"Stella, no."
Atop the bridge at night in the same forest as earlier in the previous chapter, Farouk pushed Stella away lightly while peering sharply. "Stop all this, you know Gloria won't like it."
"Your sub-conscious is still caring, hun." She smiled wryly, as her hands brushed his. "You yourself know that Gloria's love seems to be a bit on a cut short foundation… after everything."
She stepped closer. "I'm still the one that loved you first, remember?"
Farouk set eyes on her frozen. Her closeness… it makes my heart beat. For a moment I would wanna go but guilt's holding me back.
They still wore the same clothes as they did that place during the end of the previous chapter. "When are you gonna give in and accept me…? I learnt the truth, after all."
"No, it doesn't matter." Farouk raised hands, moving back while shaking his head.
She gazed at Farouk's twinkling eyes. He just shook his head slowly, before lowering it, as if in thought. Then-.
"RIIINNNG!"
The man slipped out a phone from his pocket, seeing a blank profile picture with a phone icon below, tapping it.
"Farouk!" Colonel's voice rang through sharply. "We have a problem! We discovered the real name of The Chosen… Lillian Gold."
Farouk and Stella stared at the screen.
"Also, she's already storming fast for The Labyrinth Castle. Get out of there, now!"
Then silence came, signalling the line cut.
The duo gazed at each other, as Stella quickly raised her finger.
"Gold!" She stepped back with hands coming to her head. "I know that name… I have to come with you, now."
She strode with speed past Farouk, ahead of him while he gazed. Squinting for a second, he rushed down to her. What is this all about?
"Eheh, again," Stella turned. "How are you going to fight a supernatural being like that when you don't have any supernatural powers?"
"Don't worry, I got something up my sleeves… Courtesy of Colonel Edeagwu."
With that, they paced down a long and winding narrow dirt-path, bordered by grass, to their journey beyond.
***
"I see you're ready to kick things off."
Much earlier, in the same concrete walled cubicle that was well lit with a metal table; the same place where Colonel Edeagwu was chatting with Farouk and Gloria, the thin boy took a black and mildly loose long sleeve shirt with the same circular silver logo. It had a gleaming flexible chest-plate on it, with a silver logo; a sphere and a star inside plastered upon it on the top area of the torso, between the breasts.
"That's Optimum's logo." Colonel spoke up. "The chest-plate is equipped with elemental powers for water creation and manipulation."
Farouk smiled.
"Normally, I would've given this to anyone susceptible to danger from our enemies out there," Colonel continued. "but you have something else that can help us to get a particular key to something in the other multiverse… a relic or so… we'll talk later.
Gloria raised her hand. "If this relic opens worlds, what does that mean for all of us who've lost something already…? Also, when did you say The Spawn of The Chosen came again?"
"3 months ago, why?"
"I'm a history student." She motioned. "Yeah, you're right, she is evil and has bad intentions, but we also learnt that this person actually came 2 years ago, looking for someone who might be willing to help find a way to the other multiverse for a specific purpose… something about a dragon or so."
"And what are you hinting at?" Colonel sharply cut in, bending at her.
The girl then shook her head. "Nothing sir."
"Excellent, let's move." He then walked down to the door quickly, as the others followed.
***
Presently, Farouk and Stella were now riding in a small, sleek, streamlined and jet-black car, gleaming in te glow of the early sunrise.
At insane and dangerous speeds, the vehicle blasted through in the vast and lofty highway bordered by deserts of sand, toward a giant and grey walled castle-shaped cylinder of a building, about forty feet tall and wide, with additional ones surrounding it, and small tinted windows atop them.
Meanwhile, somewhere on the summit of the biggest ash-coloured building, the buff and tall fair-skinned Segun works for, alongside himself in black combat gear and the one Colonel gave Farouk respectively, gazed down at his car approaching them with binoculars. Their stern and bold eyes revealed as they dropped those things.
Segun stepped forth. "So Captain Loyal, these elemental chestplates, yeah." He turned to the man. "You said something about them and lighting."
"Just follow my lead." He walked away as the younger strode to him, until-."
"POW!"
The captain flew back with his face pressed and bruised. Segun gazed, before turning back to the origin of the impact, a blank space with holographic fragments of a man forming instantly.
With glitches, the foe's showed to be Colonel Edeagwu's, with his green hard eyes flashing, looking enraged as he gritted.
On landing, Loyal looked up, panting. "Who are you, really?"
"Someone you thought you wouldn't see face to face again." Colonel smiled turning to Segun who instantly flinched his arm as it glowed blue with small sparks.
The hue filled eyed man chuckled. "This bloody illiterate… what now, you're gonna stick up for your old man?"
"Well," Segun spoke in a combat pose. "I'm not letting you go to the other multiverse to retrieve the Ender Dragon… Fighting the Elemental Teachers on Earth because they took your family and people there might kill us all."
"Oh, you're right boy… I won't… but he will."
He open and moved his hands to a space behind him, showing an end of the roof far ahead before-."
"SWOOSH!"
Farouk, coated in big lubes of water, wider than his limbs, swiftly moved around as he looked up in the air with his body straight, before lowering his head at Segun.
In a flash, he shot one at a pole behind him. In a second later, he pulled himself there then "KPOOM!", a blow to the boy's chest.
From afar, you could find Stella watching, backing a wall as she smiled with crossed legs, while Loyal gazed at Farouk. Instantly though, he gritted, clenching his fist driven in the roof, before giant ice massively erupted in spikes that pushed away Colonel and Farouk, but he managed to pull with a lube of water to Segun in a blink.
Standing above the defeated, Farouk smugly revealed his teeth, eyeing him, then the next thing you know-.
"KABOOM!"
Everything scattered in huge chunks across the surface, creating an enormous shock wave, pushing in a fast circumference.
As everyone crashed back, a glowing ball of sky blue, the height of an average human, dissipated, as light circled a tall ebony-skinned female of athletic build with long and wavy black hair.
On fully fading away, the illuminating effects vanished to reveal her clearly in sleek but heavily padded black combat armour, grinning from ear to ear as she cackled.
She then looked at Loyal, who was a mile away as Loyal gazed at the sudden beauty that just landed I glory, gasping.
"Lillian Gold."
"Yeah, yeah, you sucker, it's me." Her charismatic and melodic voice sailed as she motioned to him.
Lillian then turned to Stella, who's eyes widened, still staring at her. How the woman beamed.
"Stella honey." Se called in a high tone. "Don't you miss mummy…? Or should I give a redo of how we did it last time."
Everybody gaped at the two, as if stunned. What the hell?
Really?
What the hell is happening?