain and watched the water flow diligently out of the tubes to fill the lower basin. It was relaxing, to say the least.
The atmosphere drastically changed. A sudden rush of dread encompassed her body, and goosebumps sprouted from the skin of her arms. She didn't like this feeling, and it made her uneasy.
She turned to face her back instantly and scanned her surroundings. She scanned the environment carefully, from the two walls that surrounded the inner yard and the blades of grass that were painted silver by the waning moon. She looked ahead, in the direction of the southern residence building, the structure that served as shelter for her and her new friends, and wondered whether the movement came from there.
Perhaps it was Peter, after all, he couldn't take his eyes off her when they interacted and she wondered why. However, as she reflected, it didn't make sense for Peter to sneak up on her during the latest stages of the night. Even though she didn't know him very well, she could tell that a man of his weight loved his long naps and solemnly sacrificed them.
She took a deep breath and exhaled. She closed her eyes. "I think I'm hallucinating," she muttered.
A nebulous grey haze coiled around her. It was large in girth, and she inhaled the gas and coughed.
"What is this? Smoke?" She wondered. The gas came in contact with her eyes and aggressively irritated them. Soon enough, they were moist and red. The smoke grew bigger in girth and miraculously lifted her off the ground as she gasped for her.
"Bianca Gray Mitchell, you've been a thorn in our side for far too long," a soft female voice called.
She looked down and saw a familiar figure; she had scarlet hair, and an epicanthic fold covered the inner corner of her eyes. Her irises were dark red; it was Alexis, Yung Fu's ex-wife's doppelganger. She stretched her hand to Bianca, thereby using the smoke around her to levitate her. Then, beside her, her accomplice, Yang Lu, emerged.
"Hello, old friend, we have a lot to talk about," said Yang Lu.
Bianca directed her middle finger at him.
"Aah, feisty as usual. I'd expect nothing less," Yang Lu nodded.